#it’s all over when I think of ANOTHER post canon 2012 fic about the main 8 dealing with their emotions and being adults

[cryptidwizard]

i feel the turtle fixation creeping back up

[yellowocaballero]

I'd be interested in those writing shortcuts 👀 (don't feel pressured though)

Yeah sure! This is in reference to this and this posts.

These are all pretty 'fic style' stories, because they scaffold off pre-existing canon. It's like you're walking inside of a pre-built house and you're putting up new wallpaper and designing the rooms. Novel style is like if you're building the entire house. So these are really great for fun and if you have writer's block or have problems starting a story. They're also really good if you're practicing your dialogue, scene composition, characterization, etc - they are not good for developing skills on how to build the house, but if you're trying to work on actually making a readable story they're great methods to practice. They're also a lot easier to make good lol.

While writing these out I realized that they're almost entirely AUs. This is because I like AUs. You don't have to do AUs, you can adapt these however you want if you just like writing canon. Loser. Anyway, these are my low-effort stories:

A series of disconnected scenes that take place over a long period of time. If you have an idea in mind (or you just want to use the OG work's timeline), then you can show scenes or moments over a long period in time. For example, ages ago I wrote an AU story following the life of one character. One scene for 2008, one for 2010, one for 2012 etc.

Rewriting canon. If you have an AU idea or have a way in mind to change canon to something you think fucks harder, then you can use pre-existing episodes or season plotlines and just add your own flavor to what already exists. If you write for BNHA you aren't allowed to do this. That's the rule. How is all BNHA fic 600k AUs where one extremely minor detail is changed. God they're boring.

Alternate viewpoint/missing scene of a story you have. Like you can do this for canon too but that sounds super boring. This is actually something I do in order to help the quality of the main story - if I'm finding myself writing a super complicated character, I write another story about him from his POV to help give me a handle on him. Or write her parts of the story from her perspective. It's a writing exercise to help me figure out the character and it is also easy and fun.

"X Meets Y". Do you really like Legally Blonde? Do you think your favorite character being Elle Woods would be really funny? Stuff like that. Would it be really funny if your blorbo was Sharpay Evans? Yes it would be. Yeah I DID write a story many years ago that was "X meets Teen Beach Movie", why?

I don't know how many other people out there have extremely convoluted entire AU ideas, but if you have the whole AU in your mind then it is incredibly easy to write little stories or snippets from the AU. Like, so easy. A stand-out scene in your mind, the life of one supporting character, an alternate POV, whatever. Literally whenever I want to write something absolutely 0 effort whatsoever I go back to one of my 3 bugfuck stupid AUs and write something for them again.

This is actually something I think everybody should do, because it is basically how I learned story structure: find the trashiest, most formulaic genre you can. Watch or read something from that genre, or just collect genre conventions. Use the pre-packaged and pre-written formula to structure your own story and fill in the blanks.

(Also, these aren't very tropey or reliant on shipping/romance beats, which is nice if you want to get away from that stuff)

Nowadays, I find all of that helpful when I feel like doing something 0 effort. When I was a less experienced writer and I deadass did not know how to build a house, then these were really helpful for learning what wallpaper looks good and what arrangement of furniture creates good fung shui and what couches go best with that coffee table. They're also good passing. Seriously, these are like the most popular stories on my AO3. People eat this shit up. Why. They're so lazy.

IDK, these are what I do because they're the kinds of stories I like to write! What you find easy to write will be different. This is all a very personal list. I can see my personal thumbprint (no romance, AU central) really clearly. I'm kind of curious now: what are y'all's favorite low-effort, easy, fun stories to write?

Also as a heads up if your story doesn't have any sort of conflict in it, then it will actually very difficult to write. Trust me. Conflict makes you voom. Do it. Please. Love of god.

[olderthannetfic]

I was going to wait on Stargate Atlantis since I just posted about SG1, but it turns out I have more bad news to share.

Wraithbait is gone.

Both Area 52 and Wraithbait. Jesus. So much for early Stargate fic!

SGA, as it is often abbreviated, followed SG1 in the Stargate franchise. Slash fandom’s focus was largely on John Sheppard and Rodney McKay. John is an ace pilot. Rodney is a hypochondriac scientist. They’re both total dorks.

As cheesy sci-fi, SG1 and SGA are pretty similar. As fandoms, however, there’s quite a difference:

SGA hit just enough later that it attracted tons of livejournal-based fans I knew who had never dipped a toe in SG1 fandom. It was a Fandom That Ate Fandom, draining the BNF writers from all over slash-dom.

Being a little later also meant that it has exponentially more good vids online. I always kind of resented SGA fandom for eclipsing my beloved SG1, but I sure do love the vids!

One of the more famous ones to show at Vividcon is Another Sunday by Jescaflowne. Youtube has it region-blocked all to hell, but it’s still up and probably viewable through the usual sketchy means.

And how could I not share the glorious crack of Soccer Practice by bironic, a rare slash vid showing off hottie Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex. On AO3 here.

For the juggernaut ship, no vid could be more in-character for melodramatic Rodney than Grace Kelly by Diana Williams:

SGA was squarely in the Livejournal era, and a lot of fans from back then have migrated to AO3. Its influence on modern AO3-ish fandom is tremendous, as I’m sure half of you reading this can attest better than I.

One effect on a more meta level was to make female fandom more irate than ever over TPTB being sexist little shits. Reportedly, SGA attracted too many female fans for the showrunners’ comfort, and they wanted to retool their franchise as SGU, a darker and edgier version designed to attract a more BSG reboot-like audience.

Needless to say, when you’re a franchise that’s good at putting aliens in gold lamé bikinis rather than at coherent writing, going darker and edgier does not work.

SGU was a miserable flop, the entire Stargate franchise stalled, and SGA slash fandom developed an enduring hateboner for TPTB.

At Escapade, SGA has had a steady presence from 2005 through to the present. Past panels include:

2006 - First Marriage of Classic and Postmodern Fandoms? (Are we writing fanfic for the show, or are most stories just meta versions of stories from older fandoms, and commenting on each other comments? Remember when people complained all we had was hummus? All SGA has is crack(fic).)

2007 - John Sheppard: Psychokiller or Pretty, Pretty Princess (From mild-mannered sci-fi geek to special-ops xenocide, John Sheppard is one of the prettiest psychopaths in two galaxies. Which is the 'real' Sheppard? Can these two personalities be reconciled? How does this dichotomy in canon affect how we choose to portray him in fanfic?)

2008 - Crackfic, AUs, and Characterization, Oh My! (SGA canon is full of AUs and crack. Do the show's wacky plot twists encourage us to boldly go further out than other fandoms have gone before? And what happens when we go AU: why are John, Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla so recognizable even when they're planted in Harlequin romance, NASCAR, a symphony orchestra, or a diner in Maine?)

2009 - On a Clear Day, I Can See the Pegasus Galaxy (How are you feeling about the end of SGA-relief or regret? Are you looking forward to the rumored film(s), or planning to be snuggled up with your favorite fic that night? Have you ever been part of an active fandom whose canon closed, and do you have any thoughts (or advice!) about how to keep the fannish energy going? Let's discuss our hopes, fears and fondest dreams for the future of the fandom.)

2011 - Stargate: The End? (We were charmed by the original movie concept, many of us were fannishly enslaved by the first television series, others were entranced by Atlantis and some of us even tuned in for Universe. Are we ready to let the Stargate concept go or are we sitting on the edges of our seats, anxiously awaiting the next incarnation?)

2012 - SGA: Rodney and John: What We See is Not What We Get (We know we're adding slash to whatever's on the screen. With McShep, we really know. John the MENSA/slacker who knows how to fit in chasing brilliant yet obnoxious Rodney? How the Hell did we ever think they wouldn't kill each other, John with his P-90 or Rodney with his brain? Come prepared to argue the pros and cons of Sheppard and McKay, support your favorite character, and argue why Ronon is/isn't damned hotter than either of them.)

2013 - The Cool Kid and the Geek (Rodney loves John because John is sexy-handsome, lithe-and-cat-like, athletic, brave, and ridiculously pretty. He's also one of the Cool Kids, so, yeah, Rodney might fall hard. But Rodney is not sexy-handsome, lithe-and-cat-like, athletic, brave, nor ridiculously pretty. He’s the Geek, so why is John drawn to him? Come argue your point!)

2017 - Stargate: Classic Fandom Flashback

2018 - Stargate: Ten Years On

SGA on Fanlore

SGA on AO3

SGA on FFN

[the-irish-mayhem]

Fosterson Fic Rec Masterlist: Oneshots

The Main Reclist has been split to fix the links that tumblr decided to break if there were too many of them in a single post. I’ll be keeping the main reclist updated (even if the links appear broken) as well as maintaining this list and the list for multichapters.

I need help expanding this list! If you have any favorites or fics of your own of your own you don’t see included in this list and you’d like to submit for consideration, please drop me a line.

List updated April 2020. New additions marked with **

Updated during this wild quarantined time, which should serve as a reminder to everyone to APPRECIATE YOUR CONTENT CREATORS! Leave all the comments and kudos to show our love for everything they do. Big thanks to everyone who recommended and/or created content for this amazing ship.

Rated G/K-K+

**Promise by igi_pigi: Thor visits Jane to say goodbye before he leaves for Asgard. Rec: Bittersweet but lovely post-AOU, semi AU pre-Ragnarok. | 1.1k

**Spooky Nights by igi_pigi: "So what is it about?" Thor asks. "Or are we to go in uninformed?"Jane's eyes instinctively flick towards the blank tv screen. Darcy was insistent about it being a horror movie this time - as they serve as "perfect romance fodder", according to the maniac. Jane has decided to go with the recent one, 'The Conjuring'. [Set a few months after Thor2] Rec: Just sweet, dumb, wonderful fluff. Not an ounce of angst to be found. Also Thor learning about Earth is always sweeeeet. | 3.2k

**Stars and Solitude by igi_pigi: It's Jane's first night in Thor's home, however unusual the circumstances. He wishes to show her somewhere. She thinks it's his room. [Set during Thor2] Rec: A nice lil add on, Thor inviting Jane further into his life. | 3.3k

**Can’t Go Back the Same Way You Came by gumbridge: Loki lets go. This is what happens after. (post-film; basically a fixit fic.) Rec: This is pretty Loki-centric, but Jane is fabulously written, the family unit that Loki gets inducted into makes me very happy, and the fosterson is understated but so important and wonderful. | 20k

**spring will come by LadyCharity: As if grieving over the death of her husband wasn't hard enough, Jane has to deal with Thor's angry, bitter, emotionally shot little brother. Rec: This is literally all pain but god it is so good. You can feel the love binding Jane and Loki and Thor and it is so, so well written. Holy shit. | Content Warning: Major Character Death | 12k

the universe in your hand by amonkeysue: For the free day of Fosterson Week 2019, Thor's finally taking the right chance to propose to Jane. Rec: an adorable little bite-sized proposal fic. | <1k

Who Lives, Who Dies by MissChrisDaae: When the dust settles, who is left? Rec: Post-Infinity War, semi-kidfic. Pretty cute, and brings Jane into the story like she should’ve been. | 1.2k

Morning by MissChrisDaae: Thor and Jane's morning is interrupted by their kids. Rec: Fluffy fluffy FLUFFY Jane and Thor with a whole gaggle of children. | <1k

Trending by MissChrisDaae: Jane and Darcy's work session gets a little derailed. Rec: For the Social Media day of Fosterson Week, a fluffy and silly bit, and feeds into the 2012 Avengers Fic nostalgia. | <1k

ever on and on by often_adamanta: Darcy has to correct three separate people at the reception about their relationship, not younger cousin or sister, but college professor and boss and finally best friend. Jane thinks about their surprise, the second glances they give her, and wonders. Rec: Jane deals with the implications of immortality. Her friendship with Darcy is so potent and real in this. | 3k

Before the Thunder Shook Us by niobium: #6, “Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?” #14, “Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.” Rec: This is such a wonderful canon-insertion/canon divergence. Just enough fluff and bittersweetness to seem real. | 1k

Private Jokes by MissChrisDaae: Before his return to Asgard, Thor and Jane have a talk. Two years later, Thor misses a chance and Jane has to carry on. Rec: An AOU coda and a Ragnarok fix-it all in one. Feisty Jane and apologetic Thor. My bbs. | 1k

On the Physics of Magical Space Hammers by shinyopals: ‘So what does it mean to be “Worthy”?’ Jane asked. Jane doesn't mind sharing her life with Mjolnir. She just wishes she understood it a bit better. Rec: We’ve all wondered about Mjolnir and worthiness. Jane finally takes the initiative to find out with amazing results. | 4k

Fives Times Jane and Thor Broke Up and One Time They Didn’t by shinyopals: I didn’t know you were in the country, Jane,’ said Jane's grandmother. ‘Of course, nobody tells me anything.’ ‘It’s just a very last minute thing,’ said Jane, which Thor knew to be a lie. ‘I only arrived yesterday-’ another lie, ‘and I’m just on the way to work and thought I’d stop by and see Mom.’ This too was not true. ‘This is my friend Thor,’ she added, almost casually. ‘He’s been helping me with some work so we’re driving into the university together.’ This seemed the most flagrant of all the lies, but Thor decided not to let it show. It's not always convenient to be a relationship, so sometimes Jane and Thor have to make sacrifices. Rec: A giant SUCK ON THIS FEIGE that takes the “Jane and Thor break up” concept to the best possible places. | 12k

Hours Long and Short by shinyopals: The first night, Thor does not sleep. (Written for a post-TDW prompt for Fosterson Week 2017.) Rec: A really wonderful slice of life fic post-TDW. Deals with their trauma so wonderfully, and includes some lovely soft moments. | 4k

#7Days7Hobbies by shinyopals: Thor wants to try out some of Midgard's finest hobbies and turns to Twitter for suggestions. Jane isn't really sure how this is now her life. (Prompt for Day 4: Domestic, for Fosterson Week 2017.) Rec: One of my favorite things that’s ever been submitted for Fosterson Week. I love reading about Thor fully embracing Earth customs, particularly social media, which opal KNOWS is one of my weaknesses. | 5k

A Question of Honor by shinyopals: ‘Paintball?’ said Steve. ‘We could do… that…’ ‘What is that?’ asked Thor. He nuzzled into Jane’s hair. His mead-breath was giving her a headache. ‘It’s a thing- a game… thing. With paint.’ ‘Rogers, stop explaining stuff to Thor, you’re embarrassing me.’ Tony’s voice was remarkably coherent. Must have been drinking sensibly. Bastard. When it comes to deciding whether Earth or Asgard has better warriors, the stakes are high, and Jane is wishing she'd kept her big mouth shut. Rec: TEAM BUILDING EXERCISES FOR THE WIN. | 8k

