#lots of oc's? i think not I'm going to make these characters marvel ones I just have to decie when and where this story takes place

[sprintingowl]

TTRPGs As Terrariums For Blorbos

One thing that I think isn't covered enough in TTRPG recommendations is styles of play.

There's a lot of "this game has this tone," or "this game is this amount of crunchy," but less "what are you playing towards?"

In games like Microscope and I'm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic? and The Quiet Year, you're playing to see what happens to the setting.

In games like Mork Borg and Into The Odd and Mothership, you're playing to see how far your character can get.

And in a lot of games, you're playing to create a blorbo, an OC, just a little guy, and the soul of the gameplay is the story of who your guy is and who your guy becomes.

This is blorbo style play.

And the thing about styles of play is that you can apply them to any game, even games that aren't really built to enable them. So I wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight onto some games that do specifically enable you to fully blorb out. (I'll try to cover a mix of genres and tones, but the rpg scene is vast so if you have a favorite that I missed please feel free to shout it out in the replies.)

-Golden Sky Stories. This is the English translation of the Japanese TTRPG Yuuyake Koyake. You play as shapeshifter kids and spirits in a small town and, instead of tracking EXP, the thing that you carry from session to session is your relationships with other characters. The tone of the game is heartwarming, and if combat happens, both sides lose. There can be emotional turmoil, but this isn't a game where you have to worry about bad things happening to your blorbo.

-New World Of Darkness. On the other hand, let's say you *want* bad things to happen to your blorbo. You want to play a guy that's really going through it. If you also like modern supernatural stories, New World Of Darkness was built for you. Characters in NWoD can be entirely non-combat, or a literal werewolf, or a noncombat werewolf. The game places a lot of emphasis on navigating through the setting socially, as its supernatural creatures tend to run in factions and starting a fight usually means making a bunch of enemies.

-Pasion De Las Pasiones. Of course, not everyone wants a fantastical setting. Sometimes good old melodrama is hearty and comforting. Pasion De Las Pasiones is a playable telenovela, and it encourages you to play your characters bold and recklessly. Every class even has a built-in Meltdown, where if you're pushed to the edge they become extra reckless, ensuring a broad fallout of messy drama when they do manage to calm down.

-Cortex System / Unisystem. Perhaps you want to drop your blorbo into an existing fictional universe? But you also want stats and meaty character creation instead of just freeform roleplay? There are easily a dozen games on the Cortex engine, including Supernatural, Firefly, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Marvel, and Leverage. And on Unisystem, there's Buffy, Army Of Darkness, as well as a somewhat rare I Can't Believe It's Not Planet Of The Apes.

-Lancer / Gubat Banwa. If you like blorb-y play but still want a heavy side of combat, both of these games have you covered. Lancer has a sprawling scifi universe focused on mech pilots, and Gubat Banwa has a violent and lavish mythological Philippines setting. Both of these games also have stunningly beautiful artwork, so if you like seeing a setting visually come to life, these are for you.

-Fabula Ultima. My final recommendation is also an extremely gorgeous looking game. Fabula Ultima is built on the bones of Ryuutama (itself an excellent travel-fantasy game) to enable meaty, blorby Final Fantasy style campaign play. Combat is a rich and deep option in Fabula Ultima, but so is everything from spellcasting to crafting, and players have built-in resources they can spend to affect the story. If a scene isn't quite going the way you want it to, you can spend a point to nudge it in the right direction. Fabula Ultima also feels extremely complete without being too complicated.

So there you go. Eight options, and that's barely scratching the surface of the sea of blorb-y games (Seventh Sea, Exalted, Blue Rose, Legend Of The Five Rings, Coyote And Crow, Timewatch, Nahual, and more!)

It's also not wrong to play non-blorb-y games in a blorb-y way. Do whatever you're comfortable with! But you might enjoy dipping into these titles.

Finally, if you've read this far and you're somehow still looking for MORE recommendations, I wrote this game about runaway changelings trying to find their place in the world, and it's probably the blorbiest in my catalog.

[quetzal-animations]

Heya! Welcome to my dump- er, profile!

But don't actually perish. I don't have an alibi.

Hello! I'm Quetzal, Quetz or Que to my friends, I don't care what pronouns you use for me tbh. I'm bisexual, and I have AUDHD, so please bear with me. It can be wonky up in the think tank sometimes. I am excessively awkward, as many people have told me. I have a tendency to say too much at once, act overly excited, or say things or word things in a way I shouldn't. I sincerely apologise for this, I am trying to get better, but it's... not going great. If I do/say anything that bothers you, PLEASE tell me, so I know, and I can try to avoid it in the future.

I know that seems like a lot, and I agree with you. If you don't want to deal with that, that's okay. I'm generally too shy to speak to somebody unprompted anyways.

ANYWAYS-

I like to draw and make stupid funny nonsense, and my current fandom obsessions are:

ROTTMNT (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)

The Champions and Nova comics series from Marvel. (My favourite Marvel character is Sam Alexander [Nova].)

The Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. (2012-2017)

Stardew Valley (SEBASTIAN MY BELOVED.)

Warnings/DNI stuff:

T-CESTERS STAY AWAY ISTG-

Also, no hate or homophobia, racism, any of that nasty crap.

I'm serious. Test me. I WILL aggressively bop you.

ROTTMNT AU Masterpost

Mutuals/Friends (Updates sporadically and slowly):

@likablemuffin

@unjudgmentalnoob

@gaysideofmarvel

@pmkn2-0

@iobsesswaytoomuch

@ldma-boodyshaker900

@crowdrinkingcoffee

@luna1star10

@fluffyyyfrog9000

@minish-mews-and-twos

@lil-leon

@mintythetiredgrizzcoworker

@cimmerian1275

Links:

Nothing of interest here, sorry.

Upcoming stuff/projects: Uh... idk lol.

Other BS if I think of it:

A bullet doesn't do its job until after it's fired.

National anthems can technically be considered 'country' music.

They say there's more water than land on Earth, but there's more land under the water...

Eppy, sleppy and/or seepy are infinitely better nonexistent words than eepy. Fight me. I will die on this hill. This is a hill. That I will die on.

Tags!

#quetzal does an art: Art/art-related posts

#quetzal says some stuff: Text posts

#quetzal wastes your time: Meme posts/stupid or random images

#quetzal does not have the answers you seek: Asks

#quetzal does a socialize: Reblogs/convos with friends/other peeps

#quetzal crashes out (again): rant posts

#quetzal says some pretty words that mean nothing: poetry posts

#quetzal exists: proof of my existence, often status update posts

#quetzal obsesses over another fictional man: I have a problem, istg-

#quetzal likes a thing and will not shut up about it: hyperfixation hyper-posting

Friendly Fire Callouts!

@likablemuffin : Has admitted to asexually fantasising about one of my ocs whilst taking a shower. 🤨

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

As someone who watched the show first and then got into the comics later, I do understand some of the gripes people had with the show.

One that I see a lot is making the Mr. Knight suit just Steven's version of the costume. I really love the concept of the suit changing to fit each alter but at the same time Mr. Knight in the comics is really fucking cool as a concept. I'm fine with them co-existing but if the MCU does more with Moon Knight, I'd be cool to have MCU Steven getting to do some detective work as Mr. Knight or talking with clients in an MCU version of the midnight mission.

I also see a lot of people complaining that the villain is named after a one-off villain from the weird era when he has an ankh chest symbol instead of a moon, but I think there would have been more outrage if they used a villain that people like because then they would be complaining about how different and worse the TV version is. I mostly find it funny because comics Arthur Harrow didn't even meet Moon Knight face to face. They really made an OC and then slapped a Harrow's name on it lol

So the Mr. Knight suit was first created by Shelby in the Ellis Shelby run. …Which isn't 100% accurate. You CAN find little background tidbits of Moon Knight going in groups with the Avengers dressed in a first iteration white suit… But Ellis and Shelby are the first to actully make use of the suit and create the Mr. Knight character.

What is intersting about it is that Moon Knight had just come off of a haitus after a disasterous run by BENDIS that ended in 2012 and Ellis picked it up in 2014. At this point, Moon Knight was a joke and they really needed to get Moon Knight away from what Bendis did. (not nearly the worst writer, but the one with the least amount of comprehension on how to handle Moon Knight).

Ellis is known for a certain style of writing and he had long wanted to team up with Shelby. Their Moon Knight run let them team up and also run off together to Image to write a beautiful comic (that they didn't fucking finish).

While the Ellis run had issues, it really gifted us with the Mr. Knight character. At that time, Marc was far from the man we known and knew. Jake and Steven were nothing more than memories, and Moon Knight was more or less a ghost. Mr. Knight felt like a dissociative episode with very little substance. It fit.

In the MCU show, Marc was originally supposed to have the Mr. Knight suit. All the promotions of Mr. Knight with his sleeves rolled up to show off those sexy forearms are in the Marc Spector role. An interesting concept and I wonder what their original plan was for the actual Moon Knight suit…

I suppose if you look at it in a certain way, it makes sense. Moon Knight looks like a mummy in ancient Egyptian garb and so on. Steven in the actual Egyptian style suit DOES make sense.

But Steven won out on the suit trying to look suave and cool and proper.

I would love to see MCU Steven doing more as Mr. Knight. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I can see him getting along fantastically as a detective.

As for the villain thing. It isn't uncommon for Marvel to do that sort of thing. The number of times they have taken a one off name drop and brought it back to make it into a big deal is sorta rediculous. They DID have Mogart and it makes me incredibly sad for many reasons. Mogart was a major villain in the OG comics and one might argue that he was the first reoccurring major villain for Moon Knight.

Sadly, the actor that played Mogart died in a tragic accident and all plans for him left the table. I think he could have made an excellent villain for future episodes/seasons.

