She has a good point

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

Parallax: Chapter 2

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Minor Character Death, Politics

Relationship(s): Lexi T’Perro/OC (Thaia Kallistrate), Benezia/Aethyta, Benezia/Aethyta/Shiala

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate (OC), Aria T’Loak, Matriarch Benezia, Suvi Anwar, Nakmor Drack, Vetra Nyx, Cora Harper, Matriarch Aethyta, Shiala

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Politics, Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Original Characters

Summary: 55,000 years ago, the protheans won a Pyrrhic victory over the reapers. From the ashes of the Prothean Republic and the rusting hulks of the reapers, the ancient asari grew into a galaxy-spanning empire. Two people on opposite sides first meet during an abduction that threatens to upend the tenuous armistice between the Asari Empire and the Terminus Systems. Decades later, they face each other again as forced allies and unwitting political pawns when the galaxy’s three major factions collide.

Chapter 2: Sphere of Influence

55 Tevos 437 Forty years later, one of the last things Thaia had ever expected was to see Aria T’Loak and her most trusted lieutenant, Soraya T’Perro, again. On Omega. On friendly terms. With Thaia being assigned a job by Aria. And Thaia accepting it because she had no choice if she wanted to stay on Omega while waiting for the Omega-4 Relay to be cleared of sabotage from the human terrorist group, Cerberus. All she wanted to do was study it and continue her work with designing and building a prototype relay for the asari, yet here she was, about to be working for Aria T’Loak. “—and I can’t have you idling on my station,” Aria was saying while standing across from Thaia, the large operations table between them. A technical model of Omega’s structure slowly rotated above it, two sections near the mine highlighted, and a third highlighted section at the opposite end. “You’ll be pulling some guard duty.” Please not any of the clubs. Aria signaled to Soraya, who lifted a bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of Thaia. Then she unzipped it, revealing a full kit of low-profile body armor, clothing manufactured from ballistic cloth, and other sundries commandos on personal bodyguard details often used. “I had my people pick up your weapons. Your pistol is in the bag. Your other weapons and belongings are currently being moved to more secure and far better lodgings,” Soraya said, and then studied her for a moment. “Bit of a shithole you were living in.”

Read the rest of Chapter 2 on AO3

Tessellation: Chapter 40

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

Ark Paarchero, 2820. It was easy to forget—at least for Ryder—the sheer size of the Initiative’s arks. Without trams and elevators, it was a slow, unsettling slog through a ship sixteen football fields long containing two arkholds that were almost three football fields tall apiece. Plus each of those arkholds held thirty decks apiece. Ryder got tired just thinking about it. The dim standby lighting and the kett equipment scattered through the eerily empty corridors didn’t help it be less creepy, either. Another thing that didn’t help was the unease building up in her gut at not having heard from Thaia and Cora for the entire trip from arkhold to arkhold. Ryder and her team had finished their morning PT-like group run and drawn to a collective halt at the entrance to the cryobay containing the pods for Jeks Arlan and Vadim Escondar and still nothing. “We should’ve heard from Armali by now,” Ryder said as they walked through the doorway into the sterile, empty medical bay lit only by emergency lights. “What if they’re dead?” Drack shrugged. “Archon would’ve been bragging already. They’re fine.” “That doesn’t help me feel better.” “I dunno,” Peebee said, checking over equipment covered like it would have been during transit, labels and seals indicating an intact stasis state. “I think he has a pretty good point. Whenever the Archon gets one over on us, he doesn’t really keep it to himself.”

