#vsgtsas

[caeli0306]

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Partying on New Years is now posted on AO3!

READ HERE

I feel like this one shot is an excellent example of what I am calling Caeli's Law, where I publicly state I am going to work on specific, existing WIPs, and then I end up writing a new, unplanned fic within 24-48 hours. I am fairly certain that is what happened with about 90% of my posted fics.

ANYWAYS! Happy New Year my friends. I hope you enjoy this quick trip back into the world of VSGTSAS, specifically one of the Chapter 4 timeskips! Hopefully I'll get around to updating XRGTSAS soon too. (And if you haven't read VSGTSAS, you should! I'm quite proud of it! You can read that here.)

===

Sighing, I draw my coat tighter around myself, trying to lock in more warmth to fend off the night chill. I’ve officially hit the point in the Drunk Violet cycle where I begin getting sleepy. “Go home, Xaden. It’s not the first time I’ve waited for a ride drunk.” I narrow my eyes when they flit back to his face. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything that will make its way back to a reporter.”

Xaden takes a breath, but he doesn’t take the bait; doesn’t start the argument that will return us to the distance I need us to have. “Violet,” he murmurs, “you know that’s not why I’m here.”

OR

A scene set during the two-month time skip in chapter 4 of Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal, in which Violet goes to a D.C. New Years party after ending her fake relationship with Xaden and does one too many shots with her friends.

[caeli0306]

i know a number of folks really want me to update xrgtsas, but i don’t think it will be happening in the immediate future (by which i mean in the next 1-2 weeks). still really struggling with getting words on the page. writing the new years oneshot helped, so i got a few thousand more words written this week, but its still not close to done nor near the quality i expect for myself. in the meantime, here’s a nice long blurb to tide folks over!

===

Liam copies my posture, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “Was that Imogen?” he mutters.

My phone pings again, as if his words summoned a response, and I pull my phone from my pocket.

were u eye-fucking sorrengail in the planning meeting yesterday?

I can almost hear the sarcasm in my head. This time, I don’t respond. Mostly because I know Imogen wants me to say No so she can repeat the answer back to me, and then we’d both be lying.

“I’ll give you one guess.”

Liam’s grin is instant. “I’m never letting them hear the end of this.”

I can’t blame him. Garrick’s been poking fun at me about messing around with Violet in her office for weeks. If he didn’t have an inordinate amount of blackmail material to draw on after decades of friendship, I wouldn’t let him hear the end of it either.

Garrick spins toward us, eyes narrowing. “What was that, Mairi?”

“Nothing,” Liam says. But that twinkle in his blue eyes says otherwise.

He finishes fastening his belt, expression dour. “Fuck all of you,” our friend grumbles.

Liam’s grin widens. “No, just Im—”

“Finish that sentence, Liam Mairi, and I swear to god I will push you down the stairs on the way out.”

Bodhi and I snicker. Liam’s mouth snaps shut.

[caeli0306]

this is my favorite part from xrgtsas chapter 3 but also maybe my favorite passage that i’ve written thus far period? ahajdjakajwhwjsjfhxjs i love them your honor!! i was kicking my feet writing this part and i need everyone to know it and read it bc i have been envisioning this scene from xaden’s perspective since LAST SUMMER.

===

I lean back against the wood, shifting my posture in an attempt to disguise the innate pull I feel towards the small woman sitting at my old desk. There’s something about seeing her using my desk, my bookshelves, my office that heats my blood and makes it impossible for me to look away.

So much for setting things back to normal today. If I can’t get myself to stop thinking about all the different ways I want to touch her now, when this is only the second full day she’s been back in my life after years of absence, then I’m in so much fucking trouble.

I need to remember how much she annoys me, how frustrated I am that she's here.

Her lips part as she studies me, fingers gliding along the top of the polished wood desk when she comes around to its front.

I need her to go back to D.C. yesterday.

“What do you want?” she asks me.

What do I want?

The answer crosses my mind before I can stop it, damning and lifealtering.

Her. I want her.

I want Violet Sorrengail more than I want my next breath.

The realization is terrifying.

[caeli0306]

democracy time! you guys know the drill

castles chapter 31

cruise ship sequel

sincerely your enemy chapter 3

next 2-3 chapters of crime beat

xrgtsas chapter ??? (i dont remember lol)

danger zone chapter 5

no pref / just here to vibe

Voting ended onApr 28

[caeli0306]

chapter 3 of Xaden Riorson's Guide to Surviving a Scandal is now posted!

Chapter 3 - Tell Half Truths, Part 1 (Xaden's Ver.) is now up on AO3: READ HERE

SURPRISE! Happy One Year Anniversary to VSGTSAS, which I finished one year ago today, to all who celebrate (and if that's just me, that's just fine!) I hope everyone enjoys the return of our favorite political idiots (and the kiss scene 😈)

Summary:

Xaden Riorson - savvy businessman, senate candidate, rising political star - has many problems. One of them being Cat-sized.

