#or I'll just write that au fic I've been vaguely talking about

[vertigo-tango]

hey heyyyyyyyy before i ask anything i just wanna say thank you for posting your sketches and paintings, especially all the tam ones and the latest igor and karter sketch, the one with a tag that says "art is less of a skill and more about coming to terms with yourself" (paraphrased i think), that helped me wrangle the root cause of my invisible mental breakdown at a party yesterday. i realised my art style/drawing process wasnt what i wanted but not just because its not time flexible and oddly stiff, but because it isnt what i was feeling, what i was thinking, it was ideas in my brain thinned and skinned into a pleasure for others to look at rather than for myself to draw (plus it took me 20 minutes to draw a pose and the back before i restarted for the 4th time)

taking it slow was the fisher having food on a hook that me, starving, was swimming towards. sure, im proud of my end results, but what does that mean about me, did the time i put in encapsulate what i had in my mind, and most often its a yes, but it feels like it was someone elses version of the same idea.

to be childishly honest, your artstyle is the one i exactly wanted and expected when i was younger so seeing you here was kind of a wake up call as well as what the fuck am i doing in a weird sense. ill be honest idk what my new artstyle will be directed to, experimenting leads to it having lots of dna of the previous one but that is to be expected, so thank you again man(gn), keep up what youre doing.

anyways massive apologies for the weirdly sentimental rant from a guy youve probably never interacted with, i wanna hear more about both tamalex (more specifically tam but we can push aside my bias for a second) and the riot brothers, i love reading your headcanons teehee:)))))

hi hi, I'm going to be honest, seeing this ask made my day astronomically better

I'm glad I'm not alone in this cause man does it suck. but I'm happy that you found the direction you want to go. keep to it, and best of luck

[also don't apologise for reaching out. being able to talk to people with the same interest is genuinely the only reason I post on here, so never hesitate to reach out to me, I would love to talk]

[wintrwinchestr]

strangers | part 1

summary: following in the footsteps of a girl you once knew, you decide to up and leave home one morning without looking back. when you find yourself to be tired, hungry, and alone in the middle of nowhere, you're thankful when a kind stranger offers you a ride, a warm meal, and a place to sleep for the night. he only tells you about himself in bits and pieces, but he seems trustworthy enough, and what you don't know can't hurt you, right?

!!PLEASE READ WARNINGS, THIS IS A VERY DARK FIC!!

I've tried to label this fic as detailed and as boldly as possible. I will not be held responsible or bullied off the internet if you choose to read this potentially upsetting/triggering work of fiction anyway.

warnings: joel miller x f!reader, 18+, smut, age gap (reader is college-aged, joel is mid-50s), no outbreak au, serial killer!joel, dark!joel, talk of death/murder and blood, mommy & daddy issues, brief talk of domestic violence, lying/gaslighting, manipulation, f-receiving non-con somnophilia (no sex, but groping, fingering, dry humping, kissing, and choking), degrading language toward victims, pet names (baby, darlin', sweetheart), some joel pov, no ellie/sarah but tommy has an unnamed daughter, somewhat inspired by "strangers" by ethel cain, takes place in illinois/ohio/indiana, vaguely set in the 70s/80s, this part is mostly introduction/storytelling/yapping, please respectfully let me know if i missed anything and i will rectify the tags

word count: 9.8k

a/n: i started this as a oneshot way back in november, and then it sat abandoned for a very long time. thank you to my lovely friends @polaroidpascal and @chippedowlmug for encouraging me to finish it, and also bestie kiers who never hesitates to match my freak. also thank you to the many writers who made me feel inspired to write something dark and not give a fuck what people think about it. i hope you enjoy this joel he's a freak and i love him and if you say anything mean about him i'll send him after you <3

divider by @saradika

series masterlist/moodboard

read this chapter on ao3

part 2

Ruby Carpenter.

You had spent all day trying to remember her name without really knowing why. Maybe it’s because as the sun sets on what would be the first day of your junior year at the nearby state school, you wonder if she ever made it to one of the fancy ivy leagues she had always aspired to attend. You wonder if she’s even still alive.

Ruby had disappeared a few years ago now, the summer after your senior year of high school. For nearly a year afterwards, her missing posters remained stapled onto every telephone pole and stuck onto every store window around town, until the paper began to disintegrate and the ink began to fade. In that time, you couldn’t even make a quick run to the grocery store without being confronted by dozens of replicas of her yearbook photo printed onto the sides of all the milk cartons. Despite all of the efforts to find her, including several search parties and a decent amount of statewide media coverage, everyone had just stopped looking for her, eventually. Even the police. Even her parents.

It was decided that she had probably just run away, and you can’t entirely blame her, but you can’t imagine why she would, either. You remember her perfect head of blonde ringlet curls that shone a yellow gold in the sun, and her bright blue eyes that turned fiery in her more passionate moments during classroom debates. She had every boy in your grade wrapped around her finger, was the teacher’s pet in every class, and it wasn’t even a question whether she would win prom queen your senior year. She was always sweet to you, always complimented your outfits or your makeup or your art projects with a genuine lilt in her voice and a kind smile, so you could never bring yourself to hate her even though it would’ve been so easy to. You figured she was going to cure cancer or become the president after you had all graduated, which is why you never really stopped wondering whatever happened to her that summer. She was beautiful, with boundless potential and a bright future ahead of her, why would she have just given it all up?

Everyone around town knew Ruby, or at least it seemed that way. But maybe nobody ever really knew her as well as they thought. Maybe she’d had a secret boyfriend all that time who whisked her away that summer, maybe she had decided to try drugs and fell down a rabbit hole that she couldn’t claw her way out of, maybe she had finally figured out that the only thing this town would ever be good for is holding people back. Maybe she did just wake up one day and decide to run without ever looking behind her.

Maybe you should do the same.

With your dad long gone now and your step-father doing a piss poor job of filling in the hole he left, following in Ruby’s footsteps has sounded like a better idea with each passing day. Rob isn’t even really your step-father, anyway, just your mom’s sorry fucking excuse for a boyfriend. The guy’s already been married upwards of three times before, why try for another one? He’s a lazy son of a bitch who can’t hold down a job at a fast food joint for more than a couple of weeks at a time, who sleeps every second of the day that he’s not chugging through a six pack, and who leaves marks on your mother uglier than his fucking face. 

She doesn’t deserve to be treated that way, of course, but it’s not like she’s winning the “mom of the year” award any time soon, either. She’s never even been nominated. She’s forgotten just about every one of your birthdays, been the reason you’ve never had any friends come over, and in her most recent offense, blew all the savings you had put away for your last two years of college. Which is why you’re not spending tonight celebrating being one year closer to at least having an official-looking piece of paper to show for yourself. Instead, you’re using the rattling of your bedroom window unit and the booming bass of your radio to drown out yet another drunken screaming match between your mother and the guy she lets live in your house now, watching the world outside pass you by and knowing that if you don’t do anything about it now, you’ll never make it out of here. You’re thinking about Ruby Carpenter, hoping she found somewhere greener and more promising and was able to make something of herself, far away from here. And you’re thinking that this rusted orange sunset is the last one you’ll ever see from your bedroom window.

It’s decided, then. You’re leaving, first thing tomorrow.

—

You’ve only gotten a few hours of sleep by the time your alarm clock chimes to life at five o’clock on the dot. You’re quick to silence the shrill beeping with a swift swat of your hand, careful not to wake anyone else in the house. The sun has just barely begun to stream in through the blinds of your bedroom window, but it illuminates the room just enough for your eyes to land on the backpack you had stuffed full of a few changes of clothes last night, waiting for you by the door. 

You don’t waste any time stripping off your pajamas and pulling on just about the only clothes left in your room that aren’t in your bag. You’ve got your teeth brushed, face washed, and hair tamed in all of about ten minutes, too anxious to spend even one more unnecessary second in this house. You swing your backpack over your shoulder, pull your bedroom door open at just the right speed so that the hinges don’t squeak too loud, and tiptoe delicately down the stairs, careful to avoid the creaky floorboards that you know like the back of your hand—the one three steps from the top, the one at the landing about halfway down, and the very bottom one.

You land softly when you leap over that tattletale bottom step, successful in the most difficult part of your escape plan so far. Rob is passed out on the living room couch in typical fashion, his mouth full of crooked teeth hanging open as his grating snores permeate the calm morning air. He’s still got a death grip around an empty beer can, even in his sleep, and your mother will likely be the one to toss it into the trash for him, useless fucker that he is. You aren’t going to miss either of them, and you imagine they’ll just skip trying to replicate the first half of the aftermath of Ruby’s disappearance altogether—no posters, no search parties, no police. You’ll just be gone, one less mouth for your mother to feed. Though, you’d been mostly feeding yourself since you were tall enough to slide a couple of bills across the counter at the corner store down the street, anyway. You’re ready to disappear, the same as candle wax when it burns, the same as the end of a rainbow, the same as Ruby Carpenter.

You don’t bother looking back when you shut the door behind you, content to leave it all behind just as the sun begins to rise and set the sky ablaze. By the time it sets again tonight, you hope to be in a different county, in a different state, anywhere that isn’t here. The rest, you’ll just have to figure out when you get there, wherever “there” may be.

—

You had only realized about an hour ago that you’d forgotten your cheap digital watch in the drawer of your bedside table, where it’s laid unused for the past couple of months, because who needs to tell time during the summer? You never had anywhere to be, never had to get to class or turn in a paper by a certain time, so it’s just been collecting dust since you had unclipped it from your wrist on the last day of spring semester. It sure would have come in handy right about now, when you have no fucking clue what time it is. The sun had disappeared behind the hills several mile markers back, so it must be… eight o’clock? Ten o’clock? Fucking midnight? You have no idea. What you do know is that you’re exhausted, hungry, and your feet hurt like hell. You aren’t really sure what you expected, the reality only just now setting in that you don’t even have ten bucks to your name anymore, thanks to your narcissist of a mother. The crumpled up bills you do have in your pocket are hardly enough for a goddamn sandwich, let alone a motel room. The cool night breeze raises goosebumps on your skin, and you swear you can see your fucking breath, even in the middle of August. You wrap your arms around yourself just as tears begin to prick at your waterlines, and you let them fall as you collapse onto the scratchy patch of dead grass on the side of the freeway, not a park bench or a bus stop or even a gas station in sight for God knows how many more miles.

You sit cross-legged, elbows propped up on your knees so that your hands can support your weary head, the skin of your palms becoming slippery with salty tears as your crying just doesn’t seem to stop. The road you’ve found yourself on seems relatively low-trafficked, the heaving sounds of your sobs accompanied by more cricket chirps and rustling wheat than rumbling tires. But a few high beams do streak across your vision every once in a while, coloring the backs of your eyelids a flaming scarlet.

After several minutes, your tears seem to dry up on their own, your body likely too dehydrated now to produce any more. You wipe the moisture from under your eyes with the back of your hand, sniffling as you gnaw at the skin of your bottom lip and debate if you should just turn back now, give up on your stupid little plan (or lack thereof) and just call the whole thing a loss, pretend it never even happened. Your mother and Rob won’t have even noticed you’d left.

Just as you pull yourself back up to your feet, set on at least finding somewhere that isn’t the hard ground to sleep on tonight before you make your way back home tomorrow, the warm headlights of an old pickup truck are shining bright in your eyes. You put your arm up to block them as the truck slowly squeals to a halt in front of where you’re standing, and you squint your eyes at the driver as your vision adjusts.

“You need a ride, sweetheart?” A man asks in a gravelly voice, and you can still hardly make out what he looks like. Based on the southern accent you pick up on, he doesn’t sound like he’s from around here. 

“N-no, thank you. I’m okay,” you respond shakily, taking a nervous step back from the stranger and his rusted pickup.

“You sure? Looked like you were cryin’ over here, like you might be lost or somethin’.”

“‘M not lost, I know where I’m going.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

Shit. 

You take a guess.

“Um… the motel down the road,” you reply, tilting your head in the direction you had been walking in.

“There ain’t a motel down there, sweetheart. Ain’t nothin’ in either direction for miles, ‘s all just farmland out here. Reckon you’ve already figured that out, though.”

You pause, unsure of what your next move should be. He knows you’re lying, knows you’re alone with no fucking idea where you are or where you’re going. You could run, but even that shitty truck of his could catch up to you in a matter of seconds. You take another step back, swiveling your head around to look up and down the road as you try to figure your best way out of this.

“Just lemme give you a ride somewhere, darlin’. There’s a diner just off the exit, ‘bout twenty miles up ahead. Could take you that far, at least, get you somethin’ to eat,” he offers. A warm meal does sound pretty good right now, and you suppose you aren’t exactly in a position to refuse his help.

You think on it for a second. “What’s it called? The diner.”

The stranger huffs. “Moody’s.”

“What do they have?” you challenge.

He sighs. “It’s a fuckin’ diner off the side of the freeway, darlin’. They got greasy food and black coffee, ‘s about all you need.”

You don’t say anything.

Then, after a beat—“They got some kinda sloppy mess they call the Thunder Burger. ‘S got onion rings and shit on it. Ain’t half bad.”

