#runawaymarbles

[cesperanza]

Amazing artwork by @runawaymarbles - a binding of Sheppard's Law with a cut out cover and a stargate and it mirrors the title page and has tombstone chapter pages and the coolest page numbers I've ever seen! I am a-swoon!!! It is so beautiful!

[quotablefanfiction]

“Huh,” Merlin said as he watched them go. “That’s a little concerning. I don’t think we go about doing strange things in the castle, do you?” He frowned. Arthur scoffed. “No. They’re just trying to make themselves feel better about accidentally knocking that poor man out or whatever,” Arthur shook his head as the pair disappeared around the corner “Anyways, do you have the horse teeth?”

Merlin and Arthur are a little bit hypocritical and a little bit oblivious (chp. 2)

The Prince Who Cried Witch by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle (AO3) Merlin – General – Freya/Merlin #Alternate Universe #Canon Divergence #Humor #Fluff #Angst #Canonical Character Death #Arthur POV

“I’m not lying!” Arthur yelled and while his knights all nodded, he could see the slight roll of their eyes. “She’s real. I swear on my life she is!” He tried again. Gwaine outright laughed. Arthur really should just behead him. That would solve everything.

“What’s her name then?” Leon asked reasonably. Arthur stared. “My lord, is it…At all possible she might have just been in your head?” He asked, gently. Arthur felt his mouth drop.

“I am not crazy!”

“Well…” Merlin began and the prince turned to glare at him. “I’ve watched you try to put on a shirt, sire.”

“He said crazy. Not incapable.” Elyan murmured and immediately winced when Arthur gaped at him. “Sorry, I… Sorry.” He offered weakly. “You’re not crazy.”

“Just incapable!” Merlin smiled. Arthur hated everyone and swore on his life he would find this damn lake lady even if it was the last thing he ever did.

Or

Arthur comes across a beautiful woman near a lake who likes to talk about her husband a lot. Nobody believes him except Merlin (aka Freya lives).

Part 4 of Me @ Merlin Writers: What if You Didn't Murder My Favorite Characters? series (AO3)

Recommended by @runawaymarbles

[monstrous-femme]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

From newest to oldest, and unfortunately leaving out many stories I adore but that aren't as sophisticated writing-wise because I've grown as a writer since then.

like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird Stranger Things | Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham/Nancy Wheeler | 87k

In 1993, Nancy falls asleep on Barb's grave and wakes up in 1985. From there, she finds herself completely unstuck in time. It's also a love story.

Novel-length time travel fic about grief, recursive, Sisyphean vibes, also I think the longest fic I've written in any fandom.

In Her Hips, There's Revolution Stranger Things | Eddie Munson & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler | 70.5K

Finally, she's able to get the number in right. The ring is sharp against her ear. Pick the fuck up, she thinks, and someone must be listening, because the ringing stops "All right, Harrington, what's on this week's nightmare menu? And don't tell me the one about drowning in your pool again, man, we all know that's rich kid--" "It's Nancy." A long pause, then a laugh. "Wheeler? To what do I owe this late-night honor?" "I, um." Nancy's tongue feels stuck to the roof of her mouth, like bare skin on upholstery. "I was wondering if you've got a couch I can crash on?"

This fic exists because I read a punk!Steve fic and in it Nancy was not into the punk scene and I was like. But what if she was, though. Riot grrl Nancy? Riot grrl Nancy. Complete with Ronance and Nancy and Eddie as best friends. Described by readers as "Jane Austen with more alleyway head." One of my only fics to get an & pairing and not just a / pairing, because the friendship really is that central.

objects in the mirror (are closer than they appear) Stranger Things | Joyce Byers/Karen Wheeler | 5.3K

"Which do you think you're having?" she asks, pushing herself back to the land of the ordinary. "Lonnie wants a boy," Joyce says. "Your husband?" Joyce snorts. "If you can call him that." There's something nice about how that sounds, like the idea that just because you said your vows in front of God and your whole family doesn't mean you have to call the man your husband. Karen smiles. "You know what?" she says. "Give me a cigarette after all." The smile Joyce gives her back is like a secret between friends. "My kind of girl," she says, fishing into her purse, and when Karen takes the cigarette between her lips, Joyce lights it for her.

