#mxanigel

[cintasvel]

fanfic writer Friday ask~

I'm still in awe of your VelCinta pride fic challenge accomplishment! <3 From that list, which fic surprised you the most and why? ("Surprise" could mean anything from the idea itself working to how it evolved as you drafted it.)

let's pretend it's still friday and that i wasn't too tired to answer this until now! <3

first off, thank you so much! this is such a wonderful, and thoughtful ask. it made me smile to see it in my inbox. :D

it is also a very tough one! i think the fact i completed the challenge surprised me the most, as i really thought i was going to give up not even halfway through it. i was just so convinced that my tiredness would be like 'fuck it, let's just give up' (chronic giver-upper, i am) but i don't know, i suppose i wanted to prove to myself and others that i could do it.

this seems like a cop-out answer, actually.

so! i will say that the one that surprised me with how easy it was to write was the velcinta break-up fic, i am the blade you turn inside yourself. there's this particular scene i really enjoyed writing, which i'll list below because it's awesome.

"Do you like it?" Vel spat. "Do you like knowing that I'm thinking about you? Does it make you feel good? Powerful?" Cinta had been wielded by Luthen and Kleya for so long that she had forgotten that even knives could get scars. It shouldn't have surprised her that Vel would be the one to remind her. "Nothing about you makes me feel powerful, Vel." 

and i really liked this scene! what surprised me was that i wrote the ending first, which isn't something i usually do. but it helped me expand on the rest of the fic, and the emotions i wanted to build up to. it was very fun!

thank you for the ask <333

[ofwings]

MonKleya for the ship opinion bingo game?

prefacing this with the fact that i read a LOT of mon/kleya and enjoy a lot of mon/kleya! mon/kleyas are my friends and allies. but i don't particularly see them as romantic, at least not in a fluffy traditional sense. i do really enjoy a slightly more fucked up 'kleya is a weapon, mon knows her value as one... and as a shrewd politician, she uses the weapons at her disposal' way, with the devotion and intensity and fondness buried under functionality of it all. i would eat tens of thousands of words of that brand of mon/kleya uppp. alas, i cannot write mon well, so i can't write it myself. maybe one day.

[captastra]

Happy birthday!! <3 Here's a free ramble card to share things you love about your Ryder x Kandros ship.

AAAA omg Ani! Thank you so much <3

One thing I really love about Kiara and Kandros's relationship is how their stories are very similar. Both getting pushed into a role they didn't ask for and left to make things happen when everything is against them. They bond over their frustrations with leadership, expectations, challenge each other due to their different ideals about how to approach things and yet still respect each other either way. No one would have expected them to get together, just be really good friends and yet here they are, happy in love and better for it!

[astorythatwritesitself]

For Adrian/Thane!

❤️ Who is the more romantic one? Do they wish their partner was more romantic?

💐 What’s their favorite “domestic bliss” moment? Do they cook/clean together? Do they like to go out shopping together?

💜 How do they silently show love or affection towards the other?

And @aceghosts

❤️ Who is the more romantic one? Do they wish their partner was more romantic?

Tough call, because they're both sentimental romantic dorks xD Like, outwardly? Half the Normandy crew's losing their shit (out of earshot ofc) that the scary assassin is the sort of sap who memorizes a favorite drink or will leave flowers, most of them would say Thane is the more... obviously romantic one. Thane would not necessarily disagree, but would deeply argue that nearly tearing oneself apart at the molecular level to avenge his dead wife puts at least a few points Adrian's way. (As does the poetry and music...)

In any case: they're both quite content with what the other has to offer, as is everyone else around them because anything more would be insufferable :D

💐 What’s their favorite “domestic bliss” moment? Do they cook/clean together? Do they like to go out shopping together?

Differs! Adrian would absolutely say cooking: Like. She has, historically, managed to fuck up the likes of MREs, so getting to advance to 'can grill a cheese without setting off smoke alarms' is one of those delightful little milestones that becomes even better when it's shared with her boyfriend, y'know? But beyond that... it's the sort of domestic moment Thane thought he'd never have again, and the sort Adrian never even contemplated getting to really have. The warmth as things cook, the scent and taste of the ingredients, catching up on the day or singing or just working in companionable silence is... so far removed from so much of the rest of their lives. For Thane, it's a second chance and a return to what he loved, but for Adrian... it kind of becomes a major distinction between two phases of her life, even more so than literally coming back to life lol.

Thane, meanwhile, would be hard-pressed to name anything more specific than 'time together'. He's used to solitude and had pretty much accepted his time with Irikah and Kolyat as a tragic blip in what was meant to be a lonely life. Finding anyone else was never even a consideration let alone a hope- so it's those quiet moments he treasures most, just simply being /together/.

💜 How do they silently show love or affection towards the other?

H a n d s

No but seriously they are so touchy - not much overt, especially in public, but it gets. Obvious lol. Quick touches to the arm or shoulder, linked hands. (And one that... Thane didn't quite consciously pick up on doing, Adrian straight up did not catch, but /so many other people did/ and it Sparked Some Rumors: Thane would kind of keep positioning himself just behind & beside Shepard in sort of a bodyguard way more than general squadmate follow lol.)

💛 What are their favorite activites to do together?

