#fandom is for fun! don't be all grouchy about it

[robertdownerjunior]

now i love catra and glimmer simping for adora as much as the next person, i mean if i was alloromantic i would totally be into adora too!

but-

where's my catra and adora being into glimmer content? or glimmer and adora being into catra content? give me my glitra crumbs!

[violetmuses]

Play Nice - A. Aretas 🫂

Title:  Play Nice - A. Aretas 🫂❤️

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe 

Character: Armando Aretas 

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader 

Main Storyline: When Mike needs a favor, anything can happen. 

Author's Note: Here's another request! Enjoy. 💜 @vergilnelosparda

=====

2024

“Blind date? This isn't ‘95, Mike. What are you thinking?” You cracked up while shaking your head near Detective Mike Lowrey.

“All right, I'll be honest. I'm pretty sure that Armando likes you.” Mike squinted. 

“Oh, please!” You continued speaking. “I'm sorry, but even if it's true, your son doesn't really know me.” 

“Rough around the edges, but he's trying to be a good person.” Mike attempted once more. 

“Okay.” You wouldn't correct Lowrey this time and just waited. 

“Give him a chance. Please?” Mike seemed genuine. 

“Fine.” You accepted these plans for your own calendar.  

_______

When the bell chimed days later, your thoughts jumbled at first. 

You open that front door to see Armando standing on the porch and holding gorgeous flowers. 

“Aw, thank you.” You smiled because of the gesture. 

“You're welcome.” His slightly accented English beamed a little. 

For the first time, Armando reached out to hold hands and still opened the passenger door for you, guiding this moment in one car. 

Wearing this Bud Light shirt, Armando chose one trucker hat that veiled his brown eyes. Jeans clothed his legs and boots reached the pedals washe drove. 

“Where are we going?” You smiled in the passenger seat again. 

“It's a surprise.” Armando doesn't make eye contact, but when the car pulls up to this bowling alley, you smirked without hesitation. 

“Oh! Do you want me to kick your ass now?” You don't even wait for Armando to open the car door and almost jog inside. Kelly and Dorn always invited you here as well. 

“Not sure about that.” Aretas chuckled and finally met your path, ready for games. 

_____

“Shit! You're beating me.” Armando took off his trucker hat and glanced between flickered lights in the building to watch scores. 

“Told you!” You dance in terrible shoes before picking up the ball one last time and strike in return. 

“Good job, mami.” Armando slipped the nickname, but you didn't hear him yet. 

“Thank you, but I'll be fair.” Your smile reached him again. “You have the final attempt.”

“I appreciate it.” He says, waking up to the lane as planned. 

His muscular arm pulled back with strength and slammed down five pins. Not bad. 

“You're a good sport. That was really fun, so thank you.” You planned to leave with Aretas and head back home. 

______

“See you at work tomorrow?” You nodded while standing on the porch with Armando. 

“Yeah.” His voice sounded a little nervous this time around. 

“Drive safe. Thank you.” Holding the beautiful flowers, you say goodbye and watch him walk back to the car. 

Before leaving, Armando observed as you entered the house and shut that front door just in case, revving his vehicle alone. 

____

The next day, you and Armando reached your desks without really acknowledging what happened last night. It's no one's business anyhow. 

Around lunch, you found this sticky note by your computer: 

Food? - A. 🖤

“Hey! Don't leave without me.” You jumped up and grabbed your purse, nearly running again. 

“C'mon.” His rare laughter almost hits your body this time around, sounding adorable. 

_______

“So what brought us here?” The local restaurant is cute. 

“I had fun with you.” Armando fights that smile once more. 

“That's a good reason.” You nearly giggled, still enjoying this meal. 

“Look, I'm sorry for acting like a grouch when we first met.” Armando confessed. “This transition isn't easy.” 

“That wasn't just grouchy.” You then corrected Aretas. You pulled the asshole move. Mike wanted to help.” 

“Again, I'm sorry.” Armando still took the much-needed criticism. 

“I forgive you.” You accepted his words and he covered the bill.  Both of you leave side by side. 

____

Sweet moments continued. Lunch, different outings, checking on each other and more. 

When your birthday tapped calendars this year, flowers proudly reached the desk. 

"Feliz cumpleaños, cariño. Llámame alguna vez.” 

Not only had Armando sent birthday wishes, but his phone number scribbled at the bottom of this card. 

Jokingly rolling both eyes, you turn around and see Aretas moving closer. 

“Brought cupcakes for the party tonight.” Armando revealed this large box. 

“All right. Let's go, then. I guess you're not that bad.” You messed with Aretas one more time and left for the celebration at Dorn's place. 

The future looked bright again. 

[starstruckkittensweets]

puppy love (ii)

Chuuya Nakahara x Reader

fandom: bungo stray dogs

Another part to the Chuuya with puppies series! Honestly it's been pretty therapeutic to write this out and plan out future parts. I don't really have any kind of direction for this series, it's just for fun and I write when I get inspired! But luckily my love for Chuuya isn't going away anytime soon, so you can look forward to more. I hope you enjoy!

warnings: fem reader, pet names ("doll"), rambunctious puppies who just wanna play, mutual pining perhaps (if you squint) || words: 2.6k

Part I | Part II | Part III

The next time you see Chuuya, you’re on your way home from the vet—with Kotaro, Pochi, and Shiro in tow.

Kotaro’s the first to notice him. His ears shoot forward, nose pointed straight in the cool night air, and he gives a hard yank on the leash in your hand. You start to scold him, but the words die on your tongue at the familiar sight of orange hair and bright blue eyes.

The really pretty eyes you haven’t stopped thinking about for the last few days or so. (As embarrassing as it sounds.)

Kotaro tugs hard on the leash, nearly ripping the thing right from your grasp, his tail swishing from side to side. He’s not the only one who’s noticed your new friend; Pochi is sniffing the air, trying to catch the stranger’s scent, while Shiro is digging his paws deeper into the ground, eyes fixed on the newcomer’s every move.

“Sorry,” you manage a smile, despite wrangling all three dogs back under your control. (It’s hard not to get the leashes all tangled up.) “They can be excitable sometimes—I didn’t expect to see you again so soon…”

To be honest, you thought he’d forgotten about your little meetup for lunch altogether (if his attire is anything to go by, he’s a busy man with a tight schedule). The sight of him now makes your chest feel warm, your fingertips buzzing around the handles of Kotaro’s leash.

You don’t even know his name; to you, he’s just the nice stranger who brought your dog back home to you that fateful night.

But that’s plenty enough for Kotaro, who’s scrabbling against the sidewalk to the man’s outstretched hands. You really should invest in some retractable leashes. Then again, Kotaro would probably just break them in two.

Not like Pochi and Shiro, who wait patiently at your side, despite their own curiosity.

“Out for a walk, huh?” The man lets out a chuckle, even as Kotaro presses his dirty paws against his knees. “Hope you’re not causin’ your girl too much trouble.”

“Not that much,” you mumble, cheeks burning beneath his gaze. “…Is it okay if the others say hi?”

There’s a sparkle in his eye, the same one you saw the first night you met. Something that reminds you of the children you pass on the street, the ones who pull at their mother’s arms, begging to let them pet the puppy by your side. Strange to say you recognize that kind of look on a grown man’s face, but it seems to suit him all the same.

Makes his eyes look so much prettier than they already are.

He slips a glove off and crouches down to the dogs’ level, while simultaneously trying to push Kotaro off him. Pochi’s the first one to step forward, his nose twitching almost violently. Shiro hangs back, pawing at the ground before plopping his bottom right down on your shoes.

You stifle a laugh at the bulldog’s expression. My human, don’t come any closer.

“Sorry about that!” It’s hard not to smile at the man’s baffled expression, at the way Shiro’s practically glaring at him from his spot in front of you. “He’s a little protective. But I promise he’s a sweetheart once you get to know him.”

“Nah, it’s fine, I get it.” And he actually does, by the way he only focuses on Pochi and Kotaro, taking turns scratching them behind their ears. Giving the grouchy bulldog some much-needed space, only smiling at him over the other dogs’ heads.  

Huh, that’s a first.

How many times have you had to shoo an eager child’s hand away or scoop Shiro up in your arms just to keep him safe? Shiro’s a rare case, comfortable with dogs but a bit uneasy around most humans. And it’s hard to find people who acknowledge that and just leave him be. No poking or prodding, or pulling on his stubby little tail and risk losing a finger or two. And that’s the last thing anyone wants.

“Just one pet wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Not a fan of people? That’s kinda strange…”

“He won’t bite me, right? You shouldn’t have him out in public if he’s aggressive.”

The man’s voice jerks you from your thoughts; he’s too fixated on Pochi now, smiling as the beagle kisses his cheek, so much that Kotaro is starting to look a bit jealous.

“What’s his name?”

“Pochi,” you answer with a smile. “You already know Kotaro. And this big boy is Shiro.” You lean down to rub the bulldog’s chest; he grunts and leans into your touch, all the while keeping his eyes on the man before him. “Sorry about them, they can get a little excited.”

