#fic: modern lion pride

[eraenaa]

Please Please Please (Modern AU)

Inspired by the song Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter

Politician Aemond Targaryen x Lannister Reader Tag List

Synopsis: Heartbreak is one thing; my ego’s another. I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherfucker.

Warnings: Mature, 18+, P in V Sex, Choking, Fingering, ¿Semi-Public Relations?, Not Proof Read

Word Count: 1,969

A/N: Quick little fic bc the music gods blessed us with new pop anthems <3

The lion’s pride. As a Lannister, you and the whole of your family had a great deal of it. Great lengths are made to maintain it, especially when you are pitted in the arena of the public eye. Every decision you made was calculated, and every action has a reaction that you meticulously premeditated. Nothing less than perfect and respectable could be accepted. Sensibilities must always be in check, but after meeting him, it seemed to fall out of your head. 

Aemond Targaryen. An up-and-coming figure in the scene of politics. A second son of the infamous family of the Targaryens. A waving red flag you had ignored, for you were too distracted by every other aspect of him. 

You remember the day you met him fondly. You were forced to attend a gala. Your family needed to push a figure of unity for the upcoming election; in consequence, you had to participate in endless events pitting you in the eye of the public. You were standing next to your father as he introduced you to other influential members of his party when, from the side of your eye, you caught a figure walking into the event hall, dressed in all black, striding and making his way through the crowds effortlessly. You were stood a few leagues away from him, but you already felt this aura of confidence that strode dangerously close to arrogance. You barely caught a clear glimpse of him, but there was this domineering and authoritarian presence in him that was needed in leaders that had solidified your attraction. 

Aemond has had his eye on you for quite some time now. The golden girl, they liked to call you—the celebrated daughter of House Lannister, the girl who was perfect on paper. Everything you had done in your life had only added to the pride and good standing of your family, and Aemond could not help but be intrigued. He strode into the room, always catching everyone’s attention, but yours was the only one he sought for. When he finally caught your eyes from across the room, he inwardly smirked to himself and strode to where you stood with your father. “Ah, Aemond,” Your father greeted the other member of his party with civility. “Sir Lannister,” You hear him greet, and you clenched your jaw as you hear the deep, velvety tone of his voice. “This is my daughter; I don’t believe you two have been introduced yet,” Your father said, and you turned your full attention to him. Aemond led out his hand for you to shake, and he felt a chill run down his spine as your hands clasped around each other. 

“Nice to meet you,” You said with a small smile. The same smile was reserved for when you met your father’s other colleagues. You hear him hum and watch as he gives a nod, reserved and quiet, an exact depiction of what you read of him. You stood there quietly for a few moments as they talked of business, trying to ignore the eye that had been entranced by you. When there was a pause in their conversation, you excused yourself and headed towards the bar on the side of the room to refresh your drink, a figure closely following behind you. 

Things were quick to escalate from there from only having to be formally introduced to Aemond mere moments ago to him and you engaging in juvenile activities in a nearby coat closet. There was a lapse in your judgment as you engaged in such activities. Letting your lips dance with your father’s colleague, letting his solid and cold hands roam your body, not at all cautious that with just one swing of the door, you two would succumb to scandal. 

“Aemond,” You called as you gripped his long, silvery locks. His lips were too preoccupied with peppering kisses on your neck and collarbone to respond. You feel his hand inch higher towards your bosom, placing it flat as he palmed your tit. “Who knew their golden girl could be so… lewd?” Amend hummed, and you rolled your eyes as you hated that nickname. “You’ve only just met me, but you had no hesitation as I led you here,” He mused and nipped your skin, not at all wary that it would leave a mark. “Are you complaining?” You asked breathlessly, staring at his sapphire-colored eye. You feel your core tighten as a devilish smirk rose to his lips. “No,” he replied and kissed your lips once more. 

It did not take long after that encounter before you two were noted to be entirely fond of one another. 

There were great reservations. Your older brother taking the lead to voice it on behalf of your family. “Wh—why him? You are aware of his… demeanor?” You pursed your lips. “I am, and he is not as rash and cold as you think,” You defended. “But why did you have to choose someone from father’s party— it is a complete conflict of interest.” You rolled your eyes, “How is it a conflict of interest? For it to be a conflict of interest, it has to be with someone from the opposing party, does it not?” You countered. Your brother shook his head disapprovingly, “He is from the opposing party. Father is not completely sold on his allegiance. He still thinks your little boyfriend’s decision to join our side is a shallow rebellion against his family’s— nothing but a ploy!” Your brother almost screamed, and you stayed quiet as your calculating and cautious self had overlooked the possibility.

That thought bothered you tremendously, and it was noticeable. Aemond frowned as he placed kisses on the valley of your breast, and his hand was threading closer to your cunt, but no reaction came from you. “Are you well?” He asked as he pulled away, placing a small gap between your bodies. Your back was rested on the headboard of his bed, your mind was far off, and you could not even enjoy his pleasurable actions. You stared into his eye and licked your lips. “What’s your plan?” You suddenly asked, and you watched as his face folded in confusion. “What do you mean?” He asked and sat straight before you, his cold hand placed on your warm thigh. 

“Why did you suddenly join my father’s party? For decades, our families have been known for their opposing views… why then did you suddenly join?” You asked and watched as his lips thinned. “If you wanted political and career advancements, it would make more sense if you stayed in your family’s party. Why then do you join ours when you would have to start all over again?” You asked in doubt, fearing that it was indeed all a ploy and the relations between you were just another part of it. That in the end, whatever you do will not only end in heartbreak but worse, your reputation will be tarnished. Aemond was silent, and that put further skepticism in you. Your mind conjures up future scenes where the public will come to know that your relationship was filled with deceit, his way to slither into your father’s political party— subjecting you and your family to embarrassment as you had been seduced by him and his lies. 

“It’s true that if I had stayed with my family’s party, my career would have advanced greatly. But it is a dead end.” You frowned at his words, trying not to be distracted by the day his hand would caress your skin. “It is a lost cost. I had never believed and aligned myself with their political beliefs and values; having to run and represent things I don’t believe in is, for me, practically career suicide,” You pursed your lips and assessed his eye, trying to find sincerity in him. People often say that he was a good actor, keeping his dealings and reactions to himself so no one could use them against him. 

Aemond could not help but smirk as you stared him down, his hand on your thigh inching higher as you did your calculations. “Why? Did you think I was using you?” He asked quietly. His eye darkened when you bit your lip and slowly nodded, a bit wounded that you would think as such. However, he could not honestly blame you because if he were in your position, he would also be skeptical about himself. You parted your lips to speak, but words died on your tongue as you felt Aemond cup your cunt. 

“They always said you were a fast learner… so best to engrave this in your pretty little head,” Aemond hummed as his lips threaded closer to yours, his fingers gliding against your folds, a whimper escaping your lips. “I’m not with you for political advancements… I’m with you simply because I want you, you alone.” He swore and intertwined your lips, swallowing your moan as he slipped his finger inside. Aemond smirked as you parted your lips, needing air as he curled the digit, feeling your cunt clench around him tightly. 

You clung to Aemond’s neck as he dipped down and captured the taut bud of your tit into his mouth, his teeth nibbling your skin, making you whimper. Aemond added another finger as he felt your grind your cunt against his hand in want of more; his thumb lay flat on your nubbin and drew circles, your moans echoing through the room. “More… Aemond— please, please, please, I want more,” You moaned. His fingers were pleasurable, but your body needed the whole of him. You hear him hum and watch him through glazed eyes as he removes his fingers, bringing them to his lips as he cleans your essence. “You want more?” He asked, and you nodded fervently, bordering on desperation. “Then who am I to deny?” He smirked as he switched your positions, him resting his back on the headboard and you straddling his waist. 

Your head tilted back, and your jaw went slack as his cock slipped inside you, sheathing itself perfectly in your cunt, the tip of it hitting the spongey spot that made you lost and unaware of your surrounding. The place that made all sensibilities fly out of the window and make your judgment muddled. “So pretty…” Aemond praised breathlessly, watching as you bounced his cock. Your tits heaving against him, your lips parted as you spewed out your moans. Aemond placed his hands on your hips and guided you, his thrust deep and harsh, just as you liked it. 

Aemond felt you take hold of one of his hands, guiding it toward your throat, and he groaned out in pleasure as you urged him to choke you. Your cunt clenching painfully and pleasurably around his length as he did your request. You moaned as you felt the cool metal of his ring imprint itself on your throat. You were close, and your desperate movements hinted that to Aemond. “Is my pretty girl going to come?” Aemond asked through gritted teeth, his own release coming quickly as well. “Aemond… god, Aemond!” You called as you came undone, your body hunching over his, and he sought out your lips, kissing them as he spilled himself deep inside your cunt. 

You breathed heavily, your mind trying to regain focus, but it was difficult as Aemond drew soothing circles on your skin as you came down from your high. “Do me a favor?” You asked breathlessly, Aemond’s cock still deep inside you and the flaccid length growing stiffer by the moment. “Anything,” He answered and tried to capture your lips, but you swiftly backed away. “Don’t fucking embarrass me,” You said in seriousness, and Aemond smirked at your words. “Never.” He swore and sealed his oath with a kiss.

Tag List

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

Short Smutty Fics Masterlist

Beg (ao3) - FayeHunter michael/luke E, 3k

Summary: The first thing Michael hears when he opens the hotel door is a broken off desperate moan.

Or Michael and his boyfriend have a little fun

Daddy’s little slut (ao3) - Sara_Hood calum/ashton N/R, 2k

Summary: Calum has been a bad boy that needs punishment

Eager to Please (ao3) - howtotrainyourpup ot4, luke/ashton E, 5k

Summary: Ashton is Luke’s baby. His cupcake, his little lion. There is nothing in the world that Luke wouldn’t do for Ashton, he prided himself on being the best Daddy he could be when he was needed, and the best boyfriend he could be the rest of the time. Their relationship, while unconventional, is happy and safe and full of trust both spoken and unspoken. Calum and Michael understand, they’ve made a safe zone for the boys that could never be recreated and is worth more than gold.

or, Ashton slips and helps out all his boys instead of only Luke just this once? i don’t know

Fucking You Like I Should (ao3) - ComplexityIsTheOnlyWayToHaveSimplicity michael/calum, luke/ashton E, 3k

Summary: Calum’s feeling a little naughty but with Michael stuck in a meeting what’s the poor baby to do? If he has a little fun Michael can’t be mad at that. Calum won’t complain when Michael join’s the fun either.

good girls (ao3) - no_clue_who michael/calum, michael/calum, luke E, 8k

Summary: Calum is failing her classes, Michael is her girlfriend and they wanna fuck Luke.

Heart Attack (ao3) - no_clue_who luke/ashton M, 2k

Summary: Luke was a mess. He was a mess who was trying to do something nice for Ashton. Ashton had been planning incredible dates since they had started dating, taking him out and making him feel so loved and he wanted to do the same.

So that's why he impulsively bought the corset and lace shirt a week ago. And the matching lingerie. And the stockings.

Ok so maybe he went a bit overboard with the outfit, but he wants to look good for Ashton.

or how to seduce your boyfriend

How did we end up here (ao3) - BrokenTailLights luke/ashton E, 4k

Summary: Where Luke hates guests, but maybe he can tolerate them if 'guests' include curly-haired, muscular teenage boys with cute giggles

i eat boys like you for breakfast (ao3) - tutorgirl luke/ashton E, 4k

Summary: Luke wasn’t thinking about breakfast so much anymore, except for Ashton eating her out.

i’ll do anything you say if you say it with your hands (ao3) - merlypops luke/ashton E, 4k

Summary: Luke never thought coming out was worth the risk until he met Ashton.

