#following the score isn’t enough I need to see my favs go crazy

[scarletwitch1918]

I actually really wish I could watch this match rn

[antis-delete-your-blogs-pls-thx]

Mouse’s Reclist (#2/?)

It’s time for a second reclist! Here’s the first, if you want. This is again in no particular order. Title, author, pairing, and fandom will be listed, as well as if it’s a WIP.

The first few are going to be Snarry, because my reading list recently has basically consisted of entirely Snarry. Why? Because I fucking love Snarry. Sue me.

Angels on the Moon by Writcraft - Harry Potter/Snarry  - The aftermath of the war is almost as difficult as the war itself, Harry is a mess and Severus is a reluctant survivor forced back to Hogwarts to recuperate from his injuries. When a brick-bonding spell goes awry, Harry and Severus are forced to confront hatred, misunderstandings and a new and unexpected intimacy which takes them both by surprise. Notes: This is the classic-style Eighth Year!Fic, which has long been my favourite trope in the HP fandom. It’s an especially loved trope of mine when it comes to Snarry, too, as I am problematic filth, and teacher-student relationships are my jam. It’s also a classic bonding!fic. But the way it handles the tropes is just… *chef’s kiss*

The Man Underneath by maraudersaffair - Harry Potter/Snarry - Severus is a secret Auror and must always be disguised. When Harry Potter becomes his new partner, Severus struggles hiding his true identity and burning attraction. Notes: This is more bottom!Snape than top!Snape, which I know isn’t to everyone’s taste. However, it’s fucking fantastic, and as someone who has a cathartic and self-fulfilling love of “char A is ugly and has a shittonne of self-hatred and yet manages to score super hot char B” (something that I struggle with myself and still worry how I manage to keep my own gorgeous partner over), this is perfect. Not that I even agree with J.K.’s assessment on Sev’s ugliness. I like the “goth filled with churning angst” look. 

a forest, dark and deep by bleedcolor - Harry Potter/Snarry - Once, many years ago (for that is when all great stories begin, many years ago; we never consider we might be in the midst of our own great story) there lived a boy. But wait, you might say, there is nothing special about a boy living, many people do and never amount to much of anything. You would be right, but you would also be wrong, because this story is not about a boy who lived, but The Boy Who Lived, and that is all the difference. Notes: Harry is cursed and must go on an adventure to the Fountain of Youth to find the cure. I cried. I cried a lot. I cried a lot a lot a lot a lot. Happy ending, though! Fairy tale fic. One of the best fics to read if you want magic in the HP universe portrayed more like magic in ancient medieval history tends to be portrayed: mysterious, Eldritch, Occult-like power that requires strange and sometimes dangerous rituals to harness.

you like making me work for it by bottlefamebrewglory - Harry Potter/Snarry - “Before what, Mr. Potter?”//Before Snape had looked at him, drunk and miserable without knowing why, and told him that he could change his future if he wanted. Before he had pulled Snape out of the darkness he’d been determined to drown in. Before the memories. Before he’d looked into Snape’s eyes and watched him die.//Harry didn’t often change his mind, not about people. He’d been accused by Hermione more than once of being stubborn, even prejudiced. And, once upon a time, he’d thought he’d known exactly who Severus Snape was. But that had changed and Harry was no longer that boy anymore, just as Snape could no longer ever be just his hated professor.//“Before,” Harry said again, more finally.//Harry was pretty sure the fact that everyone never thought he’d live past seventeen was at least half the reason becoming an actual adult was so goddamn strange. Severus just wanted to get on with his life now that it was free of controlling old men.//Or, five times Harry flirted with Snape and one time Snape flirted with Harry. Notes: @snapedefender‘s most recent masterpiece. Post-War!fic, one of the best of. Harry worms his way into Severus’ life, as he always does. Also he has a big crush. Their interactions are golden. Everything about this is golden, in fact. It’s just delightful. Read it, please.

How the War Was Won by avioleta - Harry Potter/Snarry - Severus Snape should be dead. Instead, he wakes up after the Battle of Hogwarts to find himself quarantined in a house full of Gryffindors, waiting for Harry bloody Potter to save the world…again. And Severus must be going crazy because he can’t seem to stop thinking about Potter. (Or, where Harry needs a distraction, and Severus doesn’t refuse.) Notes: War Doesn’t End with The Battle of Hogwarts!fic. And it’s by avioleta, a longtime and well-loved Snarry writer. Well-loved for good reason! They know what they’re doing, and it shows. I’ve long loved “Harry and any number of Slytherins are holed up together and must get along” as a trope, and this nails it perfectly. Another fav was in my previous reclist, Hauntingly by ObsidianPen, where Harry is holed up with Draco, Sev, AND Tom! Fun times!

Chasing Ghosts by DictionaryWrites - Harry Potter/Snarry/WIP - “I guess I’m not ready to join the land of the living just yet,” Harry says. “Need a little more time here at Hogwarts, with all the ghosts. You know what I mean?”//In the aftermath of the war, Harry doesn't feel ready to leave the safety of the castle, and to go out into the world at large: he wants to stay. The Room of Requirement - with great reluctance - grants his wish. Notes: Adult!Harry wakes up in the Marauders Era and becomes a teacher, all while he tries to figure out the nature of spacetime. TIME TRAVEL!FIC! That’s in all caps because I love and adore time travel!fic with all my heart. Again, more of a bottom!Snape story. I used to think I preferred top!Snape, but bottom!Snape has come into my heart with a passion as of late and showed me I’m not always going to want Snape to nail Harry into his mattress. This also shows more of Snape’s backstory, with mentor!Lucius and all, which is a fav of mine as well.

OKAY! Enough Snarry, yes, sorry. Moving on!

Love Potion #9 by murderlight - Bleach/GrimmIchi - Gifted with a horrifying box of potion-laced chocolates from Urahara in the hopes he might feed them to somebody, Ichigo thought all the excitement for Valentine’s Day was done with. Then Grimmjow had to get snacky.//A story in which Ichigo is entrusted with the scientifically altered affections of his once-enemy, and might just discover some of his own. Notes: I love the goddamn love potion/love spell trope. This one highlights the dubcon nature of making someone fall in love with you (even on accident) a lot more, but still makes everyone’s feelings feel genuine and real. And of course it ends happily. And there’s no noncon, if that’s not to your taste. Ichigo is a good boy and does not stroke that pussy until that pussy is entirely free from Kisuke’s experimental serums. Yes, I made that pun.

