#that they’re their favorite? do they even know that people are relying on their fics for comfort or anything???

[flowingredscale]

i know most of u follow me for reasons entirely unrelated to my fics and ao3 and stuff but Man i am really debating either not posting anymore or taking down my stuff. idk its just like. rahhhh

[fruitsoxs]

hi socks just wanna let u know i have been thinking about those vashwood as roommates headcanons and i always come back to it cz it’s somehow??? so comforting??? 10/10 chef’s kiss thank u!

it's honestly my comfort au-- so here's a part two ! (here's part one)

Having Vash and Wolfwood as roommates would include(part two);;

warnings;; I included some nsfw headcanons this time. they're at the end and have a warning. This also has a bit of fighting/angst that ends in fluff notes: i have a couple of fics in the work for this au. let me know if there any big moments you would like to see written out into a full fic! (also possibly a knives spin off??)

Their jobs/majors

I kind of feel like Vash is studying in the science department. Specifically something that has to do with plant science? Botany, Environmental science, maybe even biology? I know it’s a little on the nose but I really do think it would work perfectly for him

Maybe he even opens up his own little flower shop in the future??

No matter what he has a lot of labs and he is always tired after them.

He probably has a part-time job as a barista at a little cafe on campus

No thoughts just Vash in a cute little apron

He’s a fan favorite among the college kids. They say he makes the best coffee, and he sometimes gives people little freebies when they look sad

His manager Meryl actively yells at him for it, but she doesn’t actually care that much.

He ALWAYS will give you freebies if you come in to visit him. He gets a free drink as an employee, and he’ll save it for you just in case you come in. Sometimes he’ll even take it to go and drop it off for you

Wolfwood gives huge phycology vibes. Mans had a messed up childhood and wants nothing more than to help other people through that stuff

Either that or he’s an art student. I can see that too

He takes school very seriously, but he is horrible at math. He cannot divide to save his life. He’s had to retake his math class like three times

His job? Well nobody knows and at this point everyone is too scared to ask. (He’s a security guard lol)

Whatever it is, he hates it. He comes home grumpy and needs lots of hugs and kisses.

He’ll be all pouty and pissed off, and then you’ll give him a little kiss on the cheek and a small smile will break out 

Bonus; Knives is on the track to becoming a surgeon. I will die on the hill that he is going into the medical field. (he’d look so good in scrubs) and i know McDonalds knives is kind of funny, but I'm thinking he’s actually and EMT. Imagine getting hurt and having Knives be your first responder (id die on the spot)

First Date

It’s not really a date- well you don’t call it a date. Vash just walks in with a couple of free tickets to a haunted house event thing  and asks if you and Wolfwood want to come

You’re like hell yeah

The drive there is like the calm before the storm. You listen to some music, seated in front with wolfwood driving. He definitely has his hand on your thigh. Vash is super excited about finally doing something that isn’t getting high and playing games

You all thought it was gonna be some dumb little spooky house. They’re never that scary. It’s just fun to see all the decorations and actors

Oh boy were you wrong

It’s so well put together. The actors are really into it, and they have amazing make up. When you’re standing in line, some clown girl walks up to Vash and you watch the regret build up on his face. The guy is already terrified

The first hallway is pitch black, and you have to rely on a feeling your way through it. Vash is mumbling about how much he hates it the entire time

Wolfwood is like “Don’t worry guys I’ll protect you.” And then proceeds to let out the loudest scream when the lights come on and there’s a girl dressed up as a ghost standing there

Soon all three of you are huddled up, holding hands, and shaking

These things should not be that scary!!!

It’s Vash who gets you kicked out

He gets so spooked that he runs into a bunch of boxes and knocks one of the fake walls down. The entire thing has to stop to fix it

You’re all banned

After that you go eat pancakes and complain about how scary it was

When things get tense

Fights can happen sometimes

None of you are perfect, and those boys have gone through some shit

Vash tends to shut himself away from you when he’s upset. He doesn’t come out of his room, and when he does he pretends like he’s fine. 

He doesn’t like burdening other people with his problems.

Eventually it just starts to feel like he doesn’t trust you enough to let you in. SIt gets really bad when he tells you to go away one day, and you watch Wolfwood walk into his room 30 minutes later

It doesn’t really turn into a fight. You just get sad, and even a little insecure. So, you avoid him back. Not because you’re vengeful, just because you feel hurt

A few days of the two of you not talking and Vash is in tears by your door

He begs for forgiveness and explains why he’s like this

You tell him it’s okay, but what he does really hurt you. He promises to work on it, and he does

That night the two of you make up for loss time

Wolfwood and you fight a lot more

Most of the time it’s silly little arguments that you solve pretty fast

Wolfwood is bad at communicating in general. But especially when it comes to his feelings

He has really bad days sometimes, and he can get grumpy really fast these days, and one day you really piss him off

He won’t tell you what you did though, he just gives you the cold shoulder

That pisses you off because you’d so be willing to talk it out and apologize, but he won’t tell you what you did 

So you’re mad now too

Things are tense between you too, and it all comes to an end on movie night when you start arguing about what movie to watch

You want to watch one of your favorite movies from your childhood and he says that it’s a stupid movie

Things get heated fast, while Vash just disappears into the background. He that the two of you need to workout your problems on your own (but he really wants to intervene) 

When the tears start falling, Wolfwood immediately stops

He takes a breath, and the two of you sit down and just talk. 

You talk ALL night about what happened, and what the two of you could have done better. In the end, you fall asleep on his chest while he plays with your hair. 

You have movie night the next night to make up for it, and he puts the movie you wanted to watch in before you can even talk about it ( he ends up loving the movie and after that you two watch it all the time)

Id have to make an entire other thing for when Vash and Wolfwood fight because it’s no fun for anyone

NSFW stuff

After the three of you finally get past the awkward stages and start fucking, you find out these two are…horny

They’ll grab you and go to town any time

They really like to share you, but there’s no jealousy in the relationship so it’s okay for one on one time as well!

Wolfwood will pull you into steamy make out sessions whenever. He’ll do it out of nowhere. I imagine he just really likes you, and can’t get enough

He’s very handsy. He’ll constantly have his hand on your hips, or your thigh, and your waist. He likes touching you

He’s the type to sneak risqué touches in public. He like watching you struggle to not let anyone else know what he’s doing

Quickies everywhere with Wolfwood

Vash is a lot more loving (not that Wolfwood isn’t loving– he probably has cried during sex) 

Vash takes his time though. He wants every moment with you to be special. He likes to do stuff like rubbing your back, and peppering kisses down your shoulders. He’ll run his hand up your shirt, and kiss your neck softly. He builds up to it

He really likes shower/bath sex. It’s intimate and relaxing

He also like when you take control (i know he’s a whimperer)

He is so bad at any type of public sex though. He gets embarrassed way too easily (and i think Wolfwood has fun with that) 

When the three of you do it together it’s fucking electric 

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Since I see you've asking lots of people this, I'm throwing the love right back at ya!

