#if you want some deleted scenes check out the ao3 for this in a day or two ;)

[alchemistc]

So about that deleted scene:

(shovel) talks - read on ao3

"So how many shovel talks should I be expecting?" Tommy asks, once the cake is mostly gone and Eddie and Christopher have wandered off. He tilts his voice low, so as not to draw the attention of Eddie's aunt, who has been eyeing him closely since he came back without any cake for Evan.

"Shovel what?" Evan's eyeing the cake.

"You could just have a bite," Tommy tempts, letting his grin go a little teasing, waving his fork a bit for emphasis, and Evan sighs. Pats his stomach, which Tommy is intimately familiar with, and very fond of, even if Evan wants to be a bit more cut.

"You're trying to deflect. Who gave you a shovel talk?"

"So far?" There's no reason to keep it going, really, except when Evan gets exasperated he huffs and puffs about it and Tommy - he doesn't not like his little attempts at dramatics.

Evan rolls his whole head in an effort to emphasize how much he's not in the mood, but his smile gives him away. It always does.

"Well, Hen and Karen just accosted me. Christopher's already promised anatomically improbable harm."

Evan, if anything, looks a little chuffed about that. Considering some of the things he's gleaned about his home life growing up, it's not all that strange.

Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. "They do know you're an adult, right?"

"Y-yeah, of course they know. It's - you know, that whole family thing you were so jealous of sometimes includes them being a little overbearing."

"Personally, I think they were just looking for some gossip."

Evan's face goes red. "Uh - that might be - that might be my fault. I'm... usually an over sharer."

"Is there something wrong with what I'm doing that you don't feel like over sharing?" It's a dirty ploy, but he's already over invested in this, in them. He wants to weasel a bit of praise out of Evan, even though he hasn't exactly been shy about it to this point at all.

Evan's face does something - a series of tiny expressions he'd have been hard pressed to catch if he weren't staring so closely - before he kicks at Tommy's foot under the table. "You're teasing me again."

Tommy doesn't hide his grin, even as he shovels his fork around the plate to get the last of the frosting off. "Can you blame me?"

Evan's blush is deep deep pink, but he still bites his tongue, tilts his head, tips his foot so that he can slide his toes around Tommy's ankle. He really, really wasn't kidding when he joked that he was trying his best to keep up.

He taps two knuckles against the table, looking like he's physically restraining himself from reaching for Tommy's hand. "It's - it's not like I don't talk about you. I just - some of it I wanna keep for myself."

Tommy fields fifty questions a day at work about the man who has him smiling to himself randomly, checking his phone and losing track of conversations because something ticks at a newly made memory of Evan Buckley. He understands the urge to keep some of those memories for himself.

"So what have you told them?"

He's picking at the thread, trying to unravel it, and he doesn't know why. He's more than satisfied with the state of things as they are now. Things are... different than he's used to, this early in. He's never been with someone so intent on getting to know him, spending time with him, so ready to share himself. It's intoxicating, really, and Tommy's never had a great handle on when to cut himself off.

Evan's expression is overly fond, and Tommy feels the thrill of it down to his toes.

"I told them about our date at the aquarium," he says, eyes sparkling a little. It had been a spur of the moment thing, Evan texting him for three days straight about hammerhead sharks, Frederickson mentioning his son-in-laws obsession with manta rays and the glass-side dinner they offered Saturday's and Sunday's. Evan's eyes drifting to the creatures in the water only half-as-often as they drifted to Tommy, and the air expanding in Tommy's lungs every time that smile landed on him.

Tommy hums.

"I told them a... very abridged version of you trying to teach me Muay Thai."

Evan, gleaming and wide eyed, pinned beneath Tommy, his hands giving up any pretense of doing anything but bracketing Tommy's hips, the gentling kiss Tommy'd placed to the birthmark over his eye before Evan whined and Tommy decided he was done playing games.

"Well, now Hen thinks I lied to her." Tommy jokes, and Evan's brow jumps quizzically. Tommy can't quite help it. Even with Gerrard here, even with eyes around them, even though they'd both decided together to keep the contact to a minimum, this being a work event and all - he reaches out and taps his finger to Evan's nose just to see his face crinkle in confusion. It'll have to do, with friends and family and colleagues all around them, but he can feel the urge to drag him in, to give Evan a taste of the frosting still on his lips, to press their bodies together and feel Evan's heart beat beneath his. The desire is there, crawling beneath his skin, and Evan watches him lean back in his chair like he knows every spare thought rattling around in Tommy's head.

"I told them you make me stupid happy," Evan says, all bright and sincere, something softening around the edges of his eyes, and the cage around his heart strains under the pressure of the muscle pressing for freedom.

Tommy darts a look around the room. Things are winding down, families with children drifting off early to enjoy having the day off, members of the 118 returning to their duties now that they've been thrown back on the dispatch register, higher ups huddled off in groups whispering to themselves about how they all would have been fired if Chief Simpson wasn't gunning for a promotion. Evan tips forward, chin dropping to the bridge of his hands with a grin.

"What do you tell the Harbor people about me?"

"Oh, absolutely nothing," Tommy says, standing, tilting a hip sideways so that he can hide the thumb the presses to the divot of Evan's chin. "If I did they'd think you'd bewitched me."

Evan's smile curls over his cheeks with the dopey expression Tommy's grown to adore.

"Let's get out of here before we get recruited for cleanup."

Evan looks like he's thinking about staying, anyway, so Tommy sweetens the deal. "I told Hen and Karen you were setting the pace. Are you gonna make a liar out of me again?"

Evan barely waits until they're out of sight before he's got two hands bracketing Tommy's hips from behind. Tommy knows he's staring at his ass - can't quite blame him. He works hard on making it look good in dress blues.

They manage to make it to the far side of Tommy's truck before Evan spins him, presses him to the passenger door before Tommy can get it open for him. "When we get home," he starts, too busy pressing his tongue to Tommy's pulse point to notice Tommy's quiet inhale at the phrasing. "I'm gonna take this uniform off of you, piece by piece, and then I'm gonna blow you so good you see stars."

"We should both wear our hats," Tommy negotiates, hoping to keep it light enough that he won't hone in on 'home'.

"The medals can stay too," Evan says, and sucks a bruise into the side of Tommy's neck when Tommy tilts his head back to laugh.

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

MIDNIGHT CINDERELLA MEMORIAL POST

The Midnight Cinderella app will be closed on Monday August 26th, 2024 (5 PM JST). The English version was actively updated from 2014 to 2021 when Cybird announced the ceasing of operations for MidCin, but the app remained accessible until today. I'm sure I'm not the only one who mourns the loss of it even after all these years of discontinuation, so I wanted to put together a post to properly say goodbye to it. Trying my best not to make it all too sappy - I'd rather look at it as a show that reached its final episode. Some things might be left unresolved but in the end, you remember the cast and the emotions they made you feel more than the actual plot. Nowadays there arguably may be better titles by Cybird out there, but for me, the simplicity of MidCin was what made the details so memorable.

1. VIDEO - POV: You're playing Midnight Cinderella (for 10 minutes)

The 10-minute version (without sound) is accessible via the link above (opens in Google Docs) This one I was really excited about recording! It's just your normal day playing midcin, I'm sure many will find it nostalgic and comforting. You log in, claim your daily bonus (I used the chance to do a present box reveal, 90+ items, many of which you might recognize from route grace checks), play the garden gacha (in my case, I used up all the points I had accumulated, 7800 which equals 39 solos), do your princess lessons, change your avatar, greet your friends, read 1/5 of today's free story parts, check the ranking and your stats, look at your memories directory. The video has no sound, as the game wouldn't let me turn it on (you will see me try to do so throughout the video...) but later on I got it to work so I recorded a one-minute video (the one imported above) of me replenishing stamina just for those iconic sound effects that you either loved or absolutely couldn't stand the volume of, haha.

2. A Midnight Cinderella playlist (spotify link)

While I wasn't there for the early days of midcin, the songs I associated with the game almost always captured this very specifically nostalgic 90s-10s period, you'll see what I mean. Many of those are taken from 8track playlists dedicated to Midnight Cinderella, and if I'm not mistaken you can still look at what is left of them if you search them up. Others are just my very random interpretations of the route stories and the characters.

3. Fic recommendations

We have a lovely community of creatives and there are still so many works left behind which you can check out on the tags! But especially for fics I wanted to list some that truly touched me during the years (all links open in ao3) -

i'm on fire and its NSFW bonus scene bloodstream by a deleted user - words are not enough for this one. It's like it meant more than Nico's whole route for me at one point, and the songs are forever in my heart as Nico songs...

MidCin Works by DBMidCin (SoftSen) - ALL of these. This is my go-to collection of writings for midcin when I start to miss the game, it has a little bit of everything. The headcanon of Giles teaching his girls French for instance is one of the things I still remember reading like it was yesterday!

Bedroom Etiquette (NSFW) by RubyLeeRay - Because this is the dream. Doing something forbidden with your tutor Giles is the ultimate fantasy, I swear. I just love it.

And of course, many, many more. There are currently 166 works on the midcin tag in Ao3, and I'm sure there are a lot of hidden gems here on tumblr as well! Reminder that writers LOVE it when you interact with their old works, it's not weird, you shouldn't hesitate doing so if you find yourself enjoying any of them! <3

4. My own humble collection of MidCin writings on my writing blog @xxsycamore!

Maid, Butler, Chamberlain (NSFW) - Nico x MC with Giles joining them

Grabbles: 💋 Demand for a kiss, right here, right now (GILES); 👔 Stealing their clothes to cuddle when you miss them (BYRON); more coming soon as there are still some in my askbox and I plan on including midcin in future short writings request openings too.

Shared Moments (NSFW) - Nico x Reader - Secret relationship

Ice-cold heat (NSFW) - Byron x Reader - Temperature play

Double the Surprise - Alyn and Leo birthday fic

Leo Crawford having a misadventure with a cat (ao3 link) - crack fic featuring most of the suitors

5. Out of context Midnight Cinderella screenshots

This is a sideblog of mine dedicated to posting out-of-context funny screenshots that I took while playing the routes - @oocmidcin . If you have some of your own that are not on there, you're free to submit them and add to the archive!

6. The perfect MidCin song - The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives

When I first discovered this song back in 2020 I dreamed of making it into a midcin music video with simplistic art and animations... It ended up being just something you daydream in detail about while in the car, but that's alright. I could at least share my vision with you! Disclaimer, this is just an interpretation and obviously it can't fit all characters ideally - In the brackets, I explain how the lyric is related to them and usually it reveals their backstories. Some of the details I've already forgotten, sorry if it's inaccurate.)

Tell me once again

I could have been anyone, anyone else

Before you made the choice for me

(Giles - his family making the choice for him since birth and later disowning him once he failed to become a knight due to his illness)

My feet knew the path

We walked in the dark, in the dark

I never gave a single thought to where it might lead

(Nico - wandering the streets with his mother once they were thrown out of Stein castle because she was a commoner having an affair with Byron's father, the King)

All those empty rooms

We could have been anywhere, anywhere else

Instead I made a bed with apathy

(Robert - the empty rooms of the once flourishing palace of the country that Robert ruled and led to demise, nowadays becoming a mere court painter)

My heart knew the weight

Ten years' worth of dust and neglect

We made our peace with weariness and let it be

(Leo - the years in which Alyn didn't speak to him, after the death of their parents)

The moon will sing a song for me

I loved you like the sun

Bore the shadows that you made

With no light of my own

(Albert - loyally standing in king Byron's shadow)

Name your courage now

We could have had anything, anything else

Instead you hoarded all that's left of me

(Sid - his relationship with his fiance that he agreed upon just to find out more about his parents by getting close to her father)

Swallowing your doubt

Like swords to the pit of my belly

I want to feel the fire that you kept from me

(Alyn - searching for answers about the murder of his family and the fire that burnt down their home)

I shine only with the light you gave me

(I could have been anyone, anyone)

(Louis - being a nobody and MC being his sun)

7. It goes on

I went to read what I could of chapter 4 of Rayvis' route, using my last two chapter tickets as well, thinking it won't make me cry. And then I'm hit with those familiar things.