Cooking (particularly in the AU take on 3), reading, biotic sparring & shooting are definitely up there. I also imagine, in the 'congrats living is harder than dying' AU, they take up gardening and just find a lot of contentment in that or like, hiking together - spending time outside in a non-combative way xD

🍿 If they had a movie (or other fiction) couple equivalent, what couple would it be and why?

... yeah i got nothing for this one the tired sleepy is winning and apparently i have never seen a movie or read a book to draw a comparison from xD

🤍 What is their favorite or most admired quality in the other?

For Adrian - Thane's ability to accept things. That he could live through so much tragedy and still like... live, without it eating at him every waking moment; even when he shakes off the passive calm... he's still leagues ahead of her, in being able to face up to a situation as it is and not be shaken half to pieces from fear.

For Thane - Adrian's passion. Even though they met at about her lowest point - she loved so much and so /deeply/ - even if she didn't care for her own life, she cared for everything around her enough to keep trying, instead of simply shutting everything else out.

🍬 Who is their biggest supporter (friend, family, etc)?

Tough call xD Though I feel Chakwas and Mordin would be up there, and as far as my canon goes, were the first to pick up on anything (quite literally in Mordin's case), and were quite supportive - they're the ship doctors and had to deal with Adrian and Thane quite a bit beyond the usual injury patchups, so they got a unique little view of just how positive an effect they had on each other - /and just how much the pining fucked with them/ xD 

[ziskandra]

No-pressure writing ask: what's a line or a scene you've written that you still think about because it makes you happy?

‘Happy’ isn’t my usual writing forte, but when I sat down to think for something that actually elicited some of that vibe instead of just like, a passage I was particularly proud of…

… and I immediately thought of this scene near the end of To Find a Cure, an Anora/f!Cousland epistolary fic I wrote a few years ago which takes place during the events of Inquisition!

A flash of hot panic runs through Elissa’s belly. Her hands shift to grasp Anora’s shoulders. “Anora. Anora. Listen to me.”

Anora stares back at Elissa, intently hanging onto her every word. Is this really it? Their final goodbye? There are no words that can truly capture the magnitude of the moment.

Elissa wets her lips. “Anora. When I die…” She takes a deep ragged breath, stopping short. She’d never actually confronted her inevitable death before, like it was something that was absolutely going to happen instead of something she was desperate to prevent.

She’d never been the type for wills or testimonies or succession planning. That had been her wife’s forte. She doesn’t know what to say.

She goes with her gut.

“When I die,” she finally continues, blood roaring in her ears, “I don’t want another fucking statue.”

Cauthrien laughs before Anora even has a chance to process what Elissa's said. There's a moment where they're all laughing, the three of them, and even Dog seems to be joining in.

[ziskandra]

From the soft asks! 1) what song makes you feel better? 29) morning, afternoon or night?

What song makes you feel better? My number one go to pump up song is Glorious by Macklemore. Like, it has always cheered me up, but something about it permanently altered my brain chemistry the day I listened to it on repeat while driving home from work while I was waiting to hear back from HR about a promotion a few years ago. Whenever I listen to it now I'm immediately transported back to the way I felt that day: full of joy and hope and pride and achievement!! I never thought I would really make anything of myself, and yet, here I was!! It truly was a turning point for my life getting a lot better. Unfortunate that the pandemic kicked off soon after, but at least it provided me with some emotional buffer for the roller coaster of challenges that lay ahead. I'm still here! I did it! I made it!! In sum: 🎵 my mama told me never bow your head, woo! 🎵 29. Morning, afternoon or night? brb crying in shiftworker for whom time has lost all meaning sdjksdjk. but purely from a time of day perspective, I'd have to go with late afternoon, from 3pm-sundown? It's when I have the most energy when it's still light out, and there's just something about the sun that makes everything more bearable. [soft 'get to know me' asks]

[magilewd]

for the ask game!

3) favourite scent and why? 10) dream pet? 22) favourite time of day/night?

3: favourite scent and why?

the smell of sunday roast cooking SPECIFICALLY after a long hike has to be one of my favourite scents ever

10: dream pet?

dragon! because i saw those dragon bonds in hotd and was like awwwwwww :) but also, i grew up deeply obsessed with dragons and that hasn't changed 20+ years later

22: favourite time of day/night?

i wasn't sure if this was asking if my favourite time is day OR night, but either way it's night. everything is more peaceful at night!

send me more asks/questions here!

[lazyadmiral]

Fanfic Writer Friday ask:

Which WIP/fic idea is occupying the most brain space lately? What do you love about it?

Aaah, thank you for the ask!

The biggest one right now is a fic I'm currently working on for Palia which, for anyone who hasn't played, is a cosy life/farming-sim MMO set in a world where humans disappeared around 10,000 years ago, only to start reappearing under mysterious circumstances. It's a very cute and sweet game but there's lots of darker elements woven through it - there's illegal smuggling, a character indentured to a criminal cartel, and various characters have suffered different tragedies and losses prior to the start of the game.

I love the game, obviously, but one of the things I really love is the emphasis on how the new race of people (majiri) focus on community and sharing the load. I get that this is part of the hook to encourage players to interact and participate in shared activities in-game, but I wanted to explore that a bit more. One of the characters I'm writing is a human living with chronic pain, and I got really pulled in by the idea of how differently disability and chronic illness might be approached in a more community-based society (and how someone coming from a more individual-based community might have to adapt to that).

Thank you so much for the ask!