I did very much like Harrow in the MCU. It played a fantastic other side to Marc's ideology about guilt and his issues with Khonshu. Not to mention his soothing smooth talk as a cult leader that Steven could instantly see through. It really was a fanstic way to highlight Steven's strengths. We can thank Ethan Hawk for such a great performance and for adding his own ideas to the character.

I agree with your assertion that using a beloved Moon Knight villain would have really divided the comic fans further from the show fans. You can't make everyone happy and people would certainly have complained.

I wonder if the original intent was to bring Comics Harrow back like they did with Agatha Harkness in the comics thanks to the show? It seems their Moon Knight plans were kind of all over the place and many of them didn't pan out. I wonder why…

[rabidredsalsa]

hello tumblr! i've just came back to this site after like 2-3 years of hibernation so please be patient with me 🙏🙏

my name is eric or falcon! this intro post is absolutely going to be updated and edited in the future, i just wanted to have it out here ahead of time 💗 i love borderlands, marvel and hypnosis mic among many others, but i'm mainly going to use this blog as an outlet for my borderlands ramblings, as i'm more active on my twitter about my other interests and it's grown to be quite cluttered

i'm a yumeshipper and oc x canon is one of my biggest joys in life! i adore making characters and working to make them align with the canon and i love supporting my friends' yumeships/oc x canon ships, so i'm also hoping to find some mutuals in that area! (mordecai and tyreen are an exception, though, as i have fidelity with two of my good friends. sorry!!)

i LOVE zer0. their character as been my ultimate hyperfixation for 10 years and counting, and i don't think i'll get sick of them anytime soon! i see him as agender asexual aroace, like myself, so i use they/them and he/him pronouns interchangeably <3 i have an oc x canon ship with them that means a lot to me, so i am unfortunately nonsharing and would like to avoid fellow zer0 yumes! fans are absolutely welcome though, i LOVE talking about them with people who appreciate them and i could go on forever about them... assassin lovers hit me up please

on the side i have some casual oc x canon ships with maya (more selective with her), rhys, fl4k, amara and clay - all 4 being sharing! apart from these is also the spot from the spiderverse movies but he's staying in the box from now 🤫

my discord is also rabidredsalsa so feel free to friend me or dm me about whatever! i love hearing about and discussing people's creations and OCs and theories and whatever

become my mutual...you want to so bad oooooo 🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀

[theheartmold]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you @flowersforthemachines for tagging me in this!

i will gently tag @v-arbellanaris and @symphorine; it's a lot of questions so no pressure! answers under the cut

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently have 20 works posted! Which is really fun, good round milestone to post on. I have thousands more in my drafts though.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

121,857. Woof that's actually so much more than I thought!

3) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(102) missing the mark - bg3 (EXPLICIT), (70) memento mori - bg3 (EXPLICIT), (66) the audience - DA, (38) the exeunt - DA, (37) outside everything i love is melting - DA

4) What fandoms do you write for?

Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate 3, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Lord of the Rings... that I've posted. Star Wars & Fallen Hero not posted :)

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, all of them! I love comment interactions and I view fanfic as a community experience. I took the time to write, you took the time to read and comment, let's keep the convo going!

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably "wear me down, it's not in my hands now"; it's about a sibling relationship falling apart lol. i don't write a lot of fics that end on angst.

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of mine don't end on such emotional notes or are longfics/wips, but the one that stands out is "say yes to me" which was a Gale/Tav oneshot that I still think is really cute!

8) Do you get hate on fics?

No and god willing it remains that way!

9) Do you write smut?

I kind of do. missing the mark and memento mori are both smutfics (HEED THE TAGS) but are really very fraught with other darker tones. I wrote them when I was going through a really bad place in my life and I can't reread them now--proud of them, but can't reread. Any attempt to write smut ever since has fallen flat out of... idk. Something blocking me. I'd like to do it again one day.

10) Do you write crossovers?

No, and I likely never will. I don't enjoy them.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not... to my knowledge. I wouldn't mind if so.

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

"A longing that's killing me" was written by @symphorine but a joint effort between us in terms of plotting it out; likewise, "Over Tea" was written by me but with their help :) I count those.

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

All of my favorite ships are OC x OC ships with my friends, tbh. In terms of OC/Canon my top two are Steelstep from FHR and Revan/Malak from KOTOR. Canon/Canon is uhh Stobotnik from the Sonic movie series tbh.

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I would love to finish the smutfic with Illario/Andrea. It's set post-VG and is more of a character analysis through sex lol... In it's current state I could post it with strong mature tones, but I'd like to actually write the smut.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I'm told that my dialogue and world-building are my strengths! I do love writing dialogue a lot. World-building not so much but I work hard to make up for my distaste.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I actually really hate editing, which is bad, because I fuck up my tenses and definitive articles a lot :(

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I don't know enough of a language so fluently to do so. If someone else does I'll translate it.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Unposted? Marvel. Posted? Lord of the Rings.

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

"in bloom" I just like writing really dreamy prose sometimes. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it is mine.

[rcguevariant]

DASH GAME ; BEHIND THE MUN

NAME: Rebecca. Becca, Bex, or Becky for short.

PRONOUNS: she/her

MOST ACTIVE MUSES: Rogue is the only muse I'm actively writing atm. I have a blog for one of my OCs, too, but I haven't been on it for a while, and Idk if I'm going to go back to it at all.

EXPERIENCE: I've been RPing on tumblr since 2014 or 2016. I've had lots of different blogs, pretty much always OCs of mine, usually Marvel/MCU. I dabbled a few times in writing canon characters from fandoms other than Marvel, but those attempts were very short-lived. Rogue is the first canon character I've stuck with writing for this long, and I think it's because I always felt a connection to/identified with her.

FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: I love fluff, and, though I'm not overly experienced with writing smut because I rarely get the chance to write it, I love it, too, though only with certain people and my muse is in the mood for it. I enjoy angst sometimes, too, but I have to be in the mood for it.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: I try to match the length of my partner's reply. (If I don't get my reply at least close to the length of my partner's, I usually get kind of anxious, feeling like I'm making them do all the work.)

PET PEEVES: Probably my biggest pet peeve is cliques/clique-iness, where someone writes with a certain group/clique and won't even give anyone else a chance. Another pet peeve of mine is drama and people who create it (this ain't high school, get that sh*t out of here😤). It also irritates me when people post political things on their blog. Politics is something no one's ever going to agree on; it's just going to cause problems and drive a wedge between people who could have otherwise had fun writing together. Please, I beg you🙏; I come here to get away from the stress of that and have fun.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE?: I think I'm a lot like her, yeah. It's probably the reason I always identified with her so deeply even back when I was a kid. (I don't like what X-Men 97 has done to her, but that's a can of worms I'm not gonna open here and now.) The comics version of Rogue and her other iterations, though, I definitely see myself in. I'm spunky and sassy, and I also know too well what it's like to feel isolated and lonely, to distance yourself from everyone else. I was bullied growing up, so, aside from my family, I lived a very isolated life. Even now, I struggle to interact with people and connect with people; I'm much better with it than I used to be, but I still struggle with it. Also, I suffer from a few different mental illnesses, so I know what it's like to be at war with your own mind, to get lost in your own mind amongst the chaos.

TIME TO WRITE: Any time I have time, motivation, and focus.

Tagged by: @compelledcurator @fartemis-crock @mywilliingheart

Tagging: @cinemachaos @biblicallyaccuratemcu @amischiefofmuses @alwaysxinxtrouble @marvelforged @vuulpecula @bothsidesofaquestion @jesse-vaudry and anyone else who wants to

[shdwtouch]

🌵🍀🌹 @undyingmedium

time for some positivity || always accepting !!

send 🌵 and i'll recommend a canon rp blog

not this ask making me realize I don't follow a lot of canon blogs 😅 sasha on @burdenedbyeternity writes canon ( as well as original tbh ) characters I enjoy ! bucky from marvel, astarion from bg3, ezio and basim from assassins creed.

will also mention lucanis by malikai on @de11amorte and emmrich by nori on @necropolich, as well as jax on @fadedmisfits. I've greatly enjoyed seeing all of them post meta and discuss their muses, so worth a follow !

send 🍀 and i'll recommend an oc rp blog

I'm not just recommending an original character with this, I am recommending a universe of characters and lore that I just. I eat it up, can't get enough. kt is so incredibly talented !! probably one of the only people I follow that I think has more passion for worldbuilding than I do, which is saying something. XD

@unse4ted @w4rhorse @swordma1den @0fconquest @cr0wguided @battlec4ster please forgive me if I missed a blog orz

send 🌹 and i'll recommend a blog that makes me happy

oh goodness. so many blogs make me happy, but I'm going to hope I get more of these asks so I won't just spam names... @frstwomn ! @murderyn ! @harpersoath ! @welcometoriddle ! @cripplemagics ! just to name a few ; w ; love seeing them on my dash, love their content, love their characters.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Fic Author Self Rec Game

When you get this, make a post with your favorite five fics you've written, then pass it on to at least five other writers. Let's spread the self-love!

Thank you @jo-harrington for the tag. I'm so sorry I didn't get to it sooner!

Tagging: @leighsartworks216, @kittttycakes, @can-of-pringles, @16boyfriends-and-me and @a-libra-writes

I'm really curious at what you guys pick! (Also if you have any original stuff you want to share, now is the time!)

In no particular order:

I Want it All : Astarion x Evie (Ace!Tav), Angst, Asexual Guilt, Happy Ending

A surprise to literally nobody who has followed me in the past year. I think this is some of my strongest work as well as my first dive into writing an explicitly asexual character. (You can probably read a lot into some of my other works, but that's neither here nor there). I still get comments on this one and it makes me happy to see it's at least made some impact on the fandom.

