#toffeeee

[neonun-au]

hello me again, i meant to ask abt your writing style 😭 and i ended up typing the wrong letter (bc im careless like this :D) if you’re still answering for the fanfic ask game, letter H please 🥺

HAHAHA that's very funny, I will do it though I'm not sure I will have much of a fulfilling answer to the question but we shall see !!

H: How would you describe your style?

I'm trying to be as objective about this as possible, to make some sort of analysis of my writing from an outside perspective, but it's difficult :') I would say it's simple. Not in a bad way, but I try not to over-embellish things or add too many descriptors to clutter it up. I'm not the most verbose person in terms of my writing, because my entire goal is just to carry across an emotion. And I try to do that in as few words as possible. Give the reader only as much information as they need, and leave the rest up to their imagination in a way. For some reason, that is just where I have come to with my style.

I would also say it's maybe rather...evocative? Like I think at it's best it can conjure up a feeling or some sense of nostalgia or transport you into the setting. But in the simplest ways haha Idk. I think where it falters, though, is in my laziness as a writer. I could make it so much more effective if I put in the time and effort to really polish things up and hopefully one day I will make that a habit rather than a chore for myself lol

[julientrevelyan]

“That is understandable.” Aphel allowed herself to laugh.

When Cole returned to them he pointed the way to a cave along the rocky coast that would make good shelter for the storm. His timing was a lucky thing as the cold rain began hurtling at them along with the sea’s salty spray.

“We're lucky to have found such a place, the other groups further into the forest wouldn't have this luxury,” Blackwall said absent mindedly as he looked about the cave for dry materials to burn. If they were going to be stuck in here they may as well be warm.

“You are right.” Cole said in an amused tone, obviously sensing something but not sharing.

After finding a small pile of dried twigs and such in a small alcove off to the side, Blackwall began building a firepit, beginning by digging out a little dip in the ground with his hands.  A few decently sized rocks dropped down beside him, kicking up loose clouds of dust and dirt that made him cough a little as he breathed it in. He glanced up a noted Aphel stepping away to search for more.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, placing them around the circumference of the hole as he continued, “How far away are we from the rendezvous point again?”

[julientrevelyan]

He gasped a little as he felt his heartstrings being tugged. Dooly. He hadn't heard that in so long, he'd forgotten about it. A sob ripped from his throat as he launched himself at her, pulling her into a rib-crushing hug. He wasn't going to cry! He wasn't going to cry on her damn it! All these suppressed feelings had been brought to the surface and he was getting all emotional. “And I've missed you too, Winny. So... so much.” he managed to croak out.

~

Andre paced back and forth, expression filled with worry. How much of that had she heard? What did she make of it? Had he'd been too harsh on Julien? He shook his head. No. She had no idea how much he'd changed since they were little. She'd just have to figure that out on her own, it seemed. Still, he was worried for both of them – Gwyneth and Julien. Even though the Templar had followed her, who knows if they'd found each other or if they were both simply lost.

“You'll wear a hole in the ground if you keep that up,” Iron Bull said simply, turning the venison over on the fire.

“I should have gone after her. Who knows where she is now! What if thy don't come back?” Andre replied, not letting up on his pacing.

[julientrevelyan]

“If it’s not too much trouble.” he smiled at her.  Sunset was readily upon them now and the group quietly tucked themselves into the rations they’d kept, Celeste apologizing for losing the nugs. Dorian was just glad to be able to get himself warm again as the mountain path meant much colder air, and reclined on his bedroll once he was all set up. The vermillion sky made him think of Julien’s hair and he sighed at he looked over the maps. Still two more days till they would meet with another group. “Well… at least today wasn’t boring.” He chuckled and Worm’s meat flapped her wings and cawed at them as a glint of the fading sunset caught her eye.

~

Julien jolted awake with an audible gasp. He sat up with a quiet groan, folding his arms onto his raised knees and resting his head against them. A nightmare - not an unusual occurrence of late.  Although this time he could not quite remember it, only that it was quite distressing. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly a few times, letting the sounds of the forest calm him.

A sudden shiver rose up through his body and any lingering feelings caused by the unwanted dream were shaken from his head. The early morning nip was still in the air as the sun began to rise up above the horizon. It was then he noted his marked hand aching, as it often did when these nightmares came to him, only this time it ached so bad it was making his arm shake slightly. He wondered for a moment if that was a side effect of his recent reality hopping – he'd have to ask Aphel the next time he saw her if she'd been experiencing anything similar.

Shaking his head slightly, he got up and began his morning ritual. Stretches to work the kinks out of his muscles then, after searching for a few moments, he found an appropriately high branch and began his pull ups.