The Gift Horse by fartherfaster: Sam and Darcy are formally introduced for the first time. Sam says “formally” with some flexibility. And a couch. A couch and a great deal of flexibility. Nevermind, he’s said enough. They met, is what he’s trying to say. Or, Sam's early days with the whole gang. Rec: Mostly a teamfic from Sam Wilson’s POV, which is awesome because how often do you see that. Fosterson is mostly background, but it made me smile so much. | 3k

on the verge of understanding something extraordinary by dirgewithoutmusic: “Jane, you’re an astrophysicist, not a storm chaser,” said Erik Selvig, and he was wrong. She was just an astrophysicist too. (A Jane Foster character study) Rec: I’m relatively certain I read this before and loved it, only it somehow didn’t make the reclist. An amazing, touching, wonderful, stunning portrait of Jane Foster. | 9k

starlight in her eyes by jdphoenix: “You,” she says, voice strong with accusation. “You’re the one who attacked me!” Thor really must laugh at that. “You are the one who attacked me. Or is it considered polite among stars to crash into one another?” Rec: A really awesome take on a Stardust fusion AU. Full of inquisitive Jane and cocky Thor. It gave me really hard vibes from the first Thor film. | 1.2k

a true lady of Asgard by jdphoenix: It's not uncommon for Jane to fall asleep working when she's chasing a new theory or hunting down evidence but the middle of a battle for the future of Asgard is not the time. Rec: Jane becoming a fixture of sorts in Asgard is one of my kinks. Also Jane being friends with Thor’s friends and the people of Asgard. Kink. | 3.5k

Afterwit by RC_McLachlan: Good with patients, bad with relationships. That's what she told Thor before she ripped the name tag from the shirt in his hands and crumbled it in her palm, relishing the way the sticky back clung to her skin before she threw it in the waste bin. She'd never been so right in her life up to that point—the rightest she's ever been was when she decided to offer the crazy blond guy a ride to his mysterious non-satellite in the desert. Or, the one in which Jane and Thor run into Donald Blake. Rec: I am such a sucker for the “running into the shitty ex with the New and Improved Partner” trope and this is that. All of that to such a wonderful degree. | 2.7k

drabbles by freshexes: Rec: Some really fantastic little bits of prose. Great voices of Thor and Jane. Some fluffies, some angst. | 1k

The Good Times are Killing Me by alwaysaprilia: Rec: Modern royals AU. Jane and Thor are perfect in this. The dialogue is sublime, and the interactions made me squee really hardcore. I only wish there was more. | 3.6k

College AU by anthropologicalhands: Rec: It’s kinda more meta/heacanon, but it’s really adorable. | 1k

all’s fair (in love and war) by sweetwatersong: This is what you fight for. This is what you yearn to feel: this moment, this passing of every second, this rush of life and the indomitable strength of the present. Thor is a warrior, born and bred, and he is glad of any battle - and yet, as with all things, even this can change. Rec: A Thor introspect and a really well done second person perspective. | 1k

Five Times Thor Gets His Shirt Off FOR GREAT JUSTICE And One Time He Doesn’t by shinyopals: Sometimes Thor’s armour is more useful when not being worn by him. He definitely doesn’t end up in these situations on purpose. Rec: Please bury me in every single five times fic shinyopals has written. This one might be my absolute favorite. So many fantastic interactions for Thor, not just with Fosterson (which is BEYOND perfect), but the whole team. Plus: naked Thor fighting bad guys in an apron. Also the SamSteve is so strong and I’m in love. | 9.8k

A Discussion of Hypotheticals by shinyopals: Jane and Thor talk about their future. Hypothetically. Rec: I am so glad we’ve made Fosterson Week a thing because this fic is WONDERFUL. Great communication makes me weak, and also so many squee-worthy moments. | 5k

Jane Foster Versus the Internet. Or: Five Times Jane Allegedly Dated An Avenger And One Time She Apparently Did Not by shinyopals: Jane discovers that the internet is The Worst. Rec: It’s the thing I loved so much I made graphics for it because it’s so good. Jane’s interactions with all the Avengers are delightful, not to mention her steady relationship with Thor that is so grounded and real. It’s also freaking hilarious. | 10.4k

Untitled by polyamoryavengers: Rec: Angst and fluff and Jane comforting Thor. *cartwheels into the sun* | 1k

Sexiest ‘Something’ Alive by Niobium: Tony is bound and determined to make sure a human is awarded the title of Sexiest Man Alive (he even has a solid candidate in mind); Jane just wants media outlets to get their science right. Rec: This is absolutely fantastic. Just the right kind of blend of humor, sweetness, and meta criticism ever. | 7.5k

The Hours Filled by websandwhiskers: Ritual and comradery are basic human needs. Rec: Focus on Jane, not a ton of Thor, but pregnant Jane is always a delight. | 1.7k

First Dates? by hariboo: Jane’s not really sure what her and Thor’s first date is? The party or the barbecue? In end does it matter? Rec: I am not a big fan of high school AUs, but if they float your boat, this is definitely worthwhile. | 1.4k | Part of Let’s Be Young Forever series

Of Car Crashes and Coffee by hariboo: “you bumped my car and I’m so piss- oh wow no you’re hot let’s go for a coffee” au prompt. Exactly what it says on the tin. Rec: This made me giggle. Super duper cute. | 1.3k

Tactile Perception by RC_McLachlan: “The day I met you, I knew you would see me.” Her hands find his face, sliding over his jaw, his cheeks, and she brings their foreheads together. “The day I met you, I hit you with my car. Twice.” Rec: *dies quietly* Teasing and cute story telling and just so many good things. | 2k

Clarke’s Third Law by shinyopals: “Of all the people to knock down the stairs, she would pick the practically-seven-foot-tall son of the Minister for Magic who just happens to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.” Jane’s just trying to read every single book in the Hogwarts library in between classes, and she’s not quite sure how Thor happened to her. Rec: I never read Harry Potter but damn it this makes me want to. I just love this. So much. I don’t know how but it happened. I actually really wish there was more? | 3.8k

The Most Daring Prophecies–Dr Jane Foster at TED Talk by Rozilla: A transcript of Jane giving a TED Talk on her experiences of crossing the cosmos, Asgard and her hopes for the future of interstellar travel - as reported on WHIH. Rec: I can’t tell you how badly I wanted this to be real. Fosterson is mentioned a bit, and it makes me smile a lot. | 5.1k

Paradigm Shift by jdphoenix: “Jane’s implementing a ‘new organizational paradigm.’ She does this like once a year, usually when she’s extra stressed. Like after that time your brother messed up NYC.” Rec: cute domestics plus Jane is worthy. | 1.5k

Raging Storm by jdphoenix: Thor knows the moment he touches the hammer that it is not Mjolnir. Rec: A brilliant continuation of Paradigm Shift (above, previously recced) wherein Jane bests Loki and is worthy, plus Jane talking down berserker!Thor. So many of my Fosterson hot buttons. | 4k

Overlap by littlestardust: A moment between Thor and Jane. Alternative summary: Thor is respectful of Jane’s life choices, and also there is cuddling. Rec: Teeny tiny fic, but super cute. | <1k

amazed & confused by tashlae: Dating an alien/god/man who fell from the sky isn’t something to take lightly. Rec: Jane/Darcy centric with lots of talk about fosterson and a kinda sweet moment at the end. | 1k

untitled by ifilovedyouless: jane/thor, modern royals. Rec: Oh my god, the sweetness overload was too much. Also YAS Thor in military uniform. | 1k

Fosterson - dancing by batsonthebrain: Rec: Introspective, sweet, and with a heavy dose of mutual respect. | <1k

Unplanned by hariboo: The first person to hear Jane is pregnant isn’t Thor. It should be, but extenuating circumstances. This happens a lot when it comes to living in Stark Tower. Rec: Very much toeing the crack line. Baby!fic, obviously, plus fabulous Clint, and a semi?redeemed Loki. | 1.2k

clash of the (scientific) titans by anthropologicalhands: Thor brings Tony to meet Jane. Thor admits he probably could have thought it through a little better. Rec: this fic always makes me giggle. Fosterson is mostly background, but the interactions between everyone makes this worth it. | 1k

Through Doors by nayanroo: The Jedi Order knows a good team when they see it, but unfortunately even the best-planned missions always have something go hilariously wrong. That’s when the true strength of any bond is shown. Rec: A Star Wars fusion is always a good idea. The way Jane and Thor play off each other and their bond through the Force is lovely. | 4k

Straight On 'Til Morning by arsenicarcher: Thor and Jane are having a baby. Tony’s conflicted about the whole thing. Rec: Kinda Tony-centric, but I’m always up for a fosterson baby. | 4.4k

hard to keep the rainclouds out by veliseraptor: Rec: A unique view on Thor’s grief and Jane’s struggle to be there for him. Very lovely, very angsty. | 2.1k

Perils of an RPF Life by hariboo: Look, it isn’t that she isn’t excited for Jane, sure she is. But Darcy wonders if Jane ever thinks about that. The fact she’s dating the sexiest E.T. ever. Rec: Darcy’s voice in this is hilarious and touching all at once. Jane and Thor’s caring for each other is so clear and endearing I audibly squeed a few times. | 2k

amazed & confused by tashlae: Dating an alien/god/man who fell from the sky isn’t something to take lightly. Rec: Jane and Darcy friendship is a lot of fun. Jane’s pondering of their relationship seems very characteristic of her. | 1k

On The Unsubtle Nature of Fish Ties by Niobium: Fancy clothes shopping for your alien boyfriend should be easier than this. Or, how Thor got his red velvet jacket. Rec: Fosterson is mostly background, but cute Jane/Darcy/Pepper interaction. | 3.3k

Be Safe by MissChrisDaae: Thor and Jane have a contingency plan for emergencies. Rec: Speculation/AU for Age of Ultron. Baby!fic, and is just so damn cute. | <1k

It All Happens Here by MissChrisDaae: Her very first year of teaching, Jane Foster gets an unusual bonus in the form of one of her students’ extremely attractive father. Single dad and his daughter’s kindergarten teacher au. Rec: super fluffy and just adorable. | 7.5k

Remembrance by Are_you_ever_not_going_to_fall_for_that: Thor and Jane take a walk and come across something that sparks memories. Post The Dark World. Rec: Jane and Thor talk about Loki, and the lack of heavy angst is refreshing. | <1k

Traffic jam by kes: When you’ve been fighting omnicidal aliens and the bureaucracy, a getaway is in order. Unfortunately, flying from A to B isn’t always possible… Rec: domestics. cute domestics EVERYWHERE. | <1k

nothing is ever convenient (except to make things uncomfortable) by anthropologicalhands: After Thor returns, there is still the matter of responding to Richard. Rec: The awkwardness of dealing with Richard made me smile. A very smile inducing fic. | 1.3k

Jane on Top by Rozilla: Jane Foster is asked to lecture at the SHIELD Academy, but she feels her old anxieties and worries begin to creep in- but it’s okay. Darcy has her back, not to mention it appears she has a fan club at the Science and Tech Division of the SHIELD Academy! Rec: An unapologetic Jane-fest, which is my favorite kind of party. Fosterson is background, but very relevant. Darcy is a cool friend. | 4.1k

leave this star crossed world behind by anthropologicalhands: Sif visits Jane with an offering. Rec: Jane/ Sif friendship, and they talk about immortality. Great interactions and insights on fosterson. | 2k

Measured Uncertainties by plushbug: Gap-filler, applying to the 2011 Thor movie. A shot at what might have gone missing from the rooftop scene between Thor and Jane Foster, after his 'rescue’ from the SHIELD base. Fits between “…and Asgard. That’s where I come from.” and “Thank you, Jane." Rec: A good fill for the movies, explains some comic-verse continuties. Curious Jane is a lovely person, and Thor relishes in giving her knowledge. | 4k

halfway between the gutter and the stars by verity: Thor pulls his phone out of his pocket and lifts it above them to capture a picture of the moment, their hair lit by the sun, Jane’s soft smile next to his beaming grin. The Rise filter suits the image perfectly. “I shall title this 'THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE,’” Thor says, typing carefully on the touchscreen. “With the small image of your planet, flanked by sparkling stars." "Well, we abandoned a geocentric model of the galaxy hundreds of years ago,” says Jane. "'THE CENTER OF MY UNIVERSE,’“ Thor says. He amends his caption and selects the options to crosspost from Instagram to Twitter and Facebook. Rec: Okay I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this. So much. I love the world-building that Avengers + social media allows for. Also, cute Thor and Jane and team stuff plus Neil Degrasse Tyson and George Takei. So much good stuff. | 2.2k

Catalysts by Niobium: Meeting people winds up being a catalyzing event in Jane Foster’s life more often than not. Rec: Well-written Jane, and super supportive boyfriend Thor. I love it when he treats her like a genius. | 2.1k

The Reconstruction of the Mind by Niobium: Jane Foster’s introduction to astronomy doesn’t start with a backyard telescope or a shooting star or the arm of the Milky Way strewn across the nighttime sky, but with an Alexandrine woman named Hypatia. Rec: Jane-centric, and very well done, as per usual with this author. Fosterson is more background, but they have some lovely moments. | 4.6k

Asgardian Cautionary Tales for Young Maidens by Niobium: Jane discovers that Asgardian love stories aren’t exactly romcoms. Rec: Jane and Thor sharing love stories. I audibly squeaked at their cuteness. | 2.3k

the new millennia by hoosierbitch: Thor’s life was measured in centuries, not days. Rec: Post-Dark World, very Thor oriented and introspective. Jane helps him through his grief over Loki. Angst on angst. | 1.1k

the drumming inside her by hariboo: she can feel everyone looking at her, waiting for her to break or give up. they don’t understand. she made a promise too. Rec: oh my god Jane being determined, Thor pining a bit, Heimdall being awesome, and a super sweet reunion. | 1.3k

Starchild by empyrean: One night Jane teaches Thor the basics of Western astronomy, and Thor tries to describe Asgard. Then the Bifröst breaks, and Jane isn’t having that. Rec: Jane and Thor bond over the stars, and Jane doesn’t take it sitting down when the Bifrost breaks. Love the simplicity and the power in this. | 1k

There by Barkour: Jane has found Thor and in the finding, she has gone somewhere she’d never dreamed she’d see. Rec: Jane geeking out over Asgard, plus some really cute banter, and Thor being a gent as always. | 1.9k

Numbers and Lines by Sheeana: Jane Foster visits Avengers headquarters to help install a program she designed, and gets caught up in helping with their latest problem. Rec: Jane and Natasha get some great action together, and the Fosterson is handled well. | 4.9k

Important Meals of the Day by hariboo: or alternatively: Five Breakfasts With Jane and Thor and them feeding their family and friends. Which sometimes lately seem to be the same thing. Rec: domestics! Fluff that makes me want to stay there forever! I love this author’s way of writing fosterson. Also Darcy is so great in this. | 6.2k

Fire in the East by Maat: He finds that there are sweeter things than mead and glory and the fierce bright colors and rich textures of Asgard. Rec: Best Thor-being-on-Earth-longer fic that I’ve read. Short, poignant, sweet, and painful. This is beautifully written and left me wishing this was how the canon story could have gone down. | 1.1k

Few So Generous by galaxysoup: After Odin falls into the Odinsleep, Frigga takes up her husband’s spear and the rule of Asgard. Rec: Jane and Thor from an outside perspective, and a different version of events. Though the focus is not on fosterson outright, it is still a very good fic. | 2.7k

we fall like stars by jadeddiva: All that is left of him now is the extra chair pulled up to her makeshift fire pit, which she never sits in and hasn’t had the heart to move. Jane, and the search for Thor and a greater understanding of herself. Rec: A character study of Jane and how Thor affected her life. Lovely and poignant. Fluid writing style. | 3.1k

