Self Promo Sunday: “That’s Just Who We Are”

Hello there! I’ve been a little absent on here the last several days - getting over my usual end-of-the-school-year cold and so on. Anyway, seeing as for me at least, this is the first official Sunday of summer, I thought a light and fluffy one shot from the back catalogue was fitting - now with cover art!

This is basically future CS family fluff. Here’s hoping you will enjoy and it brings you a smile!

Also available on AO3, if that’s your preference

Emma hears childish giggles and deeper, masculine chuckling floating from the back of their house by the sea the very moment she steps through the door after a long day at the station.  A grin stretches across her face as she hangs her jacket on its hook and begins to follow the happy sound to her daughter’s bedroom at the end of the downstairs hall just before reaching the screened back porch.  She wants to get a peek at what her two mischievous buccaneers have gotten up to while she’s been gone.

Peering soundlessly around the doorframe of the sunny yellow and (much to Killian’s chagrin) Beauty and the Beast-themed room of their four-year-old daughter, Emma’s heart melts at the sight of her husband twirling his little girl in dancing circles while she spins around him, chortling with merry delight.  The cares of the day simply vanish from Emma’s shoulders as she watches her little family at play and remembers once more just how great her life is now – better than she could ever have imagined.

So much has happened in a mere five years.  She and Killian had married a mere month after he was returned to her by Zeus himself.  It had seemed foolish to wait; clearly they would face any obstacle to be together, and they wanted to appreciate every moment they were given. They had learned the hard way that the future is never guaranteed with the life they lead.  By that Christmas, Emma had quite the gift to share with her pirate – they were expecting a child of their own – and his stunned joy had carried them into the most hope-filled New Year either could ever remember.  Now, as the autumn chill of late October steals over their quaint little New England hamlet once again, and she and her father are run ragged answering calls about ridiculous Halloween pranks, and other random complaints, but Emma still can’t help but think that she wouldn’t trade a second of it to come home to this sort of scene every night.  They often head over to Regina’s place for the evening meal, as they have planned to do tonight, and it is quite the happily merry full table with her own father, mother, and younger brother, who is almost six now and never stops talking, even with a mouth full of food, Regina, Zelena, and little Robin, now five-years-old and the prettiest, daintiest little brunette anyone in the town has ever seen.  Henry joins them when he can, but he headed off for his first year of college almost two full months ago – determined to be an author in the real world as well, not just within the realm of the storybook – and is settling in like he was born for it at Bowdoin College over in Brunswick.  He loves the university where some of his favored writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow honed their craft, and he has made tons of new friends, but he still comes home every few weeks to see his family.  That doesn’t mean he isn’t missed like crazy by both of his mothers and his extended family, though, even if they are thrilled that he is happy and finding his own way in the world.

Bringing herself back to the present, Emma realizes she should interrupt and make sure that both her pirate and her little princess are ready for their supper gathering before they arrive late again, but she can’t help watching them a few minutes more. 

So sweet!

WIP Wednesday: “The Lawman, The Thief, and the Outlaw”

I haven’t participated in this for a while, because honestly, I have been making such SLOW progress in most of my WIPs and swamped with IRL work. But, I have dusted off my long-neglected Western AU and am working hard to bring the next update to you soon…

Please enjoy a teaser for Chapter Three below….

(( *Amazing fic cover art created for me by @searchingwardrobes ))

Summary: Sheriff Killian Jones has done his best to leave behind a troubled past and bring law and order to the town of Blanchard Ridge. However, when he upholds his duty in the face of the most feared and dangerous outlaw gang in the area, allies are few and he dreads trapping them in the same situation he finds himself. The small Western town is about to become a powder keg, and one lawman, his deputies, and a resourceful woman too stubborn for her own good are all that stand in the way of bloodshed and lawlessness…

Previous chapters can be found HERE and HERE

From Chapter Three: 

“…Blood boiling at a fever pitch from her words and her proximity, Killian took leave of his senses for a moment, surging forward and wrapping an arm around her slim waist with a growl. Miss Swan’s eyes were still lit with gloating triumph until she was pulled abruptly forward against his lean, hard body from shoulder to knee, a squawk of surprise escaping her mouth before the sheriff captured it with his own, swooping in to positively plunder and claim.

