#IHtBY

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #25: A decade-long journey with Sokka and Azula

Yep. I can't believe it's been a full decade either, but here we are. Ten years later and it feels like it was yesterday, almost.

On this month on Patreon, I figured I'd just make a larger sort of tribute to my long journey as a fic writer. I've had ups and downs, big moments and small, but ultimately, that I've had the chance to be here for as many years as I have is certainly a privilege, and one I don't take for granted.

I've met lots of great people because of my participation in this fandom, particularly in the Sokkla community. I've honestly made some of the best friends I've ever known through the past ten years. I've graduated from university, I've grown in many ways as a person, artist and writer, something that kid right out of high school would have never imagined possible when she first set out on this journey with zero clue of how far it would take her, and how important this would be for her in the years to follow.

After all this time, it feels like the red string of fate from The Reason has woven itself through all my stories afterwards, resulting in a very curious relationship between all these stories and the one that started it all. I mean, technically it was OoPB that started everything X'D but The Reason is by far the flagship of that particular setting. I haven't even revisited those stories in forever, but I really am glad that I did it for this particular purpose.

Alright then, if you would like the specifics regarding which story is being referenced (in case you don't know), keep reading!

The Reason, the source of the red string that then spills down into the rest of the artworks!

Gladiator Part 1, the handshake that started it all.

It Had To Be You, their unintentional first date!

Gladiator Part 2... this is honestly just a general thematic Sokkla make-out session, which as we know they were very likely to do throughout Part 2 x'D

The Love Advisor, reading a book together for the first time.

The White Lotus International Games, their rejoicing after they rushed their finals to watch each other winning at their competitions.

Matching Heartbeats... I picked the Yakuza AU as a reference to this one because people really missed it this year. But DAMN did those tattoos kick my ass to kingdom come, most difficult part of this entire mini project x'D

Underneath Starlit Skies, I picked the final scene of the Happy Family prompt because I couldn't decide on a better scene from any of the other prompts that year hahaha.

Leap of Faith, here I chose my personal favorite story from this year, Toph matchmaking Sokka and Azula, with Sokka in his councilman outfit and Azula in her ambassador attire.

Gladiator Part 3... spoilersssssss!

Alas, it was crazy to work on a project like this one on relatively short notice and pull it off regardless. I did know I wanted to do something like this, should the chance arise, and it kinda did? So I'm really glad I could finish it, maybe not exactly on time (two days late actually), but still within this month, haha.

I really hope you guys enjoy this massive piece, thank you to everyone who has been supporting me for the last decade, whether those who have been here all along, those who have only come by my work recently, as well as those who come and go. That my stories have touched anyone's lives is a miracle to me, and one I won't ever stop cherishing.

Thank you for ten years of Sokka and Azula <3

(... and as ever, feel free to join my Patreon too if you would like to do so...)

[fleetwoodmcs]

It Had to Be You; a Roy Kent fanfiction

Chapter 1 now posted on AO3

Millie held out her hand and Roy shook it. Then, his nose crinkled. “Your name is Millie?” “Yes. Problem?” “Is it short for Millicent?” “What?” What the bloody hell did her nickname have to do with anything?

[ronearoundblindly]

Ok so #13/11 for IHTBY or #6

17 for RoaR

if and when you have time and int your heart.

you are the bomb

\o/

I'm gonna combine 11 & 6 for Steve and Precious (which will be a continuation of this smutty setup) and then, yep, Ransom would absolutely enjoy marking up his rich lady love 🤭

Prompts are from this list.

[fayes-fics]

Ooohooohooo my friend, my FRIEND, so many good things on your list!

So for the WIP Ask Game I am TORN. I’d love a snippet from Friends and Family but I’d also HAPPILY gobble up something from IHTBY. Both? 🥹👉👈

Nahhhh you don’t have to! I’m SUPER CURIOUS about both of them so surprise me! 🫣 Whichever you pick I KNOW it’ll be good! 🫶🫶

HI lovely!!

You are always so kind! 🫶🥹

So I don't have much from Friends and Family to share yet - sorry, I hope to work on it this week!

