#self rec meme

[themerc]

Fic Author self rec meme

thanks @anyawen for always tagging me <3 Idk who's been tagged already but let's try some of my faves, @mr-iskender @samanthahirr @boffin1710 @kitten-kin @aniron48 if any of you feel like it, would be interesting to see which ones of your works you'd pick as your favourites. I have relatively few works posted so far so I'm only going to rec three that are special somehow. To Tell The Good From Bad, Villains From Heroes Mission fic, 18 chapters, my entry for the 00Q RBB 2021. By far the longest and plottiest fic I've written so far, a NTTD fix-it of sorts, written before the movie even came out. Tenacity Another NTTD inspired piece that doesn't really fix anything, but Bond lives, if only because Q won't let him die. This fic is my personal favourite but also the outlet of all the pain that NTTD caused me, and fairly graphic. You've been warned.

The Best Proof Of Love A crossover with London Spy. WIP but fully plotted and outlined. A close collaboration with Anyawen and I believe, thanks to her, the very best I can produce - even though the reception hasn't quite been what I'd hoped for. It has also been dreadfully difficult to write at times. Still, it remains my feel-good story because I've enjoyed working on it very much and I just love the complicated relationships between all the main characters.

[hearthouses]

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. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

Oh gosh, okay, okay, so these are going to be a random grab bag of fandoms so here we go.

1. My most recent fic you say, go fast (i say, hold on tight) because I wrote it in a whirlwind of a week based on vibes and determination and I'm quite proud of the result.

2. with two heads and one heartbeat is another whirlwind wonder I love because it kind of burst out of me and sprang forth without me obsessing over it. It's a Seth/Richie western AU with a werewolf twist.

3. twenty-one grams is a Richie/Eddie fic I started fairly soon after seeing Chapter Two and it took a while to finish, but I am still very pleased with the results and how well I was able to juggle so many characters and their dynamics. I also really like the horror and grief aspects.

4. Magnets Find Each Other (and I'll be your lover) is such a long endeavour and I am still not sure WHY it's so long, but I really love the end product. I think I wrote this because I was frustrated with the ASoIaF discourse surrounding Robb/Jeyne and it just all poured into this fic.

5. Watch Your Step (You'll Need A Miracle) is my first official "smut fic" I ever wrote, so it holds a special place in my heart. It's a weird Tyler/Katherine and Jeremy/Tyler fic that is all screwed over by the actual canon so it's an AU now, but I think it still holds up... hopefully.

[anneapocalypse]

Fanfic Author Self-Recs!

Tagged by @chocochipbiscuit to rec five of my own fics! Thank you for the tag!

This was surprisingly difficult, as I sort of wanted to go multi-fandom for this one, and I found myself looking at all the fandoms I've written for and having a hard time choosing which to focus on!

A Pot to Piss In. Dragon Age, Sera gen backstory fic, 41K, rated M. Definitely my favorite DA fic I've written so far. It was so, so much fun and it's a huge love letter to Sera's character and has a lot of side OCs I loved writing and I'm just so stinkin' happy with it.

No Woman Rules Alone. Dragon Age, Anora/F!Tabris, 34K, rated E. The longest exchange fic I've written to date and the one that I feel like really solidified my love of writing about politics (and femslash, and Tabrises) in this fandom. It was an incredibly fun project and I'm very fond of it.

The Drop Trilogy. Red vs. Blue, Maine/Carolina, 240K total, rated E. My RvB OTP fic, the longest project I've ever written for fandom and one that's still really close to my heart. It's about Maine, it's about the Meta, it's about Maine and Carolina, it's about isolation and loss and abuse and sorrow and hope and redemption.

Inroads series. Red vs. Blue, Carolina/Kimball, 74K total, various ratings up to E. Carolina's adventures in self-sabotage, and a relationship that might actually work out despite her best efforts! My main Kimbalina series, three one-shots and a longfic, taking place before and during season 13 (which made it an absolute nightmare to plot and I'm so proud I actually managed to make it work). I'm especially proud of the longfic, The Way We Win, but I'm still fond of the one-shots as well and it's probably best to read those first for context.

Cast Your Bread Upon the Water. Fallout, Dr. Madison Li/Star Paladin Cross, past Madison/Catherine/James, plus Madison & female Lone Wanderer, 26K, rated M. This is a fic I wrote for a Big Bang, and is illustrated by my good friend @ialpiriel. It's a story about Dr. Li in the late days of Fallout 3's story, after the Enclave takeover of Project Purity, as she confronts her past with James, the present life his actions have once again left in shambles, the complicated feelings stirred up by meeting his daughter, and a connection with an unlikely companion.