I’m Sweating Bullets Like a Modern Romeo (ao3) - shitmichael michael/calum E, 6k

Summary: “You’re getting punished tonight,” was all he said in a casual voice before leading them out of the hotel lobby.

In The Heat Where You Lay (ao3) - merlypops michael/ashton E, 2k

Summary: It’s Mashton’s anniversary, Michael is sleepy, and Ashton just wants to give him his present.

it’s obvious i just can’t get enough of you (ao3) - nationalnobody calum/ashton E, 4k

Summary: It’s 6PM and Calum is angry. Calum isn’t an angry guy but there is only so much Michael Clifford Bullshit ™ that one human being can physically take. Being the super cool-headed and level guy he is, he heads to the gym to wind down and relax. Everything is going peachy until a fucking sex deity with curly hair has to bend over across the room and destroy any shred of cool in his body.

Knee Socks, Sweaters, & Kitten Boys (ao3) - KiribakuBabe michael/luke E, 5k

Summary: The one where Luke loves wearing stockings whenever Michael isn’t home and then he gets caught wearing them..

lay your hands on me (ao3) - cliffakitten luke/ashton E, 3k

Summary: Luke always liked them because they made him feel pretty, like he had always wanted to be but now he feels something else. Something he never thought he would ever get to feel until right now, right now when Ashton snaps the elastic of the panties against his skin. Luke feels slutty.

And he loves it.

Mikey’s kink (ao3) - Directioner_Jcats_5sosfam michael/luke E, 4k

Summary: Basically, Michaels want’s to try a few kinks, and Luke want to help.

Pup (ao3) - orphan_account calum/ashton, michael/luke N/R, 4k

Summary: Calum and Luke are cuddled up together on the couch, while Ashton watches from the side. He's pissed. Whether its at Luke or Calum, he doesn't know, but he just wants it to end. Mikey manages to keep him calm until Luke is stupid enough to say the word. When the word slips from Luke's lips, Ashton's anger slides out of control.

Rollercoaster Ride (ao3) - im_just_a_sucker_for_bromance ot4 E, 3k

Summary: Michael came up with the craziest idea to end their tour; an idea, which he knew Luke would love. Calum had already agreed but there was one problem, Ashton was still reluctant. All he had to do was to convince the stubborn drummer, something he knew he would manage to do easily, and they would end up having the greatest end-of-tour party.

sucker for the way that you move, babe (ao3) - merlypops luke/ashton E, 2k

Summary: Luke looks after Ashton better than anyone ever has and they can't get enough of each other.

We Couldn't Freeze This Moment (ao3) - antisocialhood luke/ashton N/R, 3k

Summary: Ashton's relationship with Luke was a simplistic amount of domestic fluff and vanilla sex.

White Noise (ao3) - merlypops luke/ashton E, 7k

Summary: Luke and Ashton have massive crushes on each other, Ashton throws a party, and all of Luke’s dreams come true. (Maybe they’re a tiny bit in love too. Maybe.)

[chartreuseian]

For the fanfic emoji ask: 💖, 💪, 🥘, and 🐸, please! :D

Hi hi!! Thank you for these.

💖 Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

Hmm... At the moment probably the Lessons series because it's one of the most complicated things I've taken on in a while. The first few stories are mostly just silly sexy smut, but as the series goes on it's going to shift and get a bit deeper than 'how hard was it to convince Nikola to jump into bed with John and James?'

💪What motivates you to write?

Spite, mostly.

Which is not actually a joke. I am exhaustingly stubborn and last year (after The Breakdown to End All Breakdowns after being metaphorically kicked in the teeth too many times) I had this moment where I realised that I was letting something I don't really care about (work) consume me entirely and that I hadn't done the things I liked to do in almost a decade as a result. So I made a point of reclaiming my time and my life, and part of that is writing every day even if what I produce is utter garbage. I track it and have a little graph to show my progress to keep me motivated too!

🥘What wip are you most excited about?

Ugh. All of them? I mean, Lessons for sure because I'm really pleased with how the Jack the Ripper part of the story is going to play out (I don't think it's what people will be expecting).

Weighted blanket smut for the lols.

And my attempt at a modern AU that is slowly but surely forming. I think it'll be fun, though I'm still not confident of my ability to write it well! It might never see the light of day, but I'm at least excited by the idea of it.

🐸 If you incorporated your OTP into a Disney movie plot, which would it be?

*sigh*

This is where I have to admit I'm not a Disney person. I've seen some of them, but I didn't grow up on them and I've never really gotten into them since. Like, I know the plot of Lion King only because it's Hamlet?

I think you could do a Beauty and the Beast thing though, but maybe flip it. Helen is the evil beast in the castle who is cursed (with longevity which gets really damn annoying after 1000 years or so - she just wants to be able to live out her life in peace) and Nikola is the innocent little flower who ends up breaking said curse because he can see past the bluster of her?

[utouchmycookie]

I was briefly considering redoing a very old Percy Jackson fic I found that was terribly written but had a great plot. It was my own, to clarify, and from the era of Wattpad that was filled with ---line breaks--- and naming these dots: •. The era that I remember for having an account called Leo and the Whale Watchers that would call out, "WHALE" in the comments whenever this -_- emoticon showed up in a fic they were reading.

Anyways. This fic was probably eight-ish years old, and since then I have learned many things. I am using that knowledge here. FYI: I am not assuming anyone here doesn't know biology, I am just putting it here so anyone who doesn't has access to it without research.

Taxonomical Ranks are used to assess relatedness and group species together. From most vague to most specific we have: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Scientific names are always Genus species. For reference, the taxonomy of a human is Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Primate, Hominidae, Homo sapien.

This is all to say, I have officially made a list of what Oceanic Animals would actually be the equivalent of, based on behavior and phylogeny (def.: relatedness of distant species based on most recent common ancestor), as someone studying to become an ethologist (def.: a scientist who studies animal behavior) and mammalogist (def.: a scientist who studies mammals). Gotta be flexible in this career field, Individuals.

Without further ado:

Dogs - Pinnipeds! Seals/Sea Lion/Walruses

Phylogeny: Like all marine mammals, Pinnipeds shared a land mammal ancestor that went back into the water. Pinnipeds are thought to share an ancestral species in the Carnivora order that diverged into modern day weasel-like creatures aside from the Pinnipeds.

Behavior: Pinnipeds have been used to help with an assortment of tasks for generations. Although they've never been tamed (def.: consistently willing to work with humans) in any larger amount than small, captive populations (def.: a group of individuals of the same species generally isolated from others of the species for whatever reason), they've shown willingness to work with humans and intelligence akin to that of their fellow "higher order" carnivorous mammals like dogs. However, they are more social than cats or bears.

Cats - Octopi

Phylogeny: These guys are very distantly related. Very distantly related. They only share a Kingdom - Animalia. However, octopi being invertebrates hardly makes them unintelligent.

Behavior: All types of cats are related at the Family level, and although we're mainly focusing on Felis catus - the domesticated cat - all cats are pretty behaviorally similar. They're mostly independent (although Felis catus, like all other cats, will often have overlapping territory - but territory differs wildly from home range despite their interchangeable usage by media - and lions lives in prides), they love boxes, they are attracted to catnip, and they're aggressive ambush predators. Octopi are individualistic, will fit through anything bigger than their beak, love to mess with humans, and are aggressive predators.

Horses - Whales

Phylogeny: These guys are probably way more related than you realized. Both are mammals, and although they are different Orders, that's more a matter of evolution than lack of relatedness. The most recent true terrestrial ancestor of all modern whale species (which, btw, include both baleen - Sub-Order: Mysticete - and toothed whales - Sub-Order: Odontocete -, and the Odontocete Family of Dolphins - Delphinidae - include Orcas/Killer Whales) was an Artiodactyla, which is the still existent Order horses (Family: Equidae) fall under.

Behavior: Horses have very high emotional intelligence and a distinct hierarchical system due to their very sociable nature that's incredibly similar to whales. For one, both species are matriarchal - or led by elder females - and both have a distinct male leader who seems to be in charge of breeding (in general. Animal groups tend to be far more complex than people give them credit for). Both tend to be migratory.

Birds - Turtles

Phylogeny: I'm going to blow. Your. Minds. Based on genetic comparisons... There is actually only one marine species on here more closely related than these two. Genetic comparisons have shown that scientists made a crazy mistake due to basing phylogeny in phenotypes (def.: physical appearance). The fossil record indicates after amphibians came lizards, and snakes are variations of lizards that have slowly speciated in their own direction. Meanwhile, turtles (including tortoises - all tortoises are turtles, not all turtles are tortoises) and crocodiles/alligators/caimans speciated in another direction, with a more recent common ancestor to bird than to lizards.

Behavior: I've never owned a bird, but I know a bit about them. However, no one has studied sea turtle behavior outside of egg-laying much yet, but I can see a sea turtle having a likeness to them.

Reptiles - Fish

Phylogeny: We just covered Bird/Reptile relatedness, and while we're going backwards here... Fish are more related to reptiles than sharks.

Behavior: I imagine owning a fish in the sea is rather like owning a reptile on land. Especially since while most of my icthy-based knowledge is freshwater, I do know there are a species of fish found in coral reefs who farm, and reptiles just give me a similar vibe.

Ferrets - Otters

Phylogeny: Full-disclosure, these guys are super related. Both are in the Family Mustelidae, and in the Sub-Family of weasels. By taxonomic standards, their relatedness is akin to that of a human and gorilla, or dog and wolf. Btw, they are thought to share a more recent common ancestor with Pinnipeds than bears, but because they both evolved from that common ancestor that is thought to still be in a more bear-like form, we leave it at that.

Behavior: Otters and ferrets are similar in the ways dogs and wolves are similar.

Goats - Sharks

Phylogeny: Okay. They're more related than cats and octopi at least?

Behavior: Everyone calls sharks sea-puppies, but like... Goats are very puppy-like. Can confirm, 10/10. I stand by my decision here.

Cows - Sting- and Manta Rays

Phylogeny: See above.

Behavior: Cows are grass puppies, especially when they're calves. They hang out, love scratches...

A Phylogenetic Tree I drew to show relatedness:

[goth-automaton]

for the fandom ask: what about Devil May Cry, and 5, 9, 20, 19 :D

(and 10, Rem later messaged me, that xe wanted to include 10 too)

5. The character who gives me the greatest gender envy

Nuff said.

Alternatively:

9. The character I'd most enjoy feeding to a pride of ravenous lions

I don't want to feed anyone to lions, that would be mean! :<

.

.

.

Just joking.

It's Mundus. Fuck Mundus.

10. A ship I would gladly go down with… and then become Davey Jones, so I can continue to captain said ship for eternity

They're in love, married and already have a child on the way. Maybe even twins. 💜

I also have a ridiculously soft spot for DanVer for some reason...

19. Crossovers/AUs that pique my interest

As usual – modern setting AUs. Like, hunting demons is swell, but the characters just. Having normal lives and being cute and domestic and taking care of their families and each other? That's the shit! 💜

20. Fics/fanart I'd love to see

Okay, so there is already a lot of mpreg in this fandom and we love to see it, of course... But still.

More.

I need more.

MORE MPREG!!!

Thank you! 💜

Fandom ask game.

[samanthahirr]

📓

Hey, here's a fun new game. Put "📓" or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but daydream about.

Thanks so much for the ask, @cosmictuesdays! I have an ambitious romance fanfic idea I want to share with you for the Stiles/Derek pairing from Teen Wolf. This one's all about indulging the senses in delicious foods (I was obsessed with cooking shows when I dreamed this one up) and also business plans (my beloveds).

