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whatstruthgottodowithit · 1 year

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Wrapped Around My Finger

Fandom: American Actor, Elvis Presley Musician, Elvis Movie RPF, RPF

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Female Reader

Characters: Elvis Presley, Female Reader, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Vernon Presley, Dee Presley, Jesse Presley, Baby

Word Count: 3492 // Rating: Teen & Up

Summary: Reader has some news that will bring some changes to Graceland

Tags/ Warnings: Babies, Pregnancies, Pregnancy Announcements, Christmas, Christmas at Graceland, Graceland, Step Parents, Reader and Cilla are good friends, Co-Parenting, Insecurities, Kissing, Hugs, Fluff, Worries, Established Relationship, Marriage, Married Couple, Mentions of Illness, Baby Presley, We’re In Big Daddy Elvis territory, Or DILF era

Notes: im clinging onto christmas and the idea that Cilla and a new wife would be besties lol

‘‘Daddy no!’ Lisa squealed as Elvis held her doll above her head. She jumped, reaching for it as Elvis chuckled, holding it just out of reach. He lowered it a little, allowing her to have a hint of hope before he pulled it back dashing her chances.

‘Oh stop being mean,’ Priscilla said with a giggle. Elvis made an exaggerated roll of his eyes before he put the doll within her reach and allowed Lisa to grab it out of his hands. As soon as she did he enveloped his arms around her pulling her towards him and kissing her cheeks as he tickled her. ‘Daddy!’ she giggled struggling to get away.

I watched them from the doorway, a smile on my face. It was the day after Christmas and while our holiday had been filled with family and friends it was now only a few of us. A fact I was happy for. I loved Christmas at Graceland, truly, but it was exhausting. From the moment we woke up to the moment we went to sleep it was all systems go and that was on a normal holiday. This year was a little different, not that anyone knew that yet. No, at the moment it was just me fatigued and plagued by the secret I was keeping from view.

A secret which meant that as I watched them I could feel my heart hammering a little in my chest and tears prick at my eyes. I moved away from the living room, heading into the kitchen to get a soda from the fridge as I tried to calm myself down. Though as I shut the fridge door I heard a cough from beside me which almost made me jump out of my skin, standing there, watching me closely was Priscilla.

‘Jeez, Cilla you scared the crap outta me!’ I said holding my chest. ‘Sorry,’ she giggled, ‘just came to check you were alright.’ ‘I’m fine,’ I lied. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow, ‘because you seem lost in your thoughts today…and I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve not touched a drop of champagne all day.’ ‘You clocked that huh?’ I said with a sigh as I rested against the counter. ‘You forget in a house full of guys that women notice more,’ she chuckled, coming to stand beside me. ‘Yeah,’ I said nervously, my hand instinctively resting on my stomach. ‘So…how long?’ she said. ‘I don’t know,’ I said, biting my lip, ‘we’ve been so busy I’ve not really paid much attention.’ ‘Are you excited?’ she said. I looked at her, peering into her kind eyes as they looked back at me with no expectation just awaiting my answer. ‘Honestly? I don’t know,’ I said. ‘How come?’ ‘Our life?’ I smirked, ‘he’s done this before and I’ve not? I mean what if we have this baby and he-‘

I paused, realizing the words I was going to say were harsher than I intended them to be. He had done this before and whilst he loved Lisa and Priscilla it hadn’t been enough to keep them together. What if I was destined to be the next ex-wife? Our future Christmases split between three families instead of the two they were already?

‘He loses all interest?’ Priscilla said. I dropped my gaze shyly, ‘honey we didn’t split up because we had kids.’ ‘I know that,’ I said. ‘So you know having Lisa wasn’t some horrible thing. He just wasn’t ready,’ she said softly. ‘That’s what I’m scared of. What if he’s never ready? What if he decides we’re not what he wants either?’ ‘I can’t speak for him. But he’s a good dad to Lisa. And on the whole, he’s a good man. In fact, he’s better than he was. You make him better.’ ‘Cilla,’ I said quietly, feeling my cheeks getting warmer. ‘I mean it. He’s different with you. He’s a better husband. Like this time was meant to be.’ ‘But didn’t you think that?’ I asked, biting my lip. She smiled softly. ‘Yeah, but we thought a lot of things. You never know what’s gonna happen before it does. I can’t promise this will work out but I can tell you it’s better than before. For all of us. I mean not many women want to hang out with their husband’s new wife,’ she chuckled, ‘and even if we weren’t friends I wouldn’t be able to fault the way you are with Lisa. You’re so important to her.’ ‘She’s a credit to the pair of you,’ I said with a smile. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘but you’re just as involved… so I don’t know why you’re worrying. You’re already a mother. Have been for a while.’ ‘I assume you mean Lisa but with Elvis and the boys I can’t be too sure,’ I smiled. Priscilla chuckled and threw her arm around me, ‘you’re right. You’ve been parenting twenty grown men for a good few years now you’re sure to be an old hat.’ ‘Speaking of its awful quiet in there should we be worried?’ I said pulling out of her grasp and heading to the door with her trailing behind, ‘oh definitely.’

When we came back into the living room fortunately not much had changed. Elvis was sitting on the floor with Lisa in between his legs, laying against him looking distinctly more tired than before as she twirled her hair between her fingers. They were watching TV now, all quiet and observant. Priscilla slipped into the armchair by the door whilst I sat down behind Elvis on the sofa, smiling as he placed his hand on my knee. We stayed like that for a couple more hours, the evening accepting its natural plateau as the past couple of days started catching up on us all.

‘Gosh,’ Priscilla said with a yawn, ‘I think it’s time to hit the hay.’ ‘Yeah you might be right,’ Vernon said, shuffling out of his seat. Elvis manoeuvred Lisa, who was now asleep, onto my lap for a moment whilst he stood and saw his Daddy and Dee out. When he returned Lisa stirred. ‘Come on baby,’ Priscilla said, coming to lean down in front of me, ‘time for bed.’ ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Elvis said, picking her up and popping her on his hip. ‘It’s okay. I got her,’ she said, throwing me a look. I dropped my gaze to my lap. ‘You sure? She ain’t as light as she used to be,’ Elvis chuckled shuffling Lisa into her arms. Priscilla buckled a little under Lisa’s weight but she smiled through it. ‘Let him take her up,’ I said, ‘you’ll do yourself a mischief.’

Priscilla nodded and allowed Elvis to take her back into his arms and I watched as the pair of them headed to the staircase. As he disappeared up the stairs Priscilla threw me another ‘tell him’ look and I nodded. Once everyone was gone I tidied away some of the plates and glasses that littered the surfaces of the room. I straightened up the couch and grabbed the box of three pregnancy tests I had stashed in my purse just as he was coming down the stairs. I sat back down on the sofa, acting as casually as I could, as he came into the room and sat down beside me.

‘She go down alright?’ I asked as he settled beside me, placing his hand on my thigh. ‘Fine,’ he smiled, ‘all tuckered out.’ ‘Yeah from all your teasin’,’ I giggled. ‘Hey it’s like a right of passage as a dad,’ he chuckled leaning in to place a kiss on my cheek, ‘are you okay?’ ‘Fine,’ I said with a small smile. ‘You sure?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow, ‘because I don’t know if it’s my imagination but you and Cilla seemed het up about something.’ ‘It’s nothing,’ I said, making his eyes narrow, ‘it’s…girl stuff.’ ‘Should I be worried?’ he chuckled, squeezing my thigh. ‘Nah, we were just comparing notes,’ I said giggling as he leaned in and kissed me, moving his lips down my neck. ‘Oh yeah?’ he smirked. ‘Yeah, I’m a lot more complimentary by the way,’ I giggled. ‘Good to know,’ he chuckled, pulling away. I sighed and looked at his adoring blue eyes.

