#as well as everyone who's commented and bookmarked over on ao3

[dragonnarrative-writes]

Transferrable Skills Part 7

Transferrable Skills Masterlist

Read on AO3

CW: Smut, 18+/MDNI, CMNF (clothed male naked female), continued hamstring stretches (advised by the appropriate medical professional), praise, kissing, manual stimulation/fingering, touching under clothes, explicit consent, dirty talk

The noise you make would be embarrassing if you couldn’t feel the effect it has on him, see the way his pupils almost swallow his irises. With your calves over one shoulder, he pulls your underwear clear. You expect him to toss them aside, but instead, he places them down gently next to your hip.

Then, he parts your legs to let the left one fall back to drape over his leg. Your your face gets hot when you hear how wet you are. Simon makes an interested noise, getting your left leg back into position as he pets lightly over the hair you’d thankfully groomed before your trip. His thumb dips down to just barely brush over the hood of your clit.

“Already so wet f’ me,” he rumbles. “Set your hips. Good girl.” As he straightens your leg, he shifts his own hips and makes room for his hand between you. The breath hisses out of him when his fingers slide across where you’re wet and wanting. “Fuck. Tell me you want it.”

“I want it,” you whimper, resisting the urge to roll your hips into the barely there touch. “Green. Green, Simon, please, I want it.”

He doesn’t make you ask again, just lets a thick finger sink in ever so slowly. His thumb rubs soft and slow, using your wetness to glide gently over your clit. You try not to moan too loudly, to hear the way he huffs into the side of your calf. For once, he’s not staring at you. Instead, his eyes are closed, breaths shallow as his finger pulses inside of you, almost metronome steady.

The heat that’s been pooling in your belly spills into the rest of your body. You can’t help but squeeze around him, once. He’s so gentle that you can feel yourself soften and open for him, until the friction is nothing but the shivery, slow ascent toward your peak. You don’t resist the urge to tip your head back with a soft sound.

After a few long moments, you flutter your eyes open. When you look at Simon, you notice the slightest tremble in his shoulders. His head is tipped down, but you can see tension in his neck, though there’s only the lightest pressure where his temple meets the leg that is still over his shoulder.

You touch the top of his thigh, surprised by how rigid he’s holding himself. “Simon?”

“Mm?” His voice is just as soft as his muscles aren’t.

Your voice comes out just as quiet. “You okay?”

The hum he gives you is noncommittal. But he keeps petting you inside and out, steady and distracting. Three fingers on his other hand tap two times. He needs some time to think, to center himself.

Did you do something to upset him? You try to sit up to speak to him. Before you can get an elbow under yourself, he squeezes his fingers toward each other, a sudden, staggering pressure that makes you fall back with a yelp. You try to twist away, but as gentle as he is, you can’t break his hold on your leg - or between your legs.

“Settle,” he rumbles, pinning you with a heated look from beneath his lashes. He starts petting over your raised thigh. “’M okay, Bambi. Ready?”

You almost say yes. Your whole body wants nothing more but to melt into him. But… “A-are you sure?”

“’F course,” His whole face softens when he smiles. “Mos’ beautiful woman in the world ‘s in bed wi’ me. Tryin’ no’ to mess my pants like a green boy.”

You end up swallowing whatever you might say to that when he curls his thick finger back up to make quick, hard strokes against your g-spot. Even as a part of you starts purring with the knowledge that he’s so undone for you, you feel yourself start to come apart at the seams.

Simon straightens your leg, asking, “Number?” Which isn’t fair of him. You have to consciously resist the building tension in your body, resist chasing the orgasm that is building ever so slowly.

“Number, Bambi,” he prompts you again, with mean pressure over your clit.

He’s barely putting any strain on your leg, just holding your it up. “Two,” you gasp. “One and a half.”

He leans forward, just a fraction, with a grin. “Now?”

“Three-ee!” you yelp as his fingers speed up.

He holds you there, watching as you struggle to relax into the stretch. Each time you start to tense into the pleasure, he slows his ministrations, just a little. Just enough to pull you back from the edge. You want to curse him out, you want to cry. It’s agony just as much as a reward, a slow syrupy pleasure that makes everything a little fuzzy around the edges.

“Doin’ so good, Bambi,” he rumbles, what you suspect is much longer than 30 seconds later. “Ready for the other one?”

You give into the urge to arch your back as he adjusts you. Your voice is so soft you’re not sure he’ll hear you when you ask, “C’n I have more?”

Simon hums as he adjusts you to drape your other calf over his shoulder. “Ask me nice.”

Your whole body feels warm and soft and pliant. “Please, Simon, can I have another finger?”

“’F course,” he coos. He straightens your leg. It’s the barest hint of pressure. You whine as his finger withdraws, then settle when he pets at you with two. “Askin’ so nice. C’n ‘ave whatever you want.”

He pushes in, slowly, before he adjusts your leg, and you’re grateful. His hands are so large, and you appreciate them in a new way, now. His fingers are so thick you have to take a few deep breaths to let him in fully. You can feel the groan that scrapes its way out of his chest. Your own hands seek his thighs, clenching the cloth of his sweatpants in a shaky fist as he pushes your leg where it needs to go.

He doesn’t seem to need your input this time, pushing your leg just to where you need it. Or maybe he did ask, but you’re too focused on the gentle and implacable way he caresses you inside to hear him. He barely has to move to devastate you. Before, you had to try not to tense around him. Now? You’re not sure you have any command over your body. You’re at his mercy, the most serene you’ve ever been.

You can’t stop the noises you make when he starts moving again, little whines and moans that he echoes. The climax that has been building inches closer with every beat of his fingers. When he sets your leg back down, you only notice because he leans forward to brace his hand next to your shoulder.

“Good girl,” he rumbles, and the hand between your legs gets so insistent that you have to gasp for breath. “Good girl, Bambi. Tha’s it. You wan’ to come, pretty girl?”

“Si-mon,” you hiccup, turning your head to mouth at his wrist.

“Yeah, you wan’ it,” he rumbles, ducking down to pant against your cheekbone as he works his hand. “You c’n ‘ave it, beautiful, take your reward. Come f’ me, now. C’mon.”

Before Simon, you’d never been able to come on command. After a few months, his voice could coax you to you peak with a little preparation. Now, with his lips brushing your skin and his presence filling your senses?

You couldn’t resist him if you wanted to.

The orgasm feels like it’s torn from behind your belly button. You can barely breathe for how it rolls through you. If Simon wasn’t caging you in, you might shake apart. As it is, you grasp at him however you can, trembling and crying out in ways you’re barely aware of. His voice anchors you through it, rasped encouragement and snarled affection that you can’t understand.

It takes all of your strength to turn your head to catch his lips with yours. Simon takes over, immediately, perfectly, and you give in to him with a panting moan. He steals your remaining breath, but also starts to gentle you down, hand and fingers gentling from earth-shattering movement to something so slow and gentle that your hips chase the echoes of sensation. He lets you. The way he kisses you, you think he really would give you anything you want.

[muscari-midala]

Emergency Presents for a Certain Android

David x reader

word count: 669

Crossposted on Ao3

a/n: I really just typed that over the span of 2 - 3 hours because the dear @elecctromechanika hit me with "I thought about David getting his own handmade stocking" like a brick in the face and I HAD to write that asap because he deserves his own Stocking!!

Man, you were STRESSED!

It was the 24th of December, and you hadn’t really expected anyone to celebrate Christmas out here. But then there was Idris Janek.

Right after waking from cryosleep, he’d put up a little Christmas tree. And now he’d even laid out Christmas stockings beneath it!

Why were you so stressed? Because, of course, no one had thought about the crew’s android. So you hurried back to your quarters and dumped every bundle of yarn you had onto the bed, sorting through the various colors.

This stash was meant for relaxing and passing the time when you weren’t actively needed on the mission - but oh well, not this time.

You flopped down onto the couch, put on the extended cut of The Lord of the Rings, and got to work.

For the stocking, you chose a classic red-and-white Santa Claus color scheme, using thick, bulky yarn to finish it faster. And surprisingly, it worked out well. The finishing touch was crocheting the name “David” with thin red yarn into the white top rim. Et voilà!

