#phoenixwriting

Part 1                                 Part 3

Part 2                                 Part 4

What is This Feeling?

Part 1                                 Part 3

Part 2

Secrets of the Sea

Part 1            Part 4         Part 7

Part 2            Part 5         Part 8

Part 3           Part 6          Part 9

These are all the parts to every continued One Shot for Solangelo in case you’ve had trouble finding them. Yes I will continue them, and yes I will take more one shot requests. (Any mythical stuff? Vampire Nico? Angel Nico? Demon Will? Hey, I do fantasy too!)

Part 1                 Part 5

Part 2                 Part 6

Part 3                 Part 7

Part 4                 Part 8

Oh yeah, I finally made a title. I’m sorry I haven’t had drawings to go with this :(

PART 6

He was an idiot. That was all there was to it. This man had captured him, for crying out loud. Where had the sudden affection come from? It hadn’t even been a day. And still, he could not deny the churning in his stomach when he saw Nico kissing the first mate so desperately.

Unable to sleep, he stared at the stars in the sky. The smell of the ocean and the dim light relaxed him, and he was grateful that Nico had allowed him to sleep here. Suddenly, he heard light footsteps. He half expected Lou Ellen upon hearing such a feathery gait. But instead, he saw the outline of the captain. His chest tightened and he sat up.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said gently. He stepped closer and sat in front of him.

“What do you want?” Will demanded.

“Please don’t be angry with me.” He reached for his hand, but Will pulled away. Suddenly, Nico was pulling him forward onto his knees, angrily grasping his shirt. “How can you tell me there’s nothing when you’re so angry with me for what I’ve done?”

“I’m angry because of the lies,” Will said through clenched teeth, trying to pull Nico’s hands away. “You try to kiss me, but you lay with him and kiss him-”

“I wanted it to be you,” Nico insisted, still shaking him by his shirt. “When I kissed him, I thought of you. And I don’t understand why. I’ve never felt this before. It’s no simple fancy. I don’t know what I feel, but it scares me. Whatever this is, whatever causes me to want you so terribly, it horrifies me. It makes me weak.” Will’s cheeks were flushed as he looked into the captain’s eyes. He looked so distressed and pained, it made him feel guilty. “If you could explain it, make it go away then I’ll leave you be.”

The way he handled him was so desperate, so angry and afraid, that Will didn’t know what to do. How had he broken through his walls so easily? All he’d done was be stubborn. Yet here was the captain, on his knees, begging for an explanation from him. “You should go to bed,” Will answered. “You’re tired. You’ve fought twice today.” He attempted again to loosen the vice grip.

“Will,” he pleaded. “I want to know what it’s like.” Will furrowed his eyebrows. “What is it like to kiss someone you truly feel something for?” His lips parted in surprise and he stared back at the captain with wide eyes. Before he could think of something to say, Nico leaned forward and pulled him into the most feral, desperate kiss Will had ever experienced. His weight made Will lean back and he was too dizzy to think of pushing him away.

His lips responded, feeling the warmth of Nico’s mouth on his, the texture of his tongue, the feeling of teeth biting gently on his lips. Nico’s cold hands slid to his neck, pulling him closer, and Will allowed his to go into his hair, knocking down his hat. Nico’s legs were on either side of him, and when he pulled away, they were both panting. His eyes were lidded as he looked at Will, one hand coming up to caress his cheek. “I’d never felt anything like that in my life,” he whispered.

Will stared back at him, completely lost in the eyes he could barely discern in the dark. “I should hate you,” he murmured. “I should want to leave, I should want to kill you.” Nico pressed into the hand that rested on his cold cheek. He placed his own over Will’s as though he were afraid Will would pull away. Instead, Will pulled him in, and pressed his lips against Nico’s in a much gentler manner. Surely he’d never experienced true affection. Deliberateness. Sincerity. Want. Almost immediately, Nico was tugging him desperately. “Sh,” Will shushed. “Wait.” Nico relaxed and Will proceeded to kiss him slowly, cherishing every little moment of it. The timidity of his lips and the ragged breaths he managed. Nico’s hands seemed to shake as he slid them over his shoulders. “You’re not used to gentleness, are you?”

