#ETA more recs in the replies!

[kvothes]

Can you rec some poems about being trans and in the closet ? Maybe something hopeful? I've been struggling lately and would love some poetry to help me through it 💚

i'm not sure how many i know that are specifically about being in the closet, though danez smith's "waiting on you to die so i can be myself" springs immediately to mind. nonetheless, here are a few of my other favorite trans and nonbinary poets:

miller oberman (on trans)

jameson fitzpatrick (mirror at shalott)

gabrielle calvocoressi (my perimenopausal body cistern disappointing how surprising)

kayleb rae candrilli (sestina written as though genesis)

other poets: paul tran, torrin a. greathouse, taylor johnson, cameron awkward-rich, jos charles, quenton baker, eileen myles...

troubling the line is an anthology of trans poets; the book RED by chase berggrun is all transfeminine erasure poems of bram stoker’s dracula; diane seuss doesn't identify as trans but the poem that begins "i wanted to be the boy" from frank: sonnets is also excellent if you can get your hands on a copy (i don't have mine with me or i would take a photo for you!)

[eoieopda]

[visual content blog recommendations]

we see fic recs all the time, but i don’t think i’ve ever seen rec lists for visual content (gif/art/gfx/etc.) creators! they’ve been dealing with a bunch of shit lately between reposts, tumblr garbage, etc., so i wanna shout-out some favorites. thank you for keeping us fed!!

disclaimer: this is not an exhaustive list!! if you have recommendations of your own, please feel free to expand on this yourself and/or drop some of your faves in the replies for others to see. self-promo is always welcome here, too ✨ p.s. some of these are recent finds for me, so pls expect to see more of them on my blog. eta: i will be adding more as i go!!

[bts]

@yooboobies — réka’s gif sets are *chef’s kiss* and the ART? omg. the talent!!! 😭 we simply have to simp.

@cordiallyfuturedwight — apart from being one of the coolest/funniest people i’ve found on army tumblr, i am a kayla stan because the niche themes for her gif sets (ex. bangtan turtlenecks series) feel like they’re made 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 me 👏🏻 even though they absolutely aren’t, lmao.

@hopeinthebox — the bts as reductress headline + incorrect bangtan series are probably my favorite pieces of content on the entire internet??? also, lizzy is absolutely gd hilarious. tags are 11/10. a blessing upon my dash.

@kimtaegis — i’m not visually artistic enough to say this in a way that makes sense, but annie’s gifs are just… stunning? like, the colors? idk about the process that goes into that, but i imagine it takes a lot of time/finesse to be this vivid.

@kithtaehyung — ryen is the renaissance man of army tumblr, fr. not only can she write (like!!!) but she’s multi-faceted and insanely creative with her graphic design. i want her to tutor me, lmao.

@raplinenthusiasts — ooohhhhh my god. the coloring of their gifs makes my brain go brrrrtttt. this bts x the office set is on my “always reblog” list; i’ll share it every time i come across it.

@heybaetae — this set in particular is on my “always reblog” list, no matter how many times i’ve done so already. also, idk how to describe this, but kelli’s gifs are just…. crispy 🤌🏻 like, so satisfying with the…. texture? filtering? contrast? i’m an idiot re: editing terms, but go peep them and you’ll know what i’m trying to say.

@kth1 — literally who could ever forget maggie’s 100 days of (member) series??? the amount of work that had to go into that? unfathomable.

@jeurias — i want to wallpaper my house and office with their gfx. i’m deadass.

@jinstronaut — emmeline has been doing her “a jin a day while he’s away” series for OVER 250 DAYS NOW. i have never been nor will i ever be able to commit to anything to this level.

[multi/skz/atz/svt/etc.]

@starryoong — do not get me started on starry’s paintings, sketches, etc. because i will never shut up. ever. j’adore 🫠 is also a five-star human being.

@irlvernon — my queue is probably 80% max gifs at any given time. god-tier, fr. a must-follow for carats, as far as i’m concerned.

@vcrnons — incredible gifs, lovely human, and also the writer of some of my favorite svt fics??? we stan.

@yelhsaart — i don’t have any words for how much i love their art so please imagine guttural screaming instead. asdfghjkl!!!

@hizuillu — ……breathtaking. legitimately stunning skz art. like…… i have heart palpitations.

@snug-gyu — THE USE OF COLORS. i’m always a simp for pantone-inspired sets; they just scratch an itch in the back of my brain, and BOY HOWDY, is my brain satisfied 😵‍💫

@yunwooz — again, i have no idea what i’m talking about when it comes to the gif-making process, but the colors!!! the COLORS!!! like, taking a mv that’s not super vivid/is fairly greyscale and bringing it to life? ya know????

@booskwan — you want incredible gifs? they’ve got em. you want stunning gfx? they’ve got em. seriously, idk what to tell you except “pause right here and go follow immediately”.

@haechannabelle — listen……. annabelle’s art style is 😗🤌🏻 (that’s a chef’s kiss). the use of color, and the technique, and and and — ! ALSO, i must mention that she took, like, 50 hours to compile a boycott-friendly k-pop playlist. their vibes are simply impeccable.

rev. 4/10/24

[deehellcat]

Okay, this is weird, y'all. Apparently this Sudowrite is supposedly an ai assistant for creative writing, which people have to pay to use. Elon Musk, aka Phony Stark, is involved with it somehow, it seems? anyway, it looks like the makers of the site are training it on ao3 fics, and have taught it to understand omegaverse, for starters. LOOOL.

I'm ticked off that these clowns are using our works of love to turn a profit, but I have to admit I'm cackling to myself imagining the subscribers' eyebrows heading for their hairlines when some even more interesting fic tropes start popping up in their recs. :D

ETA, ao3 is aware btw, so don't try to report it to them again, it'll just clog up their works, per a staff member who replied on that reddit post.

[arcanehobo]

I ask that respectfully because your blog doesn’t specify otherwise and it’s important to me to make sure men aren’t interacting with my blog.

I know it is presumptuous to see a masculine person with he/him pronouns and say “that’s a man” but for my own personal boundaries I need to check.

[This was preceded by a message asking "Are you a man?"; I have no other context whatsoever.]

So, obviously this answer doesn't fit with the general theme of this blog. But the anon posting the ask is, well, anon, so I don't have much option in replying to them, and it feels kind of discourteous to not reply, since the answer is clearly meaningful to them. I'll leave this up for about 48 hours, so the anon can see it, and then - probably - take it down again. [ETA: Although now I've spent a chunk of time thinking about and writing an answer to it, maybe I'll leave it up. It is, regretfully, a bit on the mansplain-y side, but with the lack of context, it's the best I can do.]

So, anon, that's a big question. I don't really feel qualified to answer it as written, because the culture I live in makes it pretty clear that "man" is something other people tell you you are or are not, not something you can claim for yourself. There are debates and accusations around the term "real man". I am not attached to the term, and have been generally amused by the attempts of others to tell me that I am or am not one.

If you're asking if I'm trans in some way, I'm unconvinced that that is any of your business, and your asking makes me suspect you're some kind of TERF. I've deleted TERFy asks here before, and dealt with some mild hostility from people who object to my he/him pronoun badges in real life too.

If you're asking if I'm biologically male, I feel that's also not really your business, any more than your sexual characteristics are any of mine. But out of an excess of courtesy, I can say that as far as I know, yes, but I've never had any examination of chromosomes, or any of the myriad other conditions and states of being that would make that debateable. However, "biologically male" starts to verge very close, again, to TERF stuff, and if that's the gist of what you're asking, you can fuck right off and continue to fuck off a bit further after that; my use of pronouns on my profile is mostly to help establish a cultural norm for the people to whom they are important, and partly to politely give people a set of pronouns they can use to refer to me.

If you're asking if I identify as a man, or male - which are two different things, related only by social construction - I'm not sure if I do or not. To be honest, I identify more as a wizard or as a GM or as a cook than I do as male or a man. It's not a question that's important to me, and hasn't been since I was a child (and even then my main question was whether I was "allowed" buy the Sylvanian Families toys or not).

I hope that goes some way toward answering your question, anon, because frankly, it's a bit weird to just post up out of nowhere and ask it.

It is possible, given the "interacting with my blog" line, that you are in some way asking me to post some DNI stuff in my profile. While I try to respect other people's DNIs - I don't want to read stuff written by people who don't want me to read it, unless they're legislators - I also think they're complete nonsense (and if I hit "follow" from a post or Tumblr rec, I don't see them). More broadly, if a tumblr blog is viewable, there is nothing stopping a malicious actor from viewing it while not logged in, or logged into an alt account. There are a lot of ways to establish safe spaces into which you can allow people on a whitelist; discord, newsletter subscriptions, private email, locked Twitter accounts, etc. Tumblr doesn't have the technology for that. Notwithstanding my fervent desire for TERFs and Nazis (to pick two meaningful categories) to not participate in my life, I don't have even the slightest expectation that either group would comply. So I will not be posting any such stuff on mine.

Some more context would be very nice, if you're inclined to give it, anon, because this ask has arrived in out of the blue, and I'm still half-thinking it's a new variety of spam.

[vergess]

I can try to expand on this, as requested by @supericelight and @firecoloredwater

But it's not something I have a clear cut and systematic understanding of.

It's just that there's a palpable difference in the way Trans People write the Weird Gender Porn, and the way Cis People do it. There's more exploration of what it means to, for example, be the "kind of omega that likes being an omega" vs "the kind of alpha who fucks other alphas."

The relationship between sexual acts and gender roles is much more detailed in works by trans authors. Not always, but in general.