But now came the real obstacle - what do you gift a synthetic person on a spaceship?

You hadn’t exactly packed an array of patterns, figuring you’d only be making scarves or the occasional cozy project, not emergency Christmas presents.

Fumbling through the yarn, you wracked your brain for ideas that weren’t potholders. Did he even cook? No, probably not, bad idea.

He liked movies, right? Quoting lines here and there? Did he read physical books or only digital ones? It didn’t matter - he was getting a crocheted bookmark either way.

Maybe a coffee cozy… but did he even drink or eat? You hadn’t seen him do that, but it was the thought that counted, right?

By the time you were done, you’d reached the end of the second movie.

After tossing in some coasters with random designs and a small case no bigger than your palm, you stretched your stiff, knotted fingers.

Praise the hyperfocus - at least this time, or you wouldn’t have finished so quickly.

Stuffing the gifts into the stocking, you tiptoed through the empty, grey corridors until you reached the common area. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, you played the role of a secret Christmas elf, placing David’s stocking alongside the others before quietly sneaking back to your room.

On Christmas morning, everyone gathered for breakfast and excitedly checked their stockings.

Each person found a few sweets, Fifield even pulled out a small pebble and side-eyed Millburn, who sheepishly looked away.

And then there was David, brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at the noticeably different stocking with his name on it.

A clap on his back startled him.

“Looks like a Christmas angel got something for you too!”

You? A Christmas angel? The comment made you blush, which he, of course, noticed and made him grin.

David followed his gaze and stared at you for a moment before turning back to the stocking.

“You made this… for me?”

Feeling suddenly self-conscious, you walked over and nodded.

“There wasn’t one for you, and I didn’t want you to be empty-handed. It’s not very detailed, but there are some gifts inside. I hope they’re okay.”

Rubbing the back of your neck, you watched as David carefully pulled out each handmade present, studying every row.

“I appreciate it. I’ve never received a gift before.”

That made you frown. Never? Not a single little gift?

New mission unlocked.

“If that’s the case, I’ll make you more.”

Was that… an honest smile on his lips?

“But I don’t have anything for you.”

Waving off the comment, you replied, “Doesn’t matter. Maybe I’ll make you some slippers so you don’t walk around in those flip-flops anymore.”

Glancing down at his feet, you were surprised by him putting a hand on your shoulder.

“Thank you. Merry Christmas, (L/N).”

You beamed at him, deciding that every strained, aching finger had been worth it.

“Merry Christmas, David.”

[olderthannetfic]

Nearly 75% of fic on AO3 has less than 5 reader comments. Can we please acknowledge that lack of engagement in a positive fashion is the norm in fandom and that writers are expected to work for nothing in return yet readers are allowed to be entitled?

The source of my number

https://www.tumblr.com/transholmes/738776926733336576/and-even-those-numbers-on-the-lower-end-are

--

Hahahahaha.

Oh, anon.

Okay, first of all, I just posted a bunch of graphs showing exactly this, so not only am I well aware of it, but you also clearly don't read my tumblr much and are just here because some friend of yours is upset that I responded negatively to them about their dumb bookmarking opinions.

Second and more importantly...

No, no one is expected to do anything.

That's crazypants influencer talk where you think your hobbies are jobs that you have no choice about doing.

I suppose I do expect fans to have something at least marginally worthwhile to say—or else I'll block them for being whiny little bitches who make my day dumber as well as less amusing.

But mostly, what I expect is that people will do hobbies because they are fun. If I ever decide that writing fic is too boring, I will stop.

I write because it's fun.

I write original work for money too, and if you want to read that, you're going to have to pay Amazon your cold, hard cash. But I still do it because I enjoy the actual act of writing... at least a lot of the time.

What I see in the bookmark boo-hooing is a bunch of people who haven't noticed the last eighty thousand rounds of this same dumb wank and who not only expect to get the last word but expect that somehow I'm going to signal boost it on my tumblr as that... a tumblr known for contentious debates and nobody ever getting the last word till everyone's exhausted and never wants to hear about paper plates or beans again.

I also see that some of the thinnest-skinned people have fic patreons.

Now, I chose not to bring this up before because it sounds a bit below the belt in that "And thus you're morally impure and thus I can ignore your argument" way... But it's a consistent pattern in these conversations over time, and I do think it's relevant. The biggest sensitive babies are always the ones most afraid of bad reviews but also low engagement, and I think it's because they're caught in some half-pro, half-not limbo where they want the best of both worlds but keep getting the worst of both.

If you behave like a professional who is owed compensation, you can expect a more professional style of response to your work.

And what does the pro world look like? Radio silence. The occasional harsh review. Nobody caring why you wanted to write X or why you couldn't finish Y on time.

If you're here to socialize, you should look for a beta or a couple of good friends who like your blorbos and your style of fic, and then you can squee together about what you've written. It may not come in the form of visible AO3 comments. It may be in private chat.

In some cases, it may just be friends you can talk to about your writing but who aren't actually going to read it. I have plenty of friends who read different things than what I write.

That's what socializing and hobbies look like, dude.

It's fine to point out that many writers do get discouraged by low comment counts and then stop, so if I, as a reader in a fandom, want more, it behooves me to befriend writers and make them feel good.

But at the same time, writers get discouraged or move on to the next fandom all the time for all kinds of reasons. If the critical mass and the zeitgeist aren't there, then they aren't.

Do your hobbies for reasons internal to you.

If the main point is external validation, get into BDSM and find someone excited to indulge your praise kink. It will work a lot better than chasing fame via art.

[krankittoeleven]

AO3 Wrapped (author edition)

I was tagged by @softest-punk. Thank you so much friend, your output this year was stunning as always!

in chronological order, the fics i posted this year are:

we were hungry before (E, JJK, Nanago, slow burn, mutual pining, getting together)

i wish it were me inside your veins (T, JJK, Nanago, whump, hurt/comfort, curse effects/mission gone wrong)

what it tastes like (E, JJK, GetoNanaGo, pwp, getting together, somehow Gojo is the well behaved one?, WIP - UPDATE SOON!)

my life would suck without you (T, JJK, Nanago, feelings, emotional hurt/comfort, depressed!Nanami, angst with a happy ending)

just desserts (E, JJK, Nanago, pwp, humor, slightly feral Gojo)

that's how the light gets in (T, JJK, Nanago, humor, fluff, slice of life)

escape (the pineapple fic) (M, JJK, Nanago, Accidentally Stoned Gojo, humor, domestic bliss, marriage proposal only Nanago could pull off)

the sparking of the outlaw nanami kento by the right and honorable judge higuruma hiromi (M, JJK, Higunana, Cowboy AU, Judge!Higuruma, Outlaw!Nanami, WIP)

your heart that's a hole (E, JJK, GetoNana, GetoNanaGo kind of, cheating, toxic relationship, voyurism, jealous!Gojo, Baseball AU i guess lol)

and i'm feeling good (M, JJK, Higunana, flirting, first meeting, salaryman era Nanami)

nights in lonesome october (Various Ratings, JJK, NanaGo, jjktober ficlet collection that I didn't get far on but I want to finish)

committing to the bit (E, JJK, Getonana, beginning GetoNanaGo, fake relationship, getting together, College AU)

party favors (G, JJK, Nanago, slice of life, fluff, a silly ficlet to commemorate NanaGo reaching 3k fics on AO3)

*SECRET FINAL FIC* My last fic of the year is currently anonymous as it was written for a Secret Santa Exchange, when it is publicly revealed I'll add it here.

