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strawberrysoup · 4 years

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Pocketful of Posies || Chapter 5

You’d been hiding for years and years now; from your family, from society, from alphas and packs. Suppressants were dangerous but effective and necessary for an omega who refused to be owned—but no suppressants were strong enough to fool the nose of a super soldier, who together with his pack would stop at nothing to bind you to them forever.

pairings: dark!Avengers x reader

word length: 4.7k

chapters: 5/?

warnings: A/B/O dynamics, power imbalances, noncon and dubcon sexual situations, loss of autonomy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat — this is a dark!fic, read at your own risk. more detailed content warnings are included at the end of the chapter to avoid spoilers, click through the read more, CTRL + F “content warnings”.

Rationality within Carol’s pack was often treated like a talking stick; only one person could have and use it at a time, and stealing it required either brute force or a clever trick—which was why she and Loki fumbled it back and forth so often. Sam seemed to have snatched it for a moment, until their omega’s sharp tongue made him fumble. She was cutting and brutal, as wild as she’d looked the first time Carol saw her: covered in mud and blood, half soaked from the bath and thrashing violently while Thor and Peter tried to gently get her in the tub.

The blonde figured it was time to regain the upper hand over their omega and came to stand at the top of the stairs, eyes locking on Sam from behind. He was turning the corner from patience to frustration, their little omega’s demeaning comments making the muscle in his jaw clench. It was impressive though; any of the other alpha’s in the house (plus herself and maybe minus Peter) would’ve had her nose in the corner by now, bent over to hold her own ankles and struggling for balance so that her forehead didn’t press against the wall lest she earn herself a spanking for being sulky.

“Alright Sammy, tag out,” Carol made sure that there was an undertone of mirth in her voice, hoping to bring the other alpha out of his anger. “You should probably go check on dinner and—Bruce, test results?”

“Oh, you’re right,” the beta nodded, immediately headed for the stairs. “Her hormone analysis should be ready at the least.”

The moment her eyes landed on the little omega on the bed, Carol felt her heart melt just a bit. Despite the vitriol she’d been spitting just moments before, the precious thing looked like an angel sprawled out in their den. All she wore was one of Thor’s t-shirts, the hem brushing the tops of her thighs and perfuming her scentless skin with his musk—she couldn’t wait until the suppressants were out of their omega’s system, Carol desperately wanted to know what she smelled like.

“Sammy?” The blonde prompted when the male alpha didn’t move, leading him to sigh.

“Yeah babe,” he leaned over and pressed a kiss against the omega’s forehead, ignoring how she shrunk back into the pillows behind her. “I’m out. Take care of her, beautiful.”

Sam stopped to press a kiss against Carol’s cheek on his way down the stairs, gesturing for Tony to follow. The genius rolled his eyes and huffed but followed nonetheless, only after tossing a wink at the scowling omega huddled in what would hopefully soon be a nest. Carol waited until they were both down before returning her attention to the younger woman, stomach filling with butterflies.

Carol had wanted an omega since she presented as an alpha at twelve. 90% of the people she interacted with thought she was such a waste—a female alpha? Objectively, a useless combination. Female alphas were weak and passive, certainly not strong enough to lead a pack or produce strong alpha babies. If only she’d been a delta or a beta, she could’ve at least carried children. She’d always been fully aware that society’s perspective was incredibly flawed; she was as dominant as any male, just as potent and just as strong. Stronger even—more recently by unimaginable levels.

But omegas rarely looked negatively upon female alphas. Omegas preened and clamored for the attention female alphas provided, they saw it as more tender and careful. Carol didn’t know if she exactly agreed with that either, but at least an omega would never look at her and consider her a very pretty waste.

Or so the blonde had thought, right up until making eye contact with the sweet-faced omega her pack had managed to stumble upon. She certainly didn’t look pleased, her glare verging on incendiary.

“You sure are feisty,” she felt her lips quirking at the corners, especially when the omega seemed to puff up like an angry kitten. “What you said to Sam wasn’t very nice. You gonna hiss at me too?”

The answer was a resounding yes, the cute, clicking cub growl she made only reinforcing Carol’s gut instinct that the little omega was perfect. She liked that fire, it wasn’t disrespectful—it demanded respect and the blonde could certainly understand that sort of attitude. Considering her omega’s evident disdain for modern presentation centered care, it could even be considered mild.

“Claws away, baby,” she ordered, tone amused and the smile still curling her lips as she toed her shoes off at the edge of the bed. “Be a good girl for me now.”

Carol pressed the omega flat to the bed before she could fight, plastering herself against the half-naked woman and burying her face in the crook of her neck. Scenting deeply made the blonde’s eyes roll back in her head—the faint scent of panicking omega wafted off her skin, only noticeable at such a distance. Thank God the Hulk picked it up, the alpha’s senses so incredibly strong that even while masked by Bruce’s beta he had picked up the faint whiff of omega; if Bruce hadn’t prompted Steve to scent carefully they might not’ve found her. Carol hadn’t been the only one in the pack desperate for an omega.

Thor had been… devastated to learn of the lack of omegas on Earth. With the destruction of Asgard and the remaining population’s relocation, it had been another gut punch to the alpha prime who’s people had already endured so much. He’d spoken at length about how omega Aesir were different than humans’ and the tone of longing and sadness in the prime had radiated through their entire pack.

The deltas, Bucky, Tony and Loki had all realized years ago how sorely their dynamic suffered without an omega. A delta’s overwhelming physiological drive was to provide support and comfort to pack members, their intuition let them see their packmates in a way the other presentation’s couldn’t replicate. Their pack’s deltas were all incredibly intuitive, beyond the norm, and without an omega to properly direct them they got manipulative. It was rarely antagonistic or cruel and if there had only been one delta in the pack, it would’ve slid by without notice—but deltas perceived the deception where others didn’t and it usually led to dissent amongst the three.

And while Steve had never said a word, Carol knew that as a sickly little beta he’d dreamt of being ‘strong enough to deserve an omega’. Bucky had mentioned it briefly—as had Tony, who’d heard it from his father at least biweekly. Steve loved omegas; he loved that they balanced an incredible strength with equal fragility. The very nature of them spoke to his inner artist, ‘his inner romantic,’ Bucky had teased. Now that he was a big ass alpha prime? He could deserve an omega now, he was strong enough now.

Their omega was practically a miracle, considering how few of them there were—so few adults, especially. Some claimed the overall population of omegas was going up despite the overwhelming evidence of the opposite and besides, the number of omegas born every year didn’t matter when you had packmates approaching their mid-forties. Tony, Bruce, and Clint were getting up there, as everyone liked to tease. Finding a reasonably aged omega that was also unclaimed? They’d never even considered the possibility, it was unfathomable.

Carol had consoled herself with the knowledge that her pack loved her deeply, found no fault in her gender or presentation. She knew it would take time, but soon her omega would realize the same. There was nothing wrong with her, she didn’t need to hide or put on a façade; not in their pack, not under their protection. Whatever the omega had gone through in her life must’ve been traumatizing, the blonde could only assume some sort of abuse, and it would be tough to instill confidence in her. They’d need to build her back up from scratch.

“You know, if you’d let Wanda search your mind, we’d have a much easier time understanding what’s going on,” the blonde murmured into the omega’s neck, nose brushing back and forth over her left scent gland. “Will you tell me why you’re so scared? Are you afraid of alphas or of packs? Or deltas?”

“I’m afraid of being trapped forever by a bunch of fucking rapists and kidnappers!” She spat furiously in response, struggling futilely under Carol’s careful grasp. “Get your fucking face out of my neck!”

“Packs it is then,” Carol sighed, lifting her head but keeping the woman pinned beneath her.

“You’re so shifty ‘mega, calm down. There are some horrible people out there, we know that better than anyone, and I’m sorry that you were hurt. I’m sorry you had to go through whatever it was.”

The omega froze, muscles pulling so tightly that she started to shiver. Her lips pursed, jaw clenching and her eyes got dim, lashes fluttering as she looked into the distance over Carol’s shoulder. It was a dead-eyed stare, one the blonde had seen before. Her baby was half trapped in a memory, tightly clenched hands clawing at Carol’s shirt and trying to force her body away.

“I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry, come back—” Carol cooed into the omega’s ear, holding her tighter as she struggled. “You’re with me baby, you’re safe. Breathe with me, come back to me.”

“Would you fucking get off!” The omega choked, sounding both parts desolate and frustrated. “Why don’t you people fucking listen? Am I speaking gibberish?”

“I’m sorry you’re so angry omega,” the blonde’s eyebrows furrowed, sadness permeating her expression as she lowered her head to rest her forehead against the omega’s. “I’m sorry, I can’t get off—you need the pheromones, the alpha contact chemicals. Even if you’re traumatized, once the suppressants you’re on start to wear off you’re going to have to submit. We need to start practicing now so you can get comfortable with it, before it’s critical for your health.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry, you’re not sorry! If you were, you would’ve let me go. You wouldn’t be holding me here! I don’t need or want your help, I don’t want to be in a pack!”

“I hear you, baby, I promise I understand what you’re saying,” Carol carefully pinned one of the flailing omega’s arms down with her knee, reaching up to stroke the woman’s face. “You don’t want to be here, you don’t want to have a pack, I’m sure you don’t want to be bonded to us. But you’re on so many suppressants baby, there are so many mind-altering chemicals in the shit you were taking—”

“If you force me to stop taking them I’ll only be under the ‘mind-altering’ chemicals produced by the other presentations and—and this stupid collar forcing my body to produce addictive chemicals at a rapid rate,” she argued, “you want to argue that I’m out of my mind like I can’t be trusted with my own safety! I’m fully conscious, I’m not stupid, I’m an adult for fuck’s sake. The only thing that’s going to fuck up my personal agency is you!”

“We’ll know for sure when Bruce gets your test results back,” Carol sighed realizing how unlikely it would be for her to get through to the omega. “Tony’s having some equipment dropped by in the morning so he and Bruce can run some more. If your hormone levels aren’t entirely trashed, we’ll revisit this conversation.”

“You have to let me take my suppressants tonight then,” the omega pushed against the blonde again, grunting with effort and irritation when she didn’t move at all. “Otherwise the test results from today won’t match the ones tomorrow, missing a dose will entirely trash my hormone levels! The tests won’t provide an accurate reading!”

Carol was shaking her head before she’d even finished the explanation. “No way, there’s a reason those are illegal, baby. They’re so dangerous—”

“I’ve been taking them for fifteen years and I’m completely fine, come on—”

She watched the omega’s face fall when she sighed, “it’s not gonna happen baby. This one isn’t up for debate.”

“This one?” The omega scoffed bitterly, lips twisting as angry tears collected in her eyes. “Nothing is ‘up for debate’. I’m here, aren’t I? Obviously against my will. I’m not even wearing my own clothes, you won’t let me move! You’re acting like this is the one bit of agency you’re planning to strip from me but you’re either too stupid to realize that or you’re too caught up in the idea of having a house bitch to care!”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Carol frowned, thumb smoothing over the crease between her brows. “We’re not looking to ruin your life, baby. The last thing we want is to make you meek or take away your ability to make your own choices, but we have to take care of you.”

“Y-you don’t though,” she hissed, breath hitching as she fought not to cry in front of the alpha. “I’ve been taking care of-of myself for years. I’ve never had a problem I’ve—I’ve never been attacked or assaulted or—”

Carol shifted until the omega was cradled in her lap, easily blocking the omega’s attempts to escape her grasp, “If that’s true baby girl, I don’t think you understand how rare it is—or how it would mean you were poisoning yourself so thoroughly that no alpha could scent you. There’s too many people out there would hurt you just for being you; the only way for you to be safe is with us, where you don’t have to keep taking the pill equivalent of drinking gasoline and bleach.”

“I should have the choice!”

“The choice to slowly kill yourself?” The blonde looked down into the omega’s face in disbelief. “No one in their right mind would allow another person to suffer like that.”

Their attention was suddenly and brutally drawn to the stairwell, both of their hindbrains reacting to the scent of overwhelmingly aroused alphas accompanied by raised voices and shouting. The omega in her lap went completely and utterly still, instincts locking down all movement as if it could prevent her from being seen. Carol sighed quietly through her nose, nudging her forehead gently against the charming little creature hiding against her chest. She couldn’t really tell what they were yelling about but she figured it had something to do with whatever Bruce found.

“Someone has to—!”

“That doesn’t mean—!”

“It should be—!”

The blonde cracked her neck, arms slipping around the waist of her omega and locking in place like iron bands. The cowering made it easier for Carol to snuggle her tightly against her chest, wiggling them carefully as several pairs of feet began stomping up the stairs, until the omega was entirely engulfed by the alpha from behind. Steve and Thor made it up first, shoulder to shoulder and passive-aggressively nudging each other in the ribs. Sam was next, along with Bucky—both of whom were being decidedly antagonistic to poor Peter who followed behind.

“Would you guys shut the hell up? What’s going on?”

Before anyone else could respond Bruce forced his way between the group of more dominant males, eyes flashing green even as he attempted to shake it off, “the amount of alpha pheromone in her blood is so low it’s amazing she isn’t in shock.”

“What?!” The omega snapped furiously, eyes darting between the people standing around the room nervously. “There’s nothing wrong with me—!”

“Carol, hold her,” Steve ordered, as if the blonde hadn’t locked the omega down the second they heard them coming. “Thor, how are we gonna do this?”

Both primes looked almost pained, their faces painted with grimaces as they exchanged glances. Their struggle was easy to identify; neither wanted to cause any strife between them, damage to their partnership would damage the pack but they wanted to be first. Their hindbrains could barely function beyond the desire to fuck their omega, their pretty, sweet little omega who desperately needed alpha semen because her body would stop functioning without it. Primes always got first take on omegas, but when there were two primes in a pack things got dicey.

“Have one of us do it,” Carol chimed, carefully maintaining an expression that relayed she wasn’t trying to step on toes. “Both of you are massive, you could do damage without proper prep and if it’s that serious we can’t wait on that.”

“I’ll do it!” Peter was quick to step forward. “You all know I’ll the gentlest and she’s already upset—”

“Shut it Spiderboy,” Sam quickly interjected, giving the younger alpha a stern look, “she needs careful handling, not some teenager fumbling with his knot.”

“I’m not a teenager anymore you asshole—!”

“Carol’s cock is the smallest,” Tony stated nonchalantly as he kicked off his shoes in the closet that faced the den, “no offense babe, just logistics.”

“None taken,” the blonde snorted slightly in amusement before turning her attention to the two primes, “I can get her started, at least get her hormones on the right track.”

“Let go of me you psycho!” The omega howled, voice constricted by her collar. “Get away from me, let me go!”

