So 2025 is almost done and honestly it's been a bit mad for me in terms of writing this year. Since June I've written and posted almost 200k words, which is almost half of my total word count on my AO3 account that I've had since 2016.
It blows my mind a bit really because I don't think I've ever been this productive whilst also being so busy in my personal life simultaneously, I've actually impressed myself I'm ngl, but I've also tried to make myself really disciplined in order to get the things I want done, done, which has meant that I've basically read nothing myself lmao, both in terms of books or fanfic. (I want to change that for next year, I miss reading things!)
I want to thank anyone who has read or commented or left kudos or rec'd anything I've written this year (or in years gone by), I honestly appreciate it so much. ❤️ I write basically for myself really and I always have done, but hearing like 1 person liking something I've written always is incredible to me, so thank you so, so much. You're all incredible. ❤️
But anyway, onto the fic:
Big year for my baby, my ride-or-die AU, my bae, the thing I have spent almost 10 years writing and which will be finished next year. It's been a labour of love, but I really do love it so much.
The omegaverse au got a whole 3 installments this year.
a tragic state of mind - Aaron/Robert - explicit - 87k words.
a little messed up forever - Aaron/Robert - explicit - WIP - 86k words.
the apple of my eye - Aaron/Robert - general - 1.5k words.
CW for the whole AU: mpreg/post mpreg, omegaverse, pregnancy/fertility related issues, Aaron's CSA storyline, self harm, mental health issues, homophobia/internalised homophobia, kidfic.
I won't post the individual summaries because I made them long but they are all available here as part of the series.
I got to write a lot of one-shots this year which I haven't done for a long time, which was fun and I want to do more of in 2026. So in order:
we'll try again, when we're not so different - Aaron/Robert - mature - 3.6k words.
It starts slow.
So slow that if Robert wasn’t looking, he might not have noticed; but when it comes to Aaron, Robert is always looking, and so he notices it straight away.
for old time's sake (an ode to robert's post prison biceps) - Aaron/Robert - explicit - 1.6k words.
“Y’know you could take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Robert says loudly. Aaron halts and turns back to face him, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and shrugging his shoulders innocently, like he doesn’t know what Robert is talking about.
“Yeah, you’re alright thanks.”
i don't care if it hurts. i wanna have control - Aaron/Robert, Aaron/John - explicit - 1.5k words.
CW: voyeurism (John is a massive creep).
He’ll ruin Robert and he’ll destroy Aaron, and everyone will call him the hero – the saviour – at the end. He’ll save Aaron’s life, and he’ll make sure Robert ends his.
to stay in your arms forever - Aaron/Robert - teen - 1.1k words.
He knows that they needed this, both of them. That they would have ended up here anyway.
Robert looks up at him with wide eyes, pupils blown deep and black. He’s panting, thoroughly debauched with his ripped shirt hanging down one arm and exposing the deep ridge of his collarbone, the thick muscle of his shoulder arching away from his neck. He’s gorgeous, he’s Aaron’s.
“Y’know Kev got one thing right,” he says, breathless and heart racing as he scans his eyes over Robert’s face before dropping them down to his chest and further still. The sight of his smooth, toned torso making him throb the way it always does, always has, for 11 years. “You are fit.”
the seeds of doubt - Aaron/Robert, Robert/Kev (ref) - general - 0.6k words.
CW: mpreg.
“Kev, the thing is – ”
“You’re pregnant.”
between the lines - Aaron/Robert - teen - 2.9k words.
CW: self-harm, scars.
It’s a scar, a raised pink line trailing up from Aaron’s hipbone. It would be nothing really, except there is a twin next to it, and another on the opposite side – jagged and angry looking – and the tail end of another peeking out from under the twisted hem of Aaron’s shirt. Robert swallows and pauses, takes a second to process.
“Summat wrong?” Aaron pants, and Robert looks up at him sharply, realises he’s unconsciously stopped the grinding roll of the palm of his hand.
“No. Nothin’.”
over the line (sequel to between the lines) - Aaron/Robert - teen - 1.1k words.
“I hate that you did that.” He says as he looks down at the mark Robert knows has caught his attention, now healed, at least on the surface. It’s deep pink and angry looking still, a perfect, straight gash of a line that still aches if Robert flexes his muscles too much. “I hate that he did this to you.”
made for you - Aaron/Robert - explicit - 2.8k words.