Pride & Prejudice & Food Trucks 

aka This Modern Love (Is a Taco Truck)

Set in a fictional major U.S. city in the summer time, culinary institute dropout Stiles has just gone into business for himself as owner and operator of a grilled-meats food truck. Derek is the general manager of his family’s famous, high-end steak restaurant (his older sister Laura is head chef, and his parents and uncle who founded the restaurant decades ago are “retired” but always underfoot in the restaurant). The meet-cute takes place at a dinner hosted by local chef & entrepreneur Deaton at his mcmansion in the suburbs. Deaton finds it amusing to hire a creative, talented, and unconventional food-truck chef to be his sous chef for a gathering of wealthy area restaurateurs, hoping Stiles will add some spirit to the evening’s conversations. (Does Deaton forewarn Stiles about the lion’s den he’s stepping into? No, because Deaton is a bit of a dick.)  Derek & Stiles hit it off despite the massive chip on Stiles’s shoulder about the class- and power-differences between them. They cram in dates amidst their busy schedules, enjoying one another and the food culture around the city. But everywhere they go, there are billboards advertising HBO's Game of Thrones, announcing “Winter Is Coming” —an ominous portent for Stiles, whose first summer season isn’t proving profitable enough to allow him to pay his best friend Scott for his uncompensated assistance in the truck, let alone pay Stiles’s rent and taxes during the lean winter months to come. Meanwhile, the city’s restaurateurs are petitioning City Hall to introduce new zoning restrictions on where and when food trucks can operate, Derek’s family among them. Despite their sexual chemistry and growing affection for one another, these external pressures threaten to pull Stiles & Derek apart. One or both of them will have to bend before they can get their happily ever after. Who will it be? …Stiles. In this fic, it’s definitely Stiles; he keeps pushing away Derek’s earnest attempts to help with his business plan and find financial backers to support the food truck. After being disrespected by Derek’s family members (who crashed Stiles & Derek’s date at the steak restaurant), Stiles stages a showy fuck-you gesture, giving away free samples outside the family restaurant to prove his food truck can be a legitimate threat to their business. Unfortunately, patrons coming for a sit-down, white-tablecloth business lunch will not be tempted to change their plans to eat on the street. Humiliated, Stiles breaks up with Derek. Stiles has some heart-to-heart conversations with his friend Lydia and his father about his fear of failure and desire to make it on his own, and he eventually approaches Deaton, who invests in Stiles's talent by leasing him a pop-up space in one of his restaurants for the winter, with the potential for a long-term partnership if Stiles’s pop-up is successful. With his pride humbled and his financials finally sorted, Stiles shows up on Derek’s doorstep with the makings for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches (one of their late-night rituals after Derek closes up the restaurant), and cooks for Derek as an apology. They get back together, and cook happily ever after.

I built so much complexity into this story that it ended up feeling more like a romance novel than a fanfic, and I was in a writer's block funk, so it seemed too daunting to even begin writing, so I dropped it years ago. But it's still so much fun to dream about the menus and date venues and business plans and financing agreements and political campaigns and town meetings and food truck rallies....

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

When you accidently spend a total of 7 hours in 2 days writing ideas for a AU you'll never write because you cant write and you know you'll never find anyone whod write it or read it because no one has your particular niche interest that caused the formation of this AU in the first place

Anyways its at 4k words in just bullet points

[awanderingdeal]

I vote leo meeting the harvard team! 💕

So this fic has been a bit of a mare to write, but we are here!

You can read the first part of this here

Rating: T

CW: Alcohol, academic superiority complex and coming out.

Logan, Finn, Leo, Percy, Will and the general Sweater Weather universe belongs to @lumosinlove. The other team members were made up by me for this fic.

“Okay, tell me their names again,” Leo said, tugging at the rolled neck of his sweater as he shut the car door.

“Nutty,” Finn laughed. “There’s not going to be a pop quiz. We’ll introduce you when we meet people.”

Leo scowled, letting Logan thread their fingers together. It was weird being able to do this in public still and Leo couldn’t help but glance around. “I just don’t want to make a fool of myself.” Logan squeezed his hand reassuringly, meeting Leo’s gaze with a soft smile.

“Nobody expects you to know anything. And everybody’s great.” Logan wrinkled his nose like he’d just smelt something bad. “Except Wesley, he’s an ass, but I’ll point him out.”

Like many of the others in Harvard square, the building was all exposed brick and white accents, blending in seamlessly with those around it. Inside was different, more modern. Leo didn’t get to see much of the first floor, the one dedicated to the restaurant Finn, Logan and the rest of the team had dined at previous evening, before he was ushered up a grand staircase, but he’d seen the photographs. The cherry blossom ceilings and walls of glass provided the perfect backdrop for the instagram feeds of the hoards of celebrities and influencers that flocked there. Hence his surprise when, after checking their invitations again, an employee pushed open a set of double doors to reveal a room that more resembled a 1920’s speakeasy than anything 21st century. A loud cheer went up as they crossed the threshold.

“Is this a team thing?” Leo mouthed at Logan.

He got his answer from Percy Marshall. Leo had met him a few times before when they’d played the Rangers. “You’re the last to arrive,” Percy chuckled. “I’d say I was surprised, but that would be a lie.” He slapped a hand playfully against Finn’s bicep. Is this outfit change number 52, Finn? Don’t worry, you didn’t disappoint. You look wonderful.”

“Fuck you, Marshy,” Finn laughed. “Tremz was on a call to his sisters actually.”

“Oh, I do apologise,” Percy clasped his hand to his chest. ���We wouldn’t dare break up a Tremblay soiree.”

“You’re an ass,” Logan scoffed, plucking at Finn’s slacks. “I was only talking to them because Finn was taking so long. Did you know there are several shades of mustard and only one of them goes with this shirt?”

“Oh look, they argue like an old married couple too,” William Morgan, another of those Leo knew, and Percy’s teammate on the Rangers, teased. “Marshy, these hands are looking too empty. Get these men a drink.”

“Aye, aye, capt’n.” Leo set to follow as Percy led the way to the bar, stumbling slightly as he found Will’s firm grasp on his shoulder stopping his movement. Logan turned as his fingers slipped from his hand.

“Go ahead, Tremzy. I’m going to introduce Leo to some of the team. We want all the gossip without you two around to censor him.”

Logan frowned. “I’m not sure -”

“Relax, Logan. This isn’t a hazing. We’ll be right over there,” Will pointed towards a group perched on stools around two of the tables in the centre of the room, a mix of the old team and what Leo assumed were their partners. “Knut’s a big boy. He can object for himself if he really doesn’t want to come.”

“I’m sure I can hold my own,” Leo cocked his head slightly and smiled. “You better not leave Harzy with Percy for too long. They’ll be three shots down by now.”

The next few hours passed in a whirlwind of introductions. Leo had lost count of the number of hands he'd shaken and the new names he'd learned. It reminded him of those first few days in Gryffindor, being shuffled around from place to place and everybody telling him he'd get used to it.

The quiet of the bathroom was a welcome reprieve to the chaos. “Sweetheart,” Leo laughed, listening to Finn sing to himself in the stall. “Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” A concerningly loud crash preceded the door being pushed open. “I’m here.”

“You’re drunk,” Leo chuckled.

Finn pulled his hands from under the stream of water, shaking droplets everywhere as he squeezed the tips of his thumb and forefinger together. “Maybe just the tiniest bit.”

Leo shook his head fondly. “Let’s go and find Lo.” Glancing back to check Finn was following him proved to be a mistake. “Shit, I’m sorry,” he apologised, rubbing at his forehead and stepping back from the wall of muscle he’d just crashed into. Of course, the tall man with his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail was the one person Leo hadn’t yet met.

“Leo, this is James. Call him Hunter,” Finn grinned with his hand resting in the small of Leo’s back. "Hunter, this is -"

"Leo Knut. I know. Everybody knows," Hunter said and Leo noted the familiar notes of his own accent in the words. He faltered with his hand thrust halfway in Leo's direction, letting it fall back by his side. "Oh fuck, sorry man. Did you want to introduce him as your boyfriend? Go ahead."

"It's cool, no worries." Finn shrugged, the rounds of his cheeks tinged with the slightest of blushes. "Aww, what the heck!" He squared his shoulders, standing a little taller, the corners of his mouth splitting with pride. "Hunter, this is Leo, my boyfriend."

Hunter extended his hand again for Leo to shake. “Nice to meet you. Please excuse me, I have to use the bathroom now, but we’ll talk later.”

***

"Boys." The call had come from behind them and Logan groaned low in his chest as they turned to acknowledge it.

"Wes! You made it," Finn smiled, the corners of his mouth tight. "We weren't sure you'd be able to. With all those big meetings you have to attend and such. Is your wife, Renee, wasn’t it, here? I'd love to meet her."

Something flickered in Wes' smug expression. "They stayed in California. Nate has a very busy schedule. Harvard is very important to me, as you know, so I came alone."

“Isn’t Nate three?” Logan blinked.

“You have to give them a good start if you want them to get them to get into a good college these days, I’m sure you understand. Where was it you went, Leo?"

Leo pursed his lips, letting the same calm wash over him that he channelled for interviews. “I didn’t go. I got drafted straight out of high school.”

“Oh, well, that’s a shame,” Wes said. “College isn’t for everybody though, is it?”

Logan bristled beside him, and Leo placed a placating hand on his shoulder. “Indeed,” he blinked. “I didn’t need my intelligence validated by a degree then, and I still don’t now. And I was hardly about to turn down an offer from The Gryffindor Lions now, was I?”

Wes grumbled something that sounded vaguely like an agreement before turning on his heel and walking off in a manner that Leo could only describe as petulant.

“You’re so hot,” Finn took Leo’s face between his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want another?”

“Please,” Leo nodded. Logan raised his still mostly full glass as a rejection of the offer.

“You should have let me punch him,” Logan huffed. “He would have deserved it.”

"And get blood on your shirt? Let’s leave that on the ice, shall we?” Leo tugged at the lapels of Logan’s jacket.

***

"So," Logan started as they claimed one of the low tables in the corner, a little tucked away from the rest of the room. "What do you think?"

"It's always nice seeing where you two started," Leo hummed, threading his fingers through the thin curls on the nape of Logan's neck. "I just don't know how you used to do this everyday. Live amongst all this energy. The guys all seem great, but it's a lot even now and I'm assuming you've all mellowed somewhat with age."

"I am not old," Logan scoffed. "Mais non, I agree. Wasn't always like this though. There's more than one graduating class here and we've been apart a long time. A lot of excitement."

"Sorry, sorry, I got caught up with Biscuit. He has triplets now, isn't that crazy?" Finn said, pressing a glass into Logan’s hand and setting Leo’s in front of him before flopping onto the couch opposite. "One Margarita for the fine sir."

"Thanks, Harzy," Leo laughed lightly.

"I can't believe him and Vanessa are still together," Logan hummed, taking a long sip of his drink. He leaned back, crossing his left leg over his right thigh and snaked his arm across the dark leather, brushing his fingers against Leo's shoulder. "I only introduced them because she was flirting with you at that party, the one just after we got back from winter break my junior year, and I wanted to distract her."

"Oh, so that's why you got all moody," Finn said. "She wasn't flirting, she needed help with an essay, idiot."

"The fact you remember Logan's mood on a night seven years ago says more about you than him," Leo snorted.

"First of all, Tremzy being grumpy? That's just a good guess. Second, some of us were still stupid at 20, Knutty." Finn sighed wistfully. "Hey, at least it doesn't feel like I'm being stabbed in the chest these days when I think about it. Progress, right?"

Logan tipped his glass in Finn's direction, nodding his head briefly. "I'll cheers to that."

"To -" Leo started, letting the toast die off as another of Finn and Logan's old team mates approached. He hoped the disappointment he felt wasn't written across his face; whilst he hadn't really expected to be left alone for too long, he had hoped for the brief respite to have lasted longer.