The Edinburgh Problem by snorklepie - Sherlock/Johnlock - “A nice holiday, just a bit more...murdery. ” John said drily.//“Yes! The best kind of holiday!” Sherlock beamed. “So we won’t get bored!”//After he separates from Mary, John returns to Baker Street. Following a request for help from Sherlock's cousin Violet, the detective and his blogger take a trip to Edinburgh. John discovers more about the Holmes family and Sherlock than he bargained for, but tries not to run screaming. Notes: I fell in love with Violet immediately. I am so gay. If you are also attracted to women, you will probably join me in falling in love with Violet. She is amazing, and very Holmes. But a more balanced Holmes. Well, as balanced as a Holmes can be. I love case fic, I love Sherlock Holmes in general because of my adoration for murder mystery (yes, I am a forensics major, thank you for being able to clock me very obviously), and I love deep backstory and family bonding. It’s a long, long ride, but it is undoubtedly worth every single minute.

The Loss of Flesh and Soul by deuxexmycroft - Sherlock/Johnlock/Abandoned WIP - Five years after John Watson puts the murderous Sherlock Holmes behind bars, a vicious copycat killer emerges. A reluctant John is pulled out of retirement to seek the expertise of the only man who can help, a man who has developed an unsettling obsession with John himself.//Crossover with Red Dragon/Silence of the Lambs Notes: It’s Hannigram but Johnlock, what’s not to love? Sherlock’s characterisation in the TV show is already unsettling enough (well, in the beginning, but I like to pretend Sherlock doesn’t exist past S2), so adding in a little Hannibal Lecter is fantastic. Yes, it’s an abandoned WIP. Yes, that hurts like hell. But it’s so, so worth it anyway. Seriously, this is one of the best executions of serial killer!Sherlock I’ve seen in fandom, and given how fucking gigantic the Sherlock fandom is, hopefully you can see how big of a thumbs up that is imho!

Sinking the Land by emungere - Sherlock/Mystrade - Three weeks ago, Mycroft Holmes picked Lestrade up outside New Scotland Yard and made him an offer he'd been unable to refuse, despite his best judgement. Mycroft had sucked his cock, dropped him off at home, and Lestrade hadn't heard a word from him since.//Now, the door of the black car swung open as Lestrade drew level with it. He could just see Mycroft's profile, hawkish nose and shallow chin limned by the orange glow of the streetlight. Notes: Porn WITH plot! That’s the best way to take your porn, imho. One of the best ways I’ve seen the Mystrade relationship developed. It’s just so real. And Lestrade is so head-over-heels, which is my favourite way to take my Lestrade :p.

Clark Kent, of Krypton by TerresDeBrume - DCEU/Superbat - Batman crashes on Krypton a few days before the Turn of the Year celebrations, and Kal-El's life takes a sharp turn to the left, on a path that will, ultimately, lead him to becoming Clark Kent. Notes: Krypton Wasn’t Destroyed!fic is always, always, always my favourite. Sci-fi mystery again, yes. If you saw my first reclist, then you understand that I am always going to fall for a sci-fi mystery fic. This one develops Kryptonian culture beautifully, and equally-as-perfectly encapsulates what “Clark Kent Pretending to Be a Mild-Mannered Reporter, but on Krypton” would actually look like.

Q It Again by writerofprose - Star Trek/QCard - Picard thinks his position, as captain of the Enterprise, plays the largest role in Q's obsession with him. Q would like to take that bet, even if Picard wasn't making one. What say they try it again, from the start? Without the captain nonsense? Notes: A poignant take on Q’s weird fixation with Picard. Not that anyone can blame him. I mean, shit, the man is Jean-luc Picard. Anyone would be fixated on him. Q uses his Q powers to explore Picard in multiple alternate universes, and erases his own memories in order to come in unbiased. Picard gets to keep his original memories, and those of the AU. Does Q still like Picard as much when he’s not at the helm of the Enterprise?

American Outlaws by manic_intent - Red Dead Redemption/Morston - “Bounty’s for one ‘Jim Milton’,” Sadie said, as she got close to the man under the oak tree. “Wanted for murder, robbery, and unnatural acts.”//“Unnatural what?”///“Don’t got details on here.” Sadie passed the folded up poster to her hunting partner. “You all right?”//Arthur Morgan didn’t answer her as he smoothed open the poster. He was aggressively smoking a cigarette, his second, judging from the stub on the grass. Notes: I loved RDR and RDR2 so much that I wrote my own fic in the fandom, despite knowing jackshit about late 1800’s America. It was only a ficlet, in order to hide how little I remember from my contemporary history classes, but much more talented people than me took on the burden of whole-ass novels. Here’s everyone’s fav BNF manic’s take on a fix-it Morston, pre-RDR1 but post-RDR2. It’s excellent. Who doesn’t enjoy forbidden love historical romance? Especially with a delicious helping of age gap. If you’d like Vandermorgan or even Vandermorston, check out more of manic’s stuff, and also kriegersan, who is another long-time fav of mine. 

Every Deckerstar fic by wollfgang. But especially a softer beginning, an amnesia!fic, and if you saw all of me, a true form!Lucifer!fic. You know, since angels are described as weird Eldritch beings in ancient texts. Both tropes are my favourite. Also that latter one has monsterfucking and we are all monsterfuckers here.

A Modest Proposal by ignaz - House M.D./Hilson - Tritter's case against House still depends on subpoenaed testimony from Wilson. To save House from losing everything, the doctors of PPTH decide on an unusual solution, which in turn leads to unexpected consequences. This is a story about the sacrifices we make that turn out not to be such great sacrifices after all. (Contains spoilers for everything up to and including "Merry Little Christmas.") Notes: Work 355 on the AO3. It’s that OG. And for an OG slash fandom, too. Well, not Star Trek levels of OG, but it’s a fandom based on Sherlock Holmes, and ACD did come before Star Trek! You’ve probably read it. It’s the OG Hilson Pretend Marriage!fic. But I had to rec it because when I get bored I watch House on Amazon Prime (or the thousands of clips they upload to YT nowadays), and I always am struck by HOW GAY HOUSE AND WILSON ARE OH MY GOD. I can never watch it with Mum in the room, though, because she was in the medical field before she retired, and the unrealistic nature of how House characters behave (and some of the medical procedures) make her SOOOOOO peeved. Though doctors, especially surgeons, were apparently huge egotistical dicks at times. Maybe not kill your own patient levels, though.