A low, bone-deep rumble suddenly washed over everyone in the attic, the growl emanating from both Steve and Thor. A keening moan escaped the omega, her breath hitching and eyes rolling as viscous slick gushed from her pussy. The scent of it made waves through the rest of the pack, a cacophony of moans and growls echoing off the high ceiling as the responding scent of hot and bothered emanated through the den.

“Thor?” Steve questioned the other prime imploringly, knowing that they needed an immediate answer and follow through.

The taller man grit his teeth, nose flaring for several moments before he let out another low growl that made their omega cry with arousal. “You first—leave my shirt on her, please.”

“Oh God, oh God,” the whimpering omega shifted in Carol’s arms, likely about to try to make a break for it when Steve swept her up into his arms. “Please, wait—!”

“Your pussy is dripping for your primes, isn’t it precious?” The alpha male hummed quietly as he swiftly lowered them both to the bed, hands grasping the backs of her thighs and pressing her knees towards her shoulders. “So much slick for such a little thing.”

The whine that came from Peter sounded wrecked, only minutely more embarrassing than the groans and panting coming from the rest of the pack as they watched. The omega looked to be approaching frantic and Carol sighed, shifting farther away from the prime on the bed—there was no reason to test Steve’s incredible patience. Well, that had been Carol’s opinion anyway.

Evidently Loki believed otherwise, but then again the delta was habitually prone to testing Steve’s last goddamn nerve. The brunet had appeared with a shimmering green light, lying on the bed so close to the omega that the scent from his ridiculously expensive Fendi sweater was transferring to her arm and shoulder. The prime had barely flinched, certainly hadn’t reacted in a manner more noticeable than a slight dilation in his pupil. Thor made a reprimanding noise but didn’t move forward to remove the delta, much to Bucky and Tony’s immediate disdain.

“Why the fuck does he get to—!”

“You better rethink that, Ice Man!”

The combined snarls from both primes quickly brought all three deltas to heel and while Loki didn’t retreat, he did keep his hands to himself. One hand propped up his head, the other tightly fisted and rested on the bed between himself and the omega’s borrowed shirt while eyes burned into him from all sides. The omega’s wide eyes were locked on the man, some flicker of recognition fleetingly passing over her face. Loki was good at surprise entrances and even better at taking advantage of his brother’s status in the pack—not that he necessarily got away with things the others wouldn’t, but none of the others particularly wanted to find out what the prime’s breaking point was either.

“I just want to keep her calm, is that so horrible?” The tone the God used was smooth and Carol remembered the talking stick analogy again. “You can smell the poor thing’s terror, is it really necessary?”

Steve looked conflicted for maybe two seconds when a light went off behind his eyes. “Keep her calm so I don’t have to purr and you can stay.”

The delta’s hand immediately slipped up the front of her shirt, cupping the curve of her rib cage just under her breast. His nose pressed into her neck in the following moments, a small golden glow flowing over the little omega’s skin where he touched her. The odor of fear was quick to recede once the windows were open, replaced with the tangy-sweet scent of her pussy. Carol inhaled sharply and whined, drawing Steve’s attention to her wide, sad eyes.

The prime huffed, running one big hand through his hair while Loki held the omega’s thigh in place. “Hands to yourself, Carol.”

The blonde immediately tucked her nose into the other side of the omega’s neck, hands clenched into fists and tucked tightly against her stomach. She could hear the rest of the pack shuffling around, vying for space and views on the bed. Steve seemed entirely unbothered, his gaze once again locked on the pretty omega’s.

“Is your cunt working your slick hard enough precious?” He murmured directly into her ear, lips brushing the skin gently. “If those muscles aren’t strong enough we might have to put in a bit more effort to stretch you out. Squeeze around my fingers baby.”

Carol’s eyes rolled back when a breathy whine escaped the omega, the only perceivable reaction that might’ve betrayed her fear—otherwise, whatever magic Loki had used made her eyes shine with bliss. Steve had two fingers knuckle deep in her cunt, still pressing forward while his slick coated thumb swept up through her folds to pass over her clit. She shook under the grasp of his packmates, hips shifting without her consent to follow the movement of his hand.

“Come on sweetheart, please?” Steve implored quietly, looking at the loosely pinned omega with soft eyes. “Clench your pussy for me, let me take care of you. Please, I—oh, there you go, that’s a good girl.”

He hummed, working his fingers deeper into her cunt and scissoring them carefully. A smile lit the prime’s face when the cutest hiccupping moan escaped the omega, her legs pressing futilely against his hold. Muscle memory tried to guide her legs closed but Carol easily slipped a hand around her knee, keeping her spread wide while Steve continued to stretch her pussy. Another bass toned growl from Thor reverberated off the walls and she wailed, slick dripping over Steve’s fingers while her pussy contracted in waves as commanded by the prime’s guttural growl.

“I’m gonna take care of you precious,” her low whine prompted a moan from Steve as he added a third finger, carefully pressing the pads of his fingers up against her g-spot. “You’ll feel so much better once we fuck you, I promise.”

Carol watched with heavily lidded eyes as the omega’s attention was sparked by Steve’s use of the collective we. Likely it was only Loki’s magic that kept her from lashing out as viciously as they knew she was capable of. In spite of it, her little teeth showed, sharp incisors flashing in a botched hiss. The prime poised himself over her carefully with a small grin, fingers still fucking into her with vigor while he rested his weight on his elbow next to her head.

“It’s gonna be okay omega, it’s gonna be okay,” he cooed quietly against her ear, removing his hand only to pull his cock from his pants. “Take deep breaths, baby.”

“Don’t—” She didn’t sound distressed, the omega sounded aroused and desperate, “I—”

“Shhhh,” the prime’s lips skimmed over her cheeks, down her nose while his hand guided his dick up and down her slick folds until he was dripping with her arousal. “I’m gonna take care of you, precious. We’re gonna take care of you.”

The sound that escaped the omega’s lips as he slipped into her was goosebump inducing in the best way. She whined as the head popped in, breath hitching with every millimetre that came thereafter—and there were a lot of them. The omega was squirming, her heels scrambling against the blankets and both Loki and Carol found themselves having to focus much harder than expected on keeping her still while Steve bottomed out.

“You’re doing so well, darling,” Loki cooed, his nose brushing the line of her jaw. “I know it’s a lot but you’re taking it beautifully. Stay still love, just relax we’ll hold you.”

“That’s right ‘mega,” Steve groaned as he withdrew, the squelch of her cunt making his teeth clench. “We’ll do all the work precious, you just have to be a good girl and take my cock.”

It was easier said than done and everyone in the room save Thor was fully aware of that. The omega’s sweet little whines and cries were causing a massive feedback loop of arousal in the pack’s consciousness and Carol was pretty sure she could hear the sounds of several people going at it but she couldn’t pull her gaze away from where Steve’s cock was drilling into that pretty cunt. Evidently said feedback loop was also affecting Steve, who very suddenly growled possessively.

“Carol, Loki, off,” The prime snapped barely hesitating before dropping his elbows into the pillows on either side of the omega’s head, narrowly avoiding giving his pack mates concussions. “Now.”

Both the alpha and the delta were yanked off the bed by their ankles—well, Carol was yanked off the bed. Loki was yanked off the bed and then promptly thrown into the wall by said ankles. The reinforced exterior wall meant there was only a small dent where the god had landed, but the ensuing ruckus had a strong potential of causing even more damage. Thor immediately turned to deal with the problem, along with several other packmates.

Several things occurred in the next few seconds and the pack would probably fight about what really happened for the next twenty years, but somehow Bucky was thrown through the window and Tony’s right ring finger was broken.

And Wanda—poor Wanda, Thor pushed her out of the way before Bucky could accidentally take her through the window with him. The beta was sent flying, sailing across the bed until she hit the unyielding form of Steve. He startled in shock, immediately drawing back to assess her condition—only for a heel to slam directly into his nose. The prime’s head snapped back from the force, big body falling backwards while his hands scrambled for purchase on his face.

The omega probably would’ve even gotten down the stairs if Natasha hadn’t been ascending the stairs at that moment, having heard the commotion from where she and Clint had been putting away groceries. The redhead smelled her before seeing her, a somewhat sinister grin pulling Nat’s lips when the omega ran directly into her while attempting escape #2.

“Now where are you going, kitten? With that mess dripping down your thighs,” the beta cooed, head tilting as she scented the air. “Why can I smell Steve on you, but not his cum?”

There was a horrible, long pause while the omega seemed to consider her options before landing on Go For Broke. She attempted to dodge past Natasha but the beta’s strong arm immediately lashed around her waist, her superior strength making it easy to force her up the stairs even as she refused to hold her own weight.

Steve met them just two steps from the top, dick out and covered in blood. The prime’s expression wasn’t so much angry as it was disappointed and Natasha hummed in false sympathy.

“Someone’s been naughty, huh kitten?”

content warnings: nonconsensual sex, voyeurism

#avengers x reader #steve rogers x reader #thor x reader #loki x reader #sam wilson x reader #carol danvers x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #clint barton x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #bruce banner x reader #tony stark x reader #bucky barnes x reader #dark!avengers #omegaverse #abo dynamics #will potentially reblog with tags if i remember no promises

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maliciouslycreative · 3 years

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How I played damage control to an anti in a small anime fandom and may have led to her ultimate downfall

I know I had a really nice write up of this at one point but oh well. I’ll spill more of the tea in this one because honestly the tea was so hot.

There are a few things that I have to give context to first. Gaia online was like THE mega forum of the 2000s, you made a little avatar and through posting and doing other activities on the forum you made money to buy clothes for your avatar. There were forums for everything but the fannish portions were really what drew in most of the people. The anime I was into was Beyblade. It was a shonen anime about fighting with tops that were possessed by the spirits of magical creatures. The story was honestly pretty average but the characters were fantastic and the fandom is to this day still one of my favourites. The series had a primarily male cast and didn’t even have a female lead until the second season. This led to the fanfic for the English fandom being about 70% canon/OC, 10 % canon m/f, and 20% slash. The most popular character in the English fandom was by far Kai Hiwatari, the loner badboy of the team.

Also before we get started I would like to add that one of my best friends was neck deep in this and the two of us were more or less fandom married. This is the same friend that I fake dated, had feelings for, and she nearly got me into kpop in 2011 so like if you haven’t read that story please read it too because it will give you a good idea of how stupid I am and how much of a fanfic I have truly lived.

To set the stage I was 16, soon to be 17 when I joined the fandom and it was 2004. In September of that year I wrote a humour longfic that became an absolute smash hit and I found myself somehow fandom famous. It was around this time that I joined Gaia online. I made my little avatar and immediately went looking for the beyblade thread so that I could make new friends. I found the main thread, made my little introduction and at the end of it mentioned that I was a slash writer but I supported all ships. This is where I met C. She had declared herself the authority on Beyblade in these parts and I had just committed the crime of mentioning slash which was very obviously not canon and we did not discuss in this thread because we only discussed canon things. I was like well that’s a bit severe but like sure whatever I just want to hang out and have fun.

Oh boy did I have no idea what I was in for.

C was a year older than me and unfortunately that made her older than the majority of the fans at the time. Her favourite character was Kai, and she was not shy about talking about this fact. She stanned Kai above all other characters, and often at their expense. She was also a fanfic writer of a popular canon/OC series. Actually, she was so full of herself that she didn’t even call herself a fanfic writer, no her stories were in fact novels and were apparently very good. I never read them. But more on that later.

Eventually the slash fans got tired of her being rude to us in the general thread so we made a Beyblade slash thread. There was a core of like 8 or so of us and we honestly had sooo much fun. When C would be too unbearable in the main thread the people from there used to come over to our thread and we’d chat with them about non slash stuff because we were honestly all multishippers and just wanted to have fun. We’d get comments like “wow, I’ve had more pleasant canon het ship discussions in the slash thread than the regular thread”. We never worried about C coming over and getting upset about comments like this because she refused to be associated with anything related with slash lmao.

I tried my best to keep the peace between C, myself, and the rest of the fandom because ultimately I hate being in fandom drama. I just want everyone to have a good time. I’m a people pleaser. Unfortunately my newfound fame put me in the awkward position of being the most fandom popular person in our small community aside from C. Virtually every fan that read fanfics that came into our thread knew one of us or the other by reputation and C HATED this. Especially because people would come in to the thread, recognise me and go “oh my goodness I love your fanfics!” and I’d be super sweet with them and it’d lead into “I can’t believe how nice you are, I love you” which would lead to us crying at each other. This was not the kind of fan interaction that C got, no her fans were more kind that were there to praise her and worship her like a deity that had blessed them with some gift. Rarely did they tell her how kind she was.

Back in the mid 2000s there were really commonly those commercials (usually by Christian organisations) asking people to sponsor say children in Africa or to help build schools or provide drinking water. You all probably know the ones; know the language that they used in those commercials. My fandom wife, who I suppose I shall call wifey because yes we were THAT couple back then, once said that C described her fics like those people described donating money to save the lives of Children in Africa. So we used to joke that her fics were so good they’d save lives in Africa. Looking back at it all, she almost had a very fundamentalist Christian approach to bringing people into her fanfics. She of course tried to get all the slash people into reading it. None of us read canon/oc fic mostly due to our poor treatment at the hands of their fans and creators. Getting fed up I one day told her that if she would read any one of my fanfics that I would read the entirety of her novels. Yes, I was willing to commit to read a couple 100k of canon/oc fanfic that I’d never touch normally if she would even read one of my 1k 1 shots. Heck, I had a fic even that shipped 2 minor characters so she didn’t even have to sully herself reading about one of the main characters. It was honestly a good deal in her favour. I kept this up until the day we all left the fandom. Sometimes I do wonder if her fics were even ¼ as good as she claimed, but I will never know because she refused to read my fics.

She wasn’t all bad and a tyrant all the time. As long as people kept the conversations on track and didn’t come in to the thread saying things like “KAI IS SO HOT ND T3H BEST N I AM GUN 2 MARRY HIM” she stayed mostly civil. It was always hilarious watching InuYahsa or Naruto fans try to come in and bad mouth Beyblade because they’d unleash the dragon and C was great at chasing off undesirables in the thread.

The real apex of goings on though on Gaia was the guild drama. So guilds were like exclusive themed mini forums within Gaia. Anyone could buy one and run it however they want, as long as it still adhered to Gaia’s ToS. C of course was the owner of the only Beyblade guild. The fandom wasn’t really big enough to support 2 guilds so we just kind of let it go. Technically she allowed people to post slash fanfics but like everything had to be explicitly tagged and there was absolutely no slash RP. Wifey and I controlled a handful of minor characters together in the forum RP and definitely used to try to push the boundaries a little bit. Some ambiguous flirting here, a stray comment there. It was such a fragile balance though because C was heavy on the ban button. The active portion of the guild was just people that were in the cult of C and worshipped her writing.

