#particularly fic that deals with it in a nuanced way

[scoobydoodean]

i know it's compelling in fics for cas to feel betrayed about the jack in the ma'lak box decision but its So weird bc its obvious the moment jack breaks out of it hes like. oh man jack might need to be restrained at least until we can figure out a plan. like his first thought before jack breaks out is "this was cruel of them to do" and then hes like. oh fuck jack might be a threat actually.

like castiel is a complicated character hes on jack's side but by the time god suggests killing jack hes done a full 180 on it.

and when people are like "aiming the gun at jack is just as bad as shooting him" im even more confused bc like. dean aimed a gun at emma and didnt shoot her, even with the safety off. dean aimed a gun at SAM while under mind control/anger spell (talking about southern comfort iirc) and didnt shoot him. dean aimed a blade at cas and didnt stab him. like. its fine for cas to be upset at the god gun thing but its so weird when people act as if cas didnt basically admit jack needs to be stopped/bound next episode.

Cas should have been consulted and had a right to be angry that he wasn't included in the decision. At the same time, part of the reason the whole dead mom incident leading up to this happened is that Cas—yet again—kept something from everyone else so he could make unilateral decisions behind all their backs, so I'm not particularly sympathetic to his frustrations with being excluded.

I also just don't think it was cruel at all to put soulless Jack in a box and I think people should get over it. He was killing people and I care more about that than his feelings about being stuck in a box for all of 20 minutes. I simply don't care and it continuously baffles me how big a deal some fans makes out of this when Jack was going around fucking punishing and killing people in horrific ways for not believing in god on Dumah's orders after Cas suggested to her that Jack was in a vulnerable state due to being soulless and could be molded to do others bidding. Anyway like 20 minutes later, Cas went to inquire about putting Jack in The Cage. You know—the room where Sam was trapped for a year with Michael and Lucifer and where as far as Cas knows at that point, Sam was so badly tortured by Michael in addition to Lucifer that it ripped him apart at the seams?

Fandom's take on the entire thing is so devoid of even the most basic level of nuance or even plain simple honesty (to the point one of my mutuals was sent hate mail for months for nothing more than pointing out canonical facts surrounding the incident). It doesn't even surprise me anymore, because this is a fandom that infantilizes Jack to such an extent that it's been passionately argued to me that Jack should be allowed to kill people when he's angry because he has such Big Important Feelings and simultaneously and incongruously—that Dean shooting Jack to keep him from killing the black store clerk Jack was strangling to death in a rage was an act of abuse. Don't even get me started on gun disk horse that exists beyond that regarding the shooting people with guns show.

[wannaeatramyeon]

ok wait hearmeout

gun and reader but it’s reader who’s also one of charles choi’s ten (eleven for reader??) geniuses.

what if. reader who’s the learning genius to gun being the training genius.

alrigjt bye love your work <33

I got inspired to write this as a crack fic until heh. Thanks for clarifying. Crack fic probably coming up soon. Thanks as always for requesting and reading!

Gun Park x Reader: The Learning Genius

Training genius meets the learning genius (and crack here)

A blank slate is presented to Gun in the form of you.

Someone specially sourced by Charles Choi with an exceptionally rare talent: a learning genius.

Elevated beyond that of even the copy ability, because to learn is to master and not just to piece together a cheap imitation.

.

.

Kyokushin karate is first used to put you through your paces, with Gun explaining and demonstrating the basic philosophy. Your brain holds on to his words, and your body then executing each move perfectly.

The first impact you make, the first punch that you throw out, causes Gun to stagger back a few steps - almost winded and eyes wide with shock.

Charles is right. You are the learning genius.

.

.

Gun is relentless, as expected from the Training Genius and Shiro Oni.

Nevertheless, whatever he throws at you, you absorb like a sponge.

He makes no secret that he is impressed.

.

.

Truly you should be limitless with your potential, which leads to Gun thinking about other things.

"Oh?" you grin at him in between dodging his kicks, "You're still looking to do your GED?"

Gun nods, right before he launches a devastating attack that ends with you on your back.

The smile never leaves your eyes even as you wince in pain, "I can help tutor you!"

.

.

If someone was to ask how many pounds of pressure a Taekwondo back kick would exert, or if a fist was travelling at 20mph, how many ribs that would break - Gun would be able to answer you.

Well, more of a case he would give you a practical demonstration.

"Stop." He cuts you off as you're mid way explaining a theorem. Teetering between giving up on this completely or gritting his teeth and getting through this as a point of pride-

"Gun," you say, sensing his train of thought, hand reaching out to calm his bouncing leg, "I'm sorry, I'm not explaining this well." Your tone and face is sincere, " Let me try again."

Alas a training genius is not a learning genius, but after a few more attempts, you explaining and using a different angle each time, Gun gets it.

.

.

The obsession with you creeps up on him, initially going unnoticed due to the close quarters and sheer amount of time spent together.

And really, once it starts, Gun doesn't think anything of it. He has obsessed over others before, especially those that he believes are worthy of becoming his successor.

No-one though has exceeded his expectations quite like you.

.

.

Daydreams are for fantasists and stargazers, not someone that deals with the brutal reality of the world on a daily basis.

Despite this, thoughts of you and your potential run through Gun's mind. Morphing and evolving with each day spent together. At first focused on developing your fighting skills, then a new light shone on your relationship as you helped to tutor him.

Finally, he wonders what else he could teach you and he could learn from you.

.

.

Things come to a head when after a particularly gruelling sparring session, Gun asks if you wanted to grab something to eat after.

You freeze as you wipe the sweat from your brow. It takes a moment for his words to sink in and when they do, you turn around with a wide grin.

"Like a date?"

"...Like a date, yes."

Of course, you could tell.

You are the learning genius after all, and that includes learning all the nuances of Gun Park.

Gun's gaze softens when you nod in response.

[whamss]

Ok I have to ask because you have such based takes on rose as a character,

1) do you read fan fic/ if you don’t what’s your general take on fics interpretation of Rose and other characters in homestuck

2) if you do, please I am begging for any rose character study / rose&kanaya pieces you like, anything will do I just would adore to hear your thoughts. Ao3 is like a drought of mischaracterization of Rose & Kanaya and it hurts my soul.

Oh man, I don't read nearly as much fic as I wish I did not gonna lie, I'm so lazy! (And I suffer from chronic daydreamer disease, where instead of reading fanfic I walk in circles in my room and put Rose Lalonde in Scenarios). I have a few that I've read over the years that I've liked a lot though, so I can try to compile a general list:

the ennui of too late and too little

Starting with this one because it was just posted (and I just read it) and I think it's fantastic! Kanaya POV but Rose-centric, with a particular focus on Rose reflecting back on her childhood with her mom as Kanaya and Rose wander through the wreckage of her childhood home. There's a lot of sweet Rosemary banter in here, and I think the characterization is fantastic. It's a good one if you're like me and want to see Rose actually go through the motions of understanding her mother, balancing her newfound sympathy with her Mom's situation and the things she actually put her through. Her feelings are complicated! And I think the author captured the nuances of how Rose might deal with that very well

And, trying to unfold for you, was brittle

Following the theme of fics about Rose and her mom is the Vampire Slayer Rose AU. This one has slightly less of a Rosemary focus (although it's still there), but explores Rose and her mom's relationship more directly in a way that I think is fantastically developed. It's a very interesting read, albeit a little hard to describe Why it's good unless you read it (read it! It's good!!!). I know you're not asking for Kanaya-centric stuff, but if you like this fic (and are okay with reading or skimming over a tiny bit of smut) I think that this author writes a lot of very solid Kanaya fic. Particularly recommending We Face Back All The Way, a Fallen London AU where Kanaya tries to save Rose's soul from a contract with Dr Scratch, and Where the River Narrows, a fic where post-game Kanaya deals with the precarious future of her race, and wanders the dreambubbles in hopes of solutions (and deals with Some Bullshit along the way. And yes, there's Rosemary. Who do you think I am!!!). From there I also think this is a pretty good author to scroll through in general, lots of bangers in there

Yarn Interpolation

This is a Rose-centric series of two fics that I think is very good. Doomed No Sburb AU where there's no game but Rose's powers develop enough for her to know what she's missing. I don't quite remember the exact specifics of this, but it's a very good beta kids fic with Rose mourning the wife she never met and platonic JadeRose marriage. It's cute and sweet, and I remember it being a fairly cathartic read

