#i ended up being in a place where I could not participate 😅

[efingart]

Thank you to everyone who participated in Black Ops Winter Fest 2024! I loved reading all your stories and seeing the artwork 💙💙💙 You're all so amazing!

[herefortarlos]

Favorite 911 Lone Star Fandom Memories 🚒

Thank you @thisbuildinghasfeelings for coming up with this lovely idea and thank you @strandnreyes @nancys-braids @welcometololaland @rmd-writes @reyesstrand @she-walked-away @carlossreaders @nisbanisba @tellmegoodbye @heartstringsduet @freneticfloetry @firstprince-history-huh @carlos-in-glasses @bonheur-cafe @heartstringsduet and @goldenskykaysani for all the tags! I read every single one of you favorite moments/memories and they made me emotional and so happy and grateful to know you all and be a part of this fandom! 💖

Anyone who considers themselves a fan of the show, regardless of how engaged with fandom you are, should participate and share if you want!

rules here

Oh, where to begin?!? I am still in denial that it's coming to an end this Monday 🥲I haven't been thinking about it too much which is also why it took me a bit to write this and think of which fandom memories for me I wanted to highlight. I hope we'll all be there for each other if someone needs a little extra comfort in the days, weeks, months that follow! 💜

All the fanfiction, fanart, gifs, edits, etc. and the friends and good acquaintances made through them!

I will always be grateful to Tarlos and Lone Star because they got me to start regularly reading fics again! I used to have a 2 hour commute into NYC and I would read fanfic while sitting on the trains but doing that for 2 years unfortunately burned me out on fanfic and my previous obsession. From 2020 to late 2022, I didn't read much fic. It wasn't until I found Lone Star through FB clips and TK's iconic, "Sure ma'am but just so you know I am a homosexual", that I had found something new to obsess over and love to this degree! Tarlos and LS also brought me back to Tumblr and into fandom in the first place! After I binge watched the show up to season 3, I needed more Tarlos and so I looked through ao3 and started with tarlos fics by @rmd-writes! I saw Rae was on Tumblr and remembered that was where I used to always find fic writers to follow! So I made a new account specifically for the fandom, hello here for Tarlos 😂, and truly engaged in a fandom for the first time! I got to watch all of Season 4 live which was great, and loved seeing people's live reactions to everything on here and loved the codas, art and gif sets people made so quickly after the episode had aired!

And then of course I made fandom and lifelong friends! I started engaging in fandom by leaving unhinged and excitable tags on people's fics and works 😅, as I tend to do, and slowly started becoming mutuals with people! And then @heartstringsduet really opened me up by dming and thanking me for my tags on a fic of hers, and the rest is history 🥹. Michelle really helped me to feel open and comfortable on here and I decided to share my name with people and now I have friends that I know I'll keep in contact with despite the show ending! Some of the most kind, creative, talented, accepting and welcoming people are in this fandom and I am beyond grateful to Lone Star for introducing us! ❤️

The lead up to the Tarlos wedding!

Gahhhh, all the bts we got, and the press tour Ronen and Rafael went on and that Hello! photo shoot, pretty sure my heart stopped when we got those pictures, not to mention the 2 episode Season 4 finale! Now that was a time to be alive! It was treated like such a real wedding and there was so much amazing promotion and was definitely wedding of the year for me!

Discovering I was pansexual and being more open with my sexuality IRL!

I always knew I was queer back in college, although parts of high school definitely make more sense when I stopped to think about them 😂. But because I was in a straight presenting relationship, I never thought to be more open with my queerness? Sure I had those few friends that knew and that I could feel comfortable with, and I had 1 good fellow queer friend at the time to confide in, but I guess I was still learning things about myself and how much of me I wanted people to know? Anyways, Brian Michael Smith and Ronen's coming out story helped me to identify myself and encouraged me to be my authentic self with people! I got my first pride flag because of Lone Star, that I will continue to display outside my house to show that this is a safe place for people that need that, and have met so many diverse and other LGBTQ+ individuals because of it! And also because of that, a good irl friend of mine came out as trans to me first because she felt safe with me! So yeah, a lot of good things to thank a show like 911 Lone Star for 💗.

Finally, becoming a beta reader!

I have been so lucky and have the most fun having been a beta reader for many talented writers in this fandom! Getting to see and help people with their works before they're published, seeing lines and dialogue that I suggested go into the final fic! Without a doubt one of the best things this fandom has given me, along with the many friendships that started because of it! 💖

An OPEN and zero pressure tag for a few people that I don't think have done this yet. @reasonandfaithinharmony @ladytessa74 @carlos-tk @eclectic-sassycoweyes @paperstorm @dear-viv @whatsintheboxmh @alrightbuckaroo @lonestardust @bubblesandroses8 @emsprovisions @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @goodways @theghostofashton @henrygrass @lemonlyman-dotcom @guardian-angle22

[bodiedbyteecosplays]

Talent show with Modern! Aizetsu

Heyyyy!!! So y’all remember my last post I talked about the hidden talents that they have & how Aizetsu has the voice of an absolute angel & how he needed to expose his talents! Yeeee well in this HE ACTUALLY DOES ALL THANKS TO YOU, (THE READER) and HIS BROTHERS.

Reader is gender neutral & has a crush on Ai (your nickname for him) & it’s very obvious that he has the same feelings for you. (And a Little surprise at the end ) 💙

• You had been knowing Aizetsu for some years & over time, you started having romantic feelings for him. You’re the only one outside of his brothers/parents that knew he could sing.

• The first time you heard him sing, you were with him when “This Woman’s Work” by Maxwell came on from his Spotify when y’all were on your way from grabbing a quick bite to eat.

• You were literally so moved by his voice and he was so into the song that he got carried away and damn near forgot you were in the car until you spoke up afterwards and spooked him a bit. 😅

• Ever since then, he’s singing around you very often and every song he sings effortlessly took your breath away. His voice is so smooth. Every note was so clear and beautiful.

• One day while you were in town shopping, you found out that a small local club was hosting a talent show and were handing out flyers and you’ve been telling Aizetsu foreverrrrrr to sing in public so you took the flyer and immediately called him.

• You told him about the small club hosting the talent show in 5 days and he wasn’t really sure of himself so you reassured him that he definitely has the talent and should consider giving it a shot.

• He was with his brothers at the time and they were all at their parents place (they love coming together and visiting them every week) & Karaku heard the conversation and asked what was the phone call about and Aizetsu simply told them that you called to tell him that a small local talent show and of course they all were more so wanting Aizetsu to go for it and Aizetsu was really doubting himself saying what if he goes there and humiliates himself so that prompted the oldest of the brothers, Sekido to tell him that he’s talented enough and has the potential to do whatever he set his mind to do. Like they gave him a full blown pep talk and was able to get him to do it! One of The driving forces was when Urogi said “think of y/n being the only one in the room”because they all know that he really likes them.

• Aizetsu then called you back and told you that he was going to do it and even had a song in mind that he could sing a play his guitar. He told you what he picked was a surprise ( the song he picked was one of the songs you’ve been asking him to sing and originally he was gonna wait until your birthday but this was special to him as are you.)

