#(the only fic pairing i read regularly isn't one i write for)

[lillypad910]

So I just read your fic with Big Dick!Billy and I were wondering if you could do something like this with reader being a Cheerleader and a Queen Bee (pretty much like Regina George) and he just put her in her place in public… >///<

Queen Bee

Pairing: King Billy! Billy Hargrove x Queen Bee! f! Reader

Warning: references sex (oral specifically), but doesn't have any smut. Sexual tension is STRONG; very much enemies with benefits vibe. Reader is dating Tommy (helped with the Regina vibe, ok).

Summary: You're the Queen Bee of Hawkins and everyone loves you, except one certain King of the school, Billy Hargrove.

A/n: You didn't specify if you wanted smut or not so I didn't write it for it, HOWEVER, I'm open to writing it if you want me to, Anon! So please let me know!!

You are the Queen of Hawkins High, from your attitude to the way you dress. Every girl wants to be you, every boy wants to fuck you. You are everything.

You smile wide as you finish out the routine, raising your pompoms up into the air for the final pose. You have been practicing all morning with the rest of the girls, well, almost. Nicole hasn't shown up, and practice is already ending.

"Alright! Good job, everyone! You've all done amazing!" Coach Lively smiles at all of you. "You are dismissed for the day, enjoy your weekend!" The lot of you step away, but you stay put, requiring Tina and Carol to come to you.

"Oh! Bev!" You turn to your fellow cheerleader, her red hair tied in a high pony, "that skirt is so cute! Where did you get it? I might have to ask Coach about getting them for the Spring Uniforms!" You smile at her.

Beverly's cheeks go red, the corners of her lips pull up into a smile. "Oh! Thank you! I actually got it from my mom's closet..." She gives a small twirl, which your posy giggle at.

"Ooh, vintage! Love it!" You watch her walk away and turn to the two girls behind you, "That skirt is so ugly. Why would her mom own that?" They snicker.

You step out of Tommy's passenger seat, him following shortly after you, throwing his arm around your waist. Carol steps up beside you, glancing away at the show of affection as her recent ex-boyfriend clings to you like a lost puppy. You all step into the house party, Tina walking up to you and smiling.

"Tommy, could you go get us a drink?" You turn to your boyfriend, hoping to make the boy feel useful.

"Of course!" He gets everyone's drink orders before going to walk off, but someone stops him.

Billy Hargrove blocks his path, making the poor guy knock right into him.

"Sorry, Billy." Tommy recoils a bit before glancing back at you. You try desperately not to roll your eyes.

"Tommy, Baby..." You bat your eyelashes at him, "Our drinks?" Carol glances at him then you, before looking away again, obviously uncomfortable with the name calling but too scared to say anything.

"On it!" Tommy perks up, but Billy once again steps in his way. This time you don't bother hiding your eyeroll.

"Ugh, Billy, let him pass. Jesus, you're such a nuisance." Your comment makes Tina giggle. "Don't you torture him enough with your stench during practice?"

"Do you always have to be such a bitch?" He counters.

"I just speak truth."

"Truth? While fucking your friend's ex-boyfriend? Please, you're just a whore who doesn't know how to behave." Billy steps closer to you, getting too close for your comfort. His comment get's the attention of some people nearby.

"Excuse you?" You scoff. No one had ever talked to you like that, and they weren't gonna start now.

"You heard me, Bitch. You bite the hand that feeds you enough times it's gonna bite back." He looks you up and down, looking at every curve of your body.

The things he could teach you...

"All high and mighty for a dick with legs." You snicker, "What? Nicole didn't give good enough head today?" You notice the girl behind him look at you, the fear in her eyes fuels you.

"You know, from what I hear, Nicole isn't the only one on her knees regularly... Even the good old King Steve," He lifts his arms, getting the attention of even more on-lookers, "used to shove his cock down your throat. So why don't you get down there and show me just what a good whore you are."

You glare at him, your blood practically boiling. "You're an ass, Billy."

"And you're just a good lay, Queen Bee."

Tag list!

@cagethemunson

@spikeybatt

@cherrycolas-things

@r-a-d-i-0-n-0-w-h-e-r-e

@ali-r3n

[whiskeythefishski]

Tag Game & Updated Fic Recs

Not going to answer all of these questions cause I don't have a huge back catalog of stuff, but this looks fun :) Also a while ago I did a list of some of my favorite fics and I'm taking the chance to shout out a few more!!!

Tag Game!

I was tagged by @lilac-hecox and @lorelilly (love you both!!!)

total number of ao3 works: 7! I've only been back in the fic game since last July and my posting schedule is NOT regular

total ao3 word count: 57,164

fandoms i’ve written for: Nowadays it's pretty much just Smosh, but in my sordid past I wrote for Minecraft YouTube, Homestuck, and Supernatural (please forgive me)

top five fics by kudos: Only doing top three since I don't have many:

And I Can Survive It (For Only So Long): An Ianthony exes-to-lovers. They're theater professors forced to work together on the spring musical, 'Nerdy Prudes Must Die.' (additional pairings: amangela, trevrasha, spommy, shourtney, dackie)

(make for me) A Soft Universe: Spommy sickfic oneshot in the universe of 'And I Can Survive It'

Kiss Me Like You Mean It: Trevrasha oneshot in the universe of 'And I Can Survive It'

do i respond to comments?: I try to! I'm not the best at responding, but I DO read them all and smile :)

what has the happiest ending?: A HARD DECISION. I think I have to go with hold on to the memories (I will hold onto you), the Shourtney soulmates oneshot I wrote for @lilac-hecox's Holiday Gift Exchange :) really proud of that one!

have i received hate?: thankfully no

do i write smut? if so, what kind?: Not yet. I'm gearing up to it, but it will likely be rarer.

do i write crossovers?: The closest thing to a crossover I have is 'And I Can Survive It,' where the Smosh cast is putting on StarKid's Nerdy Prudes Must Die. the StarKids do make occasional cameo appearances!

a WIP i’ll never finish?: The Minecraft fanfic I started writing when I was 12. Spilled a Snapple peach tea all over the notebook I wrote outlines in and totally ruined it. Gone but never forgotten.

writing strengths: I've been told that my character voices are well done, and I think I'm pretty good at scene-setting!

writing weaknesses: Fuck, what isn't? Writing regularly, for one. but also, TITLES. I cannot come up with titles for shit. That's why all my fics have shitty song lyric titles lol.

first fandom i wrote for: Minecraft YouTube :/ Or Narnia, if you want to get REAL technical (I think I was five lol)

favorite fic i’ve written: Fuuuuuuuuuuck. I think I'm the PROUDEST of 'hold on to the memories,' since it was really out of my comfort zone and also far longer than I expected, and I got to gift it to someone, which made me really happy. But 'And I Can Survive It' is probably my favorite.

tagging: Some of the lovelies from the Smosh discord!! I know some of y'all have been tagged already but I just love your stuff :) @sheisaquarius-blog @soupy-girl @toomuchsmoshbrainrot @spennininomenon @june-rassicpark

FIC REC TIME!!!

Going to try not to plug every fic I've ever read lol. There's SO MANY GOOD ONES this is only a quick handful.

Rated General Audiences:

"Poppies (Or 5 Times Shayne Gave Courtney A Poppy + 1 Time He Didn't" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Pretty much what it says on the tin. SO fucking sweet. Complete, 1 Chapter, 6k words.

Rated Teen and Up:

"always escalating (every touch)" by miss_soupy (@soupy-girl) - Trevrasha spy AU. Trevor and Arasha need to come up with better cover stories than kissing each other. Complete, 1 Chapter, 11.5k words.

"Love on the Ice" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Ianthony high school hockey player AU. Ian is forced to join the hockey team at his high school alongside his ex-best friend, Anthony. Complete, 1 Chapter, 45.5k words.

"Love Like Magic" by KALLIOPH (@sheisaquarius-blog) - Modern Magic AU. The Smosh cast run a bunch of adorable little shops, and also have unique magical abilities. Complete, 1 Chapter, 34k words.

Rated Mature:

"habits" by unknownteapot (@unknownteapot) - Amangela fake dating AU. Amanda needs someone to pretend to be her fiancée to help her inherit her grandmother's cottage. Complete, 16 Chapters, 30k words.

"The Palomino Room" by lilacfoxes (@lilac-hecox) - Ian and Anthony are snowed in at bed and breakfast. Complete, 1 Chapter, 11.5k words.

"All This Potential (Plus Gravity)" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spommy high school AU. Tommy offers to help Spencer bleach his hair. Incomplete, 1 Chapter, 7k words.

"Can't Catch Me Now" by Isaac_Potato - Hunger Games AU. Ian, Anthony, and several other victors are thrust back into the Games for the Quarter Quell. Incomplete, 10 Chapters, 67k words.

"nothing in the sky above us" by KALLIOPH (@sheisaquarius-blog) - A prequel to Kalli's amazing crime/mafia AU "i'm coming for you again." Future kingpin Ian and serial killer Anthony carry out their first crimes as teenagers. Incomplete, 1 Chapter, 4.5k words.

Rated Explicit:

"No Rocks, Only Chaser" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spommy bartender AU. Tommy isn't looking for love, but it finds him anyway. Complete, 5 Chapters, 60k words.

"collide the spaces that divide us" by undeadtwink (@doubleboyfriend) - Spommy ghost AU. Tommy meets and falls in love with Spencer, who is a ghost. Complete, 4 Chapters, 34k words.

"Missing Pages" by Lorelilly (@lorelilly) - Spemanda friends to strangers to lovers, sequel to Lilly's incredible fic "Chapters." Amanda and Spencer reconnect after five years apart. Complete, 1 Chapter, 14k words.

I KNOW I'm for sure forgetting some good ones, especially since I last made a list like this in July, but these are at least a few I'm fucking obsessed with :)

Anyways, enjoy y'all!

[tanobatcher]

skyline

fox x senator fem reader summary: the coruscant guard regularly accompanies your diplomatic missions off-world to ensure your safety. secretly believing the chancellor is spying on you through the troopers he assigns as your escorts, you find yourself looking for answers after a long trip with commander fox. despite not trusting him, you can't help the pull of attraction that he might also struggle to control within himself. warnings: technically none erm sorry if this feels i'm edging a/n: lord i have been in the worst writing slump since getting sick during my winter break ugh and then uni starts up again and piles all this damn work on me but this lowkey got me back into things (i say as if i haven't been actively avoiding my fics on ao3 for over a month now oopsie...)

