#i was on ffn back in the day so i never used wattpad and it terrifies me LMAO

[ddeongies]

i would like to gift you my first born as a token of gratitude for feeding the ryeji community

thank you for keeping the tags alive. i have gone back to using wattpad and it (the filter system) is traumatizing

omg kafjdlsfj i just checked with my wife and she's down for it, we'll take your first born just hmu :D

but also honestly it's my pleasure!! i've been reading and writing fic for over a decade at this point and this is genuinely the most i've ever produced for one ship they got me in a chokehold and as of yet i see no way out LOL

[oceangirl24]

Saudade: Glory Days

"How do you know you got the right size?"

A red flush colored his cheeks. Sheepishly, he admitted, "I checked her underwear while we were packin' and got the same size."

Shawn approved of this. "What about the top?"

Jon frowned. "What about the top?"

"Didn't you check her bra size?"

Jon closed his eyes and grimaced. It did not occur to him that there would be a difference.

Shawn let out a low whistle when he saw the look on his teacher's face. "Yeah, if you didn't get the right cup size, she's gonna feel exposed. Too small she'll spill over the cups. Too big and she'll fall out of it. And it won't look good."

Suddenly Jon became very uncomfortable discussing the suit and Audrey with him. However, Shawn was right. He couldn't believe it never occurred to him to check her bra size, especially when that sort of thing used to be the only thing that ever occurred to him and was one of the first things he checked.

"So what do I do?" He dropped heavily into a chair by the table.

Shawn shrugged. "Nothin' you can do but show her and let her see if it fits."

He put his hand over his mouth then said, "I can't believe I don't know her bra size."

They sat in silence, both staring at the swimsuit. Then Shawn said unhelpfully, "Topanga would know."

"How?"

"Girls have a way of knowin' these things about each other," he replied like a wise sage.

Jon gave him a skeptical look, then chuckled. Shawn could be so confidently wrong sometimes. He watched the teen for a moment then said, "I'm surprised you don't know that kind of thing."

Shawn twitched his nose and looked at the bikini thoughtfully. "I don't see Audrey like that."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know." Shawn smoothed out the wrinkles in the skirt. "But yeah, I used to just glance at a girl and know her sizes."

"And now?"

He shrugged and folded his hands in front of him. "I don't see Audrey like," he said again. "She's really beautiful." There was a thoughtful look in his eyes. "But there's a lot more to her, you know? I figure if there's a lot more to Aud who isn't a lot older than the girls I date then that means there's more to them than how hot they are, right?"

A smile tugged at the corner of Jon's mouth over this revelation. "Yeah."

His mind went to the time Shawn snuck Veronica Watson back to the apartment and all the girls he chose based solely on looks. He recalled the time he found and destroyed the notebook rating girls' physical features in detail that was passed around the locker room not long after the Veronica incident.

So hearing this mature outlook from Shawn made Jon inexplicably proud of him.

The kid was really growing up.

Read the Rest:

AO3 FFN Wattpad

[believingispowerfulmagic]

A Bundle of Joy

Summary: OQ AU. When Robin takes custody of the baby daughter he didn't know he had, he asks his housemate and best friend Regina to help him raise her. They become their own family and their lives start to change in more ways than one.

Chapter 1: FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Chapter 4: Sleepless in Storybrooke

FFN | AO3 | Wattpad |

Excerpt:

"I'm glad the heatwave finally broke," Mary Margaret said, setting two glasses of lemonade down on her patio table. "I hated keeping Neal cooped up in the house."

She sat down as she looked out to where David and Robin were playing with the kids in the pool. Neal splashed around, soaking his father, while Margot was content to play with an octopus as she floated in her father's arms. David and Robin talked as they stood in the water, happy as clams.

"I know," Regina said. "I felt the same about keeping Margot in that hotel room. But she seemed to be okay with it."

"You all could've stayed with us," Mary Margaret insisted. "We have plenty of room."

Regina sighed. "I know but I think it was probably better if we just stayed in the hotel room. We didn't know how long we would be and you know what they say about guests and fish."

Mary Margaret gave her a pointed look. "You would not start to stink after three days, Regina. We would've loved to have you, Robin and Margot for however long it took to get your AC fixed."

"Well, we can't go back and change the past," Regina said. "I think it worked out for everyone in the end."

She glanced over at Robin, recalling the few nights they shared a bed together. Regina missed falling asleep by his side and waking up curled around him. She swore she slept better with him than when she was on her own but figured that was just her feelings for him romanticizing the truth. It was very likely she slept the same with or without him.

But part of her hoped it was true.

"You're staring," Mary Margaret whispered, though it felt like she had shouted it as Regina nearly jumped out of her seat.

Regina slowly turned to her friend, who was smirking. As the adrenaline ebbed, Regina asked: "What?"

"You're staring at Robin," Mary Margaret replied smugly. "What exactly happened in that hotel room?"

"Nothing," Regina insisted, knowing it was the truth. "We just shared a bed together and spent time as family. It was pretty sweet but nothing newsworthy."

Mary Margaret's eyes narrowed as she leaned closer. "I'm sorry, did you saw you two shared a bed?"

Regina swallowed before trying to play it nonchalantly, not wanting her friend to make a big deal of it. "The hotel only had a room with a single bed. It was big enough for the two of us and so we shared it. No big deal."

"Uh huh," Mary Margaret said, tilting her head. "If it's no big deal, why aren't you meeting my eyes and why are your cheeks turning pink?"

"Okay, okay," Regina said, leaning closer and dropping her voice. "There may have been some cuddling going on."

Mary Margaret squealed and Regina hushed her, motioning for her to lower her voice. "Robin doesn't know."

"What do you mean Robin doesn't know?" Mary Margaret asked, frowning. "How were you cuddling then?"

"It happened when we were asleep," Regina explained, recalling waking up pressed against Robin as he held her close. "We must've just gravitated toward each other and snuggled together."

"That sounds really sweet," Mary Margaret said, going doe-eyed. "And you never told Robin?"

Regina shook her head. "He had already been nervous about that happening and making me uncomfortable, even offering to go sleep in our hot house to prevent it. I didn't want him to know that it had happen, even if I was the one cuddling him."

"You cuddled him?" Mary Margaret leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Tell me more."

"What?" Regina asked, not sure what her friend wanted to know and worried that Robin would overhear their conversation the longer it went on.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. "Come on. Were you spooning? If so, who was big spoon and who was little spoon? Or was it something else entirely?"

"Something else entirely," Regina told her, hoping to end the conversation quickly. "I was wrapped around his side and he had his arm around me, holding me close."

