#everyone i love gets a hmc au

[kankalin]

into the moving castle miserable gays

[nadiajustbe]

I cannot express how much I LOVE small fandoms because we're all actually like a small village of two and half people where everyone knows everyone and I mean in in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE because this bring the funniest stories ever.

Probably one of my most precious fandom experience I've ever had in a HUGE time of my internet existence happened because I was following one really cool modern AU hmc book fanfiction. And when I really like something I engage with it as much as it's possible to do so, and so I was leaving a pretty big comments (1k+ words each) under every chapter just ranting about the plot, my emotions, predictions and also fitting in some of my favourite hcs. Me and the author had a little chat in the comments for a while, and that's not the main point of the story, but we had pretty similar visions and headcanons for the characters and were both laughing about it.

The funniest thing happened when in one of the chapters they randomly mentioned one of my favourite, random fandom rare pairs, never mentioned anywhere in the fanfiction fandom page before (yes, Justiman. It WAS Justiman) as a canon in the fix instead of canonical pair-up the characters had.

Needless to say I was the happiest person in the world, immediately writing a huge paragraph about how I was absolutely sure that I was the only person shopping them and how good it fit into all the other small details in the fic. Then, between the lines, I asked them where did they get the idea of a ship, because god how happy I was. They said they got the idea from Tumblr and immediately jumped aboard. I asked If they can tell me the name of the account. They did.

It was.

My account.

[horseshoemybeloved]

wait i am really intrigued with your versions of the suitehearts i love the designs and seeing your take on them so please infodump about them to me about this obscure fob au that i’ve been insane about for years

It is now time for my long ass ( my version of the ) suitehearts masterpost * wiggles fingers *

Keep in mind!!!

So basically first things first, my versions of ‘em are Completely different characters. Some draw/view the suitehearts as fob in silly costumes ( which is super chill ) but my versions are very different. So when I say “ Benzedrine is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba“ I am in no ways implying that Patrick is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba. There are some similarities between people but it is never intentional. ( also I’m constantly changing stuff nothings set in stone lol )

Da world!

The world is kinda like a purgatory, everyone there has died but could move to another plane. Thusly there are people from all different decades. Magic is very common here, a lot of people can do small basic spells. But it takes years of practice to become a wizard, and decades to become a good one. There are 5 main,,, species? Races? I’m not quite sure how to label em. But we have:

your average human, nothing really of note here

elemental benders ( they are born with a cavity in their chest relating to what “ element “ they control. Some control water some Disco music! )

Pixies/sprites, they usually have abnormal colored skin, pointy ears, and the ability to float around. They naturally have good connection with spirits and can summon them when needed ( if they’re good at it )

Angels, they’re naturally fun colors, have magical hair, and vaguely cow like ears?. Angles can use their magic to make themselves look like normal humans tho. They usually live together and provide comfort for people. But there has been a rebellion happening and now a lot of angels try and live life not for the sole service of others but now for themselves ( is allegory 4 womanhood moment )

And then of course furries xoxo

Now the reason you even started reading this, info about the suitehearts!

Dr. benzedrine is vaguely narcissistic and full of himself, but in an oddly charming way. Personality wise hes a mixture of howl ( hmc ) without Any of the swauve, mostly just the dramatics, and aziraphale ( good omens ). Hes a middle aged man who Will Not admit hes gay, he is Incredibly repressed. He was apart of the huge royal academy of wizards, best one they’d ever had. But had a falling out with the leader in charge and now just has his own little wizard store. He befriended Donnie at a little diner because he made a reference to a Kate bush or Fiona apple song, or something or other. Him and sandman do Not get along, sandman often visits the store just to annoy him. But they have more similarities than they know, they just need to stop bitching at eachother!

( also he was born like 5’ something but the spirits in charge of transferring people to this plane were like “ I’d be mad funny if we made him really short he’d be so mad “ )

He is my autistic little meow meow 😔🙏

Horseshoe has a regal flowyness to him, semi-oblivious to his own charm, and loves to dance the night away. When everyone around him is disheveled and falling apart, he still manages to look fantastic. He appears to be the dumb blonde of the group, which he definitely doesn't mind and loves to indulged in the trope. ( he may not know where or even what Sweden is but at least hes pretty ) But he is a deeply creative person, and that in its own special way shows an intelligence. He works at a small local craft store ( bcus then he gets first dibs on all the cool new art supplies :D ) he is an angel, but chooses to focus his little magical power on constantly disguising himself cus he doesn’t wanna be bothered lol.

Donnie is very nurturing and kind, yet extremely energetic and bubbly, think kinda like,,, super sweet valleygirl. He’s slightly based off YouTuber Garret watts. He is very big solid guy. He has a bit of a problem with feeling like he Needs to take care of everyone, like it’s job ( he’s workin through it in therapy ) Like I mentioned there are people who are like elemental benders, Donnie is one of them. He has a little terrarium with either a mushroom or a daisy, and can make vines grow from his hands and legs. Donnie is also autistic ( heavily based on my experiences with it, he’s also just kinda heavily based off of me ) He's from da 60s, during the whole hippy thing.

Sandman is your typical bitchy mallgoth, who goes around calling everyone a " poser" and everything " poser shit " they put up a bitchy angry front but deep down theyre an insecure sensitive little guy. Sandman is a Pixie so that means they can summon these ( usless ) spirit guys ( they’re not very good at it ) shes also kinda Super into typical """ cringey """ stuff from 2015 ( ie undertale, fnaf, the lving tombstone, mlp ) Sandman is semi kinda not really it’s complicated openly non-binary, but still seems to repress quite a bit and just push away all deeper feelings. I thought it would be interesting to experiment with a character who is a trans femme gay guy, kinda like a reverse trans masc lesbian I guess. Idk lol don’t get mad at me

Anything else kiddo?

The format id choose to express this story would def be a movie. Uhhh… I can’t really think of much else right now, but feel free to ask questions I luv talking about em :3

[recurringwriter]

i'm spoiled for choice!

Percy torture plan

this never was the man i'd hoped to be by now

hmc au

somewhere i know this could be otherwise romantic

I Could Have Used A Hozier Lyric For This Title But Didn't Want To Get Sued. by Fall Out Boy

oo a lot of old ideas from right here on tumblr!

Percy torture plan

this one is a collection of ramblings from july 2021 apparently: this one and this ask you sent me! i wonder if i should adapt it to Wildfire or if that would be overkill in an already-fraught and whumpy story. much to consider! but putting it in Sparks is another option... hmmm. either way this is worth revisiting.

this never was the man i'd hoped to be by now

this was a mtrench prompt i never finished, but it was going to be about Ludy and the bastards--

"Ludmilla is confronted by her half-sibling(s) about the way she views them and herself. They wish she would stop clinging to things that they all know are never going to happen, stop acting like she's superior to everyone around her, and stop pushing everyone away. She always wants to take the easy way out but there is no easy way."

hmc au

the Howl's Moving Castle au! i still haven't added to it in all this time, but the gist seems to be Rodrigue as Howl, Glenn as Calcifer, and Felicity as the witch of the waste--so it seems like it's another divorce au. i was going to have it that felicity was somehow cursed as well, and then Manuela as Sophie would have to save both her and Rodrigue.

somewhere i know this could be otherwise romantic

ooo!!!! this was 'Ember but what if Felicity and Rodrigue never met at the festival and she never forgave him for being the reason she didn't get a say in her own future'.

"The first letter makes her furious. She's insulted by the shield pendant. She answers passive aggressively despite Colette telling her that it doesn't mean what she thinks it does. He sends her an apology and questions and Felicity hates him. She hates every word he writes and every gift he sends and his hollow tokens. She tries to imagine him, some selfish young Duke-to-be who thinks that he can know her. What is he expecting? All Felicity knows is that she will be ready to do whatever it takes to make him know that she won't love him, and that she will be unhappy, and that she will always be impossible to care for."

i loooove messing with Ember in a million ways and au's. in this case, felicity is being used by her family more explicitly--she is supposed to poison boreas, and then rodrigue after she gets an heir. she refuses, and rodrigue confronts her about it only to realize she's protecting him. she denies it and claims it's just her being Difficult for her family, but in reality she's gradually becoming a better person. she will eventually save rodrigue from some threat and realize she's sorry and has grown feelings for him

I Could Have Used A Hozier Lyric For This Title But Didn't Want To Get Sued. by Fall Out Boy

this is my favourite chapter title ever. it's chapter 6 of my most recent fic, oupy: free to good home. if i had a nickel for every time there was an evil blond rufus that i knew next to nothing about but start writing lengthy fics about him anyway, i'd have 2 nickels. it's reader pov and extremely explicit. i'm over 5k words into this chapter and i'm not going to try and make length estimates anymore because every time i've tried, the fic doubles in length and it's already 42k. the title is in the same vein as the others (a meme) but highlights the fact that this chapter has more emotional impact. the lyric i could have used would have been from It Will Come Back, and had more gravitas than any of the others in the scheme. i had considered rewriting the entire fic with a pov change, all of rufus' chapter titles would be played straight and be melodramatic song lyrics aksdjhgfkjhg but now it's so long i don't think i'll be doing that. probably.

[sunbeamsoup]

4 for twfafy, 10, 19 for always you, 25, 30, 45, and 49!

Ah!!! :)

ask game here

4. What detail of twfafy are you really proud of?

Probably the fact that I wrote it all and am still striving to finish it! I haven't been as interested in engaging with atla beyond general appreciation for the show for a while now, and in some ways that had made pushing through twfafy challenging. But, I do have an affection for the story itself and the characters and the joy that comes with sharing it that absolutely keeps me dedicated to finishing the fic no matter how my interest in the source text wanes/changes. I wanted to add to the mailee tag because they're just wonderful and I'm really happy to have done so!

10. How do you decide what to write?

Spite!

Well, fanfiction usually comes about when a thematic interest of mine coincides with questions I have of the source material and whichever ones pull me in the most get written. Twfafy is in large part an effort to offer another mailee longfic where they are the sole pairing, but there are a lot of things working within it. I had questions abt how fandom treats the young fire nation characters, how the show itself engages with them, how a romantic relationship between the mai and ty lee would function in a close-to-canon context, how mai and ty lee's betrayal of azula could have been rooted in years of build up and what that might look like, how their perception of the war changes, etc. and thematically there's all the usual points about love, family, loss, absence, violence, and agency which paired with the questions i have. the draw is definitely the mailee relationship, but there's other stuff here lol. 'Always You' was in response to conversations fandom has had about wei wuxian in mo xuanyu's offered body in the present timeline, which either dissatisfied me, intrigued me, or plainly pissed me off. How to approach that in a fic was interesting to me, and I thought it could work as a smaller piece to give u for ur birthday. Thematically we're dealing with identity, recognition, love, the past as it shapes the present, physical appearance feeling contradictory, etc. which worked with my questions of the story that became 'Always You.' And now I'm working on a big au trying to marry some of the themes of hmc with the characters, setting, and story (almost not quite it's a whole thing) paired w my own need to write old man lan wangji. My sunshot canon divergence is mainly based on spite, while also considering several themes that i will be making everyone's problem soon enough :)

19. If you wrote a spin-off to 'Always You,' what would it involve?

There's a few things left unsaid that could be fun to play with. maybe we would check-in on lan xichen we all seemed to love the super fun time lan xichen was having of things. maybe another scenario could push the unanswered questions to firmer resolution, but idk I really love where the fic ended. I'm not sure an expansion would service it, no matter how fun it would be. But who knows, I may have a better idea to expand it by the time ur birthday comes again.

25. What other website or resources do you use most often when you write?

What, am I supposed to reveal all my secrets???

While I've gone on many a Wikipedia binge while writing I rarely use it as a source, especially given how complex some questions can become. Mainly, I have the original text beside me and marked off to relevant sections so I can refer to it (or reaffirm that I am not making shit up when pulling on canonical specifics). For twfafy I have a tab open to watch the atla episodes relevant to what the given chapter is covering (and I still manage to fuck up the timeline, go figure). Mdzs fics are written with three/four different translations open to check quick details I somehow forgot in the 600k+ words of text or to look over descriptions of places, characters, and so on.