@auxxrat <3

It's well past sunset by the time you return to Coruscant after a restlessly uncomfortable trip. Only, there was nothing wrong with the quality of the experience itself, especially considering your expensive starship of choice. You didn't feel any bumps and jolts throughout hyperspace, safe as ever under the protection of the very person who is responsible for your current dissatisfaction. Commander Fox might be the most boring man you've ever spoken to, but he also happens to pique your interest like no other. Perhaps it's the challenge in breaking through his stern obsession for his job that raises your attention toward anything he says, or the fact that he doesn't seem to care about yours. Politics is never a soldier's strength.

Obedience, on the other hand, has to be. You can tell he doesn't particularly enjoy being assigned to escort your off-world commitments, but he remains indifferent all the same. You're not bothered by this, though. Not strongly, at least. Because you'd also rather be left alone than have your work constantly observed through a keen pair of eyes that sees the Republic's affairs in every one of his soldiers. This group is formally known as the Coruscant Guard, or shock troopers, but they're more like pests to you. They'll hover like hawks or buzz around like flies if it means reporting your behavior and lifestyle to the Chancellor. A humble man, he once was.

Dangerous now, maybe. You can never say this aloud, but you believe it without realizing that some people are better at reading your mind than you anticipate. But it doesn't matter. Fox isn't just boring—he's also terrible at spying.

"Where are you going?" The commander asks as soon as he notices you've taken an abnormal route—not the one that usually leads back to your apartment.

This might be the first question he's asked you throughout your entire week-long trip. His lack of interest in your life isn't a shock at this point, but your chin instinctively lifts before you cast a sideways glance at him. He's clearly looking back at you, even though his face remains concealed under his helmet. The bright red is tacky.

"Home," you answer in an obvious tone.

"You're not going the right way."

"I'm surprised you noticed."

He's silent as you return to the right course, which takes a little longer than expected. Traffic is high at this time of the night, only prolonging the journey with your beloved company, but you feel that this day is almost over anyway.

"So...what?" He eventually brings up, not masking his irritation in the volume and intensity of his words, "You're testing me? Making sure I'm paying attention?"

A flare of warmth coalesces in your chest when you realize this is probably the most engaged he's been in a conversation with you this week. You're not embarrassed nor flushed, but the heat crawls lower as you reply, "I didn't realize that would offend you."

"Just get going. I'm late as it is," he snaps.

"Late to what?" You question, purposefully driving a taunting edge to your tone, "I thought you were all mine today."

His posture stiffens in his seat, which further proves your theory that riling him up is as easy as breathing. "I have a meeting."

"With...?" You press on.

"Not that's any of your business, but the Chancellor's expecting me."

Your blood runs cold at this mention, immediately chilling away all that you felt just mere seconds ago. You don't even realize that you've gone quiet for the rest of the drive back home, too busy thinking back to anything he could possibly report on. Of course, you already saw this coming, but hearing him admit this aloud only confirms every instance you had to look over your shoulder when he was in the room. Even though he hasn't disclosed what the meeting is for, your gut instincts are piling higher into a tangible truth that makes you wonder if he's truly your medium of safety. If any of them are.

But you don't want to appear intimidated, so you turn toward him when your ship docks comfortably in front of your tall apartment. He's already standing, sort of looming over you like the skyline outside. Your eyes flick down to his gloved hand, which is slightly outstretched as if offering its use in helping you out of your seat. A formality, of course. Nothing more. Slipping your fingers around his large palm, you raise your figure to his level and lean in close despite the distrust running down your spine. Neither of you has let go of the other, silent in sound but speaking with a questionable understanding. The pressure of your hand is light against his weight, squeezing just softly enough to provoke a sharp intake of breath underneath his helmet.

"Are you ready to go?" He suddenly asks in a tone devoid of its usual bite.

You drop your hand from his, only to reach for the base of his helmet. The surface is cold—a bit dusty from his time outside his usual post here on Coruscant. A fleeting touch, and then your arm falls back to your side because you know there's no chance he'd bare his face for you. There's also no rule that says he can't.

"Are you?" You retort, "Or are you worried that you didn't have enough time to spy on me?"

Everything about his demeanor screams exhaustion when he crosses his arms over his chest and leans forward just as you did before, almost meeting you halfway with little distance between your faces. You should feel exposed, especially from how your gown reveals your arms and shoulders before fitting around your form at the middle. You're hardly naked—you know what it truly means to be—but he's seen much more of you than the other way around. You know a lot less about him than you'd like. For someone who believes in bringing a level playing field to the galaxy, you're currently tipped on a scale where you feel powerless. It doesn't feel good.

"That's a bold accusation," is all he says.

Your eyes narrow as your lips smile. "And I have reason to believe it."

"Because you don't like me."

A bit caught off guard, you remember to keep your expression unreadable as you reply, "I don't trust you. There's a difference, Commander."

"I've only been doing my job," he reminds you, "Senator."

"A job assigned by who?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

You roll your eyes, shifting your expression into a glare that no doubt reaches past his helmet with the way his shoulders recoil a little. Maybe you intimidate him more than you know. Good.

"I'm hardly the threat you need to worry about," you tell him, "If you care about this Republic as much as I do."

He sounds wary when he says, "Worry isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe how I feel about you."

As simple as this is delivered, it reads like a vulnerability to your ears. You swallow hard, suddenly warm all over again. "How you feel? Or how the Chancellor feels?"

Not a rhetorical question this time, but it might as well be since he doesn't answer it. Instead, he takes your chin between his fingers as his thumb gingerly presses down on your skin. He's never touched you like this before. Never not waited for your permission first—for your hand to reach out in return. This moment is different, and it's almost apologetic. You don't know what words rest on the tip of his tongue—words that you won't hear because they're not for you. They're for the one person who holds your downfall in a tight fist he can release whenever he pleases or chooses. You've been walking a lonely path because of this, but you've never been alone. If it's not Fox watching you, it's always someone else.

"If you didn't get into so much trouble all the time, I wouldn't need to be here. If you stopped drawing so much attention to yourself."

The hot flush in your face becomes more scalding at his words, reminding you of the fine line between desire and rage. Both are so pure at heart. So easy to mistake for the other. Just like you nearly confuse the uncharacteristic softness in his tone for actual concern. From one moment to the next, you're already familiar with the lethal switch in his brain that distinguishes him from regular soldiers who will never possess the same level of competency as him. But is it truly competency? Or is it hunger? Satiated with the prestige of his proximity to the Chancellor, it's only obvious that Fox takes his job so seriously. Too seriously, sometimes.

"I don't need a lecture on how to do my job," you whisper harshly, "Especially not from someone like you."

His thumb presses harder as soon as the words leave your mouth, lingering in the air around you. It only grows more suffocating when he moves closer, but you let him. You feel his frontside just barely graze yours as his boot slides between your parted legs, disappearing under the wide plume of your gown. Such a big space in a big starship, and yet, you're inches apart with nowhere to go.

"Someone like me," he repeats, letting his hand around your chin trail lower so that it's slowly running down your neck.

Goosebumps raise across your arms at this ticklish but also fleeting sensation because his touch is barely there. Even though you feel it so closely, you also feel it at a distance. You wonder what it would really feel like, though. If he wasn't wearing his gloves. If he wasn't fully clothed. If his fingers are rough and scarred like him, or if they're smooth and unblemished like you. They pause at the base of your throat, dormant as if waiting for something more. Your breathing, though quiet, has shallowed out a bit from this contact. There's no doubt he can hear it. But he might not have to, for your eyes are heavy as they stare at him while trying to pry apart all that hides his truths from you.

I'd just like to see you. Just once.

His pointer finger draws a straight line down to the dip of your bodice, dangerously near your chest. "But you'd let me touch you. Like this."

"You wouldn't be the first."

He seems to laugh under his breath, clearly unfazed. "Neither would you."

Of course, you wouldn't. After all, he's in a position to pursue whatever kind of relationship he wants—especially in the heart of Coruscant, where one can choose between a brothel or a bar every night. The outcome is the same, nonetheless. You imagine this as he hooks his finger to tug you closer, sharp and abrupt in his movements. It's the same way he leads. Quick on his feet, never hesitating to call out an order when a situation emerges. Sometimes, you think about whether or not he'd display the same sense of urgency if your life was on the line. But his loyalty is to the Chancellor before the Republic. You remind yourself of this as you reach for his helmet, this time using both hands to pull it off. Patiently.

He's now holding your waist in a firm circle, squeezing roughly once his face comes into full view under the light. You're not sure why he feels the need to keep you in his hands like this. It's not like you'll run away if you see something that falls short of your standards. But you might if you see something you do like. Your breath catches, even though you're no stranger to this face. It's shared among millions of bodies that cross this galaxy in waves, ebbing and flowing like a mystery not yet uncovered. But all that's in front of you is Fox tonight. Just the one mystery you really care for.

"You look nervous," you tease softly, brushing a hand across his clean-shaven jaw, "Just relax."

It's his turn to fall silent as his eyes roam over yours, hazy with an easily recognizable fog of lust that tells you he's right where you want him. You can't help but feel surprised when some of his hair—wavier and wilder than you expected—falls over his forehead just slightly. His expression is almost pained when he looks at your lips, like he's holding onto the last of his lost pride. Knowing what he wants but can't bring himself to admit, you smile and lean forward so that you're now sharing the same breath. One more inch and you might not be breathing at all. Your eyes flutter while his completely close. Waiting.

"You won't tell the Chancellor about this, will you?" You murmur, amusing yourself with how easily you've toyed with him tonight.

His voice sounds strained when he answers, "Believe it or not, I haven't told him anything about you."

"Hm," you chuckle quietly, "You're right. I don't believe you."

