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imakemywings · 5 months ago

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For the femslash writing, a Meladriel would spark so much joy 💛

Alright, this will be the last fill for the month (and a day late whoopsie)

I think the power plays Galadriel pushes these two into make for such an interesting dynamic. This fulfills the "euphoria" square of FotF's Pride month bingo (I think).

Fandom: The Silmarillion

Pairing: Galadriel x Melian

Length: 3k

Summary: Galadriel is determined to show Melian she is capable of more than Melian believes. Melian wonders if her pupil grasps her lessons.

AO3 | Pillowfort | SWG

The Patience of the Oak

The resistance of Melian’s mind was as the howling of the winds storming the Helcaraxë. Galadriel wobbled upon a hair’s breadth of solidity beneath her feet, as though she were up in the flexible treetops amid the crack of thunder, or balanced upon some high-flung crossbeam of a ship at sea. If she did not keep her balance, she would fall. If she did not keep her focus, she would be lost, swept out into the ether of those winds.

Still, she pushed forward.

That she could do so at all was a riot of triumph; half of her had expected to get nowhere at all, and while the force of Melian send her skidding backwards, it did not drive her out entirely.

In the physical world, she was only most distantly aware of her fingers clenched around the edge of the table, of her toes digging into the floor until the joints ached. There was no space in her consciousness for the physical now; there was only the vastness of Melian’s mind and the determination of Galadriel’s spirit to know it.

In her own strength, in her conviction, Galadriel had confidence; Melian believed her feebler and more delicate than she was in truth, but Galadriel could show her her error.

The wind blew harder, a silent roar in the blackness through which Galadriel could feel the shine of light from those things she wished to know, those repositories of Melian’s knowledge and power. She stretched herself out towards them, reaching, reaching, reaching, and with another extension of herself, tried to ward off that part of her mind so keen to liken this experience to the terror of a blizzard (She, unlike her sentimental siblings and cousins, would not fall prey to dwelling on the death of Elenwë, lost in just such a storm). The more she allowed those thoughts to enter her mind, the greater risk they would sink their roots in, reshaping this experience into that one, and Galadriel did not want the dual struggle of fighting to reach her goal and not to be overwhelmed by her own past.

There, just ahead of her, a softly glowing center of thought; Galadriel, so near to her goal, surged forward with renewed energy in spite of the flagging of her strength; she did not mean to take yet, only to touch, to show Melian she could—

That’s enough, I think. Melian’s voice sounded faintly amused and not altogether unannoyed, as one whose pet is both bothersome yet entertaining. Like a flick of her fingers, Melian snapped Galadriel out of her mind, flinging her fully back into the physical realm, and Galadriel staggered away from the table, stumbling over her feet until she landed hard on her seat, sucking in air like a winded horse.

The smoothness of the wood on the table did not allow Galadriel to do much damage to her hands, but her fingers ached from gripping it, and deprived now of the ecstasy of struggle and success, the full measure of her exhaustion came upon her, and she slumped down to the floor, hair strewn about her, and slept.

***

In the garden, Melian waited. Galadriel had felt her call earlier in the day, but forced herself not to rush. With care she dressed and arranged her hair in a neutral style and sipped weak wine as she reassured herself no damage had been done. Standing now upon the threshold of the eastern Jewel Garden, characterized by riotous bursts of a rainbow of fruits and flowers, she smoothed her skirts and lived in the final moments before having to face up to the queen’s displeasure. In her mind, she rehearsed the many words she had prepared for this meeting, but when she came near and met Melian’s night-dark eyes, those thoughts ran wild and she fought desperately to rein them back in.

“So, my pupil—”

Galadriel did not mean to interrupt, but the amok words burst through her teeth before she could swallow them.

“You underestimate my strength!”

Melian fell silent, those dark eyes sweeping up and down from the thrust of Galadriel’s chin to where her toes dug into the grass. She set aside the pomegranate she had been picking over when Galadriel arrived (Melian did not need to eat, but playing with the food of the Elves seemed to entertain her; she would leave the seeds out for someone or something else to claim.) Galadriel held open the curtains of her mind, inviting Melian inward, to show how little she had to hide from her teacher.

Melian wore the form of the Elves, as was her pleasure, and on that day gleamed in carnation yellow, her sleek black hair drawn away from her face with crisp white deer-bone clasps, a gift of the king.

“It is a particular kind of pride, to receive a gift and demand only more,” the queen remarked, and Galadriel drew in a painfully sharp breath. Now in the moment, now with Melian’s low, musical voice picking apart the flaws in her, the shortcomings in her behavior, it seemed foolish to tell herself her tutelage with Melian was not potentially on the line. But she could not now contemplate being exiled from Melian’s presence, or she would falter.

“I respect the extent of my teacher’s knowledge,” said Galadriel, lowering her head. “Had I no curiosity in it, we would never have begun this. Is it not natural I should wish for more?”

“That for which you wish and that of which you are capable do not always resonate,” said Melian. “As we have discussed before.”

Galadriel looked up without thinking, to fix Melian with an expression of helpless desire.

“And still I protest,” she said, straining to keep her voice even. “I am capable of more than my teacher believes.”

“Young you are still, and—”

“I am not a child!” Galadriel insisted urgently. “Horrors have I seen as well, teacher, and much did I overcome to make it to your doorstep. I am strong enough for what you may impart!” When Melian did not immediately respond, Galadriel could not restrain herself from adding: “Much more do you show Lúthien. Is it because I am no daughter of yours that I am not worth more?”

“You are not like Lúthien,” said Melian. “She who bears my blood is no Elf, though she may in face and body resemble her father. She is unique, and better able to grasp my knowledge and my power.”

“You have not faith in me,” Galadriel concluded, casting her eyes down unto the ground in tense despair.

“Had I not faith in you, we would not stand here now,” said Melian, rising to her full and considerable height. Again, Galadriel lowered her head. “Still I once more counsel you to restraint. Lúthien, besides being my daughter, has many more years to her name than you. She has had more time to learn and to develop her patience. Yet as I have said, your potential is strong. But you will squander it and turn to cruder, lesser matters than you might if you do not exercise care.”

Melian drifted around her, pale feet sliding noiselessly through the grass, her fingers brushing over the boughs and flowers that surrounded them.

“I feel your hunger, daughter of Eärwen,” she murmured. “Never do I touch your mind but I feel it. Already you have shown greater restraint than others may have. Yet I would look for more.” Even behind her, out of sight, Galadriel could picture, could feel Melian so clearly it was as if she looked upon her. “Those most eager warrant the most caution.”

Galadriel held her tongue and remained still until Melian came back into her sight. The queen did not touch her; never had Galadriel seen her touch another but the king or the princess, and those rare times when she laid her hands on Galadriel for a lesson.

There was more that Melian could have said, that she must know, but she did not, and Galadriel was relieved.

“What is it you desire from me, child?” Melian asked, and Galadriel seemed to feel her words as much as hear them. Her eyes darted up to Melian’s oval-shaped face, divine in her beauty, distant even in her nearness. “My power? Or something more tangible?”

Galadriel’s legs felt weak. The beat of her blood was too loud in her ears.

“I…desire…whatever my teacher would give me,” she said, speaking with markedly slow deliberation.

“You ask for things you do not understand,” Melian said.

“I know my strength,” Galadriel insisted, meeting Melian’s gaze directly. Melian held it, tilting her head slightly, observing, observing. Then she turned away.

“Your inability to admit or recognize your limitations tells me I have been right to maintain the pace we are at,” said the queen, and Galadriel’s gut turned to ice. “You have not yet the maturity for more.” She made to walk away, and Galadriel should have been grateful that Melian was not going to punish her for the invasion of her mind—though she knew now she had gotten as far as she had only because it had amused Melian to see how far she could push against the queen’s half-hearted resistance—but all that consumed her mind was the intolerableness of Melian’s dismissal.

In desperation, she threw up her hands and a bubble of silence ensconced them both; within the bulb of Galadriel’s power the birds hung still in the air, the beetles froze midflight; the wind did not sway the leaves. Slowly, Melian turned back to her.

“I am more capable than you acknowledge,” Galadriel said, straining to speak with so much of her focused on maintaining her spell. “I am a princess of the Noldor, a Calaquendi of the Blessed Realm, a daughter of the houses of Finwë and of Olwë. I have gazed upon the light of the Trees and I have sat at the foot of Manwë and Elbereth Gilthoniel. I have crossed the Helcaraxë. I have fought the forces of Morgoth Bauglir. I am not a child, nor an ignorant. I am not careless, nor incapable.”

