I'm completely obsessed with my current WIP, a Modern Bridgerton AU! I'm roughly planning to have a story for each Bridgerton sibling, with some of them intertwining. I'm currently writing a rough outline of each story, vaguely following the show (and sometimes incorporating book stuff that might fit) but making it, obviously, modern. So Saphne are going to be a Fake Dating story (I'm thinking actors in a PR relationship) Kanthony are Enimies to Lovers (maybe rival Lawyers? I'm not too sure yet) and Polin are obviously Friends to Lovers!
And it is part of the Polin Story (as yet untitled) that I'll be sharing today, because I started re-writing the Carriage Scene and couldn't stop (though I have yet to write the actual smut) and I am incredibly proud of what I have so far
Modern Bridgerton AU - Untitled Polin Story - "Carriage" scene
“Pen, wait!” Colin called as Penelope ran up the staircase, her curls flying behind her and the skirt of her dress fluttering around her legs.
“Not now, Colin,” She responded, slowing slightly as she got to the landing, stopping and taking a heaving breath that turned into a sob she quickly swallowed back.
“Penelope,” Colin whispered, slowly walking up the stairs towards her.
“I don't want to talk, Colin,” She said, her back still to him, and he watched as she straightened, taking a deep stuttering breath and slowly letting it loose. Her sniffles filled the hall, mingling with the distant thump of bass coming from one of her neighbours, but otherwise it was silent as Pen composed herself before turning to him.
She was beautiful, as she always had been, as he'd long taken for granted. Even with reddened eyes and messy mascara, fallen curls and flushed skin, she looked like a work of art. He was sure Benedict would be able to name exactly which, or, rather, he wouldn't, because Penelope was one of a kind.
“Please,” he said imploringly, nodding to the door of her flat, “Let me in?”
She regarded him, looking down from the landing above The overhead light made a halo around her head, [blah blah blah poetry about her standing tall in front of him, him having to look up at her beauty blah blah blah]
She nodded - the mask of composure falling away, letting him see the exhaustion and sad acceptance she was feeling - and turned to open the door. He took the last few steps two at a time, and followed her into the flat. He closed the door behind himself, toeing off his dress shoes and watching as she sighed, her hands running through her hair and snagging on bobby pins. She let out a sound of frustration before grabbing a claw clip from the table by the door and expertly twisting her hair up and away from her face. She leant down to undo the clasp on her shoes, and fumbled, letting out another sound of frustration that caught on a sob.
“Let me,” Colin said, voice soft in the quiet, and gestured to the bench in the hallway. She sat down heavily, and he crouched in front of her, unbuckling the clasp at one ankle, and then another.
“Why did you follow me home?” Penelope asked, as he gently took the first heel from her foot.
“You… you looked distressed, as you left the luncheon,” He answered.
“So you decided to follow me?”
Colin placed the second heel next to the first, neatly, before sitting back on his ankles. He chewed on his lip, before looking up at Penelope.
“What happened, between you and Deb?” He asked.
A silence stretched.
“Its odd,” Penelope said, swallowing around emotion, “When I asked for your help finding a boyfriend, I didn't think it would end with them breaking up with me, because of you.”
Colin blinked.
“Because he seems to think you have feelings for me,” She let out a disbelieving laugh, closing her eyes and bringing her fingers to the bridge of her nose.
Colin's breath caught in his throat, and when he opened his mouth to respond - to say something, anything - the words he'd practiced again and again got caught along with it.
“Which is so ridiculous all I can do is laugh,” Penelope voice caught on the last word, the disbelieving laughter of before turning wet, “Now will you please just leave me to wallow alone?”
“I can't,” Colin breathed, his lungs aching with the effort of finally talking.
“Please!” Penelope practically begged, and Colin's nerves snapped.
