#it's not them it's mostly I feel. weird n bad about participating in harry potter stuff

[ratzmatazz]

I'm really bitter the only really fun big knit-a-long/knitting "competition" is harry potter themed,,,, I want to do themed monthly challenges whys it gotta be terf flavored D:

[sunflower-swan]

Wolfstar Chapter 13

A/N: Here’s what you need to know: I created this story for Writer’s Month 2020. Every day is a new prompt, and therefore a new chapter. This is an AU Wolfstar where Remus is a tattoo artist next door to Sirius who manages a flower shop. James and Lily are alive in this universe and own a coffee shop across the street. And to make parts of the story work with the prompts, Remus is about 10 years older than Sirius. It also takes place more or less in present time, minus Covid-19.

This is chapter 13 of a multi-chapter work. If you’d like to start from the beginning, here is chapter 1.

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters. I just like to play with them.

Day 13 Prompt: Music

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 1788

Tags: feelings, fluff

Chapter 13

Sirius

Oasis, “Wonderwall”

Backbeat, the word was on the street

That the fire in your heart is out

I'm sure you've heard it all before

But you never really had a doubt

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do about you now

A/N: Call me basic, but I love the song “Wonderwall”, and the lyrics fit perfectly into what is happening between Remus and Sirius right now. Also, despite the opinion of the internet, this song is, in my opinion, not easy to strum correctly and also sing. 

“Morning, Sirius,” James said as Sirius walked into Potter’s Wheel. He was wiping off the counter with a rag.

“Hey, James. How’s it going?” 

“Not bad. Lily took Harry to visit her sister today, so I’m on my own this morning. Which is fine,” his nose crinkled, “I’d rather be here than visit her family.”

Sirius barked a laugh. “Well, I won’t keep you from it then. I need two usuals to go.”

“To go?”

“Remus had an early appointment this morning, so I told him I’d deliver his coffee.”  

“Lucky man.” James raised his eyebrows before disappearing to the back to prepare the coffee order.

Sirius tapped his fingers on the counter while he waited for James to reappear. He noticed a flyer on the bulletin board advertising an Open Mic Night at the coffee shop that night. Hmm...could be fun? Maybe I can convince Remus to come, too. Wait...would that seem...date-ish? No, two friends can do stuff together. Doesn’t have to be weird or mean anything. Besides, Remus has made it abundantly clear that he does not date. There’s no way he would even think of it that way. Do I want him to think of it that way? Do I want to think of it that way? Sirius smacked himself in the forehead. With a little too much force. Ouch.

“What’d you do that for?” James laughed as he emerged from the back with Sirius’ coffees.

Sirius massaged his now sore forehead. “Thinking too hard.”

James set the coffees on the counter and began to ring up the total. “Never thought that was something you had to worry about much,” he said with a chuckle.

“Shut up, Prongs. How much?”

“Four pounds.”

He pulled out a fiver and handed it to James. “Keep the change,” he said, then pointed at the Open Mic Night flyer. “So what’s up with that? Open Mic Night?”

“That was Lils' idea.” James opened and closed the register. “Try to drum up some new business,” he added with a shrug. “Want to take a couple flyers to hang in the flower shop? Maybe Remus would hang one, too?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll ask him.”

“Hey!” James slammed his hand on the counter. “You should play!”

Sirius jumped back, startled from the sudden hand slam. “What?”

“Guitar! Open Mic tonight! You should play!”

Oh...no. “Eh, no. I’ll come and watch other people make a fool of themselves. I only play for myself.” And Remus one time, I guess, technically. “Playing in public sounds…”

James scrutinized him. “You know, I’m starting to think you don’t actually know how to play guitar. You’ve just been winding us up this whole time.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Fine. I’ll show you. See you tonight.”

Sirius grabbed the coffees and swept out of the shop. He was pretty sure he had been tricked into agreeing to that.