As an apology, below the cut is an Anthony (and Kate) snippet from the current draft of It Had To Be You: Chapter 8

“Holy shit!!” Kate shrieks, startling Anthony from his slumber.

“What?!? What is it?!?” he sits bolt upright, half-asleep but panicked, her tone causing bile to rise in his throat. Whatever it is has to be serious.

“It finally fucking happened!” she exclaims, clutching her phone to her chest, an almost maniacal grin claiming her beautiful features as she leans back against the headboard and kicks her feet up gleefully.

"What the hell are you talking about?” Anthony urges, anxiety rolling off him in waves.

“Check your phone,” she nods to his bedside table. 

He snatches the phone, alarmed. There is a pause while he reads a text, and then he sighs, slumping his head into his hands.

“Kate,” he exhales, rubbing his eyes, “for fucks sake. I thought the world was bloody ending! Or at least someone had fucking died…. Not that my brother had sex.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Kate retorts, staring at him as if he is some alien creature. “Our best friends just fucked. HOW IS THAT NOT WORLD CHANGING NEWS?!?”

Thanks for your ask, my dear. 😁🧡🧡

[kigozula]

"Human beings were social by nature, and socializing had nothing to do with parties, or group outings, or catching venereal diseases because of reckless underage sex… so what was the problem if he decided to socialize through the Internet instead? What was the big deal if he chose to talk with people with similar interests to his own instead of getting drunk with people he wanted nothing to do with?"

It Had To Be You by Seyary

This!! This is one of the best things I've read. I love this one-shot altogether, a very good ModernAu. And I love it how Sokka is portrayed here. Tbh, the whole Team Avatar is very good and Azula of course. But Sokka is amazing here. As a boy, as a student, as teenager, as a son, brother, friend and lover*_*.

And especially this part is very good. To show that Sokka here makes so much sense and doesn't get influenced by others shit. A decent and wonderful teenage boy who is special and beautiful.

This quote is extremely good.

And a VERY VEEEEERRYYY PERFECT MESSAGE!! !!!!!!

Can't wait for the continuations. Nice long-shot =')

[figchn]

CHAPTER 2

April Showers: Expect the Expected and then Some...

continued from Chapter 1

“Did you see how her face turned white like this?” Faustina’s poor attempt at imitation did little to calm Puri’s nerves.

“But you’re all right now, aren’t you?”, Faustina’s eyes crinkled into half-moons as she turned towards the other girl and patted her on the shoulder. Puri replied with a small smile and a nod.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like it with your hands gripping so tightly on your cup.” The faintest of lines formed on Faustina’s forehead “Say, did my brother say anything strange or funny to you earlier?”

“Why do you always think so lowly of me, Tining?” Fabian groaned.

He had been smoking in the far end of the room beside the large windows that looked into the garden below. The next moment, he was leaning over the center table and taking out his cigar on the carved ashtray that lay on it.

“She’s just shy. Aren’t you, Puri?, he smiled as he glanced towards her.

Puri restrained flinching. There was something uncomfortable being given a nickname by someone who was, after all, practically a stranger. She stood up and set her teacup and saucer on the table.

“May I excuse myself for a moment?”

Puri locked the door behind her and glanced at her reflection. The mirror’s gilded frame did nothing but highlight her frazzled appearance. She made a face at her faded dress that had the color of, and looked as fresh as a bunch of dried leaves. Usually, she dressed up as nicely as she could because she did give a lot of importance to appearance.  It was just that she didn’t think she had to worry so much about that when she took the early morning train that day. She felt some shame being in the same room as the Fajardo siblings and the realization made her think even smaller of herself.

Puri could not help but wonder at how she got herself into this situation in the first place. Was not the fence built to keep strange people like her away? Even with how polite and charming they had, so far, been to her, she knew enough to know that they inhabited a world quite different from hers.

For one, theirs was a world with the true marvel that was indoor plumbing, she thought while staring at the sparkling sheen of the porcelain toilet. Maybe they had invited her in out of pity after they had seen her tattered suitcase and had heard the badly timed growling of her stomach. Puri shook her head at the memory. Consoling herself, she thought, “They probably asked me on a whim. These rich people are always bored. If they want someone to play with, and then play with them I shall.”