"That sounds sweet," Mary Margaret said, sighing dreamily. "Did you feel uncomfortable waking up like that with him?"

Regina shifted in her seat. "No, but I am uncomfortable talking about it here. Robin can get out of the pool and walk up to us. So please, just drop it."

"You can't keep running from your feelings for him, Regina," Mary Margaret insisted. "It will only hurt you and him in the end."

"Now you're just being hyperbolic," Regina told her, almost hissing. "I know you mean well but I really, really need you to stop meddling in this case. Okay?"

Mary Margaret pressed her lips together but nodded. "Fine. But just know that I want what's best for you, Regina. I just want you to be happy."

"I know you do," Regina admitted with a sigh, knowing that in her heart. "I just need you to trust that I know what makes me happy and not to push whatever fairy tale is playing out in your head on me. Okay?"

"Okay," Mary Margaret said. "I just don't want you to look back and regret not giving Robin a chance."

"I'm sure I won't," Regina lied, wondering if maybe her friend was right after all.

[lunar-wandering]

If you're looking for an alternative writing program, you can try to use other writing sites that let you save drafts without html coding. Arm yourself with an adblocker and a vpn extension (free or not) and try your hand at wattpad (what my friend uses) or fanfiction net (what i use). Both of these let you keep drafts without posting WITHOUT the html coding that ao3 automatically puts into your text when you save a draft.

FFN has a better organization structure, in my opinion though it does warn you that it automatically deletes documents in roughly 90 days if i remember correctly.

You can also always just use MS word or your device's notepad, but you might have to code some formatting html to paste anything into ao3 since the site loves to yeet italizations and text alignment that isnt to the left into oblivion.

quite frankly i think you and your friend are absolutely insane and need to be studied by science. you think. im going to write my shit. in WATTPAD?????? ON FF.NET?????????????????????????????? WHO DO YOU THINK I AM????

secondly i will never use coding again never again 4 years ago i once spent like 3 hours adding coding to a fic so that the italics and stuff would show up in ao3 (before i found out that if you swap it from "html" to "rich text" before adding the text makes it so you Don't Have To Do That) and im NEVER going back.

thirdly my laptop only has sticky notes that can only keep up to 500 words in them. there is no notepad. there is no MS Word. there is no LibreOffice. there is NOTHING. i am in the writers void.

[not-poignant]

Back in the day when I was using FFN I saw a lot of people write their story however they wanted, and then remove the segment that didn’t adhere to the guidelines, leaving a link to their blog where they would post the deleted scene. It was a headache but it’s better than them not posting the story at all. I know that’s a lot of work to do for your already written stories, but maybe m&m? It’s just so sad to think that you’ll be walking on these stupid eggshells writing it.

Hi hi anon!

It was a headache but it’s better than them not posting the story at all.

Definitely. I've been on fandom sites for about twenty years, and when I wrote fanfiction under another name, for a small archive, I did this myself. You know, wrote a more explicit scene, told people they could email me for the chapter (since this was more common back then), and so on.

But you know what's way way way better than all of that?

Being able to post whatever I want on AO3. The freedom is so nice, and I'm never going back to shadily hiding explicit scenes in my metaphorical trenchcoat for folks. I'm done with living that way. And I'm never going to go back to that kind of 'dark ages' dystopian way of getting past censorship while AO3 exists, y'know? :) I was so a happy to walk away from that site, and I'm so happy not to be using the un-user-friendly clusterfuck that is FF.net anymore.

If Wattpad users do want all of my works, they can come to AO3, or download the stories in their entirety from AO3 and read them at any time on their e-readers. So they're technically not missing out if they're just willing to look a bit further afield! :D

As for Mallory & Mount, I'm no longer the kind of writer who writes stories that are 80% porn and 20% story, so the sex scenes won't actually be super prevalent in Mallory & Mount, it's very story driven. And though the sex scenes will be extreme and dubcon, I don't consider this the same as the outright rape that happened in Game Theory. I'm not as worried about that. Same with Underline the Black. I'm just not that kind of writer anymore, I can still write very intense scenes and quite extreme dubcon, but I just don't really feel the urge to put it in every chapter these days? So I don't think most people reading say - The Beast that Chose Its Own Bridle - which has lengthy, intense BDSM scenes, would call that a 'porn story' first and foremost, even though it has porn. There's just too much story happening around all the sex, lol.

I don't really think of it as walking on eggshells honestly. I'm just not risking certain stories out of the gate, and they're already safe and fine on AO3 (and Dropbox). And while some of my stories are in a grey area, I'm confident I can articulate why they're valuable and have merit as narratives and/or cut my losses and keep them on AO3.

My shortlist of stories for Wattpad if folks are interested is:

The Wildness Within Stuck on the Puzzle From the Darkness We Rise Into Shadows We Fall The Golden Age that Never Was Spoils of the Spoiled possibly Falling Falling Stars (the length is offputting but I actually think the story could do really well there because it's very consent focused and it has a clear 'sexual assault is bad' message lol) Inmates Passiflora The Beast that Chose Its Own Bridle Underline the Black Mallory & Mount

I won't be putting them all up at once, but chapter by chapter as with any serial. The first two in the list are the first two I'll be starting with and they both just need covers now, they're ready to launch. I'm going with a fanfiction/original fiction mix because I can! :D

Stories that I'm not putting up on Wattpad at all:

The Wind that Cuts the Night (I think the front-heavy violent BDSM in the beginning will be too high risk even if it develops a story later - it's a shame because I think it works really well as an 'original novel' even though it's fanfiction). Game Theory The Court of Five Thrones Strange Sights short stories

Stories I'm on the fence on but will make a decision about based on how the short-list goes, or based on how well I think they can do on their own:

Eversion The Ice Plague anything else, lol.

I'm on the fence about The Ice Plague because it's the end point of the canon, but a lot of people came into Fae Tales through that story and I think handled it pretty well.

Eversion has some outright noncon, and while I think it has a strong 'sexual assault is bad' message, it also has Connor 'gosh I love degradation and humiliation and being told I'm filthy and slutty sir' Perkins in it, and even some AO3 readers struggled to find what Connor consented to, consensual, simply because they struggled to see why anyone would enjoy suffering like that. I have never had a character scream 'this is consensual' more in a story and have so many people be like 'oh god this is so horrible, he hates it so much' lmaoooo. I feel like Wattpad readers are going to be even less forgiving of that than AO3 readers.

Anyway, y'all know my plan now! :D It's going to take aaaaaages because I'll be releasing the chapters over time and I'm only going to have like 1-2 old stories updating at once, so um, it might actually take around 8 years to upload everything?