When he walked into the tattoo lounge, Remus was in the middle of a sitting. He was hunched over in concentration working on...oh! Logan. Sirius’ skin prickled at the look of lust glittering in Logan’s eyes as he watched Remus work.

“I’m at a good spot to take a break,” Remus said with a glance at Sirius. He sat his tools down, removed his gloves, stood up, and stretched. “You can move around or eat something if you want,” he added to Logan.

Remus walked over to Sirius and accepted the mocha cappuccino offered to him. He took a long sip and let out a grateful sigh. “Thanks, mate. I needed that.”

“You didn’t mention your appointment this morning was with Logan,” Sirius said in an undertone.

“Sure I did.” Remus’ brows drew together. “Didn’t I?” He frowned.

Sirius brought his own coffee to his mouth. “Nope.”

Remus shrugged and looked away.

Shady little shit, thought Sirius. “Oh, hey!” He dug the flyer out of his pocket and held it up for Remus to read. “We’re going to this.”

“What is this?” Remus took it out of Sirius' hands.

“James and Lily are hosting an Open Mic Night tonight and James goaded me into performing,” said Sirius, “and we’re going,” he added with emphasis directed in Logan’s direction. Remus was too busy reading the flyer to notice.

“Ok. Sounds fun.” Remus' eyes sparkled, and Sirius' insides melted.

He left the parlour feeling giddy with excitement.

~~~~~

Sirius locked up the flower shop for the day and apparated home to clean up before Open Mic Night. He walked into the flat and tossed his keys on the entrance table. Six weeks ago he hadn’t been capable of being here without having a breakdown. At what point had he stopped spending every waking second consumed by grief? It had been gradual, of that he was certain. Noticing his life had mostly returned to normal was a surreal realization.

He took a quick shower, then stood wrapped in a towel and stared into his closet. Sirius placed one hand on the wall while he considered what to wear. He patted his fingers rhythmically in contemplation. I don’t want to look like I’m trying. But I also don’t want to look like a slob. When did choosing an outfit become a life or death decision? It’s just hanging out Remus. This is not a big deal.

After much internal struggle, he finally settled on his vintage Poison tee, not overly distressed jeans, and black converse. He studied his reflection in the mirror as he pulled his still damp hair back into a bun.

“Eh.” He shrugged. “Could be worse.”

He picked up the case containing his Martin acoustic, and headed out the door.

~~~~~

When Sirius walked into Potter’s Wheel, he was struck by the transformation. A small platform had been set up in the corner in which he and Remus usually sat. On the platform stood a mic. Two large speakers, one on each side, completed the make-shift stage. Most of the tables had been cleared away, and the chairs had been placed in rows facing the temporary mini-stage. A rather large crowd had already assembled and were mingling about, buying coffee and chatting to each other. 

Sirius searched for Remus through the sea of people. His heart skipped a beat when he finally spotted him. Remus was leaning casually against the counter, observing the mass of people. Instead of ignoring the sensation or burying it deep down, which had been his M.O. since they met, he smiled to himself and embraced the feeling.

Taking a deep breath, he made his way through the crowd to where Remus stood. A warm and fuzzy feeling overcame him as he drew nearer. He noticed Remus had dressed simply in a forest green oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and well-worn brogues below cuffed dark wash denim.

Remus looked in his direction and beamed upon seeing him. “Sirius!” he called and waved.

“Hey, Remus.” Sirius finally weaved his way over to Remus. “Crazy in here, huh?”

Before Remus could reply, James' voice was heard on the sound system over the din. “Hello? Hello? Hi, everybody.” He waved. “Welcome to the Potter’s Wheel, and thanks for coming out tonight. If you will be participating in Open Mic Night, then I need you to sign up,” he held up a clipboard, “on this sheet. And then we’ll get started pretty soon if you want to find a seat. Alright?” He smiled and stepped down.

“I’ll hold that,” Remus gestured toward Sirius' guitar, “and find us seats while you go sign up.”

