#Velkynkarma answers

[velkynkarma]

The book you binded looks so cool!!! I've been meaning to get into book binding as well, especially for One Piece fics and I love the format you did it in with Zoro's logo. How did you edit it? Would you be willing to share tips on how you did it? Did you watch book binding YouTube videos?

Thanks, anon! I'm glad you enjoyed! And I'm absolutely willing to share what I learned!

For the general book-binding, I used a couple book binding how-to videos.

Turning Fanfiction Into the Hardcover Book it Deserves by Jess Less

This one helped with:

How to use an old book cover/used book for the cover of the fanfic (you can also MAKE covers, and she has another video on this as well, but I love the idea of recycling old unwanted books into something new and loved)

The basics for formatting the pages (her bit about adding a compass design for the chapters is what inspired me to use Zoro's flag logo)

How to print and prep the pages/signatures

How to finish putting the whole thing together and add some interesting design elements

I especially liked this video because it's very beginner-friendly and casual, which helped the whole project feel a little less daunting. You can get special tools for book binding (there are kits online) but as shown, it's also simple enough to do with a thumbtack and some corkboard if you're low on cash.

That said, I found the stitch in this video a bit confusing, so I used the stitch from this video instead:

Folding & Sewing - Rounded and Backed Cased Book // Adventures in Bookbinding by DAS Bookbinding

Stitch prep is specifically around 7min in if you just want to skip to that. But the whole thing is an interesting watch too. This is more professional bookbinding and he has a lot of other interesting videos if you want to do some more complex things. However I found this stitch to be very straightforward and easy to follow and assemble, so I ultimately used this one when I put together Seven Deaths.

As for my personal tips and things I learned while doing this project?

Turns out Google Docs is kind of useless for this. You'll want actual word processing software like Microsoft Word. If you don't have the cash to spend on Microsoft's ridiculous subscription policy, you can use LibreOffice which is free (I did, and it works very well).

Fics are way longer on paper than they are digitally. Seven Deaths is 'only' about a 50K fic (less, in fact). But it still makes a 200+ page book. Pic a smaller fic to start with while you figure out everything you want to do.

Do some research on good book fonts for the body of your text. You can get crazy with other things (chapter headers or title pages) but pic something recommended for your text body so it's legible.

To add character symbols (like Zoro's flag) you'll need a transparent copy of it to save as a png. Once you pull it into the word doc you can resize and arrange as needed.

Also look at other "real" books you have lying around for ideas for things to add to your book! I turned an author's note into a "Forward", added an "about the author/publisher" section at the back, put in a table of contents, etc. There's other things I want to experiment with next time. Go wild! Have fun!

Test print a couple pages before printing the full project, just to be sure it's actually the right page size, your font is legible and spaced well, etc. If you don't have a printer and you don't want to pay a print shop for some expensive test pages, try your local library! Many let you use their computers and printers for an extremely low cost.

If you don't have a printer (or not one that can do quality printing for 200+ pages) you'll need to go to a print shop. DON'T bother with places like Staples or OfficeMax. I tried this, but their machines automatically staple "booklets" out of your signatures, which messes up your paper and costs extra for this "service." Instead, track down a local print shop in your area. It's easier to talk to them directly about what you want and the quality is better anyway.

On that note, this is an expensive hobby! Printing for Seven Deaths was about $87USD. The quality was worth it, but definitely do not start if you don't have your own printer or a little bit of spending money.

You do not need as much glue or thread as you think you need. Go less. Waste not.

A lot of the end stages is just...waiting...for...glue...to...dry.

You will inevitably, invariably, mess things up on your first project. I sure did! I underestimated the sharpness of some tools and put holes places I didn't mean to; some things glued in a bit sloppily; I didn't set up my page organization exactly right my table of contents ended up on the left page when I envisioned it on the right. But you know what? It doesn't matter! Because at the end of the day you have a book that YOU MADE. And it's still fucking awesome! And now you've learned some things for next time. Do it anyway and have fun with it!

Happy crafting, anon. I hope you are able to add some personal favorites to your bookshelf soon :)

[mewtwoandme]

Recently rewatched Detective Pikachu. I totally forgot that Mewtwo had a double-layered voice in that, with both a male and female voice actor speaking simultaneously. Does he sound like that in your comics, or something else?

I was never a fan of the layered voice he had in the film. My headcanon voice for him is how he sounds in DP, but only the male vocals (Kotaro Watanabe)

[bosstoaster]

Hi Boss! Would you answer these for DLS Ryou? He is, by FAR, my favourite character in any divergent fic I've read 🥰🥰

1: sexuality headcanon

2: otp

3: brotp

4: notp

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

6: favorite line from this character

7: one way in which I relate to this character

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Of course I will! Ryou is still my boy and I love him dearly. Also, thank you!!! That is beyond flattering, oh my gosh.

I go back and forth on this one, actually. My kneejerk is bi, but, ya know, clone of a gay man? But imperfect messy clone? Let's just go with MLM, especially give how he's taken to Lotor as of late.

OTP - Ryotor or Ryance are both very good with me

Brotp - I mean, the actual bros :3

lol none of the above. I guess him and Keith would be weird at this point, but I could be persauded.

His entire existence?? I don't think it counts as a headcanon when he's basically entirely my creation.

Gosh, this is hard, considering the, ah, sheer volume of lines. Shout out to the time he rambled for like five minutes about if the UN Law of the Sea means that earth copyright law applies in space. This is an actual debate I have had. Also shout out to @velkynkarma who honestly gives Ryou better lines than I do.

I am very 'stab first, interrogate later' in terms of problem solving. Ryou gets a lot of that from me.

Honestly? Not too much. Probably just how funny he thinks he is, but I find that funny, so...

Both :)

[velkynkarma]

I have some pretty popular fics with high comment counts, and at some point, it just becomes impossible to respond to all of them. Don’t feel bad for not doing so! 

Usually I’ll try to respond to what I can, especially when I’m entering a new fandom to write for and I’m trying to build some connection to the community. But eventually if there’s a lot happening it’s just not doable. When that happens, I still try to respond to comments that really mean a lot to me or made my day. Or, maybe a comment comes in on a good day when I don’t have a lot going on, and I have the time to answer. 

Just like readers are not obligated to leave comments, the writer is not obligated to respond to every comment. You’ve already posted a whole fic! You’ve done a ton!

