The Hon. Kim Namjoon struggles with his purpose in life once the end of his mourning period formally removes “husband” from his collection of identities. This is further compounded by the marriage of his brother-in-law, Park Jimin, to the lovable but spontaneous Mr Kim Taehyung (no relation) who, inspired by his previous adventures with the multitalented Jeon Jeongguk, elects to take them all on a lengthy journey out of the country. Taken along to celebrate Namjoon’s newfound freedom is their good friend and neighbour Min Yoongi, so deserving of a holiday after being forcibly separated from his own intended Mr Jung Hoseok.
Somehow, they end up ferried across the war-infested Mediterranean by none other than the notorious Captain Kim Seokjin, who is unlike Namjoon in so many ways that the chemistry between them is both unexpected and undeniable… but can the pirate’s code cooperate with the morals of a philosopher gentleman?
Rating: T
No warnings apply
WIP currently at 86K
I finally got around to moodboard-ing the sequel to my Vmin Regency AU which in classic Romance novel fashion puts a secondary character in the starring role, as well as brings the beta couple's plot to a resolution. But this time it's period, pirates, and Bangtan!!
main namjin
side sope and established vmin!
jinkook brothers, because I am writing this
a naval tour around 1812-1813 Europe from Falmouth - Lisbon - Essaouira - Gibraltar - Tabarca - Valletta...
all aboard a pirate ship called the Epiphany!
I now know so much more about the Napoleonic Wars than I ever cared to.
When you don't even have to create AUs cause they just serve them to you, what a master piece this stage was. But also let me turn that into the mad king and his guard...
anyway the actual point of fandom is to inspire each other. reading each other's fics and admiring each other's art and saying wow i love this and i feel something and i want to invoke this in other people, i want to write a sentence that feels like a meteor shower, i want to paint a kiss with such tenderness it makes you ache, i want to create something that someone else somewhere will see it and think oh, i need to do that too, right now. i am embracing being a corny cunt on main to say inspiring each other is one of the things humanity is best at and one of the things fandom is built for and i think that's beautiful
The funny thing about 2025 is that my instinct is first to say "I was so behind on fic/my output was poor!!" But then when I checked, I actually posted SEVEN fics this year, which is more than any other year on Ao3 for this fandom:
The Feeling of First Love (Sope, one-shot)
And They Were Roommates (Namjin, 3 chapters)
Light in the Dark City (platonic OT7/JK-centric, one-shot)
A Loveliness Far, Far Away (Namkook, one-shot)
The Hamster Bride (Namjin, one-shot)
Combat and Compatibility (Namjin, longfic/wip started in 2024)
The Universe Can Move For Us (Namjin, 3 chapters/wip that I will finish before the week is out!)
So why did I feel my output was so poor this year? Okay, I'll reflect.
First, some analysis:
The fics I am satisfied with/might even be proud of are The Feeling of FIrst Love, Light in the Dark City, A Loveliness Far Far Away, and The Hamster Bride. The first was for Sope Fest, the second for Ma City Zine, third for Rarepairs Exchange, and the last one for Fairytale Fest. I actually wrote the second in early 2024 but was only permitted to post it this summer. What I feel pleased about in these fics is that they are consistent from beginning to end in tone. I'm happy with my writing in these, enjoying how I used my vocab and sentence structure. I was confident in the structure of scenes while writing and even now if/when I reread them, find them resonant with the ideas/themes that surfaced in the process in also a consistent and meaningful way.
The fics I'm not satisfied with/prefer not to think about are And They Were Roommates, Combat & Compatibility, and The Universe Can Move For Us. The first was for the Homecoming Project and the last was for the Namjin Secret Santa, leaving C&C the only one a personal inspiration. All of them suffered from taking much longer than I expected and having some form of improvisation in the writing, ie. for Roommates and Universe, I wrote/am writing the last chapter on far less detailed outlines than usual and therefore feel like those stories are much less cohesive. Also, they were very humour-based like in a very slily way, which is always a big gamble and hard to pull off. Sadly these all are Namjins. I'm so sorry, Namjin!!!!
The most "successful" in terms of statistics (hits:kudos:comment ratio) was The Hamster Bride, likely from the fest it was in since I feel like it reached an audience who I'd never interacted with before. The story itself had the benefit of a) being a manageable length of 5k and b) a recognisable structure via the fairy tale it was based on. Guaranteed happy ending, romantic vibes, and come on, magical hamster Jin! Who could resist?
