#and I will do my best to turn it into shippy shippy fic for your enjoyment :D

[trans-cuchulainn]

hello and welcome to the niche corner

hello i'm néide and this is my blog, which mostly consists of me being grumpy about niche things. i have multiple degrees in medieval irish literature and while sometimes i use these to be vaguely educational, more often i use them to write incredibly specific fic about characters nobody else cares about, and this fic can be found on ao3 (for logged-in users)

so this is a guide to my incredibly specific fanfiction, which i feel also gives a reasonably good introduction to the kind of thing i'm likely to be yelling about on this blog

i am reliably informed that you don't actually need to know anything about the source material to have fun with these fics (or suffer from the angst), but also they can be more fun if you do. some have bibliographies/refs/explanations so i also know a few people have used them as a way to get started with medieval Irish lit which will never not be extremely funny to me

current WIP: chasing someone else's dream (16k, WIP): a cú chulainn/láeg reincarnation fic. they have been reincarnated, not for the first time. they've also been cursed, and thus, unlike in every life before this one, they've never met. ngl this fic contains some of the best prose i ever wrote, please read it

group chats of the ulster cycle, or, the in loco parentis series

a modern AU of the ulster cycle. sort of a college AU, turned into a ballet AU halfway through. consists of:

in loco parentis (135k, complete): my magnum opus. cú chulainn and láeg are university flatmates; group chats featuring all your favourite ulster cycle characters and also some you probably never gave a shit about; cú chulainn as a tiny trans ballet dancer and ferdia as his pas de deux partner; baking; everybody hating on conchobar; nobody dies; way more feelings about both ballet and shostakovich than anybody was expecting, including me; and much more. comes with explanatory notes / bibliography because i'm just Like That

getting the dee (9k, in progress/abandoned): a prequel to ILP, sort of a longes mac nuislenn fic except nobody dies and there are more sex toys. naoise/deirdre with guest appearances from conall. one day i'll go back to this but also i'm a coward

valentáin's day (4k oneshot, complete): a prequel to ILP, featuring láeg and cormac in the pub on valentine's day making fun of all their friends in relationships. they make out, fortunately their friendship survives the experience.

and when you move, i move (2.5k oneshot, complete): a sequel to ILP. just a horny lil cú chulainn/ferdia oneshot set a few months after ILP wraps up.

miscellaneous ulster cycle oneshots

i will be honest, most of these are sad fics of oidheadh con culainn ("the death of cú chulainn") because i just love writing angst, but there's a couple of others in there

a moment's silence (3k): smutty cú/láeg fic set during táin bó cúailnge, inspired by this picture. the most explicit fic i've written

to walk this world alone (6k): extremely niche fic featuring láeg after cú chulainn's death. some otherworldly happenings. sad but not as sad as it was originally going to be.

counterweight (3k): cú chulainn/láeg during oidheadh con culainn, anticipating cú chulainn's death. this one's pretty sad too.

dindsenchas (3.5k): missing scenes between cú chulainn and láeg during táin bó cúailnge. narrated by the landscape of ulster and addressed in second person to cú chulainn himself because the best sex scenes are the ones narrated by a tree.

in one dwelling place (2k): láeg/cú chulainn/emer. vaguely smutty, vaguely fluffy.

we'll say goodbye, today (2k): cú chulainn and láeg during oidheadh con culainn, anticipating cú chulainn's death. big sad hours.

glorious as the sunrise (3k): this is just angst. cú chulainn/láeg during oidheadh con culainn again. not particularly shippy but they love each other very much.

a marriage of inconvenience (3k): modern AU. cú chulainn wants to marry emer but unfortunately never bothered to get divorced after he married láeg for househunting purposes. a very silly fic.

of grief and glory (1.7k): cú chulainn deals with the aftermath of táin bó cúailnge, especially fer diad's death. more sad times lol.

flight risk (2.3k): teenage cú chulainn and láeg steal a spaceship. they get caught. fun scifi AU.

other medieval lit fics (non ulster cycle)

patron saint of toasties (2.5k): finn cycle fic. oisín took time out of uni to travel and now all his friends have graduated and he's lonely enough to text the christian union's "text a toastie" hotline. which is how he meets patrick. very silly modern AU gen fic mostly taking the piss out of st patrick

two birds of a feather (2.8k): yonec (marie de france) | togail bruidne da derga crossover fic. bird dad support group. conaire and yonec hang out and bond over their dads having maybe been birds. stupidest thing i ever wrote and i adore it.

quiver and shake (1.8k): fourth branch of the mabinogi fic. gwydion and gilfaethwy's special brotherly bonding time. canon typical content warnings apply.

other

absent thee from felicity (11k, WIP): hamlet | romeo & juliet crossover modern AU in which horatio and benvolio attempt to deal with the aftermath of their respective tragedies. sad at first, will gradually get sillier. haven't updated in a couple of years but that doesn't mean it's permanently abandoned, i'm just busy

a guild doctor and an abolitionist walk into a bar (5.5k, complete): mortimer sark/daragh vernant (the butterfly assassin by finn longman). in which they become friends while coparenting their fucked up assassin child and pretending they're not doing that. blatant pro-mortimer propaganda tbh and i'm not sorry

if you've never read any of my fics before and are wondering where to start, i firmly believe the reincarnation fic (current WIP) is a good one because it has a solid mix of angst, shenanigans, and weird fuckery, so you can experience the tonal whiplash of the rest of my fics all in one place! but it is a WIP and i make zero promises about upload schedule, it happens when it happens, so not so good if you're impatient haha. plenty of others to get you started though

[fountainpenguin]

"Picture of your face in an invisible locket... I had a bad feeling. But we were dancin'... swaying as the room burned down." (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 32 - “Starve (Etho, Scott)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

---

I am once again bringing you scenes of Etho cuddling up to SnifferMyFeet while Sniff growls reminders that even though he has Joel's memories and misses being Boat Boys, he wants Etho to treat him as a separate person.

If I had a nickel for every chapter Etho's touched this man and thought of Joel, I would have 8 nickels. I'd have 40 cents. That's as much as 1/4 of our story. And that's terrible.

#smalletho - Etho once again working through his touch starvation and Boat Boys Issues™ Many references to Joel, but he doesn't appear. Large flashbacks of him and Etho in next week's chapter, though! <3

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

---

This preview section jumps into shippy vibes- Proceed at own discretion.

---

Etho - Fox

Status: Holding out a hand

Self-taught programmer, full-time hero

💙  🧡  💚

So, uh. That string tidying, huh? You're setting yourself up for disappointment if you want to do that with an endermite hybrid. They're the best in the business and they'll mock you the whole time you set up. Sniff's smug and giggly about it, too, as Etho pushes him down on the bed and hangs back to study him. He's really tattered the code on the bottoms of his bare feet. I mean, shoe code gets tattered too, but usually those soft parts of a skin design hurt more.

"You gonna use your mouth?" Sniff asks, eyeing him up.

"In a shocking turn of events, the programmer has tools for fixing loose code. They're in the other room." Etho takes Sniff's wrists and pins them above his head for a second, then takes his ankles and stretches them out. Classic textbook pose for the work, even though they'll probably move to the carpet for obvious reasons before they start; he doesn't need weak pixels dropped all over his bed. "Stay," he commands, and Sniff sticks out his tongue and double flips him off without moving his arms. So Etho can't be mad.

But he does lean over, sliding one hand beneath Sniff's cheek, easing it behind his head. He curls it back around and lifts it just enough to scrape his palm across Sniff's brow, beneath his floppy dark brown hair. It's thick and feels like swamp plants in his hands. He still smells like well-treated water. Chlorine. Like one of Gluon's hotel builds with the fancy pools. Or the waterpark server. Never did find out why. Etho breathes against him without pulling back. Despite the wet scents, Sniff's warm soul's like fresh-baked bread against his hand.

"Oh my goodness… You're so pretty. You are so pretty…"

The metaphorical light fades from Sniff's mismatched eyes. Etho pulls back, waiting for a pinch or slap. Sniff turns his face away. Only his Joel side's visible at this angle as he squirms. "Get your eyes checked, Eefo… I saw my reflection when I got my water. I'm stitched together with hand-me-down parts. You don't mean that."

"What if I do, though?" He crouches lower by the bed, bringing a hovering thumb to Sniff's scalp. Sniff glances at him, then away. So Etho breaks that barrier. Slowly, the thick part of his hand eases down to touch Sniff's head. Sniff scrunches up his eyes again, giving the faintest little nod. Etho holds very still a few seconds (Sniff's pixels are so loose on his skin, which was the whole point of this cleaning project anyway) before he speaks again. "I'm sorry you can't see that yet. Body issues are tough; I've got issues too. Sometimes my fox traits get away from me… Been thinking about modding out, but it takes centuries of paperwork." His next stroke of hand (a circle on his head) is firmer, sharper, and Sniff mutters something under his breath as his cheeks freckle up with blue again. Cute. "If it were legal, I'd probably just unthread. I'd miss the bullet paths, but you make vex life look so easy. So good." He draws his hand around in one last loop, then eases it down Sniff's cheek (on his Grian side) to his neck. "Hey, take a closer look next time you're out. There's a lot of interesting people out there. Some wear faces that aren't even humanoid. Have you met MumboDrone or iCam? … And you know, it's just a skin."

Sniff putters his lips, staring towards the ceiling. His fingers lift, dancing across the backs of Etho's knuckles. "You just want me to stay late again. Gods, you're so lonely… Listen, fella- I know my strings are a wreck. I was an endermite before a vex; be pretty messed up if I couldn't tell. I'll let you clean me up, but I'm not playing sleepover. You can't make me."

"Mmhm." Oh man, I want to press my head on yours. He really wants to, noses brushing, hair tufts scraping, but he refrains, you know. He's kneeling, balanced on his heels, and Sniff's saying 'Yes' to the hand but looking unsure. So he won't. "Stay as long as you want to. Just let me clean your code and then you can leave. I promise I won't be mad."

"You smell like bread dough…"

"Yeah? My code wouldn't taste too good right now. Squeaky clean."

"Oh, that's too bad." Absentminded. Distracted. Etho eases back his fingers.

"Are you okay?"

Sniff clicks into focus again and then swishes up, sitting on the bed instead of lying down. "Yeah, thanks. I'm good, actually. The water helped."

"All right. I'll be right back with the cleaning stuff." He leaves without another touch, pausing only to switch off the portal still glowing in the corner. He leaves the desk lantern glowing like it is. It's fun, in the dark. The light's so low, it's like a fox's den in here.

