#being a fanfic author is actually the curse of ra

[caliburn-the-sword]

My a/n’s as a high schooler were all insane and were 100% true. These included, under the cut: (tw for fanfic writer typical incidents)

“Hi, sorry I’m a few weeks late!! My teacher gaslighted me and it triggered a traumatic response to my childhood experience of bullying and teachers’ incompetence and I had to spend time starting the healing process all over again”

“Hiii. It’s been a few months. So like,,,, my mum had pancreatitis so I’ve been third parenting again. She finally recovered and I was super happy and then she fractured two discs in her spine,,, updates will now be irregular probably. Mum is out of hospital at least!!!”

“You may be wondering where I’ve been. Basically I had a panic attack so severe that I couldn’t breathe and ended up in hospital and then had to do everything I could to n o t end up in the psych ward. Wrote this as a distraction enjoy :)”

“Was totally gonna write a chapter and then my grandpa pulled a muscle but he overreacted and called us all to hospital to update his will. That ended up taking all weekend :/ will be back on schedule next week”

“Hi I accidentally gave myself a hairline fracture smashing my finger in a door and then gave myself frostbite trying to fix it with ice. Wrote this entire chapter with a combination of speech to text and my left hand alone. Updates will be slower for a while. Enjoy!!”

“Hi i got a stomach bug so bad that i couldn’t keep any food down and spent a few weeks hangry and in so much stomach pain I couldn’t fall asleep. I’m better now!! Updates will be back on normal a schedule now”

“Hi guys, i I got a concussion because my idiot martial arts instructor made me spar without a helmet and then I got suckerpunched before my sparring session even started and every time I sit down to write I feel like my skull is getting smashed with hammers and I also can’t remember many words. Will be taking a few weeks hiatus”

“Okay so don’t freak out but for about a week a girl was full on stalking me and it was stressing me tf out and I didn’t have any time or energy to write. Good news!! She’s no longer stalking me. Will update next week”

“Hi a group of girls almost successfully pushed me into a staircase at school and it triggered a traumatic response (again) and that put me super out of it. I’ll get over it and post next week”

“My sister is in hospital so now I’m running the house while my mum takes care of her. Will be back to the regular updating schedule soon”

“I don’t know how to say this in a way that isn’t batshit but a pipe burst and my entire house flooded so I’ve been dealing with that and haven’t been able to write. Hope you enjoy this chapter!! As soon as insurance has dealt with shit my updating schedule will be regular again”

“Hi guys remember my jerkass martial arts instructor?? He gave us a punishment so severe that most of us got heatstroke and/or vomited and/or become severely dehydrated. I spent the entire weekend physically recovering from this. I no longer go to this gym!! But yeah unfortunately could only write a half chapter because I had such a severe headache from this punishment. Will be back to regular updates next week!!”

“Hi, I nearly accidentally ran over a suicidal woman in my car and it traumatised me so much all I did was stare at a wall for a while. I’m slowly getting through it, will be back to my regular updating schedule in a few weeks”

My author’s notes would’ve been so insane in high school if I had been an ao3 author help-

[andorerso]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

thanks for the tag @mosylufanfic <3

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I started reading fanfiction when I was very young, maybe 10-11? and it pretty much immediately made me want to write my own stories. early attempts were... unsuccessful, but I always had a lot of ideas and I just wanted to get them out there... so I did

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

in reverse chronological order: Rogue One/Andor, GoT/ASOIAF, She-Ra, Grisha-verse/Nikolai Series, The Raven Cycle, American Horror Story, Reign, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Twilight

and some I have never published but did write for: The Witcher, Dishonored, Magnificent Century: Kösem

so that's 14 fandoms total

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

well, my first attempt was at 14 but I pretty much immediately abandoned that story after posting. I tried again at 16 and have been writing pretty consistently ever since. so it's been more than ten years, almost fifteen

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

lately I'm writing more than I'm reading, however in general over the years, it's definitely read. I've consumed so many!