"Hey." The newcomer had his hand shoved into his pockets and his shoulders stooped, almost as if he was trying to hide himself. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Ken!" Finn patted the empty seat next to him. "Of course not. Come, sit."

Leo extended his arm, offering his hand. "Nice to meet you. Ken was it? I'm Leo."

"Ken's what the team always called me. Don't really hear it much these days." Leo thought he saw something sad in the smile sent his way. "My real name is Obi."

"That's because you went off the radar," Logan gave a pointed look.

"About that -" Obi swiped Finn's drink, ignoring his disgruntled protest. He drained what was left of it, pulling at an non-existent loose thread on his sweater. "I wanted to say thank you, you know. For having the guts to come out. I know Black and Lupin were first, but that was forced wasn’t it. You made a choice. I know that must have been hard. It was one hell of a ballsy move."

Leo looked between Finn and Logan, expecting them to answer, but neither of them spoke. "We didn't have much of a choice, not if we didn't want to be watching our back every second of every day."

"It was still brave," Obi muttered. "I couldn't have done it."

"Ken, what are you saying?" Logan never did have much patience for others taking their time to get to the point, even though he was a fan of the scenic route himself.

"They gave you a whole Harvard degree and you need to ask that question?" Obi huffed a laugh. "I'm gay. I met Marco, my now husband at the end of senior year, and freaked out. I didn't know how to make these two worlds work, so I didn't. I moved to DC with him, and started a new life. I'm an accountant, he works in marketing. We have four rats, and a Vizsla called Poppy. It's all very domestic. I love it, but I was a coward.”

"You're not a coward. You don't owe that information to anybody, Ken. Not the others, not the media, not the NHL and not us. Not now, not then, not ever.” Finn took a breath, holding up his finger to signal he wasn’t finished. “Besides, it's not as if Lo and I planned this. We went into this with every intention of stuffing this deep, deep into the depths of denial, never for anybody to find out. Including ourselves. And then Nutty came along.”

Obi smiled at Leo, turning his attention back to Finn. "When did you become Gay Yoda?"

"I spend way too much time in our psych's office. Just spreading the wisdom. Heather would be proud."

"Do the others know?" Logan asked.

"Not yet, I think I'd like them to though."

Logan shifted, leaning forward in his seat. "There's no rush, Ken. We've got your back, whatever you decide."

"So, do you have photos?" Leo cocked his head. "We got to show off. Now it's your turn. Even if it's only for us."

"Of Marco?"

"I'm sure he's wonderful, but I was actually talking about Poppy. And the rats," Leo teased.

There were moments when Leo wondered whether they had made the right decision. When he was playing in front of hostile crowds, or fending off stupid media questions, or blocking bigots on twitter. And then there were moments when he knew the decision they had made was 100% perfect. Right now, that was one of those moments.

[nevermindirah]

I've been drafting and redrafting this meta post for weeks now. It's about to be 5781 and my country that was founded on settler colonial genocide and slavery and a deeply flawed but fierce attachment to democracy might go full dictatorship in about 6 weeks and it's time for me to post this thing.

All our immortals are warriors, all have been traumatized by war. But only three of them died their first deaths as soldiers in imperial armies. This fandom has already produced gallons of meta on Nicky dealing with his shit, because Joe would not fuck with an unapologetic Crusader. But there's very rich stuff in Booker and Nile's experiences and the parallels and distinctions between them.

Nile was 11 when her dad was killed in action - that was 2005, meaning she and her dad both died in the same war that George W Bush started in very tenuous response to 9/11. Sure, Nile's dad could have died in either Iraq or Afghanistan, or in a training accident or in an off-the-books mission we won't know about for a hundred more years, but he died in the War on Terror all the same. I had to look it up to be sure because Obama "drew down" the Afghanistan war in his second term, but nope, we're still in this fucking thing that never should've happened in the first place. The US war in Afghanistan just turned 19 years old. A lot of real-life Americans have experiences like the Freemans, parents and children both dying in the same war we shouldn't be in.

I know a lot of people like Nile who join the US military not just because it's the only realistic way for them to pay for college or afford decent healthcare, but also because they have a family history of military service that's a genuine source of pride. Military service has been a way for Americans of color to be accepted by white Americans as "true Americans" - from today's Dreamers who Obama promised would earn protection from deportation by enlisting, to Filipino veterans of WW2 earning US citizenship that Congress then denied them for several decades, to slaves "earning" their freedom through service in the Union Army and in the Continental Army before it. As if freedom is a thing one should have to earn. Lots of Black Americans have the last name Freeman for lots of different escaping-slavery reasons, but it's possible that this specific reason is how Nile got her last name.

Dying in a war you know your country chose to instigate unnecessarily and that maybe you believe it shouldn't be waging is a very particular kind of trauma. It is a much deeper trauma when your military service, and your father's, and maybe generations of your ancestors', is a source of pride and access to resources for you but your sacrifice is nearly meaningless to the white supremacist system that deploys you. That kind of cognitive dissonance encourages a person to ignore their own feelings just so they can function. How do you wake up in the morning, how do you risk your life every day, how do you *kill other people* in a war that shouldn't be happening and that you shouldn't have to serve in just so that your country sees you as human?

We see Nile do her best to be a kind and well-mannered invader. Depending on your experience with US imperialism, Nile giving candy to kids and reminding her squad to be respectful is either heartwarming or very disturbing propaganda. We also see Nile clutching her cross necklace and praying. From the second Christianity arrived on this land it's been a tool of white supremacist assimilation and control, but like military service, it's a fucked-up but genuine source of pride and access to resources for many Americans whose pre-Columbian ancestors were not Christian, and it's a powerful source of comfort and resilience. This Jew who's had a lot of Spanish Inquisition nightmares would like to say for the record that it's not Jesus's fault that his big name fans are such shitty people.

Nile is a good person trying to do her best in a fucked-up world. "Her best" just radically changed. Her access to information on just how fucked up the world is has also just radically changed, because everything's so fucked up a person needs a lot of time to learn about it all and not only does she have centuries but she won't have to spend that time worrying about rent and healthcare and taxes, and because she now has Joe and Nicky and Andy's stories, and because she now has Copley's inside scoop on just what the fuck the CIA has been up to. Like, I want a fic where Copley tells Nile what was really behind the brass's decisions that led to her experiences on the ground in Afghanistan, that led to her father's death, but also I Do Not Want That.

Nile was 19 when Alicia Garza posted on Facebook that Black Lives Matter. She grew up in Chicago well before white people on Twitter were saying maybe police violence against Black people is a problem. She knows this is a deeply fucked up country, and she put on her Marine uniform and deployed with her team of mostly fellow women of color, and maybe she and Dizzy and Jay marched in the streets between deployments, maybe they texted each other when a white manarchist at a protest sneered at one of them for being a Marine. Nile's been busy surviving, and she knows some shit and she's seen some shit but she hasn't had much time to think about what it all means. Now she's got time. And Joe, Nicky, and Andy are willing to listen. (Is Copley willing to listen? I could see that going either way.)

Booker might also be willing to listen. The brilliant idea of cleaning up the rat Frenchman so that Nile can have millennia of emotional support and orgasms sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, and holy shit do Booker and Nile have a lot of shared life experience as pawns of imperial wars. Obviously Booker is white and a man and that makes a very big difference. (Though G-d help me, Booker could be Jewish and France was knocking its Jews around like ping-pong balls in the 18th-19th centuries. Jewish Booker wouldn't make him any less white but it does add a shit ton of depth of common experience: military service as a way for your country to see you as a full member of society who matters, because who you are means that's not guaranteed.)

Booker was hanged for desertion from the army Napoleon sent to invade Russia as part of his quest to control all of Europe. We learn in the comics / this YouTube video that Booker was on his way to prison for forgery when he was offered military service instead of jail time. While we don't know how he felt about the choice beyond that he did choose soldier over inmate, it's unlikely he thought invading Russia was a great idea, given he tried to desert because Napoleon like a true imperialist dumbass didn't plan for how he was going to feed his army or keep them from freezing to death in fucking Russian winter.

I find it very interesting that the French Empire was at its largest right before invading Russia and fell apart completely within a few years. My country has been falling the fuck apart for a while now - see aforementioned War on Terror, growing extremes of economic stratification in the richest country in the world, abject refusal to meaningfully deal with climate change that US-based corporations hold the lion's share of blame for - but between Trump's abject refusal to meaningfully deal with the coronavirus and strong likelihood that he'll refuse to leave office even if a certain pathetic moderate I will hold my nose and vote for does manage to earn a majority of votes, ~y~i~k~e~s.

Our only immortals who have never known a world before modernity and nationalism happen to have been born of wars that were the beginning of the end for the imperialist democracies that raised them, and I think in the centuries to come that's going to give them some very interesting shit to talk about.

Nile's a Young Millennial, a digital native born in the United States after the collapse of the USSR left her country as the world's only superpower. She's used to a pace of technological change that human brains are not evolved to handle.

Napoleon trying to make all of Europe into the French Empire was a leading cause of the growth of European nationalism and the establishment of liberal democracies both in Europe and in many places that Europeans had colonized. Booker's first war produced the only geopolitical world order Nile has ever known and I just have so many feelings ok. Nile the art history nerd is probably not aware of this, and why would she be? This humble meta author is, like Nile, a product of US public schools, and all they taught me about world history was Ancient Greece/Rome/Egypt/Mesopotamia and then World War 2. Being raised in The World's Only Superpower is WEIRD.

Nile the Young Millennial is used to the devastating volume of bad news the internet makes possible. But she has absolutely no concept of a world where the United States of America is not The World's Only Superpower. In order to get up in the morning and put on her gear and point guns at civilians in Afghanistan, she can only let herself think so much about whether that American exceptionalism thing is a good idea.

She's about to spend many, many years where the only people who she can truly trust are people who are older than not only her country but the IDEA of countries.

She's got time, and she's got a lot of new information at her disposal. But there comes a point where my obsession with her friendship and eventual very hot sex life with Booker just isn't about sex at all. Nile needs someone to talk to about the United States who Gets It. Booker the rat Frenchman coerced into Napoleon's army, and Copley the Black dual citizen of the US and UK who's retired from a CIA career that he half understands as deeply problematic but half still believes in hence his mind-bogglingly stupid partnership with Merrick, are the only people on the planet Nile can talk to honestly about, and really be understood in, all the thoughts and feelings and fears and hopes of her experience as a US Marine.

And one more thing before I go get ready for Rosh Hashanah: Orientalism was a defining element of the Crusades and that legacy is painfully clear in current US-led Western military activity in Afghanistan, Syria, Israel/Palestine, you name it. Turns out memoirs by French veterans of the Napoleonic Wars are full of Orientalist language about Russia as well. I am maybe/definitely writing a fic where Booker spends his exile reading critical race theory and decolonial feminism and trauma studies monographs because he can't be honest with a therapist but maybe he can heal this way and become the team therapist his own damn self. I just really need him to read Edward Said and Gloria Anzaldúa and then go down on Nile, ok?

[nostalgicatsea]

Common questions about and excuses for racism in fandom

I noticed that the same excuses, justifications, and questions that have come up in response to racism in fandom over the years appear in the notes for my post, so here’s a FAQ of sorts to address them. Hopefully, this will help people understand why these arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny and have something to refer to in lieu of writing a new reply every time someone says these things. 

Due to the length of this post, I made a Google doc for easier reading. Please note that several points are specific to the Marvel fandom and to the post linked above and are often M/M-focused (I explain why in that post), but generally speaking, the following can be applied to any fandom and various relationships. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I can ship whatever I want. Stop being the fandom police!

Shipping isn’t activism. 

Fandom is supposed to be fun. Being told what to do or not to do isn’t fun.