Completely overcome, Emma nearly sagged against the doorframe to her room, letting his heated grip at her waist do the rest of the work to hold her up, and her senses and mind short circuited with his searing kiss. This man had struck her as a loner - handsome obviously, but intentionally set apart and uninterested in taking much time be otherwise. However, his kiss was proving her earlier assumptions wrong quite soundly. He must know his way around a woman after all, she surmised wryly, trying to dismiss the jealous twinges in her chest at the thought of how many others might have enjoyed such attention from Sheriff Jones with his brilliant blue eyes and darkly handsome good looks. Rather than pulling away and slapping his scruffy face - as any well-bred lady would have already done, Emma instead felt a low whine escape the back of her throat, eliciting a roughly amused chuckle from him to tickle against her lips. And her hands, seemingly of their own accord, grasped for purchase at his lapels, fingers brushing against the hair of his chest exposed by the wide open collar of his shirt and sending the attraction she already felt ratcheting even higher at the inherent masculinity it embodied. 

There was no telling how long they might have stood like that in the doorway, lips and tongues - and hands -  exploring, if it hadn’t been for a rather pointed clearing of the throat nearby, breaking into the heated reverie and causing them to lurch apart, winded and dazed as each came back to themselves and their surroundings. 

The innkeeper, David Nolan, stood a few feet away, staring them down with arms crossed over his broad chest and the look of a reproving father on his generally mild-mannered face. Upon seeing that he had their attention, the man came forward, speaking genially enough, even if he had just interrupted a rather compromising clench between the two. “I’m all for my friends and inn patrons getting along,” he commented, raising an eyebrow as if to give a nod to the understatement that observation was, “but perhaps in the privacy of their individual rooms?”

“Right you are, Nolan,” Jones agreed politely, nodding his acquiescence as he released the soft, enticing curve of Miss Swan’s waist, which he had still been clutching like a drowning man. He might be the law in this dusty outpost, but the innkeeper had always been decent, helpful, and a friendly ally when he had very few in his life. It didn’t pay to make enemies, particularly not with a man whose sweet little wife’s cooking provided his dinner most evenings when he crossed over to the inn at the conclusion of his shift. Mary seemed delicate and almost naive at first meeting, but he had seen her wield a frying pan on a ruffian who’d been unsavory to one of her waitresses and knew that her sweetness could hide spunk and a fiery temper if the situation called for it. He did not wish to be banned from her kitchen; her biscuits alone, freshly made, warm with honey dripping off them, were enough to make a man aim to stay on her good side.

Besides all that, he had gotten carried away with the pretty blonde leaning against the opposite side of the door frame. She might be all kinds of tempting, especially now with her skin flushed, her lips kiss-swollen, chest heaving, and golden tresses in disarray, but they had just met, and he hadn’t set out to take advantage. He could count numerous mistakes in his past, and looked back on more than a few regrets, but he still liked to think he was a gentleman.

“Apologies, Miss Swan,” he added, his voice a low rumble as David Nolan harrumphed, but nodded and seemed to accept both of their chagrined faces and the more seemly distance now between them, and moved on. “I lost my senses, but I hope you won’t hold that against me.”

She eyed him narrowly for a moment, as if trying to gauge his true intentions, but then winked at him before slipping into her room and bringing the door to a near close with the words, “Pity - holding it against me was exactly what I hoped you would do…”

Tagging a few who may still remember this story and enjoy: @captainswanmoviemarathon @searchingwardrobes @jennjenn615@ @kmomof4 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @artistic-writer @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @thisonesatellite @elizabeethan @wefoundloveunderthelight @the-darkdragonfly @cosette141 @jrob64 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @apiratewhopines @xsajx @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @drowned-dreamer @let-it-raines @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @sotangledupinit @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @scientificapricot @tomeandflickcorner @kday426 @lfh1226-linda @thislassishooked @shireness-says​

First I was:

Then I was:

CSSNS: “A Cottage by the Sea” /// Part Four

I’m terribly sorry once again for the delay, but I can see the end in sight on this on now, and I have a good vision for where the rest of this story is going. I hope you will enjoy some of the happy developments in this installment, and (as always) I’d love to hear what you think!