*****

Stats

Works Published : 14

Work Subscriptions: 253

Kudos: 3190

Comment Threads: 224

Bookmarks: 885

Word Count: 121,868

Hits: 31,437

*****

top 3 fics (of all years) by kudos:

(544) we were hungry before (E, JJK, Nanago, slow burn, mutual pining, getting together, 2024)

(427) just desserts (E, JJK, Nanago, pwp, 2024)

(352) i wish it were me inside your veins (T, JJK, Nanago, whump, hurt/comfort, curse effects/mission gone wrong, 2024)

*****

top 3 fics (of all years) by word count:

(86,992) water of life (E, AC Valhalla, Ubba/Vili, emotional slow burn, getting together, hurt/comfort, incomplete but I swear I want to finish it, 2021)

(30,965) we were hungry before (E, JJK, Nanago, slow burn, mutual pining, getting together, 2024)

(21,811) but like a refugee (E, Trigun 98/TriMax, Vashwood, fix it, 2023)

*****

top 3 ships:

Gojo Satoru/Nanami Kento

Geto Suguru/Nanami Kento

Geto Suguru/Gojo Satoru/Nanami Kento

Yeah, that checks out LMAO

*****

top 5 tags:

Humor, Banter, Fluff, Kissing, Hurt/Comfort...............I can't believe fluff was one of my top tags this year...WHAT HAPPENED? LMAO

*****

Thank you everyone that read, commented, kudos'd and reblogged my stuff over the year. I've be having a blast going mental over NanaGo and JJK. *cries* Thanks especially to @brasideios for the awesome beta work they've been doing for me. Literally life changing advice!! Also thanks to @uchihaprodigy and @ftld for being awesome people who just let me fill their discord DMs full of inane fic and JJK rambling. LMAO

i will tag @brasideios @beelzebby666, @madnessmadness, @ftld42, @togaki-kun, @lifewtr, @arquiving, @hopethepope26 (seriously just had a meltdown cuz I forgot you aren't anixit here and I thought I was going insane LOL), @findusinaweek, @aeide, @satonthelotuspier, @kentozone, @loveleffie, @sukunaaaah and of course any writers that i missed. No pressure of course!

Also, I'm still working on the WIP ask meme, I haven't forgotten about the submissions that are left!!

[fuckyeah-beringandwellsfics]

Hi! I'm not new to Myka and Helena, I remembered them from the 2010s and now watched the show just for them, but I am new to Myka and Helena fanfiction.

Do you know any more fics like this https://archiveofourown.org/works/957200?view_adult=true or vaguely like this?

Is there a big masterlist of good Myka and Helena fics? I've been reading through their tag on AO3, but there are 1600+ fics 😯 so it'll take me a while to read them. I'd like to read some good ones.

Hi and thank you for asking, anon! That fic is great, isn't it! (clickable version of the written-out link anon sent: Resigned to These Histories (We Exist) by journaliar/@snake-juice)

Anon, as far as I am aware, there is no *one* big masterlist.

Several people in this fandom have made their own rec lists over time, of course, from the very beginning. (The older they are, unfortunately, the higher the chance that some links might not work anymore, but you can still try them out!) I have a "fic rec" tag on my main blog (linked in case you want to know the source; that tag contains other fics too, not just Bering and Wells, but all of them femslash), and here are some Bering and Wells specific lists that I've found going through it:

styrofoamtokyo's list, from 2014

tracybering's list of Tracy Bering friendly fics and art, also from 2014

lonely-night's lists from 2017 and 2018

wibblywobblyida's list from 2021

There's also the Ballet AU, a collaboration with multiple fics and pieces of art, from several of this fandom's best authors and artists; highly recommended, masterpost here.

I'm sure there are more fic rec lists slumbering on people's blogs! So here's my call to anyone who sees this post: please link yours!

I myself am trying to assemble recs on an individual basis. Almost a year ago, I tried to make a list of what has been already recommended through this post, but now that is way out of date, of course.

Beyond these lists, the usual tips for AO3 and Tumblr apply (under a readmore for length):

when you found a fic you liked, click on the author's name and see what else they've written for the ship/fandom, see if you like those too

check if that author's bookmarks are public; those are fics that they liked, and maybe you'll like them too

and then with those fics, you can go to *those* authors' profiles and see what else *they* have written - and so on.

Don't forget to bookmark and/or download these fics so that you can find them again. You need to have a user profile yourself to bookmark fics (and that's not the only advantage; I highly recommend it - and remember, you can set your bookmarks to private if you want).

also, please please consider leaving kudos and comments on fics that you've liked - a lot of authors are still active in the fandom/for the ship, and kudos and comments always help us *stay* active, because they tell us that people still enjoy what we create. Even if the specific fic in question is from the early days of the fandom, kudos and comments are always welcome.

same goes for reblogs on Tumblr, be it the above lists, individual fic rec posts, or posts from the authors themselves with or about their stories.

some authors with a Tumblr blog also have a dedicated "my fics" tag or link on those blogs. Always worth clicking through from an individual Tumblr post to the author's blog, and seeing if something like that is on it - and if the author is still actively writing, consider giving them a follow (and reblogging their fic posts; I've heard from so many authors that their fic posts barely get any reblogs at all to spread the word)

I hope that all or at least some of these tips are helpful to you, Anon - there is a lot of great stuff out there, and you're right, it can be a bit daunting to figure out where to start. And hey, it's always okay to click back out of a fic you find you don't like. No harm no foul, even if the fic came recommended; everyone's taste is different! There is no "required reading" that you *have* to have done to be a fan. You already are, no matter how many fics you've read!

[s0lifuge]

to celebrate hitting over 100k words of hp fanfic* on my ao3 account i'm going to self indulgently reflect on my favourites of the fics i've written so far in this fandom!

i was having visions of sugared pastry (cooked up in clarified butter)

rating: mature pairing: draco/harry warnings: eating disorders, violence, homophobia word count: 33,867 thoughts: this is my favourite fic that i've (co)written, and its metrics seem to reflect that readers agree. depicting draco's ED in this fic is maybe the most care i've ever put into writing something in my life. trying to capture the lived experiences of myself and my loved ones with EDs in a way that felt true to life AND to draco (and narcissa as his almond mom) was a remarkable challenge. i made something i'm proud of out of it. i know ED fics can be tough, but if there's anything of mine you're wiling to try to read, please let it be this!

i wanna be so real, you can't see the difference

rating: mature pairing: draco/harry warnings: body image issues, sectumsempra fallout word count: 5,248 thoughts: by kudos this is my second most popular fic, and i think i agree with that - it's similar in themes to sugared pastry, but more focused on harry and draco's relationship post-war (EWE of course). i really love exploring narcissa & draco's sometimes-loving sometimes-toxic thing i imagine for them, and i thought this had her spectre hanging over it in a really good way as well.

series: you can only get so wet

rating: explicit pairings: snape/draco, draco/harry, lucius/draco warnings: dead dove, teacher/student relationship, father/son incest word count: 20,190 (for now) thoughts: i find the idea of snape and draco getting into an illicit relationship, and how that interacts with draco's other relationships, both consensual (with harry) and nonconsensual (with his father) really compelling. this series is like, objectively gross, but i think my handling of the topics reflects my own lived experience of grooming and incest in a way i am proud to have articulated.

series: water of the womb

rating: explicit pairings: lucius/draco, draco/harry warnings: dead dove, teen pregnancy, father/son incest word count: 3,363 (for now) thoughts: so series is currently just one narsty fic about lucius being a terrible human being and transmasc draco suffering for it, BUT it inspired a mature-rated long slow burn i'm currently cowriting with the same author as sugared pastry about draco's pregnancy & how harry reacts throughout the process... we're really working to make it as perfect as possible so it's taking a while, but please keep an eye out for it! if you liked sugared pastry you'll like this one, and reading the dead dove is not necessary for getting the content of the longfic

tell me

rating: explicit pairings: draco/harry, lucius/draco warnings: fetishization of past sexual trauma, edgeplay word count: 2,908 thoughts: i just recently wrote this one, and honestly the porn is alright but the bulk of the fic that i really care about is how they negotiate the edgeplay during and after... it's challenging stuff but imo it really reflects what edgeplay is like, and how to healthily move forward from a scene when that's a part of your relationship.

bonus: the god-kings of wiltshire

rating: general pairings: draco/harry warnings: none word count: 1,996 (lol) thoughts: this is my least popular fic by every metric which is fine because it's so fucking specific lol but basically after seeing this amazing neolithic unesco world heritage site i was like "what about this but pureblood" and i think the result is pretty neat. check it out if you're feeling disturbed by every other recommendation on this list lmao

thanks for tolerating my navel gazing, and thanks to everyone who reads, reblogs, comments, leaves kudos, bookmarks, subscribes, you make writing so fun and lovely!!

