#canonically carter also really likes lotr

[honeyxmonkey]

Douxie and Archie learned to speak Sindarin for the shits and giggles

Eli is a nerd and also absolutely knows how to speak Sindarin

They bond over this

--

Douxie and Eli: speaking in Tolkien Elvish to eachother

Everyone else: what the fuck is happening??

---

Bonus by @sakon76

Then Krel discovers humans have made-up alien languages as well, and this delights him and he's a little troll, so out of solidarity all four of them learn Klingon as well.

[griseldabanks]

🕯️, 🧃, 🍄, 🪐 , 🍬, ❄️, and 🌿, please?

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

Ummm...5. It really depends on the story, how badly edits are needed, how hard it is to make those edits, etc. Also, I often have a hard time differentiating between the writing and editing stage, because I do both kind of all at once a lot of the time.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

I learned to touch-type from a computer game called Kid's Typing, where a ghost named Spooky takes you around a house to haunt its inhabitants (the faster you type, the higher things levitate/spin/etc.). Then I got my speed up by participating in forum roleplays on Neopets, which were very fast-paced and required you to sit there refreshing the page until the other person posted their reply. Those days are long gone, but I can point to both of those things as the foundation for my current typing proficiency ;)

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

When she was a kid, during a phase where all of the girls in her class were talking about their list of requirements for who they wanted to marry someday, Sharon Carter was determined to be "not like other girls." So, because all the other girls talked about how they only wanted to marry someone who was reeeeally tall and buff, Sharon declared she was going to marry a man who was short and skinny. Years later, after marrying Steve, she looks back and realizes that, though she ended up marrying a man who's taller than her and very strong indeed, on the inside he's still the short, skinny man he was before the serum. So, in a way, she got her wish.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

I'm making slow but steady progress in my homework, and I enjoy it.

Fall is almost here!

I get to talk to my besties at least twice a week <3

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Castiel is a fine character and I like him well enough, but Supernatural would have been better without him.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

I'm not really sure what this means, but all I can think of is my LotR fic idea Rosie Runs to Rivendell, where Sam and Rosie get married before the Quest, and Rosie and Elanor join the Hobbits on their way to Rivendell. I got the idea in a dream, and still intend to finish writing it eventually. As for who would write it best? Just about anyone other than me, and yet here we are.

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Madeleine L'Engle said, "The inspiration comes while you write." Don't wait for inspiration. Don't wait until you "feel" like writing. Just sit down and start writing, even if you end up trashing everything you worked on in a day (preferably don't trash it, but put it in a separate file just in case). No time spent writing is wasted, because at the very least you're determining a version of a scene that's wrong for the story, so at least you're narrowing it down. Often, even if I don't really want to write, once I get started, I discover it's not actually that bad. But keep it reasonable. Make yourself write, but also give yourself an out for the days when you really are just burnt out and need to take a break.

Writer's Truth or Dare Ask Game

[spacemanxpaninis]

Whose your favorite characters from the fandoms you listed? Hope you have a good day :)

I hope you had/have a great day too thank you so much 🥺 but

OH HO HO FRIEND THE FLOODGATES YOU HAVE OPENED.

My term for these individuals collectively is Blorbo High Council™ & every time I hyperfixate on a new character a seat is added. Absolutely feral for the chance to introduce them I’m so sorry

Presenting…Blorbo High Council™…or at least some members of it

• Abed Nadir- it kind of started right away because when I first started watching Community I had a huge crush on him lol not me exposing myself because I thought he was super cute & vibed with him. Every time I watched I was like That One™ *pointing Leo meme*. As time went on & things progressed in the show I felt even more of a connection to him, feeling like no character has made me feel as seen & validated as a person because wow, this person is living & describing experiences I’ve had & things I’ve felt like an outsider for & oh my gosh. Things that made me feel unfit & unseen & here they are being represented by a fictional character, someone others will see & love & that has always served as an escape for me. I’ve gone to fiction & lived in my own head since I was a kid so wow. I think that was part of why I fell so hard for him, it was like here’s someone I finally get & feel a connection to which is so hard for me to find irl. By extension Troy also gets a throne because those two are a package deal dangit 😤 plus I have a lot of feelings about Troy & how he’s such a good representation of going from your teens to your twenties, being more unabashedly yourself & learning that the world doesn’t revolve around you & you don’t have to perform & it’s just so 🥺

• Hobie Brown is just totally a type of character I like & I love his style as someone with something of an alt style too. The moment he entered the screen I thought ‘oh this one is going to be my favorite’ & guess what I WAS RIGHT. He’s just so sassy & funny & I love a character who spends a ton of their lines just doing a bit (because like many of us I’m convinced he was screwing with Miles during a bunch of his intro). Also seeing him with Mayday? My heart. Hobie’s the kind of character I have a whole playlist of songs I think he would like that I wish I could show him hehe

• Ever since first watching LoTR as a kid I loved Pippin! I tend to fall for funny characters & also I just related heavily to him, he’s clumsy, neurodivergent-coded, & my heart just breaks for how he gets treated sometimes. He’s a symbol for how war changes innocence & the maturity that develops from all the experiences the characters have. Since childhood I thought he was so cute & fell for his singing voice, I just love him so much! Plus his moment in the wedding scene is so funny it’s literally one of my favorites in the whole trilogy.

• From The Hobbit as much as I love Bilbo & the Line of Durin, Bofur was the one who managed to really snag & hold my heart! He’s such a sweetheart & one of the first dwarves to really show care for Bilbo. Such a kind jolly soul! Plus the hat. Literal boots with the fur. Iconic. Peak.

• Sergeant Carter is a longtime blorbo. I just loved his infectious whimsy & innocence & found him so adorable! Another neurodivergent-coded character that charmed me act shocked! But no I love a ‘dumb smart’ character who’s a genius in one area but clueless in others, I see it, I feel it, I love it. I must protect him at all costs!!! Except he can protect himself because he is the sweetest man but also loves arson & has the highest canonical kill count on the show by far. Duality of man 😌

• Radar, Klinger, & Father Mulcahy all hold special places in my heart! Especially in the later seasons as with all the characters, but my side character loving heart just adores all of them! Radar’s a cutie pie, Klinger’s costumes are amazing & he’s so funny, & the good father I just have a soft spot for 😌 William Christopher & I share a birthday too 😁

• Barley Lightfoot is a big part of why I love the movie Onward, like big huggable metalhead D&D nerd my beloved 😌 Second member of the playlist squad FOR SURE. I just know he listens to Nekrogoblikon. Another character I can both relate to & am incredibly endeared to. Poor guy being seen as the family screw-up, I feel like that’s me a bit being the ‘wasted potential’ sibling 😔 I just want to give him a hug so bad.

• Gladstone Gander is a character I’ve just randomly loved since I was maybe 13-15. I just found out about him & loved him for no explicable reason 😆 I have a pin of him & it’s one of my prized possessions lmaos. I was happy to see him included in the new Ducktales & even had an OC I shipped with him…but unfortunately I think I saw a spoiler with a canon character that may render that comfort character sort of moot 😔 y’all are like thank God now she won’t post about it 😂 maybe I’ll still keep her in my heart.

• Huey, Dewey, & Louie got seats in the council of course ☺️ I joke how it was my first experience having child blorbos & wanting to live vicariously through my OC (who is family to them) & spoil them instead of my usual doodling hearts around them like with most blorbos 😆 the triplets are so cute & I love how they all have their interests. Of course I have a soft spot for Huey because he’s adorable & my friend recommended I watch Ducktales just because I love his voice actor… ya girl also just loves nerds 🥰

• I love the whole Moon Knight system of course but I’m a Steven Grant Girlie at heart!!! Once again, cute nerds…

• From BG3 well none of them have *fully* seated at the high council but my favorites thus far would have to be Karlach, Gale, & Halsin feat. Astarion because why not??? I want someone with a personality like Gale or Karlach in real life tbh

• My favorite Brooklyn Nine Nine character kinda changes??? & same as BG3, maybe not full high council membership but characters I’ve loved for almost 5 years now so very special! I like Charles but overall Jake & Amy have my heart. I love their relationship & they’re both so funny! It’s a bit of a joke with friends too that my personality is a mix of both of them & I look like I could be their child 😂 having Peraltiago as parents sounds like so much fun hehe

[thevalleyisjolly]

Thanks so much @jadeandquartzes for tagging me in this super fun tag game!

Rules: Go to your (current/main) AO3 account and find the following:

What ratings do you write most of your fics under?

General and Teen are tied with 5 each! Granted, Contrapuntal Calculus should probably be under Mature, since it features something I can only describe as "divine mystery meets the erotically baffling." Then again, if I'm reevaluating my rating decisions, the manner of things doesn't really warrant a Mature rating, I was just erring on the side of extreme caution since a lot of D20 fans tend to skew younger, so I guess it balances out.

What are your top three fandoms?

I only have 12 fics up on my AO3 spanning five fandoms, so it isn't a huge range. Top fandom is Dimension 20 coming in with 6 fics, and then Critical Role in a distant second with 2 fics. The rest (LOTR, Doctor Who, Agent Carter) have one fic each.

What is the top character you write about?

Cumulous Rocks baby!! Back in my heyday of writing ACOC fic (I'm in a Star Wars/Andor hiatus right now but I pinky promise I have not forgotten about On The Raising Of Chickens), I made a solemn pledge to myself to create the content I feel is lacking in the community. And I have kept that promise and I will continue to keep that promise! Once I finish this other fic about questionable polyamory negotiation practices. And this other fic about the rulership of the Noldor in post-Fourth Age Valinor. And-

What are your top three pairings?

