#also this is the first thing i've actually written for this fandom so if the characterization is a little off pls ignore it fsjfkjsdhf

[puckszone]

my musings on how to leave longer & more regular comments on fics:

We all know comments are good - readers have probably heard authors on tumblr talk about how valuable comments are for ages, and I hope most of the authors reading this have felt that validating joy first hand.

But we also all have lives, and only so much energy in a given day. Maybe you have worries about leaving a comment that's too "weird", or "awkward". Maybe you LOVE a fic, but have no idea how to put those strong emotions into words. Maybe you leave short comments, but wish you felt comfortable crafting the paragraph-long detailed comments that some readers gift to their favorite fics.

If you've ever thought about trying to comment more often, or trying to leave longer comments, then here are some ramblings of mine that will (hopefully!) bring comment-inspiration your way.

A quick table of contents:

Lower the mental stakes

How do I comment on porn?!?!?!?

My approach to paragraph-long commenting

My call to action: challenge yourself to go one step further

Lower the mental stakes:

When I first joined a writing discord, I was genuinely blown away at the amount of support and love the HRPF community contains. I was also blown away at the amount of people that were actually reading my works and messaging about them!! It is still one of the coolest feelings ever.

In my mind, this is an example of a "lower stakes" ways to talk about fics: messaging a friend, or a group chat, or a discord server.

It takes a lot less energy for me to type a rambling text about how much I love the fic I'm currently reading vs. typing a cohesive, well-thought out comment for the author themselves.

One of those two options is much more intimidating!

I want so badly to tell the author how much I love their fic, but I'll never find the time to write all the things they deserve to hear!! So the tab sits open on my phone for months, and the comment never gets written.

If you relate to this: try to lower the "mental stakes" of writing your comment. Remember: this is a fun thing!! Fic is fun!! And I promise, you don't have to write the "perfect" comment to make an author's day.

A potential solution: treat the comment box a bit more like a message to your group chat. Not in a rude way - let's stay polite to the writers in our community, and recognize when unsolicited feedback isn't wanted.

But instead of forcing yourself to always have the "perfect" comment, think of something lighter. Think of what you would text to a friend if you were going to send them a link to the fic: maybe "dude this fic is so funny you need to read it", OR "this is INSANELY good", OR "i've been reading this all morning you need to check it out right now".

Then write that!

Comment: "this fic is so funny oh my god. love it!"

Comment: "this is INSANELY good"

Comment: "SCREAMING. I LOVE THIS"

Comment: "i haven't been able to put this done all morning! sooooo good!"

Comment: "i read the first chapter of this fic and instantly knew i had to send it to all my friends. i love this so much!!!"

Also, this might just be personal preference but: a discord message can get lost to time. AO3 is an archive, and comments there are much easier to look back on!!

So send that discord message to the author in a server you're in - they're going to appreciate it so much!! But consider copy-pasting that as a comment in AO3 as well, no matter how short it might be. It means a lot!!

How do I comment on porn?!?!?!?

PWP fics are known to have a large number of hits, with less kudos and even less comments.

Listen. I get it.

Especially in a fandom like HRPF, where many fics are user-locked, it can be intimidating to comment with no chance to hide behind anonymity.

But remember this: anybody who might "see your username" has also clicked into that very same fic and gone alllllll the way to the end. We're all in this together!!! I promise!!

Maybe the actual logistics are difficult for you - how do I leave a comment on an 8k porn-no-plot fic?? how do I explain that I love this fic without making the author uncomfortable?? - so in that case, let me give a few brief ideas for you to work off of.

Some words I like to use a lot: dirty, nasty, HOTTTT, sexy, intimate, vivid.

If you're feeling especially blindsided by the Everything of it all: i like to throw in a good "stupidly hot". "my brain is melting out of my ears". "soooooo dirty nasty hot". "WHEWWWW this is making me feel insane".

Don't overthink it!!!! Speak your truth!!!

And, final point: don't be afraid to highlight specific favorite parts, like you would with any other fic! Say it with your chest! If you liked the frottage, then say "the thigh riding was sooooo stupidly hot". I promise, the author put it in because they also thought the same thing!!!! It's going to make their day (and maybe result in more fics with that same favorite part of yours).

My approach to paragraph-long commenting:

I just want to reiterate: there is no right or wrong way to write a comment. But here's the general breakdown of how I think about leaving more detailed comments, if you want some ideas.

I copy snippets from the fic that call out to me as I read

I go into my clipboard to paste them all into the comment box

I write 1-2 sentences about WHY i copied down that specific snippet

Sometimes, it might be hard to know exactly why you were so affected by a given line. Here's some things you might especially appreciate in a fic:

Characterization: maybe the dialogue felt especially realistic. maybe the character's decisions made a lot of sense to you. maybe the way two characters interact is just exactly how you picture it. write that down in one sentence!! done!

Prose/writing style: maybe the line was a really gorgeous metaphor, piece of dialogue, etc. copy and paste that shit into your comment + add some "!!!"s, or maybe a single sentence like "this is so so gorgeous" or "INSANE metaphor" or "beautiful prose i'm chewing on glass"

The plot: "I have no idea where this is going next, and I can't wait to find out" / "OH MY GOD THE CLIFFHANGER"

The emotions you felt while reading it: this one's an easy one I promise! "the way you wrote [CHARACTER]'s pain hurt sooooo good" / "this is making me feel ill" / "i actually gasped out loud on the bus" / "i'm so nervous for the next chapter" / "i'm SO excited by where this fic is going" / "i teared up reading this"

A long comment will come organically & very easily, even if you only have 2 copy-pasted snippets!! And the author gets to hear very specific feedback about exactly what you're enjoying - that's SO unbelievably rewarding to hear.

So, my personal call to action: challenge yourself to go one step further!

If you don't usually leave comments: try leaving one or two one-line comments this week. Throw in a quick "i love this!!" next to that kudos!

If you usually leave one-line comments: try leaving a couple sentences! describe one specific thing you liked about the fic, or one specific emotion you had.

If you often leave comments on the fics of people you know: try going outside your comfort zone and commenting on a stranger's fic. you got this!

Push yourself one step further, whatever that means for you! It's such a beautiful thing, to be able to read and love and discuss fic in a shared community, and it's worth the effort!

If you've read my ramblings the whole way through: thank you!!!! This was mainly an outlet for me to put all my thoughts into real words, and I sort of can't believe you read all the way through. <3

I welcome any and all additions to this post!!!! The more we talk about commenting, and the more we comment, the more this community grows - and that's a positive thing for all of us, readers and writers alike.

[rebornofstars]

oooooooooh let's see.....

im too young for the wattpad era! i only discovered the existence of fic in the 2020 covid lockdown... my old account was also ao3, it's an orphan account now. i've only written one story with an actual sex scene and it is never leaving my drafts 🥰 & the first friend group i made in this fandom were all roleplayers! so i tried it out, even though it didn't turn out to be my thing. and.... i can't even .... i can't even say anything about the rest 😭😔

no pressure tagging @majorproblems77 @nyastri @sister-dear @tashacee @zarvasace @not-freyja @gintrinsic-writing @lerikwrites @estelian-01 @hotcheetohatredwastaken @noorahqar @artemistorm @elle-rosewater @a-manicured-lawn @needfantasticstories @toyouhellohowareyou @musical-chan @imperialkatwala @savimatteo2810 and anybody else who writes!!!!