[julientrevelyan]

Gwyn smiled evily. Of course he knew what she was planning, he could literally read minds. She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Yes it will be so much fun! And you're the only person that can pull it off! You can go invisible right? Or at least make people forgot you were there?” He nodded. “Good! Now here are the details...” ~ A few precious minutes passed and Gwyn was afraid Cole wasn't coming back. Maybe he got cold feet? Just as she was thinking this, he returned nodding in Gwyn's direction. Her smirk returned. Now it was simply a matter of waiting for the desserts to be brought out. She cackled to herself. Julien was such an easy target! Hopefully he wouldn't be too sour with her... or Cole. She caught Bull looking at her with his brow raised. “Oh... I just thought of something funny!” she said, rather unconvincingly covering her tracks.

“Really? Why don’t you share it then?” Bull said nonchalantly.

Gwyn swallowed. Shit. He was onto her. She wondered just how loyal to her brother he was. Would be foil her plans if he knew? Or would he assist? It was a risk she couldn't afford to make.

“Its Circle Mage humor – you wouldn't get it,” she said, laughing nervously as she sipped her ale.

“You're acting pretty suspicious there, Gwyn,” he replied, eyeing her intently.

She scratched the back of her neck.

“Suspicious? I'm sparing both you and myself the awkwardness of a joke that simply won't be funny to you. I'm not suspicious, am I Feit?” she said, almost desperately tapping on Feit's shoulder. She needed back up!

[julientrevelyan]

Dorian felt his heart begin to slow and speed up in his elation and surprise.  "That’s… th-thank you." was all he was able to say. ~

A warm orange glow from the setting sun shone through the window and a loud, rapid tapping on his door, woke Andre from his nap. Groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes (and the drool from his mouth) he sat up on the couch he had crashed on. That had not been a good idea. His muscles ached from being in such an awkward position for so long. How long had be been laying there? At least he had had the sense to remove his armor first.

The tapping increased its frequency and he groaned.  Raising from his spot, still half asleep, he trudged over to the door and opened it, eyes squinted. As the cool air from the hall hit his bare chest, it dawned on him he'd not found his shirt. It was too late to go back now and, despite how self concious he was, he'd have to just roll with it.

“Yes? What do you want?” he asked, trying to casually lean against the door frame which his aching shoulders made difficult.

[julientrevelyan]

Standing here now had Dorian’s usual confidence slipping and he coughed into his hand to put off speaking as he stepped into her room. When she relaxed down into a floral arm chair, Dorian pushed himself to simply get out with it. "I want you to tell me about Julien." He blurted. Well that wouldn’t make any sense. "I mean, let me start over. If I may, could you please tell me more of this Marlow fellow? The man Julien was involved with? I’m worried that asking him may… bring up painful memories. That is how their relationship appeared anyway. Some of the little things he says and does, I fear he has been hurt deeply. Please."

“Marlow? The Guard Captain? I'm surprised he's even mentioned him to you. It's been twenty odd years since they were together...” Celeste said, studying his expression for clues. There! That awkward glance away from her. So they didn't talk about it? Then... oh.

“He saw him in the Fade, didn't he? Shit. That explains his attitude then.”

Celeste released a long breath. Oh boy. This was going to be unpleasant. She got up and padded over to her table, brandishing two glasses and a bottle of wine. Pouring one for each of them she returned, handing one to Dorian before returning to her seat. She took a sip of hers.

“Now, just a disclaimer – I don't know all the nitty-gritty details. The only person other than Julien that knows all about it is my Mother. What I do know was learned from eavesdropping so if you're going to bring this up with him, you didn't hear it from me,” she paused to take another sip, “Where to even begin? ... Is there anything specific you'd like to know?”

[julientrevelyan]

Feit crouched in the cold mud beneath the dark shadow of the two buildings and the piles of trash stacked up between them. Watching Andre and Gwyn embracing under the pergolas made him both happy and sad deep in his chest. Andre had finally told her what was troubling him and Gwyn had been accepting and understanding in return. Could it be so simple? Could things be so easy? Feit didn’t think so but there would be more troubling things to come when they reached the estate. "Would you like to hug too?" Cole shuffled beside Feit and held his arms out. Feit shook his head sadly. "It’s alright Cole. It’s just second-hand sadness. I think." Cole lowered his arms but stayed with him in the alley until they watched the siblings walk up the street towards the inn.

~

Cypress and Blackwall both stood at the counter of one of the local bakeries, purchasing all the discounted end-of-day loves of bread – at least 2 dozen of them. Cypress had insisted they come here first before they moved on to the Alienage. This bread would feed all the orphans there for the next couple of days at least. Last time she'd come through here, they'd all been half starved – the lady that ran the place had been late on rent and not been able to feed them. Cypress had helped her out of that fix right quick. She paid the baker the correct amount and turned to Blackwall.

“C'mon, Possum! That bread isn't going to carry itself!” she hounded him, hands on hips.

If this shemlen insisted on following her around, he could at least make himself useful.