All Lovely

This is just a personal list where I organize my writing, with the hope that it will keep me challenged and motivated.

Fics I want to finish this year (2024):

The Vows Be Ours (ASOIAF/GOT)

As bards would later claim they’d foretold, the first wight was sighted at the Wall on the day Jon Snow was born at the Tower of Joy.

The horns rang thrice for the first time in thousands of years, and when the watchers stopped gawking at the creature of bone and ice that screeched up at them, they shot arrows until there was no place on its body to embed more. It was only after they’d wasted three barrels of boiling water and a handful of spears that the message came from wise Maester Aemon to drop a torch on its head. The fire took it long before Ned Stark found the strength to rise from his sister’s deathbed with her child and march away into the sands of Dorne, leaving behind him three corpses in white that would haunt him for years to come.

Currently: almost 8,300 words

Half-a-million Golden Dragons (ASOIAF/GOT)

A modern AU where Brienne accidentally buys Jaime at a bachelor auction. Except, Jaime thinks Brienne bought him because his father offered her money. This misunderstanding dogs their steps in the quest to have a date worthy of half-a-million golden dragons.

Written for the amazing @angelowl-fics

Currently: almost 16,350 words

What Brings Tomorrow (AOT)

Uprising arc AU where the Scouting Legion is defeated and Levi is captured in the clearing at the end of Episode 4. One year later, humanity's memories within the Walls have been wiped again, but Erwin has more gambles left to him in his quest to free humanity - even if he doesn't know it yet.

Currently posted on Ao3: almost 63,000 words

THIS FIC WILL NOT RECEIVE FURTHER UPDATES UNTIL I HAVE IT ALL WRITTEN DOWN.

I am you, but you're not me (ASOIAF/GOT)

Brienne had not expected, that night when she'd raised her candle to her mirror, to see a god's face reflected back at her. Except Jaime Lannister is not a god at all, and in bonding with him, Brienne struggles between honor and love.

Or: Cersei convinces Jaime to bind his soul to her through a mirror so they can always communicate when she marries Prince Rhaegar. Except, the spell is meant for soulmates, and while the twins think they are each others', fate is not of the same opinion.

Currently: almost 7,650 words

Champion, Hero, Friend (Heroes of Olympus)

Vignettes of Frank Zhang's friendship with Jason Grace throughout the years until the day that should have been the son of Zeus' death - and the after.

It takes a few days to bring a Percy de Rolo back to life by way of demon exorcism. Similarly, it takes a few days to purge the tears from my body after a LoVM season. And especially after that ending.

Can we talk about it? Let's.

First, that ritual. God am I so happy that they dedicated so much time to it. The vibes were immaculate too. The shot of Percy and Vax lying down parallel to each other? Creepy and beautiful all at once. The sliding shot from Percy inside Pike's spell to Vax clutching the gun in his hands? So much tension and urgency in just that one shot. And the sanctity of it all makes it all the more dreadful. The golden circles of light. The incandescent ropes holding Vax down. The silence. All of it in the darkness, all of it next to a tomb. And how Vax holds the gun so delicately, as if it wasn't a weapon forged by the fires of vengeance and hell. As if he were cradling his friend to his chest, and not cold, heartless metal. What a gripping image. He has become one with death, used to wear it, to bear it, to harness it. It is as the Matron intended, the one time that she warns him against it.

And the scene is so emotionally charged. Vex's feather in Vax's hair, her heart in Percy's cold, dead hands. Her brother and her lover, the two people she loves most, one risking his life to save the other, both lost to her at any moment. The dilemma of allowing Vax to even perform this insane plot was taken out of her hands when he freely admitted that his life was worthless compared to hers - in his blind fucking eyes, mind you. But think how desperate Vex must have been to go along with it, how hopeful, how very, very in love.

Love. What a cruel, pretty thing. "She loves you. And so do I, brother." Love brings Percy back to life: Vex's love for him, Vax's love for Vex. Vex's feather on his gun, Vex's feather in Vax's hair. The first time they met Percy in that prison, he was as disheveled and lost as when Vax finds him in Orthax's domain. Each time, a hand was offered and taken. This is the victory of people giving each other second chances, of people forgiving themselves, of people fighting for each other.

First, to the LoVM team: one day, I'm going to die from emotional overload, and I want you to know it was your fault. You will be invited to my funeral.

On to the main topic. I've always pegged Vax (yes, I know what I wrote) as more emotional than your average man. Compare him to Grog and you'll get what I mean. He's an empath. He loves his sister. You might almost say he's a family man.

But boy did this season put this on display in his relationship with Keyleth.

First big piece of evidence. The eye-opening moment. They are fighting Raishan. Keyleth is vaporized, Vax falls to his knees and cries. The poor princess mourning her hero slain by a dragon. And evidence #1.5: while Raishan looms over Vax, about to vaporize him, Keyleth emerges with a killing blow, saving our damsel in distress and taking the day. Knight and princess. A classic à la Vaxleth.

Family vs ambition: "I would gladly give my soul for one day of your happiness." As if we needed more proof that Vax loves his sister to death (again, I know what I wrote). Traditionally, though, story-telling gives woman one main interest: their family, while male characters are given personal development. Not Vaxleth. Keyleth is the one travelling the world to perfect her skills and earn high achievements, to sit on the council, and become a household name throughout Emon. But nothing Vax has ever done is for his own advancement. He goes where Vex goes, tells her several times that he'd leave the team if she did, sacrifices his soul for her and then for Percy because she loves him. He's never had personal ambition, or we're never told of them. Trophy wife material. Give me more.

The Swoon factor. Honestly, look at these two and tell me which one is more likely to swoon if this were a Victorian period drama? It's "So chunky with an adoring smile on his face" Vax. It's "I have no words because you stole them with this kiss" Vax. That man is BESOTTED. That man is the romantic. Keyleth is poised, words at the ready, newly self-confident in her feelings. If we're talking clichés: she feels with her brains, he feels with his heart (imo). The switch up is delicious.

I feel like there's more; I remember I had more in mind, so I might add to this later. Let me know if I've missed something.