#it's so incredibly easy to get me to spoil my own fanfics

[therealslimshakespeare]

Ugh this blog has been bursting with content lately which I love love love love. I haven’t sent many asks but trust me when I say I follow them religiously. But amidst all this controversy about Maureen and the resurfacing of the fight between her and Ida, I do just want to say that, all that stuff and discourse is so fun and special and it’s amazing that you’ve created all of it, but in addition to that, there’s so much other stuff about ur blog that’s incredible as well. The biggest thing that I think is, I know this sudden surge of asks about Tallulah Smith that started at the start of summer and just has continued on since, might have surprised you and certain readers. And I feel like it might be easy to boil that all down to “oh well she’s not as controversial as some of the other characters so she’s easy to like”, and while that might be true to some extent, if I can offer a bit of context to all that, I have been a part of SO many fandoms over the course of so many years and this is actually pretty common. A lot of the time, with historical shows especially, where a lot of the characters and therefore the OCs that are created are white, people in the fandom who are NOT white will find one creator or one blog who is doing gods work in representing history in a more diverse way. And they will absolutely rally around the OC/ OCs created by that individual because hello?? Where else am I gonna get this sort of representation?? And like I know, I know, people might think oh but this is just fanfic, it’s not that deep, but the thing is, it absolutely is that deep. I mean think about all the people that have Indigenous family members who fought in world war two and didn’t get recognition or respect. Or all the people who might have family members that experienced racism and discrimination in the army. OF COURSE those people would be so intrigued by what you’ve created here and OF COURSE they’d be so excited by Tallulah. And I just don’t want you to think that she’s comparatively flat or boring compared to the other girls. You’ve really created something thats so incredibly special for so many people by writing her character. I mean even just her backstory aside from her identity, I was so thrilled and amazed to see this brave and incredible young girl who’s in a male dominated field and who’s going through it but is still SO gracious and tender hearted. Like even ONE of those qualities of hers is enough to absolutely adore her and of course I love her for her strength and bravery and ambition AS WELL AS her identity. And I know you said a few things about being surprised that everyone was up in arms for her and Sanchez so early on, again, I personally was not the least bit surprised at that just because of the fact that this fandom is sort of limited in what it explores. And I know that it might not have been your intention to have ur blog and this universe be THE haven for a lot of BIPOC members of this fandom, and I hope it’s not an insane amount of pressure to insinuate that it is?? Cause part of why what you do is so special is how it’s folded in so seamlessly, you acknowledge the identities of these women while also not making it the only thing about them. But I just want you to know that what you’ve done in writing Sanchez and Lu and now Tilly as well is SO beyond special and incredible and I hope you are so appreciated and loved for it because you deserve it.

Oh my goodness, this was so very sweet.

I had not registered it as a haven necessarily but I knew I was spoiled with interaction and affirmation and I massively appreciate your perspective on it. It’s not a crushing pressure at all to be that, it’s an honor and maybe a bit of a daunting one but the sheer amount of contributions my beloved anons such as yourself has brought to the plot and the BIPOC characters gives me a lotta surety I might not otherwise have.

I wanted these characters for all the reasons you mentioned and to simulate my own friend group in some ways. Glad to hear it’s gone above and beyond even that intention. Glad? Thrilled

And this last compliment?? Literally soothed my soul as it’s exactly what I wanted to come across and yet I never know if I’m managing it, thank you thank you thank you:

“Cause part of why what you do is so special is how it's folded in so seamlessly, you acknowledge the identities of these women while also not making it the only thing about them.”

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Arc 27, Reflections

So, I was definitely expecting something a little different for this first round of fighting against Scion.

I think part of it is that I ended up kind of mixing up the Arc 25 and Arc 27 Cauldron meetings, just a little - people talked about 'The' Meeting At Cauldron, but there's two, and each time I saw it may have been about the one, but they each said, or implied the 'The'.

The biggest thing is I honestly wasn't expecting for a big quasi-organized effort to be tried at all. Given the running theme of Worm about Parahumans being unwilling to work together, the fact that they were able to organize this coherent, organized effort to try and fight Scion at all is kind of unexpected. Logical, for once. Understandable, very, but unexpected for the story.

I really got the vibe that like, every group or cluster of groups was trying their own thing and Eidolon is rushing in all his own so sure he's gonna be the one to do it.

My perspective on Eidolon is now significantly different from where I started - sort of hinted at it in earlier liveblog posts, and we'll see more of that change in a bit as the details are revealed to readers not thoroughly spoiled like me, but we'll save the full exploration of that for the retrospective when I'm done reading. (I intend to do a whole 'here's how my opinions of various characters changed from before reading Worm to after reading Worm. And also what didn't change' section of that retrospective).

Scion is almost... pointlessly OP, but that's rather the point, and also just more of a me thing. It's not that I really want every conflict to be resolved by who can conjure the bigger boom but like - Worm really does spend a lot of time on the fight scenes, for all that they are often almost irrelevant in actually resolving the major conflicts of the story. They're both really well written, but also like... do we really need them, in some ways?

I am probably going to be a bit exhausted by Scion's OPness by the time he's finally dead, but we'll have to see.

Knowing what I know, the 'run away and reduce down to village level without trying to fight Scion' approach seems honestly rather silly? Like, can humanity really run and repopulate fast enough to outrun Scion killing them? I really doubt it. And he's got to have all sorts of powers that will let him find where people are hiding, whatever Earth they go to. Once he's out of obvious targets, he's not gonna just stop, one assumes?

(Though really, fuck if anyone knows, because the idiot doesn't really have any purpose in killing either, he just... kills because Heroing wasn't making him feeling better, so let's try killing. Would he eventually realize that won't make him feel any better? How long would that take? For that matter, is there any way Scion could have felt better, ever? Or was him feeling better always going to be impossible? Inquiring minds want to know.)

(I joked over on an SB fic thread that maybe getting a pet would have helped Scion... after suggesting that a well spoken parrot would probably be as good at manipulating Scion as Jack Slash was, because Scion appears to be both incredibly easy and incredibly hard to manipulate. He also seems to have a fondness for listening to complete and utter fucking losers, since Norton was... well, Norton, and Jack is... well, Jack.)

That's all sort of off topic, but anyway...

The return of Sophia was... weird. Taylor is sort of over her, but there really is no narrative resolution to her here and there's no real narrative resolution to Emma. Which like... yes, fine that's realistic, but reality isn't a fucking story? Stories do actually have to follow certain general principles reality doesn't?

It's not so much that I think it's impossible to have a story that doesn't really resolve every detail, and a lack of narrative resolution for Emma/Sophia/Madison is, overall, fine, but like... I am baffled by the people who don't get why a lot of fanfic writers take the time to provide a resolution the canon doesn't.

Cauldron's just... absolutely terrible management of... everything continues to be both hilarious and sad. I just... this is not a group qualified to decide the fate of the world, guys? Granted, you never really can construct a group actually qualified, but the insistence that Doc Mama had on not bringing more people in is weird, and saying that it's out of fear of another Manton feels incredibly weak. She had over a decade of operation before Manton went rogue, why not anyone else?

(Also, How exactly did Mr. Numbers end up working for Cauldron? His interlude didn't really explain that).

But, in Cauldron's defense, they are trying and they are trying hard here. I have no real objections to what they're doing in the 'present day' of Arc 27, broadly speaking their strategies are the best they can do, beyond perhaps their slight overparanoia about drawing Scion's eye too early, I think that was too much concern, but that's a fairly minor quibble by this context.

[avastrasposts]

Hello!

So I just realised about 300+ people decided to follow me and, I suppose, read my stories? And 300 is such a small number but to me it's surreal that so many of you want to read what I write!

So I thought I'd introduce myself a little, just to be polite you know, and be like those author blurbs they put on the inside flap of books. So read on if you want to know more about me and my writing, or just keep scrolling if you'd rather I remain a redheaded mystery with a thing for Frankie Morales.

Also, chapter 16 of The Pilot and his Girl will be posted tomorrow, it just needs another round of editing.

Also, again, this got long, so if you can't be bothered reading all my ramblings below the cut, I totally understand. I have a habit of getting wordy....

So, I'm in my 40's and I've been writing for most of my life, starting with embarrassing little short stories in adorable misspelled fashion when I was just wee. I aspired to be a journalist and then went on a completely different tangent career wise, ending up with a PhD in an area I no longer work in (fifteen years of higher education never to be touched again but you definitely want me on your team in a pub quiz!). I have vague memories of writing fan fiction in my early 20, I think? (I'm old, give me a break). But I only got back to it late last year as a way to kick start my imagination and discipline around writing again. I needed a creative outlet and writing is something I always enjoyed and found easy to do.

I live in England, in the amazing but fucking expensive city of London. I look pretty much like my profile picture, only more wrinkles and maybe a bit of silver in all that gingerness. I'm a very good cook and baker (Pedro, I'll teach you how to cook any day!) and I'm married to my very own sweet Latino man. He's not called Frankie but he does call me cariño. I have big chunk of family in Sweden and I speak a little bit of Swedish (it's actually where I am right now, we're over here celebrating midsummer).

I started writing fanfics for The Boys fandom and Karl Urban as I was binging the whole show after finishing season 4. Then I stumbled into the Pedro Pascal fandom as I watched The Last of Us.

TLoU has a very special place in my heart. I've been gaming since my early teens and bought a Playstation 3 after saving for months, my first console after playing on PC for years. When TLoU came out in 2013 I bought and played it straight away and I, like so many others, had an experience playing it. It's the only story, in any medium, that's made me cry after just 10-15 minutes of game play. The scene were Sarah dies, still gets me every time. And the rest of the game...I turned up at work the next week in a daze, just needing to tell people about this incredible story and experience I'd had. It was like no other game I'd ever played, before or since. And I've replayed the game about once a year since 2013. Back then, that kind of game was totally unique, there was nothing like it. Some games had explored stronger story telling elements, but not on this level, nothing came even close to creating such a bond between gamer and characters. Now days we're spoiled by powerful storytelling in video games, in 2013, The Last of Us was totally unique (sorry, I'm blabbering, but I could go on at length about TLoU and the impact it had).

So when I heard there was talks about turning into a tv-series, I was scared. Really worried. The gaming community have seen so many horrendous adaptations of video games, my beloved Assassin's Creed was butchered in 2016. But then I heard Pedro Pascal had been cast as Joel and I was carefully hopeful, and then Bella Ramsey as Ellie and I got really excited. I'd seen them both in Game of Thrones, both of their performances sticking in my mind. I even remember reading about Pedro being cast in GoT and looking him up and being disappointed because he looked nothing like I'd pictured the Red Viper when I read the books. But then he just swanned in and crushed it, he was so damn good, he won me over straight away. I can't imagine anyone else playing Oberyn.

And then of course, the first few trailers of TLoU dropped and we got glimpses of the show and I remember texting my equally TLoU obsessed friend and we squealed in delight at how good it looked! And the first time I heard the clicker sound....I shuddered, it was a very real physical reaction. If I'd been on the actual set and heard it, I think I would've run a mile.

And then, as I was still writing The British Connection, a fic set in The Boys fandom, I watched Triple Frontier, and, like so many others, fell hard for sweet Frankie Morales. So jumping the gun a bit, I decided to write something with him, just a drabble, to get used to writing him and to write in the Reader insert format. But it kind a grew in scope and when I had the idea of sticking him and the rest of the Triple Frontier boys into TLoU universe I knew I had to create something bigger.

Looking back I would've made the story tighter, less lengthy, had I known from the start that's where it was going to go. But part of the fun of fan fiction is posting as you go, I think. I get feedback from you guys and it makes me think of other elements to add to the story. There isn't always a set road map for how a fic is going to develop.

If you've made it this far, congratulations and thank you, I'm impressed you read all that rambling from some stranger on Tumblr! The Pilot and his Girl has a set plan now, I have chapters drawn up and although I'm not sure how many chapters I'm going to end up with, I know where the story is going. You'll find out what's happened to Pope, Will and Benny. And Joel and Tommy will of course come back to the story later on. There will be more trauma and angst as the story continues but there will be a happy ending, of sorts, in the end.

And again, thank you all for reading, commenting and reblogging! I love you all!