You kiss the patch of skin just barely to the right of his mouth, not letting him take a breath and react. The dark red lipstick stain you leave behind stares you right in the face as you pull back, swiping some hair out of his eyes in a slow push that reveals more of his bewildered expression. He's breathing heavily, but his hands feel lighter around your waist now that you're slipping away from his grasp. Still not done with him, your thumb reaches forward and smudges the mark on his face ever so slightly. It's hard to deny that he looks handsome in this light—even more so with your kiss visibly written all over him. Unfortunately for him, it's also easy to keep this confession to yourself for as long as he whispers your affairs to the one ear you wish to cut off from this Republic.

"I appreciate your time," you tell him honestly, "I'll be sure to personally request your audience the next time I'm in need of an escort."

With that, you step away from him and turn around to exit your ship. Before you disappear from sight completely, though, you flash him one last smile over your shoulder.

"Be sure to give the Chancellor my best regards."

[daphhie]

Destined Through Centuries ⇌ KTH & JJK one

★ synopsis :: They say, life isn't a fairytale and it's the truth. When fate brings the four souls close to their soulmates, they only want to be happy till the end. But is it in their fate to be happy till the end? Will it be a happy ending for them?

★ pairings :: jungkook x idhika (fem!reader) & taehyung x anvi (fem!reader)

★ genre :: historical au, modern au, s2l, f2l, non-idol au, fluff and angst.

★ rating :: 18+

★ warnings :: brief mentions of abuse

★ note :: hello ! this is my first time writing a fic, on a historical au on top of that, also english isn't my first language, so if there are any mistakes feel free to correct me. hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the chapters because I'll be working on it regularly. I really hope you all will love this story. <3

The painful cries of a woman and the snap of a leather material filled the otherwise quiet, dimly lit room. The woman, who helplessly layed on the floor with bruises all over her body, whimpered in pain, shaking her head weakly. A tall, masculine figure circled her body, the heavy footsteps echoing in the room suddenly. Shaky breaths left her bruised lips, her body trembling as she waited for another painful hit, fearfully. And suddenly, another hit landed on her, the sharp impact of the leather on her body causing her to scream. She quickly covered her mouth, tears sliding down her eyes, no, she can't let her son hear it. Hits after hits landed on her body thereafter, and she took all of it, trying to keep her voice low, unaware a small, petite body trembled and cried hearing all this behind the closed door.

1825, Syndril Kingdom

A small, serene smile decorates her plumpy lips as she waters the plants in their royal garden. She hums softly to a tune, her delicate fingers brushing against the beautiful flowers. She grins when a pretty butterfly comes and sits on one of the flowers, unaware of a pair of dark eyes watching her closely.

His hand rests on the railings of the balcony of the palace on either side of his body, his dark eyes throwing daggers at the female figure roaming around in the garden. He scoffs, crossing his arms above his chest. He looks away, annoyed at the sight of his sister freely roaming around in the garden. He watches as his sister freezes in her place upon seeing him. She blinks as he glares at her one last time and walks away from there.

Jungkook walks back into the palace grumpily, as usual when his eyes meet his brother, Taehyung's, who stops on his track seeing his elder brother. Jungkook rolls his eyes before walking to his chamber, leaving behind taehyung who sighs softly before going to his father's office.

“You called me, father?” The king looks up from the various papers spread on his desk to his son when he hears his voice. He offers his son a small smile and nods his head, leaning back on his chair, “Yes, come in.”

The king's eyes follow his son's every move as he settles on the chair before him. He leans forward, intertwining his fingers and resting his hands on the wooden table before uttering, “As you know, Taehyung, that my birthday is approaching, have you thought anything about the banquet we organize every year?”

Chandralaya kingdom

The young princess quietly nods her head as the guards bow to her before gently pushing open the door of her elder sister’s chamber. The door shuts behind her and she approaches her sister, catching her attention who's lost reading a book, as usual. The elder princess closes the book, quirking her eyebrow at her younger sister when she shakes her head. She places the book aside, getting up from the bed, “Why are you looking at me that way, Idhika?”

Idhika sighs, nodding at the book on the bed as she asks her sister, “How do you always have the energy to read books? Aren't they boring?”

Anvi, the elder princess looks at her younger princess as if she's grown horns on her head, “Boring? Have you ever tried reading books that you're saying they're boring? Anyways, why are you here?”

Idhika rolls her eyes, sitting down on the bed. She twirls a strand of hair around her finger, looking up at Anvi as she walks to the bookshelf she has in her room to place the book in its place. Idhika hums, “Nothing, just came here to see you. Didi, weren't you painting something for over a month? Is it done?”

Anvi turns to Idhika, shrugging nonchalantly, “It's not done yet. I'm still working on it.” Idhika hums again, nodding her head, “What are you painting by the way?” Anvi looks at her for some time when Idhika questions her, her cheeks flushing slightly before she shakes her head, “Nothing special. The regular ones I paint.”

Idhika looks at her suspiciously when her cheeks flush but doesn't question it. She gets up, walking to the heavy door of her sister's chamber, looking back at her to see her lost in her world. She sighs, “Didi, let's go out to the garden.” Anvi snaps out of her dream world, quickly looking at her younger sister. She nods, following her.

As they walk to the garden, Idhika notices how Anvi seems to be lost in thought and blushing sometimes. Idhika narrows her eyes, thinking to herself, ‘She doesn't blush like that. What's wrong with her?’

As they sit on the wooden bench she questions Anvi, “Why do you keep blushing nowadays? As far as I have seen you, you don't get shy easily. What's wrong with you nowadays?”

Anvi hesitates hearing that, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and flashing her sister a nervous smile, “Just because…”

Idhika narrows her eyes at Anvi and utters, “You're acting suspicious these days. But anyways, you remember that the birthday of King Min-gyeol is approaching? You know, I have already selected a gown I'd wear. What are you gonna wear?”

Anvi breathes a sigh of relief when she changes the topic before saying, “I haven't chosen anything yet. We still haven't gotten the invitation, so there's no hurry. You're way too excited for the birthday.”

Syndril Kingdom

Taehyung nods, his voice smooth and deep as he speaks, “Yes, father, I've thought about it. It's the same as every year. Like every year, The same Kings, Princes and Princesses from the same countries will be invited this year as well. I'll have the envoy send out the invitations from tomorrow.”

The king hums, satisfied and proud with his son's answer. He smiles at Taehyung, nodding, “Very well, son. This was expected from you. You're proving each day how much you deserve the throne of this kingdom. I'm so proud of you. Your coronation is approaching as well, right?”

Taehyung nods, his expression neutral, smoothly speaking to his father, “Yes, father. It's a few days after your birthday.”

Min-gyeol smiles, “You seem well prepared for it. It's very good to see you taking after me. You may go now, Taehyung.”

An unknown emotion passes through Taehyung's eyes at his father's words but it disappears as soon as it appears. He nods, his face void of any emotion before leaving his father's office. As Taehyung walks across the hallway, his attention is suddenly diverted towards Jungkook who's shouting at a maid. Taehyung sighs deeply, clearly tired of his brother's regular tantrums and what not. He walks to them, his voice cold as he asks Jungkook, “Jungkook, why are you shouting at Sae-rin?”

The said maid looks somewhat relieved after seeing the soon-to-be king of this kingdom, her hands shaking slightly, face showing how panicked she's. Jungkook looks at Taehyung, glaring at him, clearly not ready to give an answer. Taehyung waits, his patience wearing thin at his brother's childish behaviour. He speaks, his voice authoritative, “I asked you a question, Jungkook, why were you shouting at Sae-rin? Did you not hear me?”

Jungkook scoffs, finally answering through gritted teeth, “I asked her to bring me tea long ago and I still haven't gotten it. Why does it take so long for her to do a simple task like that?”

Taehyung looks at Sae-rin, her head hanging low in apology. He sighs, his voice cold as he speaks to Jungkook, “Unlike you, she has so much work to take care of. Just because you're a prince, doesn't mean you can order them around and treat them like that. Learn how to respect others first.”

Jungkook grits his teeth, sharply glaring at Taehyung, uttering angrily, “Just because you're going to get the throne doesn't mean you get to behave with me this way.”

Taehyung doesn't reply nor looks at him. He simply nods at Sae-rin, his expression neutral and arms crossed on his back, giving her the permission to leave. She quickly leaves after muttering an apology, leaving the two brothers behind.

Jungkook scoffs angrily, about to stomp his way to his chamber when Yi-seul, their sister and the princess of this kingdom walks into the hallway cheerfully, a wide smile stretched around her lips as she approaches them, a flower basket in her hand. Her long, black hair bounces, a flower carefully tucked in near her ear.

She grins, stopping right before Taehyung. She reaches into her basket, presenting a peony to him, softly saying, “Here, it's for you.” Taehyung smiles gently at the kind gesture of his sister, receiving it from her, petting her head, making her giggle. “Thank you, Yi-seul.” The girl nods, smiling widely before she turns to Jungkook, suddenly growing nervous. She hesitantly takes out another peony from the basket and forwards it to him, fully expecting he's not gonna take it.

Jungkook looks at the flower and then at her before practically snatching the flower from her, side-eyeing her and mumbling in annoyance, “What's the need of doing these childish things?”

Taehyung chuckles lightly, his voice slightly teasing as he says, “She's actually a child though.” Jungkook scoffs, mumbling to himself as he walks to his chamber, “Whatever.”

The moonlight seeps into the room, the delicate curtains swaying slightly because of the breeze. The chamber is quiet except for the soft rustling of the papers as the man sits just right beside the window, the lamp dimly lit over the table. His dainty fingers, adorned with various rings hold the pen, writing over the paper. Each stroke of his pen is filled with affection for the woman who owns his heart. There's a small, gentle smile on the corner of his lips as he writes a letter to his beloved woman after a long time, his eyes shining with intense love. He puts down the pen on the table, after giving a final stroke of the pen, leaning back on the chair. He lets out a soft sigh, his eyes looking out for the night sky from the window. He chuckles softly to himself, shaking his head when he finds himself being so much in love with that woman, he whispers, “God, the things you do to me, princess…”

It's early in the morning, the birds are chirping in the garden when Taehyung hands the envoy all the invitation letters, nodding at them, “Make sure to deliver them at the right places. And…” He trails off, looking down at another letter, still in his hand before forwarding it to the envoy, “Deliver this letter to Princess Anvi… make sure to do it secretly.”