~***~ Excessive thanks and flails once more to @searchingwardrobes​ for this lovely cover art! ~***~

Summary: Princess Emma has always been drawn to the shores of Misthaven, where the sea meets the shore near her parents’ castle. When an unknown boy washes up on the sand, with eyes as fathomless and blue as the waters that brought him to her, he soon becomes Emma’s best friend, her partner in crime, and her other half.  But the tides give and the tides take away, and as her blue-eyed boy sails in her father’s navy and risks all in defense of those who made him family, unexpected danger and challenge will try to tear them apart, and might well show him just where he came from that day he first appeared to her from the sea…

Previous installments, from the beginning, on TUMBLR and on AO3

Part Four

Princess Emma had not been alone at sea for long when self-doubt and questions began to gnaw at her confidence and left her wondering if she should really have set out on her own. She was keeping the small vessel afloat and on course (she couldn’t wait to show Killian she really had been listening to his scattered lessons in their moments alone, even if she had been trying to steal glancing touches and quick glimpses at his unknowing features at the same time), but all the same, once the sun was overhead, beating down hot and unmercifully and she could see only unbroken ocean as far as the horizon in any direction, some of her fearless resolve left her. Why had she not tried to convince or bribe someone who knew more about navigation to come along? What if she were sailing further away from her beloved, instead of closer to him? How would she even get them back if she did locate Killian? What if he were hurt and she didn’t know how to help? She should have brought a healer!

The plaguing worries circled round and round, wreathing her head like a swarm of gnats, and Emma was unable to bat them away. Though she felt the gentle rhythm of the waves beneath her small craft, and knew that they were moving, there was no sign that she was closer to land - or any living thing at all. If she hadn’t been so desperate, so swept up in her emotions and determined recklessness, she would have brought more food and fresh drinking water than the couple of jugs and the bread and cheese she had grabbed. She could be out here for days or weeks, unable to find her way back - or to locate where Killian might be.

By the time the sun had fully risen, and she was well out of sight of Misthaven’s shore, and any other in any direction, Emma had worked herself into enough of a state that the adrenaline which had propelled her down the side of the castle walls, to the docks, and out to sea, was flagging in earnest and she sunk to the rough planks of her vessel, finally feeling the need for rest which had completely eluded her all the previous night. Despite that, she fought valiantly to keep her eyes open and to stay alert. She was sure she couldn’t even imagine all the danger she might face if she didn’t remain on her guard. Still, as time crawled forward, the steady rise and fall of the calm waters served to nearly rock her gently closer to slumber, her eyelids continually growing more and more weighted, until they fell closed and she leaned against the boat’s side in a doze.

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@snowbellewells this is what I thought of when reading this chapter:

Loved it!

“A Cottage by the Sea”

And now, here’s the first real non-Prologue part of “A Cottage by the Sea”, my @cssns​20 Enchanted Forest AU!  Thank you SO much to those who have sent comments and offered enthusiasm for the Prologue of this one; I hope you’ll enjoy this continuation and keep going on the journey with me. There’s absolutely more Lieutenant Duckling development here, but I’ll have to beg your patience as the supernatural elements of this don’t really begin to show up until the end of this section and aren’t explained until Part Two. 

**Thanks once again to @searchingwardrobes​ for this amazingly lovely cover art that I still can’t stop staring at!  And to @tornadoamy​ for being my beta reader.