[steddieficfind]

Okay guys, I'm going crazy here!!! can't find the fic… maybe it was deleted, but I remember very well, there's a scene where Eddie stands up for Steve when Joyce and Hopper come over. They say that Steve doesn't look after children very well that they are injured, and Eddie says that Steve, on the contrary, saved everyone and no one cares about him. There was also Dustin’s story that after the fight with Billy, only his mother checked on Steve and found out that he had a concussion. Oh, and Nancy blamed Steve for Mike's leg. Help me find it! Oh please!

Request 952! This sounds like it could be he was who you should’ve been by steddieas_shegoes!

On Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47449957

Send us an ask if this doesn’t sound right & Remember to comment, bookmark, and leave kudos!

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Now that CN is over I need more fics to read (I say as if I'm not in the middle of rereading CN and plan to reread ITYSG(AINLY) again because I'm literally obsessed with your fics). Do you have an recs? Also what's your favorite fics/comfort fics (you can include your own)? I always find it interesting to know what the authors of my favorite fics like to read when they aren't writing.

other than my other fics (babysitting in the apocalypse is my other zhongchi fic), i do have a some zhongchi recomendations! sadly i cannot actually go to my bookmarks atm nor provide direct links. i also don't really remember the authors' names of most of them? and you'd have to like.... save them for later, what with ao3 being down and all;; but here are some off the top of my head if you want to get planning:

(once ao3 gets back up i'll update this list with proper links and the authors' names and maybe more recomendations since i do have many more i just can't remember,,)

○ entirely out of spite by Bgtea - i generally assume everyone's already reading this one given how big it is (and how it was kind of my inspiration for cyanide even tho i never said it), but if you're not, holy shit are you in for a good one. literally anything bgtea makes is wonderful. this one is an au based on the premise of a different story, but you don't need any knowledge whatsoever of it to enjoy and understand eoos (tho consider it if you like the premise, bc it's also really good). the rundown is- a mondern ajax dies and wakes up in the body of tartaglia, the antagonist of genshin impact, a game he'd been playing before kicking the bucket. he is tasked by a weird isekai-anime looking menu to fill in the shoes of the antagonist or else, but he's not technically stopped from altering the story just a tiny bit or being ooc, so he goes about trying to play the tartaglia role without meeting the same end as tartaglia (who dies ingame). it's such a good fic i cannot recommend it enough - it's not complete yet, but the wait for each chapter is more than worth it, and bgtea always does an insane amount of research for everything they post.

○ literally any other zhongchi fic by Bgtea. there's this short one about pulcinella or capitano (i can't remember, it might've been pantalone) selling pictures of childe to increase morale in the fatui (something something pr strategies), that one is hilarious. there's another one about zhongli getting stuck as a dragon and childe taking care of him as the world slowly goes to shit from rex lapis being missing (a comment pointed out it might be called "ajax' adventure with dog-lizard" and it sounds about right for me). another one they have is the autumn winds are sighing i think. that one was posted WAY back, some of the info is a bit outdated, but it's still so, so good. i can't remember what it was all about, but i do remember it involves zhongli going to snezhnaya to meet childe's siblings. the pining and tension on that one is off the roof. i should read it again,,,

○ after everything by Amanveth (i think that's how their username is written,,) - literally palate cleansing fluff. there's really good angst as well but it's overall just very sweet and soft, very much a feel-good fic. it's about zhongli and childe going back to being friends after the events of the archon quest and slowly realizing they're in love. it's still ongoing but it updates shockingly fast, and it's a nice little thing to read before going to sleep.

○ the white cicada society by clementinesgulag. still ongoing i think, but i have paused reading it for reasons unrelated to the fic itself, so i can only really atest to the frist arc of it? but holy fuck is the first arc good. the angst is godly in this one, and i'm always a sucker for a good horror mystery. this one is about the gritty and slow reconciliation of post-archon quest zhongli and childe as they investigate a series of awful murders and terrifying paranormal shit (i'm pretty sure) going on in the city. (it might be revealed to not be paranromal later in the fic as that partiuclar plotpoint hadn't yet resolved when i paused it at the end of the first arc, but i wouldn't know. wouldn't make it any less good if it wasn't tho)

○ death became him by Merianon. also still ongoing i think, but part of the many fics i have paused reading for reasons unrelated to them (i have... way too many saved,,,). this one is about childe going back in time after dying and waking up as a god, and the fic starts there, so it's about how the events of the game go with childe as a god and not in the fatui. i can't remember all that much about it tbh, but i remember i really liked it, the concept was so interesting. i'm waiting for it to end.

○ a sight for sore eyes by ToumeiKyoudai. still ongoing afaik, but i paused reading it as of very recently (again for reasons outside of the fic). this one is the events of the game except childe is legally blind. you have no idea how interesting and hilarious this fic is, the premise is so simple but it's so nicely executed. i can't really say all that much more about it since it's basically just that- it's a retelling but childe's blind. and he's so fucking funny. it's all so fucking funny, and the worldbuilding is stellar, and i just really really like it i can't explain why exactly. it's not a comedy! but fuck it's so entertaining.

i have so many more that i wish i could put here but i'm not 100% confident in their titles nor which fic was which (happens when you have a ton bookmarked but have paused reading a lot of them), so i don't want to risk saying this fic is one thing when in reality it's something else completely different,,,

these last two i put below for reasons i'll explain in each of their blurbs, but they're still as recomended as those above!

○ lungs full of roses, by SecretlyACatLady. if this is the title (and i'm 99% certain it is, but i can't check), then this is hands down the BEST hanahaki angst i've ever read. i'm not kidding. this one is very specific in its angst tho, and i gather likely not what everyone is looking for in a hanahaki fic, but holy fuck. basically childe gets hanahaki here but knows he cannot afford to have anyone find out he has it (bc fatui) and also not that he died from it, i think? might be mistaking that particular plotpoint for another fic. anyway- he leaves liyue but zhongli goes to look for him bc he's confused and just wants to apologize for the whole tsaritsa's contract and all. it gets out of hand real quick when the ppl of mondstadt try to help by acting as pushy wingmen and it's so GOOD holy fuck. i've never liked when other characters try to push the main pair together and act all 'just kiss already we all know!' around them, and seeing it backfire as horribly as it could if it were a realistic scenario (tho enhanced bc childe) is so incredibly satisfying. the reason why i put it down here is 1) i'm not 100% sure that's the title and 2) if it hasn't been abandoned, it's been in hiatus for a while now. which is hearbreaking, but it's also such a good fic that i'd honestly recommend it regardless if only for the angst at the start. but i understand not everyone is in for something like that if it doesn't resolve/likely won't resolve (idk if it's abandoned tho but i understand that if a fic takes too long to update, people will fear the worst). so yeah,,

○ non-playable character, by Jouicifer. this one is here exclusively because i'm a sucker for horror mystery - it doesn't mean the zhongchi isn't good, but it's not as prevalent in the plot as in white cicada (another horror mystery), so i can't exactly put it with the other more zhongchi-centric fics? not that the zhongchi isn't here, but. hard to explain. this one is also hard to explain in general, i'm not sure if it's based on the premise of another story or if this is a highly-secific trope/sub-genre in china (i think?), but the author refers to it as 'unlimited flow', so look it up if you want to be sure. either way, much like with eoos, it doesn't matter if you know anything about whatever that might be to enjoy and understand the story. the rundown is childe and a bunch of other people are players in this sort of virtual-reality scenario hopper, where they get put in 'games' with other players where they can die (tho idk if die die irl as well). basically, in the newest scenario they get thrown into, it's a horror murder mystery about a haunted mansion, and their guiding npc is zhongli, whom childe has met in another scenario and whom he is an absolute simp for. god idk how to explain it, it's just so good; but you need to be there for the plot first and the ship second. the ship is there! it's just the plot takes presedence. but holy fuck is the plot good. the reason why it's down here, like lungs full of roses, isn't bc of the plot or the ship being secondary, but... well, it's also been in hiatus for a long while now. to this fic's credit in particular, it was in a long hiatus before, but updated! out of nowhere! and then it went into its current hiatus, so. again, i understand people don't like that, but i'm a patient person so i'm willing to keep it in my bookmarks for as long as it takes (and forever if it gets abandoned). it's just THAT good. and since there's not much horror murder mystery in this fandom (or in fics in general), i'll take whatever i can get. the mystery is good in this one, so it helps.