And there's a pretty sharp division stylistically between people "only" here for the sex, and people "here for both."

Here is an example. Which of these excerpts "is" trans, to you?

One:

"Why'd they call you?" Her voice is hesitant, still clearly suspicious. John doesn't blame her.

"Well, I think they guessed that you're not quite what you seem. You're not really an Omega, are you?"

Evie bristles, thin shoulders curling in as though to protect herself. "What's it to you?"

Two:

“I am,” he said with a nod. Howard had been devastated when Tony turned out to be a beta and not an alpha, but Tony had made his peace with that a long time ago. He eyed Stark. He couldn’t smell anything on the guy, which was unusual. Even betas had a scent to them, though it tended to be less in-your-face than alpha and omega scents. Which meant that biology worked differently from where Stark was from, or he was using scent blockers.

There is a visible tendency among authors who are or soon will be trans to interrogate the gender norms of the settings in ways that aren't as common among cis authors.

These are somewhat unfair examples, given how obvious they are. But once you start looking for it, the difference is noticeable even in very "traditional" A/B/O fic.

ETA: Fic links in the replies but I only actually rec #1

Easily the best thing about A/B/O fics is you can tell at a glance which authors are cis, which ones THINK they're cis, and which ones are trans.

These eggshells are transparent, my loves.

[not-poignant]

Would you ever consider writing religous-trauma recovery? Or do you have any good recommendations for such?

I've written a fair amount of religious trauma recovery in Stuck on the Puzzle given both Bull's need to reconcile being tal-vashoth with his being dependent on the Qun for a sense of identity, while being banished from the Qun. And many of his serious moments actually deal with religious trauma, and cult trauma, and trauma recovery.

I don't know if you've read it, anon, but there's even moments where he has to really wrestle with losing the ability to pray, why he's lost it, how he feels about that, and how he struggles to find the new shape of himself throughout the rest of the story because of it.

And secondary to that, we have the background of Cullen's constant issues with his own religious trauma in the Chantry around his addiction to lyrium, how the Chantry has treated him, the fact that he no longer wears his Templar armour but can't make himself get rid of it or get fitted for a new, proper set.

But one of the major bonding points between Cullen and Bull, outside of their kink, is their positions as exiles from religious and cult structures there were once completely dependent on, and the continued scars and struggles they bear because of it. So I'd definitely suggest that one.

I don't know that I have recs specifically, as it's not really something I look for. I know I've read books that have dealt with it, but unfortunately titles are not coming to mind (ETA: The Preacher's Son by Lisa Henry and JA Rock, not really my thing, and does feature a reconciliation-style ending so might not be exactly what you're looking for). Hopefully some folks can suggest things in the replies as well. :)

I'd definitely tackle it again in the future. Daemonos, which is a demonolatry series/serial I'd like to write, deals with intense religious trauma, and potentially religious trauma recovery. But that requires so much worldbuilding that I'm looking to do Mallory & Mount first.

I would also say The Golden Age that Never Was does deal with politico-religious cult indoctrination trauma recovery. Jack has been raised in essentially a politico-religious system where Gavril is the Godking, the shadows are the enemy, and the light is the purest thing there is. His trauma recovery revolves around unlearning cult-style brainwashing, indoctrination, the idea of Gavril as Godly, and much much more.

Would I ever write a contemporary religious trauma recovery story? I don't think so. I tend to like shoving all of my issues with certain religions into fantasy fiction, lmao. But certainly, the Chantry is a nice metaphor for a lot of organised Christian religions in Stuck on the Puzzle, as an example.

[lurking-latinist]

Sixie and Evelyn for the AU meme?

I was SO excited to get this ask and I'm so sorry that it's taken me ages to get to it! I really wanted to do it justice and to be honest I'm still not perfectly happy with what I've got--I find Evelyn really hard to write precisely because I love her so much--but hopefully it will be fun and maybe spark other people's ideas!

(As a reminder, the AU meme is in the pinned post on my blog!)

Snippets below cut

1. Wild West

“Now then, Doc,” said the schoolteacher. “I reckon you’re not here to learn readin’ and writin’.”

“No, ma’am,” he said. “As it happens, I’m after a history lesson.”

2. Coffee Shop

“You’ve saved my life,” said the coffee shop proprietor, hands in the pockets of his patchwork apron.

“It’s only a cake,” said Evelyn. “I like making them. I really do!”

“All the same,” he said. “I shudder to think what the patrons would’ve said if I’d had to tell them the only baked goods available were of my cooking.”

3. Pirates

(That’s not an AU that’s canonical)

“You know this is all your fault,” whispered Evelyn.

“Mine?” The Doctor’s face was a picture of cherubic innocence.

“It was you that came up with ‘Evil Evelyn’!” She lifted a hand in an abortive gesture of frustration, earning yet another round of raucous cheers from her new self-appointed followers.

“I didn’t expect you to become a legend!”

Evelyn the Pirate Queen smiled. “You should’ve thought ahead, then, shouldn’t you?”

4. … In SPACE!!

(Space opera crossover: Vorkosigan Saga)

"I'm sorry about him," said the historian, with an obviously fond smile. "Thank you for agreeing to an interview, Vicereine."

"Oh, call me Cordelia."

5. Schoolfic

(Obviously they’re still the teachers)

“Mrs Smythe?”

“Yes, Emily?”

“I thought this was a history field trip,” said the little girl in her surprisingly piercing voice. “Why is Mr Smith from science with us?”

“He wanted to come,” said the history teacher vaguely. “Now you see, boys and girls, it’s never too late to learn about our country’s past!”

From the back of the bus, Mr Smith flashed her an unrepentant, conspiratorial grin.

6. Urban Fantasy

"Now why exactly did you feel it necessary to interrupt my lecture?" Evelyn demanded.

"You won't believe this." The oddly-dressed stranger sighed. "I could... smell there's something wrong."

She gave him a look. "You're one of these people that thinks they're a werewolf, aren't you?"

"Not exactly." He looked uncomfortable and slightly sheepish. "Actually, I'm a were-cat."

7. Regency/Historical

"Sitting out yet another dance together, are we? Do you think I'm too old to be gossiped about?"

He smiled. "I think you're too wise to care."

8. Magic/Fairy Tale

The kingdom was celebrating the birth of twins to the king and queen.

"The princess will be wise and learned and always know her own mind," said the good fairy Evelyn at the christening.

"The prince will be curious and witty and never at a loss for words," promised her companion.

The queen, who was not entirely without common sense, whispered to the king, "Is there anyone we forgot to invite?"

"Nobody," replied the king confidently.

The fairy godparents shared a glance, suddenly preparing for trouble.

(but I cannot let this pass without reccing Kitty @strange-destinations's actual full-length Six & Evelyn fairy tale AU, "live in the along": https://archiveofourown.org/works/26815372)

9. Canon Divergence

INQUISITOR: There is only one way to rebut the evidence of the Matrix, Doctor, and that is to produce witnesses who can support your version of events. Can you do that?

DOCTOR: Well, of course I can't. You know I can't.

INQUISITOR: Then we must accept the Valeyard's evidence.

DOCTOR: Any witnesses I might produce are scattered all over the universe and all through time. How can I find them now?

EVELYN, entering the courtroom: Oh dear. Hello Doctor. What have you gotten yourself into?

(I love Mel, as everyone knows, but I can’t help thinking that Evelyn might have been a more convincing character witness!)

10. Crime/Detectives

“Doctor,” said the deceptively harmless little old lady as soon as her friend picked up the phone, “I think we’ve got another case for you and your box of tricks.”

“Forensic laboratory, Evelyn,” he laughed. “Let me guess—a terrible murder and the police are baffled?”

“Well…” she said. “It’s forgery. At least I think so. One John Draper’s will of 1590, which inexplicably disinherits his daughter Frances—I suspect her brothers tampered with the document.”

“A pressing case indeed. I’ll be right over.”

-----

anyway I love them your honor and this gave me a great excuse to relisten to several audios, thank you lu <3

eta: here’s the ao3 link! https://archiveofourown.org/works/33872827

[pebblysand]

[may '21] - the life update no one asked for (and some quick links)

Hello team! How are you? What a month it has been! But: we have had some proper sun, the days are getting longer, I have gin&tonic with me to give me fuel to write this and it is now the 30th of april - yay! I know I'm bending the rules of these monthly posts a bit there, by writing the may post by anticipation but I really want to focus on 'proper' writing this weekend, so I hope that you will forgive me :).

But, first, some quick links to different blog pages you might not see on mobile :

to read my fics [links to the hinny ficfest fics: one ; two ; three]

to read my original work

fic recs [new additions]

proper blog/site [that I never update but maybe one day I’ll bother]

[NOTE: i am currently accepting prompts for short ficlets on the hp fandom if you fancy. my ask box is open :).]

Everything else, under the cut (contains: ETAs for current WIPs - say, if you’re waiting for chapter 8 of castles, for instance... -, reading lists, and life update)

Currently, I’m writing:

**Castles [HP - post-war canon]**

links extended a/n-s: chapter v ; chapter vi

This is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT the priority for the coming days. We are having a bank holiday here in Ireland on Monday and the main objective now is to get the first draft of next chapter done. I have the outlines (both general and particular) and have - maybe - around 15% of the actual chapter done. Due to external factors (more on that below), I've had quite a hard time finding the time and energy to actually focus on this over the past few weeks which is why I kind of booked out this weekend to Get Shit Done. Hopefully, it works. ETA for next chapter: 30th May.