• You were over the moon excited when he told you that he was gonna participate!

• He rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed every night leading up to the talent show.

• The day of, he stayed cramped up in his apartment without returning a call from his brothers, or you. The stage fright got him and his anxiety was high. He was thinking of calling you and telling you that he was going to back down until he got a knock on his door.

• It was his mother & you, coming to check on him to make sure he was alright. He then told her about the talent show & how he finally had the courage to sign up but deep down he was still scared that he would mess up somehow & of course you both told him that he wasn’t going to mess up and reassured him that you loved his singing voice and that he was talented beyond everything else. His mom then told him that she’s been in predicaments before where she felt like she was going to fail but then her parents and her loved ones were really a strong support system and that he has the same thing and you agreed with her.

• Aizetsu then started feeling better and felt like he could do it again! Which made you and his mom very happy! He then called his brothers and told them that he was alright & that he was feeling a little doubt but his mom and y/n came over and gave him a talk and he started feeling better about the talent show again.

• It was already 1 hour and 30mins until the talent show so you and his mom had to get going so he could get ready to go. Before his mom left she embraced Aizetsu tight and whispered “Orire” ( which is “good luck” in Yoruba) before telling him that she will see him later.

• When you, his parents, and his brothers pulled up to the venue, his car was already parked there and it was already starting to get crowded.

• Aizetsu peeped out the curtains from behind the stage and saw how many people were starting to flow in and started to panic a little and then he laid eyes on you and his family then started to feel relieved. He started to feel the nervousness kicking in then he started meditating.

• After others performances, it was finally Aizetsu’s time to shine. He was nervous but all he heard was the reassurance he received from his family and you. The song he chose was “All Night” by Beyoncé.

• He sung the song so beautifully that he received a standing ovation from just about everyone in the club. You and his mother stood up and tearfully clapped and cheered. His brothers were cheering loud, Sekido smirked while standing up and clapping.

• After he went backstage you and his family rushed and told him how great he did. When he hugged you, he picked you up & spun you around a little and then he kissed you and told you thank you for believing in him and you kissed him back and told him that you always believed in him. He also thanked everyone as well but like Urogi said, you were definitely a driving force for him to do it.

I Hope everyone enjoyed my little fluff fic for Zetsy 🥹🥹🥹 there’s more to come for the brothers soon though so keep your eyes peeled!

I Tag @hakujisstuff @hardt4rein @ch3rriiii-bunn @its-freaking-jordan @yunaarts @i-karaku-swear-i-dont-smoke-weed @bbkook @doesfairieshavetails

[justalittlelilac]

Happy New Year!

Long rambling post about last year reflections, mushy thank you's, feelings, and this years goals. (I promise Our Life is involved it's just at the bottom lol the tag is appropriate) Mostly just writing it down so it's out of my head lol

2025 goals:

Write and draw more! (Especially stuff I've put off from the holidays 😅)

Improve my Spanish with a tutor.

Hopefully start ballet and hip hop again!

Start violin lessons and learn how to play my favorite song from the OLNF soundtrack and Outer Wilds theme.

Post more of my cosplays on here and Bluesky (have one in the works currently).

Be a better neighbor and get involved in my community.

Make more friends in my online communities (y'all are making this one easy).

Don't know if I wanna commit to it yet, but I think I wanna dabble in voice acting. I don't know though.

Last year, I surrounded myself in themes for the New Year instead of goals. Community, Creativity, and Activism.

Although it wasn't the community I had originally thought of, I harbored a brand new one on here and made tons of connections and got a lot closer in my Internet relationships. I'd like to continue this.

I also just got out more. I pushed myself to try so many new things. Ballet, hip-hop, gymnastics, posting my writing and drawing, being more present in cosplay communities were all things that lead me to meet tons of new people.

I participated in multiple activitist campaigns in my community, especially where Palestine was concerned. Which was out of my comfort zone. I'm naturally confrontationally avoidant, and I knew I would meet resistance in places. I'm happy that with the encouragement of my loved ones and therapist I was able to advocate for my values and people that need it. My rep probably has my name on a spam list now 😂.

I performed on a stage for the first time in a decade! It was terrifying, but I have never felt more confident and in love with the art of dance again.

Creativity was a big moment for me this year. I let my whims lead me anywhere they wanted to go. I ended up writing a novella series that was 80k+ words (that will never see the light of day but I did that!). The Our Life hyperfixation took hold so heavily, I started to learn how to draw and became an active participant in the community. I have posts on here with 300+ notes! I know that's not a lot on the grand scheme but it's nothing to sneeze at! That's just to name a few things.

The worst thing that happened this year was that I was outed to my family before I was ready. It was weird and made me have an identity crisis, but my circle really came through. I can now say with confidence, I'm out as pansexual and have never felt more comfortable in my skin where that is concerned.

In 2024, I took a lot of time to get to know myself and I found that I really like me. I quite enjoy being me and being around me. A lot of work has been done since 2021 to get me here. All that work started to make me bloom in 2024, I think. I am becoming the person I have always wanted to be. Someone I can be proud of and believe that other people are proud of and want to be around. In 2025, I want to continue this development.

If you read this far, thank you. It is likely that you were a part of all of this for me. Even in a small way. Thank you.

And especially thank you to the Our Life community who has made me feel welcomed and provided a space for me to grow in confidence. I don't think I could ever put into words properly how much this fandom means to me. Again. Thank you from my bottom of my heart and happy 2025.

[rosesradio]

Hi! I don't know if this fits into a 400-word drabble. But I've had this idea for Halloween.

Percy, Nico and Jason got cursed (or something) before Halloween. They became around 5-7 y/o so they go like:

Percy: Where are we? I'm scared.

Nico: It's okay, we can play and have fun!

Jason: I'll protect you!

Demigods (CJ or CHB) 'babysit' them and the kids of the Big Three go trick-or-treating 🥹

(idk how it ends tho—whether they become closer friends or lead to romance or just them as kids is up to you 😅)

It was all Nico's fault. He was the one who has snuck into the Hecate cabin and stole the spellbook.

Camp Half-Blood, along with the Anthesteria festival they did in late January, did trick-or-treating amongst the cabins. It was for all ages, especially considering how many of the campers missed out on important activities in their childhoods. Even so, it was unspoken practice that only the younger campers participated. Campers older than thirteen, for fear of being made fun of, usually stuck to handing out candy from their cabin.

Nico was one of these campers. Percy and Jason expected him to leave his light off and shut out all of the trick-or-treaters. The son of Hades, revealing the spellbook he'd stolen, was planning quite the opposite.

"It's a limitless spell," Nico explained, showing off one of the yellowed pages. "Only as powerful as its castor, but…I figured I could summon unlimited candy. Then my cabin would win."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "I don't think there's such a thing as winning in this…"

Nico blinked at him, catlike. "Well, at least my cabin would be the least likely to be egged."

Percy, remembering how badly the Athena cabin had been egged after handing out toothbrushes, simply nodded in agreement.

Nico then instructed the three of them to place their hands on the book as he recited the spell. With their collective power, they would probably be able to complete the spell despite their lack of experience. The trio closed their eyes, and with a flash of purple lighting, the spell was complete.

