#most of my favs are unfinished… can you see why I am the way that I am now

[cloudys-fics-and-art]

Hey! It’s CureDeity (sorry tumblr makes me ask from my main). I am here, in your inbox today, to rattle my little empty coin can and ask you to list some of your favorite beyblade fanfics! I’m going around asking a lot of people this, so feel free to ignore it if you want, but I thought this might be a good way for people to shout out some of the fanfic they really enjoy! Btw, if you can, I thought it would be helpful to list which site this fic was on so others could find it easier if they wanted to. Also, if you’ve written any fic (or have fic ideas, as we all know, imagining the same scene over and over again is the bread and butter of a writer), please also take this chance to have a massive, amazing ego and tell us which of your fics you're most proud of/is your favorite/etc.

Favorite MFB fics:

Boy was this not an easy question to answer. I’ve been in this fandom for a very long time, so I’ve read many MANY fanfics! In fact! The MFB fandom was my first fandom ever, it’s how I discovered fanfiction at age 13! Another funfact: many MANY fanfics I loved were deleted many years ago. So, I will go with what’s left!

Choosing my favorite fics was a toughie but I did my best to compile them in this answer! (I put links in all the titles, so you just click on them if you want to check them out!)

Life at the WBBA: Written by my lovely long time friend Liv aka Ollie! This fanfic is pretty much a lot of one-shots about the legendary bladers living at the WBBA, this fic eventually inspired my Adoption AU! So…If you want to see the OG, read this!

Almost Got 'Im: Also written by my beloved friend! Based on the iconic episode of Batman the Animated Series, the villains of the show reunite for a poker night while discussing how they almost beat Gingka. Spoilers: None of them did.

How to Make a Successful Match in Only Three Phases: This fanfic is something the lovely Liv actually wrote for me back in the day! As many of you know, I actually came up with the Yuki/Motti ship, and I’ll be honest, I thought I would get kicked out by the fandom. But instead Liv reached out to me and told me they had been inspired to write this thanks to one of my fics! This story is Benkei being a matchmaker, need I say more??

A Season Of Festivities: Now we go to another absolute legend! JuniperGentle aka Pippin! Their fanfics were always an absolute delight and this one is one of the most heartwarming ones! An anthology of MFB characters celebrating their winters holidays! Your fav character probably has a chapter, so give it a try!

Phosphorus: THIS FIC OMG! Okay, so, it’s still unfinished BUT GOSH IS IT GOOD! It’s an AU where Tithi is the one that follows Ryuuga around instead of Kenta!

Kenta's Imagination: This is one of the first fanfics in English I’ve ever read, and frankly, the concept of Kenta playing pretend is timeless!

 Underappreciated: Ever since the old fanfic days, Madoka would get the short end of the stick thanks to weirdos writing hate fics about her like there was no tomorrow. HOWEVER, there were a few good writers that wrote nice fics featuring her. I think this is my favorite, it’s simple, adorable, and it explores her character nicely!

Yu and Kenta's Scavenger Hunt: Literally what the title suggests! The sillies in a scavenger hunt!

The Best Nickname: Hands down THE BEST old fanfic that explores Yu’s and Tsubasa’s friendship. Tsubasa ponders about why he is the only one Yu never gave a nickname to! But little did he know, he has one. Yu is just secretive about it.

What Makes Her Different: Okay, so this one is a bit personal. This was the very first fanfic in English I read by myself without google translator. I was still struggling learning the language, but I loved the few things I understood about this fic, so I would read it over and over until I managed to fully understand it! It’s an abandoned fanfic (the writer had an incident with their old computer and could never finish it). It’s about Madoka suddenly getting sick and her friends taking care of her because she always looks out for them. It might be incomplete but it’s sweet!

As I was writing this list, I realized that most of the fics I like from AO3 are already on your fanfic list, so I decided to not add them. I hope you like this little list of recommendations!

To answer you another question, it is very hard to choose because I love most of the fics I’ve written.

However…I think I would have to go with five fanfics:

The Backdoor: I cannot express how much fun I had writing this. I loved coming up with the bits of Beyblade history, including details from Zero G, and having Yuki and Motti go through this little adventure! I am also pretty sure this was one of the first fics I wrote after I got back into the MFB fandom after many years. Thanks to a silly series of events on Tumblr, I met a lot of wonderful people in the fandom that I’m glad to have in my life!

So a Few Villain Kids Walk Into a Youth Group and...:

Writing this was such a challenge, but I am so happy I managed to finish it! I been having a lot of headcannons about the cult of Nemesis for a long time and this fic is just the tip of the iceberg! I loved writing Johannes dealing with group therapy and having to face the fact that he has friends.

 They Are My Boys:

When I wrote this fic I was a bit scared of sharing this AU with the world. But the fact that it was received so warmly just encouraged me to keep writing!

I'm Not Nice!:

So…Writing this one was a surprise even for me because I have a confession to make…I can’t stand Kyoya. But something about writing a fanfic with everyone dunking on him and his bad boy persona was so fun!

And finally…

The Drawbacks of Being Raised in an Isolated Temple:

So, writing this fic took me a lot of work because I had to talk to a lot of people about some questions I had to make this fic work, and the amazing support I got from those friends made me realize how much I love to write friendship and found family. I loved writing the friendships and dynamics in this fanfic and then the reception was so overwhelmingly positive, I was ecstatic!

There is another reason why this fic means a lot to me, it’s a bit personal but let’s just say that it brought something back to my life and I couldn’t be more thankful!

Thank you so much for this ask! I hope my answer was satisfying!

[tunafishprincess]

An Anon's Apology

You don't know me, but know that I'm sorry. Not that I've done anything wrong, but I feel like this is necessary.

I'm not apologizing because I did something wrong, but because we did something wrong in harassing you for taking so long on your Twisted Roses fic. It was dumb and stupid and while I didn't do it myself, it was the wrong thing to do, and in the end, it only made things worse.

I suppose some people are just like that. They get so invested in a story or book or fic that they forget that the person writing it has other things to do, other interests and hobbies and stories, instead of just doing that one thing. And when they take forever on it and focus on other stories, they either understand and wait patiently, or they lash out and demand that they continue it. The result for your fic was the latter, unfortunately, and again, I apologize for that. In the end, it made writing Twisted roses not fun and on indefinite hiatus. And honestly, I understand why.

With that in mind however, I still would like to see how it ends.

Don't worry, I'm not suggesting that you go back to working on it. Rather, I'm suggesting an alternative! Why not just put your fic in someone else's hands? Give them a few notes on the AU, let the fic continue in a way so you don't have to deal with it, that sort of thing. I even have a few ideas for who to give it to! And no, it's not me. I barely have any writing skills as it is.

Of course, you don't have to do that if you don't want to. It's your fic, after all. You can do what you want with it. I just think there are better places for it to be than on the figurative back shelf, if you know what I mean. That's all.

But in the end, it is your fic.

Besides, what do I know? I'm an anon.

And, for the record, I am sorry. I really am.

I'd ask for forgiveness too, but if I know the internet, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sincerely, A Very Sorry Anon.

———————————————————

Hey Anon,

I’m glad you liked the fic. Twisted Roses was a wild ride and it has a special place in my heart. It’s what started me on adding covers to my fanfic chapters. Writing about connie and Steven in a dark setting was really fun and I’m so happy so many people enjoyed it.

Fandom is a crazy place. I’ve been in yours where I wished someone would continue a fic (for example, one of my favs Muddy Waters 😭) but the writer’s heart was no longer in it. And that’s okay. I’ve been around longer than most and about 70-90 percent of multichapter fanfics normally don’t have an ending because they’re so long. A lot of my fanfics haven’t truly ended sadly and for that I’m sorry. 😓 My muse is a fickle beast. You should see my sketchbook. Full of unfinished artworks.

Thank you for apologizing. Really! You’re one of the few. Most readers have been lovely, but I won’t lie that telling someone to continue a story, especially if it’s from multiple people, can be stressful. I do this for me at the end of the day.

Personally, I will not be giving over my fanfic to anyone I don’t know personally and trust them to do it justice. People are welcome to write fanfics inspired by the au or their own idea of an ending for it though! Below I’ve attached my rough outline to the story that you’re welcome to read. I hope it gives you some closure to the story. Thank you for your support. If you haven’t, check out my other stories! Maybe they’re catch your fancy. ;)

Best,

Tuna

——————————————————————————

Outline of Twisted Roses

Chapter 10: What they don’t know (Lion 6: Wingman Forever)

It wasn’t easy finding time to fuse without getting caught. Connie was busy working under Jasper, pushing herself to match the woman’s intense training while Steven’s position, while now secured, did not mean he was without worry. His work with on expanding the human zoo proved fruitful, though whether that fruit would poison him or not remained to be seen.

But Connie didn’t let that stop her. She was an expert organizer. Be it an hour or five minutes, she made sure every second counted. They were as moths to a flame, addicted to the shared emotional high that came with being together, wholly and fully.

“My Diamond.”

“Cut it out.”

“You look horrible.”

“Wow, you really know how to make a person feel special.”

“Is everything alright?”

“It’s. . . It will be, now that you’re here. Let’s fuse.”

“O-okay,” she stammered out.

(They dance and fuse)

“I like being this. Being us. We should stay this way forever.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

“Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking I guess.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Well, uncomplicate it.”

“You’ll be mad if I tell you.”

“I’ll be mad if you don’t.”

“The zoo is going well. Too well, I guess, because now the Diamonds want to move onto the next phase.”

“There’s a next phase?”

“The Earth is a real source of pain and anger for them. I—Well, mom technically, she was the ruler there. Somehow, she died but didn’t really. She faked it. She was a liar. She didn’t want the responsibilities of being a Diamond so she pretended to shatter herself and play rebellion leader to get away from it all. Or at least . . . that’s what I’ve heard from them.”

“And what about Pearl?”

“Pearl never speaks badly about mom, even though she hurt her. It’s so frustrating. Everyone has their own agenda and I’m just some fake stuff in the middle of it all.”

“You’re not a fake Steven, any more than I am.”

“I am though. I’m been pretending everything’s fine but it’s really not. Connie . . . The Diamonds aren’t going to leave the planet alone. They want to eliminate Earth.”

“But isn’t humanity defeated?”

“It’s not about humanity. It’s never been about them. Not to the Diamonds. They’re little more than annoying flies to the Authority. What they care about is what the symbol of Earth is. They want to stamp it out and start anew.”

“That’s horrible. We have to do something.”

“There isn’t anything we can do.”

“But you’re a Diamond. You’ve been coronated. It’s your planet now.”

“You make it sound so much easier than it is.”

“Steven, you’re not alone in this. You have power here. You just have to know how to wield it.”

“But it’s not like that! You have this inflated view of me, as if I’m this powerful gem but I’m not, Connie. If anything, you’re the better one. You’ve always been honest with me.”

“That’s. . . not entirely true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Steven, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s about this gem.”

“Go on.”

“She snuck into the Garden to look for you. She wanted to speak with you but you were still back on Homeworld, so she left. She wanted me to tell you hi,” Connie said, pausing as she mulled over her next words. “She said her name was Amythest. Your Amythest.”

“And you didn’t tell me this before everything that’s happened?”

“I didn’t have time to. We barely have time to be alone as it is.”

“But you could have brought it up. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Oh my stars, she’s still there, isn’t she? She’s still on Earth.”

“I’m sorry. I should have, but with everything going on, I wasn’t sure what to say or how to bring it up. But we can save her. We can save her and the rest of humanity.”

“No, Connie, we can’t. Haven’t you been listening? The Diamonds aren’t going to stop until Earth is permanently wiped out of existence. Me talking to them isn’t going to do anything. It’s three against one.”

“But it’s your planet. You promised me you would save Earth.”

“And I am. I’m saving as many humans as I can and bringing them to the Zoo. And then . . . And then . . .”

“And then what, Steven?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“You’re choosing who lives and who dies, Steven.”

“Well, what do you expect me to do then?”

“Talk to the Diamonds. You’re a Diamond, too.”

“Yes, that’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it. My status as a Diamond. Is that what you see when you look at me?”

“You’re making assumptions, Steven.” She lowered her gaze. “And you’re being a butt.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just butt out of here then.”

“Oh my gosh, are you serious?”

“No! I’m Steven.”

$$$$$$$$$

“Stupid Steven,” she mumbled under her breathe. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ugh! Why is this so—”

“It’s you. What are you doing here?”

“Oh no, you’re not getting away from me that easily.”

“Steven! I thought you had work to do.”

“Well, I did, but I felt it was more important to find you. Connie, what I said was wrong. I was hurt and I lashed out at you and I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you about Amythest.”

“Secret garden buddies?”

She hooked her pinky with her own, wiggling it for good measure. “Secret garden buddies.”

“What are you doing out here? I thought you had training.”

“Oh, I’m chasing a giant pink lion.”

“I see . . .Wait, what?”

$$$$$$$$$$

“You’re telling me this big cat—”

“Lion,” Connie clarified.

“—Lion helped lead you away from the battlefield to find my mother’s ship?”

“Well, at the time I thought he was a hallucination. Lions aren’t exactly native to North America.”

“But how did it get inside? Why haven’t any of the gems noticed it?”

“Probably because it teleports.”

“It what?”

“Yeah, it seems to be traveling through its roars.”

“So then how do we find it?”

“We wait for it. I’ve noticed it moves in a pattern. It only goes into empty rooms.”

“So we find an empty area and what? Wait for it?”

“I’ve been mapping where it’s going. It’s been heading north. So long as no one goes inside—”

“It will end up in the Garden.”

“Exactly.”

“But how are we going to capture it?”

“How does one capture any animal, Steven?”

$$$$$$$

“This is awkward.”

“You’re telling me.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to take it this long.”

“There must be a lot of empty rooms.”

“So . . .what’s with the new fashion statement?”

“What?”

“You’re wearing a new glove.”

“Oh? This. Ha, ha. I just wanted a change, I guess.”

“Shush. It’s here.”

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”

“Oh, because that’s really going to wo—”

“You were saying?”

“Wow. He’s so fluffy.”

“Connie, I think we should keep him.”

“You’ve only known him for like, a minute.”

“Exactly. Lion needs us, Connie. Look, isn’t he adorable? Plewse be my fweind. I wuv you.”

“He is rather soft.”

“Exactly. He’s so huggable.”

“Okay, I see what you mean.”

“Uh, Connie?”

“Yeah?”

“I think there’s something inside the cat.”

$$$$$$$

“This situation is getting weirder and weirder.”

“What do you see?”

“Pink grass? A pink sky? It’s like a pocket dimension or something. There’s no air though.”

“A pocket dimension without oxygen sounds dangerous.”

“You want to go inside, don’t you.”

“Yes.”

“How long can you hold your breath?”

“About 2 minutes. 3 if I need to.”