Thank you for the tag @theblueeyedfirebender (any FMA-blog followers, check out this blog!)

I mainly write for LoZ (ao3), but on an older AO3 account (no I will not be linking it) I've written for Supernatural and Sherlock (mostly trash one-shots when I used to take commissions).

@snail-studios, @hero-of-the-wolf, and @gracieelinn, I put a clean bingo sheet below so fill one out if you'd like! ❤️

[kiwiana-writes]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

A big ol' fuck you to @rmd-writes for the tag xoxo

1. How many works do you have an AO3? Lol. Lmao even. 289.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 914,620 on AO3, but that includes co-writes as well as things I've podficced where the fic and pod are in the same work. My actual personally-written wordcount, per my Batshit Spreadsheet, is 771,819.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly RWRB these days, though most of my back catalogue is Schitt's Creek. Also The Pairing and various other things scattered about.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Kinda think that I might be his type aka Alex and Bea fake date coming in at the top spot, which will never not bewilder me. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely fic!! But I am always surprised that it was a few hundred more kudos than:

With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest), the Much Ado actors AU. My magnum opus, my beloved.

We were supposed to find this - baby's first soulmate AU and my first RWRB fic. The brainrot really took hold with this one lmao.

All the Lonely Starbucks Lovers, in which Henry takes 'open mouth insert foot' to a whole new level.

Warm like the glow that you feel head to toe, the age gap fic with older Senator Alex and younger Prince Henry. This is probably the only one in my top five that really surprises me, considering age gaps are... divisive.

5. Do you respond to comments? Always always always.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I mean I did write that one MCD fic in Schitt's Creek, though I maintain the other five parts in that 5+1 are in fact angstier than the MCD ending.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Uhhhhhhh, the rest? The Doylist answer is any of my fics where the HEA is literally forever rather than 'till death do us part'; so, the Schitt's Creek afterlife AU and the RWRB zombie!Alex AU. (Is that all? Am I forgetting one?)

8. Do you get hate on fics? Yeah, sometimes. Weirdly, more through tumblr anons than on the fics themselves? A lot of them I just delete, sometimes I'll give them a bit of a public scolding etc. Frankly at this point if you come into my ask box to be a cunt on anon I'm going to assume you have a public humiliation kink and will indulge you accordingly.

9. Do you write smut? Who's to say.

10. Do you write crossovers? I'm more inclined towards a fusion than a crossover (love a good media fusion) but I did write a short RWRB/The Pairing crossover for VoiceTeam.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope. Someone did ask recently, so we'll see!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? HEAPS. @ships-to-sail is an ongoing collaborator, but I also did a bunch of "each write a chapter" type collabs in Schitt's Creek. Currently co-writing something truly fucking incredible with @indestructibleheart.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? IDK if it's a WIP by the strictest definition, but every day the likelihood of the SC kink!verse series being completed slips further away lol.

16. What are your writing strengths? Rae, you're the worst.

Smut, I guess? Giving people new kinks, apparently. Character voice. Also a very specific type of world-building where I explain nothing because the characters already live in that world and let y'all infer how it works, which came up a LOT on one of this year's Kinktober fics in particular and led to my spouse saying "okay so you're basically the Brennan Lee Mulligan of tree fucking", which is sure not a sentence I expected to ever be directed towards me, but here we are.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Anything original, apparently. Good thing I didn't quit my job to be a writer or anything OH WAIT.

(In all seriousness, though, I am genuinely shit at, like, plotting. And action sequences.)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? If it makes sense for the character, sure! I'm enlisting someone who speaks it for anything more complicated than, like, a pet name - I've seen what Google Translate tries to spit out for my second language and therefore don't trust it lmao.

19. First fandom you wrote for? terf queen mcgee's property.

20. Favourite fics you've written? The RWRB fic specifically based on the episode The Husbands of River Song from Doctor Who. Hands down the best thing I've ever written.

I also fucking LOVED the Much Ado actor AU. My love letter to Shakespeare and theatre and queer joy.

-

Tagging @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517 @cricketnationrise @firenati0n @getmehighonmagic

@hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @inexplicablymine @notspecialbabe @orchidscript

@piratefalls @sherryvalli @sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @whimsymanaged and, as always, anyone who wants to play! 

[bougiebutchbinch]

I really get what you mean with how fandoms tend to treat trans characters. It feels like they treat the trans character more as a kink than an actual part of the character.

It honestly feels so prolific that it's to the point if I see a character tagged as trans in fic written purely for smut (like a pwp one shot) I feel like I need to investigate the author first so I'm not just walking into a character's transness being used as something just to get off to. Especially when they'll suddenly have the aforementioned character start acting far more femme, or something along those lines. It's probably rooted in some form of internalized transphobia or homophobia. Maybe even both.

I also know for some people who write stuff like that they are trans and I probably don't really count as trans (I use different pronouns than what I was born with, but don't really have time not money to look into physical transition) so maybe I'm just looking too deep into it and should touch grass, but it does still give me the ick.

:gives you a big hug: first, you absolutely are trans, if that's a label you're comfortable with. There's no barrier for entry, I promise. Anyone who tells you otherwise deserves a kick up the backside.

Second... yeah. It's just so prolific and insidious... It's at the state where if I want kinky dom/sub sex where the subby bottom has a vag, I'll look for fics with transmasc characters, because that's what you get, 99 times out of 100. If I want fics that centre transmasc characters and actually explore transness, or fics about transmasc characters who have literally any other preferences in the bedroom.... I avoid fics tagged with 'trans [character]' like the plague and go off reccs from trusted friends. Which means I've found about like, three good fics overall in my fandoms where the transmasc character gets to have a different role in the bedroom.

I dunno, it's just kinda.... tiring, lol. And from being in F/F fandoms, I can tell you that the exact same thing happens to trans women in fic - they're used as a convenient penis in smutfic 99% of the time, and only ever seem to be put in dommy top roles. Sooooooo yeah. I do think it's something fandom as a whole needs to just... think about a bit.

To be clear - there's nothing WRONG with writing subby bottom transmascs or dommy top transfemmes. There's definitely nothing wrong with BEING either of those things. The issue is when almost ALL of the smutfic about characters who fall into these categories is like that, and it feels like these trans characters are just being... treated as an extension to their genitals, and common societal expectations thereof.

I would encourage authors to THINK and CHALLENGE the assumption that transmasc = bottom and transfemme = top! Not saying you HAVE to write anything, but holy shit, a tiny bit of variety would be really fucking nice lol. And you might enjoy writing a different dynamic more than you think!

[amoscontorta]

What are your NSFW Sylus thoughts/headcanons? 👀 bc I'd love to hear you go in depth with them and why u view Sylus the way u do bc it seems like everyone kinda has a different view of him. For instance, a big division I've seen is that there's some people who view Sylus as a switch and others view him as a dom or a service top. It seems like some people get personally offended when their view on Sylus is different from another's unfortunately 😅

I get it, people love Sylus a certain way, but I'll never support people trying to kink shame others for wishing Infold had went in a different direction with him or having kink preferences that might go against Sylus' or even having kinks Sylus might not be into. For me, Sylus is mainly a dom. He loves a challenge bc he gets bored easily, yet he also is very competitive, which is why he isn't gonna wanna lose most of the time. He's stubborn too.

