#comment/reblog/fave/engage with shit you do like

[ffcrazy15]

Y'know...

I'm kinda getting just...burnt out, man. I don't know what it is, but the fanfic community these last few years has just been really difficult to engage with. There are a lot of reasons, but I think among the biggest is this: (warning: long vent incoming):

So. I've been writing fanfic for...gosh, fourteen years now. And back in the day, we had our fair share of problems, I won't lie. Now I came in after the major flame wars of the '00s, but still, there were the shipping wars and the shit-stirrers and the people who took other people having a different opinion on their faves WAY too personally.

But! There were rules of engagement. People might not have always followed them, but back then you could say to someone, "hey, you're not behaving in the way we all agree people should behave in this space. You're being a jerk." And people would either lose their shit at you and you'd block them, or they'd apologize and not do the rude thing moving forward.

This went especially for new writers/readers. They'd make a mistake, people would inform them, and they wouldn't make the mistake again moving forward. That was how we built a health community back then.

*Now: a disclaimer. I know not all new fans are like this, and to those of you who do listen when people inform you of the etiquette of fandom spaces, I want to give a sincere thank-you. The following does not apply to you.

However, and not to be an old woman yelling at the kids to get off her lawn, but:

I see people trying, politely, to tell newcomers the basic rules of engagement for how to interact in fandom. "Don't complain about things that are clearly marked in the summary or tags." "Do not get into dumb shipping wars. Ship and let ship." "Don't leave harsh or unasked-for concrit." "Don't demand updates in the comments."

And instead of saying "Oh wow, sorry, I didn't know about that, I'll do better next time"—I see some new folks responding with things like "Well this just makes me NEVER want to comment/engage/participate!"

And writers are so scared of not getting ANY engagement in this landscape of already dwindling comments and reblogs—or worse, ruining things for other writers—that they immediately capitulate and say oh, we're sorry, we shouldn't have told you you were being rude, please don't stop commenting on fics, we were in the wrong.

And I'm here to say: No. Enough! It is our job as the older citizens of this space to set the expectations for community behavior. If the new arrivals get mildly embarrassed for being politely informed (key words there) that they've committed a faux pas, then that's okay! It's a growing experience. Learning how to be polite in new social settings isn't traumatizing them or causing them emotional harm. They will survive the couple seconds of embarrassment, and then they will go on to be kinder and more conscientious citizens of the digital landscape.

Now, if you're a newcomer who is intimidated by people telling you the rules of etiquette in fandom spaces:

Look. I get it. I was new to fandom once, and I know that that can be intimidating! But sometimes there are going to be situations where you will be new to a social setting and have to awkwardly feel things out, and you will make mistakes and be corrected by others. That's just part of life. Thankfully, fandom is a space where folks have really tried to cultivate clear rules of engagement and want to hand it on to new people! There are guides on the "ao3 etiquette" tag of how to leave polite comments and interact in fandom, and there are lots of people who will help you learn the ropes if you ask them nicely.

I promise you, you have the ability to learn the rules of social etiquette in this online space. You will be able to emotionally withstand the minor embarrassment; all of us have before you, and you will too. And if you are not able to emotionally handle someone politely taking you aside and informing you that you're making some social mistakes and how to fix them, then you are not mature enough to participate in fandom spaces.

Now, for folks who've read this far and would like some quick tips on fandom etiquette, here they are. Remember, none of this advice is meant as a criticism, and if you've done some of these things without knowing better, then that's okay, we all make mistakes! This is simply to help us all have a good time in this space and build each other up as readers and writers!

"Don't like, don't read." — The most important rule of fandom. If you come across a fanfic that has something in the summary or the tags that you don't like, then do not click on that fic. If you do choose to read it anyway, you have no right to blame the author for your reading something you didn't enjoy.

"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat." — A more extreme version of "Don't like, don't read," this means that there is content in the fic that most people would find disgusting, frightening or morally objectionable. Do not read that story if you do not want to read that sort of content.

"Ship and let ship." — Other people will like different ships or romantic pairings of characters than you do. Their doing so is not an insult to you or to the characters in question. If you do not want to engage with stories/fanart/etc. of that ship, then do not read those fics, and block those tags here on Tumblr. Do not go onto other people's fics/art/etc. and tell them that they are wrong for liking that ship (This includes if you find the ship morally objectionable; see "DL:DR" and "DD:DNE" above.)

Tagging – If you are a writer, make sure to tag your story appropriately. This includes the romantic ships (indicated with a slash, / ) and the friendship ships (indicated with an & or the word "and"). It also includes things like graphic depictions of violence, non-consensual or dubiously consensual sexual content, characters who are under the age of eighteen engaging in sexual situations, and major character death. It also includes "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" (see above), which you should include as a tag if you have content in your fic that the majority of people would find disgusting, frightening or morally objectionable.

Rating – Make sure to rate your story appropriately. If there is explicit sexual content or graphic violence in your story, it should be rated as "mature" or "explicit." Do not label it as "teen" or "general" (or K, K+ or T on FF.net). If there is any sexual content or more-than-cartoon-violence in your story, it should not be rated as "general" (or K or K+).

Bookmarking — Be aware that unless you set the bookmark to "private," the author can read any comments or tags you leave on the bookmark.

Commenting — Almost all writers love comments, and many writers depend on comments for their motivation to continue a story. Leaving comments is both a great way to show a writer that you enjoy their story, as well as provide the writer with motivation to keep writing! A comment can be as elaborate as you like and list every detail you loved about the story, or as simple as "this was good, I really liked it!" Either of those is fine. Keyboard smashes are also fine, as are emojis if you're too shy to write a full comment.

Commenting on Older Stories — Is absolutely fine, and in fact highly appreciated!

Demanding an Update — Do not, however, demand that a writer update quickly or ask them when the next chapter will be. Writers are doing this for free, and demanding an update is considered impolite at best and guilt-tripping at worst. (Examples: saying "This is really good, excited for more!" is fine, since this does not put a timed expectation on the writer. Saying "This is really good, when is the next update!" is considered mildly impolite, and simply writing "Update" is considered highly rude. It is seen as demanding another free gift right after you've received one.)

Concrit/Constructive Criticism — Different writers' mileage will vary on how much they like constructive criticism, so best practice is to check their author's notes, summary, or author page to see if they say they are okay with concrit. If they do not say so, then default to assuming they don't want concrit.

If you do provide constructive criticism, make sure to include at least two compliments as well (preferably more). State the criticism politely and briefly.

Also, be aware that an author might disagree with your advice and choose not to take it. This is not a slight against you personally, and you should not treat it as such.

Do not offer criticism that is not meant to be constructive or help the author grow in their writing skills.

Do not offer "constructive criticism" about you disliking things the author has clearly tagged or noted in the summary. That is not constructive criticism, that is just flaming. (See "DL:DR" above.)

And finally: Never Ascribe to Maliciousness What Can Be Attributed To Ignorance. — If someone is rude to you, remember that they might be new to the space and not be aware of the rules of etiquette. Politely inform them that they've screwed up, and assume that everyone is well-intentioned until they prove otherwise.

And there you have it! By following the above advice, you can help to build up a thriving fan culture of happy writers and happy readers. Remember, we're all here to enjoy our favorite works together and create fan content for them, so let's all work together to create a pleasant digital space for one another. :)

[skittidyne]

how do u feel abt top/bottom dynamics? i feel like so many hq stans r heteronormative abt them and it grates me sooo bad. idt there's anything wrong w having a preference but the amount of times ive seen "a cant ever top b" and other shit along those lines is driving me up the wall dkxksks Also the characters typically seen as the "uke" are usually so feminized too it's 😔 (sry this is more of a rant if anything im just frustrated)

hahahaha. ha. ha.

taking it up the ass is not a personality trait. dominance in the bedroom is also, shockingly i know, not tied to public personas. a loud personality does not mean dominance; a quiet personality does not mean submission. size means jackall.��

people can have preferences. people can have preferences themselves, and in shipping, and in how they see dynamics. fandom hivemind “preferences” are terrible and transparent and horrifically reductive to the characters. 

feminization is also a rampant problem in a lot of fandoms, but hq fandom has it particularly nasty, especially with the double whammy of that plus its strict top/bottom insistence. there’s a reason (okay, many) so many people complain about the shipping tags, across multiple sites. it’s rampant and ugly and stubborn. 

and you know what’s really insidious? i see a lot of people complaining about it, but not very many people stepping up to try to actively fix it. 

whether this means creating content contrary to these issues, or speaking with people who perpetuate it, or ignoring the drama that revolves around it - not inciting further - there are a lot of ways to help reduce this kind of bullshit in the fandom. but it means people have to actually do something. 

do not spread hate, do not attack content creators, and do not start drama. but you can make your own Good Shit(tm), no matter the form it takes. 

[alienheartattack]

I understand that feel. The last time I brought up my frustration with writing and fandom recognition, I got lectured that I should write for myself (which I already do) and shouldn't care about whether or not I get a response when posting. I hope you don't get the same because it sucked!

ETA: I want to preface this that I’m not trying to call out anyone, this is me expressing my anxieties and insecurities about writing. The last thing I want to do is make readers feel like they’re not doing enough because no one is obligated to react to fanwork, and I know a lot of you struggle with mental health, just as I do. I’m just having a bad brain day today and needed to vent. (Classic anxiety move to barf out an anxiety post and then get anxious about inadvertently hurting someone’s feelings with my anxiety barf. Having a brain is stupid.)

Thanks for reaching out. It’s good to know that other people feel the same way. Writing is such a difficult process and I think people’s first instinct is to keep all those anxious and uncomfortable feelings inside, but that just leads to more anxiety and more negative feelings around writing. One of the reasons I stopped writing fanfiction in the first place is because I started feeling like no one really gave a shit if I was putting out work or not, and when I got comments they’d be weirdly demanding about continuing stories that were marked complete. (Those were mostly from FFnet.) It felt like people wanted to engage with other people’s work with gush posts and metas and fanart, but not mine. Eventually I got in my head about it and stopped wanting to write because whatever I was doing, it clearly wasn’t enough to make people care.

Whoever lectured you is a jerk. Writing is so intensely personal but it’s also a communal act, a sharing of ideas. If we didn’t want people to engage, we wouldn’t post. (Almost all of my fanfiction pre-2014 exists only on my computer, because I really was only writing for myself.) It hurts to pour so much time and effort and energy into something with little or no result. No one wants to feel like they’re shouting into a void. I struggle with being a fanfiction writer generally because fics are always going to be less popular than fanart and other visual fan media because the latter are easier and faster to consume, so we’re already working at a disadvantage compared to fanartists and graphic makers. It’s human to seek out responses. It’s human to want someone to read your work and like it. It’s human to be upset when that doesn’t happen.

Ironically I don’t get a ton of engagement on here, at least in terms of messages. I got a few messages welcoming me back to Tumblr and that was really great. When I announce that I’m taking prompts then I’ll get a few, but other than that my inbox is quiet. I can’t even remember the last time I had an anti or some other troll try to bother me. Once in a while I get someone reaching out to say that they like my work and read my stories over and over, and that just makes my entire week. Sometimes, if I’m feeling particularly discouraged about my writing, I’ll go back and reread comments on my fics for a little boost. (Watching the ship have a horny meltdown in real time when I first posted Another Taste of Pomegranate was legitimately one of the high points of my life.)

I’m also not the best with commenting and such on fics myself, so I feel like a hypocrite when I’m like “waaaaahhhh please pay attention to my woooork” but I’m trying to be more active in that regard. And I feel like it’s unfair of me to expect anything from anyone, especially during covid times when everyone is already stretched so thin. It’s just really hard to pour your heart and soul into your writing and not get feedback, whether you’re in the process of writing and you want reassurance from a beta reader or you’re putting out stories and no one seems to notice. The process of writing is terribly lonely because it’s just you and your thoughts and your words. It’s natural to want a connection past that.

tl;dr, Writing is really difficult and emotional and so am I! If you’re a reader, please consider leaving a comment on a fic or reblogging it with a comment or tags. If there’s an author you love, tell them. Even if you’re just keysmashing or posting something like “I love this” or “fave,” it’ll make someone’s day.

