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gameofdrarry · 3 years ago

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Polyjuice/Mistaken Identity

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Twelve Hours by eidheann Rated: Explicit Words: 14917 Tags: Polyjuice Potion, Muggle living, Coffee Shops, Post-Hogwarts Summary: The last thing Harry expected to see while leaving the takeaway was Malfoy dumping his garbage into a bin on the kerb of a Muggle neighborhood. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Serpentes by xErised Rated: Explicit Words: 29496 Tags: Romance, Humor, Post-Hogwarts, Auror Harry Potter, Stripper Draco Malfoy, Undercover Harry Potter, Stripper Harry Potter, Snakes, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Smut, Stripping, Polyjuice Potion, H/D Pet Fair 2016 Summary: It's a shame that Draco Malfoy looks so good stripping in a club with stolen snakes, because Auror Harry's got a job to do. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Aletheia by lazywonderland Rated: Explicit Words: 8340 Tags: Confident Harry, Sex While Using Polyjuice Potion, POV Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Pseudo Het, Pseudo Female Draco, Bisexual Harry, Enamored Draco, Hung Harry Potter, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Smut, Het, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Slash, Top Harry, Bottom Draco, Submissive Draco, Angst, the teeniest amount.....i can't write anything without angst idk how, there's very little plot here but i still managed, Choking Summary: Draco finds out Daphne's been shagging Potter and it turns out it's really not that difficult to get a piece of her hair. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Breaking Boundaries by Queenie_Mab Rated: Explicit Words: 26098 Tags: Community: hd_career_fair, Polyjuice Potion, Mistaken Identity, Therapy, Wet Dream, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Fingerfucking, Rimming, Bottom Harry Summary: Harry is nearly 40 years old and intimacy is something he’s never really known. He teams up with Freudian Analyst!Draco to work out what’s been holding him back. He discovers himself and finds a new lease on life in the process. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Exposure by GallaPlacidia Rated: Mature Words: 26993 Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sex Work, Sex Worker Draco Malfoy, Camboy Draco Malfoy, it's all pretty sex positive tbh, less sex than you would think there would be, Betrayal, Secret Identities, Draco in the Muggle World, it's p lighthearted really, falling in love through online geography quizzes, (partly) textfic, Oneshot, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020, Loneliness, Self-Loathing, Threats of Violence, Age Difference, Public Sex, Guilt, Hate Crimes, grey area infidelity (not between Draco and Harry), Mention of Minor Character Suicide Summary: When Seamus uncovers Draco Malfoy's camboy profile, he, Harry and Ron decide to anonymously book a private show so as to humiliate him later. Fascinated by Draco's confidence, Harry keeps booking private shows under the disguise... ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 I'll Only Hurt You If You Let Me by Penryn3 Rated: Explicit Words: 6862 Tags: Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Polyjuice Potion, Mistaken Identity, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Kissing, Boys Kissing, Vaginal Fingering, Oral Sex, Love Bites, Biting, Enemies to Lovers, Confessions, Fluff and Angst, Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Non-Consensual Touching, Face-Fucking, Invisibility Cloak (Harry Potter), Wizarding Court Trials, Angry Kissing, Frotting, Wandless Magic, The Marauder's Map, Powerful Harry, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Self-Discovery, Sex Whilst Polyjuiced, Explicit Language, Hand Jobs, Male Slash, POV Draco Malfoy, Mildly Dubious Consent, Complete Summary: Draco stared intently at the long strand of fiery red hair between his pinched fingertips and let out a shuddering breath. He could do this. He could. He had to find out what was going to happen to his parents, and if anyone was privy to that kind of private information - it was Potter. Draco took a breath, steeling himself. Raising the bubbling glass to his lips, he closed his eyes and swallowed. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 When All Your Dreams Come True by Drarrelie Rated: Explicit Words: 9448 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, PWP, Porn with Feelings, Threesome - M/M/M, dubcon, Mistaken Identity, Pining, secret crushes, Plot Twist, virgins, Birthday, Draco Malfoy's Birthday, Birthday Presents, POV Draco Malfoy, Birthday Sex, Birthday Smut, Sexual Fantasy, First Time, First Time Bottoming, First Time Topping, Don't copy to another site, Fanart Welcome, Podfic Welcome Summary: Six weeks ago, Draco gave his friend-with-benefits a most unexpected and precious gift for his birthday. It's only fair Blaise should reciprocate if given the chance, right? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Last Day We Ever Close Our Eyes by firethesound Rated: Explicit Words: 43641 Tags: Identity Porn, Undercover, Case Fic, Polyjuice Potion, Flirting, Mild Dubcon Due To Secret Identity, Minor Character Death, Drinking Summary: When Draco Malfoy returns to the public eye by purchasing a run-down little antiques shop on Knockturn, Harry is convinced that he is up to something. It turns out that Harry is both very right and very wrong about that. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Bucket List by GallaPlacidia Rated: Not Rated Words: 32393 Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, contrived love curses, terminal illness but in kind of a light hearted way?, Draco Malfoy living his best life, Bucket List, Secret Identities, Sickfic Summary: Draco will die in six months if he can't get Harry Potter to fall in love with him. Since that's not going to happen, he might as well spend his last days working through his Bucket List. Tap-dancing lessons? Rock climbing? Poetry-writing? Threesomes? Cocaine? Getting to know his adorable cousin, Teddy Lupin? Draco will try them all! Feat. Cheerily pessimistic Draco, devoted bitch queen Pansy Parkinson, and a Harry who can't help but notice that something seems DIFFERENT about Draco, these days. Inspired by a lovely piece by khasael called Somebody To Love. Also indebted to You've Got The Antidote For Me by Kandakicksass and IDK My BFF Hermione? by lettered ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Best Gift by Ladderofyears Rated: Explicit Words: 28401 Tags: Mpreg, Pregnant Draco Malfoy, Leaky Cauldron, Drunken Banter, Apparating (Harry Potter), BAMF Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Jealous Harry, Pining Harry, Alcohol, Secrets, Patronus Charm (Harry Potter), Charity Executives Harry and Draco, Reminiscing, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Secretive Draco, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Besotted Harry, Supportive Harry, spoilers in the end notes, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Pregnant Sex, Love Confessions, Christmas Flavoured, Brief mention of Draco Malfoy/Cormac, Brief mention of Draco Malfoy/OMC, Falling In Love, Bonding, Background Neville/Seamus, Eventual Happy Ending, Festive Wireless Minifest Summary: Harry Potter's whole world is upturned when he discovers that his close friend and colleague Draco Malfoy is pregnant by an unknown wizard. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Only a Kiss by Samunderthelights Rated: Teen and Up Words: 3592 Tags: Drarropoly: Founders Edition - A Drarry Game/Fest, Drarry, Polyjuice Potion, POV Alternating, Kissing, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Enemies to Lovers, Past Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hopeful Ending, Don't copy to another site Summary: Harry knew that there was something different about Ginny today. There was something about the way she had looked at him, the way she had touched him. The way that kiss felt. How it had made him feel things he had never felt before. But he can't quite put his finger on what the difference was. Because it was Ginny who had kissed him, his girlfriend. The girl he was about to break up with. Yet something about her had been different... ❤️ Read on AO3

#polyjuice #mistaken identity #drarry recs #drarry #game of drarry #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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tomatograter · 5 years ago

Note

Do you have a list anywhere of your favorite hs fics?

I suppose it’s appropriate I make one now! will prolly come back to add on at some point, but as it stands

HERE’S THE FIC RECS: (it is quite long, click the readmore)

Last updated Sept 10 2021 !

Perpetuity => https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835047

Written pre-epilogues, largely about mending damaged bridges after the game. I always mention this fic as what settled me back into hs as a fandom and dirk/jake

A Palate Cleanser => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642637

The jake eulogy we missed on candy. it’s real good. (now with a podfic version on the second chapter!!!!)

It’s only a canvas sky

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/28718544

Their guardians dead at the hands of the Condesce, growing up in the shadow of her slow takeover of the Skaian Federation, Dirk Strider and Jake English have spent their whole lives alone up until shortly before their twelfth birthdays.

Or: Dirk fixes a transmitter, makes a friend, builds a robot, and tries to communicate affection over distance to the barest possible minimum.

(A good mix of fluff/angst/yearning, captures early & friendship dirkjake REALLY well, a good analogue au to their canon upbringing!!)

Sburgatoria => https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726822/chapters/49242167

What if we were four lesbians stuck in an uncanny valley real housewives purgatory-esque-suburbia and we bickered then kissed 😳

Prologos

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23961157

“Sadstuck for the discerning jakeliker”

Magnesium Ion, Porphyrin Ring => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787465/chapters/51988876

Jade + Jake exploration throughout their growing up years, the relationship they had to their guardians and to one another between split realities and time.

I Know What You Think Of Me => https://archiveofourown.org/works/21516589

You never knew you wanted vriska and jake to be friends but now…. you do! and they’re going to gut a mountain of salmon to get there. Hilariously masterful vrisrezi to boot.

What Happens In-Between =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240424/chapters/58409713

i KNOW you aren’t done with jaded fisheries observer vriska just yet and for that i’m thankful to say, we have a sequel, and dirk is in it to her great annoyance

Drive it home with one headlight => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281412/chapters/45856705

The Hitchhikers Guide to Your Ex-Boyfriend ==>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747519/chapters/62875855

EXTENSIVELY ILLUSTRATED!!!! Post-canon fanadventure focusing on jake, brain ghost dirk, and a very concerned third party inhabiting jake’s brain that isn’t all too happy with the current turn of dubiously canon events. Still updating, very fun and smart.

The Four Kings, the God Thief, and the Black Diamond Pirates =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17886581/chapters/42220607

DIRK AND VRISKA. PIRACY. SONG. HOES (JAKE)

Sea shanties for Thots (Four kings sequel) =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22210135/chapters/53028541

jake needs to adjust to his new life and occupation overseas, ft; more songs, more piracy, and schrodinger’s hoe. Extensively jake-introspective, told through his POV.

Song of the Pyre =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10875459/chapters/24161439

EPIC SCALE vrisrezi space opera ft. hardass legislacerator Terezi & outlaw Vriska being forced to work together after they sort-of-accidentally kill terezi’s shitty clown ex. Feelings are caught, trials are held, there’s a revolution coming. Delightfully written. Reads as pretty solid and complete despite the 19/21 chapters done - ACT 1 counts as a book of its own, ACT 2 is solid.

Pilot Light, Pale rapture (full series) => https://archiveofourown.org/series/1403233

“They want you on Olympus, they want you on a faraway star watching the planet turn benignly. They want the original Gods in the four corners of the earth, protectors in an invisible palace. “And the Witch sat vigil in her southern eastmost realm, looking down upon her descendants,” they’d say, “and saw that it was good.

You do not have an Olympus. You have a house that smells like burnt toast, because Davepeta did just that only an hour ago.”

Prospit kids + Really Good and Fun earth C shenanigans ensue. Incredible insightful exploration on Jade, her childhood, and mostly what happens after the curtains close and she finally has time to be awake.

After Meat, Aftermath. (full series) => https://archiveofourown.org/series/1420354

In one universe, college!au Rose lalonde takes barre classes. In another, arguably more relevant one, Rosebot peers into her life. this will lead to inevitable chaos. incredible rose + kanaya + vriska + jake + dirk focus and one of my fav AU’s.

*below are my favorite dirk-focused works:*

Detective Pony

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2427119/chapters/5371283

At first I didn’t include this one, having taken for granted that everyone had read it already, but I think as of ‘21 the fandom is a bit different and not many have. Facts being: this is the definitive solo Dirk Strider story; seamless with the detective pony book dirk edits in homestuck-proper, deeply indulgent, funny, and cathartic, one might even say. Also an audiobook and a webseries, if that’s more up to your speed!

A Eulogy for Laplace’s Demon (After Meat, Aftermath spinoff) =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047735/chapters/47475769

A good jump-in point for AM,A but hugely more focused on dirk arguing with his own demons. Doesn’t pull any punches.

Dualshock Desertbloom =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428552/chapters/43651733

Dirk wakes up in a scalding liminal space and splinters his beta self out of his body like an amoeba parting in two. It’s a Predicament. They have to learn how to cohabitate if they want to try to figure out what the fuck is going on, and Dirk can’t help but prod and poke around to learn more about his twisted-funhouse-mirror-self along the way. Really meaty character-study, some of my favorite dirkvoice (and brovoice) passages are definitely all over here.

House of Dirk => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156126/cha pters/45530146

dirk and caliborn, in a sitcom, holding hands. nothing bad could ever possibly happen

Timaeus, Testified. => https://archiveofourown.org/works/19479223/chapters/46368625

“go crazy go stupid!!!!!!” - dirk strider, metamonster

*Fun / short / thoughtful stories:*

Two idiots at Homoville, N69, TX

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26130925

Dirk freaks out and goes on r/relationships to try and figure out how to mend the semi-relationship he has with his weird roommate. (hint: his name starts with J)

Light Without Effulgence

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986289

Rose is having a writer’s block. Jake is bored in the middle of his family’s own vacation. They sit down to mercilessly pick at each other’s brains, and the results may surprise you (not clickbait)

Interrogating the text from the wrong perspective => https://archiveofourown.org/works/615521

(Calliope and Rose have fandom wars. Its really funny)

Witching Hour => https://archiveofourown.org/works/12620732

Eschewal => https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284384

jake goes ham

Dreamscapers => https://archiveofourown.org/works/22455073/chapters/53653849

Stygian blue =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946412/chapters/57588850

Terezi and brain ghost Vriska have a conversation. (illustrated!!!)