“No,” he breathed. “It’s…. It’s wonderful.” Will smiled and he chuckled in response. “Where are you from?” he asked suddenly. “I can’t pinpoint your accent.”

“I’ve some Irish blood, but I’m mainly English.” Nico nodded, fingering the hem of the vest. “What about you?”

The two of them began talking into the night, comforted by the other’s warmth. Every now and then, Will would surprise him with a gentle kiss, and sometimes Nico would push for a passionate one. It wasn’t until the sky began to turn a dark blue and stars began to disappear that Nico groaned and said he had to return to his cabin. “You forgive me?” he asked, laying his head against Will’s chest.

“Yes,” Will answered. “But I beg you not to do it again. I do not want….”

“Neither do I. I’ve felt more in my moments with you tonight than I have in all the lust filled nights with him. I don’t wish to return to that.” He lifted his head and looked at him with those brooding dark eyes. “But he can’t know. God knows what he’ll do.” Will clenched his jaw and looked at the sky. He could begin to discern the shape of the clouds. “Don’t be upset, love,” he whispered. His fingers traced Will’s lower lip, causing him to shudder. “I won’t do anything that I don’t need to.” He shuffled away from him and stood. “I’ll see you in some hours. Get some rest.”

Will watched him walk away and sighed. How had he reached this point? Surprisingly, he fell asleep immediately after Nico left to his cabin.

He awoke when someone threw water in his face. Sputtering he looked around and saw the form of the first mate looming over him. “Get up,” he growled. “Everyone’s got a job to do, and you’re no exception, quisby.” Suddenly his green eyes focused on something to Will’s left. The scowl on his face deepened. Will risked glancing and felt a wave of terror overwhelm him at the sight of the captain’s hat. “Why is that here?” he asked angrily. When Will didn’t answer, Percy grabbed him roughly and yanked him up, the threat evident in the tone of his voice. “Why is that here?” he asked again.

There was some satisfaction in having spent the night with Nico beside him and having the first mate completely ignorant in front of him. This fool believed the captain loved him, when in reality it had been Will who managed to strike fear in his heart due to unknown emotions. Those lips had been his all night, that voice spoke so only he could hear, and all the while Percy had been asleep, believing the captain had eyes only for him.

“Answer me!” Percy shouted, shaking him.

“Perseus!” They turned their heads to the voice that came from the wooden steps. “Honestly, I tell you to wake him and bring him on deck, and instead I find him doused in water in your grasp?” the captain said as he walked leisurely toward them. His eyes fell on his hat, but there was no recognition in his eyes. “Ah, so that’s where it drifted off to.”

“What?” they both asked.

“I fell asleep in the crow’s nest last night. When I woke my hat was gone. I was much too tired and it was far too dark to look for it.” He bent down and grabbed it, setting it on his head. “Perseus,” he said slowly, as though he were talking to a child. “Let him go.” He did. “Go on, then. To the main deck.” Percy shoved Will ahead toward the steps, and it took all his restraint to keep from hitting him. “Ah, pirate, your name?” he asked.

Will turned, furrowing his eyebrows. “William.”

“William,” he mused, much like the first time he’d said it. “Stay for a moment. Percy, fetch the rum for our guests.” Will glanced at the first mate who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. He nodded and left the two alone. After a few moments, Nico looked up. Will did too, but all he saw was a clear blue sky.

Suddenly Nico’s lips were on his, his hands on either side of his face. “Good morning, my love,” he said softly.

“You’re a rather good liar,” Will said, slightly unnerved.

He must have noticed it, because he kissed him lightly and slid his thumb along his cheek gently. “Only when I have to be. I won’t lie to you,” he promised. “Now come. There is someone I would like for you to meet.”

what is this sunday of which you speak

-Still slower than I’d like with the Ungodly Mountain of Notes, although the scrollbar position seems to indicate that I’m maybe a 5th of the way through? Oh god.