Even in No Defense Zone MC wasn't really in full control. Sylus was ordering her around and teasing the whole time, but he clearly thought it was cute seeing MC want to be a little bit more dominant with him. MC was also obeying his orders. Do I think he likes to be called degrading names when he's eating u out? Sure, I could see that. Likes praise? Sure. Do I think he's gonna let you walk him on a leash and be into pegging? Absolutely not 🤣 but that's just MY opinion on him from everything I've gathered. I think he enjoys letting you have some control, but he's gotta be in the right mood for it I think and he probably has things he isn't into like everyone else. Either way, I'd love to hear ur thoughts on this whenever u have the time ❤️

Hi there. I’ve been thinking about this ask since I got it, and one of the things I know for sure is that I’m going to upset someone no matter what I say. But the whole point of me starting to share my fic and being more active on tumblr is to challenge my social anxiety when it tells me that my opinion isn’t of interest to anyone at the least, or offensive/hurtful at the worst. 

So here we go, my answer under the cut.

So to answer this question, I need to get through a few points first before I tell you what I personally believe about Sylus’s sexuality.

I don’t believe in kink shaming either, and I think that peoples’ complaints about the direction Infold takes the LIs are valid. We all want content that we can really relate to, and if the canon take doesn’t satisfy you, one of the great purposes of fanfic is to fix it for yourself and other fans like you. That’s such a huge part of engaging in fandom and even if I don’t agree that the character would actually do what you make him do in your content, if you write it well enough, if you capture his voice, give him logical motivations, respect the core of the character while you do it, then I can be convinced to enjoy it despite it deviating from canon.

That being said, I love Sylus because of his canon characterization, and I do believe that there are some things he would be into, or not into, based on his dialogue in the game itself.

It’s impossible to answer this question personally without telling you the following: I think it’s insane that we as a worldwide fandom and/or global community have restricted ourselves to a strict BDSM mindset of looking at people as belonging to an inflexible binary of dominant or submissive, with the only middle ground being switch, with formal labels and rules of what a “dom” does, what a “sub” does, and so forth, and the value judgments we place on which label you fall under. And what drives me further insane is how much that binary is tied up in so much misogynist bullshit if we’re talking about hetero pairings with a female MC (the power dynamics of a female sub versus a male dom alone is so often written in such a way that the writer’s internalized misogyny results in literally painful-wince-inducing reading). Human sexuality is so fluid, personal, intimate—I think that the average person’s dynamic and preferences change depending on who they’re with, what stage of life they’re in, what scars they bear from past relationships, and even on a day to day basis, how much energy they have, etc. So although all I seem to see in fandom discourse is dom!Sylus, sub!Sylus, I think that mindset is reductive, especially because even with the shit-tastic translation Infold has inflicted on us, they’ve managed to create an incredibly nuanced character who feels real enough to be human. Reducing him to dom, sub, or switch misses so much of his personality and how much he clearly loves and is obsessively devoted to MC and what MC wants.

 Finally, I think every time we’re discussing fictional characters, it’s important to remember who is writing them, and why. Infold is here to make money. They created LIs with a spectrum of traits to appeal to the widest subset of their targeted demographics. As a result, they’ve given the LIs, at least to some extent, both dominant and submissive characteristics, to appeal to the greatest number of players.

We have memories with Sylus and dialogue that indicate he’s dominant: “I prefer to be the one to take the initiative” when you tap his dick too many times in destiny cafe, his outfit descriptions about him getting a thrill of being a predator on the hunt, of dominating his prey. But we also have the no defense zone where he’s in a submissive position, even if people argue that he’s topping from the bottom in that card. Multiple times throughout the game, he lets you do what you want to him, and then says “are you satisfied? Now it’s my turn,” which points to him being a switch. Like, Infold covered all of their bases not only with Sylus, but all of the LIs to some degree.

Ok, with that context, and using the sort of vernacular that makes concepts easily recognizable even if I hate the labels: I think Sylus is a switch. He is first and foremost a hedonist—he is comfortable in his body, he prefers the finest food, drink, atmosphere, clothing, he wants to be entertained, he is constantly fighting boredom and the ennui of cynical disillusionment with the worst of humanity and being the apex predator. He loves pleasure. It doesn’t matter what form that pleasure takes. And he wants pleasure with MC in particular, because he is written by Infold as that devoted—he has a line in the destiny cafe about no one else touching him so intimately before. He’s willing to learn everything about your tastes, and then use what you teach him to pleasure you and himself. On multiple occasions he says “Oh, I suck at this? Then teach me.” So even if initially he’s shit in bed, he’ll only make a mistake once and then blow your mind on his next attempt. Sylus wants to fuck you the way you want him to fuck you. So if you want to peg him, "well sweetie, I have a prostate for a reason." You want him to choke you with a tie and fuck you like an animal, he’s down. He’s so self-assured and interested in what you want and giving both himself and you pleasure that he doesn’t believe in the “dominant = most powerful, most masculine, having the upper hand, winning” perspective that so many writers in this fandom seem to assign to the term dominant. Conversely, being submissive, or the recipient of penetration, or letting the other take control isn’t a weakness in his eyes. He “submits” because it pleases you, because he enjoys being at your mercy, he’s thrilled to have someone he trusts enough to have power over him, and that someone is you. He trusts you to make him feel fucking good, and if you can do that by putting him on his knees, who is he to say no? If on the other hand, you submit to him, he thinks you’re the most fearless, strongest badass there is for letting a literal killer who everyone else on the planet fears put you in a vulnerable position. The connotations of dominant = strong, superior and submissive = weak, inferior, losing just do not compute for him. I don’t think he’d just think of you as cute for wanting to dominate him. I think he’d think you’re magnificent for daring to try, he'd be incredibly curious how you intend to do it, and then if you truly are a dominant powerhouse, he’d happily drown in the pleasure you give him.

Now, again, this all assumes that you, yourself, are into dom/sub dynamics. Which so many people simply aren’t. And I think if you just love him, and want to have sex with him because you’re attracted to him and want to share that intimacy with him, or you don’t believe that every single sexual encounter has to contain the rigid dom/sub binary or hierarchy of positions, that you experience attraction and sex as two people on equal footing sharing a life and a bed, he’d happily fuck you in missionary for the rest of his life, luxuriating in being able to watch your expressions, of looking into your eyes, of leaning down to breathe in the scent of your neck, and just loving you until you both come and then have a snack and watch something stupid on tv.

Lastly, I do believe that there are some things Sylus wouldn’t be into, no matter how sexually adventurous he is. I don’t think he’d be into degradation, at least towards you: he is not going to call you cruel names, because you’re the person he cherishes the most in the world. I think he’d just straight-forwardly tell you, “Beloved, that doesn’t do anything for me. If you really want me to, I can try,” but you’d know his heart just isn’t in it. He isn’t going to physically hurt you, either in a pain play way or just being too eager to fuck you to properly prep you. Edit: just look at the way this man handles his gun during quality time. He's not going to treat your body with less sensual respect that that fucking gun. If sex hurts for you, he’d feel like he’s doing it wrong, and he’d slow down or try a different approach until it doesn’t hurt, or he’d tell you he isn’t interested in whatever pain you’re asking for just like with the degrading language. If you’re into degradation, with him being the receiver, I can see him being into that because he seems to be so amused by you when you’re mean to him, but even then, there are so many times in game where he says stuff like, “you talk to that person so nicely, why aren’t you that nice to me” or how happy he gets when you do start doing kind things for him, or saying kind things. I think he lives for your praise much more than anything else, but whether you’re calling him names or calling him beloved, both are good, because you’re right there, finally, looking at him, loving him, and he can finally breathe again after so long without you.

