#ali's mails

8. What is your favorite line/section from The Lad That Loves You True ?

Oooh that's a tough one 🥹 I'd say Eoin and Paddy meeting up but really this entire fic leaves me feeling all fuzzy and warm 🥰

“Hiya Blair.” The older man’s mouth quirks up, eyes soft and amused. “Hello, Eoin.” He’s cleaned up nicely, Eoin notices. Hair wet like he’s just gotten out of the shower, neatly combed back showing off the honeyed strands on top, and with a coat that hugs his shoulders perfectly, he looks nothing like he usually does for pub nights. That Blair took the time to dress up for Eoin’s birthday sends a rush of warmth down to his very toes, hope giving him the push he needed. “I’m eighteen.” Eoin rolls on the balls of his feet, hands behind his back. He thinks he might be smiling but the alcohol is making his mind fuzzy. “I’m aware,” Blair hums, stubbing out his cigarette with his shoe. “Happy birthday.” Eoin’s sure he’s smiling now. Blair might be too, but there’s something guarded in his posture, shoulders too straight for the amusement dancing in the blue of his eyes. “You’re not drunk, are you?” Eoin takes a step back, offended. “I’m not,” he denies, shaking his head. Maybe he’s walking the line of tipsy, but he’s far from drunk. Blair hums again, eyes raking over Eoin’s form for a second before they flicker back to his face. “You’re not,” he eventually agrees, a small smile gracing his lips.

There's something so soft and tentative here, Eoin who's so young and giddy while Paddy is a bit more guarded because they both know what today is and what could come off it <33 And Paddy knowing Eoin well enough to see he isn't drunk 🥹🥰

Thank you for the ask, it was a very nice excuse to re-read this sweet little fic 🥰❤️

5. What’s something you learned while researching a fic?

In plotting To all the things housed in her silence, nature offers a violence I researched the dates of every full moon of 1941 up to August 1942 so if anyone is interested 😂

1941:

January 13th (Monday)

February 12th (Wednesday)

March 13rd (Thursday) Lunar Eclipse

April 11th (Friday)

May 11th (Sunday)

June 9th (Monday)

July 8th (Tuesday)

August 7th (Thursday)

September 5th (Friday) Lunar Eclipse

October 5th (Sunday)

November 4th (Tuesday)

December 3rd (Wednesday)

1942:

January 2nd (Friday)

February 1st (Sunday)

March 3rd (Tuesday) Lunar Eclipse

April 1st (Wednesday)

April 30th (Thursday)

May 30th (Saturday)

June 28th (Sunday)

July 27th (Monday)

August 26th (Wednesday) Lunar Eclipse

I ended up not using it because it didn't fit the timeline I needed for the fic and I couldn't find an interesting way to use the Lunar Eclipse. Also I learned that in November 1941, the sun set around 5 p.m. in Cairo <3

10. Is there a character or ship you'd love to write for, but haven't yet?

I tend to only focus on one ship and the characters involved in it because that's usually who I'm most interested with (and I have a hard time caring for more than romantic ship at once) but I think writing for Bill Fraser must be really fun <3

Thank you for the ask 🥰❤️

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

I'm so fond of this scene in Ch2 of nature offers a violence because I've been thinking of this dialogue for paddyeoin since this summer, even before I got started on this fic, and though I can't copy-paste the entire scene it has such a sweet, soft vibe to it that warms my heart 🥰 And I love the piano scene so much, it was an absolute blast to get to explore how they got there (Paddy's hand on Eoin's shoulder, thumb just shy of resting on Eoin's neck) and what came after <3

"Come on," Eoin suddenly says as he gets up, destroying all of Paddy's efforts. "I want to play." Following Eoin's eyes, Paddy looks at the piano, then back at him. "If it is music you want to play, I'll stand back and watch." "Don't you want to learn?" The question is genuine, Paddy can tell from the curious tilt of his head. But the thought has never occurred to him, and surprise keeps his mouth parted, not a word on his tongue. Eoin must take his silence for scepticism because he adds, almost shy, "I promise I'm not too bad a teacher." Paddy looks at his hands, calloused and scarred, then to the piano and its black and white keys, awfully delicate. Thinks of all the melodies Eoin can pull from the instrument, his face smoothed out with peace and contentment when he loses himself in the music. "Music is an art whose Muse hasn't found me, lad." Eoin purses his lips, brow furrowed in gentle admonishment. "She would if you'd let her. I've never seen your swearing get in the way of your poetry," he adds, the hand resting lightly on Paddy's shoulder no doubt feeling the flinch that strikes him. Eoin doesn't mention it though, only smiles soft and kind enough his eyes crinkle. "Now, come on. I'll skip the boring parts."

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

none can love well who are not worshipers of the beautiful by @eiriniko because everyone needs to read about yearning Paddy 🥰🫶🏻 my sweet boys yearn so much, they're Kings of Yearnland and live in Pining Castle near Longing Creek <3

11. fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

15. something you learned this year

17. fics you'll continue next year

24. favorite fic you read this year

11. Fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

SAS:RH, 10000% !!!

