Today I hit exactly 100 works and 200,000 words on ao3. Here’s the final piece of the puzzle:
Like a Lover’s Embrace
The sun is yet to reach the narrow streets in the Gothic Quarter and the stones underfoot are still slippery from last night's rain. Will is grateful for Kim's sturdy weight beside him.
Bright flowers tumble from a window box where they pause. Kim has filled out as Will wastes away, and as he wraps his coat around Will's rounded shoulders, the residual body-heat feels like a lover's embrace.
The years have been long and full, yet still this life of theirs slips away like water through Will's arthritic fingers. They know without saying, this trip will be their last.
"We are but small cogs in a large machine. There will always be things that are out of our control, and I think, perhaps it's time you learned to accept that."
*
Kim helps Will learn to accept it.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I know some of KJC’s books and series don’t have a specific reading order. However, I read the LilyWhite Boys before Sins of the Cities, and the Will Darling Adventures before the other England World books. Has this happened to anybody else, where you feel like you need to reread the other books now?
On the other hand, it’s so nice to see glimpses of characters 15, 20 years into the future- Archie and Daniel stronger than ever in their love, playing scary uncles to Will and Kim. And Sukey with her guvnors. There are so many happy endings in the worlds she creates.
He doesn't know when or how he let his heart crack so far open, yet despite the voice that rages so loudly in his head on these long and lonely nights, he still doesn't believe in regrets. How could he, when it was the space between his messy edges that had made room for blue eyes, auburn hair and silver scars. Or maybe it was the other way around.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
“There’s so much pent up, so much feeling. God. If someone could just cut those laces for him…"
The corset vest was heavier than he'd anticipated, dyed dark blue-grey: the colour of the sky over the ocean during a storm. The textured laces were in stark contrast to the dark leather straps, sturdy brass and soft silk lining that warmed his skin within moments of slipping it on.
*
“Are you okay, Aaron?” Helen asked, her mouth turned down in concern. “You’ve hardly eaten anything.”
“Yes, Aaron,” Joel said, with a furrow to his brow and a sparkle in his eyes. “Are you quite well? You seem a little…tense. Tight-laced, even.”
For @cartograffiti 💛
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Maisie loved her like this: untamed, pliant, wanting. Behind closed doors, without the shackles of title or responsibility, opinion or restraint, Phoebe embraced and surrendered to her desires. She was all in, unrepentantly vocal and entirely Maisie's.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Rating: T
Words: 2278
Relationship: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Summary:
“Ronan?” She laughed. “He’s all bark no bite. You don’t need to worry about him.”
***
Transformed by the Changing Light
Rating: T
Words: 3012
Relationship: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Summary:
“It was a cold, dark morning when my father die—” his voice cracked, interrupting the word, and he heaved a ragged breath then amended, “—was murdered.”
Adam looked at Ronan and away again, giving him space to continue. Ronan was grateful.
“It felt like time spiralled backwards and I was seeing it all again, but I was awake, man. It was outside of my nightmares.”
“It wasn’t real,” Adam said pragmatically, but not unkindly.
“It felt real,” Ronan countered, “which is nearly the same thing.”
***
up for interpretation
Rating: G
Words: 1402
Relationship: Aaron Minyard + Neil Josten (not slash)
Summary:
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked, eyes narrowed. He was expecting Esther, or Elsbeth, or someone. The blonde one. Neil ignored him.
“Je m'appelle Neil,” he continued.
“Neil’s a translator—“
“—Un interprète.”
Potato-potato.
***
twenty seven fucking rainbows
Rating: T
Words: 1752
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
He walked away with words and concepts and labels pinging around his brain, distracting him from every other thought that tried to take hold and suddenly he needed answers. He was pretty sure that he had not seen
• Have an identity crisis
on the objectives slide of the training PowerPoint.
***
(if you're feeling small) i'll love your shadow
Rating: E
Words: 8892
Relationship: Kevin Day/Danielle Wilds
Summary:
"You're an asshole, Kevin Day, but you're also a Fox." He stopped and turned back, but didn't meet her gaze. "It has just never occured to me until this moment that what Neil went through over Christmas was your life. I know that fucking grommet ruined your arm, but I guess I always thought things were fine until they weren't. But that's not the case is it? You know better than anyone else what happens when you defy a Moriyama."
Or,
The one where Dan has a sex dream about a mysterious stranger and he turns up where she least expects it.