And as for how I’m writing him in the current fic: I’m writing him with all of the foregoing in mind, and will be highlighting what kind of lover I think he is for this particular MC. I could just as easily write him being a very different lover, but still in-character, for an MC who is not so damaged and has a much more dominant personality in the bedroom (as opposed to current MC who is pretty much only dominant when killing and withdrawn/timid outside the battlefield, and who enjoys the soft, kindness-driven taking-the-lead loving that Sylus is capable of displaying).

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. And thank you for the interesting ask! Even if I disagree with your or anyone else’s take on him, at the end of the day we all love this character, and what you want or need from him is valid, even if it’s not to my taste or in line with how I view him.

[thessaliah]

You know, I feel you. Some of kids of the new fandom sound like entitled morons. The code-nonsense I just read made me barf.

By kids I mean you. A 22 years old trying to pass themselves as an old fan. Lmao. I couldn't hide my shock when someone linked me to read your arrogant post attempting to pass yourself into a BNF of old yore. No babe, back off. All you address is old, good or bad, you're not a ship police, you are a nobody. A regular fan the same as everyone else. But let me introduce myself, also a fellow fan.

Hello there. I'm Thess, former administrator of all the livejournal Hellsing communities, former ringleader of all the Hellsing roleplayer community in yahoo (oooold shit), former writer with more than 100 fic under my belt (which got awarded and voted by the community and won prizes), former mod and part escalator of the Band of Hawks and other forums, and an original member of the FIRST Hellsing forum in English (formerly localed in hellsing.nu). All those shiny Young King Ours magazines? Were scanned by us, one of my friends, Taylor, owned them and shared them. I was friends with Erin of Shine too. We used to make cooperative Round Robins among all fanfic writers, we used to give giftship, we used to cooperate with artists to do mutual art-fic project frequently too.

You don't know shit. You weren't there waiting the new manga release, speculating, arguing, gushing month by month, all these ten years Hellsing run. We left once it was over. Then you came I guess.

I come from a pre-pixiv era, if you didn't know, most japanese Hellsing fanart was made in personal websites, collected in webshrines. And it was always AlucardxIntegra >>>>>>> PipxSeras >> AlucardxSeras >>>>>>>>>>> other ships popularity wise. Something incredibly novel because seinen manga and works of the era (Trigun and Trinity Blood later) had more yaoi domination. Alucard and Integra was just so amazing that all yaoi fans liked it better than the boring BL options of Hellsing. Also a phenomena noted in the Hellsing guidebook, officially published by YKO. ;)

I am The Original Integra Hellsing fangirl. Claimed her all around social media back in the day which was before Hellsing finished. Hells, my handle was SIR HELLSING lol. The person who guessed Alucard was coming back and was going straight to Integra's bedroom when he does when nobody thought so and later bowed to my actual literacy skills. Because I knew Hellsing was a tribute to Dracula, not just as novel, but as a franchise. I recognize the cliches Hirano was subverting to give the Count his happy ending.

If you call yourself a "cop", I was the Fandom Mafia Donna who literally ran a community to criticize and help fanfiction with challenges and scores (targeting those who bashed Integra because she was "in the way" of their Alucard ship). We had a good system back then, we were bitchy and ate our own. You wouldn't have survived as soon as you spouted that you shipped IntegraxSeras and AlucardxAndersen and tried to tout it as a canon sticker (no issue with those pairings, my friend Jade/DreadNot was and still is the biggest and best writer of AxAA but she knew it was a fanship; and I've written gift fic). You would have gotten laughed at and made a laughing stock.

Let's see... you are against AlucardxIntegra and AlucardxSeras? Oh shit. I might be against the later as notp, but that's bullshit to pretend is some new fan thing (even with the kissy mushy aspect, it's an old tradition, while the other pairings? Newer). This fixation with yuri and yaoi, on the other hand? Clearly a product of this new fandom. AxI vs AxS are the original SHIP WAR. The one that burned and dedicated threads of Hellsing.nu forums to argue against one or the other and you, a literal who fledgling is trying to speak about them? For real? Of course, AlucardxSeras has family-element, but so is your precious IntegraxSeras. Integra acts like her mother surrogate and is even clear in Romancia where she scolds her as she does with a child. Seras' arc, in the manga, is to follow her father figure steps (Alucard), and protect her mother figure (Integra) because she failed to do so in her childhood trauma. That's basically it. She got adopted now by Hellsing. She's the daughteru. You're just taking out of context a lame scene by otaku to titillate them as something that supports a ship. It's ok, but you're using ammo against AxS while ignoring that interaction you ship (with Integra) is also found family to Seras.

Her love interest, the couple "everyone is envious of", is Pip Bernadotte. You can't even write Seras after his "death" without Pip because he's part of her and cannot part at all as a "Combination". And there is still Gonzo show AlucardxSeras which is as canon and part of a "love triangle" officially with AlucardxIntegra even if it's in the loser side.

Hirano, in the Hellsing guide, already declared AlucardxIntegra and SerasxPip are the ships his manga stuck with from the beginning, dismissing the possibility of AlucardxSeras. But see that? It's always those three considered and addressed when they speak on pairings. No AlucardxYour guy of choice, or IntegraxSeras, because they are fanships without real authorial intent or substance that simply aren't even considered in the first place when he began to write the thing. He did choose to not go the AxS direction. If you want to play canon sicker and ship police as you do, you need to acknowledge that your preferences (sans HeinkelxYumie) are beneath AxS in the canon scale.

Don't even make me start on the bullcrap with Integra you brought up. Integra isn't meant to be androgynous (neither is Rip!). She's written straight out Hirano's fetishes and he gets mad when people assume she's androgynous or manly. He just finds girls in suits and with glasses and long hair hot. Rip and Integra are his taste, rather than Seras. You can say that to you she is, but framing it as authorial intent is bullshit. He has no problem to admit Alucard's not male (yes! he said so! Alucard was originally male but after his transformation he/they lose that grip of gender) and Heinkel is intersex, but the idea of anyone trying to pass Integra, his beloved waifu, as manly or androgynous makes Hirano angry. He even chose the VA of the Gundam character he has a crush on as Integra's VA. And declared her as his waifu. And won't even touch your mischaracterization of her and why she stabbed herself in the anime. The ending of both anime and manga are meant to be ambiguous of her choice because it could go either way. All old Integra fans know this if you properly have a grip of her character and notice what she wants (both in anime and manga, that are different things). But you do not have that, huh?

Tone down your arrogance and know your place. It's fine to like a fanship, and you can do it without shitting on canon ships (and try to literally pull "canon" on these while not thinking yours are absolutely outside the canon interpretation - SerasxAnyone is no go after she drinks Pip's blood because she's Pip and Seras, it'll always be a threesome unless you AU it. Period). It's fine to have the "Integra won't become a vampire" interpretation as long as you know she also can become a vampire and is as valid. Be self aware please! When your interpretation (and that "coded" new fan nonsense lmao) clashes with authorial intent, propping it as totally canon-follower is ick. No issue if it's our preference.

Also stop being so full of yourself and call yourself an "old" fan because us, the real old fans, don't claim you.

Buh-bye.

Hey op just curious what makes you hate the new Hellsing fanbase. As a fellow Hellsing fan I was wondering if I’ve completely missed something strange going on lately.