This fic was for Women's Wrongs day of Stranger Things Femslash week, and I was so proud of the strange fucked-up short story vibes I managed to get here. Joyce and Karen spousal murder 5ever.

pretty girls with bloodstained teeth The Magicians | Margo Hanson/Alice Quinn | 4k

“You’re angry,” Alice says. Margo opens her eye to see that the smile on Alice’s face matches the one in her voice. “And you’re right to be.” “If I’m angry, it’s because there’s a monster who seems to show up everywhere I go.” Alice lifts a finger and runs it along Margo’s cheek, leaving a trail of ice crystals down its path. “Oh, Margo,” she says, sugar in her voice. “You’ve never been as good a liar as you think you are.”

This was my OG monster!girls story, based on the idea that Alice stays a niffin and seduces Margo to the dark side. It was so fun to write that it actual inspired the original novel I wrote and currently have on submission.

Chimera The Magicians | Alice Quinn Character Study | 1k

She is part girl, part monster, and moving forward is a statistical improbability.

In defense of one of my favorite unlikeable female characters.

[jennamacaroni]

12

these were all so random wow

handwriting asks

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Hello dear, that's so sweet of you to send this to me!

I admit, I did one of these just a week or so ago, so I was tempted to just let you know that. However, I realized upon reflection that I had only focused on my 9-1-1 fics, and I have written in other fandoms.

And so here we are! The five non-9-1-1 fics that I would say are my favorites, across five different fandoms.

Richie Tozier: Small Town Trash

Richie Tozier debuts his new routine after vanishing from the comedy scene.

To be honest, I think I could do this fic better five years later, but this was the time I sat down and, in spite of the fact that I was convinced I wasn't funny, wrote a stand up comedy routine (with some Easter eggs from actual comedy routines because I couldn't resist).

People actually thought this fic was funny, and enjoyed it, and this was the moment I realized that I might actually be able to pull off humor. So while I think I'm a lot better at it now, we all have to start somewhere, and I started here.

Defiance & Destiny

When Geralt of Rivia returns to England after a prolonged absence, he and Jaskier, an aspiring bard, are forced to confront the pride and prejudice that flung them apart. Meanwhile, Lady Yennefer of Vengerberg is beginning to wonder if there is more to life than being handsome, clever, and rich.

This is I think my least-popular Witcher fic, because it's very long and also has no smut, but I'm really genuinely proud of it. I have a great love for Jane Austen and worked hard to try and capture the tone and feel of her work while juggling a mashup of three different novel plots. It also puts Yennifer/Tissaia in the spotlight, a ship I love but sadly have written like, nothing for. Shame on me.

Confidence Trick

When police officer Wyatt Logan is tapped to go undercover and get information on the notorious Lucy Preston and Garcia Flynn, he expects it’ll be his toughest assignment yet. What he doesn’t expect is to fall for his marks—and the fallout that comes with it.

One of those rare fics where the inspiration and writing just flowed and the stars aligned. It's I think my best fic in this fandom, although there are a couple others that I think come close such as could twist the sinews of thy heart? and Are You Strong Enough to Stand. It's just really lovely when you feel that the fic you wrote on the page is as good as the one you pictured in your head.

Also I'm still really damn proud of the plot twist at the end. Heheheheheheh.

Untranslatable Shadows

There's only one thing worse than having to make your way through a booby-trapped dungeon, and that's making your way through a booby-trapped dungeon with Xenk Yendar. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Ed has to do to save the soul of his best friend. And extra unfortunately... Xenk might not even be the worst part of this whole thing. Nobody tell him.

I really like all of my Xedgin fics. I'm quite fond of this little ship and yes I swear I will finish the last one! I pinky promise! It was hard to choose just one of them since I actually feel they're all pretty equal in quality which is rare for me, but I ended up going with this one because I'm quite proud of how I adapted the infamous "Tomb of Horrors" dungeon for the fic. It was a lot of work going through the dungeon and deciding what to keep or remove and how to use it to support the character arcs and story, but it was also very fun and rewarding.