In A Place Where No One Appeared by Gefionne - Star Wars/Kylux - Following the destruction of Starkiller Base, General Hux is ordered to remove a wounded Kylo Ren to a place where he can recuperate. Knowing nowhere else to house him safely and discreetly, Hux takes Ren to his family’s estate on Arkanis. He anticipates adding this experience to the already long list of abhorrent memories he has of his childhood home, but six weeks in company with Ren turns out to be something quite unlike Hux expected. Notes: The imagery is so fucking vivid, I love it. The entire world of Arkanis is just lit up so beautifully in Gefionne’s words. This takes a little liberty with Hux’s backstory, given there wasn’t too much out at the time, but it’s so fucking good, I’d prefer its canon to the actual one, lmao. 

all that you love will be carried away by coldhope - Star Wars/Kylux - Supreme Leader, the oscillator is failing. The collapse has begun. There is nothing that can be done.//Hux, sent to retrieve Kylo Ren from the dying Starkiller Base, has lost almost everything, and has little patience or tolerance left for anyone or anything--particularly not Snoke's pet pseudo-Sith and his amateur theatrics. But you do the job that is in front of you, to the best of your ability, and you hold on as long as you can. Notes: One of the first Kylux fics, and one of the best. Their relationship is just so real here.

London Calling by SectoBoss - Overwatch/WidowTracer - Recaptured by Overwatch, Widowmaker is sent on a mission to assassinate a high-ranking Talon agent in London. It should be an easy mission – get in, take the shot, and leave. But when Tracer’s your getaway pilot a lot of things can go wrong, and things like 'subtlety' and 'discretion' tend to be the first casualties. Now, lying low after the mission goes awry, the pair of them have to survive in the city until Overwatch can get them home. Notes: Written when OW was in its heyday. And before the fandom was qqqquite as bad as it became. A WidowTracer case!fic, with Amelie as the reluctant good guy, which is always the best trope and I don’t take concrit on this point.

To the Victor, The Spoil by Annakovsky - Hunger Games/Haymitch/Katniss - No berries, no mockingjay, no rebellion. Katniss killed Peeta in the arena, and now she has to live with herself like every other victor. Notes: An old fandom, an older fic, back in the day when nobody complained about fucked up dark!fic. And fucked up dark!fic this is. Rape, age gap, age gap rape, Katniss losing all hope about the future, etc. But damn, it’s good.

The Want of You by MKK - Star Trek/Garashir - Julian Bashir is not quite sure yet about his feelings toward his enigmatic new friend Elim Garak. So when they both show symptoms of a mysterious illness, it seems they'll now have more time apart to ponder the future of the relationship. Their symptoms worsen, however, and to their shock, they discover there's only one way to effectively and inexplicably ease the pain: getting physically closer and closer - and closer. Notes: A forced bonding!fic where Bashir doesn’t actually know Garak all that well. As in, set very early in the canon. Very early. Which is my favourite way to read this beloved trope, because the whole fun of it (imho) is characters who barely have a grasp on each other’s personalities being forced to learn them.

Timeshare by astolat - Harry Potter/Drarry - “It’s not for long,” Hermione said. “By the time we get back to Hogwarts, the Unfettering Brew will be ready.”//“Listen to you!” Ron said. “He’s got to get through a month with the Dursleys and a month at Malfoy Manor. With Draco Malfoy.”//“Yeah, thanks,” Harry said, because he hadn’t just spent the last week contemplating just how much more horrible his summer holidays were about to be than they’d ever been before. Notes: Another forced bonding!fic, this time by AO3’s own founder. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. Their interactions here are perfect.

Speaking of Drarry, here’s a Veela!Draco fic I’ve recced before, but I don’t believe was in the original masterpost.

Talk to Me by Saras_Girl - Harry Potter/Drarry - When the usual channels of communication are shut down, the most surprising people can find a way in. A strange little love story. Notes: Harry is temporarily deaf and blind thanks to a misaimed spell. Draco takes care of him, in secret. Identity porn at its best.

Semaphore by DevilDoll - MCU/Stony - "I’m trying to like you, Tony. You’re just making it very hard." Notes: I wanted to rec another OG. One of the first Stony fics in the MCU, and still one of the best. It holds up very, very well and is worth a read if, by some miracle, you haven’t already.

Prisoner’s Dilemma by AvocadoLove - MCU/Stony - After taking the airplane down in the Arctic, Steve wakes to find himself imprisoned as a human test subject. With no idea where in the world he is, his only ally is a fast-talking inventor in the cell next door. Something’s off about Tony that Steve can’t put his finger on, and it’s obvious Tony doesn't fully trust him either. But to escape they may not have a choice… Notes: IDENTITY PORN! And it’s by an author I adore. AvocadoLove has pioneered the MCU MattFoggy fandom, and also donated their efforts and words to Stony. It’s the best. And it’s canon divergence! Which is another favourite trope, and one I can’t ever seem to stop writing myself. I have a lot of appreciation for it.

Speaking of MattFoggy, all of theapplepielifestyle’s works for the pairing are amazing. And all of their works in general.

Belief Space by magicasen - Marvel 616/Stony - The Time Gem appears not when it is wanted, but when it is needed. Steve learns this the hard way.//(Or: an Infinity #6 AU where Thane refuses his birthright and the Avengers are doomed - until the Time Gem shows up within Captain America's grasp.) Notes: A 616!Stony fic, if you’re craving something in the comics rather than the movies. Still with Civil War angst and Stony angry tension, just this time it’s even more painful, because their friendship in the comics!verse was beautiful and their fallout even more devastating.

This time tomorrow (where were we?) by dorcas_gustine - Marvel 616/Stony - Tony goes to see Wanda, and suddenly Steve is alive and there are Skrulls! Or maybe Tony is just going crazy. Nothing happens in this fic, until the very end. Seriously. There's a lot of talking, mostly at inopportune moments, Tony's views on the acceptable gifts to give people are slightly different from everyone else's and he spends more time than would seem necessary being (half-)naked. What else is new? Notes: More 616 for your Stony needs! Tony time travels into a word pre-Secret Invasion and decides to fix things his damn self.

despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth (they remained) by praximeter (Zimario) - MCU/Stucky - “They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.//Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—//“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”//Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.” Notes: TWS Identity Porn!AU. Gore, given that the Winter Soldier’s mask is literally stuck to his face. But it’s excellent.

Simple by Osidiano - MCU/Stucky - Written for the capkink meme; "To the Winter Soldier, there are basically three kinds of people in the world: superiors, mission support, and targets. He doesn't have the context to understand things like friendship. So what he sees in the Smithsonian exhibit and what little he remembers or feels about his past, he interprets in that light. He thinks that Steve must have been his handler during World War II. That the reason he couldn't kill Steve and the reason he was smiling in the museum photos was because Steve was a good superior who treated him well (or at least didn't hurt him like Pierce and Rumlow, which to him might be the best he can imagine).//Thinking he understands the situation, he decides to report to Steve. Cue misunderstandings, confusion, and heartache for both of them." Notes: Bucky taking a while to snap out of TWS mode is one of my favourite tropes. This fic executes it perfectly.