The new Hellsing fandom honestly irks me because of the surface level probing of the source material*. Yes, to most it's a hard core, dark, violent, mad and bad-ass anime but, like I've said so often, for so long on this dumb blog, it has the BEST female characters I've ever seen, recently rivaled by Arcane. Incredible depiction of platonic relationships and morally grey characters. To me, it's primarily a found family story, among other things.

The side characters are incredible, Yumi and Heinkel are the most underrated of the show. I mean come on priest and nun lesbians (lesbian used liberally). Heinkel is confirmed by the author to be an INTERSEX HUMAN. Alucard shapeshifts into a female (which, looking at the Devilman fandom, everyone took for an obvious trans metaphor, why not here?). The source material is as homoerotic as it can get between a lot of the characters (the tension between Sir Integra and Seras during the blood scene). Let's not forget Rip van Winkle, Pip, Walter, and Alexander. Alucard's teasing, Seras' naivety and subsequent maturity, Pip's endurance and playful wittiness. These characters and relationships are stuck in my head forever, they're all incredibly unique, fleshed out and worth remembering, no matter how short a time they spent on screen. And the character designs? As a long-time vampyr and catholic guilt fan, can I just say. Rawr. This show shaped how I dress like irl and my own shitty characters, as well.

Sir Integra is my favorite character of the show and one of all time. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Like, an actually good depiction of a no-nonsense, androgynous as hell, unabashedly commanding (dare I say) woman? And it's played completely straight? No "Whaaa that's a woman?" every 2 seconds or "heh, you will listen to me despite my womanhood" from her. Powerful in her own right despite being the few "magic"-less humans of the series. 0 sexualized Ultimate scenes (sorry Seras and the "hot down there" comment doesn't count, that was banter). She was fucking knighted by the Queen of England before she was even 25, hence Sir Integra. Canonically bi-racial and South-Asian. I'm not even going to go into her character's willpower and values but. Hellloooo??? 

Not to mention, something noteworthy about the series, but Hellsing works because Hirano made time for silly moments. I mean, hell, one of the scenes I remember most vivdly was the gag of Heinkel lighting Sir Integra's cigar and being mega-pissed about it during the final battle, it's funny yet in character, despite many fans saying the humor throws you out of the "reality" of the show.

Oh no, but what do the new fandom gremlins talk about? "Alufart rails Y/A" "OMG VLADCARD'S BARA HAIRY TIDDIES I WANNA RUB MY FACE AGAINST THEM" (you know who you are) “I drew the most fucked up version of Alucard I could think of in my twisted mind”

and my personal "favorite":

"omg 🥺 what if intewa and alucard kisswdd", it's almost as bad as Seras x Alucard.

Unfortunately, I am a part of the ship police, so I'm gonna say right now that these two are my most hated ships:

1) Sir Integra and Alucard's relationship goes beyond romance to me. Since none of the new fans know the lore, Sir Integra is and will die a virgin (canon), it's literally plot relevant because by having sex, if she gets bit she will become a zombie slave (obvious but apparently needed to be said) and, taking a note from the 2001 anime, gone is any chance to continue the Hellsing mission. If she was bitten, plot armor aside, she'd have to off herself instead of becoming a vampire. (and for you freaks out there/pos, dare I say… ace representation? you can argue about desire and subtext later)

2) Seras and Alucard's relationship was specifically noted by the author to be a father/daughter dynamic, which is kind of obvious in the show. Like I said, fundamentally a found family series. Yeah, you don't need to treat found family like family family but I gen can't stand this ship.

I know that people will ship characters who've never been in a room together before. I can't stop people from shipping them and these two ships have ALWAYS been popular in the fandom. I typically ignore this and, yes, "don't like, don't interact" is my main rule. However, new fans ONLY talk about this stuff. None of the rest of the show seems to matter, just Alucard's hairy mustached tig bitties and him fucking one of the two women in the main cast. Or someone's self insert.

((tangent but personally my favorite ships are Alexander x Alucard (obviously in an enemies to enemies way), Heinkel x Yumi, and a romance only Seras x s.Integra. Like, you want old women yuri??? There ya go! They were in a mansion for like 30 years (I forgot) together, probably going missions alone and sharing their grief over Alucard and their unique experience/history. Like I said, I can't help who people ship, I'm not trying to say the source material is in favor of my ships or "how dare people interpret these obviously gay characters as straight". like no, that's not why I'm upset and ik alucard and alexander weren't yaoi-ing it up but like. alucard and s.integra shippers dni /j))

Not to mention, I couldn't help but notice, despite this information being readily available to my middle school self, no one knows the fckn lore or background of this show?? I honest to god saw someone comment that Hellsing Ultimate™ was a bad “remake” because it diverged from the original anime.

Here's SOME fun facts:

-the 2001 version of the show has a different ending than the manga because it wasn't finished yet (duh). Hellsing Ultimate is "soooo short" because production took almost a decade and it was trying to be a faithful, well-animated (that takes time bruv) adaptation. Oh, and a bunch of directional changes that I won't get into.

-there are multiple OVAs following Walter's youth in WW2 (Hellsing: The Dawn). Young Walter's design honestly was one of my favorites from the series so. Walter enjoyers. Check it out.

-there is a bonus book explaining a lot about the characters and process of creating Hellsing written by Hirano himself. whenever I got a hold of it, though (8+ years ago) there was no English translation.

-Alucard didn't just transform into a girl that one time, he was in his girl form the entire time during WW2 (hence why when people mention his possible affair with the Queen it might've been a sapphic thing but I think that mostly stems from the abridged series. the queen thing not the girl thing)

-Hirano used to be a Hentai mangaka and actually designed many of Hellsing's characters in said hentai or in short stories (such as Crossfire, it's basically extra, non-canonical Hellsing content) beforehand. Which, this used to be the most popular "fun fact" but has been lost to the sands of time now, so prepare for a lot of people rediscovering this.

-personal lore is I almost named myself Rip van Winkle bc of this show (quirked up Portal, Grell Sutcliff, queer-coded, rifle-wielding shawty)

Anyway, to sum it up, I hate when people don't interpret characters in the same way I do. Yes, I am a bad “fandom elder”, idgaf I am fundamentally a hater.

*I keep seeing this happen with old shows that resurface. Unlike newer or more popular shows where every scene gets scoured, characters who showed up for one scene get analyzed, and endless cafe AUs are made- older shows mostly get fan art of the main charas and the ships of the two hottest characters and that's it. Discussion of lore and themes are completely off the table. So I'm not surprised, just disappointed.

[aromanticannibal]

ppl really b acting as if there's only one specific ship that has weird shippers that will complain about ppl not shipping their otp. it's literally always the case you either get fucked over for liking a gay ship or for liking a straight ship or for liking a toxic ship or people just start going "oh there's nothing wrong with the ship but the shippers💀" and you don't fucking know what they're talking about. like can we all just chill. the weird shippers r everywhere it's called some ppl are assholes sometimes. it's not fandom specific

[jessamine-rose]

/obey me! vent/

[winter-parrot]

there's something deeply Right about watching myself lose my shit over les mis and esp enjolras all over again. it's like. ah yes. this. i know this. this still fits.

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

what is this?? gurt attempting to write a fanfic that's lived in her mind for like 3 years?? the night after inventory at her store wrapped up when all she REALLY wants to go is sleep for a whole week????