“We’ll have to be quick about it then. Squeeze my hand twice when you need to return.”

“What about you?”

“I can hold my breathe a lot longer than humans, Connie. You ready?”

“Let’s go.”

“This place . . .it seems familiar.”

“This was mom’s shirt. And this was mom’s sword. How is all of this hidden inside a lion?”

“Looks like mom had even more secrets she didn’t tell anyone about. Figures.”

“There’s even a bubbled Bismuth in here too. I’m not. . . should I remove the bubble? No. We don’t know if they’re friend or foe yet. I’ll transport it back to the garden. Maybe Pearl knows about them.”

“Oh, sorry, let’s get you back. Ladies first.”

“That was—”

“Surprising? Yeah, mom’s secrets tend to do that. You should have been there when I found out she was Pink Diamond. Now that was something else.”

“I’m sure she had a reason.”

“Not a very good one. Guess that’s another thing we have in common: we’re both good fakers.”

“I never said it was. Steven, I barely know anything about your mom, but I know she wouldn’t want you to think of yourself as a fake. You are you. Other people will always have assumptions about you, but their opinions don’t matter. Yours do. You define your destiny, not your mom, not the Diamonds, you.”

“What if I can’t save the Earth, Connie?”

“Then you do your hardest to avenge it. And I’ll be at your side. No matter what.”

“Because you’re my knight?”

“No, doufus.” She lightly punched him in the arm before pulling him into a hug. “Because you’re my best friend.”

Part 1: Steven and Connie begin to secretly fuse. It is exhilarating. Steven and Connie end up spilling the beans to each other: Steven about what the Diamonds are doing a final assault which he cannot stop and Connie about Amethyst. Both walk away, feeling hurt and confused.

Part 2: Connie ends up finding Lion. Follows him then runs into Steven, who is also shocked but also excited because it’s a giant cat!

Part 3: Connie and Steven stalk the cat. Connie notes that Steven changed his outfit. His hand is also covered. He waves it off. She is suspicious. Connie and Steven finally get the cat over with some food. He’s fluffy. Steven buries his head into the fur and finds out, oh hey, there’s something in here.

Part 4: Steven and Connie go into Lion’s fur. See a lot of things. Steven takes out Bismuth’s gem and transfers it someplace, noting he needs to send this to Pearl. Steven finds his mother’s sword. He’s frustrated that it’s another secret about his mom, out of many. He and Connie reconcile and talk about trust.

Chapter 11: That I’m just a human

Part 1: Connie finds out Steven’s secret. He’s destabilizing. She promises not to tell anyone, but tells him he needs to tell someone. He promises.

Part 2: Steven and Connie fuse again. They enjoy themselves until they’re found out. Someone squealed. The Diamonds are there. White Diamond tears Steven out of the fusion, carries him away. Connie pretends to be dead. Blue Pearl checks her and lies. Steven screams, shattering stone and making the garden shake until White knocks him out. Connie falls unconscious.

Part 3: Wakes up to Spinel, Pearl, Lion, Amethyst and a newcomer by the name of Garnet. Connie feels horrible, that this is her fault for not being stronger. Pearl admonishes her. She is strong. She asks Connie what she wants to do. Connie says she wants to save Steven, but she cannot do it alone. Garnet says that she won’t be alone. Connie finds out about the other gems Pearl has been recruiting to join Pink Diamond’s “cause”.Bismuth shows up and says the Crystal Gems are back is Bismuth.

Chapter 12: I can be his knight

Part 1: Connie and the Crystal Gems arrive on Homeworld. Connie and Jasper fight. Connie wines.

Part 2: Connie and the Crystal Gems face Blue Diamond who joins them and later Yellow, who crumbles at how they’ve been treating each other.

Part 3: White Diamond fight. Steven is captured, telling her not to fight. He isn’t worth this. Connie says he is. Connie gets stabbed.

Part 4: POV Switch. White Diamond is stunned as she hadn’t meant to kill the girl, but Steven is furious. He grows until he’s as tall as White, tells her off for what she’s done to him. She loses control. She begins to deal with her own grief that Pink isn’t Steven, that White isn’t perfect and Steven is like, no one is perfect. In what world would everything you’ve done be considered perfect? He picks up Connie in his hands.

Part 5: Pearl tells him he has to let her go. Steven says he won’t. Not yet. He thinks about all the things taken from him: his childhood, his father, his friends, his home—but not Connie. He refuses to let her die. He pours his power into her, feels his humanity burning away as he tries to force her back to life. When that doesn’t work, he cries. He can’t part with her. He shrinks, holding onto her in his arms.

Part 6: POV Switch back to Connie. She awakens to Steven. He’s changed, less human, but no longer destabilized. She notes her pink hair. She asks if they’ve won. He says sort of. Gestures to the Diamonds who are now comforting a crying like a baby White Diamond. Connie is like, that’s disturbing. The others crowd in, group hug. Steven doesn’t let go of her hand the entire time.

Chapter 13: You’ll do it for him. (Epilogue)

Summary: Touch on some of the stuff the others are doing: Spinel making new friends, becoming very popular with human children in particular, Amethyst acting as a teacher to gems and humans alike, etc. The Diamonds are still in power, but Steven is slowly putting in new reforms as he is now officially considered part of the Authority, although he always runs his decisions through his gem/human elected council first.

Connie watches as Earth become barren. Humans destroy it. It is a somber affair. The zoo has been greatly expanded, but much life has been lost. Steven speaks of his dreams of creating a new earth, one where organics and gems can live in harmony. Connie wonders how it would be possible. Steven promises her, even if it takes, ten or twenty, or a thousand years, he will unite them. Connie is like, then you would be rebelling against the diamonds. Steven, not rebelling, reforming. Connie, then I will be here for you as your knight. Steven bends down, capturing her face, and if I want you to be more than that? Connie, I can be that too.

“Then I will be here for you, as your knight.”

“You’ll take me to be your Diamond? To honor and to fight for from this day forward?”

“For better or worse, I will serve you, my Diamond.”

“Forever and always, in war or in peace, to love and to fight for, till shattering do us part?”

“I believe those lines are mine, my Diamond.”

“And what if I want you to be more than my knight?”

“I can be that too, Steven.”

She knew there would be troubles ahead. Overthrowing a galaxy-wide empire through reform would take centuries, if not millennia, to do. But they had time. Earth was gone but Humanity was still here, growing and changing in ways that even surprised her.

And she would be there for it all.

She was her Diamond’s knight after all.

Notes:

• Blue takes on a more motherly rule, overbearing and trying to make him happy. She thinks the Crystal Gems brainwashed/mind-wiped Pink and is always trying to give him toys and plants to get him to laugh and sing. In this, her and Steven are closer than in canon, because Steven lost most of his support group and Blue, after thousands of years without Pink, sees this as a way of protecting her from the dangers.

• Yellow and Steven have a strange relationship as well, because she tries to teach him how to govern planets and order gems around but he doesn't get it and it frustrates her. She sees Steven as like a factory-set Pink and doesn't believe they can regain her original memories like Blue and White do. Still, she tries to engage his interests but is still haunted by the guilt of not protecting Pink originally. Because she failed to help her fellow diamond Pink was mindwiped and transformed into this fleshy hybrid and Yellow...struggles with that. She doesn't like emotions. So she doesn't see Pink as much as Blue does.

• White has the worst relationship with Steven. She sees him as something to be fixed and when that doesn't work, she tries more and more dangerous things. White is fixated on perfecting Pink, to turn her back into a gem or at least as close of one as they can get, because Diamonds must be perfect and Steven is clearly not. Steven wants to please White but he's terrified of her. Deeply so. He sort of dissociates when she's around. White's way of fixing things often leave Steven in pretty bad shape. Like, one of the most recent incidents in the fix turn his hair pink, but it also left him traumatized and unable to leave his garden (agoraphobia).

[loosiusgoosius]

best/favorite MCYT fics youve read? (dsmp or other smps) (you can include your own)

As a side note, I used to be the co-admin of a very big fic recs blog on Twitter, so there's a lot. I won't include my own fics BUT here's some of my favs and why i love them.

Promised Land by cosmonaughtt. I am a huge sucker for any AUs, but the writing in this fic is phenomenal. Genuinely one of my favorite fics and the kick-off point for Hometown (my personal baby)

Hamnet by MarsManhunter. I got the chance to personally talk to the author of Hamnet and I'm simply in awe of this fic. The writing is beautiful and moving in a way I had no expectation of. If you love Tommy, you need to read this fic.

Ovet the River Styx by CorpseArt. Am I a Dream apologist? Maybe, but this fic supersedes any canon ideas. The way that CorpseArt manages to bring through the trauma both Tommy and Dream have experienced while also balancing what is essentially an OC is amazing. It's ongoing but I eagerly await each update.

Human Error by teeth_eater. I am a Star Trek nerd at heart, and this absolutely connected the two ideas. This series, on top of being incredibly well-written, is also HUGE. The author is constantly adding to it and I have yet to not jump when I see there's an update posted.

Raison D'etre by Levi_athan. If you followed ForgottenEuca on twitter and saw the Detroit Become Human AU, this might seem familiar. This is so, so good. Personally, DBH holds a soft spot in my heart despite my never finishing it. This fic might remain unfinished, but it's worth the read anyway.

Withered by ThatWeirdGuyInTheBushes. Once again, I got the wonderful chance to gush to the author about how much I adored this fic. I have a love for dark fics and this one hits the mark. As an obvious warning, read the tags, but if you aren't bothered by darker themes, this is worth the read in every way. It reads like a Stephen King book, or any other horror novelist.

Every Flight (Begins With A Fall) by SilentTeyz. I'll admit, I had to do some digging for this one, but it's stuck so hard in my brain I can't get rid of it. It's so, so good. I don't cry at movies, but I cried at the end of this fic. THIS is the Tommy-centric I've always wanted, and if you like Tommy at all, you're missing out.

devil town by hoorayy. Oddly enough, this falls in the same line of inspiration as Promised Land, but it's so so good. It's subtle in a way that most fics aren't, and I guarantee the creeping sense of dread is completely common when reading this one.

to be a wanderer, wandering by hydrangeasheart. Oh god. Oh man. Oh jesus. My heart was torn to shreds after this fic but it was entirely worth it. This is worth reading, so worth reading, and so so amazing. I have no words to describe how much I loved and continue to love this fic.

I actually have so many more but I don't want to dump all of them at the same time. Give these authors some love!

[skaylanphear]

Hi there! Do you have any advice on improving traction towards a fanwork/fic? I love writing—and it's not for notoriety by any means—but having validation and feedback also feels nice (I hope that's not conceited). What would you recommend to someone without a large audience/follower base? I do "advertise" on tumblr when my work is written/updated on AO3. How did your journey start? Thank you!

This is an interesting question and I doubt most people are going to like the answers, but here we go:

So, first and foremost, you need to be realistic about why you're creating in the first place. If you're doing work in a fandom that is older, where content has stopped coming out, or that is simply smaller, you're not going to get much engagement, period. There will, of course, be activity in these fandoms, but it will be far less and the people involved—while they may view your work—will be less likely to comment/spread it around simply because there's not much going on. So if you're creating in that sort of environment (which can be a really good environment if you're looking for something chill with no pressure), then you have to be prepared for low engagement, even if the people you do meet and who are willing to talk about your work are more regularly in your sphere. You can probably make better/closer friends in these sorts of fandoms, if you're willing to try.

But, on the other end of this, if you're coming into a huge fandom late, it's also going to be harder to wade through the massive following to get your stuff out there. For example, in both the Miraculous and Sk8 fandom, I started work pretty early on, when the shows were still gaining traction, and so my "name" as a creator gained traction parallel to that growth, as opposed to when I started writing in the Voltron fandom. With Voltron, I came in super late and so what few fics I had that did gain traction took a lot longer to get there because people already had their fav content creators in the fandom, etc. It's not impossible to get popular in this situation—far from it—but it does take longer.

You'll also benefit from having finished works early on in a fandom's lifespan, at least with writing. This is because there's less competition for views and so more people will be filtered to your work, initially. This means that you have a better chance of getting those comments and kudos. Having a finished work increases this engagement because people look for finished works before works in progress. Generally, the length of a fic doesn't matter much for popularity, so long as it's DONE. When I was writing in the ML fandom, quite a few of my earlier fics were shorter, and they compete in popularity with my longer fics, because people care more about having a finished story, not a long story. That's why when it came to Only Practice Makes Perfect in the Sk8 fandom, I worked hard to get that shit done, because it was the most popular story I had in the fandom and I decided—like an idiot—to make it a long fic. Which, yeah, means people probably love it/remember it more in the long run, but if I hadn't finished it in 2 to 3 months, I'd have lost considerable traction as far as making a name within the fandom.

This leads into one of the most important points, if not THE MOST IMPORTANT point in gaining an audience—consistency. If you do want to be a successful creator, you Have To Be Consistent. This is the most difficult hurdle for all creators, and it is oftentimes impossible to make happen. If you want to aim for professionalism, which a lot of fandom creators don't care about (which is fine), then consistency is how you get there. Nobody wants to read a fic or follow an artist who doesn't stick to creating what they start (RIP all my unfinished works and the people who left me as a result, LOL). Using my most recent works as an example, I very, very, very consistently updated Only Practice Makes Perfect multiple times a week. To the point where people got comfortable expecting it, which is the key variable here. When people become comfortable that you will regularly create content, they not only stick around, but will be more interactive with you and your work. Nobody likes the disappointment of getting involved with a work only for that work to rarely get updates. Most people don't have the attention span to care. I'll admit, if I read a fic that's not finished and the writer takes one week to update, then one week, then THREE weeks, I probably will, like, forget about it. That's just life.

The best thing you can do is schedule. And again, this is the HARDEST thing to do, because it holds the creator to a deadline. Most people who create in fandoms don't want that kind of pressure—and that's fine. I go back and forth on when I have scheduled releases and when I don't, depending on what I'm aiming to do. But if you to retain your audience, telling them that you will update a work regularly on such and such a day and such and such a time, it creates something for them to remember. If they're invested in your work, they will think, "oh, it's Friday, that means such and such is coming out with something new." But, with that in mind, you also have to commit to a schedule that people will remain invested in. Which basically means you can't put things out more than a week away from each other, unless you're really, really famous, lol. If I told people I was going to go on a two week update schedule, I would lose most of my audience. But a week is long enough for people to both still remember and anticipate. That's just how the scheduling of the world works. And if you're an artist that's working on a big project, then you have to share progress, or pieces of what you're doing on a regular basis. That's what generates "buzz" and keeps you relevant. And, yeah, that's a really hard schedule to commit to, because it's a lot of work. BUT this consistency is where you see people being successful. Popular youtubers may not have gained their popularity by being consistent, but most sure do retain it that way. And again, there are outlying exceptions, but they generally ARE exceptions.