Bitter =>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30871334

Jaw-dropping JadeRose comic oneshot; meta, jealousy, crushes, and girls being a little off.

*FANADVENTURE CORNER:*

CHOICELESS HOPE

==> https://archiveofourown.org/works/28100313/chapters/68850048#workskin

Your name is TEREZI PYROPE.

You have been searching the depths of the FURTHEST RING for CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND, PRETEENHOOD NEMESIS, TEEN SWEETDIAMOND, and POSSIBLE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, VRISKA SERKET, for what may or may not have been THREE MONTHS.

Near the start of her search for Vriska, Terezi is offered a choice.

KITTYQUEST

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=32792&p=2

Centuries in the future, the daughter of jade harley and davepeta pierces together what it is like to grow up knowing your parents and much of your extended family are immortal beings. Incredible art, lots of really really fun cameos and incredible worldbuilding (Not epilogue compliant, barely credits compliant, remains one of my favorite extended pocket universes to this day.)

FAILURE TO LAUNCH

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=34750&p=1

It’s june egbert’s first night out! From the official TV programme summary; “Starring the one and only JUNE EGBERT! Who knows what shenanigans will ensue… Wild hootenannies? Late night pizza picnics? ROMANCE??? Tune in and find out on FAILURE TO LAUNCH!” this can only ever end well, right?

THERAPYSTUCK

==> https://mspfa.com/?s=36345&p=3

That’s right, buckos. The lot of you are going to therapy. Turns out after a member of the tight-knit god community (Sollux) decides to seek a little help, more shenanigans were sure to follow.

#fic rec #updated sporadically

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solesurvivorpaigeargot · 3 years ago

Note

I absolutely LOVE Sketchy Saturdays and I always look forward to them!! As for my question(s)? What made you decide to start doing it(I'm glad you do but I was just curious!)?

Hoooo boi the Sketchy Saturday Origin Story: I suppose there's two versions.

The short version reads " Moving stress, deployment depression, and isolation VS. my utter determination to DO SOMETHING whilst trapped in my home " -- Sketchy Saturday was the result of that title fight, so I guess the fandom won in the end? XD

The long version, however... Well, buckle up, cause this is gonna be a ride.

It may surprise y'all to know that two years I was eyeballs-deep in the South Park fandom. The blog still exists; my mainblog, JustCallMeButtlord, built to interact with the audience of my fanfictions-- the New Kid Stories, called NKS for short [gonna be porting those to Ao3 soon, just gotta figure out what robo-reader I'm gonna use to make a quick n dirty podfic out of the series as well as help me hunt down typos my eyes galze over]. The first 'season' of stories had ended, 8 completed fics, and I was puttering about with a bonus holiday story that was several months out of season. Not that I CARED because I was on GUAM where seasons don't exist and my time blindness gets even worse becasue without seasons changing it feels like time never progrsses even after being on the island for three cocksucking years.

I don't hate Guam, I am just not built for constant heat. I am a snow creature; I like below-freezing temperatures so I can layer up in fuzzy, fluffy things and drink hot drinks and cuddle loved ones and/or furry animals. It's a lovely island, I adored my first week there... I just wasn't made to live there.

HIlariously, NKS started out of the stress of moving to Guam. Two years and 8 fics later, the place we were renting was no longer within our price range and my hubby and I were forced to move onto base. Under the leader whom I refuse to name, military pay was given a precentage raise... but it was ripped out of bonuses and OCONUS pay. OCONUS is what a military member is paid when they're stationed Outisde the CONtinental United States. This usually means overseas bases like Japan, but it also means Hawaii, aaaaaand... GUAM. So that percentage pay increase for the military at large meant belt-tightening for every service member abroad, and we were forced to move onto base.

In case y'all haven't noticed by now, I'm a raging socialist with some issued with authority. I DO NOT LIKE EXISTING ON BASE. I do not like existing in a place where the national anthem plays twice a day, every day, at 6 AM and then again whenever the hell sundown is that day. And there's an unspoken rule no one tells you that when it plays you're supposed to stop what you're doing, face the nearest set of speakers playing the song, and stare in that direction with your hand over your heart until its over. That, if you're driving, you have to put on your emergency flashers and pull over. No one tells you this. NO ONE TELLS YOU THIS.

And then, before we had secured a place on base but we had set a move out date for the rental house, the Pandemic happened. While we were between homes. The base is talking full lockdown, Guam authorities want to shut down the island but businesses are terrified of not getting the tourist season business, we don't even know if we'll be allowed to move on to base.

Surprise, I stopped writing for a while... but I picked Fallout 4 back up again. I had been forced into the series years earlier by a toxic relationship, but the game itself hadn't been bad-- just the way I'd been forced to play it by someone who was firmly not in my life anymore. When confronted with character creation, I wasn't sure whom I wanted to make... but decided to go back to an old character. A VERY old character, whom I hadn't thought of since I'd finished ME3 at least 4 years prior, and a character I first conceived of when I was 14-ish... which is now about 15 years ago.

Paige.

I've talked before about how well Paige's story maps onto Fo4, but this was before I knew that. I knew the opening, her losing her kid, and that fit with her-- but something clicked while I was playing and the part of my brain that likes to create started wandering off. Soon enough I've got a couple chapters of a ficlet that I'm TOTALLY just writing as a personal one-shot to de-stress, no way I'm publishing this, I don't wanna get distracted from NKS, I got a whole 'nother season to write! Who cares if no one is reading it anymore because South Park Fandom doesn't like continuous plots.... right?

I was burnt out as hell, the move was looming, the Pandemic was getting worse and everything was getting scarier.

Then the news came through that hubby would be deploying again.

He wasn't supposed to, but the Navy decided the safest place for their sailors was the middle of the ocean, so if you WERENT in quarantine you were going on the boat and you were living there. Didn't matter if your spouse would be alone, unpacking a whole home by themselves.

I had a friend on base. We hung out. I met with my DND group on weekends; we all lived on base now, so we could meet up in like five minutes... and then restrictions tightened. You could be fined up to 5 grand for gathering in groups greater than 5, even outdoors, and detained if suspected of going to a home that wasn't yours. I still met 2 of my friends once a week for walks; get outside, be active, talk to other humans, but besides that? I was locked up alone in a new house in a place that I did NOT like existing in.... with a fresh new hyperfixation developing.

I think it was about a week into the new house that I made the new blog. At first I tried to run it side by side with the South Park stuff, but it wasn't long before all my attention was here... aaaand it also wasn't long before I was confronted with a lot of my own despair; of lockdown, of isolation, of watching a broken system crumble and not being able to DO anything about it, and I started to kinda lose my shit. I fuss-- I can't leave things alone, and I couldn't leave this feeling alone; of being fully and entirely helpless and hopeless.

And then I sketched a thing for a friend, and it made them happy. They were having a rough time, too, and I put something together because I couldn't think of anything else. And it helped. It lifted them up, and it lifted me up, too. Someone else had recently reblogged one of those pallet challenges that floats around Tumblr, and I decided FUCK IT LET'S DO THIS THING AND CALL IT SKETCHY SATURDAY!

Little secret, the very first Sketchy Saturday request? Was me. I was so scared no one would noticed the event, I sent myself the very first request, back when the event still took anons. Soon as that first picture was up:

BANG, suddenly four more; some people off anon. I met people that day, talked to them after the very first Sketchy weekend was over, chatted about the games and characters and art and writing and just... felt human for the first time in a really long while.

I figured I'd hold on to Sketchy Saturday until the deployment was over-- once hubby was back, I'd decide whether I was keeping it or not... but he came back, and I was still super into it, and he was supportive, sooooo I kept going! And then we did Sketchy Secret Santa, and people loved it, and my volunteers are excited about being Sketchy Elves and Secret Helpers and just OH MY GOD I DID A THING GUYS. I DID A THING-- that was just me all December and January long lmafo.

AND JANUARY! Because AH HECK, WE MOVING AGAIN! Because hubby finally got orders, and OH MY GOD we're going back to WA... but it's still a move half-way around the globe, and I was SURE I'd have to shut down the event for a month while we got our shit in order and NOPE, because here come the volunteers from Sketchy Secret Santa, and they wanna fill in all month long! Like... I didn't even ask for that shit, guys. They offered it so the event wouldn't have to take a gap.

Jesus I'm getting teary just remembering it.

So yeah. Sketchy Saturday is here because I got really lonely and stressed out while Fallout 4 provided me with some... catharsis for my situation, and then a pandemic happened.

And then y'all happened, and I'm still here. :D

#Sketchy Saturday #feels

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fyaokaga · 5 years ago

Text

anjizu’s aokaga fic rec list (completed only)

I was asked for aokaga fic recs! I’ve got a lot of faves, but I decided to just link completed fics only~ btw most of these are AoKaga & mainly hosted on ao3

I’ve noted “kagaao” & “aokagaao” just in case you’re not into these. Plus some start with a different pairing but are eventual aokaga fyi.

I will add to this list. I may also add on-going at some point. For now this is a list of completed fics that I have read.

in no particular order:

Animal Attraction by EvilPeaches

Wildcat Blues by bexara

24 Hours by evership

Just Desserts by aoitoakai

For the First Time by bexara

(Look) What You've Done by furiosity

Clamorous Unspoken Words by Kaizokuniichan

Liquid Courage by Kaizokuniichan

Kindred Idiots by risquetendencies

Christmas (dil)Do's & Don'ts by bexara

Behind Closed Doors by Kaizokuniichan (KagaAo)

Of Pain, Plans & Passionate Pursuit by bexara

Shape of My Heart by maunder

Insatiable Beast by maunder

Moan by dwindlingflame

Let's Get It On by bexara

Packed Like Sardines by animehead

The Other Half by monochromevelyn

Firefly Without a Light by furiosity

Love you (till you're seeing stars and stripes) by gunboots

Strangelove by acmrcreatives

Warmth by babbitly

Slamdunks and Stairwells by babbitly

Almost walk of shame by Kryzanna

Jealous Beast by Gusiruli

After All, I Still Loved You by Squatta

Home by Kathysweet

'Always' Universe by Squatta

Strut by Vee (KagaAo)

When dreams become reality by BrowsoftheTaiga

Girl With Golden Eyes by Shinsun (AoKagaAo)

Secrets Verse by orphan_account

AoKaga [Not So Exciting Communication Remix] by Sylindara

Making Indigo by Quente (AoKagaAo)

Rewind > Pause > Play by rubyfiamma (AoKagaAo)

idiots (because that's what they are) by earliegrey (94k)

Of Course, Princess by laynacakes (KagaAo)

Let's Be Alone Together by laynacakes (AoKagaAo)

'Remember Me' Universe by Squatta (AoKagaAo)

The Power A Name Can Hold by Franeridan (KagaAo)

It Happens by TealObsession (AoKagaAo)

underneath the cup in a black, marker pen by earliegrey (94k)

Cherry Blossoms by Kryzanna

Even basketball idiots go to the library sometimes by BrowsoftheTaiga (AoKagaAo)

Twitter Project by totalizzyness

The Involuntary Way To A Man's Heart by n_nami (KagaAo)

The Hot Neighbour by touchinghearts

burning concrete by bimmyou

A Man's Fantasy by bexara

some kind of madness by magnificentbirb

Moonlight and Brandy by furiosity (KagaAo)

We're Gonna Burn Holes in the Layers of Our Clothes by homine (AoKagaAo)

Empty Shell by Franeridan

How Many Secrets Can You Keep? by Helisika (KagaAo)

S.A.A by dwindlingflame (AoKagaAo)

Love Letters in the Sand (I Remember You) by furiosity

Necessary Roughness by brizamartian (AoKagaAo)

A Journey into the 'Grey Area' by totalizzyness (KagaAo)

First Time Mates by aokagaisball

Applause by TheDwellingDarkness

Wild Eyes by brizamartian

Extra Game by Anonymous

Put A Ring On It by TheDwellingDarkness

Bruised Lips by kiyala (AoKagaAo)

Kids in Costumes by totalizzyness

Two To Love by TNSXBunny (ff.net)

My Promise by Kathysweet

The Care And Feeding Of by half_sleeping

The Second Door by Kryzanna

Thirty-six hours boyfriend. by LennyFace

Summer Magic (that Aomine could've done without) by TheDwellingDarkness

Invincible by madaliz

Home Is by tanktrilby

‘What If’ Doesn’t Apply by dwindlingflame

Soothing the Savage Beast by orphan_account

Dream Love by aokagaisball

A Dragon's Heart by Lycanwolff (AoKagaAo)

The Force Within by TheDwellingDarkness

TimeZoned by mazzie (AoKagaAo)

My Dream Was Actually You by rubyfiamma

That Feeling by DuskBeforeDawn

The Teikou Coven by ptw30

Coco Tiger by 3_idiots

The 'D' in Dysfunctional by 3_idiots

the arrangement by kaaogami (ghoulnoace)

For You by DuskBeforeDawn

Take Me Back to the Start by MochiUs

When it Rains it Pours by demonvampire180 (KagaAo)

It's Gayme (Game) Day by Jynova

Put a Spell on You by RachaelBmine

The Sound of Heartbeats by n_dp

The Dick Doodle by Araminthe_Ispwitch

Cats in the Cradle by MyBlackCrimsonRose

Wait just a little longer by Qitana

No One's Here to Sleep by brizamartian

California Summer by HadenXCharm (AoKagaAo)