Welcome to Hellfire: Eddie Munson x Lucy Henderson (OC), Fluff, Awkwardness, First Meetings

I really need to get back to writing these two, specifically Lucy's first session, especially now that I've played a lot more D&D. Getting back to the fic at hand, I think I did a good job allow Eddie to still be kind of a dick while not making Lucy look like an idiot for accepting to still play with him. He's a deceptively hard character to balance and I think it's a solid introduction to Lucy as a character.

Shaking Hands: Hawkeye Pierce x Elizabeth "Doc" O'Neil (OC), Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Typical Violence

Another couple of character I need to get back to writing. While "What's Up Doc: Part 1" would be the better entry to start with these two, I still haven't actually finished it and I feels wrong to recommend something that hasn't been touched in literal years. I've changed a lot as a writer and will likely go back to touch it up. This though feels more complete. I also think I captured Hawkeye's voice particularly well in his rant towards the end. I'd still want to expand this to pace it out to a full episode, but I'm happy with how it stands now.

More Than Sufficient: Thrawn x Captain!Reader, Canon Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Pining

Admittedly most of my earlier writing I low key cringe at, but this has held up well. It gave me an excuse to write more formal dialogue which is a rarity. I like the challenge of restraint and relying more of subtext. One of these days my obession will be stoked again. In the meantime, of all my Star Wars fics, the Thrawn ones in particular stand out to me as some of my best.

Rough Day: Doctor Strange & Ellie Jackson (OC), Mentor!Strange, Hurt/Comfort, Strange trying to understand a stressed out teenager

It was a toss up between this and another Astarion x Evie fic "For All I Care", but I ultimately decided this one needed more love. I needed some representation for the Marvel fandom, and Ellie really is one of my favorite OCs (even if I'm now thinking of converting her and Cassandra into an original work). I just like exploring Strange as a mentor/father figure if only because he's not very good at it, but he tries.

[rapunziedameron]

sleepover saturday – tell me your top 5 fics you've written, please 😌

predictably, I went from "how can I ever narrow it down to such a small number" to immediately lining up which fics in like 30 seconds so! let us begin!

1). I have talked about this fic so frequently I feel like it's almost a piece of lore on this blog, but my first thought was of the fic I never posted. A couple of Decembers ago, @dameronalone, @hermitmoss and I were talking about the trend of making Star Wars heroes evil, because I'd seen another edit of the Sequel kids being First Order, and we were talking about how hard it is to digest those AUs because they feel so out of character. At which point one of us went "okay, so what if we made it in character?" and a couple hours later, we had a sprawling AU where shit happens and Leia's the Supreme Leader, and Poe is still her right hand man.

Since this was already an incredibly self-indulgent brainchild of ours, we decided to throw in our OCs at the time, which finally gave me the chance I've been itching for since 2018: exploring what would happen if my OC, Volya, went to the Dark Side. What I landed on was the concept that this AU was divergent from my previous 'verses set with her in the Resistance era, so she and Poe were already together at the time he, Leia and my friends' OCs had split to take over the First Order, and she'd been abandoned by them all in one fell swoop, which eventually leads her to cracking and beginning to fall - a struggle which is then intensified when Poe's given the task to try to convince her, in brief meetings on the battlefield, to come back to him, which culminates in them eventually having a secret rendezvous, which is where this absolute monster of a 6.5k word fic comes in.

Officially, it doesn't have any title -- it's literally labeled in my Google Docs fic as "corruption kink: the fic" -- but I dare think it's my magnum opus that I'm too embarrassed to ever post because it's 6k words of smut. But actually, it's 6k words of character/relationship study under the guise of smut - the concept of a Poe and a Volya that are still entirely in character, having that history of loving each other, but both either in the grip of the Dark Side or about to slip over, was extremely fascinating to explore, and I enjoyed using a lot of intimate act, and the power plays that are involved in them, as analogies for the temptation of the Dark Side.

2.) The rest of this list will go by so EASILY now that I don't have to give an incredible amount of detail and context, lmao! Anyway, I think my second favorite is yet another Poe/Volya fic: the only hands i trust are yours. It's set in another RP verse, but deals with the aftermath of Volya's trauma aboard the Enshado in a retelling of one of the arcs of the Poe comics we did. It's a heavy, yet I think simple fic, but it sprang to mind when I was considering my favorites.

3.) when the violence causes silence; this one, I feel, didn't get its due, and I think it's one of my more underrated fics. It was my attempt at blending the Insomniac Spider-Man verse, with a Moon Knight that was equal parts inspired by the show and by the Mackay Run (notably, it takes place in the Mission with the crew from the comics, just with a bonus Layla!). I'd definitely write it differently now, and I think it would work better from the perspective of a Marc that's solely from the show, rather than the comics, but I still love it for what it was at the time, which was me smashing together two of my favorite Marvel things.

4.) in weakness or in strength; another Canon/OC fic, this time featuring my Marvel OC, Emilia. Writing Moon Knight fic is surprisingly hard, and nailing Marc's voice is even more difficult, which was yet another reason I feel so proud and fond of this fic. For lack of a better term, this verse was stuck in development hell for a long time, and I never quite knew what to do with Emilia, until this plot bunny popped into my head, and before I knew what was happening, I had these two chapters written. Someday, I'd like to tighten up a few areas, but I love this fic a lot, and it's really become the touch stone of Emilia's verse for me.

5.) waffled for a long time on this one, but I think I really love the road not taken looks real good now; it was a recent dip into reader fic that I wrote for Poe, following a conversation with @dameronalone about an AU based on tis the damn season by Taylor Swift, which is a song that I've associated with him for a long while anyway (it gives me Poe and Zorii vibes tbqh) - and I was very pleased with how visceral and vivid the scene wound up being in my head, and how well it translated to paper. It's short but sweet, and very sad, which surprises me even more that I like it so much.

sleepover saturday!

[dieasthedevilwp]

hi max!! im so bored so I come with questions, because i love my moots yapping.

1) who’s your fav oc you’ve EVER created, published or not (you are probably sick of being asked this question, so sorry about that)?

2) do you have any new OC’s brewing

3) what will you do when you reach 2 mill reads for fg 😛😛😛

4) least fav marvel character (not a villain, like thanos or rumlow, but a character most people like but you just can’t seem to stand)

5) biggest ick when it comes to fanfics

hello hello hello!!! i very much appreciate your questions to answer whilst i procrastinate doing my chem homework!!

1. this is a question i get asked a lot and it is so hard to answer because it changes alllll the time. like, it changes every two hours. but, i have been thinking very deeply about this since last night because someone asked the same thing last night, and through careful consideration, i have come to the conclusion that ruth sinclair may just be my favorite oc i have ever created.

although ruth is unpublished at the moment and i've rewritten her first few chapters several times, she has to be my favorite. first of all, i absolutely love taylor russell. second, ruth is very near and dear to my heart as she is basically just the personification of a rant about my own high school experience. but cooler. and with freaky monsters. she is very sweet and weird, and i am a big fan of her whole vibe. she just draws me in the most, i think.

i think warren comes in second place. i love weird little warren, and i especially love the older warren arc i have planned—i think it is going to tie in very well with thunderbolts*. this is a very hard decision though 😖😖 i love rosie lots too.

2. i have concepts of a yellowjackets oc in my brain that will never be written, but mostly right now i'm just working a lot on agnes !!! i've been writing season one of daredevil for her as well as planning out things for her future :)

3. i have no idea what i'll do when future ghosts hits 2M 😭 i'll probably just stare at my screen like this 😧 for five minutes and then try to make a really good thank you edit or something. i fear nothing will properly communicate just how appreciative i am for my readers 😭

4. this probably isn't unique but i fucking DESPISE danny rand !!! i have a short list of things i hate in my notes app and danny rand has been on that list for years. he is so goddamn annoying and every time i had to suffer through hearing him speak in defenders i wanted to rip my ears off. sorry to all the danny rand lovers out there

5. my biggest ick when it comes to fanfics is PLAGIARISM. it drives me up the wall. the whole fun of writing fanfics is coming up with your own ideas and writing and writing and writing, whether that writing is good or bad. it's supposed to be for fun!! what is fun about copying and pasting someone else's work??

but other icks that will immediately put me off from a fic is when the writing isn't separated into paragraphs, and especially when dialogue isn't separated by paragraphs. like, for example for people who might not know, this is how dialogue is supposed to work:

"I love to write," said person A.

"I do, too," said person B.

NOT:

"I love to write," said person A. "I do, too," said person B.

if it's not separated properly then my brain can't read it right 😭😭 i am a picky reader, though, i must admit.

thank you for the questions!! you are so cool 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

[workingdownthewordmine]

Love Thy Neighbour - Chapter 5 Every Man Is Guilty

Bucky struggles with the attitudes of his so-called friends and Hive makes themself scarce.

Read this chapter on AO3 here.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 4

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Nonbinary OC, Steve Rogers Rating: T CW: Guilt, bullying (mention), violent child abuse (mention), homophobia (mention), mild dissociation Prompts filled: @lgbtqbingo : Hickeys @fluffbruary : Day 6 - Embarrassment @multifandom-flash (Compliments) : You are better than you think you are

@fandom-free-bingo (World Book Night Edition card 1) : "I don't need you." @fandom-free-bingo (Flight Edition) : Can't make it to dinner, Teasing @anyfandomangstbingo : Best friend's boyfriend @febuwhump : Day 24 - "I'm doing this because I care about you." @seasonaldelightsbingo (Winter Wonderland) : Situationship

Dividers by @unfortunate-beetle-and-friends

Chapter 5 – Every Man is Guilty

“But I have my life, I’m living it. It’s twisted, exhausting, uncertain, and full of guilt, but nonetheless, there’s something there.”

Banana Yoshimoto

“You’re not selling me on this, Steve.” Bucky leant back on the kitchen wall, chin lowered and arms crossed.