Puri took one last deep breath before stepping out of the washroom. Feigning confidence, she strutted down the hallway leading back to the living room. Before she could turn the corner, a figure emerged from the opposite direction causing her to stumble backward. Puri stopped her backward momentum a step before crashing into glass case of a life-sized statue of Saint Anne who soon received a short prayer of apology from the girl.  

When Puri looked back, she saw the man from the corner turned towards her. She couldn’t quite make out his face with the light of the open windows coming in from behind him. Puri opened her mouth to apologize but before she could make any sound, the man turned and walked away. She decided it best to wait there for a few moments lest they suspiciously return to the living room together.

She looked around and the saints that lined the hallway looked down on her with their unblinking but kindly eyes.  Her earlier resolve at not letting the situation get the better of her had dissolved almost completely. Scared that she might make a fool of herself once more, she walked slowly without making a sound.

“Who allowed you two to let strangers into the house?”, Puri heard a man’s voice hiss in a low tone as she neared the living room. He sat on one of the solo wicker chairs with his back turned against her and she recognized the figure belonged to the man from earlier.

“Aren’t you being too much, Milyong?”, said Faustina, pouting.

Fabian, who was still pacing around the chairs followed “Yep, and besides, Puri isn’t a stranger. Look, there she is now!”

“Well, don’t just stand there! Sit here beside me”, Faustina patted the space next to her with expectant eyes.

Puri shuffled to the chaise and hesitated a bit before sitting down. She lowered her eyes and kept them fixed on her shoes.

“My brother and I have been terrible to you, Puri. We forgot to mention that we are also guests in this house. We’re the Fajardo children, by the way, and we live down the street.”, Faustina sounded too casual to be sincerely apologetic.  “But don’t worry, everyone’s welcome in the good doctor Tayson’s home. Well, at least, downstairs, anyway. Our old friend Maximiliano here just has a nasty bark, but he never bites.”

 “Well, now that’s out of the way... Maxi, meet your new number one fan!”, Fabian cheered.

“We know the stuff you play isn’t much appreciated yet around these parts, so we got excited when we heard someone clap right after today’s morning performance”, Faustina added. “We thought maybe you could be friends.”

“Wouldn’t it a refreshing change from the usual jeers of the old man next door?”, Fabian chided. “Puri, go tell him how you felt about his playing. He always thinks we’re just joking when we tell him he’s good.”

Puri finally looked up and saw Milyong’s eyes studying her face behind his round spectacles. She trained her eyes on the crystal ashtray on the table, instead. “To be honest, the song you were playing had been stuck in my head all morning even before I passed by. I couldn’t remember the words to it, and I wondered if I might ever hear it again ...so I .. I was amazed to hear it here and I clapped. That’s all ”.

Milyong scoffed.

“Oh, come on, now...Milyong, is that any way to treat your guest?” Faustina frowned at him and was going to say more but was interrupted by the clock striking eight.

“Shouldn’t we be going by now? I’ll call the chauffeur.”, Fabian was out of the room in seconds.

“I almost forgot! I told you earlier that you could have one of my suitcases. I must go check if they’ve already been brought in.”, Faustina quickly rose from her seat.

“Oh no, Ma’am Faustina, thank you but I can’t accept. You’ve already given me so much ...so much food”, Puri tried to reason.

“But you only took exactly two sips of the coffee. I was watching you the whole time. Do you not like the food?” Faustina suddenly wore a grave expression which made Puri want to run away from her.

 “Also, don’t call me Faustina ...” .

“I didn’t mean t-”

Faustina broke into a breathy laugh. “Just call me Tining... was what I was going to say. I’m sorry for doing that. You’re just so uptight that I couldn’t help it.” She heaved a long contented sigh before walking out the room.

Puri could see now how the two Fabian siblings were indeed related. She wondered why she didn’t dislike them even if they had acted almost like bullies, and she chided herself for making excuses for them just because they seemed to her like seraph statues escaped from church.

