#most episodes are ot3 episodes if you look closely enough

[leverage-ot3]

rundown job (s5) thee polyam ep of all eps

the long goodbye job (s5) thee polyam ep of all eps part 2

experimental job (s4) best for parker x hardison and hardison x eliot

grave danger job (s4) best for parker x hardison and hardison x eliot

long way down job (s4) best for parker x hardison and parker x eliot, has some good hardison x eliot scenes too

the gone fishing job (s3) best for hardison x eliot with some pardison sprinkled in

the big bang job (s3) best for all individual pairings, they all have moments to shine! big development for pardison in this ep

the boys night out job (s4) best for parker x hardison and hardison x eliot

the french connection job (s5) best for parker x eliot and hardison x eliot. can't remember off the top of my head how much pardison is in it

the boost job (s3) best for parker x hardison and some parker x eliot shenanigans

the van gogh job (s4) best for parker x hardison but has some hardison x eliot moments too

the queen's gambit job (s4) best for parker x hardison with some hardison x eliot moments (a hug!)

the future job (s2) best for parker angst and her boys looking out for her

this list is mostly accurately ranked, but after the first five or so there is more wiggle room on ot3ness depending on which dynamics are more prominent

edit: I was stupid and half paying attention with work and managed to forget the long goodbye job HOW COULD I FORGET THAT

Quick best ot3 episode of leverage

[spacedace]

hey in your tags you mentioned a “batfam leverage au” can u explain what that is

Happily! :D

So I'm not sure if you're familiar with the show Leverage, but the quick summary is that it's about a group of "bad guys" (a hacker, a hitter, a grifter, a theif and the mastermind that directs them all) that help people who have been hurt by the rich and powerful by using their skills to pull heists and cons on the bad guy of the episode to ruin them and get back whatever was taken/right whatever was made wrong.

It's an amazing show that I can't recommend enough, very clever, very funny, big found family vibes and an OT3 that's *this close* to being canon (and has been supported by the writers). The heists are amazing and it's all around an AMAZING show.

Anyway, the BatPham Leverage Au is basically just: a collection of DP & BatFam members join together to make a robin hood heist team like in the show Leverage. I have a couple versions of the BatPham Leverage AU rattling around my head, but most fleshed out right now are:

Business of Family - the Uncle Oz AU (Penguin Adopts Jazz & Danny): My plan for this story is for Jazz and Danny to decide to start running heists in Gotham on the people in the city that tend to fly under Batman's radar but who are still very much doing a lot of harm to the city and it's people. The Leverage AU part of this story is going to have Jazz as the Mastermind, Jason as the Hitter, Tim as the Hacker, Danny as the Thief/Maker (basically engineer), and Elle as the Grifter (shapeshifting Elle for the win lol).

Another Leverage AU I've been thinking about for awhile but that I haven't turned into a story yet is one where Team Phantom (Danny, Jazz, Sam, Tucker & Elle) are tasked with finding and returning various Infinite Realm artifacts that have ended up in the mortal world. And for some reason Gotham has just so many Infinite Realm artifacts in it. Like most of the artifacts in the world are in Gotham for some wild reason (it's Gotham there doens't need to be more of a reason).

They're on the run from the GIW/Fentons, so they're trying not to advertise any ghostly/liminal powers if they can help it, so they largely do heists without powers (minus Tucker doing all his hacking and everything from the Ghost Zone and some occasional invisibility/intangibility when it's called for, but they really do try and keep any power use to a minimum).

In this AU, Jazz is the Mastermind (again, because I love that role for her haha), Tucker is the Hacker, but that's when I can't quite decide who should be who.

I love the idea of Sam being a Hitter, but I think she'd be able to play Grifter pretty well knowing the rich as well as she does, Danny would love being a Hitter and being able to fuck some assholes' shit up while being completely feral but he could also still be a good Thief. Elle could go either Grifter again, but I like her as a Theif in this one, maybe running into Damian in the vents while she's trying to get into a vault or something lol. (I think it'd go with Danny: Hitter, Sam: Grifter, Elle: Thief, but I have no idea if that'll stick if/when I ever write this lol)

Whatever the team looks like, because there are so many artifacts in Gotham & because they can't just use their powers willy-nilly to grab them and run, they're going to be in Gotham for a long time, possibly years. Which means they need some kind of side hustle to pay the bills, which leads them to doing more heists, but this time on various rich assholes that deserve to lose a bunch of money.

Eventually they get on the Bats radar, and there'd be some fun cat & mouse back and forth with the BatFam trying to catch the Phantom Crew (Danny shouldn't be allowed to name things, but he already told Red Robin that was their team name before anyone could stop him). Eventually the GIW do show up and things start getting even more complicated (and maybe someone activates an artifact, resulting in a powerful entity being released in Gotham that they all have to team up to fight).

I have no name for this au other than the DP X DC Leverage Au, but I do know that'll have plenty of Anger Management, Brain Dead (or really Brain Dead + Everlasting Trio, don't know what the ship name for that is), Serious Chaos.

It'll also have Batman aggressively trying to adopt them all because he doesn't actually have anything against them stealing from these assholes as long as they don't hurt anyone. They're acting outside of the law yes but they're doing it in order to give justice to those who have been made victims by the system and he's all about that (the real final battle of the story is between Bruce & Selina who both want to adopt the Pham, who would like to know if they get a say in any of this - they don't).

[true-blue-sonic]

Probably an odd choice for the ask game, but... Jet the Hawk? 👀

do I like them:

Honestly... not that much. He's just one of the characters that I don't strongly care about or even ever think about. That's probably because I never played a game wherein he was in a central role, so I never really warmed up to him in the first place.

5 good qualities:

He's a 14-year-old dumbass bossing around two adults who furthermore also listen to him and do what he tells them to, which I consider a hilarious dynamic.

Despite the fact he is a 14-year-old dumbass, it's nice that his title as Legendary Wind Master is not just hot air! Jet knows what he is doing on an Extreme Gear, and he's definitely incredibly skilled at it. He might not be the fastest on foot, but when it comes to Extreme Gears, I think he might just be better at it than Sonic.

He's one of the iirc two characters of whom we know what one of their parents looks like.

He lives in a blimp. Neat!

I can appreciate that the Babylon Rogues very unabashedly just want treasure, and maybe also to prove themselves as The Fastest to everyone. But mostly just money.

3 bad qualities:

I'm sorry: I can't stand his voice acting. Too squawky for my tastes.

Jet's personality and demeanour in general does not interest me that much, but that is just me personally. It doesn't help that he shows up so little.

The Babylon Rogues are characters who suffer most from Never Shows Up Syndrome in the entire franchise, it seems like. Jet definitively appears most out of all three, but I feel sorry for you if they are among your favourite characters. I complain about not getting enough Espio and Silver food; meanwhile, these three appear just about never. Probably because they're linked to the Riders games so closely, but I truly can't recall them ever showing up in a single mainline game. Makes me wonder if Sega will ever consider making a new entry for the Riders franchise?

favourite episode/etc:

It's been a while since I last watched any Riders game cutscenes... Let's go with Zero Gravity because I think that one's story is coolest. But I also love the scene where Wave's sped-up Japanese blabbering results in Jet just sneakily getting the hell out of there to go do his own thing.

otp, brotp, ot3 and notp:

None.

best quote:

I truly have no idea, sorry. Can't recall anything he ever said😅

*one research on YouTube later to see if I could find another perk for the five things I like about him* Okay his manic cackling as he imagines himself in a pile of golden coins in Riders is quite hilarious, actually.

head canon:

He would 100% just randomly show up where Sonic is to challenge him to an Extreme Gear race. Doesn't matter if it's in the middle of the night or Sonic is camping in Holoska: if Jet wants to race, he will race. Sonic of course always humours him because he loves racing as well.

[spinningbuster98]

Dante and Vergil for the ask!

Dante:

do I like them:

Of course. I mean look at him. Look at the guy!

5 good qualities:

He's a great guitarist

A great actor

A great dancer

He can be really supportive of others when the situation calls for it, as seen with Lady during the end phases of DMC3, or even with Trish in the ending of DMC1. Hell he tries to look after Nero the best he can, even if he's sometimes insensitive about it

He's got a bigger heart than he lets on: in DMC3, even before he fully transitioned from "adrenaline junkie who doesn't care if the world goes to shit so long as he gets to have fun" to "more or less responsable adrenaline junkie who's willing to make tough choices for the good of everyone" he still tried to save Lady from a strike by Vergil when she interfered with their fight.

3 bad qualities:

He's a complete slob, who's always wasting around in his office not really taking care of himself, just stuffing his face with pizza, strawberry sundaes and alcohol

He's got a bad habit of getting into debts that he cannot repay, as Lady would likely confirm, since I believe he owes her a ton of cash in the anime

While he genuinely cares for Nero and wants him to stay out of harm's way it's pretty clear from his comments about him being a deadweight and "needing to sit this one out" that he doesn't fully understand or take seriously his insecurities

favourite episode/etc:

Well technically it's DMC3, for giving us the most dynamic, perhaps human and falliable Dante, though DMC5 is close for striking the best balance between being a goofball and a "I'm getting too old for this shit" 40 yo responsable adult

otp

I know everyone wants him to get into Lady's pants, but honestly aside from their interactions in DMC3 I just don't see enough chemistry and it often feels to me that fans like to pair them together mostly because she's the only available option that doesn't devolve into problematic territory

So I'm going with Dante/Pizza

brotp:

Well he's only got one bro so :P

ot3:

None

notp:

Pretty much everything involving incest, so anything with Vergil, Nero and unfortunately Trish as well

best quote

"Frankly, at first, I didn't give a damn... but because of you I know what's important now. I know what I need to do. That's what MY soul is telling me to do"

head canon

We know that for the longest time he didn't use to have the highest opinion of Sparda, but it's implied that over the years this changed. I like to imagine that, since he never learned much about his father's "adventures" when he was a kid he sometimes tries to research stories and old folk tales about him in order to learn more about him...when he can get his lazy ass off his office chair

Vergil:

do I like them

For all intents and purposes I shouldn't, since I don't have a huge liking for purely edgy characters, even if their edginess can lead to some unintentional hilarity (look: Infinite) but Vergil is helped by having a more or less convincing backstory for his edgy behaviour (a backstory that I would have liked explored DURING DMC3 not AFTER in supplemental materials, not to mention DMC5 not delving as deeply as I would have liked) while still being pretty hilarious in his stone faced edginess. Plus he's genuinely and consistently threatening, and his brand of edginess is more of the "stoic badass who commands respect with a simple stare but who gets punked on by goofy brother" rather than "dude's a pathetic loser who got a dose of raw power and thinks he's hot shit and so just spews out edgy catchphrases thinking he's cool". With the former it's someone who is equally powerful who humiliates him, with the latter he just inadvertedly humiliates himself and I don't think it was the actual intention

5 good qualities

He's very good at keeping himself neat and tidy for someone who's technically more of a hobo than his brother (I mean I don't think Vergil has a house no?)

He's very perceptive as to when somebody might just be trying to trick him (like when he attempted to kill Arkham because he rightly suspected he was trying to double cross him)

Has some fine taste in literature

The fact that his human side was able to see the consequences of his destructive behaviour, and the fact that he was willing to stop his fight with Dante and listen to Nero and try to cut down the Qliphoth before it was too late (though only after some hefty convincing and ass kicking) shows that there might still be some form of hope for him. Maybe not outright "redemption" (kinda hard to make up for killing an entire city's population), but he may one day stop being an evil douche

Truly motivated chad

3 bad qualities:

Well y'know the whole "gotta get more power even if it means destroying the world" mindset

Really shortsighted: yeah he wants to gain more power in response to his childhood trauma....but what then? What will he do after he gets what he wants? Will he ever be satisfied with the kind of power he can gain? I don't think Vergil has ever bothered making long term plans for his future

He should really work towards paying that due child support

favourite episode/etc

Technically DMC5 by virtue of being the only game that tried fleshing him out in any way. I guess there's also that Visions of V manga but I haven't read it fully

otp

Vergil/Plastic Chair

brotp

He's stuck in Hell with Dante of all people and that's comedy that writes itself

ot3

None

notp

Same as above

best quote

"You will not forget this Devil's power!"

headcanon

Dude probably kept going about displaying the "true power of a son of Sparda" while conceiving Nero

[gwendeeagain]

hello !! i was wondering what exactly you think of kayano's whole "newsflash asshole i've been the sister of your dead teacher this entire goddamn time!"

your preference towards her pre-reveal persona being a purposeful forgetful character is clear haha but on that same note, how much do you think it was true? also, how do you think the teachers (esp as trained professionals) think of her after it? peace and love i just don't have any friends who like assassination classroom to talk to </3

Hehe hi! Thanks for the ask! I love Kayano so the reply will be a bit of a long one... so I'll hide the reply under the "keep reading" tab.

I remember when I first watched the series, I was both confused and annoyed that Kayano was advertised/put as part of the main cast when she didn't quite do much, and I didn't think her presence so far justified her position in the main trio. I thought that she was one of the token "love interest" characters (that were otherwise useless and bland), which was such a shame. (I never disliked her because of any ships or such, I actually thought the main trio would be a cute ot3!)

And then.. the reveal! I fell in love with her. I thought her pre-reveal persona was kind of smart and showed that Akari was such a good actress. The choice to adopt an unassuming personality also helped her fly under the radar. It blindsided the audience (read: me, the clown) as well.

One of the main issue I had with it was how it seemed like a shock factor plot twist. Like, the premise was clearly set up and it's quite an intricate plot, but it's a shame to the plot that there weren't many "hints" to catch. (Maybe there were, and I'm just unobservant).