“I can’t give you specifics right now. Security’s too tight. If you’ll just come and talk to Fury-”

This was the guy who’d lied to every draft office in the tri-state area? When had Steve become so damn hidebound? “I’m not interested. I told you before, I’m not going to work for SHIELD. And you can save Barton and Romanov’s very touching Different Call story. I’m grateful for what you did for me, really, but I never agreed to get away from Hydra just to sell my soul to someone else.”

Steve’s hands dug deeper into his pockets. “SHIELD isn’t Hydra, Buck. It’s not the same at all. Just let me set up a chat with the director and you’ll see that.”

“Why won’t you let this drop? You’ve got your whole Captain America deal with your team. I’ve got an actual life of my own now. You don’t need me.”

“Fine. You’re right. I don’t need you.”

Never had someone agreeing with him felt so much like a fist in the gut. Bucky didn’t get the chance to tell him to go fuck himself. Steve kept going. “This isn’t about me needing your help, Buck. I’m here because I want your help. I need people around me that I can trust and I trust you. You’re my oldest friend. And I gotta say, Bucky, this whole ‘new life’ you say you’ve got going on looks a lot like walling yourself up in a different cell. I’m doing this because I care about you. What good was getting them to let you go free if you’re just going to lock yourself back up? You look like shit, Buck. When did you last eat? Or drink anything that wasn’t coffee or at least eighty proof? You aren’t one of the bad guys anymore. You can do something worthwhile with your life. You don’t have to be all alone. Why won’t you let me help you?”

“Fuck you, Steve. I’m not gonna be your goddamn bad guy outreach program poster boy. And I had a cheese sandwich just last night, as though it’s any of your fucking business.” And I’m not alone…

They both looked up at the same moment, both heads turned towards the hall closet. “Shit’s always falling down somewhere round here. Place has gone to hell.” But even Steve wasn’t dumb enough not to recognise a sneeze when he heard it.

“For a guy with his windows rigged to blow, you’re weirdly calm about someone climbing around inside your walls.” The tinge of suspicion he heard in Steve’s voice hurt more than Bucky had expected. Who the hell did he think he’d be hiding in a wall cavity? Then he cringed inwardly as Steve began looking around with more intent than he had before. Bucky practically felt his eyes rest for a moment on the extra sleeping bag. His eyebrows visibly rose when he spotted the mug with its weird cute cartoon dragon thing. “Buck?” The suspicion had gone from Steve’s voice and Bucky missed it already.

“Hey, kid, it’s okay. Just a social call.” He listened for a beat of silence, then he and Steve both hear the departing scraping of Hive heading up to the roof. Knowing what he did, Bucky could pick up the unevenness in their movement and made a note to ask to check their injuries later. If he ever saw them again, of course. They might be too spooked to come back at all. He looked down at their mug. They’d be back. He hoped.

“I guess it’s cool that some things don’t change. But I don’t remember you being this coy about your girlfriends even in the forties.”

“‘Girlfriend’ is a real strong word for anyone I passed the time with back then. And that’s not… what this is. They’re just a friend.” Or something. This was definitely not the time to start seriously questioning the weird-ass situation he’d found himself in the last twelve hours or so.

“A friend who hides in the wall when your other friends drop by?”

Other friends? Did Steve think Bucky was having poker nights with the guys every week? What other friends?

“They’re shy, okay?”

“Buck, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I’m glad you’ve found someone you don’t mind having around. I hated thinking of you cooped up here with nothing but a bunch of old memories.” Steve, buddy, you have no idea… “Think I’ll ever get to meet them? What? I can’t be curious about the first person apart from me to ever know the notorious Bucky Barnes well enough to leave a mug at his place?” He couldn’t help but be mildly impressed at Steve’s rapid and unquestioning switch to the neutral pronoun.

“I doubt it. They’re shy, like I said. And it’s not really an ‘introductions to old friends’ kind of thing.” Of at least that much he was sure. Hell, it wasn’t even a thing. Just a really weird couple of days… that had left an extra sleeping bag on his floor.

Steve was frowning again. “You, uh, you’re not in trouble, right? I’ll believe you, whatever you say. I just can’t help noticing you’re a bit more banged up than I’ve seen you in a while. And you smell like that stuff your mom used to cover my hives in when we were kids.” He tried a weak grin.

Well, believe it or not a Hive was responsible… Buck almost returned the smile before he shook himself.  “I’m good. Just had a run in with some kind of funky old insulation while I was doing some repairs. Nothing to worry your pretty head about. The scratches are all healed up anyway.” He turned his shoulder to indicate the one Hive had uncovered. “Only covered them up so I wouldn’t get blood on anything, just didn’t get round to taking off the rest of the bandages before you stopped in for the little recruitment drive. Speaking of which –”

Steve held up a hand to stop him. “Speaking of which, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said… a lot of what I did. It wasn’t my place to judge what you’ve got going on here. I’m sorry.” The renewed anger Bucky had been preparing to unleash petered out more quickly than he had expected. “I meant it though, about wanting to work with you again.”

Buck grunted. “Howling Commandoes reunion tour? This time with one hundred percent less falling out of trains, right?” He hadn’t expected Steve to take the weak joke so hard. Steve hadn’t looked this green since a kid landed a kick in his stomach that left him puking his guts into a trash can. He’d been waiting on the ground by the can when Buck came back with split knuckles and a grin of triumph. They’d gone back to Buck’s place to clean up before Steve’s dad could see the mess on his shirt and add a bloody nose to Steve’s problems. Buck’s place. This place. The sink where they’d rinsed out that faded threadbare shirt had been torn out long ago or it would have been right about where Steve was standing now.

“I should have looked harder.”

“Huh?” Maybe Hive’s attention span was catching, somehow. It took him a second to reconnect the dots.

“I went back. To the pass. I went back about a dozen times, looking for – well – for a body, I guess. Maybe if I’d been smarter about it, I would’ve… would’ve found you. Maybe we wouldn’t be where we are now.” Steve’s words sounded like he was trying to swallow them rather than speak them aloud. “But we are. And I can’t fix what I abandoned you to, but I can’t walk away again. Please, Buck, stop by the compound sometime – nothing to do with SHIELD, just come say hi. Or answer your phone once in a while. I miss my best friend, Buck. The guy I knew back in forty-five, back when our lives made some sort of sense.”

“That guy died in the fall, Steve.”

Steve shook his head. “No, I think he’s very much alive. I see him in there. Don’t bury my best friend in this place, Buck, please. You might feel like you deserve that but you don’t. I’m not talking about showing off how ‘rehabilitated’ you are or anything like that. I mean that guy still deserves the life he should have got the first time around.”

Was that part of you given a choice?

Yes.

There’s always a choice.

No. I would never have chosen that…

Bucky managed to look up at Steve’s eyes. Still fucking insane that he was taller than Buck now. “He’s getting a life. And, I guess, if you’re going to be clingy dork about it, that life can involve spending more time with you than it has done so far. Happy?”

“Yeah, happy. Jerk.”

“We’re in the twenty-first century now, for fuck’s sake, Steve. Learn to curse, I’m begging you.” For just a second they shared a grin. The moment was broken by a beep from Steve’s phone. The sudden awkward energy that radiated from him came as a surprise. “I don’t care if you check your phone, you know? World might be hours from destruction or something.”

“That’s unlikely.” Steve blushed. “It’s probably personal.”

“Stark sending out mass dick pics or something? You’re practically glowing there, Rogers.” The blond head ducked, Steve pushing a hand through his hair. He successfully blocked the blush from view but the new angle… “Steve, that’s a fucking hickey! That’s… at least three hickeys!” Captain America’s complexion was a riot of crimson, the blush spreading down to the livid bruise just below his jaw. “You bruise like I do – those are new and vicious. Christ, Steve, you been hooking up with a moray eel?”

“I, ah, I’m seeing someone.”

“No shit.” Probably he should have expected it. Steve must be one of the most eligible bachelors in the country now. Superpowers, a name like “Captain America”, and serum-enhanced looks on tops of his natural Steve-ness… The girls were probably all over him. Weird thought. “Well? Who is she? Do I need to check she’s good enough for my best friend?”

The tips of Steve’s ears became practically scarlet. “It, uh, look, Buck, I–” Bucky frowned. “The person I’m dating is… he’s a guy.”

Well, Bucky couldn’t say he’d never wondered. The immediate mental maelstrom was much the same as it would have been in the forties. How much trouble was this going to cause him? How many more beatings because hiding himself was absolutely alien to Steve’s nature? It took a few seconds for the twenty-first century to impose itself on his thinking. No, probably no beating for Captain America, but public opinion could be a hell of a thing to reckon with – especially for the nation’s golden boy. And Steve was standing there right now closer to cringing than Buck had seen him since his dad was alive. God, there was a man – if he even deserved the word – who would have exploded at the news that his son was a fairy. He probably would have tried to thrash it out of him, Avenger or no.

“He’s not off the hook for best friend judgement just because he’s male, you know. Do I get to meet him?” He felt the pressure in the room change as Steve relaxed. Had he really expected hostility over his confession? From Bucky?

He doesn’t trust you…

“Uh, I guess, sometime. No one else has yet but it’s not… not really a secret. The team knows.”

Bucky nodded. “Well? You gonna see what he wants?” On cue, Steve’s phone chimed again. Reluctantly, ears still hot, he pulled it out of his pocket.

“Just asking where I want to get dinner tonight.” He tapped out a reply, making Buck smile at the geriatric concentration he had to put into the exercise, betraying the boyish face.

“Cute.”

He knows, deep down, what a monster he unleashed by letting you go.

Stop.

That’s why he’s scared of you, even now. Guilt for leaving you behind? More likely guilt for not finishing what he started when he let you fall.

He didn’t “let me fall”.

We’ve been over this, asset. You used to be less naïve. You know the resources he has at his disposal. Do you really believe he didn’t just decide you weren’t worth the trouble?