Rumors by Shinsun (AoKagaAo)

Young Hunks, Taking Shots by iBear

Scars by SinisterAmix

Petal-Soft Love by Stylish_Racoon

Unruly mate by Salakritz (AoKagaAo)

Curiosity by AiraKT (AoKagaAo)

Hush by mazzie

A Colorful World by FlyAndDontLookBack

Before You Knew You'd Know Me by iBear

Last Summer by HadenXCharm (AoKagaAo)

hunting for you (for your hot heart) by roguerie (AoKagaAo)

Between A Dream and A Miracle by hellsinki

Welcome Home by rhapshie

Four Steps of Drunkenness by rhapshie

Keep Your Eyes on me by rhapshie

we broke up for nothing by kyahgamis

Second Best by jenjen92

Someone I Once Knew by thunderingskies

never say by orphan_account

Shameless by Anonymous

Desires by Roxxane_bookdragon

pillowtalk by kaaogami (ghoulnoace)

To The Gills by Shinsun (KagaAo)

AoKa's Domestic Life by demonvampire180

The Away Game by thunderingskies

Good Vibrations by dwindlingflame

A Hero Is Zero Without Someone To Protect by Narcissistic_Jerk

The Fates by il_re

Kittens and Cubs, Models and Love by Jynova

Secret Basketball by orphan_account

Home Coming by earliegrey (94k)

Daiki Doesn't Share by aokagaisball

Electric touch by SA_White_Raven

I'll be your man by pyrodynamo [Podfic]

A Man Worthy for Aomine Daiki by monochromevelyn (ff.net)

Mistletoe and Wine/Beyond the Mistletoe by Kryzanna (ff.net)

The Memo by monochromevelyn (ff.net)

AoKaga Month by franeridan (tumblr)

Knock, Knock, Knock. by kachimatsu (tumblr)

#anjizu #aokaga #aokaga fic #aokaga fic recs #kuroko no basket #t:fanfics #replies #fyaokaga:anjizu #i will add to this list #i haven't been in the aoka tag on ao3 since aokaga day #for now this is my list of faves #enjoy~

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stubbornjerk · 4 years ago

Text

2020 Fanfiction Review

tagged by @northisnotup. i. thanks, dad.

i... am horrified of having to round all this up because 2020 feels like it’s like 7 years crammed into 1 but here we go.

Fics Written This Year:

I wrote a lot in 2020 before quarantine. I transitioned between fandoms too, which is expected since I’ve been doing that consistently for the past five years since I began writing as a hobby. So from Good Omens (of which I wrote half of my stuff for this year) , I transferred onto Penumbra (which has monopolized most of my writing stuff this year and shall remain so until I see fit).

This year alone I published fifteen (15) things, two of which were poems (one poem I didn’t count because I wrote that in 2017). There’d be a lot more but we don’t talk about that.

According to AO3 (minus the collabs where I was the artist or voice for something), I wrote around 145.7k words this year, ignoring the 57k I have discontinued and deleted and will remain in my laptop’s memory drive until the heat death of the universe.

Takeaways from your kick-ass writing, or kick-ass lack of writing, during a year more focused on survival than perhaps any other:

Well, I was fortunate enough to have no significant struggle with the quarantine since where I live, it’s illegal for me to get out of the house at my age without a pass. I did still have school to do despite that. I did as much writing this year as I did in 2015-2018, when I was still in junior high, which is mostly because apart from picking up art as a hobby to healthily space out my writing time, I also gave myself a rigid schedule to work around. Well, for the most part.

Like, while I was writing halcyon days, I was also writing and drawing for the TNA minibang that I did with Ger and Jeans at the same time, while also writing some fluff on the side like the Andromeda piece I did for Stes on the earlier days of halcyon days, while also still taking time to draw something indulgent and dumb between everything. So, take my “rigid schedule” with a grain of salt. I find that I like to be busy so that I’m barely conscious of the progress that i have for most projects.

Otherwise, I start doubting if it’s even something people would read.

[long and haunted stare at all 57k of my unpublished work]

Most surprising fic you wrote this year:

I don’t think I have one specific thing I’m surprised I wrote this year? It all feels like something I would have wanted to read or write as a challenge, or something I expected to have come from me specifically.

I think in terms of structure, the most surprising thing I wrote this year would be my poem, three doors | tatlong pinto, which isn’t really fic because it’s a poem but I digress. I never really thought I would be publishing poetry for anything fannish.

In terms of actual fic, I think it’d be my birthday fic bridges to burn, because I’ve never really tried to blend both my art and fic before? I wrote most of the fic around the illustrations I already made beforehand, then decided that they’d illustrate the fic itself instead. It was an interesting experiment, to say the least.

How you grew as a writer this year:

I would like to think that I was as poetic in my prose as I used to be but I know that’s not true. Some of my more recent writing is very poetically structured and I think that’s due in large part to how I wrote halcyon days, which had to be poetic because of the nature of the AU source material, Hadestown.

Well, that and the fact that for some reason people have grown to like my simplistic poetic prose? So I’ve been trying to develop that further.

What’s coming in 2021:

I have three to four things definitively lined up for 2021 and, since I’m in like, two events, it’s gonna be a doozy.

My bang fic is the one I’m most apprehensive of since it’s very personal to me and I kinda want people to receive it well but I also feel like that’s hoping for too much because it’s a) self-indulgent, and b) so incredibly niche and not really serving much for the current state of TPP fan content that I don’t see it going over well. But we’ll see.

I have maybe two completely new VesBud things I’m planning? Depending on how I’ll be handling the first two months of 2021, I will have to see how I’m going to fit that in my timeframes.

I have one JuPeter one I’m planning for an upcoming birthday that I’m very excited to work on. It’ll come out on February, keep an eye out for it.

And the last actual thing lined up is going to be the sequel to Vespa Ilkay and the Case of the Murderous Mask, which will have its own two-parter podfic as well, if we can help it. So if you liked our little VesBud-centric reverse AU, that’d be something to look forward to!

I... don’t really have that many people I can tag on tumblr for this kjshfd most of the writers I know and are mutuals with are on twitter so.... if you wanna do this, i’m tagging you? you, who is currently reading this? whatever

#adventures in writing #writing meme #long post #sorry for the long-ass post i have... many thoughts

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visander · 4 years ago

Text

A Bit of Space (4/6)

Alec and Magnus do a bit of exploring.

You can read this chapter on ao3 here or listen to a podfic version here. Special thanks to @accal1a for creating the podfic and @the-prophet-lemonade for beta reading this chapter.

Chapter Four:

Magnus laid sprawled in his seat, watching Alec pour the last of their water into the plastic cups they had. Soon, they would have to venture outside and search for more water, unless they favored dying in the week, but neither he nor Alec had said it out loud yet. Not saying it made the threat seem far less real but Magnus was pretty sure neither of them had been able to think about anything else all day.

Magnus didn’t want to die. He didn’t want Alec to die but that wasn’t exactly a decision they could make. Magnus also didn’t want to spend what could be his last day alive thinking about death but so far, he’d failed on that front.

Magnus looked over to Alec and watched him for a few long moments. On Earth, his distractions had been plentiful but here, all Magnus had was Alec. Magnus didn’t want to use Alec as a distraction. He’d never consider Alexander that… disposable but they’d gotten closer over the last few weeks. Their touches had lingered longer and longer. Magnus had caught Alec looking at him more than once and every time, he’d wondered what Alec had been thinking about.

Magnus had pondered their situation quite a bit and he’d also considered what might have happened, had they not crashed here. He wondered if he would have asked Alec out or if things would have been too hectic. He wondered if Alec would have said yes. He wondered if Alec was even interested, regardless of what scenario they were in.

Had their probable death not been on Magnus’ mind, he might not have said anything but knowing they could both be dead in a day's time - well, it seemed to put things into perspective. Magnus didn’t have a reason not to ask now. If Alec reacted badly, they were going to die anyway. If he didn’t, then Magnus knew.

Magnus opened his mouth before he could even decide exactly how he was going to word what he wanted to ask. “Have you ever been interested in men, Alec?” He ended up saying, causing Alec to nearly spill the last of their water as he jolted and looked up to him in shock.

Alec stammered, his eyes wide and his face pale at the question. “I mean-” Alec began but it was clear he didn’t know what to say. He tripped over his tongue and then stopped speaking completely. He grabbed Magnus’ cup and thrust it out for him to take, his panicked eyes not making contact.

Magnus reached for his cup and took it, choosing to spare Alec and explain a little more before the man had a heart attack. “I’ve just been thinking recently. I wanted to ask you on a date, when we got home.” Magnus admitted with a soft laugh. “I was just wondering if you would have said yes. I didn’t want to offend you by insinuating anything. I know you’re my superior and it’s a little inappropriate while we’re both deployed but… I’m not sure that matters anymore.” Magnus shrugged, softening his words with the motion as he took a small sip of the luke warm water Alec had handed him.

He should be trying to savor the water. It was the last clean water they had but his mind couldn’t be farther away from it. Every ounce of his attention was fixed on Alec. Still, he took another sip. He was thirsty. They had been trying to make what little they had last, but they were both dehydrated now. They had to be.

Maybe that was why Magnus’ words were trickling off his tongue so easily.

Alec stayed silent for a long moment, so long that Magnus was starting to think Alec wasn’t going to answer him at all. Finally, Alec spoke, his words soft and thoughtful. “I would have said yes,” he murmured under his breath. “I would have liked to go on a date with you very much.”

They both lapsed into silence as they took in Alec’s response. Somehow, it hurt. That had been the response Magnus had been hoping to hear and yet, it didn’t make him happy like he thought it would. Instead, the silence around them felt mournful.

They would not go home. Magnus would not be able to ask Alec out on a date and Alec would not be able to say yes. As the silence stretched on, Magnus thought the moment would leave them there but then Alec was speaking again, surprisingly Magnus with the hesitant hopefulness in his tone.

“I have found myself…” Alec fumbled with his words, his hands twisting nervously in his lap. “-appreciating men every once in a while.” His eyes flickered away.

It took Magnus a moment to understand the sudden shift in the conversation, that Alec was answering his first question, when Magnus had asked if he liked men.

Alec cleared his throat, his eyes darting back up to Magnus. “Especially being stuck with someone who - uh - looks like you.” His eyes darted away again, drawn down to the water in his cup that he had yet to touch.

Slowly, a grin stretched across Magnus’ face. Flirting, he realized. Alec was trying to flirt with him. Magnus wasn’t going to point out that describing himself being ‘stuck’ with him wasn’t very flattering. Magnus more thought they’d been gifted such an ample amount of each other's company.

“Would you like to do a more in-depth exploration, Alexander?” Magnus asked, not even caring how much of a line it sounded like. On Earth, in a bar, perhaps he’d be embarrassed that he couldn’t come up with anything better to say, but here, with Alec, it didn’t seem to matter.

Alec’s mouth stretched into a slow smile. He looked up, scanning Magnus’ face for a sign that he was kidding. No part of Magnus was kidding about this. “Are you suggesting we-”

Magnus nodded before Alec could even finish his sentence. “If you’d like.”

For a few, long moments, they stared at each other. Alec was completely still, barely breathing, but his eyes roamed Magnus’ face, as if waiting for Magnus to burst out laughing and announce that he didn’t really mean it. When Magnus did no such thing, Alec shifted forward.

He didn’t have to do much shifting in the small space before he was there, hesitating in front of Magnus as his eyes darted between Magnus’ eyes and his lips, waiting for him to give him yet another cue that yes, this was what he meant.

Magnus moved first. He grabbed Alec gently by his undershirt and he pulled him forward until they were both pressed together, crammed on the small couch that Magnus had been sleeping on.

Alec froze, his eyes wide. Magnus could feel his heart pounding in his chest where it rested under Magnus’ palm. Magnus wondered if it was nervousness or fear that made Alec’s heart beat so fast but Alec had made it clear he wanted this and Magnus wasn’t going to deny him, unless he changed his mind.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Magnus murmured, giving Alec a chance to flee if he wanted. It wasn’t as if he could go far but Magnus would let him, should he choose.

Alec nodded, his breath close enough to brush across the side of Magnus’ face.

That was all Magnus needed to move forward and close the distance between them. Their lips met gently, barely brushing each other as they both explored the feeling. Magnus’ eyes fell shut as he felt Alec move, soft and unsure against him. Magnus wondered vaguely how many people Alec had kissed before, if it was inexperience or if it was just him that was making the man so nervous.

Magnus pulled him a little closer. One of Alec’s hands went gently to his side, pointedly avoiding Magnus’ mostly healed chest as he touched him. The gesture sent a pang of tenderness through Magnus. Even now, Alec was careful not to do something that would hurt him.

They parted a few moments later, both of them needing to breathe. Somehow, they’d moved until Alec was completely above Magnus and Magnus found the sight of his breathless face hovering over him jarring. He didn’t even know when they’d moved. He’d just lost himself in the kiss and now, they were here.

Alec met his eyes again and this time, there was no hesitation.

He looked determined as he tipped forward and pressed his lips firmly against Magnus’ own, the touch different from the soft explorative kiss they’d shared a moment before. The position was a little uncomfortable. There wasn’t room for the both of them where they were but Magnus couldn’t think of any of that with Alec’s mouth on his.