Speaking of hard work, here's probably the second hardest thing to accomplish—you have to be prolific. Especially as a writer. You have to write A LOT if you want to gain an audience. And yeah, that means you have to work, a lot. I love my work, so I enjoy that "grind," and I also have developed a lot of strategies to work around writer's block and every other obstacle that tends to catch people up. I work in a very professional manner—I do outlines, and drafts, and plan. I do a lot of stuff that people who do this kind of thing for fun can't be bothered with (and that's fine), but that's because I find it to be what works best in creating an efficient environment. I'm also very, very NOT lazy, lol. I was raised in an environment where you have to work for everything that you want. My parents didn't buy me my first computer, or snowboard, or what have you. We were tight on money and if I wanted something, they couldn't help me—I had to get that shit on my own. And I also grew up on a farm, where hard work was a staple of how you did things. You did things the right way, even if it was the hard way. You can't cut corners and it's the same with this. If you want it, you have to actually do the work, that's it. Some people get lucky with popularity, most don't. Most famous actors didn't become well-known off their first efforts, they had to keep trying and keep working and then they have to continue to do that to stay relevant. So if that doesn't sound great to you, then you might want to not focus on your audience and just create because you enjoy it, lol. Sometimes that's what I do too, when I don't wanna deal with the pressure.

Moving on, here's another point that nobody is going to like. Simply put, you also have to be good at what you do. I think some people don't realize that I've been writing fic for over fifteen years. I currently have nearly 2 millions words worth of fics on AO3 and that doesn't include a majority of the stuff I've ever written. I practice A LOT. I write every day. And I'll tell ya, when I started out in middle school, my stuff was not good. But I worked hard, I ignored the hate, and I kept going. That is the only way you will ever get better at anything. There's no quick way to become a better writer, or artist. And a vast majority of people are only going to pay attention to your stuff if it's quality work. Getting to that point is a process, on top of then creating stuff that fits into popular molds. Not only am I good at what I do (and I don't care how arrogant that sounds—I've worked my ass off), but when it comes to fandoms, I rarely write "rare pairs" and "crack ships." Generally, if it's popular, that's where I am. That makes a big difference and I honestly don't have sympathy for people who write rare pairs and such and then complain about lack of engagement. You knew what you were getting into (it's mostly the Miraculous fandom that gave me this bitterness). If you're not writing what people WANT to read, then your audience is simply going to be smaller. And that audience doesn't owe you their attention, no matter how frustrating it is or how good your work is. I could be the best writer in the world, but if I'm writing RekixCherry fic, I have nobody to blame but myself when nobody reads it. BUT if that's your passion, and writing a certain unpopular thing makes you happy, then, again, you need to not be concerned with traction and your audience.

The last point I'll make is that it matters HOW you present yourself online. A good chunk of the well-known creators in any fandom are, simply put, older people. And those that aren't, and are able to connect with those older creators, have generally created a bubble around themselves of maturity and, like, of being nice, lol. A lot of creators are skittish these days, and if you're an asshole (anti) or fight a lot over stupid shit, you may get a bigger audience, but you will isolate yourself from other creators. And this is important because oftentimes it is your exposure to other creators that will get your work circulating. The reason I got popular in the ML fandom? I wrote a short angst fic and a really popular artist shared it/talked about it and the rest was history. But if I'd had a habit of being an asshole, probably wouldn't have happened. And, granted, I'm not saying don't voice your opinions, but if you're loud all the time, it does turn people off. Especially creators because they are oftentimes the ones being attacked. They don't want to pull more of that negative bullshit into their lives. I'll admit, when I was in the ML fandom, I was down for a fight, but then that's what people came to expect, and it probably did turn others off, and then when I didn't fight, or didn't think the way my audience thought I should, it, again, turned people off. It's really not worth it unless being that type of person IS your platform.

So, that's all the advice I can give, I suppose. And even if you do all this stuff, that still doesn't mean you're going to be popular. At the end of the day, the thing that I stick to is this—I do what I want, I love what I do, and I work hard. If I'm in a position to worry about all that other stuff, then sure, I do, but otherwise… There's no easy way to become popular and, quite frankly, it's better to just "live" working hard and being a decent person than it is to focus on all this bullshit. I've created a working environment where I function within these "points" quite naturally, so it's not something I think about (except for schedules, lol). Sometimes I get popular in fandoms, sometimes I don't. At the end of the day, it comes down to how much work you're willing to do, because you will always be giving more than you are getting back, so you have to at least enjoy what you're doing.

Seriously, just do it because you love it. And if the pressure of everything above is something you don't love (I like a good, high pressure situation, lol), then don't do it that way—it's not worth the grief.

[quietlyimplode]

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist of Fic Recs - Version 2.0 - Page 1

Page 1 / Page 2 / Page 3 / Page 4 / Page 5

Updated June 2021

This is not an exhaustive list (and in no order whatsoever) of the brilliant fic that is out there. Please let me know of any i have missed or any recs to put in and I will endeavour to add it. I have not included warnings or ratings. Please make sure you look at the tags, judge for yourself and as always take care of yourself first. (17 authors under the cut)

The Irish Mayhem @the-irish-mayhem

White - part of Perfection of Duality Series - the making of Natasha Romanoff. One of my favourite fics in the world. I will love it forever.  -    25/25

Perfection of Duality- part two - Natasha - Natasha in shield - 4/?

Mypedia @sebuttstianstan

anything that bleeds - Natasha - Natasha is a sub. Don’t let that fool you, Natasha’s backstory with bdsm elements. 21/22

Shadesfalcon @shadesfalcon

Like Real People Do - Clint/Nat - ‘Do we have song?’ Iterations of what’s the ties that bind them together.    1/1

Whether you ask it or not - Clint/Nat - Natasha gets poisoned - and has the line ‘“’Night, little dragon. May your fires ever burn hot upon your unsuspecting foes.”    1/1

Sometimes winning means you’re the last one standing - ot6+everyone - don’t play ‘never have I ever’ without some laughs and trauma rearing its head   1/1

I am good - Clint/Nat/Laura - Clint brings Natasha home for the first time.   1/1

Careful She Bites - Clint/Nat - don’t confront Natasha about the handcuffs. Just don’t.  2/2

What happens here stays here - Clint/Nat- Natasha can’t remember Budapest.  1/1

Koren M- cybermathwitch

I’d Make Room for you - Clint/Nat/Laura - perspectives of each other are important. 1/1

Course Corrections - Clint/Nat/Laura - taking care of each other 2/2 snippets into conversations/life Course Corrections (Age of Ultron Fix-It Fic)

As if you have a choice - Clint/Nat - Natasha gets pregnant. They know they can’t keep it. 3/3

The weight of us - series of 11 - my fav is ‘Seeing Red’ and ‘Sharp and Sweet’. Clint/Nat shield days

Red Flag Warning - Natasha - red is a warning colour. Clint should know.   1/1

Edgeofthegalaxy @natasha-romanoff-deserved-better

buried in your bones, i see it in your closed eyes - Natasha dissociates and its a long way back Clint/Nat 1/1

Origins - Young Natasha in the red room, of learning morality and goodness. 1/1

But even the strong can fall - Natasha goes silent on a mission, Clint knows something is very wrong. Clint/Nat 2/2

Just a Kid - sometimes Natasha doesn’t realise how messed up her childhood was. Sometimes she needs to be told. Nat/team 1/1

Collateral Damage - Natasha comes home from a mission; Tony needs to patch her up. Tony & Nat 1/1

Daughter of Rohan @natrasharomanova

Living Louder - Clint/Nat - break my heart. Origin stories.   21/21

Beside you (sequel to living louder) - Clint/Nat - shield falls. Clint and Nat find each other in the aftermath.

It’s still raining - Clint/Nat - everything happens when it’s raining.  1/1

You are a piece of me, I wish I didn’t need. Clint/Nat/Laura/family. Clint brings Nat to the farm for the first time. Healing ensues.   1/1

Impossibilities- Clint/Nat but with Pepper/Maria/Darcy and Jane - Natasha is pregnant?   1/1

Wake my spirit Cold - Clint/Nat - Christmas throughout the years -    1/1

(We could be) infinite - Clint/Nat - ENDGAME FIX IT. The soul stone split in two. No one dies.    1/1

I am not the only traveler who has not repaid his debt - Clint/Nat - ENDGAME FIX IT. Natasha dies but is alive in a multiverse. Clint dies in the alternate. They meet in the middle.     1/1

Sugarfey @sugarfey

Chrysalis - Natasha - this is how it goes and how she came to be.  Ashes series  1/3

A walk on part in the war. Natasha - Drakovs daughter is ‘saved’.  Ashes.  2/3

World on Fire - Clint (/Natasha) Clint has a history and can play the guitar.  Ashes   3/3 - my favourite part.

First Name Basis- Clint/Nat - getting to know you.    1/1

Right where I used to be - Clint/Nat - it’s Natasha’s birthday, Clint uses this to get to know her better.    1/1

Once was lost - Clint/Nat - slow burn, Natasha offers herself to him once.    1/1

Expresso is not an option - Nat/Maria - ‘you could destroy shield in a heartbeat, couldn’t you?’

Thursdays Child - Nat/fury - fury mentors Natasha-from afar.    1/1

Shelter - Clint/Nat/liho/lucky - Lucky puts one big paw on Natasha’s knee and looks at her as though she hung the sky with pizza -   1/1

Almost home - Natasha - find a mooring and settles -    1/1

Long spaces 3/3 - Natasha/Clint - natasha and Clint fit together - all the broken pieces. .  3/3

Inkvoices - @inkvoices

Smile for the living - POST ENDGAME - Natasha is brought back.     1/1

In deed- Clint/Bucky/Nat. In which dogs and deeds are discussed.    1/1

Driver chooses the music. Clint/Nat - get in the car.

On Names - Clint/Nat- she goes by many names -  1/1

AlwaysLera

Fallout Patterns - what happens when your mind is a nuclear bomb? Nat/Clint - sex is not always sex when trauma is as deep as hers -   14/14

Breathe me with your hands - Clint/Nat - navigating sex -  1/2 One Red Thread Series- Nats pov.

Hold you by the edges - 2/2 One Red Thread - Clint’s pov.

Ghosts that we knew - Clint/Nat - aftermath of the avengers. Natasha navigating the world when Clint safewords out. 15/?? Unfinished.

How the day sounds - Clint/Nat - thanksgiving throughout the years -     14/15 (?fluffy)

You were a kindness - Clint/Nat - a perfect look at the trauma of being brought in. Let herself be nothing but a branch. Let herself be nothing but stardust. Stardust could not be hurt. Stardust could not be used. Stardust could not be held.    1/1

Crashing, understanding, blinding, tumbling - Nat/Tony - plane crashes - tony takes care of Natasha whilst blinded -    1/1

Two plus two is five - Clint/Nat - how do you test a concussion? Two plus two is five in large quantities of two.   1/1

Into the dark (song fic) - team after harrowing mission watch Clint and Natasha dance - 1/1

The ocean carry you home - team- pepper is pregnant, Natasha doesn’t cope well with the news. Yellow blue bus.    1/1

Enigma731 @enigma731

Something just like this - Clint/Nat - Clint is depressed. Natasha doesn’t know how to help.    1/1

Going to the Chapel. Clint/Nat - get married in Budapest and have sex.

September - Tony/Nat bonding - Tony makes a memory machine to cure ptsd, Natasha helps.   1/1

Everything Costs - Clint/Nat- Natasha keeps getting hurt on missions, Clint wants to know why.  1/1

That’s way you showed me (I wasn’t quite so alone) - Clint/Nat - 3 christmas’ -    1/1

Prompts (some lovely short 1 shorts) - team assorted -   13/?

It starts with Time - Natasha - Natasha goes looking for her family -   1/1

The war I can’t win - Natasha/Clint - Clint gets injured. Natasha is his support.  1/1 (it mentions Occupational Therapy this is a winner)

We are not shining stars - Natasha/Laura + Clint - Clint dies (fair warning) it’s all Natasha can do to cope.    1/1

Unpack your heart - Clint/Nat - in the beginning they left post it notes -   1/1

Hearts and Bones and Blood - Natasha/Clint - Clint saves Natasha from mental health services when she first comes to shield. Because sometimes she gets lost in her own head.

What Girls are Made of - Nat/team - 5x Natasha has unconventional means of flying.    1/1

Ghost Towns - Clint/Nat - Natasha has memories implanted in her head, shield medical and Clint try to help.   1/1

The glass parade - Steve /Natasha - he watches her become different people.  1/1

Slipsthrufingers

Cleanliness Is Next To… - Nat/Clint- Or Five Memorable Showers Clint Barton and Natasha Have Had, and One Time There Was a Bath Instead. -  1/1

The more you know - Clint/Nat - this is what they learn first (or Natasha is not what is written in her file) -  1/1

Perspectives - Nat/team - perspective and interpretations; what do you see?

OracleGlass

safe as houses - Clint/Nat - what makes them go to a nonshield safehouse?

The clutch of circumstance - Clint/Nat- he helps her start. 1/1

Ranni

Voluntary Procedure - Clint and Natasha agree to be mind wiped. The others are not happy - Clint/Nat/Team 6/6

Stronghold - Natasha and Clint shut down their various safehouse. Clint/Nat (team) 1/1

Spy Vs Spy (recced by Anon) - Clint & Coulson & Natasha - Natasha Romanov was the most beautiful person in the room and nobody asked her to dance. 2/2

Paperairplanesopenwindows @paperairplanesopenwindows

On the first day of Christmas - Clint/Nat/Laura- Laura wants to celebrate, Clint and Nat aren’t so sure - 1/1

A little to the left - Clint/Nat/Laura - she’s Natasha but a little to the left (POST ENDGAME) -   4/4

Family Togetherness Time - Clint/Nat/Laura - Steve gets concerned about Nat and turns to the people he thinks can help. 3/3

Eauline

In every lifetime I choose you - Nat/Steve - Natasha gets captured to get to Steve. 11/11

MillyVeil

Burn baby, burn. Clint/Nat - Clint saves Natasha from heatstroke. 1/1

Teamwork - Clint/Nat - fuck or die, Clint’s not ok but Natasha is. He doesn’t understand. -   2/2

Other people - Clint/Nat- she’s up for some monkey sex until she’s not.    2/2

altheterrible @altheterrible

Shining white in the sun - Natasha - Clint dies, Natasha tries to cope. She doesn’t do it very well. 7/7

tastes - team - different tastes in points in time - 1/1

strix_alba

places to go, people to be- Natasha - Natasha gets to decide who she really is after the fall of shield 1/1

[veliseraptor]

What is your top 5 fav ships (canon or not) in mxtx 3 novels? And why?

you don’t even have to include the “and why” there, anon, I’ll do it all on my own because I can’t shut up about my opinions.

1. Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen. I rolled into this canon and clearly went ‘why would I devote my attention to the canon main pairing when I could go to the messy fucked up pairing to the left that occupies a tiny fraction of the narrative” and rode that train all the way down to hell, where I live now.

It just...this pairing hits so perfectly so many of my buttons all at the same time. It’s fucked up and dysfunctional and full of misery and tragedy and violence and all those good things that I love to see in a relationship. Xuexiao showed up and delivered me a delicious dinner on a platter. And then carved my heart out and ate it.

And I think one of my favorite things about it is the living on borrowed time aspect of it all. While I yearn for fix-its and will write them forever, one of the things that drew me to this pairing first was the way that it is a ticking time bomb that’s doomed from the start. 

And at the same time you can see the ways in which it could have been different, if only.

One of the other things is how much it’s like. You’d think Xiao Xingchen is functional and Xue Yang is dysfunctional but you’d be wrong. They’re both dysfunctional messes of bad emotional coping mechanisms.

2. Hua Cheng/Xie Lian. I’ve talked about how these two are my favorite main pairing in the three MXTX novels that’re out so far, in large part because of the way that they feel like friends to me long before they get together. And I’m not usually a big ‘friends-to-lovers’ person, but their dynamic is just so...playful, and they so clearly like each other and respect each other and think the other person is just the coolest.

And yes, on Hua Cheng’s end of things I am still like. Please get some sense of self-worth that’s a little detached from Dianxia, please, buddy, you deserve nice things for yourself, but...I think it helps me that Xie Lian is pretty clearly, I think, on the same page. He doesn’t want worship from Hua Cheng. He wants a partnership. And that’s I think what their relationship ultimately feels like to me: a partnership.

3. Shi Qingxuan/He Xuan. I have a type of pairing and a shipping aesthetic and this one landed squarely in it with such force that I was genuinely surprised that it happened as a thing in something I was reading. Like! The betrayal! The friend who turns out to be an enemy who got attached! The contrast between them as near opposites, but prior to the Black Water arc they’re still in tune.

But yeah, I’m here for that sweet, sweet dysfunction, mostly, and the conflict between He Xuan’s desire for revenge and their attachment to Shi Qingxuan, and Shi Qingxuan’s sheltered life and relative innocence.

And did I scream in book four when the fan came back? Oh, you betcha.

I think I also have a...thing for relationships that feel unfinished. That tends to be what drives me to explore a relationship in fic, for sure - a sense that things aren’t done, that there’s more to be dealt with, more ground to cover. And this is definitely that, when it comes to where canon leaves things. 

That’s always going to pull me especially in fandom terms toward getting more absorbed in a relationship and spending more time thinking about it.

4. Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian. Speaking of unfinished relationships! I was debating whether to put this one on there or to stick with more ‘typical’ romantic/sexual type ships, but I decided that it’s so important in my head and my feelings that it deserved a spot here. I mean, me and sibling relationships are always going to be a thing, and me and fraught sibling relationships are going to be even more of a thing, and me and sibling relationships where everyone loves each other very much but is failing at expressing it and miscommunicating/communicating past each other is going to have me lying down on the floor screaming.

So here I am! Lying down on the floor screaming.

I just...there’s so much there, in these two’s relationship. In the way that they relate to each other and the way they feel about each other. So much baggage, so many complicated intersections of insecurity and emotional damage that collide in really unfortunate ways. Issues of debt and obligation and shared loss.

It’s such a mess and if you have gathered anything from the majority of this list you may be picking up on the fact that “it’s a mess” is a #1 qualifying trait in most cases for me to pick up a ship.

5. Lan Xichen/Jin Guangyao. Speaking of “it’s a mess!” Oh boy. How does one talk about a problem like Xiyao? I feel like I don’t write much about it only because I feel like others do and better than me, whereas I look at them and just start going “ahhhhhhhhh.” at length and loudly.

But again there’s a lot of ways this aligns with other pairings of mine, both on this list and elsewhere. The mutuality of it and at the same time the underlying darkness. The genuine care set against the ways in which that care is undermined by other factors. And of course the absolute tragedy and suffering of it all.

Reader, I was doomed.

I feel kind of bad that Wangxian didn’t make it on here but it’s only because I tend to spend less active brainspace thinking about them as a pairing, though every time they are on screen doing things together then I do fall in love all over again with how much I love them.

Still weird! Still don’t know how that happened. Them and Hua Cheng/Xie Lian are very much pairing outliers for me.

[cyclogenesis]

i have to tell you that the second i saw cal and ash on that mountain getaway a couple weeks ago, i thought about how desperately i would love a sequel to your turks & caicos fic set during that trip. (this is not a request, i promise, i just wanted to tell you bc that is one of my fav fics of all time)

Aw anon!! 🥺 Gosh I hadn't even thought about that when I was in my feelings about the mountain getaway pictures, which is wild because I am just remembering now that I started a fic after the honeymoon comment initially happened (like, very soon after, because @elliebirdthings was at that show and told me about it and we were freaking out haha), before we knew that they went to Turks & Caicos, and I had them taking that trip to a cabin in Maine.

Just for kicks, because this message made me smile and I love you for that, here's the beginning of that fic. It's unfinished obviously (not even any kissing!), but there's some nice stuff in there I think. This fic was going to be titled A whole fucking lifetime of this after the American Pleasure Club album which was a title I should have kept, goddammit. Also randomly in here I have them driving to the cabin while listening to My Bloody Valentine, who Ashton later called out as one of his main influences for Superbloom.

1600 words of unfinished Cashton under the cut! 😘

The day after the last meeting about the promo schedule the dressing room conversation turns, as it does, to plans for the break. It’s a month out, but they’ve to a man developed a fetish for planning their free time carefully as soon as the schedule’s set. Planning things makes Ashton feel like a grown-up. He likes renting cars. Sometimes he scrolls through AirBnB for hours just to see what’s out there.

“I’m going straight back, we got Dodgers tickets,” Michael says.

“I remember when you used to say ‘we’ and it meant you and me,” Calum says. He wiggles a little from where he’s snuggled against Michael on the couch like he wants to get away, but of course Michael doesn’t let him. Ashton thinks he probably wasn’t really trying.

“Aw, you’ll always be my first love,” Michael tells him, squeezing Calum to him more tightly. “You wanna make out just for old times sake?”

“I do not,” says Calum, but he lets Michael give him a big kiss on the forehead, his face squinching up happily.

“I just wanna get away for a bit, no work or social media or anything,” says Ashton, ignoring their tomfoolery. “A little cabin by a lake somewhere.”

“Oh yeah?” Luke says. “Where are you and Cal going this time?”

“Maine,” Calum says, at the same time as Ashton says, “Why would you assume we’re going somewhere together?”

A small silence falls over the room.

With dignity, Ashton says, “Calum and I are going to Maine.”

“Just get out in front of it this time,” Michael advises. “Let everyone know it’s another honeymoon. Take control of the narrative.”

“How many times can you go on a honeymoon before you have to acknowledge that you’re married?” Luke asks nobody in particular.

“It’s a bro trip,” Ashton says firmly. “For bros.”

“It’s very bromantic,” Luke says. “It’s okay, I’m not hurt I wasn’t invited. I love going back to LA and jerking off alone.”

“It’s nice that we’ve all got plans,” Calum says. He’s settled peacefully back against Michael, Michael absently petting his hair.

“It’s not a honeymoon,” Ashton insists.

*

Whatever, Ashton called it what he called it, okay? Might as well control the narrative.

Over drinks at the bar after their last show Calum asks, “Where would you want to go on your honeymoon, anyway? Somewhere new?”

Ashton pokes at the ice in his cocktail with his straw. Aren’t they supposed to not be using straws anymore because of the ocean or whatever? Ashton loves the ocean, it’s very important to him. Also this cocktail sucks. “Can I try your drink?” he asks. “I don’t love mine.” Calum has something with ginger in it, and bubbles. Calum slides his obligingly over, and Ashton passes his own over to be fair.

“I like yours better,” Calum says after a sip. “You wanna trade?”

Sometimes Ashton does believe in soulmates. “Yes, thank you.” He takes a long drink. “It would be nice to spend more time in Italy. Not one of the tourist-y parts though, somewhere quiet. Up north, maybe, one of the smaller towns.” He tries to picture what it would be like: olive groves, blue skies, stone churches. An old villa with lemon trees and a view of the hills. He’s so used to traveling with the band or just with Calum that it’s hard to picture anyone else there with him. They’re all as prone as anyone to get swept up with girls to the exclusion of most everything else, but Ashton can’t really imagine a future without seeing Calum all the time, without talking to him every day. Maybe he and Calum could just get married around the same time and they could all go on a honeymoon together.

“Yeah, that’d be pretty nice,” Calum says, looking wistful. Ashton wants to take a picture of him, capture the way a curl rests against his temple, how the blue neon lights behind the bar hit the glitter he let Ashton smear on his cheekbones before the show. They made a no social media pledge for this trip but Ashton’s bringing his camera anyway. He has to keep in practice, doesn’t he? Anyway, it’s important to capture these memories.

“Maybe we should just go,” Ashton tells him. “Why not? Who knows how long it could take for me to fool someone into living with this forever?” He sucks down the last of his drink, feeling sorry for himself now. What if he falls in love and she moves in and Calum stops coming over in the morning to walk to their favorite coffee shop together, and stops picking Ashton up so they can go hike Runyon, and stops bringing Duke over like he owns the damn place and doesn’t care about the dog hair that Ashton has to hoover off his couch pillows? That would be terrible. Worst of all, what if it was Ashton that suddenly wanted those things to stop?

“I’ll live with you forever,” Calum says, too busy flagging down the bartender to intuit Ashton’s emotional crisis. He gestures to Ashton’s empty drink. “Another one of those, right?” His own is still half full. Maybe he didn’t really like Ashton’s better after all.

“Yeah, thanks man,” Ashton sighs.

Calum bumps his knee against Ashton’s, the barstool squeaking beneath him. “Ash, you’re gonna find somebody if that’s what you want. Anyone would be the luckiest person alive to be with you. Maybe we could do Italy after the tour wraps, we’ll finish in Spain so it won’t be far.”

The thought cheers Ashton a bit; that’s a decent amount of time to get on AirBnB and see what he can find that’s available. It’ll be nice to have something to look forward to, Italian sunshine and limoncello and the quiet.

“Mike and Luke will definitely give us shit though about planning another honeymoon while we’re still on this one,” Calum says.

“Let ‘em,” says Ashton.

*

It’s not a long flight but it’s a bit of a drive from there to get to the cabin. But Calum said he wanted something remote and quiet, so it’s worth the wait, the drive in the dark. There’s moonlight, anyway, and Calum took the wheel, getting them the rest of the way there in their little silver Prius rental. He puts on My Bloody Valentine and sings along, low and comforting to listen to after so many days straight of playing, of promo. Halfway through the trip Ashton thinks he sees a shooting star, maybe thought he dreamed it until he felt Calum’s soft nudge of knuckles against his arm, heard his quiet, “You see that, bro?”

The way gets bumpy, thick with trees, dark and hard to navigate once they turn off the main road. At the end of it all there’s the cabin, looming in the dark, lights left on for them and the key exactly where it’s supposed to be. It’s past one a.m. but they still give the place a wander, stopping at the largest bedroom facing the lake. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows Ashton sees trees, darkness, the black glitter of water under starlight. Calum asks, “You want this one?”

Ashton looks further and just sees more darkness. “It’s kind of unnerving at night,” he says. “Anyone could be out there.” The other bedroom has smaller windows, but the point stands. “Do you wanna just watch TV or something in here and then decide?”

“If we get axe murdered here I hope our ghosts come back and leave a one star review,” Calum says, but he’s already shrugging his duffel off his shoulders and kicking off his shoes.

The host left them a bottle of pinot grigio so Ashton pours up a few glasses while Calum strips down to his boxers and gets in bed. The boxers have cartoon pugs all over them. “I can’t believe that’s the lingerie you’re wearing for our honeymoon,” Ashton says, handing him a glass. “I also can’t believe those boxers even exist.”

Calum raises it to him in a salute and takes a sip. “These boxers are fantastic, but I guess if you want me to take them off…” he trails off, eyebrow raised, thumb hooked in the waistband pushing them down past his hipbone, then further until Ashton can see the crease of his thigh.

“No, no,” Ashton says hurriedly, “I’m just saying, what’s wrong with a nice pair of footie pajamas? Keeps you warm. Keeps you modest.” Nevertheless he shucks his own clothes except for his own (very grown-up, perfectly normal, in a flattering shade of dark green) boxers and joins Calum in bed. Calum’s already stopped paying attention to him, too busy trying to figure out how to work the remote. He finally gets the screen to flash on, and Ashton stays quiet, sipping his wine while Calum flips channels, finally landing on something in black and white. Cary Grant comes on screen but Ashton still isn’t sure what movie it is; Calum seems interested enough, setting the remote down between them, so he doesn’t complain. The wine goes down easy and Ashton does too after not too long.

He rolls onto his side and sees that Calum’s eyes are already closed. It doesn’t look like he’s asleep yet; it always takes him a bit, leaving him in a dozy stage for about ten minutes during which he might respond crankily to any communication or with adorable mumbling affection. Ashton turns the sound down and says, as quietly as he can, “TV off?” Calum’s eyes don’t open, but he nods a little. “Okay. You want me to go sleep in the other room?”

Calum moves then, a sleepy shift of his body, fumbling a hand up and blindly patting the sheet until he makes contact with Ashton’s hand on the remote and squeezes it, links their fingers together like he can’t quite figure out how to make it work. It feels nice. “’S’okay,” he murmurs. “Stay here.”

Ashton didn’t feel like getting up anyway.

[gummybearzgocrazyagain]

MALEC FIC REC POST, vol.3

vol. 1

vol.2 

Media AU

Society Rules by @Tiger_Tiger_Burning_Bright [it is apparently based on films i’ve never heard of - The Philadelphia Story / High Society - which does not make it any less entertaining. malec are childhood friends, who had a falling out 5 years ago, and now Magnus is back from London to interrupt Lightwood wedding, aka the social event of the season]

Making my way to you by @asharee_arie [woah, what was that??? is the correct answer “a perfect fanfic”?? what a muthafuckin delight, where has this gem been hiding this whole time??? i was on the floor, rolling around and squealing like a newborn piglet. Intended as some kind of Office AU, this piece does not necessarily follow the outline, but who cares, when the story, and characters, and author’s style are all that perf??? i am in luv]

Mistletoe and Margaritas by @nevermetawolf [this is legendary, and i mean, muthafuckin epic - Office AU so authentic you’d feel it in yo old bones... author calls it a crack fic, although it was anything but!!! major must read for those, who’s ever loved office, allllllll the kudos]

Once Upon a Time in the Clouds by @Fatale (femme) [one of my all-time fav authors, every time i come by a piece i have not read yet, is like a huge YAY, what a talent. so this piece is an AU of something called “sky high”, which i have no idea about, but luved it nevertheless, Alec is born to a family of Supers, and is going to school for children with superpowers, but he himself is yet to manifest any.]