My Blood Will Feed Your Flowers (Your Flowers Will Soothe My Blood)

At the start of the new school year a horrifying development rattles both Enid and Wednesday and threatens big changes in their relationship. Oh and there's a serial killer running around too. Huh. Someone should probably do something about that.

Another T rated fic and another one starring some femslash! It's a miracle! This fic was a gift to a friend and was a very fun challenge for me. Writing teenagers is hard, guys. I also had to balance the horror and the humor of the TV series to nail the tone, and I tried hard to write this as if it was the second season of the show and so worked within those limitations. I like to think I succeeded, and I'm very fond of the result.

So there you have it! Five fics that might be a bit off the beaten path so to speak for most of my readers, but of which I am very fond. Thank you again for tagging me!

[thegeminisage]

Ask meme: hanahaki

i can't believe i MISSED THIS. i wasn't ignoring you on purpose, tumblr didn't show me the notification. belatedly, never have i ever written hanahaki but IF I DID...

*disclaimer that i am thinking of the modified hanahaki i see on tumblr sometimes in which you only die if you don't confess your feelings, not if your crush isn't requited, because that's...doesn't that feel awful? "i'll die unless you love me" like what if they Just Don't. that's such a bummer.

that said, i feel like the obvious choice is spock. he's like vulcans don't have emotions and then dad sneezes and everybody gets covered with petals. and everybody is like just tell kirk you love him it's so obvious everyone already knows and bones specifically is like you are such an idiot he obviously loves you back and wouldn't even make fun of you for having feelings like i would literally nothing bad can come of this this is your life we're talking about except. kirk is weirdly quiet on the subject when asked. and finally bones confronts him (while spock is in the room) like CAN YOU PLEASE BULLY HIM INTO CONFESSING and kirk is like. the thing is. he already confessed to me. and bones is like What and kirk is like (to spock) buddy i was trying to be patient but i think the game is up bc the game is pretty up and spock has to confess his feelings to the most stunned dr that ever graced the fleet. certain he's abouit to get rejected or roasted but actually bones is way too shocked to do either one

however, you could also do a really fun season 14/15 destiel w this one...cas CAN'T confess or his empty deal will come due, but if he DOESN'T confess the flowers will kill him, which will...also send him to the empty. so everybody else has to figure out what's going on and how to cure him while he literally CAN'T say ANYTHING to help them (jack tattles). alternatively, he figures if he's going to die anyway he might as well die happy so he confesses before the flowers can get him and then they have to go get him back like in many post-canon fics

geez. thank you for sending one. imagine someone wishing aloud on tunglr dot org that they got more ask meme asks and then NOT ANSWERING THEM

[ask meme, fuck it i'll take some more like two weeks later]

[displayheartcode]

Top 5 fictional wizards

how are we defining wizards? powerful nerds? occult-based dorks?

1. Nita and Kit from Young Wizards

2. Palamedes from The Locked Tomb

3. Abigail from The Rivers of London

4. Constantine from the DC comics

5. Miracle Max from Princess Bride

[zenosanalytic]

Trump was a big reason why Covid started spreading in the US when it did, and why it got so bad.

When the first reports started coming out of the disease in China, he rushed US nationals there back to the US without an off-shore quarantine. Instead they'd quarantine them in California, but 1)he rushed the CDC's quarantine team out there without proper training or equipment, and 2)the confusion over the need to quarantine and for how long led a handful of USians from the Pacific Northwest to just go home without a proper one, and both fuckups led to the first covid cases in US. Once it got out to the general population on the West Coast, it spread quickly to the East Coast by plane. After having fucked up containment, he IMMEDIATELY started downplaying and denying Covid in-general because he didn't want to do a lockdown, because a lockdown would hurt the economy, and THAT would hurt his approval ratings. Republican governors took his lead, sandbagging public health measures and denying there was a problem, and Republican judges helped them by issuing a bunch of unprecedented rulings limiting the authority of public health institutions, AND the ability of private businesses to institute their own health-safety measures like mask-requirements(as a result of THAT, Republican doctors and nurses stopped following basic pandemic safety procedures, leading to Hospitals became the most likely place to catch covid). And of course, Republican civvies, following his lead, visited their older relatives in nursing homes unmasked and ended up killing hundreds of thousands of elderly USians before their time.