“I can't,” He insisted, “Because…”
All of the speeches he'd written - in journals, on his notes app, in his mind - burst into his mind [change to something else] and he stumbled through the plethora of words. He looked down at the small flowers that adorned Penelope's dress, composing himself and his words, before looking back up. He met her eyes, bright with both unshed tears and…
Hope.
His resolve strengthened, and the words that tumbled over each other in his mind became clear.
“What if I did have feelings for you?” He said, the words a question but the answer clear. Or so he hoped.
“What?” The disbelief in Penelope's voice pierced his heart, denting and almost breaking it.
He sorted though the words, settling on the best to convey his feelings, before kneeling up, leaning closer to Penelope and taking her hands in his.
“I have spent so long,” He began, eyes locked on hers, “Trying to feel less, trying to be more like my brothers, and for a moment I thought I had succeeded,” He looked down, the intensity of Penelope's gaze making his heart thump in his chest, drowning out the music that floated through the walls from Penelope's neighbour.
“But the last few months,” He continued, watching his hands curl with Penelope's against the floral backdrop of her skirt, “Have been filled with feeling. Feelings like the total inability to stop thinking about…”
He looked up at her again, blue eyes meeting blue.
“You.”
The confession came out in a breathy whisper, and Colin watched Penelope’s eyes alight with hope once again, before shuttering. A wall separating her heart from his words, as if afraid they would end up breaking it. He never wanted to break her heart, quite the opposite in fact. He wanted to hold it gently next to his, to nurture it and show her that she did not have to settle for someone like Debling - someone who planned to leave her behind, someone who planned to gallivant around the world without her on his arm.
“About that kiss,” He continued, shaking his head with a soft laugh, “A kiss that I have been dreaming about every night since it happened. For months I have felt disappointment upon waking, I’ve started to prefer sleep, because in my dreams I am with you. In my dreams we are together,” His words had started to quicken, and he sensed a ramble incoming.
He wanted to tell her about every single dream he could remember - Dreams of the two of them on a beach in Greece, the sun shining off of her hair and painting freckles across her nose and over her shoulders. Dreams of her dressed in elaborate dresses as they danced at elaborate balls straight out of period dramas and fairy tales. Dreams of the two of them lounging on his sofa, his apartment now adorned with artwork he knew hung in her bedroom, a throw he had watched her crochet wrapped around their shoulders, as they watched Daphne and Simon act on screen. Dreams of her laid out against his sheets…
He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes against the visions of her, before opening them again and gazing at the real thing.
“They’re damn near torturous,” He told her, sincerity lacing his words, “They way they have given me so much hope, before the disappointment of reality sets in. But it is a feeling that I cannot, will not, do not want to give up.”
“Please,” Penelope shook her head, closing her eyes, “Don't say things you don't mean.”
He squeezed her hands, eyes mapping her face as he waited for hers to re-open. The thumping bass from next door got louder, the pace of it matching the quickness of his heartbeat.
Finally her eyes opened again, and met his.
“But I do mean it,” He told her, simply but with feeling. He smiled up at her, softening his gaze, “Its everything I've been wanting to say to you for… months.”
“But Colin,” She said, eyes darting over his face, “We’re friends.”
“Yeah but we…” he trailed off, brow furrowing as he took in her serious expression. He open and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get his words back into some semblance of order. But they were scattered to the wind once again.
“Right, of course, I'm sorry,” He looked away from Penelope, beginning to untangle his hand from hers, “I don't know what I was thinking! Pretend I didn't sa-”
“-But I’d very much like to be more than friends,” She interrupted him.
Colin's head snapped up, his sharp intake of breath catching in his throat. Penelope's eyes sparkled with mirth, her lips quirked in a smirk that turned into a soft smile as the muffled music swelled to a peak.
“So much more,” she continued, and Colin surged forward as the bass dropped.
written for the @gleethisorthatchallenge Character: Sam Evans
Summary:
Sam Evans loved going to New York City Pride. There was something about the atmosphere that surrounded the whole event that made him feel like he belonged.
