no man is an island

behind the scenes: words & scented candles

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 05:40:27 GMT

I am sadly not getting paid or in any other way compensated by Cantrip Candles for this post, nor are they in any other way affiliated with or responsible for me, but I've said a few times before this I should make a list of the fics I've written to specific Cantrip scents, and seeing as they're both raising their prices (due to rising supply costs) and having a really excellent Black Friday–Cyber Monday sale this seemed like a good time to do it--alphabetically by scent, since I'm indecisive.

This doesn't include original writing projects, though I have a few of those with Cantrip scent pairings too; this is just a fanfic list, mostly so I can actually link the words I'm talking about instead of just going "no, really, they're out there!" (It also doesn't include all my favorites; Healing Potion is my personal year-round go-to and one day I will write something that deserves Yule.)

( words & fragrances )

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2020 Fic Memes

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 21:37:08 GMT

I haven't done this in nine years, apparently, which is remarkable because I love doing stuff like this--and a little disappointing, since I got back into fandom this year for the first time in about five years, and it would've been nice to have looked at the ones from the last couple of years before this one that I was active in fandom. Still, here we are.

I'm posting this a day early so I stop pressuring myself to finish the accidental novella I'm...closeish to done on ("a short kinkmeme fill to get serotonin from feedback," I said a month ago, as the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia title card announcing this plan physically manifested in midair behind me).

( The Q&A fic meme: 2020, in review! )

Next, the first line of every fic longer than 100 words that I finished this year--broken down by fandom, to be nice.

( Criminal Minds; Troy; Castlevania (1 each) )
( Les Misérables (4 total, the old repost excluded) )
( Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2X total) )

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[prompt me!]

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 02:03:27 GMT

Um. Hello, internet?

I'm trying to get my writing muscles back in gear, but I am a little fannishly adrift at present, so nothing is suggesting itself to me. ~~prompt tables what prompt tables~~

So: if there is a thing that you'd like to see me write (or that you think I would enjoy writing), that should be able to contain itself in commentfic, prompt me! All fandoms that you know I've consumed the canon to are worth at least asking about, though if the canon is a book I am probably going to be weird about writing fic for it because I get hung up on prose style so maybe not things that are only books (books that have been adapted into other media are okay if you are okay with at least some elements of it being from the adaptation). But otherwise.

( Additional qualifiers, expansions, things that are definitely eligible, things that might not be, etc. )

Suggested prompt contents: fandom, character(s) and/or relationship(s), some kind of actual prompt (quote/image/scenario/AU type/whatever)

The more specific you are the more likely I am to stop staring aimlessly into space and actually do something, since specificity is better than "I should write something but there are SO MANY THINGS that I could be!", so, y'know.

ETA: There is now a thread for questions as the first comment in each version of this post! If you would like to know whether I know a thing/like a ship/whatever, there you are! If you have some other question, there you also are!

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"The Woman for Whom We All Kill" — Troy — gen, Helen-centric

Sun, 14 Sep 2014 20:14:34 GMT

fandom: Troy
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Hector & Helen, basically gen with canonical pairings
length: ~1000 words
content notices: Canonical character death under non-canonical circumstances; war; reference to canonical domestic abuse; general sadness
tropes & things: alternate canon; character death fix; otherwise not a fix-it at all
summary: To Helen there is no honor worth death.
notes: If you care about Achilles and his narrative, this fic is probably even less something you want to read than everything else I have ever written about or referencing the Trojan War. If not, carry on. Title and cut-text from Suzanne Vega’s “The Queen and the Soldier”.
ao3 crosspost: here

( but the crown it had fallen and she thought she would break / and she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached )

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"But There's Water on My Lips" — Merlin — Gwen&Morgana, Freya/Morgana