"Oh, gods," Jason murmured, rubbing his head. His hand felt…strangely small. He pulled it away, looking at both hands. "Oh, gods…my hands! What happened to my hands!"

"Your hands?" Percy asked. "Listen to your voice! Listen to…my voice. Why does my voice sound so…" Coming to a stand, Percy stumbled over to Nico's bathroom, standing on tipped-toes to look in the mirror. "Oh, gods! Why am I…?" He teared up automatically, sniffling as he wiped his eyes. "Nico, what did you do?" He demanded.

The son of Hades was silent, looking over the spellbook urgently. "I can't read this…I can't read in English…why can't I read in English?"

Jason took the book from Nico. Despite his own suddenly lackluster reading comprehension, he managed to get through the new information. "It's a child hex," he explained. "Because Nico stole the book, and…" he fought off his own impulse to cry. "It brings your mind back to being a little kid. It's gonna last two to four hours…"

"Two to four hours?" Percy cried. "What are we gonna do?"

"It's okay," Jason reassured the others. "I can still fight off bad guys! I'll product us until the spell goes away!"

"Oh!" Nico perked up. Reverting back to his younger self seemed to wash away most of his child-of-Hades nature. "I know what we can do now! We can go trick-or-treating!"

The campers had a lot of questions about the state of Jason, Percy, and Nico, though they had also seen their fair share of curses. Needless to say, they were a hit at camp; they each returned to their cabin with pillowcases full of candy.

[oh-shtars]

Bonjour, good day, I come with more questions~

1. What Disney character do you think most inspired each character in your rewrite?

2. More Rani loreeee

3. Does Rani have star magic? Although feel free to skip this as it might spoil your ending with Sueño

4. Does Hopes & Dreams have any other pet names for each other?

5. If Ashueño is similar to a genderbent Rapunzel, what dynamic is the royal couple like?

6. What trope best fits Hopes & Dreams? What about the royal couple?

7. Do you have any scrapped ideas you want to share?

8. Are the other character’s wishes important to the story?

9. What Hazbin character is each RFTS!character like?

Oh wow-

I get so happy whenever you guys leave asks and stuff like this. Thanks so much! 🥺💖💖 LOVE YA BO!

If y’all ever send me an ask and I haven’t answered it yet, please know I’m not ignoring you. I either don’t know how to answer it yet or I’m too busy atm. (Especially with exams coming up. Ew.)

(Looking at this, I feel more guilty the more they stay there. 😅 But hey! At least you can look forward to more content, right?)

Anyways, Onto the asks!

1. What Disney character do you think most inspired each character in your rewrite?

I remember doing this one post as a little fun game for everyone to share 3 characters that inspired their main characters. But since you asked for just one and it has to be a Disney character, guess I’ll do that.

You can visit the post if you want to see mine and other AUs’ participation.

Asha = Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Sueño = Aladdin

Magnifico = Hades (Hercules)

Amaya = Zarina (Tinkerbell: The Pirate Fairy)

Valentino = Younger Simba (The Lion King)

(I don’t have a solid personality for the 7 teens since they’re not going to have as big of a role. I do have their key traits in my notes so I can look back to it as a guide. But I’m just going to go with the flow when writing their scenes.)

……..

2. More Rani Loreeeeee

I haven’t even finished a final outline for the main plot of the RFTS!story, so idk even for a sequel. Maybe I’ll do some random drawings of family bonding moments and just him being a precious little guy.

(Hypothetically speaking, IF both Asha and Sueño survive the tragedy I’ll inflict on them. I mean what- who said that?)

All I know for Rani is that he’s someone who’s not sure what is the one thing he’s passionate for. And in this kingdom where everyone is so sure what they want and striving to achieve it, he feels lost. Surely, people only have one passion, right? Why can’t he find and settle for one?

Whenever he finds something he could be passionate about, Rani feels icky at the thought of just permanently sticking to it from now on. But at the same time, he criticises himself for being ‘irresponsible and indecisive.’

He “longs” to know his place and know what he wishes to do exactly. Rani doesn’t like being told, “But you’re so talented!!” because he personally thinks it’s unhelpful. It doesn’t make his choice of picking one passion any easier.

He also doesn’t really like vague answers to his questions and gets frustrated with it. “Believe in yourself.” “You’ll get there.” “Keep going!” “You’ll know it when you feel it.” “I don’t know what you’re aspiring to do, but I bet you’ll do great.” Well guess what? He doesn’t know what he’s doing either. :D

Also: *G A S P*. Not a strong believer of Wishing stars nor looking to the sky for answers! 😱 Rani prefers to “see-it-to-believe-it.” A more down to earth person who wants real solutions, not just hoping for something to magically happen.

(Some stuff might change but here’s an overview of Rani just like you asked- :))

…………

3. Does Rani have star magic?

Ehhhhh, I’ll say he has general knowledge in magic and just about anything he finds interesting and gets his hands on. Not really star magic, though he has the skill of a fast-learner when learning about regular magic. Again, Rani’s existence may or may not be hypothetical. 🤷

………

4. Does Hopes & Dreams have any other pet names for each other?

Sueño is not really one for pet names since he adores Asha just as she is, including her name. But in his head and through the sign language he eventually learns, he does sometimes call her: “Love or My Sky”

(I love “My Sky” so much because it FITS him. He loves the feeling of freedom and is claustrophobic. So he’s basically saying he feels so free and happy to be around her. Also, *coughs* Bo. “Sky”. My Sky. “Cielo”. Amirite? This was unintentional, I swear-)

For Asha, she calls Sueño: “Starlight, Mi Sueño (this is her fav one ofc), Sunny (though this is more general), Hon/Honey.”

For the last one, I have a silly headcanon that Sueño comes to have honey as one of his fav foods. It sort of rhymes with his other nickname, “Sunny,” and Asha thinks it’s hilarious to tease him with the “honey” nickname when he gets all sticky.

Idk why I even came up with this, but the thought that he’ll eat anything, even food he usually doesn’t like, that is dipped in honey on it is just funny, okay? And it connects to Hal too since I remember she’s meant to be a beekeeper. (This may also be a cute little reference with Winnie the Pooh if Sueño shapeshifts. Hehehe)

Btw, stars can taste but not go hungry. Like how they touch and feel stuff but not feel pain when inflicted or hit by something. If it’s dark magic, then that’s the only exception and they can feel pain.

…….

5. If Ashueño is similar to a genderbent Rapunzel, what dynamic is the royal couple like?

Idk actually. I made Amnifico or ‘Grand Despair’ from scratch without referring or getting inspired by any couple I know. It’s mostly songs and vibes I’ve collected to create their dynamic. Same with Ashueño. The Rapunzel similarity was not intentional. 😅

(I think you should be worried because my RFTS!Spotify playlist has lots of angst- lol.)

Uhhhhhhh, maybe Grand Despair can be something akin to Charity and P.T Barnum from the Greatest Showman. But darker and eviler.