You have to admit, he’s passing your pop quiz with flying colors. His answers have been too quick, too specific for him to be lying to you. There’s a pretty solid chance this diner does exist, and that he’s been there before. The man hasn’t said anything that’s indicated he wants more to do with you than to offer you a ride and some dinner. He’s probably just somebody’s harmless grandfather, anyway, judging by his motheaten flannel and gray-stricken beard you can see now that you’ve approached his truck a few paces closer.

“Okay,” you concede, your stomach growling loudly as the man leans over the bench seat to pop open the passenger side door for you. You shrug off your backpack and climb into the cabin, clicking your seatbelt into place as you situate yourself on the cracked leather seat. 

“All set?” the stranger asks.

“Mhm,” you hum, finally getting a better look at the man you might just owe the rest of your life to after tonight. For being somebody’s grandfather, he’s… kinda handsome. Really fucking handsome, actually, in a rugged sort of way. He’s got warm amber eyes that sparkle even in the dark of night, a kind smile that completely disarms you in an instant, and a splintering scar across the bridge of his nose that somehow only adds to his good looks. You try to suppress your own grin as you look away from him quickly, opting to focus on fidgeting with one of the fraying edges of your denim shorts instead. Even in your peripheral vision, you don’t miss how his eyes shift from your own to the exposed skin of your thighs. He doesn’t say anything, just clears his throat as he shifts gears and steers his truck back onto the road again. 

He lets the next few minutes pass in comfortable silence before asking, “You got a name, sweetheart?”

You tell him, and he flashes another charming smile at you. “I like that, ‘s pretty… Well, I’m Joel. Sure you were wonderin’. Now you ain’t gettin’ a ride from a stranger no more, are ya?”

“Yeah, I guess I’m not,” you giggle, and you’re surprised at how comfortable you feel with him. “So… you’ve been to Moody’s before?”

“Handful of times, yeah. When I’m passin’ through.”

You nod. “So you come up here, like… for work or somethin’?”

Joel chuckles. “Or somethin’. You never even heard of the damn place, so… reckon you don’t find yourself out here very often, do ya?”

“No… ‘M not even really sure where ‘here’ is, to be honest. I just kinda… started walking.”

“Ah… a runaway, then, are ya?” Joel asks, with an appreciated amount of understanding in his tone rather than judgment. “‘M sure your folks are missin’ ya right about now, must have your boyfriend worried sick.”

You scoff at that. “Fuck no. They probably don’t even know I’m gone, won’t even bother trying to come look for me. And I don’t have a boyfriend, so…”

“Damn shame. ‘M sorry about that, sweetheart,” Joel comforts, placing a large calloused hand on your thigh. It makes your breath hitch, but his touch isn’t entirely unwelcome. You let him squeeze once at the plush of your leg before he replaces his hand on the wheel, and your cunt spasms out a little fluttering pulse against the seam of your shorts, despite yourself.

The rest of the drive to Moody’s is relatively quiet, save for the gentle crooning of an old country singer emanating from the cassette player on the dash. The soft singing and steady strumming of a banjo combined with the muffled chugging of the truck’s engine is enough to lull you to sleep, especially after the day you’ve had. You know that just about every mental alarm bell you have should be screaming at you to jump out of the car, to run, that sleeping alone in the dirt would’ve been a better decision than getting into this strange man’s—Joel’s—truck, but you’re too tired to hear them. He smells good, like woodsmoke and pine and cinnamon, and if he wanted to do something awful to you, he probably would’ve done it by now. So you trust him, for now at least, and let your lashes fan out against your cheeks as your head falls back against the cushioned headrest, coaxed into sleep by the lullaby of tires against pavement and fingertips against guitar strings.

—

You only rouse when you feel the truck come to a stop about half an hour or so later, slowly blinking your eyes open against the bright neon sign that reads “MOODY’S” in bold capital letters. Your jaw stretches wide as a yawn overtakes the muscles, and you hear Joel’s southern drawl replace the one from the cassette as he shuts the engine off.

“Mornin’, sleepyhead. Not too tired to eat somethin’ now, are ya?”

Another unpleasant-sounding rumble from your empty stomach answers for you, loud enough for both of you to hear this time. The air puffing out of the diner’s kitchen smells strongly of fatty bacon and rich coffee, just like Joel had promised you the place would offer. Although the digital clock on the dash read just after 10:30 before you fell asleep, you’ve never craved breakfast quite like you do right now. You absentmindedly lick your lips as you imagine the sweet and savory—and more importantly free—meal that could be waiting for you beyond that blinding beacon of a sign.

“Well, alright then. Let’s get some food in ya before you keel over, hm?” Joel says as he exits the truck, landing on his feet in the dirt parking lot with a soft groan. He waits by the hood for you to meet up with him, and you walk up the couple of steps to the entrance together. He holds the door open for you, and you offer him a shy ‘thank you’, to which he responds with a soft spoken ‘welcome, sweetheart’. You stand shyly behind his broad form as he asks the hostess for a table for two, and she leads you to a green leather booth tucked into the corner of the diner. She hands each of you a sticky laminated menu, the pages a charming mess of clashing colors and faded pictures and retro-looking fonts, then departs with a promise that your waitress will bring the two of you some water as you take your time deciding on what you might like. 

You light up upon reading that Moody’s serves breakfast all day, and that they can make you exactly what you were hoping for—a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with sides of bacon and hashbrowns. You can’t help but smile to yourself as you wiggle in your seat, excitedly anticipating the waitress to come back around so you can order.

“Whatcha so excited about over there?” Joel asks, eyeing you from across the table as he glances up from his own menu.

“Nothin’, I was just hoping I could get some pancakes, and they have ‘em on the menu,” you explain giddily. “I’ll probably get some coffee, too, really complete the whole ‘breakfast for dinner’ thing.”

Joel huffs through his nose. “Decaf, I hope. ‘S the middle of the goddamn night, sweetheart. Gonna be bouncin’ off the walls in the room later, hardly get any sleep.”

He’s right, you suppose. But wait—“What room?”

Joel shrugs casually. “There’s a decent motel another exit or two down, figured they could probably get us a couple o’ beds for the night. But, ‘m sorry, shouldn’t have assumed—”

“No! No, it’s okay.”

Is it? You only met the man less than an hour ago, and you already agreed to let him give you a ride before you even knew his name. You suppose you hadn’t really thought about what would happen after he bought you dinner, but not thinking ahead seems to have been a theme today, hasn’t it? You remind yourself that he’s only been kind and respectful to you so far, save for that placement of his hand on your upper thigh soon after he picked you up. But that could’ve just been a friendly, paternal gesture, right? And he said a couple of beds, when he mentioned the motel, which seemed to imply that he plans on the two of you sleeping in separate beds, maybe even separate rooms. You’ve found yourself having to make yet another somewhat reckless decision tonight, but one that would be in your best interest to say ‘yes’ to, at this point. What other option would you have if you declined his offer?

“Don’t really have anywhere else to go, so… yeah, okay. Motel sounds good. And decaf it is, I guess.”

Joel’s apologetic expression quickly morphs into a satisfied smirk. “Good girl,” he praises. You like how the words sound coated in his thick drawl, even though you probably shouldn’t. You shift where you sit as that familiar fluttering sensation returns to the seat of your panties, just for a moment. You’re grateful that the waitress arrives at the booth not a second later, cheerily introducing herself as she sets down a glass of water for each of you. When she asks if you’re ready to order, Joel gestures to you as if to say ‘ladies first’, and you politely prattle off your request. You make sure to emphasize that you’d like your coffee decaf, and ask if she could please bring some more of the little cups of vanilla creamer to the table. “Not a problem, honey,” she replies, and Joel winks at you as she asks what she can get for him. He orders the Thunder Burger he had told you about earlier, and a black coffee, which he doesn’t request to be decaf. The waitress leaves the two of you alone again with an ‘I’ll have that right out for ya,’ and you let your eyes follow the calming baby blue color of her dress as she glides her way back to the kitchen. When she disappears around the corner of the bar, you take the opportunity to study Moody’s other patrons. There isn’t another young person in sight, mostly just men around Joel’s age with similarly heavy bags under their eyes, likely truck drivers indulging in their first hot meal of the day within the diner’s comforting wood-paneled walls. You wonder if that’s how Joel knows about this place, because he “passes through” this area on long hauls across the midwest. You open your mouth to ask him if your assumption is correct, but he cuts you off before you can say anything.

“I gotta admit, sweetheart, I’m curious… The hell was a pretty thing like you doin’ out in the middle of goddamn nowhere tonight? I mean, I know you’re a runaway ‘n all, but… shouldn’t you be one o’ those college party girls or somethin’? ‘M sure you got plenty of friends wonderin’ where you are.”

You sigh, shaking your head as you distractedly pick at a splintered piece of wood at the edge of the table.

“I was in college. Was supposed to be going back again this year, but… my mom spent all the fucking savings I had left for the rest of it on fixing up her dumb boyfriend’s car. It’s just been sitting in the fucking lawn all summer, sure as hell not being used for something useful like going to the job he doesn’t have. That bastard…” You say the last part under your breath through gritted teeth.

“Shit… Tha’s a tough deal, baby, ‘m real sorry to hear that,” Joel comforts. “But y’know, everybody’s got mommy ‘n daddy issues, don’t mean you just up and start walkin’ all by your lonesome, not even have any idea where you’re goin’.”

“Well, it wasn’t just that. There was… nevermind, it’s stupid.” You slump into the cushioned booth, silently cursing yourself for even bringing it up.

“What is it?” Joel pushes, sitting up straighter to show you that he wants to listen, wants to get to know you. And God dammit, he might be the first person you’ve met in a long time who actually seems to care about what you have to say, as strange as it is. You flick your eyes up to his face, and he’s wearing a sincere gaze that convinces you to continue.

“There was this girl I went to high school with. She disappeared a couple of years ago, nobody ever found out what happened to her. People figured she probably just ran away, and I thought… I dunno. That maybe she had the right idea, leaving that place behind. I always held onto this hope that maybe she was still out there somewhere actually doing something with her life, that maybe she just changed her name or something and disappeared on purpose.” You pause. “I guess I just thought I might be able to do the same, if I left.”

“I see…” Joel muses sympathetically. “Maybe I oughta give you a lil’ more credit, then. Must’a been tough losin’ a friend like that, not knowin’ where she ended up.”

“I mean, Ruby wasn’t really my friend. She just—”

“Hang on. Ruby, you said?” Joel interrupts, his eyes suddenly looking a little wild.

“...Yeah. Her name was Ruby. Ruby Carpenter.”

—

Fuck.

Joel has to adjust himself under the table, his dick now hardening uncomfortably in his jeans at just the mention of her name. He remembers Ruby, remembers chuckling to himself when he realized the irony of her name matching the color of her blood, remembers watching the news coverage of her disappearance in this very same diner, those handful of years ago. She was a sweet thing, he remembers this, too. It was a shame she had ended up being such a fighter, that she had to get put down the way she did. But she shouldn’t have thrown that fucking rock at his face, called him a sick fuck and a freak as she made her pitiful little escape attempt. Joel is lucky that all he came away from it with is that ugly little scar that mars the bridge of his nose. He can’t say the same for her.

“Why? You heard her name before?” You ask him, an unfortunate little twinkle of hope in your eyes.

“Maybe.” Yes. “Sounds a lil’ familiar, might remember hearin’ about it on the news or somethin’.”

That goddamn news coverage sure as hell taught him a lesson. Joel had spent months trying to keep the cops off his fucking tail after he had dumped her body on some forgettable patch of land behind an old decaying barn. He had even gotten pulled in for a fucking interview at the station in what he now presumes to be your hometown, where they had questioned him for an hour or so about her disappearance. He still isn’t sure how he talked his way out of that one. Ruby might not have been good for much else, other than pissing him the hell off with all of her pathetic crying and begging to just please, please let me go back home, but she did help him perfect his craft, he can give her that much. It’s because of her that Joel makes certain now that any girl he picks up doesn’t have anybody who will miss her or plaster her face on every local channel or send out goddamn search parties to find her. Girls like you.

You’re just so perfect, it would be so fucking easy for him to make you disappear for good, it’s almost comical. It had hardly taken any convincing at all to get you to climb into his truck, had taken even less to get you to agree to go to some seedy ass motel with him that might not even exist, for all you know. It does, but you didn’t even try to test him about it this time, just put all of your trust in him like a stray puppy would to the first person to pick it up off the street. That is just about what you are, he supposes. So far, you seem like the perfect candidate to become his little captive pet. If you keep it up, maybe you won’t meet the same fate as the rest of them. He’d told himself he’d be done after the last one, anyway, his body too old and achy and slow now to chase after the ones who put up a little more fight, like she had. She’d nearly escaped, made it a decent way through the woods and almost reached the main road before tripping on an exposed root and snapping her ankle. He remembers how weak and scared she’d looked before he’d used his knife to put her out of her misery, and it makes his dick twitch. Joel doesn’t plan on snuffing you out, not right now at least, since you haven’t given him a reason to. But his fingers still twitch where they rest on the table, moving out of instinct as he can’t help but imagine what they’d look like wrapped so tightly around your little throat. Would you cry? Would you beg? Would you pray? Would he have to glide his blade across your vocal chords just to get you to stop screaming so fucking loud? He wonders.