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

I think my action has gotten better recently? it's still far from my strength but being forced to write some action scenes in recent stories definitely improved that area... who would have thought?

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

I've researched many weird stuff over the years but idk, I'm blanking on specifics

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

I love it when people yell and curse at me <33

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

idk if I've ever written something truly fringe... actually maybe the dildo fic?

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

smut! which is funny because I've spent the last month writing nothing but that. but smut is hardddddd

10. What is the easiest type?

I'm seconding modern AUs, that's my comfort genre, and I'm also very well-versed in anything paranormal

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

I switched from Word to Scrivener a few years ago, and I haven't looked back. Word would probably still work, but Scrivener is just very convenient, I can have all the things in one place, and it makes things so easy

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

well, sex pollen belonged to this category, but I've just gotten over that! other than that, I've been going back and forth about this apocalypse/zombie exes to lovers longfic for months now, because it's intimidating as hell for many reasons, and it would be a lot of work which I may not have the time for currently, but there's so many parts of it that I love and want to write. mainly this very specific scene that will not leave my brain, but absolutely would not work without the proper background and build-up.... sigh

13. What made you choose your username?

here or on ao3? on ao3, it's wintersend (winter's end) and like. I can't even remember why I picked it. it's so random, I've never used it before and never since. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I'm a winter child, and I was also into GoT at the time... I genuinely don't know

and here.... hmmm idk if I should tell you guys.... it's very niche, you wouldn't get it

tagging @frostbitepandaaaaa @quarantineddreamer @fulcrumstardust @flythesail @luciechat

[flakandforay]

Weekly Fanfic Recommendations: New Year’s Special 2020

so we are here with another year, aka 2020 and i still think that time passes too fast for something that people call as a social construct. 

i guess ill just be writing down some of my fav authors and their favorite works that i’ve been loving this year

do support my ko-fi if you can~

1) @jimlingss​ I highly recommend you to read all of her series especially the Student Council Prez and The President’s Son!!!! actually i love all of her work wtf, catch me reading them always 

2) @kpopfanfictrash​ im a sucker for her work like really Head in the Gutter and the Holi-Date!!!!! plus her older work such as the 7 society has always got me whipped 

3) @readyplayerhobi​ im all for her Hoseok stories especially like the single dad one (Silver Bells and Cockle Shells) recently got me to bits + not to mention the Run Little Rabit trilogy

4) @floralseokjin​ Seokjin pieces!!!!! The Devil Wears Armani and her latest First and Last and Always; a Yoongi piece I WILL NOT STOP SCREAMING AT HOW GOOD IT IS

5) @curly-bangtan​ Heatwave piece of Taehyung x y/n like wow please look at him being a lil shit roommate but being so whipped for the reader IT HURTS ME 

6) @jincherie​ hybrid fics, her latest Taejin x y/n though MHMMMM

7) @silhouetted-beauty​ Run, Run-In-fate and Stole because i love plot twists plus mafia au siGN ME UP 

lastly

8) @btsinned​ all hogwarts au because I'm a sucker 

9) @dovechim​ love me some RA Min Yoongi au and the camboy au with Jungkook I laughed reading it, read Bam! You got Scammed and Tsundere

10) @inkjam-moon​ I Need You series 

11) @jamaisjoons​ hybrid au!!!! the Cursed series is a must to read

12) @littlemisskookie​ brat series!! 

13) @spookitokki​ Welcome to the Underworld fic, demon au wink 

anyway, these are really some of those authors i go back to read and see if there’s any new updates because WOW AT THEIR WRITINGS especially from the very beginning when i started this blog and recommending fics, it’s been a long time but thank you so much for making these stories

this is all for this fic rec, another one up soon~

[twinkletoes-rp]

6, 7, 19, 20, 30, 31, 32, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 51 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Fanfiction Questions meme

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh, geez... I’ve been involved in so many fandoms, LOL. I don’t really know if I can/should name them all. I’ll give you the ones (ONLY OTPs - doesn’t mean I don’t ship other things, too) I can think of off the top of my head.

