#Ryqo's Q&A

[ryqoshay]

Is it okay if I suggest a sunshine in the mirror Yohariko story?

Yes, it is okay. However, I must unfortunately admit that I've yet to finish watching the series. And with Promptober taking up a good majority of my non-work, non-sleep time, I would say November, at the earliest, is when I might get around to completing it. Then I have to figure out how I want to fit Laelaps into my overall fic universe.

That said, GnY YohaRiko is absolutely on my to-write list. And if a prompt later this month inspires something that works with what I do know of the series, then maybe I'll get to write something earlier.

[ryqoshay]

Please write a one shot or something, of yohariko in Sunshine in the mirror! I love you

Well, I will say this, when I do get to writing a Mirrored YohaRiko, it will almost certainly not be a one shot. If my writing history has proven anything, that is a format that I seem incapable of writing; I will inevitably be inspired to write more, even if months or years later.

That said, GnY YohaRiko is definitely on my ToWrite list as I have plans for a cross-fic "Dissapearance of Yohane" style work I want to write someday. And my initial plan was disrupted with the introduction of Laelaps as a canon familiar/companion. Now I'm not complaining about this, mind you, but it has forced an expansion of said initial plan.

I suppose this means I should finish watching the series... I kinda got sidetracked by some other things.

And finally, IFH's Promptober event starts in a few days. I've no doubt at least one prompt will inspire a YohaRiko entry. Perhaps one of them will be a GnY YohaRiko.

[ryqoshay]

With SIF ending their service on March 31, will you be planning to transfer your album over to the SIF2 service?

This is honestly the first time I have heard about such an option.

I fell out of playing SIF back in 2019, when my work/life ballance was thrown off kilter, to put it mildly. I had every intent of returning, but 2020 and 21 did little help the situation, if anything they made things worse.

It would be nice if this album feature allows the transfer of side stories and the like, so I don't have to desperately start archiving those I did obtain back when I was more active in playing, and scouting. I know I've missed a lot of cards for my favorite girls, but I still remember some of the inspiration those I did get have given me for fic chapters, so I'd love to be able to review them again.

[ryqoshay]

What if Maki had Pinocchio's curse? And every time she went tsundere and lied about her feelings, her nose grew longer?

That sounds like something that could take place in my monster theater AU. Maybe another drunken spell from Nozomi? Or perhaps one cast while she is sober, but is in a particularly teasing mood?

I'll add this one to my notes. Thank you Anon for the prompt.

[ryqoshay]

Maki tries to summon Santa but summons Satan instead (it's Nico)

I honestly feel like there is fan art out there on this topic, and possibly at least one fic and/or doujin.

This isn't to say I'm above reexploring ideas and topics already explored by my fellow fanwork creators. I love being inspired by them or taking something from one ship and translating it over to one of mine, e.g. I recently took an idea presented in a KarinSetsu comic and turned it into YuuAyuSetsu. And I am thrilled to learn when other authors are inspired by my work.

That all said, demon!Nico is indeed a fun idea, but deities save me from adding even more to my queue.

(This all started with my reblogging this post. Which lead to this Anon Ask.)

[ryqoshay]

The demon gf is nico (supported by her Cool SIF UR)

Yeah, I can see that. However, I already have two AUs with Nico and gods help me if I start another. And she's not a demon in either.

That said, Nico does indeed make an adorable demon.

And the SIFAS Elegant UR version of the same outfit is also awesome, imho.

(I'm assuming this Ask is in reference to this post.)

[ryqoshay]

what does your username name mean?

I feel like I've answered an Ask on this topic before, and I was going to link to it, but I'm not readily finding it in my Archive. Oh well. Que zura, zura.

Anyway, the tl;dr version is that Ryqoshay is an intentional misspelling of Ricochet and is the name of my favorite OC.

As an aside, I've never honestly been sure how to check that box for the Mary Sue test, as the question pertains to naming a character after one's screen name, where as I took my screen name from her.

Anyway, the more in depth explanation will be below the cut for anyone who started following me after I last posted it - I honestly believe I did - or for anyone who is just curious.

I originally created Rico for a story I was writing based on games I used to play as a child. She was intended to be a character of contraditions, specifically, a genki girl - not that I was familiar with the trope at the time as I had not yet opened the glorious gates of anime - who was an ace sniper, a skill that typically requires one to be still for prolonged periods of time.