Understandably the other slash fans and myself were getting disheartened by this. So we pooled our funds together and decided that we’d open a second guild that though it was run by slash fans we would welcome anyone into our ranks. We just wanted to have a fun place for everyone to hang out, and to hopefully run a few events out of. In hindsight, we should have seen what would happen. When we opened the guild, with me as the guild leader, it was like somebody blew up the whole dam protecting the delicate ecosystem we had cultivated. Every single person in the Gaia fandom that was not a zealous follower of C applied to be in our guild and left her guild. We of course figured that we’d attract some of the gen population but we did not expect to accidentally poach all of it. All of the moderators were getting messages from people thanking us for giving them a place where they could say whatever they wanted without fear of getting their faces ripped off or banned.

C lost her shit. She was so mad that we went behind her back to ruin her guild. We literally had to show her posts in the very public slash thread that we had been planning this in public and that it was not to ruin her life. We just wanted a place where we could freely post slash. The two of us had some spicy comments back and forth and then she dropped an absolute bombshell on me. Since Gaia’s mail system is terrible I unfortunately no longer have exactly what she said but it was something along the lines of “Ok, you win. I’m going to close my guild.”. Us slash fans had never been doing this to win anything. We had never been competing. We just wanted a safe space to be ourselves.

C never joined our guild. The fandom slowly faded out within the next year anyway. We weren’t getting new content so naturally people just drifted into other fandoms. C kept up with the main Beyblade thread for a lot longer than most of us but eventually that eventually faded into obscurity too.

I learned a lot about fandom bullies from those days. But honestly the thing that stuck with me the most out of everything was that if you provide a positive safe space for people they will flock to it. It may seem like there are so many hostile people out there, but there really aren't. They're the minority but they just make sure that their voice is the loudest. The best way is to ignore them and just do your own thing. The bullies just want attention and if you don’t give it to them and prove to them that their opinion doesn’t matter to you then they’ll move in and find something else to yell at.

#malicious musings #stacey's adventures in fandom drama #lol #honestly it was such a fucking wild time #if i think of any other specific instances of drama i'll add them #god i wish i had screenshots of some of what went on #but sadly going through archived gaia posts is easier said than done

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pastel-odette · 3 years

Text

Revenge- A Banana Fish Fanfiction

This is a fic written for @emi-joanna. Sorry it took so long, I started work and college this past month. I hope it's as angsty as you requested!

(tws are properly tagged as tw _____)

“Eiji! Hurry up! We’re gonna be late!”

Eiji came rushing out of the house, locking up before making his way to the car. “What took you so long?” Aslan asked. Eiji opened up his satchel to reveal various snacks and sweets. “I had to grab the essentials,” he said with a smile. Aslan chuckled. “You really think we’re gonna need them?” “Yes!! During last year’s shrine visit you whined and whined about being hungry, so this time I thought I’d come prepared.” “How do you even remember that?” “Magic, my love. Now enough questions! Let’s go already!” It had been seven years since the couple had moved to Izumo. The first year had been the toughest. Despite being months out of the hospital, Aslan had still been reeling from the attack from Lao. The realization that even after Dino was dead, even after he thought he was finally free, someone still wanted to kill him had hit him extremely hard. He had felt foolish for thinking he would ever be anything other than what Dino made him. To hunt and be hunted, was that really all there was left for him? He had almost wished he hadn’t survived. He didn’t even understand why he survived in the first place.

The decision to move to Japan with Eiji did not come easy. Almost every part of him was screaming at him to abandon that hope that he could ever have a normal life. The physical distance made it seem more unattainable, too. However, Eiji was persistent. He would text every day, and call as much as he could. He was determined to make sure Aslan saw their original plan to move to Japan through.

Eventually, Aslan caved in. He said goodbye to New York, and started a new life with his soulmate. It wasn’t until he laid in bed that night, Eiji sleeping peacefully next to him, that what he did hit him all at once. An entirely new country with nothing to protect himself with.

For a while, they stayed at the Okumura family house. Eiji’s father was still in the hospital as he learned, so it was just the two of them, Eiji’s mother, and his sister. He felt surprisingly welcomed, like he was truly part of the family. It was strange to him to meet people so truly kind and hospitable upon first meeting. It wasn’t long until it started to feel like home.

But it still didn’t feel safe. He would lay awake at night, Eiji beside him, terrified of every little noise he heard. On the rare occasions where he did sleep, he would have terrible nightmares, and when he would jolt awake he would reach for a gun that wasn’t there.

The Okumuras noticed how fidgety and cautious he was. So, they installed a security system in their house. They did everything, big and small, to help him adjust to this new life. When Aslan and Eiji moved out into their own house, they took a lot of these things with them. The security system, the protective charms, the little statues of gods that could protect them. It stunned Aslan how… good he felt to be living this life.

Izumo is where Aslan had found peace and happiness. “We’re here,” Aslan said.

They made their way through the rows of trees together, surrounded by other people also dressed for the chilly weather. Some wore their traditional kimonos, some wore more casual winter clothes. As they approached the torii gates they saw a familiar person standing there. “Mari!” Eiji shouted as he waved to his sister. She waved back as she walked up and gave them both a tight hug. “How are your studies going?” Aslan asked with a soft smile. “Well, just as tough as last year. But I’m glad to finally be visiting again!” She beamed.

When Aslan moved to Japan, Mari was right there alongside Eiji to greet him. She was thrilled to meet him, and sympathetic when she realized Aslan had lived a much different life than her and her brother. It wasn’t long until she felt like his own sister. When she moved to Tokyo for college, he nearly cried with how proud he was.

“You’re not wearing mom’s kimono this year,” Eiji pointed out.

Usually, Mari would wear a deep blue kimono with a stunningly complex design depicting a soaring phoenix and a gold-colored obi. It was passed down through many generations until it was owned by their mother, and now her. Now she was wearing a pale yellow kimono with a much simpler chrysanthemum pattern and pink obi with a chrysanthemum obidome to match. Mari gave a sad smile. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I just didn’t want something so… connected to her anymore. So my friends took me shopping and I found this. Don’t worry though, I didn’t throw away the other one or anything. It’s still in my closet.” “I think it looks good. Suits you,” said Aslan. Eiji nodded his head. This time, Mari beamed.

Being the very first day of the New Year, the temple was crowded with all sorts of people. The chozuya was completely packed, and it took them a few minutes before they were able to purify their hands. Ash always wondered if his hands could ever be truly pure, but he tried not to think about that as he poured the water. It was supposed to be a day of celebration and good luck. He didn’t want his thoughts to ruin that.

Every year, Aslan wished to the gods for protection. Protection from violence, from grief, from assault, from everything that made his life miserable for so long. This year was no different. However, there was something else this year he needed extra luck for. He prayed for that too.

Next, they went to exchange their omamori. Aslan chose the protection charm, as he did every year, and Mari chose the education charm. Usually, Eiji would get the protection charm just as Aslan did. This time he chose the success charm. “What goal do you want to be successful?” Mari asked.

“This year, I’m determined to have my own photo gallery.” It was a goal he had for a while, but this year he was going to have the luck of the gods on his side.

Finally, they needed to pull their o-mikuji.

“I’m a little nervous,” Mari jokes. Most of the time she had negative fortunes. However, this year, she would apparently have a future blessing (and small luck in her romantic relationships). Aslan was given half-blessing with lots of luck in travel. Then it was Eiji’s turn.

“Curse…”

“Well, it could be worse,” Aslan said, “at least you’re not super-mega-cursed.”

Eiji just sighed and folded up the paper.

“You’re not gonna read the rest of it?” “Nah. Not really a point.”

As they left the shrine, Eiji trailed behind and sulked.

Aslan gave Mari a nudge.

“You talk to him, you're the psychology major. I’m no good at this stuff.”

Mari nodded and went to walk beside Eiji.

“Listen, if it’s just a regular curse, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. It’s mostly just little everyday inconveniences. The worst I’ve experienced with just a regular curse is that really bad breakup I had with Yui.” “With who??” “Hush, Aslan, this isn’t about you. Anyways, I don’t think you have anything to really worry about.”

When they get to the parking lot, they have to part ways. Mari made plans to go visit some of her old friends, and Aslan and Eiji had to return home, as they were going to host dinner that night.

When Aslan and Eiji arrived home, they were greeted by a very excitable golden retriever. They had gotten him about a year ago, when he was just a year old, from a local shelter. Even then, he still acted a little bit like a puppy.

“Hey, Bud,” Aslan said as he knelt down to pet Buddy. The dog jumped up to lick his face.

“Should we start dinner now?” Eiji asked as he put down his stuff and made his way to the kitchen.

“You can. Might as well. Just in case someone comes early or something.”

“You can’t just spend all afternoon petting Buddy, you know.” “I know, I know! I’ll help you in a minute.”

Buddy didn’t seem to mind all the extra attention he was getting, though. But eventually, Aslan had to go help his partner.

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” asked Aslan as he put on his apron. He didn’t always help in the kitchen, his skill level was limited to basic survival foods, but over the years he got better and better at it. It felt very domestic, to cook alongside someone.

“How about you start on the datemaki? I’ll make the ramen.”

Aslan nodded, and they both started getting their ingredients. The kitchen was large enough that they could work around each other comfortably, and it wasn’t long until the kitchen started to smell delicious. Buddy noticed this, and trotted over to beg for treats.

“I have nothing for you,” Aslan said. Still, Buddy sat beside him, wagging his tail and giving him an expectant look. Aslan tried to ignore him as he started to whine, focusing on mixing the ingredients together.

“Here, Buddy!” Eiji called the dog, waving a large bone. Buddy instantly jumped up and ran over, wagging his tail furiously. Eiji then gave him the bone, which Buddy took to the living room happily.

“There we go, that’ll keep him occupied,” Eiji smiled. Aslan couldn’t help but smile back.

They continued cooking nonstop into the evening. As time went on, the more dishes they completed, and the more it started to look like a full meal. However, they were still pretty far from done.

Aslan sighed as he stretched. There was enough time to just take a tiny little break, he thought. He leaned against the counter and looked over at Eiji. His partner seemed distracted by something as he stared off into space.

“Hey.”

“Ah!” Eiji jumped, fumbling the bag of flour he was holding before dropping it on the counter.

“Ohhh no!” he exclaimed. Aslan chuckled slightly before helping his partner clean up the mess.

“Looks like your bad luck has officially begun.”

“Don’t even joke about that!” Eiji said as he smacked the other with a floured towel. Ash looked down at his arm then back up at Eiji with a smile.

“Really? You wanna start this?” He dipped his thumb in the flour before smudging it across Eiji’s cheek.

“You’re on!”

And that’s how it started, a full-blown flour war.

Nothing was spared. Flour was thrown, smudged, and flew everywhere. The counters, the floor, their clothes, their skin, their hair and skin, all of it was covered in at least a thin layer of flour.

It was stupid, it was childish, they had wasted an entire bag just making everything dirty. But they didn’t care. It was fun. They were having fun and messing around together. At that moment, they weren’t thinking about having to clean up and get back to cooking, they just thought about each other.

The couple just laid on the floor together as Buddy sniffed around them before licking Aslan in the face.

“No, Buddy!” Aslan squealed, pushing Buddy’s face away. The dog just wagged his tail as his owners helped each other up.

“You’re a mess,” Eiji laughed.

“Speak for yourself! You’re even dirtier than me! Go take a shower, I’ll clean this all up.”

Eiji kissed Aslan’s floured cheek before going to wash himself and his clothes.

Once everything was all clean, both of them included, they had to work faster in order to get everything done by the time their guests would arrive. Occasionally, though, they would look over at each other, and laugh silently before getting back to work.

Eventually, they had a complete New Year’s Day dinner. Eiji set the table while Aslan arranged the food into the boxes.

“Well, I’d say it looks pretty good,” Aslan said.

“We make a pretty good team!” Eiji shouted from the dining room.

When everything was all set for their guests to arrive, they high-fived to celebrate their hard work. It was the first time they cooked for New Year’s all on their own, and it was the first time they would be hosting.

The first to arrive were Ibe and his wife, Namiko. They met shortly after he returned to Japan, and she was a very kind woman, the kind that got along with all her neighbors and would check in on them from time to time. The couple greeted their hosts warmly with hugs and a bottle of sake.

Buddy was thrilled to have guests, and quickly ran over to receive pets from two of his many favorite humans.

It wasn’t much longer after that when Mari arrived, and the party officially started. Chatter filled the house as they ate. They talked about everything that had happened during the past year, everything they accomplished, and everything they hoped to accomplish this year.

“Well, I have no complaints,” Ibe said, “We traveled a lot this year for work.”

“It was great! So many fun new places we visited,” Namiko said.

“Mine was just another normal year of classes. I made a new group of friends, and they’re really great," Mari said through a mouthful of food.

“We adopted our dog,” Eiji beamed. Buddy was resting in the living room. After a while of whining for food, he had finally given up, and they knew if they mentioned him by name he would come over and start begging again.

The party went on late into the night as they continued to chat and drink. Everyone’s spirits couldn’t be higher as they celebrated the past and welcomed in the future, giving a toast for good luck. Eventually, though, the night had to end. They said their goodbyes to each other, and the guests went home, leaving Aslan and Eiji to clean up.

Aslan felt content as he washed the dishes. It was a great night, surrounded by people he loved. Seven years in Japan. He hadn’t felt like Ash Lynx in so long. He felt like he had control over his life.

A partner, a house, a dog, a legal job, friends, a little sister. The old ladies on his street fawned over him as if he was free from sin. The local coffee shop knew his face and order by heart. Nobody feared him, they were all friendly towards him, and treated him as if he really was normal.

Oftentimes it felt unreal. But as he sat on the couch, Eiji nestled into his side, he knew it was.

“Thank you,” Eiji murmured.

“For what?”

“For helping out today. For everything you do. You’re so good to me.”

Aslan smiled softly.

“I should be the one saying that to you.”

“How about we’re both good to each other?”

“Yeah,” Aslan whispered, “I can agree with that.”

The next few days of the New Year were spent with Mari. The plan was for her to go back to Tokyo on the fourth, when the holiday was over, so they wanted as much time with her as they could.

During the Japanese New Year, businesses are closed for the next three days. They couldn't go to restaurants, shops, or the market. So mostly, they just spent time at Aslan and Eiji’s house. Watching TV, playing board games, and video games on the SNES they got a few years back. They could also go to the beach.

Izumo was a coastal town, with cliff sides to the north, and a long, thin strip of beach to the west. When the three of them stepped out of the car, they were glad they brought thick coats, as there was a cold breeze.

“Come on Buddy!” Eiji said as he opened the car door. The dog jumped out of the car, wagging his tail happily.

The beach was an important place in Izumo, something Aslan had learned shortly after he moved. On the northern shore of the beach, there was a very large rock with a small shrine on top, too high for humans to reach. Every October, the gods would come to Izumo, and convene at the beach and its shrine.