Kiba/Hinata (Naruto), Fakir/Ahiru (Princess Tutu), Stiles/Derek (Teen Wolf), Kirito/Lisbeth (Sword Art Online), Harry/Hermione (Harry Potter), Goku/Bulma (Dragon Ball), Yusuke/Botan (Yu Yu Hakusho), Todoroki/Izuku (BNHA), (better!)Bakugo/Uraraka (BNHA), Toph/Aang (ATLA), and Adrien/Marinette (Miraculous Ladybug)!

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

(This isn’t meant to be hate on the ships I name! I just don’t ship them, that’s all! Ship and let ship! ;))

Naruto/Sasuke (Naruto), Kirito/Asuna (Sword Art Online), Ron/Hermione (Harry Potter), Harry/Ginny (Harry Potter), Goku/Chichi (Dragon Ball), Yusuke/Keiko (Yu Yu Hakusho), Bakugo/Izuku (BNHA), and Aang/Katara (ATLA).

19. Is there a ship (in your current fandom) which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

I’m not sure I have a ‘current fandom’ since I live for, like, everything at once, but maybe technically Naruto would be it?

In that case (again, no offense to anyone - and removing the ‘I wish I could get behind’ part ‘cause I do not), NaruSasu. I just...don’t get it? At all? Maybe it’s the ‘what could have been’s or whatever, but when you just take the series at face value, that relationship is...really icky, at least to me, and that’s putting it lightly. It’s so damn unhealthy, especially for poor Naruto. They were never even friends, Sasuke always treated him like shit, and yet...?! *throws hands at half+ of OG series and virtually all of Shippuden* IDK, man. Something’s weird there, and I don’t like it. Can’t support that. Naruto deserves better, damn it. (*casually links her Naruto AU fic where he DOES get better (in more ways than one), TYVM*)

20. Any ships (in your current fandom) which you surprised yourself by liking?

Going with Naruto again, so. Hmm... I guess maybe Kankuro/Tenten? I didn’t even know that was a ship until a friend showed me a really good fic, and I was hooked! lol.

Another might be KakaObi, but only in AUs where Obito survives the cave in and gets out with Kakashi and Rin and recovers, continuing to be the sweetheart he is instead of the ass he turned out to be in canon. Because he, too, deserved better, damn it!

Another is one I might have made up, not sure (mostly in the context of my Naruto AU, NGL), lol: Karin/Shikamaru! It makes sense and there are lots of compelling reasons when you break it down! You know, 'cause Shikamaru would need (or probs at least prefer) someone on his smarts level, and she's a genius, too, just in a different way. And once she mellows out, Karin's really cool, and (in my AU) she grows to eventually adore Naruto (actually fights to defend/protect him in the Pein arc!), and anyone who loves Naruto is good in Shikamaru's book! lol. Plus, she can tell him when he has his genius brain twisted in too many directions, tell him he's being an idiot and help him figure things out in her different way. lol. IDK, I like it!

30. What inspires you to write?

I just...love writing?? I’ve wanted to be an author since I was 8-9 years old, started writing when I was 11, and I’ve been writing ever since! I’m 27 now! I’ve had a few dry spells, ofc, but I always end up coming back! I just feel like writing is in my blood (partly because, I like to joke, my last name is the title of one of Shakespeare’s plays, haha)!

Pretty much anything can inspire me to write, though. I’ll see a pretty flower and be like “OOH, that flower could feature perfectly in this chapter in this way!” and then write 1k about that! lol. Or I could read a review of one of my new chapters and end up thinking of something I’d never considered before and then write almost 3k on that alone (looking at you, middle section of Ch 6 of my Naruto AU, lol)!