...*laughs nervously*

But no, no, I've been in fandom for over 20 years anon, I am well and truly over the dark ages of 'lol hmu for a link of the explicit wink wonk banned stuff' or 'haha click this link because this puritanical site won't let us be adults!' AO3 is where it's at. And I think we can all just appreciate that it's truly best to just...be able to post anything fictional + sexually taboo there, and not have to worry about a corporation potentially smacking us in the face for it.

[olderthannetfic]

I don't know who better to ask, but I recently got into Fist of the North star, which people talk about being super influential to anime and was first published about 40 years ago but theres not a lot of works on A03 that aren't just a bunch of unrelated crossovers. Does anyone know if it's a "hasn't aged well" thing or creative fanworks existed on a pre-a03 site and never migrated?

--

My guess is that it never had much fandom in English.

When looking for anime /manga fic in English, the big question we need to ask is not when it's from but when it was translated.

Nowadays, we get things just about when Japan does, and Europe and Latin America got plenty of translations back in ye olden times, but if you were a monolingual American in the 90s, your options were a ton of Rumiko Takahashi manga, that super confusing Akira movie, and a few older anime series like Sailor Moon.

Stuff that was being translated up through the 00s was often already a decade or more old, and which things we got was pretty idiosyncratic.

A quick gander at Wikipedia shows anime series from the 80s. I don't remember those being available back in the day, even as fansubs. There are about eleven billion other things in the franchise, but again, I don't remember them being widely available in translation.

I tried googling both 'fist of the north star' and 'hokuto no ken' plus 'fanfic', 'English translation', etc. I found a bunch of reddit bros bemoaning the difficulty of finding it in English translation. So that tells me that we're probably not looking at a fandom with some specific year the English version became available (that would tell us which historical platform to look on).

I see some mentions on SpaceBattles, FFN, AFF, Wattpad, Quotev, Mediaminer, etc. Anywhere with fic seems to have a handful but not more.

If somebody else knows of old web shrines, sing out, but my guess is that it just never had a lot of English language fanworks.

[dramionedaydream]

Deathly Hallows Dramione Re-telling "Call Me Psyche" Updated to Chapter 9

by diamonddaydream

Excerpt:

From the other side of the fallen tree, low in the forest hollow with the pool at the bottom, came the sound of Ron and Harry's exhausted but genuine laughter. After the fear and tension of their first meeting in weeks, their manners were getting looser, louder, more like themselves.

“They seem fine now,” Hermione whispered to Draco from where they watched. “Whatever it was, it’s over. Looks like they’ve made up and they’re getting along again.”

Draco let out a quiet but long sigh. “Was it me who brought this on all of you? Did I ruin everything already? Did that awful voice follow me here?”

She stiffened. No, it was the horcrux that brought the foul voice here. That was certain. She couldn’t explain it to Draco Malfoy, but she couldn’t lie to him either. “It wasn’t you. It was Harry. I can tell by looking. But I can’t tell you how. Please just trust me, and don’t leave me yet.”

Draco nodded and reached for her hand again. “Not yet – it’s our motto. Not yet. I know the only way I can stay with you is if I’m completely oblivious to almost everything about you. I get it. I’m not angry, just frustrated at being so useless. And now Weasley is back. Potter’s down there welcoming him back into your invisible camp with open arms, isn’t he?”

She pursed her lips as she sat down on Malfoy’s side of the fallen tree. “Looks like it.”

There was a rustle of leaves as he took her in a gentle tackle onto her back, gazing down at her, still overwhelmed to see Hermione Granger looking back at him from Psyche’s face. “What about your arms?” he said. “Are they open to Weasley too?”

She blinked her dark, shiny eyes up at him. “More than anyone, you know how badly Ronald hurt me when he abandoned us.”

“Exactly,” he said. “And the only reason he was capable of hurting you so badly was because you’ve felt so deeply for him for so long.”

She took his face in both her hands, cradling his sharp jawlines, her touch gentle. “I won’t tell you that I don’t still have a profound connection to him,” she said. “I always will. But I’m not about to go floating down there doling out forgiveness and like it’s cheap. And forgiveness doesn’t mean things will be like they were before. That’s impossible. Really, if Ron was within arm’s reach at this moment, I reckon I’d be hitting him.”

Draco groaned, knowing Hermione well enough to take no comfort in that. "Your hits are for me. I first earned them ages ago. You remember. They’re mine," he said, turning his face between her hands, kissing her palm. “You will forgive him eventually. And when you do…” He sighed again, letting his head sink to rest beside hers in the frozen leaf litter. Her hands closed on the back of his head, her fingers combing through his hair as she lay beneath him.

“Draco, he’s – “

“Never mind,” he interrupted. “I’m not trying to force any promises out of you. I understand that – your future – I’m – it’s too dangerous. And if I was any good, I’d leave you alone, but – “

She was hushing him again, turning her face toward his, brushing the tip of his nose with hers. “Not yet. Here’s your girl,” she said. “Here I am, right now. And all anyone can do in times like ours is live day by day, night by night. And tonight, we’re still alright. This is what I want.”

Read on AO3 or FFN or Wattpad

[thejudgingtrash]

Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

[bluboothalassophile]

Hello,

Okay, I just kind of need to rant, and I have no place to put this but the last few days... I'm just so fucking done with bullshit.

I know I haven't been 'active' in terms of writing for a while. 2020 sort of knocked us all on our asses, in my house, so it's just... it's really hard to be motivated about anything really as of late. I am not a fan of living in California, but I don't miss where I was either. I'm bummed I haven't gotten to enjoy a new, fresh start, or make friends, or have a life, I feel like I've lost so much of my youth to being a caregiver and now thanks to the pandemic, I really feel more disconnected than ever.

Anyways, I ran out of things to engage with during the pandemic because I caught up on everything, there weren't a lot of 'new' things in my life, so I started binging Netflix, Hulu, and so forth. I watched Vampire Diaries, Originals, and Legacies to laugh at it's ridiculousness; because it's ridiculous. It's like Grey's Anatomy! It's ridiculous. I found I enjoyed the characters though, mainly in the Originals because I lost interest in the Elena nonsense pretty quickly.

The Originals though... I like that one a lot. And you guys know me, I sort of pick my favorite characters and stick to them; i.e. JayRae, SessRin, SasuSaku (to which we will never mention ever again), and so forth. I love Davina Claire, Kol Mikaelson, Marcel Gerard, and Hayley Marshall.