Aside from it being a spiritual place, the beach was also just beautiful. It reminded Aslan of when he was younger, when he and Griffin would run across the sand and splash in the waves. Sometimes, when he and Eiji would take a walk along the beach, they would see children or a family, and he would feel a bit of nostalgia.

Now, he walked this beach with his new family.

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was low in the sky. They were only planning for it to be a relatively short walk, and would return to the car not long after the sun fully set. It was just nice to get some fresh air.

The trio walked in silence, aside from Buddy’s pants, until Aslan broke it.

“You know, Mari, you got a pretty interesting fortune this year,” he said.

Eiji caught on to what he meant. “Yeah! Are you excited for it?”

“For the future fortune? I guess so. It’s better than I get most years,” she said.

“No no, I mean about your romance fortune,” Aslan smiled.

Mari became slightly flustered, glaring at the couple. They just laughed in response.

“You should really get back out there again,” Eiji teased, “You’re not still heartbroken over Yui are you?”

Mari lightly punched her brother in the side.

“Of course not! That was the beginning of high school! Butt out of my love life!”

“But you, dear sister, are the one that butted into my love life when I went to America.”

“I shall have you know, dear brother, that I have matured since then. Besides, the charm I gave you worked, didn’t it?”

Eiji looked over at Aslan with a smile and squeezed his hand.

“Yeah. It did.”

The sun had begun to set at this point, halfway across the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, soft pinks and reds across the sky. The three stopped to admire it, Buddy sitting beside them.

“I think this is a moment worth capturing,” Eiji said. He got the polaroid camera from around his neck. They all posed close together, Aslan picking up Buddy so he could be in the shot, with the sunset in the background.

“Smile!”

Click.

The photo printed slowly, and Eiji shook it so it could develop faster.

It showed the four of them, happy in smiling, in the place they loved so much. They waited for the sun to set fully before returning home.

Instantly, the photo went up on their wall.

Unfortunately, the fourth eventually came, and Mari had to leave. At the train station, they said their goodbyes.

“Be sure to write!” Eiji said as she waved.

“I always do!”

With that, the train doors closed, and she left Izumo. Since it was the first day of the new year that businesses were open, Aslan decided he might as well go run some errands.

“See you at home,” he said as he pecked Eiji on the cheek.

“Mhm, see you.” Eiji waved goodbye to him.

The first stop was the coffee shop. Why not, right? It was a very cozy little shop and the majority of the patrons were locals and regulars. When the barista noticed him, he smiled.

“The usual?”

Aslan nodded, and the barista got to work. The coffee shop was relatively small compared to those in America, and it was warmly lit. As Aslan sat at the counter watching the barista he felt the chill of the mid-winter weather.

“Here’s your coffee,” the barista said as he placed the mug in front of Aslan. Most people see Aslan as the type of person to drink straight black coffee. And for a while, he was. As soon as he was “old enough” to drink coffee, he would drink it without sugar or creamer. It fit the persona he had and made him seem more mature to those around him. Now he didn’t care about any of that. He made his coffee super sweet. Tons of sugar, tons of creamer, because that was the way he actually liked it.

Usually, he would take the time to stay and chat with the barista for a bit. He was a funny and friendly guy, most of the reason Aslan liked this coffee shop in particular. However, today he had the odd urge to get home as much as possible. Maybe it was just because of the chill, he thought.

The next stop was the grocery store. They only really needed things to replace what they had used to cook dinner on New Years, including the flour that they had wasted.

He absentmindedly went through the small store until a voice called out to him from behind.

“My dear Aslan!”

He turned around to see his neighbor, Mrs. Tanaka. She was an old woman, kind as can be like almost everyone else in the neighborhood, who loved to garden in her front lawn and chat him up whenever she saw him. Aslan greeted her back and smiled.

“How have you been? How’s Eiji? Did you have a good new year?”

“Everything is good. How was your trip?”

The two chatted for a bit, catching up on things that happened since the last time they talked. Most of his neighbors he could strike up a conversation with just like this. It was the kind of neighborhood he could see himself and Eiji growing old in. It was a weird thought, to grow old with someone in a small town, but it was right.

They said their goodbyes, and Aslan continued shopping as normal.

When Aslan came home, the front door was unlocked. Huh. Maybe Eiji just forgot. However, when he opened the door, he was met with a horrible sight.

There lay Buddy, unmoving, in a pool of blood.

Aslan dropped his bags and rushed to his dear pet. He picked him up gently as tears began to fall.

How did this even happen? When? Why wasn’t he here to stop it?

That’s when he saw it. The wound on Buddy’s neck. A bullet wound. Someone… shot Buddy. There was no way. He was supposed to be safe in Japan. He was supposed to be safe with Eiji. Eiji... “Eiji!” he shouted. No response. He shouted again. The house was silent. Aslan gently placed down Buddy’s body. He had to make sure Eiji was okay. Eiji had to be okay, right?

Aslan crept through the house silently, listening for any sounds that might lead him towards Eiji or the intruder. As he approached the kitchen, he saw a pot on the stove bubbling over, so he turned off the stove. This whole thing must have happened fairly recently. A knife was also missing from the drawer.

Finally, he made his way to the bedroom.

What he saw terrified him.

Eiji. Sprawled across the floor, next to the open closet doors as if he had been pulled out, a knife in his hand. A bullet in his forehead. His eyes were wide open, and his cheeks were stained with tears.

Ash fell to his knees. This couldn’t be happening. Eiji couldn’t be dead. He was dreaming, he was hallucinating, this was some kind of joke. What separated him from his old life now? What stopped him from being Ash Lynx again?

Ash sobbed, and sobbed and sobbed. His love had been murdered. The bastard shot his dog, too. Why? He didn’t do anything. Neither of them did anything. It wasn’t fair.

He reached into the closet and pulled out a small box. Inside was a silver engagement ring. He picked up Eiji’s greying, cold hand and slipped the ring onto his finger.

“I know that we could never get married legally. But I still wanted to think of you as my husband. After all we had been through, didn’t we deserve that much?”

Eiji didn’t respond. His glossed-over eyes stared at nothing. Ash closed them.

“My soul will always be with you.”

--------

This might turn into a chaptered fic

Thank you to @syanara for betaing!

Tag list: @mycatshuman

#banana fish #banana fish fanfiction #ash lynx #aslan jade callenreese #eiji okumura #tw death #tw murder #tw guns #tw animal death #tw dog death

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desktopdonnie · 3 years

Text

OK so my guys in TMNT and artists in the fandom you need to hear this.

There is a person called @hamsterandturtlesoup and @hamstermastersamster

Who is 40 something year-old.

They pretend they're younger and post a TMNT fanfic comic. On it's own I think that's not a big deal. Like maybe they're a super autistic dude right needing a outlet? But the plot thickens.

So the deal is I joined tumblr last year and through the Rise TMNT fandom I came to follow this hamsterandturtlesoup (HATS). In like a week after following I got an ANON message saying to avoid them because they're not whom I think they are. Curious yes? Someone has there eye on HATS and is warning people off following. Why?

I guessed this was spam. I ignored it until September 2021 when I got way too curious after school restarted. Yeh I were bored....

So.... I read the anon message yesterday and it got weird. That's where I read that HATS is middle aged. But it's worse. There's a load of screen caps and reddit history to put together, but I got reading and here's the plot:

The TLDR deal is they (HATS) went loopy in covid 2020 and had a psychological stress meltdown. They took out there angst on a friend of 20 years who was in hospital during covid (not clear if it was from covid). HATS axed the person from there life because HATS didn't like being inviting to online socials (during covid). Like what a crime lol. I don't understand if the friend was still in hospital at the time but it is weird to go mental at a friend when they're fresh out from major surgery....just because HATS was upset about a discord server the friend invited them to. I read the screen caps and you got to assume that HATS is mentally ill or deeply autistic because they really go all out on there bud's ass for inviting them to an online party.

No big deal you think? Personal domestic. But it gets weirder.

The person that HATS axed was a good artist that drew loads and was good friends to HATS for many years. They swapped art on deviantart for like 15 years. And the guy was pretty busted up over this weird behaviour by HATS so they posted for help in dealing with it. They're thinking HATS was needing mental help. The reply from reddit was to reach out to HATS to see if they were in mental crisis.

But by Jan 2021 that friend died after another big surgery and didn't get to speak to HATS again over the lost friendship.

This choked me up big after I looked at the art they made. Knowing they had surgery they made beautiful art in honor of Qinni but then died soon after themselves. It's kind of like they knew they were going to die....

So what happened next with HATS?

@hamsterandturtlesoup didn't care and didn't go to the funeral and acted like nothing happened. Twenty year friendship. RIP. Didn't react. On there deviant they even deleted the friend's name. That's damn savage af.

You might think they grieved privately?

I doubt. They then blocked everyone who ever asked about it. If you ask them they block you. Seriously try to ask them and you will get blocked!

Like no one knows the real reason these friends broke up. Is there a real reason? If the reason really is because of an online invite then I think HATS is not normal. I would never axe a friend over a discord chat. A twenty year friend is family.

Then HATS deletes everything online except the TMNT obsession. That's all they do. TMNT stuff on tumblr and deviantart (like who uses that anymore except millenials?).

Are they a predator?

It doesn't sound much when you break it down, but I read so many screen caps and stuff from so many different people on this. I had a session with two people who both confirmed HATS was middle aged and in a kind of denial about the death. It was mega dark reading how they behaved. Combined with HATS sadistic TMNT fic, they come off as really sinister.

I'm guessing HATS freaked out over more then just being invited to voice channels. Like why didn't they want to talk to other people online? I'm thinking because they wanted to hide there age or gender and predatory behavior. I think the dead friend had some sort of dirt on HATS that HATS wanted to stay hidden. Because who just deletes there online life and friends but keeps there creepy TMNT comic obsession?

HATS does.

Why cut all ties and people linked to them and there behaviour if not suspect?

Something is going on here that's deeper.

I think HATS might be one of those predators you're told to avoid by your teacher?

Before I get cancelled I did ask HATS what there side of the story was. They said nothing but blocked me in seconds. Seconds guys! So I guess I'm on the nail when I said they're kind of like a predator mingling with my GenZ in tumblr. They were chatting me up, but when I ask about em being 40 and the dead friend....I'm blocked.

I dunno what they're doing in there private chat history. But 40 years old and pretending to be a teen on tumblr isn't normal and I think it's gross. Erasing a good bud is gross. Not paying respects at there funeral is scummy. Blocking people who ask is sus.

Is this a true predator? Be careful who you talk to in the TMNT fandom.

#rise of the tmnt #predator #toxic fandom #donnatello #psychopath #gross and disgusting #rottmnt fanart #suspicious #online predators #hamsterandturtlesoup #hamstermastersamster #rest in peace #drama #spilled feelings #throwing shade

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wardog-of-the-endless · 3 years

Text

AO3 Tag Game

I was tagged by the lovely Ana, @static-abyss so I am sorry for the delay and here we go!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? I have 74 works, so far! But I'm actively editing a sequel fic so maybe we'll just say 75?

2. What is your total AO3 word count? That's in stats, right? *checks* Umm looks like 317336 so far!

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? On AO3: Avengers (All Types), The Losers, Batman, Superman, The Old Guard, Jurassic Park/World, and crossovers with like Center Stage/Once Upon a Time/etc On Livejournal/Other Things Way Back When: KPop, JPop, JRock & Anime

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Man asking me all these questions I don't know the answers to and am scared to find out, OKAY HERE WE GO! And yes this list surprised me so thanks for that! *True, Strong and Brave *(Walk Walk) Fashion Baby *What The Doctor Ordered *Adorato *Cloak and Dagger (just... what? XD wow and thank you)

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not? As long as it isn't a hate comment, I'll probably reply. I try to reply to all of the comments, and MOST of the time I won't let myself post new chapters/fics until I've gone through and replied to all the comments. Even if they're emoticons, but usually I have to do those from my phone because JFC how CAN you put a heart on a comment without doing it from the phone? ANYWAY this is Usually because they make me feel better and encourage me to write more of my chapters overall. But sometimes I hoard them in my inbox like a dragon because they're just SO NICE, so. There's that. (Y'all already knew I was a disaster bisexual, don't look at me like that.)

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Uh. "(I Will Try) To Fix You" has grim implications? The 'Children of Light' Series is perpetually angsty until I finish the "fix it" part of the fix-it verse.

7. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written? I do! Umm probably equally crazy in terms of juggling characters and storylines I want to weave in? But I have an MCU x DC crossover verse (Walk) There's also a Marvel x Vertigo Comics aka Avengers x The Losers that may have further crossovers once I get going? (In that case it might be a Chris Evans Verse mega-party?)

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic? Oooohhh boy. I really, really have. Sometimes it's over super stupid like, throwaway comedy lines? I think what really blew my mind the most was in an interaction between Tony and JARVIS, Tony made a throwaway comment about Jersey (literally playing on the cliché rivalry of New York & New Jersey) and people came into the comments BIG MAD. Y’all Hamilton did it, why am I getting hate? Plus it’s a fictional character, gosh dang! ‘Comments made by the characters do not reflect the attitude of the writer’, or whatever I need to say to keep people from flat out trying to tear me a new one. X.x

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Uh, I think I have? Different kinds? I’m not sure how to deal with or answer this question, ROFL.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Ummm, I think we've all had that 'someone took my work and posted it somewhere without my permission' fiasco. Wattpad, Goodreads, etc. Back when we used to write them on floppy disks I had some of those come up missing (if they were looking for my homework, boy were they disappointed I bet)... But otherwise, not that I know of.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Umm I think this boils down to how you define co-writing.. If it was lobbing ideas back and forth I would say some qualified, if it was where they write swaths and then I fill in gaps, I've not done that. I've co-written series and co-written RPs that essentially could have been fics if they'd been shared beyond the small group involved. But I wouldn't say a specific story was co-written with anyone, though I'd surely love to give it a try!

12. What’s your all time favorite ship? OOF! Yeah there's probably not just one. WinterIron is good for MCU, easily the favorite. The Losers I ship Cougar/Jensen like burning. The Old Guard is killing me with Joe/Nicky. I've written some DC SuperBat and like SuperWonderBat. I like Teen Wolf STEREK.

13. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Umm definitely anime. I wrote for Yu Yu Hakusho, Inu Yasha, Pilot Candidate (aka Candidate for Goddess), Ayashi No Ceres, and some others way back in Middle School, so. Around that time, maybe some of my favorite Fiction but I couldn't say what was first in that category.

14. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Hmmm.. I love "The B Team" for just the outrageous, lust-at-first-sight, crazy flirtation Tony & James have right off the bat. I also really enjoy "Adorato" because it's full of cameos from friends in the form of the Tony Stark Hug Squad, and that movement we super dear to my heart. Lol. Otherwise I would say "Tired" because it's soft and so sweet and I got the BEST ART FOR IT OMG. T_T To this day I sniffle.

