#but in fanfiction they’re less terrible I think

[sugar-crash]

🍬King Candy (Wreck-It Ralph) x (gn) Reader👑

(Sleep Edition!)

(Request here! Sorry this came out way later than it was supposed to, some personal stuff is happening that’s I won’t divulge into... But I’ll just say that the fanfiction🔑 curse is apparently real and doesn’t stop at AO3.)

- He’s more tolerant than how he is Turbo when you start sleeping with one another but still has those selfish habits of hogging the bed, but seeing how he’s royalty now it probably isn’t much of a problem— He feels like the type to have a overly large bed or something like that.

- Snores a bit louder than he used to, cause,, old man disguise. Uhhh old man in general, whose supposed to be whimsical but falling back on it.

- But like again they’re not going to keep you up at night, at least, I hope they don’t cause you guys probably spend a lot of time together.

- More cuddly for sure, like I touched upon earlier after all those years of hiding and being all alone did something to me, he probably realized that being more affectionate would help him and this relationship.

- I like to think that as a creation of humans it isn’t much of a stretch to say like any other piece of art it imitates life, and what is life with those moments of desire, belonging.

- A part of him probably wants to belong to Sugar Rush desperately, and being in charge of it is what makes him feel like does, at least to a degree. Giving you affection and space when you need it, sleeping in Sugar Rush is always the best, sleeping on literal marshmallows.

- Maybe even wants to feel as if he belongs in this relationship in general, His actions in this relationship trying so hard to be genuine at times when he feels it warrants them, like hugging you close and lulling you to sleep.

- He’s making an active effort to be what he thinks you need in this relationship, thinking he knows what’s best for you more you do, that sense of entitlement he has seeping into this relationship almost covertly.

- Who knows what’s going on in his brain most of the time, maybe ways to insult people who he deems below him but I digress, like sometimes his emotion is unreadable when you finally nod off after a conversation about your place and why never comes over or leaves Sugar Rush itself where he is able to quell you enough for the time being.

- He has so much going through his brain constantly, mostly stemming from that anxiety that has the tendency to keep him up at times.

- Still a terrible insomniac, that’s not up for debate he has lost hours of sleep over his own self imposed fears of being replaced by the original ruler Venallope.

- One word to describe both Turbo and King Candy is Paranoid, whether it be about his popularity or maintaining a power of authority over something that isn’t his.

- He’s so afraid and that mixed with sleep deprivation and denial of what he truly is, getting him away from everything is how you get him to stop and think critically before finally calming down and taking a chill pill after being strung up for so long.

- He gives you credit for your care for him, thanking you softly but never repeating himself when you ask him to, you know what he said.

- Again he doesn’t hang on your every word, that self reliance still being a very important part of who he is, especially now as a ruler.

- The amount of lectures you get when you guys first start dating and he has to explain away how weird Sugar Rush gets is far too many.

- I think with your help he’s a bit less paranoid, like a relationship with you definitely lessens the edge he has about him— Hell he’s probably even more conniving to others than he is in the movie because he takes the time to really think about what he can do without needing to think on the spot.

- His tendency to think later on is still very much intact, and I believe your relationship has both their benefits and drawbacks— A part of him definitely becomes more smug and full of himself, he got someone to love him as King Candy after all, further adding less suspicion on him.

- I think in a way to keep him from going “too soft” convinces himself that your relationship is that, but no amount of justification can hide that genuine caring he has for you, years of being together only amplifying that.

- In a way, you give him ease, just not in a literal way he does for you, a way that he doesn’t really recognize till he reaches the point of no return.

(Bdr aqfdk dr rljcsbdko kl lkc wdhh squhy nljmqcbcki fki d ilks sbdkg fkylkc wdhh cvcq sbc nbfknc sl fs hcfrs kls sbc mclmhc lt sbc fqnfic.)

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

Late ahh dnp 2024 predictions:

- Valentines Day Heartthrob episode (they love this game so much) with another twist of some kind is the first dapg video of 2024

❌ first video back on the gaming channel is “will you press the button?”

- WDAPTEO 2023 comes out on very last day of January

❌ technically I predicted wdapteo but it wasn’t put out on January 31st

- Playing the next chapter of poppy playtime during spooky week

❌ they played it in February

- Sims episode of Spooky Week following Daliens emo ass

❌no?????

- Bob and Eliza die of old age, Dil befriends the Grim Reaper when he comes to collect their souls

❌they moved so we’ll never know what happened to Bob and Eliza

- Dan and Phil Crafts revival video is taken down no more than 24 hours after it’s posted

✅❌1/2 points. Dnpcrafts video did not get deleted, but it was posted

- Dan makes it his mission to do the worst spon breaks ever/sabotage Phil, whose actually trying (like NordVPN)

✅ counting this as a successful prediction after Dans NordVPN fanfiction moment

- Heart Eyes Howell mention

❌not technically but also that one interview that mentions Heart Eyes Howell in the thumbnail was crazy

- Phil wears an Extremely Expensive Shirt and everyone freaks out when those blogs that find people’s clothes post the price

❌nope

- More crazy conspiracies about a wedding/child/pet/honeymoon

✅ these Phagenda theories are getting out of hand guys…

- Phil goes to the ER at least once

✅Good Lord I didn’t think it would be that bad…

- Dab and Evan make a science baby because Phil wants to know how it works

❌god i wish they did though

- They both get Hotter

✅BLONDE PHIL IS DOING THINGS TO ME IM SORRY

✅we mustn’t forget the Phullet

- They finally rid the Howlters of Drago, only for the game to crash and the progress to be lost. They view it as a sign that Drago cannot be removed from the household or terrible things will happen

❌is Drago still there??? I think so????

- Alluding to a popular Phanfic that they Shouldn’t Know About

✅ok I know they’ve referenced some before now but the visceral reaction I had to Phil saying “lets not mention any sunburn or hamsters.” Made me qualify it here

- They continue to talk about cursed Lore and make fun of old conspiracy theories that get gradually more niche

✅ yeah that’s happening

- One of Daliens high school friends is abducted while they’re hanging out at the Howlter residence

❌lowkey surprised this didn’t happen

- DITL of Dan and Phil at Pride

❌wishful thinking tbh

- Some kind of house tour that shows little to none of the actual house

❌dnpcrafts came close…

- Less frequent posting on the gaming channel

✅yes bc they went on tour

[francesderwent]

since apparently in 2024 I’m just saying stuff

I do not want fictional characters to go to therapy.

therapy is a great way to begin to see yourself more clearly, to pinpoint the ways you’re self-sabotaging and make changes which will allow you to strengthen and deepen your relationships. and obviously, we here at redemption.com want to see our favorite characters do that. after a while a character with no self-awareness starts to grate; we usually want them to figure out what they’re doing wrong and have some positive forward motion.

however. therapy is not the only way to have these epiphanies about yourself, or the only way to learn a new way of living, trusting, being a friend. sometimes a series of coincidences will put you in the one situation which will throw a mirror up in front of you and allow you to see and recognize yourself. sometimes you meet just the right person at just the right time who will love you in such a specific way that you’ll realize how wrong your old understanding of love was. it’s less purposeful and less sustained a method of growing than therapy is, it’s more of a winding road with occasional lightning strikes.

and I don’t know how to explain why I only ever want to see characters growing in this way, except to say that when they aren’t, then precisely what you’ve failed to create is a cohesive story. at best you have a story going on while the character privately sorts out their issues at the same time, with themes and climactic moments occurring in neat parallel. (I think Ted Lasso does something like this in season 2.) at worst, you don’t have any story at all, you have a character study in the form of a soliloquy, which happens to be delivered to a therapist. (a lot of fanfiction is like this.) it might be a very good character study! but it’s not a story.

it seems to me that fiction should be a window into the way we can learn from our experiences in the world and from our relationships with others, by being open to seeing ourselves anew and being open to change. and I’m not saying I want all the supporting characters to therapize the protagonist. I’m saying I want my protagonist to listen to the supporting characters and glean the truth of what they say as if they were a very good therapist—even if what they say is delivered in an incomplete way or in the middle of an argument. I don’t want an oracle to appear and point-blank tell the protagonist their fatal flaw. I want the fatal flaw to become exquisitely, inevitably clear in a moment of terrible dramatic irony, when the knowledge seems to come too late. and personally, I want this to happen always in the most dramatic way. I do not want my friends to reach rock bottom in order to start learning and changing. I do, sometimes, want to see fictional characters reach rock bottom. why? well. because there’s a story there.