So let's close this with a word about the things that never change in the universe of Midnight Cinderella.

Stumbling down the grand staircase and right into the arms of somebody. Escaping the palace at midnight with Nico's help. Sitting at breakfast with Giles giving you your schedule for the day. Nico's teasing little smile as he accompanies you everywhere and listens to your relationship troubles. The way he's just a little suspicious at times. Finding Robert painting in the garden of Wysteria palace. Going to the room of your chosen suitor for the first time and meeting a pet there. Leo teaching you history and politics in his office. Dance lessons with Louis. Needing those dance lessons because King Byron is coming to Wysteria and a ball is going to take place. The bureaucrats being unhappy with you as a princess elect, no matter what. Galloping on a horse with Alyn who just protected you from an enemy attack. Getting information from a certain flirty merchant at a bar. Albert bickering with Nico, Sid teasing Louis. Being introduced to Archduke Herneit at Stein castle. King Byron appreciating the night sky. The sight of your yellow and orange princess elect room where on the large bed with its blue bedframe and tall see-through canopy you lie awake and think about the events of the day and how would a wise future Queen of Wysteria deal with the current situation. But ultimately you fall asleep, hearing the melancholically beautiful sounds of a violin coming from somewhere deep within your dream, and leave it all to the following day.

Thank you for everything, Midnight Cinderella!

08/26/2024

[holysupesbatman]

SuperBat Fic Recs

Woaaaah boy. I was in the Superbat tag and saw someone asking for recs and I got about 5 fics in before I realized that wouldn't fit in a reply and decided I should just make a whole post. I feel like I've read half of the Bruce/Clark tag on ao3 at this point and yet I still find more every time I look.

As a note, this post is heavily editorialized. These are all fics I've personally read and are here because I liked them and they come from my ao3 bookmarks. If you want better details about the fic, follow the links and check them out 🤷‍♀️ I'm a picky reader so the fact that it's on the list says a lot, though our tastes may vary.

Onto the recs! I'll organize them by ratings and then by length for simplicity and at the end I'll recommend some of my favorite SuperBat authors for further reading!

🦇

Rated: G

Uno Reverse by WixenBurr (~7k rated G) is really cute and fluffy

Summary: The batkids are trying to set Batman and Superman up. Unfortunately Bruce Wayne wants to date some rando news reporter named Clark Kent.

Rated: T

Know You Better by rotasha (~6k rated T)

super fluffy and cute. I adore this fic. Summary: Clark asks Bruce on a date, not knowing he’s a famous billionaire. Bruce says yes, because this is the first time this has ever happened to him.

I'm Not As Think As You Drunk I Am by Mardiaz173 (~13k rated T)

This one is SO much fun – Nobody believes Clark after he meets the supposed "flirty, stupid, entitled drunk" playboy billionaire Brucie Wayne when he says he's actually "clever, mischievous, and sober with an indecipherable ulterior motive."

Saudade by liodain (~20k rated T)

OK THIS ONE MAKES MY HEART MELT IT'S SO FLUFFY AND SWEET I CAN'T. Like put this on your re-read when you're sad and need to feel like love and goodness exist list. Bruce breaks down in Kansas in 2006 years before BvS and meets young Clark.

fallin' for him was like fallin' from grace by Resacon1990 (~23k rated T)

It's just 20k of Clark simping for Bruce. That's it. That's the fic. He's a golden retriever and he's in love, Your Honor. Bruce is not unaffected, but the pining is glorious.

summary: Or, five times Clark finds himself falling for Bruce, and the one time he does something about it

Mr. Romantic by Pandamomochan (~24k rated T)

ft Established Relationship SuperBat. Summary: Clark gets tasked to write a Valentine's Day article. The end result has every single women throwing themselves at him. Clark has always been patient with the drove of Brucie fans. Will Bruce be as mature with Clark's sudden popularity?

How to Date a Superhero by @solomonara (~25k rated T)

Technically a series of fics. Pure fluff. 1. Someone spots the Batman kissing Mild Mannered Reporter Clark Kent. Hijinks ensue. 2. Superman kissed Bruce Wayne in full view of several dozen phones. Now the whole world, including Lex Luthor, knows Superman has a boyfriend. But that's okay. Batman has a plan. 3. Deleted scenes from the How to Date a Superhero series, ruthlessly cut in most cases to prevent the Robins from taking over.

In every sense of the word by froggy-o (bobafiend) (~29k rated T) From the author's summary: Alternatively titled "Why Wonder Woman is on the verge of losing her fucking mind."

I swear this fic is just Diana's eyebrow twitching as she watches Bruce and Clark start dating and she's let in on both their civilian identities meanwhile Superman and Batman are on the watchtower arguing and disagreeing about basically everything on the daily. In the name of Justice, of course. The identity porn is on a whole other level and it was done so well.

Get Over It by rotasha (~32k rated T)

heh this one has plenty of identity hijinks. Sooooo funny. Summary: Bruce needs to get over his inconvenient feelings for Superman and he meets an attractive reporter who he thinks can help him do just that. Little does he know...

the cost of being a good dad by Mawiiish (~96k rated T)

hehehe... the batkids set up a dating profile for Bruce and catfish Clark. It's more of a blind date for Bruce (not that he had any idea he was going on a date at all), but who has Clark been texting for the past several weeks??? Oh yeah. The kids. What follows is as follows. Still with capes!

Rated: M

Guardian Dog by BombusBombus (~22k rated M)

Summary: There's something wrong with Clark Kent. He has to be a villain, right? A threat? He doesn't behave like a normal person, no matter how handsome or clever he may seem.

grasp his heart (once and for all) by liodain (~32k rated M) soulmate AU fic. Pretty emotional LOTS of identity issues going on there like so much. Kinda high on the drama and angst there honestly but it was a cute read. Summary: Bruce Wayne doesn't believe in fate.

tell all the truth (but tell it slant) by susiecarter (~33k rated M)

love me a fake dating AU. Summary: It takes a while for Batman and Superman to work things out, once Clark comes back from the dead. Pretending to date each other in order to explain why Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are in the same place so often? Doesn't help as much as you might think.

Strangers When We Meet by Trista_zevkia (~63k rated M)

ANOTHER soulmate AU! This time feat. Kryptonian Biology hehehe. Summary: Clark Kent thought he was straight, until Batman kick started something. The question is what did Batman start? Is Brucie Wayne able to explain it to him?

ship-to-ship combat by pomeloquat (~77k rated M)

OK NO LISTEN this is one of my all-time favorite fics EVER. It's so meta and so funny. Clark is us. We are Clark. Clark is writing RPF for the Bruce/Batman ship and he's very convinced it's real EVEN THOUGH he has a huge crush on the Batman... let the hijinks BEGIN.

Rated: E

Embracing Destiny by Mithen (~8k rated E)

This one is just really really cute. Summary: As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century, a teenaged Clark learns a stunning secret about his own future: he and someone called "Batman" will be legendary lovers.

perfect strangers by susiecarter (~15k rated E)

like. bruh. susie did it again. This tag says it all: communication failure. I love this one though. Summary: Batman and Superman are fucking. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent are a great cover for fighting crime, and also might be dating. Bruce and Clark have no idea what they're doing; but they definitely aren't going to be able to talk themselves into stopping.

Relinquishing Control by foxyk (~25k rated E)

afsfwsdfhishdfksj no words. Read the authors summary and then just go read the fic:

Superman worries that if he lets go he'll injure his partner. Batman knows better. Batman worries that if he lets someone else in, he'll hurt them. Superman knows better.

Picture Perfect by TheSaltiestDog @the-saltiest-dog (~26k rated E)

this one is cute and then horny on main but also just so fluffy. Clark sees Bruce in a new light through candid shots, then proceeds to take lots of candid shots as they begin a relationship. Cue schmoop, fluff, smut, and – you guessed it! –Miscommunication!

A Night Off and sequel A Day Off by Mawiiish (~37k combined; first part is E, second is T)

One of my all-time favorites. My bookmark says 10/10 would read again soooooooo... 👀🤷‍♀️😅🥵

Bruce is enjoying one of his few nights off when a very persistent young man offers to buy him a drink. At first he's apprehensive; he's just here for a good time and this Clark seems to be looking for more than that. Then again, what harm can one drink do?

Clark wakes up to an empty bed and despite Bruce being honest from the start, he's still disappointed.

The Downsides to a Secret Identity by liodain (~42k rated E)

I'm currently reading this one – the summary from the author says it all, it's so good but sooo drama:

Bruce Wayne has taken a shine to Clark Kent, but Clark is more interested in the Bat of Gotham. The Bat, however, has it in for the Superman in a big way. Clark should probably have considered that before falling quite so hard. They're working together to track down some missing Kryptonian weaponry, after all...

50 Shades of Wayne by susiecarter (~161k rated E)

No but listen, this is actually so full of plot and emotional depth and not as much smut as you might think. It's a full-scale retelling of Batman v Superman but without them knowing each other's secret identities. I read it in one go... the reveal? Maybe the best I've ever read. Soooo many emotions. It's one of the few times I've read BDSM in a fic and it actually felt in character. I wasn't sure I would read it when I started, but it was a compelling read and extremely well done. Honestly, I'd read it again.

SuperBat Author Shoutouts:

susiecarter @susiecarter

liodain @liodain

Resacon1990 @sassyresacon1990

shipyrds @burins

Mawiiish @superbattrash

rotasha

Mithen

[httpsserene]

𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝟏 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥

𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝟲: 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 | 𝘃𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 & 𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘀/𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

📖𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: george has created a serious problem. you two have been dating for over three years, and he fed from you the first time about three months ago. the problem lies within the fact that he conditioned you to orgasm every time he used you as his glorified high-class wine bottle. on second thought, that’s a pretty good problem to have; his thirst is sated, and yours is as well. 📖���𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 18+ only. explicit. not beta read. vampires. dubcon (from the inherent plot). safe, sane, and consensual though. coming untouched. no penetrative sex. implied sex. blood drinking. biting. mention of multiple orgasms. unnecessary world building. the grid & mercedes knows about george being a vampire. hickeys/love bites. bruises. 📖𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 4k words. 📖𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: george russell x fem!black!reader 📖𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: oneshot. 📖𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸: prey • the neighborhood

𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲: i guess i got too into the plot and lost myself in the exposition. i was originally going to delete the beginning ramblings of setting the scene and what not, but this would be like 500 words if i did that. for some reason, the entire grid knows george is a vampire? i couldn’t find the brainpower to explain who he’s hiding it from or how that would work in f1. the kink is more of the inherent tension from drinking somebodies blood. lol, anyways have fun reading 🫶🏽

do you want to be added to my general taglist? send me an ask!

cross-posted on my ao3, htppsss

to see what kinktober uploads have already been completed or to see what's coming next check my f1 kinktober masterlist ! for all of my works see my general masterlist!

george had gotten enough schooling to learn what classical conditioning is. pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell ringing; a conditioned response. george may have done the same thing to you–he made the mistake of making sure you orgasm as he bites and drinks from you. now every time he feeds from you, you cum, even if there’s no sexual build-up at all; it could be the most bland feeding session and the minute his venom enters your bloodstream, you can’t fight it—he’s pavlov-ed his girlfriend. he should’ve never allowed himself to feed from you.