Her given name is Rebecca, but she was given the nickname Ricochet as she was always "bouncing off the walls." The nickname became her call sign by way of it being a bit contradictory as it is generally an undesirable outcome of firing a rife, one that may not necessarily reflect her actual skill.

Also, she was blonde at first, though I cannot recall why, and I have no idea what her original eye color was.

As I started playing video games that allowed me to type in my own names, I started to use names from that story for characters I felt were close enough in theme or style. Snipers or other gun specialists became Ricochet or Tackleberry - yes, that Tackleberry - depending on if they were male or female. This tradition continued long after I stopped writing the story as I still loved the characters.

If I recall correctly, City of Heroes was the first game I played that let me design visuals for Rico and the others, as well as characters from another story I had started writing by that time. I wish I still had screen caps from then, but I lost that harddrive before I became more obsessive with saving stuff across multiple devices.

Anyway, Rico was a short, blonde girl who wore her hair up in high twintails, sported a purple and black flak jacket, wielded a assault rife and carried multiple superhero style gadgets for support. CoH also let me type a short bio, so she gained parents who were also heroes that she looked up to and wanted to emulate. She also lead the Supergroup known Rico's Roughnecks - yes, those Roughnecks.

Worth mentioning that it was around this time that I had to start getting creative with my in-game character names, as many were often taken in popular multiplayer games. In CoH, I added -chan as I was in my early anime geek years and thought it was cool. Single player games were still my preference, so Rico explored the wastelands of Fallout, the hellish landscapes of Diablo and many other places of the like.

Then came City of Villains. The name Ricochet was obviously taken quickly, so I decided to change my naming tactic and misspell it. Thus, Ryqoshay was born.

But I fancy myself a writer, so there was no way I was going to make the change without giving her an in-character reason. As such, I gave her parents again, but promptly shoved them in the fridge. They existed solely for Rico to take the first letters of their names, Yuri and Quentin, and integrate them into her new call sign. Ricochet > Ryqoshay.

Also, now as a villain, the opposite of a hero, I changed her appearance a bit. Her blonde hair became black and her high tails became low. She traded in her flak jacket for a school uniform and the black color for white; she kept the purple because I love purple. She still lacked an eye color at this time.

Also also, I couldn't bring myself to make her fully villainous, so she became a mercenary instead, who often worked for villains as they paid better. Making her a Mastermind in CoV fit this idea of her character quite well as she sent her mercs to the front lines while she supported them from behind with her rifle and gadgets.

Ryqo's next change came in the form of being translated into D&D.

The character I was playing in D&D was not actually Ryqo, but a barbarian named Vivian Sexton. She was a dual sword, red armor wearing character I translated over from CoH/V. She made an appearance in both games and ended up being the character I played the most in CoV, despite Ryqo remaining my favorite.

But, as my intended two paragraph introduction became two pages, then twenty, I decided to translate the entirety of Ryqo's Roughnecks from their tech based CoV origins to the swords and sorcery world of D&D. And add more characters. And write even more pages.

Anyway, Ryqo traded in her rifle for a bow and her gadgets for artifacts. And she finally gained an eye color, cendrée; I had a thing for heraldic tinctures at the time.

Ryqo received one other translation, into an LL styled idol back when I was more active on Sukutomo. A handful of scenes I wrote about idol Ryqo were actually the first posts I made on this tumblr account. I also used some dress-up browser thing to make a decent visual of her idol form.

Someday, I may get around to commissioning a pic of Ryqo and use it as my avatar. Maki was actually only intended to be a temporary avatar until I got around to doing that, but it's been years and I keep forgetting and putting it off.

Finally, Ryqo was able to see a tiny bit more written about her as I had Yuu play her in a scene I wrote for Tri-Arame about a D&D style game being DM'ed by Setsuna. I may come back to this version of Ryqo someday once I figure out how to integrate the character I want Setsuna to play; one based heavily on her Sun Knight interactive RP story being produced by the canon creators.

So yeah, that's the meaning of my screen name Ryqoshay.