Quite Magical by @lorenzobane [Hogwarts AU, and what an adorable thing it was! granted, i’ve never actually read any of HP books, this was such a delight though... alec is bad at potions, and magnus has to tutor him *wink*]

Chef AU

the way to a chef’s heart by @lecrit [okay, the GIANT SMILE one’s face acquires when one finds out there is a new lecrit fic ≧◠‿◠≦ ≧◠‿◠≦ ≧◠‿◠≦ was reading it, and legitimately squealing like a feral piglet all the way through, cause i fucking luv every single word this woman writes, is like a tiny endorphin explosions in my brain. i know am a hopeless fangirl, but i’ll die on this hill. the way she gets malec, and every variation of them in her works just makes me go (❁´◡`❁) every. single. time.]

kids in the kitchen by @perpetual_journey [cuteness personified, malec are both chefs, and magnus is a single father of max and rafe, and go and read ittttttttt, its that soft content we all need in our lives sometimes]

Knives at the Ready by @harrysglasses [restaurant AU, that is supposed to be a malec rendition of Burnt (am guessing it’s a movie...?), and what a sweet treat it was! i liked author’s style, this is the kind of smooth, unproblematic content one would require to take repose from all the heart-clenching longing i’ve been reading lately... delightful piece to ease thy soul]

Single Parent AU

I Knew From the First Time by @KlaineJane [emmm, excuse you, dear author, who gave you the right to use Rafe and Max to get to my heart, and be generally so fucking cute??? Alec is a single dad of both rascals, that has a meeting with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and Chairman meets new friends]

And Then I Met You by @everydayfandom [malec are single parents of max and rafe respectively, and alec gets called in to school about the accident max was involved in...who doesn’t luv them some gud ol’ sweet piece of kidfic? those are like a soothing baths for your soul, and lightwood-bane kids are incapable of being anything less than extremely adorable in any interpretation, so]

College AU

Don’t say goodnight by @alistoney [this the kinda lighthearted content i am always here for - College AU]

One year and a bottle of whiskey by @CryptidBane [yassssss, yet another version of the College AU, but with malec as both clueless and pining professors, this type of fic i can read endlessly]

All is Fair in Love and War by @LadyOxymoron [aaaaaaaa, what was this adorableness *major heart-eyes* what a piece, mashallah, college professors AU, where magnus is new in town, and malec is engaging in an elaborate prank war, which, undoubtedly, is nothing more than a prolonged foreplay (c), what a gem]

Canon Divergence

oh, i’ve waited for you by @manticoremoons [so, the fic is happening a little bit further in a timeline, than the books or the series, and Alec is around 30, and... married to Lydia. i know, i know, it almost stopped me from proceeding, and boi am i glad it hasn’t completely, cause it is a damn good piece!]

Hey There Demons, It’s Me (Your Dream Boyfriend) by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [how many recs of this author can i make, without being deemed obsessed? cause y’all should go and read every single thing they wrote, stat. this adorableness is outta this world, literally - magnus’ summoning went sideways, and the loft ends up populated with the teenage ghost-demon, who is very clearly enamored with alexander... all kinds of fluff ensue]

Something Else verse by @CryptidBane (Impetus) [maybe it’s my fever talking, but i am such a sucker for memory loss AUs, and SH fandom has the richest canon base for those, yay! this time, it’s an AU verse after 3x10: rather than asking for his magic, Asmodeus curses magnus by taking away memories from everyone who’s ever loved him, in exchange for freeing jace from lilith’s thrall... oh, what a beautiful and delicious angst ensues]

Home by @otppurefuckingmagic [waaaaaaaaat... *sits with her mouth open* how did you....? how did he...? damnnnnnnnnn you authors in this fandom, stop being so talented!!!! this is uncannily brilliant]

I’ll hold on until you’re home by @alistoney [how dare you sir, right in the feels... the missing scene in the midst of 3x18/3x19, when magnus realizes what his idiot of a boyfriend has done, and confronts him about the Asmodeus deal]

First time for everything by @nebulein [“Nowhere in a Shadowhunters’ job description does it read ‘must look adorable while infatuated with the local High Warlock’.” - series of firsts written with such tenderness and adoration for characters, that it warms your heart while reading, - it shows how much the author cares for them. it is not finished, but whatever has already been written, is gold]

Fake dating AU

The Great Repression by @CryptidBane (Impetus) [although it might not be exactly my regular cup of tea, i still appreciate this author’s style so damn much, and the way they do malec dynamic overall, so it’s here. magnus is a camboy, and alec is hired to protect him from a stalker]

Friends to lovers

Family is Family by @hexicity [my brains are fried by the covid, so any coherent rec would be unlikely right about now, but the softness of this <333 alec sees an ad about a free room, and when he moves in, he finds way more, than he bargained for... gave me a bit of a “happy, shiny people everywhere” vibe, and that’s an automatic rec in my books, so]

Spinning Around In Circles by @lemonoclefox [my fav friends to lovers/mutual pining trope, here you are, and what a pretty pretty wrapper are you wearing - absolutely amazing interpretation of a trope, that seems to has been done to death, and yet here i am, never able to get enough of it <3]

If it walks like a duck by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [this. i was reading this. and after every single word. all i wanted to do was get down on one knee and propose to this person. i dunno who the hell you is, but.... how did you do this? it was... another level of fanfiction.]

Neighbors AU

Meow 17:1 Love Thy Neighbor by @high-warlock-of-brooklyn [again, not a fan of drabbles, but who could resist such softness??? Neighbors AU, where Chairman takes some lessons he learnt from “Parent trap” to heart, and alec is a stumbling mess, but he gets shit done, kudossssssss]

Various AU mix

Solid courage by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [how goddamn CUTE was dat???? answer - the cutest. mashallah people in this fandom can write]

Paper Love by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [it would not be an exaggeration to admit i thoroughly fell in love with this author’s style, i mean, all and every version of their malec is all kinds of awesome. this one is no exception - catarina works in the library, and malec have to take madzie out to a coffee shop, cause their obnoxious flirting is too loud for the quaint environment of catarina’s workplace.... it’s tiny and so so sooooooo sweet]

make no bones by @ohfreckle [yaaaaaaaaay, what a cutie, tiny preciousness about magnus having an awful day and taking it out on a no-good useless building super, simply delightful]

Freud is a Dick by @sanctuary_for_all [Alec works in IT firm, and accidentally sends someone else’s dick pick to his boss, whom he has a crush on... do i need to say more]

shadows in moonlight by @kaeg [damnnnnnn, son, that was a ride!! something exquisitely soulful, tender and so, so poetic... young malec meet in summer vacation home, and it will take your breath away in the best way possible... warning, it is unfinished, but whatever was written, is absolute preciousness]

For the Love of the Game by @TicklemyPickle [Hockey AU, where malec were childhood friends, but had a falling out, and were not in touch for the last 7 years, until magnus gets traded in to alec’s team... i was somewhat unsure about reccing this, as some of the choices author made regarding their dynamic did not exactly resonate with me, but decided to go on, because, god as my witness, one thing this world definitely needs more of - is malec Hockey AUs, word upppp]

Love Is A Gamble by @la-muerta [i myself do not completely understand, why has it taken me so long to get to the “The importance of elsewhere” author’s most famous piece, but i finally have, it was amazeballs, like, the world-building...? off the charts. the language, the moral struggle, what a gem. alec is a grumpy and surely sheriff *duh!!!* of a tiny town, and magnus strolls in being all... well, magnus-y, and opens a gambling house, the potential!!! anyway, i highly doubt this piece needs recs, so imma zip it]

@ohprongs [this author has too many tiny pieces i like to name them individually, but as far as reccing goes, they should def be mentioned here for their effortless, seamless style, and clear love for the characters in all interpretations, that simply shines through all and any AUs they choose to put malec in]

special mention:

@theleftboobgrabber [i wasn’t aware that at this stage it was still possible to come by someone like this. the author, who’s style would impress me so. that unbelievably glorious Mafia AU, absolutely delightful and literally perfect My mama don’t like you series, and something that went straight to my top-5 - MI6 AU ohhhhh, that MI6 AU... i have no coherent words to express the depths of my appreciation, this is unbelievable fucking talent for writing malec]

[wonwvoo]

Content Creator Year in Review

tagged and mentioned by the talented people @xuseokgyu, @coupsnim, @uriboogyu, @myunqho, @art-hao thank you so much for either tagging me or mentioning me in this, im so happy and sorry it took so long ;-;

first creation of 2020:

ahh it was this fear gfx i made when i came back to tumblr

most recent creation of 2020:

joshua one i did for his birthday!

one of your favourite creations from 2020:

its my wonwoo one ;-; i love love how the first panel turned out

a creation you are really proud of:

probably my poster one, because i determined myself to use scenes from the mv as background and im glad it turned out pretty

a new style you tried this year and a work that uses it:

mingyu one, it was my first time to do a themed one and it was kinda harder than i thought to follow a certain theme

a creation that took you forever:

joshua brithday one, i started it at the start of december but i kept changing my mind and i think i had abut 10 different panels to choose from, it was painfulll

your creation from 2020 that received the most notes:

my poster one! im glad it got the most notes, that is the only gfx i made i think its pretty

a creation you think deserved more notes:

my wonwoo one ;-; i love this set and i think it deserved more love but it is what it is and we move on :))

a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it:

hmm i didnt do this but i guess i came back to tumblr after like 4 years? does that count..

a creation you made that breaks your heart:

i dont really think i have one? but maybe my dwc one because it turned out pretty but i wanted to make way different one and it wasnt turning out the way i wanted to so i just went with it

a simple creation that you really love:

wasnt really simple to make but again my wonwoo one hahaha can you see how bitter i am 

a creation that was inspired by another one:

i dont think i have one?

a favourite creation created by someone else & some of your favourite cc from the year:

im gonna combine these two bc ill mention some of my fav cc and fav creators from them! i wont be tagging any of you bc i think its too late? but please feel free to do it if you havent already done so id love to see it and also bc i wanted to mention those who mentioned me :)

@xuseokgyu: its this one for sure! i still remember thinking it was a real poster, belle is the best when it comes to doing posters for fanfics, id never have the determination and skill to do something for so specific

@coupsnim: i never properly looked at your edits, damn all of them is so nice. you know how people press flowers in books? somehow it makes feel the same way, so delicate and elegant? i cant find the words but i love all of your edits, if i had to mention one its this one! its so retro-ish but so different retro feeling, i cant describe it well but pls know i love it!! also shinee blog? im coming for this blog when i revamp my blogs

@uriboogyu: i also never properly looked at your stuff and there is so much pretty stuff on there, i just fell in love instantly when i saw this tho! i love the transitions, typos and everything, the patience to do these kind of edits? i admire, and your love for bread seungkwan is so cute ;-; (we are mutuals btw hehe my main blog is not this one so you were probably confused)

@myunqho: i love your colouring so much!! they all look so soft, i think they are the prettiest gifs ;-; but if i had to choose one, its this one. when i saw the colouring in this, i gasped, its sooo pretty

@art-hao: i love love this one!! i used to buy these japanese fashion magazines when i was in high school and it reminded me so much of those! thank you for mentioning my poster, please know this edit also stole my heart and hasnt returned it. also i love your unfinished thingy, it looks so pretty!!

and some of my favs:

@johajaho: i love this art, i feel blessed whenever i look at it, i love your style!

@seungwoonies: this one is so colourful i love it, positioning of those three, the typo, colours, everything!!

& so much more, but my small brain can’t remember a lot now. im so glad caratrevival happened and there were so much good content out there. i hope 2021 blesses us with a lot more creations and let’s support each other bc now i know why people were saying blogs only like and not reblog, it is painful ;-;

and also happy new year!! hope everyone enjoyed little bit of holiday spirit even in this tough times :)

[aloera]

The ask prompt is too long to fit into an ask TT_TT but here's the doc for it docs(.)google(.)com/document/d/1yDI7iFRhOJ8ENv_IwZAo3rDSUqj80EiJROS10RzRbj4/edit

the lengths u are going for this,,, much appreciated you're very sweet!!!

prompts + answers under the cut!!

INTRODUCTION

Name: aloera

AO3 account: aloera

Fandoms you write for: bnha

How many stories have you written so far: 19

FANFICTION PROFILE

What's your favorite fandom to write for? hmm,,, used to do pjo and eah (ever after high) and eah was fun as fuck i will say!!! i think bnha is my fav mostly bc i made the most friends in this fandom :D

What's your favorite character/person to write for? bkg and kirishima!! cannot choose do not make me <3

Fic you'd want to improve? probably what we deserve? i rushed the beginning and the confession is a bit stilted imo

Hardest fic you've written? between lion and men -_- bc there is so much canon compliant stuff i've gotta write out before i get to the divergence and its HARD

Easiest fic you've written? come home to me!!! it happened so easily,,, no second guessing no writers block just vibes <33 was lovely i miss it

What would you say is the most "famous" fic you've ever written? also probably come home to me? its got the most interaction

first line of the first fic you've ever written and published. [not including my 2014 ffnet fics] "The bell rings, class starts, and Katsuki and Midoriya are inexplicably absent." from come home to me

Have you ever done a collab with another writer? yes!!!!! on two separate occasions and its so fucking fun i highly recommend trying it out its the best

Do you beta? if asked but honestly im a shit beta lmao

Do you like joining fic fests/exchanges? depends on what i have going on irl but in general yeah!!

FANFICTION PREFERENCES

Fluff or angst? definitely fluff

"OCs" or "Reader" inserts? reader inserts!! have been going ham on them recently

Blurbs or drabbles? blurbs!!

One thing you love about fanfiction i just. i really love slice of life romance?? and most media doesn't give you that bc its dedicated to plot and action and that's valid!! but fanfiction fills in the gap which is really nice

One thing you don't like about fanfiction most of the stuff i don't like is less about actual fanfiction and more about how people behave about it

What is/are your favorite fandom author/authors? IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!! TURN IT UP!!!

bnha: hiuythn, rae_tnub, Moniix, Ata_Lanta, wrunic, chezka, PurplePersnickety, surveycorpsejean, mahadevi, arxaris, deviance, Oceanbreeze7, MikeWritesThings, bonnia, wonhaebunny, dinosuns

voltron: hiuythn, Oceanbreeze7, DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee, arahir, dinosuns,

and honorable mention to loveclouds im not even in the haikyuu fandom i just love their fics So Much

these are just the ones off the top of my head i have so many favourites idc if i'm only supposed 2 have one!! die mad about it!!!

