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azikarue · 8 months

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2023 Fic Recap

Little late with the recap this year, but it's still January, right? For now?

Going into 2023, my goals were to 1) update "Bliss", 2) participate in MayBlade, and 3) work on/finish some WIPs. Poor "Bliss" is still waiting for its chance, but two out of three isn't bad!

I'll ramble more at the end of the post, but here's a recap of everything I posted in 2023.

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A Kiss for Luck

Summary: Before his crucial battle against Mystel, Max takes a moment to center himself. He wasn't expecting company. Set in my Saint Shields in G-Rev AU. Pairing: Max/Mariam Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,855 Rated: K+

This fic was the first of six short oneshots I wrote to commemorate Valentine's Day. I did something similar in 2021, where I wrote a handful of Max/Mariam kisses and published them during the week leading up to Valentine's Day. When I was planning my writing for 2023, it felt like something fun to tackle again, and it gave me a lighthearted and relaxed start to the year writing-wise. So, I ignored my entire list of goals and wrote this (plus the next five) based off of six kiss tropes. I chose a different pairing for each.

For this one, I indulged myself doubly by starting with Max/Mariam and by setting it in my Saint Shields in G-Rev AU. Ever since I started pondering this AU, the moment in this fic is one that I knew had to happen. I'm sure the Saint Shields would have a lot to say about BEGA. I'm also sure that Mariam would remember the lessons she learned from Max and would be happy to throw them back in his face when he needs it most. And I love the excuse to visit early Max/Mariam days, even if it's in an AU setting. I write so much about them as adults that it always feels refreshing to write a little closer to their roots. This one holds a special place in my heart.

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A Kiss on a Scar

Summary: Every mark on Tala's body has a story and Julia does her best not to ask questions. She doesn't always succeed. Pairing: Tala/Julia Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,883 Rated: T

When I chose this trope, I knew exactly which ship I would write for it. I was glad to have more practice with these two after writing them for a couple of my MayBlade 2022 chapters. For some reason, I tend to shy away from any member of the Blitzkrieg Boys when I write. I think it's partially because they have such a strong fan base and I'm never sure how my personal image of them will rate. Honestly, I've spent so many years in the fandom focusing on more underrated characters that I'm not even sure I have fully developed ideas for the Blitzkrieg Boys. Tala/Julia feels more niche, though, like it's a safe place for me to play around in.

While writing this, I was a little unsure on characterization. Namely, how much Tala would share without prompting and how much Julia would prompt him. I think there's still some gaps in Tala's character arc between seasons that I need to fill in mentally. He's very open with Tyson when discussing BEGA and Boris. I can only assume that's some combo of righteous anger and maybe therapy? Or just figuring himself out now that he's free from Biovolt's clutches. Julia is a bit of a mystery, too. Mostly, I worry that I'll end up writing her too similarly to other female characters on accident. Reading this fic back, I don't dislike the way I wrote them. And it was a stage in their relationship that I hadn't written before this point, so I enjoyed it a lot!

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A Kiss with Red Lipstick

Summary: Usually Queen has more fun at Enrique's family parties. But she usually doesn't have to go out of her way for his company or spend the night stone cold sober either. Pairing: Enrique/Queen Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,784 Rated: M

This chapter was just me writing for me. I was pleasantly surprised when it got more than a single note when I posted it on Tumblr, because I know this is such a random ship with an, arguably, even more random interpretation. These are the two I write about when I want messy drama and chaos. Red lipstick kisses feel very messy and chaotic, so here we are.

This falls into the same story line as the last Enrique/Queen fic I wrote. It was fun building upon that idea.

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A Kiss at the Beach

Summary: Salima gets caught staring. It lands her in deep water…so to speak. Pairing: Ray/Salima Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,180 Rated: T

I'll never turn down the chance to write some cutesy Ray/Salima. I imagine the two of them traveling around together a lot, living an almost nomadic lifestyle between tournaments or stops home (to White Tiger Hills or Salima's apartment). It's always a treat to indulge in that line of thinking, especially for a sweet moment like this.

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A Kiss to Shut Her Up

Summary: Mariah has a talent for uncomfortable conversations. Rick's working on his strategy for getting out of them. Pairing: Rick/Mariah Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,253 Rated: T

This was one of my favorites when I wrote this series, and I still love it a year later. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I love writing Rick and Mariah's dynamic, especially from Rick's in-denial, grumpy point of view. He's a fun character in general, and I love how Mariah is the perfect person to keep him on his toes. And I had the line about her climbing him like a tree in reserves for what feels like forever, so it was nice to finally give it a home.

