#might not main tag all of them but this is the first i digress

[enhanced-operatives-division]

handler for the bingo?

Bingo game here!

1 Bingo!

[ladykailitha]

A Holly, Jolly Harrington Christmas

Hello and welcome to my Christmas AUvent Calendar! Every day from now until the 24th I will be posting a ficlet that is 500-1500 from an AU I've done over the years.

All stories will be marked with the tag #12 aus of christmas so you can follow along as I will only be tagging my permanent list for this (it would get too confusing otherwise).

The next one on our list is: The Reunion verse. You can read the story here. All links will be to the first chapter, but the chapter itself will have links to the rest of the story.

Thanks to @bookworm0690 for help with the title.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

~

The newly blended Munson/Harrington clan was experiencing the Christmas holiday for the first time.

Edie knew to sit back and watch the chaos. Harri and Eddie did not. She braced for the sonic blast that was about to occur in three, two, one...

“What?!!” Steve squawked. “You guys didn’t do Christmas? But how? Why?”

Harri and Eddie shared a glance and then Eddie just shrugged. “Jai was Muslim and I prefer Halloween. You don’t get mocked for Santa bringing you socks instead of toys when it’s a candy free for all.”

Steve blinked at them in confusion and then tilted his head to side. Edie hid a smile behind her glass of chocolate milk. She always thought her dad looked like a puppy when he did that.

Apparently so did Eddie.

“Oh, no,” he whispered. “The puppy dog eyes.” He turned to Harri. “What have we done?”

“Buckle up, buckaroos!” Edie said cheerfully. “Dad’s going to give you two a crash course in Christmas cheer. He’s almost militant about it.”

“I am not militant,” Steve huffed, putting his hands on his hips. “Just very well organized.”

Edie turned to the Munson boys. “Santa wishes he was as organized as Dad, and the fat little elf has magic.”

~

Eddie realized all too quickly that Edie had absolutely undersold the militant aspect of the Christmas mania that overtaken their home. They had decided to move in Eddie’s place (so he wouldn’t have to rebuild his ridiculous setup regarding the identity of Harri’s surrogate mom. They had told him after the wedding to forestall any meltdowns, but Harri had taken it like a champ and understood why there was so much secrecy.

But Eddie was digressing and his spouse was decorating. It had started innocent enough when he put up the first tree in their main hallway. Then second went up in Steve’s office, in the corner of the room. Then the third one went up in the family room. And this one was the presents and for everyone to decorate. Not the other two. Those were just centerpieces.

Steve scoffed when he brought it up. “You mean like the ten foot skeleton that was there only two months ago? Or the dragon that was on top of the house? Like those decorations, my love?”

Eddie blinked at him for a moment. So, yes. The Munsons had gone all out for Halloween. “Point taken, sweetheart. I will bow to your superior knowledge in this regard.”

Steve nodded smugly. Eddie should have known what was coming next. But he was woefully unprepared.

The train set went up complete with a ceramic Christmas village and its residents. It had working lights on the houses, street lights, and even traffic lights. Eddie had asked Dustin how it all worked.

“Fuck if I know, dude,” Dustin said, “by all rights it shouldn’t. Only Steve in his bumbling way could create such a mess of wires and connections that somehow feedback on each other and still fucking work.”

Eddie looked over at his husband with new appreciation. Because yeah, only Stevie.

Then he learned that there were two Christmas parties. One for the company which was not mandatory, but Steve went all puppy dog eyes and it might as well had been. And the other was the friend and family party.

According to Jeff who had gone to these the last couple of years, was the party. Like Steve hired a Santa Claus to pass out gifts, the food was catered, full professionally tended bar, the works. If Eddie thought the charity gala was obscene, this was that on crack.

The office Christmas party was a blast. Eddie spent most of the time learning new swear words in ASL from Steve’s secretary, Vanessa until her husband Nate dragged her away to meet someone in his department.

Then he spent the rest of the time teaching Dustin the new swears.

Then the day of the Christmas party arrived. And there weren’t as many people as Eddie thought there were going to be. He thought it would be wall to wall with stars like the gala and their wedding reception. But no. It was just friends.

But make no mistake the intimacy of the party did not make it any less grand. In fact, Eddie would have gone as far as to say it made it more intimate.

Eddie slipped his arm around Steve waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his neck. “This has been fun, sweetheart. Thank you.”

Steve flushed with pride. “You’re welcome. I hope Harri is having a good first Christmas.”

“Oh yeah,” Eddie said with a grin. He pointed at his son dancing goofily with his friends. “I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy.”

And then as if called Harri came bounding up to them all smiles. “This is the best holiday ever! Thanks Steve!” He hugged Steve tight.

“You’re welcome, Harri,” Steve said warmly.

Then Harri left the way he came, practically vibrating with joy.

“Betrayal by my own flesh and blood!” Eddie gasped clutching his chest.

Steve shook his head. “As though you don’t have Edie hook, line and sinker for Halloween.”

Eddie looked at Steve for a moment. “Did our children get swapped at birth? Because that is the only explanation.”

Steve just shook his head. This year was the best Christmas he had since his divorce, because Eddie and Harri were apart of it now. And that’s what made it the best holiday ever.

~

Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[tunamayuuu]

Hii!

I've seen a little bit of your Kny!bsd au through a rb from one of my mutuals, and I think I'm being sucked into a rabbit hole/pos

I love your art sososo much, and I would see it on my dash on occasion (it brought me happiness, but I never really kept up with the account, and I honestly high-key regret it), so when I saw your alt cast art, I remembered rbing the Kyōkenji x Inokana sketch you drew a while back, but I had no idea it was associated with an entire au!! I was estatic since I love the au concept, and I love both ships so much!!

Then, trust me, I was innocently scrolling through the tag when I came across rengokunikida... This man has no right being so jdbdjdbd

My thoughts immediately went to Murata when I saw TecchōGiyū, like yes he's such a pretty man, but my brain really likes to digress from the main point lmao.

Urokodaki as Fukuchi feels a little weird, but it's accurate dynamic-wise with Teruko, and Tachihara. What is Jōnō's relationship with Fukuchi in this au anyway?? It could go in so many directions I'm curious djehdhbd

I love this au sm and your art of it is delectable, so I just felt the need to send an ask your way. I hope you have a great day (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

–Anon you could call 'Grace'

I might come on here from time to time, so I might as well give myself a name.

this was the first grace ask i never got to answer oh my god anyway.

thank you so much!!! i actually stopped being into bsd for a full ass year and ever since that shin soukoku doodle i made, it comforted a big part of me that felt horrible everytime i'd post bsd onto socmed knowing my more passionate works didn't get as much engagement as shitposts ahaha...

the kny-ified bsd au was and still is an au project i want to keep working on!! i have a looong list of the full cast, it's just that i always get side quests and wanting to draw OTHER things and getting into OTHER new medias i wanna draw and yeah that's why it's taken years for me to complete anything orz (i have plenty of files of the au that i never posted because they're all unfinished or uncolored and i thought i won't do my au justice if none of them were colored yk?)

i'm not an inokana fan myself but i'd love to hear your take on them! i just wanted to draw kyokenji at that time ehehe

i will always say that rengokunikida was def not my idea. it was an idea from a bsd friend! they even explained to me how it could work and i never looked back

i'm actually not sure who would take murata's role in the au because we know next to nothing about canon tecchou. michizou already takes sabito's role so.....?

ALSO I FINALLY GOT TO ANSWER THIS BECAUSE! fukuchi is not urokodaki in this au! fukuchi takes kokushibo's role

jouno and fukuchi unfortunately do not interact in this au..

i'm so happy to see my au still getting love even after the years i've been on and off in activity! comments like these fill me with so much motivation to upkeep this au!