[tomfleton]

Best dramione fics of the decade?

I haven’t engaged in fandom in a few years highkey but dhr fics are my in-flight entertainment so I’ve actually kept up with them through the years! just sat down and looked at all of my fic recs on here and my favorites on ff.net and it was honestly a wholesome experience (would recommend!). There were a TON of fics on my initial list but I ended up basing it off which ones I would still deadass reread now and which ones were very impactful on my shipping life over the years. This took me forever so yall better reblog thx :)

Year = year published, Bolded = ABSOLUTE fave of all of the faves

2010

An Affair to Remember by rzzmg - Hogwarts profs + angst

Utterly Despicable by camnz - dark af but Voldy Wins is my fave au, camnz has the right kinda twisted fics i love

Isolation by bex-chan - duh

Aurelian by BittyBlueEyes - dramione baby from the future :’)

The Persistence of Desire by Margot Le Faye (date unknown originally on hawthorn & vine) - another dark au voldy wins i adore this one even if it’s still a WIP forever

2011

Amazing Grace by rzzmg - dramione as hogwarts ghosts, time to cry

An Inconvenient Wedding by snegurochka - uh infidelity fics were my guilty pleasure in high school sorry

And We All Fall Down by Rumaan - gold standard 8th year fic

The Wrong Man by snegurochka - reiterate the infidelity comment above

2012

Thirty Times Lucky by galfoy - angsty AF

Summer of the Dragon by Lena Phoria - very lighthearted, lena’s world building is amazing, sequel is kind of insane

Difficult by @provocative-envy​ - “And then he smiled, and I was wrecked” is tattoed in my brain

The Bandit and the Cinder Girl by @xfsista​ - will forever bring me immense joy

The Fine Line Between Love and Hate by Short-circuit-Soulmate - it does have a bullying element :/ but the way it’s written makes my brain tingle like asmr-esque idk i will always love this one

Uncoffined by Lady of Clunn - voldy wins au = loml

2013

Renaissance by glass_skies - most beautifully written thing I’ve probably read in my whole life (fanfic or not)

Cruel and Beautiful World by Lena Phoria (not available online anymore but NEVER forget Bronson my king)

2014

Inverse by elesrea - fave hogwarts au, starts in 4th year which i love

The Ones Who Ran by @colubrina​ - voldy wins au

The Mind Trap by LainellaFay - get ready to cry

2015 - the last year i was still v active in fandom and adored @shayalonnie​ & @colubrina​‘s tumblr presence haha that’s what stands out for sure

Presque Toujours Pur by @shayalonnie​ - highkey just reread this last week, forever slaps, shayalonnie’s marauders fics are my lifeblood in general

Better Off Forgotten by Delancey654 - kinda twisted but interesting

The History Project by Colubrina - adorable 

2016 - highkey the year of @olivieblake​ for me - OBSESSED

Clean by olivieblake - this series BLEW MY MIND

Marked by olivieblake

Amortentia by olivieblake - the bachelorette AU !!!

Shipwrecked by Ariel Riddle - like a period film + blue lagoon 

A Past Erased by Ariel Riddle - obliviated hermione + redemption

The Lies That Bind Us by little miss moonlight - slytherin hermione love triangle melodrama that i loved

2017

Hot for Teacher by MotherofBulls - deadass funniest thing i’ve ever read

The Right Thing To Do by lovesbitca8 - honestly my favorite dramione relationship and characterization

All the Wrong Things

The Auction

2018

Manacled by @senlinyuwrites - I rarely followed fics when I was in college but this one was an addiction, the most well thought out fic I’ve probably ever read 

All You Want by @senlinyuwrites - only A/B/O whatever that is worth reading lol

Blindness by gracediamondsfear - we love a no hogwarts, growing up together angsty au

2019

Boardwalk by In Dreams - GOOD SHIT, falling in love surfing in California

Entanglement by blankfish - only forced marriage fic i’d ever read, lots of potential so far! 

[mearcatsreturns]

Fandom Etiquette

Since there seem to be a lot of new faces (in the ER fandom, which is what I think most of my followers are here for?), and I seem to be a fandom old (in life and on tumblr, at least), I’m going to offer some tips. I’ve been finding myself getting irritated at fandom lately, because I’ve seen a bunch of things that were long since dealt with in other fandoms.

Tumblr

Blocking is your friend if you’re regularly seeing content you don’t like (if you’re on desktop, I’m begging you to do yourself a favor and use xkit’s PostBlock, if you don’t want to block people). Getting into fights over a TV show is tempting and probably not worth it.

Tagging--your first 5 tags are searchable. Anything beyond that won’t show up, but it’s useful if you’re looking on your own blog or for blacklisting purposes. Of course, because tumblr is tumblr, sometimes words from within the text of your post can be searchable. So, say I want to write a post about how I don’t like Character X. Generally, I put it under a read more so people can slide past if they’re ignoring negativity. Then I would NOT tag it for Character X, but I recommend tagging “anticharacterx” with no spaces, because otherwise there’s the chance tumblr’s algorithms would throw it into the positive tag, and we’re not here to rain on other people’s parades. (I also recommend putting filler tags until you get past the first 5, if you don’t want to annoy people in the general fandom tags.) But yes, please do an anti tag or in some way indicate you’re about to talk shit about a character. No one wants to see their faves bashed. 

EDIT Dec 4: It’s actually the first 20 tags that are searchable now! This does make filler tags less viable as a solution, so do with that what you will. 

I’m begging you to send posts as DMs to show them to people instead of tagging people on the post, unless you’re engaging in a public conversation.

If you like a gifset or fic, please reblog it! That’s how it circulates on here. Bonus points if you talk in the tags about your reactions/what you enjoyed.

Ao3 

Please don’t repeatedly ask authors when they’re updating. They (me) are fragile and busy and probably feel bad that they’re not updating more, but lots of authors (me) have other real-life stuff going on that’s going to take precedence. 

Offer constructive criticism only if an author specifically asks for it. I know things have gone differently on other platforms, but for the most part, if people are looking for beta-ing, they’ve had it done for them already. 

That said, I have a caveat. If you, an author, are writing a fic where you tank a ship or break them up in service of another ship, do NOT tag that in the relationships tag. It will piss people off, and they won’t read anything of yours again. Especially in a small fandom, seeing a new fic pop up in your ship’s tag is exciting, and it’s obnoxious at best to read it and find that they’re trashing your ship. If you do this and people ask you to remove the tag, please be polite and do so. If you’re wanting to let people know that a ship is there at the beginning, you can make it clear in the additional tags. 

Give kudos, and if you’re feeling up to it, drop comments on fics you read!

Discord

I don’t go here, so if there’s an etiquette for it, reblog with it!

[harringroveheart]

Thank u so much for answering my question. I only wanted to know bc I’m also a writer and I have a loooong fic I’ve been trying to get myself to finish forever & I really look up to you as a writer & was hoping to know so I could try to put aside the same amount of time for myself to write lol. I find keeping motivated difficult but Im not as busy as you (Im even more amazed by you now) Sorry for the weird asks lol you don’t have to answer this

Sorry for the late reply! I was figuring out how to answer this because my advice is useless and an answer assumes that I know how to, uh, write? Like, as a discipline? And...I don't.

Here's what works for me though:

1) External validation -_-

2) Pretend it's your job. When #1 has dried up, the only way I can trick myself into putting time aside to write is by role-playing an aspiring author who is "honing their craft". This usually gets me out of my self-defeating funk of not wanting to write because I think the chapter is going to fall flat or that nobody is even still reading.

3) Blocking out a whole day to write and starting early. I need a lot of momentum to churn out the words and my brain starts getting shit at about 3pm so if I start later in the day I start to get antsy that I'm not being productive enough before the cut off point.

4) Input. Read something you like to get fresh inspiration. My happy place is YA or fantasy with amazing plots and/or characters and totally average writing because I can still enjoy the read but it also pings that little "Oh hey, I could do that" bulb in my ego. I tend not to read fanfic within harringrove while I'm writing because it MAKES ME JEALOUS? Idk how to fix this about myself but I'm working on it. I still read my fave WIPs though because they're in a league of their own <3

Things I would do if I was a savant or a robot person, or if I had no other commitments:

1) Write a full draft (or close to it) before starting to post.

Pros: A lot of readers won't touch a WIP or an incomplete work, or a work they even remotely suspect might get abandoned. (Can't relate. I regularly re-read abandoned WIPs that I prefer over completed works. And I have strong opinions about supporting fanfiction writers while they are trying to write, but whatever.)

Cons: You don't get any feedback and you have to work in the long dark lonely void with only your own faith in your writing to get you through. Without any deadlines or time pressure, you might not be motivated to write as much or as frequently as you should.

2) Update in 3k chunks. This seems to be the sweet spot for updating chaptered fics and getting the best return on investment re kudos and comments.

3) Update regularly. See #2. Two weeks looks to be a pretty good schedule for maintaining momentum and interest and not bleeding bookmarks.

4) Engage with fandom so that people actually go and read your fic and convince other people to read it too. I am incapable of doing this because I'm super duper unfriendly and also I have anxiety so tbh even these anons make me sweat. BUT I think it's probably very fulfilling, especially if you value reblogs/likes.

Good luck with your fic!!! You can absolutely DM me anytime--I'm happy to cheerlead for you :D

And thanks for reading! <3

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Banner: Stab Me In The Front

Part 1: America’s Asshole 

Intro: It’s been a year since Katie was held hostage by Hydra, and whilst she’s still working through her feelings she has an idea about how she can make other people’s lives better as a result of her ordeal. Alongside this, she needs to take a trip to Boston to meet Harlan Thrombey-SIP’s latest author. Slightly nervous about taking a business trip alone after what happened last time, Steve offers to go with her.

What could possibly go wrong?

Warnings: Bad language. SMUT (NSWFW)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Square Filled : “Mistaken Identity” @avengersbingo​ A/N: So, here we go. An Avengers/Knives Out Cross Over where Katie and Steve come face to face with America’s Asshole! The tongues are sharp and the knives are out! This is set in 2015 so way before the KO storyline so therefore contains no spoilers! You don’t need to have read SSM to understand or enjoy but please do so if you wish. 

Main Masterlist 

**Shout out to @icanfeelastormbrewing​ for being my Insult Partner when I was writing this!!**

PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG and COMMENT, This is probably my fave part of this fic I’ve written to date!! 

 October 2015

 “So, Mr Thrombey, that’s all confirmed.” Katie said, tapping at a key on her computer to lock the meeting in her calendar “11 am, Next Thursday, the 15th ”

“I’ll send you through the zip code and location for your GPS.” Harlan responded “The house is just outside of Lincoln, not far from Pierce Park. It shouldn’t be too far for you if you’re staying at the Harbor.”

“Thank you.” Katie smiled as she spoke into her phone, “I look forward to meeting you on Thursday Sir.”

“Oh, less of the Sir, Harlan please. And the pleasure is all mine Miss Stark…I mean, Mrs Rogers, my apologies!” The man chuckled “And thank you for accommodating my need to pull this meeting forward by a few days.”

“It’s not a problem.” she assured him. They exchanged pleasantries again and then she cut the call and leaned back in her chair, cracking her neck, before she double checked the travel arrangements. The hotel was booked, flight was sorted, hire care was confirmed. All that she needed to do was not forget the annotated manuscript or the cover ideas.

The door to her office opened and she looked up to see Tony leaning in the doorway, waving a Starbucks cup at her one of their familiar brown paper bags, clearly bearing treats.

“I love you bro…” she smiled at him as he wandered in, chuckling, placing the drink and paper bag down in front of her. She looked into the bag and gave a moan when she saw it was a rather large, gooey looking brownie, and gave a bigger moan when she sipped her drink and found it to be a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. “Perfect Elevenses!”