“Oh… Was that one of the times you were just ‘passin’ through’ for whatever reason you haven’t told me yet?”

Joel hadn’t realized that his eyes had been unfocused for so long, or that he’d been holding his breath, or that his hand had been squeezing his glass of water so hard he’s glad it hadn’t shattered. The airy sound of your voice brings him back to reality, and he huffs a light chuckle as he fixes his face into a more pleasant expression. 

“Yeah, ‘spose it was.” 

You roll your eyes at him playfully. “Come on, Joel. I just told you, like, my whole sob story. I feel like I deserve to know at least one thing about you now.”

You have a point.

He gives in. “Fine. I got a brother, used to come through this area when I’d pay him a visit. That good enough for ya?”

You cross your arms. “No. What’s his name?”

“Tommy.”

“What’s he look like?”

“Like me. Little younger. Little uglier.”

You laugh at that.

It makes Joel smile.

Maybe you could be the one he’s been looking for all this time. Too bad he had to waste so many others before he finally got to you.

—

The waitress comes back to your table soon after that, with your steaming plates of delicious-smelling food and hot mugs of coffee balanced expertly on a large plastic tray. She sets them down in front of the pair of you with a cheery smile, and you thank her happily when she doesn’t forget the extra sickeningly sweet cups of creamer you had requested. Joel doesn’t take his eyes off you once during the interaction, not even to feast his eyes upon the monstrous burger now sitting before him, not even as he thanks the waitress for delivering it to him. His lingering gaze makes you feel a little warm, but it could just be from the heat radiating off of your plates.

“What? You’re not getting a bite of mine, if that’s why you’re looking at me,” you tease, already getting to work putting the sugary creamer to good use.

Joel just shakes his head, his caramel colored eyes still never leaving you as your coffee begins to resemble their hue. “No, ‘s not why.”

“Whatever,” you reply through a giggle, making a poor attempt to hide your girlish grin behind the lip of your white ceramic mug. 

The two of you eat your meals in relative silence, mostly enjoying each other’s company and basking in the relaxing ambience created by silverware tapping against porcelain, hushed conversations, and the local country station playing through the old radio sitting on the counter. The reception is a little spotty way out here in wherever the hell you are, so you can’t quite tell what song it is. But Joel seems to know, judging by the rhythmic bouncing of his knee under the table that creates little circular ripples in your coffee. Maybe you’ll ask him what it is later, how he knows it, if you can listen to it again in the truck together. He doesn’t seem to be as much of an open book as you’ve already given yourself away to be, and you respect that about him. It doesn’t make you any less curious, but you resign yourself to getting to know him better in the small doses he’s willing to offer you. 

You decide to begin a mental list of all the things you want to ask him later, knowing that by the time you make it to the motel tonight, you’ll be far too exhausted to do anything more than just collapse onto the springy mattress and sleep until you get kicked out of the room the next morning. You almost wish you hadn’t listened to Joel’s request for you to take your coffee decaffeinated tonight, and you still aren’t quite sure why you did. It just feels so strangely easy to give into him, to trust him, to let him make decisions for you. You suppose that’s what you’ve been needing all this time, someone to guide you and understand you and at least pretend like they care about you. Joel has shown you more concern and care and protection in the last hour or so than either of your parents have pretty much your whole life. And he’s good at this, making you feel wanted, making you feel like somebody, even in subtle ways, just by looking at you.

“A’right, why don’t you finish up, darlin’, ‘n we’ll hit the road again. Practically usin’ your pancakes as a pillow over there.”

“Oh, sorry,” you apologize sleepily, waking yourself up enough to make quick work finishing off your plate and your last few sips of coffee. 

“Nothin’ to be sorry ‘bout, sweetheart. Lord knows you need some rest, won’t be too much longer now,” Joel assures, fishing a few tens out of his faded leather wallet and placing them on the table. He slides to the edge of the booth and stands himself up with only a few pained noises as he straightens out his back, then offers his hand for you to take. You use it as leverage to pull yourself upright, and your hands linger in each other’s hold for a few seconds longer than they need to. The hostess thanks the two of you for stopping in when you pass her by, and Joel opens the door for you again as you leave Moody’s. He opens the truck door for you, too, and promises you that the motel is just another couple of minutes down the freeway. You make an effort to stay awake in your seat this time as Joel begins the drive, opting to gaze out the window and focus on trying to make out the sparkling constellations above the treeline. You smile privately at the moon when you find that she’s following closely behind you just as she always does, bright and full. 

She doesn’t leave your side until you reach the unassuming little roadside motel, which to your gratitude, proudly displays their vacancy on the flickering sign in the parking lot. It doesn’t look like a five star joint by any means, but you know it will serve its purpose just fine. Joel instructs you to stay in the truck while he goes about getting a room for the two of you, and you don’t object. He’d insisted that you didn’t need to be on your feet any longer than you already had been today, and you were too tired to argue with him even if you wanted to. When he returns, he taps lightly on the passenger side window so as not to startle you from the half-asleep, half-awake state you’ve found yourself in, and swings your backpack over his shoulder as he helps you out of the truck. He leads you to the room at the end of the row, and the door takes some finessing of the key and a shove of his shoulder to open. Joel flicks on the light, and you let out a disappointed-sounding ‘oh…’ when it reveals your accommodations.

There aren’t two beds like you had assumed Joel was going to request. There’s only one.

Joel catches your reaction. “‘S this gonna be alright? I know it ain’t the Ritz Carlton, but—”

“No, the room’s fine, it’s not that. I just thought… I just assumed that… I didn’t know it was gonna be, like… just the one bed.” You try to explain your discomfort as gently as possible, without seeming ungrateful for everything Joel has done for you tonight.

He looks at you sympathetically. “I know, I ain’t tryin’ anythin’, I swear. Guy told me it was the last room they had, jus’ figured it was better than nothin’.” 

You offer him a soft smile, but your eyes must still look a little wide as you begin to nervously pick at your fingernails. Joel continues, “I can take the chair if you want, darlin’. Get the bed all to yourself, how’s that sound?”

You visibly relax at that, your shoulders deflating as your smile becomes a little more genuine. “Okay, that’s good. Thank you.”

“‘Course, sweetheart. How’s about you take a nice hot shower, rinse off some o’ that dirt you picked up from walkin’ all day… Don’t suppose you got some suitable clothes in here for sleepin’ in?” Joel asks, handing your backpack off to you.

You shake your head. “Just some jeans and t-shirts, and another pair of shoes. And… y’know, some underwear, and stuff.”

Joel pinches the bridge of his nose, then rubs his fingers across his forehead exasperatedly. “I swear… it’s like you didn’t think there’d be a tomorrow or somethin’, girl. Christ.” Joel looks out the window to his truck parked just outside. “Tell you what, think I got somethin’ in the truck you can wear. Why don’t you see if they got anythin’ on the TV tha’s worth a damn, ‘n I’ll be back, alright?”

You nod, “Okay,” then set your backpack down on the drab carpet in favor of picking up the remote perched in front of the small square television. You sit yourself down on the edge of the bed as Joel leaves the room, and begin to flick through the few channels that aren’t just a screen full of snowy static.

Local news. Commercial. Game show. Commercial. Documentary. Commercial. 

Eventually, you land on what seems to be one of those old black-and-white western shows that you can never remember the name of. You only know that the reruns used to play on Sundays around lunchtime, because Rob would always be half paying attention to it with a beer in his hand when you and your mom would get home from church. For how adamant she was that you attend every weekend, she sure never called him a harlot and a sinner for not wanting to go with her. You’re not sure she had ever even tried to get him to go, but he probably didn’t own anything decent enough to wear, anyway. Whatever, fuck them. The show seems like the kind of thing Joel would like, so you let it keep playing. 

He comes back a moment later with a small stack of folded up clothes, tossing them over to where you sit on the bed. You unfold what he’s given you and examine them—a pair of simple pink cotton shorts, and a white tank top with a ditsy floral pattern scattered across the fabric. The clothing is a little more revealing than you’d like, but you figure you’d be a hell of a lot more comfortable wearing them to sleep than the denim shorts you have on now.

“These are… great. Thank you, Joel. But…” you snicker. “Should I be concerned that you have a very convenient supply of girls’ clothes in your truck?” Joel scoffs. “‘S for when I got Tommy’s kid with me, smartass. He’s got a daughter, few years younger ‘n you.”

“Okay, well, I dunno how I was supposed to know that, but… as long as you don’t have a girlfriend who’s gonna come after me for wearing her clothes.”

Joel only chuckles in response, his attention suddenly pulled to the TV.

“Gunsmoke, huh? ‘S a good choice, definitely what I’d classify as ‘worth a damn’.”

You smile to yourself, and his approval makes that warm fluttery feeling return to your belly. “I didn’t even know what it was called, just seemed like something you’d like.”

He turns back to you. “That obvious, huh? ‘S just ‘cause I’m old and southern, ain’t it?”

“Maybe a little,” you admit, making a pinching gesture with your hand.

Joel nods as he makes his way over to the armchair on the corner of the room, collapsing onto it with a groan. “Well, why don’t you go ‘n get yourself all changed and cleaned up, ‘n if you’re quick enough maybe we can finish the episode together and then get some shuteye, hm?”

You swiftly unzip your backpack to retrieve one of your clean pairs of underwear, then bound over to the small bathroom with them and your new change of clothes in hand. It’s not the most spotless one you’ve ever had to use, but you’ve honestly seen much worse. You rinse off quickly in the steaming shower, using the scratchy motel-provided washcloth to scrub the dirt from your legs, stuck to you with the sweat you worked up from God knows how many miles of walking today. 

Today. You can hardly believe it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours since you left home yet. It seems like you’ve already known Joel for days, maybe even years, as silly as it sounds. You wonder if he might just take you in after this, or if he’ll have had enough of providing for you after just one night. He seems like a man of limited means, and he’s already given you so much. If you’re brave enough, maybe you’ll ask him tomorrow, when you get to the ‘so… what now?’ part of your time together.

For now, you step out of the shower and dry yourself off with an impossibly scratchier towel, then pull on your panties and the tank top and shorts Joel provided you with.

Jesus, how much younger is Tommy’s daughter?

The shorts just barely cover your ass, and there’s a sizable gap between their waistband and the bottom hem of your top. The thin, white material of the shirt only serves to accentuate the way your nipples poke through the fabric, but you suppose there isn’t anything you can do about that.

You quietly crack open the bathroom door, and are somewhat relieved to find that Joel’s already fallen asleep in the chair. You do wish you could’ve finished the episode of Gunsmoke with him, but the end credits seem to be rolling already anyway, and you’d rather avoid being seen in your very ill-fitting pajamas. Although, you do wonder if he’d say anything, or if he’d just let his hungry gaze linger in silence again, holding himself back from touching you beyond a comforting pat on the thigh.

You pick the remote up off the bed and use it to make the TV screen sizzle to black, then tip toe over to the lightswitch by the door and turn it off, the room now completely shrouded in darkness. Joel snores softly from the chair as you blindly feel your way back over to the bed, pulling the covers back and nestling yourself underneath them. The bed is surprisingly comfortable, considering, and it doesn’t take long for your exhaustion to catch up with you. Your thoughts become slower and slower along with your breathing, and you’re asleep not even five minutes after your head hits the pillow.

—

The last room they had, yeah, right. You’re just the most pathetic little thing, aren’t you? You’ll believe just about anything that comes out of his mouth if he turns up the ‘southern charm’ dial a few ticks, throws in a feigned apologetic-looking expression for good measure. It’s sad, really. For you, anyway.

Joel fakes his snoring for another thirty minutes or so, until he’s certain you’re sound asleep. He had heard your breath even out almost immediately after you had tucked yourself in, but he had chosen to lay in wait for a little while longer, just to make sure you wouldn’t put up too much of a fight when he made his move. You don’t seem like the type, considering how you’d hardly argued with him at all tonight, like when he had convinced you to forgo the caffeine with your dinner. There’s a reason he wanted you sleepy and subdued tonight, but you didn’t know that. Joel likes how well you listen to him, how easily you do as he asks.

He also likes how warm you are, how small your body is compared to his own, the difference in size especially prominent now that he’s laying snugly against you, his front pressing firmly into the back of you. You don’t wake from his lumbering movement, only coming to slightly when you feel his arm slide underneath your body, his warm hand snaking its way beneath your tiny shirt to squeeze at your plush tits. 

