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theroomofreq · 3 years ago

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can you give me muggle jily recs pleaaseeee <3 :D

HOW MANY HIGH-QUALITY MUGGLE JILY FICS ARE THERE?? TOO MANY TO COUNT. *cracks knuckles* BUT I am here for the challenge. Jily AUs are my JAM.

Again, shoutout to our amazing @jilyarchive friends who tag every wonderful muggle jily au they come across. here is the link that will take you to their tags page. You'll find links to specific tropes and AUs :')

I've searched through my own AO3 bookmarks and history tabs, and I present to you 28 jily muggle fics that I LOVE. I am THRILLED thinking about all the good things in store for those that read these wonderful stories. This list took me ages to make because I went through and reread most of these brilliant fics. Happy reading !! xx

properly improper by @lizardcookie

“Marry me,” Mr. Potter repeats, closing the distance between them by striding back up towards the sofa, only to stop and crouch to one knee right there at her feet, looking up at her. Burning. “Pick me,” he elaborates. “Pick me, choose me, love me instead.”

- this fic is the reason why I comment the way that I do (spoiler it's because it's amazing)

The Wedding Ring by @mppmaraudergirl

What is undeniably worse than attending your sister's wedding looking as desolate and forgotten as a wilted houseplant? Drunkenly ringing your ex-boyfriend and asking him to be your date.

- SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY AT THE PERFECTION

Oh my god, they were ROOMMATES by @magic-girl-in-a-muggle-world

Silly one-shot, Muggle AU with Fem!Jily as pining roommates and Marlene as their matchmaker.

- the fic that brought me back to jily and inspired my deep obsession of fem!jily

Swipe Right, Swing Left by @downn-in-flames

The unspoken rule of using dating apps in D.C. is that you always start with where you work.

James Potter, it seems, never picked up on that one.

- giddy just thinking about this gem

'Tis the Damn Season by @petalstofish

It doesn't feel like Christmas for Lily Evans, not after losing her parents to COVID before the Holiday season. She anticipates spending Christmas all alone until a boy from her past shows up and offers her a mutually benefiting deal that has her calling him 'babe' just for the weekend. 'Tis the damn season, after all.

- cries in respect for lyrical writing

Watch Me Unwind by @maraudersftw

Lily Evans hates her job, hates the bigoted customers she has to serve as a bartender at the richest club in the city. But the one person who makes bearing all of it worth it has someone else in his arms tonight. (Rated: M)

- obsessed with the way the plot jumps around the time line in this

oil be there for you by @abby10fanfic

Texting/Social Media AU: Lily and James haven't spoken for 2 years. But that's all about to change thanks to Peter and his involvement in an essential oil pyramid scheme. Featuring boss babes, toxin-free lifestyles, binding contracts, and a very oily journey.

- YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW FAB THIS IS

a matchmaking mission by @downn-in-flames

James Potter has a mission: get Sirius Black and Remus Lupin to finally admit that they both fancy the pants off each other by Valentine's Day.

His partner in crime? Lily Evans, Remus' flatmate, who he also happens to be slightly in love with

- DOUBLE the amount of pining idiots in love :")

about time by @jilyss

'sure, yeah, I can accompany you to that black tie event for your work tonight. wait. why are we on a red carpet?'

- this is my emotional comfort fic, your honor

whiskey business by @elanev91

Sirius Black has a (bad?) habit of picking up hobbies that take over his and James' flat -- this most recent one? Homemade vodka that James now has to try and peddle to everyone in the building.

- hysterical! must read!

Fashion Disaster by @maraudersftw

James Potter is roped into an awful dare by his best-mate, which involves him wearing atrocious pieces of clothing for all days until Christmas as dictated by Sirius. If this wasn't terrible enough, he now has to contend with his maddening crush on the beautiful saleswoman at the clothing store.

- classic hijinks that I live for

it wasn't a pity invite by @elanev91

Part of the December "Winter Tropes" Jily challenge. Prompt: my family invites you to join our holiday meal as an obvious setup and omG i’m so sorry

- awkward Christmas date that owns my heart

spice and honey by @clare-with-no-i

tagging along with her food reporter sister to profile James Potter, London's hottest young chef, is not how Lily Evans pictured her Monday going - especially if he's anything like Petunia’s described.

needless to say, she's in for a whirlwind at Chez Maraudeur.

- I'm one re-read away from printing this out and putting it on my bookshelf.

Waffle Wars by @elanev91

There's only one waffle maker in the dining hall and it literally always breaks. So, naturally, the only reasonable course of action is to meticulously map out when it's working and, ultimately, do a heist.

- the witty narration in this fic can not be matched

You Can Hear It In The Silence by @alrightginger

Lily is non-verbal and deaf in a world where the things your soulmate says about you end up written on your skin. She has known about her soulmate since she was seven, but knows they don't have a clue she exists and possibly never will.

- exquisite, cue me sobbing forever

out the window by @displayheartcode

A new family moves to Ottery St Catchpole.

- everything I could ever want in a fic, forever in my mind rent free

The Christmas Guest by @thegodmachine

An Evans Family Christmas: Petunia is bringing her fiancé and Lily is bringing her…Friend…

- petunia pov that gives me WINGS

Football, Calculus, and Cappuccinos by @moonawrites

At eighteen years old, James Potter has a lot going on. He's a rising star navigating the politics of professional football, the pitfalls of sudden fame, the fallout from choosing his dream over his father's company... and a serious crush on the red headed new barista at his favourite coffee shop.

- I'm still working my way through this fic, but trust me when I say its a GEM

if u like pina coladas by @zephyrcove

Lily is desperate for a date to Petunia's wedding, James has been pining, and their friends meddle ;)

- explain to me how characters can be so perfect via texting fics?

Shelf Awareness by @ghostofbambifanfiction

It's too far out of her way and she's wasting so much money, but Lily can't help but return to the bookstore every weekend, where her passion for good literature has, perhaps, been unexpectedly reignited by the messy-haired, pun-making, rather handsome bloke who works there.

- you absolutely must know that I binge read this and then immediately REREAD it

How to win a witch in 10 days by @adenei

“She’s going to find some unsuspecting wizard, get him to fall for her, and then do all the things that turn men away to get him to break things off! Won’t it be the best way to see what witches do that drives men crazy?” But what happens when the man in question is a blast from Lily Evans's past? A Jily Magical AU based on the romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."

- fic based off of a rom com? YES PLZ :’)

The Fight Before Christmas by @ghostofbambifanfiction

The heartwarming Christmas tale of Lily Evans and James Potter - two plucky kids who hated one other, until the day they really, really didn't.

- complete sucker for this one

All This Time by @thejilyship

James and Lily grew up next door to one another. Their bedroom windows giving them glimpses into the others life, and also offering prime opportunities to argue with each other over every little thing. They never figured out how to be friends when they were kids, but now that they've graduated from college and are home for the summer, they have a second chance to get things right.

- one of my favvvv tropes

Let Me Love You by @thejilyship

With only a month until she's set to take the throne of Gryffindor, Lily is informed that she'll have to get married or choose to give up her throne. She never thought she'd have to even entertain the idea of an arranged marriage. Enter, James Potter.

- cries in princess diares AU

The Fabulous Baker Brothers by @frustratedpoetwrites

Lily walks a different route home from work and stumbles upon a cute little Bakery with an even cuter baker in the window.

- yes yes yes to embarrassed pining.

Marigold Mornings by @mppmaraudergirl

This is a fun game she thinks, as she removes her hand from his side and reaches up to run it down his chest. He catches her hand in his own, takes a step forward so that her nose nearly brushes against his shirt. She can feel the heat radiating off of him—or maybe it’s from her. He licks his lips and her eyes are drawn to the motion. She knows it is a bad idea, absolutely knows it.

- incredible storytelling featuring dynamic characters :') a favvv

Welcome to Pettyville by@women-inthe-sequel @alrightginger

When Lily Evans accidentally sends a text to the wrong number, she isn’t expecting to find the right person behind it. She can’t stop talking to Prongs. The only thing is, Prongs can’t stop talking about the girl in his class. What could go wrong, other than the number?

- LOVE SQUARE ANYONE

The Kiss a Stranger Project by @alrightginger

“What’s your name, then?” she asks, realizing they haven’t even properly introduced themselves yet. She nervously crosses her arms.

You shouldn’t kiss a guy without knowing his name first.

Right?

- THIS ONE WILL LIVE IN MY MIND FOREVER

#ror reqs #jily fic #mugge fic recs #jily fic rec list

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internalsealpanic · 4 years ago

Text

Love Through the Ages (Damian Wayne)

Summary: Love like baggage needs to be declared.

a/n: This is part one of a series that is a fic rec list disguised as a fic. For these fics, most of the characters will be speaking different languages, so unless specified otherwise assume that the characters are speaking in the first language I mention. They’re all vampires with centuries under their belt. Why wouldn’t I make them all polyglots. Also, thank you to the proof reading gang for putting up with my shenanigans. I will have links to the fics I recommend in the fic itself.

Warnings: Everyone is dramatic.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist.

You wait by the platform, tapping your feet to the rhythm of the Little Colonel Bojangles Dance. It's been so long since you've seen the movie but your feet can still remember the steps- much to Damian's annoyance. Your feet patter against the pavement, wet from the spring rain, in a soft rhythm that kept your excitement at bay.

You wave to the approaching cab. The passenger of the cab looks away from you, pressing his mouth into the heel of his hand as his eyes stare out into oblivion. Your mouth quirks at the petulant gesture. You haven't seen each other in two decades and he's still mad about... what was it again? You'll find out soon enough.

The cab stops in front of you.

You bow your head, resting your weight on your umbrella. You grin at his seated form postured perfectly with an ease of a man born with the world in his pocket. He's dressed in a black suit and a dark coat that looked far too thick for spring.

"Long time, no see, little prince." You say in a dialect of Spanish too old for the young cab driver to recognize.

Damian raises his brow, articulating his annoyance. It takes you a moment to realize that it was with the accent you'd chosen. It was inelegant and curt and it mangled the curve of the syllables far too easily. In short, it was your favorite dialect. Rolling your eyes, you try again. This time with a softer, smoother dialect much more modern but still old enough that you could talk freely without worrying about eavesdroppers.

Damian cracks a smile at you. It was wry but soft in the way Damian always was. Your own exasperated smile softens as you look at his eyes, their ever-changing lushness. It's been too long.

You open the door. Damian eases out of the cab handing the cabby what you quietly hope was the correct amount.

But considering the wide-eyed glee on the cabbies face, you can guess that twenty years has done nothing for Damian's spending habits. That was if the tailored suit wasn't a dead giveaway.

You look him over whistling," whose funeral are you going to after the museum?"

"Yours if we're on schedule." Damian deadpans looking at his watch.

You snort, sounding like a piglet in mud. Adoration flickers in Damian's eyes but you miss it as you throw your head back.

"Who has a schedule on vacation."

"People who don't like wasting time."

"That's what a vacation is for."

Damian makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat and you shake your head. Damian wraps his arm around your shoulders. You happily press into his side, reveling in the intimacy of the action.

Damian had been telling you a story in rapid Arabic, the only words you understood were 'Jon' and 'moron', when you pause in front of a pair of paintings. The painting on the left was of Damian, his form drawn in harsh, messy angles. He's hunched over his sketchbook, candlelight glowing softly by his side makes his copper skin and forest green eyes breathtaking. The subject is out of view. The other was a portrait of you dozing off on a workshop table, your flaws lovingly rendered in gentle brush strokes. By contrast, your portrait was lit by the summer sun. Only Damian could make your features look this beautiful.

Vaguely, you remember this.

You remember it only for the countless times it had happened.

"They say that the one on the left is the painter sketching the portrait on the right and that the portrait on the right is of his lover." You say airily. Damian, not one to disappoint, gives you an unreadable look.

Your stomach turns. You drop the subject. Wordlessly, you two make your way to the exhibit.

"Love through the Ages?" Damian asks, crossing his arms.

"Shockingly love wasn't invented by Stephenie Meyer." You say. Damian wrinkles his nose at you and you cover your mouth to hide the scraggly smile spreading across your lips.

"I'm shocked your paintings didn't make it in."

He looks down at you huffing, "it's only speculation."

You're heart twinges at that. You press a frown to your hand.

"It'll be fun, Dami. I promise. Pleeeeeease."

Damian's stern look gives way to a weary half-smile as he capitulates to you.

"I promise it will only be half as nauseating as Dick's attempts to do family bonding."

"Tt, it would take a miracle to surpass that."

You grin. "Perish the thought."

"They say this stardust came from star-crossed lovers as they traveled through space. Oh and this one is a statue gifted by Persephone to Hades."

You drag Damian all over the exhibit. Pointing to specific exhibits with enthusiasm. He has to admit. It's infectious. Then again, Damian's never been able to resist anything about you. This amount of enthusiasm for something so frivolous would have been obnoxious on anyone else but because it's you, Damian's found himself utterly enamored by it.

"This one," You say, pointing to a series of paintings. They were all beautiful, painted in bold colors. The torrent of emotions radiating off of the canvas. "This one was made by an artist torn between three loves."

"Three? She must have been an exceptional artist."

"Probably was but her name was lost." You sigh.

"She’s got exceptional brushwork." Damian hums.

You squint at it. You would think after hundreds of years you would be able to discern that.

"And over there! Look at those postcards!" You say, pointing the three postcards pinned to a cloth in a glass case. One card showed the northern lights, another with a picture of a thick rainforest, another with a large cave, and another with the pantheon.

"They're not well preserved are they." Damian comments, scrutinizing the postcards and noting all the imperfections, the little cracks and tears, the water stains, and odd splotches of dirt.

You roll your eyes, curling your fingers around his arm. "That's cus Hermes supposedly brought them everywhere while he searched for his lost love."

"Quite the romantic. Do you know all the artifacts?"

"Yup."

"I see..." Damian drawls. "Then why are we here then?" Damian winces at how harsh and impatient he sounds.

"Cus Jon said I needed an excuse to get you here and viola. It worked. I knew you'd cross the sea for a rare exhibit."

I would cross the sea for you, no matter how many times, Damian thinks.

"What about this?" Damian points to a golden coin, shaking his thoughts away.

You lean back, side-eyeing him. "Care to guess?" His handsome features furrow as he thinks.

"I think it’s a coin used to pay Charon." He says finally.

You frown. "Good guess." A smug grin curls on his lips. You stick your tongue out at him.

"It’s an old Greek coin to pay the travel into the underworld."

"Why would they want to travel to the underworld?" It's Damian's turn to frown.

"Yanno for someone who's so smart. You're asking the dumbest questions."

"It's a reasonable question." He asserts, his tone oddly defensive.

"Most people can't bear to be apart from their beloved."

Damian hums noncommittally. He understands that. he understands that all too well.

"Like you and Jon." You say grinning.

Damian glares at you. No real anger behind it.

"You two bicker like an old married couple." You laugh.

"So do we." Damian says flatly, stepping closer to you and closing the gap between the two of you. He's looking at you so intensely that your skin sets itself on fire.

"I often think about burying you under the kitchen patio too." Damian sneers, with a sharp grin.

You snap out of your daze. Leaning in close and smiling, your hot breath fan against Damian's face. "Will you do it affectionately?"

The moment hangs still in the air. If you could capture it in amber, you would.

"Huh? This is new." You say, looking down at the glass case.

"How many times have you seen this exhibit?"

You preemptively shoot him an accusatory look. "What are you?"

"Concerned."

"Pfff!"

You lean down reading the plate. "Says here it's a letter from the late 1700s and early 1800s. An unsent letter to lost love."

"Sounds cliched." Damian says, leaning down next to you.

"You've said that about everything."

You feel Damian stiffen beside you. You glance at him. He looks mortified. Your eyes follow his and land on the letter. The calligraphy looks familiar but you can't think of where you've seen the scrawl.

Damian tugs at your shoulder.

"(Y/n), let's go."

You shrug him off.