“Well thought you might need one, you’ve been locked in here since 7 this morning…”

“You got FRIDAY spying on me?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“No.” he said at the same time the AI affirmed her suspicions.

“He has indeed had me watch you, Mrs Rogers.” “Traitor.” Tony rolled his eyes and Katie chuckled

“Well I had all this Harlan Thrombey stuff to sort, Steve’s still in Copenhagen with Sam chasing the alleged latest sighing of Bucky.” she shrugged “Not much point in lying in when you’re wide awake is there?”

“True.” Tony nodded. “Are you going back to the Compound tonight?”

“I dunno.” she shrugged “I might just stay here again if that’s ok?”

“Kiddo, you own part of this Tower, it’s always gonna be your home too.” Tony shrugged, “You can stay as long as you want.”

“Thanks Tone.” she smiled. She didn’t want to admit it, but she felt safer in the Tower whilst Steve was away, even thought it was ridiculous as the Compound was just as secure, being closer to her brother was a comfort.

“I haven’t forgotten what tomorrow is.” Tony said gently, looking at her.

“Funnily enough me neither.” she sighed “I should be celebrating, a year to the day Bucky broke me out of that fucking shit hole in Canada.” she pulled off her glasses, another remnant of her time with HYDRA. Since she’d been kept for 6 weeks in that horrific cell she’d needed glasses for anything that required a long period of concentration on a computer screen or monitor if she wanted to avoid migraines. Bruce seemed to think it was something to do with the fact that her cell had been painfully bright all the time and that continued exposure to artificial light in such a way triggered a subconscious response. 

She swallowed “I’ve been trying not to think about it.” she said gently.

“Which is why I booked you and Pepper into the Dominick for the afternoon.” he smiled at her “Well, Pepper has, I’ve just given her the credit card…full deep tissue massage, facial and then Franco’s booked to do your hair…and don’t bother telling me you’re busy as I had your diary cleared and everything reschedule to next week” he watched as she opened her mouth before shutting it,, shaking her head softly. “You leave in 30 minutes.”

“You spoil me.” she smiled softly. 

“Anything for my girls, plus I thought it might keep you busy whilst Spangles is otherwise engaged.”

“He was hoping to be back but when I spoke to him before he doesn’t know if he’s gonna be.” she shrugged “it is what it is.” Tony smiled at her before he stood up “Yes, it is. And this afternoon is your pamper time so get your shit together and meet Pepper downstairs.”

“Yes sir.” she said, saluting him with a grin.  

As with anything Pepper or Tony booked, the spa was off the scale. Katie had been meaning to go for ages, and now, as she sat in the chair in Franco’s salon she was already searching available dates to go back with Natasha and Wanda. She laughed and joked with the stylist and Pepper, the pair of them enjoying yet another bottle of champagne as they had their hair done. A couple of hours later, at just gone 7pm, Pepper dragged her out over the road and into a ridiculously expensive wine bar.

“Feeling better?” Pepper asked as Katie took a huge gulp of her Sancerre.

Katie smiled “Much, thank you.” “You know, I’m always here if you want to talk to someone other than Steve about stuff.” Pepper looked at her “And it won’t go any further.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t wanna talk about it…” Katie sighed “You know, Pep, I see all these women out there, read their testimonies and things and I just wonder how they’re so strong, like, how can they can just stand up and talk about what happened to them?” she trailed off, shaking her head “And me? I just wanna pretend it never happened. So much for being an Avenger huh?”

“Hey…” Pepper shook her head, looking at her sternly. “Stop that, right now.” “Well it’s true.” Katie shrugged “I mean, I’m a public figure right? But all people know is I was missing for 6 weeks, but it was put down to a mission gone awry. I just..well, I feel like I should be out there, trying to make a difference, helping people.”

“Kiddo, what you went through…” Pepper swallowed “I can’t even begin to imagine. And how you’ve dealt with and processed it, well, frankly I don’t know how you’ve been so strong. There is no shame in wanting to simply move on and leave it in the past.”

“I know.” Katie said softly “Thank you. Having everyone around me makes me realise how lucky I actually am. I’ve got a huge support network. Not everyone who goes through...” she swallowed, not quite able to say it “not everyone has that to fall back on.” Pepper pondered something before she looked at Katie, “You know, we haven’t picked our Partner Charity for the Stark Relief Fund next year…we could make it one that deals with Sexual violence. No need to go into details as to why.” Katie considered that for a moment, before she nodded “That’s not a bad idea.” she clicked her nails against her wine glass, thoughtfully “It would make a difference, right?”

Pepper nodded. “Absolutely. Give it some thought, see how you feel.” “I will, thanks.” she smiled. 

****

Steve was exhausted but wasn’t willing to spend another moment away from his wife. So the moment the jet was down he headed straight for the garage, jumped on his bike and roared out of the compound heading down town towards Manhattan.

“Good Evening Captain Rogers…” FRIDAY greeted him as he pressed his palm to the access pad at the rear entrance from the underground car park “Mrs Rogers is in your apartment.”

“Thanks FRIDAY.” he said, as the elevator began to rise. It stopped a few floors up, and when the doors flew open he was greeted by Tony who was undoing his tie.

“Oh, you’re back.” he said, looking at Steve appraisingly.

“You’re up late.” Steve looked at him.

“Just working on a few things.” Tony said vaguely. “How was the search for Tin Man?” “Well, it was him alright.” Steve said, running a hand down his tired face “Few more leads to work on. We could have stayed out there for a bit longer truth be told but, well, I wanted to be here tomorrow, you know.” Steve said, shrugging.

The two men shared a moment of understanding, both of them having experienced unsurmountable raw pain and anguish over the 6 weeks Katie had been missing and it wasn’t something they were likely to forget any time soon. If ever.

“She know you’re home?” Tony looked at him again. Steve shook his head.

“Wanted to surprise her.”

Tony smiled softly, “She’s probably asleep.  Her and Pep have been in the Spa all afternoon and they’ve drunk a lot so…”

Steve gave a huff of a laugh “Yeah she messaged me before saying you’d sent her there out for the afternoon. That was really thoughtful of you Tony.” “Well it happens occasionally.” Tony said as the elevator stopped at his floor. “Listen, Steve…”

Steve turned to face him.

“She’s not been herself the last few weeks.” Tony scratched at his beard and Steve took a deep breath.

“I know.” he said gently “I think she’s just, well, processing, if that’s the right word. We only got back from our honeymoon 3 weeks and it kinda hit her when we got back just what time of year it was. Whilst we were away she didn’t have time to think about it.”

“Just…well, take care of her for me ok?” Tony said, looking at the Soldier.

Steve nodded “Always Tony, you had my word on that when I told you I wanted to marry her, and I meant it.”

Tony nodded and clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a look of thanks before he left the elevator on the Part Floor level. It began to rise again and Steve let out a soft sigh. Tony was right, the last 2 weeks in particular Katie had been a little quiet, less vivacious, almost withdrawn even. At first he had put it down to post honeymoon blues but Natasha had pointed out that this time 12 months ago she had been at the mercy of Hydra, with those bastards brutalising her in ways that he couldn’t even bring himself to think about. For this reason, he’d been reticent to go on the latest mission but Katie had insisted, pointing out that they couldn’t not carry on with their lives and that she would be alright.

The fact she had basically moved back into the Tower for the 3 days he had been gone, however, made him think that she wasn’t quite as alright as she had told him.

The doors opened on their floor and he stepped out. It was mostly dark as he headed through to the bedroom where he found that the TV was playing on the wall, but Katie was fast asleep, one of the pillows clutched to her chest as a makeshift cuddle partner. With a soft smile he closed the door and headed over to the bed. Kicking off his boots he lay on his side, facing her, and brushed her soft hair back off her face before pressing a kiss to the bridge then tip of her nose and finally her lips.

She stirred, her face scrunching up in that adorable way it always did, before she blinked her eyes open. It took her a second to focus but when she did her lips curled upwards into a soft smile which became an ear to ear grin.

“Hey sweetheart.” he said softly, kissing her again, his hand cupping her face.

“You’re home.” she said, reaching up to lay her hand over his. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”

“Wanted to surprise you.” he smiled.

“Well it worked.”

“I missed you.” he said softly, his thumb caressing her cheekbone.

“Missed you more.” she shot back and he chuckled.

“Doubt it. How was the Spa?”

“Oh it was amazing.” she gushed, her eyes shining “I had this deep tissue massage and the guy hit spots on my back I didn’t even know I had. The facial was great, and my hair…”

“I like the colour.” he said smiling, gently moving his hand so he twirled a piece around his finger. The ends were slightly lighter than usual, almost a dark honey blonde, and it extended a little up the strands before evening out.

“It’s called ballayage.” she smiled at him. “I just fancied a bit of a change.”

“Looks good on you.” he smiled “I’m glad you had a nice time, you deserve it.”

“How was the mission?” she asked “Worth it?”

“Yes and no.” he shrugged “We have a few more leads we can chase up but…” he took a deep breath “I’m beginning to wonder what the point is. He clearly doesn’t wanna be found.”

“The point is he’s your friend, your brother.” Katie smiled, moving her hand to run her fingers over his jawline, the pads scratchings lightly against his 5-oclock shadow. “Maybe he just needs a bit of time to find himself first, that doesn’t mean you have to give up on him. Besides, I need to give him back his jacket.”

“And I need to thank him.” Steve said, “For getting my beautiful girl out and safe.”

“I can’t believe it’s been a year tomorrow since he found me.” she said softly

“Is that what’s been bothering you?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“The last few weeks you’ve not been yourself.”

She licked her lips and nodded “Yeah, I just…well, I didn’t give it much thought when we were on our honeymoon, you know, but since coming back and ramping up the Thrombey Campaign it’s kinda hit home a little.” And suddenly Steve understood. SIP were publishing the man’s latest book, “The Colour of Revenge” which was all about a Detective on the trail of a killer who was hunting down and dispatching of 6 men who had been acquitted of a gang rape and murder.

“Shit…” he let out a groan “Honey I…I’m so stupid not to realise that…” “Hey.”she frowned, “Don’t…” She reached up and smoothed the lines that had appeared on his brow and he let out a sigh, gently reaching up to lace his fingers with hers, bringing her hand towards him and placing a soft kiss on her wrist.

“It’s better now you’re home.” she said gently. He smiled and gave her a gentle kiss again.

“Is that everything?” he pressed and she hesitated again.

“I’m scared.” she said eventually, looking at him.

“Scared of what?”

“Going away, on my own.” she sighed, tears brimming in her eyes “I hate that they made me like this Steve.”

He let out a sigh, he hated that she was scared too. She didn’t deserve it. 

“Why don’t I come with you?” he asked, the idea suddenly forming in his mind.  She stilled for a moment and he continued “Not to the actual meeting, but I can drop you off and pick you up, hang around, whatever you want me to do.”

She looked up at him smiling softly, not even trying to pretend she wasn’t relieved he had offered. “Would you?”

“Of course.” he nodded, wiping the tears off her face. “You only had to ask.” “I didn’t want to.” she admitted “I know how busy you are here and…” “That can wait.” he said, holding her face in his hands as he drove his message home “you’re the most important thing in my life and if me coming with you makes you feel better then…” he shrugged “Besides, I’ve always wanted to go to Boston.”

“We can make a little trip out of it if you like?” she said, somewhat hopefully “Come back on the Saturday?”

“Sure.” he smiled at her. “Let’s do it.”

“Oh Stevie you’re gonna love it.” she beamed, and he smiled at the way her face had gone from being furrowed with worry to alive with excitement. “Massachusetts is amazing in the fall and Boston is just stunning…” “Well I’ll make sure I bring my sketch book.” he smiled “Give me something to do whilst you’re in the meeting.” “Thank you.” she said softly. “I’ll book us somewhere nice to eat one night. Give us an excuse to wear something pretty.”

“Like you need an excuse.” he teased, and she nipped him harshly on the arm. He chuckled and then with a groan he unwillingly pushed himself up off the bed.