I really think people have forgotten just how bad things were under the Trump Administration. Literally every day there was news about some service being cut or someone terrible appointed somewhere they shouldn't be or what have you. He constantly flirted with WW3 and military dictatorship. It was such a blur of badness that there aren't big standouts for people to point to to make him "the XYZ president." it was everything. all the time. Why do we not remember this.

[lurkerdelima]

6, 23

6. Favorite title you used

Probably ‘the darkness hummed.’ It was just a random one I came up with when I was close to finishing the fic, and I had started doubting my working title (I tend to cycle through 5 or 6 working titles per fic lol). I did a poll on here and to my surprise it won! I think it ended up suiting the fic really well and it’s so evocative.

23. Did you do any collaborative works this year?

I did not! I haven’t written anything collaboratively in a long time. I’m not against it, it just hasn’t really come up for me. I do constantly ask for writing help and advice from my spouse tho, they’re my favorite collaborator. :)

Thank you! 🖤

[gayhoediaz]

✦

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

oh, the most difficult was into the fire by far, because it’s just such a unique dynamic in between them that i’ve never really explored before, and just generally speaking it’s such an incredibly heavy story.

ironically, i think the easiest one was still which is arguably an even heavier story, but it’s the kind of fic that could easily play out in canon. without question. it’s not even a stretch. so i think i just had a massive library of references in my head for what would happen and what they would say and how they would say it, etc, etc. i always fight really hard to keep things in character - if i can’t hear their voices in my head or see them make x gesture then i won’t write it - but that fic was just incredibly easy in that department. i didn’t even have to think about it.

fic ask game!

[morhath]

16, 27!

So I realized after I reblogged that that actually the only fic I've posted this year on ao3 is just more chapters on something I started in like 2017 or 2018. I'm gonna go ahead and just answer these asks looking at all my fics.

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Surprisingly, I think it's "Poetry"! I don't even like poetry.

What do you listen to while writing?

It depends on the vibe of the fic, although it has to be instrumental. When writing fantasy stuff, I generally play this one YouTube video of the Rohan theme from LotR with wind noises that goes for two hours. For SciFi, the Warframe soundtrack. Sometimes it gets even more specific--when I was writing a fic about dancers, it was the Swan Lake score, and when I was working on an as-of-yet unpublished Homestuck fic it was the Homestuck soundtrack. Oh and very importantly, whatever I'm listening to has to be in earbuds but at literally the lowest possible volume.

[zenosanalytic]

#conservatism#censorship#100% this is only part of the conversation#to erode the rights of queer people while distracting from real issues (via @arrows-for-pens)

wait a minute

why is drag even part of the conversation?  drag is an activity adults do that could well be considered a fetish, not a gender.

why do children need to be exposed to and familiarized with it?

[fand0mfan]

[spacelazarwolf]

op turned off reblogs for reasons that will become obvious but i wanted to repost for the good rebuttal from @runawaymarbles

maybe someday twitter-brained reactionaries will actually open a newspaper and read it instead of just repeating whatever catchy phrase has been floating around the tankiesphere but i don’t see that day coming anytime soon. in the meantime please for the love of fuck do your due diligence before falling head over heels for reactionary garbage designed to enrage you rather than engage you.

[tevaselmundogiraalreves]

Buddie fic recs:

I've been wanting to do my own list of my favorite fics for a while now so here it goes (in no particular order):

- my words are paper tigers by @hattalove (this ones my favorite of them and i'd say a little underrated maybe?) TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP - buck breaks up with eddie, the universe doesnt agree - ITS PERFECT I'VE READ IT FOR THE FIRST TIME SO LONG AGO AND ITS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITES EVER.