The nice thing about being a programmer? He has no end of scrapers and combs to choose from. He pays the living room a visit to get the tray from the coding desk's drawer and some rolled-up pieces of carpet (ignoring the less than subtle smirks Beef and Pause give him as he strolls by). Etho brings the whole tray to his room and sits on the bed with Sniff, just talking to him and explaining how effective these tools are for different things. Sniff seems to recognize a lot of them, which is no surprise, honestly. Since Joel doesn't do logouts, he has a whole cleaning routine. It takes him forever.

"You know," Sniff says, digging through the tray, "using combs is cheating, actually. I can do the cleaning with my teeth still attached. I bet foxes can too. I mean, it's code work; all the code-eating species can do it." He flicks his gaze to Etho, who kneels across from him, tail waving in the air. Etho doesn't answer, so Sniff goes on. "You know what's fun? 'mite bundles."

"'mite bundles,'" Etho repeats. "Like… Endermites inside a bundle? Is that fun? That's a new one to me." Where is he going with this?

"Yeah, it's when you put endermites in with some of your supplies and go out on adventures. When you want your supplies, you have to dump everything on the ground and try to use your stuff without getting bit. If you get bit, you have to send your coords to server chat. Easy way to get killed, so you'd better not. You can play it in Between, too. Pig has an endermite living in his studio. For every time it bites him, he has to keep his weapons in a chest for an hour when he gets home. It means I can do whatever I want to him, really. Usually he just runs. Sometimes we duke it out bare-fisted. Have you ever seen him with a black eye and a tooth knocked out? Just me, I guess- It probably doesn't carry when he leaves the server. He looks so goofy when he smiles; I'm chuffed to bits with that. Gods, you wouldn't believe the bruise he left on me this one time he pushed me off an end ship. He smirked about it for days, no joke. No, actually. Can't believe his head even fit outside the server."

Etho smirks back, hidden in the mask and hidden by his fingertips. His chin rests against his hand. "What'd you do to him? You didn't let him get away with that, did you?"

"Hell no! I picked up a shulker and I slammed him on the head with it. I bet you didn't even know you can peel 'em off the wall- they're so clingy. What'd he do then? I think he put down a bed and blew himself up trying to get me with it. Oh, he's so lame. I like him so much."

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

[thebreakfastgenie]

beejhawk 👀

LMAO I was just sitting here like "no one even bothers to send me beejhawk anymore" but bless you to the bottom of your pot-stirring heart, anon.

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it? I have several reasons, which I will get into it, but I'm going to start with this one: I like a happy ending. Beejhawk cannot be a happy ending to me. I'm not entirely convinced any Hawkeye/4077th ship being endgame can be a happy ending, even the ones I like. I want to see Hawkeye move on from the war, which is what GFA is setting him up to do. Beejhawk keeps him stuck with the war defining his life. That's depressing to me. In the larger narrative of Hawkeye's life, it's important to me that the war is unimportant. The war being how Hawkeye met the love of his life gives me the ick. It implicitly suggests the war was somehow worth it. I can't think of a single reason why I would ship it. I think the biggest reason is it's simply too OOC for me. I cannot believe that Hawkeye would be in love with BJ. That is not Hawkeye to me. I actually can believe that BJ would be in love with Hawkeye, even though BJ is extremely straight to me, but I can't see Hawkeye reciprocating, ever. I've read some beejhawk fic and a lot of posts, and the way Hawkeye behaves and is characterized doesn't just feel wrong to me, it feels wrong in the way I hate the most. BJ is usually wildly OOC too. The other big reason is the complete lack of chemistry. They have negative romantic chemistry to me. This is a much smaller reason, but the things people get from beejhawk I get from other ships that make more sense to me. For a best friends ship, I have piercentyre. If I want to ship Hawkeye with someone repressed, I have hawnk or houlihawk. Sometimes I joke about this but it's kind of true that I don't need beejhawk because I have hawnk. The Joke Is Wild? Hawnk did it first. I genuinely do not understand why beejhawk is a ship at all, except that they're the two main guys. If I didn't know how slash culture worked, I would have been shocked that it even existed. In the last few seasons, I'm not even convinced they like each other. I found myself asking "do these guys even like each other?" about the alleged best friends more than once, and I had to actively rev up my suspension of disbelief to enjoy their goodbye properly the first time I watched GFA. I very strongly dislike any framing of MASH as a love story, and I have yet to find beejhawk content that doesn't turn it into the Ballad of Hawkeye and BJ. Piercentyre is fun for me, because it really changes the show very little. Beejhawk requires me to rewire the entire show, and I don't want to. A lot of moments that I adore become less meaningful to me if they're shippy. For example, Where There's a Will, There's a War. "When I wake up remind me to give you a kiss" is an expression of BJ's profound relief and a wonderful resolution to the anxiety and guilt he's been feeling for the whole episode. It's hyperbole that only works because they don't normally kiss or want to kiss. It always brings to mind a lyric from a song about WWII: "and I never kissed so many men as on that afternoon." It's not about romance, it's about being glad to be alive. I just like the show better without beejhawk. I started out a little more neutral and my visceral revulsion built through overexposure. There was also an assumption that you shipped beejhawk that I really resented. Especially because of the implications around it being slash. I am gay, I ship gay ships, I ship other gay ships in MASH. I don't ship beejhawk. I'm not required to ship every single gay ship. So all those beejhawk posts about "gay people love this" or "gay people think that" bother me and turn me off even more.

What would have made you like it? Completely different acting/chemistry. Something completely different from what I ever see the fandom do with it. I could probably be sold on unrequited (BJ's side only) or unhappy ending beejhawk in fic if it was really well done. This is your chance to plug! I think a realistic handling of it would help too. The show gives me a BJ who is as far from leaving his family as a man can be. I need to be convinced that something would change that. Meta claiming he's actually close to leaving in the show does not work for me, it directly contradicts what I see. I need writers to dig into it. Actually show me the dissolution of BJ's marriage, the pain and consequences. Show me how he manages to stay in his daughter's life, if he does. Brokeback Mountain does not shy away from how badly Ennis treats his wife and how absent he is to his children. My experience with beejhawk is that much angst is made of the obstacles to their being together, but they're quickly dispatched with. Tell me what Hawkeye sees in BJ, because I don't see it in the show.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? It inspired me to make these. I've been thinking lately that this lyric fits beejhawk "perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies." If you know me, you know this is something positive from me, because it's from what I think is one of the best songs ever written. There is some interesting potential. Just get out of the true love box! Try something dark, something one-sided (BJ's side), something that ends badly! I do really like their friendship in the first few BJ seasons.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

I hope you don’t mind me asking all these questions but I really wanted to know:

What ships do you love? What ships do you neither love nor hate, simply tolerate? And what ships do you absolutely hate?

Also, if you like Drarry, can you explain why? Was there something in canon that turned you to it or was it just some fanfics that you’ve read and enjoyed the ship in those specific stories? (If you don’t ship drarry, you can ignore this)

Hi anon!

I am assuming you just mean HP ships?

If so, there are no HP ships I love. I have ships I find intriguing, fun, funny or cute like Snirius, Drarry, Lucissa, Druna, Dreville and Dron. In most cases, I started liking the ship due to fanfiction and not purely because of canon. Because that's mainly because I am not a shippy person. I don't watch much media but I can't think of a single romance that truly wowed me, really shook me.

I absolutely hate Jily. Can't stand it. I hate Wolfstar. I strongly dislike Hinny and Romione. I can dig the premise but I don't like the execution of Hinny and Romione. Any ship with Remus and Lily in general. I tried Snupin a few times and I just could not do it. It also doesn't help that I dislike most of the characters involved in these ships.

Ships I tolerate? Bill and Fleur is meh. They seem cute and I liked Fleur's line about being pretty enough for both her and Bill when he got mauled by Greyback. But I don't care about either character much for me to actively ship them. I am fine with Drastoria overall but I am not a fan. I care little for Astoria and I hate the idea that she is responsible for Draco's redemption. Pass me on that. Percy seems to have cute relationships with his girlfriends. He was such a sweetheart with Penelope! For the other ships like Cho/Cedric, Neville/Hannah etc, I don't know much about them to care.

I want to like Dramione...but I dislike Hermione too much. Plus, I hate how Draco and Hermione are portrayed. Even if I find a Dramione fanfic writer who develops the relationship well...there's Hermione still and I don't want Draco with her. Same with Jeverus too. I do like the concept of James being obsessed with Snape and it leading to a toxic or redemptive romance, but I am not interested in James enough to read one. Plus, my tolerance for slash fanfiction is waning.

Drarry for me is very complicated. I have a love-hate relationship with Drarry. I like Drarry for many reasons.

First of all, I am a Draco fan - he's my favourite character. And the best Draco fics tend to lean towards Drarry. I got into HP fanfiction because I wanted a Draco story and it turned out to be a Drarry fic. I feel like Drarry fics tend to explore Draco's character very well and in very interesting ways. Unlike Dramione where Draco is usually horribly OOC. Drarry fics are top-tier.

Second of all, I like the Drarry meta here on Tumblr. While I do not believe romantic Drarry ought to be canon, I do feel like the story suffered by not exploring the Drarry relationship more. Draco and Harry foil each other and have such interesting and entertaining dynamics that I am very disappointed how JKR ended Draco's story in the books.

So basically I got into Drarry through fanfiction and then I learnt about canon more, and I had even more appreciation for the ship.

However, I have moments where I hate Drarry. I don't like Harry much and it would be nice to have a good Draco-centric fic where Harry is not involved. I used to like Harry well enough when I mainly knew his character through analysis and Drarry fanfiction. But as I actually interacted more with the source material...I just don't like him. I hate Harry as a protag and the thought of him with Draco makes me sick sometimes. The daily posts from my mutual iamnmbr3 about Drarry moments in HBP and DH revived my interest in this ship and I have told her that lol. She sucked me back in :')

Sorry, this took so long anon! I had it in my drafts for weeks and forgot about it. Hope my answer satisfies your curiosity :)

[autumnslance]

Fic Writer Interview

Tagged by @sheepwithspecs technically on my main but this is where fanfic goes. Do this if you wanna!

How many works do you have on AO3?

47 as of 2/6/24. There's a few things I need to get around to adding there though.

What’s your total AO3 word count?