You mumble out a little “Hm?”, which he’s quick to quiet with, “Sorry, darlin’. Chair was too hard on my damn back. Just go back to sleep, ‘kay?” That chair felt like laying on a goddamn cloud compared to some of the other surfaces he’s found himself having to sleep on before, but again, you don’t know that, and what you don’t know won’t hurt you. You probably won’t even remember this in the morning, how his hard cock is slotted so perfectly against your ass, especially without the confines of his thick jeans holding him back. They’re discarded onto the floor now in front of the armchair, along with his flannel shirt and jacket. Joel holds you tightly against his bare, hairy chest as he circles a roughened pad of his finger around one of your nipples, smirking to himself at how quickly the bud hardens from his touch. He knew you wanted this, and the wet spot that the fingers of his other hand are teasing in the gusset of your panties is proof of it. How long have you been leaking for him like this? Had you been soaking the seat of his truck earlier today? Filthy thing.

You still don’t rouse when he pulls your panties aside and slips a finger inside your slick cunt, or when his grip on your tit loosens in favor of sliding up higher under your tank top, his hand coming to a rest around the base of your throat as he pumps his finger in and out of your tight heat. It would be so fucking easy…

But he can’t, he won’t, because you’re not like the others. You want to get to know him, you let him take care of you, you seem to like his company, and you don’t leap out of bed and call him a fucking perv and a dirty old man for what he’s doing to you. That’s what the others would have done. It’s what they have done. And they faced the consequences.

But you’re different. You’re not like them. You’re like him. A lost soul, that’s what you are. Nowhere to call home, no one who misses you or loves you or gives a damn what happens to you. Joel’s mouth had tasted bitter when he had told you about Tommy, or rather, lied about him. Joel hasn’t seen the fucker in years, certainly doesn’t pay him any visits or watch his brat, not since Tommy had learned the truth. You better not show your goddamn face around here ever again, you understand me? Tommy had spat at him. You’re fuckin’ sick. Only reason I don’t turn your ass in myself is ‘cause you’re my goddamn brother. But if I ever fuckin’ see you again, I won’t hesitate. Better make yourself pretty fuckin’ scarce ‘fore I change my mind. That might’ve been about the only time Joel had ever taken orders from his little brother. 

That bitter flavor is cut by the sweet tang of you that he tastes on his finger now, so young and eager and fresh. The hand around your throat squeezes a little tighter, and Joel’s hips begin to move against your ass as he allows himself to suck wet kisses onto the skin under the hinge of your jaw. Softly, gently, so as not to wake you. He could come just like this, using your pliant body in your sleep, rutting himself against your still form with the taste of your pussy on his tongue and his fingers pressed against your pulse points.

He’s close when you stir again, making broken hiccuping sounds as you choke on your breath.

“Shh, shh,” Joel soothes. “You’re alright, sweetheart. ‘S just me. Just—fuck—hold still, go back to sleep, baby.” You let out a quiet whimper, squirming against him just a little bit, but return to your unmoving and silent state a second later. Joel finishes himself off quickly with another couple of shallow thrusts against you, his large hand still gripped around the column of your neck, trying to stifle his groans as he spills into his briefs. He removes his suffocating hand and keeps you pressed tightly against him for a while after that, tanned arms wrapped around your waist and breathing in your scent as he waits for you to settle back down. 

When he’s sure he won’t disturb you again, Joel releases you from his hold and pads quietly back over to the armchair, redressing himself and resuming the position you had left him in. In the morning, if you do remember any of it, you’ll just chalk it up to a very strange dream, one fueled by the desire he knows you’ve felt towards him since he picked you up. You’ll be left with a strange assuredness that he feels the same way about you, without really knowing why. 

But Joel will always know.

—

The digital clock on the nightstand only reads around 8:00 when you’re awoken by a beam of sunlight shining brightly against the backs of your eyelids, streaming in from the window’s lopsided blinds. You had gone to sleep with your back to Joel, but you find yourself facing him now. He looks kind of peaceful when he’s asleep, that permanent furrow etched between his brows finally smoothed out as he dozes. A small smile tugs at the corners of your lips, but they fall quickly when you adjust your legs and feel the cool dampness against your core, the sensation bringing back the memory of the dream you’d had last night. 

It had felt so real, but it couldn’t have been, could it? There’s no evidence that Joel had really laid next to you last night, that he’d really touched you like that, that you’d wanted him to keep going. It must just be some kind of strange side effect of the affection you feel toward the man who had rescued you, more or less. You’ll likely just part ways after today, anyway, so it’s probably best to just try and forget about the whole thing, put on a fresh pair of underwear and pretend it never happened. 

Joel is awake by the time you’re done freshening up in the bathroom, and he greets you with a raspy ‘Mornin’, sweetheart’ as you retrieve your backpack from next to the bed and shove your ruined underwear into the bottom of it. “You get some good sleep last night?” He asks, rubbing a hand over his eye.

“Mhm, the bed was nice, more comfortable than the one I had at home, honestly.” You finish zipping your backpack closed and sit back down on the bed, pulling on some socks and the lace up sneakers you had been wearing yesterday. “I hope the chair was okay, like, for your back and everything.”

“What makes you say that, baby?”

You pause in the middle of tying one of your shoelaces, turning to look at him with a confused pout. “Didn’t you…? I thought you had told me something about how the chair would be hard on your back. Like, last night.”

Joel frowns, shaking his head. “Don’t think so, darlin’. Chair was just fine.”

“Oh… Well, that’s good.”

Maybe it had just been a dream, then.

Joel hands you a few bills from his wallet, and tasks you with getting the two of you some breakfast from the gas station across the street while he cleans himself up. He tells you that he doesn’t eat much in the mornings, but that you can get yourself whatever you want, as long as you bring him back a carton of cigarettes and a black coffee. You obey eagerly, retrieving what he asked for and getting a pack of miniature powdered donuts and an equally as sugary coffee for yourself.

He’s just stepped out of the bathroom when you return to the room, and your face feels hot when you see him with his dark hair slicked back and wet from the shower. The few strands that fall onto his forehead as he laces up his boots almost make him look a little boyish, despite his whitened temples. 

“Such a good girl, thank you,” Joel praises when you hand him his items. 

You respond with a shy ‘You’re welcome’, but he doesn’t miss how you seem to light up at his words. You plop yourself down onto the worn-in chair that Joel had used as a bed last night, happily munching on your gas station donuts and sipping on your coffee. It all makes you feel warm from the inside out.

But you figure you should find out what the rest of today might look like before you let yourself enjoy the beginnings of it too much.

“So, um… We’re just gonna check out this morning and then… what?” 

“Whaddya mean, baby?”

“I mean… are you just gonna, like… take me to the nearest bus station or something?”

Joel’s confusion is written all over his face, embedded deep into those lines between his brows. You could swear he almost looks a little hurt. “Why would I do that? ‘S that what you want?” He asks softly.

You try to backpedal a little, afraid you might’ve offended him or seemed ungrateful in your question. “I just thought it might be what you want. That you probably have somewhere else you need to be, like Tommy’s or—”

“No, I don’t,” Joel says definitively.

You pause. “Okay, so—”

“You ever been to California?”

His question stumps you for a moment, seeming so random in its nature. “No.”

“You want to?”

You shrug. “I mean… sure. Maybe someday—”

“Why don’t you come with me then, baby?”

You let out an awkward giggle. “...Come with you where?”

���To California. Come with me.” Joel’s tone is genuine but firm.

“Like, today? Are you sure?”

“I mean, we ain’t gettin’ there today, darlin’. But yeah, I’m sure. We both got nowhere else to be, do we? So let’s just go, we’ll see it together.”

You beam up at him, realizing that he’s being serious. Joel does want you, wants you to be his companion, maybe even something more that you’ll discover on familiar-looking back roads and in cities you’ve only ever seen pictures of. 

“Okay,” you agree excitedly. 

Joel nods. “Okay, then. Lemme go check us out ‘n we’ll get back on the road again. Burnin’ daylight already,” he jokes. He carries your backpack out to the truck for you, setting it down between your feet after he opens the door and helps you inside with a stable hand. It only takes a few minutes for Joel to hand in the room key and pay for the night, and then he’s back at your side. You begin to feel like that’s where you always want him to stay. 

“So, where to first, baby? California ain’t goin’ anywhere, can take as long to get there as we wanna. We’ll go wherever you like, take your pick.” Joel leans across your body to dig a folded up map out of the glove compartment, handing it to you. 

You examine it, your eyes darting across the dozens of dots with the names of cities next to them, some you’ve never even heard of. You point to one that you have heard of, but have never been to, because you’ve never even left the state you grew up in before.

“Um… how about Detroit? I’ve heard it’s nice, I think.”

Joel belly laughs at that. “It ain’t, but sure. You wanna go to Detroit, that’s where we’ll go. Buckle up, baby,” he instructs, patting your thigh. You oblige, and it feels good to finally know where you’re going, and that you’re going there with someone who cares about you, who feels safe, who wants you around. You also feel a little hopeful that maybe you were right about Ruby, after all. That you didn’t start walking for nothing, that you weren’t following some childish delusion, that if something as good as Joel had happened to you when you left, that maybe she had found herself on a similar path, ran into somebody good who took her wherever she wanted to go and helped her find someplace she belonged. Maybe she found her way out to California, eventually. What you are certain of is that neither of you ever have to go back to that town ever again, and that feels good, too.

And if it feels good, then it can’t be bad.

tag list: tag list: @beefrobeefcal @iamasaddie @rebel-held @dilfgestivo @zliteraturehoe @joeldjarin @kamcrazy123 @hellowoolf @rexamongthestars @stevie75 @luxurychristmaspudding @noisynightmarepoetry @mewantpeepaw @pedritoferg @alex-does-art-things @evolnoomym @annoyingmarvelreader @k1l4ni @joelsdagger (if your name is crossed out, it won’t let me tag you!!)

[wisteriagoesvroom]

📚 10 f1 fics i've loved lately 🏎️

been thinking a lot about how to organise fic recs into some sort of sensible post, 'cus there are so many (great!) pairings and (delicious!) driver combinations, not to mention so many varying styles of fic and SUPER TALENTED WRITERS!!111!!

just gonna list a bunch in no particular order, with accompanying pics, so you can get a sense of the vibes.

'cus what is f1 rpf but all about the ✨ vibes?! 🏁

p.s. people are in this community making amazing stuff for freeee!! if you liked these please leave a kudos or a comment, it makes a writer's day 🫡 

let's gooooo--

objects in the mirror by linearity (@drivestraight) charles/max. 87k words (series), rated t then e

listen. LISTEN! charles to rbr is one of the best premises ever and i will read it in like a thousand iterations. but this fic. this fic series in particular cleared my skin, made me want to cut my hair into a bob out of sheer emotion. i would be remiss not to start with this one because its impact on my f1 rpf trajectory should be studied by science. you know when a story just jumps off the page and it's so real that it becomes your canon. a kind of meteoric inevitability. plus, i almost never cry at fics. but by the time the third act of this one hit, i just went -- damn, am i rly about to tear up at a f1 rpf fanfiction rn? (yes.)

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sawtooth by nottonyharrison (@nottonyharrison) charles/max. 40k words, rated e

max as a f1 engineer? for CARLOS at FERRARI? sign me the fuckkk up. first off, awesome premise. there's always going to be something so heartwrenching about "what ifs", especially in any universe where max isn't a racer. despite the change of circumstances, just... the sheer poetry of two characters who just inexplicably find their way to each other in any universe... 🤧 also this story nails racing scenes in a way that's so visceral, i feel like a fly on the damn halo with them. and, aside from the gourmet lestappen, carlos's whole thing in this fic is joyous! spicy! he's so unapologetic and vaguely annoying! hilarious! + the swimming pool scene lives rent-free in my head.

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salt skin by peachbellini (@strawberry-daiquiris) oscar/lando. 12k words, rated e

this fic is magic. literally and figuratively. (MERMAID LANDO???? MERMAID LANDO.) the kind of story that makes you gasp and melt a little bit. and made me want to throw my phone at the writer, 'cause it's really that good. the yearning, the metaphor for all that's monstrous, a boy who is lost (and the boy who he finds, is equally so). this is just beautifully written and a little quirky and so well executed. i think i put it in my bookmarks as "what if lando was a mermaid and it was filmed by a24" or something. pearl of a story.

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hockey!! shrimp colors :) by leafmeal0ne (@ocontraire) oscar/lando. 13k words, rated t

leaf meal one. i have only known you a week but if anything were to happen to you i would wreck everyone in the room including myself. in all seriousness, anything that leaf writes is brilliant. they're one of these writers who could do a throwaway line on the label of a ketchup bottle and i will probably scream about it. the precision, the way they switch up sentence structures, the freaking darcy-level regency yearning transposed onto a contemporary sports setting. i'd rec all of leaf's sports AUs and i'll probably talk about more in a future fic rec post. BUT. the hockeyyy one my GOD. the barely restrained violence, their mutual desire, the theme of finding your place... *wails uncontrollably*

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you almost unearthly thing by anonymous max/daniel, 3.7k words, rated g

max is a governess(govern..lad?) and daniel is the mystery man at the manor. this was a response to a request i made in the kinkmeme! (if you haven't read those fics go check 'em out, there are so many great ones, and not necessarily all rated e). this is a criminally underrated little story that has my favourite repressed feelings + people dancing around each other + gothic vibes + "what the hell is wrong with y'all in this tale" combo that i really adore. it's really well written and captures the atmosphere so well.

