Before the year ends, I just wanted to drop the link to The One You Could Never Forget (you did) (for the first time in a While) :]
It's my currently-ongoing DeathNote (as in Oliver and Graham) fic, and the updates on it have been rather slow until recently, but I just dropped the 3rd chapter this month! So yeah in case anyone didn't know I was writing it, or stopped keeping up with it due to the month-long pauses between chapters, here's a reminder that it exists and I'm still writing it! And possibly picking the pace back up!
Also would love to know your thoughts on what I've been cooking with it recently :]
I actually didn't think what could make a good snipped before making the post, but I'm hoping this one is interesting, at least!
Plain text under the cut
“That reminds me,” he says. Graham prompts him to continue with a curious hum. “…The notebooks came up again,” he continues, and something in the air shifts. Graham’s frame stiffens, and he purses his lips.
“…Right,” he gives a sharp nod.
This time, he seems much less eager to volunteer any information.
Perhaps Oliver should’ve stuck to the topic of Amy? It seemed much less distressing, and it’s not like needs to know anything more about the notebooks now… even if the way everyone else speaks about– around the topic makes him feel a little curious.
He decides to take a risk and try again one more time. Should it fail, he vows to drop it for the day. (Probably longer.)
I would like to learn about the rest of the aus you mentioned here:3
Okay okay so!! I talked about some of them, so I'll just put the entire list under the cut and either link to my previous responses or cook something up! And what I cook up can possibly include a snippet of my writing too :]
Also since this is a lot of AUs/WIPs I'll try to be brief, but feel free to ask about more details on them!
Terminus' Ritual
This is an AU I've had for like a year now, and it answers a very simple question - What if the End HAD a ritual? That its avatars complete between mag 159 and mag 160? Simple answer - Zombies. And also some deaths getting reversed because getting a quick taste of it should make people more scared, and it's hard to keep a zombie apocalypse going with too few people. (This doesn't match the End's values, I Know.)
I have some notes on different characters' situations, who comes back etc etc but honestly the storyline I focused on the most is Oliver seeking shelter in Graham's old flat only for Graham to also be there, Pretty Confused about the passage of time between his death and now. :]
Graham gets spat out AU
Sasha gets replaced, NotSasha picks up the tape recorder and goes to dispose of the tape. The Artifact Storage is silent, but not empty, as a man who doesn't recall his own name wakes up on the floor. Okay this already sounds a bit like a snippet so I guess you can have a proper one too:
It was all pointless, you only suffered longer -- but is that truly pointless?
This one is a WIP in which I just wanted to explore the idea that the only reason Graham lived for so long was because he was scared that entire time, to the point the NotThem wasn't in much of a rush. It's pretty angsty, but can be bittersweet too if you look at it at the right angle and I am a simple man with a lot of hope in my heart. I've not been making much progress with it, and I'm not sure if I'll end it on the title-question and leave it up for the reader to decide, or if I'll provide my own answer, but let me say here: I don't think it was pointless. Not to me.
Michael(s) experience confusion
Already talked about this one here!
Graham Lives WITHOUT Becoming
Graham survives the events of MAG 003 because Oliver gets there in time to help him, and the two of them try to navigate the aftermath together. They go through many ups and downs, Oliver ends up becoming an Avatar himself, but Graham just kinda,, doesn't?? It just never happens. No fear claims him. At this point a lot of people are convinced he's an Avatar because of how his life is intertwined with the Fears but nope. Just some guy who can bluff pretty decently, gets lucky a lot, and loves his End-Avatar fiance a whole bunch :] (yes they're engaged now)
Graham Folger Lives because The Eye Is A Backseat Gamer
One of my Eye Graham AUs :] The main one, you could say! In this one, The Eye backseat-games his MAG 003 experience, and he Knows where to hide, what to do, and how to survive. After that, he goes on to start working at the institute, becomes an Archival Assistant after Jon's promotion, and goes through the horrors! I also talked about it Ages ago, right here- hold on that was in MAY???? 2023????? 10 months ago???? This is messed up.
Anyway! here's a little something I have written about it so far :]
DeathNote intro
Just me trying to explore how Graham and Oliver might've met, grown closer, gotten together and stayed together for 6 years :] No clue if I'll ever publish this and if so, if I'll use it as a backstory/background for one of my AUs or as its own stand-alone thing? But yeah it's just the two of them growing closer and falling in love :] You can have this snippet of it, too! It's their literal first meeting!
Antique seller Graham
Talked about this one here! I will probably do so again soon! But you can also have a snippet, since I guess writing all this really put me in a snippet mood! This is from this AU's version of Amy's statement :D
Hey :] Remember when I mentioned a fic I needed to heavily edit? About a month ago? Well, after I think about 27 days of struggling heavily!!
[HERE] it is :] The first chapter, that is :]
This is the Antique Seller Graham AU that I think I mentioned a few times, but entirely from Jon's pov. And also the 1st chapter, but hopefully I'll be done fixing the 2nd chapter soon!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/5
Summary:
As dangerous as it is to reach out to the people who feature in the statements, Jon is still willing to try if it gets him the answers he needs. He knows better than to let his guard down at this point, though, no matter how friendly the owner of the Antique Store he was directed to appears. Then again, the man seems oddly familiar, and it doesn't take him long to figure out why, to remember the statement that featured him.
...And maybe it is safe to relax, for now. Maybe he's about to finally get all the answers he's been after. Maybe.
//
I forgot to mention this before but! I finally finished posting this fic for my Antique Seller Graham AU! And I’m pretty proud of how it came out, so if you hadn’t read it yet, I encourage you to at least give it a shot :D
Mind the Warnings in the Ao3 Tags/Notes, tho! Just in case :]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
A world of the Spiral sounds like the only world in which Graham would be safe. The only reality in which he would be free of the Stranger's marks and able to just be himself again. It's the only option that works, so it's what he tries so hard to make real.
When it turns out that his efforts were not enough and everything crumbles around him, he's the only one left to start picking up the pieces... Well. He's nearly the only one.
//
Which is to say, the 2nd fic for my Graham Folger Lives and Therefore Nothing Bad Ever Happens AU (which feels like,, an ironic title with the summary of the fic) is finished, at last!! And I’m super happy with it, too, and I’ll be very happy if you check it out!!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
It's been a long time since they last spoke, but on the 7th of April, 2006, Graham finally summons up the courage to call Oliver. The conversation is awkward at best and leaves a lot to be desired... but then the lights in his flat go out and everything after feels like a blur.
...At least Graham doesn't have to face it all alone.
// so,,, that DeathNote one shot I mentioned, right? Well! Here it is, officially!
Actually, I don't think I've mentioned this on Tumblr, but I wrote a new fic recently! I finished it right before midnight on the 31st and it's well over 21k words long!
[It's called (Un)familiar Faces on Ao3!]
The fic starts off with a s5-style statement about a Domain in which some of the victims also happen to be, well... previous NotThem victims as well. The rest of it goes on to cover how two of the victims, Sasha and Graham, come across each other and try to stick together through everything that follows - regaining memories and coming across some... familiar faces.