Tagging @ialpiriel, @farfromdaylight, @rosella-writes, @darethshirl, @rakshadow, and anyone else who'd like to play.

[spycemel]

Oh god there's three of them, They are going to beat you to death.

From left to right:

Syuuya @overly-verbose,

Kain (Heian Era edition™) @serpent-hell,

Ryouhatsu @bunnyburr0w

I drew the SIkunas, I hope I managed to portray Kain and Ryouhatsu correctly (Syuuya too, but I've drawn him before :P)

I'm probably gonna draw more the detailed ones later (and possibly the Spider-man meme >->) but my Hollow Knight/Ultrakill drawings are calling to me.

[desertfangs]

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 (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

AAAAhh this is such a cool idea!! Thank you for the ask! I will be sending this around like a hot potato.

It's so hard for me to pick favorites because different fics mean different things to me but I'm just going to pick the ones that come to mind first.

Lace - Armand/Daniel - Explicit - 4,490 words To distract Daniel from yet another mortal birthday, Armand gets Daniel a pair of lace panties... and demands he wear them out to a bar. I think this is the smut fic I'm most proud of. I really went for it and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's got crossdressing, sex in public, and weird Devil's Minion games.

Hey Pretty - Armand/Daniel - Explicit - 6,325 words

Speaking of smut, I wrote this for Kink Week last year. It's set not long after Armand and Daniel reunite in Prince Lestat when things are still awkward as heck between them and Daniel figures out a good to way to cut through that is to let Armand watch him feed on a mortal... and then take it back to the bedroom. It's a lot about the strangeness of reconnecting and growing pains of fraught relationships.

Five Times Daniel and Armand Almost Kissed During the Chase Years & One Time They Did - Armand/Daniel - Mature - 5,940

NGL I think this might be my favorite fic I've written. It's definitely the one I go back to read most often. It's just little vignettes of Armand and Daniel getting closer during the Chase Years and it makes me happy. Really proud of this one.

The City Never Sleeps - Lestat/Daniel - Mature - 13,024 words

This is the fic that absolutely took me the longest to write (though Look Right Through is gaining on it with edits). I agonized over every line of dialogue and Lestat is not always easy for me, but I love how this turned out. It's Daniel entertaining Lestat in NYC in the post-canon era while Armand is out of town, and it's a lot about his past with Armand and showing Lestat their lives, but also Daniel knows Lestat wants to connect with Armand on a deeper level and he's trying to help. Also Lestat is having angst about Louis. You know how it is! I really love this fic so it was worth the hair-pulling.

And gosh how do I pick a final one? -frets-

In the Blood - Armand/Daniel - Mature - 4875 words

On Night Island, Armand is fretting about Daniel now being a vampire, and a little healthy voyeurism helps. I think Daniel is a really gentle, sensual killer, which is on display here, but again it's the two of them trying to connect after Daniel's been turned and all of the stumbling blocks that come with it.

Oof that was tough! I will be sending this around to people's inboxes, hoping to see some awesome self-recs!

[thekristen999]

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 💞

@dangerpronebuddie also asked me to share. Thank you to both :)

I've been in fandom for a long time, so I'll pick my top 5 for my current obsession. All Buddie. This list changes often. lol

.

We Found Each Other (Over There) 

A combat medic and a G.I. meet during one of the world’s greatest battles. A WWII European Theater based AU.

Trying Hard to Remember, Trying Hard To Forget 

Eddie doesn’t remember the shooting and Buck is haunted by it. As they struggle with their feelings for each other, Eddie and Buck grapple with the realities of trauma recovery and the understanding that everyone heals at their own pace. Coda to 4.14.

bro·ken 

adjective 1. having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order. 2. having given up all hope; despairing.

Forced to take shady side jobs to pay his bills, Evan Buckley doesn’t think he’s ever seen such rock bottom. Until he meets Eddie Diaz, a man even more desperate and alone. Season 3 AU.

Alone In The Dark With You 

Buck couldn’t remain here alone with all his racing thoughts. Catastrophizing. That’s what his therapist called it. He had to move. He continued trying to dig his way with his good hand, but the way the rocks had fallen, if he removed one, another took its place. It was like he was inside an hourglass.

