#alas this is what fanfiction is for i guess

[theflyingfeeling]

Fourtheenth Day of Gift-Giving: Fun Adventures

Prompt: A group project in school brings some unusual friends together

Yes, it's a high school AU, somewhat inspired by / based off this fic idea I had a while ago! I've never written a high scool AU before so pls be nice, also I've taken some liberties with the prompt again, because there's no group project per se, they're simply in the same chemistry class 😌

Banner made by @kraeuterhexchen again, thanks for suffering for me a bit I love youuuu <3

~

Aleksi muffled his third yawn in a row on his palms. Every single week at this exact time he regretted his promise to his father that he’d take at least four optional courses this school year on top of all the compulsory ones in exchange for a language course in Amsterdam next June. The tragedy was that his schedule was already so full with the compulsory courses alone that he could barely find gaps to fill with anything else at more humane times than at eight o’clock on a Monday morning, which was when his additional chemistry class was held. It didn’t help that none of his friends or acquaintances were taking the same class; Aleksi envied them for their superior life choices.

Chemistry could be alright at best, but in general it wasn’t among his favourite subjects. Rather than reaction equations, Aleksi was much more fascinated by the only other guy in the group he knew by name, who, by the happy coincidence of the two of them both being late to class on the first day, ended up being his lab partner. He didn’t know Olli because they were buddies, quite the contrary, in fact; one of Olli’s friends was still bitter about Aleksi standing him up regarding a music project (which had been but a case of bad communication, of which Aleksi was deeply ashamed, even though in the eyes of his own friends it had been ‘such a big-dick move to put that cocky emo loser back in his place lol’), so Aleksi wasn’t exactly surprised that Olli never replied to his sleepy greeting on Monday mornings. Thinking back to it, Aleksi couldn’t recall the boy saying anything at all during the chemistry classes, so that by now he would’ve started suspecting Olli was mute, if it wasn’t for the times he had seen Olli laugh and joke about with his friends at recess. From the little Aleksi had heard when he had passed by the group in the school corridors, Olli had a soft, quiet voice, often blending under the much louder ones of his friends, which was why Aleksi had set making Olli speak to him as his main ambition for the course, rather than getting a high mark.

“Morning,” he said to Olli like he did every Monday, and like every Monday, Olli barely glanced his way. What made this Monday different from all the other Mondays was that Aleksi could’ve sworn he had seen Olli nod at him this time, sort of in a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of way, although it may as well have been just his tired brain making things up. Nevertheless, it gave Aleksi the spark of hope that had him sit up straight, ready to converse Olli’s ears off in case he finally happened to be in the mood, but before he could open his mouth to ask Olli about his weekend, the teacher started the lesson by shoving hand-outs on their tables.

That day, however, Aleksi was determined to succeed in his plan at long last, even if he had to get a little creative.

While Olli was concentrating on keeping his eyes open as the teacher explained the theory behind the day’s experiments, Aleksi picked up his pencil and wrote on the corner of Olli’s hand-out:

Hi! :)

The anticipation nearly had him tremble as he waited for Olli to react in any way; for the longest time, bordering Aleksi’s patience, Olli did nothing but stare at the letters Aleksi had scribbled. He still didn’t look at him, still didn’t say anything or – god forbid – smile; he just blinked at the single word that had appeared in the corner of his paper.

Then, after a million years in Aleksi’s experience, he grabbed his own pencil.

hi

Those two letters alone made Aleksi feel like a winner already.

How are you?

Still keeping his eyes firmly on the paper, Olli seemed to be pondering his answer for a while.

good

Aleksi wondered if Olli was as terse speaking up as he was in writing.

Great to hear! I’m doing good as well :) Do you have a long day on Mondays?

Exactly like a moment earlier, Olli did nothing but stare at their brief written conversation. Aleksi wanted to believe that Olli was just about to write his answer but was ruthlessly interrupted by the teacher ordering them to walk over and look closer as she’d perform an example experiment for them to later mimic.

They didn’t get a chance to continue their little chat later on in the lesson, and they never spoke during the practical experiments they were asked to do – or rather, Olli never spoke, despite Aleksi’s best efforts to at least have him answer some simple yes-or-no questions, such as ‘do you want to try first?’ or ‘can you pass the pipette?’ or ‘oh fuck, do you think we should tell the teacher?’ when their experiments sometimes failed unexpectedly. The best Aleksi had gotten out of Olli was a suppressed snort when the other day Aleksi had accidentally spilled some red colour additive on his brand-new Off-White t-shirt.

“Quit laughing, or I’ll tell everyone it’s your blood,” he had said in hopes of making Olli properly giggle, but it had seemed to have the opposite effect, for Olli hadn’t let out a single sound for the rest of class after that. Later, Aleksi had wondered if it had been because Olli was scared Aleksi actually might, and to prevent his friends from getting wind of them being lab partners – because clearly he was that opposed to the idea of being associated with Aleksi – he had firmly kept his lips sealed for the rest of the class and all the ones that followed it.

This day, someone must have put something in Olli’s breakfast porridge, however, because when the class was dismissed, Olli spoke in his low, quiet voice, not even directly at Aleksi, but more to his general direction, so that Aleksi knew the words were addressed to him.

“See ya.”

“Yeah, see ya!” Aleksi replied, perhaps a little too eagerly, rolling his eyes in frustration when Olli hurried out of the classroom.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

~*~

The next Monday, Aleksi decided to go past formalities and straight to the point to get Olli to interact with him.

Had a nice wknd? :) 

Aleksi was most definitely too optimistic for his own good, but he had a feeling Olli didn’t take half as long to answer this time, even though his reply remained brief.

yup

Literally on the edge of his seat, Aleksi waited for Olli to elaborate on his reportedly ‘nice weekend’ – in vain. He rolled his eyes and picked up his pencil again.

What did you get up to?

Olli flipped pencil in his fingers like one would do with a drumstic, clumsily, almost dropping it on his desk. Aleksi saw an attractive blush slowly spread on Olli’s cheeks and hoped it wouldn’t discourage Olli away from the budding conversation. 

At last, Aleksi’s patient waiting was rewarded.

went to see a gig

Aleksi clenched his pencil into his fist out of sheer excitement. If there was a topic Aleksi could’ve chatted about for hours on end, it was music, his first and (so far) only love. He knew Olli played in a band and was sure that if he only could somehow make Olli lower his walls for him, they might actually find a lot to whisper about to pass the time a bit more merrily on Monday mornings.

So cool! Who did you see?

Olli didn’t keep him waiting for long, which Aleksi decided to take as a sign of Olli also being keen on their current conversation topic.

If only Aleksi knew how to help Olli get out of his shell a little more.

a friend’s band

Aleksi nodded, careful not to appear too enthusiastic or intrusive to scare Olli off, now that he had gotten him to write more than one word at a time.

Any good?

The teacher was just about to have the class gathered around her table again, so instead of a thorough review of the music show, Olli only jotted down a wonky yup in response before hurrying to the front of the classroom. During the whole rest of the class, Aleksi was not given another chance to fish more out of Olli’s weekend.

Well, he sighed to himself, standing up to join his coursemates, another Monday, then. 

~*~

Later that day, sort of by coincidence (of having purposefully lingered around the music classroom on the pretext of asking the music teacher about an upcoming extra credit class), Aleksi learnt Olli’s band had a practice slot in the music classroom on Monday evenings. His plan was not to spy on Olli, but he figured he might as well use this newly-acquired information to squeeze a little more out of Olli in their next chemistry class.

Any plans after school?

Only when he noticed Olli freeze upon seeing the question on the margin of his notebook, Aleksi realised how it must sound like to him, so out of the blue.

Just curious btw :) 

Olli seemed to hesitate before answering.

band practice

Aleksi hid his smirk behind his palm.

Hook, line and sinker, he thought to himself, the pencil in his hand itching to write down all the follow-up questions he had prepared. By the end of the class, Aleksi congratulated himself, for his plan to have Olli blabber about their common interest had worked out splendidly: Aleksi had learnt, for example, that Olli had been playing the bass for seven years already and that their band was actually working on their first EP, which Aleksi was genuinely impressed by. What really had made Aleksi feel like he was on top of the world, however, was when he noticed the smallest hint of amusement on Olli’s face; he still hadn’t managed to lure Olli to look him in the eye, but he had made him smile, which was perhaps even better.

The rest of the week Aleksi spent barely paying attention to what his friends were talking or laughing about in between classes, too busy searching for his chemistry class conversation buddy with his eyes. He did so every day, even though he was convinced the principal granting him the rest of the semester off with no consequences was more likely than catching Olli looking at him.

That was, until he did.

It was only a fleeting moment in time as they passed each other in the canteen and over before Aleksi’s heart could settle back to its place from his throat where it had jumped up to. He couldn’t tell since when his lab partner looking his way had started rousing this kind of reaction in him; then again, Olli had never really glanced his way before, so how could he have known?

Maybe that was also why Aleksi hadn’t noticed the shade of Olli’s irises until now. They were dark grey, he could tell, serious but not cold by any means. He couldn’t wait to take a closer look at them the next time he was given the chance.

Perhaps it was time for Aleksi to change his tactics.

~*~

“Hi Olli,” Aleksi said as soon as Olli walked up to his desk the next Monday. As if surprised to hear his name spoken out loud, Olli looked up at him, and Aleksi was granted another glimpse of those mysterious eyes.

Olli didn’t let him rejoice for too long, though, before turning his gaze to his desk as he sat down.

“Hi.”

And that was it: their first spoken conversation (in which Olli had also participated), despite Olli avoiding his gaze for the rest of the class, as was his right. Aleksi supposed. Even Aleksi himself was too giddy about the interaction to think of anything else to say.

It was almost ridiculous, if he was honest with himself. Yet, for the first time during the whole autumn semester, Aleksi was looking forward to the early Monday morning chemistry class.