[ryqoshay]

Sifas jp is getting another nicomaki event after over a year

I just saw the cards pop up on my twitter feed. I have a feeling the title of Maki’s unidolized card will find itself in my fic at some point. I look forward to my favorite YouTube uploading the event story so I don’t have to waste precious grind time.

Also hoping to collect the No Brand Girls set at some point as it is my third favorite µ’s costume set. I have Snow halation, my second favorite, and Dancing stars on me, my favorite, hasn’t been revealed yet.

[ryqoshay]

any yohariko coming soon ?? (for happy liiife)

Short Answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Depends on your definition of “soon.”

I actually have more YohaRiko in what I would consider my active queue than NicoMaki and YuuAyuSetsu combined. And by active queue, I mean scenes I am actively thinking about on a regular basis, opening their associated Word documents to review or add new ideas to their outline, considering different turns of phrase or verbal exchanges, etc. As opposed to my Notes and WIP Warehouse, where ideas go to sit and gather digital dust until my µ’s muse decides to get around to pulling one off the shelf for inspection every few months, if that often.

I’ve been actively reaching out to some fellow authors and YohaRiko fans to help me work out some kinks in these outlines - something that in hindsight, I wish I had done more of with HtHaN. And I’ve got the titular dialogue written for one of the chapters. Still need to set the scene and build out from there, but that will come.

I know I’ve been on a bit of a Niji kick as of late, but I’m chalking most of that up to their newness compared to the other generations. Deities help me with the looming release of the Super Star... But I will have to slow down a bit soon as many of my ideas are butting up against things that may, or may not, be revealed in the recently announced second season of the Niji anime.

That all said, rest assured that I have not forgotten my favorite angelic pair and know that I look forward to returning to them at least as much as any of my readers.

[ryqoshay]

the newest bond stories for Eli, Nico, and Maki in SIFAS have some good NicoMaki moments, as well as Eli cheering them on in hers (^.^)b

Thank you for the headsup, Anon. I will have to check them out on YouTube later. I've already skipped through them in-game to collect the Memorial pieces for their Bond Boards and to not waste precious 3* Title grind time.

[ryqoshay]

In regards to your question, I think it would be best to replace vague mentions with names. It's nice when I read and understand who is bring referred to, but sometimes I have no idea and I feel like other people might not as well

Preface: this Anon Ask is regarding this post I made. Also, thank you, Anon for your input.

That has indeed been a concern of mine; that I’ve been too focused on keeping things separate, when they kinda aren’t anymore. I was worried that if connections were too obvious, readers would wonder why there are no hints at supernatural phenomenon in HtHaN - and now TA - since there are such things in HL. Perhaps those concerns were unfounded.

***Spoilers*** below the cut for those who haven’t read everything I’ve written and wish to do so spoiler-free.

As for those supernatural things, I doubt I will stop my current style of not using the girls’ names in those parts. I should hope everyone can figure out that the redhead, blue-haired girl and blonde are Riko, Yohane and Mari respectively. And that the creature with black fur is Phobetor. I’ve found the style to be a fun way for me to distinguish between reality as perceived by YohaRiko and Riko’s dreams or behind-the-scenes meddling by Mari.

Rereading one particular such meddling scene in HL, Not the Plan, I know that may have caused some confusion, mostly likely about the identity of Him or Her; I hope the identity of the orange-haired girl is at least obvious. Hopefully more will be made clear in future scenes, but I won’t be revealing a name for either Him or Her as they do not have one in canon material; yes, they exist in canon, though probably not in the form I’ve given them for my fic. But the girls of Guilty Kiss aren’t angels in canon either, so there’s that. Anyway, upon writing this, I realize they do actually have a family name at least, Ohara. So there are some of the potential spoilers for you.

I don’t think I will name NicoMaki as the prior tenants of YohaRiko’s apartment, at least not in the single scene where they’ve been referenced thus far. I see little reason for the landlord to drop the names of prior tenants in that particular setting. I do reckon YohaRiko will figure things out eventually, especially if I end up expanding on VNVdarkangel’s idea of having Riko do some contract composing work for Egao, as well as my own link where Nico commissions Riko to draw the HtHaM doujin after getting hooked on the HL(AU) doujin she was already posting online.