But he wouldn’t give up.

There. Was he hearing things? A scraping sound.

His adrenaline spiked. He pawed at the rocks again, because noise meant movement and movement meant—

“Buck?”

“Eddie?” Buck rasped.

 He was alive! Eddie was alive.

(Or Buck and Eddie get trapped in a cave-in and things go from bad to worse.)

Cutting The Ties That Bind

Evan Buckley was a businessman, he had meetings and deadlines like everyone else. Sometimes he used intimation. While using the very same tactics he was trying to end while converting his family business into legitimate operations was a little hypocritical, it was the results that mattered.

Occasionally, he got threatened, but it was usually all hot air and ego. That all changed the day his breaks were tampered with. Enter Eddie Diaz, security specialist, who was not easily impressed by Buck’s expensive suits or financial conquests. That was okay. Buck enjoyed a challenge.

(The Mafia AU)

A little of everything :)

[thevikingwoman]

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 love ❤️

I was tagged by @myreia and @a-shakespearean-in-paris, thank you both! It's hard to pick favorites? (I cheated)

Tagging forward, and to anyone else who wants to!

@galadrieljones @redinkofshame @ubejamjar @roguelioness @galadae

@bearlytolerant @kittlesandbugs @ellstersmash @janzoo @coldshrugs

@gangrelslut @superfluouskeys @buttsonthebeach

- 1. The Lovers

FFXIV | Shadowbringers | Wol x Tansui | Explicit | 4310 words

After defeating the Rak'tika Lightwarden, Warrior of Light (& Darkness) finds time to teleport back to the source, yearning to see her lover again. Tansui is more than happy to see her again, and their need for each other is undeniable. However, after they come together, something weighs on Tansui's mind

This is one of my most recent fics, and I really love exploring both Meryta's and Tansui's POV in this one. I struggled getting it to where I wanted, but I'm so happy with where it ended up and some of the nuances I was able to get in here.

- 1.5 Passing Through

FFXIV | Stormblood patches | Wol x Tansui | Explicit | 4518 words

Warrior of Light Meryta Khatin, while helping Genbu with the Four Lords passes through Onokoro. She can't help checking in on a friend - and Meryta and Tansui can't deny the attraction between them.

Alright, I'm cheating and adding one more Meryta and Tansui fic. This one was the one that settled the idea I had for them in my mind, that made me think of them as ship - even if they're not there yet. I had such fun writing it, and I think it shows.

- 2. Choices

FFXIV | Shadowbringers | Wol | Gen | 736 words

After the reveal and failure of G'raha's plan, Meryta has a moment - angry, hurt, confused and falling apart

I love this little MSQ coda, it was so great to express the feeling about the whole plot, and how it felt to Meryta. I think I expressed her feelings and interiority so well, and put some great images in here.

- 3. Comfort

Dragon Age | Vampire AU | Solavellan | Explicit | 7107 words

"Brooding alone?” someone asks. A woman, an elf, leans on the bar next to him. Her red hair is up in a ponytail, displaying the tawny skin on her muscular back. She is wearing a shimmering white dress, only a scrap of fabric covering her back. “I am just here to enjoy a drink in peace,” he replies. She laughs, eyes sparkling and lighting up her face. Her lips are painted bold red, and he notices her vallaslin, a dull olive covering the right side of her face. Dalish, then. Not many clans do that anymore. “No one comes here to drink in peace,” she says. “Iwyn Lavellan.” She holds out her hand, and he has to take it, bringing it to his lips in a kiss. Later, he blames the alcohol, or her sparkling the eyes, or the way the dress barely covers her ass. “Solas. Pleased to meet you.”

Probably my favorite AU. I love the little plot, I love the world, I love the dynamic between them. I love writing Iwyn as the immortal. I love the images and descriptions I wrote - and he smut is pretty good too!

- 4. Home

Uprooted (Naomi Novik) | post-book | Agnieszka/ Sarkan | Teen | 2175 words

He misses her, just not more than he fears belonging.

This is probably the favorite fic I have ever written. I think I hit the mood of the book so well, and managed to make a believable continuation. I just think this one flows so well and I'm very proud of it.

- 5. Temerity

Dragon Age | post Inquistion | Solavellan | Explicit | 10728 words

Iwyn Lavellan is doing all that she can to stay one step ahead of Solas, opposing him after he reveals his plans. When she runs into her former lover in an abandoned ruin, they start a tenuous and dangerous dance. They can't help but being drawn to each other, no matter how harsh the flames of love or hate will burn them.