when george first met you, he was enamored with you from the start. after every morning run, he would end at a local coffee shop and you would already be cozied up in a corner seat working away on your computer. you smelled delectable, george quickly picked up on that. he was thankful the barista had already memorized his usual order, because he really wouldn’t have enjoyed explaining why his canines had elongated into fangs. he couldn’t handle the way your blood was calling to him and left the coffee shop as soon as he got his drink, running into several people on the way out. you would be in the coffee shop on two out of the three days he came in, and he would be a serious hazard to any customer who came in during the five minutes he was there. it was like this for two months and twelve days (not that he was counting or anything), until you weren’t in your seat one day. george sighed in relief, shoulders relaxing and the fixed grimace in anticipation sliding off his face—what he didn’t expect to feel is disappointment at the lack of your appearance and addicting scent. he dismisses the emotions, convincing himself that he’s just used to the constant repression of his instincts around you. he even takes the time to engage in small talk with the baristas; two months ago he was well-invested into their lives, he has a lot of catching up to do. he allows himself to be forced into a seat at the counter to drink his coffee and indulge in a few pastries that are definitely breaking his diet. it’s an off day for him, his only plans are to stream in the evening with the usual quartet, so he can afford to dine in this morning…and indulge in catching up on the coffee shop gossip, he’s only a man, alright?

george is halfway through his cup of coffee and laughing along to a story about how this adorable kid tried to buy hot chocolate with monopoly money when the entrance door jingles open. he chokes on his sip of coffee, almost spraying it over the counter in surprise as you walk up to the counter. he turns to look at you ordering at the register, to confirm he’s not imagining your presence and—you look amazing. you’re wearing flared black trousers with a short-sleeved, white, collared shirt tucked into them, elegant gold jewelry accented against your brown skin—you’ve dressed up today. it’s different from the usual hoodie and headphones george sees you wearing in that corner nook of yours; at least that’s his excuse for why he ends up staring you down. after finishing your order, you head towards your usual seat and end up making direct eye contact with george, because the universe hates him. he sees your attempt at a polite smile and his cheeks burn red at being caught, and jerks his head forward breaking his stare. he hears you continue to walk past him, and the barista stares at him disbelievingly, “mate…you fumbled that.” george stutters through a denial, but then he hears your footsteps stop—and he knows you haven’t reached the corner seat yet. he picks up on the sound of you turning on your heels and heading back in his direction, and he drops his head into his hands, resigned. 

“ah! someone’s taken your seat today,” the barista in front of george calls out to you—george narrows his eyes at the man in warning, “come sit at the counter then; you can tell me what you’re all fancied-up for.” the barista glances at george with a smirk, and he swears this may be the first time he bleeds a human dry.

you laugh and sit at the counter, one seat in between you and george. and george sighs in relief for the second time today; you’re wearing perfume and it taints the smell of your blood, enough for him to not start salivating, at least. its silent for a minute, and george can feel your awkwardness radiating. 

“so…” you question teasingly, “not in a rush today, then?”

george turns to look at you, shocked that you’re even talking to him—he never figured he’d be in a conversation with you. while your voice may have been teasing, your eyes are soft, warmed with kindness, and george melts. he manages to muster a tease back in your direction, “no, not today. but, look at you—in business casual attire, i was starting to believe you only knew how to dress in sweatshirts?”

you roll your eyes at him, and a smirk replaces your painfully polite smile, “ah? today must’ve not been the only day you’ve been staring at me, if you’re so familiar with how i dress…even though we’ve never spoken to each other before.” george’s mouth drops open at you checking him, and he can hear both baristas giggling behind the counter. and at that moment, george is pretty sure he fell in love with you right then—even though he didn’t have the balls to ask you out for another month and a half. 

for those weeks, every time george came to the cafe, you would wave him over to your table with a bright grin and invite him to sit down across from you. even on days when he really couldn’t afford to be late, he’d find himself sitting down to chat with you. instead of being early to zoom meetings with the mercedes team, he started being on-time, often enough for lewis and toto to comment on it. his only response to their gentle prodding at the change in his behavior being, “i added another mile to my morning run,” when he really was spending those minutes talking to you after his run. after he built up the courage to ask for your number (platonically, of course), he would show up to the driver’s briefings a few minutes late, rushing in yet tapping away on his phone struggling to hide the smile on his face. for all of his superior senses, he doesn’t notice how his grid mates stare at him like he’s lost his mind; eventually, one of the officials calls him out when he glances down at the notifications popping up on his phone screen for the fourth time in five minutes, “mr. russell, i am sure that whatever you find so interesting on your phone can’t be more important than our discussion about track conditions, can it?”

george flushed red (he knew he shouldn’t have fed until later) and stumbled through an apology. after the briefing ends, the drivers start teasing him for being ‘so unprofessional,’ and lewis doesn’t help when he reveals how george has started being late to mercedes team meetings, too. charles pretends to faint, alex gasps in horror, and lando’s eyes light up at the opportunity to be a gremlin.

“boysboysboys,” lando grins, gathering everyone’s attention, “i think it’s finally happened.”

george sighed, over the dramatics already, “what’s happened, lando?”

“you’ve managed to get yourself a girlfriend!” lando shrieks, his high-pitched laughter hurting george’s ears.

george flusters, and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, “she’s not my girlfriend!” and, he’s only made it worse. 

alex’s eyes widen, pointing at george in shock, “oh my god—so you are talking to a girl!” george groans and spins on his feet to leave the room, ignoring the jibes and teases of the grown men behind him. 

later that night, his hotel room is infiltrated by almost half the grid (including fernando, for some reason), all seeming to rally behind their common goal of getting george to ask you on an actual date. they debase all of george’s points about why he shouldn’t ask you out—the main point being that he’s a fucking vampire—and ask him the one question that he’s been refusing to acknowledge, “you can smell how she feels—does she smell like she likes you?”

george hisses at them half-heartedly, more like a frazzled kitten than a terrifying monster, “yes, i’m already aware that she’s interested in me—that’s the problem! i’ve already led her on this whole time, and she doesn’t know that she has a crush on an undead, immortal, vampire!” the room quiets at his outburst, and he can only groan and drop his head into his hands. 

“so just tell her,” max states bluntly, not looking away from the fifa game he’s beating charles’ ass in. george stares at max, appalled.

“let her make the decision for herself, right?” max starts, pausing the game to look at george, “for some bizarre reason she likes you for who you are,” george scoffs, “so, just tell her from the jump—you’ve already led her on enough, so give her the opportunity to decide whether or not if she should date your lame ass.”

the vampire stares at max disbelievingly, “that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

the red bull driver shrugs, ears turning red under the surprised stares in the room, and quickly un-pauses the game and scores on charles. the monegasque screams dramatically, and the tense air is broken. george shakily sighs, anxious, and pulls out his phone to ask you on a date. originally, he was thinking about asking you through a text, but with almost every driver in the room disapproving of any way he goes about wording it, he bares his fangs at them, and steps out of his own room, to call you. 

the phone doesn’t even complete the first ring before you pick up, and a pleasant, “hi, georgieeee,” slips from your mouth; he can hear how you’re smiling through the phone. he banters with you for a minute, listening to how you're singing praises about his performance even though the actual race isn’t for another day. when the conversation dies down, he blurts out the question, “do you want to go on a—“

“i would love to go on a date with you!” you cut him off, eagerly, “i mean–sorry, yes. i would like to go out with you.” george laughs, relieved and comforted by the fact that you’re as gone for him as he is for you. he can’t even bring himself to be mad when he hears the men in his room raucously cheer.

and when george took you out for brunch to the same cafe, ignoring the baristas’ proud expressions, he realized he had nothing to worry about. the conversation flowed easily, he made you laugh and you made him laugh, and most importantly, he didn't think about draining you dry like a caprisun. you’ve ditched the cozy outfits and dressed up again—dressed up for him—and george is out of his running attire and fancied up; and you make a off-hand comment about how unnatural this feels, and george is reminded of the one important thing he was supposed to tell you. time has flown by so quickly while the two of you were hidden away in your preferred corner seat, and it’s become mid-afternoon. george surveys the surroundings briefly and is shocked to find that it’s only the two of you, and the baristas in the cafe; it’s the perfect time to tell you. 

when george states that he’s a vampire, you obviously think he’s joking, “well, you’re not burning in the sunlight, georgie–so i don’t believe you! i am afraid that if this is a kink of yours, i don’t see a second date in the future.” he tries to smile at your joke but it ends up as more of a grimace, and he exposes his fangs for you to see. he hears the breath catch in your throat, sees your eyes widening in shock, blown-out pupils shrinking in fear, hears your heart beginning to race in your chest, blood rushing in your veins, and smells your scent souring.

“george russell,” you whisper yell, glancing around anxiously, “what the fuck! i believe you—you shouldn’t do that in public! what if someone else saw?!” and that’s when he realized that sure, a small amount of your fear was from the confirmation that he is a supernatural being—but mainly that, you were afraid for him. and at that point, george knew that he could allow himself to be vulnerable with you.

and after three years together, he fed from you for the first time. a lot of planning went into the initial feeding: after the end of the racing season, a trip away just for the two of you, george would satiate his thirst with his usual blood donor supply, he wouldn’t drink more than six ounces from you, you’d eat a full meal and be properly hydrated, and of course, he’d drink from you when you orgasm. the bite hurts in the beginning—george has been told many stories from feeders—and the most common distraction to the pain is a simultaneous orgasm. you were apprehensive yet extremely willing to allow george to drink from you, and told him that you trusted him completely—you even sat through his numerous clinical rundowns of the plan without complaining. 

however in the moment, george diverted from the script. instead of having you cum once, george forced three orgasms out of you and bit you on the last one. he practically mauled your neck, chest, and hickeys throughout the night, as if he was teasing himself with the indents on of his teeth on your body before he bit into you. you couldn’t figure out if it was the venom from his bite or the multiple orgasms that had you floating pleasurably. george couldn’t deny that seeing you covered in love bites and his actual fang marks didn’t provoke a hidden possessive trait in him. the love bites he left on your body would fade within a few days, the bite mark would fade in around two weeks—and you told george explicitly that if he ever wanted to feed from you again, he’d be more than welcome to do so.

the vampire always thought that he was the one who was at risk for getting addicted to your blood; his greatest fear being that he wouldn’t be able to resist sucking you dry. however, it rapidly dawned on him: you’re the one who formed an addiction.

george always made sure his thirst was properly sated with his usual blood bags before he drank from you. over three months, he’d consistently make you cum whenever he bit you, whether it was with his fingers, cock, mouth, thigh, etc. but he never quite realized that he conditioned you into cumming whenever he bit you, until the singapore grand prix.

singapore was hot. it wasn’t hell on earth like qatar, but it was still fucking hot. and then, he crashed. as he made his way back to the mercedes garage (stomping under the force of his self-deprecation), he became increasingly aware of the tingle in the back of his throat; he’s hungry, he needs blood. he ignores his race engineer asking if he needs medical attention, and asks for a ‘juicebox,’ the codeword for a blood-bag. only to find out, he had his last one yesterday after qualifying—the hotter race weekends have him draining his supply quicker than usual. the vampire whimpers, and suddenly he’s bombarded by you speeding over from the back of the garage. you’re tugging his face down to eye level, worriedly asking if he’s hurt, but george can only register how alluring your blood smells. contrary to popular vampiric-belief (if that’s a thing, he has no clue), blood does not smell sweet. it smells metallic, and the overall scent is affected by water content and ph-level; you smell velvety, and absolutely perfect to george.

the vampire briefly reassures you that he’s fine, before he grabs you by the hand and turns to toto. george begs his team principal to postpone any of his post-race interviews for as long as he can so he can get a brief feeding in with you before he loses his mind any further. toto cuts george’s pleads off immediately and allows him to do whatever he needs; the brit's temper is short enough already, if your blood can calm his mouth toto will personally send you a brand new g-wagon. 

george pulls you along to his driver’s room, slowing when he hears how you’re tripping over your feet two match his speed. he shoves the door open, but kindly guides you with a palm on the small of your back into the room, before he steps in and slams the door shut, locking it with a quickness. he speedily sits on the edge of his couch, and pulls you onto his lap, staring up at you with wide, pleading eyes.