[ms--lobotomy]

Since you tagged me in this poll I feel the need to answer with my thoughts for all of them. You know, for funsies.

40k Guilliman: pretty good option. He’s (somewhat) mentally stable and has talked it out with you beforehand. Though I am curious on where he acquired primarch-grade bondage equipment. Is that why it was planned months in advance? Was he spending all that time just trying out different kinds of ropes and chains that could hold him like some sort of kinky parody of Fenrir from norse mythology?? Also, he deserves sex that has him relax and not possibly shatter his partner’s pelvis, let that man rest. 8/10.

Corrupted Horus: We all enjoy a very evil and very charismatic man from time to time. And the chaos gods which are currently kinda wearing Horus’ body like a condom are one of the options presented in this poll. But before your mind gets carried away with the fantasy of hot mean DILF, we have to think: He’s still a DILF. And so his taste in music will be that of a Dad. So get ready for him to blast Imagine Dragons while sexily taking his shirt off. You plead for him to strip faster, not because you’re horny but because you hope that when he does so he’ll turn the rock & roll cover of Thunder off and fuck you properly. He won’t. 1/10.

Jaghatai: No words other than those of approval. No thoughts other than those of lust. 9/10.

Ferrus Manus pre-heresy: Not sure why you specified pre-heresy but maybe I don’t have enough imagination for a post-heresy lewding scenario, but I digress. So I feel that the sex wouldn’t be the main draw of the situation here, instead it’s more to do with trying to make a guy feel better about a body part that he wants to peel his metal-skin off of. Ferrus is a dude that has simultaneously given all of his children body dysmorphia (that they try to fix by replacing their body parts with tech) while also wanting to get rid of the most technological part of himself. And he won’t even tell people a direct answer about where he got the technological metal hands from anyway. This man is an enigma and the sex is just a backdrop for the true scenario; which is the Ferrus Manus character exploration that’s going on. So to judge purely by the sex itself it’s a solid 5/10.

Daemon Magnus: This dude will not only do all of what you specified. But he’ll also add Gale from bg3 astral plane type sex into the mix. The only limit is your imagination Babey!!! 11/10 (he may have used his psychic powers to mess with the rating).

Leman Russ: What’s not to love about a big scary man in a collar? What’s not to love about a living war machine getting restrained like they’re a simple animal?? Though him eventually breaking out of it would imply that my skills in Husband husbandry are poor, and that might make me kind of sad. 7/10 (would change it to 8/10 if you also put a muzzle on him)

Pre-Heresy Fulgrim: The number one rule of kink fantasy is that nothing will work out as perfectly as you want it to, something will always go differently than it did in your imagination because, fun fact, your partner is not a mind reader (and even if they were it’s not like they can control every action/reaction they do/have). If you fuck him he will be very very very disappointed in you and will act like a bitch about it. 3/10 (the sex stops midway through because you ruined his expectations too many times).

Rogal Dorn: The way im about to sexualise that middle aged man. Oh boy… well first of all I’ll- [REDACTED BY THE INQUISITION. SUMMONS A DAEMON OF SLAANESH IF THE TEXT IS READ OUT LOUD]. 9.5/10.

30k Corvus Corax: Now while he can’t be perceived, I can. In fact I am very perceivable. Unlike Corvus’ furtive emo outfits my fashion sense consists of wearing the most sparkly and shiny accessories all the time and in very large quantities. I dress as though I’m trying to sound like one of santa’s reindeer or a sentient human windchime. And my penchant to talk very loudly knows no bounds. So combining his extreme stealth with my extreme unstealth gives us the average of The Normal Amount Of Noticeability. Which would get us both arrested for indecent exposure. 0/10 because i don’t want to go to jail.

Sanguinius: also a pretty good option. Though I question how a man who had big issues with being deified by the mortal populace would feel about having his more “angelic” features worshipped. But I’m sure I can make it work. 7.5/10.

In conclusion: the vote goes to Magnus, but if he wasn’t there then Dorn would be attaining the title of “babygirl” real fucking fast.

Time to /finally/ answer some asks. This isn't a knock on you by any means, or anyone who's sent asks. I'm just not very good at it lol

Robby G: Listen. L i s t e n. This man is 1. the type to have a schedule for sex (nothing wrong with that if thats what people are into) and 2. the type to take it in the butt. He deserves it in the butt. Yes, he is a space war criminal. But wouldn't it be nice to put it in him?

Horse: I'm sorry, the image of an Imagine Dragons striptease is... enlightening as to the individual Horus is. He's the dad that hosts the barbecue parties. He's the dad that falls asleep watching TV. Hell, he probably wears Hawaiian shirts. (That last one's got me bricked up. Shit)

Jagh: This one got me. He fucking would be into leather, be it on him or his partner. May write a fic about it in the future. Dead serious

Ferrus: Ok, I'll admit it, this one was self-indulgent for me. Yes, Ferrus is an ass in canon. I also want him so bad, and that also entails helping him through some shit. (It's the "I can fix him" instinct.) Also, if his partner isn't ok with 17 inches, that's understandable. (Also also, I specified pre-Heresy because him coming back headless horseman style is kind of a pipe dream of mine)

Mags: Monsters are hot. Next guy

Russ: This one was a bit of a gift for my Russ fucker friend. You know who you are! And if you're a Russ fucker anyways, please be my friend

Fulgrim: This man has been through so many partners and he still doesn't understand kink very well, bless his heart. He's still gotta make sure everything goes the way he thought it would, otherwise what's even the point? Mm. Maybe he can be put with someone who makes him realize that it doesn't need to be that way.. ;v

Doorknob: Go ahead, sexualize the brick wall man. Put him in a maid dress. He'd like his partner to be a little rough, especially during... ahem. Encounters. Remember the Rogal Dorn position? Maybe not all the time, but fuck, this man needs to take it like his life depends on it.

Corax: Not for everyone, I get it. Especially if your clothes are like that. I applaud your fashion sense, you dress how I've always wanted to. But that fic's still rattling around in my mind. Thank you Raven Lady we all say in unison

Sang: You raise a very good point. I don't know how comfortable he'd be with focus on his more non-human qualities. But it can work. I have faith in you, battle brother.

[multi-lefaiye]

GLOMP!

Poke poke!

Please and thank you!

HELLO responding to this late! i was typing up a response during work yesterday, then i got busy :'> alas. but i digress, now it is pavel time.

tagging @void-botanist and @invaderskoodge bc y'all also showed interest :3 and i'm gonna tag @vacantgodling purely bc i think you might like this disaster fella at least a little

-

pavel is the main character of a wip i go back and forth on quite a bit, going back and changing the worldbuilding over and over lol. it's called 'wild animals,' with the longer working title being 'wild animals: or, who killed wanda bright?' (i'm working on it) it's a murder mystery, with anthros :v

pavel is an extremely burned out social outcast in his late 20s, who's been through A Lot and fucking hates himself and his life for the most part, but doesn't have much in the way of means or motivation to change it in any way. to him, it just... is what it is. he floats through life, not making much of an impression and just... kinda letting things happen.

until one night, when he goes to a party at the behest of his best (and perhaps only) friend, meets a girl named wanda and seems to hit it off with her, and then blacks out for several hours. when he comes to, he's shirtless on a cold bathroom floor with blood on his hands and staining his fur.

and before he knows it, he's being accused of wanda's murder... unless he can figure out what happened and prove his innocence, he is almost certainly fucked.

i really enjoy the trope of taking animal/anthro characters and using them as commentary on The Human Condition, and that's what this ended up being. and pavel is an example of another trope i like, a character finding their own agency and what it means to make your own choices. a little differently than ways i've tackled it before, but a way that does resonate with me personally lol.

he's also a fucking cat. originally i imagined him as a housecat, but lately i've been really digging the idea of changing his species and making him a cheetah instead. specifically a king cheetah :3 that feels right.

heeere's some old art i did of pavel and wanda back in 2023! feat lyrics from where did the party go by fall out boy, a song that vibes a lot with this story.

also i mentioned i keep changing the worldbuilding for 'wild animals', and tbh. that's mainly because i have a very hard time deciding whether or not humans should also exist here, or if it should just be anthros. i like both ideas, so i can never settle on one lol. but either way, pavel is kitty boy.

anyway, here's an excerpt from an older version of 'wild animals' that has one of pavel's most iconic moments:

.