I don’t just want to see characters changing. I want to see a story about characters changing.

[ilovebeingaturtle]

JUST SAW THE MONDO GECKO HC POST AND CAN I ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY SHREDDER AND KRANG HCS 🥺 (they're living rent-free in my head smh. i should charge them)

I gotchu bud here’s some evil husband rambles-

While he definitely neglects his other passion these days, I think Shredder still finds the time every now and then to pursue his interest in writing. In the few quieter moments of the Technodrome, you can probably find him curled up somewhere with a notepad and muttering to himself. Connected to his interest in writing, I had an idea where Krang is dissatisfied with the ending of his comfort show-so Shredder, in a rare moment of consideration (that will still fuel his ego) offers to rewrite the ending for him. The two then end up spending the afternoon writing fanfiction together basically, and if they ever manage to cooperate enough to produce a final draft, Krang likely forces Benop and Rocksteady to act it out like a script. Their acting is terrible and it results in Shredder taking over as the leading role. He can’t stand watching amateurs.

Shredder hates taking of his armour, it makes him feel unprepared but he also just likes the sensory pressure it provides (because this man is ABSOLUTELY autistic I can claim him). That’s his comfort armour dang it, however he has a secondary set with less spikes on it for relaxing purposes after that time he accidentally tore up their couch and Krang REFUSES to buy another one because of that. If he must appear in other clothing, he prefers pinks and purples. Purple is the colour of royalty after all, and pink just always suits him so well.

Krang had a small fortune he inherited from his family that he was allowed to keep after being banished, plus all that money he’s gained since. He’s started needing to hide all his cards though, Shredder has a habit of stealing them and he’s absolutely an impulse buyer. If they get random shipments of useless items, he knows who’s fault it is, despite Shredder always trying to pin it on Bebop and Rocksteady.

I also like to think Krang probably enjoys singing, his voice is always lilting naturally anyways so I can see him having a secret interest in it. Shredder thinks he sounds god awful and like a cat dying in jelly, but Krang always snipes back that he’s amazing by dimension X standards, which Shredder can’t disprove but still doesn’t feel is right.

Shredder low key has a complex over being replaced, it’s why he gets so hostile whenever Krang brings in a “replacement” for him. He loves attention, he wants to take over the world for the glory of it (it’s why in the timeline where he wins he doesn’t actually know what to do with himself and does shit like make the “I love Shredder” show) and because he wants everyone to see how amazing he is. It’s not that he feels the need to prove himself to Krang, what are you talking about-he just thinks that someone as intelligent as Krang should know better than to think he’s a worthless and if Krang can’t respect that he’s leaving. Sure he always comes back to him after saying that every time but-shut up!

Krang meanwhile I think detests the occasions he has to rely on Shredder, especially in the beginning. He hates feeling helpless, his constructed body gives him security, makes him feel safe and powerful, and without it anything could happen. He feels weak and he hates it. He needs that power over people, to feel taller than them-but I also think that, eventually, after all the times Shredder saves him when reason stands he could have just abandoned him, the fact that Shredder has stuck around this long at all...him being nearby makes Krang feel safe and powerful too. Not that he’d ever admit that.

They’re equals, they snap at each other, betray each other, shift the balance of power back and forth but at the end of the day there has to be respect there for them to work together this long. They need each other, and both know it, so their dynamic will always bend and crack but always snap back into place. I just think they’re neat 💖

[lajulie24]

jaina solo is mary sue

What an interesting assertion to leave in my inbox! Especially because without context it’s not entirely clear whether that’s meant to be a question (do I think Jaina Solo is a Mary Sue?) or a challenge (e.g. “Jaina Solo is a Mary Sue, prove me wrong”).

And, assuming we conclude this statement is true, is that supposed to be a bad thing? If Jaina is a Mary Sue, am I not allowed to like her as a character? Or is she supposed to be my guilty pleasure or something if I do like her? (I don’t really have guilty pleasures, anyway, I prefer just to have pleasures.) I do have lots of thoughts, so thank you in advance, dear Anon, for the ask and the opportunity to share them.

At this point I will freely admit that I have not read a ton of Jaina Solo stuff in Legends. A lot of Wookieepedia articles and fics in which she appears, yes, a lot of the actual books in which she appears, no. I do have a version of the character that I put into my Sequel Trilogy fix-it fic series, but she has some significant differences from her Legends canon counterpart (a couple big ones being that her turned-to-the-Dark-Side brother isn’t her twin, and she’s the younger sister by quite a lot).

However, being around the fandom one does glean some general opinions, so I’ll take a shot at talking about “Jaina Solo is a Mary Sue.” Buckle up, I’m going to be very wordy here.

I really recommend the @thisweekinfandomhistory podcast episode they did on the concept of “the Mary Sue” — it’s a great rundown of where the concept came from, how it evolved over time, how it has affected fanfiction writing as well as mainstream characters in books, TV, and film, and some of the not-so-subtle ways it’s been used to police how we write or how we enjoy femme-presenting characters. The general concept of the Mary Sue is of a (almost always female) character who is sort of a blatant self-insert, where they have all kinds of amazing skills or powers, and are so attractive that everyone is in love with them or wants to be their friend, and they’re friends with all the main characters, and the story sort of starts being about how awesome they are, they saved the day and everyone clapped. The idea is that writing a Mary Sue into your story makes your story terrible and boring and they’re just a flat character who sucks. I think.

So — Jaina Solo. In Legends canon she is:

Strongly connected to main characters we know and love (eldest child and only daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa and niece of Luke Skywalker)

Extremely strong in the Force and a Jedi with the crazy Skywalker-brand Force lineage

An incredible pilot and very mechanically savvy as well (also probably helped out by the whole extremely-Force-sensitive thing as well as having at least two incredible pilots in the family)

Able to speak Shryiiwook (makes sense given that Chewie is her father’s best friend, has a life debt to her father, and is pretty much part of the family)

Very attractive (some combo of her mother’s and her father’s good looks, probably more so Leia’s)

Everyone is in love with her (there is an ongoing war among various love interests, including Jagged Fel, Zekk, and Kyp Durron, plus Ta’Chume once tried to marry her off to Isolder when his wife (also the mother of Jaina’s close friend Tenel Ka) was still alive and very much still married to him)

Super-special because of her twin bond with Jacen and being the Sword of the Jedi and having the Vong think she was their trickster goddess

Okay, so there could be some ingredients here that point to Mary Sue for Jaina, particularly the “she’s extremely skilled and the best at all these things” and “everyone is fighting over her affections” business. I would argue the fight of Jaina’s love interests is less about Jaina and more about the fact that in the era many of those books were written, apparently the only way they knew to give women conflict was to a) have them fight with other women (this is a problem they gave Leia a lot too) or b) have them worry about which man they should choose. Or the typical back and forth among authors who had competing love interests and wanted theirs to win. (Side note: Jaina and Tenel Ka should have gotten together at least for a while. Or Jaina should have pulled a Kelly Taylor from 90210 and said “I choose me.”)

Here’s the thing about Jaina having mad skills at multiple things, though. As you can see from most of the bullets above, her skills aren’t just out of the blue so someone could make an overpowered self-insert character. There are solid reasons for those skills. And why do we hear so much about her adventures and her skills? Well, the book series in which adolescent/adult Jaina appears are called Young Jedi Knights and The New Jedi Order. If she’s one of the titular Young Jedi Knights, or a member of the New Jedi Order, she’s one of the beings the book is about! And honestly, however you feel about those series, you’re gonna have a bad time if the whole New Jedi Order series is about Jedi who have no skills and always lose and suck.

Hey, you know who else has a lot of skills and is an excellent pilot and does crazy bonkers things with the Force and often comes and saves the day and has lots of love interests in Legends? Luke Skywalker. Is Luke a Mary Sue? (Well, he’s a man. Being a Mary Sue is apparently reserved for women. So I guess not.)

I don’t think Jaina is a Mary Sue, but let’s say she is and go back to my earlier point: so what?

Women are not exactly featured in the Star Wars universe. My girl Leia is a main character, but there are more women dancing for a Hutt in Return of the Jedi than actually have speaking lines in the original trilogy. (The minuscule number of humans of color in the Star Wars universe is a whole other issue, so blatant that SNL once did a skit about it featuring Lando.)