“love,” he starts, his teeth worrying at his bottom lip, “may i drink from you? i should’ve been smarter about preserving my supply, usually i’m more careful about it, but i think i was just overager with everything this weekend. i’ll only take a small sip, just enough to hold me over until we fly back home, yeah? i mean, if you’re uncomfortable, i will not drink from you. i should be able to wait—”

you cover the vampire’s mouth with a hand, and smile softly at him, “yes, georgie, you can feed from me. the whole point of drinking from me was to have me acclimate to the feeling for rare situations like this, yes? i’m okay with it, you can take as much as you need from me.”

george stares at you for a few seconds, for some reason, he’s surprised at your easy allowance, before he’s shaken out of his stupor by you waving a hand in front of his face.

“i won’t be able to make you cum—i need to get out there as soon as possible,” george rambles out.

“ok,” you state, looking at him oddly, “i’m pretty sure i’ll be able to handle it, and if not you’ll know before i do.”

the brit asks if you’re sure one last time, before he effortlessly stands up with you in his arms, spins around and places you on the couch, sitting you where he was. the vampire kneels in front of you, and parts your legs gently, before tugging at the waistband of your pants for permission. you’re still reeling from his easy manhandling (you forget about his superior strength, he never makes it obvious), and how he fell to knees for you—the duality of his actions has you embarrassingly hot. you lift your hips up allowing george to tug off your pants, and you see firsthand how he loses his train of thought. 

when george brings you along to a race, he avoids leaving marks in a visible spots, so unfortunately for him, your neck and torso are complete bruise free; the humid weather in singapore meant that you would be wearing tank tops or cropped shirts, so he can’t risk someone seeing a smidge of a bruise on your body; they wouldn’t understand. although, george could take his fill of marking you up on your thighs. the dark skin of your inner thighs is mottled with bruises from his lips and indents of his teeth, all in various stages of healing observed by the various shades of purple they’re colored in. george slowly presses a finger into one of the marks and smirks when a strangled gasp escapes you from the pressure. if the vampire wasn’t so focused on the scent of your blood, he’d probably notice how that motion alone already had you wet.

george buries his head between your thighs, close enough that you can feel the exhales of breath from his nose over your panties. you shift, squirming away from the feeling—this is about giving george blood, which he needs for sustenance, not for you to get turned on at, you try to remind yourself.  the brit halts your movements, his hands flexing around you only slightly. you try and buck your hips away to test his grip, and you don’t move a single centimeter. you glance down, making eye-contact with your boyfriend, and the teasing smile he’s hiding behind your thigh has your heart rabbiting faster, even though you roll your eyes at him. george begins to lick and nip across your thighs searching for the best spot to pierce your skin, and you are trapped in your own mind. you’re at the mercy of an immortal being, you have no chance of fighting him off if you needed to. of course, you’re very aware that george wouldn’t lay a finger on you, but your hindbrain runs off of instincts, and it’s telling you george is a predator and you’re clearly his next meal. the adrenaline thrumming underneath your skin causes you to start breathing a little heavier and you manage to wrangle the instinctual fear away to relax under him. george startles you from your thoughts when his cold hand leads yours to rest on the nape of his neck, and he pauses when he feels you jump underneath him. 

“hey, you can still say ��no’ if you’re not ready for this yet. there’s no pressure, love,” george reassures you. the calming tone of his voice has no judgemental lilt, and his words soothe you enough to double-down with your agreement.

“thank you for doing this for me, love. as soon as we get back to the hotel, i’ll take care of you properly–i promise,” george praises you, “now, remember, this won’t take any longer than ten seconds. if you need me to stop beforehand, pinch the skin on my neck and i’ll stop, okay?”

you swallow, clearing your throat, “yes, george. can we start already? my nerves will scare me away if we wait too long.”

george nods, hands petting at your waist reassuringly, before he focuses back on your thighs. his nose tracing along your sensitive skin for a few more seconds, until he stops and nuzzles at a spot almost on the underside of your left thigh, close enough to your pussy to have the fear fade under the anticipation of pleasure. the vampire kisses at the spot three times, before he lets his fangs slide out with an audible shlick. he presses them gently against you skin for a few seconds before he bites down.

the pain isn’t from the invasion of his fangs, but from the spread of the venom. it burns as it spreads through your bloodstream; you imagine this is what boiling alive feels like. the feeling is immense but fleeting. the initial bite has always been paralyzing, but when george takes the first pull of blood, the venom must have reached your brain and taken effect, because the pain instantly switches to an immobilizing amount of pleasure. the scream that was originally building in your chest transforms into a keening moan, the burning pain no longer present.

you feel your core tightening as george continues to feast on your blood; thighs trembling in pleasure, eyes rolling back overwhelmed, and toes curling. it’s happening so quickly, quick enough that you don’t register that you’re cumming. waves of pleasure crash over you unendingly, and you’re unable to figure out why. every drag of blood george takes ruins any chance you have to think. the pleasure is so catastrophic that you don’t even register when george releases the bite. 

the vampire can only stare up at you in awe as your mouth parts, drool beginning to leak from the corner of your lips, your eyes slamming shut, and face scrunching from the force of the orgasm he ripped out of you. george soothes the bite closed with careful sweeps of his tongue, allowing you all the time you need to come back to him. he softly sucks a few more marks into the meat of your thigh before he fights himself away from cradle of your legs, brushing a kiss on your cunt over your panties.

the vampire slides his way onto the couch next to you, pulling you into his arms to allow you to shake through the aftershocks in his grasp. he presses kisses to your forehead, while he murmurs praises freely. while his mouth is running in one direction, his thoughts take a completely different turn.

he’s ruined you for any other person. he’s trained you to orgasm with a simple bite of his fangs. your body has correlated the painful spread of his venom with pleasure. george has tied you to him for the rest of your life. this is a huge fucking problem. his mind starts racing; if that’s the case he either needs to work that out of you, or he can never feed from you in situations like this again. you’ll be useless for the rest of the day, your brain has turned into jello. he needs to make sure that he manages his blood supply properly in the future, so he doesn’t have to drink from you where the media can discover how gone you are. 

george has no idea how he would go about un-training your…pleasurable…response to his bite. on second thought, george doesn’t want to change your newfound reflex. if anything, it’s like an equal exchange. the vampire satiates his thirst, and you satiate your thirst. george coos at you adoringly when he hears the near inaudible moans your breathing into his neck—yeah, he thinks you’ll agree with him when you’re aware enough to do so.

he finds himself tracing the fresh bite mark with a thumb, groaning when your hips grind against him in return. he fumbles his phone out of his pocket to tell toto he needs at least another twenty minutes.

taglist: @lorarri @soph1644 @jaydensluv @fanboyluvr @nissaimmortal @redgonerogue @hollie911 @saintwrld@buendiabebeta@butterfly-lover@lana-d3l-rey@dylan1721 @spicybagel14 @dhhdhsiavdhaj@miahgonzalez16@jjaekin @dkbj14 @f1lover55 @f1lov3r @mindless-rock@biancathecool@barnestatic@sweetpiccolo-blog@my-ylenia @zaynzierulez@reblog-princess-blog @lovingaphroditesworld @katekipshidze @darleneslane @inloveallthetime

© httpsserene 2023

[salty-autistic-writer]

For @bucktommypositivityweek round 2 Day 2: "scenes from a truck"

Summary: Buck, Tommy and what happens between two trucks.(Link to AO3)

Stolen Moments between two firetrucks.

A giggle that ends in a breathless moan as Tommy playfully pushes Buck back against the truck behind him. Warm lips part and connect in an already familiar way. Eyes flutter close and skin flushes. Fingers sneak into Buck’s hair, tousling it, uncaring about the soot caught in his curls.

Buck feels floaty. His heart is pounding, spurred on by the excitement that comes with the fact that they are hiding and kissing like two teenagers with a crush. He could forget time here. He could forget the job and all the problems of the last week. He could …

Tommy breaks the kiss and steps back. Buck instinctively reaches for him, grabbing Tommy’s arms. And yes. Maybe, he even pouts. “No.”

“You can have more kisses later,” Tommy chuckles, head turning to where someone could see them if they chose to stand between the two trucks right now. “Come on. We have to go back.”

Buck sighs. He knows Tommy is right. Time doesn’t stand still after all. He lets go. But only for the moment.

~

Stolen moments. Whispered conversations.

“Are you okay?” 

“No. Not really.”

“I’m sorry. The day will pass.”

“And another one will begin tomorrow … I feel like I’m going insane. I need this man gone.”

“Don’t let him get to you, Evan. That’s what people like him want. He is not worth losing your job.”

“I know. I know .”

“Hey. Look at me. Relax your shoulders. You got this. Just … think about home, alright? You will always get to go home after work. And I’ll be waiting for you there. Take all of this to me.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

"Now go back and be awesome. My gorgeous hero firefighter."

"Thanks. But we all know I can't be more awesome than my gorgeous firefighter pilot."

"Aw. Look at that. You made me blush. Now we need to spend a little more time here together until I don't look like a tomato anymore."

"I can give you another kiss."

"That doesn't help, Evan."

"I don't care. Come here ..."

Stolen moments.

~

And sometimes, it’s just Buck. He sneaks away for a few minutes, leans back against the truck and sighs, pulling out his phone to check for a text from Tommy. He smiles when he sees it. Writes a reply. Chuckles about a funny image. Moments like these always brighten his mood, even when the day is shit.

He takes some deep breaths, looks up as a helicopter flies over his head, and takes a picture because maybe it’s Tommy. Buck’s whole phone gallery is full of pictures of helicopters and he never really wants to delete them because even if it wasn’t Tommy, Tommy can always tell him cool facts about the model. After sending the picture to Tommy, Buck puts his phone away and returns to his team. 

[actualbird]

Statistical Report of Marius/Luke Ao3 Literature (2024)

(aka, a pet project i've been working on behind the scenes for a while. if you'd rather read it as a PDF, you can check it out here, but i've copy pasted its entirety into this text post, beginning in 3...2...1...)

Introduction

Ahhh, Marius von Hagen and Luke Pearce…such wonderful characters from hit mobile otome game “未定事件簿 | Tears of Themis.” As love interests to Miss MC Rosa Qiangwei, they each are incredibly compelling characters with incredibly nuanced backstories, personalities, and dynamics with MC.

Also, there’s a small but dedicated community of shippers that want them to kiss and make out and be in love with each other. Hell yeah!

Welcome to the Statistical Report of Marius/Luke Ao3 Literature (2024), a report that aims to capture this community’s literary contribution to the MariLuke ship by crunching the data available to the public on Ao3! 

Before going into the data, there are some notes and caveats to this census that the author would like to make clear.

This report’s data was taken from the “未定事件簿 | Tears of Themis (Video Game)” fandom tag on Archive of Our Own. This means that all works outside of this tag or outside of this website (ex. Twitter thread fics or Tumblr drabbles not crossposted to Ao3, fanfiction only on other sites like FanFiction.net, Wattpad, Weibo, etc.) have not been included.

This report’s data is as of May 31, 2024 as a cutoff date. This was so that I wouldn’t have to endlessly update the data and go insane.

Works that did exist but have since been deleted as of May 31, 2024 are not included, as the author does not have an encyclopedic memory of fanfics that no longer exist on the site :( 

Now with all that said, let’s dive in.