Pavel doesn’t remember all of the details, only that another cat leaving the bar had shoved him not-so-gently out of the way as they stalked past him. Reflexively, he hissed at them and shoved back, and before he knew it the other feline had whipped around and slugged him hard in the face.

The punch hurt like a son of a bitch, and it had Pavel stumbling backward and clutching his face. He was too stunned to react, and he heard the other cat laughing and jeering at him.

“Stay outta my way, you fuckin’ pussy,” the other cat slurred. Pavel was going to point out to him that, technically, they were both pussies, but his drunken brain couldn’t quite find the words.

-

and then a moment with him and wanda during their first meeting:

-

“You don’t drink?” Pavel asks, nodding to her. The rabbit snorts, shooting him a wry look around the rim of her coffee cup.

“Beer tastes like piss,” she explains with a shrug. “I have better things to do than chug piss while pretending I'm actually having fun.” Despite the tension still coursing through Pavel’s shoulders and the trembling in his hands, he laughs.

The sound is a lot more brittle than he hoped it'd be. She doesn’t call him on it.

He appreciates that.

“So you’re just here to sit on the fire escape and drink coffee while thinking about how much better you are than everyone else here?” He smirks and she rolls her eyes. Pavel nudges her with his elbow. “Why even come, then?”

“I don’t see you drinking either,” she points out instead of answering his question, narrowing her eyes in distaste as she leans away from him. “Or schmoozing.”

“Beer does taste like piss,” he agrees. “And, for your information, the people here love me.” Something flashes in the rabbit’s deep blue eyes and she sneers at him.

“Good for you,” she says. She takes a sip from her coffee cup. “Why don’t you go talk to them, then, and leave me here to wallow? Be a gentleman and respect a lady’s privacy.”

[rosecorcoranwrites]

Re your post about needing straight awareness bc someone headcanoned ricky from shadow house as a trans girl…

Have you literally never participated in a fandom before it’s just a headcanon this is fandom 101 bro… another thing is when posting hate of any level abt smth like that, out of tact, you don’t put it in the main tag… I’m going to just infer that this is your first fandom experience cuz anyone with half a brain and has participated in fandom knows these things and doesn’t pitch hissy fits about it and tag it with all the main tags… people are going to headcanon characters as things other than what they are in canon, that’s actually the point of it.

Either that or you’re just anti lgbt and feel personally attacked for people headcanoning a character as something other than cishet. I recommend taking a few steps outside for a little bit and getting some fresh air and sunlight and maybe you’ll realize getting butthurt about someone’s headcanon isn’t healthy or normal behavior. It literally doesn’t effect you so my main word of advice, if you seem something you don’t like… block the OP and move on… and if you must rant about it… don’t put it in the main tags… I know that for you seeing someone headcanon a fictional character as being trans must cause a lot of fear and confusion when you’re transphobic and new to fandom, so I hope this advice teaches you something. Good luck in your endeavors baby fandom goer, hope you learned something new today.

Anon, I have been a part of fandom since I was in highschool. I am 35.

My point, with Ricky and Patrick specifically, is that it's not even gay. I'm honestly shocked at how few people ship the two of them together, especially considering the whole "soulmates" thing.

My point is that, in the context of them being cisgenderedly heterosexual -- in Ricky crushing on Lou, in Patrick crushing on Emilico -- fans accept the canon ship itself, but refuse to accept that it is cishet. To paraphrase yourself, it's almost like seeing a fictional character who is cishet "must cause a lot of fear and confusion".

Being generous, we could assume this is because some people have never realized that one can like and identify with a character unlike oneself. Thus, if one is trans and identifies with Ricky, Rick must be trans. If one is a lesbian and likes Patrick, he must be a lesbian. If aromantic, Patrick must be aromantic. If one did not want to be generous, we might assume that, for whatever reason, some people find the very idea of cisheterosexuality icky and will do any amount of mental gymnastics to ignore it.

As for using the main tag, I briefly considered removing it, as i didn't want to hurt anyone's feeling. But then I thought, to paraphrase you yet again, that getting angry about my thoughts on people's head canons of fictional characters isn’t healthy or normal behavior. It doesn’t actually effect them. If they see something they don’t like, block the OP and move on.

(I myself, not actually being as infantile as Anon would make me out to be, did not block any of the OPs I mentioned, because I like the majority of their content and don't believe that I'll get cooties from someone who has a difference of opinion from me. I also didn't send anonymous rants to their inbox, but I digress.)

To you, my dear Anon, "I recommend taking a few steps outside for a little bit and getting some fresh air and sunlight." You might encounter someone straight out there, but I promise, it will be okay. You might even find that you and them have a lot in common.

[daryl-and-carol-oh-my]

Hello! Just wondering why you tag your gifs in the Caryl tag when most of them aren't Caryl gifs, no hate, just curious.

Hi! Yeah, sorry, I had to sit on this a couple of days. My first reaction was to take down my posts and delete my blog. I have that hyper anxiety, and question why I do what I do a thousand times a day lol.

I suppose the simplest answer is that 'Caryl" is a duo. Carol is one half and Daryl is the other half of Caryl, and I love them equally, more than anything other ship I currently ship. I tag Daryl in Caryl and Carol in Caryl. They are my OTP.

It started with me unable to find gifs that I wanted to use as inspiration. There are so many talented Gif makers and I wanted to see if I could learn how to do it. I wanted gifs of EVERYTHING Daryl and Carol. Even if they weren't the main focus of the scene, or gif.

Example.

This scene right here. I wanted that gif of Daryl walking and Carol and Sophia by Daryl and Mere's truck. I couldn't find any, so I asked my writing partner to teach me how to make gifs and it turned into this huge project that sort of took over.

Like, does Daryl see them strolling around his truck and go over? Do they have a conversation? Do they just kinda look at each other? I had all these ideas and the gifs helped fuel Muse. I didn't mind so much that the focus is Lori and Shane. My focus was Daryl, Carol and Sopia - So when I uploaded to share them here it was marked in the Caryl tag.

Then I started seeing all these background moments where they are near each other but not the focus. I wanted to gif it all. Every moment, every second.

Like these too.

Like, where is Daryl gonna go? Carol's standing over that way. I don't know. I just wanted every second gif'd in case Muse wanted to write some little plot bunny.

And moments like this where they are standing next to one another that I just love - Also because I have a weird obsession with Carol/Melissa's neck. It's so elegant.

Like, even if just a shoulder or an arm is in the frame, I wanted to gif it.

It all started with season one. Not very much content, that I could find, of gifs like this or many gifs in general of Daryl or Carol. Now I have over a thousand gifs of season one Daryl/Carol/Caryl to use if I want - And! For others to use as well, as they are all posted and shared here.

I digress.

I tag them in Caryl because I love the Caryl fandom and want to shared them with them. To me, they are all relevant to Caryl. They have journeys and arcs that run along next to each other. I am not a analyst and I suck at expressing my thoughts. Plenty of awesome Carylers who write long, thoughtful meta's <3333 lol

I crop a lot too. If it's blatantly not Caryl and might be upsetting, to myself as well, I won't tag it Caryl. I have already considered this. I only want to gif moments that inspire Muse and show how parallel Caryl is to each other.