411,290 as of 2/6/24

What are your top 5 fics by kudos

Downtime (compilation of younger Scions & other teen chars being pals in Norvrandt) Unexpected (compilation of shippy nonsense) A Constant Distant Thunder (Thancred in ARR patches post-Lahabrea) Ruminations (General Warrior of Light introspections & adventures) Rogue's Prelude (My headcanons on Thancred meeting Louisoix, Papalymo, and Yda)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I usually do! I often try to. So my comment count is almost, not quite though, doubled.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hrm; I tend to do a lot of bittersweet endings. We'll keep it simple and say "Never Gets Easier", a fic where Edmont and Charlemend talk about their lost sons. There's no sweetness there, just men haunted by mistakes and losses.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Maybe "When Everything Changes" which is kid fic from the POV of my WoL's older brother when she's born and his ambivalence turns to big brother joy and love.

Do you write crossovers?

Haven't yet.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not that I recall.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Occasionally. Usually pretty vanilla. It's all right, I guess.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Had an OC's backstory on our WoW RP server's fic blogging site lifted wholesale; they changed the names and class, and then…walked into our weekly guild meeting that I was leading and tried to join our guild. When confronted, the person claimed their partner had leveled the character for them and based the backstory on Skyrim (my OC's story is very specific to WoW). They tried to message me later as if we were pals who would laugh this off someday. I informed them that was not a thing and btw the site mods knew they were a plagiarist now. Also everyone knew who their alts were and a bunch of other trouble they'd caused. So far as I know, they bailed from our server after that.

I hoped they learned better and grew up quite a bit; this was well over a decade ago.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Once or twice now; so long as folks credit and link back to my originals, and share the translated link with me, it's all good!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Roleplay and actual story collaboration both. It's a lot of fun.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

How dare you.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

*stares at WIP folder*

Come back with a warrant.

(I won't say never, but there's a lot that probably are just noodling and scraps to feed something else later)

What are your writing strengths?

Folks seem to like my dialogue.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Impatience, and certain grammatical abuses that do nothing for length nor clarity.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on the fic. Depends on the intended audience.

For dialects, mostly the concern is "don't overdo it" as it can slow things down, be really jarring at best and offensive at worst, and difficult to understand if laying it on too thick.

Other languages entirely have different guidelines though, from sprinkling in single words or short phrases, to entire passages, and whether or not you translate or leave it up to the reader. Depends on fandom, on the characters, on the story, author intentions.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Narnia, in a my little girl diary as a pre-teen. I wanted to pick up Susan's story as a grown up and bring her and family back to a magical land. Cuz I knew it could, would happen someday, even if Lewis never got to write it himself.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Final Fantasy XVI. Midst. The latter is tricky as I really don't have ideas at the moment, but really want to dig into that vibe. My writing needs to be more weird in general, really.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

How dare you, come back with a warrant!

[bard-llama]

ATLA WiP List: Shippy Fics

So, yesterday I did a list of all my unpublished gen fics and it came out to 73. Let's see how much bigger the list gets with unpublished shippy fics.

Zukaang Fics - non-smut

Our Love Become a Funeral Pyre - In his dreams, Zuko is someone else, someone who lives a life he much prefers. Someone who has a best friend who is an airbender named Aang. Someone who falls in love with Aang, even though Aang’s not real. How could he be? He’s a figment of Zuko’s imagination.

Gay Bar - outsider POVs of two weird kids who come to a gay bar in Ba Sing Se to hang out

Fluffy Zukaang at the Sun Warriors' Island - Zuko practices on the terrrace of the room the Sun Warriors gave them and Aang is enthralled.

“My heart feels like it’s dancing when I look at you.” - Zuko thinks there's something wrong with him. As he tells Aang about his symptoms, Aang wonders how the hell he's supposed to tell Zuko that he's maybe in love with Aang.

Fealty - now that Zuko is Fire Lord, Aang pulls him away from celebration to pledge himself to Zuko - but Zuko beats him to the punch

Pampering Zuko - Aang and Zuko ran into each other in Ba Sing Se and ended up dating. After a while, Aang managed to convince Zuko to take a holiday, so to speak, and come to a private retreat with him where they can be together without a time limit. Now he gets to lather Zuko with affectionate touches.

Treasure (sequel to Pearl) - when Zuko first took the Gaang diving, Aang discovered a black pearl. Now, he's decided how to give it to Zuko.

“I’m in love with your voice.” - Aang wakes up all tied up in the North Pole and ends up talking with Zuko. Zuko is baffled at how this is turning out. He's never just had a conversation with the Avatar before.

Blue Spirit x Avatar Aang - Aang and Zuko both know that people will be weird about them being together. So they hide it. But when a kid asks if Aang is dating the Blue Spirit during open audience, they have an idea - which ends up leading to the next open audience day, where everyone and their mother comforts Zuko that true love will out and that vigilante is no good anyway. Zuko is frustrated.

“We need to stop dancing around it. All it does is hurt us both!” - Aang dreams about his pursuer a lot more than is probably right. But it's just idle fantasizing, and as his enemy, Zuko is safer than Katara to dream about. But when he wakes up at the North Pole in Zuko's arms, he assumes that he's dreaming and kisses the Fire Nation Prince, who is shocked, but responds. Only turns out, it's not a dream and suddenly there's a fight and then he has to save the spirits. So even once Zuko is no longer his enemy, they avoid talking about it until they can't anymore.

“I can’t stop thinking about you. When I wake up, when I’m about to fall asleep…” - Zuko is haunted by Aang and doesn't know what to do about it. Aang has a few ideas.

Soulmate Potential - there are no preassigned soulmates. Anyone has the potential to be your soulmate, and if you happen to click with them, you can build that bond yourself. Your soulmate could be anyone - including your enemy.

Crystal Catacombs - okay admittedly, this was supposed to be the setup for Zuko's POV of same side sex, but so far, they haven't actually reached the same side.

Author Zuko: Blue Spirit/Avatar Aang - a new play comes out about the Blue Spirit and Avatar Aang. A new romantic play. Aang is not impressed. Zuko, meanwhile, is acting a little shifty.

Zuko writes about the Fire Lord and Avatar’s Bond Thru Time - Zuko writes a book/paper/whatever about the clear bond between the Fire Lord and the Avatar. He did not think to tell the Avatar that he was doing this.

Zukaang Fics - smut

Rope Burns - 2 times Aang was roughly burned by rope and one time he asks Zuko to tie him up

Shirtless Sparring - Aang and Zuko spar shirtlessly during training

Airbender Blow Jobs - airbender lung capacity makes for great blowjobs

Zuko blows Aang while Katara watches - inspired by this art, Katara walks in on Zuko and Aang and Zuko makes a show of it.

Aang Approaching Zuko Morning After - after running into Zuko at Pao's Teashop in Ba Sing Se and ending up spending time together, Aang returns to the teashop to see if he can have what he actually wants. Encountering Zuko's Uncle was not part of the plan.

Dreams/Nightmares - when Sokka recommends that Aang picture the bad guys in his nightmares not wearing any pants, his dream about Zuko attacking him takes an unexpected turn.

First Kiss/First Time - when Zuko kisses him out of nowhere, Aang panicks and runs away. Zuko assumes this means he ruined everything. It's left to Mai to force Aang to come back and make them actually talk.

Pao’s Teashop Office Sex - when Aang coming to Pao's teashop leads to unexpected sex, Zuko breaks into his boss' office to use his couch, just because.

Sexytimes – Voyeurism - upon request, Aang pins Zuko with earthbending and makes him watch what the thought of him watching does to Aang

PWP Genderbent Aang picks up Zuko without Zuko knowing - there's no logic to this, it's just what it says on the tin

Identity Porn - Aang doesn't know who the Blue Spirit is. That does not stop him from picking up the mysterious vigilante when they run into each other in Ba Sing Se. Zuko doesn't know what to think.

Other Ships

Zuko navigating 10 (billion) relationships - aka Zuko is involved with literally EVERYONE and they figure out how to share lol

Zutaraang - Aang gets all hot and bothered watching Katara and Zuko spar. They find this very concerning until they figure out why he's all flushed and flustered.

Zutaraang Lap Sex - Katara decides to make a move that lets them all have what they want - she can have Aang, Zuko can also have Aang, and Aang can have them both, like he clearly wants. Win-Win, even if she's not such a big fan of Zuko.

Aang loves his friends - eh, this might actually be gen, but kinda started out about Zukaang, and may go towards the whole Gaang together??? Idk

Katara and Aang decide to pursue Zuko - post-canon, Aang approaches Katara to talk about polyamory, because to the Air Nomads, him loving Zuko as well was no big deal, but to other nations, it could be. Katara needs some time to think about it.

Everyone is in love with Zuko: He catches a clue - Zuko confesses to his wife that he's in love with his friends - to which she responds "oh, you finally figured it out? Good job."

I Still Dream About You - Gaang/Zuko where for his 30th bday or so, they all get wasted. His memories of that night are a little iffy, but he definitely remembers Aang kissing him and the others watching him. He dreams about it a lot. Meanwhile, the rest of the Gaang misses him and looks fondly back on their memories.

Sparring for who gets to take Aang - Zuko and Katara take sparring very seriously. Aang doesn't get what the big deal it.

An Arrangement for World Peace - Toph and Zuko get married. For world peace. The Gaang is shocked.

Toko S3 Hookup - a series of encounters that start when Zuko accidentally walks in on Toph, who's swearing up a storm bc her earthbended dildo just broke. Zuko makes himself useful.

The Southern Waterbending Line - Zuko's maybe a little bit jealous of Katara and Aang getting married, but the important thing is that they know what they're getting into. Which leads to a conversation about bending genetics and what their kids could end up being - and a question of where Katara's waterbending came from.

Zuko is not in touch with his emotions - Mai and Ty Lee sit Zuko down and force him through some therapy to help him recognize that he's in love with his friends.

38 total! See, that's not so bad! I mean, in total total, that would be 73 + 38 = 111, which is.... kinda high, but at least it's a nice number!

[x-i-l-verify]

20 Questions For Writers

Was tagged by @kuraiarcoiris and decided why not. :V

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35. I have more on other sites, but since I've made my AO3 account, that's how many I've posted there.

.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

656,547. Give or take a couple thousand.

.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently? Dream SMP. But I also have an Inscryption WIP and a couple Kpop WIPs that I really should get back to one of these days. orz But I've written for all sorts of fandoms over the years.

.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

5) Its Suffering Was Real [Inscryption]

This is the one that came as the biggest shock to me when I went and looked at my kudos count in preparation for this write-up. Like, really? People like the fic where I torture the sassy robot trapped in the body of a stoat for 7k words that much??