The "poorest performance" would be The Universe Can Move For Us. One might consider its newness, the way it was posted during a holiday where many people might not be reading fic (most of my usual subscribers don't seem to be reading it) etc. Also as it was for an exchange, I couldn't choose a prompt that inspired me but instead was given a rather specific one and not what I'd usually think of (but that's kind of the whole POINT of being given a prompt... the challenge of it!). I started over writing this story 3 times, one version of it even reaching about 2.5k before I scrapped it. The deadline was very close (as it was directly Christmas themed, I didn't want to delay it for the January extension) and I had to write it through my busiest time of year. Also, I made a late decision to specifically set it in Seoul, which I have visited but obviously never lived in! Very stressful, not really happy with the result, so not surprised at the poor performance, can't wait until it's finally finished and I can move on!
So now, some reflection:
I feel like I did my best work when I was able to conceptualise the entire story from start to finish in my outlines before writing, since that also helped me understand what I was going towards emotionally or thematically as they rose out of those said outlines. I also was much happier when I was really excited/had some creative control over the idea too. Even the prompts I was given in the 4 "satisfied" fics were very open or simple ie. a single trope or suggestion instead of details about a scene or plot. Being able to interpret it myself and being excited about it was a key point.
My struggles were rooted in two main things: delayed deadlines and narrow fields. Now, these both often came from MYSELF rather than others, though I'll say that for Universe I found that prompt very challenging and to this day I don't even know if my recipient liked the work since they haven't interacted with the fic at all. Anyway, the 3 fics all bothered me because I found them hard to finish. I was often getting exhausted by offline things or not sure how to conclude these stories/get the characters to where they needed to be in order to conclude. Dissatisfaction also often came from the weird tones. They always say comedy is harder than drama and it's true. But I usually want my fics to be funny and have a lot more fun myself writing them. The hard part about using humour in Roommates/Universe was to balance it with an actual story, the developing relationship -- which I do think I pulled off in Loveliness, in part because it's a crack treated seriously situation. So perhaps I really need to lean in more to the absurd and emotional.
I felt my dialogue regressed this year. It's harder for me now and doesn't feel smooth anymore. I'm not sure if the voices are actually distinct from each other. I think my descriptions remain fine. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the craft of writing but feel unable to apply it well to my own work. Sigh, I think I need to read more books, and luckily I got a few that I'm very interested in over Christmas.
This year I went back to Namjin as my main ship, which I've wanted to do for a while but this was also influenced by joining the Namjin Comeback discord at the invitation of a reader. I have VERY much enjoyed being there because finally, I've made some fandom friends... particularly fic reading/writing friends!! And while C&C has no hope of updating until February at the earliest, I still want to continue writing Namjin for my next longfic. Namjin is, honestly, not a very easy ship to write. I've often called them the arguably most wittiest and eloquent members, which is quite a high standard to live up to when depicting their POVs in a story. And though they have some clear dynamics like charismatic vs nerdy [going both ways!], shy vs extravert, parental figures, etc. etc. it's a delicate line not to make it flat and/or cliche. I've heard from some fellow Namjin writers that they're becoming almost stale to write about since their dynamic is so well matched/the members themselves have now grown so comfortable with one another. I don't exactly agree with this (because IMO you can say the comfort part with ANY pairing within the team?) though I understand where they're coming from, because an even bigger challenge is how to deal with conflict AFTER establishing the relationship? Anyway, the shifts and maturation of their IRL personas provide a lot of fascinating and fun ways to look at them too. It's because I really love what Namjoon and Seokjin have shown about themselves, and how they work so well as a team despite being so different, that makes me still want to explore them further.
I purposefully stopped writing so much Sope. They're kind of my first ship in this fandom and fic-wise an easy dynamic to write with the "grumpy x sunshine" trope. I still am very fond of them (will definitely keep reading!) but I just wanted to get back into Namjin!
I also purposefully started including side ships that I normally don't use. It was so fun to write the Namkook, but I also really liked doing some Yoonkook and Jihope from Hamster Bride. I've got a side ship Yoonjin coming up which I'm really looking forward to!
