seeking normal (+ an au) by dreamshadow

[dreamshadow]

Hi friends!

For once, I'm not leaving JulNo to the last second this year, and I'm excited because I've actually had a bit of writing inspiration over the last few weeks. I'm hoping that's going to continue throughout the month of July, because I've got some goals I'd love to accomplish.

So without further ado:

Seeking Normal (M)

(perfect picspam by down-in-flames)

The Summary:

Seventh year isn’t what Maddy Nott hoped for.

Instead of thriving at the top of the social ladder, she’s forced to deal with the aftershock of a tragedy she can’t remember.  Toss in a heated Quidditch rivalry with Roxanne Weasley, hazy memories that attempt to breakthrough the surface, and a semester long project that threatens to crack her perfected composure, and suddenly everything she’s worked for could crumble down around her.

And there’s nothing she can do to stop it.

The Rundown:

I'm pretty sure you're all familiar with the background of this story, but for those who aren't: it's a re-telling of one of my oldest HP fanfics, Haunting Shadows/Sweetest Goodbye, only this time, it's set in the next generation.

It follows Madelyn Nott as she enters her seventh year at Hogwarts - the Slytherin Queen, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team - after a traumatizing accident over the summer. She can't remember exactly what happened that night, and all she knows is this: Zoe Martinez is dead, and she somehow feels responsible. It follows her attempts at getting her life back to normal along with Hogwarts social politics, nightmares that mean she can't sleep, family drama, and a ridiculous rivalry with Roxanne Weasley. And when Maddy and Roxanne get partnered together for a potions project, things take a turn for the worse. And life, as Maddy knows it, will never be the same. 

The Goal: roughly 15k

+here's a pinterest (m) board, if you like that sort of thing.

***

And because apparently I can't stay away from these idiots even if I wanted to, I'm going to be writing another Murphy/Emma AU (otherwise affectionately referred to as Memma).

Coffee Shop AU


(perfect picspam by crowsb4bros)

The Summary:

John Murphy's been working at his on-campus coffee shop since freshman year, so when Emma Rhodes - the known rich, pretty, and popular girl - puts in her application for a barista, surprised doesn't even remotely cover it.

-or-

Five times Emma Rhodes surprised Murphy, and one time he surprised her.

The Rundown:

This is gonna be a 5 plus 1 one-shot. I was originally thinking WIP, but it doesn't really need to be, since this format actually works really well.

It's basically going to be exactly as the summary states, but told in Emma's point of view. Mostly because I don't think I could pull off writing Murphy's, tbh. And writing Emma comes almost as natural as breathing to me, so it's going to be fun. I have all the surprises worked out, and you don't need any knowledge of The 100 fandom, since Emma is an original character. It mostly just helps for characterization (on Murphy's part) or little gems like location and name-drops, etc.

The Goal: 5k, but let's be real, these idiots don't shut up so it'll probably be longer than that.

+here's a pinterest (m) board, if you're into that.
(And yes, I do have an Emma Rhodes character board, a separate Murphy/Emma section, plus the coffee shop AU, because I am That Extra™ about these two.)

***

I was also going to plot a James Potter II fic, but I might leave that on the backburner, since I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have my hands full with these two.

End Goal: 20k
I'll be tracking my progress in my bullet journal this year, and I'm excited to see how that's different from using the camp site. 

Feel free to leave some questions, poke me about writing, or just come and say hi!

[nott theodore]

Jill!  Ah, I've loved what I've read of seeking normal so far, and I'm really excited to see you're working on it for NaNo!

 

1. This is a reworking of another story - besides the fact that it's now set in the next generation, what else has mainly changed?

2. What three words would you use to sum up Madelyn's character?

3. What made you choose Roxanne Weasley for the main next gen character in this story?

4. Is there any chance of some romance resulting from this Maddy/Roxanne rivalry?

5. How long do you imagine seeking normal being when it's finished?

6. What are you most excited about writing for this story?

7. Do you have a playlist or any music that inspires you for it?

[Archer Rose]

Jill!!

I need more john murphy in my life, so excited for this

1. Why did you decide on a coffee shop AU for the setting?

2. What processes have you used to develop Emma's character? Has she changed a lot from your first imagining of her?

3. Why do you think that Emma and Murphy work as a partnership?

4. And how do you think they clash? 

5. Do you find writing the 100 or HP fandom easier?

6. You've written a few AUs, what attracts you to them over setting them them in canon?

❤

[sibilant]

Hello my dearest Jill! I’m really excited about both of these projects! I have a few questions for you

1. I love the concept of seeking normal! Who is your favorite character? 

2. I’m struck by the fact that it seems like seeking normal has undergone many iterations (as is very normal in the writing process). How are you approaching the process of retelling? How do you decide what stays and what needs to change? 