It’s “appreciate yourself” hours! Pick five pieces of writing/art that you’ve done that you love and talk about them! ❤️❤️❤️

aowhebfofhsnwowuwbe AHHH YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS MADE ME ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for asking ❤️❤️❤️😭

Well, let’s see…

I know this isn’t a popular AU of mine, but I really love the Imprisoning War AU (and, consequently, Golden Mercy as well) with my whole heart. Also it has invaded my brain so freaking much I might actually explode LOL. Idk, my mental health and life in general have been not as optimal as I would like, and this AU has been my outlet for that, which is why it’s far more hurt and less comfort than most people like. But I relate to the characters in different ways (people pleaser Link my beloved haha dude I get trying to make everything work for everyone and trying to say yes to everyone and burning yourself out; forever alone and somehow the most rational one Hemisi I feel you girl; everyone relying on you and you have to do it because when you don’t the world falls apart Zelda keep up the good fight girl), I like exploring what happens when you really push the “Zelink has to happen every time, even at the expense of other relationships” agenda that sometimes is tossed around (no hate to Zelink or its shippers, I enjoy some Zelink ships and I know many Zelink shippers who are wonderful. I just hate the idea of forcing them together all the time when there are other relationships that are clearly there lol, I’m salty about how Hyrule Warriors handled it but it was fan service so whatevs. ANYWAY. It creates great drama), and I like showing a realistic depiction of the absolute, if you’ll pardon the expression, shit show that would be left behind in the wake of such a disastrous war that Ganondorf created. It also sets up Ganondorf’s expectations, worries, and views really well for Golden Mercy, and I’m pretty excited to write a Hyrule Warriors long fic and try to redeem that giant jerk while still making it realistic and recognizing he’s a complicated guy. :) They’re all complicated, and I love characters so it’s just so much fun for me. Also, making anybody turn into a good Dad is obviously a passion of mine LOL. I’ll shut up now, but I really love this AU. ❤️ (technically I lumped two stories together for this but they’re all part of the same AU so… there lol)

Blood of the Hero is probably my current favorite long fic that I’m actively updating. The LoZ fandom is sorely lacking good parental figures (and I understand part of that is because Link just doesn’t have parents in his games and partly because people are projecting and that’s understandable), so I wanted to fix it dang it. LET LINK HAVE PARENTS WHO LOVE HIM. BOTW TALKED ABOUT HIS FAMILY. Anyway, I also love letting adults actually have a role in saving the world instead of always leaving it to the poor overwhelmed kids LOL, making them middle aged parents is an absolute bonus. And Abel being constantly tired and burnt out and done with the world speaks to my soul, and Tilieth being the one to hold on to hope despite everything and still have sensitivity and femininity to her while still being a strong character also speaks to my soul. I love them both, and I love showing how determined they are to protect their kids, as any good parent should be. They’re heavily inspired by my own parents, as well as myself, and what I would interpret Link’s parents to be like based on his upbringing and personality, so it was really fun creating their personalities. :)

I have so many Sky-centric stories that I love, but I think my favorite is probably Paradox, I had such a fun experience writing it and loved the idea of giving Fierce Deity an origin story while creating a sense of urgency and confusion and mystery and wrapping it all in a sickfic. :) I cranked that sucker out in thirty minutes and I still think it’s one of my best one shots.

I can only take partial credit for this since @nancyheart11 came up with the original premise, and because @smilesrobotlover has contributed so much as well, but I do love Dad Squad with all my heart. They’re such idiots, I adore them and their quest to save their sons who already technically saved themselves because they’re heroes. Also, the latest development in my brain of including TotK Ganondorf as the main villain from Hero of Shadow seems appropriate in making the big baddie a Bad Dad in a Dad Squad story LOL. Having Majora’s Mask in the hands of Kohga gives me life, though, and I will forever be grateful to Nancy for coming up with that premise HA. I haven’t written much for it lately, but I do love it so much. Also props to her for publishing it on AO3, I could never LOL, I’ll just throw random things on tumblr hahaha. Also, just all the fun we’re all having - the fact that multiple people have written/drawn for this AU makes it all the more precious to me, they’re our collective characters and we all get to play in the sandbox. ❤️

I don’t do much art, I’m not very good at it, but I do want to share one since I’ve shared a bit of it. I have a few pieces I’m actually really proud of, and it’s equal liking for all of them, but I’ll share just one so I don’t talk too much.

I really like this one because for once I kind of drew a face well?? And it’s at an angle I don’t usually draw and it turned out ok?? Also I’ve never drawn rain or wet hair, and I think it turned out well. And I just like Power’s design, especially at this stage in his life where his war attire/design is mixing with his royal attire/design, even if I can’t give it justice. :) Also, I think his tired expression turned out pretty well? Like he has an actual expression?? Anyway. I think it’s decent, I like it. :)

Thank you for this ask, it made me really happy and I couldn’t wait to answer it! :D But I have like 60 works on AO3 and even more here on tumblr, so there was no way I could narrow it all down, but I think I’ve listed most of my absolute favorites. :)

[shewhowas39]

NSFW Alphabet Tag

so i was tagged by @kittenintheden a hot minute ago, and i'm finally getting around to this!

i'm answering this for June and Astarion from my longfic, Juniper & Starlight, but since that fic is still in act 1, I'm gonna answer these from the perspective of Act 3, when my smut fics are set. just to give me more interesting answers.

***

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

cuddly. June relies a lot on physical touch to help keep herself grounded - a little protection from the urges and the visions - so some snuggling is always appreciated. and Astarion is like a cat curling up against he warmest surface (in this case, June) he can find.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

June likes her legs. they're the most muscular part of this wizard's body, and she can run quite fast. her favorite part of Astarion is his mouth. she loves that little smirk of his, and she loves the things his mouth can do to her.

Astarion likes his own hands. he has such perfect control over them and they do so much - they weild knives, they unlock doors, they disarm traps - and he's very confident in his ability to use them to drive June insane. his favorite part of June is a tie between her ass (soft! squeezable!) and her eyes, which are an unusually dark shade of blue that absolutely destroy him.

C = Cum (where does your muse prefer to cum/have someone cum)

inside June is the answer for both of them. both like to be able to feel the moment the other orgasms.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

by act 3 i don't think they really have any dirty secrets in terms of sex stuff? June is a very honest person - she hates lying - and Astarion isn't so honest, but by this point, June can read him well enough that there's not much point hiding things from her. so...no particularly dirty secrets, i'm afraid.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

June doesn't remember how much experience she has, but based some muscle memory, she suspects she's had at least two or three partners in the past because she does know what she's doing. but she's also realized that - in the wordsof Shadowheart - her heart is in her clit. so most likely all of her past partners were people she had a relationship with, not just casual one-time hookups.

Astarion, we all know, is very experienced. not necessarily by his own choice. and yes, he does know very well what he's doing.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Astarion, as we've all been told, likes missionary. it took him a bit to do it with June because it felt too personal, but by act 3, he prefers being able to look at her face. for her part, June likes being pinned down/feeling held or restrained in some way. so being beneath him is her favorite thing.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

depends on the scenario. sometimes they are very intense and serious. other times they like to tease and laugh. most of their encounters have a bit of both.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Astarion has like no body hair because elf. and June has very little because half-elf. what June does have she keeps very neat and tidy, and yes, the carpet and the drapes are both dark blond and curly.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

it took a while to get to a point where intimacy was comfortable for them, but by act 3, even their most debaucherous sexual encounters has a clear undercurrent of sweetness. June is a very emotional person and Astarion is new to the whole "sex can be intimate and romantic" thing. but once they get there, they both tend to like eye contact and few sweet/loving words, even amidst the dirty talk.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

both know how to take care of themselves, and both are deeply turned on by the idea of the other thinking of them while they pleasure themselves. masturbation hasn't come up in the fic yet, but oh it will.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

both enjoy engaging in some light dom/sub dynamics. June spends so much time trying to stay in control to fight her urges, that she enjoys submitting to someone else and letting them take control for a while. and Astarion is happy to oblige because he's in the opposite boat - where he's spent so long being told what to do that it's nice to be the one in charge. so they frequently engage in a bit of restraint play and June likes being bossed around.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

honestly? a bed is their preference, because comfy. but neither of them are opposed to being a little adventurous. that one time on Gortah's desk was fun.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

June is most turned on by physical touch and sweet words. she loves Astarion's voice when he's being sincere, but also she loves it when he's being authoritative. him being a little bossy gets her going.