I did not write any Vmin this year AND I THINK THAT IS A ROTTEN SHAME!! I'm definitely going back to those guys, my "moon sign OTP" so to speak, in 2026! Dramatic romantics here I come!!!!
In Conclusion:
In 2026, I'd like to scale back on fest participation. I do have an outstanding claim but other than that, I'd like to prioritise my own ideas. If I'm excited about them, if they're 100% me, then I hope that will bring the spark back. TWO that are planned are already main ship Vmin multichapters, let's GOOOOOO.
A friend from the discord and I had detailed plans for a collaboration that will again have Jinkook as brothers, something else I really miss writing too because they are my true, although platonic, OTP. Not sure if we'll get to it per both our schedules, but that's something fun I'd like to try!!
And, I will finish Combat & Compatibility before OT7 comeback even if it kills me. With a firm Austenesque epilogue to stamp out any possibility of going back to that AU which I am happy with but ready to move on from forever. FOREVER!
listen i may take 4 weeks to write a 3k word chapter, and i may take 45 minutes to decide whether i should use “laugh” or “chuckle”, but at least i don’t use ai and whatever you’re getting is pure chaos from a human brain
As the Jade Rabbit, Jungkook lives with Seokjin the Moon Goddess in their extravagant celestial palace, and after 3000 years of each other’s company they have grown close but also very bored and lonely. So it’s almost welcome when a gang of bumbling mortals arrive on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival to try to steal from them – especially when this includes dimpled dreamer Namjoon, who makes for a pretty terrible muscle guy but a surprisingly good sounding board for all the thoughts and feelings Jungkook has bottled up for these thousands of years.
Rating: T
No warnings apply
Complete at 13K
This was my submission for the Rarepairs Autumn Exchange in which my giftee prompted a heist and I really, really wanted to incorporate the Mid-Autumn Festival (sorry for posting this a few days after it commenced; my laptop wasn't working at the time). So as a result we get...
main namkook
side SURPRISE PAIRING! (but it's also a rarepair!)
inspired by Chinese mythology related to the Mid-Autumn Festival: the legends of Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit
themes of loneliness and making the best of your circumstances
but also the silliest shenanigans you can imagine. I mean, it's a heist on the moon.
As airplanes scream overhead, Jungkook walks home from school into the infamous Kowloon Walled City, where within the darkness and behind ramshackle walls live thousands of souls who have lights and dreams of their own.
Rating: T
No warnings apply
Complete at just under 2k
Finally, here is my piece for Ma City Zine which, by the way, still have leftover bundles available until August 31!! I wrote it so long ago and remain proud of it -- like I do for any story I set in Hong Kong.
set in 1980s Kowloon Walled City
Jungkook POV but it's a OT7 found family of bros
slice of historical life
another love letter to my hometown, this time saluting the community that thrives and stays determined amid the ugliness that could bring us down
Dog hybrid Namjoon always gets a bit mopey when his best friend, human Seokjin, is away at his day job. At least the time they get to spend together in the mornings and evenings make up for it! But when Seokjin has to leave on a weeklong trip for work, Namjoontriever is going to have to learn a thing or two about being on his own – and about how he actually feels about Seokjin – with a lot of help from fellow human and hybrid friends.
Rating: T
No warnings apply
Complete at 12K
Wrote this for the BTS Homecoming Project in which it gets progressively sillier but very firmly earnest and full of love throughout!
main namjin
golden retriever Namjoon and introvert teacher Seokjin!
oh my god they're roommates
and best friends
to... lovers!
ensemble cast features an emotional support Hobi, shiba!Yoongi (the fan fave it turns out), rabid shipper Jimin, poodle!Taehyung and the briefest glimpse of collie!Jungkook
as well as a pack of nosy adorable schoolchildren named after and strongly resembling a pack of nosy adorable schoolchildren I know IRL
Émile was still years away from his first of two nominations for a Nobel prize in literature, of course, mainly because Nobel prizes wouldn’t be invented until 1901. While Nobel HAD died in 1896, his family had contested the latest of his many wills - and once cleared, it took a while for the proper foundation to be formed. This work was largely done by Ragnar Sohlman, who was born in 1870, became Alfred Nobel’s assistant in 1893, and who will absolutely not be appearing in this story.