Melian made a turn of the extent of Galadriel’s spell while she sweated to keep it up. The queen touched the birds, the bugs where they dangled midair, aware or unaware of their imprisonment.

“Remarkable,” she said, and through the burning of Galadriel’s straining body, she almost smiled.

Melian waved her hand and Galadriel’s spell burst apart, returning the denizens of Doriath to their freedom. Galadriel panted and bent forward, her face hot with exertion.

“You would do better not to trap things so idly,” the queen remarked lightly. Her eyes flashed over to Galadriel’s face. “It has never been your power I doubted, my pupil.” Melian came to her then, and she smelled even at a distance of the onset of rain, so that to breath her in was as if to stand amidst a gathering storm.

Melian reached out, and with her fingertips, she touched Galadriel’s face, tilting it up towards her. A spidery hand crept over her cheek, her nose, her mouth.

“What a fascinating spirit yours is,” she murmured, and as nearly always, her expression was inscrutable. Galadriel did not dare reach out to Melian’s mind now, but she made a slight opening of her own. “Is this truly what you desire?”

“Yes,” Galadriel breathed. “Greatly have I desired this.” It was no good to lie to Melian now; even if she had kept her mind closed, it seemed she had made herself too plain. Lying to herself was a far simpler task than lying to Melian.

“Very well, then. Let us explore.” Melian leaned in, and Galadriel felt the prickle of electricity along her arms and down her back before Melian’s lips touched hers.

The wind was back, but this time it drew Galadriel in rather than pushed her out; she was wrapped up in the maelstrom, that electricity surging through her until her nerves were alight and her lungs breathless. The queen’s mouth was cool and wet against hers, and despite Galadriel’s height, she had to push up on her toes to seek a deeper kiss. All around her was the presence of Melian and that crisp-rain smell filled up her senses; she curled her hands at her sides to stop herself from grabbing at the queen for stability as the presence of Melian bore down on her.

And then she swooned.

***

When Galadriel opened her eyes, she saw the layered canopy of Doriath undulating in the wind above her, and amidst the green, Melian’s face, from below. Immediately she moved to sit up, but she felt drained, not unlike her weariness of the day before, and Melian placed a hand on her forehead to hold her in place.

“Take a moment, Arwen,” she said. She looked down, and smiled, and Galadriel stilled. “I did warn you.”

Galadriel’s eyes fluttered shut in chagrin, but only for a moment, as she did not wish to deprive herself much of the sight of Melian looking on her with such fondness.

“Elwë fainted in the beginning as well,” Melian reflected. “Before we had learned how to be with each other.” This made Galadriel only more determined to prove that she too, could learn to be with a Maia. She wondered how long it had taken Melian to learn to moderate her strength with an Elf. “Shall I take you back to your rooms?”

“No,” Galadriel managed. Her mind felt fuzzy as if from a long sleep, or too much wine. She could not tell if Melian was still in her thoughts or not. “I wish to…remain.”

Melian hummed an agreement and stroked a hand through Galadriel’s golden hair.

“But you should rest,” said the queen. “And do not rush.” Despite her will—or perhaps in service of another desire—Galadriel’s eyes slid shut and her mind focused the more on the touch of Melian’s hand.

“I am capable,” she insisted quietly. “I can learn whatever lessons you would teach me, Your Grace. I will make myself learn them.”

“This I know,” said Melian. “I would not have taken it upon myself to teach you if I did not believe in your abilities. Yet you are young—no child, by the measure of Elves, I know—but young still, and impatient. You would rush headlong from one thing to another without truly understanding either. And I would see you cultivated with more care. Do you not trust me as your teacher, Arwen?”

Now Galadriel needed to pause and consider, for Melian made valid argument: She believed in Galadriel’s ability to learn, and so had taken Galadriel as her student. But why had Galadriel taken Melian as her teacher if she did not believe in Melian’s ability to teach?

Ah, Melian called again on her pride—daring Galadriel to say she believed that she knew better than Melian the pace and scope by which her lessons ought to progress.

A part of her wished to groan; the better part was more concerned with the presence of her head in Melian’s lap, and the queen’s graceful hand on her head. She could almost forget she had come here for a scolding.

“I am tired,” she murmured. “I trust you, teacher.”

“After your expenditures the last forty-eight hours, I am not surprised,” Melian said, again sound amused in spite of Galadriel’s rather inappropriate behavior.

“I wish only that you should know I may understand you.” Melian hummed something neither fully agreement nor disagreement and stroked Galadriel’s hair again.

“In stillness, one may come to know the forest,” she remarked after a long silence. “But without patience and quietude, much will go unobserved and unknown. My lessons for you are not only in the realm of magic and of wills.”

If she were less worn out, Galadriel might have found it in herself to be embarrassed to realize Melian had been trying to temper her impatience from the start.

“Forgive me, teacher,” she said without opening her eyes. “There is much you know that I wish to know also.”

“And much you will know, in time,” Melian said. “A sapling cannot know the truths of the oak without the will of time.”

Now Galadriel made a soft noise not quite a groan and turned her face more to Melian’s lap, which she supposed was hardly more improper than her presence there already, which Melian had created herself.

“You need not drive yourself so hard,” Melian said gently, her nails scraping lightly over Galadriel’s scalp. “Forget not the value in rest, and slow progress. As long as I stand, you will be safe here. Accept this gift I give, and the time which it grants.” Galadriel relaxed her shoulders and breathed in the sharp rain-scent of Melian.

“Shall I sing to you, dear?” the queen asked.

Galadriel mumbled her agreement, and Melian smiled. Carding her fingers through Galadriel’s hair, she set to warbling a tune about the wind whistling through the treetops and a robin looking for shelter. In the clear ringing of Melian’s voice, Galadriel could understand how one might forsake Eldamar to linger a little while more in the reach of her song. It seemed to soothe away Galadriel’s fears and anxieties, and yet to open her to wonders of the world ‘til then unknown to her. While Melian’s voice washed over her, she seemed to sink into new communion with the woods around them, as if through Melian those other things reached out to her: the moles in their burrows and the squirrels in their trees and the moss creeping over the rocks and the worms tunneling underneath. Melian was a part of it, and it was a part of her, and she drew Galadriel into this world which she otherwise touched only through a veil.

Yet it did not alleviate her exhaustion, and to the sound of Melian’s singing, with the queen’s thigh beneath her head and her hand in her hair, Galadriel slept.

#galadriel #melian #meladriel #the silmarillion #tolkien tag #fanfiction #tolkien fanfiction #rocky writes #sapphictolkien #pride month femslash requests

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broomsticks · 2 years ago

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What was the HP fandom on AO3 writing in 2022?

some stats diving, ship- and femslash-focused.

default filters used for everything unless indicated otherwise: language: english, no crossovers. only on AO3 (obviously)

hmm someday i'll do a yearly breakdown maybe.

for reference, there were ~324,676 total works in the HP tag updated in 2022 and before, so the top ship Drarry makes up 16% of HP works.

ships in this list but not the former: jegulus, dorlene, and regulus & sirius.

ships in the former list but not this one: snarry, sevmione, tomarry.

harry the character is tagged in 42.7% of all HP works.

the list of "fastest-growing HP character tags in 2022" was almost identical to this. sirius, remus, james, and lily went up one place, severus and ginny down by one, and ron dropped by two. no change in the top 3.

i'm thinking of doing one for HP ships but am unsure which ships to do. you can get a rough estimation from graph #2 though!

A closer look at just the 2022 ships:

filters used: english, no crossovers, works updated between 2022-01-01 and 2022-12-31.

color = ship type by canonical gender. outlined = canon ship

Background vs main pairing ships:

most commonly tagged ships, with the otp:true filter:

very pretty spread of (canon gender, not AO3 category) F/M & M/M ships here.

notable: there is not a single snape ship in the first list, and two snape ships in the second (sevmione at #4 !! and snarry at #8). grindeldore is the other new entry, and

romione, dorlene and regulus & sirius fell out of the top 10

this is probably a better view though:

a mix of all ships in either of the top two graphs (excluding the platonic ship regulus & sirius by definition of the otp:true filter), plus remadora.

open to more ship suggestions, but at some point i need to think about a size cutoff

anyway: some interesting strata here:

snarry+sevmione at the >60-70% mark. (do all snape ships show this trend? just crossgen snape ships? what about other crossgen ships? to be investigated)

grindeldore is an expected outlier due to the different canonical time period

marauders era tends to have more fics-with-multiple-tagged-ships. unexpected - there are so many more named lightning gen characters! lightning gen fandom more splintered/fragmented?

clustering of canon couples at the 15-20% mark, surprisingly consistent across marauders vs lightning gen

oooooo i could soapbox about this dorlene outlier for days. (tldr: if you want to write OFCxOFC that's all well and good, but writing OFCxOFC as what's quite clearly a background ship and a background ship alone? i think we can do better.)