Thinking this, she became aware of a malicious entity that stayed with her in the room. She considered telling him goodbye then sneaking out of the house and just forgetting about the whole morning altogether. She should have been back in her own home an hour ago. Milyong was probably wishing her gone, too, which would explain the dark aura he was emanating.

The thought that he should dislike her when she hasn’t done anything began to annoy her a little. Sure, maybe she had trespassed, but that was not entirely her fault, was it? In any case, she told herself, he is the rude one in the situation. She wondered how such beautiful music could come out of such an unpleasant person. Puri glared at the grandfather’s clock in the corner and watched its pendulum bob with each long second. She heard his teaspoon swirling around his cup in an uneven rhythm.  This did nothing to calm Puri’s nerves. 

She was just about to ask him if he had not stirred his sugar enough yet, when he started. “The song I was playing is actually one of my favorites.”

Puri took her first good look at him. His black coat hung loosely on his frame that was slender, almost fragile, compared to the robustness of the Fajardo siblings. His features, though smaller than most, sat harmoniously on his pale face, the contrast of which, with his dark hair, eyes, and accompanying shadows, added to a general aura of melancholy, if not sickliness. His parted his hair in a style that had been last popular during the turn of century and his equally old-fashioned spectacles sat a little too large on his face. Puri thought he rather looked like the opposite of his house which she found amusing. The corners of her lips turned up involuntarily.

“Getting along well with your new friend, are you, Maxi? I hate to interrupt you two, but we have to leave now” Fabian had suddenly walked into the room.

Milyong stiffened in his seat before abruptly standing up. He paused as if he wanted to say something before leaving the room with his hands clenched to his sides. The sound of his footsteps pounded heavy and fast on the grand wooden staircase.

“Geez, what was that about....” Fabian spoke to no one in particular.

Puri tried to not visibly squirm in the backseat of the Tayson’s roomy six-seater sedan as it rolled out the driveway. She sat beside Faustina who had coerced her into being driven home by refusing to return the suitcase and its newly transferred contents that were now snuggled comfortably in the compartment.

“If it’s not too rude asking, why were you out walking so early, suitcase in hand?”, Tining’s eyes shone with curiosity.

“I was on my way home ..from Manila. I study there but we’re on our break now.”

“Oh really? Fabian and I actually study there, too, and we’d also just driven home this morning. We thought about staying there for a few days more to have some fun and all now that school’s out but we figured Milyong would miss us too much.”  Faustina let out in a stream.

“Even if we see him every weekend. He may not look like it but he actually likes us” Fabian interjected from the back seat where he sat alone.

Puri thought it sensible to not reveal her address to these people she just met when Faustina asked her where she would like to be dropped off.  She asked them to stop at the corner of the main road but Faustina refused on the grounds of the sky being as dark as it was midday. In the end, they eventually reached the very street of Puri’s home. It was a narrow dust road that was too narrow for the car to enter.

“Ooh what bad luck, it just started raining. Can one of you help Puri walk home? I might have packed in a fair bit of, erm, gifts in the suitcase I gave her”, Faustina watched the droplets roll of the window.

“Unfortunately, I’m stuck here so Maxi will have to do it. Besides, he is the only one not in white today.” Fabian almost but shouted from the back.

The driver gave Milyong a look as if to apologize for also being in white before the boy could whine.

Milyong climbed out, slammed the door shut and trudged to the back of a car. Moments later, he was under an umbrella and knocking impatiently on Puri’s window.

“How could you pack only one umbrella?!”, Milyong shouted over the rain.

“Oops. I guess you have to walk beside together then. The umbrella looks large enough.”, Faustina said.

“What if I just walk alone? I’ve alrea-“

“No. You won’t do anything like that.” Puri could not say no to Faustina when she used that tone of voice so she got out and quickly got under the umbrella with Milyong.

“If he gives you any trouble, just bully him like we do, and he’ll stop.”, Fabian shouted.

Milyong glared at him and shut the door even louder than before and started walking. Puri caught up with him to the back of the car.