~*~

Within the next couple of weeks, their conversations evolved from exchanging casual greetings (‘Hi Olli!’ ‘Hi…Aleksi’) to deep discussions about the current events in their lives (‘How’s it going?’ ‘Good.’ ‘Awesome’), which was equal parts exciting and frustrating to Aleksi. His heart would do the silly bouncing-up-to-his-throat thing whenever Olli blessed him with a quick glance of his dark eyes (Aleksi could swear they were a different shade every time he looked), but the moments only ever lasted for a second or two at a time. On the bright side, Olli would no longer rush out of the classroom to get out of having to perform any more small talk, but instead took his time putting his books and pencils back in his bag carefully, even if Aleksi never managed to open his mouth in time before Olli would make his inevitable escape. Aleksi suspected that it was, indeed, the newfound thrill of being graced with the occasional, fleeting look from Olli that rendered him speechless and caused him to miss his chance of getting to talk with Olli at least until they’d reach the classroom doorway. From there onwards they’d go their separate ways anyway, to their different worlds: Aleksi to one in which Olli was a moody emo kid with no sense of humour (or so Aleksi had been told by Isac who went to the same biology class with Olli), and Olli to one in which Aleksi was probably portrayed as a self-satisfied snob who once did his friend dirty.

The Monday after that, Olli never walked in through the classroom door, no matter how intensely Aleksi stared at it. When the days passed and Aleksi hadn’t caught a glimpse of the boy by Friday, he became worried, to the extent he considered walking up to Olli’s friend group to ask about him. He was almost certain that the one with the short platinum-blond hair might have actually told him, or at least he looked the least intimidating out of them all. One of them was almost two heads taller than Aleksi, so he saw it best to stay out of his way, although his smile – in those rare occasions he did smile – was anything but frightening. The one with the baggy clothes Aleksi had once heard rapping at a house party was tiny in comparison, but something about the angle of his eyebrows gave Aleksi the chills. Joel was obviously out of the question; Aleksi would probably never dare speak to him after The Incident. Joonas, on the other hand (Aleksi knew his name because he and Joel often squabbled loudly, with Joel shouting his name in bewilderment, his obvious affection for the boy poorly masked as annoyance), seemed like the kind of guy who would whisper you the right answer just in time before the teacher’s drill of a stare would bore a hole through your skull.

Taking a deep breath to brace himself, he watched as Olli’s friends were stepping in the Swedish classroom. As if on cue, Joonas was the last one about to walk through the door, and seeing his chance had come, Aleksi zoomed over and grabbed him by his sleeve.

“Hey,” he said once he had pulled Joonas aside, hidden from the disapproving looks of Joel and company.

“Huh?”

“Do you happen to know where Olli is?” Going straight to the point seemed like the best strategy to get anything out of Joonas, in case Aleksi had completely misjudged him and he was about to be punched in the face.

“He’s caught the cold. Why?” Knitting his brows and eyeing Aleksi up and down, Joonas seemed sceptical about Aleksi’s intentions, to say the least.

(It had Aleksi wondering if any of his own friends would act as protectively about him, but that was a matter of concern for another day entirely.)

“Ummmm… I have his chemistry homework for him.”

Aleksi could almost hear the cogwheels turning inside Joonas’ head until his expression brightened.

“Aaah… Right! Yeah, I suppose you would.” (Whatever Joonas meant by that.) “I’m gonna go over later today to see how he’s doing, so I can forward the message for you.”

“Oh, great! Thanks!” Aleksi said, as if he had any clue what they had actually been given as homework four days ago.

Ironically, Aleksi was saved by Joel calling for Joonas from inside the classroom.

“I’ll catch up with you later, alright?” Joonas winked at him, and then he was gone. 

Joonas never did catch up with him, however, and so Aleksi was saved from the embarrassment of admitting he hadn’t been following their chemistry lesson after all, more or less due to the disappointment of not seeing Olli after having spent the entire weekend planning what he’d say to him. Not knowing if Olli would be attending the upcoming Monday’s class either, the weekend went by slower than ever, which normal-Aleksi would’ve embraced; this new, strange, maybe-crushing-on-his-quiet-lab-partner-Aleksi was on pins and needles.

~*~

There it was again, that awful skip of his heart, when Aleksi saw Olli enter the classroom on Monday. So relieved he was that he had no means to tone down the excitement in his greeting.

“You’re here!”

Olli looked up at him but said nothing, his silence a pang to Aleksi’s chest. His joy upon their reunion changed into defeat in less than a second, and Aleksi felt like a right idiot for having thought Olli, too, might have been waiting to see him again.

Suddenly fascinated by the cover of his chemistry course book, Aleksi put his head down to hide his disappointment. He was already settled for staring at the abstract drawing for the next 75 minutes to avoid more heartbreak, but then a slip of paper appeared in front of him.

can’t speak doctor’s orders

On his face, Olli was wearing a kind, small smile. In that instant, Aleksi forgot what he had even been so saddened about. He flashed Olli a smile in return and started searching with his eyes for a pencil; he would’ve felt too weird talking to Olli out loud without him being able to answer. Tragically, it seemed that in anticipation of possibly seeing Olli again after so long, Aleksi had forgotten to pack his pencil case. Noticing this, Olli offered him his own, the same, tiny smile still on his lips.

Shame! You’re usually so talkative

He knew he was taking a risk poking fun at Olli’s quietness, but to his great relief, Olli’s smile widened and his shoulders twitched in a voiceless chuckle. Encouraged by this, Aleksi continued with an equally risky revelation.

I missed you in class last week

Having written down the words, Aleksi could barely look at Olli as he felt his cheeks heaten up. He let Olli take back his pencil from his fingers, as well as the paper slip from his desk.

Olli spent almost a minute writing down his reply, erasing and rewriting, until he finally passed the paper back to Aleksi, immediately directing his face to the opposite side of the classroom.

missed you too

Aleksi had never seen three words so pretty in his life.

~*~

What followed next was an entire week of unexpected encounters between the two lab partners, as if the universe was purposefully making them cross each other’s way to make up for the past seven days of not seeing each other. On Tuesday, their shoulders brushed walking past each other in a crowded corridor. On Wednesday, they were returning their trays at lunch at the exact same time and exchanged brief smiles. On Thursday, they almost ran into each other at the restroom door, which is when Aleksi learnt Olli had regained his voice, mumbling a small ‘oops’ after having bumped into Aleksi.

On Friday, at the last recess of the day, Olli’s friend Joonas grabbed Aleksi by his wrist and pulled him into an empty classroom.

“Wait here,” he ordered, and utterly confused as he was, Aleksi had no choice but to obey.

A moment later Joonas returned, pushing a red-cheeked Olli into the room before promptly leaping back to the corridor, closing the door behind him.

For one long, anxious moment, neither of them said anything, Aleksi because he was still too baffled by the latest turn of events to open his mouth, and Olli because he was… Olli.

“Ummmm…” Olli finally said, his voice a little hoarse, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “I just… ummm… there’s this… band… tomorrow…”

Aleksi had to bite his lip, both at how adorable Olli was, fumbling with his fingers as words fell out of his mouth one by one, as well as to keep himself from blurting out ‘yes’ before Olli even got around to asking him anything.

“And I was just… thinking if… ‘cuz I have an extra ticket… so… I thought maybe you–”

“Yeah!” To Aleksi’s turmoil, his tongue could sometimes be quicker than his brain. “I mean… what?” 

Behind the classroom door, someone clicked their tongue.

“Yeah, ummmm.” Olli scratched the back of his neck. “So yeah. Would you… like to come? To the show? On Saturday? With me? Maybe? I mean, of course you already have plans–”

“I don’t!” Aleksi hurried to say. “I can come. But… will your friends be coming too though?”

Olli shook his head. Aleksi decided not to dwell on what the evident horror in Olli’s eyes was a sign of. It might have been because he, too, thought it was a little too soon for Aleksi and Joel to make amends – or maybe he was just that terrified of being seen with Aleksi in public.

“No, they won’t. I mean, Joonas was supposed to, but he, ummmmmm, he’s going… ummmm…” Olli’s gaze wandered towards the door, as if for help.

“To my great-uncle’s funeral!” the door whispered at him.

“To his great-uncle’s funeral,” Olli confirmed.

“A-ha,” Aleksi nodded. “Sorry for your loss,” he said to the door.

“...Thanks,” the door replied. Holding back his laughter, Aleksi turned back to Olli who, for the first time since Joonas had urged them on the stage of their current scene, was looking at Aleksi, his round eyes expectant and hopeful for Aleksi’s final answer. Aleksi thought of taking a step closer to him, perhaps even gently touching his hand, but decided against it before his brain would command his limbs to make such reckless movements.

“Guess I’ll see you on Saturday at…?”

“At six. At Sandro’s.”

If Aleksi didn’t get a wink of sleep the following night, it wasn’t only because of excitement; the moment he laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, his mind was filled with pictures of a boy with twinkling eyes and a bashful smile, keeping him awake until he fell asleep to them.

~*~

Aleksi couldn’t bring himself to care if he looked a little dumb, smiling to himself and leaning his chin on his palm at eight o’clock the next Monday. Even the teacher announcing a pop quiz could not have washed away the dopey grin that had been painted on his lips since Saturday evening.

He was smiling at the way Olli’s eyes had brightened when he had spotted Aleksi in the crowd. He was smiling at Olli’s shy offer to get him a Pepsi. He was smiling at how star-struck Olli had looked when the band had first got on stage and the way he had lost himself in the music, rocking his head and closing his eyes as if to let the bass lines and guitar riffs swallow him whole. The band had been excellent, Aleksi had to agree, but more than half the time, all Aleksi had seen or heard was Olli.

And for the last three minutes of the show, all Aleksi had felt was Olli; more specifically, he had felt Olli’s hand searching for his, fumbling and hesitating until it finally clasped Aleksi’s during the final song of the band’s setlist, a melancholy rock ballad that prompted lighters and cellphone flashlights to be lit. In Aleksi’s eyes, they were all dim in comparison to the glimmer in Olli’s eyes.

Lying in his bedroom later that evening and throughout the entire next day, Aleksi had still felt the warmth of Olli’s hand in his, even though they had let each other go as soon as the stage lights had been turned off.

“Hi.” Olli’s voice brought Aleksi from Saturday evening back to Monday morning. 

“Hi,” he simply answered. There were a million things he wanted to say to Olli, but his sleepy, happy brain was still working on finding the exact words.

The smile on Olli’s face told him he’d have time to figure it out, at his own pace.

In the meantime, Aleksi could always improvise, and so he picked up his pencil.

♡

They both stared at the tiny heart on the corner of Olli’s notebook, and just when Aleksi was about to convince himself he had made a terrible mistake, Olli took the pencil out of his hand.