[recurring-polynya]

Can you imagine the look on Rukia’s face when Renji decided to wear his shihakuso(?) slightly open, revealing *slightly* more of his tattooed chest? Like, how did Captain Kuchiki not throw a fit over his sneaky outfit update??

I’m not got lie, a significant portion of Chapter 12 of my latest fanfic (Call Me Back When the War is Over) deals with this exact scenario. Spoiler alert: Rukia is super-horny for Renji’s pecs, Byakuya is so, so tired.

It’s a great question, though, why does Byakuya put up with this? There are many possibilities. Maybe he didn’t notice. (This is a real possibility. Byakuya is not a person who pays attention to things and in particular, he tries to pay as little attention to Renji as possible.) Maybe he noticed but can’t bring himself to have a conversation with Renji about Renji’s tits. Maybe it’s causing the rest of Squad 6 to have a collective coronary and they’re all losing their shit and writing B strongly worded memos and he’s just reveling in it. Shout out to the ByaRen’s in the house, maybe he’s just straight-up into it?

But here is the Official Polynya Take: Byakuya knows a Good Aesthetic when he sees it.

Blecccghh, screw it, here, have a fanfic excerpt, it’s gonna be like two months before I get around to posting this part (uhhh language warning, but no significant spoilers):

         Slowly, Rukia shut her phone. “Fuck that guy,” she muttered. “Like he has any kind of aesthetic.”

    Yumichika cocked an eyebrow at her. “Are you kidding me? The man has forehead tattoos.”

    “Yeah, but that’s just… what he looks like,” Rukia grumbled. “He didn’t do anything special when he became a vice-captain.”

    “That’s because Six is a bunch of boring stuffed shirts and he didn’t want to unleash this on them right away.” Yumichika turned his sketchbook around.

    “Holy shit,” Rukia murmured.

            The Renji who had accepted the position of Vice-Captain of the Sixth– the Renji who had come to retrieve her from the World of the Living– wore the standard uniform, give or take an expensive pair of sunglasses, and yet somehow managed to subvert it. Most shinigami looked sharp and disciplined in their shihakushou, but Renji looked wild. Angry. Dangerous. By her brother’s side, he looked like a feral dog being kept on a short leash. 

          The Renji in Yumichika’s drawing still looked dangerous, but also powerful and confident, a wolf attending his captain of his own volition, loyal, but not tame. His long hair cascaded down over his shoulders, held back from his face by a wide, raw-edged black bandana that covered most of the tattoos on his forehead. Conversely, the ones on his chest were now visible through the deep V of his shihakushou top. Renji habitually wore a little eyeliner to work, but it was thicker now, sharp enough to cut yourself on. He looked strong. He looked vaguely Kenpachi-like. Moreover, he looked insanely hot.

    “I don’t suppose you’ve even noticed that he’s been growing his hair out or that he’s been letting his kosode hang a little loose,” Yumichika’s voice broke through her reverie.

    “Not that loose!” Rukia yelped. 

    “There are two aspects to designing your look,” Yumichika explained. “First, how it reflects you personally. Secondly, how it complements the people you most frequently will be seen around. Abarai is big and he’s loud and he has pec tattoos. He likes to give off the impression that he doesn’t care what people think of him, whether or not it’s true. This is a very in-your-face look and it’s great for him. He wanted the forearm wraps. I’m not sure why, but when his shirt inevitably falls off in battle, at least he’s got them, so I let him have it.”

    “He has a bad wrist,” Rukia mentioned. She hadn’t even noticed the wraps.

    “Oh, right,” Yumichika agreed. “I think I knew that. Anyway, this entire thing is a great contrast to your brother. Kuchiki’s covered up in an a haori and a scarf, Renji’s letting his chest hang out. Kuchiki’s got white accents on his wrists and head, Renji’s got black. The two of them have the best hair game in the Gotei– your brother lets his hang loose and it does whatever he wants it to and it’s dark and silky and I’m honestly getting overheated just thinking about it. Renji gives off the impression that he doesn’t know the business end of a hairbrush, but that shit is soft as fuck and you will not find a split end in there.”

    “Why are you telling me this?” Rukia managed. 

    “They are an illustrative example, for one thing, and for another, you hang out with both of them, and you are going to need to hook into their aesthetic.”

    “Oh, of course,” Rukia replied blankly.

[ukiyokki]

mars reads too much dreamnotfound fanfiction for their own good

a dreamnotfound fanfic recommendation list by your resident dumbass (me)

this took way to fucking long... i’m tired

below is a (very extensive) list dedicated to all my favorite dnf fics, ranging from quick one shots to 100k+ word monstrosities that devour the storage on my computer, forever incomplete masterpieces to ongoing works of art, you get the idea. i provided links for each fic/series for your reading pleasure. there will be no smutty/nsfw fics on this list, that’s just not my vibe lmao. this list goes in no particular order, and i’ll update it from time to time when i feel like it. now, without further ado, let us begin.

Heat Waves (complete) by tbhyourelame

(wtf else did you expect, looking at a dnf rec list?) amazingly well written, and while it’s not my favorite dnf fic it’s damn near close. in the midst of a brutal heatwave, a suffering dream comes to terms with the fact that he is desperately in love with his best friend. everything i could say about this fic has already been said by nearly everyone who’s read it, so if you haven’t yet caved into the hype, just go for it. you won’t be disappointed.

Gonna be around (completed) by georgescatcafe

(mc irl) my favorite dnf oneshot to date. just read it, i don’t wanna spoil for you :)

Inferno in the Sky (ongoing)by zairielon

(star wars au) an ongoing star wars au currently clocking in at almost 200k words. need I say more? everything about it absolutely slaps, each chapter is amazingly written, and it’s just good. also, can we just appreciate dream and tubbos dynamic in here? 10/10, amazing, must protecc. oh right, a summary: george, an exiled padawan turned engineer, must return to the jedi temple after attacks on it from an unknown assailant threaten the safety of himself and the other jedi.

Like Magic (ongoing) by KangarooKen, NotGra55 (Gra55)

(harry potter au) the unofficial official dnf harry potter au. we watch the young unlikely wizard pair grow up together throughout their years at hogwarts as they battle good old fashioned wizard racism. beautifully written, incredibly fun and suspenseful, and just an overall blast and a half.

GeorgeNotFound, Son of Poseidon, and the League of Minor Gods (ongoing) by Clichewho_69, Cygnvs, Trash_Kinggg

(percy jackson au) percy jackson au? check. “road trip” (technically quest but u get what i mean)? check. enemies to friends to lovers? check. this fic follows the plot of the lightning theif (albeit loosely), but everything is explained enough where you don’t have to read percy jackson to understand what’s going on. basically after moving to the usa, george gets taken to camp halfblood where he learns that a) gods exist. b) he’s the son of poseidon and c) he needs to prove that he didn’t steal zeus’s master bolt.

Protected (completed) by aenqua

(royalty/camelot au) my favorite piece of dnf media of all time. dubbed the official dnf camelot au, where dream is the heir to the throne and george is a servants son with a secret that couldp get him killed. these childhood friends grow up together and learn trust, love, and acceptance. (that summary did not justice to the masterpiece that is this fic) here’s the directors cut

The Hunter (completed) by HederEgo

(mc irl) a choose your own adventure fic with 13 different endings, where dream the hunter must kill george and stop him from beater the ender dragon. enough said.

The official dream team cowboy AU (series)(ongoing) by antsu_in_my_pantsu

(cowboy au) cowboys and outlaws horses and shit. and the big gay. it’s a cowboy au, what else did you expect? fucking yee haw (all seriousness this is a great read, i loved it so so so so much and i can’t wait for the final chapter to release).

This is a Drista moment, let's just accept it (completed) by Qekyo

dnf fic from drista pov. considering its unique perspective, it’s perfectly done. beautifully showcases a sibling relationship through drista and her memories/moments with dream, and it just works, y’a know? also drista supremacy.

Dear Dream (completed) by Qekyo

(wwii au) i don’t cry when watching/reading anything sad. translation: i’m a heartless bitch. however, this fic is the only exception. it caused me to cry so hard my mom walked in my room and asked if i was ok. ‘nuff said.

TECHNOlogical Wingman (completed) by Closeted_Bookworm

techno is the autocorrect ai on dreams phone, and he gains sentience. interesting concept, and the author fucking nailed it. great fic.

It Was Only a Fic (ongoing) by imagineitdear

dream starts reading a dnf fanfic (we’ve all been there buddy).

Teacher’s Pet (ongoing) by niyuha

(teacher au) in which dream is a high school english teacher and george is the new comp sci teacher in room 297.

Saltwater Secrets (ongoing) by earlgay_milktea

(mermaid/high school au) a great example of the shear amount of variety in fics this fandom has to offer. when i started reading dnf fics i would have never thought i’d find one about a mermaid george hopelessly crushing on his human friend, who happens to be his schools star swimmer. yet here i am, and i am far from disappointed.

Smash My Heart (incomplete) by dontrollthedice

george and sapnap are commentators for duper smash brothers tournaments, and george develops a crush on an up and coming smash streamer named dream.

roleplaying in the dark is harder than it seems (completed) by Alienu

laser tag. 10/10

solar system (completed) by quartzfia

(mc irl) george vists dream in pandora’s vault.

Ramblings of a Lunatic (completed) by jungkooksfic

ahh communicating through a notebook left on a shelf in a bookstore- what a perfect way to start a relationship.

Paint me like your French Girls (It's Charcoal, Actually) (completed) by Turtle_ier

(artist au) george is an art student, and dream is a model.

00:00:00 (completed) by isleofdreams

(soulmate au) 00:00:00 is the moment you meet your soulmate, as indicated but the clock ticking down on your wrist until the moment you meet. i’m not a fan of soulmate aus; this fic is the exception.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me (completed) by kivy

(artist au) i don’t usually cry while reading stuff, but this brought me damn near close. george is a painting conservator and chats it is with the ghost of the artist if the painting he is working on. they fall in a love.

Current Location (incomplete) by hendollana

(influencer au) george simps for a hot american instagram model. who knew he’d actually follow back?

The Withering (series) (series ongoing, 1 work completed) by App1e_Juice

(mc irl) lore and world building and fight scenes and everything i crave. what’s not to love? something starts making the plants and crops around dreams village wither, and must team up with new friends to find the cause of the mysterious disease plaguing the land.

Minecraft, But You Can't Leave (complete) by facadecake

(mc irl) dream and george are sucked into their own private minecraft world together and must beat the game to escape.

Free The Game, Beat the End (incomplete) by goatgoatwasfound

(mc irl) a glitch in minecraft causes thousands of players from around the world to be trapped inside minecraft, with only one way of escape- beating the ender dragon. first dnf fic i ever read, and it’s still 10/10 for me.

Why don't you come a little closer? (completed) by lifeofandoms

george gets stood up by a date, and Dream pretends he’s the date to save george from the embarrassment. simply adorable.

lightning bug (completed) by saintachesP

(band au) while on tour, dream realizes his feeling for george.

Hold me closer (completed) by Treesofmyheart

(mc irl/dsmp) i just,, really like this trope.

Dizzy on caffeine (completed) by GleamingGreenGoggles

(coffee shop au) best dnf coffeeshop au i’ve read. periodt.

living a life of crime isn’t always easy (series) (completed) by itisjosh

(mafia/assassin au) stockholm syndrome except it’s not weird.

Inhibitions Make Interesting Situations (completed) by Ship_On_The_Sea

i pissed myself laughing. it’s just a dream and george being hilariously dense, flustered idiots. serotonin central.

thy eternal summer shall not fade (completed) by gracequills

(high school au) that moment when you recite shakespeare to your crush in your ap lit class instead of confessing (hate it when that happens).

All is Fair in love and Football (ongoing) by graciegirl2001

(college au) #1 favorite college au. in which george is a cheerleader, and dream is the football teams rising star player. this one gets extra points because of the amazing karlnap moments sprinkled throughout. *chefs kisses air*

online love (completed) by andbutso

(high school au) online classes go zoooooooom

Can’t help falling (completed) by isleofdreams

dream re-learns the guitar to sing to george on his birthday. beautiful. fluffy. amazing

dance in the rain and my arms (completed) by lazy_kitkat

george is a rain god, and dream is a wind god

Weather Boy (completed) by DaintyDiizzle

wouldn't you like to know, weather boy? (where dream can control the rain)

The color orange (completed) by anon

(mc irl) dream describes the colors of a sunset

Family Mode (completed)by Strawberry_flavoured_tears

they’re dads :,)

Breathing Room (incomplete) by papercranes

(band an) an amazing band au. the mad lad author wrote original songs for each chapter. above and beyond, mad props :). unfortunately, it’s incomplete

Piece of Clay (completed) by carbonbrine

(artist au) george is a sculptor and his sculpture comes to life- but oh no he’s hot.