The envoy nods politely, receiving all the letters from the prince, “Yes, your majesty.”

Taehyung nods, watching the envoy as he takes his leave. He walks to the garden, taking in the fresh air, the sun blazing brightly over him. He smiles, looking at the beautiful flowers, whispering to himself, “Can't wait to meet you on my father's birthday, Anvi.”

Chandralaya Kingdom

She hums, giving the final stroke of her paintbrush on the canvas. She puts the brush away, leaning back to admire the painting. She smiles widely, speaking to herself proudly, “Anvi, you did it finally. The painting is completed.”

Her eyes take in all the details of the painting she carefully painted, sighing softly as the painted man’s deep, ocean eyes stare back at Anvi. She pats her own shoulder, nodding her head and smiling proudly, “I did a good job. This Taehyung definitely looks like the real Taehyung.”

Anvi pouts then, “But I wish I could show this to you, though. I also have to keep this hidden. I can't let anyone see this.”

She stands up from the stool, starting to organize everything. She carefully washes the paintbrushes, palette and the other essential stuff. She places them in their respective places and cleans all the mess. After cleaning, she moves the easel to the corner of the room, facing it away from the door. She looks around the room after finishing her work, checking everything. She exists the chamber then, locking the heavy door from outside before walking away.

[aita-polls]

AITA for believing my friend isn't as into my writing as she says she is?

So my friend A is in the same fandom as I am and she enjoys the same pairings. I write fanfic and she sometimes dabbles in it too, but she mostly reads. She always encourages me and praises my writing and goes on about how much she loves it and wants to read all of my fics one day, but I just don't see it as much in her actions.

Oftentimes she starts reading a new fic of mine but if it's ongoing she rarely finishes it while I always update regularly (Of course I more than understand that she's busy with work and other things than reading, so I always try to be patient, but it has happened that she just starts reading something else instead). She even admitted to never finishing the ongoing fic I wrote for her as a birthday gift.

And older fics I wrote before we met she doesn't seem to read at all while she always says she wants to, and again, it's not like she doesn't read other fics. Of course she's allowed to read anything she wants and whatever she feels like at the moment and I'm not the only writer out there, but if she says she wants to read mine, why doesn't she? Maybe she forgets but I don't want to remind her, I want her to read it because she wants to, not because she (feels like she) has to.

And now there's also a rec fest going on and she has recommended other fics, but not any of mine. It's all more than okay if she doesn't like my fics as much, she doesn't have to praise me just because she's my friend, so it bothers me that her words seem to contradict her actions, and I wouldn't know how to bring it up, it also doesn't feel important enough to make a deal out of. I want to believe her words because I don't like dismissing people's words, but I just don't see it in her actions.

So, am I the asshole for believing she doesn't like my fics as much as she says she does?

[the-selfinsert]

just read both of ur jackpot fics, and the core interaction represented them both EXTREMELY well. well done. but my main point is the pure potential of the second one.

so, fatal gets a BIG mention in it- and considering my friend is kinda the biggest fatal fan in existence as of now, I have some liking to him aswell.

so, I thought up a 4 way dynamic between fatal, lb, nightmare and jackpot.

fatal and lb are sort of "partners", not in the sense that they actually talk really, but they interact and fight against jackpot and nightmare on occasion.

nightmare and jackpot try and locate fatal, but every time they do lb is there and plot twist- the only reason they DID track him down was because gaster set up a trap.

and so begins a little rivalry.

now don't get this wrong- fatal and lb aren't some heroes, it's just aligning with their goals and morals.

fatal creates copies of people and extracts their code instead of the original, he isnt just straight up evil.

so, we already have dynamics here. we have a sort of generic evil vs glitches in the system, or rulers vs underdogs.

nightmare is understandably confused when lb comes in to help fatal for the first time, not knowing who or what he is at all, since lb would be pretty unknown considering how 'basic' it is compared to other aus like swapfell, storyshift, etc.

jackpot is half-terrifed half-pissed since gaster is basically just core frisk but way smarter and more competent (he was literally the royal scientist and built the core BEFORE becoming omnipresent by shattering across the space time continuum)

fatal and lb, while I didn't exactly potray them as 'close', I'd say they hang out a bit sometimes, or even regularly. it's just that lb doesn't really agree with fatals main goal, so they aren't the bestest of buds. but that opens up the doorway for fatal character growth and letting go of his goal of brining back papyrus etc etc.

once fatal is in the middle/after his character arc, I believe lb and him can become actual buddies, and start putting up an actual threat to jackpot's empire.

now, if im gonna be honest here, my friend has taught me how stupidly op fatal is, so realistically he'd 1 shot jackpot and nightmare if he was competent. but nightmare can regen and jackpot can..replace parts?

anyhow, basically heres the little story idea.

jackpot and nightmare finally track down fatal, and go in together because they're utterly sick of him at this point.

lb jumps in as they try to attack, and faces off against jackpot, extreme character interaction potential here <-

fatal faces off against nightmare, same with character potential.

eventually, nightmare angers fatal enough with papyrus comments, and fatal goes beserk- crunching the entire au they're all in.

lb is protected by gaster transporting him out- but jackpot isn't so lucky. he escapes due to nightmare, but GOLLY does he get traumatised by what he saw.

this also ties in with his home timeline being shattered, if jackpot has some weird memory thingy which activates due to it then it could explain him being scared shitless alot better.

anyhow, this was mostly an excuse to spread a fatal and lb vs jackpot and nightmare agenda across the UT fandom.

ps: I just realised I've been talking like how I would write fanfics. god its become a habit lol

but anyway, once again- amazing work selfin. you cooked (like always)

question: how the fuck do you make fics above 1k words my longest fic (which was the mg vs shin one) is literally like 952

Ok, that's really interesting! I like the concept! I don't think I've ever seen Fatal and LB paired together, so that's a cool idea.

Now, if they were to do it (And Fatal were to become stable enough to focus on anything other that his Papyrus goal), then I think them opposing those 2 could for sure happen.

There would be a few hiccups and questions about some of the specifics and logistics, (And personally, as Jackpot's co-creator, I wouldn't necessarily want to write a full-blown "story" with him, that has a climax and all. I want him to be another toolkit in UTMV storytellers's toolbox, a new lego figure to add to the lore if you will, and doing a whole story beyond backstory and oneshots interferes with that a little bit), but overall it's certainly interesting enough to warrant consideration

As for how I write fics above 1k, I think the question is really funny. I always feel like the amount I write is too short, no matter what I write. But generally it's just kind of that, trying to prolong the pacing to make it feel more natural. I had to postpone Jackpot's crashout like 3 times because of it, LMAO. But yeah, I think it's just a learned skill really, and a personal writing preference.

First Prev

Masterpost

[fonulyn]

how are things? and I was wondering if you've got a favorite fic that you wrote or if its just too hard to choose?

i've been down with a cold so things are kinda annoying but it seems to be getting better at least so maybe things are looking up :'D thanks for asking!

oh damn. it is hard to choose. and it also depends on my mood, and like... some are faves because they were fun to write, some because i like how the end result turned out, some bc friends liked them, and so forth. it depends on what kind of a favorite we're looking for :3

i scrolled through my RE fics and tried to pick only the top faves and still ended up with thirty fics :'D (and sorta sad bc so many of them were not crowd pleasers lmao)

but! shameless self-recs under the cut! (it got long lol sorry)

we didn't know how to fly so high (burned down before we reached the sky) (Chris/Leon) - this one's special because it's the first RE fic I wrote and it's what ended a three year dry spell of me not writing a single thing. it's also special because back then i could go "OH ONE NOTE!" and post the second chapter lol.

haunting in my head (tempting me, inviting me to fall asleep in its arms) (Piers/Leon) - since I picked the first one, I'm also gonna pick the latest one. this was the kind of an idea that plagued me until I got it written and i'm super pleased with how it worked out!

and it's kind of obligatory for me to mention the self-indulgent series, because for so long it was what kept me going and what kept me writing when nothing else worked. it might not be the best thing i've written but it's for sure what i've poured most love in.

tear me open (and make me whole again) (Piers/Leon, past Krauser/Leon) - from my whumptober fics this one i was the most excited about. i know it's got quite a bit of violence in it but like. i thought it hit all the right notes emotionally too, and i honestly wished it would've done better. i think it's worth it! am still happy with how it turned out.

(honorable mention to haunt you like it's part of you, another Piers/Leon and past Krauser/Leon, which is something i am really really into but apparently it's just me :'D but I really like the way the pairings clearly contrast each other tbh, i just think it's neat)

in the end it's you and I (Piers/Leon) - this is another whumptober fic I was super excited for! i'm beyond pleased with how it turned out and at least I feel all the right emotions while reading it.

all the things you are (Jake/Piers) - honestly I could've picked pretty much any of the Piers/Jake fic I've written because they were all really fun to write and their dynamic is super fun :'D I love the little bits in re6 where they interact bc they get on each other's nerves in all the right ways!

when it comes to metaltango, they're pretty much all close to my heart lol but can't help but follow in spite of going insane is something i regularly think back to and am still happy with how it turned out. same with the Krauser's back series, and question all my doubts, especially.

never too much to ask for (Piers/Leon) - this one is so very very important to me because LEON LEARNS TO BE LOVED. he learns to not only accept comfort but actually ASK FOR IT and it makes me emotional just to think about it 🥺

gonna show you tonight (Piers/Leon) - this one just makes me very happy.

and then there are the Piers/Leon ones where I've inserted Piers into a game/movie he isn't in, and honestly, those are ALL something I've had fun with and love the results! there's re2 with Piers, re4 with Piers, Damnation with Piers, and a combo of re4/Vendetta/og stuff with Piers! also the other re2 with Piers but that one only has one chapter for now so :'D

heal the scars and change the stars (Piers/Leon) - this one was based on a dream I had and I can still remember the exact vibe of the dream, and the way it haunted me afterwards, and I'm honestly really happy with the fic too. I have a thing for breaking up and getting back together it seems :'D

you're a dream (Piers/Leon) - this is something I've always always wanted to write, because soulmate aus are interesting but I've always gravitated towards imperfect soulmate systems, where it takes real effort to find them, and it's not so clear cut. and I honestly love how this turned out.