“Well, go get your stuff. We haven’t got all day.”

Puri gave a great huff as she took the suitcase Faustina had given her. It was twice as large and probably thrice as heavy as her original luggage. ‘What in the world did Faustina put in there?’, she thought. In any case, she felt a little thankful she didn’t have to walk home alone because she indeed needed her two arms to lift the damned thing.

As soon as she had slammed the compartment shut, Milyong started walking again at a rapid pace. Puri tried to keep up but the weight of the suitcase slowed her down significantly.

“You’d get mud in your pants if you keep that up” Fabian shouted from the back window. That seemed to do the trick.

Soon, Milyong and Puri were walking side by side and saying not a word to each other. The water poured down in torrents for a few minutes and it slowed them down greatly. The strip of bare soil they were walking on had turned muddy and they spent a good deal of time trying to skip over them. Rice stalks grew tall on either side of them and seemed to drink up rain. It was still what could only be called the middle of a Philippine summer with its glaring light and stifling humidity. The rain was a welcome respite.

The smell of wet ground permeated the air. All around can be heard the sound of amphibians that had awakened. They hopped gleefully around the fields and out. One of these frogs jumped right in front of Milyong who himself jumped back. The creature hopped away unbothered to the sound of Puri’s laughter.

 “How much further is this house of yours?”, Milyong fumed.

“Why? Are you scared of running into more frogs?”

“No. I just think they’re slimy and their splashing around might make my pants dirtier.”

“It is amazing how your pants are still clean.”, Puri eyed his trousers which were still immaculately black. “It would be a shame if I were to-”

“You wouldn’t dare.”, Milyong’s eyes narrowed.

Puri gave a little stomp of her foot on a muddy puddle, whose resulting splash Milyong deftly dodged.

“Stop it, you crazy woman!”

Milyong had by then taken more than a few steps back from Puri who was quickly getting wetter by the moment. Laughing under the rain like that with her disheveled hair plastered all over her face and neck, she indeed did look quite mad.

“Fabian was right. Annoying you is great fun.”

Puri suddenly found herself having enough energy to run while carrying the suitcase.  She leaped at Milyong who had brought down the umbrella like a shield. The game continued on for a minute or two and greatly hastened their little expedition.

The rain, meanwhile, had quieted into a drizzle, which itself quickly faded as the sun peeked out behind the clothes. Soon, all that remained of the downpour were mud and a certain quality of stickiness to the atmosphere that was almost oppressive.

“Look.”, said Puri, out of breath. The sun had come out triumphantly and cast a golden clear light on everything. The rice fields now positively glowed and seemed like they had grown even taller.

“Oh, thank God.”

Milyong turned around to see the thatched roof of Puri’s house peeking behind a large mango tree. When he glanced back at Puri, she found her hunched over with her hands on her knees.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Puri suddenly felt light-headed and she remembered that the only thing she had eaten all day was two sips of coffee at Milyong’s house. She mentally noted never to refuse free food again.

“No, it’s fine. I can carry it on my own, thank you for your concern. “

“Ehm...are you sure? You really don’t look well.”

Milyong had started to take the suitcase handle off her hands. She quickly swatted him away.

“Yes, besides we’re almost there.”

“If you say so.”, Milyong shrugged.

Puri collected herself and her stuff for what she hoped was the last time that day. She comforted herself with the thought that she was finally almost home after an unusually long morning. She started her walk again, but it did not last very long. The last thing she saw before everything turned black was Milyong’s equally dark silhouette getting farther and farther away. 

For Chapter 3, click here

Author’s Note:

this isn’t the 1920s song from the first chapter also entitled “April Showers” but I think this one fits the whole mood of the chapter better than the song that appears in the story.

[mousefrnk]

For the wip game: gentle, sweet, star, cat, run?

no ‘gentle’ or ‘star’ or ‘cat’ 🙁

Frank kissed him then, soft and sweet, and Gerard had to resist the urge to touch his jaw, to thread his fingers into Frank’s hair.

He almost forgot the tickets in his rush to get out the door and had to run back up the stairs to get the envelope from where it was stuck with a magnet to the fridge.