4) A Shoulder to Lean On [Avatar: The Last Airbender]

WHERE did all these people come from, I have like 6 comments on this thing (not counting my replies)??? I mean, I'm flattered, but ??!!?!

3) Accepting Amelioration [Voltron: Legendary Defender]

I mean, it's a Voltron fic posted back when the fandom was in full swing, it doesn't really surprise me the kudos counter is considerable, though I am still surprised it got that much traction considering the fic is gen and not shippy. Am still proud I made the first daemon AU in the entire fandom, though, if this is my claim to fame, then I'm ok with that. :p

2) Temporary Shelter [Astro / VIXX]

I seriously have no freaking clue how this little self indulgent Kpop crossover fic became so popular, I really don't. I mean, Kpop crossovers are niche at the best of times, and these two groups aren't exactly the most popular Kpop fandoms on AO3 if you know what I mean. It basically started as "wouldn't it be fun if my two favorite Kpop groups were secretly friends all this time? How would I have that happen, tho?" and then snowballed from there. I, uh. I'm glad so many other people like it, ig? 0_0

1) Paved with Pawprints [My Hero Academia]

Of course it's the MHA pet AU fic. Of course. OF COURSE-

.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely. It's only fair I reply if someone takes the time to read on my work and actually give me feedback about it, wouldn't you say? Plus, like most authors, I enjoy talking about my own work, so sue me. >:p

.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually do angsty endings; I prefer happy or at least bittersweet ones. I guess by default, it has to be the fic where I slowly killed off America and China from Axis Powers Hetalia for 13k words, while the rest of the cast had already been dead for centuries at that point. So yes, the entire cast of that series was dead by the end of that fic. :))) IN MY DEFENSE, ok, I was actually trying to give them a bittersweet ending by reuniting them with all of their old friends and family by finally letting them rest after so long alone, but it still turned out really sad. TT TT It's basically my only fic where I can't go back and reread it more than once every couple of years, because I still end up a sobbing mess by the end.

.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, I guess that's what you define "happiest" as. The most cathartic? The one with the least amount of trauma and extreme bodily injury incurred by the characters? 🤔 I guess by the latter definition, it would Kaleidoscopic Perceptions, a very fluffy USPH college AU that I actually enjoyed writing a lot despite me not usually enjoying romance or college AUs.

.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

No, thankfully. I've gotten a couple kinda weird comments, and of course the obligatory "It's been X months since you updated were you aware?????" comments, but no outright negativity.

.

9. Do you write smut?

LMAO. Absolutely not.

.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yes! I really love crossovers. I have a few common fallbacks that fit with a lot of fandoms (daemon AUs, Firefly AUs, etc.), but I also enjoy fandom-specific crossovers when I can figure out how to pull them off.

.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No idea. I hope not!

.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Just once for this Gravity Falls fic.

.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes. It had a few ups and downs, but it was overall a really positive experience, and I think it turned out really well!

.

14. What‘s your all-time favorite ship?

idk that I have an ALL TIME favorite ship, especially since I hardly ever ship anything, but Frobin is pretty choice, I gotta say.

.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Er, none of them, hopefully? I hope that I eventually get to finish all my WIPs at some point, even if it might take me awhile. >.>; But I suppose if I had to pick ONE to abandon, I'd probably pick Written In, my D&D Inscryption crossover AU. I like the IDEA for it, but writing it out is like pulling teeth, and after the first installment where the party gets together, I don't really have a lot of ideas on where to take the plot. :/ Like I have the general overarching idea but no plot structure or anything but small disconnected story beats.

.

16. What’s your writing strengths?

I like to think I do a pretty good job with descriptions while not bogging the story down too much with too much detail?

.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh, staying motivated ig. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ if you're asking my weakness about mechanics, though, uh... exposition, I guess? Dialogue in general, sometimes.

.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If there is actual information included in the other language, then you better provide a translation. If it's just for flavor, though, have at it.

-

19. First fandom you wrote for?

TMNT, specifically the 2003 show. It's never been posted anywhere on the internet and never will. :)

-

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Becoming Real, a Kpop fanfic based on VIXX's Voodoo Doll MV. However, it can easily stand on its own as its own original work. I consider it the most accessible story I've ever written, and it also was just very easy for me to write. Writing is often like pulling teeth for me, but not this story.

Tagging: @breezy-cheezy, @quicktothebatjalopy, @hiding-in-the-vault, @variablememory, @bleue-flora, @theriu

[lady-of-the-spirit]

3, 8, 9, 20, 27, 32, 35, 51, 53 and 64 for the fic writer ask game!

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

It has its place, and I am guilty of slipping romance or at least shippy vibes into fics that I did not INTEND to be romantic. I also like writing it in general, even though I struggle with writing the physical aspects (kissing). so I'd say, probably like, a 7/10. which is surprising, because the majority of my fics are rated Gen.

actually I went and figured out that out of all my fics, 70% of them are rated gen which I think is a fun coincidence.

8. what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

If I ask for it, I would like it. I don't want it if I didn't ask for it. I may still read it and consider it, but I'm gonna be annoyed by it. Feedback in general? fine - but I do like more than just "I liked this", although I love those comments. when I'm looking for FEEDBACK though, I need more than that. I need to know all your thoughts.

9. in an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a tv or movie adaptation of your work? why or why not?

If I'm involved, why not? I think the majority of my (imagined) works would work better as a series, though. We've seen how turning longer works into movies works - usually not very well. I want to see my ocs on the screen. (in my dream world it would be an animated show, especially the fantasy ones, but we can't have everything in this live action obsessed world.)

20. what is your favorite trope to write?

soft fics: found family

hurt/comfort fics: trauma reveals

27. do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished? And who do you share them with?

depends on how much thought I put into a fic. I'll usually at least scan through and reread fics before publishing, but if it's a fic I wrote in one sitting totally at random? I'll skim it and then post without thinking twice. Fics that I put more thought in, I'll go over at least a few times before publishing. I've only shared rough drafts a few times, and that's when I'm really unsure about the story for some reason and need someone to give it a scan and let me know their thoughts.

32. do characters influence your writing style?

oh definitely!! Every character is a little different so that changes how I write their perspective, so that automatically changes the voice I use when I'm writing.

35. tell us about a character who’s very different than you who you love a whole lot

Most characters I love a whole lot are very different from me lmao but the one who comes to mind most of all is probably Yataka from Arata the Legend. He's a very prim and proper man, very focused on etiquette and being a gentleman, he hates being touched, is obsessed with cleanliness, and also is a HUGE bitch, will bicker like a 5 year old with his best friend (neither of them would admit to being best friends and have one of THE MOST dynamics of all time), and has the capacity for extreme violence and absolutely unhinged behaviour. he also hates himself so much. I'm obsessed with him I love him so much.

51. share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet

Sersi gets harassed/assaulted and the team/whoever sees it are fiercely protective. (aka more Sersi whump and team dynamics.) (I'm still debating whether Ikaris should know or not because he may straight up kill the person.)

53.when writing, do you have an outline? and do you stick to it?

depends on how much I care about the details of the story, or how much I want to get it right. Especially if it's a longer fic, I want to plan as much as I can ahead of time. Or if it deals with more serious topics, I want to figure out how to deal with those ahead of time.

64. what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve read?

5 Times Where Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji Lose a Braincell and 1 Time Where They Lose Another on account of it being a perfect summary of the fic.

fanfic writer ask game

[emryses]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you @postmodernau & @queerofthedagger for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35. what the hell lmao

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

379,505. again. what the hell!!!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

at this point i would say the main one is stranger things. i tend to only be able to successfully write for one fandom at a time apparently lol. but i imagine i'll dip my toes back into merlin one day.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

you looking at me, looking at you (steddie) / run your fingers through my hair (steddie) / eat me alive (steddie) / when the party's over (gallavich!!) / you want it straight from the heart (steddie)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do! most or try my best to. often in the first week-ish after posting something, and i do sincerely try to respond to every comment but i've fallen behind on that a lot recently.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

this is a hard question to answer because i literally have thrived off of angst, specifically in the merlin fandom, for many years. i think i'll say winter always turns to spring which is a canon compliant merlin/will fic i wrote that has a tinge of....unrequited feelings, which is probably what bumps it up into the most sad.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

is it bad that i don't write a lot of "traditional" happy endings? i kind of make them work to get there lol. bittersweet my beloved. i would say my hairdresser steve au is the most lighthearted thing i've written with a happy ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really! i've gotten the occasional weird ass comment that i'm sure the commenter THOUGHT was "kind" but i've kind of side-eyed.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i do! i don't think i'm very good at it & it takes me ages when i do. i guess all kinds??? love it when they're pathetic and desperate iykwim.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

not often, but i have a steddie btvs au i am slowly percolating on.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i'm aware of! but i doubt it, even then lol.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! there was a merlin translation fest a while back, and my merwill fic, winter always turns to spring was translated into portuguese!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no..........but mona & i have been percolating some thoughts..............................................monaaaaaaa.........is this a sign................?

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

this is such a hard question !!! i think i have to say at this moment in time it's steddie. they truly just scratch all the shippy itches for me. honourable mention tho to merthur, who have had my soul in some way or another for 10+ years.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i have this shameless canon divergence fic. the summary i wrote describes it best: "When Ian was 3, his birth father Clayton Gallagher and his wife Lucy were granted full custody, ripping Ian away from the only family he had ever known. Fifteen years later, Ian has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is looking for answers. Here, he reconnects with Fiona and Lip, his brother and sister who watched him be taken. Ian also meets his brother’s friend, Mickey, who conveniently is the guy Ian has been meeting in bars and dark alleys for the past few weeks."

part of me wishes i could go back and finish it, but i haven't written for gallavich in so long & i have so many other fics for other fandoms i'm more inclined to finish first. i guess never say never, but i also don't know when the time for it would be. alas.