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A Kiss for the Winner

Summary: Tyson wins another World Championship and Hilary needs a minute to process his reaction. Pairing: Tyson/Hilary Chapters: 1/1 Words: 1,987 Rated: K+

I remember agonizing over this fic because I didn't want Tyson or Hilary to feel out of character. I've written a fair bit of TyHil since then, so I think that worry has subsided somewhat, but it was VERY REAL when I wrote this. I think the fact that the fic centers around a disagreement added to that anxiety. Arguments can be tricky. I didn't want it to feel like they resolved things too quickly to be believable or that Hilary's feelings were dismissed. In the end, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

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Subtly Sweet

Summary: When Hilary's computer crashed, she hoped work would be a distraction. Instead, she has a run-in with a vending machine and finds an unlikely hero in Tyson. Now if only he wasn't such a royal pain. Pairing: Tyson/Hilary Chapters: 1/1 Words: 4,320 Rated: K

I have this fic to thank for being able to tick my "work on/finish some WIPs" box in 2023. Very grateful to it for the feeling of accomplishment it gave me. 😄

For a fic that was sitting as a WIP for a year, it cleaned up nice! As a WIP, it was mostly dialogue with some vague outlining that I'd started, then left hanging. Sometimes pinpointing the perfect dialogue to take a plot from Point A to Point B can be a struggle, so when I reread my notes, I knew I had to take advantage of a good thing while I had it. The phone call scene wasn't originally included, and I remember doing a healthy amount of tweaking to get it right, but once it was there I couldn't imagine the story without it.

Fun fact: The original spark of an idea for this fic came from a conversation with RedWheeler literal years ago. I can't remember if we were discussing TyHil specific songs, but "Tangled Up In Me" by Skye Sweetnam came up and I couldn't get the thought of Hilary kicking a vending machine out of my head. Also, how is that song 20 years-old already?

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Life in Color

Summary: A collection for MayBlade 2023. Pairing: Multiple Chapters: 31/31 Words: 65,225 Rated: Varies (everything from K to M)

The pièce de résistance of my year. 💎

I, once again, did not finish my MayBlade entries on time. Unlike my first try, I accepted the fact that I would fall behind ahead of time. I think it made me feel much less stressed overall, but it also might have contributed to me falling behind faster than before? It's a double-edged sword. I know that I was in a better place for this round than I was when writing "Just A Moment", though. Life was much more balanced and I gave myself time to rest and recoup in between chapters, as needed, rather than spending all hours writing, editing, and falling asleep on my keyboard.

I'm very proud of this collection. I love challenging myself to write about some of my favorite, underappreciated characters alongside some of the characters more typical to my fics. I think I said this last year, too, but I love to see which chapters people like best and how it can vary between FFN and Tumblr. Sometimes I'm surprised by how things play out. Like, I was very shocked that the first chapter was so well-received on Tumblr, seeing as it focused on the Saint Shields. I'm sure it was because it was Day 1 of the event, but it was nice to know that some of my favorite characters got their time to shine. That was the case for more than one chapter, and I'd write a slew of notes on them all if it wouldn't make this post way too long.

All in all, I saw more engagement on "Life in Color" versus "Just A Moment" and I'm so grateful to anyone who read or interacted with it in some way! 🤍

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As I reflect on 2023, I can acknowledge that I took some positive steps forward in my never-ending quest for balance.

I'm teaching myself every day that it is okay to let go of things without guilt and pick them back up later. I can't be everything or do it all 100% of the time, and that's all right. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, and I can start things without having any idea of when I'll finish them. I can take a break from things that aren't serving me or causing more stress than I can handle. I can choose myself first and follow my whims. I can log off and be present.

In 2024, I don't know what my fanfic uploads will look like. I'd like to update Bliss and work on more WIPs. MayBlade is up in the air. I love participating, but it always turns into a bigger production than I bargain for. I may just need to participate differently, if I choose to do so.

September thru December are notoriously busy months for me, with May and June getting honorable mention. I'm not saying I'll be totally absent those months. Just putting it out there for me, so I know to go easy on myself. If I do nothing but read and take day trips and spend quality time with the people (and animals!) I love during that time, then it will be a year well spent. 🤍

As always, thank you to everyone who has interacted with any of my uploads this year and to the people who cheer me on and feed my fandom fire. I appreciate this little circle of the internet so, so much, and I hope 2024 brings only the best to you all! 🥰

#HAPPY 2024!#crossing my fingers for some fic inspo and motivation this year 🤞🏼#azrfic recap #azrupdate #azikarue #azikarue394

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azikarue · 2 years

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MayBlade 2022 : Day 25 : Colorful

Tala/Julia | FFN Rating: K+ | FFN Link ❖ Sometimes Julia sat back and marveled at her life, amazed by the capacity it had to take her by complete and total surprise. Today was one of those days. She was in a field somewhere in Denmark with the circus setting up in the background, clothes that needed dying in front of her, and a stoic Russian watching her intently. The first two weren’t a shock, but the third…

Never in a million years would she have imagined a few conversations during the World Championships would end in Tala spending the summer in her and Raul’s trailer, touring Europe with the circus as her own personal roadie. She’d been joking when she suggested it. She couldn’t tell if this was his elaborate way of calling her on her bluff or if he had other motives.