Quite an understatement, judging by the bits of dog hair flayed across his black suit. He swipes a hand through his hair, and your eyes linger on the frayed orange strands just a little longer than they should. Until his voice snaps you out of it, as his blue gaze flickers up to meet your own.

“Only three today? Thought you said you had eight of them.”

It’s hard not to smile at his words. He remembered that, huh? “The others are back at home. These three had their check-ups at the vet today. I’ll have to bring the next three in sometime later this week.”

“Only a couple at a time, eh?”

“Yeah, I’ve tried taking all eight of them at once—it was not fun for anyone, except for maybe this little mess.” You lean over and scratch Kotaro behind the ear; the dog looks pretty damn proud of himself as you recall that stressful memory.

But before you can say anything else the man rises to his feet, tucking his hands into his pockets, but not before giving Kotaro and Pochi one last pat on their heads. There’s a soft pang in your chest; is he leaving already?

“A little late for a vet appointment, isn’t it?”

You shrug, your eyes falling to the ground. “I gotta work around the shop’s hours. We don’t close until seven, and it takes about an hour to get these guys all leashed up and ready to go. The vet the next block over doesn’t mind, though. He even knocks a bit off the price whenever one of the dogs is sick. And sometimes it’s nice, being the only ones in there. You don’t have to worry about any other dogs or people over there.”

Are you rambling again? Probably, but he doesn’t seem to mind. At least he doesn’t make it noticeable, with the way he’s looking at you.

“This a usual thing for you, then? These nighttime walks?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” you answer with a giggle. “Any major shopping or appointments don’t get done until after work. I’m used to the late hours, though.”

The man hums in agreement, but his eyes tell a different story. Slowly he takes his hands back out of his pockets, eyes roaming the ground before landing back on your own. You swallow the lump in your throat (that definitely wasn’t there a few minutes ago).

“You sure you’re safe out here at this time of night?”

Another shrug, albeit a little more hesitant than the one before. “As long as I’ve got these guys, I think I am.”

He huffs out a breath, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. An uneasy silence settles over the two of you, only broken by the sound of Kotaro’s whining. He wants to get back home.

They all do, by the looks of it. A trip to the vet always wears them out. Not to mention, they’ve been hard at work guarding the shop all day. Being the faithful watchdogs you’ve trained them to be, alerting you whenever a new face shows up at the door.

(Not really, but you let them think they’re helping. It boosts their morale, lets them know they’re appreciated for all their hard work.)

“Let me walk you home,” the man finally says. “Just this once, alright?”

Maybe it’s the adorable wagging of Kotaro’s and Pochi’s tails, or the way Shiro doesn’t outright growl when the man steps closer to you, beckoning you closer with a gloved hand and a gentle smile. Or perhaps it’s the way you try to hold back a yawn, only to fail in the most unattractive way possible, as the weight of the day finally comes crashing down on your shoulders. For the first time since you woke up this morning, you realize just how damn tired you actually are.

Whatever it is, it has you nodding your head almost eagerly, your lips pulled up in a sleepy smile. “Sounds good to me.”

The walk back home is surprisingly comfortable, despite two of the three dogs yanking hard on their leashes. The friendly stranger keeps to the outer half of the sidewalk, a protective barrier between your dogs and the looming road ahead. The two of you are lost in your own little world, making casual conversation here and there, ignoring the skeptical looks of the few passerby’s out on a midnight stroll.

And by the time you see the dim lights and rickety old sign of the shop, you’ve learned three things about your new friend.

First, his name is Chuuya. He says it with a smile, orange hair falling into his face. It prompts you to share your own name, and hearing it roll off his tongue in that slightly raspy voice of his sends a shiver down your spine. (You decide then and there you like hearing your name fall from his lips.)

Second, he’s fairly wealthy. He doesn’t say it outright, but he doesn’t exactly make an effort to hide it either. From the way he dresses to how he casually mentions different brands and flavors of wine—names you’ve only ever seen next to their outrageous dollar amounts in the store. But at least he doesn’t seem snobbish about it. He doesn’t turn his nose up at the less-than fortunate state of the shop you run. Hell, he even turned down the promise of some quick and painless money just for bringing your puppy back to you that night, when most people would’ve jumped at the idea of a financial reward. Or maybe that’s just the way he is? You’re undecided about that for now.

And third, and probably most importantly, he wants to adopt a dog of his own sometime in the future.

“That’s…great! Amazing, actually! We have a lot of dogs back at the shop, it’s more of a makeshift shelter than a pet store, though. I don’t really like that term, pet store—sounds too cold and distant, right? Anyway, it’s nothing too official, none of them are really purebreds so we don’t have to worry about too many legal troubles. But if you don’t mind, you’re more than welcome to visit and see the rest of the pups. Get to meet them and see if you wanna take one home with you!”

Of course, it’ll be hard letting go of one of them. But that’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? Taking care of these dogs until they find their forever homes. Nothing’s permanent, it never has been. But it’s been quite a while since you’ve come across someone who’s interested in adopting a former street dog, sometimes it just slips your mind. You have to remind yourself it’s only a matter of time before you have to say goodbye to them.

Except Kotaro. You’ve got dibs on the shiba.

Chuuya doesn’t interrupt your little speech, but he’s not ignoring you either. He keeps his eyes on you the entire time, only pausing to steal a glance at the dogs at your side. He still keeps his distance from Shiro, who’s lumbering at your side at a steady trot. Pochi won’t stop pulling on his leash trying to get closer to him, and Kotaro’s tail hasn’t stopped wagging ever since you started your walk back home.

Honestly, he’s kind of impressed you’re able to hold a conversation while keeping a hold on three rambunctious dogs. However fun they seem to be, they all look like they’d be a handful to take care of.

“…Well?” You’re staring at him now, eyes wide and hopeful, holding your breath as you wait for his answer. “I know it’s a little late in the day now to meet them all, but what about tomorrow?”

And maybe the prospect of seeing Chuuya again so soon has you on edge, but in the best possible way.

But then he’s shaking his head, holding up a hand, and you feel your chest deflate just a bit.

…Okay, maybe a lot, actually.

“I’d love to, doll, believe me… But adopting a pup ain’t in the cards for me anytime soon.”

“Oh…that’s a shame…”

He winces at the pitiful look in your eyes, the way your shoulders sag slightly—for the love of God, even the dogs look disappointed in him. Kotaro’s ears are drooping, Pochi hangs his head, and Shiro gives a disapproving grunt under his breath.

No fucking way these dogs can understand us.

“I-I mean, not in the near future,” he says quickly, trying to remedy the situation. Trying to make you smile at least one more time tonight. “I’d still wanna meet ‘em, though, if you’ll let me.”

Right on cue you’re giggling again, and he lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. “Sounds good to me! Just drop by whenever you can, the doors are always open.”

As tempting as it is to stay out here and talk with him just a bit longer, exhaustion is weighing you down. The dogs have to be tucked in for the night, and you have to get a few hours of sleep before the shop opens up early tomorrow morning. Or would that be later today? It’s already past midnight, isn’t it?

“C’mon, boys.”

Thankfully, none of the dogs put up much of a fight. Pochi holds his head high as he follows you up the steps to the door. Shiro sticks close to your ankles and practically snubs Chuuya with a grumpy snort. Only Kotaro lingers long enough to get one final scratch behind the ears, and then he’s joining you and the rest of the dogs with a soft happy yip.

Your chest feels unnaturally full as you unlock the door and let the dogs inside. But before you shut it completely you poke your head out—and your cheeks heat up when you realize Chuuya hasn’t moved an inch from his spot on the sidewalk.

What a true gentleman.

“…Thanks for walking us home.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says with a smile. “It was my pleasure.”

Kotaro nudges his way back out the door; you groan and tug on his collar, dragging the poor pup back inside. And Chuuya can’t help but laugh at the flustered look on your face.

“Sorry about that… Have a goodnight, Chuuya.”

He stiffens—so that’s what his name sounds like in your voice, huh?—but recovers quickly with a cough. Hopefully you can’t see the light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

“…Yeah, goodnight, doll…”

You close the door and latch it shut behind you. Chuuya remains rooted to his spot on the sidewalk, hands stuffed in his pockets, until he sees a light flicker on upstairs.

Safe and sound inside.

Then he turns his back and heads down the length of the sidewalk. Unbeknownst to him, you’re watching him go from your bedroom window, peeking through the blinds.

For the rest of the night your chest stays uncomfortably full, even when the dogs are tucked in for the night and you’re left alone with your thoughts in the dark. Staring up at the ceiling, hands bunched around the bedsheets, replaying every single detail you can remember about your little meetup.

It takes a while to fall asleep, but once you do, all you can dream about are blue eyes and wagging tails, with a smile on your face.

[qininqinin]

Ohhh!!! Tysm!!

Can you write about bill sans? I barely see anything of him with writing!!