Show the Lights

Grimdark Rose comes of age and deals with some internalized homophobia along the way. Fun stuff! This was one of the first Rosemary fics I ever read so I hold it close to me, but I think it's a pretty good fic where Rose reckons with her feelings for Kanaya against the prospect of procreation and the continued survival of her species (in between the desire to feel useful to her group as her friends embark on an Egbert rescue mission). Some smatterings of a very fun pitch Vrisrose dynamic in here as well, as a bit of a bonus

love left her screaming at the screen

Speaking of Rose dealing with internalized homophobia, if you spend enough time shifting through Rosemary AO3 you've probably already read or at least heard of this one but I still think it's good enough that I should include it. Very reminiscent of what it was like to be a lesbian teenager in the 2000's, Rose deals with these preconceptions at the end of the world, through an unrequited crush on Jade and Slightly More Requited feelings for Kanaya. This fic was good for me specifically as someone who was always urked by the fact that Rose's sexuality is never really discussed in depth in Homestuck proper (compared to characters like Dave, Dirk, and Jake), and beyond that I think it's a very interesting exploration of how the bigotry and politics from Earth might stick with the kids, even when everyone who would judge them is long dead. This is another author who's fics I think are fun to sit through as well, lots of good Rose and Rosemary stuff in here (will give a particular shout out to think about staying alive, a Rose Strider AU, which is great for those of us in the Put Rose In A Situation camp who also love good gen fic with Rose and Dave)

Reviews Of Young Adult Novels, Mainly Those Prominently Featuring Vampires, And Containing At Least One Love Triangle

This one is just plain silly, but it's one of my favorites. Rose is an alcoholic who writes young adult novels, and Kanaya is her greatest online critic. Sort of an Urban Fantasy, more of an alternate No Game timeline, with a lot of canon elements sprinkled in (classpect powers are still a thing, Dave's that played the game timeline jump, things like that). This one has a very fun Rosemary dynamic, and in general I think Rose's characterization in this is wonderful. It's unfinished but I think it stands very solidly as is, so if you're looking for something goofy and fun to read this is a great fic to turn to

Vermeil Tarnishing

A shorter one shot AU where Rose is a Derse priestess captured by Prospit. This is a fun one I think, lots of fun dialogue with little glimpses into fictional politics, which ends with a bit of a bang. Not a massive Rosemary focus, but the bit of them that we do see is very fun!

> Rose: Reorient

What kind of mutual would I be if I didn't recommend @awellreadmannequin 's Rose fic? Post-game Rose, dealing with her addiction and the mounting threat of a relapse, visits Roxy and Calliope. Very good characterization, Rose's thoughts are rambly and meandering and she is very much Going Through It, but things get better, you know? Good Rose angst, great study of her character with little discussions of philosophy sprinkled in. A look at how Rose's more ironic childhood interests might grow into something more genuine, and take her down a more hopeful path, with some very sweet Rosemary moments near the end of the first chapter and little hints of vrisrosemary in thoughts and dialogue (in Rosemary's hearts). It's still a work in progress, but I think that the first chapter alone is a great read with a very hopeful conclusion, and I look forward to seeing how it pans out, and I think that other people should read it!!! (Best read on a computer or horizontally on a tablet)

[medli-komali]

I've been enjoying Attack on Titan fanfictions lately, but there's one character that I feel is consistently misrepresented or made too OOC for my taste - Erwin. Whenever I read fanfictions where Erwin has a starring role, I find that he's one of two things...

One, cold hearted / emotionless if not just plain cruel. I feel like this is such a misunderstanding of him as a character. Yes, he makes some difficult decisions, many of which result in the death of many. But taking away his compassion altogether misses so much of who he is, especially the Erwin we get to know in Season 3.

The second pet peeve of mine is less aggravating, but still just not the vibe I'm looking for when I want to read about Erwin Smith - writing him simply as the knight in shining armor. He's so often portrayed as this perfect gentleman to a boring degree in fanfiction, particularly when he has a romantic role in the story. We lose any nuance, any inner conflict, Erwin's natural independence, etc. and are left with just this attractive but boring man. To me Erwin would be much more interesting (in a romantic setting especially) if we wrote in those conflicts and struggles that we saw him deal with in the anime/manga in some way.

Take two of my other favorite characters for example - Levi and Reiner. Levi without his stoicism or his dry sense of humor is just not Levi. Reiner without some semblance of insecurity or inner turmoil (past or present) also feels shallow and OOC to me. I see people consistently writing these two characters well (yay!), exploring the intricacies of who they are in different settings. So why do they so often get to shine in say, hurt/comfort fics for example, but Erwin never seems to?

If you have any recommendations for Erwin fics that you enjoyed, particularly that delve into his character a little more, please do let me know! And if you're an aot fanfiction author this is just one fan's request for an engaging, thought-provoking, but still lovable depiction of Erwin.

For the sake of discussing what has become one of my favorite series, I'd love to hear from you if you have another character or characters that you feel are often misrepresented or not portrayed how you'd like them to be in fanfiction. Nothing turns me off from a fanfic more than having a character that's recognizable in name alone, and I'm sure a lot of you agree with me there, even if Erwin isn't one you've noticed like I have.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! 😊

[hypnotisedfireflies]

Six More Summer Fics for Tessjoels

Follow-up to this post! There I just posted some of my favourite in-progress Tess x Joel fics for summer reading - now here are some of my favourite completed tales from the last year. (Why did I limit myself to six? Whose dumb idea was that?)

I can't fuck it up if it's not there, by @seethesunny I mean, in the title alone Vane pretty much encapsulates the subtle foundation the very relationship rests. Vane is wonderfully prolific in fandom but this was the first recent story of hers I thought of for this post. It's gritty QZ life and a terrific character study of them separately, and their budding relationship.

gun-shy, by myhomeistheshire A few writers have explored this premise but I particularly loved the way this author handled the story (especially as it's Tess Lives!) Tess, Joel and Ellie are so in character, it's unreal, you can just hear them as you read. Essentially, sassy street kid Ellie finds her Tessjoel parents.

part of something good, by @two-birds-alone-together I only read this one today! Shame on me, because it's Tess Lives and that's my core drive. I love the nuance between Tess and Joel as they deal with their Ellie problem (lol) and the growing relationship between the three. I can be really picky about Tess joining the Ellie & Joel journey but this is really well-rendered. The chapter 1 cliffhanger is diabolical.

shine bright, by @tessaservopoulos Particularly partial to this one (check the dedication!) but that just made it easier to choose the right fic for this post! This is a sweet bite-sized story that crams so much atmosphere, subtlety and fun into one story. A little real light (figurative and literal, ha) in the darkness during the QZ years. I love me some QZ gritty, but this is irresistible.

Getaway, by @ameerawrites Comedy is really hard to put on paper, especially in fic where you have to both be funny to your reader and have the situation play out in the character's voices. Ameera does both in this cosy little AU fic. It doesn't just feel like an isolated story, though. Tess and Joel feel really authentic and you get cute glimpses of their wider life beyond their failed Colorado ski trip.

mist, by sillylily07 Choosing just one fic by this author for the list was a bit of a chore, because there are so many and separating just one out to include was really hard. This is a wonderful example of this author's understanding of the characters, combining the rough-edges of their relationship and situation with the tenderness they have for one another. Bite-sized flirty fun.

Fear of Heights, by @mariatesstruther Sike, a bonus story: Tommy/Maria! Look, this is the meet cute of the century for Tommy and Maria. At random times of the day I just find myself thinking of - oh, you'll have to read it, but I'm grinning as I type just thinking about it. The characterisation is on point and it feels canon to me. I love how Tommy connects with Jackson before the commencement of the story because it feels so realistic and you can feel his desperation, but he's still so fucking ... Tommy.

I tried to keep these lists kind of succinct so I didn't lose days of my life in compiling them, but they are not the extent of wonderful Tessjoel fic out there. I know I have left off terrific authors and stories but I tried to get a little sampling of some of the talent actively writing at present. Please leave more recs in the comments so I can smack my hand against my head and go OF COURSE and be angry at myself for making these lists so brief.

[phoenixyfriend]

Last night I stayed up until about 4 AM rereading @glimmerglanger's fic "Bush League," and then today I got around to gushing about how their Cody characterization is basically one of the best on AO3 in Discord. Since I like to make sure the people whose fics I like actually hear that love, I'm going to share what I said here.