at the shore of the unknown (Piers/Leon) - another thing i always wanted to do was a soft apocalypse. this was supposed to be the first fic of a series, and the series is probably not happening, but i'm still content with the mood of this fic as is :3 i love these... slow empty worlds.

before I even knew your name (Piers/Leon) - THIS! this was SO MUCH FUN i don't know if I've ever had as much fun writing a fic :'D idk it was such a joy.

i crave therefore i am (Piers/Leon) - this fic however fought me every single step of the way, i wrote it like three times, and hated half of the process lmao, but i do love how it turned out. and the first scene is one of my all time favorite scenes i've ever written in my life.

to feel again (fwb!Chris/Leon at first, Piers/Leon eventually) - this was supposed to be a quick little oneshot but in the end it spiraled into something longer, and I do love it. like. the whole point of the Chris/Leon bit was that neither of them is the bad guy or wrong but they just weren't right for each other at that point in time, and then I enjoyed letting Leon build trust and a new relationship with Piers slowly at his own pace. 10/10 would write again :'D

last chance garage (ot3) - this one was very emotional to write and also got SO out of hand bc it was supposed to be like 1k max and in the end I wrote 8k lol. but it's my favorite ot3 fic.

winter lovin' (there's snow one like you) (Piers/Leon) - this one is super special to me because it happens in Finland :D they're vacationing on my home turf lol. but also because they're so in love, and they get to have fun and be together and. idk. the whole fic makes me all "🥺💖" like i literally turn into a physical embodiment of those two emojis. i love the fic.

stay until the end of life (Piers/Leon) - this one was also very emotional to write and I wanted to put them through a lot, and show how they really are in it for better and for worse. i wanted to show the struggles too, like... they love each other. they wanna be there for each other. but it's not always that easy. and I do think it worked out great.

three words to last forever (Piers/Leon) - I'm gonna end this way too long list with this because it's the first (and so far only) time I wrote a "choose your own ending" story and it was so much fun! I wish I could do a bigger story where you get to make multiple choices, but that would require some serious brainstorming lol. anyhow, I'm happy I got to do this! and happy with it turned out! especially the saddest ending :'D

now I'll shut up with my deepest apologies lmao.

[imunbreakabledude]

I know Maevelena is your OTP but you're one of the authors who write Maevelander so well. Most Maevelander fanfics lack the dimension and substance you give.

Every time you post those random thoughts of yours about Maeve and Homelander, I always read them because you always point out how they can work even if it's just an AU, canon divergence,etc. My favorite ones so far you have blurbed out is young Maeve being adopted by Madelyn and that one post about what if Homelander told Maeve about Compound V before the events of season 2.

I've always wanted to see them in fanfic forms. Thank you so much for posting about this pairing because I don't see many talking about the depth and complications of their relationship 💖

anon, thanks so much for saying this, it means a lot to hear! I really like writing them too. it's funny because I am wholeheartedly a multishipper and don't buy in too heavily to "OTPs" but I suppose it's undeniable that maevelena is the relationship i fixate on the MOST and spend the most time with... largely because I've made up so much of it myself, lol, so there's a sense of freedom or almost imaginative ownership over it. or i guess just not being constricted much by canon or even accepted fanon because there ISN'T really any fanon for them besides what i go on and on about LMAO

anyway back to the point. i may not see maeve and homelander in the same "romantic happy endgame" way but they fascinate me just as much. specifically in that they AREN'T that. it's like they're fucked up friends, fake-dating, but also real soulmates, but not soulmates, actually toxic abusive spouses, but also strangers to each other, but also the only two people who are just as fucked up as each other, and have independently fucked up maternal relationships with the same toxic corporate maternal stand-in. so tasty! i could eat that shit every day! (I even regularly find myself trying to recreate "maeve and homelander but with the serial numbers filed off" in my original writing projects...)

and it's nice to hear that you enjoy my takes on it because - not that it matters, i think these thoughts about fictional characters regardless - often I feel that my vision on them is just not shared by many people lol. and I feel like part of it is due to who's there for what character*. painting real broad strokes with my generalization brush here - a lot of maeve fans are relatively less into detailed stuff of her with homelander, if it's not within a larger context of her having a romance with a female character. and on the other hand... (ooh, I could get into trouble for saying this, lmao not really, but just one time I posted a similar sentiment to this before and some stranger read it and thought it was specifically about them when it wasn't at all, and also literally wasn't meant in a negative fashion, but this person got very upset by it). ... most primarily-homelander fans seem to have a real different idea of Maeve and of Homelander & Maeve's relationship than I do. enough that I very rarely see other people's takes/fic about them that I vibe with. I do not mean this in a bad way! It's simply differences in personal opinions and taste. (I'm also just wildly picky about fic and fanon in general). At the same time, I am certain that the way I write Homelander probably feels wrong to a lot of people who are mainly fans of him. Y'know? (at a bare minimum, I am fully aware that I probably contradict small details of his established canon backstory at times, simply due to not rewatching and memorizing and double checking every detail about him the way I do about Maeve. lol)

I guess the funny thing about this pairing is that the two characters' general appeal/POV in the show is rather different, and also their relationship itself is not a major Selling Point in the show (for MOST PEOPLE, lol), thus there isn't a large "Maeve/Homelander" fandom, and thus creating the situation above. where it kinda feels like there's Homelander-oriented content imagining their relationship, and Maeve-oriented content imagining their relationship. I have noticed a similar trend, albeit slightly less so, when it comes to Maeve/Annie content - again, because the relationship isn't canon so there's not necessarily a unified Base for it, but it appeals to people who may be fans of either character slightly more than the other... but I often see slightly different Perceptions of maeveannie coming from people who seem to come at it from annie's angle vs. maeve's angle. if that makes sense. A pairing like maevelena doesn't super have that factor, though, given that it really just appeals to people who are there for Maeve, because, er, no one's looking up that ship for Elena (EXCEPT ME!!)

uhhh, anyway, back to the point. i have a handful of maeve/homelander concepts that are very vivid in my head - including those you mentioned, which I sometimes forget I've shared to some extent on tumblr before...! but I guess part of why I've never gone and written them into full-fledged fics is because I just wasn't certain there was an audience for it. or I guess I just don't know how to FIND the audience for it. 'cause I've written some maeve/homelander stuff I REALLY LOVE. It just happens to be in the form of flashback vignettes within my maevelena fic (which is not just about maevelena, but since people tend to categorize fics by what relationship is most dominant in it, in that sense, it's maevelena...). I've debated taking some of that stuff and posting it as oneshots to make it easier to find, but then I'm always like, are there really that many people searching for maeve/homelander content that would warrant this...?

i do have at least two more fics involving maeve/homelander in my WIPs right now tho... One is an extended form of that one you mentioned, where Maeve is raised by Madelyn and grows up in proximity to Homelander... the other which is also a combination story with maevelena but is maybe... sorta... maeve/homelander endgame? lol

anywho just rambling now, thanks a lot for letting me know you enjoyed this, and brb gonna go look up that 2nd post of mine you mentioned because I literally don't remember what i wrote about it and it sounds interesting

*disclaimer: of course, people do not have to be in fandom for one character primarily. i myself tend to reject that angle on fandom mostly... but this show is one notable exception for me, i will not deny that while i like the whole show, my fandom-fixation is mostly just for maeve. anecdotally, it seems that this is rather prevalent in the boys fandom with many people having one or a few characters they are primarily Here For and just mild/normal enjoyment for the rest. perhaps because it's such a large ensemble show.

[anneapocalypse]

I'm always fascinated to learn about other writers' processes, so I hope this isn't too many questions! 😅 3, 11, 41, 46, 49

(For this ask meme.)

3. Answered!

11. Are you partial to a certain character/pairing or are you more equal-opportunity? If you are partial to any character/pairing, why do you think that is?

I certainly have my faves and I think it's generally pretty obvious who they are! At the same time, I like to explore new things and consider myself open to persuasion. Especially for canons with very large casts, it would be hard to limit myself to a single favorite character or pairing.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

Vincit qui se vincit by @zelroyo-blog. It's got such gorgeous world- and character-building (one of my very favorite Fallout couriers I've ever read about). When I read it I knew I wanted not only to write that well but to engage with the worlds I'm writing in on that level. Truly one of my biggest inspirations over the years (and Zel if ever you happen to see this, it's been a long time but I hope you're doing well).

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

I much prefer working on desktop or at least on my tablet for anything substantial, but the phone will do for jotting down short scenes, dialogue, ideas etc. that might come to me when I'm away from it. I can write more volume on my phone if it's all I've got, but if I'm in the middle of a larger project I just prefer to be able to see more of it at once. It's harder for what I'm writing to feel grounded in its larger context if I can't click around and see the context!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

Right now I'm doing a little low-pressure challenge for myself that I'm calling 100 Word November, with the intention of getting myself back to writing regularly after a bad year. The goal is just to write at least 100 words per day, though most days I end up writing more, and it's been a lot of fun. It's all little snippets about my FFXIV character Ariane (and in particular it's a lot of Ariane/Urianger Shadowbringers-era stuff). Very unstructured and nothing set in stone, as I really don't plan on finishing or finalizing anything until I've reached endgame.

Here's a snippet from today! Mildly spoilery for Shadowbringers.

"’Tis fascinating the myriad ways in which the fae distinguisheth—” Urianger paused, giving her a sheepish smile. “Forgive me. Many a time hath Thancred admonished me for talking his ear off, as it were.” “Urianger,” Ariane said very seriously, “this is important, so listen carefully.” She wrapped both hands around her teacup, and leaned slightly forward, and he listened with all earnestness. “I want to hear everything about the fae. Everything. Should you ever doubt my desire to hear about something, you may ask me, ‘Ariane, would you like to hear about the intricacies of the customs of the fair folk?’ that I may assure you, my dear friend, that I do in fact want to hear all about it.” Urianger’s countenance positively glowed. “Thou art altogether too kind to me, my friend.”