♡ ♡

[drachis917]

This is kind of out of nowhere for my blog and I feel like I'm going against both canon and fanon when I say this, but having mostly caught up with how My Hero Academia tried to wrap things up in its ending, I think Decay should've been Shigaraki's original quirk. A lot of the fandom likes the idea that Tomura was born quirkless until AFO got to him, since it parallels so well with Izuku. I do think that's a cool idea, but it's not my favorite theory for reasons I'll get into later. Unfortunately for most of us, it's been confirmed that he was born with a quirk, it just doesn't matter what it was because AFO took it and later gave him Decay. From what I can tell, that's not a particularly well-liked explanation since it puts AFO in the position of 'mastermind who organized literally everything bad that happened' which I imagine most people find lame. But consider this: even if Tomura was quirkless originally, wouldn't that leave AFO in the same place? I love the League of Villains a lot and consider them to be horribly tragic characters, but I think Tomura's situation in particular would've been more tragic if the whole thing was just one awful coincidence. Even if his bio family weren't who they were, Decay would've showed up eventually and almost certainly would cause a lot of problems. And I also think it would've been a whole lot more fucked up if AFO just picked him up on a whim because it was convenient, and learning about the kid's relation to his nemesis afterwards was what gave him the idea for his own legacy plan. When I think of tragedies, I usually look at them from the lens of "was there anything else that could've been done?" With Decay as Shigaraki's original quirk, no, there really wasn't. Alas, it is ultimately a story of good triumphing over evil, so there needed to be some bitch behind everything and AFO is that bitch. They needed an ultimate villain to blame instead of acknowledging the faults of their own system, and all of the bad guys connected to him needed to be dealt with in order to 'fix' everything. I wish the story as a whole could've been handled with a little more respect and nuance, but I guess I'll settle for self-indulgent fanfiction instead.

[longing-for-rain]

Just so you know, some of your anons are coming from a blog called @mal3vol3nt

I do not know if you’re aware, but she’s chronically obsessed with you and has also been sharing your ao3 on Twitter and inciting harassment there too, saying you’re “racist” and a “degenerate” and accusing you of writing underage. Her blog lately is mainly posts about you and it sounds very similar to some of your anons

I had to check this out for myself and...wow. All I can say is just...wow 🤣

No, I actually had no idea who this person was but from the looks of it she's been obsessed with me for months? I guess that explains the anons, I knew these people were mad, but apparently they've been over here steaming over my takes and are legitimately terrified of me. And I didn't even know them! Didn't realize I've been doing numbers on Twitter (or X whatever it is now) despite never having an account.

(The rest is below; please don't click if you do not wish to see insensitive discussions of rape or if you are not in the mood to read opinions so malformed they will melt your brain)

I guess I have another angry little troll who doesn't know what a captial letter is obsessed with me. Wish I could say it was the first time, but alas. A lot of particularly funny things here though.

> Advertising your terrible ragebait Twitter like anyone finds you important

Lmao.

> "write fanfiction of katara being raped so zuko can save her"

What a terrible misread of the point of that story, but then again, I don't expect much else from a terminally online crybaby who exclusively consumes media for children. If you can't handle adult discussions about adult topics, maybe don't read stories that are clearly marked 18+ and with far more extensive trigger warnings than any mainstream media will give you.

> "measuring the size of her breasts and hips"

Lmao. I said she is drawn differently in different scenes. That's it. You guys are another level of unhinged.

> "obviously fetishes and racism"

It's kind of creepy how they sexualize Zutara, while simultaneously accusing us of doing that. Why do you assume a fetish is the only reason behind someone liking a ship? Why would you say this about a group of people including many black, brown, and indigenous women? And minors? And if you want to get into the whole fetish thing, don't even get me started on the shit I've seen from the kataang fandom. Hint: when I say some of you have a "mommy fetish" I mean it in a very literal sense. Not to mention the whole kataang rape discord debacle.

> "sick fantasies about these minor characters"

I have never depicted a minor in a sexual situation. I make a point to explicitly avoid doing that, and all characters are depicted as adults. Your lack of media literacy isn't an argument. If you're going to criticize my writing, at least read it, which you clearly didn't. And if the content is too upsetting for you, you clearly lack the maturity to engage in these kinds of discussions.

Imagine treating ship discourse this seriously, actually unhinged. Who said that Ember Island Players is the real Katara? What? She talks a big number about coke-fueled rants, must have given it a try herself. How do you expect to be taken seriously when you never say anything of substance and screech "racism" or "colonizer" every other word but can't even articulate the significance of those terms? Honestly, at this point you sound like a right-winger who thinks saying "but I'm [identity] and I agree with [opinion]" is a golden ticket to winning every argument.

And look at this: apparently I deserved all the things she and her friends sent me? Actually I respect this take, at least she's honest about it unlike the people who cry and backpeddle when they get caught red-handed.

I'm actually cackling at this one. Genuinely laughing; my neighbors are probably concerned. It's like you took every single Bad Person Allegation and threw it into a blender. And to top it all off, apparently 24 is "pushing 30" now LMAO. And apparently I, a lesbian, could only possibly like Zutara because I think Zuko is hot. Not to mention the way they entirely miss the point of Zutara, but ATLA itself, by insisting that Zuko is a "violent imperialist" who is apparently unworthy of love by anyone who does not share his skin tone. Kind of ironic coming from the people crying that I'm a racist who doesn't understand the show. Next level clownery.

This is so funny. These people are absolutely terrified of me, no amount of unhinged anons will hide that. It's fine for men to tell me I deserve rape and death, that I'm a dirty pervert for daring to speak out about sexual trauma, and that women's sexual trauma is nothing but a fetish, but if I respond to that man telling him he should die for being so disrespectful and misogynistic to rape victims, I'm the monster? I stand by it. If you think what he said about rape and rape victims is acceptable, especially if you're a man, die! Hang from ropes, as I said.🥰

I guess I should be really scared though. This is clearly a very influential figure in the fandom who is renowned for her enlightened wisdom on the plight of fictional cartoon characters against evil imperialists like me (adult with job).

...oh wait. I was excited for a minute, I thought I was dealing with a celebrity. But even the "callouts" struggle to hit 20 notes :/

And to everyone sending me positivity during this time, thank you very much! But I wanted to show you this to assure you I'm doing just fine. People can act as weird as they want behind a gray face, but after seeing the kinds of whiny little brats they are in reality, it's pretty hard to take it seriously. "I got my plane ticket" my ass, that would require you to leave your decaying, trash-filled apartment.

[atopcat]

"Rhaegar insisted Aegon’s destiny alone will protect them" what do you mean by this?

I assume this is in regards to this post: x

My point was contrary to what a lot of Rhaegar antis and fans alike believe I honestly don’t think, from Rhaegar’s perspective, he intentionally abandoned his wife and kids.

Don’t get me wrong, the piece of crap was an idiotic deadbeat but I really don’t think he even considered a situation where his wife and kids would die because in his head that genuinely doesn’t make sense.

Everything he’s done was based on the firm belief that Aegon is the PWWP. So how can he die when he has a destiny that needs to be fulfilled? Rhaenys can’t die either, she’s one of the heads and just like their Conqueror namesakes it will be their blood that continues the line of House Targaryen.

This was his logic; as far as he was concerned you could throw them into a burning pit and they’ll come out unscathed because supernatural forces will protect them no matter what. As for Elia I guess he assumed the same forces will protect the mother of the PWWP 🤷🏽‍♀️

I’m sure people will disagree with me and until George releases The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring we won’t know what the moron was thinking. But this honestly makes the most sense to me; his saviour complex gave him the delusion everything he did was for the “greater good”. This also means his kids will live regardless because they are the "greater good".

It’s the same logic that resulted in Lyanna dying without a midwife or maester, if he has to sacrifice one teenage girl to get Aegon his Visenya and thus save the whole of humanity then so be it. The ends justify the means after all 👍🏾

Alas at the end of the day he was wrong about everything because he’s a twat who is currently burning in the pits of hell for what he did to Elia, Lyanna, his children, their families and the whole of Westeros.

So until proven otherwise I call bs to Dumb and Dumber's fanfiction, it wasn't "love" that had him trap a teenage girl in a tower where she died of blood loss whilst his knights tried to kill her brother. It was the firm belief she'll give him a third head for his son and daughter, so why would he abandon them?

[codenamesazanka]

i sincerely believe that if deku and spinner had teamed up after plw, they would have succeeded in saving shigaraki in both body and heart. they would have complemented each other soooo well, and with all their similarities and differences made for a really interesting dynamic. and it would have been such a nice way to show a villain and a hero bridge the gap between them 😭 but alas. i guess that's what fanfiction is for

Before Chapter 423, I would've conceded that Spinner should've tried to break away from All For One to seek help from the Heroes for Shigaraki and the League (despite having no reason to because Heroes have done nothing but tried to kill them). That first step, y'know?

But now it definitely should've been Deku who reached out first. If Deku had cared at all about "learn[ing] what makes [Shigaraki] tick deep down."

Sorry, sorry for the Deku bash on your ask! Still a little miffed. I agree with you - that the two forming a team-up could've been something else! Here's @stillness-in-green's excellent post about the possibility of this back in 2022, before the actual war started:

Spinner, following Stain’s example, protected Deku all the way back at the training camp, laying some early ground for them to be able to have a pseudo-civil conversation. Spinner has dealt with discrimination due to his quirk—and particularly the weakness of his quirk—in ways that could easily be raised as a parallel to Deku’s experience of quirklessness. Spinner and Deku are now both profoundly invested in Shigaraki’s welfare, making them natural allies against All For One despite their otherwise opposed positions. Spinner and Deku are the only characters that get arc narration, distinguished by the past tense they use to discuss current events and how those events affect the future. Spinner and Deku are both green. [...] if there is to be any reckoning with Shigaraki as he currently exists, getting on speaking terms with Spinner is—in my admittedly very Spinaraki-colored view—Deku’s best hope. [...] I can’t imagine what the point was of setting Spinner up as “Shigaraki’s most devoted follower” (or, more literally, “the one who cherishes Shigaraki the most”) if he’s only going to get peeled off by Shouji before he and Deku have a chance to talk about how much more Deku needs to know beyond “crying five-year-old” if he’s hoping to do anything remotely productive with that psychic link. As I’ve said time and time again, saving “Tenko” doesn’t mean shit if it doesn’t lead to Hero Society addressing the problems that formed all the other villains Tomura represents. And Deku, Hero Society’s highest hope, is still, even after everything he saw outside the walls of his hero academy, still telling people that they’ll get their old lives back, that he’ll put everything “back to normal.” Does he have the slightest idea what horror that implies to the people whom that normalcy pushed out? Who better to tell him than Spinner, who suffered under the old normal, who met and grew close to others who all suffered like he did but for reasons entirely their own? Who spent months working closely with people with wildly radical ideas for a new, different way, who is now becoming a focal point for people all over the country who see in him the same kind of inspiration he once saw in Stain, that of someone willing to stand up and fight back? Who better to say, “You have to care about the people you turned us into, not just the kids we used to be”?