Not "Functional” or “Elegant” by Niobium: Jane Foster has worked some bad jobs in her career; working with Stark Industries’ R&D is a vast improvement. Rec: Jane-centric, and gives her a great backstory. She and Thor are adorable as always. The author clearly respects Jane as a scientist, so that shows through a lot, which is amazing. | 1.6k

Jane Foster’s High School Reunion by Niobium: Jane Foster has a high school reunion to go to. Rec: Jane and Thor are adorable. Thor is a gentleman, and Jane gets to laugh in the face of a jerk. Very satisfying. | 5k

Nature and Nurture by nayanroo: What’s better than solving a physics problem that may well get you another Nobel Prize nomination? Having a baby on the same day. Rec: Part of an amazing series (full rec with multichapter fics below) but can be read as a standalone. Featuring pregnant!Jane and adorable and far-too-accurate expectantfather!Thor. The fluff is lovely. Features all of the Avengers with some lovely domestics. | 7.4k | Part of in progress series, The Kingsverse

don’t we all want happy endings? by hariboo: Thor is thinking about Jane, Steve cares (because Steve has Feelings about Lost Lady Loves*), and in the end it’s a team effort. Rec: We get the closure on Thor contacting Jane after the events in New York. Sweet and painful and just lovely. | 3.4k

Legacy by me: A generation later, a budding social scientist tries to figure out Jane and Thor. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. Both Jane and Thor have passed away in this fic. | 2k

Rated T

**Heed the Signs by igi_pigi: Thor wakes up from a nightmare. Is it just a dream, or something more? [Post Thor2, Pre Thor3.] Rec: A heavy, meaningful setup to a Thor 3 that never was. | 4.8k

**Heartless by igi_pigi: Everything reminds her of him, it's funny. Wherever she looks, whatever she thinks of, usually and especially to get her mind off him, will eventually lead to him. [Set the night before Jane's date with Richard in Thor2.] For Day 6 of Fosterson Week - 'things that make you think of them' Rec: A really interesting and fabulous rumination from Jane about Thor’s impact on her life. | 1.4k

**Her Healing Touch by igi_pigi: Jane doesn't really realise that the Aesir are a bit relaxed when it comes to physical hurt. And freaks out over what Thor thinks are just petty bruises of battle. Ending with a little confession from Thor. [Set after Thor2] Rec: A neat take on Asgardian culture, love the way Jane’s care connected to Thor’s past. | 2.5k

**Qeryana by Domenika Marzione (domarzione): Thor and his efforts to live on Midgard, as opposed to just defending it. Rec: Thor’s visceral struggle of living in a culture not his own, but is ultimately still hopeful and positive. | 3k

**First and Foremost, Red by RC_McLachlan: There's a reason Jane and Thor break up. It's not a great one but it's the right one. In the year that follows, Jane carries on, doesn't win a Nobel Prize, defeats Thanos and saves the universe, and finally allows herself to be a little selfish. Rec: YAAAAAS I want ALL the Jane Saves Everything in Infinity War/Endgame fic. ALL OF IT. It’s so satisfying and good. | 9.7k

**Gangráðr, Faðmbyggvir Friggjar by tsukinofaerii: Less than a week before her wedding, Frigga warns Jane of ancient Asgardian rituals she and Thor must undergo before her marriage ceremony. Jane and Thor call on their friends for help as they face what might be the challenge of their lives. Rec: Just an absolute fucking delight from start to finish. Hilarious and amazing. Absolutely the best of the 2012-era Avengers fics. | 19.1k

The Courage of Stars by always_a_queen: Half the universe turns to dust. Thor goes to find the one person who is his whole universe. Thor/Jane Post-Infinity War and during/after Endgame. Spoilers for both movies and Ragnarok. Rec: god this is so heartbreakingly perfect. A wonderful fix it that gives a perfect little taste of what we might’ve had if Jane had been rightfully included in these movies. Jane does pass away at the end of the fic. | Content Warning: Major Character Death | 4.3k

Family Values by shinyopals: ‘It would have been kinder to leave me dead,’ Loki informs her one day. Jane Foster, who’s just revoltingly kissed Thor goodbye, told him she loves him, and called him a disturbing pet name, snorts derisively. ‘He brought you lunch; quit whining,’ she says. Loki isn't sure how he feels about his family, these days. Rec: The best take on Loki ever. His relationship with Jane is fabulous, and the interplay between him, Thor, and Jane is AMAZING. What a freakin treat this fic is. Post-Infinity War AU. | 3k

The Second Law of Thermodynamics by shinyopals: ‘What have you done?’ he asks. He still attempts to sound grave, but with Jane it is hard not to give into smiles.‘Done? I haven’t done, well. I mean. I have done some things. But it’s not bad. I was just curious! And nobody stopped me. I mean, they even welcomed me. So. I didn’t do-’‘Jane,’ he interrupts, laughing and leaning down to plant a kiss on her mouth. ‘You are absurd. I missed you. Tell me.’ Rec: Pardon me while I try to physically scream this fic into existence. It’s perfect. Jane loves science, and Thor loves Jane. Post-Thor 2. | 1.8k

Storm Warning by shinyopals: Then he strides to her and presses a kiss to her lips, taking her face in his hands as he does and holding her close. ‘You planned this?’ he asks. ‘Your morning’s work was not astrophysics, then?’She gives a guilty smile. ‘I wanted to, you know, surprise you.’ Thor gets ~romanced. He kinda likes it. Rec: GOD THE FLUFF. THE. FLUFF. PURE AND GOOD. | 3k

Sakaar by MissChrisDaae: Jane's been stuck on Sakaar for a year and a half. So Asgardians are a welcome sight. Rec: A really original way to get Jane involved in Ragnarok. Jane + science for the win. | 1.3k

Lab by MissChrisDaae: Thor likes spoiling Jane. Rec: For the Jane on Asgard day of Fosterson Week, a short and sweet lil tidbit! | <1k

Domesticity by MissChrisDaae: Little moments around Avengers Tower. Rec: I literally gasped in delight with how much this made me nostalgic for the fluffy Avengers Living in the Tower fics of 2012. | <1k

The Prince(ss) and Me by asoulofstars, MissChrisDaae: Prince Thor of Asgard just wants a little time to feel normal before he has to marry the mysterious Princess Jana of Ameos. So, he runs away from home and enrolls at Harvard University as Donald Blake, where he meets Jane Foster. Jane is clever, kind, and everything he wants, but can never have.Princess Jana of Ameos has spent her whole life studying incognito, getting the best global education possible under the alias of Jane Foster and trying not to think about romance, or the fiancé waiting for her back in Europe. Then Don Blake comes along and throws that plan out the window. Rec: A funky Modern Royals AU. Charming in some nice ways, and I like the slow-building tension. | 17k

Misunderstandings by writerblocked: She looks up at Thor, who grins warmly at her, and looks at their surroundings again. “This isn’t my apartment,” she says. Thor’s grin grows wider. “I know,” he says back. Rec: Newlywed!Fosterson fluff. | 1.8k

Turtures in Aeternum by shinyopals: ‘Legend tells that some unlikely souls are known to pause in their work for reasons of leisure,’ deadpans Thor. ‘History does not say what trials they faced.’ Asgardian science is giving Jane a headache. Thor persuades her to take a break to see some of the sights with him. Rec: Asgardian worldbuilding (literally) via Fosterson field trip. I love everything in this. | 5.5k

Five Times the Bad Guys Interrupted Thor and Jane's Date Night and One Time Tony Freaking Wishes They Had by shinyopals: ‘I have told Steve,’ Thor says to Tony as he’s leaving to go back to his rooms, ‘but I thought I should tell you also. Jane and I plan to institute the ritual of ‘Date Night’.’ As always, Thor sounds like someone’s severely uncool father trying to be hip when he uses any slang invented since the Civil War. Tony's been an Avenger long enough to avoid deliberately tempting fate, even if he doesn't actually believe in fate. The universe is just plain cruel. That's why he knows to be prepared for the worst Hydra can throw at them whenever Thor and Jane make evening plans. Rec: IT’S SO FUDGING CUTE. I CAN’T. IT’S CUTE AND HILARIOUS AND PERFECT AS ALWAYS. | 4.7k

Unexpected Arrival by shinyopals: ‘Jane-’ Thor cut himself off, opening and closing his mouth without managing words. Her name on his lips sounded so familiar; warm and deep and like nothing else mattered. An undercurrent of nerves there that she could still hear after all this time, that she didn’t think anyone else would be able to. She wanted to run to him, bury her face in his neck and jump back in time. Back before the break up - not enough time for each other with the universe in peril. Back before the baby. The baby she still sometimes wondered if she should have terminated to save them both this moment. Rec: The angsty and painfully yearning babyfic that you never knew you needed. | 2k

Steadfast as the Stars Above by jdphoenix: It was not meant to be like this. With him so small and weak, fighting every second to find purchase on a tiny world that spins faster than he can fathom. He wanted to be strong for her. Rec: A fabulous use of the Soulmate AU that completely slots itself perfectly into canon. | 8.3k

too poor for silver, i have a copper tongue by venndaai: “Maybe you don't have the perfect words all the time but, you always have something to say, right? You never have to, have to stop and think about it, and you never stumble over your words or anything.” He squinted at her. “I thought such things simply aspects of Midgardian speech, which you know I am not well versed in.” Jane sighed. “They're not supposed to be.” Rec: A story featuring an explicitly autistic Jane Foster. So wonderfully done. Full of empathy and love and kindness and warmth. | 1.3k

Gift by spikewriter: Jane looked at the brightly colored rug on the floor of the farmhouse in the Hudson Valley they were still moving into. “I like it,” she admitted with a bit more enthusiasm, picturing how her six-year-old self would have run screaming around the room in glee at such a gift. Rec: Some post-TDW fluff with bonus Darcy inclusion. | 1.5k

to candle incandescent as you pass by sweetwatersong: The legacy of King Tristan and the Star Queen Yvaine is not a mere tale in Stormhold, a fantastical portion of the kingdom's history. It lives and breathes in the blood of their descendants, in their long lives and graceful aging, in the ruling King Odin and his son, the Crown Prince Thor… Rec: A Stardust/Huntsman/Thor fusion that isn’t so much a full fic as it is, as the author describes, “a sketch.” Still a really lovely read, a great blend of the films. | 5k

Raiment of The Gods by randomcelt: They say the clothes make the man ... or the god. But sometimes, they do the most for his friends. (Or, a tale of all the times someone else wore Thor's clothes and the adventures necessitating such a development.) Rec: A great Thor character piece. A heavy emphasis on Thor + the team which I love. Runs you through the full gamut of emotions in the best way. | 10k

How to Quantify by Rozilla: It turns out Jane has a personal top ten list of favourite equations - and a nice expanse of hot Norse God to write them on. Rec: Super sweet and also contains the phrase ‘who said science never got you laid’ so. Yep. | 2k

this new bravery by hoosierbitch: For alfadorisawesome, who requested Thor/Jane “about to hook up with someone who doesn’t know.” This is my favorite piece so far. <3 Rec: Incredibly well done Trans Jane Foster. I am such a sucker for open lines of communication between partners, and that’s exactly what this is. Thor is incredibly sweet, and this story establishes his very nonbinary opinions on gender which I LOVE, but he still makes an effort to understand Jane’s experience. I love this fic so much. | 1k

The Hammer and the Ice by grav_ity: In the course of her short and mortal life, the heart of Jane Foster has been twice touched by the sons of Asgard. Rec: I adore AUs where Jane was in the Avengers. This is a short flashfic, but really lovely. | 1k

A Royal Wedding by MissChrisDaae and Science_Thunder_Lightning_Love: After three years, ten months, an alien invasion, a cosmic event, and a baby, Thor and Jane finally make it to the altar. Rec: Ridiculously cute fluffies. | 7.5k | Part of the Convergence series

The Thunder God Job by fuzzy_paint: Jane and Thor are thieves. Rec: Oh lawd, the AU I never knew I needed. Beautiful characterization with a rich world they’re placed in. I only wish it was 200 chapters. | 16.2k

there was a star danced by tosca1390: This is the familiar rhythm of her days; the coffee shop until one pm, five days a week, then class and the lab, then home or the library. Here, in her last year with a future dark ahead of her, she doesn’t see anything to change her ways. Jane and Thor, meeting at a coffee shop. Rec: College/Coffee Shop AU. Bless the AU gods. Sly little Shakespeare references. Thor and Jane being cute, sweet idiots. | 6.2k

Proximity Alarm by fayedartmouth: Thor comes back to Earth. Jane thinks it’s great. Except all the times it isn’t. Rec: It’s a great writing style. Jane and Thor are awkward, adorable, and passionate in a realistic way. Them navigating how to be together is a challenge that not all authors can rise to, so this is a great piece. So much yes. | 13.7

Never So Empty by iwillavengeyou: Thor has traveled the nine realms and seen many things in his centuries of godhood. What could possibly make everything seem so empty? Rec: Wow, just no. This hurts. This is not cool. Ow. Ow. Transcends angst and ends up somewhere much worse. Read if you’re into self-flagellation or are making a reclist. I literally yelled “Wow rude” at the conclusion of this fic. Major Character Death | 1.5k

An Ancient Gesture by Niobium: Jane and Thor come up with a tradition for dealing with situations where a social function gets to be a little too much for either of them. Rec: Super smiley, stomach flutter inducing fic. Fluff upon fluff, but also Asgard culture/worldbuilding! Yay! | 2.8k

Five Times Jane Kinda Sorta Accidentally Slept With An Avenger, The One Time She Didn’t, And the Many (Many) Times It Wasn’t Even a Little Accidental by shinyopals: Some people collect Avengers trading cards. Some collect action figures. Jane Foster, almost entirely without meaning to, has them all beat. Rec: If you’re not convinced by that title and summary, I’m not sure I can help you. Hilarious, in character, and kinda cute. | 9.3k

Well Remembered by Rozilla: Jane’s met Tony Stark before. Rec: Cracky and hilarious. | 1.1k

you may end up wanting more from this life by tosca1390: Everything is cold where it was once warm, and Jane is at a loss. Rec: Not sure why I haven’t put this beautiful thing on here yet. Deals with their separation, and a great character study of Jane. Angsty. | 1.6k

The Hearts of Stars and Thunder by MissChrisDaae, Science_Thunder_Lightning_Love: Rec: A Snow White and the Huntsman/Thor fusion. Really great use of characters, and all of the medieval battles and fosterson abound. | 7.7k

You Get One Phone Call by MissChrisDaae: Following the Battle of Manhattan, Jane gets a phone call. Rec: Post-battle strain, but then suddenly fosterson cuteness hits you like a wrecking ball. | <1k

Abs of Thunder by Unknownnobody32: During a flight on-board Stark’s jet, Jane learns how turbulence, pasta sauce, her Thunder god boyfriend, and his rock hard abs can soon become a recipe for embarrassment all thanks to bad timing. Rec: Takes washboard abs to another level. God, this is just too funny. | 2.1k