***
Dawning on Me
Rating: T
Words: 21120 (one chapter to go)
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
He’d been an overcast, human-shaped machine for much of his 30-odd years, watching Life happen to others, experiencing the idea of feelings more than the actual weight of them. A photocopy paling in comparison to the real thing. Even the less sunshiney emotions were an outfit he tried on from time to time; more like clothing, less like skin. Scratchy, weighted, and mildly uncomfortable if he took the time to really pay attention.
--
Despite being a life long runner, Neil suddenly has an apartment, a kitten, a sofa, some house plants and a regular Sunday morning teaching gig at his favourite yoga studio.
Andrew needs to calm tf down and if talking to potted plants doesn’t help, maybe a certain blue-eyed yoga teacher will.
***
You Know I Never Forgot
Rating: M
Words: 11734
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
Topher was Andrew’s longest and least complicated relationship. The dusty brown fur-ball had followed Andrew home from the grocery store one cold fall day when he was a pup. Small and scruffy, ordinary, forgettable.
Topher was the reason Andrew’s writing career had taken off.
Topher was the reason Andrew could deal with the mindfuckery that was discovering he had a twin.
And Topher would be—if Andrew wasn’t Andrew—the reason he never forgot the first unmemorable, dusty creature he’d come across almost twenty years ago.
Or,
A lifetime ago Andrew met a dusty and thoroughly (un)forgettable barista. A lifetime later he meets him again.
***
MINYARD-JOSTEN RIVALRY
Rating: M
Words: 3523
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
It started innocently enough. Neil made a snarky comment after Andrew blocked a goal, Andrew told him to get fucked, Neil grabbed the grill of his helmet and said I’m planning on it. Andrew felt the thrill of discovery when he realised there were cameras pointed right at them from behind the plexy-glass and the inbuilt mics would have picked up every word they said…
That night the DailyRacquet posted a photo of them nose-to-grill with the header: TEAM MATES TO RIVALS - WHAT HAPPENED AFTER PSU?
***
Goodwill, or Something Like That
Rating: T
Words: 1010
Featuring: Andrew Minyard, Aaron Minyard, and that girl from the track team
Summary:
It’s no secret that Andrew makes a point of avoiding the library, but he supposes he can make an exception for Aaron. Or something.
***
Menace
Rating: M
Words: 1348
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
This is new: Neil, being comfortable to have a few drinks and knowing Andrew has his back. Andrew being comfortable enough to relax while Neil drinks, without worrying about taking advantage or acting out of turn. Neil knows Andrew would never hurt him, and Andrew knows Neil will tell him to stop if he needs it, regardless of whether he’s a little pickled or not. Besides, it’s not like Neil is plastered. He’s hovering in that delicious space between sober and drunk, where his cheeks tingle, his thoughts are brave enough to navigate uncharted terrain, and his tongue is loose. It’s fun.
***
Collide
Rating: T
Words: 10604
Relationships: Andrew Minyard + Ronan Lynch (best friends slash brothers, not lovers), Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Summary:
Ronan Lynch could count on three fingers the things his father had taught him, and one of them was how to be a grade A asshole. The second was how to tell a fucking good story. And the third was how to drive cars. How to really drive cars - stick, of course; the more horsepower the better.
Whether these were worthwhile life lessons or not depended entirely on the situation. All three had gotten Ronan into more trouble than he cared to catalogue. And all three had led him to Andrew Minyard, which was, of course, a very, very good thing.
***
Hal from Maintenance
Rating: T
Words: 1551
Relationships: No ships, just Kevin, Nicky, Andrew... and Hal. From Maintenance.
Summary:
Kevin helps Nicky with a plumbing disaster, and Andrew meets someone new.
***
The Dry Cleaner
Rating: T
Words: 5172
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
While they eat, everyone takes turns telling their weirdest experience of the week and at the end, Judge Andrew considers all evidence before announcing the verdict. This tradition of the Foxhole Court has been a fixture for a few years now and it’s one of Andrew’s favourite things. It used to be that he participated in the shenanigans too but he saw weird shit all of the time and no one wanted gory details at the dinner table.
Or,
Found family, chaotic good Neil, apple pies, and a strategic rainstorm.
***
Spirals and Knots
Rating: T
Words: 1960
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
Andrew knows there is no rainforest this far from the equator and he’s pretty sure Neil knows he is watching him stretch and he wonders if Neil knows how much he’d like to take him to the back of the van right now and give him a lesson in geography.
*
Harriet's maiden voyage.