(maybe a enemy's to lovers? But different, we veiw him as a enemy, were grouchy I guess lol- he's a simp >:3 admirer I guess- You know how the UTMV fandom writes Geno X reaper duo type? Like that- Bills like reaper and we're like geno >:o)

Change anything you want! I don't mind!! 🥳 Sorry if English bad ☹️

-🇧🇷 anon

(⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)

HIS NEW PET

Cw: Bill Sans x Reader, f!reader, enemies to lovers, lowkey yandere Bill Sans, establish friendship, past friends to lovers, suggestive (?), non consensual touching… 

note: outro brasileiro yaaay

"Give him back, you filthy demon," you growled, your teeth clenched so tightly that you feared they might crack from the pressure. He merely smirked at you, his expression one of unsettling amusement as he seemed to take pleasure in your anger.

"Well, well," he drawled, his voice dripping with mockery, "it seems the little girl has quite the sharp tongue." His tone was taunting, and he seemed genuinely intrigued by your fierce words.

"Give Sans back, you son of a b—ugh!" you shouted, but your words were abruptly cut off as he yanked you up by your hair, pulling you close with a rough grip.

He chuckled softly, clearly amused by your struggle.

"It’s Bill, sweetheart. Sans is long gone," he murmured into your ear, his voice a sinister whisper that sent chills down your spine. 

His breath was icy against your skin, and you shivered slightly in disgust as he began to rub his face against yours with a nauseating familiarity.

"I’m starting to understand why he liked you so much," he remarked with a twisted grin. "You’ve got such a fierce spirit in that delicate human body of yours—like an angry kitten." His eyes gleamed with a perverse fascination as he continued to invade your personal space, savoring every moment of your discomfort.

As soon as your mind cleared, your hands instinctively shot to one of his eye sockets. Your thumb dug in sharply while your other fingers pressed firmly against the sides of his skull, trying to leverage him away.

Bill’s laughter echoed with cruel amusement as he observed your desperate struggle. He tightened his grip on your hair, his fingers digging into your scalp, and pulled it back further, exposing your neck even more. 

“I should just make you my new pet,” he snarled, his voice dripping with malice. “Taming you would be quite the accomplishment, after all.” He shifted closer, pressing his face against your neck with a disturbing intimacy.

“Did you know he once imagined putting a collar on you?” Bill whispered directly against your pulse as you persinsting in pushing him, “He really had quite the dirty mind.” He laughs darkly.

Unable to contain yourself, you spat at him. A sense of satisfaction washing over you as you watch his smirk falter slightly.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice smooth and menacing as he licked the spit from his face with an unnaturally long, yellowed tongue. “I’ll have plenty of fun putting a collar and a damn muzzle on you.” His eyes gleamed with the cruel promise.

[roblogging]

Okay I'm intruiged to know ur thoughts on ATYD remus

Because as much as I like ATYD I think that, a lot because of the changes to his back story and formative childhood years, he's a very different character to canon remus

And that's not like a bad thing because this fandom has almost no canon but out of the marauder remus has one of the most canon personalities and ATYD version I feel is very different?

Idk Just wondered if you had thoughts on it? :3

i fw all remus'. there is not a single characterisation of remus i will dislike, he's SO interesting and so layered.

i LOVE atyd remus and yeah,,, different character because it is, yk? 🤷‍♂️ he's not canon remus and his backstory is changed and i loved it sm. i know a lot of people call him overly aggressive etc but i think it works so well and it's such a fun take on him AND he is so soft. he's so soft. "His hip doesn't hurt. He has to tell Sirius." UGH. i love them.

NOT YOU !! this isn't you but whenever i post about atyd and use the term "canon-compliant" people get really annoyed because of those changes but to me,,, idk. canon compliant doesn't mean that everything is the same to me but rather that the key plot points (werewolf, prank, war, etc) play out the same way no matter what changes are made. and yeah he's different to canon remus because fanon and also,,, we see him at different points in life in those two areas.

and also the fandom is horrible about atyd anyway because they seem to think bigger fics mean fandom etiquette don't apply which,,, ugh. stfu. go write it in your notes app not a comment section.

idk. i don't really care about how well stuff matches canon actually. she-who-must-not-be-name doesn't know the marauders like i do 😕↔️ atyd remus ily and your grouchiness

[sophia-sol]

A "don't need to know canon" rec list

I was having a conversation with some folks on mastodon a little while ago about the practice of reading fics for fandoms you're not familiar with, and why it works for some people and not others. I understand both approaches, but I am firmly in the camp of being happy to read a fic whether I know the fandom or not, as long as it looks interesting to me!

The particular pleasures are different, but both ways are good: fic about fandoms you know is pleasurably wallowing in an ongoing conversation about something you love (…or love to hate), whereas fic for unfamiliar fandoms is having fun eavesdropping on someone else's conversation and working out a puzzle while enjoying a good story.

But some fics work better than others for reading without canon to contextualize them, and although I'm up for some challenges, you don't actually have to play this game on hard-mode. So I'm here to provide a rec list of fics I have enjoyed without canon knowledge that I think are more broadly successful for that purpose. I hope you find some to enjoy here too!

Arranged alphabetically by fandom.

The Improbable Future, by marycontraire

6k words, not rated

The fandom: crossover between Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World, which are presumably related to each other, though I don't even know what medium they are in.

The fic: A story about family, especially the relationship between a preteen girl and the surrogate father figure in her life. Extremely heartwarming!

Sentimental Reasons, by Frostfire

16k words, rated T

The fandom: Casablanca, one of those famous classic black and white movies, about war

The fic: focuses on the story of a character who is a minor character in the original movie, which allows you to follow the story easily without knowing the original. All Sam wants to do with his life is play music, but racism and war have a tendency to intervene. The story revolves around his relationship with another man, Richard. I love Sam, and I love his pov in this fic. It's an incredible read!

One More Time With Feeling (or, Charlie Brooker and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day), by marginaliana

50k words, rated E

The fandom: british comedians rpf, ft. comedians I've never heard of

The fic: Timeloop! The classic groundhog day experience! And this was a really impressively done timeloop fic. I was particularly impressed with how well the character arc for the protagonist went from totally-an-appalling-asshole to only-normal-level-sympathetic-asshole, and how it shows some of the ways that being in a timeloop can be really awful. And yet - happy ending! Impressive.

The Retirement of Gabriel Argent, by Sixthlight

5k words, rated T

The fandom: Daniel Blackland, which is, I believe, a book series?

The fic: is about two characters who are not Daniel Blackland. It's about finding a way to live a peaceful life that actually makes you happy, when you never thought such a thing would be possible. It's lovely!

go pick out a white dress, by novembersmith

1k words, rated G

The fandom: Deepwater Bride, by Tamsyn Muir, which I'm guessing is a short story.

The fic: a delightful uhhhh one-sided romance about an eldritch sea monster who is really into a human, much to the dismay of, well, everyone. But the eldritch being will not be disheartened! Such a charming voice.

Hesitation Waltz, by cranialaccessory

20k words, rated T

The fandom: From Eroica With Love, which I know literally nothing about

The fic: Two cold war era spies have to pretend to be married for a case. One of them is flamboyant and foppish, the other is grouchy and bad at acting. Together they learn things about teamwork and trust! (and that they're into each other.)

confirmation bias, by novembersmith

14k words, rated E

The fandom: Integrate, which I'm guessing is a book

The fic: This is the fic that instantly came to mind when I first thought of making this rec list. I love it. It's a totally adorable alien/human interspecies romance, from the pov of the alien, who of course finds the human the alien one. Every single thing in the fic is a delight.

Get Up, and Go Forth, by Frostfire

15k words, rated T

The fandom: the tv show Kings, which I once tried and failed to watch, but is loosely based on the biblical story of David and Jonathan

The fic: Hey, it works just fine as bible fanfic instead! (I'm afraid I don't know how it would read if you aren't familiar with the biblical story. My parents were rigorous about making sure I would be biblically literate.) The fic focuses on the Jonathan character, here called Jack, as he explores what it means to be on David's side instead of his father's. I have reread this fic so many times. It's just so well done!

A Divinely Attractive Arrangement, by Fahye

6k words, rated T

The fandom: the movie Love and Friendship. I've read the book Love and Freindship [sic] but the movie, despite the name, is not actually based on the book!

The fic: featuring the pov of the most amiably oblivious person in the absolutely entire world as he settles into his recent marriage. He's so genuinely happy about everything in his life! Even as it is obvious to the reader how much the other characters in the story are manipulating him. I love him very much.

This Episode Brought To You By, by ryfkah

6k words, rated T

The fandom: a kdrama, Mr. Queen. Going in I did in fact know a very slim amount about the actual canon, which I believe is a useful starting point for reading the fic: it's a show about a modern chef who transmigrates into Korean history, into the body of a queen; the queen, meanwhile, ends up in the future in the chef's body.

The fic: is about both the chef and the queen, as they explore their identity and their desires through the medium of food, and it is a complete delight.

Sweet In the Gale Is Heard, by Toft

11k words, rated T

The fandom: Pegasus, by Robin McKinley, a novel I've never read despite generally being a McKinley fan because I heard it ends on a cliffhanger and the sequel was never published.