London, underground by Maybug: Clint Barton meets some familiar faces and has a very bad day hunting the jotunbeast left behind in London after the convergence. Rec: an awesome outside POV on fosterson, plus badass science Jane and her science assistant Thor, and awesome Clint. | 2.6k | Part of the Fosterson Files series

We have loved the stars to fondly by Maybug: Jane and Thor are up to something on the roof of the Tower. Tony thinks he knows what it is, but doesn’t see why he should be the one to tell them to stop. Rec: Outside POV of fosterson. Basically Thor does cute/dangerous things for Jane’s happiness. | 1.8k | Part of the Fosterson Files series

change places by coffeesuperhero: Jane and Thor get in the way of a Stark experiment. This goes about as well as you might expect. Rec: Body swap madness. So many cute moments though, plus some implied sexytimes with swapped bodies “for science.” So much yes. | 3.1k

Slowly, We Adjust by katsumi: Jane Foster leaves the lab on Friday exhausted, overworked, and petrified that she won’t get the grant proposal for her wormhole experiment finished in time to get funding. So, of course she gets rear-ended, because that’s just the kind of week she’s having. Rec: Protective/Worried Thor is best Thor. Reassuring Jane is best Jane. So much angst/cute. | 1.4k

Put a Ring on It by fuzzy_paint: Jane makes Thor a wedding ring. Rec: What it says on the tin. | 3.9k

The Pretty Birds Have Flown by beanarie: "Jane never pukes, not when she first wakes up, not at any other time of day. She has a cast-iron stomach and wicked stable inner ears, and morning sickness doesn’t stand a chance.“ The one where Thor knocked Jane up that night they chilled on the roof, and offscreen Frigga swore Heimdall to secrecy in the interest of protecting everyone involved. The All-Father’s house has a lot of enemies, okay. Rec: Heartbreaking, fluffy, and feelsy. Batten down the emotional hatches. | 2.2k

Jane Foster and the Impossible Library by Niobium: Jane, Darcy, and Thor find a peculiar library, and their afternoon takes a turn for the bizarre. Rec: This one’s wild from start to finish (I say that lovingly), but as always, Niobium delivers on fantastic characterizations. Not super-duper shippy, but so worth the read. | 12.4k | Part of the Jane Foster Works series

Northern Climes by Tyranusfan: Six months after the Avengers saved New York from the Chitauri invasion, Thor must convince Odin to return him to Earth. Rec: Jane and Thor doing cutesy couple-y things. The author captures well the eager awkwardness of a new couple while remaining true to their characters and story. | 4.3k

nowhere to go but up by anthropologicalhands: It is not uncomfortable, waking up with Thor’s arm draped over her waist, their legs entangled under the sheets. It is inconvenient when she wants to get out of bed or, at the very least, look over last night’s data. Rec: So very fluffy it makes me want to roll in it. Adorably domestic, too. Jane at her scienceing finest. | 2.3k

Late Night Waiting by hariboo: Jane didn’t often get home late. Rec: A very sweet and simple Jane/Thor that makes their relationship seem very grounded and real. Also, it is so sweet it makes my teeth hurt, and then I just want more. | 2.1k

Uru by sheffiesharpe: Thor cannot look after Jane, no matter how he wants to. Hogun offers a solution. Puente Antiguo receives another unexpected visitor. Rec: The author makes a really strange concept work brilliantly. Jane and Thor’s pining is frustrating and well-written, and the writing sizzles with unresolved sexual tension. | 6k

Star-Crossed by websandwhiskers: A vignette taking place during "Avengers”, after shawarma, before Thor returns to Asgard with Loki. Thor and Jane have their reunion, and discuss their future. Rec: Jane is an awesome person, and Thor respects the hell out of her. One of the best portrayals of Jane Foster that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. | 1.7k

The Morning After by fuzzy_paint: "I can’t believe we’re doing this,“ Jane says. "Can you believe we’re doing this?" Rec: Even without much in way of dialogue, Jane and Thor’s devotion is plain. We get a little view of domestics, too. | 1.7k

The Observable Universe by Sarea Okelani (sarea): As an astrophysicist, Jane studies the observable universe for work, but in her free time what she likes to study is a bit closer to home. (Or: Jane has a low tolerance for stupidity. Clint and Natasha take exception to being called stupid.) Rec: Not a ton of overt Jane/Thor, and is mostly an outsider POV on Clint/Natasha, but there is lots of team shenanigans and there is definitely a lot of affection for Thor from Jane’s POV. | 10k

Deal by GreenVelvetCurtains: Jane introduces Thor to the great Midgardian tradition of being made to remove your clothing when you lose a hand of poker. Everybody wins! Rec: I got a huge kick out of this one. Toeing the line of becoming crackfic. Oh, how I wish there was a smutty follow up. | 2k

Before the Fall by verily-thor: Jane helps Thor prepare for Ragnarök. Rec: Oh god, if you’re in the mood for some sadness, come on in here. Tragic without being grotesque, stripping it down to the bare emotions, and two people who love each other more than anything. | <1k

top gun is not a movie; it’s a lifestyle by hariboo: jane and thor got that loving feeling. Rec: an AU that is reminiscent of Top Gun, which is a fab movie. Awesome Jane, and adorable Thor. | 2k

A Brief Introduction to Asgardian Dinner Parties by jonesandashes and pentapus:  This is the first Earth-Asgard bonding opportunity since that time Loki punched interstellar relations in the face, twice, and the king and queen of Asgard are here, and they are her boyfriend’s parents. Jane is absolutely not going to get drunk at this party, is the point. Rec: This fic makes you smile, then laugh, then cringe, then do it all over again. | 4.5k

Destiny, Disrupted by me: Loki never sends the Destroyer to Midgard. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 3.5k

Rated M (these won’t contain the smuts unless otherwise noted)

**The Teardrop by igi_pigi: Post-Infinity War reunion of Thor and Jane. Forewarning - heavy angst. [Set right after the movie] Rec: Angst, melodrama, and desperation ahoy. Contains some smut | 4.2k

all the best distractions by fuzzypaint: They've found a rhythm when they share Jane's lab, Jane with her science and Thor with his own work, and though it is easy to be distracted by each other, usually they're both very capable of avoiding such things. Usually. Rec: Cunniligus in the lab ;) | Contains smut | 1.8k

Patience and Poker by Rozilla: Jane and Thor sneak off from one of Stark's parties for a quiet chat. Nope, just kidding, hot tub sex. Snarky hot tub sex. Best kind. Rec: What it says on the tin and it’s delightful. | Contains smut | 4k

A Deal with the Duke: An Epilogue by hariboo: Thursdays were busy days around the house, but today was the first day of winter much. Thankfully, the skies were clear, without a hint of storm, but the wind was sharp and bit into his cheeks. He was looking forward to a warm meal and seeing his wife, curling around her in bed for rest of the evening. Rec: Historical romance AU. A nice slice of life bit. Contains minor smut | 2.8k

Ray of Light by evieeden: To Thor, Jane shone brighter than any star in the sky. Advent fic for 18th December. Rec: A sweet, introspective fic from Thor’s POV. | 1.5k

just memories to hold by tosca1390: When the dust and light and smoke clears, the roof of Stark Tower is still intact. Jane can still feel the surge of power in her fingertips, thinks she could hear the songs of Asgard, feel the chill of Jotenheim, as the bridge built itself through Yggdrasil, Thor calling her name across realms. And then, a shadow falls over Jane. Rec: A really, really great post-Avengers reunion fic. Contains some smut | 3.6k

set with the stars by hariboo: jane tries to teach thor earth’s stars. tries, being the operative word. Rec: Jane and Thor getting distracted by each others’ sexy is my favorite thing. Contains some smut | 1.5k

It Could Be Sweet by hariboo: Jane and Thor traverse their last year of high-school. However, they didn’t expect it to be together. Rec: I am not a big fan of high school AUs, but if they float your boat, this is definitely worthwhile. Contains some smut | 7.8k | Part of Let’s Be Young Forever series

Thunder Whispered Low by Niobium: Rec: I love it when Thor talks about his magic, and the bridge that makes between him and Jane. Contains minor smut | 1.5k

Specularity by Niobium: Jane’s bad day improves significantly with a little reflection. Rec: A great slice of life fic, really, really nice interactions. Contains very minor smut | 3k | Part of the Jane Foster Works series

My Blood is Singing by Niobium: Sometimes Thor pushes a storm a little too far. And, sometimes, the storm pushes back. Rec: Jane and Thor at their domestic finest, with some internal angst and the simple comfort found with another person. Contains smut | 2.9k

All my faces are alibis by agirlnamedchuck: Thor is strong and stubborn and she thinks she could be a good king. Maybe even a great one. Besides she’d never seen herself as queen anyways. Rec: Genderswapped Thor. Fosterson is minimal, but amazing insights into Thor’s character. | 6.5k

Leaving On An Airship by Rozilla: To escape to a better life, Jane Foster, maid to a cruel villainous Baron, must leave her lover and disguise herself. But not before one last goodbye. Rec: *cartwheels into the sun* FOSTERSON STEAMPUNK WITH SMUT AND FEELINGS OH GOD SEND HELP. Contains some smut | 2.6k

Unrememberance by letthesongtakeflight: Before he became the Huntsman, he was a prince. Rec: Marvel/Snow White and the Huntsman fusion. Prequel of sorts to SWatH. Angst on angst. Major character death | 1.2k

steal my heart 'til kingdom come by tosca1390: Her eyes stray over reading upon reading; she thinks she can taste the tang of energy and ozone even now, and that strange sense of pine and smoke that she associates with Thor. Rec: AU post-Avengers where Thor goes to visit Jane who has remained in New Mexico. Yay for a great collision of two characters who absolutely did not prepare for any of this. Contains some smut | 2.1k

fingerprints that leave me covered for days by tosca1390: It is not all lost, to be stranded here. Perhaps, he could make something of it. Rec: Another AU in which Thor is on Earth longer in the first movie. Great development for Thor, and the relationship he has with Jane feels very real. | 5.5k

journeys end in lovers’ meeting by tosca1390: Solitary moments in snow; it sounds conducive to rest, to a time of rejuvenation before her research resumes. Rec: A really cute AU based on the movie The Holiday (which I’ve never seen before). Just adorable holiday fluff wherein Thor is human. Contains some smut | 19k

Bound by Medie: It was ironic that his and Loki’s greatest mistakes had led to her. Rec: Some tame bondage featuring dom!Jane. Contains smut | 1.1k

Rated E (these will contain the smuts unless otherwise noted)

**Ambush by orphan_account: Jane isn't into violence, but there's something about those SHIELD debriefings, something primal and raw about hearing how the bad guys got their asses handed to them by the good guys, something that inspires her to act on instinct alone. Rec: If you’ve got a thing for Thor’s armor.... mmmhmmm. | 1.1k

Is This More than You Bargained for Yet by Anshin Archives: Thor and Jane's first go at sex. Jane's expecting Thor to have a cock, and is surprised when he doesn't. It doesn't take her long to adjust. (Pure porn for the excuse of writing Thor with a vagina.) Rec: Genderfluidity and completely accepted queerness for the win. | 2.5k

When Jane Pegged Thor by waldorph: They raise them slutty in Asgard. Rec: What it says on the tin. Pretty damn hot if pegging is up your alley ;). | 1.4k

Practical Magic by Rozilla: Freya’s flowers can do funny things to you. Rec: Roz is the queen of smut so this is amazing. Kind of a play on sex pollen, but takes it in a totally new, refreshing direction. Asgardian sex magic for the win. | 2.8k

built on the old rivers by fartherfaster: You catch her wrist and delicately kiss the bone of it. “Nothing to be sorry for,” you tell her. She composes her reality in absolutes and theories and the true phenomenal names of things. Colloquial language is not her means of communication. You like her hard lines, her curiosity, her determination. Jane would never call Mjolnir just a hammer, and that puts a small, needy part of you to rest. There is a storm in the desert, and Thor comes to terms with all of his changes. The one where human-Thor has Lichtenberg figures. Rec: Incredibly poignant and the author makes a second-person POV work incredibly well. | 3.3k

Tell Me Something New by hariboo: "Compile the data of the reading we took during Convergence. The gravitational–“ She trails off, can’t finish the sentence out loud or in her mind, her voice catching on the words as Thor’s mouth latches onto her throat. Rec: Cute and hot and perfect because smart Jane is Thor’s biggest turn on. | 1.5k

On the Throne by murdur: His insistence that she should sit on the throne had been in jest and merriment, but the sight of her sitting upon the seat now makes his heart beat quick and steals his breath. Rec: Oh my god, Thor goes down on Jane while she sits on the throne of Asgard. I have nothing else to say. *dies* | <1k

Experience Counts for Something by Rozilla: Jane was surprised at Thor’s new female body- but pretty keen to explore it. Rec: Bisexual Jane and Genderfluid Thor are great. Some hot femslash fosterson. | 2.3k

Just Get In The Van by paxnirvana: Written for a prompt on Anenko’s Bad Sex & Awkward Romance: a comment-a-thon that got away from me. Rec: All first time sex is gonna be awkward, friends, even if you’re Jane and Thor. Might as well enjoy the ride. | 6.3k

close your eyes and count to ten by fuzzy_paint: Post battle, Jane and Thor make sure the other still lives. Rec: Reassurance of safety sex is hot. Sue me. Still manages to be angsty too. | 2.4k

We Woke Up In The Kitchen by hariboo: He didn’t think he could miss someone as he missed her, but there is something singular in Jane that pulls at him and threatens to overtake him. Rec: post-TDW sexies that are adorable and awkward and hot all at once, plus some really nice conversation at the end. This author just really gets Jane and Thor in a way that is always awesome to read. | 3.7k

A Helping Hand by fuzzy_paint: Jane can’t sleep. Thor has a solution. Rec: Some nice, cute sleepy!smut to help Jane to relax and stop thinking. | 1.5k

The Scientific Method by Serious Snugglebunnies: Thor is much too honourable to have meaningless sex with Jane - but will he do it for the sake of science? Rec: Cracky, hilarious, and hot. | 3.3k

A Thorny Situation by GreenVelvetCurtains: Jane has a problem and she’s not afraid to try and solve it. Rec: A hot fantasizing/masturbation piece starring the lovely Jane Foster. | 2.7k

Detours by ancarett: Life is a highway. Jane takes Thor on the detours. Missing moments from the movie. Rec: Some mildly awkward sex which is actually kind of adorable and works out for everyone in the end. Not my favorite smut ever, but worth a read. | 3.9k

Say It’s Okay by theleaveswant: Darcy gave her a sympathetic pout and walked around the table to put both hands on Jane’s upper arms. “Okay. Honey? I know this isn’t your preferred way of handling things, but it looks like you’re going to have to talk with him.” Rec: Big premium on 'consent is sexy.’ Jane teaches Thor how to pleasure her. Not my favorite smut, but worth a read. | 2.1k