Basically, if it sparks joy, I’m gonna write something! X’D

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Nicest?? Hmm... I mean, I’ve had a lot of things said about my writing... Not sure I can really narrow it down? lol.

I guess the nicest things I’ve ever been told are when I make people cry (espec multiple times!) and actually feel the emotions the characters are feeling, that the characters and their development feel so real that it’s like they’re real people instead of fictional/they’re written so much better than the creator himself wrote them. (Been getting those a lot on my Naruto AU, actually. lol.)

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

I tend to prefer silence while I write, but sometimes, my house is loud and people keep breaking my concentration (house of 5, lots of animals, not the quietest, lol), I sometimes listen to music. I usually prefer instrumental, and then usually Naruto or Wolf’s Rain (sometimes Princess Tutu, too) instrumental tracks. The Naruto one I like best also has rain sounds mixed in, which is great because I love the sound of rain! Woo! (Here’s a link to that one if anyone else wants in on this! ;))

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Emotions and getting into the nitty-gritty stuff therein. As an extremely visual, emotional writer, I’ve always been able to feel the emotions of the characters pretty much exactly how they’re feeling it in the moment and then put it on paper. I also make people cry a lot with my writing and get them to feel what the characters do, so that’s awesome! It’s always my goal to get my readers to feel things because then I feel like they’ve really connected with the story and characters I’ve written!

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Transitions are dicks. Sometimes I struggle ‘cause it’s been, like, two seconds or five hours, and I don’t know how to show that, lol. If I can, espec with the last one, I just fade to black. lol.

Also, sometimes I feel like I use the same sentence structure a lot, mostly the ‘..., but...’ format (at least lately). It’s really annoying, and I worry my readers notice and get annoyed/think I suck because of it. lol.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

“All the ways I say ‘I love you’” by Leonardo_Charles_BlueWood_21 (Fandom: Ninjago)

“Paradise Lost” by AnchoredTether (Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender (Zootopia-esque dark AU))

“where my armor ends” by dalniente (Fandom: She-Ra Princesses of Power)

“of cats and curses” by faerialchemist (Fandom: She-Ra Princesses of Power x Fruits Basket crossover)

“Mischief is its Own Reward” by dalniente (Fandom: Megamind)

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

I don’t really read Naruto fanfic too much anymore, so like...I guess, technically, another main fandom of mine right now is Fruits Basket, so: without a doubt, @kyosohmastan ! They’re my absolute favorite Fruits Basket fanfic author! Everyone’s so in character, the writing is so sweet and feelsy, steamy when it needs to be, and I really love the writing itself - it’s just so well done and beautiful and I die happily when they post a new fic or chapter? Ahhh! Plus, they’re just so nice and talented in so many ways, we have the same opinions on certain things (like Kakeru Manabe is Too Much(TM) for us, haha, no offense to those who like him! lol.), and I just really, really feel blessed to know and read their fics! Love them so! <3

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

I’m not sure which ship this is talking about? Hmm... But a ship I definitely think (have always thought) needs more attention is Kirito/Lisbeth from Sword Art Online! It’s so slept on, and that is a damn fucking shame because they’re so healthy and sweet and have so much more amazing potential than they’re given credit for (way freaking more than the actual canon couple, just sayin’, no offense to anyone who likes the pairing)! I have written a good few metas (and a fanfic) on the subject (some/most of which are on my Lisbeth RP blog, actually, lol)! If anyone wants to discuss/RP/anything involving this ship, please let me know! Would love it!