Astarion is turned on by June's intelligence. he might tease her for being a stereotypical brainy wizard, but he finds it pretty sexy when she shows how smart and competent she is. related, he's also very turned on when he remembers how fucking deadly she is. knowing she could absolutely kill him but hasn't/won't is sexy to him because he's a little gremlin man. watching this sweet, sensitive woman turn dark and murderous with someone - watching her threaten or even kill. - also gets him going.

also he eventually discovers that relaxing with a bit of pipeweed gets him horny.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

neither of them is into degradation or humiliation. June also is turned off by choking/breath play. and Astarion is very, very particular about the situations in which he's comfortable being told what to do (for obvious trauma reasons).

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

June *loves* when Astarion goes down on her. he could get her to do almost anything witht he promise of oral. she enjoys going down on him, too, mostly because she enjoys when his composure absolutely crumbles.

Astarion has so much fun going down on June, especially if he can get a little nibble in on her thigh in the process. he loves that she'll beg or occassionally even getting demanding about it. even better if he can get her to curse. he's been known to giggle at her reactions to the things he can do with his mouth. he'll never say no to recieving head, though. he's always a bit shocked by how good at it June is, and it's embarrassing how quickly she can make him come apart.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

slow and sensual probably 70% of the time and fast/rough the other 30%.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

they (especially Astarion) prefer to be able to take their time with each other. that said, sometimes June's visions and urges can be very disorienting for her, and a quickie is exactly what she needs to ground her again. so neither of them is at all opposed to it. though usually if they have a quickie during the day, both are lefting wanting a longer, more thorough session later that night.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

once Astarion reaches the point of being ready to explore his sexuality again, he's very interested in a bit of experimenting, seeing if he actually likes the things he's been doing for years now that he's with a partner who he trusts. and June's a naturally curious person. she's always happy to learn new things. her only criteria is that whatever they do can't make other people feel uncomfortable or unsafe. which is slightly disappointing to Astarion who loves making other people uncomfortable.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Astarion, being an immortal vampire etc etc has a shorter than average refractory period (because i decided so lol), and he can usually go at least two rounds. if June ever says she doesn't think she can have another orgasm, he takes it as a personal challenge to prove her wrong. as for how long they last - it dependson the situation. they know how to get each other off in a couple minutes if they really want to, but they usually take more time than that. Astarion doesn't focus too much on lasting a long time - just long enough to get June off first.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

not really. neither is opposed to them and both would probably be down to try them out for the sake of experimenting. but both are pretty satisfied without them.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

oh, they love teasing each other. like Astarion making it a challenge to break June's concentration on a spell. he's usually the one doing ht teasing, but she can hold her own when she wants to.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

June gets pretty loud. if there are people nearby - next room or in another tent for example - she tries to muffle herself against Astarion's neck or by putting her face in a pillow. lots of moaning and whimpering and crying out his name (which Astarion loves. he frequently orders her to say his name multiple times.)

Astarion isn't as loud in terms of volume, but he does make plenty of noise - a mix of talking (bossing June around, as she likes), moans, and - when he's really getting it good - little gasps and sighs.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

June's dark urge nature sometimes gets amped up when she's in the throes of passion. she is at times overcome witht he urge to bite and claw. she never does it hard enough to actually hurt - or if she feels like she might, she asks Astarion to restrain her (which is also fun for them both), but Astarion kinda loves it when she gets all feral and bitey. he's more than happy to pin her down and bite her back.

Astarion enjoys being sucked on - his fingers, his ears, and especially his tongue. it really makes him wild, and once June figured that out, she used that as a secret weapon as often as she could.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

we've all seen what Astarion has going on beneath those clothes, so i'll focus on June. she likes to wear pretty simple, comfortable underwear, except on occassions when she knows Astarion will be taking her clothes off, in which case she might pick something a little sexier as a treat. she has absolutely *no* scars. to the point of it being unrealistic/strange (that'll come up soon in the fic actually). but she does have a tattoo on the back of her neck, usually hidden by her hair, of Ilmater's holy symbol. otherwise, she has very pale, smooth skin. her build is quite tall (5'11") with breasts that are about a solid handful and a very nice, round ass. the biggest surprise is probably her legs, though, which are very long and more muscular than any other part of her body. she has sprinter's legs, where the rest of her is pretty lightly muscled and soft.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

June has a pretty average sex drive. her yearning tends to be more of the emotional variety. Astarion's sex drive has skyrocketed since getting involved with June (someone he finds very hot, yes, but also someone he trusts to respect his limits). he's the one to initiate probably a solid 80% of the time, but he knows exactly what buttons to hit to have June begging for him in a matter of minutes. so her more moderate sex drive is rarely if ever an issue.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

June falls alseep first usually. once she knows they are done for the night, she can snuggle in and pass out pretty quickly. Astarion takes a little longer. he likes to enjoy the afterglow for a bit, watch her sleep like a creeper, etc, before either sleeping or trancing.

wooo! and i'm done! that was a lot of fun!!! time for me to pass the toch to @dungeonsdragonsandlawyers @selunesdreams @andauril @dalgursbate and @khywren! (sorry if you've been tagged before and i missed it. like i said - i got tagged in thsi a while ago and only just got to it.)

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Fic authors self rec

Thanks for the tag @myreia!!!

When I graduated with degree a few years ago I honestly thought it would be all downhill and things would just move slowly without any excitement or milestones. Well, last year and this year have completely proved me wrong. This year alone, my grandpa passed away and I dealt with some bad family drama after that, I went to New York with my best friend, I turned thirty, I got a yellow lab, I made it to the one year mark at my editorial job, I’m getting ready for two major trips in the late summer/fall, and i also think i had a major glow up and never looked hotter. However, it hasn’t been a big writing year after last year was *so* good. Maybe writing about my last stuff will help with that!

In no order:

1. The Sweetest Sorrow

Rdr2, Arthur and Charlotte. This is *probably* my best fic overall if we’re just going by what internet experts say “good writing is.” Plot doesn’t meander much, development is solid, I think the characters make sense for their time period, and I just think it’s neat. The setting of the story also made me appreciate the hill country area near my hometown too. I also love that I didn’t overly rely on love scenes for the main relationship. Which I still love, but the older I get the more I recognize some stories don’t have that “vibe” that call for overly explicit love scenes, and this was one of them.

2. In waking dreams

DAI, Cullen and quiz.

I find this to be less of a story and more of an exploration of my life immediately after getting my undergrad and not knowing what the flaming hell I was going to do, and then an exploration of my life as I was finishing getting my graduate degree and *trying and failing* to secure a teaching job. Writing quality is certainly better in the back half, and I would kind of love to try rewriting this to see what I would do different, (I can think of several things) but as it is I am very proud of this.

3. Our immortal Longings

DBH, Connor x original character

Wasn’t going to include this, I don’t think the game aged well, and I honestly wonder if it was even good to begin with (graphics still are great though, and I do appreciate how many choices there are) but someone commented recently on it and it made me revisit the fic, and I have to admit this is a solid story and I really appreciate how batshit crazy I was for the actress and robot pairing. The world needs more robot love stories.

This fic just felt different to write. Not in a bad way, but in the way that really made me think I was transforming as a creative.

4. Let’s get away for a while

Leon and Ada, resident evil.

So I have a few Aeon fics but I am plugging this as my favorite—I like the fact that I did not shy away from making Leon a bit of a dick at the beginning. I mean I don’t blame him he’s tired of this thing between him and his woman being a situationship. Man is built for commitment.