Well. I guess they still can team-up... but now it wouldn't be saving Shigaraki, and more just mitigating the fallout.

[jillsandwhichs]

Cleon Oneshots/AUs Collection, Chapter 6, Still Loveable

Masterlist

Pairing: Claire Redfield & Leon Kennedy

Summary: Claire gets hurt during a mission at terrasave & Leon visits her in the hospital

Status of their relationship in this oneshot: Dating

WC: 2.5k

Type: Sfw

A/n: Hi! Hope you all enjoy. Please check out my masterlist, there's a lot of stuff there. You can get to know me, you can see the rules of my blog and then you can see all of my fanfictions. You'll be able to find the previous chapters to this fic and upcoming ones. You'll also be able to find my Wattpad & AO3. Thank you

The bright white lights were beaming in the tranquil, pristine room. It was also quite a small room, clearly meant for only one person to be staying in, but it was extensive enough to allow visitors to stay in. It smelt very bland, as if it had no smell, it was a boring scent. There weren't many windows either, just a few along the left wall, which showed the busy outside world, people who were actually able to live their lives outside of a hospital.

Claire didn't like it here - she absolutely despised being in the hospital. If only she would've been more careful, she wouldn't have ended up here, in this plain, depressing room. All she wanted was to be back at her house, laying in her bed and watching TV or reading a book. Here, she can still do that, but not like she can back home. Now she doesn't even know when she'll be out of here, the nurses haven't given her a clear set time yet.

Her entire left side hurt, it was beyond bruised up, it was all black and purple. Her left arm was also banged up too, having red scratch marks all down it and a huge dried bloody scab on her elbow. Her body hurt, but it wasn't an unbearable pain. She's sure if she was in the comfort of her own home, she would feel a whole lot better. But alas, she has to stay here to make sure no further damage occurs to her well being.

Not only does she miss her home, Claire also misses being at work. Despite her mission at TerraSave causing her to get hurt, she doesn't really care, she just wants to get back out in the world and work, it's her ultimate passion and it's all she ever wants to do aside from being home. She misses some of her co workers, luckily a few of them have visited her. Gabe is the one she misses most, the two have a tight bond, he's like a second brother to her.

All Claire was trying to do was get her mind off of the fact she's rotting in a hospital bed mid day, when she could be at work, being productive and useful. She feels lazy, which is a feeling she hasn't even felt since her days in college, back then she was lazy, she'll admit that. Although, it's kind of hard to keep her mind off of it when all she can even hear is the sounds of the lights buzzing above her, they were clearly old and in utter need of being replaced.

Once she's all healed up, the first thing she's doing is going to HQ and asking when the next upcoming mission will be ; that is if they even let her go on one. TerraSave happens to be rather safe than sorry and sometimes they'll force workers to take breaks from serious missions after a messy injury, which Claire has sadly suffered. It's like all she can think about - working and being home.

Whilst Claire was deep in thought, she hadn't even noticed a nurse walk in. The woman seemed young, even younger than Claire. She finds it admirable that young people are working towards such tough and hard working jobs ; a nurse being a great example of that. It encourages her more than anything. "Hi Claire, I'm Kaylee, it's nice to meet you, your usual nurse had the day off today so I'm here just to check in on you!" Kaylee spoke, her tone kind. "Oh, yeah, sure." Claire responded, attempting to sit up.

"Oh, no hun, just stay layed down... You did a lot of damage to yourself." Kaylee chuckled to herself, seeming very friendly. "Yeah, guess that's what happens when you work in the force though." "I imagine so... TerraSave, correct?" "Yes, that's the organization I work for." Claire responded, her eyes gandering up at the nurse. "What's your position there?" Kaylee questioned, holding a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other, most likely needing to gather some info from Claire.

"I'm a representative for the company." Claire answered, sliding some of her loose hair behind her ear, although it hurt her arm a bit, she still wasn't recovered at all. "Nice... And your organization just basically helps people and the aftermath of terrorist attacks? Or just attacks in general?" "Pretty much, yeah." Claire spoke, her tone brittle. "I see now... And how exactly did you end up injuring yourself?" "Well, I was on top of this steel platform, trying to get a better angle of where our missing chopper was, because it literally vanished, then boom, the platform starts swaying and I fell from it onto a rock, it fucking hurt." Claire snorted, rubbing her temple. "I bet." Kaylee replied, her tone empathetic.

"I'm honestly surprised you're okay, for the most part. You bruised your ribs pretty good and your entire arm is scratched up and it's swelled... Like a lot... You're a tough girl." Kaylee complimented, placing the clipboard down. "Thanks, I try." Claire tittered, sighing deeply to herself, her eyes staring down at the white marble floor, Claire imagined it was cold to be barefoot on, but at least the cot was warm enough.

"Alright well, thank you for answering those questions, I appreciate any information I can get." Kaylee stated, smiling kindly at Claire before speaking once more, "Oh and by the way, Barbara, the receptionist currently working told me that you have a visitor on the way, not much has been told to me but I know their name is Leon, does that ring any bells?" Kaylee asked, seeming skeptical. "Oh, yes, that's my boyfriend. Jesus, in all honesty I forgot about him." Claire giggled, she wasn't being serious but she won't lie, he wasn't on her mind much.

"Don't worry, you hit your head and got hurt, you tend to worry about yourself more than others which is valid in this situation but I'll keep your secret." Kaylee reassured her. "Thanks." Claire chuckled, folding her arms. "Yeah... Anywho, I'll see you soon, I'll check your vitals and all that good stuff in about an hour or two, will you be okay until then?" "Yeah, don't worry about me!" Claire expressed, giving Kaylee the queue to know she could leave not worrisome. "Okay then, just hit the button on the right side of your cot to alert a nurse and one of us will come to you, sound good?" "Yep!" "Alrighty then, bye bye Claire." Kaylee said with a bright, cheerful grin before walking out of the room.

Breathing out deeply, Claire reverted her eyes to the TV directly in front of her bed. It was a small, black square one and it was mounted onto the wall. What was playing was Steve Irwin, the guy was playing with some Cheetahs, it was adorable. Sadly, the man had passed away not to long ago, Claire remembered how girls at her high school fawned over him. She has no doubt girls will continue doing it once his son is older.

Through the small windows in the compact room, Claire spotted a few different breeds of birds finding their ways to the sills of them, relaxing and pecking away at whatever goods they were able to acquire. Claire adored wildlife, it was so natural, like truly. It isn't even debatable. It sort of kept her mind off of the fact she was hurt pretty badly, but nevertheless, she would recover soon, it's just a matter of time.

Lost in her own thoughts, Claire was startled when she suddenly heard the door creak open, black shoes were visible from the bottom, indicating it was Leon. He must've just gotten out of work, he dresses quite nicely for it too. "Leon?" Claire spoke aloud, hoping it'd be him. "I'm here babygirl." He said back to her, opening the door fully to show himself off. He looked as handsome as ever.

"Hi." Claire mumbled, tilting her head upwards, catching a glimpse of his face. "Hi baby... You doing okay?" Leon questioned, striding over to her cot and immediately grabbing her hand, knowing to be careful, despite it being her not damaged arm. "Yes, I'm okay, just sore and hungry." Claire responded, her voice soft & timid. "I imagine honey, I heard you had quite the fall. Pedro told me you were unconscious afterwards, I wish I could've been there, my love." Leon spoke with sincere, he felt horrible that he couldn't be there for her the day it happened.

"It's okay, you were at work, you aren't obligated to come to my rescue." Claire tittered, beaming at him with love plastered on her face. "I kind of am though..." Leon whispered, caressing her hand with his thumb. "You said you were hungry?" "Yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday, before all this happened." Claire chuckled, sighing deeply to herself. "I can pick you up some food here in a bit, I don't need you trying to eat this shitty hospital food." Leon snickered, firmly holding her hand, making sure she knew he was there for her.

"It's okay, I'll live." "No, I insist, I can get you whatever you'd like, from wherever." Leon insisted, sitting down in the chair beside her hospital bed, being careful to not bump anything. "Well... A bagel from the bakery sounds good." Claire giggled, gazing up at her man. "You ask and you shall receive." Leon smirked down at his girl. "Before you go, just stay here for a bit, it's been literally two days since I've seen you." "Okay beautiful, I'm more than happy to stay here with you... When will you be able to come home?" "Don't know yet, I imagine I'll find out when the nurse checks my vitals again." Claire replied.

"Okay. Whenever you're able to, whether it be tonight or tomorrow or whenever, I'll bring you back to my place, it'll be safer that way. Pedro told me you're getting some time off, he told me you were pretty rough looking." Leon heaved, letting go of her hand and moving it to her hair, slowly running his fingers through it. "I bet I was." Claire blew out, adjusting her upper half and attempting to turn her body to get a better view of Leon. "No, just stay there, you're so stubborn." Leon chuckled. "I just wanna be able to move again." "Give it a day or two babygirl."

Claire cutely rolled her eyes and let out another deep breath, she seemed very bored of this place, which Leon didn't blame her. He wishes that she could be home, with him. It's all he wanted for her. "Come here." Leon mumbled, standing up and drawing himself closer to her body, embracing her with open arms. Claires lips formed a half smile whilst she wrapped her right arm around him, using her fingers to grasp onto his shirt.

Leon nuzzled his head into her neck, breathing gently and taking in this moment with stride. He was grateful she was okay, he doesn't know what he would've done if she would've gotten more injured than she already is, or worse. Leon can't imagine a world where Claire isn't his soulmate. "I'm glad you're ok." Leon uttered out in her ear, kissing her cheek a couple times before officially pulling away. "I love you Claire." "Me too and I love you more, Leon." Claire said, her heart was swelling with care and love for him.