(edit: added some authors and a fic title, thank you archon-of-chaos and redwormonastring!)

[die-schwanenkoenigin]

AO3 Wrapped 2024

I was tagged by @lilolilyr to post my AO3 stats for 2024. Thank you!! <3

Please note that all titles/words highlighted in colors are clickable!

Works published: 19 total, 13 of which were for Hacks, and six of which were for The Devil Wears Prada.

Word count: 96,568. Shame I didn't reach 100k I guess (I was SO close, too), but oh well.

Kudos: 3,427 as of Jan 6, 2025

Hits: 67,797

Bookmarks: 445

Subsciptions: 401

Most popular by kudos: Partners, at 601. Oh, hey, it's reached 600 kudos since I last checked!!! The first fic of mine to go over that threshold :')

Most hits: the joys of spring, at a whopping 18,445! The hit count is so high that it's even closing in on my second most popular Camren fic (19,463 hits). Still, it'll be a long way to go to get to the top spot, where my most popular Camren fic currently sits at 27,821 hits. At the same time, it's been less than a year for this one, and seven for the others, soooo... who knows what'll happen!

Longest: Once again, the answer is the joys of spring! the joys of spring has exactly 30,000 words in 30 chapters. (My greatest accomplishment in 2024 tbh lol.)

Shortest: Well, technically speaking, it's Exclusive at 50 words. It's not a fic, though. It's a manip, and the article I wrote to go along with it is just... an afterthought. Which is why I'm going to go with That's not very in love with me of you at 500 words.

Most comments: the joys of spring once again, which got 145 comment threads.

Favorite comment: This one from @prozac-shaped-urn, hands down.

Wow!! I never thought I'd see the day where someone would give me a run for my money in the smut department, but you absolutely have!!! I'm highly impressed! The em dashes really add a heightened level of anticipation to the scene, and I like the hyperfocus on internal senses. The imagery of galaxies behind Ava's eyes speaks to the full-body domino effect of pleasure. It's very well executed. I'm over here taking deep breaths and consciously unclenching my jaw. Ya got me hot and bothered, ngl. Ava swallows. Blood rushes to her head, and she knows without a doubt that her face is red. She’s hot, burning hot, and she can’t pay attention long enough to hear the rest of what Deborah is saying. Not shaming, then. Accusing? Is Deborah accusing her of— Ava stares ahead and licks her lips. It’s all she can do to try not to be too obvious about the absolute state of her underwear. She’s so fucking—why is this not turning her off? Why is being scolded by Deborah doing it for her? “Come.” “Huh?” The way I also had the 'Huh?' reaction to reading 'Come' skldjfalkdjsf It spreads from her core to her stomach, to her thighs. And then to her heart, and to her arms, to her legs and head and her everything. / Ava swears something bursts behind her eyes. It might be a firework. It might be a meteor. It might be an entire fucking galaxy. / The galaxy behind her eyes explodes into a wall of white while her body pulses, her stomach contracting along with those pulses. This focus on internal senses is what I wish everyone would include in their smut. But writing erotica is a skill! It takes time to learn how to meld senses together to create an immersive reading experience, and I think you've done that well. Consider me a fan! <3

I didn't reply to it for days on end when I got it, I just wanted to read it over and over again. And I'm still not over it. Like. I'm deserving of this much praise????? Me???? Ahhsbjhdsvjcjdhb!!!!!

Fics that made me cry: The one fic that had any angst in it, Shattered Remains. Writing it felt really good. I loved it. But it did also make me very emotional.

Fics that made me smile: I don't really remember anything but the one fic that literally cracked me up every single time I attempted to read or edit it. Keepin' You Hangin' On The Telephone. My fiancée and I (jokingly, at first) tried coming up with absolutely ridiculous euphemisms for the vulva and vagina and after telling @wilfriede about it, they made me keep every single one of them. Without tagging the fic as crack, or warning people about it. And, honestly? It was kind of a blast. People liked it despite the horrendous euphemisms, and we three got a huge kick out of it and laughed about it for ages lol.

Gifts: Five! That's all the gifts I've ever received! :))) I got two Hacks fics from @lilolilyr, and three podfics from @wilfriede! Two of those were my own works, which made the gifts even more exciting! Like. Their Podfic of Bitte bitte mich is literally perfect. It's exactly how I imagined it and how I would have read it myself. (And you should totally listen to it.)

Collaborations: One! My first collaboration ever, in fact! Dare Me to Tell You the Truth was written by me, recorded by @wilfriede and me, and edited by @wilfriede for Pod Together 2024! As well as my first collab, this was also my first ever podfic. For either of those, I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with, honestly. @wilfriede -- thank you for your enthusiasm, your excitement, and your patience! You're awesome! (As are all of your podfics!)

Events: As mentioned above, Pod Together 2024. My first (and only) event :)

Word count read: I didn't read much, and I also don't keep track of my read fics. Probably somewhere between 150k and 250k, if that.

Bookmarks: I've added eight this year, making it a grand total of 27.

Once again, thank you very much to @lilolilyr for tagging me :)

I'm going to go ahead now and tag @prozac-shaped-urn, @wilfriede, @nic-writes-sometimes and @nachdenklich-tj. I can't think of anyone else who's a writer!!!!! If you see this and want to post your stats, though, go right ahead!! <3

[crepesuzette2023]

I’m not sure how long you’ve been reading mclennon fic, or if this is something you’d notice, but do you know which authors have been writing the longest? Or if there’s anyone who wrote maybe 7-10 yrs ago and came back? It seems to me people stay active for 2-4 years and stop. Im hoping I’m wrong and there are writers out there who have been around in this fandom for longer.

Thank you for all the recs you’ve given everyone and your fantastic comments and insight on my favorite fics (yes, I’m one of those, that read the comments along with the story! 😄)

I haven't been reading mclennon fic for all that long; I only started in 2021 (no surprise, "what were we doing?!"). And the first time around, I was reading all over the place, following people's AO3 bookmarks and recommendations shared here. Then I got an ao3 account...

I'm currently having my second go around the Lennon/McCartney fic buffet, and the more I read, the more I realize how much more there is to read!

In other words, I'm definitely not the best person to ask who's been writing the longest. I'm still digging and reading and sorting, and going "oh" and "ah" and "wow" and "fuck a pig."

That said, I do know that @scurator (obstinatrix) has been writing for a very long time. And I think @saint-mona (smothermeinrelish) and @unchaineddaisychain (Unchained_Daisychain) as well, and @dailyhowl (thisbirdhadflown).

And perhaps there are other writers who have changed their names? And many more I'm not aware of, or whose year-long career escaped my notice...(Feel free to add on! And I'm sorry for not mentioning them; it's genuine ignorance.)

It's interesting what you say about the 2-4 years interval. I wonder what could be the reason for that, if true. Feeling sated by the pairing? Nothing more to write? A new obsession? Private stuff? Probably all of the above. At least the works remain, and spark joy. To be passed on for as long as the internet exists...and possibly beyond.

Thank you for asking!

[angel-with-paper-wings]

for the truth & dare ask game: 🎱, 🛼, 🥑, 🍬, 🦴 :)

Thank you for these!! Sorry it took me so long to reply, these past few days have been busy for me. Thanks for your patience 🙏

🎱 post your AO3 total stats 

I still can’t believe these stats are all from my fics… thank you to everyone who has read my fics and contributed to these numbers, I’m endlessly grateful to every last one of you 🥹

User Subscriptions: 13

Kudos: 455

Comment Threads: 195

Bookmarks: 144

Subscriptions: 94

Word Count: 181,154

Hits: 14,330

🛼 describe your latest wip with five emojis

I’ll do the latest chapter of my fic since that’s the last thing I finished: 😰🎶👗🧺📔

🥑 you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

Hmm… first of all, you can’t prove anything 🤐 Second of all, I would probably contact @thelastsliceofcheese since I actually know her irl and she can help me hide the body and maybe even act as an alibi. And I believe @jennyfair7 once said that she was a lawyer(?) so I will need her help too.