And on the topic of the doujins, I probably could make it clear that Setsuna is also an avid fan of the HL(AU) series and gets both Yuu and Ayumu reading it as well. I’m pretty sure I have the timelines properly aligned such that Riko would have given into Yohane’s suggestion to publish physical copies of the work by the time YuuAyuSetsu are in their 2nd year of high school. If not I may need to make some adjustments, and that’s a whole other project.

And on the topic of TA, I could probably clear up that the agency that employs Yuu, Setsuna and Emma - and likely Kasumi later - is indeed Egao Jōshō, the idol production company started by Nico and Tsubasa. It’s one of my favorite creations for my fics’ universe and one I like coming back to regularly to develop. I’m still working on ideas for how they all end up there, so there are no spoilers to be made there just yet.

Also, the company from which Ruby and Leah borrow portable karaoke equipment is also Egao. I’ve been thinking about a HL Side Story to launch their careers as professional idols for a while and one of the topics I would want to cover is how they come across the fledgling production company. But they have signed on with them by the time Yohane is celebrating her first birthday in college. I may have misaligned my fic calendar with our own when it comes to where Friday the 13th falls, but I guess I’ll just have to author fiat the dates to work. Que zura zura.

I think those are all the connections I’ve made thus far. If not, I can always come back and add stuff. And if anyone reading this can think of other connections they believe to exist or want to inquire about, feel free to reach out to me. But I’ve plenty more waiting in my Notes and WIP Warehouse that I hope to get to someday. VNVdarkangel may have made a couple more in their ficeptional works, but I’m woefully behind in my reading so I cannot say for sure. But at least everyone is named outright in those works, or at least they were in the scenes I’ve read.

Anyway, the individuals with whom I’ve spoken thus far seem to be in agreement that it would be easier for readers to understand if I just name names in my intended crossover arc, so I will do just that. I still want to keep things as standalone as possible, so for anyone reading the entire arc across all three fics, there will probably be a ton of redundancy as details are revealed, though through the eyes of the main pair or trio of the respective fic.

As for going back and making things more clear in scenes I’ve already posted, I will add that to my growing list of retcons and other changes I need to get around to making someday. I’ll probably end up with a masterpost for each fic to designate all of the changes and retcons made, much like the List of Scenes I already have for them here.

[ryqoshay]

For the fic ask: 4 and/or 18

4. Favorite story you’ve ever written?

That’s... honestly a harder question than I thought it would be when first skimming the list. I’ve loved many of my stories for very different reasons. Sometimes it is because how much fun I had writing it, while others it is because it was more difficult. Sometimes it is because I got a lot of reader interaction, while other times it was just one really good comment or tag. And many, many times, it was the amount of self-indulgence I put into something; spending way too much time naming someone or something, scouring thesaurus.com for the perfect word to complete some alliteration, or hiding some sort of Easter egg, even if I know most readers will never find it.

Also, the little lawyer in the back of my mind wants to discuss the definition of story. If we are talking about full entries over on AO3, HtHaN is a fairly clear winner, as one need look no further than its word count compared to my other works. I’ve spent a heck of a lot more time writing and even just thinking about HtHaN than any other work I’ve produced. I think it even surpassed my D&D stuff a while back.

However, I define HtHaN - and most of my other works on AO3 - as a collection of short stories/arcs. Thus, I should probably look to pick a single chapter.

And with a quick scan through the list of chapters, one very quickly stood out. I was thinking I may have to scan the chapter lists of my other fics or even review some of my D&D stuff, but no, it very much is that one chapter. Maybe it was easier to choose than I thought.

Jizenka

This will probably end up pretty long, so the rest is going under the cut.

First and foremost, Jizenka was among the first of my readers, and remains to this day in the top rankings for enthusiasm and encouragement. I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am as an author of LL fanfic were it not for Jizenka. HtHaN would have remained a small, questionably meme-like post among many other volleys in a meme war on a little Love Live fan site. It would have been forgotten in a few days and I would have moved on to other things.

Happy Life, HtHaM, Happy Life (AU) and Tri-Arame probably would have never even crossed my mind. Heck, in some parallel universe, there might be a version of me who left the LL fandom after the primary µ’s content had concluded - SIFAS or A Song for You! You? You!! may have brought me back - and never bothered figuring out a shipping fleet for Aqours or Niji.