Alec took control now. His tongue parted Magnus’ lips and when Magnus didn’t push him away for it or whatever else Alec had expected him to do if he didn’t like it, Alec moved closer, growing bolder and bolder as Magnus reciprocated.

Magnus had imagined what it would feel like to kiss Alec for a long time. He had daydreamed about it when they first met and he had thought about it more and more often in these last few weeks, desperate for any sort of touch, even in his head. After all, Alec was exceptionally handsome. How could Magnus not have considered it? But even in Magnus’ fantasies, he hadn’t imagined how soft Alec’s lips would feel against his or how nice his strong arms would feel framing him.

Magnus never believed people who described their first kiss with someone as something magical. He always thought it was bullshit but kissing Alec, Magnus could understand what people were talking about for the first time. It wasn’t fireworks but it was the way Alec’s mouth felt perfect against his. It was the way that even as cramped as they both were, they fit together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces finding each other.

Maybe, it was just because it had been months since Magnus had kissed another human being. Maybe, it was because they were both dehydrated and preparing themselves to die but either way, Magnus wasn’t going to complain about how perfect Alec felt against him. Nor did he protest when Alec pressed closer, stroking some fire in Magnus that he hadn’t even realized had been growing until now. The angle was a little awkward but Magnus had done a lot more than kiss people in far less suitable places. He could make this work. He could make anything work with Alec.

It was just then that Apollo appeared in the doorway of the ship and, angered by the lack of attention Magnus didn’t instantly give it, Apollo paused for a moment, watching before it let out a characteristic high pitched screech.

Alec sprang back instantly. His elbow slammed into Magnus’ side, replacing any warm fuzzy feeling that had been bubbling in Magnus’ chest with a stab of pain. Any perfect synchronicity they’d had disappeared as Alec scrambled to stand.

Magnus followed Alec’s eyes over to the creature in the doorway. Apollo stared for a few moments, watching the commotion before it seemed to realize Magnus was free, exactly like it had wanted. Apollo bounded forward and scrambled to get on the couch, which it couldn’t quite do without Magnus’ assistance, and then it nuzzled comfortably into Magnus’ side.

Alec quirked an eyebrow, “Still don’t regret letting it stay?”

Magnus frowned, looking down to the creature before looking back up to Alec. “We could still-”

“No,” Alec said instantly, as he moved to sit down. “I’m not interested in getting bitten because I’m trying to kiss you.”

Magnus didn’t point out that it didn’t seem like Apollo had teeth. He wasn’t sure Alec would be comforted by that. “Oh, so I’m not worth it?” he questioned, smirking a little as Alec ran a hand through his messy hair and tried to straighten it out. He looked delightfully rumpled by their activity, even if they’d been cut short.

Alec glanced over at him, his eyes flicking up and down Magnus once. “You’re worth almost everything,” he murmured. “But you’re not worth that. That thing would rip my face off to keep me away from you.” Alec eyed the creature at Magnus' side as he spoke.

Magnus liked Apollo. He hadn’t regretted letting it stay. It was scientifically interesting and it offered Magnus a semblance of animalistic companionship that he sorely missed. But in that moment, Magnus did regret it a little. He hadn’t imagined his new companion would be the one cock-blocking him the first time he finally managed to get Captain Alexander Lightwood to kiss him.

“That was my first time kissing a man,” Alec admitted softly, after a few long minutes of silence.

Magnus looked over at Alec and blinked slowly. He had wondered when they were kissing if Alec was inexperienced but somehow, he hadn’t considered that Magnus’ gender might be why. He might have approached the conversation a little differently, a little softer, if he’d known but Alec didn’t look too upset by it. “Was it good?” Magnus asked simply.

Alec looked up at him and nodded instantly. His cheeks were still flushed and he was biting his lip in thought but he seemed sure of his answer. “It was really good,” he said finally.

Magnus smiled to himself. “It was good for me too,” he assured and even as they both fell silent again, the smile didn’t fade from Magnus’ face.

“So uh- we should go get water,” Alec said, his words breaking through any exceptionally mushy thoughts Magnus was having.

Magnus nodded. Water, right. They did need water but that didn’t mean Magnus was eager to go. Somehow, the reminder of their potential death stung a bit more after what they’d just done. Had it been up to him, Magnus would have rather spent the rest of the evening kissing Alec but it wasn’t up to him.

The reminder of water brought reality back into perspective. Dying of dehydration didn’t sound like a great way to spend the evening but Magnus supposed neither did dying of toxic water.

There wasn’t much use dwelling on it either way. They couldn’t change what would happen.

Apollo followed them as they trudged through the thick, translucent undergrowth. It wasn’t Magnus’ first time seeing the odd plant-like material up close, but it was his first time maneuvering through it, having it scrape across his unprotected skin. It was sticky in a way that Magnus hadn’t expected and when it touched him, it clung to his skin for a moment before it finally pulled away from him when he kept walking.

Magnus had put on his bloodied jacket, the one he’d been wearing when they crashed, but the sleeves only came down a little past Magnus’ elbows, leaving the rest of his arms bare for the plants to touch. The dried blood itched where it scraped against Magnus’ skin and Magnus didn’t quite like the reminder of what had happened to them, but he supposed it was better than a full-body allergic reaction, better than his skin blistering and erupting in hives.

Alec seemed to think that was what was going to happen to them. He was walking in front of Magnus, his arms held up carefully, pushing low-hanging leaves and branches away with his covered elbows. He was being a bit more careful than Magnus was but Magnus had been careful at first too. Now, he’d touched the stupid plants enough times that if he was going to have an adverse reaction, it was going to happen no matter how careful Magnus was from here on out.

Behind them, Apollo hopped at Magnus’ heels like a puppy. Magnus thought Apollo seemed excited that they had gone so far from the ship, venturing out together where Apollo normally went alone. They’d seen Apollo duck into here many times when it disappeared but they’d never followed.

“You’re not curious?” Magnus asked as he accidentally brushed his hand against another oval-shaped translucent leaf. He shook it away with a grimace until it finally unstuck.

“What?” Alec said without looking back over his shoulder. Magnus knew he wanted to get back to the relative safety of their ship as quickly as possible.

“You don’t want to stop and smell the roses?” Magnus continued, watching as Alec pushed away every plant he could, marching through them without even glancing down once. He acted like he’d seen all of this before, as if these leaves were nothing but mundane for him.

At that, Alec did pause for a second. He turned to look back to Magnus, pressing his lips together disapprovingly. “No, I don’t.” Alec’s eyes darted to Apollo, who’d halted at Magnus’ side, cocking its head like it was trying to understand why they’d stopped moving. “I was having fun before-” Alec scoffed, a soft laugh coming from his lips. He turned forward again, starting to walk before finishing his sentence. “-a little rose came to interrupt us. If you’re asking if I want to loiter out here until something kills us, the answer is still no.”

Magnus was surprised by the sudden ease with which Alec spoke. Alec had been avoiding eye contact and blushing at the mere thought that Magnus wanted to kiss him, but now that they had, he seemed assured that Magnus did in fact like him - or at least, was as interested in kissing him as Alec was in kissing Magnus back.

“Well, for the record, I was having fun too. Maybe, we could try again later if-” Magnus trailed off as Alec ducked out of the undergrowth and stepped out onto the bank of the lake they had seen off in the distance.

Magnus shoved the leaves away until he managed to get out of their reach and to Alec’s side. His eyes followed Alec’s and looked out across the almost deceptively normal looking lake.

“If?” Alec asked softly, but Magnus didn’t answer him, because as he looked across the water, he noticed that they weren’t alone. There was something standing there, on the opposite shore. It was large enough that Magnus had to peer up through the sunlight to look at it and so blue in colour that it reminded him of the sky back home on an especially crisp, clear day. He didn’t understand what he was looking for a moment at until he glanced down at Apollo and realized.

He was looking at a giant, pale blue version of his little friend and all of a sudden, Magnus could see how Apollo would grow. He squinted through the light again and he could see Apollo’s soft globby skin that would harden and shift, turning leathery and sprouting talon-like appendages. He could see the pale gray that would shift in hues until his little friend was just as blue as the creature Magnus was looking at.

Magnus could also see four or five little Apollo’s clustered around the big one, splashing in and out of the water and chattering to each other with the same clicking noise that Apollo used to try to speak to them.

Apollo paid no mind to the others, choosing instead to hop around them, excitedly ducking into the water before jumping back out and darting through their feet, chattering softly all the while.

“It’s family?” Alec asked, clearly putting together what Magnus had.

Magnus frowned, watching the creatures in the distance. They were playing and jumping but they stayed clustered together all the while, one not straying more than a few feet from the others. “Apollo doesn’t seem too interested in them.” Magnus murmured.

It was clear the creatures in the water were together. They functioned as a unit but Apollo had always been alone. Magnus looked down to their little creature and frowned. Apollo had always been alone, except for them. Apollo would leave but it always came back to them. Apollo always followed them. Apollo always chattered to them and nuzzled them and tried to be as close to them and what they were doing as possible.

“It doesn’t have a family,” Magnus announced suddenly. “That’s why it cried when we tried to lock it out.”

Alec scoffed. “I wouldn’t describe it as a cry.”

“Apollo imprinted on us.” Magnus continued, ignoring Alec’s protest. “Like a duckling.” Magnus crouched, feeling a wave of tenderness come over him as Apollo darted forward instantly to press into his outstretched hand. “We’re it’s family.” Magnus insisted, rubbing at the doughy skin.

Alec rolled his eyes. “You’re its family. It puts up with me when I don’t get between you two.” He reached for the water container on his belt, clearly finished dwelling on the topic. “Are you going to help me before that thing comes over to maul us, or are you going to make me do this myself?”

Magnus glanced back up at the creatures in the distance. “They don’t seem to care about us at all,” he noted, ignoring the fact that that clearly wasn’t Alec’s point. “It looks like they’re sun bathing,” he noted.

It did. The large creature was standing still, basing in the sunlight. The smaller ones seemed more preoccupied with playing but still, they were standing out in the open water where the sunlight was the brightest.

“Very interesting,” Alec grumbled, as he struggled to hold the filter in the top of the container and duck it underwater to start the collection process.

Magnus rolled his eyes. He crouched down next to Alec, pulling his hand away from Apollo as he reached to hold the container, so Alec could focus on the filter. Alec hit a button on the device after they were settled and Magnus watched as the water started to slowly move through the tube and then spill out into their container.

Magnus’ face scrunched up. It didn’t quite look like water. It was close but something about the way it caught the light in the container seemed off. Something about the color looked a little wrong, like the saturation had been turned up all the way.

“We’ll do it a couple of times,” Alec muttered. “Just to be safe.”

Magnus nodded in agreement. They sat there in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of water spilling into plastic, until Alec asked softly, “What were you saying about them?”

Magnus glanced up and a smile came across his lips. “Look.” He put the container down. Now, it was heavy enough that it wouldn’t tip over, freeing Magnus to point across the lake. “See what they’re doing?” He asked.

Magnus didn’t think Alec was actually interested in what the creatures were doing or what Magnus thought about it. He seemed too preoccupied with his own thoughts to care, but maybe they both needed something to talk about that wasn’t their survival and the fact that they might die.

Twenty minutes later, with two full containers of water, they trudged back to their ship, leaving Apollo somewhere behind them. The filter had changed the colour of the water to something slightly less concerning the more times they ran the water through it, and that was promising, but not knowing what it was filtering out in first place didn’t sit well with either of them.

Had their ship been functioning, Magnus could have tested the water for contaminants. He could have checked for toxins and all the alien microbes that Magnus really didn’t want to think about. He knew Alec had been trying to get the ship working. It would have been a great time for it to magically power up but it seemed like everyday fixing it was becoming less and less of a reality.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Magnus murmured, noticing Alec’s hesitant expression.

“Yeah,” Alec agreed, though he still frowned as he glanced down at his container. They were both thirsty. They needed water, but neither of them rushed to grab cups and neither of them commented on the fact that they didn’t.

It was nearly an hour later when Alec finally grabbed a cup and poured himself a small sip. He didn’t spit it out right away and when Magnus tried it, it tasted like water.

It was deceptive that way.

Continue to Chapter Five - Masterpost.

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star-trek-bingo · 5 years ago

Note

Yo i am interested but the links to FAQ and Rules dont work, are yall still setting up? Whats the age bracket for this event? PG-13 things only or, PG-16, etcetra? Teen and up? I guess im asking about what tag on ao3 would these works be a part off xd.

Hi! So, as we posted earlier, the links are only accessible off mobile (Tumblr is just like that). To answer your specific questions, the age bracket is open to anyone, any ratings, we just ask all participants to be honest whether they’re over 18 or not, and participants under 18 are asked not to post explicit work.

For the long answer, for those who can’t access a computer for the Rules and FAQ, here is the complete list (sorry for the long post, but the read more function on Tumblr hates me):

Rules

How It Works:

At the end of the sign-up period, participants will be given a randomly generated bingo card with 24 Star Trek themed prompts and a free space. Pick the ones you want to write in order to create a bingo (a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal straight line; a blackout or an X will also count as a bingo). Each prompt must be its own story of at least 500 words (or an equivalent – art, podfic, and other creative content is welcomed). When your bingo is complete, make a masterpost of the stories and tag us (@star-trek-bingo)! You can also feel free to post your stories to our AO3 collection. The event will run for two months. In that time, feel free to create as many fills as you want. When you have completed one bingo, you can choose to go for more fills on the same card, or you may ask the mods for a new one. You will only receive a new card if you complete at least one bingo on your first one (other forms of fills, like postage stamps, will not count unless an actual bingo has also been completed).