I love this one for so many reasons. Though not Iwyn and Solas canon (in my head) reunion, I love the darkness of this, and the way they're messed up. I'm so proud of myself for going there and writing this and putting it out in the world. I love some of the metaphors, I love the intensity. And I love the open ending I left; do they spiral or do they make it through?

[hornkerling]

As you wish, @jadesabre301

My fics for stray gods mostly come in sapphic, particularly Calliope/Persephone because they're so angry and messy and delightful and writing Calliope soothes my inner menace. The first I ever wrote was Kore Enterprises, filling in the missing scene of Persephone visiting Calliope's apartment.

I expore Calliope and Persephone first getting together in Firewater, which probably still has one of the better opening paragraphs I've managed recently.

Calliope is used to Persephone on the edges of things. A cautionary tale for late night drinks and the bluer days of late autumn, when the city parks are full of crows fighting over the night’s scraps amongst raw and jagged trees, their final leaves are just the shed skins of their livelier, younger selves. A fragile song through tiny bones.

I wrote You caught my voice and listened as a response to @kshaar's Earworm, which is such a good drabble istg. Everything they write is incredible, whether for stray gods or dragon age, you should read all of it. But Earworm was the one that had me seeing if I could remember enough Greek to mangle some Sappho. It's also, like most of my fics for these characters, full of extravagant eidolon lore.

I have one Calliope x Grace, Calliope x Persephone, eventual ot3 everyone lives AU called Sing all your questions to sleep, which was quite fun. Comes complete with a rant about The Symposium!

The two fics I'm probably the most proud of, however, are The seed that grows without the sun (complete) and Monsters of the old world (one chapter to go).

Monsters of the old world came about because Hephaestus's fate in the game haunts me. He is one of my favourite Greek gods, and because I'm me I was tangled up on the crip potential of it all, and also the idea of Medusa on a very particular rescue mission. I'm trying to close off the final chapter, but it keeps running away from me because I get caught up in the absolute mess that is Aphrodite's choices re: Venus. But it's nearly done!

Hephaestus is blowing glass the first time he hears about the snake-haired bitch in the compound. It is only training and muscle memory that stops him from swallowing and ruining this body’s throat, and frankly the body is built more for war machines drawn up in CAD than the construction of delicate, physical parts. But Hephaestus has always worked better with a prototype, and while you can take a smith, lock him in a server room with a wall of screens, and he’ll make do, he’s always preferred to bother his captors with these specific, ‘old fashioned’ demands. A workshop. Bronze and coal where they want radium. Glass blowing, when a single wrong move would fuck his lungs beyond repair. Even he’s got to live, and showing the bastards just how much their discards can do is some extra stolen joy. When Hephaestus has to pass on, the higher ups throw the infirmary at him. Why waste an able fighter on the crippled god? Hephaestus’s eidolon tends to lead to injury, and well—that path is a dark one. But he is sure the tales of Medusa’s arrival are something he’s dreamed up in a crucible, and it’s not till he’s in the compound’s refractory and a hooded, writhing figure is shoved into a chair opposite him that he believes it can be true. Medusa stares at him, eyes hectic and flaring in a single, surprised moment before she ducks her head, the snakes around her face extending flickering tongues into the air between them. Chains hold her arms at her sides, and a corporal slams a bowl down, glaring at Hephaestus as the known quantity. “You feed her,” he snaps. “Not like the snakes will get you.” For a moment, Hephaestus and Medusa, two who have not spoken in millennia and rarely even then, meet each other’s eyes in perfect accord, amazed that this child-human thinks snakes are the problem

Seed is...it's about Persephone meeting the woman she would become in the late 1940s. It's one of the most personal stories I have ever written, despite being in a time and place I have not lived.

If you read any of them, read this one.

“—I can help with that.” Chastity wipes sweat from her eyes and blinks at the woman leaning against her gate. She’s seen her around. Hard not to, when there’s only one good place for bread in the village—though if there’s any more rationing or prices go up again, she’ll have to start making that, too, and God only knows where she’ll find the flour.  But that’s future, and presently Chastity has a stocky, slouching stranger smiling at her, and she’s got a spade. And the spade's not covered in rust like the one Chastity found in Sal’s shed. Hers has an edge to it, and Chastity, a married woman for nearly a year and imagining it cutting through the dirt she’s barely managed to scatter, is pretty sure this is what lust feels like. Turns out, Sister Immaculata was wrong.