Summary: Princess Emma has always been drawn to the shores of Misthaven, where the sea meets the shore near her parents’ castle. When an unknown boy washes up on the sand, with eyes as fathomless and blue as the waters that brought him to her, he soon becomes Emma’s best friend, her partner in crime, and her other half.  But the tides give and the tides take away, and as her blue-eyed boy sails in her father’s navy and risks all in defense of those who made him family, unexpected danger and challenge will try to tear them apart, and might well show him just where he came from that day he first appeared to her from the sea…”

Prologue

Part One

Three years later…

Morning dawned on the day Killian Jones was to set sail once more - for his first long distance voyage as lieutenant - much as it had done every other morn of his young life so far. Granted, that included many of those years he could not fully recall, but the sky streaked in radiant hues of pink and orange drove troubled thoughts from mind in his excitement to set out on his chosen course. At last he would be moving toward his goal: a ship of his own, a captaincy in King David and Queen Snow’s Navy, and a position that gave him the right to court the woman he loved - in truth, his soulmate - and seek her hand in marriage.

It was true he had not yet spoken those words aloud to anyone. Princess Emma, who had found him alone and washed up on the beach like forgotten detritus so long ago now, but had never treated him as such, had never treated him as anything less than family and a cherished companion, had no idea how his regard had changed. He could not yet bring himself to speak the desires of his heart to her - not when he was an orphan without name, station, or profession. She was the Crown Princess and sole heir to the monarchy of Misthaven. He must first have something to offer her, make something of himself, even if he knew she would argue with such a line of thinking. His will was no less resolved.

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Ya'll have GOT to check out this edge of your seat chapter with one of the best written storms at sea in the fandom!

A Cottage by the Sea

Here we go!! My first @cssns entry of the summer. I hope that those who were expecting two simple one shots from me in the event this year, won’t be too upset that I ended up with a different fic than I intended to start out with - one that will probably have at least four more parts to it. My original idea just would not work, so I pulled out this headcanon that I’d been mulling over for some time…and it simply grew from there.  Here in the Prologue, it’s going to seem more straightforward Lieutenant Duckling, Enchanted Forest au, but the supernatural elements will come if you stick with me. My intention is to update every other Tuesday until this story is ended; meaning you should have Part One on June 23rd.

I hope you’ll enjoy - and I’d love to hear what you think of this first part…

***Immense thank yous to @searchingwardrobes for this cover art that I am absolutely in love with, and to @tornadoamy for looking this over and giving me early feedback as a beta. And to the @cssns event and mods for giving me the opportunity to flesh out this idea I’ve harbored for so long - and for so much fun and entertainment the previous two summers, and coming up in this one as well!***

Can also be found on AO3

Summary: Princess Emma has always been drawn to the shores of Misthaven, where the sea meets the shore near her parents’ castle. When an unknown boy washes up on the sand, with eyes as fathomless and blue as the waters that brought him to her, he soon becomes Emma’s best friend, her partner in crime, and her other half.  But the tides give and the tides take away, and as her blue-eyed boy sails in her father’s navy and risks all in defense of those who made him family, unexpected danger and challenge will try to tear them apart, and might well show him just where he came from that day he first appeared to her from the sea…”