Steve pushed his phone back into his pocket and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

Bucky waved the apology away.

“I should probably get going. I’ll see you? Soon?”

Bucky nodded, but…

Empty offer. You really think he and his new friends want someone around who tried to kill them – however poorly you executed your assignment? Stark didn’t even trust you unsupervised in this dump, let alone in his precious Tower.

“Steve, you sure the others won’t mind me just stopping by? Doubt I‘m popular over there. Not real eager to get teargassed soon as I set foot over the perimeter.”

Steve smiled, his confidence returning. He’d swung his leg over the sill already. “Sure, I’m sure. It’s not like everyone trusted Natasha when she first showed up either. They’re the good guys, Buck. They believe in second chances.” His smile was warm as ever as he ducked out of the window, not seeing the way the temperature of Bucky’s blood had plummeted. “And charge your phone,” Bucky heard him say as his feet landed on the tarmac.

Second chances… isn’t that sweet? So much for his assurances of your deep and abiding innocent soul, it seems. You could have almost believed that choir boy act, couldn’t you?

It was three hours before Hive returned the way they had left. The hum of the generator wasn’t quite enough to drown out their scuffling descent. The faceless apparition was unnerving until they loosened their hood strings and pulled their hoodie down to uncover their lower face. “Protection,” they explained, though Bucky had already guessed as much. From the looks of the stretched fabric round their wrists, they’d had the sleeves pulled down over their hands too.

“Good call. Skin still itches like shit.” He’d had another go with the cream – Steve was right about the smell barely having changed in almost a century – but ran into the same problem as before. He’d had to spend a good twenty minutes scrubbing the stuff out of the joints in his arm with a toothbrush.

He was turning to offer Hive some of the beans he’d been heating on the camping stove, when he realised what else had bothered him about their appearance. They were huddled in the hallway, dressed as they’d been when they made their exit earlier – hoodie, cargoes, black and purple striped socks…

“You’ve been hanging around Brooklyn with no fucking shoes on?”

“You’d be amazed. Saw one guy with no shoes, no socks, and only half a pair of trousers. Guess I should be grateful for what I’ve got. Anyway, I wasn’t stopping for pre-flight checks while I was busy fleeing for my life, was I?”

“You need to check that you’re wearing shoes?”

“Told ya,” They seemed almost proud. “My brain is wrong.”

“Won’t be the only thing that’s wrong if you do shit like that. You’re lucky you haven’t got tetanus or something.”

“Probably too soon to be sure if I have or not,” they pointed out as they dropped down by the fire and stuck their feet out to warm near the flames.

“Not real comforting, kid.”

Hive watched him for a moment, maybe wondering the same thing he was: at what point had their continued well-being become a matter of comfort to him. Then again, maybe not.

“You call me that a lot. Kid. ‘M not a kid, you know.”

He grunted in reply. “I’m an old man, kid. Don’t take it personally.” That was apparently acceptable. They huffed but smirked. They wiggled their toes. Unsurprisingly, the soles of their socks were filthy, damp, and holes in more than one place. One big toe poked free. They saw him looking and wagged it pointedly at him.

“Rude to stare.” They were grinning.

“Sure your feet are okay? There are landfills cleaner than the streets round here. No cuts or anything?”

“Will you feel better if I check?”

“I’ll have less concern about my apartment stinking of gangrene tomorrow, yeah.”

They rolled their eyes but folded their legs and peeled off their socks.

He doled out beans, giving Hive the bowl and keeping his own in the pan, while they performed their inspection.

“All good,” they pronounced, hopping up with only a bit of a wobble to rinse their hands under the lonely sinkless faucet. Bucky wasn’t sure if it had been seeing Steve standing in the old place, looking not so much like he’d grown as like the room had shrunk around him, or if it was just having someone else inhabiting the space with him for a while, but the apartment’s wasted, skeletal feel was more noticeable to him now. He was making food over a camping stove. His bed was a sleeping bag. For someone who’d finally come back home, he looked pretty homeless right now, didn’t he? Was that what Steve had seen? Did Bucky have that same look? An abandoned shell, like the building?

What makes you think you deserve any better? You could have been so much more…

“Cheers.” Hands clean, Hive had grabbed their bowl and clunked it lightly against the pan. Seeing his confusion, they repeated, “A toast to toes not turning grey and dropping off! Which… now that I hear it again, may not have been the most genteel toast ever raised at a meal. Oops. Hope I didn’t put you off.” They tucked into their own food with no sign of discomfort.

“A toast to not losing body parts gets my vote,” he conceded. They shared a grin. “Where did you go earlier anyway? Guessing you didn’t find a café that didn’t care about the lack of shoes.”

“Rooftops, mostly. Nearby ones. Figured if it was a social call I probably didn’t need to flee the state. Thought about a library but figured I’d attract a bit too much attention.”

“Library?”

“They have books there! The wild kind, not the kind you have to pay for. Like a book zoo – except members can foster the animals. The analogy got a bit lost, sorry.”

“I followed, most of it anyway. I do know what a library is. We had ‘em when I was a kid too, you know.”

While he did the sparse dishes, Bucky could see Hive moving around out of the corner of his eye. A glance found them rolling up their sleeping bag and gathering the small quantity of trash they’d been accumulating into a sack. He dried his hands and grabbed his phone; it had turned up beside the plant pot. The generator fell quiet. Bucky turned the phone on and almost immediately wished he hadn’t. It lit up with message after message, the device rattling in his metal grip.

Steve: Been a while. How are you getting on?

Steve: Hope you are doing okay. There is a briefing later today that you might be interested in. Let me know.

Banner: Shuri sent me over your updated records. I think we should discuss a pain management regimen. Contact me.

Steve: Clint and Natasha are planning a movie night. How about joining us?

Steve: You really need to answer a text (or a call) once in a while.

Fen: You’re 30m late

Fen: Where are you??

Fen: Call me, James

Steve: I tried to call twice and didn’t get an answer. I’m going to drop by this morning. There’s some SHIELD business I want to discuss and it’s been a long time since you checked in. Miss you, man.

Fen: This is real shitty of you. You’re decent at the job and I like you but you can’t just ditch for the day without a word. The garage was busy today. We need to talk.

Steve: ETA 10 minutes.

“Fuck.” Hive looked up. “Everything going on since yesterday… Seems I forgot to go to work today.” He started moving automatically, grabbing his jacket off a picture nail, and toeing his boots upright. Hive must have taken them off for him while he was unconscious. He’d have expected to feel more latent objection to the idea but he definitely did not have time to stop and consider the unfamiliar close, warm sensation he experienced instead.

“I should have thought… sorry.”

“Huh?” He stopped, half inside his jacket.

“I mean, I knew, didn’t I? Where you work. That’s how I found you in the first place. Should have occurred to me that you ought to be there.”

He was already four hours late. What difference was five more minutes likely to make to his boss’s bad mood. “Wasn’t your problem if I went to work or not. I’m a big enough boy to handle my own routine.” He was a bit unsettled to see Hive huddling into a corner again, much as they’d done last night. They were still on their feet but they’d shrunken down into their hoodie and were not looking at him. “Hey, kid, it’ll be okay. My huge personal charm will smooth things over with my boss and anyway it is not up to you to have shit to do with my schedule.” They nodded but still wouldn’t meet his eyes. Their gaze was unfocused, drifting around the floor. Trying not to wonder why he cared, he cast around for something to ground them.

“Know what? I’m gonna try to make a dinner tonight that doesn’t come straight out of a can. What do ya think? Sound good?”

“I mean… it’s pretty vague.” He was relieved to see some… presence come back into their face. “Are we talking closer to a dead pigeon you found on the roof or delicately braised sustainably-farmed salmon?” Bucky’s expression apparently satisfied. They grinned a little.

“I guess somewhere in the middle but a little closer to the dead pigeon. I’ll do my best.”

The grin brightened. “Sounds good. I don’t like salmon much anyway.”

He nodded. “No salmon. Got it. See you later – gotta go save my job.”

The garage hadn’t been too bad. Fen had been obliged to rake him over the coals a little – sure it was real useful having a guy on staff who could jack up a car on one hand, in addition to being able to handle basically any bike issue she could remember being brought, but only if he was gonna decide to turn up when expected and not just when it was convenient to him. He knew she took no pleasure in playing the hard-ass, except with assholes who didn’t believe she was more than capable of dismantling their tricked out dick substitutes down to the nuts and then reassembling it faster than they could jerk off over a climate change denial manifesto; she just wanted her garage running smooth. He’d worked out the rest of the day and hung out past close to put away some late deliveries by way of apology and all ruffled feathers had settled. His extended shift had meant it was already past dark when he got to his supply run, though. He hoped Hive wasn’t getting too hungry waiting.

If they were, it wasn’t causing any notable chaos. The building was quiet and dark. Maybe they were taking the opportunity for some much needed sleep. A smile crept over his lips at the thought. He tried to keep quiet and not disturb them when he manoeuvred his awkward haul through the window, catching the new wok as it made a dash for the floor. But he’d no sooner set things down than he knew the apartment was deserted. It felt empty in a way he couldn’t recall it feeling before they’d arrived. He stuck his head out into the hallway but the whole building had the same mournful, abandoned echo. A shiver gripped him – all the more dramatic in a body that always ran so hot. He searched the apartment. Their sleeping bag was folded neatly in a corner of the hall. His own he found moved to his bedroom, spread out with pillow, blanket and a sheet of paper laid on top. He recognised their handwriting.

Hey Bucky,

Wasn’t sure when to expect you back. I’m so sorry – looks like I might have to miss dinner after all. I need to go do something. Should be back by 9 at the latest so… maybe save me some if I didn’t piss you off too much by ditching? Sorry, again. Sorry sorry sorry. See you later.