When it comes to research I don't fuck around. At least, I try not to, I think it's important (I'm not biased not at all ignore the history major behind the curtain). But I'm also privileged with my university email which gets me access to academic sources that are often indispensable, informative and interesting. Researching for fic is a whole other topic that I won't get into here ask separately if you want an overly invested reply lmao. Even if none of the stories I engage with are strictly historical I do think there's value, even responsibility at a certain threshold of ignorance/inexperience, in like. At least tossing an inquiry into ur search bar instead of copy-pasting the usual responsibility-waving disclaimer in the fic's notes.

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

In original fiction, all the fucking time, often for a grade, lol.

I don't know if I've written enough fanfiction to make this claim, but I think so? The zu/kka longfic that I was writing years ago was far from my comfort zone, but that experience was actually quite detrimental to shaping my confidence as a writer and reliance on external validation (no 17 year old should know that thousands of ppl like the fic they aren't sure they can ever finish, it will make them believe they've peaked while they form an unhealthy, warped view of what amnt of feedback signifies that you've written something "good." ahem.) But from that point, I've only ever written fic that I was invested in and cared about outside of the response it garnered from others. I am the proud writer of two fics that could be considered certified flops in some circles and I love 'em!

Content-wise I suppose this new sunshot canon divergence is out of my comfort zone in that it has no plot but is being written quicker than I've ever written anything in my life. We'll have to see how that goes!

45. What's something you've improved on since you started writing fic?

I hope my prose has gotten a bit better. I know it can get a bit clunky and arrhythmic, but I imagine fixing that will just be a matter of time. I do think my descriptions have improved, though I'm sure there's much room to refine them. Sometimes I even use the right "its/'s," so there's that.

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you're up for it!

Certainly! From all three of my wips because it's my answer I do what I want:

TWFAFY CH.8

Ty Lee leaned in and forced the book open, right on the page where that account lay, calling out to Mai’s shame with dark ink that seemed to grow bolder the longer she tried to avoid looking directly at it. 

“‘Lover,’” Ty Lee whispered. “It’s always ‘lover.’”

“Always?” 

She released her grip on the book gladly when Ty Lee tugged for it, feeling cool air upon her palms when once more they touched nothing. 

“This is a good story,” Ty Lee said, as if Mai hadn’t spoken aloud. “You should read it.”

HMC AU CH.1

 “Jin-gongzi, do not misunderstand. Whatever right you may have to these grounds on the basis of your clan’s prominence does not negate the hazard these nets pose. When we talk of fairness we mean it to extend to conduct, as well. These nets violate the principle of fairness in every conceivable way, isn’t that so?”

Though the boy’s point had been lengthier than strictly necessary, Lan Wangji couldn’t help but approve. 

Jin Ling’s petulant gaze froze over. 

“How is it fair to me that they’ve stepped in my nets? Did I set them with the intention to catch anything but prey? What principle is followed by that stupid girl being too dull to see the clear trap I laid? Is it so hard? These nets are made of gold!” He pointed an accusatory finger towards the round-faced girl, who stood a pace off from them. “It is not my fault if you're too simple to recognize the sheen of a golden net! You wandering cultivators always make such a mess!” He switched his ire back to the sweet-faced boy and stepped forward, shaking a bit. “You wait until I’ve settled the matter here on Dafan mountain, then see if you still have such an issue with me!”

(we don't know wen yuan's name just yet but we should all know here and now that's who the 'sweet-faced boy' is hehehe)

SUNSHOT THING CH. IDK

Excerpt One:

No body in that pit could be found but his own, digging in, splitting through his nails as he tore through root and rock and soil. 

Toiling down into its depth.

When water began to pool he could have mistaken it for the pit’s own bleeding, weeping as it did from beneath his raking fingers. If you go further…

Excerpt Two:

Several steps ahead, caught in the sun's fading warmth, there seemed to be a hollow of golden light just beside the glow already bathing Lan Wangji. No matter how he tried to follow, Wei Wuxian could not catch up to it, could not stand within, for Lan Wangji walked too quick and didn't know to look behind. Eventually, all light became shadows, and only in their veil was Wei Wuxian able to take the extra step forward, walking beside Lan Wangji once again.

Excerpt Three:

He’d dragged Lan Wangji an inch, mud caking on the heels of those plain white boots.

A serving boy, no more than fifteen, came upon them. His robes were splattered here and there with dried, cracking blood.

“Hanguang-jun is, is he…?”

Wei Wuxian continued to struggle, walking backwards, his feet threatening to slip on the ground beneath him.

“He’s fine,” he said, fully aware of how their position looked to an outsider.

The boy hesitated, debating his next course of action, before he stiffened and tilted his head chin-up, defiant.

“Wei Wuxian, I must defend the corpse of this gentleman. You will absolutely not be allowed to use Hanguang-jun’s body for your purposes on the battlefield.”

Bold.

“I’ll use whoever’s body I-,” he sighed.

Adjusting his hold on Lan Wangji he shot the serving boy a look.

“Go find your superiors and acquire a task better than berating me for no reason.”

“But-”

“Lan er-gongzi is not dead,” he gained another inch backwards and stopped, taking a deep, indulgent breath. “He’s drunk.”

[cynicalmusings]

vanilla bean ౨ৎ for xiao?? and maybe slip in a jing yuan bc of the hmc au — @milkstore

vanilla bean ౨ৎ what does a day off with your lover look like? 

(i’m going to interpret this as a modern au, because i firmly believe xiao as he is in canon teyvat would not fall in love with a human, much less myself.) days off are pretty chill, i’d say. we meet up to go out for a morning walk, whether that be in the city or a park nearby, have lunch out or go to a cafe for breakfast depending on the time, and once we get back, spend some time together doing some Musical Stuff, such as practicing together, playing some songs, listening to some music, etc. maybe we’ve booked tickets for a concert that day and go to see that, possibly with a couple of other friends like yunjin, ganyu or xianyun. get boba afterwards (and possibly dinner, depending on whether we’ve already eaten out earlier), and go our separate ways. 

in jing yuan’s case, it’s… also chill. jing yuan sleeps in while i make some breakfast (straying more towards brunch, considering the time he wakes up, if not lunch itself), and after we’ve eaten, we walk through the streets with mimi and chat a little before jing yuan finds a warm spot (either inside or outside the house) and soaks in the sun for a good hour at least. he dozes off at that point, and i either join him in napping or just read/occupy myself otherwise until he wakes up. after that is mimi grooming time back at home, and after that jing yuan crushes me at starchess before we cook dinner together. overall, it’s a very domestic and slow-paced day, which is a breather jing yuan certainly needs in the context of his demanding job. 

because you mentioned the hmc au, i’m going to answer again but now in the context of sophie!reader after the timeline of the fic (i also think the character dynamic makes it more fun, to be honest). this won’t make 100% complete sense to those who haven’t beta read it, which is admittedly most people, but it’s fiiine.   the reader allows jing yuan to wake up slightly later than usual after they’ve already made breakfast for everyone, and they have a family meal in the main room, during which fu xuan and yanqing squabble a lot (while jing yuan secretly goads the two on for the sake of his own amusement—although he makes sure it doesn’t escalate into something serious—and the reader scolds him for it). there’s a piece of meat put out for mimi, and they have also reluctantly given the sparrows a little platter of various seeds. fu xuan just eats sugar cubes.  following that, the reader and yanqing clean the dirty dishes before jing yuan takes yanqing to stargazer navalia to frolic around the markets and look at some swords. the reader goes to fyxestroll garden for a (fyxe)stroll (haha) and to idly pick some tea leaves for the next few days of business because they literally do not know what it means to take time off. mimi probably comes with them for the sake of it.  everyone is back on the ship by around late afternoon, and jing yuan insists on playing some board games with everyone—probably a set of monopoly or something which he brought over from china. yanqing groans, because he thinks it’s boring (why play board games when you could be sparring?), but isn’t about to disobey. fu xuan scoffs at the triviality of this ‘rectangular human entertainment’, as she calls it, but ends up being by far the most invested and laughing whenever she charges someone for landing on her properties. the reader and mimi are a team, the latter who is just chilling while the reader explains to yanqing on why he cannot, in fact, stab fu xuan’s figurine so she loses all her properties.  now, jing yuan has invited over the reader’s family for dinner and didn’t tell them about it because he didn’t want to stress them out, but when they find out it has the opposite effect and they go into hosting overdrive, cleaning every inch of the house they can and hastily trying to come up with a menu. jing yuan calms them down and assures them they don’t have to prepare any food—he’s got that sorted (he did anticipate their overreaction, so he’s ordered takeout and is having it delivered to his address in china). suffice to say yanqing is very confused when he opens the door 中国-carving down and sees a stranger holding odd, thin, white bags out and asking for jingyuan). anyway, dinner is eaten, the reader still insists on doing all the clean-up (thankfully yukong and qingni come to the rescue and help them with the workload), and everyone chats amongst themselves for a while until it’s late into the evening and the reader’s family leave, with yukong promising to invite the ship’s crew over to her place for a meal next time. the crew ends up watching a film (yes, the ship now has a TV), and wouldn’t you guess it, it’s the howl’s moving castle ghibli film! the reader, yanqing and fu xuan are left to wonder at some of the similarities to their own lives presented in the story while jing yuan smugly watches from the sidelines. (they get confused about the bird part, though—although ironically, now that i think about it, the whole mimi-jing yuan thing does kind of reflect film!howl’s birdiness despite this being an au of the book… huh.) once it’s finished, the reader tells yanqing to go to bed, who initially insists he isn’t tired but eventually relents, and fu xuan falls asleep shortly afterwards (do heliobi even sleep? they do now, in any case). jing yuan and the reader do the final bit of cleaning up before also retiring to bed. 

[cerasus--flores]

I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT TO ASK HEROMARI

GIRL HOW DARE UUUUU

well um. everyone lives au. where they get to be happy together. and grow up together. is the obvious one.

otherwise. i cannot state enough how good liam's hmc au is. it's literally SO good. i love it so much. go read the two parts NOW i beg of you it fucks.

send me a ship and I'll assign it a random fic trope i like, and i might even write something with it!

[hp-fanfic-archive]

an introductory rec list (that no one asked for) to some of my favorite ships: wolfstar [1/10]

First fic I read for the pairing: Where Rain And Smoke Mingle by smallestbird [1k,T] It doesn't matter if they've disowned you, they're still your family. It doesn't matter how often you walk away, it still hurts. [it’s a bit dreary, but the writing style is so nice and i’m a big sucker for hurt/comfort]

Fic that really sold me on the pairing: Of Brothers and Boyfriends by Amuly [38k,E] There’s no summary on the fic, but, essentially, Remus and Sirius’s secret relationship gets found out and things get… complicated. (warning for homophobia) [My note on my ao3 bookmark pretty much sums up how I feel about this fic: Honestly one of my favorites (and one of the stories that really got me hooked on Wolfstar tbh) and I've read it at least eight times. However, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the homophobic James Potter (even though he does come around).]

Absolute favorite fic(s) for the pairing: Text Talk by merlywhirls [141k,Not Rated] Sirius is in boarding school, Remus is in hospital, and they don't know each other until Sirius texts the wrong number. (warnings for homophobia, mentions of abuse, and homophobic language) [One of the earlier fics I read and it’s always just been one of my favorites, even though it’s been 3 years since I read it for the first time.] Harry Potter and the Live Laugh Love Sign in the Basement by loudestfandomsoftheworld [24k,T] Harry spends his summer with his fugitive godfather and his former professor who is a jobless werewolf. It's probably the best summer he's ever had. [The humor, the characterizations, their relationships, it’s all so fucking perfect!!] Go East [+Podfic] by xinasvoice [84k,E] Remus has been running for a long time. Eventually, he runs into a strange castle built by a wizard and his young apprentice. The longer he stays, the more secrets he uncovers...and the less he wants to leave. This is a novel-length adventure story that loosely follows the plot of Howl's Moving Castle. It does not require knowledge of the HMC book or movie to enjoy it. [it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it’s plot is based on one of my all time favorite movies? 11/10] Of Queries and Quarantines by MoonCat457 [51k,E] LUPIN.RJ: James, WHY? POTTER.JF: Because you’re the one currently doing the job, so it makes sense that you’d be the one to train the person hired to take your place. LUPIN.RJ: No, I mean why is Monty hiring a new editor in the middle of a fucking pandemic? POTTER.JF: An old friend of mine is in a tough spot and needs a job, so of course, dad is helping him out. - - - - OR A story set in the middle of the pandemic in which Sirius is hired at the Potter’s publishing company and Remus is responsible for training him. Lots of texting, lots of video calls, lots of mutual pining, and a lot of really bad literature quotes. [i’ve largely avoided quarantine au fics, but sometimes they’re so well-written and hilarious and also a texting fic and i accidentally fall in love with them, so here we are.]

