don't breathe

gif by @livelovecaliforniadreams

impossible things

Off Campus | Hannah x Garrett | Rated M | 2.3K

Hannah Wells was sleeping in his bed. But they weren’t sleeping together. It was, as the philosophers might say, a paradox.

gif by @garrett-graham

‘tis the season

Off Campus | Hannah x Garrett | Rated M | 2.7K

Before heading off for Christmas break, Hannah and Garrett exchange gifts.

gif by @livelovecaliforniadreams

the rules of the game

Off Campus | Hannah x Garrett | Rated M | 3.4K

After she makes dinner for his roommates, Garrett takes Hannah upstairs and teaches her some new rules to an old game.

gif by @livelovecaliforniadreams

skin deep

Off Campus | Hannah x Garrett | Rated E | 2.8K

After a disastrous Thanksgiving — made a little better by cold turkey sandwiches at Malone’s — Hannah takes Garrett back home and proceeds to take care of him in all kinds of ways.

#39: Share a snippet from a WIP

Very sneaky, Anon, but I don’t mind! Just for context, this is part of a prompt fill I’m working on (that will eventually be added to “every waking moment”) where Benedict gets jealous seeing Sophie and Footman John talking together. I mean, obviously, there’s nothing going on there — we know John only has eyes for Hazel at that point — but poor Benedict hasn’t gotten that memo!

Aside from the maid who opened the front door and curtseyed as he brushed by, Benedict encountered no one on his way to the study. That was for the best: he had no wish to encounter anyone, particularly not any of his family, all of whom, fortunately, seemed to be busy in the ballroom, preparing for Hyacinth’s recital. There was at least a legitimate reason for his visit, some papers of the viscount that were needed for the business of the estate. Of course, he could have sent Hatch for them—his valet would have had them back within the hour—but Benedict desired to fetch them himself. Because it was not just the papers he wanted, but another opportunity to speak to Sophie. His ruse of meeting her in the street as she accompanied Eloise had partially succeeded—it had given him a few minutes alone with her, where he might at last hear her answer to his offer—but her response had not been at all what he had hoped. If only there had been more time for them to speak! Benedict might have done more to explain, to show her that all he wanted was to care for her, to be with her in the only way that was possible for the two of them. But Eloise and Francesca had emerged much too soon from the shop, their purchase complete, and then Sophie was gone, following behind his two sisters without a single glance back at him. Benedict could only hope she was not in the ballroom, attending on Hyacinth, but somewhere else in the house. Perhaps he might only have a moment with her—but he swore he would not let it go to waste.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I'd love to see your answers to these questions☺️

#45. Do you want to break your readers’ heart or make them laugh?

So I love a good emotional gut-punch, but I would never want to leave my readers in that state, so I’ll just say that I’d prefer to break their hearts and then put them back together. (I’m definitely more of a fluff writer than an angst writer!) Doing comedic scenes can really be fun, but it’s hard to get the tone just right, and unless the canon material has comedic elements, it doesn’t always work with the overall vibe. The movies/shows I write for also tend to be historical, so there isn’t always as much of a chance to be funny.

#56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I really try to do my research. I’m a history teacher (and do a lot of reading about historical periods) so I do pride myself on getting as many of the details right as possible, and even for things that are set in more modern time period, I think it’s important that it feels realistic. (For “new romantics,” for example, I remember scouring through the Transport for London website trying to get information about ticket-taking and staring at Google Street View to figure out if the high street near Highbury and Islington station had kebab shops on it!) Of course, all that work for a tiny detail that most readers just skim right over might seem a little silly (and it probably is), but I like that I try to include the kind of things that make the world feel really lived in.

Thank you so much for the ask! 🩷

Wow, three questions at once! Thank you! 💕

#11: Link your three favorite fics right now

Oh, this is really hard, because there are so many good fics out there... so I’ll just put three that immediately come to mind (but know that my hand is definitely being forced here! 😆)

“A Phantom in Enchanting Light” by @qqueenofhades (Shadow and Bone, Matthias x Nina)

“The Darkening Sky” by @mercurygray (Band of Brothers, Dick Winters x OFC)

“I tried to hold you back but you were stronger” by @osmxosis (Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton x Footman John) — this one’s still a WIP, but I’m seriously loving it so much!

#13: what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I never, ever change POVs in a fic (unless, like I’m doing with “new romantics,” I have sections within chapters where the POV shifts, and I make it clear what’s happening). As a reader, I find it immensely confusing — and annoying! — when an author can’t keep straight what character’s perspective they’re supposed to be writing from. (I’ve even read printed books where the POV changed within a single paragraph and it made me almost want to stop reading entirely.)

#15: How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

I would not describe myself as a smut writer per se, although I do make the occasional foray. I think for smut, you have to be really careful about not letting it get too technical (“insert tab A into slot B”) and letting the smut be grounded in emotional truth. Essentially, you’re still telling a story and the story has to make sense for the characters (so, yes, I think it is important to be realistic, both anatomically and emotionally) and in the end, it’s really about the connection between them. Even with smut, I think you also still need to make sure you’re getting the characterization right and it doesn’t feel like you’re just writing OOC porn with the characters’ names slapped on top (not that there’s anything wrong with porn, but if it’s OOC, then I think it’s kind of missing the point of being fic). As for the level of detail, I try to match it to the rating, so if it’s M, you’re getting some details, but it’s mostly vague references to body parts before we fade to black, but if it’s E, you’re getting the full monty, so to speak.

#27: What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

Most favorite: When I write, I’m relying a lot on visualization — I see the scene like I’m watching a movie, with all the scenery and the action and the dialogue happening right in front of me — and my absolute favorite thing is when I can not only visualize it, but get down into words almost all of what I'm seeing. (When it’s really going well, I can basically hear the characters talking to one another.) I mean, I think all writers like getting into that flow state where you’re barely having to stop, and I think mine happens most often when I feel like I’m describing what I see and hear (which is why my writing tends to have a fair amount of sensory details).

Least favorite: When I lose my inspiration. It happens to the best of us, but it really does suck when the characters and stories that used to get you super excited no longer seem to do anything for you. (I can always tell this is happening when I have some free time and instead of writing — which I basically can’t stop myself from doing when I’m inspired — I start making excuses for why I don’t want to be writing.

Jeez, sorry for ending on such a bummer... 😢 But thank you for the ask, Anon — I appreciate it!