(I know there are some panels in the manga or something like that, but I think that the manga and the anime should be treated as distinct works of art, ie. they should both stand independently. I shouldn't need to cross-reference the media to be able to understand the other.)

How much do I think that her pre-persona personality was true? A lot, I think. Considering that it was a year-long acting stint without a break in between, it would be a lot easier to act close to, well, how you really are. The most natural lies are the one closest to truth! Besides, given that she spent so long in the role, I think by the end of the year, she would have ingrained some part of it in herself anyways. It's like, fake it to you make it.

The class' reactions was pretty underwhelming and disappointing. I think there was a popular string of posts about the Kayano Civil War that explains it a lot better than me. I think that the class realistically been a lot more hurt by her betrayal. (I can't find the post to the Kayano Civil War now, sorry.)

(I think that ^ whole thing was a consistent writing choice through the show. Assclass is a relatively short anime that crams a lot of content into a small amount of episodes, and most events that happen wrap up pretty concisely within the few episodes it spans and doesn't show much repercussions afterwards in later episodes. It seems like Assclass was just trying to throw many different problems at us, but doesn't really want to drag them out for too long, so they wrap each issue up with "and everyone was fine at the end :)" The class seems relatively unfazed for each problem they trip over, like Takaoka or almost being drowned or almost being poisoned and killed or the Reaper incident with Irina's betrayal or Nagisa's mother or- you get it. I'm not sure what I can say for this, because on one hand it's an anime for kids and it was quite short, but on another I don't believe that a show should focus on murder and such heavy topics without being able to handle it with the appropriate weight. I digress.)

How will the teachers react?

This is such a fun question! I think Koro-sensei would be both parts hurt and disappointed/angry at himself, because he's the world-class top assassin. There's probably a level of pride he carries on being able to read people and handle problems. Given that Kayano was so close to Aguri, I think he would be extremely disappointed in himself that he failed to figure it out and help Kayano enough.

On a similar vein, Irina would be second-guessing her own espionage abilities. I imagine she might show some interest in acting classes or maybe speak to Kayano a bit more to understand her. I don't imagine her taking it badly - moreover I think she'll be impressed.

Karasuma! He's funny. I think he would, firstly, second-guess all the background checks (I hope) had been done when they were looking into 3-E. He seemed just as surprised with the whole reveal, which means his superiors were keeping the whole Government Experiment thing from him, which... is incredibly unethical, to another point. If you think about it, if he was told from the get-go, they might be able to prepare for some eventualities like looking out for Yanagisawa and potential revenge plots, looking for a good setting to tell the kids about the whole thing instead of the whole surprise sprung on them, et cetera. He'd probably be pissed and cynical, and he wants to get Kayano some therapy. They all need therapy.

Oopsie, this is a bit too long of a reply, I think. Thanks Anon! I had fun thinking about my response. Hehe, feel free to reply or toss more questions at me. My dms are always open too!

[fraks]

LEVERAGE REDEMPTION 1x11 THE JACKAL JOB

- ngl, this was the episode i was most excited for. maybe. or maybe it was 1x16 from the episode title alone. but then this was a very close second. FINALLY a flashback episode for gina. her role in van gogh job was pretty small, and her part in db cooper job practically nonexistent. and now this! IT'S WHAT SHE DESERVES. though i have to admit right off the bat: i'm not feeling any of the flashback wigs. especially with how gorgeous sophie's own hair has been this season.

- that said, i felt slightly underwhelmed at several points in the episode, in part because i (thought i) knew what was coming. i even complained to @cminerva that the cons in redemption are more predictable than they were in the original. and in some ways, they are, but the show immediately proved me wrong anyway by taking what i thought happened and saying "lol nope try again next time". and i LOVE THEM FOR IT.

- anyway, let's get started. breanna having to do community service is hilarious to me. and sophie driving her around to do it. :') i know gina said that sophie isn't really a mother figure to breanna the way she sort of was to parker and hardison in the original, and i agree (she's definitely mentor and teacher, but not really a mother figure, especially since i think breanna has a little crush on our miss devereaux), but i do love their scenes together.

- AND THEN SHE CATCHES THE PHONE LIFT. this is the second time this season that sophie devereaux has caught someone stealing and made them her "project". :')

- sophie is wearing that top again that makes her boobs look spectacular. i'm very fond of that top.

- this was the first episode i watched without @cminerva, so i only got to yell vague things at her. very disappointing, that, but i probably wouldn't have been coherent enough for proper discussion anyway.

- "she said she fell in love with a mark—cardinal sin of any con." okay now i want some au fic where harry is (one of) the mark(s) cause he's still a bad guy but he already has doubts, and sophie falls in love with him before they even discover he's secretly been working against his clients or whatever. ANY TAKERS?

- "let's go steal the world's greatest grifter." gina said it in an interview the other day, that she loves getting to say all the "let's go steal"s this season, and I LOVE IT TOO. but sophie, darling, YOU're the world's greatest grifter.

- "he looks like a used car salesman's sneeze!" lmfao parker i love you and your crazy similes.

- "sophie hasn't taught me that con yet." okay LISTEN. a) he said "sophie" again. and b) THIS IS CANON CONFIRMATION of something @cminerva and i have been suspecting for ages—sophie is TEACHING HIM ABOUT CONS. not just the active grifting bits, but also the theory behind it. and i just. late nights, with takeout and wine or beer, just the two of them sitting together in the old theatre. CHINHANDS.

- harry has definitely gotten better at the grifts. he must have put in a LOT of time practising with a certain teacher. 😏 and i can say from personal experience that having a crush on someone who's teaching you things is THE best motivation for learning and doing well.

- awwwmaaaaaaaaan i think i know where they're going with this ep and i'm equal parts delighted and disappointed. is what i said to @cminerva so i wouldn't spoiler her. what i meant was: i was delighted that leverage, a very Straight show aside from breanna's hinted-at sexuality and the never-quite-confirmed ot3, finally had a queer storyline! and part of me was disappointed because i was hoping they'd let noah wyle play the mark stella fell in love with, like they did with beth+aldis in van gogh and beth+christian in db cooper. and then i was disappointed again when we didn't even see gina bellman kiss a woman. thank the universe for coupling, ahem. and it was a little weird that none of the cast other than gina was in the flashbacks to stella's life. in both other flashback jobs, the entire main cast was playing some of the characters.

- calling harry straight is a bit of an insult. he's CLEARLY bisexual. though i have to admit i've kind of had it up to here with television's fetishisation of wlw relationships. i mean, this show is not the worst by far, but. it does make me uncomfortable.

- "hey, i own a table just like that." (...) "i have that chair, too. and that lamp. wait a second! is this all my stuff?" HARRY YOU GIANT DORK. you have terrible taste in furniture. but also, CANON CONFIRMATION OF HARRY LIVING AT THE BASE INSTEAD OF HIS OWN APARTMENT. @cminerva!

- "we needed used crap that looked expensive. and boring. like... you." OUCH.

- lmao in one of the flashbacks, they're playing that db cooper song in the background. how terribly meta. 🥰

- romy as stella's kid! :') she's super cute.

- "it's not easy to look at your life." have i mentioned how absolutely in love i am with harry wilson? he's such a fantastic character both from a storytelling perspective and as a human being. GIVE ME ALL THE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT AND MATURE MEN PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

- "if you'd known it was gonna end... would you have still left with jo?" THANKS FOR THAT PUNCH IN THE GUT, LEVERAGE. so that's what sophie has been struggling with all this time, huh? figuring out if all the pain was worth it. "never define love by its length, only by its depth." i... i'm not ready to go into details, but god i really needed to hear that, personally.

- oh shit okay. oh SHIT. OKAY. i might be reading into this, but stella saying she had some of her greatest adventures after losing the love of her life, "life is about the journey", and then to have that interrupted by harry???? that is some INSANE metaphor shit for harry/sophie. MAYBE.

- stella and sophie grifting together is PEAK leverage. :')

- "ZEE parker?" 😂

- "you were right. i lost someone. his name was nate. he was my greatest score. and i would give anything for one more day with him." WHY DO YOU HAVE TO COME FOR MY HEART LIKE THAT, SHOW? WHYYYY. 😭 i loved this ship so much. and i still do. always will.

- yeaaah i wasn't reading into things. at all. that was a very deliberate choice they made in that scene earlier.

- THE ENDING OF THIS EPISODE IS EVERYTHING. "penny for your thoughts." - "just wondering what my next adventure is gonna be." - "buy you a cup of joe?" OHMYGOD. OH. MY. GOD. SHE'S LEANING INTO HIM ON "MY NEXT ADVENTURE". HE'S LOOKING AT HER LIKE SHE'S EVERYTHING TO HIM. THEY WALK OFF TOGETHER, HER HAND TUCKED INTO THE CROOK OF HIS ARM, WHILE "I JUST WANT TO BE WITH YOU" PLAYS. AND THEY LOOK SO GOOD TOGETHER. HOLY CRAP. SAY IT WITH ME: E N D G A M E

[screwtheprinceimtakingthehorse]

Enough For One Life

Fandom: Bones (TV) Pairing: Temperance Brennan/Seeley Booth/Hannah Burley (OT3) Episode tags/coda to 6x08 and 6x09

At the diner, Booth looks up from his and Hannah's joint hands and sees Brennan look away and lean over to wipe the chocolate off Parker's chin instead. Parker lets her easily, like she's done it a hundred times before. He leans into the touch, and Booth sees Brennan's slight smile as she scrubs at Parker's face with a napkin. She wouldn't call herself good with kids — not like Hannah, who just lacks experience. Bones always says that she lacks warmth. She's not given to noticing things beyond the fact: acts of care, of care-taking, are not intuitive to her. She sees the chocolate on someone's face, but she's more likely to let you run around with it for half the day before telling you on her way out the door. Grabbing a napkin to help you out, not so much. But for Parker, she makes the effort. He's noticed that — he's been noticing that, lately. Well, not just since he came back from Afghanistan, but before. Back when... back when he still thought they had a chance. Back when he was still too chicken to say anything.

He's glad he did, in the end. As much as it hurt at the time. Still does, some days. That little twinge he gets when he sees her, unobscured. Those few and far between moments when he knows exactly what she’s thinking.

As Booth holds Hannah's hand, he watches Bones and Parker and then looks back at Hannah, who in turn is watching him. She glances at Bones and Parker laughing at her attempts to clean him up with a broad smile. She turns back to Booth and raises her eyebrows, still grinning. There’s something in her eyes he doesn’t understand. But he likes it. Hannah likes Bones. That’s good, right?

After Woodland, they take her home. She's quiet on the whole ride over to her place, Hannah hovering in the space between their seats to talk to her quietly while Booth drives, doing his best not to lose the car to the rain still coming down with how often he glances over at Bones in the passenger seat. They make sure she eats something, put her to bed, and make themselves comfortable in the guest room. It's never a question whether they stay. They'll take care of her, whatever it takes. Booth calls Parker before they turn in, letting him and Rebecca know where they are and that Bones is okay. He says to say hi in the morning, and to give her a hug. Parker knows that Booth is one of the few people Bones leans on.

He doesn't think about the fact that he hasn't hugged her since before they left last year.

It's long past midnight when they're woken up not by screams or cries, as Booth had silently feared, but by someone sitting on the edge of the bed, close to Booth. He's instantly awake, instinct and battle senses, and so is Hannah. She turns on the light and they find Bones.

She still looks a little rattled, but Booth recognises the set of her shoulders. Determined.

"I should have given us a chance," she says, and her voice sounds strangled with unshed tears, but her eyes are clear, focused. They're filled with regret, though. "I should have given you a chance, to prove—."

She stops herself, and it gives Booth a moment to catch up with what she's saying. Oh, God, now? But he doesn't stop her. He never could.

"I had nothing to lose," she says, and Booth isn't sure that's true. Her independence, her solitude, her... rationality. She surprises him when she continues, "I had nothing to lose because I had everything to gain. You offered me the world, and I-I said no, because I was scared."

"Bones," he says, gently, because it's the only way he can say her name when she's like this, and the only way he can say her name most of the rest of the time, too. He's very aware of Hannah still curled into his side — curling closer, actually, now; to be able to reach across his body and put her hand on Bones' arm.

"You deserve to be happy, Temperance," she says, and Booth nearly jumps when her voice is a mirror of his own. Gentle, patient. Like she's known her as long as he has. Perhaps she has, if only because Booth has told her so much about his partner.

They've been... talking about her. Hannah happy to ask questions, and Booth happy to answer them, and somehow it never occurred to him that it should feel awkward. Or that it wasn't just Hannah's professional curiosity coming through, or his own propensity to talk about Bones any chance he got — because he loves her, and he’s proud of her.

He loves her.

Oh, Geez.

He’s never told Hannah about that part of their partnership. Perhaps he never had to — guess that conversation has gone on ahead without him, huh. (And is he ever glad that Sweets isn’t around for any of this.)

Caught between Bones now looking over at Hannah and Hannah solid as a rock beside him, he takes a quiet moment to panic, just him, in his head, having a good, quick mental breakdown about how he should have seen this coming but didn't, and how somehow, this doesn’t feel like the end of the world.

And about how it feels more like a beginning.

[iam93percentstardust]

I'm bombarding you with those prompts, so I fully understand if you just ignore all those you don't like, lol. Would WinterIronFalcon be an OT3 you're intrested in writing? Some established WinterFalcon with Tony pining helplessly after them, not believeing he could have a chance? With a dash of angst in it? Thank you ♡

There isn’t much angst in this but there is hopeless pining so yay?

Also on ao3 here

~

“Share Bear, it’s not fair,” Tony whines into the phone.

“What isn’t?” his cousin asks, sounding patient but also kind of amused. He takes the phone away from his ear and squints at it. Is she making fun of him? She probably is, Sharon always makes fun of him. She’s mean like that; he’s pretty sure she gets it from Natasha.