"Do I look dumb at all? My hair is a mess, I haven't showered in two days and my entire left side is just beyond beat up... Ugh..." Claire scoffed. "No, no babygirl, you look fantastic always. You could like..." Leon stopped in thought before finishing his sentence, "You could have literal shit smeared on your face and I'd still view you as perfection." Leon laughed, lightening the mood. "Ew, you sicko." Claire chortled, slapping his arm lightly. "Just speaking my mind." He mumbled out to her.

"Oh, by the way, Chris let me know he's gonna fly down from New York to check on you. I wouldn't dare try and deny his request." Leon joked, he somewhat feared Chris but respectively. "What? Why? I'm fine! That's a waste of money, he has absolutely no reason. Oh Jesus." Claire groaned out. She wasn't a teenager anymore, yet he still tries his best to take care of like she is. "Hun, he's your big brother, he's going to worry." "I get that, yes, but it's beyond unnecessary, I'm okay." "Well, it's your problem now, not mine." Leon teased, pinching her cheek playfully.

Leon leaned over towards her face and planted a gentle, warm kiss on her lips, breathing in her scent as he did so. He felt a load of sorrow deep within him. Seeing his girlfriend hurt like this was the last sight he wanted to bare. And when she had asked, "Do I look dumb?" He just felt his heart break a little bit. He was never much of the soppy type, but Claire has definitely made him softer, more affectionate. She will always be his love, she'll always be loveable, no matter what state she's in.

He kept the kiss going for a bit longer, very lightly touching her hip considering it was the bruised up one. Claire's right hand held onto his forearm, her eyes were closed too. "I just wish I could've visited you sooner, I'm sorry that I was working." Leon spoke, his tone blue. "No need honey, I understand. I'm just appreciative that you're here now, that's all that matters Leon." "I'm glad beautiful. I'll make sure you get home soon, I don't need you stuck here in a hospital." "Trust me, I know." Claire tittered. "I can't wait to get back to work." Claire exclaimed.

"Well sweetheart, I hope you understand you aren't going back anytime soon, you need time to heal, you could've... You just really got hurt, alright?" "I'll go back whenever I feel okay." Claire pleaded. "No Claire, you'll go back once your body is okay. You're so stubborn and so damn ambitious, it's attractive." Leon laughed, telling her how he felt. "I got my ways." Claire snickered. "But seriously, I want to get back to work asap, I hate being lazy, you know that." "This isn't lazy, this is called recovery, you need it babygirl." Leon persisted. "Fine." Claire sighed, laying her head back onto the hard yet comfortable white pillow.

"You're dramatic." Leon teased, plopping back down into the chair and gleaming at her. "How about I go get your bagel, how's that sound?" "Yes, please, I can feel my empty stomach each time I move." Claire chuckled, tossing her right hand onto her lower stomach. "Ok. I'll be back soon, just hang tight and don't fall asleep on me, yeah?" Leon spoke, pulling his head down to hers and pecking her forehead with carefulness.

"I'll be back, I love you." Leon stated, kissing her lips quickly before beginning to tread lightly out of Claire's hospital room. "Love you more handsome." Claire responded, waving goodbye with her healed hand.

[deliriumsdelight7]

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Thank you for the asks, my friend!

12.) Receiving feedback/support is everything. There’s nothing more humbling and gratifying than knowing when I’ve touched someone’s heart using the itch in the back of my brain that I scratch by putting it to words. I’ve had comments that changed the entire course of the story because someone picked up on something I didn’t. I hate that I’m not the best at responding to comments, because I read and appreciate each and every one. But alas, I am a gremlin with low self-esteem, and my reflex to getting a compliment is to explain why it’s wrong. I’m trying to do better, to accept them when they’re given, but sometimes that means waiting a month or two and responding briefly.

Not receiving feedback… okay. I know that there’s this whole discourse between “writers are not entitled to engagement” versus “readers are not entitled to the free labor of writers.” I can see both sides. Needless to say, I am biased towards the side of the writers. But all this talk about “not entitled to” is just going to result in everyone stubbornly refusing to do a thing for another. I have to believe fandom is better than that.

I tend to think of writing fic as having guests over for dinner. The host spends hours of time and effort organizing the event, getting the house ready, cooking a meal and serving it. It is, in my opinion, rude to willingly partake in that without offering so much as a thank you in return. That thank you can come in the form of a like, a kudo, a single emoji, a reblog. Just something to say “I appreciate the time and effort you put into this.”

Ultimately, fandom is an ecosystem. Take any part of it out - the writers, the artists, the event organizers, the people who send out prompts and headcanons, and yes, the audience - and the whole thing falls apart.

18.) Nine times out of ten, I’m frantically trying to come up with a title as I’m posting the fic. All of my fic titles are song lyrics or titles that kinda sorta vaguely maybe vibe with my story.

26.) Wildest ride? I guess that would be Jupiter’s Waters, which is just a retelling of Heavy Rain using different characters. So I can’t really take credit for that. But if watching a father torture himself to save his son from a serial killer isn’t wild, I don’t know what is.

54.) The moment of inspiration on a fic I’ve been stuck on for weeks/months. It’s like feeling your tires finally snag some traction after spinning in the mud for ages. Usually it comes after I put a story down and work on something else. It never really feels like a new idea, per se. More like a puzzle piece I’d been looking for, that finally turned up between the couch cushions. It’s less a “eureka” moment than a “there you are! Where have you been?” moment.

[acacia-may]

From the excerpt ask game, could you answer 15, 16, and 17? 💖

Aww thank you so much, Erika! I'd love to answer your questions and share some excerpts as part of the ask game! 🥰

15. An excerpt from an old piece that I like

After reading your awesome Fairy Tail thoughts (thank you again for sharing those by the way!), I wanted to choose an excerpt from one of my Fairy Tail fics for you. I don't have any Jerza, but I do have some Mystwalker (Edo Jerza) and hope that'll do 😅 This excerpt is from "More Than My Life" which was my very first Fairy Tail fanfiction and is over a year old (so I'd consider it an old piece, especially since I never really talk about it) ^^

"I’ve failed in my duty to protect you, Your Majesty.”  Erza Knightwalker hung her head but could hear King Jellal hum thoughtfully. “I suppose that is one way of looking at it.”  “With all due respect, Your Majesty, what other way is there?” she questioned, glancing up at him again with a slight tilt of her head.  The corners of his mouth twitched just barely with that thoughtful, almost imperceptible smile she had come to recognize after years as his most trusted bodyguard. In many ways it seemed saved only for her and those moments when she was far more frank with him than a servant should be with their king. “That I succeeded in my duty to protect you.”  “Your Majesty, if you are the one protecting me, I have no right to call myself your bodyguard. It is almost nonsensical. When your subjects learn I have allowed you to be injured in my place, they will insist I be stripped of my rank of Captain in your Royal Army and perhaps even imprisoned or banished for treason.”  As something almost affectionate passed over his eyes, King Jellal tilted his head. “I think they will understand.”   “Your Majesty, your people are not as forgiving as you.” Erza sighed. “Though they are good people, they are also reasonable ones. They will never understand why their king would risk his life to protect his bodyguard.”  “Perhaps,” King Jellal admitted quietly; however, his expression softened. “But I can only hope they will understand why their king would risk his life to protect the woman he loves.”  

16. An excerpt from a recent piece i want to brag about

You are too kind to me, Erika! I feel bad I don't have any recent pieces from our shared fandoms, but if you will indulge me, I would love to ramble about "Under The Weather," to you specifically because this relationship is my "finding love again when it didn't seem possible" oc x cc pairing (ala your Nacsele, and you know how I passionately I feel about that kind of love story). Again, I apologize for choosing an excerpt from a fandom you're not in, but I just wrote this story for my birthday back in February and am so proud of it and this scene in particular because I think it means my romance writing is getting better...maybe? (I mean it's still one of those, "wow I can't believe I wrote this" things and they'd both swear they're just friends here...so it's ambiguously romantic(?) (I guess?) but it's an extremely slow burn so I feel like it's appropriate to be subtle). Anyways, I hope you'd have an appreciation for the vibes at least, and I chose from a portion of the story with no specific spoilers for OMORI or anything. ^^

“Lorraine has nothing but nice things to say about you,” he admitted with a slight smile. “She’s always telling me how smart, driven, and beautiful you are. How you’re strong and honest but so kind, so much softer than you want people to know. She says you’d make a great girlfriend.” Hero blushed. That last part had just slipped out—he probably wouldn’t have said it, if he wasn’t so feverish, but Zoey just laughed. “My sister said that to you?” She sighed, rolling her eyes somewhat affectionately but the look in them was genuinely guilty. “Sorry. I’ll talk to her.” As he coughed, Hero shook his head. “No, it’s…it’s okay. She’s right…” His voice trailed, distant and breathy, but he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled out of his mouth, “You are all of those things, and if you did ever want to date someone, that person would be very lucky…” “Not nearly as lucky as the person who gets your heart, Mr. Prince.” Even though Hero was sure she was only teasing him, his face flushed anyway—burning to the tips of his ears. He pursed his lips together, then stared down at his hands on the duvet. “It’s pretty broken…I’m not sure it’s much of a prize anymore,” he mumbled, trying his best to play along despite the sadness that crept into his words. He bit his lip, but he felt her warm, gentle hand reach out to take his. He couldn’t look at her face, but he felt her squeeze his hand, heard her voice—quiet but sincere. “I don’t think that’s true.” As he took a long, shallow breath, Hero shivered, but he wasn’t sure it was from the fever.