I wasn't going to do any new projects, I wasn't because I have been getting back into the swing of writing fanfics, but I really loved Davina and Kol so I decided fuck it, and I'd do the project Anonymously. Ao3 has that wonderful Anonymous feature, which I had never used and so wanted to try out because I just sort of wanted to do a thing and leave said thing when I was done. The TVD and Originals fandom scares me, because they kind of strike me as a very Naruto like fandom and that went so swimmingly for me obviously. I mean, nothing wrong could happen, right? HAHA, wrong. So, in a vain attempt to avoid repeating the Naruto fandom nonsense; because I really do not have the mental capacity for drama anymore, my bullshit meter has been thoroughly burnt out; I went about being Anonymous.

Anyways, so I started a story, the Vixen & the Fox, for FUN! It was a word vomit idea, write when I could because it was fun. There was no expectations on me or it! I could just fly under the radar. I also could feel productive because I was writing regularly again, and posting, and that made writing my originals easier, so I felt productive! Which was awesome because I missed it. I figured I'd finish that story and just go back to Hopes for a Bastard, because that series is my baby; also finish Never Be the Same too.

And then some asshole started posting my story on Wattpad claiming they had my permission and they didn't! And that theft has really fucked me up and fucked me over because despite all the other shit, and all the other drama I've endured No One Has Ever Stolen A Story From Me! I have never felt so infuriated, livid, offended, betrayed, and fucking used in my entire goddamn life! What the Hell Do They Gain By Doing This Though!? Seriously!? It's 500k words! It's fanfiction TAILORED to a particular fandom universe! You Can't Exactly Get Famous Off Of It Even With Changing It Up! And it doesn't matter if they weren't claiming my story as theirs, they were posting it without my permission, or consent, and they claimed to possess both, and no one bothered to tell me until recently.

So Why!? Why the fuck would you take my story; Anonymous or under a Name, cross post it, boasting to have my permission to do so, and NEVER Asking!? I know I don't interact with you guys a lot, I'm not a responsive author to reviews, or anything (sorry about that, but FFN was my first platform ever and interacting with readers just was not something I thought to do, and now it's because I'm shy and I'm terrible about not replying to questions when they're asked in reviews. My sisters call me spoiler queen because I just answer the question! So no, no I'm not an interactive writer in that sense!).

Anyways, with the help of people like @shewhowillnotbenamed1, @alerialblu, @bookaholicpt, @xaphrin, @chromium7sky, I managed to not lose my shit, and also to put my story under my name, and get the cross posting thief to take my story down; to which I want to say THANK YOU! Again, to you guys, because you're awesome.

But I'm still sitting here, and I want to know why. Why do people do this? Just... why? I'm sitting here very confused about this, and pissed, and I can't seem to process it, despite it being over, and now I'm using fucking Wattpad, to try to reach the readers who were reading it there, and I just... Why would someone do this? Do my stories really need to be under my name to be somewhat safe? I mean, really? I just wanted to be Anonymous for a minute and write, so why is it they felt the need to do this? Because the moment I put this story under my name, they acted like they'd been doing me a favor, not screwing me over, and they said it wasn't theft, but it was. Why did it matter if I was Anonymous or under BluBooThalassophile? Why do people do this.

I'm sorry about the rant, but I really can't wrap my head around what's happened, or process it, and I'm so fucking angry, and hurt that I can't even express all of it because I don't know how. Why would someone do this? Just, why?

[giuliafc]

When Magic Fails - chapter 2

Read on A03 || FFN || Wattpad (links to chapter 1)

Summary: The Miraculous Cure can fix the damage caused by a specific akuma. But what happens when said damage comes after the Miraculous Cure? When the damage isn't caused by an akuma? Follow Marinette through the worst day of her life. The day where her identity, or Chat's, won't matter any more. The day when she will discover what's really important. But at what price? Lovesquare story.

Warning: VERY intense! Read previous chapter here on Tumblr

Betas: KhanOfAllOrcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama, Speckleflower, AmberLambda, Anonymousfriend27 and MiniNoire

Big thanks to: Momo|MarinetteAgresteBrand and Genxha

Cover art and chapter art credit: Rosehealer02 on Deviantart.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc; TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

oOo

Chapter 2 - Code Polkadot

It was a race against time. His ring beeped when she passed the Ministère de la Santé, and her own Miraculous beeped in front of the ambassade des Pays-Bas. People watched in horror as she jumped and zipped across the road. She could see their stares, could hear their whispers. They were probably wondering what Ladybug was doing, holding Chat Noir and running madly across the road, both covered in blood, dust and rubble. She glared at anybody that came within a glaring distance.

“WHERE’S THE HOSPITAL?” she shouted at someone who had just stopped on a bike next to her. A familiar face, but her vision was so blurred by tears and sweat that she couldn’t quite make out who the person was. She shrugged off the idea. Four different hands pointed in the same direction, immediately followed by another dozen. She attempted a grateful smile, but was certain, from the frightened reactions of the people on the road, that she had barely managed to put up a painful grimace.

She jumped across in the direction shown and immediately saw her reflection glaring at her from the windows of the building in front of her. She didn’t even stop to consider what she looked like. The words on the building's windows said Hôpital Necker, but they also mentioned "University". She looked around to find the blue "H" that clearly marked a public hospital and saw it just a few metres away, at the side of a small marble arched gate, which led into a courtyard.

She landed in front of it and burst inside; her eyes scanned the courtyard until she saw at her left a door manning the sign “Accueil”. As she walked inside and looked around, she saw lines of metallic black seats. Mothers and children moved to give her space, as well as the people queuing and standing in front of the reception check in. She heard whispers around the room, mothers consoling their children who were asking what happened to Chat Noir. Why were there so many kids? All the patients had children with them; that was weird.

“I need a doctor, quickly!” she said bluntly at the woman sitting at the check in desk. To her disappointment the receptionist was on the phone, so taken with looking at the screen in front of her that she hadn’t even glanced in her direction. Marinette’s gaze quickly ran to Chat Noir’s face. The side of his head was covered in blood, which had mixed together with the dirt and the pieces of mortar in his hair and had made a sort of paste that had glued to his and even to her own suit. Her heart raced faster in her chest. She needed to hurry.

“Have you got your child’s carnet de santé and carte mutuelle, and your carte vitale please?” came from behind the green desk the voice of said receptionist, who stretched her left hand out to her, her eyes still focused on the screen in front of her, her ear still glued to the phone receiver.

Marinette gulped. Child? She looked around again. There were plenty of colourful drawings and cartoon characters embossed on the walls of the reception desk and pictures of children with many different types of illnesses.

Oh yes. Hôpital Necker, the child hospital. That’s right. She had heard of it in the news so many times, looking for donations for their research.