Sign-ups will open June 1st and close on June 30th. Cards will be distributed July 1st, and the posting window for the event will go until the 31st of August. You will not be obligated to finish a bingo, but we do request that you attempt to fill at least one prompt if you sign up. When you sign up, you’ll also have the opportunity to join a Discord server, in case you want to run sprints/interact with other creators for this event.

Rules

· Fics should be a minimum of 500 words. Art should be roughly medium sized.

· The focus of each fic should be the corresponding prompt. They can be interpreted however you want, but it should be central to the story.

· A line bingo must be comprised of five different pieces – a line of five or four plus the free space

o The free space operates as a “choose-your-own” space. You can pick one from the prompt list or come up with a different one.

o A blackout is composed of 25 separate stories to cover the entire card. An X is 9 stories in two diagonal lines centered on the middle space.

o Other fill variation, like postage stamps, will not count towards a bingo. You must complete at least one bingo in order to request another card, and you cannot exchange your card once you get it. Once you receive a new card, you can also no longer make valid fills on the previous one. You may only work on one card at a time.

· You can re-use a square on your card as many times as you’d like during your fills. However, in order for it to count for a new bingo/fill, you must write a different fic using the prompt.

· All parts of the Star Trek fandom are welcome to participate, regardless of which show/movie/etc. you’re a fan of. We only ask that your fics be Star Trek-centric: crossovers and fusions are allowed, but Trek should be the centerpiece of your work.

· When you post, make only one masterpost for each bingo/fill you complete including the titles, major tags, and prompts completed (please do not make a separate post for each creation!) Make sure to include your bingo card in the post, to show which fill you completed, and links to all of the works. Posting your work to the AO3 collection is optional, but you must tag @star-trek-bingo in order for us to count your work.

· All fics used for this event must be new – that means not posted before. Similarly, we’d prefer you not use work for this event to cover requirements in other events too.

If you have any more questions, review our FAQ or contact the mods.

FAQ

Will there be awards/prizes?

No. This is a low-key event, and no awards will be given out at the end of the posting period. However, if you tag us in your masterpost, we will reblog your work, and you’re welcome to post to the event AO3 page. At the end of the event, we’ll make a post showing how many fill types each participant completed.

Can I choose the prompts for my card?

No. You can review the list of prompts that will be used to generate cards here, and during sign-ups there will an opportunity to specifically request the elimination of up to 20 prompts from your potential card. Also when you sign up, you will be required to confirm your age, and those under 18 will have the inherently NSFW prompts removed from the list. Beyond that, cards will be generated randomly.

Which Star Trek series can I use for this event?

Any and all of them! You can write about any of the shows/movies/etc. that you’d like, and you don’t need to stick to a specific ship or piece of media for all of your fills. Feel free to mix it up. All Treks are welcome here.

Can I post on platforms besides Tumblr?

Absolutely! We recommend posting to our AO3 collection as well, but feel free to post your work wherever you’d like. Just make sure to make your masterpost on Tumblr too, so we can count it.

Is there a maximum word count?

Nope! Go as crazy as you want. Just make sure to hit the 500 word minimum.

Is there a rating requirement?

Fics can be any rating you want, from Gen to Explicit. However, if you are underage, we ask that you don’t post explicit fics for this event.

I’m not a writer. Can I still participate?

Yep! We highly encourage creators of all kinds to participate in this event. If you have any questions about what kind of requirements you’d have to fulfill, shoot the mods an ask.

Can I use something I was working on before for this event?

Only if you haven’t posted it in any part. If something you were already working on happens to fill a prompt, feel free to use it, but we will not count it if it’s part of a work/series that has already been posted.

Are there any limitations to the kinds of stories I can write?

Not really! Aside from the things spelled out on the rules page and this one, all relationships/characters/ratings/etc. are fair game. All we ask is that you tag thoroughly, and any sort of hate speech will result in your removal from this event. If you have any concerns, ask.

#bingo info #star trek #im not going to put on all the tags since this is specifically an ask

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stucky-ficrecs · 5 years ago

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Completed WIPs, July 2019

Survey said: do it! So here’s the first post of five, catching up on the WIPs that were completed in the second half of 2019.

July was a busy month, between the Big Bang and the Endgame fix-its. If your eyes glaze over at 96 fic titles, try the newsletter version, which includes the summaries that Tumblr chokes on.

Cookies and Cthulhu by diner_drama (T, 11K)

It's Gonna Be Alright by bmw4fh1017 (NR, 1663)

Darling: Bonus "Rude Boy" Story (Stucky Modern California AU) by loveforpreserumsteve (T, 15K)

i wanna be known by you by brahnuh (M, 40K)

Before and After by WhenInDoubtSleep (NR, 8K)

Is This the End by bmw4fh1017 (NR, 2K)

Pod Bless America by Deisderium (T, 6K)

Alps by KMO27 (T, 4K)

Before everything by Teddymeastrid (M, 12K)

But if you never try you'll never know by yunhaiiro (T, 10K)

The Emergence of Bucky Barnes by bmw4fh1017 (NR, 6K)

The First Avenger by bandgeekwriter (NR, 15K)

crowding the hitter by rooonil_waazlib (E, 13K)

Green turning Purple. by perach (G, 6K)

A day in the life of Steve Rogers by natalie_nebula (T, 9K)

[Podfic of] Holding On by Flowerparrish (E, 55)

Thunderstruck by DementedPixie (NR, 1693)

trade me for an apparition by endofadream (M, 25K)

a long way from where you thought you would be by HaniTrash (M, 8K)

I Am Yours Till the End of the Line by WhyIsItAlwaysMonday (T, 2K)

Together Again by MARVELous_mayhem (T, 3K)

This Is Not A Meet Cute by i_buchanan (E, 28K)

Adventures in Avenging by Shinigami24 (E, 5K)

group chat I guess by erodas (NR, 458)

Unsuitable Breeding Stock by sarahyellow (E, 31K)

Thin Walls by beatlelover22 (G, 1324)

tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt by Cafelesbian (M, 198K)

Ambidextrous by notsomagicath (T, 10K)

Chiaroscuro by elise_509 (E, 19K)

Isn't It Ironic? (Don't You Think?) by HeyBoy, Huntress79, imhereforgaysuperheroes (T, 33K)

Dancing With My Own Shadow by marvellingyou (tourmalinex) (E, 11K)

Bucky Plants a Tree by wordsphoenix (NR, 21K)

four eggs, bacon, and wheat toast by katietonks (G, 12K)

tiny cities made of ashes by mambo (M, 4K)

Summer In Your Eyes (Lifeguard!Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes Modern Summer AU) by loveforpreserumsteve (T, 62K)

Everything All At Once by ClaraxBarton for luvsanime02 (T, 5K)

I´ll come back to you by Elenabarnes (G, 2K)

The Real Hero is God by purpleeyestelllies (E, 14K)

The Hiccup Cure by spontaneoussquirrel17 (E, 11K)

Need A Hand? by TeamDamon (E, 15K)

Nomads by Sproings (M, 19K)

Curiouser and Curiouser by DementedPixie for Lolli_lou, bbsgirl1970 (NR, 11K)

Peter's Big Brother by all_things_fandom_and_stuff (M, 44K)

Always On My Mind by WhiteWolvesHuntAlone (T, 12K)

Revelations by Viola_Laterra (T, 1021)

honestly thought i’d be dead by now, but what you can trust is that i need your touch by moonythejedi394, raynaki (E, 105K)

Closer by LilyInTheSnow, WitchyLurker (E, 27K)

The Void by KeyWolf25888 (M, 97K)

Love Letters by Viola_Laterra (E, 132K)

Living Just to Breathe by emptydistractions (E, 20K)

Shift the Tide by steveandbucky (M, 12K)

Divided We Fall by prettypsycho313 (NR, 1656)

An Act of Kindness by greyhavensking (T, 13K)

Consider It Handled by starthief (NR, 11K)

Under The Knife by KimchiAndPasta (NR, 1458)

Where the sky meets the sea by greyelfsworld (NR, 9K)

Walk It Off by fannishlove, Thatswherethelightgetsin (M, 59K)

That Moment Divine by synonym4life (E, 61K)

Drive It Like You Stole It: A Bodyswap by AggressiveWhenStartled (E, 28K)

The Broken Ones by iSneezeStars (NR, 30K)

Salt by Dinogiveafuck, Entwinedlove (M, 19K)

The Company You Keep by orbingarrow (G, 51K)

Erotophobia by KimchiAndPasta (NR, 3K)

Time After Time by beatlelover22 (G, 6K)

I'll Protect You Beautiful by Mom_Nicole for LeisurelyPanda (M, 2K)

The Steve Rogers Guide To Dealing With It by WhiteCeilings (E, 179K)

Him and Him by kuroi_hana (T, 2K)

Flame On Big Guy by Mom_Nicole (M, 15K)

Snow and Other Four Letter Words by ManyManyMonsters (AO3 login required) (T, 25K)

disarmed by katietonks (G, 5K)

The lonely times by Rose_lily_sunflowers (NR, 67K)

Yet Needed Most, I Bring by die_traumerei (E, 84K)

Old Ghosts in the City by killanine for AraniaArt (G, 9K)

Pursuit of the Whole by alby_mangroves, sirsable (E, 53K)

Of Soldiers and Wolves by Menatiera (M, 36K)

The Most Wonderful Time by justanotherStonyfan (E, 42K)

The Captive by ladycolt (E, 36K)

I Keep A Record Of The Wreckage of My Life by KimchiAndPasta (NR, 3K)

Memento by elle1991 for DiurnalDays (E, 31K)

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves) (AO3 login required) (E, 22K)

Pole Position by roe87 (T, 9K)

The Bright and the Restless by Chikinan (T, 0)

Touch by rattlemeoldbones (E, 32K)

It gets me so down by maniasquared (T, 4K)

Jumping Over Hell by Real_Life_Eeyore (T, 3K)

The 12 Labors Of Steve Rogers by DumpsterDiving101 (M, 32K)

All These Riots of Broken Sound by candlemaker (M, 84K)

Good Life by Daretodream66 (G, 3K)

Of Angels and Knights by die_traumerei (T, 28K)

One Last Conversation by Liquified_Organs (G, 739)

Like No Ones Watching by SereneCalamity (E, 10K)

another love letter you'll never read by carol_danvers (G, 6K)

Good Enough by pHof10bitch (M, 4K)

End Days by RubberDuckSoup (T, 11K)

sometimes to love someone, you gotta be a stranger by agetwellcard (AO3 login required) (E, 11K)

Stucky In My Heart by Pearl09 (T, 60K)

#completed wips

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quinnmorgendorffer · 5 years ago

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Hi! I love your blog! Do you have any Blunder fic recs?

Aw, thank you so much! That’s really nice to hear!

And BOY DO I!!!!

But, okay, tbh, I haven’t been the best at reading things besides what my friends have written for, like, months. I’ve mostly been writing (I’m determined to eventually have more AD fics than g/lee ones okay it’s a lot to DO!). And I started reading AD fic like the day s5a aired and I don’t bookmark things and like…I’ve loved every bit of blunder I’ve read, but I can’t just put like every fic I’ve read on here lol soooo some ground rules

This will be divided up between not-smut (might have sex scenes but it’ smore than sex) and smut

I’m mostly rec’ing one fic per writer per section, so please check out their other fics for more glorious works!

I’m only gonna put complete and, of course, blunder fics on here, sorry!! I love a lot of the WIPs out there and the non-Blunder AD ones, but yeah.

but first and foremost

see you on the b side, babe by pega - 10000% my favorite blunder fic. It was the first time in literal YEARS I followed a fic being uploaded and it’s what got me so invested in this fandom and WANT to write for this fandom. Pega is also like my favorite fanfic author ever and she just gets Blunder like no one else can, really nailing the mix of complete idiots who can’t function but who are also good at their own thing. Seriously, while waiting for s5b, I kept saying that, no matter what happens, at least we have see you on the b side, babe. I was prepared to accept this as my canon. A bunch of us were planning to make a podfic of it. It’s the ultimate blunder fanfic.