The fic: A fixit for the cliffhanger! Interspecies romance between a human and a pegasus, and absolutely lovely.

Things Which Catch the Eye, by petrichoral

3k words, rated G

The fandom: The Pillow Book, by Sei Shonagon, which is a book I have heard of often over the years but have never actually read.

The fic: ships Sei Shonagon with another woman who presumably appears in the book as well, showing the arc of their relationship in short snatches that come together skilfully. Truly excellent.

you wait and you wonder who'll take on your odds, by paperclipbitch

138k words, rated E

The fandom: The Queen's Gambit, a tv show which I gather is about chess

The fic: An "exes to friends to spouses to lovers" marriage of convenience story. I love how well balanced this is between all the different aspects of things going on: the feelings between Beth and Benny, the working out how to make a life together (separate from the feelings), the chess, the simmering sexual attraction, the other people in Beth's life who are important to her, and Beth's understanding of herself. Really good!

Lebenswerk, by Serena

10k words, rated T

The fandom: Sunset Boulevard, a classic movie about movie-making

The fic: A director's relationship with his star actor, and the things he does and doesn't choose to prioritize over the years. It is interesting, and also rather uncomfortable in places, in ways that are entirely fitting to the story. I was really captivated by it!

Moab, by Parhelion

13k words, rated G

The fandom: an old-school sci-fi book series called The People, by Zenna Henderson

The fic: reads like a lovely, quiet, thoughtful, and kind original scifi story itself, about a human-looking space alien orphan stranded on earth with supernatural powers he has to hide, raised by a woman he calls Aunt, as he finds his place in the world of the early 20th century.

Transformers Works, by astolat

331k words, ratings ranging from T to E

The fandom: Transformers. A tv show (or multiple?) and toys and possibly other media as well? About robot war.

The fic: this is actually a link to all of astolat's fics about transformers. Pretty much every transformers fic Astolat has written is basically: given different base assumptions about how the universe works, how to end the war. And I love all of it, omg, both the different choices of worldbuilding in each fic and also the commitment to ending the war. Pick and choose between the fics for what you want to read!

Variations on a Theme from Turandot, by Ada Hoffman

7k words, not rated

The fandom: Turandot, which I'm guessing is an opera, or maybe a ballet?

The fic: A professionally published story which also happens to be fanfic. Does what it says on the tin! I'm not quite sure I followed the ending, but somehow it works like that even so. I found it so interesting.

A Good Bargain, by Neery

11k words, rated E

The fandom: Word of Honor, a wuxia-genre tv show that I have heard goes as hard on gay themes as it possibly could within the censorship rules it was produced under.

The fic: Does the thing where someone enters a marriage of convenience, but takes their marriage vows seriously and is now firmly working on the side of their spouse. And in this case the spouse knows this about them and planned it on purpose! DELIGHTFUL. I adore it.

[capnkerfufflez]

I contain multitudes, so i made a uquiz for some of my quintessential sonas for fun

i dont really expect people to take it, but man i love an excuse to draw some of my boys i don't give much love to brief descriptions and the result descriptions under the cut

here's the link outside of just embed btw : https://uquiz.com/hkfS0R

in image order and i marked the number and color of the background above we have :

1 [red] E : non-fandom sona I use to vent mostly - "Conceptual Chaos Junkyard" / "CC Junkyard" so he's mostly negative traits of myself turned up to 11. He's the overly emotional and sentimental and over-reactive side of the duo between him and G.

"[[ oh baby girl, I'm so sorry for you, get some help ]] Everything you've ever done blows back up into your face, you don't know what you're doing wrong?! Or well, you've figured out a few things wrong with you, but you can't figure out how to fix those things about yourself…"

2 [red/orange] Knox S. Consumer : kinda a minecraft sona? - "What's Minecraft is Yourcraft" / "Yourcraft" He's in general a minesona, at least when I first made him. In Yourcraft he is the sona/character version of an oc that's a minecraft youtuber/streamer and who is very distinctly not me, so Knox falls into an odd character category where's he's both my sona and an oc's sona. He's an old grouchy wizard type, but breaks character often to help friends

"[[ you may think im stretching on this one, but i assure there's more obscure ]] You know so much yet so little. The type of guy that can recite so many video game lore details and fun facts across all subjects, but will fail to realize that they really did mean it calling it "cream cheese," it is actually a cheese. You are very smart though, with your intelligence only rivaled by your stubbornness."

3 [red/pink] Dong : pokemon not a big surprise, but he's a pokesona of sorts. He's a Mareep that's specifically paired with my friend's Wooloo "Ding," he's somewhere between a pokemon in the anime and pokemon mystery dungeon in terms of personification, he's very bitey.

[[ haha dong ]] Lil gremlin guy. You're the typa bitch to fucking taunt people bigger than you and when they get pissy you go 'oh im just a lil guy a lil birthday boy.' All talk no bite. well, maybe a lil bite, like consensually or deserved.. BUT the point is you take no responsibly of the misdeeds you may or may not do !

4 [orange] Bibbly : double life / life series Bibbly is the character I made soulmate's with my friend cause we were watching other people make sona's and pairs with their friends too. Bibbly is based off of a drawing I did based on a more literal interpretation of one of my minecraft skins (specifically my 453 skin), "Bibbly" coming from "Biblically accurate." Personality wise he varies a lot cause in conception and most practice he is an utter coward, very reliant on my friend's character, though in other interpretations I make him a lot more jaded and no-bull shit but also those are usually what is supposed to be later in his development and/or away from my friend's character

[[ telephone game of sonas ]] You are a recursion of self analyzation. You try to map out your intricacies only to have your theories on yourself become rules. And once you've realized its a set habit of thinking. You know trouble and you avoid it the best you can.

5 [muddy yellow] Clart : minecraft sona ? - "What's Minecraft is Yourcraft" / "Yourcraft" Similar case as Knox, where Clart is my sona and the sona of one of my oc's who isn't me, but for Clart he and the oc, they align closer with who I am so it's not quite as weird a case. Clart is very easy going and cares a lot, he isn't particularly notably in Yourcraft as he's not really someone who develops more a character that help's the other characters develop

[[ straight up gooping ]] You just want a break, things to be nice and easy and do menial tasks and be with your friends. You give all you can, not because you feel you need to, you just want to and you can. You know pain and cruelty, you choose to be kind.

6 [yellow] [453>- / 453 / The cooler Casey : a general sona He's a more stylized, exaggerated version of myself and usually a lot more malicious for the fun of it. In his "lore" he is a shapeshifting sand.. thing, it depends on the specific backstory I'm going with. He is generally very energetic and bitey and evil for the sake of it cause man villains are fun when they are having fun and he is having a blast

[[ creature !! ]] You are the coolest sexiest mother fucker out here! or you sure pretend to think so. A whole fucking jaw breaker flipping between god-complex and inferiority-complex, who knows what's at it's core (probably inferiority). You love to be an edge case, probably the type of guy to make a fan character concept that's over done but do it with a twist. No fear of ocs coming off like a mary sues just cause YOU know how cool and really clever they are really even if they give a bad first impression.

7 [lime/green] Casey : general sona / how i draw myself This is just me, like, just how I draw myself, it's as general and genuine as I can manage which my not really be all that accurate maybe but oh well

[[ oh fuck u are just like me frfr ! or like at least closest approximation ]] You are only human. You love your friends more than the world and you try to be worth all you're given. You have some self esteem and self image issues, but maybe if you shove your ocs full of enough of your issues you'll solve some.

8 [green?] Caddle : general sona / fursona / the one i use for sexual stuff Caddle is a cow-adject shapeshifter. He is the sona I use the most when it's anything sexual, usually paired with my partner's fursona, but he's supposed to have other buddies too that I never really draw. I've got complicated feeling on sexual stuff and myself in relation to it, so he gets those feelings dumped into his character too. But aside from that he is a fun character especially to draw cause inconsistency is baked in and I love him dearly, he is very lazily chill with a big heart, he's also a rodeo clown even though i dont draw a full on clown get up for him much

[[ honka honka we got certified clown ova here ]] You are silly, a goofball even, one may even argue a jokester. You may present all goofs, gafs and dick jokes, -and by all means you do genuinely loving goofing gaffing and dicking- but you are a person with complicated wants and thoughts and feelings. Wants and thoughts and feelings you hold close to yourself, you do not know how to voice, so more often than not, you don't.

9 [bluish green] Gilon Kurt : lesser sona Gilon is a sona that I made just on a whim off of a twist on my name with "fluffle" being a the name for a group of rabbits, he's "Capn Kerfluffle." And then I made him a rival to my main fursona in their story and he gained a personality outside of me as they so often do

[[ rage rage murder rage !!!! ]] You have worked so hard for what you have and yet it is never enough. There is always something else to achieve more to earn, people clawing for what you have. You can have no peace nor solace, relax? chilling? never heard of her!! There are experiences to be had!! People to meet!! Friends to continuing loving!!! And you'll fight for it all, fight until you die!!