In all seriousness I wrote this and felt myself level up. I also just love writing about what people do when they’re on vacation/ traveling, something that soon after became very near and dear to me, as well as relevant to my life experiences.

5. Stains of Red

dragon age, Cullen x inquisitor

So this is a cute little one shot about Lydia basking in the “oh my god we just got together!” Glow and sneaking in some kisses with her commander. I like the imagery and details of this fic, and I think it captures that honeymoon excitement. I reread it and I actually blushed.

Tagging @thevikingwoman @galadrieljones @laelior @wintersongstress and anyone else!!!

[wellhalesbells]

Can you tell us about How to Breathe 101?

Ah yes, the one I am actively, actually most trying to finish (before I got distracted by this week's fullmoonficlet prompt anyway). It's one of my favorite genres in fiction and in this specific fandom it's: Stiles fell first, but Derek fell harder.

It was originally just going to be a short fic about Derek learning to breathe in harmony with his pack. Since panic attacks are so woven into TW via Stiles, I kind of wanted to explore Derek having these kind of slow motion ones. Not necessarily because he wants to be alone but because that's what he knows, that's what he's gotten comfortable with, and holy shit there are so many people depending on him now, relying on him, and actually wanting to be in his space and how does he both accept that and allow himself to rely on that when he knows how transitory everything is?

I really, REALLY love when people miss their window - or, more accurately, perceive themselves to've missed their window and are now pining for someone they know once loved them. Inject that shit directly into my VEINS, please!

The plan was to have a much shorter progression but then I added in a more mage-y magic Stiles, with his power connected to growth and potential and blossoming (because no one can accuse me of being subtle LOL), and gave him an OC love interest so there was a distraction from any possible festering - I really didn't want Stiles to have even a hint of bitterness and that was a good way to be like: don't focus on the pit of despair, have casual sex! And also a good way to get across that Derek's love isn't possessive but rather focused around Stiles' happiness, which is always a big one for me (which is not to say I don't love jealous/possessive stuff, I DO, but sometimes that's just not what ya want). Then I set Stiles' magical edification in Ireland and got distracted with the wind over the bluffs and the sea crumbling cliffs and all that wild, fresh air there is to breathe and that's where I am at the moment.

Snippet:

Stiles takes him up over the bluff, fingers trailing currents as they walk, and they can see the cottage in the distance.  A dilapidated daffodil yellow and foggy gray (once white) thing that looks uninhabited.  It’s hilly terrain but clear as far as the eye can see.  The grass is buffeted up against their calves by the relentless wind and they can hear the ocean even if they can’t see it from where they are. “It’s beautiful,” Derek says. Stiles breathes deep.  “Magic, right?”  He throws a wink over his shoulder before holding out his hands, palm parallel to the ground on either side of him, and closes his eyes.  The long blades of grass shift and swirl and shoot up and up and up, getting larger and wider and greener as they grow, striving to tickle Stiles’ fingers as they pass his knees and hips.  They keep going until Derek has to tilt his head back and the strands twist at the apex above their heads and Derek can’t help the startled sound he makes as the tunnel forms, extending further with every step Stiles takes. The grass doesn’t stay static either, it’s still rustling, braiding itself together, sliding into every empty place, forming an arch above them.  The day darkens around them as they’re sealed off from above. Derek stares, first at the living thing surrounding them, and then at the man in front of him. “I had no idea you were capable of this.” “Neither did I.”  Stiles half-laughs.  “I don’t think Maire or Ciaran did either.  Honestly, I think it freaks them both out a little so, y’know, discretion?  I’ve been trying to do that whole thing.  Cutting back on it a little, pretending everything’s a bit harder, doing a little less than I’m actually capable of.  Not that—I mean, they’re supportive and all but I get the feeling this is new and therefore different for them.”  He drops his hands and the grass unbraids, slithering, sinking back down into the earth as though it was never anything else.  He’s not looking at Derek.  “It’s nice not to have to hedge.” He waits a beat then waggles his eyebrows over the pun and Derek rolls his eyes.

Wip list is here!

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Which of your stories features your favorite Katniss?

Oooooh @mollywog I love you and I hate you for asking this. I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me specifically about Katniss in my stories. I’ve been asked about the stories overall and which is my favorite Peeta or favorite Everlark, but not Katniss??

Okay so. It’s hard for me to narrow it down to one single favorite, which is why I say I hate you. But these are the versions of Katniss that, to me, took on a life of their own. I’ve argued with every single one of them and changed the path the story is taking because they feel alive when I’m writing them.

Unmasked Katniss. She was so much fun to write, even if she is a little historically anachronistic. What I loved about writing her was figuring out how her father still being alive, although he’s near fatally injured, when she’s an adult no less, changes her core personality. How does the shifting of her responsibilities and the pressures of her timeframe to marry alter how she responds and how she falls in love with Peeta.

Also I had way too much fun crafting her voice when she’s thirsty for Peeta basically from chapter one but can’t admit it to herself, let alone him, until much later and in the meantime she just doesn’t know what to do with those feelings. And THEN oh lord after she figured it out, you have no idea how many times I’d just be writing along and suddenly they’re in bed naked AGAIN or going at it in a scandalous place and I’d just stop and literally say out loud… how the fuck did we wind up here again, Katniss?!?!?!

There were a lot of deleted smut scenes… 🫣

Spellbound Katniss. For the same reasons kind of??? her voice is just so much fun to dive into and I’d been wanting to write a witch!Katniss fic for several years before I got this one off the ground. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it, yeah. I love her.

9000 rpm Katniss. I would murder for her. She’s an oblivious idiot when it comes to her feelings but that is very much a self-preservation/protective instinct after losing her dad, her mom, and Gale as people she can rely on, all in quick order. But she kinda stepped onto the page as a fully fledged character with an arc that I just kinda followed through on, and I hope she has readers rooting for her as much as I do, despite her bone headed mistakes.

Outside Chance Katniss. *waves hands at the epic undertaking that is the OC universe* I will take no notes on this.

Thanks for the ask, love!

❤️ kdnfb

[heclosescases]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @rngaredead 🫶

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

91 complete, 2 WIP (one of these is yet to be public)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

797,286

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Ted Lasso and The Mentalist

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Pillow Talk — Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon (The Mentalist) 

To Make The World Less Noisy — Ted Lasso/Trent Crimm (Ted Lasso)

Please, Remember Me. — Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso)

All These Things That I’ve Done — Ted Lasso/Trent Crimm (Ted Lasso)

Squeeze Me Harder — Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Usually yes! I love getting comments as it is a more tangible reminder that there are people reading. Plus most of the time they’re nice to read too. 

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I love writing angst but not too many of my fics have angsty endings. I like happy endings haha. I’m not sure if it has my angstiest ending - especially compared to some of my Jisbon fics - but earlier this year I wrote a Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt one-shot which probably applies (it seems like once again you’ve had to greet me with goodbye). 

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings even amongst the emotional hurt/comfort. I actually think ending a fic is one of the most difficult parts of the writing process but endings I can remember fondly in particular are ‘The Tea Shop’ (Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon), ‘Please, Remember Me.’ (Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt) and the conclusion to my ‘i know it’s just a number but you’re the eighth wonder’ series (Ted Lasso/Trent Crimm).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really… until the series mentioned above. I had a couple of haters on that because I wrote Trent as trans. 

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Some of my fics include smut but I don’t find it easy to write so usually I either don’t include it or I keep it very vague. However, I have realised that two of my top five fics by kudos are 'E'.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope. I personally don’t understand the love of crossovers. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Back in my Wattpad days I had a fic stolen and translated to German without my permission. Including the cover art. 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

See above.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I have had some cool people beta my fics before. 

