bro idek why im here

aka caeli0306 on A03 asks are open! my claim to fame is that i write a LOT of riorgail fanfic. i think i'm a lot funnier than i probably am come for the fanfic, stay for the meme cat screaming “I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR” in the comments

[caeli0306]

Hello! Welcome to the unhinged record of my writing and other obsessions

Hello! I'm Caeli. I'm 25 and a journalist by day, rabid Fourth Wing/Empyrean fan by night. FW got me back in to reading fantasy, and then IF left me with a crippling book hangover. I turned to writing fanfiction for the first time to try to get my mind off of it, and now I spend my days writing... and then go home at night and write some more.

My fics (all posted on AO3):

Completed (14):

Tales from the Airport Bathroom - Xaden/Violet spy/soldier AU almost entirely from Xaden's POV where Violet is Stab Happy and Xaden is a Simp, the meet cute is on an airplane, and Xaden gives wife guy vibes as Violet destroys her enemies. 4/4 chapters, 19.5k words.

the present, the past, and you in between - VERY angsty one shot from Xaden's POV where he reflects on his lifelong love for Violet. Completed, 1k words.

Did Someone Say Shots? - One-shot College AU where Xaden thinks his feelings are unrequited but has to look out for Violet on an evening where she goes a little crazy with the Fireball shots. 10k words.

Did Someone Say Roadtrip? - A short oneshot prequel to Did Someone Say Shots? based on the RQ War Games drabble prompt fics that were getting posted for the 1 year anniversary. 1.1k words.

Did Someone Say Vacation? - A sequel oneshot of sorts to Did Someone Say Shots? that can be read on its own, where Xaden is vulnerable, Violet is emotional intelligent, and 🌶️. 12.7k words.

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal - Xaden/Violet Modern Day AU where Violet is a political crisis consultant and Xaden is running for office. Mutual hatred turns to mutual pining, and of course, scorching sexual tension. 🌶️ eventually. 5/5 chapters, 71k words.

cold woman - A very short character study one-shot of our favorite Lilith Sorrengail. Spoilers for end of Iron Flame. 1k words.

in the eye of the beholder - One-shot. Mira's POV of Violet and Xaden's budding relationship, plus some sibling bonding (beat up and drinking) time with Brennan. Major spoilers for both books. Completed, 7.1k words.

in this life and the next - Reincarnation AU where Violet and Xaden find each other — and their dragons — again 1,000 years after the venin are defeated in a world where the dragons are beginning to die out and no longer bond with humans. Some 🌶️. 8/8 chapters, 59.9k words.

the art and science of a cruise ship hookup - Modern Cruise Ship AU where Violet was left at the altar and meets Xaden on a cruise ship. 🌶️ ensues. 17/17 chapters, 225.7k words.

the sensations of happiness - Short fluffy one-shot sequel to 'in this life and the next' because there's no such thing as too much happy Xaden/Violet. 1.3k words.

whatever helps you sleep at night - Modern AU in which Violet Sorrengail goes on a backpacking trip, falls in a creek, and ends up in the same tent as Xaden Riorson. Some 🌶️. 5/5 chapters, 22.1k words.

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Partying on New Years - A New Years one-shot set during the two month timeskip in Chapter 4 of Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal. I would only read this if you've read VSGTSAS at least up to Chapter 4, otherwise it might not make sense or spoil the previous chapters. 4.8k words.

in the morning light - Missing morning-after and other scenes between chapters 4 and 5 of whatever helps you sleep at night. 🌶️. 2/2 chapters, 17k words.

In-progress (5):

castles crumbling - Xaden/Violet assassin-spy/soldier AU, aka the extended version of Tales from the Airport Bathroom. In-progress, chapter 32 posted 5/11, 303.3k words and counting. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)

Danger Zone - Xaden/Violet Top Gun AU. In-progress, chapter 7 posted 6/1, 49.1k words and counting. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)

Xaden Riorson's Guide to Surviving a Scandal - aka VSGTSAS from Xaden's POV. While this can be read separately from VSGTSAS, it would be better if you read it after reading the original fic. In-progress, chapter 3 posted 7/31/25, 24.6k words and counting. (1)(2)(3)

crime beat - Xaden/Violet modern AU where Violet quits her job as a journalist to become a cop and uncover the truth behind the death of one of her sources. Somewhat inspired by a real Toledo Blade reporter who became a cop. In-progress, chapter 6 posted 12/1/25, 26.2k words and counting. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)

sincerely, your enemy - Xaden/Violet Modern AU where they're both lawyers who dislike each other irl, unaware that they're actually each other's pen pals. In-progress, chapter 2 posted 2/27, 8.5k words and counting. (1)(2)

Now for some FAQs:

When are you going to update [insert fic here]?