10 [cyan] Yeode : minecraft sona [real] Yeode my beloved, she is my darling rock-based robot made to search villagers that learns to live for herself kinda. A lot of her kindness and softness and story comes from backstory for just me playing minecraft ig who is a lot less kind in practice.

[[ yippee !!! ^.^ ]] You are a people pleaser to your core! You are born and molded by your attachments and use to others. Even in their absence you still live on for them in part.

11 [saturated blue] G : non-fandom sona I use to vent mostly - "Conceptual Chaos Junkyard" / "CC Junkyard" similar situation to E of mostly negative traits, but the other side of it for the most part. she is full of anger and malice at being stuck with little control over her situation and takes it out on E

[[ oh sweetheart, no ]] You think yourself a "bad bitch" a "girl boss" even. Emotions are not your strong suit. You have a hard time managing your own feelings, let alone dealing with other people's. You may not always be right, but you work hard to try to be.

12 [less saturated dark blue] D. Base : minecraft sona, specifically in magic mods / heavily modded minecraft he came about from when i was testing a modded server with my friends there was something that would crash my game if i entered specific chunks, and in those 'dead' chunks was my silk worms so i made dBase as a character for the friend server and he is supposed to be that glitched silkworm i got in testing, uuh end then that server slowly broke too, so i like to think it was somehow also his fault; while i did get to play on the server i got really into a few magic mods, mainly mana and artifice so he is not only gitchy but a magic man

[[ grub ]] You think of yourself highly, not perfect, but damn good. You've worked your ass off for the skills you've obtained and are happy to show off when they are even slightly relevant. Your "fuck it we ball" attitude somehow works out for you most of the time, though some collateral damage to others.

13 [light blue] Clerk James : fursona / used to be mascot character to note if you see other art of him there is a stark difference between the silly goofy Clerk that's my sona and the asshole angsty backstory version of him before he got so very concussed; current Clerk is very sweet and very dumb, he's the "capn" of a pirate themed ferry though also goes on some genuine treasure seeking adventures pg pirate style

[[ consider it the post-drownings one, don't worry ]] A mix of poor memory, self-doubt, and self-hatred that results in a potent blend of guilt for things you aren't really sure you deserve to hate yourself over, being it maybe not or fault or maybe never really happened. Aside from that you're upbeat and a bit stupid in a silly lil guy way. You're just a lil guy!

14 [purple] Cassio Inerta : homestuck / trollsona - "retroll" he is baby, very sweet and well meaning but oh so very problem avoidant and low empathy mostly from being sheltered; in retroll he is canonically in-universe a self insert of myself watching the plot go down and has a made up boyfriend given to him who loves Cassio by virtue that is what the boyfriend was made for, but kinda just puts up with Cassio, a projection of how i felt and feared in some previous relationships

[[ explicitly cannon self insert huh ]] You are a suckerrr for romance. You want and want and want so badly and you feel and in every instance you are given a taste it feels unreal. it feels unearned. It feels disingenuous. But you need it so bad. You don't know shit about anything, so terrified to fail you're terrified to try. But little by little you keep trying.

15 [magenta] Carcumber : a sona based off of my friend's previously-main sona's species so my friend's main sona and mascot character was a "lavamander" though the species had other character with other elements such as ice and sound waves and species had name trope of two favorite foods combined; Carcumber's name was Carrot + Cucumber but my friend changed main sonas and has since renamed most to just a single food name hence the opening statement for the quiz, i dont remember if he had an element associated, if he did i think it was "cart" or "car" or "money" or something stupid like that, and his is a used car salesman, similar energy and pathetic-ness of spamton

[[ oh man do i gotta change his name now that's that not the naming scheme? ]] You are passionate about everything you do! Cause if you aren't you don't do them! You exaggerate yourself to the point the mask becometh you.

god ya that's a lot of em and i have more sona's than just that, but most fall similar to others or i dont use enough to care

if you read it all thanks so much i love u :D

[gaybananabread]

🍌300 Fruit Shop "Drabbles"🍌

♡Thank you to everyone who participated in this! I had a lot of fun with all these, and might do another Fruit Shop thing in the future! Hopefully all these links work lol♡

(Fruit Shop info)

Cheater! - lee!Sokka, lers!Katara, Toph, Aang

Fandom= Avatar: The Last Airbender

Summary: Sokka is being more of a brat than usual. Katara decides to teach him a lesson, the others joining in to help.

Guilty Comforts - switches!Gwen, Hobie

Fandom= Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Summary: Gwen is struggling with her self-image, the negative thoughts creeping in as she stresses out. Hobie has the perfect way to help, and while it cheers her up, things don’t exactly go how he expects them to.

Burned Treats - lee!Mikey, lers!Raph, Leo, Donnie

Fandom= Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Summary: Mikey tries making a treat for his bros, but things don't go as planned, bumming him out. The boys quickly notice and, after a quick wrestling match and some questions, manage to get their baby bro back into his high spirits.

Anxious Thoughts - lee!Pomni, ler!Kinger

Fandom= The Amazing Digital Circus

Summary: Pomni is having an anxiety attack due to circus craziness. Kinger invites her into his pillow fort to calm down, showing her she can still have a laugh in their insane circumstances.

Good Book - lee!Satan, ler!Lucifer

Fandom= Obey Me! Shall We Date?

Summary: Satan becomes engrossed in a new novel, locking himself in his room all day. He forgets about everything else as time flies, accidentally ignoring his duties and MC. Lucifer gives him a reminder he won’t soon forget.

So Rude! - lee!Jax, ler!Ragatha

Fandom= The Amazing Digital Circus

Summary: Jax is being a total brat, sassing and picking on all the other characters. Ragatha has enough, giving him a lesson on manners he won’t soon forget.

Impressive? - lee!Gender Neutral Reader, ler!Miguel

Fandom= Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Summary: You’ve been taking unnecessary risks on missions, trying to show off and impress a certain Spider-Man. It has the opposite effect, only worrying the man and making him question you. After you joke around and play off the danger, he uses a special tactic to make sure you learn your lesson.

Full Plate - lee!Miles, ler!Hobie

Fandom= Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Summary: Miles is falling behind due to his duties as Spider-Man and majorly stressing out about it. Hobie helps him calm down, as well as adding a special twist to make sure he's all cheered up.

A Better Fight - lee!Alex, ler!Magnus

Fandom= Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Summary: During one of the Hotel’s fights to the death, Alex and Magnus slip away for some calm. Unfortunately for the son of Frey, Alex got geared up for the fight and is feeling antsy. He offers another kind of fight, and while it’s not what Alex had in mind, it was certainly a laugh.

Sassy Bird - lee!Hawks, lers!Dabi, Twice, Toga

Fandom= My Hero Academia

Summary: Hawks is sassing his fellow LoV members, collectively pissing everyone off. While some more violent methods are suggested, the most interested trio finds a way to get back at the birdie without injuring their “asset.” 

Grouchy "Old" Man - lee!Miguel, lers!Peter B., brief Mayday

Fandom= Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Summary: Peter brings Mayday to the base for the twenty-millionth time, letting her wander around Miguel’s office. Turns out the beefcake is her favorite thing to climb on. When the young spider girl reminds him of one of Miguel’s quirks, Peter makes sure the grumpy old man has a laugh. 

Pillow Fort Comfort - switches!Gangle, Kinger

Fandom= The Amazing Digital Circus

Summary: Gangle's comedy mask is broken once again, upsetting her and leading her to seek comfort. Kinger helps her out, and while his silly method does work, he soon learns just how effective it is.

Jax is Bored, Now it's Your Problem - lee!Pomni, ler!Jax

Fandom= The Amazing Digital Circus

Summary: Pomni is still getting used to the circus, anxious and uneasy in the new environment. Jax is bored enough to help out, though he does it in his own annoying way.

Bug Pizza - lee!Jax, ler!Ragatha

Fandom= The Amazing Digital Circus

Summary: Jax leaves Ragatha a “special” present in her room, trying to annoy the rag doll. He succeeds, though it backfires in a way he never could’ve expected. All he has to do is apologize…but where’s the fun in that?

Watch What You Take - lee!Denki, lers!Bakugou, Kirishima

Fandom= My Hero Academia

Summary: Denki swipes one of Kirishima’s favorite hoodies, which just so happens to be Bakugou’s best blanket. To “avenge” the red head and get the jacket back, Baku uses a special method of persuasion on the electric hero. Kiri decides to help, playing a good cop role.

[mimihanyuu]

behind the scenes.