by: @snowbellewells

~~~prologue~~~

The land around her parents’ castle had always called to Princess Emma. The open spaces and craggy cliffs she could see in the distance as they plummeted into the churning sea, were windswept and wild much like herself. Though she had always been cared for and beloved, the sole heir to the kingdom of Queen Snow White, Emma also felt the desire to run free, as if she were destined for more than curtsies, crown fittings, and learning to smile demurely. Naturally, she adored her happily devoted, perfectly paired father and mother - just more so when they were teaching her to ride or aim a bow than when they were reminding her once again that she must exude patience and diplomacy at even the most interminable state dinners. She valued her kingdom and its people, understood the honor of her role in it, but that knowledge and affection failed to negate the fact that she often wished just as strongly to rip the fancy curled updos and jeweled tiaras from her head and run streaking like a loosed cannon along the wet sand at the ocean shore she could see from her chamber window, hair streaming behind her and cool, salty air on her face. All the proper princess etiquette and worries left behind.

The easiest - and her most favored - cure for that feeling of wanderlust and burning energy within was for either her mother or her father, or both whenever possible, to take her walking along the water’s edge in the evening. Emma would almost swear the Queen and King enjoyed the calming getaways almost as much as she did, both as a moment to be free of so many fussing, crowding, obsequious attendants and hangers-on, as well as to feel the open air of the world outside their palace cleansing them. She knew - though from nothing more than history and bedtime stories - that her parents had once lived and thrived out of doors, falling in love on the run as rebels before her mother regained the kingdom she had been born to lead. Both her mother, once a legendary bandit, and her father, who had started life as a humble shepherd, seemed to appreciate the chance to escape the castle walls of stone and venture out on their own with their adored and wild-hearted little girl. It concerned neither of them that Emma was bold and adventurous, bucking the traditional prim and dainty image of feminine royalty; in fact, they might have treasured those traits in her even more for how they harkened to what each loved most in the other.

One such evening, however, Queen Snow had been kept well into the twilight hour in a council meeting over trade routes and revenue, along with Emma’s father, and even Red, her godmother. Waiting impatiently, Emma fretted that she wouldn’t get outdoors and down to the shore at all, as she sat in the wide, cozy window seat of her tower room, looking out over the waves crashing up on the sands. She took in the lights of ships in their harbor, the mist and waves, and she longed to be closer - to be part of it all. In fact, she was mischievously contemplating whether or not she could scale down the outer walls in her nightdress and robe, and get to her usual walking course alone without being detected, when the door to her room opened behind her.

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I was so honored to make art for this story! The prologue alone sparked my imagination, and I was thrilled to get a peek at Marta’s notes for the rest of this. Excited to see it finally “set sail” ;)

Sneak peek time again, y’all!!!

Tomorrow, @snowbellewells​ will be dropping her fic, A Cottage By the Sea, with artwork by @searchingwardrobes​. Here’s a little preview! Be sure to give her lots of love!

“Princess Emma has always been drawn to the shores of Misthaven, where the sea washes up near her parents’ castle. When an unknown boy washes up on the sand, with eyes as fathomless and blue as the waters that brought him to her, he soon becomes Emma’s best friend, her partner in crime, and her other half.  But the tides give and the tides take away, and as her blue-eyes boy sails in her father’s navy and risks all in defense of those who made him family, unexpected danger and challenge will try to tear them apart, and might well show him just where he came from that day he first appeared to her from the sea…”

I am so honored to be making art for this fic!

Self Promo Sunday: “Now We Are A Fairy Tale”

I originally wrote this little one shot just after the Season three finale, when my brain was wonderfully warm and melted for a bit with the perfection of the CS movie. This is a little add-on  missing moment scenario for the end of “There’s No Place Like Home” – it picks up not long after the finale’s ending. Enjoy, and please please let me know what you think.

(Of course I don’t own them!)

“Now We Are a Fairy Tale”

By: @snowbellewells​

