Sharks in My Pocket

My Animal Crossing island finally hit three stars! It took another villager (welcome, Fauna!), and some surreptitiously-placed fencing, but I did it. And what did I do with my newly-acquired Island Developer ability? I straightened one riverbank to put in another bridge. That's it, so far. I really like the wide-open feel of my island right now, so I'm holding off on making any drastic changes at the moment.

Also, summer fishing is amazing! Night owl that I am, I stayed up past midnight on Sunday, and, not half an hour into June, reeled in a whale shark. That was definitely a surprise. Now, my little villager is running along the beach for good chunks of the day, casting her line and stuffing sharks into her pocket. XD

( Now, some screenshots from Last Week on OrangeLeaf! )

I've also met Reese and Cyrus and done their photo shoots. They are just precious; I swear, Reese must be made out of cotton candy! I'm still working on villagers' yards, and accumulating a lot of super-cute but highly impractical outfits from the Able Sisters. Since this post is getting pretty long already, I'll save my yard and "fashion" shots for another time.

I'll end with a cozy image -- tea and toast on a drizzly day. :)

Fanfiction: "Snapshots"

Title: "Snapshots" (2,534 words) [AO3]
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Rating/Warnings: General Audiences / Mention of Death, Reminiscence of Deceased
Characters: Rinoa Heartilly, Laguna Loire
Summary: At least once in every conversation with Rinoa, Laguna brought up Julia. But the Julia he knew was not her mother; Laguna's Julia was nothing more than a snapshot, an idol, a sliver of a whole and vibrant woman.

(Written for a fic prompt on Tumblr: "Chocolate" + "In the snow")

( Excerpt below the cut )

Weekly Writing Update

It's been a while, but I've finally got some decent progress to report. My word count this week is nothing special, but, for the first time in about a month and a half, I've finished a story that I'm pretty satisfied with. It's the same FF8 fic I was worrying over last week; it's still got the melancholy air I was apprehensive about, but, in the end, I think I was able to rescue it from becoming completely maudlin.

I also wrote a (treacly and equally melancholic) little original flash piece for a weekly challenge on Tumblr. I don't particularly like it, but it was a decent writing exercise. I'm just hoping that I can build some momentum with both of these pieces, especially since GYWO Yahtzee ends this month, and I've only completed one set of prompts (from the first week of the challenge, back in March, no less!).

Weekly Writing Stats:

Total Words Written: 2,273
Original Fiction: 428
Fanfiction: 1,845 (for "Snapshots")
Percentage Breakdown: 18.8% Original Fiction, 81.2% Fanfiction

Okay!