3. Who are all the characters in the picspam for seeking normal?

4. YAY 5+1. All your 5+1’s are so good Why did you choose the 5+1 format for your Memma Coffeeshop AU, other than just the fact that 5+1 is an amazing format?

5. I love the thought that writing Emma comes like breathing to you. Do you have a sense for why that might be? Is Emma a lot like you?

6. Are you planning on posting chapters of seeking normal as you write them, or posting at the end?

[dreamshadow]

hi, sian!

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

1. This is a reworking of another story - besides the fact that it's now set in the next generation, what else has mainly changed?

there's actually quite a bit that's changed. the original was a fred weasley i/oc fic, so the mc being bi is one of the bigger changes. some of the other changes are kinda spoiler-y, but the relationship between roxanne/maddy is fundamentally different. fred and cate were more of a friends to lovers situation, but roxanne and maddy are enemies to friends to lovers, which i think is going to be a little more fun for me to write. not to mention that maddy's personality itself is very, very different from cate's. but more fun to write

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

2. What three words would you use to sum up Madelyn's character?

guarded, anxious, haunted 

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

3. What made you choose Roxanne Weasley for the main next gen character in this story?

she just seems like she'd be the most fun to write in this sort of fic; and with my headcanons of her, she's a pretty good match for someone like maddy.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

4. Is there any chance of some romance resulting from this Maddy/Roxanne rivalry?

since it's not really a spoiler... yes. a thousand times yes.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

5. How long do you imagine seeking normal being when it's finished?

right now i'm aiming for about 20 chapters or so, and since i can't write short things anymore, who knows how long word count-wise that'll be.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

6. What are you most excited about writing for this story?

honestly, i'm most pumped about the roxanne/maddy dynamic. it's been a while since i've done the enemies to friends to lovers trope, so it's different and exciting. i have a few big scenes plotted out already that i'm excited to write for them, but we're breaching into spoiler territory there

On 6/28/2020 at 11:17 AM, nott theodore said:

7. Do you have a playlist or any music that inspires you for it?

surprisingly no! and i love making story-inspired playlists, so obviously i should get on this.

❤❤❤

hi, abbi! i'm glad someone else is excited for this

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

1. Why did you decide on a coffee shop AU for the setting?

i'd like to say that the answer to this is that i've been spending the last two weeks working in my store's cafe, but let's be real. i was watching love, victor last week and said "now i want to write a coffee shop au" to which @clevernotbrilliant promptly replied "memma coffee shop au" and well... how could i resist that?

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

2. What processes have you used to develop Emma's character? Has she changed a lot from your first imagining of her?

truthfully, it's been developed through various aus and collabs i've written with ashley over the last year or so. i wouldn't say her personality changed, but to be honest, i created her specifically to end up with bellamy because i was frustrated with the lack of bellarke,  and "what would it be like if bellamy had a best friend on the ark?" and then she shared a few scenes with murphy in some of our aus and well... everyone else paled in comparison.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

3. Why do you think that Emma and Murphy work as a partnership?

i love this question so much. in this essay i will... on a serious note: he doesn't treat her like glass. he tells her like it is whether she wants to hear it or not, and they're both survivors, so they relate on that level. they have that same deep sarcastic personality/sense of humor, and they call each other out on their bullshit. she doesn't put up with his cockroach defense mechanism and the best way i can describe it is this: they balance each other out. she's basically a scrappy little nothing, but not at first glance, and he's a scrappy little nothing, but he's definitely got a soft side she brings out. 

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

4. And how do you think they clash? 

honestly, when it's protecting their friends vs protecting themselves. emma, as much as she's a survivor, is constantly torn by saving her people and herself; murphy's just looking out for number one. it's what they fight about the most and sometimes their personalities just cause them to fight a lot. they know how to get on each other's nerves and aren't afraid to do so.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

5. Do you find writing the 100 or HP fandom easier?

hmmm. this is hard. i think i have to go with the 100, because i feel like i can write them a little bit better? but the setting of hogwarts is definitely easier than canon-verse the 100, if that makes sense. so character-wise, the 100, setting wise, hp.