If you DO want to comment, you could always take the ‘reverse-kudos’ approach, and just respond with a simple ‘thanks!’ or ‘thanks for reading and commenting!’ to everything that comes in. That lets the commenter know you saw them and appreciate the comment.

Or you could use the comment response rule of thumb: only reply an equivalent size of the comment itself. What this means is, don’t write a whole essay in response to a one-line comment. Sometimes it’s tempting when you’re excited about getting recognition on a fic, but you shouldn’t put more effort into replying than they do into commenting in the first place. 

Whatever the case, don’t feel bad if you can’t keep up with comments, OP! I think the commenters would rather you spend your writing time on more fic than answering them, anyway.

Sorry I hope this is alright to ask. I'm currently writing a fic that became very popular. It was originally a very self-indulgent crackfic but then I oddly got inspired and started world-building. I've never had any of my works gain this level of response and I've found it incredibly overwhelming, I struggle answering comments and feel very guilty over it. I try to thank everyone in my author's notes every new chapter. Is it okay to not be able to respond to comments?

Of course it's okay! We can all only do what we can do. Currently have a year's worth of comments I haven't responded to in my AO3 inbox and every day I wonder if I should just mark them all as read and start fresh, but then the guilt of not replying makes me keep my inbox full.

That guilt isn't making it any easier for me to reply. Just like your anxiety isn't making it any easier for you. Both of us need to find a bit of compassion for ourselves and some trust that other people know that we value them, even when it's hard for us to say so out loud. ❤️

Readers, would you care to weigh in on this one? How do you feel when the author of a popular fic doesn't reply to all of their comments?

Authors of popular fics: how do you deal with the overwhelm?

[eastofthemoon]

Ask meme, 20 and 29 :)

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

None at the top of my head, probably because when I’m writing a story most of the time the ending is one of first things I decide.   I’m one of those people that tries to make a rough outline of a story first before I write a story.  With that said, I can’t tell you how many times after making the outline I go to write the story and the characters take it in a whole different direction than I planned.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Some of the She-Ra stories I’ve started to write, but I blame that to mostly them being short one shots that are mostly fluffy.  So, I can understand why that didn’t get much attention.  If I were to go to my voltron stories, I would probably have to say “Little Princess” in which I had Allura stuck as a little kid for it.

I liked it because I had seen a bunch of voltron fic with the paladins turning into kids, but I couldn’t remember seeing that much done with Allura, or if it had I hadn’t stumbled across them.  It didn’t get much attention but I realize if Allura isn’t a character you care for much, then people don’t care to read it as much.

Come and ask me a writer question

[butteredonions]

Please tell me about Shiro's birthday camp-out! “Save the date,” from “Shiro thinks they’ve landed on this beautiful planet for reconnaissance” to “The look of utter peace and contentment on Shiro’s face makes sleeping on rocks and bugs absolutely worth it.” (Bonus points if you explain Coran's fascination with his weird kazoo-flute haha).

From Save The Date:

Shiro thinks they’ve landed on this beautiful planet for reconnaissance, traipsing through fields full of flowers as part of a mission Allura insists has to be done on foot. This time there’s no jumping out screaming surprise. Rather, when it’s 13:26 the team simply drops all their hiking materials, Hunk produces a slightly-squashed vanilla cake out of nowhere, and as Shiro’s jaw drops the team sings Happy Birthday, Put The Flute Away Coran loudly enough to scare the native birds out of the trees.

They celebrate when the beaming sun’s highest in the sky, chasing away all the clouds in brilliant, vibrant pinks. Shiro’s birthday is a day outside of the castle entirely, marked less with streamers and balloons but with swimming, laughing, hiking, and sleeping out of doors.

“That was fun,” Shiro says, as they camp out that evening by a fire. The Lions have moved their giant heads so the bright stars are perfectly visible. “But shouldn’t we get back?”

“Nope,” Hunk says, fiercely.

“We’re staying tomorrow too, Shiro,” Pidge says, yawning in her sleeping bag.

Keith pokes him until Shiro finds his voice again. “I -”

“You have two birthdays to catch up on, I believe,” Allura says, softly. “Let us give this to you.”

Shiro doesn’t cry, exactly. But he laughs harder when there’s a second cake the next day, and an even louder rendition of Happy Birthday, Coran Do You Have To, and the second night Hunk wakes up to Shiro sitting between his Lion’s paws as he stares up at the swirling stars.

The look of utter peace and contentment on Shiro’s face makes sleeping on rocks and bugs absolutely worth it.

Aww I forgot about that one! That was the first piece I ever did for a zine, so I really wanted to do something special for it. I was also hyper-aware of working underneath a word count, which is a challenge for me. Since the final piece had to be under 2000 words, I knew every word mattered twice as much as it might in an ordinary onion-piece. This could easily have been 4k or 5k. I almost think it’s sweeter for being short, though.

I knew right away that every Paladin was going to get a special birthday, and I knew they all had to be different and tailored to each Paladin specifically. Shiro’s birthday celebration was the first one that popped into my head, actually. 

The rest of the piece can read fairly comedic; I wanted Shiro’s birthday to be a quieter moment, more introspective and peaceful. Really I just wanted to give him a break. This was back when all we had in canon was Season One; Shiro needed a rest then just as badly as he needs one now. The Paladins had the chance to not only give it to him but surprise him into taking it. I deliberately wanted them to be as gentle as possible with him, too. They don’t jump out at him and yell ‘surprise’ because Shiro doesn’t handle jump-scares well right now. They trick him into landing on the planet for ‘reconnaissance’ because Shiro would never willingly take a day off to go camping at this point in the series, let alone two days to make up for something so belated. I wanted to stress how well the team - and his friends - already know him here.

If anything, I love how much this fic is a coming-together of the Paladins as they start to grow into the camaraderie we know and love later in the series. It’s seen here in the perhaps trivial exploration of birthdays, but there’s a progression of how much the team is involved with each birthday that passes. It started as just Hunk’s idea, but by the time we get to Shiro’s birthday everyone’s in on it. Voltron’s solid team dynamics and ensemble-work is one of the things that lured me into this season from the get-go. I definitely wanted to highlight that here, too.