What is your favorite trope? secret relationship + relationship reveal til the day i die babie <3 <3

Least favorite trope? hm,,, probably just like. angst lmao i cannot stand 90% of it

A fanfiction cliché that you can't help but love? coffeeshop aus,,,, so good

Do you have a type when it comes to pairings? the otp where its like. piece of shit + himbo = love. ex. krbk, catradora, jade/beck

Favorite setting/au? hm,,, truly i cannot pick one KGKSJNHKj but i really like college aus!! and modern aus!! and roommate aus!!

Explain the meaning of your favorite line of dialogue you've written as if someone hasn't read it in context. “He doesn’t know,” Katsuki says, softly. “My timer stopped and nothing happened. He’s not mine.”

the line is from what we deserve!! it's a soulmate au where your timer counts down to the moment that you meet your soulmate!! bakugou's timer ends at USJ when he and kirishima attack kurogiri at the same time (impulsive kings <33) but kirishima's timer doesn't end until kamino because that's when he accepts himself as bakugous soulmate!! unfortunately, when bakugous timer has reached 0, he turned to see that kirishima's was still ticking and therefore believes that kirishima isn't his soulmate.

this line just,, idk. it's really sad. bakugou is such an action-driven character? if something doesn't go his way he Makes it go his way. he's got this insanely volatile quirk and he's got impeccable control of it!! but his love for kirishima isn't something that he can change and he's not going to ruin kirishima's chance of finding his own soulmate because he loves him and wants him to be happy. i really wanted to focus on how resigned he is? and how unusual that is for a character like him.

Favorite trope/genre to write? again, secret relationship with relationship reveals <33 fluff in general is my wheelhouse!!!

A trope/genre you haven't written but think would be a fun challenge? idk if this counts?? have been working on some dead dove concepts!! its super different from what i normally write so its a cool challenge

The one trope/concept you'll never touch and why probably cheating/infidelity?? it just looks,,, super difficult to write well and i don't have enough of an interest in it to try it out

Which do you prefer to write: longer or shorter fics? shorter!! low attention span gang <3

Ideal length to read? 5-10k?

Ideal length to write? 4-8k!!

How long was the longest fic you've ever written? control fraek is around 28k i think?

Have you ever written an AU? yeah!! i've done restaurant au's, soulmate au's, pro hero aus, and fantasy aus (general, not the bnha fantasy ending)

What's your favorite AU trope? hm,, probably when two people in authority are in a secret relationship? ceo's/uni professors/etc etc

Have you ever written smut? yeah!! was. difficult tho

What's your comfort genre? (the one you fall on most in writing/reading) fluff,,, hurt/comfort,,, fix-it fics with happy endings <3

If you were to start writing in other fandoms, which would they be? maybe jjk?? the characters are really cool!!!! fr i might go back to my ever after high roots i love the characters and setting so Much its so fun!!! idec if no ones into it anymore!!!!!

Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? i've had people say they saw the mention of buff hagakure and recognized it was me so. probably that skdjhnksjd

WRITING STYLE

How would you describe your style? i tend to use shorter sentences and pretty simple words i think? and i gravitate towards lighthearted concepts that allow for ensemble casts and humour!!

Describe your style in three words romcom but fanfic

Favorite words to use when writing? the word reverent!! fuckin love including it!!

Dialogue tags or no dialogue tags? (she said, he said, they said, etc) dialogue tags!!!

Favorite dialogue tag (other than said, if you use them) again idk if this counts but "they said softly" is unmatched

Long sentences vs short vs a mix short <33

What colors would you use to describe your writing? hm,,, depends on the fic i would say?? control fraek is dark green to me?? kinda like a forest at night yk?? scary but there's still life there. sugar cookies is yellow like early morning sunlight, when it rains is yellowy-orange like a caution sign. not gonna list all of them cause theres a lot its just. do u get it? the colours change based on the vibe of the fic.

What song or music genre would you use to describe your writing? think. i am constantly trying to emulate that moment at the end of wasteland baby when hozier goes "im in love/im in love with you."

What kind of metaphors do you rely on? religious metaphors my beloved <33 they're just so pretty!!! i also love comparing stuff to water for some reason?? like that ocean vuong quote thats like "what are you now?/water." it goes hard!!!

What's something you'd say is experimental in your writing at this time? definitely action!! i have,,, no idea how to write it so anything i do is really just me playing around and seeing what works and what doesn't

Do you prefer to write by hand or to type? i've tried both!! personally i prefer typing because it goes way faster but i will say that writing by hand lets me get words down when i'm going through writer's block

What is your preferred place to write (notebook, laptop, cellphone, etc.)? laptop!!

What app/apps do you use to write (word, notepad, etc.)? google docs skjdnkjh its fine on desktop but mobile is,,,,, disgusting

Do you keep a notebook or file/notes page in your phone/device for notes on your writing? ngl i just have everything organized in my drive?? one folder per fandom and then sub folders for ideas+hcs, unfinished wips, and finished fics. multichaps get sub sub folders so i can organize outlines and drafts

Do you listen to music to help you write? yeah!! playlists organized by fic vibe :D

Where do you usually go to write (bedroom, living room, etc.)? mostly in my bedroom??? but moving around to different stops helps too i think!!

How long does it usually take for you to write? again this depends on what i have going on irl, how attached i am to the idea, my mindset at the time, etc!! i am,, the least consistent person skjnhdkjh.

What's your favorite font to use when writing? times new roman my beloved

Other writing habits? sometimes i'll write in the dark?? bad for my eyes but for some reason it gets the words flowing

CONCEPTUALIZATION

How do you conceptualize your ideas? (See specific moments like they're a movie, writing specific lines in your head, don't know until you put the words on paper, etc.) i tend to get inspiration from movies, books, poems, or other fics!!! sometimes one line just makes me go oh,, i want to write something like that,,, and then it helps me create an idea that makes me feel the same way?? i did this with control fraek!!!! i wanted a scenario where bakugou was cold and calculating and i was like hm. to do that he’d have to be focusing on something important. and from there i was able to flesh out the rest of the idea.

Which comes first: the pairing or the plot? with krbk its always always the pairing,, i'll be sitting there like wow <33 i love them <33 what if one of them had amnesia <33 (which, yes, wip!!) otherwise it's usually the plot!! and i slot in characters that i feel make sense

Have you ever used a prompt? yeah!! used a prompt for wlw week 2020 and it was fun as hell

Do you write around the story around a specific scene you want to get to or do you start from a plot idea definitely the first!!!! i almost always write like,,, a super messy scene thats 90% dialogue, keep it in my head, and then write the entire fic around that one moment

Do you find that you include a projection of some part of yourself in the way you write a character? a lot of the time when i write love confessions or love in general i'll have one of the characters think or say that the other person makes their head quiet? and it's because that's what i feel whenever i'm in love?? a quiet mind. i project on characters yeah but i think most of the projection actually goes to the way that i write love

Do you research some of the things you write deeply, partially and kind of wing the rest, or play entirely by ear (in this case, go with whatever base knowledge of the subject you have)? most of the time if i do research it'll be about the setting (ex. the izakaya in to have and to hold) or if i'm having the characters interact with an object that they like. need to know how to use (me, in control fraek: google. hey google. does someone die if they get shot in the foot??? no???? awesome thank u <3)

Have you ever had an idea for a story and forgot about it? lmaoo yeah all the time i'll find like 500-2k words of concepts in my gdocs like i do. not remember this at all

Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? probably krbk secret relationship lmao

Are there concepts you've tried that turned out better than expected? yeah!! i fully thought the action in control fraek would be awful but it turned out not bad??? which im happy with

Are there concepts you've tried that turned out worse than you expected? again, what we deserve, i personally think it would have worked out better if i'd paced it slower and drawn out the pining but i. do not feel like going back to fix it so its staying the way that it is. pining is so fucking hard to do AHHHH i get so tired with it!!! im like just date already!!!!

PROCESS

How do you come up with titles? in rare occasions (literally. all my multichaps for some reason) the title comes after writing like .5 words of the first chapter im like YES this is it!!!!! sometimes i write the whole thing and pick out one line that fits (what i did with come home to me) a lot of the time i just. steal from songs or poems that i like

What's your favorite emotion to cause on your readers? i like making people happy!!!! love when people comment saying they're cheered up

What's your favorite emotion to write? lovelovelovelovelovelove

Have you ever cried or felt any emotion while reading something you've written? never cried?? but sometimes i'll rereading my hurt/comfort fics 4. yk. comfort

Do you write in order or whatever comes to you? in order!! unless i have a scene that i Need to write and i'll quickly jot it down so that i don't forget

Usual way you procrastinate while writing? ...doing asks like this, making playlists, discord, watching netflix. what don't i do smh

Do you outline or free write? i am. so shit at outlines. i mostly free write and write lil notes for stuff that i wanna add later

Do you set word goals or scene goals (scenes you want to include)? yes!! like i said i'll write loose notes for scenes that i want to add later!! it gives me something to write towards :D

What do you consider when writing your scenes? what goes into making the atmosphere and mood you want? to set a scene i do two things? the first is like,, the five senses bc that always sets the scene really well and makes it feel Real. i'll visualize stuff in my head like its a movie and write out what i would want to tell the set designer?? if the lights are low, if the space is busy, if it's supposed to exude comfort or not.

for putting forward the character's mood one thing i've found that makes a difference is sentence length!! long sentences are good for making a character seem flustered and nervous or not really in control of their emotions? good for love confessions. short sentences are good for when the character is focused on something or short on time. good for fights!!

What's something you never considered to include in your writing that you can't leave out now? def buff hagakure,,,, once i thought of it i was like. if i don't include this at least once in every single fic how could i look at myself in the mirror!!!!!! how could i face anyone!!!!

How do you start a story? establishing a fact about the character or describing the setting! option a is one single thread of gold, option b is between lion and men

How do you end a story? either by tying it back to the beginning or doing like a funny kind of closing??? option a is sugar cookies, option b is a godless society

How do you get out of writer's block? change something!! move something!! i go from typing to handwriting, moving from my bedroom to my living room, switching wips to work on something else!! i do sprints as well?? give myself like fifteen minutes to write something and sometimes 200 words opens up the way for another 2k. sometimes i'll just delete like 500 words and start fresh

Do you edit? or do you toss your writing out there? i edit!!! i'll go over it myself then send it to one or two betas (bee my beloved <33)

How do you edit? do you use spellcheck, grammar checkers, etc? bee is my grammar checker bc he is So Good with grammar. i use grammarly as well for spellcheck stuff mostly?? sometimes my edit process is just like "am i tired of looking at this!! yes <3" and then i post it

PROGRESS

Do you usually like what you write? yeah!!! i post stuff that makes me happy and that i'm fine with rereading!!! i write stuff for self-indulgence reasons first and foremost and i think my writing reflects that sjhnksj

Have you ever written something you didn't like but posted anyways? nope!! even what we deserve i LIKED even if i see a lot of room 4 improvement!! if i don't like smth it's not getting posted

Do you find yourself rereading your writing often? yeah!! the reason i wrote so much krbk secret relationship is because i loved it but i'd read all that there was so i just,, wrote more,, ngl its kinda nice being in a place where i actually like my writing bc i can write stuff that i want to see and really enjoy it!!

Can you tell us anything about your current WIP? sure!! i'm currently working on when it rains which is a fic where bakugou gets hit by a crying quirk!! i'm gonna be using it to explore So Much of all might's character and his relationships with bakugou and aizawa (and i think some people from his past!!)

Can you give us a sneak peek on your current WIP? “You did something. What the hell did you do?” Kirishima sounds pissed off. It would amuse Katsuki if he wasn’t fighting just to stay standing.

“Nothing he didn’t ask for,” Shinsou replies.

“K’ri… shima,” Katsuki croaks out. “‘S fine. Not him.”

His chest collapses back into the familiar dry heaving after that but Kirishima shuts up. He doesn’t apologize to Shinsou.

Kirishima’s a good friend, stubborn and loyal. He stands by Katsuki’s side like an attack dog, blocking him from the view of anyone ogling at his tears.

The last line you've written Ochako knows more than she'd realized. She knows enough to keep her guard up.

It’s not enough.

Open a wip. what’s the first line?

Katsuki wakes up feeling like absolute fucking shit.

INSIGHT

What's your favorite thing about writing? touched on this before but it's mainly just being able to write the things that i want to see and actually enjoy them!!! actually reread them!!!! i thought "wouldn't it be cool if bkg and kirishima owned a restaurant together" and then i wrote it and i like it enough to reread it!!!! being able to create content for myself makes me. so happy

How do you keep yourself inspired? this is gonna sound narcissistic maybe but honestly i'm just really excited about my ideas and where i'm gonna take them and the idea of "i'm gonna get to That scene" keeps me going through the entire thing. also my friends!!!! i'll talk to them about fics and their reactions keep me hyped up enough to finish!!!!

What is your favorite thing to write? just,, slice of life romance,,, stuff thats silly and makes people laugh!!

What do you think your strengths are in writing? i'm good with dialogue!! i do lil voice acting sessions with myself to make sure everything sounds natural and like it's coming from that character skhjnskj

i'm comfortable with my portrayal of love as well??? i spend a lot of time thinking about what it is exactly that i'm trying to get across and i think it turns out well!!

What are things you wish you could practice more? on one hand i wanna get better at writing angst on the other hand i dislike writing angst. do you see my issue

One way you've improved your writing since you began? characterization!! i think i've gotten better at writing characters that are all Different and bring different things to the table!!! i used to project a lot more and it would compromise the characterization because the character was like 70% me and 30% them? not to say that projection is bad but if you do it too much it just,, doesn't read like the character and from a reader's standpoint the narrative can become less compelling

One aspect of writing you're still working on? writing action!!! i. literally hate writing it but i write for a fandom about superheroes so. Unfortunately i gotta learn.

A piece of writing advice you've learned while writing saw this on another tumblr post but they said sometimes if you're struggling with a scene, the problem is five lines back. i've found that to be true!!!! sometimes u gotta delete a chunk and start a little ways back!! i did this with too busy being yours because i was stuck for Weeks and i deleted like 25% of what i had but it helped me actually finish it :D

A bit of writing advice you can't stand when people shit on show don't tell for being overrated lmao bc when u read their writing you can Tell

Something you wish you knew when you first started writing? ,,,,honestly i kind of wish i could know some of the stuff that i used to when i first started writing?? technically i'm better now but creatively i was must better when i wasn't stressing about whether anyone would like what i was writing. so i guess i wish i knew that i should keep that confidence? i kinda wish that i wasn't as insecure about other people's writing styles because i never used to be!!