A guy who promises something for his beloved, gets carried away, and eventually forgetting what this was all for in the first place. :3

……

6. What trope best fits Hopes and Dreams? What about the royal couple?

Hopes and Dreams:

“Soulmates/Fate” (I think we can all agree that these two are meant to be, either platonically or romantically, in any universe both AU and Canon.)

👏 SLOW 👏 BURN👏 (That pang of realisation always gets me)

Thinks she’s no one special x Treats her like royalty

Grand Despair:

Doomed Romance

Pissy x Only one who calms him down

”Us against the World”

……….

7. Do you have any scrapped ideas you want to share?

Not anything that wouldn’t spoil some stuff for the plot. Sorry 😞

……

8. Are the other characters’ wishes important to the story?

Hmmmmm. I guess they influence the narrative and further establish the conflict of the story.

Like, the characters are used to just taking the easy way to achieve their dreams by waiting for the day Magnifico grants them one morning. They can make as much as they want. Unbeknownst to them, they’re stuck in this cycle of always wanting more but never satisfied.

They keep wishing and wishing, believing that they have no chance of reaching it on their own without their king’s help.

I’d like the main theme to be: not being afraid to dream big and “Reach for the Stars” but you shouldn’t expect grand things to just come to you instantly. You’ll need to take faith and work for it. Why? Because the whole journey getting there, regardless of the many struggles, is worth it and it sure is something to look back and be proud of.

It sure is what Walt Disney did, isn’t it? :)

……..

9. What Hazbin character is each RFTS!character like?

It’s kind of difficult to pick from the Hazbin cast what each RFTS!character is like since one plot is based off of dreams and everything nice while the other is literally based in hell. 😂

But I’ll try:

Asha:

Emily was the closest I could think of. (Since I literally couldn’t think of anyone else. Oof-) Not really referring to the happy, excited part of her. More like the “I believe these people deserve a lot better than this” and eventually finding her voice to stand up against authority for the people she cares about.

Sueño:

No, not the aggressive and assertive side of Vaggie. Lol nope. More like getting attached to the MC that helped them get back onto their feet, warmly welcomed them in this strange new world, and now they would do anything to help them get their dreams come true whatever it takes.

(Also, a secret they’re keeping that’s eating them up inside with guilt and constantly worrying that the MC would hate their guts if they knew. Oops-)

Magnifico:

I’d say the fake-ass showmanship he puts out in public but in reality, he’s really done and exhausted with his audience. He’s still pretty charismatic when he wants to be but I can see him losing his cool quite easily, leading to outbursts.

Amaya:

Idkkkk. The main cast of Hazbin don’t really fit RFTS!Amaya’s vibe so I just went with Lilith despite how we know nothing about her at the moment. (This is probs gonna age badly-)

She’s a parental figure to someone who trusts her a lot but in reality, her motivations might not be what they seem. She could be willing to sacrifice other people if it means she gets a benefit out of them.

[the-words-we-sung]

While I (not so) patiently await season 3...

I think being on Tumblr is gonna be tough this week: I've blacklisted sp*ilers because I wanna watch the new season with my mind as free as possible (like I did for the first 2 seasons) but it means that right now my dash is 99% empty, just an endless list of blocked posts 😅 So 1. it's boring and 2. the temptation to check these hidden posts is growing bigger and bigger by the minute >< I'm not entirely sure I can make it spoiler-free 'til next Monday... But anyway, I was just thinking tonight how lucky we are to live at a time when shows like Young Royals are being made, and well-made, and successful, and so so loved by so many people.

Earlier tonight I got struck by a faint memory of a scene from an old TV show I watched when I was (way) younger and so I went on a deep search to find it. It was an old French TV show that I watched with my parents growing up and it made me laugh to check some bits of some episodes: but I ended up watching a scene where a (secondary) character comes out to his best friend (a main character on the show) and it was awful. The best friend reaction was terrible and homophobic, but treated as if it was totally normal and acceptable. And it made me so so sad, because I grew up with that, I grew up watching that. And it's probably not the only scene, the only show, the only movie with that kind of message that I've watched when I was young. I grew up in an environment, a family, that was quite close-minded. The mere concept of not being straight, not being cis, was not at all something that I was aware of at the time. We didn't talk about that with my parents or at school. And the little representations I got on TV (like this one) were pretty awful. It makes sense that it took me so long to really realize that I was neither straight nor cis, to be able to actually put words on what I had been feeling my whole life (and I'm not even done questioning it all). But yeah, growing up then meant not being exposed to the amazing representation that we have now. And I am so so so happy that young people now can have that!! That we can all have that! I am sometimes incredibly frustrated by the idea that my life would have been so so different if a show like Young Royals existed when I was growing up, when I was a teenager... Where would I be now? Who would I be now? Most of the time I'm just happy and grateful that I still managed to get where I am today, but yeah, the frustration over what feels like wasted years can rear its ugly head sometimes...

Glee was my first "Young Royals", my first fandom, my first show with a good and real and strong LGBTQ+ representation. It's the show that will always have a special place in my heart because it made me see, made me realize things about myself. It's the show that pushed me head first into queer culture and told me to "look look here! Look at these people, look at this history!". The show that took me by the hand and told me I could be strong and brave and myself. And that I was not alone. Blaine and Kurt will always be the fictional characters who helped me the most, who made me start the process of becoming myself, who started healing me.

At the time I didn't participate in the fandom life as I do now with Young Royals, because I was quite introverted and not comfortable talking to people, and still trying to figure things out about myself. But Young Royals changed that. This show arrived at the perfect time, when I felt ready for more, ready to take a step further in my healing process. Anyway, such a long rant just to say that Young Royals is incredible. It didn't change my life quite as radically as Glee did, but it is making it incredibly better! Part of it is of course due to the show itself, and Wilhelm, and Simon, and the cast (Omar!!!!). But it is also this fandom, and the people I've met and chatted with. You all have no idea how incredible you've been, how happy you've made me. How healing you've been for me. I'm realizing that I've written a whole novel in this post >< Which was not really my intention! I was mostly just thinking about how awesome our little show is, how lucky we are that we're gonna have 3 incredible seasons to watch and rewatch. And how happy I am to be part of our little fandom family 💜

So I hope you're all enjoying the season 3 content that we've been getting today (even though I don't know what it is 😱) and I'm excited to be there with you all next week to be happy and sad and unhinged as usual about our dear dear show 💜💜

[themoonunderstoodmydadjokes]

..

Had a very honest conversation with my therapist this weekend about how bad my anxiety had gotten over the last couple of weeks (to the point where I almost couldn’t rationalize what was real and what wasn’t and leaving my house for anything besides work became almost impossible).

And while we had a very in-depth discussion about what I could and couldn’t handle and how I was struggling so much to perform basic tasks and not sink into everything my anxiety was telling me about myself, she brought the analogy of a filled cup.

But it was from the perspective of, life has filled your cup with all of these things and what’s left in that cup is what you have to operate from (rather than “you can’t pour from an empty cup”, it’s you only have so much to give from).

She tells me that because of the way my life has been, my cup is about 75% full at all times leaving me with about 25% to give to anything else (which isn’t a lot when you’re often operating alone, without close family or a partner). And like yeah, I’ve known this and oftentimes I even use the “spoon theory” to explain this exact thing.