I put a lot of different people in my works, and I do research about the groups they’re in. For example, I have a *marginalized group here* character (e.g., disabled), and I did research to represent them accurately. It’s not fair to say that I don’t care about diversity.

I don’t think people should write about POC if they’re white, just like I wouldn’t want anyone to talk about *insert topic you’re passionate about or interest group you’re in here* (e.g., the BDSM community) if they didn’t know anything about it.

I really don’t have any knowledge about what it’s like to be a POC, though, so maybe I’m not the best person for this. If POC want to see themselves represented, they should make their own works.

I’m not comfortable with writing POC as I’m unfamiliar with the struggles they experience. I don’t want my writing to come off as inauthentic, inaccurate, or offensive. Why are you saying it’s harmful to use this as a reason for abstaining from writing POC?

It doesn’t make sense to include every single POC in my work.

What you said and the data you have don’t necessarily point to racism. It might just be individual preference. I prefer certain ships over others, and it has nothing to do with race/I don’t see color.

A big part of what informs my shipping is physical attraction or interest in the characters.

I don’t ship _____ because I see them as brothers/sisters/siblings.

Some white characters and ships are popular in the MCU fandom because people bring in canon characterization or material from the comics to the character(s)/ship. Your MCU-only examination fails to account for ships with one character from the MCU and one from comics (e.g., MCU Bucky/616 Clint or Spideypool).

Some subfandoms just have fewer POC which means there will naturally be fewer ships featuring POC. To say that the Marvel fandom is racist as a whole is disingenuous; you can see how more diversity in the cast leads to more diverse ships in fanworks.

Some of the characters and ships are popular because white characters get the lion’s share of screen time and development or they appeared in canon earlier.

Is it racist to racebend a character?

Racist language in fics is more important than fandom representation.

My fanworks tend to focus on one ship and don’t really include other characters in general. When they do, the others mostly talk about that relationship. Am I falling into the trap you mentioned? 

I feel guilty about not including or writing about *character of color’s name here*.

How do I ensure that I don’t offend anyone if I include POC in my work?

What should I do to examine myself for any implicit biases?

The rest of the post is under the cut.

I can ship whatever I want. Stop being the fandom police!

As explicitly stated several times in my post, I agree that you can ship whatever you want. I’m not targeting a specific ship. I’m not telling you to stop shipping what you ship. All I’m asking is for everyone, including myself and other POC, to regularly examine ourselves for any implicit biases. If you’re a multishipper, are all of your ships in the fandom white? If you only have one ship and it’s white, are most or all of your ships in your other/previous fandoms white? Is the only media you consume predominantly or all white? 

Shipping isn’t activism. 

No, it isn’t and in many cases, shouldn’t be seen or treated as the same thing. However, by responding this way to POC who want to see themselves represented in fanworks more and not be ignored or written stereotypically, you’re telling us that our mere existence is a “political issue.” 

Fandom is supposed to be fun. Being told what to do or not to do isn’t fun.

It should be fun for us POC too, and it’s not when we’re consistently misrepresented or we don’t exist in this fandom. By using this as an excuse to exclude POC from your works, you’re saying that only some people are allowed to have fun or that having fun is conditional. Also, no one is forcing you as an individual to do or not do anything. See two paragraphs above.

I put a lot of different people in my works, and I do research about the groups they’re in. For example, I have a *marginalized group here* character (e.g., disabled), and I did research to represent them accurately. It’s not fair to say that I don’t care about diversity.

Just like you do research for those groups, you can easily do research on POC. Also, please be aware that this statement is similar to the “I’m not racist because I have a ___ friend/have a ___ person in my works” argument that many people use to prove they’re not racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. We aren’t interchangeable with other groups. 

I don’t think people should write about POC if they’re white, just like I wouldn’t want anyone to talk about *insert topic you’re passionate about or interest group you’re in here* (e.g., the BDSM community) if they didn’t know anything about it.

Something like BDSM is a lifestyle and preference. It is a choice. Being a POC isn’t. We can’t take off our identity every time we leave the house, the way you might keep it secret at work that you’re in the BDSM scene. 

I really don’t have any knowledge about what it’s like to be a POC, though, so maybe I’m not the best person for this. If POC want to see themselves represented, they should make their own works.

We do. Also, all of us fanwork creators make works with characters who are different from us all the time. Fandom is largely composed of people who aren’t straight cis men, yet the bulk of works on AO3 features characters who are canonically or implied to be straight cis men even if we end up changing that in our works. Most of us aren’t billionaires, but we don’t have a problem writing Tony. We don’t know what it’s like to be a WWII-soldier-turned-brainwashed-assassin who was kept in cryo for decades except when deployed on missions, but we don’t have a problem writing Bucky. The list goes on.

I’m not comfortable with writing POC as I’m unfamiliar with the struggles they experience. I don’t want my writing to come off as inauthentic, inaccurate, or offensive. Why are you saying it’s harmful to use this as a reason for abstaining from writing POC?

Your concern isn’t harmful. Reducing us to our trauma is, and you’re doing that if the reason you’re not comfortable with writing POC is that you don’t know how to write our struggles. We’re not only our pain. We’re more than that.

Not every fic has to be about the trauma of being a POC. We deserve to have fun, silly fics in addition to serious, plotty drama. We’re not thinking about our suffering 24/7 even if we do think about or are affected by it a lot. It’s not like if you write a Sam/Bucky fic, Sam is going to randomly lecture Bucky about the history of Black people in the U.S. and modern enslavement through the prison industrial complex while Bucky is trailing kisses down his neck in bed. We don’t need everyone being racist to MJ in a Pride and Prejudice AU. If you do want to include their struggles because that informs the way the characters think or act in your story, you can do so in ways that feel organic. 

Additionally, this is an excuse that we hear often; you may have heard it as people in Hollywood have used it to explain why they don’t have any, or at least any major, characters from marginalized groups in their works. If we allowed this excuse, an overwhelming majority of who we see in the media would be straight, cis white men considering who has power in the film and TV industry—and we would have to say that’s okay. We would have to say that the only people allowed to write about a certain group are members of that group, e.g., only women can write women. That’s not acceptable especially considering the gatekeeping, oppression, and high barriers to entry and success that make it difficult for marginalized people to even be in the room let alone make a name for themselves.

Fandom is no different. You’re saying that you can’t relate to POC because you’re white, but none of us POC have any problems making fanworks with white characters even though we don’t know what it’s like to be white. There are straight women who write fics about gay men and don’t feel uncomfortable doing so when they don’t know a single thing about being a gay man and the struggles of gay men (M/M can include bi or pan men, fics about gay men by straight women can sometimes include problematic portrayals, and straight men, queer women, and non-binary people write M/M too, but this is just an example).

You should be more careful when writing a POC if you're not a POC. The same goes for men writing women, cis people writing trans people, straight people writing queer people, able-bodied people writing disabled people, etc. However, there ARE ways to go about it, and while I understand the fear of messing up, the truth is everyone is racist, sexist, etc. Everyone including people in marginalized groups. Being a white lesbian doesn’t mean you can’t be racist. Being an Asian man doesn’t mean you can’t be sexist. You can see that within groups themselves. POC are not exempt from racism against other POC or from internalized racism against themselves or their own group. Women aren't free from internalized misogyny. The best we can do is to not make that prevent us from making inclusive works; if you make a mistake, which may happen, all we can ask is that you try your best to be open to feedback and grow. 

It doesn’t make sense to include every single POC in my work.

No one is telling you to. Choose characters who make sense for the story. Don’t choose them just so you have a POC in your work. We don’t want them to be tokenized. 

What you said and the data you have don’t necessarily point to racism. It might just be individual preference. I prefer certain ships over others, and it has nothing to do with race/I don’t see color.

This argument is identical to the “not all _____” rebuttal (“not all men,” “not all white people,” etc.) which places the blame on a few lone individuals and shifts the conversation away from an existing widespread problem. When there’s a consistent pattern and there are many examples of it both within the fandom and in other fandoms, it no longer is about individual preference. 

I urge you to consider the following:

If most people say they don’t write about or include a POC in their work because it’s too difficult or they’re afraid of making that character inauthentic, but they don’t seem to have an issue with writing other characters from groups they’re not in (e.g., if you’re a straight woman who writes a lot of M/M fics despite not knowing what it’s like to be a bi, pan, or gay man), doesn’t that say something?

If most people have the same reasons you do about not being interested in POC (e.g., “they’re not fleshed out enough” while being interested in or fleshing out minor white characters who get the same or even less development as those characters) or ships with POC (e.g., saying “they’re like brothers” while being interested in a white ship with similar dynamics and tropes or seeing why other people might ship it if you don’t), doesn’t that say something?

If most people give characters of color the same roles in their works even if that makes them OOC and/or the role reduces them to a (frequently stereotypical) trope, especially if they’re never fleshed out beyond that trope (e.g., the funny sidekick, wise friend who always helps or gives advice/free therapy, or responsible, mature, and sometimes stern friend who “parents” the protagonist), isn’t that saying something?

If race truly isn’t a factor for you when it comes to liking characters and ships, then this isn’t about you and you don’t have to distract people from the conversation by announcing that. That said, we should all look at characters and ships we like anyway instead of assuming that’s the case as that’s good practice. How much of your list is white? If it’s mostly or entirely white, why is that the case and why do you feel differently about ships of color?

A big part of what informs my shipping is physical attraction or interest in the characters.

What characters and actors do you find attractive or interesting? Are they all or mostly white? If they aren’t, are you drawn to any ships that include those POC? Refer to the section above.

I don’t ship _____ because I see them as brothers/sisters/siblings.

Part of this is preference as it comes down to perceived chemistry and relationship dynamics. However, POC are often not seen as romantic leads both in fanworks and the media and are just friends or “brothers/sisters” (this is why Crazy Rich Asians was a big deal). Sometimes, people even argue against POC being or having love interests in the name of diversity. You see this a lot with WOC in the media where the explanation against a love interest is “she’s a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man”; yes, they don’t and sometimes the story doesn’t need a romance, but WOC deserve love too and it’s strange that while white women can get the guy and be independent, WOC can’t and it somehow belittles or reduces them if they do. 

The way you can gauge whether it’s just preference at play or biases you may not have been aware of is to see how many relationships featuring a character of color fall under the “just friends/siblings” category for you, what you need to ship something, and how you feel about white ships with the same type of relationship or same lack of chemistry. For instance, you may say that there needs to be enough interaction for you to ship something and that’s why you don’t care much for Rhodey/Sam. Do you feel the same way about Clint/Coulson then, which has much less interaction (actually much less than Rhodey/Sam in this case)? If it’s about chemistry, are Steve and Sam just “brothers,” but Bruce and Thor aren’t or, if you don’t ship Bruce/Thor, you still “see it” and get why other people might be into it?

What do you ship, or what ships do you understand even if they’re not for you, and how is that different from ships that follow the same beats? Why are Steve and Bucky not brothers, but Rhodey and Tony are (there are many parallels between the two relationships—and one can argue the latter is more nuanced—than appears at first glance, and Rhodey/Tony can be just as sweet or angsty)? If you like the rivals/enemies-to-lovers or meet-ugly aspect to Steve/Tony, Sam/Bucky, Scott/Jimmy Woo, and M’Baku/T’Challa have that dynamic. You like that superior/subordinate-to-lovers dynamic that Clint/Coulson has? Coulson/Fury. Flirty meet-cutes or love/trust-at-first-sight? Steve/Sam.

Some white characters and ships are popular in the MCU fandom because people bring in canon characterization or material from the comics to the character(s)/ship. Your MCU-only examination fails to account for ships with one character from the MCU and one from comics (e.g., MCU Bucky/616 Clint or Spideypool).

I explained why I focused on the MCU here and that most of the fics that feature an MCU character and comics ’verse character tend to be heavily or entirely MCU-influenced here.