"(Y/n), let’s go." He repeats with increased urgency.

You shove your palm to his face.

Damian wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into his chest. You flail and kick out childishly.

“Damian Al Ghul Wayne, I will gnaw your arm off.” You hiss but he doesn’t let go. In a last ditch effort to break free of his hold, you wriggle out of your coat. Landing on your ass, you scramble for the glass case.

My beloved (Y/n),

Finding the words to tell you how I feel about you is not an easy feat. I feel as though Ibn Hazm himself would struggle to compose poems to express my feelings for you even then they would be inadequate.

Whilst we are surrounded by such death and misery, here in London, I want you to know that during these dark times, it is you that keeps me a light. It is you that leads me through the void and guides me.

I think I’ve always loved you from the very first moment I laid eyes on your beautiful lopsided smile. Yes. Your real smile. The one only a handful of people will ever see. I have been lucky enough to see it every day.

As time passed, I fell more and more in love with you. You have seen all of me. You have seen the monster within me and yet you still stand by my side. Never faulting in your stance.

I wish I had the strength to tell you this, face to face. I wish I could look into your eyes and whisper words of love my immortal beloved.

With Love,

Damian

You stare at the letter uncomprehending. Realization slides off of you like rain off a tin roof. You read it over and over again until each syllable is embedded in your mind. “Damian, what the actual fuck?!”

“I-”

“You dork!”

Damian clams up unable to think of a response. Ok, no. He had a number of responses but none of them were appropriate or witty. He searches your features but the only thing he can make out is shock.

“(Y/n), I was-”

You press your hand to the glass. “How come you never sent me this?”

“The French Revolution.”

“Which one?”

He crosses his arms raising a brow.

“Ok, nevermind. But still, it’s been 200 years.”

“A lot has happened in 200 years.”

“A lot has happened in 200 years.” You repeat mockingly.

Damian pinches your cheeks in retaliation.

“I was pinning for more than 200 hundred years!” You protest.

“So was I!” Damian says, releasing your cheek.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?” Damian asks, accusing and curt. You flinch, something vile and caustic rising in your stomach. Damian sees it and grips your hand as you fall away from him. He just got you back. “(Y/n)....”

The fear and hurt melt off of your face. “I thought… I just thought you’d...” You ball your fists in frustration, not quite grasping the right words. But Damian already knows what you’re thinking. He’s seen that look in your face. He’s seen it every time you look at the mirror. It was infuriating to watch you like this. Why couldn’t you see just how perfect you are?

Damian pulls you into a hug, burying your face into his chest and resting his chin on top of your head.

“You are infuriating.” He mumbles into your hair.

“And you’re rude.” You mumble back.

“Yet here you are 400 years later.” He laughs softly.

You two stand in silence for a long moment. With Damian, silence itself was a language. It was one you’d grown fluent in. An unspoken conversation of confirmations and reassurances.

He releases you but holds your hand in his. It feels warm. You shiver and Damian smiles at you, smooshing your coat into your face. Both of you can’t help but laugh.

You step closer to the glass case, pulling him along. Damian follows without resistance, only lacing his fingers into yours. You both stare at the page. His proclamation of love carefully preserved for all to see. You take your phone out to take a picture. Damian shoots you a glare.

“You’re not sending that to Jon.”

“Tim then.”

“No.”

“Fine, for myself then.” You pause seeing the confusion on his face. “In case, you know...” You say waving your hand.

Damian tilts your chin up. “Beloved, I’m not going anywhere.”

Your chest flutters. After centuries of inaction, you can feel your heartbeat.

#Damian Wayne #damian wayne x reader #damian wayne imagine #vampire au

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princecharmingmendes · 3 years ago

Text

Heart by Heart | Chapter IV | Raul Mendes

*secret agent AU*

Y/N and Raul have been friends ever since they could remember. And falling in love with your best friend can be pretty tricky and messy 99% of the times, add that to the fact they're constantly risking their lives side by side on the field since they're both secret agents, and the best team that's ever existed. Perfect recipe for disaster.

Hi, this is the fourth chapter, you can find the first one here. This one's a bit shorter but I still hope you like it anyway. Please read the warnings on this one, if you don't feel comfortable with the contents listed on the "warnings" section, please read something else, there are a lot of other works on my masterlist and on the "fic rec" hashtag on my blog. Please give me some feedback and I hope you guys like. Happy Reading!

previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter

*Word Count: 2.9K+.

*Warnings: cursing, jealousy, mentions of weapons (barely any), slight angst (if you squint).

Please don’t read it if any of this subjects make you uncomfortable, feel free to check my masterlist for other writings.

*Posted: July 22nd, 2021.

-*-

Raul was fucked.

He learned that ages ago, but every passing day, it just seemed to get more and more fucked.

Y/N was the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on, he knew that the day he met her all those years ago, while she was still a kid like him. And as the time went on, she proved him wrong every single day, every time he looked at her, in his eyes, Y/N surpassed her own beauty and taking her own title as the pretties one. Raul knew he was a goner the first time he made her laugh, truly laugh, throwing her head back as she almost lost her breath, he knew he would have to do it all over again for the rest of his life just to hear the most beautiful melody ever created.

And maybe he was a fool, and obvious one for not even holding back whenever she was hurt or needed him. He would give Y/N anything in the world and he could be pretty reckless about it. Sure, Raul was capable of keeping it to himself all these years, even from his spy family and her, but Peter was slowly catching onto it and he knew it. There was a reason why Peter wasn’t a field agent and his not so subtle approaches only proved that right. But he honestly didn’t care, as long as he got to have her as his best friend and best girl, he didn’t give a fuck about what the rest of the world thought. He only cared about Y/N.

So watching her progress on the ring (hell, having his ass kicked by her was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him), watching Y/N taking part of such an important role as to plan the mission that would take down one of the biggest criminals on the world left him so proud. He couldn’t even describe it. Watching her sleep peacefully among his bedding, the glimmer of pure and utter happiness whenever she watched one of the marvel movies or ate her favorite cake made butterflies go wild in his stomach.

And as Aaliyah would say, he was probably a simp for her. As sappy as that sounded, it was probably true.

“Still with me, champ?” Y/N’s voice ringed on his coms.

Raul had to hold back a smile as Jack smirked at him on their watching point across the street “Always, doll, see anything?”

“Not really” she muttered annoyedly “think the package is late”

“Oh, sorry the bad guy didn’t show up on the perfect time according to your planner”

“Fuck you, darling, before I forget”

Raul huffed a chuckle as he changed channels on the surveillance system she hacked the night prior.

He was with Jack sitting on his apartment watching Y/N from the perfect window. The initial plan was pretty simple, Y/N would be dressed in casual common clothes, going through her computer on Genoff’s favorite coffee shop, to possibly catch him after coming back, so he could be used to some of their faces on his absence justifying new people around. Her undercover role was as a graphic designer that pretty much had a home office, which would justify her always being around that area. Tommy was the local barista trainee, summer job to pay for his scholarship, and this way he could hear some stuff and also be ready to jump and protect whoever was undercover there that day.

Celine was working on the front desk on Geonoff’s cover up business building, she was replacing the other girl that just left due to maternity leave, so it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. James got the work as an executive driver on a company that often was hired to transport Geonoff himself and his people, and Raul would also be on home office as a free lancer photographer, he’d be in an untitled relationship with Y/N which would be a good cover for them always being out and about together.

They would all be living in the same neighborhood, Peter and Celine would be living in the same apartment complex, which was just next doors to the one Jack, Y/N and Raul were placed. This way it would still be safe and pretty low profile enough to not draw curious eyes. And since the mission didn’t exactly have a precise deadline, they didn’t have a precise date to actually leave, so their flat was poorly furnished and decorated, filled with the ultimate basic things they could need in a month period. And of course, heavily armed in every corner and drawer anyone could think about.

“He just left his car two blocks away, think he might be just a bit behind your schedule, Y/N” Jack called from his place behind the screens she had set up the night before “Tommy, grab the cash register as soon as you can”

“Yes sir” Tom mumbled under his breath.

Raul inched a bit closer to the window on a spot no one could see him from bellow, watching as Geonoff himself entered the shop with two other man right behind him. Probably security team. He had to hold back his breath once he noticed the way the man had his eyes fixated right on Y/N’s table, before quietly muttering something to the other with him.

“Hm, excuse me miss?” a deep slightly hoarse voice caught her attention from the fake project displayed on her computer screen, Y/N looked up to find Geonoff right next to her booth.

“Oh hi”

“Why is he talking to her? He wasn’t supposed to just approach her!” Raul practically growled to Jack as the other just shrugged in response “fuck”

“Dude, calm down, Tom is literally just across the bar and she’s a fucking spy, chill, she knows how to handle this” Jack said shoving Raul’s shoulder playfully, to which he just rolled his eyes huffing in annoyance.

“I know, I know that”

Jack arched his eyebrow at him, a knowing smirk playing on his lips “Is this your way of admitting you love her?”

“Shut up and pay attention to their conversation, you idiot” Raul said pushing his friend off of his sit.

“I'm sorry, I just had to ask, I haven’t such a pretty girl like you around in a while, are you new in town, darling?” Geonoff asked leaning his hip against the sit across from Y/N.

“Oh no, not new in town” she responded with a giggle, trying to ease the nerves and slight nausea from talking to him and his half attempt of flirting “I moved to this neighborhood last month though, used to leave on the other side of the town”

“Oh, was it for work? How are you liking this place so far?”

“It’s nice, I thought it was going to be quieter but it doesn’t really bother me” she said with a soft smile on her features “I moved here because I work from home, so I needed to get out of my last place cause my roommate was not exactly quiet, and my boyfriend said there was an available apartment on his floor, so it just seemed like a great opportunity”

Raul’s heart raced a bit more on his chest when she referred to him as ‘boyfriend’, which was completely stupid. Y/N was his best friend and this was only for a cover. But sometimes his feelings got the best of him.

“Boyfriend? Is he here?”

“Oh no, I think he’s at work now, he’s a photographer”

“It makes sense, he has the prettiest muse at home” he added with a wink, which made Y/N’s stomach twirl in her tummy, this man is absolutely gross and she just wants to find a way out of this conversation “is he joining you today or should I keep you company?”

“Tell him I’m on my way, sweetheart, don’t want this man any closer to you” Raul said through coms, Jack already grabbing his backpack with the material they had separated to be Raul’s cover as he threw a denim jacket and a pair of glasses.

Y/N gave Geonoff a gentle smile as she shrugged before adding “he told me he’d be coming here, something about the cupcakes being the best he’s ever had”

“Oh shut up, this is the worst excuse to get me to buy you cupcake ever” Raul muttered through coms as he jogged across the street and Y/N had to cough to hid a little giggle that threatened to escape at her best friend’s comment.

“Yeah, they’re really good, I think you’d like the chocolate one”

“Okay, thank you for the tip” she said, quickly noticing the mop of curls clumsy coming into the shop, a big grin blossoming on her lips as she waved at the heaving figure of her best friend “oh, there he is!”

Raul’s eyes found hers and he could only smile, forgetting only momentarily that one of the most wanted man in the country was just beside her, he shook his head to gain a bit more focus as he shortened the distance between them with every step “hi baby”

Y/N got up from her sit and was quick to throw her arms around his neck, as he did the same with her waist, planting a kiss to the crown of her head “Hi, honey this is… Oh my, just realized I never caught your name, I’m sorry, that was so rude”

“Geonoff, darling” he said with a smug smile on his lips, probably waiting some sort of reaction and proud of it.

And to Raul’s amusement, Y/N didn’t move a single muscle, didn’t give a single reaction, only offering a polite smile “Oh, nice name, I’m Y/N and this is my boyfriend, Raul”

“Beautiful name, suits such a gorgeous girl like you” he said, eyes on Raul waiting for some sort of response.

“Oh yeah, she doesn’t like it but I’ve always found it beautiful” he said softly.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys alone now, nice meeting the two of you” Geonoff said as his guards approached him with a paper bag “and Y/N, let me know if you need anything, I’m always around”

“Thank you” she said before pulling Raul to sit by her side on the booth as Geonoff walked out of the little shop “how was your day, honey?”

“Good, angel, got a couple of photos I think you’d like to see whenever we get home” he said throwing his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

“You two are gross to watch” Jack grumbled through the coms making them both laugh.

Y/N turned her head to face him “you wanna go home to show me or you want to grab a cup of coffee first?”

“I think I want a bit of coffee, but we can order it to go, yeah?”

“Sure, whatever you want” Y/N said before sliding off the booth and pulling him with her, before stuffing her computer on her little backpack, which Raul promptly took from her.

“Come on, baby, can’t wait to lay down a bit” he ushered her to the register, where Tom waited patiently for them “hello there, I’d like an espresso please”

“Sure, anything else?” Tommy asked as he clicked on the little screen.

“Do you want anything, baby?”

“A red velvet cupcake to go, please”

Tom nodded looking a little nervous before speaking up “the other man with the security guards left this note and cupcake for you, ma’am” he then grabbed the little pastry and a fancy business card alongside it.

“Oh, I- are you sure it was for me?” she asked in disbelief as Raul tightened his arm around her.

Tom only nodded in response “positive, do you still want the red velvet one?”

“I- yes, please” Y/N let out before almost chocking on air, gently grabbing the card that contained the business information from his company (that she already had) and a little handwritten phrase next to a phone number, the note read ‘if you’re ever looking for a real man, let me know’.

“Someone’s got a crush on you” Raul teased trying to mask the anger bubbling up on his throat, but he knew she saw right through his facade. After all, Y/N knew him better than anyone else.

“Well, I feel bad for him, because I’m already taken, yeah?” she giggled at herself, lightly poking his chest to try and loosen his nerves a bit.

“Yeah, since I have you, know that I’m never letting you go” Raul pressed a kiss to her head huffing a small chuckle.

“Here it is, sir” Tom cut Raul out before handing him the paper bag, and he placed the money on Tom’s hand.

Raul offered a smile as he lead Y/N back to their place “Thank you, take care, kid”

As they were crossing the street, Y/N dropped the cupcake from Geonoff on the sidewalk, making it look like an accident as she cried out an ‘oh no, I can’t believe I dropped it!’ before tossing it on the bin. On the elevator to their apartment, Raul still seemed tense and too quiet for his normal self, but Y/N decided to drop it, maybe give him some time to deal with today.

Just as they opened the door, Jack was quick to pull them inside, grabbing the card from Y/N’s hand and tossing it into a special bag and running downstairs, probably to deliver it to a team so they could take it to the lab to run some tests. Celine was stretched on the couch, a knowing look in her eyes as she signaled for them to join her. Raul went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water in complete silence as Y/N sank down on the soft cushions with Celine.

“What’s wrong with him?” she muttered quietly, since there were no walls separating the rooms on this flat, only the bedroom and bathroom and Raul was standing pretty close.

Y/N sighed with a shrug “No clue, maybe just didn’t expect the interaction to go like that, I don’t know”

“By the way, you did great, he even got interested in you”

“Ew, no need to remind me, seriously that man is just gross, there’s something about him that’s just creepy, and I’m not even bringing up his criminal record” Y/N added grabbing a bottle water that Raul tossed at her after she nodded at him.

Celine nodded in understanding “Don't blame you, I think I would’ve punched him five seconds into talking”

“You wouldn’t last a single second with him talking” Jack said as he closed the door behind him.

Y/N and Celine laughed as Raul joined them on the couch, sitting on the armrest right behind Y/N as she leaned her weight on him. He threw an arm around her.

“I think we should order a pizza and have some beer, yeah? This was a successful day, Tom’s gonna be here any minute now and Raul didn’t die out of jealousy in 24h, only reasons to celebrate!”

“Don’t start celebrating now, Jack, he might combust at any second now” Celine said with a laugh and Y/N giggled shaking her head, looking up at him only to see his serious expression and a light pink tinting his cheeks.

“So, pizza and beer it is?” Jack asked pulling his phone.