“He’s not my child…” she said. If the situation hadn’t been so serious she was sure Chat would have found it funny.

The middle aged brunette in front of her took her eyes off her screen, put a thick pair of glasses on and gave her a practised look of pure boredom before her brown eyes widened. “Excuse me ma’am,” she said to the person she was talking to on the phone. “I have an emergency here. You will need to redial.” She hung up and dropped the phone receiver.

“La… Ladybug? Oh Jesus… Chat Noir? What… This is a child’s hospital Ladybug… we have adult patients, but they...they’re not our speciality...” She started stammering and paled considerably.

Marinette felt a gush of anger spreading all over her gut as she admitted it, hastily, “I’m fifteen… and I expect him to be around my age. I don’t care if it’s a hospital for children, for aliens or for wild animals. He could die if we don’t act fast. He needs help. NOW.”

People all around started whispering.

“Fifteen?”

“Oh my God.”

“They are kids.”

“Only kids.”

“Maman is Chat Noir really younger than my big brother?���

“Sure.” The woman at the desk picked up the phone and pushed a couple of buttons on it. “Dr. Richter? Yes, Sylvie here at reception. We have an emergency. Oh you know already? Good… code polkadot you say? What is it, I’ve never heard of it. Ah okay... Cool. Yes, they know. They’re 15! Yes. I hear you, yes. Crazy! I’ll tell her. Leave it to me.” She stood and ran out of the accueil’s room; Marinette could only follow. “They’re already waiting for you in front of the SUSI (2).”

Marinette paled. “But I thought this was…” she muttered, but the woman interrupted her.

“Ladybug, you’re in the wrong place. This is the reception for booked appointments and routine visits. The SUSI is over there.” She pointed to the left. “You’re probably going to be faster than the bed. It’s the other side of that rooftop.”

Marinette gave her a grateful look and a nod. “Thank you… Sylvie?”

“Good luck, Ladybug,” she said smiling warmly. “You saved my boyfriend when he was akumatised. This is the least I can do.”

Marinette nodded again and held Chat firmly, jumping on the rooftop as fast as her legs could take her. She immediately saw that three men dressed in blue were waiting at the back entrance of the next building, near what looked like a gurney and an ambulance. She jumped off right beside them.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Ladybug. Nadja Chamack rang the hospital to warn us of your arrival. Please allow me to take him,” one of the nurses said, as he tried to take Chat from her arms.

She initially resisted, but then heard Chat’s ring giving a louder beep, so she gave in. “Please, we need to hurry. One minute and our transformations will fall,” she pleaded. The man’s gaze became stern. He held Chat firmly and moved steadily towards the gurney next to him. He carefully put Chat on it and quickly pushed the gurney inside the building, trying to move it hastily to the corridor leading to a door labelled ‘PU - Urgences’ (1).

A loud beep came from her earrings, and in a flash of pink, Marinette’s transformation fell as she sped next to the nurses, not even trying to hide her face from the crowd that had gathered all around her. Her gaze stayed firmly focused on Chat and on the nurses who were putting what she thought could be an oxygen mask on his mouth and nose, taking advantage of a moment when the gurney stopped because of the crowd. She didn’t even pay any attention to Tikki, who had come out of the earrings and had looked at her worryingly before flying into her purse.

“Ew, what’s that?”

“A giant bug maman!”

“Does Ladybug keep bugs in her purse?”

“WILL YOU ALL PLEASE GO FASTER? HIS SUIT HELPS HIM, BUT THIS COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS LIFE OR HIS DEATH! HE’S ONLY GOT A FEW MORE SECONDS TO SPARE!” She could swear that she saw a few flashes and tried to cover her face as best she could. Suddenly she felt someone’s arms wrap around her as a jacket was thrown over her head.

“There’s nothing else to see people, let the gurney pass!” a male voice said. She knew that voice… where had she heard that voice before?

They went through the doors of the PU and walked hastily a little longer until the gurney stopped and moved ninety degrees. The jacket was removed from her head as she heard the zipping sound of curtains being pulled all around them. A quick glance to her surroundings made her realise that they were in a sort of cubicle, protected from the view by a set of blue paper curtains, and the doctors and nurses were surrounding Chat, plugging different cables and machines all around him.

“Where do I plug the oximeter?” one of the nurses asked. She looked very young and a bit pale. She held a sort of peg in her hands, plugged into a machine and tried to attach it to one of Chat’s cat ears. “Nope. Does he have human ears?” She moved his hair at the side of his head and Marinette heard her sighing in relief as she attached the peg to something.

“What happened to him, how did he get hurt, Miss Ladybug?” she heard a doctor ask and she suddenly looked up, realising that the man was talking to her.

“Oh… he fell off the Eiffel Tower…” she started to say. Then she heard the last beep of her partner’s ring and in a flash of green his transformation fell. As Plagg twirled out of the ring and fell with a loud sob on top of Chat’s head, Marinette couldn’t stop her gaze from following the black kwami and running straight to the blond boy laying on the bed.

The plastic mask covered almost all his face, but even with that on, there was not a chance in hell that Marinette wouldn’t recognise his blond mane, now combed neatly to the side of his head and clean from the dirt, but not from the blood that plastered the side of his face. Pale; he was as pale as a ghost. She only caught a glimpse of his face before someone’s arms wrapped around her and held her tight. But that glimpse was enough.

No.

NO!

NOO! It couldn’t be...

“Gamin? Talk to me! Are you okay?” she heard Plagg say. Then, she saw something red dashing around the room, grabbing Plagg, oblivious of his objections, and disappearing behind the curtain. “Tikki, you don’t understand! I need to tell Pigtails! He’s been poi—” the little God of destruction whimpered as he was dragged away. She wasn't sure, but she thought she had seen tears at the corner of Plagg’s electric green eyes. Even her own eyes filled with tears, her chest shaken by loud sobs.

“Mar-Ladybug, it’s okay. He will be safe,” someone said, hugging her tight, but it sounded far away, like a whisper from a different time. "Marinette can you hear me? It's me, Luka," he added in a lower tone of voice. But all Marinette could hear were the sudden angry beeps of the machines in front of her, having gone mad the second Chat's transformation fell. A horde of doctors and nurses rushed to the gurney, busying themselves with plugging in more cables and hooking up strange machines to Chat's body and face.

“Sorry, Mlle. Ladybug, can you please wait over there? We need space!” Marinette heard the voice of one of the doctors say, and she felt Luka’s arms wrapping tighter around her as he tried to move her backwards.