Uh tagging people right yes.. Umm... @rayshippouuchiha, @amethystinawrites, @dayzor, @trashcanakin, @yusufs-stew-of-romance aka @captainsandseashores aka my wife. And anyone else who sees this and wants to do it?

#Wardog Answers Stuff #Wardog Answers Things #Wardog Speaks #Ask Game #Fanfic Related #My Fanfic Related #wakandan wardog

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olderthannetfic · 5 years

Note

Hey, sorry to ask this, but a few days ago I saw a post/discussion about the history of original work on ao3 (i.e. how and when it was allowed). I thought it was in my likes, but it's not, and I thought you had reblogged it recently, but I didn't find it. I was wondering if you have seen this discussion around? Or where I can find more about it? This specific post talked abt how who defended original work on ao3 were not the BNFs, if that helps.

That was me running my mouth in the reblogs of something or other. It’s just the one comment.

But what’s that you say? Some tl;dr about a pet topic? Don’t mind if I do! ;) (To be honest, most of this debate happened years ago, and a lot of the long meta was by me back then too, so…)

Okay, so, the situation with Original Works is actually super interesting and a microcosm of early years OTW wank.

This is going to be even more tl;dr than my usual. To try to summarize very briefly:

There were two big cultural factions. One thought “original” was the opposite of “fan”. That one was in charge of OTW. It was hard to get voices from the other side into the debate because they already felt excluded from OTW.

This divide broke down more or less into Ye Olde Slash Fandom on the “it’s the opposite” side and anime fandom on the “WTF?” side. Americans on one side and a lot of non-US, non-English language fandom on the other.

I. Media Fandom, Anime Fandom, and Early OTW

I went to that first fundraising party that astolat threw in New York City back in… god… 2007? 2008? I wasn’t on the Board or any official position until the committees got started later, but I was around right from the very beginning.

Whether you’re looking at volunteers or at people who commented on astolat’s original post, there were always a variety of fans from a variety of fannish backgrounds. People aren’t absolutely in one camp or another, and fannish interests change over time. If you go dig through Dreamwidth posts to find who was actually participating in this debate at the time, half of them are probably in the other camp now.

If you think like that sounds like a preamble to me making a bunch of offensively sweeping generalizations and divvying fans up into little groups, you’d be right! Haha.

I.a. Ye Olde Media Fandom

There are a lot of camps of people who like fanfic. One of the biggest divisions has been Ye Olde Media Fandom vs. anime fandom. Astolat’s social circle–my LJ social circle–was filled with people with decades of fannish experience and a deep knowledge of the Media Fandom side of things.

Those fandom history treatises that start with K/S zines in Star Trek fandom in the 70s and move on through the mainstream buddy cops like Starsky & Hutch to the more niche, sff buddy cops like Fraser and Ray or Jim and Blair are talking about Media Fandom. I try to always capitalize it because the name is lulzy and bizarre to me unless it’s a proper noun for a specific historical thing. It was coined as a rude term for “mass media” fandom aka dumb people who like, ughhhh, Star Trek, ughhh, instead of books. This is a very ancient slapfight from the type of fandom you find at Worldcon, often called “SF fandom” or plain “fandom”.

(Yes, this leads to mega confusion on the part of some old dudes when they find Fanlore and fail to understand that “fandom” there refers to what these people would call “Media Fandom”. They think only they get the unmarked form. But I digress…)

Media Fandom is a specific flavor of fandom. It’s where the slash zines were. It’s where the fans of live action US TV shows were. It’s the history that acafans have laid out well and that tends to get used to defend the idea of a female subculture writing transgressive and transformative fanfic. On the video side, Media Fandom is where Kandy Fong invented vidding by making Star Trek slideshows.

(Kandy’s still around, BTW. She’s usually at Escapade in L.A. Ask her to tell you about the dancing penises sketch in person. She’s hilarious.)

Astolat and friends had been going to slash cons for years. They founded Vividcon. And Yuletide. That meant that when astolat said “Hey kids, let’s put on a show!” we all jumped to help. This is a lady who gets things done.

From a Worldcon perspective, or even from an older Media Fandom perspective, this group was comparatively young, hip, and welcoming. Their fandom interests were comparatively broad. Just look at Yuletide!

In fact, yes, let us look at Yuletide… [ominous music]

I.b. Yuletide sucks at anime

From the very first year (2003), Yuletide mods have asked for help with anime fandoms, been confused about anime fandoms, or made bad judgment calls about anime fandoms. They’ve fucked up on Superhero comics and plenty of other things over the years, but anime has been the most consistent (well, and JRPGs, but there’s so much overlap in those fic fandoms).

There was already bad feeling about this. There were years of bad feeling about this.

I.c. Where are the historians?

Academic study of fanficcy things pretty much got started with Textual Poachers and Enterprising Women. Other acafans who are well known to LJ and later Tumblr are people like Francesca Coppa who wrote a very nice summary of the history of Media Fandom. These are not the only academics who exist, these academics themselves have written about many other things, and by now, OTW’s own journal has covered a lot of other territory, but to this day I see complaints on Tumblr that “acafans” only care about K/S and oldschool slash fandom.

There were years of bad feeling about this as well.

I.d. What kind of fan was I?

Now, by the time OTW got started, I’d moseyed over to not only a lot of live action US TV but a lot of old-as-fuck US TV that is squarely in the Media Fandom camp. But once upon a time, I was a weeaboo hanging out with my weeaboo friends in college. I learned Japanese (sort of). I moved to Japan. Livin’ the weeaboo dream!

More importantly, I used to be a member of a lot of anime mailing lists back in the Yahoo Groups days. I didn’t realize what a cultural gap that would cause until the original works issue came up on AO3.

I.e. Anime Fandom, German-language Fandom, Original M/M

Once upon a time–namely in that Yahoo Groups era–there was an archive called Boys in Chains. It was where you found The Good Stuff™. Heavy kink and power exchange galore! It was extremely well known in the parts of fandom I was in, even if you weren’t on the associated mailing list. It contained lots of fic, but it also had lots of original work.

Around that same era, I was on a critique list called Crimson Ink, which was mixed fic and original. The “original slash” and “original yaoi” crowds mixed freely and were in fanfic spaces. Remember, this is like 2003. You’re never going to get your gay fantasy novel published in English in the US. A couple of fangirl presses started around then, but they died an ignominious death after their first print run.

Fanfiction.net used to allow original work before it spun that off into FictionPress. We forget this today, but if you were an early FFN person, the separation wasn’t so great either.

Meanwhile, German-language fandom was hanging out on sites like Animexx.de, a big-ass fic archive that prominently mentions also including original work. I have the impression that Spanish-language fandom was similar too.

Shousetsu Bang*Bang was founded in 2005. It was a webzine for original m/m, but it was entirely populated by fanfic fandom types.

In all of those kinds of spaces, there was a lot of “original” work that was kind of slash or BL-ish and seen as fannish if it was posted in the fannish space. These weren’t anime-only spaces. They were multifandom spaces where it was seen as obvious and normal that a couple of huge fandoms like Harry Potter would dominate but that everything else big would naturally be anime.

While fans from every background are everywhere, I found that the concentration of EFL fans living in Continental Europe, South America, and Asia was much higher in this kind of space, even the exclusively English language part of it, than in my US TV fandoms.

II. AO3 Early Adopters

AO3 went into closed beta in 2009. In 2010, it was open to the general public (albeit with the invitation queue it still has). But not everyone was interested yet. Just like fandom is loath to leave the dying, shambling mess of Tumblr, fandom was loath to leave dwindling LJ/DW circles or was happy enough on Fanfiction.net. I used to see a lot of posts like “Why are you guys trying to STEAL fanfic from the original! FFN is enough!”

I literally could not give away the invitations I had. No one wanted them.

So who was on AO3? Obviously enough, it was all of us who built it and our friends. So that means a bunch of oldschool Livejournal slashers coming from fandoms like Due South or Stargate Atlantis.

The queue was open. Anyone could make an account. Everyone was welcome. In theory…

But more and more, there started to be these posts about how “AO3 Hates Anime Fandom” and “FFN is for anime. AO3 is for Western fandoms.” and “If you guys actually wanted anime fandom on there, you’d invite us better and make us more welcome.”

At the time, I found these posts obnoxious. People aren’t purely in one sort of fandom or the other. No one was stopping anime fandom from making accounts. No one was banning anime fandom. If there wasn’t much from old fandoms, that was because old fandoms seldom move.

Things began to change. Trolls on FFN forced the Twilight porn writers out, creating enough fuss and brouhaha to mobilize people who would rather have stayed put. AO3 got big enough that randos found it by accident. Original work started to pop up, posted by people who’d never looked at the rules and had no idea it was not allowed.

III. History of AO3’s Policy

I had argued for allowing “original work” during the initial discussions about the ToS. On one side of this issue was me. On the other, everyone else on the committee.

I was overruled.

Open Door started importing old archives to save them. Boys in Chains was hugely important to fandom history from my point of view. It was slated to be imported… maybe. Except that Boys in Chains is half original. AO3 was happy to grandfather in those stories, but the final archive owner felt, quite rightly, that it would be unfair to tell half of the authors they were welcome in the new space while spitting on the other half.

I was pissed. I had been pissed since being overruled the first time. To me, the fact that it should be allowed was so blatantly obvious that it was hard to even explain why.

(To be honest, this difficulty in explaining why and the even greater difficulty in figuring out the source of that difficulty is what held the discussion back for so long. When every assumption on either side is completely opposite, it’s hard to communicate.)

I felt betrayed. It would be like if you helped build something, and everyone was suddenly like “Well, obviously, we can’t allow m/m. It’s not normal fanfic.”

So we discussed it again and, again, it was me vs. literally everyone else. And still the “AO3 is only for Western slash fandom” bitching rose in volume and more and more people complained of feeling excluded from the new fandom hub. Finally, the committee agreed to open the issue up for public comment and get some more input. I was a fool and neither wrote nor proofread the post. It went out phrasing the question as allowing “non fannish” work or something of that sort.

I was furious. The entire point of the whole debate was that I saw some original work, the original work that belongs on AO3, as inherently fannish. And now this had been presented to the AO3 audience as something completely different. Think pieces were popping up in the journals of everyone I knew about diluting AO3’s mission and how we needed to save AO3 from encroachment. Public opinion was very negative. That’s both because of how the post was phrased and because OTW die hards at the time were mostly from the same fannish background. This tidal wave of negativity meant that there was virtually no chance of changing this poisonous rule. And if the rule didn’t change, the people who wanted the rule change were never going to show up to explain why it mattered.

If you’ve been reading my tumblr, I think you can guess what happened next.

I posted a long post to my Dreamwidth. It was a masterwork of passive aggression. In it, I wrung my hands about how simply tragic it would be if AO3 had to delete all of the original work… like anthropomorfic.

Now, I think anthropomorfic counts as fanfic as much as anything else, but I also knew that it fails most rigorous “based on a canon” type definitions of fic and, more importantly, it’s a favorite Yuletide fandom of many of the people on the side that wanted to ban original work.

That’s a nice fandom of yours. It would be a pity if something happened to it.

Yup. Passive aggressive blackmail. Go me. Suddenly, there was a lot of awkward backtracking and confused running in circles in various journals. The committee agreed to table the idea for a while but not rule out the idea of allowing original works in the future. We agreed to halt all deletions of original work. If a fan posted it, the Abuse Committee (which I was also head of at the time) would not delete that work even though it was technically against the rules.

Time passed. The people on the negative side got tired. I wanted off that committee and had wanted off for ages, but I was damned if I was going to leave before ramming through this piece of policy. Grudgematch till I die! (Look, I never said I wasn’t a wanker.)

After a while, some other fans came forward with more types of “original work” as evidence that it should be allowed. These were from parts of fandom none of us on the committee knew a damn thing about.

This new evidence combined with the gradual accretion of original stuff on AO3 without the sky falling eventually led us to quietly rule Original Work a valid fandom. There was never even a big announcement post. I slipped a word to the Boys in Chains mod myself.

IV. What Were They So Afraid Of Anyway?

So why were people so resistant? Seems like a dick move, right?

Not exactly.

I mean, I was enraged and waged a one-woman war to change the rules, but the other side wasn’t nuts. The objections were usually the following:

I just don’t get why it would be allowed. It never was in my fannish spaces.

Most of our members don’t want this.

Most of the examples of things that ought to be included are m/m. We are privileging m/m if we allow it, and AO3 already has a m/m-centric reputation that can feel exclusionary to some fans.

AO3 is a young, shaky platform that can barely handle the load and content we already have. If we open to original work, we’ll be opening the floodgates. The volume of posting will be so high, it will drown out the fic we’re actually here to protect.

Protecting stuff that doesn’t need protection because it’s not an IP issue would dilute OTW’s mission.

If we allow it, idiots will try to turn AO3 into advertising space, posting only the first chapter and a link to where you can pay to read the rest.

If we add another category of text before we add fan art, that’s a slap in the face of the fan artists we are already failing.

These arguments all make perfect sense in context.

Obvously, the issue with the first two is that different fannish communities have different norms. I knew that a very large community disagreed with the then current AO3 policy, but since so few of them were around to comment, it seemed like a tiny fringe minority.

The m/m thing is… complex. M/M content with zero IP issues is at risk. It is always at risk in a way that even f/f is not (though f/f is also always at risk). Asking for m/m to be exactly equivalent to f/f or m/f in numbers, tropes, whatever is ignoring the historical realities. In our current moment of queer activism in the West, we treat all types of queerness as part of one community with one set of goals, but once you get to culture and art or even more specific activism, this forced homogenization is neither useful nor healthy.

OTOH, AO3 really did have PR problems related to the perception that we gave m/m fandom the kid glove treatment. That objection wasn’t coming from nowhere.

AO3 was shaky. It was tiny when I first brought up this argument. Hell, it wasn’t even in closed beta the first time we discussed this. Part of what made the quiet rules change possible was AO3 organically getting much bigger and OTW having to buy many more servers for unrelated reasons.

The “floodgates” thing was put to rest by tacitly allowing original work before the rules change. We had a period to study how fans actually behaved, and as I predicted, only a small amount of original work got posted. It was indeed mostly things like original BL-ish stories or original work that had been part of a mixed original/fic fest, exchange, zine, etc. Currently, the “Original Work” fandom on AO3 only has 76,348 works. That’s pretty big compared to individual fandoms but tiny compared to AO3’s current size.

The commercial argument was spurious because commercial spam had been against the rules from the very beginning. OH THE IRONY that nowadays AO3 has all these idiots trying to post the first chapter of their fanfic and then direct you to where you can buy the rest.

AO3 has plenty of fanfic of public domain works. One of the problems with gatekeeping original work is that any way you try to distinguish it (not based on a specific canon, not an IP issue, etc.) will apply to some set of obviously allowable fandoms.