“I think it’s a great idea” Tom said as he climbed through the back window.

“Okay, Jack, order the pizzas and grab us the beer” Y/N decided and Jack stared at her in shock.

“Why me?!”

“So you can do something useful for once instead of gossiping” Raul said playfully and Y/N smiled at that as Jack feigned hurt with a dramatic gasp.

“Well, there’s that and the fact that this genius idea belongs to you, doesn’t it?” Y/N asked

Jack stared at her and nodded “Well yeah but-“

“Then make it happen, darling” Y/N only threw a wink at him and he shook his head, but grabbing his phone to start ordering.

“Hey Tom, can I see the piece you brought back?” Celine asked without moving from her place on the couch.

Y/N took the opportunity to properly face Raul since the others were seemingly busy, so she cupped his face gently bringing his attention down at her “are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course I am, doll” he said turning his face to place a kiss at the palm of her hand before looking back at her.

“Are you sure? You didn’t seem fine five minutes ago”

“I just didn’t think he’d take such an interest on you so soon, I mean, you’re insanely gorgeous so it was obvious he was going to notice you, I guess I was just unconsciously hoping he wouldn’t” Raul sighed leaning his head against her hand and she let it slide on his face until she was able to curl her fingers on his hair “it’s stupid, I’m sorry, I was just being stupid yeah? Let’s focus on something else and relax”

“Are you sure?” she asked tugging on his hair a bit as he closed his eyes, nodding his head softly and she sighed “okay”

-*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I’ll know.

*I’m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo

-🌙

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jlf23tumble · 4 years ago

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hii!! how are you? happy holidays, i hope you’re doing ok!! i wanted to ask u for a fic rec, bc ur taste is!! so good! do u know any good hot larry girl fics? as in louis and harry are both girls? thank u!!

Oh my god, okay, so I started this last night, then the power cut, I lost it all, and now I’m doing it again, sigh, but rest assured, I have a TON of faves, there are so many greats, but I’ll try to keep it somewhat normal sized, ha, and put it under a cut. Hope you find some fics you love, quite a few are recent, but there is some old gold, too! Pouring one out for Phoenix’s OUTSTANDING genre-defining girl direction fics, and if you want those, she has them, you just have to contact her directly. Anyway, here we go! Girl direction ahoy, bb!

Let’s being with the larger places to start, no. 1 being @girldirectionsource, your place for fic, art, and everything else girl direction, especially if it’s recent--there’s an older fic rec source called @hlgirldirectionfics, but it hasn’t updated in a while. Two fic fests might help, too (and I want to say there were others, but I’ll be damned if I can think of/find them right now, so if anyone wants to send them my way, I can add on here): the Girl Direction Winter Fic Fest and the Girl Direction Fic Fest. @star55 is an amazingly prolific fic writer who writes hl girl direction exclusively, ao3 link here.

There are other writers who have written multiple hl girl direction fics, so I’m going to group them with my two fave girl direction stories they’ve written, but definitely check out their other works, too (they’ve written tons of both hl girl and boy direction, fwiw):

momentofclarity/ @gaycousinlarry:

daydreams are made of this, 19k, series. Mannnn, one of my fave writers, and god this series! Is! So! Good! The pining! Help!!!

still feel the same around you, 13k. I’m addicted to the way Eli writes older larry, doesn’t matter if it’s f/f or m/m, gimme gimme!

disgruntledkittenface/ @disgruntledkittenface:

dream lover, 5k. Why aren’t there MORE reimaginings of Real Housewives in the girl direction universe? Sweet dreams are made of these, etc.!

pink like the paradise found, 18k. I’m always complete trash for the tag “louis tomlinson calls harry styles pet names,” but trust me on the rest of this fic, simply too much to love!

LoadedGunn:

Riding Comfortable, 8.9k. I’m always gonna side-eye a 25YO CEO, but yeah, LoadedGunn wrote girl direction back in the day, and yeah, nailed it!

Lips Won’t Let Me Go, 5.5k. Why does this read so real, regardless of whether it’s boy direction or girl direction?? (this being limo sex and award shows)

homosociallyyours/ @homosociallyyours:

Sour/Sharp/Salty/Sweet, 5.7k. Megan is such a POWERHOUSE writer, but the way Megan writes girl direction? Next level, way too hard to pick two, but c’mon, gotta go with the pubefest entry!

Don’t Have to Be Good to Be My Girl, 12k. HoooooBOY, this fic is so great, gotta love a good daddy kink and kink negotiation, exploration, and fallout.

Blake/ @newleafover:

Something in the way she mooooooves, 11k. I’m gonna list three by Blake here because I can, god, I love 'em all so much! This one’s set in Davis, too, woo hoo!

Ballet Direction, 22k, series. JESUS, I love everything about this fic so much (so many easter eggs, true, but also the idea of this ballet class, disaster ballerina Harry, we love to see it).

Harriet and Louise, 28k. This one lived in my head rent free for a good long time, and it didn’t disappoint, the perfect Jane Austen story.

Okay, NOW let’s get into some one-off stories, and yes, the authors might have written other girl direction fics, but these are a great place to start...and yes, I know these don’t include EVERY single girl direction fic ever written, but these are some of my faves, most of ‘em recent:

Needy, SelinOriginal, 3.3k. This fic, just wow--give me some Princess Park, some daddy kink, some insecure period sex vibes, and some body worship, and I”m alllll set.

You Saw Me Standing Alone, yeah_alright, 4k. Why does this work so well? OF COURSE, this includes the pairing Harry Styles/the moon, but my god, it works.

Hoist the Colours High, @kerasines, 5.2k. The story Kim was born to write, I sooooo want to see at least 10k more, Pirates of the Caribbean AU.

all down your shoulders and back, eleadore, 5.3k. This focus on Harry’s hair and cutting it was so far ahead of its time, yet absolute canon? In 2014?? Yeah!

let me be yours, louhearted, 6.6k. Come for the daddy kink and Louis calling Harry baby, but stay for the overall softness and canon vibes of it all, yeah!

Got Me an Appetite, zedi, 8k. Honestly, everything in the gaybo fest is MUST READ, but this one fits into what you want to see in girl direction for sure (plus these tags, whew).

Make the Yuletide Gay, @flowercrownfemme, 9.7k. This is literally a Hallmark movie come to life, well, a Christmas in Connecticut AU come to life, but I adore the way Chloe made it come to life.

lend me your thoughts, HappyPrincess, 9.9k. I have (and will) read anything Nin writes, and this one, big WHEW vibes, me as all the comments (canon spanking and kink exploration and exhibitionism, ahoy!).

when half spent was the night, @juliusschmidt, 14k. This advent fic owned me when it came out, and I hold out eternal hope for a sequel (Louis’s pregnant, Harry’s the doula, and that doesn’t even BEGIN to express how much ground this one covers).

Tell Me This Is Paradise, QuickedWeen/ @becomeawendybird, 14k. If you read NOTHING else on this list, this series right here is the one you absolutely have to pick, every installment is hotter than the last, plus the characterization is just so good! But everything else? VER VER GOOD!

Lesbian!Alphas series, bottomlinsons, 20k. I’ll admit it’s been a while since I read this one, but I think the world of fic could use more lesbian alphas (Taylor Swift even sang about it, c’mon!)

#fic rec #girl direction #i am SURE i'm leaving some out...fuck!#i have a feeling i'll add to it later rip #one direction

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hlcreators · 4 years ago

Photo

AUTHOR REC: louistomlinsons / @adoredontour

Be sure to show some love by leaving kudos and comments!

this town’s just an ocean now (31k)

“I have really great friends. Do you remember Louis? You guys were always hanging out when you were growing up.” Harry remembers Louis. Harry remembers Louis. Suddenly, his throat feels way too dry, despite the ice cream he keeps licking at. He chokes a little on a chocolate chip before saying, “I, uh. I remember Louis.” Her face brightens. “We have dinner every Sunday. He owns the house now. His parents moved further north, and he wanted to stay here, so they just gave it over. Now if you want to worry about someone being lonely, that’s who I worry about.” inspired by watermelon sugar, featuring picnics on the beach and boys being dumb

daydream about me (21k)

“Anything else going on for you at the moment?” she asks, leaning forward on her elbows across the table, mindful of the radio equipment in front of her. “What about you and that Louis Tomlinson?” Harry sputters, mouth moving but no words coming out. She can feel her cheeks heat up, darkening with embarrassment. “It’s not, Louis and I, we don’t—” Harry can’t finish the sentence, tongue heavy in her mouth. She takes a deep breath, thankful they’re not being videoed, and tries again, “We’ve never even met, actually.” alternatively titled 'harry styles does not have a crush on louis tomlinson and other lies she tells liam payne'

robbers and cowards (33k)

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think that you’re enjoying yourself.” The familiar voice immediately gets Louis’ blood boiling, shoulders tensing as he calmly spins around, trying not to draw any suspicion to the pair. “You don’t know me at all,” Louis spits, managing to maintain the polite smile he’s been wearing all evening. “You’re just some asshole who always ruins my nights.” “If I keep ruining your nights, why do you keep going home with me?” Harry asks, taking a sip from his own wine glass. “I don’t go home with you by any choice of my own,” Louis says. “I think you’re annoying and I have no idea how I keep ending up in your bed.” “You end up in my bed because you knock on my apartment door at two in the morning.” Louis wants to punch the smirk right off of his face. “Maybe you should move,” is what he says instead. or a modern day robin hood au where louis and harry (don’t really) hate each other but they hate greedy billionaires more

I’m a Rocket Man (47k)

All he could hear were the faint sounds of Pina Colada coming from the radio and his own heart beating erratically against his chest.

“Oops,” he heard coming from the other side of the front window. He quickly pushed the grey rubber towards the back of the car, the rubber of the thing groaning and squeaking as he did so. Finally, after wrestling the thing away from him, Harry came into view, face pressed against the other side of the window.

“Hi.” Louis smiled, looking towards Harry, eyes curious. He almost got lost in the way Harry’s face was so cutely pinched, green eyes glowing in the sunlight. He was brought back to reality when Harry tried to move, causing the grey whatever it was to push against Louis again. “What the fuck is this?”

“Uhh... it’s Randy?”

or, Niall is an investigative journalist, Liam is his biggest fan, Zayn is just along for the ride, and Harry probably isn’t an alien. A roadtrip au no one asked for.

sip it slowly and pay attention (12k)

“So I’ve got a guy I think you might like,” Louis says. He’s standing in the doorway of Harry’s office, drinking from what is most definitely Harry’s mug. “You’re going to set me up?” Harry asks, rightfully wary. He can’t imagine that this could end well. “Don’t look so afraid.” Louis takes a sip from his mug, wincing as it burns him. Harry rolls his eyes. He’s always warning Louis to be more patient before he loses all his taste buds. “I know you better than anyone else. Who better to set you up on dates than me?” “I guess you’re right,” Harry says, still slightly hesitant. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Louis, but. He doesn’t trust Louis’ taste. Louis has about the same track record with men that Harry does, if not quite as extensive. or, harry is a guidance counselor, louis is an english teacher, and harry just wants to go on one successful date

i hope that you won’t slip away in the night (13k)

He turns back to Maybe Jessica. “Who’s going to be here?” “Harry Styles,” she says. “The one-” “I know who he is,” Louis snaps. “Who invited him?” “Uh, you did, sir.” Louis didn’t think that was serious. When he had responded to Harry’s cheeky tweet about the gala with his own cheeky ‘You should come - I’ll put you on the guest list’ he hadn’t expected anything to come of it. Least of all for Harry to show up. or the one where louis is a prince and harry is a popstar

feels like we’re finally free (13k)

louis just wants to write a breakup novel. falling in love was never part of the plan, but the cute barista at his favorite coffeeshop makes him think otherwise.

who’s that girl? (13k)

“So, do you want to tell us a little bit more about why you’re here?” “What do you mean?” Harry asks, furrowing his eyebrows together. “I’m here because I need a place to live and you guys need a roommate.” “I guess let me rephrase that,” Leo (or maybe Liam) says. He taps his pen twice against the notepad, drawing Harry’s attention away from a large hole in one of the walls. “Why do you need a place to live?” “Oh, that’s easy.” Harry sits up straighter in his seat. “I walked in on my boyfriend of four years banging my boss. I couldn’t very well keep living with them, could I?” harry is canadian, louis owns a bar, zayn comes and goes as he pleases, liam's just trying to keep everyone alive, and nobody knows what niall does. a new girl au.

we’re not who we used to be (30k)

“Harry…” Louis’ voice catches in his throat, thick with tears threatening to fall out, so he coughs to clear it before trying again. “Harry is Liam’s best man?” “You didn’t know?” Harry is standing at the entrance of the garage, mouth slightly open and face pulled together. He sets his bag on the ground and puts his hands on his hips. When he does that, he looks just like the Harry that Louis remembers (and loves, he thinks with an aching heart). “I’m sure I mentioned it,” Liam says, but Louis can tell he’s lying by the way he chews on his lower lip and twists his fingers together. “You’re all a bunch of dick heads, I’m getting in the car.” Louis isn’t sure if he’s being unreasonable. He has no idea what the protocol is when your ex-boyfriend shows up after three years and nobody bothered to give you a heads up. He’s pretty sure he’s allowed to be upset about it, even if it’s only for a bit. or an exes to lovers canadian roadtrip au

old macdonald had a farm (5.1k)

Louis is a hedgehog, Harry is a fish, Niall is a parrot, Liam is a golden retriever, and Zayn is Zayn. It’s a crazy twenty-four hours.

or are you giving it to someone else (3.3k)

“Dude, last night I couldn’t tell if he was being murdered or having the best sex of his life,” Louis said, taking a sip of his beer. He tried to say it as quietly as he could in the loud pub, worried about who may overhear him. “Is this your neighbor?” Liam asked. He was newer to the group, and therefore, newer to the situation. He had only heard a handful of the stories about the strange things Louis heard his neighbor doing, as opposed to the book Louis could most definitely write about the man. In the hallways, he seemed perfectly normal. He would smile at Louis and sometimes make polite conversation. He didn’t seem like the type to be having loud, kinky sex every night at the craziest hours of the day. But he was. or, louis hears his neighbor having loud sex through the walls and it's not a problem until it is

The F Word (23k)

When Louis finds himself at a party for the first time after his boyfriend cheated on him, the last person he expects to meet is Harry. They hit it off immediately, conversation flowing all night. Louis finally thinks he’s ready to jump back into the dating scene, when a wrench gets thrown in his plan.

Harry has a boyfriend.