Thank you for the ask! I hope this answers you! ^....^

Here are my other blogs where I make FC gifs for my OC's. @foreign-bodies @my-ladies-noble

All I really do now if make gifs lol

Carylering On<33333333333333

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

20 Fic Writer Quesions

First, thank you @singeart and @mytardisisparked for tagging me!. I did a set of these last year and it was fun to see how my answers have changed since then!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

61

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1.6 million and counting!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Trek Voyager

Star Trek Prodigy

Sailor Moon

Harry Potter

Madam Secretary

Ive debated writing SwanQueen for a long time but by the time I had the energy and time to write, I'd lost interest in the show. I might rewatch and come back to it one day...

I have thought about writing Wynonna Earp or Tamora Pierce universe fanfiction but have yet to get an idea that grabs me. I like to find things i want to fix and it's hard when the source material is perfection.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Parent Trap (305)

Sailor Moon H Order of the Phoenix (289)

Sailor Moon H Half Blood Prince (222)

Eden's Deception (167)

Out of Reach (150)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! although if I'm busy or feeling down it can take me a while. Sometimes I forget.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I still think What Even is 3 Minutes takes the cake. Or I'll be Your First if You'll be my Last

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

I Heard the Comm on Christmas Morn and Parent Trap

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I've gotten hate on fics since I started writing them... and it's become just something I expect to happen. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes it makes me sad. It really depends...

The memorable haters:

There was the delightful Fanfiction.net reviewer who got pissed i was "making everybody gay" (that was funny actually). I forget if they were the same person who flamed me when Mcgonagall and Hooch kissed under some mistletoe. I digress. They thought queering up the canon was like sinful or whatever. I was delighted to disagree and make the story even queerer.

Another person cussed me out for magically restraining Sailor Plutos time travel powers so my plot would work and for making her have feelings about it. aparently mad the senshi were not all powerful deus exmachinas who never feel feelings... That one stung. That was the reason I left FFN.

Hate because in Sailor Moon H, Harry Potter was not the main character.

Hate that I made a magic bio baby for the magical lesbians. (I can't have a biobaby with my wife irl, can't I at least let the fantasy girlies have one!)

Hate for including C/7 in a story

...I wouldn't call it hate for the fic but I have had an uncomfortable amount of commenters who hate on Chakotay any time I have him involved with Seven / don't have him grovel to Kathryn / really any time I let him advocate for how he's been hurt... at first comments like this stressed me out because i worried i had not written the character sufficiently sympathetic. But then Parent Trap breached containment and I got enough comments to be able to see I had definitely written the character fine... it was just that some people were always just rooting for a "Chakotay falls over himself to apologize to Janeway for not immediately dating her" storyline that... I'm not sorry 😅 I'm never going to write that. The older I get the more I feel like both of J/C just need therapy! They've been through so much trauma. Their feelings are valid (yes, even for other people).

Parent Trap breaching containment also meant that when I hit an irl rut and couldnt get in the writing headspace for a bit, a bunch of - sincerely, well meaning - fans got into their heads to start a commenting campaign to get me to update. I heard about it and panicked (i had bad experiences that year of getting people who only commented "update soon" and those conversely stressed me out and made me not want to write - I love fic writing for the conversations and community... so it made me feel like readers thought i was just a content vending machine). so just the thought of potentially getting an avalanche of guests, well meaning or not, begging me to update made me lock commenting until the fic was done. I wound up deciding after that that since "update soon" requests were becoming a lot more frequent that I'd consider before posting whether getting them would hurt my ability to finish. So most of the time now if I know a fic is going to reach a bigger potential community, I don't start posting it until it's almost done. That has had some upsides! (Im less dependent on positive feedback for motivation now!) and some downsides (no one comments on my fics with their theories anymore) but on a whole, a good decision.

Immediately after finishing Parent Trap I wrote Fever and got this amazing guest comment from someone who said (paraphrasing cuz i'm too busy to go find it) "Youre better than this. how dare you write this filth. J/C are better than this" that one had me laughing for days. But the comment did prompt me to create a second account later when I wrote a tentacle fic. At the time I worried i'd get a ton of similar flame comments from people who were subscribed to my main for other types of fic... but I am even feeling like that's unnecessary now. I write what I write! Yes, some of it is really dirty, weird smut. I'm not sorry.

Currently any time I post a Threshold AU fic an anon drops into my comments section in order to call me "Sick" and "Deranged"... they make me so sad I don't even make a quippy reply. I just delete them. I write that universe for my own wish fulfillment... Someday (soon, hopefully) I'm gonna have kids. And I am going to have to have conversations with them about who their biological dad is. Why they look like one mom and not the other, whether their non bio family love them even if theyre not blood related. I might have a kid who feels different from everyone else because they're queer or they're neurodivergent or they're some new alienating feeling I am totally unprepared for. and I'll need to help them navigate that.. Writing about hybrid salamander kids getting raised in a blended family is FUN. But more importantly... it helps me practice those situations. It comforts me to know that if the characters can figure this out in the AU then I can figure this out in real life! What the hell is sick and deranged about that!?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write all sorts of smut. I post the stuff that doesn't totally mortify me once i've gotten out of whatever mood had me writing the smut in the first place.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have exactly two crossovers to my name: Sailor Delta and Sailor Moon H. I think on the basis of word count alone Sailor Moon H (>500,000) is definitely the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I consider the unlicensed use of the AO3 archive for ChatGPT and similar LLMs theft. (and there are several court cases pending that are also seeking to address whether it is legally theft as it pertains to published fiction and newspapers). The canon creators of the fandoms I write for aren't allowed to make money by using uncredited ideas pulled from my fanfiction (just like I am not allowed to make money from writing fic with their copyrighted settings and characters) and i continue to be apalled that ChatGPT and other LLMs think they can get away with using others copyrighted ideas without permission. Especially that they can take advantage of people who cant profit off their own work.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

No but i would be open to it!

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

Yes! Once with @magdalenejaneway, once with @jellybeansarecool and once with @trekflower and all three were fantastic!

Most of what I write for Threshold AU is also increasingly collaborated on a great deal by the AU creators and a few other folks. It's been going for over 2 years now and doing that more and more has enabled us all to drop more references to previous fics and to create a more cohesive body of fic for the AU. in general its just been so fun and fulfilling to make these stories with other people who are as invested in the characters as me and it just fills me with joy. I'm really grateful for you guys.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

On the one hand J/C have inspired over 50 fics, But on the other I have also been loving Sailor Moon and those ships since before I knew what fandom or shipping were. And really the only reason J/C inspire more fic is that all the sailor moon characters got a happy ending.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to give up on a WIP...

but I am in knots about what all to do with Out of Reach.

Out of Reach is a St:Prodigy S1 AU where Chakotay has amnesia and doesn't remember anything from his time on Voyager, all the while he and Kathryn are in a situationship with a baby.

There's two questions I never figured out how to answer: 1. Does he get his memories back. If so, how much and what enables it. and 2: Do he and Kathryn stay together?

On the memories front. saying he never recovers seems unfair to the character. But saying he magically does thanks to 24th century science feels cheap and disrespectful - to the reality of real memory loss and to the plot that built up so much tension around this. Saying he gets back some or more over time is more realistic, but left me uncertain of where exactly to end the story. Tying his retrieval of memories to Kathryn also tied me up in knots. On the one hand they're in love and thats romantic. on the other hand the optics of his recovery totally dependent on one person is icky.