Instead, something was sparked back in July of 2016 - jebas, it’s been a while - and I started my journey with LL fanfic. Whether Jizenka was the flint or the kindling or both may be up for debate, but she certainly contributed something.

And whatever that something was, it was what I wished to honor and commemorate with my HtHaN chapter, Jizenka.

I jammed a lot into that chapter. I wanted to include things I knew Jizenka had liked about NicoMaki as well as references to ongoing themes and trends that I had established in other chapters. I didn’t want it to just be a memory of Jizenka, but also something she would have enjoyed reading in its own right.

I’m pretty sure that chapter was the genesis of Egao’s Pro Bono Idoli project, even if I hadn’t named it at that point. Free concerts in a hospital and an outreach program to fledgling idol groups in the HtHaN universe came into being with that idea. And by the gods do I have notes for future stuff to write along those lines.

And finally, all authors include a bit of themselves in the works. We almost kind of have to; we can only write what we know, after all. But I think there is more of “me” in that chapter than in anything else I have ever written. I have recently claimed HtHaN 10 and Tri-Arame: RPG Night as being among my most self-indulgent works, but Jizenka may top them, though in a very different way.

So yeah, though it was quite the bittersweet experience both writing and posting that chapter, and it still stirs my emotions when I skim it or reread it in earnest, I can confidently claim it as my favorite story from among those I’ve written.

18. Favorite character to write?

Well, to refer back to HtHaN having the highest word count of any fic I’ve written, and knowing how much time and thought I’ve dedicated to its primary pairing, and continue to happily dedicate to this day, I can definitively say it’s a tie between Maki and Nico.

Yuu, Setsuna and Ayumu are currently giving Riko and Yohane some stiff competition for their place in second. YohaRiko definitely has the advantage of time, so after the “newness” of YuuAyuSetsu wears off, we’ll see where they all stand. But I’m fairly confident that NicoMaki will retain their position in first.

I’d love to claim that Ryqoshay and Yozakura are my favorites, but they’re OCs in a story that I’ve never made public and haven’t actively worked on in far too many years. Perhaps as I write another chapter or two of translating it through a game being played in Tri-Arame, I’ll rekindle something and start back up with those characters and their stories.

[ryqoshay]

I wanna ask if when will you update the yohariko one?

My current roadmap for YohaRiko is as follows.

After posting an unexpectedly long arc fo TA, I went back to working on a trio of scenes, one for each of my non-AU fics, that are all themed around a song by Pentatonix, not unlike what I did for my Xmas chapters late last year. I have full outlines for both the NicoMaki and YohaRiko scenes, and have about a page or so written for them, but I am still struggling with a few things for the YuuAyuSetsu chapter. I would like to post these scenes somewhat close together, though not necessarily in one go like the Xmas version; I am slowly getting into a rhythm of spending time studying and work is going to get complicated soon, in fun new ways from everything 2019 and 2020 threw at me, so it might be slow(er?) going for a while.

After those scenes are completed, I would like to work on either a King and Queen dance during their high school years or a theater themed chapter from their college years, both as prompted by Anon asks a while back. I have rough outlines for both and revisit the Word docs regularly to see if anything new sparks. I'm still struggling a bit with how to setup/begin/whatever the K&Q scene and I need to decide where to put the theater one in the timeline, so I know what else the couple is up to at that time.

(this became a heck of a lot longer than intended, so more is under the cut)

Then, after all of that is cleared out of the queue, I'd like to do some work on a crossover arc I've mentioned a handful of times - mostly in the notes of my recent TA chapters. The arc is intended to focus on a production at a professional theater the couple is involved with after graduation. One of the major things I need to do to prep for this is to fully align the timelines of my non-AU fics to at least ensure the Niji girls are all out of college - those that went - and certain things have happened for YohaRiko; NicoMaki should be well enough progressed that it's more just about what events I can and cannot reference than about ensuring they're where they need to be in their lives. I also realize that many things I have planned for, well, a lot of Niji and SS girls, have yet to be explored to any degree in my works, so I will have a lot of exposition to do either directly in the narrative or in my Author's Notes. It will likely turn into a sizable project, but I hope that it can spin off some other ideas that explore some of those details I've had gathering digital dust in my Notes and WIPs Warehouse.