(Also to convince to read some of their stuff even if you haven't already. CodyWan isn't even in my main ships but I still read their stuff because it's just that good, and also because their Cody is so good.)

This goes out to imo one of the best fic writers I've run across in this fandom.

So to kick this off, I jumped into SW fandom right about when CodyWan was ramping up. I joined Feb/Mar of 2020, and that coincided (though I didn't know it) with the S7 release. That means that the ship was basically everywhere, and a lot of my early fic reads were based off of things that other people recced to me, things linked under cool fanart, things by authors I already knew from other fandoms, or niche trope searches.

Among those early longfics I read were a few glimmerglanger pieces, namely "Like Real People Do" (I don't actually remember how I found this one, it was probably fanart), "A Slow Fall Towards Grace" (through omegaverse filtering), "Flotsam and Jetsam" (tumblr fanart), and "Home on the Range" (don't remember how I found it, probably recced, or after I started following them on tumblr).

Bush League came later but it's also one of the best examples.

So this author is, IMO, really good in general. I don't have the same interps of canon across the board (because Star Wars is massive and you pick and choose your canon because it conflicts with itself, so everyone takes a different road for interp), but objectively, their fics are very solid and internally coherent.

They are particularly good at:

- Subtlety and nuance - Unreliable narration - Small hints of outside events that suggest a fuller universe

What canon gives us about Cody is that he's:

- very competent - well-respected - puts high value on loyalty to his brothers - puts high value on loyalty to his ideals (represented by the Republic) - while he has a dry sense of humor, he's also prone to playing personal things close to the chest (that parts a bit YMMV but it's the vibe I got) - he trusts Rex a nearly insane amount

What glimmerglanger does in their Cody POV fics is play those elements against each other in an understated way that feels genuinely human. Bush League has the main conflict embodied through 'loyalty to ideals' hitting cross-purposes with itself, and 'plays it close to the chest' heightening the problem until something snaps. That Cody's ideals are in conflict because there is what he was instilled with (a significant amount of internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity) and his better sense that he can be better, unlearn some of these things, that maybe his parents weren't right, and that Ben is a swell guy, maybe it's not that big of a deal that Ben likes guys, it's not a huge flaw when he can pitch like that, right

Crucially, lot of it isn't presented consciously. Cody doesn't realize he's unlearning some of those things, that he's subconsciously very aware that the things he was taught are wrong, that he's consciously trying to find compromises in those thoughts because the last eighteen years of things he knows can't be wrong, right?

And of course all this balances with the regular, small reminders that, if he is this thing he was taught is bad, if he is friends with someone that is 'bad,' then he will have one of his primary character traits (loyalty and love for brothers) sabotaged. This is even touched on in the epilogue of the fic.

Honestly, IDK how intentional it was to parallel this sort of denial and internal conflict to "Cody starts to question the structure of the army and has to hide his slow realization that they are slaves, is even in denial about it, because to speak out means to have his authority and influence removed, so he can't even try to keep his brothers safe anymore," ...but that is something I also like to see in Cody characterization, and it's definitely a good parallel if so.

glimmerglanger's skill with nuance and subtlety is something I really appreciate in general, because my focus as a reader tends to be short comedy, which often doesn't have the same room for dynamic, developed characterization. (My other focus is time travel, which runs the gamut, but that's a different rec list.)

I think that, on a casual read, some of their writing can come across as a very 'standard' reading of Cody, but it's never actually flat. The flaws and thought patterns tend to be pretty consistent across works, so even in wild AUs, I have the sense that this is the same person. I'm also a huge believer in how denial, especially characters very consciously not thinking something, can inform a character to the reader, and that's a pretty common thread across their Cody and Anakin POVs (for different reasons).

Flotsam and Jetsam is an interesting one on account of how it's Obi-Wan POV with a massive language barrier (human and merman, English and Mando'a). Cody isn't even conscious for the first part. It's also a fic that benefits a lot from having a canon to base off of without actually taking place in that canon. The reader can guess a whole lot about Cody's situation that Obi-Wan cannot, because we know the structures that are informing the original context, and can guess in a few ways at how they take shape in the new, so even when Cody is largely unable to communicate, the reader gets things out of it.

Anyway, glimmerglanger's Cody is one of my favorites because they manage to juggle all the things I consider core to Cody's character without necessarily having to come out and state them, so even when Cody is dry and private and 'standard,' he still feels like his own fully realized person that's consistent with both canon and with what I'd expect someone in his situation to be and do.

Okay, rant over, I have many feelings and I want to pump up this author as much as possible, go read their stuff, it's good.

[annabtg]

In continuation of this post, @apalapucian wanted to know how getting into HP fanfic after HBP came out ruined DH for me. Let me count the ways:

(cut for length)

1. After HBP's release, there were a ton of theories. Being in the fandom meant I was now exposed to all sorts of fics and meta. Many of the theories came true, such as Snape actually being a double agent and working for Dumbledore. I don't think I would have seen it coming, so that was a big reveal that was "spoiled" for me by fandom and lost some of its glamour in the book.

2. Being exposed to theories and then getting into the whole fanfic mindset led me to develop a whole Book 7 in my head (as any good fanfic writer is wont to do). I didn't finish writing before DH came out - which then led me to losing interest over time and never finishing it - but the whole plot of it, Harry defeating Voldemort etc, were very clear in my head, and frankly, a lot of it I believe was better than what we ended up with.

3. After HBP, I became very invested in Remadora, got into the fandom, read and wrote fic, participated in fests, the whole deal. There was so much creativity in that part of the fandom - prequels, stories parallel to the books, stories speculating about their future - and we got a wonderful wealth of complexity, of deep and nuanced characterizations, of stories ranging from cracky humour to heavy angst.

Then DH comes out. They get married immediately, they have a child, then they die. I HAVE SO MUCH BEEF WITH ALL OF THAT. It's a lazy repetition of Jily's story that's supposed to work as a parallel, but what it really does is take two characters who we have already met and know, and force them into a function that doesn't fit them. I spent two years with fic where Remus was a man struggling with his feelings of inadequacy, working through his issues, finding support in a wonderful woman that he loves, and what does DH give me? Wham bang we're married now! I may not have the right to call Remus and Tonks OOC in DH, since it's their canon characterization, but I was super disappointed in how their arc played out. I understand that Remadora is not the focus of the book and they're just a plot device so that we get an orphan who gets the childhood Harry didn't, but man. Getting invested in them just to have it all blow up on my face. Not fun.

4. Same with Snape - a fascinating story of a double agent who's fooled everyone becomes reduced to "he did it all for love". There's a lot to be said about the intent behind it, I can see some merit if I squint, but again, I expected something more original, and I'm also not particularly satisfied with the execution of what we actually got.

I could probably think of more to say, but that's enough to allow me to stop here and summarize:

Overall, getting invested in fanfic, which explores the characters in depth, created in me expectations that DH was not able to hold up to, because it was not meant to do it. DH was not there to get Remadora through a long and hard relationship journey nor was it there to psychoanalyze Snape. These characters were only there to serve Harry's story.

To be entirely fair, I think it wasn't only the fanfic. There are probably more reasons I didn't enjoy DH so much - I was a little older than the target group; JKR probably wrote the book in a rush; I read it in the original English first, whereas the translations are better quality writing, etc. DH isn't bad, but fanfic showed me it could have been done so much better! And, as a story, it could have been so much more.

Thanks for the ask! 😘😘

[sailoryooons]

Triggering content and topics of racism, harassment, cancel culture, and media literacy are below. This is extremely long and has nothing to do with any of my works or BTS, but addresses the recent cancellation of creators on this platform and some personal statements I want to make.

For anyone who isn’t aware, once again there are people using @/chaibts to attack people. I don’t want to act as a mouthpiece for M, but as a friend and a fellow content creator, it’s really frustrating to see someone chased off of this website by anonymous users on a forum where none of the conversations being had, or accusations being made appear to be in good faith or from well-intentioned submitters. 

I think a lot of what is being posted on this blog is being posted in bad faith under the guise of holding creators accountable. This blog is primarily being used by individuals who allow no room for other opinions, nuance, context or for the people accused of certain content to defend themselves or apologize and grow if needed. I do want to say that there are some submissions on the blog that have done a great drop of calling attention to issues with users in the community, but a majority of the submissions are not. 