Bridge Over Troubled Water by soniclipstick (veriscence) - MCU/Stuckony/Phlint - Ultron is destroyed, the Avengers are in disarray, and the Winter Soldier is still in the wind. Steve knows that he has to fix the ever-growing ocean of distrust between Tony and himself, so he takes a leap of faith and tasks Tony with the most important thing: finding Bucky Barnes. But it takes a pair of sexy but stolen hand warmers, several robots, Hawkeye and countless selfies before Steve realises the immensity of what he's set into motion. Notes: I would die for Stuckony as a ship. It’s one of my favourites to read and to write, and this fic here encapsulates it quite frankly in the best way. 

Strange New Worlds by Leletha - Supernatural/Destiel/Sabriel - AU…THE FUTURE: Humanity survives everything, spreads to the stars, and finds it needs to know where it can land. Enter interplanetary explorers Sam and Dean Winchester…and sentient starships Gabriel and Castiel. Then ships and crews start disappearing out in the black and, as usual, all goes straight to hell. Notes: I corresponded with Le’letha when they originally wrote this fic, and my love for it has only grown in the years since. Sci-fi mystery, yes. Dude, Castiel is a sentient spaceship. That itself is premise enough.

In His Image by Anonymous - Supernatural/Sabriel - Kali can breathe life back into a corpse, but what exactly is Gabriel now? Gabriel flits around various centuries trying to work that out, Dean has another powered-down angel and a little brother to look out for, Castiel has forgotten how to trust, and someone keeps sending Sam annoying little notes on his laptop. Oh, and Bobby would like to remind you all that there’s an Apocalypse still going on. Covers season 5 from Gabriel’s death to the finale. Notes: My favourite Sabriel fic. God only knows why the author abandoned it. I have their original name, but it doesn’t feel right to reveal it when they made the conscious choice to anonymise. Let me just say that they were a favourite of mine.

If You Were the Last Woman on Earth by Vali - Doctor Who/Thoschei (Twissy) - Just because your best enemy accidentally destroyed planet Earth is no reason to refuse her hospitality. Written for the Only One Bed fanfic challenge. Notes: That last note doesn’t even begin to cover how wonderful this fic is. Tropes are irrelevant, this captures them perfectly. Still one of my fav ever Thoschei fics. Now just get me one where The Master calls our titular hero Theta Cubed Sigma Ex Squared Lungbarrow, please.

A Wealth of Sorrows by evelynwaaaaah - Dragon Age/Solavellan - Things are getting back to normal in Skyhold now that Corypheus is gone. Until the Inquisitor collapses in mid-conversation.  Notes: Solavellan is still a ship I would die for. This fic will make you ship it, if the game didn’t already. And this is coming from someone who romanced Cullen on my first playthrough.

Reclamation by copperbadge - Harry Potter/Background Jily and Wolfstar - In an alternate universe, one man still struggles with a moral decision made many years before. Notes: What if Tom Marvolo Riddle wasn’t quite the same maniac of the canon!verse and was accepted to the position of DADA professor? By the esteemed copperbadge.