And okay I know I said one writer per section but I highly recommend her groundhog day inspired fic (and not just because it has piano gob moments but that’s obviously a bonus with me) and her beautiful bipolar!Gob fic, Magic, Not Drugs. She’s one of the best fic writers in any fandom I’ve been in, okay? Like I nearly didn’t write my high school au because SHE wrote one a;slkdfj

General Blunder-ness (AKA the not purely smut ones)

I Want to Break Free by nerdyscully - ice skater!Blunder AU. Super sweet, we stan. Part of the GurlGroup4Evah extended arrested development fanfic universe (GG4EEADFU)

The Pianist and the Magician by nerdyscully - again I know I said one writer per section but HOW CAN I NOT PUT THIS ONE!!! beautiful birthday gift for me because, as we know, I am a slut for piano gob

Five Times Gob Bluth Almost Came Out, And The One Time He Really Did by Queen_Andr0meda - written pre-s5, a totally amazing and we love oblivious idiots, okay? (GG4EEADFU)

Magic and Bees by angelica_church_schuyler AKA Lauryn the Magnificent - I love any and all bipolar!Gob fics so seeing this one pop up one day was so great and okay it’s not fully about blunder but like blunder’s there so it deserves to be on here and YOU SHOULD READ IT (GG4EEADFU)

You Had Me at Challah by thereynoldstwins - I’m so honored that this lovely person actually consulted with me when writing this, especially since they’re such a superior writer in terms of capturing the tone of AD like. I seriously feel like I was reading an actual episode of the show. Anyways, it’s the blunder wedding we all DESERVE

Smitten Magicians by dollsome - the post s5 fic we all know has to be canon. Mitch WISHES he could write this

Four Times Gob Bluth Didn’t Date a Guy and One Time He Did by queenofcrossroads - this has to be one of the first AD fics I read. I stan anything involving Gob having these past affairs that he’s conveniently ignored like the dumbass he is

No Scandals by GoldStarGrl - I seriously love all of her fics but, again, this has to be one of the first AD fics I read. Written post s4 and I just love the ton and everything about it (I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily smut but it’s rated Explicit fyi). also obsessed with her most recent ad fic but it’s more about michael and gob’s relationship post s5 (not incest) so I didn’t list it

A Necessary Condition by nekosmuse - like see you on the b side, babe, this was one of the first stories in FOREVER that I actually followed from beginning to end and anxiously awaited updates on. A post s5a fic

Brother, Spare the Details by anon - another post s5a fic AND a fix-it fic

Exclusive, Mutually by youjik33 - I’m a sucker for wedding fics

Some Nights I’m Scared You’ll Forget Me Again - have I mentioned I’m a slut for bipolar!Gob? I love this whole series

One of Their Better Parties by Doyle - I have a very clear memory of reading this for the first time over a year ago and just loving every second of it. I love fics where the family gets to find out about blunder, it’s my crack

Kittenface by cmere - I have proudly carried on what I consider is the tradition of Gob being a cat dad, which was very much inspired by fics like this

and in this moment, I was pretty pleased with the person I was pretending to be by stefonzolesky - I’m a sucker for high school/teen AUs and also people so much younger than me need to stop writing so well what the actual fUCK finding out the author’s age was a TRIP and a hALF

I could really go on and on but like……c’mon. I gotta stop and some point. These are just a handful of my some of the best fics out there

SEX, SEX, SEXY SEX (AKA the smut fics)

An Officer and a Gentleman by cmere - this isn’t just one of the hottest blunder fics but one of the hottest fics I’ve ever read. I literally wanted to have frotting like this in my latest smut fic but scratched the scene because I knew I wouldn’t be able to compare or I’d just end up copying it by mistake a;lskdfj. Literally every cmere smut fic is so good like. god……

Little Less Bark, Little More Bite by GoldStarGrl - phone sex. good sex. just…good sex.

Dance For You by nerdyscully - someday she will accept that this is a great smut fic mmmkay

God okay I know there is more but these were the first to come to mind and I also don’t want to just copy every cmere fic on here lmao. If anyone can remember the one where they fuck in the limo and deny their feelings (as per usual) I am totally blanking on the name but it’s such a good one…..

I’m sorry this isn’t as complete as I would like but these are the first that spring to mind for recs so I’d really check them out!!! But, seriously, the blunder fics that are out there are so good. As are the non-Blunder ones. AD has just attracted so many great writers and I’m so happy to have such great fic to read!

……………………………………..and I’m assuming you know this, but since I have enough of an ego to say it, I’ll rec my own AD fics, particularly Take On Me (high school AU) for the not-smut (my most bookmarked AD fic) and One of Gob’s Better Parties for my smut (my most kudo’ed AD fic)

#fic rec #blunder #otp: same #fanfiction #just a small sampling!!!#I'm bad at writing my own summaries so idk what you expect when i'm summarizing other fics #Anonymous #bite me in the ask

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marvelpolyshipbingo · 5 years ago

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Frequently Asked Questions

Important Info: This is an 18+ event. This is an all ships event. Yes, we have a Discord server. No, you aren’t required to join, but you can if you want to. The AO3 collection can be found here. The primary relationship for your fill must be a poly relationship. Cheating does not count as a poly relationship.

Dates: Posting for the bingo runs from January 1 - September 30.

There will be a new push for sign ups every 3 months. You will have 3 weeks to sign up during each push, but the due date will remain September 30 for all cards issued during these times!

Sign up for a card in December and post anywhere from January - September. Sign up for a card in March and post anywhere from March - September. Sign up for a card in June and post anywhere from June - September.

You will have 3 weeks in December, March, and June to sign up for a bingo card. All fills for Round One are due by the end of September.

Special note: If you finish a bingo/blackout and would like another card to work on, that can be requested at any time.

Free space is replaced with a Constellation! Each card will have an image in the center called a Constellation. These will be a collection of dots with lines connecting those dots in various ways. These represent how a poly relationship could function: dots indicating different people and lines indicating that those two individuals are in a relationship. Relationships can be romantic, platonic, or kink based. For further questions about this image prompt, please see “prompt explanation” below.

Prompts Prompts are there for inspiration. They can be followed literally or figuratively. You can adhere to a trope, subvert it, or take it in a new direction. You can look up a definition for a word, or guess at the definition and see what you can create. Prompts can be taken as realistic, interpretive, or just plain weird. Prompts can be at the forefront of the work, in the background, or just the starting point of inspiration.

What does this prompt mean? Whatever you want it to mean. Prompts are there for inspiration.

I don’t understand this prompt. You can Google it or you can make something up and have fun with it. Prompts are there for inspiration.

My prompt is a quote. Is it required that a character say that? No, it can be whatever you want: the title of the fic, the background words in an art piece, the overall concept of a piece, a song list where the titles spell out the quote, and so on. Get creative if you want to! Or just have a character say the quote if you want to! Prompts are there for inspiration.

I picked Hard Mode… Why would you make ___ a prompt? Shhh, don’t ask questions. Just go with it. We believe in you.

Posting:

What are the event dates? Posting begins January 1, 2020, and the event runs until September 30, 2020. You may post fills any time during this period. We will have an Ao3 collection to add your works to and if you share them on Twitter or Tumblr, please tag us (@marvelpolyshipbingo) to make sure we see your post.

When do I get my card? A unique Bingo Card will be issued within one week of sign-up. If you do not receive a card within 1 week of signing up for a phase, please contact the mod(s) at [email protected] - You may request up to 4 squares changed, and the request must be within a week.

Can I share my card? Yes! You can share your card on any of your social media, with your friends, or in your servers.

Can I edit my card to cross off my fills? Yes! Feel free to get creative with that and post updates on any of your social media, with your friends, or in your servers.

What happens if I don’t get a bingo? Nothing! This is a low-pressure event meant for encouraging new poly works. If you don’t manage to complete anything or make a bingo, then nothing bad happens. You can just try, try again (but only if you want to!).

What counts as a bingo? Bingos are any of the following: Rows, diagonals, columns, and/or four corners and the center. If you complete all the squares on your card, you have a blackout! Once you complete a bingo, you may request another one if you would like. You can do this as many times as you would like.

Tell me about blackouts. A blackout is when you fill every square on your card with a unique fill. You are not required to get a blackout in order to request a new card. Once you receive a new card, your previous card is retired from this event, but you can still use the prompts as inspiration if you would like (but they will no longer count as a fill). You cannot combine prompts in order to fill them faster. Each prompt must have its own fill.

What counts as a fill? Each fill must be completed and not posted behind a pay-wall. You can use one square per chapter of a multi-chapter fic if you would like, but each chapter must be a completed fill. If you are creating using other mediums, then we ask each fill be its own post, but they can, of course, be linked together - 250 is the word count minimum. - Art is any completed piece. - Complete is defined as having all the necessary or appropriate parts. Art can be physical or digital and must be your own work. Art can include but is not limited to: sketch, line art, full render images, comic strips, 3D animation, 2D animation, fanvids (including music videos and trailers), photomanips, cell drawings, painting in all forms, sculptures, crafts, full cosplay photography, refracted light “painting”, wood carvings, ice sculptures, a full scale replica of Stark Tower in toothpicks, etc. - Mood boards are a minimum of 9 pictures. - Playlists need a minimum of ten songs. - Podfics MUST have the owner’s consent and have it linked on AO3. Additionally, the fic being read must have a minimum of 250 words. - Other creations, ask us and we will let you know what’s considered a fill! - Collaborations are allowed and we don’t have any additional requirements for such. - Cross-posting for other events is fine and we don’t have any additional requirements for such.

What about cheating? Cheating does not count as poly for this event. For this, the minimum is three people actively and knowingly in a relationship with each other. That said, creations involving cheating are allowed. The cheating just needs to be outside the relationship. Examples: - A&B together with C seeing B behind A’s back- NOT poly. - A&B together, C&B together with A’s knowledge- poly. - A&B&C all together - poly

Badges: - Same Hat - Full card all one ship - Different Hat - Full card with no repeat ships - Captain on Deck - First to post a ship with your posting format - What A Prize - Bingo - Dark in Here - Blackout - A Rare Gem - if your ship has 2-50 creations within the tag - Wrong Turn - 13 fills with no bingo - Over My Head - bingo using kink prompts but fills involve no sexual activity - Citizens of Asgard - bingo using only Asgardian characters - Cerebro - bingo using only X-Men characters - S.H.I.E.L.D - bingo using only MCU characters (including TV series) - Inked - bingo using comic verses only - Time Lord - blackout using only AUs and/or crossovers - Literary - blackout using only fic fills - Artistic - blackout using only digital or traditional art - Crafty - blackout using only craft fills - Producer - blackout using only media fills - Stark Tower banner and badge - If you actually build a full scale replica of Stark Tower using toothpicks

Admin Selected Specialty Badges: - Ender - “Rocket Ship” - Ships with Rocket - Vixen - “Locked Up” - A full bingo with smut but no orgasm for at least one person involved - Katie - “Too Much Tea” - Creating a fill that is off the wall for the prompt - Nim - “Et Tu Brute?” - Historical era fill

A couple helpful links: More than Two Terms: Their Glossary of Terms!

FAQs:

1. Are all ships allowed? Yes! Just remember: the minimum is three people actively and knowingly in a relationship with each other. These people can be of any gender (or lack of gender — we won’t stop you from writing Groot).

2. Will we be able to fill cards with more than one ship or choose just one for the card? You can fill it out with whatever you want! But we will have badges for ship-specific achievements as well.

3. Does a symbiote count as part of a ship? So long as the symbiote in question is capable of having an independent personality while with its host and is actively a part of the relationship, then yes. (Remember, not all symbiotes are as developed in personality as Venom and Carnage.)

4. Do androids/life model decoys/intelligent fauna count as part of a ship? - So long as they are capable of having an independent personality, have some form of communication, and you can sell it, then yes.

5. Can I use MCU/Sony/comics/cartoons/alternate-earth canon? Yes! You can use any canon form, or mixed canon.

6. Does selfcest count as part of a ship? Yes, so long as the duplicate/s remains as a consistent part of the relationship.

7. Can I do a crossover? Yes, so long as the majority of the primary relationship contains Marvel characters.

8. Can I use Original Characters? Yes, so long as the majority of the primary relationship contains Marvel characters.

9. Can I collab with someone? Collaborations are allowed and we don’t have any additional requirements for such.

10. I’m in multiple bingos. Can I cross-post if it fulfills the requirements of both bingos? Yes. Cross-posting for other events is fine and we don’t have any additional requirements for such.

11. Cheating doesn’t count as poly, but cheating is a prompt! A minimum of three people that are actively and knowingly in a relationship counts as poly for this bingo. If your work starts with cheating but there is a significant amount where all involved are in a relationship, then that is allowed. If someone or multiple people within a relationship are cheating outside of the relationship, then that is allowed.

12. Who are the mods? Your ringleaders are:

Vixen13 Tumblr: ThatVixenChick Twitter: The_Vixen13 Discord: Vixen#4083 AO3: Vixen13

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galli-writes · 6 years ago

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Anything at All

(Click here to read on Ao3!)

(Click here to listen to the podfic!)

fandom: Teen Titans

pairing: BBRae

genre/warnings: AU - Canon Divergence; Implied/Referenced Abuse, Abusive Parents, Childhood Trauma, Graphic Depictions of Violence

additional tags: Angst, Family Issues, Friendship/Love, Protectiveness, Slow Burn, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions

summary:

There are a few things that Beast Boy knows for certain:

He’s 21....and a total lightweight. He’s a vegan (but not like...a pretentious vegan). He’s not going to be single forever.

And the Teen Titans are the only family he'll ever need.

a/n: Hello everyone! This is the first fic I've ever actually completed, and I can't wait to finally share it! I had a lot of fun writing it. I'm currently in the editing process and hope to post roughly a chapter a week. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Beginnings ( words: 5,680 )

Beast Boy watched as raindrops pounded against the side of the common room window, the sky a turbulent whirlwind of grays and blacks. Various equipment dotted the field far below, carelessly abandoned the moment Robin had called off training ‘due to weather conditions.’ The TV hummed quietly in the background against the rain, the kitchen lights glowing like street lamps in the dead of night.

“Finally ,” he said proudly, his hands and face pressed up against the cool glass. “The weather’s perfect.”

“Perfect?” a tired voice said a few feet behind him. “For what?” It was Raven, bundled up in the corner of the couch under a thick wool blanket. She was currently the only other person in the room, a large black book perched at the end of her hand like an enormous bird. “I thought you hated the rain.”