Multi-shipping & ship overlap

marauders era is dominated by one main fanon pairing. no other “/” pairing with either of these two characters makes the top 10 list. in contrast, wrt lightning gen, Draco, Harry, and Hermione are all shipped with each other, with all three combinations making the top 10 list.

there is one pair of marauders era ships with ship overlap, though. which means stats! also included remadora as an additional comparison point since that's another big overlapping ship

jegulus AND jily are tagged in 675 works, out of 3944 works (17%) where all three of james, lily, and regulus are tagged.

meanwhile drarry + dramione: 80 works tagging both ships, out of 8128 works tagging all 3 characters, with an overlap of <1% fics tagging both ships. these two do not mix.

actually ykw this all was very funny

---

✨ FEMSLASH! ✨

filters used: english, no crossovers, works updated between 2022-01-01 and 2022-12-31, and category:F/F.

ok so that's a complete nonstarter 😂

tried two ways of filtering down to just femslash ships without losing too much else in the process:

1) excluding works tagged M/M, F/M, and Gen (leaving 2765 fics)

dashed outline = cross-gen ship. solid = marauders gen. everything else = lightning gen.

oh, interesting, people are writing genderbend wolfstar? *checks fics* -- no they're not. 'nuff said.

2) instead, tried adding the otp:true filter (2402 fics)

very similar results -- both lists had the same 9 femslash ships. Bellamione (#1 on both), Fleurmione (#2), Pansmione (#3/#4), Dorlene (#3/#5), Linny (#4/#6), Cissamione (#5/#6), Ginmione (#7/#9), Marylily (#7/#9), Ginsy (#8/#10).

i don't see any obvious trends re. which ships are ranked higher on one list vs the other.

a real quick rating comparison between categories, using the otp:true filter:

"angst" and "fluff" were the top two tags used for most categories so i decided to try a bit of:

<1 = more angst works than fluff, >1 = more fluff works than angst.

the other top tags for each category:

F/F and F/M: both romance (#3)

M/M: established relationship (#3)

Multi: polyamory (#3)

Other: au canon divergence (#3). "other" was used to refer to a mix of NB/trans character, thingfic, and x reader.

Gen: au canon divergence (#1). i was worried about using the otp:true filter for gen fic but the top two tags were indeed & tags (harry & severus, regulus & sirius).

#fandom meta #fandom stats #ao3 #hp fandom stats #hp meta

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frillyfacefins · 1 year ago

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A constructive approach to building a solid Femslash Subculture in a new fandom, a thread (+ anecdotal “Case Study”)

(I posted this as a thread on twitter a week ago in response to some pretty old arguments getting thrown around again; the situation has cooled down now, but somebody asked me to put this thread on tumblr, and I thought it could help some people, so here we go.)

In 2013 I was in the Silmarillion fandom when the Hobbit movies brought in a giant influx of new fans.

I was not one of the people who had been into the Silmarillion for ages, I only just read the book too, and the fandom at the time was very much in flux.

Since Baldur’s Gate is in a similar situation - a very old fandom with a new influx of fans and new characters - I think it might be helpful for me to explain how we created a space for fanwriters and -artists to explore and celebrate femslash ships.

Here are my recommendations for femslash fans who want more f/f fanworks in the Baldur’s Gate 3 fandom, sectioned off in

“3 Warnings”

“3 Ways forward”

and a “””Case Study””” of what happened in the Silmarillion fandom.

Warning 1: Be aware that your fandom is a baby.

Nominally, the game has been out for less than a month. Most people who will write amazing fanfics for your favorite characters maybe don’t even have the game yet because they can’t afford it until the Christmas sales, or they just haven’t finished it yet (like me). Most people don’t want to write for a fandom until they have consumed all available canon. You don’t know how the fandom will look like yet, but you can start building a solid foundation to influence it.

Warning 2: Don’t alienate the Astarion-fans.

Astarion is fandom-bait. He is the exact kind of character people who ‘don’t get it’ have been fuming over for decades, and who people who ‘do get it’ get obsessed with. He is the exact formula that has been working since at least the 80s: A morally grey bad boy with slightly edgy good looks who is also - and this is THE key for this kind of fandom-bait - very vulnerable and can absolutely be made into a better person/ be healed by his love interest.

This is why most heroes in (especially older) romance novels work. This is why Lestat worked. This is why Kylo Ren worked.

The thing is - the people who go gaga over him now? A lot of them will grow bored at some point. Either they will leave the fandom, or they will become invested in other characters from this fandom.

So the worst thing you can do is make them feel like the femslash community is rude, confrontational, whiny. Sorry, but that is how fandom works.

Fanwriters write fanfics for 2 reasons: 1. They have fun while writing something specific. 2. They get great interactions because they write something specific. If they look at the f/f corner and see people constantly fighting or complaining, guess what? They won’t be as interested in writing about their favorite female characters. And especially in Baldur’s Gate 3, the female characters are not easy to love, but once you do, they have potential to make you into absolute stans. I disliked Lae’zel a lot during Act 1, but by now I honestly think she’s the absolutely cutest. And Shadowheart is definitely intriguing, but I want to know how her story ends before I get really invested in her. (And we don’t even have to talk about Karlach…)

Warning 3: Lurkers have no voice in fandom.

Sorry, but this is a fact. If you don’t write fanfic or draw fanart, you don’t get to complain about what other people draw/write about. We create fanworks because we are enjoying them, not because of some social obligation. We are giving you free labor, and if you keep complaining about the things we write because it’s not what you want to see, we will just be less likely to write the things you want to see. So if you don’t create your own fandom content, you can whine as much as you want, but you will just make those who actually do create look at your whole niche of fandom with way less interest than they might have had.

Now, what can you actually do to build the basis for a solid femslash subfandom?

Measure 1: For lurkers: Support those who create fanworks you like.

And I’m not saying financially. I’m coming from an old-school-fandom perspective here. You know what will absolutely make me want to write another fic for a pairing that maybe doesn’t have as much works about them as the big ships? Really, really nice people who either write detailed comments on my fics, or who engage with me on social media - like, actively comment on my post or even hop in my DMs and tell me how much they liked something I have written.

Complaining about people who don’t write your ships is the worst thing you can do. Celebrating people who do write your ships is the best thing you can do.

Measure 2: For most writers: Kind of logical, but - write.

Write long-fic, short-fic, flash-fic about your favorites. Plaster your social media profiles with it. Do monthly challenges, request your pairings in cross-fandom exchanges, write long rambly threads about how awesome they are. Right now, YOU get to potentially create the fanon. You get to sway people’s opinions of characters. And you get to actively build this community.

And please, try not to get discouraged if it’s hard at first. Like I said - this fandom is a tiny baby that only just started screaming its little red head off. New fans will come. And they will do the same as the person in the screenshot, and maybe if they actually look through the ‘other tag’ bar or by filtering for F/F, they will find your works and be super happy about it.

Measure 3: For fans who want to invest more time and effort: Organize cool stuff for your community.

Fests, exchanges, challenges, discord servers, tags on tumblr or mastodon - there are tons of things you can make happen that will inspire people to create. Make a femslash month with themed weeks and prompts every day, for example, both for fanfic, fanart, edits, fanvids, whatever kind of fan-work anybody wants to contribute. Or make a challenge with a list of prompts, or a generator, or anything else you personally are able to do. Invite people to participate. Make it easy. Make it fun and welcoming.

And now to my “”case study”” which is completely anecdotal but which definitely left an expression on me.

The situation: The winter of 2013/2014. The second Hobbit movie has come out, Elrond is hot, Galadriel is hot, Tauriel is polarizing, Legolas looks weird. A ton of new people come into the Tolkien fandom, and discover the Silmarillion.

The Silmarillion-fandom has to deal with a new influx of people like it never has since the LotR-films. These are new fans who are used to new fandoms, not the LJ-survivors who make up a lot of the fandom. The new fans glom onto the usual suspects - Maedhros/Fingon, especially. But with Galadriel and Tauriel being so prominent in the Hobbit movies, the few fans who were already trying to put some femslash flavor in this fandom suddenly get a trickle of new people. Not that many. But some.