Try (completed) by Not4typicalwriter

(royalty au) george must choose a suitor, but none of them are up to dream, his head knights, standards. or dream is hella jelly. also protective dream is perfect

When the Roses Bloom (completed) by HederEgo

(royalty au) close second for my favorite fic. go to royalty au for a quick serotonin bost. it’s all fluff and flowers and crushes, and i love it. criminally underrated.

Heavenstruck (ongoing) by dontrollthedice

george is dreams guardian angel, and dream want to find out more about him and his past life. bittersweet :,)

Bang and Burn (completed) by App1e_Juice

(spy au) george accidentally falls for target number 1 on sapnap’s secret agency’s hit list. this ones great, i love me a spy au :)

Can I get a uhh… (completed) by lemonskies

dream keeps pulling up to the drive through mcdonald’s that george works at drunk.

Pretty Stranger (completed) by anon

when looking for dream in the terminal, george sees a cute guy and decides to flirt.

Take my Hand (completed) by latinbias

(royalty au) another royalty au? poggers. surprise twists? double poggers. love this a lot.

seconds, minutes, hours, lifetimes (complete) by meridies

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP *inhales to compose herself* roadtrip au. unrequited love, ignored feelings, longing, pining, you know the drill. absolutely love this one, its the best roadtrip au i have ever read, in any fandom. (maybe cause i identify with it a little too much, but thats not important. whats important is that you read this fic. right now. im waiting).

Message redacted (complete) by justyouraverageloser

(text fic) dream asks for a girls number and realises hes been given the wrong number. however, an unexpected relationship starts to form between him and the stranger on the other end of the line.

the waves (completed) by anon

(mc irl) this fic was written by the same anon who wrote the color orange, which is up there on my fav dnf oneshot list. dream and george know they have a higher purpose. they don’t know where they came from, or why they are seemingly the only humans in the world, or how they feel about eachother, or even where the skeletons come from, but they are sure of one thing: they have to beat a dragon.

The Dream Doll (completed) by PeppDream (Pep_Pizza)

(voodoo i guess) i’m a real big fan of fics with really out there or unique concepts, so naturally this one makes the cut! i really liked it, it’s really sweet and made me think a lot about what matters to me in the world. george finds a strange doll in an antique shop, and would really like to just stuff it in a drawer and forget about it. sadly (?), the doll has other plans.

last updated February 6th, 2021

[mawofthemagnetar]

Hi, is there any advice you could give to beginner writers? Your works really inspired me as a writer for whom English isn't a first language and i wanted to say thank you so much for that, even if it wasn't intentional. I wanted to try writing something a bit more serious than short fanfiction and i figured you'd be the best person to ask about that. Sorry if it's a bit too weird ^^"

Anon, I'm truly and deeply flattered, and thank you so, so much for letting me know this. This isn't weird at all, and don't apologize for asking!

As for your question, uh...

So, the thing is, I've never, ever taken any sort of formal training for writing or English. I did okay in school, but as far as writing goes, I'm entirely self-taught.

The most basic piece of advice I can give is: For the love of god, use your enter key to break up paragraphs and make sure everything is roughly grammatically correct. That's the single biggest thing to keep in mind.

Aside from that, here are the only real pieces of advice I have:

Write for yourself.

And write the specific content you want to read.

I know that's easy to say, but the thing is, it's incredibly easy for fic you think is killer to get ignored, and at the end of the day you need to be your own target audience. If you ONLY write for numbers or comments or reaction, you're going to go insane and want to quit. Now that's not saying that feedback isn't important- it's critical, and it's a huge help. But having a story you really, REALLY want to see to completion is such a powerful motivator, at least for me. It's the only way you'll have enough steam to keep going for longer works. So, when I walked into the Hermitcraft fandom, I looked around, saw that nobody else was giving Keralis the nightmare monster treatment he deserved, and dove in with both feet.

Another thing:

KILL SECRET RULES.

Full send. Every time. Write something and full send it, slap that shit on Ao3. Obviously edit and spellcheck, but don't get bogged down in "is this good enough". No, it's not perfect. Because nothing created by human hands is EVER perfect. If you agonize over every line you'll hate yourself. So when you have something roughed out, give it a day to rest, give it a polish, and then drop it like a lead potato. It's fanfiction. We're not getting paid. It's for fun!

So who cares if the fic is short? Who cares if the fic is weird? Who cares if it's something odd or strange or whatever? Don't give yourself minimums and requirements and regulations. Let the words do what they will.

Both of these things tie into my biggest single tip, which is:

START WRITING AND DON'T GIVE UP.

The thing is, fanfic is a fantastic way to sharpen your skills. There's an old anecdote about two classes of university students in a pottery class, and how one class was graded on number of pots produced and one was graded on a single pot at the end of the semester. The class that cranked out pots like there was no tomorrow had better clay pots at the end of the day, because they'd put in the time to actually practice pottery instead of stressing over theory!

So just...start. Just open a word document (or a google doc if you're not a piratey pirate like me) and just put some words down. The more you write, the easier it gets.

If you don't have an idea for a story, look for some prompts- or just start asking questions. This is sort of how I come up with plots:

Grab a hermit. Grab your favourite hermit. Your protagonist doesn't have to be a nice person, or a good person, or even a hero at all, but if they're a blorbo it really helps.

Let's say it's Zedaph. Now let's put that fucker in a situation. Think of something you're interested in! For me, I have an extreme obsession with aircraft and aircraft disasters and the wilderness. So, okay, let's do a pilot AU. Now I get to dress Zed up in a pilot costume! (Keralis can be his co-pilot!) It's fanfic- you're allowed to spoil yourself! And then, from there, we make decisions about our story- does Zedaph crash his plane? How do they find rescue?

Plotting a story, at least to me, is about putting these bitches in a situation and then asking questions about how things will turn out based on how these characters act.

So, in general, just... go for it. Your first stories WILL suck. Christ knows mine did. You don't have to post them! But you can. And you might be surprised- because as you grow as a writer and a creator, people will look at everything you've made with very different eyes than you have. Even the old stuff you come to cringe at is often loved by someone, somewhere. (This is why you should orphan old works instead of deleting them, trust me!)

But when you go for it, there's another thing you should keep in mind:

Take breaks. Rest. Take time off. It's not a job and it shouldn't feel like it! Go for a walk. Take a month off. Look at the daisies. Spend time with your family. Real-world experience is valuable to a writer, helping you understand sensations and situations. Reading other people's works is invaluable too, helping you get to grips with stories and plots and all the machinery of narrative. So take time to exist, and take time to consume, and take time to rest.

Take time to be.

To sum up, writing is a game of mental leapfrog where you shuffle puzzle pieces around in your head until they click into some kind of shape. The perfect is the enemy of the good and secret rules will make you insane. The actual act of putting words down is something that absolutely gets better with practice. And you're not a machine, so don't treat yourself like one.

And anyone can write.

I'm not some authority on writing. To be frank, I'm kind of clueless. I don't know the technical terms for things, I'm not an English teacher, and I'm not a professional. This is just my general, overly long thoughts on the matter.

I hope this was even slightly helpful. Go for it, dude. I believe in you!

Oh, and one more thing...

Listen to some Pendulum while you write. <3

[bonesandthebees]

1, 13, and 19!

YAY MORE OF THESE you guys are spoiling me i love answering these

What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

I just write in the default google docs setting which is 11 pt Arial. I've been doing that for so long it's the only font that feels right, I can't write in anything else or else I get distracted lol

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

Huh, a subject matter that's difficult to write about? well, ironically I'd say I have a harder time writing things i have personal experience than writing things I've never experienced before. like my very out there fantasy-esque aus are very easy for me to write, but my fic vanderlyle crybaby cry was extremely difficult for me to write since a lot of that was inspired by my own struggles in uni. I guess it was that because I had more personal experience with the emotions I was trying to convey, it made it harder for me to be satisfied with how I put them into words? whereas if what I'm writing about is unfamiliar to me I'm not dissatisfied with how i explain it because I don't know how else I could write it out if that makes sense

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I first began writing as soon as I learned how to read. As a kid with severe ADHD, I would zone out a lot and daydream about amazing and fantastical stories, but then I'd get distracted and lose the plot halfway through. Eventually, I got fed up with forgetting my stories, so I started writing them down, and I realized my love for writing and using the written word to explain what was going on in my head

I always kept up writing as a casual hobby, but when I was 14ish I decided I wanted something to really be my thing. To have a skill I could master. And writing felt like the only logical choice, the only thing I wanted to work on. So I dedicated myself to becoming the best writer I could be, practicing as much as I could whenever I could. When I was 15 I came across fanfiction, and recognized that not only was it a bit easier to not have to remake new ocs every time I had a new idea, but also I could have an audience to give me feedback if I started writing fanfic. So I did! And my writing has improved so so much because of that

Now I'm about to graduate college with a minor in creative writing, and I want to try and possibly get into the screenwriting industry and hopefully one day actually write a novel as well. Writing is my form of art, it just means so much to me in a way that I could wax poetic about for ages but I just love it more than anything and can't imagine doing anything else

writer ask game!

[maxbegone]

AND WE ARE BACK! 

Part two of the Schitt’s Creek Community Fic Rec is here! This time, we focused on celebrating our favorite AU’s! Once again, this is dedicated with love to the the authors of this community! Every participant chose one AU (which was a little hard to do for some) to share and why they enjoyed it.

Thank you to everyone who submitted!

@bestwisheswarmestregards​ // @brighter-than-sunshine​ // @danieljradcliffe​ // @devilstelephone​ // @fishyspots​ // @imargaery​ // @justwaiting23​ // @patrickbrewsky​ // @rockinhamburger​ // @roguebabyinyourstore​ // @rosebuddsmotel​ // @stuck-on-your-heart​ // @the-13th-wheel​ // @thedidipickles​ // @thisbuildinghasfeelings​ // @yourbuttervoicedbeau​

And a very special thank you to anyone who has ever written anything in this community! 

Everything is posted below the cut, and you can check out part one here! 

**As always, if I missed an author’s tumblr handle, please let me know! 

@bestwisheswarmestregards​

Odd Man Rush by @samwhambam​

It’s David and Patrick and Hockey! Three of my favorite things! Also the ending is one of my favorite endings. It’s so sweet! It’s part of the series score and all of the stories are so cute but this one is my favorite!

@brighter-than-sunshine​

Thanks For Choosing Bagged! by dinnfameron

I love this one because the dialogue is so adorable, and true to David and Patrick! I can totally see the characters getting involved in something like this, like a different version of a rom-com.

@danieljradcliffe​

Going Down by concannonfodder

This is one of the best stories of NYC!David and recently out Patrick while they're both trying to find themselves. It's beautifully written and my favourite part is that each chapter switches between David and Patrick's POV. It does a great job of highlighting the aspects of their personalities that we know and love but shows them to us in a new light.

@devilstelephone​

sustineo by @rockinhamburger​

The contemporary art discussions between Patrick and David are interesting and important to the story. Patrick still cares for and emotionally connects with David In a world that is so different than Schitt’s Creek. I liked that Sebastian Raine was the evil force without being included as a character.

@fishyspots​

Welcome to Cabaret by @vivianblakesunrisebay​

It's lovely from start to finish! In this 'verse, Christmas World didn't pull out, so David didn't get the lease for the general store. Instead, he gets roped into helping Moira with Cabaret, and meets Patrick (kind of) through that. I love the way this author writes. The dialogue is in-character, and the plot is wonderful and pulls out moments from canon and reimagines them in some truly inspired ways. I'm such a fan of all of this author's works; this was the first one I read, and it remains my favorite.