[educatedinyellow]

self-rec meme

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

Thank you for thinking of me, @oldshrewsburyian! I think it's hard for any author to make a choice of favorites, but here are five of mine that are special to me in one way or another:

Forever Taking Leave (Battlestar Galactica, Kara/Lee, fusion with The Sixth Sense) The premise of this story is that Kara can see dead people, and when Lee miraculously returns from his reported death at the very beginning of the series, Kara decides it's desperately important not to allow herself to find out for sure if he really survived or not. She can't bear to know. This becomes the root of her emotionally avoidant behavior throughout the series. It's an AU rewrite of the whole show that tries to cast a lot of canon in a different light due to one supernatural element, and I hope it embraces the bittersweet longing and confusion that belongs at the heart of the Kara/Lee dynamic.

Two Shoes for a Hat (Ritchie Holmes, first meeting) I've written three stories now in the Ritchie!verse and I'm very fond of them all, but this first one holds a special place in my heart. I don't know, there's just something about its tone that seems right. Bonkers and heartfelt, as it should be.

The Better Part of Valour (ACD Holmes, Greek Interpreter fix-it) I love rewriting canon stories, I love outsider point-of-view, and I love giving secondary characters their moment in the light. Mr. Melas is one of my favorite minor characters in Doyle's stories, and it was lovely -- if also a little harrowing -- to get inside his head. It was written as a gift, and my recipient had asked for a story that showed Holmes's kindness and Watson's cleverness; I hope this does.

Rewriting History (ACD Holmes, WWI, epistolary) Epistolary fic, my beloved! There's something about the back-and-forth of letters that opens such a wide field for character study. I will never tire of Holmes and Watson in conversation.

Spider stories (221B Baker Towers) I worked so hard on this one, LOL, I feel like I should include it on this list for effort alone :) It was exhausting and challenging to write (and to vid, as well), but I cared a lot about it and I think that shows. The central premise of 221B Baker Towers -- that the Moriarty of this world is not a single man, but a great organization indeed: structural prejudice, inequality, and war -- is such a rich idea. It deserves more stories.

Tagging @sanguinarysanguinity, @sanspatronymic, @thetimemoves, @odamakilock, and @hawkland, if any of you would like to jump in!

[zaharya]

Writing Patterns

Thanks for the tag @sugareey-makes-stuff (x)!

I haven't been posting much, so this will reach quite far back actually... [all the way to 2022!]

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

that's one for you ZoLu, T, 8k WIP

It started right after they left Shells Town.

I wish I'd known then Merthur, T, 7.5k WIP

“It’s amazing, you have to watch it,” Gwen gushes, setting down her pint with vigour.

Easy As Breathing Merthur, G, 1.5k

Thunder rumbled over Camelot.

What matters is what you make of it Merthur, T, 11.4k

Merlin breathed.

A Faire Fight Merthur, T, 6.7k

Arthur approached the wooden arch that marked the entry to the festival site with increasing trepidation.

That One Merthur/Gen, T, 442 words

Gwaine meets Merlin in high school.

His Most Treasured Possession Merthur, M, 5.9k

It cost Merlin his secret, but they survived.

Dragon's Legacy Merthur, T, 7.7k

This was madness.

And don't you dare stop doing it Merlance, G, 249 words

“Hold still,” chastised Lancelot as he dabbed the disinfectant on Merlin’s arm.

just one more Merthur, T, 1k

It’s quiet.

My conclusions: ...honestly, I'm not sure there is any clear pattern? Some use dialogue, some immediately set a scene or context, some are incredibly vague without revealing much, POV is very clear in about half of them, entirely unknown in the rest. I will say that several of them require the second sentence to contextualise them before they hit properly as a line, so that's perhaps the clearest pattern here — you can't stop after just the first sentence.

Anyway, tagging (just for fun, no pressure): @svtboo, @swordsmans, @multishipperpirateking, @merlinlikethebird, @burglarhobbit, @tyalangand, @the-furthest-city-light, @pearlll09 and whoever else feels like participating!

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

Writing Patterns

Thanks for the tag, @quackquackcey (x)! It's been a hot minute since I've posted something (because I'm going at my own pace and self care is a nice thing), so this going to be me mainly dipping into a mix of drabbles and fics from last year and early this year. Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! >> xiii. I’ll Surrender (Sterek; T, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

A shiver runs down his spine as soft lips kiss his neck.