But something about her explaining it like that kinda just made something click (she also said that I might get old and gray and that 75% will go down to 50% but that most likely I’ll always have less to give from because of the significant trauma I’ve been through. Which, like, fuck 😅🫠).

And I think my anxiety brain is like, “that’s not an excuse to not participate and function well in life”, but it also in a very somewhat healthy way is. She continued to tell me that I can’t set myself up to function in the same way as someone who’s cup is only 10% filled, because it’s an unfair imbalance and I’m never gonna function in that way.

But I look at the way I have tried to operate in for most of my life and it’s only ever benefited other people, while I continuously have less and less to give (and almost always it’s someone who’s cup is at that 10% and I allow them to pour it into mine in an unhealthy way)

And I even think further than that into like, what does that look like in a relationship or friendship? Like I’m always going to need more support to function or always be at a place where I can’t give equal to what my partner might be able to give (and as someone who always wants to give, it seems unfair to feel like I might need more care taking in a relationship. I also think this is why I relegate myself to just being alone orrrr why I end up seeking out avoidant partners maybe 🫠).

And like, as much sense as it made for me, it still is just like really unfair and for as much treatment I’ve done and work I’ve put in, I’m still gonna always have to like learn to give less of myself (or alternatively put in so much extra work to reach the same goal as someone else) all in an effort to like not drive myself over a cliff.

I don’t know, anxiety brain wants to like not blame other people (even though there have some highly abusive cunts in my life), and anxiety brain tells me I’m responsible for the situations I put myself in and also the work to undo the trauma of those situations (which hello, let the other party also take accountability for how they abused you, you dumb bitch). It’s a never ending cycle and C-ptsd constantly makes me feel like a raw nerve someone can’t stop poking at.

[lenievi]

For the fic writer asks: 1, 9, 21, 24, 30! 💙

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

This year, I included characters exchanging messages. I had fun writing them, and I was told that my formatting and the inclusion was done well, so I'm sure I'll try it again it the future.

And the other "first time" was including explicit-ish(?) sex... based on the comments, it was successful, I guess (I haven't reread that fic since I published it 😅). I tried to focus more on the emotional part, because that was what was important to me in that fic, and it seems that that worked well as well. I'm sure I'll try it again with mckirk, I'm not sure about other trek ships (but never say never).

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

In the Embers, my Kirk/La'an fic. Not necessarily because of the themes or anything profound, but it was a fic that I wrote after a spones day fic which was really hard for me to write or even come up with, because I had to force myself to write it (I'm still surprised it's so popular because I really struggled lol) - which is why I'm not forcing myself to come up with a fic for the spones zine, even though I'd like to participate, but I'm done forcing myself to write something just because I feel like I should. So the Kirk/La'an fic was very easy and relaxing, it's my longest fic to date, and I could pour all my love for Kirk/La'an into it, and writing from La'an's POV was also very freeing.

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue.

I posted one in this answer. I know I could post another, but this is going to be long 😅

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

Kirk wanting sex with McCoy T_T It really came out of nowhere, I haven't sat down to write the fic with "they're gonna have sex". It just happened and so the fic happened the way it did. (For some reason, mckirk is just really easy to imagine in a sexual way. Even my very first mckirk fic last year almost had a threesome... at the end they only kissed the same woman lol)

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

I would really like to finish my "when McCoy came to the Enterprise, he and Kirk weren't friends" fic (but they slept with each other three years prior...). “I served on a starship before. Captains and doctors don’t mesh well.” is the vibe. I'm just really into McCoy only realizing what a Starfleet officer could be like after meeting Kirk. Finding his place in Starfleet after years of running away from Earth and from himself. Finding his own dream. Kirk making him struggle between being an officer and a doctor. McCoy killing someone/something to save Kirk (ala The Man Trap, but tweaked)

I'd also like to write some TOS films era fics. A mckirk one set either after TFF or TUC. A Kirk-centric one where he retires from Starfleet before TWOK and goes to his uncle's farm to ride horses (I'll turn it into a mckirk fic too, probably lol) But I'm just obsessed with his literal retirement.

Also since last year, I've wanted to write a fic featuring Kirk's birthday. I should probably start thinking about it again, since I have three months... (probably won't happen like last year tho)

[fic writer asks]

[the-missann]

Writing question tag game!

Thanks for tagging me @harleywritesshit. I always love talking about my stories and I'm actually in a bit of physical pain and couldn't write this idea I got, so this is a good replacement!

Original post here.

I'll prob tag my entire following/follower list since they're all fellow writblrs and I always love seeing writers talk about writing 😊

I'll tag @xlciaz @jgmartin @tzipor-feather-blog @lyutenw @snarkelf @ghostswithteeth @kazenokaori @vinylandvalium @risingshards @reysfictionalworlds @arijensineink. Low pressure though, no need to feel pressured to participate!

Rules: Answer the 10 questions if you feel like it ^^

Questions at the bottom!

1. What is your absolute all-time favourite ideas you’ve ever had?

Honestly, all my ideas are my favorite because my brain comes up with whatever and I have to sort through the broken pieces to get a good story. If it makes it out, then I love it. Also, I cherish all my ideas and can't really pick a favorite.

2. Is there a question you’ve been asked in the past that really stands out to you, and you still think about sometimes?

Unfortunately not really. People don't talk to me and on the off change I do engage with someone, my anxiety usually makes me clam up so much they stop talking since they think I'm not interested 😅

3. What is your favourite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?

Adding to my previous question, my favorite part has to be how I can actually express myself, my words, feelings, experiences, etc... in written word. I struggle so much talking to people that writing is the only place where I feel I can say what I really want to.

What I would leave out is how little most people care about writing. I wish we lived in a world where instead of Monday Night Football, we got Writing To Tomorrow or smth idk.

4. What is your greatest motivation to write/create?

The idea that I might one day be the author/owner of a book/character that heavily impacts someone's life for the better.

5. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever read or been given as a writer?

I think that would be the advice where people say "your favorite author started off with terrible ideas too."

That made me realize I don't have to rush in making a "masterpiece" because it might not even be seen as one. I can just make good enough stories and go from there.

6. What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?

That I can actually write whatever I want lol. When I was younger, I thought that you had to follow strict formulas; like, you could only write women as damsels and men as heroes. Little Miss Ann found out that's definitely not the case 😂

7. What is your favourite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!

8. What is your favourite out-of-the-box quote?

I'm terrible at endings and even more horrible at actually ending my stories, but the few that I have are normalities because of how easily the story came to me and was written, and A Fourth Dimension Reality: The Strange Beginnings because it's my crack baby that I technically "completed" because it was so long I broke it into separate volumes.

"Don't forget to eat breakfast tomatoes."

I don't know what to even tell you, this is my humor🗿

9. Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you personally feel about their ideals?

Probably them all. So, typically, I tend to have strong opinions and some of them are considered "hot takes." This bleeds into my stories, but I'd say the character who'd rub some the wrong way is one old one, Dia, and one new, Lazarus.