[crystalelemental]

Did you know that sometimes I write for stuff that isn't Pokemon? Unbelievable, I know. I'm back on MagiRevo. I've been reading the light novels, specifically got through the first three and finally received book 4 today, and listen. Listen. I am well aware that Lainie/Ilia is the canon pair. But Book 2 provided me crumbs, and I am a scavenger at heart, so consider: Lainie/Tilty.

First point! The crumbs in question largely come from how Tilty is presented, and how she acts in Book 2. This is somehow who is effectively a shut-in, does not like to interact with others, and only expresses interest in curses and the occasional Anis shenanigans. This is contrasted immediately when Lainie joins the villa, as Tilty is the one most directly helping get her powers under control, then starts showing up regularly at the villa just to check in on her. For someone who never leaves, and apparently never bothers going to Anis, this feels like a big deal.

Second point! Similarities do exist between their respective histories. Tilty has tremendous magical power that causes her to go wild when she uses it too much, the only solution to which is "never use your magic ever," making her exceedingly bitter about her own life and loss, and being the one most adamant about living for oneself. On the other hand, we have Lainie, whose powers have been a life-long curse that made people either adore her unconditionally, or loathe her based on the perceived slight of her not returning their attentions. Tilty receded into her manor due to her powers, but also out of choice. Lainie wants nothing more than to be left alone, but initially feels duty-bound to do what she can in service of others. Which is why she goes maid route. But like. You see where I'm going with this?

Third point! Okay come on, be honest with me. Tilty's basically the medical expert of the group and is super gloomy and dresses all in black and lives how she wants, while Lainie is a vampire that dresses all in white and is super mild-mannered and feels obligated to give back to people. That's a nice contrast, right? Do you feel what I feel? Are our hearts beating as one?

Probably not. I dunno. This is my first foray into specifically non-canon pairings. No all the Pokemon stuff doesn't really count; nothing is made canon so nothing is hardline unconfirmed either. This is the only time I've gone in defiance of canon for a ship. In what is, admittedly, a fairly small fandom space. I feel like if one person likes this one, I'd consider it well received. I wrote this for me. And that...might show a little. Look, I tend to write my relationships very PG, and while I wouldn't really call this anything serious, I aimed to make their engagement a little spicier than my usual fare. Which is like. "Mild curry made in the northeastern US" level spice, but I am prudish by nature and I have to build up the tolerance. I need you to understand, the first actual pairing fic I wrote where people kissed? I could not let this go while talking about it to my wife. Wife, do you understand? They're going to kiss. On the mouth. No, not with tongue, that is way too much, what do you take me for? I am a particularly repressed victorian maiden, I have to fan myself writing something like this and they're fully clothed. I'm trying my best, okay?

[fanwork-exchange-promos]

SGA Secret Santa 2024!

Posted by: goddess47 We've had a bit of a shuffle and popkin16, after many years of wonderful modding, finds she won't be able to mod SGA Secret Santa 2024... Many thanks to Popkin for her work over the years!!! I'm goddess47, if you don't know me, and I'm going to be your mod, with some background help from melagan... And look at the pretty icon tarlanx made for us... isn't it pretty? Feel free to tell her so! On to the fest! Schedule ★ Sign-ups: Now thru Nov 10 Assignments will be sent out by the 12th. You must reply to the email to confirm receipt. Yes, this is a quick turn-around, but we want to make sure folk have time to create their works. ★ Required Check-In: Dec 1 Check-in will be done via email. If I don't hear from you, your assignment will be turned over to a pinch hitter. ★ Posting Period: Dec. 10 to Dec. 23 You are responsible for posting your gift to AO3 (links on the sga_secretsanta community will be encouraged but not required). Posting instructions will be provided when the time nears. ★ Author Reveals: December 25th Rules This is a secret-santa style exchange open to all pairings and genres (gen/het/slash/femslash/multi). Both FIC and ART are welcome as gifts! 1. FIC: All stories must be at least 1,000 words in length. Everyone who signs up to receive a story is expected to write one in return. 1A. ART: Art should be comparable to the work on a 1K fic. Drawings should be on unlined backgrounds. (Okay, I'm not an artist, do what you think is fair.) 2. Additionally, all stories must be a complete, stand-alone work and must be beta read. 3. Remember: keep your identity a secret from your recipient until you post your gift! If you need to ask a question of your recipient, contact me and I'll be your go-between. 4. Be responsive to all mod communications. This includes replying to the assignment email and responding at check-in. Please provide an email you check regularly, and make sure stargatefests@gmail.com is white-listed. 4. Stick to the deadlines. This is my only Christmas wish! However, if you find yourself needing to drop out or needing an extension, email me right away. 5. If you drop out after the Check-in OR if you simply disappear, you will not be allowed to participate next year. If you think you might be ineligible this year, you can contact me to double-check before signing up. 6. Please provide a gen option in your request. This will make matching with people requesting rare pairs or fic about minor characters much easier to match. Signing Up Please consider carefully before signing up. You are making a commitment to another person (your giftee), not just me. To sign up, click this link to fill out a google form. You can edit your comment up until sign-ups close. If you are not a member of the sga_secretsanta community yet, please join/watch now, so that you see all important announcements. And as always, feel free to send questions/comments to: stargatefests@gmail.com. Happy Secret Santa-ing! :) comments via The Fandom Calendar https://ift.tt/wlVZCz7

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

Thank you for reblogging and sharing that ask regarding being blocked by a blogger who didn't like the serial likes of their stories. That was me. Thank you for making me feel validated and for understanding. I've been a long time silent reader never making comments or reblogs just by my account isn't marvel related. I spam like people's stories so I can read them later, I don't even unlike them. Reading all these fics are like my escape from my very busy life and to be blocked by that person bc I liked 5 or so of their posts honestly has made me insecure about liking other stories from different people. I was so excited to read them fully and even tried to follow them only to realise they blocked me. Now I'm scared everyone who's friends with that person who writes fics that I read regularly will also block me too. Idk now I'm a little discouraged to read stories in that fandom.

I'm so sorry, that has got to be disheartening. Have you checked out AO3? It's possible that they have cross posted their fics there, possibly under the same user name. Otherwise, the search/filtering functionality on AO3 is really good. It lets you even filter out characters or pairings or other tags that you want to exclude from the results. And, no one blocks you for just leaving kudos on fics there.

[olderthannetfic]

@marzipanandminutiae mentioned at least one canon that totally was catnip for fanworks fandom.

Wynonna Earp's big ship starts with Waverly getting beer all over herself and getting caught in her shirt. Deputy Hotass Haught helps her with it and Waverly is all "Ahaha. This would be super awkward if you were a man..." as Nicole oggles her.

I absolutely shipped it. I just didn't get back into the show after first season and so never talked about it much on here. I made a pimp vid of all the different things I shipped on that show after S1 to try to get other fans into it, but that was about the extent of my participation. Dolls was my favorite though, so that soured the show for me later.

I'm not usually into canon pairings, which is tricky because a lot of the really good stuff for female characters is canon f/f ships, often ones with a very different vibe from the m/m that gets big in fandom and that I tend to prefer.

What I appreciated about the setup at the beginning of Wynonna Earp is that one of them was all "I'm straight! OH NO!" in a more comedic than self-hating way. (Catnip!) The other one leered at her and gave off horny vibes. (Catnip!) Both actresses were super hot to me, which is just about never true on TV. And it's an urban fantasy trash show full of stupid monster of the week shit and other things I like, not a prestige drama that I'll never care about fanfic of because the canon writing is what I'm drawn to.

Would I have written f/f fic for it if I'd stuck around? Hard to say. My output is pretty minimal at the best of times. I might have been satisfied with canon. I'd probably have read some fic and made a couple more vids.

(At 6k+, that ship is in the top 250 or so on AO3 if you go by tag search. It's just not top for new works in 2023. Only half of them are otp:true, but that's still more fic for this ship than most fandoms have total.)

My big exception to not liking canon ships is that I like a fair amount of BL, indie "m/m romance", etc. I've pondered why that is, and I think it's a number of specific vibe things that I find regularly there. There's a disconnect where this stuff isn't literal representation by and for the same group. Even when the author is possibly a cis man, there's still that assumed audience. In the ones I like, the ships often have a fucked up element even if the ending is happy. Some of them are goofy comedy and it's comedy that works for me, which is always so subjective. I recently finally got around to Scum Villain, and I loved the meta shit and humor, but it was really LBH being such an obsessed little creep that sold me on it. Clueless senior + stalkertastic junior is my catnip.

When I've tried indie f/f fiction, it has often been extremely serious, featured rather blandly wholesome ships, and put lesbian identity front and center. But checking or not checking those tickyboxes isn't the issue: it's a vibe thing. I was looking forward to Gideon the Ninth since it sounded a lot more interesting and messy, but I ended up getting distracted before it came out. (This happens often. I still haven't seen KinnPorsche on the m/m side of things. If I find out about it too long before release, I often never end up getting the canon.)

The most recent queer female character I can remember making me go "Ooh!" is the protagonist of Knife+Heart. She's a violent creep and a total mess, and the movie is a bloody art film horror nobody saw outside of film festivals. It's about a lesbian director of m/m porno movies in the 70s trying to track down a serial killer who is preying on her actors. There is constant meta in her increasingly artsy porn films and in the narrative overall. There are 57 layers of identity bullshit going on at all times, but none of them are just about orientation qua orientation. They're about the closet and violence and parents and fans and voyeurs and projection. I don't know if I'm really rooting for Anne to get back with her ex. She's so terrible and the ex deserves better. But it's apparently possible to write a lesbian character I am all over... if you're a dude who makes gay art films.

--

Of course, just asking for f/f that is exactly like the m/m I enjoy is silly. I'm always going to have slightly different standards for what bugs me in a sex scene or what hits to close to home and all of that.

What I want is f/f that makes me feel like the m/m I enjoy does.

And I've virtually never found that. I've found canon m/m and f/f Western live action media that I like and that give me similar feelings, and I'll vid those ships but not usually write them. I have not found female buddy or enemy relationships with the subtext I like that would inspire me to write fic. Well... Xena. If it were on now and I were watching it for the first time now, Xena would probably inspire me like this.

--

This started with people finding an older post where I spent months hand-compiling shipping stats for FFN and Wattpad to show how het they are and coming away with the idea that m/m is the problem.