Never if people keep asking! Kidding, but also kinda not. I work on fics when I feel inspired. If something else is inspiring me more I'm going to work on that first. They'll get written! I promise!

Why do you have so many WIPs? Why can't you focus on one fic?

I ask myself the same question daily and have yet to find an answer. If you figure it out, let me know.

How long will castles crumbling be?

(Updated April 2026) Still TBD! Tales from the Airport Bathroom was no plan, just vibes. castles crumbling is the extended version, so it will obviously be longer. While I do have a general plan for this here extended version, I don't have a super detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. I can't imagine it will be shorter than 25 chapters, but honestly, who knows? It's definitely going to be longer than 25 chapters. Still have no idea how much longer. Maybe 35-40? At the rate we’re going I think it’s going to be around 60. I hate my writer brain sometimes. I'll update this (again x2) when I have a better idea.

Are you ok? You seem a little cuckoo.

I'm not and I am! Roll Tide folks.

[star-shard]

Sometimes, fanfiction is carefully plotted out stories, with plot points and call backs and themes that all tie it up in a meaningful and exciting way.

And sometimes fanfiction is, ‘Watch me do a fucking KICK FLIP off this cool sentence!! Also here's some sex'

Both are beautiful forms of writing.

[caeli0306]

just checked out ellipsus like @hamsterboos suggested and im sorry but??? the way i would have paid so much more than $6 a month to get my hands on the writing insight tools it has???????

i dropped a random danger zone chapter in it to try it out and this made me cackle:

[caeli0306]

an update

hi folks. unfortunately, my mac’s logic board decided to zap itself out of existence, likely taking all of my drafts and files with it (or so big tech tells me). i had cancelled my icloud membership bc gas has gotten so expensive, so i don’t have any back ups. obviously, hearing this was extremely upsetting. i had a ton of half written wips that are now significantly less likely to ever see the light of day, plus upcoming chapters of danger zone and castles that were about halfway done. i had to replace my laptop a year and a half ago when something similar happened during RQ’s winter gift exchange, so to have it happen again during the summer exchange, at a time when i can’t even afford to pay for cloud storage, is incredibly frustrating. hip hip hurray for being a broke journalist!

what this means is that my fics likely won’t have updates until after the RQ discord server’s summer exchange ends, but the high cost to repair my mac may extend that timeline. the increase in gas prices has blown a hole in my budget, and i’ve already had to pay for an unexpected car and phone repairs in the last two weeks. i’ll likely need to start doordashing again to pay for it, which will cut into my writing time, and writing my exchange fic on my phone will require way more time than if i was writing on my laptop.

so, if i’m not as active on here over the next month, that’s why. i’m not going to say my fics are on hiatus, bc if i can work on them, i will, but given how much more time my exchange fic will need now i’m going to be focusing on that. hopefully i can get my laptop fixed quickly and this post is for nothing, but i’m not confident that will happen. stay tuned!

[caeli0306]

another update

hiya folks. first, thank you so much for the kind words and commiserations. losing my laptop is obviously Not Fun and Very Stressful, so i truly appreciated hearing from everyone, especially from those of you who reached out individually to ask if they could help me pay for the repairs (luckily this won’t be necessary!) i really love the community i’ve found since i started writing fanfic, and this was a really good example of why. 🩵

this update, fortunately, has more good news than bad news. good news: while my icloud said my laptop was no longer covered by applecare, the apple store said it was. because of that, the costs for the repairs are significantly more reasonable than i was initially told, so i felt comfortable sending it in for repairs immediately instead of waiting until i had the money for it. unfortunately, apple also confirmed yesterday that all of the internals will need to be replaced after finding water damage, and nothing is recoverable. in all likelihood, the reason is *drumroll* sweat got into the speakers! unbelievable, i know, but i’d been sitting outside in the summer heat when it died, with the computer in my lap, and that’s the only explanation i can think of since i’ve never spilled anything on it. i sent my mac off for repairs yesterday, but it will likely take a week or so to get back.

but there is more good news! Mother Caeli, the absolute godsend and awesome mother that she is, put her personal laptop in the mail yesterday once it became obvious i would be without my computer for a while. it should be getting here today, and then i can use it to keep writing in the meantime. i still don’t want to promise i will have updates on my other fics before the summer exchange ends, but its no longer a zero chance.

tl;dr, all of you are awesome, and things worked out as well as they could have given the circumstances (a rarity i don’t take for granted!)