Hive x

Bucky stood in his bedroom doorway with the note in his hand and shot a look at the things he’d left in the kitchen – the wok and utensils he’d been managing without, the extra bowl, plate, cutlery, and the bag spilling spring onions and packets of noodles beside them. Gotta do what they gotta do, he supposed. The note creased in his fingers. No problem. Might take him a while to get this right anyway. He’d cook, and they’d probably be back by the time he was done, sure.

With how many people who’d love to know where to find Bucky Barnes in tow?

They don’t want to be found themselves. They wouldn’t bring anyone back here…

The nightmare act really sucked you in, didn’t it? Who knows who they really are? Even if they are in hiding from someone, aren’t there plenty of people who’d trade the whereabouts of the Winter Soldier for better protection than hiding out with a monster who already nearly killed them? Not a high bar, is it?

So what’s your suggestion?

What time is it?

What?

They said they’d be back by nine.

Probably so we’d stay put and off guard.

What time is it?

He’d never bothered to get a clock. He pulled out his phone.

22:27

His eyes shot to the window.

Note: Thanks for reading, y'all! And thank you to all the wonderful providers of prompt events without which I probably wouldn't have started writing again. Special thank you to my boys for inspiring me and keeping me motivated.

[braveclementine]

Siberia

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

Steve landed the Quinjet in the snowy tundra and turned the jet off. Bucky meanwhile found the weapons and grabbed a gun. The two of them stood next to each other while they waited for the ramp to go down.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked, looking over at Bucky.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Bucky asked, smiling.

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead." Steve smirked.

"What was her name again?" Bucky chuckled.

"Dolores. You call her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now." Bucky sighed.

"So are we, pal." Steve smirked, clapping Bucky on the shoulder. Bucky leaned in and kissed Steve's cheek tentatively. Steve felt his cheeks grow hot.

"Just in case." Bucky smirked and went to walk down the ramp. Steve grabbed his arm and spun him around, kissing him passionately on the lips. "No." Steve breathed as he pulled away. "That's how you do it."

"Guess you're the lead now." Bucky chuckled, pecking Steve's lips one more time and then they walked off the ramp.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours." Steve said, looking around. It was bitter cold, the snow and wind blowing around them fiercely.

"Long enough to wake them up." Bucky replied.

They headed downstairs through the elevator and then started to make their way through the hallways. Bucky kept his new gun lifted up as he walked, leading and checking every corner he passed.

They started up the stairs, before they heard a loud thud behind them. They both turned immediately. Steve lifted his shield up so he could see it just over the edge.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

To their surprise, it was Tony, who stepped out and let his face plate down, "You seem a little defensive."

"It's been a long day." Steve said, walking forward slowly with his shield.

"At ease Soldier. I'm not currently after you." Tony shouted up at Bucky who hadn't moved.

"Then why are you here?" Steve asked.

"Could be your story's not so crazy." Tony said. "Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve replied. Tony scoffed and Steve finally relaxed, "It's good to see you Tony."

"You too, Cap." Tony looked up, "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop-"

Steve motioned to Bucky and Bucky slowly lowered the gun.

"I got heat signatures." Tony said as they rounded a corner into a larger, slightly more open room.

"How many?" Steve asked.

Tony took a second and then said, "Uh, one."

Suddenly, the lights lit up in the cylinders. They glowed yellow and steam hissed from them, moving around inside. Steve walked forwards slowly and then stopped again when a voice spoke.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." Steve continued to walk forwards again and Tony matched his steps. He could see now that the soldiers all had bullet wounds in their foreheads, blood frozen to those spots. Steve worried for how Bucky would feel.

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" The man asked.

"What the hell?" Steve heard Bucky whisper.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here." Steve noticed Bucky had wandered to look into the cylinders, so he was further away from him and Tony. More lights turned on. Tony immediately shot at where the man was and Steve threw his shield, but it bounced back to him.

"Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR- 100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that." Tony boasted as they all moved closer to the bunker.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked angrily. He walked so he was face to face with Zemo, only separated by the glass.

"I've thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized. . . there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes" He chuckled, "How nice to find a flaw."

"They're pretty eyes." A voice interrupted and Steve turned to see Elizabeth had somehow joined them, striding forward, planting herself next to Steve.

Zemo scoffed.

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?" Steve asked, grateful suddenly for her presence.

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone?"

"I lost everyone. And so will you." He pressed a button inside and a screen came up on the computer behind Steve. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever."

Steve looked at the computer again, with Elizabeth and Tony joining him. Tony looked at the computer and then glanced at it again, "I know that road." Tony said, frowning a little, recognition coming to his eyes.

"What is this?" Tony shouted.

Steve realized what it was when he saw the car crash and a motorcycle go shooting past. The car caught on fire and the motorcycle came back. Bucky got off the back of the motorcycle, opening up the trunk and grabbing whatever was in the back. Knowing the entire story now, it was probably super serum that Howard had made to create the super soldiers here.

Bucky was looking at the ground and Elizabeth was too.

Steve watched Howard get out of the car. "Please. Help my wife." Bucky grabbed Howards head and jerked it backwards. "Sergeant Barnes?"

"Howard!" Maria shouted.

Elizabeth left the computer side and Steve looked up to see her touch Bucky's arm. Bucky was looked traumatized. Steve glanced over and saw the Zemo had gone.

To watch an empire fall. Fall from within. To make them fight each other. And die killing each other.

Tony breathed in deeply and then punched the screen. He breathed out. "I already knew!" he screamed, but he too realized Zemo was gone then.

"Give me a second." Tony shuddered. "It's. . . different seeing it then hearing it."

"You knew?" Bucky asked quietly.

"Y/N told him the minute she found out. Good thing too." Elizabeth said.

"I'm sorry." Bucky said. "From the bottom of my heart I wish I could take everything back. All of it."

"I know." Tony snapped. "I know. Now let's go hunt the mother fucker down."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

T'Challa put his helmet down carefully in the snow as he approached the man sitting on the rock. "I almost killed the wrong man."

"Hardly an innocent one." The man scoffed.

"This is all you wanted?" T'Challa asked, "To see them rip each other apart?"

"My father lived outside the city. I thought we would be safe there. My son was excited. He could see the Iron Man from the car window. I told my wife, 'Don't worry. They're fighting in the city. We're miles from harm'. When the dust cleared. . . and the screaming stopped. . . it took me two days until I found their bodies. My father. . . still holding my wife and son in his arms. And the Avengers? They went home. I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But, if I could get them to kill each other. . . I'm sorry about your father. He seemed a good man. With a dutiful son."

"Vengeance has consumed you." T'Challa spoke slowly. "It's consuming them. I am done letting it consume me."

He let his claws slide back into his paws. His father would not have wanted him to kill either man in the first place in response to his death.

"Justice will come soon enough."

"Tell that to the dead." Zemo scoffed. He went to point his gun under his chin, and T'Challa put his hand over it, the vibranium stopping the bullet from penetrating his skin and killing him. He pulled Zemo back into the snow, wrapping an arm around his neck.

"The living are not done with you, yet."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

Elizabeth was gone. She had stepped out and once the four of them had seen Zemo in the hands of T'Challa, she had hugged Tony, kissed both Steve and Bucky on the cheeks, and then let Heimdall take her back up to Asgard.

Steve and Bucky had left with T'Challa, who offered to take Barnes to Wakanda to see if his sister Shuri could do anything with medicine. And Tony took Zemo to Ross.

He stepped into the Avengers Compound. It felt emptier than it had before.

Vision seemed to be the only one there, sitting on the couch, rolling a chess piece between his fingers.

Rhodey was there as well. His physical therapy was going well. He still had to wear some braces, which Tony had designed himself, but other than that, he was fine. He wouldn't even need the braces after a few months.

He was helping Rhodey with the physical therapy when there was a knock on the window and he turned to see a mail man there. "Are you. . . Tony Stank?"

"Yes, this is Tony Stank. You're in the right place." Rhodey called out. "Thank you for that! Never, dropping that, by the way. 'Table for one, Mr. Stank. Right by the bathroom'."

Tony laughed, then took the package to open it.

Inside was a letter from Steve and Tony felt a little apprehensive. He knew that what Zemo had wanted was for them to fight. To kill each other. That he would be so angry that Barnes had been the one to kill his parents that he would try and kill Bucky. And inevitably, Steve would fight Tony as well.

Tony didn't know who would win. Probably the three of them. Elizabeth would never have let any harm come to the super soldiers. Or maybe she would have tried to mitigate it so they didn't fight.

Yes, Steve probably would've tried to just get them to safety. Steve was to close with Y/N to kill him.

Everleigh came into the room, crawling into Tony's lap. He hugged her tightly and opened up the letter.

Tony, I'm glad you're back at the Compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours. Maybe more so than mine. I've been on my own since I was eighteen. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the Army. My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Tony. I wish we agreed on the Accords. I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise you, if you need us. . . if you need me. . . I'll be there.

"Priority call from Secretary Ross." F.R.I.D.A.Y. said as Tony found the cell phone Steve had left for him. A flip phone, how typical. "There's been a breach at the Raft prison."

"Yeah, put him through."

"Tony, we have a problem." Ross said.

"Uh! Please hold." Tony said.

"No, don't." Tony put him on hold and then picked up his daughter to go and take her to bed. "Guess what sweetie? Mommy's coming home."

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

You sat in your prison cell, waiting. It was freezing in the cell as well, goosebumps had broken out on your skin. You shuddered a little, wishing there was a blanket or something.

You didn't want to look at the others. They all looked so defeated and it was so hard to look at Wanda in her straight jacket. Pietro kept running circles in his cage like a locked up animal.

You didn't blame Tony. You had read the Accords and nothing about breaking the law said they would put you in the top security prison in the world. Underwater and everything.

Suddenly, you heard people gasping and you looked up. You half expected Steve to be here, breaking you free, but instead there was a mangled, half-burned almost walking corpse of a person.