As for fan art… OTW has failed fan artists. They needed protection as much as or even more than fic writers. Just look at Tumblr! If we had succeeded at making DeviantArt but allowing boners, fan art fandom could have been safe all these years. Or when Tumblr inevitably shat the bed, we could have scooped up all those people instead of them scattering to twitter and god knows where.

OTW has failed vidders too, at least in terms of preservation. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this. Other major people from like the first Board and shit have discussed this with me offline. Doing some kind of vidding project, possibly outside of OTW is on a lot of our to-do lists. But at least one of OTW’s biggest victories has been that copyright exemption. OTW has demonstrably done really positive things for vidders that other organizations and sites have not. As a vidder, I never expected to see good hosting for the actual video files, and I’m quite content.

But fan artists… yeah. That argument makes sense at least from a place of frustration.

BTW, for the love of god, if you’re a n00b to OTW stuff, please do not reblog this post excitedly telling me that hosting fan art is on OTW’s road map, so yay, good news. Someone always does that, and it’s so irritating. I haven’t been involved in OTW in years, but I used to be, and I know what is on the roadmap. The couple of you who do heavy lifting on sysadmin and coding and policy things are welcome to weigh in as usual. I know none of us like that we can’t host fan art. It’s not what we intended.

Nonetheless, I found this argument to be the perfect being the enemy of the good. If we can save more text now without losing much of anything, we should do it. The fact that we’re fucking up on the fan art front is not a reason to spread the misery around.

V. Is “Original” the Opposite of “Fanfic”?

Okay, so that tl;dr above is why “BNFs” were on one side and “nobodies” were on the other. BNFs from one cultural background founded OTW. BNFs from the other cultural background weren’t even aware that the debate was going on.

But what was the underlying philosophical problem in even having the conversation?

It took me a long time, but I finally worked it out: We had two completely different ways of categorizing writing, and they were so baked into how we phrased questions that everything ended up being unanswerable to the other side. Here is what I came up with:

Schema 1

Fanfic - based on someone else’s IP

Original Work - the opposite

Schema 2

Non-Fannish Work - School essays, stories you are writing to try to sell to a mainstream publisher

Fannish Work Type 1 - based on other people’s characters directly (i.e. fanfic) Type 2 - based on tropes or whatever (“original slash” and the like)

Now, in the current moment when half of Tumblr just got into Chinese webnovels and the m/m ebook industry is thriving in English, original, tropey, BL-ish work is no longer different from “things I am trying to sell”. But this is how the divide was circa 2005 on fannish websites, and it’s the divide that was driving this internal OTW debate.

VI. Let’s Summarize the Camps One More Time

So, again, the debate makes perfect sense if you understand who was involved.

On the mainstream “But that’s not fanfic? I’m confused?” side:

Big US TV fandoms in English

Fandom historians of K/S–>buddy cop slash–>SGA, etc.

Americans

On the other side:

Anime fandom

“Original slash” fandom that had already been chased off of everywhere

People upset that AO3 wasn’t farther on translating the interface and supporting non-English language fandom.

People upset about US-centrism in fandom

Yes, I am very white, very American, and by now very into old buddy cop shows, but this was basically how the breakdown worked. It meant that something that looked like a minor quibble to one side was really, really not.

#fandom history #fandom meta #original work #cowboyformitski

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epicspheal · 4 years

Note

Hey! I remember a while back I read a fanfic of yours regarding twilight wings- the unofficial Raihan episode. In it their was an oc of yours, and I was wondering if you have any more? I like making oc's myself and it's fun to see other people's ideas and stories.

Hi there! You have...opened the floodgates (in a good way). I have quite a few champion OCs. I’ll focus on the various champion OCs I have since I’ve mentioned this on my blog before the champions of Pokemon remain my favorite class of characters as they have so much potential as we’ve seen with Leon in SwSh. This is going to be a somewhat long post as I have 5 champions to talk about (plus there are pics here, most of them commissions from some very talented artists that I’ve tagged as I can’t draw)

(There’s Marsha and her starter/ace Rosemary the Audino with @hayleyb100 ‘s character Richard. Thank you HayleyB for drawing this! And if you guys haven’t please check out her amazing art and stories)

I’ll start off with the OC you mentioned in your ask...Marsha (full name Marsha Miller). She’s the Alolan champion that we see in my Conviction, the Raihan twilight wings episode (also shameless plug for my fic). Like many champions she’s a mixed type trainer, but she does have a slight preference for fairy types on her team. Unlike the SM/USUM protagonist, she actually hails from Unova but her family is military (her father used to serve under Lt. Surge before becoming a lieutenant himself) and so she’s lived in Unova, Kanto, and Alola. Before she ended up becoming Alola’s champion, she was content with being head of the cheer squad at her high school while in Kanto (before her family announced moving again and she was needless to say, quite upset at the prospect of throwing away her cheer captain title). Back when she lived in Unova, she would often stop by her grandparents herbalist shop to learn about various medicinal herbs.

I hint to this a bit in my Convictions fic when Marsha asks Raihan a question about him becoming champion elsewhere, but Marsha has a huge bout of imposter syndrome from being the first ever champion of Alola as she doesn’t feel like she measures up to the legends like Red or Blue or known superstar champions like Leon and Cynthia. A lot of her character growth comes after she wins the title as she learns to work with Kukui to help build up the Alola League and make it famous. Luckily she happens to be a pretty friendly, if somewhat reserved character making it easy for her to befriend the likes of Leon and Raihan (and she also gets them to be a couple). Both Leon and Raihan give her tips they’ve learned from being in Galar to help boost the reputation of the Alola League. Back in Alola she is good friends with Mallow, Plumeria and Mina as they often visit Mallow’s restaurant to eat and catch up. She ends up being a big sister friend to Gladion, Lillie and Hau (being in her late teens when she first met the kids) as well as Iris when she meets her at the champion’s conference.

(Credit to @roseltheteacup for this amazing sugimori style artpiece of Calla. Please check out rosel’s artwork as well)

The next one is my probably my most well-developed champion OC and my version of Victor/Gloria...Calla Okoro. She’s the Sword Hero of Galar to go with Hop’s Shield Hero. Calla is a baby genius with an IQ of 162 (so she’d qualify for MENSA in the real world) and graduated college at the age of 12 with a degree in chemistry, a year before she ends up taking on the gym challenge. Her favorite type is poison and she decided that she would take on the gym challenge by using only Poison types, refusing a starter from Leon to train up her Budew and other poison types she found along the way.

Her knowledge of poison types would become very useful towards the end of the challenge and Eternatus awakening and possessing Leon , however this girl struggled so much at the beginning as the poison types she caught don’t really get good until they evolve. It was also a testament to having book knowledge of Pokemon and type advantages doesn’t equate to automatically winning a battle. She struggled especially at Kabu’s gym, resulting in her first official loss (outside of losing her second battle to Hop at Magnolia’s house due to his Rookidee being super effective against her Budew nicknamed Sabi). Calla is persistent though and patient so she worked with her team developing a killer toxic stall strategy (that helped her be the first person to take Leon down). As champion Calla uses her position to promote science and eventually goes back to school to get PhD, becoming the first Galar champion to also be a professor. When Calla is not doing Pokemon battles or giving science demos, she tends to enjoy doing backflip competitions with Gordie or rocking out at Piers’ concerts with Marnie and Hop and Bede (Bede will deny hanging out with them)

(thank you RPG Picrew, I have yet to get official commissioned work of him done)

This is Jabari Revere, my Kalos champion OC and part of the Kalos 5. I’m still working on his backstory and personality as I replay Pokemon Y (I tend to replay the games for my champion OCs to build up their teams and get a sense for the personality). Jabari is a water type champion who enjoys his days swimming in the ocean and surfing on his Mantine, nicknamed Monterey. Like Serena from the anime he is a bit at odds with his mother Grace for wanting him to take up the family tradiiton of Rhyhorn racing. However unlike anipoke!Serena, he did have a goal of training water type Pokemon with the aim of becoming a water type champion just like Wallace from Hoenn. Jabari is definitely an easy going fellow, which helps him befriend Serena, Tierno, Trevor and Shauna as well as Grant and Clemont. Unlike my Galar champion Calla, he is more willing to use Pokemon other than water types, such as when he fought Korrina at the Mega Evolution tower using the Lucario who was attracted to his aura, or when he rescued Yveltal from Team flare and let it get revenge on Lysandre

(this piece was done by @snowythesoft aka ChibiGirl! Thank you again for this and also please check out her art as well)

Yes, you’re looking at a robot. His name is Valen and is actually my first non-self insert Pokemon OC. After watching the first Pokemon movie and seeing Mewtwo be a Pokemon trainer, and also after watching the Watson computer on Jeopardy, I came up with the idea of “what if someone made a robot as a Pokemon trainer”. Hence Valen, the world champion of my version of the Pokemon World

Created by Molayne and Sophocles at the request of Red and Blue as a new fixture for the battle tree, Valen quickly began to learn from the some of the strongest trainers how to battle (with a frequent opponent being Marsha as she needed someone who could challenge her in battle). Once he figured out how to consistently beat the likes of Red, Blue and Marsha in battle...it was a wrap. Valen travelled to every known region and soon became the undisputed most powerful trainer in the world defeating every last living champion. He even took on Leon, Cynthia and Red in a triple battle and won. Despite his absolutely monstrous skill Valen is an absolute sweetheart and always compliments his opponents in battle. He also loves bowties, with his first gift being the red bowtie he sports from Sophocles do not touch or harm that bowtie if you value your life, it’s one of the few things that will actually piss off this gentle giant of a robot.

(credits to the VillainSona Picrew)

So this is my final non-self insert champion OC, His Royal Highness Jack, Duke of Stow-On-Side. In a discord server and on some messages here on tumblr, I’ve described Jack as the unholy combination of Caillou and Jack the Ripper. Jack hails from a disgraced family of aura guardians who learned that they could use their aura powers to create shadow Pokemon. 150 years prior to the main Sword and Shield story line his family managed to beat back the Hammerlocke Royal family (aka the great Raihan’s family) from Stow-On-Side and Ballonlea to claim the two towns for themselves. When Peony stepped down as champion Jack ended up taking the champion title. Now Jack is actually a legitimately powerful trainer without the need to shadowfy his Pokemon, but he does so anyway to ensure absolute control and to hopefully make his royal family the absolute rulers of Galar (his actions would years later inspire Sordward and Shieldbert, the Dukes of Motostoke). He even bribed gym leaders to be extra difficult on challengers he deemed to be a threat (so Leon, Raihan, Nessa and Sonia got hit hard with this).

Jack’s misdeeds are pretty vast. The reason why Sonia is so unconfident in her battling skills? Jack ambushed her in the wild area and destroyed her in a match while mocking her. Why does Leon have that perfect image as champion? He’s trying to build back the reputation the Galar league has after Jack nearly destroyed it’s rep on the world stage with his actions. Why are Leon and Sonia so insistent on you focusing on the gym challenge and leaving the problems to the adults? The adults during their gym challenge were either on Jack’s side or were actually useless against him and his shadow Pokemon. To quote my friends in an rp server I’m in “Jack is the absolute worst” So that’s all of the champion OCs I have. As I continue to write more fanfic will definitely see all of them pop up in various stories.

#pokemon champion #pokemon poc #pokemon OC #ask epic spheal #I love talking about my OCs so if you guys have any questions keep them coming #you have no idea how happy i was to see this question #I screamed at work in the breakroom and spent my lunch answering this lol

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genesisrose74 · 4 years

Note

inspired by you considering doing ships, i want you, if you would like to, to kin assign me based on my blogs because i’m very curious as to what (and who’s) vibes i give off. as many or as few as you want idm <3

AHHH YES CHAR I AM DOING ONE FOR ALL MY FANDOMS PER EACH OF YOUR BLOGS BECAUSE I CAN SEE SO MANY VIVIDLY, OKAY READY?? TOO BAD HERE THEY ARE

*****

Okay so your writing blog gives me super refined, dedicated, like if the word flourish was a person/blog lmao, but you also have your moments of simple fun and jokes—so here’s your kins from some of my primary fandoms:

Dsmp: Niki -> super sweet and organized, each word on your blog’s fics gives off this polished but super cute accent that literally no sane person can resist. the type to bake you something for no reason except to see you smile. has a villain arc but everyone loves the character regardless.

Haikyuu: Kiyoko -> literally the most celestial and beautiful person with a kind heart and soft words of encouragement. super mega skilled and very reliable person who puts effort into the things they care about. everyone can’t help their admiration - it just happens because woah.

BNHA: Nejire -> powerful but graceful, another presence that no one can willingly ignore. loves asking questions and making friends while on their journey of growth and discovery, and that positive/growth-centered attitude has gained peoples’ respect.

Attack on Titan: Pieck -> sweet, laid-back, and calm, but super headstrong when it comes to more serious situations. like the cool aunt but sprinkle some more badass in there. could take a bullet for the people they care about and then take a shot back at their foe while mortally wounded, no problem.

*****

Okay and then for your personal blog I also get reliability, but with much more attitude and a sprinkle of good satire that also makes you the funny person in your group of peers. No I do not take criticism here; take your kins and shush.

Dsmp: Captain Puffy -> a huge sweetheart but will absolutely whoop someone’s ass if they’re being irritating. Group mom energy but add more protective aggression and fun adventures and that’s the exact vibe.

Haikyuu: Yaku -> will bite your ankles and look cool doing it. a huge badass who retains a lot of respect, even when out of their comfort zone. cross the people they care about and prepare to never see the light of day again. super cool and funny; gets along with people who share their same passions very well.

BNHA: Yaoyorozu -> a leader figure who sometimes doubts themself but who is a consistently reliable pillar for others. puts the thoughts and feelings of others before their own needs in most - if not all - situations. academically thriving older sister type beat.

Attack on Titan: Ymir -> can and will insult you but in a loving way. anyone else tries that and you will never see their faces again. fiercely loyal to those deemed worthy of their friendship. not really a big sis or mom figure but definitely has some badass cousin energy. cross them and you’ll be forgiven, but don’t test the waters too often or face a bonk on the head.