Disclaimer: I am completely aware that not all of our experiences are the same and that each individual person experiences discrimination and racism differently and I’m not negating that. I am aware that my experience as an American-born Latina makes all of my experiences with racism, discrimination, and microaggressions different than people from other non-white communities, and my entire experience and interpretation of this scenario are based on my experience. I am not, at any point, under the impression that my experiences are the groundwork for making accusations. 

I say all of this to provide context for the next part, which is that the scene that someone(s) found to be written from a place of racism, I beta-read for and helped M with. When I use the word racism in this context, the original poster believes that this scene was written with the specific intent to attack Asians, and that the scene displaying discrimination against Yoongi was from a place of bad faith, as well that there is no scenario in which a white creator should depict any sort of discriminatory transgressions, as they cannot perceive racism or discrimination.

Because I beta-read it and because I helped with this area of the fic, I feel like I should speak up and take some responsibility, and I want to say that M did ask others about the scene because it was incredibly important to show the discriminatory action in an impactful and respectful way. M, from this scene’s inception, asked thoughtful questions and asked me directly if the experience made sense, referencing my time working in a hotel where I first-hand witnessed similar dealings and experienced it myself. We talked about what the scene meant, how it reflected the real-life struggles of BTS in the Western music industry, and how it felt for someone to experience this in their career. As someone who has faced micro-aggressions my entire life and career - particularly in regard to my accent - I resonated with this scene, but I realize that may not be the case for everyone. 

I in no way think I am the sole vocal piece for all marginalized communities nor do I think that my experiences dictate this discourse alone, so what I did not find triggering does not mean that it wasn’t. There is a difficulty when trying to showcase the struggles of marginalized groups in media, and it doesn’t always resonate the way it’s intended. 

To reiterate: I am not Asian. I am Cuban-American, and very much a white Latina, and benefit from the fact that people treat me as a normal white person until I speak with an accent, which makes my experience very different than anyone else visibly not-white. It is entirely possible that the reason I was not triggered or did not find this scene troublesome was because I am not the specific ethnicity mentioned and I 100% acknowledge that. I also did not see an issue with a white creator showing this moment, however, I also understand that not everyone feels that way and that is completely acceptable. 

I’m not going to delve in and give a dissertation on how discrimination should and should not be represented in media and who should be able to write about it,  but I wanted to talk about my relationship to the scene mentioned, because it leads me to what I really want to talk about on this platform.

What I want to talk about as the main issue is the cancel culture and bullying on this platform. What I have seen lately on Tumblr, including this ‘tea’ blog, is a complete refusal by people to consume media with any sort of media literacy and without any willingness to have nuance. M is not the only creator who has been bullied off of Tumblr recently for something that, to me, warrants a conversation and not a hate campaign. This is happening more and more, and I am constantly seeing anonymous users in the ask boxes of content creators calling them racist, queerphobic, sasaensgs, fetishizers, and everything in between for the most ridiculous takes. 

When I say that people are ‘chased’ off of Tumblr, I do not mean with pitchforks and torches of the masses who are rightfully escorting a wrong-doer off the internet. I mean by the constant harassment from one person or a small group of people who refuse to let anyone explain, refuse to give anyone apt time to respond, and refuse to accept any sort of response whether it’s editing the work in question, someone going on hiatus to think about whether or not they feel as though they’ve done wrong, or leaving entirely so that they’re no longer contributing to the discourse. This is the way our new ‘accountability’ system works, especially behind the protection of anonymity. It’s easy to feel as though you’re doing something right when there is nothing to tie you to the responsibility of your words and accusations. 

It’s incredibly difficult as a friend and a content creator to see multiple people be bullied from this platform by users who absolutely refuse to believe anything but their own interpretation, and I think we are trivializing a lot of actually problematic topics by the approach being used. Accountability IS incredibly important, but the current trend is that no version of accountability is enough. Editing or deleting the story isn’t enough, an apology isn’t enough - nothing is enough. 

If we are going to be a community that holds people accountable, we have to also allow the people we are accusing to respond, and apologize if/when necessary. We also have to consider if the content we personally find triggering is ACTUALLY at its core troublesome and problematic, and consider that our opinion is not the collective. We have to consider that if the collective community being referenced is telling you that they do not see the same problem that you do, they’re not also in the wrong, but might have a different perspective. 

Anything else sort of just feels like a hate campaign with no true desire to protect the community they are speaking “on behalf” of. Especially in this instance, where there are now bipoc creators being attacked for having the audacity to defend a white creator. Why can members of the community being represented not provide their opinion on it without being insulted and called names? Is it, perhaps, because you cared more about getting rid of the person than you did about the issue? That’s what this translates to, especially when the previous stance of protecting a group becomes attacking that group because they don’t agree. When you begin attacking the members of the group you were originally trying to protect because it no longer fits your narrative, you negate any type of goodwill you entered the conversation with.

Again, this is my very limited and personal experience and I am open to the possibility that my take isn’t the right take or I am in a small minority that feels this way. I want this to be a safe community for everyone but in order to do that, we also have to consume content with an ounce of willingness to have nuance and give people a modicum of time to respond appropriately. 

For the record, I know that this take and conversation is not for everyone, and I completely respect it if you no longer feel comfortable interacting with me. This is an uncomfortable topic. I may not be the best to represent a discussion on cancel culture on this website. I may not be the best to represent conversations on discrimination inclusion in fics. However this was something I was involved in, and it’s hurtful to see a friend suffer from what I think a lot of people agree to be something that was not worth this in the first place.

Reblogs are turned off because I have no interest in anyone dogpiling any creators or risking spreading bad takes. I wrote this purely because I felt like it needed to be said, and I am sure there will be negative repercussions, but that is the risk of existing in this space online.

[wingedquill]

Hiiii!! Hope you're doing okay. For the fic writer ask game, how about 2, 7, and 9????

As for question 19... I love all of your stuff on ao3! I haven't stopped thinking about the last chapter on Count to Thirty... I really like the way Nancy interacts with Tommy and Carol (I didn't expect them to make an appearance, so that part was very surprising) and how similar Carol and Nancy are in that they tend to stick to the facts and avoid dealing with complex feelings because they're scared of falling apart. (That's just my take on it, I don't know if it's what you intended.) Also, I love the way you write Steve's parents (in all of the fics, but particularly in Count to Thirty & And We Sure as Hell Have Nothing Now)!! I feel like it's very refreshing and nuanced. You manage to show the complexities of dysfunctional families; they can love their son, and still neglect him... They're people, at the end of the day, and they might be trying their best, but unfortunately it's not always enough... (Again, just my opinion lol)

Anyway, that's all. Thank you so much <3

AHHHH I'm so sorry I missed this during the ask game! I answered all three of those over here but thank you so, so much for the kind words! I see a lot of similarities in Nancy and Carol (honestly why I think they didn't really get along in season 1) so I'm glad to hear that's coming across well :D

[starbuckaroo]

Not looking forward to all the racist disk horse that liable to rear its ugly head in the wake of the bibuckpocalypse. Not that it wasn’t already there, but like. Any time you get a big influx of new fans there’s just like, so many more of them to either try and educate or just block lmao.

Especially bc with this show in particular, there can be a lot of nuance in many aspects of it, and there’s a lot of trauma that all the characters experience that fans don’t always see the same way (particularly the parental trauma), and some of that falls along ethnic or cultural lines, and just…sometimes it’s complex! Sometimes the show takes a long time to resolve a conflict that causes hurt, sometimes they do it in an unsatisfactory way or don’t do it onscreen at all, and so some fans won’t be able to tolerate that wait or the way it’s handled, and that’s valid, but it’s also valid to be able to tolerate it. Doesn’t necessarily mean there’s racism or misogyny at the heart of those disagreements.

But sometimes it’s just racism. And I don’t look forward to any of these conflicts tbh, especially because the former type kind of requires folks to assume the best out of others until they hear them out, but when there’s also bog standard racism floating in the water, who has the time to try and sort through that shit? Idk.

I’m too tired dealing with this type of conflict in my real life, and while I have for a very large part of my adult life felt like fandom politics are important and indicative of many parts of society at large and therefore deserve to be taken seriously, I also just don’t have the energy.

Like…people who are disagreeing about how Eddie was treated in the last episode? Valid as a disagreement, but until we see for real how the show is gonna handle that, I’m personally gonna hold off on being too upset about it or like, getting involved in discourse about it at the very least. I might read lots of fic exploring it though. Coz I mean I also hated the way they “resolved” the lawsuit arc but eventually I read enough fic that I got over it 😂 god bless fic authors, truly.