I also found the baby really annoying to have there by the end - I still think he's cuteeee i really do!!! - it's just... he makes the "we should stay together and try to figure this out" answer a bit too convenient 😅. and he complicates Kathryns reluctance to restart their relationship. The more she resists, the more callous she seems (deliberately not trying to patch things up with her kid's father) when i really just want to focus on her fears that Chakotay would be happier without her and that even if they restart their romance, she might lose him again on a future mission. It's ironic because i originally created the baby to ensure she wouldnt just run away from her fears. And now hes contributing to my difficulty ending the fic...

Actually the more I think on it, my real problem is I could write my way out of this, but I cant do it in only one or two chapters and that makes me feel tired. i was sorta hoping to wrap that fic up. 😅🙈

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery has always been a strength for me. But i think I'm also getting really good at action scenes too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Only if it was information i wanted the reader to understand but not the POV character.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H way back when I was 15.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Universe to Mend - I even have a few sequel or companion novel ideas to come after it.

This has gone on a while... 😅 - thank you for tagging me and letting me ramble! i'll tag anyone else who wants to answer! have at it.

[enhanced-operatives-division]

One day I'll draw the ieytd cast with all the flower imagery i want

[cutestkilla]

Fic Rec Wednesday

Hey hey! So while I actually am hard at work on CO content for the Picture Book Project (several illustrations of the gang in third year for @captain-aralias’ amazing take on Simon Snow and the Third Gate), I have nothing that’s really ready for main in terms of sharing. Thanks to everyone who continues to tag me over these past weeks (I tag you all back under the cut for today, or Sunday or to share your own fic recs)! I do love to see what you all are working on even when I have nothing shareable.

I thought I might do a little fic rec post today instead, dedicated to one-shots that were posted in the mad rush of December that I love and think are a little underappreciated. There’s such a flood of amazing content during COC that it’s hard to keep up, and then once we move on to January, there’s still new amazing content coming out. As a result there are some real gems that folks may have missed out on. And so, here is a short (no doubt incomplete because I myself am still catching up) list of my fave hidden gems from December 2022.

And We Still Do by @facewithoutheart (T, 8K)

This is the fic that inspired me to write this post, actually, because I was discussing it with @facewithoutheart earlier and saying I can’t believe more folks haven’t read it. Anyway, it’s so great! The story includes a bunch of AU meet-cutes/meet-uglys framed by post-SFC Simon and Baz being fluffy and cute, with a bonus ACTUAL first time they met via the crucible. Each AU is a great little one-shot in itself and to quote the comment I left on AO3, “I loved them all, I would read a full fic of literally ANY of these”. (That is not actually a direct quote because I appear to have misspelled the word “would” somehow, but I digress.) You get post-canon fluff, a Boy Band AU, a Royalty AU, a couple of really neat canon-divergence AUs, and a combo Coffee Shop/Sci Fi AU all rolled into one, with amazing results. I think it’s brilliant like everything that comes from Christina’s mind and everyone should check it out.

Baby It’s Cold by @larkral (T, 2.6K)

This is a post-canon story told through a series of vignettes with Simon helping Baz accept something (something cold, maybe?) about himself in a really cute and creative way. It’s just really sweet, the prose is lovely as one knows to expect from this author, it gave me the warm fuzzies in a major way and guess what else? IT COMES WITH 3D LEGO ART. It’s short and sweet so you have no excuse not to check this one out folks.

Nice Spread by @messofthejess (T, 1.2K)

Post-canon Brobelove! The age old mystery of whether tea actually can be served on Niamh’s thighs is solved! And just generally this is packed with excellent banter, excellent novelty mugs and excellent tea puns. Very fun!

Another Way We Match by @thewholelemon (M, 1.7K)

Gotta include some spice, amirite? This one is post-canon and packed with great dialogue and banter that pays homage to some of my favourite fanworks (This Will All Go Down in Flames by @facewithoutheart, Monsterfucker, Baby by @sillyunicorn and Property of Tyrannus by @starwarned and @seducing-a-vampire, to be specific) in the funnest way. Simon and Baz are doing sexy roleplay! Only all of Simon’s suggestions are causing Baz eye-rolling injuries. Really hilarious, sexy and also with the perfect amount of domestic fluff mixed in. I love me a sex scene full of funny dialogue and awkward moments, and this sure fits the bill.

I could go on and on with this list, only I’m supposed to be working instead of writing this post, so I’ll stop here for now. Hope you all check these out!

Tags: @alleycat0306 @aristocratic-otter @artsyunderstudy @basiltonbutliketheherb @blackberrysummerblog @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @confused-bi-queer @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @forabeatofadrum @frjsti @hushed-chorus @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @j-nipper-95 @johnwgrey @larkral  @martsonmars @nightimedreamersworld @onepintobean @palimpsessed @shrekgogurt @stitchyqueer @takitalks @tea-brigade @technetiumai @theearlgreymage @thewholelemon @whatevertheweather @you-remind-me-of-the-babe                             

[olderthannetfic]

How do I go about tagging a pairing where the second party is meant to be a surprise?

The story follows our female lead (A) who gets together with another girl (B) who happens to share the same initials as A’s canon male love interest. The thing is, B isn’t the male love interest genderbent or an OC — she’s a character from the original source material who got cut when the writers adapted the story for other mediums (movie, stage, show, ya know). Worse, the writers not only cut her out, they used her for parts to flesh out another minor character (which did not work out at all; there’s a reason they were separate in the first place). Also yes, B is my favorite, yes I’m very salty she got written out, and also this gives me a LEGIT reason to tag both the original source material as well as the adaptation that’s not “more people will see/read it if I tag both!” which is truly the only reason people fucking tag the way they do on ao3 in my fandom and I cannot fucking stand it. They write with one canon in mind but tag with both to reach the widest audience and it’s just. Clogging up the searches. But I digress.

B’s temporary name change is a pragmatic choice. Her not being native to the universe she’s in means no one knows her, especially not A, and since she’s trying to find a reality where she and A can be together, she has to up and leave a lot, so going by the anonymous Jane Doe is just easier. Once she finds the “right” reality she can plant roots in, the fic will be over and that’s when she reveals her real name. Most people who get into this franchise obviously go by what’s the popular adaption and don’t know her either (and if they do she’s so minor most don’t even remember her), so I want the reveal the LI is a canon character to be a surprise.

Obviously tagging it A/B spoils that surprise. It’s not a popular ship anyway, and this is a ship-heavy space (as in the popular ships get all the love and leave absolutely none for anyone else). There are only 7 fics with this ship in it, 5 of which are from the OG source material, and only 4 of which features them as the main ship. It’s SMALL. Quantity unfortunately outweighs quality in this fandom, so no matter how well I try to write it for A/B no one is going to care. Might as well drum up a little intrigue.

What do?

--

The AO3 convention is:

So-and-So/Undisclosed

[rubberduckyrye]

Why I will never RB your Art if you say “Don’t Tag as X” (And why I will probably block you for it)

Okay so I’ve seen this. So many times in the tags, so many times on art posts that were otherwise good and awesome that I would have reblogged--but then I saw the “Don’t tag as X” thing, and rolled my eyes and chose not to RB the art. In some instances, I even block the artist.

Most of the time, this is in relation to ships and art that can be interpreted as shippy but the original artist doesn’t want their work to be interpreted that way. Which is the first red flag for me--art is meant to be interpreted in a million different ways. No two people are ever going to interpret any kind of art the same way as another person. So trying to control how people interpret your work is at best, a fools errand.

However that’s more of a petty reason above all else--the main reason why “Don’t tag as X” is a huge problem is, in relation to how people interpret things differently, is that no matter what you do, people WILL interpret your art in a certain way. A certain way that may involve being a trigger for them.

So let’s say I see an art piece that is... let’s say it’s for Character B and C. The artist asks me not to tag my potential reblog as BC. Let’s say I decide to oblige by the Artists request and don’t tag it as BC.