Accretion by RC_McLachlan: "You are burning inside,” Thor whines, rolling his hips again, and she rides it out helplessly, eyes rolling back, lungs cramping with envy for air. “Like a star." Rec: A seriously hot look at the simple difference in size between Jane and Thor. | 1.6

Salt On Your Lips by Barkour: The strawberry daiquiri is indeed a drink worthy of adulation, but Thor prefers the taste of Jane Foster. Rec: For it’s sense of fun that comes with the sex, and the pure happiness of two people who simply enjoy being in each other’s company. | 2k

Good Morning by me: Jane wakes up with Thor between her legs.My addition to Fosterson Week’s smut day. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 2k

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by me: Jane and Thor do Christmas. (Finally.) Tis the season for holiday smut. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 5.4k

Your Highness by me: Jane wants something in bed and Thor is more than happy to oblige. For the first day of Fosterson Week, post-TDW. Rec: It’s not a true reclist without a self plug. | 6k

Not Your Average Star Trek Fanfiction by me: After several years of unresolved sexual tension, Jane and Thor are in quite a rush to rectify the situation. Takes place immediately following TDW. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 3.7k

[bettsfic]

socknography: the importance of preserving fan creator biographical data

i wrote earlier on utilizing collections and bookmarks to boost the archival power of ao3, and in that post mentioned how i wish authors would fill out their bios so we can preserve fanauthor information as well as we preserve the fics themselves. so, here is my rant about WHY WE ARE SO IMPORTANT.

for my masters thesis i wrote about the layered pseudonymity of fanfiction authors, and after doing a ton of research, i find myself still thinking of the pseudonymous/anonymous divide as it pertains to fic. we have authors we consider “famous” and ones whose followings eclipse that of traditionally published authors, but unlike traditionally published authors, we don’t put a handy bio at the end of our fics. in fact, if you want to find out about the author, you have to hope they’ve linked somewhere to their tumblr or twitter or dreamwidth, or they have consistent pseuds across platforms. and from there, you have to hope they have an ‘about me.’ but most, myself included, don’t.

unlike traditional publication -- where amazon and goodreads and even the back of the book contains biographical info -- and even unlike the rest of fandom archival etiquette -- which, despite having virtually no committed rules still maintains its organizational structure -- there is no standard etiquette on fanauthor biographical data. 

i speculate the reasons fanauthors are hesitant to write their own biographies is very complicated: 

there is no “ask” for it or existing standard. when i publish stories under my real name, i’m required to provide my bio, which contains my accomplishments, where i got my degree, where else i’m published, and my website. all literary author bios follow this formula, so they’re pretty easy to write. other than this post, i have never seen a request for fanauthor bios. so without an editor demanding it, and without a standard formula or platform to draw from, a total lack of information becomes the norm, and almost any info other than the standard “name. age. pronouns. ao3 name. list of fandoms and/or pithy one-liner” of tumblr or occasional ask game is seen as a deviation from the norm. even ask games get a bad rep sometimes, and they’re transitory, a post you see as you’re scrolling through to somewhere else, not static, like a dedicated profile page.

pseudonymity veers too close to anonymity. an anonymous author cannot have a biography. a pseudonymous author can, but biographies may be seen as defeating the purpose of writing under a pseudonym, or multiple pseuds. a sock account is a sock for a reason -- you don’t want it associated with your main. moreover, i believe fandom creates an environment in which to acknowledge your accomplishments and promote your own content is seen as narcissistic. fanfiction can sometimes be seen as a genre of selflessness, donating time and energy into a community centered around a shared canon, not personal gain. to acknowledge the self publicly is to invite attention, and attention is contradictory to anonymity.

shame and humility. the more information you have on the internet, the easier you are to find. very few fanauthors use their real names, or feel comfortable connecting their fan identity to their real one. i hear pretty constantly how often fanauthors hide their fannishness from their coworkers and loved ones, how only the people closest to them know they write/read fanfic. moreover, you might think “my most popular fic only has 10 kudos and 1 comment, nobody wants to know about me” (which is so not true, but i’ll get to that in a minute).

fandom is constantly changing. with a central archive for fanfiction in place, it’s easier now to be in multiple fandoms at once than it ever has been. if you want to read all sugar daddy fics, there’s a tag for that, and if you’re not picky about canon, you have an entire buffet of fandoms to choose from. communities are growing and shifting and changing shape. i move fandoms, and i keep my friends and readers from previous fandoms. i get dragged to new fandoms frequently. my interests and inspirations change, but i don’t erase my history or identity every time i move, i only add to it. i am always betts whether i’m in star wars or the 100 or game of thrones. but if you only read my fic, you don’t know the stories behind it. many people don’t know i entered fandom in the brony convention community in 2012, or that i was sadrobots before i was betty days before i was betts, or how fandom changed my life and led me through a path of personal trauma recovery, or that i co-founded wayward daughters, or ran the fanauthor workshop, or all these other things about fanfic that is not fanfic itself. 

if you are a fan creator, your fannish personal narrative matters. telling your story helps preserve the metatextual history of our genre.

i think constantly about what our genre will look like in 30 or 50 years, if it will be like other genres that began as subversions of the mainstream: comic books, beat literature, science fiction. genres that, at the time involved groups of friends creating stories for each other, bouncing ideas off of one another, experimenting with or distorting other genres, and which became, over time, well-regarded forms with rich histories. 

maybe one day, like the MCU, we’ll have a dedicated production company that churns out adaptations of longform coffee shop aus written between 2009 and 2015. maybe “BNFs” will be read in high school literature curriculums. maybe our work will end up on the real or virtual shelves of our great grandchildren. and if that happens, if fanfic goes entirely mainstream, how will fanfic authorship be perceived? how will fanpeople in 2080, if humanity is still around by then, interact with the lexicon we’ve created and preserved? what would you do if you found out Jane Austen wrote under five different sock accounts across three platforms over the span of twenty years? how would you, a fan of Pride & Prejudice, even begin to find all of her work?

we have so many social constraints pushing against us. there’s purity culture, which encourages further division of identity -- fanauthors may write fluff on their main and have various sock accounts for underage/noncon fics. if you’re a scarecrow, you’re much harder for a mob to attack. there’s misogyny, which dictates women/queer ppl shouldn’t be writing about or indulging in or exploring their sexuality at all. there’s intellectual property and a history of DMCAs, which, although kept at bay by the OTW, may still have influence on the “illegal” mentality of our work. with social armies against us, it’s easier to exist in the shadows, on the fringe. we change URLs based on our moving interests, and split our identities a million different ways, and keep sarcastic “me” tags full of self-deprecating text posts. we are difficult beasts to catch, because we have not been allowed to exist.

i spent a lot of time today googling the word for “pseudonymous biography” and came up empty-handed (if someone knows of an existing word, pls let me know. “pseudography” is apparently a fancy word for a typo; “pseudobiography” is a fake biography), so for lack of anything better, i’ve come up with the term “socknography” because 1) it’s funny and doesn’t sound intimidating, and 2) it encapsulates the sensitive and complicated way fanauthor identifying conventions work. and also i think “fanauthor biography,” “bibliography,” and “profile” just doesn’t cut it for the actual work of these pieces. they don’t necessarily include IRL biographical data, they include more historical/community context than a bibliography, and the words “profile” and “about me” don’t really inspire interaction, or acknowledge the archival importance of this work.

astolat’s fanlore page is my go-to example. astolat writes under multiple pseuds and has major influence in the history of fandom. she’s also a traditionally published author, but you notice, her ofic novels are not mentioned, nor any other real-life identifying information. fanlore has a really good policy on this in place, for those concerned about doxxing. 

(moreover, i am not suggesting you centralize your socks. they’re socks for a reason. but most everyone has a main, and that main identity has a story.)

there are 2 existing spaces to preserve socknographies. 

fanlore, a wiki owned by the OTW, you can make an account and create a user page (which is different than a “person” page) using a user profile template

ao3′s “profile” page, which is a big blank box in which anything goes

(i’m not including tumblr on this list because i don’t think it’s a stable platform.) 

fanlore’s template is straight to the point and minimal, which doesn’t really invite narrative the same way a literary bio would. ao3′s big blank box leaves us with the question -- wtf do i say about myself? how do i say it? how much is too much? and because of that, most profiles are either blank or only include a policy on translations/podfic/fanart, and maybe links to tumblr and twitter. but let me tell you, if i have read your fic and taken the time to move over to your profile, you better believe i am a fan. and as a fan, i want to Know Things.

here are the things i want to know, or

a potential template:

introduction (name/alias, age, location, pronouns, occupation)

accomplishments (degrees, personal history)

fan history (fandoms you’ve been in, timeline as a fan, how you were introduced to fandom/fanfiction, what does fandom mean to you -- this is where your fan narrative goes)

fandom participation (popular fics/posts, involvement in fan events/communities, side blogs, interviews, etc. 3 & 4 might be one and the same for you)

spotlight (which of your fics are most important to you/would you like others to read and why? what are the stories behind your favorite fics you’ve written?)

find me elsewhere* (links to tumblr, twitter, insta, etc.)

policies on fanart, fanfic of fic, podfics, and translations

*you cannot link to ko-fi, paypal, patreon, or amazon on ao3/fanlore per the non-commercial terms of service

i’ll be working on filling this out for my own profile as an example, but you can also see how my @fanauthorworkshop participants filled out their fanauthor spotlights, and the information they provided. obviously, you should only share that which you feel comfortable sharing, and as your fandom life changes, your narrative will change too. it’s not much different than updating a CV or resume.

tl;dr the goal is to provide a self-narrative of your fan life/identity for posterity. who are you and why are you a fanperson? why do you create fan content? what are you proud of and what do you want to highlight to others? who are you in this space?

[olliya]

SasuSaku ship dynamics and history

The stats I’m immensely proud of: the complete SasuSaku ship stats!!!! I think I managed to deconvolute how many SasaSaku fics are really there and how it changed over the years. I also took a detailed look at the times before and after ship canonization, and I tell you, it’s interesting. At least for a nerd like me 😊

As a sneak peek, I’ll let you see my pride and joy:

Explanations, and much, much more, under the cut.

So, let’s start from this graph:

As I already explained here and here, on FF.Net there exist two types of independent systems for tagging romantic relations ships: Ship Names and Pairing Option (for explanation see here). The graph in Figure 1. shows the dynamics of SasuSaku ship where Ship Names are marked dark blue, while Pairing Option is light blue. However, without manual check there is no way to know how many fics tagged with one system are also tagged with another. I.e. we cannot know if we can, and if yes then to what extent, add these values together.

This issue was bugging me for a very long time, especially as the introduction of Pairing Option (October 2013) lies unfortunately close to the end of manga and canonization of ships (November 2014). And it’s super interesting to know how did the fandom (the Sasusaku part of it, as well as those parts of fandom whose ships weren’t confirmed) reacted for the end of manga and canonization.

So, I set off to untangle the double-tagging issue, and I’ll start with SasuSaku. NaraSaku and KakaSaku are next in line.

Additionally, since it seems that the center of gravity of Naruto fandom shifts towards AO3 (as can be seen in this analysis), I included SasaSaku dynamics on that platform as well.

Methods

FF.Net

I based my analysis on already collected data (published here) on ship dynamics by year. Those data gather number of fics published in a given year for the following tagging systems:

Pairing Option

Ship Names (Ship Names examined: SasuSaku, SakuSasu, SasukexSakura, SakuraxSasuke, SasuxSaku, SakuxSasu, Sasuke x Sakura, Sakura x Sasuke, Sasu x Saku, Saku x Sasu)

Basing on those data, I set off to excluded the double-tagged fics.

For practical reasons (minimalization of amount of clicking around I had to do), I approached the issue from two different sides.

A.     To exclude double-tagged fics tagged with Pairing Option and with Ship Name SasuSaku (main Ship Name used by the fandom) I used the Filters Tool (settings: Character A: Haruno Sakura; Character B: Uchiha Sasuke; Pairing Option: On, Sort: Publish Date). I went through resulting list of fics page-by-page, taking note of the year of publication and searching for the phrase “sasusaku” (using Ctrl+F key combination in the browser). I took note of number of times the phrase “sasusaku” appeared on each page and summed up those numbers for the fics that were published in the same year.

B.     To exclude double-tagged fics tagged with Pairing Option and with minor Ship Names, I searched for the minor Ship Name of interest (for example: “Sasuke x Sakura”) using Search Window, and, after sorting the results according to Publish Date, I searched the for the occurrences of square brackets (“[“) on the result page. Square brackets are used by FF.Net as an indicator of characters paired together through Pairing Option. However, it also was and still is used by the authors in summaries to describe romantic pairs, writing status of the fic, tropes, AUs and various other, mostly house-keeping purposes. Therefore, it was necessary to manually check if occurrence of a square bracket meant Pairing Option (and if the romantic pair indeed was SasuSaku!) or if it was merely featured in the summary. For all the minor Ship Names, I manually checked each occurrence of square bracket and took note of those that indicated romantic pair Uchiha Sasuke with Haruno Sakura, along with the publication year of the fic that was double-tagged.

Using this method, I searched through years 2006-2019. I skipped years 2003-2005 due to previously made observations about general messiness of the data from the very early years of the fandom (people weren’t tagging particularly diligently…)

Using the data collected as described above, I could subtract the double-tagged fics from the sum of fics tagged with Pairing Option and fics tagged with Ship Name.

To get better data resolution for the decrease (years 2011-2012) and subsequent rise of SasuSaku popularity (years 2013-2014), and in order to be able to corelate fic production rate with canonical events, I performed the same analysis month-by-month for the years 2010-2015.

AO3

I searched the AO3 archive by clicking into Uchiha Sasuke/Haruno Sakura tag and sorting by Publishing Date, and took note of how many fics were published per year. I did the same for the character Haruno Sakura (as I didn’t have these data yet). On AO3, authors can freely set a publication date, and the chosen date is then displayed in the header of the fic when one clicks inside it. However, the user-defined date doesn’t influence the sorting order, i.e. fics are still sorted according to their date of addition to the archive. When such an “unclear case” happened on a border of two years, the fics of uncertain publishing date were assigned to the new year (i.e. if a fic dated as from June 15th 2006 appeared between fics dated December 31st 2017 and January 1st 2018, it was assigned to the year 2018).

Limitations of the method

The elimination of double-tagged fics concerns only fics tagged with Pairing Option and one of the Ship Names. It does not eliminate the fics tagged with more than one Ship Name. I.e. a fic that has in its summary two of the Ship Names it will be still counted twice. Also, if it has one of the Ship Names in the summary and another in the title, it will also be counted twice. In an extreme case, if author used all 10 Ship Names, then the fic would be counted 10 times.

In the same time, due to mechanics of elimination method A. if a fic (that was additionally tagged with Pairing Option) contained multiple occurrence of phrase “sasusaku” in the summary or title, such fic will be subtracted multiple times (as many times as there have been repetitions of the phrase). Also, if an author had a phrase “sasusaku” in their name, their fic will also be falsely subtracted even if it wasn’t double-tagged at all (falsely, because my initial harvest of “sasusaku” fics was defined as “search story” and not “search writer”).

Results

Figure 2. presents the number of SasuSaku fics tagged with different systems (shades of blue) and the unique number of fics published per year (magenta).