Most recent fic I’ve read for the pairing: There Is No Man, However Wise by enigmaticblue [87k,T] It’s 1988, Sirius has Harry, and possession is nine-tenths of the law. [i adore a good raising harry au and i also adore the premise of the series this is in and i also adore the writing story and characterizations. 10/10]

Favorite AU(s) I’ve read for the pairing: High School AU: Likewise Variable by ssstrychnine [28k,T] James has plans, Peter is the nurse, Sirius keeps fake blood up his sleeves, and Remus just tries to stay alive. [i first read this fic in 2017 and it still lives rent free in my mind. it’s hilarious, a perfect characterization of the marauders (even tho it’s a muggle modern high school au) and adding shakespeare? just icing on the fucking cake. it’s excellent.] University AU: Wannabe Your Lover by Maraudererasmut & shadow_prince [15k,M] Somewhere in America, Fall of 1997 - Returning to University, James refused to room with Sirius in the wake of The Great Cheez-it Battle of '96. They must adjust to living with someone new, Mr. Potter worried they'd both get scurvy, James unsuccessfully continued trying to court one Lily Evans, Snape got what was coming to him, and Sirius was the most confused of them all. [this is the university experience we all wish we had, lowkey. aside from the hilarity that comes from having the marauders in a fic, it’s just cute and well-written and i love it (and southern remus??? it’s everything i never knew i needed.] Alternate Sorting AU (Slytherin Remus): Half Agony, Half Hope by Barry_Manilows_Wardrobe [21k,E] A tale wherein Sirius Black loses 750 House Points for Gryffindor. But it’s totally worth it. [listen, if, before i read this fic, you asked me if remus could’ve been a slytherin, my answer would have been “perhaps but probably not.” now, however, yeah. 100%. it’s hilarious, it’s novel (which i love to see), but it’s still the same remus and sirius and it’s excellent.] Haunted House AU: Another Day in the Sun by REwrites [19k,T] Is it haunted? I suppose that depends on who is telling the story. [really really excellent and a little haunting (pun entirely intended). it’s romantic and sweet and a little bittersweet but i adore it.]

WIP(s) I really love for the pairing: We Were Infinite by WolfstarPups90 [336k,E] “The Marauders aren’t something that will just go away once we graduate.” James continued, taking a more serious tone and addressing not only Remus, but the fear that they all had found recently in the back of their minds about what may become of them outside the walls of Hogwarts. “We’re a family. We’ve proven that again and again, haven’t we? We’re forever. Unstoppable. We’re infinite.” The full story of The Marauders from September 1st 1971 - October 31st 1981. (Heavily centered around Wolfstar and Jily in later chapter) [the first WIP i ever read (usually i stick to completed works, but this was being pretty regularly updated when i started reading it and also it’s fucking iconic so what can i say?)] Of Leaves and Stars by irrationalmoony & LadyAmina [273k,T] Almost a year out of Hogwarts, Lily finally manages to convince Sirius and James to get more acquainted with muggle technology and buy phones. Sirius, of course, texts the wrong number. [everyone is queer! (as they well should be). also: is it complete? no. has that stopped me from reading it twice? also no.]

Favorite Series for the pairing: TransVerse by picascribit [30k,E,2 works] Canon-divergent AU in which Remus is a transgender boy instead of being a werewolf. (warnings for underage, transphobia, internalized transphobia, bullying, self-harm) [i am a trans remus stan and this series is iconic, but also heed the tags kids.]

Longest fic I’ve read for the pairing: Once in a Blue Moon by FullMoonDreams [408k,M] In a world where Remus never received his Hogwarts invitation and Sirius wasn't accepted by the Gryffindors the two lonely boys become friends. A story beginning in their first year, and continuing right through Hogwarts and beyond. RLSB. [this fic emotionally ruined me,,, but like,,, in a good way, you know? i will probably never reread it because i cried for hours the first time, but the plot does live rent free in my mind (and i do have a playlist of songs that remind me of it).]

Fic(s) with some of my favorite tropes: Matchmaking: Pining, Parchment, Plotting, and Pranks by KayBee1762 [12k,T] “Idea parchment,” James said. He unfolded it and smoothed it out. “You want to get them together, right? That’s why you came to me?” “Yeah,” Lily huffed, which was ridiculous because he was right, that’s why she came to him. But it was supposed to be her idea, because she wanted to help her dear friend Remus, not James or Sirius. But it was so nice to be able to talk about this with someone, and James looked so pleased and excited. “Good,” James said. “Good, because they need to get together, they would be so happy and so good together, and Sirius will stop sighing like a lovesick puppy and just snog him instead.” In which Lily considers changing Houses, James blushes a lot, Sirius is his usual dramatic self, Remus mopes, and Peter knew everything all along. [the marauders (especially james and lily) trying to play matchmaker is one of my favorite instances of the classic matchmaking trope.] Road Trips + Bed Sharing: Of Comets and Counter-Examples by Woldy [5k,T] If the past is a foreign country, can travel help to resolve a troubled history? Dumbledore assigns Remus and Sirius a mission to explore three European cities, or perhaps to find each other. [a lovely tale of travel, reunions, comfort, friendship, and self-rediscovery. plus, travel, bed sharing, and friends to lovers??? yeah] Matchmaking (again): In The Middle by Blossomwitch [3k,Not Rated] James is the natural confidant of both Remus and Sirius. When they both swear him to secrecy on the same topic, James is stuck watching his friends pine for each other without being able to say a word to bring them together. A lesser man might shrink from the challenge of finding a way to break his promise without breaking his promise, but not James Potter! [i already did a matchmaking trope fic i know but what can i say other than the trope fucking slaps and so does this fic.]

[caitybug]

It may be February but... why not haha. 

Below the cut, organized in chronological order, are the fics I wrote in 2020! All put into one place :D. Thank you to everyone who read, kudos’d, commented, beta’d, and supported my writing. It was my first ever year writing fanfiction, and I am so thankful for all the friends I’ve made because of it.

<3 <3

If Not For You

Word count: 92,461 Chapters: 36 Rating: M

Summary:

Simon was born and raised in the midwest, and he thinks he has his life figured out. He has a girlfriend that he feels happy with, is excited to drive for his junior year, and can't wait to get away from his father when he goes away for school.

However, this all changes when his mom dies and he is carted to the east coast to start at a boarding school. Simon then has to deal with having a roommate (who hates him), living with his mother's death, and wanting to be anywhere but where he is.

To add to it all, one day he gets a strange phone call, and he wonders if his mother's death was really an accident at all.

author’s note:

This was my first like actual fic. And my first try at writing something. This fic will always have a special place in my heart because it helped lead me to all the amazing people I now call friends <3

Not only that but it was a bit of therapy for me. (Self insert? In MY fanfiction? More likely than you’d think!)

Anyway, whenever someone comments, leaves kudos, or otherwise acknowledge that the fic exists I get emotional haha. I also have like three playlists for it too haha.

The Heist

Word Count:7456 Rating:T

Summary:

It's the fourth year of the Halloween heist, and Baz is determined to win. He thinks he has it all planned, that he knows Simon Snow through and through.

Despite this, somehow Simon still manages to surprise him.

author’s note:

b99 AU bahaha. Need I say more??

Pay Your Fines, Snow

Word Count: 1524 Rating: T

Summary:

Baz Pitch works at the local library every summer. He's annoyed at kids who run around, people who don't follow directions, and Simon Snow- who can't pay a fine on time.

author’s note

This fic was the first of the fics that sparked all my crazy prompts haha. It was so much fun to do! 

There is a wonderful podfic of this made by the amazing and beautiful @xivz​, and it also has art now by @peachpit-gabe!! Go check it out here. 

A Rebirth

Word Count: 3374 Rating: T

Summary:

Simon and Baz need to finish their presentation for their Art History class. However, Baz also got pulled into watching his younger siblings for the weekend.

Frozen 2, chicken nuggets, sword fights, and themes of Renaissance.

author’s note

I wrote this for the amazing @krisrix as a prompt! It was so much fun to do and I legit wrote the whole thing in like one afternoon and had it looked over and posted it haha. I still feel bad because Kris legit asked for babies and I kicked the babies out at the beginning of the fic LOL. 

Coming Together in Three Parts

Word Count: 4639 Rating: M Chapters: 3

Summary:

Three snippets of their lives after Wayward Son.

author’s note:

The summary definitely leaves a lot to be imagined haha. But I decided to pull a @ninemagicks and give a metaphor of threes and I love yous. So it’s three lovely stages after Wayward Son. There’s the I Love You, the moving in, and then a marriage proposal. I was fairly proud of this! And I did this as an exchange fic as well. 

The Three Acts of a Wizard

Word Count: 6439 Rating: T

Summary:

Today, Baz is giving Simon a reprieve (or, that's what he is telling Simon.)

Cue a removal of cursed body parts, a grumpy fireplace who *knows* what is happening, and a shrill frizzy-haired friend threatening to poison some scones.

(this is a remix fic for @ninemagicks​ HMC AU YWSAFS

author’s note:

I wrote this for Nena’s birthday in the summer! Their friendship has meant the world to me, and this story is what I think gave me the gall courage to message them and harass them with 2k word comments/metas haha. If you’ve not read their fic, make sure to do so!

Heaven is a Place on Earth

Word Count: 12,711 Rating: M Chapters: 5 Summary:

Five hours each week. That's all Simon and Baz get.

But we know that's all they need to fall in love...

~~

A San Junipero AU

author’s note:

This fic idea came to me randomly and I literally wrote it in a week. I love it so much, and despite being MCD I think it’s still generally happy (I mean.. they do end up together??) Idk, it has a special place in my heart. And I made @krisrix read Baz with an american accent so... win win haha. 

(Un)Sexy Saturday

Word Count: 6157 Rating: M/E Chapters: 9 (they’re different stories each chapter.)

Summary:

Summaries vary by chapter. Overall it’s just a collection of silly stories where sex gets interrupted. 

author’s note:

Honestly this series was so fun to do. I need to continue it sometime! From beauty blender butt plugs, to swingers, to garlic allergies... it just makes me laugh haha. 

5 Times Simon Wanted a Fistbump, and the 1 Time He Finally Got It

Word Count: 5489 Rating: T Chapters: 6

Summary:

Simon Snow hasn't had a lot of friends in his life. He has Penny, who is great, of course. He has Baz (but does he count as a friend?)

So now, seeing Shepard, he's got a chance at a friend. A bro of sorts.

Simon sees the final hurdle in their friendship to be a fist bump. A simple signal of their friendship.

But how long is it going to take to get it??

~~

5 + 1 Yearning for a Fist Bump.

author’s note:

Simpard. Friendship. And art by @nick-eyre?? Perfection. 

A Goblin’s Skull, Maccies, and a Door Handle

Word Count: 2017 Rating: T

Summary:

Simon Snow wakes up in a building he doesn't know, tied up and blindfolded.

Luckily his best bro Shepard is there too.

author’s note:

Wrote this as a little bday treat for @nick-eyre :D. Decided to give Simon a friend who would also lust after goblins with him haha. 