It's very ace of me that I hardly ever write very shippy fics, even though I am a happy crewman of many ships. All my fics are technically tied because I (thus far) haven't written more than one fic per pairing. And some of the tagged pairings aren't heavily focused on in the fic or are just implied, so going chronologically based on pairings that the fic is actually about, I have: Elrond/Thranduil (LOTR), Peggy/Daniel/Jack (Agent Carter), Essek/Caleb (Critical Role), Theo/Cumulous (ACOC), Theo/Lapin (ACOC), and Fifteenth Doctor/Fourteenth Doctor (Doctor Who).

What are the top three additional tags?

Character Study and Canonical Character Death are both tied with 3, and then we have a three-way tie between Grief/Mourning, Additional Warnings in Author's Note, and Implied/Referenced Character Death. ...which is really not a surprise based on my writing interests and favourite media, huh? What can I say, I really like getting into characters' heads and I really really like exploring the impact that death has on a story. My most popular fic, in the face of death's mystery, revolves entirely around the premise of the impact that a character's death has on the narrative and on other characters, and how things are affected if they remain tangibly present in the world.

(Which makes the fic I'm working on right now so much funnier because it's exactly what I often dislike as a fic concept - characters who died in a really poignant and momentous narrative event somehow surviving. But hey, it's important to get out of one's comfort zone and try something new!)

Does any of this surprise you?

I'm surprised that I've written so few stories for specific pairings. As someone who does enjoy shipping most of the time, it feels odd that I don't write more about ships I enjoy. My next fic, if I ever manage to finish it, will balance this out more, as will the next few fic concepts up the pipeline.

I also surprised myself with how few fics for how few fandoms I've actually published. I have so many drafts of fics for many, many fandoms that I keep forgetting no one else has seen. So while from my perspective, I've written quite a lot for multiple different fandoms, what I've actually published is just a fraction of that.

(I've really never talked on here about the 47,000-word Rey Kenobi fic I wrote back in 2017 and never published, have I? Yeah, that was a thing that happened)

Hmm, tagging @daggersandarrows, @domesticatedanimals, @swanmaids, and anyone who'd like to try this out. It's a pretty fun retrospective on your writing, I recommend it!

[westofessos]

About Me:

I’ve had quite a few new followers these past few weeks, so I thought I would make a little about me post, just so you all know what you’re getting into.

First off, hello! My name is Madison (she/her), I’m 19 (will be 20 in January which is. . . something I’m not thinking about at the moment), I’m bisexual, extremely liberal (racists, misogynists, homophobes, transphobes, etc. can fuck off and die), and I live in Saskatchewan, Canada. My favourite thing in the world to do is write, and I love to read as well.

Here are some of my favourite things, sorted by category:

Star Wars

Favourite characters: Leia Organa, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben Solo, Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka Tano, Din Djarin, Captain Rex, Poe Dameron, Rey Skywalker, Satine Kryze, Luke Skywalker, Asajj Ventress, Luminara Unduli, and many, many more

I love every movie, and every TV show (I was admittedly not a fan of Andor, but I’m so happy that so many people loved it so much!), and I’m working through some of the canon novels

This is my first fandom, one of my first loves. No matter how deeply I fall in love with other things I will never love them like I love Star Wars

Marvel

Favourite Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Loki Laufeyson, Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff, Kate Bishop, Jennifer Walters, Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, Sylvie, Marc Spector, Valkyrie, Peggy Carter, Yelena Belova, and many, many more.

I love every movie and TV show (to varying degrees, but nonetheless) but my favourite movies are Endgame, Infinity War, No Way Home, Eternals, Winter Soldier, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Ragnarok (not necessarily in that order), and my favourite shows are Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Loki, Werewolf by Night, Hawkeye (not necessarily in that order)

I also very casually read Marvel comics (just a few here and there whenever I find some that pique my interest)

DC

Admittedly, not nearly as much as Marvel. There isn’t a lot of emotional attachment. Honestly it’s bordering on contempt at this point, especially after spending money to go see The Flash in theatres

But I love The Batman, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, the Dark Knight trilogy, Harley Quinn, and Batman (1989). I am cautiously excited for many of their upcoming projects under James Gunn’s leadership

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is my all-time favourite comic book and honestly just one of my favourite books of all time. It’s truly a beautiful work of art.

Lord of the Rings

I’ve seen all three movies and 2/3 Hobbit movies, and I’ve read Fellowship of the Ring (planning on getting to the other two soon). I also watched and absolutely adored The Rings of Power.

My favourite characters are Éowyn and Aragorn, but I love Merry, Pippin, Legolas, and Gimli too. And Galadriel, Elrond, Durin, Elendil, Miriel, and Halbrand in TRoP

I’m admittedly not the most well-versed in LOTR, but I do really enjoy it.

A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones:

Don’t even get me started on those goddamn shows. Seasons 7 and 8 of GoT and HoTD infuriate me on a daily basis but goddamn it I love this world so much. Westeros is so important to me

Favourite characters: Daenerys, Jaime, Cersei, Jon, Arianne, Brienne, Robb, and more

Favourite Targaryens (it’s the best house, fight me): Visenya, Aegon I, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Rhaena the Queen in the East/West, Alysanne, Daena the Defiant, Aegon V, Rhaegar, and probably more I’m forgetting

Movies:

Almost Famous (my favourite of all time)

Good Will Hunting

Memento

The Usual Suspects

Frances Ha, Mistress America, Lady Bird, Little Women, Barbie (anything with Greta Gerwig involved)

Dazed and Confused

Tombstone

Tick, Tick . . . BOOM!

Father of the Bride 1 & 2

You’ve Got Mail

When Harry Met Sally

Palm Springs

Before Sunrise

The Princess Diaries

Dogma (anything Kevin Smith, really)

Anything John Hughes

Garden State

His Girl Friday

10 Things I Hate About You

The Princess Bride

Disney movies (I grew up on those princesses and damn it, I still love ‘em)

Scooby-Doo (it’s just so dumb and comforting after a long day)

Also just 80s/90s movies, particularly comedies

TV Shows:

Lost (my favourite of all time. I could talk about it for hours on end)

Roseanne (my favourite sitcom. Roseanne Barr might be a piece of shit but Roseanne and Dan Conner raised me)

The Walking Dead (very close second favourite show)

The Sandman

Good Omens

Community

Gilmore Girls

That 70’s Show

Daisy Jones and the Six

Friends

Seinfeld

Once Upon A Time

Ted Lasso (even though they fucked it at the end)

Superstore

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

The Good Place

Sons of Anarchy

Peaky Blinders

Scrubs

Bridgerton

Golden Girls

Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley

The Umbrella Academy

Schitt’s Creek

Only Murders in the Building

The Last of Us

Band of Brothers

Succession

Bojack Horseman

Grace & Frankie

Way, way more I can’t think of. I watch way too much TV. Just ask, I’ve probably seen it.

Music:

The Beatles (my all-time favourite band. I saw Paul McCartney in 2018 and almost died)

Pearl Jam

Phoebe Bridgers & boygenius

Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots

Anything from the 50’s and 60’s pretty much (i.e. The Beach Boys, Petula Clark, Jay and the Americans, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Simon & Garfunkel, Herman’s Hermits, The Zombies. Just ask, I probably love it.

Fleetwood Mac

Taylor Swift (I’m not a full Swiftie, but I’m getting there)

Olivia Rodrigo

The Chicks

Elton John

Billy Joel

Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child

ABBA

KISS

The Cranberries

Led Zeppelin

The Mountain Goats

Honestly it would probably be quicker to say who I don’t listen to in some capacity

Musicals:

Hamilton

Hadestown

Heathers

Wicked

In the Heights

Six

Grease, The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia, and other movie musicals

Books:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - never before has a book seemed like it was written just for me. And it’s so beautiful. Schwab is just my favourite author of all time, I’ll read anything of hers

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - I read these as the last few were coming out and I still have such an attachment to them

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - my favourite movie is Almost Famous so naturally, this was perfect for me. Goddamn did I love it.

A Song of Ice and Fire, of course

Classics: A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, The Handmaid’s Tale, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The entire Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo

That’s just off the top of my head. There are many, many more, and I’ll always take recommendations!

Basically just fantasy. I love fantasy books more than anything

All Elite Wrestling:

My most recent obsession

I’m watching it through from the beginning so I haven’t seen everything just yet

Favourite wrestlers: CM Punk, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, all the Best Friends honestly, Adam Cole, Cody Rhodes, Danhausen, Thunder Rosa, Juice Robinson, Toni Storm, Sting, Christian Cage, Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley, Hangman Adam Page, Willow Nightingale, Hikaru Shida (not necessarily in that order other than the first 5, and there are more)

(I would love to have more women on that list but the women don’t get any good storylines or promo time or character development so I don’t form as many emotional attachments with as many of them. Book. The. Women’s. Division. Better.)

Favourite storylines/feuds: AdaMJF, Punk/MJF, Cody/MJF, Orange Cassidy/Chris Jericho, anything involving the Best Friends, everything with Hangman (from the very beginning all the way to where I am now, where he has just won the championship), probably more but that’s just off the top of my head

And that’s me, essentially. If you made it this far, I salute you. If there’s anything you want to know, feel free to ask! My asks and dms are always open, whether you’re a mutual or a complete stranger. Never be afraid to say hi!