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I know I mainly write tedtrent now but I think jisbon will always be my ship. 

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My only public WIP is ‘Pillow Talk’ (Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon) but it’s a collection of one-shots so there really is no “finishing it”. 

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I’ve got better at characterisations. It is one my favourite compliments if I ever get it because I think it is so important to get that right, for the reader’s enjoyment. I’ve also improved at setting the scene as opposed to just jumping in with the story. Dialogue is definitely easier for me to write than this though. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I am my own worst enemy. I will be writing and think ‘yeah this is pretty good’ but when it comes to proofing it I suddenly become full of self-doubt. I know I am not the best writer in the world, but it is a good outlet for me, so when I start to feel like my work is terrible, that hits me hard. It is why I rely so much on comments and knowing if people enjoyed reading or not. Just for some more motivation. 

If there are too many characters, some tend to get lost or forgotten. I have especially found this when writing Ted Lasso fics because there are sooooo many characters in that show who I love but it just isn’t possible to regularly include them all in fics. 

When I am writing, I write different sections of a chapter/one-shot and then try desperately to tie them together which doesn’t always flow well. I also then get annoyed at myself for leaving really unhelpful notes as reminders.  

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I have done this for a few lines in fics but I couldn’t do it confidently regularly. Relying on translations apps is a risk due to accuracy. I’ve sometimes written dialogue in Spanish for my The Mentalist fics, but never large bulks of text. 

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Sherlock - back in my Wattpad days.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Probably ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ but the energy on Twitter when I was writing/updated ‘Undercover With You’ and ‘A Blue-Eyed Surprise To Come Home To’ (both Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon) was unmatched. 

(No user tags because I am not good at Tumblr - but thank you @rngaredead for thinking of me!!)

[m0ther-of-p3arl]

not nearly enough

(robert aeor high au p10)

masterpost

ITS BEEN TOO LONG- ok ok ok yEEEEeeEeEe im excited to post this one :000 ITS PART 10 GUYS OMG WE HIT THE DOUBLE DIGITS also 40,000 words in total in the entirety of the fic so YEYY

Before Jim came to town, Scott was… well, not fine, exactly- but he was laying low, he was safe, in a sense. He was biding his time until he could leave, until he could get out of the hellhole of a town he still lives in. He had a plan, and Jimmy interrupted that in the worst- oh, who is he kidding- best way possible.

or, its been SIX MONTHS time skip jumpscare HAHHAHAHAHA

TW: anxiety, depression, self-hatred, MAGICAL FLASHBACKS, references to past abuse, etc etc the usual

(5141 words)

And so the months pass, months of sleeping uncomfortably in Jimmy’s bed, months of trying to stay calm when he has flashbacks in the middle of the night, months of staying inside as much as he can for fear that he’ll see Father at the park or the grocery store or anywhere, really. John and Laura bought him a new phone, so at least he can still communicate with the people he relies on.

The others, Joel and Shelby and Owen, were irate when they heard that Scott was now living with Jimmy and Beks, or more so, the reason why: Scott can still remember Shubble shrieking “WHAT?!” when he told her the news, so loud he’d actually heard ringing in his ears- after the initial shock, she kept ranting for about twenty minutes straight about abusive parents and neglectfulness and yada yada yada, stuff Scott’s heard a million times before.

Owen, to contrast, stayed very quiet, the anger simmering right below his voice, just enough so that Scott could hear the hints of it, the bits of raw emotion his best friend couldn’t quite keep hidden. Joel had literally stormed over to Jimmy’s house and started yelling at everyone and everything, including Scott, Beky and her parents, and Jimmy- three different reactions from three different people, all displaying their personalities really well.

But for the most part, it’s been good living with John and Laura; they let him skip school when he needs to, John is an excellent cook (it’s so nice not having to eat peanut butter jelly sandwiches anymore) and Laura makes the second-best tea Scott’s ever drunk (first is Jimmy’s, of course.) His favorite part of his current arrangement, however, is his evening “Jimmy time,” as he’s come to think of it- every evening, he and Jimmy go down to the TV room and watch a movie, play a video game they’re both trash at, or video call Shelby and Joel.

Looking back from where he is now, it’s kind of unclear to Scott where and when Jimmy time started, but he knows it’s been going on since at least a week after he moved in. At first, he’d worried that Jimmy didn’t enjoy spending that much time with him, but the avian’s never complained and so Scott has grown accustomed to this little routine, he’s grown to enjoy the three or four hours they’ll spend together every night.

But on the more negative side of the cucumber, things are not going well with Owen. He’s drifted further and further away from the center of their group, and especially since he lives so close to Scott’s old house, they haven’t had any time to hang out just the two of them. He’s tried to text Owen a bit, but things have grown strained between him, not the easy-going friendship Scott’s so accustomed to, the friendship he relies on. Something’s shifted, and though he can’t put a finger on exactly what, he’s pretty sure it has to do with Jimmy.

Why does absolutely everything in Scott’s life always boil back down to Jimmy?

He’s still running his morning jog on the weekends, though he’s changed his route significantly so it doesn’t go anywhere near his old neighborhood, as just the possibility of seeing his father, or even the mansion, make Scott feel like he’s going to throw up. But other than this little weekly routine, Scott doesn’t spend much time outside at all.

His days are now spent in solitude, watching YouTube on his phone in Jimmy’s room or simply laying on the bed, getting lost in his anxiety and self-hatred. Often, Jimmy, Shelby, or Joel will try to invite him on an outing, but he declines every time, brushing away their worried glances and hushed comments. Most of the time, Scott is alone. And he has to admit, he kind of likes it that way.

If he’s alone, he doesn’t have to focus on the stresses of small-talk and human interaction, he doesn’t have to pretend to smile behind a curtain of self-doubt, he doesn’t have to act like he’s getting better, the way everyone expects him to. Because he’s not getting better. It’s been six months, six months, since he moved in with Jimmy- he’s almost eighteen, and Jimmy’s finally seventeen, another half of a year has gone by but nothing’s changed; he just can’t shake the beast that roils within him, the dark, biting cloud that gnaws at him from the inside out.

Jimmy’s great and all, Scott really appreciates all he’s done for him, but the simple fact of the matter is that Scott’s basically in love with the avian, and Jimmy decidedly does not reciprocate his feelings, meaning that there’s always some sort of catch when they’re hanging out. Scott can’t let himself go all the way, can’t make the same sort of raucous jokes he can with Owen, there’s always this slight weird formality between them. Not anything noticeable from an outside standpoint, but Scott sees it, and he knows Jimmy does too. It tends to make things… more difficult than necessary

He misses his best friend. Scott misses Owen, more than he’s ever missed anyone in his life. He misses the way they used to laugh at the park, he misses when they would climb trees to get away from Owen’s multitude of little sisters, he misses every fleeting moment he and his best friend have ever shared. And as much as he loves Jimmy, the avian can’t give him back the simple, platonic moments that have made up some of the best parts of his life.

Memories are a strange thing, Scott supposes as he sits alone on the bed, because though you always wish you could go back and change things, you can’t. There is no possibility, there is no feasible way that Scott could ever change the way things have worked out. But sometimes, when he’s sat alone with nothing to do, feeling the safety in boredom, he finds himself wondering what he would change if he could.

Usually, he tells himself he would’ve chosen to choose his words more carefully that fateful night when everything changed forever, he would’ve skirted around the issues and just been a good little boy. Sometimes he thinks that he wouldn’t have kissed Jimmy, sometimes, when he’s feeling really terrible, he tells himself he would’ve just made it so he doesn’t exist.