Truth and Illusion by penny_dreadful - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica/MadoHomu/KyoSaya - “I’ve, um, been dreaming.” She closes her eyes because it’s easier to ignore Mami and Homura’s stares. “In, in my dream I’m still in bed, but I-I’m not alone, Sayaka’s next to me but she’s not breathing, she’s—”//She’s pale and cold and pretty in the same way the stained glass windows of Kyoko’s father’s church are pretty and she’s lying so still she can’t be anything but dead. But in her dream Kyoko still curls around her, soul gem in hand, keeping her warm, keeping her safe—//“—she’s dead, I didn’t even know her that well and she’s dead and in my dream I’m so, I’m scared that there’s nothing I can do.” She opens her eyes. “But there really is nothing I can do. She’s already gone, and we left her there.” She stares hard at her hands. “We weren’t really even friends.” Notes: Not really a fix-it for MadoHomu, but certainly one for SayaKyo. Homura does more spacetime bullshit. Kyouko remembers.

~~~

I think that should cover it for now! That took me ageeeees, and I have games to go waste my life on and fics to write now lmao. Let me know if you want a third installment!

[echelonlab-blog]

Interview with Hazeleyedleto

Your URL:

Hazeleyedleto: https://hazeleyedleto.tumblr.com

Echelon Fiction (fanfic account): https://echelonfiction.tumblr.com

Your name: Monique

Link to your Masterlist: https://echelonfiction.tumblr.com/mystores What was your first experience with 30 Seconds to Mars? The Kill, when I was an 18-year-old, how amazing was your first time seeing the Kill? Your Favorite Mars song? Attack Has anything ever happened to you solely because of being a 30STM fan? I met my best friend <3 What is your favorite thing about the fandom? Your least favorite? Fav: no matter what I know there is always going to be a place where I fit in, I’ve never had that before Least: The bitches who think they're better than other bitches, and the daddy kink Is there any advice you would give to someone who is new to the fandom? We’re obsessive, protective but not all that bad, the bad eggs are few and far between but they are loud, try to ignore them How long have you been writing? 18 years. Why did you start writing? (Either in general or for Mars specifically) When I was 12, I had so much stationary that I didn’t know what to do with so I started one story. . . then another then another. Still, have too much stationary but am a writer so its okay Do you write for other fandoms? If so, which ones? Depends, I Like writing the Linkin Park guys and Bucky Barnes, but whatever inspires me really Do you share everything you write? If not, is there a reason why? Hmm, no. I only really share mars stuff, my non- fanfic stuff will be turned in to novels and my non-mars related stuff I don’t really have a platform to do so on. Have you written things that aren't fanfic? If so, could you tell us about those works? Many, my writing is 50/50 fanfic vs Fiction. My latest novel that I finished a couple of weeks ago ended about 85k words is about angels and demons and a prophecy that will either unite or destroy them all Of all your works, which is your favorite and why? Iridescent – (mentioned in above question) because it’s the novel that took over my whole life and kept me hostage until I wrote it from beginning to end rendering me with Stockholm syndrome to the point that I still miss them Stand Tall, They’ll Break Your Heart – first novel I ever finished. and Bright Lights – I’ve never had such a positive response from anything I’ve ever written and get yelled at because I don’t update often enough Is there one that was particularly difficult to write? Why? They’re all difficult to write. I write very emotionally driven novels, they can be draining as I take on the characters at such a personal level that I live what they tell me in a way, I’m crazy, ignore me. What is the ideal writing environment for you? At your desk? Quiet? Music? Anywhere anytime, I usually write sitting on my bed, but can literally write anywhere in any environment. Prefer loud music and a comfy place for my butt What type of fanfic are you most comfortable writing (drama, fluff, angst, drabbles, series, etc.) Mushy series filled with drama What is your favorite fanfic trope? I don’t know what that is but I THINK my answer is dramatic chicks being involved with music or rock bands Is there any trope or subject that you won't write? Daddy kink? Are there any special tools that you use when creating or writing your story? My fingers!? My stories are often inspired by songs or video clips or something like that J Do you write your story in order or do you jump around and then string it together at the end? Sometimes, especially with fanfictions. Like with Bright Lights (my biggest Mars fanfic) I have four future versions, but the reason I do that is to better understand them in the ‘bright lights’ version. Do you outline, or do a great deal of prep work or do you 'fly by the seat of your pants'? Up until my novels Attack and Iridescent I ALWAYS prided myself about being a pantser, but I really enjoyed being a planner for those two novels. How do you usually get your inspiration? Music and Video clips, sometimes dreams and other places. Do you have ideas on the drawing board or in progress currently that you haven't shared yet? Yeah, Beautiful Disaster, my bff would kill me if I wrote it though, but I have another one in the holster I am thinking about starting April 1st If you have an unpublished work in progress, please pick two to three sentences and share them without context. “Armani,” Stephanie smiled, “I trust you are well?” Mike looked between the two Angels as the embraced in a slight hug and a kiss in the cheek. Stephanie stepping back between him and Chester. “Of course,” Armani smiled. “I’m betting this isn’t a social call?” the other angel asked. “No, Armani, this is Chester and Mike,” she said pointing to the demon who owned the names. “I’ve come to make a request,” Stephanie said looking to Armani from under her eyebrows, trying to gauge her reaction. Her face was poised, it always was, but the mood in the room changed, it was now tension filled. Armani was no fool, she knew this angel was standing before her with two demons. “You will need to-” “I am a direct crown descendant ” Stephanie said. “You are also standing her with two demons,” “And you are breaking the rules,” “yeah but” “If I was willing I could turn you into ash, right now,” Stephanie pointed out. “and I would be in the right,” she told. Armani held her gaze. “now, are you going to follow the rules and grant me my appearance for request, or am I going to have to take care of things another way?” Stephanie’s lips curl upward Armani’s lip curled downward as she turned slightly. Do you like requests? Would you like more or less of them? I haven’t had any, but would be happy to take them. Is there an upcoming project from you that you are excited about? Why, and what can you share about it? I can’t wait to edit and Publish Iridescent The best piece of writing advice you've ever received? Can never pick just one Put your butt in a chair and your hands on the keyboard and something will happiness. Writer's block is just an excuse, write anything even the crap, it can always be changed later And, Aim to write every day, even just for 15mins per day, get in that habit and you will find you self-finding 5 mins or 10 mins slots more often then you realise The worst piece of writing advice you've ever received? I don’t know. Wasn’t important, was it? What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting to write fanfic? Give it ago, see how if feels, you don’t have to share it, just try. Three (stories, series, scenes, etc) written by others that you really like or that inspire you? Closer – partcually Tomo in this story, even though the whole story is fucking amazing and Black Fuel and Bikes @fyeahproudglambert Provihitofics had a story about camping, it was great she doesn’t fic no more tho

Are any of your characters closer to being “you” than others? Any reason in particular? Hmmmmm, yes I guess. The characters are all like different parts of me, Phoebe is an angry psycho which is a part I never get to express often, but there are parts of her that are not like me. Same with Helena being independent to some extent.

One thing about me is I like to find things I have in common with people, if I look hard enough, it could become obsessive.