Sirius glanced down. He didn’t usually let other people hold his guitar. It was very precious to him.

“Yeah. Ok.” He handed the case to Remus. “Treat it like you would a baby.”

“Got it.” Remus chuckled.

A queue had already formed in front of James by the time Sirius got there. Eventually he made it to James to add his name to the list, then turned around to look for Remus again. He found him on the end of one of the back rows of chairs and took the seat Remus had saved for him.

“Here you go.” Remus passed the guitar back to Sirius. “I treated it very well,” he added with a smirk.

Sirius set the case between his legs and settled back to enjoy the show. All the while a nervous knot twisted in his stomach. There were a good variety of acts including comedians, magicians, musicians, and even a guy who swung around balls of fire. Then it was his turn.

His Converse squeaked as he walked up to the small stage. He set his case on the ground, took out his Whiskey Sunset Dreadnought and slid the leather strap over his shoulder. Turning his back to the audience, he checked the tuning of the strings and strummed a few chords. Sirius turned back around, stepped up to the microphone, and searched out Remus' face in the crowd to calm his nerves.

“Hi.” The PA squealed, and Sirius leaned back from the mic until it stopped. “Ahem, uh, hey. Um, I’m Sirius. Hi.” He waved and chuckled. “And, erm, I’m going to sing a song. And, well, the truth is,” he scratched his arm, “a couple months back I was lost in a pretty dark place, and a really great friend was the light that led me out, so, uh, yeah. Here we go.”

Sirius wiped the sweat off his palms and adjusted the pick between his fingers. Then he started the intro to ‘Wonderwall.’ He closed his eyes and let the chords wash over him.

He sang, “Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you…”

His heart thudded in his chest, but he ignored it and allowed himself to be swept into the performance.

When he reached the chorus, he opened his eyes and locked them on Remus. “‘Cause maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me … And after all, you’re my wonderwall.” He smiled through the break before the third verse, and now his heart was thundering for a reason other than nerves.

He finished the song and the audience went wild with clapping, and whistles, and foot stomps.

“Thank you,” he said into the mic, and left the stage.

James was there when he stepped off to give him a great big thumping hug. 

Sirius' legs felt like jelly as he made his way back to his seat as James was announcing the next performer. He couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as he reached Remus, who stood and also gave him a hug. The next act was starting, so they had to take their seats and wait for the evening to conclude.

A/N: Noel Gallagher’s acoustic version of this song is sorta how I imagine Sirius performing it. You should check it out on YouTube. Also, the Schitt’s Creek episode where Patrick sings to David was some of the inspiration for this chapter.

Next Chapter: Chapter 14

[cookinguptales]

okay, so late ‘90s, early ‘00s badfic 101

A lot of fic was either on fanfiction.net or private archives. People would also post things to fic communities or private journals on LJ. (Which was a whole...thing, with some people friends-locking their work because they were afraid of sporking/flames or they were just pretentious.) ff.net had a whole HOST of problems, like a variety of terrible ways your formatting could get borked (like you couldn’t use repeating characters, which made line breaks hard; that’s why you’d get increasingly “arty” line breaks that could be...cringey), policies against allowing any fic of media created by people who didn’t like fic (see: Anne McCaffery, Anne Rice, other crazy Annes, etc.), puritan anti-smut policies which often got applied to slash fic more than het fic, and just...in general, terrible fic. Private archives were often manually curated by their owners, which could be fine or it could lead to cliques and circlejerks. The Harry Potter archives seemed to get especially crazy with this and some truly epic wanks came out of that. You’d also see people hosting fic on their own sites (usually angelfire or something) with big slash warnings and IF YOU’RE UNDER 18 GET OUT warnings. A lot of fic archives wouldn’t host slash or porn, and you were liable to get in trouble in fandom or otherwise if you didn’t strongly label LGBT/18+ themes. Especially if the fic in question contained both. Like. I don’t like the OTW for many reasons, but I have to admit that AO3 is basically a godsend. We lost a lot of fic to purged LJs/deleted websites.