Coran’s fascination with his weird kazoo-flute started as a running gag, at first for the comic relief, but then I fell in love with it. In my mind there’s some kind of Altean history behind the weird-kazoo-flute - if not the flute itself, certainly the “traditional Altean day-of-birth song!” Coran mostly uses it for. I like to imagine the kazoo-flute is his instrument of choice; he picked it up during the Altean equivalent of primary school, much like in our elementary school when innocent third-graders get handed a recorder.....so there’s that slightly-nostalgic element to the kazoo-flute going on for Coran as well. After he heard the Paladins were celebrating birthdays, Coran went on a desperate hunt through the entire ship his quarters for something to play the Traditional Day-Of-Birth Song with. (The Good Luck and Blessings the song bestows don’t work if the song is played from a recording.) The kazoo-flute is what he found. It’s been many years since his primary-school days, though...but the Earthlings will never know if the kazoo-flute squawks a little where it shouldn’t ;) Allura might, but she’s so charmed to hear the sound again that you’ll never catch her complaining. 

(Taking DVD commentary asks today!)

[scribeofred]

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47!

2. Whatis your latest fandom?

My latestfandom is Batman in terms of fic. There’s a wealth of reading material in it,and it is almost perfectly suited to my preference for brothers-relatedmaterial. There are also some very very very good writers to be found, and I’menjoying being able to consume in a large scale again, at least when I’m notsick of reading due to work.

3. Whatis the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

In termsof “this is my ideal place and I am never leaning,” absolutely Thunderbirds. It’salso a… very small fandom, and for a choosy consumer such as myself, that’sbeen a serious problem over the last year or two, what with the departure of alot of my favorite writers. Nevertheless, the world and the characters have embeddeddeep in my heart, and I’ll always be around somewhere in the fandom in one iterationor another.

5. Whichfandoms have your written fanfiction for?

A few! Ihave published fics for TRON: Legacy, Assassin’s Creed, FFVII, Star Wars, Sherlock,Thunderbirds, FFXV, and VLD.

As far asentirely unpublished fandoms… I have an enormous Merlin AU completelyoutlined, but I only wrote snippets of it. Too bad, because it was going to beSO GOOD. Alas, I am no good with monster projects, so it languishes, probablyforever. Unless I post the outline here. Hmm. I could do that…

7. Listyour NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Oh man. Well.Let’s see. Automatically anything incest or slash, they’re just not my mug ofpomegranate juice. Other than that, I’m relatively fluid when it comes topairings and tend to go in for anything that’s well-written and has dynamicsthat are to my taste, so I rarely hit upon pairings that make me nope entirely out.I tend to just not care about anything that doesn’t strike my fancy.

11. Whois your current OTP?

As notedabove, I am not a hardcore shipper. Favorite pairings come and go depending onmood and whether they’ve become boring due to overuse/overexposure/passage oftime or not. If I had to pick, I’d say I still default to Scott/Penny, though,because I’m still writing ’em.

13. Goon, who are your BroTPs?

Mostrecent fandoms only, in no particular order: Shiro & Pidge, Shiro &Hunk, Keith & Pidge, Keith & Hunk (VLD); Scott & Virgil, Scott& John, insert-all-possible-bro-combinations-here (TB); Dick & Jason,Jason & Stephanie, Jason & Cass, Cass & everyone, Jason & Damian(Batman).

17. Whatship have you written the most about?

I am stillinfluenced a ton by TOS, so as of the last five years, it’s Scott/Penny. They’rethe ultimate power couple, both heirs to enormous fortunes, and let’s face it:they look incredible on each other’s arm. The dynamics are lovely between them,very arch, very clever, and finding ways to make them relax around one anotheris just genuinely my favorite.

19. Anyships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Nyx/Araneafrom FFXV came out of the blue. I think I saw someone had written it once duringone of my only glances at the fandom’s AO3 section, and it lodged in my brain. Imean. I’ve read exactly one (1) fic for them and have written an equal numberof fics with them, and I don’t really think about them on my own time nowadays,but they did click with me, at least very briefly. I also super wasn’texpecting to like Shiro/Allura from VLD, but they touched hands in S2, and Idid that little flappy hand thing and made The Noise, and I knew I was InTrouble.

23. Whatfic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

See, I dothis thing. Where once I’ve posted a fic, I am disinclined to reread it withoutsome serious—usually external—prompting. Not because I hate it! But because I’vejust moved on to new ideas—that one has had all the hooks it had in my brainreleased by way of posting the story, and I don’t need to think about it anylonger. I’m not very interested in rewriting old material, although last week Idid reread Three Towels and a Tracy for the first time in a couple years, and Imade a few tiny tweaks to the AO3 version for improved readability. I edit soheavily while I initially write a story, though, that I really don’t leavemyself much room for editing/rewriting at a late date.

Arealistic answer would be “probably the first ten or so stories I posted becauseI know So Much More about writing, especially the technical elements, now thanI did then, and there are undoubtedly many missing/misplaced commas int them.”

29. Whatinspires you to write?

Sometimesit’s vivid mental images that I Must Put Into Words (an upcoming FFVII story);sometimes a piece of art or a song compels me to put words down. Imagery is abig thing in my writing, so it tends to be something visual that sparks aproject, although occasionally combinations of words just *sing* to be put downsomewhere. Truth told, I write for SS and no one else, so yeah, she’s myinspiration.

31. Doyou listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which bandor genre of music does it for you?

Music inand of itself rarely inspires me these days, with one notable exception, but I dousually listen to it while writing. Anything instrumental gets at least tried,but I lean toward film/game/TV scores (Hans Zimmer yaaaaaasssss), smooth jazz, epicproduction music, and some electronic music. If music is too much for onereason or another, I will pull up a soundscape generator—myNoise is amazing; I’vebeen all over the Black Hole soundscape recently—and let that run on animatefor an hour or two.

37. Doyou use established canon characters, or do you create OCs?

I alwaystry to write canon characters unless it’s necessary to create a person for aspecific scenario. OCs can be hard to connect with unless you’re very good at makingreaders care, so they’re a bit risky. I know I prefer to read about canoncharacters, though, so that drives my thinking when I create plots/scenarios.

41. Listand link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

@preludeinz is just… one of the best writers you’re ever going to find. The way she’sable to take literally any scenario or characters and make them interestingbaffles me even years into knowing her, and you will not find a better writer todescribe clothing. She’s as brilliant at handling character interactions as sheis at describing lasagna food. Also, her dialogue is A++

lurkinglurkerwholurksis another complete package. Everything about their writing is engaging andfeels so polished, and they have an enviable ability to capture characters’ voices.I’m constantly blown away by the quality of their work, and I’m waiting withbated breath for the next chapter of Nature and Nurture.