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:47:52 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: general audiences
characters/pairings: pre-Freya/Morgana, Gwen&Morgana, mentions of Gwen/Lancelot
length: ~3.2K words
content notices: Reference to offscreen character deaths, discussion of offscreen murder unrelated to those; reference to mind control (Freya is cursed much as she is in canon); Uther’s general existence; effects of offscreen homophobia; really unhistorical historical fiction.
summary: Morgana might be the only person in England who ever tried to befriend a deadly water-spirit.
notes: This is what I’ve seen called “costume historical” or “wallpaper historical” as a setting for romance novels, so if historical precision, detail, and accuracy are essential for your enjoyment this is not the fic for you. Written for untold_legends. Title is from Regina Spektor’s “Aquarius”. Many many thanks to lady_ragnell for an incredibly last-minute second pair of eyes on this; any errors that remain are entirely my fault one way or another.
ao3 crosspost: here

( The water-spirit looks lost, and Morgana’s heart breaks for her even as she thinks, distant and cold, that it’s a good thing Gwen has the poker because if those slender deadly hands close around Morgana’s wrists she’ll be too distracted by the touch to pull away. )

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"Do You Let Signs Tell You What to Do?" — Merlin — Mithian/Vivian

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:52:11 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Mithian/Vivian, Mithian&Rodor, Arthur/Vivian, mentions of Arthur/Gwen
length: ~7K words
content notices: deals heavily with canonical mind control and references canonical mutually non-consensual kissing due to same, also contains [discussed and agreed-upon in advance] kissing to break a spell
summary: Mithian is surprised at how much it hurts when Vivian comes back from Camelot talking of nothing but Arthur.
notes: Plot-compliant with 2.10 “Sweet Dreams”, but not quite with 4.11 “The Hunter’s Heart”. I owe a debt of gratitude to versaphile for their map of Albion, although I picked and chose as I wanted/needed from there and from canon both re: the layout of Albion. I would also like to thank lady_ragnell for continuing to be the most patient sounding board/cheer squad anyone could wish, for helping me sort out the politics of Albion, and for unsticking the story even before she beta-read it on appallingly short notice. Written for untold_legends, for the square “against all odds” on my trope_bingo card, and for #6 (“Ours”) of 100_women table #8. Title from Lady Gaga’s “No Floods”, because this is me writing Vivian. (I really ought to break that habit at some point.)
ao3 crosspost: here (contains additional worldbuilding natter in the endnotes)

( And she’s too late, anyway, and a princess may love where she chooses but a queen never. It feels suddenly, terribly unfair that Mithian has made herself a queen-yet-to-be and never allowed herself to notice why she didn’t mind Vivian’s cheerful self-centeredness. )

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updates & things

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 03:42:21 GMT

My year so far has been 1) noble resolutions promptly followed by 2) a family emergency and then 3) an exhausted lull after which 4) househunting began, soon to overlap with 5) a family Situation, which in turn overlapped with 6) moving. Everything from 3 onwards during 7) returning to college part-time.

So.

That's been a thing. And all my noble resolutions to be a good backup mod at cottoncandy_bingo and get my fics for that and trope_bingo (well, I lie, I've done one trope_bingo one) and untold_legends have so far fallen rather by the wayside. And I am really really glad I didn't sign up for rarewomen, because eek. (I may well do treats like I did last year, I just...deadlines. Nope.) But I am back to trying to do better, now. Really. Yep.

( additional rambling about Merlin tinyships/posting of potentially-abandoned WIP snippet(s?) )

I should stop rambling at my journal and actually do something quasi-useful with my evening, now that we are not having crises and I'm not sick.

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Oh look, another bingo card!

Sun, 02 Feb 2014 16:58:01 GMT

Progress made on trope_bingo: 0

cottoncandy_bingo cards acquired: 1
Progress made on cottoncandy_bingo: 0

( Let there be fluff! )

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accountability, the most important reason to make journal posts

Sun, 12 Jan 2014 00:29:15 GMT

Or, Things I Need To Do ~~On My Summer Vacation~~

( BBC Atlantis )

( Merlin (also BBC, but no longer prone to confusion), with bonus trope_bingo planning! )

Speaking of icons, I also need to ~~start~~ finish the icons I've offered people for snowflake_challenge.