“They’re so fucking gorgeous, I can’t stand it.”

“Oh. Them again. Seriously Tony, didn’t you used to have better taste?”

“Excuse you,” he says, offended. “My taste is perfect.”

“They think arguing is foreplay.”

“It’s bickering! And it’s cute!”

“Gross,” Sharon says cheerfully.

“God hates me,” Tony says dramatically, flinging his hand over his eyes. “That’s why he cursed me to work with two such beautiful humans who are already dating each other.”

“Tony—”

“I know Bucky stays up to date with the fandom,” he continues, going a little quieter. “He’s gotta know that tons of people ship the three of us. But he doesn’t say anything about it. Share Bear, why doesn’t he say anything?”

“Probably because for every person who ships all three of you, there’s twice as many who ship just you and him,” she admits. “I know that if someone were shipping Maria and Nat and ignoring that I even exist, I’d be pretty upset.”

“Yeah,” he says glumly.

“What’re you filming today anyway?” she asks.

“True Crime. We were supposed to be doing an episode of Supernatural at the Odinson Mystery House, you know, over in Norway where the son found out he was adopted and then got super into Norse mythology and supposedly disappeared into a rainbow?”

“Oh yeah, that guy was crazy.”

“Wasn’t,” Tony insist stubbornly. “There are three different eyewitnesses and they all saw the same thing.”

“All three eyewitnesses tested positive for meth.”

“It was trace amounts and ruled irrelevant to the case. Anyway, there’s some sort of blizzard so our flight got canceled. We figured we’d get a jump on this season’s True Crime episodes instead.”

“What are you doing this week?”

He scowls into the phone. “Fandom episode. They voted for Captain America.”

He can practically hear Sharon wince. “I’m sorry. That fucking sucks.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, not least because both of them know exactly what happened to Captain America. He was recovered from the Arctic back in the 50s and went on to live a very happy and fulfilling life with Aunt Peggy. But that’s a very closely guarded state secret; the U.S. government can’t let it get out that Steve Rogers survived nearly a decade in the ice. Technically, Tony and Sharon aren’t even supposed to know but Aunt Peggy had insisted she be allowed to tell them after she took custody of Sharon and Tony moved out of Howard’s and into her home. It’s kind of cool actually, knowing that Uncle Steve is really Captain America. He’s a pretty great guy. It just kind of sucks that he can’t tell anyone about it and now he has to do a whole episode about it when everyone knows he’s a shitty liar.

He’d talked it over with Uncle Steve and Aunt Peggy when the results of the vote had first come in. Aunt Peggy’s advice had been to act more manic than usual, throw even more outlandish theories into the mix, and really make this episode about the banter between him and Bucky. “Direct their attention away from Steve,” she’d said. “They’re already going to be looking at you. Just make sure they’re doing it for the wrong reason.”

He kind of wants to kiss Bucky. That would definitely draw attention away from the episode. But that’s not fair to either Bucky or Sam, who are very happy with their relationship and don’t need a homewrecker like Tony throwing a spanner into the mix.

“Good luck,” Sharon tells him before they hang up. “You’re gonna need it.”

“Wow, thanks,” he mutters but she’s already gone.

~

Marvels Unsolved was never supposed to be this popular. It started off as a novelty webseries about Tony trying to convince Bucky about the existence of the supernatural—he firmly believed that if science could turn Uncle Steve from an actual shrimp to the god of muscles, then magic had to be out there—and then they’d started talking about an unsolved crime from the early 20th century after filming an episode one day, forgetting that the camera was still rolling, and had ended up with enough footage to make a second episode about real crimes. They had stayed pretty unknown throughout that first season but then true crime podcasts had exploded in popularity and Unsolved along with them.

Now they have a fandom and merchandise and actual fanfiction written about them, which is the craziest thing. They both have several often-quoted gifs floating around the Internet and Bucky has somehow become the poster child for being unimpressed by literally everything (he actually makes some of the best faces when something genuinely scary happens but they always end up editing those parts out—he has an image to maintain after all).

They brought Sam on once they started gaining in popularity. Tony, by that point, already had a pretty well-established crush on Bucky. He’d even thought that he had a chance with his co-host, small as it may be, and at first, it hadn’t seemed like Sam was going to change anything. He and Bucky argued all the time so Tony had been absolutely stunned when he’d stumbled upon them making out like it was the end of the world.

They had just finished filming their second season. Sam had suggested going out to a local bar. He’d suggested it for all three of them but Tony had, inexplicably, felt like a third wheel all night as Sam and Bucky bickered. At one point, Sam had disappeared off to the restroom and a couple minutes later, Bucky had followed him. Tony doesn’t know how long he had sat there waiting for them but he’d eventually gone looking for them only to find Sam pressing Bucky up against a wall.

And that had been that.

Three years later, Sam and Bucky are still going strong, Tony is as smitten with Sam as he is with Bucky despite knowing how hopeless both crushes are, and the fandom seems convinced to either write Sam out of Tony and Bucky’s relationship or write Tony into Sam and Bucky’s. He wishes they would stop. He stays pretty up to date with the fandom as well and they have all these meta posts about the way Bucky looks at him or something. It just keeps giving him hope but, well, it’s been three years. If Bucky wanted him, or if Sam did for that matter, they would have done something long ago.

~

“Hey, you doing okay?” Sam asks him as they’re setting up.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” He avoids meeting Sam’s eyes, focusing instead on adding creamer to the coffee. Marvels had presented them with these mugs last year to congratulate them on four years of Unsolved. They’ve got their most iconic quotes printed on them, Bucky’s with “Obviously I killed JFK” and Tony’s with “I’m the dramatic bitch your mom warned you about.” Sam has one too with his one and only line in the entire show printed on it (“Why did I agree to work with you?”) but since he’s always behind the camera, he doesn’t have to use the same mug for each episode.

“You just seem a little off.” The worst part is that Sam genuinely looks concerned. If they didn’t care about him, he thinks his crush might be easier to manage but they do because they’re just nice guys like that. “I know you weren’t too thrilled when we announced this week’s case.”

“Howard worked with him, practically hero-worshipped the damn guy. Of course, I’m not excited.”

Sam winces. They know all about Tony’s shitty relationship with Howard after his dad called Marvels furious that his son was hosting a webseries instead of coming home to grovel at his feet and take over the business. The whole team had been brought in to listen as Fury tried to placate him. By the end, Bucky had been furious on Tony’s behalf and Sam had berated Fury for twenty minutes for making Tony listen to the vitriol his dad had spewed. It had cemented his crush on Sam, then just a passing fancy, into something real and permanent.

“Seriously, Sam, I’m fine. Might be a little off today but I would have said if I didn’t think I could do it.”

Sam doesn’t look convinced but he agrees anyway. Tony sits down next to Bucky and passes him his mug. Bucky shoots him a grin and murmurs, “Thanks, doll.”

Tony doesn’t blush but that’s only because he has five years of practice. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Sam counting them down and he turns to face the camera, settling his hands in front of him.

“This week on Marvels Unsolved True Crime and in celebration of our 100th episode,” he begins, “we asked you what you’d like us to investigate and you came back—”

“—overwhelmingly,” Bucky interjects.

“Many, many times,” Tony agrees, “with a topic near and dear to my own heart: Captain America.”

“That’s right,” Bucky says, sounding surprised though Bucky had been the first to point out that maybe they shouldn’t do this episode because of Tony’s connections to Project Rebirth. “Your dad helped turn Steve Rogers into Captain America, didn’t he?”

“And he never let me forget it!” Tony says cheerfully.

“One hundred episodes,” Bucky says slowly, enunciating each word. “Can you believe that, doll?”

Sometimes, he wonders why the fans ship them when Sam is right there. Other times, Bucky says things like this and he understands completely.

“Not even a little bit, Bucky Babe.” Okay, so maybe he doesn’t help.

“One hundred. The big one zero zero.”

“We tried to do something extra special and get Sam in front of the camera for you guys—”

“—so you could see what a hunk he is—”

“—but Sam said that he didn’t trust anyone else to film us properly—”

“—which makes sense because Tony? If you put him in the wrong light, he’s practically a gremlin—”

“Hey!”

“I’m just telling the facts.”

“Well, the facts are wrong.”

“They’re facts, sweet thing, they can’t be wrong.”

“Can too. Anyway, since Sam refuses to join us—”

“—and that just breaks my heart because Sam, he’s one of my favorite guys, you know?”

Tony pauses. It’s not like Bucky to say anything nice about Sam. Usually, it’s all good-natured insults and bickering. He must really be fed up with the Starkbucks shippers to say something like this when they’re still this early in the show.

“Only one of?” he asks curiously.

Bucky shoots him one of those filthy grins that their audience loves so much. “Well, it’s hard not to include you on that list,” he drawls.

He’s not going to blush.

He’s not going to blush.

He’s not going to—

Damn it.

Whatever. It’s no big deal, that’s what editing is for. So what if Sam has never edited out one of Tony’s blushes yet? Maybe Tony will get lucky and he will this time.

“You know, I was actually named for Captain America’s sidekick?” Bucky asks, getting them back on track.

“Wow, that is deeply unfortunate,” Tony deadpans.

“Yeah, Dad’s a fanboy. His whole troop was pinned down and rescued by the two of them. He tells the story all the time—kind of like your dad.”

“Except my dad goes straight past into fanboy and directly into obsession territory.”

“…Fair enough.”

“Really? That’s all you’re going to say?”

Bucky shrugs and takes a sip out of his mug. “I’ve been inside your house. I’ve seen the Steve Rogers shrine. I’m not going to argue with you.”

Tony thinks about that for a moment. “It is kind of a shrine, isn’t it? Anyway, we’ve got some great stuff for you today. We’re going to crack open this cold case, show you some never-before-seen footage courtesy of my mom sneaking my dad’s old war tapes out of the mansion, and then we’ll talk a little bit about the theories out there.”

“How many of them are going to be ridiculously outlandish and physically impossible?”

Tony glares at him. “None of them. I have never once presented a ridiculously outlandish and physically impossible theory.”

“Right because alien abduction is a valid—”

“Aliens are real!”

“You said that crabs might have eaten Amelia Earheart!” Bucky shouts over him.

“It’s a valid theory!”

“I take it back, you’re not one of my favorite people anymore.”

“That really hurts me, deep inside,” Tony says sarcastically, trying to cover up that maybe that does send a small pang shooting through his chest. He likes the thought of being one of Bucky’s favorite people. He doesn’t want to lose that.

“How deep?” Bucky asks and winks.

“Very deep. Way, way deep down. Practically in my—”

Bucky’s eyes widen and he nearly chokes on his coffee. “Okay, that’s enough of that. Let’s get into the facts.”

“Hey, that’s my line!”

~

“With a missing plane and pilot and so much redaction in the files, we’re lucky to even have a name, let’s get into the theories.”

“Actually, wait, before we do that,” Bucky says, “I want to ask if you’ve ever noticed that your voice changes when you’re doing the voiceovers.”

“Wait, what?” Tony asks. He glances at him, to one of the cameras, then back to Bucky. “What do you mean?”

“You know, it gets all deeper like you’re trying to voice movie trailers or something.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Sure it does.”

Tony shakes his head. “There’s no way.”

They both turn toward Sam, who thinks about it and then makes a ‘sort of’ motion with his hand.

“Told you!” Bucky says triumphantly.

“You’re such a child,” Tony sneers.

“Yeah, that’s why you like working with me so much.”

Behind the camera, Sam silently snickers and Tony glares at him before telling the camera, “If you’re watching, let us know in the comments. Is my apparent movie trailer voice okay or does it need to go like Bucky clearly thinks?”

Bucky goes paler. “Hey, wait, I didn’t say it had to go.”

“It was implied when you brought it up,” he argues.

“No!” Bucky insists. “I was just wondering if it was on purpose.”

They both turn toward Sam, who thinks about it and then makes a ‘sort of’ motion with his hand.

“Aha!” Tony says triumphantly.

“Traitor,” Bucky mutters into his coffee.

Sam signs, “I’ll make it up to you when we get home tonight.”

“And that was more than I ever wanted to learn about Sam and Bucky’s love life,” Tony lies through his teeth. “Let’s get into the theories. I only have two for you today, one of which I think Bucky will particularly like.”

“Oh no.”

“Our first theory is that Steve Rogers died in a plane crash on December 16, 1944. Winter months in the Arctic are known to be particularly stormy. There would have been low visibility due to the high latitude and time of year and with the waters and surrounding land being well below freezing, it’s possible that, even if Captain Rogers survived the impact, he would have frozen to death in the stormy seas.”

Bucky thinks about it for a second. “Yeah, that seems plausible.”

“In addition, Howard Stark, a known Captain America aficionado and the father of Marvels Unsolved’s best host—”

“You lie like a rug!” Bucky howls.

Tony snickers and then when Sam signs, “He’s really not,” bursts out into full-out laughter.

Once he’s recovered, he continues, “Howard Stark has spent the first fifty years after the crash of the Valkyrie and the last twenty funding searches in the Arctic in the hopes of recovering Captain Rogers’ body. He has found no evidence that Captain Rogers survived the crash although he did find part of the remains of the Valkyrie and has since stated that, ‘No human could have survived that crash.’”

The expeditions are a scam and have been since Howard first found the Valkyrie crash site and Uncle Steve along with it. He hadn’t been planning on continuing the expeditions—too costly, as he claims—but when Aunt Peggy had told him that Uncle Steve’s survival had to remain a secret, he’d kept them up for pretense’s sake.

Bucky is saying something about how it sucks that the first superhero is gone and when he finishes, Tony grins and says, “Then you’ll like our second theory.”