One Word, Four Letters, A Lifetime's Worth of Pain: IKEA

Word Count: 2428 Rating: T

Summary:

Baz comes home and notices the house is suspiciously quiet.

When he finds Simon, surrounded by unfinished pieces of furniture, he can't help but ask... why?

Author’s note:

This was written as a birthday gift for @foolofabookwyrm! She is an absolute gem and has never been to IKEA, but now I hope she understands the struggle of building IKEA furniture haha. 

The Beat of My Heart

Word Count: 2230 Rating: T

Summary:

Simon is kneeling on the ground, waiting for Baz to come home.

He has a question. One he's wanted to ask for a while.

author’s note:

This was written as a birthday gift for @krisrix! A little proposal fic for the rat king <3 <3

Out of My Mind

Word Count: 10876 Rating: M Chapters: 3

Summary:

Baz and Simon are living their lives, domestic and content. They have a nine-year-old daughter, a Sunday morning routine, and plans to be alone for the first time for a while.

But when a girl who is growing into her powers reads something she shouldn't, they get into a predicament they don't expect.

author’s note:

This was a COE gift for @krisrix! Body Swap! Parents! Married! I tried to do it all for him haha. 2020 was really the year where I was like yeah, let’s write Kris a million fics. And honestly—wouldn’t have it any other way.

Imposter vs Crewmates

Word Count: 754 Rating: T

Summary:

Everyone has their quarantine coping strategies.

Simon tried to bake bread.

Baz watched Twilight.

But Penelope...

She introduced the gang to Among Us.

author’s note:

Look. I’ve no excuses for this lolol. Just thought it’d be silly :D. 

The Ethics of Wanting You

Word Count: 1417 Rating: T

Summary:

Simon Snow realized recently that he has a crush on Baz.

Penny suggested he find reasons to spend more time with him, so he suggests a study session for their ethics exam the following day.

(It doesn't go as planned, but the result is very much worth it.)

author’s note:

Birthday gift for @peachpit-gabe <3 <3. Just a cute one shot with snowbaz.

Pumpkin, Let’s Make a Patch

Word Count: 2516 Rating: T

Summary:

Simon Snow is trying to create a neighborhood pumpkin patch.

Baz, unknowingly, rips the pumpkins out of his front lawn.

(How will he make it up to him?)

author’s note:

This was done for the COC. I based it off this cute tiktok series with this kid who rode around on his skateboard and plants pumpkins around his neighborhood.

Weathering the Storm

Word Count: 2248 Rating: T

Summary:

Shepard was nine when he first met a boy he'd learn was Simon Snow.

He was in a ditch crying, and Shepard wasn't sure what to make of him.

This boy lived in his mind until he saw him again years later.

And today, when there's a storm unlike any other in London, he knows who must be at the center of it.

author’s note:

Honestly. This is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. IDK. It’s so short but... I love it. And if you like to listen to fics— @bloodiedpixie did a phenomenal podfic of it! And @nick-eyre did AMAZING art for it too <3. 

New Beginnings

Word Count: 2090 Rating: T

Summary:

It's the first New Years Eve after the Christmas that changed everything.

After Simon Snow and Baz kissed.

After they defeated the humdrum.

After the Mage's death.

But, as many of us do, it's time to take the New Year as an opportunity to begin anew.

author’s note:

Part of a server exchange I did for @knitbelove :D. 

And, all of the prompts I’ve yet to put on ao3... lolol

[rockinlibrarian]

Fic Writer Review

@pixiedane tagged everyone on this, and considering I've been wallowing in my sudden Being Into Fanfic lately (though to be honest I've been READING a lot lately more than writing), see this link, I figured I'd take her up on the challenge. You, too, may take ME up on the challenge if YOU have been writing fic!

how many works do you have on AO3? 19. That's much less than @pixiedane! I'm a baby fic writer!

what’s your total AO3 word count? 66,239

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? There are technically seven listed, but "Marvel Cinematic Universe," "The Avengers (Marvel Movies)," "Captain America (Movies)," and "Agent Carter (TV)" all apply to the same fic, so really just 4. But that doesn't count fandoms I've written but not completed (and therefore posted) for. So there are more to come. Maybe. Sometime.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos? *

"On the End of Endgame," 51 kudos, because I'm right and Marvel doesn't understand their own time travel rules and 51 people KNOW it!

"The Puppy-Fly Effect," 39 kudos, because it's Back to the Future, the most mainstream property I've written for! So people see it and say, "oh, I've actually seen that one" and they're more likely to read it!

"The Invitation: an Epilogue," 22 kudos, which is pretty good since this is my newest fic on there. It's a Howl's Moving Castle (BOOK, PLEASE, OBVIOUSLY) epilogue, so considering it's not a RECENT thing it just keeps getting slow and steady readership. I myself have been reading a lot of Howl fic lately, and people are getting comments on their decade-old stories from me now, so I imagine this one also will slow and steadily keep accumulating hits and kudos.

"Kerry and the Meaning of Life," 20 kudos. I'm honestly not sure why this is, by far, my most kudoed Legion FX fic. It's the first one I ever wrote, and got me started on the whole writing-the-entire-Loudermilk-coming-of-age rabbit hole I fell into to begin with, but I've only improved over time, I think, but even after I'd posted other Loudermilk backstory I think is objectively better, this one still gets the most!

"Syd's (Third) Childhood Begins," 15 kudos, because when people finish watching Legion FX the NATURAL move is to seek out fix-it fic. I wouldn't say this is fix-it really as much as ensure-the-ending-is-actually-happy-it, but I did use the "fix-it" tag, and at least one of the commenters DID say they immediately came on AO3 "looking for pretty much exactly this"...

do you respond to comments, why or why not? Absolutely, because I know what it feels like NOT to get comments, and also what it feels like to-- I don't know, I just get paranoid, if people don't respond to me, I think stuff like "Did I say something wrong? Do they not care about my opinion? Am I invisible?" so I'm Do Unto Others-y about it, even if all I can think of to say is "Thank you!"

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Well, I haven't actually posted (read: finished) the ending yet, but it's definitely "Exploration of the Astral Plane," because that's just Legion FX canon. No spoilers, Oliver Bird starts out the show having gotten lost decades ago, and this is the story of HOW he got lost, and his friends didn't KNOW if they'd ever see him again, so the paragraphs I've written of the end do make me quite teary! The fic's really fun despite the canonically sad ending, though, honest!

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written? I have not written one YET, if I recall, unless you count the several mildly interconnected IPs involved in the Pipeweed Mafia Stories, which isn't even posted because I feel uncomfortable posting Real People fic online, but crossovers are fun and I really enjoy reading them, especially when the writer successfully blends things together while being true to the characters. Just today I read a hilarious one blending The Good Place and Harry Potter!

have you ever received hate on a fic? Gosh, this is such an ironic question. I wouldn't say that I WISH I received hate on a fic, but my fics aren't even NOTICED enough to receive hate! I already feel paranoid-- Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, you know how it is-- when I don't receive LIKE on a fic! It's LIKE receiving hate for me, because my brain goes into "Does nobody like it? Does nobody care? Are they all too nice to say it's terrible?" mode, so, yeah.

do you write smut? if so what kind? Absolutely not. My demisexual self hates reading it, definitely not writing it. I struggled enough writing just a taste of what a horny, slutty teenager who-talks-too-much Oliver Bird would have been in this AU, and that's mild!

have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. That would really suck, wouldn't it, if someone stole my work and ended up getting MORE LIKES AND COMMENTS THAN ME on it.

have you ever had a fic translated? Also not that I'm aware of, and if I'm not aware of it but it happened I guess that would answer the "stolen" question, too.

have you ever co-written a fic before? Ever in my entire life, I feel like I must have, but not anything I've posted online then

what’s your all time favorite ship? Hmm. Honestly, there are ships I defend passionately if the topic comes up, but I'm not sure I have a favorite just on my own. Especially as I hate smut, so I avoid seeking out specifically shipping stories. But, since I have been reading a lot of HMC fic lately, I should mention that Howl and Sophie ARE one of my absolute favorite fictional couples, but that's just how DWJ wrote them, and I can tell you unfortunately that not all fanfic writers QUITE nail that chemistry...

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? Speaking of The Good Place, I really do wish I could write the novelization, and maybe I'd write some pieces of it longer than the few paragraphs I have written? But I doubt I ever will, let alone to the point of FINISHING...

what are your writing strengths? Fanfic wise, I like to THINK I understand the characters very well, at least! Writing in general? I think it's just my quirky voice? I'm the only me.

what are your writing weaknesses? Oh, very much FINISHING. But beyond that, it's pulling teeth to get me to fill out the story sometimes. I tend to draft with dialogue, and then I have to go back and fill in what's actually happening AROUND the dialogue, and sometimes I'd rather not.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? At first I was like, I don't KNOW any other languages well enough to do this! And then I remembered the Firefly fic I have mostly written but not completed yet, and you know how in the show their speech is peppered with random Mandarin phrases? My husband has the Firefly RPG book and there's an appendix of Mandarin phrases you might hear in the Firefly universe, and I DID incorporate a few of those phrases into my dialogue, just from that appendix and it's probably horrible, but it fit the universe...

what was the first fandom you wrote for? EVER? The earliest I'm sure about is the Ducktales fic I found in an old Girl Scout manual that I must have written when I was 11 or 12. The first fandom I ever posted on AO3, in response to an exchange, was Legion FX of course, but that wasn't until the ripe old age of 40.

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? I'm going to give this one to "Two (or Three) Mutant Freaks Against the Fourth Grade" just because it has gotten the least number of hits of ANY of my posts, INCLUDING THE PLACEHOLDER WITH NO WORDS IN IT, so it needs more love. And it really is one of my favorites, because it's just a sweet little story about nerds making friends, and I love rereading it.

*This made me curious which fics got the most kudos comparative to their HITS, because the Endgame one has WHOA more hits than any other fic, but it's over a thousand, which doesn't make 51 kudos look so good anymore. Percentage-wise, it's less than 5%, which seems to be where most of my fics hit when you do the math-- between 4% and 8% kudos-to-hits. The exceptions, jumping up to about 18% each, are the BttF and HMC fics, and, curiously, my beloved childhood friend AU mentioned in the last question-- it may have the least number of HITS (22), but that helps the math when you consider it's got 4 kudos. The HIGHEST percentage kudos-to-hits is its sequel, the childhood-friends-as-teenagers-AU fic mentioned in question 5**-- it's got 6 kudos and only 29 hits, so that's about 20%! Apparently people LIKE when I have to write a sex-crazed adolescent boy. COME ON, people! (The story is actually about Asexuality so I guess it really isn't people just wishing I'd write smut).

**Oh, I just noticed the numbers renumbered themselves when I put bullet points in the middle of the original question 3 there, so this is actually the answer to question 8? But it SAYS FIVE.

[lukatheselkie]

HMC - Pirates and Mermaids AU

@hetaliamondaychallenge

The amount of research that went into the thought “What if Sweden is (selectively) mute and uses sign language?” is just UGH. Europe’s recorded use of sign language is very lackluster until the 1750′s, and honestly it’s still sparse then. Because I wrote the beginning of this to be at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, I needed time-appropriate sign language. I spent roughly an hour trying to find it. On the bright side, I now know that Swedish Sign Language likely descended from Old British Sign Language, which is why I use (a form of) it in this. Technically, its use wasn’t recorded until 1760, but I imagine they were using a form of it before then. Cited: “...there is solid evidence that deaf people in Britain were signing as early as in the 16th century...” So, I just gave it a (probably inaccurate) name. I had to. You’ll see why. I do not claim this is the name used at the time. I also used time-appropriate measurements.

Fun Fact: Swedish Sign Language didn’t exist until 1800. And it’s currently an endangered language, which is really sad. It’s so beautiful. (Seriously, go look up Swedish Sign Language on YouTube. I recommend watching song translations. They’re captivating. Try Tommy Krångh if you go the song route.)

Ship: SuFrUk (Sweden/England/France)

I’m most definitely turning this into a longer story! This is just highlights, I’ll be adding in more detail as I create chapters.