16. What are your writing strengths?

how dare anyone make me talk positively about myself....sigh. ok. i think i'm good at character tone/voice. the way characters speak has always come pretty easily to me, and so i'm often most proud of my dialogue. i think it's why a lot of my fics often are dialogue heavy & have people working out problems together.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

does my own brain count? i feel like i can be repetitive in my descriptors of things. everything is "says softly" or "he smiles" or "he laughs" etc. my brain tells me every single goddamn sentence has to be Unique or something, and then i get in my head about Everything. it's the worst !!!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i haven't ever done it! not sure how i would go about it tbh! i don't speak any other languages other than english, so i would be hesitant to put any other language in a fic of mine because i would have to rely on google translate or something.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

HMMM. if i'm really honest, probably peter pan when i was like. 10. then it was icarly LMAO. all on ff.net babeyyyy

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

hands down, fields of gold. i consider it to be my merlin magnum opus of sorts, my eternal love letter to the show. i took 2 years to write it, and genuinely no joke some of the aspects/themes of that fic date back to headcanons/meta i wrote in 2012. so. i poured a lot of my heart into that fic, and i hope it shows.

zero pressure tags: @stargyles/@pushrope, @mojowitchcraft, @magicinavalon, @stevespookington, @lady-lostmind, @thefreakandthehair, @snapshotmaestro, @glaftwlet, @andonandon & truly anyone who sees this and wants to answer these questions. tag me!!! i am nosy and love stuff like this lol.

[felicitysmoaksx]

Hi all! Welcome back to this story and thanks so much for the kudos! I'm glad to see everyone is enjoying my little story! This chapter is a little bit heavier in some places. But it does have it's lighter moments too. In the form of Autumn (you'll understand when you read the chapter) and we finally get to meet a character I mentioned in the first story of this universe, Tucker!So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and happy reading! P.S. If you want to set the mood of this chapter I recommend: Flares by The Script, Sympathy, and Iris both by the Goo Goo Dolls.Remember kudos and comments are good sources of protein for the author

Rating: Mature

Summary: Her eyes squeezed shut before she dropped her head. Borrowed time. It was meant to be her…It was meant to be-

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: Inaccurate medical procedures, and implied/references a canonical character death and in depth survivors’ guilt  

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist | Fic Playlist but Less Shippy  | Chapter 1 | Want to be tagged when I post a Rheese story?

Bottled Up Feelings are Silently Screaming (You Were Breaking Down) 

 Ch. 2

“Claire, please. I know I need to sign those forms for the store. Just hold off Dad for a day or maybe two? But today at the very least. And I'll be there by the end of the day tomorrow.” Connor said into his cell phone, glancing at the closed bathroom door, where Sarah was getting dressed.

“I know you and Dad have your issues, but why can’t you just stop by after your shift? You wouldn’t even have to see him.” Claire asked before he heard her direct someone to ‘put that dress on a mannequin for the window display.’

Connor glanced at the bathroom door again, before he lowered his voice so Sarah wouldn’t hear him as he explained the situation to his sister.

“Claire, I’m not on shift today. I took the whole week off because something happened and Sarah was hurt.”

“Hurt?” His sister repeated the word and it sounded like a question coming out of her mouth. Concern seeped into her voice. “Hurt how?”

“Sarah and her brother were both shot the day after you and I had dinner with Robin and her husband.”

“Oh god.” Claire breathed, “Is Sarah okay? I mean you just said she’s not okay, but…”

His little sister trailed off, but Connor understood his sister’s question. He exhaled slowly, “She was discharged a few days ago, but her doctor didn’t want to do that. She wanted to keep her for observation. But Sarah wasn’t going to miss her brother’s funeral today.”

“…Which is why you can’t come to sign the forms because you’re going to the service with her,” Claire said slowly. Connor nodded even though his sister couldn’t see him before he told her carefully, “Sarah would have her family and I know that. But she’s grieving. She’s fragile right now and pushing everyone away. I want to be there for her. Today especially.”

“I’ll hold Dad off,” Claire reassured him, “And I’ll keep a good thought for Sarah and her family. That today goes as well as it can.”

“Thank you,” Connor said as his sister told someone else to ‘please put out those new vases we just got and price them.’

There was a crash in the background then and he heard Claire sigh, “I’ve got to go. Got a situation to handle.”

“Yeah, I should probably go too. We’ve got to leave soon anyway.” It turned out the siblings hung up just in time because the door to the bathroom opened up a moment later.

“I still think I should go with the other dress. It covers more.” She said, coming to stand in front of the mirror as she rubbed at her wrists. Her wrists were now scabbed over and in the process of healing. But they were still agitated and red and added that to the white bandage over her neck. Sarah was worried about people staring. About the pity in people’s eyes. She didn’t want people to focus on her today. Not at her best friend’s funeral.

“Sarah, it’s going to be in the upper eighties today. You’ll overheat in the other dress.” He reminded her, thinking of the black sweater dress she was referring to. Though it was technically autumn, it was still the beginning of the season. This meant summer was fighting for its last legs in Chicago right now and that produced unusual warm weather like today.

When she remained quiet, staring at her reflection, Connor stood and moved so he was behind her. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he kissed her head.

“How did this happen, Connor? Why did this happen? Why did I get shot? Why am I getting ready to go bury my best friend?” Sarah asked in a weak, brittle voice. Connor frowned because he didn’t have an answer for her. Not one that made sense at least.

So he told her that. “I don’t know, baby. I don’t have any answer that makes sense and I’m so sorry for that and that this even happened in the first place.”

It shouldn’t have gone unspoken. The brunette in his arms released a shuddering breath that could’ve been a sob as she turned in his arms and cried.

“I’m sorry baby. I’m so sorry.” The surgeon had been saying those words since she woke up in that hospital room just days ago. And though he meant them every single time he said them, with every fiber of his being he meant those words; the words had started to feel hollow even to himself.  He couldn’t imagine how they felt to her.

She said something, but he couldn’t understand her through her tears or her voice being muffled by his suit jacket. It was probably a good thing he didn’t. It would’ve just broken his heart that much more.

“Everyone leaves me at some point. Everyone.”

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Does someone need to go get Sarah? She shouldn’t be driving right now, should she?” Tucker asked, coming to stand by Olive, Erin, and Teddy. While Olive had her arms full with Baby Danny,  Autumn’s hand was tucked into her father’s and she pressed her face into his leg when more people arrived. At least until she tugged on Hank's pant leg and asked to be picked up.

“Autumn Kimberly, leave Grandpa Hank alone right now. He can play with you later.” Tucker scolded his daughter softly in that Texas accent that he never lost when he and his parents moved from Dallas to Chicago. The accent he got teased for in school that made Camille Voight introduce him to her son. The reason he and Justin were best friends and had been since that day in sixth grade.

Hank waved a hand to show that Autumn was fine and bent down to pick up his pseudo-granddaughter. When the little girl was settled on his hip, she patted his cheek. “Daddy and Aunt Olive says Uncle Justin was hurted very bad.”

“He was,” Hank told her in a solemn soft voice. Autumn nodded in the way that all children seemed to do when mulling over information.

“Daddy also said he’s in a better place, a place where he can’t be hurted anymore. That he’s with my mommy and his mommy.”

Hank nodded, “He is. I promise. He’s not hurting anymore.”

Autumn nodded again before she patted Hank’s cheek again. “Does that make you sad? That’s even though he’s not hurted anymore, he’s not here?”

Hank mulled over his answer. He never wanted Justin to suffer but…“Yeah, yeah it makes me sad, baby.”

The small girl looked over at her pseudo-aunt holding her cousin. “Aunt Olive? Are you sad too?”

Like Sarah, the young widow had been crying on and off for the last few days and she knew her niece was four-years-old. She wasn’t asking these questions to be cruel. She was just trying to make sense of everything, of Justin being here one day and gone the next. But that didn’t lessen the ache, the hole in her heart growing wider with every beat of her heart because her husband was gone.

The sob bubbled out of her mouth before she could stop it causing both children to look up at her. Danny grabbed at her chin. “Mama?”

“Auntie Olive, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you start crying.” Now Autumn looked like she was about to cry.

“I know you didn’t little autumn leaf, but Aunt Olive just cries easy these days because I miss your Uncle Justin.”

“Me too. Daddy says it's okay to be sad though.” The little girl told the room in a soft tone. Hank gave her the best attempt at a comforting smile.

“Your Dad is a smart man.”

Autumn fell silent then, laying her head on Hank’s shoulder. Until she saw a familiar mop of brown curls.

“Aunt Sarah,” she said softly, wiggling out of Hank’s grasp and darting across the room to get to her pseudo-aunt.

“Autumn Kimberly,” Tucker narrowly avoided colliding with a man in a Marine uniform and scooped up his four-year-old daughter before she got to Justin’s baby sister. When he turned her in his grip, he saw the frown she wore and her tiny arms were folded.

“What conversation did we have about your Aunt Sarah?” He asked her patiently after she stopped whining and squirming. Instead choosing to glare at her father. The child huffed, blowing a stray piece of dark hair out of her eyes. But Tucker just stared at her, waiting. Finally, his daughter huffed again before uttering.

“Aunt Sarah was hurted like Uncle Justin. But not as bad, but that doesn’t mean you can go climbing and jumping on her like your person-al junglely gym.”

She repeated his words back to him with enough sass of a teenager. Four going on fourteen. Tucker sighed and hugged his daughter. Then he set her back down, but not before he cautioned her, “Gentle little leaf.”

His daughter didn’t disappoint. Slowly, the little girl approached her pseudo-aunt, who bent down with a half-hearted smile. Then she crashed into the brunette.

“Missed you,” Autumn’s voice was muffled by Sarah’s shoulder.

“I missed you too, Autumn Breeze,” the woman said softly. Brown eyes peered up at her then. Not quite filled with suspicion, but certainly on their way there.

“Then why didn’t you let us visit you? When you were in the hospital for your ouchies?” Sarah licked her lips, unsure how to approach her answer.

How could the brunette explain to a child that she blamed herself for what happened to Justin? That she didn’t deserve comfort? That she wanted to keep everyone away because the guilt was eating her alive? Because it was meant to be her…Borrowed time…It was meant to be-

“Autumn,” Tucker said softly, not quite admonishing his daughter. But stepping in to save his best friend from having to answer the complicated question.

“Aunt Sarah just hasn’t been feeling her best. And you know the hospital can be a pretty scary place. I just didn’t want you or your Dad to be scared.”

Then using a stage whisper, loud enough for her best friend to hear Sarah told her pseudo-niece, “You know your Daddy scares easy.”

Tucker snorted but covered it up with a cough before his daughter could hear him.

“Oh,” the little girl nodded before she peered up at Connor. Now the suspicion was clear in her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Autumn Breeze,” Both Sarah and Tucker admonished the little girl softly as her father reached down and picked up his daughter, settling her on his hip. “Be nice.”

But Connor chuckled slightly, not the slightest bit deterred. “I’m a friend of your Aunt Sarah.”  

The little girl nodded but her brown eyes still stared at Connor with a borderline glare in them before she noticed Travis and Annie arriving. She looked at her dad and the glare was gone. “Can I go say hi to Travis and Annie?”  

