#brightblueinky

dalyria gets a butch dwarven gf as a treat is exactly what it sounds like! It’s the side romance between Branwyn and Dalyria in NLTS. That subplot wasn’t part of my initial outline at all, but somewhere around chapter 6, I realized “hey, this is a good ship and it does cool things thematically.” It’s not going to be anywhere near as long and involved as NLTS because I literally cannot, but I’ve written bits and pieces of it, and I want to get the first half up sometime soonish.

I’m honestly tickled that so many people have expressed interest in Bran and Dal’s story, considering that it’s like…a romance between an extremely minor character and an OC. It’s a different dynamic than wyllstarion is, for sure, but it’s a dynamic that I’ve grown to like a lot.

Here’s a taste of their first meeting, right before Branwyn gets the news about Ulder being injured in Chapter 6:

“They don’t let us salt-of-the-earth types take advantage of the company,” Branwyn says, “but they let us take advantage of the beverages. What’ll you have?”

“Oh,” the woman says, her lips parted in a little moue. She brings her hand closer to her mouth. “I don’t drink often, I’m afraid. What would you recommend?”

Oh, godsdamnit. Branwyn knows when she’s being fed a line, but this one’s always worked on her – doubly so when it’s coming from such a soft set of lips. “Depends on your palate,” she says. “You like drier, or a bit of sweet?”

“A bit of sweet, I think,” the woman says, glancing down at her lap.

“Maybe a red, then. They’ve got a good selection of Ashaban Dusk here – a little flat, but it’s got a nice pluck to it.”

The woman smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear. “You must have a good palate.”

Branwyn snorts. Which, well, hope she hasn’t shot herself in the foot too badly by sounding like an overexcited pig for a moment there. “I just repeat what I hear at parties, for the most part. When I’m out and about, I’ll drink whatever gets the job done.”

“I knew you were too good to be true,” Officer Campbell said with a sneer. “You’re on the take same as me!”

“Oh, he isn’t on the take,” Boss Aion  replied before Chrono could respond. “I’m giving you to him.”

Chrono smiled. “You’re under arrest, Officer Campbell.”

“The hell?” Campbell looked between the two of them. Identical smiles on identical faces. He never noticed how they looked alike before. “We had a deal,” he said, faltering, but still trying for steel nerves.

“Don’t be too sure of that,” Aion said. “I was willing to pay to keep your nose out of my business, but you went after family, and your friends went after my best girl.”

“Friends,” Campbell said flat and confused. “Best girl?”

“Florette Harvenheit,” Aion said flatly. “You remember, so tall?” He measured a height up to his shoulder.  “German immigrant? Jewish? Dark hair, dark eyes?” A beat. “I’m going to hang you by your white sheets, Campbell.”

Campbell made a break for it, but was stopped short by Viede and Genai, who wrestled him to the ground. “I’ll sing, see if I don’t,” Campbell spat.

“Try it,” Aion said. “I’m as honest as the next man, aren’t I, brother?”

“You’re more honest than Officer Campbell, I’ll give you that,” Chrono said, amused.

Depends on what kind of thing you mean by “seduce,” although in general, I don’t think it would ever have gone according to plan.

Astarion convincing Wyll to sleep with him on the night they first meet is — unlikely. In theory, he could maybe guilt Wyll into it, but that would require him knowing enough about Wyll’s daddy issues, which he simply doesn’t, and guilt-tripping isn’t exactly one of Astarion’s go-to seduction tactics. In terms of Astarion seducing Wyll into becoming Cazador’s pawn, the biggest problem with that is honestly Cazador himself. He’s not going to stop abusing Astarion, and Wyll was bound to pick up on those signs at some point — and, being Wyll, there’s no way he’d simply let that lie.

Wyll is naive in a lot of ways, but he’s not stupid, and while he’s not disinterested in sex, you can’t lead him around by the dick. He’s governed by his heart, and there’s a genuineness and depth of feeling there that neither Astarion nor Cazador really know how to direct to their own ends (Astarion is completely unprepared for someone caring about him as a person, and Cazador is too contemptuous of everything Wyll values to really dive into what makes Wyll tick).

I remember it, it was amazing

Skillet was my favorite band when I was a teenager!

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

Okay so there is this one abandoned fic in the Inuyasha fandom. It’s InuKag and it’s a Western AU with a mail order bride plotline. Inuyasha is the town sheriff, and due to having converted Christianity, had left Japan a long time previously. We have not yet gotten to the conflict between Shinto!Kagome and Christian!Inuyasha in the fic and I just…really want to see that? It’s so shiny in my head, you don’t know.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)

I think I am not quite either? The process is not a lot like gardening, in that the story is actively “talking” about what happens next and I need to get it down then figure out why it happened that way, and think about where the story (or the character) is coming from.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

Currently it’s Lance, from Voltron Legendary Defender. (Specifically, I am enjoying making him suffer in the horrible fic which is horrible.)

Y: A character you want to protect      

Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Will this help?”  He pressed it against her head, and to his surprise she leaned into his touch.  Her eyes were shut (probably for the best or she’d she him in his full hideousness) and her expression seemed to relax ever so slightly.

“Yes.”

“Good, I don’t want you trying to run off again.”

“The only person you have to blame for that is yourself,”  She laced her words with poison without even batting an eyelid.  “You’ve been acting like a spoiled, immature brat who doesn’t know the meaning of the word no.  I try to keep my promises, but I will not risk my life for them.”

“It was really that bad?”

Golden eyes met his blue.  Her gaze never wavered as she stared at him.

“Yes.  It was that bad.  You need to control your temper.”

“I’m sorry,”  He turned away, feeling shame burn at the back of his neck for the first time in years.  “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

He could feel her gaze continue to beat into the back of his head, growing more and more intense, but surprisingly little malice seemed to accompany it.

“I believe you.”

Ah this was from a Beauty and the Beast AU, which I’m always a sucker for, and I think it was just a really good conversation that fit both the characters and their source material

Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?