#char my beloved #TAKE IT #TAKE IT ALL #I deffo wrote too much sorry lulw #but I’m 10000% right so #chat with genesis

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dragonnan · 4 years

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This is faaaar from a complete list and will be spotty at best but I’ve been pondering MCU characters a lot as I’ve been getting slowly back to work on my mega-fic. I LOVE minor head canons. Simple stuff like favorite foods or what music they listen to or were they ever a smoker or whatever whatever. So I’m gonna give myself the challenge of crafting some head canon and anyone else is very welcome to dive in! (some things are already established via canon)

~ Ethnicity ~ Faith ~ Smoker ~ Alcohol ~ Favorite food ~ Favorite cookie ~ Favorite animal(s) ~ Favorite music ~

Tony Stark: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American-Jewish (he refers to himself as a “mutt”) Faith: “No thanks” being the initial answer but if he feels like opening up he’ll admit to believing there’s likely “something” out there but at the same time figures that “something” stopped caring about humanity a long long time ago. Smoker? Never liked cigarettes but smoked a few cigars when he was younger due to Obie’s influence. He never was a big fan but wanted to fit in with his mentor. Alcohol: Influenced both by his father and Obie, Tony started drinking hard liquor semi-regularly as young as 14 (his Dad let him try his first sip at the age of 6). He pretty much sticks with Scotch or Bourbon but is not opposed to cheap beer at a ball game. In fact the cheaper the better - a requirement for any self-respecting American. Favorite food: hot dogs. Neither one of his parents cooked. Breakfast and lunch were whatever whenever for all three of them but dinner? You better be sure you were at that table before the plates were set down or you could go without (and Tony got a slap from his father when he’d observed that rule only seemed to apply to him). But on the nights he was sent to his room, Jarvis would slip upstairs, later, with a sandwich or, on really rough nights, a couple of hotdogs. Favorite cookie: Those Christmas wreath ones made with cereal and marshmallow with the cinnamon candies. Favorite animal(s): he likes all animals but if he had to pick one for a pet he’d get an iguana. Favorite music: well duh lolol.

Stephen Strange: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American (borrowed from Benedict Cumberbatch’s ethnicity and adding the American) Faith: Originally atheist but now closer to Buddhist. Smoker: Never. Even prior to becoming a sorcerer he has always been conscious of what he takes into his body; especially given the history of cancer on his mother’s side of the family. Alcohol: Wine, occasionally, though he isn’t really a social drinker per-say. Favorite food: The spicy shrimp and pork dumplings from a Thai place in Midtown. Favorite cookie: Hmmm.... not a big sweets guy but he won’t turn away a few ginger-pecan cookies with coffee. Favorite animal(s): dogs - unequivocally. He had a border collie growing up on his family farm in Nebraska. Favorite music: please don’t make this poor man actually have to choose.

Steve Rogers: Ethnicity: Irish (as per comics) Faith? Irish-Catholic (as per the comics). Smoker? Prior to the serum there was no way he could safely do so with his health issues. After he started traveling with the performers all of the girls in the group smoked and he tried it out a few times but never developed a taste for it. Alcohol: he drank A LOT - easy enough to do as it never had any real effect on him. He enjoys scotch and bourbon (a taste he picked up from hanging around Howard Stark). Steve seems to low-key always have the munchies (like most enhanced) and once Tony picked up on that there are always a variety of snacks scattered here and there throughout the compound (also of benefit for Bruce, Peter, Thor, and, later, Bucky). Steve’s favorite foods typically remind him of his mother’s cooking. While they’d never had much (especially after his father died) his mom could do a lot with limited supplies. She used to make a fantastic meat pie with ground beef or tongue. He hates SPAM. They ate it in the Army, constantly, and just the smell will occasionally send him back to those days and not in a good way. Favorite cookie? Oreos. He can clean up a family sized pack in like 10 minutes. Steve loves animals but is especially fond of horses and dogs. There was a dog in his unit in WW2 and Steve, like most of the other men, would share bites of his rations with it. Steve is nostalgic about music from the 40s but finds that 70s rock really resonates with him.

Bucky Barnes: Ethnicity: Romanian-American (borrowing a little from Sebastian Stan’s ethnicity) Faith? Possibly agnostic. Smoker? Heck yes - both cigarettes and cigars. Like Steve, the serum he received (via Hydra’s experimentation) means he gets to dodge the detrimental side effects of smoking. Alcohol: He likes to drink but is almost exclusively a beer drinker. He has a big appetite but refuses to eat around others if he can at all help it. His favorite food is corned beef with cabbage. Steve’s grandmother was an Irish immigrant and would make it every Sunday before the war impacted rations. Since both Bucky’s parents were dead he’d often have dinner with his best friend. Also, unlike Steve, he actually likes SPAM. But then, arguably, he isn’t terribly picky about food in general. Favorite cookie: molasses. Favorite animal(s): birds - eagles in particular - though he doesn’t look too deeply at the psychology of their ability to just fly away. Needless to say a crafty observer might spot a former Winter Soldier tossing seeds towards the pigeons. Favorite music: He’s pretty eclectic though he shies away from anything too loud like death metal. He finds classical very soothing.

Peter Parker: Ethnicity: Mixed American-Scandinavian-German-ish Faith: Protestant upbringing but unsure where he currently stands. If pressed he’d say he’s “leaving his options open” Smoker? “Oh gross!” Alcohol: “Um, too young to drink, thanks! But if I WERE to... you know, try it just to taste it there was this mudslide at one of Flash’s parties that was super good...” Favorite food: spaghetti and meatballs. Lots of meatballs. Favorite cookie: chocolate chocolate chip with chunks. Favorite animal(s): NOT spiders. And NOT birds given how many rooftops he’s traversed layered in pigeon ick. He’d probably say cats. Favorite music: The B side of techno rock - especially Depeche Mode.

Peter Quill: Ethnicity: Half mixed American and half celestial. Faith: His Dad was a god and he killed him so he figures he probably isn’t on the best terms with the Big G God should He... or She... or Them... be out there. Look he just wants to do his thing and cause a little trouble without mixing it up with any other celestial types but if they DO wanna throw down he’d like to point out that he’s 1 for 1 and willing to rumble. Smoker: He would not say no to a really good cigar and may have possibly lifted a case from Yondu’s stash when he struck out on his own. Alcohol: Anywhere any time and in large quantities. Favorite food: A thick steakhouse bacon burger with potato chips right on the patty. Extra cheese please! Favorite cookie: He’s a simple guy with simple tastes. classic chocolate chip no frills no fuss and fresh from the oven. Favorite animal(s): He likes dogs - who doesn’t like dogs? But he really likes cows. Just maybe don’t mention the burger thing. Favorite music:

Thor: He’s a Norse god of legend so I figure we can forego the ethnicity/faith questions lol. Smoker: He has never understood this human custom nor has he felt any inclination to try it himself Alcohol: Beer, mead, and anything capable of knocking him on his ass. Favorite food: chili with ghost peppers. Though nowhere near as hot as the fire chilies of Muspelheim (which would be instantly fatal for humans so its just as well). Favorite cookie: strawberry cheesecake with macadamia nuts. Favorite animal(s): It’s a tossup between bilgesnipe and whales. Favorite music: The mighty horns of battle! He also enjoys old school country, much to Tony’s disgust. The story aspect of that music is what appeals to him.

Bruce Banner: Ethnicity: Italian-American Faith: Catholic in his childhood; currently Atheist or maybe agnostic. Smoker: He tends to avoid any substances for, you know, obvious reasons. Alcohol: See previous. Favorite food: Waffles with sliced mango. Favorite cookie: Oatmeal. Favorite animal(s): Mantis shrimp - “did you know they can generate so much power in their attacks that they can briefly super-heat the water up to 7,700 °C??” Favorite music: Indian- especially Krishna Bhajan.

Clint Barton: Ethnicity: Mixed European-American and Panamanian. Faith: His parents were both Protestant but he’s never latched on to any specific faith and hasn’t really devoted a lot of thought on the matter. He has a sorta loose idea of “maybe something out there” but that’s all the further he’s gotten on the subject. What he tells anyone who asks it’s that his religion is coffee. Smoker: Briefly when he was a teen. Alcohol: Beer - he’s a fan of dark lager. Favorite food: Coney Island dogs, Pizza, and pickle flavored potato chips. Favorite cookie: Monster cookies with the mini M&Ms. Favorite animal(s): Dogs Favorite music: 80s rock and some country.

Natasha Romanoff: Ethnicity: Russian. Faith: She was not given much choice when younger and was raised as “state atheist” (per comics). In the years since escaping that life, however, she has tried to discover more about herself. Her parents were both Russian Jewish and there has been a pull to discover more about that faith - especially since meeting Wanda - who is Jewish. Smoker: No. Alcohol: Some vodka - that’s a given. But she actually prefers wine; and honestly her favorites are wine spritzers. Favorite food: Favorite cookie: Krumkake filled with creme and berries. Favorite animal(s): Favorite music: Overall she listens to a pile of little-known bands and whomever is playing at whatever bar in whatever city she happens to be in. She also is a huge fan of old school Spice Girls.

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dem-obscure-imagines · 5 years

Text

A Mermaid’s Kiss

Benny Weir x Reader

Prompt: Heyyyyy I saw you were asking for requests for Benny and I’ve loved him forever askjdhalsaldj could you pleeeeeease write a fic with Benny x a mermaid reader? You can do whatever you want with it! Thanks so much! I love your writing!!!

Note: I was watching H2O, so here we are *shrug* I ALSO love Benny.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 2k

Benny Weir was perhaps the nerdiest guy you knew. He loved Star Wars and video games and he was always hanging out with his nerd friends. And it was for that reason you harbored such a big crush on him. There was only one problem: you were a mermaid and he had no idea.

“Really. Benny. You have a crush on Benny.” Erica rolled her eyes, obviously not amused. Sarah was sitting next to her, grinning, obviously amused. “(Y/N) let me tell you something. You’re a cheerleader. And Benny is…”

Erica pointed over to the table he, Ethan, and Rory were sitting at, where they were laughing and mimicking fighting with lightsabers.

“Benny is Benny.”

“I think it’s cute.” Sarah tilted her head at you. “Plus, Erica, you’re a Dusker. Doesn’t that give you some sort of nerdy fangirl cred?”

“It’s different.” Erica shook her head. “Benny, Ethan, Rory…they’re mega nerds. You could do sooooooooo much better than—”

Erica was interrupted by the voice of your favorite nerd. “Sarah, Erica, sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask (Y/N) something.”

“Yeah?” You asked, confidence you were sure you could thank your mermaid ancestors for welling up inside your chest. Most teenagers, when faced with their crush, would melt into a puddle, but being a mermaid granted you certain perks, one of which let you embrace these fuzzy feelings rather than letting them control you.

“I…so, uh…well…” Benny scratched the back of his neck and looked back to Ethan, who motioned for his friend to get on with it, nodding encouragingly. “Can I take you out sometime? There’s this n-new movie that’s out and Ethan said it’s lame, which leaves me with Rory and I don’t want to be stuck in a theater with—”

“I’d love to go to the movies with you, Benny.” You winked and smiled, and his jaw dropped, but he quickly recovered, smiling brightly. “I’ll bring my big purse so we can sneak in candy.”

“Sweet! I’ll pick you up at eight?”

“It’s a date.”

***

“This is not happening. This isn’t happening. There’s no way that this is happening.” Benny paced through his room, panicking as eight o’clock drew nearer and nearer. Ethan was sitting on his bed, flipping through some comic book while his friend had a near-existential crisis.

“You asked her out. Yes it’s happening.”

“Should I change my shirt? Does my hair look okay? What time is it—”

“You should probably go pick her up soon.” Ethan checked his watch. “You look fine, Benny. Besides, Sarah told me she likes you. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Right, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s the prettiest, most perfect girl in the whole—”

“Just go already!”

“Right. You’re right.” Benny sucked in a nervous breath and walked out the bedroom door. It seemed like only minute later that he was standing on your front porch, holding a bouquet of flowers he had summoned, something tropical and sweet-smelling. There were perks to being a spellmaster, he supposed. And then, after straightening his shirt, he rang the doorbell.

It was your mother who answered, taking one look at the young spellmaster in front of her and grinning brightly. “You must be Benny! It’s so nice to meet you. Come on in, (Y/N) should be just about ready.”

“Thank you, Mrs. (L/N).” He stepped over the threshold. Your house wasn’t quite what he expected. Tucked away into the spooky little town of Whitechapel, your home screamed ‘beachhouse.’ There were seashells sitting on every surface, fishing nets and paintings of the sea covered the walls, and tropical flowers similar to the ones he was holding were growing in planters tucked away into the corners of the room. “Woah, I love your house.”

“Thank you. When we moved here, I knew I’d have to make it feel more like home.”

“Where are you from, originally?” Benny wondered, looking around. He remembered that you’d moved to Whitechapel in middle school, but you never really talked about where you came from before.

“Sleepy little beach town down south.” Your mother told him. “I thought I’d never leave, but then I ended up meeting (Y/N)’s dad and—”

“Mom, don’t bore him.” You laughed, walking down the stairs. You were wearing a casual dress, just something cute that didn’t make it look like you had put too much effort into it, but Benny still looked up at you with all of the stars in his eyes. “Hi, Benny.”

“H-hi, (Y/N)…wow, you look great.” He held out the bouquet. “These are for you.”

“These are so pretty! Thank you.” You took the flowers and then handed them to your mom, who had her hand outstretched for them so she could put them in water. “Well, I’m ready if you are.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. (L/N), I’ll have her home by eleven.”

“Have fun, you two.” Your mom watched as you and Benny walked down the front path and got into his car. She smiled. She knew Benny would be good for you.

***

Once the movie ended, you and Benny walked out of the theater talking a mile a minute, very animatedly about how much each of you had enjoyed it. More than the film, though, you’d enjoyed spending time with your favorite nerd.

It wasn’t until you got to the parking lot, under the bright full moon that you realized there was a problem. The problem was: you’d forgotten there was supposed to be a full moon.

“Aaaaaaarghhh,” you groaned, your knees buckling as you stumbled into the nearest source of support: Benny.

“Woah, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Not…exactly…” You could already feel the tickle of scales forming on the sides of your legs. “We need to get to your car.” You looked up at him and made eye contact, your irises glowing blue. “Now.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Benny didn’t hesitate to scoop you up in his arms, carrying you as fast as he could back to his car.

The inside of your thighs burned, each one aching for the other, but you held them apart. If they touched, it was all over for you. It hurt, scales spreading further and further until finally, Benny set you in the passenger seat and closed the door behind you, racing around to the other side to get in. Once you were in the privacy of his car, you gave into the plead deep within yourself, and let your legs touch. Instantly, they took on the form of your large and powerful tail. Relief flooded your veins and you exhaled.

“What the fuck?!” Benny exclaimed, eyes wide as he stared at your tail. He looked up at you, calming down a bit when you giggled at his reaction.

“I’m a mermaid, Benny. I kind of thought that much was obvious.”

His eyes narrowed and he thought back on all of the times he had suspected something was different about you. There had been a few, admittedly, but he’d kind of deduced you were a werewolf or something, not a mermaid. “You know, I did have a few theories, but none of them had you pegged as something this cool. You’re okay though, right? It doesn’t…hurt?”

“I’m fine now, but the sooner we can get me back to my pool at home, the better.”