TL;DR: In the coming months, expect, in this likely order: NicoMaki, YohaRiko, YuuAyuSetsu, YohaRiko (x2?).

After that, the crossover arc will include at least a NicoMaki, YohaRiko, and a YuuAyuSetsu, but also at least one ShizuKasu Side Story. NozoEli will likely at least make an appearance at some point, though they probably won't get a focus chapter. And depending on what I cover in each of those arc chapter, I may need to come back to YohaRiko and possibly YuuAyuSetsu; I think I can get everything I want in one NicoMaki chapter and only need to mention them in the background elsewhere.

Of course this does not take into account any of the canon content that is still being released, or the wonderful fan works being produced and translated, or Anon prompts, or even real world events or movies or whatever that may inspire me to write something completely different; e.g. the TA studying arc came out of the blue and ended up being far longer than I originally thought it would.

And finally, one more little bit; I currently have a YohaRiko pic in a commission queue. My YuuAyuSetsu pic is in production and I know not if there are other works between it and the YohaRiko one, but both are coming soon'ish. The YohaRiko pic is based on the above mentioned Penatonix themed chapter and I hope my readers enjoy another illustrated HL scene.

[ryqoshay]

Yass a yohariko fic! It’s been so long! U da best

Thank you. I’m happy to know you enjoyed my work.

YohaRiko is indeed fun to write. Their dynamic is similar enough to NicoMaki that it isn’t too drastic a gear shift to go from writing one pair to the other, yet different enough to keep things interesting and maintain my desire to explore their relationship.

I’ve still been putting off for too long exploring their earlier years, before moving in together and becoming a couple, i.e. their high school years and Riko’s first year in college. This is due in no small part to a certain incident that occurred in the anime. But I do still have the bulk of a Valentine’s day themed scene that I need to finish, polish and post, as well as a fairly extensive outline for a school dance scene. Also, I’m still awaiting the release of the YohaRiko party card in WW SIF, so I can read the associated stories and maybe write something about that adorable scene. So hopefully I can get a few more chapters out in the near’ish future.

[ryqoshay]

truthfully, I produce Ayusetsu...however for the sake of tumblr algorithms I label it setsuayu (small ship tag) !

The more I think about it, I technically portray MakiNico and RikoYoha in my own works. Sure, both Nico and Yohane love PDA and at least Nico likes to portray herself as the dominate one, but behind closed doors, the redheads tend to lead.

That said, I’m still not completely settled on a primary shipping arrangement for the Niji girls. The introduction of Yuu as more than just the POV player character evened out the numbers to ten, which I thought might make things easier. But now Shioriko joins the mix to bring things back to odd numbers. So maybe a group of three is needed, as I did with Aqours? (Despite that leaving Saint Snow out of things, which I still have yet to really do much about.)

But your portrayal of Ayumu x Setsuna thus far has been absolutely adorable, and adorable portrayals by talented artists and authors were what cemented my love for NicoMaki and YohaRiko. Thus, I look forward to where next you sail this ship, that its course might very well allow it to become the flagship of my own Niji fleet.

[ryqoshay]

So I just finished reading all of How to Handle a Nico and I absolutely fucking loved it, do you have any NicoMaki fanfic recommendations of your own?

I must offer my apologies for the delay in response. I did not forget you, Anon, despite answering two questions that came in after this one. However, I wanted to wait until I knew I had a good amount of time I could dedicate to making a proper list of recommendations worthy of my time in the LL/NicoMaki fandom, which is typically sometime during my weekend.

Also, please bear in mind that this list is not all-inclusive. NicoMaki has one of, if not the most extensive list of fanworks out of the various LL ships. If someone reading this list is a fan of, or the author of a given work not included, please do not take it personally, this is merely a sampling of my favorites. There are genres and tags that I tend to avoid for various reasons, and there are many perfectly good works with the NicoMaki ship tag that I haven’t read simply because they are not the primary focus. And due to current events, as well as those of last year, there is a sizable backlog of NicoMaki focused fics that I hope to get around to reading sometime soon.

And as I expect this to get long, I will put the list itself under a cut.

