There are four lights.

44, she/her, Canadian, xennial, aegosexual greyromantic polyamorous fantasy nerd. I'm a fanfic writer, and BG3 and LOTRO player. I also do other things.

[mellybaggins]

Fanfic Master Post

My fics are now locked to A03 members only

Please send me an ask if you would like to continue reading and you don't have an account.

Longfic Author Interview (December 2025)

About the Author post (2025)

Oathbreaker

angst. self discovery. trauma healing.

This work is complete.

I will be doing a full edit of the first half of this work starting February 2026, including some new oneshot stories. There's a post about it here.

It's a story about betrayal, redemption, religious trauma, abuse, and why good people do bad things. She also has romances along the way because despite everything she has never lost her capacity to love.

This fic contains smut, drama, violence (there is also dead dove content especially in the middle-late act 2 and beyond) and is probably the work I'm the most proud of.

Please heed the AO3 tags, I know there's a lot of them, but it is a 400k plus fic in which a LOT has happened.

Oathbreaker and Themes of Religious Trauma (spoilers for the ending)

OC Layers Game

Character Profile - Morwen (Idril)

Character Word Association Game

Fantasy Casting for Original Characters

Morwen recast

HOTFIX - Act 1 Chapters:

Prologue/Chapter 1 - Eyes On Fire/Demons

Chapter 2 - Civilian

Chapter 3 - Freedom

Chapter 4 - Abraham's Daughter

Chapter 5 - Freefall

Chapter 6 - Camisado

Chapter 7 - Either Way

Chapter 8 - Hate To Say I Told You So

Chapter 9 - Paralyzer

Chapter 10 - Hymn For The Weekend

Chapter 11 - Iris

Act 2 Chapters:

Chapter 41 - Rainy Day (Gauntlet of Shar)

Chapter 42 - This Too Shall Pass

Chapter 43 - Frozen Angels

Chapter 44 - Numb (Backstory Chapter)

Chapter 45 - Fire Burning (the Battle of Moonrise Towers)

Chapter 46 - Make Yourself (Oathbreak Chapter)

Chapter 47 - Thunderstruck

Chapter 48 - Way Down We Go

Chapter 49 - Losing My Religion (Ain't No Rest For The Wicked)

Chapter 50 - Roads

Chapter 51 - Hunter (End of Act 2)

Act 3 Chapters

Chapter 52 - Porcelain (Sweet Dreams)

Chapter 53 - Clandestino (Decaparecido)

Chapter 54 - I'm A Wanted Man (Kryptonite)

Chapter 55 - It's Been A While

Chapter 56 - Come With Me Now (Disappear)

Chapter 57 - Entertainers

Chapter 58 - Cold Blood

Chapter 59 - Angel

Chapter 60 - Mercy

Chapter 61 - Savage Daughter

Chapter 62 - Dance, Monkey

Chapter 63 - Hold On

Chapter 64 - Beso

Chapter 65 - Vampiros

Chapter 66 - Scars

Chapter 67 - Promesa

Chapter 68 - River

Chapter 69 - Like A Prayer

Chapter 70 - Breathe

Chapter 71 - The Reason Is Treason

Chapter 72 - Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 73 - Rebellion (Lies)

Chapter 74 - Royals

Chapter 75 - Hustle (Quicksand)

Chapter 76 - Wicked Game

Chapter 77 - Grace, Too

Chapter 78 - Unforgiven

Chapter 79 - Together Right

Chapter 80 - Soldier

Chapter 81 - Devil Devil

Chapter 82 - Fuckin' Perfect

Chapter 83 - We're Here For A Good Time

Chapter 84 - I'll Be There For You

Chapter 85 - Me And The Devil

Chapter 86 - Hell's Bells (Teeth)

Chapter 87 - Revenge

Chapter 88 - Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Chapter 89 - Darkside

Chapter 90 - Champion

Chapter 91 - This Is How Villains Are Made

Chapter 92 - Reaper

Chapter 93 - Dead In The Water

Chapter 94 - Wings

Chapter 95 - Sun Will Set

One Shots:

This Protector (Act 2, Reithwin Tollhouse)

Come Undone (Act 1, Gale/Shadowheart scene)

Otter Creek (Act 2 Standalone)

Star (Act 1, Gale/Shadowheart scene)

Thousand Mile Wish (Act 3, Baldur's Gate) -NSFW

The Muck (Early Act 1)

Laileth of Waterdeep

fluff. romance. two worlds one heart.