Dia is a demon who believes angels are no different than his species. Considering he was a former angel, he knows angels can be just as "evil" as demons and doesn't have a concept of "good" and "bad"

Lazarus is just an asshole who likes girls who are introverted and shy because he hates how extroverted and loud the rest of the world is.

I actually based Dia's mindset off my own since I have negative experiences with Christians and a similar negative outlook of them. (I'm totally fine with the religion itself, but not some of the crazies who practice it.)

Lazarus, on the other hand, is someone I don't agree with because I don't feel a personality trait can make someone better than anyone else. Still gotta love Lazzy boi tho~

10. If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?

Probably that she was doing less than she expected 😅 see, I had very high and unrealistic expectations of future me. At this point, she was hoping I'd be a well off author sitting in my log cabin in the woods with my husband Aizen 🙉

Questions

1. What is your absolute all-time favourite ideas you’ve ever had?

2. Is there a question you’ve been asked in the past that really stands out to you, and you still think about sometimes?

3. What is your favourite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?

4. What is your greatest motivation to write/create?

5. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever read or been given as a writer?

6. What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?

7. What is your favourite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!

8. What is your favourite out-of-the-box quote?

9. Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you personally feel about their ideals?

10. If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?

[inkyquill553]

Okay this is long but anyway 😅

Map of Days has a very special place in my heart, it's one of my favourites if not my favourite of the books. It's definitely a bit slower paced but then I thought the first book was too, nothing wrong with that imo. I love the characterisation in it too, especially in the beginning when we see the characters' reactions to the modern world and some more insight into their personalities when they're not in mortal peril or talking just to drive the plot. I also liked how essentially trapping Jacob, Emma, Enoch, Millard and Bronwyn together in a car let their dynamics develop and it was interesting to see how they played off each other. I mean it would have been nice to have focussed more on the minor characters rather than just the main five who went on H's mission, but I can see why narratively they had to be split up. Noor and Lily were also great in this book, I think Noor had more personality in the few pages she was in than she did in the last two books combined. Overall this book felt cohesive, it had a clear story structure, you could see where the peculiars were heading, what their goals were, so it felt (at least for me) even more of a gut punch when it all went to shit and everyone ended up miserable. I remember feeling so sad for ages afterward (in a good way!) that Jacob was essentially splitting up from the peculiars and I was expecting the next book to be mostly him and Noor on their own as he taught her about peculiarity and they started collecting the seven for the prophecy, before eventually reuniting with the peculiars and making up.

Conference of the Birds... was not that. Which is fine, I was relieved Jacob made up with the peculiars so early because I would have missed them and it probably would have been hard to get through the book if Ransom had taken it in the direction I thought he would. But then I found it incredibly hard to get through the book anyway. If it wasn't for my love of the characters I would have given up tbh, it was so chaotic and fast paced and tried to cram so much into so few pages that it lost its story. I remember being so confused what the actual plot was supposed to be, it seemed everyone was just running around randomly and hoping something stuck. When I got to the end of the book and read the blurb and it said how they were on a mission to find V I was like 'oh yeah, that's what this book was supposed to be about.' I don't think you can say in your blurb that your book is about finding a character if you forget all about that character for the entire book until the last 10 pages where you decide to make two of the characters suddenly interested in her again, only to immediately kill her off. Wtf Ransom why?? 😭

Desolations I genuinely do not remember much of, and I feel like that should say something. It was a lot better than Conference of the Birds I'll give it that, and there was a lot more participation of minor characters (they included Horace in the mission for once!! Hell yeah), and once again I liked the character dynamics. But I did not like Jacob as a narrator (or in Conference of the Birds) and I definitely did not like him and Noor together. I was never a big fan of him and Emma and was relieved when they split up in AMoD because I thought that was the first reasonable and mature thing Jacob had done in a hot minute. But he could have stayed single!! My girl Noor did not deserve the watered-down love interest treatment and the way he talked about her in his narration literally days after meeting her, as if she was the love of his life already and described her in the same infatuated way he had been describing Emma like 48 hours ago gave me the ick and did not sit right with me (this applies to all of their interactions in conference of the birds too btw). The ending was... :/ It was okay but personally I didn't see the point of resetting their internal clocks just to trap them all in a loop again.

I know I sound like a hater but genuinely it's because I love this series and these characters so much and it really sucked to watch it fall apart in real time. I enjoyed reading the more character-focussed moments in all the books, even when the plot wasn't so great, and the fact that they were mphfpc books means I care about them very much just by default. I just feel kind of robbed of what they could have been yk? Also can you imagine if instead of just Jacob in these books we got an Enoch POV and a Millard POV and an Emma POV or an anybody else POV?? I would pay good money to have these books re-written through the other peculiars' eyes.

Anyway that is my rant

Okay MPHFPC Fandom, I have a question.

What are the fandom's opinion of the latter three books in the series?

My friend and I, who have read them all, have come to the conclusion that we did not care for the second trilogy much and felt it took away from the original story. This is not to bash Ransom Riggs as an author whatsoever, I still love his writing and respect his creative vision, it just wasn't something I overly enjoyed. I felt Library of Souls would have been a fine place to end the story, and that's where I have chosen to stop when I re-read the books.

So I'm curious: What do other fans think of the last three books? The only people I know who have read all 6 don't like the latter half, so I'm curious of other opinions.

[whumptober]

I just wanted to thank you for running this event ❤️ it's been so nice to find a community that is uplifting about following our joys in fic, even and especially when it takes us dark places. Whump has always been my very favorite (the first fic I ever wrote, in crayon, circa age 6, was a whump fic actually 🤣) but people have always been judgemental and rude about it, to the point that I've felt weird about liking it even when there's no external censure to reinforce that feeling. It's nice and all to see random psa's floating around Tumblr with reminders that darkfic is good actually, BUT it's different and really cool to see a community be uplifting and affirming of our shared interest ☺️

I also really, really wanted to personally thank you for how chill y'all have been running this event. The inclusive attitude of how to use the prompts in the way that speaks to you most, how much you get done and when, etc, has been really wonderful.

I'm gently easing myself back into writing after a decade plus hiatus where it just... didn't work?? for some reason?? And there's stuff I have to cope with now that I didn't before, like brain fog and much more pronounced memory issues that can make writing quite frustrating. So I've really been focused on writing for me, and doing what makes me happy, and being very gentle about the times I can't accomplish as much as I want to, etc

I decided to participate in Whumptober this year (only finding out about it I think last year and the year before). I had a whole plan, that I still think could have worked, for completion. I only ended up filling one prompt though 😅

Thanks for being so chill, and affirming, and inclusive, with this event. It was pretty easy not to beat myself for not doing more because of that. It was a really fun event for me, even so. Thanks for fostering an environment where just whatever I could accomplish was plenty and I can still count as a participant 🖤

Hi Anon! Thank you for the ask, it is always very lovely to hear about people feeling welcomed in the whump community! And, in my opinion, that's one of the best things about Whumptober - the community coming together to create, share their work, cheer each other on and have fun!

We also really love to hear about people who have been away from creating for a while and are now coming back to build up those creative muscles. It's also important to us to be as encouraging as we can be - we know that Whumptober isn't easy, no matter how many prompts you aim to fill. It's a challenge, and we're here not only to organise the event and to answer questions, but to cheer everyone on!