On 6/28/2020 at 11:46 AM, Crimson Quill said:

6. You've written a few AUs, what attracts you to them over setting them them in canon?

there's just so much more freedom in aus, especially in a fandom like the 100. it's fun to see what the characters would be like if they didn't have to constantly fight for their lives and could just be normal and domestic. THAT'S ALL I WANT ABBI

❤❤❤

hii shreya!!

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

1. I love the concept of seeking normal! Who is your favorite character? 

is it too cliche if i say maddy? because... maddy if not her, probably sam or oliver. since i'm not beyond chapter 2 at the moment, it's very possible that roxanne's gonna shoot up there as well.

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

2. I’m struck by the fact that it seems like seeking normal has undergone many iterations (as is very normal in the writing process). How are you approaching the process of retelling? How do you decide what stays and what needs to change? 

truthfully, i'm just kind of following my muse? putting in all my favorite things/tropes into a fic and seeing where it takes me. maddy's character has definitely undergone the most change; the very original version had a girl named alyssa lawrence, and just reading over the old fics (when i was in high school) and she was just so... annoying. and cringey. and i don't know why it was so popular back in the day, tbh. cate was definitely better, but she still needed some work, so then maddy was born. the general plot has always stayed the same -- girl haunted by an event over the summer comes back to hogwarts. it's just more fun to throw in a bunch of different variables and seeing how long it's going to take until maddy cracks.

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

3. Who are all the characters in the picspam for seeking normal?

top center: roxanne weasley, rival/love interest, captain of the gryffindor quidditch team
center left: maddy nott, our main protagonist, slytherin queen, captain of the slytherin quidditch team
center right: sam garcia, maddy's best friend/ex-boyfriend, on good terms; spoiler-y details, also kinda the slytherin heartthrob 
bottom center: zoe martinez, recently deceased, spoiler-y details

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

4. YAY 5+1. All your 5+1’s are so good Why did you choose the 5+1 format for your Memma Coffeeshop AU, other than just the fact that 5+1 is an amazing format?

well, i was originally thinking this could be a wip until i realized it didn't need to be. the 5+1 kinda lends perfectly to slowly revealing emma's backstory and allows me to jump through time to slowly progress murphy and emma's relationship. and, they're just fun, tbh

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

5. I love the thought that writing Emma comes like breathing to you. Do you have a sense for why that might be? Is Emma a lot like you?

i've just written her the most in various projects over the years, and she's one of the more fun personalities to write (at least for me). she's hotheaded and can be dramatic and dumb, but she's also super loyal with a big heart on her sleeve and passionate. she blends so seamlessly into various locations/aus, etc. we definitely have similar qualities, for sure. she's probably one of my favorite OCs ever.

On 6/28/2020 at 2:49 PM, sibilant said:

6. Are you planning on posting chapters of seeking normal as you write them, or posting at the end?

i haven't decided yet. i really want to post, but i might try and get a bit of a backlog first so i have some breathing room.

❤❤❤

thanks for the great questions guys!

[lostinthelightss]

Helloooo Jill!!! I'm here with some questions (a little late but i waned to read seeking normal's published chapters first lol)!!!

• If Mads and Sam were colours, what colours would they be?
• What are their favourite foods?
• Favourite hobbies?
• and lastly, if you had to describe them as a person (like whole person not just as a consequence of a tragedy), how would you describe them in only a few words?

Thanks so much and welcome to JulNo my little nibble!!!  

[shadowycorner]

Hi Jill, your buddy Eli here

It seems like you got quite a plan here, I especially admire how variously you've built all your characters' personalities. I'm super psyched about the Roxanne/Maddy thing, it has SO MUCH interesting and fluffy but also mysterious and angsty and awesome potential!

How are you doing after your first day?

Do you have a writing plan or strategies?

I am also expecting any ramblings and progress reports and feelings on both your projects, you can do it!!

[just.a.willow.tree]

Hi hi, Jill!  I saw that you were looking for the creator of the gorgeous picspam you received -- it looks very much like @crowsb4bros's style, though I could be wrong!

I also love that this is the newest version of this story -- I loved Haunting Shadows when it was still up, so I'm all the more excited about this! It sounds like all the changes you made will make the story even better; in particular, I love that the setting takes place after the war, so that there's not an additional society-crushing calamity occurring at the same time as your protagonist's personal troubles.

A couple questions!

1. It sounds like the story will have some similar dark-ish themes to the original, but the picspam looks quite summery and bright! Will you be combining those two tonal elements in this story, or will you lean more heavily towards one, do you think?