**R O A R series**

Harry&Hermione one-shot [ETA: July probably]

An original horror/thriller story [ETA: this is the next thing (after castles chap 8 on the agenda. Considering the ETA for chapter 8 of castles, we're probably looking at beginning of June for this.]

Something to fill this silk prompt [ETA: TBD]

That Peaky Blinders fic I started and never finished [ETA: TBD]

** Hinny Ficfest **

I am very happy to announce that I'll have not one but two short stories coming out for the upcoming hinny ficfest. I obviously can't talk about them too much on here but here's what I can tell you.

- the first one will be called: [like fire in the rain] and answers to prompt 78 - "truth or dare". It's a short three sentence story (a format I used to enjoy but haven't done on tumblr in aaaaages) that's a bit angsty (you know me) and is set within the 'sunlit days' in year 6.

- the second one, I'm not too sure of the title yet, but right now I'm thinking of a line from a song by passenger called 'holes': [she said the wolf's just a puppy and the door's double-locked (so what'd you gotta worry me for?)]. this is (loosely) inspired by prompt 27 (Molly finding out about Ginny/Harry) the summer after the war, but has kind of grown into a what-if-castles-wasn't-my-headcanon kind of fic. It's currently just shy of 3,000 words. I'm considering posting it on AO3/FF as well by the time it comes out on here but I'm not sure. We'll see.

They're both fully written but need a bit of polish but will definitely be ready by the 10th :).

Currently, I’m reading:

Calypso by David Sedaris: I've finished this! It was absolutely lovely - would highly recommend if you're looking for a nice, non-fiction read. I'd probably give it four stars. Not magnificent but definitely worth a read.

I’ve started re-reading the Divergent series because I have the attention span of a five year old atm. -- Update: yeah, still there. I don't think I've picked this up recently.

I've also started Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly. I really loved her thriller He Said/She Said so thought I'd give it a try. For now, it's fine but I've found it sort of hard to get into it if I'm honest.

I’m still labouring through Troubled Blood, the JKR/RobertGalbraith book (ugh), but I have made significant progress on this. I'm on page 789 so almost at the end. I cannot wait to be finished with it. On top of everything else, it's just way too long. And, that's coming from someone whose favourite HP book is OOTP.

In other news:

I have to say, this month's been a bit of a struggle. Not in terms of mental health but just a lot of things happening at once. I had my exams at the start of the month, obviously, then I went home to France. Then, Ireland decided to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine so I had to change my tickets, come back early to avoid it. Then, the day before I left, my mother had a stroke. I just - I don't want to dwell on this too much. It's over, now, she's fine, has (from what the MRI showed) very little damage to her brain. She's at home and living her best life. Frankly, she's a bit of a miracle. This being said, I can't explain to you the stress and anxiety and heartache of last few weeks, and of not knowing what to do. Of not being able to fly home, having to be in Ireland because I was starting a new job and couldn't afford the hotel quarantine; it was just a lot. I think I didn't even have words to put on it at the time, which is why I didn't write about it before. It's easier now, now that it's over. In the thick of it, I didn't know where to start.

Now, I also didn't want to mention this because I don't mean it as a sob story. I just feel like I should explain why I haven't been the best at putting content out, lately. For that first week after it happened, when we were waiting for the medical exams to come through, I had to start a new job, pretend to be 'happy to be here' and 'excited' like everything was fine and that alone kind of sucked all the energy out of me. I was texting her every half hour at the same time, anxiously waiting for a reply. She lives alone, you see, and she's the only family I have left. I feel bad about not being able to write, but it's been hard. I just couldn't focus. On top of that, while the new job is interesting (and it pays money, yaaaay!), it's just a new routine to get back into, so I've also been feeling very tired.

Additionally, the extrovert in me has been begging to see more of her mates, lately. The weather has been really nice and I'm so eager to go out that I have struggled to keep my resolutions of 'no, I'm staying in and writing tonight.' I used to get plenty of social interactions at work, back in the day, but now that I'm fully remote, all I want to do on my days off is see people (especially with the easing of restrictions in Ireland). I feel like overall, it's fair, though. Introverts have struggled in our society for years, now, it's fair that we, extroverts, during the pandemic, bear more of the burden. It's just that this sudden return of my social life has also not truly catered to much writing time, haha. Hopefully, May will be more stable.

I am feeling better, now. Mum is doing good, the results of her MRI were very positive and the only real thing that's changed is that she says she's 'exhausted' which I guess can be expected after a stroke, haha. She's a warrior and I love her. This week, I've been feeling finally more able to focus and with the bank holiday, I really hope to get some proper writing done. I just need to escape in the magic of HP again, haha.

Anyways, sorry for this rather grim update. I suppose I also want to be honest and say that it's not always rainbows and butterflies. Here's to May, though. Hopefully, it'll treat us better :).

[yoificfinder]

Can you please rec some domestic established relationship fics?

Nonnie, I think more than half of YOI fics out there are domestic established relationship because that = post-series Victuuri, lbr. So boy do I have so many rec (put a limit of one fic per author tho. And also tried not to include fics I've already recced but you should check out the masterlist). I'm sure I still missed a lot of great fics so other recs are welcome!

And in my dreams, i'm Christmasing with you by SnarkyBreeze [T, 5K]

The presents appear to be arranged into four sections. Some of them are big, worryingly big, and Yuuri wonders if he’s going to have to mail them home instead of packing them away in his luggage. Each little section is labeled with a little card that hints at its contents.

Something you want…

Something you need…

Something to wear…

Something to read…

It’s sickeningly cute, and exactly the kind of thing Viktor likes, and Yuuri feels guilty just looking at the pristine packaging.

blessed by fnix_archive / @forovnix [T, 1K]

Victor’s a cuddler, which is a surprise to absolutely no one. The man is huge, all broad shoulders and lean muscle and long limbs meant for being wrapped around someone else. Yuuri.

come get you some of that bounce baby by @crossroadswrite [T, 4K]

“What are you doing?” Yuuri asks, side-eyeing him as he bends his arms behind his back, legs stretched into a perfect split.

“Delivering justice onto this cruel and unusual world.”

“Whoever trashed me on social media is not worth it, Vitya.”

(Or: in which they're happily married, coaching Russia's and Japan's next great skaters, and Victor Nikiforov remains the clingiest, thirstiest man on the face of this planet.)

How to Surprise Your Fiancé With Pork: An Honest Walkthrough by Viktor Nikiforov by @orchids-and-fictional-cities [T, 5K]

The thing with Viktor is that once he’s set his mind on something, there is a very very minuscule chance of him not following through on said thing.

He wants to do something for Yuuri: partly as a Valentine’s Day gift, partly as a prelude to Worlds, and partly ‘just because’. It’s somewhere between dwelling on the abstract thought of Yuuri’s hunger as a competitor, and watching the younger skater on Facetime with his mother back home, that an idea starts to form.

--

This is how Katsuki Yuuri, the love of his life, the apple of his eye, the fire of his loins et cetera, ad infinitum, finds Viktor when he walks into the door: standing precariously with one foot on a barstool and the other on top of his counter, frantically fanning at his smoke detector with a magazine.

i've been up nights making you my god by @kevystel [G, 3K]

The flight is twelve hours and Yuuri sleeps the whole time, head on Viktor’s shoulder, hand curled in Viktor’s jacket pocket underneath their shared blanket, earbuds buzzing a quiet insect harmony in the space between their throats. Viktor snores. Yuuri drools.

(Or, Viktor Nikiforov is very much in love and doesn't know how to deal with it)

In Celebration of an Off-Season by ayn2390 / @rougeandtonic [T, 4K]

"Your coach thinks you've worked hard this year. He thinks you deserve to relax."

"And what does my fiance think?" Yuuri asks.

Victor smirks mischievously and says, "Well, your fiance is looking forward to seeing your belly again."

in the spaces between by sixpences / @thetwoguineabook

Yuuri's life in St Petersburg is spread between four languages.

Losing Never Felt So Good by Ashida / @captain-erwinmerica [M, 1K]

He’d never had to stay on his toes this much before, never had to watch himself and be aware of his surroundings, because their latest game had been going on for weeks now and it wasn’t going to stop any time soon. He hoped it never did.

In which Victor and Yuuri compete against each other for the silliest things, and Victor couldn't be happier.

Naked Body, Naked Souls by @mypoorfaves [E, 3K]

“Have I ever told you,” comes Victor’s soft murmur, “that I’m not afraid to be naked in front of you?”

Yuuri hums a small laugh at the comment, memories of Victor standing proudly in his family’s hot springs, naked as the day he was born, flashing through his mind. “It seems you have no problem being naked in front of the entire world,” Yuuri replies, but Victor only shakes his head.

“There’s a difference between wearing no clothes and being naked,” he says. “I’m not afraid to be naked in front of you, Yuuri.”

Of Adoration and Heart Conditions by smudgesofink [T, 2K]

“Coffee?” Victor offers, for a lack of things to say, and raises his own cup.

“Coffee.” Yuuri parrots. He blinks, intrigued, and then shuffles nearer until he’s close enough to pull on Victor’s hands supporting the mug, his fingertips radiating warmth from where they brush against Victor’s skin. Yuuri takes a sip, closing his eyes, and makes the first happy noise at the back of his throat.

Victor almost swoons.

(Is swooning one of the symptoms of a heart condition? Is Victor dying?)

In which Yuuri is too beautiful in the mornings and Victor may or may not be having a heart attack because of it.

R/Ridiculous by phoenixwings [G, 2K]

I [32M] have to do laundry twice a week now because my husband [28M] keeps wearing my clothes, but I don’t want to ask him to stop because he looks so good in them. What should I do?