Are any of your characters based on someone you know? Hmm a lot of my male characters look like rock stars if that counts. Are any of your plots based on something that happened to you? No, but one day Favorite font for writing? Don’t have one Do you have a 'day job'? If so, what? I am a student studying Bachelor of Social Science (psychology) with hopes to get good enough scores to get into Psychology. I am Also an Author and a qualified Mental health peer worker. Do you consider yourself a reader outside of fanfic? Yup, Your favorite book? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Your favorite things to do when you're not writing? What does ‘not writing’ mean? .  . . nah I like to watch Safari live, see my niece and nephew, explore the wild and hate on frogs The strangest thing you've ever eaten? My brothers used to make me eat grass stalks, oh oh CAVIAR I got told it wasn’t Caviar, it was freaking caviar Looks at @Fyeahproudglambert Two truths and a lie? I hate frogs, I’ve never met my best friend, I love the feel of fallen out hair Five albums you'd want if stranded on a desert island? Cant I just take my Spotify? I actually don’t think I can answer this? I don’t just listen to albums all the way through, . .  . This is war (plus attack and the kill) LLFD Breakaway kelly Clarkson Hybrid theory A thousand suns Something surprising about you? I have a really good memory And I usually come off as pretentious and up myself, because I am highly critical of things and probably way too opinionated, but I am actually a really nice, loyal and caring person who just wants to do good and help as many people as I can Favorite food to enjoy while watching Netflix? Anything, maybe a packet of sea salt chippies. Favorite way to spend a Saturday night? Writing Blankets Tucked or Untucked? Right side untucked, left side tucked Do you have any pets? Would you like to tell us about them? Dog, Ella - She shares my birthday, Sasha – not my dog, my brother's dog but I grew up with her and am temporarily looking after her, Cats: Ollie, Angel, Sully. I got Ollie first (After my cat Joel died) and then my brother got Angel (she was being mistreated somewhere else) Ollie and Angel bonded n such a human love type way, and we decided they could not be separated, so I got Angel too, guess what though, 9 month old cats can have babies, Angel had three Kittens, Lucky, Sully and Heat, my brother kept heat, I kept sully and Lucky went to a loving home J Musicals, yes or no? If yes, what movie/show would you like to see made into a musical? No, thank you Tell us a joke. Mars fans who hate and bitch on everything the band does Are there any particular battles or struggles in your life you'd like to tell us about? Hmm, I mean I am an open book with the things I have been through, and am happy to talk about them at any time, there are many things from abuse, abandonment, isolation, major depression, self-harm, suicidal ideology, my brother was recently in a coma ,my mother’s cancer journey, my heart issues, social phobia, PTSD, horderism and crippling self-doubt and anxiety, to tell the short story. While some things still plague me, I find all of it also drives me to make my life better, and t do the best I can every day. Life struggles are hard, but they also enrich me to not only help people in my ‘day job’ but to help me write richer stories. Anything you'd like to add? You guys are doing a great job. When I started Echelon fiction, this is kinda what I wanted it to be but I never had the drive to pull it off, I love how innovative you guys are being and changing things up getting your followers involved, its really cool! Good job, keep going

[thesharondefenseleague]

I think fandom homophobia isn't talked about enough. I swear people in fandom love acting like its a non issue because gay ships seem so popular on tumblr. But we are in a bubble here. Fandom has more gay ships because fandom explored what canon doesn't pretty often. And even then often gay ships are specifically more popular on tumblr and not necessarily in fandom at large.

We are here getting salty at fans for shipping the two "white male favs" instead of a ship with a woman and act as if m/m is somehow commonplace everywhere now and the real minority is people who ship m/f. And you know they don't give a shit about racism. I have almost never seen this argument used in cases where there is a large poc cast like BP. Only ever in stories when the majority of the cast is white and even then half the time they aren't even defending a minority ship. They say oh you just like your white male favs when defending a white m/f ship like the fucking audacity. The attempt to score fake woke points here is nauseating. Just say you want your ship to be popular and go. That is literally the only issue here. Don't pretend you care about racism in fandom.

Like honestly the entitlement . And I say entitlement because whenever I see the salt online it's because there's a m/f ship thats less popular than the m/m one. There were articles about how impressive it is Reylo was popular on tumblr. Like the complete ridiculousness of this. M/F is more popular everywhere and everything except for certain websites like tumblr and Ao3. And people here acting like its revolutionary when there is a popular M/F ship on those sites because heaves forbid M/F ships be less popular anywhere. And I emphasize M/M and not F/F because there are so few popular fandoms with a large and fleshed out enough cast of women that F/F has less opportunity to get as popular. But if that ever became true I bet you the argument would be F/F is only popular with straight guys who wanna jerk off and the argument would ignore that a huge chunk of fanfic writers especially on Ao3 are LGBT women.

[[Before I answer, can I just say I’m baffled but impressed at how this was delivered as one who ask and not, like, seven separate parts with a weird delivered order. I hope this is a new feature and not a fluke.]]

I think it’s a problem with tumblr users in general that they invent their own realities and accept it as commonplace everywhere. I might believe no one ships Reylo, but that’s far from true. I just don’t follow blogs that ship it (sort of - my friend ships them, so I only see it if she posts it).

There’s definitely a strong level of misogyny and racism in fandom. I’m not putting myself above it - I’ve written stories and found myself asking if it’s racist or misogynistic, then looked into how I could fix it. It’s 2021, we know how to check ourselves for this.

I will say, again, that straight women are just as straight as straight men. A good example is the QaF fans being straight women who loved there being a show with gay men having explicit/graphic sex in every episode, to the point where as the show continued, there was less and less lesbian sex, even with a consistent lesbian couple in the show from start to finish. Yes, there’s a sizeable queer and trans female group of fanfiction writers, but we know who’s writing the fetishy graphic stuff most of the time, and who’s very defensive about how they come off (because they can’t be homophobic if they have gay ships!).

It’s this same kind of straight audience who were pushing that bi Steve narrative back in 2016/2017, but didn’t like it when you told them that a bi Steve could still be with a woman, because that exposed that they really just wanted Steve to kiss a man, but not Sam, and then they were mad that they were called out for being racist on top of being biphobic and fetishistic of gay men.

I mean, I ship popular, non-canon (and never will be canon) M/M ships. I don’t think the movies ever pushed this ship to having potential to exist in canon. (I ship one specifically because a cosplay couple I followed cosplayed about them, and I’ve never seen their potential in canon. I was only introduced through this way. Hence why I never openly post them here, just read and write a couple fics.)

M/F ships aren’t revolutionary either. They’re just so uncommon in this one setting where gay is more common than straight (and both more common than lesbian and proper bi/pan and trans representation that isn’t used for fetish shit).

TBH, the politics of shipping culture are so wild now that it makes me tired. Almost wanna say fuck it, I ship nothing. No one gets love or sex. But the solution that suits me best is stepping back from shipping culture, because it’s gonna be crazy on here. The only benefit of tumblr over Twitter is that here, no one can harass creators for ships. I fucking hate when people attack creators/actors on Twitter for ships. I hate that producers and showrunners won’t protect the actors/actresses who are harassed for this shit and leave them to fend for themselves (I won’t forget how Emily VanCamp was left to defend herself and tried to keep it lighthearted as if certain demons weren’t being true assholes over her kiss). Just ship your shit, stop pretending you have a justified narrative, and move on. No need for harassment in shipping culture.