Send me a word, if it’s in my BBB draft, I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in.

[shinesobrightsometimes]

not that anybody asked and actually I’m always the one asking for fic recs but I think I finally have my top 4 favorite fics of all time and I thought I’d share

1. The Wonderlands

2. Come as You Are

3. Wild Love

4. Escapade

you’re welcome

[kurojiri]

It had to be you

Fandom: Haikyuu!! Pairing: Yaku/Lev Summary: When Yaku met Lev, he honestly wondered why his life had to get complicated. A/N: This is for @indoodle, I hope you enjoy it! A/N II: Part of the @fantasyhaikyuuexchange. Word Count: 947 Or Read on ao3:

The ocean was still a vast world. With different dangers, and one mostly being the surface. That place, had always been what caused deaths of either starvation from the lack of food they could provide, or from the shipwrecks that thundered into their environments. Their existence as a whole had once been a normal thing for the surface dwellers, but once they started killing them for their scales, and voices, they had stopped all communications. Those lessons had been passed down to generations until it had been his turn to hear it and memorize it for the next.

He never wanted to go up there, and had never found a reason to swim up until he saw a young fellow with an uncoordinated style of fumbling around awkwardly as he swam in semi laps. His tail shimmered against the moonlight at the same time his silver hair glowed in Yaku’s peripheral vision. His fair skin, although, had been what truly caught him off guard. In Yaku’s personal experience of meeting and passing other packs, it had been rare to see another merperson with a smooth complexion that featured very few scales scattering across their body. He almost looked like—

“Oi! What are you doing!” His shout had been loud and commanding enough, but still not taken serious when he noticed their upper body was reaching for the surface. “Idiot!”

He swam faster in an attempt to shove them down before any surface dweller could notice them. What he hated, however, was the fact that he needed to stick his head up for the stranger to hear him seeing that he couldn’t pull him fully back under. It was like dealing with a small youngling.

Once his lungs adjusted to the lack of water, Yaku glared at the stranger. “Do you have a death wish? Didn’t your pack ever tell you about the surface dwellers? They could be out there waiting to capture us!”

His glare didn’t dissipate when he locked eyes on the foreign merperson. And with the moonlight still bright and large, Yaku could see clearly how different he was. He had the gills, and the eye shape was there, but not fully. His upper body was too smooth, his teeth were not razor sharp. (Something was wrong there. His own body could feel it.)

The stranger, on the other hand, had started to freak out more. “You have scales! And a tail! Oh my god are you an actual merman!” His hands waved out wildly, and Yaku could see that that were with thin bright fins. “How can I understand you?”

Great, Yaku thought. Out of all the merpeople he found, it had been one with amnesia or a local crazy that had been kicked out by his own pack.

“Of course I can understand you. You’re speaking clearing the same tongue as I am. What else could I be other than a merman? A surface dweller?”

His companion’s silence hit him. He did his best to calm his voice down when he motioned for them to go under the water.

“Come, we really do have to go under before we’re spotted.”

The stranger still looked half exhausted and panicked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Mr. Merman. I have to go back home.” At the end of his sentence, he had gesture one hand over to where a he heard the surface dwellers lived.

His head tilted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Green slit eyes widen further. “Well, duh. I am human.” Then he looked at the fins from his arms. “Well, technically my dad is human. My mom on the other hand…” He let that comment sink in for Yaku.

Who, didn’t need long for him to figure out what he was hinting. He could feel an eye twitch.

“How—never mind.”

The next few weeks after that had been a nightmare. Messy too, if he had to be honest. The human-hybrid, Lev, as he liked to be called had been a very energetic fellow. So much that it had his time with his pack strained in some fashion. Seeing it couldn’t be helped when the guy had a complicated life that consisted with rediscovering that he always had a weird connection with the ocean while growing up. Yaku did his best to teach him what he missed about being a merperson.

He had tried his best to be understanding and patient. He really did. But when he met Lev, he knew life would only get more complicated when his smiles started to affect him.