- Actually, truly by MilenaDaniels Helena (and Ramon) tries to find a way back into Eddie's life and doesn't know what to make of finding Buck around every corner she turns. (Or: "Mom, listen.")

- burn the straw house down by rarakiplin - what to even say i think everyone has read this one already but just in case TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP

- Happy Little Accidents by @like-the-rest-of-la - one of the first au i ever read for buddie and i was so ENCHANTED what to even say, buck owns a plant nursery. Its just so soft and so so so beautiful.

- said i couldn't stay, but it's different now by @hattalove - another fave of them. Many weddings and buddie in the middle of it all.

- Close My Eyes and Stumble (Right Into Your Love) by HSMLusitania - i think everyone and their mother has read this one aswell but just in case EDDIE DISPATCHER.

- Burn a bridge, learn how to swim by Watermelonshots - this is a series and jesus christ it literally starts with a buddie drunk make out session so-

- Sit with me in the dark by @kitkatpancakestack - buck loses his vision- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soft and kind and yeah beautiful and buck glasses kink anyone?.

- Lifelines by @hetrez . This fic is literally a lifeline - buck and eddie meet during the tsunami and talk about being in the closet. I have no words for how much this fic meabs to me. FLAWLESS.

- about the present by @runawaymarbles - this is a series now and god this was so so fucking special and unique - the first part eddie in the aftermath of being in a timeloop of the shooting. The second one is buck handling it on his own way. PERFECTION. Still thinking about it.

- a good day to be by @hetrez Eddie is a dance instructor, buck needs dance clases for madneys wedding. As flawless as the other one. Eddie Diaz needs a hug yeah.

- we'll be forever, you'll see by rarakiplin - Eddie Diaz finds a cat and heals and heals. And is so loved. I think i cried the first time i finished this one.

- still by @gayhoediaz - once again i think everyone knows this one but just in case, eddie steps on a detonator. ANGSTS SO MUCH ANGSTS AND THAT ENDING YEAH.

- but i can see all along, love (it was you all the way down) by @captain-hen - eddie confesses his feelings, buck rejects him, TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP

- authentication by @vgreysoncellars - i think i described this one as a never ending extention of 7x06 like nights abd just pride and pride and liberation. Eddie picks guys in bars for buck to make out with...

- oh, come when you're called by @lesbianrobin CHRIS 💘 no other words needed i think

- i'm a cliché (who cares) by @cranberrymoons UFF THIS ONE MAKES ME SO EMOTIONAL - eddie realizes stuff and buck is there every step of the way.

- bark like you want it by @colonoscopys - SOULMATES AU so so funny and wholesome.

- the love triptych by @cranberrymoons - this ones just so freaking special to me. Helena trying and trying and trying cause she loves her son. And buddie together through it all.

- so much left in store by @lesbianrobin - UNI AU UNI AU UNI AU !!!!!!! AND VERY IMPORTANT BABY CHRIS💘

- hang me up on your bedroom wall by @eddiegettingshot WELL buck just wants (more) but only if eddie gets him pregnant about it... (infidelity fic)

- close ain't close enough (til we cross the line) by @cranberrymoons buddie sexting buddie sexting buddie sexting and being so so freaking insane and not normal about it. (Infidelity fic)

- throw a bone, i’m finally home by @shitouttabuck - i think everyone knows the like a dog verse by now (come on lol) but yeah i'm very very obsessed especially with the second part of it.

[starbuckaroo]

@runawaymarbles wait which 911 fic?? 👀

Enough of the trope where memory loss undoes the damage or the corruption or whatever. More content where removing memories just removes the context.

The tragedy of needing to grieve and not knowing what or who you lost or why. The angst of having trauma and being denied the awareness that it's trauma. The suspense of being different somehow and left to wonder how and when. The tension of knowing that something is off and you can't find where it hurts. The Adventure Zone gets it. Kingdom Hearts gets it.

There is an aching inside you and you don't know how it got there.