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the so-called narrative by antimonyandthyme (@antimonyandthyme) oscar/carlos, 10k words, rated e

i'm once again asking why there are only 7 carlos/oscar works in the tag. I'M ONCE AGAIN ASKING-- *is sedated*. *jolts awake* okay but for real this is a great story. hot, fake-friendship-to-situationship which so happens is one of my favourite places to be. also hello miscommunication/they're so weird about it/they both want each other but can't express themselves for shit/insane racer boys energy.

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and silver, and samarium by pink_mink (@on-softs) george/toto, 5.2k words, rated e

i profess i am not usually the biggest fan of A/B/O (altho!! this fandom has made me go BUT ACTUALLY HM at least a few times). and this fic freaking nails it, along with the twisted power dynamics between TPs and drivers, as seen through the lens of omegaverse. this story rattles around my head like a stubborn ghoul just from the style and prose and sheer audacity alone. george kneeling at toto's knees while he's working..... ohhhhhhhhh i was this close to calling my lawyers.

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algorithm by anney (@badboy-george) charles/max, 16k words, rated e

i LOVE, LOOOOVE a sci fi concept alright. love that shit, will inhale it like moon dust with zero regrets. and what a fantastic one this one is!! the premise is that the FIA can now statistically show the compatibility of drivers on the grid and it's very pacific rim-y drift compatible, mixed with the surreal vibes of eternal sunshine or HER or some such. it should be outrageous, but it really works. that's the beauty of a great fic right there.

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trajectory of trojan asteroids by redpaint (@redpaint) nico/lewis, 3.3k words, rated g

also one of the fics i first read when i hopped on board the f1 rpf train. the pain and poignancy just gets worse the more i learn about brocedes. you know when you're like "there's no way this was reallll" and then you're like "fuck, it was so real". then you get a fic like this that just encapsulates all that rage and loss and grief and upset, set against the starry vista of endless space. *clutches tablecloth* god.

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p.s please bear in mind that these recs are entirely subjective! i enjoy loads of f1 stories but these are the ones that have especially stuck with me for some inexplicable reason.

p.p.s if your fic is on here and you want it taken off for whatever reason, i'm happy to, no questions asked 💛

BYE for now / until part 2. (i also love talking to ppl about fics so pls feel free to send an ask or hit me up in DMs or whatever.)

xoxo, -- wizz

[mrghostrat]

"He needed an internet connection so he could download an app to draw with, but the whole point of setting the thing up in London was because he knew Crowley understood all of this a whole lot better than he did."

Okayyyyy I just got violent flashbacks to the s2 finale this is evil 😭😭

But in all seriousness, I LOVED the new bnf au chapter, I mean the kiss??? I audibly gasped, it was soooo good

I was wondering if the witch and the witchfinder are a canon couple in the nice and accurate prophecies? Or are they just a very popular fanon ship? Or is it like good omens, where people saw the romantic subtext in the book and where it was made explicitly canon in the show?

I just think all options would be really interesting, given that Crowley and Aziraphale are both middle-aged queer people and the book came out thirty years ago. So they either would have had some representation back then, or they recognised themselves in the story and even though it wasn't canon, maybe those ideas would later explicitly be confirmed by Agnes Nutter nonetheless? Since all these options have really interesting implications for the way they both interacted with the source material, I'm really curious what your thoughts on the matter are.

Thank you so much for all the beautiful things you create for the fandom, both your fics and your art give me life and I'm so grateful for them ❤

omg you have no idea how excited i am about this question 😭 as i've written BNF, i've been quietly fleshing out more about their fictional fandom, and accidentally gotten reeeeally invested and am dying to talk about it 😭😭

i'm actually tempted to make some fanart of the witch & the witchfinder, using michael and david as facecasts to go full meta thphptftf. in b4 i write it as a fuckin book series for real

buttttt i'll put all my N&A thoughts under a cut so i dont ramble too long on your dashes 💛

The Nice and Accurate Prophecy: Agnes Nutter's book series (turned play, turned film, turned tv series); the fandom in my fic Big Name Feelings

the idea of using Agnes Nutter's "Nice and Accurate" book for the in-fic fandom was taken from @tawnyontumblr's fic New Messages (i just thought that would be a fun fanon consistency to follow), but all the details about the story and characters are me.

N&A takes inspiration from Good Omens (as a story, and as a fandom) but isn't intended to be a direct copy of it. the original paperback series is a few books long, and each adaptation of the books are considered good, accurate, canonical content. the tv show (a HBO series) is the most recent, highest quality, and most popular. The Witcher style, high fantasy quality.

agnes is loudly supportive of the lgbt community just like neil/david/michael are. but i imagine that for the series to be so "marketable" over the last 30 years, there isn't an explicit queer relationship between the witch & finder. there are canon queer side characters but the witch & finder are a little more nuanced.

the witch and the witchfinder aid each other through time, working together to defeat the evils in the story (like Aziraphale and Crowley from GO). there's tension between them, but boundless love, and plenty of flirtation, despite the running "we shouldn't, we're meant to be enemies" theme. they would canonically get together at some point in the story, probably towards the end after they've spent some time dancing around each other.

the thing that makes this vague is: the witch reincarnates through the story, almost doctor who style. they're a trans icon, much like how the GO fandom looks at Crowley and all his gender ambiguity.

when they finally tryst with the witchfinder, they're female. it's by pure happenstance that they're female presenting at that stage of the story, but still widely critiqued over the years. the thing that canonises the mlm relationship is that the witch is said to carry their consciousness through each reincarnation— they're not a new person like The Doctor is when he regenerates.

the start of the book series spends more time on "Crowley and Aziraphale's favourite male reincarnation", while the movie and tv show only briefly montages through some of the witch's faces. the mlm side of the fandom most definitely lost their minds over the brief few minutes of screentime that they got of the male witch, and has absolutely gifsetted it to death.

i've done it like this because so much of (every) fandom has always been seeking out representation and filling gaps where the original content lacks. there's something to be said about the solidarity of queer fans creating more queer content for themselves. except, in the case of N&A, they're getting to work from a source material that is genuinely queer supportive, unlike fandoms like SPN and BBC Sherlock that are fighting against the tide of queerbaiting and buried gays.

it also gives aziraphale and crowley a chance to band together in the next chapter when they talk to a dickhead at the party:

i haven't exactly decided what happens with the witchfinder, like if the story takes place over hundreds of years and he keeps reincarnating as the same lookin dude (like how jack whitehall plays both Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery and Newton Pulsifer) or if it's set over one lifetime and the witch just gets killed and regenerates a lot. i do like the idea of there being some "through the ages" shenanigans, and a canonical "modern day" setting like GO has.

but i gotta be careful bc i genuinely can't stop thinking about this fake story that's barely mentioned in my fan fic or i'll end up writing the damn thing myself

[kalegreeneyes]

LOVING burning and buried, but i broke my rule of only reading completed fics so i’m itching for some more wolf star fics to read in between updates. do you have any recs for fics? i feel like i can trust your opinion given how good your work is!

the answer is yes, but the answer is also that i read a LOT of wips, and some of my recs will be bigger fics you may have already read, or have jegulus as another main ship which idk if you're into or not but here!!

completed:

lose yourself by daiver - holy SHIT this fic was so good. remus gets brainwashed into being a death eater and it is sooooo so so angsty and wonderful. it had so many moments that had my heart RACING

the horcrux hunt by lostmy_keys - this is one of my favorite fics of all time. regulus (reluctantly) teams up with remus to hunt horcruxes. it is regulus centric but also remus, MOSTLY platonic moonwater (which if u like burning and buried i assume u like) but they are quite flirty....which may not be your cup of tea, but as someone who has had a flirty close platonic friendship or two i LOVED. slowburn ANGSTY wolfstar. honestly, i might reread this one now that i've been talking about it. so fucking good.

the cadence of part time poets by motswolo- if you haven't read this, you should. its amazing. if you like slow burn wolfstar, plenty of angst, mentally ill remus lupin, and the best oc's i have ever seen in a fic, this is for you. it is a band au, but mostly it is a boarding school preparing to be in a band au and a freshly starting out band au. extremely long, but extremely worth it.

for the love of ducks by viwrites - UGH anything vi writes i love, but this is a wolfstar sickfic that just sort of scoops up your heart into warm hands and holds it. like, don't get me wrong, it's got angst--but in a comforting way? i love this fic. so fucking much.

saccharine by moonymoment - sirius is a ghost in an apartment remus moves into. i was smiling through this whole fic except for when i was crying.

'tis the damn season by moonymoment - wolfstar fake relationship christmas fic - need i say more?

retrial by pheonixgal - remus hosts a true crime podcast and focuses on sirius's case, which is a concept i LOVE.

god i could keep going for a WHILE but I'll move on

WIPs:

godlight by Badhairred - this is my fave wip at the moment. it has SUPER regular updates. it's jegulus and wolfstar, and i LIVE for the wolfstar in this fic. their relationship, the buildup, the backstory, UGH. jegulus is fantastic too in this fic, obvi, but since you're asking abt wolfstar...i love them in this fic.

sirius black's second chance by platypus_and_pen - as you might guess from the title this is a bring back black fic in which he goes back in time to his hogwarts days after going through the veil, and he gets to reconnect with not only himself, but his friends, and also HOPEFULLY right some wrongs.

the middle path of moonlight by asheseverafter - this fic is so long, so well written, and has weekly updates. i will warn you that they are STILL quite young (i think 14/15 right now? i'm not entirely sure) as the author is taking their time with each year (Which i love) but the relationship between sirius and remus (while not explicitly shown, builds into fade to black or is vague) is quite.......advanced. i personally, as a 26 year old adult, have to skip over that stuff just for my own comfort, and there is still a fair bit of overtly sexual flirting/jokes which is kind of impossible to skip over so if that isn't something you'll be comfy with then that's totally fair, BUT. that being said, the writing in this fic is absolutely gorgeous, i get jealous every time i read it. and the moonwater friendship is AMAZING and the black brothers/black family dynamics are some of the best i've ever seen and how in love and dedicated wolfstar are the entire time is very sweet.

cupid's chokehold by lollipopluna - also mainly jegulus and also having a good amount of wolfstar, but i had to recommend because it is just. so. good. it is violent and dirty and everyone is a little rough around the edges (putting it lightly) but no one moreso than reg and remus. there hasn't been too terribly much ACTUAL wolfstar bc of the angst and the slow burn aspect but i am so so excited to see where they go, and where jegulus goes, and where platonic (not even. more like reluctant enemies former friends?? I guess??) moonwater goes. the DRAMA. the INTRIGUE. the INTENSITY. its great.

AND last but not least, on a pillow of blue bonnets by kalegreeneyes (me (: ) - sirius is famous and he's spinning out so james and pete and regulus are like GET OUT OF HERE and they ship him off to remus's ranch in montana where lily and marlene live and work too!! and barty and evan are ranch hands! and it's a slow burn! and there are horses! and cowboy remus wielding an axe! the downside is that i haven't updated it in a really long time and the new chapter is slow going ha ha ha ha ha BUT it isn't abandoned and i have the whole fic loosely planned out!!!

alright that's all for my absurdly long rec. i could have kept going but i had a moment of self awareness and had to stop, lol

ty for asking!!

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

hello and happy new year!

I just discovered you seconds ago through the snippet for your F1 AU and fell in love with it immediately. had to check your blog. anyway saw the writer goal ask thing and I'm curious, so here it is:

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

have a nice day!

heya there!! Happy new year :D

omg this totally made my day, thank you so much!! And thanks for the ask as well c:

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

answered this one already, but short answer here as well: not doing anything to stop being distracted and too much time on tumblr c:

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Oh aren't there tons of those!

And since you specifically stumbled upon me through my F1 AU, I guess it's only fair to share a scene c: I won't share any snippets just yet though because what I've already written is pretty vague and rough, but I can tell you about it:

when Charles has his first race with Edwin in F1, he is under a lot of pressure to perform well. He is still just a reserve driver but he wants to become a proper one, but his past races haven't ended that well, either engine failures or careless mistakes or simply bad luck. When he gets a good qualifying position for the Grand Prix, he's over the moon but the pressure only builds. Meanwhile, Edwin is set on his goal to be the youngest driver to score points on debut in F1 history. The Grand Prix starts but Charles is not on the top of his game, sluggish movement, nervous energy buzzing. It's past the middle of the race, roughly 25 more laps to go with Charles in 6th position, Edwin in 5th. If Edwin plays his cards right and they don't mess up the pitstop, he might even get a podium finish - and wouldn't that be a dream come true? Until suddenly, everything goes wrong, Charles' car touches his, Charles spinning out of the race into the gravel pit while Edwin loses multiple positions. Charles is forced to retire while Edwin places 11th. No points. His debut dreams go up in flames. And they both know it's Charles' fault.