The majority of their troupe thought he was interested in Julia romantically. A few of them even thought she was secretly dating him and too shy to say anything, which was ridiculous because she wasn’t Raul. They liked making it awkward, regardless of her protests; whenever Tala joined her at meal times, they would get up just to leave her alone with him.

During the day she kept busy so she didn’t notice their behavior as much. Between practicing her act and the fact that she and Raul were still the errand-runners and odd-job-doers to their circus family despite aging out of the role years ago, she didn’t have time to entertain Tala.

That didn’t stop him from being entertained. The veteran members of the circus weren’t shy about asking him to lend a hand here and there as needed. She’d gotten used to traipsing through the grounds and seeing him nodding politely along to whatever gossip they were filling the silence with. She didn’t want to think about all of her embarrassing childhood stories that had probably already been passed on.

Early in the morning and late at night when they reconvened in the trailer, she should have had a break. Instead she had to deal with Raul staring between them suspiciously, as if he didn’t quite believe Tala slept scrunched up on their couch all night and not in her bunk with an arm around her waist. At least he was too intimidated by Tala to try giving him the shovel talk.

The whole thing was a little maddening, but admitting it bothered her would be worse. She’d tried bringing it up to Tala once, just to see if they were on the same page, and gotten absolutely nowhere.

“Why did you come this summer, anyway?” She punctuated her question with a vigorous sweep of the stable floor. She was trying to make it look like her job was just as taxing and gross as Tala’s, but they both knew shoveling the manure was the worst part. Normally she handed that off to Raul, but he wasn’t the one helping her muck out stalls today.

“You invited me,” Tala answered, looking at her like she’d lost her mind. His nose was only wrinkling a little bit at the smell as he shoveled more droppings into a nearby wheelbarrow. “Remember?”

Julia flushed. Hopefully he thought it was from exertion and not embarrassment.

“You don’t seem like the type to run away with the circus, that’s all,” she retorted and redoubled her sweeping efforts to avoid looking at him. She only lifted her head again when the sound of the shovel stopped.

“What type am I, then?” Tala asked. He was staring at her with a searching look in those bright, blue eyes. Not for the first time, she felt like he could see straight through her. It was unnerving.

Julia decided it was best if she didn’t answer.

“What’s all this?”

She shook her head and let Tala’s question ground her in the present. He was awfully curious for someone who’d toted half a dozen boxes into the field for her without asking why first. All she’d had to do was point him in the right direction and she was free to get everything set up while he did the grunt work. Handy.

“The Jubilee shows kick off this weekend,” Julia answered as she finished wrapping the last bundle of fabric in rubber bands. With a glance to make sure it was secure, she tossed it into a box with the rest. “Since Raul and I have our routine down, I’ve been nominated to tie-dye the commemorative t-shirts.”

Tala arched one eyebrow and surveyed the contents of the boxes she’d begun unpacking when her fingers needed a break from twisting shirts.

“Are they going to be rainbow?” he asked, eyes skimming the plethora of dye bottles lined up in the grass.

“What else?” Julia laughed at the barely-concealed distaste in his expression and used a spare rubber band to tie her hair back. “Don’t tell me you’re too afraid of color to help, Mr. Orange-and-Blue-Jumpsuit.” Tala’s scowl deepened and Julia relished in it for a moment before adding, “I’m putting you in charge of bagging each one when I’m done dying them. They can’t dry out.”

“I thought I was just the muscle because the strongman was busy,” Tala retorted, but didn’t argue when she shoved a box of gallon size bags into his arms and motioned for him to sit down next to her.

“Just be glad I’m not making you help me with the actual dying,” she said as she began saturating the first of many shirts with color. “Raul and I tie-dyed some of our first costumes. He didn’t listen to me about color placement and his turned out ugly and splotched with brown.”

“So, to be clear,” Tala replied, holding open a bag obediently for the first shirt, “Raul won’t help because you’re a control freak?”

Julia’s glare was met with a smirk.