‘You sure you’re okay?’ he asked. ‘Yeah…it’s just complicated, ‘I said. ‘Well whatever it is we can figure it out,’ he said, placing his thumb and forefinger on my chin and tilting my face towards him. ‘I have something to tell you,’ I said, pulling back and biting my lip. He didn’t say anything, instead, he just peered at me with those gorgeous baby blue eyes as if he was waiting for me to continue, ‘oh God I don’t know how to say this.’ ‘Doll you’re kinda scaring me,’ he said with a furrow in his brow. ‘It’s nothing bad,’ I said quickly, ‘well at least I hope it’s not.’

As he looked at me perplexed I shuffled so I could pull the box of tests out from under me. I passed it to him and he took it, eyeing the plain box curiously for a moment before he unlatched the end and tipped the contents into his hand. Three white plastic sticks fell into his large palm and I watched as his face went from confused to a beaming smile as he clocked the two lines on each of them.

‘Doll,’ he said in barely more than a breath. He looked at me as if waiting for me to confirm which I did with a tiny nod. Then he dropped the sticks into his lap and pulled me in for a bear hug, pressing me against his warm body for a moment before he leant down to kiss me. When he pulled away I spoke.

‘Are you okay with this?’ I asked, biting the inside of my cheek. ‘Darlin’ I’m thrilled!’ ‘You’re sure?’ I said the nerves from before were still bouncing around in my mind. ‘Why wouldn’t I be? Hell, is this what you’ve been chatting about with Cilla?’ he asked. I nodded trying to ignore the hurt behind his eyes as I did. ‘I didn’t mean to,’ I said, biting my lip, ‘she just sorta noticed I wasn’t myself and put two and two together.’ ‘Not yourself? Wait, were you scared to tell me?’ he asked. ‘No! Not scared, just a little… nervous,’ I said truthfully. ‘Why? Honey this is the best Christmas present I could’ve got,’ he smiled. ‘I guess I was just worried,’ I said meekly, ‘I mean you’ve done this before.’ ‘That doesn’t make it any less special,’ he said. ‘I know I guess I was just worried…you’ve told me how much having Lisa changed everything,’ I admitted. ‘And you think that’s gonna happen to us?’ he asked. ‘No,’ I said quickly before I dropped my gaze and said, ‘maybe.’

‘I won’t pretend that having Lisa didn’t change our marriage but it didn’t make it worse. And I’m happy I have her,’ he said, earning a nod from me in return, ‘I just…I wasn’t ready. For any of it. I was happy with Cilla as it was but then people started getting preoccupied with how it looked. More than how we felt about it, so, we got married and Lisa came along and it just spiralled into something I hadn’t planned for. I wasn’t ready for that. In fact, I only knew I was ready when…well the day I met you.’ ‘E,’ I said shyly. ‘I mean it,’ he said, holding my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles gently, ‘I was just off the back of a divorce. I didn’t know how I was gonna handle my half of raisin’ Lisa and then you come along. Perfect and just what I needed. I told Joe the day we met I was gonna marry ya.’ ‘He tell you you were crazy?’ I giggled. ‘Amongst other things,’ Elvis smiled, ‘I was right though.’ ‘And babies?’ I said quietly. ‘I figured we’d head down that road at some point,’ he shrugged, ‘you’re already such a good mama I thought it was inevitable.’ ‘I guess we’ve just been content with how life’s been going recently, we’ve not had to think about it,’ I said. ‘And now we have? Are you excited?’ he said, watching me closely. ‘Yeah I think I am,’ I said. He smiled and placed his hand on my belly.

‘I am too,’ he said quietly before adding, ‘I can’t believe there’s a baby in there.’ ‘Me either,’ I sighed happily. ‘Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?’ he said excitedly, his eyes lighting up as he looked at me. ‘I don’t know. I guess I don’t mind either way. I love Lisa, I do, I guess this one just feels a little different you know. Like it’s our first,’ I said. ‘I know what you mean,’ he smiled, ‘I think I’d like a boy.’ ‘Oh yeah?’ I giggled as he pulled me into him, his arm slipping around my waist as we snuggled together watching the fire crackle in front of us. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘I mean I know I got the guys but let’s face it I’m drowning in women here.’ ‘You and your daddy are outnumbered,’ I smiled. ‘Yeah you gotta give me a boy,’ he smirked, ‘even the playing field. Or at least someone who can’t wrap me around their little finger.’ ‘You wouldn’t have it any other way,’ I giggled, placing my hand on his chest. He took a hold of it but didn’t move it off so I could feel his heart beating underneath my palm, his warm hand over mine. ‘Not at all,’ he sighed.

✵✵✵

‘I get to open it!’ Lisa squealed, running to the present in front of her Daddy. ‘Hey, you’ve got your own. This is for Jess,’ Elvis said. ‘Daddy Jesse can’t open his presents yet,’ she said, rolling her eyes. I chuckled to myself as I watched her, determined not to go without opening her brother’s presents. She sat in front of the neatly wrapped present, Elvis on its other side watching her as if in a standoff. ‘Well what if I wanna open it for him,’ he challenged, making her pout as she geared up to retaliate. ‘I think Jess would love it if his big sister open his presents for him,’ I said looking at the baby beside me in his bouncy chair who seemed unphased by this family squabble. She smiled at me and then stuck her tongue out at her Daddy before she started tearing the wrapping paper off. Elvis rolled his eyes and looked at me mouthing, ‘push over.’

I smiled back at him and then I went back to watching Lisa tear her way through the present. Maybe I was a bit of a pushover. Maybe he was just a big kid.

‘What is it Lis?’ I asked, peering at the box she was holding up. ‘A walker,’ she said, showing me and then showing Jesse who ogled his big sister with a one-toothed grin. ‘Who’s it off?’ Elvis said, fishing the tag out of the pile of wrapping, ‘Dodger.’ ‘Well I’m sure he’ll love it,’ I said as Lisa placed it down in front of his bounce chair and moved to open another one of his. We stayed like that for another twenty minutes or so. We’d all opened our presents and then realised there were several parcels left under the tree which, much to Lisa’s disappointment, belonged to her baby brother.

Once everything was unwrapped I started collecting bits of paper for a trash bag whilst Lisa and Elvis started putting together some of her toys. She played for all of five minutes and then I felt her come up beside me, her arms wrapping around my hips as she waited for my attention to fall on her

‘Yeah, baby?’ I asked looking down on her.

‘Can I call mama yet?’ she asked with pleading eyes. I glanced at Elvis and found him looking at me too, with glee that he didn’t have to be the party pooper. Priscilla wasn’t here for Christmas this year. Her mother had taken ill and she hadn’t wanted Lisa to have to spend the holiday away from us and her new baby brother so had sent her to us alone. ‘Not yet it’s only,’ I said checking my watch, ‘six thirty. Your mama won’t be up for at least another hour or so.’ ‘Yeah buttonhead, your mama is on west coast time remember,’ Elvis said watching her fallen face. ‘How about you take your toys upstairs, we’ll have some breakfast and then we’ll give your mama a call?’ I said stroking her hair gently. Though she seemed disappointed she smiled and nodded before she dropped her arms from around me and grabbed her things so she could head upstairs. I watched her go with a sad smile.

Then Jesse started to fuss so I sat down beside him, leaning over and unlatching him from his bouncy chair so I could cuddle him to me. He settled almost immediately, seemingly just feeling left out of the action.

‘Ah, you’re just feeling left out huh bud? How about we get you that new teething ring?’ I said fishing around on the floor for one of his discarded presents. I pulled it out of the packaging and held it up to him, allowing him to take it in his chubby little fist. I pressed a kiss to his forehead as he took it off me, immediately sticking it in his mouth. When I looked up Elvis was watching me with a small smile.