Sam never moved back to Ohio and finished his Highschool education in Kentucky before moving to New York City for College. At a pride parade 10 years after leaving Ohio he reconects with some familiar faces.
Extract:
Pride 2021
Sam Evans loved going to New York City Pride. There was something about the atmosphere that surrounded the whole event that made him feel like he belonged.
It was colourful, and loud, and everywhere you looked there were different types of people. Every color of the rainbow was represented, every gender, every sexuality.
It was simply amazing.
He’d been going to New York City Pride since 2014, the Summer after his freshman year of College, and at first he’d been going as an ally. His roommate, León, had dragged him with him. As a hispanic gay trans kid from Texas who had only just started socially transitioning after moving to New York, León had never gone to a Pride before either. And the two of them had been in awe of the whole event.
Sam had grown up in Tennessee, spent a year of highschool in Ohio, then moved to Kentucky. He’d never lived anywhere as colorful or accepting as New York. He’d met exactly three LGBTQ+ people in his life, as far as he knew, but suddenly he was thrust into a sea of colors.
Rainbow flags were everywhere he looked, but there were also other colours, other flags. Blue, purple, and pink. Blue, pink, and white. Black, white, grey, and purple. Yellow with a purple circle. And so many more.
All Sam had known was gay and straight, man and woman, before he’d met León, and at his first pride he’d discovered so many more sexualities and genders. There were people who weren’t attracted to anyone, people who didn’t conform to the ‘gender binary’, people who were with two or more people, consensually, at once.
People who liked girls, but also liked boys and those who didn’t use either label.
It was at New York City Pride that Sam realised it was normal to see a guy and think they were cute, when you also thought the same about girls, it was at New York City Pride that Sam found his eyes following a person he couldn’t pin down as either gender, and later ended up making out with them at a club.
It was at New York City Pride that Sam Evans realised he was Bi.
I've decided to do that fic ask thing that's been floating around even though I haven't been tagged <3
how many works do you have on AO3?
22... apparently? three of those are fic book covers though.
what’s your total AO3 word count?
139,883 words
how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
On AO3? 3. In general? 4 or 5 i think? I currently write for Glee and Marvel on my AO3 (there's also one Yuri On Ice fic) and I've previously written (and published) for Harry Potter on FF.Net. I do also have a few outlines/ideas for Merlin fics floating around my google docs but I've never posted any, and I used to write Twilight fics back in the day.
what are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Ain't No Grave (Can Keep My Body Down) Book Cover with 222 kudos (Marvel published 2016)
--A book cover for a popular Stucky fic
A Punch In The Face with 101 kudos (Marvel published 2014)
--A Young Avengers drabble of sorts, Teddy/Billy meet cute
Express Your Love with 81 kudos (Marvel published 2014)
--I cannot remember what this is, I think it's Stony? Something about Tony never saying 'I Love You' to steve but instead showing his love through actions?
In A Previous Life with 77 kudos (Marvel published 2014)
--A drabble of sorts. Billy and Tommy talk to Wanda about their life with her before they were reincarnated.
Putting a Punching Bag in the Workshop was Tony's Best Idea Ever with 64 kudos (Marvel published 2014)
--Basically what it says on the tin. Stony. Tony is distracted by Steve's arse as he boxes.
Annoyingly these are all fics I'm not that proud of, but they're older so the kudos amounts make sense i guess 🙄 the next most Kudos'd is one I am proud of though - “You took EVERYTHING from me.” with 58 Kudos (2019) - Basically a little oneshot of what I thought could have happened in the 5 years everyone was dusted and how I thought they might have introduced Billy and Tommy into the MCU, it was going to create a whole 'verse but then we got confirmation on things like Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang and Spiderman Far From Home came out and I dropped the ideas. But I still like this fic.
do you respond to comments, why or why not?
most of the time, yes, though sometimes I leave them sitting for too long and then feel awkward about replying to them and i don't (*cough* most of my comments on WTNY(ibwfy) *cough*)
what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
probably In Paris With You which I'd forgotten about until scrolling through my fics! I wrote this, orginally, way back in like... 2011 based on a poem of the same name that got stuck in my head as i studied it for my English GCSE. but it's been updated and changed like 3 times since then.