Yuuri glanced over the replies, most of which were some variation of “please stop posting these, you’re clogging up the feed”. Yuuri smirked as he wrote his own response.

Buy more clothes.

-quadflipkatsudon

In which Yuuri leaving his laptop open somehow leads to his husband being ridiculous on Reddit.

Safety Hazards in St. Petersburg by @lucycamui [E, 4K]

In which Yuuri moves in with Victor in St. Petersburg and Victor discovers just how distracting living with him can be.

Alternatively titled, How Many Ways Can Victor Hurt Himself? or Idiots in Love

snapshots from the edge of forever by @alykapediaaa [T, 2K]

video description: a three-minute compilation of Yuuri chasing after dogs and petting them.

12,421 likes

v-nikiforov My husband, the dog whisperer.

(Five snapshots from the Katsuki-Nikiforov Honeymoon.)

the soft animal of your body by @stammiviktor [E, 6K]

It happens like this every March, in the run-up to Worlds and the tail-end of winter. Somewhere during the ten-hour days of drills and run-throughs and conditioning, Viktor begins to go numb.

Yuuri warms him against his skin, brings back feeling everywhere he touches, but the cold sinks deeper within Viktor than even his husband can go.

Viktor and Yuuri have been married a year, living together for three, but are still learning new ways to take care of one another.

the st. petersburg rules by @thehandsingsweapon [T, 4K]

two people who live together always make rules. these are some of viktor's and yuuri's.

(in which we consider: the dishes, the laundry, the terrible things the refrigerator has seen, and how viktor wins all the important fights without ever making yuuri lose them).

--

ETA - Other people's rec:

@sophialala1 recs her own fics Stranger Danger, The past is the past..., and You and me against the world

[harrys-reverie]

Dog Years // Harry Styles O.U.

Part 3: The Bookstore

a/n: hey everyone! welcome to part 3 of dog years. sorry it took so long on the update -- i just got back to college. i hope you enjoy this chapter!!! i personally consider it harry’s very subtle way of opening up to people (how i’d imagine it) as always like, SHARE, COMMENTS, feedback, all appreciated!!! xoo

STORY PAGE I PART ONE I PART TWO

To be fair I didn’t hear from Jeff or Harry for two whole days. I was starting to feel like they lowkey didn’t want me to be part of their ‘team’ anymore. I couldn’t be bothered even if they didn’t, because at the end of the day I worked for Eve, not them. But at the same time all I could do was sit and recollect about my night with all of them. Everything seemed to go so well, and i really thought they liked me. I liked them.

So since Eve figured my pay was now around the clock, if I wasn’t doing anything that I needed to do be doing something. It was just a bunch of menial tasks like picking up  garbage around the premises, scooping up vile dog shit and what not. Honestly, it kind of sucked. I rather be fetching candles and dropping them off to Harry.

But finally it was Sunday and it was my day off. A part of me wanted to go back to my nans house, stop in and say hi. Then I remembered Sunday’s were her brunch and bingo days and she went out with all her cute old lady friends. I was starting to feel extremely lonely.

So I was left to myself in my little cottage. It was pretty relaxing, but all the time cooped up in here was becoming boring and repetitive. And to think I had 4 months left of this. Just sitting in my bed scrolling through shopping sites putting tons of clothes in a cart I’d never get around to purchasing. Even being payed around the clock wasn’t enough to buy a whole new wardrobe.

So yes, I was starting to get a little antsy that I heard nothing from Harry or Jeff. I sneakily biked by Harry’s cottage multiple times to see if he was still there throughout the two days, and his car was still parked in the driveway each time. I hadn’t seen him even around the premises at all doing anything. Or anyone from his group for that matter. I tried to tell myself by the end of the first day that they were all just super hungover. I knew that was a stretch but it eased my mind. Then yesterday rolled around and I had no comforting excuses for why I hadn’t heard from them.

I expressed my worry to Eve and she insisted that they were probably just getting settled. Okay, I’ll take that. That’s got to be it, right?

As I continued to worry in my head about what may have gone wrong I reached for my phone. Nope, no messages. Fuck. This was quickly becoming a bad habit, constantly checking my phone. Bravely I pressed Jeff’s contact, hovering my thumb over the call option. Should I try to reach out? Eh. Sighing, I locked the phone and tossed it to my side. If they needed me, they would act on it. I didn’t want to be a nuisance and bother any of them.

Focusing my attention back on my laptop I popped open a new tab on my Safari browser. I began typing his name, enter and then search.

Instantly an endless amount of brand new and just days old articles displayed across my screen. Harry Styles this, Harry Styles that. There was one recurring theme throughout all of these article titles though, a girls name - Camille.

“Camille Rowe, ex lover of musician Harry Styles states that he’s ‘overly jealous and begged her to stay when they broke up!’ Oh no, poor H. Read more here.”

“Apparently Harry Styles is a Freak in the Sheets! Ex Girlfriend Camille Rowe recollects on her sex life with the pop star in her new book ’Truth Be Told.’”

“Feeling bad about getting cheated on? Don’t feel bad,Harry Styles has been in your shoes too...his ex girlfriend opens up about the mistakes she made that ultimately led to the lyrics of Harry’s sophomore album, Fine Line.”

I couldn’t help but let out a gasp, all this couldn’t be true, could it? I exited out of the tab quickly, afraid to go on and read more of those terrible headlines. I honestly felt bad if all that was true, and if Harry’s ex girlfriend really did that, then I could only imagine how he might be feeling.

I could tell Harry really valued his privacy, why else would he be out here in the middle of nowhere in complete hiding? I thought back to him telling me how he had a disdain for California, I was now beginning to think she had some sort of connection to it. Poor Harry. Almost instantly I was feeling guilty, like I invaded Harry’s privacy by seeing all of those headlines. Imagining what the whole world most think and know of him right now is extremely unsettling. To bring up how he has sex and his most vulnerable moments and just like everyone know about it, it’s beyond fucked up.

Ting.

The world has a funny way of working making connections sometimes. Deep down in my gut I had a feeling it’d be Harry or Jeff who left me a text, it just had to be. Before I even reached my phone I saw the capital H, I knew it was Harry. Of course, he was texting me now, after I saw all that and felt so fucking bad. If he was any other person I’d ask if he wanted to have a nice chat, bring over some ice cream and wine and help him relax.

I wasn’t slow to swipe up on the message and see what he wrote.

‘Hiiiii Colette. Hope you’re well, it’s Harry. Have a huge favor to ask you whenever you get the chance. X”

Hah, he’s acting me for a favor as if I’m not getting paid to help him with whatever he needs. He’s too nice. I didn’t hesitate to start typing back.

‘Hi, Harry! How are you? I’ve been just well! As for the favor...sure anything :)”

Not even five seconds later my phone was vibrating and ringing at the same time, Harry’s name flashing across the screen. Ah, so he’s one of those people who have to make phone calls for everything. My hands felt like jelly as I went to accept the call. Even though we had a great night, him not talking to me for a couple days made me rethink how great that night might’ve actually been. Maybe I was just super tipsy and thought it was amazing when it was just subpar.

“Hello?” I chimed, placing the phone to my ear.

His deep Americanized-British accent greeted me, “Morning Colette!” He sounded extra chirpy this morning.

“Harry! Haven’t heard from you in a while..” I replied nervously.

There was a small pause. “Sorry ‘bout that just keeping busy and what not. I meant to text but, I was so preoccupied I forgot. ‘M sorry, won’t pull something like that again.”

My heart felt like it was being squeezed, my intention was never to make him feel bad but I could sense that I did. I wondered how stressful it was on him always being so kind to everyone, literally everyone. At all times of the day.  I had a feeling that most of the time he was putting on an act when deep down he was just having real human problems that he had to keep tucked away.

“Don’t apologize,” I rushed. “It’s fine, seriously. What’s up?”

“A little bit of this, a little bit of that,” He joked. I could hear his soft chuckle from the other line. “Sunday’s.”

“The most relaxing day,” I noted, it was true.

“Relaxing enough where I feel like I should take some time and start a book.”

Oh, fuck. There wasn’t much enthusiasm in his voice anymore. I had a feeling I knew where all of this was heading, and I didn’t like it.

“Any day is a great day to start a book,” I suggested trying to hide my nerves. The universe really was one giant head fuck.

“Actually the favor I was going to ask you,” Harry drawled, a slight tinge of hesitation is his voice. “I really want this specific book.”

Yep, this was his heading right where I thought it would.

“Ooo which one?” I questioned excitedly, like I didn’t know. I was really hoping he’d take me by surprise and say that new Twilight book or something.

“It’s called Truth Be Told. Actually, bet it’s sold out everywhere. Can’t even Amazon fuckin’ Prime it.” He laughed. Maybe he was taking this a lot lighter than I thought...?

“Y’ know what. I don’t need it. Um, do you have any book recs?” Harry rushed.

“If you want that book I’ll go out in town and look for it, but if not I do have some recommendations,” I offered.

“Okay, how ‘bout this? I’ll lend you my car and could you get me that uh, Truth book or whatever and also, get me a book you recommend for me and I have one I recommend for you.”

“You trust me in your car? I just only started to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road,” I admitted with a smile, not like he could see it.

“If ya crash my car, I wouldn’t even try coming back...avoid the wrath of Harry Styles at all costs,” He countered.

“Uh-oh I’m scared,” I fake gasped.

“Hm, should be. I’m not like the papers say, ‘m actually a real diva.”

I was starting to really like this conversation.

“A lot of work, huh?”

“You think you can handle it?”