'What?’ I asked bashfully. 'Nuthin’,’ he smiled, 'you’re a good mom you know that right?’ 'Why because I remembered to buy him something to chew on instead of letting him chew on Lisa’s doll heads again?’ I giggled making Elvis laugh. He moved closer to me, so he was sitting inches from me, as he stroked Jesse’s cheek gently. 'I mean it,’ he said looking into my eyes, 'the way you handled Lisa just then. The way you are with Jess. You’re amazing.’ 'You’re pretty good yourself handsome,’ I said with a smile before it faded a little. Elvis noted the change in my face and frowned, 'what is it?’ 'Nothing,’ I said, an unsure feeling coming into the pit of my stomach. Elvis raised an eyebrow, 'I was gonna wait until after Christmas.’ 'Wait for what honey?’ he asked. 'Well, you know how you said I’m a good mom?’ I asked, receiving a nod in return, 'well I’m gonna need to be…if I’m gonna have three to contend with.’

Elvis looked at me, the words processing in his mind before his mouth fell into a perfect O shape. I bit my lip as I waited for him to say something. This year had been amazing. He’d been so helpful and kind throughout my pregnancy and now we had a beautiful six-month-old that he was so good with. The last thing on my mind had been another baby. Which explained why we hadn’t really given birth control much thought.

'You mean?’ he said after a long pause. I nodded. 'I’ve only done one test,’ I said, 'there weren’t a lot of options on Christmas Eve but-’ he cut me off as he buried us both in a hug before moving back so he could kiss me. I melted into him so much that when I pulled back I was breathless. He smirked at me, a twinkle in his blue eyes. 'So you’re happy I take it?’ I asked with a giggle. 'Baby I’m more than happy,’ he said with a smile, 'it might not be what we planned…’ 'We didn’t plan for Jess,’ I giggled. 'True,’ he chuckled looking at Jesse who was watching us both as he quietly slobbered all over his teething ring, 'but that worked out pretty well wouldn’t you say?' 'The best,’ I said with a smile. He moved my hair off my face and leaned in to give me another kiss.

'I will say one thing though,’ he said as he pulled back. 'What’s that baby?’ I asked. 'You’ve repeated your gift for two Christmases on the trot now,’ he chuckled. 'Oh don’t worry, I’ve got next year’s present sorted,’ I said. 'Yeah?’ he said with a puzzled look. 'Yeah,’ I said, 'you’re booking in for a vasectomy.’ 'Like hell,’ he said with a laugh. Jesse giggled along with him. Elvis took him off me and tucked him into his arms where he sat happily.

'It’s only fair,’ I said, 'I got you what you wanted for Christmas, you should do the same for me.’ 'You hear this Jess?’ he said, nudging Jesse’s plump cheek with his knuckle, 'your Mama’s ganging up on me.’ 'And here you were thinking you’d get your way with another boy in the house,’ I giggled, kissing his cheek. 'Nah I knew I never had a hope with you,’ he said with a soft smile, 'you’ve all got me wrapped around your little fingers.’ 'You love it,’ I smiled. 'More than anything,’ he nodded.

#my writing #elvis presley #elvis #Elvis Presley Fic #elvis presley x reader #elvis presley x y/n #elvis presley x priscilla presley #elvis 2022 #Vernon Presley #lisa marie presley #jesse presley #dodger presley #wrapped around my finger

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pogueszn · 1 year

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ok but “we’ll never have sex” by leith ross is a jj @ you song you cant convince me otherwise cause i feel like when that song is used it’s always used as reader/oc @ whatever character and how they feel with the character but i’m sorry this is how jj feels with you

like “suck the rot right out of my bloodstream” ? jj @ you because he feels like shit sometimes and you make him feel like he’s worth something, that you make him better

“oh you kissed me just to kiss me, not to take me home” ? jj @ you bc some of the fandom head canons jj as someone who prefers to sleep around rather than settle down and date and maybe that’s just what he’s used to and when you just want to kiss him?? that’s it, you just felt like kissing him?? you didn’t do it to get to an end goal? you just wanted to kiss him?

he’s like “oh. this is actually really nice”

#૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ gracie chats #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #idk it was on my 2022 wrapped #and it came on and it just CLICKED #especially ‘suck the rot right out of my bloodstream’#like come on #.･✩°｡⋆ my writing .･✩°｡⋆

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sofiaruelle · 1 year

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I realized i never posted my 2022 Artist Wrapped before New Years. Whoops!

#2022 artist wrapped #new years resolution is to not be so lazy with art #and write

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spanishroyals · 2 years

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The Queen turns 50

by Jesús Rodríguez for El País Semanal

When the battered Airbus 310, registration plate T.22-2 of the Air Force, finally closes its door and begins to roll down the runway of the Nouakchott airport (capital city of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania), invisible under a violent sandstorm that stains the sky, the sigh of relief from the Queen's team is heard on board the plane. It's over. It is June 2. It has been three frenetic days touring one of the least favored territories on the planet. A Spanish Cooperation trip to give visibility to its development projects in this strategic country: hinge between the Maghreb and the Sahel; a containment dam for human trafficking and jihadist terrorism. And also to express the solidarity of Spain in aspects such as education, health, nutrition or equality. For five months, this visit by the Queen has been carefully designed on three sides: La Moncloa (the Government), La Zarzuela (Royal Household) and Foreign Affairs. And nothing has failed.

The police escorts, haggard and covered in dust, take off their bulletproof vests and earpieces. The head of the operation, the commander of the Civil Guard S. R. V., smiles and blurts out: "What, have you sweated?" And he hugs each component, a score of guards including a couple of female agents; one of them, barely 24 years old, has a noticeable limp. The plane takes height. The Queen jumps out of her seat and greets her security detail one by one: they are her inevitable second family. She makes jokes; she practices the Asturian humor, whose accent comes out when she dominates the situation; she speaks loud, clear and fast; she gestures; asks questions; she addresses them by their first name and claps them vigorously. She doesn't miss a single one. She squats down to massage the injured guard's ankle. The guard blushes.

Until landing at the Torrejón air base four hours later, the consort will not sit down for a moment. She doesn't look tired even though she's exhausted. That is the ritual of her office. She walks the aisles of the plane: she chats with her secretary, the hieratic General of Cavalry José Zuleta; with the head of Protocol of the House, the also militar man Curro Zufiaur; with the Communication and Transmissions staff and with S. C., one of the doctors at La Zarzuela, with whom she has a close relationship. And also with the staff of the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, which has organized and accompanied her on this journey, headed by the Secretary of State herself, the veteran socialist expert in matters of equality, Pilar Cancela. She is linked in a hug with Letizia and exclaims: "The Queen is our first aid worker." Later, in private, she confides to the journalist: “I thought she was cold and distant and it turned out that she is professional, normal and even funny. She has studied the issues. This trip is in tune with her social interests, from food security to child labor or sexist violence. We met with her in her office at La Zarzuela and she had conscientiously brooded over our dossier, which was full of post-its. She knows what we come to do and her role is key in making our solidarity projects known to the world. And now we will meet with her to make a critical judgment and see the lessons learned for next year's trip, which is planned to Latin America. The Queen is not an ornament.

In generic jeans, a T-shirt and walking boots, the Queen turns out to be a small, wiry and very thin woman; with small hands, short and clear nails, without rings (not even a wedding ring); her washed face and her hair, dark and streaked with gray, gathered in a ponytail. She's fit, but she doesn't have a bodybuilders arms. She discreetly wears glasses and always has a mint candy on hand. She is telegenic; a theater addict who dominates the stage (like the great politicians, without going any further than her admired Macron couple), but one could pass her in the street in flat espadrilles and a cap and not notice her presence. The face mask has been for her (and her two daughters, Leonor and Sofía) a valuable instrument of anonymity during the pandemic (for example, at Rosalía's last concert in Madrid). Taking walks, going to buy books or to the market are her ways of experimenting a regular life from which she does not want to be left out.

Because Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, about to turn 50 this September 15, does not officiate as queen 24 hours a day as Felipe does, committed to being a head of state full time. He is constitutionally the first authority of the State. She is not. Everything affects him, from a sports victory to a forest fire. When the family gets tickets to the movies or a concert (something that happens often), there is always the question of whether he will be able to attend or something unexpected will come up. With an added problem: the reprehensible behavior of his father, Juan Carlos de Borbón, has deprived him of the slightest possibility of failure; he lacks the smallest margin of error. Felipe and Letizia can't screw up. They will never be able to contritely whisper: “I am very sorry. I have made a mistake. It will not happen again".