And then somebody decides to try and build a little bed for that trickle. Tumblr-User Elleth (not sure if she’s still around) creates the (by now defunct) archive “Textual Ghosts” to register all 600 unnamed wife characters in Tolkien’s work. A labor of extreme love for a fandom, and a big stepping stone for a developing femslash-subfandom. Soon afterward, tumblr-user Elleth and I start the first Legendarium Ladies April Event (legendariumladiesapril.tumblr.com) which would - without my continued support because I’m a fickle bitch and I’m still sorry about that - continue until 2020 and fill the event archives on AO3 with 150 new fics - which doesn’t seem a lot, but it also leaves out a lot of fanfics, fanart, fanpoems, fanedits etc. that were only ever posted on tumblr.

Meanwhile, I - always a multi-shipper and not devoted only to femslash, but VERY devoted to kinky smut which is also not really such a big thing in the Silmarillion fandom at this time - open a kink meme for the fandom. It creates a few new smuttier fanworks, but it also creates a few handful of female-centric works when I make a mini-event for world women’s day.

I am sorry to say that I abandoned this one too after about a year or two, but the kink meme is still there. (It would take another 8 years for somebody to be like “Hey so maybe you have incapacitating adhd, would you like to try ritalin?”)

Anyway, in this way, that trickle did become a brook. The M/M and even M/F works still outnumbered the F/F ones by miles, but F/F fans (and fans of female-centric works) WERE fed. And maybe more importantly - we built a community of people interested in the stories of women who were treated extremely badly by their source material. We made friends, we wrote stories for one another, we had fun. And that’s how you make a community within a fandom - you find some way to make it FUN.

(If Elleth should read this, I’m sorry for being an absolute flake, you’re wonderful.)

Oh also this is when I realized I’m not straight. So there’s that, too.

So if really love a fandom and you want to have more femslash works in this fandom? Start working towards it. You don't have to do it alone, there are other people out there who want to help you. But you need to find each other.

And you REALLY need to encourage each other.

(And also, stop making people outside of the femslash space associate you with nothing but complaints. That's not going to bring anybody into the fold. Be inviting, welcoming, have fun, be a positive community people WANT to join.)

And just to make my own position a little clearer:

#femslash #wlw ships #f/f fanfic #fandom culture #fandom history #baldur‘s gate 3 #bg3 #text

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soulless-angel25 · 10 months ago

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Doctor Who Femslash February, Day 14 Prompt- Valentines/Holiday @doctorwho-femslashfeb

The Doctor rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited for Rose and Clara to finish getting ready. Because really, even she doesn't take this long to get ready. Just choose a nice dress, put on her jacket and then wait for her... lovers. Rassilion that's still weird to think.

Eventually she heard some movement and turned around, ready to ask why they'd taken so long. Only to stop in her tracks because they were beautiful.

Rose had on a knee-length teal dress and her leather jacket on, hair pulled into a simple bun as she smiled at her. And Clara looked just as beautiful in a yellow mini-dress, she had also grabbed her leather jacket.

"Ohhh come on! Neither of you told me that we'd be wearing leather jackets!" the complaint slipped from the Doctor's mouth easily.

It made Rose snort and roll her eyes at him whilst Clara whistled innocently.

Before she could walk off to grab a leather jacket for herself Rose flipped some of the controls and pulled the dematerialization lever, making the other two grab onto either the railing or the seat. As they landed with a solid thud Rose quickly hopped up and grabbed both of their arms. "C'mon now!"

She quickly dragged the both of them out of the ship, Clara going along with amusement and the Doctor trying to play catch-up in her brain. They stopped outside a nice looking restaurant, Rose walking inside with full confidence.

Walking in behind her the two of them watched as the person asked if they had a reservation and Rose responded in the affirmative making the Doctor wonder when she'd had time for that as the server led them to a table and said that someone would be with them shortly.

As the Doctor turned to Clara and Rose with a questioning look they smiled at each other before saying, "Happy Valentines' day, Doctor!"

#dwff24 #femslash february #trans tenth doctor #tenth doctor #clara oswin oswald #clara oswald #rose tyler #doctor who #dr who #doctorclararose #10clararose #tenclararose

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mako-and-tails-and-stuff · 10 months ago

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F/Feb 2021

Day 27 - Historic AU

Pairing - Mermaid!Rita/Pirate!Veridia

Words: 1303

Rating: T

This is the only day of Femslash Feb 2021 I never did at the time, but now almost 3 years later - it exists. It's technically Pirate!AU but since Pirates did exist a long time ago it's still Historic!AU

The wood of the ship groaned under the onslaught from the storm. Waves like mountains smashed into the hull and the wind grabbed everything it could and tossed it all into the sea including some of the crew.

Veridia watched as two of the men got thrown overboard and immediately swallowed by the waves.

Rain fells in sheets, drenching everyone on deck and coating the wood in a dangerous puddle.

“Everyone who is not essential up here, get below deck!” She shouted over the wind. She had to stay and steer but maybe, just maybe she could save as many of her crew as possible.

First mate Aquata was gripping the railing on the steps up as the ship pitched and rocked.

“The only way we all live through is to get to shelter!! Aquata yelled. “The storm’s too strong!”

“We just have to get past Mako! Once we’re out of the island’s reach we’ll be fine!”

Mako loomed off their port side. Illuminated by lightning flashes every so often. The island was a sign of death. She never should have come so close.

The next wave slammed so hard she heard wood crack.

“Captain, we're taking on water!” Maya staggered up from below. Amaris, Naia and Cameron at her heels.

“Get to the boats and pray to every God you’ve ever heard of they take mercy and let us pass!” Veridia ordered.

“Who’s they captain?” Aquata asked.

“Mermaids.”

Veridia had seen them out this way before. Mermaids. Half woman, half fish with long golden tails. Mako was a hotspot but somehow she thought she could get past them. The Mermaids had let her before.

They were almost clear of the island when the entire ship moved beneath them. Veridia was thrown to the side, crashing into the very wheel she still gripped beneath gloved hands before smacking into the floor.

“Wave!” Someone yelled.

The ship was slammed again. Veridia’s grip slipped and she found herself skidding across the soaked deck as the ship tipped. She barely had time to scream before the wood beneath her ran out and she plummeted down into the sea.

The water hit hard. It was like smashing into concrete, solid concrete that stung her skin and froze her right to her core. The salt stung her eyes and she couldn’t tell which way was up. It was darkness all around.

So this was how it ended. Burning lungs, freezing water, drowned to death in a magic storm. Even if she could somehow get to the surface the waves would immediately throw her under again. She didn’t even know if there was still a ship to get back too if she somehow survived the wave’s onslaught.

She couldn't hold her breath anymore, nor could she stop the involuntary inhale of sea water. It flooded her lungs. On instinct she coughed only for more water to swarm her. She was drowning. Actually drowning. Notorious pirate captain Veridia Shore and she was drowning. So much for going out guns blazing with her ship like she’d wanted. She was going to die and tides knew what would become of the Ice Bitch, affectionately named for herself after some rotten mouthed pirate had spat in her face and called her just that - “an ice cold bitch” for refusing his advances. The man had been swiftly punched in the face and a bottle smashed on his head.

The water took over, it was too hard to even try and fight now. She was sinking, the ocean taking her for it’s own.

The surge of water coming out her lungs in acrid vomit forced her awake. She was awake. Actually awake. She was soaked through and numb, lying on some sand. Her chest and throat burned like hellfire. If this was the afterlife it sucked.

“You lived,” a woman spoke from her side.

Veridia barely managed to look over, the storm had taken all her strength, she saw golden scales.

Ah so this was it. She’d survived a storm only to be killed by one of the Mermaids. There was many legends of Mermaids eating those they drowned, grinding their bones for potions and using the very Moon itself to cast dangerous spells.

“I thought you were gone, but there was this strong fire about you. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bit of Mermaid in you.”

“I’m not one of you,” Veridia barely managed to spit out.

The Mermaid laughed.

“I saved your life, I would think you’d have the sense not to insult me. Save I decide to drag you back out into the shallows and hold you down until you drown.”

Veridia just sagged into the cold, gritty sand.

“I’ll give you a do over. Would you like me to get you dry?”

“Yes please.” The cold had reached her bones now. Being dry sounded nice.

Warmth began to envelope her, it was so calming. She could almost close her eyes and just sleep away the rest of her aches…

Something hit her in the leg, hard, jolting her awake.