🍬 post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

This is kind of about both Christine and Erik, but I think Christine could have become a great singer even without “the Angel of Music” as her teacher. In the Leroux novel, her voice was said to have sounded like “a rusty hinge” before she started receiving lessons from the mysterious voice. Does this mean Erik has some divine power over her voice and he gave her the talent to sing well, and that if she leaves him then all her musical talent will leave as well??

In my opinion, OF COURSE NOT. At the end of the day, Erik does NOT have superpowers and he’s just a normal guy being a normal music teacher giving her lessons in normal opera technique. The only way Erik improved Christine’s voice beyond a technical level was the *idea* that the Angel of Music was teaching her. Ideas and belief are so powerful: we need to believe we can do something in order to actually do it. Since Christine *believed* that she was being trained by a supernatural force, she made “supernatural” progress. If it is true that Christine was not able to sing as well after she leaves with Raoul in the end (I don’t think we know that for sure), then the only reason for that was because the events she lived through in the story were harrowing and emotionally traumatizing for her (which we DO know for sure). She still has the ability and technique to sing well, but her mental and emotional fortitude has been so damaged that she can no longer sing with the same passion behind it.

🦴 Is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

The fanfic I’m writing now is heavily based on the interpretations of Erik and Christine from the 25th anniversary performance of the ALW musical. Whenever I’m having a hard time writing, I always rewatch it in order to get a refresher on their dynamic. Rereading parts of the original Leroux novel as well as other recordings of the musical help out a lot too!

[yamikailyn]

City of Lights

Two years ago, in 2022, @venom-for-free and I started publishing City of Lights, a cyberpunk slash mafia rivaere fic. It was a passion project born during Covid and little did we know our idea would lead us to over six months of planning and world building, six others of writing and drawing, and several continuations/side stories that are still ongoing. Oopsie ...

A few months ago, as a thank you to the readers who supported us in many ways, whether by commenting, leaving kudos or sneakily reading (we see you the 176 hidden bookmarks out of 271!), we decided to revisit City of Lights with our amazing editor, Taedae.

Taedae did an amazing work tackling style & typo issues as well as inconsistencies in the story or between CoL1 and 2. We could never thank her enough for the time she spent on this and her infinite patience with us. She read all the 190,000 words twice. TWICE! And she's working hard on the continuation. I suspect she has cybernetic implants to enhance her natural awesomeness. Go read her stories too!

We're very proud of this new version and we hope you'll like it too. If you downloaded CoL to keep a copy offline, we suggest you do it again. If you've never read CoL before and are interested in the story, check the summary and tw below before, please. This dark tale isn't for everyone.

Summary: “Love starts out as something you want to bite into and ends as something that swallows you up.” - Rose Szabo -- Or: By day, Jena is full of beauty and professionalism. But by night, darkness creeps through the alleyways and into the souls of people. Drugs, gangs, weapons, and big money wait for Eren Jaeger, who just recently moved to the City of Lights. At least, that's what he's been promised. But what he finds is an underworld full of neon lit wonders and mysteries. And love. Somewhere in the deepest night, he finds love. But what happens when daylight wakes him up?

Chapters: 52/52

TW: Graphic depiction of violence, Angst, Gang Violence, Gun Violence, Drug Use, Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Class Differences/Social inequities talk, Child Death, Minor Character Death, Dysfunctional Family, explicit sex (see Ao3 for the full list of tags)

Ships: rivaere, Eren and Levi had past relationships, background relationships between secondary characters (honestly too many to list)

Illustrated: cards about the characters and places by @venom-for-free

So, are you ready to travel to Jena and the sunken district of Paradis?

Put some headphones on (yes, @venom-for-free also created a playlist for you) and get ready!

Read on Ao3

[malinaa]

2023 WRITING REVIEW

tagged: no one i just wanted to do this and i forgot about it soz </3 tagging : board of directors i'd tag u here but this is mostly fic-based so sorree... anyway if u have already done this my b.... i wld like to see ur post tho @evcndiaz | @brimay | @usignedupforthis | @seek--rest | @posallys | @dustorangeheartssnowman | @adhd-merlin | @queerofthedagger

number of stories posted to ao3: 34 ±1 bc i updated a fic from a while back <3

word counted posted for last year: 90k... a feat (i wrote more but it was ofic so add like maybe 10k to that)

fandoms i wrote for: alex stern series, merlin, house md, pjo, spidey, hunger games, doctor who, & the grisha trilogy

pairings: merthur / arwen / mergwenthur / mergana, darlingstern, hilson, percabeth, petermj, everlark, tenrose, malina

stories with the most KUDOS: jealousy, jealousy (house md) with 522 <3 BOOKMARKS: except my life (merlin) with 137 <3 COMMENT THREADS: rip current (pjo) with 38 <3 *technically the answer to all of these is tested with torment but that's a fic i updated so i don't reallyyyyyy count it

work i'm most proud of (and why): thread of gold (arwen, bbc merlin) because i don't exactly post 2nd person fic and tbh most people HATEEEEE 2nd person fic AND i got people to enjoy it. HA!

work i'm least proud of (and why): coffee drinker (gen fic, bbc merlin) because it was just a promptfic and i didn't even really feel like posting it but i wrote it so i might as well yk?

share or describe a favorite review you received: any review that quotes a line but this one from judas kiss (arwen, bbc merlin)...

THIS. IS. WONDERFUL ❤️❤️❤️ *creates bookmark with gusto* I LOVE that you dug into what it might have been like for Gwen while she was under that enchantment! It was so creative to have her past memories blurring with glimpses of the present during the enchantment. I *felt* her disorientation, and it *hurt*. I felt so bad for Gwen all over again! 😭😭😭 That aspect of this story could have been a fantastic standalone one-shot in its own right, but noooo, you raised the bar and KEPT GOING and made it even better!!! I love that you showed Gwen and Merlin staying friends after Gwen becomes queen, and I love how she confides in him and how he immediately drops everything to go look for the offending piece of jewelry. The bit about Arthur’s incredulity at Merlin’s method of testing the enchantment was a great dash of humor, and I love that you fleshed out the concept of the enchantment to be something the others could experience so that they could truly *know* that Gwen had been innocent. And don’t even get me started on how much I love Arthur’s “Forgive me.” I love how he doesn’t think twice about humbling himself in front of everyone because his focus is solely on Gwen, consumed by the urgency of doing the right, honorable, and loving thing in that moment. You write Arthur and Gwen’s relationship so beautifully. 💕 Well done; I hate you (/affectionate) for all these feels. 🥰🫂👏

a time when writing was really, really hard: august through october... idek why i was literally in agony not writing

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: writing jj in spider-man: homewrecker because i've NEVER written him before (in my memory) and i was like. Hello .

a favorite excerpt of your writing: cannae lie i have a few favs so... killing is a love language (mergana, bbc merlin) Heartbreak snakes up his throat, constricting him at the sight of her. Morgana’s beauty is incontestable even like this, but her hatred wore her down to her bones. Gone were the full cheeks and rosy lips, the perfectly combed hair, the wardrobe that would put princesses to shame. Now, her face is sunken in, her hair a curled storm, her dress is merely black rags at this point. thread of gold (arwen, bbc merlin) Your father’s presence is larger than life. Larger than love. It looms. It casts shadows long enough to hide every hope and dream you’ve ever had for yourself. the boy and the girl (malina, the grisha trilogy) Memory fractures into shards. Real or not real? There’s Mal in the meadow. Mal buried beneath the hanging tree. Mal cold in her palms. There’s a sky darker than night. Her hands bloodied. A knife lodged in his heart. Her knife. His blood. Her fault. She killed him. She loves him. Her fault. Rest her head on his still chest. Her fault. No heartbeat. Her fault. No warmth. Cold light spilling from her palms. She killed him. The Saint’s only true worshipper martyred.

how did you grow as a writer last year: my hopes from last year was that i finally finish a multichap fic.... 😭 does a short 3-shot count. besides that i wrote more consistently and i'm finally Used to my writing style. i think.