“I need a shower.” he said, almost apologetically. “I won’t be long.”

“You better not be.” she muttered and he smiled, dropping a kiss to her forehead before he headed into the bathroom.

True to his word, he wasn’t long. 5 minutes, tops. But by the time he came back, the TV was off and Katie was fast asleep. Thinking back to what Tony had said, he found himself wondering if she had actually slept much at all whilst he was gone.

Steve dried himself off, stepped into a clean pair of boxers and then slid into the bed next to his wife, slipping his arms around her. Once her back was nestled snugly into his chest, he dropped a soft kiss to her neck and closed his eyes, happy to have her in his arms.

****

Steve woke the next morning to find his girl tangled around him. She’d shifted in the night, clearly, and now her face was pressed into his chest, right leg snaked between both of his, her right hand was slid under his arm, lightly gripping his shoulder whilst her left rested against her head, fingers in her hair. Smiling to himself he pulled her closer, relishing the feel of her against him. She murmured something incoherently as she gently moved, her cheek pressing into the hair on his chest, the hand around his shoulder slid down to the base of his back where her fingers simply rested, soft against his spine as she continued to sleep. 

And Steve was quite happy to let her nap for longer, using him as her own personal cuddly toy.

He dozed in and out of consciousness again, drifting off for another 10 minutes or so, before he felt Katie stirring in his arms, and a soft kiss gently being pressed to his jaw line. He smiled at the contact and tightened his hold on her again, his eyes still closed.

“Morning beautiful.” he said softly, his voice still thick with sleep.

“Morning soldier.” she said, her cheek returning to his chest as she basked in the safety and warmth of his hold as his hand crept up the back of the stolen shirt she was wearing, his rough fingers ever so gentle against her skin as he trailed the pads up and down her spine.

“Sleep ok?” he asked, his eyes still not opening.

“Yeah.” she assured him, truthfully. It had been the best night sleep she’d had in days.

“Good. What do you fancy doing today?”

He felt her still and then she pulled back slightly, and at that he opened his eyes and blinked to see those gorgeous emeralds locked onto him.

“Are you not needed at the Compound?”

He shook his head “Kitten, I’ve not seen you for almost 3 days so I figured we deserved one together.”

She groaned “I have meetings this morning.” “That’s ok, I’ll meet you at lunch.” he said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She didn’t argue. She knew full well why he’d taken the time out, and frankly she adored him for it. Without saying a word she leaned up and captured his lips in a gentle kiss that quickly became heated…but was shattered by the piercing noise of Katie’s alarm.

She gave a groan, and made to move.

“Don’t you dare…” Steve mumbled against her mouth, his grip on her tightening.

“Stevie…” she sighed “I gotta…”

He reached over, his large body flattening her into the mattress making her giggle as he swiped across the screen of her StarkPhone silencing it.

“You ain’t gotta do shit…” he said, hovering over her on his elbows. “Except me.” he added as an afterthought.

“Oh so you’re gonna to explain to the board why I’m late?” she looked at him.

“To be honest...” he said, dipping his head to trail hot kisses up the side of the next “...they probably won’t even notice you’re not there. I mean, are you really that important?”

“Fuck you.” she giggled back.

“Believe me, I’m tryin’” he quipped, his mouth nipping at her ear lobe. That made her giggle even more and she felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin.

“I love it when you do that.” he said gently, using his leg to part hers, leaving a large thigh pressed against her mound.

“What?”

“Laugh.” he said, his mouth moving up her jaw line “Makes me happy.”

“You’re such a sentimental sap.” she mumbled, as his lips claimed hers again, the heat between her legs intensifying as the kiss grew deeper, tongues lashing against one another. Steve pulled back for long enough to pull his shirt over her head before his lips returned to hers and Katie’s hand slid into his hair, one hand gently winding into the longer locks on top, her nails on the other dragging against the hairline on his neck. His hands moved, one gently cupping the side of her face, the other, gently skimming over her breast, her nipples already hardened. He gently teased one with the pad of his thumb and his mouth moved down to the other, his tongue and lips working in tandem. She gave a little involuntary twitch against his thigh and once more his lips quirked up into a smirk.

“You want something baby girl?” he asked, peeking up at her and she nodded.

“Stevie, don’t make me beg, please.”

And when she asked so nicely like that, how could he ever refuse? He hooked his fingers into the sleep shorts she was wearing and worked them down, before flipping down the waist band of his boxers. Katie bent her legs, as he shuffled upwards and worked into her, the pair of them letting out a groan each at the contact. Steve’s hands fell to either side of Katie’s face as he held himself up on his forearms, kissing her deeply as he flexed his hips forward, again and again, picking up a gentle rhythm.

It was soft, it was gentle, it was loving, everything she knew her soldier to be and it wasn’t long before he had her writhing and groaning loudly, his lips assaulting that spot on her neck.

“So good…” he groaned, his thrusts getting deeper. “Feel so good kitten…”

“Keep talking.” she keened, arching into him as her hands raked down his back.

“You were made for me, God I love you Mrs Rogers. So fucking much…” he said, his words punctuated by his heavy breaths as she gave a soft cry, her head falling backwards, eyes fluttering shut as she tightened around him, her legs shuddering slightly as she came.

“Atta girl.” he said, his hips becoming faster as he thrust through her orgasm, chasing his own. It wasn’t long before he felt the ribbons in his belly unravel and he came with a cry of his own, his head buried in her neck, hips slowing, thrusts going deeper before he eventually stilled, a loud contented sigh escaping his mouth.

After a few moments of them simply basking in the afterglow, Katie’s hands trailing through Steve’s ruffled hair as his nose slid against hers, she gave a sigh and pushed on his shoulders gently.

“Baby I really do need to get up.”

He pouted a little causing her to chuckle before he rolled off her and she pushed herself out of bed, heading for the en-suite. Steve watched her go before he swung his legs from under the covers,, found his boxers, pulled them on and headed down to the kitchen to make them both some coffee. *****

The idea had sprung to Katie as she’d headed out for lunch. The local shop was donating a percentage of its earnings that month to a homeless charity, and it set her mind whirring.

“So you want to donate, all the profit we make, from what is going to likely be the biggest book SIP will ever publish, to charity?” Tony looked at her.

“In a nutshell, yeah.” she said, nodding “We can split it across various charities, all those that help victims of sexual assault, abuse or crime…”

“Isn’t that what the Stark Relief Fund is for?” Saul, the SI Finance Director looked at her, and she nodded.

“Yes, but it isn’t just about the money…it’s about raising awareness.” she pressed “A lot of people don’t know those charities existed. Hell, I didn’t know about half of them until a year ago. If we do this, think of the publicity and the press and…”

She trailed off, looking at Tony. He could see the excitement shining in her eyes. She had a point, and it wasn’t like SI needed the money. SIP was her company after all, and if she wanted to use it to do something good, help people, maybe even help herself…then that was fine by him.

He shrugged and looked round the table “SIP’s vision was never about making money.” he said, and Katie beamed at her brother as she realised he was backing her “It was always about helping those who needed a hand to get their work out there…I don’t see why in this case, where they author is already so well-known we can’t use that to help those who need it.”

There was a pause and she looked expectantly round the table. One by one the board members seemed to concede, all of them that is bar their Legal Manager, Dan Robertson who was frowning.

“You’re going to have to bring Mr Thrombey on board Mrs Rogers.” he said, looking at her. “We can’t just use his book as part of a campaign without his permission.” “I know.” she said, nodding. “I’ve already realised that. I’m meeting him on Thursday next week, I’ll have a full proposal and pitch ready.”

There were a few murmurs around the table before Tony spoke “Is that it? Are we settled?”

Everyone looked at one another, nodding, and Katie leaned back in her chair, smiling.

But, she wasn’t smiling now. She had less than 24 hours before they set off for Boston and her pitch was only half way through completion.

“Sweetheart.” Steve’s hands slid over her shoulders where she sat on the chair in her office. She looked effortlessly elegant, even in sweats and an off the shoulder sweater, one toned leg stretched out in front of her, the other bent at the knee so her foot was resting on the seat of the chair, her left hand was curled around her shin, her right was tapping at her keyboard. “It’s late.”

“I know but…” She sighed, “This means a lot to me Steve…I need it to be right.”

Steve knew better than to argue. Instead he leaned over and kissed the side of her neck. “What are you stuck with?”

“I dunno it just…it all seems so impersonal.” she removed her glasses and wrinkled her nose as he sat down in the arm chair in the corner of the room “Facts and figures on sexual assaults and stuff…we all know it happens, it’s about making people want to do something about it.”

“Are you ready to make it personal?” he asked gently, taking a deep breath. He hated thinking about what she had gone through, he truly did, and if he had half a chance he’d rip the bastards limb from limb. But if she was ready to confront what had happened to her, he had to be there to support and back her all of the way, regardless of his own feelings.

“I don’t know.” she said softly “I was talking to Pepper about this the other day. I should be able to, I should be someone other women can look up to, being an Avenger and all but…maybe I’m just not strong enough.” “You’re the strongest person I know.” he leaned forward and locked eyes with her.

“I don’t feel like it when it comes to this.” she sighed.

“Honey…” he scratched at his head “Without wanting to sound flippant, since January this year, you’ve been, ok…well maybe ok isn’t the word but you’ve gotten on with things. You’ve moved forward, we both did.”

“Because we were busy, and we had no choice…”

“Well maybe…” he shrugged “But chasing down a sceptre, fighting Ultron, mobilising a new base, planning a wedding, running a business…it’s all time consuming, stressful stuff that if you really weren’t strong enough to deal with what happened, then it would have all gone to shit and probably tipped you over the edge into a nervous breakdown.”

She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear as she considered what he was saying.

“Honestly…” he continued, his eyes boring into hers. “If you want my opinion I think the fact that it’s the year’s anniversary of what happened that’s playing on your mind a little. You need to stop, look back and how well you’ve done and stop beating yourself up about all the things you haven’t”

She smiled softly and looked down at her hands before she glanced back up at him “When did you get so wise?” He chuckled “Well I am 97 years old.”

She laughed “You don’t look a day over 28.”

He smiled and stood up “I’m gonna make you a hot chocolate, and you’re gonna stop overthinking that and come relax, we’re up early tomorrow. You can do the rest at the hotel tomorrow evening.” “No can do, we’re going out.” she grinned at him “I booked the Chef’s table at Menton…”

“The what?” Steve frowned.

“You never heard of a Chef’s table?” she looked at him, and he shook his head “oh my God I’ve let you down…so badly. Check this out.” she tapped on her computer, bringing up the website and showed him the photos “It’s a private table with a glass wall that gives you a direct view into the kitchen. Totally impossible to get a reservation unless you book like a year in advance…or name drop.”

Steve groaned “You seriously dropped the Captain America wants a table line?”

“Yup” she popped the p as she smirked, closing down the browser page.

“Pain in my ass.” he grumbled, standing up. But as he left the office there was a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

One that his wife had seen.

*****

“So, was it worth a name drop?” Katie asked as they walked back into the Fireside Lounge located in their hotel.

“I’m happy to overlook the fact you acted like a total brat to make that reservation, yes.” he grinned as he went to remove her coat from her shoulders. He looked her up and down, the jump suit she was in was driving him crazy.

She grinned, and shivered slightly.

“Cold?” he asked, frowning.

“A little, don’t wanna sit in my coat though.”

“Do you want me to nip up to the room, grab your cardigan?”

“Would you?” she asked, even though she knew perfectly well he would.

“Course.” he said, dropping a kiss to her cheek “You get the drinks in, be right back.”

She headed over to the bar. The bartender, Will, was the same one who had been on before so he greeted her with a smile.

“Mrs Rogers. How was your meal?”

“Fantastic thank you.” she grinned “Can I get 2 Bourbon’s please? I’ll leave it to your choice, I’ll be back in a second, just need to nip to the bathroom.”