(I am SO excited to write this properly and especially the aftermath of that)

and because I literally am incapable of not yapping, I'll also share a few fun facts about another little fic I've been thinking about:

Charles is angry at the fact that Edwin never had a proper burial and decides to go on a quest with him to make Edwin a grave so that he can (emotionally) move on

they don't realise that "digging your own grave" as a ghost can connect you to the grave itself. It's so rare that even Edwin doesn't know about

Edwin disappears at the grave, nowhere to be seen anymore, cursed to stay there

when Charles runs out of ideas on how to rescue Edwin, he continues to come to the grave every day, sitting there and talking to Edwin as if he might respond

(I promise it'll have a happy ending <3 sort of <3)

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

Being less distracted lol but that's too vague so I'm gonna say: write at least one sentence every day. One sentence can go a long way. And stay away from tumblr during writing time. Surely I can manage that (manifesting!)

have a great day!!

[uriekukistan]

HI RIN!!!

For the WIP ask: How about 3, 4, 10, 15, and 16? Hope you have a great day!

HIII THANK YOU FOR THE ASK :D sorry for the late reply i've been feeling kinda sick but i fear you've hit the yap button w these....though unfortunately i dont have enough of any of these written to provide a proper snippet my apologies </3 HOPE YOURE DOING WELL !!

3 - WIP I talk about (hasn't started yet)

this is a more recent idea that i just had and talked a bit abt on here i might refine it some before i actually start writing it, but in short i was thinking what if. when yuuji died at the detention center megumi accidentally cursed him? i’ve been thinking of yuuji as a rika-like curse or maybe (probably) something more humanoid but. imagine the GUILT that megumi would feel ooohhhggg it would hurt so bad i need to think more about this  but i have had the idea for a while about itafushi cursing each other at the detention center…..now that i have more time i can actually work on fleshing this out so 

4 - WIP that is secretly rotting my brain & 10 - WIP I started because because of a song

not to combine two asks again i SWEAR its related 

actually i don’t think i’ve ever talked abt this one before…maybe with like one person. and i haven’t started it yet either but it lives in my brain RENT FREE. but its a horror/angst idea inspired by jjk 266 because im EVIL

basically the idea is that in order to reach megumi’s soul, yuuji has to travel Through sukuna’s soul. in doing this, he basically experiences life as sukuna like all the atrocities he committed and cannibalism, some other things. and he’s conscious the whole time but can’t stop anything even he tried because he’s just living sukuna’s memories. ooooh the guilt the sickness the trauma i need to write this idea so bad

the reason i included 10 in this is because i first got the idea when i was listening to “talk” by hozier and the line about the voice that urged orpheus and the choiceless hope in grief. the fic doesnt really align with erm the rest of the song but like the idea of yuuji going through literal Hell to save megumi (like he didnt go through enough already) and the way i saw that in the jjk universe was sukuna’s soul

15 - WIP that is just all my favorite tropes bound together with the power of love

i would say koi no yokan but since i finished editing the last chapter today i feel like that doesnt count as a wip anymore :( 

now i’d say it’s my (unstarted) actor au because it has slow burn elements, historical elements (IM SO EXCITED ABT THIS), secret/forbidden romance…probably lots of meddling (/affectionate) nobara. i havent fully planned it out yet bc i don’t like to have too many active multichapters at once </3 but i love the idea of writing itafushi falling in love twice in parallel stories 🥹

16 - WIP that has an audience of 1 and it is me

is this an appropriate time to talk abt original work……………………………i’ve never talked abt that here before omg

it’s still in its infancy im talking world and characters barely in existence (i’m better at plotting first and building as necessary but idk idk) but this morning i actually came up w a title for it and a vague beginning and ending so i can start building more from there but. 

its a fantasy story set in a fictional kingdom (wow big shocker /s) and the idea that i’ve centered my plot around so far is this doomsday cult. here’s a lil peak into my lore doc (hides faster than the speed of sound) (yes i named the cult before the kingdom what about it)

the story is tentatively named (though i will probably stick with it) "when the sun bleeds red" after the first line of the prophecy. which to me not only refers to the prophecy but the type of imagery i'll be striving for with the more violent scenes kjdgfhfjdh

i'll be running away and hiding myself in a ditch now cant believe i spoke abt my original work publicly

[paula-in-dreamland]

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you @errruvande for the tag!! :))

My AO3

How many work do u have on AO3?

Officially 3 - 1 in-progress multichapter, 2 "one-shots" (cause I'll probs expand eventually)

What's your total AO3 word count?

~42k (estimate cause some the stuff being counted towards the word count are from nav pages in the fic)

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes

I mean if we included ff.net in this...that would be completely different. But we are not. So it's literally the three I've posted:

1. A Game of Revenge and Loyalty (HG AU, Sigtryggr x Stiorra centric) 2. Some News Isn't Meant To Be Shared (Canon Universe, canon divergence, Sigtryggr x Stiorra) 3. Vorres Lille Dukke (Vampire AU, Sigtryggr x Stiorra x Reader)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, or at least I try too! I think it's important to engage with your readers when possible to not only thank them but also because engaging with someone about you work is fun! I've been dying to talk to people about my fics so you better believe I am going to take the opportunity when it comes! It's why I post them in the first place!

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Maybe Some News Isn't Meant to Be Shared ?? Cause it is fluff, but if you read between the lines and think about what transpires in S5 after that moment...yeah. Angsty/Whumpy as fuck. Other than that, I have yet to write something with a truly angsty ending. Unless you include one of abandoned WIPs on ff.net.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I have a bunch of WIPs with truly happy endings that I'll eventually write/post. Very romcom. Very sweet. As for current? LOL I guess Vorres Lille Dukke ...

Do you write crossovers?

A true crossover where characters from two different fandoms interact? No. But, I have done crossover AUs by putting TLK characters in those universes (a la my Hunger Games fic). And, I guess, you consider some of my fics crossovers in that I draw from Vikings and TLK when worldbuilding. Like Sigtryggr (and Stiorra but we ignore that in modern aus) is descended from Ragnar Lothbrok. So, I tend to draw from that show for depictions of those characters.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not on AO3. But, on ff.net over ten years ago. Broke me. I was 14, 15? Posted my first multi chapter fic. Within the prose, I had littered ANs throughout it rather than keeping it to the beginning and end. Why did I do that? Because I'd see a few other fics in the fandom do it so I figured it was the norm as I was a newbie to writing/fic writing. I think they also had a few other things to say. I end up eventually taking the fic down, and now I think it's fully gone as I don't have it on my laptop anywhere :/ But yeah. Be nice to fic writers. English could be their second/third/fourth language. They could be a preteen or a teenager. They could just be starting out.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HA. HAHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Yes. It's mostly M/F. Just recently M/F/F for the first time. As I work through my WIPs, also exploring kinks a bit more. So, more on the vanilla side.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. Don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think someone reached out to me on ff.net to translate one of my fics from ages ago? Have had people ask to print them out before! But not on AO3 (yet)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Okay I VAGUELY remember maybe doing it, or starting to do it 10+ years ago? But I also use to be an avid RPer on here, so uh...yeah we co-wrote a lot of fics that way ;)

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh fuck you can't ask me that. *pulls open junk closet door and gets covered in characters/ships* *Proceeds to grab one at random, then sticks arm out from pile* UH!?!?! THIS ONE?! *holds up Rosalie and Emmett from Twilight*

No, but like in all seriousness: 1. Rosalie/Emmett 2. Stiorra/Sigtryggr 3. Padme/Anakin 4. Kim/Tommy 5. Caroline/Klaus & loads more.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

So, I am really hoping I get to all my WIPs for Sigtryggr/Stiorra because I love them and want to put them in all the scenarios. As for past fandoms/dormant fandoms, I don't think there are any that I want to finish, more so ones that I wish I had given more time too? And now it's too late cause I did not leave myself detailed enough plot notes to trigger my memory? Nor got that far in the first place?

What are your writing strengths?

I think I write some kickass dialogue. I also think I'm decent at writing scenery.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Introspection. is. so. hard. And being concise. And you know...allowing subtext to speak for itself instead of telling the reader directly.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it's awesome! But, it can make reading hard if you're not familiar with the language as you have to scroll down to find out what the hell they are saying if it's more than a few words. I also personally think you should stick to languages you actually know/have studied unless it's like a tiny little phrase/nickname. Or, ask someone who actually speaks the language. Because google translate is not reliable lol.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

None currently. But did consider writing a reader fic for Bleach at one point lmao.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

I don't have a favorite because the one that would probably be my fave isn't written yet ;) But, I tend to like all of my fics even the poorly written ones from when I was 14/15.

Tagging: @azriona @holy3cake @ladyaldhelm @whitedarkmoonflower @gemini-mama and anyone else who writes :)

[jubilantmedusa]

Hi! I just wanted to say that I really like your fics <3 I re-read your latest Zukka one 3 times. Do you plan to write any more soon? What type of ideas do you have? I hope I don't sound pushy I'm just curious!

Aww, so glad you enjoyed it :)

I doesn't take much to get me to talk about ideas and WIPs so here you go!

I'm not sure how soon any of this will get done, just because life is very busy right now (which is the reason I've been focusing on short stuff - I prefer medium/long, but short is more achivable right now; and it is a fun challenge to stick to a word limit).

Actively working on:

Zukka HC Sketch + Fic: I have two other Zukka H/C-ish sketches that I need to write stories for. They should be a little less angsty then the last one, in theory, but still have some H/C element. Waiting for inspiration to strike. (1 - 1.5k each goal). I might do more of these, or I might switch to a non-H/C sketch/fic focus. Or I might stop when those two are done. IDK. Whatever's fun.

Iroh and Zuko Post "The Desert" Whump AU: Zuko and Iroh’s escape from "The Desert" is intercepted by an enemy who quickly surmises that the most effective way to torture Iroh is to torture Zuko. With Iroh literally losing his mind, can Zuko (who is not doing well) save his uncle and himself? (currently at 4k; estimated 12 - 16k)

If I can finish the above by the end of the year I'll be pleased.

Ideas that I really want to do and have at least done *some* pre-writing for:

Iroh's Second Spirit World Journey: An Iroh centric story that diverges after "The Earth King." When Zuko never wakes up from his angst coma, Iroh goes literally beyond the ends of the earth to try to save him (aka - Iroh's second spirit world journey). Could have a sequal (or even be a trilogy, potentially), but not required. I really want to write this but I'm not sure if it would have an audience. Estimate: long, over 25k

Escaping the Desert: Another "The Desert" divergence story - Zuko and Iroh are captured by the Rough Rhinoes. Unfortunately, so is Toph. Zuko will do anything to save his uncle, but what about the strange blind girl who was with the avatar? Estimate 15 - 25k. The problem with this one is it would more or less require a trilogy... but if I can keep all the stories to around 10-15k that may be achievable.

Zukka Iron Lung: There is a plague that only effect firebenders. This spurs the invention of the iron lung -- Sokka is one of the lead engineers. When Sokka goes to the Fire Nation to Save the Day, he catches feelings for the Fire Lord. Unfortunately, Zuko then catches the plague. Length TBD.

Zukka Post Series romance: Zuko was injured/disabled before the finale and never took the throne. Sokka hasn't spoke to him since. He has, however, developed PTSD. With his life seemingly falling apart. Sokka decides to run away and go to university at Ba Sing Se. He stops for tea at the Jasmine Dragon, which is now run by, you guessed it, Zuko. Angst and romance ensures. Bonus airbender field trip. Length TBD.

Ice Demon / Waterbender Hospital - This is something I'm not sure anyone would be interested in except me, but I do like medical whump. I've done some light worldbuilding for a waterbender hospital, and have a vague idea of sending Zuko there when he's attacked by an Ice spirit. For some reason. Maybe involving Aang and his quest to master the avatar state? or maybe not, because that would be a lot of story. Lots of more to develop here. Could be gen or Zukka. Season 3 somewhere. Length TBD.

Fire Demon story - I would love to write a longer form season one AU that shamlessly steals the premise of the excellent short fic Fire Walk by Sholio and makes it into a multi-chapter Zuko joins the gang early story. Length TBD.

Ancedotes: This is an idea for a series of short form slice of life/characters backstory fics (3 - 8k, lets say). So far they'd include - "Old Man " a story that answers the question 'how did Sokka learn about physics?' - coming of age/loss of innocence; "Losing at Pai Sho" a story about teen Iroh learning to not be arrogant; and "First Kiss" - the only idea I've ever had for an Azula story, featuring Ty Lee's first kiss and Azula's first... something else. I have an idea for Toph and Zuko, but not committed to them. Katara story has not come to me. I also wanted to pair these with exercises from The 3 A.M. Epiphany because idk the whim struck and the idea is in my head.

Aside form that, I'd like to write a few whumpy Zuko short stories (3 - 10k) that focus on the gaang relationships I haven't written about as much - friendship fics featuring Katara & Zuko, Aang & Zuko, or Toph & Zuko.

If I am ever to become independently wealthy, I'll write my season 3 AU.

And if I ever feel very, very silly - but still slightly angsty - I'll have Iroh commission a symphony in C.

Thank you so much for the question! I am flattered. It was very nice.

If there's an idea you (or anyone who stumbles across this) especially likes, let me know!