[plasticnightmaredoll]

fictional other update!

Because I have a fictional harem going at this point, and I can do what I want, I have decided to add another f/o to my list after much thought: Doctor Stephen Strange from the MCU! I already love Benedict Cumberbatch for various reasons, but his portrayal of the egocentric, sarcastic, and yet noble Doctor Strange is fantastic. With Tony Stark gone, we need someone to fill the void left behind: a little shit with a heart of gold 😂

Ermac (Mortal Kombat), Yhorm the Giant (Dark Souls 3), Doctor Stephen Strange (MCU), Major Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell franchise), Riddler/Edward Nygma (Batman: The Animated Series)

Godzilla (Godzilla franchise), Thorin Oakenshield (The Hobbit/LotR movieverse), Penguin/Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot (Batman: The Telltale Series), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (MCU)

Captain America/Steve Rogers (MCU), Predator (Predator franchise), Evelynn (League of Legends + K/DA), Nightwolf/Grey Cloud (Mortal Kombat)

(I didn't even intend for this one to be the "green bean" theme that it is 😂)

Riddler/Edward Nigma/Edward Nashton (Batman: Arkham video games), Riddler/Edward Nigma (Batman: The Telltale Series), Doom Slayer/Doom Marine (Doom franchise)

Now, to clarify a few things:

No, Godzilla is not a fictional other to me in a romantic or sexual sense. His my childhood hero and I have a very strong, important connection to the character. A f/o doesn't have to be view as romantic or sexual to be a f/o. It's how YOU interpret the character and your relationship with them.

Just because I self-ship with Wanda, Stephen, and Steve from the MCU doesn't mean I hate their significant others. I love Peggy Carter and Vision! I actually see Wanda and Vision and Steve and Peggy as two of my OTPs. I don't really a strong romantic connection between Stephen and Christine Palmer, though. I just don't, but I do like her character.

A self ship is what you make of it in your own mind. It's a personal interpretation that can coincide with canon but it's more of an a/u in your own fictional world. Relationships with fictional others can also be platonic, I think. It all comes down to the connection YOU have with the character, not what other people want you to think.

I actually headcanon the Doom Slayer and Yhorm as asexual characters because it honestly makes sense to me. I know there was supposedly a photo in Doom Slayer's room of his wife and child, but that may haven been removed from the latest game? From what I heard? I mean, I'm not saying he couldn't be a family man, but, I don't think he's necessarily interested in romance or even sex. Yeah, it sounds weird, but men can be asexual, too, and still kill demons and have bunny fur children. Also, Doom Slayer has never been given a detailed background, which suits him and makes him easier to relate to, and, as cold as it sounds, "demons killed my family so I will avenge" thing is so cliché, and while Doom has FPS/action game clichés, it avoids many others. I could go into more detail but I don't want to ramble on about this topic.

I know Yhorm lost someone close to him in the past which sent him in a downward spiral (not that things were going splendid for him anyway, considering how people in the Souls universe don't like giants, and doubted his ability to rule). However, the truth is we don't know who he lost: family member, friend, significant other....it could be any of those. to automatically assume the person was his s/o is...kind of cliché, I hate to say it. You see it a lot in fiction. I also have doubts it was a family member because he sadly didn't seem to have any family left. So, a friend or comrade in battle makes the most sense, seeing as how he was a soldier giant at one point.

I do mean I self-ship only with the MCU versions of Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch and Captain America -- NOT their comic book counterparts. I haven't read the comics. I don't actually read any American comics, and don't want to, but I do like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Yes, I self-ship with three Riddlers. What can I say? I am a Riddler Slut!

Erron Black is still kicked to the curb until further notice. He keeps away because do you see the f/os I have? Any one of them could annihilate him easily.

[deadmomjokes]

For me, part of being asexual means that I get really, REALLY grouchy about a lot of romance in media. Rather, the obsession with romance, sex, and sexuality in media. I am that person that will roll my eyes and turn off a movie if it looks like it’s turning into some steamy nonsense, and I will never willingly sit through a romcom even if you paid me. Sex scenes? I’m out. Passionate kissing? Peace, I’m going to the kitchen, want anything? Call me back when the actual story gets back on. Ridiculous ‘ooh they have such SEXUAL TENSION and chemistry, let’s see how close we can get to making them kiss and just have them breathe heavily in each others faces to get our audience all bothered’? I will end you all. I HATE when books or movies or shows throw in a romantic or sexy subplot just for the lols, at least what I perceive as the lols. Basically, a romance has to be really super duper well-crafted for me to get behind it and not be just utterly enraged or completely turned off from the story.

(Also please note that when I use the term romance in this context, I’m using it as a catch all for ship-based storylines that, due to our culture’s obsession with sex, usually include or hinge on sex or kissy scenes.)

That being said. When a romance is done well, and I mean really well, I absolutely 100% lose my mind. I feel that mess in my soul.

So with that introduction, allow me to lay out a few of my favorite (and, in some instances, most maddeningly painful) romances/canon ships in media.

(read more because I went off. like I said, I feel this way too deeply when it’s done well.)

Winry Rockbell and Edward Elric in FMA:B. Slow burn, mutual pining, mutual cluelessness, what’s not to love? So soft and tender and funny all at the same time, and the mad respect Ed has for Winry is absolutely delightful. She does her own thing, and he’s totally supportive, just as she is of him. And a happily ever after??? UGH, I can’t, it’s perfect. The most straightforward and least convoluted of my whole list, and it’s comparatively easy to breeze through. FMA:B is great anyhow, so do yourself a favor and go watch it.

Audrey Parker/ Nathan Wuornos in Haven (with major caveats). Caveats first: they went overboard with the sexy stuff in my opinion. It got too smutty for me, but my tolerance for that stuff is super low, and it did still air on TV, so evidently it wasn’t as bad for the target audience as it was for my sex-in-media-repulsed self. I also find the final seasons to get a bit stale and repetitive in terms of them trying to advance the love story narrative (all the plot points for it got addressed in earlier episodes/seasons, so why are we going over it again??). They also have a bit of an issue in some episodes with dragging out conflicts because the characters just won’t talk to each other like adults. But overall, taken as a whole, it hits hard. Again, we have a slow burn, mutual pining dynamic that starts as a genuine platonic friendship, and transforms into a dimension and time defying chosen soulmates love story for the ages. The things they would do to save each other, even if it means they can never be together, just so they have the joy of knowing that their beloved is okay. The tiny ways they take care of each other- Audrey testing Nathan’s coffee to see if it’s too hot, Nathan slowing down so he doesn’t out-pace her, it’s just adorable.

Faramir and Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings BOOKS. This is an interesting one because it happens really quickly and between two minor characters. But Tolkien did this really interesting thing where he established these two characters separately, and then brought them together and played off what we knew about each of them in context of everything else that had happened with the main story, and suddenly it has, as one of my professors would say, “the illusion of depth.” Faramir absolutely falls head over heels for Eowyn but won’t act until she can deal with her own crap and be emotionally available. Eowyn realizes that she was hung up on ideals, illusions, and false dichotomies. Faramir has been through a lot and is looking for peace. Eowyn is looking for who she really is when she realizes she has more than two choices in life. They find healing together, and in the process, find what they were looking for in each other. And all that happens in the space of, like, 4 pages. I LOVE IT.

Sam Carter and Jack O’Neill in Stargate SG1. This one will hurt you to no end. You will hate life. But gosh dang if they aren’t perfect. This is the slowest burn and most mutual pining of all slow burn mutual pining ships to ever grace media. I’m talking 8 seasons of these two sharing feelings but being unable to express it for one reason or another. What are those reasons, you ask? Jack is her superior and respects her too much to put her in that position. No fraternization on the team. Sam has career aspirations, he won’t ruin her life. He’s got his own issues to work through and knows he isn’t emotionally available. Sam is clueless for a while, then when she realizes she has feelings for him but it couldn’t be because of their work dynamic and because he’s still dealing with his own crap, she tries to move on but keeps coming back to the unspoken fact that she still loves him. To the point that she breaks off her own engagement to a great guy because she realizes she was only trying to move on-- and wasn’t successful. They are clearly in deep for each other, and yet they keep making excuses why they can’t say it.

In the whole series, they never officially get together, and I HATE THAT. There are multiple alternate realities and timelines where they are together, and happy, but in the main timeline, they can’t get over themselves, and it hurts so bad because they’re so perfect. Jack knows she’s the smartest person in the room, and he supports her and defends her and listens to and defers to her. He respects her first as an expert, then as a colleague, and then as a woman whom he deeply loves even though he can’t find it in him to love himself. She appreciates his experience and leadership, and trusts him implicitly. She knows she’s got more book smarts, but relies on his judgement and ability to remain calm under pressure. She also knows she can be real with him, and he knows that when she calls him on his BS he better listen. She is his conscience, and he is her backbone. And in between episodes where they’re clearly pining for each other, and even during, they’re really great friends and a great team. I could seriously write an essay on why this ship is both perfect and intensely frustrating, but then again, you could just watch a great and classic series and see what I mean for yourself. (Then you’d also get to meet the perfection that is Teal’c, and watch Daniel Jackson’s transition from Milo Thatch in Space to sassy beefcake demigod who still loves archaeology.)