She excused herself and once she’d finally had the pee she’d been dying for since they left the restaurant, she set about touching up her make-up, smiling to herself. She’d deliberately picked this jumpsuit as she knew it got Steve’s blood pumping. It was a simple, plain black one with a V-neck line, but it was tight. Teamed with a thin red leather belt, red leather Jimmy-Choos and a matching bag all set off by the bright red lipstick she was sporting, she knew she looked good. Not that Steve had much room to talk, she could happily perve on him in the dark grey suit he was wearing, teamed with a black dress shirt, his collar left open…he looked good enough to eat, which she was planning on doing later.

She headed back into the bar and spotted Steve perched on one of the stools.

“Hey handsome” she said, slipping her arms round him from the back. But the moment she did that she realised something was off. He felt different, he was softer than Steve was. He smelt different, there was a really heavy woody scent to his aftershave whereas Steve’s preferred Hugo Boss or Gucci, depending on his mood, were both a lot lighter. And when the man spun to face her, although the likeness was indeed uncanny at first glance, his eyes were cold and calculating, his jaw line wasn’t quite as sharp as Steve’s and the smirk he wore on his face was nothing like the cheeky one Steve would sport. It was almost a sneer which spread across his face, every feature laced with disdain.

“What the fuck?” the man glared at her as Katie stepped back, holding her hands up in apology.

“I’m sorry, genuine case of mistaken identity…” she said, taking him in. His shirt was the wrong colour too, only she hadn’t been able to see that from the back.

“Yeah well if you’re touting for business I already got some today so get lost…” the man drawled in his light, Boston accent. “Like I just said I thought you were…hang on…” She frowned as his words registered “You already got some?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” he said, looking her up and down.

“You think I’m a hooker?” Katie snorted.

“Pretty high end one though, I’ll give you that.” the man said, nodding at her.

“I’m not a hooker.” she shook her head, laughing in disbelief.

“Oh, sorry. Do you prefer the term escort?” he raised an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, flashing her left hand at him. “I’m married, this was a genuine mistake….” she said, her temper rising slightly. She moved away from him to the side, nodding at Will who slid the check over for her to sign to charge the drinks to their room.

Ransom observed her for a moment, fighting the smirk that was threatening to break across his face. After another row with his stupid Libtard cousin and his mother who had been at his Grandfather’s house before, he’d come out with the sole intention of getting laid and then so drunk he could hardly remember his name. After a visit to one of his usual fuck buddies he’d achieved the first part, now he was concentrating on the second. He’d been initially irritated by this woman’s interruption, but now she was getting sassy back, and he wasn’t about to let it drop. He could tell she had money, that much was clear to see. The way she talked, held herself, was dressed. Whilst she wasn’t a hooker as he had originally thought (although to be fair to her, she was pretty hot, he’d consider fucking her if the opportunity arose) she was probably living off some 70 odd year old rich banker husband. A trophy wife. Huh, maybe she wanted a fuck after all…hell, he might not have to pay for it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.

“And does your husband know you’re here trying to tap me up?” he looked at her.

“You know, if I was trying to errr…tap you up, you wouldn’t be able to afford me” she shot back, signing her name on the cheque with a flourish.

“Try me.” Ransom shot back, making a show of looking her up and down. “How much for that ass?” “I’ll kick yours for free you self entitled dick.” she said, sliding the signed paper and pen back to the bartender.

Ransom gave a bark of a laugh “I’ll pass thanks.”

Katie snorted and glanced sideways at look at him, scarlet red lips pursed as she eyed him over her glass of bourbon. “Good decision, because I’ve dropped bigger men than you for fun.” “Sure you have Dollface” Ransom quirked an eyebrow, elbow leaning on the bar, angling his body towards her. She kept hers facing forwards, arms resting on the bar top, her head shaking slightly.

“You have no fucking idea who I am do you?” Katie shook her head, not looking at the prick stood next to her.  She hated using that line, but, well, when the occasion arose to get one over on a weasely little shit like this, she wasn’t going to pass it up.

“Why should I?” he snorted “I don’t know all the little bitches in Boston.”

She felt her mouth drop open and she was about to retaliate when Steve gently appeared by her side, dropping her cardigan over her shoulders.

Ransom recognised him straight away. He’d had it quite often, been told he looked similar to Captain America. So this meant the woman he’d been baiting for the last 5 minutes was his wife, Katie Rogers, sister of Billionaire Tony Stark, the Avenger, Supernova.

He’d called Supernova a hooker.

Ransom looked into his glass of scotch, turning away back to the bar, snorting with laughter.

“Sorry baby, Sam called and…” Steve stopped, frowning at the look on Katie’s face. “You ok?”

“Fine.” she said, looking up at him, smiling and nodding towards a cosy sofa over at the other side of the bar. “You wanna go sit down over there?”

“Sure.” he said, picking up his glass of bourbon he held out his free hand for her and she jumped down off the stool.

“I’d like to say it’s been a pleasure.” She snarked to the man next to her “But I don’t lie so…”

Steve frowned, wondering what had gone down whilst he’d been away. He glanced at his wife and then turned to look at the guy that was sat on the stool next to where Katie had been to see if he recognised him and did a double take. He recognised him alright, but only because he looked incredibly like him. Granted, there were a few subtle differences, but the resemblance was uncanny, to the point that at a first glance in the street, you could be fooled.

“Pal, you should keep that bitch on a leash.” Ransom spoke, his eyebrows raising and in front of him Steve stiffened.

“What did you just say?” he frowned, pulling himself up to full height.

“Seriously, man. You save the world from Nazi’s, get frozen for 70 years and then end up marrying that.” Ransom smirked, enjoying baiting the Captain “I’d ask ‘em to put you back under…”

Steve’s nostrils flared and he felt his neck getting warmer. “Don’t you dare talk about my wife like that...”

“Steve, leave it, come on.” Katie said gently, patting Steve on the chest “The guy’s a complete ass hole. If brains were dynamite I doubt he’d have enough to blow his head off.”

“Well if we’re talking about blowing...” Ransom looked Katie up and down before locking onto her eyes. “You up for the job?

Katie let out a bark of a laugh, her hand still on Steve’s chest which was positively humming with anger as she turned to face Ransom, contempt etched across every single inch of her face.

“Go jerk yourself off and wipe it on a curtain like your father should have done with you.” she said.

“I’d rather wipe it in your hair.” came the quip back.

And that was it. That was the point that Steve Rogers snapped.

There was a loud smash, the glass he was holding shattered in his grip as his fist contracted in pure anger. Katie barely had time to realise what had happened before he had stepped forward and grabbed Ransom by the front of his shirt, lifting him and slamming him on the bar.

“Steve!” she said, pulling on his arm. “Baby he really isn’t worth it, let go!”

“Captain Rogers!” Will behind the bar was desperately trying to talk him down as well “Please, don’t make me call security.”

Security! Steve wanted to snort. Like that would do any good.

“Baby, come on…” Katie tried again, pleading to his reasonable side. “Look, we’ve had such a nice night. Don’t let him ruin it.”

Steve let out a deep breath, he wanted nothing more than to knock the asshole’s teeth down his throat, but he felt Katie’s touch on his arm and her pleading tone and he let go, shoving the man hard.

“I would tell you to apologise.” Steve snarled stepping back. His voice was steely, eyes carrying none of their usual warmth “But I suspect it’s pointless”

“Yup.” Ransom nodded “Totally pointless.”

“Like your existence.” Katie mumbled, Ransom snorting in response. “Look, Drysdale, my manager’s told you before.” Will said, his voice laced with vexation as he shuffled from behind the bar to sweep up the glass that Steve had shattered. “Any more trouble and you’re gonna be banned.”

Ransom’s nostrils flashed angrily as he looked at the man “’I’m gonna be banned? Eat shit, he’s the one that just attacked me! He ripped my shirt!” he gestured down to where Steve had grabbed him, two tears either side of the buttons of his shirt “This is a Fendi!”

“Ransom, just shut up and apologise.” Will pressed again, “Or you’re gonna have to leave.”

“Fuck this, I was going anyway.” Ransom snarled, knocking back his drink. He stood up and pulled on a long, tan coloured camel coat before he glared at Steve then Katie “Really bad smell in here.”

Katie rolled her eyes, deciding to let him have that childish one without any fuss. But Steve didn’t.

“Close the door on your way out.”  He watched as the man stopped, took a deep breath before angrily flinging the door open, his coat flapping behind him. There was a moment’s pause before it slammed shut. 

“Sorry.” Steve turned, apologising to Will. 

“He’s a dirt bag and a cretin.” Will shrugged, as he waved the apology off. “No redeeming features whatsoever. Well, none that I’ve seen and trust me, I’ve seen him a hell of a lot.”

“Is your hand ok?” Katie asked Steve gently. She turned his right hand over to see that there were no cuts at all from the glass, which was good.

“Yeah, fine, don’t worry.” Steve looked at her, frowning. “Honey, what on Earth just happened?” he asked her softly, as she took a deep breath, blowing it out of her mouth.

“I went to the bathroom and when I came back, well, I thought he was was you from behind so gave him a hug.” she shook her head “Soon as I touched him I realised I was very, very wrong. I tried to apologise and he called me a hooker.”

“A hooker?” Steve repeated, arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah, so I told him even if I was he wouldn’t be able to afford me.”

At that Will, who had been busy pouring them both another drink, laughed as he slid 2 short tumblers of bourbon back over to them.  “He won’t have liked that at all.”

Steve nodded his thanks to the man as Katie looked at him. “How come?” she asked.

“Well, Ransom’s mother likes to claim she’s a self-made millionaire. Fails to mention the million dollar loan her dad gave her to start up her business like, but that’s by the by. Simply put, his family one way or another are loaded, and Ransom likes to be the flash bastard if you get what I mean.”

“What do his family do?” Katie asked, “I’ve never even heard of the Drysdales, and I’m pretty well connected…”

“His mother and father run some real Estate Company.”  Will shrugged, “A local one round Massachusetts, but you’ll have heard of his grandfather, or if you haven’t you’ve been living under a rock for the last 20 years.” “Who?” she asked.

“Harlan Thrombey, the crime fiction author.” Will said, and Katie felt the colour drain from her face. She turned to look at Steve whose eyes had also widened, and she gave a groan.

“Shit.”

@the-omni-princess​  @momobaby227​ @geekofmanythings16​ @angelofhell-666​ @thewackywriter​ @marvelfansworld​​  @cobalt-gear​  @asgardlover75​ @jennmurawski13​​​  @jtargaryen18​​ @saiyanprincessswanie​​  @navispalace​​ @patzammit​​  @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​​  @icanfeelastormbrewing​​ @djeniiscorner​​  @ayamenimthiriel​​  @coldmuffinbanditshoe​​  @disneylovingal​​ @madzmilllz​  @sgtjaamesbaarnes​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​

[outerspaceisbetterthannothing]

Hey so im new to tumblr, and i plan to post my first fanfic soon (not new to reading fanfiction btw 😂 just writing it), and i was wondering if there was any advice you could give to an aspiring writer? Anything from writing advice to like how to tag stuff properly, how to stay motivated, or anything you can think of! Thanks in advance! I love your blog!

Also, im looking to change my username to something thats a little more neutral so i can write for multiple fan bases, but i’m shit outta ideas. Any help?         

So, i decided to combine your two asks in one answer, hope you don’t mind!

Okay, so, first things first, i think, i should start with saying, that i’m not sure at all i am the person who should give such kind of advise. I’m literally no one here, most of the time i’m just chilling in my little cave unknown and forgotten lol (okay, i can see Anne narrow her pretty eyes on me, not completely unknown and forgotten). So, please, take in consideration, i don’t know much myself and probs some bigger blogs could be more helpful.

From what i do know about publishing on tumblr… Here’s the ugly truth, if you look for popularity or any kind of reaching out to a really big number of readers, i’d say, you’re on the wrong platform. Instagram and Whattpad would give you more (each has it’s own specific and i’m too dumb for both, but it is what it is ig). Writing experience on tumblr is a hella hard work with practically no instant gratification. I was hella happy when my first writings were getting like 10 notes. And i put up with a lot of work to get more tbh. So, please, don’t anticipate too much from the beginning, there are no guarantees here. And a sheer luck is quite important too.