Aaron raises an eyebrow and pulls a curious face, nods his head once flirtatiously. “Oh really? What do you need up here then?”
Robert smirks wider still and tugs Aaron into his body until they are pressed close from head to toe; Aaron feels him hard against his thigh through his jeans and a curl of heat forms in the pit of his belly.
“You.” Robert answers lowly, sliding his fingers down and underneath the hem of Aaron’s t-shirt to stroke over his bare skin. “And a horizontal surface.”
(kindred) spirit hear me, i am not the man i was - Aaron/Robert - general - 1.9k words.
Harry chats animatedly to Vic a few steps ahead, bouncing on his toes beside her as he goes through all the toys he’d opened this morning with excitement. His sister and nephew are obviously not wrestling with the same morbid imagery as he is, but there isn’t any real reason that they would be, it’s not them that the spirit of Jack Sugden haunts – it’s Robert who has that luxury, and he probably always will.
And that's it for 2025! Happy New Year to you all, and I hope 2026 is kind to everyone. ❤️
Watching Emmerdale right now feels like when you start reading one of those fanfics that has a decently compelling plotline initially, but then it becomes quickly clear the writer doesn't know how to bring it to a conclusion, so now you're on chapter 147 and the 20th tragic, unnecessary thing has just happened to the main character and the fic should've ended like 109 chapters ago, but the chapter count still has a /? at the end.
Watching Emmerdale right now feels like when you start reading one of those fanfics that has a decently compelling plotline initially, but then it becomes quickly clear the writer doesn't know how to bring it to a conclusion, so now you're on chapter 147 and the 20th tragic, unnecessary thing has just happened to the main character and the fic should've ended like 109 chapters ago, but the chapter count still has a /? at the end.
I'm still just so stuck on the Graham thing though, like GRAHAM? SERIOUSLY??! All that for GRAHAM??? Nobody, literally nobody asked for that Laura Shaw, nobody.
Naw and here I was hoping that the summer spoilers would be about how Dr Todd would find redemption through connecting with her long lost son Kammy, and start up a side hustle selling organic smoothies. 💔
thank you @dreamer-of-ships @aelric @jonathan-harks @barnbert @capseycartwright @jackiemerrick @kellykadesperate @maybemystcha @aaronsugdens for the tags <3
should be working on big sad for the fmi event but my brain has started looking ahead, so have something new
Up close, Robert is immediately struck by the man's eyes; bright and blue, looking him up and down in a manner that would make Robert feel uncomfortable if he wasn't secure in the fact that he looks really good in the maroon suit he's wearing.
"Who's got too many teeth?" he asks again, when the two men just keep staring at him.
The friend clears his throat. "Harry Kane," he says, gesturing across the table. "My mate Aaron here thinks he's mad fit."
Robert chuckles. "Well, I think your mate Aaron's mad fit."
tagging @robrondale @quarkstartrek @mellaithwen @madroxed @sugdendeeznuts @illbeyourreasonwhy @butteredsc0tch @livflahertydingle @jcforsapphics if you feel like sharing 💛
Thank you for the tags @capseycartwright @kellykadesperate @maybemystcha @aaronsugdens @bartonmatty. 💖
Haven't done one of these for a while so I'm a lil rusty. This isn't 7 sentences, it's 5, but this felt like a good place to end the snippet and the sentences are so run on enough that it probably classes as 7 lmao.
The invitation had landed on the door mat with a hyperbolic thud.
It wasn’t heavy enough really, despite the weighty cardstock it had been printed on – and Robert hadn’t actually been in when the post had been delivered that morning to disconcert if the envelope had indeed made a noise when it’d hit the floor – but it’s mere presence was enough to cause a shift in the universe, an unwanted twist in space and time, an ill-fated harbinger of chaos into the world.
He hadn’t really realised what the envelope was to be honest, as he’d absently opened the small stack of letters while waiting for the saucepan to heat up his leftover pasta, but as soon as he’d slid the card out and caught sight of the names at the top written in cursive gold, he’d felt a sickness in his stomach that’d put him off his tea immediately.
‘Please join us for the wedding of John Sugden & Aaron Dingle’