“Somehow, every time you say that, I end up completely hating it. Wonder why that is.”

“Our second theory is that Steve Rogers survived the crash and is still alive but cryogenically frozen in the ice. There—”

“Bullshit!”

Tony starts laughing but he tries to continue on over Bucky shouting that it’s complete nonsense. It’s hard and he knows that Sam will probably have to do some editing and maybe make Tony do some voiceover work in order to make the theory audible but he thinks he manages to do a pretty good job.

Bucky is pouting by the end of it, arms crossed over his chest. “What fucking bullshit,” he mutters.

“The supersoldier serum—” Tony starts to point out.

“Isn’t a miracle drug.”

“That’s exactly what it is.”

“No, it just made him big and strong. It doesn’t just magically keep people alive when they should have died.”

And then they’re off into familiar territory, arguing about the merits of either theory. Tony’s actually feeling pretty good about himself, convinced that he’s doing a decent job of steering the conversation away of anything classified, right up until Bucky says, about halfway through the episode, “I’m surprised at you, Tony.”

He wrinkles his nose. “Surprised?”

“Usually, you have some absolutely batshit, off-the-walls crazy theory but these have actually been pretty normal for you.” He pauses and then adds for effect, “And you’re usually much better at your research than this.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, even I know that there’s one more theory.”

He starts tapping at his chest nervously, almost wishing that he had a pair of sunglasses. Aunt Peggy always said that his lies are in his eyes, that they’re too expressive to hide the truth. When he was living with Howard, in the spotlight, he always had a pair of sunglasses to hide his eyes but he hasn’t wanted to use those since he moved out. He wishes he had them now.

“And what’s that?” he asks, feigning a casualness he doesn’t feel.

“That Steve Rogers lived and came out of the ice at some point and has been living out his life in anonymity.”

He barks out a nervous laugh. “I didn’t mention it because even I know that that theory is completely impossible.”

“Hasn’t stopped you before.” Sam nods agreeably. Bucky nods back at him and adds, “Even Sam agrees with me.”

“He’s your boyfriend, he’s practically required to.”

Both Sam and Bucky laugh at that one and yeah, okay, it was a pretty ridiculous statement. Anyone who knows them knows that being boyfriends is less likely to make them agree with each other.

“Look, Steve Rogers didn’t come out of the ice alive. Howard would have known for one thing and if you think, he could keep something like that quiet, then you don’t know him very well.”

“Maybe the government insisted it be a secret,” Bucky suggests, shrugging. “There have been plenty of people who have claimed over the last couple decades to be Captain America.”

Tony scoffs. “Oh come on, by that logic, anyone could be Captain America.”

“Maybe they could be.”

“No,” Tony says flatly. “It’s like that crazy conspiracy theory guy over on Reddit who’s convinced that Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

“Maybe Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

“Ooh do the butts match?” Tony says mockingly. “I mean, really, Bucky Babe, if we’re going off of lookalikes, then my fucking Uncle Steve is secretly really Steve Rogers, which is ridiculous because the guy’s like practically ancient and faints at the sight of blood in PG-13 movies.”

That sets off another round of arguing that lasts the rest of the episode until finally Tony wraps it up with, “Whether Steve Rogers died in 1944 or is still alive today is a mystery that will remain unsolved.”

They both pause for a moment to provide time for Sam to edit in the theme music and closing title. Usually, there would be some lighthearted bantering afterwards, maybe a joke about something they said earlier in the show. This time though, Bucky says thoughtfully, “The thing is, though, I’ve met your Uncle Steve—”

Tony goes cold.

“—and he really does kind of look like—”

Tony panics. That’s the only explanation that he has for declaring, “I’m done waiting,” reaching across the tables and grabbing hold of Bucky’s shirt, and yanking him forward to kiss him.

For a moment, Bucky is too startled to do anything but then he melts into Tony, mouth opening under his, tongue pushing forward to meet his. Bucky’s arms come around him, pulling him up and out of his chair and settling him into his lap. Tony makes a small greedy sound, swallowed by Bucky’s kiss, and then they’re both pulling away. Bucky’s lips are very red; Tony can’t stop staring at them even as he’s filled with dismay.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I shouldn’t have—”

“Why not?” Bucky demands.

“You—Sam—” He glances toward the camera but Sam isn’t standing there anymore. His heart drops into his stomach—has he just ruined Bucky and Sam’s relationship? But then he hears someone drop to their knees behind him and when he turns slightly, Sam’s fingers are on his chin, gently turning his head.

“How long?” Sam asks.

“How long what?”

“How long have we been wasting our time when we could have been kissing you instead?”

Three years, two months, and fifteen days. “Too long.”

Sam kisses him then, mouth gentler than Bucky’s but no less consuming. Bucky is a hard, hot line against his front; Sam is warm against his back and Tony? Tony loses himself in the storm that is the two of them, sparks shooting through him as Bucky’s hands find their way to his hips, as Sam’s tongue slips into his mouth, as Bucky whispers into his ear, “We’re not wasting any more time.”

~

Marvels Unsolved’s 100th episode shoots to their most watched, most liked video in less than a day and when asked, maybe the smallest handful of viewers could have said what it was about.

The day after it posts, only a week after it was filmed, Tony’s phone rings.

“Kill it with fire,” Sam says sleepily.

Tony, however, recognizes Aunt Peggy’s ringtone and he rolls over to grab it before Bucky can throw it at the wall. “Hello?” he asks groggily.

“Congratulations on not blowing Steve’s cover,” she says.

“Oh yeah,” Tony mutters. “Can I go back to bed now?”

“One more thing, duck.”

“What’s that?”

“Congratulations on the new boyfriends.”

[thehuntersmoondiscord]

Here’s a complete list of everyone’s creations for the Hunter’s Moon Creation Exchange. There’s a variety of rating, pairings, and tropes, but guaranteed they were ALL made with love.  Check out the collection here or look through the individual creations below.��

Bright Lights by @brightasstars

Malec | Mature Summary: After years of searching for the one who could love him unconditionally, heart and soul, Magnus has retreated himself into his shell, scared and lost. The will and the need to help a little boy who is the only witness of a brutal crime leads him unexpectedly to meet Alec, a young man who's past life has forced to grow up quicker and wiser, and...unbelievably kind. Magnus walks into Alec's life as if he had always been there, and Alec welcomes him as if his heart was a home built just for him. Alec knows and Magnus knows, but...will they? Tags: Silver fox Magnus Bane; Younger Alec Lightwood; Alternate Universe - Human; Emotional Hurt/Comfort; background crime scene; Protective Alec Lightwood; Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood; Falling In Love; Strangers to Lovers; Healing; overcoming fears and insecurities; Light Angst; People Change People 

A hey tipped in Gold by @highfunctioningdragonslayer

Malec | Explicit  Summary: In a world where everyone has a soulmate, Alec lightwood has the worst luck EVER, he didn't even realize when he met his soulmate. CURSE HIS FATE. On top of that...he meets a guy. He meets a guy from Edom OF ALL PLACES, he's the prince for god's sake, he can't fall for some trader from Edom...Can he?  And Magnus, oh Magnus... has a secret. but he chooses to ignore his mission to chase a hazel-eyed dove. The question is..is it worth it? is the promise of love enough for him to forget the pain of heartbreak? Tags:  Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Wingfic, Fluff, alec is a gentleman, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, A Splash of Pining, some og characters, Innocent Alec Lightwood, sibling dynamics, cute cute cute, Emotions, cat and izzy are wise souls, Smut, we cant not have smut, did i say Emotions, and courting, Anal Sex

Don’t Overthink by @cloudburst-ink 

Malec | Explicit Fanart Summary: Explicit fanart for ColorfulWarlock's fic, "Don't flirt with me (I'm working, dammit)" Tags: Prison AU, Blowjob, Smut

ISABELLE by @miss-shiva-adler

Raphael/Izzy | Teen Summary: He has feelings for her. He is unable to describe it, unable to put it in plain words. But her name is always on his mind, especially when they are apart Tags: Aromantic Asexual Raphael Santiago, Mention of addiction, Addiction Withdrawal symptoms, Feelings of guilt, heartbreaks, Missing Scene, Canon Divergence, Hopeful endings, open endings, Mention of Blood Drinking

The Sixth Love Language by @polarnacht1

Malace | Explicit  Summary: Jace meets Alec and Magnus at their bar Pandemonium, realizing astonished that they are not what they pretend to be: They are not regular humans but Vampires. Jace feels instantly drawn to their world full of shadows and blood - and them. They spend a hot night together that could be the beginning of more, if not Alec’s last words to Jace were ones that make Jace forget the night, Vampires, and them…  A story about falling in love - or avoiding it -  in the crossfire of Shadow World politics and a Vampire clan war. Tags: Alternate Universe, Vampire Alec Lightwood, Vampire Magnus Bane, Mundane Jace Wayland, reverse fic, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Vampire Sex, Vampire Bites, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Threesome - M/M/M, Polyamory, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Mind Manipulation 

Where First Kisses Grow Cold by @jesssssah

Jalec/Jangus | Explicit  Summary: Jace never expected Alec’s death would lead him to any kind of comfort.  Diverting from S1 Ep04, the scene in which Magnus and Alec first meet but imagining that Jace is there too and that Alec doesn’t save anybody. Tags:  MCD, graphic depictions of violence, canon-divergence au, blood and gore, angst, hurt/comfort, first kiss, necrophilic kiss, repressed_bisexual!Jace, sad 

A Bond’s Journey by @antisocial-af

Malec | Teen Summary: A look into Magnus' and Alec's journey through courtings and talks of immortality. Omegaverse. Tags: Omegaverse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Warnings in Chapters are Important, Downworlder Politics, Shadow World Council, Matching Party, Courting, Texting, New York Shadow World Institute, Slight Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, Alpha Magnus Bane, Omega Alec Lightwood, Background Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago, Alpha Raphael Santiago, Omega Simon Lewis, Protective Magnus Bane, Insecure Alec Lightwood, Consent is Sexy, No Smut, SFW, Tiny Alexander, Immortal Husbands Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Bonding Ceremony

Make A Wish by @sivan325

Malec | General Summary:  Max loses his first tooth, and his dads suggested to put the tooth under the pillow. Tags:  alternative universe, Tooth Fairies, Wishes, Fic Exchange, Fluff SO MUCH FLUFF, Cute

How am I supposed to pretend?  by @finditagain24

Jimon | Mature Summary:He’s wracked his brain to try to understand the shifts in Jace’s behavior lately: from the soft touches to the casual kisses and now asking him to meet his parents. There’s only one possible explanation.  “How do you know when someone is trying to make you their boyfriend?” Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University; Friends With Benefits; Friends to Lovers to Morons; Friends to Lovers; Frottage; Unreliable Narrator; Hence the moron; Alternate Universe - Human; Gratuitous bottle episode 

Fallen (for you) by @killynxgames

Malec | Explicit Summary: Alec’s eyes closed, the simple movement slow and calculated.  When he opened them again, his eyes had changed. Where before they were a beautiful clear hazel, they were now all black; no hazel, no white, just inky blackness from corner to corner. Magnus’s face paled instantly at the sight, fear rising in his gut.  Demon.  “W-wait. What did you do to the Lightwood boy? Is he-is he dead?” Magnus asked, fearing for the confident, sexy event planner he had met earlier that evening at the Institute party.  “There has never been another Alec Lightwood."  Magnus let the implications of that statement sink in. Demons had been eradicated from this realm centuries ago. If this one had survived, living and blending in among mortals... Tags: Bondage Panty Kink Rough Sex Rimming Top Alec Lightwood Bottom Magnus Bane Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV) Minor Character Death Cock Piercing Happy Ending Anal Sex Nipple Clamps Biting Hair-pulling Vibrators Multiple Orgasms Forced Orgasm Spreader Bars Demon Alec Lightwood Warlock Magnus BaneCome Eating Come Sharing Facials Barebacking Manhandling Magnus is very bendy

I Love The Way You Make Me Hurt by Nadja_lee

Malec | Explicit Summary: Magnus had never wanted Alec to see this side of him; the side that wanted to make the Nephilim kneel for him and mark him up as his. He panics when he wakes up and discover how rough he got with Alec the night before. However, Alec quickly assures him that he wants and needs to give his surrender and wear the Warlock’s marks just as much as Magnus wants him to. A story of accepting your own needs, your partner’s needs and the many nuances of love. Basically, the most fluffy and emotional smut fic I’ve ever done. Tags: Dom Magnus Bane, Sub Alec Lightwood, Kink Negotiation, Light Dom/sub, Dom/sub Undertones,Understanding Magnus Bane, Breathplay, Rough Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Happy Ending, Insecure Magnus Bane, Supportive Alec Lightwood, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Smut, Oral Sex, Love, Angst, Possessive Magnus Bane, Protective Magnus Bane, Romantic Fluff, Power Bottom Alec Lightwood, Top Magnus Bane, Bottom Alec Lightwood

All In The Name Of Love by @high-warlock-of-brooklyn

Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray/Will Herondale | General Summary:  In a world where the first touch with your soulmate gives you visions, Jem Carstairs, a barista in Idris Cafe, refuses to let the universe dictate his love, opting for a love of his own choosing, while he harbors a crush on Will Herondale, a regular of his. Things take an exciting turn after a brunette with a smile that can win the world, steps into their lives. Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Light Angst, Will is a dork, Tessa is another slightly lesser dork, Jem is an angel as usual, OT3, soulmate angst, Happy Ending, Church the Cat, Is the real MVP, i said what i said, Sophie is another angel, Who is Raziel I only know two(2) Angels, Jessamine is a good friend, Friendship, The many nicknames of Jem Carstairs, Author loves and misses their ot3 very much, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Chosen Soulmates

out of this cavern by @linkscap

Malec | General Summary: Alec will laugh about this one day.  Maybe.  The thing is, at the moment, it’s the furthest thing from funny.  OR: Alec and Magnus each get kidnapped by the Seelie Queen and held in her realm until they make a startling discovery. Tags: Soulmates, Kidnapping, seelie realm