[stolitzsings]

💖, 🖋 and 👨‍👩‍👧 for the ask game! (I probably got at least one of the emojis wrong but hopefully they still make sense 😂) - @blitzwhore

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

Can't believe you're gonna make me think of something nice to say about myself 🤣 I've been told I have a very "lyrical" style of writing, and sometimes I'll write a sentence or paragraph that flows really well and just Hits. I love those moments when I feel like I've really nailed it at a word-for-word level.

👨‍👩‍👦 Do you tell people in real life that you write fic?

Most people in my life know I do writing of some sort, but I'm pretty vague with the details lol. I only talk about writing fic with irl friends who also write/read fic (and I don't tell most of them that I write smut, just bc I know it isn't their jam). I told my therapist I write "character studies," because what is smut if not horny character analysis? 🤣

🖋 Post a snippet from a current WIP

Putting this one under the cut!

Ok I was a little nervous about sharing this because it's from a longer AU I've been toying around with, and historically I'm very bad at sticking to longer projects. But regardless of what I do with it I had a lot of fun writing this scene of M&M tormenting Blitz lmao

Blitz could feel his face heating up. “He isn’t— It’s not like—” Fuck, he was losing this one fast. “Okay, so maybe we’re boning or whatever, but it’s just a casual thing, you know? It’s not like we’re dating or anything.” Moxxie raised an eyebrow. It was almost impressive how smug he looked. “Who said anything about dating?” “I think he just did, babe.” Okay, now they were getting on his nerves. He could feel his spines starting to bristle.  “Look. It’s just a convenience thing, ‘kay? He gets to have his bad boy fantasy, and I get a reliable fuck who I know won’t steal my kidneys while I’m asleep.” It wasn’t like Stolas would ever really consider a relationship with someone like him. Disowned or not, he was still a royal. And that was fine! Blitz didn’t want anything complicated, anyway. Fucking was easy. It was comfortable. It was all either of them was looking for.  “If you say so, sir.” Moxxie had somehow dialed the smugness up to eleven.  Blitz rolled his eyes and walked towards the door. “I’m firing both of you. And I’m keeping your shares for today.” He was pretty sure Moxxie started to say something in response, but he was out the door before he heard it.  He let himself stew as he made his way down to the parking lot. “Looking for excuses,” for fuck's sake. They were hired killers! What did they expect? He was going to get injured sometimes. And it only made sense to go see Stolas, who knew more about this shit than any of them did. Besides, a quick fuck sesh was good for you, or something. Boosted your sero-whatever levels. Got your blood pumping. It was basically healthcare, anyway. Talk about a bedside manner, he thought to himself, grinning. He made a mental note to use that one with Stolas later. He'd think it was funny.

“C’mere, B, let me take a look at that scratch for you.” Millie had opened up their first-aid kit and had just finished bandaging a shallow cut on her thigh. Blitz looked down at the wounded arm that she’d gestured to. It wasn’t serious— an annoyance, more than anything. He shrugged. “Eh, that’s okay. I’ll just have my guy take a look at it.” Millie eyed him skeptically, like she was trying to catch him in a lie. “You know, you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with this mysterious “guy” of yours lately.” Moxxie looked up from his paperwork with a conspiratorial smile. “You’ve been seeing him for everything, even minor injuries. Almost like you’re looking for excuses to pay him a visit.” Oh great, the famous M&M tag team. “What? No, I haven’t.” Even he knew he sounded defensive. “Sure looks that way to me.” Millie crossed her arms and perched on the edge of the desk so that she and Moxxie could give him the double stare-down. Cute. “Are you sure that medical attention’s all he’s been giving you?”

Thank you for the ask @blitzwhore! I'm still answering these prompts if y'all are curious 😊

[mirjam-writes]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @suavissimapenna <3 Sorry it took so long!

How many works do you have on ao3?

7 for Sherlock and 23 Good Omens that are completely mine. 6 collaborative fics I have either partly written, or just made art for. So, 36.

What's your total ao3 word count?

380,863

What fandoms do you write for?

Good Omens! I used to write for Sherlock too, but that's now in the past.

Top five fics by kudos:

Truth Or Dare (E, 6.5K words), my first proper smut ever! Post s1 gettig together story.

Angel Of Justice (T, 9.5K), my first ever Good Omens fanfic. Post S1 from Michael POV, A/C as a background couple.

!False (It's funny because it's true) (E, 5.4k), an office romance human AU set in software company.

A Stable Relationship (E, 9.9k), horse rider AU with trans Aziraphale. Friends with benefits becoming a romantic relationship.

Girls Just Wanna Have Sun (G, 1.7k), outsider pov scene about Robin's day at the beach, where she meets two weird gentlemen who have never been to a beach before.

Do you respond to comments?

YES I DO! Slowly, possibly, but yes I do, and I read and reread them!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uhhh... angsty ending? What is that? Technically Be Still My Soul: The Rift, but does that count if it's a middle part of a trilogy? That's definitely my angstiest fic of all time BUT I tried to write the happiest ending possible to it. But also, yeah, people died in the war (just not A or C), so maybe I'll count that story.

Edit: WAIT NO! To Love Somebody, a story from Shadwell pov about how he fell in love both Aziraphale and Crowley, and how that changed him. That's sort of angsty and the ending is bittersweet!

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmmmmm. I have so many. I can't compare. Maybe Watching You (Watching Me), it's the porniest porn i have ever written, and it has...uh... several happy endings :D

Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far!

Do you write smut?

Yessss. I'm in my porn writer era at the moment :D

Craziest crossover:

I did some super weird anime crossovers as a teen (I hope those are long lost) but haven't dabbled on that since apart from very vague blink-and-you-miss-it references.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

One of my Sherlock fics was translated into french in 2018!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Only for one round robin event, which produced four stories! Not sure if that really counts as collaborating since we weren't allowed to talk about it when we did it, we just got the fic, read it, and added 600 words and gave it to the next one! It was super fun though.

All time favorite ship?

Aziraphale and Crowley. No competition there.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't usually start posting unless I'm 100% confident I'll finish the story, so I don't have public wips.

I had one pretty cool Sherlock post-apocalypse story idea, which I'd love to talk about if someone is interested, but writing it? Hmm probably not. But it's not really a wip, if I have only like two bullets in a doc?

What are your writing strengths?

I think I write pretty good bickerflirting and humour even in dark situations. And, uh... historical research.

What are your writing weaknesses?

LONG ASS SENTENCES. I need to cut them down. Chop chop chop. Also, I over-use commas and em-dashes.

Also, not being a native english speaker, but I think I've got a lot more fluent during the past years, so maybe that's not my biggest weakness anymore.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I have done it myself, in a situation when my pov character wasn't supposed to understand what was being discussed, but I did only a couple of lines.

My languages (apart from english) are finnish, very rough swedish, and teeny tiny bit of german, but many fics I've read that have used another language in dialogue, use French or Spanish (which are popular languages for English speakers to learn in school!), and with those I'm woefully lost!

But honestly, i don't need to understand every fic under the sun! You do you, I bet there are people who can understand whichever languages you'd like to mix in your story, and that will be amazing for them!

First fandom you wrote in?

The Book Series That Must Not Be Named. I projected so much of my teenage angst into wizard school drama.

Favorite fic you've written?

You monster! Making me choose. Uh.

Okay, fair. It's easy. Be Still My Soul, hands down. @be-still-my-soul-fanfic

No pressure tagging: @hkblack, @ambrasue, @tawnyontumblr , @ack-emma and @zehwulf and anyone else who wants to answer!

[amethystfairy1]

hello internet stranger,

i am in love. you've infected both me and my sister with your brainrot and captivating fics, we've talked about it non-stop the past few days, so naturally we have some questions.

But first, i want to ask what your boundaries are w/ fanart and writing. i've already drawn a couple pieces, are you alright with me posting them, and what should i tag them with? Also, i'm feeling very inspired to write more zed and tango for the travelling thieves au, is that alright if i take your ideas and just yoink them? Im not planning to post whatever i write at this point :P

anyways, moving on, i have a few world-building questions for you, starting w/ traveling thieves:

how does the mercenary guild and hits system work? Can anyone put a hit out on anyone, or do they have to be a wanted criminal? also, how does gem choose her targets? i like to believe she has some sort of moral compass in picking, but knowing the world they live in, i can't be certain

this is less of a question, but i don't see how the world can be resolved. For ttsbc, the obvious solution to the undercity folk living freely is that they overthrow the overcity government or just remove the laws keeping them banned. Sure, it'd be difficult, but from what we've seen, most people don't actually have strong prejudices against the undercity, they just vaguely believe they're evil, which can be very easily disproved. For traveling thieves, it's completely different, because not only is the discrimination in the government, it's in the people themselves; merely changing the laws would not change how people see hybrids, so how can that be fixed? My best solution to them all getting a happy ending is that they run away and found their own civilization where all hybrids can be free, but it doesnt seem like a likely scenario

again, not really a question, but I'm so so so happy in the latest fh piece that they looted the bodies of their attackers. the first time i read it through, i was practically screaming at the screen, telling them to grab the loot and weapons before they continued

next, ttsbc:

4. how do the mobs work? do they act like any normal animal, in that they just kinda exist and happen to be very hostile, or do they follow minecraft mob mechanics and spawn into existence from nothing when the conditions are right? could they theoretically all be exterminated? do all of them dislike light, like the zombies in the cleo bdubs fic? if they do, why are they making their way to the overcity?

5. how did the undercity become a thing? Was it just always there, or was it manmade? did hybrids and mutants always live underground? are the pits really bottomless? and if so, is the world a globe, or is it flat? i understand you might not have thought very deeply about these things before jumping in, but my sister and i were theorizing about different answers. i figured the undercity isnt manmade just like the grand canyon isnt manmade, it just came about through natural processes, and mutants and hybrids just evolved(?) seperately from humans, underground, which is a whole other can of worms with the science behind that. an idea about the "bottomless" pits has to do with physics. at the center of the earth (if it were hollow), you wouldn't feel gravity because it would pull on you equally in all directions. so maybe the bottomless pit really just leads to the center of the earth, and you're not really falling forever, you're just suspended in the center forever lol. not falling, but not hitting the bottom, either

anyways, this was a really long ask (i hope thats ok), and i still have more to say, but i'll leave it there for now. again, i love the angst, and have a wonderful day. im gonna try to get some work done, but it probs wont happen with all the brainrot XD

Hello hello! ✨

I'm so honored that you and your sister are enjoying my AUs and fics so much! That you've been talking about them and theorizing over them is so awesome to hear! Knowing that they've become something fueling discussion is super cool!

I LOVE IT ALL! Fanart/fanworks/fanfic I wanna see all of it! I would absolutely love it if you would post your fanart! Please use either the (#traveling thieves au) or (#through the sky blue cracks) depending on which AU it is for and mention me in the post (@amethystfairy1) so I can see it! And of course you are welcome to write fics based in my AU or using my characterizations, in fact I'd love it if you did! It's the best thing to hear that my writing has inspired someone else to get creative! I know you said you had no intentions of posting it, but if you ever do, please use the same hashtags here if on tumblr, or if you use A03 list the appropriate fic/series as inspiration and please credit me in the notes if you don't mind! I'm looking forward to seeing anything either fanart/fanfic related that you've created!

ONTO THE QUESTIONS 🏃‍♀️

The mercenary guild is basically like the underground/illegal version of the adventurer guild, and they'll take any jobs that the adventurer guild won't. Blackmail, assassination, smuggling, you name it. Gem has something of a moral compass, but it isn't exactly the strictest thing in the world. We learn when she meets Mumbo in Grian's wing preening fic that she is on her way to assassinate a noblemans son, and while that is a bit of a wink wink nudge nudge if you can figure out who that son is, exactly, it's still Gem agreeing to kill a teenager who is guilty of little more than pissing off the wrong person. Cruel world and all.

Perhaps that's exactly point? 😌 With Traveling Thieves, I did not set out to make a world that could be resolved or escaped from...the whole point is that it is cruel and inescapable, and the best you can do is continue to protect yourself and those you care about...and even then, you might fail to do that. You might be set up to fail in a sick system that would never give you a chance in the first place. And the best you can do is try to put the pieces back together in the aftermath. I don't want Traveling Thieves to resolve in any traditional sense of the word...for where that'll lead all our various characters, well, you'll have to wait and see. 🤔

Loot that body LOOT THAT BODY NOW 💃

They're like your typical minecraft mobs, they spawn in places with low light levels! We've also got some homebrew monsters that I've come up with, such as the bird-men, that we will be meeting as time goes on. Certain monsters such as zombies do avoid light, but there are plenty of monsters will go above bedrock just like certain monsters in minecraft can survive in the sun, like creepers and endermen. No, they can never be exterminated because of how they spawn!

The pits aren't bottomless, we've seen the bottom after all, where Pearl, Jimmy, and Grian were in the Depths! It is a natural chasm beneath the bedrock, and the various caves and tunnels stretch are incredibly huge and diverse, so while everything connects back to the main cavern of the under-city that's so huge, there are also other caves and tunnels where other groups live that we will be learning about eventually, such as the blaze-born pyres or where Cub is from in the Deep Dark!

