Gashouse Gables

There's no one else in the family who can compete with that. But let's ask the question anyway:

"It Was the King I Sold" by @iocococo

Like crossbands on a basket, Michael’s thoughts weave. Over and under; press, pull; a tangle of fear and anger and his fucking guilt. He wants it to go away, but it’s all so clear. He knows what he is, sees what he’s done, and it kills him, because this? Even this? And Michael must say yes, even this. Fucking bastard of a thing, to know yourself like he does now. He’d like to forget. Which is why he’s slumped on the floor of his kitchen with a half-empty bottle in his hand, drinking his way toward oblivion. The real hell of it is that none of it matters, not really. Gloomy. That’s the mood tonight. Too fucking trolleyed now to even taste the drink, but not too drunk to think…ah, hell. A handful, just a handful of lives, same as always. Maybe that was the trouble. The sameness of it. How it got to be a routine, letting people go, sending them to their deaths, these men Michael had fought and died with, and would fight and die for again, and whom he’d sell out faster than a whore’d spread her legs, and for all the same old reasons. Long time ago, a man died, another man swore vengeance, another man died, another man swore vengeance. So, you killed. Or you got killed. Most days, neither. Most days, you just wanted to get out of it, to stop it, but there is no stopping now it’s begun. The first man had decided for all of you. The first killer, whoever he was. He’d killed and since he’d done, another had, and on, and on, and on. An eye for an eye. Wasn’t that always the thing? It never started with Michael. No, someone else had got him first, got him bloody caught. Out on some hit in county Tyrone it was, some UVF bastard who had some part in Cappagh. Michael never should have even been there. He’d more than enough to handle in Belfast, but he’d been sent, and the bastards had been waiting. It was a burgundy sedan, the car that came to pick him up. Funny, that Michael remembers nothing except the color. It’s always seemed that he should remember every detail of that car, but no. The color, the grey sky hanging over the car park, the three uneasy men he joined inside. Michael sat up front, next to the driver, a diagonal crack in the windscreen cutting the upper corner, the thick rubber pull of wipers on too-dry glass; he remembers that, too, that it should have been raining harder than it was. They cut up a country lane, wide green all around them. There was a house, another, a few in a cluster. They turned again, and the sparse habitation started to tighten into a village. And then the roadblock. Michael saw the van, the UDR soldiers standing alongside, peeking into passing cars. The lads were kitted out. Assault rifles, flak jackets, dogs. Michael knew what they were looking for: IRA men on a mission. The burgundy sedan. Didn’t take a genius to figure it, not once every uniformed man’s head turned and that look came into their eyes. Recognition. They were made. Someone had fucking grassed.

And sometimes he and Roaring Abel smoked fiercely the whole evening and never said a word, while Cissy lay in the hammock swung between the verandah posts and Valancy sat idly on the steps, her hands clasped over her knees, and wondered dreamily if she were really Valancy Stirling and if it were only three weeks since she had left the ugly old house on Elm Street.

🏰HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BLUE CASTLE!

For the 100th birthday of one of my favorite books, I commissioned @sparemoon to do an art piece of Valancy, Barney, Cissy, and Roaring Abel. There were certain elements from the book that I wanted in the piece, and @sparemoon combined them all so skillfully and with the beauty and wonder that the book evokes, I could cry looking at this. I'm particularly thrilled that we now have art with Cissy and Roaring Abel, and more of Valancy and Barney.

Thank you so much for commissioning this @thesweetnessofspring!

@sparemoon this is INCREDIBLE! You’ve captured the dynamics of the group so perfectly!

my favourite things // books: the blue castle by l.m. montgomery

beautiful classic 1920s novel

a lesser-known work from the author of anne of green gables

valancy, an old maid at 29 (lol), is perfectly well-behaved and utterly miserable. she gets diagnosed with a terminal illness and says screw it, I'm gonna live what little life I have left (to the horrors of her family)

enrapturing and wondrous

a genuine love of nature in the descriptions

a lush romantic mood

she has two cats named banjo and good luck. my beloveds

only under the threat of death does she truly live

The Fall 2026 Fanauthor Workshop is a 7-week writing course led by Betts (@bettsfic). The workshop offers fanwriters a supportive space to receive constructive feedback on fanfiction, original fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Where & When

We meet weekly over Zoom. You can apply for one of two sessions:

Group A: Thursdays from October 1 - November 12, 12-2pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]

Group B: Tuesdays from September 29 - November 10, 6-8pm ET [See what time that is in your time zone]

What

FAW is a feedback-oriented workshop. This means that each week we read 2 pieces submitted by participants, offer written feedback, and discuss them over Zoom. You'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your own piece, which can be anything under 6k words.

There may be weeks where, in lieu of workshopping, I present external readings to discuss and writing exercises.

I developed a workshop model that focuses mostly on affirmations and positivity, as well as descriptive (rather than prescriptive) feedback, which is to say, describing one's experience of reading rather than prescribing solutions to perceived problems. We also present improvement-oriented feedback, though we avoid negativity, judgment, and pedantry. Week 1 is spent going over the workshop model and how to give feedback.

About

The first FAW was held in 2017 as an independent study in my MFA. I restarted it in 2022 and since then have led 17 sessions with a total of 91 participants, over half of whom have participated in the workshop more than once.

Participation in the workshop includes entrance into the FAW community, an active Discord server. We have many social events, writing groups, and other workshops, including:

Eligibility to attend WTFS (Write the F*cking Story), a 7-week generative workshop where everyone, you know, writes a f*cking story

Eligibility to attend WIP Cleanout, another 7-week generative workshop aimed to help work through each writer's WIP list

Ongoing accountability meetings during which we chat over Zoom about our projects and set goals for ourselves every other week

A monthly longform writing workshop, where writers can workshop any story between 6k and 100k words

Weekly movie nights

Scheduled write-ins and impromptu writing sprints

A group quarterly progress tracking sheet that accidentally turned into a micro social media platform

And there are always other things going on, like international snack exchanges, craft exchanges, support during the looming deadlines of fic exchanges, and so on

We also chat about writing and craft, offer resources, and share many, many pet photos.

In addition, participants of the workshop receive:

A one-hour consultation with me to go over your workshop feedback, come up with a plan for revision and/or publication, or anything else you’d like to discuss regarding your writing

Open enrollment in future workshops

Eligibility

Anyone over the age of 18 who considers themselves a participant of fandom and who is familiar with fanfiction may apply. A stable internet connection is also required.

Cost

The cost of the workshop is "pay what you can" with the recommended amount of $300. To be as inclusive as possible, I don't want money to be a deterrent for anyone interested in participating.

At least partial payment (or notification of nonpayment) will be requested prior to the start of workshop via PayPal, Venmo, or Wise. Installment payments are fine.

Fill out this form to apply. Applications close August 31.

If you have any questions at all, or are on the fence about it for whatever reason, please feel free to DM me. You can even just say "I'm on the fence about applying to FAW" and we'll chat about it.

Art by @emimayooo!

FAQ under the cut