Beren and Luthien, Tolkien part 2, electric boogaloo. A love so powerful it transcends death, fate, hell and heaven all at once. It’s kind of wild and not what you’d expect if you’ve only read LotR (or only seen the movies), because it’s more a classic fairy tale than anything, but hot dang if it isn’t still one of the most powerful, moving, deeply impactful love stories in all of writing. It’s even a “love at first sight” narrative and I STILL fall hard for it. This story legit moves me to tears every dang time I read it, or even think about it too hard.

It starts as a simple “forbidden love” story, but these two loved each other so much that they defied one of the most powerful kings in all the world at that time (who was also Luthien’s dad, oopsies), defied Satan himself and marched into Hell just for the chance to be together, and then changed the very way the world works forever just so they could stay together and not be parted. Luthien is a total BEAST, while never giving up her gentle, loving, and tender nature. For the love of this man, she defies her father’s wishes and breaks herself out of her own dang tower to go rescue her prince instead of the other way round, she sends Sauron (yeah, he’s here too!) scurrying with his tail between his legs, wrecks his house, and frees all his slaves and prisoners just to try and get to Beren, drags his butt out of heck part 1, then willingly walks into literal, actual Hell with him and proceeds to enchant Satan and all the demons within. Then she gets her bf outta there after he loses his hand, and goes back to face her father unafraid. Basically, Beren undertakes a literally impossible task just for the chance to be with Luthien, but Luthien is the one that makes it happen because she loves him too much to sit around knowing he’s going to die. She’s willing to die with him rather than live without him, but more willing to dare death to come at her and get some because ain’t no way she’s losing him.

Then, at the last, when all should have been their happily ever after, everything goes wrong and she loses her beloved, and instead of mourning forever, she yeets off her mortal coil out of pure “Oh no you didn’t, not after all we went through” just to go stand before the God of Fate and the Dead and plead with him to change the rules of the universe itself just so that she can be with Beren. And he does it, because their love is so strong. Just for them, all of existence is rewritten so that they might never be parted.

And if you don’t think that’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard, consider also: these two crazy kids were so wonderful that the Goodest Boy in all the world, a functionally immortal and super-intelligent dog sent from heaven itself by a literal god, willingly turned on all his masters and spontaneously learned intelligent speech just so he could help them out and be their Good Boy til the bitter end, thus (in Tolkien’s mythos) starting the whole “man’s best friend” thing with dogs. So yeah. And, uh, Tolkien based it on him and his wife, to the point of ripping their first meeting frame-for-frame from real life. It’s too much y’all.

Anyhow, this post is way, way too long, but I was just feeling the need to get that out there. Maybe I’ll have more in the future, but for now, this is what was on my mind. Particularly the last two.

[tsarisfanfiction]

Fic Rec Bingo

Okie dokie, this is the Fan Rec Bingo - idea courtesy of lightvials on twitter, but I don’t have a twitter that I ever use, so I’m filling it out here instead.  Let’s see if I can fill it all out!

I did, and then some.  To save poor dashboards, it’s all under the cut!  If I know author tumblrs they’ve been mentioned - I know pitifully few so if anyone knows the ones I don’t, let me know so I can mention them, too!

A fic you love without knowing the source material: The Dragon-King’s Temple by Kyral (Stargate SG-1/Avatar the Last Airbender)

Through the spite of the spirits or plain rotten chance, a door that would have been better left untouched has opened. On the other hand, with Fire and Earth as one's allies, sometimes escaping is the easy part. Rated: Gen.  AO3 Archive Warning for Graphic Descriptions of Violence. Characters: Zuko, Toph Beifong, Janet Fraiser, Sam Carter, Jack O’Neill, and more Words: 196311.  Status: Complete

I very rarely read fics without already knowing the canon, but one that I think counts would be a Stargate/ATLA crossover, because I know nothing about Stargate and I have yet to finish ATLA!  This was recommended to me due to the creativity of the author regarding a language barrier (something I always enjoy, and my friend knows that).

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A fic series with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does: Crazy=Genius by blackkat (Bleach/Harry Potter)

Minerva McGonagall isn't about to let Harry go back to the Dursleys after his first year. She finds an alternative, and along the way, Bazzard Black finds that he might have more family left than he'd ever thought. Rated: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Bazz-B, Harry Potter, and more Words: 21682.  Status: Incomplete

Okay, I cheated and picked a series.  Not my fault blackkat decided to make this universe a series of oneshots rather than a single entity and you’re certainly not getting me to only pick one of the five already published ones.  Bazz-B being a Black and also kinda a wizard is a brilliant concept, and having him adopting Harry is pure gold.  Not sure how crazy Quincy adopting poor, neglected Boy Who Lives works, but it does!

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A fic you’ve reread several times: The Guardian (Director’s Cut) by SGTBrowncoat (Naruto)

Itachi Uchiha receives his first mission in ANBU: protecting a certain trouble making Jinchuriki. He bonds quickly with the boy, but dark forces rise to threaten Itachi, Naruto, and those they care for most. Rated: T.  Canon-typical violence Characters: Uchiha Itachi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Shisui and more (includes Uchiha Itachi/Inuzuka Hana background pairing) Words: 35945.  Status: Complete

Back to my first ever fandom, here, and a really fun non-massacre AU fic, with lots of Itachi and Shisui goodness.  There are a fair few ANBU-looking-after-kid-Naruto fics but this is by far my favourite of them!  There is a sequel, but unfortunately it’s not finished and hasn’t been updated in a long time (I live in hope!)

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A fic you still remember many years later: While The Ring Went South by Thundera Tiger (Lord of the Rings)

What happened after the Fellowship left Rivendell but before they came down off Caradhras? Behold the missing scenes. Rated: K+.  Canon-typical violence Characters: Legolas, Gimli, Aragon, Gandalf, the whole Fellowship Words: 149624.  Status: Complete

I refound this fic completely by accident the other week, after first reading it (according to when I favourited it on FFN) in 2011!  It was just as amazing as I remembered, and is really the standard I hold all other LotR fics to, especially ones that involve the entire, pre-Moria, Fellowship.  It has a sequel but sadly that’s not been updated in some time (but again, I live in hope!)

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A comfort fic: There May Be Some Collateral Damage by metisket (Bleach/Harry Potter)

Ichigo’s been ordered to go undercover at a magic school to bodyguard a kid named Harry Potter, and this would be fine, except that he’s about as good at bodyguarding as he is at magic. And he considers it a good day, magic-wise, if he hasn’t set anything on fire. Rated: Gen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo, Harry Potter, Weasley Twins, and more. Words: 61209.  Status: Complete

I have no idea what this means by ‘Comfort Fic’ but if I want a laugh and Umbridge getting a pile of comeuppance, this is definitely the fic I’ll turn to.  As the A/N says: ‘sending Ichigo to Hogwarts is basically the same as swinging a wrecking ball directly into the side of the castle’.  Beautiful chaos is what we get.  Beautiful, beautiful chaos.

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A cathartic fic: See You Again by cookietosser (One Piece)

Rocinante has been through a lot in his life. Adding uncontrollable time travel into the mix? That's just the icing on the cake. Rated: Teen.  AO3 Violence and (canon) Character Death Warnings Characters: Donquioxte Rocinante|Cora-san, Trafalgar Law, Heart Pirates Words: 15755.  Status: Complete

You want to rip my heart out and trample it into lots of little pieces while still making it all better because Law and Rocinante?  Well, this little time-traveller’s wife AU fic is just the one for all that.  Sad moments, frustrating moments, happy moments, all wrapped up in this oneshot!

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A fic you’d print and put on your bookshelf: Thrower of the Dart by Vathara (Artemis Fowl/The Avengers)

What might have happened instead of Artemis Fowl book 6, if it'd happened in the Marvel Universe. Megalomaniacs ahoy! Rated: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Artemis Fowl II, Tony Stark, and more Words: 101272.  Status: Complete

It’s long, it’s epic, and it would nestle in perfectly at home alongside my Artemis Fowl books on the bookshelf!  It’s not so much a rewrite of book 6 as a complete replacement of it, with a new plot and an all too familiar villain!

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A fic you associate with a song: Goodbye, Brother by Serena Estelle (Bleach)

Ilforte's final moments as I like to picture them-with his brother. Rated: T.  Canonical character death Characters: Szayelaporro Granz, Yylfordt Granz Words: 3073.  Status: Complete

Might be cheating, because the author actually names a song in their starting A/N, but this definitely brings to mind Exile Vilify by The National, and I fully recommend listening to that (on loop - there is a 10-hour loop version on youtube) as you watch this for maximum tear-jerking effect.

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A fic that inspires you: Magic of the Rose Cross by Awensweth (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

In Harry's 4th year the Triwizard Tournament is brought back to live, but the appearance of a fourth mysterious school about which only Dumbledore seems to know brings new secrets with it for everyone. Who are the students of Rose Cross? Rated: Mature.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Harry Potter, Allen Walker, and more Words: 66632.  Status: Incomplete

I have been inspired by many, many fics, but I chose this one in particular because it was the main one that inspired me to join the HP/DGM Triwizard Tournament wave of the early 2010s - indeed, The Combat School is one of my most popular fics, but without this and other fics of the trope, I probably would never have written it!  That’s not to say I’ve copied this fic - aside from the base trope I tried my best to make my own work unique against the others, and hope that I succeeded!  Sadly, this fic is incomplete and hasn’t been updated for some time, but it’s still worth a read.