Also, characters of color exist in the comics, cartoons, and games too. By this logic, Steve/Sam and Rhodey/Tony should be juggernauts in the MCU fandom considering the depth and history of the characters and relationships. Ask yourself why people are happy to ship MCU Spideypool, to draw on the comics for that relationship and even bring a non-MCU character into the MCU and write him based on his comics history and characterization. Ask yourself why people are unhappy with MCU Clint’s terrible writing and lack of characterization and decide to give him his 616 (usually Fraction-era) characterization. And then ask yourself why people don’t do that for characters of color and then use “___ is a minor character/doesn’t have much development” as an excuse for why they’re uninteresting or not shippable with others.

There are many strong and interesting relationships in the comics, but only a few make it to the MCU fandom and almost all, if not all, of them are white.

Some subfandoms just have fewer POC which means there will naturally be fewer ships featuring POC. To say that the Marvel fandom is racist as a whole is disingenuous; you can see how more diversity in the cast leads to more diverse ships in fanworks.

It’s more important to see how many fanworks there are for ships of color in a fandom than how many ships of color there are in that fandom. See how few works there are for POC ships other than MJ/Peter in the MCU Spider-Man fandom despite the diversity of the cast. See how the most popular ships are white and three of them involve white characters from the Iron Man fandom (explain to me how Harley/Peter has over 1,000 works, but Ned/Peter has 436). 

And sure, you can say almost all of the Black Panther ships feature a character of color so there’s “more” diversity, but see how few works there are for them and how works with a white character fare compare to POC-only ships (almost all have 100-200 or fewer fics, with many having so few that I didn’t include them in the post, while BP ships with a white character have more works despite little to no interaction between the characters). 

Both of these, by the way, are critical and box office hits with characters who are clearly supposed to be the faces of the MCU now that the OG6 are gone. Black Panther is an award-winning critical and box office hit, and it is, more than any other film in MCU history, a huge cultural phenomenon with tremendous impact. It broke so many records and milestones, and it’s STILL breaking and making them. It has the most nuanced and balanced ensemble cast with side characters just as three-dimensional as the lead, a rarity in MCU films. Yet, its tag only has 3,966 works, fewer in total for the whole fandom than some of the white M/M ships on this list. Even if you account for BP fanworks that may have been tagged as MCU instead of BP, the number is paltry as you can see in this post. People simply do not want to make fanworks for characters of color (in this case, specifically Black characters) and don’t. It’s not about how diverse or successful a film is.

Some of the characters and ships are popular because white characters get the lion’s share of screen time and development or they appeared in canon earlier.

Yes, that’s true, but fandom has no problem catapulting white ships with minor characters into extreme popularity. See Clint/Coulson. See fics prioritizing Happy and having him show up more than Rhodey in Steve/Tony fics. 

It’s not about chronology. Many ships of color came before white ships as a whole and before white ships with the same white character they have. See Bucky/Clint vs. Bucky/Sam. 

Lastly, please don’t tell me how certain white M/M ships came to be to explain how they’re exempt or how I’m failing to consider other factors for their popularity. I’ve been in the fandom since 2012, and I’ve seen almost all of the white ships in the fandom be born or boom into popularity. Don’t try to explain, for instance, that Clint/Coulson is big because Coulson has his own show and his fans followed him from the show (this logic falls flat when you look at something like Luke Cage); that ship became huge way before that happened and way before Agents of Shield became “big.” Also, see the section above regarding screen time, development, and fame. 

Is it racist to racebend a character? 

People’s opinions differ on racebending—and often that comes from personal background and on the situation—so I can’t speak on anyone’s behalf. However, I think everyone can agree on the following:

Racebending a white character is not the same thing as whitewashing a POC. For example, making Tony Stark Indian vs. turning T’Challa white or as canonical examples, making Fury black in Ultimates and the MCU vs. making the Ancient One or the Maximoffs white. The latter (whitewashing T’Challa, the Ancient One, and the Maximoff twins) is racist for various reasons. There’s a long history of POC being erased and white people taking roles from POC, a huge imbalance in representation between white people and POC, the unfortunate perception by the public and media that “white = neutral/standard” (Bruce’s whiteness doesn’t define his characterization and development), and the way race plays a role in influencing the way POC feel, act, and are treated.

Racebending a POC from one ethnicity or racial group to another is also problematic as we’re not interchangeable. Hollywood often does this and goes, “But they’re still a POC! We’re being diverse!” 

In general, people who racebend white characters to POC want to see more POC in canon and in the media! These aren’t mutually exclusive.

Sometimes people racebend because they’re not represented at all in their works. (This happens with other marginalized groups too; for instance, some people make cis characters trans in their fanworks as there are few to no trans characters in the canonical source.) For example, there are, as of now, no Latinx superheroes in the MCU films. Even if people wanted to, they can’t make works with an MCU Latinx superhero unless they bring one from the comics or the one Latinx superhero from Agents of Shield (if they know the comics or AoS), make a minor Latinx film character like Luis a superhero, or racebend their favorite white character and put a fresh spin on the character, drawing from their personal experience and background.

There’s a massive difference between fans racebending a character and a creator taking credit by pretending they viewed a character as non-white or didn’t see race all along when it’s clear that the character is canonically white (this is different from a creator saying they support anyone, POC or white, playing that character onscreen or onstage). 

Racist language in fics is more important than fandom representation.

We don’t have to pick our battles. Both are important! I focused on fandom representation as it’s much more quantifiable and easy to find and analyze data for than racist language on a fandom-wide scale on my own without any tools. You’re right that the latter is a problem as is racist representation in fanworks, though. 

My fanworks tend to focus on one ship and don’t really include other characters in general. When they do, the others mostly talk about that relationship. Am I falling into the trap you mentioned?

If the story is about a relationship (examining that relationship and the feelings of the characters in it) and there isn’t much of a plot outside of that, then that makes sense. However, even in situations like this, consider how much time you dedicate to characters of color vs. white characters. If the story is about a ship featuring a POC, do you spend more time on the white character of that relationship? Their white friends and how they feel about that relationship? If it’s about a white ship, do white side characters appear more than side characters of color even if the latter have a closer relationship with the protagonists? For example, does Wanda show up more than Sam or play a bigger role than him in a Steve/Bucky fic? Do you have Pepper show up all the time (or even Happy), but Rhodey is chronically absent? Do only the white characters get to be more than the tropes you’re using, if you’re using any, while the POC don’t get to be nuanced? Are there any stereotypes that you’re reducing the POC to?

I feel guilty about not including or writing about *character of color’s name here*.

See “It doesn’t make sense to include every single POC in my work.” Include the character(s) who make sense for the story, perspective you’re writing/drawing from if applicable, and central group or ship if this is a ship-specific work. For example, if you’re drawing the Avengers and you include the newer Avengers, Rhodey and Sam should appear too, not just Wanda, Scott, Bucky, and/or Carol (this happens a lot). If you’re writing a Tony POV fic that includes other characters, depending on the story, it may make sense that Sam doesn’t appear much as he and Tony aren’t close whereas he would in a Steve POV fic.

How do I ensure that I don’t offend anyone if I include POC in my work?

You can’t ensure anything as POC aren’t a monolith, but you can try to be as informed as possible and avoid common pitfalls while writing. You can do research, just the way you might research anything you’re not familiar with. You can ask if anyone is willing to do a sensitivity read while you write or before you post. You can look for betas. There are a lot of resources out there, but these are good places to start if you’re looking for more information and help:

Writing with Color - resources

Writing with Color - Stereotypes and Tropes page

Reference for Writers - POC tag

What should I do to examine myself for any implicit biases?

We should all take stock of:

our feelings about different characters and relationships, both platonic and romantic, who we prioritize in our works, and how much they’re prioritized

our decision whether or not to seek or make content with characters of color. This includes content for white ships because sometimes every white character in the MCU shows up as a side character, but characters of color don’t or all of the white characters play bigger roles than the POC despite how close they are to the protagonist(s)

the way we interpret and write/draw those characters. For example, is Sam a yes-man? A figurative or literal therapist for white friends? The bro who only cracks jokes and/or gives sage advice but seems to not have any flaws, struggles, or life of his own outside of his white friends? The BFF who thinks his white best friend is being ridiculous about another white guy and wants them to get their act together already? Does the character of color talk in the way you perceive everyone of that race to talk rather than the way they personally do (e.g., does Luis randomly and awkwardly switch into Spanish when he talks just because he’s Latinx despite never speaking Spanish with Scott? Does Sam use AAVE with Steve, Bucky, and Natasha when he doesn’t do that with them?)? 

Also, here’s a Google doc with more anti-racist resources.

Even well-meaning people can slip up or not be as proactive as they hoped they would be so it’s just good practice to check in with ourselves every once in a while and see if there’s anything we missed or didn’t notice.

[swordmaid]

what fic(s) would you recommend to someone who has never read any asoiaf fanfic but ships jb and is ready to go all in?

i hope these work for you <3 and if you’d like more recs, here’s my bookmark page!

book-compliant / canon universe:

in this light series by sigil broken / canon compliant endgame 

tale as old as time by brienneofthrace / beauty and the beast au 

from this day until the end of my days by dreadwulf / post LSH w/ jb getting married in the quiet isle 

a dance with desire by occassionalavenger / post ADWD jb travelling together

to the north by researchsociety / post LSH-ish, but super good exploration of their relationship + insecurities imo 

as loud as lions by rellie / rapunzel au 

wouldn’t you prefer a maiden fair? by ssstrychnine / post canon 

a rope in hand for your other man by djelibeybi / post LSH hyle pov

heart’s desire by miss_m / first time

aus:

all the roads are winding by shirleyann666 / multi-verse modern au

before destruction by renaissance / the pride and prejudice au that we deserve

clean hands by gwen77 / lawyers modern au

we make the rules by same boots / lawyers modern au but friends w/ benefits this time

on the night’s watch by miss_m / detective + police modern au

two halves of a sword series by angel_deux

chemistry of a car crash by hildegardtheb

all the redemption i can offer by lady_in_red / modern au but make it post adwd

[limetimo]

RAB fics I read (11-17Jul)

To Remember by Grey_Kenaz Regulus tries to tell the Aurors about the Horcrux but gets shipped straight to Azkaban where he proceeds to lose his sanity. After several months Sirius manages to get him free and take him home. Can Regulus recover enough to remember life beyond his nightmares and help end the war?

Regulus Rising by DogStar234 Regulus dies, and Regulus wakes up in a dead muggle's body (with his memories and magic intact). What's a 60s kid to do in the 90s? Hunt Horcruxes, Attend Hogwarts and get himself a boyfriend of course!

Black Lion by Johnnyfer Post-cave Regulus finds and adopts Harry (not that he'd ever admit to ever liking the 7yo son of his school annoyance). Prideful Regulus my beloveds

set those ghosts alight by justwhatialwayswanted I am in love with this one, one of few Gryffindor Regulus fics that hit me just right

Rise like a phoenix by pearlAngel Regulus reincarnates as Harry

Haunting Horcruxes by FiresFromOurHearts Regulus reincarnated as Draco finds the Diary at the Manor

Diptych by pansysnarkinson 15yo Regulus is gifted the Diary by Malfoy, very LotR vibes

when you were mine by battlehamster Jegulus getting back together, modern no magic

Shift Change by elder_millennial_trash for fuckboyregulus HOckey au James is annoying and Regulus is annoyed but secretly they really like each other

Black flies by AllLivesMatter This. Is. So. Good. Before and after the cave and the Black brothers through the years

A World of Remarkability by green_tea43 I'm really really curious where this goes, Peter Pettigrew is a foster kid who figured out he's magical, and bumped into little REgulus BLack on a playground one time

Of Second Chances and Unfamiliar Paths by Mozaik Regulus gets yeeted to is first year very good but discontinued for now

Auror Academy - the class of 1979 by Regulus_Potter I'm still not over little Regulus trailing after Alastor Moody and taking the "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" nad "Trust no-one!" advices to hearrt ♥♥

It was rare, I was there, I remember it by im_still_tryin_to_find_it 25yo Regulus had a potion accident and thinks he's 16. kinda inconvenient when he's married to James Potter and they have a kid together

find a heart and break it by Keysie ayo Sirius' POV on one of the worst fights in the "Regulus and Remus are little shits and horcrux hunting" story

The Missing Link by Keysie the marauders are trying to somehow deal in the aftermath of Peter's betrayal

rewrite my heart (let the future in) by secretpersona ace emma vanity with an eyepatch my beloved it has nothing to do with the plot (which is aces!) but it's the only thing I can think of the last couple chapters

Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs be gay do crime!