Tagging and “smart” publishing is a way to overcome these obstacles. From what i read when i bothered myself with the same questions as you do right now, your blog needs to  be at least couple weeks old for your content to be up in the tags search. Also i’ve read that only first five of your tags are being searched globally. The rest, as i understood, are for your own blog navigation. So if you wanna make your content search-able, put the most relevant tags in the beginning. Publishing time’s also important to reach out for the audience. The most notes get those posts that are put up in the afternoon (the us time, pref EST) mon-thur and sat afternoon to sunday night. This has a lot to do with peoples schedules, most part of users are students of any kind and really big part of them are american. Have no idea if these change for summer time, but during winter-spring time i really saw that work.

Also tumblr likes visuals, the bigger your writings are, the more difficult it would be to gain audience (in theory). If you create any kind of visual art, it’ll make it easier for you. If not, try to reblog visual content as much, as text content (the rule i’m neglecting lately, but just because of the craziness of time, promise to go back to visuals sooooon). I’d say, try to keep the balance between text and pic posts.

Tumblr experience hugely depends on who you follow and who are your mutuals. You can follow some BNF accounts to see how they work, but they also can make you feel insecure from times. I’d say, follow people you really like. It’s absolutely normal not to like people who have a lot of followers or unfollow someone after some time if you feel like it. Tumblr supposed to be fun, and having on your dash people who don’t bring you joy is a big no from me. Also, engage in communication. If people know you, there’s more chance they’ll read your writings or reblog it, so it’s also a way to reach out, but this is truly extremely secondary. What is more important here, people here are great and i’m sure you’ll find a lot of friends and mutuals. If you need, i can tell you about my fave blogs, just hmu. Take part in ask/tag games, put up followers celebrations (people usually love them), chat, comment, send asks and blurbs (well, you shouldn’t have problems with that lol). Tumblr is not a platform for writers to give their readers content. It’s a platform for communication and co-working. And fun! Fun is important lol.

I’m not sure i can give any advice about motivation. Just because i know pretty much nothing about it. Writing is like breathing for me, i don’t need to motivate myself into it. But if i don’t wanna do sth, no motivation will help. Tho, it’s really good to have this couple of friends, who’ll gladly kick your lazy procrastinating ass from time to time. Well, that’s of course, highly individual! But i love to have my ass kicked by my pretty pixie friend.

I know nothing about changing urls. There are blogs who do it every so often. I’m sure i’ll have this url when i’m 80 lmao. I’d say a url should be sth what is important for you. Like mine combines lines from my fave 5sos songs, but also represents my eternal love to space (which you can see on my blog lol) and  kinda motto, that anything’s better than nothing, which i like to remind myself about. So, i’d say, you should think about what’s important to you.

I’m sorry for this answer being so long, i know nothing about being short. Well, you’ve seen my “blurbs” lmao. Thank you so much for loving my blog and coming to me with this question, i really hope i was helpful! I wish you all the luck in writing and, yeah, come chat any time. Will be glad to))))))

[harry-sussex]

Man, you people really know how to suck the fun out of everything.  All I want to do is sit here and blog about the British royals but y’all insist on making this a negative space.  Some advice:

Stay in your lane, mind your business, don’t start shit.  Stop going out of your way to engage with people whose opinions differ from yours.  You’re not going to change their minds and they’re not going to change yours; you’re wasting your breath.  Defend your faves if people come at you but don’t go looking for an argument or a chance to defend.  Don’t insult someone’s fave looking for a fight, it’s childish.  Prejudice and bias have no place here.  Stop sending anonymous messages looking for a reaction.  Stop making vague-call out posts - it only starts more shit.  Stop reblogging someone’s positive post with negative comments.  Stop acting like the blog police - you have absolutely no control over what someone posts, nor should you.  People are entitled to their opinions and reacting to them angrily or aggressively solves nothing.  Stop demanding that people adjust their blog content to your liking - that’s why you have your own blog, to adjust to your liking.  Reblogging something does not mean supporting the entire source blog’s content - stop acting like it does.  Blog about what you want on your own blog but accept that there are real-life consequences to what you say online - from unfollowing, to blocking, to being doxed, to legal action.  You are not safe from consequences under freedom of speech - act accordingly.  Block and unfollow liberally and make these spaces positive for yourself.  Don’t engage in negative behavior and it will never come back to haunt you.  If people I knew ever came on this blog, I’d have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of.  If the people I post about came on this blog, they would never have to be involve me in legal action because I only post about them positively (even when criticizing, which is rare) and I don’t post about people I don’t like.  Focus more on the positives than the negatives.  Fair criticism is always warranted but it’s better to just focus on the good parts.  Stop creating entire blogs to bash people - you’re entitled to, and it’s your prerogative, but it’s toxic for you and the online community.  STOP making this a negative space.  It’s supposed to be fun, for god’s sake.

This has been a PSA.  I’m so fucking sick and tired of you people going at it, day in and day out, about the same shit.  Shut the fuck up and cut the shit.  Get over yourselves.  Your opinion is no better than anyone else’s on this website.  You people make following royalty more about the fandom than it is about the royals and I’m sick of it.  Shut the fuck up, get over yourselves and grow up.

[asknightqueendany]

Everytime Daenerys is mocked or attacted by Sansa, Cersei or other fans, don't even have to be Jon's, the so-called Jonerys fans, who pride themselves in liking both and treating them equally and claiming moral high ground, go on the offensive against Jon as a way to defend her. Every single they bring him up and down. Just own up to what you really feel.

I take it this was for my reblog with the Jon side of every time he’s gotten his ass saved.

1) That reblog contained Jon, the OP framing it as if Jon were saying those things to Daenerys so of course the flip of that would be to hand it back to him, remind the audience of all the times Jon has been saved by others.

2) It was from Facebook so I have no idea if it was posted by a Sansa or Cersei stan. It may have even been from a Jon Snow stan. You have no way of proving it was from a Jonsa/Sansa stan (where much of the Dany hate comes from) so if it was from a Jon Snow stan, this whole argument just got 100% better.

3) I like Jon. I care about his story and his endgame. I want him to be happy. I think he’s a great character and has had some great moments.

But I wasn’t a Jon stan from the start. I thought all the at the Wall storyline in both books and show when I first began the series was boring as fuck even with the White Walker stuff happening. Honestly, it took Jon hooking up with Ygritte for me to really engage with his storyline and then when she died it took him dying for me to really care about his story again.

I’ve been a Dany fan since Day 1. I will always be a Dany fan first. I will always love her more than Jon. And considering the amount of hate shown to Dany by the majority of the stans out there, including Jon Snow fans, I really don’t feel bad about that. My blog is called Dany Defense. I defend Jon when I can and when he needs it. But for me, it’s not about him.

Most Jonerys fans I’ve encountered on here are actually Jon Snow fans at heart, but because many are also women, they will defend Dany too because they recognize the hate against her is unfair. Most of them though, aren’t Dany stans. There are actually very few of us here, even fewer in other aspects of the fandom outside Tumblr.

4) That reblog was not really a put-down of Jon but you clearly took it as such cuz you’re likely just another jumped up Jon Snow fanboy who can’t take the slightest criticism of ya boi especially when it’s in comparison to a female. But here’s the reality: nothing I wrote in that reblog was untrue. Jon has gotten by at times because of others, just as Dany has gotten by at times because of others. As someone else commented after I posted that, no one can survive without the help of others. You just interpreted “help” as “can’t fend for themselves” which was exactly the opposite the point of the post.

5) The reality is, all the characters on GOT/ in ASOIAF are flawed, morally gray, and make mistakes.

And of course, I always get shit for defending Dany’s actions. No surprise there. It’s why I started this blog.

But the moment I point out the flaws of a beloved male character - Stannis, Robb, Jon, Ned, Jaime - I get a whole new slew of hate from *likely* male fans who haven’t yet confronted their own internalized misogyny and toxic masculinity enough to accept that their fave possibly deserves criticism...or at the very least, is no better or worse than the *best* female characters playing the game as well, and so to draw comparisons to their female counterparts is completely valid.

Much of the hate Daenerys receives is because of internalized misogyny so an easy and efficient way to combat that and show the fandom’s clear biased, is to show male characters doing the exact same things she does - or in some cases, worse.

But then of course there’s this little pocket of the fandom who can’t stand that. They can’t bear for their boi to be compared to Dany, to be shown being weak, to be shown receiving help, to be shown doing morally questionable things...and that, frankly, says much more about YOU anon than it does me.

I face Dany hate and criticism every time I log into this hellsite.

You face it with Jon Snow...when? When the Jonsas are on their “political!Jon” soapboxes which isn’t actually criticism of his character or actions or hate against Jon at all really, but just a corner of the fandom’s “headcanon” for what *may* be going on “behind the scenes” of Season 7.

Look, I’m sorry if you don’t like seeing Jon’s flaws and mistakes highlighted. But he has them, newsflash. So if you don’t want to see them discussed, especially as they compare to Dany’s, unfollow me. Simple. I didn’t even tag that reblog in the “Jon Snow” tag.

[haljathefangirlcat]

still thinking about that “we Have To Talk about how quips are ruining fandom by destroying meta and turning all fic into shitposts” post @ms-demeanor wrote a great rebuttal to, and about the other posts she wrote about it and about the You’re Doing Fandom Wrong attitude in it, and about the notes on those posts. not gonna reblog or reply to any of those because my thoughts are admittedly kind of random and jumping from place to place and probably OT to the point of the discussion, but you know. still thinking.

so, uh. not trying to start wank or anything but enjoy the ranting that got way out of hand under the cut.

so, like... that one “we can’t just block everyone who quips and shitposts because some of these people also write actual meta but then they unfortunately go back to Not Engaging With Canon by writing quippy shitpost-y stuff” line, or however it was actually phrased? besides the blatant entitlement with the “you have to fandom ONLY in ways I like, I can’t just engage with the part of the content you create that I’m interested in and scroll past the rest” thing (which kinda reminds me of the whole “you can’t CNTW on some of your fics, I should be able to read ALL of your fics” thing, in a way) and the ”I refuse to curate my fandom experience and I’ll make it some stranger’s problem” thing (which... reminds me of a few other things, but tbf it has probably been around since the very first days of fandom), what if someone doesn’t even see meta and quips/shitposts as fundamentally different and mutually exclusive approaches to fandom? what if they see them as just two ways to be interested in a specific fandom and interact with it, and maybe even closely linked together, so going from one to another is actually very, very easy for them? hell, what if they (gasp!) even mix quips and meta together sometimes?

I have a few posts about what I think Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese might have been doing with mythological references and themes in Dark, and about what I got from the series finale. some are meme-like, phrased in a joking tone, probably even shitpost-y? another one is literally just a gifset plus me having intense Feels in the tags, and the last one is an edit of the kind I’ve seen people complain about as “those cringey unoriginal tumblr aesthetics that all look the same” in at least a couple of occasions. does that automatically mean I only wanted to “win” at fandom (with my hard-earned prize being... a handful of notes in a fandom that’s not even that big compared to others) and that I haven’t actually spent probably way too much time thinking about the significance of Martha’s Ariadne play as a commentary on character interactions/plot/narrative themes (and honestly still do from time to time), or that I don’t occasionally read the captions under other people’s gifsets and suddenly feel very much enlightened about why the Ariadne play mentions the myth of the Flood of all things? that I didn’t start reading posts and comments and reviews and theories about the series finale as soon as I finished watching it? that, just because I didn’t write 10K+ words of Perfectly Serious Seriousness about all that stuff, I simply refused to Engage With The Text? 