Figure 3. compares the numbers of fics published on FF.Net and AO3. Please take note that simple addition of fics from the two platform can actually be misleading and incorrect. This is due to the fact that many authors publish in parallel on both platforms, and fics uploaded to FF.Net are de facto the same fics as those published on AO3. Additionally, some authors move from the older FF.Net to the newer AO3, where they re-post their older works in bulk.

Unique fic numbers on FF.Net show a main maximum in 2008 (in line with the maximum of total Naruto fics, see here) when 3308 SasuSaku fics where published, followed by steep decline with a minimum in 2012 when only 1409 were produced. There is a significant increase in fic numbers forming a secondary maximum in years 2013-2015 when ca. 2000 fics were published yearly. After this increase in activity happening around the end of manga and canonization of SasuSaku ship, a steep decline is continuing until the present day. In 2019, SasuSaku ship noted its historical minimum when only 540 fics (on average 45 per month) were published on FF.Net.

The steady increase of SasuSaku fics on AO3 is in line with the general increase of activity of Naruto fandom on this platform. It is noteworthy that in 2019, for the first time, there were more SasuSaku fics published on AO3 (779 per year, i.e. 65 per month) than on FF.Net.

Due to highly fluctuating numbers of Naruto fics published per year it is difficult to assess ship popularity basing on published fics only. The percentage of shipping fics in relation of total Naruto fics, or total fics featuring one of the romantic partners (I used Sakura) are better indicators of ship popularity. For this part of analysis, see Discussion.

To analyze the effect of canon events of the fic production, better resolution is necessary. Figure 4. summarizes SasuSaku ship dynamics during the years 2010-2015 on monthly bases.

It can be seen that with introduction of Pairing Option, the main Ship Name tag (SasuSaku) slightly lost on prominence while the Pairing Option gained acceptance, and already in January 2014 there were more less same number of fics using Pairing Option as Ship Names. However, most fics used either one type of tagging or another (double-tagging ratio was 25%-33% in years 2013-2015). Interpretation of the curve and correlations between the canon and fandom events and monthly publishing rate will be elaborate on in Discussion.

Discussion

Figure 5. shows what percentage of all Sakura’s fics consisted of SasuSaku fics in years 2006-2019 for FF.Net and 2011-2019 for AO3. This approach allows for correction for the effect of general fandom activity decline (see this analysis) that took place after year 2008.

SasuSaku of FF.Net shows two maxima, divided with a strong minimum in years 2011-2012. On AO3, after a slow start (12% in 2011) SasuSaku quickly reached the level of 20% which it held since 2013. Currently, both platforms host a very similar percentage of SasuSaku fics.

I would like to focus primarily of FF.Net, as it covers entire timeline of publishing of the manga.

The way how canon influences fandom was one of the focal points in this analysis. Sakura’s ship with Sasuke was very prominent during the earlier years of the fandom (2006-2008) when it made more than 30% of all published Sakura’s fics. And if one takes into account that not all the fics are necessary shipping ones, the dominance of SasuSaku ship becomes even more massive.

However, during later years SasuSaku lost at popularity, reaching its minimum in 2011 and 2012 when only 17,1%and 17,5% of all Sakura’s fics featured romantic pairing with Sasuke. In 2013 we see already an increase, that continues until 2015, when SasuSaku reaches a second maximum (almost as high as the first one) achieving once again 30%. After 2015 there is a decline, as this effect is independent from the general fandom decline. In last years, SasuSaku makes ca. 23% of Sakura’s fics. That might be an indirect evidence of popularity increase of others, non-canonical and more exotic ships.

To put the timeline into perspective:

Sasuke kills Itachi in chapter 394 published in March 2008; and, informed about Itachi’s true motives, declares intention to kill Konoha Elders in chapter 404 published in May 2008.

Sasuke attacks Kage Summit in chapter 460 published in August 2009.

Sasuke’s and Sakura’s encounter and mutual assassination attempt on the Bridge in Iron Country happens in chapters 482-485 published in February/March 2010. Afterwards Sasuke virtually disappears from the manga for many chapters, appearing only briefly in chapter 553 (published in September 2011) with fully evolved Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes.

His next prominent appearance is already after the beginning of Fourth Ninja War and implementation of Edo Tensei, when Sasuke encounters Itachi in chapter 576 (published in March 2012) and after Itachi’s revelations, declares the will to destroy Konoha in chapter 589 (published in June 2012).

After the meeting with the previous Hokage, in chapter 627 (published in April 2013) Sasuke changes his mind, declares will to protect Konoha and joins Shinobi Alliance four chapters later (May 2013).

Figure 6. presents percentage of unique SasuSaku fics (in respect to total Sakura’s fics) in context of manga events. During Sasuke’s quest for revenge the popularity of the ship was constantly dropping. Interestingly, it reached its low during the time period when Sasuke was basically absent from the manga. His declaration about destroying Konoha in 2012 happened also during this minimum. However, despite this declaration, already in 2013 the ship gained popularity, possibly in response to anticipated changing of sides that indeed took place in May 2013. After that, SasuSaku was on steady rise that continued throughout ship canonization.

In order to see the effects of specific manga events it is necessary to look at more detailed picture. Figure 7. presents number of unique fics published (not percentages, because gathering monthly data for total Sakura fics exceeded my capacities) and puts them in context of manga and fandom events.

Data of this high resolution tend to be choppy, nevertheless some trends can be detected. Most prominently, SasuSaku Months (fandom events held every July in years 2011-2019) give rise to sharp peaks. There is a similar peak in July 2010 but I didn’t find any evidence of SasuSaku Month that year. @sasuxsakumonth and @sasusakumonth – maybe you know more about that?

After Iron Country Bridge disaster, the number of fics indeed falls. The effect is blurred by the peak in July (if it was indeed an event), but afterwards there is a decline. During the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011 the number of fics oscillated between 100 and 150 per month, and even SS Month didn’t produce a big increase (182 fics only). During the second half of 2011 and first half of 2012 the number was 100 fics per month.

Sasuke’s re-appearance in March 2012 seemed to revitalize the fandom and in autumn and winter of 2012 the fandom was already on the rise. In 2013 and 2014 there were already 150 fics regularly published every month, and SS Month in 2013 and 2014 reached almost 300 fics (of course not all the fics were produced specifically for the event).

A sharp decline in September - October 2014 may be an after-effect of a successful SS Month in July (and certain writers’ fatigue) or can be caused by canon events, as directly before the canonization, in chapters published in September/October 2019, Sasuke announces his “revolution”, places Sakura under death-by-Chidori-genjutsu and fights Naruto.

And finally - in answer to my initial question – canonization of SasuSaku ship in November 2014 resulted in a very prominent (comparable only with strongest SS Months), sharply rising maximum, that, additionally, tailed at least until January 2015.

As general observation, it seems that fandom reacts to “negative events” (canon moments decreasing the chance of characters canonically getting together, absence of character from the story) with a certain delay. It is understandable, as one can imagine that negative feedback from the side of canon doesn’t make people to abstain from publishing the fics that they’ve been already working on, but rather acts demotivating which results in a diminished output of fics in subsequent months. In contrary, positive events (like ship-supporting canon moments or canonization) bring very fast reactions, as writers tend to get inspired by new, ship-supportive material.

As always, all comments, hints, suggestions and critique is absolutely welcome! Please share this post, as I think it may be of interest for relatively large group of people, while I, myself, tend to dwell in a bit different corner of the fandom.

[veliseraptor]

A Decade of Fanfiction: 2009-2019

I’ve seen artists I know and love doing this, and I figured I’d self-indulgently make my own fic version of it. So: I’m choosing one fic a year for the last 10 years that I feel is somehow ~representative~ of that year.

I don’t know that I have any overarching observations, except that hopefully I got better over the course of these (I feel like I did) and I think my writing in general has...shifted in terms of focus. Earlier in the decade I wrote a lot of short pieces and character studies; also a lot of very dark and depressing endings. Moving forward I started picking up things with more plot, writing longer stories, writing series and multi-chapter things. 

And I also started ending my fics, generally speaking, on a more hopeful note. Still a lot of pain; still a lot of sorrow. But more and more, I tend to end on a note that says that if things aren’t perfect, if everything isn’t fixed, it is still better, and there might be brighter still to come. 

2009

The Damned, The Silmarillion. This was a year where I wrote a lot of short fic from a lot of different fandoms (A Song of Ice and Fire and The Silmarillion, mostly, though also Doctrine of Labyrinths). This was my first long, multi-chapter fic I actually completed - the AU where Curufin dies after they leave Nargothrond, and Celegorm goes off the rails. I have no idea how well it would hold up - I haven’t reread it. Though someone did make art of it (cw: horror) only four years ago, so it must at least have some good bits in there.  

2010

The Sky Is Darkening Like a Stain, Supernatural. I thought about picking one of my Death Note fics (this was a year of Death Note) as the fandom with my first real hero/villain slash ship, but this was the year where Supernatural started to make an appearance (late in the year - the first fic I have is from September 2010). It’s also the first Sam/Lucifer fic I wrote, which feels significant.

I did also consider a number of “fics where the main character dies at the end” because I wrote a lot of those both this year and next year. It tapers off later on, but boy, did I love killing my own favorite characters and/or writing about their canonical deaths.

2011

Silver Glass, The Silmarillion. This felt in some ways like a year I should have chosen a Supernatural fic, since this was a year when Supernatural by far dominated what I was writing. But I’m going with this one, because it was my first ever foray into second person, and it’s a weird little fic stylistically speaking that shows me starting to experiment a little more. (The date on AO3 for this one is 2012; I’m going from the FFN date, which was the original posting.)

2012

I heard you killed your only friend last year, MCU. This was the year the MCU showed up, and there are a lot of candidates I could have chosen for this one - I almost went with Life in Reverse (still might, for the year it’s finished) but ultimately...this fic was never meant to be the first installment in a series that is now 800,000+ words and still going, seven years later, but here we are. It almost never got posted. 

This was hard, though! This was also the year of Curufin/Finrod becoming a thing, of Clint/Loki, of some of my last really brutal major character death fics. But ultimately this has to go to recognizing the beginning Remember This Cold.

2013

Perdition, MCU. After waffling around with a couple others, I realized that it had to go to this one, because @portraitoftheoddity and I might never have met without it - specifically, without the fanart she made for it that very much caught my attention and got us talking. For that reason alone, I’m calling this the most significant fic of 2013.

2014

Road to Nowhere, MCU. Oh, yes, a classic in the Lise genre of “awkward road trips forcing characters to talk about their feelings, eventually.” I considered one of the two major character death, hella bleak fics I wrote this year, as well as one of the (many) Remember This Cold fics I wrote, but I’m going with this one.

2015

There are fics from this year I like more (The Children of the War, for one, and Birthright) but I’m going to go with the fic that surprised me most just by existing, which was Now Three, MCU. I said for years I’d never write mpreg fic. And then I did it. I think that’s where I learned not to make categorical statements about what I’ll never write.

2016

Shit, man, this was a year of some personally iconic fics. This was the year of I have lived with shades, a shade, of The Vivisection Mambo, of there’s a hell of a good universe next door. It was the year of The Villain Wrangler, the fic I wrote in one sitting that is one of my most popular fics ever, no I don’t resent that a little. I wrote a lot of really good fic in 2016. (If I do say so myself.) 

But I’m going to have to go with to face unafraid the plans that we’ve made, MCU, because this was the year that Steve proposed marriage to Loki in Remember This Cold and that was kind of a big fuckin’ deal.

2017

This was another tough one - do I go with one of the first Wheel of Time fics I wrote in years, because this was the year of the Wheel of Time reread? Do I go with Seven Years because it remains one of my favorite fics I’ve ever written and was the first glimmer of a return to the Silmarillion after a couple years of silence? My first Dragon Age fic ever? One of my Loki/Grandmaster fics (a new ship appearing on the scene late in the year)? The middle fics of the Tapestries series, which series is in many ways closest to my heart emotionally?

But ultimately I landed on the obvious candidate: we’re not friends, we’re strangers with memories, MCU was finished this year. It was the longest thing I’d written and finished to date, and I ended up feeling really good about how I closed it out. I’m still proud of it, which is no small thing.

2018

Yeah, okay. I wanted to pick a Loki/Grandmaster fic for this year, because it feels like the year I wrote a whole fuckin lot of those and they’re very much...uhhh representative, in some way. 

But this has to be Life in Reverse, MCU. The labor of six years, over 200,000 words, blood, sweat, and literal tears, and I finished it in 2018. I feel like if I’ve left a mark on the MCU fandom at all, it’s with this fic. And you know what, I’m good with that.

2019

We’re not quite done with this year yet, but I’m done posting fic for it, so I feel okay choosing one here. And while I’m going to go more in-depth with a 2019 fic recap with a different post, if I had to pick just one fic that feels emblematic of this year I think I’d go with gather frankincense, Lymond Chronicles. Not just because it’s one of my proudest accomplishments of the year, but also because this was a year where I branched out when it came to fandoms. The MCU still dominated, but for the first time in a long time I was writing semi-regularly for other fandoms - Good Omens, Lymond Chronicles, Doctrine of Labyrinths, The Silmarillion, even some Wheel of Time.

It was a good feeling. I used to be a very multifandom writer, and I like the feeling that I’m circling back to that. Especially when it comes to small book fandoms, which were my first internet home.

[lycorogue]

Tag Game: Authors

Tagged by: @livrever

Author name: I make life easy for everyone. I’m LycoRogue just about everywhere.

Fandoms I write for: I mostly write for Miraculous Ladybug, starting in the fandom late 2017. In the past (about 2010-2013), I was almost exclusively writing for the “Hey, Arnold!” fandom. While not as many, I’ve also started up some Fruits Basket stories once the reboot began airing last year. Beyond those normal fandoms, I’ve also thrown in random fics for any old thing that has caught my attention: a couple of stories for the Enderverse series, a random story based on a song about zombies, a one-shot teaser about a Cirque du Soleil show, and oddly only one Legend of Zelda story even though that’s probably my favorite fandom outside of ML. I’ve also had some “fanfics” that were MOSTLY original works based vaguely in the worlds of pre-established properties, such as backstories and side stories for my D&D characters, a short-lived attempt to recap the World of Darkness - Vampire: The Masquerade LARP I was in, and stories for the original characters I created for an X-Men play-by-post. The PbP, called X-Future, was a game where all of the playable characters were OCs that only occasionally interact with canon Marvel characters.

Where I post: You can find my works here on Tumblr (tag #LycoRogue Fanfic), over on AO3, on FFN, and - if you’re desperate - I still post to DA.

Most popular one-shot: Based only on AO3′s stats, it would be my Lukanette birthday gift for @thetauruspixie: I Was Thinking of You  (As of 3/6/20: it has 1773 hits and 208 kudos)

OK, this became long because that’s just who I am... 9_9 So... if you want to know more about me, check below the break. ^_^

Favorite story I wrote: I have a multi-chapter story and a one-shot. Both are for ML. The multi-chapter story is Peeping Tomcat, and it is my magnum opus! It started off as one of the first-ever fanfics I wrote for the fandom, and then I realized it had LOADS more story to tell. It is the first multi-chapter story I’ve completed, despite starting and abandoning about a half-dozen before it. This is my baby! The story is about Chat Noir checking in on Marinette once when he thought she was in danger, and then got addicted to innocently spying on her in her bedroom in order to learn more about her while she’s relaxed and most “herself”. I have a sequel that has been in the works for nearly 2yrs now. Yes, I AM still working on the sequel One and the Same, in case any of my readers were nervous about that....