“You can’t sleep yet. You fall asleep here and someone else will come along and drown you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t feel like it. I like watching the boats pass by, you land people are interesting.”

“You saved me because we’re interesting?”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

Veridia slowly sat herself up and wiped dried sand off her face to get her first look at the Mermaid. The Mermaid was sitting on the sand, a long golden tail curled underneath her with a large, strong looking fin at the end. She had dark red hair clinging to her neck and shoulder. Her tail blended seamlessly into a tanned stomach. Her breasts were covered in a smattering of the same gold scales as her tail.

“It’s rude to stare,” the Mermaid said and Veridia looked up and took in her face. She was pretty. Very pretty. No one had said Mermaids were pretty. For all the stories she almost expected fanged teeth, webbed ears and gills.

“Sorry,” Veridia forced out.

The Mermaid smiled and Veridia felt her stomach flutter.

“My name is Rita.”

“Veridia.”

“Veridia,” the Mer - Rita, repeated. Why did she like how much the Mermaid said her name?

“It’s very nice to meet you Veridia.”

“You too.”

Rita tilted her head slightly and Veridia felt her cheeks flush. The Mermaid’s eyes were scanning her the way Veridia had most likely been doing to her.

“Did any of my crew make it?”

“Most. Only those that fell overboard drowned. The storm stopped once you fell.”

“How?”

Rita shrugged, “I stopped it.”

“Why?”

“I’m not part of this pod anymore. Sometimes I interfere with their practices, stop storms, rescue ships, and rescue people.”

“Can you take me back to my ship?”

“I probably can if you really want.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“It looks like such a dirty life. Do you even get to wash?”

“Is being a Mermaid much cleaner?”

“Yes actually, we’re a very clean species. Unlike you land people - we can smell you from your boats. If you really want to go back I’ll take you.”

Veridia staggered up to her feet.

Rita uncurled her tail and and hauled herself to the incoming wave like a seal. The seemingly tiny wave was enough water for the Mermaid to stretch out and shoot out into the deeper water. Rita surfaced.

“You coming?”

Veridia waded into the water and dove forward far less gracefully than the Mermaid had. She treaded the water best she could while Rita swam around her.

“What now?”

Rita swam right up to her and cupped her face, “just breathe.”

Veridia’s heart literally skipped a beat. Then the Mermaid’s lips were on her’s. Then she was plunged back into the water again.

#mako mermaids femslash february #mako mermaids #femslashfeb2021 #rita x veridia

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spicywhumper · 9 months ago

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febuwhump 2024: day 22. "you weren't meant to be here" + @femslash-february bingo 2024 (dark edition): betrayal

series: untiles / rating: teen and up audiences

trigger/content warning: minor character death, implied past child abuse.

Suffice to say, I do not like being hundreds of kilometers away from solid ground. As safe as the station is, arguably safer than the ground, it’ll never be somewhere I want to be. But if Segal told to be here, I’ll be here, loosing my job is even more unpleasant than spending time on floating in a metal box in space.

At least, Fessender is here (she gets way too annoying if I date call her by her first name in any minimally professional setting). Which means that she’ll distract me by making me feel stupid with her endless rambling about whatever side project she’s working on.

“Davidson!” I hoped he wouldn’t be on her lab, Diana – I refuse to mentally refer to her as “Fessender” all the time – blinks at me like she didn’t expect me to be here. “Finally, took you long enough.”

“Well, sir, I can’t take a cab here,” he rolls his eyes, aware that I did take the first ship after he ordered me to come up here. “Why am I needed here?”

“Remember agent Doyle?” I nod. “She’s giving a presentation,” he points at Diana. “She’s going to need help with whatever they’re showing.”

“I mentioned a foot soldier,” she’s frowning at him, she sounds so soft and gentle that it’s almost easy to not notice that she’s upset.

“Pretty sure Davidson is more than capable to do whatever you need.”

She nods: “I understand.”

“Good!” He beans, I’m not sure how I got myself a ray of sunshine as my boss. He nods at her, that’s when he’d grab your shoulder and give you a nice and friendly squeeze. She froze the one time he did it, so he never tried again. “I’ll be going now, she can explain whatever’s going on.”

Even with how he doesn’t step too closer to her personal space, Diana only relaxes when he’s out of the room. We don’t talk about it, we don’t need to talk about it, I’ve met her parents.

“So…”

“You weren’t meant to be here.”

“And I thought you liked me,” I fall on the chair I always use, she’s still frowning, Cute. “What Doyle and You are doing?”

“Weapon’s presentation.”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

“Not be there. It’s a weapon for footsoldiers.”

“That doesn’t make much sense, babe.”

“Don’t- you’re not supposed to use pet names here.”

“And?” She gestures between us. “You know you’re supposed to stay quiet about it.”

“I know, I know, sorry. But really, can’t I help?”

“I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” She sighs, defeated, and takes all my will power to not lean over the desk and kiss her all over her stupid cute face. “Go mingle around, I’ll check over the project with Doyle.”

“I know you, it’s already safe.”

“Yeah, I’d like to be double sure.”

That’s her way to all but kick me off her lab, she’s to nice to actually kick me out.

So I do go and mingle. As much as I might dislike staying up here, the regular agents are quite the pleasant people to be around. Half of them think Diana is the best person around, which makes them quite the approved people by me.

After a few hours of roaming the stupidly large space station, making small talk, one of the newer agents finds me and takes me to Diana’s lab.

Part of me really, really doesn’t like the way Doyle stands closer than every other person – except me. The rest of me isn’t pathetic and jealous and does like that she’s comfortable around someone else. Doyle’s sitting on the chair, reading something on the monitor in front of her, as Diana’s leaning over her shoulder and, I assume, commenting on what Doyle’s reading.

That’s her mentor, don’t be jealous. I clear my throat, Diana doesn’t jerk away like she probably would if there was something else going on in. Doyle looks up, acknowledges me and is back to what she has been reading.

“Everything alright?”

“Yes, yes,” Diana’s the normal amount of nervous she gets before any event where she has to interact with more than two people at once. She looks like she needs a hug – ok, she always looks like she needs a hug.

“What do you need me to do?”

“You’ll destroy a couple of dummies,” she nudges Doyle. “We’ll be late.” The agent nods and gets up. “Follow me.”

We do.

The room is packed with agents, from foot soldiers to high ranking agent, including Segal. He likes to sit among the other officials despite being the director. It’s an arena, it feels almost suffocating to be in the middle of it, dummies around me and Diana fussing over me and the weapon. It doesn’t look any different from regular shotguns, it’s incredibly heavier, like the other laser and light-based ones she designed before. That’s why they’re for guards that stay on one spot, snipers and such. More fitting me than foot soldiers.

The clock turns three in the afternoon, the arena’s light turn off.

What the fu- I hold the gun tighter, even if I’m not sure of its destruction power. The lights come back, dim and weak. Then there’s smoke. So. Much. Smoke. Thick, a sickening shade of green, smells foul, almost like rotting corpses. It seems to come from the ventilation system.

“Put the gun down,” the cold barrel of one presses against the back of my neck, Doyle’s voice is muffled. I obey on instinct.

People are coughing, it sounds wet and sick. Most of the smoke hover on the seats, the panicked agents are just shapes amidst the poisonous fog.

“What have you- what are you doing?” It’s hard to ask before I’m coughing. “Agent-”

“My job,” she grabs my shoulder to make me turn, the pain fills my chest and down my torso like liquid fire. She’s wearing a mask, I’ve seen Diana with one of those. Diana-

“What?”

“My job. The oh so called terrorists you’ve been fighting against,” her eyes are bright, I can almost see the twisted smirk on her. “The people that take in the agents harmed by your righteous agency. We’re weapons without a handler, you can say.”

There’s blood on my mouth: “I-” my knees hurt when they hit the metal floor.

“You weren’t meant to be here,” that’s not Doyle, I’m distracted by the pain just enough to not feel a second person approaching until the mask’ s pressed against my face. I grab the arm holding it in a desperate attempt to make it not go away. “I asked for a foot soldier.”

“Don’t whine, you did have an extra mask.”

Doyle’s the least important person on the room when Diana’s pressing the mask against my face, one on hers and her eyes shines in a shade of blue that looks haunting. Her other hand’s adjusting it on the back of my head.

“Diana…”

“I’m sorry,” all I can do is stare at her.

She looks apologetic, genuine, but also.. wrong.

“What have you done?”

“My job.”