[soyoursoulisgreen]

Jekyll anon heheh-

To answer your question, I actually only read the junior classic ^^'

Junior classics was one of my first hyperfixations! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was my second favorite, right behind the first one I ever read (first purely from nostalgia haha) (It was The Little Princess if you are curious)

I really wanna watch the dj&mh musical though! Just haven't gotten around to it yet lol

Ooh, I never read the Junior Classics so I don't know the differences! Tell me there's still the iconic line "If he be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek!" it's literally the best line in the whole book (though I'd also be curious to see how they rewrite Jekyll's idiocy in his journal when he puts down the details about his transformation lol, he's idiot <3)

If you ever get the opportunity, I would 100% recommend the full novella as it's only about 90 pages :D When I got it, I couldn't set it down and ended up finishing it pretty much all in one sprint lol

The musical is good! Spoilers but they do unfortunately make Jekyll straight (booo) and young (boooo), but the songs are very fun and catchy, and Confrontation is unmatched ✨

[marathedemonoverlord]

Ahhh! Fam I KNEW I liked you for some reason my Dumb Ass can't stand Lilith either

Though for me it feels kind of icky cause when I first played the impression I got was she was their family/sister and since they look at Lilith like that and reference how you remind them of her and then some of them (Lucifer) want to bone the shit out of you- It just....

Like...

.... If you have a thing for your sister just say so- I promise I ain't mad just mildly disappointed HAH!

why do you hate lilith?

Imagine you’re dating someone you plan to stick with forever. Whether you marry and have kids or not is up to you... Now imagine they won’t... stop... talking... about their ex? All the good and bad stuff that came with their ex? That’s the main reason why, though there are more.

I’m sick of the talk of Lilith. Every time they bring lilith up, its in reference to something I said or did. like i get it, please stfu

i know lilith never dated any of the boys or anything, she was just like a little sister to them. but like STILL. i already have a gender crisis (lmao dsfjksngfd) i dont need a friggen identity criss bc they keep comparing me to ol dumb bitch lilith

also i can dodge arrows. lilith couldnt. we are not the same, smfh

[svsss-fanon-exposed]

Exposing SVSSS Fanon: 25/∞

VIOLENCE AS COURTSHIP IS A PART OF DEMON CULTURE

Rating: CANON

A nearly universal trope, especially in Moshang fics, is the fact that courtship is performed through violence in demon culture, and that the misunderstandings between the pair are because of cultural differences. The fact that demons mistreat the targets of their affection is canon, however, it is important for fans to note that this sort of characterization and worldbuilding is rooted in racial and ethnic stereotypes.

This is one of the most-requested topics I've ever written on this blog, and I took a long time to think about how best to approach the subject in a way that both keeps to the intention of this blog (referencing canon & providing quotes) as well as raising awareness to the very real problematic aspects of what is a well-loved and often-used trope in fanon that I don't think most western fans are aware of.

First, the canon analysis:

“If you hold unique feelings for a certain person, how can you make them understand your intentions?” Luo Binghe asked. Obviously, no one dared to tear down Luo Binghe’s facade and expose him directly, but this question was really very…unsuited to the demonic approach. After a long moment, not a single person had answered. In fact, the answer was so simple that any normal human could have given it to you. If you liked someone, you should just tell them. Unfortunately, there was not a single “normal” person on the scene—and aside from Shang Qinghua, there also were no “humans” either. Mobei-Jun thought about it. With the paths his mind was given to take, there was no telling how he had interpreted “unique” feelings. “Beat them up three times a day?” (7 Seas, Ch. 26)

Most of the fandom remembers this passage, and some may think that this is where the interpretation of violence as courtship comes from-- however, that is not the case. This passage might actually not refer to courtship at all-- while that is one possible interpretation, Mobei-jun could also be interpreting "unique feelings" to mean something different than "romantic feelings," since Luo Binghe didn't specify romance directly.

The "violent demonic courtship" idea actually originates much earlier in the novel, just after the invasion of Qiong Ding Peak:

In truth, Shen Qingqiu didn’t intend to tease; he thought himself very straightforward. The one who’d tampered with Luo Binghe’s dream realm was Sha Hualing. Though she did have some harmful intentions, her underlying motive was obvious. Naturally, she was driven by a young girl’s secret yearning for love. Otherwise, she would have directed her aggressions toward others, not specifically Luo Binghe. Demons were compelled to viciously bully the person they liked. Only if the object of their affections failed to die would the demon accept them. If their target died, that meant they were useless and not worth nursing any lingering affections for. (7 Seas, Ch. 3)

This, in fact, has somewhat more serious connotations than the way I have often seen it interpreted in fanworks-- it is not merely beating up a potential partner, but pushing them to their limits, nearly driving them to death, and it is certainly implied that it is not uncommon for the object of a demon's affections to actually die.

Now that the canonical basis of the idea has been established, let us move on to the second, and arguably more important part of this post: the racism.

I would like to add a disclaimer here-- I am going to discuss this in hopes of raising more awareness in the fandom, but I am not North/West/Central Asian myself, so I will only mention things in brief and somewhat generally-- if anyone who belongs to the affected cultures would like to make corrections, or more detailed explanations, or any other additions to this post on this topic, I greatly welcome that, as I feel it is an important issue that should be addressed.

In Chinese fiction, particularly fantasy genres like xianxia/xuanhuan/xiuzhen, but also in historical and wuxia fiction, there is a pervasive, prevalent tendency for authors to use racial and ethnic stereotypes against Central, Northern, and Western Asian cultures such as Mongolian & Arab cultures in their worldbuilding regarding the North, while stereotypes against Southeast Asian cultures are used in worldbuilding regarding the South. These stereotypes are most typically applied to villains and villainous groups, and are so widespread as to be ubiquitous within the genre. MXTX has used these tropes before-- notably with the Banyue people in TGCF, with adaptations of both TGCF and MDZS including design stereotypes, such as CQL's portrayal of the Qinghe Nie (combining their tendency toward violence and 'unnatural' cultivation method, with design traits typically associated with Northern/Central Asian cultures).

It is worth noting, though, that most authors do not intentionally use these traits as racist stereotypes in their worldbuilding, especially when regarding a non-human species-- in the same way that western fantasy authors use goblin and orc characters and tropes without realizing or acknowledging their racist origins and connotiations, these stereotypes have simply become genre tropes without that direct connection to their origins. Nonetheless, it is still worth noting-- and worth trying not to fall into the trap of leaning into stereotypical traits in fanworks' character portrayals.

Stereotypes include but are not limited to barbaric and brutish cultural traits, association with animals/having animal features, dark or corrupt magical/spiritual practices, certain types of braided hairstyles & other fashion choices, and originating from the far north or south.

Some of the prejudice and stereotyping of Northern Asian cultures likely originates from the fact that in the past, China was invaded and subjugated by peoples from the north (under Mongolian rule during the Yuan dynasty, and under Manchurian rule during the Qing dynasty) as well as having many conflicts with these peoples throughout history. In fact, the Qing dynasty only ended in the early 1900s, so some of this oppression is still in recent memory-- nonetheless, people belonging to ethnic minorities in China are still affected by this negative stereotyping today, so regardless of the origin, racism is still racism and should be addressed, and China today is a majority Han Chinese nation-- even if Han Chinese are considered a minority and affected by systemic racism in other places in the world.

Additionally, many tropes specifically applied to the southern demons, but also used for demon culture as a whole, are tied to stereotypical portrayals of Southeast Asian culture, which is rooted in a long history of Imperial China's invasion and oppression.