Tucker set Autumn back down with the warning, “Stay where I can see you little leaf,”

His daughter nodded once before she darted across the room again. Tucker watched her hug Annie’s son before he turned his gaze back to Sarah.

Their trio was a duo now.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Tucker said to her, reaching out to wrap her in a one-armed hug. Sarah sighed as Justin materialized in the corner of her eye. He narrowed his eyes at her with a look. One that meant he was annoyed with her.

“He doesn’t mean that like you’re taking it and you know that.” He said as Sarah sighed and grimaced at the ghost’s best friend as she returned the hug. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know that. I just meant that you wouldn’t let Annie or me visit you while you were in the hospital. Your siblings and Olive seem to think you’re pushing everyone away because you are under the delusion that what happened was your fault.”

Because it was her fault. It was meant to be her. Because it was always her that lived on borrowed time. Not Justin. Not when he had just married a really good woman and had a baby. Not when his life had just gotten on track.

Still, the brunette gave Tucker a wooden smile and said in a hollow voice, “Wonder why that is. It’s not like I’m here and he’s not, Tuck-Tuck.”

(“It wasn't your fault, Sarah,” Justin repeated his words from earlier that morning. Just like before, the brunette ignored him.) Despite Tucker repeating his best friend’s words with a heavy sigh. Connor remained silent but grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly in hers. The movement seemed to make her best friend remember their duo wasn’t alone.

“I’m sorry, I’m being rude,” Tucker said with a shake of his head. Sarah saw the opening and took the opportunity to duck away from the conversation before it could get turned back on her, about it not being her fault when it so clearly was.

(“I wish you would stop saying that.” Justin’s ghost told her, “Because it’s not true.”)

Ignoring the transparent version of her pseudo-brother, she squeezed Connor’s hand. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to go say hi to Dad, Olive, Erin, and Teddy.”

When her lover nodded, Sarah’s hand slipped from his grasp as she walked away, giving Justin’s best friend since middle school her best attempt at a tight smile. Both men watched her go, then Tucker turned back to face Connor. Sticking out his hand, he introduced himself in his southern drawl.

“I’m Tucker Carvin. Justin’s and Sarah’s best friend. And I’m sorry my daughter. She’s been trying to make sense of everything with Justin being here one day and then gone the next. This is her first real experience with something like this and it’s manifesting into stranger danger.”

“Stranger danger isn’t always a bad thing, but it’s okay. I’d be wary of a new person too, if I was in her situation. I’m Connor Rhodes. Sarah’s boyfriend.” Just like days earlier with Teddy, the title rolled off of his lips easily as he took Tucker’s hand. Shaking it.

“Yeah, I heard about you. Didn’t know Sarah was really seeing anyone till she was in the hospital though,” the man commented and Connor winced, raising his hand to rub the back of his neck. “That's my fault really. We’ve had some miscommunication about what we are. But I’m working to remedy that.”

Tucker nodded then he nodded to Sarah, talking with Annie.

“How’s she doing? I’ve asked Erin, Olive, and Teddy but they say they don’t know because she’s not talking to them. Not really by giving them vague answers. I didn’t want to ask sergeant Voight because I didn’t want to add salt to an open wound.  And she refused to let me visit when she was in the hospital and she hasn't answered any of my calls. The only thing she’s been responding to is text and even those are one-word answers.” Tucker sighed sadly as the worry for his friend grew.

“She’s…” Connor sighed once more as he struggled to talk about his lover and how her grief and survivor’s guilt were getting to her. “I want to say she’s managing, but that would be a lie. She’s all over the place because it’s almost as if her misplaced guilt and her grief are warring within her. She’s actually keeping a better handle on it then you would think. But it still spills over and she can’t handle it without breaking down. I’m trying to be there for her. But I don’t know if it’s working as well as I hoped because I don’t want to smother her, but I also don’t want her to feel like she has to deal with this by herself.”

“Olive said she shouldn’t have been released as early as she was.”

“She shouldn’t have. Typically with gunshot wounds, Med keeps you for two to three days afterward and Sarah was a doctor there. So maybe she was being a little over-cautious but her doctor wanted to keep her observation. Sarah was determined to be here today though. She was going to leave against medical advice if she had to.” The double-certified surgeon explained.

“Heard you stopped a fight there too.” The man from Texas drawled slowly. Connor shook his head as Sarah started to make her way back over to them, “I just tried to offer a solution that would help everyone.”

“Dad said Justin wanted both of us to speak?” She asked Justin’s best friend as she leaned her uninjured side against Connor’s shoulder. His lover had been doing that a lot lately, clinging to him. (And calling Hank, Dad but that wasn’t Connor’s to touch.) Connor didn’t mind. She needed the support right now and in all actuality, she wasn’t being clingy by the same measure of other people. But she was being clingy for her. In fact, tragic events aside he was probably the more clingy out of the two of them because of how physical he tended to be when he was in a relationship.

“Afterwards, at the house. Good memories. Memories that make us laugh. That type of thing. Before…” Tucker trailed off before he cleared his throat, “He told me he didn’t want people to be more sad. So he wanted us to remember the happy memories and he thought you and me would be the best because-”

“We have the most embarrassing memories of him?” Sarah said with the ghost of a smile on her lips. Her friend mirrored her.

“Well, that. But also we were his best friends. I think Olive was going to speak too, but she doesn’t think Danny will let her right now because he doesn’t want anyone else to hold him right now. She can barely go to the bathroom without him throwing a fit right now because he’s so confused right now with Justin not here.”

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Tucker excused himself a few minutes later to go call his parents. They were coming in for the service, but they weren’t here yet and he was starting to worry. So that left Sarah and Connor to go mingle around the room. Well, Connor was mingling, being his naturally charming self. Sarah was more or less standing by his side, listening to his rich raspy voice as he talked.  

Only talking quietly when someone spoke to her directly. A lot of the people in marine corps uniforms seemed to know who she was. Or they recognized her name. Apparently, Justin and Olive talked about her often and it was ‘nice to finally put a face to the famous sister we’ve heard all about despite the circumstances.’

In those cases, not knowing what to say, Sarah just gave them a tight smile and let her lover make conversation for her. The brunette knew it was a cop-out to lean on Connor with this, to use him as her crutch. Because he was here for her. This was her best friend. Her pseudo-family. But as the service continued, Sarah’s energy had started to wane. (And they hadn’t even made it to the actual service yet.)

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“By the way, just so you know,” Annie told her best friend in a quiet undertone while Travis entertained Autumn with a piggyback ride because Tucker was still talking to his parents, “When you told me Sarah didn’t have a boyfriend and I told you she did because I caught a vibe between her and a guy at her hospital-”

“Let me guess, he’s the guy?” Erin interrupted looking over to where her little sister and Connor were talking to a group of people in marine corps uniforms.

“Yup.”

“Yeah, I know. I was wrong,” Erin said with a rueful smirk at herself, “Apparently, I’ve been wrong for six months now.”

The blonde woman whistled but didn’t say anything more than, “Well, no one can blame you for being out of the loop. You did kind of go into a black hole with Nadia’s death.”

Erin felt herself grimace as she opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out, a voice called for everyone’s attention.

“Sorry for the delay folks, but if you’ll follow me into the viewing room, we’re ready to begin the services now.” The funeral home director told the crowd of people. Olive released a sob. Hank reached out and grabbed Danny, passing him off to Teddy. Then he wrapped an arm around Olive’s back.

“Olive, maybe taking a seat will help. Come on,” he told his daughter-in-law in a gravelly yet gentle voice. Then he moved forward and one by one the crowd followed behind Hank as they made their way to say their final goodbyes to Justin Voight.

[avianscribe]

Happy Birthday Prompto!

I don’t have anything new but I do have a Prompto Rec List from my works! It turns out that Prompto is one of my favorite voices to write in for FFXV, so I have a LOT of Prompto POV stuff. Let’s celebrate the Best Cinnamon Roll Boy!

(Note: I discovered while editing this post that Tumblr has a link-block limit, so you get a pared-down version without all the pretty links, alas!)

"What's In A Name" -- Prompto has finally made actual friends with Prince Noctis, but how will he handle the first challenge in their friendship? https://archiveofourown.org/works/14764946/chapters/34144775

"Drowning in Flowers" -- When love can literally kill you, you grow up knowing to be careful where to let your affections lie. Prompto knew that. But apparently not well enough. (Hanahaki Promnis; one of two shippy fics I've written, based on a chapter of Cracked…!) https://archiveofourown.org/works/18292241

"Charity Case" -- When an embargo traps Prompto's parents (and any money they can send him) overseas, he has to rely on the help of others. It's a good thing he has some really good friends! (Until they take it a little too far!)

"Thirst" -- Noctis is a vampire, and Prompto is a vampire hunter's son… but they can still be friends, right?

"A Beta's Crash Course in Pack Management" -- Prompto hasn't had enough time to feel like he's really part of the pack, but when the pack suddenly has a child in it, he discovers how much he's really needed. (De-aging and Omegaverse rolled up in a family-friendly package…)

"Vengeful" -- An attack in an arcade leaves Noctis unconscious, and Prompto has to fend for both of them.

"Puzzled" -- Prompto is the only one in the group who has ever changed a tire. He discovers he's the only one who even knows how.

"The Tip" -- Prompto follows a tip from some fellow hunters that leads him to a fight he can't win alone.

Super-short-- from my XVtober prompts

"Scarf" -- Prompto grabs the wrong scarf. https://archiveofourown.org/works/34278535

"Prank" -- Prompto's first big prank on Noctis goes pear-shaped. https://archiveofourown.org/works/34364887

"Pumpkin" -- Prompto brings home a pumpkin to carve. https://archiveofourown.org/works/34456084

"Patient" -- Prompto wakes up in a hospital. https://archiveofourown.org/works/34761343

"On The Road" -- It's time to go on a road trip, and Prompto gets to meet the car. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42121392

Prompto-focused, but not Prompto's POV

"Gallopin' Greens" -- Prompto buys home-packaged gyzahl greens from a skeevy peddler when they stop at a Coernix station, and when the chocobos don't like them, he eats them himself.