~Mod R

[handsome-edd]

long “rant” abt the characterisation of a few ew people under the cut

so let this be clear, this is heavily opinion based

also, context : i am someone who likes characters with big "action drives" and strong personal motivations, that run a story. so my likes are based on that, and also "is it smart design" basic stuff

let's start with the main character, edd i like him, i really do for a main character he's surprisingly chaotic neutral/almost evil. no morals whatsoever marked anywhere in the show aside from "what inconveniences me", really, he's just someone who does whatever he wants whenever he wants, let it be good things or bad things, as long as it kills boredom. this is /really/ surprising, coming from a character who at first glance falls in "frankly average looking protag". these guys tend to be lawful neutral/almost good, which says a lot. he's a real flip of the archetype he is based on, and one that is a really strong driving force behind the nonexistent plot of eddsworld : he's the one who starts most of the bullshit going on, really. it's a simple characterisation, but it's uncommon, and still enough to build mountains of stories on. so yeah I really like him

now let's jump to tord cause it's when related to edd that he becomes interesting. if you kept up with the entirety of eddsworld, tord kinda went from the more silent character of the group of protags that was normal aside from how he liked guns and hentai, to tankie overlord. yeah, whatever. he just went chaotic evil. but just a second- compare him to edd. he's just a guy who does whatever he wants whenever he wants, with no morals aside from "what inconveniences me". point being, where he's interesting is that he's an antagonist that is... pretty much the same as the protag. only difference is how they "kill their boredom", aka what goals they put to themself. tord decided on world domination which is a wee crazy but, you get me, and edd’s whatever he wants today. after in themselves the concepts behind tord’s character aren’t very interesting honestly, very stereotypical, but still huge story drivers. so-so score for him. doesn’t help that most of his leader character is just mentioned and pure “up to fanon”. and sadly that results into fanon building with stereotypical and not very explored tropes most of the time 

now this wouldnt qualify as a rant if i didnt do some plain just hate now, right ? okay, here comes the most boring character of eddsworld. tom. yeah you read that correctly okay so let's see... tropes here just to agitate the viewers such as weird eyes with no explanation or the curses/monster transformation and yadda yadda that result into a boring, stereotypical fanon ? check. implied to be the smartest of the group yet never is seen in canon doing anything with said brain ? check. kinda the anti-hero of the group, a classification useless when all the protags are already not good nor lawful aligned ? check. dramatic past that haunts him yet it doesn't seem to give him any drive in the story whatsoever ? check. angry drunk stereotype completly left unexplored ? check. that last one actually is what pisses me off the most. as much as irl tom is a guy who got serious depression issues and such, canon tom... eh. idk, he feels like he does it out of boredom or something, like its not from a drive but from a /lack/ of drive. he's not even a "sad" depressed drunk and so with a coping drive, he just feels like a "I let myself live with no attempt at control" character and imo his drinking is exactly that.  edd, tord and eduardo (ill talk abt him next) all do random things but put their control at the service of said random things and live rather than let themselves live. tom is a character who just... can't even do that. he kinda feels like the kind of character who'd lie in a couch all day if edd wasn't here to become bored and drag him into things or tord wasn't here to press at his buttons for fun. and honestly ? i dont see how someone can build a story with that. there's nothing. he's fucking empty. the only times he moves is when his ability to do nothing is threatened or when he's dragged in by everyone's energy. so yeah tom's boring and I don't get how people write fanfictions entirely made of him being pissed by tord, who himself becomes bland when put in that context. oh wait i forgot, fanon turns him into sad drunk (and can't even pull it off). 

anyway.... tom has 0 drive right ? but you know who's my fav ? eduardo. cause that guy got a drive that's absolute bullshit. his sole fucking reason for everything he does from renovating his house to mowing the lawn to destroying entire factories or getting alien satelite dishes and even breathing seems to be centered around spiting edd. it's. the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. he's a guy with an endless motivation for beating edd that comes of literally nowhere other than a years old grudge and that he never questionned despite his obvious capacity at planning and doing actually smart things. he never rests and is always doing things, perhaps even more than edd who just does stuff to beat boredom- eduardo moves cause he has to move. all the time. always. he has a goal and he's constantly working on it. and it's pure utter bullshit. i love him. point being, the "baddie who is obsessed with the main character" trope is something he pulls off perfectly- it's hillarious, it's endearing, and it really powers the story. AND it gives you the yummy kismesis fanon stuff which always makes for pretty wild fanfictions, tho this fandom kinda isn't quiiiite good at pulling it off. (note : i strongly belive that tom and tord do not care enough about each other to result into an actual kismesisitude. edd and eduardo make a point of their day to concentrate precisely on each other and see each other as humans, equals(eduardo would not bother with edd if he really saw him as an inferior), and enemies. with tom and tord, you don’t have that. tord is just an inconvenience between many in tom's life, and tom is just a toy between many in tord's life. both just happen to be humans rather than events or items.)

anyway i wanted to compare eduardo to tom but now that that's done, i can talk bout matt, who is surprisingly interesting too ! it's hard to tell what his drives are, other than "worship myself", but it's funny cause well. that narcissist trope. it's honest to god the first time i see it pulled that way. a narcissist character... who does not hate on any other character, nor takes down other people for the sake of his own beauty. it's what always stunned me about him. they made a character with an immense self love, but absolutely void of any need to take down other people so to show how "superior" he is. it baffled me. this is a completely unexpected deformation of the trope that I legitimately applaud, honestly, even if indeed it is true that matt isn't so much of a story driver, other than how he is very much playful which gets him in situations. point being : matt is fucking underrated

welp, i think i kinda ran out of characters i could properly talk about. jon's just the guy who's kinda cute and who follows his group leaders and has no idea what he's doing so capacity at doing things for a story depends of the group leader, and mark's just too quiet in canon to really say anything about so I can't really continue this post.

[spaztronautwriter]

#flirting (an Olicity fic)

Here’s a ridiculous little celebrity/social media au one shot. I wrote it this summer and totally forgot about it but I found it today so… here it is! There may be a few more parts to this, idk. We’ll see!

###

She was standing in the kitchen, just finishing off her (disgusting) protein shake, when an alert lit the face of her phone.

@OliverQueen tweeted a photo.

She chugged the last sip—ugh!—and swiped the screen. A second later a photo of Oliver was staring back at her and she’d be lying if she said her breathe didn’t catch a little at the sight.

Tight t-shirt, crazy blue eyes, just the right amount of scruff… He was gorgeous, always, but especially standing on the deck of a yacht, leaning over the railing just enough to show off his muscular shoulders. The tweet said, “Fav pic from the @MensHealth shoot.” It already had over a thousand likes.

Felicity liked the tweet and threw her glass in the sink, maybe a little rougher than she’d meant to considering the way it rattled around.

It wasn’t that she was jealous. She was happy for Oliver; he worked hard to maintain his physique and anyone who worked that hard for anything deserved praise and a spread in Men’s Health was good for him, but ugh! Over a thousand likes in less than three minutes? Really? How was it possible?