Or, a movie AU based on the F word

tonight’s not over (come over and stay) (16k)

Zayn doesn’t say anything for a moment, pausing and worrying at his bottom lip. Finally, he asks, “Have you heard that Cox guy is coming out with a new song?” Louis freezes, fingers hovering over his keyboard where they had been typing his password. “No, I hadn’t,” Louis says truthfully. “Where did you hear that?” “Tell anyone this and I’ll kill you, but I’d consider myself a big fan,” Zayn says. His face doesn’t change in expression, completely serious as he admits this to Louis. “Big fan? Like run a blog and everything?” or, harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel

honey, honey (7k)

another sorority au that no one asked for - featuring squirt guns, copious talks of marriage, and more useless lesbians.

fall in love with the moon (and everything beautiful) (10k)

“It’s adorable that you think you can compromise with me on this,” Louis says. He places his hands on his hips and tries his best to look intimidating. “But I am not budging on this. Every book pun you say will result in one quarter in the jar.” “What jar?” Harry asks. He furrows his eyebrows together. Louis rolls his eyes. “Like a swear jar, but now I’m going to make yours ‘Harry’s dumbass pun jar.’ Maybe I’ll have you put a quarter in for every pun you say, not just the ones about books. Niall was right - you tell the worst jokes.” “One time Niall told me I’d never said a funny joke in my life,” Harry says casually. “Funny. He told me that too.” or, louis and harry work in a bookstore together and harry tells dumb jokes and they fall in love

get a little bit nervous (14k)

Liam goes to say something, probably something dumb, but he chokes on his spit, coughing loudly. The man in front of him is one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen in his life; he’s got thick eyelashes that fan out and frame his dark eyes and tanned unblemished skin. Liam forgets all of his previous thoughts. “You okay, mate?” he asks, concern filtering into his voice. “Yeah, yeah,” Liam says, still choking and coughing. “Sorry.” “We all reacted the same way we saw Zayn for the first time,” Niall says from next to him, laughter evident in his tone. “He’s a god, isn’t he?” or, ziam farmer's market au where liam, louis, and niall work at the produce stand, harry and zayn work at the bakery stand, and nobody's straight

i’ve heard it both ways (26k)

“I, uh.” Harry is scrambling, trying to think of something believable on the spot. He remembers the woman from reception and her phone call and says the only thing he can think of. “I’m a psychic.” Everyone stills. Zayn laughs, Detective Edwards looks confused, and the officer holding the door open looks mildly frightened. “A psychic?” Zayn gets out between his laughs. “I’ve heard it all. You’re definitely spending the night in the holding cell now. You’re wasting all of our time here.” an au based on the tv show psych where harry is shawn, louis is jules, liam is gus, niall is mcnabb, and zayn is lassie.

i just know you (got to taste like candy) (3.9k)

Harry seduces the cute cell phone repair girl with her phone's wallpaper.

i just want you to dance with me tonight (7.6k)

The sorority au no one asked for. Featuring a prank war, Lirry friendship, and useless lesbians.

beautiful wreck, colorful mess (4.4k)

Harry's been desperate to try out the toys she bought for her and Louis.

she says she doesn’t love me (don’t believe her) (17k)

Harry is a disaster gay who works in a coffee shop and Louis doesn't want to admit she's in love.

only you know me (4.5k)

“It’s just unfair.” Louis can’t help her complaining. “You always get these opportunities I would die for to throw parties. I’ve got, like, a billion siblings, so I never get the house to myself. You’re home alone at least three times a semester. Your parents wouldn’t even be mad or anything.” “That’s not even the point,” Harry says, calmly and evenly. Sometimes it’s frustrating to Louis just how easily Harry keeps her calm. “And what is?” Louis asks, throwing a goldfish cracker in Harry’s direction. It misses. “That I don’t want to.” - Based on the prompt, "Nothing really specific just a harry/Louis sleepover while Harry's parents are out of town involving sexy lady times? "

#writer appreciation week #hljournal #1dsource #fics #author rec

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drawlfoy · 5 years ago

Text

Joint Custody

masterlist request guidelines i’m technically on hiatus until oct 15 but if i really like your request i’ll take it

pairing: draco x hufflepuff!reader

request: oh yes, from maybe late july? i’m sorry for getting back so late to this one

summary: your pet snake is a snake in more ways than one...for example, befriending the most obnoxious boy in your year.

warnings: language, snakes (so if that’s a fear i don’t recommend this)

a/n: ohhh gee it’s been a while hasn’t it? i’m working on my ucas rn, and as an american with literally no one in my area who knows anything about it, i’d be happy to get tips from anyone who knows about oxford ppe. i hope you guys enjoy! i’m taking a little break from mirror, mirror rn since i have no idea what to do w that. also i have never owned a snake so i apologize if i say something incorrect about the care of y/n’s snake

word count: 3,692

tags tags tags @accio-rogers @geeksareunqiue

music recs: i listened to random music so idl

Y/N dug through her knapsack, her fingers brushing past everything but the scales she wanted to feel.

“Monty? Monty? Where are you??” she whispered, flinging her bag onto the potion table and opening it so the light illuminated the insides. Her worst suspicion was confirmed: her magically shrunk corn snake was completely gone.

“What’s the matter, Y/N?” her friend Luna Lovegood asked from the opposite side of the table, her eyebrows scrunched in concern. “Are you missing something?”

“Er...” She took one final sweep of her pockets and her bag before sighing in defeat. “Yeah. Monty is gone again, but this time he isn’t listening to me.”

“Off to snack on nargles, I presume,” Luna said, a smile drifting across her face. “I wouldn’t worry if I were you. He wouldn’t put himself in danger and he’ll always come back to you.”

“Thanks, Luna.”

“Of course.”

With that, her Ravenclaw friend turned and left for her next period, leaving Y/N to deal with the situation alone. She weighed her options: she could, technically, just summon her snake, but then she’d risk smacking him into a wall and injuring him. She could also ask Snape for his help, but one look at the greasy professor confirmed that, as always, he wasn’t in the mood to make the life of a Hufflepuff any easier.

Y/N scanned the room, noting that there was no yellow snake on the floor of the dungeons. He really could move fast when he wanted to.

“Who’s this?”

A familiar voice caught her attention behind her...no doubt originating from the Slytherin section. Against her better judgement, Y/N turned around to see Draco Malfoy staring down at his hands with a wonder she had never seen in his eyes before. Further examination made the cause clear: Monty was curled around his fingers, hissing contently.

“Hey!” Y/N said, catching his attention. “That’s my snake!”

Malfoy’s head shot up, his eyes filling with realization as he connected the yellow and orange colors of the pet to Y/N. “Oh? It seems as though he chose to come over here on his own accord. Probably got sick of being a house traitor, isn’t that right?”

To Y/N’s horror, Monty seemed to agree with the sentiment, slithering up his arm.

“That’s my snake, Malfoy, give him here,” she snapped, holding her hand out. he raised an eyebrow, running a finger down Monty’s scales.

“Don’t do that! Snakes don’t like to be pet!” Y/N was positively fuming as she saw how her pet didn’t even react badly to the physical contact--even though he was supposed to.

“That’s interesting,” Malfoy mused. “He doesn’t seem to mind it when I do it.”

“If you don’t give him back now, I’m going to kill you in your sleep,” Y/N said, whipping out her wand and pointing it at him to emphasize her point. Amusement flickered across his face.

“Okay, okay, you can have him back,” he said, gently unwrapping the snake from his arm and placing it back into her hand. His thumb brushed her palm in the process, and she was surprised to feel how warm it was. “Just remember that if you’re ever sick of hufflepuffs, I’m always here.”

He directed the last part at her snake, affection creeping into the edges of his tone. Once he seemed satisfied that Monty understood, he turned around without another word, grabbed his things, and left Y/N to stand in shock.

Draco Malfoy likes my snake?

The unthinkable happened the next Saturday night. Y/N was getting ready to go spend a nice study session in the library with her roommates and went to grab Monty from his perch, only to find that he was simply...gone.

“Monty! Monty!!”

While she wasn’t a parselmouth, she knew for damn sure that the snake knew she was looking for him.

“Monty, I’m going to put you in a cage if you keep doing this to me,” she scolded, sifting through her room to try and locate her pet. He was, unfortunately, nowhere to be found.

A very scary realization crept into her mind as she worked. Y/N hadn’t seen Monty since dinner...and there was no way that she could be sure that he was even in her room to begin with.

Oh, Merlin, I’m the worst snake owner in the history of snake owners. I didn’t even realize that he was gone...

Once she was sure that her room was snake-free, she burst out of the dorms and into the common room, where she asked everyone if they had seen Monty. There was a unanimous and concerning no from her housemates, only serving to raise her stress levels.

“Retrace your steps?” a particularly worried 7th year proposed. “Monty couldn’t have gone far...and plus, you both get along so well. There’s no way that he’d just leave you like that.”

Y/N nodded and burst out of the door, running down the corridor the way she had just come from and yelling her snake’s name.

She reached the dining hall entrance in record time, panting as she placed her hand on her knees and breathed. She really should’ve just gotten an owl or a cat like everyone else.

A flash of blonde caught her eye, and she turned to see a rather amused looking Malfoy leaned up against the wall opposite to the door.

“Looking for something?”

“You git! Where is he?” Y/N pointed her wand at him and clenched her other first, trying to regulate her breathing.

“I had a feeling you’d come back,” Malfoy said lazily, kicking off of the wall and striding closer to her. “For the record, it wasn’t my fault. Your snake must’ve gotten into my pocket during dinner.”

“He got from the Hufflepuff table to the--”

“Slytherin table? Yeah, I know, I was impressed too.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a hand with a yellow snake curled around long, elegant fingers. “It seems like he has a preference.”

“I hate you,” she muttered, offering her hand to Monty and inwardly rejoicing when he chose to slither onto her.

“Okay,” he responded, seemingly unbothered. “Are you at least going to thank me for taking care of him?”

Y/N studied him for a second. “No. Putting him in your pocket and waiting for me to find you doesn’t count as taking care of him.”

He snorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I can see why he likes to get away from you every once and a while. How did you even get into Hufflepuff?”

“What are you talking about?” she increduled (i don’t think that’s a word but whatever).

“I’ve only spoken directly to you twice, and both times you’ve managed to offend me,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “I can’t imagine how your roommates deal with you.”

“They start by being tolerable people,” Y/N spat, slipping the hand that held Monty into her pocket, “Something that you ought to consider.”

“Ooooh.” He mimed twisting a knife in his heart. “You got me there. Touché.”

“I’m going to see my friends,” she said, glaring at him. “Please come directly to me if Monty ever bothers you again.” She began walking back down the hall, taking extra care to make the ride comfortable for Monty.

“Wait,” he called after her, causing her to stop in her tracks. “He really doesn’t bother me.”

She spun around to face him. “So?”

“Er...” Malfoy scratched the back of his neck. “Look, clearly he likes both of us, and I have a feeling this is going to happen again, so... do you want to just split the time with him?”

“Split the time with my own pet?”

“I actually really like him,” he confessed. “And it’d probably save you the stress of having to deal with constantly losing him...I know that snakes sometimes get bored with just one owner.”

“How do you know that?” Y/N asked.

“Er,,,” He stumbled over his words. “Just...perks of being a Slytherin, I guess. Nothing to think too deeply about.”

Y/N huffed, thinking over the proposal. No matter how much it pained her, it appeared as though her snake actually did enjoy Malfoy’s company.

“Okay. Fine. You have to learn how to take care of him, though.”

“No problem,” he said quickly. “Can I have him tonight?”

“What, need him for a ritual or something? Is it time sensitive?”

He laughed. “No. If I needed a snake, I could just serpensortia my way out of that issue.”

“Fair enough.” She paused before sticking her hand in her pocket again. “I need to go get his food and perch, then. I’ll be back in a moment, okay? You can hold onto him if you’d like.”

Draco seemed to visibly brighten at this remark, nodding and holding his hand out. Y/N tried not to take note of how immaculate his hands were as she allowed Monty to slither back onto his palm.

<^>

Y/N gathered her items quickly, ignoring the glances from her confused roommates.

“I’ll explain later,” she promised, darting out the door before they could ask any further questions.

When she showed up at the meeting place, she was relieved to see a bored looking Malfoy cooing to the snake twisted around his hand. He blushed a deep red when he saw that she heard him.

“Took you long enough,” he drawled.

“I’ve never heard you sound like that,” she said, chuckling instead of acknowledging his previous rude comment.

“Sound like what?”

“You? Cooing to Monty?”

“You’re going batty.” He scowled, putting his hand intertwined with Monty into his pocket.

“Sure. I’m guessing you want to go to the Slytherin dorms?”

“Congratulations on your deductive reasoning,” said Malfoy, rolling his eyes and starting off at a brisk pace. “Try and keep up, will you?”

<^>

On the way, they spoke about official terms: each would get the snake for two full days, and they would meet outside the Great Hall to transfer the equipment. Malfoy was adamant that they not tell anyone about the deal--something about how his parents would die if they knew he was sharing a pet with a Hufflepuff. Y/N was adamant that he finance the portion of food that he was using, which he initially protested to but eventually gave in.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Malfoy began once they stopped in front of the Slytherin common room entrance, “But thank you. For being open-minded. I know we aren’t on the best of terms...”

“No, this is most certainly not good-bye,” Y/N interrupted. “You need me to show you how to set up the perch in your room. And, of course, I need to demonstrate how to feed him. He’s very picky.”

Malfoy swallowed, his hand pausing before the bricks that obscured the entrance.

“Okay. All of the older Slytherins are out at Hogsmeade right now, so I can probably sneak you in.”

“Isn’t Hogsmeade closed to students after 5?” Y/N questioned.

“Yeah. We have our ways.”

With that, Draco muttered the password that she couldn’t quite catch and pushed open the door that appeared.

“Be quiet, though,” he cautioned.

They entered the Slytherin common room. and Y/N was blown back by a gust of damp, heavy air. It smelled like the inside of an expensive, appointment-only store.

“This is kind of cold and unfeeling,” she told him as they neared the entrance to the boy’s dorms. Malfoy looked like he was going to snap at her to be quiet, but something made him freeze.

“Shit. The wards.”

Realization flowed into Y/N. “Oh...oh, how could I have forgotten...”

“Can you just show me how to set it up here?” He asked, nervously passing his hands through his hair.

“No, no, I can’t,” she said. “I wish, but I need to see the layout of your room...there are specific requirements as to where the perch can be placed...”

Malfoy mulled over this for a few moments before letting out a long sigh. “I can’t levitate you past the wards. I have to carry you across.”

Y/N paled, even though she knew that that was the only possible way to make it happen. “Okay. I’ll leave the stuff on the ground. You help me over and then bring the perch and food.”

She set her things down and awkwardly stepped closer to him. Malfoy seemed just as uncomfortable as he held out his arms.

“Turn around and loop your legs over my right arm...like that...”

Before she knew it, she was scooped up off the floor and on the other side of the wards, the expensive silk of Malfoy’s suit pressed up against her cheek. She was surprised, yet again, at just how warm he was compared to his usual cool demeanor.

Malfoy set her down on the ground, and grabbed the box of snake supplies. “Last door on the right.”

<^>

“So you scored a single, huh?”

Malfoy’s room was made up of just a one large bed instead of the standard three that she saw in Hufflepuff dorms, and she couldn’t say that she was surprised. The Malfoys had the connections to get these sorts of things.

“Yeah,” he said absentmindedly. “Anyways, show me what to do. Monty is getting antsy.”

Y/N made quick work of unpacking the perch and locating an appropriate corner to place it. Showing Malfoy how to feed the snake was easy, and before she knew it, they were done.

“Enjoy Monty,” she said as they made their way to the ward again. “Let me know if anything weird happens or if you have any questions.”

Malfoy simply nodded and opened his arms again, signaling that he had to pick her up to let her out. She obliged, turning around and looping her legs over his arm, allowing herself to be scooped off of the ground. It was strange, really, getting moved so gently by someone who she thought, until recently, wouldn’t spit on her if she was burning to death. They were just over the ward when the common room entrance opened and the sounds of many Slytherin teenagers--albeit drunk Slytherin teenagers--filled the room. Malfoy’s face turned sheet white and he spun around, striding back towards his room.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Put me down!”

He didn’t answer her until they were safely inside the room, the door locked tight.

“They’re normally not back until midnight,” he said, his tone rushed. “It’s hardly 10:30...I don’t know what they’re doing here...”

“That’s okay, we can just wait until they all go to bed,” Y/N told him, placing a hand on his arm. “No worries.”

“Er, yes worries,” he corrected, moving further away from her. “Saturday all-nighters are very common here...you aren’t leaving this room until morning.”

“Are you joking?”

“I wish.” His eyes nervously darted around the room as he wrung his hands. “There’s nothing we can do right now, unless you know a very strong disillutionment spell...which I suspect neither of us do. They’ll be out in the common room for a while, and honestly, I should probably join them.”

“You’re just gonna leave me here?”

Malfoy seemed rather conflicted, but he screwed his eyes shut and exhaled sharply. “Yes. I said I would meet them afterwards. This way you can sleep, too. I won’t be here.”

“Are you sure I’m not intruding?”

He let out a shaky laugh. “No, you are, but it’s not your fault. Just stay here and don’t let anyone in unless it’s me, alright?”

“Alright.”