@headspacedad writes some of the best stream of consciousness I’ve encountered. The firstchapter of their story Falling took my breath away, and subsequent updatescontinue to knock the air out of me. Writing a character who’s lost a primarysense is no easy feat, but they make it incredibly easy, and indeed the storyis so rich with details that it’s 100% better that way.

If youwant a writer who’s going to challenge you with each chapter, each scene, eachparagraph, each sentence, pollywantsa is absolutely the writer for you. I’mperhaps a tiny bit traumatized by one particular work, but in general every storyis worth reading. There’s a sense of weight to each piece, a gravity that goesbeyond fandom trappings and sinks into your very bones, lives like mercury inthe bottoms of your lungs, dragging you down into the unshakable truths that areinescapably human. Real people make wrong decisions, destroy other people orthemselves; they are crude and profane and selfish and so very beautiful intheir imperfections, and polly will remind you of that with each tone-perfectword they’ve laid down.

Roundingout the list is @velkynkarma. Unusual stories and unique situations that I neverwould have considered reading are some of my favorite stories because of VK’sskill at finding the engaging threads to pull into the light. Space mouse vsCoran? Amazing. Keith + space mouse shenanigans? Incredible. Zarkon + eldritchhorror? Terrifying but so engaging. Slav and Sven AU? Worthy of popcorn. Heapsof Shiro angst? Sign me up. The high quality of both storytelling and technicalskill are not to be missed, and every new story and chapter updated is a TREAT.

(honorarymention: @deepwaterstars for being the sunbeam to my moonbeam

43. Whatship do you feel needs more attention?

Uh… I’mnot sure tbh. I’m not a “shipper,” and I tend to read gen fic as a wholesalerule. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more Virgil/Penny, I guess?

47. Doyou leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/why not?

Mmmm.See. This is the thing I’m trying to get better about. Because I tend to go ALLIN when I comment and drop a solid 300–500 words, and that takes time, even ifthe words are flowing. I find it hard to write something more modest, because Iknow exactly how much I drool over the writers who leave me enormous comments,and I want to give them the same feelings. I tend to only comment whensomething has truly moved me, especially since I’ve tried to move on from the unasked-forcritique-style reviews. Maybe one day I’ll find a happy middle ground.

ask me about fanfic!

[littlewhitetie]

(Mostly) Shiro-Centric Whump Fic Recs!

You bet I do, anon!! Always happy to share. :) I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but here are some favourites:

I've had Worse by cabbagespoon / @cabbagespoon​ (some gen, some Sheith)

A collection of sickfics and stand-alone drabbles focused on whumping the hell outta Shiro. 

Full Circle by Glass Soldiers (subtract) / @glass-soldiers​ (gen)

The ripe scent of the blood pouring out of the body nearly made Shiro gag, but now that he was up close he could see that the rebel still had some sort of grenade attached to his belt. A terrible idea presented itself to Shiro in the few seconds of time he had left.

“Keith,” he said into his comm, “make sure you get the rest of them out of here.”

"Wait, Shiro!"

“There he is! Fire!”

Shiro will do whatever it takes to save the other paladins when they get in over their heads in a very dangerous situation. And then, they will do whatever it takes to save him.

The Greatest Challenge by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma​ (gen)

Getting the Rembelii to join the coalition should be in the bag, an easy first mission back for Ryou after months of recovery. He shouldn't need Shiro for backup at all. But the leader of Rembeliss isn't interested in the coalition; he's interested in Champion and a challenge, and won't take no for an answer.

from the inside by valkyriered / @queenvallkyrie​ (Uliro)

Voltron gets hit with a virus. It doesn't feel nice. 

brace by buttered_onions / @butteredonions (platonic or romantic Uliro)

Twenty minutes in to the space-thunderstorm, Ulaz notices Shiro is missing.

All Too Familiar by oldmythologies / @oldmythos​ (gen)

5 times Shiro couldn't sleep and the 1 time he could.

One For All, All For One by KaijuDork / @sheithlings​ (gen)

Everyone in Team Voltron has their own struggles, and Shiro always makes it a priority to help them out when he can. It's not always easy on top of his own issues, though; He's plagued by nightmares and flashbacks, and a growing sense of disgust at who he's become. His brave face is slowly crumbling as it begins to take its toll, and the other paladins agree to do something about it.

Or: Shiro helps each paladin out in turn, and sometimes they help him, but eventually they all come together to return the favour.

Numbers by oldmythologies / @oldmythos​ (platonic or romantic Sheith)

Shiro would hate it. He would hate knowing that Keith heard him scream sometimes, that Keith knew that he wasn’t completely okay. He’d feel weak, and he’d hide behind his speeches and his optimism and would be ever more careful about where and when he let himself fall asleep.

The cry reaches him from behind the door. It sounds like a child, and god, that child is so afraid.

This time, Keith doesn’t hesitate to open the door.

One Hundred Percent Probability by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

Shiro has no one to blame but himself for getting stuck on a mission with Slav, really. And of course it has to go all wrong, because really, when does it ever not.

Shadows of Our Dreams by KUG (gen)

-There comes a time and place where you don’t stand so tall-

The Paladins of Voltron have been reunited and are now resting and trying to heal, but nightmares tend to stick around longer than physical injuries. Time for a good ol' fashioned sleepover with the team. (Post-episode 11) 

Parasite Knight by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

“You may refuse all you like, Champion, but I have found the one thing in the universe that can be absolutely counted on is that everything that exists desires to survive. Even you. Perhaps especially you.”

Something’s not right with Shiro, but it may go far deeper than anybody anticipated.

Beast You've Made of Me by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

The Alteans once had powerful allies. Some were wiped out, and some fell.

In hopes of regaining powerful friendships, the team land on a planet to search out signs of rebellion against the Galra. What they find instead are old acquaintances, court intrigue, and old wounds.

Or: One time the universe conspired to make Shiro's life hell

Drown Out Your Mind by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

Continuation from Chapter 4 of Like Forgetting The Words.

Shiro is sick. Very, very sick. The team tries to help. 

for every bird there is a stone by lacking / @lightshesaid (gen)

Shiro walks away from his confrontation with Haggar injured and shaken. After falling through the corrupted wormhole and finding himself stranded alongside Keith on a solitary planet, Shiro begins doubting his bond with the black lion and his place among the other paladins. As the team is reunited and his health continues to decline, Shiro is forced to confront parts of himself he thought were long buried, and everyone is left questioning just how far he’s willing to go in order to survive.

