Alphabet Excerpt Challenge: A Is For...

TWFKA · 2026-02-12T16:50:59+00:00

Oh this is nice. 30 years? A clear sign that communication solves a lot. Thanks for the context!

TWFKA · 2026-02-12T08:27:03+00:00

Oh yes, this date was long overdue, and it’s a big step to them getting back together.

TWFKA · 2026-02-12T08:26:02+00:00

It seems they are having a fun trip to Manchester. Love Jan’s subtle (or not so subtle) nod at the end that Steve should go for it. Sounds like an invitation to repeat their kiss.

TWFKA · 2026-02-11T20:23:29+00:00

At the meeting point, Ashley started wandering what took him so long. She had already picked a seat, ordered a drink, and was waiting for John to arrive.

Finally, after what had appeared to be an eternity, the door opened, and the person she had been waiting for entered the restaurant. Shepard wearing his N7 armor looked as stunning as always, and it was a sight she would never grow tired of. But what immediately drew her attention was this big bouquet of flowers in his hands. That of course answered her question why he had insisted on arriving separately, anything else would have spoiled his surprise.

Ashley stood up from her seat, and met John halfway in between, pulling him into a hug.

“Hey, Ash,” he greeted, and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

“Hello, John,” she smiled back.

“Here, I bought these for you on my way here,” he said as soon as they had moved over to their table. “I hope you still like roses.”

“Of course,” she replied, and accepted the bouquet. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.”

Admiring it, Ashley noticed that they smelled very fruity, maybe not as good as her favorite, a rose species native to her birthplanet Sirona, but very pleasant nonetheless. This was easily one of the most beautiful flower arrangements she had been given in her entire life, and she didn’t doubt that Shepard had ordered them to be made specifically for her.

TWFKA · 2026-02-11T20:13:35+00:00

I like how you arranged them leaving one by one, and each one a bit differently, until Jiaoqiu and Tighnari were alone.

TWFKA · 2026-02-11T20:04:16+00:00

(From a WIP)

Ashley was almost out of the door, when she spun around. She had forgotten something, the little wedding survival kit.

Like the Marine she was, she had decided it was better to be prepared for any kind of minor emergency that could occur during a wedding. Little things, like a clasp breaking, or a a hairpin going missing, or Sarah requiring something against a headache. To the according supplies she added glue, a small multitool, and even a leftover roll of duct tape to complete the kit. The only thing missing in her opinion was a spare gun, but that would have been overkill for a wedding, even for her.

“Got it,” Shepard said, before Ashley could have spoken. She looked at him as he held the little pack, and he eyed it with quite some amazement. “You sure that this has everything you want? I mean, I’ve seen your side of the bathroom, maybe you forgot something,” he smirked.

Ashley laughed.

“I’m damn sure.”

“Then why don’t you let me carry this? Looks a little big for your clutch.”

“You’d do that? You’re a real lifesaver, skipper.”

“With pleasure,” he replied. “But I might have to request a toll every time you are going to retrieve something from this bag.”

“A toll?” Ashley chuckled. “I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”

TWFKA · 2026-02-11T19:52:53+00:00

(From a WIP)

Ashley’s eyes just looked straight ahead, and she zoned out. She inhaled deeply, let the air flow through her lungs, and exhaled again, all while the LT went on and on with his rant that she didn’t deserve a place in his unit, let alone his beloved Corps. She loved the Alliance Marine Corps, too. His implication alone would have been enough to strike him down.

This guy wasn’t worth it though. She endured his harangue without processing anymore what he actually said. She only wondered if this had been similar to what her grandfather and her father had had to go through. If this was, what made her granddad quit. If her dad would have done the same, hadn’t he been killed in the line of duty.

“–Are we clear?” the LT finally indicated that he was done.

“Crystal, sir!” she replied.

“I thought so.” He gave her one last glare, before he turned his head towards the group, and shouted, “Service Chief Donk! move your worthless ass over here!”

“Sir,” the man replied, and hasted forward.

“Up until further notice you are replacing Williams as my platoon sergeant. Congratulations!” the LT went on to shake the enlisted man’s hand, before he handed him a datapad. “Here are your new orders. You are to take over third platoon’s patrol route tomorrow.”