Maybe we get to have a female character who is beautiful and smart, crazy powerful in the Force, a kickass Jedi, an ace pilot with more kills at nineteen than several of the Rogues put together, who brings all the boys to the yard. (And probably plenty of beings of other genders, let’s be real.) Who is Han Solo and Leia Organa’s beloved daughter, Luke Skywalker’s beloved niece, Chewbacca’s beloved family, Jacen and Anakin’s beloved sister, Mara Jade’s beloved niece and Jedi apprentice, friend to many. Who struggles with her identity and her purpose, who grieves, who grapples with the Dark Side, who worries about winning peace for the galaxy but ending up alone in her life. Maybe I want to read about and write her adventures — which could, yes, include which being she ends up with romantically. Maybe I put a little of myself in there, or a lot of myself, or what I’d want to be if I had even half the talents she has and lived in the Star Wars universe.

Maybe we get to have a kickass Organa-Solo daughter with a purple lightsaber, as a treat. And maybe we get to have as many treats as we want.

TL;DR: “jaina solo is a mary sue” 1. No, she isn’t. 2. Maybe she is, and maybe that’s okay. Great, even.

Congratulations if you waded through this whole thing, Anon, and thank you for the very intriguing ask!

[abonnymouse]

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite 🌅 do you typically known the ending to something before you start writing it? ⛔️ whats something you try to avoid in your work? 📚 do you ever read similar works while writing, or do you intentionally not read them? 😊 say something nice about your writing

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

I talk a lot about Horology (with good reason, it's long) but I thought I'd challenge myself to find favourites in different fics Heedless of his now bleeding hand, he pries a piece of it out of the frame and places it in her hand, bringing it up to his own throat.  Her eyes are wide with shock, staring into his.  The point of the shard digs into the tender flesh of his throat. “Kill me now and I would die happy and unafraid.” 

This is from Handfasted and I just love getting to write Raoul being just as mad as the rest of them. People like to frame him as the "only sane man" in the trio, but I like making him a bit feral, and this line really encapsulates that. This is an insane thing to do, and he does it with zero prompting. I love him.

Her mouth opens, and she thinks she’s about to say something clever about the way the song has elements of popular burlesque and minstrel shows, which makes it modern and distinctly American, a sign that he understands his audience well; if she cannot be educated she might at least be flattering, but– What she says is, “I think it’s terrible.” His mouth drops open, and realising that she’s already said the wrong thing, possibly ruining her own career, certainly infuriating her mother once she inevitably finds out, and now she has nothing left to lose, so she forges on. “You were aiming for something scandalous to draw in crowds, the sort of thing that Comstock and his ilk will do half the advertising for us, in trying to get us shut down, but you miscalculated and forgot something.” “What’s that, Miss Giry?” His tone is as impassive as his face, so rather than heeding what is surely a warning, she continues. “If all a show  has to offer  is that it is scandalous, it isn’t artistic, it’s just tawdry.” Erik flinches back at this. “You–” “It is not, on the whole, a terrible idea to add a touch of the sensual to the show, but that song is all wrong for everything else we have to offer. You promise wonder and delight, and while my tits are quite impressive, they’re not large enough to be viewed in the flies, and they pay to see a show too.” After a minute of heavy silence, punctuated only by Meg’s escalated breathing, she makes her last point like an executioner going for a killing blow. “And really, dots ?”

This passage from Bathing Beauty is Very long but I love this whole section, and it works best altogether. I rarely think my jokes land when I'm trying to be funny in my writing but this makes me smile every time I read it.

🌅 do you typically known the ending to something before you start writing it?

I always think I do but things usually change and shift. I typically think I'm starting something short and then it just keeps going. I like to think of it less as a road and more of a hike through the woods. I know what direction, but I'm making the path I need as I move forward.

⛔️ whats something you try to avoid in your work?

I like my fics moody and introspective, but there's an invisible line somewhere (which I only ever find by crossing it) where moody becomes too depressing and I always have to walk it back. I'm working on a one-shot fic right now that I keep editing to make it less oppressively sad. I want there to be life and light in my fics as well, not just the misery.

📚 do you ever read similar works while writing, or do you intentionally not read them?

I won't read similar fanfiction, especially fanfic from the same fandom, but I'll watch movies or tv or read books that are in a similar vein to get me in the mindset.

😊 say something nice about your writing

Oof... I'll be honest I've been staring at this for a while trying to figure out what to say. I'm not very good at this.

I think I can capture mood fairly well sometimes. Even if you can't tell what a setting looks like, you can tell what it feels like (I hope).

[theriddlettesblog]

I'm in Love With a Vampire…Kid,

a South Park fanfiction

All characters portrayed are 18+

Chapter 1

My name’s Pete Thelman, and I’m a goth. Like all goths, I dwell in the dark pit of despair and depravity that is my soul… more or less. At South Park High, the goths have a sworn enemy: The Vampires. They’re kids who like to dress up and act like they’re real blood-suckers while they drink Clamato juice out of plastic wine glasses. They actually stopped doing that last part in eighth grade but everyone still thinks they’re posers, especially the goths. But I don’t hate them as much as my other goth friends, I don’t hate them at all, to be honest, but regardless, I’m supposed to. I also have a crush on their leader, Mike Makowski, so that doesn’t help.

Right now, I’m standing with the other goths, Michael, Firkle, and Henrietta, in front of Michael’s locker, all staring holes in the floor.

“Shitty morning,” Michael sighs, “nothing terrible’s happened and yet it still sucks.”

“Well it looks like it’s gonna get a whole lot worse.” Henrietta states as she rolls her eyes and points to a group of vampires walking toward us.

Shit, I think to myself, Mike is with them. I gotta act disinterested.

“Hey, guys.” Mike greets as he walks up.

“Fuck off, Count Cuckula.” Michael spits out at the vampire leader.

“Jeez, okay chill out, man,” Mike replies offended and a bit noticeably scared, “we’ll get out of your hair, per se.”

“Yeah, your stupid boring ass hair. Where’s the color? Ha ha ha!” Mocks one of the shorter vampire boys with neon purple highlights standing next to Mike.

“Hey,” Mike begins, elbowing the kid, signaling to him to be nice, “Peter’s got some really nice crimson.” he compliments while looking at me.

I start turning redder than the dye in my hair, trying my best to keep a deadpan expression.

“I really love the scarlet.” Mike says, “Later.” He finishes, smiling at me and walking away with the group of fake blood-suckers following.

“S-see ya!” I shout back nervously.

I sigh while letting my smile grow, “Man, he’s cute..”

At that moment, my grin immediately vanishes, my eyes go wide, and my whole face goes pale… paler.

Oh fuck, I said that outloud.

My gaze darts to Michael when he asks, “What in the actual hell did you just say?”

“I think he just called Mike freaking Makowski ‘cute’.” Henrietta accusingly cuts in.

I start panicking, “I, uh.. meant that he wasn’t bad looking for a complete tool! It looks like he tried to kiss the front end of a car while it was moving! Ha, ha…”

Everyone looks at me with piles upon piles of skepticism as my eyes move around to meet theirs.

Michael is the one to finally break the silence, “I would have gone with ‘face-planting a radiator,’ but that works too.” After Michael says that, the other goths go back to being impartial and blankly staring at nothing.

I let out a quiet but labored breath, Jesus Christ, that was too fucking close.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Next

Masterlist

*Riddlette note*

Since all of the characters are 18+, I just wanted to clarify that Mike is a 19yo super senior and Pete is 18 because Mike is canonically a year older than Pete.

[sabo-has-my-heart]

I think an AU where the One Piece world has its own version of tumblr and Ao3 and Sanji introduces his siblings to them during WCI would be really funny

-🦇

🦇 anon! It's so great to hear from you again! So I hope this is about what you wanted, I gave everybody cellphones for the sake of ease. Let me know if this isn't what you wanted or you'd like me to try again. I'm always happy to write.

Warnings: mentions of raunchy fanfiction, Sanji being a little petty, slight violence

Word Count: 1320

     Scrolling through his timeline, Sanji sighed. It was one of his only solaces, he still had access to his phone and his social media. He’d blocked the others so that they couldn’t check his posts or anything, but he hoped that it would be temporary, even as they slapped the bracelets on his wrists, threatening to blow off his hands. Reading the various fanfiction stories had helped, stories of Sora, warrior of the sea, and how he’d rescue people, how he’d beat the bad guys and get the girl. The man’s love life and women fawning over him. At the moment, he was writing some of his own fanfiction, though his had less to do about love and more about how ‘stealth black wasn’t a bad guy’! Stealth Black who was forced into Germa’s evil doings by his evil father and siblings! Except Poison Pink who was actually very supportive of Stealth Black. Was he telling the story from his side? Yes. Did he care? Not a bit!