---

Number Of Fics Posted and Surge Periods

Now, let’s begin with the number of fics posted. As of May 31, 2024, there are 166 fics in the “Lu Jinghe | Marius von Hagen/Xia Yan | Luke Pearce” tag on Ao3. This number (and subsequently, this report) counts fics as they are listed in AO3 as unique fics, meaning that if it takes up its own little box in the AO3 feed, that’s one fic in itself. This does unfortunately mean that fics that act as a collection (i.e. each chapter is a different story) are only counted as one fic. This number also excludes podfics, because that’s basically the same fic in a different format.

That being said, this number is still nothing to scoff at. And things get even more delightful when we track down the frequency of fics posted month by month in a timeline.

The earliest MariLuke fic posted on Ao3 was “You are King” by itshaku on August 8, 2021, a mere 10 days after ToT’s official global release. The folks who posted the very first few fics in August 2021 laid down the foundation and bedrock of the Ao3 tag, and as ToT’s existence to the global audience continued, more and more fic started to populate our hallowed halls.

However, while that’s the earliest MariLuke fic as is recorded by Ao3 now, I happen to know that there was a fic that was posted even earlier. A fic called “Don’t Let Me Go” by sakurei. Both the fic and the author’s account has since been delated, but I knew this fic existed because I originally started this report in 2022. When I had first put together the preliminary data, I noted “Don’t Let Me Go” as the first ever fic, and then was disheartened to learn that it was deleted. Like, no…the sacred texts… All hope seemed lost until my dear friend Z Lukevonhagen suggested I search the link on the Wayback Machine, and lo and behold, a copy of the True First Ever MariLuke Fanfic On Ao3 had been unearthed. Thanks, Z!

In the month of October 2021, the Marius/Luke tag experienced its first fic surge. For the purposes of this report, any month with 8 or more fics posted during their duration is counted as a surge. Why is 8 or more the qualifier? That number was picked solely off of vibes.

A total of 9 new fics were posted in October 2021, though the I can’t find any discernible reason for this fic. After some digging, I found no relevant fan events that occurred in October 2021 that linked to any of the MariLuke fics. In terms of in-game happenings, the only thing of note here is that this is when the Symphony Of The Night event was running, but it’s not like Marius and Luke made out on screen during that event’s storyline (oh, how I wished though…)

Our next surge happened in August 2022, with a whole 12 fics posted, when the tag suddenly and beautifully got a sizeable influx of CN fics. CN fics take up 6 of the 12 fics posted during this time period, which is half of the month’s total fic yield. Thank you for your service, CN MariLukers !

Our next surge period lasted for a whopping 3 consecutive months, ushering a Golden Age for MariLuke fics, so to speak. Month by month, what happened was:

In October 2022, another surge occurred with a total of 11 fics. During this month, Twitter account Thirst of Themis had run a ToT Kinktober fan event, and a number of new Marius/Luke fics were created and posted in accordance with the Kinktober prompts. 

In November 2022, a total of 9 fics were posted, and this was mostly because of two specific singular authors’ hard work, as they published several fics all on their own in rapid succession and contributed to the surge. Ao3 author Litchire posted a whopping 4 fics during this period, along with Ao3 author ynfzymokaihewo who posted 3 fics. 

In December 2022, a total of 9 fics were posted, though this is the month where I couldn’t find any discernible reason once again. Maybe the holiday season just made us all fic-happy? Who knows.

After that, it’s smooth sailing for a while with average MariLuke fic yields for a couple of months.

Then, the Recession came. Followed by a Revival. Followed by another Recession. 

In April, 2023, only one (1) MariLuke fic was posted. Authors recovered in the following month of May 2023, but right after in June 2023, we all died once again with a staggering zero (0) new MariLuke fics posted. I assume we all went into hibernation or something. But that’s fine, because the next month in July 2023, the crops started flowering once more and the MariLuke harvest began anew.

Our next surge happened a couple months later, in November 2023, with 8 new fics posted. The culprit here is Thirst of Themis once again, for they had run a November prompts event, and 7 out of 8 MariLuke fics posted this month were in fulfillment of the event.

Now, we arrive at our latest surge and also our biggest one. In may 2024, the MariLuke Ao3 tag saw a whopping 28 new fics posted. This is undoubtedly the result of the fan event MariLuke Week (May 2024) for 27 out of the 28 fics were posted in fulfillment of the event’s prompts. The following authors participated in MariLuke Week, with their fic counts for this event placed next to their name:

xXILoveMyFridgeXx (10 fics contributed)

wtfhoney (7 fics contributed)

quarterweeb / theobscenfraction (4 fics contributed)

reptilianraven (3 fics contributed)

lukevonhagen (2 fics contributed)

Litchire (1 fic contributed)

Congratulations and thank you to the writers who participated in the event! You all contributed to the biggest surge in MariLuke stocks THUS FAR, and you should all give yourselves a pat on the back.

That concludes the timeline of MariLuke works up til May 31, 2024! Hit the showers, everybody!

---

Full List of AO3 Users Who Have Written Marius/Luke Fanfiction

The Marius/Luke writer population is a small but mighty one, with a total of 45 unique authors who have posted a fic Marius/Luke fic on Ao3 as of May 31, 2024. Before going into the full list of authors, here are some important caveats to the list:

ON ANONYMOUS AUTHORS: As this report deals with how Ao3 lists data, all authors who have opted to post anonymously will be counted as one entity. I personally know that some anonymous authors are different users, but verifying this without making any fuckups would make my tiny pea brain cry. For this reason, anonymous authors are counted as one unique author, so if you’re one of these anonymous authors, congrats on being a part of a Marius/Luke hivemind!

ON AUTHORS WITH PSEUDS: An Ao3 user who has different posted fics within the Marius/Luke tag under different pseuds will be counted as one unique author. Despite saying in the last paragraph that the my personal knowledge will not be enacted to tweak how Ao3 lists data, I’m making one exception here because it literally only pertains to three Ao3 users in the ship tag, so this won’t make my tiny brain cry at all.

So without further ado and in alphabetical order, here our are heroes:

Authors listed under the Anonymous Label

ajing_1124

artistic_gemini

asukryo

autumnsparrxw

BlazingSunflowers

CandorArchives

chechevitsa

darkbreak

doridoripawaa

dxpiarchaive / keeyamii

Eden_of_Amour / suffering_meguca

EnnTea

floweringlight

friedchickenlord

Goryo_Wataru

i_o_u_e_a

itshaku

kombat_exe

ladyhaspran

layla_wp

Litchire

lukevonhagen

m3i_day

marcipancake

monocuri

osamurice

pvsiytemhaver

quarterweeb / theobscenefraction

reptilianraven

RikuMorimachisGirl

Rxzaliya

samandspam

snocchiato

Solaste

sondepoch

strayris

Szim

Tinowenn

ThirdLibraryOfYumenosaki

turnscote

wtfhoney

xeriacat

xXILoveMyFridgeXx

ynfzymokaihewo

---

A Brief Glimpse Into Ratings and Tags

Before I looked at the ratings, I had a hypothesis that Explicit fics would take the lead because in majority of the MariLuke fics I’ve read myself, Marius and Luke are written to have incredibly active libidos. Lo and behold, when I did chart down the fics by rating, is is revealed that…

…statistically, we are horny. 

Not by a whole lot though! Fics that are rated Teen and Up comes in 2nd place by just a very small margin, so that’s a lot of fics that are accessible to those who don’t want to read Marius and Luke getting nasty.

In terms of Additional Tags, I checked out the Top 5 most frequented Additional Tags and charted them below.

The Top 5 most used Additional Tags are actually Fluff, Light Angst, Comedy, Humor, and Anal Sex. However, I reasoned that Comedy and Humor are the exact same thing, so I counted them as synonyms and added in the 6th most used Additional Tag: Established Relationship. 

Anyhoo, I think it’s really sweet to see that Fluff reigns supreme! And by a large margin, too. We love to write our boys having a wholesome lovely time. Of course, we also like just a smidge of narrative spice, which is where Light Angst comes in in 2nd place. That being said, I think it’s insanely funny that Anal Sex is in this chart. It is very out of place among the rest, LMAO.

---

A Brief Segue Into The Popularity of Marius/Luke In Relation to Other ToT BL Pairings

As of May 31, 2024, Marius/Luke is the 1st most popular M/M ship in the Ao3 tag, overall clocking in with a total of 166 works. 

In addition to that, I think it’s interesting to note that the 2nd most popular BL ship is Marius/Artem, with 130 fics, while the 3rd most popular BL ship is Marius/Vyn, with 66 fics. Tied for 4th place is Artem/Male or Gender Neutral Reader, and Vyn/Artem, both at 46 fics respectively.

The reason why I think the top 5 BL ships are interesting to look at is due to Marius’ participation in 3 out of the 5 most popular M/M ships in the ToT tag. Given this, we can veritably congratulate him for statistically beating the heterosexual allegations. Marius really gave off vibes that made many different shippers go “oh there’s no way in hell he’s completely straight.”

---

Accolades 

Longest Fic

As of May 31, 2024, the Longest Fic in the tag is [drumroll]...Losing Sight by pvsiytemhaver! This fic is actually primarily as ArtemRosa fic with MariLuke as an additional ship, and it currently clocks in at 90,109 words, taking the 1st spot as the longest MariLuke fic and the 18th longest fic overall in the general “未定事件簿 | Tears of Themis (Video Game)” fandom tag. Let’s take a look at the runner ups!

Here’s the list of the longest fics in the MariLuke tag:

Losing Sight by pvsiytemhaver (90,109 words)

the lips i used to call home (it was maroon) by xXILoveMyFridgeXx (58,185 words)

Five Points of a Star by xXILoveMyFridgeXx (25,494 words)

Risk of Pain by Solaste (25,157 words)

end of a decade (start of an age) by xXILoveMyFridgeXx (20,671 words)

Special shoutout to user xXILoveMyFridgeXx who consistently pumps out fics with gargantuan word counts.

Fic With Most Kudos

Next on the list is the Fic With The Most Kudos, and this title goes to [drumroll]... “standard operating procedure (x4 speedrun) by reptilianraven” which…oh, that’s me. 

This fic is not solely a MariLuke work, but an NXX Polycule work that has MariLuke within it. Weighing in with 827 kudos, it takes the spot as the 1st most kudos’d MariLuke work, while also weighing in as the 9th most kudos’d fic overall in the general “未定事件簿 | Tears of Themis (Video Game)” fandom tag. Let’s take a look at the runner ups!

Here’s the list of the Top 5 Fics With Most Kudos:

standard operating procedure (x4 speedrun) by reptilianraven (827 kudos)

every breath you take, every move you make, peanut will be watching you by reptilianraven (735 kudos)

how Puppy Pierce© conquered the world by reptilianraven (705 kudos)

the existence of a top student implies the existence of a bottom student by reptilianraven (575 kudos)

making out with your bro for fun and for profit by reptilianraven (567 kudos)

(Thank you for the kudos ;^;)

Author With Most MariLuke Works Written

And now, for our last accolade… the award for the author who currently has a large chunk of the MariLuke Ao3 tag coming from their own fics wrought by their own mind. 

This title goes to [drumroll]... oh goddamn it, it’s me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being insane about them. I don’t remember writing this much for them, I swear to god. Let’s look at the runner ups!

Here’s the list of authors with the most MariLuke works written:

reptilianraven (24 works)

quarterweeb / theobscenefraction (quarterweeb) (23 works)

Litchire (15 works) and ynfzymokaihewo (15 works) tied for 3rd place

xXILoveMyFridgeXx (13 works)

wtfhoney (11 works)

---

Conclusion

I love this ship. I love this ship so goddamn much, but if there’s one thing I love more, it’s the community of shippers who write for this ship. This pet project was started as a little love letter from me to the MariLuke writing community. So, thank you, MariLuke writers!! Thank you for putting your heart and soul into the works you create, thus fashioning a beautifully wide array of fics to enjoy and read, and thank you for showing your love for this rarepair!