read the rest of Chapter 40 on AO3

Tessellation: Chapter 40

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

Ark Paarchero, 2820. It was easy to forget—at least for Ryder—the sheer size of the Initiative’s arks. Without trams and elevators, it was a slow, unsettling slog through a ship sixteen football fields long containing two arkholds that were almost three football fields tall apiece. Plus each of those arkholds held thirty decks apiece. Ryder got tired just thinking about it. The dim standby lighting and the kett equipment scattered through the eerily empty corridors didn’t help it be less creepy, either. Another thing that didn’t help was the unease building up in her gut at not having heard from Thaia and Cora for the entire trip from arkhold to arkhold. Ryder and her team had finished their morning PT-like group run and drawn to a collective halt at the entrance to the cryobay containing the pods for Jeks Arlan and Vadim Escondar and still nothing. “We should’ve heard from Armali by now,” Ryder said as they walked through the doorway into the sterile, empty medical bay lit only by emergency lights. “What if they’re dead?” Drack shrugged. “Archon would’ve been bragging already. They’re fine.” “That doesn’t help me feel better.” “I dunno,” Peebee said, checking over equipment covered like it would have been during transit, labels and seals indicating an intact stasis state. “I think he has a pretty good point. Whenever the Archon gets one over on us, he doesn’t really keep it to himself.”

read the rest of Chapter 40 on AO3

Tessellation: Chapter 40

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

Ark Paarchero, 2820. It was easy to forget—at least for Ryder—the sheer size of the Initiative’s arks. Without trams and elevators, it was a slow, unsettling slog through a ship sixteen football fields long containing two arkholds that were almost three football fields tall apiece. Plus each of those arkholds held thirty decks apiece. Ryder got tired just thinking about it. The dim standby lighting and the kett equipment scattered through the eerily empty corridors didn’t help it be less creepy, either. Another thing that didn’t help was the unease building up in her gut at not having heard from Thaia and Cora for the entire trip from arkhold to arkhold. Ryder and her team had finished their morning PT-like group run and drawn to a collective halt at the entrance to the cryobay containing the pods for Jeks Arlan and Vadim Escondar and still nothing. “We should’ve heard from Armali by now,” Ryder said as they walked through the doorway into the sterile, empty medical bay lit only by emergency lights. “What if they’re dead?” Drack shrugged. “Archon would’ve been bragging already. They’re fine.” “That doesn’t help me feel better.” “I dunno,” Peebee said, checking over equipment covered like it would have been during transit, labels and seals indicating an intact stasis state. “I think he has a pretty good point. Whenever the Archon gets one over on us, he doesn’t really keep it to himself.”

read the rest of Chapter 40 on AO3

Tessellation: Chapter 40

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

Ark Paarchero, 2820. It was easy to forget—at least for Ryder—the sheer size of the Initiative’s arks. Without trams and elevators, it was a slow, unsettling slog through a ship sixteen football fields long containing two arkholds that were almost three football fields tall apiece. Plus each of those arkholds held thirty decks apiece. Ryder got tired just thinking about it. The dim standby lighting and the kett equipment scattered through the eerily empty corridors didn’t help it be less creepy, either. Another thing that didn’t help was the unease building up in her gut at not having heard from Thaia and Cora for the entire trip from arkhold to arkhold. Ryder and her team had finished their morning PT-like group run and drawn to a collective halt at the entrance to the cryobay containing the pods for Jeks Arlan and Vadim Escondar and still nothing. “We should’ve heard from Armali by now,” Ryder said as they walked through the doorway into the sterile, empty medical bay lit only by emergency lights. “What if they’re dead?” Drack shrugged. “Archon would’ve been bragging already. They’re fine.” “That doesn’t help me feel better.” “I dunno,” Peebee said, checking over equipment covered like it would have been during transit, labels and seals indicating an intact stasis state. “I think he has a pretty good point. Whenever the Archon gets one over on us, he doesn’t really keep it to himself.”

read the rest of Chapter 40 on AO3

Tessellation: Chapter 40

Fandom: Mass Effect

Relationship(s): Original Asari Character | Thaia Kallistrate/Lexi T’Perro; Cora Harper/Janae (background)

Rating: M

Characters: Lexi T’Perro, Thaia Kallistrate, The Entire Tempest Crew, Lots of People from the Nexus, Also the Initiative People in General, And Some Outcasts, Everyone, Basically.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutual Pining, Not So Secret Crush, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Longfic

Summary: After becoming fast best friends—if she’s sharing the jail cell with you, she’s your best friend—in the weeks before the Initiative’s departure from the Milky Way, Lexi and Thaia agree to resume their friendship in Andromeda. With Lexi assigned to the Hyperion and Thaia to the Nexus, they know it might be difficult to find each other again. Then everything goes to shit in the Heleus Cluster. In the mess the Initiative’s become and the mission to salvage it, they both have to recover who they were as they discover what they are.