     “‘You’re a weakling, Stealth Black. How could someone like you be related to us?’ Sparkling Red sneered, kicking his brother, sending him flying back. ‘You’re just the pathetic reject, we’d be better off without you!’ Electric Shock Blue mocked, standing over the dark haired young man. ‘It would have been better if you didn’t exist.’ Winch Green added, punching Stealth Black as he tried to stand. This was a constant for him, to be bullied by his siblings, all he wanted was to run away.” Sanji muttered as he typed on his phone. The sound of someone scoffing drew his attention away from his writing, looking up to see his brothers. 

     “First cooking, now fanfiction? You really are a worthless disgrace.” Ichiji said, the three looking at him with contempt. Sanji gripped his phone tightly, it took all his willpower not to simply crush the device as he glared at his brothers. Pausing, an idea came to mind as he smirked.

     “Why? I’m just portraying you in the proper light. The Sora comics paint you to be absolute villains and the writers online portray you as something… else. I figured they need someone to show the world who you really are.” Sanji said, making the description of the fan’s portrayal deliberately vague. They hated it when Sanji hid something from them, or when they couldn’t mock him, they wanted to know what he knew so they could hold it over him somehow, as if it would prove their superiority. 

     “What do you mean, something else?” Niji asked, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles.

     “Oh it’s nothing, they just get your characters completely wrong. I can understand the Sora comics, you’re supposed to be the villains. You’re terrible enough people that you make great villains, but the fan writers. They’re just… no, it’s better if I don’t tell you, I doubt you could handle it. I can barely handle it, you three would have no chance.” Sanji taunted as he tilted his head back towards his phone, though he made sure to keep an eye on his brothers, watching their reactions as they glared at him.

     “What are you implying, Sanji?” Yonji asked, the three of them stalking over to the blond, looking down at him. Sanji smirked inwardly as he pulled up some of the raunchiest stories of his brothers.

     “I suppose this one will do. It’s not one of the more tame stories, but it’s about what most of the writers online write.” he said, trying to look nonchalant, his legs crossing, “A Rainbow Love by GermaLover667.” Sanji said before launching into the story. It was one of the stories that he knew would bother them. Filled with emotions, impossibilities, incorrect character depictions, and the part he knew would bother them most, the ‘forbidden love between brothers’. It was about 20 minutes later as he was halfway through the story that he looked up. This was probably the most emotion he’d seen on their faces outside of cruel glee. Ichiji was glaring, looking like he was about to murder somebody, Niji was shaking with rage, and Yonji looked greener than usual. Granted, the story highly disturbed Sanji as well, but the blond was able to put it aside simply for the joy of causing his brothers some of the same torturous misery that they typically inflicted upon him. 

     “Hm, maybe I should stop reading, you three don’t look like you can handle much more. I mean, I’m not exactly pleased about the… content either, they make you three out to be way more caring than you really are and I don’t think I’d ever do some of the things happening in the story, but if I finish the story, no, it’s best if I don’t finish this.” Sanji said dismissively, once more gaining their ire.

     “Are you saying you can handle it better than us? Finish the damned lousy piece of shit, Sanji!” Niji barked, his hands clenched into fists. He’d prove that he was better than Sanji! He could handle this shitty smut story better than his little brother! Sanji sighed and shook his head as if he didn’t believe the blue haired boy but returned to reading the fic, glancing back up at them once he’d finished it. During the second half of the story, Ichiji had tossed a guard out the window and punched a hole in the wall, Niji had ripped the couch apart as he tried to contain his anger, and Yonji had damn near destroyed the ceiling. 

     “Hm, I suppose you guys took that a little better than I expected. How about I send you all something a bit tamer to read in your spare time, it’s more romance related, but it’s not ‘brotherly love’ romance, just x reader romance.” Sanji said with a shrug. 

     “Tch, like we have time for that crap. Unlike worthless rejects, we’ve actually got important shit to attend to.” Yonji said, turning away and quickly leaving.

     “Besides, why would we care about the worthless crap that shitty writers make up.” Niji spat, following Yonji out, leaving just as quickly though trying to make it look less like he was running away. Ichiji stared at Sanji for a moment. 

     “I swear, if you show anyone these stories, I’ll blow your hands off myself.” Ichiji hissed before finally leaving, slamming the door so hard it destroyed the hinges, falling to the ground shortly after he’d left. Sanji stifled his laughter as he tapped on his library. He felt like reading some Stealth Black fics, they were surprisingly accurate about his character despite the fact that Stealth Black in the Sora comics was vastly different from how he actually was.

     “That was quite brilliant, little brother.” a feminine voice said for the doorway, a pink haired female smiling at him.

     “Hey, Reiju. I just thought they might want to know what people are writing about them.” Sanji said with a smirk, the woman chuckling in response.

     “Personally, I like some of the Poison Pink stories, they usually aren’t too bad. Though there’s a few that are as terrible as the one you just read to them.” she said, pulling out her own phone and scrolling through some of her favorites, sending the links to Sanji.

     “I’ll check ‘em out later, right now I think I’d like to mess with them a little more.” Sanji said as he pulled up a new page, preparing to write something that he knew would bug his brothers. Was it petty? Probably, but they deserved it for everything they put him through, so he honestly didn’t care. Besides, it was a lot of fun and it got them off his back. It might be disturbing to write things about his own asshole brothers, but if it meant seeing the looks on their faces, it might be worth it to write some of his own.

[zalrb]

Red White and Royal Blue Review

I'm sorry but as the president's son, wouldn't you know not to get drunk at an official engagement like this?

Is that cake about to get ruined because it feels like the cake is about to get ruined. I didn't see the trailer.

2. Yes, it was ruined. I feel like I should be drunk for this.

3. I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT MY REPUTATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. I was like what’s going on with Uma Thurman but I realize she’s trying to do an accent. I do not think it’s working.

5. This ... looks weird to me

It almost looks like photoshop, idk.

6. I’ve only been watching this for ten minutes but .. why can’t I remember his name, whatever president son dude, I think he’s the weakest link. The dialogue isn’t as snappy as it thinks it is although I did chuckle at the “you’ll act like the sun shines out of his ass and you have a vitamin D deficiency” but Zahra sells the quick “snappy” wit with more ease than he does. He isn’t comfortable with it.

7. Equerry dude is hotter than both of them.

8. Alex. His name is Alex.

9. Honestly, out of the two of them, Alex is acting like the bigger jackass.

10. Yeah, Alex kinda irritates me.

11. He flirts better with Miguel. Those eyes?

like I know we’re not at the flirty part with Henry yet but I can already tell we’re not going to get the same energy.

12. I don’t think you understand the laugh that came out of my mouth when I saw this

because it’s basically like they each got their own Black Best Friend and I know this is supposed to be like DIVERSITY.

13. “Omg people would kill to come to my NYE party” so far, this is a pretty basic party, sir.

14. So Henry is supposed to be uptight and posh and Alex is supposed to be more carefree, the drunk partier dude, but the thing is, the actor doesn’t come across carefree, he feels like he’s trying to be carefree so he actually makes me feel more uptight than Henry because I’m like, you’re not letting loose but you’re supposed to be the loose one.

15. TO THE WINDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW TO THE WALL! TILL THE SWEAT DROPS DOWN MY BALLS!  AH SKEET SKEET MUTHAFUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, AH SKEET SKEET GOTDAMN!

16. LMAOOOOOOOOO. Honestly, I don’t know if them choosing Get Low as the song they’re supposed to see each other across the dance floor and look at each other longingly is brilliant or terrible.

17. Aww Henry wanted a NYE kiss. Sad face.

18. Henry, I just feel like you could do better than Alex?

19. WE GET IT YOU WERE WORKING CLASS

20. Well at least they’re not Malec when they kiss.

21. He’s reminiscent of a a young Al Pacino -- I’m actually thinking of Al Pacino in Scarface but they did darken his skin for Scarface, which is you know.

22. “He grabbed my hair in a way that made me understand the difference between rugby and football” this line is wasted on these two. Jesus, give it to people with chemistry.

23.

he deserves a better scene partner.