It’s like I could hear his smirk through the phone. This conversation went really, might I say flirtatious, really fast. I knew it was just his personality and I shouldn’t over think it. But if there is one thing I loved in life, it was a good flirt. And Harry, he was good at it.

I must have been zoned out for a moment because I heard Harry awkwardly clear his throat when I didn’t reply back to his flirtatious line.

“So ‘m gonna pick you up actually. We’ll go back to mine and then you can head off to get those books? Sound good?” He spoke into the line.

“Oh yeah, sure.”

“See ya soon.”

With a click, the call was finished. As much as I wanted to sit back and recollect on what the fuck went down in that call I knew I needed to get out of bed and make myself presentable. He didn’t give me an ETA so I assumed I didn’t have much time on the clock.

I ran to my overflowing duffle, with all the time on my hands I really needed to get around to unpacking it. Was it bad that I wanted to try to look a little more dressed up than just jeans and a tee?

Yep, it was probably bad because I shouldn’t care how I look in front of him.

“Ugh!” I exclaimed, rummaging through all the wrinkled clothing. I settled on black jeans and a black blouse. It looked a bit funeral-esque, I’m hoping it came off as chic. I’d look like a rag doll next to him anyway, the least I could do was try.

He really wanted to go and get his ex girlfriend’s book, huh? I don’t know why he’d want to do that to himself, either way I was going to play dumb as rocks when he gave me the list of the name and author of the book. It’s not entirely an act though, I just read a few headlines. Correction, I just google searched his name and scrolled throw a bunch of headlines about how you have sex and cry — how terrible that would sound if he knew it was true. I will be taking that one to the grave with me.

I swore not even 5 minutes had passed by and the purring of Harry’s engine was already echoing through my house. He was only up the hill after all, but he gave me absolutely zero time to fix myself up. I just had to suck it up and go out there with my frizzy hair and oily skin and tough it out.

But that wasn’t even my biggest concern, my biggest concern was the fact I, a shit driver in the first place, was now being trusted to drive Harry’s extremely fancy Range Rover to a book store of some sorts somewhere. As soon as we traded off the car my plan was to start Google mapping a place and praying that it was close. The quicker I’m in and out of that vehicle, the better.

My phone pinged.

Harry.

“Should’ve gone to the bathroom before I left. Can I come in for a quick wee? X”

I just couldn’t get a break, my bathroom was cluttered with skincare products and dirty clothes piling on the side. I ran to the bathroom swiping up the dirty clothes and tossing them in an empty drawer in the dresser. He’ll just have to excuse all my beauty products, I didn’t want to keep him waiting too long.

“Come in!!!” I texted him back.

The sound of a car door slam was almost instantly followed by a polite knock at my door. Although the cottages were spread far apart I rushed over to the door, not wanting him to stay outside too long, afraid he might get noticed.

I peered through the peephole and was blessed by the handsome looks of Harry. He was tapping his foot against the cobblestone, the hood of his Nike rain jacket pulled over his head completely, while his hair was covered by a black beanie. Even being so covered up he was still so good looking. I opened the door for him, allowing him inside.

“Hi there,” He grinned as I welcomed him in. I’d love to chat but ‘m actually bout to wee my pants. Give me a moment please.”

Harry then fast walked his way over to the bathroom, obviously familiar with the floor plan. He must’ve stayed in one of the smaller cottages before. The smell of his heavenly cologne suffocated the room instantly. I knew I’d still be smelling it lingering in the air even later on tonight.

All the rushing to get ready and let him in, I wasn’t even focused on my stomach which was knotting like crazy. It felt like it could explode from nerves at just any minute. I don’t remember ever feeling this nervous when I had to see him. Granted I’ve only seen him those two times, but I played it off so cool then. I think I was just working myself up over nothing right now.

I heard the sound of running water and momentarily the steps of his shoes making their way back over to me.

“Can we redo the greeting?” He questioned with a big smile.

“Ok..”

“No, ‘m actually just going to pop outside, knock again and everything,” Harry insisted seriously.

“I’ll pretend like you didn’t just rush to the bathroom like a toddler who hasn’t gone to the bathroom all day,” I agreed, going along with his little act.

“Great.”

Harry popped open the front door, shutting it behind him and going back into the hazy morning air, doing a quick spin before making contact with the door once again.

Knock.

I couldn’t help but giggle as I opened up the door for him the second time.

“Morning Colette, how are ya doing on this fine September morning?” Harry asked me extra cheerily, creeping in for a hug. I embraced him back, the scent of his cologne engulfing my senses once again.

“Doing just fine Mr. Styles. Could I offer you some tea?” I asked in a proper tone, putting on my best imitation of a British accent.

Harry rolled his eyes, breaking the act...”That’s the best you got? You’ve only bloody been staying in England for a whole month.”

“Is it that bad?” I asked appalled.

“Terrible.”

“Better luck next time.” I sighed jokingly.

“Don’t even try. I like your voice just how it is naturally, anyway,” He spoke honestly. The second it left his mouth he too looked taken aback at the compliment he had just thrown at me.

“Want to go get those books?” I suggested awkwardly, dismissing his compliment and changing the topic. Back to business.

Harry seemed surprised by how I brushed it off and maybe even a little embarrassed, his finger began fiddling with his bottom lip. I was starting to pick up that was a little thing he did when he was nervous.

“The books. How could I forget,” He replied dully.

“If i’m being honest I don’t even know where a book store is around here,” I huffed.

“I do,” He smirked.

“Well that’s no help considering I’m going by myself,” I rolled my eyes back at him playfully.

Harry was leaning his body weight on the wooden table by the entrance, a huge smirk painted on his face.

“Guess you’re outta luck then.”

“Would it be bad if I asked for you to come with and guide me?” I asked bravely. I was taking myself by surprise with how upfront I was being towards him. It was just so hard not to be when he was just so normal.

His face dropped a little. I couldn’t tell what sort of reaction he was feeling towards my question but he looked upset. I instantly regretted it because I know my request was about to be rejected.

“As much as I’d love to...” Harry began. “I can’t.”

“Stupid of me to ask,” I replied casually brushing it off. I wanted to change the topic.

“No, it’s not. Maybe I’m better off ordering books online, anyways.”

“I mean, I could still, go get it for you. Something to do.”

Harry brushed it off, shoving his hands in his sweat pockets. “Nope, don’t want you to anymore..the ratings weren’t even that good.”

Oh wow, Harry has some pettiness in him. I couldn’t blame him though. I think anybody else would feel the same way. I wanted to just reach out and tell him I knew why he wanted that book, and that it’s not even worth a bother. I really felt for him. I too had a bad ex, as we typically all do. I can’t say it was as bad as Harry’s past relationship, but mine was bad in it’s own unique way.

“Fuck it.” He mumbled before turning his gaze back towards me. “Let’s go get them books.”

I was surprised, “Really?”

“I hate to do this and act like a macho pop star  but ‘m really gonna have to go incognito. Can’t even step out the car with ya unfortunately, but I’ll drive us.”

My heart warmed at his offer, I knew he was probably going against what his strict hiding rules were in order to go through with this. If he was just driving a heavily tinted car though, was there still a way for paparazzi to notice him? I was excited, I think he could tell because he let out a small giggle, shaking his head.

“Let’s hit the road then!” I exclaimed.

“After you,” He grinned, holding the door open in front of me and leading me to his car.

_________________

The ride with Harry was going well. He had a incognito get up of sunglasses, a beanie and his hood up, making sure there was no way someone could detect it was him. His car smelled like fresh leather and mint, there was an abundance of chewing gum packets stashed in the front compartment of his car along with miscellaneous receipts. Lucky for the both of us, the roads were almost completely clear and there was no traffic heading into town.

Harry was just as attractive looking while driving as I thought he would be. To be fair there was something so enticing about having any guy drive all manly and taking control. But especially Harry driving was a beautiful sight to see. The background music of the radio was humming in the background as the two of us chatted along casually.

“How are you going to recommend me a book if you can’t even come in?” I questioned him.

He turned to me, “Who said I’m not coming in?”

“You did!”

“Might just be your lucky day then,” He smirked. “Do you have a good recommendation in mind for me? Shall we surprise one another?”

I nodded my head, “Sounds like a plan.”

“No soppy romantic books, please,” He scoffed.

“But those are my favorites!”

“Don’t care. I’ve probably read all the best of them anyways,” Harry argued back, a huge smirk painted on his face.

Deep down I knew already which book I was going to pick out for him if it was there. I didn’t care if it was a romantic one or not because I had a feeling he hadn’t read it yet and I had an ever greater feeling that he’d fall in love with it.

The two of us went back and forth chatting to each other another until we began to reach a cobblestone path that led to a small selection of shops. The plaza was secluded and had just a few small buildings overgrown with ivy unevenly placed amongst one another. I’d say there was a max of 5 or 6 cars in the whole parking lot. To be fair, we were pretty far out of town I’d say we had been driving for at least 20 minutes.

“You ready?” He questioned. I could tell there was a hint of nerves in his voice. He was awkwardly fiddling with his wallet and pushing his hood down. He was now just left with his oversized black beanies and sunglasses as his ‘disguise.’

“Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to,” I insisted earnestly. I didn’t want to push him to be in a situation that could get messy really quick.

“I’ll be fine here,” Harry reasoned, turning his gaze to the entrance of a little shop by the name of ‘Greg’s Books and More.’

“If anything goes bad, it wasn’t my fault!”

I didn’t want to be responsible for anything that might ensue, after all Harry was the one who insisted to walk in the shop with me. I had a good feeling that we’d be set though, there was literally nobody around and we were far from any major city with large amounts of people.