The one obvious slip of Letizia in her almost 19 years in the royal business (after more than 3,000 public events without noticeable mistakes) took place under the gothic nave of the cathedral of Palma de Mallorca on Easter Sunday 2018, with a run-in with her mother-in-law immortalized by cameras. Someone who was there explains: “Queen Letizia's error was to tell Queen Sofía, in a questionable way, that the photos with the girls were to be taken at home, not in the church; that this was neither the time nor the place. And Sofia's, who has a stubborn and nagging character, was not realizing that she is no longer the queen. The Queen is her daughter-in-law. And Sofía insisted until the other one lost her temper”. The protocol flew through the air that day. From The British Times to The New York Times, the international press echoed the incident, which hid something deeper: the relationship between the two has always been difficult. And the support of the emeritus queen towards Letizia, scarce. Sofía is the great-granddaughter of the Kaiser and Letizia is the granddaughter of a taxi driver. Their educations, backgrounds and generations are different. Sofía is a professional of the 20th century. And Letizia, from the XXI. And as such they behave.

Letizia wasn't even born a princess (like her husband and her daughters and her sisters-in-law and her parents-in-law); she lacks constitutional functions (beyond a possible regency if she were to become a widow with a minor Leonor), a statute (which is enjoyed, for example, by the spouse of the French president), an instruction manual and her own team. In fact, she attends a limited number of institutional events, unlike Sofía, who, for example, co-chaired the oath of the government's presidents (Aznar, Zapatero and Rajoy) and their ministers before a Bible and a crucifix that have gone down in history with the current monarchs. Like the tedeum mass after the proclamation or the Easter celebration. This Queen is neither an agnostic nor a believer. She is, like the 1978 Constitution, non-denominational. In fact, the anachronistic "His Majesty the King, may God keep" has disappeared from the Royal House's invitations.

They are small clues that point to a new direction. The couple's determination is to build a more useful and relatable Monarchy. A renovation plan that Felipe began in 2014 by drafting a code of conduct for his House and his Royal Family, and which eight years later made his personal assets public: 2.5 million euros. At the same time he has tried to defend himself from his own lineage. Especially, the so-called in the Royal Household "Abu Dhabi environment", which, for example, on the 16th of April, during the Easter holidays, counterprogrammed with a photograph of the emeritus King with his daughters and grandchildren the same day the current King, Queen and their daughters, visited a Ukrainian refugee center in Madrid. Letizia knelt down to speak to the children as they recounted their dramatic departure from the country. She was one of the images of the day. The other, the one that was sent from Abu Dhabi to a press agency, created an earthquake in social networks, since in the first photograph the legs of one of the children of the Infanta Cristina were not seen, giving rise to question if it had been retouched.

The magnification of the cathedral incident shows that Letizia (willingly or not, that is the great question) provides constant entertainment content to a society eager for icons. Her image and her presence; her outfits and the legends that surround her (distant, tyrannical, unpleasant), are an asset monetized in the television or digital show business. She is always in the spotlight. Should she be more distant or more open? Should she be more modern or more traditional? Should she be more regal or more common? That is the debate. And there are sides. But she is simply the partner of the head of state. She tries to be happy with her work, to be in her place, to help the King, to give visibility to the causes she believes in, to be a transmission belt between those above and those below, to open doors, to connect with the values and feelings of the citizenship. And be useful to organized civil society. What value does that job have? As Lady Di demonstrated hugging a terminally ill AIDS patient or visiting a landmine field in Angola, a royal can also shine a spotlight on the world's inequalities.

But in addition, Letizia has a life. She stands by that. Not everyone agrees that she can be both a queen and a citizen who enjoys private vacations. Those think that the sovereign costume is not made for her. But almost two decades after arriving at La Zarzuela, Letizia does believe it. In her eight years as queen she has become empowered. She knows the business. And she has instinct. She is a contemporary queen looking for balance; respectful of rituals and protocol (something that cost her to assume), but also convinced of the need to fine-tune a wounded institution —questioned by part of Spanish society and subject of political controversy among the political parties—, which Felipe VI intends to turn into "a renewed Monarchy for a new time". The Queen herself believes more in evolution than in revolution. Her future and that of her family depend on it. She gets lost in Madrid with a very discreet security team. Her friends are lifelong friends. Fridays are for the movies (sometimes on her own), and Saturdays, to go out with friends. She shares with her husband and daughters a long early breakfast and, whenever possible, dinners, in which Felipe's stories abound. Her circle are middle-class professionals. And her daughters, already teenagers, have not had nannies, maids or tutors. When they were little, their parents were the ones who got up at night if they cried. If Letizia traveled, her mother, Paloma Rocasolano, a nurse, would lend a hand.

They have tried to be a normal family with a (apparently) co-responsible father. Although the rest of us have never seen them as such. To begin with, because they live in a mansion lost on a 16,000-hectare estate. But for the Queen, fact or fiction, behind closed doors, the Borbón Ortiz are an ordinary family where their daughters have been educated in a strict sense of the value of things and where expensive jeans or premium sneakers do not enter; a home where feminism is evident, there is strict control over screen time (she is obsessive over their impact on young people) and Leonor and Sofía have been inoculated with culture in their veins by a mother who presumes of being a "cultureta". Queen Letizia would rather have a beer with Scorsese or dinner with Woody Allen, a chat with Graça Machel, the Obamas or her beloved Penélope Cruz, a lunch with Angela Merkel (who told her about her Sunday bike rides with Joachim, her husband) or a reflection on abortion with Jill Biden or on nutrition with Brigitte Macron, than skiing on the slopes of fashionable ski resorts, going to regattas, hunts, the front row of Paris or a mid-afternoon drink at the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro, bastion of the Madrid aristocracy.

The Queen wins in person. She is a professional communicator. She knows that she only has two minutes to win over each interlocutor and influence the idea that is going to be made and transmitted about her. Whether with a CEO or a person with a disability. She is quick and direct. She arrives, takes a look at the situation and acts; trying to be normal, polite, nice. She tries to address everyone by name, which implies a previous process of documentation and memorization.

Her b-side, that of her strong, incisive and non-conformist character, worried about the image she projects and who receives a thick dossier every morning with comments made about her in the media and social networks (which she sometimes reads and sometimes does not), rarely comes out. One of her few biographers, Leonardo Faccio, who published in 2020 "Letizia. The impatient queen" described her between "the paradox and the contradiction". That is, caught between her origins and her choice. The journalist José Antonio Zarzalejos, former director of the Abc newspaper and author of "Felipe VI. A king in adversity", succinctly defines her: "The Queen is a woman with a complex personality and an indomitable temperament."

She walks upright and with her chin up (perhaps more like the classical dancer of her Asturian childhood than with the supposed prosopopeia of royalty), determined, despite suffering continuous pain in one foot due to chronic metatarsalgia, the result of excessive use of high-heeled shoes, which she hates. In her team they say that she is critical by default and is not satisfied with mediocrity or half measures; that you can't lie to her or keep information from her because she immediately catches you; that she looks for alternatives and new paths; that she is not a doll that officials carry on a litter to hundreds of public events without meaning or content. She gives her opinion. She jumps the chain of command and pesters people. Her style is that of solidarity, not fundriser booths or photo opportunities. She would like to go further, to the Marconi industrial park, on the outskirts of Madrid, to try to rescue the women forced into prostitution in that suburban territory of sexual exploitation; or travel to troubled states such as Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso to give visibility to Spanish cooperation. She would have been even harsher in the legislative and family reproach of the emeritus king (with some investigations in the Supreme Court closed because the immunity while he was head of state shielded him from any accusation and a case opened in London by his ex-lover Corinna Larsen). Common sense and the system prevent her from doing those things. Sometimes she has to settle for the Post Office issuing a stamp with her profile for her 50th birthday. But she does not give up.