24. I can’t believe I’m not even an hour in.

25. Alex, do some work!

26. Oh, this banter is terrible. People are comparing this to Merthur?

27. Wait, but I want to know which other famous boys he’s shagged.

28. This is probably the most I’ve cared about them so far

29. And he's blinking rapidly to show he's nervous but it should be in the body language, Alex is kind of just standing there. It should be nervous and exciting and intimate and thrilling, it's just ... kind of happening. Like the dude who plays Henry, his back must be TIRED from carrying all of this.

30. Ah yes,

it's giving

but way less intimate.

31. OK. So. I was going to add a screenshot but I was afraid tumblr would block it if I did so when they're making love, Alex -- who I almost called whatshiface -- says "I can't believe how wrong I was about you" and here's my thing with dialogue during sex scenes and I feel really bad for comparing these two movies because no one deserves this but it reminds me of when anons were like please watch some clips of the um, what's that movie series based on Harry Styles fanfiction -- After -- WE ARE GOING TO PAUSE TO BRING ATTENTION TO THE PROCESS I WENT THROUGH TO GET THE NAME OF THESE FUCKING MOVIES:

I typed in movie based on harry styles fanfiction and then Google was like Anne Hathaway and I was like what no, there's another movie based on One Direction fanfiction?? HOW MANY ARE THERE? then I was like wasn't Jughead in the movie? but then I forgot his real name so I had to be like Riverdale cast and it was like Cole Sprouse and I was like RIGHT! then looked up his fucking filmography and it wasn't there and I was like I swear I saw a clip with him in it and then I was like RIGHT, he is a twin so then I Googled his brother's name then I got Dylan Sprouse and then I looked up HIS filmography and got the name of the movie JUST FOR THIS BRIEF MENTION IN THIS STUPID POST and I was like, but anons can't search the masterlist??????????

anyway there's that scene where they're having sex in her office or something and like in the middle of them having sex he's like "SAY I'M THE ONLY ONE" or something and it just made me laugh because his voice is unaltered, he just delivered the line like they were having a regular conversation and that's what happens here, Alex just says this line and it takes me out of the moment because I'm like you're not being breathy or moaning or something as you talk, you're just talking like normal? THEN DON'T SPEAK.

32. But what does Alex do? Is he in school? Is he ... what does he do? I know he wrote a memo that nobody read and will probably end up being a huge meaningful contribution down the line but he's talking about wishing he could help more and I'm like what's your job? Like you can still help people in whatever job you're doing, like are YOU going to hospitals and talking to dying children? Like what's happening here?

33. And he's going on and on about making his dad proud and being someone who can do something but you're the guy who got drunk at a wedding and made a 75,000 pound cake fall. I...

34. Ah he's a law student. Volunteer at a free law clinic then, jesus christ.

35. OK their together texts are infinitely worse. "I CAN'T HAVE SMUT FILLING MY INBOX".

36. I mean, Miguel is a journalist, Alex, I...

37. So I'm guessing Miguel will break the Alex/Henry story. Because duh.

38. HENRY IS TRYING SO HARD.

39. "Dad, what is this music? It's so not the vibe" I'm sorry but I find Alex insufferable.

40. Oh so Henry DOES read nonwhite authors, jfc.

41. Ohhhhhhh whatshisface, Alex, is having the IT ALL MAKES SENSE moment, which MUST happen when the love interest is singing, HENRY IS HIS FOREVER BOO. And then of course, princes can't be gay so even though Henry feels the same way, I'm sure he'll be all I TOLD YOU NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ME.

42. This movie seems like there'll be a rain kiss in it.

43. "Yeah, he's tougher than he looks." You guys were drinking tequila shots, doing karaoke and playing volleyball, not chopping wood for your only source of heat during winter in the Appalachians. Relax.

44. "You can understand my life a little more" which is cool but what about HIS life, Alex? I don't know I just find him extremely self-centered.

45. IT'S LIKE THERE'S A ROPE ATTACHED TO MY CHEST AND IT KEEPS PULLING ME TOWARDS YOU. Yes, I see the Jane Eyre reference.

46. Aww, he's in the pool with his hand over his heart. I needed a better couple for this.

47. And here we go with the downturn before the uptick.

48. He's trying so hard to be melancholy and this is what we get?

A furrowed brow?

49.

I mean are you? What is this, Stefan about Caroline? Please be serious.

50. Well, there's rain. But they're not kissing.

51. "I flew across an ocean" which would be more impressive if you weren't the president's son, Alex.

52.

You didn't actually storm the castle, though. Who are you now, Damon?

53. This should be way more frenzied than it is. He should be yelling, out of his mind, and Henry should be doing exactly what he's doing now.

54.

Well that's because he's amazingly self-centred.

55. ON. HIS. BACK.

56. Stephen Fry being in this is kind of perfect though. I just wish the movie was better.

57. OK well that's over.

[thesafecafe]

Listen y’all, this has been on my mind for WEEKS now, and I’ve already discussed it partially with a friend of mine (and she wrote me a labyrinth fic and I died), but I wanna say it here. Here is the list of idols I think could’ve played/could be casted as a modern day version of Jareth from The Labyrinth (1986) and what I think they’d be like. (I know there could probably be more, but these 3 specifically give me “ethereal mythical being/fairy type creature who is better than you” vibes and I must explain. Also, this is x adult readers, MDNI, tyvm).

Kim Hongjoong: Now, to me, Hongjoong can pull off the whole playful, immature rogue with anger issues (he is the leader of Ateez, the anger issues part comes naturally), and I see him more in tuned with the song “Magic Dance” from the soundtrack, and the runner up being “Within You” because his expressions in that would be so deadly, like, have y’all seen him? And he could knowingly lure you to his palace without much other than his looks, he knows the effect he has on women and men alike, and yet, he’ll still probably take someone or something valuable to you as extra incentive to keep you playing his game longer. A devious goblin king indeed. If you resist him, his mood becomes increasingly sour before he’ll make your life harder as you travel through the maze, putting up extra obstacles and problems until he feels like stopping. (he won’t put up too many though, if you accidentally hurt yourself because of him, he’d never forgive himself).

Nakamota Yuta: “Within You” fits him so well, I feel like he’s less on the soft side as Jareth, he’d have one for you of course, but I feel he’d be more on the temperamental side of Jareth’s immaturity. And “Magic Dance” would be less about making the brother happy, but more about shutting him up as he played with the goblins so that Yuta could think of ways to lure you closer to him. He’s a sneaky goblin king, and he will stoop to whatever level he needs to get what he wants, and if he  is met with any level of resistance, a temper tantrum will be thrown. It might be one of the most terrible and yet beautiful things you’d ever get to witness, if you ever did catch him in the middle of losing his cool that is. He’d probably be the most heartbroken if you rejected him with the line from the movie.

Kang Yeosang: The perfect all rounder imo (he can mesh well with all the songs). I don’t think he’d be as immature a goblin king as the others, still selfish, but he knows better ways to play mind games and he won’t immediately get angry and throw a fit if things don't go his way. “As the World Falls Down” fits him, and y’all have seen him with long blonde hair, he’d totally pull off that scene. And he’s sarcastic asf sometimes, so his comebacks would scathe anyone who challenged him with serious third degree burns. He’s more of an elegant and refined goblin king, but prone to selfish outbursts of possessiveness, jealousy, and occasional rage should things turn out differently than he planned. His anger is not hasty and quick, but cold, slow, and deep, and he holds grudges. He’ll be satisfied when he receives a tearful apology or until you feel just like him, upset and annoyed.

That was my list, (I’m a nerd, I know), and I am willing to talk about it further, but for now, I shall sleep and wish for a spectacular ball gown and a non toxic version of the goblin king/k-pop idols (they’re a lil toxic as goblin kings, but it's only fanfiction, never fear).

[shadesinbetween]

These are just some goals off the top of my head that I’d like to see if I’ll be able to accomplish any of them this year. I have, what I personally call, bad habits as a writer that I’d like to have better control over.

These aren’t things that I wish to continue beating myself up over. These are things I want to look back on and say, “look how you’ve grown”.

Writing Goals: These are goals I’ve picked based on how chaotic I’ve been in 2023 - there are a lot of ones I don’t want to keep beating myself up over for continuing to do.

- Write a minimum of 2-3K words a day.

- Keep WIPs/new ideas to myself until I’m closer to publishing them. We all know I’m terrible at this one.