So let’s say we have Follower X. X used to heavily ship BC to hell and back, but because of harassment, they can no longer even look at B and C together without thinking about the harassment they faced. It’s a proper trigger for them. It’ll give them panic attacks upon seeing it.

Now let’s say we have Follower Y. Y never really shipped the ship itself, but their ex shipped it a LOT. Their ex was abusive. They associate the ship with their ex, so the ship is a trigger for them--just seeing B and C together triggers them. They get sick to their stomach upon reminders and avoid the ship for their mental health.

Follower Z is a bit different. They just don’t like the ship, and want it tagged for blacklisting purposes. Vague art of B and C being cute and cuddly included.

So now here’s a problem with “Don’t tag as X.” The artist doesn’t want me to tag their B and C art as BC. Except three followers really need that ship tagged as BC.

“But it’s not ship art!”

It doesn’t matter if it is, or isn’t “ship art.” Well what you mean is “romantic ship art” anyway, so any and all platonic art is a form of ship art, but I digress. It doesn’t matter if it was intended as ship art or not. People will interpret it as ship art regardless.

“You can make blacklist tags for those followers!”

No, I can’t. Not for everyone. I never said I personally knew X, Y, or Z as my followers. I can’t tag what I don’t know--and if I tried to tag every post with “(Follower) don’t look” I’d have a bajillion tags like that. It’s not practical.

“But tumblr makes you see tags in your activity feed and I don’t want to see people tagging my art as X!”

Oh well. Sorry, but I can’t really feel a lot of sympathy for people who are making it more difficult to allow others to curate their own experiences.

“But it triggers me to see my art tagged as X!”

That’s a right shame. However, you should be aware that even if people RB your art without the tag, people will still consider your art in a way you don’t like. This is something to discuss with your therapist or peers, because trying to police how others interact with your work is not it, fam.

“I’m still going to say don’t tag as X.”

Then be prepared to get blocked. I’m not obliged to RB your art, and I don’t want to see your art anymore if I can’t reblog it safely and add tags that I think are necessary.

“But you’re hurting artists by not RBing their work! You should just respect their boundaries!”

I am respecting their boundaries, but nice straw-man. Me not RBing their art is a form of keeping to that artist’s boundary. “Don’t tag as X”? Then I won’t reblog it, meaning I won’t tag it as X. Congrats, boundary respected. The artist might not like it, but that’s just how it is.

If they want their work to be seen by the mass public, they have to get comfortable with the idea that people are going to misinterpret their art and intentions behind their art, and that’s okay. If they are not at that stage of acceptance, they aren’t ready for it.

Anyway, that’s my Hot Take of the day. Brought to you by someone who’s seen “Don’t tag as X” one too many times.

[watch-grok-brainrot]

can i enquire your opinion on what i perceive as misuse of the words "zhiji" / "zhiyin" by western authors? it's often translated as soulmates, or even used synonymously, and for wx, often in romantic situations to fulfil non romantic soulmate fic tropes. i often get a bit frustrated by it. zhiji and zhiyin are both bosom friends, people who get you, appreciate you but they are not the western term of soulmates. what do you think? seeking perspectives to shape my opinion!!! thank you!!

nonny! I am so sorry! I meant to answer this the week you sent this and then i kept on getting sidetracked and forgot. >.> this is why i don’t get asks. i’m terrible at answering things. 

First of all, for those who are reading this and not nonny, i’m assuming you are either familiar with chinese or have read the blog post by @/hunxi-guilai by now. If you are not chinese and/or have not read her blog, go to her blog and go to linguistic meta and then read the post titled “ all right guys, let’s have a conversation about soulmates ” (gonna delete the link if i can’t get this to show up in tags since this is a nonny ask i want nonny to be able to find this... )

ok. now that we’re on the same page, let’s talk about translation. translation is messy. cultures don’t have the same concepts. when expressing words as complex as 知己/ 知音, you do what you can. 

do i think soulmates is an acceptable translation? yes. i would not hesitate to call wangxian soulmates. 

Is 知己/ 知音 inherently romantic? no.

do i think the connotations of 知己/知音 and the connotations of soulmates match perfectly? no. 

am i fine with fanfiction authors writing what they want? yeah. if i don’t like it, i just won’t engage with the material. it’s the idgaf of old age that i’m really glad i acquired. i can just nope right out and go find something i prefer. e.g. if i see a baobei in a wangxian fic, i usually nope right now. it’s not worth getting worked up over. lol. 

yes 知己/ 知音 are bosom friends but it’s deeper than that, right? 

Actually, i’m really glad i’ve waited. I’ve just binged Word of Honor (or what eps are currently out) and they toss out 知己/ 知音 a lot -- as they should. The show is spectacular (thus far 25 of 36 eps are out and i am dying at how amazing the main CP interactions are). Basically my heart is full of  知己/ 知音 mood so i think i can do a better job of explaining what it means to me now. 

To me, 知己/ 知音 is knowing someone/hearing someone so deeply that your souls are in sync. It’s being open and vulnerable. The mortifying ordeal of being KNOWN and/or HEARD. it’s joyous to discover that your eccentricities are understood implicitly. it’s stolen cheeky grins and stupid laughs that makes you feel alive again. It’s precious and rare and if you get one person in your life that REALLY knows/hears or tries to know/to hear you, you are lucky. this can be part of a romantic or platonic relationship. 

someone wants to call that a soulmate? sure. by all means. 

But if I were to see it in a novel or show I was trying to translate, I may translate it differently each time. The beauty of translation is, as the translator, I have the power (and the terrible responsibility) to interpret a work. My choices will be the text moving forward. My diction, if the only translation around, could be overanalyzed by a portion of the fandom. So would i always translate  知己/ 知音 as soulmates? no. Sometimes I might say say, “You’re the only person to know me truly.” or “To be truly heard in this life by one person is enough.” or I might say “soulmate” sometimes. 

so, i guess i do agree that soulmates limits the translation of the concept. but if you’re watching a show and there are subs, the subbers have more than meaning to worry about. you have to consider characters per second: 1) physically focusing on words with one’s eyes and then reading them takes time; 2) some people are much slower readers than others. (subbers also have to consider sentence structure and how to breakup a lines. and, depending on the show, sometimes the subs come out at an INSANE pace. it’s approximately 3-4 hrs of translation work once you have the chinese in front of you for a 20ish min ep if you’re being neurotic and probably just as much if not more of timing work to get an episode out. not to mention the translation checks and quality checks. so sometimes shortcuts are required... but i digress...) Is soulmates a good, succinct way to get the message across? yes. so i’m fine with it. and if it captures peoples’ imagination and brings someone joy, then even better. 

fandom should be fun. it should be happy. it should be a place where you grow and meet people that bring you joy. :) so am i upset that it’s the preferred translation of the mdzs/cql fandom? not really. it’s not perfect but it’s good enough for fandom (and horseshoes and hand grenades as people would say). 

[cookinguptales]

Hmm... about the time loop fic. I'm starting to worry that my daily chapter drops might clog up the tags...?

So I guess I'll just do this. I'm going to keep posting the chapters to tumblr when I upload them to AO3, but I'll tag them with my personal "wwdits tag" and "nandermo tag" rather than wwdits and nandermo. Once the fic is fully uploaded and completed, I'll post a notification to the main tags.

That said, I do actually think that the fic reads better with a little breathing room between each chapter, which is why I didn't post it all at once like I did Sway. (Especially after tomorrow's chapter, which is when shit really starts to hit the fan.) So that would be my recommendation for how to read it. But I totally understand that some people prefer finished fics, so if they want to wait a week(ish) and read it when it's fully finished, I'm happy to have people read it that way, too!

Personally, though, I do think it's better to read it as it's uploaded. At least as of tomorrow. Part of me has wondered if I should have posted the first four chapters together because they're a bit slower. lmao whoops.