He got up and made to leave. “Oh, and, Malfoy?”

He turned to face her. “What is it now?”

“I don’t want to sleep in my school uniform,” she told him, her face darkened by a blush. “Do you have anything that I can borrow? Just a shirt or something?”

She could see his jaw clench before he ducked his head down and walked over to his dresser, tossing him the first shirt on top.

He was out the door before she could properly thank him.

<^>

Y/N took a long time to fall asleep, but when she finally drifted off, she was out like a light. Malfoy’s bedding was heavy and smelled like green tea and ink, something that she wasn’t expecting but most certainly appreciated.

So, when Y/N jerked awake just a few hours later, she was a little frustrated.

“Hey, hey, Y/N, wake up.”

She opened her eyes to see Malfoy standing over her, holding a candle and looking very tired. “What is it?”

“They’re gone. You can leave now.”

She groaned, turning over and searching for her clock--only to find that it wasn’t there, as this wasn’t her room. “What time is it?”

“3:20. Now are you going to get up, or do you want me to drag you out?”

“You said I could sleep here,” she complained, hardly completely awake yet. “And now I have to walk all the way to my dorm from the dungeons? At night? I don’t think so.”

The candle highlighted the frown etched into his face. “You should go.”

“This is the situation you created,” she countered. “You told me you were pulling an all-nighter. Why don’t you?”

He sighed, this time a staccato puff, and placed the candle holder on the nightstand. “Sorry I lied.”

“Yeah, uh-huh,” she mumbled, turning back over to drift back into sleep.

“Wait, wait! What am I supposed to do?”

“That’s for you to figure out. I’m going back to sleep.”

“But you can’t just--”

“Sh.”

Y/N let herself fall back into the realm of dreams, but not enough to completely lose consciousness. She was aware of a few sounds of movement from the room she was in--she assumed it was Draco, Draco, that sounds much better than his last name--but it wasn’t enough to motivate her to lucidity.

However, when she felt the bed on her opposite side dip, that was more than enough.

“What the hell, Malfoy,” she snapped, shooting upright.

“Can you please be quiet? I’m sorry, it just so happens that you’re refusing to move from my bed, and I have no other options, unlike you.”

“I don’t want to argue right now! Can you just go somewhere else and let me sleep in peace?”

“I could say the same for you!”

The two sat in a heated silence until Malfoy finally took the high road.

“I’m sorry about this, but I’m offering you one last time to carry you over the wards. If you don’t want that, I’m going to sleep in my own bed whether you’re in it or not.”

Y/N swallowed. “Okay. Okay, fine. I’m not going to leave.”

“Goodnight.”

<^>

Y/N wasn’t totally sure what woke her up--perhaps it was the breath on her neck, or the warm arm that was draped over her side, or the tickle of something that felt suspiciously like very vine hair on her cheek--but when she did, her heart almost stopped.

Malfoy had slung an arm around her waist, pulling her closer than what was comfortable. His face was mere centimeters from her own, and every time he exhaled, a few rogue strands of pale hair brushed her cheek.

This was not good. She had to do something--but the most unethical part of her did not want to. Malfoy was no doubt going to be upset when he woke up to see this, and she needed him to be in a good enough mood to let her out of the boy’s dorms.

“Malfoy?” She broke the silence, softly nudging his side with her elbow. He groaned, burying his face into her neck. “Malfoy!”

Y/N gave him a swift shove, effectively detaching him from her.

“Er...what?” He shot up, looking very alarmed and confused. “What?”

“You have to carry me out of the wards, remember?” she told him, slipping out of the covers and pulling them off him. “We should get going as soon as possible. There might be people out in the common room the later it gets.”

He seemed to understand the problem as he swung upright and ran a finger through his ruffled hair.

“I’m sorry about that,” he mumbled.

“Sorry about what?”

“For, er, touching you, I know that I shouldn’t have done that,” he clarified, turning away from her, but not quickly enough to hide the blush on his cheeks. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“It’s okay,” she mused. “I guess if we’re to have joint custody of Monty, we should get to know each other anyways.”

Malfoy froze for a second before he gathered his bearings. “Er, yeah. Yeah, good point. For Monty.”

Once he seemed ready, they left the room, Y/N giving a wave to Monty, who was curled around his perch.

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry about him,” Malfoy told her, spinning her around by her shoulders and opening his arms to pick her up again. She looped her legs over his arms again, leaning back into him and allowing her to lift her up and take her over the ward.

He set her down softly after making sure the coast was totally clear, looking down at the ground immediately after.

“Thank you, Draco,” she said quietly. “For everything. Sorry I was a bit of a pill last night.”

“’S only fair, I’ll been worse to you.”

Y/N couldn’t see for sure, but it appeared as though the very outer corners of his lips had turned up.

“I’ll see you in two days? Outside the dining hall?”

“Yeah.” He sounded almost breathless, like he was winded or something.

“Okay, well..I think I’m going to go,” she said, backing away. “Feel free to show up to the Hufflepuff entrance if you want any help. Or if I’m not there, then you can normally find me in the library, or you can always ask in potions...”

She trailed off once she saw that Draco’s face had broken into an exasperated but amused expression.

“Okay, I should go then.”

“Yeah, me too.”

With that, Y/N turned and left the Slytherin common room with the feeling that that was certainly not going to be the last time she was going to be there.

final a/n: i didn’t know how to incorporate actual fluff in here and i shouldn’t even be writing this rn lmaoooooo but here it is and i’m so sorry if it sucks i haven’t proofread

#draco x reader #draco imagine #draco malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #draco x oc #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x oc #draco malfoy x y/n #harry potter imagine #draco lucius malfoy

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wistfulcynic · 5 years ago

Text

Their Way By Moonlight: Storybrooke (Chapter 13)

SO it is been a LONG time since I last updated this story! I never intended for it to take so long but Stuff Happened and I really struggled to get back into the right mindset for it. BUT! Now it’s back and the mojo is restored and I am going to do my best to finish the whole thing before the summer. Should be another two or three chapters after this one.

COPIOUS amounts of love to all the people who have been so encouraging and patient over the past seven (eek!) months. @thisonesatellite, OF COURSE, who is my absolute rock and without whom I would just be tumbling through the abyss, but also @katie-dub, @ohmightydevviepuu, @mariakov81, @stahlop, @kmomof4, @teamhook and @snowbellewells with her recs and her wonderful, wonderful comments. THANK YOU, and I love you all.

SUMMARY: A new curse has fallen on Storybrooke and this time Emma is trapped inside it, deliberately separated from Henry and anyone else who might help her break it. But what no one knows –including her own cursed self– is that she and Killian have the ability to share their dreams, and are working together in secret to find a way to break the curse and free everyone from a new and dangerous foe.

Rating: M

AO3

Storybrooke:

The meeting room at the town hall was empty when Killian arrived, and his footsteps on the old wooden floorboards echoed through the stillness of the morning. His early arrival was fully intentional; he had a reputation to maintain as a respectable citizen and small business owner, after all, and more importantly he wanted to get a good seat to observe the town’s residents as they came in. He situated himself in one of the assembled chairs, in a corner near the back where he could see more than he was seen, and sipped his coffee while making his best attempt to look unremarkable.

Good luck with that. He could practically hear Emma’s sarcastic retort.

Emma would be here soon, and though it couldn’t be more than half an hour since he’d kissed her goodbye he felt a flutter of anticipation at the thought. After everything they’d been through even short separations were nerve-wracking, and it was taking all his effort not to simply wrap himself around her and hold tight, snarling away anyone who tried to make him let go. Normally Emma would laugh and tell him to get a grip but ever since her memories returned she had been clinging to his hand or arm or hovering in his space whenever they were in a room together, clearly as reluctant as he to relinquish physical contact between them. Such vulnerability from her made Killian’s protective instincts go into overdrive, so much that he almost wished she would shove him away and tell him sharply that she needed her space so he could try to feel normal again.

He suspected that normality might be a long time coming.

Soon Storybrooke’s residents began to arrive, first in a trickle and then a flood, greeting each other and taking their seats, exchanging news and speculation about the reason for this meeting they had all been instructed by the mayor’s office to attend. He observed a few familiar faces: Granny, still wearing her grease-stained apron and Ruby snapping her gum, Mr Clarke from the pharmacy, Mr Wood from the bank. Belle, sitting by herself and staring blankly at the wall. The cricket, nearly unrecognisable in the clothes of a labourer, and the scowling dwarf wearing an actual suit. Killian thought he also recognised the odd face or two from the crowd that had landed back in the Enchanted Forest with him after Pan’s curse struck, but he could produce no names to go with them. He’d been so full of pain then, aching despair at the prospect of never seeing Emma again, that all he’d been able to think of was getting back to his ship and trying to reclaim his pirate’s life.

Mary Margaret arrived, nodding and smiling faintly as she walked up the aisle to take her place behind the long table at the front of the room and fiddle nervously with a stack of papers that lay upon it. A minute later Emma appeared. She didn’t look for him in the crowd but he knew she could sense he was there by the slight softening in her stern expression and the way her fingers fiddled with the lid of her coffee cup as she walked past him. Killian ground his teeth as his own fingers flexed on his cup. He hated that they were still apart even just in this small way, hated that they had all agreed the night before that it would be unwise for the supposedly married town sheriff to start making ‘disgusting doey-eyed looks’—Regina’s words—at the newly established bookseller. He hated the logic and the sense behind that decision even as he bitterly resented yet another obstacle standing between him and his wife.

At least she had her memories back, he attempted to console himself. And enough of her magic reserves replenished to put a sound-proofing spell around their bed the night before. A sound-proofing spell that was particularly necessary since she had also convinced Regina to spend the night on the sofa in his apartment rather than stay at the sheriff’s station again.

He shifted in his seat and pushed away the memories of how they’d taken full advantage of that spell, refocusing his attention instead on the crowd. Henry was back at school that morning, despite his vehement protests and whining insistence that he should be allowed to go to the town meeting too, but Killian had promised the lad to remember every detail and fill him in on all that happened and most particularly who was currently present in Storybrooke and what their circumstances appeared to be.

“If I’m going to help them find love again then I have to know what love is missing in their lives,” Henry had explained to his stepfather and both mothers over dinner the night before. “It might not necessarily be love love, like what Mom and Dad have.”

“Romantic love,” supplied Killian.

“Yeah. Cuz remember Mom broke the first curse with True Love’s Kiss on me.”

“So it might be parental love,” said Emma.

“Yep. Or just like best friends love. What’s it called, Dad?”

“Platonic,” replied Killian.

“Uh huh. Or even, like, love of a pet or a hobby or something. Not True Love, capital letters, just any love.”

“And are you sure that’s all that’s needed to break the curse?” asked Regina. “Just love?”

“We’re not sure of anything,” said Killian. “But the lad’s theories are sound, and Zelena herself confirmed that there is no love currently present in Storybrooke.”

“Do we think Zelena knew how the first curse worked?” wondered Emma. “How Rumplestiltskin wanted it broken so he could go and find Neal, and that’s why he put my parents’ True Love on the scroll?”

“Almost certainly, I think,” said Regina. “She intended to torture me indefinitely and she’s too clever to cast a curse without knowing exactly how it would work. She may be insane, but she’s not stupid.”

Henry frowned and toyed with the lasagna on his plate. “Um, Moms,” he said.

“Yes,” replied Regina and Emma as one.

“Speaking of my dad… Neal, I mean… do you know where he is?’ He looked up, eyes huge in his small face. “He is here… right?”

Emma and Regina exchanged a glance.

“Sorry, kid, but I don’t remember ever seeing him,” said Emma. “I don’t even know—since he wasn’t here during the first curse I don’t really have any idea of what his role would be in Storybrooke.”

“And I haven’t interacted with anyone except Snow and Charming,” said Regina. “And…” she frowned as she thought, “also Belle. She works at the market, on the register. I used to see her every day.”

“Okay,” said Henry, still frowning at his plate.

“Don’t worry, Henry, we’ll find him.” Emma reached out and squeezed her son’s hand. “We always find each other, remember?”

Henry gave a small smile and nodded.

Remembering the sadness in Henry’s eyes, Killian scanned the crowd once again for any sign of Neal as Emma took her place next to her mother at the table and Mary Margaret called the meeting to order.

“H-hello,” she said. “I-if I could have your attention.”

Silence fell in the hall and all eyes turned to her. She gulped visibly and panic filled her eyes as they darted around the room, observing all the solemn faces focused on her. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence then Mary Margaret released a breath and smiled.

“I’d like to call this Storybrooke town meeting to order,” she said in a much stronger voice, her eyes fixed on someone in the crowd. Killian followed her gaze to where David was sitting, looking much more like his old self in a blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, smiling encouragingly at her.

Well, thought Killian. That’s promising.

“The first order of business is to announce that Mayor Green has resigned her position and I will be the Acting Mayor until an election can be held,” continued Mary Margaret. “Anyone wishing to run can get the paperwork from the Town Records Manager.” She nodded towards the end of the table where a youngish man with prominent ears and large glasses nodded in acknowledgment. Killian frowned. He didn’t recognise the man. Which wasn’t in itself remarkable as there were many people in Storybrooke he didn’t recognise, but this particular individual had the same air of a wild creature caught in a small cage that Killian had remarked on in his interactions with Mr Wood the banker. Who was himself an unfamiliar face.

“I’ll now open up the floor to questions,” said Mary Margaret.

“Why did Mayor Green resign?” piped up a gruff voice from the back of the room, and Killian could see Emma in the corner of his eye trying not to roll her eyes.

Mary Margaret drew a deep breath. “That’s a good question, Leroy,” she said. “And I’m sorry to have to tell you all this but former Mayor Green has come under suspicion of fraud and misappropriation of town resources.”

“What town resources?”

“I’m, er, afraid I can’t be any more specific while the investigation is pending,” said Mary Margaret, looking pleased with herself.

“But she didn’t resign then,” continued the voice, which Killian had now determined was that of the irritable dwarf who seemed always to be shouting. “She was forced out.”

Mary Margaret’s pleased expression faded and Killian suspected that she also was trying not to roll her eyes. Like daughter like mother, it seemed. “It amounts to the same thing,” she said. “She’s no longer the mayor.”

“But I think we have a right to know what—”

“Leroy, please!” Mary Margaret waved her hands in an exasperated gesture that knocked her coffee cup off the table and sent it flying, crashing to the ground and splashing coffee all over the floor and on the shoes of the people in the front row. “Oh!” she cried. “Oh, no! Can anyone… does anyone have a mop? Or a—a tissue, or something?”

The crowd began to shift as people patted pockets and looked in purses and then there was the sound of a door opening and movement from the far corner of the room. A janitor emerged, dressed in grey coveralls with a baseball cap pulled low over his face, lugging a pail and mop along behind him.

“Ah,” said Mary Margaret. “Thank you, Neal.”

Killian stiffened and he could see Emma do the same. The man gave Mary Margaret a small nod and took out his mop, and when he turned to wipe up the coffee on the floor Killian got a clear glimpse of his face under his cap.

Well, lad, he thought, we’ve found your father.

A triumphant sneer curled Regina’s lip as she sauntered into the sheriff’s station, at the sight of Zelena curled up on the hard cot in her cell, asleep. After a year of suffering at this woman’s hands, seeing her there pleased Regina even more than when she’d had Snow in much the same circumstances, locked away and at her mercy. The room still seethed with magic, dark and untethered and increasingly wild with no one to contain and control it, woven through with the faint glow of the light magic left by Emma. Careless, thought Regina with a sniff. Emma left traces of her magic behind everywhere she went. It all but oozed from her, more natural magic than Regina had ever seen attached to any one person before.

At least she’s finally learned how to use it, she thought as she drew on the light magic, careful to temper it with some of the dark—though she couldn’t help noticing that touching the light hurt far less than it once had, and thinking that Henry would be proud to hear that—and wove it into an invisible but very sharp point. Which she then used to poke Zelena through the bars of the cell. Right in her backside.