Stuck On You by @the-ghost-of-william-herondale

Malec | Mature Summary: Magnus and Alec have an established soulbond, one that links them via magical sticky notes. Who would have guessed that this soulbond would one day save Alec's life? Though not, of course, without some trials and tribulations, first. Tags:Established Relationship, Husbands, Whump, Injured Alec Lightwood, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Bond: Sticky Notes, Post-it Notes, Major Character Injury, Blood and Injury, Hurt Alec Lightwood, hints of malace, blink and you'll miss them 

Won't You Be Mine? by @PhoenixStar73 

Malec | Teen Summary:Magnus Bane, gorgeous guy of the popular crowd in high school, is trying to discourage any unwanted paramour. Magnus happens to run into fellow student, Alec Lightwood, who helps him to do so. As they get to know one another, Magnus talks about his problem again, and Alec inadvertently gives him the perfect solution to keep the guy away -- for them to be fake boyfriends. But before long, it starts to work a little too well.... Tags: High school AU, Human AU, Fake/Pretend Relationship 

The Perks of Kylo Ren by @icymalec

Malec | Explicit Summary: All human AU. It’s Simon’s birthday and he is throwing a Star Wars themed party at Pandemonium- even the staff have agreed to dress up. Begrudgingly Alec attends, little did he know that the party would have a happy ending. Tags:AU, Human, Simon's Birthday, Star Wars, party, malec, first meeting, Smut, Office Sex, Anal Sex

A Change of Perspective by @forensicsisabelle

Malec | Teen Summary:Magnus hates the Lightwoods, including the kids who get everything they want. So how, exactly, does he wind up as Alec Lightwood's pretend date to a family party? Tags:Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Homophobia, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Hunter's Moon Discord's Gift Exchange

about colors and animal puns for names (or not so much) by @thelightofthebane

Malec | Teen Summary: Alec has barely left his office when he heard the trumpet of an elephant followed by the roar of a lion. Seconds later, a laugh from some hyena.  He groaned. The new recruits were too damn loud.  OR, A soulmate x omegaverse fusion nobody expected. Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Beta, Beta Alec Lightwood, Alpha Magnus Bane, Discrimination Against Betas, Alec is a good leader and says Soulmate rights, Magnus is a good alpha, True Mates, Romantic Soulmates, Fluff, Background RJS, Background Melibelle, Background Claia, soul animals, Animula 

Kiss Me Today (and everyday after) by @tobythewise

Malec | Explicit Summary: Five times Magnus almost kisses Alec and the one time he does. OR A Malec royalty arranged marriage where Magnus holds himself back until Alec doesn't let him. Tags:Royalty, Arranged Marriage, 5+1, Dom/Sub, Dom Magnus, Sub Alec, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Bottom Alec

Love came knocking (at the door) by @fanfic-fugue

Malec | Teen Summary: Nothing exciting happens in the small town of Brocelind Plains. At least it didn't, until Alec Lightwood moves in next door, and Magnus' whole world is disrupted. It's up to him to decide if change is a good thing. Tags: Alternate Universe - SoulmatesSoulmate-Identifying Marks Alternate Universe - Small Town Alternate Universe - Human Teacher Magnus Bane Teacher Alec Lightwood Lawyer Alec Lightwood Enemies to Lovers Enemies to Friends to Lovers Alternate Universe - Neighbors Slow Burn

Between the Lines by @bidnezz

Malec | Explicit Summary: Alec has always been supportive of Magnus, even when his estranged father asks for Magnus and his boyfriend to come visit him for the week in his mansion to reconnect. Or, he would be supportive if Magnus did have a boyfriend... but he doesn’t.      Only Asmodeus seems to be under the impression that Alec is his boyfriend, and Magnus doesn’t have the heart to correct him.      It would be fine, totally fine, if Alec wasn’t already 100% in love with his best friend. Tags: Human AU, Romance, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Pining, Lack of Communication, Rich Asmo Daddy, Best Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Sharing a Bed, First Time, Explicit Sexual Content

The Power Of Fiction by @jesseywoodhunter

Jimon | Teen Summary: Simon is fed up! With work, with people, with coworkers that have too many dogs. Most of all, he is fed up with his boss. Simon has been rebuffing Jace's flirtations at work for a while now. The guy is his boss after all and professionalism is a thing, not that Jace would know anything about that. Plus, it doesn't help that the guy is 100% annoying, 100% of the time.  Simon does have one escape: Writing Fanfiction. See, Simon is a pretty badass writer and being able to express his creativity and channel his frustrations into creating stories is what makes him happy.  Until it doesn't.  Until he finds that happiness elsewhere. Tags: Alternate Universe - Office, IT Technician Simon Lewis, Boss Jace Wayland, Jace Is Simon's Boss, Attempt at Humour, Enemies to Lovers, Kinda, More Like Mutual Annoyances To Lovers, Persistent Jace Wayland, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Misunderstandings, Simon Writes Fanfiction, Jace Finds Out, Mutual Pining, Sassy Simon Lewis, Sassy Jace Wayland, Emotionally Repressed, Questionable professionalism, Dumb Boys Get Smart, Fed Up Simon Lewis

Puppy Love by @foxymoley

Simon/Alec | General Summary: Simon broods broodily until he makes a little friend...then a bigger one!  Tags:High School AU, Puppy, Simon needs a hug, Jock Alec 

not the end of the world (the beginning of ours) by @sobsicles 

Malec | Mature Summary:The universe seems to seems to want Alec and Magnus to kiss upon meeting, and it isn't long before they want the same thing.Or, the one where Magnus is Alec's new roommate, and they're definitely falling in love. Tags: 5+1 things, Meet Cute, Roommates, sharing a bed, fluff, Almost kiss, Alec Lightwood Being a Gay Disaster, Magnus is having a great time

[theshinsun]

KNB for the fandom ask thing if you’d like to!!

(sorry this took forever, work was crazy this week ;;-;;)

send me a fandom and i’ll tell you…

the first character i ever fell in love with:

Kagami. (I know, right?) I started watching the show when I saw the way he was drawn, and came to really love his character throughout seasons 1 and 2. 

Side note: I really only fell in love with Aomine once I saw how he looked in the manga, and got more into his backstory in late season 2/early season 3. 

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

Idk I used to like, unironically like Himuro, and subscribe to canon’s endgame portrayal of him as a harmless nice guy (with no personality to speak of). Now I like him, but like... only in the sense that he can be used narratively, and to comedic effect. I also still like his play style, but I don’t like him like, as a person.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

I don’t really wanna bash any ship in this show, since the characters are loose (read: underdeveloped) enough for their actual ship dynamics to kinda be up for interpretation. 

The one example I can think of, though, for a ship I used to enjoy that now kinda bothers me, is KiKasa. I just don’t see much genuine affection between these two, and yeah I get that people show their love in different ways and all that, and there is definitely something there to work with if you read between the lines, but still... I dunno in canon it mostly seems one-sided at best and antagonistic at worst to me.

my ultimate favorite character™:

...C’mon, you know who it is. The number one spot has to go to Aomine, every time. Someday I’ll write a whole in-depth character study to explain why, but if you want the thesis statement, it’s this: Aomine is the most interesting, developed and multi-faceted character in the entire series, and you can fight me on that.

prettiest character:

If we’re talking manga, then Aomine, but since he looks like a raisin in the anime, I have to give the award to Midorima, with Mibuchi coming in a close second.

my most hated character:

Heh. Uh... funny story, it used to be Hanamiya, or possibly Haizaki, but now I think my hatred for Akashi has actually surpassed them both, because we’re meant to dislike them so at least they serve their most basic function. Whereas Akashi’s arc is so forced and anticlimactic it’s infuriating, and that’s before even getting into his personality.  

my OTP:

You know what, it’s still AoKaga. After six fucking years, they still have my heart. If I can bend the rules and slip in an OT3, I’d say AoKagaKuro, but otherwise, if I had to pick one ship, it’s those two idiots with their rival dynamic, interesting chemistry and essential narrative function of pushing each other to get better. 

my NOTP:

Like I said, I don’t want to bash any ship, but if I have to pick one that just grinds my gears, it’s AkaKuro. I just... don’t get it. I mean, I get it, I know why it exists, but I don’t get it, you know? 

...I dunno, if that’s your cup of tea, more power to ya, but I personally don’t ship it and I don’t think I’m ever going to. 

favorite episode:

Episode 37: I Look Forward To It. 

Ah, the onsen episode... I know this one by heart. 

Okay, I guess I should explain myself, because on the surface this looks like pure empty fan-service (on both sides), but this episode actually has some really great character and plot-related moments. It’s the part I always jump back into when I re-read the manga, because it’s where things really start to kick off. Seirin’s been beaten down and hopeless and finally have their chance at revenge, and they find out in this episode that they’re going to be getting it right away. There’s some really great Seirin and Touou bonding, some more evidence of Momoi being a data-gathering badass (though her actual appearance in this ep bombs the Bechdel test and kinda just rubs me the wrong way). 

My favorite part, though, is Aomine and Kuroko’s confrontation in the bath house. I’ve heard someone say once (and I agree) that this episode shows a whole team of naked men (and two naked women) and yet the scene with the most sexual tension has everyone fully clothed. It’s also just a super emotionally-charged moment, full of saying things without saying them, and Kagami showing up to declare Seirin’s intentions of victory is the cherry on top. I love this episode, I’ve probably watched it about a hundred times, but I’d gladly watch it a hundred more and that tells me it’s my favorite.  

saddest death:

Himuro’s character development. I mean uh... Kiyoshi’s leg breaking, yeah, that’s totally it. Actually, him leaving at the end of season 3 is really sad, we don’t get many third years retiring in this show but that hit just as hard.

favorite season:

Season 2. It’s where the show kicks into high gear, and the plot really gets rolling. It’s well-paced and exciting up until the middle of the Yousen game, and shows so much awesome development for the characters it introduced in the previous season. Everyone gets some new abilities, but my favorite reveals have to be Kuroko’s Vanishing Drive and Overflow (that moment when Izuki gets “erased” in the Seirin/Touou game lives in my head rent free), and of course the Zone. Season 1 is nice and season 3 has some really iconic moments, but season 2 is great from start to (almost) finish, and that makes it the strongest of the bunch.

least favorite season:

As I said, it has some iconic moments, but KNB’s weakest season by far is its finale. For one thing, it focuses almost entirely on a single game, and so that game drags on forever, beyond the realm of enjoyment until it becomes tedious to get through. Besides that, though, it goes out of its way to introduce plot threads and characters that don’t really go anywhere (Haizaki and Ogiwara come to mind...) the animation budget takes a noticeable beating, and so do the trajectories of two of Season 2′s most interesting antagonists (Himuro and Akashi). The main saving grace of this season is the Teiko arc, but, enjoyable as it is, under a critical eye it’s still a lengthy, pretty unnecessary detour that stops the main narrative dead in its tracks and all but kills the tension for the final game.  

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

Would it be gratuitous to say Akashi, at this point? It’s funny, because I never really liked him, and didn’t understand why so many people did, but I never had any strong opinions about him until recently, when I started looking at his character up close bc I’ve run out of reasons not to. Again, if you like him, that’s totally fine, but I just can’t agree.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

Uhh... Imayoshi, I think. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but I love him so much. He’s a shit, and he knows it, but he’s also smart, and funny, and kind of just a big dork? Severely underrated character, with a really unique look (I don’t care if he doesn’t have eyes except when he’s pissed, it’s good character design, you guys are just mean). 

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

Oh, Kuroko... sidelined in your own damn show. I’ve heard people argue that Kuroko is not the protagonist of KNB, and in fact it’s Kagami, and just... whether that’s true or not technically, it just makes me sad for Kuroko bc once again he’s being overlooked in favor of other, more flashy characters on screen. Maybe that’s the point, but still, I don’t see this guy get nearly enough attention considering his name is in the fucking title. Kuroko is every bit as valid and interesting as the other GoM, and the other members of Seirin, often even more so, and he deserves all the love.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

Pretty much anything with Haizaki, but because this is me we’re talking about... AoHai. I used to be interested purely from a hatefucking standpoint, but recently I’ve seen some art and short little ficlets, and... have started to maybe ship it... unironically? Um. Yeah, so that happened.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship:

KiKuro. I don’t think I’ve really talked about them before, I love their backstory and dynamic, and I tend to write them together off on the sidelines, but I’m not very passionate about this one. Maybe because it is often used as a background ship, maybe because they both work better with other people (side tangent: their dynamic instantly becomes more interesting the second you throw a third person in the mix... doesn’t matter who it is either, KiKuroKaga? AoKiKuro? KiKuroMomo? I could go on) Idk. It’s sweet, but I don’t often give this pairing a whole lot of thought on its own, maybe I ought to...

[stvlti]

Jason or kori for the character thing? 🥺🤲🏽

Give me a character and I’ll answer

i’m supposed to get going but fuck it i’m doing this in hard mode. Jason AND Kori, let’s go:

Jason Todd

do I like them:

Yes!!! v much ^_^ he’s the perfect son - i mean, it’s literally in his name (Bruce Wayne dni)

5 good qualities:

always fights for what’s right and helps people, even at the expense of his own wellbeing (see: helping Joker’s Daughter (RH/A); RHATO Bow of Ra’s quest in the country where he was killed -- yep, these are both examples connected to his Joker trauma, but he still pushed through it, what a champ)

ride or die, almost to a fault (he just keeps giving second chances to Bruce smh)

actually a huge dork who makes lots of nerdy references

killed a Nazi once. idk like he actually walks the walk you know. remember Titans!Jason said fuck the police

his body, i guess (this one goes out to all my thirsty mutuals. you get a Jason thigh! you get a Jason tit! you get a Jason ass! everybody gets a sexy Jason!)