They say that one morning, in the Carrefour's greengrocer near her home, her neighbor in the queue looked at her sideways and blurted out: "And what are you doing here?" To which the Queen replied sarcastically: "Well, same as you, buying tomatoes." Letizia does not back down. She answers back. To the Royal Household team and to their fish supplier, from whom she demands fatter sardines because they are in season. But she is aware that being a woman is a disadvantage in a society where the press gives more attention to whether she repeats her dress, the length of her skirt or her tan than to her status as ambassador of the FAO for Nutrition or as UNICEF Mental Health Advocate for Children and Adolescents (she will speak soon on the subject at the United Nations headquarters in New York). Something that bothers her deeply. But for the media, for any mobile recording device, the target is her. No matter what she does. A close source says: “she is aware that women are judged by their appearance much more than men. And that pisses her off. She has, for example, a great relationship with Begoña Gómez, the wife of President Sánchez, who is from her generation and a valuable professional. They could do a lot of interesting things together, but they would start comparing them. Disagreements would be invented. For this reason, it is better that they are not seen hand in hand, because they would become the target of rumours, like when President Biden visited Spain".

Around Letizia, form always prevails over substance. In June, during the Madrid Retiro Book Fair, the Queen went hoarse recommending a large group of ladies to read; they, meanwhile, advised her to dye her gray hair because it made her look older. "Get some highlights, beautiful," said one. "Yes, ma'am, but you read," the consort concluded.

She does not grant interviews, but she would be a bad interviewee: she asks more questions than she answers. She looks straight ahead with her green eyes and shoots. She is hyperactive, inquisitive, curious, even harsh in her judgments. A member of her team assures me: "She is for real." She landed for love almost 19 years ago in the heart of one of the oldest monarchies in the world. Perhaps she was not aware of what she was getting herself into. She thought she could handle anything. A bookworm and a nerd, precocious and know-it-all; daughter of divorced parents, college graduate and independent; hardly meek; civilly married at the age of 25 to her former high school teacher; divorcee; ambitious, professionally successful, perhaps her high self-esteem betrayed her. Or maybe love kept her from seeing reality. She walked into the lion's den. Her entrance to royalty in 2004 gave her such a shock that it took her a decade to recover.

She entered a dysfunctional family where she was never in tune with the other members. First, with Juan Carlos de Borbón (who repeatedly belittled the couple), and then with the infantas Elena and Cristina. And even less with the latter's husband, Iñaki Urdangarin —who one day blurted out in public to Letizia: “You, what do you have to complain about”—, and to whose Barcelona mansion the Borbón Ortiz couple decided not to return after seeing the flashiness of the property.

Letizia has never really connected with Madrid's plutocracy, although one of her slips came precisely because of a text she sent to a prominent member of that ruling class, Javier López Madrid, an old friend of her husband and implicated in the court case summaries of Caja Madrid's opaque cards, the attack on Dr. Elisa Pinto or the Punic Operation, and whom she affectionately called "yogi friend" in a private text that was leaked. But long before that she had already been labelled as the person who was going to destroy the Monarchy by herself (something like Camilla Parker Bowles, who is today one of the great assets of the British Monarchy). In the end, those who have been close to bringing down the Crown have been others with a royal surname.

Her almost two decades of life in La Zarzuela could be titled like Pedro Sánchez's biography: "Manual of endurance". She reached the physical and emotional limit after much loneliness and bitterness, two bad pregnancies with cesarean sections included and, above all, when Erika, her little sister, took her own life in 2007. Without forgetting the book written by her first cousin David Rocasolano, "Goodbye , princess" which she considered a betrayal for money, and which entered into very private chapters of her past life, such as an alleged pregnancy termination. Only her discipline has carried her forward. She has managed to adapt and survive. And, above all, accept the consequences of her choice. Today she is rigorous and strict in her physical exercise, diet and mental health regime. And she works hard so that other people's opinions do not weigh as much on her state of mind. She has gained in flexibility (of character). Although to win an arm wrestling match against her you still have to break her arm.

The instruction in the Household of His Majesty the King when Letizia Ortiz arrived at Monte del Pardo in 2004 was, according to one former official, "to bridle her". Or, as they prefer to say now in La Zarzuela with courtly language: “To carry out a process of adaptation to the House”. Which translated into keeping her quiet for three years, without an agenda, without office space or staff; without attending events on her own, a passive companion of the then Prince of Asturias and without overshadowing Queen Sofía, who filled every gap, from the fight against drug addiction to the pandas at the Madrid Zoo. She spent those summers in Mallorca withering in Marivent, with her little daughters, between her mother-in-law and the exquisite Jaime de Marichalar, while the rest of the family sailed.

In 2007, after hitting rock bottom, the Household finally decided to provide her with an agenda and assign her a secretary. The post fell to José Zuleta, Duke of Abrantes, a civil servant who has spent his entire career at La Zarzuela. No one asked Letizia for her opinion. What at first seemed a risky choice, has been a good team for 15 years. Especially because Zuleta is a tough guy who doesn't tolerate nonsense and perfectly acts as the Queen's introducer and shield. From that moment on, it was necessary to make sense of an agenda as pompous in its name as it was empty of content. This meant reaching an agreement with the Government (through the General Secretariat of the Presidency), not bothering Doña Sofía (nor the infantas, who continued under the umbrella of La Zarzuela) and managing that Letizia's interests coincided with those of the Household. In short, that they were harmless. Letizia chose to focus on two nebulous issues that she had worked on as an editor for Televisión Española: health and education. In these years, 77% of her activities have gone in that direction. Doña Sofía had not said a word in 40 years of official events (her first language is English), so, accordingly, Letizia's speeches would be few, brief and supervised by the Household. At most, three minutes. Today she writes all her public words, but the review of La Zarzuela (and in certain cases of La Moncloa) is unavoidable. Those of the King are always endorsed by the Presidency of the Government.

She had to earn the crown every day. Where to start? According to sources from La Zarzuela, “her first activities were in the fight against cancer, but she didn't stop at the ceremonial aspect, which would be an affront to her, and she became involved in cancer research. And then, the rhythm itself starting contributing new activities. There is a word-of-mouth effect, because her presence generates an interest in those social sectors”. That happened in 2008, when she brought the ignored rare diseases and the sidelined professional training into relevance. Her range of interests would expand with issues such as disability, sexist violence, sexual exploitation of women (she works actively with APRAMP, the Association for the Prevention, Reintegration and Care of Prostituted Women) and, above all, nutrition, which she has studied with the zeal of a student preparing the hardest exam you can think of (there is no possible translation from the original Spanish). Today, she can talk non-stop about molecular biology and metabolic pathologies, the neurotoxicity of alcohol, childhood obesity, diabetes, hypertension or dysbiosis. At the first opportunity, she asks her interlocutor what they eat.

On June 19, 2014, the same day that Felipe VI was proclaimed King, Sofía de Grecia collected her things from her office in La Zarzuela, decorated in shades of green and full of memories, and closed the door. Letizia took her time before moving into it, removed the carpet and the fabrics, and had it painted white. And she began to leave her mark. Today, after 10 years as Princess of Asturias and eight as Queen consort, she is, with all her contradictions, a professional of the Monarchy. She is satisfied with her work. For which she gets paid 142,402 euros per year. And she finds fulfilment in it. She has even reconciled with fashion after hiring stylist Eva Fernández in 2015, who has given her assurance and the opportunity to send signs with her clothes: from garments from Spanish brands, some sustainable or reclaiming artisan and traditional ways, to showing support to Ukraine or La Palma, to recognition to the Adlib style, or a collection made by women rescued from prostitution.