[caeli0306]

Hey hi hello there, I hope you are well :)

I was wondering if you maybe got any blurbs for the next danger zone chapter? My day has been a bit of a mental bleh day and your stories have been helping me be distracted. So thanks for that ❣️

hi anon, sorry i just saw this. unfortunately i don't have any blurbs i can share right now bc technology and i aren't getting along, but i hope your day got better! <3

[caeli0306]

an update

hi folks. unfortunately, my mac’s logic board decided to zap itself out of existence, likely taking all of my drafts and files with it (or so big tech tells me). i had cancelled my icloud membership bc gas has gotten so expensive, so i don’t have any back ups. obviously, hearing this was extremely upsetting. i had a ton of half written wips that are now significantly less likely to ever see the light of day, plus upcoming chapters of danger zone and castles that were about halfway done. i had to replace my laptop a year and a half ago when something similar happened during RQ’s winter gift exchange, so to have it happen again during the summer exchange, at a time when i can’t even afford to pay for cloud storage, is incredibly frustrating. hip hip hurray for being a broke journalist!

what this means is that my fics likely won’t have updates until after the RQ discord server’s summer exchange ends, but the high cost to repair my mac may extend that timeline. the increase in gas prices has blown a hole in my budget, and i’ve already had to pay for an unexpected car and phone repairs in the last two weeks. i’ll likely need to start doordashing again to pay for it, which will cut into my writing time, and writing my exchange fic on my phone will require way more time than if i was writing on my laptop.

so, if i’m not as active on here over the next month, that’s why. i’m not going to say my fics are on hiatus, bc if i can work on them, i will, but given how much more time my exchange fic will need now i’m going to be focusing on that. hopefully i can get my laptop fixed quickly and this post is for nothing, but i’m not confident that will happen. stay tuned!

[caeli0306]

the final part of in the morning light, the missing scene fic for whatever helps you sleep at night, is now posted!

READ HERE

idiots being idiots part infinity! i promise this isn't the last we've seen of the backpacking idiots. i have a prequel oneshot that's about half written that i'll hopefully get around to by the end of the summer.

===

The lingering stares. The teasing. The way he always seemed to be the person on duty when one of her orders was ready to be picked up at Basgiath. Even the free fucking water filters. The signs had been there long before her ill-planned Snowgrass Loop excursion; long before Xaden kissed that first time. Long before last night when he whispered to her that he wanted to give her everything.

All of it pointed to one answer; had one source. The truth terrified her, but Violet didn’t even know why.

How long? a greedy, possessive part of her wanted to ask. Why me? But Violet didn’t ask, because knowing was acknowledging, and Xaden was right — she wasn’t ready to acknowledge this yet. Because once she did there was no going back, so she would keep herself in denial.

She straightened, the last of her clothes packed in the dry bag, and Xaden let their joined hands fall between them. His fingers loosened enough that she easily could have disentangled hers from them; as if he couldn’t bring himself to release her entirely but still wanted to give her the option to pull away. With her free one, she shoved the bag back into his pack.

“Forget about it,” Violet muttered. But she didn’t pull her hand away. And, slowly, Xaden’s fingers curled tighter around hers once more, with the strength of a spring trap but the speed of thick honey, giving her every opportunity to run away one last time. What Xaden didn’t seem to realize, Violet thought to herself grimly, was that the slow-moving honey, not the powerful spring trap, was what really kept her hand in his. The fact that he’d given her the time to pull away.

The honey stuck to her like glue, keeping her tethered to him even if it felt like they were now careening toward disaster.

[caeli0306]

blurb

===

“But even if I didn’t think you were the most incredible woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, you solved my econ homework when you were black-out drunk, Vi. If that’s not a sign that you’re more than capable of running your dad’s store, I don’t know what is.”

“I did what?” Violet lifted her head, mouth agape.

But Xaden merely used her shock as an opportunity to kiss her again.