***
Pilgrim
Rating: T
Words: 1748
Relationship: Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten
Summary:
The cicadas are already deafening when Andrew rolls over and discovers Neil is not in bed. Most other days this wouldn’t be surprising, but these days aren’t preceded with a night like last night anymore.
*
Neil runs away.
"Oh Jesus," Montgomery groaned, as he lathered the shaving bar in his hand before passing it on to Gordon, "tell me you don't actually know that by choice?"
"Of course I know it by choice." Alfie grinned into the mirror he held as he checked his shave. "I learned it one summer to drive my old man crazy."
"What, a whole book?"
All of the books, Will thought, just as Alfie said "All of the books," with glee. Will's razor slipped as he was overcome with a deep sense of deja vu and he hissed with the sting of steel and inconceivable, irrefutable truth.
He knew this day.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.
I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.
Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.
I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.
I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.
Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.
I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.
My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.
I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?
No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!
Rules: share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have less!) & tag 10 people.
Here goes (newest to oldest because that’s how ao3 fed them to me, with links no context):
1. "Can't wait to get my mouth on you," Alfie muttered under his breath.
2. "So then he said, 'It's unbelievable, Secretan, you have to see it for yourself,' and Christ, Will, I've never been more certain that I was about to be presented with a prick in my life."
3. "Why did you choose me?"
4. "I thought we agreed on purple."
5. "Christ almighty," Will said aloud, as he pushed open the door to the shop and almost tripped over a moving target on his way in.
6. The band was in full swing by the time Will arrived at the club.
7. "Hello, my love."
8. "That was not acceptable!"
9. Jeremy groaned and swatted around for his phone, patting the bedside table and coming up empty, almost knocking a glass of water over in an effort to stop the racket.
Would you be delighted to have your fics recorded into podfics (aka audio versions of your words)?
You can tell us in a permission statement!
Does the idea of your words being turned into a pod churn your stomach and make you want to hide in the forest (ie you DON’T give permission)?
You can tell us in a permission statement!
Do you have boundaries, are some works a yes and some a no? Do you like the idea of art but no pods or pods but no translations?
You can tell us in a permission statement!
Who is ‘Us’?
We’re like the cool weird aunts at your family reunion that few people listen to and even fewer respond to, but we continue to be cool and weird despite the radio silence because we know that there are other cool, weird aunts around that get excited about the same things we do.
We’re pocket friends who are deep in your fandoms and already enamoured with your words; and we’re internet randos who go squirrelling for food, fandom blind, so that we can record it for team challenges. We’re fans who wish our favourite fics were audiobooks so we could listen to them over and over on our daily commute, or in the bath, or when we’re hiding from the world under a weighted blanket.
We’re people who want to turn eyeball cake into earball cake, and we need to know if your bakery is open. (No a euphemism. Unless…?)
Okay, weird aunt, so what IS a permission statement?
It’s a sentence or three in your ao3 (or other) profile that tells other creatives where you stand about related works.
Here is a great post with more detail and here is an example of mine:
I love podfics, fan art and translations, and I’d die of happy if one of my fics has moved you to create.
It’s a blanket yes from me for art and podfics - but I like to be asked on a case-by-case basis for translations (unless we know each other outside of ao3 then go forth and do your thing). Please ask in a comment on the fic! I read all my comments and will respond.
(And PLEASE, whether we know each other or not, share your creation w me so I can die of happy, as per above, and so I can share your work in kind!)
If creating your own seems too hard, and my bakery matches your bakery, feel free to copy and paste.
That’s it!
If I’ve encouraged you to make a permission statement regarding your own works please let me know in the next *checks watch* three days so I can get some extra cool weird aunty points for a cool, weird team challenge xx
Once upon a Raven Cycle Reread I kept record scratching over these lines in chapter 61. @otherworldsivelivedin heard my cry and wrote As the World Caves In to fill in the blanks of this ridiculous throwaway line.
For Voiceteam 2025 I made some art and recorded a podfic for it! If pods are your thing, please check it out 💛
The man turns and strides away and Junior is frozen to the spot. Andrew wants to yell, Don't make him wait!, and he wants to yell, Get as far away from him as you can!, but he says nothing, and after a moment the mother turns to the boy who still hasn't moved—looks like he's barely taken a breath—and says, "Come on, Nathaniel."
Five summers over twelve years.
Five chapters over twelve days.
The first two chapters are now up on AO3 (this is a completed work).