    Arthur grimaces when his ship creaks, shifting in the direction of the net his crew cast moments ago. It isn’t an uncommon occurrence, being this far from shore. They often catch larger fish with the net they had stolen from a fishing boat. It feeds them well for a few days, so it’s worth the mess, but the ship tilting and moving everything that isn’t tied down is always obnoxious. “Pull it up! Now!” He doesn’t even give them a second before snapping at them again. “Faster! Don’t let it get away!” There’s not much of a chance of it getting away though. Not unless it has sharp teeth, like a shark. Even then, they panic so much it’s difficult for them to escape. But his crew doesn’t know that. And if any of them do, they don’t dare defy his orders. The net comes out of the water, and he frowns. That’s not a fish. That’s…

    “Move! Don’t let its stingers touch you!” Everyone in the line of the moving net runs as far away from it as they can. Thankfully, no one gets stung. Once the net is mostly done swaying, Arthur storms up to the knot holding it and unties it quickly. He’ll wait for the stupid jellyfish to die before tossing it back into the ocean to be eaten by something stupid enough to try. There’s no good meat on it. He steps up next to it and pokes it with his foot, careful not to let it touch any of his skin. It’s huge. The tentacles are roughly three fathoms (18 ft/548.64cm) long, from what he can tell. They’re in a tangled mess he doesn’t envy. They remind him a bit of a lion’s mane.

    The creature moves, forcing him to take a few steps back or risk getting stung. Incredibly, a man sits up from within the tangle, not an injury on him. He blinks, looking around in confusion. His face goes pale and he reaches out for the tentacles frantically, pulling them up around himself. He doesn’t appear to be hurt by them. Arthur takes a cautious step closer, intrigued. “Who are you?” He can feel the eyes of his crew on him. The man drops his armload, and his shoulders move up and down in what appears to be a sign, though there’s no noise paired with it. Or maybe he’s not close enough to hear it? There’s not a single mark on him, despite what he did. It becomes apparent to Arthur he’s part of the jellyfish. But how? “What are you?” The man starts moving his hands at an incredibly fast pace, eyes darting around frantically. “I can’t understand you. Can you speak?” He shakes his head, then goes back to moving his hands.

    It takes Arthur a few minutes of watching closely to realize it’s sign language. The… jellyfish is repeating the same phrase, over and over and over. He focuses harder on the signs, recognizing some. It’s been a few years since he used sign language, so he’s a bit rusty. But what are the chances this creature would know his?

    “Want… let… go.” Ah.

    “You want us to let you go? I can’t do that. Look at you! You’re a wonderful discovery. No one will believe us without a specimen. And that’s you.” He wiggles a bit, and some of his tentacles lash out at Arthur. He steps back in time for them not to hit his face, but they do manage to hit his hands. He clenches his jaw at the pain, wishing he was wearing his gloves. He hears swords being drawn behind him. “Put them away,” he growls out, glaring at the jelly-man. “No one is to touch him unless told to. We want him alive. Now leaves us alone. Go to the lower decks and prepare a place for him.” His crew hurries to do as they’re told. He looks back at the man. “What’s your name?”

    “B-E-R-W-A-L-D.” He signs out the letters begrudgingly.

    “Thank you for cooperating. If you keep doing that, I will promise you no harm will come to you. But only if you aren’t difficult.” He fumbles around in a barrel for a moment for something to wrap his hands with. “If that happens, I will not sell you like I currently intend to. I will protect you.” He wraps his hands in some bandages he finds, then glances up at Berwald. He’s signing again, still frantic in his movements. “It has been some years since I last practiced. Go slower.”

    “...Going with you? Where will… stay?” It’s still difficult to make out everything, but there’s enough for him to be mostly confident in what he’s saying.

    “I’ll have something made for you.” He racks his brain quickly for ideas. He could always use the Roman way. “I’ll have a large pond made for you, supplied with fresh seawater anytime you wish. But that’s only if you aren’t troublesome. Keep that in mind before you do anything.” Berwald nods, then looks around the ship calmly. At least he’s accepted he’s not leaving. There’s so many unanswered questions though! Perhaps he’ll answer some. “As long as we’re answering questions, I have a few for you. If they make you uncomfortable, you do not have to answer. I do not have to know. I am only curious. Answer slowly, if you do. I am still recalling some signs. What are you? Where did you come from? Did you have a home? A family? How come you don’t sting yourself?” Berwald furrows his brows, then lifts up his hands hesitantly. After a moment, he starts signing.

    “...A version of what humans call merfolk. ...Came from the coast of Sweden. Where… now? ...Didn’t have what humans consider a home. Just the ocean. ...Drifted from my family years ago. We don’t keep in touch. Would it make sense for a jellyfish to be able to sting itself? That’s why… don’t. ...May be human in appearance, but… not.” Arthur frowns slightly at his answers. No family? What a lonely existence.

    “You are close to England. That’s where you’ll be taken back to. If you’re from Sweden, why do you know British Sign Language?”

    “It’s the only thing I could learn.” Finally Arthur recognizes all of the signs.

    “I suppose that makes sense. Sign Language isn’t very well distributed. Why did you learn it though? You aren’t deaf. You can understand me too well.”

    “You are correct. I am not deaf. However, I am mute. I do not wish to speak of why, so please do not ask.” That’s curiosity-inducing. But he’ll obey his wish.

    “Alright. You do not have to tell me, but if you ever wish to, I will listen. Watch?” Berwald laughs quietly, a noise that startles Arthur enough for him to jump, which makes him laugh even more. He must be selectively mute, then. It makes him even more eager to learn his story, but he won’t push it. A thought comes to him, and he feels ashamed for not realizing earlier. “Do you need water to survive?” It’s a question he should have asked much sooner.

    “Absolutely. I am made mostly of water. But I can breathe your air, so I do not have to be submerged. I do wish I could have my tentacles flowing in the water again, but I know you will not allow that until I am away from the ocean. After all, I could easily swim away. Well, float away. It is very difficult to swim without the assistance of the current.” Arthur furrows his brows slightly.

    “It’s not entirely out of the question. If you are willing to be in the net, I can have my crew lower you into the water again. If not, I will personally bring you plenty of water below deck. I do not trust anyone on my crew to. They fear you. However, being afraid of a giant jellyfish is reasonable.” Berwald scrunches up his nose slightly.

    “I am not a fan of this net. It tangled me up. I would rather wait until we get to your home. At least I can untangle them while we travel. How long do you think it will take?”

    “I understand. It will take a week, at most. Usually it would be shorter, but there are a few more stops I wish to make before returning home. I won’t be returning to sea. I’ll have you to take care of.” Berwald turns his head away, hiding his smile. He was worried about the selling comment, but now he knows it’s not true. Not if he’s already planning on taking care of him. He looks back at him, eyes wide.

    “What is your name? You know mine, but you have not told me yours.”

    “My apologies.” He bows his head slightly. “How rude of me. I am Arthur.”

    “Like King Arthur?”

    “Indeed. I am a bit surprised you have heard that tale. You know sign language and of our stories. How often do you watch humans?” Berwald flushes crimson.

    “It is a guilty pleasure of mine. I get lonely very easily. I miss having others to interact with. I suppose that is why I was so close to your lovely ship. It seemed so lively. I did not expect to be captured. Though it isn’t entirely bad I was. I got to meet you.” He gives an almost mischievous smile. If Arthur didn’t know any better, he would think the jellyfish is flirting with him. Perhaps he is. But it’s not obvious enough for him to comment on it, lest he be incorrect and embarrass himself.

    “That is true. As strange as it has been, I rather enjoyed meeting you as well.” He smiles slightly at him. “Ah, give me a moment. I will get my gloves, then I can help you to where you’ll be staying.” He hurries off, hoping his sleeves won’t ride up while he’s helping.

~ (Five or so days later)

    Arthur practically throws himself into Francis’ arms when he opens the door to his house. “Mon dieu! Arthur, you startled me! I’m happy to see you, of course, but you didn’t have to nearly give me a heart attack the moment I opened the door. You could have at least let it register in my mind that you were here.” Despite his condescending words, he wraps his arms around him lovingly.

    “I’m sorry. I’m just excited. I have something to show you. Come with me.” He pulls out of the hug gently, hands lingering on his wrists. “On my ship. I’m retiring from pirating because of him. We can finally be together without worry.” He presses a kiss to his lips, then runs off. Francis smiles, shaking his head as he follows. That man.

    “Alright. What is it you wanted me to see? You show up in the middle of the night and drag me to your ship, it better be something interesting!”

    “Oh, it is! I promise.” He turns around to press another kiss to his lips, then disappears below deck. Francis rolls his eyes, and opens the door carefully, being quieter than Arthur. He chases after him, laughing at his energy. When he stops, Francis does as well. A subtle movement drags his attention away from his love, and he gasps. There’s an at least partially naked man laying on top of a beautiful jellyfish in a wide but shallow trough, filled with water. Upon closer inspection, he’s part of the jellyfish.

    “How…? What?” Arthur grins at him.

    “His name is Berwald. He wound up in our fishing net when he got too close. Look at him! Isn’t he beautiful?”

    “Oui, and dangerous! How did he get down here?” His love smiles sheepishly.

    “I sort of dragged him here? With his permission. I was covered, don’t worry. Clothes are enough of a covering to not be stung.” Francis sighs dramatically.

    “I knew it was a terrible idea for you to be pirating this time. You’ve done it twice before, what on Earth was a third time going to do for you?”

    “Apparently, give me a giant man-jelly.” Francis groans softly.

    “Oui, I see that. Whatever are you going to do with him?” The man shifts again, and his eyes open. They’re stunning. Like stormy sea waves. Their beauty knocks the breath out of him. Berwald’s hands start moving, too fast for Francis to comprehend what’s happening.

    “Who is this? I thought you decided not to sell me? I do not want to leave you! You are my friend! Or so I thought. Why would you sell me without telling me? And in my sleep too!?” Arthur slings his arms out.

    “You’ve got it all wrong, Berwald! I’m not selling you. I already promised I wouldn’t. I won’t go back on my word. This is my lover, Francis. I wanted you two to meet. I’m sorry for waking you. I didn’t know you were asleep. I should have spoken to you before leaving to get him, instead of just looking at you. That is my fault. We are friends. And I was hoping you two could become friends as well. I did not mean to worry you. I apologize.” Francis watches a bit of colour return to the jelly-man’s face and hears him sigh, presumably in relief.

    “Thank goodness. Your lover, you say? Humans are strange creatures. Though I must admit, this intrigues me. Do humans ever have more than one lover at a time?” Arthur stares at Berwald for a long moment. What an interesting question.

    “I suppose they can. It is uncommon, but I do not see why they couldn’t.” Francis tugs on his sleeve lightly.

    “How are you communicating with him? What did he say?”

    “Ah, right. You don’t know British Sign Language. That’s what he’s using. He’s selectively mute. Don’t ask him why, he doesn’t want to tell the story. He may change his mind in the future, but for now, that topic is off limits. Is there anything else you would like to ask him? And he wanted to know if humans ever have more than one lover at a time.” Francis releases his sleeve, and steps closer to the trough. What a fascinating question.

    “Berwald, was it?” A nod. “Strange that you have a human name. What are you? Where did you come from?” The jelly stares at Arthur expectantly.

    “He’s a version of what humans consider mermaids, and he’s from the coast of Sweden.”

    “You two aren’t humans, are you?” Arthur mentally scolds himself. He separated himself from them one too many times in his speech.

    “No, we aren’t humans,” he says slowly, making sure to include the topic for Francis’ sake. The Frenchman tenses up, but doesn’t say anything. “We’re actually personifications of countries. I’m England, and he’s France.” His eyes widen slightly.

    “I am Sweden.”

    “Sweden…?” He’s heard about the countries that were mer-creatures, but he never expected to come across one!

    “Sweden? Are you Sweden? Now you having a human name makes sense.”

    “So your family…?”

    “Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland.”

    “Wow. What are the chances we would meet?” Francis clears his throat quietly. “I’m going to have to teach you British Sign Language, aren't I?”