His heart would flutter too much, and his curiosity for the surface started to trickle further since their meeting. It would only be a matter of time until something would snap for Yaku to lose all his sensibility.

Because, when he came, Yaku saw his world opening. For the better and worse.

“Yaku, I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but have you ever heard of a mermaid with the name of Alisa Haiba?”

The name had sounded familiar; and he hadn’t liked that he did.

“Why?”

“Um, well…” Lev shrugged his shoulders and smiled at him, the kind that said he would complicate Yaku’s life all over again. “She’s my older sister.”

Of course, the only time Yaku was somewhat into anyone, they would be someone complicated like him.

He kissed goodbye his last peaceful day when Lev spilled about him wanting to find his sister. And by the end, Yaku had been right, because when he looked at him all hopeful he couldn't deny helping him. Yaku after all, was the only sensible one out of the two.

(Oh the woes to falling for a guy like Lev Haiba!)

[seyaryminamoto]

Still about the Christmas Sequel to IHTBY, I know I’m mean for it, but it would be hilarious to see Azula actually pranking her parents and Zuko into believing she’s pregnant, when it seems that she and Sokka didn’t even banged yet, in this setting. And the way you depicted Ozai is exactly like I imagine him in a modern setting. Also liked Ursa and Azula’s dynamic. Ursa clearly loves her children, but I can’t blame Azula for resenting her. And poor Zuko seems to be clueless about everything.

x'DDDD oooh hell, the trolling potential there is terrifying. I really don't know if Ozai would ever recover from such a shock. The man is just perpetually paranoid about that concept, he'd believe it 100% and he'd probably make her take an ecography test to make sure it's not true even after she says she's messing around and that it's not possible x'D while Ozai is certainly grateful, deeeeeeeeeep down, that Azula decided to date a good-hearted nerd, of all things, he still is an idiot about protecting his daughter from the evil claws of... this good-hearted nerd xD

I'm glad my depiction of Ozai works for you in this setting! I do know that the popular take is to make Ozai an extremely problematic/abusive parent and spouse regardless of the setting... but I really wanted IHTBY to be a pretty idealistic AU, in general, without the heaviest clouds of canon baggage. Hence why I refused to kill off Kya, I saw that happen so many times in so many AUs and most the time it feels like people just don't think Sokka and Katara could be the same characters without Kya dying? Well, sure thing, because they'd be a lot less traumatized :'D in short, I don't see the drawback in keeping her alive, and having a chance to play with the concept of Kya's character is always enjoyable. So yep, writing a pretty positive and wholesome AU allowed me to think about what kind of man Ozai could be in a world slightly less ruthless than the one we see in canon. And while he's obviously not a great, perfect dude, he's evidently a lot less unpleasant than many other Ozais I've written. (Yakuza AU Ozai still takes the cake in the "worst Ozais I've written" contest, I'd say...)

As for Azula and Ursa's complicated dynamic... yeeeeeah, there's a lot to work with there, haha. I have to admit I've developed a very unexpected liking to the potential bond between these two in later years, because back when I wrote the original IHTBY? I was just soooo mad at Ursa after The Search, so the whole angle in IHTBY of Ursa being with Ikem in secret and cheating on Ozai was mostly about me exteriorizing my frustration with that comic :'D

... Then the joke was on me because then the sequel made Ursa something like an emotional core of the story. The jumpstart of her development, when Azula brings them the invitation to Sokka's family's party, kind of unleashed my brain when it came to her character's potential XD There's a lot that can be done with her character in a lot of settings (... not so much for me in comic-compliant ones, but anyway...), but one of the things that the Christmas story was absolutely going to feature was Ursa finally facing Azula directly, reconciliating with her (and of course, ending things with a certain someone...) and eventually finding her place in her own family once more. So... yeah. I really should get going and just write it xD

Zuko may be the most hilarious character in this story, unintentionally so. He's constantly clueless about things, and in remaining clueless, he's surprisingly way more innocent than anyone expects from him. He was going to have a very lighthearted subplot in the sequel, definitely lighthearted compared to the much heavier plotline with Ursa, so... if you enjoyed clueless Zuko, all the more reason for me to get on with writing the rest of it, haha. He's just really funny in this story, most of all because he's not even trying to be funny XD

[useyourtelescope]

hey hana! hope you've had a wonderful day! 🤗for the time fanfic questions: saturday & march?