She resisted sternly. That face. She had just given one quick glance to that face. She had to see it again, to see that it wasn’t the face she thought. She wriggled out of Luka’s hold and jerked towards the gurney, peeking around the doctors at work and trying to give another quick look, earning quite a few glares from a couple of nurses.

The neatly combed blond mane framed the handsome face of the boy she would recognise among thousands. As pale as a ghost. His once peachy lips now dry and blue under the transparent plastic mask. His beautiful green eyes closed. Why of all people did it have to be him?

She screamed.

"It's okay, Mar-Ladybug! He will be alright!" Luka's voice said again, his arms firmly wrapped around her shoulders to stop her from lunging straight to the bedside.

"ADRIEEEEN!!!" Her heart-wrenching screams came loud and clear in between the sobs that rocked her chest and lungs.

"Marinette? What… Adrien? Oh girl you must be kidding me! Mar… La-Ladybug?" This was Alya's voice. She heard Luka shushing her, and Alya’s eyes widened, as she corrected herself. What was Alya doing here?

Suddenly, a pair of extra arms wrapped around her from her left side. Another pair from the right, in a vice grip that kept her from going to him, that kept pushing her backwards.

A female voice spoke, the masked emotions trickling in through the tremble in her voice. “You can't go over there! You'll only get in the way of the doctors working on him! Stay here!”

“ADRIE—” A hand cupped over her mouth, barely able to muffle the sounds of heartbreak seeping out of her.

"Shhhhh! Do you want everyone to know, Ma-Ladybug?" It was Kagami's voice. She nearly didn’t recognise it, as the usually confident and blunt tone of the Japanese girl was missing completely. She sounded shaken and emotionally drained. Marinette darted her gaze around to notice that Alya was standing at her right and Kagami at her left, and they were both holding her tight, supporting Luka who held her from behind.

They were all there with her. She wondered when they arrived and how they knew where they were. Nadja probably had told them where she was heading, and they were allowed through the door of the PU before detransforming, Marinette thought, but the sight of Adrien being picked up carefully by one of the nurses and transferred into a hospital bed stopped the last of her rational thoughts from coming through. New sobs shook her chest, as new tears rolled off her cheeks. She buried her face in Alya's chest not even attempting to stop sobbing desperately.

Because Chat was Adrien. And Adrien could die. And it was her fault…

------------------------------------

Notes:

(1) PU - Pavillon des Urgences (A&E/ER)

(2) SUSI - Service d'Urgences et de Soins Intensifs (A&E/ER, Emergency and Intensive Care department)

-------------------------------------

Author's Note:

Hi! *Keeps hiding*

I know, I know, this is probably the most catastrophic reveal ever. Please don't hate me!

I'll cut the fluff and get straight to the point. In the next instalment of "When Magic fails", “Secrets in the Open”:

— “We will need to put stitches on this cut at the side of his head.”

— “He has the right to choose how to live his own life!”

— “Chat Noir hasn’t just been injured. He’s been poisoned. And it’s not just an average poison. It’s extremely dangerous.”

I know, I'm cruel. If you want to kill m—, I mean, if you read this and you’re not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks). See you there soon, and see you soon here with the next chapters of this story. Won’t be too long. Promise!

[nick7745]

Having posted a few fics of my own, Today marks the date when I created my fanfic account.

I'd love to thank a few people who don't even know me and may or may not even see this post.

I read HP series a while back before moving on to greener pastures like any book reader. While traveling I was bored and a random search returned results for some fan art on Harry Potter depicting him like a warlord. I got curious and searched for a simply searched for Harry Potter and I got many results from Wattpad, ffn and ao3(I never knew these existed before that)

To cut it short I read quite a few stories and finally stumbled upon Dark Hermione and found a treasure trove of fics written by @cleotheo and @colubrina

Lady of the Lake, Pygmalion, the green girl by @colubrina and The Dark Lady Trilogy, Children of the Dark, Wicked Game, True Colours by @cleotheo have been some of the best reads I have till date. I cannot thank them enough to bring me back to the HP fandom again after so many years in a way I don't want to leave it again.

I have tried to write a few fics to satiate the hunger for Dark fics but it comes nowhere close to the stellar work they have put in.

May they be blessed wherever they are to share such amazing content with us.

The cake's from 19th. I celebrated the combined b'days of Hermione and my kids(their b'days are a month apart and what better day than my fav char's bday)

Cheers!!

[oceangirl24]

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

"Chet never called."

Jon closed his eyes. The mention of that name sparked so much anger in him.

"No," he said gritting his teeth. "Didn't even bother to send a card."

"We didn't miss the call, did we?"

"Chet likes to tell stories to the answerin' machine more than he likes to talk to his kid. There haven't been any answerin' machine stories, so I doubt it."

"Has Shawn said anything to you?"

"I sort of forgot."

At the sound of the teen's voice, Audrey stepped back from Jon and held out a hand to him.

"What do you mean you forgot?" she asked

"Just that," he said leaning into her. "We've been so busy and everythin's been so much fun, I just forgot Dad hasn't bothered to remember Christmas."

"You don't sound upset about it," Jon commented, leaning against the kitchen counter."

Shawn shrugged. "He was never really involved in Christmas. Not since I was little. The only real difference this year is not seein' him sit in recliner all day talkin' to himself."

Jon swore at Chet under his breath.

"What about your mom?" Audrey asked, running her hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes.

He shrugged again. "Last Christmas she sat with Dad for half the day, then left. So not much different."

It was clear that the teen really had not given much thought to his parents being gone since he'd been so engrossed in their activities. Now he was thinking about it. His brow pinched together tightly as a mix of anger and hurt clouded his face.

"Neither one could be bothered," he said bitterly. "I bet Dad found her and their travelin' together, happy to be rid of me."

"Stop that," Jon told him forcefully. The anger he had for Chet and Virna, ws nothing compare to the hurt he felt for Shawn. He knew well what it was like to have parents who would turn their backs on a fifteen-year-old. Without thinking, he put his hand around the back of the teen's neck and pulled him into a hug. Audrey wrapped her arms around them both.

"From what you've told me about those two, they're miserable with and without each other. If they are together, they're not happy- nothin' to do with you. You're a good kid, Shawn. Their issues are not your fault."

"Sure feels like it," he mumbled. He looked at Audrey and said seriously, "Things would be easier for you two if I wasn't here."

"You're the reason why we're together at all," Jon said firmly.

Shawn frowned. "I am?"

"You are, Shawn." Audrey lovingly ran her hand down his cheek. "We wouldn't have what we do without you."