    “If you wish for us to be friends, oui. I do not want you to have to translate everything he says.” He gives Arthur a polite smile, then pecks his lips. “Please teach me.”

    “Of course I will. Would you like to come visit? I’m on my way home now. I just had to visit you and tell you the news before going.” Francis laughs.

    “Oui, I’ll come visit. Would you be alright with me moving in? Not immediately, of course, but after a few months? Maybe a year? Give you some time to settle back in.” Arthur’s eyes light up, and he hugs his love close.

    “That would make me the happiest man in the world!” He laughs, picking Francis up to spin him around. He places him back down, and kisses him again.

   “Mmm, as much as I would love to keep doing this, I must return home. You interrupted my beauty sleep! Have a wonderful trip back. Please be safe.” He kisses him on the forehead, then runs off.

~ (Two months later)

    The moment Berwald is in his large sea ‘pond’, he shakes his sore muscles out. He looks up at Arthur, and smiles thankfully at him. He propels himself through the water, doing his best to twirl around so he can see him in full. He struggles to the surface, grabbing the edge to keep himself up. Arthur smiles, taking note of the jellyfish bell flaring out around him. That’s something he hadn’t noticed on the ship. It’s maybe a yard and a half in diameter, including where his torso joins with it. “I see you’re enjoying yourself.” He nods, unable to sign because he’s holding himself above water. “Good. It was hell getting that made, and getting you in it without anyone seeing you. Thankfully, no one did. I will admit, at first I wanted to sell tickets for people to see you. But now, I want you to be a secret. I would have offered to release you back into the sea, but I didn’t want you getting lonely again. And… we’re friends. Don’t tell anyone, but I actually care about you. And I would hate to lose you. So don’t ever scare me by disappearing!” Berwald smiles fondly, and reaches out for Arthur’s hand. He squeezes it, then kisses the back of it. He pulls away, and looks him in the eyes.

    “I promise, friend.” The relief in Arthur’s eyes is overwhelming. He waves awkwardly at him and sinks back down into the water, just as Francis comes out of the house.

    “There you are! Did he make it in okay? He’s not hurt, is he?”

    “He’s fine, love. And no one saw. He’s safe here.” He motions at the tall fence surrounding the yard.

    “Good. I’m glad.” He glances at the water, giving a small smile to Berwald. “I made us some food. All three of us. Can we have a picnic? Then you can teach me some signs. I’m more than ready to learn.”

~ (1800)

    For the past few weeks, Berwald’s signing has gradually gotten harder and harder to interpret. Arthur always manages to figure out what he’s trying to say, but it’s incredibly concerning. He’s not entirely certain why it’s changing, though he has an idea. Instead of trying to figure out discreetly, he decides to outright say it one day when he goes to feed him. “Is Sweden developing its own sign language? Yours has gotten harder and harder to understand, and that’s the only thing I can think of.” He frowns, brows furrowed. He stays like that for maybe five minutes, before carefully lifting a hand to sign.

    “Perhaps. I am a bit upset it is changing. When it is done, will you teach me British Sign Language again? I will know both then.” Arthur chuckles.

    “You don’t need to ask. I am glad you want to know both though. Waiting until it has developed is probably the best idea. You won’t get them confused then.” Berwald nods, and slips back into the water. He lifts a hand up to sign at Arthur.

    “That is exactly what I was thinking. Now excuse me, I saw a fish. It must have gotten mixed in with the water when you changed it.” The Brit laughs, watching him chase after the fish. Maybe he’ll start gathering live fish to put in there with him. It might make him happier.

~(1850’s)

    “Arthur! Arthur, look!” Francis stumbles out the back door, newspaper in hand. “It’s possible to make larger aquariums than we previously thought! Perhaps we could have one made for Berwald? That way he doesn’t have to lift himself out of the water to communicate with us. We’ll be able to see him anywhere! Doesn’t that sound exciting?” Arthur places a hand on either shoulder, and kisses Francis’ nose.

    “That does sound exciting. I’m sure Berwald is tired of communicating with one hand. It is a good idea. I will look into it tomorrow. However, won’t you sit and have a nice meal with us?”

    “Oui! I would never pass up a meal with my two favourite boys.” He kisses Arthur on the forehead, then kneels to do the same thing to Berwald. A question the jelly-man asked years ago is brought back to Arthur’s mind. Do humans ever have more than one lover at a time? After a moment of thought, he lands on a similar answer to what he gave last time. They can.

~ (A few months later)

    Arthur tilts the barrel with all his might, nearly falling into the newly-filled tank when Berwald slips out. He heaves a huge sigh, unsure if it’s from relief or lack of oxygen from the nerves. He makes his way back to the ground, grateful for the solidness of it. He doesn’t look at the huge tank quite yet. “Francis.” He loops an arm around his waist, closing his eyes as he turns toward the glass.

    “On the count of three?”

    “One.”

   “Two.”

   “Three!” They say it together, and open their eyes. Both of them gasp, finally seeing Berwald surrounded in water from the side for the first time since making his acquaintance. His tentacles are billowing out around him, moving slightly with the gentle current they decided to have installed. His torso is stockier and chubbier than they thought, but neither is complaining. His shoulders are broad, and his arms long and toned. His blonde hair shimmers in the light refracting through the water from the ceiling of the building. He’s an absolutely stunning sight.

    “Goodness, Arthur! He’s beautiful!” Francis steps closer to the glass, placing his hand on it gently.

    “He is.” He walks up next to his love, but doesn't touch the glass. Berwald lets himself sink to the bottom, and places his hand where Francis’ is. He smiles brightly at them, eyes crinkling at the edges because of it. “Very beautiful. Berwald, can you hear us?” He laughs, a sound that, surprisingly, reaches their ears.

    “Yes! I can hear you better than I could before! It’s like I’m back in the ocean! Except I have friends to keep me company! And human food to eat! I couldn’t be happier! Thank you!” His expression is full of excitement as he signs.

    “You’re very welcome, dear. It’s the least we can do. You’ve been so wonderful and understanding. I’m glad we can bring you company.” Francis replies, placing his other hand on the glass. Berwald eagerly mirrors that as well. “You mean a lot to us.” Arthur smiles, nodding his agreement.

    “You do. Francis, is it time?”

    “Oui, I think so!” Berwald tilts his head slightly, obviously confused. He doesn’t pull away from Francis to sign though.

    “Do you recall asking me if humans ever have more than one lover at a time?” He nods slowly, confusion still dancing in his eyes.

    “Arthur and I have decided we both love you very much, and would like to ask if you will be our lover?”

    “It can be the three of us in a relationship. We’ll be more than friends. It might be a bit strange, but we’re willing to try. We love you enough to try.” The confusion finally falls away, and he pushes himself back from the glass. He grabs two of his tentacles, and focuses on putting them over his head in a shape of some sort. Oh! It’s a heart!

    “I love you both too. My answer is yes.” He smiles at them, bottom lip trembling slightly.

    “Please don’t cry! Even if they’re happy tears. You’ll get me going too.” Francis dabs at his eyes as if he’s already crying. Then, he grabs Arthur’s hand and presses his palm flat against the glass. “Show your love, Arthur. I already have. It’s your turn.” The Brit rolls his eyes, but places his other hand on the glass nonetheless. Berwald matches him, grinning. After a moment, he scrunches up his nose and sticks his tongue out.

    “Hey! Put that back! No fair! I can’t kiss you until you stop out here.” Not even that is enough to dampen his mood though. He’s over the moon with joy. Judging by the expression on Francis’ face, so is he. And Berwald, too. He moves his arm over a bit, motioning at Francis to put his hand there. He does, and Arthur takes his other hand. In their own way, they’re making a circle of love.

~ (Early 1960’s)

    Arthur never thought he would be thanking Alfred for anything, but here he is. Incredibly grateful to one of his inventors, for making a suit he and Francis can actually visit with Berwald in without fear of getting stung. Well, mostly. Their faces will still be exposed, and they need gloves and boots, but those aren’t too difficult to get a hold of. “Berwald! We’re coming!” Francis laughs, grabbing him by the waist.

    “You’re too excited, mon cher. You might startle him. Take a few deep breaths to calm down before entering the water with him. I’ll count. Let’s start with five. One.” Arthur takes a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before releasing it. “Two.” He feels himself relaxing slightly as he holds this one. “Three.” His muscles untense, though he was unaware they were. “Four.” His excitement becomes a dull ache. “Five.” Now it’s no longer an ache, more like a happy memory. “Better?” He nods, then kisses him in thanks.

    “I’m sorry. I’ve just wanted to be close to him for so long.”

    “As have I. But he is still part animal. He has those instincts. We should try our hardest not to spook him, oui?”

    “You’re right. I should have thought of that.”

    “Nonsense. You’re excited. That’s completely fine. I just didn’t want you to be disappointed. Are you ready?” He nods, and starts climbing the ladder up to the top of the tank. Francis follows close behind. He doesn’t get in the water yet, despite drawing Berwald’s curiosity. He sits on the rim, smiling down at him.

    “We’re coming in. Finally, we get to be by your side. We’ll have to come to the surface for air quite often though, so could you stay near the top? If that’s possible. I know the current circulates the entire tank.” He nods, looking just as excited as Arthur feels. Francis sits next to him, and squeezes his hand.

    “Ready?”

    “Ready.” They look at each other, count to three together, and slide into the water after taking a deep breath. The goggles were a good call. They may not be perfect, but they’re much better than without them. Berwald struggles against the current to swim toward them, desperation in his eyes. They meet in the middle, and practically melt into one another. By the time Francis goes to pull away for a breath, they breach the surface. Apparently Berwald got them closer without either realizing.

    “Merci,” Francis practically whispers, lost in his eyes. Arthur nudges him lightly. “Ah, oui! Berwald, may I kiss you? You’ve seen Arthur and I do it bef-” He presses his lips to Francis’ tenderly, effectively silencing him. The Frenchman closes his eyes, wrapping his arms around his neck. After maybe two minutes, they pull away from each other. Berwald looks at Arthur with a questioning expression. He rolls his eyes, pecks a pouting Francis on the lips, then kisses the Swedish man lovingly. Berwald must be counting, because he pulls away at nearly the same time as he did from Francis.

    “You are both wonderful at that. I am very grateful to have you. You have taught me so many things, and with those clothes, you can teach me more. Thank you so much. I love you.”

    “I love you too,” they say in sync. Then, looking at each other, “And you!” They laugh, and kiss each other. Berwald presses his nose to Arthur’s cheek when they part, and kisses him again. He does the same to Francis when their kiss is over. His heart is so full yet so light. He’s never felt this way before. He loves it. Almost as much as he loves Arthur and Francis.

[kpop-pick-me-up]

| Taehyung x Ravenclaw! Reader (fluff) :00 can't | | Wait for the HMC au bby💜 |

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Taehyungxravenclaw! Reader pt. 1/?

A/N- You got it! Sorry it took so long I was adjusting to my new school schedule before I started writing again. And SAME! It's my motivation to keep improving, as I don't want to write/post a HMC au I wouldn't want to read. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to tag you or not,so just let me know for the next parts. Anyways, hope you enjoy sorry if it's absolute garbage :[ I'm going to go back and check it one more time tomorrow to look for any typos I missed, but until then please ignore them.