2. Memma is absolutely the cutest ship name. I am curious -- the only Memma stories I've read in the past have had the two of them in an established something-or-other (like, not quite friends but at least acquaintances). Will you write (or have you written already ) a meet-cute for the two of them? I'm so curious about their origin story!

3. Does Emma ever call him by his first name?  Does that hold some significance?

 

Good luck during JulNo!!!

[crowsb4bros]

(That was me! )

[dreamshadow]

hi lo! 

On 7/1/2020 at 12:57 PM, maraudertimes said:

If Mads and Sam were colours, what colours would they be?

i've spent way too long thinking about this question, and somehow still don't have an answer. my gut tells me that maddy would be a light grey; she sees the world in many more shades of grey than some of the people in her house. sam... i have no idea, tbh. maybe green? both grey and green seem to have stood out

On 7/1/2020 at 12:57 PM, maraudertimes said:

What are their favourite foods?

maddy's gonna argue that coffee counts as food, so that would be her answer. or a chocolate layered cake they serve as dessert around the holidays. sam's got an intense love of breakfast food, and can never decide if pancakes or waffles are better.

On 7/1/2020 at 12:57 PM, maraudertimes said:

Favourite hobbies?

quidditch for maddy, hands down. sam also loves the sport, but in his quieter moments, he loves to draw and often draws whatever's in his mind or -- if he ever sleeps -- what he dreams about.

On 7/1/2020 at 12:57 PM, maraudertimes said:

and lastly, if you had to describe them as a person (like whole person not just as a consequence of a tragedy), how would you describe them in only a few words?

maddy's always been extraordinarily guarded, and has high walls around her emotions.
sam's much more compassionate and loyal; friends and family first, at least until push comes to shove.

thank youuu for these questions!  i spent way too long thinking about them, which is why i haven't answered until now

❤❤❤

hiii eli! so excited you stopped by.

On 7/1/2020 at 2:44 PM, shadowycorner said:

It seems like you got quite a plan here, I especially admire how variously you've built all your characters' personalities. I'm super psyched about the Roxanne/Maddy thing, it has SO MUCH interesting and fluffy but also mysterious and angsty and awesome potential!

How are you doing after your first day?

i'm not really sure i'd call roxanne/maddy fluffy, at least not at first, but they definitely get there. lots of angst, for sure, and ton of potential

doing okay. struggling a little bit behind my intended wordcount, but i'm hoping to make up some ground today! we'll see how that goes.

On 7/1/2020 at 2:44 PM, shadowycorner said:

Do you have a writing plan or strategies?

not really, tbh. i can't write out of order, so i'm just trying to push through the scenes as they come. and i'm much more productive writing-wise in the morning, so i'm hoping to tap into that as well. 

On 7/1/2020 at 2:44 PM, shadowycorner said:

I am also expecting any ramblings and progress reports and feelings on both your projects, you can do it!!

ahh you got it    i'll probably shoot you a PM sometime today  

❤❤❤

eva!!  

On 7/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, just.a.willow.tree said:

It sounds like all the changes you made will make the story even better; in particular, I love that the setting takes place after the war, so that there's not an additional society-crushing calamity occurring at the same time as your protagonist's personal troubles.

ah yes! although the original version took place during book 4, so it was right before the cusp of the war, but... you are absolutely correct!

On 7/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, just.a.willow.tree said:

It sounds like the story will have some similar dark-ish themes to the original, but the picspam looks quite summery and bright! Will you be combining those two tonal elements in this story, or will you lean more heavily towards one, do you think?

the goal is to combine them, at least initially, before the darkness takes over   i've been describing this fic as pride and prejudice meets haunting shadows, so the darkness (at least in the first half) is just kind of hidden right on the edge. we'll see if i can pull it off because my brain does tend to be drawn towards the angstier side of things. 

On 7/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, just.a.willow.tree said:

Memma is absolutely the cutest ship name. I am curious -- the only Memma stories I've read in the past have had the two of them in an established something-or-other (like, not quite friends but at least acquaintances). Will you write (or have you written already ) a meet-cute for the two of them? I'm so curious about their origin story!

ahaha thank you! i just get tired of writing out murphy/emma, but i think by now most people would know who i'm talking about if i said memma. i've sort of written an origin story for them (at least when it comes to crash into you), which is +wildest dreams (m). it's the first time they sleep together/move beyond just co-workers. i think the coffee shop is gonna be more of a meet cute though, since it's its own entity. 