BUT the people who are like “wow finally the gay firefighter show is actually gay” like lol no get out, shut up. You could have said “I’m so glad to see bi rep on the show finally!” or “I’m so stoked that another one of the main cast is gonna be openly queer now!” But the show has always been gay. The main cast has always had gay rep. If you forgot about Hen, your racism and/or misogyny is showing. Pls shut up.

[lintwriting]

I absolutely adore this fic! But especially the way it expands on quirk counseling worldbuilding in My Hero Academia!

Excerpt from Chapter 2:

"Combined with Monoma's ability to sense your quirk, I'd say you are not, in fact, quirkless." "But I have the toe joint?" Izuku wasn't sure why he'd said that. Не shouldn't be arguing against this, because, as Aizawa had said, he did have a quirk. It just wasn't exactly his. "Yeah, that's an old wives' tale." "Really?" "As real as my quirk counselor license. Whoever diagnosed you was a quack."

The idea of Aizawa being a licensed quirk counselor makes so much sense given his quirk and employment at UA. As he also acts as the introduction to a lot of the nuances to the world of heroics and quirks, seeing him introduce new worldbuilding elements separate from canon feels both natural and exciting! Not to mention the subtle nod to the Dr. Tsubasa is Dr. Garaki theory!

And the elements themselves are so cool! Myths and misinformation are such goldmines of cultural artifacts, and the way this is developed in chapter 5 is so poignant and great pacing!

"Oh, okay. S-so, what are we doing today? Sensory deprivation? Electric shocks? Stress positions? Bean bag barrage for dodging? High stakes hell exam?" He was ready for anything and very excited. Aizawa stared at him flatly. "We're... doing quirk counseling." "Yes?" "Kid... except for maybe the last one... what exactly gave you the idea that any of those things had anything to do with quirk counseling?" Izuku started to get the feeling he'd seriously messed up. Except he didn't feel particularly anxious about it. "Oh, uh, Mom used to get brochures like that in the mail, after I was diagnosed? She didn't ever answer any, but... Apparently, some people originally thought to be quirkless got quirks after being in a high stress situation."

...

"Next time we meet, I'll be running you through the basic quirk assessment battery - that's a series of tests usually given to five-year-olds to help their pediatric quirk doctors and quirk counselors identify difficult or stubborn quirks. You should have gone through it when you were younger." Izuku shook his head. "All I remember is the x-ray." "Why would you get an x-ray?" "For the toe joint? To tell whether or not I was quirkless?" Why was he insisting on this? He was going to blow his cover and his secret out of the water! This was so dumb. But he did say it. Maybe it was his guilty conscience from lying to and misleading Mr. Aizawa so much. "That's a myth," said Aizawa. "What?" "It isn't true." Aizawa began to slump down in his seat. "It's an old wives' tale. Everyone quirkless has the double joint, but not everyone with the double joint is quirkless. I have the double joint, as do about twenty-five percent of people with meta quirks." By the time he finished, only the top half of his face was visible. "Oh," said Izuku. He wasn't sure what else to say. At least the secret of One for All was completely intact.  "You did say something like that before..."  He'd been too upset and nervous about the test to really process it.   "I hate to say this, kid, but it sounds like everyone involved in your early quirk education was incredibly incompetent. You shouldn't have had to deal with that, even if you were truly quirkless. It takes just as much counseling to deal with that in today's day and age as something like, say, Ashido's quirk."

First of all, the idea of explicitly widespread, incompetent/quack quirk counseling is fantastic and fits right into the world of MHA, given what we know about Toga.

But on a worldbuilding level, the failure of Izuku's quirk counselors also reflects the reality of getting counseling in general, whether for mental illness, neurodivergence, physical disability, chronic illness, addiction, etc. That's a unique level of authenticity right there!

And while it has analogues to real world examples of misinformed counseling, I love the way OP fleshes out the quirkless variant! The 'Stress-manifesting' idea is such a clear play on other superhero stories employing that trope, like Deadpool, and it's so easy to imagine these counselors ignorantly applying these fictional narratives to real life quirkless people.

It's such an interesting little story about how misinformation leads to actual harm, reflecting the struggles we face in the real world, while still firmly couched in the context of quirklessness and MHA!

Not to mention the idea Aizawa having an extra toe joint as well is just so fun! Meta quirks are so relevant to this AU, since it's so focused on the mechanics of One For All, so it's just so fun to get these extra nuggets of meta quirk worldbuilding details!

These types of stories are exactly why I read fanfiction! Worldbuilding like this is like reading a beautifully in-depth analysis post packed into a couple lines, and the narrative format highlights why this analysis matters! The reasons the characters care becomes reasons that we care!

Thank you for sharing it!

Danger First

Chapter 5

@pocketramblr :3

The day started off well. Really, it did. Izuku got up on time, still filled with warm fuzziness from the time he spent with his friends (friends!) the afternoon before, had a good breakfast, left early enough to catch an earlier train, saw an interesting hero fight, and then...

He was hit with a wave of nausea as he caught sight of the crowd outside UA's gates. Was it a mob? An attack? Terrorists?

... Reporters?

Yeah, those were cameras and microphones. But why was a crowd of reporters making him feel this way?

Maybe they were terrorists disguised as reporters. Or, maybe Izuku had picked up some paranoia to go with his anxiety. How fun.

If they were real reporters, they were probably here about All Might. Him cutting back on active hero work to teach had been big news.

Ughhhh. What should he do? Whoever they were, they weren't likely to leave. He didn't want to walk through them, though. What if they were dangerous? (And even if they weren't, he didn't want reporters looking at him, asking him questions. What would he say to them?)

He bit his lip and watched the crowd from around his chosen corner. Why did he have to be so wimpy and timid? He was a hero student, now. He should be better. Braver.

Oh! There was Iida!

He scuttled over to his friend.

"Ah! Midoriya! You're early today! Few people arrive at school at the same time I do!"

"Y-yeah! I managed to catch the earlier train today, so..." He looked back at the crowd of reporters. Maybe reporters. Maybe terrorists. "I think, maybe we should wait to go in as a group, though. I mean, it'll be more efficient than trying to fight through those reporters one at a time, right?"

"An excellent idea, Midoriya!" exclaimed Iida, waving his hands enthusiastically. "It's very admirable of you, to always be thinking about how to help others."

"W-well," said Izuku, blushing. It wasn't untrue, but it also wasn't the whole story. "I mean, I don't... It's more that they kind of freak me out a bit? The reporters..."

Iida nodded sagely. "There are heroes like that, too. Are you planning on going underground, then?"

There was a certain amount of appeal to underground heroics, but he was supposed to be All Might's successor. Then again, if One for All never worked properly for him and Mr. Yagi asked for it back... Quirk or not, Izuku was here, now, in UA, in the hero course, and Mr. Yagi had said he could be a hero without a quirk.

"I haven't really decided yet. But UA teaches all hero course students the three main branches of heroics, so we don't really have to choose a specialty until later, and even then there are heroes like Sir Nighteye who blur the lines, right?"

"Yes, it's one of the things that make UA such a superior institution!" chortled Monoma.

"Ah, Monoma! I agree! It is important for all heroes to be aware of the work their colleagues do, and to be well-rounded individuals!"

Monoma!?

"Um," said Izuku. "When did you get here?"

"Just a minute ago," said Monoma. "I was looking for a way around these savages when I overheard your conversation. Really, it's a shame that UA allows such rabble to prevent students from entering. If only there was something they could do..."

"I'm afraid I must disagree," said Iida. "Freedom of the press is exceedingly important for the function of society!"

Monoma looked slightly alarmed. "I don't mean to say it isn't, it's just-" he gestured at the gates, "-we can't get in. The other entrances are like this, too. It's aggravating."

"There... might be another way in," said Iida, after a moment.

"Oh?"

"Yes, my brother told me about a hidden entrance that was here when he attended UA. I suppose... I suppose these would be the right circumstances to use it."

"Lead the way, then, Iida," said Monoma.

Iida nodded stiffly. "We should wait and see if any of our classmates would like to come with us."

Several of their classmates did want to come with them, including Uraraka, Asui (who was still a little under the weather), Tokoyami (Dark Shadow was not a fan of flashing lights), and Hagakure. They were also joined by a couple of 1-B students, a cadre of business course kids, and a pink haired support course girl who seemed very interested in Iida's legs, much to his flustered confusion.