The two of us hopped out simultaneously shutting the car doors together. Walking side by side with him in the bright daylight made me more aware of the height difference between us, one I had barely ever noticed before. His single strides were equivalent to almost double mine and his shoulders were just a slight amount higher than my eye level.

“Good morning!” A sweet old man, short and stout greeted us from behind a counter of the shop. Harry and I both waved back.

“Morning sir, how are ya doing today?” Harry asked kindly, stopping short to stand and talk to the man.

“Just having a cuppa, enjoying the Sunday,” The man replied. “Let me know if you two kids have any questions.”

I shot the man another small smile before turning to Harry. “May the best book picker win?” I joked.

“You’ve got 10 minutes.”

“1...2..” I began counting down, but before I could even reach the number three, Harry was already rushing to the rows of books, an agenda already on his mind. He seemed so confident in what he was going to pick that I soon began to re think what I was going to choose for his book.

I hurriedly rushed to the other side of the bookstore, scanning the shelves with my eyes. The shop was small and I could hear Harry rummaging through shelves on the opppsite side. I had 10 minutes to find the book I had in mind, something I loved that I wanted to pass on to Harry.

The thought of trading off books to someone who a very intimate gesture, an invitation to be apart of another’s brain. I still couldn’t believe I was here right now with Harry Styles, a now friend, spending my Sunday out and about the town. I knew it was my day off but I knew when I arrived back to my cottage I’d want to inform Eve.

As my eyes panned over the endless covers and names of authors and titles a familiar bright blue and green cover popped up. Ah, I knew what this was. Before I had even fully removed it from the shelf, the yellow cursive script was already showing.

Love is a Mix Tape.

Given his career in music I knew right away this would be the perfect book for him. I had read it months ago, but the impact it left on me remained the same. A story not specifically circled around romance, but hints at the struggles of love and loss. It was funny and a joy to read.

I looked over the book making sure there were no imperfections, torn pages or bent covers. Luckily there was none, I angled it to my side hiding it just in case he’d pop out of of nowhere.

Walking up to the cash register there was no sign of him, he was probably still amongst the jungle of books so I took this as my invitation to check out.

“Hi,” I chirped to the old man who sat behind the desk, his glasses almost falling off his face as he read through the book in front of him.

“Hello there love, you all set?” He asked, walking over to the vintage-like cash register.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I put the book down between us already beginning to reach in my purse for my wallet. I really hoped Harry hasn’t read this one yet.

“Can I just give you money to cover both my book and the other customers? Like, pass it on..” I spoke handing the man almost triple the amount of my single book. He looked at me inquisitively and then began to smile.

“I’m sure that young man will appreciate it,” He smiles, a glimmer of knowingness in his eyes.  I knew the gesture was small and i knew money was not a problem for him but I had such an urge to just do it anyways.

I thanked the man as he wrapped up the book and placed it in a brown paper bag, graciously taking it from him. Harry was still amongst the jungle of shelves and I didn’t want to prowl or cause attention so I decided to wait outside the store. The air was fresh and crisp, the sound of chirping birds and whistling trees engulfed my senses. I’m almost sure Harry had reached his 10 minute mark, but I wasn’t going to rush him. I had a feeling it was a rare occurrence for him to be able to aimlessly shop around, crowd free.

“Ya ready?” His voice erupted behind me, the bell of the door pinging in the quiet air. I turned to face him, his paper bag tucked underneath his arm.

“Not really,” I joked, it wasn’t a complete lie though. I wouldn’t mind shopping around with him in little hideaways all day. Harry caught up to me and we began the short walk back to his car in quiet. As my hand began to reach the handle he quickly swooped in front of me, opening it himself. I looked at him with a stupid look on my face, in awe of a gentleman.

“Oh thanks,” I spoke sheepishly.

“My pleasure.”

I hopped in and moments later Harry was back in the drivers seat beside me pressing the car on and pumping up the heat.

“Thanks, by the way.” He gestured to the paper bag.

“Oh, not a problem at all! Random acts of kindness or whatever,” I brushed it off.

“Not used to someone covering the bill,” He admitted. “Not like that type of stuff matters to me.”

“Well don’t even worry about it.”

“I’ll get you back next time,” He noted.

Next time. So there’s going to be a next time? A next time of us going to the book store? A next time of us hanging out? A next time of what?

“Should we swap these books or what?” I questioned, changing the topic once again.

“So eager, huh?” Harry laughed.

“Well we’re just sitting here in a empty parking lot, you have any other suggestions?”

“You’re right,” He quipped. “Here you are then.”

The two of us exchanged the bags. He lifted it to his ear, shaking it as if it was a surprise gift and he was trying to guess what it could be.

“Just get on with it!” I exclaimed.

“Hush, hush.” He began opening it, very carefully, soon revealing the book I had chosen for him.

“Lucky for you, I’ve never read this. Thank you,” He seemed very grateful as he looked over the front cover, going back and forth between the pages quickly. “I’m excited.”

“Thank God,” I huffed. “I was nervous you’d have read it before.”

“Nope, never. You did good,” Harry compliments, his eyes falling back to my unopened bag in my hands. “Now it’s your turn.”

Oh, yeah.

“I hate when people watch me open stuff,” I admitted. My hand was toying with the bag as I looked at him nervously. I didn’t like people watching me because I was afraid that I wouldn’t give off the right reaction to whatever they may have given me. It was too much pressure, and especially Harry watching me so intently it made me nervous.

“Want me to turn away?” He offered earnestly. “I know people like that, my sister.”

“Maybe just like causally look out the car or whatever.”

Immediately he began fiddling with his windshield wipers, intently focusing on them as if they were some sort of puzzle. I wanted to tell him not to use them when it wasn’t raining and it’d damage the car, but I’m sure he knew that. I took that as my queue to quickly unpack-age the book, afraid he might cause damage.

When I opened it up it revealed not one but two books. The one on top made my heart sink, I recognized the title right away. It was his ex girlfriends book. Why would he give this one to me? Should I act like I know what it is and what it’s about? No. Play dumb. Underneath it though, was a book by the name of ‘Betting On The Muse’ by Charles Bakowski. Ah, poetry.

“You done yet slowpoke?” Harry interrupted  my thoughts, the two books sat between my lap.

“You can look,” I complied. “Are they both for me?”

“Yes,” He replied simply. “But, I have some stipulations.”

“This wasn’t a part of the deal.”

“I would like if you read the Bukowski book first. It’s poems, I want you to read them and guess which one is my favorite when you’re finished,” He instructed sweetly. Although there was direction in his tone, it came off so kind. “As for the other one..” He paused and then let out a huff.

“I don’t even want you to touch it,” He continued. “Don’t look it up, reviews, synopsis...anything.”

“Okay,” I agreed. I was confused but I didn’t want to let that on.

“One day, if I give you the ‘ok’ I want you to read it. If you want. You don’t have to listen to me by any means, but yeah,” He finished awkwardly.

“So just hold onto it?” I asked, holding up the Truth Be Told book. His eyes glimpsed down to it before quickly shooting back up to meet my gaze. The cover was what I was assuming to be her, his ex. Her hair was messy, lips full, topless with her arms covering her breasts in shades of black and white.

“Yeah, just hold on to it,” He stated.

“You’ve got my word,” I smiled. I could feel the tension in the car and I didn’t want it anymore. This was supposed to be a lighthearted excursion and I wanted to keep it that way.

“Great, well thank you for the books. I’ll start mine right away,” Harry began as he started the car once again. “You ready to take back off?”

I nodded watching him look over the book I had gotten him one last time. He smiled at it before turning to smile towards me. I smiled back. He then brought his hand to the radio, clicked a few things on his iPhone and then turned the notch up loudly. As he began to pull out of the cobblestone parking lot, the beautiful sound of his voice filled the car. This time it was in song.

[wangxianficrecs]

Hello — thank you so much for your fic recommendations! I very much look forward to your posts. I hope you don’t mind, but I have a quick question: do you know what has happened to ‘From Me to You’ by Ceta? I read it recently — maybe this 4-6 weeks ago? — and now it seems to be hidden or unavailable on Ao3. I really appreciate your help!

Oh no, I hate it when that happens.  I’m no familiar with that story, but certainly works come and go for many reasons.  Actually, I’ve started downloading PDFs of the works I rec, ‘cause it seems to happen at a higher rate in this fandom (I’ve got a huge backlog to get through).

Does anyone else know what happened?

ETA:  @candicewright (who is on fire today) replied:  I was actually wondering what fic that I had bookmarked had been hidden, and I'm sad to hear it's this one. It appears as a mystery work in a collection called 'holding cell'. I have the link to the fic but I can't find it on wayback machine. That's all I could find, unfortunately :'( 

The good news is that, in my experience, authors who put their story under Mystery Works are much more likely to reveal it again after... whatever reason they went private is resolved.  It’s happened twice in this fandom that I’ve noticed.  So at least the work is still there.

Here’s a reminder to readers:  PLEASE don’t nitpick or ‘gently correct/educate’ or shame authors over their works.  Even when you think you’re being nice about whatever cultural aspect or naming convention or whatever-the-thing you believe they got wrong it’s... just not your business.  People write for all kinds of different reasons, and we all suffer when an author feels too hurt or shamed or angry to share their work because the public is on their ass.  I’m a mother, and I say this as often as my own mother did:  If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Hello! I'd like to just say first, thank you so much for always answering fic recs for people. It's so kind of you to go out of your way and write them all down, with thoughts and research into them as well! And I'm so sorry to come at you with a recommendation of more fics but I'm struggling to properly fall into a story at the moment and eruri always fixes it! Do you have any good recs that are super long, multi-chapter? I seem to have read all the common ones!