Alright, this report is too damn long. I’m gonna go reread MariLuke fics now. Bye! Hope you enjoyed!

[lincolnchristie]

*waves hand in the air like a beauty queen* Just Hello.*

Welcome to my professional tumblr. I’m Lincoln, and I’m a fantasy/science fiction author. I’m fond of murder mysteries, powers that come with a price, and mythology.

Most of you will probably know me already, actually, as tumblr user @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels. *jazz hands* Surprise, ‘tis I!

For a long time I resisted the idea of self-publishing. I didn’t want to start from the ground-up in building an audience because I’m not great at this whole social media thing and I hated that idea. However, I finally grew too frustrated with how the traditional publishing world treats its authors and said screw it. We’re gonna try doing this on my own.

And, uh, I’ve come to realize, I actually do have an audience. My lovely fanfiction readers.

My hope is that, since you all enjoy my fanfiction, you’ll want to check out my original writing, too. I will say up front that there are some differences such as a darker tone, heavier subjects, romance is not the main plot, etc. But, if you like my more plot-centric and serious fanfics, then I think you’ll like these original works of mine. I like to play around with themes and worlds similar to the ones found in those stories.

*vibrates with excitement* Which is why I'm launching my Patreon!!!

I have also, shocker of shockers to myself more than anyone, written a poetry collection. It's titled Manifesto of a Blossoming Supervillain and you can purchase it here on my website (I have a website!!!) in e-book with paperback coming in the next few days.

But my Patreon is where I'll be posting, chapter by chapter, my fantasy murder mystery novel A Masque of Shadows.

When the controversial regent of the city-state of Serenissima is murdered on the first night of Masquerade, Captain Matthias has to sort through spurned lovers, murderous family members, and scheming nobles to prevent war from breaking out. It's Murder on the Orient Express meets Game of Thrones starring a very tired autistic bisexual who's just trying to get through the holiday season.

What can I say, I want to see if you all can solve the mystery in real time. ;)

My Patreon is also where you'll get lots of sneak peak info about my other novels such as character art and playlists, worldbuilding info, deleted and bonus scenes, character backstory, and director's commentary.

The first novel that I plan to release in full is Pestilence, the first in my Horsemen Quartet:

When four women raised in a dead world come back to life, they find they're no longer entirely human... and the undead are no longer the worst threat they have to face in the wasteland.

It's currently with my sensitivity and beta readers, and the hope is to publish it in September (because I'm a masochist, I guess).

You also get pictures of my cats, Mr. Fluffernutter and Cuddlebug!

(They like to sit in the window and judge people.)

The audience I’ve built up with my fanfiction was rather like falling asleep. It happened slowly, and then all at once. I’m still blown away every day by the number of people who’ve read and enjoyed my stories on Ao3. I hope, if you are one of those people, that you will consider supporting me and join my Patreon to support my original work. These stories are near and dear to my heart, and I deeply love the characters in them. I hope that you all will, too.

*no I could not resist a MsScribe reference, sorry not sorry

[jellyfishloveletterghosts]

Make sure to check out this beautiful art of a scene from the first chapter by @raven-cl (I don't know what happened when I posted this one but I think when I tried to edit the link I accidentally deleted this 😬)

Dandelion Wishes - Chapter 5 - The Move

Max squirms out of his hold on her shirt, moving away from him, past the rubble and dirt on the side of the road to the tall grass of the field. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?"

"It's not like I'll be any help." Max twirls, arms outstretched and angled slightly down, fingertips brushing the tops of the tallest flowers. "There's a whole field full of dandelions." Among other wildflowers, violet and yellow shades remind Billy of the day he imagined Steve. "I'm going to make some more wishes."

Billy almost asks, more? But he shakes his head, he doesn’t really want to know, “you're wasting your time."

Max shouts, "I don't care!" When he moves around to the side of the car to get the jack under it she is already a good distance away, flopping down into the tall grass out of sight. Billy shakes his head and starts to work on the tire trying his best to ignore the mutter of her wishes.

Read on Ao3

[wolfiepyxie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

How many works do you have on AO3? 14

What's your total word count? 613,957

What fandoms do you write for? Mainly Supernatural but I want to branch back out into some of the other fandoms I love

Top 5 fics by kudos: Necessities for Survival (WIP): 428 kudos, Winter's Spider (WIP/on Hiatus): 265 kudos, A Supernatural Adventure (WIP): 152 kudos, A New Way (WIP): 121 kudos, and Skin Deep (WIP): 57 kudos. Notice the pattern yet folks?

Do you respond to comments? I try to but I know that I don't get around to answering them all

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't have very many fics that are completed, so at the time of making this I can't really answer this question.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again I don't have many completed fics, and the ones that I do have completed have kind of happy endings but I wouldn't call them the happiest.

Do you get hate on fics? Not that I have seen, but I do have the comment moderation on for if that should ever happen as I do not check my AO3 inbox all that frequently

Do you write smut? I've only recently started, so there are only two of my fics that have some form of smut in them

Craziest crossover? None that I would necessarily call the craziest but I have some that cross over with Marvel and one that is a crossover with the TV show Lucifer

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I did have one stolen back in my publishing on Wattpad days, but I have yet to see any evidence of my AO3 fics being stolen (pls don't let be the thing that jinx's me)

Have you ever had a fic translated? Haven't had the opportunity or the pleasure yet

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I'mma pull a Doctor Who and say spoilers 😏

All time favorite ship? That is a tie between Destiel and Drarry

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Uh I'd have to say maybe Winter's Spider. Mainly because at one point I wanted to give it a complete rewrite in order to flush certain things out but I've just never had the energy to do it

What are your writing strengths? I'd have to say world building and fight scenes, I do pretty good at those

What are your writing weaknesses? Staying in the same tense while writing, I'm all over the place with that (sorry to my beta reader for that)

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I think it's cool, but translations at the bottom would be appreciated (this is not meant to be hateful it's just that google translate is kinda unreliable 😅)

First fandom you ever wrote in? I can barely remember half of the things I've written in a current fic after I've written and published them, I have no idea what was the first fandom I ever wrote in. Cause again, I started on Wattpad and ended up deleting most of my old, sucky works

Favorite fic you've written? That's like asking me to pick my favorite movie, there are too many

To pass on the fun I tag @anyreiart, @celestialstarlight27, @avonlady42, @friendofcarlotta, and @thefastestqueeralive. Sorry to those of you who didn't want to be tagged! I am only following so many authors on here (which is not many, sadly)

[megafaunatic]

fic writer meme

ty claire @microcomets for the tag!!!!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

seventy three !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jesus christ lol

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

five hundred twelve thousand three hundred AND THREE human words. PLUS some comics

3. What fandoms do you write for?

whateber catches my fancy... mostly danmei these days but 🤫 perhaps a new world in the works soon

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

oh jeez lol

you asleep and dreaming

atlas

linger in the sun

take me by the waist to the water (<- this one's having a renaissance these days bc of the donghua, by far the most kudos per day)

this tornado loves you

the people love wangxian!

5. Do you respond to comments?

VERY RARELY... i try to respond asap to anyone who asks about translating (i LOVE TRANSLATIONS) but other than that i feel very shy about replying to comments LOL 😵‍💫😵‍💫 even though i love when authors respond to MY comments...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

for a while i wrote a lot of "missing scene" wangxians where it's just like a moment or a handful of moments in the middle of the action, and i think all of them have implicit angsty endings: because they're just a missing scene, and there's no continuation, you understand that "having that conversation"/"kissing or almost kissing then" changes nothing in the greater arc... wei wuxian still gives jiang cheng his golden core, is still reviled and then killed... etc... but definitely the angstiest fic i've written remains flightless bird which cair read and then immediately blocked out of their mind forever

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

MOST Of my fics that aren't the above missing scene fics are happy endings. some faves include no other waters and to be a good companion, both post-tyk happy endings; at least in this lifetime, my most recent take on mdzs happy ending; a lot's gonna change, a wedding fic which was written in honor of most beloved friends mary + aubrey's actual real life wedding (and actual real life happy ending)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really lol probably once a year i'll get a rude comment that i immediately delete and go "? lol" about. i was NOT victimized by shino which >:/ okay... excluding me...

9. Do you write smut?

teehee

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written?

ive really only written one crossover (atlas: wangxian + hualian) which got it all out of my system. crossovers are hard to do well especially when all the things i'm into are in world structures that can't easily overlap

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no fics "stolen" as in reposted wholesale (TO MY KNOWLEDGE?) but definitely i used to notice some plagiarism here and there when wangxian was really popping! mostly specific turns of phrase/passages but sometimes whole concepts. also one time i tweeted a funny hualian thread about hua cheng purring and then a couple days later i decided i want to whip it up into a fic and then like 3 hours after i posted the fic i went and checked the tag (these were the days that you could check the tag more than once a day) and someone had posted their own fic that was just beat-for-beat my original thread. uncredited obviously. lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES AND I ACTUALLY KEEP A CHERISHED SPREADSHEET OF ALL THE TRANSLATIONS!!!! like claire, mostly spanish/russian/chinese. most exciting tls for me personally are the persian and turkish ones

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

NO!!!!!!! I'M TOO UNRELIABLE AND OVERPROTECTIVE!!!!!!! every time zoë and miriam or fey and fer talk about how much they love co-writing i'm like omg. wish i were constitutionally capable of doing such an activity. but i'm not

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

THE SCHOONER WINDFALL OF OCRACOKE ISLAND!!!!!!!!! ROLL THE CLIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

no uhh idk passions come and go! once i get Particularly Into a ship i'll come back and read fics for it years later... every ship fills a different niche in my heart...

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

(HUGE BOLD LETTERS) pacific rim wangxian au i miss you so bad

also inception au wenzhou fic but that feels more likely to be finished... maybe one day...

16. What are your writing strengths?

precision + beauty of language; i am really funny; i'm good at choreography

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

PLOT :( PACING :(

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! i like it the most when i personally can understand it LMFAO but like really well-written bilingual writing where you DON'T have to speak the second language in order to get the gist of what's being said - either bc of elegant/subtle translation in the narration or bc of context - is sooo good and so hard to do well

OR i love lianzi's approach to translation in her shl chinese restaurant au (ONE OF THE FUNNIEST FICS OF ALL TIME) where some of the text is written in chinese and you hover over it for the english translation

19. First fandom you wrote for?

technically les mis but that doesn't count. jojo's bizarre adventure

20. Favorite fic you have written?

ummmmm mmmm hmmmmm hmmmmm. at any given time i mostly like my most recent fics the best but i do think our eyes on the road is particularly enduring - i love a lot of the landscape writing i did in that one, i think i captured the vibe of "late winter in new england" particularly well!

I TAG... @cairoscene @vinelark @houtaroo @fruitdaze AND @uhuraisgay

[child-of-hurin]

Fic author interview meme - tagged by @anghraine!

Apologies if you've already done this and I missed it, but tagging @squirrelwrangler @undercat-overdog @chthonic-cassandra @hoeratius @outofangband @seagodofmagic and everyone else who sees this and feels like doing it :)

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

58, more than I thought

2- What's your total AO3 word count?

146,888

3- What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Surrender, 615 words, The Mirror Visitor, 149 kudos 2. Locked, forgotten, 1,6k words, ASOIAF , 91 kudos 3. With imperious hand, Fate turns the wheel,  8,8k words, Queen’s Thief, 85 kudos 4. Simple fix, 2,8k words, Supernatural, 77 kudos 5. Tied: Cupid and Psyche, 742 words, Queen’s Thief, 66 kudos A flower trampled underfoot, 1,9k words, Silmarillion, 66 kudos

I have a couple of anonymous/orphaned works that I can recall that have way more than any of this: one Azula/Zuko that has over 350 kudos and a Wincest fic that’s currently on 289! They’re both pure E-rated kink, so I think it figures hahaah.

4- Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, but sometimes I get a little stumped between a desire to respond in depth vs the conscience that ao3 comments are not really the place for fandom conversation…

5- What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

IMO, either my most recent Vinland Saga fic “Ordeal,” or my first posted fic ever, “Barren”, about Míriel and Pharazôn.

6- What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I’m thinking it’s probably “Washed Ashore”, a short fic that ends with Gil-Galad telling Círdan that Ëarendil is alive and returned with an army in tow.

7- Do you write crossovers?

no

8- Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I know I did but it was in an orphaned work and I can’t recall which, or what fandom it was for? But I think that’s why I switched to just publishing anonymously instead of orphaning it altogether, so I can still delete comments and stuff. Haven't had to, though.

9- Do you write smut?

Occasionally :) 

10- Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No

11- Have you ever had a fic translated?

I THINK so, because I remember someone asking me about it, but I can’t recall which fic or what language…

12- Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I wanna do that with Kate!!! Maybe one day

13- What's your all-time favorite ship?

The ship I’ve written the most for on ao3 is Irene/Gen from Queen’s Thief, and it’s definitely one of my top favorites!

14- What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I don’t usually post fics unless they’re finished or very close to. So the answer is something in my fic folder tentatively called "A Mirror, Cracking", which is an AU of Niënor in Brethil, if she remembered who she was! I'm suuuper fond of it and likely never finishing it, I plan to post it unfinished at some point, amnesty-style.

15- What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at creating a dramatic scene! Or let’s put it this way: it’s what I enjoy the most when I write

16- What are your writing weaknesses?

I’d like to write longer, more committed stuff sometimes, but I find it very hard! I also think my prose is very commonplace, but it doesn't actually bother me.

17- What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I avoid doing that at all costs. I either put a descriptive indicating they’re speaking another language, or I say the POV character can’t make it out. I don’t think it’s tacky and I don’t judge it in writing, I just don’t like doing it myself.

18- What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Tolkien <3

19- What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

My dream is to write a Mediana/Ophélie fic for The Mirror Visitor, simply I think this ship is insanely hot and there was just one meager 155 word ficlet for it last time I checked! I have some notes for a fic but lost steam; maybe reading the English translation of those books will do the trick.

20- What's your favorite fic you've written?

I’m super fond of “A haunting”, one of my fics with the least amount of kudos... which I understand, because it really is one of those “I wrote this for myself but you can read it if you want to” cases—in terms of themes, characterization, style and format, corny quote at the beginning, etc, super indulgent. I really just had a lot of fun with it and it still touches me whenever I reread it, and I think the language and characterization are pretty solid! I like it a lot and I'm super proud of it :)

[atimeofyourlife]

Don't misplace your anger

day 18 | rated: t | wc: 755 | prompts: REVENGE | Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” | cw: assault, violence, mention of catfishing | ao3 Buck thought that everything with the catfish was over and done with. But another unhappy victim confronts him at a scene and wants her revenge.

Buck was happy everything was going back to normal. The catfishing issue seemed to have resolved itself, no more angry women had shown up at the firehouse accusing him of ghosting them. Hen was happier having settled things with Karen. Bobby was in a better mood, but none of them could quite figure out why. And his probationary year was quickly drawing to a close. Sure, it would be better if Abby was there, but he knew how important it was to her to honor her mom by traveling.

But then it all had to go south at a scene.

A car had lost control and crashed into a barrier, causing injury to the driver and passenger. But it was only a single car accident, and they were able to get both people out with minimal effort. So while Hen and Chimney were assessing the patients, Buck was on crowd control. It was a fairly easy part of the job, keeping curious onlookers at a safe distance so they wouldn't interfere.

One woman in the small crowd kept glancing at Buck, then turning and whispering to the man next to her. Buck wasn't sure what to make of it, but just brushed it off. In the year he'd been with the fire department there'd been plenty of instances where members of the public would start whispering to each other about him while he was just trying to do his job.

"Evan Buckley?" He turned to see the woman now stood in front of him.

"Uh, yeah. That's me. How can I help?"

"You're a creep, Buckley." She slapped him hard across the face. "Leading on girls and getting them to tell you all sorts of private information. Then deleting your account like a coward."

"This shit, again." Buck groaned. "I'm sorry that happened to you, but that wasn't me."

"So there's another LAFD firefighter out there with the same name who looks exactly like you?" She scoffed.

"No, my identity was stolen. Some guy saw me on tv or something and decided to use my name and photos to get women to talk to him. Then he died. The accounts were shut down because they were fake." Buck explained desperately. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping he could get someones -anyones- attention, but everyone else was caught up in their jobs. No one was looking in his direction.

"You really expect us to believe that?" The guy beside her asked, flexing to show how big he was. "No one gets to treat my little sister like that."

Buck instinctively stepped back, turning his head to shout for help. "Cap-" was all he got out before the guy's fist hit him in the side of the head, sending him to the ground. He wasn't able to react fast enough before his head hit the ground, hard.

"You need to pay for what you did to her and all the other girls." The guy straddled him and rained down punches, to his head, his chest, his stomach. Only stopping when physically pulled away by Bobby and several of the onlookers.

"Buck, Buck." He was aware of Hen's voice as she started checking him over. "Buck, come on. Open your eyes, talk to us."

"Hurts." Buck mumbled, peeling his eyes open a little, before screwing them shut again against the light.

"No. My brother did nothing wrong." He could hear the young woman screeching. "He was just defending me from that asshole who ghosted me."

"Catfish strikes again, huh Buckaroo?" Chimney asked.

"Ugh." Buck groaned. "Think 'm gonna-"

Hen and Chimney were quick to roll him onto his side so he could throw up without choking.

"Both have been arrested. Athena will want to grab your statement once you feel up to it." Bobby said, coming over to join them. "What's it looking like?"

"Concussion, there's light sensitivity, and he's bleeding from the head. Vomiting, with a small amount of blood. There is some tenderness in the chest and stomach, but we can't know more until he's been checked out at the hospital. Vitals are looking good, though." Chimney explained as Hen fixed a c collar around his neck.

"They going to get the book thrown at them?" Hen asked once Buck had been loaded into the ambulance.

"Athena will make sure of it. Wanting revenge for something that he wasn't involved in isn't any defense. Especially when it's on record that he's a victim of identity theft." Bobby replied. "They're in a heap of trouble for this."

[exonerin]

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? 29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Two more questions from the list. Thank you so much! And they're fun questions, too.

17) That's actually a difficult question. For the obikin ones on AO3 right now, I don't think I had to do too much research.

In general, though, I have found Hanahaki fics are incredibly exhausting to write because I implement a number of additional rules. I don't want to spoil the fun yet, but you easily end up in an endless loop of research where you have the book of flowers and their meanings (language of flowers by Kate Greenaway is the best resource) on one hand, then google on the other hand to field questions like: 1) how big is this flower? Am I just choking my characters here? 2) is it edible? Am I willing to give my characters a severe case of the runs? Do I want them to be killed by these flowers through poison? (typically, the answer is 'no' at the start, and then near the end I'm actively looking for flowers that kill).

My main problem here is that it's generally speaking difficult to find the toxicity of flowers. You would assume people stuff everything in their mouths they can find, but oh well.

For another fic, I tried to figure out how English law worked in the Gregorian era. Let me give you one recommendation: don't. All these sources were too succinct and the more detailed ones contradicted each other. It was an exercise in futility, and frustrating, too.

29) Share a bit from a fic I'll never post. Funnily enough, I talked about the nightmarish fic in another post. Now, I have 3554 words to pick from in that snippet, and I'll have to be a bit selective.

It's a bit weird to share this anyway, actually. Either way, in this fic I kill Anakin at the start. So, Anakin is a ghost but he's bound to the dusty battlefield where he died. Since he can't leave, he never knows that the Republic falls and all Jedi are killed.

Through some events, during which I give Anakin hope and then crush it again quite cruelly, he ends up on Coruscant (as ghost). There he learns the Jedi are mostly dead, save some fugitives. This includes Obi-Wan. Thus, Anakin starts looking for Obi-Wan, only to eventually learn Obi-Wan was also killed when the wanted posters are updated to reflect this.

And then, Anakin's soul dies, too.

In my defense, I was in a terrible mood that day. It seemed a constructive way to deal with it. Usually, I delete these snippets, and I genuinely do not know what compelled me to save this.

I picked a snippet after the opening scene to avoid some graphic details. Nevertheless, there is a big trigger warning for Character Death here. So, proceed with caution. Also, I never looked this over again, I did a very rudimentary spelling check, but it will be a rough read.

===================

There was no death. There was the Force.

All living beings eventually reunited with the Force, only to be remolded and born again. Yet, he woke up. Although he had been cold, he was pleasantly warm as he woke. His eyes were still closed, watching the backs of his eyelids. There was no hurry, he didn't think so.

He had collapsed on his side, and orange dust stuck to his cheek, reminding him of sand. As he sighed, he could feel the grains on his tongue, gritty and dry.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

The ringing had stopped, but his vision remained blurry. He wasn't concerned, though.

There was no emotion. There was peace.

His mind was blissfully empty, sapping from the panic, the loud ringing, and the knowledge he would faint. His breathing was still shallow, but slow, and his lungs expanded again. He imagined droids felt similar when they were rebooted.

As he sat up, however, he fought a wave of nausea. While he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time, he felt squeamish. Something was off. His gaze dipped to his abdomen, but the weight of the beam had disappeared. Not a trace of the wound was left. Suspicion made him glance around him.

Oh.

Okay. That explained the absence of a fatal wound.

His body was still on the battlefield, pierced through by a durasteel beam. The pool of blood around him was already absorbed by the dust, staining the orange around him a brown halo. The wound looked grizzly, he noted with a dull detachment. Yet, that wasn't what drew his attention.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was curled around Anakin Skywalker's dead body, sobbing.

Around them, the battle still raged on, but Obi-Wan didn't pay them any mind. Curiously, Anakin lifted to his feet, swaying before collapsing on the sand again.

"That was a terrible idea," he scoffed, closing his eyes briefly to ground himself. Waking up after fainting, he had felt grounded, but that was clearly a lie. A low-level nausea remained, settling nicely in his stomach. Anakin breathed through it before opening his eyes again.

Although Obi-Wan still clutched Anakin Skywalker's body to his chest, his gaze seemed to be on him. Anakin tilted his head. Obi-Wan mirrored the motion.

"Hello there," he said, stealing Obi-Wan's catchphrase.

He had never seen Obi-Wan so distraught before, and his heart clenched painfully at the tear tracks that ran down his Master's cheeks.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked. "Is that you?"

Confused, Anakin tilted his head in the other direction. Obi-Wan didn't follow his example. Dread grew like poison ivy, filling every square centimeter in his body with its tight grip. Had he imagined the eye contact?

"Obi-Wan," he said, louder.

Obi-Wan didn't react. Panic had never felt so acute and all-encompassing before.

"Obi-Wan!"

"Anakin?"

Obi-Wan's gaze passed right through him as he turned his head to study the smoke surrounding them. Ignoring the nausea, Anakin crawled closer, lifting a hand to place it on Obi-Wan's shoulder and passing right through.

His fingers raked through fabric, flesh, bones, and even stone as he tried to touch Obi-Wan.

"I'm here," Anakin yelled in Obi-Wan's ear, but Obi-Wan didn't react. Unable to do anything, Anakin watched Obi-Wan cradle Anakin closer to his chest, muttering apology after apology, smothering the corpse with featherlight kisses on the forehead, and soft strokes through his matted curls.