Beast Boy pushed off the glass, returning to the warmth. “I hate getting wet . Wet dog is not a good look. Even for real dogs.” He walked over to the coffee table in the center of the room. “But this," he said, getting on his knees to pull a large cardboard box out from underneath, " This is great."

He heaved the box onto the table, scooting magazines and abandoned plates off to the side. "I’ve been waiting for it to rain—and I mean really pour —for a while now.”

“Because...?” Raven asked, as she watched him begin to dig through the box.

“Becaaaaaaaaause,” Beast Boy said, drawing out the word dramatically. “This time, I'm gonna come out on top." As he said this, he lifted the box, shaking out a dozen items or so onto the table. Among them were a slingshot, an roll of chicken wire, some old hot wheels, and two empty milk cartons.

“Please don’t tell me this is another one of your ridiculous pranks,” Raven said begrudgingly, adjusting her position.

Beast Boy shot her two finger guns with a click of his tongue. “Hell yeah it is, baby.”

“Do you really think I want anything to do with...whatever this is?” she said, vaguely gesturing toward the items on the table.

“Nope,” Beast Boy said, a little too enthusiastically.

“Then why are you showing it to me?”

“Because,” Beast Boy said, starting to arrange the treasures before him. “I wanna run the idea by someone while Cy's busy fixing his car. And since I know you don’t actually care, I don't have to worry about you ruining the surprise. Which--side note--" he said, pulling away from the growing structure to examine it, "Never give Starfire the nuke codes.”

Raven rolled her eyes again. But just as she was about to lift her book back up to block him from view, Beast Boy stuck his hand out to stop her.

“No, you’re gonna wanna see this. Trust me .” He grabbed a well-worn Batman figurine that he’d set off to the side. "Okay, so pretend this is Cyborg," he said, planting it at one corner of the mousetrap-like schematic.

Raven just frowned. "Is that...Robin's?"

Beast Boy squinted at the figure, biting his lip. “Eh...Not important." He planted the figure in a square marked off with string labeled 'GARAGE.' One of the hotwheels sat parked in this section.

"Cy's been so busy lately, he'll never see this coming'," Beast Boy said with a smirk. "Next time he heads down to the garage, I’ll have everything already set up. First move--he’ll trip this wire right here.” He pointed to a piece of string as he said this. "And that's when shit hits the fan."

"Please tell me you don't mean that literally," Raven said, wrinkling her nose.

Beast Boy just flashed her a devious smile. “We’ll get there.”

The demonstration took at least two minutes to run through, Beast Boy talking the entire time. By the end, most of his props were either on the floor or halfway across the room.

“...And to wrap it all up,” he said, not pausing to take a breath, “This catapult will trip this switch here, opening the window over here, and then the wagon from over here will send him sliding out into the mud, rolling down the hill and into this huge puddle riiiiiiight...here.” He pointed at a spot on the table marked with a fridge magnet 'X', a huge grin on his face. "After a storm like this one, that whole area's gonna be a lake. A super gross, slimy, stinky lake of prank legend. It’ll take him at least a week to get the stench out.”

Raven stared at the exhibit before her. Her eyes had followed every one of Beast Boy's movements in complete silence.

“So? Whaddya think?” he asked, rising and breathlessly plopping down on the couch beside her. “Pretty impressive, huh?”

Raven glanced at the table, then at him, then ultimately, back down at her book. “Yeah. You’re a genius.”

“Oh come on , Raven!” Beast Boy whined, throwing his arms out, gesturing back to the miniature metropolis. “That took me like...a month to come up with!”

Raven turned the page with a sigh. "Maybe if you weren’t so busy investing all of your time and energy into coming up with useless pranks, you’d actually have some left over for important things.”

“Like…?”

“Gee, I don’t know,” she said, holding out her hand with a shrug. “Things like doing the dishes or checking the mail--or maybe actually learning how to carry your weight in a fight. Don’t know how to help you with that last one though.”

Beast Boy frowned. “Just because you can’t appreciate art doesn’t mean it’s useless,” he said, leaning over to the table and using his arm to corral the items back into their box. The ones scattered on the floor became enveloped in small clouds of purple. Beast Boy held the box open, as Raven directed them into the container.

“And I do too carry my weight!" he said, sliding the box back under the couch.

“That’s...debatable.”

Coming from anyone else, he might have actually been hurt by the remark. But coming from Raven, it was a challenge more than anything else.

“Oh yeah?” Beast Boy said, a determined smile crossing his face. “Then carry this !”

With a running start off the cushions, he jumped off the back of the couch and into the air, morphing mid-flip. When he landed, the ground shook and the ceiling lights swung back and forth violently. The TV remote and discarded plates clattered off the coffee table and onto the floor. Beast Boy shook his head, flapping his huge green ears. He reared back and stomped down on the kitchen floor, proudly lifting his elephant’s trunk to let out a loud trumpet.

Raven glanced over her shoulder at him, clearly unimpressed. She turned back to her book, lifting a hand in the air as she did so.

Suddenly Beast Boy found himself surrounded in black shadow...and his feet began to lift off the ground. He automatically began to squirm in a half-hearted attempt to bring himself down, but it was a lost cause.

Raven lifted him higher and higher until, when he was barely a foot from the ceiling, the shadow disappeared in a flash--and he felt himself hurtling downward. With one last elephant screech of alarm he quickly shifted again, plopping onto the ground with four nimble tabby cat paws.

Without missing a beat, he crouched down and leapt up onto the back of the couch and then down onto the cushion beside Raven. He transformed back, kicking up his feet on the table, arms folded across his chest. “Smartass.”

Raven was still looking down at her book, but Beast Boy could see the faintest hint of a smile on her face.

After a moment, he felt--and heard--his stomach growl about as loudly as any animal he’d ever been.

“Eugh, I’m starving. Pranking really does take a lot out of ya,” he said, springing to his feet once more. He headed to the kitchen just behind them--where there was always at least one bag of chips to be found in the pantry. This time it was Fritos--not a bad option at all.

“You want anything?” Beast Boy called over his shoulder, opening the fridge.

“I’m fine.”

In Raven’s secret, minimalist language, he’d learned that that usually meant ginger ale.

“Behind,” he said, chucking the last can of Canada Dry cranberry over his shoulder. Raven caught it and cracked it open in the air, all without even lifting a finger.

Beast Boy grabbed a root beer for himself and swung over the back of the couch again reclaiming his seat.

He looked up at the TV, which was still on in the background. He hadn’t paid any attention to it since he’d entered the room. The images that flashed by on the screen were dark and dramatic. It was mostly just video footage from a shaky night vision camera, rounded out with low budget murder re-enactments. “So what’re we watching?" he asked, shoving a handful of Fritos into his mouth. A doll with bloodshot eyes and a cracked face appeared in the corner as it cut to commercial. "Er...pretending to watch?” he asked.

“Ghost Adventures,” Raven replied.

“Seriously?” Beast Boy said, cracking open the root beer. It immediately started fizzing over, and he tried his best to lick up the extra foam. “You know that stuff is like...totally fake, right?”

"Of course it is," she said, not even looking up at the screen. "If opening interdimensional portals of that magnitude were so easy, my dad would've destroyed Earth ages ago."

“Then why do you watch this garbage?”

Raven let out an exhausted sigh. “I dunno. It’s kind of like...when you have so much actual demon shit going on in your life, watching the fake stuff is kinda...refreshing.” She flipped to the next page in her book. “You can change the channel if you want. I’ve already seen this episode.”

Beast Boy swiped the remote off the floor and was about to automatically click to one of his few go-to channels when Raven quickly interjected.

“—Just as long as you don’t put on American Ninja Warrior. Or The Carbonaro Effect. Or anything else in that vein.”

Beast Boy slumped in his seat. “What else is there?”

Just like the soda can and hot wheels before, the remote lifted out of Beast Boy’s grip and floated to the other side of the couch, landing in Raven’s free hand.

"Houses or food?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Uh..." Beast Boy said, rubbing his chin. "Houses?"

The image on the screen changed drastically, cutting to a montage of different townhouses, highlighting their pros and cons. Then it flashed to a generic couple at a generic restaurant, two generic margaritas sitting in front of them.

Suddenly, a familiar, flighty voice echoed down the hallway behind them. “Hello, friends!” Starfire proclaimed as she entered the room. “I heard a loud crashing noise and came to see if everyone is—Oooo!” she squealed, the worry immediately dropping from her voice. “Are we watching the hunters of houses?”

“We are now,” Beast Boy said, taking another sip of his soda and setting it down on the table.

Starfire flew over to the couch in a heartbeat. “I have already seen this episode but it is enjoyable nonetheless,” she said, taking a seat next to Beast Boy, along with a handful of Fritos. “But I do love attempting to guess which house they will choose!”

“Didn’t you just say you’ve already seen this episode?” Beast Boy said, forfeiting the bag to Starfire, who was about to finish it off.

“Of course! But I do not remember which one they picked,” she said with a smile. “I hope it is the one with the crown of molding. It has so much character . At least, that is what the female voice always says.”

“Crown molding isn’t character,” Raven said, lowering her book again. “Character is when the realtor tells them that the former owner was a serial killer, and if you squint you can still see the blood stains in dining room where she chopped up her victims." She paused, exchanging a glance with a confused Starfire and disgusted Beast Boy. "And it has the original wood floors," she added hastily.

“But Raven!” Starfire exclaimed. “The with the mold comes with access to a pool of community swimming!”

Beast Boy shook his head. “You guys’ve both got it wrong. Character and pools aren’t important to them. They just said so,” he said, gesturing to the screen. “They need to pick the one in the suburbs. It’s the most realistic and the best bang for their buck.” He began counting off the assets on his fingers. “It’s close to downtown without being in it. Finished basement. Renovated kitchen. Plus they said they’re planning on having kids, and it’s in the best school district outta the three.”

The two looked at him, wide eyed and blinking.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Raven said. “I just never realized you actually possessed critical thinking skills.”

Beast Boy stuck out his tongue at her with a grimace.

Starfire giggled. “Well, I only hope that no matter which residence they select, they will live a joyful and prosperous life together!” Saying this, she clasped her hands together over her chest, looking off somewhere far away.

“I give it six months,” Raven said flatly.

Before the final reveal, the TV flashed to commercial again, now advertising soap and vacation cruises only old rich people could afford.

“Hmm..." Starfire hummed. "I forgot why it was that I originally came down here." She tapped her finger at the corner of her mouth. “Oh! The big thud! No one is hurt then?"“

“If you don't count hurt pride,” Raven said, a subtle smirk on her lips.

“Haha very funny,” Beast Boy said, crossing his arms.

But he immediately perked up as the ad on the TV switched. Now a chorus of joyful screams came from the speakers as a steel roller coaster completed a loop. Next it cycled through the images of a huge Ferris wheel and streets crammed with food carts and games.

“Oh, dude! I totally forgot!” he said, jumping to his feet. “The state fair opens this weekend!"

“Fair?” Starfire questioned, the same look of confusion still on her face. “As in the just and right?”

“No, no, no,” Beast Boy said, shaking his head. “Like the fair. You know...” He waved his hands in front of him as if painting an imaginary picture. “Sketchy rides, rigged games, shitty oversized stuffed animals..." He counted off the pros on his fingers once more. "And anything and everything you can think to eat--deep fried.”

"Deep...fried?" Starfire asked, her finger still at the corner of her mouth, eyes open wide.

Raven looked at Beast Boy, skeptical. “Is that your sales pitch?”

Beast Boy ignored her, continuing to talk to the one captivated member of his audience. “They also have performances, and auctions, and hella fuckin’ huuuuge vegetables. Stuff like that. Usually around the same place where they keep the farm animals.”

“Farm animals?!” Starfire said, her eyes lighting up with an intensity Beast Boy had not anticipated. “Do you think they will have...GOATS?”

“Uh...probably?” he shrugged.

“Oh, excellent!” Starfire said, jumping to her feet as well, tackling him with one of her trademark rib-crushing hugs. Luckily, she released him before he forgot how to breathe. “Oh how I long to see the small sideways-eyed sheep!” she said, hands shooting up to either side of her face.

“I mean,” Raven shrugged, “if you really wanna see a goat that bad...you don’t have to go to the fair to do it.” She nodded in Beast Boy’s direction.

“Oh, but Raven,” Starfire said, now flying over to her, claiming a corner of the blanket as her own, “It would be much more exciting to see multiple goats of many shapes and sizes simultaneously. Besides,” she shook her head with a pout, “Beast Boy cannot transform into the baby goat! At least, not that I am aware of.”

“She’s got a point, Rave,” Beast Boy said, taking another sip of his root beer.

Raven hunched her shoulders. “Fairs are just dirty, overcrowded, unapologetic government cash grabs.”

“But they have goooooaaaats,” Beast Boy said tauntingly, his comment immediately followed by another squeal from Starfire.

Raven just shook her head, returning to her book again. “We have more important things to do than go to the fair.”

“Like what?” Beast Boy said. “Sit around and read dusty old books all day?”

Just then, the three were interrupted by yet another voice, this one deep and mellow.

“Jesus. Well that was a shitshow.”

Cyborg walked into the room panting, covered in grease, with a towel in one hand and a large, techy looking cube in the other.

“What happened?” Beast Boy asked, hanging over the back side of the couch, turning to address him.

“This fucking battery,” Cyborg said, dropping the cube on the counter, “decided to short circuit on me, right when everything was coming together.” He sighed. “Fried the whole system.”