Enter Violet Sorrengail - hotshot political crisis consultant, former college classmate/rival/flirtation/frenemy, general distraction when he can't afford one. His burgeoning political career depends on her making sure fake stories don't make it into the press. One minor problem - she hates his guts, which doesn't make pulling off the biggest spin of the election cycle any easier.

Xaden never could get a grasp on where Violet's animosity towards him came from, even though now he's certain it's deserved. But after years of separation, he quickly learns that some fires haven't cooled - for either of them. And it doesn't take long for him to realize that the thin line between love and hate that's always seemed to separate them is disappearing faster than the time to Election Day.

or

Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal (Xaden's Version) :)

===

An uncustomary hush washes over the office when I walk through the door, staffers watching me with a mix of curiosity and worry. I ignore them, making my way through the halls until I can hear muffled conversation through the open door of Violet’s office that stops me in my tracks.

“…because I was supposedly fucking the candidate.” It’s Violet.

Again, what the fuck?

“And, just asking because I’m curious, are you fucking said candidate?” 

That’s Rhiannon. It hits me like a bolt of lightning — they’re talking about me.

“No!” Violet exclaims, voice rising. I smirk, stepping into the doorway. Neither of them notice me from where they’re sitting on Violet’s couch. I immediately zero in on the embarrassed flush that’s creeping up Violet’s neck. God, she’s beautiful, and I can’t even see her face from this angle. “You’re delusional for even asking that.”

Rhiannon grins, slow and implicative. “You can deny many things, Violet Sorrengail, but you can’t deny the chemistry you two have.”

An aggrieved groan leaves Violet as she stands from her couch, back to me, and moves towards her desk. She doesn’t so much as glance at the door, flipping open her laptop instead. “I’m not doing this right now,” she says. “Can we focus on the problem at hand and discuss my sex life later?”

There’s my cue. “Don’t stop on my account,” I say, finally grabbing her attention. She jerks, eyes flying up to meet mine, then widening. “Please, continue talking about your sex life, Violence. I’m dying to know more.”

[caeli0306]

hello hello! a blurb from the first chapter of a fic that I absolutely have never ever talked about that definitely probably won't be published this weekend

===

A familiar thrill skitters down my spine as her glare narrows on me. Then I smirk, because I know exactly what to say to piss her off even more. “Are you talking about yourself?” I ask, unable to help myself. “From the looks of it, you’re still five foot nothing.” “I can’t stand you,” she sputters, crossing her arms and glaring. I lean in more, let the smirk fall away and replace it with something a little colder. It’s time to wrap this up. “Don’t you worry, Sorrengail, the feeling is absolutely mutual.”  It’s not, but I want her out of here, and this seems like the best way to accomplish that. I need her pissed off and more-than-ready to never see me again.  “Now, can you wrap up your tantrum so I can get back to winning an election?” I glance back in Liam’s direction, where he’s wide-eyed and slightly horrified, no doubt because his plan has failed. I look back to Violet. “I have better things to do than stand with you and your friend while you bitch out Mairi over here, so wrap it up.”

[caeli0306]

🔮 for VSGTSAS and the back packing au, thank youuu

VSGTSAS: Oh yes 😈 There's a planned epilogue fic for when I finally finish writing Xaden's POV. I don't want to say more than that, but there will be more from the political idiots eventually!

Backpacking AU: Also yes! Since the story is still ongoing, I don't really want to give anything away. I will say that Violet gets her dad's store back!

[caeli0306]

🔎 Violet Sorrengail's Guide to Spinning a Scandal

🤍 how did you come up with the plot for in this life and the next?? I think it’s such a great theory for canon as well…

🔎 — Ooo this one's tough! So as many of you already know, I'm a gov/politics reporter irl (not in D.C., thank god). So much of this fic was inspired by little tidbits of my own knowledge about gov and politics as a reporter, or stories that l've heard from people who work on the hill or other reporters. I would't say it's entirely realistic, but there are definitely veins of realism. It's hard to point to specific things because it kinda just permeates the vibes of the fic, if that makes sense?

It's very small, but Violet doing opposition research sticks out to me. You would not believe the resources some candidates put into digging up dirt on their opponents.

Another one would be my absolute hatred for the Delta terminal at LaGuardia. It is way too damn big, which I believe I referenced on a few occasions in the fic lol

🤍 — It was a combination of my theories about the gods and Violet's relationship with them post-OS and the requests of the wonderful @anastronomicalsmile for the fic! I rarely write FW fics in the canon universe, so I thought it would be fun to mash up my love of modern AUs with the request to write something in the canon universe.