@imargaery​

David.; or, a Tale of Misapplied Sense by Siria

A Jane Austen D&P AU and it is BRILLIANT. If you're an Austen fan, you will be able to immediately pick up on how well this author adapted Austen's style, wit, character descriptions, and ability to whack you over the head with romance when you're not even ready for it yet. Siria is a very experienced fanfic writer, but writes for many fandoms, so I think that's maybe why it doesn't have that many hits? I'm so glad I clicked on it. I want to wrap myself up in this story. I want to make a podfic out of it. I want to put it on a t-shirt and wear it every day. Also, it's in a regency AU where homophobia isn't a thing, so you don't even have to worry about that. I want to tell you more, but that would spoil it. Just read the damn thing and thank me later.

@justwaiting23​

You Were the Ocean, I Was Just a Stone by @al-ex-an-d-er-hamiltons​ 

The image of a curly haired fisherman Patrick is enough but this whole fic is such a sweet concept. Their interactions in this are so reminiscent of the show but also so different because they already know each other vaguely, and I come back to this fic over and over just because it's the perfect mix of angsty miscommunication and fluff.

@maxbegone​

Known and Be Known by ahurston

As someone who tends to lean toward canon/canon-divergent stories, this was a refreshing take on an AU. Beautifully written and wonderfully raw, ahurston conveyed the vulnerabilities between both David and Patrick so wonderfully. “The mortifying ordeal of being known,” personified in fanfiction format. With humor and some wonderfully hot scenes peppered throughout, this fic was just brilliant from start to finish. I love when authors explore Patrick's insecurities and vulnerabilities - they aren't written about as often as David's are. I implore you to read this, if you're able.

@patrickbrewsky​

Bound by Symmetry by barelypink

They say write what you know. I instead read what I know. David is the accidentally fantastic teacher we all wished we'd had in high school, and some of us wish/hope we are or might be one day. This fic is a great exploration of combining everything David knows he is (creative, bright, v.knowledgeable about art) and all the things he thinks he's not (empathetic, a role model, great with kids, selfless, kind, & big hearted) The selling point quote: "And it feels good, David realizes, to have a job that means something, a purpose beyond himself. A place where he feels like he belongs, just like his students." (David Rose proves he is both a good and nice person).

@rockinhamburger​

Blackbird, Fly by distractivate 

This is a post-apocalyptic story about love, connection, and hope, with a central theme of growth from destruction. I could not put this one down; I read it feverishly in one sitting, desperate to soak up every word. I love this fic because it is what I like to think of as an exemplar for transformative works (one of ao3’s top values). I love the way the fic stretches toward the light in the dark. It makes me think: about the quintessential elements of these characters, what remains the same despite changed circumstance, and what inevitably shifts when these characters we know and love are faced with a situation far outside their experience or comfort. This story likely hits differently in 2020, when post-apocalyptic narratives feel much less distant than they might have just a year ago. And yet, all the more reason to read an incredible work about hope and resilience and transformation.

@roguebabyinyourstore​

Fifteen Hundred Miles by MoreHuman

Where do I even begin with this fic? I was at first skeptical about what reason David Rose would have to willingly subject himself to a trek through the wilderness out of his own volition. Well I’m so glad I ignored that admittedly stupid part of me because this is one of the mostly beautifully crafted stories I have ever read. Patrick and David are individually on their own journeys of self-discovery, but the way they help each other find what they sought... It’s breathtaking. Their feelings for each other bloom so organically over their time together that despite the circumstances laid out before them, the miles that they stumble and walk and run bring them miles closer to each other. Closer to the love that they both didn’t know they needed. The characters come alive and are identical to their canon selves. The dialogue and banter are spot on David and Patrick. The writing itself is superb. The tropes are incredible, the pining and *oh no there’s only one tent.* The slow burn is tantalizing but in a way that feels true to a genuine love story. The way the setting somehow breathes in tune with the characters, the way they leave messages behind in the trail register—conveying more than they can utter aloud— and the way their families communicate with them throughout their time on the trail through letters. All of the elements of this story ground it in universal truth, in feelings that are not only relatable, believable but demand to be felt. I can wax poetic until I am blue in the face, but really... Read this story. And then reread it a million times.

@rosebuddsmotel​

I Carry These Heart-Shapes Only to You by @ladyflowdi​ and @ships-to-sail​

There are over 180,000 words in this WWII AU, but not one of those words is wasted. It is gorgeous in its prose, and incredibly romantic without romanticizing the very real pain and tragedies of the era in which it exists. It's not an easy read by any means, but it's the kind of cathartic emotional journey that is more than worth it in the end.

@stuck-on-your-heart​ 

kiss from a rose by mihaly ( @davidroseshusband​ )

What can I say about this very special fic that would do it justice? In this story, Alexis stars in a Bachelorette-style dating show and it’s every bit as brilliant as it sounds. On top of the incredible characterization, there are little surprises at every turn, there’s pining, and of course, there’s love. Secret love, even. This fic is truly addicting – I promise you won’t be able to stop once you start reading, and it will leave you feeling so satisfied (and if you’re like me, a little misty)!!!

@the-13th-wheel​

Hold Me Like You’ll Never Let Me Go by @mooodlighting​

It is a wonderful short AU where Patrick and David where they meet at an airport after they get snowed in. It is cute, there is longing and pining that just make it a wonderful read!

@thedidipickles​

Beneath the Winter Snow by Distractivate

The writing is so utterly gorgeous all the way throughout that I frequently needed to take breaks to breathe. The author *perfectly* builds an Olympic world that I can totally see my favorite characters inhabiting, and the resolution is gorgeous. All of Distractivate's AUs are amazing, but this one still stands out.

@thisbuildinghasfeelings​

How Do We Get Back by @unfolded73​

This one deals with a literal alternate universe, which is the first thing I loved about it because I had never read a fic quite like it before. It's a beautifully written 60,000+ word masterpiece that definitely makes me feel ALL the feelings. In addition, it is absolutely riveting. I could not stop reading until I got to the end.

@yourbuttervoicedbeau​

Make It To Me by figmentof ( @rosesdavid )

Epistolatory fic is SO hard to pull off and the author does such an incredible job with the way the characters shine through even though we only see them interact via text message. This fic is my comfort food and I reread it regularly <3

Anonymous Recs:

Just Breathe by olivebranchesandredwine

I love this one because it's got Patrick as a yoga teacher (hot!) and shows David being proactive about anxiety and it's just such a lovely story.

Shall I Stay? by alladaydream ( @maybewecandreamalittle​​ )

This is so worth the 100k wordcount. 18-year-old David and Patrick sweetly leaning into first love, a lot of angst and pining in the middle that allow them both to heal and grow, and a heartfelt reconciliation. Plus, two bonus cherries on top with artist!David and a beautiful epilogue in which they (spoiler) live happily ever after. The tone and pacing of this fic is so good, and I always go back to it when I want to read something comforting.

Your Heart is Keeping Time with Me by @yourbuttervoicedbeau​

I haven't seen 50 First Dates, but this fic is better than the movie could ever be. The author's writing is so beautiful and her David who has amnesia and her Patrick who wants to help him are just PERFECT. I want more and more and more of this.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to every single person who has written something in this community! It would be wonderful to do a part three, but for now, enjoy some alternate universe fics! 

[pebblysand]

of tyres that blow (extended author’s note of chapter v. of castles)

- - TO READ THE CHAPTER ITSELF, CLICK HERE. - -

Oh, what a month it has been. Well, a month and two days - I’m a bit late updating. I’ve had two good things happen, writing wise. 1) I got my first original short story published (!!!!) (you can read it here) and 2) I put out a little one-shot about Fleur Delacour that I’m super happy about and gave me an idea about a new series (more on that later this week, I hope. I might need help with prompts!). Regardless, this latest Irish lockdown is fucking endless and I sometimes wonder if this fic isn’t just an outlet for my feelings of lockdown-induced loneliness, apathy, but also a constant argument that I have with myself thinking: for the love of god, just pull yourself up, will you? You’re a Gryffindor, goddamn it. I certainly wish my fucked up sleeping patterns on no one, although I may or may have Mary-Sued that onto Harry, lol. (Spoiler alert: he’s scheduled to get some real sleep in next chapter. All bets are off regarding whether I will.)

This chapter was surprisingly easy to write (I basically vomited out chapters iv, v, and vi over the span of a week in December) but incredibly difficult to edit. For days, I just couldn’t concentrate, wrote and re-wrote and felt like everything was shite. Then, I realised it’d become this 19,000-words long monster so I had to cut a lot of shit out. We ended up with 15,898 words which I suppose is better? 

I do wonder: do people mind long chapters? Like, I know as fanfic reader, I personally prefer longer formats and rarely gravitate towards works that are less than 3,000 words. I love just getting buried into a story, into plots rather than single scenes. This being said, every time I write something that I deem too long (i.e. above 10k) I have these excruciating struggles where I wonder: should I cut it in half? should I leave it as is? I decided to split the last one. Then, I decided not to split this one because (you may notice this or not, I’m not sure) it’s kind of built a certain way, geared towards basically getting to the last two paragraphs. Like, when you get there, it’s a bit of an ah-ha moment, but I couldn’t get to that ah-ha moment without all the build up before it. It’s the accumulation of all of these little details that feel like they don’t matter. And as Harry says in the end, they don’t, in the grand scheme of things, but also they do. Like, everyday life doesn’t matter until you lose it. Then, it does, if that makes sense.

In terms of next update... I’ve decided to get my law licence transferred to France and the EU (it’s a long story), which means that I need to bloody, fucking study. The exams are at the end of March so my current plan is: hardcore study until the end of february. Mix study/writing in early march and hopefully get chapter vi out mid-March, then hardcore study until the end of March. Please, if you see me posting then, tell me off in the comments cause god, I really need to pass. Now, I will go have my traditional i-ve-put-a-chapter-out shot of limoncello and let you read the below :).

...spoilers for castles, chap v. under the cut -

I’ve done a lot of thinking about what this chapter is meant to be about. Obviously (I hope), every chapter has a point, in this story. Chapter 1 is about time (the way it passes and blurs when your mind’s a complete mess), chapter 2 is about hope, chapter 3 is about inevitability and the consequences of trauma, chapter 4 is about becoming an adult and growing into your own skin, etc. I think this one is about fear. How you feel it, and how you overcome it. Like, Harry takes a decision to stand up, fight, do the interview, regardless of the fact that he is scared (for his life, for that of the people he loves), and finds buried inside him a lot of the courage that he (felt) he lost, after the war. He learns to control his fear of the world by figuring out how apprehend it, through the training Giulia gives him, through learning how to kill, too. 

But, it’s also about fear in society. How the attack on Robards sets everyone on edge and how they keep going regardless. I initially wrote this chapter with the idea that it was going to be about speaking out and being brave, but obviously, fear and fighting against it is a huge part of that, too. 

Then, there’s Mia. Obviously, this fic is Harry/Ginny endgame but I do like the idea of Harry (and possibly Ginny as well) dating at least one other person, before officially tying the knot. Like, yes, Ginny is obviously coming back next chapter. She’ll probably own the second half of next chapter, if I’m honest, considering they’re obviously going to the burrow for christmas. I love Ginny, I’ve missed her and honestly, I can’t wait to bring her back. This being said, to be fair, I’ve kind of realised that this fic may actually be the first I ever write that isn’t strictly “shippy.” Like, yes, their relationship is a huge part of it (it’s a huge part of his life) and it will and was always going to be a huge part of this story but I think this fic is larger than that. It’s a result of my years-long obsession over: but what happens next? Over what “all was well” really means, in a general sense. How do they get to “nineteen years later” and beyond. But yeah, I’ve missed Ginny and I’m glad she’s on her way back to us now. 

Now, obviously. Giulia. I’m sorry. This was always going to happen. Well, almost always. I remember when I first wrote her in, she was a bit of a filler character. At the time, the thing with Mia was supposed to happen in last chapter and I actually had (have) much more backstory around her, than around Giulia. She and Harry were going to have proper conversations (will they ever, who knows?), really get to know each other. But then, Giulia came first narratively and shone through the page. I started writing her and she had this personality and life of her own and I couldn’t bring myself to curtail her. 

Now, we all know how it is: fanfics can only tolerate so many OCs. So, I had to choose between putting Mia at the forefront, or Giulia. I chose Jules. 