"Victorious" -- Prompto hasn't told Noctis what he's up to and Noctis can only hope Prompto's life isn't in danger. (It's not.) https://archiveofourown.org/works/24868678

"This Lion Heart Can't Leave You Behind" -- Cor is sent to investigate the Imperial Magitek program, and adopts a cub. (Part 1 of my Shifter AU) https://archiveofourown.org/works/30575549

"Cub's First Moon" -- As Cor escorts his new cub home, the full moon rises. (Part 2 of my Shifter AU!) https://archiveofourown.org/works/44620207

"Photo" -- Prompto ventures out too far looking for the perfect shot…! https://archiveofourown.org/works/34694848

"Beard" -- When Noctis returns, he notices some changes. https://archiveofourown.org/works/34717417

"Cheerful" -- When Noctis has a bad day, Prompto never fails to cheer him up. https://archiveofourown.org/works/35084011

"Photograph" -- Prompto Argentum wants to stop and take a photograph. Ignis doesn't think they have time. Noctis has to make a decision. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42070395

"Camp" -- Noctis invites his new friend Prompto to go camping with him and his retainers. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42216321

"Lyrics" -- Noctis et. al. celebrate Prompto's upcoming induction into the Crownsguard. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42240630

Want to celebrate with angst?

"Safe" -- Prompto has to be revived by phoenix down again -- and it's the last straw. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23922955

"Clever" -- Prompto is in Zegnautus Keep, and Noctis comes to save him. Maybe. https://archiveofourown.org/works/25147393

"Bled in Ruin" -- Prompto encounters a vampire with his face, and it turns his whole world upside down. (Rated M for blood, injury, suicidal thoughts, talk of assisted suicide) https://archiveofourown.org/works/29537433/chapters/72580659

Ending with two Birthday Fics!

"Just Another (Awful) Day" -- Prompto's birthday is just like any other day -- until it isn't. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27234874

"Brothers" -- Prompto didn't grow up with siblings. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42625416

[potatoesandsunshine]

ooh good questions! I'm gonna say 1, 2, 10, and 4 for my beloved now is the season of the hunter death <3

thank you hannah!!!! these questions come from this post.

1.What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

this is such a hard question for me and i don’t really feel like i have a good answer!! i guess it depends on what fandom someone was into? and i’m not really a fan of any of my pre-2020 fic anymore (i’m glad it got me where i am as a writer now but it kinda feels like looking back at pictures from middle school; like, loveable cringe?). i guess if fandom wasn’t a factor i’d choose most agitated hands, be my salvation because it feels like it exemplifies what i like to do best, which is turn characters over in my brain and make up activities for them to do. the small jobs series is also a distillation of me at my most Me (coming back to a ten year old video game and insisting that two women should’ve kissed). i know i’ve written so much cr over the years but sometimes i can’t find myself in those stories :(

2.Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

okay skip over the tlovm spoiler tag that’s just in there because i’m trying to finish the oneshots series. i guess that does represent my writing habits lately but it doesn’t represent Me As A Writer. other than that i think this is pretty accurate! the line between angst and light angst is something i often go with my gut on and i do love to write canon divergence AUs. and honestly i like writing about friendship more than i like writing most shippy stuff so i’m glad that’s in there :)

10.How do you decide what to write?

i wait for inspiration and then i stay up really late when it hits. i do not have good writing discipline and i have never managed to get the ‘write every day even if it’s just a hundred words’ habit. because it’s a hobby/for fun, i try really hard not to put too much pressure on myself and just lean into whatever idea feels best at the time. there are a couple things i’m not really interested in writing so it’s easy to stay away from them, but other than that i’ll just write whatever comes to me. i wrote about the elder scrolls: oblivion earlier this year and i’m working on a sequel fic when that game came out in 2006.

4.What detail in now is the season / of the hunter Death are you really proud of?

the fact that any chapters of it ever get finished at all every time anyone references the scars vox machina have left (however inadvertently!) on these characters is a moment i love. kaylie has a scar around her neck and one on her torso from vax killing her and she’s not sure if she’s ‘allowed’ to be mad about it. cassandra is carrying around the arrowheads her sister-in-law sniped her with. and this little moment in chapter three is like a crystallization of these three characters:

kynan looks back in regret, kaylie looks forward with a kind of angry optimism, and cassandra’s trying to figure out who she is in the present moment. it feels kinda cliche but i love it and it’s the guiding star of this fic’s characterization.

[fancymuffinparty]

SnK modern au writing prompts/fic ideas...

...that I may or may never get to but if someone else wants to use these for inspo please do and then let me read it :')

Eren and Porco Pizza Shop AU 🍕 They're coworkers who absolutely hate each other's guts and constantly clap back at one another and talk shit throughout the duration of their shifts lmao. But eventually, over time, they develop camaraderie because their personalities are actually pretty similar, they like the same music, and they both hate their boss (can be Levi or Zeke). Slow burn enemies to friends with all sorts of shenanigans. (Bonus: they fight over Pieck, who's a regular at the shop)

Zeke x Frieda, hookup/fake dating au. They initially start hooking up to piss off their dads, Grisha and Rod, who hate each other. But then oops, they catch feels. "We're only doing this to piss off my dad." "Wait... I thought we were doing this to piss off my dad??"

ANY SURFING AU OF ANY KIND!!! 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️ I feel like Ymir would best fit this au tho. Ymir's a pro surfer and kicks ass. Or; the Warriors take surfing lessons. Annie and Pieck get it right the first try. Porco and Marcel need more practice. Bertolt struggles but gets it eventually. Reiner is too beefy to balance all that muscle lmao.

Eren and Historia ballroom competition. (I have this planned for Silhouettes!)

Dance competition. Can be any pairs, shippy or non-ship. But I like ere/hisu for this one. Along with Porco paired with Pieck. Bertolt and Ymir partner up because they both got rhythm 🎶 Reiner is one of the best dancers (such grace) and he opts for Annie. Mikasa and Armin pair up. Levi and Zeke hate each other but they dance so well together lol. Go wild with this one!

World War II AU. You know that one VJ Day Kiss in Times Square photo that's famous? Yeah that. Imagine your otp.

Gym drama AU: Porco and Pieck work out at the same gym as Eren and Mikasa. (Couples gotta stay fit together ayyy) One fateful day, Eren takes a break between sets and heads to the water fountain, where he thinks Mikasa is taking a sip. All he sees is her black hair pulled back from behind and he's like 'damn is she shorter somehow?' but thinks nothing of it (he's a little loopy from his intense workout) and smacks her on the ass. BUT it's Pieck! Mistaken identity oops! Pieck jolts up and turns around, utterly shocked and Porco hurries over there like 'WTF! Hands off my girl!' Then Mikasa emerges and is like 'Eren, what are you doing???' But Eren, cornered, doubles down despite being in the wrong and is like 'so what? who's gonna stop me?? Fight me!' ^^^this au also works if you replace Eren with Jean, but I feel like Jean would apologize profusely, whereas Eren and Porco would immediately start brawling lmao

Any Zeke x Lara or Zeke x Frieda AU tbh. These ships need more love and are so aesthetically pleasing.

Top Gun AU! Or Air Force, Navy Pilots AU! I prefer the warriors for this one. Reiner as a squad leader. Porco is Pieck's wingman. Etc...

Spy/Assassin AU. Pieck is tasked with taking Eren out but falls in love with him instead. They embark on an epic romantic adventure.

'80s AU!

'90s AU! Anyway, here's Wonderwall!🎶

Kingsman AU: I like Porco and/or Eren for this one.

Bachelorette party AU! Ooohh I have too many ideas for this one!

Birthing class AU. Eren and Historia take a class, accompanied by Zeke and Frieda (the jaeger bros and the reiss sisters ayyyy). I like the idea of porco/pieck taking this class too, and Pieck is just a major goofball throughout the whole thing.

Annie teaches a martial arts class. That's a versatile one. But I was flirting with mik/annie for this one ~~~~

Summer vacation AU: Pieck/Porco plan a couple's getaway, but then Marcel invites himself along, and that means Reiner is going, and then Bert and Annie crash the vacay too.

Dating game show AU: Pieck is a contestant, and her suitors are Porco, Bertolt, Eren, Zeke, and let's throw Levi in there for the lols. Okay, that's a lot. If I think of anything else, I may expand on it. Obviously, I've plugged my own ships in here but feel free to mix it up however you like! Maybe I'll do a holiday edition lol 'tis the season!⛄

[addictedtostorytelling]

Hi! Thank you for answering my questions! I am curiou, what is your favorite GSR season and why?

hi, @i-collect-things!

while my favorite csi season of overall is s7, my favorite gsr season fluctuates between being s2, which has some of the fluffiest, most delicious "i am so madly in love with you" shippy scenes between them of the whole series (plus a soupçon of angst, too), and s5, which is pretty much their watershed as a couple.

s2 contains many of my top favorite gsr scenes of all time:

the chalk scene from episode 02x05 "scuba doobie-doo"

the "that's you talking" scene from episode 02x12 "you've got male"

the email scene from episode 02x12 "you've got male"

the scene where grissom orders the green plant for sara in episode 02x15 "burden of proof"

the "since i met you" scene from episode 02x16 "primum non nocere"

the arm-in-arm scene from episode 02x21 "anatomy of a lye"

the "unbound" scene from episode 02x23 "the hunger artist"

the back half of the season in particular has a very rom-commy feel in the best kind of way possible. though sara is dating hank at the time, she and grissom nevertheless seem very connected to each other. he is so superlatively charming to her, while she is so receptive to him.

of course, i also love s5 gsr because of the storyline. after the long, depressing slog of s4, s5 is where the light starts to come back into the story.

i've had that part of the gsr narrative "under the microscope" for a while because it provides the temporal setting for my fic "something in you i believe in," and in looking at it up close, what i am really struck by is how grissom and sara repair their friendship throughout the beginning of the season before tipping the scales toward romance from episode 05x13 "nesting dolls" on.

i love watching grissom start to show up more and more for sara; to just be that steady, reliable presence in her life who checks in on her and cares about how she is doing and gives her unconditional love. i love that sara becomes so honest with grissom and supports him through the team split, quietly slipping into the role of his right hand and stalwart.

and episode 05x13 "nesting dolls" is such a turning point just in and of itself.

as i've written about here,

to me, gsr’s whole vegas relationship can be divided into the “b.n.d.” and “a.n.d.” eras—i.e., “before ‘nesting dolls’” and “after ‘nesting dolls.’” the shift that occurs in their interactions once grissom learns sara’s secret is just absolutely everything...

as i’ve written about here, after realizing in s4 that he still loves sara and always will and that he regrets his decision to live without her, this episode marks the place where grissom starts to understand that he cannot continue to compartmentalize his feelings for and relationship with sara without hurting her; he has to be emotionally transparent with her or risk losing her forever. 