Zelena shifted on the cot but didn’t awaken, and Regina with a gleeful grin took the opportunity to poke her harder.

“Oi!” cried Zelena, waving her hand at the unseen irritant. “What is it—oh. Regina.”

A cutting retort died on Regina’s lips at the look on her sister’s face. Her sister. That was still hard to grasp. Zelena looked… tired. Worn. Defeated. Which was good, obviously, but still it tugged at something unfamiliar and uncomfortable in Regina’s chest.

“Well?” said Zelena wearily. “What are you here for? To taunt me, I suppose.”

Regina had absolutely intended a taunt or two but she wasn’t about to admit that, not once Zelena had guessed it. “I wanted to talk about your curse.”

“Ah, yes,” a small, nasty smile curved Zelena’s lips. “My curse. The curse you can’t break.”

“We’ll see about that.” Regina couldn’t help needling her, despite the solemn promise Hook—Killian, damn it—had extorted from her the night before, not to let Zelena goad her into revealing too much.

“Yes, I imagine we will.” Zelena’s smug and haughty demeanour appeared to be back in full force, her brief moment of vulnerability passed.

Regina ground her teeth. “It shouldn’t be too hard,” she said. “It’s not much of a curse.” Zelena sputtered indignantly and Regina twisted the knife. “Barely in place a year and already weakening,” she taunted. “Though to be honest, I’m not surprised. It never was quite right, was it?”

“Not quite right?”

“No. There’s always been something off about it. Everyone’s noticed. Henry, Hook. Emma, now that she has her memories back. It’s distorted somehow, like… like a painting done by someone who’d only ever seen things through a mirror.”

Zelena’s eyebrows twitched, just the smallest hint of movement but Regina did not miss it.

“Through a mirror… that’s it, isn’t it? You used mirror magic to what… reflect the curse back into this world?”

It was a stab in the dark but she could tell it landed firmly on its target by the anger that flashed in Zelena’s eyes, and the hint of fear. She laughed, a loud, triumphant laugh. “Which would mean that it isn’t even your curse! It’s Pan’s, modified by me then simply twisted and re-formed by you. Third-hand magic. Oh, that is delicious.”

“It hardly matters,” Zelena hissed. “You still can’t break it,”

“As I said before,” sneered Regina. “We’ll see about that. Thanks for the information, sis. You’ve been very helpful.”

When the town meeting ended Killian waited until most of the others had left before making his way out of the room. He was walking down the nearly empty corridor to the main doors when a hand grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him into a small office.

“What the devil—” Before he could finish his sentence white smoke whirled around him and he found himself back in his apartment with Emma in his arms. He frowned. “Swa—” he began but she cut him off again, this time with a hard, intense kiss.

Her body was rigid with tension as he ran his prosthetic hand down her back and curled his fingers into her hair. He gentled the kiss to try to ease whatever was troubling her, moving his lips soothingly over hers until the tension drained away and she relaxed against him, pressing her forehead to his as the kiss ended with softly clinging lips and they sighed into each other.

“I’m not complaining, but what’s this about, love?” he murmured.

“I just missed you.”

“I missed you too, but—”

“And I was worried.” She reached up to stroke his cheek, running her thumb along the thin scar that crossed it. “About how you’d feel. Seeing Neal, I mean. The last time we were all together, he was, well—”

“Vying against me for your heart, aye, I remember.”

“Are you gonna be okay with him being here?” she pressed. “With him being in Henry’s life once the curse breaks?”

“Of course I’m okay with that. He’s Henry’s father.”

“Yeah, but you’re his dad.”

Killian cleared his throat over the lump that formed in it. “Indeed I am, and nothing can take that away, Emma. I love Henry and he loves me. But there’s more than enough room in his heart for a father and a dad. He has two mums already, after all.”

Emma gave him a searching look. “So you’re really okay?”

Killian took his time answering. It wasn’t an easy question, and though he’d known he would have to face it eventually he had tried not to think on it overmuch until seeing Neal that morning had brought the issue into sharp focus.

“My relationship with Baelfire has never been simple,” he replied finally. “He’s the child of my first great love and also of my greatest enemy, father of the boy I call my son and the first man to hold my wife’s heart. It’s not going to be easy after the curse breaks and he learns what’s transpired between us, and between myself and Henry. But despite everything, even despite his unconscionable conduct in leaving you alone in jail, I still care for him and I want to try to find a place for him in our lives. If that’s what you wish.”

Emma nodded. “It is. I know it won’t be easy, but I don’t want to keep him away from Henry. If he wants to be in his life, and in ours, I think we should try.” She smiled at him. “I love you.”

He smirked. “I know.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You finally watched Star Wars!” she exclaimed.

“Aye, Henry insisted.”

“And? What did you think?”

“Preposterous, from start to finish. However, I did enjoy the space pirate and his ship.”

“Space pirate,” scoffed Emma. “You would.”

He laughed and hugged her closer. “I love you too, Emma.”

“I know.”

They kissed again, soft and lovingly this time, and Killian let himself sink into it. He really needed to get downstairs and open the shop and Emma was already late for her patrol, but she was also soft and warm in his arms and he thought perhaps they might be able to spare the time for just a brief dalliance…

The door to the apartment opened and someone made a disgusted noise. “Can’t you two keep your hands off each other for five minutes?” said Regina’s voice. They turned to see her standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “I need to speak with the sheriff, alone if you don’t mind.”

“Aye.” Killian cleared his throat and gave Emma one more kiss, lingering as long as he dared. “I should get to the shop anyway,” he told her. “Come and say goodbye before you leave.”

“I will.”

Emma kept her eyes on her husband until the door closed behind him, laughing at the cheeky grin and raised eyebrow he gave her as he shut it. She turned to Regina.

“So what’s up?” she asked.

“We need to talk about what to do with Zelena.”

Emma sighed. They definitely did need to talk about that, and also she really didn’t want to.

“I’m guessing you have some suggestions.”

“We need to get rid of her.”

“By ‘get rid of’ I assume you mean ‘kill’.”

Regina shrugged. “Dispose of her.”

“Meaning kill her.”

“Well, if you insist on putting it in such blunt terms, yes,” Regina huffed in annoyance. “It’s too dangerous not to. We know what she’s capable of.”

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “We can’t kill her.”

Regina glared at her. “Why did I know you would express that opinion, Miss Swan?”

“It’s Mrs Jones, and I don’t know, maybe because you know that I’m not going to condone murder?”

“Oh yes, of course, how could I forget, heroes don’t kill,” Regina sneered. “And also, really? You’re taking the pirate’s name?”

“Oh, I have no problem with killing in justifiable circumstances,” snapped Emma. “But you can’t just up and take out someone who isn’t threatening you and hasn’t been convicted of a capital crime. And yes, why the hell wouldn’t I take my husband’s name?”

“So you want to let the woman who cursed this town just walk free? And honestly I figured you for more of a feminist.”

“Um, in case you forgot you’re also the woman who cursed this town so are you really going to argue that cursing towns deserves the death penalty? And I don’t see how sharing a last name with my husband and my son is un-feminist. We’re a family.”

“Regardless of who cursed what, we’re going to have to do something with Zelena. And are you seriously telling me that you changed Henry’s name to Jones?”

“Zelena can stay in her cell until we come up with a better idea than ‘hey let’s kill her!’ And yes, Henry’s name is Jones now, it’s on all his documents. If you want to change it back you’d better first ask him and second figure out how you’re going to undo all my magical forgery.” Emma knew the smirk on her face was a bit smug, but she couldn’t help it. She was proud of that forgery.

Regina ground her teeth. “If I had my magic—”

“Well, you don’t, so why don’t you use that angry energy to think of a non-lethal way to take care of Zelena. What did you use to do in the Enchanted Forest?”

“In the Enchanted Forest we executed people when they got in the way!”

“You mean you executed them when they got in your way!”

“Yes!”

“Well that explains a hell of a lot!”

Regina threw up her hands. “We’re wasting time here,” she snapped. “We need a strategy and we need it soon, before Zelena figures out how to use her magic again.”

Emma frowned. “Can she do that? If her amulet’s broken?”

“She might be able to.” The anger faded from Regina’s eyes and posture, replaced by worry. “She’s very powerful and with a lot of—” her lip curled “—natural ability. The only person I’ve ever seen with the same raw skill is you, which is why you need to be the one to deal with her.”

“But I can’t—”

“Yes you can, and more than that you have to.” She sighed, and the look in her eye turned pleading. “There’s no one else.”

Emma bit her lip. She had an idea, just a little glimmer of a thought tickling the corner of her mind. It might be crazy—it was almost certainly crazy—but it also might work. Before she could do anything, though, she needed to do some research.

“Okay, look, we can’t do anything today,” she said, holding up her hand to silence Regina’s protest. “For now, Zelena’s not a threat and I don’t want to rush into anything until we know exactly what we’re doing.” Killian was right, Emma thought. Strategy first. This time she wasn’t going to jump into anything until she was fully prepared. “I’m gonna go grab some books from downstairs and do my patrol,” she continued, “then I need an hour or so at the station. Can you meet me at the loft at about one thirty?”

Regina nodded. “That should be fine. I actually want to have a look in some of the pirate’s books myself.”

“Really? What do you need to read about?”

“Mirror magic.”

Regina left the bookshop with a bag full of very intriguing books—she made a mental note to find a way to pry out of Killian precisely where and from whom he’d obtained them—and headed down the street towards Granny’s. So engrossed was she in her thoughts and plans and theories about how Zelena had cast the curse that she didn’t see John Wood until she’d walked right into him, knocking the takeout bag from his hand and sending it flying into the bushes.

“Oh!” she cried. “I’m so sorry! It was an accident this time!”

“This time?” he echoed with a quizzical smile.

“Oh.” Damn it. “I mean, the last time too. I’m just sorry I keep running into you. Or not—not sorry to be running into you just… running into you.”

She’d never felt more flustered or less regal and she could feel her cheeks burning, but then he laughed and gods she’d missed the sound of that laugh. It was warm and… merry, for lack of a better word, and it made her heart pound and the flush on her skin grow hotter. They were still standing close together and as she drew in a deep breath she felt a small pang of regret. He smelled wonderful, but it was all wrong. Laundry soap and cologne and not a trace of pine. She never imagined she’d miss the scent of the forest clinging to his skin, but in that moment she’d have given anything to smell it again and to have those eyes look at her the way they once had, all too briefly and too long ago.

Do not think about his eyes. Or his skin.

But they drew her, those eyes and their twinkle, and while there was still no real recognition in them they seemed… clearer than they had yesterday. Like something had been lifted. Like they belonged to a more carefree man.

“Do you want to have dinner with me?” she blurted, and the heat in her cheeks became an inferno. She managed to keep her face straight but cringed internally, bracing for refusal, preparing a withering put-down for when it came.

“Oh,” he said, blinking in surprise. “Ah. Um. Yes. I would. I mean, just in a, er, a friendly way or as as a—”

“As a date,” said Regina, emboldened by how obviously and—yes, damn it—sweetly flustered he was. “Tonight?”

“Ah.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Um, yes. Tonight is fine. Wh—where?”

“Meet me in front of Granny’s. About seven?”

He grinned, wide and warm, and she felt like she could soar. “I’ll see you then.”

Emma was already at the loft when Regina arrived, crouched in the corner near where Henry had grappled with Zelena two days before. When she heard Regina arrive she stood to greet her. “Hey,” she said. “I’ve been here like ten minutes. What kept you?”

“I ran into someone.” Regina’s cheeks were bright pink and she wouldn’t meet Emma’s eye. Emma stared.

“You’re blushing!” she exclaimed.

“No, I’m not.”

“You are! Who did you run into?”

“No one.”

“Oh, come on, Regina!”

“Fine, it was John Wood. From the bank.”

“John Wood?”

“Yes. We’re having dinner tonight.”

“You’re having dinner. With John Wood, the banker.” Emma doubted she could be more astonished if Regina had announced her intention to dine with Zelena in her cell.

“Yes.” Regina was standing stiffly, wearing her best haughty queen expression. “Now if you’ve satisfied your curiosity Mrs Jones, can we get back to the matter at hand?”

Emma narrowed her eyes. John Wood hadn’t been in Storybrooke during the first curse, yet it was obvious that Regina knew him. She wouldn’t go on a date with a random cursed banker, not unless she knew who he was un-cursed. The new faces around Storybrooke were a mystery Emma fully intended to get to the bottom of but she also knew that with Regina she needed to choose her battles. Now was not the time to fight this one.

“Sure,” she replied with a shrug. “First I just need to have a look at this.” She crouched down again and indicated the knife that was still lying on the floor, the one Zelena had used to threaten Henry and Henry had used to do something Emma still wasn’t quite sure she understood. He seemed to have actually cut into her magic with it, slashed a hole clean through her spell and then jumped through it to get to Zelena. There was no way that should have been possible but it happened, and Henry’s actions may have saved them all. She just needed to figure out how.

She had a few theories already, fleshed out by the research she’d done this morning, and now as she peered down at the knife on the floor, appearing as innocuous as any deadly weapon could look, she reached out carefully and prodded it with her magic. There was no dark magic in it that she could detect—no magic at all, in fact. It really was just a knife. Just an impossibly sharp knife with a short blade, double-edged, each edge made of a different metal. One side gleamed bright like polished steel and the other she’d never seen the like of before, shadow-grey but with a sort of dull glow that gave her the creeps.

Gingerly she picked it up by its wooden handle and held it out to Regina. “Have you ever seen this before?” she asked. “Or anything like it?”

Regina frowned. “No. But something about it it feels wrong.”

“Wrong how?”

“I don’t know. It has no magic, but it just—it doesn’t seem to fit in this world somehow. And I don’t just mean in this realm.”

“I know what you mean,” said Emma. And it was what she’d been hoping to hear.

“What are you going to do with it?” Regina asked.

“For the time being, keep it somewhere safe.”

Just… be careful.”

“Always am,” muttered Emma. She pulled an evidence bag from her pocket and carefully placed the knife inside, weaving a quick reinforcing spell into the plastic and tucking it into Killian’s satchel, which she had brought along for that precise purpose.

“So,” she said, laying the satchel aside. “Let’s get started. What do you have in mind for this place? Not back to the way it was, I’m guessing.”

“To your mother’s cutesy boho-chic?” scoffed Regina. “I don’t think so. Make it someplace I can live in.”

“And Henry?”

Regina nodded. “And Henry.”

“Okay.” Emma flexed her fingers and reached for her magic. “I think I can work with that.”

Several long hours later Emma poofed herself into Killian’s apartment and collapsed on the sofa with an exhausted sigh.

“All right, love?” he called from the kitchen where he was cooking something that smelled amazing.

“Yeah, I think so. I finally got the loft decorated to Regina’s satisfaction, so she’s going to spend the night there.”

“Mom’s going to live at the loft?” Henry poked his head out from his bedroom.

“Yeah, kid. I think we all felt that one night of her staying here was one night too many. For all of us.”

“Not for me!” cried Henry. “I barely got to see her!”

“Which is why we fixed up a room for you at the loft,” said Emma. “You can go there whenever you want.”

Henry brightened. “Can I go tonight?”

“If you’d like. Eat here first, though. Regina,” she paused to glance at Killian, “has a date.”

“A date!” he exclaimed.

“Yep. With Mr Wood from the bank.”

“Interesting,” murmured Killian.

“It is. I don’t recognise Mr Wood, he was definitely not here with the first curse. Henry do you have any idea who he is?”

“No, but if he’s dating my mom I’m gonna find out,” said Henry. “I’ll see if he’s got a story in the book.”

“What boo—wait, the storybook? You’ve got it?”

“Yep.” Henry ducked back into his room then reappeared a moment later waving the familiar brown leather book. “It showed up in the bookstore this afternoon when I got home from school. I’ve been looking for clues to how I can bring everyone’s love back.”