But at times like this, when he’s alone and sane and completely transparent with himself, he knows that what he would’ve changed is the fact that he even met Jimmy in the first place. And yeah, he knows it sounds weird and ungrateful but it’s true- as much as he loves and cares about the avian, Jimmy’s basically the godfather of all Scott’s struggles.

Before Jim came to town, Scott was… well, not fine, exactly- but he was laying low, he was safe, in a sense. He was biding his time until he could leave, until he could get out of the hellhole of a town he still lives in. He had a plan, and Jimmy interrupted that in the worst- oh, who is he kidding- best way possible.

Everything’s kind of gone downhill since  he met Jimmy, but he’s enjoyed almost every second of the fall, and that, right there, is a problem. Scott’s addicted to the change, he’s addicted to the presence and light the avian brings to his life, but he’s also completely drawn in by the hurt that seems to follow Jimmy like a dark haze, bringing nothing but grief to those he comes to know. 

He wryly recalls, all those months ago, mentioning to Joel how canaries are harbingers of death- but that was never the whole proverb, was it? No. If Scott remembers his mother’s stories well enough, it was “canary call, first to fall.” Mother would always speak of how Scott should never trust a canary; how they were nothing but trouble no matter what, even if it wasn’t intentional. And he supposes she’s been proven right, but also…

He doesn’t know. He just- something about him just can’t let Jimmy go. Something about the avian is just so… easy. Or it was. Before the concussion, before…

He can’t think about that. Every time it crosses his mind, their supposed kiss, Scott’s mouth goes dry and his cheeks flush, he’ll just find himself blushing at random points in the day whenever something reminds him. He wishes… he kind of wishes he could remember it. He wishes he hadn’t forgotten, he wishes Jimmy would like him, he just can't stop wishing- 

Scott just can’t stop thinking about how things could have been, the way they could have gone if only the slightest things had happened differently, but it hasn’t, it hasn’t it hasn’t it hasn’t and Scott’s starting to panic-

The door to the room creaks open, snapping Scott out of his thoughts. Speak of the devil. It’s Jimmy, and as much as Scott hates it, his whole face lights up at the avian’s presence. “Hey,” Jimmy greets, dumping his backpack on the bed. “How’s it going? I brought your homework, by the way.”

Scott tries to smile, tries to pretend he hasn’t just been thinking about all the things he wished were different, tries to pretend his brain hasn’t just been riddled with thoughts of the boy now stood in front of him. “Hey,” Scott replies, mimicking Jimmy’s nonchalant tone, just the sight of the canary stood in front of him as panic-inducing as ever, his heart beating faster than a rabbit’s. “How’d school go?”

“It was alright,” Jimmy mutters, flopping down onto the bed and spreading his limbs every which way, leaving Scott to look down at him, pulling his knees to his chest to make sure he’s not sitting on Jim’s feathers. “ELA was a beast, though- I don’t envy you having to do that homework with no context.”

Scott groans, tilting back his head to look up at the ceiling, bracing himself up with his hands behind him. “Would you help me?”

“Obviously,” Jimmy scoffs, maneuvering into a sitting position, his hand brushing momentarily against Scott’s before he wraps his arms around his knees. The warmth lingers on his frigid skin, as it always does whenever he and Jimmy touch. “But do you wanna go get food first? I’m famished, and knowing you, you’ve probably kept yourself locked up in this little room all day.” It’s true; Scott doesn’t think he’s left the bedroom at all today, except for maybe once or twice to use the bathroom or take a shower.

“Ha, fair enough,” Scott concedes, pushing himself up off the bed and following Jimmy through the door. As they trundle down the stairs, Scott can’t help but recall the first time he came to this house- how Jimmy had stood upon these very stairs, resplendent and practically glowing in his light green dress. Scott remembers how his biggest worry that day had simply been things ending up awkward between him and Jim. Little had he known that later that very same day, he would literally be evicted from his own home.

He tries not to think about the part where he literally kissed the boy he was hoping not to be embarrassing around.

They enter the kitchen, John’s favorite place in the whole house; purple and green and yellow and so many other colors adorn the walls in alternating stripes, the cabinets painted with the complement of the walls around them. Jimmy’s citrusy scent mixes into the cinnamon and cilantro of the kitchen as he pulls open the door to the fridge, pausing as he surveys the contents.

“What do you wanna eat?” Jimmy asks, turning back towards Scott.

“Um, I don’t really know.” Scott can’t remember the last time he’s felt genuinely hungry, but he does know that if he doesn’t eat he will starve regardless of what it feels like. So every night he gulps down a quick meal, and that’s all he’ll eat for a day unless he and Jimmy are having popcorn with a movie. “I’ll have whatever you’re having, I guess.”

The canary nods, used to this response by now, and pulls out a can of chicken tikka masala left over from the last time they’d ordered Indian food. “Shall I pop this in the microwave?”

“That’d actually be great, thank you,” Scott agrees. “I think some CTM might actually hit the spod right now. By the way, where’s Bek?” He hasn’t seen her yet, which is strange- Beks is usually right up in everyone’s face, yelling for attention.

“Oh, didn’t she tell you? She’s gone over to Krow’s for a sleepover.” Jimmy doesn’t look back at him as he mixes the masala with rice, separates it into two bowls, and pops them both into the microwave. 

Scott laughs, propping himself up on the island with his hands. “But doesn’t Bek always come home angry at Krow from those sleepovers because it’ll use its siren song to get her to tell it all her secrets?”

Jimmy lets out a tinkling snicker. “Well, yeah, but El’s going to be there as well, so I’m hoping that she’ll act as some sort of peace-maker. She’s, like, the only one Krow’ll ever listen to. Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please.”

They stand there in silence for a couple minutes, the air tinged with more awkwardness than Scott cares to admit, especially for someone he’s lived six months with. He can tell almost instinctively that they’re both thinking about the kiss, Jimmy probably replaying the actual memory over in his mind while Scott sees the approximation he’s managed to piece together. He can practically see Jim’s disgusted face, shocked eyebrows and an angry furrow to his forehead- a thick feeling of shame wells in the pits of Scott’s stomach, and it’s not the first time.

Scott’s been thinking about it for months, and yet he still can’t believe that, delirious as he was, he actually kissed Jimmy. The typical version of him could never work up the courage to do that- not in a million, billion, trillion years. Scott could count all the stars in the sky before he would try to kiss Jim.

“So! What do you wanna do tonight?” Jimmy asks, reaching up on his tiptoes to pull the food out of the microwave. 

“Um, I was thinking we could watch a Disney movie? One of the newer ones, maybe Big Hero 6, Soul, or Luca?” Scott suggests, running a hand backwards through his snakes.

“Soul and Luca are Pixar, silly.” Jimmy laughs, and just like every time his high, chirping bird-like snicker escapes his mouth, Scott feels like he’s soaring above the clouds, and he can’t help but remember how much easier it was when he was still in denial about his love for the canary. But then the laughter is cut off abruptly and a look of panic crosses over Jimmy’s face. With shaking hands, he sets the bowls down on the counter, and Scott can tell that if he’d been holding them for a moment longer, they would have been dropped.

Scott’s there in an instant, working his way around the island to Jimmy’s side. He cautiously places a hand on the avian’s shoulder. “You good?” Scott asks, surveying Jimmy’s face with concern.

“Y-yeah, I think I’m-” 

Suddenly Scott’s somewhere else, a playroom full of toys much too young for someone his age, the windows and doors barred from the outside, simple, almost blindingly white walls pressing in imposingly on all sides. There are two people peering through the iron bars at a canary avian sat in the middle of the room, one a salmon Seafolk and the other an axolotl, like Lizzie, Joel’s crush.