\o/ /o\ \o/ /o\

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"Private Law" — Atlantis (BBC) — Ariadne(&Minos), gen

Sat, 11 Jan 2014 02:35:31 GMT

fandom: Atlantis (BBC)
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Ariadne(&Minos)
length: ~700 words
content notices: spoilers for 1.01 "The Earth Bull" and very minor spoilers by implication for 1.03 "A Boy of No Consequence"; references to offscreen ritual sacrifice, and actions which could result in martyrdom for the main character
summary: Ariadne doubts her father's faith.
notes: Written for #8 (“Privilege”) of 100_women table #9 & for #33 (“Safe”) of the Women Are Awesome prompt table at hooked_on_heroines.
ao3 crosspost: here

( She takes a deep breath and uncurls her fingers, one by one. )

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trope_bingo card!

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:21:10 GMT

[muffled sounds of nonisland being buried under an avalanche of cards and tables and other things of things to write]

( Am I posting this so I can be held accountable for it instead of forgetting about it like the last bingo card I had? MAYBE. )

Also, I'm not precisely saying I will take requests, but I am open to any suggestions you have, especially since I tend to do better at writing things if I know I'm not the only one who wants to read them! (Though I already have Plans for "au: fairy tale/myth". *fingersteeple*)

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prompt tables: 100_women #s 8 & 9

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 01:35:15 GMT

New year, new fandoms, totally time to grab more prompt tables even though I have yet to completely fill any of the tables I have up. This duo is inspired by my having a fandom relapse into Merlin and tripping and falling into Atlantis (made by the same creative team) at approximately the same time, and thinking about lady interactions that should have happened--I won't absolutely hold myself to it if I come up with a fabulous alternative, but I am intending each prompt from these tables to be used for one or the other of these shows, set during canon era and mostly either episode-related or inspired-by-episode (though some might not be canon-compliant!).

Table squares will have the show, the lady/ladies and relationships (friendship or romance) if any, and LJ/DW/AO3 links. Table squares will not have content notices (please assume s1 spoilers for anything Atlantis); if you're browsing this table and would like to know, without going to the fics themselves, whether content notices apply(/which episodes specifically are spoiled), leave me a comment and I'll let you know as soon as I see it. The original tables, from 100_women, can be found here.

( ladies ladies ladies )
The 10th in each is a writer's-choice space; I took the 8th & 9th prompts from table #5 and inserted them into tables #8 & 9, respectively.

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"Out There a Lonely Girl Could Drown" — Atlantis — Ione, Pasiphae, gen

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 06:10:11 GMT

fandom: Atlantis (BBC)
rating: general audiences
characters/pairings: Ione, Pasiphae
length: ~1400 words
content notices: Spoilers through 1.12 “Touched by the Gods, Part 1”; additional warnings are spoilers (skip) canonical character death; mention of non-focal mourning
summary: The palace of Atlantis is a dangerous place.
notes: (Will I have a better summary once I do not need to worry about spoilers? Yes I will.) Written for #5 (“Power”) of 100_women table #9 & for #25 (“Fear”) of the Women Are Awesome prompt table from hooked_on_heroines. Title and cut-text from Ellie Goulding’s “Under the Sheets”.
ao3 crosspost: here

( in here the world won't bring us down / our plan is gold dust )

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"Impossible to Ignore, and They'll Come True" — Merlin — Gwen/Morgana

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 02:38:05 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: mature audiences
characters/pairings: Gwen/Morgana
length: ~1500 words
content notices: sexual content, solo sex, fantasizing
summary: After Morgana has a vision of herself having sex with Gwen, who is not and never has been her lover, she’s...uncertain.
notes: Written for the prompt “Gwen/Morgana, vision!sex. Morgana has a vision of her having sex with Gwen. How she deals with this is up to you. :)” (second fill down) at kinkme_merlin. Title from the Cranberries’ “Dreams”.
ao3 crosspost: here

( She has too few dreams of anything but disaster, and she’s not sure whether that’s because nothing else is as important or because that’s all her gift is good for. )

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miscellaneous updates & a fic meme

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:40:13 GMT

Well, if all the cool kids are doing it...most popular 10 fics meme, taken from argylepiratewd! (I have been busily working on attempting to have an actual life, but stay tuned to this channel over the next week or two for a. at least one de-anoned kinkme_merlin fill, b. some rarewomen treats*, and possibly c. the unveiling of a Secret Project!