“Good plan.” Emma heaved herself up off the sofa and went over to wrap her arms around Killian and lean her head against his shoulder. He kissed her hair in an almost absent gesture as he concentrated on stirring a simmering pot.

“What is that?” she asked him.

“Bouillabaisse.”

“Booyah what?”

“Its fish stew, Mom,” said Henry.

“Um…” Emma shot her son a panicked grimace and Henry laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s really good. Dad’s a good cook, he can make even gross stuff taste nice.”

“High praise indeed,” said Killian with a grin, though the word dad reminded him that they still hadn’t told Henry about Neal. He glanced down at Emma and could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking the same.

“After dinner,” she murmured. “Let’s just have a quiet family meal, just a moment of peace. Then we’ll tell him.”

“Aye, love. It’s a plan.”

@thejollyroger-writer @jennjenn615 @tiganasummertree @lfh1226-linda @winterbaby89 @ultraluckycatnd @resident-of-storybrooke

#cs fic #cs ff #cs ff au #cs magic au #cursed storybrooke #captain swan #cursed captain swan #captain cobra #captain cobra swan #some outlaw queen #mysteries #references to the subtle knife #their way by moonlight #profdanglaisstuff

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pftones3482 · 5 years ago

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Hi! I've been following your site & see you're fairly politically active. I kno this is kind of a wierd question, but I really don't know anyone else who is politically active. I want to help this movement in anyway I can, & I'm not in a position where I can go to a rally & I don't have money (I have written/emailed letters though), and I wanted to ask you if making a website centralizing info on protests would be useful? Thanks for your time and I hope you stay safe!

Hi!

First of all, thank you for reaching out! Its really awesome that you want to help out, even if you can't do so financially (which I understand - the most I've been able to donate is $50 to the Bail Fund project, and even that was probably more than I could afford rn since I just quit one of my jobs). Protesting, petition signing (and sharing!!!) and supporting black owned businesses both online and in your local area are all ways you can help out without spending a ton of money (buy your pizza you were gonna have for dinner from a black owned pizzeria instead of Dominos or Papa Johns, for example, esp cause both companies support Trump)

Secondly, I am white, so while I can give you generalized advice on protesting or working to be a good ally or staying up to date on current events, I think you should seek out some black bloggers to follow. I unfortunately don't know of any off the top of my head (I'm actually more active with this on Twitter and Tik Tok), so if any of my followers have suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments!!

In the meantime, here is a post I reblogged with links to ways you can help.

In regards to creating a website, a bunch of people have already gotten together and put one up! I'm linking it here, please let me know if it doesn't work.

Again, if anyone has recommendations for (or you are!!) a black run tumblr account, please let us know in the comments! And if you want any Twitter account recs (most of the ones I follow are specific to my city, so it might not be too helpful) or TikTok creators to follow, hmu.

Please stay safe if you go out to protest, remember to take time to mentally unwind (people were not made for this type of constant stress), and stay hydrated. And pls for the love of god, if you go to a protest, wear a mask and bring sanitizer. We're still in the middle of a pandemic, after all.

Edit: I realize I kinda rambled a bit lol, but hopefully this can be helpful to some of my other followers too!

#protests #blm #black lives matter #blm protests

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belphegor1982 · 5 years ago

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Thought I’d make a the Mummy/Returns fic recs posts for @counterwiddershins (EDIT: whom I can tag now!) because they asked for recs. So here are my favourite (complete) Mummy stories under the cut in alphabetical order, title-summary-why it’s on my list style. A few are Old, because I discovered this fandom in 2003 and there’s some great oldies. Hope you - and anyone else looking for great fics - enjoy them!

As Sweet as This / Coming Clean, by robot-iconography

Summary: Evelyn reflects on the changes Ahm Shere has wrought upon her brother, husband, and son. / Rick takes his life in his hands as he faces his greatest challenge ever: fatherhood.

Comments: I put these two in the same bag because they’re basically a diptych. They’re like two sides of the same coin. On one hand, you have a lovely story in Evy’s voice, on the other, a hilarious one in Rick’s. Both stories are sweet and more touching than they sound.

Circumstantial Evidence, by robot-iconography

Summary: “She could be damnably silly at times; she dressed like a spinster and carried herself like bloody royalty; but she was my baby sister, the only one I’d ever have. I’d been through hell to get her back, and now I was going to lose her anyway.”

Comments: Probably my favourite Mummy story ever. I love it so much I translated it into French in 2004, and even more so now I’ve read PG Wodehouse. Basically, there is canoodling, funny misunderstandings, and the closing scene is adorable (and made me discover Ella Fitzgerald’s “Always”, which is perfect as Ella Fitzgerald always is). Peak Carnahan siblings shenanigans and a great Rick.

Deeper Within Darkness, by Laurie M

Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged that wherever Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan are, trouble is not far away. What begins as an innocent night out soon leads to danger that threatens all of Egypt.

Comments: a great follow-up on the 1st film, with still-developing relationships, a mysterious medallion, and ghostly (sort of) crocodiles. The main four are very well written. 3rd person limited POVs alternate with 1st person POVs in a very natural way, allowing us glimpses into the characters’ heads. Sometimes a little bit sombre, but a lovely story.

A Favour for a Friend, by queueingtrilobite [orphan account]

Summary: Roped into doing a favour for a friend, Jonathan finds himself in charge of an antiques shop in Cairo. This is honestly the very last favour he's going to do for anyone. Ever.

If you ship Ardeth and Jonathan, there’s plenty of fun and/or feelsy stories for you! Like this fun little romp, which features a hilarious style, a Jonathan who is equally good at thinking on his toes as he is as making disasters happen (being a bit of a disaster himself).

Finding Ma’at, by exchequered [orphan account]

Summary: “Hamunaptra Cruises.” Ardeth’s tone was thoughtful. “Do you not fear a curse upon your enterprise, for naming it thus?”

Another Ardeth/Jonathan fic - and boy, this one is *chef’s kiss* I mean, the only three tags are Tourism, Pining, and denial is a river in Egypt :D

Hereafter, by Marxbros

Summary: After TMR. Imhotep has raised Ancksunamun and conquered the earth. Rick, Evy, Ardeth, Jonathan, and some new characters must find each other to defeat Imhotep once more.

Comments: ooh, this one’s a monster to tackle (134k words), and it gets pretty epic - and is worth every second of reading. The OCs are great, necessary, and everyone gets their chance to shine.

Never Spellbound by a Starry Sky, by robot-iconography

Summary: Strange goings-on mar Rick and Evelyn's wedding preparations. Can they and Jonathan solve the mystery?

Comments: another follow-up on TM, as Evy and Rick navigate their relationship and how much they should wait before any sort of hanky-panky. Life interferes in the form of a mysterious object (though NOT the obvious one) and the three are thrust into adventure again. There are battles with the mosquito netting, someone getting a few stitches on their arse (again, not the obvious choice), and all the chapter titles come from dialogue from Elizabeth Peters’ Crocodile on the Sandbank. It’s often hilarious and the dialogue is to die for.

The Mummy: Curse of the Seven Scorpions, by Jac Danvers

Summary: Libby O’Connell hasn’t heard from her brother in years. The word ‘mummy’ meant nothing to her. But when a tiny gold scorpion is revealed to have much greater value, she is thrust back into her family’s life, and the life of a man she once hated.

Comments: back in the day, the “Rick’s sister tags along and falls in love with [usually Ardeth]” trope was a staple of Mummy fanfic, and one I didn’t have much interest in. This little story, mostly set after TMR, is a fun romp; Libby is a good character, well handled, and the little developing romance with Jonathan is fun to watch.

Sidekick, by madsthenerdy girl (on FFnet here)

Summary: Jonathan honestly tries to be a big brother. No, really.

Comments: Fantastic portrait of Jonathan through the years, warts and all, and his relationship with Evy (and later Alex). It’s heartfelt, often funny, and honest (sometimes painfully).

Take That, Bembridge Scholars!, by seren-ccd

Summary: The world has been saved and there's really only one thing left to do. Evy writes a strongly worded letter to the Bembridge Scholars. Oh, she gets married, too.

It’s a great look at Evelyn, Rick and Jonathan in a few scenes, from the night after Hamunaptra to the start of Rick’s and Evy’s life as a married couple, interspersed by extracts from the aforementioned strongly-worded letter (and it’s great).

The Tenth Plague, by Khedi (on FFnet here)

Summary: Did anyone while watching The Mummy wonder about what would have happened if the tenth of the Biblical plagues had come to pass?

Not a death fic (well, not quite) but a great little look at (again, I’m nothing if not predictable) the Carnahan siblings just after they get back to Cairo after The Mummy. It’s a punch in the feels and a hug. I love it.

Travelers by Night, by 20thcenturyvole

Summary: Very quickly, Jonathan weighed the odds. On one hand, potential death, whether by armed bandits, a mummy’s curse, or people who looked like bandits and who were very angry about someone unleashing a mummy’s curse. On the other hand, potential riches, home ground, and topics of conversation other than what happened at school fifteen years ago and who got it in the neck where.

A great look at Jonathan post-first film and a great take on Ardeth, too. Can be shippy if you tilt your head and squint, or not. Your call.

We Three Together series, by Tinydooms

Basically a series that can act as a novelisation for The Mummy, mostly “missing scenes” and character studies. A joy to read if you like Evy, Rick, and Jonathan.

The Witches’ Library, by jones2000 (on FFnet here)

Summary: He would like to state emphatically for the record that none of this was his fault, thank you very much. It was all entirely coincidental. He should know by now that these things have a tendency to snowball. Or, Jonathan doesn't need the O’Connells to find trouble.

Comments: I read this last year and it immediately made my shortlist of favourites, on top of hitting me in the heart and over the head with the subtlety of a freight train. I even made a rec post about it. The writing is so sharp it might as well be written with a bloody scalpel, the OCs are fascinating, and Jonathan is somewhat jaded but still wonderfully entertaining. It’s the only post-WW2 Mummy story I’ve ever loved (read?), and certainly the only one that incorporates Tomb of the Dragon Emperor elements I’ve ever loved. Give it plenty of reviews, it deserves them.

Edited to add a few and make it more dash-friendly :o)

Also, I wrote a few things if you’re interested:

After the Sunset: What’s left to do, after saving the world and riding triumphantly into the setting sun? A lot, as it turns out. Our Heroes ride camels, negotiate the shift from acquaintances and allies to something like a family, and encounter a couple of surprises good and bad on the way back from Hamunaptra. (Or, the one where Evelyn and Rick discover the contents of their saddlebag, Jonathan finds out that whiskey doesn’t quite cut it when a scarab has burrowed its way into your hand and arm and out your shoulder, and Ardeth gives his name and saves the day. Well, night.)

Long one-shot set just after “the end” of The Mummy.

Fairy Tales and Hokum: 1937: Two years after the events of Ahm Shere, the O’Connells are “required” by the British Government to bring the Diamond taken there from Egypt to England. In Cairo, while Evelyn deals with the negotiations and Rick waits for doom to strike again, Jonathan bumps into an old friend of his from university, Tom Ferguson. Things start to go awry when the Diamond is stolen from the Museum and old loyalties are tested...

This one is looong. It’s 160k+ words. (also took me 16 years to finish but shhh)

Carnahan-O’Connells musings and snapshots: Headcanons and one-shots about the disaster family.

Like it says on the tin - mostly headcanons with a few actual stories with dialogue.

I know, there’s not a lot of them, but they’re my very favourites. If you have other recs, feel free to add them!

#fic recs #the mummy films

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homosociallyyours · 6 years ago

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2018 Fic Year in Review

I know I’m ridiculously late with this, but here we go. I was tagged (weeks ago! yike!) by @horsegirlharry -- thank you, dear!! I appreciate it <3

1. Number of stories (including drabbles) posted to AO3: 34! 11 of those are from the seasonal drabble fests, and 8 are short little ficlets under 1k, but that’s A LOT more than I’ve ever posted in a year before.

2. Word count posted for the year: 118,598. I know this is nothing for a lot of folks, but this is easily double what I’ve written in the entire time I’ve had an AO3 account up til now. I have always said that it’s important to keep writing if you feel like it even if you only have a few readers, but this is change in stats is all down to people liking, commenting on, and sharing my works. It really makes a difference to have other writers rec your work and be excited about what you’re writing, so...support your fellow content creators, people!

3. List of works published this year (in order of posting) I’m not gonna link drabbles, but they’re easy enough to find if you wanna! -Are You Gonna Be My Girl -In 36 Questions or Less -This Opening Monologue Studies Rainbows -4am -One of Those Days When You’ve Got Nothing On -I’ll Say It Everyday -Talk That Talk -I Love It When We Play 1950 -Mudpies -Just Swipe Right -Ready to Run Away -The World It Turns, No Matter What -These Days I Don’t Even Know Myself -Half of the Story -Just to See That Smile -In the Cards -Can’t Beat the Heat/Taste on Your Tongue/Cool Cool Cool -I Believe it This Time -Our Own Little French Club -I’m Half a Heart Without You, Baby -You Shine Like the Real Thing -On the Road Again With You -A Love So True You Don’t Have to Be Afraid -Our House (It’s A Very Fine House) -Are You Thorny, Baby? -When Everything is Perfect -Our Friends Keep Talkin’ About Us -The Christmas Lift -The Cold/Comfort/Christmas Cuddles -You Bring Us Together (Can’t Tear Us Apart)

4. Fandoms I wrote for: All the fic I published on AO3 was for One Direction, though I did publish a few ficlets for Sherlock (this is my favorite of those, a little parentlock featuring genderqueer Ro Watson)

5. Pairings: Harry/Louis, Liam/Zayn, Sherlock/John

6. Story with the most hits: Talk That Talk with 3531 hits

7. Story with the most kudos: The Christmas Lift with 264

8. Story with the most comments: The Christmas Lift with 22 comment threads

9. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Probably “You Bring Us Together (Can’t Tear Us Apart)” because it was ot5 and I really struggled with working out some of the plot points near the end.

10. Work I’m least proud of (and why): None. Writing isn’t easy and I do the best that I can with everything I write :)

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: UGHHH THIS WAS TOO HARD. So eventually I gave up and picked this little bit from “Our Own Little French Club” because I love Harry’s sweet gay fantasy moment. “Maybe next semester. I requested it, anyway,” Louis said, clicking to the red ink of Harry’s four color pen and doodling in the margins of the notebook in front of her. With anyone else, Harry would’ve requested they move to a new page. But Louis? She could leave her mark wherever she liked.That thought spurred on a fantasy of Louis drawing a line up from Harry’s bare knee and under the soft fabric of her skirt, the pen skidding over her skin until Louis held it taut with her free hand. A free hand that could slide up, too. Up and--“Hazza.” Louis’ voice interrupted Harry’s reverie and she closed her eyes to clear the images from her head. “Did you hear what I asked?”

12. Share or describe a favorite review you received: The reviews on “You Shine Like the Real Thing” are my absolute favorite because a lot of people have said that they’ve struggled with what Harry struggles with in the fic--figuring out their identity and expression as they come out as LGBTQ+ As someone who struggled to find the femme identity that feels like my home, I’m glad to be able to share some of that through fiction.

13. A time when writing was really, really hard: Always, honestly! I’m struggling with fatigue and chronic illness, and some days I just don’t have the ability or energy to focus and get words out coherently.

14. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Writing as Louis in my 5 days of Louis series (incomplete, but the final fic is actually pretty much finished and just needs a little polish) was surprising for me, because I think it was one of the first times I wrote from Louis’ POV and I found it so comfortable.

15. How did you grow as a writer this year: I wrote longer fics than I ever had before--that’s probably the main thing. I also signed up for the big bang and am working on a fic that will end up being twice as long as the longest thing I’ve written so far, so that’s pretty big for me too!