Now, her concern is the education and future of her daughters. It was Leonor, the heiress to the Crown, the one who decided to spend two years at the UWC Atlantic College, in Wales; two years of freedom prior to her entering the three military academies (beginning in the fall of 2023 and ending on the training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano) and university studies, with Law as the backbone. Leonor and Sofía have lived their unique position since they were children with apparent naturalness. “For Leonor it wasn't like pulling Excalibur out of a rock and suddenly becoming a princess; Her parents didn't summon her one day to tell her out of the blue that she was going to be queen. Everything has been easier. They are normal girls, ”says a person close to them. Despite this some in the media have accused Letizia of separating them from the lives of young girls their age and having them cloistered.

It is surprising that a person as visceral as Letizia manages to contain her feelings so much. She has rarely gone off script. Perhaps the most palpable moment was when she returned to her College of Information Sciences on September 14, 2021. There she was just Ortiz. Smart, funny, intense; imitating teachers' voices, reminiscing and reverting to that 18-year-old girl who wanted to be a journalist. At the end of the event, she put her hands to her heart and nailed it: "Fifty years is a nice number to keep trying to do things well in the place where each one belongs."

#spanish royal family #queen letizia #queen letizia at 50 (1972-2022)#text #long post #El País as usual writing the worthwhile stuff #Pity they didn't focus on the avalanche of bad press #aided and abetted by old Zarzuela #that wrapped her reputation and turned her into a different person in public #Letizia shouting into the void please read while the public yells dye your hair #could be any royal forum too

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uglypastels · 1 year

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Spotify Wrapped Blurb Event 2022!

It's that time of the year again! Where I get to out my all yearly listening habits for the sake of your literary entertainment in the shape of song-inspired blurbs!!

First of, before we get into the list, a little housekeeping:

I really do not want this to flop so please interact with the post. Like, comment but most of all, please reblog it so more people can participate.

To participate: send me an ask with a fic request with a song of my Spotify Wrapped list.

The request can be just the character you want me to write for + the song title, or a whole prompt you want me to include. Up to you. It is possible I will interpret the song differently in the fic than you would want, so please be specific if you have any specific ideas in mind

MINORS DO NOT REQUEST SMUT

I'm thinking of writing for more than just Eddie Munson, so expanding the horizon to other Stranger Things characters (minus the kids).

Maybe even other fandoms? but those that I am familiar with, of course. I want to do your request justice <3

Do remember that I am a person and have my limits and comforts, and do have the right to refuse to write your request, but that is never my goal. So let's keep it nice - check the guidelines, to be sure! And send an ask with any other questions or comments youight have about this whole thing

DO NOT judge my music taste. I'm sharing this for fun so let's keep it that aight. <3

If you're a writer and want to do a blurb event like this, I deeply encourage it

I will be away this weekend (3-4 December) and have deadlines coming up soon so it might take me a bit of time to post the blurbs but requests are open from the second this post is sent out!

Let's get on with the songs now. Spotify Wrapped list below cut:

Maroon by Taylor Swift

Keep Driving by Harry Styles

Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift

Kiwi by Harry Styles

Bejeweled by Taylor Swift

Slow by Airways

Suzie by Jojo Macari

Music For a Sushi Restaurant by Harry Styles

Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift

Gone by the Station Breaks

Girls & Boys by Blur

Canyon Moon by Harry Styles

Vigilante Shit by Taylor Swift

Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac

Left Hand Free by alt-J

Late Night Talking by Harry Styles

Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift

Young Dumb Thrills by McFly ft. RAT BOY

Going Up The Country by Canned Heat

As It Was by Harry Styles

Karma by Taylor Swift

Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers

Don't Panic by Molotov Jukebox

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

The Great War by Taylor Swift

Dreams by The Cranberries

Carolina by Harry Styles

What I Like About You by The Romantics

Dear Reader by Taylor Swift

People Are Strange by The Doors

Sattelite by Harry Styles

Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison

You're On Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift

Centerfold by The J. Geils Band

Mrs Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel

Grapejuice by Harry Styles

Would've, Could've, Should've by Taylor Swift

Beautiful Mess by Left on Laurel

Echoes by The Rapture

We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel

Snow On The Beach by Taylor Swift ft. Lana Del Rey

American Pie by Don McLean

The Joker by Steve Miller Band

All Summer Long by Kid Rock

Midnight Rain by Taylor Swift

Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles

Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival

More Than A Feeling by Boston

Bigger Than The Whole Sky by Taylor Swift

Twist and Shout by the Beatles

There She Goes by The La's

MMMBop by Hanson

Paris by Taylor Swift

You Make My Dreams (Come True) by Hall & Oates

One Way Or Another by Blondie

Chateau by Djo

Glitch by Taylor Swift

Blister In The Sun by Violent Femmes

Kids In America by Kim Wilde

Wildflower by 5 Seconds of Summer

Labyrinth by Taylor Swift

Venus by Shocking Blue

Stuck In the Middle of You by Stealers Wheel

Golden by Harry Styles

Mastermind by Taylor Swift

Crocodile Rock by Elton John

Weapon Of Choice by Fatboy Slim

Son of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield

High Infidelity by Taylor Swift

Daydreaming by Harry Styles

Fever by The Cramps

Over the Rainbow by Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole

Question...? by Taylor Swift

Sugar, Sugar by Taylor Swift

I Want You Back by the Jackson 5

Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond

invisible string by Taylor Swift

Daylight by Harry Styles

Footloose by Kenny Loggins

Uptown Girl by Billy Joel

Love Story (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

Happy Together by the Turtles

Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams

Oh My God by Adele

Style by Taylor Swift

I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick

Dang! by Mac Miller ft. Anderson .Paak

Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks

no body, no crime by Taylor Swift

Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry

Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos

Cinema by Harry Styles

the last great american dynasty by Taylor Swift

Groove is in the Heart by Deee-lite

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

Bad To The Bone by George Thorogood & The Destroyers

Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

Dreaming by Blondie

Lie To Me by The Mots Nouveaux

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers

writing taglist:

@spiderrrling @theglitterymess @dorianelizabeth @theletterhart @niyahwhoreworld @chatnoirfangirl1624 @fopdoodle1624 @pastel-abyss-x @ghoulsgraveyard @prettytoxix @lovesickollie @xbreezymeadowsx @ssanjuniperoo @nxrdamp @meaganjm @yourmommilf @mischiefmanagers @greendinosaursocks13 @roseyykris @capybergara @brother-lauren @h0sh1verse @ghostlyreads @croweaterr @ladyapplejackdnd @bilesxbilinskixlahey @kbakery @sleeping-willow @lizzylynch1 @hellfire-state-of-mind @liltimmyst @escape-in-time-x @miscelaa @sweetpeapod @the-a-word-2214 @eddiemunsonbby @wh0re4munson @eddiesdingus @zoeyquinn94 @munsonmunchies @overthewhiteclouds @wroteclassicaly @groupies-do-it-better @stitchity @celestialsxturn @hoe4eddiemunson @inanausomewhere @witchyrivers @scoops-harrington @fluffyharrington

#Z's Spotify Wrapped Blurbs 2022 #writing #writing challenge #fanfiction #fanfic writing #spotify wrapped

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asirensrage · 1 year

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Fanfic Writer 2022 Wrapped

I haven't seen this yet and it's based on this original writing one: Writing Wrapped (which is awesome and you should check it out)

2022 Fanfic Writing Reflections

What fic did you work on the most this year?

Did you have an fic writing goals? Did you meet them?

How many fics did you work on this year?

Do you have a favourite fic you wrote?

What's your favourite passage that you wrote this year?

Favourite line of dialogue this year?

Favourite POV? (or rather what POV did you use the most this year?)

Did you find yourself repeating a word or phrase in your writing this year? If so, what was it?

How did you help other writers this year? (i.e. leaving comments, reviews, beta reading, offering advice, etc)

Did you receive any advice that resonated to you this year?

What did you enjoy most about writing fic this year?

What did you enjoy the least?

Who was your favourite character to write for?

Did you have a song on repeat while writing this year?

Did you make any playlists for your fics this year? What are they?