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The halls were buzzing with excitement all over the castle. You couldn't walk 15 feet without hearing the news about the rumored new students. From what your ears had gathered from students rushed conversations while walking to and from your lessons and the occasional accidental (read: deliberate) snooping, they were international students coming from somewhere in Asia. You were quite uninterested to say the least. (Or so you tried to tell yourself). If anything, you were confused and even a little irked at the news. As rumors tend to lack factual evidence, there's is no telling how many new students you'll be getting, how old they are, when exactly they'll be arriving and last but not least WHY they are coming to hogwarts on the cusp of the first exam season of the year. How inconvenient for the new students and the teachers, to be plopped into a class and then taking an exam on it days later, in a foreign language as you can only assume English isn't their first language. You became so invested in the news however, that you just HAD to solve it. You had to figure out all the answers. You saw it as a challenge: a riddle if you will. This always happens when new rumors surface. You try to convince yourself that you just don't care, that you remain unbothered at all times. But your Ravenclaw spirit sees this as a brain game. You just love the rush of sneaking around and discovering the truth before everyone else. You never share what you discover though, it's just a personal accomplishment that you record in your journal. Sometimes you've gotten into a couple sticky situations but nothing terrible or detention worthy. Just a "Miss L/N, why are you pretending to be a gargoyle above the gardens?" Or a "Can you please stop smelling people's closets, we assure you we will find whoever is taking our gillyweed on our own. " You were so close to solving the last one too. Your money is on one of the Weasley kids. You could've sworn that they left a trail of fallen wet Dill leaves that they used to replace the gillyweed that led all the way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Your steps are quick as you make the last turn to the doors of the great Hall for breakfast, and your quick pace is kept all the way until you're seated at the nearly empty Ravenclaw table. Usually the table is bustling with students shoving food down their throat, chatting up a storm to their friends whose heavy heads are playing a sleepy game of tag with the table or their cereal bowl. This morning, however, you decided to arrive to breakfast as early as possible, for the sole purpose of gathering more information on the new students -but don't get it wrong, you aren't interested in them: no. Your mission to gather information on them stems from the fact that you need to know what to prepare yourself for. More trouble makers? Dear God, you can barely handle the ones you have. Pompous students that strut down the hallways and expect those around them to worship the ground they walk on? Ugh we don't need anymore of those. Snobs? Bullies? Sweet innocent small children? Not likely. But there's so many possibilities. As a Ravenclaw, you prefer to stay on top of things and be prepared for whatever is thrown your way. Your grades are important to you and the last thing you need is trouble right before your exams- ESPECIALLY care for magical creatures .... It is the only class you struggle with and just can't seem to bring your grade up to the same score as all your other classes no matter how hard to try. Hagrid pities you, he really does but you can only lose your projects so many times before he has to subtract it from your grade.

"It's not MY fault the projects can run away on their own" you mutter to yourself before pouring a cup of pumpkin juice standing up to examine the other foods available. Your eyes scan the contents presented on the table over the rim of your goblet as you sip from it. After the second wizarding war in Hogwarts, they partnered with other wizarding schools to help send students all over the world to the school of their choice for different opportunities. As a result of all the different cultures and traditions, the kitchen started loading the table with more diverse food choices at every meal. Clicking your tongue at the delicious looking Ethiopian breakfast dish, you decide to go for something you've had before so you don't upset your stomach before your school day.

By the time you're putting the last bit of scrambled eggs on your plate a few more students have shuffled in for breakfast. You quickly sit and begin to eat keeping your ears open for any news of the supposed newcomers. Again, you really aren't that interested in them you swear.....

However minutes pass of you listening to a young Gryffindor complain about the girl she likes not noticing her, suddenly a conversation that carried over from the Hufflepuff table caught your attention.

"Seven?!" A voice exclaimed.

"keep your voice down!"

You turned your attention to two girls, one Hufflepuff and one Gryffindor. You recognized the first voice to be Kim Yong Sun, and the second as Moonbyul Yi; the both of them seventh year transfers from South Korea during their second year.

"Sorry. But how do you know? There hasn't been any confirmation of them arriving let alone how many there are. " Yongsun eyed Moonbyul skeptically and you can hear the click of her chopsticks being set down from where you're sitting you're listening so closely. You slightly nod in agreement to the conversation you aren't a part of. She's right. There hasn't been any confirmation or factual evidence of transfer students. Yet here you are, sitting in the breakfast hall at 6:05 am on a Friday morning listening to fourth year romance drama and the yawns of a few other students like you're life depends on it. Maybe this is stupid, you should just go back up to bed and let it go. You aren't one for caring about new students or rumors anyways. Maybe you were just looking for something to distract you from the upcoming exams: Yeah, that was probably it. You sigh picking up one last piece of toast making up your mind to take it upstairs with you. Putting the piece of toast in your mouth you place your hands on the table to stabilize you as you swing one leg off of the bench to get up.

"I know one of them." Moonbyul responds quietly. You bite your toast out of surprise causing the rest of it to fall from your mouth as you plop down to straddle the bench with a loud thud while playing hot potato with your toast attempting to save it before it hit the floor. You glace around to see if anyone noticed, but thankfully those there are much too tired to care. You swing your leg back into your seat and continuee to listen to their conversation. Everyone needs a little distraction every now and then right? A hobby? Can snooping be considered a hobby....? I guess you're really doing this again.

"You know them? Really? So they're from South Korea too?" Yongsun asked while beginning to eat again.

"Yep. But I only know one of them pretty well, his name is Kim Seokjin and he's in my year. The rest of them I've only met a few times through him. "

Yongsun pondered what was said before speaking .

"Wait- seven of them..... Are they those loud boys from the music club you were in back home? Some of them are a little young don't you think?"

Moonbyul laughed. "Yep that's them! And no- the youngest of them should be a fourth year right about now."

You figured you had heard enough information to go on and decided to actually go back to your dorm this time. You left your spot at the table and began to make your way back to your room for a quick nap before school began. Your walk back was filled with thoughts of the new kids. "Loud boys? Great." You said bitterly turning down a hall. " What does it have to do with me? From what I heard they are different ages, which will separate them a bit. Maybe none of them will even be in my house, and I won't see them. After all, there's only seven of them and a whole school of other students. I probably won't even notice them. "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -~ •~•~•~• ~- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A fork clinked gently against a goblet, and McGonagall rose to her feet. "May I have your attention please."

The loud dinner chatter quieted down almost immediately and all heads turned to the teacher's table.

"Thank you." She placed her goblet down before returning her gaze to the students. "As many of you have heard, there are rumors going around that Hogwarts will be accepting some new students. It is my pleasure to finally put these rumors to rest- "

A chorus of disappointed sighs and groans rang through the hall, looks like they weren't getting new students after all. You almost let out a disappointed sigh but caught yourself. You didn't want new students, they were a distraction and a nuisance. Right? I mean... It was a little bit of a disappointment considering all the hard work and snooping you had been doing recently. Your friend group doesn't spread rumors much, so everything you knew had been from eaves dropping and hiding, like the gargoyle incident. You guess you sat up there for 45 minutes all for nothing.

"-excuse me please quiet down." The students all shut their mouths quickly, afraid of angering her. "As I was saying, I am happy to finally introduce to you our new students from South Korea." The hall erupted into excited chatter, girls and boys alike fawning over whether or not the newcomers were attractive, nice, mean or any other possibility, like you have been for weeks ever since you overheard the students chatting about it outside the potions cupboard you were in when the rumors first started.

Clearing her throat the headmaster gave a sharp warning look to all the students, again silencing them. "As you know, usually transfer students come on the first day of school with the first years to get sorted. However, there was a couple issues regarding the ministry during their application process, so they arrived later than usual. I have no doubts that you will all make them feel very welcome here." She waved her hand as a signal to Filtch, who scampered out of the Great Hall, returning only a few moments later with a trail of students behind him.

Seven. There was seven of them just like you'd heard about this morning. You feel your chest swell with pride. You did good for a half assed Snoop mission. They were all male, and most looked to be around your age, and you'd be lying if you said they weren't in the least bit attractive. You scowled internally knowing that their looks would be all you'd hear about during your study sessions in the common room.

The sorting hat was brought in and the sorting began. McGonagall unrolled a small piece of parchment and read off the first name "Jung Hoseok", and you held your breath as the first boy made his way up.

He looked rather pleasant. His bright face was framed with medium length brown hair, and his smile was wide. He was practically glowing as he sat on the stool. There was a few moments of silence before the hat shouted out a loud "Hufflepuff!" And the hall clapped while McGonagall lead him to the proper table.

Slowly one by one each of the other boys went up. There was another Hufflepuff, his name was Park Jimin, and a Gryffindor whose name was Jungkook. 'So far so good' you think to yourself.

The next boy to go was called Kim Namjoon. He was tall and had a pair of square modern glasses perched on his nose, the legs of the glasses covered by his messy silvery gray hair. He's a bit taller than most of the others so the stool looked comically small beneath his long legs which he had stretched out for his feet to rest on the heels of his shoes. He radiated nerves with his hands rubbing up and down his black pants and his cheek pulled in slightly as he chewed on it. You were too lost in thought to realize it had been almost an entire minute of silence when the hat announced a very loud "RAVENCLAW!"

You felt your face scrunch up a bit but clapped anyway. I mean, it's only one of them and he looks rather pleasant; not too loud or obnoxious. He looks put together-maybe a little clumsily- but still respectable. You watched him take a seat and shake hands with other students. Yeah, he seems pretty ok. Instead of paying attention you continued to study the boy. After all, there's only a small chance one of the last three would be a Ravenclaw. The next name which you recognized as the boy Moonbyul knew, Kim Seokjin but blocked it out after that.

Namjoon seemed to be getting along nicely with the other students at the table. His smile was friendly and welcoming and his demeanor calm and assured.

"GRYFFINDOR"

You clapped absent mindedly as you continued to watch Namjoon become much less nervous than he had been up on the stool. His eyes gleaming and his honey skin shining in the great Hall lights giving off a faint golden glow. He literally held the presence of a god. You were beginning to doubt what Yongsun had said about them being loud as you watched the next boy climb up to the stool, and you looked around at the other new students and noticed they all were pretty quiet and calm, aside from Jungkook whose cheeks had flushed pink as Seokjin had an arm thrown over his shoulders supposedly boasting about what you heard to be his "handsome face", and his "baby boy kookie" . You really did seem to have nothing to worry about, it was just your anxiety that made you so scared of newcomers.

"RAVENCLAW"

Again you applauded without thinking before you froze. You looked back up to the stool and watched a boy about as tall as Namjoon bounce excitedly over to Namjoon and plop down right next him with a loud "Namjoon-hyung!" Followed by a box shaped smile and a joyful giggle. His eyes were dark to match his fluffy long ish hair that looked unsually soft. He was much louder than his friend Namjoon, you could hear his introductions and laugh travel down to your seat of the table, enabling you to hear his name: Kim Taehyung. You glared lightly at him sizing him up when suddenly your glare was met with bright cheerful eyes. 'Dont blush you're not interested, dont' You felt your face contort into a look of shock and heat slowly rise to your face before Taehyung sent you a wide boxy smile that caused his eyes to crinkle into small crescents, a sight that made you flush even more - you couldn't deny he was attractive. 'no no no no no-' At the sight of your blush you heard him laugh out a loud "cute", turning your face to an even darker shade of red than you had even thought possible. Those near him followed his gaze and laughed a little bit at your red face and a few "awww Y/N"'s and "oooh get it girl" were sent your way. You quickly tore your eyes away from his and shoveled the food down your throat causing you to choke on it, your hands grasped for your drink which a panicked seatmate handed you. You chugged half of it down before sputtering out a few coughs.

"Are you okay Y/N?" The same seatmate asked with a concerned look.

You nodded noticing that most of your table had now focused their attention on you. Embarrassment now completely took over your body as you shot up from your seat so fast you hit your knee off of the table and knocked your drink over to spill all over your robes. You let out a sound of frustration but you didn't let it stop you from your mission: to get out of the great Hall and to hide under your covers until morning. You turned and walked out as fast as you could ignoring the calls and stares you felt from the table. You made it outside of the great Hall and began to sprint down the halls all the way to the common room door.

Gasping out the password you don't even wait for the door to open all the way before you push inside the common room and up the steps to your dorm room. You slam the door shut and fall on the floor, the only sound in the room being your loud labored breathing and your wild heartbeat. After a few moments your breathing calmed down and it finally hit you what you had just done.

"oh my God I'm such an idiot! Why couldn't I just let this one go? " You stood up and stomped your way to your dresser and ripped out some night clothes. "Was your life really this boring? You could've just ignored the new students. You could've just not given a damn but no. " You slammed the drawer shut and went into the bathroom to begin changing. Aggressively taking off your sticky pumpkin juice covered robes with a grunt "You just HAD to get involved in the rumors. You KNOW you can't let something go once you commit to it. You shouldn't have even committed to it. Hell, you should've stopped after you were caught snooping around the class attendance lists" You slid on your night clothes and picked up your robes to take a closer look at them with a sigh.