All of those stereotypes listed above apply to SVSSS' demon culture. Even in Mobei-jun's name-- 漠北 meaning "northern desert," which is the real-world name for a region in the north of the Gobi desert in Mongolia.

Therefore, it is important to remember that though violence-as-courtship in demon culture is canonical within SVSSS' setting, it nonetheless originates from harmful racial and ethnic stereotypes. It would be a good idea for fans to keep this in mind when creating their fanworks, and to treat the topic with sensitivity-- but I will leave any direct suggestions on how to handle this to those who are actually part of the affected groups.

--

(thanks to @flidgetjerome for additional notes regarding SEAsian stereotyping and author intent!)

Also, to be absolutely clear: I am not saying that svsss’ demons are specifically coded as any real ethnic group— it’s only that in many ways the portrayal is similar to the common portrayal of various ethnic groups in cmedia. I don’t believe they are specifically meant to parallel a real life group, unlike for example TGCF’s Banyue— but it’s worth questioning why these traits, why these characters.

[adventures-in-mangaland]

Dead Boy Detectives: Fic Recs

My latest hyperfixation is Dead Boy Detectives, so oc I've been reading and commenting on a ton of fic. And it's been really nice because the response of the authors has been so warm. I don't think I've ever gotten so many replies so quickly! Also, the fandom has inspired me to actually start writing again for the first time in two years and I've got a great idea for a fanvid. (Any tips on how to make one would be appreciated! 😅)

So in tribute to the lovely fandom, here's a fic rec post (nearly all payneland):

in this city there's a thousand things I want to say to you by laiqualaurelote

Edwin has a sexual awakening and it blows Charles' mind. And other things. Very funny and well written. Also features minor Edwin/Cat King and Edwardian flirting.

I also highly recommend the saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned by the same author, which is a kind of multiverse!Edwin fic? Featuring Edwin dying? And Niko time travelling? Trying to save time? Anyway, interesting to see Edwin alive, ageing and in different periods of time/his life.

For the First Time Twice by LikeMmmCookies

Amnesia fic! Charles loses his memories and thinks he and Edwin are married. Very cute (tandem bike date!) and well written, though Edwin's point of view still manages to be angsty. Also, the yearning is off the charts and the most recent chapter turned up the heat.

I guess you're stuck with me by Punny_Puck

AU in which Edwin and Charles actually got married pre-show. Funny, cute with a sweet marriage proposal prequel. Instant comfort fic.

Dance the Night by Gruoch

The gang are hunting an energy-sucking vampire that targets beautiful people, so naturally Edwin MUST disguise himself as the hottest girl in London. This one starts out fun and campy then takes a hard left turn into Serious Business. Prepare yourself for emotional moments, worldbuilding and some really excellent horror.

Long Past Time by sanctuary_for_all

Charles proposes to Edwin post canon. It's a short and sweet established relationship fic with some cool worldbuilding about ghosts and their ability to shape their clothing/appearances.

lay my hands on heaven by Opossum_Subatomic

I had to include a PWP and this is a great one. Extremely well written, in character and romantic. And explicit, obviously.

Data Points by Asidian

Edwin learns to cuddle. It's a production and completely adorable. I love a fic that explores the difference between the boys' physicality and this one's really on point. The writing and characterisation are great and it's nice to see Edwin taking care of Charles.

I also recommend Lanterns In the Dark, which sets the scene for Charles and Edwin's first meeting with some gut-wrenching details about Charles' homelife and Edwin's escape from Hell.

When I Was a Young Boy by flowerbritts

A Good Omens crossover and AU in which Aziraphale is Edwin's adopted father. Family reunions and revelations abound. Also, Edwin gets to be a teenager and slam doors while shouting, as he deserves.

The author has also written Wait, I'm Coming Too, which is a very sweet post canon 'Charles Worries About Edwin and Realises His Feelings' fic inspired by that 'Edwin reading Heartstopper' fanart. Both fics deserve more love!

A Slight Miscalculation by kantigone

Idiots in Love and Didn't Know They Were Dating. Crystal and Niko are the real MVPs, for real. A treat.

Terrible at Keeping Secrets (5+1) by ASingularSadSoggyPringle

Interesting demon!Edwin AU. Charles is a precious cupcake in this fic and Edwin is mostly the same with some Darker moments. I loved the concept and the author adds in some great, creepy details.

somaesthesia by perexcri

Edwin's journey from being touch-averse to touch-starved... at least when it comes to Charles. Palmistry is involved. I loved Edwin's characterisation and the unresolved sexual/romantic tension was on point.

And possibly I like the thrill (of under me you quite so new) by Leandra

Edwin explores his sexuality and re-negotiates his relationship with Charles. Meanwhile, the gang take on the case of a ghost who wants them to matchmake his still-living lover. Crosses over with The Sandman. And Edwin gets to be confident and flirty as a treat.

Always by How You Doing (FancyMeetingYouHere)

Hurt/Comfort fic in which Edwin has a traumatic flashback to the doll-head demon spider and Charles looks after him. Charles reading Good Omens to Edwin is a nice, meta touch.

Made You Look by Baby_Spinach

The agency are hunting an incubus that decides to take on Edwin's appearance. A repression explosion ensues. Fun fic.

Shape Me by dearheartdont

This one's actually a character study of Charles and his mixed race Indian heritage (so no Edwin) and it's so well done. It's also part of a series in progress about Charles growing up in the 80s with all the racism and homophobia that that entails. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

The Most Tender Place In My Heart by coloursflyaway

Edwin shares memories of how he fell in love with Charles, who figures out his own feelings in the process. It's super sweet and involves fun pre-show flashbacks and defintely deserves more attention!

I also loved Won't Fear Love by the same author, in which Charles takes Edwin out on dates and breaks the cuteness scales. And shout out to Good Enough which is the first fic I bookmarked for this fandom! 🥳

Anyway, thank you to all these amazing writers for making this fandom so special! 🥰

[directdogman]

Hi, I hope you're having a decent day! I'm sorry if this is an invasive set of questions - feel free not to answer - but do you still actively like DSaF as your own creation, or is it more of a "it was fun while it lasted but i outgrew it and it's for the best to leave it behind" kind of project? Do you ever regret making the games? If you knew they would get so popular, is there anything you would have changed about them? Is there anywhere I could read more of your writing.

It fluctuates a bit. These last couple of years, I've really just been sorta nostalgic for it. I've seen a lot of people discuss those games being a source of comfort during bad times in their lives, people talking about how much the characters mean to them and it's hard not to smile when you see that.

It's a funny thing for close friends of yours to see people WITH fanmade DSaF merch out in the wild, or to watch a random youtube video and being hit with a DSaF reference outta nowhere. It happens from time to time, even today. On a few occasions, I've even had a person reference my work to me in real life and not realize who they were talking to, believe it or not. It's really fun to play dumb and get someone to explain your work to you like you don't know what it is.

I certainly didn't think any of that would happen when I first made the series, or even during development. I think the normal assumption would be to look at DSaF as it exists now and assume its release was a peak for it, but believe it or not, the official discord only had 30 people in it shortly before 3 dropped! The archive listing of the series (reposted to a single page after the series ended) is now sitting at over 1.1 MILLION downloads.