Congratulations on participating in Whumptober, we are very happy you enjoyed it!

Happy Halloween and happy whumping!

- mod claire

[zeldaelmo]

SPY AU

This project is close to my heart, but I decided to push it back because I have too many problems that I don't know yet how to solve. (It's a whole PowerPoint of problems, tbh. 😂) I hope that I'll have the skill level to tackle the story one day in the not-so-far future, but we'll see about that.

Dark times in Hyrule. Zelda's father has turned the Kingdom into a tyrannical nightmare. The once prospering economy is in ruins and the little earnings people have are heavily taxed to finance the expensive lifestyle of the King and his devotees. 

Zelda is still the princess. She is expected to participate at the frivolous life of the court and she hates every second of it.

Hyrule is a ruthless place — either it kills you or you kill it. Eventually, she begins a double life as Sheik and becomes an assassin. She kills important followers of her father who do injustice to innocent people — the judge who sent the family father to the gallows for paying the taxes late by a week and so on. Robin Hood assassin, if you will. 

One day, she gets kidnapped after a kill and is brought to Link. Link is second-in-line of the resistance and of course, an assassin/spy himself. Zelda… eh… Sheik has made a name for herself by taking out some of the high-ranking henchman of the King and you bet that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the resistance.

After Zelda’s true identity is discovered, Link wants her to join them. The resistance plans to kill her father, but so far their attempts were fruitless because they didn’t even come close to the castle. That’s where she has valuable information. She is the only one who knows ways inside.

Also, they want her to take the King’s place to guide Hyrule back into peace...

They work together, reluctantly at first, but then smoothly. Until a major coup goes wrong and Zelda wants to leave the victim alive - “we need people to rebuild” “choose your side, Zelda”. That's the breaking point and tbh, I haven't figured the last arc out.

I actually have a snippet written for this, although it will most likely not end up in the story. 😅 Oh, and it might be enemies-with-benefits-to-lovers. 🤣

"Did they hurt you?" His gaze on her wasn’t exactly soft, but maybe she had just forgotten what softness looked like. The beat of silence seemed to be answer enough. His head snapped from one man to the other, the now cold glint in his eyes more a last warning than a threat. "I gave explicit orders not to harm her, you useless idiots!"

The tall, lanky man who had dragged her through the moist corridors not an hour ago argued, “How do you think kidnapping works?”

“I never said you should kidnap her. I said I need you to bring her here.”

"That’s the same and you know it,” the man hissed. “This isn’t about work. I knew it from the second we found out who she really is. You want her for yourself."

Someone from behind was bold enough to use the dim light to whistle through their teeth and yell, "Be a bit more generous, Link, she isn't yours!"

Zelda expected another round of deadly glares or maybe the swoosh of a dagger before it clattered from the cave wand in a warning. She did not expect to find herself being pulled flush against him, her body betraying her with a horrible, princessy gasp.

His hand on her back was loose enough for her to pull away, but his eyes pinned her in place, invisible shackles of ice and blue. If only the cold would extend on her body, but no such luck. The cave had been stuffy before, but the wave that washed over her at their full body contact was very different. It was the sensation of cool linen on heated skin, of sweaty, hungry kisses, of rushed unbuttoning of too many layers. No. Surely not. The man had ordered to kidnap her.

The room stilled, the water dripping from the wet cave walls the only sound.

A smirk ghosted over his lips when she didn't move, knowing exactly that they stood close enough that only she could see it. He took his time to breathe her air until he hissed, "Women, my friend, belong to themselves. And if you don't get that, you better leave the country once we are over with this. There’s no place for assholes in the new Hyrule." 

His hand dropped and set her free while his lips still hovered dangerously close over hers. "If you crave a woman in your life, you have to make her want to stay."

He didn't even flinch when Zelda pulled back and spit him in the face.

[deliriumsdelight7]

Sorry to shock you, but I have a lot of questions lol.

😅🥺🤡😈🛒💋⛔️🍦🌞💖💌❌🎃👀🧠 (for Chrissy!) 🤩🤲🏼🥰?

I am SHOCKED! lol. I'll skip the ones I've already answered.

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

Uhhhh... Cursed Ties, for the Rumbelle fandom. It's, uh, gonna deal with a kink that's squicky for some. If I can ever get them to the point where they stop angsting and just bang.

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Ooh, yes. When Character A has had to rely on themselves all their life, and Character B helps them to realize that it's okay to need to lean on someone now and then? That's the good stuff.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

I can't think of anything offhand. If I do, I'll come back to this.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

"Eyes slamming shut like a portcullis" probably makes its way into half the fics I write. As well as the phrase "screwing their courage to some manner of sticking place." I read it somewhere - no clue where - and I've blatantly stolen it. Apart from that, though, I like to think I mix things up a lot.

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Don't mind reading 'em. Not interested in writing 'em. I prefer angst and smut.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Probably somewhere, yeah.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Not really. Any time of day works for me.

💖 What made you start writing?

What made me start writing after a 15 year hiatus was the 12th episode of Once Upon a Time, "Skin Deep." UNREAL chemistry between the actors. Seems to be my catnip.

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

I feel like they're not just welcome, but absolutely necessary. Fic writers cannot make money off of their work, which means anything they write is unpaid labor. This can be hours upon hours of blood, sweat, and tears being poured into something that is then posted for people to enjoy for free. Having participated in a dying fandom where I'm lucky to get a comment or two, and now having moved to one where my fic chapters get tons of engagement, I can tell you that getting little to no feedback on fic is incredibly demoralizing. I view commenting on fic similarly to how tipping is viewed in American restaurants. In an ideal world, the person whose services you enjoyed would be compensated fairly for their labor. But in that absence, it is up to the consumer to make up the difference. If you don't have the money to tip, you don't have the money to eat out. If you don't have the spoons to take thirty seconds to comment on fic, you don't have the spoons to read it.

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

I only have one so far, and it was basically a retelling of "The Holiday" with Once Upon a Time characters.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

I don't think I could pick just one. Chances are if I'm writing a pairing, it's because I adore both characters in said pairing.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Here's a snippet from a oneshot I'm stuck in. It's post season 4, canon-ish where Eddie survives and Chrissy... "survives."

Not for the first time, Chrissy’s throat tightened with guilt. This was the place where it had all started. Where her life ended, and Eddie’s life had started the freefall to the madness that had led him here. If he’d never agreed to sell to her… if he’d met with her anywhere else… his life would be infinitely better. He’d have graduated - she just knew it - and gotten out of Hawkins. Those big dreams of his would’ve brought him to a big city to match - New York, or LA, or somewhere where he and his band would make it big.

Instead, he was here. Trapped in a hellscape with only her for company. The entire world at his fingertips if he crossed over, barred from him by accusations for murders he didn’t commit. Starting with her own.

“Do you ever regret it?” she blurted before she could stop herself.

He glanced at her curiously. “Regret what, sunshine?”

She winced. This question had been plaguing her since the moment they’d found each other. But she could never bring herself to ask before now. She dreaded the answer too much.