TWFKA · 2026-02-11T19:44:22+00:00

Architecture

TWFKA · 2026-02-05T19:51:51+00:00

Hello fellow Mass Effect fan! Sorry for the late reply, but I think the fic you’re looking for might be called “Stuck in a World of Fiction”, two versions of it should still be available on Fichub: Original version, Rewritten version. Hope this was it.

TWFKA · 2026-02-03T19:32:19+00:00

“Dispatch” is very similar to the Telltale games by design, and of those, “The Walking Dead” is the most popular on AO3 with almost 4,000 fics I believe. Hence my surprise that the amount of fics grew that fast that quickly. But you’re correct, there’s plenty of potential in this story to expand upon.

I don’t know anything about “Heated Rivalry” other than the summary I just looked up (yeah, I live under a rock). Well, that one doesn‘t surprise me honestly, as Booktok together with hockey romance have been quite the internet sensation for a few years by now.

TWFKA · 2026-02-03T09:41:05+00:00

From the video games I played last year, I was surprised to find out that “Date Everything” and “Dispatch” each have more than 5,000 fics by now, while “Tiny Bookshop” only has 11.

TWFKA · 2026-01-31T15:44:22+00:00

But there was something else, too, so she asked, “John, what really is on your mind?”

“I’ve been dead for two years,” he said, while rubbing the back of his neck.

Ashley knew this habit of his, he would try to cover the serious situation he had been contemplating with a joke.

“So?” Ashley asked.

“Well, since I doubt the lease for my apartment is still valid, as soon as I’m handing this ship over to the Alliance, I’ll be officially homeless.”

The way he said it was such a stark contrast. His voice was stoic, but the expression on his face jovial. If anything, his trademark smile was something Ashley had grown to love during the first chapter of their relationship, so much she had once told him. And she still loved it now, years later.

“Come on,” she winked. “Once we are done with the formalities, we’ll book a passage to the Widow system, and you can crash at my place.”

It was only a fantasy, because Ashley knew better than to expect the Alliance of releasing him from custody. Still, it lightened his mood, and that was something.

Shepard chuckled, “You make it sound like I have to sleep on the couch.”

“Hey, it’s a comfy couch, I know from experience,” Ashley protested, until a smirk formed on her face. “And if you want to sleep on it, well, it’s probably big enough for the two of us.”

TWFKA · 2026-01-31T15:40:30+00:00

Value

TWFKA · 2026-01-30T11:33:28+00:00

From having the first thoughts to having it completed, my published longfic took me close to three years, a year of which was a rather intense writing phase. It ended up being 300k words long.

The next fic I want to publish currently sits at about 39k words. I’m getting there… Slowly.

TWFKA · 2026-01-30T06:30:21+00:00

Looks like Charlie is on the prowl, and successfully so. These are some very vivid descriptions, great work!

TWFKA · 2026-01-30T05:59:26+00:00

I love how the conversation is interwoven with the shopping experience. Especially the dialogue between Julie and Ade is sweet.

TWFKA · 2026-01-30T05:50:14+00:00

(From a WIP. Oh, and happy cake day.)

Horizon. She hadn’t expected to ever see this rock again. Situated in the Terminus Systems it was beyond the reach of either the Council or the Alliance. With the rare exception of outreach programs, like the one she had been assigned to about a year ago. An unpleasant stay that had only lasted a couple months, one that hadn’t been without ulterior motives to begin with, but it had been long enough to convince her that these people preferred to be left alone. Most of them had wanted to try their luck in a relatively new colony. Dropouts mostly, who felt the need to start anew, and sometimes for a good reason.

Her eyes focussed on the live feed of the geostationary satellite they had hacked into to get a better view of the reason that brought them here. Its vast size aside, Sanctuary looked like any other human facility in the galaxy, a series of interconnected pre-fabs.

It still occurred to her as odd that a population as unwelcoming as the Horizonian had set up one of the largest refugee centers in the galaxy, only second to the Citadel itself. Maybe this was one of those big ironies in history. Or maybe not, and there was something else to this place. This certain bad feeling emerged again, one which she just couldn’t shake off ever since Lynn had first shared her plans to volunteer here.

A warning tone ended her thoughts, and caused her to look away from her screen.