“Oof,” Beast Boy sighed.

“I am very sorry to hear that,” Starfire frowned.

“It’ll take me at least two weeks to get all the parts I need to fix it,” Cyborg said, cracking open the fridge. He pulled out some sandwich essentials—turkey, provolone, tomatoes. Then he grabbed some bread and mustard, generously coating the former with the latter. “Which means we’re gonna be out of a ride for a while. At least in terms of low profile transportation. Because I don’t think we can count Robin’s bike in the mix.”

“That is quite alright, Cyborg,” Starfire said, a little too enthusiastically. “I have always wanted an excuse to make use of the system of transportation for the public,” she beamed.

“Starfire. You can fly,” he said flatly in response.

“Yes, but the complicated schedules and routes of the buses is such a fascinating concept to me. And I would like to experience it with my first hand.”

Cyborg just blinked as if attempting to get rid of the thought altogether. He turned back to the fridge. “Aw man, are we all out of ginger ale?”

“Raven got the last one,” Beast Boy said, nodding back at her.

“Sorry,” she said, actually sounding a little bad about it.

“And we’re also out of pickles...sriracha...and,” Cyborg took a bottle in his hand and gave it a shake “ my seasonal, limited edition pumpkin spice creamer ?”

Starfire immediately ducked behind the couch, a pout on her face. “My deepest apologies, friend,” she said quietly. “I have quite a weakness for both the pumpkins and the spices.”

“This is chaos,” Cyborg said, giving up and closing the fridge door. “What are we? Animals?”

Beast Boy smiled, but before he could make a move, Cyborg pointed directly at him.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, dude,” he said, sitting back down. “We’ll go shopping later after it stops raining.”

“And how do you suppose we get there? Drive? Fly? How’re we gonna carry all the groceries back?”

Starfire gasped. “The public transportation!”

Just then, the airlock door slid open at the other end of the room for a third time, and the only other person who could have walked through it did.

“Oh, good, everyone’s already here,” Robin said, making his entrance. In his right hand, he was gripping a large, rolled up sheet of paper of some sort. Something like a map.

“Uh...yeah man, we live here,” Beast Boy laughed.

Robin just stared at everyone for a moment, and it became clear he had been referring to something a little more specific. His brow furrowed. “Really guys? You didn’t remember?”

Everyone just stared back at him silently.

Robin ran his hand over his face, as if wiping away his exhaustion. “We’re supposed to be having a team meeting right now.”

“Hey, I remembered,” Cyborg said defensively, between a bite of his sandwich.

“Only because I ran into you in the hallway on my way up here, and you asked me where I was going,” Robin said, crossing his arms.

Cyborg just smiled sheepishly.

Robin sighed, heading over to the couch. “I know these things sometimes seem redundant, but for once I actually do have something we need to talk about.”

“Washing machine broken again?” Cyborg asked playfully, looking at Beast Boy as he said it.

“Hey, that wasn’t me, and you know it,” Beast Boy retorted.

“Well it wasn’t me ,” Cyborg said, gesturing to himself. “I don’t even wear clothes.”

Robin lifted a hand and the two fell silent immediately. “Unfortunately, this is a little more serious than blaming each other for not taking out the trash or cleaning the bathroom.” As he said this, he pulled out the paper, spreading it out on the table, scooting Beast Boy’s root beer carefully to the corner.

The sheet of paper, more like an architectural blueprint really, showed detailed layouts of specific areas throughout Jump City. There were multiple lines drawn here and there connecting one section to another, notes scrawled in the all of the margins.

“The technology we have is pretty good at keeping track of our battles,” Robin started. “Who the main aggressor was, if they were alone or accompanied, what seemed to be their ultimate goal in the battle. Their predicted attack patterns based on past fights…” He paused. “But there are some things a computer can’t tell you--no offense, Cy,” he said, with a subtle smile.

“None taken,” Cyborg laughed in return.

“Anyway,” Robin continued, turning back to the map, “sometimes you just feel a certain way about something. The data might not show it outright, but your gut is telling you something’s off.” He sighed. “Usually these battles are a one-time thing—we get in we get out—and the criminal is acting either alone or with a relatively short term goal. But the past two or three missions, I’ve been noticing some patterns.”

Robin pointed to one of the circled locations in the bottom left corner of the map. “Lower East side, about three weeks ago today. We were attacked by that group on androids at that EPA lab. I went back to ask some questions the next day. The woman I spoke to seemed just as surprised about the attack as anyone else. All of the EPA’s data is in the public domain. The building itself is on a pretty tight lockdown due to standard government procedures. But there isn’t really much there to...steal. At least not information wise,” Robin said, hand on the back of his neck. “Those assholes left behind a pretty big mess, but they only stole one thing. A piece of equipment called a mass spectrometer. From what the woman explained to me, it’s a pretty standard piece of machinery in their line of work. Nothing incredibly special. She said it was probably one of the more valuable machines in the lab--some of them can be worth up to 100k. But that just doesn’t settle it for me,” he said, shaking his head. “If the criminals just wanted money, they would’ve robbed a bank. They have about the same level of security.”

“I mean...they probably wanna use it for something then,” Beast Boy suggested. “You know, cut out the middleman.”

“She told me these machines are most commonly used to test drug metabolism rates, or analyze blood samples. Forensics stuff,” Robin said, staring back down at the paper. “Stuff that would be useful on our end. Not theirs.” As he said this, he reached into his pocket and took out a small coin-like object. “The woman said that they found this jammed in one of the machines the morning after.”

He placed the coin onto the table. Everyone automatically leaned over to reach for the shiny silver circle, but Cyborg was the one who got hold of it first. It was bent poorly out of shape, but still had some faintly legible lettering visible on it. Cyborg zoomed in as far as he could with his one eye, the lens taking a moment to focus on the miniscule letters.

“A....R....S....E…” he read aloud. “And then something else. That’s all I can make out. Shit’s pretty worn down.” He handed it to Starfire. Raven leaned in to look at it over her shoulder.

Beast Boy quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The laughter was already erupting out of him. Everyone turned to look at him.

“May I ask what’s so funny?” Robin said, unamused.

“It’s just--” Beast Boy said, struggling to hold another cackle in .”Oh, come on! Arse? Like Ass?” he said, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“We are fighting ass monsters?” Starfire said, disgusted.

Cyborg couldn’t hold back a laugh at that and snorted along with Beast Boy.

Raven rolled her eyes.

“No,” Robin said with a completely straight face.

Beast Boy reeled himself back, his laughter suppressed for now, but a grin still firmly on his face.

Robin cleared his throat. “Anyway...that brings me to my next point.” He reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a small chip, like an identification tag. He placed it on the table. There were several letters missing on this one as well. “S, E, N,” Robin spelled out aloud. “They’re made of the same metal.”

Beast Boy looked down at the tag. This fight he did remember. It had taken place just a few days ago--at the local aquarium of all places. A break in that had escalated into a full blown hostage situation. They’d handled it, more or less, and no one had gotten hurt. Still, it all seemed like a lot more trouble than some fish were worth.

“But those were real people we fought at Franklin,” Cyborg said, frowning.

"We don’t know that for sure,” Robin replied. “And even if they were, that doesn’t mean the two attacks weren’t related.” He scanned some of the notes scribbled in the left hand margin of the map. “When I went back to Franklin Aquarium post battle, I decided to also check in with their adjunct Marine Biology research and conservation lab. Robin stared down at the tag. "I asked the researchers if they'd heard anything about the break in at the EPA. They hadn't--but said they’d worked on projects with them in the past. Again, no one had a good explanation for why anyone would want to target the aquarium like that. Besides property damage, the criminals didn’t leave much of a mark. At least, not one that they could prove.” Here, Robin flipped over the sheet of paper, revealing that the other side was covered in even more notes, even some crudely drawn diagrams.

“A man working at the head of R&D told me that they’d recently come into possession of a rare species of cuttlefish,” Robin continued. “And after the attack, it had gone missing. They said missing because they weren’t sure if it was stolen or killed during the general destruction.”

"Excuse me, Robin, but what is a fish of cuddles?" Starfire asked.

“A cuttlefish,” he repeated. “It's kinda like a squid. I didn’t understand exactly what was so important about it at first. Not until I took a look at the remains of the exhibit for myself." Saying this, Robin reached into his pocket and took out his phone, scrolling through it for a moment. "Most animals that change their color for camouflage do so on a pretty superficial level. Something to do with having specialized cells for changing color or creating patterns on their skin. But the species they lost at Franklin had only been discovered about a year ago. It was one of the only ones in captivity."

Without a word, Robin stopped scrolling and looked at Beast Boy. He handed him the phone, not even glancing at the other three.

Beast Boy grabbed the phone without asking questions. On the screen was a clear picture of an information sign under a vacant exhibit. Robin’s eyes still on him, he got the silent memo that he was supposed to read it aloud.

"Sepiida omneforman,” he started, having no idea what the words were supposed to sound like, “otherwise known as the South-African clay fish, is one of the rarest species of cuttlefish in the world. First discovered in 2017, by a group of researchers from Johannesburg, the clay fish is widely believed to be similar to the common cuttlefish in diet and habitat. Like their octopus kin, clay cuttlefish hide from enemies with chromatic camouflage and clouds of ink. However, they are one of the only living creatures suspected to also possess limited 'shape-shifting' abilities.” At this Beast Boy paused--just a beat. “Named so for these abilities, the clay fish is capable of reorganizing its structural DNA in order to create false appendages and skin textures/colorization at will. These abilities may help the clay fish to intimidate possible predators or allow it to better blend in with its surroundings. Scientists are currently researching the clay fish’s unique genome, with the hope of discovering more efficient ways to conduct gene therapy in modern medicine."

Beast Boy lowered the phone. He raised an eyebrow. “That's what everyone's so worked up about? Some fish that can kinda shapeshift?" He tossed the phone back to Robin. "Pffft. I figured that party trick out ages ago,” he said, kicking up his feet on the table, closing his eyes. “They coulda just asked,” he said with a smile. “I’m always happy to help the greater good.”

“I don’t know, Beast Boy,” Robin said. “They told me that they were eventually planning on breeding them. So that they’d have some to...experiment on.”

Beast Boy instantly perked up. He caught a glimpse of Raven in his peripheral, who drew a finger across her throat.

“Okay, yeah,” he said, swallowing hard. “I see your point.”

Starfire was looking down at the floor. She had been for most of the meeting.

“Is something wrong, Star?” Robin asked, looking over at her.

She met his eyes, but she still seemed a little distraught. “Why did you not tell us sooner?”

Robin rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I just...wasn’t sure they were really related. And I guess I’m still now a hundred percent sure.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want to give you all anything more to worry about.”

“So...what should we do?” Raven asked, also breaking her silence. But for her, silence through an entire meeting was pretty normal.

Robin bit his lip. “Well...that’s just it. I don’t know that there really is anything we can do differently.” He furrowed his brow, deep in thought. “All I’m saying is to keep on your toes. Unlike regular missions, if another one of these attacks happens, it might be something we can anticipate. And if we can predict it, we might be able to shut down before it really gets off the ground. Being even just half a step ahead of the game could save lives.”

“Don’t worry, Robin,” Beast Boy grinned, leaping up to his feet. “I got eyes like a hawk and ‘m quiet as the mouse he eats for breakfast.” He started to take a step forward to clasp a hand on Robin’s shoulder. But as soon as his foot hit the ground, a sharp pain shot up his leg and he started to wobble. Beast Boy crashed forward, his left arm slamming into the edge of the table on the way down. The whiz of a neglected hot wheels car faded as it zipped under the couch.

“Beast Boy! Are you the alright?” Starfire started with real concern in her voice.

Cyborg was busy looking under the couch to try and find the source of his fall.

“Eughhh...” he groaned, sitting up. He looked up at the table, where his half empty can of root beer had finished itself off. Beast Boy grit his teeth as he watched the sugary liquid crawl to every corner of the table--and Robin’s map.

Robin just stood there for a moment, looking down at it. He sighed, then hesitantly reached out and lifted the sticky brown paper from the table, watching as the excess root beer tricked off of it. “I guess I’ve made my point.”

“At...least it didn’t get on the carpet?” Beast Boy said, on his knees now. But that was a lie. It was on the carpet too.

“We’re doomed,” Raven said from the other side of the couch, rubbing her temples.

Beast Boy wasn’t sure why, but this time, Raven’s offhand remark actually stung--even more so than Robin’s.

But before anyone had time to say anything else, the room suddenly went dark. A blaring noise cut through the air. The TV flashed from suburban homes to a complex status report screen, showing a grid map of the city honed in on a specific location—the West Regional Bank. In the bottom left, a popup window began to stream security camera footage, showing several shadowy figures running down a hallway. One stopped for only a second, pointing a gun at the camera, which consequently short circuited and faded to static.

Without a word, Robin started running. Starfire and Cyborg followed close behind.

Raven sighed, as if she really weren’t in the mood, but turned to follow as well.

Beast Boy looked back up at the TV screen quickly. “I never even got to see which house they picked,” he mumbled to himself.

“Beast Boy!” Robin’s voice echoed down the hall.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” he yelled back, as he begrudgingly turned to bring up the rear. The sidekick slot, they called it. Beast Boy sighed as he took off. He’d been ending up there a lot lately.

#teen titans #bbrae #bbrae fanfiction #beast boy #raven #dc

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juniper-and-lamplight · 6 years ago

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