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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love 💗 (hi hello rinny spreading the love to your writing 💚)
- Four little Crows, off to meet the Maker - "'Maker,' Tristeza thought that night, reading in her bedroom and finding herself unable to focus on the words. 'I know it is Your will, or it would not have come to pass! And yet, I am terrified. Forgive me. I know it is right to oppose the Crows but what is my little life, even in its greatest capacity, compared to the whole of them? Andraste, I beg of You: Protect us! Guide us! Keep us from harm!'"
This is the first chapter of my Antivan Zevwarden long-fic Matacuervos, and I am listing it as its own entry, though I'm proud of the entire work; I really feel the first chapter is some of my strongest writing to date. If you're at all curious at least peek at the first chapter... I'm so proud of it!
As for what's to come, I can promise: action, knife fights, romance, death, horses, worker's rights, gay nuns, haunted manors, prostitutes beating slavers to death, and more?
2. for suffering is such a part - "The Lady of the Forest stepped out from between the branches—only it wasn’t the Lady they knew. Close inspection revealed a new spirit entirely; her features changed, her form taller and more free, and branches of oak carried regally upon her head. She was only like an echo of the spirit they’d encountered in the temple, amplified and changed in tone.
'It is not so easy a thing to kill me,' the new Lady said with a smile. 'For you know well, the forest has as many faces as it does trees. Burn me down, cut me, bind me, the forest persists—as surely as autumn, as formless as mists.'"
For suffering is such a part was my first attempt at writing a long fic, and at 50k words it was my first truly ambitious writing project. I think it suffers issues in pacing and flow but I'll never stop being proud of it, it's a solid beginning. It also hosts some stuff I'm really hype about such as Jowan traveling with the Wardens, Zevran interacting with elven spirits, and Morrigan contracting lycanthropy. It's also the first appearance of OCs that show up in other works: Keeva, Mathuin, and Adelmar.
3. not a homecoming, but something like it - "The man Zevran is with has begun to pick up her groceries, although somewhat haphazardly, dropping one orange for every three he grabs. “You see?” he calls out, darting after a can and swiping it before it gets rolled over by a cart. “I knew she’d recognize you!”
And Zevran, the little boy she’d read stories to in the brothel, the same brown eyes, just taller, smiles at her like she’s singing a song and he’s in her lap again."
I think if you look at my writing a few things become really obvious: first of all, I love Zevran's story. Secondly, I'm big on community, friendship, culture, and healing trauma in that framework. No one is alone. No one is ever alone. Some of my favorite comments on this fic hit it right on the money:
4. Falon'Din enasal enaste - "Zevran wasn’t raised to feel grief, not the way others were. Grieving openly was a sign of weakness, and weakness invited abuse. Surviving was more important. But Hamal carries grief with him. He breathes it in his sleep. Braids it into his hair. How cruel and unfair it all is.
Tamlen is laid to rest among moss and stones, with flowers and so many ribbons."
I don't talk about this one very often!! It's very early-days writing. I remember being really proud of the tone and feeling in this. Grief is hard to write, but it's a topic I tackle often. But the scene of Tamlen's funeral is at the very core of Hamal's character, and the ZevHamal dynamic as a whole.
5. Drought Mermaids - "The work is complex. While Vida’s aptitude for weather magic is rare, and therefore in high demand, there’s more to it than summoning storms. She knows that the sky does not end with the horizon, that the atmosphere does not peter out into nothing in space. She knows that there are no clear boundaries; everything is part of everything else. There are a hundred factors to take into account."
I'd be remiss not to share a published piece of work. This story has existed for many years and it underwent several edits before it got picked up by a magazine. It's a sweet little tale about nostalgia, community, and magic please check it out !! I always recommend Haven Spec's features; they have some stellar work in their archives!
dividers by @saradika-graphics