Hello Anon! Thank you for you lovely message.  Honestly it’s a real pleasure to reply to fic rec asks because there are so many insanely talented writers in this fandom who have given me many so hours of reading enjoyment 💕 I compiled a rec list of long ass slow burn fics not long ago, but there are a lot more to add to the list.  I suspect you may already have read a lot of these, but hopefully you’ll find one or two that hit that sweet spot.  I should add that I haven’t read all of these, but I know others have enjoyed them. 

I wish the sea would wash you away (then bring you back to me) by kusuriuri, 15,063 words, 1 chapter.

I’m only going to heaven (if it feels like hell) by @stereobone, 16,970, 1 chapter.

Again by @cherryamber, 39,712 words, 8 chapters.

all your demons and desires and dark sides by Carthage, 65,024 words, 10 chapters.

Gilded by Night by rivai-lution, 66,797 words, 18 chapters.

Toeing the line by @stillmadaboutpetra, 72,838 words, 18 chapters.

HMS Maria by @lostcauses-noregrets, 85,512 words, 19 chapters.

Four Years Later by @everythingshiny, 92,279 words, 18 chapters. 

Sugar by @damnchou, 101,447 words, 12 chapters. 

Final Tour by @ackbang, 131,964 words, 22 chapters.

Project Leviathan by Palmira, 135,568 words, 5 chapters.

Spellbound by @ladymacbethsspot, 181,597 words, 34 chapters. 

The Companion by @everythingshiny, 189, 365 words, 31 chapters. 

Audacity by shoi, 195, 284 words, 49 chapters.

In These Fallen Leaves by @masksarehot2, 210,263 words, 32 chapters.

CODA by @tidal-sehnsucht, 222,217 words, 27 chapters.

In Full Bloom by @damnchou, 245, 387 words, 32 chapters (unfinished).

Smack by @valisi-clark, 275,865 words, 34 chapters (unfinished).

He Chose Titans by @masksarehot2, 486,106 words, 43 chapters.

ETA…

The Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings by DrButtons / @drbuttonsss​, 123,187 words, 14 chapters (ongoing).

The Blue by bowowline, 176,103 words, 14 chapters.

When in doubt, use violence by no_tengo_porque, 853,055 words, 65 chapters. 

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Do you guys have any fics set in like victorian era or something similar?

Hey Nonnie,

I’ve found two for you: The Moments in Between by Korn95 and This Earthly Paradise by GlassParade.

Readers: if you know of any others, please help us out, thank you!

Hugs,

Marjan

~~~~~~

The Moments in Between by Korn95

Set in Victorian England, Blaine is just starting out in the world of banking, his life is technically perfect, when he decides to help a pale boy rifling through his bins. Little does he know that by helping this boy, his life will never be the same again. Starts off slow but stick with me guys, it gets much better. :D

~~~~~~

This Earthly Paradise by GlassParade

In Victorian England, Kurt Hummel is a struggling artist and contemporary of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an organization of painters, poets, and critics who strive to turn the art establishment of England on its very head. His mentor, one Dante Gabriel Rossetti, has grown tired of Kurt's reluctance to grow as an artist, and so enter Blaine Anderson, an artists' model of Bohemian disposition and eye-catching good looks. Can he, using rather unorthodox methods, succeed where Rossetti has not?

[ETA] @lilyvandersteen​ and I were working on replying to the ask at the same time. I have a couple additional fic recs. - HKVoyage

