Down the rabbit hole they fell

BITCH I WRITE THE FANFICTION DESIGNED FOR ME

I have over 200 works. I’ve written for at least 10 different fandoms. I have spent literal YEARS perfecting my craft

CLIPPED WINGS PART 1

He goes over to Simon's room and asks him if he can watch him sleep. Rationally, he knows both of them will be completely fine. They have plenty of food, they have a house, no more life-threatening events are happening, etc. But a small part of Grace tells him that if he lets go of the tight grasp he had on Simon back when they were on the Hail Mary, Simon will vanish.

Simon tells him he's ok. His nightmares are getting better and better, he knows all of this is real deep in his bones, he doesn't doubt things as much, he knows that Grace appreciates him, and all of that. So he tells Grace to go back to bed. They're ok, they'll be ok. They'll both be here in the morning and the beach will be outside of their door waiting for them.

Grace wakes up again. Same nightmare, same fears of letting go.

The next morning, Simon comments on how tired Grace looks. Grace is irritated, but he can't be irritated at Simon, or else Simon will leave.

So he tells him calmly that he is and shrugs.

Simon hesitates for a bit, then finally speaks up a few minutes later. He's not used to being the first to speak, the one to initiate. He likes talking with Grace, but usually Grace is the one who brings him something to think about.

"I don't like it when you pity me."

Grace is startled slightly, having zoned out and also not expecting the conversation. "I don't. Never did."

"Then what was last night? Asking to watch me sleep. Are you that afraid I'm going to fall apart?" Simon looks at Grace incredibly critically. He's looking for any indications of Grace lying, of him hiding anything.

"No! No." Grace trails off, "I'm the one falling apart."

There's a long bout of silence. Simon can't quite believe what he's just heard, and he's also baffled at the lack of reaction on Grace's face.

This is unusual. Grace wears his emotions on his face; he can't usually hide any of it. Simon's never seen... this. It's numbness. It's acceptance.

"What?" Simon finally speaks up again.

"Comfort isn't stable. It doesn't stay. We're happy now, but one day it won't be the same. Maybe the dome will fail. Maybe they'll run out of resources to spend on us. Rocky will ask us to leave, go back to earth."

In the past, it was usually Simon who was scared to have all of this taken away in the blink of an eye. That he'd wake up from a nice dream into the nightmare he'd been living back on that moon.

He didn't know what to say about this.

"I was comfortable before. I always get comfortable, but it never stays." There are tears now running down Grace's face.

"I was getting comfortable in the routine we had in the Mary. But I knew we couldn't stay there forever. We needed a better life than that. And that was fine-

Before that, I was comfortable just being a biologist. Someone that knew a lot about astrophage. But no, I was the only one that could save the stars. So they dragged me in the Mary kicking and screaming.

Before that, I was comfortable teaching my kids back on earth. But I was needed. I needed to help them save the stars, so I did, cuz I had a point to prove. Stupid thesus-

Before that, I was comfortable being a student, I learned well, it was a nice. I liked the routine, the studying, the people. I had a plan and I knew where I was going to go. But then I had to make that stupid thesus. Ruined my life.

Before that, it was cozy. I had a nice big family. But then my parents died, and my siblings couldn't handle it, so they turned to drugs, and violence, and- what ever they ended up doing, leaving me behind.

It never stays. Comfort is always fleeting. And I'm afraid that the first thing to go will be you."

At this point Grace is sobbing. It's honestly surprised how he's able to push through the sobs to speak without tripping over his own tongue.

Simon blinks out of his frozen state when Grace takes a breath and walks up to him to engulf him into a tight hug. Of course, Grace hugs back. When has Grace ever turned down a hug?

"So, it's me. I'm afraid you'll die without me getting there in time to help, or suffer through something alone and hate me for not being there, or I'm afraid that if I get mad at you by accident, you'll never want to see me again."

Simon's head is still rushing with all of this new information. He tries to find ways to comfort Grace like Grace usually did with him when he had bad days, but the words never come.

"I-I'm sorry." Grace stutters for the first time. That's it, he's gone. He won't be able to make a speech like that again. If let alone speak coherently at all.

Grace's knees wobble. Simon shuffles them over to the living room and sits them on the couch. Grace cries till his tears dry out, and even then, he continues to dry sob. It takes him hours to calm down, and by then, he's passed out in Simon's arms.

How long had Grace been holding onto that? During their whole stay on the Mary, Grace had been happy. He'd been Simon's rock. Even when they landed, Grace was excited about the Biodome. He was happy and content when they settled into their house. He'd been happy... Right?

Simon isn't sure how he'll handle this just yet, but if Grace could be strong for him for so long, he could be strong for Grace, too.

like i saw her use a verb i've never heard of, looked up the definition, and it was actually a noun. not as in she verbified a noun on purpose (like "googling"), as in she just wanted to use a big, super specific word, and didn't even get the word type right.

Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite (@oliviawaite)

Dorothy Gentleman, ship’s detective and no-nonsense auntie, is called to a new case when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep. The catch: they’re on an interstellar generation starship, and no one should be having children right now, much less abandoning them. Follow along as Olivia Waite brings the cozy mystery genre to the stars in this second installment of a delightful novella series.

Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne (@rebeccathornewrites)

Torian Razner has finally bought a starship—a century-old, moss-covered abandoned relic, but at least it’s hers. Except Torian discovers that there’s more to this moss than meets the eye, and that the immortal alien that had built the ship never abandoned it at all. And now the immortal alien wants its starship back, and Torian really looks like she just stole the ship, moss and all.