A Little Bit of Everything by Frenchroast99 Regulus adopts Harry, the Black family becomes a Family again

The Marauders and the Prisoner of Azkaban by SilverShadow1 the marauders and regulus and lily are reading the poa i expect angst

For Shits and Giggles by silverfield after sirius run away regulus suddenly developed every digestive disorder ever. His body can't kill him if he kills himself first is not his thought process but it's not far off. His friends and brother have a different idea

Gentle hands by Bunny17 D/s universe gentle dom Remus doms Sirius and James and also Regulus once

Perfect Places by wtfmylove REgulus and James are forced to work together. It's fuck or fight everyone

Missing by mean_whale big sad, Remus/regulus

[sayosdreams]

Thanksvember 2020

Here’s my #thanksvember masterpost. Thank you to @anidealiveson for this great idea! This will be a list of some of my favorite fics to show appreciation to these amazing fanfic writers.

November 1 - A Lion’s Pride by @pitterpatterpot . This fic is absolutely incredible. I love how it explores Aedion’s character in depth, which the canon books never really had the chance to do, and the way it portrays the evolution of his relationship with Gavriel (yes he’s alive in this) and everyone else. This fic is just *chefs kiss* and whenever I need a pick-me-up, I read a couple of my favorite chapters. I seriously can not recommend this enough.

November 2 - In Vino Veritas by @featherymalignancy . Impeccable Nessian AU fic that has taught me so many cool things about wine and relationships and cultures. It’s perfection. It was one of the first fics that got me into modern AU fanfic. 100% recommend!

November 3 - Daylight by @flowerflamestars . It’s technically a Nessian fic but it’s so much more than that. This is such a transformative and powerful piece of writing. It feels like you’re reading a novel rather than fanfic. Seriously, this fic made me reevaluate so much — not just in the ACOTAR universe, but what injustices we see everyday that we have come to view as normal. The writing is impeccable. It’s literally better than many published books I’ve read. Can u tell I’m in love with this fic?

November 4 - Like Pristine Glass by @ladynestaarcheron .This Nessian pregnancy fic is beautiful and always makes me smile. I love Nesta’s characterization, the parallel storylines, the OCs, just everything about this fic is amazing. I have talked about this before, but I can’t stop raving about it. Fun fact: it inspired me to write my own fic!

November 5 - Castaway by @tacmc . It was so hard to pick just one (so please don’t be surprised if more are featured) bc I love her writing!! It’s heartfelt and fast paced, angsty and adorable, always leaves you feeling satisfied but also wanting more. This piece is incredible as well as many others. Go check them out!

November 6 - Pinky Promise by @julemmaes . This Nessian fic is still in progress but I have to say that every update boosts my serotonin. Nessian is in an established relationship and Cassian’s decision to enlist in the military is threatening their relationship. I love how unique it is as the focus is on Cassian’s choices and how they would affect their dynamic, while most fics I’ve read are very Nesta - centric. Its also a tough situation... and the writing is AMAZING. Can’t wait for more!!

November 7 - Rags & Riches by @tacmc . Historical ACOTAR fic with so much angst but it’s still incredible. I love her writing as I’ve said before. Definitely recommend!

November 8 - A favor by @ncssian . Ahh I love this Nessian fic so much!! The characterization of Nesta in this modern AU is just so *chefs kiss*. And the way everyone treats Nesta badly, even Nesta herself, but Cassian doesn’t see her flaws... *sigh* it’s so adorable. I love this so much and can’t wait for more!!!

November 9 - Music by @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter . I’m in love with this Siren AU. Everything about it —from Nesta’s past, Cassian’s love for her, the others’ fear of her — just works so well!! The writing is also amazing. Go give it a read!!

November 10 - Felons by @rhysismydaddy . This Nessian AU fic is the perfect blend of action, romance and mystery. I loved every moment of it and each update helped me get through quarantine. Nesta supposedly a felon and is on the run; Cassian is an FBI officer on her case. ;) Trust me, it’s an amazing read!

November 11 - The Chains We Carry by @lady-therion . All of their oneshots are amazing. This angsty piece is so heartfelt and really explores Nesta’s interior turmoil. I love this interpretation of Nesta as well as her relationship with Cassian and how Mor and Cassian’s relationship affects Nesta. It’s such a great read and I love how much is convey through this short oneshot.

November 12 - Dark Paradise by @propshophannah is a hauntingly beautiful Nessian fic where Cassian’s wings don’t heal after the war. This fic wrenches your heart out of your chest as Cassian deals with depression and his self hatred causes him to destroy his relationship with Nesta. Just- WOW. Go read it if you need to cry.

November 13 - Online classes are the worst by @dawninlatin . This Manorian teacher AU series is perfect! Full of humor and fluff and just overall such a great pick me up as we all live through this pandemic! Manon is fierce and soft just that Manorian feels are overwhelming. Guaranteed to make u smile.

November 14 - Nesta’s love is quiet by @vidalinav . Beautiful — filled with angst and fluff, this fic is bound to make you cry and hug yourself. An incredible Nessian fic that I DEFINITELY recommend. I love @vidalinav ‘s writing style, especially in this fic.

November 15 - Renegade Nights by @unhealthyklarolineobsession . This Nessian fic is beautiful and it’s one of my fav canon-verse fics. I love how it allows Nesta and Cassian to grow independently before coming together as a couple, meaning they can have a strong, healthy relationship. Nesta has an ACTUAL healing arc. The writing is gorgeous. I reread this fic when I need comfort sometimes.

November 16 - Coalescence by @herpowerisdeath​ . One of my absolute favorite Nessian fics that got me into AUs. I love the way this develops and even though some parts are gut-wrenching and painful, Nesta’s character evolution is amazing. I love the way this is written and can’t recommend it enough.

November 17 - Far From the Shallow by @thebluemartini​ . Of course I’m in love with their writing style, but beyond that, this Nessian fic is just overall amazing. I honestly have no idea how many times I’ve reread it. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s one of the reasons why I started writing Sand and Stardust. I love all of @thebluemartini​ ‘s writing and you should DEFINITELY go check them all out! This one just holds a special place in my heart as one of my comfort fics.

November 18 - Embers & Light by @duskandstarlight . An amazing Nessian fanfic with the most beautiful healing arc. This is how I want ACOSF to go. I’m not usually someone who loves OCs, but the ones in this fic have warmed my heart and I’m in love. This fic is everything you’ve ever wanted. I promise you’ll love it so go give it a read!

November 19 - Meant to be by @maastrash . This Nessian story is just so cute!! I love the writing style that keeps you wanting more but never fails to make you smile as you yearn for them to get together. 100% recommend!!

November 20 - The Right Swipe by @redisriding . This acotar story keeps you on your toes!! Just when you’re satisfied what one couple is in the clear to live fluffily ever after, they get (*spoiler alert*) hit by a literal or metaphorical truck. I love this fic so much tho. The combo of high powered lawyer Nesta, mountain man Cassian, Hockey player Az, insecure but sweet elain, and friendly Lucien just makes it *chefs kiss*

November 21 - Una Bella Vita by @empress-ofbloodshed . Omg this ACOTAR period piece is amazing!! I love all the twists and turns, the characterization, the evolution of relationships, and basically everything about this fic. I always recommend it to ppl who want acotar fic recs.

November 22 - Operation Ghost Leopard by @thewayshedreamed . This spy AU fic not only fills the wayy too empty category of Lysaedion fanfics, but also never fails to make me gasp or laugh. Conflict and banter blend together in the best way with the ToG gang in this story. I love all of @thewayshedreamed ‘s writing (plus she’s super nice!) and I definitely advise y’all to go check it out!

November 23 - It takes time and a little death by @caotica-e-quieta . Can this be canon??? The story, the writing, the characterization is all PERFECTION. This story was when I first fell in love with @caotica-e-quieta ‘s beautiful prose. Literally ALL THE FEELS. Masterpiece. Idk I don’t have the words to describe how much I love it.

November 24 - Modern Nessian by @modernbookfae . This fic is literally the perfect Nessian modern AU. Are you looking for Nesta learning boxing from Cassian? Cute dogs? Cassian cooking for Nesta? Nesta helping Cassian realize his self-worth? This fic has all that and so much more!! It’s cute. I really like the pacing of the story — it keeps you on your toes and craving more, but also lets you savor the sweet moments. Go give it a chance!

November 25 - Xanthorrhoeas by @stokingthemidnightflame . I’m literally so obsessed with this fanfiction, y’all have no idea. It’s thrilling and I’m hooked after only 2 chapters!! The hints at the Cassian and Nesta’s pasts intrigue me and just the whole situation is WOW. I love it so much & can’t wait for more (no pressure tho)!

November 26 - The Books of the Living and the Dead by @abigail-nicole . This four part fic is just absolutely incredible. This beautifully written story includes Nesta working through her shit, Lucien and Nesta becoming friends, Nesta exploring her powers, and more! You have GOT to go read it if u love Nesta or Nessian.

November 27 - The Librarian by @rhysismydaddy . This story, which includes Librarian!Nesta and Jock!Cassian, deals with heavy & important issues while also developing Nesta and Cassian’s relationship. Everything about it, from the writing to the pacing to the characterization, is absolutely brilliant. It’s 4 parts which is perfect for the story: not too long or short. Go read it :)

November 28 - In the Darkness by @regolithheart . This oneshot is so incredible, I just had to include it. Nesta gets sick & Cassian takes care of her. He learns about her PTSD along the way... SO well written & so many feels.

November 29 - The Mountain Cat and the Bastard Warrior by @librarian-of-orynth . Cute small moments between Nesta and Cassian. Depicts their evolving relationship and makes me smile. Totally recommend if u want Nessian!

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Besides Dark!Stephen, Khan, and Richard III, are there any other villains you'd like to redeem through the power of love? :)

Aren't you just diabolical, my dear @strangelock221b, to come up with such a question!!

I'm sure if I took a good gander through the MCU, I might find one or two. Certainly, if I had ever been inclined, Loki absolutely fits my type to 'save' 😉 And I just went to Benedict's filmography to see if there is anyone I've missed--because, as you know, he remains My Constant Muse. So I'll shall list those characters not entirely heroic and/or possessed of dubious qualities, who would be good fodder for saving via the love of my typical 'good woman' OFC:

Major Jamie Stewart

Pride and hubris went-ith before his fall, that's for sure--and he realizes how terribly foolish he was, only after leading his men headlong into disaster. Holds onto hope of being a better man if he ever escapes captivity by the Germans. Survives his travails because he knows his good woman is waiting for him back in London--and she will be a source of forgiveness when he can't even forgive himself. Is compelled to try his damnedest to make amends for those lost lives by going back into the combat. I've actually got that WIP in the works, if anyone cares to take a peek.