Also my fic As long as I'm here as I am, so are you is rather angsty. Basically Kurt is listening to Ben Platt's album Sing to Me Instead and one song reminds him of Finn. (because it reminded me of them)
do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?
I've never written a crossover, though I think I once toyed around with some sort of Harry Potter crossover that never made the light of day, I can't remember what it was with though... maybe Merlin?
have you ever received hate on a fic?
not on AO3! But I did have someone call my OC in One More New Direction a Mary Sue on FF.net which wasn't nice, and someone else said they hated my characterisation of Mercedes in a chapter which was weird because Mercedes wasn't even in the chapter it was just my OC talking about her and her impression of her.
do you write smut? if so what kind?
I've tried, multiple times, in my 10+ years of fic writing, but i just can't do it. Maybe it's because I'm Asexual? it just always feels weird even after I've read smut as, like, revision. I feel like a lot of the characters are, like, ace by proxy because i don't know how to write characters being motivated by sex.
have you ever had a fic stolen?
Nope! Not that I know of anyway
have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope!
have you ever co-written a fic before?
not that I remember? I vaguely remember being a Beta for someone like 10 years ago though.
what’s your all time favourite ship?
I honestly don't know! I've definately written mostly Klaine, but I'm such a multishipper that I have no clue. I'm really loving writing Hevans rn mostly because we are lacking Hevans content which is criminal. actually, fun fact, my fic Welcome To New York (it's been waiting for you) was originally going to be Klaine, but as i was writing the outline I fell back into the Hevans hole and decided to switch it up. I'm glad i did because it would have gotten nowhere as a Klaine fic!
what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
If i don't think I'll finish something I don't post it. I have a graveyard of fics half drafted.
what are your writing strengths?
I honestly don't know. I like writing dialogue and I know I'm good at portraying something with a small amount of words but you'll have to ask my readers 😊 (in fact, if you've read my stuff please let me know what you think my strengths are! I'm honestly curious!)
what are your writing weaknesses?
I'm terrible at stretching a scene into something bigger if it warrents it. Like i said I'm good at portraying something with few words but sometimes I feel like that throws the pacing off. I use a lot of paragraphs because of that, to make the reader pause and reflect until the next line or to show that the character is pausing and reflecting. idk man. I also hate writing dates, which is annoying because WYNY(ibwfy) is mostly dates. I've been on one in my life and it was shit so i have no idea how to write one lol.
what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
I think that, unless you don't want the reader to know what is being said or the words used are obvious in context, that you should write it in english EG: --"Merci!" Kurt said.-- is fine but if you want to write something longer I would do something like --"hello my name is Kurt Hummel and I love scarfs" Kurt said in french-- or something, it depends on the context.
Actually, going back to In Paris With You. Kurt is french in that, and it's from Blaine's POV so when Kurt speaks french it's in french with Blaine translating what he can in the narration. He's not meant to be able to understand Kurt perfectly, so the audience doesn't either. But if I was writing, say, Kurt and Sebastian talking to each other in French from Kurt's POV I'd write it in english so that audience can also understand that Kurt understands.
(does that make sense?)
what was the first fandom you wrote for?
Harry Potter. definately Harry Potter! It was how i got into fanfiction, and how i got into glee <3 JKR is a horrible person, but her books - and especially the fandom surrounding them - mean a lot to me.
what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?
I have no idea. I'm really liking my Love and Friendship series right now, and I love One More New Direction because it got me through - is getting me through - this crazy couple of years. so probably them? I also really love (that makes you) The Scarlet Witch which is kind of like a character analysis of Wanda that I wrote after watching WandaVision.