* Treats can be written by all, participant or otherwise (and a later post explicitly clarifies dropouts can also write treats)! To find out about it and get a list of requests, see this post at the comm. *waves More Fic About Ladies banner*

(...also, yes, you deduce correctly from my mention of "treats" yet no mention of my actual assignment fic that I ended up having an Abject Failure At Things moment and having to release my assignment into the wild due to a case of having no idea how in hell to write what my recipient wanted. /o\ Oh well. I did try, which already makes this better than I've done for any exchange yet. I think.)

( ANYWAY, now that I've gotten terribly sidetracked, here's the 10 fics meme. )

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"Shine a Quiet Light" — Supernatural — Sarah Blake/Bela Talbot

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:32 GMT

fandom: Supernatural
rating: mature audiences
characters/pairings: Sarah Blake/Bela Talbot
length: ~1500 words
content notices: sexual content; mentions of minor original character deaths
summary: Bela isn’t used to having anyone other than her cat waiting for her. Sarah isn’t used to having someone to wait for.
notes: written for a quote prompt at spnfemslashexchange. title from “The Colors of My Life (Reprise)” from Barnum: “And if from by my side / My love should roam, / The colors of my life / Will shine a quiet light / To lead him home.”
ao3 crosspost: here

( Bela comes back from California, from Paris, from British Columbia, from the Caribbean. She comes back tanned, red-haired, paler again. She brings postcards but never stories. )

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Snowflake Meme, Day #8

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:25:32 GMT

I finally got some recs posted for the rest of the Snowflake Challenge! Day 2 is here (22 recs, if I'm counting right, in six fandoms + a panfandom rec), and Day 6 is here (2 recs in two fandoms). As you can tell, I got a little carried away with Day 2.

Day 8 asks us to talk about something we're good at. ( Read more... )

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Snowflake Meme, Day #7

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:17:09 GMT

I promise--I honestly, sincerely promise--that I am going to catch up on several other bits of the Snowflake Challenge (probably not the social-interaction-with-strangers ones, because social anxiety woooo), and I actually have a detailed recs post half-coded for Day Two (rec other people's fic, especially rareish fic) which I keep getting distracted from by other things (I'm still going through everyone else's self-rec lists from Day One, as well as real life and other fannish activities); this is not turning into an All About Me thing, I promise.

That said, Day 7: create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive.

(Whether or not you've been participating, and whether or not you investigate my own wishlist, I also would like to encourage you to check out everyone else's wishlists (not all of them if you'd rather not, of course! maybe just click a few at random?) to see if there's anything that someone else would like that you're willing and able to provide.)

( I'm actually really bad at asking for things. [fandoms: all (1); Stargate Atlantis (1); Marvel comics (1)] )

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"We (Don't) Have to Stop Meeting Like This" — Supernatural — Sarah Blake/Bela Talbot

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:38:21 GMT

fandom: Supernatural
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Bela Talbot/Sarah Blake
length: 500 words
content notices: brief sexual content
summary: The world where the supernatural overlaps with the antiques trade isn’t a large one.
notes: drabble sequence written for applesarefuckinghealthy.
ao3 crosspost: here

( Sarah watches her go until she disappears into the light beyond the doors. )

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Snowflake Meme, Day #1

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:40:21 GMT

The Fandom Snowflake Challenge (for celebrating ourselves as members of fandom)
Day One: post a rec for at least three fanworks you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

I've mostly tried not to repeat myself from the year-end meme I did yesterday, but it was hard because most of the fics I've written were, um, written this year. But. ( Beyond this cut there be recs. )

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Year-end fic memes!

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:04:50 GMT

Here's last year's meme. (I am interested to note that I was wrong and the fic I thought was going to be the most under-appreciated [posted 30 Dec. or something like that] was...not.) Of my goals for this year, I actually met...most of them? All of them except the specific-story goals, actually.