- Only have one ongoing work posted to AO3 at a time. I always let my excitement of wanting to share new ideas that I post things ASAP, which has lead to other ongoing works that others wait for updates for to get lost. I also hope to have at least two chapters always written in full before posting/updating new chapters. In my dream writing world, I’d only have one work focused on at a time and not let anything new creep in until I finished the one I already have ongoing.

- Posting oneshots sporadically when having an ongoing multi-chapters fic, and if they become excessively long still write out the entire work before deciding on whether or not to post it into split parts. For one of my ongoing works (that has all of my bad habits going for it), I thought it was just going to be a 20K one shot. It’s turning into something much longer than that. I still feel like it reads more as a oneshot that a multi-chapter work, and I already planned on posting a part of it before finishing the rest. This is the last time this will occur.

- Do not share posting dates ahead of time. AKA don’t make promises you can’t keep. So far, I’ve broken every single one I’ve made. I don’t like keeping others waiting on things they’re excited for and then not receive them. Another thing in my writing dream world would be to have one set day and time during the week as a posting day.

- Separate Outlines into colored sections to make writing and editing less of a stressor. In the past I’ve always waited until I’ve written a work in full before editing, which has usually been late in the night where I’m exhausted. That leads to skim editing. I want to write in sections and edit those sections before moving forward.

- Do not feel like I have to sign up for every exchange or challenge I come across. I signed up for a couple for the end of this year because I felt like having more fun in this fandom and wanted to introduce my writing by joining in! I just don’t want to overwhelm myself by signing up for too many, or feel like I can’t meet deadlines. Again, for me, this goes back to not following the through with promises.

- Don’t be afraid to write the ideas you think other people won’t enjoy, write for your own enjoyment. This partially comes from a work I wrote as a gift for someone else for the a gift exchange. I had so much more fun writing this than I thought I was going to! I enjoy watching shows and movies with supernatural elements and never thought I’d ever write this genre in this fandom. I thought I should stick to purely human/realistic writing BUT this is fanfiction and it’s a creative and fun space! Don’t hold back due to letting others peoples’ interest and low numbers speak louder than my your words. And, you never know, there’s most likely someone out there secretly wishing more unique ideas existed!

- Do not discard ideas you’re excited about just because there’s already one like it posted, or if a more well-known writer has written it. I am extremely guilt of this. This entire post could have been shorter if I just wrote “stop being so hard on yourself”. Your base ideas may be similar but that doesn’t mean your mind won’t take it to different places. Writing isn’t a race. If there’s a trope that’s enjoyed, I promise as a reader we want them all!

AO3 Goals: These goals aren’t about the stat numbers, just personal ones I hope to accomplish by the end of the year.

- A new pen name. Yes, I’ve said goodbye to the firstsprinces name for my writing accounts. It is still my main fan account! This one probably seems silly but I think all of you have really amazing names and I look at mine, feeling meh. If this user has been someone else in the past I apologize if this name has once been you/or a friend of yours. I saw that it was available and changed it without the knowledge of it as a once existing account.

- Have at least 8 works posted and completed by the end of the year. This number may seem like nothing to the veterans out there, but since my ideas never stay in a small contained space, this is a number I feel like I can reach. Let’s get through these WIPs that are backlogged!

- Go through every work that’s already posted and save works to “Mark for Later”. I think I stopped on page 19, but I’ll have to start again with all the brand new works that have been shared since my last run through.

- Check for new works daily to add to “Mark for Later”. This way I can follow ongoing works and I won’t have to go through every page of the works.

- Engage with other works and authors. At the end of the day, we’re a community. A community of devoted readers and writers. Put the numbers to the side and spread love and kindness wherever you can! You never know how much a simple engaging gesture will make someone’s day! And you never know what beautiful and chaotic friendships will bloom!

Final Thoughts: I’m already looking forward to seeing what progress I’ll make this year. And have this post saved in a document in hopes of remembering to make a comparison post to see exactly how I did by the end of the year. I always get brain bursts of excitement when it comes to these and have never followed through. Let 2024 be the year!

[metataxy]

This.

Also like, these people don’t get PAID for it.  

It always weirds me out a little when I see writers being like “I apologize that I haven’t updated lately”... like no, darling writer, you owe us nothing.  We appreciate that you’ve taken however many hours out of your busy day, between work and childcare and appointments and family and whatever else is going on behind the scenes, to create something and share it with the world.  

And reviewers who respond to those apologies with stuff like “That’s perfectly fine, you’ve always returned before and continued to create good work”?  Even though the tone is positive, I always wince and am tempted to step in, because this feels like a sentence I’d expect to hear a manager tell an employee who’s off on sick leave, NOT someone who’s just unwrapped a present from a total stranger, and who really can’t and shouldn’t have any expectation of more.

That’s what a fanfic really is.  A gift.  If you’ve read a fic, and you’ve loved it, you should react as though a total stranger has come to you, while you’re sitting in your coffeeshop thumbing through your phone, and given you both a gift, and their mailing address.  

Think of the cost of a gift.  Think of how many hours you’d have to work to buy a book.  A book is worth... what, a hour on minimum wage if it’s an electronic copy?  It takes less time than that to write a review.

Now think of how many hours the author must have worked to write a 60,000 page fanfic.  A book, really.  It would take me about 100 hours for something of that length.  Maybe more.  Think of what those 100 hours would earn on a job, and think that you’ve just been given the benefit of all that labour, unasked, without expectation of return.  

If you don’t like the fanfic, that’s fine, move along, no review really necessary... but if you did--

Send a thank you note by writing a review, even if the fic is years and years old.  You can’t see their response always, but I guarantee, they’re delighted to know someone’s still reading whatever they wrote.  Pay-it-forward--write your own fanfic, even if it’s terrible.  I guarantee also, someone will read it--especially (laughs), if it’s for a rarepair.  

Fanfiction is a community.  A wonderful community.  And the more we’re engaged, the better a community functions <3

some people really be out there typing fanfics longer than war and peace in their free time and then going on about their life like it's no big deal. how fucking incredible. like no offense to tolstoy but that was like. his whole job

[pedrospookie]

i know you're working on thing (i've been waiting to see what you come up with) so here are my questions pertaining to what your working on/ going through right now: 8, 14, 21, and 30!

Howdy howdy friend! Thank you for the ask 🥰

I do have some things in the works and up my sleeve, I am just in a phase of 0 creativity (both in my writing and my work as a musician) but I’m hoping that I can find my groove soon and crank out some stories for everyone 👀

8. Most challenging character to write or draw?

That has to be Javier Peña, the love of my life. I have loved him for years yet I struggle to capture his voice/mannerisms. I think I make him nicer than he actually is?? And then when I read it back, I’m like who the fuck is this man???? Cause that ain’t Javi! I know he’s a sweet angel with his girlies and Chucho but i feel like I haven’t quite found the balance for him yet. I also think I love him too much so my perfectionist tendencies get in the way.

14. Something new you tried this year?

Tbh, writing was new for me. I haven’t done it in the better part of a decade and I stumbled into fanfiction again this fall when I was commuting a lot for work (I was tired of lugging books with me), and from there I slowly started to find the courage to put myself out there and share stories!

In terms of writing, I’ve been making a bigger effort to eliminate useless dialogue. I get so easily caught up in the “he said” “she murmured” blah blah blah, that I’m now trying to focus more on dialogue that furthers the plot and/or explains how the characters are feeling rather than just them chatting. I’m trying to challenge myself to find alternative ways to get the same sentiment across without the characters exchanging a bunch of dialogue as it’s way more interesting to read about what they’re thinking or feeling!

21. Something that made you emotional?

Oof. I’ve read a couple of fics this year that brought me to tears. I went through a really awful and kinda traumatic break up at the start of this year— so bad my therapist even cried when I told him about it, before venturing into one of the worst years of my life, so whenever I read stories of reassuring!Joel or soft!Javi or reassuring!Din, I get a little misty. I can’t remember the name of it (I’m so sorry to the gifted author!) but there was a Jackson!Joel fic I read this Fall that had me crying on the train. I also have ugly cried more than twice reading the series Touch (written by slimybeth69!!!). Something about the assurance gets me, and I think because Din is such a man of few words, that when he says he misses reader, he means it.

Whenever a character goes through hell and back and someone is still standing there with them (lol I’m getting misty just writing this) it chokes me up, especially if it’s a romantic interest like Joel or Javier.

In re-reading this response, it seems pathetic of me but it’s the truth. I spent so much of this year wishing someone would have gone through hell and back with me, instead of leaving me at the gates of hell alone.