Kacchan did not join them, much to Izuku's dismay, instead choosing to bulldoze his way through the ranks of reporters, nearly giving Izuku a heart attack when he body-checked a man with blue-white hair.

At this point, their group was becoming rather large and noticeable, and Iida was getting antsy about the time, so off they went.

Iida led them to what appeared to be an entirely unnoteworthy piece of wall and knocked. There was a pause just long enough to make Iida start to sweat, and then the wall opened, revealing Midnight- Ms. Kayama!

"Oh?" she said, clearly delighted. "Chibiida using the top secret teacher's entrance? Has high school done what we couldn't? Are you finally loosening up?"

Chibiida.

Chibiida.

CHIBIIDA.

First: how? Why? Iida was over ten centimeters taller than Izuku! Secondly: Iida was never going to recover from this.

"That- that's not it! At all! I am simply attempting to help my fellow students enter the school without being harassed by reporters, Ms. Kayama!"

"You can still call me big sis Nemuri, you know."

"I refuse! It would be inappropriate of me as a student!"

Ms. Kayama sighed. "Well, you aren't wrong about those reporters. They can be a pain. So, just this once, let me welcome you kids to the forbidden environs of the staff area!" She made a grandiose gesture with her arm. "And it's all thanks to Chibiida here."

Iida started muttering about propriety and rules.

Izuku had the feeling it would be a long day.

.

"All right, Hikage, in your professional opinion-"

"What does building inspecting have to do with anything?"

"What?" said Nana. "I didn't say anything about building inspecting."

"You asked for my professional opinion."

"Yes?" said Nana, already dreading where this would go.

"I was a vigilante. For the purposes of money, I was a professional, licensed building inspector."

"I thought you were a professional hermit," said En.

"I was an amateur hermit. You don't get paid for that."

En blinked. "I can't believe people let you into their buildings."

"There were a few times-"

Nana decided to table the question of how neither she nor En had known Hikage was a building inspector. "Okay, fine. Forget the professional part. In your opinion, what was going on with that one reporter guy?"

"Oh," said Hikage. "He's definitely planning a murder."

"A murder!" exclaimed Yoichi.

"Yes, and probably of someone close to Ninth."

"Why didn't you say something?" demanded Yoichi, attempting to lift the taller man up by the front of his shirt and failing.

"Because there's not much we can do about it?"

"Just because you're right doesn't mean I have to like it!" He spun on his heel and stalked up to the silent and incomplete ghost of Toshinori. "It had better not be you, do you hear me? Don't you dare pull an Obi-Wan on poor, sweet Izuku!"

"Does anyone know what he's talking about?" asked Nana.

"Not really," admitted Banjo.

.

"Today," said Mr. Aizawa, after he finished passing out feedback from the battle trial, "you'll pick a class president."

All around Izuku, his classmates threw their hands into the air, eager for the chance to show off their leadership skills.

Izuku kept his hand down. It wasn't that he didn't want to stand out or do the work! It was just... between training after school with Mr. Yagi and Aizawa and trying to get his anxiety under control, he didn't think he'd do a very good job.

.

Yoichi started disappearing his "Izuku for President" banners.

.

Iida, though... Iida would do well, Izuku thought. Look at him, organizing everyone into a vote.

"You're not running, Midori?" asked Hagakure.

"N-no, haha, I have too many other commitments to do a good job, I think."

"That's too bad! I would have voted for you."

There was a smattering of agreement, mostly from Iida and Uraraka. Izuku started blushing.

"R-really? Why?"

("Strawberry," someone whispered.)

"Well, you helped me out during the entrance exam, and you were pretty cool during training yesterday." More agreement. "But if you're not running, I guess I'll pick Monoma. He did get rid of the purple creep."

"Ahahaha, yes, I am clearly the superior candidate!" crowed Monoma, standing up and putting his foot on his chair to pose.

"But his personality's really weird, which is why you would have been my first choice, Midoriya."

"I think Iida would be a good choice!" said Uraraka, raising her hand. "He's super organized and he helped a bunch of us get past the reporters this morning."

More general agreement. Then Todoroki cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.

"Yaoyorozu," he said.

That was it.

"Good point," agreed Jirou.

.

"A TIE?!"

.

As the only one who hadn't voted for one of the three in the tie, Aoyama was forced to be the tiebreaker. This was done as dramatically as humanly possible.

Yaoyorozu was now president of class 1-A.

This led to a ferocious battle between Monoma and Iida that Iida won by a single vote. Monoma was promptly chosen as class treasurer. Just in time for their other classes.

.

"Those who possess forbidden knowledge should stay together," said Tokoyami gravely as he sat down with Uraraka, Iida, and Izuku.

"Are you talking about the staff area?" asked Asui, who slid in after him.

"Indeed," intoned Tokoyami gravely. "The dark path we have all walked-"

"Fumi is just bad at asking people to be his friends!"

"Dark Shadow!"

Izuku almost started crying into his rice. Having friends was so great.

"I'll be your friend!" said Izuku.

"Me, too!" said Uraraka, pumping a fist.

"Ah," said Tokoyami, coughing into a fist. "I am sure we will be great companions in the darkness of the coming days."

Speaking of darkness... Izuku couldn't help but feel uneasy about... something. He had been ever since seeing those reporters.

"So, Midori, is your hair full of secrets?"

"Wh-what?"

"Don't listen to her! She's just being silly! Like a little sister."

"It's what you always say about that actor you like! His hair is fluffy because it's full of secrets!"

"So, you and Dark Shadow are like brother and sister?" asked Midoriya, changing the subject.

The conversation segued into discussion of their families, and just when Iida was extolling the virtues of his older brother, Izuku's unease spiked. He dropped his chopsticks.

"Is something wrong?" asked Uraraka.

"I... don't know? It just feels like something bad is going to-"

The school alarm promptly went off.

.

"Wow!" said Kirishima. "Iida can do entrances and exits! Manly!"

.

"Wow," said Banjo, "I guess they picked the right guy for the job, after all. He can find entrances and exits! More than my class vice president ever did..."

"Are you copying the small red child?" asked Hikage.

"What?"

"Never mind."

.

"Today's heroics class will be focused on how to fall safely and other basic combat techniques. Before we begin, although you may practice these techniques on your own, outside of class, if you want to spar with others, you need adult supervision until you reach a level where I'm satisfied you won't seriously injure yourself or others by mistake. Now, firstly..."

.

"Mr. Aizawa? Is- um. Was it really just the press breaking in earlier?"

It was time for his first special quirk training with Aizawa, and he should be asking what they were doing today (especially since Aizawa had him change out of his gym uniform and back to his regular uniform), but he couldn't stop thinking about the break-in.

"What makes you think otherwise?"

"I'm, well, I'm not sure? I just, this morning, when I saw them, I got a really bad feeling? Like something bad was going to happen. And it doesn't seem, um, logical, that normal reporters would be able to do that to UA's gate. I mean, anyone can have any quirk- no such thing as a villainous quirk. But someone with a quirk like that, they'd put a lot of effort into controlling it and stuff so stuff like this wouldn't happen by mistake. I guess a reporter could have done it on purpose, though, but then it'd be really easy for UA to find out it was them, wouldn't it? Or the police. Since heroes and police have access to the national quirk registry, so you just have to cross-reference reporters with the registry to find quirks that could fit. But would they know that? Anyway, it seems more logical for a third party to have used the press as cover to infiltrate the school. But why? If nothing is missing and no one is hurt, which would be grounds for school being canceled, the next conclusion would be information gathering. But that still leaves the question of the ultimate ends- Mr. Aizawa? Are you okay?"

His teacher had been glaring at a camera mounted in the corner of the classroom and mouthing things at it.

"I'm fine," said Aizawa. He sighed. "You are right that we haven't located the person who destroyed the gates, but please be assured that we are investigating the incident throughly. Especially Principal Nezu." He shot another glare at the camera, as if to say he'd better be.

"Regardless, it isn't something you need to worry about as a student. We're adding more safety protocols to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Oh, okay. S-so, what are we doing today? Sensory deprivation? Electric shocks? Stress positions? Bean bag barrage for dodging? High stakes hell exam?" He was ready for anything and very excited.

Aizawa stared at him flatly. "We're... doing quirk counseling."