This is Laileth. She is a forest elf who hails from Suldanessellar inside the forest of Wealdalth/Tethir, as far south of Baldur's Gate as Waterdeep is north. I've unconsciously been treating her like a Tolkien Silvan elf, so finally decided (though not stated in the fics themselves) that by some magic a group of elves from Mirkwood found themselves transplanted into Faerûn and therefore they were extremely reclusive and rarely dealt with outsiders except to trade. This is her first time meeting people of other races except at the bargaining table and she's fallen in love with Faerûn and it's people. She's also quite young, comparatively, and full of wonder and love of life and eagerness to learn and explore.

One person in particular though, Gale of Waterdeep. I've written several one-shots for her story and may write more in the future. Many contain smut, and Laileth and Gale are into dom/sub play.

Character Profile - Laileth

Laileth of Waterdeep Posts on Tumblr:

(in story timeline order)

Helvegen on Tumblr

Kvitravn on Tumblr

Odal on Tumblr

Grá post on Tumblr

Synkverv on Tumblr

Solringen post on Tumblr

Figured You Out

pure unadulterated smut (with plot)

This is purely a self-indulgent smut fic that occurred to me while playing on a new character and I had unintended consequences with Rugan. My mind went into the gutter when I saw him tied to a chair and now it's everyone's problem 😆

Nish and Shadowheart had an unconventional relationship ever since they hooked up at the tiefling party. A few open conversations revealed Shadowheart's desire to watch her new lover with other people, which fit perfectly with Nish's own desires to sample the many delights her short human lifespan has to offer without the confines of a conventional monogamous relationship.

There are five chapters planned for this fic.

Figured You Out

I Get Off

Like You Mean It

Aphrodite

[sankta-wraith]

Am I the only one who finds this extremely funny

[mellybaggins]

The Noldor have high INT and low WIS, confirmed.

[girlballs-archive]

someone needs to invent reverse cornflakes. i want to eat a cereal that gives me a demonic erection and inflicts upon me an insatiable lust

[girlballs-archive]

congratulations for writing the funniest and also most correct tags on this post

[dekariosclan]

[tynithia]

New Chapter Day! 'The Matriarch'

Chapter 9: Thunderstruck

Summary: After securing assistance from her ex, High Harper Kyle Reinhart, to find her son and grandmother, he suggests she also seek further help from the elves. This unearths memories of Morena's past with one particular elf: Lord Revalor of House Loralen.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Thank you for reading! ❤️ Fic plate banner art by @abigailsins

[departmentq]

Zilatreks on Instagram

[graffitinight]

When you try to talk about enshittification, it sounds like conspiracy theories. (I'm not crazy)

Amazon made their service worse, to force people to pay for Prime.

Nowadays, if you order from Amazon, there is a week long delay before your package is shipped. (on purpose)

I remember when orders would ship out the same day. (I remember - it was real)

YouTube didn't used to have ads. Now, ads play in the middle of videos. (it's worse than TV ever was)

The best can opener I have owned is over 40 years old. Modern ones just don't hold up as well. (The ones I bought new broke ages ago)

The bread machine my mom got for her wedding lasted 30 years. It's been replaced twice in the last 5 years. (How can you fuck this up?)

The cardboard tubes in the middle of toilet paper rolls have gotten larger. (This too?) Companies increasing the price of the product while selling you less. (REALLY?)

It sounds crazy. (it's the truth) When you talk about it, YOU sound crazy. (it's true)

Even when people believe you (do they really), all they can say is "it sucks". (it's too big) Because the problem is so big, so pervasive, what can we even DO about it???

To get the necessary laws written and passed, we need politicians, to get the politicians elected we need information campaigns, to fund campaigns we need money, and all the money is being hoarded by the people profiting from enshittification. (it sounds so fake)

So I talk about enshittification (it sounds crazy), so people don't forget that things have been made worse on purpose (it's true), even though I sound crazy. (maybe I am)

[vinelark]

hmm my former landlords are trying to deduct a frankly off the rails amount of money from our security deposit…my time has come once again

[vinelark]

i was chatting with a coworker about this whole saga today and someone nearby popped into the convo to be like “you know, you can use chatgpt to write a demand letter!” and i sort of blinked and went, “okay. i did it myself, though.” and she was like, “yeah but it can tell you what laws and stuff are relevant” and i was like, “i also did research myself.” and she was very well-meaning but she said “chatgpt” like six more times before she left and it was genuinely baffling to me, this insistence on it.

and in the one hand, did i enjoy spending hours researching housing regulations in my state? not especially. drafting this email was stressful. but on the other hand, did i learn a lot by doing that research? yeah, i did. i’m more prepared for my current and future leases. i used some of that info to make decisions about a new renter’s insurance policy. i already told three different people about things i learned that are relevant to their leases that they didn’t know yet. (pro tip: see if you’re supposed to be getting annual interest payments on your security deposit! also look up what specific appliances your landlords must legally provide as of 2026.) i also got to reconnect with my cousin for a bit because her job gave her specific insight on part of the situation, and i’d much rather do that than have a chatbot make shit up for me.

also, i drafted that email with the power of friendship (friends angry on our behalf) and spite (from landlords telling me not to do my research). chatgpt could never.