People kinda assume the true heyday of something is when it's new, when it's fresh and novel. For instance, some people look back at when FNaF itself was new and see that time as its peak because it had a lot of internet cultural relevance as big new indie thing on the block. But, raw numbers don't lie. The series has been continually growing since its conception and that growth has similarly bled over to its fan projects. This explains why DSaF, despite not having a new series release in almost 6 years, seems to be inexplicably growing.

Just recently, I saw someone post footage of a scene from DSaF 2 on Twitter, which got over 16k likes. People praised its writing and largely celebrated the scene. The ironic thing about that particular scene is that I remembered being unsure if it was good or not, so I showed it off in one of the FNaF community hubs. The response was broadly lukewarm to negative. Now, it's held up as one of the best scenes in those games. That's kind of the point I'm trying to make, my thoughts on the series have certainly changed with everyone's else with years of hindsight.

Heh. I'm not sure if I've talked about this in a long time, but y'know, the very first scene I implemented in-game was actually the very first Phone Guy scene in DSaF 1, more or less exactly how it appears in-game today. This was before I'd even written the bulk of the game. I was pretty unfamiliar with visual novels as a whole, pretty unsure if something like this would be palatable to a fandom that was really just used to sit 'n' survive stuff that were far more gameplay than text. I mean, there wasn't any FNaF fangames really LIKE DSaF before that point. Closest was FNaFb, a jokey turn based RPG made in the same engine.

The engine I made the game in is also not exactly fit for VNs out of the box either, and I wasn't 100% sure the idea would actually work. But, the very first time I added the image of the prize corner, Phone Guy, the audio of that iconic cheesy stock track and booted up a test screen, I had a little moment where I said "Oh. I think I'm onto something interesting here." I kinda remembering instantly realizing in that single moment how much potential the idea had. Over 8 years later, I still remember that moment like it was yesterday.

I think lately, that's the sort of stuff I think of when I see people coming to me and asking about the series. Yes, it's really rough around the edges, yes, there's jokes that've aged poorly. But, it is a source of comfort for people and entertains tens of thousands of people each month. And that's gotta count for something, right?

[dinogoofymutated]

Okay so like,,,,I usually never make requests (I’m a lurker fr fr) but your writing Is god tier, so I gotta ask:

Could you do a fic for Hank/Beast? He’s my personal fave but I never see any content for him ever, like the fic scene for this man is a ghost town. he’s underrated as hell. My man is ripped, highly intelligent and respectful of the arts! Yet he doesn’t get any attention.

I would love to see some general headcanons (SFW & NSFW) if you’re up to it. no problem if you don’t write for him or something, I just thought i would ask.

Thanks!

SFW!Beast/GN!Reader

To be honest, I actually wasn't really sure about writing for Hank at first because I've never really had a connection to the character, but he grew on me!! Plus, I'm here to serve lolol we've been starved of fics as a Fandom for basically forever and it would be a disservice not to fill the Hank void out there! Hope it's okay that I only wrote Sfw headcannons, I have a separate req for NSFW for him so I decided to split it into two to save my sanity lol. Finals are gonna be hell for me.

-ps- Should I be writing right now? no. Am I doing it anyway? Yurp. Also, I'm basing his history off of the fandom wiki, so I'm sorry if anything is off.

Tws: none that I can think of atm. As always, reader written while picturing fem but no pronouns mentioned.

Hank, despite what some would think, was most definitely a heartthrob, particularly in his college days!! I mean, a man who's confident, smart, respectful, and also an athlete? Who wouldn't swoon? He was 110% the guy that everyone wanted to take home to their parents.

And He's such a sweet, attentive lover too!! Acts of service almost definitely is a love language for him. He cooks for you, fixes the broken things that you didn't even realize were broken, even organizes your notes before a difficult exam.

He loves to surprise you with flowers, even if it isn't any special occasion, and if you ask, he'll help you preserve them as well!

He loves to kiss your forehead, temples, and hands. On top of that, he's very touchy. The two of you were most definitely seen as the parents of any friend group.

Things changed a little after he took the serum that mutated him further. His confidence had taken a blow, and he just didn't quite know how to approach you anymore.

It took a hot minute to reassure him that you didn't really care if he was blue, or furry, or beastly, he was still Hank Mccoy, wasn't he? He was the man you were in love with, and you certainly weren't going to stop now. Besides, you still thought he was handsome. With the kinds of books he's seen you read, you're a bit surprised that he didn't think you would find him attractive.

Things gradually got back to normal, but for a while, he didn't kiss you as often as he used to. Well, he didn't kiss you period. Even though he knew the incredible extent to which you loved him, the shape of his mouth had changed. Hell, he had fangs that he would rather die than mark you with.

You practically had to tie him down into a contract to get him to kiss you again. He was always one to experiment, why not treat this the same? If you kiss, and it goes well, you do it again. If it goes well a second time and a third, you have a pretty reliable test. Validity shouldn't matter when he knew that you loved him to bits already.

He felt like he was falling in love with you all over again, and yet he still hesitated. It wasn't until you had grabbed him by the collar to drag him into a kiss that he actually relaxed, and what do you know, it was a pretty reliable test after all. A predictive one too, with how often you continued to kiss him afterwards.

Domestic was the best way to describe your relationship with Hank.

    You yawned as you made your way down to the lab, still in your pajamas and slippers. Just a few hours previously, after a shower and self-care routine, you had settled into bed with an eyebrow-raising book as you waited for your husband to come to bed. This was a normal routine for the two of you, you immersing yourself into a book to stay awake until Hank entered, kissed your temple sweetly, and began his own nightly routine. It was a set of events you were used to. 

    Today, however, you felt like you had done a lot more reading than usual. When you finally pulled yourself out of your book and checked the time, the clock by your bed read 11 pm. A rather late time for Hank to be out, but you already knew where he would be. The lower levels of the mansion were extra cold at night, and you find yourself rubbing some warmth into your arms as you approach the lab. 

    The doors open with a swish, the light of the lab having all been darkened exempt for the lamp on Hank’s desk. He’s so immersed in what he’s doing that he doesn’t even realize when you come in. You walk up behind his chair, running your hands through his hair softly when you reach him.

    Hank isn’t surprised, sighing at the pleasant sensation as he tips his head back to encourage you. You giggle a little, leaning down to press a kiss to his head as you begin to massage his scalp.

    “It’s late.” You say gently. Hank hums in response, eyes closed as he appreciates your touch. 

    “I’m sorry, my love. Seems I was a little entranced.” He says. You huff at him playfully.

    “You say entranced, I say you’re overworking yourself. You’ve been working on this project all week. Don’t let it cut into your rest time.” Your scolding always sounded too nice, but he knows you mean it. Hank sighs again, this time sounding a little more tired, but he doesn't argue. He rolls around to face you, pulling you into a tired hug from his chair. 

     “Perhaps it is time I go to bed. What time is it, my dear?” 

    “Eleven.” Hank lets out a quiet chuckle at your quick reply, finally standing up. He doesn’t let go of you however, choosing to rest his head on your shoulder as he sways the two of you back and forth.

    “You’re most certainly right, it is late. Much too late for a man to leave his lovely spouse waiting. Oh, whatever shall I do to make it up to you?.” His words come out as a purr, and you let out a curt laugh at him. You pull away a little, taking his large hands in your own as you lead him to the door. He smiles widely when you stop for a moment, remembering his glasses and placing them on his face before starting to drag him to bed. 

    “I’ll let you decide that, Love. As long as you make it to bed, that’s apology enough for me.”