#awkwardnessandbaseball

Here’s a snippet for you to enjoy from @awkwardnessandbaseball‘s CSRT work in progress!

Killian hoped the invitation would be a sign of good things to come – his bad luck streak coming to an end, or something.

When Emma Swan sat down across from him at lunch – despite having switched to the opposite hour – he started to believe his luck was, in fact, turning around.

“Feels a little bit like our kids are growing up and getting married, doesn’t it?” She was holding up an envelope much like the one he’d found on his desk that morning. “I mean, we made this happen. Feels like we created something there.”

“We did, Swan. We created just a little bit of magic.” He couldn’t look at her, instead focusing on the frozen dinner before him – he’d gotten lazy with cooking since…everything that had happened. “True love and all that.”

“Are you going, do you think?”

“Of course. I do look absolutely dashing in a tux, I can’t pass up that opportunity.” He chanced a glance at her, wiggling his eyebrows in jest, but his chest ached immediately in response and his eyes shot back down to the plastic dish of chicken and pasta that was quickly growing cold.

“We could go, you know, together.”

The world froze for a moment. Killian’s co-workers stopped moving, stopped talking. The copier stopped mid-print job. The refrigerator’s constant hum was silenced. The clock ceased its ticking.

“Together?” And everything was moving again. His eyes met hers and he ignored the ache.

“Yeah,” she was flustered suddenly, her tell-tale bright red flush coloring her cheeks, “you know, as friends. We set them up together, we should watch them get married together.”

Ah.

“Yeah, Swan, that’d be great.” He thought for a moment. “What are you doing on lunch right now?”

“Oh, I um…I asked Regina to give me my old time back.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I just missed…eating lunch at noon.”

“Well, the kitchen hasn’t been the same without you.” He hadn’t stopped looking at her, even though she’d looked away ages ago. The ache in his chest was growing but he continued to ignore it.

You’re hardly even a man anymore. Milah’s voice was in his head suddenly.

“I’ve got to go,” he threw his barely eaten lunch in the trash, practically running through the doors and down the stairs and out into the fresh air.

Not like you’d ever really be able to please her anyway.

He jogged around the side of the building, all the way around the back, feeling his heart breaking in half as he reached the back, by the dumpsters, where he could hide while he caught his breath.

As friends, it was Emma’s voice in his head now.

He wasn’t good enough for Emma. He’d always known that, but now it was smacking him in the face. That he’d had the audacity to believe he could win her….

He pulled himself together and forced himself to walk back into the building, back up the stairs, back through the doors. He forced himself to keep working as though everything was fine. He forced himself to go straight home after work, instead of stopping by the liquor store for the first time since he’d met with Cora Mills. He forced himself to eat dinner, since he’d tossed out his lunch. He forced himself to lie down in his bed.

But he couldn’t force himself to fall asleep.

@awkwardnessandbaseball it was a pleasure and delight bringing these sweeties to life for you.

LAURA IS FILIP PHILLIP? IS PHILLIP FILIP?

Today’s Captain Swan Rewrite-a-Thon spotlight features @awkwardnessandbaseball!

How long have you been writing for the OUAT fandom? Did you write anything else (original or fan fiction) before joining the OUAT fandom? Are you writing anything non-OUAT now that the show is over?

I wrote for the CS/OUAT fandom for probably about 9 months in 2017/18, and then my muse died for what I thought was forever, and then last month I started writing again, miraculously! I also wrote one Office fic shortly before I started writing CS.

What sort of fic do you like to write? What sort of fic do you like to read?

Fluff fluff fluff! I can do angst with a happy ending. I'm a sucker for soulmate fics (reading-wise, but I am attempting one of those as a writer, too!).

What kind of rewrite will you be doing?

Rewriting an older story from scratch and fixing problems it originally had.

Tell us about your Rewrite-a-Thon story! What's it about, and why did you decide to rewrite it?

It's basically The Office in the beginning and then it sort of goes off in its own direction. Killian is in love with Emma but she's engaged, and to keep his mind off of it, he starts setting people up in the office and everyone finds their (almost all canon) true love. He does the whole season 3 (of the office) thing where he leaves for another branch and meets someone else and they move back together, but he's still in love with Emma. They find their way together eventually. I like most of the original premise but need to change a lot of the cheesiness of it. It was my first CS fic writing experience so I've changed a lot as a writer. I also want to change almost the entire ending, and a lot of other scenes, because I feel like they don't match up with the characters I'd created. Just silly "early writing stages" stuff but I'd been so impatient to start posting that it was easy to make silly mistakes within the storyline.