"Yeah," Jon agreed. He looked at his student teacher. While he couldn't say those words to her, he could say them to Shawn. "I love you, kid. If you were gone there'd be a big hole in our lives."

Audrey nodded. "That's right. Everything would be a mess if you weren't with us."

Shawn inhaled a shaky breath. He wasn't convinced that his parents would be happy without him, but he felt less adrift knowing that two people in the world wanted him. At the same time the conversation stirred up a swirl of emotion he was uncomfortable with.

"I wish things didn't have to end tomorrow. "

Audrey held the teen tightly while Jon was silent. After a moment he shook his head.

"It won't end tomorrow," he said firmly.

"It won't? "Shawn and Audrey asked in unison.

Read the Rest

AO3 FFN WattPad

[believingispowerfulmagic]

A Helping Hand

Summary: After an accident leaves Regina Mills with several broken bones, her friend Mary Margaret argues that Regina needs some help at home while she recovers. Regina, naturally, doesn’t like the idea. She believes her injuries make her look weak - and she hates looking weak. When Regina chases off aide after aide, the agency turns to Robin Locksley. Though he has left the field for personal reasons, he has a special knack for difficult patients and Tuck hopes he will be the one aide Regina can’t chase off. Robin reluctantly agrees to work the assignment. Will Regina chase Robin off too? Or will he prove to be just as stubborn as her? And if so, will Robin finally teach Regina that it’s okay to accept help when needed? And will Regina provide the healing Robin himself needs?

Chapter 1: FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Chapter 8: Getting Closer

FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Excerpt:

"Feeling better, Mr. Locksley?" Henry asked as Robin entered the kitchen the next day.

"I am," he said, feeling more refreshed and rested than he had the day before. "All I needed was a good night's sleep and I got it. Thank you."

Henry looked relieved as he nodded. "Good. I think we've had enough sickness around here for, like, the rest of the year."

Robin chuckled, gently squeezing the boy's shoulder. "I agree."

"Time to get ready," Mary Margaret told Henry. "I know you'll feel better knowing that Robin is fine."

Henry nodded before surprising Robin by hugging him. "I'm glad you're not sick."

"Me too," Robin said, returning the hug before gently pushing him away. "Don't forget to give your mum a hug too."

"Right," Henry said, bounding over to Regina. She smiled as he hugged her, telling him to have a good day at school. He then left the kitchen as Mary Margaret reminded Regina to be nice to Robin.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Haven't I been nice to you, Robin?" she asked him.

"She has," he replied, turning to Mary Margaret. "She's been on her best behavior since being released from the hospital."

"Good," Mary Margaret said. "But a friendly reminder never hurts."

She shot Regina another look before leaving the kitchen. Robin crossed to the table and sat down as Regina looked him over. "Roland have a better night?" she asked.

He nodded. "We both had a good session with my friend who is a therapist and we both slept like babies."

"Good," she said. "I'm glad to hear that."

"And how about you?" he asked. "How are you sleeping?"

She seemed surprised by his question. "Why?"

"With your injuries and recovering from pneumonia, I'm worried you might not be getting enough sleep or the restorative sleep you need," he explained, feeling guilty that he never thought to ask her how she was sleeping before.

"I'm sleeping all the time," she replied. "I don't know if I'm just not getting enough restorative sleep or whatever I am getting is used up by my body as it heals."

He nodded. "It's probably more the latter right now. Do you think you need more naps during the day?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I really have no choice about them."

"Understandable," he replied. "You'll probably start to notice them decrease as your body continues to heal and your strength really starts to build back up."

"And how long will that take?" she asked.

He shrugged. "That's up to you and ultimately your body."

She sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Why?" he asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.

Unsurprisingly, she said: "Because I hate not having a clear timeline and knowing a firm end date for this."

"I know," he replied. "But if we keep up with your schedule, I think we can have a clearer timeline in a couple weeks. And then maybe even a firm end date not long after that."

She nodded, motioning to her wheelchair. "So are we going to keep chatting or get to work?"

He chuckled, standing. "Okay, okay. Let's get to work."

Robin rolled over the wheelchair and Regina moved into it. He then brought her to the living room, glad she was now committed to her own recovery at last. Clapping his hands together, he grinned. "Where do you want to start?"

"Your choice," she told him. "You're the expert."

"I guess so," he replied. "Alright, then let's start with stretches and go from there."

She nodded. "Sounds good."

As he led her through the stretches, Robin felt as if the tension of the past twenty-four hours was now behind them. They could just focus on her recovery and celebrate with a picnic on the 4th of July.

Then they would likely part ways. He just hoped that whenever he thought of her or she thought of him, it would be fondly and with a smile.

He couldn't ask for anything more.

[imekitty]

do you prefer ao3 or ffn?

I started writing fanfiction back when FFN was the big thing and AO3 didn’t exist, so I have a bit of a preference for it. And even today, I still get far more comments and engagement on FFN than I do for the same fics on AO3. I’ve tried a number of tricks on AO3 just to see if there’s a way I can get the same number of comments (tagging different things, updating a fic once a week on a set schedule, updating twice a week, updating every day even), but I never get more than half the comments I get on FFN. And I’m one of those writers who doesn’t really care about kudos, like I honestly don’t even look at them and turn off notifications for them.

So as a writer, I would say I prefer FFN. I mean, I feel like it’s probably just this fandom I’m writing for being an older one, but still. I have no desire to write for any other fandom, but maybe if I ever find inspiration for a newer, more popular fandom, I’ll see if I get more comments on AO3 than on FFN.

I don’t really read fanfiction as much as I used to, but I do know that FFN has tons of ads between the words of fics that make it much less enjoyable. I know AO3 also has better search capabilities, but I’m not picky enough to actually use them. I never really know exactly what I want to read, so I just like to keep it general and read summaries, hence FFN is still fine for me in that regard. But I recognize AO3 is overall better for reading and finding what you want.

But what I definitely do like better about AO3 is that it does not regulate content the way FFN does. I don’t have to worry about something I upload to AO3 being too graphic or explicit or “problematic.” Whereas on FFN, I’m more worried about breaking the rules.

But then I like that FFN has a private messaging system...

They’re both good to me in different ways, but as a writer, I prefer FFN simply because I get more validation. I really do write for other people more than I write for myself.

But funny enough, the version of my fic that has the most comments is the Spanish translation on Wattpad lol.

[ranger-kellyn]

Have you found any PuRobbie fics while you were browsing around? If so could you share some?