What's your favourite thing you made for your fic or character this year? (such as pinterest, moodboards, gifs, etc)

What was your most commonly used tag for your fics (on ao3, tumblr, etc)?

Did you participate in any fic writing challenges this year?

What was your favourite comment/review you received this year?

What was your top rated/commented fic this year?

Were there any ideas you wanted to work on this year but you didn't?

Where they any new fandoms or genres you explored this year?

Is there anything you want to write or try to explore in your writing next year?

Do you have a goal for next year? If so, what is it?

What are your hopes and/or desires for yourself and for other fic writers in the next year? Bonus:

Did you discover any new fics or fic authors this year?

What was your favourite fic to read this year?

Who was your favourite fic author this year?

What fics or authors would you recommend for others to discover and read in the next year?

What advice would you have for people who might want to try writing or sharing their writing next year?

#did this because I felt like it I guess #don't ask me why lol #fanfic writer asks #fanfic wrapped asks #fanfic writer wrapped 2022 #fanfic writing reflections #I'm sure this has been done (fanfic wise) but I didn't find it so I made my own #though to be fair...I didn't look very hard so...#it is what it is

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hideyseek · 1 year

Note

Writing wrapped number 11 and 17!

haha hello thank u for your patience mwah u sent these fully two months ago. also thank you for providing me the opportunity to ramble about writing haha! also lol sorry i hit control enter and i guess that? posts the post immediately.

11. What was the highlight of your writing/writing career this year? i was going to say starting a longfic but no that has had its shares of highs and lows (lots of improved understanding of what my sustainable writing process looks like but also: so much screaming lol). my actual answer is: reading george saunders' a swim in a pond in the rain because it just -- it has COMPLETELY changed the way i think about writing! like, WHEW. this guy just goes: ok for like 400 pages we are going to sit and very lovingly interrogate WHAT KEEPS A READER READING? without any worry about theme or pacing or whatever. saunders is like: just revise via intuition! you'll know it when you feel it! which is suuuuch an insane to me way of doing this (because i love to go: ok am i following the 4 million little rules of writing that i know? and then DRIVE MYSELF INSANE) but like ... works so so so well to shut up the perfectionist part of my brain actually. AND he very handily answered the question i'd been slowly driving myself insane with in the later part of 2022 ("wait what is the actual difference between a story and a random collection of sentences describing things??") by saying "there's causation in a story!" anyway, george saunders, ily, thanks for your hard work, your substack is also great, etc.

17. What song(s) did you listen to while writing? ok actually when i am writing like, actually drafting, i go on spotify in private mode and put the study lofi playlist on shuffle and then enter a trance-like state hehe.

hehe finally getting to my writing wrapped asks for 2022!

#ask game #snakesonacartesianplane #hidey speaks #writing wrapped 2022

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sonder-writes · 13 days

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3rd last chapter of Settling In has been published!!

fic summary: The Umbrella Academy are in a new timeline now and they have to navigate not having their powers (and losing other things too), newfound lost love interests, dopplegängers, and Reginald's stash of marigold.

#I've been writing this since 2022 omg #I'm so excited to finally be wrapping it up #tua #the umbrella academy #tua fanfic #tua fic #klaus hargreeves #dave katz #klave #fanfiction #viktor hargreeves #allison hargreeves #luther hargreeves #vissy tua #tua season 4 #tua fanfiction #umbrella academy #umbrella academy fanfic #umbrella academy fanfiction

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swaps55 · 1 year

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2022 Writing Wrap Up

Tagged by @commander-krios. Thank you!

I wasn't going to do one of these things because I didn't think I'd accomplished as much as I have in the past couple of years, but I am thankful you tagged me, because when I looked at it, there was a lot to be proud of, and I think it's important when we work so hard to sit back and RECOGNIZE what we've done, instead of just dwelling on what we haven't.

Total Words Published: 122,327. I think. I had to do math, and my math is never trustworthy. I don’t think I forgot anything? I might have. Part of me feels like I shouldn’t get credit for Concerto, because it was more or less a rewrite, but at the same time it was a lot of work so I should get credit, heh.

Additional Words Written: 27,923. This only counts drafts I intend to actually publish some day (namely two entire Fugue chapters, the beginning of a third one, and Cadenza, a fic that will get written eventually). It doesn’t include the scribbles that may or may not turn into something, or the discarded scenes that got rewritten. This number is probably MUCH higher, but I’m not doing that math.

Grand Total of Words: 150,250. I’m very happy with that. It felt like less.

Fandoms: Mass Effect. It is the only fandom I write for. I’m a one trick pony.

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments): Of fic published this year, Cantata reigns supreme in every category, even though a big hunk of it was earned in 2021. But the comments on the final chapter alone, which is definitely 2022, are mind blowing to me. Nothing I write will ever match the top kudosed stories in the Ao3 mshenko tag, but I’m floored at how much engagement Opus gets. I’ll take that over any metric.

Highest Kudos to Hits Ratio: I think it’s Hearstoppers Beyond the Veil. Which I find delightful. It’s such a silly, sweet fic.

New Things I Tried: Sam’s POV is off-limits in Opus, but I have some future scenes that I’m going to need in which he’s my only POV option unless I get creative. So I’ve gotten creative, and am doodling some things in 2nd person to see if I can get what I need while still filtering Sam through the eyes of someone else (in this case, a more omniscient narrator Sam is unaware of). I am pleased with the results so far enough to keep working at it.

Fic I Spent The Most Time On: Fugue. Every single chapter of Fugue feels like a dogfight. It’s such a difficult and complex story to navigate on every level. The story as a whole obviously has been the biggest time investment this year, but each individual chapter is like climbing a mountain.

Fic I Spent The Least Time On: Yours, which is a first kiss AU. It’s a fairly simple story, but it fell out of my head and onto the page with very little prompting from me, and I love it to pieces.

Favorite Thing I Wrote: It’s hard not to say Cantata or Fugue, but of the one-shots, I’ll give it to Space Talk because I got to make a cow-tipping joke and connect it to Arcturus.

Favorite Thing I Read: This is a very non-inclusive list. Sunset and Evening Star by @shadesofmauve, Trikalon by @dandenbo, Far From Comfortable by @screwyouflightlieutenant, Alke by @mallaidhsomo, red sky at morning by @shadoedseptmbr, we’ll dance this fading life away by @tiltingheartand, Eric and Stella's Cabo Adventure, by @writes-in-space, Friend of a Friend by @otemporanerys, in the deep dark by @urrone

Writing Goals for 2023: Finish Fugue (I am so close I can taste it) and (after a decent break), start Mezzo, Opus’ ME2 story.

New Works: Heartstoppers from Beyond the Veil, Space Talk, Concerto, Warm With You, Yours.

Tagging (no pressure!) @baejax-the-great, @mallaidhsomo, @screwyouflightlieutenant, @shadesofmauve. Hell, if I tagged you anywhere in this post, consider yourself tagged. And anyone who wants to feel proud of what they did this year? Do it and tag me back so I can cheerlead you.

BE PROUD OF YOUR WORK. If you didn't post anything? Be proud of what you wrote for yourself. Didn't write much? Be proud of your daydreams and ideas and OCs that rotate in your head like a rotisserie chicken. It's ALL worth celebrating. Tell me about it and I'll celebrate with you!

#how writing is written #2022 writing summary #ao3 wrapped #sort of?#sure why not

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thefreakandthehair · 1 year

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✨ 2022 ao3 wrapped ✨

thank you for the tag, @pizzaqueen @hexmionegranger @flashyysins @unclewaynemunson! I adore all of you :')

Works Published: 14

Word Count: 78,639 [not including the roughly 50k currently unpublished until January!]

Hits: 52,347 [holy fuCK you guys?!!?!]

Bookmarks: 1,944

Most popular by kudos: and if I get burned, at least we were electrified. explicit, 9.2k. [I loved writing that one so much, I think I was possessed but the response to it was beyond anything I could've imagined for a little Halloween oneshot!]