SUPER purple prose. Older fic in general tended to be a bit more “literary” and purple and it sometimes read like J.R.R. Tolkein was having a stroke. By the time the ‘90s/’00s rolled around, you’d just get this sort of halfway point where people would have generally unornamented text except for things being thrown in like this character’s cerulean/azure/periwinkle eyes. The shade would change by scene, and you’d always know because there’d be a lot of stuff like “the cerulean-eyed man shook his head”. EVERY CHARACTER IN THIS SCENE KNOWS HIS NAME, USE HIS NAME. Or they’d refer to a character’s glimmering green orbs or something. It was painful.

In anime fandom especially, you’d get a lot of these epithets that referred to their abnormal hair colors. People saw “brunette” and were like “shit, I can adapt that” so you get ravenette and bluenette and silverette and pinkette and kill me now. Some people got pissy about like -et/-ette endings re: gender, but after you’ve gone to the bluenette place, it doesn’t even fucking matter anymore. Grammar is dead.

Anime fic also tended to have a lot of so-called “fangirl Japanese”. Writers would just sprinkle in any Japanese words they knew for no goddamn reason, which would usually end in glossaries at the end like *kakkoi means cool! *aoi means blue! and goddamn guys, these are all words than have legit English translations.

Script fic. Just... script fic. More on that at the bottom bc I had to use some special formatting.

“Crack” fic. This would be fic that was purposefully OOC (out of character) for comedic effect. Tended to utilize “omg so random!!” humor. It usually was pretty much only comedic to caffeinated 13-year-olds. This was literally all Invader Zim’s fault and you know I’m right.

The “disposal” of female love interests in slash fic. Used to be much more of a problem than it is now. Now, I’m not talking about fics that just don’t talk about female characters or retcon a relationship or are like “they broke up!!! moving on!” I’m talking about fics that turn all female characters into shrieking homophobic harpies that would probably rather their canon love interests be dead than fuck a dude. This was applied even to like the nicest characters in the world, or even to characters who weren’t in canon romances with the male characters but were deemed to be threats. They often got smacked around or died or whatever. Things were a lot more sexist in fandom back then. There was a yenta trope that kind of arose as backlash to this but was really just as annoying in a different way. That usually involved a canon love interest going full yaoi fangirl (for some reason) and shipping her love interest with another guy, then involving herself in their love lives to a truly creepy extent so she could hook her boyfriend up with another guy. These were also sexist. Both situations tended to make the female characters incredibly OOC and prevented them from having any real human reactions/emotions.

Mary Sues. Now, the term has lost a lot of its effect in recent years. Mary Sues (or Gary Stus) used to have a really specific meaning. They were OCs (original characters) that were the prettiest, smartest, most powerful, popular characters in the whole world that had glittering orbs for eyes and usually had some kind of special magical power that made them better than all the canon characters. These were self-insert characters -- in other words, even if they didn’t have the same name as the author, they were wish-fulfillment characters wherein the character was used as a stand-in for the author, who could then write all the canon characters loving them. Now people just use the term for any female character that’s powerful and central to the plot, so...it’s not a useful word anymore. As for the old school Sues, well... I don’t necessarily think they were bad, but I will say it’s a hell of a lot more fun to write a Suefic than to read one. That really goes for most fanfics with OCs that have been elevated to a prominent status. People generally read fanfic because they want to read about the canon characters they love, not shallowly-written OCs that take over the fic. I don’t think OC-driven fic is bad to write... But again, yeah, it’s usually much more fun to write than to read. I think it’s helpful to be cognizant of that.