“For your information, he got wrangled into helping bedazzle the show outfits,” Julia shot back. There was never enough sparkle, especially when it came to the circus’s seventieth anniversary – he’d probably be stuck with the seamstresses for a while. “I thought you’d rather do this, but if I was wrong I’m sure Raul would swap you. I never took you for a rhinestone person, but…” She trailed off with a shrug.

Tala squeezed the air out of the bag and sealed it shut without another word.

They continued on like that, exchanging short snatches of conversation once in a while, but mostly working in silence. They got a system down relatively quickly where Julia would slap color on, Tala would bag and stack and keep her stocked up with full bottles of dye.

Without discussing it, they decided to work through their normal lunchtime. The sun had peaked and begun its summertime-slow descent into the afternoon by the time they finished.

“Finally,” Julia groaned and stretched the kinks out of her back. “I thought we’d never be done.”

“I didn’t realize how many people there are in the troupe,” Tala commented, placing the last bag on top of the ones already overflowing out of their box. He stretched his long legs out on the grass in front of him, leaned back on his hands, and asked, “What now?”

“Now they sit,” Julia answered, cracking her knuckles one by one to release some of the tension buildup. She frowned when it didn’t make a huge difference. “We’ll rinse them out and hang them to dry tomorrow.”

That would, at least, be less physically taxing, especially if she borrowed a hose from someone. She wanted to be able to launch her beyblade for the Jubilee’s opening night, after all. Poor Raul was probably in the same boat – if he was still elbows deep in tulle and glitter, his fingers had to be sore. She tried to rub some of the ache out of her hands, but with both of them hurting, it didn’t do much good.

“Right now I say we find something to eat,” she said, making to get to her feet. “I’m starving.”

Tala caught her wrist before she could get very far. Forced to decide between hovering awkwardly in a half-standing position or sitting back down, Julia let herself fall to the ground.

“What are you doing?” she asked when he adjusted his grasp to hold her hand gingerly in his.

He glanced at her face, as if asking permission.

She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to find out what his problem was, but when he began pinching and massaging each of her fingers individually, it snapped shut. Instead she breathed in deep through her nose and watched with wide eyes as he worked.

Tala generously ignored how stunned she was and continued until he finished with her fingers. Then he moved on to her hand, working the tension up and out from her palm to her wrist in a series of firm whorls.

Julia caught herself staring at his hands, thinking about how big and strong they were and what it might be like to curl her fingers up through his just once. What would his long, pale fingers look like intertwined with her own, stained multicolored from hours of tie-dying? With an alarmed inhale, she flinched back.

“Did I hurt you?” Tala asked, brows knit together in concern. His reflexes were fast enough to catch the tips of her fingers, preventing her from pulling away entirely. He palmed her hand again and ran his free one down over the back of it in a soothing motion.

“No,” she exhaled and immediately blushed when his eyebrow arched up. “It’s just sensitive or something.”

It was the lamest excuse, but Tala pet her hand one more time like it was a skittish animal instead of commenting. There was no way she was saving face, so when he gestured for the other hand, she let him take it.

“You do this a lot?” she asked to fill the silence. He had to – her hand didn’t cramp at all when she wiggled and flexed her fingers to test out his handiwork.

He nodded without looking up and said, “We used to practice our launches for hours.” The ‘in the Abbey’ was implied and made Julia pay rapt attention. It was rare for anyone to get insight into his past, and she was always dumbfounded that he decided to share even the slightest mention of it with her, of all people. “When you grip a launcher for that long on a daily basis, you find ways to help the pain.”

Julia stayed quiet while he finished. It was probably her imagination, but she thought he stroked this hand for longer than the last one.

“Thanks,” she said, when he finally let it go. “I was afraid I was going to have to ask you to be my stand-in for the show.” She smiled mischievously at the bolt of terror that shot through his eyes. Back on even ground. “How are you with streamers?”

“I’m better with a beyblade,” he deadpanned, getting to his feet, “and I don’t think your costume would suit me.”

“Aww, Tala,” she teased and picked up the box of dying shirts, “you need some more color in your life.”

He grunted when she hoisted the box into his arms, once again her replacement strongman, and said, “I think I have all the color I can handle.”

The way he looked at her when he said it would be all she thought about through lunch, dinner, and as she waited to fall asleep that night. With all the surprises life threw her way, she got the feeling there was at least one more involving Tala on the horizon.

#said I was going to finish and I'm definitely going to finish #don't mind me being the one person AFTER-after-party #definitely experienced some burnout between finishing these prompts and work being crazy #not to mention my personal life being busier than usual but what are you gonna do?#beyblade #will still tag #mayblade 2022 #for the sake of blog organization #talajulia #azikarue #azikarue394 #azrfic

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