On 7/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, just.a.willow.tree said:

Does Emma ever call him by his first name?  Does that hold some significance?

she does! and yes, it does. she calls him murphy up until "oops, feelings", and one of my favorite lines (which is pretty universal in each fic because it's perfect) is "you might want to call me john, if i'm gonna be your boyfriend". there was also one collab where she would call him johnny when she was drunk (a nickname when they were kids), which i kinda liked too. or like, she'll call him john before they get together if he really pisses her off

thank you for these questions!!

❤❤❤

On 7/3/2020 at 11:14 AM, crowsb4bros said:

(That was me! )

paula i should've known!! thank you, it's perfect and gorgeous  

[dreamshadow]

week 1 of julno is officially over, and what better way to celebrate than with an update?!

the writing isn't going... exactly as well as i'd hoped. i'm still not writing more than i am writing, but i do feel like i'm making more of an effort to work on my fics, which is definitely an improvement. and when i originally set out my writing goals, i was focused on word count, because that's how i always judged if julno/nanowrimo was a success. now, though, i think it's a good time to reassess my goals.

instead of hitting the 15k like i'd originally planned for seeking normal, i'll be really happy if i can just get chapter 3 done. that will be a chapter and a half since julno started, which, with the rate i'm writing, is far more realistic than 15k. and i am getting back into the story more, which was more of the overarching goal. but that was hard to put on paper (or on a screen, i guess ). my general word count goal is 1k a day, so that means i should hopefully be done with chapter 3 by mid next week. if i can get more done, that'd be amazing, but i'll still consider it i a win if i can post just one more chapter. because, that's right.

+chapter 2 is officially live on the archives! i did the thing! 

for those of you interested in word count stats, my current word count is: 3,782. which isn't terrible, for the entire month of july. i'm really just trying to get into the swing of things again.

plus, if i'm being honest and on brand, i really just want to write the memma coffee shop au.  somehow i've been holding back, because i know once i get sucked into that, i'm probably going to pound it out until it's done. that's just usually the way their fics work. so it's a reward fic, so to speak.

anyway, that's about the highlights. hopefully i'll be back with more good news sometime next week ❤❤

[dreamshadow]

somehow it's the middle of july?? how the hell did that happen?

i'm glad i haven't been stressing about wordcount, it's honestly been making this a much more enjoyable process.

i did manage to finish chapter 3 of seeking normal today, which means i wrote that chapter within a week. i'm pretty surprised, but i'm not gonna complain. things are starting to pick up - professor carr, the potions professor - just announced the semester long project to his advanced potions class and assigned partners. maddy and chloe are both less than thrilled with who they're partnered with, but unfortunately for them, they're just going to have to deal with it this feels like the real start of the story, whereas the first couple of chapters, and even the prologue, were more backstory. i do feel like i need to come up with a reason why maddy and roxanne hate each other so much -- something more personal than what i have now, but i have zero ideas. i'm sure i can come up with something.

there's a part of me that wants to keep going with this momentum, but i also have some future chapters plotted out. and like i mentioned in my last update, i want to focus on the memma fic(s) on my staycation, because they're so much easier for me to write. and yes, fics, because i have two more ideas for two more one-shots because i just... ughhh. one of them is a beach AU (in which my biggest dilemma is figuring out how, exactly, murphy gets invited) and another one is going to be part of the +we are young universe. murphy brings emma home to meet his mom and emma's not sure this is the best idea he's ever had. 

not to mention that, with all of the lovely reviews from the hc finale, i kind of want to look at not even a little bit again. because that's going to be fun too.

so in conclusion, i am trash for my own ship, and i'm not even sorry about it.

current word count: 6,105

[shadowycorner]

Hi Jill, dearest Nano pal! First off I'm so proud that you're making some progress like posting stuff and all, and as a proper bud and as a gift here is le picspam for Seeking Normal (I love your MCs face claims btw) ! I'll respond to your message soon! 

 

[lostinthelightss]

Jill!! Thank you for answering all these questions, they really helped me get a feel for all your characters! And with that I made a picspam for Maddy!! I hope you like it my little nibble!  

 

[dreamshadow]

On 7/17/2020 at 3:33 PM, shadowycorner said:

Hi Jill, dearest Nano pal! First off I'm so proud that you're making some progress like posting stuff and all, and as a proper bud and as a gift here is le picspam for Seeking Normal (I love your MCs face claims btw) ! I'll respond to your message soon! 

 

ah thank you so much!! it's perfect and i love it <33

 

On 7/18/2020 at 2:55 PM, maraudertimes said:

Jill!! Thank you for answering all these questions, they really helped me get a feel for all your characters! And with that I made a picspam for Maddy!! I hope you like it my little nibble!  