It didn’t strike Emma Swan fully until much later that night. Not until after she had worried and fretted with her mother over what she had inadvertently done to Regina, held and cooed at, and quite honestly, cried over holding her new baby brother in her arms, and finally trudged up the steps to the loft after the rest of her family. They were all weary and certainly ready for a good night’s sleep without having to worry about Wicked Witch attacks, lost memories, winged killer primates, or yawning time portals. In fact, everyone was so exhausted that even her incredibly doting, nosey, and old-fashioned parents had not yet raised any sort of argument at the fact that she was tugging her pirate captain behind her. Henry was practically asleep on his feet at the front of their little procession with Snow and the baby, for which Emma was glad – he surely would have noticed.

Killian, however, was making quiet protest any chance he could whisper near her ear without alerting the others. “Lass, you needn’t take me in like a stray pup. My room at Granny’s is quite sufficient. I cannot impose on your family, and surely your parents will object.”

“I don’t care, Killian. You’re coming,” she hissed back. She didn’t particularly want to have her parents go all overprotective on her, but right at this moment, she couldn’t let him out of her sight either. It was amazing how simply her heart had expanded to want and need him more with every beat. As cautious and guarded as she had been, now that she had admitted her feelings, she was lit up all over in the glow of his love, and she couldn’t seem to let him go for a second.

“I’ll be fine, Love,” he insisted as they crossed the threshold and Emma turned to magically seal and safeguard the place behind them – more out of habit than from continued necessity – and the rest of their little troupe moved off further into the house. “This is not the way things are done. For all my jesting, I am a gentleman, Emma, and I wish to court you properly.”

“Really, Killian?” she smirked, arching a brow at him, half in flattered disbelief and half in exasperation. Now that she wasn’t fighting him anymore, she had honestly been looking forward to really getting her hands on him.

“Aye, truly, Darling,” he replied softly. Both the hushed timbre of his voice and the look in his eyes conveyed his sincerity, even without Emma using her superpower. “I wish to do right by you, and I am not sure how far to trust my control if we are to be sleeping in the same quarters.”

Emma had to swallow a rather large lump in her throat at the look of hunger in his eyes while he spoke those last words, his hypnotic blue gaze practically caressing her. “You and me both, Buddy,” she remarked wryly, admitting in her head that he was probably right to slow this down a bit, though the whole thing seemed oddly reversed from their usual interactions.

“What’s that, Swan?” he questioned, a smirk on his face showing he already had a good idea where her thoughts had been.

Looking up at him coyly from beneath her lashes, Emma smirked right back before explaining, “I was honestly looking forward to allowing you into my quarters, Pirate. Your charms have finally won me over.”

“About bloody time!” was his immediate playful retort. His eyes flashed with true relief, even as he broke into a pleased chuckle with the familiar response. Then, he was pulling her to him, the hunger flaring again in his expression when she came willingly, almost melting into his embrace. “If that’s the way you feel, Princess…” he murmured gruffly before lowering his head and capturing her lips with his own.

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Hello again everyone! Please help me welcome @snowbellewells back to this years CSSNS!!!

Tumblr Name 

@snowbellewells​

How long have you been in the CS/OUAT fandom? 

I have been in the OuaT fandom since the summer before season three began. My best friend and I discovered it and pretty much mainlined the first two seasons just in time to join the “Save Henry” mission to Neverland.

When did you start shipping Captain Swan? 

I would say they were on my radar for sheer chemistry all the way back to the beanstalk, but honestly considering them a real potential couple didn’t come until about the time she gave him the “You and I, we understand each other” speech at the end of season two, and he then turned his ship around and offered it and his services in going after Henry.

What drew you to this event? 

Well, the simple answer is my online friendship with Krystal and my intense desire to discover and read all of the werewolf!Killian fics there are. ;)  Beyond that though, it led me to so many other great fics of all supernatural varieties, so many new friends, and so much fun!!  (And, over the last two summers, it finally gave me the courage and the push to write the werewolf story of my own that I had rolling around in my brain.)

What inspired your topic? 

My first one shot for this year’s event was inspired by a prompt on Tumblr that I just couldn’t get out of my head - that an attempt to right something that had a traditional fairy tale tone/feeling to the writing style. The second (which may or may not stay a one shot) is a little less fleshed out in my mind at this point, but the idea really came to me initially from a line in a song.