Still, she had to finish what she’d started. “Do you ever regret… y’know. Meeting me in the woods that day? Selling to me?”

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I love love love reader interactions! I do TMI Tuesdays to invite exactly that. I love getting questions about fics, or questions directed to my characters. It keeps me motivated to keep writing.

[acacia-may]

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for reblogging my poll! 😊 It’s so nice to see fellow Hero enthusiasts in the world (I feel like he can be very underappreciated at times), and I think you have some really interesting ideas. I relate a lot to entertaining a wide variety of possibilities about his future, and I hope you don't mind me chiming here, but I just absolutely loved what you said about how his yearning for Mari might cause him to sabotage his potential relationships in the future and I had a lot of thoughts. 😅 I've put them under the cut because this ended up being so long, but thank you so much again for participating in my poll and for the great discussion! 💖

I think I lean heavily to the opinion/interpretation that Hero is kind of an old-fashioned romantic. In my mind it's almost like he believes everyone gets this one, incredible "once in a lifetime" type love in their lives and he's already had his with Mari so it would be greedy and unfair to even wish for anything else. I think he would have a lot of fear of opening his heart to love again, not just because he's afraid of another terrible loss but also because I really think he is worried that he's not enough: that's he's too broken and that whoever he could be with would deserve someone who hadn't had to put their whole heart back together again. In my mind, he'd just be kind of consumed by these worries of "What if I don't love this new person as much as Mari?" or "What if I can't give her everything that she deserves?" or "What if she feels like a second choice?" I can kind of see Hero getting a little hung up on that old-fashioned romanticism of the "One And Only Love" and this whole "I've never felt this way about anyone before" kind of phenomenon, and in that way, I worry that even if he really did come to love someone again in the future, he'd just rule himself out thinking that that person deserved to be someone's "one and only" and that his patched-together heart wouldn't be enough for her.

I think it would be a bit of an uphill battle for him and probably the slowest of slow burns, if he did fall in love again, but I do think it's possible if he decides that's what he wants for himself and if he can really believe that it isn't unfair to Mari, to his new love or to himself for him to love again. He has to get to place where he can accept that falling in love with someone else doesn't change the fact that he truly cared about Mari and is always going to miss her, while also recognizing that the fact that he is always going to miss Mari doesn't mean that he can't truly and genuinely love someone new too. Love isn't just this finite thing. If you love someone once and lose them, all the love you have to give isn't necessarily just used up forever, and there really is something beautiful in opening your heart to love again. So I just think that if Hero decides that he wants to love again, he just has to find someone who really believes that--someone who understands how much he cared about Mari and who is mature and compassionate enough not to feel threatened or jealous by the fact that a part of him will always miss her, someone who really encourages him that she doesn't and could never feel like just a second choice or a last resort (which of course she wouldn’t be).

A little tangent but it makes me think of one of my favorite movies "Return to Me." It's this incredibly sincere love story about a man, Bob, who loses his wife in a tragic accident and swears off love forever, but he eventually finds healing and falls in love with the wonderful woman whose life was saved by receiving his deceased wife's heart in a heart transplant. The heroine of this film, Grace, is just so incredibly sensitive to his loss and so supportive of him, and one of the main conflicts of the movie is that she cares about him so much that she is heartbroken to learn that even though this transplant saved her life, it caused him so much pain and suffering. The other conflict, of course, is the main man (Bob) coming to realize that even though he truly loved his wife and is always going to miss her, that doesn't mean that he can't love Grace just as much. It's real. It's beautiful, and it's so sincere. Highly recommend! I actually just watched it recently because I was thinking about poor Hero, and I think if I could design it, that's really what I would want for him in the future. I would want him to find someone who is so patient and so supportive, and who cares so deeply about him, and I would want him to really allow himself to grow to love her and to be happy again (even if it takes a long time). But, of course, the bigger question is: does he want that for himself? And it's also possible that he doesn't and that he never will. There are a lot of ways that it could go and, I agree, that's really interesting to think about.

Thank you so much for voting! My sister & I have been discussing this at lenth recently, and I’m really curious what the fandom thinks. 😊 Please consider sharing my poll for a bigger sample size. Thank you for participating. Cheers!!

[embywolf]

December Drabbles - Part 2

Turns out word prompts aren't enough if you don't have much creativity to back it up! I'm trying not to plan anything and see where this goes, but then I'm worried about contradicting myself later on. But it's not like it matters as I doubt it'll get read anyway so who cares if I mess it up and contradict myself? 🤣😅 Part One (if you can call it that) Part Two below the cut

The suggestions were meant to be anonymous. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t able to guess as to who had suggested what. Revali’s suggestions, for example, were really easy to identify, as was his Cucco scratch hand writing (talon writing?) but she’d never say it to his beak. As predicted his suggestions were all along the same sort of lines as ‘to never have an asinine event in the first place’ to ‘cancel ALL work parties’ along with ‘exempt Revali from having to attend these events’ (though she suspected this could of come from Link) and her personal favourite ‘if we must participate in this nonsense at least make it so that mistletoe means something opposite to kissing. A punch in the face for example.’

She quite liked that last one. Maybe not punching in the face (the lawsuits and paperwork would be a nightmare!) but something light-hearted. Such as, if you’re caught under the mistletoe your colleague must buy you a pastry from the office cafeteria. 'Hmm, maybe not the best idea, some of the gluttons in this place would never leave the mistletoe. Link, the hungry bastard that he is would probably relocate his desk or some other such tactic to gain as many tasty treats as he could.'

Maybe a diversion from mistletoe being related to kissing may be a good idea. Yes, their company was more like a group of friends working together but knowing of at least one love triangle in the office? Urbosa was loathe to poke that potential hornet’s nest, especially as she had a vested interest in one of the points of said love triangle. Zelda was her closest acquittance at the company, they were like niece and aunt. So, seeing Zelda fawn over one of her colleagues in secret was a difficult tightrope for Urbosa to navigate.

She very much wanted to use her event planning as a way to nudge Zelda and her love interest together in some sort of cliché Christmas rom com type of way. She was fairly certain that the attraction wasn’t one sided on Zelda’s part. The issue was she was a realist, she knew that things rarely worked out that way in real life. Knowing the way things tended to work around here, if Urbosa was to try and play matchmaker there was a good chance it could backfire spectacularly, especially knowing that Zelda wasn’t the only one with an eye on their mutual colleague.

Yes, maybe playing it safe and moving away from mistletoe kisses was the best idea. She couldn’t bear if it backfired and Zelda got hurt by the potential of seeing the guy she likes kissing the other interested party. She has to think about how to adapt the mistletoe. Like some form of score sheet maybe and whoever has the most strikes at the end of the month loses. That’ll hopefully stop some of the creeps in the office ruining the atmosphere and making this awkward. ‘I’m thinking of you Bozai!’ she mentally scolds. ‘The sooner he leaves, the better!’ She didn’t even want to think of what his suggestions might be.

She shudders before turning back to the boxes of decorations on her desk, hopefully someone from each department would be down soon to collect a box for their section of the office. She really didn’t want to lug all these boxes around the entire building.