15. Something you learned this year

I think that keeping the Werewolf Paddy fic under wraps and writing it in my corner for so long, only talking about it/sharing it with elliot really helped me kind of. Not quite not being attached to fics but caring less about how it's received once I post it. When you write more than 40k in your corner only showing it to one person, you really get the "write for yourself" thing 😂 And then with you being so supportive and kind even when you only had lil snippets of the fic, it really helped me understand that if you, the author, like what you're writing, you only really need one other person to be hyped about it with you (for me at least, everyone works differently <3), so I don't care as much as I would have months ago that I don't get many comments compared to the amount of hits/kudos

17. Fics you'll continue this year

Ooh that's a tough one!! I want to finish all the wips that are half-written in my drafts that's for sure, and then maybe focus on a follow-up to the Burma fic or the werewolf Paddy fic if people are interested <3 And obviously we need to grow the Sacred Scripts collection so 👀

24. Favorite fic you read this year

Oooh this is so hard to pick only one 😭😭 I will say, the one that has stayed with me most and that I think about at least once a day is washed a dozen times, still pink by @captain-cornwall Powerful, gorgeous, heartwrenching, hopeful stuff. It's the fic that I can't bring myself to re-read because it would cause too many feelings but at the same time I can probably quote everything that happens in perfect order because it was so good

👄 Your OTP are having their first kiss. What song do you imagine is playing?

(You've got such great taste in music, so I know you will pick something perfect for them, no pressure lol)

Ooooh that's a good one, so much so that I've been stuck on it for 10 minutes 😂😭

So, after much thinking, I've decided that songs with lyrics probably wouldn't do because though both Paddy and Eoin attach a lot of importance to words, and love and work with them a lot (a poet and a writer 🥰) they never use many words to express their feelings. Even in their letters home, it is very vague - telling but vague, and when they speak to each other? They're using all the words possible except the ones that they truly want to say SO in my opinion, that rules out songs with lyrics, since neither of them has ever put words on what the other is to them. It's implied and understood by pretty much everyone, but they are never the ones to say; even after Eoin's death, Paddy never mentions him or tells what/who Eoin was to him except "a friend" (and!! that was to a stranger, someone who would never know what it means for Paddy to admit even that) because both the love and the loss are too great for words (also internalized homophobia if you want to take that route, it's easier to ignore something if you never put words on it because it makes it feel less real)

So that leaves instrumental music. To me, one of the most appealing things about paddyeoin isn't that they're two men in love in a time period that doesn't accept that kind of love between two men, but that they're two best friends who happen to be in love with each other in that same setting. So I'd love a song that slowly builds up while staying soft, since it's obvious in all of their scenes together that Eoin is Paddy's safe place to be just Blair instead of The Madman (when i find myself become a devil he reminds me that underneath I'm a poet <3) and I feel like it needs to be soft enough it borders on fragile, because they're taking a leap here. They've been best friends for so long, it would have been easier to stay just friends, especially in that time period, and to finally kiss the man you've been longing for after years? I think they both should be a bit overwhelmed and vulnerable by how a single kiss is changing their world <3

And then, since the piano is a recurring theme for them, a piano tune would be perfect 🥹

Now, do I actually have a song like that in my playlist? I have no idea 🫡 But in my head whatever song is played needs to be very muted so you can barely hear it because the stakes are so very high 🥹 Anyway here's one I think could fit but please feel free to add any <3 It's crazy how one can have more than 3000 liked songs and still not find The one I had in mind that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist 😔

And I'm making an exception to the no lyrics thing with this song but just the 20sec of it work, and then the rest can be like. Transition scene as you see outside of the tent and everyone living their life while paddyeoin finally get the love of their life <3

OR we can go the Irish route and pick a lovely Irish/Celtic like this one <3

When I say I see the scenes in my head like a movie when writing fics I am not lying 😔

Thank you for the ask it was a lot of fun to think about!! 🥰❤️

Bestie I love you so much. So much. But WHY do you always manage to post when I have absolutely no time to read 😭😭😭

Sincerely,

I-Will-Get-To-It-If-It-Kills-Me-anon ( @stoneinyourshoe )

🐎 Would you ever do a medieval or pirate au?

I do love a medieval AU 😌↕️ but a pirate AU would be very cool too with all the possibilities 🥹 though I'd say I'm more likely to write a medieval AU <3

🛌 What's a trope you haven't written, but want to?

There's never enough "and there was only one bed" so maybe that? The waking up cuddling is just when you had gone to bed all tense trying not to touch? Delicious 🥰

Thank you for the ask, a one bed only trope is a sure way to make my day <3

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I think!! I'm getting better at writing Paddy's dialogue 😌↕️ Getting into his head for almost 20k has allowed me to unlock his weird ways of phrasing <33

Thank you <3