Anyway, the tears have been healing and I am so appreciative of literature and art and the works people create on here. Thank you for letting me feel things again!

30. Advice to yourself (and maybe others) for the new year?

I try to give myself the same advice I’ve been giving myself in regard to singing— do it for yourself. Focus less on whether or not people like it, but rather on if it makes them feel things. Art is not to be enjoyed, it is meant to be evocative. Just a perk if it’s enjoyed! If there is something out there that you wish you could consume, but you aren’t finding it, create it.

Van Gogh thought all of his works were crap. Henri Duparc had imposter syndrome so terribly that he threw his entire body of work into a fire. The greats all struggle with it, it makes us normal! Even if it’s not your best, it may be exactly what someone needs to read or feel or take in. Fuck it & Publish it!

Also remember that this is supposed to be enjoyable— no one is going to die if you write or don’t, check in with yourself. If it is still an enjoyable, creative outlet, then keep going! If not, hit pause and breathe. Reevaluate when you’re ready.

Thank you so much for the ask and tag, Beth! These were so fun to answer 🥰

[firstsprinces]

These are just some goals off the top of my head that I’d like to see if I’ll be able to accomplish any of them this year. I have, what I personally call, bad habits as a writer that I’d like to have better control over.

I’m hoping I’ll be able to, at the very least, figure out what works best for me. I want to look back on and say, “look how you’ve grown”!

Anyway, here’s my list!

Writing Goals: These are goals I’ve picked based on how chaotic I’ve been in 2023 - there are a lot of ones I don’t want to keep beating myself up over for continuing to do.

- Write a minimum of 2-3K words a day.

- Keep WIPs/new ideas to myself until I’m closer to publishing them. We all know I’m terrible at this one.

- Only have one ongoing work posted to AO3 at a time. I always let my excitement of wanting to share new ideas that I post things ASAP, which has lead to other ongoing works that others wait for updates for to get lost. I also hope to have at least two chapters always written in full before posting/updating new chapters. In my dream writing world, I’d only have one work focused on at a time and not let anything new creep in until I finished the one I already have ongoing.

- Posting oneshots sporadically when having an ongoing multi-chapters fic, and if they become excessively long still write out the entire work before deciding on whether or not to post it into split parts. For one of my ongoing works (that has all of my bad habits going for it), I thought it was just going to be a 20K one shot. It’s turning into something much longer than that. I still feel like it reads more as a oneshot than a multi-chapter work, and I already planned on posting a part of it before finishing the rest. This is the last time this will occur.

- Do not share posting dates ahead of time. AKA don’t make promises you can’t keep. So far, I’ve broken every single one I’ve made. I don’t like keeping others waiting on things they’re excited for and then not receive them. Another thing in my writing dream world would be to have one set day and time during the week as a posting day.

- Separate Outlines into colored sections to make writing and editing less of a stressor. In the past I’ve always waited until I’ve written a work in full before editing, which has usually been late in the night where I’m exhausted. That leads to skim editing. I want to write in sections and edit those sections before moving forward.

- Do not feel like I have to sign up for every exchange or challenge I come across. I signed up for a couple for the end of this year because I felt like having more fun in this fandom and wanted to introduce my writing by joining in! I just don’t want to overwhelm myself by signing up for too many, or feel like I can’t meet deadlines. Again, for me, this goes back to not following the through with promises.

- Don’t be afraid to write the ideas you think other people won’t enjoy, write for your own enjoyment. This partially comes from something I wrote as a gift for someone else. I had so much more fun writing it than I thought I was going to and never thought I’d ever write this genre in the RWRB fandom. I thought I should stick to purely realistic writing, BUT this is fanfiction and it’s a creative and fun space! I hold myself back due to letting others peoples’ interest levels and low numbers speak louder than my own words. And, you never know, there’s most likely someone out there secretly wishing more unique ideas existed!

- Do not discard ideas you’re excited about just because there’s already one like it posted, or if a more well-known writer has written it. I am extremely guilt of this. This entire post could have been shorter if I just wrote “stop being so hard on yourself”. Your base ideas may be similar but that doesn’t mean your mind won’t take it to different places. Writing isn’t a race. If there’s a trope that’s enjoyed, I promise as a reader we want them all!

AO3 Goals: These goals aren’t about the stat numbers, just personal ones I hope to accomplish by the end of the year.

- A new pen name. Yes, I’ve said goodbye to the firstsprinces name for my writing accounts. This one probably seems silly but I think all of you have really amazing names and I look at mine, feeling meh. If the user shadesinbetween has been someone else in the past I apologize if this name has once been you/or a friend of yours. I saw that it was available and changed it without the knowledge of it as a once existing account.

I created a new blog shadesinbetween (yes, it’s Little Women themed because it’s one of all time favorite films) that you do not have to follow! I made it for myself to have a cleaner/more organized space that’s just for my works. This post is also featured there as a cleaned up version. Again, if the user was once yours or a friend of yours, I wasn’t aware and just saw the open user.

- Have at least 8 works posted and completed by the end of the year. This number may seem like nothing to the veterans out there, but since my ideas never stay in a small contained space, this is a number I feel like I can reach. Let’s get through these WIPs that are backlogged!

- Go through every work that’s already posted and save works to “Mark for Later”. I think I stopped on page 19, but I’ll have to start again with all the brand new works that have been shared since my last run through.

- Check for new works daily to add to “Mark for Later”. This way I can follow ongoing works and I won’t have to go through every page of the works.

- Engage with other works and authors. At the end of the day, we’re a community. A community of devoted fans, readers, and writers. Put the numbers to the side and spread love and kindness wherever you can! You never know how much a simple engaging gesture will make someone’s day! And what friendships may unexpectedly bloom!

Final Thoughts: I’m already looking forward to seeing what progress I’ll make this year. And have this post saved in a document in hopes of remembering to make a comparison post to see exactly how I did by the end of the year. I always get brain bursts of excitement when it comes to these and have never followed through. Let 2024 be the year!

[kawaii-angelanne]

shot to the heart | xavier thorpe x reader

CW/TW: none i can think of!

KEY TAGS: spoiler-free (can be interpreted as pre-canon), gender neutral reader, second/third pov (told in xavier's perspective), strangers to ???, flustered xavier <3

WORD COUNT: 1189

CROSS POST: ao3

OPENING NOTE: thanks for clicking on this! please do not repost, copy, modify, or overall plagiarize this work anywhere else please. plagiarism is never acceptable, both in mla 8 format and in fanfiction! for translations, message me, and we can talk about it! reblogs, comments, and likes are super appreciated :>

SUMMARY: "The moment the words leave your lips, he lets go along with a breath he wasn’t even aware he was holding in. In the blink of an eye, the arrow shoots no more than an inch above the target’s red center. That was the closest he’s ever been to bullseye, and his heart pounds from both the achievement and how your body is still pressing against his."

Or where you teach Xavier how to properly shoot a bow and arrow, landing an arrow straight into the target and into his heart.

“So, are you the only member of the Archery Club?” 

Xavier Thorpe, caught-off guard by your unexpected entry, prematurely lets go of the recurve bow’s string. The arrow sails weakly in the air before sinking sadly into the leaf-covered grass and not into the target. 

“Uh, yeah,” he awkwardly lowers his bow and turns to look at you, confusion coloring his features, “Are you…interested in joining?” 

“Maybe,” you shoot him a playful, close-lipped smile before launching yourself off of the small pyramid of hay you were sitting on, “How long have you been doing archery for? A few weeks?” 

“More or less,” he returns to shooting arrows while paying you no mind, “What about you? Ever shot a bow and arrow before?” 

“I have,” you answer just as ambiguously, whistling as his last arrow lands on the blue outer ring, “For the two arrows that are on there, you don’t have terrible grouping. At least they’re all in the same ring! What’s the distance? Fifteen to twenty yards?” 

“...Fifteen,” his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek, slightly irritated that you’re acting like you’re the member of the Archery Club, not him. 

“Can I see your stance again, please?” you move closer to him with your hands behind your back.

His brows furrow with an unwelcome sense of inferiority, “Why?” 

Your lips curve into another impish grin, eyes gleaming with unknown intent, “You’ll see.”

With a grievous sigh, he follows your request, placing his feet apart and standing perpendicular to you. He adjusts his posture, squaring his shoulders.

“Okay, so far so good.… Now, pull back on the bow, please.” 

What are you, an archery instructor or something? 