Something you've learned in life that you apply in writing there's no point in feeling inferior?? writing one genre isn't better than the other. being in one fandom isn't better than being in another. the kind of language you use or the length of your paragraphs- none of that stuff like. matters. what matters is that you're having fun and happy with what you're creating!!!! enjoy other peoples writing but don't let it make you feel worse about yours :D

[silvormoon]

Fanfic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @heleentje !

How many works do you have on AO3? Currently, 101. That’s not counting the stuff that’s on FF.N. Counting those would put me over 300 stories. I should move them over someday...

What’s your total AO3 word count?       1,945,164

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? On AO3, it’s Boueibu, Happy Kiss, a few different flavors of YGO, Yuuri on Ice!, Jeweler Richard, Fairy Ranmaru, and RobiHachi. My FFN account also has fics for the Power Rangers, The Slayers, Pokemon, and some other odds and ends. I wrote a Warriors of Virtue fic once and that’s getting darned obscure.

What are your top five fics by kudos? 5. Plot Contrivances (142) 4. Perfections (153) 3. Clause 214 (165) 2. Sales Report (179) 1. In Capable Hands (332)

And just for fun: My most-reviewed fic on FFN is “The Dragon’s Ring” with 342 comments, and my most favorited is “White Chicken” with 277 favs.

Do you respond to commets, why or why not? I try to, but like Earth, I am socially awkward, and I can’t always think of anything to say. I treasure every comment, though!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? “Carry Me”, which was a Digimon fic about a character dying of cancer. I’m not sure, in retrospect, why I thought that was a good idea.

Do you write crossovers?  If so, what’s the craziest one you’ve ever written? Occasionally. There’s an extremely silly one I did on FFN called “PokeMoon” that is, of course, a Sailor Moon/Pokemon crossover.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Now and again. FFN used to be really bad in terms of getting flamed if you wrote a ship someone didn’t like. I remember someone threatened me becasue I wrote Jou/Mimi when they shiped Koushiro/Mimi (but that guy was kind of notorious around the fandom and I don’t think anyone took him seriously). There’s a comment on “Sales Report” at FFN, telling me that they don’t see the point of the story and it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever written. As you can see above, it’s also one of my most popular fics. There’s just no pleasing some people. That one sticks in my memory, though, because I had planned to post a much larger fic later that week, but I was so disheartened by that comment that I didn’t bother, and the story is still sitting in my hard drive, unposted.

Do you write smut?  If so, what kind? Nope. I’m ace myself, and I lack the fundamental understanding of what it means for something to be “sexy” or why anyone would enjoy having, or reading about, sex. I can never figure out what to say about it so I just prefer to leave things to the imagination.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? A couple of times, yeah. Someone stole “Gifts of the Elements” from me, which made me really mad because not only did they repost it, they offered a bunch of editorial comments about what had been going through their mind when they wrote my story. Also someone reposted the aforementioned Warriors of Virtue fic, which was just... why would you even do that? It’s not like you’re going to get internet popular posting Warriors of Virtue.

Have you ever had a fic translated? A few times, yeah. I remember one or two of my Digimon fics got translated into German, and I think a couple of other languages too.

What’s your all time favorite ship? How on earth do I even choose? Obviously, Kinshiro/Atsushi from Boueibu is a big part of my fandom experience. I still have a soft spot for Jack/Carly and Ushio/Mikage from 5Ds. Destinyshipping from GX is a big one. And I am perhaps a little obsessed with whatevertheheck the Beppu twins have going on with Gora, in a “staring at the traffic accident” sort of way.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? If the fanfic genie would grant me one instantly completed fanfic, it would be “City People,” which was the planned sequel to “The Dragon’s Ring.” I have this 200+ page document on my hard drive. It is unfinished. I wish it was done.

What are your writing strengths? Description, possibly. And worldbuilding! I love me some worldbuilding. Plot structure in general.

What are your writing weaknesses? I feel like sometimes I over-explain things out of a need to get my point across. I’m trying to learn to be more economical with my words. Also dialogue, especially emotional dialogue.

What are your thoughts on writing dialoge in other languages in a fic? I’m not one to say “Never do this”, but I think it’s probably best used sparingly since I feel like it drags a reader out of the story if they suddenly don’t understand what they’re reading.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Power Rangers in Space. The story is still up on FFN if you want to go look. It’s called “Power Rangers: Operation Z” and started out as a way of me processing my grief at the end of PRiS and morphed (heh) into this whole... thing.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? There are so many I am proud of! But if I had to pick just one, “Dear Pen Pal” would be a strong contender, because I really did write that fic just for me, to please myself and express my feelings, and it didn’t really matter to me if anyone else liked it or not. Other options would be “Purple Flowers”, “The Silver Rose”, “DVD Case”, and “Tickets.”

[bran-who-writes-theoretically]

Julie and the Phantoms

~What I want~

-Y’all didn’t ask for this but guess what here are my thoughts anyway. They are based in nothing and are solely what I want. So here’s everything (I hope) in no particular order.

1. Let’s talk about Juke just to get it ~out of the way. TBH I cannot get around the age gap between Madison and Charlie. It’s so hard for me to see past it. I’m only a few months younger than Charlie and I literally could not imagine dating someone who was even in high school at all. I understand they wanted the guys to look the same age through the series so they had to cast older but.... eh. The only way I could really accept Juke would be if they kissed in the series finale just before the guys moved on. But really? I’d love to see them realize that they can’t be together because he’s dead. It would be SO interesting to see that, them having to stomp out the crush because it could only end in hurt for them both. I’d love to see them become super close/best friends. They have a connection, it just doesn’t have to be romantic. Also I’d really like to see her maybe end up with Flynn??? That would be so refreshing. You almost never see queer leads for kids shows and that would be awesome (P.S. even though it’s fine to ship Juke, even though I personally don’t, do NOTTTTTTTTT. I repeat NOT! Ship Madison and Charlie. I’ve seen other actors in older fandoms stop talking to each other because of fans shipping them. Please don’t do this to anyone. Remember he’s 21, and she’s 16).

2. Ghosts. They need to stay ghosts. Trust me, I want them to come back to life as much as y’all, but I don’t think there are any ways that they can bring them back that doesn’t feel like a cheat. Plus, I really really want the heartfelt goodbye from the guys in the last episode before they move on. What can I say? I love my bittersweet endings. Could you imagine the material they could give us? They could even bring Julies mom in to help the boys cross over.

3. I NEED to see more of the guys in the 90’s. I have a ton of questions. Some of which are: was Bobby always kinda to the side? How long was Luke gone? I want to see Reggie and Alex’s life. Who’s house was the studio at? (We can cross out Luke and Reggie, we’ve seen their houses/where they were.) but I have my own theory that it was Alex’s house before Julie’s family solely based on the reason that that’s why the guys were in there and why Alex lingers. But then that poses the reason why did his parents leave the house? Maybe because it was too hard to live there when they lived there with their son? But then that poses the question if they “forgave” him for being gay?

4. Reggie, I know he wasn’t intended to be, especially since I heard the “that was pretty hot!” scene was improvised, but I need him to be bi so bad. I am not sure I’m right, but I only have seen three (?) canonically bisexual characters on screen in my twenty years of life. And that’s Cheryl from Riverdale (😒) and my personal fav, Eleanor from The Good Place, and we also have a sprinkle of Korra in there. I literally cannot think of another. But lookie here! They’re all women, where are my bi guys (if you know any male bi characters? Send them my way👀). But seriously, Reggie has such potential to be great Bi rep! If I had seen a character like him I might have realized and accepted my sexuality way before I did. Because ironically I had a sexuality crisis at seventeen because a guy friend grabbed me by the shoulder and asked for my help not too different from Luke singing to Reggie lol!

5. Hollywood Ghost Club. I would really love to see more about it. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on, Caleb most likely made a deal with the devil. But I’d love to see the guys and Julie help free all of the other trapped spirits he’s lured into the club. Also, on the topic of ghosts as a whole, I wonder if there’s any negative effects on a ghost staying non earth too long. It happens a lot in movies/books. They almost turn into a wraith, a darker version, only a shadow of themselves. I wonder if it applies here too.

6. Oh dang, CASPER. As per my previous posts as I was writing this, I was backhanded with memories of one of my favorite childhood movies, which I just recently watched again. Above I say maybe Julies mom could help them cross over. But remember how Luke promises to talk to Julies mom once they cross over? What if they do just that. A line that struck a chord while watching the movie was from the mother’s scene when she comes back: “let’s just say you know three crazy ghosts that kept their word.” And y’all, when she said that line not gonna lie I nearly cried thinking about that for the show. She also mentions that because her family loved her so much, she doesn’t have any unfinished business. I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t have any unfinished business either. Casper came out in.... you guessed it.... 1995. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they got some inspiration from it. Not to mention that it’s also a kids movie that has some pretty serious moments that kinda shocked me with how sad they were rewatching as an adult. I guess that’s why I loved it so much.

7. Carrie. I really want to learn more about Carrie and Julies dynamic. We know they were friends (I’m assuming with Flynn too?) and had a falling out. But why? And in the last episode she’s clearly proud of Julie after the performance, so I really want them to make up and have her be part of the group again. And maybe learn the truth about the guys?

8. Willie and Alex, god I want them to be together so bad. Of course, Caleb owns willies soul, so that’s not great, so I’d definitely love that subplot of the group trying to free the ghosts of the HGC. We didn’t see Willie too much this season, so I hope we do get more time with him. Also, I absolutely need a big musical number like Perfect Harmony between Alex and Willie. The only time I’ve ever seen a scene like that between gay characters has been in Rock of Ages (an adult musical) with “can’t fight this feeling” and it was hilarious and I need something like it for this show because it would be super cute 🥺.

9. Not particularly a theory but I’m really wondering how long Caleb is going to be in Nick. Julie has already stated that she’s kinda over him, and that it would be unfair to lead him on... so what happens when he realizes she probably won’t take the bait. Other than that, I really hope Sasha has fun playing Caleb through Nick, it has the potential to be great.

10. I’m not exactly sure what their unfinished business is going to be, but I’m almost certain it has to deal with Julie somehow. But the ending absolutely has to be the guys moving on. The ending has to be big though. They have to play somewhere awesome and then they find out... they’re done here. I’d honestly like a whole episode just dedicated to their goodbye. The way I see it, the second to last episode can end with them smiling after the performance and then that smile fading just a little bit, because that was when they realized. Then the final episode will be then telling Julie (and anyone else who knows about them by then) and finally moving on. Here I’m torn. I’ve mentioned both above but let me get more in depth. Version one: the one I originally came up with. This dealt with when the guys are ready to move on, Julies mom would come and help guide them into crossing over. I really liked this idea for a while, until I watched Casper again. Version two: the one I now like better(?) is the guys moving on, and after they do, Julies mom comes back (where even Ray and Carlos can see her) because “let’s just say you know three crazy ghosts who kept their word.” Could you IMAGINE??? It would absolutely reduce me to bawling I want it right now. The reason I like this one a little more is because we can skip to a little while after everything, and she gets a sign from them (just like her mom sending her the flower in the S1 finale) to show that they are still watching over her. And then we fade to black.

So that’s most of my thoughts on this show, if there’s typos in this I absolutely don’t care at all I wrote this instead of doing college work.

[alphaofdarkness]

I wish to know more of your awesome OCs!! So, 19, 22(or maybe as an alternative if they don't, something you mischaracterize on some of them by mistake? Odd, but I sometimes mess up my own ocs XD), 23, 24, 26, and 32 for the OC questions!!

Oh! You beautiful person you! 💖🥺 Of course I shall tell you more about my many, many ocs! Hopefully I can fulfill! 🥰🤗

More undercut because this turned out to be very long ~ 😅

19.  Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why).

Aw, honestly all my OC’s mean so much to me! It is hard to play favorites sometimes lol. Though, if I had to choose, I’m going with two of them!

Samantha, or Sam, is definitely my baby and has definitely developed so much from her original self. Nonetheless, still the same shy, curious girl who has a big role to uphold as chosen Beta to her Alpha. Plus, being a Legendary Wolf Warrior of Light, even more so! Still, despite many the many hardships and obstacles she has faced, she is still hopeful and a total sweetheart. She just wants a settled life and live her with her closest pack mates. 

I have definitely put her though the ringer a lot, emotionally and even explored just several internal things with her. I know Danielle is meant to be me in a sense, but personality and emotional wise, I am more like this lovely Angel. Best girl and everyone loves her!

Second is definitely Danielle (my BsD self insert). Personally, because I have started to embrace her and give her more of my personality and who I really am. Still keeping her as her own person with her struggles, in some aspects, but giving her more of me as well. She has definitely allowed me to have some more self love for myself. Even if it is come and go on most days. She has just grown to be more of a gradual part of me in the recent years since I got into Bsd. I truly love her as she gives me a reason to embrace the parts of me I never would have considered so much or even just not like about me.

Self shipping has definitely also helped, I just love Dany very much and hold her close, please she may be stubborn but she is hella fragile ;;;w;;;

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

Hm, I wouldn't say anyone has mischaracterized my characters so much that I know of, maybe my parents whenever there is a moment they see my Oc’s and just make a judgement on them on the spot lol.

I suppose me mischaracterizing my OCs would probably be the Seven Deadly Soul Sins? Maybe ^^, These seven, practically, ghost entities of the Seven Deadly Sins are meant to be perceived as the worst possible people/wolves. Their existence is the reason people do bad things and are the negative contrast to the Legendary Wolf Warriors. 

Take an old, unfinished draw of all 7 of them together~

I know what they are, how they behave, what their very existence and presence entails. However, I have come to the bad tendency of redemption in my line of story telling, I often find myself back and forth whether there is any redeemable qualities that should be given to them considering their very existence and such. Envy, or Evelyn, is one that I can definitely see having something on that accord, but she is still at her core bad. 

I don't know if I am saying this correctly or even answering the question well lol. But yeah, I say my Deadly Sin OC’s often can be mischaracterized in a way. I can definitely picture them being top favs if my story was an actual thing. I support the fans in all they come lol ^^

 23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

I can't think of one I changed too much out of concern for what they are like that I can remember to be quite honest ^^, 

I guess maybe Wisler? I know when I first came up with the start up concept of the LWW, I never intended for him to be a previous Warrior. It was always meant to be Dany’s Aunt who possessed it and Wisler was just a precautious elder wolf who needed to teach her to better her powers, less she gives it up like his daughter had. 

Of course, the whole concept and idea, just gives way for him to have been a possible warrior in the past. If anything I just the developed the idea more and made it more of a tragedy for Wisler. Normally, the concept of being a LWW is meant to be a blessing, a gift bestowed by a greater power, but to him, after giving up his power and remaining upon the world, he just sees it as a curse. Pride only solidified that into his mind. Nonetheless, he becomes a mentor to the other warriors to better themselves and keep them from giving up their power.