Out June 30, 2026!

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (@charliejaneanders)

Relationships with mothers are complicated—doubly so when there are secrets and magic involved. In this queer family drama, Charlie Jane Anders explores the thorny tangle of family, love, grief, academia, and magic.

Out in paperback August 11, 2026!

The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang

Linguist Ro has spent his entire life studying for a single purpose: to jump into the body of one of the mysterious Star Eaters—the alien race who mines the elusive element needed to sustain a myriad intergalactic civilizations. To do so, he must do more than just learn the Star Eater language; he must become one of them. 

It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy.

When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee (@bywenyilee)

Singapore, 1972: beneath the glamorous, rapidly modernizing surface of the city, gangsters and secret societies vie for power while channeling the magic of their ancestors’ gods. When Adeline Siow’s mother dies in an impossible conflagration, Adeline hunts down the only clue she has: the girls with butterfly tattoos, members of an all-girl gang that swear fealty to a vengeful fire goddess.

Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle (@drchucktingle)

Fashion influencer by day and grave robber by night, Poppy Stringer is on call when Eddie Michaels—a flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar and queer icon—unexpectedly dies. All Poppy has to do is retrieve Eddie’s body from the medical examiner’s office, but what starts as a routine delivery quickly goes awry when Eddie wakes up.

Out July 7, 2026!

Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo

In a glittering, alternative Brazil, Ariadne is the all-too-human doctor for the powerful, near-immortal vampiric guls. Five years ago, her mentor went missing; now, a gul claiming to be her mentor's old paramour shows up on her doorstep with the news that her mentor may still be alive—and in need of their rescue. Dark, luscious, mysterious, and bloody, Cabaret in Flames wanders eerie nighttime alleyways and haunted hallways of memory, grappling with what it means to love—and be loved by—monsters.

Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske (@fahye)

In order to graduate the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr, every mage with a healer’s gift must endure a five-day trial, but solving a classmate’s murder was never on the curriculum. Five scholars. Five secrets. Five days to solve a murder and pass the most important exam of their lives, and maybe uncover a secret large enough to change the world.

Out September 15, 2026!

I wish Belle had gotten an adventure show about getting to live her dream of seeing distant lands and learning new things!

I haven't consistently read in quite some time, and I was wondering if you could recommend for me one of your works? What would you recommend to a 20-something who's lost the joy of fiction?

This post will be updated with new entries Last updated: 01 May, 2023

WRITING TIPS & RESOURCES

Editing Service (by @concerningwolves)

Emotional Intelligence in Conflict

Lay or Lie

MS Word Shortcuts Guide

Passive Voice Advice

Publishing

On Punctuating Speech

Sentence Ending Pointers

The Writer's Workbook

WHUMP

Whump Events (A linked Google doc by @whumpsday )

Whump Resources (A resource post by @a-crumb-of-whump , how to start a whump blog, oc advice, advice on motivation and dealing with discouragement, and games)

WOUNDS, INJURIES, & TRAUMA

GSW Recovery - [A] [B] [C]

Malnutrition

Migraines

Passing out from pain

PTSD Dreams

Scar Tissue Info

Sleep Deprivation

Writing Traumatic Injuries Resources (Another resource post)

More Resources for Writing Injuries (Another resource post)

WEAPONS

Gun information

The Safety and Mechanism of a Bolt Action Rifle

Bolt Action Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

Semiautomatic Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

Pump Action Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

CLOTHING

African Women's Fashion (Outfit examples video)

Lady's Clothes Guide

Men's Suits Guide

Period Clothing References

Vintage Fashion Clips (Saved for scarf pin :))

MISC

Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Place Description Aid...?

Whump Community Directory (Tumblr blogs)

Write the ideas down. If they are going to be stories, try and tell the stories you would like to read. Finish the things you start to write. Do it a lot and you will be a writer. The only way to do it is to do it. 

I’m just kidding. There are much easier ways of doing it. For example: On the top of a distant mountain there grows a tree with silver leaves. Once every year, at dawn on April 30th, this tree blossoms, with five flowers, and over the next hour each blossom becomes a berry, first a green berry, then black, then golden.

At the moment the five berries become golden, five white crows, who have been waiting on the mountain, and which you will have mistaken for snow, will swoop down on the tree, greedily stripping it of all its berries, and will fly off, laughing.

You must catch, with your bare hands, the smallest of the crows, and you must force it to give up the berry (the crows do not swallow the berries. They carry them far across the ocean, to an enchanter’s garden, to drop, one by one, into the mouth of his daughter, who will wake from her enchanted sleep only when a thousand such berries have been fed to her). When you have obtained the golden berry, you must place it under your tongue, and return directly to your home.

For the next week, you must speak to no-one, not even your loved ones or a highway patrol officer stopping you for speeding. Say nothing. Do not sleep. Let the berry sit beneath your tongue.

At midnight on the seventh day you must go to the highest place in your town (it is common to climb on roofs for this step) and, with the berry safely beneath your tongue, recite the whole of Fox in Socks. Do not let the berry slip from your tongue. Do not miss out any of the poem, or skip any of the bits of the Muddle Puddle Tweetle Poodle Beetle Noodle Bottle Paddle Battle.

Then, and only then, can you swallow the berry. You must return home as quickly as you can, for you have only half an hour at most before you fall into a deep sleep.

And dawn on 30th April?

I was told Four Magpies and a Raven, and The Last Glint of Sunset on the First Day of May (if cloudy, come back next year).