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

I’m not sure I have a favorite fic. But one that I always come back to (all of her (mostly G1) My Little Pony fics, actually - first found them when I was, like, 12, and have kept rereading over and over through the years, haha) is A Mother in Her Eyes by LoveLikeElena on FFN. It takes place in the author’s own MLP universe, but I love said universe so much, and her takes on the characters are amazing and so sweet! I love her look at the serious subjects that follow the characters through her ongong MLP series! <3

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Fanfic readers have become really, really lazy. No one reviews anymore, maybe leave a kudos here and there if you’re lucky (I have a major love-hate (more hate) relationship with kudos...), and it’s so, so, so discouraging to us writers! I wish they knew how it felt, to be honest, espec the ones you know are reading, but just...don’t comment. It’s ridiculously disheartening to work so hard on something for days, weeks, even months or years on something, only to get basically nothing in return. It’s like posting into the void, and it sucks ass. It’s part of what made me quit writing for a good few years, actually, and I’m so sad to see that it’s still a thing. I comment on everything I read because I know how it feels and how much it hurt! It hurts like hell, especially because I remember how it used to be just 6-8 years ago when everyone commented! I desperately pray the fanfic/content consuming world fixes that really soon or we might lose some really amazing writers! Please, even an emoji or keyboard smash! I don’t care, I’ll take anything (and I know I’m not the only one)! <3

[woppy42]

Mothers, be good to your daughters

Fanfic: She-Ra (2018) Rating: G Characters: Catra, Angella, Shadow Weaver (sort of) Category: Angst, family, mother-daughter relationship

Summary: Shadow Weaver is gone. Catra doesn't quite know how she feels about it. (Post-redemption Catra) (alternate summary: sad cat daughter needs a mother, and angella is conveniently available) Update: This now has a second chapter!

Angella walked the silent halls of the castle, her steps illuminated only by moonlight and the faint glow of her wings. In a sense, it really wasn’t fair, she mused. An immortal being who couldn’t sleep? She would give nearly anything for that sweet reprieve, a way to skip over a few scant hours of eternity. But sleep eluded her, as always, and her regrets of the past and fears for the future did not.

So she walked.

A dark figure caught her eye as she passed an open door to one of the castle’s many balconies. She backtracked, approaching the archway. The figure was small, lithe, and topped with an unruly mane of hair, leaning against the wall of the balcony and staring out across the moonlit woods beyond. A familiar figure, these days, but the stillness--that was new.

“Catra?” Angella called quietly, though she suspected Catra had detected her near-silent footsteps long before she spoke. The figure’s head turned, and the thin glow of a thoroughly unsurprised blue eye confirmed her suspicions before turning back to the silent woods.

“Hey.”

(read on AO3)

The corner of Angella’s mouth quirked upward. Catra’s casual disregard for her authority was a far cry from the way Adora had literally and figuratively fallen over herself in her attempts at propriety during her first days at Bright Moon.

Angella found herself not caring in the slightest.

There was a strange tenseness to her stance. A small piece of ragged paper caught Angella’s eye as she approached, held loosely in Catra’s hand where it rested on the balcony wall. The paper appeared to have been crumpled and smoothed repeatedly.

“Long patrol?” Angell asked, conversationally. She would hear Catra’s report in the morning, as usual, but clearly… something… needed to be addressed before then.

“Yes. No,” Catra amended her automatic response. She sighed. “It was typical.”

“Mm.”

Angella waited.

Catra’s hand clenched around the paper, crumpling it further, then relaxed.

“Shadow Weaver is dead.”

Ah.

Angella swallowed against the familiar, cold emptiness those words brought. Shadow Weaver. Light Spinner. Another person from her past she could have helped, perhaps even saved, if only she had been more observant. Another failure. Another loss. She shook her head, collecting her thoughts and carefully pushing them aside.

Right now, her attention was needed elsewhere.

“I see,” she responded. “How far has the news spread?”

“Aside from our spy network? I doubt anyone else knows. It was quiet, apparently. Just Hordak  cleaning up another one of his messes.” The paper twisted in her fingers again.

“I will need to share this news in tomorrow’s meeting,” Angella said, carefully. “Does Adora…?”

“I'll tell her in the morning,” Catra said, tiredly. “I don't know how she'll feel about it.” She scoffed. “I don't know how I feel about it.”

Angella stood, silent.