( 2011, in review! )

And, stolen from argylepiratewd, the first sentences of all my fics longer than 100 words this year!

( miscellaneous pairings. some of these sentences contain: language; sexual content; half-sibling incest (that one's got a few lines of space around it and a skip link for screenreaders) ) If you'd like me to tell you which fic any of those sentences came from and you don't feel like counting through the fics to figure it out, I'd be happy to do so.

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"We'll Get Her Hot, Show Her What We've Got" — Merlin — Gwen/Morgana/Vivian

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 05:59:52 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: explicit/adult audiences
characters/pairings: Gwen/Morgana, Gwen/Morgana/Vivian
length: ~3500 words
content notices: exhibitionism/dub-con voyeurism; light humiliation; explicit sexual content
summary: Nobody gets away with insulting Gwen while Morgana is around.
notes: written for the kinkme_merlin prompt “Gwen/Morgana/Vivian, Morgana is decidedly not pleased by Vivian’s cutting remarks about Gwen and decides to give Vivian a taste of just what she’s missing by not taking advantage of Gwen being temporarily assigned to her.” title is a line from Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” with the pronouns juggled around, because I appear to be physically incapable of giving Vivian fics serious titles.
ao3 crosspost: here

( Vivian is a princess. She deserves at the very least a nobleman’s daughter to wait on her, and she refuses to simply lie down and allow her hosts to insult her. )

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Oh, LJ, wow, argh.

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:22:19 GMT

I profusely apologize to anyone trying to read my fics on LJ who's now inconvenienced by the new layout. I'd change it, but the only way I know of to alter the look of entries/comment pages is to have a plus or paid account (correct me if I'm wrong?), and at this point I am even more determined not to give them any money by allowing ad views or actually...giving them money...than I have been. My fics are and always have been crossposted to both DreamWidth and the Archive of Our Own, if either of those sites is more convenient for you.

Also, I have a lot of DW invite codes, if anyone reading this wants one--not that it's really necessary, because DW has turned off needing a code to create an account until the end of the year (wondering if they're regretting the choice now...)

I had been planning to try to finish and post at least one more kinkme_merlin fill before the end of the year, but if LJ doesn't FIX THE COMMENT PAGES that might not happen. I mean, wow. Wow. There is so much fail there, y'all. I was quite literally getting a headache trying to read the new comment pages, and the custom-style ones are...really not optimal.

In happier news, and without making any promises, if anyone reading this would like me to attempt to write them a holiday ficlet (let's say a New Year's gift, because I know myself and the odds of me getting anything done before the end of any of the other holidays around this time are less than good), feel free to comment with a prompt of some sort! ♥

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"And the Sunlight Clasps the Earth and the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea" — Merlin — Gwen/Morgana

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:45:16 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: explicit/adult audiences
characters/pairings: Gwen/Morgana
length: ~1900 words
content notices: explicit sexual content
summary: in which there is sex, outdoors, and everything is sweet and happy.
notes: written for the kinkme_merlin prompt “Gwen/morgana One of them laying down outside nude, the other eating them out.” (second fill down.) title from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Love’s Philosophy”.
ao3 crosspost: here

( It’s beautiful outside, golden with flower-flecked summer, the air sweet and clean with the scent of growing things. )

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"One and One, By and By" — Merlin — Gwen/Lancelot/Morgana

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:05:45 GMT

fandom: Merlin
rating: teen+ audiences
characters/pairings: Gwen/Morgana, Gwen/Lancelot, Gwen/Lancelot/Morgana (+ brief Arthur/Merlin)
length: ~2500 words
content notices: serious/incapacitating illness of minor character (no details given); mention of canonical minor character death; light sexual content.
summary: Gwen never wanted to have to choose.
notes: canon AU spinning loose from the s1 finale. written for the kinkme_merlin prompt “Gwen/Lancelot/Morgana, sharing.” & for #24 (“Choice”) of the Women Are Awesome prompt table at hooked_on_heroines. title from Vienna Teng’s “Now Three”.
ao3 crosspost: here

( For whatever reason, she’d never dreamed of Lancelot. )

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