"Yes?"

"Kid... except for maybe the last one... what exactly gave you the idea that any of those things had anything to do with quirk counseling?"

Izuku started to get the feeling he'd seriously messed up. Except he didn't feel particularly anxious about it.

"Oh, uh, Mom used to get brochures like that in the mail, after I was diagnosed? She didn't ever answer any, but... Apparently, some people originally thought to be quirkless got quirks after being in a high stress situation."

"But no one actually did any of those things to you."

"Not really?"

"Midoriya..."

Izuku looked away. He shouldn't have said anything. He didn't like the quirk counselor at Eisley Elementary, but he didn't want to get her in trouble, either. After all, he was the only one she had to do that stuff with, since his quirk hadn't shown up...

Aizawa sighed with the air of someone exercising a lot of self-control. "Except for that last one," said Aizawa, "and that's debatable, all of those are torture techniques."

Ah. Well. That maybe explained a few things.

"They are not a normal part of quirk counseling. At some point, we may incorporate some combat into this, but that will be to help you become more familiar with your quirk. Not just for the sake of making you stressed."

"But if we aren't doing combat, what are we doing?"

"Well, first we're going to try to figure out what your quirk is. Why don't you sit down." He took out some papers as Izuku made his way to his desk. "Alright. I'm going to go through these questions and write down your answers... then we're going to go through them again while I'm canceling your quirk." He paused. "Actually, first. What did you mean when you said you had a bad feeling about the reporters?"

.

"If I were alive," said Yoichi, "I would be committing so much murder right now."

"I thought we left this behind when Ninth graduated," said Nana. "I thought you said you were going to forgive them because they were stupid kids and Ninth forgave them."

"Well, first off, I lied. Secondly, teachers aren't kids. If we ever get hit by a quirk that brings us back to life, the quirk counselor at his old school will be my first victim."

Nana sighed. "That isn't going to happen."

"Who's going to stop me?"

"Less a who, and more the fact that there has never been a quirk that could revive the dead."

"Meaningless!" exclaimed Yoichi. "Death cannot stop me!"

"Think he's finally lost it after all this time?" asked En, leaning towards Nana.

"No, I think he's just messing with us," hoped Nana.

.

"Alright, kid," said Aizawa exhaustion evident in his tone. "Between your answers, your exam results, the battle trial results, how you react when I use my quirk on you, and Monoma's assessment... Your quirk is at least partially sensory.",

Izuku tried not to feel disappointed, but that seemed rather incomplete as a conclusion. Even though he knew about Danger Sense and this probably was Danger Sense.

"Yeah, I know, it's underwhelming, but remember this is the first session. Whatever your quirk actually does, though, you seem to be using it to detect threats."

Okay, that was more in line with expectations.

"I mean... maybe? I think so. That feels right."

"We also need to figure out what it's stockpiling. Have you ever felt any particular draw to certain situations? More than your peers?"

"Um. I watch a lot of hero fights?"

"You're a fight chaser?"

"A little bit?" admitted Izuku, squirming a little.

Aizawa sighed heavily. "I seriously hope your quirk doesn't stockpile danger- don't test that."

He wasn't going to!

Probably.

Speaking of, though, what did One for All actually stockpile? Power was a very vague description... He'd just went along with it because a) quirk and b) All Might, but it would probably be good to know.

"Next time we meet, I'll be running you through the basic quirk assessment battery- that's a series of tests usually given to five-year-olds to help their pediatric quirk doctors and quirk counselors identify difficult or stubborn quirks. You should have gone through it when you were younger."

Izuku shook his head. "All I remember is the x-ray."

"Why would you get an x-ray?"

"For the toe joint? To tell whether or not I was quirkless?" Why was he saying this? He was going to blow his cover and his secret out of the water! This was so dumb.

But he did say it. Maybe it was his guilty conscience from lying to and misleading Mr. Aizawa so much.

"That's a myth," said Aizawa.

"What?"

"It isn't true." Aizawa began to slump down in his seat. "It's an old wives' tale. Everyone quirkless has the double joint, but not everyone with the double joint is quirkless. I have the double joint, as do about twenty-five percent of people with meta quirks." By the time he finished, only the top half of his face was visible.

"Oh," said Izuku. He wasn't sure what else to say. At least the secret of One for All was completely intact.

"I hate to say this, kid, but it sounds like everyone involved in your early quirk education was incredibly incompetent. You shouldn't have had to deal with that, even if you were truly quirkless. It takes just as much counseling to deal with that in today's day and age as something like, say, Ashido's quirk."

Izuku had never heard it put like that before. "Okay."

"Now, before I send you off for today, do you have any questions about anything we'll be doing? Any of the tests we'll be running, normal quirk counseling procedures, anything. It's important for you to feel comfortable about this."

Izuku's eyes teared up. This had already been a very emotional day, and he wasn't sure a teacher had ever asked him that and meant it. "Mr. Aizawa," he said, earnestly, "you're the best teacher I've ever had."

"Is that a joke?" asked Aizawa, flatly.

Izuku shook his head, centrifugal force flinging his teardrops away.

"That's messed up, kid. I'm terrible."

"You're the best," protested Izuku.

"I just need you to know how incredibly low that bar is. Your other teachers must have gotten shovels to dig tunnels under it. They must be dancing limbo in hell."

Izuku blinked. He had no idea what that meant. "I think they're all still alive..."

"Not for long," muttered Aizawa.

[archionblu]

For the ship bingo: harry/hermione

[avelera]

One last note for any readers of "Come live with me..." but just because I like to drag Dream (a fictional character) for his treatment of Hob, doesn't mean the story is set up to be some gleeful torture-fest of Dream. I'm not Burgess ;P

The genre of the story is romance, with some shades of period romance and romantic comedy. It's also, like all of my works, something I try to put the full weight of my experience as a writer into. That means there's going to be conflict. There's going to be turning points. There's going to be lessons learned by the characters.

(Cut for spoilers and my own rambling)

Yes, I personally think the fishbowl prison of Burgess was excessive, but Dream did need some kind of lesson in humility, particularly regarding his treatment of his loved ones. It isn't conjecture to say the narrative agrees with me, the TV show in particular is built around Dream dealing with his trauma and waking up to the fact he has people who care about him and he needs to learn to do better by them. It's a very sympathetic story, Dream breaks my heart along his journey, but the Dream we see in 1889 is not the Dream we see in the final episode who is calling Hob his friend and delegating power to Lucienne because he finally acknowledges her competence and his own limitations.

In "Come live with me..." at least for me, I don't have much interest in 1889 Dream getting a relationship with Hob besides maybe a mutually enjoyable physical one. I don't think he has the maturity at that point for more, not if he doesn't learn how to respect his partners. I'm treating him as a human here, not as an eldritch being. the nice thing about stories though is he's not static in my story either. In "Come live with me" I can move Dream closer to being the person he is post-Burgess imprisonment, but in a much gentler way.

And the thing is, in the fic, he is learning. Dream has been learning this whole time, subtly, about what he means to Hob. What, Hob means to him. The impact he has had on Hob over the years. (Yes, all of these lessons are around being in a relationship, because this is a romance, not a coming of age story.)

He is learning other lessons too. That Hob has his own appealing skills he's developed over the years. That Hob is desirable to others. That Hob has dropped everything for Dream even though he didn't have to. That Hob has had his heart open to Dream despite Dream's treatment, which was at times apathetic or callous by turns. That Hob cares about him, as a friend, as a lover, and as a singular fixed point in his life when he loses everyone else. Yes, I'm more sympathetic to Hob here but in fairness, Hob hasn't done anything to Dream that would warrant not viewing him sympathetically. Dream has, at the very least, been rude to Hob on multiple occasions.

These things are changing Dream's perspective. He is growing before our eyes.

Susan's point was rude but it wasn't untrue and it was something he needed to hear and that only someone antagonistic towards Dream would be rude enough to say in such blunt terms, which is what he needed to hear. However, it was a cruel interpretation. And Hob's interpretation is not nearly as cruel. Hob is our POV character. He is going to add nuance to this discussion that Dream's antagonists would not. He's going to factor in forgiveness, and grace, and growing as a person, and being able to change because Hob has recently learned a harsh lesson about these things. And most importantly, Hob loves Dream, this story is about love, and confronting the fact you hurt someone you love is a very important part of not just being in a relationship based on physical attraction but actually staying in one that completes you in all the best ways.