“Which one is it?” A biting voice comes from the axolotl, not something Scott would expect from such a typically peaceful species- but his voice is directed unmistakably towards the canary in the middle of the room.

“Oh! Hi, Patty, do you have guests?” The avian speaks before the salmon, presumably Patty, can respond, and as they step eagerly towards the door, Scott catches a glimpse of their face. 

His face is about five years younger, fuller and hair less scruffy, a voice somehow even higher than the one he currently possesses, but Scott knows him.

It’s Jimmy. 

“What can you tell me about Chicago? I’ve heard about Chicago,” the younger version of the boy Scott’s come to love asks, wrapping his hands around the bars of the door and staring with excitement up at the disgusted axolotl, who recoils from the canary, a sneer wrapping around his features.

“Shut up, kid,” Patty hisses, before regaining her composure and turning to the salmon. “Ahem, Mr Barnaby, that is… Jimmy, he’s a canary avian whom I found on my many travels throughout the globe.”

“Why’s it asking so many questions? Aren’t they all supposed to be tame?”

“Oh, haha.” Patty laughs; a small, fake giggle that grinds into Scott’s teeth and sets his skin on edge. “Jimmy’s always been a curious little bird.”

And then Scott’s back, back to the kitchen, reeling from the whiplash he’s just experienced. It takes him a moment to realize that he’s staring right into the same exact avian’s eyes, but 5 years older. For a moment, neither of them speak, thousands of words communicated in simple eye contact. Scott never used to be able to look anyone in the eyes, and for most people, he still can’t- but Jimmy’s a rare exception.

“D-did you-” Jim breaks the silence, looking shaken beyond words, his skin ashen as he tries clearly to hold back his tears.

“I saw it, yeah,” Scott says, taking Jim’s hand in both of his own before he can think about it too much. Selfish, selfish, selfish. “What was that? How did we both see- okay, the how isn’t important right now, we can talk about that later. I just need to know if you’re okay- I remember you told me about a Patty once, but I didn’t think- I never expected-” Scott’s at a loss for words, because whatever he’s just witnessed is so- so despicable- 

She hurt Jimmy. She hurt him and no one’s allowed to hurt Jim, he’s too sweet and kind and he always puts others before himself, he laughs at the stupidest jokes and is undeniably the most genuinely kind person Scott thinks he’s ever met. He begins to feel a rage building in the back of his throat, because who would- what kind of monster- who could ever find it in themselves to hate Jim?

Jimmy’s struggles and the way he’s dealt with them put what Scott’s been through to shame, and he can feel the guilt beginning to gnaw up at him from the insides biting and churning. Here he is, sitting alone and feeling sorry for himself, when Jimmy was held fucking prisoner, a hostage in a cell, by a person he professed to trust, maybe even saw as a mother figure?

“No, it-it’s fine, I left, I got out of there, she doesn’t matter anymore,” Jimmy mutters, wrapping his free arm around himself but not removing his hand from Scott’s grasp. “I’m fine. I just don’t- I just don’t think about it, very much. That bit you saw, when she said-” he takes a deep breath, as if the next thing he’s saying takes a lot of power to conjure up- “when she said, ‘Jimmy’s always been a curious little b-bird,’ she used to say that a lot, and it’s-” his words all come out in a  rush now, and Scott knows the feeling- Jimmy’s just trying to rush all his emotions out before they consume him too much.

“It’s kind of ingrained in my memory,” he continues, looking down at the floor and gripping Scott’s hand so tight he thinks it might fall off. “I don’t know why, but she- her voice- it’s in my head, it won’t g-go away, it’s been a year and a half and now just at the most random intervals I’ll just hear- her- saying that thing and it’s so stupid because I didn’t even have it that bad, it’s not even the worst thing she would say, not by a long shot, b-but it felt- it feels-” Jimmy swallows, angrily swiping the tears from his eyes. 

“I ran away. I left. I shouldn't even be thinking of her, of that place, anymore but I can’t shake the feeling- and sometimes when I’m sleeping, I have d-dreams, it feels like I’m there, again, and she’s showing me to people through the window as if I’m some sort of exotic specimen, and I’m not, I’m just- just me- simple, stupid, trusting Jimmy- and there’s nothing special about me it’s just pure luck that it’s me she found. It’s m-my fault.”

Scott feels his mouth tighten and he wraps his free arm around Jim, the avian letting out a small, startled gasp before sinking into the hug, shaking from the memory while Scott shakes from rage. They stand like that for a long time, Scott not quite trusting himself to speak.

“I. Will. Murder. Her.” The words growl out of his mouth before he can stop them, glaring protectively over Jimmy’s shoulder, trying hard not to clench up and hurt the canary.

Jimmy looks up at him, surprised, moving his head from where it had been pressed to Scott’s chest. “W-what- but it was-”

“It was not your fault,” Scott says, anticipating Jim’s question and intercepting it before Jimmy can blink twice. “Where and when did she find you? Were you fucking kidnapped?” Scott can tell that he probably looks very scary right now, and he can feel his skin freezing up, see the frost beginning to creep over his shades.

“I- I was- well, from what she said, it was back when I was still an egg, back from wherever I came from. The way she told it, she found me, or, my egg, I guess, in a nest in a tree when she was on a hike in Borneo. She always s-said it was the smallest egg in the nest. Do you know what that implies? I have siblings, Scott. I have brothers and sisters and-” he has to stop talking for a minute, and Scott holds him closer, as if just by wrapping the avian in his arms, he could solve all Jimmy’s problems. “She said my parents were away, so she nabbed me out and took me for her own. She said she saved me.”

Scott is infuriated. He is beyond anger, he is beyond hatred, he is the pure embodiment of rage. He wants to murder this woman, he wants to mince her up into a pie and serve her to the sharks. “She did nothing of the sort. Any even half-decent person would know not to take an egg from an avian’s nest- your parents were probably foraging, do you even know your true name?!”

Jimmy looks up at him, surprised. “How do you know about true names? But yeah, I know. It’s kind of- well. I mean I’m not going to tell you what it is, at least not right now, sorry. But an avian’s true name- we just kind of know that instinctively, ever since we’re little.”

“Okay, good,” Scott says, though it’s just a small modicum of relief when compared to the magma that’s begun to flow through his veins instead of blood. “I know about the name thing because we did a unit on avians in Species Studies early last year, you know, before you came.” Jimmy mouths  silent “oh,” and then Scott realizes how tight he’s been holding the avian and how he’s probably very uncomfortable with this and-

He quickly releases Jimmy, pushing away from the canary quickly and slightly forcefully, hoping Jim doesn’t take offense. With a muttered “sorry,” from both of them, the awkwardness is back, and Scott almost curses. Every part of his body where Jimmy’s been now feels cold, even colder than usual, as if even his body is protesting the lack of the one he loves.

“So, movie,” Jimmy says, breaking the silence and turning back to the tea, hiding his face from Scott and obviously trying very hard to act like the whole memory thing hasn’t happened. Without looking, Jimmy slides Scott his bowl of chicken tikka masala down the counter, and Scott very nearly misses it. Luckily, he catches the bowl at the last second, and saves them both from the disaster of being lectured about the importance that things stay clean in John’s kitchen. “Out of the things you said, I think I’d be down for Soul the most, though I kind of want to watch HSMTMTS? If that’s okay with you?”

Scott barks a dry laugh, not quite ready to return to normal himself. HSMTMTS, or High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, is Jimmy’s favorite show, a high school soap opera kind of scene full of stupidity. But Scott follows Beks’ parents’ logic: if Jimmy loves it, by extension, Scott does as well. Or, he pretends to for Jimmy’s sake. “Sure, why not? Where were we at?”