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A fic that brought you on board a new ship:  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by MsChunks (Boku no Hero Academia)

Uraraka and Bakugo have a secret. It’s not what their classmates think it is. Rated: Teen.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Bakugo Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako Words: 182478.  Status: Complete

Putting Bakugo and Uraraka together was something I’d never considered, and I started this fic with some trepidation after a friend recommended it to me, but said friend has never steered me wrong with fics and didn’t start now!  Fake dating, Uraraka actually being badass, the most terrifying couple in class 1-A?  That’s this fic.

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A fic you wish could be a movie: Mission Impossible by Loopstagirl (Thunderbirds)

Being selected for his first solo mission should have been exciting for Captain Scott Tracy of the Air Force. But there was something else at play. Something dangerous and deadly. Something that could cost him more than his life. Rating: T.  Warnings: Violence Characters: Scott Tracy, Gordon Tracy Words: 55048.  Status: Complete

Air Force!Scott?  W.A.S.P.!Gordon?  On a joint mission together?  Yes, gimme, gimme, gimme.  Gimme Scott’s awkwardness alone on a boat of WASP personnel, gimme Gordon’s horror when he realises the suicide mission pilot is his older brother, and now give that all to me on screen!  And we can’t forget the Hood, of course!  Might be a bit higher rating than the current Thunderbirds stuff, but hey, I’m old enough.  Gimme.

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A fic that led to you becoming friends with the author: The Gabriel Project by Aceidia (Bleach)  - @thetwelvecaesars​

When Szayelaporro knew Aizen's reign in Heuco Mundo was coming to a close, he took matters into his own brilliant hands. He reincarnates himself and the other nine Espadas into a new life full of surprising turns and irony. Yet, the harmony and ignorance is not forever as they begin to remember. Rating: M (violence) Characters: Szayelaporro Granz, the Espada Words: 116030.  Status: Complete

Well, this fic sparked off a friendship that’s still very much there, even if neither of us write much for Bleach any more!  What started off as a challenge to identify who the Espada were turned into essay-length PMs about anything and everything, and then RP groups and now random emails about whatever at random times of the day (different timezones don’t help)!

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A fic you’ve gushed about irl: Living Like Kings by CLynnB (Thunderbirds)

The world wants to know more about the Tracy brothers. So Lady Penelope takes it upon herself to show the world just who they are. Through YouTube. Rating: Gen.  AO3 Author Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Lady Penelope-Creighton-Ward, Tracy Family (background Pen/Ink, Scayo, Virg/Brains) Words: 35348.  Status: Complete

I love social media fics like this one, and my poor boyfriend got the brunt of it while we were on holiday... he knows basically nothing about Thunderbirds except for what he’s heard from me (which is a lot because he’s amazing and lets me gush).  I mean, Tracy boys playing “The Floor Is Lava?” and tackling each other to the ground?  Gimme.

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A fic you associate with a place: Thunderbirds Meet Thunderbirds - Alan trip in to the movie verse by ak47stylegirl (Thunderbirds) @ak47stylegirl​

Crazy stuff always happens to Tracys, don't they?  Add felling into a different world to the list. Rating: Gen. AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Alan Tracy, Tracy Family times two Words: 25599.  Status: Incomplete

This might be a little random, but this fic was one that I found while I was ill on holiday to the Lake District last autumn.  Sadly, it’s the only trip there I’ve ever done where I couldn’t climb a single fell (and my car’s clutch burnt out after having to reverse up a pass... thanks bus coming the other way), and this fic’s updates while I was there kept me sane!  This has actually very loosely inspired a fic of my own which is in the making - which might get posted in the next year if I’m lucky...  Still waiting eagerly for this fic’s next update :D

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A fic that made you gasp out loud: The Colours Of The World by MaiKusakabe (Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter)

When Roy Mustang went to retrieve his eyesight from Truth, he wasn’t expecting to end up doing a job in exchange. It couldn’t even be an easy job, of course, because Edward’s assessment of Truth was a pretty accurate one. Rating: Mature.  AO3 No Archive Warnings (but watch for canon-typical violence) Characters: Roy Mustang, Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and more Words: 120578.  Status: Incomplete

Badass Roy yesss.  Twists and turns and Truth is a pretentious you-know-what but Voldemort’s even worse so where does that leave poor Roy except caught in the middle and very much a war veteran at this point... much to the horror of a few wizards!

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A fic you found at the right time: Seafaring Heartless: Exit North Blue by Avian Swallow (One Piece)

Pirates may be considered evil by the majority, but Law had met quite a few of the world's navy who were corrupt to the core and putting up a very thick facade. He reasoned that if he was going to manipulate and scheme his way into that goal, at least he was going to be honest enough to admit it. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Trafalgar Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, Heart Pirate OCs Words: 159644.  Status: Complete

Is there ever a ‘wrong time’ to find a fic?  (a 100k+ at 4am debatable, but shh).  When I craved Heart Pirate content, this fic (and its sequel, still in progress but updating) appeared!  Only loosely clings to canon at the moment, thanks to some SBS revelations, but with well developed OCs to fill the faces we have no names or personalities for at the moment!

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A fic that you would read fic of: Only a Boy by Riddle Lee (Harry Potter/Merlin)

Merlin has changed Camelot forever but while that part of his life is complete, destiny has a new task for him. Now he has to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hide the fact that he's the Merlin, and defeat a Dark Lord that's messing with magic he knows nothing about. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Merlin, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and more Words: 340998.  Status: Incomplete

An amazing universe with Slytherin!Merlin, no Harry Potter/Boy Who Lived, and the good old ‘hiding real identity’ trope to underpin the whole series.  Currently just into the start of Merlin’s third year at Hogwarts, aka “The Prisoner of Azkaban”.  This universe has so much to give, although Riddle Lee is doing a fantastic job at it.  It’s incomplete and slow to update but does update!

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A fic that made you laugh out loud: HOW’S THE COMA GOING by ossicle (One Piece)

Kidd and Penguin keep trying to murder each other and Law is done with their shit. He assigns them to take care of each other’s injuries so they’ll learn to get along. It doesn’t work. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Eustass Kid, Penguin, Trafalgar Law (background KidLaw) Words: 2062.  Status: Complete

Oh this one had me in stitches basically the whole time.  Kid’s bedside manner should not be mimicked in the slightest, but a beautiful bonding fic in typical pirate fashion - beat ‘em up ‘til they have your approval.  Poor, poor, Law.

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A fic with a line (or two) that you’ve memorised by heart: On Their Side by Gumnut (Thunderbirds) - @gumnut-logic​

She trusted these boys with a great deal. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Warnings Apply Characters: Colonel Casey, Virgil Tracy, Gordon Tracy Words: 1116.  Status: Complete

I think I have basically the entire thing memorised.  This one also falls into several other categories, most notably ones that made me laugh and ones that I’ve reread several times, but it really belongs here on this list.

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A fic that gave you butterflies: it’s a long way forward so trust in me by aloneintherain (Miraculous Ladybug)

Six times Marinette carried Adrien (plus one time he carried her). Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Adrien Agreste|Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng|Ladybug (all sides of the love square) Words: 5611.  Status: Complete

Aaah I have a weak spot for strong!Marinette and this fic ticks that box time and time again, with a side of blushing!Adrien and general love-struck Adrien/Chat.  I mean, what more could a girl need?

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A fic that embodies something you value in life: Team Itachi by Killer of thy Cookies (Naruto)

What if the Third Hokage stopped the council before they could order Itachi to commit the Uchiha Clan Massacre? Itachi is one of the village's strongest ninja, and has now been given the task of being a Jonin sensei, assigned to Team 7 with his little brother Sasuke, the 'dead last' Naruto Uzumaki, and fangirl Sakura Haruno. This is Team Itachi. Rating: T.  Canon-typical situations Characters: Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and more Words: 155092.  Status: Complete

(Yup, another non-massacre AU.)  Loyalty.  Honestly, there are so many fics that have loyalty in them, especially in fandoms like Naruto, where loyalty is a pretty big thing anyway (alongside friendship, of course), but this one is Itachi staying openly loyal to the village because Sarutobi actually saved the clan, and of course lovely bonds between the team!

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A favourite AU: A Son By Any Other Name by carryonstarkid (Thunderbirds)

Cursed as a child, Scott Tracy lives a life in which everyone he encounters must follow all of his given commands. Rating: Teen.  AO3 Chose Not To Use Warnings Characters: Scott Tracy, Tracy Brothers, Kayo Kyrano, and more Words: 83429.  Status: Complete

I rarely read AU fics - my preferred sandbox is the canon one, or a nice slice of canon diversion, rather than completely taking characters out of their home and dumping them somewhere entirely new.  This fairytale AU, however - reminding me very much of Sleeping Beauty except instead of sleeping it’s, well, what the summary says - is fantastically well done and addresses the strain such a thing would put on even the closest of family relationships.

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A fic you stayed up too late to finish reading: As N Approaches Infinity by Corisanna (Bleach/Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Despairing as yet another timeline goes horribly wrong, Homura wanders into Karakura. There she discovers that while the spiritually-aware people of Karakura were distracted by Ichigo Kurosaki and Xcution, Kyubey had managed to contract the Kurosaki sisters as magical girls. Drawing the attention of the shinigami could be just the advantage Homura needs. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings but watch out for canon-typical situations for both fandoms (especially Madoka) Characters: Akemi Homura, Kurosaki Karin, Kurosaki Yuzu, Urahara Kisuke, and many more Words: 465297.  Status: Incomplete

There are many fanfictions that have kept me up til dawn.  Many.  This one, however, has literally robbed me of all my sleep and I’ve still been unable to finish it in one sitting.  It’s good, the pacing is fantastic, and with Homura as our leading lady, that means those time resets really hit hard when they happen (and they happen.  They really, really, happen).  Might be incomplete, but is still updating - and there’s plenty to keep you occupied in the meantime!