3 bad qualities:

not being able to be honest about and attend to his own emotional needs

his choice in headgear (please no more mouth helmet 😭😭 no more dildo helmet 😭 and his helmet in GCG is questionable too...why)

inexplicably looking like a 30+ year old in every other series (ok this one’s not on him but come on DC, how am i supposed to look at that wrinkly ass mouth and accept that’s a young 20-something I’m looking at. Gotham Knights i’m looking at you) 

favourite episode/etc:

hm. ok gotta be honest, the UTRH storyline is still my favourite Jason story

otp:

i’m a multi-shipper when it comes to most DC characters and Jason is no exception. i like JayRoy but i like JayRoman, SladeJay and JayRose just as much. (maybe even more, depends on who’s writing the fic.) they’re just spicier options you know 👀 and JoeyJay’s probably my favourite rarepair.

brotp:

man idek. Dick & Jason? i guess? they’re actually brothers tho. 

there’s also Jason & Steph for mlm/wlw solidarity which I think is a godtier concept

ot3:

i guess i’m obligated to say Joyfire (Jason/Roy/Kori)?

I also like the idea of Jason, Roy, and Dick in a trio. Roy dating both Robins and giving Bruce an aneurysm asldfkjasldfs

notp:

Joker/Jason, no thank you

best quote:

“It's a load of bull to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close.”

from RHATO (2011) #6

head canon:

you know why i highlighted that quote in particular, right? yeah give me an aro and/or ace-spec Jason any day 

Koriand’r

do I like them:

Yeah! she used to rank middle to lower middle on my list of favourite Titans because I didn’t really vibe with her portrayal in the 2003 TT cartoon (which was my first exposure to her character), but damn Titansverse Kori is hot. her NTT version is also pretty cool. 

5 good qualities:

v in touch with her emotions; when she loves she loves fiercely!

i like that she’s not a goody two shoes and is willing to get lethal when the situation calls for it. (i guess this one’s subjective tho)

being the bigger woman and taking on her diplomatic responsibilities even when she could’ve just stayed hiding on Earth

addendum to that - her taking on these duties even though she is still coping with the trauma of being enslaved for all her childhood... this really speaks volumes about her resilience. she is so strong, not just physically / in her powers but also mentally.

she’s hot, duh (and i’m not referring to her solar-related powers here alsdkjasd)

3 bad qualities:

honestly i don’t know her well enough to list her bad qualities. let me get back to you when i’m done with the NTT comics 😅 

favourite episode/etc:

the Starfire/Raven body swap episode in the 2003 cartoon’s pretty cool

otp:

DonnaKory!! (and they were roommates hhrgh)

brotp:

i like Kori’s friendship with Gar quite a lot! 

the few non-sexually charged moments Kori had with Jason in N52 was cool too. her knowing Jason through Dick at first and being a pseudo big sister to Jay ^_^

ot3:

Joyfire’s good :) 

notp:

i don’t think i have one for Kori?

best quote:

I don’t really have a fave quote yet, again I’ll get back to you when I’m done with NTT 😅

head canon:

she’s pan. also she’s poly. (but honestly isn’t this canon though? *thinks about the marriage arc*)

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @queenemori (she/hers)

what are you working on right now? I recently started posting We Don’t Need To Say It, which is a multi-chap Memori actor AU. It’s a slow burn, don’t ask me how I looked at Murphy and Emori and decided to write a slow burn, but it’s what’s happening. I really do mean slow, the chapter I just finished writing is only the beginning of the angst, you’ve been warned. My beta tells me she hates me at least once a chapter if you want an idea of how angsty this is gonna get. I started out writing for Bellarke in this fandom, and I’ll be going back to that later this summer. Anyone who follows me knows I’m obsessed with Emma, and I have an Emma Bellarke AU that’s in the outlining stages currently. I’m hoping to work on it more once I get further into this Memori fic.

what’s something you’d like to write one day? The fic I’m working on now is actually the thing that I was like, “I want to write that one day”. I love actor AUs and I wanted to write one for some fandom at some point, and in January I got this idea, but I was working on other stuff, so I was like, well maybe I’ll write it this summer. And now I am! Though I would like to write something featuring dad!Murphy in the near future.

what is the fanwork you’re most proud of? It’s actually one I haven’t published yet! I participated in Bellarke Big Bang this year, and I wrote a soulmates rom-com fic. I’m excited to share it soon once we get the go-ahead, and the artist I got to work with @clarkeindra has made some amazing art to go with it! For ones that you can actually go physically read, I will say You’re Already Breaking My Heart. It was my first fic I wrote for t100 fandom, and also the first thing I wrote after a really long time of just not writing anything, so I’m proud of it for getting me back into something I love and I’m glad that other people seemed to enjoy it. It’s what got me more into this fandom in the first place and how I made some of my first friends.

why did you first start writing fic? I got more into writing around the time I started college, though I always used to write little stories. There were a few times I almost wrote fanfic before then, like the time I almost wrote a Glee fic in ninth grade, or the time my junior year of high school where I almost wrote a Downton Abbey fic where Sybil and Branson were pen pals while Sybil was on her nurses course in season 2. But the summer before college, I wanted to write, and didn’t have any ideas for characters, but I had just read a really amazing next-gen Harry Potter fic called “Potters, Weasleys, and Misguided Snogging” which made me ship Scorpius Malfoy and Lily Luna Potter, or Scorily. So I started writing a couple stories specifically for that ship, back when I still used FF.net. It was just a one-shot and a multi-chap I never finished, but it was fun to interact with people and get to hear what they liked about the story and that they hoped I continued it, so I guess I caught the fic writing bug then.

what frustrates you most about fic writing? I wish people would leave more kudos. I’ve had this discussion with some friends before where they’re like, “What makes you leave kudos on a fic?” and I leave kudos on most fics I read, so it’s very interesting to hear people say they don’t do that as liberally as I do. If I made it to the end of the story, I’m probably going to leave kudos. The writer kept me engaged long enough to get to the end, which I think is worthy of showing some sort of support, even if I don’t leave a comment. Though I am trying to get better about leaving comments more often. Kudos are a very low stakes way to show you like a story that someone put out. Afraid to comment, but want to show the author you enjoyed reading? Leave kudos. A couple of stories I have out have gotten a fair amount of hits, but the amount of kudos in comparison to the amount of people who have probably opened it is a little disheartening. I’ve also heard people say they don’t want to leave kudos on stories that have been out for a while, but I love to get kudos on my old work! It’s fun to see that people are still reading things I put out in like 2017 or even just last year. Kudos brighten my day just as much as comments do sometimes, especially when I know not everyone feels comfortable leaving a comment!

what are your top five songs right now? The answer to this is 98% always related to what I’m listening to when I’m working on a certain writing project lol.

Sweet by Cigarettes After Sex Heartbreak Weather by Niall Horan I Will Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie Bye-Bye Darling by Borns Fire for You by Cannons

what are your inspirations? Red, White & Royal Blue, since I read that recently. It honestly just made me want to write a movie, and I kind of hope that whatever TV or movie adaptation it ends up getting in the future I’m able to work on. I want to be a screenwriter, so I tend to get inspired by TV a lot. The Mindy Project, Insecure, and even Never Have I Ever are big inspirations for me. Or more like, anything that Issa Rae or Mindy Kaling are involved in, to be honest. I write a lot of modern AUs, so just anything that shows good relationship progression or has fun with mundane, everyday situations.

what first attracted you to Memori? what attracts you now? So fun fact, I stopped watching the show for a bit. I binged basically two seasons in a weekend while visiting a friend in like 2017, and I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t obsessed? Then I started s3 and a bunch of characters were getting on my nerves so I put it down for a while. Then I was on Tumblr at the beginning of 2019 and saw a gifset from 3x05 of Murphy and Emori kissing and I was kind of like, “That guy’s still alive? And he has a girlfriend?” So I started watching again, legit only because I was shook Murphy had survived lol. So the thing that first attracted me to them was just the fact that they were a couple at all, I guess. I’d say now that I’ve rewatched the show and seen their relationship develop, I love that these are two people who have always had to fend for themselves and kind of had that “me against the world” mentality. And then they find this other person that cares about them and wants to take care of them, and life becomes a lot less lonely. Also now we get to see their relationship after years together, so they’re very domestic, which adds this lovely sense of normalcy on this post-apocalyptic sci-fi show that I absolutely adore. Their interactions especially in s7 just read as a married couple who are very comfortable with each other, but still incredibly devoted to one another and in love.

Besides Memori, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? For ships, I also really like Bellarke. When I was more casually watching the first time around, I didn’t have much of an opinion on them/didn’t really ship it until season 4, but ever since then I’ve been on board. It’s very clear I’m a huge Memori person, but I do ship Murven, though mainly in AU settings. And Memoraven are my OT3!! My other fave character is Bellamy. And I feel like Gabriel has also quickly become a favorite for me. It’s definitely a mixture of his confused, but obsessed with science vibe on the show and the fact that he has been very fun to write in my actor AU when he makes appearances every so often.

why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? Ever since I’ve been home due to the pandemic, writing has kind of been my escape. Weirdly enough, I’ve written so much (both fic and some real life stuff), even though I’m still working and everything like that. And when the BLM movement was getting a lot of traction specifically in our fandom spaces, I was immediately skeptical of people’s intentions because as a Black person in America specifically I’ve seen this happen before where all the attention is on this issue for a couple weeks and then everyone goes back to posting what they normally post about. And I guess this time things are a bit different, but the thing that began to frustrate me was seeing people shame others for saying they were going to watch the next episode of the show or for working on their fanfic. Fandom spaces have been my biggest escape from the news since March and while I was glad people were focusing on this sort of thing, I kind of hated the way people were making it out to be like this was a new issue when in reality it’s just my life. When I close my laptop and go out into the world, I’m still Black. I had considered opening my ask box up for prompts in exchange for someone donating to a bail fund or something like that, especially since I had just reached a follower milestone, but when I saw that Sam was organizing this and it was going to be an ongoing thing rather than just for a certain period of time, it was heartening to see someone realizing that this isn’t something we can just stop talking about even when the media moves on. The structure of these prompts makes it so that a person has to do a bit of research on BLM and educate themselves or confront the issue in a way they might not have had to before. And it gives me a chance to write things like my fluffy Memori wedding fic ! It’s a way to have my little fandom escape and also stay aware of what’s going on in the real world.

what’s your writing process like (esp for prompts, chopped!, etc)? I LOVE outlines! The Virgo in me loves to talk about my fic outlining process lol. With some short one-shots, I tend to just go in with a sentence or concept that I write at the top of the document and just write and see where that takes me. I also put at the top of the document all the things I want to tag it as when I go to post to AO3, so I don’t have to spend too much time thinking of those when it’s time to post. With multi-chap fics, I first make an ideas dump document which is just me typing out a bunch of thoughts, things like who’s in it, the premise, stuff like that. My actor AU has three preliminary documents: My ideas dump, the actual outline, and then the outline for what happens on each season of the TV show the characters are all on, since I reference those plot points a lot. For things like Chopped or prompts I receive, I do a mixture of the outline/ideas dump in one document. I put at the top all the information I received (so with prompts I tend to just copy/paste the ask from my inbox, and for Chopped the different tropes and theme), then think about what characters I want to use if it wasn’t specified, then kind of do bullet points on what happens in the story. These have all been really helpful in terms of keeping me on track, but I make sure to remind myself that things can change as I write and take a different direction than I expected. So my outlines are constantly changing, but the general idea is already written somewhere so I don’t get too stuck.

what are your thoughts on dad!murphy? The concept of dad!Murphy has really been living rent-free in my brain since before the beginning of season 7. I just kind of love the idea of Murphy (who is a character at first glance I feel like people don’t picture as much of a father figure) kind of falling into being a dad in an unexpected way, and then realizing how much he loves it. It’s just such a sweet thought, and I talked about it so much with some of my friends, that we started a Dad!Murphy Enthusiast Club server on discord (we’re always accepting members so DM me if you’d like to join us!). We just kind of talk about our dad!Murphy headcanons, share fics featuring dad!Murphy, and then get excited when people make new dad!Murphy content. It’s a fun time and though I am a very large Memori, I’m a multi-shipper at heart, and Murphy is one of those characters that I find easy to ship with a lot of people, so we love dad!Murphy in all forms!

what are some things you’d like to recommend?  This is a mix of Bellarke and Memori stuff, since that’s what I mainly read.

Literally everything @mobi-on-a-mission writes, but if I must get specific, then Revive and The Cockroach. 

Almost Paradise (We’re Knocking On Heaven’s Door)  by @nakey-cats-take-bathsss , 13 hours by Kats_watermelon, feat. by Debate, and of course, my comfort fic so i sing a song of love  by twilightstargazer.

The best place to find @queenemori is here on Tumblr. You can find her ao3 here. Request a fic written by her via @bellarkefic-for-blm.

[marta-bee]

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Sherlockians, I want to talk about Mary. Or not about Mary the character, because enough words have been spent on that topic and I’m nowhere near brave enough to wade into that one on a snowy Sunday afternoon, but rather on the way we as readers can (perhaps should) relate to her. At some level what follows is about this Tumblr post, where an anonymous commenter asked for “any fics where Mary’s not the bad guy” and noticed that a lot of the evil-Mary fanworks “gets a bit misogynistic in my opinion”; but I’m also using that as something of a springboard, and don’t mean this as a direct reply to that post. (Which is why I’m not replying in a reblog; please everyone go check out that post and comment on it as well.)