Most hits: livin' on a prayer, explicit. 17.9k. [totally makes sense because that was my first steddie fic back in August! also my first piece of writing since literally 2013 so again, I'm shocked and awed that it garnered any kinda audience.]

Longest: kind of cheating here because the longest published is also livin' on a prayer, but over the hills and far away is the longest thing I've ever written at 75% done and 50k.

Shortest: hush when no one is around, my dear. teen and up, 1.1k! [a request based on a prompt from @corrodedcoughin where Dustin finds a cute note from Steve to Eddie in a DnD manual.]

Most comments: once again, and if I get burned, at least we were electrified. [but funny enough, a cute fluffy oneshot I wrote isn't it obvious? is very close!]

Fic that made me cry: counting stars (when I look in your eyes), teen and up, 6.3k. [this was my christmas fic for the spicy six challenge and for several reasons, I cried writing it. I really do project onto Eddie so fuckin' much.]

Fic that made me smile: i made this mess with love., explicit, 3.9k. [this was a steddie+ bar fight request from my bestie @bayouteche and I may or may not have included us as little side characters because why the fuck not? writing us into that very small scene really made me laugh!]

Gifts: simple twist of fate. teen and up, 3.3k. [this was for the fruity four halloween gift exchange with the prompt of Steve/Eddie and Robin/Nancy coparenting the party.] also special shoutouts to gifts I've received because they've been INCREDIBLE: Adventures in Flirting by @misspanicdead and boston cream by @fruityfourgalore <3333

Events: other than the spicy six winter fic challenge [which BY THE WAY holy SHIT I'm gonna compile everything into a masterlist at some point soon but you all fuckin' rock, seriously. I didn't think it was gonna take off the way it did and I love every single one of you for making it a thing that made it all the way to TikTok!], I also participated in the fruity four halloween gift exchange [simple twist of fate], @eddieismissing's halloween challenge [requiem for a nightmare.], and the @strangerthingsbigbang which okay, technically not completed until january but whatever, I'm counting it for this year too.

tagging: (I know this has been going around so if you were already tagged or already did it, ignore me <3) @bayouteche @sharpbutsoft @henrystars @kkpwnall @flowercrowngods @withacapitalp @hotcocoaharrington @stevieclaus @solosnail @strawberryspence and literally anyone else, this is me tagging everyone who wants to get in on this :')

#steddie #tag game #ao3 wrapped #myfic #i love all of you so sos so much i cannot put it into words #not just the friends tagged here but every single one of you!#2022 was not the best year for me in general despite some big positives #and getting back into writing really provided an outlet and to do that with such incredible people here? what a fucking gift #i stopped writing in 2013 for shitty reasons and didn't started again until this august #so i really couldn't have imagined this at the start of the year #lore and more

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emily-prentits · 1 year

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99 a ship with a halftone hair blorbo LOL

#99: Love Dive by IVE

intrigue (hold your breath)

Even from the first glimpse Tammy caught of her, she’s found Sheena fascinating. She just wishes that Sheena would make up her mind about her. Or: background ship papertiger in my already niche heiress!au

read on ao3

#asking jo #jo writes #papertiger #paper star cs #tigress cs #tammy #sheena #carmen sandiego #the wolfe heiress #spotify wrapped prompts 2022

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nuatthebeach · 1 year

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2022 Wrapped

Tagged by @corneliaavenue! You're a lovely thing <3

Oof, it's already 2023, isn't it? Oh, well.

Post the top 5 works you're most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular)

it's gonna be 4 now lol.

persist and resist the temptation to ask you - this one is perhaps the most authentic, soul-pouring fic i've ever written. and the one i'm most proud of because of my growth in writing prose and pacing overall. there were many times i would huddle with a blanket in a dark room (💀) simply because of how much i was feeling in the moment. it was the most visceral experience i've had writing so far.

like passing notes in secrecy - i would say that when i finished persist, i was in this writing craze/high in that i simply wanted to write anything since i finally felt like i was on a roll, but that wouldn't do this fic - and my work - justice. because persist was so angsty, i desperately needed to write something that was light and fluffy in consequence for my own sake. i'm very happy about the banter and humor i was able to apply to this OTP; it was pure serotonin, and i hope it was the same for others.

Midnight - my first hinny smut!! aka i took my headcanon of switch!hinny and really ran with it. though i no longer have the same exact headcanon about the two of them, i'm still really proud of how steamy this turned out. and i have a feeling all the private bookmarkers do too 👀

you knew that i'm a mastermind, and now you're mine - man, the sheer power tswift holds on all fic writers everywhere. the aim was to use this song ("mastermind") in irony to show how the wizarding world perceives ginny relative to her relationship with harry. and because ginny is such a force of nature, she and the press manage to come to a certain albeit amusing level of agreement (a true mastermind har dee har). it's a bamf character moment for her, and she owned every second of it.

your top 4 current WIPs that you're excited to release in the new year

you reminded me to open up my google docs for the first time in a month! phewww.

premed hinny!rivals to lovers fic - snippet here. my final fuck you (and extremely reluctant thank you) to undergrad in the form of my OTP. fic is fully outlined and ready to be written if only i could give it the time of day 😭. but now that i have a lot of time opened up for me in the next several months, i'll finally get to it! fingers crossed

anniversary hinny smut - hinny roleplays as strangers in a bar, and let's just say we'll stick the art of acting to the shitty movies. a whole ass page written so far, so i take that as a win!

a somewhat angst, somewhat crack fic... i uh... have the most written for this wip so far of all my wips and im both proud and mortified by that. let's just say it's a story of how hinny finds themselves back to each other postwar... and the path is not exactly a straight route. playlist is a wip as well.

another crack fic because apparently that's all @takearisk-ao3 and me are on... though it's more accurate to say i helped to brainstorm and Hannah, the brilliant Executioner. to quote Hannah's post... "no comment."

im adding a fifth one because why not. hinny!vampire au. though there's only been half a page written for it so far, and hence a lot of white space, im so, so ready for the tools of creativity to lead me to more crackheadery that ive yet to discover. (like i needed more to start with.)

your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year

i think my writing comes off a bit "cleaner" now? there's more of a coherent plot, resolution to my fics than most of the simple "slices of life" that i wrote more of last year.

i'd like to think the dialogue comes off more natural now too. im finally getting the hang of doing more "showing" than telling and implementing symbolism and metaphors when trying to display a broader theme/concept.

im able to sit with fics and be at ease with the fact that im not going to have the right answer immediately. that i have to wait before i can post to make it better. i started prioritizing quality over mass production - and while this is still something i struggle with a lot of the times - i feel like this is a bit of a step up from last year. and most importantly, i learned that rewrites - not just editing - may be necessary too, and that is okay. that does not make me a bad writer but (hopefully) a thoughtful one.

your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year

to not constantly compare myself to other people's writing. focus on how i can improve myself without being intimidated by all the works of the many amazing writers in the fandom. to finally put words on the page fearlessly and authentically, like i felt i did with persist.

to take more risks. keep putting my characters in uncomfortable situations and testing out how they can grow from them. to not feel limited in my writing just because in my young age i havent experienced them. to push my boundaries more. (i thank @fairsquare16 @takearisk-ao3 and @narukoibito for encouraging this and the first goal every single time i feel even the slightest bit down about it; they're also the reason im still entertaining all these crackfics so put the blame on them when they eventually come out)

and your number 1 favorite line you've written this year

my fucking answer to this changes every two seconds...not for any other reason except that it's my biggest conspiracy theory that i have early, early onset dementia and can't for the life of me remember. here's one for now:

Like the story, the moral is just as simple: love unconditionally, act irrevocably. One shouldn't fear wearing their heart on their sleeve if the alternative is to never plant, water, and bathe it with the light of day.

After all, what are mistakes if not signs to grow?

Tagging

@narukoibito @heartstopping-waves @ashotofogdensoldfirewhiskey and whoever else would like to do it (i truly mean that)!

#2022 wrapped #nu's writing tag #hinny fanfic #harry x ginny

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