>> xxii. Simply Because (Sterek; G, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

Derek finishes up with the Jeep when the bell in the reception area jingles.

>> xi. A Quiet Truce (Sterek; T, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

Living in his blanket cocoon seems like an awesome idea right now.

>> x. Back Again (Sterek; G, 100, from from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

He’s never been crazy about holiday events.

>> Closer to the Edge (Stackson, M, 2k)

When Isaac finally found everyone next to the tree near the back entrance, Stiles wasted no time sliding off of a low branch and jumping onto the grass.

>> Dancing Shadows From Behind (Sterek, T, 500 w/ art)

There’s no way they can escape the warehouse alive.

>> The Walls Came Crashing Down (Sterek, T, 4.2k)

He really should have asked for more backup.

>> Feel You Breathing (Sterek, E, 8.4k)

You still up?

>> Should Have Known (Cho/Padma, G, 200)

"You didn’t have to get me anything."

>> What It Takes (Daphne/Padma, E, 200)

It’s a beautiful sight.

My conclusions: Teen Wolf took over the second half of last year, and I guess deductions, observations or dialogue are what I like to start with for opening lines. It also makes sense that drabbles have short lines, because WCs are precious! Also, my preference is to usually start things ambiguously in the first line before tapping into character mention and PoV right after. Of course, case by case. Huh...interesting!

Tagging (no pressure, this is just for funsies): @sinnabon-cosplay , @serenaew , @shealynn88 , @elisedonut , @siriusly-sapphic , @outtoshatter , @raisesomehale , @zaharya , @coffeedrgn87 , @lumosatnight , @hey-flynn , and anyone else who wants to join in!

[anneapocalypse]

Fanfic Self-Rec Challenge

Tagged by @nirikeehan (thank you!) to rec five of my own fics. I did a multi-fandom version of this meme back in December, so I think for this one, I'll go all Dragon Age, since that is the primary bullshit I am on at the moment. Also, for an added challenge I'm going to do one-shots only! Nothing with multiple chapters or over 10k.

I didn't notice until after I'd chosen them that two of these are about fictional plants. I don't know what that says about me.

Warden's Retreat. F!Tabris/Zevran. After the festivities in Denerim, the Warden finally gets some alone time with Zevran at Soldier's Peak--though not without a moment of regret. 3200 words, rated E.

Looking Forward. F!Hawke & Merrill, Fenris/F!Hawke, Fenris & Merrill. Hawke is not well. Merrill pays a visit. Set post-Inquisition. 1800 words, rated T.

Friendly Concern. Varric & Fenris, with background Fenris/Hawke (gender unspecified). Fenris is drinking in public. Varric knows something's wrong. 900 words, rated T.

A Certain Resemblance. Dorian/M!Adaar, plus companions. "Look, nobody's saying it," the Inquisitor says, setting down his waterskin with purpose, "but we're all thinking it." 650 words, rated T.

Spindleweed. Poem, unnamed characters, inspired by the codex entry for the titular plant. The first thing I ever posted for this fandom. 178 words, rated G.

Tagging: @chocochipbiscuit @zalia @cinaed and anyone else who'd like to share!

[juniperika]

not me shamelessly advertising my own fics part2

Nobody Told You How to Unfold Your Love (21102 words) by KindOfASorcerer

The war is over and there is a romance novel going around Coruscant. Everyone seems to be convinced it's based on Cody and Obi-Wan.

I still can't sum it up better than this, so I'll just share a few memes (they're very silly but won't spoil the story):

(rest under the cut)

And this one isn't mine but it fits:

[elvisqueso]

oh We Had It Good in Ba Sing Se !!!????? !?

sdkghjkadjg wELL this is actually inspired by another fic I read on Ao3 called It Must Follow, As Night the Day by catie_writes_things. The basic premise is that Zuko and Katara have been living as a family in Ba Sing Se for years, having been brainwashed by the Dai Li to believe they are just two refugees named Li and Kara.

That fic hasn't been updated in a few years, but its premise has been sitting in my brain so hard that I have a bunch of highly self-indulgent "sketches" for myself just floating in my computer. I'm not really active in the ATLA fandom (I mostly just lurk) so I have a small hoard of various personal WIPs/ficlets this way.