Trust Me by votsalot / @saumenschliesel (gen)

Pidge is having a late night snack when Shiro comes to her for help only she can provide. 

Hurricane by a_fearsome_thing / @thehouseofthebrave (gen)

Shiro is injured and very pragmatic about it. Hunk is decidedly less so.

Grounded by buttered_onions / @butteredonions (gen)

Separated from the rest of the team, Shiro must wait for rescue. In the meantime, he's not alone.

Spark to Ignite by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) / @bosstoaster (gen)

Shiro wakes up in the dark.

He is alone.

Routine Maintenance by VelkynKarma / @velkynkarma (gen)

Being an amputee with a prosthetic limb is difficult enough. Having a solid metal alien prosthetic forced on you by another species entirely is even worse.

OR:

Five times Shiro’s Galra arm caused him trouble in some way and another member of the team helped him out with it, and the one time the same arm is the only reason any of them survive.

i have dug this grave for two by radialarch / @radialarch (Sheith)

This is what Keith promises himself: both of them will make it out of this. [Post-S1]

piling sandbags on parapets by alessandriana (gen)

"It's really not that bad," Shiro said.

Keith shot him a look of raging disbelief. "Pidge said you got tortured."

(Episode tag for Fall of the Castle of Lions/Tears of the Balmera.)

But I'm Sick of Learning How to Die by yet_intrepid / @apaladinagain​ (gen)

The paladins caused collateral damage in a battle, and they've resolved to do what they need to so their alliance with the impacted planet stays intact. Unfortunately, said planet has a judicial system based on corporal punishment.

Shiro has a plan to deal with this, but he underestimates what his team will do to protect him.

Where the Ocean Hits the Sky by maychorian / @maychorian (gen)

Shiro is sick and Lance is the only one who can look after him. If Shiro will let him, of course. Hopefully it's just a cold.

Breathless by radiofreekerberos / @radiofreekerberos (Sheith) (Keith and Shiro whump)

Shiro and Keith are stranded on a toxic planet that is slowly killing them. Can team Voltron rescue them before the clock runs out on them both?

Not long after they’d crashed, it became apparent that some element of the red dust was especially toxic to Keith. Shiro suspects it has something to do with his Galra DNA. He’d pulled Keith out of the red lion just before she’d been buried, but those few minutes of exposure to the storm as they’d retreated inside the black lion had taken a toll.

The Nature of Your Ways by ThatAcePaladin / @thatacepaladin​ (platonic or romantic Sheith) (Shiro and Keith whump)

Shiro always knew there was something special, something unique, about Keith. He never suspected that he would be half-alien, let alone half-Galra, but after learning that, everything seemed to fall into place.

or: five things Shiro thought were different about Keith, and the one two times he knew that Keith was still Keith.

Shifting Sands by Cardigan_Quincy (gen) (Lance and Shiro whump)

Lance picked himself up from the floor gingerly, testing his muscles before putting too much weight on them. Nothing seemed injured, aside from a few aches that would likely become a nice collection of bruises by tomorrow morning. But considering how hard Blue had fallen, Lance felt lucky. Blue was less lucky. --- Lance is stranded on a desert planet, injured and captured by someone who will go to any lengths to get their hands on the Black Lion. Fortunately or otherwise, he's not alone.

Boom Crash the Sound of My Ship by maychorian / @maychorian​ (gen) (Lance whump)

After a Galra attack splits Voltron, the blue lion is damaged and falls toward the jungle planet below. Shiro follows, and now he and Lance are stranded in hostile territory, fighting to survive. Lance is injured, Shiro is having flashbacks, and help is far away. And the Galra just...keep coming.

Won't Let Fade by Haleykim84 (tristen84) / @haleykim84 (gen) (Keith whump)

At a Voltron Coalition after party, Keith attracts some unwanted attention.

Compromised by gringle (gen) (Keith whump)

Keith ignored the rolling sensation of pain radiating from his stomach. “I’m uh… I’ve been injured. I can make it-” probably. Keith was never a betting man in the sense that he’d think in terms of probabilities. He just worked toward a goal, and he either succeeded or failed, and he can’t fail this. “-I just need more time.”

“That information is invaluable in overcoming this sector of Empire Control. You have five minutes, or until we’re compromised ourselves,” Kolivan stated, grim and final.

Another click, and Kolivan’s voice went silent.

If those aren’t enough for you, here are some of mine:

Interlude (platonic or romantic Sheith)

"Where are you going?” Keith asks, just barely catching Shiro before he collapses.

“My room, or just… not here. Please.”

Shiro should probably stay here in the infirmary where he can be monitored, but his eyes are pleading.

“Alright,” Keith concedes. “But I’m not leaving you alone.”

--

In which Keith takes care of Shiro after The Journey.

Lost and Found (light Sheith)

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice is barely a whisper, hoarse and wavering with disbelief.

Conflicting emotions seize Keith’s heart at the sound of Shiro's voice: utter relief in that they’ve finally found him; sheer horror in that they’ve found him here.

As Many Times (Sheith)

Shiro has fever dreams; Keith does what he can to help.

Silence (pre-Allurance; platonic or romantic Sheith)

An anti-Galra nanoweapon leaves Keith ill and Shiro badly injured. It's up to Lance and Allura to find them, take care of them, and get them home safe and sound.

Linger (light Sheith)

“You should go back to bed,” Keith says. “Get some more sleep.”

Shiro’s tired, but no. He can’t go back to his room, not yet. He’s not ready to be alone again.

--

Not wanting to leave Keith's side, Shiro looks for excuses to linger.

Pulmonary (Shallureith)

Infected with a disease that feeds off of heartache, flowers bloom in Shiro’s lungs, choking him with petals. He keeps the petals he coughs up a secret, but it’s getting hard to hide. The only thing that can stop its trajectory is if the person he’s in love with returns his feelings.

Shiro doesn’t even know who it is he’s sick for—Keith is Shiro’s anchor, his sun; but Allura is his compass and stars. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Neither of them could ever be his. They’ve each made their feelings for him—or lack thereof—known.

Not to mention the fate of the known universe is contingent on their upcoming marriage.

The coughing attacks get worse, but he can’t let them find out why. All he can do is try to push down his longing and watch as, little by little, Keith and Allura fall in love.

Finding Home (gen)

Shiro has hands that are his to hold.