#febuwhump 2024 #femslash feb bingo #whump #whump blog #whump community #whumpblr #lady whump

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dustbunny105 · 2 years ago

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Title: Bodyguard Moment Fandom: Transformers IDW2 Ship: Road Rage/Nautica, Crosscut/Nautica, others/Nautica (all one-sided) Word Count: 1500 Rating: PG Summary: Pre-series. Road Rage wakes up in a medical bay after saving Nautica but what is she forgetting... A/N: For Femslash February and for the @fembot-prompts prompt “Yours is a body I'd like to guard.”

Road Rage came sluggishly online, processor seeming to creep closer to redline the closer she crept to consciousness. She activated her audial suite first and found herself relaxing at the reassuring sound of a medical bay. Next came motor control and her body eased as her mind had-- which brought her nervecircuits screaming awake in response to new wires and fresh welds being pulled in ways they shouldn't so suddenly be. Her optics flickered on and her processor really did feel ready to overheat as she tried to interpret all of the input at once, at the same time as she tried to process the alerts popping up on her HUD and to realign her frame too. When she was finally able to make sense of what she was seeing, she recognized Crosscut peering down at her, exasperated but not unkind.

"Do I not pay you enough?" asked Crosscut.

"You're asking me that now?" Road Rage grunted and grit her dentae at the grinding noises that accompanied her attempt to sit up.

Crosscut put a staying hand on her shoulder. Then, sounding far more amused than seemed appropriate in the moment, at least in Road Rage's opinion, he said, "I don't see how you can blame me for that when you're the one who ran off looking for new job opportunities in the middle of a fire fight."

Road Rage squinted at him and kept squinting at him while he did her the courtesy of adjusting the medical slab so she wasn't flat on her back. Her processor hadn't actually redlined, had it? She'd have gotten an alert first, probably, and she was awake and aware enough to have recognized one…

"What are you talking about?" she asked, half her attention on him and half on acknowledging and dismissing the slew of popups still blinking for attention on her HUD. Some of her short-term memory was corrupted and she winced as her processor warmed yet again at her attempts to sift through what remained. "When the summit was attacked-- yes, when the summit was attacked, I did my bodyguard thing and got you to safety. I was right behind you. Then…"

Then what? With another grunt, Road Rage poked more insistently at her memory banks. Crosscut was saying something, probably telling her to take it easy, but a new fragment of a memory file finally came up clear. It was a sudden, striking fear and she had to flex one hand, feel the pull of fresh welds, to remind herself that whatever had caused the feeling was done and over with. Then her overtaxed processor recovered another piece of the same memory-- the cause of the fear. Road Rage almost didn't realize what it was, it was in such a tangle with the feeling itself.

It was a scream.

She was doubled over before she realized she'd tried to move, before she'd even realized where she knew that voice from. Crosscut was speaking again, rapid and insistent, but he was drowned out this time by a flood of feedback she only slowly realized was coming out of her. Warnings flashed, so many and so insistent, that she couldn't make sense of her visual input past them. There was a second set of hands on her, unfamiliar, and she would've fought back if she could've remembered how. This was no time to be still. She had to get to-- to--

"Oh, thank goodness," she could hear Crosscut saying. "Just-- talk to her, would you? Tell her you're alright. Let her hear your voice."

"She wasn't supposed to be trying to recover short-term memory yet," said an unfamiliar voice to match the unfamiliar hands.

"Um," said a third voice, one that dismissed a solid third of the warnings and let Road Rage start to relax again. "Hello again, Road Rage. I'm okay, we're okay. We're in medical now. Here--"

Another hand, more familiar than Road Rage thought it should be, wrapped around one of her own and squeezed. The rest of the warnings were dismissed one by one from her HUD and this time it was Nautica's uncertain smile she found waiting for her.

"Hi," said Nautica. Her antenna was twitching with her nerves but she followed when Road Rage was eased back against the slab and then still when the attending medic readjusted it so that she was lying down flat again. Her fingers twitched, too, against Road Rage's, like she wanted to offer comfort but wasn't sure. "Are you alright now?"

"Are you? Really?" asked Road Rage. She cast a critical look over Nautica and didn't see any damage but an impression left on her spark, the ghost of a corrupted memory, made her doubt it. "We were… I…"

She pressed her free hand to her forehead as her processor protested. The medic, not someone she recognized right away, said, "Stop before you burn out your entire brain module. You need to give your processor a chance to do its own maintenance before you go picking at traumatizing memories."

"You did take a lot of damage," said Nautica. Her fingers twitched again, this time in small circles, and her optics took on a pale cast. "I'm pretty sure you took all of it, actually. Thanks for that, by the way." She quirked another smile, more certain but still awkward. "It looks good on your resume, if that helps."

Road Rage had barely begun trying to process that when the medic scolded, "Stop that."

Nautica squeezed her hand and pulled away, leaving Road Rage feeling cold. She shuffled a moment in place, then said, "Well! I'll let you rest up and recover what you can. Thank you again, for what you did for me. If--" she shot a glance at the medic, "I don't want to stress you out too much with reminders but you'll know what I mean when, if, it comes back to you. If you really meant it, consider the position yours." She cut a look at Crosscut this time. "I guess you'll need to discuss--" the medic synthesized a cough-- "right. Well. I'm glad you're alright."

She scurried out looking like she was on the last bar of her social battery. The medic, after a curt instruction to rest, went out after her. Road Rage, lost, looked over at Crosscut. She opened her mouth to ask for even a hint as to what was going on but cut herself off with a hiss as another memory file fragment, this one fuzzy with corruption, played out in her processor.

A cramped, closed space, a chorus of explosions right outside the door. A puddle of energon growing beneath her, sparking wires that really should've been inside her helm and her chassis and the right arm that was missing. A gun clutched tight in her other hand, override after override keeping her conscious.

Nautica's terrified face. Nautica's lips moving but all Road Rage could hear was static-- until one little snippet got through, or maybe that was all that was left in Road Rage's memory banks.

"-- Road Rage, right? Crosscut's bodyguard?"

Of all the memories that could've escaped corruption was the memory of what Road Rage had said in return. In her mind's eye, Nautica's face came into stark focus. Then came the words, rough with static but still, somehow, so very clear, "Yours is a body I'd like to guard."

Road Rage blinked back to the present with her fans running on a high setting and her poor processor still struggling on the edge of overheating.

"Came back to you, did it?" Crosscut asked.

She turned to look at him, engine letting out a sputter and then a long whine. She wished what he'd said earlier-- what Nautica had said earlier-- didn't make so much sense when she factored in the possibility that Nautica had told him about that conversation-- or at least how Nautica had interpreted it. Any hope she might have had, though, that he didn't know or at least didn't understand what she had meant in the moment was vanquished by the look he was giving her.

Part amusement, part pity, all understanding.

They were silent for a long moment. Road Rage's sincere desire to fall suddenly, tragically offline did not come to pass, which seemed more unfair the more she thought about how touchy her condition obviously was.

"Well," said Crosscut, "I don't imagine it will be too much trouble to have you transferred, if that's what you really want."

A moment passed before Road Rage realized the way his optical ridges rose was because she was nodding. He huffed another laugh at her, still not unkind. Then he patted her on the shoulder and repeated the medic's instruction to rest.

"I'll get it taken care of," he assured her on his way out. He paused at the door and gave her that same understanding look over his shoulder. "For what it's worth-- I wish you better luck than the rest of us have had."

#femslash feburary #transformers #idw2 #road rage #nautica #crosscut #road rage/nautica #crosscut/nautica #my writing

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theresa-of-liechtenstein · 2 years ago

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art by em year in review!

Not the greatest year by far, but I made it to the end, so let's celebrate! For the third time ever, I present to you my reflections under the readmore (this year, linking back to where they were posted so if you want to see them in situ, you can!)

January: "the nearness of you"

started the year off strong with my favorite femslash pairing of women that never met in canon. this piece really rode the wave of progress i made in the latter half of 2021, when i made a custom brush for lineart in sketchbook and watched my quality go up in response. compared to this time a year previously, the color of my lineart looks way more natural than before. it's a solid piece of work and i still like it very much overall.

something i will say though is that at the time, i was really struggling with skin color, particularly on theresa: you could even see this in last year's retrospective, especially when put next to linda. however, instead of actually addressing the issue at its core i just slapped a warm overlay on top, which was the drawing equivalent of slapping a band-aid (plaster?) over a gash and hoping that would fix things. (spoiler alert: it didn't.)