The one-shot is Build Your Own Luck which is a headcanon story about where I believe that lucky charm bracelet Marinette gave Adrien originally came from. It’s a sweet family-bonding story that I loved so much that I’m tying it into my Peeping Tomcat canon. The story behind The BraceletTM will appear in One and the Same.

I also really love one of those “mostly original” stories for X-Future. It was a story originally written by @cyhyr‘s spouse, but when I corrected him on how my character Willow would have truly acted in that situation we decided to make it a collab story. Then it became monstrous, and I think I overwhelmed him. So it’s kind of been in limbo for a few years, but I periodically go back to that project every couple of months, really wanting to get it back down to a manuscript he can manage so we can complete it. For anyone interested, the as-of-now-unofficially-abandoned story is Please, Let Me Explain. In the roleplay, his character Devon left the Xavier Institute to find out more about the parents that abandoned him as an infant. About 1/2hr later, the school gets destroyed in an attack, and the surviving students and faculty believe Devon had something to do with it. Two years later, Devon returns to the school, surprised to find out there were any survivors after spending the last 20 months or so “avenging” all of the students’ deaths. My character Willow is pissed at Devon. He wants to prove his innocence to her. Things are complicated....

Story I was nervous to post: I mean, I’m always nervous to put my heart and soul out there; screaming into the void. Especially when I write things that are more original-leaning. Or when I’m writing gifts for people, especially for those fandom exchanges. Those are terrifying because you know virtually nothing about the person you’re writing for, so you don’t truly know if they’ll like it. I still have a couple of stories that resulted in complete radio-silence from the receiver. 

The one I was MOST nervous about though? Probably one I’m still nervous about sharing here. It’s my first-ever published smut for a fandom I didn’t even know existed until last summer and has seemingly died off since the book series completed back in like 2012. My story is called Sparks for the Moment and is for the story Bitterblue within the Seven Kingdoms Trilogy (also known as the Graceling Series). It’s a bittersweet sex scene that takes place between canonical scenes at the end of the story, so beware spoilers.

How do I choose titles:  Oh lord, how DO I choose titles!? It’s usually a truly grueling process because I try to stick to 4 rules of thumb:  1. Something that is significant to the story, be it an item or a phrase or a theme, etc. 2. Something that gives you an idea of the feel of the story based on the title (I have no clue if I ever succeeded on this) 3. Something easy to remember; generally less than 5 words long. 4. A title that isn’t already being used by another author (this makes things REAL tricky)

Do you outline? Ummmmm.... Once upon a time? No. I was a full-on pantser. Then, more-or-less when I was working on Peeping Tomcat I became more of a plantser. I now have a skeleton of what I want to write, and try to get as much figured out as I can, only for the characters to go “HAHAHA. Nope.” and then I just kinda follow them.

Complete: 35

Cirque du Soleil (1) Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game) (2) Enderverse (2) Fruits Basket (4) Hey Arnold! (7) Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton (Song) (1) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (1) Miraculous Ladybug (16) Seven Kingdoms Trilogy - Kristin Cashore (1)

Incomplete (I added this one for ReasonsTM): 

Pseudo LoZ and Fable crossover original hybrid thing (1) Hey Arnold! (1) World of Darkness - Vampire: The Masquerade (1)

In progress: After unofficially abandoning so many stories, I’ve stopped publishing any until the whole story is written and just needs one last polish. That was how I managed to get Peeping Tomcat done. That said, I have a couple of irons in the fire.

Main WIP: One and the Same Current WIP: Love Square Fluff Week 2020 (an exception to the “wait til it’s all written rule) Random On-going WIP: I Don’t Care (I never intended this to be an on-going story, but there you have it) “Backburner” WIPs:  > What Is Truly Meant To Be (A HA! story I unintentionally abandoned in 2013)  > X-Future: The Second Generation Begins (My recapping of the X-Future game)  > X-Future Snippets (Random one-shot stories in the X-Future universe)  > Please, Let Me Explain (The aforementioned X-Future collab)

Plunnies:   > When Love Matters (a retelling of the ML series if Gabriel actually was a loving father)  > A collab with @thetauruspixie to write a Fu-centric story telling of his travels through Europe with the Miracle Box and his love affair with Marianne

Do you take prompts? I’ll be honest, I struggle a touch with prompts, but I like challenging myself. One of the reasons I’m doing the gift exchanges. So, if you have a prompt idea, I’d love to hear it. See if it inspires me. :D

Upcoming project I’m most excited about: When Love Matters. I wanted to work on that between breaks, while I had time to backtrack before more episodes aired. Considering how long OatS is taking though, I might not get to start his project until about the time S4 starts. 9_9

Tagging but you are under no obligations to participate: @thetauruspixie, @cyhyr, @chibisunnie, @rikareena, @coffeecomicsgalore, @chanceuseladynoire, @zenmisery, @i-am-the-niece-of-satan (I know some of you are socially anxious, so again, you are under NO OBLIGATION to participate. I just figured people might be interested in knowing more about you)

Also, if you write and want to answer, assume I’m tagging you as well. I’d love to know more about your writing.

[greyias]

OC Asks 3. How did you choose their name?

Also asked by @captainderyn​

Hahahahaha… okay, the short answer?: I’m an idiot. I didn’t realize I was going to love this game or this character as much as I did.

The long answer, well, I’ve alluded to it once or twice in the past, but I guess I should actually delve into it for real. But under a cut, because it’s probably going to get long.

I’m not sure if this should come with any kind of warning, but it’s kind of long and does delve into some personal stuff. So hopefully that doesn’t bother anyone!

Okay, so, when I first heard about this game in 2011, I had been out of fandom for several years, and had played a few MMOs here and there, but never really got into them for very long, mostly because I got bored very quickly with how repetitive they were. And then I read about this supposedly story and character-driven MMO, and I was intrigued. I was talking to my sister-in-law at the time about it, and ultimately realized I’d never be able to play because I didn’t have a PC capable of running it, and I was heavily into debt because of medical issues, to the point where I was having a difficult time affording my car payment, mortgage, and groceries.

So then Christmas rolls around, and my family has just about finished all of the presents when my brother and his wife go and bring in a special gift they’d been working on for several months: a frankensteined gaming PC that had one game installed on it, with several months of a subscription pre-paid: Star Wars the Old Republic

Needless to say, I was kind of bawling because no one had ever done something that nice to me before. And like? It’s kind of hard to describe what that previous year had been like without having a long, long side story but… it was difficult. It kind of sounds melodramatic to say it was hellish, but looking back on it? It kind of was. I was barely doing anything besides surviving, much less having fun. And here my sister-in-law had actually listened to a one-off conversation about how I was interested in this game but probably would never be able to play it, and like… took it upon herself to make that happen.

So of course the first thing I do is hook up my brand FrankenPC, load up the only game on it, and create a character! But it’s a MMO – and even though it’s billed on being story and character-based, I kind of don’t really believe it? Or at least don’t think my character is going to matter. So I do what I did with every other MMO, I used my online nickname to make a character (Greyias) so my friends can recognize me if they’re in-game, create a character that vaguely looks like me, and get to adventuring! 

The last name came when they rolled out legacies, and hey, I used “Highwind” for my short-lived Pirates of the Caribbean MMO toon. It’s also the last name for one of the main characters in my abandoned steampunk novel series, but that’s another story for another time.

(And then after about three days of learning the mechancis, re-roll said character on a different server, because OOPS! That wasn’t the server my brother and sister-in-law had started their guild on. She looked a little less like me this time. Probably should have changed the name, but I just wanted to see how the story turned out and eventually quest with my fam)

I realized my mistake around Coruscant when Kira joined up as a companion and I went “…uh oh.”

Because I’ve started to recognize I get a certain feeling when I like something, really like something to the point when I get… ideas. Story ideas. Character conversations and wondering “what if”. Of course, this is still in the open beta period, the game hasn’t even launched yet, there’s still long queues to log in and the grind is real, and I just want to see where this story is going and what Darth Angral is going to do, and why is this character so damn sincere and genuine and I don’t like characters that are the literal embodiment of sunshine, I like snarky snarksters and–oh. No I actually do like the Sunshine Jedi. A lot.

Now, a few of you may be like “I really don’t see what the problem is” – this is kind of an old school thing, and something that seems to have thankfully gotten a lot of pushback in the time since I had left fandom and the time since I rejoined it, and that is: The Dreaded Mary Sue

From about the time I had started writing fic when I was in my early teens and onwards it had been drilled into my head that Mary Sues were a bad thing. And self-inserts were worse. Especially if they were *gasp* FEMALE CHARACTERS. (We can’t have those girls having characters they identify with now, can we?) And like, those very relevant discussions aside, I was kind of… ashamed? That I had made a self-insert without realizing it? Despite the fact that like, the character that resulted from my playthrough was very much not me. Like, a significantly different person.

But I was starting to get story ideas and snatches of character bits, and like, I hadn’t written in so long, I hadn’t been inspired in so long. And honestly I just loved this little do-gooder goober, in all of her naive, happy-go-lucky glory. As well as her red-headed sidekick and this amazing dynamic that I had only really seen depicted between male characters previously. And so I promised myself if I got a story idea, I’d write it out and… just change Grey’s name to something else. So no one would know my secret crime, and I would be free, freeeee to scribble in the margins of canon.

It was a great plan, except, I had been playing with subtitles for the game on, so every time Grey would speak, her name would appear above it. And wouldn’t you know? I associated that name with that face, and well, I didn’t get that story idea yet, so it was. Fine I tell you. FINE.

I kept playing the game. In fact, I played the game a lot in the middle part of 2012, because wouldn’t you know? I had another round of medical issues that put me on short term disability and I actually had to retrain my body to sit in a chair for long periods of time (look, it’s a really long story, and this post is long enough as it is). So let’s just say… I got really attached to my little Sunshine Jedi who could go out and save the galaxy when I could barely walk a hundred feet.

And continued to play it off and on over the following years, until finally, finally the devs removed the grind wall in preparation for KotFE, and I was able to finish the Jedi Knight storyline and see where her story ended up. Then I played the next expansion on Makeb. Which was fun. Then I made the mistake that we all know I was eventually going to make: I played Shadow of Revan.

And met Theron fucking Shan. And my perfect little Jedi suddenly fell in love and oh crap. I’m escaping out of cutscenes to rewatch them. Like rewatching them an absurd amount of times. And as I’m going to sleep I’m like, getting entire bits of narration and brand new scenes and fic ideas in my head, and oh god. It finally happened. I try and resist the pull, but I play up through KotFE and I have no more story to stall any more. And the snippets just keep lulling me to sleep every night and… okay.

I probably need to rename this character now. Like, there’s an actual ability to do that in-game so I should get to it. Chop chop.

Nothing works. Nothing at all works. This should not be that hard, she can have any name, no one will know. Why can’t I think of a different name? I go to every single name site known to man, and none of them are her. Besides the fact, that’s her name, and I’m starting to feel kind of guilty for taking it away from her. Poor girl has been through so much in canon and now I’m taking away her name? What kind of monster am I? Okay, fine. I roll up a different Knight during the Dark vs Light event, gave that one an actual name that was not my online writer name just to see if I could trick my brain into writing about them.

Nope.

Maybe I’ll change my online name? “Let her keep the name Grey and I can just have a different name and…” – at this point I’m starting to realize I might be getting slightly neurotic over this whole thing.

Completely annoyed with myself for spending nearly a year trying to come up with a new name I’m starting to get desperate, thinking up ways to maybe just… write around it and not let people know her name until they maybe fall in love with her and hopefully just forget how it’s weird. That can work right? Okay, whatever at least I’m writing and it’s shutting these two up, and it’s all going good for several stories in and then suddenly I get to a scene that has more than one female character and I’m like “Shit… the jig is up.”

Meanwhile, I’ve started up a Dragon Age Origins playthrough, and like a dumbass, DO THE EXACT SAME THING with a female Cousland, and start whining to poor @for-the-flail on Twitter, on my fainting couch about how I can never write this character’s name because I named her after myself, and, bless her heart, she’s just like: “…um. Why?”

And I’m like “Because… we share a name… and that’s weird for people…?”

She goes “It’s not that weird. Why don’t you just write your stories? People will like them or not.”

And sheepishly, I realized she was right, and stopped being so diligent about hiding poor Grey’s name, and eventually, because you are all such lovely and encouraging people, eventually embraced it. (Come to think of it, I never did wind up writing about poor Cousland!Grey. Oops.)

So! That’s the long and ramble story of how she got her name and why it never changed despite my best efforts.

In summary: I’m an idiot 🤷‍♀️ but I think you guys love me anyway?

[raeofalbion]

tagged by @marcceh - I’m sorry this is so long, I’m incapable of talking about writing in a small amount of words.

Author Name: deathofaraven on fanfiction-specific sites; I’ve been considering changing it but it’s been my username since 2009, so there’s no point. I think it’s some version of I.Ravencrow on other writing sites.

Fandoms You Write For: Fable and BBC Sherlock currently; Tom Becker’s Darkside occasionally; DMC, Batman, Death Note, Kuroshitsuji, Harry Potter, shit I’ve written for a lot of fandoms and can’t remember them all because I deleted the fics from my profiles, and most of LJ Smith’s work previously.

Where You Post: mainly on Ao3 now, but I occasionally post on FFN and on Tablo

Most Popular One-Shot: Hiraeth, which is apparently my third most read and second most kudosed fic on Ao3?? Idk how that worked out, but I’m so glad readers have enjoyed it.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: A Marriage of Inconvenience, to absolutely no one’s surprise--it’s the first in a series, it’s a really old fic (originally written in 2012), it’s the fic I moved to Ao3 for (specifically because I’d rewritten it in 2015/2016), the reason I got a tumblr account. It was kinda...the start of a lot of things, so it’s sorta fitting it’s the most popular I’ve written. I’d like to...eventually fix more things about it (or do a version that I feel is more complete), but I’m proud of it. It’s my baby. I’m glad it’s still going strong.

Favorite Story You Wrote: Nope, no, not picking sides. They’re all good children; I’m proud of everything I currently have up and I enjoy rereading 99% of them.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Oh, hmm...I’m generally nervous 95% of the time when it comes to posting, but I think I was most nervous about No More Heroes and Ghosts. NMH is almost entirely headcanon-based but set in canon, which is something I usually avoid doing; usually I save hc-heavy fics for AUs, but the hcs suited the prompt so well that I couldn’t really help it. As for Ghosts, it was the first time I’d really made an effort to break into a new fandom in...years and there was a lot of really sucky stuff happening at home at the time so it just felt like a huge gamble for me--I went from writing characters I know so well to characters I didn’t really...know (still don’t feel like I entirely know, though I’m enjoying getting to know them) and, on top of that, was dealing with some...I guess some fear there’d be backlash for abruptly jumping into the fandom despite how much shit this fandom gets sometimes. Luckily both NMH and Ghosts seem to have been received pretty well--there’s things that I’d change about both, but I’m really proud of them and they no longer make me nervous.

