Act II of Paved With the Best Intentions is finally done. It's been a difficult few months that wrecked havoc with my writing. I'm so grateful to my readers for their support and hope they'll be satisfied with the resolution.
“I will stop, if you tell me to stop,” Tom says. “But you have to mean it.”
Stop, I mean it. The words never leave Harry’s mouth. He promised Tom that he would be honest. And the truth is, he’s craved having someone who loves him with abandon, someone who provides the comfort and security that he’s rarely afforded.
Dumbledore always said that love was the key to defeating Voldemort. Who knows, perhaps love would be the key to Tom’s salvation.
(Later, Harry would reflect that love wasn’t Tom’s salvation but rather their mutual destruction.)
Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free pass on to five other writers to spread the love. 💗
Hi, thank you for the ask 💗 It's difficult to pick, not because I think all of my fics are amazing, but because writing takes a lot of effort so I only make time to write the ideas that I love. Right now, as a survival technique, my favorite fics are my three WIPs (one in each of my fandoms).
Focusing on my completed fics, in descending order:
5 -- In Your Image (Harry Potter, Tomarry):
It's rare for me to finish writing a fic and look back upon it with the feeling that I accomplished everything I intended from the outset. This is one of the exceptions. Aside from phrasing and word choices that can always be improved, I am satisfied with my Tomarry take on The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I'm especially proud of the climax and ending.
4 -- Inventing Paradoxes (Harry Potter, Tomarry)
This is a sentimental favorite. I came back to the Harry Potter fandom during the pandemic as a coping mechanism, so I wanted to write something lighthearted and happy (though one could argue I should've picked a different ship). With the Paradoxes series, I regained confidence in writing, a skill that had grown rusty, and I also got a lot of support from my readers, which made me feel like part of a community during a difficult period.
3 -- Perhaps Love (Digimon, Takari)
Another sentimental favorite: I first started planning / writing this fic when I was a teenager, upset with the non-canonical ending to my first ship. The heydays of the fandom have long past by the time I posted, but I was able to find readers who felt similarly disappointed and appreciated the ending that I provided. As with many of my stories, Perhaps was written around three pivotal scenes, and when I reread them years later, I can still appreciate the emotional impact that I was aiming for.
2 -- (never) let me go (Harry Potter, Tomarry)
I've always been and am still fascinated by the concept of death. As a teenager, I wanted to write a story where Harry struggles with the concept of immortality as the Master of Death because it means leaving his loved ones behind, but I didn't have the life experience to pull the story together. After discovering Tomarry, I reframed my original idea into a story about the acceptance of death: both from Harry, who doesn't want to lose someone he loves, and from Tom, who's afraid of moving on.
It's sort of a strange story, and I still find things I'd like to improve when I reread it. However, I was happy that it found readers who enjoyed its strangeness and super flattered that it was bound into a little book!
1 -- Once Upon a Fairy Tale (Digimon, Takari)
Like In Your Image, this is one of the few stories where I feel that I satisfactorily translated my complete vision to paper (and more). I enjoyed exploring how two characters can fall in love and yet still not be together, a theme that I revisit in other works, whether consciously or subconsciously. And when I reread the story, I can discern the hopes and dreams of a person who has yet to experience the ups and downs of real life, which fills me with bittersweet nostalgia for the innocence I once had.
Thanks for reading my rambling!
I'll tag @moonytear, @isalisewrites, and @kippipies (but no pressure at all!).
I finished Act I of Paved With the Best Intentions in time for Harry’s birthday. Excited for Act II where we’ll get to scenes that I’ve planned since the beginning (years ago!).
Instead of dying during the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort de-ages into an infant. Until he becomes old enough to be legally executed, he will be magically bound to Harry.
A perfectly foolproof plan, or so the Ministry believes.
I was tagged by @moontearpensfic a while back, but it's taken me a while to follow up because I've been (and still am) struggling with writer's block for Paved as the end of Act II approaches and the pressure mounts to tie everything up.
While I don't have anything substantial to share, some semblance of the following snippet will be in the next chapter.
I think everyone has already been tagged, but if you see the post and would like to share your WIP, please consider this an invitation :)
“You really don’t remember anything?” Tom asks.
“No, not much after the sunrise,” Harry replies, and Tom’s posture relaxes slightly. “What happened?”
“It’s as the Healers told you. A snake bit you.”
“How did a snake bite me on my shoulder?”
“It jumped off a tree. Everything happened so quickly that I can’t remember much else. I’m just glad that you’re okay.”
For anyone who follows me for Digimon / Takari content: Across the Universe has been updated with Chapter 7 after almost two years.
It has also been removed from FanFiction.Net (aside from the first chapter, which remains for the sole purpose of keeping old reviews). I've been thinking about cleaning out my FFN account for ages, but always demurred out of nostalgia. But the lack of UX improvement and increase in ads / trolls have finally pushed me over the edge.
In honor of Harry's birthday, here's a snippet from an upcoming scene in Game On, Your Move, in which Harry impersonates his grandfather, Grindelwald gives relationship advice, and Tom is mistaken for the "other woman."
“Ah yes, the Potters. A pedigreed pure-blood family, certainly worthy of…alliances.” Grindelwald winked. “Though I’m under the strong impression Fleamont Potter has different inclinations, if I may be so forward.”
Tom’s face burned as Grindelwald’s meaning dawned on him. “You misunderstand, Lord Grindelwald. Fleamont and I are merely acquaintances.”
“Intimately close acquaintances, it would appear. Well, I’m merely looking out for you, Mr. Riddle. Pure-blood heirs often have the inclination towards, how should I say, keeping certain interests on the sidelines.”
Tom had never wanted to throttle another human being as he did then.
“We’re not what you think,” he insisted.
“Ah, but I see the way you look at each other,” said Grindelwald, expression growing dreamy. “It reminds me of better, simpler times.”
“May I have this dance?” Harry said, smoothly cutting in. “I miss the company of my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend,” Grindelwald said with amusement. “Rather possessive, aren’t you?”
“Oh, very,” Harry said, dropping his hand to Tom’s waist as he started to whirl them away in a romantic waltz, holding firm when Tom tried to wrestle away control. “You should see us when we’re alone. We Potter men live up to our reputation.”
A chance encounter in a London pub leads to a whirlwind romance between recent Hogwarts graduate Harry Potter and the famous artist Tom Riddle, who paints under the name Lord Voldemort.
However, Voldemort hides a dark secret: he seduces young, attractive wizards and witches into modeling for portraits. Their beauty will be preserved on canvas and their souls harvested for his eternal youth.
Harry is the perfect next victim.
Link to AO3
I’m glad I could participate in both Takari Week and Tomarry Big Bang this year to create more content for my ships. It was fun playing with a different writing style. Thank you @kuffymik for being a wonderful artist partner and beta reader!