"now I have to wash my robes tomorrow because YOU have no self control and can't stop being nosy." You glared at yourself in the mirror, sticking your tongue out at the reflection.

Exiting the bathroom you ball up your robes and place them in your hamper. You have calmed down significantly, the steam and anger from the embarassing moment in the hall finally wearing off. With a inhuman groan you dragged your hands down the sides of your face. "He's just a boy. All he did was smile at me... And call me cute...." Your thoughts drifted off to his cute box smile, and twinkling brown eyes. You abruptly sat up with a determined look. "No. No no no no. You don't have time for crushes, you only have one more week till exams and you aren't letting your grades slip just because a cute boy happens to join your house. Just ignore him. It's easy as that. " You pull your covers down and flop into bed.

A couple hours had passed, and you pretended to sleep when all your dormmates came up to bed one by one. Eventually after some tossing and turning you sigh. Your mind is full of that stupid boy, and the way he called you cute. So much for not even noticing the new kids.

~DeepSheep

[howlingmoonrise]

Dear Yuletide Author

thank you for signing up for yuletide, i hope you have fun!

i’ve put all my letters in one place so you don’t have to juggle links around, feel free to send me an anon (is that allowed?) if you’re in doubt as to whether i’d like a certain trope or not! (and so sorry about all the ranting oops)

things i like in general:

pining. TONS of pining. ALL the pining! i have a lot more fun reading about idiots in love that aren’t together yet than if they’re already in an established relationship

i’m good with either gen or romance if you’re not comfortable with shippy stuff! what really works for me is the relationship itself, platonic or not, the development of it, and the interactions/feelings regarding the other. when it comes to the characters i’ve picked, for me it makes sense for them to develop trust and fondness/affection for the other before they get into any sort of relationship so gen is all good!

i’m veeeeeery fond of enemies/rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, and bickering pairs overall (as you can see by all my choices in characters lmfao) since they’re so much fun and provide such an opportunity for character and relationship development :D

continuing from above, nothing kills me as much as characters that bicker all the time but in the end they rely on the other and go to each other before they go to anyone else

conceptual AUs are fine! by this i mean stuff like soulmate AUs, AUs where they met differently from canon, i’m-your-next-door-neighbour-and-i-had-to-break-into-your-flat-to-get-my-cat-back AUs, canon divergence, that kind of thing - AUs like that are super fun!

fun tropes (sorry, these are a bit romance-heavy): fake dating, “accidentally got roped into x thing and shenanigans are happening”, What Do You Mean We’re Not Dating?, “oh no there’s only one bed”, misunderstood confessions, trope subversion in general is also GREAT

i REALLY like the canon and characters for all the fandoms i picked, so sticking at least to their characterisations and the overall “tone” of canon are a huge plus!! “missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent but like i said, i also like conceptual AUs so don’t be afraid to mix up the scenario a bit if you enjoy it, because i do too!

things i don’t like a lot in general:

kidfics. unless it’s petshop of horrors - where Chris and the pets are an exception - next gen and stuff are a pass for me

far into the future fics in general, actually - what really does it for me is the development, so if we skip ahead to much later on i feel like we end up missing it all

i usually don’t like most angst stuff since it feels a bit gratuitous to me when it comes to most fandoms and characters. the one exception for this is psoh (see below if you’re picking this fandom) or when it’s introspection fic. as a result of this, i’d pass on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, the like, though of course there are always exceptions to the rule and you’re free to write as you wish! 

hard AUs are a bit ehhh to me - by this i mean world-heavy stuff like harry potter AUs, where the focus ends up more on the setting than the characters more often than not. i’d also pass on high school AUs (gsnk being the obvious exception) and ABO. 

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, and genderbending is a bit ehhhh for me

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

if you’re going for nsfw:

kinks: moderate sadism/masochism, bondage, choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles (which only make sense here for like... 1.5 fandoms lmfao), moderate degradation, edging

squicks: scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, gore

--

PETSHOP OF HORRORS

i’m usually not partial to angst AT ALL but psoh is the one fandom where i don’t mind it if you wanna go ahead - psoh is RIPE for angst. we got two people with abandonment and inadequacy issues: leon who decided to leave his whole life behind to chase someone who gave him life and left him after thinking that he didn’t care for him at all, and d who is supremely fucked up by his upbringing and had to push leon off the ark to continue his family’s mission and let drop one (1) single tear that he was not supposed to cry over a human.

THAT BEING SAID, i also!!!! love slice of life shit for them!!!!!!!! GODS i love how much they bicker but then they turn around and the other is the person they rely on the most and who they trust above all others and how they keep roping each other into ridiculous shenanigans. neither of them are particularly communicative with a few rare exceptions, so there’s also a lot of room for introspection there on both sides, which i LOVE. my son leon in particular is also super underestimated when it comes to his intelligence and tolerance for gay shit both in canon and fandom, and he performs ridiculous leaps of logic and instinct that somehow turn out to be right but that are super ???? for everyone else involved, and that’s always fun to see. hell, just another missing scene where leon brings d some cake and they banter fondly over tea is A++++ to me!!

nsfw???? bring it!!! this is the fandom amongst these three where you’re free to go super dark and kinky if you wanna, or if you wanna write tender loving reunion sex where d cries a little while leon cherishes every bit of him that’s also excellent! 

psoh is the most excellent genre triangle where i’d be super happy to receive anything on the slice-of-life/angst/smut corners! (also, slash is 3249823% acceptable if you couldn’t tell by my ranting)

--

GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN

yuzuki seo is my absolute favourite character on the series and i love her and how ridiculous she is! waka is also gr9, and i really love that little sadist streak he has going like when he kept teasing seo with his “confessions”, that was probably one of my favourite chapters! 

for gnsk either canon-verse or a conceptual AU would be excellent - if you’re going AU, i’m very fond of those where seo is a siren/mermaid and possibly man-eating (because those are the best kind amirite??) canon-wise i LOVE their interactions and how waka keeps accidentally getting taken on lowkey dates while resolutely defending they’re not even friends and even more accidentally retributing those with thoughtful gifts and the like haha

another thing i love is when waka is capable of looking past appearances to see seo, like in the chapter where they gave her the “lorelei” makeover and no one recognized her but him. i also love how stupidly happy seo is whenever she sees waka, it’s so cute!!

--

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

the thing i like the most in hmc are the characters’ flaws! i love the ghibli movie, don’t get me wrong, but they took away the bits i liked the most - sophie’s stubbornness and nosiness and temper and howl’s cowardice and vanity and his silver-tongue whenever he tries to slither around sophie, and all their banter and arguing. 

there’s nothing quite like their stupid arguments where sophie pretends she didn’t mess around with things she shouldn’t and howl is torn between being amused and exasperated at her expense - even better if he’s trying to do something good sneakily behind her back so he won’t be accused of being a good person before he finds another excuse to justify it. 

for this fandom i’d really prefer it if it were from anywhere from the beginning of the first book to before their marriage (i haven’t read the sequels and prefer non-established relationship anyway), but a conceptual AU would also be pretty nice! hmc in particular is very good for trope subverting, which i’m extremely fond of! for example, take a soulmate AU with the first words written on the skin thing: we could mess it up a bit since calcifer was in possession of howl’s heart and as such his first words would be on sophie instead of howl’s - cue shenanigans while sophie wonders how someone can have a soulmate bond with a sentient fire with no words of his own, howl panics internally about sophie not returning his mark, and so on! 

another thing i love about the book is the writing style and that incredible sense of humour in the writing, so something lighthearted and in the spirit of canon would be great!

[purpledragon57]

Princess Tutu, Howl's Moving Castle (the book), Sailor Moon, and Love Live?

Princess Tutu:

How I first got into it: I… Don’t actually remember. I know it was one of the shows people talked about being one of the really good Magical Girl shows but I can’t remember how I first heard about it.

Everything I ship: Highkey Fakiru, I also clearly ship Mytho and Rue given how excited I got over them. All the side-ships I remember were pretty cute. I kinda shipped Duck and Mytho as well but not as much as some other people did. (I think this was partly because I got semi-spoiled about which ship would be endgame ehehe)

My favourite platonic relationship(s): Duck and Rue! Even if they didn’t get to spend much time being friends what with all the plot shenanigans.

Top 3 Characters: Fakir, Duck, and Rue (in that order)

One of my favourite scenes: that scene where Fakir sasses Drosselmeyer and then stabs himself the the hand was pretty wild. (I left right after that scene to go play mariocart with my siblings and I was just internally screaming the whole time)

Links to three fan works I like: this piece is absolutely gorgeous. So is this one, and this one is just so wholesome and cute. 

Favourite Fandom meme/inside joke: honestly Fakir seems to be a fandom meme in and of himself and I think that’s Beautiful.

Howl’s Moving Castle:

How I first got into it: I remember people mentioning that the book was even better than the film waaaaay back before I’d even seen the movie so at some point after seeing the film (which was my favourite ghibli film till Whisper of the Heart recently overtook it btw) I borrowed it from the library. And uh yeah. I love it. (I own it now actually)

Everything I ship: Howl and Sophie obviously, also Micheal and Martha. (my memories of the other two books and stuff are a bit fuzzy right now so I think i had other ships but I can’t remember people’s names oops)

My favourite platonic relationship(s): I. Can’t really pick one off the top of my head. One of my general subconscious metrics for brotp potential is ‘how much sarcasm/sass is there’ and. y’know.

Top 3 Characters: Howl, Sophie, Micheal

One of my favourite scenes: The entire sequence where Howl is sick and being a drama queen makes me laugh every single time I love it.

Links to three fan works I like: *whispers* Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli version AU one of the first book-scene recreations I saw, mandatory josie-arts/bird-princess-official piece (all her hmc stuff is perfection go look at it k), everyone needs more Hatter sisters in their lives

Favourite Fandom meme/inside joke: See that thing I said about Fakir earlier? Same thing goes for Howl.

Sailor Moon:

How I first got into it: Miragephan mentioning it in her magical girl recommendation videos and conveniently providing an abridged viewing guide was what got me to actually watch it!

Everything I ship: HIGHKEY shipping UsaMamo (I think is their ship name. I’m still not good with the japanese names). Nothing else I’m really actively shipping so far

My favourite platonic relationship(s): Makoto and Ami, Rei and Usagi

Top 3 Characters: Makoto, Darian/Mamoru, and Ami!

One of my favourite scenes: Does the entirety of the Sailor Moon R Movie climax count? Because that was amazing. On a more comedic/actually one scene note, this flipping scene

Links to three fan works I like: Wholesome Content, Them Transformation Sequences Tho, Gotta include art of the Best Girl

Favourite Fandom meme/inside joke: Tuxedo Mask Must Stand on the Tallest Place

Love Live:

How I first got into it: This was one of those shows my sister insisted I watch, so I eventually did. I was into it by the first rendition of Start Dash, then I finished the original series right before Sunshine!! started airing, then I found the mobile game right after the first season of that ended, and basically it’s been a swift and steady descent into Idol Hell and now I’m here.

Everything I ship: Don’t have any romantic Love Live ships

My favourite platonic relationship(s): YoshiRiko, NicoMaki, HonoUmi, Aqours Third Years (aka the Mom Squad)

Top 3 Characters: Rin Hoshizora, Riko Sakurauchi, Honoka’s Dad

One of my favourite scenes: Snow Halation!!! And the scene in episode 5 of Sunshine s2 when Riko and Yoshiko are being broken in unison over their dog.

Links to three fan works I like: boop boop boop (I have an enormous collection of gorgeous love live fan art hanging around on my blog ahaha)

Favourite Fandom meme/inside joke: (I can’t choose one so have a bunch of random ones) 

Honoka nO

My Sister Is Better Than Yours

Mari Ohara

Thanks for the ask!

Current Ask Meme