Anakin's eyes burned, but he refused to cry. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision from the tears that welled anyway. Obi-Wan's white plastoid armor was coated in blood, but he didn't seem to realize or care. Feeling too small for the body he no longer inhabited, Anakin lifted to his feet, trying to see through the thick haze that had settled over the battlefield.

Watching his Master grief felt wrong, but Anakin was powerless to stop it. Instead, he was forced to watch every emotion, usually hidden behind a carefully curated mask and thick shields, play out on his Master's face. He swallowed thickly, feeling so utterly helpless.

Eventually, the din of battle stopped, replaced by an eerie silence. Clones gathered around Obi-Wan and Anakin's dead body. Anakin could hear the murmur of conversations in identical voices. It took an eternity before Commander Cody could convince Obi-Wan to return to the ship. Jealous of the brief hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, Anakin started after them. He knew Obi-Wan needed every bit of support he could get, but that was Anakin's place.

After a few steps, his body stopped progressing. Although he still walked, the procession of clones and Obi-Wan left him behind. An animal sound escaped him as he realized they were leaving him behind. Wildly, he clawed at the air, but the fog offered no resistance. Helplessly, he watched Obi-Wan retreat into the fog, still carrying his limp body. Howling and wailing, he tried to reach them, but he was powerless to watch them disappear. Clones walked around and through him, following Obi-Wan without a problem.

He was chained to this place!

His throat was raw, and the silhouettes of the vanguard gone, when Anakin slumped on the ground. As he clenched his hands into fists, the dust didn't move, unperturbed by his motions. He screamed until his voice gave out, a hoarse and painful gurgle in the back of his throat.

"No," he pleaded with the Force, his lips shaping around the world as he breathed it. "No, no, no."

They were the Team.

Crying ugly tears, and sobbing loudly despite the lack of voice, Anakin curled into a fetal position, ignoring the rough press of dust against his body.

In a meaningless scuffle on an Outer Rim planet, Anakin Skywalker was killed in action. His story ended here, doomed to haunt the dusty planes. Too numb to muster any anger, he closed his eyes, curling tighter until his forehead touched his knees.

Eventually, the dust settled, coating him in a thin layer of dust. Anakin had cracked one eye open to confirm he could see the sky before closing them again.

Blue.

Whatever.

He fought against the tears again and again and again, but he always lost. His eyes were raw and swollen from the tears and his nose was permanently stuffed. There was no one to comfort him.

For many rotations, Anakin Skywalker didn't move. Although a part of him had decided he would never move again, a loud sound startled him from his mourning. As he sat upright, his eyes grew wide in horror.

The decomposed bodies of clone troopers littered the wide open plane. Parts of battle droids were strewn around, already rusting, exposed as they were to the dust that swirled lazily above the ground, obscuring the rocks underneath.

Although he knew it was futile, he reached for a helmet. He gasped as the bucket rolled away under his touch. His fingers trembled as he hurried after the helmet to pick it up.

Disbelief left him speechless as he twisted the bucket in his hands, his leather gloves left white traces in the orange dust that coated the helmet. Carefully, he placed the helmet on the ground again before trying to lift a rifle.

He turned the blaster in his hands, fingers gliding over the ridges and scope. Stunned, he placed the blaster back on the ground.

What else could he do?

A brittle hope brewed in his stomach, mixing with the perpetual nausea. His gaze flitted over the battlefield, looking for other things to touch. There wasn't much. Only the dead were left behind.

Cautiously, he turned into the direction Obi-Wan had headed in. It was unwise to foster any hope, he knew. Letting reality crush the fragile feeling was better. Inhaling deeply, tasting the dust in the air, he took one step.

Then, a second.

A third followed after.

Each step led to another one until the battlefield was well behind him. No invisible barrier had stopped him, and Anakin was filled with incredulous hope. As the day passed into night, Anakin continued to walk. Eventually, he would find some form of civilization, he knew. At the time, he hadn't read the mission briefing, so he couldn't remember why they had fought over this planet.

Resources, he decided. And if there were resources, then there were also people exploiting those resources.

For many days, he walked, first randomly, then in a grid. No human could hope to cover every square centimeter in their search, but Anakin didn't have an alternative. If he wanted to return to Coruscant, he would need some form of transport.

One day, he was back on the battlefield. His shoulders slumped. He shook his head wildly, but it couldn't stop the tears. Legs, which were already unsteady from his long trek, gave out under him. Sharp rocks dug into his knees, leaving abrasions on his skin through his pants as he fell onto the ground.

He had hoped. And reality had crushed his silly, foolish hope. He had known from the start that his hope would only lead to bitter disappointment, but he couldn't have imagined how much it would hurt.

Pain and desperation made Anakin gag, but he hadn't eaten anything in eternity, so his dry heaving only irritated his throat.

"Obi-Wan," he whined, wishing his Master was here. Without Anakin to keep up the act, all his secrets would have been exposed, he judged. He wondered whether Obi-Wan would treat him kindly, despite knowing everything Anakin had done.

He was chilled to the bone, the goosebumps almost painful as they formed.

"Obi-Wan," he whispered, but no one would hear him. He inhaled raggedly in a last attempt to stop sobbing. It didn't work. Of course, it didn't.

Everyone had been hopeful the war would be over soon. Blindly, Anakin stared at the ground, wondering why he still existed on this desolate planet.

===================

[butchreyes]

ten questions for writers!

tagged by @reyesstrand and i just know i’m going to out myself…

how many works do you have on ao3? — i have nine! i’m a slow writer, and i generally try to focus on quality over quantity (although if you read anything i wrote before 2022… woof)

what’s your total ao3 word count? — 77,508

what fandoms do you write for? — currently i write for lone star and og, although i haven’t finished anything for og in a long time, mainly just putter in my notes app.

do you respond to comments? why or why not? — i try to! i’m kind of awkward though so after a certain point i run out of ways to say “glad you enjoyed! thanks for reading!” (i also stop religiously checking my inbox if i haven’t posted anything recently, so i miss comments sometimes)

have you ever had a fic stolen? — not that i can prove… but i do have my suspicions

have you ever cowritten a fic before? — no, and i would like to in theory but like i said i’m a slow writer! i can also be sort of particular/bossy so i want to spare my friends of having to deal with that

what’s your all-time favorite ship? — this is so random but it’s probably green arrow and black canary from dc comics. i’ve never even published anything for them (there are some old dc fics on my ao3 though PLEASE DONT READ THEM Y’ALL) but it is my dream to write a modernized film adaptation based on their 1988 comic run.

what are your writing strengths? — personally i think something i do really well is theming and subtext. my recent works have all been very rich texts, since i like to imbue every scene with as much meaning as i can. curtains are never just blue, etc. also i think i’m hilarious but we all knew this.

what are your writing weaknesses? — perfectionism and overthinking. i spend more time hitting backspace than i do adding to my documents. it means that i always end up with a final product that i love, but usually at the cost of my sanity.

first fandom you wrote for? — this is the part that y’all aren’t ready for… the first two fanfics i published on ffn (that have now been deleted) were about alvin and the chipmunks. i was probably 14. one of them involved brittany (pink one) getting hit by a car and dying. the oldest fanfic i have that’s still up (also on ffn) is a scooby-doo fic written in first person from fred’s pov. i was sixteen. maybe i will post the link one day.

tagging @mooshkat @strandnreyes @carlos-in-glasses @alrightbuckaroo and anyone else who wants to hop on <3

[apoptoses]

What does your editing process look like? Asking because I tend to just try to get everything perfect as I’m writing and then I’ll proofread before posting, it hasn’t really occurred to me to edit after I’m done

Editing as you write, for me, means getting nothing done. I've tried it and I spend ages on the same paragraph and then I get frustrated and quit haha

I use the Stephen King method of writing and editing. I sit down, start writing, and just keep going without stopping until I'm done with the scene or just mentally drained and done for the day. No going back and reading when I just put down, no pausing. If I don't know what I want them to say immediately I just type (SOME STUFF HERE) and keep banging away with what I know will come next.

Then once the whole thing is done (and I mean the whole thing, if it's gonna be a 50k fic I want all 50k out and DONE) I go back. I read the thing from start to finish without changing a single thing, just reading. That's how I figure out where the plot holes are, or if some theme doesn't get carried through to the end.

I also do this thing where I kinda sit back and unfocus my eyes and look at the shape of the text. Do I have like five huge blocks of writing one after the other? Do I have a ton of super short 2 sentence paragraphs all in a row? I check the 'shape' of the text to see how things flow, and if there's a super huge chunk of heavy reading I note that I need to either add some short stuff in between or edit those paragraphs down.

Any ideas I have at this point I make notes of but I don't start the edit immediately. I walk away for the rest of the night and then come back the next day.

THEN. Step 3. The REAL edit. I read and edit as I go, adding stuff in, taking stuff out, deleting scenes or noting where I need to add a scene/transition. Again, super important, go through all the way from start to finish and try not to jump around because that only leads to confusion.

Once that's done I walk away from the thing for at least a few days and try to forget about it until I feel about ready to post.

The night before I wanna post it I'll scan through one more time, make any last second edits and fix any typos. Paste it into AO3. Save as a draft.

Now if it's truly done, then the next day when I want to post it hitting the post button will be a breeze. If I feel any hesitation? I do one last pass, because that's my gut telling me something is missing/wrong. My gut has always been right.

It sounds super involved but on a fic under 10k it's no problem, it's a matter of taking little one hour chunks over the course of a couple days.

For something big like Blood Sanation, scrivener has been a godsend (THANK YOU everyone who bought me a ko-fi, I got the program and I love it ♥) Putting each scene into its own document keeps me from getting lost in the fic and lets me edit the scenes one at a time.

It's all about making the process small manageable chunks! I'm just burnt out on it from dealing with Blood Sanation and having like four other wips ready for edits at the same time haha

Lemme know if you have any other questions! I love sharing and helping with writing stuff.

[thescrapwitch]

Fanfiction Writer Bingo

Thank you for the tag, @thelordofgifs​

I started posting on ffnet when I was in middle school, and I had a lot of fun. Eventually I just sort of moved away from it - and writing fanfiction in general - and it was only once the pandemic started that I found AO3 and started writing fanfiction again.

My AO3 account is theScrap_Witch! 

Every fic I write is one I wanted to read, so in that sense they’re all self-indulgent?

I’ve written for a few different fandoms. I tend to focus on one at a time (Silmarillion, currently), but that doesn’t mean I won’t go back to old interests or try something new in the future.

I am obsessed with story structure and pacing for plot, so I love writing loose outlines. These tend to just be numbered lists with one or two sentences of the main thing I want to happen in that particular part of the story. I like seeing it all laid out like that, so that I know where I’m trying to go with the story (I write better with an ending in mind) and then I can jump back and forth between the different parts of the list as I write (which I find helpful when I’m stuck on one particular part; just work on a different section and then go back when my brain is in a better mood). The plan is very loose, and very open to change; I’ll often delete or add or move parts around as I write.

I get very nervous after I post a fic, so I try to post before I go to bed, that way I’m not constantly checking my phone to make sure someone likes it.

I have received several fanart pieces and I have them all saved in a little folder on my computer and I stare at them whenever I need cheering up. They make me so happy!

We will not talk about the mountain of WIPs in my GoogleDoc files. I complete one fic and three new ideas rise up to replace it. The struggle is REAL. 

Editing for errors is the WORST, because I know, I KNOW, I will always miss some. Always. No matter how many times I reread a fic before posting, there will be at least one little mistake lurking within it that I’ll discover three days later. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I need caffeine to LIVE, never mind write. My sister got me a mug with all the old-school Disney villains on it and I enjoy using it when I’m working on a particular scene that I know will drive readers nuts.

Tagging: @dreamingthroughthenoise​ @sister-dear​ @echo-bleu​ and @camille-lachenille​ and anyone else who would like to. No pressure! :)