Anyway, yes, I digress. The chapters will still be uploaded every day. They're locked, loaded, ready to go. If you want to know exactly when they're uploaded, you can follow me on tumblr or subscribe to the fic on AO3. But in the interest of not clogging the tags, I won't be posting every single update there anymore. Just the last one.

[the-bugsnax-journalists]

So I decided to make interviews for two of my ocs!

The two in question are Ridamin Northshiver and Cleomie Worncloth! Now with a better ref.. thing..? All I did was just color the doodles and fix lineart but we digress

Here's the link to their interviews!

Meanwhile, I wanna add some extra stuff to the side as well so you learn about them a lil' better as well:

Cleomie Worncloth Pansexual He/Him

Cleomie Worncloth is a barista from a small cafe that tagged along with Ridamin Northshiver to accompany Lizbert to Snaktooth. Cleomie is rather silent and doesn't really talk much unless it's about coffee or the occasional blue moon case, usually keeping to himself and his brewing. Before the fight, Cleomie was known as the barista of the town, serving up drinks infused with Bugsnax syrup, altering the drink quite drastically duo to the properties of Bugsnax, which naturally caused some sick cases every now and then.

Cleomie usually first slightly turns the bugsnax to mush before infusing them onto their drinks, however they don't really experiment much with them, only once per week if anything normally. Depending on the bugsnax itself the drink might be sweeter, bitter, more acidic, or even sour/salty at times. That is mostly why they don't experiment much with them anymore.

Cleomie knows Ridamin from back home in their small cafe. Cleomie can remember the day like any day. They came in tired and ordered a simple cool tea which Cleomie soon began to order. Ridamin soon began to chat with Cleomie, mostly about the wheather which was burning hot outside but it soon devolved into a small bit of flirting from Ridamin, much to Cleomie's unamusement at first. But after they soon brought them their tea and they payed, Ridamin asked if they could hang out after his shift, to which Cleomie complied. After that, the rest is history.

He likes Floofty and Snorpy, as both of them assisted them with the process of turning Bugsnax and infusing them into drinks every now and then, even if it lead to a few sibling arguments at times.

He loves Ridamin and Lizbert, Ridamin should be pretty obvious, they were both friends for a long time and naturally their charismatic personality just stuck with them an awful lot, even if they don't make it obvious, or at all for that matter. With Lizbert it's mostly for the reason they always motivated them to work on their drinks and even donated multiple Bugsnax to them in the past. They see them as a really close friend if anything.

He dislikes Cromdo and Filbo for different reasons. Cromdo attempted to get them to sell their drinks for Cromdo, and still tries every now and again. And he dislikes Filbo for the reason they never really seemed to like their drinks, even if it wasn't infused at all with anything which is understandable, not everyone likes coffee but still, something just didn't click and they can't seem to find what Filbo likes to drink wise so they are kind of disliking him for a dumb reason, they KNOW it is a dumb reason, but their stubbornness is one awful vice to have at times.

Ridamin Northshiver Trans FtM / Bisexual They/Them

Ridamin Northshiver is studying to become a Geography Researcher and brought along Cleomie Worncloth to accompany them to Lizbert's trip to Skatooth. Ridamin is more charismatic and outgoing than Cleomie, so when together you can expect them to be the one to speak up for the two. Before the fight, Ridamin hanged out with Triffany and Lizbert to learn as best as they could from the two of them in the history of the island and general field research aspects.

Even with the prosthetic leg, Ridamin pushes it to the limit as they aren't afraid to do varying dangerous tricks and movements, occasionally they are even seen skating around the town with the skateboard they brought themselves.

They like Triffany as they are basically their main teacher in field work/history on the island. When they are both available, they are usually together chatting about Triffany's recent discoveries and even a bit of teaching on how to tell the age of a monument and such.

They love Cleomie in a somewhat romantic way as they have been trying to hint at towards them to no avail. But they still love their soft giant, even if all that hair is stopping them from getting the big picture, at least from their point of view anyway.

They don't dislike, but they don't like Lizbert. If anything she's on a neutral level as although she teaches them a few things, she doesn't really let them tag along on more dangerous excursions, which although Ridamin knows it's just because they wanna keep them safe, something in their gut always yells that she "just doesn't want to put the kid in a prosthetic in danger." Ridamin knows this is some serious silly thinking, but they can't shake off the sensation either.

Aaaand that is it! Hope you like both of them! Writing the interviews and extra tid bits was quite fun!

[nocapesdahling]

As the World Falls Down - Chapter 3

Helmut Zemo x Gender Neutral Reader

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Chapter Summary:  In which you have a plan to save yourself and Alena, but have no idea if it’s going to work. Either way, you have to try.

Rating: Mature (17+)

Chapter Warnings/Tags: Slow Burn; Angst; Misunderstandings that lead to angst; Established canon character deaths; Did I mention angst?

A/N: We have reached the end of Part 1 and the Age of Ultron arc. I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far, and would love to hear your thoughts. 

Chapter 3: Beneath a Fallen Sky (Age of Ultron) - Part 1

Word Count: 2.4k

You made sure Alena was strapped in tightly on your chest and that everything was in place. With time running out and Novi Grad continuing to rise, it was as good as it was going to get. You needed to move now. You had your prototype boots and gauntlets, which should allow you to fly. You hoped they would at least. Your main consolation was that they worked during testing, even if that had been in a controlled environment.

You had always admired Tony Stark, being something of a child prodigy yourself and starting college at a similar age to him. When you had first seen the Iron Man suit, your first thoughts had been of awe like any person who got a glimpse of Iron Man. Yet most people probably didn’t think what you had thought later, while considering the technology behind the suit and how to go about making your own.

Well, if he can do it then why can’t I? How hard could it be, really?

It turned out to be a bit more difficult than you’d thought, but you had developed something after much trial and error. However, you hadn’t tested anything in the open air yet. The previous test was only a short one to see if your prototypes would work and you had hovered a few feet over solid ground at most. That was why your plan only had a 65% success rate, but you had confidence in your technology and hope. In Sokovia, you couldn’t get far without hope.

You noticed the air getting thin as the city continued to rise, so you fitted Alena with an oxygen mask. You had a tank available in your apartment for squad emergencies, and were amazed how many times it had been used in the past. Your squad got into the oddest situations. There had been Andrei’s mission with the diplomat and the ice cream swimming pool and Mila’s with the yacht and the hammerhead sharks. All classified of course.

You digressed. There were more important things to consider right now, even as you wondered how your squad would take the loss of their handler when Helmut told them. You knew that it would hit them harder than they would ever admit. They emulated Helmut’s stoicism when in the field and today was still a mission, even if it was unlike any other. The destruction of one’s home was not something any of them had encountered before. If you couldn’t be there, then you hoped your gadgets would help to protect them today and in the future. You planned to be there.

You clipped the oxygen tank to your tactical gear and hoped that it wouldn’t unbalance you too much. You would need all the balance you could muster if this plan were to succeed.

Once you were as ready as you could be, it was time. The city had to fall at some point and you wanted to be in the air when it did as the height it had reached would cause a destructive impact radius. You brushed a kiss to Alena’s head, seeing her little feet kicking and knowing that she was awake.

“Not the best timing, little one. This might be a bit scary, Alena, so I wanted you to know that I love you. Already. So much. I think I loved you as soon as I saw you. Wish us luck, my little Alena Heike. We’re going to need it.”

With that and the realization that you had reached the edge of the city, you took a deep breath, taking one last glance back at the city that had been your home for most of your life. Then, you braced yourself, stepped off the edge, and flew. Well, you took a moment to stabilize yourself as the only other time you had done this was in a local park in the middle of the night and then you had grass to land on not open sky. But then, you flew.