Second, was more of a momentary interest in the Chronicles of Narnia and being ever so salty about Susan being left behind, while her family died and went to Narnia ;;;w;;; 

Silly thing really, but literally chose, out of all the warriors, Lidia to be the one to be left alive, from whatever scenario I had at the time, because she refused her soul gift of the LWW’s. It was a momentary silly concept, I don't know why I would chose her for this scenario at all, she doesn’t deserve that ;;w;;

If anything, the ones that I can picture are Yamato and Danielle, just because of their mental state and emotional turmoil under such a heavy weight of loss. It was a silly concept I had thought of once, and just cry little at the thought ;;w;; 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Heck, I would love to meet all of them... and heavy apologize for all the hell I've put them all through ;;;w;;;

But Jason~ most definitely...Not cause I self ship myself with him or anything but UwU,,, He is a sweetheart and a beautiful boi ~ I want to love him and give him a soft life pls.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? 

Ahh,,, All of them, in a way? ^^; my middle self was something else entirely~

I think design wise, most if not all my warriors, are still the same. Maybe just a few new upgrades in their fur shade, colored eyes, and maybe their human designs too. Most definitely will change more in the future, just for the sake of bettering myself to draw people.

Old, high school art~ Cringe 

Any new design change is purely out of being in a more better mindset of design and just development of what make them unique. I have definitely changed all of their Soul Markings, I have changed Lidia’s name from Leafia recently, Taka’s formerly sky blue eyes to more of a pale green, Sora’s former tail scar to the claw ones on her shoulder, etc.

Origin, personality and relation wise on the other hand, GRADUAL SHIFT! Some points:

Sora, Yamato, and Takaru are heavily inspired by the Digimon Adventure kids of the same name, I kept their surnames of the ones from the series for a long time into at most Junior Year of High School. Til I learned, if I want to make them my own, I have to change this entirely!

So Sora, Yamato, and Takaru are definitely different entirely from their original selves, personality and kind of design wise.

Sam was kind of meant to be like Kari from Digimon in a way, but heavily refused to name her that or make her in similarity of the character.

Another Oc of mine named Jacob Wolfe was originally going to be the Warrior of Earth before I came up with Lidia.

There was originally meant to be just 5 Warriors, Lidia and Jason not yet part of it and, surprisingly, neither was Danielle.

Jason was originally named Damien and was kind of, for a while, Danielle’s twin sibling... Changed that drastically and entirely after renaming him to Jason.

Originally, had some other mythical beasts living amongst them in the Forest of Dreams, like dragons and gryphons for a while.

Originally, played with the idea of the warriors coming back to life if they didn't give up their powers, but... after much though it just became more of a “too cheesy of choice?” Especially for an ending thing before the next generation kids come in, it was just not an option after a while.

These are just some that I can think of at the top of my head at least, I am sure there is much more scrap things in my mind lol.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? 

...God I don't want any of them to fecking die grueso-(I should shut my mouth actually),,, even though I will admit I did internally put my warriors into a shitty thought-out idea of them in a Final Destination scenario...

Ahh, may Yamato in a way as that stoic, hardened protagonist with the will too try and survive, Wrath is his counter self sin, I find that fitting in a way. Same with Jason, just because of his slight nativity to being a warrior and how he left his former abusive living from his alpha and stepfather. Oddly enough, maybe Sam? Just because of her ability to see the worst things to happen in the future, but I am not sure lol.

Am thinking of the new Resident Evil game I see floating around with some gamer youtubers and I can see Yamato and/or Jason in the position and setting.

—✨——✨——✨—

I truly enjoyed all these questions! It gave me time to think and reflect on my ocs! I do hope you enjoy some old, blurred and unfinished art from ya wolf girl~ I truly appreciate this and gives me the feels of validation! ;;;w;;;

[hobidreams]

This is the beginning of a long ask bc i have so much to say! I found your tonight MLT randomly but as soon as i realised you were the author of MOTH i had to follow you immediately. You make the most amazing intriguing fanfics i have ever seen and MLT is one of the best examples. I am in luv w the fic you don’t understand. I come to your page almost everyday to see other’s questions, your answers, your announcements and even get happy when you get complements YOU DESERVE THEM 🥰🥰 okay let’s get into the matter now. Yoongi is my ultimate bias wrecker and when i tell you MLT is breaking my heart i mean it 😭😭 why is he so complicated. Oc really out here giving him chances when i would give him the middle finger every time he opened his mouth bc of the way he treats her. It’s so obvious they both love each other but yoongi UUURRGH. The last update gave me so much hope i just want them to be happy 😭😭 pls rain stop breaking my heart (PLS CONTINUE I love the pain 🤪) Also going back to 2nd chapter you mentioned oc has rumours about her being a whore. I was hopping you would expand on that. Does yoongi know? If so what does he think? I mean he removed all concubine from the rooms close to him so it was obvs that some rumours would start but to the extent the king would hear? Also don’t the advisors be on his neck for not looking for a queen? Or to have an heir? You said she is from the a lower status in the series but is there a way yoongi can make her a concubine? I want them to be together so much but so far I can’t see how😭😭😩 Lastly you said the fic will have 45 parts. If by any chance you have to leave tumblr for whatever reason (many of my favs left bc of the fandom and to take care of their mental healthbc of tumblr. Feel free to do so if needed you should put yourself first before anyone!!) do you think you might end it short, leave it unfinished or finish the series completely and then leave? I get extremely anxious whenever i start a new series on a big page bc ik they get stressed out bc of the hate, deadlines and trying to cope w outside life and life in social media so they end up disappearing without finishing them and i get worried something happened to them or they are having a hard time so pls take care of yourself especially now more than ever ❤️-🐬

hi babe this is such a sweet ask 😭💗 i will put my answer under a cut so i don’t clog dashes!

wahhh seriously i’m so glad that this blog is a space that makes you WANT to come back so often. i’ve never really run any type of blog like this (or at least never on this level) before i joined tumblr & i’m delighted to have found a space here. everyone’s questions are so fascinating & i love answering!!!!

hahah yes, i think an inherant part of my interest in historical fiction is all the regulations/rules that result in SO MUCH PINING. i love yearning, and MLT is no exception. RE: your questions... some of them will be addressed in the series so i won’t spoil them now hehe. but i will mention that in december 1868, Yoongi removed the concubines that “remain” from Hamhwadang Hall. maybe think about the implications of that word 👀 though it won’t be too clear until... probably after drabble 16. normally, OC could not be made an official concubine because of her/her mother’s rank, but we’ll see how the story shapes up, hm? ;)

& thank u for worrying abt me! the chances of me leaving Tumblr before the series is done is very low, but i can't promise that the series will be uploaded on a weekly basis until. my motivation wanes as the school year goes on so we'll have to see ;; but i made a commitment to start it so i'm determined to finish it! i've actually never gotten any anon hate on this blog before, which makes me so happy that this can be a kind space, so you don't have to worry abt my leaving bc of that. more like i lose motivation altogether 😅 but kind comments like this charge me right up!!! if, in the worst case scenario, smth does happen, i'll probably make a post detailing how the story would have ended. so at least u would know how it would have gone!

[littlesmokecloud-yan]

Lol @ people saying that Mercy mains are only crying because their fav hero can no longer solo heal, and, as such, is now considered an off-healer, as though there’s not a bigger issue.

I mean, it is true; I can no longer (or find it hard to) solo heal as Mercy (and I’m not the only one). Even if I’m trying my best, I can not help my team by solo-healing as Mercy

But I can solo heal as Lucio... and win.  

That’s gotta be saying something.

(*Edited because I kinda posted this unfinished.) Rant again.

But, really, that’s the point tho. Suddenly, the pure MAIN healer doesn’t feel like she’s “pulling her weight” or is just unable to assist where she usually could. I mean, I did say in a previous post that Mercy healing less isn’t really a bad thing, in the grand scheme of things.

However, it is bad, when you start considering the fact that she doesn’t really have that much of an impact with her team, outside of rez, which can be difficult to pull off, and could be just a waste of time especially if the enemy team is just waiting for the hero to rise back up so they can immediately butcher them, and farm ult charge from it, but maybe I’m just seeing things.

Yes, I am late to this, but I 100% understand and have experienced what Mercy mains have been talking about.

The main issue is the fact they’re trying to “balance” Mercy around her Rez, which should not have been an E ability. It’s actually still being treated as an ult, due to the fact that it has the same (or longer) cast time as other ults in the game. As a result, Mercy is becoming... pretty much like a zombie or a ghost when you play her.

“Brain-dead Mercy mains”... well, yeah, now they are. They weren’t when mass rez was a thing when you had to work to be able to pull off a rez. 

But, nah, how dare a support have so much impact on the game and undo your hard work totally 100% done with pure skill (oh, by the way, most supports can currently do that, so...?). Like, out-healing the enemy healer, and staying up for as long as possible (ie trying not to die to flankers), and working hard to keep your team up totally takes no skill.

If Mercy (or supports in general) takes no skill... then that means you should have no probably playing as Mercy if someone asks you to. I mean, she’s totally easy, and since you have so much skill, I bet you could even do it better. Right?

No?

Oh. Right.

It’s not that you can’t play Mercy, it’s that you don’t want to. Why? Is she too boring to play?

Well, guess what, that’s how Mercy mains feel.

And it’s not that they can’t play other heroes; they absolutely can, but no one should be forced out of playing a hero that they loved or enjoyed because the devs made that hero no longer fun to play as.

What was that thing they like to say?

“We want to make heroes that are fun to play with and against.”

I mean, it’s not really fun dying to... anything in Overwatch, especially if someone specifically targets you throughout the whole game.

Fun to play? Agreed, I’ll just play this hero today, and, oh, hey I’m learning how to play this hero. Hey, I’ve gotten really good with this hero. This hero is really fun to play as.

Unless you’ve picked up Mercy.

I mean, unless you only play her for her mobility and infinite ammo when ulting, but then you’re not really playing her to be a healer. Which is technically what she’s supposed to be.

Hey, y’all. You complained about the DPS healers (Moira & Brigitte... but let’s be honest, Ana, Lucio and Zenyatta too)... well, guess what, Mercy has joined the ranks.

Although, all the other supports can heal and deal damage at the same time, so...

[sariasprincy]

Another Writers’ Meme

I saw another blog do this last week and decided it looked like fun. And I love talking about myself.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

I made this name so long ago. Like 10+ years. I made it in Middle School to a reference about Zelda (the character Saria) and it became a joke with a friend of mine (Saria’s Princy) and it stuck. I don’t know why.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favourites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

Nightmare in Red has to most reviews

Code Seventy-Seven has the most views

But I believe Within the Messages and Cold Case are a long standing favorite.

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It’s Itachi. And it’s because I like Itachi and Surfacage ha

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Yes! That would be @la-moonlight-lily @zutaras-where-its-at @nips-out-for-itachi @crimsonriley @heymessyjessie

On FF, there’s Key, parsimonia, WhiskeyBlair (so many names I recognize in the reviews)

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Everything written by Cynchick. 

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Honestly I am so lazy with reading fic. I usually forget unless it comes across my dash.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Modern!

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

On fanfiction, I’m on the favorites of 1124 and the alert of 951. Quite the number going! Thanks for the love!

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are 😨 of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Dirty smut? ha

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Writing complex plots without a whole bunch of plot holes.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

ItaSaku is pretty popular I feel like. And MadaSaku is now becoming popular?? (at least in my circle). Does TobiSaku count as a rarepair? Cause that’s a new fav!

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

Twenty-four. I deleted a lot of them when I disappeared for 4 years.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

Don’t even ask....I have about two dozen half-written ideas on Google Docs alone. I have no idea about Word. Has to be in the 100s. Many of which I will not write. 

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

If it’s something I think I’ll come back to I write it down. If it’s a passing fantasy, I enjoy and let it go. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

@beyondthemoor oh my darling. We’ve done a couple: Round Robin - ItaSakuShisui (Rated M) Gas Station - KisaIno (Fluff Friday)

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

I joined FF in 2007. I have no idea about AO3. I think I googled a rarepair I came across the glory that is AO3

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

When I first started, no. But so many authors have left the fandom that I sometimes feel like I’m one of the only ones still writing ItaSaku ha.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 

Whores. Just kidding! Sorta.

Nah, I mostly call my reviewers wonderful people, cause for the most part, they are. 

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I get inspired more by ideas. Silverfootsteps wrote a wonderful story called Eastern Suns that I am still raving about. That one inspired me. I do like to bounce ideas off a few other tumblrs, but my inspiration usually comes from every day things: grocery shopping, working out, out at dinner, etc.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read, read, read. The best way to learn how to write is to read other’s writers’ work like a writer. Try to see what you like about their writing style, what you don’t like. Then incorporate that into your own. 

When I don’t know how to write something so it’s smooth and easy to follow (ie fight scenes, kissing, smut, etc) I read a handful of other people’s writing to see what worked for them and perhaps didn’t work. Then apply that towards my own work.

Plus it gives you time to step away from your own writing if you feel stuck. 

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

Both. It usually starts out with writing as I go. But then I get ideas of scenes I would like to add later so I throw them into a document so I can go back and reference. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

One I remember was someone commenting on a MadaSaku story saying they “preferred NaruSaku”. Like okay?? Why are you here? Hahah.

I’ve also gotten a visit from g.o.d., which I found more funny than offensive. Usually I just ignore hate though. I’ve been writing long enough that I know when my work is good or not. Just shrug it off.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

FLUFF. I don’t know why. I hate cliches in writing. It makes me gag. So trying to write fluff that isn’t like that is difficult all the time sometimes. 

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

See my previous post for this answer ha.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

I usually try not to because then I get excited to just move on. But usually I plan on taking a break after completing a long story but before I even finish, I get another multi-chap fic idea and I’m like nooooo - let’s do it!

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

I used to just write as I felt like doing it, but then I would sometimes go two weeks without writing. So recently, I started a goal of writing at least one sentence a day (if not more). I even have an alarm set at 6pm every day, asking if I’ve written yet.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Hell yes. Omg, my first fics are horrible. Physically painful to write, dear lord.

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Ink was a lot of fun, I’m Sorry for What I said... was not a favorite but it is growing on me now. Where it Happened because I feel like there are soooo few medical AUs. 

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

Within the Messages/Cold Case. Neither one is very accurate. They make me cringe. The only reason they’re still up is because so many people seem to enjoy them.

30. Where do you 👀 yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Still trash.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Imagining story ideas.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Writing.

33. Why do you write?

Because even after all the writing, rewriting, editing, cringing and rewriting, it’s still amazing to be able to share what you’ve created. And to hear how people enjoyed what you made feels good. Plus there is a deep sense of accomplishment when you finally write that final word: end

Tagging: @crimsonriley @la-moonlight-lily @littlebirdrobin and anyone else who wants to!!!