February: "ain't shit"

in all my retrospectives, there’s at least one which i like the least. for this year’s, this one has to be it. i really adore the concept i was going for, which was f1!au bobsled. f1!au bobsled is kind of an exploration into the ship having a darker side, which i kind of thought was missing from the wider scale of interpretations. so putting them in a position that slightly equalized them gave me the ability to explore that darker side.

anyway, background aside, the concept was something i clearly visualized but didn’t quite get on paper the way i wanted to. this was a case where i should’ve realized that things like warm ups and preliminary drafts are really helpful for pieces that have a clear vision but have a large scale, like this one. otherwise this concept is still super appealing to me and i’d draw it again!

March/April: unposted, "the transcendent third"

this detail section is part of the mock cover i made for a webcomic that i never followed through with, which was supposed to fictionalize my time and misadventures in a lab i was taking for credit. i enjoyed this work as a study on foreshortening (though i can't show the whole foreshortening thing without showing off other details i don't want visible, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

though the transcendent third never came to fruition, it directly inspired another work i was, in fact, able to complete later in the year. you can probably guess what that work was.

i was extremely busy this time of year, so i didn't draw much.

May: "reunion"

this one i honestly forgot about because i wasn’t a fan of it when i finished. again, i really could have benefited from warming up since i was so out of practice at the time! i suppose that’s the big takeaway from this year 😅

June pt. 1: "circular story"

some progress, corresponding—no surprises here—with the end of the academic year. after years of using the same (very off) coloring for theresa's skin, i finally bit the bullet and twiddled with it, and what a difference it makes (at least to me!). next to herc and douglas and especially linda, she looks more natural, which makes the overall thing more cohesive.

fun bit of trivia is that the positions are meaningful. something that i (tried to) communicate in the f1 AU is the gray areas. who's in control here, really? who is fulfilling what? who is using who? herc and douglas both look to their left toward the women, reminiscent of the chain of authority in aircraft ('when you're a first officer you look to the left and see your captain. when you're a captain you look to the left and see your reflection...'). yet theresa and linda look not back at them, but up at each other. it's an interplay that had meaning and im not sure if anyone else picked it up but it was intentional.

June pt. 2: "Portugal, 1982"

oh hello motorsport fanart featuring ladies from the eighties that only me and like five other people on this webbed site care about. this year was the fortieth anniversary of michèle mouton and fabrizia pons's historic title campaign in the world rally championship, and i wanted to draw things for the three wins that helped them nearly clinch it. but of course (as is the refrain for basically everything art-related this year) since real life was a bitch about it, i was only able to draw something for portugal, which was inspired by actual footage. it's linked in the post if you're interested, CW for camera flashes.

this is a return to the "ghibli style" i tried out last year, and i still think it's adorable. i actually did most of it in procreate, which was less hellish than i remembered it being, and it was a good thing i got a little bit of practice in it, for reasons that will be clear in a few paragraphs.

July: Martin Crieff sheet, aka: if you can't remember how to draw him, redesign him!

look at this martin, then look at february's martin, then look at this martin again. doesn't he look so much better? an earnest young man, that is! he's not ginger but he dyes.

one of my favorite warm-ups/doodles to do is the good old ID picture (facing straight on, neutral expression. simple way to get things under my pencil before attempting something bigger), and this is supposed to be martin's fitton airfield ID card.

this was actually a warm-up for next month's piece...

August: "geyser"

i have a complex relationship with this work. i'd been plotting it and drafting it since at least 2020 and wanted to employ the lessons i had learned from march/april's experiment in foreshortening. i also wanted to draw something that connected martin and mitski's "geyser," the author's purpose and message of which is, i think, integral to understanding martin's character. because flying is like art and art is like flying and you will do anything for your passions even if it means losing you, but 'you' will never be lost because you work and try and fail and work and try and fail in the hopes that your passions will be 'you' and 'you' can be your passions and it's a wheel with no end, isn't it?

anyway i had to do most of this in procreate because for some reason, sketchbook started glitching and bugging on me and i couldn't figure out what was going on. i wanted to depict both martin's aspiration to the sky as well as martin's sheer smallness in comparison to his ambition, which is why i went for the whole foreshortening idea. it's not really that well depicted but the airplane casting a shadow over martin as he stands on tarmac is kind of a representation of his ambition's dominance over him...and then i went and overlaid lyrics to "geyser" over that as if i hadn't pushed the point enough.

i like this piece well enough (and it seems many people did, it's one of the ones that did best notes-wise) but i can't help but feel a lingering disappointment. this is something i’d like to try and re-draw in the future!

September: "before/after turbulence"

this was inspired by a norwegian air pilot's instagram post poking fun at herself for attempting to drink her coffee while they happened to be passing near thunderheads. it was just a funny little image that got more attention than i thought it would (effort vs attention inverse relationship lol) and possibly the most out-of-pocket reblog addition i've ever had on my work. anyways. woteva pt. 2. it was cute and fun to delve into the whole skrunkly style i had going on. i still don't fully understand procreate brush sizes tho.

October: "to take a photograph, and live inside"

sketchbook finally started cooperating with me at this point so i made a triumphant return to it for this piece.

this is so cute and i still love it! this came about after i thought about the characters' heights relative to each other, so more than anything this was a way for me to visualize the height comparison. also i wanted the soft-shoe-shuffle family together with their lesbian sidekick. and i think it's cute. i especially adore how i drew carolyn and i think this is where i permanently decided my herc shipwright is a glasses wearer.

November: "Donne, donne, eterni Dei"

aaauuuugh i love them waaahhh!

anyway i finally gave the mjn crew new uniforms (idk what i was on with that faded blue, nobody wears faded blue uniforms and it just looked washed-out). i am particularly proud of theresa's pose. i think i also posted a little bit about how i've gotten better with poses and anatomy since i started doing fanart seriously. and the secret? actually look back and reference your anatomy notes from high school. and lots of absurd selfies. and stock photos.

December: "the fruit left on my sheets"

after an admittedly up and down year, i finished it off super strong with this piece (which took so long to conceptualize but when i did…) neither of them look really off, which i'm proud of. sketch and lineart were both done in sketchbook, while the coloring and background were done in procreate. the coloring features some overlay work, but i think the star of this, more than the meaning i imbued into their poses and choice of attire, is the background. i might use that technique again because i really liked how it turned out.

Conclusion and 2023 Goals

i think my biggest goal moving into 2023 is to gain more confidence using procreate. one of my takeaways from this year was how powerful a program it is, and i think it is worth my time and energy getting to know and understand it, since i already have it. sketchbook will always be my first love in terms of drawing programs, since it was free, it was my first, and getting to understand it in early 2020 unlocked the door for me to not be shy to share my art online. but there are some things i turn to procreate for, like being able to blur in different ways! so i do want to balance what i use between those two programs.

additionally, i’m making an effort now to alt text all my art. i was lazy about it before, which is kind of dumb as i’m literally vision impaired myself so like. what was i waiting for lol. but better late than never!

last of all, my sincere thanks to all of you who've liked or reblogged a post i did, for engaging with my fanart, however unusual my subject matter (clears throat. the linda fairbairn extended universe, therlinda, the f1!au…shall i go on?) might be. cabin pressure really is an integral part of the person i've grown to become and am choosing to grow to be, and it genuinely brings me joy to explore its characters and relationships in all sorts of ways. this is one of my favorite hobbies and i appreciate all of you who are in it with me. when i’m down, i reread people’s tags because it genuinely means so much that other people like what i make. so, thank you.

#em draws #em retrospects #art by em year in review

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siriusly-sapphic · 1 year ago

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narcissa/lily

Send me a ship and I'll give you my honest thoughts

yes yes yes

okay so I had a narlily phase when I was 14 and I added them in the background of every drarry fic I wrote as like, Cissa's sad backstory. I don't have most of those fics anymore, and no one liked it when I did that back in the day (I hadn't found femslash fandom yet) so I stopped it after a while and never really bothered to pick the ship back up again?

Until @hpsaffics and seeing how much love narlily got, and actually figuring out how looking for femslash fic is easier, and seeing how MUCH narlily fic there is out there?? Oh my god what a blessing. I love them. They deserve all the love.

They are just a great angst ship, so much pain and betrayal in between soft moments. I also love using this ship as a way of exploring the darker side to lily's character? Narcissa gets a lot of opportunity to be a bitch, but Lily doesn't get to be cruel as often and I feel like narlily is a solid place for her to do that lmao. (God knows I'm fully leaning into that in the Daisy Jones AU bc damn).

But !! yes yes yes I love them, they're a delight.