16. How do you hope to grow next year: I’d like to maybe set word goals for myself to meet every month and do my best to publish fic more regularly (in addition to doing challenges)

17. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): My beta, @statementlou, has been my number one cheerleader and inspiration, always giving me prompts when I need them and encouraging me to keep writing when I felt like walking away from something. @harryincamp has also been there for me and always supports my fics in the best ways. I’m glad we met on here! Also, the community of writers in the 1d fandom has been such a positive influence!! I’m gonna tag a ton of people, though I’ll probably leave some people out. Basically I felt welcomed and included by so many people right from the start of joining this fandom. So. Massive thanks to: @lululawrence, @horsegirlharry, @gaycousinlarry, @fullonlarrie, @suddenclarityharry, @disgruntledkittenface, @crinkle-eyed-boo, @rosegoldhlfics, @allwaswell16, @a-brighter-yellow, and @helloamhere I KNOW I AM FORGETTING PEOPLE. FUCK!!!

18. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: Yeah, basically writing girl direction has allowed me to bring a lot of my life to my writing. Lesbian not-dates? Femme identity issues? Definitely my life. Also my last fic of the year, the ot5 reunion fic, was set in the Bay Area, which let me use some of my experiences living here. I’ll probably do that more this year, tbh!

19. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: If you like something another writer has done, comment and subscribe to their work and don’t be afraid to message them. Most people want to talk about their work, and having people to message with when you’re struggling to feel inspired is immensely helpful.

20. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: MY BIG BANG FIC OMG!!! It’s a girl direction AU set in a lesbian bookstore in 1970s NYC, and I’m loving writing it so far. After that’s done, I’m thinking of tackling the Sherlock/1D crossover fic that I’ve been scheming over for a year now. It’s time!! Beyond that...I’ve no idea!

21. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. OK, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this thing from a lot of people in the 1d fandom, so I’m just going to tag some writers in other fandoms and folks I don’t *think* have done it. If you haven’t done it yet and want to, please do!! Tag me in so I see your answers :)

@aprillikesthings @velvetnoodle @zooeyscigar @perpetuallyvex @ennisgarlaend @pendragoff

This was a lot of fun! Thank you for giving me the chance to look back over the year <3 I hope some other folks will do the same!!

#about me #my writing #1d #long post #text post #year in review #i am so proud of how much i've written #and how much i like what i've written

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twopoppies · 7 years ago

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Any fics where you thought the pacing was spot on ? Or character development?

OK, this is actually a really hard request! So, I’m going to give you some that I think fit the bill. But note that there a few on this list that have great pacing but you might find the characterization, while very good, may not be the typical H/L characterizations you’re used to. But they’re too good not to rec! Hope that makes sense! Ok...thank you to my GCs for helping me brainstorm a bit!

Great Characterization and Pacing!

So here we are. by @sweariwouldnt (NR, 3.5K)

Louis isn't sure if they're keeping on or giving up.

One day to believe in you by Mediaville

A mysterious force compels Louis to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Even when it's really inconvenient.

Harry blinks and has the nerve to look surprised. "You think about me when you get off?"

"Yes," Louis says. He wonders how hard he'd need to punch himself in the face to knock himself out.

"Often?"

"Yes, Christ, Harry," Louis groans. "Probably eight times a week for going on six years now. On average, you know. More when we were touring, less when I've been visiting family. Anything else you'd like to know?"

So Much Left to Say by myownspark / @myownsparknow (M, 8K)

Reason #32: Cheer Someone Up.

Harry remembers Louis stalking along the Cougar’s sideline as the final seconds of the game ticked away. He was apart from everyone, with his arms crossed and his head down, sort of fragile looking even in his pads and helmet. Harry’s fingers actually itched to hold his hand, just as they do now.He holds the phone up to take a selfie and smiles into the camera, trying to ask Louis a question with his eyes. (Are you really okay? Tell me the truth. I bet you’re sitting on your bed, playing Madden, sulking. If you want to see me, I’ll come. I know you better than anyone. You’re sad. I’d like to come.)He pushes send.

(Harry and Louis play for rival high school football teams, and when they play against each other in the Homecoming game, someone has to lose.)

love to make him moan by say_thanks (E, 8K)

they fuck like they're sex starved, when they're really, really not.

Alien Roadtrip! by @helloamhere (M, 16K)

For the first time in his life, Louis doesn’t know where he’s going. Harry doesn’t mind.

OR: roadtrip with desert feelings, too much snack food, and empty motels. Harry is definitely absolutely not an alien. That would be ridiculous.

With love comes strange currencies by Mediaville (E, 16.5K)

One day One Direction will be over and Louis won't be around Harry every waking moment. He'll be able to finally get some space, let their bond dissipate as it's bound to do, if they don't mess up again. He can move to Costa Rica and forget that Harry Styles popped his first knot inside him. Until then, he's going to have to deal with this.

or, They're Accidentally Mated and Dealing With It Rather Badly.

Don’t Let the Tide Come and Take Me by kiwikero / @icanhazzalou (M, 29K)

The aquarium in the lobby has been there as long as Louis can remember, and so has the merman inside. That is, until the day Louis loses his job and decides to set the creature free.

They set off on a road trip to the sea, learning to communicate more and more each day. Their destination is LA, but the closer they get and the more Louis gets to know the merman, the more he dreads having to say goodbye.

Or, the one where Louis decides to set a merman free and ends up finding his own freedom along the way.

Be My Little Good Luck Charm by 100percentsassy (E, 35K)

In which Harry is a promising amateur golfer making his debut at the PGA Championship, and Louis is a Sky Sports anchor who would really rather be commentating on footie.

The other boys are around too: caddy!Niall provides victory pints, Liam is Louis's Very Serious co-anchor, and poor Zayn just gets his face drawn on.

Yellow by 13ways / @13ways-of-looking (E, 85K)

The city of Gotham turns blood red with a new, mysterious criminal element, a beautiful woman named the Blind Cupid.

She threatens to tear the fabric of the city apart, aided by her deadly protégé, the Cat.

Can Batman stop them?

Will he resist the bewitching allures of the Cat?

A Batman/ Catwoman AU

(Take Me Home) Country Roads by Awriterwrites / @a-writerwrites (E, 86K)

“Sir, I can help you. Just let me — “ He tried moving closer but the eldest child blocked his way. He backed off, putting his hands out in a passive gesture. “I’m a physician. I can help,” he tried again.

The man shook his head vehemently, passing the cup back to his grandchild. “Tol’ ya. Don’t need ya.” All of the fire had gone out of his voice, leaving behind a frail, sick old man with barely any breath to talk.

“I have medicines...I could make you comfortable…” Louis’ voice was still small, but pleading.

“Mountain Mama cares for wha’s ailin’ me. Don’t need no fancy city doctors.”

Louis blinked at the man, still shaking from the coughing spell. Mountain — well, fuck. That backwoods, uneducated scam artist…

“Of course he is,” Louis said curtly.*****OR a Northern Exposure AU featuring Louis as the big city doctor, Harry as a natural healer, Niall as a secretive barkeep, Liam and Zayn head over heels for each other but they don't know it and a lot of hurt, comfort and moonshine in between.

Like an Endless Summer by objectlesson / @horsegirlharry

“You just wanna go fawn over Styles as soon as possible,” Zayn grumbles.

“I do not. Plus, he probably got ugly this year. Eighteen is an awkward time...I bet he’s got acne and one of those terrible fuckboy haircuts all the hipsters are getting these days, with the shaved sides? Just watch, the first year we’re gonna get any time together is gonna be the first year I don’t have a stupid crush on him.”

---

Or, Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun.

Your Name Is Tattooed On My Heart by Mcpofife (E, 87K)

Louis is ready to find the love of his life, but first he has to stop falling for the punk rocker next door.

Through Erie Chaos by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics (G, 102K)

For as long as anyone can remember, Old Hillsbridge Manor has always been believed to be haunted. Everyone in the village agrees and keeps a respectful, fearful, distance. New in town after a bad breakup and an internship that led to disappointment rather than a permanent job, Harry Styles figures taking pictures of the decrepit building could be a great new creative project. Or at least a much-needed distraction while he searches for a job and crashes at his parents’ new house. No one warned him about the apparitions though; about the music, the laughter, the people who flicker and vanish when you call after them, the echoes of a past that should be long gone… Harry has never believed in spirits but even he can admit that there’s something weird going on. What starts as mere curiosity evolves into a full-blown investigation and soon enough, Harry finds himself making friends with an aristocrat from the 1920s and struggling with finding the best way to tell him that he’s dead.

The Ghost Hunter AU where Niall lives to prove ghosts are real, Zayn is a skeptical librarian and Harry gets caught up in a century-old mystery and catches feeling in the process.

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach (E, 160K)

When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

I feel certain that I’ve forgotten some that I love...but I hope this is a good start!

#my fic rec #larry fic rec #great characterization and pacing #Anonymous

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itsadrizzit · 7 years ago

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Day 4

Day 4

In your own space, create a fannish wishlist. No limits on size or type of fanwork; just tell us what you’d like to see. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. And if you grant a wish, do the same thing!

Once more I'm a day late to the party, but I'm hoping I can manage two posts today and get caught up. In this case, the biggest item on my wishlist has been stated much more eloquently by others and there has been much discourse around it in the past day since everyone else posted, so I will just link you to some conversations happening here and here before I add my thoughts since I rather feel like the person who showed up fifteen minutes late to the meeting and burst in with my brilliant idea that everyone has already finished discussing. I keep telling myself someday I'll be relevant. I keep being wrong. That done, here is my wishlist in no particular order. It gets a bit self-indulgent and existential in parts, as is the way of any wishlist I manage to throw together:

Transformative Works Statements

Time

Curated Rec Lists

More podficcers in my fandoms

1. Transformative Works Statements This is the thing that others have said much better than I, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't still include them, since there are still those out there who don't even know that Transformative Works Statements are something that exists, let alone their utility. Essentially, these statements express your intentions for what people can/cannot do with you work. They're something that makes things easier for those creating transformative or derivative works of your work since you express your preferences up front, which saves podficcers or artists or translators or remixers or vidders or whatever the time and energy of contacting you to ask permission to create their art based on your art AND it saves you (should you choose) having to answer all those asks. Many podficcers, myself included, won't even consider making a podfic unless the author has blanket permission to do so, and in my case I generally won't even read a fic unless the author has blanket permission. I realise this is a bit of a hardline and as far as I know I may be the only one with this stance. It's not that I don't think that other fics aren't lovely or captivating or monumentally worth reading...it's that I have a VERY limited time to read fic (see #2 below) and I don't want to run the risk of reading something, falling in love with it to the point that I want to podfic it, and then have to go through the process of asking permission and possibly not hearing back. I get really excited to create things and I 100% understand that authors don't owe me anything, but I want to know that if I fall in love with a fic I can podfic it and the best way for me to do that is limit myself to things that give me permission to do so up front. I have a lot of anxiety and awkwardness around asking authors permissions and this is a way I manage both my time and my self-care. I come off as really blunt here, I realise. I'm not. I'm also an author. I respect the right of refusal. I just also exercise my own right of refusal to read. So. Transformative Works statements. They can be yes. they can be no, they can be maybe. The whole point is for you to express your intentions so that people know. Put it in your AO3 profile. Put it on your Tumblr page. Put it on your DW. Put it wherever your fic is posted. If you give a "maybe, please ask" that's fine, but then give a place where it will be convenient for people to ask AND where you will somewhat regularly check the messages. Often, podficcers are on a deadline for fests/gifts/challenges and we spend a lot of time playing the "is the author just busy or have they left fandom or are they blatantly ignoring my ask" game, which none of us wants to play, trust me. I want to re-emphasise. IT IS OKAY TO SAY NO. People have their reasons for not wanting derivative works created and that's fine. You don't owe those reasons to anyone. It's better to (respectfully) say "Sorry, but please don't make transformative works based on my work." than to say nothing. Note: I say "respectfully". I mean, your profile and your statement are your own, so do whatever you need, but don't expect podficcers and other artists not to get a bit upset at you if you say "Podfic is awful and doesn't count as an art form and I hate it so please don't do it because it's gross." 2.TIME Yes, okay. We all want time. I get that. But! Lately as I become more involved in fandom, I'm noticing that I don't have time for all of: consume canon/source material, create fanworks, participate in reading/consuming others' fanworks, comment on others' fanworks and respond to the comments on your own fanworks. Honestly, it's two full-time jobs for me somehow and I honestly don't know how most of you manage it. I can MAYBE do two out of those things, but three just has me spending every waking moment that I'm not off doing my actual job just trying to keep my head above water in fandom, and that is not the fandom experience I want. Sadly, consuming others' work and commenting/responding to comments is the thing that falls by the wayside more often than not, which has the effect of making me feel rude and selfish and also slightly disconnected from fandom, neither of which is what I want. So I need to find time or a balance or a better system or...SOMETHING. Which brings me to #3. 3. Someone to make me curated fic/podfic/fanwork rec lists I told you we were getting a bit self-serving. So here's the thing. I would LOVE to read more fanfic. I would. For one thing, it's hard to podfic if you haven't actually *read* any fic, since you haven't found anything to record. For another, I have all these fandoms that I say "I am in this fandom" and LOVE the canon, but when it comes to actual fannish spaces I'm like ehhhhh I haven't actually read a single fic in that fandom. Again, this makes me feel a bit disconnected since I feel like I can't always fully participate. For another, it makes me feel a bit selfish because I have friends in those fandoms and I want to read their work, but I just...don't. And they are highly supportive of me and my work and then I'm over here like "thanks for loving my content, I can't be bothered with yours!" This will come off.........poorly, I think, but I'm nothing if not blunt and honest and I never learned how to temper my answers with niceties the way many other more eloquent people have, but...I really don't have time to read anything but the best fic. It's true. I mean, the idea of taking the time and effort to wade through things I don't like is just...I'd rather just not read anything. I acknowledge that this is me being precious because FANDOM IS FREE and no one owes me anything, but it's the way things are. Partly, this is why I choose podfic over fic most of the time. 1. because I can listen to it all day while working or commuting or walking so I can actually consume it in spaces where I can't consume fic. 2. It's usually, at its heart, a fic rec. Someone else in this fandom has taken the time to read this story and loved it so much that they wanted to read it over and over again and then listen to it over and over again as they edit. Safe to assume, it's probably pretty good fic. 3. I can put it on in the background so if it's not the best work, eh, I can shift my focus elsewhere. That said, I'm usually pretty conscious to leave feedback for the fic author if I enjoyed their story via the podfic. I think that's important. I can compliment the podficcer on their reading, but if the story itself moved me, it's important to also tell the author that, since they are the ones that crafted the narrative. So, what I want, is some way to easily access a compiled lists of "If you read no other fic in this fandom, I recommend you read these". And then I will read them. Because sometimes I look for fic I want to read and it takes me an entire evening and I have 50 AO3 tabs open and I just look at it in despair like...fuck it...and close the whole situation, thereby negating all the work of my evening, and that makes me sad because I want to read fic. 4. More podfic in my fandoms Grasping at straws here. I exist mostly in small fandoms and small spaces within those fandoms and even fewer podficcers hanging out in those fandoms and just...it's not that I *mind* creating my own fanworks, it's just SO LOVELY to think that there are fandoms where you can listen to OTHER PEOPLE read you stories instead of just the sound of your own voice. Add to this my point above that in many cases podfic is the way I consume fic/participate in fandom and it's just...when you're the only one in your space making the podfics you then have to do all the legwork of reading the fic yourself and it takes more time and we're back in this circle of FANDOM IS EXHAUSTING. So....those are my thoughts. I understand that they are not necessarily nice and that they are probably coming off as harsh. That's just sort of...the way I communicate, for better or worse. I wish I had the art of putting things delicately, but it's not in my culture, sadly. I'm happy to engage (respectfully) on any of this because I assure you that I'm well-meaning and probably just not coming off as well as I want to. Thanks for reading this far if you've made it.

#fandom snowflake challenge #snowflake challenge #snowflake challenge 2018 #transformative works statements #fandom #fandom meta #fanfic #fanwor #discourse around fandom #in which I am trying to be polite but you wouldn't know it

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