“I can't believe she's actually gone.” The words were delivered in a strange tone, thick with an unnamed emotion.

“It's all right to be sad, Catra.” A laugh interrupted her words.

“Sad? I’m not sad! I should be happy the old witch is gone!” For a moment, Angella wondered if the girl was speaking to her, or to herself. Catra’s words continued to flow, as though a dam had been broken.

“Why should I miss someone who was never once nice to me? She could be nice to Adora, sure, telling her what a great leader she’d be someday, smoothing her hair back all gentle--you know what she did with me?” Her words were punctuated with sweeping gestures, an almost wild look in her eyes. “She threatened to kill me when I was four. Four! Who does that? She used her restraining magic on me all the time, couldn't even bring herself to touch me unless it was to hit me—except for one time,” she was pacing now, index finger upraised to drive her point home, unable to hide the tremor in her voice. “The one, single time when I thought I had finally earned her respect, and she used me.” Her voice broke, and Angella’s heart broke with it. “It was all a lie. She was a terrible person and I should be glad she's gone.”

Catra stood a moment, catching her breath from the emotion of her outburst.

“I don't even know why I'm telling you this,” Catra muttered, dropping her elbows to the wall of the balcony and leaning against it in a way that belied exhaustion beyond the physical.

Another silence, broken only by the distant rustling of wind in the trees.

“You still can't touch Adora's hair when she's half-asleep without her freaking out,” Catra finally said, softer. “Did you know that?”

Angella did not. She added it to the long list of things that she would contemplate later, in the hours she spent not sleeping.

“Even her approval messed us up so much, and yet it's all I ever wanted.” Catra laughed; a short, bitter thing. “I must be an idiot.”

“No,” Angella said firmly. Catra looked up in mild surprise. “No,” she repeated, more gently. “How could you not desire the approval of the only mother you'd ever known?”

Catra’s gaze dropped.

“I shouldn't,” she whispered. “I should be happy she's gone.”

Angella stepped closer. “But you aren’t.” Catra turned away from her, silent, briefly bringing the back of her hand to her face and roughly dragging it across her eyes.

“It's all right to be sad, Catra,” she repeated. “Shadow Weaver did terrible things, things you never deserved--but she was an important part of your life. It's normal to grieve such a loss.”

Silence.

“You were alike in many ways, you know,” Angella said a moment later.

Catra scoffed, and it sounded wet. “I thought you were trying to make me feel better.”

“I said many, not all. She was driven. Intelligent. Determined. As for her other, less desirable qualities, you have accomplished what all good mothers wish for their children: you have grown beyond them. Become the best version of themselves, the one they could never attain.”

“I don't believe you.” Her voice was unsteady in the dark.

“It’s the truth. And truth remains, whether you believe it or not,” Angella said simply.

Catra’s gaze was fixed on the ground, and for a moment all Angella could see was her own daughter standing before her, broken and hurting. Without thinking, she raised a hand and gently pushed back some of Catra’s hair from her face before resting her palm against the side of her face.

Catra froze to stone under her touch. Slowly, mechanically, her head raised.

“What do you want,” she demanded, all traces of her former vulnerability replaced with a cold, hard stare. Angella dropped her hand away, silently cursing herself for not remembering how the only soft touch Catra had known from her parental figure had been a manipulative lie.

“Nothing,” she said, too quickly. “I’m sorry.”

A moment passed as something coalesced in her mind, and she spoke again.

“No, you’re right,” she said firmly. “I do want something.”

Catra’s eyes held a heartbreaking mixture of disappointment, resignation, anger. The look of someone who knew what was coming, but had hoped, however faintly, they would be wrong.

“I want you to know that it was never your fault.” The anger faded from Catra’s face, replaced by confusion. “You were a child, and you never deserved what was done to you.”

Catra’s lips parted, but Angella forged on. “I want you to know that you’re good enough, smart enough, strong enough. That you always have been. That you… you are enough.”