(please read the whole thing before clicking any links) there's so far 6 works in total with them tagged on AO3. I've stopped using FFN and I've never used Wattpad, so I can't help there :<

https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Purah*s*Robbie%20(Legend%20of%20Zelda)/works

However, Attack at the Akkala Citadel by SilvioTech (@/akkalatechlabs here on tumblr) Experiment Failed Successfully by Sammi_Cakes Passion Projects by UltC These three are the only ones that are explicitly for them, rather than just "they're in this fic SOMEWHERE". I haven't read the other three, so I can't vouch for them.

BUT PLEASE BE ADVISED: THE BOTTOM TWO ARE SMUT. Like, I know I sound like a lame old person here, but if you're not 18+ do not read. Especially Passion Projects, because that one is straight up smut. Admittedly, I had a bit of a hard time getting through that one because raw smut isn't up my alley, but the dialogue is spot on.

Experiment Failed Successfully needs some paragraph spacing, but it's a sweeter fic otherwise.

Attack at the Akkala Citadel is my favorite on this list. It's also been posted here on tumblr [LINK] This is the one I primarily go back to re-read because it's just so stinkin' good. An excellent look into Robbie's whole thought process during the Relentless as a Waterfall Akkala Citadel mission.

but yeah. not a whole lot at the moment, but hopefully more will be added, and onE OF THESE DAYS. I'll have my own fics to add to this ^^;

[flightfoot]

I'm shocked that Mari doesn't get salted much considering she is the protagonist, and even if she is, it's always just a simple call out, a critics on her behavior. whereas whenever I saw Adrien or Alya salt, it's always being upped to eleven. It's not a simple call out or critics, they just being sent straight to punishment, deemed unworthy of forgiveness. I think the closest fic I've read that have Mari "salt fic" vibe is Truth and Consequence but it's not even salt fic. Curious since usually it's the protagonist that got salted a lot, not the deuteragonist or minor character.

She definitely gets salted in posts and comments and things, though I don’t see it that much on tumblr (not exactly something I go looking for though). But on reddit, instagram, youtube even I think? People have some pretty negative opinions about her.

As far as fanfics go... yeah I’ve seen only like, maybe ten total saltfics for Marinette on AO3 in the year and a half I’ve been in this fandom. And most of the ones I have seen don’t go as bonkers as the Adrien salt and Alya salt does on a regular basis. Heck, even the page on TvTropes for Fandom-Specific plots does not, as far as I can tell, list a single example of a Marinette saltfic plot.

I have been told that there were fanfics out there that treated her vilely in the past, even one popular one, as well as several fanfics that just made her kinda powerless while in the Marichat dynamic. I have not been able to verify this for myself however, though I have attempted it.

There certainly ARE a few very loud people on AO3 who hate Marinette’s guts, but they don’t tend to write a ton, and those sorts of stories aren’t very popular. When I was entering the fandom back in March 2019, I went through the top... 1000 fics I think on AO3? And only stumbled across maybe one or two that salted on Marinette, and even those it wasn’t like she was treated as irredeemable or punished beyond just being yelled at.

I’ve heard that part of the reason why Chameleon salt initially took off the way it did was because Marinette was salted (in comments and posts at least) by a lot of the fandom for a long time, and it was really mostly her that bore the brunt of it, rather than a ton of different characters. Then when Chameleon released a lot of people became very sympathetic to her, so it was a sort of backlash against the years of general dislike against her.

And theeeeen people took it way, way, WAY too far in ways that were absolutely disgusting, projecting the most heinous things onto the other characters (seriously where the hell did this notion come from that Alya would beat up or poison Marinette and destroy her things?! I haven’t even seen much justification for it beyond “well if she continues along this path this is an obvious conclusion of the sort of thing she’d do”, without anything to back that up.) and even making Marinette, whom the saltfics try to boost up, act in ways that frankly, made her a pretty despicable person in a lot of them, only somewhat mitigated by making everyone around her even worse. Though sometimes the fics don’t even do that and just have her like, abuse her power as class rep so she can get satisfaction out of setting it up so Adrien’s in close proximity to Lila as often as possible and delight in watching her sexually harass him, or try to get everyone arrested or fired or just generally take pleasure inflicting pain and suffering on her former friends while crowing about how they deserve it.

I reaaaaally don’t like Saltinette. Marinette wouldn’t either.

As for why Marinette bashing fics, the ones that go to the same extent as many of the saltfic plots that TvTropes lists, aren’t as popular (again, at least on AO3, though looking at FFN and Wattpad they didn’t seem super popular on there either. And PLEASE, if you want to direct me to where they’re popular, PLEASE don’t just say “they’re on this site”. I’ve gone to Wattpad and FFN. I’ve just found more of the saltfics TvTropes lists, not Marinette saltfics), I dunno. Demographics I guess? Maybe the people who hate Marinette’s guts aren’t as likely to read or write fanfics. Even the Marinette bashing fics I HAVE seen aren’t all that popular.

On the one hand, I’m glad she isn’t as often treated in as gross a manner in fanfics as Adrien, Alya, most of the class, a LOT of people in the show have been for the past... nearly two years now. 

On the other hand, it’s easy for me to resent her with how almost all of this bashing is supposedly done for HER sake, often while making her into a horrible human being along the way.

I basically can only go to AO3 with filters on for the usual bashing tags, like “Adrien bashing”, “Alya bashing”, “Classmates bashing” and “Marinette Deserves Better” (and yes that is a bashing tag, if it’s used you can be pretty damn sure someone in that fic’s being bashed on Marinette’s behalf, and probably not only canonical antagonists).

Generally after that I have to rewatch some of Miraculous Ladybug or read some fics where everyone’s in-character to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Because in the show? it’s not like this. Not at all. Marinette can have a bad day sometimes, but it’s just the sort of bad day typical people might experience. She can be upset or unfair or petty, but at normal person - especially normal kid - levels. Sometimes she’s scolded, sometimes bad things happen as a consequence, but she’s never treated as some piece of scum. If she’s upset, her friends and family are there for her.

And Alya and Adrien? Sometimes they can be careless about what they do or say and irritate her. Sometimes their words or actions aren’t as helpful as they want them to be.

But they don’t want to hurt her, they care for her, ABOUT her. Nor would she ever want to hurt them or lose them, even if she was justifiably angry with them. We saw that with Chat Noir especially, during the NY special.

Marinette loves and cares about her friends and family, and they love and care for her back.

At least I can be pretty sure that whatever insane bashing and twisting of characters happens in the fandom, the show will continue to be nice to the characters, to treat them as people deserving of love and affection. Maybe saying they made a mistake when they didn’t, or letting stuff slide that would be nice to be addressed, but on the whole, allowing them to continue to just... be friends. Be people. Be kids.