First and foremost, I must shamelessly shill an author whose first forays into NicoMaki fanfic are based on HtHaN. It’s been almost a year since the first one went up and I remain in awe that I was able to pay forward the inspiration given to me by other authors. For this list I will only be including said works based on HtHaN, though VNVdarkangel has written some other NicoMakis I haven’t read yet.  - Always there - Nico wakes up in the middle of the night. Some post-canon fluffy angst.  - On tracks to the heart - Takes place during the scene transition in Homecoming.  - Meet ‘n’ greet - Nico has a meet ‘n’ greet event and Maki shows up  - Part-time idol composer - Nico hires Riko to compose some idol music for Egao. Minor YohaRiko to keep up the casual connections between HtHaN and HL.  - Next steps... - A long, multi-chapter work that takes place after the numbered chapters of HtHaN. This work tells the story of NicoMaki as they take advantage of the research mentioned way back in Telling Mama. Yay science babies!  - Out of focus - Maki can’t focus on anything but Nico  - The door to dreams - Riko finds the piano from How to Celebrate a Maki and Maki finds Riko. More minor YohaRiko from HL.  - Idol trainer - A non-NicoMaki, RinPana honorable mention tied to HtHaN

Next, I must link a few things from jstonedd, whose works I can point to as being among those that helped cement NicoMaki as a my favorite ship.  - Buy Your Love - By the gods, I’ve honestly lost track of how many times I’ve reread this fic. It is also responsible for my headcanon that Tsubasa teaches Honoka how to skate, which I thusly include in Nico on Ice.  - Soldier Wars - If memory serves, this work earns its M rating less for lewd stuff and more for action movie depictions of violence, like an R rated Charlie’s Angels or something.  - After School Troublemakers - Earns its tag of Fluff and Crack.  - Babies Maybe - More Fluff and Crack I only skimmed the first few chapters of Otonokizaka Private Academy and it didn’t seem very NicoMaki focused or really much my cup of tea. But I’ve heard others like it, and it was finally completed a few years back, so there’s that.

One author with whom I’ve interacted moreso than any other - maybe not VNVdarkangel as of late, but... - is the creator of one of my favorite Fantasy AUs, which is often a genre I don’t read much as it so often leans on Harry Potter, of which I’m quite unfamiliar. Of course I say I often avoid Fantasy AUs despite now writing two... Anyway, we have a few differing headcanons and I must say it’s fun to have a civil discussion about them - as opposed to others that become heated and dissolve into ad hominum attacks like the one marked by Comment Deleted tombstones in the comments of HtHaN. Anyway, that train of thought derailed, so here are some of lonelypond’s works. Worth mentioning that most works take place in the U.S. instead of Japan, something that confused me for a few chapters when I first started reading, but have come to enjoy it, especially when places are mentioned that I know.  - Casual Lunacy - The aforementioned Fantasy AU as well as my introduction to this wonderful writer. Pulls in a quirky character from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, an adorable anime I’ve been meaning to finish. Maki is a werewolf. And I really need to reread this one at some point.  - PhotoJazz - Maki is a photographer and Nico is an actress.  - AU Yeah August - A collection of short 1 Shots. I haven’t read all of them, e.g. the Harry Potter one, but those I have were adorable, e.g. Summer Camp, Fake Dating and FWB.  - Christmas Confections - A collection of amazing Christmas themed works that rank among my favorite gifts each year since I first started reading them. I’d link them each individually, but they’re all amazing so just read them all; you won’t be disappointed. Maki and Christmas just go together and lonelypond writes them well.  - Can’t Get Started - To quote the summary “Nishikino Maki is trying to make it in the piranha fishbowl of movies, music and Hollywood. Yazawa Nico already has. And they keep crashing into each other.” Literally. It’s quite amusing. I’ve heard good things from other readers about the 1Kiss series but have only skimmed a few; they are high on my To Read list. The Idol House series came out during my troubled 2019, so it also remains on my To Read list. The Moonlight series seems to focus on NozoEli, which is fine, but for better or worse lowers it position on my To Read list. It’s lonelypond, so I do intend to read it eventually, but there are more NicoMaki focused fics that I’d like to get to first.