Then, in chapter 4, I wrote this: 

Her first lesson is to teach him how to drive the patrol car. ‘I don’t know why we use them,’ she explains, honest, and Harry vaguely wonders if he should be taking notes. ‘Reckon the Ministry saw them being used by Muggles, had to prove they could do better. They like making noise, the Ministry, don’t they? Lots of sirens and shite.’

Politely, Harry hides a chuckle behind a cough. He clearly doesn’t know yet that he doesn’t need to, that Giulia’s sarcastic sense of humour is one of the things that he’ll come to appreciate the most in this world, over the next few months. That the sound of her voice is one he’ll try to never, ever forget. That in the speech that he’ll give when he makes Head Auror, over a decade later, he’ll think of her and say: ‘Okay, let’s try to not just be sirens and shite, all right?’

This kind of tumbled out without me really thinking about it until I really looked at it and thought: fuck, why is he talking about her past tense, like that. Like “the sound of her voice is one he’ll try to never, ever forget.” Why would he forget it, though? And so, just like that, came her death sentence. For that, I apologise. It killed me too, and I cried when I wrote it in (especially when I wrote next chapter, actually, first time I ever made myself cry writing, if I’m honest) but it just needed to happen. It’s how Ginny and he get back together (I mean, obviously - is that even a spoil) because he’s grieving but she’s grown stronger and steady and she’s able to be there in a way that she wasn’t last summer. It did occur to me that god, all his mentors/father figures come to die, don’t they? But honestly, I kind of thing that his real mentor will be Robards, at the end of the day. She was just the one who allowed him to get back on his feet. 

One last note: I’ve been meaning to put this into the fic for ages but have never found the right moment to write it in. In the meantime, I’ll just say it here, because I don’t know if this has frustrated some of yous - I know it might have driven me mad. There is a logic to the Muggle/Wizard swearing/exclamations in the fic. Obviously, this is an adult fic so they swear normally, like eighteen-year-olds would in this (I decided that very early on), but also there’s “God”-s and “Merlin”-s and things like that. 

Now, I think that throughout this fic, although Harry hasn’t mentioned it yet (cause it never fucking fits anywhere) Hermione’s been having a sort of Muggle reckoning. She - in conscience - decides to start swearing/exclaiming “like a Muggle” after the war. If you notice, she only ever says “god”, never “Merlin.” Harry uses both interchangeably although he tends to use Merlin more when he thinks about wizard stuff, but God when he thinks about Muggle stuff (like when he’s with Mia). Ron only swears in “wizard” but I think he might start using Muggle expletives as well in the later chapters because of Hermione rubbing off on him. 

The fact that I even think about all that stuff is pathetic and I need to get a life. But that’s for another post, altogether. 

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you liked it :). 

[nowis-scales]

Pre-Verdant Wind Endgame Update

An Update on the ol’ Three Houses Verdant Wind playthrough, since I’ve been neglecting documenting my journey properly for a bit:

• My current placement is Ch.20, so I’m only a few chapters away from the last one. It’s kind of a weird thought because I feel like I just hit the timeskip, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will feel well-paced out. In terms of writing, I’m known for being a bit of a stickler for good flow. It’s why all of my fanfics take so long to update! I have to make sure my flow is perfect.

• The fact that they have been giving background information on characters has been so amazing. Learning that Raphael’s sister’s name was Maya and getting to hear about her has made me irrationally happy.

• Also, just generally, holy shit people sleep on Raphael and Leonie. Raphael often gets shoved to the side, and Leonie is treated like her only trait is liking Jeralt, and for me it all just culminates in the question of “so did you like... not do their support conversations, or...?” Seriously. I think Leonie might be one of my favourites in the game so far, and I adore Raph. He’s so sweet!

• The Flame Emperor reveal for some reason gave me “and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” vibes. I liked the venom Cherami Leigh had there as Rhea, too. I think I read from someone that in Japanese, Rhea’s actually super calm in that scene. I don’t think I have a preference towards the anger or the calmness, honestly. I think I just liked how smoothly the emotion came across. Plus, I’m a little biased, I’m fond of Cherami as an actress. I haven’t found a performance from her I haven’t enjoyed yet.

• I was really confused as to why Seteth showed up in my house after Chapter 12ish I think? I wasn’t expecting him to just be there after the paralogue, but I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I do like him! I just never use him, because I recruited Bernadetta and Sylvain, so I kinda have a full roster going... 

• I was also confused in the Gronder Field fight because I couldn’t see what people meant about Bernie getting set on fire. Then I remembered Bernie wasn’t on the hill because she was with me. I recruited her. Whatever this proves about me, I don’t know.

• I did end up beating Marianne’s paralogue! It actually wasn’t as hard once I levelled her up a bit and classed her to a Holy Knight. The big thing with her in that paralogue seems to be that she needs a decent amount of power and movement to really get by, so that’s what I’d recommend for anyone else playing it. Using rescue will also probably help you out, but I tried to avoid using Flayn there because it’s kinda easy to kill her. 

• Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the support system. In some ways, I think it’s better that not everybody has that forced S-Support. Oftentimes we were either squeezing a love confession out of two characters who were unlikely to have one, or characters with decent potential might get snubbed because their connection was less apparent to the writers (and unfortunately that still does happen in the case of same sex S-supports in 3H). Having the conversations only go to a certain point is helpful, but at the same time, the inherent romantic undertones of several of the A-supports do make things feel strange. If it weren’t for the fact that I know characters can have only one partner as their paired ending, I would think lots of them were in a polycule. Nothing wrong with that as long as everyone’s comfortable, but because I know they can only have one person in their ending, I find it pretty jarring.

• I think it was interesting that they went to do the fights for breaking into Enbarr and then taking down Edelgard back-to-back. I’m glad they did, honestly, because while I don’t usually like to do two fights next to each other unless I’m grinding, it doesn’t mess with the suspension of disbelief. It would be stupid to break into Enbarr and then just run right back to the Monastery.

• I have still not completed the randomized quest from just after the timeskip. You know, the one I was yelling about with the weeds? Still haven’t gotten any weeds. I think I might just have to give up on it. It’s hilarious that my luck is so good that it’s actually bad.

• The fact that Byleth is praised for having more of a personality than Corrin is the biggest slice of bullshit I have heard from this fanbase in a long time. Byleth is literally designed to be a silent protagonist with nothing going on with them – they even came up with a story reason for why Byleth is such a blank sack of meat! In the kindest way possible, I don’t think most people realize that they are implementing whatever personality they want onto Byleth. Personally, I don’t find anything relatable about being stoic, calm, and not inclined to anyone (until plot happens, of course). I’ve always been the overly enthusiastic and caring type, with a tendency towards nervousness. Trying to relate to Byleth was like trying to relate to the experiences of a cactus. While I definitely don’t think Corrin is the strongest of the modern FE avatars – that award goes to Robin – they still had some things I could understand and relate to. If you’re not the type of person who loves the cool, “I fight for my friends” types like Ike, though, you’re likely to have a hard time relating to Byleth. If you can manage that type of character, then you’re more likely to have present them with a personality of their own.

• Actually, while we’re on the topic of Byleth getting praised for things Corrin got dragged for, the fact that Corrin is still cited as the character who receives the most “player pandering” is ridiculous too. Do a lot of characters like Corrin? Yeah! But most of them who do are deeply traumatized in a way that inclines them specifically towards Corrin. The Nohr siblings cling to each other due to their abusive childhood, the Hoshido siblings all in some capacity seem to suffer from abandonment issues (oldest) and/or attachment issues (youngest), and the official foursome of retainers have also had some sort of abandonment struggle in their past (forced separation from parents, murdered loved ones). While the cast of Three Houses needs therapy and is traumatized too, there is no reason why the inclination moves towards Byleth. Bernadetta feels safe around them just because. Edelgard is obsessed with them just because. Marianne learns to feel better about herself just because. Why are there so many exceptions for Byleth, and so many just without explanation? I don’t hate Byleth by any means, but these two things make my opinion of them lower than it would be otherwise. It kinda sucks that my image of Byleth is tainted by the fanbase’s hypocrisy, but I know I can’t have everything.

• The gameplay overall for 3H has been pretty fun! I love the addition of the Demonic Beasts, as annoying as they are to fight. There’s a charm to having some of your stronger units working to take on the soldiers blocking the path, meanwhile your army’s more intermediate strikeforce works to keep them safe by bringing down the beast. Once you get the hang of it, gameplay with the new additions is fun. The only thing I don’t use is Divine Pulse, but that’s because I’m on Casual and usually when I want to rewind, I want to just plain start over. So I use the old “turn off and start again” trick.

• Edelgard’s death scene was actually pretty good. I must confess that I went out of my way to avoid Edelgard in the academy phase, as I knew how hard the game was going to hit me with the “she’s obessed with you” thing and I wanted to see how wonky it would feel if I didn’t speak to her much. I was right that it’s incredibly awkward in terms of writing when you haven’t spent the time with her, but surprisingly, her death scene still holds up. Good voice acting, animation, and music. My only beef with it is something they have done in FE before, and it’s something I wish they’d stop. If a character is dying, you either let them have a few last breaths after their last lines or you kill them mid-sentence. It’s probably just a personal nitpick, but hearing them get their last word out without struggle and then immediately die just makes me aware of how badly the directors wanted the whole line to be in there. I can totally understand it but I find it so troublesome in the grand scheme of things that I just can’t.

• I also like that in the fight against Edelgard, they tried to make it ambiguous who had the key. Immediately as it told me that, I decided it was Petra and ended up being right. I was kind of sad to kill her though, to be honest. I don’t know her well, but she’s probably one of the Eagles I like more.

• The fight against the Death Knight at Fort Merceus ended up being surprisingly pretty easy. In fact, while I paved the way for most of my army, Nader ended up making it to the Death Knight just as Claude did. He did most of the damage – I’m not kidding, the Death Knight was down to 1 HP – and then Claude took care of the rest. It was a weird fight. They said impregnable a lot leading up to it.

• I understand why they kill Dimitri off-screen at the Gronder Field fight, but I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Again, Salli Saffoti does a good job doing Hilda’s voice for it, but I would have liked to see it animated. It was also nice to have that little rapport with Dedue! If only we could have allied with the Lions a bit more. Everyone always says Claude and Edelgard have similar goals; however, it’s their methods that differ. Claude seems to align himself a bit closer to Dimitri, so I’m usually a bit confused by the idea that Edelgard and Claude would work together. I was spoiled on enough to know her background and story, and even so, I think that her methodology is just a bit too violent for his tastes. But that’s just my two cents.

 Alright. I think that’s about all I can drain out of my brain from the top of my head. With that, I am off to kill the slithers! We’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

[moonshineholland]

Hey nonny, the Cherry embargo lifts today! Also I know the best way to watch a movie is to form your own opinion without listening to other reviewers but I did and people are saying it’s a mess and Tom Holland stans are not separating their love for him and this movie, but I disagree. I think you have to read the craziness that is the book and understand he was still in prison and probably mad at the world and hated himself and then see how it was adapted to film. And you gotta acknowledge the research and mental capacity this film took. So basically what’s your view on Cherry now that it’s been a few days since you’ve seen it and other critics are giving their piece?

So I started writing a lil review but like with anything I got halfway through and didn’t finish it because I wasn’t even sure if what I was saying made sense so I may as well just do it here😂

(I won’t be spoiling anything🥰)

I haven’t read any reviews if I’m being honest, I think sometimes reading them makes it quite easy to be swayed and I stand with my opinion on the film! I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a masterpiece but I do think it’s an amazing film! And as someone who studied film at college I appreciate the artistic directions the Russo’s took!

I do very much think this film is different, and I mean that in a good way! I’ve never seen a film like this or a story told like this and I think that’s very much down to the way the Russo’s split the film up into chapters, whilst that may not have been necessary as it’s quite a clear storyline, it kind of helps bring you out of one section and into another so that in a way, you’re not holding on to what you’ve just seen.

Having read the book I think they did a very good job of getting in the main plot points and adding in as much as possible in the 2 and a half hours that they had! The only difference is I guess the ending, the ending in the book is very vague so obviously they needed to come up with something to bring the story to a close.