-Buuuuut I had a dramatic revelation about where I wanted to take the Canterbury Tales whatever whatever frame story! It’s still not perfect—the last thing I need to figure out is how to keep the core of my fancy idea without it limiting the types of stories people can tell—but I am super excited!!! Also I still have some more decisions to make about the stories themselves, but I know at least one I should be able to start on pretty easily. And I can just keep skimming a list of Aarne-Thompson folktale types for even more plots/themes to steal. Holy shit you guys I think I might actually write a fanfic what is this witchcraft

-Might’ve accidentally started a few articles about specific elements of fakemon design, whoops. Stuff like choosing/creating types and abilities and moves. We’ll see?

-Also this week: The short and argument/failure-to-plan-ahead–filled history of the Generic Medieval Europe Sandwich; how do I city-states; more places and important people have names now yesssss; it’s gonna be a whole lot easier to be friends with tentacle manaphy now that I finally know what its name is and what it looks like~ (and also what its stats are hahahahaha sorry arceus except I’m not sorry at all, keep up with the times and go get a mega you loser)

A little late, but eh!

-Got enough additional junk/organization out of my head that I was finally able to start hacking my way through the Ungodly Mountain of Notes in earnest over the last few days. There were a looot of ideas and unanswered questions that were still locked up in the ol’ brainbox, apparently, and then those ended up spurring new ideas. Which is good! But yeah, it definitely delayed the real meat of this organization effort. Just for a bit of perspective on the Ungodly Mountain, that document in and of itself is over 51,000 words. I already have enough notes and questions and scattered ideas to fill a NaNovel just in that one document, which I’ve been adding to over the course of two+ years. And I’ve only just started digging into it as of, what, end of Friday? I thiiiiink it’s safe to say that I’ll make 50k pretty comfortably.* It is also pretty safe to say that I’ll be doing this forever oh god.

(*I’m not claiming that 50k words of idea organization is just as difficult as 50k words of something that is in at least the vague shape of actual prose, even if one is writing said prose hastily. It’s nowhere near as difficult as all the NaNos I did actually write proper stories for, that’s for sure. I probably shouldn’t even have bothered with the official site for such an egregiously non-regulation NaNo, but for whatever reason November seems to be the only time I can be even remotely productive when it comes to my writing work, and having the official wordcount stats and widgets and expected goals (and my garchomp!) helps keep me motivated. I’ve gotta find a way to work like this during the rest of the year. :/)

-The other reason I’m only just getting a solid start on the Ungodly Mountain of Notes is because I spent the first few days of the week writing parts of a scene from “Holding Out for a Hero” instead of what I was actually supposed to be doing. It’s not even a scene that’s likely to be in the story (it’s already going to be long enough without a prologue or extra flashback or whatever this is argh), but it has helped me clarify a few things, at least. Made a few of the characters’ previously baffling decisions more reasonable, gave me a bit more insight into the protagonist’s ~feelings~ about the whole biblical kaiju situation she’s dealing with, that sort of thing.

-Not much actual progress on the Canterbury Tales whatever whatever, although I think I am homing in on some solid starting points for at least a few of the short stories. Also toying with ideas for some additional protagonists for the frame story. I still don’t really know what the frame story is or why all these weirdos are sitting wherever they are yapping at each other, but I do know that these two are going to have a lot of fun getting on one another’s nerves as they go on their As Yet Undecided Story-Time Avoidance Adventure. And by “they’re going to have fun” I mean “I’m going to have fun, they’ll probably hate it, honestly.” And maybe they might solve a mystery or something, I dunno. That’s what teenagers do when you leave them alone for long enough, right?

-Also touched on this week: fancy religions centered around the Tao trio; lucky articuno feathers; shuckle wine; witchcraft; how to make fat stacks of cash with teleport. Also, let’s all be friends with tentacle manaphy~♪

Now I’mma just sit back and enjoy the mega garchomp in my sidebar, whee. 6220 words in one day! I don’t think I’ve ever written that much in one NaNo day, like, ever, even during the NaNos where I was behind and struggling to catch up. (I don’t actually know that, my memory is awful, but I’m pretty sure I always paced myself when I was behind and didn’t do more than ~5000 a day?) Chipping away at the Ungodly Mountain + barfing sudden ideas about legendaries onto the page does wonders for my progress, apparently.

Because why not, I guess!