And I'm not saying it was TERFy because it was a stupid response. I'm saying it was radfemmy in that I got reblogs from open radfems who had worse shit to say than "fandom hates women" within one or two reblogs down that chain. There's a certain "It is the duty of all queer women to support the movement by ___" vibe that pops up constantly on posts like these. Whether you agree that the subtext is there, it attracts accounts with blatant radfem stuff in their headers and then a wave of nonsense hits my inbox. That's just the practical reality.

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

--

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

--

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

--

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

--

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

--

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

[snugglebug-92]

Can you write a fic where Jimmy gets the reader pregnant?

You were about 3 months late and didn't think anything about it until Logan's girlfriend asked you for a tampon. That's when it hit you and you hadn't had your period in 3 months. You shudder as you hand her the tampon and she senses something is wrong but she doesn't pry. After the two of you are done hanging out you go to the store to buy a test.

As you stare at the wall you can't help but feel like you are being mocked. Of course, this is what's going to happen when you sneak behind your dad's back and break his one-dating rule.

You pull your hood over your head and buy the tests before leaving the store and heading back to the house you shared with a few other hockey players. With the Wild's season being over Brock is back at the house more regularly. He smiles at you before taking note of your bag.

"What's in that bag? Get me a gift?" he questions. Since you were the only one of your father's children that went to Minnesota, Brock took a spot as your older brother at college. When you don't respond right away he looks up from the sandwich he was making and fully takes in your state. You nod to your room and he follows you up there.

The two of you sit on your bed while you hand him the bag and he opens it before his eyes go wide. He looks at you before looking at the tests in the bag and then back at you. You watch as the gears turn in his head and he tries to figure everything out.

"Yes, you know him. No, you can't beat him up," you state.

"I wasn't going to beat him up just give him a talk," Brock responds.

"My dad's going to kill him anyways," you shrug.

"You didn't," Brock gasps.

"I broke his one rule."

"Holy shit with who?"

"You know."

"Didn't know Snuggs had it in him," Brock laughs.

"This isn't funny. What if I'm actually pregnant?" You whine.

"Well, you can cross that bridge when you get there. Now go pee on the stick," Brock says pushing you towards your bathroom. You read the instructions before peeing and then placing the cap back on the stick. You wait for the results to pop up on both sticks and the word positive appears on both. The tears fall and Brock breaks into the bathroom before calling Jimmy.

You don't know how long you are sitting in the bathroom crying but after a while, you feel a familiar pair of arms wrap around you. You cry into their shoulder as they pull you into their lap.

"I'm sorry," you sob into Jimmy's shoulder.

"Hey don't apologize sunshine we'll figure it out," he whispers placing a kiss on your forehead.

"I'm pregnant Jimmy. This isn't something we can just figure out," you cry.

"Honey look at me. I love you and I know we haven't been together very long but nothing is going to change how I feel about you. I'm staying here next year so I'll be by your side through the whole pregnancy and I'll always be here for you. Okay?" he says cupping your check and wiping your tear away.

"I love you, Jim," you whisper as you collapse in his arms. The two of you sit in the bathroom wrapped up in each other but you know everything will end up being okay.

[scienceoftheidiot]

@qs63 keeps feeding me ideas, and thus very serious meta discussion ends up with me having to write a silly fic. Expect this to happen regularly.

Summary :

Roy's a liar and a manipulator, but we have canon examples of him showing he doesn't really like lying or when other people lie, and notably when they do so to themselves. What if.... That makes him horrendously bad at poker?

End is not what I expected but I can't really say I'm sorry.

You can read it under the cut here or over on AO3

The atmosphere in the office was tense.

Or maybe it was just him.

Roy shot a suspicious glance over his hand at the whole party, sat at the table with him.

The office was filled with Havoc's cigarette smoke, and lit brightly by the neons on the ceiling. The whole team sat around the central table, cards and multi coloured chips disorderly spread on the dark wooden surface.

Havoc looked back, his face blank, an arm casually thrown over the back of his chair in his usual laid back manner. His hand that was not holding his cards shot up to his mouth to take the cigarette he'd planted there, shook the cinders in the ashtray he kept near him, then put the cigarette back. He did everything without breaking eye contact, his face betraying nothing.

Breda was munching on bretzels he'd taken out of nowhere, and returned his stare with a raised eyebrow, shaking the piece of bread around.

"Want one, boss?"

Roy shook his head with a frown. Breda better clean off the crumbs he was throwing everywhere on the office meeting table when they'd be done.

Hawkeye and Falman, both at opposite ends, looked incredibly sereine, unfazed by anything. Falman was looking at his hand calmly. Hawkeye gave Roy his glance back with a solicitous "Sir?" and an incredibly deadpan face.

And Fuery, small Fuery, on his left, was sweating buckets, and kept pushing his glasses up his nose.

Roy felt a muscle spasm in his cheek, tugging at his lips.

Havoc let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Take your time, boss. Take all your time. After all, none of us have a girlfriend or family. We can stay here until the end of time and no one will ask about us. We can wait."

"Speak for yourself, Havoc."

"What, Breda, cause you got a beautiful creature waiting for you right now, in your bed, with big –"

"Havoc." Hawkeye tutted without even looking up from her cards.

"Big breasts ain't really my thing," Breda replied with a lot more seriousness than necessary. "Besides, right now, the only thing I want is for our dear Colonel to decide if he will follow or fold so we can finally get to showdown."

Roy, his eyes on his cards, right hand fingers drumming on the table, grumbled.

"Don't be so loud about wanting me, Breda."

"Shut up and play, Colonel. We're all waiting." Hawkeye's face was just about as blank as all of the others.

The only one displaying anything was Fuery, on his left, practically vibrating. He was the next in line to play.

A simple pair of jacks. That was all Roy got. He'd lost all the turns until now. Damn it, he was the boss! He was the youngest Alchemist to ever get the State license! He was smart! He was brave, reckless, even! He never went down, whatever hand he was dealt with! How come he was always defeated by Breda or Hawkeye, no matter what they had in hand?

Falman, too.

In fact, the only one who had, like him, not won any round was Fuery.

Roy shot him a side glance as the Master Sergeant took off his glasses to wipe off the condensation on them.

Roy ran the numbers in his head again. Falman had a pretty good straight at the precedent turn. That was 0,39% in odds, before the first draw. What were the odds, now? Havoc had folded, which meant his hand must have been awful - no figures, nothing. Falman, Breda and Hawkeye had bet. Fuery would probably fold, considering the –

"Come on, Boss, this isn't a fucking game of chess!" Havoc was making big gestures with his arms, ready to light another cigarette.

"Of course it's not, I'd have beaten you up all long ago!"

"Colonel," Hawkeye scolded him. "Stop being a child, and tell us if you follow or if you fold."

"Yeah, Colonel," Breda quipped while picking up a new bretzel. "Well all know you got a shitty hand. Either own it or not, but please free us."

Roy's head jerked up from his hand.

"What? How?"

"You're a terrible liar, sir. And terrible at seeing through us, too."

Havoc snickered at Breda's retort, Falman and Fuery hid their faces behind their cards, and even Hawkeye couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching up for a split second.

Roy scowled, deeply offended.

"I am the best liar in this room. And you all know it."

Hawkeye leaned towards him.

"Of course, sir, in the right context. You're calculating. You can talk anyone out of their wits, seduce them and turn them around like no one else."

Roy frowned at the mocking glance Breda and Havoc exchanged.

"But poker doesn't ask of you to talk and manipulate people with speech. It asks for a pokerface," Hawkeye continued, giving him her best rendition of it.

"I don't think his hand is that bad," she concluded placidly as she turned to Breda, "I think he's got a couple of figures and he's calculating the probabilities for each one of us to have a better game."

Roy scrunched up his nose and opened his mouth, ready to reply. But nothing came out, and he closed his mouth again with a sour scowl. Looked at his hand. And sighed.

"Alright, alright."

He knocked on the table once. He would not fold. He had honour.

"Thank you, sir." Breda said with a flourish. "Fuery?"

Fuery, blinking rapidly, placed his hand down on the table.

"I – folding."

"I'm glad we opted out of the strip poker option," Havoc sneered, and it pulled a short laugh from poor Fuery.

"You were the only one who wanted it, Havoc." Hawkeye said in her usual dry tone.

"No one can be foolish enough to play strip poker against Lieutenant Hawkeye," Falman added, extremely serious.

"Now, now that you say it," Hawkeye frowned, side eyeing Roy, who felt a sudden wave of warmth climb up his nape, "Maybe this is what we should have done, so I could be kept up on how that scar's healing, sir."

Hawkeye. Good old Hawkeye, throwing her lines like a bucket of ice cold water onto his head, as usual.

"None of your business, Lieutenant."

"I'm your bodyguard, sir. If I want to do my job properly I have to assess your health. Be sure you won't start limping if we ever need to make for a quick cover."

"I do not –"

"Right, showdown," Breda interrupted, just as Roy's hand uncontrollably shot down to the top of his right thigh, where a bullet had grazed a week before.

"You got hurt, sir?" Fuery piped, oblivious of the dark look Roy threw at him for keeping Riza focused on him this way, and the glare Breda and Havoc shot him for yet again derailing from the game.

"Yeah, during the operation last week," Riza stated in a slightly too formal voice as she showed her hand. Three of a kind, queens. "He managed to hide it until I saw him limp around the day after," she added with a scowl, avoiding Roy's annoyed looks.

"It was just a scratch," Roy grumbled, his mood plummeting yet lower when Breda uncovered a flush in hearts.

Falman showed a pair of tens with a sheepish smile.

"I tried," he said, pushing his chips towards Breda.

Roy groaned and hid his face behind his right hand as he showed his cards.

He groaned yet lounder when Fuery quipped from over his shoulder : "Oh, I had a pair of kings !"

"That's it, I'm done," Roy pushed all his chips and cards towards Breda. "This game is only about luck. There is no skill and no honour in winning at poker."

"No honour, maybe, but you owe me a hundred cenz, boss," laughed Breda as he grabbed the chips and counted them. "And I won two rounds with less than what you had on your current hand."