Ark Paarchero, 2820. It was easy to forget—at least for Ryder—the sheer size of the Initiative’s arks. Without trams and elevators, it was a slow, unsettling slog through a ship sixteen football fields long containing two arkholds that were almost three football fields tall apiece. Plus each of those arkholds held thirty decks apiece. Ryder got tired just thinking about it. The dim standby lighting and the kett equipment scattered through the eerily empty corridors didn’t help it be less creepy, either. Another thing that didn’t help was the unease building up in her gut at not having heard from Thaia and Cora for the entire trip from arkhold to arkhold. Ryder and her team had finished their morning PT-like group run and drawn to a collective halt at the entrance to the cryobay containing the pods for Jeks Arlan and Vadim Escondar and still nothing. “We should’ve heard from Armali by now,” Ryder said as they walked through the doorway into the sterile, empty medical bay lit only by emergency lights. “What if they’re dead?” Drack shrugged. “Archon would’ve been bragging already. They’re fine.” “That doesn’t help me feel better.” “I dunno,” Peebee said, checking over equipment covered like it would have been during transit, labels and seals indicating an intact stasis state. “I think he has a pretty good point. Whenever the Archon gets one over on us, he doesn’t really keep it to himself.”

read the rest of Chapter 40 on AO3

“I’ll just write this short little fic”, the author says, not realising they’re doomed by the narrative

Hey, just wanted to see how you're doing! I haven't seen updates so I just wanted to see if you're all right.

I’m doing okay-ish? I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, so there's been a lot of doctor's appointments and tests and new and interesting meds. One of them gave me monster headaches for the first few weeks and here I'd been concerned about GI side effects since they were discussed and not headaches. (I had no GI side effects, just awful headaches that made me useless for a few hours after taking the medication.) So far I've found out that my heart is fantastically healthy, as are my lungs, but I have to get yearly echocardiograms and pulmonary function testing to keep track of if and when the autoimmune thing jacks them up.

Writing-wise, I also realized that the last fourth of Tessellation needed a rework. It didn't feel/read right. It's been hammered out now, though. And I do have updates for Tessellation and Parallax. I'll try to carve out some time tomorrow to reply to reviews and post updates for each. I keep meaning to, then life stuff interferes (I don't hate my job, but when it's going well I’m just slammed) by the time I have time to reply and post, I’m falling asleep. Fingers crossed I didn't just jinx myself, though.

Yesterday was a bad writing day. I spent a lot of time staring at a screen. Lots of Tumblr replies. Lots of Twitter (the Netflix Sandman trailer going out didn’t help). Lots of being grumpy at myself and convinced I couldn’t do it any more. The script was a mess. I was doomed. This morning I printed out what I had to fix, picked up a pen, made a few notes and started typing. It was fun and easy and straightforward. I finished it and sent it to the people who needed to see it, and just got an amazed call from our script editor saying she was laughing while crying and couldn’t work out how I’d done everything in a day.

And I hadn’t done it all in a day. All of the being miserable yesterday was necessary for it to fly today. All of the knowing it was insoluble and awful made the work today relatively easy. I had to get out of my own way, and had to read it freshly, without being attached to anything. And then I just did the notes. And to make the thing that worked today, a lot of stuff that didn’t quite work or sort of worked had to be written too. It’s always easier to fix stuff that exists.

Anyway. Yesterday = bad writing day. Today = good writing day. I thought it was worth telling people, in case there was anyone else out there who was having a bad writing day too.

when fanfic authors say that they don’t decide what happens in the story that the characters make the decisions i imagine it like this:

writer: *sitting down* type type type type *squinting at the screen* type type type

writer: *gasp* WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT…… type type type