-Am definitely doing more Arilterra work, although for the time being I’ve decided against the wiki because I can write more and faster without having to think about even the pretense of “presentability”. (Even accounting for the fact that it would’ve been a NaNo version of “presentable”, a.k.a. “not presentable in the slightest how can there be so many nonsensical and horribly-worded things on one page who told you it was a good idea to let people see this”.) Still gonna do somethin’ at some point, though. Y’all ain’t gettin’ out of this that easy.

-Buuuuut I did come up with an idea for a story! Er. Stories. Well, not actually the stories themselves, not really, aside from a smidgen of “I already have these vague ideas for myths and folk heroes, maybe those?” But, uh, a frame story? I miiiiiight be attempting to rip off the Canterbury Tales, is what I’m saying. Only with ~10 tales instead of 22/the intended 120, no poetry/verse because ahahahahahaa me trying to write poetry, and with fewer excruciating stories about blah blah chivalry and who saw a girl first that literally put me to sleep when I listened to them and more stories about spider elves and murdercubone and awesome grandmothers and lesbian Robin Hood. I might make a couple of fart jokes, though. Can’t throw out all of the classic Chaucer, now, can I? Anyway, I just need to plan it out a little better (and yes I have to plan it I’m p. sure I’ve already said I’m not a pantser okay); then we’ll see if I end up writing any of it this November or afterward. I still fully intend to use the bulk of NaNo to finish my note cleanup, of course. Fancy story ideas or no, this needs to be done.

-Did a spot of country-rearranging and renaming on the map; doesn’t mean all that much at the moment, but it’s a huge relief to have some more logistics worked out and also to not have to keep babbling about “that-Vatican-theocracy-place-kinda-that-I-don’t-know-where-it-is”. (I kind of wish I’d actually written the placeholder out that way instead of just [Vatican]. Look at all those extra words...) Also, “Backwards Africa” is no longer called Backwards Africa and (because I couldn’t help taking the time to do some image-fixing as well as name-fixing) no longer looks so much like a backwards Africa or even a backwards South America, either.

-Also figured out: a little bit more about how some fancy magic works, who the hell some of the aimless vague characters I’ve made up actually are and what they do (and hopefully the Canterbury Tales thing will make some of them slightly less aimless), how to bug-type people, maybe. Urticating hairs might be involved. I’m not totally sure. It’s something, though.

-Royally screwed up my back yesterday morning, with no warning and basically for no reason. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to be anything more than a sprain, but still. Thanks, laundry. Bad news: hurts to move, pretty much confined to bed for all of yesterday/today/I don’t know how much longer why aren’t the meds working yet dammit. Good news: apparently typing doesn’t count as moving at least until the carpal tunnel kicks in!

Also I got one of those NaNoWriMon dealios! He’s on my blog sidebar, but he can also be right here for those of you who, like me, probably aren’t in the mood to be somewhere other than your Tumblr dash right now.

I felt like making it slightly relevant to what I was doing and wanted something that was three stages + mega, so I decided that some folks had a guard gabite and, well, here he is. We’ll have to see if he gets up to anything interesting while everyone else is telling stories and making fart jokes.

(with occasional added commentary about National Novel Writing Month plans because heeeeeey, kids, it's that time of year!)

AKA: an attempt to provide some semblance of context for all those things I keep whining about with no context. As much as I can without rambling on for too long, divulging spoilers, making promises I can't keep or getting close to information I don't actually have yet, anyway. Possibly slightly marginally a little bit useful for those of you who only joined the party recently thanks to the Ethereal Gates LP or MEWCOOL or the owlbears, and don’t yet realize what sort of constant, vague rambling you’ve gotten yourselves into. (To clarify for you fine new-follower-type folks: yes, I occasionally do fanart, and yes, I make a lot of fakemon. I also (attempt to) write fanfiction and do worldbuilding stuff and maybe play around with game dev, a little bit, maybe.)

The act of talking about this stuff out in the open has probably jinxed some of these projects into the "Never Gonna Happen" pile, but hopefully that won't be the case this time, eh?

Anything that has some currently visible component somewhere should have a link to it. Obviously unfinished things will not have said links. You can click on the links and look at the things if you want, I suppose.

Okay! Alphabetical List of Things I Am Ostensibly Working On, go!