The Buried Life by CrissColferL0ve

Victorian!Klaine. Set in the 1830s. After becoming orphaned, Kurt is taken in by Frederick Anderson, as Kurt's mother was once his governess. Here, at the Anderson Manor, Kurt meets Mr. Anderson's son, Blaine and something more than a friendship forms.

~~~~~

Wont Tell Anyone by karanoaoi

The Royal family has never had a problem securing their claim to the throne. That was until now. The King and Queen have been unable to bear any children passed their only son, Blaine. Now when their reign is threatened by other Nobel families that declare their family as weak, they turn to the one way they know that will show everyone their family line has not ended. Having their son marry and produce a strong line of heirs. BP!Kurt and MPREG!Kurt

Sequel: Make a Move 

[wernerherzogs]

Same, DRARRY ofc!!! I was like 99% sure that must've been your otp too but I had to ask. I've taken to reading more drarry fics again recently bc I am A Slut for enemies to lovers and there's just sooooo many good ones ugh, do you remember any of your faves? You have excellent taste in fics, I'd love a rec

AMAZING!!!!!! GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, ETC. 🤝 i am unable to rec any stuff though, it's been Literal Long Years since i read drarry fic last, you know? like 15 years or more. and the only fic in english that i can recall was Maya's, but idk if it's even online anymore. 😔 but DROP DEAD GORGEOUS WAS /IT/, MAN.

but anyway, pretty sure @loveloveolivia and @gloriaandrews still read drarry, so maybe try asking them? i'd gladly reblog a rec list of some new-ish drarry fics from someone for sure!

ETA: ANON PEEP THE REPLIES!!!!! thank you to my friends for recs!!!!!

[jlf23tumble]

hi hello jen💕 i always love the recs you give and i guess it's my turn to ask for some recs, even though you've already been giving out a lot today! the deleted sketch really made me want to read some jock!harry fics so i was wondering if you had any good recs for that? like some jock!harry larry fics feels a bit too... hetero if you know what i mean?

Lmao, that’s fine, they’re easy to give! I’m just running around today, so it’s tougher to be more thorough (like, I *know* I have an amazing swimteam one, and I cannot find it, don’t really have time to search for it, ugh). ANYWAY, UH YUH, I KNOW THE VIBE OF WHICH YOU SPEAK, U R SAFE HERE! These aren’t all necessarily bh, but they are *not* asshole jock Harry:

Give It to Me (I’m Worth It), by sweaterpawstyles, louis/harry, 3.8k words, E. Louis can’t resist Harry in the red shorts that he wore during the James Corden skit. Featuring locker room sex. (look, it’s a stretch, but they’re playing sports, and I love it, so enjoy!)

So Much Left to Say, by myownspark, louis/harry, 7.6k words, M. Harry and Louis play for rival high school football teams, and when they play against each other in the Homecoming game, someone has to lose. (SO FUCKING SOFT AND TENDER, I get major Hush vibes from it)

Strength in Softness, by larrymylove, louis/harry, 16k words, M. As he started at the picture, he wondered if Harry had pink nail varnish on his toes when it was taken, and what other tattoos and secrets he had buried underneath his workout gear and hard expression. (personal trainer Harry, lots of emotional things happening)

and your light’s always shining on series, by orphan_account (needs ao3), louis/harry, 16.8k words, E. Louis sends him lots of messages with exclamation marks and so proud of u haz !! and that save was brilliant ! and u look so cute when ur angry :p. Harry replies back with lots of heart emojis and pictures of himself shirtless and still in bed, grinning like an idiot, and Louis saves all of Harry’s pictures. (louis plays for real madrid, harry plays for liverpool)

All the Right Moves, by cherrystreet, louis/harry, 32k words, E. This is the third game in a row that Harry has been distracted by the noisy boy in the stands, five rows back. There’s really no reason that he should feel compelled to stare into the audience as frequently as he is, but he can’t help it. This boy is a nuisance. And he’s loud. Even from basketball court with nine other players running by him, shoes squeaking on the shiny hardwood floor, and thousands of cheering college students. (basketball star Harry Styles!!)

Be My Little Good Luck Charm, by 100percentsassy, louis/harry, 34k words, E.  In which Harry is a promising amateur golfer making his debut at the PGA Championship, and Louis is a Sky Sports anchor who would really rather be commentating on footie. (a modern classic)

Small Does series, by QuickedWeen, louis/harry, 45k words, E. Louis Tomlinson finds himself at Vitality Fitness to try and turn his life around after having left his cheating boyfriend of four years. The gym’s owner, Liam, quickly becomes a good friend, but his right hand man is rude and dismissive from the get-go. (I know, I know, I love it, okay?)

One for Luck, by leavingonatrain, louis/harry, 96k words, E. The very first time Louis remembers hearing Harry Styles’ deep, deep voice, he’s just won gold at the World Equestrian Games and he’s officially back on Great Britain’s Olympic team. He’s also three sheets to the wind, drunk on victory and champagne, and there’s a gorgeous boy whispering in his ear. Life’s grand. (so many AMAZING horse fics out there, i stg)

The Finish Line (Is a Good Place to Start), by loadedgunn, louis/harry, 121k words, E. Louis Tomlinson, one-time Formula 1 World Champion, is looking forward to the 2013 season. He’s got Zayn in his garage and Liam in his ear, he’s got Cowell Racing backing him despite former indiscretions, he’s got experience and the best race car out there. Not to mention he’s the only racer they have, after Oliver dropped out late last year.It hasn’t occurred to him that Oliver would have to be replaced by February. That is, until he finds himself at a party celebrating Harry Styles leaving Ferrari for Cowell. (oh, MAN, a fave)

..and if you want to cry with me about an amazing wip, check out The Joy I’ve Named Shall Not Be Tamed, by 100percentsassy and gloriaandews, where  Louis is a flash-in-the-pan tennis star trying to mount a comeback after what should have been a career-ending injury. Harry, who walked away from tennis just as he was poised to dominate the sport, is his new coach.

ETA: I FOUND THE SWIM TEAM ONE, THEY ARE BOTH JOCKS, HOORAY!

[makeste]

Index of BnHA Stuff (Essays/Metas/Misc.) (old version)

this is part two of my giant index of all my BnHA chapter recaps, essays, and so forth (see part one for more on why I split them up). the other indexes are linked below.

index of the indexes:

manga recaps (no spoilers)

essays/metas/misc.

anime recaps/other anime stuff

fic recs

manga recaps cont. (spoilers)

---

part two of the index (essays, metas, and so forth) is below the cut.

(ETA: this is the original version of my bnha meta index! it is not sorted by category, and is in chronological posting order with both spoiler and non-spoiler posts. I’m keeping the post up because I know some people have it saved for reference, but moving forward all new metas will be added to my two new indexes instead:

essays/metas/misc (no spoilers)

essays/metas/misc (spoilers)

this post is current to about chapter 277 or thereabouts. anyways, that’s all!)

---------------------------------------

essays/metas/misc.:

---------------------------------------

(tag: bnha meta)

(also please take note of posts marked with **manga spoilers**!)

BnHA Bonus Rant: Top 10 Anime Betrayals (a.k.a. who is the U.A. Traitor)

BnHA Bonus Rant #2: Dad for One (a.k.a. All for One is Deku’s dad)

Nighteye Deserved Better: The Essay

on superhero culture in BnHA, and Horikoshi’s concept of what makes a hero

and part 2 of the above, featuring a lot of rambling about Bakugou

the good, the bad, and the basement (a.k.a. my list of pros and cons of the Overhaul Arc) (this one has some very good replies from @elanorpam and @herongale (who I can’t tag for some reason) in the comments that are honestly more worth reading than my initial post lol)

BnHA Bonus Rant #3: “Kacchan”

BnHA Bonus Rant #4: Bakumom

top ten characters as of March 2019 (**manga spoilers**)

regarding the parallels and contrasts between Deku and Gentle

on fandom’s response to chapter 192  (**manga spoilers**)

on Endeavor and whether or not he can be redeemed (**manga spoilers**)

piecing together the whole Dabi thing and the Todoroki flashbacks (**manga spoilers**)

and an addendum to that which isn’t actually my meta (credit to @baezetsu) but is cool regardless so I’ll link it here (**manga spoilers**)

ranking of the class B kids’ quirks (**manga spoilers**)

weird theory post related to the you-know-whats from chapter 193 (**manga spoilers**)

my predictions for future arcs, as of chapter 228 or thereabouts (**manga spoilers**)

“could you do a meta about Bakugou’s expression in chapter 40?” (yes. yes I can)

the new BakuDeku status quo (**manga spoilers**)

“do you think Bakugou is unusually divisive for a shounen rival?”

Top 10 Favorite Bakugou Moments

on Shigaraki Tomura and whether or not he can be redeemed (**manga spoilers**)

U.A. Traitor Theory 2: Electric Boogaloo (**manga spoilers**)

favorite BnHA arcs ranked (**manga spoilers**)

“When there’s a wall before your eyes... you smile.” (a.k.a. my giant essay about Bakugou and winning) (**manga spoilers**)

BnHA Bonus Rant # 5: All for One for All (**manga spoilers**)

Top 10 Favorite Deku Moments (**manga spoilers, but tagged**)

“how do you feel about Izuku and Ochako’s romance in the story so far?” (**manga spoilers**)

"when you say Shigaraki will be ‘redeemed’, what exactly does that mean?” a.k.a. another essay about Tomura and whether or not he deserves redemption (**manga spoilers**)

“how do you think Bakugou feels about Izuku choosing ‘Deku’ as his hero name?”

on AFO and his intentions regarding his “heir” (**manga spoilers**)

Favorite BnHA OST Tracks

BnHA Bonus Diversion: Horikoshi’s Sketches

probably like my 500th rant about Deku and Kacchan and their confused relationship (**manga spoilers**)

some musing about the upcoming plot and a forthcoming character interaction (post-ch. 242) (**manga spoilers**)

a hero under construction (a.k.a. essay 700-b about Bakugou, this time specifically about him being a complete and utter shithead in the first chapter, and why he’s still my favorite anyway)

why Kaminari Denki is not the U.A. traitor (and why the traitor is actually Hagakure) (**manga spoilers**)

ITP: an incomplete but lovingly assembled list of people who have it out for my kid (a.k.a. my ranking of possible main antagonists for Bakugou) (**manga spoilers**)

some very brief metaing about chapter 244, the possible implications of Bakugou and Deku reading a certain book, and a potential storm looming on the horizon between Bakugou and a certain other character (**manga spoilers**)

“what I lack” (a.k.a. a chapter 247-prompted essay about Bakugou’s continuing journey as a person) (**manga spoilers**)

a quick meta about Bakugou’s lack of a tragic past, and why I think that’s important

what we could have been (a.k.a. an essay about the differences in Deku and Bakugou compared to All Might and Endeavor) (**manga spoilers**)

“what purpose does our strength serve?” (a.k.a. what Bakugou learned about himself in the latest arc, and what choice he may have settled on) (**manga spoilers**)

meta about what “Kacchan” would potentially mean as a hero name (**manga spoilers**)

some reactions to Horikoshi’s 12/22/19 interview with Cinema Today Japan, particularly his remarks about Bakugou

the mortifying ordeal of being known... and rejected (a.k.a. an essay about the importance of Bakugou and Deku’s bond and how Bakugou secretly fears losing it) (**manga spoilers**)

some predictions on who is & isn’t making it out of the latest arc (**manga spoilers**)

why I think a traitor plot would be good for Hagakure’s development (**manga spoilers**)

so, Heroes Rising (a.k.a. my thoughts on the second BnHA movie) (**manga spoilers**) (**spoilers for Heroes Rising**)

receive, and entrust (or, my rambling thoughts about That One Thing that happens at the end of Heroes Rising) (**manga spoilers**) (**and again, spoilers for Heroes Rising, obviously**)

some more thoughts about Hagakure being the traitor and even possibly being a certain someone’s sister (**manga spoilers**)

killing is not so easy as the innocent believe (a.k.a. a very misguided essay about Hawks lmao) (**manga spoilers**)

some rambling about legacies, and opening up, and All Might has two sons more at 11 (a.k.a. a discussion of Bakugou and Deku and their relationships with All Might) (**manga spoilers**)

a ranking of all the kids in U.A.’s first year by how likely they are to murder a bitch (**manga spoilers**)

my take on a certain someone’s hotly debated actions in chapter 266 (**manga spoilers**)

on Shigaraki Tomura and his motivations and current goals (**manga spoilers**)

some speculation about the role a certain recently-resurrected character might play in regards to the battle against Tomura (**manga spoilers**)

literally just a giant post of Bakugou faces

a series of posts about how short Dabi is (shh, he’s sensitive) - 01 - 02 - 03 - 04 (**manga spoilers**)

“what do you think about the sexualization of the girls in the anime/manga?” (**manga spoilers**)

“how do you feel about the anime changing things from the manga?”

some thoughts about the occasional sexualization of the boys in BnHA as opposed to the girls, and why the two things aren’t equivalent

a theory about Deku (and One for All)’s connection to All for One (**manga spoilers**)

“being a hero means protecting everyone” (or, my thoughts on Katsuki’s character growth as of chapter 274) (**manga spoilers**)

my thoughts on Shouto sometimes being left out of BKDK antics, and the TDBKDK dynamic and how it works in the series

“...just to protect you.” (a.k.a. "why Deku still hasn’t told anyone else about OFA”) (**manga spoilers**)

some brief musings on why I think [insert spoiler character] is going to lose their quirk (**manga spoilers**)

some more meta about why said character losing their quirk would kickstart some long-awaited character development (**manga spoilers**)

obstacles do not block the path -- they are the path (a.k.a. yet another meta about this person losing their quirk, and how the series has been foreshadowing it, and why I think it should happen) (**manga spoilers**)

a bit of a rant about the ratio of male to female characters in the series, and why Horikoshi had better not mess with the lady heroes we do have (**manga spoilers**)

some speculation on a certain character’s future role in the series after the injuries they sustained in chapters 267& 271 (**manga spoilers**)

some brief thoughts on the “Eri can just heal such and such” theories that crop up from time to time (**manga spoilers**)

quick rambly post about my initial thoughts on Bakugou and why I loved him from the start

needlessly long and tangent-y post about whether or not Bakugou should have any more angst in the series, feat. a comparison to various other characters’ traumas just for perspective (**manga spoilers**)

yet more meta about a certain character hypothetically becoming quirkless, and what kind of impact it might have on them, and how they would try to move forward (**manga spoilers**)

“do you think OFA’s secret should be shared with more than Bakugou?” (**manga spoilers**)

top ten characters as of July 2020 (**manga spoilers**)

---------------------------------------

other people’s meta / meta back-and-forth:

---------------------------------------

more essaying about AFO and whether or not he’s the final villain (thequietmanno1) (**manga spoilers**)

on Re-Destro and the source of the “stress” that fuels his quirk (thequietmanno1) (**manga spoilers**)

more discussion about BnHA 237, and the bystander effect (thequietmanno1) (**manga spoilers**)

some meta on chapter 236 regarding Kotaro, [redacted]’s quirk upgrade, and potential ways for AFO to continue tormenting the Shimuras in the future (thequietmanno1) (**manga spoilers**) 

if you’re going to stan a villain, stan them as a villain (a.k.a. some musings on whether liking a character isn’t the same thing as endorsing all of their actions) (waywardhellhound) (**manga spoilers**)

a brief meta on what we know about Kacchan and Deku’s childhood friendship and them knowing each other since they were lil babbies (class1akids) (**manga spoilers**)