Below the cut's a snip of We Had It Good in Ba Sing Se:

Neither of them remember much of their lives before Ba Sing Se. Few refugees do, in fact. And if you went to the government doctors they would assure you that the loss of such traumatic memories as whatever came before Ba Sing Se was normal. Expected. "Your mind is protecting itself from the horrors that came before," they'd say. Most everyone accepted this explanation. Li, however, felt the aching gap in his memory like a death knell, like something in his past was warning him, trying to prepare him for something he couldn't imagine. Kara's memories, too, were fractured down to impressions of a lost family and great expanses of snow and ice.

But their instincts couldn't be forgotten, and Li often reminded Kara that they should trust these hunches and primal alarms because they must have developed for a REASON. It was instinct that brought them together, and it was instinct that told them the bender registry was a dangerous, dangerous system.

To use any bending other than earth within the walls, one must have the proper paperwork. And then, to move between the walls, one must have their resident papers as well. And then, to maintain a residence or a job or their right to ration tickets they must have their bending and residence and ration-status papers and all manner of papers that say 'yes, I am allowed by the grace of the Dai Li to do anything at all.'

And sometimes, the papers aren't enough, if the enforcer or higher-caste member decides they don't like you.

Li finds a lot of these people don't like him.

He knows, from seeing his neighbors and hearing from gossip in the markets, that the Dai Li will arrest you for anything. Perhaps even only as a reminder that they can. Oh, you may return home after a day or a week. You may not return for months, having been left in one of their underground prisons until you've wept and plead innocent to their satisfaction. But there seemed to be little rhyme or reason: sometimes they would round up people in droves by occupation or even seemingly by the color of the hair or eyes. Firebenders (of which there were a few) were often snatched up. Whispers which could be taken as discontent with the regime were also grounds for detention. The people walked the streets carefully and with fear, but oh they had nothing to fear from the OUTSIDE.

And it's as he's leaving the registry office, having been made to register his 5 year old daughter as a firebender for her protection and, ultimately, her oppression, he begins to think about how he will get his family out of Ba Sing Se.

[perverse-idyll]

Thanks for tagging me, @danpuff-ao3! <3 And it's so good to see you talking about your fics again. I love your thoughtfulness about your work and the whole writing process. (And I love your work itself, of course.)

"Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free to pass on to five other writers to spread the love. 💗"

This comes at an odd time for me because I feel very disconnected from my fic and deeply unimpressed by it. Every time I open the current chapter I'm working on, I think, "What an absolute slog." So maybe focusing on what I love (or remember loving) will rekindle the missing spark! Plus it's been umpteen weeks since I last posted here, and it would be good to show signs of life. (I'm not giving up on writing or my OTP. RL just kind of saps the will to live sometimes. Experience tells me this too shall pass.)

Tagging anyone who wishes to celebrate their faves because I'll be poking at this while at work, and it may take me hours*. *days, as it turns out.

I actually don't have that many fics, which is embarrassing, considering how long I've been in fandom. The same handful just keep cropping up. So I'm going to be really aggravating and mostly talk about WIPs:

The Afterlight - the Snape/Harry WIP I'm currently working/ intermittently fixated on. It's got a serial killer subplot that still hasn't kicked in after 52K words and a Denial of Feelings dysfunctional romance heavily influenced by the fact that both men died in canon and forever after have to live with that knowledge. (Here we have the author's perpetual Denial of (Snape-ish) Death on full display 😉). The fic features disillusioned!Harry, an offshoot of the angry!Harry who often turns up in my work, alongside a Snape whose feelings, whatever else they may be, are typically obsessive to the point of self-sacrifice. They fight a lot and fuck a lot and at one point Snape takes a curse for Harry. Hurt/comfort as courtship! Probably my schmaltziest ending ever, and quite likely a narrative mess, but it's got its hooks into me so I really want it to turn out halfway decent.

Year of the Thestral - the only non-WIP here, a Severus/Minerva fic I had on the back-burner for years and finally finished. It uses a dubcon relationship as a lens to examine the damage done to - and price exacted upon - all and sundry during Snape's year as headmaster. The conceit involves Minerva at the end of her life reminiscing to a biographer, finally facing the memories and meaning of Snape's actions, the layers of betrayal and inevitability of sacrifice, and the furious despair that lay behind Severus' treatment of her. It offers the possibility of forgiveness and even retrospective love, and is woven throughout with femslash feelings. For me, it's a meditation on the punishing aspects of Snape's agreement to play the monster, as well as a character study of McGonagall, undertaken as a tribute.