17. An excerpt from an unpublished WIP

This is an excerpt from "Something...Happened..." which is a Black Clover WIP I never finished. Noelle is the POV character, and the story takes place when the Black Bulls are combing through Gordon's observation diaries trying to find any information that might help Asta when he is put on trial after the Elf Arc only for silly shenanigans to ensue. It was fun to write, but I think I got distracted by other projects before I finished it...😅 Here's a snippet though ^^

Noelle began to skim looking for anything interesting but it was just the same old, same old. Shopping. Visiting with the vendors. Nothing new or exciting and certainly nothing that is remotely relevant to Asta. After about 4 more pages at the market, Gordon finally returned back to the Hideout. When I returned from the market with our groceries, Vanessa was busy setting the table. Captain Yami decided that we were going to have a special dinner to celebrate our very first mission where we caused no accidental casualties and didn’t earn a negative star. Noelle paused. So they were earning negative stars even back then, huh? No wonder the squad was in such bad shape when she had joined. Captain Yami bought some nice bottles of wine for the occasion, and he is even going to let Finral have some. Captain Yami said that since Finral recently turned eighteen, he should be responsible enough to drink in moderation. Vanessa is particularly curious since she wasn’t allowed to drink in the Forest of Witches, even though she says Her Majesty the Queen of Witches is very fond of red wine. She says she is very excited to finally get to have some. Noelle snorted. She bet she was—considering how fond she was of drinking these days. It was almost comforting somehow to see that her squad mates hadn’t changed much over the years. She had almost expected them to be a little bit different since she was given such an old observation diary. But no, Gordon was still awkward. Vanessa was still friendly. Finral was still a flirt, and Captain Yami still didn’t put up with anyone’s nonsense. It didn’t make for as interesting reading as one would think though. We all sat down for dinner—was the last sentence on this page, but when Noelle turned to the next her brow furrowed. This couldn’t be right… I managed to trap the goat in the bathroom. Then, I gently tied a rope around its collar and led it down to the basement where Captain Yami keeps his magical beasts. The goat seemed scared but there was another cage down there that would keep her safe. Noelle blinked. What? She flipped back to the previous page. Boring dinner. She flipped forward. Goat drama. It didn’t make sense—at least until she noticed the remnants of some pages that appeared to be ripped out.

[girderednerve]

i want to talk about FANFICTION for the VAMPIRE SHOW, beloved mutuals please avert yr eyes unless you are also into that

actually sidebar i have a coworker at the library who writes paranormal romance novels & got excited when i mentioned the vampire show. apparently she completely missed that anne rice had died? even though it happened, uh, three years ago? which is normal actually but i had a moment of deep confusion where i was like, 'but how could anyone miss the "fanfiction is finally legal" jokes? they were everywhere,' but fortunately most people do not have the same relationship to online that i do. ANYWAY!

one of the things that i really like about reading fanfiction is that all of the fandoms have their little trends & takes, in-jokes & weird arguments & stylistic trends. i can't be sure but i believe that the earlier fan writing culture for the books (& the '94 movie) is very different from the new wave focused on the show, but i am a neophyte. a poser. & because queen goth held a grudge against fanfiction for a time, it's very difficult to figure out whether i'm right about this or not. the book fic on ao3 that i've read is fascinating, though! it's a very sexy kind of sexless, which i have chosen to read as accommodating of one's physical dysphoria because it pleases me to do so; & like every other piece of period romantic fiction it fascinates me with which historical details fic writers seem to care about (very few, lol). if you have thoughts or recommendations please share!! i should just read the books but alas it has not happened for me yet, i might just try jumping to the vampire lestat & seeing if that gets me anywhere

one of the things i have been thinking about a lot is the kind of relationship that fans who are reading & writing about louis & lestat want to find between the two of them, because they are the founding couple for the rice vampires, right? their marital problems are kind of universe-defining, so it's interesting to me to think about what the boundaries are. fanfiction tends to go one of two ways: lestat & louis have always loved one another & their problems stem from louis' failure to understand lestat, or lestat has always taken advantage of louis (&, usually, that's sexy). i don't think either of these capture what i find so bewitching about the show, but then i have not done an exhaustive survey & may be a very bad reporter. the thing i like about the two of them is that it's always both, it's always neither, their relationship is always a living project, subject to redefinition by both sides, which feels very true to me. but especially after s1, there was some interest in bracketing one's desire to think about the gay vampires with clear acknowledgment that the relationship under consideration follows a familiar cultural model of domestic violence. which, like, it does! the fact that we go back over some of these key events in s2 & reframe them doesn't (or, in my view at least, shouldn't require us to) unmake the earlier narrative. they're just in tension with each other. all this to say i found it immensely clarifying to read fanfiction which was interested in defending lestat after s1, especially in comparison to the apologies that he explicitly makes in s2.

there's the vampire question, right, or i guess the fiction problem in general; if these people are made up & we are making them up again, how seriously do we have to take the harm that they do to each other? lestat murders louis, pressures him into doing more murders, brutally assaults him, and tries to have him killed; louis tries to kill lestat. also both of them say some very mean things to each other. however, they are vampires! so we don't have to treat it literally, right? we can just sort of go 'ah, but it's different for vampires,' and then return to our romance novel plot structure. this kind of fanfiction approach is really invested in whether these two people love each other & know that they are loved; there's a big focus on who says it to whom & when, which is interesting to me because it so obviously runs on fantasy logic. the question is never 'does lestat really love louis' or vice versa, but what does it mean that they love each other & act this way? is there some bright line beyond which love becomes impossible? and if not, what does it look like to return to one another? and that is a romance novel structure, too: the whole subgenre of second-chance romance, which i don't often read because i mostly don't like hearing about heterosexual marriages. but they're gay vampires, so surely it is different,

the contrast is why it is so fun to read armand & daniel's whole fucked up deal next to louis & lestat's whole fucked up deal, because it makes the latter pair seem almost vanilla by comparison. but it isn't! what armand is doing is just more literal. we reshape the people around us, right? we write narratives together, we remember differently together than apart; i think about this a lot because every time i talk to my mom we talk about my dad & we remember him differently every single time, & we talk about that too; anger, regret, embarrassment, fondness by turns, in tension. it is true of relationships which are less painful, too. but why am i reading about vampires if i am interested in the small-scale cyclical human drama of annoyance & forgiveness, self-recriminations & external blame? i don't want a series of carefully phrased i statements which read as a manual for how someone else thinks i should try to run my relationships! i want to read about something less literal & more visceral, because i can hardly fit my own feelings in my body most of the time & i would like an excuse for someone else to be roiling in drama. anyway i have found it hard to find fan writing which wants to be there with me, because i think it troubles the romantic mode. probably i am just not doing a very good job searching. anyway i think it is very romantic to be remade by people who love us & also the most terrifying thing i can imagine, and i can't resolve that so i don't want the story to resolve it either. and for whatever reason it's easier to read hundreds of fanfictions than it is to just read, the book, i don't know

the other thing that i have been thinking about reading fanfiction is women. revolutionary, i realize. i love antoinette, who i feel was very hard done by in the story & for whom i expected to see sympathy in fanfiction (don't laugh at me!). anyway there isn't really much for her, which makes me sad; lestat ate her life & wasn't even interested in her, which is classic lestat (derogatory). also i wanted to read about claudia, not as an angel but as a person who calls madeleine her 'one thing,' who cut off another woman's breast & kept it in her armoire, whose instinct for viciousness lestat admires & louis seems neutral on. i want to watch her do stuff, but both of these characters usually fade into the background; claudia's a barrier or a catalyst or a painting on the wall, antoinette is an annoyance, madeleine's a wholesome consolation prize. also i am always thinking about vampire money(.mp3)

maybe i should just read academic scholarship instead. maybe that would make me less annoying, or more productively annoying. i should walk to the college library & see if i can get my hands on their copy of 'our vampires, ourselves'

[liptrocha]

curious to know how many people who watched weak hero class 1 and are waiting for season 2 actually read the original manhwa

if you haven't i heavily recommend it!!

it is different from the show because the show is just the backstory and its events are only mentioned in like 10 pages in the entirety of the manhwa and the last scene is an introduction to the school in the original work.

the writers did also change a few things in the already short backstory but it's fine. i am curious about how they are going to navigate those changes but it's not the end of the world.

i am scared tho but just because it's on netflix now and netflix doesn't have the best track record on adaptations. if this season turns out like sweet home i might just have to end my life lol. but i guess it's different because the sweet home manhwa ended on season one of the show and the events that followed were not based on anything so i guess the writers just didn't know how to work with the material.

but i am really excited for this cast!! when the news first came out that lee junyoung was going to be in the show and they hadn't announced what character i was expecting him to play sieeun's friend with the green hair that played guitar. i was happy because he was finally breaking free from the bully mold he got himself stuck in. but alas he will be an incredible Wolf!

anyways! all this yapping just because i saw a post with fic recs and i just thought to myself "instead of reading fanfiction they should just read the original material"

at the end of the day i am just a hater damn

[evilpenguinrika]

3 and 20 for the fanfiction ask game?

Ask Game For Fanfic Writers

3. on a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

About like, a 7.5 or an 8. Which is funny because I love love. I love reading about love, I love learning about love. I just love love. I think the reason I'm rating it like that is mainly because when I'm writing a story where romance is not the prime focus, I tend to forget about the romance.

For example, I got this question asked to me on one of my current-on-going Hosie fic (You're The One Born To Save series) why one of the main character, Hope, refers to the other main character and partner, Josie, with "my love" or other pet names while Josie doesn't. And honestly? It's cuz I forgot. Weird thing to forget about, yes, but like I said--if romance is not the prime focus of the story, I will forgetti spaghetti until someone reminds me. I have since rectified that oopsies and started having Josie call Hope pet names just sprinkled through here and there ::>_<::

Though... I guess maybe even if romance is the prime focus, I probably would still forget about pet names because I, as a person, am meh/indifferent to pet names in a relationship. I have only ever been called 'babe' once in a prev relationship but other times we just referred to each other by name, so maybe that's why.

20. what is your favorite trope to write?

My favourite trope to write... Oh man, I don't know cuz I don't think I've written a lot of trope-y stuff?

Upon going through my fics that has a few tropes, I've realized that I really enjoy writing Single Parent tropes haha. But I also do enjoy writing Modern/High School/College AU, Punk/Nerd AU, and Omegaverse (even though I kinda suck at remembering it's Omegaverse).

I have two THREE (I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ONE) Single Parent AU fics but I guess they're also slotted into Modern AU as well.

A Redhatshipping fic called MYOSOTIS. A Hosie fic called Sad Bedroom Eyes, and a Lightning/Vanille fic called do you think god knows you've been sneaking out of heaven

I just really love reading Single Parent AU fics where one half of the ship is a single parent and the other half is either like the babysitter or neighbour with their own kid or no kid at all. Just something about it tickles my fancy so much. Which is why I wrote three Single Parent AU fics haha. Actually, Sad Bedroom Eyes(I'm a nasty little forgetti spaghetti liar) MYOSOTIS is my first Single Parent fic I've ever written! Sad Bedroom Eyes is my second (and first fic for the Hosie/Legacies fandom). Then Sneaking Out Of Heaven is my third because I was craving for some Lanille fics (alas, the struggle of shipping a rarepair).