I found when I watched it the first time that the tempo of the film was just right but then when I watched it a second time I found myself thinking, “did it all just seem to go by so quickly because I was excited and because Tom’s in it?” And I think partially, yes. The second time around it did seem a bit longer however, the scenes go by at the right pace, I never thought to myself “I wish it’d hurry up already!” Like I’m sure we’ve all experienced at some point watching a movie😂 The story just flowed seamlessly and I think having the story split up into chapters helped that!

There’s only two sort of “issues” I have in terms of the editing of the film and one is to do with that clip that was released were Emily is on the swing talking to Cherry. That clip is obviously longer in the movie and when you get to that scene the colour changes to represent how Cherry is seeing the world at that moment and it kinda just threw me off a little bit and you’ll definitely notice it and maybe see why.

The second clip happens a couple of times in the movie and it’s a zoom in on Emily’s face, the problem I have is with the background, it didn’t sit right with me and therefor put me off a little bit. I think the story is as much about Emily as it is about Cherry, she’s suffering because of his suffering and I guess that scene was trying to show you more of her and make her likeable to the audience, as even though it’s about both the film obviously focuses on Cherry’s life.

I think I’m terms of the Oscar talk for Tom, I’m not sure it’ll happen, possibly in terms of it being released so late (the oscars are usually between the end of Feb-start of Mar) but also when watching it I kind of got this vibe that it’s not something the Oscars would go for. His performance in it is incredible but something tells me the quirky style of the film may not grab him a nom😩

I feel as though watching his performance I can’t even put into words how incredible it is! There’s often times when watching Tom’s movies that I find it hard to get into the story, I enjoy them but I just see Tom, with Cherry, the first time around I did but I didn’t, I’d that makes sense? I was excited to see Tom but I was pulled in by his acting and fully immersed in the story! He was just a “normal” person and it wasn’t hard to believe that, his little mannerisms and the way he spoke and did things made you believe that you were watching a man who is struggling to cope with the horrors he’s seen, not “Tom Holland pretending to be an addict.” I think a lot of what makes the story believable is the love Cherry has for Emily. She’s his driving force, behind everything he does and you can see the adoration he has for her and her for him without it being too over the top and like a “Hollywood romance”. They’re just two normal people, she has a normal job, they get a dog, their house isn’t always tidy, you know, normal couple shit. But they have this addiction they can’t kick and it’s starting to ruin them as people and it’s an addiction that many people face and recieve hardly any support for!

I can see why fans may find it hard to separate Tom from the movie, this is the first movie we’ve kind of seen him have a proper love interest and it’s sweet when Cherry kisses Emily or hugs her or comforts her but at the end of the day you have to remember that this, just like in all of Tom’s other films, is a character and this time it’s a character based on somebody else’s life. You have to be respectful of Nico Walker and other people who are going through similar problems to him. You can’t romanticise the drug taking or the bank robbing because that’s somebodies life right now and trust me when I say that they will not find the situation that they’re in, romantic. People have many layers, not a lot of people are purely evil through and through, Cherry was a bank robber and a drug addict but he was also a loving husband to his wife but that was also an often Toxic relationship.

It’s ok to say “it was cute when Tom did this in the movie.” But as long as you recognise that you’re talking about Tom. And please don’t write fanfics based on the film, about the drug taking or the bank robbing. It’s ok to recognise that Tom is physically attractive in the role, as he always is, god this man🙄😂 but please don’t romanticise this character.

Ciara’s acting was also incredible! When Emily was struggling with addiction you knew she was struggling! I think she was the perfect person to play Emily❤️

[aiyassalt]

Honestly, I greatly dislike Sansa (both her book and show counterparts), but there are times when I read pro-Sansa posts and theories, I feel pity for her.

No, not because I think the show “butchered” her. As mega-ringsandthings-world pointed out, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Sansa to become what she is in S8. GRRM created her to be the black sheep of the family who clashes and causes trouble for other family members. This is the same girl who snitched on her dad to the woman who ordered her wolf killed so that she can get Joffrey’s dick hand in marriage and become Queen. This is the same girl who dismissed Jory’s death because his replacement is much more handsome. This is the same girl who is currently in on the plan to slowly poison her epileptic and orphaned cousin and covers up the truth about his mother’s death so that she can get the Vale. So, it’s totally possible for Sansa grow from an extremely spoiled, self-centered snobby brat who throws family members and allies under a bus for power and prestige to a manipulative yet gullible, traumatized, bitter, self-centered woman who screws over family members and allies for power.

No, I feel pity for Sansa because, out of her own universe, in fandom, she has few people in her corner. The only people who seem to appreciate her for what she is are only a handful of Sansa stans and Sansa haters/critics like me. Like many fans have brilliantly pointed out, many Sansa stans’ investment in Sansa has less to do with them genuinely finding her character and/or storyline interesting, but more so that she serves as a self-insert and they project traits and storylines they find desirable for her.  For all her fans’ claims of how they love her so much because she’s so feminine, non-magical, and not a physical badass (of course, annoying “subtle” digs at Jon, Arya, and Dany), the posts that incorrectly summarize Sansa’s traits, fanfics that have Sansa wielding a sword, bows and arrows, the posts theorizing that she will receive/warg Nymeria or Dany’s dragons, raise Arya’s or Dany’s kids, become the YMBQ and posts by Sansa stans getting pouty that not everyone think Sansa’s destined to become the next ruler of the North, Queen of the 7K, and/or YMBQ prove opposite. I would dare to say that Sansa stans dislike, nay, hate canon!Sansa and her actual storyline. And quite frankly, I don’t blame them.

Sansa’s not one of the Main Five; she’s just a main character. She’s also supposed to be the female equivalent of the Everyman character who serves as a window for the readers into how the courtly culture of this medieval fantasy-esque setting is rife with corruption and cruelty hiding beneath the thin and glittery veneer of courtly values and luxury. Her arc has nothing to do with rulership and leadership. Her beginning chapters cement her as a thoughtless, self-centered, vain, classist brat with low pockets of empathy for anyone who isn’t attractive and/or highborn and disturbingly parallels with young!Cersei’s beginnings. She isn’t super intelligent, observant, kind, or clever, especially compared to other characters. She’s easily one of the most conformist and classist characters in the series and doesn’t give much thought as to how she will improve her life and the lives of others. She’s incredibly passive and her passiveness becomes more apparent compared to other characters. Her accomplishments are unremarkable and look even more so compared to what other characters (especially to the Main Five) achieve. Romance-wise, her love life looks rather dismal and far from the stuff of wish-fulfillment for many Sansa stans who think like AGOT!Sansa. None of the male characters she interacts with (Joffery, Sandor, Tyrion, Littlefinger, Sweetrobin, Harry, etc) exactly fit the mold of the Prince Charming trope in terms of looks and/or personality meanwhile other female characters seem to get “better pickings” of potential male love interests. Hell, even in the sphere of beauty standards, Sansa’s good looks don’t make her exactly unique. Also, the books clearly and frequently subvert the Beauty Is Never Tarnished trope and have many formerly beautiful women temporarily or permanently lose their looks. So, there might be chance that Sansa might undergo an event that slightly or greatly disfigures her. Finally, regarding acquisition of power, again, what Sansa gets, and how she acquires it will pale in comparison to what other characters. Contrary to the show, Sansa is not going to become Queen of the North. If Sansa does acquire a title, it will most likely be Lady of the Vale and it will be through killing/endangering her epileptic cousin. Jon, Dany and/or Arya, on the other hand, will likely play integral roles in the War for the Dawn, contenders for Kingship/Queenship of the North or the Iron Throne, and will gain their power through charisma, dedication, sheer will and determination, compassion, and hard work.

So yeah, I can see how and why many Sansa stans go out of their way to take anything and everything from other characters to give to their so-called “favorite”. I can see why they insist on pro-Sansa revisionist spins that erase Sansa’s flaws as well as any responsibility, agency, and blame she owns for any wrongs she commits. Sansa is not at all an easy or likable character to root for.

And yet, despite all that I said…it’s completely fine that she is all those things. Yes, I, someone who greatly dislikes Sansa, is saying this. There’s nothing wrong with Sansa starting off as a passive, classist, and snobby bully with little empathy and not much intelligence and she becomes…well, less of a bully at least.  It’s completely fine her arc has nothing to do with ruling or leading and is all about her just learning to be less shallow and appreciate what she initially had. It’s completely fine she doesn’t end up as Queen of the North or the Seven Kingdoms, doesn’t take Cersei down, doesn’t end up with fAegon, etc. There’s nothing wrong (other than the child poisoning deal…) with Sansa acquiring the Vale. It’s a rich region and its culture is more suitable to Sansa’s personality, tastes, and arc.

What I find frustrating and saddening is that Sansa fans have no problem finger-wagging at Dany, Arya, and Jon fans how it’s fine and even “beautiful” if our faves don’t get happy endings or enjoy perks typical of their fairy tale archetypes. Yet these same Sansa fans seem to empathically refuse to apply the same thinking to their own fave and (again, based on their actions) seem to desperately wish Sansa was something more than a snobby and classist rich mean girl with no magical abilities, charisma, or a big heart full of empathy and compassion. This might be just my thinking, but if you truly like and appreciate a character, then you would not feel the need to bash other characters to prop her/him/they up only to turn around blatantly steal other traits and storylines from the characters you bash because truthfully, you find fave’s personality traits and their arc grating and unsatisfactory.

So, that’s what I mean when I say I feel occasional pity for Sansa: because she has very few fans who genuinely like and appreciate her. Hell, I even feel more pity for Sansa when I think about her fans because I suspect a lot of her so-called “fans” will turn on her if none of their theories and headcanons are validated. I can only imagine what will happen if Sansa dies and never takes Cersei and/or Dany down or is never crowned QiTN or simply becomes Lady of the Vale. Or she ends up with the “wrong” guy or ends up single or with a random noble who isn’t as high-ranking and/or handsome as they would like.

[pinkhousesgcv]

hey jas!!! 4,5,6, 23, and 27

AAA hi ally!!!! :DD tysm!!!

4. have you ever dreamed about fancfiction

I think I can safely say I haven’t, though I know I have definitely dreamt about Blaine, maybe you can count that as some sort of weird AU in my subconscious! Though I do feel like if I were to dream about any fanfic it’d be iidy, that thing still haunts me, but maybe I’d only dream about high Blaine, I’d enjoy that. (if you haven’t read iidy,,, i have no explanation for this, go read it!!)

5. strangest trope you’ve ever read

I read a horrifically disturbing worm fic on a midnight boredom spree, and no I will not elaborate.

6. strangest trope you’ve ever written

Well, I currently have a WIP which I think is a really awesome and funky trope but I can’t say anything about it because it’ll spoil the entire thing, other than that I don’t have much writing to my name to attribute any crazy tropes to, maybe in the future though :DD

23. how old were you when you read your first fic

I want to say 12? I was an avid Wattpad user, I could spend hours on there and I just ate up fics in my free time.

27. would you ever consider writing your own story? like original fiction?

I mean writing is incredibly fun and maybe if the opportunity presented itself, but I don’t feel it would be something I’d be good at. The thing about fanfiction is it’s so easy to get into because no matter how far you push the boundaries you still have a set world to work within, Kurt and Blaine, their personalities, their friends, their memories, those things are already given and people use them as tools to create wonderful things, which is why I genuinely love fanfiction so much. 

Though many authors do both, in the sense that they finish a fic and then take that story and change the characters and some of the details and there you basically your own original story, which I think is a really really awesome thing to do and I love to see it, so to cut a long answer short: maybe! :D

[darlingrutherford]

2019 recap

Tomorrow's the beginning of 2020! I've been seeing so many lovely year recaps going around and wanted to post one as well.

It's kind of strange for me to say that 2019 was good to me. My disability/health got worse. Mentally and physically, 2019 was incredibly hard. But wow, this fandom. You all came to my blog and encouraged me. You shared in my pain. You gave me confidence. You helped birth more Lanistair AUs than I had ever thought I'd have, and showed me that people can love my OCs just as much as I do, which is so amazing.

I've written more this year than I probably have any other year. I slowed down the last two months because of losing my job, but I can already feel that mental cloud beginning to clear.