—and that’s what episode 05x13 “nesting dolls” is all about.

everyone is saying that sara is trouble, but grissom realizes that she’s troubled, which is different. he’s never been able to stand seeing her sad, and he’s felt helpless for a long time to do anything on her behalf. he can’t afford to “play it safe” anymore; he has got figure out what’s going on in her head and in her heart, but in order to do that, he’ll have to show her what’s in his head and in his heart first.

so he goes to her apartment in this attitude of total openness. he makes it clear to her that he’s there not because he’s her supervisor and it’s his job to reprimand her after her outburst but because he cares about her deeply and personally and wants to help her however he can. his show of interest is what gets her to open up, as she finally realizes that what happens to her matters to him. the fact that he would come looking for her when everyone else told him to let her go helps her to trust him.

so she tells him her story, fearing the whole time she’s talking that once he knows what kind of home she came from and what kind of violence is “in her blood,” he’ll reject her.

but then he doesn’t reject her.

he holds her hand.

he looks at her in a way that says there is nothing about her he doesn’t love.

—and to me? that’s what opens the door for grissom and sara to eventually become intimate.

not everyone agrees on the timeline, but i personally get a lot of joy from watching the back half of s5 through the lens of grissom and sara becoming a couple sometime circa episodes 05x19 "4 x 4" and 05x20 "hollywood brass."

to me, there is a lot of delight in reading that kind of eager excitement toward them leading up to the season finale as new relationship "honeymoon" energy.

sara just seems so happy.

grissom just seems so at peace.

anyway, while i have a lot of favorite gsr moments throughout the original seasons of the show, those two seasons are the ones i find myself probably spending the most time with, albeit for somewhat different reasons.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[friendshiptothemax]

11 or 18 for Animorphs?

11. which three of your fics do you think best exemplify your work?

Your Sweet Time -- okay so a thing I think I do really well is the sweet moment paired with the really heartbreaking moment. And this fic does that! It's sweet, it's cute, the Animorphs are reuniting and you think it's going to be this straightforward story but then it turns out it's actually something very different and sad but also still sweet. It's also just my favorite Animorph fic I've ever written, and seems to be the one that resonates the most with others as well.

Metamorphoses -- It's simple, it's sweet, it's nerdy, it's about Rachel and Tobias' relationship but it's not sexually explicit -- no shame to fics that are, but the question is about my style, and it's always been shippy but not sexy.

The Instinct, Part 1 -- As long as I've been writing fan fic, I've really loved writing gen, specifically stories that could believably slot right into canon. I think maybe that's part of the reason TV writing felt so well-suited to me, for what is TV if not writing gen fics of your showrunner lol. Anyway I feel like this really exemplifies that. Also! I only ever finished part 1 despite it being fully plotted out in in a word document on my hard drive for like 15 years. If that's not exemplifying my work, I don't know what is. 18. if you associate music, media, or poems with your fics, pick one and tell us about that association and why it inspired you. Fated to Pretend is named after and inspired by "Time to Pretend" by MGMT. To me, it's really THE Post-War Marco song. It makes me think of someone who got exactly everything they always wanted but turns out it's hollow and the shitty times before is actually when they felt the most alive, but they don't know what do to so they have to act deliriously happy. Which is also how I think of Marco!! I feel like the first time I heard this song I was just ITCHING to write more of 54 from Marco's perspective. The whole song is just extremely Post-War Marco so me, but especially this bit: "I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms./ I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world."

[letstrywritingmaybe]

Just a random thought, since I love song fics… I wonder if I could somehow make a fic using my Spotify wrapped playlist as inspiration hmm… I’m gonna think out loud under the cut

Crash my car… so a meet ugly if it’s an AU (I love these!) but also lyrics could make it canon verse

Roses, need I say more, this is so CoAi vibes already. Lyrics probs more canon?

Bang, um… yeah okay probs canon divergence from the looks of things

Way less sad, labyrinth, know it all, lost, talk too much, maroon (oooo, as if I want already dreaming of a midnights album fic), close to you, 1 last cigarette, bummerland (cause we’re only going up from here. Okay this is like all my fics though), anti-hero, miss you a little, see through, blind, snow on the beach (okay but I did use a lyric already for the December fic…), American money (ngl always wanted to use this song as inspo cause of my bias of mirroring my golden otp), daphne blue (I don’t wanna talk about it! And I think we both know why! Wish it wasn’t automatic, the way I want you every time. Ugh this song man), loneliness for love (this song has always low key reminded me of my fav), karma (cause karma is her boyfriend!?!), songs I can’t listen too (my bias of superposition being their song), isabelle (hm… eh), love somebody (this one!!!), lavender haze (again the midnights album fic really should just be a thing), I like that, hate you + love you (ah yes the low key toxic vibe of it all. Why am I like this), SAD (clap your hands) (honestly probs more of a kaishi vibe but not very shippy really, but we’ll roll with it), you’re on your own kid, 2/14 (can’t fall in love tonight, well guess what pal! It’s happening!), 3 o’clock things (insomnia my old friend but also this ship doesn’t sleep I swear), choke (basically just die, which is such a mood), bejeweled (best believe my queen is still bejeweled and she can still make the whole place shimmer. And when they ask if she has a man? She can still say she doesn’t remember~ seriously this album fic when. Does someone else wanna be in charge of this cause I’m super intrigued by how people write using the same source but it always turns out different and I love that!), never a good time (the demise of the canon ship, there’s literally no good way for them to break up. They’re way too toxic and while obviously they shouldn’t work out, it’s annoying that I even have to figure a way to make amicable. I literally don’t even bother anymore. I hate canon), palm reader (got your crystals in your pocket like a drug dealer, bars. Love this line always), all my favorite songs (see the neon trees song cause that is the tie in), mastermind (most CoAi song off the album hands down), less than I do (I hope you feel blue, less than I do… did I really write a fic if I don’t make him suffer?), ghost story (see previous note), wave of you, question…?, Greek tragedy (she hits like ecstasy~), I think I like you (geezus Christ you think buddy!!! Literally I wanna scream every time cause why the fuck is he like this!!! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW YOURE IN LOVE WITH MY QUEEN!!! I say as if he isn’t canonly dense as fuck when it comes to romance, it’s literally why I can’t deal with him sometimes and will only write him when he fucking is aware! As a hopeless romantic, it kills me to see him be so dumb about this kinda stuff), electric love, sweet nothing (okay I honestly see this more as kaishi but it’s cause I’m soft for them but also imagining it as CoAi is very cute too), strawberry sunscreen (she tastes like sunscreen and summertime, actually lots of feels about this… like you know when a summer fling is going to end cause it can’t last and you know it but you still keep going for it even. Living in the moment and falling more and being so happy and just disregarding the fallout that’s to come. Again just my feelings with this ship, the song does not give this vibe at all), run (need I say more, this is a theme for this ship), baby blue shades (hm… again I’m thinking more of symbolism but the song is not at all the way I’m making it out to be in my head)

midnight rain (ugh okay my fav song off the album but in regards to the ship there’s so much about this song man. And I never think of him, except on midnights like this. My whole heart. I guess sometimes we all get just what we wanted. I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted. Listen I’m a firm firm believe that they would absolutely be each other’s the one that got away and that just pains me so much), can you handle my love??, I ain’t worried, world’s smallest violin, vigilante shit, girl(you’re gonna take me back to a time when I loved and I mean it), animal(so look me in the eyes, am I someone else?)

you are the traffic (I actually have a fic with this as the title and it is not a great one. Not as messy as devour, but not great either. A terrible toxic relationship that should definitely end, but because it’s me… yeah…)

Dear reader, automatic (god I love the way you talk the way you feel baby), higher, blu (fall into your blue, what the hell is love if you’re in complete control, fighting it is hopeless, sinking in your ocean just like you designed me to do), would’ve could’ve should’ve (the regrets aspect but also John Mayer is a piece of shit, not fic related of course but I never liked him), Thelma + Louise, coming home, boys (got hungover from your words, in New York it’s the worst, all these nights are a blur), the Great War, superposition, cemetery (def not a shippy song but we’ll roll with the title), low key (see I only lie when I love you summary), Paris, I want it all (he’s the selfish one but he’s not wrong when it’s for her), love me like a friend (fwb fic when), song about you (see me always being on the song fic train), high Infidelity, stay next to me

Cringe (honestly could go one of two ways for me. Either more fuel for no canon ship or desperation for my ship. Again I write this all the time), still not dead (honestly the theme of the series if we’re just looking at the title here), bigger than the whole sky, wish you were sober, the other side of paradise (of all glass animal songs it was this one??? I wish you could see the naked truth… I guess), sunshine, glitch, choker (self-sabotage is a sweet romance)

tangerine (okay here’s another one, hm… honestly more of a failed ship song but perhaps a dramatic thing of this is what will happen to me if I miss out on keeping you), dancing in the kitchen

state of grace (okay I never liked the idea of writing a red album fic cause it is the ultimate breakup album and in my world my ship always works out. So really this is more for the canon ship, which I low key have put a lot of thought into and may just write it one day… but I don’t really wanna cause I do not care about the canon ship. But I literally have it all mapped out in my head. All 30 songs. But anyways this is the worthwhile fight I guess would be his stance for my queen if I’m making it for my ship)

My play (basically the perfect scenario, but we all know nothing ever goes to plan in the real world), lean on me, someday, red (see note about this being a canon ship break up album and my ship is absolutely not a red ship cause to me those do not last. I say as I have a red otp), drivers license (okay this does not apply to them at all, but we can roll with it in the way that we’re tying in the crash my car song. Am I bringing back the idea of an AU?), 18

Get away (okay I can’t. This has always been a kaishi song to me and I kinda still really wanna write this fic for them one day… but I guess we can roll with this as just the title, cause the lyrics are definitely more geared towards kaishi for me)

Message in a bottle (again we don’t need to go over this again, so title it is), record player (title), strawberries & cigarettes (basic but so what), find someone, run (but this one is for the one in Run To Change The End Game. I still need to finish that and perhaps add the joker and the queen, but for this purpose we’ll continue the theme of running away or not), new religion, everybody talks (in which as per usual in my fics, everyone ships them), (skipping this one cause it’s not my song but one of my brothers that made the list)

Treacherous (okay I know I said no red songs cause breakup album but… this to me has (still is) always been the most CoAi song Tay ever wrote so… yeah)

In conclusion, this would literally be every fic I’ve ever written so yeah. Totally doable