Dream has the opportunity to fix this. I believe he has it in him. I wouldn't ship him with Hob if I didn't. I don't think Hob is perfect either, but I don't think Hob's flaws are in relation to Dream. Hob's defining qualities are resilience and being a flawed human who just happens to live forever. He's going to make mistakes too. He's going to try to make less of them with Dream because Dream is, quite literally, the most important living person in his life.

Ultimately, I hope people will stick around, because Ch. 4 is an inciting incident. It's a bump in the road. It's a turning point. And I still don't think any of you have predicted what actually happens next ;)

[magicshopaholic]

hey, do you read fic at all? i was wondering if you had any recs, i feel like i don't see you interact with fic a lot on here! i love your stories, so wondered what are your favorite authors too :]

Hello! The short answer to this is yes, but it comes with the caveat that I haven’t read much lately, primarily because I have no time but also because now that my characters are getting more and more fleshed out with every fic, reading other fanfic feels like my members are cheating on their OCs 😕 (I read this really good Namjoon fic where he met the reader at a party, and spent a whole week imagining Namjoon cheating on Kaya with that Y/N and it kind of killed me)

Having said that, I still do read fics when I can, definitely those that don’t interfere in my head with my OCs. I’m joining collabs and book clubs as much as I can so that I read more; but in the meantime I’d love to recommend some of my favourite fics and authors to you and any other readers:

(Please read the warnings on each fic before proceeding)

1. Poetry of the Stars by @jjiimin: This is the best fic I have read my entire life (barring one legendary series in the HP fandom - iykyk) and I honestly have nothing else to say about it. Riley has unfortunately deactivated her Tumblr account but I’m so glad I got to tell her how incredible her story was before she did so, so this is my number one. It’s 25K+ words iirc and was one of the first fics I read in the fandom and I just read it all in one go because I couldn’t stop.

(Also a favourite is Irresistible by the same author but I unfortunately don’t have a link to it)

2. @sahmfanficbts: There’s no fic mentioned here because I recommend Sam’s entire masterlist. She’s one of my all time favourite authors in the fandom and I have read and will read every single BTS fic she ever posts. Every fic is so immersive and every character is so deeply developed that they just stay with me and I find myself thinking about them at random times. Just beautiful, fantastic writing.

3. The Rich Man’s Crochet Club series by @kpopfanfictrash: Funny, quippy dialogue is my absolute favourite thing and this series has some of the best combination of humour and heart. Shanna’s works are pretty popular so you may have already checked this one out but I’m gonna recommend it anyway. (I remember coming on anon to gush about it because I was shy af, but I absolutely loved it, Shanna :))

4. Four Seven Eight by @jiminrings: This is the one I’ve read most recently and I’ve had it in my drafts since then so that I don’t forget to write a review because it deserves a great one. So here’s my apology to Hannah for taking so long to do it 🤓 but this is an amazing series, full of angst and hope and has my recommendation for sure.

5. For The Crown by @chimknj: I don’t read mxm fics, particularly mxm smut, but there was no way on earth I was going to pass on this one. Gina and I share an obsession with A Song of Ice and Fire (and I mean OBSESSION - we talk about it 24x7) and the premise of this fic was so compelling and so exciting to discuss that the only thing better than that was actually reading it. The way Gina has written this - I was transported to Westeros instantly. Everything is subtle and nuanced and I found myself connecting with every single character (also Kingsguard!Namjoon was not something I knew I needed). Idk if she’s planning on writing future parts but if she is… fuck, I’m so excited I can’t even talk about it.

6. A Silent Heart Still Beats by @akinnie75: This is another fic I have in my drafts because its review deserves my entire attention. It deals with some difficult topics but is so sad yet hopeful. The OC is such a beautiful character inside and out and this doesn’t usually happen to me with fics, but she actually changed my life and taught me how to rise above, be compassionate and forgive. I won’t give away anymore but this is just a gorgeous, gorgeous fic.

7. Just Practice by @lamourche: I can’t BELIEVE I’ve finally found this fic again!!! I read it once and then lost it (now I realise it’s because the author has seemingly removed their masterlist) but I’d commented on it from my main blog. It is one of my favourite fics of all time: it reads like a college indie movie or like a Sally Rooney novel. I was crying at the end but I couldn’t even put my finger on what it was which just meant that it was the entire vibe of the story rather than a specific scene. It breaks my heart that I’ll never get to read this again but the author has all my appreciation and gratitude for writing it.

These are some recs off the top of my head that have stayed with me and I’ll probably add to this if I think of more. A huge thank you to all these authors for their wonderful work - and thanks to you too, anon, for the question. It felt great to go back to old fics and give a shout out to such talented writers <3

[fandombead]

Patton is one of my favorite sides and the stand I know haven’t said things like this— if anything it’s denouncing way he gets demonized in the fandom quite regularly as one of the most “unsympathetic” tagged characters~ he’s not unflawed (the flaws are really fascinating when you see how his character gets used in the later episodes) but I do believe he gets the most unwarranted hate and some fans are likely resisting the nuance because of the already awful character assassination he gets

His complexity def comes from that conflict he has to deal with as being both the Heart AND the moral compass which at a chance seems like the same job, but can constantly contradict each other depending on where your priorities lie. Is your moral standing prioritizing others or yourself? Which moral philosophy do you go with?

I think some takes about him being evil are from the religious trauma some people have been through (I relate to that anyway) and I understand using a fictional character for venting or to make your fav look better, it’s literally what fandom does and that’s allowed— fiction is a fantastic place to come to terms with that and you don’t have to have a “valid” reason to dislike or use a character to that end! It’s NOT a bad thing. It’s healthy!

It’s just my personal perspective as someone who has seen him explored in some fascinating fics with the nuance he and they all deserve that a lot of the fandom misunderstands his character as he’s portrayed by Thomas. And I don’t think it’s as widespread a problem (Patton Stan’s defending him to the death— I may be wrong, but I just have not seen that take more in his tags).

I will say that even some fanders who like Patton tend to mischaracterize too, with him being overly naive and falling into that precious cinnamon roll box— canon is fun, you can do what you want, I’m just talking about canon perception, not fun headcanon and AU stuff of course

I dunno, maybe I just have that perspective because if a few fantastic fics that really captured that moral conflict he has really well. And he’s def not the only side that could be argued to be manipulative (no not just Janus). He’s had those moments particularly in the wedding-related episodes but I would have to rewatch them carefully to say if there actual manipulation going on there, but that could be a whole post on its own, pointing out how each side stood by their point there~ that’s probably a breakdown someone’s already done around here

fun fact: just because patton is multi-faceted and complex does not mean that he is immune to criticism! he can be "trying his best" and "a good person deep down" while still being a bit of an asshole to the other sides consistently. he can be "a complicated character with too much pressure on him" while still being needlessly two-faced, patronizing, and manipulative towards the others. it's not "demonizing" patton to bring these things to light. it's pointing out his obvious flaws which SHOULD be addressed because he's a boring and horribly written character without them. patton stans try so hard to erase his flaws or try to excuse them when his flaws are the most interesting thing about him and it's such a shame.

[lumosatnight]

Happy birthday to the wonderful, kind, and talented @acnelli!

It has been a pleasure and an honor getting to know you through @microficmay, the HPFC server, and my DMs (lol). The little corner of fandom you have built for Harry, Ron, and Hermione is so wonderful and inviting for everyone. I can't wait to see what fantastic works come out of @harryronfest this year!

Your fic recs are always delightful (such as this Ron-centric list) and uplift authors in such a positive and meaningful way. As are your fics, hitting on impactful topics such as My Boyfriend (Harry dealing with the death of a loved one) or just pure fun as in Like Magic (a Coffeshop AU Rarry fic).

I would particularly like to give focus to your most recent fic, Valid, because it touches on some important themes (especially in the US right now). In fact, I loved it so much I even made a moodboard for it!

In this story, Hermione and Ron face difficult decisions following an unexpected pregnancy. I really appreciate the way this lovely story is written, with emotional nuance and love — so much love. Something that is sorely needed in today's climate of political conflict and ideological divide.

Thank you, Nelli, for being brave enough to write this and release it into the ether. I promise you it has been read and enjoyed and appreciated beyond a doubt. This story can be read on AO3 as well as the rest of Nelli's spectacular works. I highly recommended checking them out!

Happy birthday, @acnelli! I hope you have a fantastic one 💖