After suffering a concussion and nearly drowning, Shiro falls ill. From the jungle to caves to cities and space, through fighting the Galra and seeking a cure, Keith and Allura are with him through it all.

What Once Was Lost (gen)

Shiro doesn’t want to remember, but he realizes he really should. He has his memories extracted, replaying them in the hopes of finding useful information, and maybe as a starting point in confronting his trauma. The days he spends watching them aren’t easy, but at least he’s not alone.

What We Do (gen)

On a mission gone awry, Shiro and Keith are captured and imprisoned. Shiro is injured and sick. Keith has no idea how to take care of someone, let alone comfort them, but he does his best.

Elementary (gen) (Keith whump)

A poison in the building they're captured in leaves Keith delirious and vulnerable, with only Allura there to take care of him. Unused to comforting others, Allura is completely out of her element. Luckily, she has Lance on the other end of the line to walk her through it.

Hope that helps!! And don’t forget to leave a comment if you enjoy a fic (even if it’s short!)--comments always appreciated and encourage writers to keep creating content. These authors are amazing and deserve a lot of love. :)

[platonicvldweek]

I apologize, I've been trying to get something posted for prompt #2 all night and AO3 just keeps refusing to load it. Looks like I'm gonna miss the day :( I'll post the prompt as soon as AO3 feels like cooperating, but sadly it's not going to be on time.

Oh that’s annoying :// No stress though, late entries are fine!

[cratercreator]

when u get this u have to answer with 5 things u like about yourself, publicly. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) ✨💕✨💕

Aww how sweet. Well if you peek through my tags you know most of this. I'm a teacher, I teach 5th grade in America. I love my job....mostly. there's a level of insanity that cannot be imagined until you're in the job. The amount of emergencies, lock downs, and unexpected crazy I've encountered is staggering. My first year teaching we went into lockdown bc there was a crazy man, naked, running through the neighborhood stabbing people with a pitchfork. In my internship I had a kid who was nearly kidnapped. I've even stabbed a child with a epidural pen. We get all the action in this career.I live with my best friend, we've been friends since we were 5, so it's been a while. I love reading, painting/drawing, hiking and friends. Ummmm, currently single (dating sucks). And I'm a girl. Who is a pretty strong closet nerd. I'm currently reading the Dresden Files again, Tuesdays with Morrie, and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Science!Okay that's more than five. I tag these beautiful people, and anyone else who's interested. Hit me up if you ever want to chat!@didyousaycooloff @mariana-oconnor @beyondthesunrise @velkynkarma @janestrider @olitwister @savrenim

[velkynkarma]

In "Price Cut Paladins" what are the chances of Lance getting a less dramatic family reunion than Keith? His family may be less intense than Krolia, but there are also many more of them to jump to conclusions.

It'd probably still be a pretty dramatic reunion, given the circumstances of Lance's story. Since his family lost contact with him, and he has no idea who's alive (and if anyone did survive), it's already going to be a very emotional reunion. But to top it off, the family was attacked by the Covenant--and now Lance is in the company of a known (and hated) Covenant family member. Unless Lance has a chance to explain it ahead of time, they're almost certainly going to assume Lance has been kidnapped, brainwashed, abused, or some other terrible thing. They are a tight-knit family and will do whatever it takes to rescue him.

Shiro on the flipside has no interest in harming any of them, so he'd be doing his best to mitigate damage and not hurt anybody. Difficult, if there's a pack of lizard-dogs trying to kill you.

[mewtwoandme]

We know how Lakota met Argon, and later Mewtwo. But how did Gwen first meet her partner?

Mandy's parents are pokemon breeders. Her parents gave Gwen to her when she was a ralts, to be a therapy/emotional support pokemon.

[bosstoaster]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ anything that's on your mind or if u want a prompt, anything to do w Dark Necessities?? 👀👀

Oooh, Dark Necessities is still one of my favorite concepts.  I think in practice, I could have done more to set up the geography of the battleground and all the cliffs.  I had a very specific idea in mind, and I’m not sure how well it came across.

The original idea came from a fic exchange with @velkynkarma.  She was looking for a fic that examines how cutthroat Shiro can be for the sake of the mission, which we see in the first episode when he was willing to let any prisoners on Sendak’s ship die if it meant retrieving Voltron until Pidge revealed her relationship to the Holts.  It’s a really interesting bit of characterization that never really manifested in the rest of the series.

(Fun fact, my return offer was for a Shiro sick fic - which she was working on.  Then I asked for the rest of the team finding out more about the arena - which was the same fic she was working on.  Then I asked for Shiro pushed to the edge to defend the team - also the fic she was working on.  That turned out to be Parasite Knight, which is still one of my favs in the whole fandom).

The original idea I had was for Shiro to let a planet/culture get attacked for the sake of protecting one of the other paladins.  But in the end, I decided that wasn’t enough of a dilemma - the right answer, defend one of the few paladins of Voltron, is the one Shiro would want.  Also, it wouldn’t resonate with the audience, because they would also want to defend one of the other paladins over unnamed groups of NPCs.

So instead, I made it harder on the paladins: They had to be helpless and let atrocities happen.  Especially for Shiro, who basically pointed the Galra to the main town to protect his own hide, a much harder task for him, and he had to use his authority to enforce something he doesn’t want either.

The wrap up I didn’t have planned, especially Keith.  There needed to be consequences that mattered to both Shiro and the audience: it affects Shiro to see the broken down, but to an audience member, it’s sad but expected.  To have the paladin’s relationship damaged hits harder, since that’s been built up for the series.  So I wanted to explore how Shiro’s actions shook that up, and how they handed it.

All in all, it was a lot of fun to dig into that part of Shiro, and to just follow the shockwaves and see where they go.  It was a great prompt.

(Fanfic Directors cut!  Ask me about the background of a fic)

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #54

A little shorter this week. I took some vacation days and did a lot of other stuff besides reading fanfiction, because yeah, ironically, I read the most fanfiction when I’m at work.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Know Yourself by exclamation Words: 28,139 Author’s Summary: In trying to reconnect to the black lion, Shiro makes a worrying discovery: he might not really be Shiro. Suspecting that he might be a clone, Shiro decides to go on a mission back to the Galra science base where he was held captive. He’s not ready to tell the others what he suspects yet, but when Matt catches him sneaking out of the castle, it’s clear he’s not going on this mission alone. Shiro has to find out what was done to him, and if there is another version of him out there in need of saving. My Comments: Excellent exploration of the Shiro clone theory with some awesome plot twists, great characterization, and powerful action scenes. I really enjoyed this a lot.

