Story Title: building the kingdom with our deviant hearts
Fandom: Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Link(s): On AO3!
Summary: Kilp's coup is in motion and Gullaine has to get Belatiel out of the castle and to the Abhorsen. It's not as easy as it sounds.
Warnings Canon typical violence
Characters: Gullaine, Belatiel, a bit of Kargrin
Pairings: None apply
When I Started: I started this in May 2015 when I reread Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen and realised that I really wanted to see what happened with Gully and Bel as they tried to escape the castle during the coup, and was unlikely to see it in a time period focused on Clariel because she doesn't really care about anything not about herself.
How I Lost My Shit: It was the unfortunate combination of "starting new responsibilities at work", "travelling overseas", "signing up for too many exchanges", and "the editing work looked like it was too much trouble". I am terribly lazy, you see. So I shelved the story with a wistful note that one day I would enact all the changes recommended to me by what was a very good beta effort.
How I Finished My Shit I saw this exchange and said beta reader suggested that this story would be a perfect fit for it. It was! It's quite a bit different to how it was when I first started, but also a lot better too.