How Do You Choose Your Titles:  I scream into the abyss until it sees fit to grant me inspiration for a suitably pretentious title. Or I go with something that sums up the theme or directly relates to the prompt. Song lyrics as a last resort. MoI’s name came from an in-game quest title, though, so...like...anything that fits?

Do You Outline:  Sorta? If it’s a one shot I like to go in totally blind except for whatever vague idea I want to write. If it’s long, I like to have a very vague outline. Usually a summary or a slightly more detailed idea plus where I’d like the characters to be emotionally or what I’d like to happen at certain plot points. The plot points are usually the focus so I like to at least have a map of where they start and where they end and whatever happens to the characters in between those points just happens. I mostly ignore the outline.

How many of your [BBC Sherlock] stories are…

Complete: 6; 4 on Ao3 right now, 1 on tumblr that’s too short to transfer, 1 that’s not going to be posted.

In-Progress: Y’all wanna see something stupid? It’s me. 28. (And that’s ignoring the contents of my prompt list that haven’t technically been started.)

Coming Soon: Possibly another half dozen? Can’t be certain. I always seem to finish Sherlock stories very randomly and very abruptly, so it’s a mystery to everyone involved. I blame my Sherlock muse; he takes great pride in being an absolute bellend during writing. And during not-writing.

Do You Accept Prompts: I shouldn’t, but I abso-fucking-lutely do. Send ‘em. No guarantee I’ll get to them any time soon, but send ‘em anyway if you’d like me to do them. (I’d prefer prompts/requests be sent off anon so I can talk with the prompter if any issues come up or if I need extra inspo, but I’ll still make an effort even if anon is on...you’re just leaving a lot more of the story in my hands and up to my random interpretation.)

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Hmm...they’re all exciting in their own way? A lot of the AUs I’m excited to write because I’m curious what people will think. I’m also really excited for Three to just be over because I’m kinda tired of working out the logistics of it and tired of rewriting it. (And I’ve also never posted a fic like this before. So.)

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions As Well*: 

@jamlocked @grayrosegarden @weweremadeforeachothersherlock @sincerelyjimlock @johnlockedinwarstan No obligations for any of you, if you don't wanna do it! ^^

* I know it says 5 and specifies Sherlock as the fandom, but if anyone who follows me wants to do this and just...changes the fandom to your main fandom, I’m totally up for that and you should 100% tag me so I can go snoop at what you’re writing. ^^

[spectrumtranszine]

Update: 28 March, 2019

Hi guys. Kai here. As you may or may not know, I have taken over the Spectrum Zine from the original mod, Ali. And honestly? It has been A Fucking Process. I’ve enlisted the help of a few trusted people, including Ardett helping me out with social media, and we are at a point where we are able to enter the final stages of this project and we’re asking for your continued patience and cooperation so we can finish out the project, get you your orders, and make our donation to True Colors.

Okay so the update as it currently stands is:

I got handed a clusterfuck of a zine in dribs and drabs by Ali. Despite repeated requests, I did not receive all the information I asked for. I have still not received much of that information.

Yeah, no, after S8 dropped, I couldn’t look at Voltron without feeling sick for about a month, I’ll be honest about that. And no, that’s not a ship thing. I could give a shit about what ships are or aren’t canon. I mean the characterizations and the million and one ways they abandoned everything they’d built for seven seasons. But I got back into it and I’m not going to abandon a fandom I love because of a silly little thing like Canon Sucking. Since then, I’ve been back to working on this project.

Apparently, the original tumblr page for the zine is gone. I did not do this. I have NEVER had access to this tumblr page. It must have been something Ali, the original project runner, did. I literally even didn't know Ali had nuked the tumblr page until very recently. Ali hasn't spoken to me in months and our last contact was me attempting to get the passwords from them yet again with yet another empty promise.

That said, I have officially GUESSED my way into the twitter account, changed the password, and removed Ali from the recovery info so I have THAT now, at least, as well as the original yahoo email account. I'm going to be posting there starting March 16th.

I did NOT at any point have access to the tumblr page. I have NO idea if anyone sent messages to that page, I have NO way to find that out. (I can only assume any frustrated messages were sent there. Only two people asked about the status of the zine via Twitter.)

Not sure who follows my main but life kind of exploded for me (repeatedly) and I was briefly homeless (again) in January and then was living in a hotel. That said, now everything is settled and our house is continuing in the repair process. We finally got our flood insurance payout from fucking 2012, yayyyy!!

I just got back from Australia for an anniversary trip my girlfriend planned and paid to have me flown to the other side of the planet for.

In regards to my other activities unrelated to the zine, please don’t hassle me about posting a few fics that took me a handful of hours. That's what I do in my sparing PERSONAL time and I have been told EXPLICITLY to continue to do that by my therapist, thank you. I feel plenty of nausea, guilt, and fear every time I post a fic when I have a project outstanding like this but I have been told to not stop doing it. I have posted a grand total of 15,736 recreational words over the last 3.5 months, AKA roughly 15 hours recreational writing time total over the last 3.5 months, AKA an average of 150 words per day broken over the last 100 days. And, again, I’m told to do it by my therapist.

I’d like to share with you guys how much time has been invested in this project:

I've literally been working on this SOLO in terms of formatting.

It took repeated hasslings of Ali to get most of the project pieces.

Once I finally gained access to the email account, I had to download each and every fic and art piece individually. Most of them were not attributed correctly. Almost nobody indicated which pieces were meant to be printed and which pieces were meant to be PDF-only.

Fics:

About half of the fics had to be honestly ripped apart to their bones just to fix and render uniform and readable the formatting because they were submitted as PDFs (note to authors, submit doc files) or with very weird spacing. I’ve seen how AWFUL zines can look when all the fics are haphazard formatting and spacing and it’s not something that anyone ever likes to receive or to see their work as part of.

Several of these fics don’t even have titles (note to authors: please name your fics).

More recently, I recruited my very damn patient girlfriend (who literally bought one of these things) to help me with the fic formatting issue. She has helped me wade through 40,000 words for both formatting and LIGHT beta editing.

40,000 words of fic are in this project. That is literally the length of a damn novel. This is a fucking BOOK.

Editors, professional editors, take MONTHS to go through the edits on something of this length, and that’s when those manuscripts ARE submitted at something vaguely resembling a uniform format. This project… is not. Aphelion utilized an entire team of writers to edit, format, and beta, and it still took several weeks. I was one of those people.

Not  to  call  anyone  out,  but  one  fic  literally  had  double  or  triple  spaces  between  every  WORD,  not  every  sentence,  every  single  word,  like   this.  It  was  4,000  spaces.  Why?  W h y. There were    still additional   spaces  that had to   be removed BY HAND. (Spacing here is intentional to make a point.)

Every fic also had to be read to check whether it was a SFW or NSFW piece because nobody actually marked their work. If a NSFW piece accidentally got dropped into the SFW zine version, that could be a big fucking problem.

Art:

I had to track down a copy of SAI to get those files converted that were submitted as SAI.

My photoshop corrupted itself so I spent about eight hours scrubbing it off my system and getting it back on.

The art pieces were submitted at TWENTY different dimensions, Only six art pieces were submitted at the advertised 5.5” x 8.5” dimensions of the zine at 300dpi. Another handful were submitted at the right ratio but just the wrong size.

Like, I get it, the submission guidelines were shaky at best but I’m the one who’s been trying to wade through all of this to get it uniform.

This has been a LARGE number of hours investment.

Contributor Updates:

The credits doc was sent out to contributors. They have until 02 April, 2019 at 11:59PM EST to submit any corrections to their credits.

I apologize for the radio silence, but the project Ali landed on me was a god damned CLUSTERFUCK and I have been doing a lot of work on the back end trying to pull this out of the flaming dumpster they tossed it in because I believed in the project, especially in light of everything that has happened in the fandom and it has given me nothing but stress. But I really wanted this zine in my physical hands. I still do. More updates on that below.

So as of some time in the last few weeks, Ali has quite honestly cut and run. It looks like they nuked their instagram, nuked their tumblr (hence the zine tumblr disappearing bc they were the only mod on it), and nuked their twitter, and left me holding the bag on this shit. BUT GUESS WHAT, I’M STILL HERE.

Also, in case y’all were wondering about Ali’s Voltron Calendar project? I literally have one. It’s on my wall. They gave it to me in August when I was in Florida for a con and they promised me to my face that they would get me the information I needed for Spectrum. It was just one of the many times they promised to get me the things I needed and that one was to my face. So to anyone who never got their calendar? They had some number of them printed and then never did anything with them which is somehow worse. I don’t know how many they had printed but I literally have one of these forbidden calendars and they told me they were going to start shipping that week which obviously never happened. So that kind of shows Ali’s follow-through.

It is PAINFULLY obvious that Ali never ran a zine before Spectrum due to a NUMBER of points: Lack of organization, lack of consistent formatting, horrible method for final submissions, underpriced zine and bundle pricing, underpriced shipping pricing (even before the pricing hike), contributor count, contributor discount amount given the zine size, writer max word counts, merch quantity per bundle. Literally, we had two people submit final charm designs when we only have one charm listed on the damned bundle so that’s cool.

I couldn’t even tell how BIG the zine was going to be until many, MANY hours were invested into this project. First, there was the countless hours spent downloading one piece at a time and wading through back and forth emails and trying to make sure no one’s submissions got lost which meant basically going through every piece of correspondence individually. Then, there was cross referencing all of that against the emails and the contributor names. Then, it took getting all of the fic into one file and hours upon hours of wading through and formatting and reformatting and recruiting my girlfriend to help to even get to the point where we could see what final page count we were looking at for fic. Then, there was figuring out how long of an index a project with this many contributors would need and how many pages that would take.

I have reached out to several manufacturers regarding zine and merch pricing and what we can do to get those affordably done. This zine is VERY FUCKING THICK and I AM concerned about pricing, for both the printed zine and for merch. If anyone has any affordable manufacturers you have worked with before, I would be happy to hear from you!

Currently, here’s where we stand:

My investment:

Too Fucking Much Time

A few years off my life

A bucket of tears

I think I’m going to follow in Shiro’s white-haired footsteps from this

Seriously, do I have more wrinkles? I can’t tell.

A lot of love.  

Orders:

There are 79 total orders

There are 06 PDF-only orders

There are 18 Print+PDF orders

There are 55 Merch+Print+PDF orders

There have been 5 refunds issued

Contributors make up 28 orders.

Non-contributors make up 51 orders.

Content:

The fics total out to 43,000 words. That's a fucking lot. That's over a hundred pages of FIC, before the artists.

There are 50 pages of art.

The zine is currently 126 pages. I’m fucking with formatting to try to shrink it. That's a big, thick, HEAVY fucking book.Yes, some of this is PDF-only and I am still in the process of tracking down which is which, but it is still a large book.

Finances:

The zine was priced at $7.50 for those who used contributor codes.

The cheapest print edition I can source for the zine currently because of the page count is roughly $7.50 per zine. This is why I am SEEKING SUPPLIERS who can bring in a lesser quote for an 8.5 x 5.5 126 page zine.

If the zine costs $7.50/per to print and contributors paid $7.50/per, this means EVERY contributor copy is an AT-COST copy. Not to mention shipping.

The bundle was priced at $13.50 for those who used contributor codes. This has to include the $7.50 zine. That leaves $6.50 for the bundle merch which I have currently priced around $9. That means $2.50 of every contributor bundle has to come from the zine budget.

International shipping was priced at $7.00 for the zine-only and $12.00 for the bundle. This may be feasible for zine-only orders but bundles will need a shipping supplement to come from somewhere.

At this time, I am proposing:

Creators have until 02 April, 2019 to update credits.

A rough final draft will be released to creators by 8 April, 2019.

Any major corrections to works will be submitted by 14 April, 2019.

Then I move on to handling the orders. For which I propose the following first steps:

Everyone who ordered a copy will receive the PDF edition of Spectrum on or about 28 April, 2019. Refunds will NOT be given for that first $10 per order that is the PDF price so that we can actually manage to donate SOME fucking money for how much work has been put into this zine and to make sure we can pay the print costs for those persons who want a physical copy.

As a Thank You for your patience, everyone who ordered (and contributors) will also receive a bonus mini-PDF of additional zine-exclusive content not posted anywhere else (SFW or NSFW version, to match the order).

Assuming none of the item productions are cost prohibitive, the following will be how the physical portion of the project is handled:

USA people who ordered Print+PDF will receive their PDF and be given the option of:

Option USPrint1 (Default option): Receipt of their printed zine as planned at no additional cost. Customers will have TWO WEEKS from the date of the PDF-containing email to update any addresses as needed.

Option USPrint2: Donation of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($5.00 print + $5.00 shipping). Again, customers will have 2 WEEKS to select this option via email.

Option USPrint3: Refund of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($10.00 minus any applicable PayPal fees). Again, customers will have 2 WEEKS to select this option via email.

International people who ordered Print+PDF will receive their PDF and be given the option of:

Option IntPrint1 (Default option): Donation of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($5.00 print + $7.00 shipping = $12.00). Customers will have FOUR WEEKS from the date of the PDF-containing email to select a different option.

Option IntPrint2: Payment of an international shipping supplement (est $10.00) and receipt of their print zine as planned. Again, customers will have 4 WEEKS to select this option via email.

Option IntPrint3: Refund of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($12.00 minus any applicable PayPal fees). Again, customers will have 4 WEEKS to select this option via email.

USA people who ordered Merch+Print+PDF will receive their PDF and be given the option of:

Option USBun1 (Default Option): Receipt of their bundle as planned at no additional cost. Customers will have TWO WEEKS from the date of the PDF-containing email to update any addresses as needed.

Option USBun2: Donation of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($17.00 bundle + $7.00 shipping). Again, customers will have 2 WEEKS to select this option via email.

Option USBun4: Refund of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($10.00 minus any applicable PayPal fees). Again, customers will have 2 WEEKS to select this option via email.

International people who ordered Merch+Print+PDF will receive their PDF and be given the option of:

Option IntBun1 (Default Option): Donation of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($17.00 bundle + $12.00 shipping = $29.00). Customers will have FOUR WEEKS from the date of the PDF-containing email to select a different option.

Option IntBun2: Payment of an international shipping supplement (est $10.00) and receipt of their bundle as planned. Again, customers will have 4 WEEKS to select this option via email.

Option IntBun3: Refund of the additional funds beyond the PDF price ($29.00 minus any applicable PayPal fees). Again, customers will have 4 WEEKS to select this option via email.

By following this plan, I hope we can maximize the number of people who can select an option they can be happy with!

If production or shipping of any of this proves to be cost prohibitive once final quotes are in place, options will be adjusted accordingly.

If y’all have any questions please feel free to message either the tumblr or twitter.

Thank you for all your time and continued patience. We look forward to bringing this project to completion.