(we got the money back, by the way 💪)

[chantylay]

Please never use generative AI tools for any kind of legal dispute. It does not know what laws or court cases are. It will make up something that sounds favorable to you, and you will get crushed. There are free resources out there to learn this stuff. And sometimes attorneys will offer free consultations or volunteer at a free legal clinic. OP didn't just do it themselves to do extra work or some shit. This is really the only viable way to do things short of hiring a professional to do it for you.

ChatGPT is not easier or faster in matters like this. It is a shot to the foot.

[mellybaggins]

can confirm. I work in a law office and people using Chat GPT to do stuff they should be getting a lawyer to handle is the bane of my existence. DO NOT use it to do legal research, it's almost always wrong. Consult an actual lawyer, who works in the specific field of law that you need help with. If possible, try finding one who does free consultations. If you try to do this yourself you can get in real trouble.

[wilwheaton]

[perfectquote]

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”

— Sun Tzu

[withdreamsofhereafter]

Purple moths

[departmentq]

[stuckinapril]

Honestly it boils down to reparenting yourself & rewiring your own neuronal pathways & telling yourself a firm “stop” when you notice your mind slipping down negative loopholes & being present in the moment & enjoying being mid task rather than waiting for it to end & not thinking of inertia as your baseline and natural way of living

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

[kickbutts-singsongs]

My gf and I attended Neil Newbon’s panel at Phx Fan Fusion today and we learned that a) he was the actor for the performance capture of both Minsc and Gortash (among others), b) he based Minsc’s mannerisms off of his own twin brother (sweet), but also c) he based Gortash’s posture and behavior off of former US president Barack Obama

[itwasabeautifulwebbing]

me, initially: neil what are you talking about, obama’s body language is nothing like—

me now, unable to remove this newly acquired knowledge from my brain: nevermind i see it

[mellybaggins]

Rare Personal Status Update post

Hey all! As you know I have a few things on the go, but I just added something else to the mix that's eating up my time so I thought I'd give anyone who cares an explanation:

I am continuing to work on my hotfix /edit of the first 20-25 or so chapters of Oathbreaker, but it's going slower than I originally planned. I just updated Chapter 11 yesterday, but I think my beta reader is getting tired, and I have less available time than I anticipated, so that's why it's not every week as intended. I am still doing it though, I'm determined to fix my past mistakes, but there won't be as many oneshot gap fillers as I thought.

One reason I have less time is I am currently working on a new WIP 'Oath of Devotion.' This takes place immediately after Chapter 94 but before Chapter 95 of Oathbreaker. I'm really excited about it, but also a bit scared because this will necessarily be going hard into a very dark place. I'm nervous of either going too far (and committing character assassination) or not going hard enough (and trivialising a very real disease that I have only second hand knowledge of.) I'm hoping to start posting it in the fall.

My 45th birthday is next weekend, and at the end of May I gifted myself a gym membership, along with one year of personal trainer sessions to work on strength training. It's time to seriously attempt to loose this COVID weight that has overstayed it's welcome, and I know I can't do it all by myself. I'm tired of being tired all the time and finally doing something about it. This means I'll be at the gym at least three times week, further cutting into writing time (however I'm hoping that the extra endorphins will enhance the creativity, so when I do write it will be better? That's how that works, right?)

So that's what's up with me. I'm working harder than I can ever remember working and learning about muscles I've never used before because it's well past time I did SOMETHING good for myself. My poor body already hates me, but I know it will get easier as I stick with it.

Anyway, that's it. Still writing, but slower, and hopefully better, and in theory by this time next year I'll be stronger too.

Back to your scrolling 😊

[loredragonoftheforgottenrealms]

I have several thoughts on this section

1. I need to believe that there is a battalion present at every elven wedding designated to take down any wedding crashers or distributive guests. The idea of several elves dog piling someone drunk aunt gives me life.

2. Can you imagine being the only divorced couple in 3,000 years?

And 3. I just really love how devoted the dnd elves can be. There really is something so poignant about a creature who lives and breathes freedom and individualism giving a small part of that up because they care too much to not let you change them.

[mellybaggins]

This FR lore is contrary to my own head canon of elves being majority polyamorous, given their long lives, but I can still use this.

Just because the elves in my stories can have many loves, doesn't mean they're any less devoted to those loves.

I'm planning for two very different elf weddings in my WIP and this does give ideas of how to shape them.