Confusion gave way to shock, then disbelief, and Catra spun her back to Angella too late to hide the tears spilling from her eyes. Her fists reflexively clenched and unclenched at her sides.

“Shut up.” Her voice was cracked, fragile.

Angella thought of how Scorpia and Entrapta deserted with her when Catra left the Horde--not so much because they wanted to leave the Horde, but because they refused to leave her. She thought of Bow and Glimmer and how, despite their near-daily complaints and protestations about Catra’s behavior, they had been practically frantic when she was briefly captured by a Horde patrol a few weeks ago. Thought of Adora, and of the warmth she herself had felt steadily growing for this angry, damaged girl who hid so much and cared so deeply.

Slowly, gently, she reached out and rested her hand on Catra’s shoulder, feeling her tense under the touch.

“I want you to know you are loved.”

There was a long silence while Catra stood, trembling and shaking under Angella’s hand with the force of holding herself together, not even breathing. When she finally drew a breath, it came as a sharp sob wrenching its way out of her throat--followed by another, then another as she sank to the ground. Angella followed, listening to her cries with an aching heart before she finally risked putting an arm across Catra’s shoulders.

“Oh, child,” she whispered.

To her great surprised, Catra suddenly spun in place, wrapping her arms around Angella in a vice-like grip and firmly planting her damp face in her shoulder as she continued to cry. Frozen only momentarily, Angella brought up her arms up to wrap them gently around her shaking frame, cocooning them both in the soft, iridescent glow of her wings. A memory came to her of Glimmer, not long after Micah’s death, as she started to rub slow, gentle circles on Catra’s back.

“Shh,” she murmured. “It’s all right.”

Eventually, her wracking cries faded to hiccuping breaths, and her grip loosened. Angella loosened her grip in return, allowing Catra to pull a short distance away. She wiped her forearm across her face before pulling her knees to her chest.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

Angella offered her a handkerchief, which she accepted without making eye contact. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Another silence. Angella knew she didn’t believe her words, but it was all right. She would repeat them as many times as necessary.

Catra looked at the iridescent wing that was still wrapped loosely around her back.

“You know, I used to think you were some enormous, disgusting winged monster?” Catra smiled sheepishly. “The Horde wasn’t exactly flattering with their propaganda.”

Angella laughed softly. “Opinions can change. After all, I wasn’t your biggest fan when you tried to shoot the Moonstone while I was standing under it.”

Catra gave a stuffy, wincing laugh. “Yeah… sorry about that.”

Angella’s wing tightened briefly around Catra, brushing her shoulder. “It’s in the past,” Angella said gently. “I trust you now.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Maybe I should.”

Catra’s mouth opened, then closed. Angella saw her brow crease in the dark as her jaw muscles worked, like she was trying to force words out that wouldn’t come. She laid a hand gently on Catra’s arm.

“It’s all right,” she said. “You don’t have to say it. Trust comes when it comes.”

Angella’s wing remained gently curled around Catra’s shoulders, shielding her from the occasional cool breeze. They sat that way for some time, side by side, lost in their own thoughts and a silence that was strangely comfortable.

A sudden thought came to Angella, and she pulled her wing back instinctively. “Do you wish for me to depart? Glimmer often has to remind me that I can sometimes… overstay my welcome.”

Catra looked startled, glancing back with almost a hurt expression at the wing that now hovered a respectful distance behind her.

“What? No, it’s fine, I--” Catra stammered, flushing slightly and averting her gaze at this unfamiliar vulnerability. “...I don’t really want to be alone right now.”

Oh. Of course. Angella gently replaced the wing around Catra’s back, noting the soft sigh the girl gave when she did so.

Angella hummed. In the distance, the deep indigo of the night sky began to fade purple with the barest tinge of morning light.

“Neither do I.”

Daughters will love like you do Girls become lovers who turn into mothers So mothers be good to your daughters, too 

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This now has a second chapter!