Still, he does as you ask. After slotting an arrow below the nocking point and above the arrow rest, his three fingers grip the bowstring. He pulls back on the string. With minimal struggle, he tries to remain as still as possible, refusing the bow to lean one way or the other. His expression pulls into itself, brows furrowed even more for better concentration. 

“I see, I see…” you merely mutter to yourself, leaning in closer to further observe his archery ability, “Now, release.” 

At your command, he wastes no time shooting the arrow, relieved after having to pull back for so long. Due to the prolonged drawback, Xavier’s accuracy severely declined, the arrow plunging its tip into the upper-left corner of the target. 

“Your problem,” you point a finger up, as if you solved the mystery, “is that you seem to have a little difficulty maintaining a stable posture when pulling back on your bow and when releasing the arrow. Not enough to be concerning, but enough to affect your performance. Do you know how much your drawback is?” 

“Uh,” he searches the bow for an answer but to no avail, finding only plain wood, “This is just the bow the school has. I have no idea.” 

“You’d think the school would offer better recurve bows then, with the money we pay them,” you crack a joke, lightly jabbing him in the ribs, and then extend a hand out, “May I?” 

Xavier just stares blankly at you and then your outstretched hand, confused as to what exactly you’re asking for. With an urgent wave of your fingers towards the bow, he finally understands and quickly hands it over, slightly embarrassed that he didn’t understand you at first. 

You get into position and pull back on the bowstring with ease, soon letting it go and returning the bow to him, “Yeah, this bow’s drawback is a few pounds outside of your range. You should be handling a bow with a drawback of forty to fifty-five pounds. For today, you can use that bow, but let’s see if we can ask Weems for another bow.” 

“…Okay…” he replies, uncertain as to how to respond to such a level of authority from someone he’s never even met before.

Really, he’s grateful for all your help, but, as a member of the severely underpopulated Archery Club, he feels as if he should be the one telling you this. However, he will admit, even though he has no idea as to what your skill level actually is, you do sound like you know what you’re talking about. So, he supposes he can play along for now. 

“I have to go to the Weathervane soon to meet up with some friends, but let’s improve your shot first,” you now move behind his back, “Reload your arrow, please.” 

With a resounding click against the taut string, he sets the arrow in place and pulls back. He adjusts his posture and is ready to release before a set of palms suddenly rests on his shoulders, your chest brushing against his back. He flinches greatly at the surprise contact but not enough where he would have to reset his posture entirely. His eyes saccade rapidly between you and the target, unsure as to where he should be focusing on. 

With a hard swallow, he tries his best to form a coherent thought before speaking, “What…what’re you—?”

“Relax your shoulders,” you’re practically whispering in his ears due to your close proximity, which sends his heart beating so fast, he’s afraid you can hear it, “Lower your aim a little to the right…. Now down…. Perfect. Steady your breathing, remain calm…”

How is he supposed to “remain calm” with you so close to him!?

You remove your hands from his shoulders but still stay right behind him, your voice prickling his skin, “Now…let it fly.”

The moment the words leave your lips, he lets go along with a breath he wasn’t even aware he was holding in. In the blink of an eye, the arrow shoots no more than an inch above the target’s red center. That was the closest he’s ever been to bullseye, and his heart pounds from both the achievement and how your body is still pressing against his. 

“Great job!” you cheer and step away, picking up your bag that was slumped against the haystack you were sitting on before, “Well, I got to go now, but I’ll see you next time! Toodles!” 

Too overwhelmed from what just happened, he watches your retreating form become smaller and smaller. Unlike him, you weren’t fazed at all, even bobbing your head to whatever music you were listening to with your headphones. 

Just who are you? He never even got your name! Are you in the same year as him? How come he’s never seen you? 

Questions flood his mind, and, before he ends up drowning in them, he decides to end the day and packs away the bow and arrows. He feels his cheeks heat up remembering how your body felt against his and how your instructive tone, distinctly different from your lighthearted one, sent shivers down his spine. 

Run. He needs a run before his memory of you, albeit brief, consumes him entirely. 

Zipping his bag, he slings it over his shoulder and heads straight to his dorm to change into more comfortable wear, hasteful to try to forget about you until the next Archery Club meeting. 

ENDING POST: xavier thorpe is my everything. i eat, breathe, and sleep xavier thorpe.

no, seriously, this is the product when you multiply my hyperfixation of xavier thorpe, my toxic trait of "i can shoot a bow and arrow better than xavier thorpe can even though i have not touched a bow in years," and my procrastination of homework.

and i have just been so inspired by the fanfiction everyone is making for this man! seriously, i have not found a greater treasure trove of fanfiction for a character in so long (the jealousy and friends to lovers trope <33) ; amazing kudos to the talented authors of this fanbase! i hope i contributed to such an incredible collection of stories for xavier thorpe just as much as everyone else has <3

[a1sart]

so the ninja are canonically celebrities right? which means they have fans

y’know what fans do?

write fanfiction that’s what

headcanons about how the ninja feel about that under the cut :) (cut because this is long not because there’s nsfw headcanons or anything I don’t write that stuff)

Kai fucking loves it. He discovered that people wrote fanfic and he immediately started reading the most popular fics. Eventually he ends up with a ninjago version of an ao3 account (his username is probably fiyaamaster or something) and he makes it public. He shares it on his Chirp. He has all his fanfic boundries listed in his bio. People make memes about him finding their fics. Eventually an offcial “Kai DNI” tag is made because he’s read so many fics. He even wrote a fic once. It becomes the most popular fic on the site. It’s terrible. People quote it in memes. People have started sending him fic recs.

Jay is less enthusastic about fanfic. He thinks it’s weird that people write about him as if he’s a fictional character instead of a person. He doesn’t stop anyone from writing about him or including him in their fics though. The team doesn’t feel complete if one of them is missing and that carries over to fics. So he lets people write about him. He does avoid fics as much as he can though. He doesn’t seek them out.

Cole is resigned about it. He’s accepted that it happens and he can’t stop it. He doesn’t mind. Occasionally he will read one if it seems interesting. He had Kai post his fic boundries on his Chirp because Kai has more followers than him.

Zane is confused by fanfiction. (or at least rpf fanfiction. He completely understands fanfiction for non-rpf fandoms). He understands writing about people in like, a historical context for history books or biographies. But writing completely fictional things about real people? He finds it kind of odd. He has read a couple of fics because kai reccomended them but he doesn’t seek them out.

Nya is sort of amused by them? She reads them ironically if they seem funny but occasionally catches herself reading them completely unironically because the story looks interesting. She sees them as just stories where the characters have the same names as her and her friends. Theres a sort of disconnect between herself and the version of her in fics. She’s serious about her boundries though because she knows other people don’t see it the same way she does. She posted them on her Chirp and had Kai boost it so more people saw. She doesn’t read nearly as many fics as Kai but she does have a solid third place in ninja fic reading at the monastery. (When Nya became the sea a lot people stopped including her in fics because it felt disrespectful. This upset Kai and Jay because it feels like people are covering up her existance. It fueled Jays idea that people were forgetting Nya.)

Lloyd is an absolute fanboy. He used to write fanfic about Starfarer when he was at Darkleys so he is completely unsurprised when he discovers that people write fics about him. He has his boundries on Kai’s Chirp and he reads them if Kai thinks they’re good. He has a ninjago ao3 account that he used to use for starfarer that he uses for ninja fic reading now. He once live streamed a reading for a really prolific meme fic and the chat almost died. He even did voices. Other than that he’s pretty chill about it.

Pixal is on the same page with Zane on the fics thing. She reads more than him though. She has an account (her username is probably something like P.I.X.A.Lao3). She leaves detailed critique in the comments. No one knows it’s her. They all (mostly) assume it’s some random fan account. The fandom has started memes about the mysterious critique account. Theres a “P.I.X.A.Lao3 Please DO interact, actually” tag for her account because she gives genuinely good advice. Theres a conpsiracy theory in the fandom that the account belongs to Pixal but no one likes to think too hard about it. She finds this amusing. Cyrus Borg thinks it’s hilarious.

Wu actually doesn’t care. People have been writing about him since before time had a name. He’s the son of GOD. People write about him all the time. He doesn’t see fic as any different. He’s just used to it. He’s the one holding second place fic reading because of this technicality. He’s read a lot of stuff about him over the years. Not as much as Kai though lol.

Misako doesn’t read fic about herself and never plans to. She doesn’t care all that much.