#narlily #narcissa malfoy #lily evans #hp femslash #evadwrites

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thethirdromana · 1 year ago

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Every book I read for the first time this year

(Is this of interest to anyone but me? Putting it under a cut in case it's not).

The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey I was trying to figure out what I spent the first few months of the year reading, then I remembered I just binge-read all of the Expanse through to about March. I love the TV series, I love the books, I love the characters and - thank goodness! - they nailed the ending.

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison The Goblin Emperor is a go-to comfort read for me (and would be on this list if I were doing re-reads as well). The spin-off detective novels are a delight too. To find published Sherlock wingfic by the same author was... unexpected, but I enjoy her writing style enough that it worked for me.

The Unburied by Charles Palliser Beautifully written, but the resolution to the mystery is obvious from miles off in 2023 in a way that it probably wasn't in 1999.

The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty Lovely worldbuilding, great characters, well-plotted... the only thing that made these fall down for me is SA Chakraborty's tendency to kill off masses of characters like she's knocking down skittles.

Conspiracy by Tom Phillips and Jonn Elledge A readable history of conspiracy theories that does what it says on the tin. Useful as reference for how antisemitism lurks under most of them.

An Act of Foul Play by TE Kinsey Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence Armstrong, live a life of Edwardian tweeness and occasionally fight crime. I read these mostly because I'm convinced if I stick with them long enough, Lady Hardcastle and Flo might kiss.

The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by TE Kinsey This spin-off of the Lady Hardcastle novels only has Lady Hardcastle and Flo as bit characters. It turns out that yep, I'm much less interested when the femslash ship is off the table.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro They picked the right winner for the 1989 Booker Prize. I think this story might haunt me forever.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone Everyone recommended this and it's as good as they said it was, part 1.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Everyone recommended this and it's as good as they said it was, part 2.

Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles This appealed to all of my existing biases, and equipped me with evidence to defend them. Build more trams!

For Richer, For Poorer by Victoria Coren Mitchell From Only Connect to Taskmaster, I think I've enjoyed everything that Victoria Coren Mitchell has ever done, and this was no exception. I'd always assumed that her career as a poker player was kind of glamorous, and it was fascinating to learn that it was actually deeply seedy.

How Westminster Works and Why It Doesn't by Ian Dunt Interesting, but about 90% of it was about why Westminster fails and about 10% on how to fix it. I think I would have preferred a bit less on the former and a bit more on the latter.

Imperial Island by Charlotte Lydia Riley A solid overview of Britain's relationship with its empire in the 20th century, but I don't think I learned anything I didn't already know.

The Places In Between by Rory Stewart Rory Stewart is an incredible writer who deeply loves Afghanistan, which rescues this from just being what it otherwise would be, the story of a highly privileged man deciding to do something very dangerous for no good reason.

The Wheel of Time, Books 1-3 by Robert Jordan Robert Jordan is not an incredible writer but I enjoyed the TV series enough to persevere with these. Just about. Tell me how Nynaeve tugged her braid again, Robert, I dare you.

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson Which I haven't quite finished yet, seeing as I'm reading it by substack, but I suspect it may be done before the year is out. A delightful Scottish romp in lovely company.

#bookblr #book reviews

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femslashfictournament · 1 year ago

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Femslash fic tournament: Round 1

Constellations Ship: Elevan/Max Media: Stranger Things Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027638 Summary: New girl Jane Hopper is more than the sun; she's a collection of suns, a constellation, and Max knows better than to stargaze too long. Or, she always thought she did, until she found herself in a new solar system.

The f/f high school AU we deserve.

No propaganda submitted

The Monomythical Adventures of Regina Mills and Emma Swan Ship: Emma Swan/Regina Mills Media: Once Upon a Time Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/37851 Summary: A Season 2 AU where Regina gets dragged kicking and screaming onto the path to redemption and Emma gets dragged kicking and screaming onto the path of superhero and Snow watches with bated breath.

A really solid plot, believable development for the main relationship, and super interesting takes on characters that hadn't been well developed yet. I first read this in 2013 and I've been thinking about it ever since. It's a trilogy with the third fic unfinished. The first fic works as a standalone, but I really recommend reading to the end.

#stranger things #once upon a time #eleven #max mayfield #emma swan #regina mills #femslash fic tournament

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cabeswaterdrowned · 1 year ago

Note

ask game:

tsc (i’m sorry i always ask about them, my brainrot is strong and i love hearing your thoughts)

and community

don’t apologize pls lol I also am brain rotting hard and have few people to talk about it with so it’s appreciated :)

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

M/F OTP: there are others I really like or love in a more normal way, but Emma/Julian Will/Tessa and Jem/Tessa are the ones that hit on another level for me emotionally, I’m clinically insane about them. Also it’s a bit hilarious to think about, since this was formative media for me (I first read TID in late elementary/middle school and TDA as they were coming out in high school) how my taste in ships generally speaking was shaped… like if you look at pairings I gravitate towards in other fandoms since there are def patterns xd. The impact!

Other M/F ships I have love for (including this category because ik i don’t talk about them as much and in another fandom where I had less dynamics I’m super fond of to choose from I could have placed them in that first category think of them as like second tier Otp’s for me ): Mark/Cristina, James/Cordelia, Simon/Isabelle (last one also was formative they were thee hot girl/soft boy nerd ship to me in middle school. But it has been a while so unsure if they’d hit the same on reread, they are the tmi couple I would most like to see in the better in black collection though!)

M/M OTP: Jem/Will! And then follow up Kit/Ty Surefire ways to get me invested in a ship: they do necromancy together, meet cute with a knife to the throat, they break up without ever dating. Triple check.

F/F OTP: along those lines it’s Lucie x Grace literally the main reason I want to reread TLH (well I do also just want to see how it reads back to back and not broken up and I have other reasons but like. Those are less important) is to be able to properly write fic about them, like it genuinely pisses me off this fandom is so boring and tasteless I can’t believe I actually miss the legacies fandom they were annoying as hell but at least they understood that when women do dark magic together it’s polite to write detailed analysis of how gay they are 😭. The way I know cc has seen Buffy too like flop. Also it just fits archetypes of antagonistic femslash I tend to love in general see: Julia/Marina Aria/Alison Elena/Rebekah and more

OT3: Herongraystairs and then Kierarktina

Friendship OTP: Tessa & Magnus + Will & Magnus! And for familial relationships I adore all The Blackthorn siblings in TDA and their dynamics but especially Julian and Mark’s relationship is v compelling to me and I also love Cordelia and Alastair’s relationship v much it was my favorite overall development in TLH. And then for psuedo familial dynamics I Love Charlotte’s relationships with Tessa Jem Will and Jessamine. her relationship with Jem might be my softest spot overall especially because they have moments in CP2 that make me go 🥺 but as a documented Tessa lover I adore how having Charlotte as a mentor figure effects her arc. So those are my favorites Ik I failed at picking just one. Oh I also adore Emma and Cristina’s friendship although I also sometimes ship them romantically

Canon OTP: Blackstairs Wessa Jessa like I said

Crackship OTP: what even counts as crackship? I will admit that during my CP reread I did look up how many Will/Magnus fics there are on ao3 although I did not read them (there are 12 for inquiring minds).

Anti-OTP: The worst ship to me is Jordan/Maia but it’s been a long time so the vitriol has worn off and I don’t have another solid notp besides them but the other canon pairings I’m #unimpressed with are Clace Ghostwriter and Gracetopher … Lucie/Jesse probably irks me the most these days because I actually want to like them because the concept is so good but the execution falls flat for me and I really like Lucie and want someone more interesting for her (like Grace lol.)

Community

M/F OTP: ultimately when I’m actually watching the show it’s Jeff/Britta love their emmaxknightleycore vibes. But I did get really into Abed x Annie at one point and even wrote some fic about it over quarantine (when I first got into Comm) so I have a soft spot for that concept too

M/M OTP: Troy/Abed. They of course are The otp of the show.

F/F OTP: not really otp status but well I did write this Annie x Britta Carmilla Au: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728689?view_adult=true

(I orphaned that account post quarantine)

OT3: Troy/Abed/Annie

Friendship OTP: I mean all the study group dynamics but I especially have soft spots for Annie and Troy + Abed and Britta moments

Canon OTP: Jeff/Britta

Crackship OTP: what even counts as crack …

Anti-OTP: I just don’t like Jeff/Annie I used to viscerally hate it these days I’m just like. It’s not for me lol.

#s speaks #asks #tsc #tid #tda #tlh #tmi #community #myhouseofivyandstone

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