What are you most excited about when it comes to rewriting your story?

I re-read it recently and I do still love A LOT of what I wrote, but I also cringed at a lot, and I just know I can do better now :)

Today’s Captain Swan Big Bang Spotlight features @awkwardnessandbaseball!

How long have you been writing for the OUAT fandom? Did you write anything else (original or fan fiction) before joining the OUAT fandom?

Around 6 months or so. I wrote an Office fic a few months prior to my first CS fic. 

What sort of fic do you like to write? What sort of fic do you like to read?

I like to write anything with a happy ending. I prefer modern AUs but may try my hand at an EF AU eventually. I'll read almost anything with a compelling storyline - I don't have a "type".

Besides your Big Bang fic, do you have anything else in the works?

I'm also participating in and modding for the Captain Swan Fic Formal (which posted in April 2018), and writing for Captain Swan Supernatural Summer (July 2018) and Captain Swan Epic Proportions (September 2018).

If you participated in the Captain Swan Big Bang or Little Bang before, what was the experience like for you? What are you looking forward to this time around?

It was great to have beta readers who actually wanted to better my fic. The Discord was also a really good support system for times when my muse just wouldn't work!!!

What is your favorite fic you’ve written for OUAT?

The Fox and the Hound - (ao3). This is like asking me to choose my favorite child! But I mean, my CSLB fic had the most blood, sweat, and tears poured into it. The Fox and the Hound was an idea that came to me before I knew the CSLB would be happening. I just started writing and words started pouring out, which was really exciting! I worked so hard on it, and my incredible beta readers made it the best fic it could possibly be. I'm very proud of it... and I hope to top it in the future. ;)

Today’s featured Captain Swan Little Bang author is @awkwardnessandbaseball!

How long have you been writing for the OUAT fandom? Did you write anything else (original or fan fiction) before joining the OUAT fandom?

I've only just started dabbling in fanfic! I wrote a CS story MANY years ago for a Secret Santa, and I recently wrote a canon Office fic (in full on my FF account) and am mid-story on a CS/Office re-imagining (OUAT characters, Office setting).

What sort of fic do you like to write? What sort of fic do you like to read?

I like angst that ends up fluffy! I like happy endings :) I love re-tellings of familiar stories and movies done with OUAT characters - OUAT fans are so creative with that stuff.

Besides your Little Bang fic, do you have anything else in the works?

Currently an OUAT/Office re-imagining, as previously mentioned, in progress on my AO3 account. Possibly going to make it a series instead of one story, we'll see. And then another idea hit me today that I'm not sure if I can flesh out, but I'm sure gonna try :)

If this is your first time participating in a Big or Little Bang, what made you decide to sign up? What are you looking forward to?

I found TONS of great fics through CSBB (I actually found a fic that led me to CSBB, which is like...jackpot!) And then I started writing this fic I'm working on and I was like, hey, I could do this, too! I'm looking forward to interacting with the fandom more through my story :)

Featured Fic: Match Makers

I was just trying to fall asleep one night when the idea hit me, and I'm just super proud of myself for turning it into something! I've got a ton more written than what's currently posted. It's just been really fun to dive into the characters' heads and try to understand them!

Ro’s Friendship Appreciation Moodboards (5/?): @awkwardnessandbaseball

This girl? This girl is like my fucking sister from another mister. She’s kind and wonderful and so full of spunk. We share a lot of common loves aside from OUAT - dogs, baseball (she’s a Phillies fan but I forgive her), tattoos and music. She’s obsessed with the Plain White T’s and I think of her all the time when I’m in my favorite little indie cafe and “Hey There Delilah” comes on. She’s so hard working. She has so many jobs but there’s nothing she loves more than her doggies. She has an absurd amount of pupper pictures on her phone and hearing her love for Piper makes me think of my own pack of mutts back in the States whom I miss more than life itself. She’s had a rough lately but honest to god, I know she’s going to pull through because she’s rough as nails and is always putting her nose to the grind. She dealt my absurd betaing for CSLB and instead of wilting under my comments and critiques, she took it as a challenge and rose to the occasion. I’m so proud of her.