“On it.” Benny shook himself out of the initial shock of finding out that his crush was a mermaid and shifted the car into drive. A few minutes later, he pulled into your driveway and got out of the car, walking around it to the passenger side. He opened your door and looked down at you, thinking. There had to be some strategy to this, he figured.

“It’s heavier than it looks.” You warned him, flapping your fin as you said it. “And it’s a little slimy. Sorry if that’s gross.”

“It’s fine. I think we’ve handled worse in our days of fighting the undead.” Benny chuckled and slowly approached you, asking permission with his yes. You nodded, inviting him to attempt to carry you out to the backyard. He hooked one arm around your back and the other around where your knees would be, by his calculations, trying his best to make sure you were balanced. The last thing he wanted to do was drop you.

So, carefully, Benny lifted you out of the car, stumbling a bit as he adjusted to the extra weight, but then continuing to the fenced-in yard slowly but surely.

“Wow, my hero.” You teased, playing with his hair.

“Any day, milady,” he replied. Luckily for him, your father was on the other side of the gate, and he opened it for the struggling teenage boy.

“Haven’t we been over this, (Y/N)? I thought we said no dates on the full moon.” Your father, who was fully human, but had married your mermaid mother, chastised.

“Listen, I forgot. Also, Benny is a spellmaster so it’s not like we blew some big secret.” You told him.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Benny readjusted his grip on you, his arms straining from having to carry you for so long.

“That’s a relief.” Your father exhaled a sigh, letting Benny pass so he could lower you down into the pool. As soon as your tail hit the water, you felt a million times better, and you gave it a victory lap, racing around the edge a few times before settling down. Your mom was over in the shallow end, sipping on some wine. After so many years, she wasn’t even fazed by the power of the full moon. You, however, a relatively young mermaid, were very much affected by it.

You swam over to Benny, who was staring at you wide-eyed with a giant grin on his face. He knelt down beside the water, taking off his shoes before he sat on the edge of the pool, letting his feet dangle.

“Seeing you like this…it just makes sense, you know? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.” He said, still smiling down at you.

“If I look super happy, it’s not because of the water or the moon. It’s because you’re here. I was getting sick of hiding this from you, I just…didn’t know how to tell you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not mad, just surprised is all. This is probably the coolest way this night could have ended. Thanks for going out with me. I really had a great time.”

“So did I.” You pulled yourself up onto the edge of the pool so you were sitting beside him. “Thanks for not freaking out.”

“Of course.” He chuckled to himself, staring at his feet as he gently kicked them in the water. He noticed that your father was on the other end of the pool, lifting your mother out of it.

“I’m going to take a bath, honey, but you two have fun.”

And then it was just you and Benny alone in the backyard with only the moon and stars to keep you company.

“Hey, so…I…really like you, (Y/N). A lot. I have since…well, since you moved here, and I was wondering if maybe—”

You cut him off with your lips, a hand rising to frame his cheek. He faltered against you, caught off guard, but not disappointed in the slightest. His lips gently moved against yours, taking advantage of the opportunity. When had he ever thought he’d be sitting there kissing a mermaid? Not in his wildest dreams. But he certainly wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

When you pulled apart, he murmured, “woah…” grinning that adorable grin of his. “I just kissed a mermaid…”

“Yeah, you just kissed a mermaid.” You giggled and raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to do it again?”

“Well, well, don’t mind if I do.” He leaned in and captured your lips once more, a little bolder this time.

And that was how you spent the night, under the bright full moon. Although you didn’t tell him, kissing Benny felt pretty magical too…

#benny weir #benny weir x reader #benny weir imagine #benny #benny x reader #benny imagine #mbav #mbav imagine #my babysitter's a vampire

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queenlua · 4 years

Note

002| Ferdinand and Seteth for the character ask meme!

huh! what an cool & interesting pair of dudes to ask about, anon; i don’t think anyone’s ever asked me to wax poetic about them before.

here goes:

Ferdinand

How I feel about this character: Mega-dorky overeager knight with an over-the-top commitment to DUTY and JUSTICE and NOBILITY? Sign me up; this archetype is my shit.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Mercedes and Dorothea are both plenty cute. With Hubert isn’t exactly cute, but often very fun.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: same as above

My unpopular opinion about this character: As with most moderately-goofy characters, I suspect fandom plays up his goofy elements a little too much. I think I also read some fanfic which tried to turn his dad into like, a Super Bad Guy? Not sure if that’s popular or if I was just reading offbeat stuff, but that doesn’t really work for me—his dad getting ganked is one of the saddest damn moments in the game.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish he’d been able to push back on Edelgard in a more meaningful way than just rivalrous feelings... but I suspect that recruiting Ferdinand on Silver Snow would give me this, so uh, I guess I should play the Silver Snow route someday, shouldn’t I

my OTP: is... is Ferdinand/honor a ship? can that be what i pick

my cross over ship: dude would be buddies MY BOY, Crimean Royal Knight Fifth Platoon Captain Kieran :D (from FE9/10)

a headcanon fact: so, you know how one of his missing items is an agricultural survey, right? the nerd. the absolute nerd. basically i suspect he does the very Freshman In College Thing, where the second he takes his first class in a subject, he gets VERY EXCITED about all the AMAZING REFORMS that could be done based on this subject, and starts writing EXCITED LETTERS home and starts suggesting all these AWESOME IDEAS that he got from the in-universe equivalent of like, y’know, the Stanford Prison Experiment. but applied to agriculture, army formations, trade policies, etc. (luckily, Ferdinand’s eagerness always draws the attention of at least a few actual experts, and he’s happy to take their ideas when it comes time to Actually Do Stuff.)

Seteth

How I feel about this character: Generally warmly. I like him best in his supports where he gets to have a father-y mentor-y role—dude is keen and very sweet when he’s, i.e., reaching out to a prickly Felix, or Catholic-guilt-ing Hilda, or chillin’ out and fishing with Leonie.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Gosh, I am... struggling to think of anyone. Any ship would only be a really downer-ish/temporary/filling-a-void thing, right? I think the dude still has a big hangup about his dead wife, and honestly it’s a lil’ hard for me to imagine trusting a human in quite that way. (And yes yes I know he has like, canon endings. They just mostly don’t work for me.)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Leonie.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Not sure what the consensus is on him, but if I were to fic/obsess/whatever over him, I think there’s rich soil in just how deferential and unagenic he is in some respects. Like, yeah, he’s a stick-in-the-mud and a stickler when it comes to day-to-day running-the-monastery business. But I get a weird sense of resignedness from him when it comes to the big things. Rhea engineered the whole soft-power controlling-the-country thing as a way to prevent another massacre, and also engineered the whole bring-mom-back-to-life thing. Seteth I think is fine with the former goal, but isn’t invested in it for its own sake—it feels like he’s there because Rhea’s there and that’s what he’s got left. Macuil just said fuck society and went to hide in the desert. Seteth’s not quite committed to either path—is it just that he’s decided to focus solely on protecting Flayn? or is there a deeper wound/psychology going on there?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: ...honestly I just wish he were a better unit. His stats don’t look awful on paper, but he’s never worked out for me (despite being a damn flying unit!!!), and his stats are absolutely worse than the other lords.

my OTP: nah

my cross over ship: ...might be interesting to have him chat with Rafiel (FE10), actually, sorry i’m boring and only think about herons

a headcanon fact: definitely stealing this headcanon from something i saw on my dash, but—Seteth chose to get skilled at wyvern-riding because flying along almost feels like being a dragon again is just, oonf, that good sad shit

#ask meme #ferdinand von aegir #seteth

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helga-leakadia · 4 years

Text

All We Know 4

Chapter 4: Celebrate

“I don’t bite...unless you want me to.”

James gets drunk at a party, but the night ends like many others before.

Super excited for this one! I had a lot of fun writing it and I got the chance to add in one of my OCs for my planned mega fic, so you get to meet her here.

“GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR!”

The party was in full swing by the time the team even made it into the Common Room. As James entered, the noise nearly knocked him off his feet. He barely had time to make it ten steps in before someone had grabbed him and hoisted him on their shoulder, still screaming over Gryffindor’s win.

Looking around frantically, James tried to pick Sirius out of the crowd. Did he set this up? He knew this wasn’t even the House Cup, right? If this were supposed to be the smaller party, James was a little afraid what the bigger ones would look like.

He was lowered to the ground—or more accurately, dropped rather unceremoniously, causing his knees to buckle as he tried not to fall flat on his ass—before he was able to catch sight of any of his friends.

If he could just get to his dorm. He needed to change.

A hand tapped on his shoulder and had to look down until he saw a dark head of curls and a bright white smile. “’Lo Winnie,” he said, relieved to finally see a familiar face.

She held out a glass of something brown and cold. “Don’t tell Lily, but I was the one who got most of the firewhisky here,” she said with a mischievous smirk. He took a sip, letting the icy liquid warm its way down to his stomach, the cinnamon giving him a pleasant burn in the back of his throat.

“Your secret’s safe with me. She’s not gonna get McGonagall, is she?”

“Nah, she’s at least three drinks in at this point, she’s having a good time. I made sure of it.” The way Winnie said the last part made James a slight bit weary, but before he could think too much of it, Sirius came up behind Winnie and place his chin on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug. She squealed and kicked at him to let her down, but laughed as she said, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you never sneak up on a black woman?”

“No, but now that I think about it, I’d never sneak up on any woman in my family,” Sirius quipped. Winnie playfully smacked his arm just before it found its way around James’s shoulders. “Congrats on the win, mate,” he slurred, leaning in to be heard over the blasting music.

“You know it wasn’t a big game, right? What’s with the rager?”

“Never need a reason to party! But it’s the last weekend before break, might as well have a little fun, right?”

“Well, if you insist,” James said before downing the rest of his drink. Winnie whooped before excusing herself to get another round, presumably from one of the tables in the corner someone undoubtedly smuggled up somehow. Having been on the Quidditch team since Second Year, James never did help set up any Common Room parties and was vastly lacking in knowledge of how they were kept hidden.

The music kept blaring and Winnie made sure their drinks were never empty. For a little sprig of a girl, she sure could hold her liquor. James, on the other hand, was thoroughly wasted. The firewhisky was trying to make his ears steam, as if he had just eaten a bag of Pepper Imps. Sirius wasn’t faring much better, having already been stumbling and slurring his words by the time he found James.

Sirius loved mixing his alcohols, too. He came up with crazy concoctions as if he were mixing potions and loved to have the others test them out, with wildly varying degree of drunkenness following.

Sirius, true to his Animagus form, was like an excitable puppy when he drank. He became even more hyper and friendly and just wanted to dance the night away with his ten new best friends. But even through all that, he made sure to drag James along for the ride. As if he were a little kid, he often clung to James the more he drank, wanting to keep a buoy nearby just in case.

Tonight, his arm barely left James’s shoulders. Not that he minded, it was warm and comforting there, and definitely kept James from falling over as he started stumbling. It also kept him from getting too close to Evans when he spotted her those few times, looking beautiful if a little annoyed at the noise level not dying down once the wee hours of the morning crept in.

“Yeah, Jimmy Potter here’s gonna lead us to victory again and again, ain’t that right, James?” Sirius was saying to…someone and their twin? Maybe. James couldn’t tell. But Sirius was saying it, so he was probably right, so James nodded in agreement.

“Best Chaser Gryffindor’s got, mate,” Sirius said, quieter this time. Did someone tell him to quiet down? Were they going to get in trouble? Should they hide? Sirius wasn’t hiding, he was still talking. He was warm, so warm and strong next to James. His breath was hot on James’s ear. It tickled the hairs on the side of his head. He liked it; Sirius should keep doing it.

Remus! Remus was here! “Hiya Remus!” James slurred, excited to see his other friend. He’d been pretty down lately, but now he was looking relaxed and smiling. He must have been drinking too. Remus almost never got drunk. He was a strong boy.

“Yes, James, you’re right,” Remus said, chuckling good naturedly. Oh, James must’ve said that out loud. “Yes,” Remus confirmed, still smiling at him. “Might want to get him upstairs.”

“Aww Remus, you always take care’a us,” James said, a goofy smile spreading over his face. He grabbed Remus’s arm, turning himself into the ham of a Sirius and Remus sandwich. This was nice. He liked being here with them. Where was Peter? He could be the cheese. “Peter! Be the cheese! Peter, we need cheese!”

Peter didn’t show up. Prick. Where could he be? Remus was trying to pull away, but he couldn’t. The sandwich would fall apart without him. “Hey, Remus, don’t go.”

“C’mon James, I wanna get some food. You could probably use some too.”

“Okay yeah, yeah, le’s gessum food. I like food.” He tried to walk by pushing into Remus, but Remus was an unmoving wall.

“James, mate, slow down, you’re gonna hurt someone.”

“What? Naw! I won’t hurt ‘nyone. Will I, Sirius?”

“Dunno mate, you’re pretty scary sometimes. I wouldn’t wanna get on your bad side.”

“Come on Sirius, I don’t bite.” James leaned in, basically placing his mouth right on Sirius’s ears. “Unless you want me to.” His giggle sent a great shudder down Sirius’s back. He tried to pull away from James as well, but James immediately latched onto his both arms, keeping him properly trapped.

“You're barking mad,” Sirius said, his voice going soft and small. James had to lean in to hear it, pressing his cheek close to Sirius’s. His skin was soft, and James found his long hair with one hand. It was so silky, and he could just smell it from where he leaned his head. It smelled clean, like soap and just a slight hint of vanilla. “James?” Sirius sounded scared. James must protect him! His head snapped up, but he kept his arms wrapped tight around his friend, looking for the danger. He didn’t see anything. Everyone else seemed to be fine.

James moved until he was directly in from of Sirius, looking quickly behind him before resting his forehead on Sirius’s and closing his eyes. He could smell the vanilla still and it was mixing with leather that always seemed to stay with Sirius, even when he wasn’t wearing his Muggle jacket. It was so cozy and now it was mixing, too, with the cinnamon of the firewhisky. Mmmm, it was like Christmas.

Hey, Christmas was soon! He had to make sure Sirius got some nice gifts! He should owl his mother right now!

“No no no, James, no! No owlery!” Sirius wrapped his arms around James’s middle and he instantly sagged. He didn’t need to be anywhere else but here. He loved it here. Sirius was warm and safe. He missed this when they had been fighting. “Let’s get upstairs.”

They stumbled their way up the stairs and crashed unceremoniously into James’s bed. A smiled played on his lips as he fell asleep against Sirius’s chest.

If they woke up the next morning wrapped up in each other, slight hangovers causing them to need a bit more pumpkin juice to make it through the day but otherwise no worse for wear, well, then, it was just another fun night. Wouldn’t be the first time, and wouldn’t be the last time, that they shared a bed. Nothing weird there.

#all we know #stuck at home scribbles #prongsfoot #prongsfoot fanfic #may writing challenge

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