If you would like to share a snippet/sneak peek/summary of your fic or artwork, please use the space below. 

Once, not-so-very long ago, in a cozy village on the eastern seaboard, a town right up by the ocean waves crashing onto the rocky shores, a rather peculiar story took place. The little burg was quite isolated. Surrounded by the Atlantic on one side and the Maine woods on two others, it almost seemed as though the little place - Storybrooke was its name - had been forgotten by time and the rest of the world. There was, of course, a road in from the south, bu it seemed that very few newcomers ever traveled it; either unable to see, or unconcerned with discovering, its presence.

 Instead, Storybrooke, Maine was quiet and close-knit; the people banded in solidarity by time and trust, just as the houses and shops huddled together against the chill sea air and harsh winter squalls. They were a rough and craggy lot, but will a quaint and beguiling self-reliance and simplicity to them as well. 

All except one of their number, that is. The beautiful woman who lived in the old mansion on the hill at the far edge of town. She was different, an exotic treasure, who had arrived in town and made herself at home some years ago. (Exactly when, no one could recall.) In some ways, she seemed ill-suited to such a small, staid little outpost, and yet, she never appeared dissatisfied. And where the neighborhood gossips and old-timers might have often closed ranks, refusing to accept such a mysterious newcomer, watching suspiciously and whispering behind their hands, she had wormed her way into their good graces.

Who/what have you beta’d before, or is this your first time? Feel free to give as much info as you like. 

I haven’t done a lot of beta-ing, but I have had wonderful experiences so far. I beta-read for Melanie (@searchingwardrobes) in last year’s CSSNS event, which I THOROUGHLY enjoyed - I felt like I was getting a sneak peek of a much anticipated movie before its release! I also beta-read @darkcolinodonorgasm’s Pupstravaganza fic, to my utter delight! I have beta-read a couple other MCs along the way, and I’m thinking I’d have fun being a beta even more often in the future.

What are you looking forward to most about participating in this event? 

All the Discord conversations, ideas, fangirling, and cheering each other on - not to mention all the ideas that flourish there. Really digging into my stories for this summer and making progress. Beta reading for my author this time around (I’ve only read a few pages so far, and I already can’t wait for more of it!)

Marta is one of my very favorite authors in this incredibly talented fandom and is a dear friend as well. I’m so excited that she has more for us this year and can’t wait to see them!!! She will be dropping fic on June 9 and July 5, and betaing for @xhookswenchx​ in the third wave. Everyone go tell her hi and welcome her back to the event!!!

Love @snowbellewells - she's the best!

WIP Tag Game

RULES: List 10 words or phrases that have something to do with your work(s) in progress, then tag 10 others to do the same.

** Alright, I have to apologize profusely for being so slow to do this, as I was tagged several times last week and am just now answering. Thanks for the tags @kmomof4 @hollyethecurious @thisonesatellite @searchingwardrobes @laschatzi @spartanguard and @tomeandflickcorner  (If I left out anyone else who tagged me, I apologize and definitely didn’t mean to!)

Here goes…

1) werewolf pups

2) CS in the 80s

3) King Liam

4) Calypso

5) glasses and cardigans

6) the flying trapeze

7) cattle and corrals

8) a princess’ diary

9) Henry’s high school graduation

10) “Save the Last Dance for Me”

I don’t even know who’s left after folks were doing this all last week and so many tagged me, but I’ll give it a go.  (If you’ve already done this, or don’t want to do it, just ignore.)   @scientificapricot @thislassishooked @profdanglaisstuff @teamhook @drowned-dreamer @blowmiakisscolin @whimsicallyenchantedrose @icecubelotr44 @ilovemesomekillianjones @effulgentcolors

There is so much here I am psyched about, I don’t even know where to start!

Self-Promo Sunday: “Put a Spell on You (because you’re mine)”

I wrote this back during 4b when there was concern about Emmma going dark. I honestly wasn’t going to do anything on the “Emma-going-dark” front; others at the time were tackling it nicely and I wasn’t sure how I would, but then…this happened. This is just the short intro, but I have included a link to the next chapter at the end and the full story can be found on ff.net or AO3. Enjoy!

by: @snowbellewells

i.darkness creeps in

The deepening purplish circles under her eyes have been growing ever more pronounced, worrying him for weeks now. She is both anxious and jittery, yet bone-weary and weighed down by the cares upon her shoulders. Emma Swan surely thinks that she has hidden her stress and fatigue well, but to one who knows her (and he does know her – as well as she will allow anyone to) the strain is beginning to show.