how do you hope to grow this year: hell if i know if i could write something longer than 20k that'd be great 😭😭😭😭

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): the board.... @rosesau / @bipercabeth / @stellwood fnh...... i'd tag katie but she absconded from tumblr smh. anyway hi freaks n geeks

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: oh i don't even know. nothing ig

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: bro idek the more i write the more writing becomes fundamentally so hard to talk about ... sorreeee

any projects you're looking to starting (or finishing) this year: IF I DON'T FUCKING MAKE PROGRESS ON MY PLAY I WILL BASH MY HEAD INTO A WALL. THIS CAN'T KEEP HAPPENING. ATLAS AND VIVIAN YOU WILL BE WRITTEN ON THE PAGE INSHALLAH

[divinesayer]

i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on new years day

series: yugioh 5ds ship: yusei fudo/jack atlas rating: T tags: implied sexual content, fem!jack atlas, butch he/him lesbian yusei fudo, new years eve, marriage proposal notes (sorry i was rambling this time): this is my 100th 5ds fic on this account, and the end of... well, a totally crazy year. i think i've quadrupled my fic count this year (around about anyway), and i've refound such a passion for yugioh 5ds that i honestly thought i had lost forever. what a year! thank you to everyone who's read any of my works or supported me via kudos/comments/bookmarks. it means the world, and i mean that. i've got a lot of plans for 2025, so here's to an exciting year of insane 5ds fics!

read on ao3 | tip on kofi | commission info

He hadn’t expected her to bring it up herself one Sunday morning.

It had started when they were both young: a promise to take Jack’s hand in marriage one day. Yusei’s hand tight in hers as she tugged him around, a wide smile on her lips.

“I’d be honoured to be your wife someday, Yusei,” She had told him over a cup of ramen, and he had felt his heart explode in his chest. It didn’t matter that everyone else around him thought it was ridiculous – of course girls couldn’t marry each other – Yusei would find a way.

He wasn’t sure when her opinion changed, but the topic came up one evening, back when she still lingered around Yusei and his friends – she scoffed at the word, rolling her eyes as her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Really never gonna?” He remembered Rally asking, watching her with wide eyes.

She turned her head away, ponytail tracking in the air. “Why the hell would I waste my time with it?” Yusei watched her leave a moment later, unaware she had pierced his heart with a dagger, leaving the dying muscle to spurt blood everywhere. Little did he know she would finish the job only a few weeks later.

When they met back up, two years older and with many more scars on their bodies and souls, Yusei didn’t dare to ask what her thoughts were. It didn’t matter how she looked at him, fluttering those long lashes with a smirk, leaning down to box Yusei into smaller and smaller spaces until he had no choice but to kiss her.

Even after becoming girlfriends, he still felt reluctant to touch the topic. He knew that he would always wish to be her wife – if she still had no interest, it would be the nail in the coffin, and he imagined their budding relationship dying like a plant in the snow.

No, it was much easier to avoid it entirely.

He hadn’t expected her to bring it up herself one Sunday morning. She sat perched by him at the table, stirring her coffee absently as the familiar tunes of her favourite album filled the air, her voice occasionally harmonising with the words, though he couldn’t understand what was being said.

He sighed, content, leaning back in his chair as his eyes closed. And that was when Jack struck.

“You know,” She began slowly, and he initially mistook the cadence in her voice for desire, one eye opening to watch her, “I hope you’ll make me a Fudo someday.”

Yusei sat silent for a moment, staring at her with wide eyes; it was only when they began to sting, tears blurring his vision, that he blinked, and she panicked.

“Shit, did I say something wrong?” Jack rose from her chair before he could respond, arms flung around him, pulling him close. “Sorry, I just…”

He shook his head, burying his face into the soft fabric of her – or was it his? – hoodie. “You just made me the happiest girl on Earth.” His voice was muffled, half from wavering and half from nuzzling his face further against her chest.

When she laughed, relieved, light and airy, her grip relaxed. “Well, thank God for that.”

A year later, and Yusei hadn’t forgotten.  While twisted up in their bedsheets, she promised eternity to him, and he swore it against her body. Each night, laying in the afterglow, he considered just asking her, the words dancing on the tip of his tongue as his fingers traced prayers along her spine.

But he couldn’t – he had to make it special.

The ring burned in his pocket, each movement stabbing a corner into his hip, a constant reminder that he couldn’t back out of this. He had set an internal deadline – by New Years – and the cut-off was looming at him, a large clock ticking the seconds down. Sure, she wouldn’t know any different if he asked after, but…

He had spent so long wanting to marry Jack Atlas. He was tired of beginning the speech and backing out. How she was unaware of what he was trying to do, Yusei would never know (but he was relieved for it all the same).

They had stood by the waterfront for a while on their walk home, and for a fleeting moment, he thought he had gained the courage, but it dissipated as quickly as it came when someone walked past behind them.

She hadn’t noticed anything, gripping his hand a little tighter, whispering, “Isn’t it pretty?”

Yusei hadn’t even looked over the waters, but he replied, breathless, “Yeah.”

By the time they returned to their apartment, it was already 11:50pm. He kicked his shoes off, watching as she did the same, sighing in great relief as she freed herself from her heels.

Jack was the first to step away from the entryway, shuffling her slippers along the hardwood floor as she made a beeline for the kitchen. “I’m opening the wine – the bells’ll be soon.” She spun around, a smile painted in shades of red across her lips. “Whiskey, yeah? Neat?”

“Please,” He replied softly, watching as her skirt flounced as she turned back round, disappearing behind the door for a few moments – she was humming again, something he had grown accustomed to. It was a tune he was unfamiliar with, but his heart swelled all the same.

When she stepped back into the living room with their drinks, he was already on one knee, the small box in his hand – a purple sapphire shone back at her, twinkling under the overhead lights.

“Will you—” was all Yusei managed before Jack’s hands failed her, both glasses smashing against the floor, spilling alcohol everywhere. Her eyes were wide, unblinking, and he wondered for a second if this was how Jack felt that one Sunday morning.

When she finally blinked, she was smiling, stepping closer gingerly, relieved at the lack of a crunch under her step. His other hand held hers, tight, and she nodded, silently encouraging him to finish.

“Will you marry me, Jack Atlas?” His words were shaky, nerves getting the better of him despite knowing the answer to the question.

“I will, Yusei Fudo,” She replied without a second of hesitation, tugging him upwards a moment later. “Make me Mrs. Fudo.” It was only when he put the ring on her finger that he realised – Jack was trembling too.

Yusei captured her lips in a kiss, the world fading away under their feet. He knew they would have to clean the drinks up from the floor, sweep away the glass before either of them hurt themselves on it, pour new ones.

All of that could wait.

As she pulled away, amethyst eyes shining, the fireworks outside began. A brief check of the time on his phone told him why: 12:00am 1st January. “Happy New Years, baby.”

“Happy New Years, my love,” she mumbled against his lips, pulling him ever closer.

[lilolilyr]

✨ao3 wrapped 2023✨

Haven't seen this tagging meme around at all yet this year, so I thought I'd start it myself!

2022

Works published: 74, very similar to last year! a bit less but the year also isn’t over yet :D edit: by the time I’m getting around to post this, it’s on 86! Yay!

Wordcount: 118254 I’m happy I made it past 100k! That was my tentative goal and I didn’t think I’d make it with how slow it came along for most of the year, but with flufftober and the events I did manage :D

Kudos: 3184

Hits: 31833

Bookmarks: 267

Subscriptions: 114 and I’m at 157 user subscriptions right now? Who follows my multifandom mess of an Ao3, doesn’t that completely clogg up your email inbox? Maybe I’m just biased bc I rarely check my fandomy email and when I do it’s always a mess xD but I think tag lists on tumblr are so much more useful

Most popular by kudos: Gave myself a Fright, a Mirandy (DWP) fic with 301 kudos

Most hits: same fic, 2404 hits

Longest: lonely hearts on remote roads with 10811 words - Milippa road trip AU my beloved!