Victorian Sherlock

I'm writing him darker than modern day Sherlock. With some seriously sensual appetites. Problem is, I've written the dark and delicious sex scenes (featuring a returning OFC, whose life he saves and who is fully amenable to indulge his dark desires, as there's been heat smoldering between them since she asked him to take her case), but I need to write more of the actual story before I can post the good stuff. A redemption of sorts would be him recognizing he actually loves her by the end of the story. Another too long dormant WIP.

Smaugbatch

A dragonish human or dragon/human hybrid would be a helluva fun journey to write! Wish I could add some of the amazing fan art I've seen of just this conception - but that would be very bad form. But if anyone wants to see, just google 'human smaug'

Wallace/Ace-(Little Favour)

Because he's mysterious, sexy, badass, and obviously has mad secret agent skills. I've always wanted to know his backstory; is there PTSD there? And is that something love could help heal?

okay now, please hold your laughter on this one until you read it through...

Patrick Watts

Because somewhere deep beneath his absolute tight-ass, total prat exterior could be buried a lion in the bedroom...if he could ever find a woman that could see past his ridiculousness (maybe a bit of a nerd herself, but smarter than him about relationships, very in touch with her own femininity). Once he gets some great sex (maybe his first sex, mind you) he could become more patient and mature, rather chill--and in touch with the positive aspects of his own masculinity. I have a short synopsis of such a fic sitting in my long list of dusty old drafts.

Now, if you have any villains in mind that might be ripe for my 'saved by a good woman' trope, please send me some names. I may not won't have a spare moment to write them a fic...but I might be able to come up with exactly how I'd go about achieving their salvation. 😉😉

PS You really do send me some of the best questions, my friend!!

[fiadhaisteach]

Things I’ve Read This Week* - 2020.11.14

New Stories

A Man's Word is His Bond by howlsmovinglibrary (@ashatarsylnin) - Zevran/Female Surana - 35,128 words, complete

Running With The Halla by InArlathan (@in-arlathan) - Solas/Female Lavellan - 6,500 words, WIP

Give Me Fire by cadaveres - Solas/NB Lavellan - 269 words, complete

Askew by mapcake - Zevran/Female Mahariel - 1,709 words, complete

i'll bring you home, but never doubt I love by cedarmoons (@cedarmoons) - Solas/Female Lavellan - 11,524 words, complete

It Would've Been Sweet, If It Could've Been Me by Yours_Truly_Commander_Shepard - Solas/Female Lavellan - 11,198 words, WIP

The Gold to My Silver, La Petite Mort plus 18 more by greyvvardenfell (@greyvvardenfell) - Zevran/NB Brosca - 38,746 words, each work complete, series WIP

Rereads

The Cousins Lavellan, The Lion and the Halla by Amariahellcat (@cousinslavellan) - Avvar!Cullen/Female Lavellan, background Solas/Female Lavellan - 53,320 words, complete

Tumblr Reads

A woman makes a deal with the devil… prompt by @caffeinewitchcraft - original work

What Could Have Been prompt by @funkypoacher - Solas/Female Lavellan

Hawke is touchy by @potatowitch - Merrill/Female Hawke

Subscription Updates

The Hunt by bubble_bones (@bubble-bones) - Fen'harel|Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 53)

Sugar Honey Iced Tea by AntlersandFangs (@thededfa), Beckily (@beckily), & Celtic_Lass, (@thecelticlass) - Female Adaar/MBIT, MGIT, MGIT (Ch. 6)

the forest is dark and deep and i've seen you here before by victoriousscarf (@victoriousscarf) - Solas/Male Lavellan (Ch. 84-86)

Lingrean Rosal'sule'din, Missing Scenes by angelslaugh (@skyerie) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 10)

Masters at Their Crafts by LeafAdrift (@sillyleaf) - Female Cadash, MGIT (Ch. 9)

No Longer A Game by Here_To_Be (@nolongeragameart) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 36)

Harbinger of Sacrifice, Harbinger of Sacrifice by nini28326 - Solas/Female Lavellan/Abelas (Ch. 6)

Hero by Tabikat (@tabikato) - Zevran/Male Mahariel, Alistair/OFC (Ch. 16)

Lingrean Rosal'sule'din, The Future Is Not Yet Set In Stone by angelslaugh (@skyerie) - Dorian & Female Lavellan, Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch 3-9)

For Goodness Bakes by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 7)

Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl's Take on Thedas, Twist by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 69-70)

Fen'Harel's Teeth, The Domesticities by hes5thlazarus (@5lazarus) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 16-17)

The Rebel's Ascension by InArlathan (@in-arlathan) - Solas/OFC (Ch. 12)

Blacked Out by Sagoberattare - MGIT (Ch. 11)

Dovetail by ByJoveWhatASpend - MBIT/everyone (Ch. 3)

Aimless and Astray, Aimless and Astray by nini28326 - Abelas/Female Lavellan, past Solas/Female Lavellan, past Solas/Abelas (Ch. 16)

In the face of your light, In the face of your light by noverture (@noverturemusings) - Solas/Male Lavellan (Ch. 44)

Fade Objects by KeeperSpock - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 66)

A Whole New World by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/MGIT (Ch. 131)

Shadowed Moon by Heartfelt_Memories (@evuna) - Fen'Harel|Solas/MGIT (Ch. 19)

Love Comes Home, Wolf's Pride by jasna - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 1-2)

Hay by Viking_woman (@thevikingwoman) - Solas/Female Lavellan (Ch. 4)

» side note - multiple chapters may mean multiple updates; or might just be me refreshing my memory, reorienting myself in the story, or rereading some for fun. 😊

*TIRTW & can recommend

I do a quick search for author tumblrs (if they're not posted on their fic, or AO3 profile); then assume they either don't have one, or don't want it linked to their fic, if it's hard to find. So if you are a writer who has a tumblr they want linked to their rec, or know someone who is, just let me know and I'll fix it.

[ddagent]

Modern Lion Pride! Modern Lion Pride!

Happy reading!

(Part of the Modern Lion Pride verse; moodboard by @resthefuture​)

“Sorry I’m late, everyone; there was an emergency.” 

Professor Jaime Lannister, author of several distinguished articles and books about the War of the Five Kings and regarded as the foremost expert on Goldenhand the Just, entered the lecture hall with two small children and a baby carrier. His usual impeccable demeanour was replaced by a rumpled suit, a damp brow, and a scowl etched into the lines of his mouth. 

“Apologies, apologies,” Jaime reiterated as he crossed the room, deposited the baby carrier and briefcase on his desk, and settled Cat and Brynden into seats on the front row. Bending the knee, he addressed his two eldest. “Right, Daddy needs to give a lecture now, okay? So I need you two to be really good and do your homework quietly, alright?” Two golden heads nodded. He pressed a kiss to the crowns of their heads. “Good cubs.” 

Sweeping to his desk, Jaime unbuckled Joanna from the carrier and held her on his hip. Immediately, his youngest began grabbing at his crimson tie. “Da-da.”

“Yes, that’s my tie, little star,” Jaime soothed, only to be nearly strangled by his daughter’s tight hold. “Okay, no tie today.”

Bouncing Joanna on his hip, Jaime loosened his tie from around his neck, stuffed the fabric into his briefcase, and retrieved his glasses so he could look at the material for today’s lecture. Harrenhal. Wonderful. He could give a lecture on Harrenhal in his sleep; had, in fact, during the early days of his relationship with Brienne. He could do this. Lecture with a baby on his hip and two small children on the front row; one of whom had a tendency to get into mischief even in an empty room. 

He was Jaime Lannister. He could do this. “Again, apologies for the delay. Minor childcare emergency. Now, in today’s lecture, we will continue looking at the role minor houses played in the War of the Five Kings. Can anyone tell me, from the reading, what castle was occupied by warring sides in 299 and 300 AC?” 

No one. No hands were raised. Joanna, in the absence of a tie, kept pulling at his shirt. Jaime delved into the carrier and found her bear; his daughter immediately clutching at his fur. Still no hands. 

“It was in the reading, everyone. Chapter six. What castle was occupied by warring sides in 299 and 300 AC?” He sighed. “Films have been made. Songs have been sung. It was in the reading. Anyone?”

A hand went up. Unfortunately, it was the hand of his seven-year-old. Jaime, still juggling Joanna, knelt down beside his eldest daughter. “What is it, Cat?”

“Harrenhal.”

Jaime stifled the urge to laugh. Instead, he beamed down at his daughter and addressed the lecture hall. “Cat is correct. Harrenahl was occupied by two, and ultimately three warring sides in 299 and 300 AC. The third of these was not one of the major houses in the war.” He looked out onto a sea of blank faces. It was becoming abundantly clear that none of his students had done the reading. “Fine. Let’s take it step-by-step. Three warring factions; two major houses, one minor house. Can anyone name me one of them?” 

After a few moments of dead silence, a hand rose in the middle of the lecture hall. “Yes, Podrick.”

“The–the young wolf, Robb Stark. He occupied Harrenhal in 300 AC.” 

“Correct!” At her father’s happy energy, Joanna clapped her hands together. Unfortunately, that made her drop her bear. Jaime bent down, retrieved Barty, and pressed it into his daughter’s hands. “Anyone else?”

No hands. Again. Jaime was about to send everyone home (his usual punishment if no one had done the reading) when Cat’s hand rose once again. He stepped forward, wondering if this would be a request to go to the loo or if his little lion had more knowledge of the War of the Five Kings than his undergraduate students. 

“Yes, Cat?” 

“House Bolton. They were on Robb Stark’s side, but they turned against him.”

“Exactly right!” Jaime grinned. “Come on, everyone, that’s two for Cat and one for Podrick. Has no one else done the reading? Can no one else tell me who the other faction was that held Harrenhal during the War of the Five Kings?”  

In the front row, Jaime caught Cat whispering to her brother. Then, after a moment with no other hands raised, his son thrust up his arm. “Yes, Brynden.”

“Grandfather.”

Laughter rippled through the lecture hall. Jaime turned quickly on his students. “Brynden is not entirely wrong. Tywin Lannister, of House Lannister, held Harrenhal in 299 AC. My father is not as vicious as the Tywin of the time, but at least he knows his history. Which is more than I can say for most of this class.” 

Jaime turned his back to settle Joanna into her carrier before rounding on his students. “Because I was late, and because my children are here, I will give you this time to catch up on today’s reading. I will put the slides and notes from today up on Chalkboard so you can read them in your own time. If in our next lecture, you are not prepared, I will dismiss you without a second thought.” Jaime shook his head. “I’m disappointed in all of you. Apart from you, Cat, and your brother. Great work.”

The rustle of paper and the heavy thump of books echoed throughout the lecture hall as his students caught up on their required reading. Jaime answered a few questions from the class – mostly from his two students on the front row, one of whom was having trouble with multiplication. Then, finally, the lecture came to an end, and his students slunk out of the room and past a newly arrived Brienne. 

“I’m sorry; there was an issue with a shipment of artefacts, and I couldn’t get away,” Brienne explained as she crossed the room to join Jaime by the desk. Usually, in public, Brienne did nothing more but press a kiss to his cheek. Her lips now lingered against his, and Jaime resisted the urge to wrap his arms around his wife’s waist and hold her close. When they parted, she rested her forehead against his. “How was it?”

“Fine.” He reached up to press a kiss to the line forming across Brienne’s brow. “Stop worrying. Joanna didn’t cry the room down, Cat didn’t set fire to anything, and Brynden finished his times tables.”

Brienne beamed. “Good. Good.” As two small children packed up their backpacks, she glanced down at Jaime’s lecture notes. “Oh, Harrenhal! Did you know, it’s suspected that a Stark was at Harrenhal long before the Young Wolf occupied it?” 

He did know. He’d read the first draft of Catelyn’s article just last week. But Jaime didn’t say anything. Just enjoyed the light in his wife’s blue eyes as she talked about history as their pride left the lecture hall and headed home.