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A fic that made you feel seen: A Seed Once Grown by Darkestwolfx (Thunderbirds) - @darkestwolfx​

Believe it or not, they did have a garden on Tracy Island. It looked a little like a… tip. And that was being kind. Rating: Teen.  AO3 No Archive Warnings Characters: Ned Tedford, Tracy Family Words: 4785.  Status: Complete

Okay, so I’m taking this literally because I spend a lot of time feeling invisible on the internet so having a fic written for me from someone I’d barely spoken to before was a whole pile of screaming.  Not that it’s the first time someone’s written a fic for me, but the other ones have been done by friends I’d already known for some time, and not someone in a fandom I’m just starting to find my feet in.

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Free space: whoo boy, fun time!  There are a few fics on the top of my head that didn’t fill any of the above prompts (or got beaten to the punch by another), so my wildcard space is going to be a few fic links without the extra detail because I’ve already spent about 12 hours on this to get to this point (did I get sidetracked and re-read a bunch?  You bet) and I’d quite like to also get some fic written today, too!

Eight-Day Week (JoJo Spotting) by TrufflestheMushroom (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)

The Trouble With Eastern by teaandtumblr (One Piece)

Remembrance by ClioSelene (One Piece)

Legacy by MaiKusakabe (One Piece)

A Fleeting Smile by AnonymousTwit (Boku no Hero Academia)

Too Loud For Comfort by vaporeon_ninja (Boku no Hero Academia)

A Dragon’s Hoard by Chezka (Boku no Hero Academia)

Nine Lives by P_Artsypants (Miraculous Ladybug)

Chat’s Eye View (Love Letters To Paris) by Icka M Chif (Miraculous Ladybug)

Gabriel’s Lament by Chaotic Neutral (Miraculous Ladybug)

What The Cat Dragged In by Kyral (Avengers/Miraculous Ladybug)

Weekend Warrior by BlackDog_66 (Avengers)

Fitting In (Tiny Spaces) by aloneintherain (Avengers)

Autonomy by beetlebee (Naruto)

Great Minds by ScreamingViking (Final Fantasy VII)

Dear Kunsel by Sinnatious (Final Fantasy VII)

Cracks in the knight by authorettejasmin (Magic Kaito)

To Wrap An Elvish Princeling by Jael (Lord of the Rings)

There are more, many more, and I’ll probably post a few more recs around - you can also find some on my blog and I’ll try and get that updated with a few more at some point because there are many more than that!

[shy-magpie]

RQG 154

Wherein red stringing occurs. Liveblog under the cut:

 Not much hype this week, just a lot of being quietly thrilled RSB got the beginning of the episode dedicated to us. I hope the rest of the fandom doesn't feel like Bryn plays favorites. Its sweet he back reads and answers questions but its nothing he wouldn't do in official. Last week was such a gift that I think it cut down on hype for this week because even if (Alex forbid) they immediately time skipped to the end of the week, quarantine still got us amazing backstory and character moments. Unless Alex gets truly desperate and has someone attack the inn or infects both the new kids, the characters are safe from physical danger so no fear hype either.

Yes I want follow up on that Hamid & Zolf conversation: I am so proud of him for calling Zolf out on being patronizing (I can't believe I didn't see earlier with his family, of course that's the aspect that got to him) and they need to figure out how to deal with the chain of command. Zolf already seems more willing to get input on his decisions so its mostly losing the attitude when things happen like Hamid casting lights. Yes I also want Cel to talk about themself more, but I am fine with waiting until they aren't locked up with no privacy. Azu's backstory is coming out at a decent pace and Helen spoils us so not even worried about not hearing more about her becoming a paladin. I am curious if Alex thinks its worth bonding with the new kids and this better not be a set up for splitting the party. So enough pre episode babbling, final bets on if they play with the brorb now or wait until they can take it to Cel's? Gotta love that music. Oh they do want to get back to things! Listen to how fast they're talking. That's nice I wouldn't have thought they'd be as excited about the pure RP backstory and character bits as they get about a boss fight. No Alex neither players nor fans want to skip anything. I will concede that further conversation was unlikely to be productive that night so the morning makes sense. There was only one corridor! Barnes is still using the stairs to get some space. Some might see it as a sign he is infected or afraid of infection but honestly not wanting to puppy pile with a group as tight knit as the party especially while they are shaking out their issues is valid. Azu checks on Carter who passed out drunk face down. Zolf is sleeping in. With Hamid's family issues, Bryn being so careful to specify he has a healthy relationship with alcohol every time makes it a lot easier to not tense up listening. Oh My God thanks Bryn! I know he said the beginning of the episode was dedicated to us but I was expecting a throw away line not a proper red stringing scene! I am grinning so big right now. Azu is watching Hamid Cel is sleeping curled up with the sealed bottle of elvish mead. Because Lydia is as much a criminal as Bryn just plays a longer game. Speaking of criminal, Ben really plays up this rivalry from Azu & Zolf covering similar roles and its a really close second to the rank thing between him & Hamid in character arcs I'm interested in. I think both are aiming towards a happy ending but no idea how the middle is going to play out. I don't think it's aiming for a "this party isn't big enough for two of us". Alex is encouraging this. This is great just going to get a clip of this rather than attempt to transcribe on first listen. Bryn/Hamid is laying this out so clearly: The knowns, assumed, and questions are being labeled nicely. (I wonder if our little discord helped him refresh his memory so he'd be able to match how much Hamid would remember in character.) Bryn also goes 3rd person? Hope it isn't a stress tell like Alex. Yes Bryn is obsessed and as a listener its is utterly charming when he shows up in RSB or Official and is unabashedly as big a fan of the show as us. Zolf wakes up to Hamid red stringing. Thank goodness he isn't letting security concerns lead him to putting the brakes on. I know there was some concern that if one of them was infected sharing they could pass on anything they talk about. As long as they don't get too specific about classified info, using the time and frankly just having a project to distract them is a good idea. Plus in my mind Hamid always looks so hurt when Zolf pulls on the reigns. Lilliana is not allowed to be the connecting thread. Oh seed is finally being addressed. Aw Hamid handed Cel a glass of water. It really is the little things I love about this show: 1)told you he has a knack for leadership: anticipating the needs of team members even as they diverge from his own 2)He does see Cel as a team member not just someone he worked with, you don't hear him cooing over Carter 3)does it quickly then moves on, because as a gentleman he thinks it's what anyone would do. 4)speaking of, I wonder that Azu & Zolf haven't done rounds. its not like they have anything to save the spells for and the field is only in the cell.

Svalbard! Do not taunt us, does Ben have any idea how much we want to see the science dwarves of the north? Um hmm, vindi-fing-cation. I know it wasn't exactly a huge insight but the mixture of science and various schools of magic is key to my theory on what “Erasing The Line” refers to. Oh Frankenstein in this world is such a concept. Plus it makes Mary Shelley canon. Aw Alex thought we'd never get to this bit of lore. Thank you Blue Veins info being given as whole instead of bits & pieces.  Ooh and Barnes is taking it. Time to get a sense of who he is when he's not swinging a sword. Navel engagement with Blue Veins? Hive mind! Minimize harm? Not dead. Paladins are complicated, maybe a rumor, maybe transfer of allegiance. Cyborg kraken Cyborg Zolf Oh splitting the kraken to make more Barnes just checks out as the conversation goes over his head Called it I told you it was a sensible test. (ETA Zolf’s fart test) (ETA: Re: people with Blue Veins) No lies, no embarrassment, very literal. Other instances? Riots London->Paris->Europe Not safe to go to London If you're in their presence you are highly likely to be infected, mass infections,  not passed by corpses? Memetic effect? Tick tock. Ben and Alex have one of their friendly tussles as Carter decides its a me may Yes he did! And Helen name dropped us! I know I'm just a little part of the brigade but I'm going to to be smug for at least a week that we are so good at what we do one of the actual players looked to us. Hey Lydia is welcome too. Paperwork time! Yeah yeah I knew security was going to be used to undermine Hamid. At least it isn't Zolf and they aren't trying to make him look rash for the whole idea. Getting new info from the paperwork is a bit different than talking about what they already know. Make the place bigger? Nice spell Zolf. If this leads to Animorphs again... Oh I was thinking more like a big horde somewhere you could check stone in & out of a stone plane of existence ties in with elemental lore right? Seriously "Cure Hangover" isn't a spell? Or do Zolf & Azu just not approve of using their magic that way? Intoxicants have to fall under mild poisoning, right? Do the studying later in the week? That's a fair compromise; even if Zolf is still presenting it as an order he is explaining instead of giving his advice or IDK putting it to a vote. I'm not positive but I think Lydia is suggesting they go over their character sheets in character. Alex is not amused. Lydia sounds pleased with herself. Perception check? Azu hears someone knocking something over upstairs. Azu tries to not wake Carter as she listens at the door. It had to be her foot in his mouth. Multiple people in the inn. Carter tries to pick the lock. Azu & Carter start bickering. Carter is perception penalty. The inn is being searched Zolf suggests they wake Wilde up by making a racket. Cel hears the door being unlocked. Voices speaking muffled Japanese. Cel just shouts "Hey what's going on?". Zolf joins in. Azu uses her armor to make noise. Thump of someone hitting the floor! Wilde's voice! Lots of feet? Yes Helen, what if it is the kobolds? Oh god what if Skraak checked on them and found out they were in cages underground? Poor guy would think Wilde is their Shoin. Bryn clarifies Hamid shouts out to Wilde Zolf forbids them leaving the basement Cel shields themself. Azu goes for her armor Barnes is keeping Carter from going for the lock again. Hamid casts Fear (!oh that’s a new one isn't it) I assume #jail is already full of angst criminals connecting Hamid's bully days and him going from S1!Hamid scared of every fight to now casting fear as a way to control his enemies). Also these better be his enemies because I still don't put it past Alex to set us up for a tragic misunderstanding. Dragon roar and dragon face is how he casts fear Ok Rusty Quill LOTR night sounds awesome Zolf helps Azu put on her armor The other feet flee Zolf cries out for Wilde as loud as he physically can but still won't let them risk infecting Japan by leaving quarantine early. Oh if that ain't a fic and a half. A set of small claws! It is a kobold End the episode with the kobolds?  