Rumlow?

You stood up in shock. What was he doing here? Why was he here? How in the world was he still even alive? He certainly didn't look like he should be alive. He looked like he should be very, very dead.

"How the hell are you alive?" Sam asked, but Rumlow didn't answer, not stopping until he reached your cell. He smirked, opening up your cell.

You knew he had an obsession with you. He'd constantly asked you into his bed when S.H.I.E.L.D. had still been a thing. But still, why in the world had he tracked you all the way down here, did who knows what with the security, just to get to you?

You readied yourself for a fight, dodging his quick punches and kicking him in the chest. You ducked as he flung the metal stool in your room at you. You blocked his next punch, then cried out in pain as electrical shocks radiated throughout your body.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Clint, Sam, and Pietro all shouted at him as he ripped the prison shirt off your body. You punched him across the face, before feeling the electrical spasms again.

You couldn't move your body, but you could feel his hands on your breasts. Hands attempting to pull the rest of the clothes off.

You came down from the shocks, but he slammed your head against the ground and you felt dazed, black spots forming in front of your eyes.

Suddenly, Rumlow grunted in pain and you heard the sounds of someone punching him. Huh. Maybe Clint had broken out of his cell or something.

There was the sound of Rumlow's body falling to the ground. Large hands lifted you up into someone's arms. You just barely caught a glimpse of Steve's face, before you blacked out completely.

🎃 :::::  🧡  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━  🧡  ::::: 🎃

You came too in a very white room. It was definitely medical and there was a young black woman standing over you.

"Please stay still, I'll be right back." She said in a heavily accented voice and then hurried from the room.

You groaned, turning your head side to side. It didn't look like any hospital wing that you had ever seen.

"Hey." Steve came into the room, carrying a bottle of water. "How are you feeling?"

"My head aches." You said hoarsely. "This raging pain inside of my head. It's that sort of headache where it feels like it's in different spots? Ya know? The kind that feels like it's in your nose or your eye?"

"Sorry." Steve said gently, handing you the water. "The water should help and they wanted you to wake up before they put you on any heavy pain killers. You want anything to eat?"

"No, I want a blanket." You mumbled, "It's freezing."

"Well, we are in Africa. The buildings are definitely air conditioned." Steve said lightly, grabbing you a blanket and covering you with it.

"Africa?"

"Wakanda, to be exact. I was already taking Bucky here because they have some advanced technology. Shuri, T'Challa's sister, thinks she can remove his trigger words."

"That's great." You said hoarsely, lifting the water bottle to your head. "Does um, Tony-"

"T'Challa called him and he knows you're okay. But he can't get here. I told him once you were better, T'Challa and him could arrange a meet up. He says Everleigh misses you."

"How was Rumlow alive?" You asked, shifting onto your side. Why was it so cold?

"I have no idea. No one does." Steve sighed. "Nor does anyone know how he got into the Raft to get to you."

You sighed. "But he's dead now?"

"Yes." Steve nodded. It was quiet for a moment and he smiled as your eyes fluttered tiredly. "Get some sleep Y/N. You're safe here."

You smiled at the idea, and drifted off to sleep slowly.

[lottiesnotebook]

Six Song Soundtrack (Cara Hawke-Laidir)

(Previously: Luna Tabris)

Again thanking @nirikeehan and @librivore42 for the tags, I will probably come back and do the rest of my girls eventually bc this is fun but right now, I'm doing my longfic girlies, and specifically thinking about the version of Cara who lives in my Big Bang fic, Love in Idleness (aka Arranged Marriage AU), where the world isn't ending and Kirkwall's Chantry still stands, but she and Lucanis have to meddle their way through an unexpected arranged marriage...

Event that defines your character's past:

And when you scream that it's not fair It's like I've gone off to the coast Left you behind just standing there Pretending not to see your ghost If only you could hear my voice But you are screaming far too loud to hear me swear Just because I left doesn't mean that I'm not still there

In the universe where Cara is Rook, her defining moment is the Chantry explosion that fractures her family and destroys the only life she's ever known. In this universe, she's the princess of Kirkwall, but she would say she lost a lot more than a home and a city...

How your character sees themselves:

I don't get angry when I'm pissed I'm the eternal optimist I scream inside to deal with it, like, "Ah" All the time I'm grateful all the fucking time I'm sexy and I'm kind I'm pretty when I cry

She would like to tell you it's Espresso, but no. She's sexy AND she's kind! She's pretty when she cries! She's also really angry but we're not going to talk about that. <3

Their closest relationship (romantic or platonic)

I wanna tell you a secret You can take your double-standard love and keep it I can't help the devil likes to make my heart a double bed And I can't help he sometimes likes to come and rest his little head When my heart just burst like a glass balloon I let it fly too high and it shattered too soon I was the wrong damn girl in the wrong damn room I broke my glass balloon I let go of my glass balloon

Just going to leave this here for the boys, bc the ships in this fic are MESSY... :3

More importantly:

You have hardened completely by the end of this story You have learned to look clear through the flash of a bulb When you hear your own name from the back of a crowd You just straighten your gaze, no you don't turn around Well you know what they say about terrible hate It will breed something good when it's through At the end of the day, by the Potsdamer Platz And the Brandenburg Gate, it was you

Did I put Orana in this story bc I wanted Cara to have friends who weren't Crows? Yes. Did she end up getting her own subplot and a much cuter romance than Cara's? Absolutely, she deserves the world, and this song is for Them. <3

A major fight scene:

I'm not beaten by this yet You can't tell me to regret Been in the dark since the day we met Fire, help me to forget And it's my whole heart While tried and tested, it's mine And it's my whole heart Trying to reach it out And it's my whole heart Burned but not buried this time I'm on trial, waiting 'til the beat comes out

Unlike Luna, who gets a fight scene every chapter, Cara spends most of her action scenes screaming and panicking, because I'm a Feminist(TM) and believe that girls should also get to be cringe and losers. <3 She does, however, get one big moment that this is for, which I have to write probably today...

End credits song:

There goes the last great American Antivan dynasty Who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything.

Is she going to absolutely wreck Caterina's plans for House Dellamorte by the end of the fic? Maybe. <3

Tagging @adainesjacket, @sha-brytols, @thewardenisonthecase, @teine-mallaichte, @miladydewintcr, @virshiral, aaaand anyone else who wants to tell me about their OCs and their taste in music, bc I LOVE this meme! (If you've already been tagged, sorry-not-sorry, if you have any extra OCs, please take this as a chance to do it again!)

Blank template under cut:

Event that defines your character's past:

How your character sees themselves:

Their closest relationship (romantic or platonic)

A major fight scene:

End credits song:

[ajsvthefourth]

Hello, and welcome to the fic request post. This here post will provide you with the following information:

• How to ask for a fic (aka making a fic request)

• What to expect when making a request or when reading a requested fic (and extra)

• Available fandoms to request a fic from

And this post also explains why some fics are tagged as a gift for another user

Firstly, let's discuss the way you should request for a fic. You see, requesting a fic is not as hard as you think it is because the steps are simple: 1. DM me and 2. State your request

Within a fic request, the most acquired information are the fandom and relationship in which the fic will be tagged under (though fandom is not as important as the relationship, you still have to state it for all time sake), a summary/idea of the fic, your posting preference as well as rating (most of the time I write fics with T rating)

Posting preference is where you would want to see the fic. Usually when writing these, iw would like to post it on the platforms I usually write on before posting on Tumblr

So, now that I am also posting fics on Tumblr, I'd like to know if you would want to have your idea posted on AO3 (my latest) and Fanfiction.net (my oldest) as well

Secondly, let's see what you would want to expect from requesting a fic and when reading a requested fic (and other additional things as well)

1. When you request a fic to me, I'd like to clear things that I can't accept fics in which you are the self insert being shipped with the canon character

I know this will likely enrage some people, but I have nothing against self-shipping. To me, it's just not a field which I am familiar in, so writing self-shipping fics will be hard for me

However, fics without self-shipping can be accepted. I've seen two roleplay blogs here that have some very intriguing lore for their OC and have roleplayed with two other blogs (canon character) to further expand that lore. That I can do

2. When reading a requested fic, I would always tag the person who made the fic request to announce to them that their fic has been written and is ready to be read. The fic, I guarantee, will sometimes not reach your expectations (I am an amateur fanfiction writer) and I apologize for that. On the other hand, if you did enjoy it, I'm very happy to know so!

Extra: Do not ask for any other information other than making your fic request. I would love to socialize, but I think there are more important matters at hand

And now we come to the third matter in this list: The fandoms. I write in a lot of different fandoms, but here are the only two main ones (because I suck):

• Marvel (usually MCU and X-Men because I suck at comic lore and Avengers lore)

• Team Fortress 2 (yeah, go ahead, throw me your most toxic ship even)

Special: If you like Legends of Avantris: Once Upon A Witchlight, DM me because I have the perfect person to turn your ideas into reality!

Now to the final thing I've stated in this list: Gift for users

See, most of the time, ideas for the fics I write do not belong to me, they belong to someone else. And when I feel inspired by their ideas, I would likely comment to ask for permission to use their idea. This is most likely a me problem but I feel like if I don't ask for permission, it's like I'm stealing a work that hasn't been copyright-ed yet

So, if I comment on your idea (whether it's for a fic or just a silly thing you thought of), I am more likely asking permission to turn it into a fic

And that is all there is here today! If there are things you have questions on (because I most likely have missed a lot of other important things), just DM me and I'll reply when I can. Thank you!

Edit: I now take fic request on @simoia-vajik

[mdhwrites]

When it comes to fanfiction, what are your thoughts on OCs/self-inserts (I'm aware there's a difference between the two)?