"Pokerface, boss! Gotta work on yours." Havoc clapped Roy's back.

"Work on being a better loser, too, maybe?" Breda snatched the couple of notes Roy was handing him. "At least Fuery is gracious about it."

Roy got up with another groan, leaning on his closed fists on the table.

"I should have you sacked, the lot of you."

"Nah, boss, you'd miss us."

"Everyone's so fond of you, where else would you get your reality check?"

Roy glared at Havoc. The line was very fine between playful banter and insubordination, and he and Breda were currently doing somersaults over it.

"Clean this all and get out, before I snap."

The two of them sneered, but did as they were ordered, picking up the cards and chips. Falman and Fuery cleaned where they'd sat, pushing their chairs in place. All of them saluted and bid the others – and their boss – good night before they took their leave.

Hawkeye took her time, turning around the central table to look for forgotten chips or bretzel crumbs, checking some papers on her own desk that didn't need to be checked, before she walked towards Roy's desk, where he'd retreated to sulk in peace.

He observed her little game from the corner of his eye until she stopped in front of him.

She placed something he'd seen her retrieve from her desk drawer in front of him.

One painkiller and one antibiotic. When had she taken those from him, already?

"Oh, so that's why I played so bad. Drugging our superior, are we, Lieutenant?"

"I wish. You should have taken those two hours ago."

Roy's first impulse was to tell her to get lost, still grumpy as he was to have been made to look like a fool in front of his subordinates. Then he remembered. All those years ago, he'd pushed the same pills in her hand. And when she couldn't herself, he'd pushed them through her lips, and held her head for her to drink some water to swallow. He'd done that for days. Watched her sleep, guilt and fear for this girl he in fact barely knew gnawing at his brain. He hoped he would never have to do it again, but if he had to, he would.

That instantly wiped any offended ego feelings off his mind. Who was he to push her away when she wanted to show the same concern?

Roy shrugged, but he grabbed the pills, and gulped them down, using what remained of cold coffee in a cup that was lying around his desk. Hawkeye went on, sitting on the desk, while he winced – that coffee had been older than he thought.

"And no, I don't think you lost because of this, and pain is no excuse either – you might not lie to people or even yourself that well, and I know you don't like it, but where pain is concerned I know you can be stubborn enough to forget it."

"That bad, uh?"

Hawkeye had left her pokerface behind – her subtle expressions might not be noticeably different for the untrained eye, but Roy'd had years to train. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, and her mouth imperceptibly curved upwards.

He smiled in return.

"That bad. Please do not play poker ever again. It was awful."

"Oh, not gonna happen, Lieutenant. I don't like to lose."

"Oh, really? Didn't notice." Hawkeye saluted, the small smile not leaving her lips. "Good night, Colonel."

She turned around and went to leave, but Roy called her.

"Hawkeye?"

She turned back.

"Sir?"

"The wound is alright. Cleaned and closed and supervised. Don't worry, please."

"Take your antibiotics, sir."

"Promise, Lieutenant. Good night."

"Good night."

[sodacanwritings]

Why wrongly tagging gender neutral reader can be harmful

+ a guide to do it right

From: a queer, gn-content creator

If you read x reader fanfiction, are a fanfiction writer / content creator who writes x reader content, especially if you primarily write f!reader, or support the LGBTQIA+ community, please read this article guide

This article is, not at all supposed to force you to write gender neutral or, alter your writing so it fits this guide. Instead, I wanted to give more insight on something that you might not know about, on a topic that's really important to me, and if anyone decides to change something in their writing after this, it would mean the world to me.

Before of: the focus on avoidance of female characteristics in this is due to the minority of male and gender neutral readers, which I thematize here, though, writing gender neutral, avoiding hints about the readers gender goes both and all ways.

This is a really important topic to me, as a writer but especially reader of gender neutral content, and I wanted draw more attention to this issue. And hopefully, inspire someone to think in areas they have never considered/thought of before.

What's so great about gn content, and who consumes it?

The great thing about gender neutral writings is, everyone can read it. It gives options for people who may not read female, or male reader, but still want to enjoy headcanons, fics and content of their favorite characters. For trans people and people who don't fit within the gender binary, but also people who just feel not sure, or maybe uncomfortable about their gender, finding something to read can be significantly harder than for female readers. Gender neutral writings allow people who's gender is a complicated, tiring thing to them, to still consume content. Not having to give up on reading just because your gender seems to be a barrier. It harms no one, and nobody's excluded: cis female and male people can still read it. Now only, everyone else can, too. So because of this, gender neutral writing has a much greater audience; everyone.

What issue comes up with the lack of gn content / wrongly tagged content

A majority of x reader fanfics are for female readers. Mostly in m!character x f!reader pairings

So as mentioned before, it's way harder to find something if you don't fit in with that. This also is the case, if you are looking for a non-hetero pairing, such as male x male or other queer pairings. So gender neutral writings are not only about gender, but sexuality, too. When it comes to relationship headcanons for a male character for example, and it's somehow clear that the reader is female, it makes it unreadable for male and nonbinary people, or every other non-female person.

As a nonbinary, trans and gay person who hyperfixates on fandoms regularly and reads a lot, I found myself struggle so often in finding x reader stuff I could acctually read. It was so frustrating, and at some point I just kinda committed to reading female reader works and sort of ignore it. I knew I was doing harm to myself, but I desperately wanted to be able to have something, too. Even though it's so dysphoria triggering and in the end, made me feel worse than before. Realizing there's nothing to read for you, because of your gender or your sexuality, can hurt a lot. It just makes you feel as though, what you are isn't normal, or, not normal enough for people to write about. Feeling that made me really sad. Seeing the exact content I was looking for, but not being able to read it just because it's fem reader. It feels like having no option, either consuming the female reader content or, not at all. You may think that you could just, read it and ignore the female parts, but it's really something you can't ignore. Alone knowing you have to ignore something the whole time while reading it, knowing that's because there's nothing for your group of readers, feels bad and you can't really enjoy the actual content.

While writing female reader is not trans- or homophobic, the lack of representation of gender neutral and male audience, creates a feeling of discrimination. That most male character x reader pairings are written as hetero, makes you feel just so much more aware of being part of a minority. It somehow gives you the feeling the hetero-way is the right way since it's everywhere, and you're the odd one out.

There's nothing wrong in writing f!reader, and I'm not asking anyone here to stop writing for female readers or hetero pairings. But sometimes there is no need to put a gender on the reader, and making minimal changes to make others feel included is something I want to inspire every artist and writer out there to consider.

Why wrong tagging is bad

Sometimes artist decide to tag (/name) their work as gender neutral spontanously, because while tagging, they see no reason not to.

But if you write x reader content not specifically as gender neutral anticipated, please check before labeling it as such. So please don't put notes as "gender neutral, I think / should be gender neutral" or "gender neutral, probably". Just check or label it differently / as not gender neutral. If you aren't sure and didn't check, you can note things like "not sure if gender neutral, can contain non-gn elements" or something similar. There can be things you havent thought of, which can trigger people. Tagging female (/male) reader or such, doesnt hurt anyone, while wrongly tagging gender neutral does. It gets your hopes up, and it feels worse when at the end it becomes clear the reader is female / indicated as female. Reading fluff while in a bad mood, to get called their beautiful girlfriend in the end, or to it being mentioned the reader wears a dress and make-up, makes you feel even more bad about yourself after.

Tags and CWs (content warnings) are in general nice. They are considerate and don't take a lot of work. It makes readers feel safe to read the following work, knowing what they're committing to. This can be about any kind of trigger or content warning, not only gender-related.

What to look out for when correctly writing gender neutral

Pronouns. The first step of course, is making sure gender neutral pronouns are used (eng: they/them), if any at all. You can mention they/them pronouns in your CW / description, giving information about used pronouns is doing many readers a favor they will be thankful for.

Certain Mannersim. While mannerism definitely plays a part, you can't determine a person's gender just by their character and manners/how they act. Speak androgenous people, feminine men, masculine women etc. This might be the trickiest part, cause it's not really to determine. Society has lead to certain manners and behavior expected from male and female people, that is a thing you can't really judge a person's character writing for. Though it's good to keep in mind that some things might come off as female/male, while editing or writing. You never now what might be a trigger for someone. Dysphoria can be triggered by a lot of things, and you can't watch out for everything, neither are you supposed to. Writing neutral can be hard when you're not used to it, it becomes something really natural once you've done it for a while though. What you can do though and which you're definitely off good with, is this:

Example for a warning/note: gn!reader, sweet/caring reader

CWs don't only have to contain extreme content trigger warnings, but they can include pronouns and or gender, as well as keywords to describe the readers personality (calm, energetic, etc.)

Adjectives. There are certain terms strongly associated with gender, and certain traits commonly used for men or women. In general i would recommend avoiding to describe the readers body. Sometimes it's in context to the story, lets say you got a request about a poc reader or reader with scars/freckles. That is another thing. Though otherwise keep in mind: the less descriptions on the reader, the more readable your work is for more people. This is why leaving out descriptions of the readers body/hints on skintone/ethnicity is better, to avoid excluding poc readers or people with another body type. Writing neutral in general prevents the feeling of discrimination or exclusion. Its completely fine to do specific x readers, it always depends on your context. But again, its good to remark it.

adjectives/traits to avoid when writing gender neutral: muscular, curvy, slim waist, long hair, tiny hands/feet, shaved legs, plush thighs

One of the biggest and most 'mistakes' when it comes to gn writing: clothes. If you label your work as gn reader, make sure that if you describe the readers clothes, to choose something gender neutral. Or don't go into detail about clothes at all. Clothes can be worn by anyone and don't have an gender, but you cant assume everyone is comfortable wearing a dress or make-up. Refrain from describing anything stereotypical male/female, as those can be triggers and makes assume / can imply the readers gender.

Examples for gn clothing: pants, hoodies, tshirts, sneakers, beanies, caps, jeans, "underwear", vests

Examples for what to avoid: dresses/skirts, high heels, make-up, bathing suits/bikinis, bras/panties, boxershorts, suits, crop-tops

If you see this, I would be very greatful if you reblogged and shared this, so as many people as possible can see this, and we can get it out there for every writer to see.