I also feel bad that I have not updated MYOSOTIS in like forever and so sorry for those like small number of people who read that fic and was met with nothing I'm so sorry.

For the other tropes tho, I've only written one of each (I think?):

I've written one College AU trope--another Hosie fic called photo gallery meme--which is fun and I would like to go back to writing and finishing that fic sometime in the future.

I have written a Punk/Nerd AU one that I absolutely love with all my heart--an Ikarishipping fic called Hold Me, Hold Me Like A Grudge written for Ikarishipping Day. Mostly because I love the idea of a Punk!Dawn/Hikari and Nerd!Paul/Shinji it's just so cute and I love switching obvious characters for their obvious choice around since it's fun. I think I would like to write another Punk/Nerd AU trope because I had such a fun time writing the PNAU Ikari fic.

And last but not least, I have written only one Omegaverse fic--yet another Hosie fic called Terra: This Is My Always And Forever, which is part of a 3-part series. I haven't really updated this in a while, but I have worked on bits and pieces of it whenever I'm in the mood to do so.

.

I think that's about it, thanks for the ask anon!

[hees-mine]

It's sad to see such a great writer go because people just can't have an ounce of consideration for the things they ask for and want.

I really enjoyed your work while it lasted, I hope I can read through all your work one last time before you deactivate. You're one of my faves and I've been following you since the first day I've been on this app. I was really eager to see what you would cook up in the future but I can't believe i've already reached the end of this blog here.

I really do hope you could ignore these inconsiderate people and continue doing what you do best without letting them dictate your plans and the effort you put in your work. Ahh it's always the best oldest writers on here that has to click off. Guess you can't have all good things in life. Btw, are you going to delete this blog soon?

It was nice to have you write for us and to share your ideas with us. Just know that I appreciate you and your effort and time in the works you put out for us to read fanfiction. Thank you and goodbye for the last time...

Thank you! 🩵 I’m so happy you enjoyed everything thus far and thank you for following me

Everything is now private I won’t delete the blog yet but I won’t be active either besides saying my goodbyes to everyone that cares

I just want to copy my work and save it before I get rid of my blog entirely

It is sad to go I just hope this will be a bit of an eye opener for the readers that ultimately this is what they can cause writers to do

But alas here we are it sucks cause I just came back to writing and i wanted to post a lot to make up for lost time but that’s never gonna happen now

As for what I had planned for the future funny thing is I kinda did want to make destroyed and one time into a series I just didn’t want that to be known at the time because I didn’t want to be bothered for updates but oh well (destroyed part two that’s completed and sitting in my drafts right now will never see the light of day thanks to everyone hounding me job well done guys)

Also I was gonna make a continuation to the camboy kinktober fic but not anymore because some people just don’t know when to stop

But I’ll stop here and thank you again for your kindness and consideration to leave this long beautiful ask to me

Goodbye for the last time🩵

[emmy-dekarios-bg3]

Heart of the Weave - A Baldur’s Gate Fanfiction

CHAPTER 12 - EMMY’S POINT OF VIEW

GALE AND EMMY’S BABYSHOWER

After our challenges along the way, both to Baldur’s Gate and back to Waterdeep, we finally make it back home and unfortunately have to part ways with Wyll and Karlach. I hope they find a way to visit us again soon.

“We have to head back to Avernus, but luckily we won’t have to be there much longer,” Wyll says. “After our wedding, we will be looking for a home here in Waterdeep. I won’t lie, I enjoy the scenery and architecture here. Let us know when your baby shower will be, and we will be sure to make it. Just ring up Withers.” I chuckle, sad my friends need to leave but thankful they’ll always be around.

“And you guys let us know when the wedding will be. We’d be happy to come,” Gale says. “Thank you both. For everything.” Hugs are exchanged and just like that, they’re both summoned back to the Hells to fight off creatures that wouldn’t dare to be seen here on Earth. Gale and I walk back to the tower, our hands holding one another comfortably as we walk into the evening sunset. The soft breeze and salty scent of Waterdeep brings me back a sense of comfort that I missed, even though we were only gone for roughly five days…longer than what we originally planned.

We finally make it back home, and Tara is waiting for us outside the front door. It’s as if she knew we were headed back home, or maybe she is just conveniently hanging outside. Either way, she looks thrilled that her favorite humans have made it back safely to live comfortably in her presence.

“By the moon and stars! It felt like ages since you’ve been home. I was worried sick, you hooligans! Sheesh! So,did you lovely people get the answers you were looking for?” Tara asks, flying around the living area ecstatically.

“Well, answers we weren’t exactly expecting, but news nonetheless,” Gale says. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a fatal disease or something of the sort.”

“Let me take a wild guess – you’re going to be a daddy! Just make sure I get attention too, once the little person is here. I’m not asking too much, just occasional pets and a bowl of cow’s milk every now and then. I’ll do everything to help out, though. Except the diaper changes. Those are on you, Gale. Alas, I only have paws.”

“Wait, how did you know?”

“Like I said, just a lucky guess.” She giggles and flies away into the kitchen. Gale rolls his eyes.

“Oh, for the love of… Tara.” I smile, admiring the cozy home we’re finally back in, thankful to be alive and safe in the comfort of the tower. I thought I missed adventuring, but turns out I only missed my companions. Oh, and it’s a delight to have Tara around; I don’t know how Gale did it all those months after the nautiloid crash.

“Well, my love, I am going to the library to write to my mother about the news. Would you like to join me?” I finally hear excitement in his voice about the baby, and I’m sure he’s ready to see his mother again. I smile and take his hand, then he proceeds to lead me upstairs.

“I just have a feeling our parents will show up out of the blue,” I tease. “Who knows how long they’ve been wanting grandchildren?”

“Oh, without a doubt!” We make it to the library and I sit next to him at the desk, both of us surrounded by the various books in his magic library. By magic library, I mean all the books are related to the study of magic. As we sit to write, Tara flies back upstairs with us and gets comfortable in my lap. Ah, sweet Tara.

Six months pass. Six months of horrific pregnancy symptoms, the worst one being fatigue. Six months of nesting and getting the house ready. Six months of Tara following me around everywhere to make sure I’m alright while Gale is teaching at Blackstaff. No signs of Raphael or any other devil ready to corrupt the peace that is currently my life. No more bad dreams these past few months, just several relaxing baths a day due to body pains and a constant hunger for fettuccine.

During these months, my mother came to visit, as well as Gale’s mother. We enjoyed the company of our families and it’s safe to say both sides were thrilled about a new baby being around, especially Gale’s mother. Each time she visits, she brings a new gift for the little one. My mother brings us delicious foods grown from her garden and homemade soup.

It’s here – the day of my baby shower! Gale’s mom showed up yesterday due to a schedule conflict (alright, she may have thought it was yesterday and not today, but we enjoyed seeing her regardless). Every friend except Lae’zel, Jaheira, and Minsc show up to the shower, thrilled to celebrate. Astarion tries to act like he isn’t excited, but deep down, he definitely is.

“You know, the old me would have never thought to ask this, but…may I feel your belly?” Shadowheart asks, smiling. “I used to never want kids, but the thought has crossed my mind lately.”

“You’re like my sister. The maid of honor at my wedding. Someone I love with all my heart. Of course you can touch my belly,” I tell her. She places her hand gently on the globe of life, her eyes widening as she feels the baby kick her hand. I smile back at her, admiring her love for my unborn child, and realizing how truly beautiful she is. Happiness looks good on her.

“Thank you. I got to feel…movement. It made me so happy.” Gale smiles and gains comfort in knowing we have so many supportive people here around us for the little one.

“Okay, okay, ignore what I said before,” Karlach says. “You know, when I said I wanted to wait until the creature was a little older for me to babysit. I could settle for this.” Gale gasps sarcastically.

“Are you, Karlach Cliffgate, saying you’d allow us a date night while the baby is still little and not six years old?”

“Maybe I am, Dekarios.”

“You can just call me Gale, that’s fine too.” I chuckle, releasing a sigh of relief as I enjoy the presence of our friends. The celebration, the love, the laughter… I love feeling at peace, though this pregnancy could be a little less intense.

“Don’t get too excited or you’ll burn the place down. We don’t want another ‘Mermaids’ incident,” Astarion says. Gale and I look at Astarion with puzzled expressions, then at Karlach, wondering what on Earth she did and why. I’ll be brutally honest though, it doesn’t surprise me that she would burn down an entire bar on accident.

“Wait, what happened at Mermaids?” I ask, fighting laughter. “An intoxicated Karlach, perhaps?”

“Well, back when I had that shitty engine, I may have burned the whole place to the ground. Minsc and I were having a competition on who could roar louder, and…I took it too far. The owners had no idea it was me, thank the stars. Astarion, you have nothing to worry about. I can no longer catch on fire, thanks to my new engine.”

“Wow, what a delight. Though you know me, I’m always down for some hedonistic debauchery.”

We all eat rather delicious food, reminiscing about old adventures and talking about what our futures may hold. Wyll and Karlach will soon be our new neighbors, Shadowheart and Astarion have no plans to leave Waterdeep. I look at those two and wonder if they’re secretly together, or if they’re more like siblings who happen to be roommates. I try not to stare at them both, but I really want answers here. I have to constantly tell myself to mind my own business.

Gale and I stand up for a toast. While everyone is drinking either a wine or martini, I’m over here with my delicious mocktail that tastes of peaches and a hint of raspberry. I don’t miss alcohol honestly; I’ll stick with my sweet fruity drinks that will get me ‘drunk’ just from the sugar alone.

“Thank you all for celebrating with us. You are the best friends I could ever ask for, and our little one will be surrounded by such amazing – uh, people and humanoids,” I say, giggling. “He or she will be loved beyond measure, and I’m thankful for such a great group of people.”

“On top of that, we appreciate all the gifts for our child. Being first time parents, we weren’t exactly sure what all we needed, and we are so thankful for everything you’ve given us,” Gale says, raising his glass. “To our new baby, our friends, and a good life ahead of us.”