Shortest: I wrote nine drabbles (100 word ficlets) this year, they’re the shortest ones :)

Most Comments: my podfic of the Mirandy longfic Jigsaw has 14 comment threads - damn, that’s a year with few comments! In past years the whole top 5 commented on fics had more than that. Oh well!

Fics that made me cry: Grief, a fanfic where I project my own feelings about a dead pet onto Myka, and recording the Jigsaw podfic also made me really emotional a lot

Fics that made me smile: so manyy! For example the Berena fic Happiness surrounded by Snow

gifts:

- the first chapter of ‘Time Dilates’ by @barbarawar as my Bering and Wells gift exchange gift back in February, thanks!

- ‘Blame it on Circumstance’, a wonderful sequel to the fluffy fic @squishmittenficfan made me for the Berena gift exchange in 2022, and another sequel Blame it on Love posted just a few days ago I haven’t actually gotten around to read yet but am already very excited for!

- ‘never borrow Helena’s clothes’, a fic for the Bering and Wells advent by @jesstrel that I have beta read for them :)

I have gifted some fics as well this year, I tend to gift people fics when they helped me with it by beta reading or cheering me on, or when I was writing to someone’s prompt! I know I adore getting gift works on Ao3 and I love to share that happiness :)

collaborations:

Halloween fic and art collab with @thewalkingmeepa, that was fun!

Drunken Considerations, a Bering and Wells collab fic with @lavendelhummel :D first time I made a collab while actually in the same room with the other person xD

Both collaborations and part of an event were the fic & podfic works Where No Flan Has Gone Before (Star Trek humor) with @bookgirlfan and Which Mere Modernity Cannot (modern Dracula) with @artax-risen, and the Bering and Wells Advent Calendar with @lavendelhummel @purlturtle @akittennameddaisy @viharistenno @jesstrel @sallysetonbw @violetren @thiakerrigan @tryingthisfangirlthing that is still ongoing! finished now, I take too long for tagging memes xdxD

events:

- Flufftober (I managed to make something for every single day of the month, yay!)

- Berena advent

2022 version

Tagging, if you want to do it, everyone already tagged above as well as @die-schwanenkoenigin @amysnotdeadyet @lesbianlotties @guardianrock @73chn1c0l0rr3v3l @danisnotmyname @batnbreakfast @sapphicscholar @tabsolanya @sterenheart @wibblywobblyida @forestcircle @ongreenergrasses and everyone else who sees this!

For ease of copying: Works published: Wordcount: Kudos: Hits: Bookmarks: Subscriptions: Most popular by kudos: Most hits: Longest: Shortest: Most Comments: Fics that made me cry: Fics that made me smile: gifts: collaborations: events:

sapphicscholar purlturtle die-schwanenkoenigin amysnotdeadyet squishmittenficfan viharistenno lesbianlotties bookgirlfan

[lenalvthor]

tethered playlist breakdown - ch 1: chemtrails

hi hi hi! thank-you to everyone who has read, commented, left kudos, and bookmarked tethered so far (and if this is the first you're hearing of it, here's my critical role / bell's hells / imodna music au)! this beautiful, musical lil world has been knocking around in my head for a little over 6 months and i'm so excited to share it with other people 💗

so as I said on ao3, to create the Full Experience of this au the way i've been stewing in it over the past 6-odd months, i wanted to also pop chapter tie-in posts on here that give a more detailed breakdown of the music in each chapter, mainly bc I'm not someone who writes songfics rly and I don't like breaking up the flow of the fic + the suspension of disbelief with lyrics etc, so: we're gonna do it this way.

(again, if this is the first you're hearing of this au and it has piqued ur interest, would recommend giving ch 1 a read and then coming back to this post)

but okay, let's start with this first chapter ⚡🎼

i gave a bit of a generic ‘vibe’ of what everybody’s music sounds like in the end-notes, but i’m gonna elaborate a bit here + also fill in some gaps!

Liliana

in this fic, Liliana Temult gained acclaim as a teenage country star, kind of like early early Taylor Swift (vibes: TS debut, Fearless, + specifically the songs Sparks Fly, Mine, and Ours from Speak Now are songs Liliana released about her high school sweetheart turned husband (Relvin)). 

*important to note: any TS songs that are confirmed as Liliana’s are re-recording versions of these songs, as the original versions of them are how i imagine Imogen sounding if she were to cover her mom’s music, plus also draws a more distinctive line in the differences in sound between Imogen and Liliana if both of them have TS music in their discographies. if you’re super hardline abt only listening to Taylor’s rerecordings, that’s chill, but just putting it out there as my distinction between Imogen’s TS songs and Liliana’s TS songs!

as Liliana got more popular, signed to a new label (Ruidus Records, owned by Ludinus Da’Leth, and Liliana was managed by Otohan Thull), Liliana’s sound changed and she spent more time away from home, in New York and LA (vibes: AURORA by Daisy Jones and the Six, Fleetwood Mac - 60s/70s-esque pop-rock with some country tinges to it). 

Imogen

more on Imogen’s music in the fic’s present-day for the ch 2 breakdown, but for a backstory vibe: the first music Imogen releases are with songs from Kacey Musgraves’ album, Deeper Well; Imogen’s EP, called If I Let Go, has this tracklist: 

Sway

Lonely Millionaire 

The Architect

Cardinal 

Sway is fairly self explanatory, and it’s the leading single for the EP.

Lonely Millionaire is about Imogen’s desperation to not slip into the wrong side of the industry no matter how alluring it may be at times, no matter how caught up she gets in the glitz and glamour and magic of it all, she doesn’t want to forget that it’s not worth it to get lost and end up on your own (like Liliana did).

The Architect is ‘small-town grew up in a christian community and maybe has some queer religious trauma’ Imogen Temult going ✌🏼don’t know if i believe i still believe in god and i don’t know if it would make it easier or harder if i did✌🏼.

Cardinal is something Imogen had written for years and years before she ever released it, but it’s a song that’s so clearly inspired by Liliana’s later career music, and it’s very much about Liliana too, and it almost gets swapped out for a different song because Imogen’s a little terrified that putting her mother’s musical story into her own at the start of her career is as good as damning her from the beginning, but Bertrand and Laudna convince her otherwise so this song ends up closing off the EP. 

(later, when Imogen puts out the rest of her album (which includes songs I haven’t figured out yet lol), she adds Giver / Taker and Nothing To Be Scared Of also from Kacey’s new album, and both of them are written about Laudna :-). (the album is also called Nothing To Be Scared Of.) 

Laudna

Laudna also got into music as a teenager (signing to Briarwood Records under Delilah) but exactly what kind of music that was, i’m not 100% on so taking suggestions + recommendations if you have any. tethered’s present-day Laudna’s music is mostly following the sound of Lizzy McAlpine. the six feet under EP referenced in ch 1 is: 

doomsday

firearm 

ceilings 

chemtrails 

there’s more for Laudna’s music - including other songs she wrote in the time Imogen was away - but we’ll get into those as they come up in the fic 😉

The Crown Keepers

finally, for this chapter’s musical rundown: to put some context to The Crown Keepers, they are, in fact, the Full Gang. Orym, Fearne, Dorian, Dariax, and Opal make up TCK, and they started out as a folk/indie lil group who wound up being signed to Eshteross Records by Bertrand. they’re the characters i have the Most songs for bc their musical sound is my favourite kind of music, but i’ll just give you some artists to listen to + some of the key songs tied to their group’s backstory! 

vibes: Wild Rivers (both in music And in their actual Vibe as a group, go look them up, seriously) / Judah & the Lion (their song Spirit is the first song of TCK’s that blows up and they start to break into mainstream popularity) / Motherfolk / McFly / Morningsiders / Kodaline / Avalanche City (Sunset is one of the last songs they release + the very very last song they play at the end of their world tour right before they go on hiatus) / and Tiny Habits as little smaller combos of different members of the band (esp their cover of landslide). 

quick addition because I keep forgetting: the song that Imogen and Laudna sing together that Orym and Imogen text about is Call It What You Want from High School Musical the Musical the Series, and it's actually the song t hat set this whole fic off, funnily enough.

anyway! that’s some musical insight for u for ch 1!! here’s the playlist (so far) — will add more as it comes up! 

love, chim ⚡