Tagged by @alienaiver thank u bestie!! These questions are so fun

Started writing; I started writing stories as a little kid, it was something I liked to do even in like, kindergarten. I loved to make up fairy tales, I loved cartoons and movies with plot, I loved to read. Once I found out I was actually pretty good at writing essays in like 7th or 8th grade, I immediately took creative writing at school when it was offered. It wad my fav class, my best friend took it with me and the teacher was a funny old grouchy guy who roasted us all the time. Plus it was a small class, so everyone got to read their work out loud and get workshopped. Since then I've always wanted to make storytelling in some form my career. I have a uh, thing. That I'm working on. It's a wip. It's called Stardancers and I want it to be like, a Netflix cartoon or something. It's heavily inspired by sailor moon and I'm so passionate about it bc I based my mc on myself so it ended up being a very cathartic story to plot out but I'm gonna shut up now and move in silence lol

Started blogging; 9th grade, ish. I started.....[sigh] don't judge but I started as a Glee, Harry Potter, and BBC Merlin fan blog. Then I watched Soul Eater, which led to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which led to Fairy Tail and so on. I started writing on tumblr around 10th grade, but I didn't keep a blog specifically for writing until 2019 with butterflyestate, which I deactivated bc I got too many weird requests.

Followers; 13 haha. Ive deactivated and restarted so many times I don't even care anymore. I do that bc I get weird about the ~aesthetic~ of the blog and wanna start over idk why. I'm trying not to anymore.

Communication; I don't talk to many people on here anymore. I used to be very active in a couple of big social circles and had some bad falling outs in my teens and early 20s. Since then I've started pursuing irl friendships more, but I do enjoy talking to the friends I have on here! The funny thing is, when I was in high school it was ✨️weird✨️ for girls to like anime and reading comics/manga, so it was harder to make friends irl. I turned to tumblr, and I made so many friends, 0 of which I am still in touch with. I even got conned by my "best friend" who lived in my damn home for a year and a half. So I'm more cautious with friendships online recently. But I do have online friends and I do love them <3 and I do reply to ppl most days!

Likes; I am that weird person who's like "I hope [mutual] enjoys this meme" but it doesn't bother me if I don't get a lot of interaction I'm just here 2 goof off

Requests; when I had butterflyestate I was DROWNING in requests and most of them were hard-core nsfw so I deactivated. Since then I get very few. I don't mind.

Writing; being a teacher's assistant in kindergarten, I don't have much energy to write during the school year, but when I do I spit stuff out really quickly, unedited lol. I like writing angst best. Fluff is fun too. I can write nsfw headcanons but not actual stories bc I'm a weenie 😂 anyway. My main fandom is d gray man but I like to write for kimetsu no yaiba and black clover, too!

[vincent-marie]

Y'know, I remember seeing crap about ageism within fandom. That like you're "too old" to be in fandom if you're over 30.

Like we ALL know that's some ageist bullcrap in of itself.

But, the grouchy, tired, cynical part of me is starting to think that the reality is that we're more of a mind of, "... I'm getting too old for this moralistically competitive shit."

A lot of folks within fandom, younger folks especially, can't seem to just let morally ambiguous stories be morally ambiguous. That it can't just be a moral gray area, they have to argue that it's either all black or all white.

It's just not a healthy way to engage with fiction.

I was 18 when I saw the old proshot of Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD, before the Hollywood vanity project of a movie came out.

I love the stage version for its elements of melodrama, that even though most of the characters were AWFUL people you could get behind why they did what they did. (For some of them, at least. The Judge & the Beadle deserved to get slaughtered from the start.) It was cathartic for me as someone dealing with post-high school PTSD but also worked as a cautionary tale about how self-destructive revenge is.

But I feel like if it were in vogue today folks would be all like Team Todd or Team Lovett or the like. COMPLETELY missing the point of the show itself. Much like the discourse I've seen around HAMILTON.

Or ENCANTO.

Or HELLUVA BOSS.

Or HAZBIN HOTEL.

(Makes me glad I was never active in the BOJACK HORSEMAN fandom. Would've hated to be that close to all the hate towards Dianne.)

Anyway, I don't even really know where I'm going with this. I'm just venting my frustrations & why I'm finding myself quicker to block my fellow fans when I feel that their attitudes are muddying the waters for media that I like, making it a lot less fun & less intellectually fulfilling for me.

I'm only in my mid-30s & already I'm like, "Get off my lawn & go watch some older movies! Learn your history, yeh damn kids!"

[kaelio]

Blorbo Bingo: Pandora

This might be the most interesting one to ask me about. I'll just do some bullets.

As I've noted in long posts elsewhere, I genuinely think Lydia was first intended for a book (with the Marius equivalent) in Roman Galatia, and that her existing book is basically making quick use of the research Rice did for that. Although man, she was really churning them out in the 90s! (I mean that approvingly and with awe.) Pandora is not my favorite book but I like it quite a bit.

I really, really like Pandora, but I do not like using the actual name Pandora and wish she'd gone back to Lydia (random aside).

I do actually think she and Marius are actually-actually lying about their backgrounds and actually-actually think Rice wrote them that way and just didn't care if readers ever figured it out.

I actually really do like Lydia and Marius as a couple or at least to be on good terms and I think about them quite a bit!

Time to be a dick: she's mischaracterized by the fandom quite a bit. actually. actually I'm going to say it. a lot of things people say about her in the fandom are textually wrong. i'm sorry. it's true. they don't make sense if you read the book. i get it's not everyone's favorite and it's ok not to read it. but it's really, really, really clear that it might be one of the least-read of the books alongside blackwood farm and merrick (and vittorio). she is a better character and more fleshed out than the didn't-read-Pandora group, overall, seems to think she is.

It's great that she was sometimes a bit of a jerk and loved to fuck, just like the dudes! I want to see Pandora recover such that she can be a cavalier clever knife-wielding snapper who loves to fuck again :<

a big problem in the VC fandom imo (just stepping on all kinds of landmines here today because i'm exhausted and grouchy from the hot weather) is people aren't willing to be hard on or make fun of the female characters because there aren't a ton of them. but it's super fun to make fun of gabrielle and pandora and maharet. they can take it! and all of them have made bad choices and done bad things. i enjoy them the most when we're acknowledging their role in how events played out which, much like the dudes, often involved them doing bad things!

Pretty Lady 🤩

She should have done more in the PL books and that's just a misstep of Rice not to have her more engaged.

she's responsible for the inclusion of Gremt, the character who i think is the funniest character on a per-word-in-the-books basis. bee goast.

[clxckwork-sun-n-moon]

about to get dinner, but!! gib 👁️ (please)

17.

well considering I literally just threw a snippet of So Cries the Wolf in your direction I really should talk about this one, huh.

for starters this shit is currently going through so many revisions on the spot. it started out as a general plan, got a more detailed plan, got a full plan complete the ending, and then the plan blew up so now I'm kind of racing along like that one gif of Gromit the Dog on a model train laying down tracks as I go

there's definitely some conversations I had ideas of and managed to slot in, but also several conversations and ideas that no longer fit. I was also getting stressed about making sure all the questions were answered by the end of the story and yknow what - I've decided not to do that. not everything gets a nice tie-off or an explanation. I have a collection of ideas for me as to why certain things happened, but bringing those answers up in the story in a natural way is just not feasible. when the story is finished, I can sit down and explain, or I'll leave it to readers to debate over. if people do. it'd be hilarious if So Cries the Wolf had a theory channel, I'd eat that up

I can't really remember what inspired me first to write SCtW. I wanted something supernatural and horror, which isn't an area I'm used to, but that's part of the challenge on it. at the time I was very new to the DCA fandom and Eclipse figures were fascinating to me. like, these two guys could make a whole new guy! often imposing and terrifying. I wanted to make an Eclipse. but what kind? what setting? well, why not spooky flesh-n-blood demon? I'd seen mers, monsters, angels after all. and now I'm 47.7k words into some of the wildest shit I've written in a long time

18.

kinda mad you didn't pick a passage for me because oh my god there's so many. let's go with this scene from Chapter 3:

Caught mid-step, Eclipse hesitated. Their brow furrowed as they lifted one of their hands to their eye-line, as if seeing the circling red silk for the first time.

“No,” they said quietly. “They were not part of the design. These were given to us.” That absolutely piqued your attention.

“Given to you?”

“Yes. A gift. A reminder.”

“A reminder for what?”

“...We have forgotten,” Eclipse murmured, his voice dropping and hollow. This was new, very new for you. This was regret on his face. Sympathy turned your stomach over, urging you to approach and lay a hand on the demon’s arm. He didn’t pull away, not immediately at least. But the snarling teeth returned and he stalked back to the edge of the circle.

this was one of those moments where I was on the train, I had nowhere to write anything down, but my brain just slapped a short exchange of lines between Y/N and Eclipse and I had to type into my notes app to write in my document later. since it came to mind fairly early on, I couldn't use it right away, but I knew it would take place during a heart-to-heart between the pair and it sure did fit in perfectly

this one I enjoyed firstly because that was the first little point where it's suggested Eclipse has memories from the DCA. like yeah, technically the ribbons don't belong to Eclipse, they belong to the boys! but the ribbons ended up on him. same with the memories.

secondly fun because we got our first look at soft Eclipse. he's definitely gotten a lot softer in the last two chapters, but at this point we'd just had grouchy, griping, physically violent Eclipse. they'd been throwing temper tantrums up the wazoo, the main emotions they'd shown had been anger, irritation, and general brattiness. this got to be the first moment of their wall coming down, and it felt right that it got wound in with the ribbons - something that wasn't a physical part of them, but instead from outside

25.