You flew like the birds you had admired for their freedom and grace and like Iron Man. Tony Stark had nothing on you. You let out a joyful laugh, forgetting your circumstances for a moment. You forgot the swarm of robots on the other side of the city, the fact that your home was in the process of being destroyed, that you may never see Helmut again, and that you weren’t sure if you and your baby would get out of this alive. Nothing else mattered at that moment because you were flying.

Then you were shocked back to the present as to your disbelief the city began to freefall, plummeting quickly and devastatingly towards Earth before exploding mid air. You could see from where you were that it looked like Iron Man and Thor had blown it up somehow, but you couldn’t understand why the Avengers hadn’t been able to stop it from falling in the first place.

Why hadn’t they been able to save Sokovia? They had saved New York. It didn’t make sense. The world had painted them as infallible. These were Earth’s heroes? They did not look so “Mighty” now.

The debris began to land too hard and too fast. It looked like it would impact more of the surrounding area than you had anticipated.

You gasped in horror, the tears freezing on your cheeks. If a building was hit with debris of that size, then the result would be catastrophic. You worried immediately for your squad and Helmut, turning on your earpiece with frantic movements even as you unbalanced without one of your gauntlets.

You tried Helmut. You tried Ana, Branko, Claudia, Andrei, and the other members of your squad. No one answered.

The base wasn’t that far away, not when you calculated the radius of the debris. It would be difficult, but you could make it there. You had to make it there. You needed to know.

You flew above and around where the debris was falling and jerkily made your way towards the base, still not as smooth as you wished you were or as fast as you wanted to be. You arrived to the sight you hoped not to see.

The base had been hit by a large piece of debris from the city and was collapsing in on itself. You landed as smoothly as you could a distance away and caught yourself on a tree, falling to your knees. No one could have survived that.

Helmut was gone. Helmut Zemo was dead.

Your chest hurt and your vision was blurry as your mind whirled.

You had survived, while Helmut had died. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. You would never see him again.

How did this happen?!, was your last thought before slumping backwards into a faint.

In your horror at the base’s collapse, you had forgotten the existence of its reinforced underground bunker where technology did not work and where your entire squad including their leader, Colonel Helmut Zemo, waited for the dust of Novi Grad to settle. Very much alive and in quiet mourning for their lost Q. They would exit through the tunnels a few hours later, coming out miles away from where you collapsed.

In fact, you wouldn’t recall the bunker’s existence until a little over a year later and by then it would be too late.

---------------------------------

You awoke in the hospital. It took you a moment to realize what had happened and where you were. With that, came the realization in your mind that you would never see Helmut or hear his deep voice calling you his Q ever again. Despite the gaping hole in your chest and your desire to let yourself be numb, you needed to find Alena. You gasped and sat up too quickly before falling backwards out of dizziness.

You breathed in and out to calm yourself the way you often had as you assisted your squad in the completion of missions, and clicked the button to raise the bed as you looked around the room. You were in a gown and had no idea what had happened to your gauntlets and boots, but hoped they had been destroyed in the landing.

You heard Helmut’s voice in your head as you pinpointed the potential exits and any possible weapons.

“The first step, my Q, is to always survey your surroundings. Get your bearings and be prepared for anything. Be prepared to fight, but also to run if necessary. There is no shame in running. Running can save your life and I, my darling Q, would much rather see you alive .”

You smiled bitterly before letting it fade. You were not in any shape to run at the moment, and Helmut was no longer there to advise you. Your memories of him would have to suffice.

As you surveyed the room, you glimpsed your pack in the corner of the room and what looked like your highly damaged prototypes alongside it. There next to your bed was a crib and laying inside was Alena, who looked clean, like she had been changed, and who was sleeping soundly.

You let a small and real smile touch your lips. She was safe. You were safe. Both of you were alive. Helmut was not.

No, you couldn’t let yourself think of it. Not now. Maybe, not ever.

You pressed the call button for the nurse, hoping this was a real hospital and not some elaborate plot. It looked real, but one could never be sure.

“Finally awake, are you? Good, I’m glad to see it. I was beginning to worry about what might happen to your daughter.” The nurse said in rapid fire Sokovian as she bustled into the room.

“Yes, thank you. How long have we been here and where are we?” You had to clear your throat multiple times and even then your voice came out as a rasp.

The nurse poured some water into a cup, drank it, and then offered you some as well. “You probably do not remember, but you were rescued three days ago. You have been awake sporadically, and even then you were groggy. That is why you do not remember. For your second question, you are in a hospital in the Czech Republic. We are taking care of multiple Sokovian refugees.”

“But you are speaking Sokovian?”

The nurse frowned and leaned closer. She looked like she wanted to pat your hand or hold it. You were glad she did not. “Sokovia is gone. This time for good. There were not many survivors. My mother was Sokovian. I thought a familiar language might be of comfort to you. It has been to the other survivors we’re treating.”

You attempted to read her face and her eyes like Helmut had taught you. She drank the water before giving you some, which was a point in her favor.  She also did not look like a plant and you let yourself relax a bit, but kept your guard up in case you were wrong. You knew that Novi Grad had been destroyed and the devastation the debris must have caused, but it was hard to believe that your country was gone. It had been failing for years, but it was still yours. Yours, Heike’s, Carl’s, Alena’s, and Helmut’s. Now, it would only exist in the memory of its survivors.

You pushed the thought of Helmut aside for the moment, but at the thought of Heike and Carl you knew what question needed to be asked. “Have they released a list of survivors?”

“Not yet, but I do not want you to get your hopes up.”

You hated to think that the nurse was right, that Heike and Carl were also gone. They had been miles from the city however, so you had to hold on to hope for their sake. You could not consider never seeing Heike’s hair in the sunlight or Carl’s smiling face again. They were part of your family. You needed to find out what happened to them. “Please let me know as soon as they release the list.”

“I will, dear. I will.” The nurse gave you a pained smile that looked more like a grimace. “Now, we got your name and identification from your pack. I was in charge of your admission papers, and did not include any reference to your military rank to be safe. Sokovia is gone, so I did not want it to make you a target. What you were wearing alone looked like it would draw some attention.”

You nodded and thought briefly, knowing that had only happened because the nurse had ties to Sokovia. She was showing honest care and concern in the best way she could, and you appreciated it. You had been correct in her not being a plant then. You pictured Helmut’s smile when you told him that you were putting his training to good use, before remembering that he was…

You couldn’t bring yourself to think the word. You had to keep it together. You couldn’t falter now. Not when Alena was counting on you.

You realized the nurse was still waiting for some kind of answer. “Thank you. A civilian life might be just what I need.”

The nurse smiled back, “Yet, we have no information on this little one. I have a birth certificate here to fill out. You are one of her parents, yes?” Alena continued to sleep in her crib, oblivious to the world around her.

“Yes,” you swallowed and rapidly thought of how to answer the next question that you knew was coming.

“And her other parent?”

“He died in Sokovia,” you felt a tear roll down your cheek. You wondered if you were prepared to continue. Saying it out loud made it real.

“I’m sorry to hear that, dear.” The nurse did pat your hand this time in commiseration before withdrawing when you tensed up. “Would you still like to put his name on the certificate?”

You steadied your breathing and hoped that when (you couldn’t bring yourself to think if) you found Heike, wherever she may be, that she would understand. You knew that you could not regret this decision. It felt too right for that.

“Yes,” you responded haltingly. The words seemed to catch in your throat. “His name is… Helmut Zemo and our baby’s name is Alena Heike Zemo.”

End of Part 1 - To Be Continued in Part 2: Burn it to the Ground…

A/N:  I know this chapter was angsty, but I hope you enjoyed part 1 of this fic. Part 2 will not have as regular updates because Part 1 was pre-written, but I’m working on it. Thank you all for reading!