So I know both of theirs reputation. In many's eyes, one is just a more extreme version of the other. Both are seen as wish fulfillment on the writer's part and thus are written poorly by default as a part of making them the most special thing that special'd. What is interesting to me in this regard is that this is actually just the same problem that the writers of the OG content face when introducing a new character but the writer doing it doesn't realize the landmine they're potentially walking onto.

Have you ever seen a long running show, even maybe just a couple seasons, and when they add a new character they get a bad reception? "They're just a copy of this character!" "They aren't nearly as deep as the cast that's already there!" "What purpose do they serve to this story except to let the writers... Add their own OC." This is because the audience is going to be inherently biased towards the characters who are already there. Trying to add a new MAIN character is always going to be difficult because it inherently means shifting the balance of the work, especially because the new character is going to need a lot of time to flesh out their place in the ensemble. Starlight Glimmer is an example, where the season after her started with a lot of episodes that were in someway focused on her so she could prove her good girl status or show how she was different from Twilight Sparkle because that's just what needs to happen with a new character.

But I want to emphasize this: OCs/Backlash on a character like this is predominantly a MAIN character problem. You want to throw in a random self insert who gets two lines and then dips out? Few, if anyone, is going to care because hey, you needed a rando there so why not just a quick cameo? This is the style the Marvel movies took with Stan Lee. His cameos were never that much a problem because they were usually a quick joke. They didn't detract from the characters you were there to see.

Which brings us to why this problem is SO. MUCH. WORSE. when it comes to fanfiction. One of the strengths of fanfiction from a novice writer's perspective is that a lot of criticism is going to be softballed because the audience is primed to just enjoy the work regardless because they just are there for more time with the characters they love. For an experience writer like me, I could theoretically be experimental with my stories more on Ao3 as a test bed for if those would work in general because I'm not going to get a one star review for the formatting, I'll get a comment going "This was weird but MAN I loved seeing X do Y." Your audience being inherently primed to enjoy your work is one of the joys of being a fanfic writer because it means it's so much easier to find your audience.

That also means it's really easy for original elements to be seen as hostile. As invading the space, especially if they're overshadowing the rest of the cast. The audience isn't here for your original characters after all. They're here for the characters they already enjoy. It makes me think of how the most famous OC of MLP's fandom... Is Nyx, at least from fanfiction. That or Pip but both use sleight of hand in order to get away with this. Nyx is not a wholly an OC. They are a mix of two characters explicitly. Nightmare and Luna, just turned into a filly. So instead of "Check out my OC," it's "Check out my alternative version Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon." Littlepip meanwhile is in a Fallout AU in an Equestria that is, well, a post apocalypse. That isn't MLP at that point. That's just original fiction and so your expectations change because you don't actually know from go if your favorite characters are going to be there so you're more there for the blending of media. Any appearances by canon characters becomes a treat and so Littlepip doesn't have to compete with them. I've also never read either of these stories, I'm just going off of what I've absorbed since I know these characters are commonly liked and what their concepts are. This is also not a condemnation of either character, both need to be well written to be as popular as they are or else they would have been discarded, just that they don't have as much of an uphill battle as literally just dropping a new character in the media world you enjoy has.

The other way you can bypass this is to make them narratively subservient to a character. What I mean by that is that they clearly are there to push another main character's arc and the like. As such, they don't feel as much like a main character, they feel like interesting supporting cast to one of the characters already is primed to like. Pretty much any Apple Family OC is going to fall into this so long as the story also heavily includes Applejack or Apple Bloom. Babs Seed is literally just this where her connection to the Apples and how she challenges them makes her immediately compelling to the audience because we want to see that. A looooot of one off characters honestly fall into this category, with the added bonus that they're not main characters, they're supporting cast.

So with all of this, I think it begs the question: Are OCs/Self Inserts treated unfairly? Well... That's really fucking complicated. As I pointed out above, the well written and the well conceived can absolutely be liked. It has maybe fallen a bit out fashion post MLP but a lot of fandoms probably have semi-famous that just got popular enough to start being passed around. An OC can be well received so long as they're done well. The reason so few are done well is honestly tragically simple: You have now taken one of the hardest parts of original writing and added the biggest downside of fanfiction with none of the strengths of fanfiction.

I have said that I became an original writer because I found myself limited by fanfiction. That the AUs I made were essentially irrecognizable, or not materially added to, by being fanfiction. This is because the one mandate, the one restriction, of fanfiction is that you have to work within the boundaries of the media you are in. Those boundaries are looser than an original story but there are limits. You make an alicorn OC in MLP fanfic will ask questions because doesn't that make them a princess? So now you have to add someone entirely from whole cloth, robbing you of the bonuses of fanfiction, while making sure they contort to the rules of the fiction, rather than ever being able to bend those rules for the sake of the character and their story. This can actually make it really good practice for making original characters for an original story because of those extra challenges but that's not how most fanfic authors look at it. It's just adding a character, or themselves, into a story because they're excited to do so. That is a recipe for disaster.

I also think it is given too much shit for the same reason. Unless the person touts their OC as perfectly written... Let them enjoy their trash. Fanfiction is for the writer before it is ever for the reader after all. If you can empathize with why a person adds themselves into a story, which is an entire blog on its own, then it can help you see a poorly written OC and go, "This isn't for me." And then leave. You do not have to be a dick about it, they're just trying to enjoy themselves.

As a note: This is why I so very, VERY rarely go after fanworks. I do not want to shit on people just for wanting to create and play. It's just discouraging so unless I have a larger point I can make through the work, an actual lesson to teach rather than just dragging it through the mud, I'm not even going to bother talking about it. I'm just being a dick then.

And a lot of the push against OCs and Self Inserts in fanfiction fall into and I hope that hasn't discouraged people from making the stories they want to like it did for me with my first ever piece of fanfiction. See you all next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[spnfanficpond]

New Member Spotlight - April 2024

The Pond is always growing and we want to make our new members feel welcome! Here’s a list of recent additions to our fishy family, along with a little info about them!

Guppies, Jellies, and Mutuals, oh, my!

@elf-punk -

Other SM names? - Discord: crumblemoon, AO3: queen_karnilla

OTP? - Destiel all the way

Other fandoms? - Doctor who, Dune, Harry Potter, Marvel (Loki specifically), Sandman

Looking for in the Pond? - Mainly to meet and hang out with other SPN fans, and share/read fanfic and headcanons! Nothing super specific.

Pairings you read? - Reader inserts/OC mainly involving spn angels (michael and cas are my favourites!)

Genres you read? - Romance, friends/enemies to lovers, angst with a resolution, all things fluffy! Will read smut as part of a longer romantic narrative, but not for the sake of it.

What do you like to write? - Reader-inserts/OC, introspectives and character studies

Masterlist!

@jinkieswouldyoulookatthis -

Other SM names? - Discord: jackiefour, AO3: jinkieswouldyoulookatthis

OTP? - Wincest (Sam/Dean)

Looking for in the Pond? - Just looking to strengthen ties with the general fandom community and it's always nice to have other writers/readers to talk with.

Pairings you read? - SamDean in all its variations, either of the brothers/reader together or separate is good too.

Genres you read? - Angst, smut, crackfics are my preferred, although some fluff is nice and appreciated too. The trope doesn't matter as much to me as the overall quality of the writing.

Favorite writer(s)? - Gah, too many amazing writers to narrow it down to a favorite, but @applecrumbledore, @dyed-red, leonidaslion, candle_beck, deadlybride immediately spring to mind.

What do you like to write? - Currently been writing wincest (SamDean) but I used to write reader inserts for both of the boys.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Probably this one because it's a body swap/gender bend with low key non-con elements to it (so I get why it doesn't get as much love as some of the others): Make A Wish

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? -I am currently working on my first long fic, just getting going on it and am a little intimidated by the scope, but I don't deal with deadlines or anything like that well, so I'm hoping that just being around other people writing and talking about writing will help keep me motivated to finish it. Basically, I'm just looking for passive motivation and community.

@i-already-know-im-going-2-hell / @aceing-on-the-cake -

Other SM names? - AO3: i_already_know_im_going_to_hell

OTP? - Honestly I think Wincestiel can't be beat when it's done well, best of both worlds

Other fandoms? - I enjoy a lot of fandoms but to be honest I'm really only making content (writing and drawing) for supernatural.

Looking for in the Pond? - Honestly I'm just looking to hang around, meet fellow writers and artists, and pick up tips and tricks along the way. I find I'm motivated so much more when I have others around me who are just as into the things I'm into.

Something to signal boost? - Honestly the only thing I'm currently working on bigger project wise is a supernatural au I'm doing a lot of drawings for. This is the original post --Guineanatural-- and it has all the links in it towards currently running polls or completed artworks.

Pairings you read? - I'm a multishipper, I will read almost any pairing that's not parent/child honestly.

Genres you read? - Angst and Hurt/Comfort are my jam. Smut, fluff and crack are great if they're included, but I'm truly there for pain of angst and then the comfort that comes after.

Favorite writer(s)? - @applecrumbledore on AO3, is the author of one of my all-time favorite Dean/Sam fics I've ever read, Acid

What do you like to write? - Angst/Comfort with a whole lot of character analysis thrown in

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - Unfortunately, my bane in life is to house more fic ideas in my head than I actually ever have a reasonable amount of time to write and to have crippling adhd caused executive dysfunction, which can truly only be fixed by Earth changing to a day cycle longer than 24 hours and absolutely using body doubles in any form I can take those. The first problem truly can't be fixed by mortal men unfortunately, but for the second honestly me just hanging around with other writers or seeing other writers work on things too helps to work as a body double for my brain a lot of the time. So honestly, just hanging in the server itself and following the tumblr should be plenty of help.

That's all for this month, folks! (If we're missing anyone, let us know and we'll add them to next month's list!) Make sure to say hi to the newbies and make them feel welcome! Thanks to all from @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, and @heavenssexiestangel!