Montague gets stomachaches from peanut butter. unfortunately, Montague loves peanut butter. Y/N has had to endure a number of various days where Monty decided to snaffle one of their sandwiches and ended up on the sofa in demon doggy discomfort

36.

...I did three years in circus club. take a solid guess what I was most proficient with.

jokes aside, I do a lot of hiking, so I know general forest navigation as well as animal tracking. I've learned about septic tanks by staying in cabins (way more luxurious than Y/N's but still off the water grid). I absolutely adore reading up about myths, fables, legends, cryptids, seeing who overlaps with what (okay that's less of a 'what I know' and more of a 'what I want to know more about constantly'). I know birds. I fuckin LOVE birds. and cats.

I know some things, and all of them go off in different directions, so I never feel like I can say I know everything about one thing. but a lot of the little things help with bigger things I don't know about (ish)

[bowlingforgerbils]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @gretchensinister for tagging me!

How many works have you written for AO3?

40 works! I have some older stuff on fanfiction.net.

What’s your total word count?

Do you know that this is the first time I've ever looked at the Statistics on my AO3 account. I didn't know I could see my total word count! Anyway it's 149,665.

What fandoms do you write for?

These days it's pretty much Good Omens. But I have not forgotten my first love, Rise of the Guardians.

Top 5 fics by kudos

"Jackpot", "He Followed me Home", "I wear your grandad's clothes, I look incredible", "Under the Mistletoe", and "I Promise to Take Care of Him."

The first and the third one are Pacific Rim fanfics, the fourth one is a Good Omens fanfic, and the second and fifth one are my two-parter about Charlie and the Scientist, a crack pairing in the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia canon.

Do you respond to comments?

Yes. It's my way of showing appreciation that someone enjoyed my silly little story. And I'm always happy to answer questions or talk about the characters. <3

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Umm.... I don't really do angsty endings... I guess Shakespeare in the Park? It's not a happy ending, anyway.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, this is hard, almost all I write are happy endings! Maybe Co-Habitation, because it ends with Aziraphale and Crowley living in the South Downs, which is my Good Omens endgame.

Do you get hate on fics?

No, although when I originally started posting When You Wish Upon the Moon on fanfiction.net, someone whined at me in the comments about not wanting me to ship Pitch Black and Sandy together. Thankfully, AO3 has a great tagging system, so I assume anyone reading my stories knows what they are getting into beforehand.

Do you write smut?

Yes! Not lately. I should rectify that. :3

Do you write crossovers?

Yes, occasionally, if the mood strikes me.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so... I have a vague memory of someone asking, but that might have been on fanfiction.net.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but many of my Rise of the Guardians fanfics wouldn't be what they are without the collective world-building of the blacksand community.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

In general? Probably Aziraphale and Crowley. That I've written? Probably Pitch and Sandy.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I have a Good Omens pirate AU in my WIP folder that I lost steam in writing, but never say never.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at dialogue, and also creating a plot that gives characters a chance to express themselves and hopefully experience some growth.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Moving the characters around in the physical space. I don't know if it's because of my generally weak spatial skills, but imagining where the characters are in the environment and each other is really hard! Fighting scenes in particular give me such a headache.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

It's not something I do, personally, except for a word here and there for flavor. I doubt that adding several lines of badly Google translated dialogue is going to add anything beneficial to my story.

First fandom you wrote for?

The Chronicles of Prydain, although I didn't know it was called fanfic because I was twelve and this was before the internet as we know it existed. It was about a self-insert fairy who was Doli's girlfriend. I liked how grouchy he was!

Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

It's a tough call, but probably He Followed Me Home. Not only because it was so much fun to write, but because I've received so many comments about how this story is a "comfort fic" for them, something that they read and re-read to feel better, and if that's not the highest compliment that I can receive as an author, then I don't know what is.

I tag whomever wants to do this!

[essayofthoughts]

Okay, for shits and giggles: any C2 or C3 character of your choice, given you know just the barest things about them. I'm curious, and asking about any of the classic C1 characters you poke at feels Dull

For Reasons, I'm gonna go with Fearne.

favorite thing about them

Fae stealy vibes. A lot of people don't grok the particular sideways way that fae entities can operate at - Matt does, as evidenced by how he handles Artagan, but I think a lot of the fandom doesn't so much, with how I've seen Artagan (and consequently Garmelie) written at times. Fae aren't necessarily snide! They can be, but they can also completely forget something and flit onto something else. They can fleetingly fixate on a fun new idea.

And everything I've seen of Fearne shows that Ashley gets this. I am very much looking forward to watching C3 for this exact reason.

least favorite thing about them

I can't think of anything, but then I've not watched C3 so I don't have a full picture.

favorite line

Not really a line, but I love her stealing the... I believe Allhammer earring from the... I believe Loxodon. Elephant guy. And similarly, her thieving back and forth with Ashton. It's very cute.

brOTP

Chetney. Grouchy werewolf and cheerful fae faun is a combo I think is very entertaining.

OTP

@nanyoky has pre-emptively converted me: Callowmoore. Largely due to Nell, I do think that Fearne's fae possessiveness would actually help Ashton's own insecurities about being left behind a lot, in much the same way many people have speculated that Vex domme-ing Percy would help him with his self-worth issues. A persistent reminder that someone finds them worthwhile enough to hold onto and hold close, who will steal them from others, who won't see them left behind because they're hers. I think that'd help Ashton a lot and it'd also be a fitting culmination to the thieving game.

nOTP

*shrug emoji* Don't know enough for C3. I guess Orym, because he seems to be gay and not bi, and also because their platonic bonds as part of the Crown Keepers is a Good thing that helps to complicate the Bells Hells in a similar way to how the twins complicated Vox Machina, or, say, Caleb and Nott complicated early Mighty Nein. Pre-existing platonic bonds can make potential splits from the group more likely and that is fun. Yes, Laudna and Imogen knew each other pre-Hells, but we actually have a better idea what experiences Fearne and Orym share.

random headcanon

Fearne taught Mister to play patty-cake. It involved a lot of fire.

unpopular opinion

Fae conceptions of ownership and non/personhood haven't fucked Fearne up quite as people might expect. After all, she is fae. She knows those conceptions - she holds them and applies them herself - and so having them applied to her isn't really that strange.

It's not that which necessarily fucks her up.

But being left behind and forgotten does. The passage of time being irrelevant does. Because she grew up in what felt fleeting to her parents, and she was abandoned - and we know she holds onto what she finds and claims from her own, from Mister to Orym (resurrecting him) to what little items she steals.

song i associate with them

N/A

favorite picture of them

@agarthanguide's original Crown Keeper's art for her I think? Or... if I'm to be specific the second splash page. This one:

I like the glowy eyes and the play of light, the twist of the branch that Mister is on being so similar to the twist of her staff. I think it's really cool. Plus how, as the druid and so nature-based, she almost blends into the nature of the background. I think it's very clever and while I know Hannah may not have thought of it like that while drawing it, I still think it's very neat.

Send me a character and I'll answer for each of the above for them

[koolkat9]

👀

(Also, wanted to take the chance to say that I love ur GerEng AUs and fics. When I first got into Hetalia (a bit over 2 years ago) and started to know England and Germany, my brain totally went “oh yeah they make one great ship” only to be disappointed at how little is out there of these two. Like how come ppl not see how great they are together - there’s just so much goddamn potential! And now over 14 years later since the anime, it seems the fandom as a whole still didn’t catch up on this. Alas, I found u and I’m infinitely glad for tht. Thanks for being here and not making me feel like the only one cursed with liking a rare ship.)

Sorry this took forever. These things took way longer than I thought.

Oh my gosh! This is so sweet thank you🥰.

There really isn't a lot of content for them and that's a shame... Though I think it's gained a bit more popularity thanks to the adlib the creator of Dreamtalia did in her play through of it which created a whole GerEng subplot (that's how I got into the ship) and then creators like Teethhoarder (who runs the blog asking-gereng and has made many great fanart and fics of them) and myself who has made so many little fics and headcanons for them specifically. But still, it is underrated compared to other ships.

That's actually part of the reason I started making content for them. There was so little of it. And now I've been going 3 years strong writing fics.

And don't worry there is actually a handful of us who ship it. Teeth like I've mentioned and there is a whole GerEng discord server (ran by yours truly). But listen to me ramble. You want an au.

---

Here's probably one of my favourite aus. GerEng Roadtrip AU.

We've got character arcs, slow burn, finding yourself. It's so good, I love it. The GerEng server was great for sharing ideas and we built on it together.

Anyway, Ludwig is going to university for engineering, but after his first year and after doing very poorly on an exam, he's devastated because perfectionism, but also something else bubbling underneath that he's yet to realize/acknowledge.

With the school year ending, Ludwig decides to go stay with his brother for the summer. After all, despite owning it for a couple years now, Ludwig never got to visit the record shop his brother opened and Ludwig needs to get away for a little bit so why not spend the summer in a small quaint town near a river?