What happens when you throw one more person into the New Directions?
Erin Bailey is a freshman at McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, having moved from the UK. She joins the New Directions due to her love of music and performing, but what will her presence in Lima change about the Glee we all know and love?
Chapter 25/??
Extract-
“Mr. Schuester, I know our rehearsal got a bit waylaid yesterday, but I have selected the perfect ballad for Finn and I to sing to launch our performance at sectionals.” Rachel said as soon as Mr. Schue entered the choir room on Tuesday morning
She sounded way too chipper for the early hour
Erin was still half asleep, annoyed that she had to wake up so early that morning so that they could have rehearsals before school as well as after. If they’d started preparing for sectionals earlier they wouldn’t have had to have before school rehearsals all week and Erin could have slept longer. She had to remember not to stay up late on Tumblr like she had done the night before, or maybe she should just start drinking coffee.
Everyone rolled their eyes at Rachel and Erin was about to remind her about her sectionals solo ban when Mr. Schue, for once, spoke up.
“Me first. Two things. First, our competition at sectionals are your classic stool choirs. Great voices but they don’t move.”
“Actually, Mr. Schue.” Kurt said, raising a hand, “The Warblers do have choreography, granted, it’s not very dynamic but they do move.”
“Thank you, Kurt. But what I was thinking was that if we’re going to beat them we need to Dance. We need to use the stage to our advantage. Which is why I have decided to feature Brittany and Mike Chang’s sweet moves at sectionals."
“So they’re going to dance in front of me while I sing my solo?” Rachel asked over the excited mutterings of the group.
“We’ve already said you’re not getting a solo at sectionals this year, Rachel!” Mercedes reminded her, “Remember? You sent that tiny chick to a crack house?”
Rachel pouted and Mercedes turned to Mr. Schue.
“So what song am I going to sing?” She asked.
“We’re not going to let anything happen to you.” Sam said as he stood and walked towards Kurt, gathering him up in a tight hug.
Kurt looked shocked at the contact but eventually untensed and returned the hug, hiding his reddening face in Sam’s shoulder.
After a beat or so the rest of the New Directions stood, one by one and joined the hug... [...then theres a whole sappy paragraph of how they each join the group hug.]
Chapter 25 of One More New Direction (my OC centric glee S2 rewrite. This chapter is set right at the end of 2x08)
My characters apparently hug a lot so i'll add a couple other sentences i like from the same 'verse because it was hard to choose.
Apparently their hug was some sort of invitation as soon they were covered in crying drunk people. A huge New Directions group hug.
Another ND group hug.
Chapter 4 ish of a fic currently entitled All Of The While (it was you)
(basically a very Pre-Klaine CoffeeShop!AU with Pining!Blaine (Summer 2012))
He’d met his dad at the airport and endured the tight, long, hug he was given, returning it just as tightly in the middle of Arrivals.
fic currently entitled Violets and Purples (OC centric S4/5b rewrite)
This chapter is set around the same time as the The Quarterback episode 😭
✨Send me a word and I'll reply with a sentence from a WIP fic✨
✨and then write a paragraph in that WIP✨
A little bonus Halloween content before starting S2E6: Never Been Kissed
Summary:
A Glee Season 2 OC centric rewrite.
What happens when you throw one more person into the New Directions?
Erin Bailey is a freshman at McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, having moved from the UK. She joins the New Directions due to her love of music and performing, but what will her presence in Lima change about the Glee we all know and love?
Concludes the events of S2E5: The Rocky Horror Glee Show
Summary:
A Glee Season 2 OC centric rewrite.
What happens when you throw one more person into the New Directions?
Erin Bailey is a freshman at McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, having moved from the UK. She joins the New Directions due to her love of music and performing, but what will her presence in Lima change about the Glee we all know and love?