In 2020, I want to write more. I want to create. And that includes art. My biggest goal for 2020 is to be able to do an actual art recap at the end of the year. I had planned on drawing a lot this year, but life and confidence got in the way and I only ended up drawing about six things the entire year. That's got to change.

@thejeeperswife tagged me in a writing end of the year recap, but before I get to that I just wanted to thank each and every one of you. I'm in a weird point of my life where the most contact I get is with people online, so meeting so many of you and gaining a handful of amazing friends has been really the greatest thing that's happened to me this year. I've been laughing more. I've been excited to create. And it's all because of you! So, thank you to anyone who's ever reached out, and especially those who still do. You're all amazing, and I love you all so much! And if you ever need to reach out or just want to talk, the offer is always open! Send an ask, shoot me a message. Life is too short! ❤️

End of the Year Writing Recap

To make this easy, I'm only counting published works. I have so many things partially written that haven't been posted yet, but it would take forever to tally those up 😂 This also only includes the things I've posted on Ao3, and doesn't include the interviews and other fun things I've only posted here.

Word count: 111,213

To Weather the Storm (ongoing): 8 new chapters, 75,313 new words

Late Nights (oneshot): 4,482

Apologies (oneshot): 1,289

Beg for It (oneshot): 2,674

Spanking (oneshot): 1,211

Sensitive (oneshot): 1,349

A Haunting in the Winter Palace (oneshot): 768

Jealousy (oneshot): 1,602

Dirty Talk (oneshot): 1,116

Praise (oneshot): 1,582

Spoils of the Avvar (oneshot): 2,155

Once Upon a Time in Thedas (ongoing): 5 chapters, 15,956 words

Rainy Days (oneshot): 1,714

Number of smut scenes: not including those only posted to Tumblr, I believe 15? Also not including ones I've already written that haven't been posted to chapters yet 😂

New things I tried this year: I feel like I've written my most well developed character in Lana this year, and filling out each and every “about your OC” sheet I've come across helped so immensely in that respect! I also took a leap and wrote my first oneshot that had someone else's character in it rather than one of my own, and I'm super happy with how that turned out!

Favorite thing I wrote this year: I have a chapter mostly pre-written for To Weather the Storm that will happen post-Corypheus and pre-Trespasser that I really think is some of my best writing. At least, I was bawling while writing it and continue to bawl every time I edit it. So, I'm very excited to post that in the new year!

Favorite fic I read this year: Ao3 user AlleiraDayne has a oneshot modern!AU chapter called “Rutherford, Party of 4” that is just. *Chef's kiss* It remains the hottest thing I've ever read and continue to go back and read all the time. If you want to read an incredibly hot and thirsty oneshot foursome between Cullen, Alistair, and their respective wives, click on that link NOOOOW

Writing goals for 2020: I want to wrap up To Weather the Storm as much as possible. Continue working on Once Upon a Time in Thedas. And, of course, begin posting my (somewhat of a) slowburn DAO story of Lanistair ❤️

Pending projects in 2020: Apart from those mentioned above, more reader-inspired fills, detective!AU Lanistair, modern!AU DAI, AND, very possibly (as I learn the world better), delving into the Witcher fandom for writing. Possibly a DA/Witcher AU because @schoute is ruining my brain LMAO

I'd like to tag @allisondraste @herald-divine-hell @jacklyn-flynn @bigfan-fanfic @lostinfantasies38 @johaeryslavellan @jellysharkbat and anyone else I've forgotten who would like to join in! (Also, resolution for next year: make an actual list of people I routinely want to tag in things so I quit forgetting lmao)

[recurring-polynya]

What’s your opinion on pre-canon Renruki?

I think that they already had a romantic or almost romantic relationship back in the Academy, maybe even back in Rukongai, and the reason it wasn’t explicit is because firstly it would have spoiled the endgame couples, and secondly it’s a shonen, so it’s implied.

I think they fooled around when they were orphans in Inuzuri. They grew up together, they were always together in their “teenage” years (however adolescence works for souls😅), I think it’s not impossible that they had their first experience, if just their first kiss and make out session, with each other. When they joined the Academy, they spent less time together due to their different courses, and I think Rukia’s sad expression when Renji leaves for the mission in the real world depicts that (along with worry for him, and maybe even jealousy for his achievements compared to hers). By then I think they were quite intimate, they fooled around sometimes (with the little time they had) and knew the other’s and their own feelings, but never said anything like “I love you”, or talked seriously about the depth of their relationship. If they were “just friends”, as some antis like to claim, they wouldn’t have been so heartbroken, have so many regrets and felt so guilty during their separation. And why that separation in the first place? It’s not a matter of class difference, because Rukia did talk to people of inferior status, like her Squad mates. What’s actually forbidden to people from different classes is relationships. If Renruki was just a friendship, there would have been no problem, but their bond was beyond that. Rukia wanted Renji to tell her to stay with him, but his feelings of inferiority and belief that Rukia deserved better (maybe even better than him) prevented him to do it. Their separation doesn’t feel like an end to a friendship to me, it feels like a breakup. They avoided each other because it hurt so much, and they couldn’t bear to have any relationship other than a romantic one, which was impossible once she became a Kuchiki.

After the Soul Society arc, they got back together. They were physically too comfortable around each other to be just friends, like when he basically hugged her to encourage her to go back to Soul Society when Orihime is kidnapped (and maybe he was also comforting her), or when, during the fight with the Fullbringers, he casually placed her head resting on his thigh. By then they were secretly dating, in my opinion. In the last arc they were always together, it’s so easy imagining them as a couple.

What do you think? Is my interpretation far fetched? I’d like to hear your theories about their feelings, when they blossomed, when they confessed, if they had something going on during their Academy years…

Thank you if you decide to answer!🤍

Well, as you say, Bleach is a shounen, and also I don’t think Kubo was particularly interested in including romance in the story, so I don’t think there is a correct or incorrect interpretation. It’s left to the reader to imagine what they like. I don’t think “spoiling the endgame” has anything to do with anything.

I don’t think your interpretation is “too far-fetched,” although I don’t happen to agree with it. There’s very little to go on in canon, people can fill in the gaps in whatever way makes them happy/makes sense to them. I have exactly 0 interest in arguing with people on the internet about stuff like this. I enjoy reading fanfiction that has wildly different interpretations from my own, I generally love to hear a variety of ideas, although I generally prefer the format of a narrative over Tumblr posts (funny, since I do seem to write a lot of them).

Anyway, here are a bunch of opinions. This is way, way too long, so I'm gonna throw it under a cut.

That being said, you have some really amatonormative ideas in there that I do take issue with. Friendships absolutely can be as deep and important as romantic relationships. I categorically reject the idea that a romantic bond is stronger than a friendship one or that acts of physical affection necessarily imply a romantic relationship. I actually have no beef at all with people who want to read Rukia and Renji’s story as a very strong friendship. I do think it was still reasonable for Renji to avoid her during their separation, even if his goal wasn’t romance. He wanted to see her live a better life, and didn’t want to drag her down. Yeah, sure, if he just wanted to be a casual workplace friend, he probably could have joined Squad 13 and seen her once in a while. But, especially in the early days, it would have been a bad look for Rukia to continue socializing with people deeply below her station, and I feel in my heart that Byakuya would have forbidden her from seeing Renji if he found out she was hanging out with someone from her Inuzuri days, even if it was just casual. Yeah, there exist people who say Rukia and Renji are "just friends" for the sake of other preferred ships, but also, like, so what? Who cares? That’s a lot better than making Renji out to be a bad person or trashing his character. To be honest, I am generally happy to read a fanfic that had some other Renji or Rukia pairing if it actually contained some solid Renruki best friend content (I have found a few 369 fics that do this, and maybe also in the little bit of RenIchi content I have read, so, uh, good job, my gays. This is sometimes touched on in ByaRen fics, but usually not as much as I want, althought I also tend to hold these to a high bar, because if I have to deal with Byakuya in my fanfics, they should have to deal with the Rukia-Renji friendship 😂)

Anyway, you asked for my interpretation, so here it is . These are all just, like, my opinions, man:

Life in Inuzuri just really, really, really sucks, and Rukia and Renji both have a lot of trauma and emotional hang-ups from that time. I think they forged a deep emotional connection during this time that was probably a little too codependent to actually be healthy. They had no models of healthy families or relationships. I also think they were incredibly close to Fujimaru, Kosaburou, and Mameji, and that even if they wanted to have a romantic relationship, they wouldn’t have, at the risk of ruining the more important bonds of the larger group.

In my fanfic, in their last days in Inuzuri, I do have them fool around for a brief period. It coincides with the deterioration of the bond with their last surviving friend, leading to his death. I did this for trauma reasons, because that’s how writers are.

“Communication” is probably the most important theme in my writing, and a thing I bring up all the time is that young Rukia and Renji had a thousand ways of communicating survival-based things between each other, and 0 ways of communicating how they felt about each other.

I did a post on this recently, but their whole gang was incredibly powerless in Inuzuri. They lived on the fringes of society and stole scraps to survive. I think that their number one duty to one another was to survive. In the anime, Rukia swears that she will never leave Inuzuri, that she will always stay with her friends. I think the reason she does an about-face is not just because their friends are gone, but because she realizes that she will lose Renji next, and the only way to prevent that is for both of them to get stronger. Neither of them actually wants to become a soul reaper. They do it for each other.

I think that Renji would have remained in Inuzuri and tried to make a life as best they could, but Rukia knew this was futile, and where Rukia goes, Renji follows.

I think they purposely maintained distance at the Academy. Just as in Inuzuri, their primary duty to one another is to survive and thrive. They were rejected and mocked for their low origins, and hanging out together would have made this worse. I think it hurt Rukia that Renji made new friends, but on the other hand, they were exactly the sort of people who would help him get a leg up in the Gotei. Rukia’s Academy days were very painful because she saw Renji succeeding, just as she wanted, but leaving her behind in the process. Conversely, Renji got super focused on doing well, with the idea that he could pull Rukia up behind him, except for the part where he never actually told her that.

I feel like I’m in the minority here, but so much fanfic focuses on Rukia and/or Renji being “wrong” in the scene where he tells her to go to the Kuchiki, but I disagree! Everything they have done is in order to get to a better life! It is Renji’s duty to encourage her to leave him behind. He doesn’t want to be an anchor holding her down. Likewise, Rukia knows that if she doesn’t go, she’s just gonna be a burden on him. Their relationship has always been about each of them surviving separately over having happiness together. Up to now, they’ve always managed to find each other again, although this kinda looks like it might be it for them. Do these kids need to go to therapy? Yes! Did they do anything wrong? No!

I think about this a lot, but even if Rukia had turned down the adoption (which… I’m not actually sure she could have), even the offer would have ruined their relationship. Imagine that Renji asks her to stay, and she does. Maybe they even get together at this point. Every rough patch, every time there’s money troubles, this spectre of “Rukia could have been a Kuchiki” is going to hang over them. In fiction, there is often an idea of sacrifice being a one-time romantic gesture, but in my real life experience, this sort of thing hangs around like an unwanted ghost. I can, in fact, envision a scenario where this is exactly how Aizen manages to get his hooks in Renji, by offering Rukia an unseated spot in Squad 5, even though she “isn’t really good enough to deserve it” and “taking care of them.”

I am really fascinated with Rukia’s crush on Kaien/Miyako. Bold proclamation here, but I think there is something developmentally healthy about young people having crushes on the older people in their lives, provided that said older people treat them with respect and dignity and don’t take advantage of it in any way. Crushes are, by their nature of being unreciprocated, a safe way for young folks to imagine the sort of people and relationships they want to have in their lives. I headcanon Rukia as bisexual, and maybe also a little bit genderfluid, and she had these two extremely cool people in her life, whom she maybe wanted to be and maybe wanted to kiss and maybe to have a marriage like that some day. I… like to think that their role in her life healed some of her trauma before their death caused even more.

Fully into headcanons now, but I like to think that Renji had a parallel experience, with, of all people, Ikkaku and Yumichika. Like him, they came from the ass-end of Rukongai, but they stuck together instead of bowing to the social mores of the Seireitei. It is critical to note that they were able to do this through strength. This is literally not a thing that Renji and Rukia could have done, but at the same time, Renji sees this as the kind of relationship he wants to have with a partner. He doesn’t want to look after Rukia and protect her, he wants to fight back-to-back with her and then make out afterwards. He’s still convinced that he needs to go through the proper class channels to see Rukia again, but without their influence, I don’t think he ever would have been able to say “fuck it” and turn on his captain during the Soul Society Arc.