[windandwater]

was tagged for the first time in a while lol y’all learned your lesson about making me do surveys, huh

anyways

top 3 ships:

I’m forcing myself not to go on a whole spiel about what a ship even is conceptually and what criteria I should use to come up with a top 3? liking it a lot? reading a lot of fic of it? writing fic of it? longevity? it’s 2020 and I even have favorite canon ships now!

still, lest this list get 20 miles long, I’m going to narrow it down to the two I’ve actually written fic of, and one I wish I could write about because I need more of them in my life. and just know that this list is WILDLY incomplete.

Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Legolas/Gimli Angie Cartinelli/Peggy Carter

also I’m going to give you a runner-up b/c this list needs more ladies and it’s Korra/Asami because I quite literally only watched that show in its entirety once I found out they got together (I thought they had hella chemistry from the very beginning) so I think that counts.

…but yeah there are more (anyone want book recs? I got book recs) (what if I just go off on a tangent about Shakespeare) (what about a list of pairings from fandoms I’m not in and whose original works I have never consumed that would be pretty hilarious) (lmk if you want an annotated list of pairings I like I’ll fuckin do it) but we clearly don’t have time.

lipstick or chapstick:

uhhh. why is this an either/or question? why do people always try make me choose between 2 things? it’s not that simple, you need a 2 page explanation of my lip habits or this is all pointless! fuck off!

so basically I rarely wear makeup b/c I can’t have any of it around my eyes (allergic reactions suck also fuck off with that “wear it every day” bullshit hey world? this is my face. deal with it.) BUT I do sometimes wear lipstick and a bit of foundation (applied far away from my eyes) for (very, VERY) special occasions. and as for chapstick, I wear it during times when my lips are super dry or prone to chapping, you know, like a normal person. I still don’t understand this question.

last song:

idk, whatever came up on my shuffle as I was coming in to work. I ran into a coworker on the way so I wasn’t really listening.

but my first song this morning was The Grateful Dead - Bertha. A+ way to start the day, it’s a good walk-to-the-subway song.

last movie:

I re-watched Magic Mike XXL to make myself feel better about the world and it worked. that movie really just chugs “loving women” juice the whole way through, it’s delightful.

I meant to use it to get myself into a movie-watching mood and watch something I hadn’t seen before b/c it’s been months since I watched anything but youtube, but it didn’t work. oh well.

reading:

any time I get this question at the end or beginning of the year it’s going to be the same goddamn answer: I’m reading Lord of the Ring again. as usual. I’m at the part where Sam and Frodo wake up in Ithilien and everyone bows to them and I’m just weeping all the way through because I love Samwise Gamgee so much.

anyway next on my list is either The Starless Sea by Eric Morgenstern, which I have a copy of but am less excited about than Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell, which I will read instead if I get an ebook of it by the time I finish LotR.

[make-me-imagine]

7k dude congratulations on the milestone!!

can i ask for a harry potter ship from the older characters (please not snape), I don't mind if the ship is male or female, I'm 23 female, irish, INFJ, hufflepuff, catholic, naturally brown hair but it's dyed black

Likes: LOTR, harry potter, the secret garden book, Gotham, a very potter musical is canon in my mind and Quirrelmort is otp! Honestly literally every avpm character is perfection especially umbridge and the malfoys, Casper is my comfort movie, Coraline, Hercules, Prince of Egypt, Aladdin, Agent Carter, reading, sewing by hand (I got a singer heavy duty sewing machine but it's a monster and I'm scared), going for walks alone, collecting vintage clothes I have a 20s vampirey looking evening dress that I've never had the reason to wear but am gonna wear it in may and I'm so excited! Ray Charles, Florence and the Machine, Emeli Sandi, Aretha Franklin, Aurora, The pretty reckless (their most recent album is oh my gosh), Bon Jovi, Twenty one pilots, I don't really know what else to write umm I'm aiming to become a teacher, would like to become fluent in irish cuz I feel pathetic for not speaking my own language and also in my humble opinion it sounds dope, most recently watched show is agent carter and most recently watched movie harley quinn bop, just had a tonsillectomy and I can't wait til my throat heals so I can eat two Mars bars and really good cup of tea

I love AVPM!! And Starkid in general lol

I hope you like your ship!

I ship you with Sirius Black!

You met when you attended Hogwarts together, hit it off, and were very close to starting a relationship, but then, he was taken to Azkaban. You reunited years later, when you, being a member of the Order, and had looked after Harry quite a bit around that time, met him again after he escaped.

Your friendship, and ultimately your feelings for one another resurfaced, and luckily this time, you weren't interrupted before it became a relationship. Also, he did not die, until much much later (your welcome lol).

He was glad to find you hadn't changed much over the years. You were still your Hufflepuff self. He was so happy to be able to catch up on everything he missed, allowing you to show him everything that was.

Not only are you a member of the Order, but a teacher at Hogwarts (your choice of subject).

Best Friend: Remus Lupin. You bonded through your losses of James and Lily, as well as Sirius, and stayed in touch. You were like siblings, and were always there for each other.

[pay-per-crime]

My Childhood Stories (part 1)

Superheroes. They’re cool. Everyone likes them (I know that isn’t true, but let’s say it is for the moment).

The problem with super heroes is that they’re generally dumb. Like, they rely on science that has been disproved, or some kind of thematically inconsistent magic system (if you know me, you know that thematic inconsistency in writing is anathema to me), or whatever. The MCU has fixed some of that, but it still has to work around and within existing canon, which hampers it somewhat. So, being the artistically flighty and impulsive person I am, I decided to make my own super hero universe. It was a long time coming, really.

The first superhero-type character I ever made was a humanoid/human-appearance alien from a planet that was dying (yes, I know; I was ten). His parents were explorers looking for a viable planet to settle on, and they found earth. Their ship was “running on fumes” when they landed, but they did so safely and were able to begin life on Earth while they attempted to get some kind of fuel for their ship or a message out to their homeworld (I can’t remember its name, or theirs).

Then they died of too much oxygen, which their bodies weren’t used to. Their son, however, survived and thrived on the tropical island where they had landed, and in essence, the high oxygen levels on Earth made him the Avatar. If we’re being fair, I had seen very little A:TLA at the time, but still, this was a little ridiculous, and tried to mash too many ideas together. Again, I was ten.

Anyway, I developed a world and talked with who I then considered my best friend about it, and we did some informal roleplaying games with our characters (there were lots of ion cannons; he was kinda obsessed with them) in which Force--the codename my hero took while on Earth--returned to his homeworld to defend it from my friend’s characters’ attack.

There were other superheroes: Kronos, Warp, and (get this) Multi-Guy. There were also villains, though the only one I can remember is a hornet-inspired dude with a gasoline-powered wingsuit that, to be honest, still has some potential if I revamp him.

I was a weird kid. Like most kids, I had a very active imagination. Unlike most kids, however, I was always much more interested in stories than in games. I was raised in a fairly conservative Christian atmosphere, so my exposure to sci-fi and fantasy was limited for a long time. I can’t remember when I first saw Star Wars. Thankfully, however, my parents were and are geeks, from their generation’s perspective (they don’t count anymore; my siblings and I have surpassed their geekery in every possible regard except my dad’s vast knowledge of the music of his generation). I was handed the traditional Narnia and LotR, but also The Tower of Geburah and Gem Of The Wanderer. One of my fondest childhood memories is of a three-book series written and self-published by a West Virginia native like myself (H.L. Wherle), which chronicled the adventures of a frog protagonist named Froggy and his attempts to stop his Uncle Noggleman from making himself Dictator of the Universe. In the end of the first book, Uncle Noggleman reforms, and in the second book, he and Froggy work at Noggleman Labs to make such interesting and profitable inventions as the Weatherometer (a weather-control device), the Inframarine (an underwater car), the Atmosphere Plant (a device they installed on Mars to make a breathable atmosphere, a reference to the John Carter books), and the J Factor (a plant hormone which caused disastrously huge growth in vegetables, notably, a radish). These books were the birth of my love for absurdism, which has persisted until now and will likely continue until the day I die.

After reading the Narnia books I was, per Childhood Law, required to build my own world for a portal fantasy. I’ll talk about that soon. 