“Cheers! If either of you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to let me know. I wish you the best for a safe delivery,” Halsin adds. If we were to ask anyone about advice on children, it would definitely be Halsin, though I’m not sure if he would have any advice on infants. With him being a three-hundred-fifty year-old elf, I don’t doubt that he does.

“Thank you, Halsin.”

As all eyes are on me while we give the toast, an overwhelming sensation courses through my body; a feeling of lightheadedness and tickling of the brain. More vertigo, but it appears to be different than what I felt before; something familiar.

Praise the Absolute.

The Absolute will always live.

Die, Die, Die!

Become one of us.

Fuck. Is this some sick joke? Surely I don’t have the tadpole in my head still, because what the Hells was that? So many voices are invading my mind, trying to fool me into something wicked. The room begins to spin more rapidly than before, and my surroundings become a blur. Some sort of psychic interference, perhaps?

“Oh, she doesn’t look so good,” Astarion says. “Emmy?” Gale touches my shoulders, but I can barely feel his hands; it’s as if my body is going completely numb.

“Baby? Are you okay?” His voice fades as I begin to collapse on the floor, and all I can hear is a voice in the distance saying “oh shit!”

After several minutes of unconsciousness, I find myself waking up to everyone in my face as I’m lying on the floor. The world isn’t spinning but my head hurts like no other. Probably because I collapsed on the wooden floor.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re okay,” Gale says, taking a deep breath. He looks as if he had just been sobbing. Astarion pats him on the back in a sincere way, to comfort him and rid him of the anxiety. I’ve never seen him act that way toward Gale before. “I thought…I thought you were dying. What happened?”

“Oh Gale,” I murmur, trying to recall what happened. My voice is weak and a little raspy as I try to speak. “I…I don’t know what happened. All I remember is that I heard these voices in my head about the Absolute, and then next thing I knew, I collapsed.” I swallow, feeling a nasty flair of acid reflux in my throat. “Could it be the– no, surely not.”

“The tadpole?” Astarion asks. “How would that be possible?”

“What else could it be?”

“Someone or something messing with your head, perhaps?”

“Do you recall anything happening when Raphael abducted you several months ago?” Wyll questions, a bewildered expression on his face like the others. He brings up a good point.“Anything at all?”

“Wait, you got abducted by that heinous devil?!” Shadowheart exclaims. I suddenly remembered she wasn’t there when it happened. Her and Astarion had left for Waterdeep before the entire ordeal occurred. Still, I should have told her.

“Yes. I’ll tell you more about that later. I’m just now having strange issues, so I doubt it has to do with anything that happened in the House of Hope. I’m alright now at least.” I do feel better, besides my unusual craving for ice water. I take a deep breath as Gale helps me up, and luckily I don’t have any waves of vertigo now. What a strange occurrence that was. I hope it was just post-trauma dissociation, but who knows anymore.

“Ah, nothing like the potential of becoming a mindflayer…again…when you’re about to have a baby. Splendid,” Astarion says sarcastically, and then proceeds to look at me with worried eyes.

Despite the spontaneous and unfortunate fainting that left everyone worried, especially my poor Gale, the baby shower ended up turning out wonderfully. The questions still remain: What the fuck happened? Is there a tadpole that I’m somehow not aware of? Do mind flayers still exist?

[nana-glass-chillhop-radio-hour]

🌈🤲

🌈 i found writing a prose novel in response to audio fiction SO challenging. I had to do several "studies" where I wrote a novelized version of an existing TSV scene and make some baseline decisions about how to handle the POV character's interiority before really starting to sit down and draft come hell or high water. Just like... adaptation is kind of hard I guess!!

I also really struggled with transitioning from the second act to the third act in that work, and I fear it shows. Alas.

And I was very proud of the Carpenter monologues in 'My Song Cries Prophecy and Doom'! I honestly don't have much experience writing horror but I really enjoyed just like, mimicking that classic Ware horror monologue cadence with lots of multisyllabic Latinate words and complicated clauses while Carpenter recounts the MOST vivid childhood trauma in a disingenuously blase register despite the fact that her trauma is quite literally slowly killing her lol. And I actually really enjoyed the voice acting too. I had zero confidence in my ability to pull off an accent from outside the US so I just tried to lean into my natural vaguely Pennsyltuckey Appalachian American accent and hope that it conveyed to accent-oriented listeners the same sense of 'this character is, in fact, from a place' that Méabh de Brún's Carpenter conveys to me 🥰🥰🥰

🤲 writing both original fiction and fanfiction has always been a way for me to work out what I think about things! Especially things that I care about so viscerally that it's hard to approach head-on. My fiction very often goes down the same rabbit holes about like. The sins of the father and human rights and queer aspec people navigating getting their needs met in quasi-romantic relationships and coming to terms with disappointment in God and engaging in self-destructive behavior and breaking cycles of trauma. These themes have literally been coming up in my writing since I was thirteen. I like having a place to play out different permutations of those ideas and see what sticks. I think that is what I get most from writing, the opportunity to tease apart my own feelings and thoughts. It does also mean sharing work feels very vulnerable but that's baseball for ya.

Thanks for the ask! 🥰🥰

[klkbass]

What Happened to Mako? (My Legend of Korra story)

I realized the other day that the Legend of Korra has been over for nearly a decade. Although many believe it is the inferior of the two Avatar shows, I have watched the entire series at least five times (maybe six). The biggest reason: Mako. Here was this handsome, cool, Firebender. I was a stan almost instantly.

After the series ended, I was disappointed with his outcome. I thought for sure he should be with Korra. So, I did what any good fan would do when they are displeased--I started writing my own version of events. The more common nomenclature: fanfiction.

It started as a Makorra story, but it wasn't NSFW or anything of that nature as many fan stories tend to rise. I wanted something that stayed true to the nature of the original cartoon. Something that could be shared with any audience similar to what "The Legend of Genji" was doing. Also, after reading the graphic novels, I wanted to further explore the ramifications of having humans and spirits living so close together. Thus, the question became, "What if Mako got cursed?" With his position as a detective, it could happen. It would also put him opposite of Tokuga. So, I wrote several thousand, thousand, words and, as things tend to do, eventually the story drifted out of my purview. It was fun while it lasted...but the seeds had been sown.

Fast-forward to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2022. Avatar studios announce two new graphic novels. One to feature Azula, and the other--Mako; both to be released in the summer of 2023. I was ecstatic. After so many years we were finally going to get more LoK content and, more specifically, Mako content. That's when I decided to revisit my own story. Maybe it would have some similarities to what was to come. I rewrote the entire thing to be more canon. No longer was it Makorra. Korra could be there, but this was going to be his adventure. What started as a few chapters, evolved into what is currently around two-hundred thousand words of what happened to Mako after Korra.

When SDCC 2023 came around, I waited with baited breath for news of the aforementioned graphic novels. Azula's story was being pushed back to fall (fine), there was going to be a new story featuring Iroh and June (who asked for that?)--and that was it. No mention of the Mako graphic novel. Not even if it was officially canceled. It was simply non-existent. I was disappointed to say the least.

Alas, at least I had my own nonsense.

Then, a thought slowly began to build. I could share my nonsense. There are still fans out there who want to see more of Mako. Maybe I could find someone that might appreciate what I've done. No sense putting in all this work and keeping it to myself. I was hesitant of course. I've never shared any of my stories before. I'm hardly a wordsmith though I pretend to be one on the internet. After several months of waffling, I decided "what difference would it make?" I could keep it to myself where no one else would read it, or I could share it and maybe find someone else who might enjoy it. There was very little risk short of the wrath of the internet. Keyboard warriors are never shy about sharing their displeasure of things they don't like.

I guess, at this point in my life, I'm too old to care. (Don't ask my age!)

So, if you've made it this far, let me add my shameless plug. If any of this sounds interesting to you, you can find my story here.

Please enjoy, and here's to hoping we get something official.

[megatraven]

tagged by @retiredficwriter thank you!!! :3

1 . How did you get into writing fanfiction?

i've always thought up little scenarios in my head for whstever blorbos i was obsessed with, but actually writing it down didn't happen until i was in college! i joined a new fandom at the time (miraculous ladybug) and was so inspired by all the art and fic other people were making that i started writing fanfic (and drawing fanart!) in earnest :>

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

according to ao3, 12. but i have a lot of unfinished or unposted works from other fandoms, so the number is even higher than that though i'm not sure by how much

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

since the tail-end of 2015! so almost 9 years!

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

i write more than i read these days, but i'd love to get into reading more fanfic again sometime

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

[finger guns] i dont know! B)

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

i don't usually research things for my fanfics i just wing it

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

comments where the reader says that they come back to reread the fic every now and again 🥺🥺 i've only received a couple of comments that are like that in my time writing, but they're the ones i love the most. just so sweet ooogh

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about

well i havent done it in years. i don't know if it still exists somewhere here on the internet, but there was a donkey x shrek fic, once upon a time......... other than that, my fucles fic from like 2016/2017 whenever that was. so i guess you could say i love taking a Weird Ship(tm) and writing deeply unserious fic about it

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

smut for me too! i have so many wips that include smut scenes that are all stuck right at the smut parts because i can't write it for the life of me. it feels so stiff and choppy and unnatural and too-detailed. but im working on it! :3

10. What is the easiest type?

i love expanding on canon. for example in astoria there's a throw-away comment about mc having what's implied to be a sex dream! so a fic i'm working on is The Dream(tm). i love filling in the missing peices! that, or i love love LOVE writing what-if fics. what if sydney was strigoi and adrian chased after her. what if alya was ladybug and in love with marinette. what if mc replaced a goddess against her will. i like exploring every potentiality and possibility!

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

in my bed if i'm at home, otherwise wherever i am on my phone. i write in tumblr drafts. terrible habit, i know, but alas. whenever i have the time and motivation lol.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

smut :( it makes me so nervous to write, that's why it's also the hardest one for me 😭 even if i do write a scene out i get too embarrassed to share it or even ask for a friend to read it over.

13. What made you choose your username?

had a few nicknames on deviantart back in the day, among them "megatron" and "raven". at the time i was searching for a new url and one of my friends mashed the two nicknames together to create "megatraven" and that's been my Brand(tm) ever since!

tagging: anyone that wants to do it! :3c