The Christmas Episode by FunkyWashingMachine Words: 1,422 Author’s Summary: It’s Christmas on the castle ship, and no one loves it more than Lance. To his slight dismay. My Comments: Sweet and funny and just a little angsty. Lance deserves a happy Christmas, for sure.

Precious Cargo by LightPinkTheColorOfMyAura Words: 5,315 Author’s Summary: The team is tasked with rescuing an alien princess. Pidge and the others are not very excited to watch Lance fall all over himself for a pretty girl, so they decide to keep him…busy. When their plan falls through and they find someone unexpected, Lance pulls through like they should have expected. My Comments: Sweet, a little angsty, very cute. I don’t wanna spoil the twist, but it’s good. I enjoyed this very much.

Beacon by glitteringconstellations Words: 21,863 (6/?) Author’s Summary: An emergency mission to answer a distress call wasn’t unusual. The urgency in Allura���s voice wasn’t necessarily unusual, either—she was very much of the mind that Voltron was obligated to answer every single distress callbrought to their attention. Being the defender of the known universe came with a certain number of responsibilities, after all. But seeing the pinched, pale look on both Allura and Coran’s faces when they converged on the bridge was unusual. “The universe is vast even in terms of those planets still yet beyond the grips of the Galra. But…. the distress call came from the Terra Firma Quadrant.” Earth. My Comments: This story is absolutely harrowing, evoking all kinds of horrific things from Earth’s past, but on a global scale. Really, really, amazingly good. Very suspenseful and exciting, and it’s very cool to find a story not quite like any other Voltron fanfic I’ve read. Highly recommended if you can stand some pain.

Breathe by SuperKat Words: 2,192 Author’s Summary: The first wave of panic hits Keith out of nowhere. One second, Lance is “catching him up” on everything that’s happened since he left Voltron, and the next second Keith has a flash of memory – the two of them, walking through this hall, talking and bantering, just like this – and suddenly his breath leaves him. My Comments: I have a soft spot for someone having a panic attack and someone else talking them through, as anyone who has read my stuff will know. This was a great one.

Christmas on the Castleship by slowbronite Words: 1,939 Author’s Summary: The team raids the Space Mall’s Earth store for Christmas decor and subsequently freaks Coran out with the concept of Santa Claus. My Comments: Very cute fic with a slight focus on Coran that I really enjoyed. Happy paladins are always good to see.

War Games by FunkyWashingMachine Words: 2,160 Author’s Summary: The paladins build opposing pillow forts and declare war. Shiro is both liaison and collateral. My Comments: So cute and funny, gah, it’s wonderful to see the kids enjoying themselves. I’m pretty sure Shiro was pretending to be neutral just play off both sides, though, sneaky.

fight in the ring by ebonynightwriter Words: 2,605 Author’s Summary: When a rescue mission goes south, Allura and the team find themselves in a hard situation. // “Wait, Shiro’s the Champion?! Since when?” My Comments: Very cool little action fic.

Geslorp’s House of Terrors by AmnesiaticRoses Words: 6,815 Author’s Summary: Lance is excited when Hunk agrees to visit a carnival-style space haunted house with him. The haunted house should be fun, and Hunk’s reactions should be funny. But Lance forgot to account for the power of technological curiosity… My Comments: Cute fic with my favorite boys having an adventure together. It kind of backfires on Lance, haha.

Plundered Plumage by Quiddity Words: 5,374 Author’s Summary: Something odd crashes to the deck of the ship during a sudden storm. An avian. More common than their siren cousins, but stil rarely seen and never captured. Until now. Captain Sendak wastes no time in securing the exhausted avian, Shiro, intent on handing him over to the Pirate King Zarkon for his own gain. However, Keith, sold to Zarkon as a slave as a child and forced into a life of piracy, just might have trouble sitting back and allowing that to happen. My Comments: Really fun Pirate AU with Keith taking a big, big risk to save Shiro. The fic is short, but the world feels fully realized, and I loved the cameos from the other characters.

Rebuild all your Ruins by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 6,074 Author’s Summary: There are consequences to Shiro’s refusal to kill. Pain hasn’t worked on him so far, but another tactic might. My Comments: This is hurt with no comfort, so know what you’re getting into. Awful stuff, but very well-written, as always.

Where the Heart Is by SmolGooDragon Words: 5,153 Author’s Summary: Lance has graduated from the Garrison at the top of his class, and will be leaving for a mission to space in a few weeks. He’s happy to be with his family and everything is going perfectly, but he feels like there’s something he can’t quite remember… like something’s missing. My Comments: Starts out as Lance going home to see his family, but there’s a twist! A good one! I don’t wanna spoil it. Just read the fic. If you like the hurt!Lance recs I typically post here, you will love this story.

Don’t Forget to Call Home by isabeau25 Words: 8,827 Author’s Summary: Just because Keith has decided to join the Blades of Marmora, doesn’t mean the team is going to let him disappear from their lives. My Comments: Absolutely beautiful fic about the other paladins keeping in contact with Keith while he’s away in Season Four. I especially loved Lance here; isabeau25 always writes Lance so very, very well. But everyone else was wonderful too. The end scene, after Keith’s nearly disastrous decision, is especially warm and comforting. So, so good.

Burning Bright by IcyPanther Words: 9,693 Author’s Summary: Last chance, they told him. If this family didn’t work out then it was back to the group home for him. And as much as Keith disliked the foster system, he hated the group home. He’d endure anything life threw at him to avoid going back. But when he meets Shiro, Keith realizes that, perhaps, there’s more to life than just enduring. His world is about to become a whole lot brighter. My Comments: Heartbreaking and heartwarming backstory for Keith and Shiro that matches up with my personal headcanons very nicely. I really felt everything Keith was going through, from the despair to the pain to the dawning pleasure and ultimate joy. So good, so satisfying, I just love it.

Seven Vargas by VelkynKarma for buttered_onions Words: 18,006 Author’s Summary: Shiro has a bad habit of disappearing unexpectedly. But the team really should have anticipated it this time, with him being the most wanted person on the planet. My Comments: This is a thrilling read of the action/adventure type, but with a healthy dollop of pathos, too. Shiro has a really rough time of it, but it was great to see him constantly fighting to get himself free by whatever means he could, and of course the others’ frantic need to find him and rescue was lovely.