Next up is Lucia Hunter, a case where I must separate author from work. To this day I remain uncertain as to the details of the issues between this author and the denizens of Sukutomo, but the animosity exists nonetheless. Still, the listed works below were part of my gateway drugs into the wonderful world of NicoMaki fanfics.  - The Diamond Princess’s Melancholy - How NicoMaki came together.  - Love marginal - My favorite portrayal of KotoHonoUmi. NicoMaki is a side pairing here, and remain so through the rest of the works, but they’re still worth reading, imho.  - Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love - RinPana focus but NicoMaki still plays their role.  - Garden of Glass - de de deee de de deee Obviously NozoEli focused.

My first encounter with Rinforzando was a T rated cute and fluffy fic but they’ve done some pretty good NSFW works as well.  - Ten Years - Always enjoy a good adult NicoMaki fic. - Limbo - NSFW FWB NicoMaki - Caprice - NSFW 2nd Person post-canon NicoMaki. I’m not typically a fan of 2nd Person perspective, but this one was worth it.  - Cheers for Loving You - NicoMaki Secret Santa.

Hidekins is another author that has written a lot of NicoMaki I’ve enjoyed, but on a quick scan through the AO3 entries, few are jogging my memory with title and description alone. Perhaps I’ve read more here on tumblr? Perhaps I’ll come back and add more if I remember them better later.  - NicoMakisses - A set of five cute short NicoMaki stories about kisses.

Saberin writes a lot of 3rd year stuff, and that’s fine, but the NicoMaki collection is worth checking out.  - Prickly Love - As of writing this list, there are 10 chapters of cuteness

whoneedsapublisher writes a lot and I enjoy the style. Thus, when I see NicoMaki pop up on the account, I try to read.  - Couples Therapy - One of my favorite Maki headcanons is included here. Not explicit but earns its M rating and thus is NSFW.  - Subtle - Not particularly crazy about the Nico-taller-than-Maki, but that’s a minor complaint compared to the rest of this wonderful work.  - At Least Six Confessions - Presequel to the above work. Poor Nico had her work cut out for her with a romantically dense Maki.  - Keep Your Promises - Ten years later...  - Happy New Year - Sometimes stalemates must be broken by someone.  - Hidden Depth - Nico’s voice changes. And Maki likes it  - Pretending to Pretend - Not explicit, but earns its M rating so NSFW. One of my favorite examples of the Fake Dating trope.  - Merry Christmas Maki - I can’t think of a better present.  - No Lies Allowed - Truth of Dare, NicoMaki style.  - All Dressed Up - Based on a wonderful pic by noelclover  - Santa’s Stand-in - Guess who still believes...  - Switcheroo - Always love the idea of the girls trying to behave like the others. Makes me want to rewatch that episode.  - Tick, Tock - Some introspective Maki  - Insensitive - NicoMaki dating issues  - Tomatoes - Maki’s favorite food I’ve heard good things about Dazzling Warrior Nightshade, so it’s on my To Read List, but I must admit I can be picky about my Magical Girls stuff. Madoka set an... interesting bar for the genre for me and in most cases I’d prefer to watch it as an anime or read it as a manga/doujin. Still, the idea of Nico being a magic girl amuses me greatly, thus why the fic remains on my radar.

And here are some other random works I’ve enjoyed over the years.  - Smile, Nico Nico! - In which Nico drags Maki to the dentist  - Billiards - NSFW 2nd Person. Yes, I know I just said I’m not typically a fan, but this one was also good.  - Piano For Beginners - NSFW AU where Maki is assigned to teach Nico how to play the piano so as to be convincing for a film.  - critical rules for not-dating - NSFW FWB AU that I need to finish reading someday but was happy enough with what I’ve read that I’d still recommend it.  - 24 visits - Visits as in Nico the idol visiting Maki the doctor in the hospital.  - 24 dates - A NSFW followup to 24 visits

So yeah, that’s a fairly decent list to get one started in their AO3 NicoMaki delving. As mentioned above, this is not all-inclusive and there are a ton of NicoMaki works out there. I haven’t visited FFN in years, so there may still be some authors that post there exclusively and have written some amazing stuff, but I cannot recommend what I haven’t read, or at least skimmed. I also have some tumblr works bookmarked... somewhere, so if I find them I might compare them to this list and maybe add those missed.

Here’s hoping something here piques your interest and makes you fall a little more for the wonderful NicoMaki.