Her phone vibrated and she looked down to see another alert.

@OliverQueen: @FelicitySmoak you should have come with. Missed you on the boat ;)

Felicity sighed and tapped out a return message.

@FelicitySmoak: @OliverQueen motion sickness, photogs and getting hit on 24/7? Yeah what was I thinking passing on that?

As was usual whenever she got into a conversation with Oliver on social media, her phone started blowing up. Likes and follows and retweets. Everyone wanted a piece of Oliver Queen, even if it was just in the form of stalking him on Twitter.

Even she had her claws in him in a way. It wasn’t like he talked to her on Twitter because he missed her sparkling personality. No, she was the Ronald Miller to his Cindy Mancini, using his popularity and social media prowess to Can’t Buy Me Love her way into the hearts of America. Or, at least, into the hearts of his millions of followers.

Her phone vibrated again, but this time it was a text.

Oliver: You’re getting better, but next time be more “flirty flirt” and less “I’m on my period”

Felicity: First, never think my period has anything to do with my response to you. Second, how was I supposed to respond to that??

The typing bubble popped up and just sort of… stayed awhile, so Felicity put her phone down on her kitchen counter and pulled an apple out of the fruit bowl. She wasn’t supposed to eat apples according to her trainer, they made her bloat, but the shake just wasn’t enough for breakfast and it was either the apple or Felicity was about to go scrounging through her cabinets in search of old pancake mix.

She enjoyed acting, but everything else that came with the job—the workouts, the diets, the parties… the Oliver—it could all bite her. Well, not Oliver. If Oliver ever found out she’d thought that he’d take it as an invitation. Her phone buzzed and she looked down to read the message.

Oliver: You’re supposed to be using our friendship to boost your visibility. And even that bitchy tweet got a few hundred likes. But I thought we were supposed to turn you into the girl next door that every guy wanted and every girl wanted to be friends with? That was what Lyla said anyway. If you want to switch it up just let me know. Also I can hit on you a lot harder than I have been, just so you know ;)

Felicity: Friendship might be pushing it. But yeah, Lyla said she didn’t want me to alienate anyone so…

Oliver: Pretty sure the only one you’ve been alienating is me. And you don’t consider us to be friends? After all this help I’ve been offering you. Free of charge btw. You can go out and hire a social media expert and PR guy if you hate me so much.

Felicity sighed, barely holding back an eye roll.

Felicity: I don’t hate you Oliver. It’s just… this is all so fake. I hate being fake. Last week when you and Lyla suggested that “candid” Instagram selfie? It took 3 hours!

Oliver: That’s because you freeze up in front of the camera. Which is ridiculous because I’ve seen your acting. You’re good. There’s no reason to choke in front of your own camera phone. And the only one making it fake is you. Maybe we’re not as good of friends as I’m trying to portray, but that’s only because you won’t give me a chance.

Felicity: Because all you do is hit on me when we’re together. Or tell me how terrible I am at Twitter. Or just being a person in general.

Her phone buzzed, showing her contact photo of Oliver. She accepted the call.

“Look, I get it. All this attention isn’t what you’re in it for. But that’s part of the gig, okay?” Oliver said, no platitudes offered. She could hear the sound of weights being moved around in the background and figured he was already with his trainer.

Being the heir of a multi-billion dollar tech company wasn’t enough for him. No, Oliver lived a life of pride and sin and he lived it quite publicly. So personal trainers and nutritionists were standard stock for him. His sister Thea wasn’t quite as bad, but that was probably because she was only seventeen. Even so, she still had a personal stylist that followed her everywhere she went.

And this was what Felicity was supposed to act like. She couldn’t get over it. All she’d wanted to do was act. To the best of her ability, she wanted to tell stories. About women, about love, about grief. She had no idea why, in order to do that, she needed to be seen with certain people. She’d lucked out when her agent, Lyla Michaels, had introduced her to Oliver Queen, celebrity rich kid extraordinaire. Lyla’s ex-husband was Oliver’s body guard-slash-personal trainer and for some reason he’d agreed to taking her under his social media wing.

Before Oliver, Felicity didn’t have any social media. Now she had all of them, including Snapchat. Felicity didn’t even know what Snapchat was, but she had one!

“Yeah, yeah. Brand recognition and all that. God,” she sighed, “I’m so sick of hearing the words brand recognition. I’m not a brand. I’m a person!”

“No, you’re not,” Oliver snapped back. “You are not a person to these people, Felicity. All you are is a brand. A name. And when enough people know that name, that’s when you start getting opportunities, so make them know your name.”

Felicity leaned back against the counter, wanting to cry. “We’ve been doing this for over a month now, and the only thing I’ve gotten from it is a few thousand followers and a tabloid rumor that I’m sleeping with you.”

“The media thinks everyone’s sleeping with me,” Oliver dismissed. “Is that what’s crawled up your ass the past couple days? Some TMZ rumor?”

“Nothing has crawled up my ass, Oliver. You know what, just lets keep my ass out of your thoughts, okay?”

“Mmm, no can do,” he teased. “Your ass takes up about 65 percent of my thoughts. What would I think about?”

"Someone else’s ass?” she suggested.

"Aw, but you know you’ve got the best ass in the game, Smoak. That’s why I keep suggesting posting photos of you doing squats on Instagram. That’s the kind of quality content people are looking for, trust me.”

"I know exactly what kind of ‘content’ you usually look for on the Internet, Oliver. I’ve seen your browser history.”

There was a pause and Felicity wanted to laugh.

"When?! How? When did you…?” he sputtered and Felicity finally broke.

"Kidding, Queen. Relax. I was tempted, but I didn’t want to have to bleach my brain afterwards so I didn’t peek.”

"Ha,” he deadpanned. “What are you doing later? Come over.”

"Can’t,” she said. “I’ve got a meeting with Lyla and this indie director, Ray Palmer. He’s not very popular, but his last movie was almost nominated for an Academy Award.”

"No such thing as almost nominated, Felicity. Still, good luck.”

Felicity smiled. It wasn’t often Oliver was sweet, but when he was it made her feel all warm and bubbly inside. “Thanks. It’s just a meeting, but Lyla said that he’s really thinking about me for the lead.”

"Is that the audition you went on a couple weeks ago?”

"Yeah. He told Lyla I’m at the top of his list, but since there’s still a list at all I’m not getting my hopes up just yet.”

"You’ll get the part, don’t worry,” Oliver assured her.

"Thank you.”

There was another pause, but this time she had no idea what he could be thinking. Eventually, he cleared his throat.

"I have a few more pictures from the shoot that I’m supposed to tease. I’m sending one to you. Post it later this afternoon.”

"I’m posting a picture of you? On your photoshoot? Why?”

"Because you won’t post pictures of your ass in yoga pants, so my face is the next best thing.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine, what am I supposed to say?”

"You’ll figure it out,” Oliver said, then hung up without so much as a goodbye.

"No! Oliver! Dammit,” she cursed, putting her phone down on the counter. A second later a message popped up on the screen and she clicked to see the photo she was supposed to post later.

It was Oliver standing in profile wearing a white t-shirt, arms rolled up to show off his biceps—very touchable biceps. Everything about him was touchable if Felicity was being honest with herself. She totally understood why everyone wanted a piece of him.

How the hell was she supposed to caption this?

@FelicitySmoak: Yum 👅 @OliverQueen @MensHealth

It took less than five minutes—and almost six hundred likes! Score!—before her phone buzzed.

Oliver: Really?

Felicity: You said "flirty flirt”.

Oliver: We need to work on your flirty flirt…

Felicity laughed and opened her Twitter app again, telling herself it was just the climbing number of likes and retweets she was staring at.

###

Tagging: @hope-for-olicity @tdgal1 @marniforolicity