Signals From Space by Eastofthemoon Words: 3,814 Author’s Summary: Fame spreads farther than anyone could have known. My Comments: Lance’s family is sweet and funny and perfect, and this is a delightful way for them to find out that Lance is alive. The final chapter was especially heartwarming.

reprise, refrain by obstinateRixatrix Words: 8,180 Author’s Summary: When the castle picks up an Altean distress signal, Allura desperately hopes to find surviving Alteans. She does - just not in the way she was expecting. My Comments: I like the canon version of this episode just fine, but this is also a very fun alternate take, and much easier on Allura’s heart, I think. All of the OCs are delightful.

What Happens Under a Full Moon by imperiality Words: 9,136 Author’s Summary: When Lance accidentally partakes in a new planet’s ritual under their greatest full moon, the paladins have to find out how to reverse his spell. Or, he could have just taken off the mask to begin with. My Comments: Fantastic worldbuilding here, very immersive and enjoyable to read. It’s like taking a journey, traveling with Lance through this exciting festival he enjoys so much. And the solution to the trouble he finds himself in made me very, very happy.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

The Purity of Sin (22254 words) Home and a Half (109291 words) As Color Fades Away (217819 words) Gate Keeper (119177 words) Why it sucks to be a snake in space(59933 words)

[morfinwen]

i know this is a lot, but there are so many good questions. for the fanfiction ask: 1, 3, 5, 10; 22, 23, 28, 31, 36; 42, 45, 46, 51

Look what i finally got around to answering! 

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

I have no idea, honestly. My first published fic was probably And She Danced for Queen’s Thief, though.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

While i consider myself a fan of many things, i’m not sure i’d ever really consider myself part of a fandom, so can’t really answer this question.

5. Which fandoms have you written fanfiction for?

Published: Queen’s Thief, Knights of the Old Republic I and II, Leverage, Hunger Games, and Red vs Blue.

Unpublished: So many.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Yes and no. I write fic for pretty much everything i like, but as noted above, i’ve only published a very small amount of what i write, so there’s a lot of fandoms that i have never (and probably will never) publish any fic for.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Uh, maybe? Nothing i’ve published anywhere (that i remember), though, so there’s that.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

My list of published fic is so short, i’m going to talk (in vague terms) about one i haven’t published.

War/Pestilence/Famine/Death/Life/Time – for a bizarre AU of a multi-show crossover, including two shows that i don’t watch and don’t ever want to watch, it turned out great. The title could probably use some work, though.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fan art for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

There’s not really any “iconic” scenes that come to mind, but i’d certainly like fan art of the Leverage crew as Hunger Games tributes for Leveraging the Odds.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

I wouldn’t say this is *the* nicest, but it’s one of them:

“So, I didn’t understand who that was supposed to be until the name drop. At which point, everything turned from cute and kinda sad to immensely, (literally) jaw dropping, intemerately, shockingly, and utterly torture.

On another note, the way you wrote this story is phenomenal. I mean, absolutely PHENOMENAL.”

36. What’s your favorite genre to write?

AU/crossover/fusion. That’s not one genre, maybe not a genre at all, but that’s the best descriptor of my go-to writing choice.

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

I’m finally getting around to answering this literal weeks after i was asked, and i’m not up to expounding on the awesomeness of these authors, so just trust me when i say they’re good. Or go read some of their stuff.

Sholio - White Collar specificallyBossToaster - Voltron: Legendary Defender specificallyVelkynKarma - Voltron: Legendary Defender specificallywaffleguppies - Portal 2 specificallyFaye Dartmouth - multiple ‘verses

45. What is your all time favorite fanfic?

Hahaha. I never have one favorite anything, and even my top ten list shifts as i read new stuff and my opinions change. So instead, i’m going to give you ten fics that impress me (in no particular order):

The Break-Even Point (Ocean’s Eleven/Hawaii Five-Oh) – A movie i haven’t seen, a show i don’t watch, and an improbable crossover that somehow this author makes absolutely work.

Blue Sky (Portal 2) – I think it would be hard to overstate how much influence this has had on my view of Portal in general. Great story, interesting OCs, etc.

Routine Maintenance (Voltron: Legendary Defender) – One of those “4 + 1” fics, where every chapter is solid on its own, and the final part makes excellent use of everything established in the first four. One of the first VLD fics i read, and still a favorite.

What Fates Impose (Chuck) – It’s so fricking long, man, and yet it holds together so well. It also manages to make Chuck’s life worse than it is in canon, so there’s that.

This Sea Town or That Bruising City (White Collar) – This one is on here less for length and more for its lovely poetic symbolism.

She is called Venus but i call her You (Elementary) – Excellent character study with a couple lines that linger.

Who turns the wheel (White Collar/Criminal Minds) – A terrifying AU wherein Neal is a sociopath and a serial killer. I’m very glad this has no sequels, because this was so well-written i’d be obligated to read them, but it’s so dark that i can’t see them ending well.

When You’re Living On Your Knees, You Rise Up (Voltron: Legendary Defender) – A beautiful story about hope and revolution. Also Sam and Matt Holt-centric, and i love that in spite of collectively having maybe 10 minutes of screen time, Sam and Matt Holt have been so completely embraced by the fandom.

Astronomical Light (Queen’s Thief) – Coffee shop werewolf modern day AU, only one of 3 chapters written in over two years, and still great to go back and read.

Novena (Uncharted) – I like your whole series, of course, but something about this one makes it stand out. I think it’s Sam’s thoughts intercut with the prayer (in Spanish).

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Either And She Danced or Perhaps the Next Time Around. And She Danced has held up amazingly well for something i wrote ages ago, and Perhaps the Next Time Around came out beautifully for something written in a fit of inspiration about a topic i didn’t even like. I’m happy with everything i’ve published, but i think those are probably my best ones.

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I don’t really feel like ranting or gushing, honestly.

Thanks for asking!

[butteredonions]

onions would you ever write smol!slav :D

But you did it so well!

I might, actually. Slav is a tricky one for me to wrap my mind around writing. He’s so intricate and brilliant that I’d definitely have to study your guide to make sure I get his voice right. As a smol, I feel like all those eccentricities that make him so lovable would only be heightened - with the added bonus of Adorable. I’d need some sort of plot or justification for it, but I could see it, sure :)

(Ask me: would you ever write...?)