[caeli0306]

Ok your writing is chefs kiss and I JUST discovered the backpackers au???? Omg. She’s in so much denial even at the end i fear ‘oh it’d be cool to cuddle in bed I guess’ meanwhile xaden is picking out wedding rings and future children’s names 💀🥲I do wonder how long does it take them in that au to admit to their followers they’re dating or is it they never address it until they’re engaged type situation?

thank you!! <3 yes she's so in denial she could be cleopatra.

in my head they don't say anything at first because violet doesn't want to, but after vi is more comfortable in the relationship (i.e. no longer in denial lol) it becomes a bit of a joke that they're not dating *wink wink* even though EVERYONE knows they are, but she still tries to convince people they're not dating in her videos as part of the joke while xaden goes to equal lengths to thwart these attempts. comedic tomfoolery ensues.

for example:

vi: *in the backroom of basgiath* "hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. today i'm reviewing a new water filter and backpacking stove i got from basgiath outdoors. i received them for free in exchange for an honest review—"

xaden: *yelling in the background* "it was her anniversary gift."

vi: *throws the water filter at his head* "the anniversary of the first time i bought something at basgiath."

xaden: "the anniversary of the first time we fu—"

vi: *stops the recording*

[caeli0306]

@skyfallscotland just pointed out to me that in off campus, dean and beau are dressed up during the costume party scene as maverick and goose bECAUSE BEAU AND GOOSE BOTH DIE

since i have to suffer with this knowledge everyone else does too

[caeli0306]

man i would give my kidney to see top gun maverick in theaters again. my tv doesn’t do it justice 😭

[skyfallscotland]

I just need everyone following Danger Zone to know that I never told @caeli0306 how closely she had to follow the movies, she did that to you! To me! To us! I’m innocent, I swear! 🫣

[promiseofthewolf]

i am CRYING

[skyfallscotland]

CHAPTER FIVE? CRYING

CHAPTER SIX? CRYING

CHAPTER SEVEN? CRYING

CHAPTER EIGHT? ?????????

[caeli0306]

i think i broke amy guys

[caeli0306]

folks its that time of year where i start working on my RQ summer exchange fic, which means i probably have 1-2 more chapter updates in me before i have to shift all my attention to that. choose your fighter:

democracy time!

castles update

danger zone update

sincerely, your enemy update

in the morning light final part

first chapters of short cruise ship continuation

Voting ended onJun 2

[caeli0306]

chapter 7 of Danger Zone is now posted!

Chapter 7 is now up on AO3: READ HERE

HA I actually got them both done this weekend! Take that ADHD.

Summary:

In which Xaden Riorson, hotshot TOPGUN graduate with a penchant for dangerous flight maneuvers, is ordered to report back to North Island to teach at the storied aviation training school that he's done everything to avoid. But the night before he reports to his new duty station, a certain bartender catches his eye.

or

a Top Gun AU!

===

“That’s hardly any of your concern.”

“It is if you pass out and I have to catch you again.” Xaden scowls, but I just repeat myself. “When was the last time you slept, sir?”

His fingers dig into the wooden desk, but he doesn’t answer.

“Well?” I prompt as the seconds tick by. “I’m not leaving until you give me an answer, jackass, so you might as well—”

“Since—”

He cuts himself off abruptly, swallowing hard. My mouth hinges shut. Xaden won’t meet my eyes now, his gaze glued to a spot just over my shoulder. I know if I follow his line of sight, I’ll find Garrick’s old seat.

No one dares sit in it now.

“—since it happened, I see my mom and Garrick every time I fall asleep,” he finally says.

“Your mom?”

Xaden nods. A creeping sense of unease settles deep in my bones at the haunted light in his eyes. Garrick makes sense, but there’s clearly something significant about seeing his mother too. He’s never talked about his parents before, but this isn’t a promising start.

“She was an instructor at TOPGUN. Both of my parents were. Mom was Admiral Sorrengail’s backseater.” His chest falls when a bitter rush of air whooshes out of it. It’s perfectly timed with my own gasp.

Xaden’s mom was Mom’s RIO?

[caeli0306]

Look I know it’s an AU and all but we Goosed Garrick? Right after Memorial Day? (That was heartbreaking I love your brain ♥️)

sorry (not sorry) i had to do it! the alternative was liam and i do not have the emotion capacity for that

[caeli0306]

now that everyone has had sufficient time to read chapter 6, a chapter 7 blurb!

===

He looks up from his feet when the bulkhead shuts behind me with a clang.

“Hi,” I say.

Something that is so close to a smile twitches at the corners of his mouth. “Hi.”

“I did something I wasn’t supposed to do,” I blurt out.

Xaden crosses his arms, and there’s a twinkle in his eye that tells me whatever leaves his mouth next is going to make me want to punch him or kiss him — possibly both.

“Is that supposed to surprise me?”

Both. Definitely both.

[caeli0306]

the lengths i go to for accurate fanfic besties