Reviewer participation fic. Mostly an issue on ff.net. It used to be that there was no way to reply to comments on ff.net, and as I’ve said before, there was a strong comment culture back then. Just not replying to reviews could be interpreted as very rude. (It would be unfathomably rude on LJ, which was more community-driven.) So to get around this, people would include a section to reply to reviewers at the beginning of the next chapter or their next one-shot or whatever. So you’d get long interminably long fics on ff.net with like 40 chapters in which nothing happened, and to get ideas, they’d ask reviewers. Worse, sometimes people would try to incentivize readers to review by offering to put their loyal reviewers in the fic. So you’d have this long section at the top of the chapter which might have a conversation that’s been going on between them and a reviewer for the past 8 chapters (and hell, they might’ve made a new chapter just to reply to them) except multiplied by however many reviewers there are, and then the reviewers worm their way into the fics, too! Oh my god.

Passive-aggressive fic. This was especially an issue on LJ as a personal response, but would show up on ff.net as response to wider fandom tropes. These would be fics where a character is like “WOW I WOULD NEVER DO X, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING I’D NEVER EVEN CONSIDER DOING. WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD THINK I’D DO THAT?” And X is usually (a.) something a reviewer told them would be more IC than what was in their previous fic, (b.) something another writer just put in their fic, or (c.) a ship they don’t like. (This would also extend to fics where characters would be like I’M NOT GAY, I’D NEVER FUCK A DUDE, EWWW!! as anti-slasher rhetoric.) Back then, you could reasonably expect that people in your fandom would at least see, if not read, your new fic. On LJ, you saw basically all the fics because they were posted in wider communities, and fandom was, as a whole, more community-driven back then. If you insulted another member of the community via fic, they’d know in about ten minutes. It was throwing down a gauntlet. lol

The crack fic genre also extended to crack pairings. It wasn’t unusual for people to dare each other to write weird pairings (often characters who’d never met), the more bizarre the better. This was the era of Hogwarts/Lake Squid. These fics were often sporked, but in a more delighted way than usual. There really was more of a sense that people could and would write anything. Some people came to actually ship these pairings like legit and ship wars would ensue. And sometimes some cracky pairings just became really popular for assorted reasons and that made other fans really mad. This still happens, honestly.

Ship wars now are often dressed up in social justice terms, which is a trend that I find frustrating bc I feel like it denigrates important issues. Ship wars in the ‘90s/’00s, on the other hand, were just balls to the wall insane. I still refuse to engage in ship wars because damn, man, the shit I’ve seen. People were much more open about the fact that they hated people who shipped other pairings because they just shipped something else or were squicked by the pairing or whatever. The Harry Potter shipwars got particularly fucking weird. So it wasn’t generally a slash vs. het thing, like some people will have you think. Some of the worst ship wars I have ever seen were het shippers at war. Never again the harmonian times.

Frankly a lot of other things that my mind is rebelling against remembering.

Script fic (often with author interludes) was eventually banned from FF.net, which kind of killed it in fic because that was the main posting venue back then (unless you wrote slash or porn, which could be taken off if people reported it; technically slash wasn’t against the rules unless it was explicit, but they didn’t often check the reports carefully). What I mean by script fic is like

Karamatsu: wow I sure like these sparkly pants Chibita: I don’t (A/N: I do!!!!111 I have a pair like them at home!) Karamatsu: let’s fuck now Chibita: but offscreen because we want to preserve our soft M rating!

The A/Ns (author’s notes) could get really in-depth sometimes, with an author often RPing the characters OOC or using them as their “muses”. So sometimes you’d get a mess like

Karamatsu: gosh it sure does suck that everyone treats me like dog shit Chibita: true (A/N: serenaxkittyx755: That’s not true, Karaboy! Choromatsu: Yeah, we like you less than dog shit. Ichimatsu: Way less.)

Except my example was honestly more IC than most of these tended to be. You’d often get “muses” saying “ewww” or “that’s hot” during romance scenes, even when this made no sense whatsover. Or offering commentary on some random non-karamatsu character’s fashion choices or something. Purposeful “crack” was considered not just okay but in fact desirable back then.

basically, badfic was hell.