Anyway, let me start with two basic points that I hope are pretty noncontroversial.

Mary is an antagonist, at least some of the time.

Mary has at least some aspects of her character that are bad-making (more on what I mean by “bad-making” in a moment), or at least would be if she were a real person.

The devil’s in the details here, as it is with most things worth talking about, so let’s unpack that a bit.

(Long post is long, and so continued under the cut.)

When I say someone’s an antagonist, I’m not really making a value-judgment. I’m purposefully avoiding that word, “villain,” which calls to mind “villainous” as a description of their personality and character. An antagonist is just someone who plot-wise stands in opposition to the character. They’re wrapped up in the conflict our hero has to overcome.

Let’s take a pretty straightforward (and unrelated to our fandom, so hopefully less emotionally charged for a lot of us) example: the first “Hunger Games” book. Katniss is thrown into a gladiatorial fight to the death with twenty-three other teenagers. With the exception of Rue and (later in the games) Peeta, everyone else is an antagonist in relation to Katniss. She has to hope for their death and be prepared to kill them because their continued existence stands in the way of her surviving the games. Most are reduced to numbers with s knowing precious little about them – certainly not enough to think they deserve death. But they’re still antagonists because they’re obstacles the hero has to work past if she hopes to succeed.

Or take Draco Malfoy, in the early Harry Potter books. He’s a thoroughly unpleasant boy, spoiled and sniveling certainly, but I’d be hard-pressed to call him bad. His biggest defining characteristic is he stands up and tries to fight Harry; but often as not this comes down to inter-house squabbling and the only reason he and Harry are on opposite sides is how they were sorted. As we learn, given the way he was raised and the political situation he was raised in, it’s actually pretty admirable how on the periphery of the Death Eaters he stays. But he’s still the antagonist, he’s the one Harry has to outsmart or outperform or otherwise get around.

It's only natural we cheer when the antagonists fail. We’re primed to identify with the protagonist, after all, and their failure means the protagonist gets to win. Even if objectively know the antagonist doesn’t actually deserve to fail, well. That’s just kind of how stories work.

Getting back to Sherlock, I said it’s pretty noncontroversial that Mary’s an antagonist. So when I say that I don’t mean she’s evil, or even that she’s only an antagonist. But the woman shoots our star character in the chest. It’s her secrets and her very presence that drive Sherlock into exile (and drive Sherlock and John apart) for a second time, undoing whatever victory  Sherlock achieved when he defeated Moriarty’s web. She’s certainly a problem to be addressed and worked past in HLV. In terms of canon and parallels with the Doyle stories, there’s quite a lot about her actions (particular in Leinster Gardens) that all but screams “Sebastian Moran.” Ergo: antagonist.

There’s also a quieter, more ordinary sense that I suspect will be more controversial but is worth talking about anyway. Like a lot of Sherlockians and Johnlockers, I’m a big fan of making space for John/Mary/Sherlock in happy OT3 land. I think Sherlock and John at least want some version of that in canon; maybe not romantically, but they like to imagine their being room in their lives for these different relationships to not be in conflict. But in BBC-canon that hope’s not really borne out. This deserves a full meta on its own, but briefly: when Mary observes that neither she nor Sherlock were “the first” (talking about Sholto), she situates them in competition for the same position in John’s life, rather than in distinct, complementary ones (which an OT3 seems to require); and when Sherlock notes at the end of TSOT episode that “we can’t all three dance,” he seems to come to a similar conclusion. I do love me some good Johnlockary fic, but I don’t think this is where the show was heading

At a more basic level, I’d actually argue it almost has to be this way with these three- at least if we’re to hold on to John and Sherlock being “the two of us against the world.” In the 1800s men and women had such different roles in society, a man would do very different things and relate in very different ways to his close (male) friends than he would to his (female) wife. So Watson could run off with Holmes and have adventure, then return home to Mary for the peaceful, even loving family life, without one really being in tension with the other. But by the twenty-first century those spheres aren’t nearly so different. Even if you don’t imagine them as lovers, it’s hard not to imagine a self-respecting woman today saying as Mary did in TAB, “I don’t mind you going; I mind you leaving me behind.” One of the biggest challenges for a modern Holmes adaptation (or indeed, for a modern consumer of the original Doyle stories) is how to balance Holmes’ and Watson’s private “intimate partnership” – however we understand that term – against (John) Watson’s marriage to Mary with all we moderns expect of that relationship in terms of emotional fidelity, equal partnership, shared future, etc.

Put more simply: Mary should throw a monkey-wrench in the mix; she should be something that must be accounted for and whose presence should affect how Holmes and Watson can interact. Not to mean her presence is incompatible with Holmes and Watson’s close and exclusive relationship, but at a minimum she’s a factor in need of an explanation. She can’t help but be antagonistic, at least to some interpretations of Holmes’s and (John) Watson’s relationship.

As I said, with antagonists, it’s only natural to cheer for the protagonists, which almost inevitably means rooting for the protagonists’ failure. At least we root for them being de-antagonized, converted into some other relationship to the main character. But if you’ve spent any time on AO3, you’ve probably come across fanfic focusing on the antagonists (*cough* Loki *cough**cough* Drary *hacks up a longue* Silm-fandom-this-one’s-for-you *cough*’s). We can be a thirsty bunch when it comes to our antagonists, for characters we by all rights should be primed to hate. And even at the level of primary-canon, one of the biggest ways the primary creator shows their emotional growth is by realizing their antagonists aren’t truly their enemy. Like most readers I had a tear in my eye as Cato suffered through the night, begging for death; and certainly I would have been outraged if Harry hadn’t saved Draco from the Room of Requirements in “Deathly Hallows.” Gollum’s treachery is explained and he is given his own completion; Darth Vader is spared by Luke and allowed to look on his son with his own eyes; and the Klingons, Cardassians, and Borg are given their own sort of redemption in Worf, Garak, and Seven of Nine.

All of which is to say: it’s understandable, even natural, why people would have a hard time rooting for the antagonist, but there’s a long history of fandom peoples steering into the curve on this one. So it’s also understandable, even natural, that people want to hear stories with them at the center, both new stories about them and also versions of the original canon narrative that don’t need them to wear the black hat all the time. Some folks want Mary, Sherlock, and John to all go crime-solving together. I personally think there’s sometimes a danger of turning an antagonist – especially one who is at least morally gray (and I promise we’re getting there) like Mary is – into a protagonist without wrestling with what turned them into an antagonist in the first place; so if you want to bring Mary back to the side of John and Sherlock you need to grapple with what pushed them into opposing roles in the first place, or else risk your plot feeling “cheap” and unearned. (In fairness, this warning could as easily be directed to Mofftiss as anyone in fandom!)

But at an absolute minimum, I think it’s pretty obvious that lots of fans want to imagine the antagonists as at the heart of their own stories, and lots of fan-creators have done a really good job of providing those stories. Just as a lot of fans will almost instinctively be drawn to hate them, well, if you want to go a different path you’re in good company.

Enough about protagonist/antagonist, which as I said is more about the role the character fills in the story than about their morality or character. This, for me at least, is where it really gets interesting.

Before we get started, though, I know a lot of people struggle against this idea of morality when it applies to fictional characters and fictional stories. They’ll point out (rightly) that just because they enjoy a non-con PWP doesn’t mean they approve of rape in real life; that their reading preferences come from a different place entirely than their moral judgments. But at the same time, a lot of people (equally rightly) struggle to enjoy stories that glorify things we don’t consider worth glorifying. It’s one thing to enjoy a story about Draco rejecting the Death Eaters, returning to mainstream wizarding society and joining the Aurors; quite another to imagine him dating Harry while he’s still walking around calling Hermione a mudblood.

Or getting back to the Sherlock fandom, a lot of people are most comfortable with stories with Mary’s the antagonist because she’s got a character history and just personality traits where, if we met someone like her in real-life, we’d consider her morally bad. Or on the flip slide, those fans who want a not-evil!Mary in their stories often like to imagine her as the kind of person we’d describe as good or redeemed or some such thing, if she were an actual person. Mary’s morality, at least the morality of a similar person operating in the real world (because --speaking as a former philosophy Ph.D. student who taught philosophical ethics for years-- let me tell you: talking about the morality of fictional constructs gets very messy, very quickly), seems to matter to a great number of fans. So let’s talk about that.

I said above I thought most people would agree, Mary had parts o her character that were bad-making. What I mean is there are aspects about her that tend to make a person bad, unless they’re explained by some other factor. I’ve got in mind something vaguely similar to W.D. Ross’s theories of prima facie duties (if any of you studied this in your Ethics 101 courses- you would have in mine). Basically, the idea is we have all these duties that apply to us, but they can seem to conflict, and we may decide (rightly) in any given situation that one or the other is the more important one for us to follow. The classic example is the duty to keep our promises and prevent suffering when we can. You can imagine situations where you can’t do both- for instance, if I promised to meet you for lunch and on my way to the restaurant came across a man who fell into a ditch and twisted his ankle along a deserted road, where it’s unlikely someone else would come upon him. If I stop to help him I’ll miss our lunch date and break my promise; and while I still have a duty to keep that promise, I think most people would agree it’s more important to stop and help the person. We’d all be hard-pressed to say if I helped the stranger, I’d failed at my duty to keep a promise; at least not in the same way as if I could have kept that promise and just chose not to. That’s Ross’s idea of prima facie duties: that we have all these general obligations on us, but which actually should govern our choices in any particular instance comes down to the details of that situation.

I think there’s something similar going on with Mary’s character. This is actually a good way to evaluate most of us morally, in my opinion, but it’s doubly useful when it comes to Mary because she’s simultaneously got so many troubling aspects about her that just demand some sort of justification, but at the same time, because Mofftiss really screwed the pooch here, we don’t really have the information we need to give a definitive answer. So it’s useful to say: here’s something about Mary that needs accounting for, even if we don’t have enough information to evaluate her definitively.

Let’s take Magnussen’s biggest accusation against her: “All those wet jobs.” Mary killed people on her own prerogative, and she left behind a lot of grieving relatives who would love their revenge – both a testament to the suffering she caused, and a real risk for John, the baby that will become Rosie, and everyone else in their orbit. But if that’s all there is to it, it’s not wholly dissimilar to John’s decision to shoot the cabbie. It may have been different, but we don’t have the information to know that; it feels different, but most because John was saving Sherlock (who we know), whereas if Mary was saving anyone, it’s not someone we the viewer have an emotional connection to. Still, to borrow a phrase from Ricky Ricardo, Mary, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.

Or to take an even more serious charge, Mary shot Sherlock, was prepared to make John watch him die all over again and force him to go through that grief that so nearly destroyed him the first time around. Unforgiveable, yeah? The best shot at justification here is that Mary had somehow got herself cornered, so that shooting Sherlock was somehow an attempt to escape an even worse sitation. This really demands a full meta to dive in to, but very briefly, I think Mary never intended to kill Magnussen and was instead trying to intimidate him; meaning she couldn’t let Sherlock undercut her power, but equally she couldn’t leave Magnussen with the impression that John and Sherlock were somehow her partners; so shooting Sherlock was the best way to keep him from becoming a full target of Magnussen’s. If that’s the case, the whole showdown in Magnussen’s office becomes markedly similar to Sherlock’s decision to “kill” himself on the roof of St. Bart’s. Mary is willing to cause a lot of pain to avoid even greater destruction, but at the same time, the whole situation that compels this choice was fed by her limiting her options when she decided to intimidate Magnussen. Similar to how Sherlock, once he’s on the roof of St. Bart’s, has no better option than to fake his own death and leave John to grieve; but how he does have some degree of culpability for engaging Moriarty in the first place and egging on Moriarty’s destructive obsession with Sherlock.

My point isn’t that any of these parallels really hold up to scrutiny. Sherlock risked his own life in TRF (and John’s pain) while Mary was prepared to kill another. John was ready to kill “a bad man” to save our hero while whatever murders Mary committed were against unnamed people in undetermined circumstances, and narratively certainly don’t pull at or heart strings in the same way John’s heroic killing of Jefferson Hope does. But the point is, with Mary, so much of what a lot of fans object to involve these vaguely-told stories where whatever factors would excuse her actions just are left untold. What we can say definitively is “all those wet jobs” require justification. Mary’s willingness to shoot Sherlock require justification. These things are prima facie wrong (or bad-making, the kind of things that tend to make something bad in the absence of other explanations) and demand an accounting for.

I’m focusing on Mary’s violence more than what a lot of fans have identified as her abuse toward John. Partly, this is personal: I have my own experience with abusive relationships and don’t entirely trust my ability to parse similar dynamics in fiction; certainly I don’t want to tie that part of my past to public debate, and I’ve not worked out how to talk about Mary and John without over-personalizing it. But I will say, there’s a lot to be considered on that front as well, and people interested in thinking through Mary’s im/morality shouldn’t ignore it. As a starting point, inevity-johnlocked pointed to several of her old posts making the case that Mary was an emotional abuser. silentauroriamthereal’s fic “Rebuilding Rome” looks at a lot of these issues in a really powerful way if you’re looking for an exploration in fic form. I’ll just add, even if I thought Mary was justified and so “good” in some sense (and my internal compass is so screwed up, I’m not really qualified to tell at this point), the way she chose or had to lie about her past to John seems a particularly bad match for a man like him with his trust issues. So even if you think Mary is good, there’s a lot of justification for saying she’s still not good for him.