Meeting Ichigo and dealing with his unreasonable need to protect everyone he cares about, personally, was also a huge blow to Rukia and Renji’s “I cannot allow the other person to take any risks for my sake” hang-up. Ichigo has his own traumas, which are entirely different from Renruki’s, but the one thing he had was growing up in a loving family. (Isshin has his problems, but I feel strongly that he always made his kids feel like his love was unconditional). I’m not saying that making friends with a shounen protagonist is a good replacement for therapy, but it does have healing properties.

Entirely off-topic, but I feel like Ichigo is incredibly selfish in the way of Terry Pratchett’s witches: “All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany’s Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!

Where were we? Oh, yeah. I honestly think that it is unknowable when in canon Rukia and Renji confessed. I already covered this pretty thoroughly in this post. I hate the idea that they were secretly dating. Renji worked incredibly hard to get his post and I think that both his job and Byakuya’s respect are very important to him. I do not think he would put either of those things at risk like that, nor would Rukia want him to. I tend to prefer a slow-burn approached, and I honestly think they got together during the 17-mo timeskip at the earliest, and more likely post-canon entirely, although I think them confessing in the Royal Realm is the spiciest possible outcome, so that’s what most of my fanfic cleaves to.

[marsobars]

Ribbons and Cobras

First fanfic/short story!! This was an assignment for a Creative Writing class. It was this or a poetry book, and I went with the option that had more freedom to do what I want.

...I think it's kind of cringey, not gonna lie.

Enjoy it regardless!

Beau was the newest member of the ARMS League, and everything was immensely different from her previous life. No longer would she stay with friends and family she knew. The League was not her first choice, but now she was here to stay. There were only about 10 people who were in the league, but all of them were incredibly unique. One man was attending college, but that came to a halt when he woke up with chainlinks for arms and had to join this league. Another woman had somehow gotten the mutation to her hair, leaving her with four arms instead of your typical two. Members even ranged from robotic beings to the undead. Nonetheless, everyone in this small group was family.

One person in the league, however, stood out from the rest of them.

    “You must be the new one.”

Beau looked up to see a figure above her head. She hadn’t noticed she was being watched.

    “As far as I know,” she replied. “It’s rude to watch someone without them knowing.”

    “I don’t follow the rules all the time,” he said, hopping down from where he stood. 

    This character was a unique breed of human she could not possibly describe. He had a humanoid build, but had snake-like features. His face was partially covered with a bandana, but she could tell that his forehead and part of his cheeks were covered in what appeared to be scales. His torso was longer than normal, and lacked normal length in his legs. Long, black, and silky hair just about matched the length of hers. It might have been a little longer.

    He held out his hand for her to shake. “I go by Kid Cobra.”

    “My name is Beau,” she said, returning his hand shake.

    “Beau?... is that, like, your real name?” Kid Cobra began to blush slightly, then looked towards the ground. “No one has ever told me their real name right off the bat like that.”

    She gave him a patient smile with a small blush as well. “You don’t seem so bad. At least you took the time to introduce yourself.”

    He placed a hand behind his head. “Well, uh, call me Akshay, then.”

    “That’s a nice name, I like it.” Beau replied.

    From that point on, their bond began to flourish. They had the biggest connection out of everyone in the league. They would visit each other for hours just to talk and spend time together. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and their connection only grew more. There was never such a unique bond between two drastically different beings. 

They were always there for eachother, in their darkest times. Beau specifically had a harder time compared to him. Her career outside of the ARMS League allowed her to perform for thousands of people, but, there was always something missing. Something she couldn’t describe.

“I don’t know, Cobra…” she paused for a moment, considering what to say. “ No one really cares about what I do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone is only there because it’s a part of their job. They don’t want to connect with me. I just come off as the spoiled rich person. I don’t want to be that way.”

“I know. What about all of your fans?”

“I mean, yeah, they are there, but… I can’t connect with them. I’m not talking to them and bonding with them like I want to. I don’t want that for them. I don’t want any of this.”

Akshay couldn’t see her, but her sniffles were enough to tell him she was crying.

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I just... feel so unloved…”

The conversation was cut off. Beau looked at the screen of the phone to discover that Akshay hung up. Upon the sight, she immediately broke down into tears. Everyone she knew had turned her down and ignored her. Now Akshay was one of them. All she could do was curl into the corner of her room and cry. 

Until, 30 minutes later, she heard a knock on the door.

She cracked the door open and peeked through. Standing in the doorway was Akshay, soaked from the rain with a skateboard in hand.

“Beau,” he began.

She stepped outside of the door with tears in her eyes. Akshay removed the handkerchief that was always around his face to reveal that he was crying just as much as her. 

“I love you. I love you so much.”

Cupping her face into his hands, he pulled her in and kissed her lips. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. How long they stayed in each other’s embrace is unknown, but it was enough to melt their dread away.They remember spending time with each other in silence that night. They remember falling asleep with one another. They remember falling in love. Their relationship flourished, but other people who saw their connection thought otherwise. 

'A normal girl wasn't supposed to be with a beast like Akshay,' they thought. He couldn't take the neglect. All of the discrimination not only directed towards himself, but Beau as well would send him into a silent fury, sending him straight to her to let it out.

"The things they said about you behind your back," he would say, "they think I'm stupid and that I can't hear it."

Beau cupped her hands around his face. "Listen, sweetheart. They can call me whatever they want, but it won't stop me from loving you. They call you a beast, but just remember you are my beast. I know you are upset, but just keep me in mind when you are upset, okay?"

He nodded. 

Despite all of the hate and discrimination they received, the love they felt towards each other never died off. That didn’t stop people from trying to bring them apart, however, and there were times when that went too far.

Upon unlocking the door to their home, Akshay walked inside. He stood and stared around a completely ransacked room. Furniture was flipped, and all of the curtains and rugs were folded over. Glass was shattered, and spread across the floors. What stood out the most was the absence of the most important thing in his life. Beau was gone.

He frantically searched around the house for any sign of her, but to no avail. Grabbing his phone, he began to dial for the authorities before realizing that that would be a mistake. Akshay was a phenomenon on his own. Having the police walk in on a mysterious man of both human and snake surrounded by a completely trashed home is asking for his arrest. There was no getting arrested when the love of his life was in danger. He had someone he needed to save.

    Clues were what he needed to find, but everything that he could use to his advantage was either taken or broken onto the floor. Out of desperation, he picked up his phone and, instead of calling for help, he called for Beau. Perhaps there was a chance she could answer her phone. He called once, waited about 30 seconds, before it went to voicemail. He called again, with the same outcome. He got even more desperate, and called a third time. He waited for what seemed like another eternity, before he got an answer.

    “Akshay?”

    A weight lifted off of his shoulders to hear her voice again. “Beau, where are you? Are you okay?”

    He was cut off from her frantic breathing and fast-paced words on the other end of the phone. “Akshay, I don’t have a lot of time! Please, come get me! He’s gonna keep me here!”

    “I’m not letting anything happen to you. Where are you now? I’ll come get you.”

    There was a pause between their exchange where no one said a word.

    “Beau? Answer me!”

    “The warehouse! Hurry, he knows!”

    “Who knows?”

    Akshay looked at the screen to see the call had ended. There was no more time to wait; Beau’s life was in danger. Whoever this person was wanted her dead, but he wasn’t going to let that happen.

    The warehouse Beau had mentioned was on the very edge of town. It towered above all of the buildings in the neighborhood. It was ancient, old and rackety; a single breeze that was slightly stronger than the others could knock it down onto its side. The condition of the building was not enough to stop Akshay, however. Without a second thought, he stepped inside. 

    He glanced around the area that he could see. The inside was nearly pitch black. 

    “Beau? Beau, I’m here! Answer me!”

    Silence was the only thing to answer. The only thing he could do was fear the worst. That was before he saw a familiar face precariously step out from behind the abandoned wares in the shadows.

    “Akshay?”

    He gave her a smile of relief, and began to run towards her. “ Beau, I’m getting you out of here!”

    Before he could progress any further, a blast came from in front of him, and a wave of heat entered his chest, stopping him in his tracks. He looked down to find a bullet in his side, before collapsing onto the ground beneath him.

    “NO!” 

    Beau tried desperately to run to his side before a figure pulled her back. Akshay was in a pain so intense that his vision blurred, but it he could see and hear enough to tell him it was someone he knew. Someone who was familiar. Upon raising his head to get the best glance he could, he could identify another snake-human hybrid, only this hybrid was out to stop what Beau and Akshay had started between one another. 

    “We warned you, Akshay,” the figure replied. “Our kind is not to intertwine with a normal human. You broke the one rule of our clan. We can’t have this.”

    Akshay tried to reach his hand out, but flinched at the shot of pain rushing through his side. The heat was getting worse in his chest, yet the rest of his body was getting cold. Tears began to run down his face.

    He refused to give up. If he were to go down, especially without a fight, it meant that Beau would go down as well. With all of the strength he had left, he got onto one foot. A sharp pain shot through all of his body no matter what he did, but it would go ignored.

    “Beau,” Akshay grunted, “get over here, now!”

    The figure placed had wrapped his arms around her torso and throat. It wouldn’t be an easy escape, but she would fight with her life. Beau dug her elbow in the figure’s side, getting it to kneel over. She then stepped onto its feet before reeling back and knocking the figure in the jaw,making a break for her injured partner.

    “Akshay, Get up!”

He threw an arm in front of her, signaling her to get back before suddenly shooting up on two feet. Every step, another agonizing pain. Every pain he felt only increased his determination to take care of this threat. 

The figure had begun to recover when it began to panic. Akshay was strong, stronger than anyone it had ever known. It was going to take more than a single bullet. It reached for the gun lying on the ground and fired.

The first bullet hit Akshay in the shoulder, but he did not flinch. Bullet three hit his hip, but he kept making his way closer. With every bullet he fired, the panic augmented. The final attempt at firing the gun failed. It was out of bullets. 

“You’re insane! Akshay, don’t do this! The Naja Crew will hear of this! They will hunt you down and kill you if you kill me!”

Akshay grabbed the figure by the throat and lifted him into the air. His hands began to shake, and his body could not take it anymore. With a shaky breath and eyes glaring daggers, Akshay continued. 

“I’ll take my chances.”

With a single fell swoop of his arm, Akshay threw the figure into the ground, knocking them unconscious. Akshay knew that the job was done. With the strength he had left, he turned to face Beau. She was okay. Scratched and shaken up, but okay. 

    “Beau,” he muttered, “It’s going to be okay.” 

Akshay gave her his best smile, before blacking out and collapsing onto the ground.

    He remembered hearing the sirens. He remembered hearing the heart monitors constant beeping. He remembered his vision fading in and out. He saw the red and blue flashes, and the paramedics trying desperately to save his life. He saw Beau. He saw her crying harder than he had ever seen her cry. It broke his heart to see her worry. But despite it all, he knew that she wasn’t hurt. He would feel all of the pain in the world if it means that Beau didn’t have to feel it herself. That was all that mattered.

    Hours turned into days as they passed, yet Beau refused to leave the hospital. Akshay was in pain. He might not be able to see or hear her, but she was going to comfort him all that she could. 

    She lay in silence next to him in his hospital bed, stroking his chest. Tears seemed to be permanently stuck to her eyes through the days he stayed there.

    She felt a hand touching the top of her head. A large hand, that held the top of her head perfectly. Looking up, she saw Akshay, staring back at her and smiling. There were bags under his eyes; he looked as if he hadn’t slept in ages.

    Beau shot up in disbelief. “Akshay?”

    He let out his best attempt at a laugh. “I missed you.”

    She began to cry at the sight of him. The fact that he was smiling and talking to her again melted all of her worries away. Beau smiled, throwing herself into his chest for a hug.

“I missed you too, dumbass.”

    He wiped the tears off her cheeks. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

With the strength he had regained, Akshay held up her chin to get a good look at her before pulling her in for a kiss. 

“I told you everything was going to be okay.”