Arthur is on of Gil's employees. He and Ludwig don't exactly get off on the right foot. Arthur's grouchy, prickly, a smoker. But Arthur catches Ludwig sifting through some rock albums and the two start to bond over their shared music taste, only to find out they actually have a lot in common and enjoy spending time together.

A little over a month before Ludwig is set to return to school, Arthur proposes they go on a road trip together. One last hurrah before they go their separate ways. Ludwig, feeling more and more anxious as the date of school approaches, agrees for the distraction.

They travel all over, to all kinds of little towns, seeing all kinds of sights. And in the process, learn that they're both kind of broken and lost but find comfort in each other.

Like one time they stay at a campground and have a campfire. Arthur brought his guitar so he strums a bit as they sit. Ludwig asks if Arthur can sing. And Arthur makes a weird face, but gives in and they end up singing together.

One time they stay at a hotel but because it's summer and there is a big event going on, almost all the hotels are booked up, so they have to stay in a room where there is only one bedTM.

They stop in the middle of no where to watch the sunset. And they may or may not share their first kiss in this moment.

They go to some big mall and they end up having to help a lost kid together. Ludwig falls harder seeing how Arthur is with kids.

But it's not all fun and games. Over the course of their trip Ludwig learns Arthur used to be in a rock band. They were just about to hit it big, in talks with fairly big record company only for Arthur to get a case of vocal nodes that changed his voice forever. It changed his sound, his range, and though he still sounds decent he hates how he sounds now. And even if he was find with the sound of his voice, he didn't have the vocal fortitude to be a professional singer. Just when his dream was about to come true it was all snatched away.

Gilbert, a fan of Arthur's band who had become a dear friend offered Arthur a job at the record store to try to help him back on his feet.

Singing with Ludwig during their travels was the first time Arthur sang after the damage. Ludwig thinks he sounds beautiful.

Arthur mentions in passing once that he used to be a singer in a band. So when Ludwig hears Arthur sing, he asks why he doesn't anymore. This leads to an argument as some of Arthur's old wounds open up, making him more defensive and Ludwig doesn't know the full story so he doesn't get why Arthur is suddenly angry.

But eventually Arthur opens up, reminiscing about going on little tours with his band to nearby towns. Ludwig of course listens intently to all the stories Arthur starts to share about his band. Arthur ends up getting a little emotional by the end and Ludwig just hugs him. They stay like that longer than they probably should but Arthur can't deny it makes him feel warm and fuzzy.

Ludwig has his own struggles. He is dealing with his first major failure and with a bad case of anxiety and perfectionism it isn't easy. But there is even more to it. Ludwig has long had the doubt that engineering and university in general is the right path. He knows he's smart enough to be there (even though his anxiety sometimes tries to tell him differently), but his just isn't passionate about what he's studying and if he was to change paths he doesn't know to what. Some of his shitty feelings from failing the exam are connected to this doubt though he's not fully aware of it yet.

Anyway. The car breaks down some time during their trip and Ludwig fixes it. Arthur notices how focused and in the zone Ludwig is working on the car. It reminds Arthur of how he would get playing music. He knows Ludwig is going to university and is struggling a bit, but there is much of story he's still missing. He doesn't even know what Ludwig is studying. So he finally asks about it. Since at this point Arthur has opened up to Ludwig, Ludwig figures it's only fair to open up to Arthur and perhaps finally confiding in someone will might make him feel better.

Ludwig finally admits he's not happy in his program, but he doesn't know what else to do and he doesn't want to disappoint anyone who had high expectations of them (everyone around him just assumed he'd go to university because he was so academically gifted).

"Fuck them all," Arthur replies, "Do what you want first. That's what I always did."

"It's not that easy for me," Ludwig fires back, "Plus...I don't even know what I want."

"I wonder why..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Look Ludwig. I couldn't pursue my dream job, now look at me. Wasting away in that old record shop. I don't want that with you. You have a chance to do something you love, take it. Pursue it until you can't."

"Arthur I-I don't..."

"If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. If you need an idea, I think you'd make a really good mechanic

Ludwig thinks about it. Reflects a bit and takes Arthur's words to heart and decides perhaps a mechanic apprenticeship would be his best path. He always liked tinkering with cars and machinery and being hands on with it. Wouldn't hurt to at least look into the idea.

Ludwig, thankful for Arthur helping him onto the right path, wants to help Arthur find a new passion or a way he can embrace music in a different way. Ludwig recalls how Arthur taught him a few cords on guitar and how good of a teacher Arthur is. So maybe Arthur could give lessons or even go to school to be a music teacher. Arthur shoots him down, but Ludwig catches Arthur researching what it takes to be a music teacher.

Anyway. The road trip comes to an end and Ludwig has to make his choice. Return to university, to a program he dislikes, or take a chance and stay and get an apprenticeship in town. So just as Gilbert is about to take him back to the city Ludwig comes clean. How he doesn't like his program, that he wants to try an apprenticeship as a mechanic. Ludwig is terrified of Gilbert's reaction, that he'll be disappointed, but Arthur's words echo in his head, keeping him grounded.

Instead, Gilbert is happy for him. "You always did love working on cars," he notes, "Remember our old neighbour who let you tinker on an old, broken down car they had? If only we could have gotten a new engine, perhaps it could have been saved from being scrapped.

Ludwig is shocked, having almost forgotten that summer.

"I bet someone would love to hear that news," Gilbert says with a smirk.

Ludwig runs back to the record shop, but Arthur is missing from his post. Lud hears a faint noise coming from the back room and finds Arthur, next to the old record player, singing along to the song they sung together around the fire. He sits and listens, only revealing he's there when Arthur finishes and Ludwig applauds.

Ludwig tells him how he's going to stay in town and try to get an apprenticeship with a mechanic Gil knows. Arthur is elated, jumping to his feet and kissing Ludwig hard. Their first kiss since that one time on the road during the sunset that they had thought they'd never talk about again.

"But on one condition," Ludwig says, pulling away breathlessly, "You look into school for next year and become a music teacher."

"Ludwig..."

"If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for me," Ludwig smirks.

Arthur can't help but laugh and kiss him again. "Okay. For you then."

And in the end, Arthur does become a music teacher and Ludwig gets to take over the shop he did his mechanic apprenticeship at. They also date and eventually get married 🥰

[crestfallercanyon]

Fic meme!

AH thanks for tagging me @moriavis!

Rules: pick any 10 of your fics, scroll somewhere to the mid point, pick a line, and share it! then tag 10 people. (Don't reblog, make a new post).

This sounds terrifically fun! I think I'll randomize which fics I pick too just to make it easier (meaning put it into a random number generator and see what comes out).

Tagging: @coldflasher, @its-tea-time-darling, @dunne-ias, @onceuponabluemoon, @un-ah, @sampharos, and anyone else who wants to participate!!

Here's all my works on AO3.

Thomas isn’t that unlike a child who bites off more than he can chew, gets all of his emotions staining his lips and cheeks once he’s done. From would if I could deny you; Fandom: The Maze Runner

2. Barry completely shut down all conversation when Snart said: “Lewis wasn’t always a bastard.” From Something Out of Nothing; Fandom: The Flash

3. [Gally] keeps muttering the words, “I don’t want to kill you” over and over and over, until eventually they morph, become, “I didn’t want to kill you,” and Thomas can’t harden himself enough to not cry. From Look Who's Inside Again; Fandom: The Maze Runner

4. Only Len can tell a story about beheading and somehow make Barry feel a fluttery feeling in his heart. From Scheherezade; Fandom: The Flash (Rated E for Explicit)

5. Where is that goddamn red army man? Mal has one more move with that thing, and Len swears it’s taunting him from somewhere in their boxed up living room. From Lullabies for Little Criminals; Fandom: The Flash

6. Looking over the ledge, where Stefan’s crumpled body lies on the storage container below, Colin gets this nagging feeling that they could have something more.  From The Last Eye to Open (chapter 2); Fandom: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

7. “I hate Joe for never believing in me that he was innocent and for despising my father for years and trying to convince me he was evil; I hate you for being able to break out of Iron Heights like it’s fucking easy over and over and over while good men like my father are trapped there forever; I even hate Iris for humoring me for years even though she never — she —  I mean, the fact that she didn’t think to look up here, too, I just —“ Iris is clearly a hurdle that he still can’t quite jump without catching his toe on, and he stumbles over blaming her for anything even though his eyes burn with the conviction all the same. From Shiva (chapter 2); Fandom: The Flash

8. [Gally] leaves a wad of cash on the nightstand and looks for a notepad to mark it for housekeeping when he hears: “And you worried I thought you were a hooker.” From Intersect (chapter 2); Fandom: The Maze Runner

9. “Be, be freaked out! Be angry! Be confused and terrified with me!” Newt begged, and to his apparent horror he could not keep the tears from overflowing. From the merciless now; Fandom: The Maze Runner

10. It’s not exactly that Allison expected Derek to be chipper, but this level of grouchiness annoys her. “I forget you know what it’s like being a fugitive,” Allison says. From Of All My Crimes (chapter 2); Fandom: Teen Wolf