... and if I said that I feel a little irrationally self-conscious at the idea of writing down all of my (often rambling, sometimes jumbled) thoughts about a series that to me actually does feel very deep and complex, so adding memes and humor to that or finding different means to put my ideas out there makes me feel more comfortable expressing myself while also taking off the (admittedly made-up) pressure of having to write a whole coherent essay where I have to find a clear and explicit way to explain where every single thought comes from and how it leads to the next like I’m gonna get graded on it? or that a lot of those thoughts stem from memories of spending five years of high school translating and analysing ancient Greek poetry and reading and watching and discussing every available interpretation and reinterpretation of it from Nietzsche to Vernant to Dürrenmatt to Christa Wolf to Pasolini to a lot of others and from certain things in Dark violently hurtling me back to those times without even asking for permission, so a part of my self-consciousness is actually “I probably don’t actually know/remember enough about this to base a whole in-depth analysis on it even though I do think there’s something there” and another part is “shit I’m too lazy to dig through all of my old textbooks and homework and additional readings to hunt for the thing I feel the desperate need to reference or figure out who might have said it, so no extended explanation here either”? I guess in the end it would all boil down to “there’s an amount of effort and physical and mental energy I’m willing to put into fandom but I also have limits to stop something that makes me feel happy from becoming a chore”, which. considering the whole “you have to put all your resources into constantly pouring out 100% serious meta and nothing else because that’s what I like, no deviations allowed” thing? yeah, I can see saying stuff like that would still make me a blight upon fandom. and/or Not Engaging.

which, I realize, it’s a thing I keep coming back to. but that’s because I really, really, really hate it? seriously, what even counts as Engaging With The Text correctly? not shitposts, and not quips either, apparently. Regardless of the fact that humor and crack have existed in fandom since forever and that it’s actually not uncommon AT ALL for them to be born out of looking at canon from different angles, pointing out whatever the fan in question finds surreal/strange/implausible/convoluted/awkward/just kinda funny about it. 

also, not canon divergence/what if fics motivated not by a desire to “fix” something that made us feel bad when it happened in canon but by a desire to actually fix what we felt was objectively a poor writing choice from the author, because we shouldn’t Engage by analysing the text to criticize it or to think over how and why certain aspects of it don’t work for us or how we think the structure of the text itself could be modified or even improved, we should Engage by... writing meta and/or writing canon-compliant fics with perhaps a little allowance for slightly-to-the-left-of-canon-compliant missing moments fics, I guess? 

from what I’ve gathered from reading other fandom discussion some time ago, AUs are also out, especially Modern/No Powers AUs, because those are always just an excuse to slap your fave’s name on your OC/disguise your original fiction as fanfic to get comments/ignore all that’s interesting about canon to write yet another dumb syrupy high school or coffee shop AU, even if I’m honestly not sure what kind of AUs people are even reading to never get to the “there’s no supernatural threat so let’s focus entirely on the fucked-up family dynamics and blatant mental issues in a world where you can’t just ignore them by marrying off your daughter or sending your son to be someone’s squire” AUs or the “this is pretty much what happens in canon but adding new dimensions and different outlooks on the themes by moving everything to a new context” AUs. seriously, I could rec you a pretty great “this guy would be a horrible father and treat his children horribly in any world, it’s not just the feudal society around him, it’s him as a person” AU and that’s literally just the first thing that came to my mind. but, hey, maybe Engaging is only engaging with the canon plot and setting and nothing else, what do I know.

... fuck, thinking about it, I’m not even sure if by “not shitpost and not quips” I should even mean humor/crack? because it’s not like the OP was clear about it in any way? maybe it’s just all that’s weird and tropey and not-canon-compliant? I can see the “everybody gathers in the main character’s stuff to smoke weed and weird shit happens” fic I got a chuckle out of some time ago being one of the dreaded tumblr-born shitpost fics that are supposedly ruining fandom by ensuring that fans stop thinking (?), but what about the “everything is the same but this one character is a catboy, not for any particular reason but just because” fic I’m currently following and loving? people have been joking and shitposting about catboys a lot on tumblr lately (I distinctly remember that the last catboy joke to pop up on my dash was the “I’m your catboy gf and I’m stuck in a wall” one...) and finding an always-a-catboy!AU initially got an amused smile out of me, so is the mere premise enough to make the fic just a joke/just taking a trope and running off with it/just part of a shallow trend? even when the author literally goes “oh shit just realized this is all a metaphor for neuodivergence and masking” in the story notes? unless writing a character who’s never explicitly stated to be neurodivergent in canon as a being literally or metaphorically neurodivergent in your fic is always shallow projecting or posturing issuefic... instead of, y’know, looking closely at the text and Engaging with it by interpreting it that way....

I feel all this ranting/venting might end up plunging into Why We Slash discussion territory now, so I better stop here.

anyway, in short, good to know I’ve been in fandom for years yet I’ve always been just a Fake Fan who Can’t Think and is constantly Doing It Wrong (by Not Being Transformative Enough, possibly). gonna do my best to stay exactly like that in the future <3

[alienheartattack]

Hi Hi I seriously love your fics so much and I love the way portray Mikasa and Levi, that's them to me. Two of your fics that hold special places in my heart are definitely '5:42 P.M. on a Wednesday in March' and 'Night Watch'. But I still have some more to read. What are yours? 🥰 and 🏆, 🎤. I'd also like to ask 🎁 and most definitely 🍄 please. I'm sorry if that's too much to ask 🤗.

Thank you! I love your comments on my fics, having someone engage with my work is seriously the most fulfilling thing as a writer. Your analyses have been spot on, and sometimes you even point out things that I didn’t even realize I put in the story. I’ve already read your post about 5:42 P.M. like six times, will probably read it again when I’m done this post lmao. I also love your incorrect quotes series!

Heeennnyyways, on to the questions.

Fave fic you’ve written

Another Taste of Pomegranate. My first ever smut fic (aside from some unreadable slash I wrote in high school) and probably my most popular fic besides Inexorable. I tried so, so hard to get this one right. Occasionally I’ll go back and read the reblogs and tags for it because people were so supportive. And horny. Very, very horny.

Fic you’re most proud of

It’s a tie between Inexorable, my first and so far only multichapter fic, and Koi No Yokan. They were both writing feats that I’d never tried before, a long fic and a fic with a big twist. Before I started my novel, Inexorable was the longest single story I’d written. I was also hesitant to post because I feel really strongly about unfinished multichapter fics and I didn’t want to start a project only to lose interest and not finish. Koi No Yokan was hard to pull off because I wanted the reader to discover the mystery as Mikasa did, but still had to put in clues that it was Levi all along. They both hold up surprisingly well, I just reread Inexorable on Friday and I really liked it, although my god it needs another round of copyedits.

Fave line in a fic you wrote

This is from Catch and Release, probably my only RM angst fic.

She barely has him for a week before one of his gas canisters malfunctions mid-flight and he starts to fall. An enormous hand catches him out of midair and within seconds Levi is gone. He doesn’t make a sound, not even when the Titan’s teeth rip open his belly and bare his guts to the last few people who ever loved him.

Levi Ackerman, resigned to history.

Quote from a WIP

“Holy shit,” Levi pants. “I say this with deep respect, so don’t get offended: you are one sick bitch.”

How do you get yourself in the mood to write?

I’m actually super undisciplined in this way. I always want to write when I’m working but then I don’t want to when I’m free. I’ll spend tons of time zoning out and planning stories and then not write any of that shit down so it’s all lost to the ages. So basically, I force myself to write. When I notice myself sitting around watching television or otherwise not doing anything, I’ll grab my laptop and open whatever WIP calls to me if I’m feeling inspired, and force myself to work on a particular project if I feel like it needs my attention. I’m writing a comedic romance novel that’s about two-thirds complete and I started writing fanfic again because I needed a break from the novel, so now I switch between my spy AU smut and the novel, depending on how I’m feeling.

This might be controversial, but if I’m feeling anxious about writing or just feeling generally shitty (I’ve been hashtag blessed with a whole bunch of mental health issues) I’ll get a little stoned before writing. I think “write drunk, edit sober” is okay advice: I think getting a little bit inebriated can help ease your inhibitions, but you can’t write if you’re fucked up. Whatever relaxation exercise works for you, really. Sometimes I’ll just meditate on my story (AKA stare into space) and once the ideas start flowing, I’ll grab the laptop.

[silkspectred]

justice league thoughts - SPOILER HEAVY

PSA: these are all my personal opinions. don’t reblog this post with your “well, actually” because i don’t really care. make your own post to express your own opinions. 

- superbat: amazing incredible fantastic show shopping clared my skin watered my crops paid all my bills. i loved them so much. the movie straight up and super explicitly draws a parallel between diana coping with steve’s death with bruce (not) coping with clark’s. diana is literally like “dude u gotta move on” and bruce is like “listen when YOU lost the love of your life you went into isolation from mankind for a centurty so!!! leave me be!!!”. they were seriously like “yes these two relationships are the same and there’s no difference at all between them”. it was amazing. after they save the day and for a hot second it looks like clark and victor didn’t make it, bruce literally GASPS and shouts “clark!” and i just. he was so worried that he had lost clark again after getting him back i cry 😭😭😭 bruce is just in general SO IN AWE OF CLARK and clark finally gets to know bruce for who he is and they just CLICK INSTANTLY as soon as they are both in the right mindspace. bruce is made soft by clark’s softness in a way i didn’t dare to imagine even in my wildest dreams. i can’t believe i got to see that in the actual movie. i’m blessed.

- clois: lois and clark share a bond that is simply too profound to describe with words, and so, so tender. lois was underused in the movie, it wasn’t really about her like half of bvs was (the whole thing with lois being the key doesn’t come to play here at all, maybe they’re saving it for future movies, or maybe i can explain it as in “she’s the key to make clark see reason after he’s back to life” but idk it’s not explained in any explicit terms, it’s my idea), but anyway clark’s loss fucked her up in a very realistic way, and her relationship with martha kent was really really sweet.

- w*nderb*t: for various reasons i’m not a fan of this ship in general and particularly of the dceu version, and some comments by affleck made me fear the worst. but nothing happened between them at all, there was just some teasing from alfred to which bruce responded mostly by rolling his eyes. they also have a couple of disagreements, and the whole league but diana especially roast bruce until he’s extra crispy on all sides. it was great. drag him. also there’s a scene where diana sees bruce really hurt and helps him fix his shoulder, then they talk about some of diana’s issues and have a drink. it’s very sweet, but not romantic at all, imo. i kinda went “oh no” at first, but in the end i was very happy with the way it played out. ymmv of course, but i loved how their friendship was portrayed (i.e.: as a friendship)

- SO MANY SCENES OF BRUCE IN THE BATMAN COSTUME WITHOUT THE COWL AND THEY ALL RESPONDED TO MY VERY SPECIFIC PERSONAL NEED SO. THANK YOU.

- clark was so good and soft and i love him. the way he came back to life doesn’t really agree with how bvs ended (except if maybe the end of bvs was just a way to hint to the fact that he COULD be brought back. idk.) but i loved him so much. his chest hair? wow. 

- jason momoa as aquaman was amazing, and he got a couple of bullshit whedon lines but nothing too ugly. his scene with mera was incredible. would i let them both do unspeakable things to me? [maybe so meme]

- victor stone: my fave. very good emotional journey and very satisfying character development. especially cute are his scenes with diana and clark. he struggles a lot with what happened to him, but in the end he’s the key to saving the day, which i loved. so so so much love for him and ray did an amazing job.

- barry: i liked ezra in the role, but 90% of his lines are jokes. literally. only his scenes with his father aren’t played for laughs, and maybe one with batman (but still barry jokes throughout it). i had hoped to get more development out of him. kind of a pity tbh.

- diana: VERY good journey imo and i liked how they wrapped up her development with bvs and ww. her bigger issue comes from not being ready to lead a team, to tell people “fight for this, die for this” (very relatable and credible imo, even if she was trained as a warrior she never led an army) and is very beautiful how she comes to terms with it, the way she can still grow.