The Blood of Stars - possibly my favorite of my current WIPs, put on hiatus in 2014. It starts with Snape basically being kicked out of the afterlife by Dumbledore and Lily and discovering, as he searches Hogwarts' post-battle wreckage, that he can't speak to Harry. Literally, no words. Partly in retaliation, he commits an act of heartache and cruelty that affects Harry's marriage. But he also reappears at desperate moments in Harry's life to provide help. There's much to-do over an underground prison, a mutual fascination despite their problems communicating (although one might suggest that Snape's inability to tell Harry what he thinks actually improves the situation), two dramatic death scenes, and more afterlife shenanigans. It also has what may be my favorite ending for any fic I've written thus far, and I'm determined to finish it if only for those scenes alone. Oh, and it's my version of horribly romantic. Also, hubris: the entire middle section is written in first-person Harry POV, which I know will take out a chunk of my potential audience, but I wanted to try something I'd never done before. Anyway, it's next in line once I finish The Afterlight (yes, I know, how many years will that take? But hope springs eternal).

Impossible Without It - another Snarry WIP put on hiatus in 2014! Ah, I was so full of ideas then and struggling not to let the bastards get me down. Well, I haven't given up on this one, either. It's another angry!Harry fic (I do write optimistic!Harry, but really, none of my Harrys are well-adjusted). In fact, it's a memory-holed Harry who can't recall killing Voldemort and an amnesiac Snape who works in a Muggle gay bar. The story is told partly through their sexual addiction to each other, fueled by secrets and lies and out-of-control hunger, desire for vengeance and of course the question of what really happened the day Voldemort died and Harry lost that moment in time while Snape forgot crucial parts of who he is (like the fact he's a wizard). They don't treat each other well, but they become so bound up in their obsession they can't let go. Eventually Harry discovers a way to restore Snape's memories, and Snape makes him regret it. Believe it or not, this one has a happy ending! Well, depending on whether you think a rather fucked-up relationship can be described as 'happy.'

The Threefold Death, or: The Lost World (long version), Snarry, WIP. I was originally going to choose When the Rose & the Fire Are One, but I've singled it out often enough that at this point I'm not sure what's left to say. I had Threefold Death hidden in a collection for a while because I couldn't stand to look at it, but that didn't help so I've removed it from its cage. I'm still haunted by a lot of the scenes, and I love fooling around with fairy tale imagery. I also like playing with ambiguity: how much of Snape's love for Harry is his own and how much is the Forest using Snape to draw Harry into its clutches. Ditto Albus Severus, the third in their circle/cycle of debts and devotion, who can't stop setting off tragic consequences despite the best of intentions. (Well, maybe not the best.) The POV in this one starts with Harry and switches to Al, partly because I'm a sucker for outsider POV and partly because I want to examine Al as a mixture of Harry and Snape, neither as loving as his father nor as ruthless as his mentor and therefore the weakest link in this Game of Three. But it is ultimately his love for them both that closes the circle, and he's the one who ends up losing the most. (Sorry, Al! Even if it's partly your own fault.) And this is another ending with lines and images I'm rather proud of. Also a ton of bittersweetness. Ever since I hauled it out of storage, I've been having all sorts of daydreams about character moments, so this fic is definitely simmering again.

[gabolange]

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 ❤

I always love this meme, because my answers are always different! Here are today's.

acts of survival made generous (For All Mankind, Margo Madison, Margo x Sergei, 20K words, canon-divergence, rated T). An AU from the end of S3 in which Aleida doesn't tell anyone about the engines. A story of what it takes to forgive and move forward.

the wheel of the headlong year (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Marie Batel, Marie x Chris, 16K words, post-ep, rated T). In which Marie Batel survives the Gorn, but survival is really fucking hard.

for the possession of our smallest sensations (The Wheel of Time, Moiraine Damodred, Moiraine x Siuan, 11k words, post-ep, rated E). In which Moiraine loses the source, and struggles not to lose herself.

Tomorrow's Dust (Babylon 5, Susan Ivanova, Delenn, 2.5k words, future fic, rated G). Susan celebrates her first Chanukah on Minbar. A story of legends, friendship, and moving forward.

When the Long Trick's Over (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Jack Robinson, Jack x Phryne, 5.5K words, post-ep, rated G). I never know what goes in slot 5--there are good options. But someone recently told me this story is the standard against which they judge my writing (hi!), so you know. Jack Robinson follows Phryne to England. The logistics are the easy part.