It is completely totally 100% ok! I love getting long asks like this that give me the chance to develop and worldbuild the AUs and mention some details that might never really show up within the fics themselves! So by all means send more questions and thoughts! And I'd also love to see the fanarts you mentioned if you still are up to posting them, I can't draw so anything anyone draws that has anything to do with my AUs makes me incredibly happy! 😆

Thanks so much for coming by! 💖

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hi! I'm Naeme from AO3, and I finally got the courage to use the ask thingie cause I had some questions. The thing is tho, I braved tumblr and managed to get to the end of the HTRYDS page(?) so some of the stuff I'm wondering might be totally outdated and the questions might be obsolete. Oh well, I'll ask anyway.

For of all tho, I have to have ask: What have you done to me? I am not kidding for the last two weeks I've just been rereading this AU and thinking about it. This is exactly how I felt after finding and reading your AU this winter. Gosh, I get so intense when I reeeeally like something. I reread your entire fics, proceeded to go play Genshin Impact to move on, then I started talking to my sister about your fic because I needed to FANGIRL and when I was done I was so excited THAT I STOP PLAYING MY GAME AND WENT TO REREAD EVERYTHING AGAIN. My sister thought it was the funniest shit ever, she said I gaslight myself into rereading your fic. What have you done to me. Or maybe I'm the problem. I've been rereading everything but this time with Fairy Tail music because your fic it just that good.

I want you to know, that this is all your fault for creating something so magical. Also I've been rewatching some Fairy Tail episodes because of you and half the time all I can think about is ''Gosh I wish this was HTRYDS''.

ANWAY. As mentioned, I've read your tumblr posts and responses from a while ago and I got some questions. You might not have answers anymore, maybe you moved on or changed your mind and it's all good. I don't really post, but I do write a lot, so I know how it can be.

I saw a post that was about your vague idea of the arcs for this fic and their order, I know it might have changed, you were clear that it was open to a lot of changes, but I had questions about that arc that you called ''Teambuilding Exercises''. I feel like you talked about it somewhere but I couldn't remember what was said. I'm just so curious about this one because for a while now I have been wondering if the dragon slayers were going to join teams. Because it seems like you made Erza, Jellal, Gray and Lucy a team, which confirms what I thought that the Tower Trio (for lack of better name, sorry babies) never became an official team, but it also seems that Natsu just isn't going to join. (which is interesting. I do find his relationship with Gray interesting in HTRYDS, especially when it seemed that Gray genuinely wanted to go with Natsu to Galuna Island in Demon Tale (you broke my heart there, it was great (AND WTF I JUST REALIZED THAT DEMON TALE IS KIND OF THE OPPOSITE OF FAIRY TAIL WHAT--))

Anyway, QUESTIONS!!! First of all, what is implied with ''Team''. Is it Team, or is it Teams. Is the Team the whole of Fairy Tail? In that case it would be the entire guild working together to become closer. If it's Teams, the known teams right now are Laxus', Levy's and maaaaaybe Erza/Jellal/Gray/Lucy? But I feel like the arcs have to be about one of the dragon slayers (we're here for them after all), so is it Laxus? Or will Gajeel join Levy's team? Or Natsu Erza's? Somehow those last two ideas don't feel likely. Sooo, is it that the dragon slayers will make their own team? Or multiple teams? Like the oldest together and youngest together? I feel like Acno won't join a team unless you decide to put the whole fam in one team.

I AM curious as to if the dragon slayers will join any team or make one, even if it's unrelated to that arc.

Maybe that arc has nothing to do with the teams of Fairy Tail and it's a metaphor for something I don't know yet. Or another type of team entirely.

I've also been wondering whether or not there would be a time skip at the end of the Tenrou Island arc, but I'm pretty sure the only way I'll know that is if I read it. So it will wait.

You know what, somehow, it feels like if you answer any of my questions it might just be too spoilery. In that case, just take all those questions I have about HTRYDS as me being very passionate about everything.

Huh. This is really just me loosing my mind over the teams, isn't it? I guess it's because I'm currently in the middle of rereading Demon Tale, I always start wondering during that read. (also love Lucy with Jellal in there, they are so precious in their together. Geek best friends. And then Levy join in on the fun too!)

Gosh I'm a rambling machine. I guess that's why it's hard to comment for me sometimes, especially of the bigger works like you HTRYDS, because I want to honor all the hours and the thoughts that you put into such a big project and it feels like a little comment wouldn't be able to do that. I truly genuinely feel blessed that you decided to take this endeavor and even tho you might feel like doing something else, it's fine because you still gave us such amazing stories to enjoy with this AU.

So again, thank you so much for this AU. Papalogia and his little dragons will now live in my mind forever, I just know it. <3

Hello! Now you can receive your gold star sticker for trying new things lol. And to be fair, nobody *really* knows how to navigate tumblr, we all just (bad pun incoming) tumble our way through. I try to tag all my stuff well enough but my page could probably use some better navigational tags. Oh well. We all persist XD

Anyway whoops. I am honored to be the source of brainrot but as always it's unintentional XD. As much as I would like to take credit for the neat trick, because I need to use that on myself sometimes lmao.

Haha I'm not *too* indecisive so most of my rambling about plot stuff is still up to date. The "Teambuilding Exercises" arc is still very much on my timeline (and still unnamed, rip) and I am still very much hyped for it. I just mentioned it in an ask a few days ago, which is probably what you're thinking of. Funnily enough though, none of the "teams" in that arc will be actual teams. It is 100% me coming up with a funny reason to make new people bond, and then those bonding experiences turn into accidentally Very Personal adventures.

It's funny, I have realized that I sort of made the dragon slayers the floaters of Fairy Tail. Laxus is the only one on a team (Thunderstorm) and that isn't going to change. They kind of act like a "team" in themselves, except not in a concrete way, just the sibling way, and there are groups they frequent, like Gajeel tagging along with Shadow Gear a lot. And, I mean, technically "Team Erza" (as much as I call them that) aren't an official team aside from Mira joking to put them down as one, they just also do things together. I like to play fast and loose with group dynamics and give them the freedom to mix it up sometimes. So, like, there are the official teams recognized outside of the guild as A Thing, and then the people who often squad up. And then me sometimes finding excuses for somewhat unique squads, like me throwing Natsu, Mira, and Happy together in Demon Tales.

Which. I am so stoked you noticed the naming thing XD. I very much did that on purpose lol. (I jokingly refer to their squad name as Demon Tail in my notes.) It's also a fun double entendre, because in addition to being a play off of the guild and a focus on our lovely demon members, the whole arc is also about tales that come from demons. It's Galuna's quest and their past and present and the myth about Apophis and about the Timeless Valley, and with also that fun emphasis that stories does not equal history, but they are adjacent to each other. (I actually agonize over titles too much sometimes I can be very annoying about it, thank you for giving me this opportunity.)

Thank you for rambling! I always enjoy hearing it, and sometimes getting the chance to do it back. Also it makes me happy to know people are in the same brainrot pit I carved for myself and live in. It means a lot <3

[ambersky0319]

37?

37. Talk about your current wips.

MMMKAY bc it was a fanfic ask game I'll stick to fanfic wips

Unfortunately I haven't done much writing lately B U T I have some ideas!!!!

For a certain event (the name escapes me actually atm) I'm doing a bunch of fics focused on Marnie/Marlon/Gil and variations of that ship. My goal is to make them oh so fluffy. Bc all three of them deserve happy things

I'm also reworking a story with all my farmers. It's been fun tryna figure out what each of them would specialize in, their dynamics with each other, and the townsfolk. Like. How do I work in my hoarder total completionist farmer in with my other farmers? Plus, what are their back stories, how do they all know each other? Did all of them get left the farm, or were some just friends who tagged along? This one is more slow going but I'm enjoying it (as well as writing another character who uses sign to communicate - having lots of fun with that and considering who will learn, who will be more resistant, and that character romances Alex so it's even more fun)

Other fandoms....

Still trying to work through Eternal but I got slammed with ✨responsibilities✨ like homework and moving. So! Much slower going. B U T I am so excited for where it's going and some of the world building especially that I've tweaked (the commandments are getting a total revamp and no one can convince me otherwise)

I'm also thinking of playing around with soulmate aus again. And exploring the idea of some characters being aspec or not conforming to stereotypical relationship dynamics. But that's just a vague concept I wanna revisit, cause they're super fun. I may start with revamping my "This Love" series

Thanks for the ask!!!

[future-ghoost]

18 and 23 for the fic asks?

Hi Opti 😊

18 - How many WIPs do I have and when do I expect to finish?

Now there's a question 😅 Let's go in order:

Released:

A War of Hearts - two more chapters, maybe? I know it's been on pause since August so I'll probably have a crack at writing the last parts in March?

Hand on a Dagger - no idea. Maybe 3/4 chapters left. I've got the story plotted but it's vague so I need to figure out how to write it. Within the next few months

She's Just a Seat Filler - 3 more chapters? potentially 4? Chapter 4 is almost entirely written and I have a clear idea of where the rest of the fic will go.

Unreleased:

Unfinished 'Wavemother's Robe' smut fic. No idea when/ if that'll see the light of day.

Your Love Could Start a War - Sequel to A War of Hearts, but obviously I need to finish AWoH first

Somewhere in the Shadows - 'What would happen if Selûnite Shadowheart was ripped from the party by Viconia when they went to rescue her parents' AU. - on the backburner until other fics have been progressed

The Soulmate Caper - NevexRook Soulmate AU - probably the one I'll start after She's Just a Seat Filler - maybe sooner

That's everything with any sort of substance so far - I did think of a really good idea for another earlier today but I didn't write it down because 'oh this is such a good idea, of course I'll remember it'.

23 - What's a story I'd love to write but haven't even started yet?

@strugglingcomet2 and I have been talking about writing a Ghost Hunting AU for months now. I'm sure she got asked this same question and gave the same answer 😅

Love u Opti ❤️

[theawkwardterrier]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Blessedly tagged by @walkinginland and @flyinghome-againstthewind so I can participate in one of my favorite activities (talking about myself) during this boring workday!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

173, although I know there are a few that for various reasons I haven't posted on there

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,177,040 which...wow

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Most continuously the MCU (Captain America specifically), Buffyverse, Veronica Mars, and Outlander, but one-offs for many others

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Muscle Memory (Outlander, Jamie/Claire; 18 chapters, complete)

Wingspan (Veronica Mars, Logan/Veronica; 6 chapters, complete)

Here's All the Melting Thrill (And Here's the Kindling Fire) (Outlander, Jamie/Claire; 14 chapters, complete)

things left behind and the things that are ahead (MCU, Steve/Peggy; 43 chapters, complete)

After the War Is Over (Will There Be Any Home Sweet Home?) (Outlander, Jamie/Claire; 6 chapters, complete)

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

99% of the time, absolutely. I appreciate them so much, and want to express that, even if I'm a little overwhelmed and just end up saying "Thanks so much for reading!" Sometimes, however, if the comment strikes me as really negative or is trying to start some kind of debate that I don't want to get involved in, I'll just mark as read and move on.

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

I don't really write angsty endings! (Usually just angsty middles, and third act twists...) Probably my Veronica Mars fic, We Do Not Flinch, because even though the ending is definitely hopeful, not everything is fixed and the character death is not erased.

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

Um, basically all of them tbh! I love and reliably provide a happy ending. I guess I'll say Each Step Closer (On Our Way Together) because the whole thing is pretty light and the last section extra so.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Intellectually I know the answer is no. But I have gotten criticism, perhaps validly, about my portrayal of Peggy's emotions in Woman Borne, and also have gotten comments which express frustration with the choices my characters make, and that does feel hurtful in certain ways.

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

Ehhhhh, very, very lightly. Pretty much just gauzy linguistics and minimal mention of actual body parts - soulmate smut 🤷‍♀️

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

Haha, I've written a bunch of AUs that borrow from other fandoms and have a lot of fun with those, but I've only written one partially completed Buffy/Bones crossover

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think that some of my fics have been included in the kind of automatic sweeps that republish on fake fic sites or ebook sites, but not by an actual person as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, although I'd be happy to give permission if someone wanted to!

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

Lol, no and I can't imagine I'd be an easy writing partner 😂😬

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

Skipping because I've found that there isn't necessarily a permanence to it for me.

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

I don't really have WIPs that have been posted (because I know myself and that would be too stressful for me!) but the long planned out Chase/Cameron fic, or the Veronica Mars one where Wallace was a superhero, or the various ideas I've vaguely started writing within my head.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mmmm...Occasional nice turns of phrase/unusual uses of language?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing visuals or action

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

Nervous about it and probably I do it wrong, but I do it anyway 😬

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter back in the day

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I am my own biggest fic critic and also my own biggest fan, so they are all dear to me. I do have a particular love for my Steggy fic things left behind and the things that are ahead and all the characters and bits of the universe that come along with it.

Tagging @roboticonography, @ghostcat3000, @ckerouac, @kairosimperative, and of course my always meme pal, @lavellenchanted!