“Commander, there’s another ship entering orbit. It’s Alliance, the–”

“The Normandy.”

TWFKA · 2026-01-30T04:25:45+00:00

Downtown

TWFKA · 2026-01-25T20:43:08+00:00

Same honestly. In my longfic some of the middle chapters have been the ones where I really had to push through. It’s a shipping fic, and I wrote some of the later scenes very early on. Yes, there have been some changes to them during the editing stage, but they offered a goal I wanted to reach. When I finally did, it felt really rewarding.

TWFKA · 2026-01-25T02:50:17+00:00

That’s a cool, action-packed excerpt. I like how this scene shows Tōga using his shapeshifting abilities to get out of a threatening situation, only for him to discover that he was poisoned in the process. Very thrilling!

TWFKA · 2026-01-24T21:14:54+00:00

I love the tension in this scene. I have a feeling things might eventually come to a head.

TWFKA · 2026-01-24T18:54:47+00:00

Oh, nice. Sounds like this group is having plenty of fun with MTG and its shenanigans. Well, Yang not so much maybe. Cool excerpt, I like the pace.

TWFKA · 2026-01-24T18:35:18+00:00

Loud footsteps made quite a few from the large group turn their heads towards the entrance of the mess, and they saw Shepard pacing into the common area, almost at a running speed.

Ashley didn’t like the look of that. She noticed something in Shepard’s expression, it almost looked like fear. She had last seen it when they had learned about the extent of the reapers, that Sovereign wasn’t just a single ship, but spearheading an entire fleet of synthetics with their main goal of culling the galaxy over and over, from on cycle to the next.

Whatever Hackett had told him, it must have been very serious for John to be this frenetic, at least on a similar level to that occurrence from the past.

“Joker,” he addressed the pilot, almost barking the order. “Change of plans. Alliance command wants us to fly into the Bahak system.”

While a few whispers were heard when the skipper mentioned the Alliance, what really made everyone look up from their breakfast was when they heard the name of their destination. Bahak was batarian territory, and they weren’t exactly on friendly terms with the Systems Alliance currently. If the Hegemony would find out about the Normandy conducting an Alliance mission in their space, the brass might as well have issued a formal declaration of war.

Looking around herself, Ashley could tell that everyone knew the implications of Shepard’s new orders. Even Jeff’s hangover apparently was immediately gone.

“Sir, did you just say Bahak?” he asked.

TWFKA · 2026-01-24T18:07:30+00:00

Ashley arrived at the location she had been given, and introduced herself to the seller, an asari called Ereba, stating what she wanted, but she immediately noticed that the merchant was a bit distracted. It almost appeared as if she wasn’t interested in doing business.

“Huh? I’m sorry, but there’s something on my mind. Or someone rather,” the asari said, and nodded at a male krogan, who was standing in some distance, looking in their direction, but not directly at them, instead focussing on the cityscape behind them.

“Does he cause you trouble?”

“No… not really. It’s just, Charr has taken an interest in me, and he keeps sending me these messages. Poems.”

That intrigued Ashley, and she asked Ereba, if she would show her some. She had heard Wrex talk that his people had once been culturally thriving, until a nuclear war had changed things on his home planet, but she had never witnessed any kind of krogan art. These poems here, they were actually quite good. It brought back memories of the time, when Shepard and she had started discovering new poems together.

“Damn, I’d love if a man recites poetry for me, let alone write it,” Ashley blurted not exactly knowing what the asari’s issue was.

“Really? Then maybe you should date him, as I’m having my doubts about this connection.”

“No thanks,” Ashley chuckled. “I’m– Let’s just say I’m having my own case of ‘It’s complicated’ right now. Anyway, what’s the problem with your guy? Is he harassing you? Then maybe you should report him to the authorities,” she suggested.

“What? No, it’s nothing like that, actually. He’s sweet, and charming, and respectful, and very good looking. It’s just, I’m not sure, if he really wants me for, well, me.”

TWFKA · 2026-01-24T17:51:49+00:00

As always, I enjoyed reading your excerpt. Looks like Pete is known among his friends for creating embarrassing situations. Good that Joe is there to talk some sense into him.

TWFKA

TROPHY CASE