 

i love it, julno auntie!! thank you <33

[dreamshadow]

here's my week 3 update, if anyone's curious

i posted chapter 3 of seeking normal!  technically i finished it... last week? but regardless, it feels good to be at the start of a fresh chapter and to have two new chapters posted to the archives. i stopped keeping track of wordcount a while ago, but that means i wrote roughly 5k of this in july. i'm pretty proud of myself, if anything for just finishing chapter 2 and slowly getting back into the story. ideally, i'd like to have the whole fic completed by december - a year since posting the prologue - but who knows, with the rate i'm writing.

and i know i said i was going to write a murphy/emma coffee shop au, and i'm still going to. but it's been put to the back burner right now as i'm writing a murphy/emma beach au instead, since i'm trash. the delinquents go back for their second annual trip to the griffin's beach house. emma's still coping with the aftermath of the accident (there's definitely a theme to my writing) and her fear of water, and murphy is... well, he's murphy  

it's really fun to write, though, especially the group scenes. and the general summer-y vibes. i desperately want this to sit as a one-shot, but it's already breaching 4k and i have like... eight more scenes to write, theoretically. THESE IDIOTS WON'T SHUT UP. so if anyone has tips on how to not write monster one-shots, i'd love to hear them!

anyway, i posted some bellamy/emma scenes, but i do have a little sneak peek of a murphy/emma scene i love:

Quote

Murphy shrugged. He took a sip of his drink, Emma just noticing the red cup in his hand. She waited for him to say something else, even something snarky -- but he didn’t. After what felt like an eternity of silence, he finally turned and looked at her. 

“You still smoke?” he asked.

“Only when Bellamy’s not watching,” she said, glancing back at the fire. Bellamy was focused on what Clarke was saying, leaning his forearms against his legs. There was a twitch of something that felt like jealousy, but Emma pushed it down before she could think too hard about it. She finally looked back at Murphy, who had been watching her watch him. “You?” 

“Only when Perri’s not watching.” 

“I thought smoking was bad for athletes,” Emma replied as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. 

“Smoking is bad for everyone.” 

Emma shrugged, passing him a cigarette before taking one out for herself. She lit hers before passing him the lighter, their fingers just barely brushing against each other. 

“Only the good die young,” she replied, looking back out to the water. 

“Or something like that.” 

but yeah, it's gonna be really good. i just need to like... organize the mess. so keep your fingers crossed or i'm gonna have another novella before i realize what's happening

[dreamshadow]

it's the last day of july (how???), so i'm back with a final update!! it's not going to be an exact word count because i edited a bunch and even re-started the current one-shot i'm working on, which is still the beach au. and y'all, it's gonna be so cute when it's done. i'm so excited

before we get into numbers, i wanted to give a big shoutout to everyone who's been a cheerleader this month for me, but especially @shadowycorner, who's been the best penpal and always with the words of encouragement. it's been a blast writing messages and getting to know each other in this crazy month

anyway, without further ado, some stats!

looking back: this month, i wanted to write 20k, 15k of which would be for seeking normal and then another 5k for the coffee shop au. obviously, the coffee shop au was a bust (but i do want to write that at some point), but i do have the beach one, and it's a memma au, so it counts.

totals: i ended up writing 5,807 words for seeking normal and 6,547 words for the beach au! that gives me a grand total of 12,354 words for the month of july, which if i'm being honest, is more than i've written in ages.

overall: i didn't meet my goals for seeking normal, but i knew that 15k was an ambitious number going in. i'm proud of the 5k i wrote, plus having two new chapters posted on the archives. and i surpassed my goal for the beach au, which isn't really a surprise, because murphy, emma, and the delinquents don't shut up... ever.
and i didn't meet the overall goal of 20k, but i'm feeling pretty good about the 12k i did accomplish. i also think i'm going to keep the spreadsheet going and track my word counts in the coming months - it seems to be motivating as long as i remember to fill it out. and i did figure out some important plot stuff for seeking normal and writing was mostly fun. it was nice to not be chasing a hard, daily word count and just aiming for 'finishing the fucking chapter', which i did

in the end: i'm going to consider this julno a win even though i didn't meet all of my word count goals. i'm proud of what i accomplished, and i'm looking forward to writing more of seeking normal and more murphy/emma fics, plus, uh... two other challenge entries, or something. because i clearly have no self control

so that's a wrap, folks. here's a big group hug for everyone who participated in julno, whether it was a writer, a cheerleader, or both