When they part ways at night now, she tilts her face up to his, grinning a warm, secretive smile and awaiting his gentle kiss, and he tucks her hair behind her ear, cradles her cheek in his hand, profoundly happy to steal a few moments alone with her. Yet, he also finds himself near to biting a hole in his tongue to keep back his words of caution for her, his fear that she is pushing herself too hard, too far, too soon. He cannot risk driving a wedge between them or making her run – not now. She is already keeping her distance from her parents, no longer staying with them in the loft. He has gone back to his ship since the Jolly’s return to him, and so has offered her the use of his room at Granny’s – paid for the month in doubloons that the old woman bit to check for authenticity, then grinned conspiratorially, accepted, and ferretted away in some hidden pocket of her skirts. However, he wonders if Emma paces the floor all night, or haunts the library seeking answers with an equally sleepless Belle, or simply drives aimlessly for hours; whatever it is she does, he can plainly see that she is not resting.

Killian Jones is not a man afraid of much on this wide earth’s surface, but Emma turning her back on him now and walking away is a haunting phantasm that never truly leaves his mind. And it is no longer simply the pain he knows he will feel, but the fact that she needs his support more than ever. He is more afraid for her safety and her sanity than he has ever been, and he does not know what method to try.

Keep reading

Okay, I am reblogging again now that I’ve read the whole thing. First, the way the darkness affected Emma was written so well, as were Killian’s reasons for resisting. I also loved how her spell couldn’t work because he’d already willingly given those things to her. I also was so glad that Emma was sickened by what she had almost done, showing that she was truly back to herself. And I will ALWAYS be up for them sharing a TLK since we never got it on the show. (And you wrote Regina SO on point - I could imagine Lana playing that scene in my head.) But THEN you didn’t stop there! That moment when Emma clasps his hand and presses it to her heart and says “This belong to you. You’ve won it.” Just stick a fork in me, I’m done. (sorry, Southern expression!) Like, why was that never a thing on the show? Nope, nope, it was. It’s canon to me. Emma at some point said that, and you can not convince me otherwise. 

Self-Promo Sunday: “Put a Spell on You (because you’re mine)”

I wrote this back during 4b when there was concern about Emmma going dark. I honestly wasn’t going to do anything on the “Emma-going-dark” front; others at the time were tackling it nicely and I wasn’t sure how I would, but then…this happened. This is just the short intro, but I have included a link to the next chapter at the end and the full story can be found on ff.net or AO3. Enjoy!

by: @snowbellewells

i.darkness creeps in

The deepening purplish circles under her eyes have been growing ever more pronounced, worrying him for weeks now. She is both anxious and jittery, yet bone-weary and weighed down by the cares upon her shoulders. Emma Swan surely thinks that she has hidden her stress and fatigue well, but to one who knows her (and he does know her – as well as she will allow anyone to) the strain is beginning to show.

When they part ways at night now, she tilts her face up to his, grinning a warm, secretive smile and awaiting his gentle kiss, and he tucks her hair behind her ear, cradles her cheek in his hand, profoundly happy to steal a few moments alone with her. Yet, he also finds himself near to biting a hole in his tongue to keep back his words of caution for her, his fear that she is pushing herself too hard, too far, too soon. He cannot risk driving a wedge between them or making her run – not now. She is already keeping her distance from her parents, no longer staying with them in the loft. He has gone back to his ship since the Jolly’s return to him, and so has offered her the use of his room at Granny’s – paid for the month in doubloons that the old woman bit to check for authenticity, then grinned conspiratorially, accepted, and ferretted away in some hidden pocket of her skirts. However, he wonders if Emma paces the floor all night, or haunts the library seeking answers with an equally sleepless Belle, or simply drives aimlessly for hours; whatever it is she does, he can plainly see that she is not resting.

Killian Jones is not a man afraid of much on this wide earth’s surface, but Emma turning her back on him now and walking away is a haunting phantasm that never truly leaves his mind. And it is no longer simply the pain he knows he will feel, but the fact that she needs his support more than ever. He is more afraid for her safety and her sanity than he has ever been, and he does not know what method to try.

Keep reading

Ooh, this is such an intriguing opening from Killian’s point of view!

(And sorry I am behind on reading these!)