THE BAD STUFF:

- joss whedon: i’m an ex whedon fan. i watched firefly, buffy, angel, avengers and age of ultron, and i progressively realized that this was a sexist prick, not a feminist writer. we have all made mistakes. anyway. i know the whedon. i recognize the whedon when i see it. i hate the whedon. there’s a scene where barry finds himself with his face in diana’s boobs. he gets up super fast while she’s still lying on the ground and barely realizes what happened. @ joss that shit wasn’t funny when you pulled it on bruce banner and natasha romanoff in age of ultron years ago, and is still not funny now. stop doing it???? stop fucking doing it, goddammit. what is wrong with you. (so many things are wrong with him.)

- the jokes: this is linked with the joss whedon problem. too many, most of them not particularly funny, some of them inappropriate, a lot of them just there to ruin the fucking moment.

- the ass shots: there were a couple, which were a couple too many. all clearly from the whedon reshoots. also: the whedon reshoots are really noticeable, and really really obvious.

- the colors: the beautiful snyder colors i personally ADORED are gone. no one looks particularly bad tho, except clark. clark’s suit looks awful. AWFUL. it was kind of lucid and really just. just no. 

- the movie is so CLEARLY, PAINFULLY, HEAVILY cut. most of the scenes from the trailers aren’t in the movie at all. victor talking about the batman and “i’m real when it’s useful”, bruce and diana’s “more more or more less?” scene, a lot of material about victor and barry, “don’t engage alone, we do this together”, the “age of heroes” speech, batman’s “my turn”, parts of lois’ “dream” of clark, bruce staring at clark’s hologram, SO MUCH STUFF WASN’T IN THE MOVIE AND I’M SO FUCKING PISSED. i really really hope they release an extended zack snyder cut of the movie because i want those scenes back. i was promised those scenes and i want them back. wb and whedon need to stop fucking over my mans zack.

- the amazon costumes: all that wank about the amazon costumes? it’s absolute bullshit. those skimpy outfits are nowhere to be seen in the actual movie. amazons still fight in wedges (not even patty jenkins would change that, and just WHY IS EVERYONE IGNORING THAT ?? that shit is not good) but they wear armor largely similar to what’s in wonder woman. there’s some armor that leaves their belly exposed but there were similar outfits in wonder woman too and they weren’t in an active combat situation while they were wearing those (the situation develops into combat, but unexpectedly so). i want everyone to apologize to zack snyder now lol.

TL;DR: joss whedon and wb are pieces of shit, zack snyder is a genius and i love him, superbat is real, i enjoyed most of the movie, i wish a lot of things were different but overall it could have been a lot of worse so. i’m okay. waiting to gif the hell out of it and reading all the beautiful fics!!!!

[aadmelioraa]

Thoughts on t100 Fandom

Hey y’all,

I’ve been mulling over the following for a while and wasn’t sure if I was going to post it, but I’ve seen a few things on my dash lately that have swayed me to make this public. These thoughts aren’t directed at anyone in particular, just general Tumblr culture and t100 fandom specifically. I am not positioning myself as an authority on either in any way, but there are troubling trends even within my small fandom circle. I’ve seen too many people get hurt over misunderstandings and petty drama, but it doesn't have to be that way. Please know that I say all of these things with love and humility.

If you have an issue with someone that can be resolved privately, please consider resolving it that way. It keeps everyone else’s dash free of unnecessary drama and keeps things from spiraling out of control. 

Along the same lines, if you see some vague posts flying around or accusations being levied against someone, talk to those people in private rather than contributing to an unfounded public discussion. Oftentimes those posts are misleading and end up damaging someone’s reputation for no reason.

Don’t hijack someone’s post. This means: if you have a strongly contradictory opinion about someone’s post, a negative opinion, or just an off topic response inspired by the post make your own post instead of reblogging theirs with your comment (esp if you don’t know the OP)--it’s just self preservation, honestly. Make sure you fully understand what the OP is saying you choose to reference it in any way. Things get twisted so easily on this site and before you know it you’ve started The Discourse.

Don’t speak over people and don’t discredit them for their age, race, sexuality, you name it. No one should feel ashamed to speak their mind especially in regards to fandom opinions (except literal nazis, fuck those guys). Tumblr culture encourages people to jump down each other’s throats rather than engaging in actual conversation. This competition to be the most progressive doesn’t translate to the way people are treated in these exchanges. Its very disheartening because often real issues are being discussed but the thread gets overtaken by name-calling and ad hominem attacks. 

Nobody gets to speak for everybody. Learn to discern between real issues (and there sure are some!) and personal drama dressed up as as discussion of gospel truth. You are not obligated to agree with anyone else’s opinion, despite how much righteous anger might emanate from their post.

When it comes to criticism: everyone comes at fandom from a different perspective and background, and we all should be able to respect each other’s POV without immediately jumping to “You’re wrong bc you’re X” or “I’m right bc I’m Y.” There is a wonderful diversity in this fandom, and we need to appreciate that by listening to each other, not attacking each other.   **Please understand I am not excusing any bigoted behavior, for which I absolutely will not stand, or trying to invalidate anyone’s point of view, but too often this fandom jumps with a hive mind mentality to “this person is sexist bc they disagree with this person or this argument,” etc.**

Don’t be an asshole. Don’t send someone unsolicited negative opinions no matter how much you hate their ship or favorite character or interpretation of the show. It’s rude and unnecessary and creates a very toxic culture. Be snarky all you want with people who agree with you over private messages or on your own blog (we all need this, I repeat, WE ALL NEED THIS), but don’t shit in people’s inboxes and don’t drag people who like what you hate into it. No one ever had their mind changed by a nasty message, anon or not.

If one of your mutuals or friends engages in any of these destructive behaviors, talk to them! It’s possible that you don’t know the whole situation, but its also possible that they didn’t realize how they were coming across. It’s much better to have a friend approach you than to have your post taken out of context or turned into discourse. We all make mistakes, and it’s so easy for people to take things the wrong way when all you have is text.

Don’t let the negativity in your feed discourage you. The people who make fandom less fun only get air time if we let them, so instead of reblogging shitty posts because you like the drama, focus your energy on people who are making this fandom better.

Curate your dash. Follow who you want, don’t just follow people because they are popular if you don’t like what they post. If seeing someone or something in your feed bums you out, unfollow/block/blacklist that shit. It will improve your life SO MUCH, I promise.

You’re not a bad person because you like a fictional character or ship. Anyone who tell you that or gives you hate for it is wrong.  Especially with a show like t100, where it’s messy and fucked up and all our faves make all the wrong choices sometimes. Do I have characters I really dislike? Sure, of course I do. But I’m not going to think less of anyone who likes those characters. I will, however, think less of people who attack or belittle others for their character or ship preferences. Real people matter more than fictional characters, no matter what.

This fandom has so many amazing people in it, don’t forget that!! And the content creators...we are BLESSED. The fanart, fanfic, meta, edits, playlists, etc that y’all create blow me away each and every day. Keep reblogging the shit you like, because its amazing and it deserves all the credit in the world.

Every little act of kindness truly matters. Take minute to send a kind message to a friend, leave a review on AO3, submit compliments about underrated bloggers to t100positivity.

I hope this makes sense. I think we can work together to build a better fandom for everyone. I don’t want these types of habits to ruin anyone’s fandom experience or worse, especially as we head into s5. I’m always here if you need to talk, and I really appreciate everyone who has made my fandom experience so positive. Thank you ❤️

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia! Hope you don't mind if I ask you a question... Both of the fandom I'm in I've been in for awhile and I love them but I've gotten kind of burnt out on them... I used to write fics and be really involved but I can't anymore because the fandom have started to make me hate everything about it, especially my fave ships :( I want to get involved again but I'm scared and don't know how... What did you do to help comfortable to stay writing again for rotg?

Hiya anon!

You might not like my response, so I’m going to give you two responses lol.

Response one:

I dealt with toxic shit in the RotG fandom by leaving the RotG fandom. I finished out my stories (at the time finishing ISWF was really hard, and there was covert harrassment in the tags re: what I wrote), and I unfollowed most people connected to the fandom or who were reblogging stuff to do with the fandom, and I stopped reading fanfiction connected to it, and I took like...god, about a year and a half off.

In that time I wrote two RotG stories without re-engaging with the source material or reading any RotG fics. I didn’t tag surf, I didn’t discuss meta with anyone else, and I usually knocked back requests to engage in the fandom again. The only RotG thing I’d engage on, was SAL. 

I didn’t do it to cope with the fandom, I did it because I was thoroughly over the fandom and its bullshit. There were a lot of folks at the time who wrote the majority of the early, popular fics who actually all checked out at that time (or over the following six months), and almost no one has come back. The drama was just too blech, and even a year and a half ago / two years ago, people talked about like...how ‘dead’ the fandom was. People moved onto other things.

So, this is probably not what you were expecting. As a coping mechanism, if I based any advice off that, it would be ‘leave the fandom and stop writing your fic until you want to write it again.’

When I came back to RotG it was because I really wanted to, but in order to avoid drama, I still don’t follow many RotG blogs and I don’t tag surf except on the rare occasion.

Response two:

So let me talk about another fandom that I came to mostly despise and yet still wanted to keep writing a really long fic. And that’s the Dragon Age fandom. *takes a deep breath, sighs it out.*

When I started writing Stuck on the Puzzle I began to follow fandom blogs and meta blogs and I think all in all I was following about 20. Dragon Age, at least when I was writing SotP was filled with tons of callout posts - often very aggressive and based on dogpiling and outrage culture. No one was free from this, regardless of what they were doing, and the character I was writing (Cullen Rutherford) drew a great deal of ire from people I respected. I didn’t like blind Cullen love, which often meant I was dealing with blind Cullen hatred. Or alternatively fans who sought to ‘prove’ that they could be Cullen critical to the popular, dogpiling crew of the time.

The push to guilt-trip readers for not commenting has a huge piece of heartwood in this fandom too. So there was just aggression everywhere. The readers weren’t good enough. The writers weren’t good enough or writing the right themes or doing them well enough. (It’s incredibly crushing, btw to keep writing in this environment). If writers quit it was the reader’s fault, or Tumblr’s fault. If readers quit it was the fault of the writers, or Tumblr. Basically everything was always someone else’s fault and people didn’t really own their shit. This was the place where I got introduced to like, preliminary purity and anti culture before the words ‘purity’ and ‘anti’ became words.

So here’s what I did:

- I unfollowed everyone except about 2 people in the DA fandom on Tumblr. Yes, this meant dropping a lot of people, even people I really liked. If they supported the drama, they were out. - I stopped tag surfing everything except my incredibly rarepair. - I went back through my DA tag and specifically looked at artwork and all the things I’d come to love that inspired me to write the thing in the first place. - I re-engaged with the source material.

In other words, I dropped out of fandom while still producing a fanwork. It was the best thing I decided to do. It was never really the meta and shit that inspired me the most anyway. It was always the source material and my interacting with that. And it was maybe a few pieces of fanart. Otherwise, everything came from my brain anyway, and I didn’t need anything else. I certainly didn’t need the drama, and getting the occasional awesome piece of fanart floating across my dash wasn’t worth everything else happening.

And those two/three people I kept around still posted awesome fanart and stuff from time to time anyway. Also they’re awesome people.

But yeah, I never stayed comfortable writing for RotG. In fact, for a while, I hated it. I’d been really hurt by certain things within the fandom, and the drama hit too close to home, and I decided it wasn’t worth it. It’s fine to do that by the way, you’ll find another fandom eventually (I found many), and if you’re meant to find your way back to the fandom, you will.

If you really want to stay in the fandom though, I do recommend some pretty drastic actions to stay in it. Fandom drives a lot of fanwork/content producers away sometimes.

Also, additionally, it’s just normal to kind of not want anything to do with a ship or a fandom for a while? Even if you love it? Burn out is normal, and may just signify that you need something from a fandom that your current fandom / ships aren’t giving you. Being in that space between one fandom and another kind of sucks, but it may be worth using this time to like...explore other things you love, watch some new shows and movies, read some new books, and remember the joy of what it is to engage in the source material in the first place. I wish you luck!