Hi Jo! Thank you, today has been a little more chill which is nice - I hope you’ve had a great day too 💕

saturday: what gets you excited whilst writing?

I answered this one here.

march: do you listen to music whilst writing?

I slightly covered this one by accident in the other question linked above lol, but I’ll explain explain why it changes depending on what I’m writing. Sometimes music can really help me get into the mood of what I’m writing, but a lot of the time I find it distracting. If I’m writing a historical AU I like to listen to some instrumentals (e.g. when I wrote my Bellarke Big Bang fic last year which was Regency setting I listened to the Emma 2009 soundtrack a lot), but for modern fics I normally don’t apart frm occasionally a Taylor Swift album.

fanfic asks

[ronearoundblindly]

can i just say that every time i (re)read it had to be you i feel this yearning in my chest cause its so beautifully written. like all your steve fics are magnificent dont get me wrong i love sketch and keeps as well. its just that it had to be you is my current hyperfixation and i want to thank you for its existence

Dearie, you blessing, you beauty, I needed to hear this today.

I am honored that you've giving even one of my stories a shot, but to know someone is reading multiple fics and rereading some multiple times? Ack, I just...

I get so nervous. I am so nervous all the time, yes, but after posting, after things have sat for a while, I always wonder if I could have done better or made it better. IHTBY was my first foray into a true AU, where Steve is not Cap and he has no powers, so to make him still him without those things honestly felt like threading a needle. It felt like writing someone with imposter syndrome while having imposter syndrome. I had fun writing it, sure, but most of the time it didn't feel right in a way that...I can't actually describe.

I can't believe I created something for someone else to fixate on (in a nice way). That's really unexpected and cool!

I'm hugging you for too long now. Feel it?

[fayes-fics]

An AMA night, yesssss!

So my question: I know that you mostly do requests but your WONDERFUL fic It Had to Be You was something you wrote in tribute to one of THE BEST rom coms of all time.

Do you have any other ideas for fics knocking around for either A or B that aren't requests that you'd maybe like to write in 2024?

Hi lovely!

Always love your gif choices hehe. TY for taking part in my ama night 🫶

Aww you are so kind about my fics 🥹🥹🫶 Yes indeed It Had To Be You was a slow burn project, but I really enjoyed writing it. Agreed on WHMS being the best romcom ever 😁

So far, no, sadly, I do not have any non requests I’m working on (as you can see on my wips page) or even planning for in 2024. I only have a couple of vague ideas for short one-shot fics that I might do - an Anthony version of the same premise as A Welcome Intrusion, and a fleeting idea about Byron/Benedict slash - but nothing epic or multi-chapter in the vein of IHTBY.

Tbh I feel sort of exhausted and like my muse is not as reliable as it used to be, so taking on a non request project, certainly a large scale one, just doesn’t seem likely. My main focus is to deplete my request WIPs pile before Season 3 starts and then see where I am.

Sorry my answer is so boring lol. But at least it’s honest haha.

Thanks for your ask my dear 😁🧡🧡

[quiteromantic]

I’m reaaaally taking my time updating It Had To Be You and I’m very sorry about that, but hopefully next week? Have a box of sketches I did for some of my favorite parts... that turned more elaborated than originally planned. (Only one of these hasn’t happened in the story yet)

It’s a slow-build High School AU in case anyone new is interested in reading it. Have a --> (link)

[useyourtelescope]

PART THREE now up! @bellarkebigbang @bellarkebingo

my first of two pieces for the @bellarkebigbang! 💐 the second piece will be posted when the last chapter of the fic goes up

It Had To Be You a Bellamy/Clarke fic by @useyourtelescope

(summary and ao3 link in the reblogs)

[kigozula]

IHTBY & Gladiator

Thank you for existing!!

Because I am slowly sick of other Sokkla fics. All of them I read so far had the same course all the time...