[ultimatemoisturebodylotion4]

I don’t watch too much TV or anything but um

1. Cynthia (Pokémon): She’s the Sinnoh Champion from Pokémon, badass, and instills fear every time you battle her

2. Morgana(Merlin):Badass high priestess from Merlin (yes the one that ended back in like 2012. Idk she’s just really cool and I loved her character development. I do wish they made her seem less pathetic at the end tho tbh

3. Missy (Doctor Who): Female regeneration of the Master from Doctor Who. Sassy, crazy, evil, and a just overall genuine badass

4. Sara Lance (DC): I fucking loved her both in the comics and in the show. I don’t know what else to say I just love her

5. Doctor Beverly Crusher (Star Trek): I was so happy that it was never canon that she married Picard. I love Picard but she was like the first female character that I really felt a connection to in focusing on her work first (then her kid).

6. Martha (Doctor Who): I loved her for the same reason I loved Dr. Chrusher tbh. She loved the doctor but realized he didn’t love her and was just using her as a rebound. She forgave him and was still friends with him, but she went on her own separate and she’s just goals tbh

7. Mrs. Hudson (Sherlock TV Series): I love the stereotype of old ladies who are sweet but had a criminal past and can also cut you

8. Fiona (Shrek): What else am I supposed to say

9. Helena Bonham Carter in general (and the characters she played) She’s my fave actor and I can’t choose which character I loved most

10. Galadriel (LOTR) The first female character I absolutely fell in love with as a kid. Just her whole character was mesmerizing and she’ll always have a place in my heart

I accidentally posted this too early but if you see you gotta add (if you want to). I really wanna hear what other people have to add! @mrvanillebrause @ohitstragic @i-dont-even-care-about-youu and anyone else

I was tagged by @skateryue thanks erica 🤍🤍🤍

List 10 different female favs from different fandoms and then tag 10 people.

1. korra 

….

that’s it, that’s the list 

lol jk the rest is in no particular order 

2. arya stark (asoif/got) 

she was my all time fave before korra 

3. yennefer of vengerberg (the witcher) 

you are a loyal protector, noble dog, permitting my success as long as you command it yourself, f*** o**!!!!!!!!!!

4. allison argent (teen wolf)

i know this is weird, and it’s not bc i am rewatching it lol allison had a huge impact on me when i was a teen, that scene where she talks to her aunt and says “i want to feel powerful” stuck with me for years after watching the show

5. rachel elizabeth dare (pjo) 

the only female character rick wrote that i enjoyed without writing a 40 page long essay rant 

6. blair waldorf 

‘not everybody wants to be blair waldorf’ ‘not everybody can be’ 😭😭

7. wanda maximoff (marvel) 

any interpretation, she has my all time favorite powers, if i could choose my superpowers i would choose reality warping lol

8. harley quinn (dc) 

we thinking the new animated series and birds of prey (i have a whole drafted essay about how much i love her)

9. elle woods (legally blonde) 

look i am super pink sparkly makeup clothes and heels type of girl, so i am a sucker for characters like elle, blair, cher from clueless 

10. elizabeth swan (potc)

  when i was a kid i watched it and said i want she is having

sorry but hmm miranda priestly which i didnt put in the list but wanna mention it cause she is meant to be a representation of anna wintour who also impacted me a lot (edit: how do u all read what i write, i am cannot process a thought into words)

idk who to tag but everyone do this!!! it’s fun

[back2beesness]

A Mini-Disseration on Fanfiction

So I’ve been reflecting a lot recently about why people write fanfiction and make fanworks, and I think I’ve kinda sorted it in to a couple of categories. I’m positive I am not the first, but I still wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere.

My subcategories:

Canon was cut off abruptly

Canon is lacking something

Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another

I know this doesn’t seem like many categories, but the more I tried to add, the more I realized they all fit somewhere under these three. I’ll start with the first one

#1. Canon was cut off abruptly.

This is a fanfiction classic. Your show was cancelled, the author of the book gave up on the series or died, there was a cliffhanger for something that was never finished, networks screwed up, so on and so forth. Often times, these works try to stay as true to canon as possible, because the core material cuts off and therefore the works are trying to fill in the missing, vitally important finale/info. (There is also an interesting subcategory of fics written following other unfinished fics. Very cool phenomenon.)

Notable fandom examples:

Unfinished book/book series (Game of Thrones, Dune, anything with a suuuper long hiatus)

Cancelled tv shows (The Society, Sanditon, I Am Not Okay With This, The Get Down, Sense8, Agent Carter, Firefly, Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Angel)

#2. Canon is lacking something.

This category covers a variety of sins. It’s important to note that this isn’t the same as #1 because the source material has been concluded, and the body of work is finished. There can be some blurred lines, especially with shows like Sense8, where they were cancelled and then had a special to round off what was supposed to be another few seasons, or original source material where the story technically didn’t end on a cliffhanger, it just ended when there was supposed to be more originally, but primarily this is for shows/material that had the amount of run time they wanted and were purposefully ended, or at least not against the will of the creators. So, this category includes a number of the most popular branches of fanworks including the following headcanons or au’s: more LGBTQ+ characters, more characters of color, more neurodivergent or mentally ill characters, scenes that could’ve been really cool if they had been included and/or not skipped over, scenes that never happened but fans think they should have, characters meeting that never did, crossovers, alternate universes where one thing changes (ie. canon divergences), different endings/retcons (happy ending or not), explicit content, and so the list goes on. A lot of my favorite types of fanworks are included in here.

Notable fandom examples:

Any and all non-canon LGBTQ+ relationships (John/Sherlock, Dean/Cas, Rizzoli/Isles, Remus/Sirius, Harry/Draco, Stiles/Derek, Xena/Gabrielle, Poe/Finn, Steve/Bucky or Steve/Tony or literally any combination of those characters)

Most Homestuck fanfiction

Any popular canon relationship that ended (HIMYM, most of Grey’s Anatomy, all of Glee)

Any show with a horrible ending/unpopular recent episodes (Sherlock, Game of Thrones, DW, Star Wars)

Any work with a popular character that died (Torchwood, Grey’s Anatomy again, Game of Thrones again, Buffy, OITNB, The 100, The Hunger Games, the entirety of Harry Potter, TFIOS)

And, finally

#3. Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another.

Now, once again, I feel the need to specify why this category is separate from the last. So, I think the biggest difference between categories 2 and 3, is that while #2 expresses a lack of satisfaction with the original work, #3 is all about a deep adoration and love for the content that inspires a re-make or an au with canon events most intact, if not twisted to fit the new genre. Again, I can see the lines blurring somewhat. After all, there is content that I deeply adore, yet also feel like changing certain aspects of it. And to be clear, I think you can have fics that fall into multiple categories, if not all. But this sub-characterization relates specifically to honoring and reshaping the core content and ideas of the original work without major changes to the characters or messaging. And by this I absolutely do not mean headcanons about character ethnicity, race, culture, sexuality, or gender. I am specifically referring to someone taking a character like, say Frodo in LOTR, and rewriting the story with him as a wizard. A surface level change at first, however it changes the entire foundation of his character, which is that he goes on a journey from a humble, small, overlooked character to become a hero, proving the value of the everyman, and the quiet strength of peaceful people. Now, if someone wrote a fic where Frodo was thrown into a superhero au, where one day he gets superpowers by chance, that would fall under category #3. The first example would fuel an idea of what the story would be like if Frodo was immensely powerful, while the second maintains the character’s foundation, simply placing them into a new genre or setting in which those characteristics and themes can play out. This includes au’s that maintain canon events/character backstories even in slightly modified au’s.

Notable fandom examples:

Hogwarts au’s (not HP crossovers)

Coffeshop au’s

Historical au’s

Tattoo/Bookstore/Florist au’s

*provided all these examples purposefully maintain key elements of canon*

So, what’s the point?

There isn’t really a single point, I’m an academic weirdo who likes categorizing media and understanding the impulse that drives me and so many other people to consume and create fancontent, specifically fanfic. But, what I will say is that all three categories of work fulfill some need of a fan/consumer, and they can all be incredibly cathartic and/or a continuation of a deeply beloved original work. #1 appeals to those mourning the incomplete and premature ending of a show/book that they thought had a lot of potential. #2 appeals to people mourning the incompleteness of a finished work that could’ve had a lot more potential with some minor (or major) tweaks. #3 appeals to people who are mourning the ending of something they feel has the potential to be explored more, even if it was already explored well in the first place. This is how you get people writing novel length and longer fics, because they’re driven by dissatisfaction, even if they loved whatever the work is based on. I completely understand angrily rewriting an ending or a character, incorporating personal details or making a character more similar to oneself through the inclusion of various non-canonical identities. And, by no means am I implying one category contains better works than any other, but the creators who exist within the third category truly blow my mind at times, because this is often where you get people re-writing an entire series or movie from a different characters perspective, or people who write 300,000+ word coffee shop au’s or hogwarts au’s or spy au’s. This level of dedication honestly inspires me, because to go through the effort of re-intepreting and altering slightly an original work purely out of love and with little intent to directly contradict canon requires a level of devotion I can only aspire to. 

TL;DR 

And, finally, I want to say that I see all fancontent in any of these three categories as truly beautiful, because they are expressions of the human inclination to see the best in everything, and moreover, to try and leave things better than we found them. So yeah. That’s my word vomit for the moment. Happy writing.