So what does this mean for reading fics involving a kinder, gentler Mary? First, I’d emphasize there’s no shame or judgment in reading what you want. Much as writers may choose to write about all kinds of things they’d disapprove of in real life, readers have that same freedom to scratch whatever readerly itch they like, with no need to defend that to anyone else. Kinktomato and all that. On the other hand, I know I personally enjoy stories more when I can lose myself in them, and – again, for me personally – it helps me do that if my values are at least compatible with what’s presented as praiseworthy. I don’t have to guard myself as I enter the story. So it’s definitely worth thinking about how comfortable you are with fiction that vilifies Mary or pardons her or something in between, because it may make it easier or harder to really immerse yourself in a fic.

Then again, maybe that’s just me. I am a rather persnickety chickadee with things like this.

I do know that many fandoms have an unfortunate history of coming down hard on the female competition to a popular slash ship. While I’m reluctant to apply “should”s to our consumption of fiction, I think there are genuine feminist concerns here. Not with thinking Mary’s bad/evil or even hating her, but hating her for the wrong. For me, it helps to imagine another character doing something similar, and think about why I would react differently if it was someone other than Mary doing the deed. Also to be aware of the details canon doesn’t answer decisively or answers different ways in different episodes.

(More than most characters, Mary does suffer from a really inconsistent characterization. I’ve often wondered if everything since HLV was Sherlock or whomever trying on different frameworks for her personality/psychology/what-have-you, to see which could account for what she did to him. First she’s a badass villain, then a Mycroftian operative, then a martyr, then a worldclass manipulator, and finally a sanctifier whose own personality was irrelevant, giving her imprimatur from beyond the grave. And that’s without throwing veteran/maths genius and happy homemaker into the bunch. Maybe the showrunners simply weren’t sure what they wanted to do with her. Whatever the situation, I do think we need to be careful about taking any one canon detail at face-value, especially with her.)

I’m also a little discomfited by this trend I’ve seen among Johnlockers, to write Mary as a monster as a way to lessen John’s pain at her… betrayal, I guess? Or just the loss at her death? I remember when a lot of fanfic authors back between S3 & S4 wrote about the baby being fake; or even after S4, as part of John’s “alibi” rather than a true detail. Or even just deciding the baby was David’s or some such. By itself, that could have been really interesting, but what I saw so often happening was people used that as a way to remove the complication of the baby. Or to let John skip the grief he’d feel if the baby wasn’t born healthy- for instance, if it didn’t exist, or died, or if Mary was killed or ran while she was still pregnant. The basic theme was if Mary didn’t deserve John’s pain, John didn’t have to hurt for so long or as deeply.

Complicated grief is a thing, though, and for a lot of people, grieving the loss of someone who hurt them and aren’t “worth” their pain seem to suffer worse and for longer, particularly if they also have to grieve the lost opportunity to make their peace with the person while they were alive. This doesn’t mean fanfic writers or readers have to give us some kind of sanitized Mary; certainly she has the potential to be a true east wind of a character. But I do think there’s a tendency to prefer a more evil Mary because this lets the story move past her or spares John some suffering often won’t feel true. It also runs the risk of disrespecting the suffering of people impacted by these kinds of losses. So while I think this kind of characterization can be really interesting and compelling, it also takes a lot of skill and thoughtfulness to do it well. Here be dragons.

For me, though, the point isn’t to be proscriptive, to say Sherlock fic writers and readers need to limit themselves to a particular read of Mary. Her character has such potential to give birth to such a wide range of fic. As a viewer of the show I wish the writers and other creators had given us more of a sense of who she was because I think it really contributes to my frustration with not understanding the story they were trying to tell. But as a (kinda-sorta-someday-once-again) fic writer, it’s a true embarrassment of riches. The trick, for those of us concerned about Mary’s ethics were she a real person, is to be aware of the dangers of reading her character certain ways and to be cautious around them if we want to play with those interpretations.

[jamesholden]

The Expanse. ;)

favorite male character: *stares into the camera like i’m on the office* it’s holden. it’s holden, okay? we all know it’s so funny shan loooooves holden he helped her get through trauma or some shit whatever it’s holden he’s just so good and imperfect and tries to be better and find the good in things because he believes people can be GOOD and idk i find comfort in a character like me like that anyway fuck it’s holden

favorite female character: Naomiiiiii she’s beauty, she’s grace, she engineers in SPACE she’s just so amazing and her arc is SUPERB and her growth and like REOPENING HERSELF TO LOVE AND LOSS AFTER SO MUCH PAIN like i love her ok

least favorite character: mmmmmmm would have to be Marco. Like he’s a great character you know he’s an EXCELLENT CASE STUDY IN CHARISMATIC LEADERS AND AN ABSOLUTE MIRROR OF A MORE SELFISH HOLDEN (i’ll save THAT meta for when I finally write it) but he’s the FUCKING WORST

prettiest character: good god all of them????? this whole ass cast oh my god Cara and I talked about it they’re all so pretty but I will say Dom because sometimes she takes my breath away

funniest character: fuck I’ve not thought about this because there’s so much different types of humor for each character and they all hit different like sometime’s it’s Holden’s Literal Face or the way someone curses but I’ll just go with Amos cause he gets like the most fun one liners i guess

favorite season: BOY uh i’m hard pressed between 3 and 4 (because 4 is where we FINALLY get the Roci crew closeness from books 1-3 and there’s so many great character moments) but like I’ll go with 3 because I think the writing is stronger overall

favorite episode: 4x8 THE ONE EYED MAN THE ONE EYED MAN so much goodness ALL AROUND

favorite romantic ship: mmmmmmmm whtcha say..... nolden. like my two OT3s are close behind but ever since that moment in the first book when Holden said “if Naomi said it, you could take it to the bank” (or the moment he was embarrassed that she was looking at him in his nasty sweaty shirt and why am i embarrassed IT’S JUST NAOMI i just loved them, before I even saw who played them i loved them

favorite family ship: mmmmmmmmmmm the roci crew always the roci crew

favorite friend ship: i romantic ship them too as you know but Drummer x Naomi is just such a good, to know she has someone who understands her background in her life who she can let loose with like she deals with all these annoying boys good for her you know

worst ship: okay here’s the thing, there’s no WORST ship in my mind, okay? there really isn’t. there’s just ships i don’t ship and there’s a few of them and tbh i care about people who ship those things and don’t want to shit talk what they like. so sorry about the non-answer i guess but if you know me i’m sure you’ll know what ships i don’t jive wiTH WAIT ACTUALLY I LIED IT’S MARCO/NAOMI WORST SHIP -100000000000/10 HE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER NAD LITERALLY GASLIT AND ABUSED HER AND STOLE HER KID WORST SHIP EVER

[consumptive-sphinx]

as a fellow tom haan liker... meat man for the ask meme?

How I feel about this character: you know the thing where you look at a background character who gets like one line and you go “this one is my favorite. i will build him a backstory entirely out of my own feelings, and also legos. nobody else appears to be in this city but that’s okay because it means i own the city.”? that’s me. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: uh. nobody? the abstract concept of the eucharist, if i’m in a weird mood? you can probably do something interesting with the ep30 statement giver; see the slash ship bullet point

My unpopular opinion about this character: the tom haan fandom is not large enough to have popular or unpopular opinions 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: honestly i’m pretty happy with the canon we got? episode 30 was beautiful and episode 72 gave us the canonical fact that he is annoyed when people have bad takes about his Eucharist opinions, which is just the most charming characterization detail. obviously more screentime would have been great and i think there’s a lot to explore especially post-Feast (see the last bullet point) but i am happy to build an entire city out of legos by myself. 

My het ship: ??? no.

My slash ship: i am willing to be sold on tom/the statement giver from ep30. i’m weak for mercy killings what can i say. 

My OTP: tom/complicated feelings about the role he has found himself playing. you cannot stop slaughter by closing the door is not a line from a man whose feelings about being an avatar are uncomplicated. 

My OT3: tom/complicated feelings about the role he has found himself playing/opinions about religion 

My crossover ship: idk about ship but i think he would have fun arguing with literally any character from hannibal 

My kink: idk? objectification is flesh themes i guess. You Are A Body And Your Purpose Is To Be Consumed. 

A headcanon fact: so if you look at the plot of episode 30, and you look at tom’s life, you may notice that the pit of meat that the statement giver finds in the slaughterhouse sounds an awful lot like the description we get of the flesh ritual, and you may also notice that only when he kills tom is he able to leave the factory, and from this i have come to the conclusion that the statement giver wandering around the abattoir is a metaphor for tom’s life. this implies some fascinating things, especially given that the statement giver signed up for his job initially, but was now trying to leave. 

[goldenworldsabound]

Okay so this is really random but I actually really love Star Trek (especially the original series) and I know you self ship with Spock so is it okay if I please ask for the background and some details about your insert perhaps? 👉🏻👈🏻🥺

cracks knuckles I LOVE TALKING ABOUT SPOCK AND TREK AND ALSO YES TOS IS SO GREAT!!!!!

I’mma shove the whole thing under a cut cause I wanna go off fhdkjads

Spock was my first fave ever (and he’ll always be very special for it) over a decade ago when I was in high school. I wrote tons and tons of pages about us. And I never told a soul until I got back into self shipping 3 years back or so. The original idea I had for my interest (which is not the current one) was that like. I got teleported into the future randomly (except it wasn’t random and I covered this in a zany time travel plot type episode) and turns out Trek Real. So Kirk and Bones and Spock were all trying to help me adjust and stuff! Kirk and Bones were familial figures for me at that time and Spock 🥺 Spock was like. Very uncertain how to deal with me BUT he respected how much I wanted to adjust to being thrown a thousand years into the future and he taught me SCIENCE things and we fell in LOVE. There were so many plots and twists and turns of this relationship but we bonded and got married and it was great 🥺❤💕 I could go on forever about the various episodes for this SI but I will hold off for the moment because that’s the old SI. The old tag was #love is fascinating hehe

My NEW SI is a childhood friends to lovers with Spock 👀 I have some fics I’ll link at the end actually BUT her family lived on a variety of planets throughout her childhood. One of those was Vulcan! Where she met young Spock who was still learning how to be more Vulcan than human. They became close friends for the time that she lived on Vulcan and accidentally brushed minds enough together that they created a small, weak bond. They didn’t know this!!! they were just two lonely kids messing around you know. She also defended him against bullies once which while it made him happy ultimately made things a little worse for him but ): what can you do

But then her family leaves (and Spock doesn’t go see her off because he knew he’d cry and his dad would be Disappointed ™) and it’s really sad ): eventually her family gets into some sort of space accident which she alone survives by being cryogenically frozen. It takes a few years before she’s found, so the age gap between them has widened since she just. Didn’t age as she’s cryogenically frozen. This means that by the time she’s doing Starfleet training, Spock is already done.

Eventually the Enterprise is being set up for it’s 5 year mission and she’s chosen to be a Science Officer onboard to serve under Spock. She’s been through a lot of shit and doesn’t remember why he seems familiar at first (also he’s grown up and is a lot more Vulcan and a lot less human), but upon getting near him the bond kind of tingles at the back of her mind and she’s like OH!!!! OH IT’S YOU!!!! Spock of course does remember her but he’s like we don’t have time for that yet launching a starship is very busy. He also realizes he’s sort of weakly bonded to her and he’s like ah that’s bad because...I am bonded to T’Pring.

SO!!! Spock and I work together on and off the bridge, and on missions, and everyone is like wow those two work together really well! Which most people don’t get along that well with Spock at first. But the first shoreleave we have Spock is like hey...look...we’re sort of bonded and that’s bad so let me undo that. And I’m devastated (he’s also devastated but quietly) because like his presence has been in my mind for most of my life and suddenly it’s gone and also I’d totally fallen for him and he’s bETROTHED and I’m just like. Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck. Very upsetti. But Kirk and Bones see me being grumpy and alone on shore leave so they hang out with me and that starts up our friendships (and eventual romance with Kirk).

But Spock and I continue to be really close and work together very well and rumors circulate about us having crushes on each other. Which. It does seem to be the case. But I’m like NO he can’t have a crush on me he’s BETROTHED and I’m full of heartache at all times (Spock is too but that’s harder to notice obvs). Actually we’re both very professional about it in general and we ignore the rumors.

EVENTUALLY we get to The Pon Farr Episode fjkhdsaf and I’m super pissed and I yell at everybody (T’Pring, Vulcan elders, you know, lots of folks I shouldn’t yell at) about how I love Spock and this is just!!! Ridiculous and fuck you specifically T’Pring (grrRRRRRR) and Bones gets me to calm down but it’s TOO LATE Spock 300% heard me say I love him. But I’m like I guess it doesn’t matter cause he might die.

Of course he doesn’t and that’s very good but now I am thoroughly embarrassed because I confessed in front of so many people so I avoid Spock to the point that it affects our work and Jim is like Wendy. You have to talk to him. He’s trying to talk to you. I say this as your friend but soon I’m gonna be saying it as your Captain and I’m like okay. Fine. I guess. And then we talk and we start dating hKJFEWHJFKEWHJK it’s tender, I promise.

Also up until Pon Farr Episode shit Kirk and I have been dating on and off too (secretly) but like. I mean we both love each other but we also are both pretty obviously into Spock and it’s hard because Kirk struggles with the fact that the ship has to be his first priority so it’s not really fair to me if he dates me (I insist I don’t mind but I’m also super preoccupied thinking about Spock a lot of the time).

After Spock and I are bonded and married this becomes an OT3 situation as well because um we both love Kirk.

So hopefully some of that was intelligible KHFJFHW here is a link where you can find all the fics I posted sorted by ship!!! The OT3 is #interwoven stars, Spock and I is #across time and space, and Kirk and I is #solar flare love

https://goldenworldsabound.carrd.co/#tos

thanks for coming to my TED Talk