“Um, I think it was- gimme a second to think.” Scott nods, passively observing how to anyone else, Jimmy would seem absolutely fine right now, you could never guess in a million years that he’d just had a breakdown- but Scott knows Jimmy well enough that he can see the little details, a slight shaking of his hands, the way his eyes dart fearfully back and forth, the subtle extent to which he’s drawn in his wings to his back.

How does he do it? How does Jimmy pretend everything’s fine when it’s not, when it’s actually fucking terrible and has been for a long time, how on Earth does he do it? Jimmy seems to possess a certain strength of character Scott’s always been lacking in, a willingness to keep going that’s so strong it’s almost a fault. It’s one of the things Scott loves and admires the most about the canary.

But also- Scott’s been so caught up in what he’s seen that he hasn’t thought about how- he remembers it had happened once at the movie theater, all those months ago- he’d forgotten. They’d shared a memory. As far as he’s aware, it’s only happened the two times- and both with Jimmy’s memory, and he’s pretty sure no one else had seen them either time, so it’s almost certainly a thing that’s just between him and Jim.

He supposes it has to be his siren heritage, because if he’s being honest, there’s no way it’s Jimmy’s doing. Scott loves the avian and all, but there’s no way he would have magic powerful enough to do that. 

He’s never thought he’s really gotten anything particularly siren-like from his mother, other than the cyan and ice (though ice isn’t really a siren trait, now that he thinks about it) so he’s never really felt like it’s very important for him to read up on sirens. He hasn’t learnt about them from school, either; they’ve never done a unit in Species Studies, and if he’s being honest he hasn’t really spent enough time with Mother to learn about siren things from her. 

So all Scott knows are the obvious things: sirens can sing, they have gorgeous voices that hypnotize the listeners, blah blah blah. He’s never heard anything about seeing other people’s memories, but he supposes it really doesn’t seem too far fetched at this point.

“Oh! I remember,” Jimmy calls from his perch on the counter, shaking Scott out of his theorizing with a start. “We were at the part where Seb is singing at Carlos’ quinceanera.”

“Were we?” Scott honestly can’t remember, it’s Jimmy’s favorite show, but it sure as hell isn’t Scott’s- he can barely follow the plot, and because they only watch HSMTMTS about once a month (Scott doesn’t know if he could stand watching it more often), it’s even more difficult to remember.

“Yep,” Jimmy says, gesturing for Scott to grab his tea as he heads to the basement. Scott does so, holding his bowl of masala in one hand and balancing the warm mug in the other, carefully plodding down the steps into the TV room.

Jimmy’s already sat down on the cushy marshmallow couch, and Scott joins him, placing his dishes on the coffee table and making sure he’s at least a foot away from the canary. He doesn’t want to make Jimmy uncomfortable.

The show starts off about as normal, pretty meh, just as Scott remembers it. Doldrum lovesick lives of typical teenagers, and because it’s a Disney show, of course they sing out their sorrows. But Jimmy loves it so he always puts up with it, because he has to pay back the avian in some way from letting him stay in his literal house, right?

And then something unexpected happens: Scott finds himself being sucked into the show, actually interested in something that until now, he’s been completely bored about. He starts genuinely watching as Seb sings a song for his boyfriend, Carlos, and of course Scott had known they were dating before, it’s one of the main plot points, but this is different-

It feels real.

It feels like him. He imagines himself up there, in the back of that tractor with that piano, singing to Jimmy. And then the song’s over and Carlos walks up and-

They’re kissing.

Two characters, in a live-action Disney show, are kissing. Scott finds his eyes drifting not-so-subtly to Jimmy, and then their hands are touching and it’s so close, so feasible, so possible that Scott can feel it and something’s about to happen and their heads are moving closer closer closer to each other, so close that Jimmy reaches out and his hand brushes momentarily against Scott’s cheek and yes yes yes Scott wants this-

A door slams from upstairs and Bek’s voice rings through the house. “Jimmy! Where are you?”

And the spell is broken, Scott shakes off the lavender haze and the rose-colored glasses, muttering a shallow apology under his breath but Jimmy doesn’t seem to hear it, he simply stands and walks upstairs, wings drawn tightly to his back, without so much as a backward glance. Fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck. Scott tries to call out for him, tries to make him understand, but his voice isn’t working and it’s too late, all he can do is watch with horrified eyes as Jimmy walks away, and now it’s all over and Scott’s broken everything for a second time. And so the tears boiling behind his eyes leak out, sharp and biting against his cold skin.

Ice-cold.

[fleur-de-violette]

20 questions for fic wtiters

Thank you @crows-murder for the tag !

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

87! But a fair share of them are fairly short stories.  

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

244 349! Almost at a quarter of million!

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently mostly DC/Batfam but I might come back to One Piece soon. And I wrote a lot for Supernatural, Reborn and Bleach

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

To the ones who are alive, and the ones who are there – Angsty fic about Dick and Jason, I’m kinda proud this one is my top fic because I put some guts into it.

Gorgon’s eyes – Dick comes back from spyral and his family doesn’t reacts well but he’s poisoned and immobilized and has to rely on them. I wanted this one to be a bit of a case fic on top of the drama and I’m not sure how much I succeeded?

To fight against time and win – This one was written just after the first one so again, with guts. It’s softer, though, it’s about Dick almost dying and his family taking care of him.

Vacation week – This one is about… Dick almost dying and the family taking care of him (I have a theme). It was one of the first fic I wrote for this fandom and I’m so happy it got so much love !

Painful protection – I swear the 6th one isn’t about Dick but yeah. This one is. It’s about Bruce trying to protect Dick by saying they’re unrelated and hurting him more in the process featuring good bro Jason. This one was in my mind even since before I started writing so while I’m not 100% happy how it turned out I’m happy people like it!

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes! I try to even if I find it hard sometimes to figure out what to say.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hard to say. I would say among the three MCD fic I’ve written it’s probably At the end of the universe (We were supposed to be okay). Otherwise the new one How to tape a card castle could be fairly angsty if you go without the 3rd chapter but what can I say I’m a sap and I added it.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, hard to say. I’m a fan of bittersweet endings or hopeful endings. Maybe Fire keeper because it objectively end a lot better than it started

8. do you get hate on fics?

No! I got one rude comment but I’m still not sure it wasn’t a bot so I would say overall I’m lucky in that regard.  

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I’m not a huge smut writer but I did try with my Smutty, shippy short stories. So far it has two fics one fairly cute and the other a dead dove which pretty much summons my range. There are 4 more fics for that series that are written and just wait to be edited and posted.

10. do you write crossovers?

No, but I’m not closed to the idea.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know, luckily.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Probably! Someone asked for my permission to translate To fight against time and win and repost in with permission. I gave it but I have no more news since.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I did brainstorms ideas that later became fics

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I’m not really a shipper and when I am I’m a multishipper so not really a question for me

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I have a multichapter WIP about dimension traveling. I love the idea but not what I did with it and I don’t really know how to fix it for now so it’s on pause for now and hopefully not forever.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I do well it long spiraling of emotions and abstract things when I manage it.  

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I probably wouldn’t do it unless it’s a language I speak confidently enough. Otherwise if my narrator doesn’t know the language I say they said something in this language and if they do I “translate” it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Yuyu Hakusho in 2007. And then posted for Bleach on ffnet one year later.  

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Not a definitive favorite but I would say The price of loyalty. Maybe it’s a weird thing to say about something I’ve written but it’s such a comfort fic and I re-read it often.

I tag @elegitre @babblingbookends and whoever wants to !

[seriouslysam8]

Sam, sometimes I get so traumatized by searching simple requests on AO3 and getting the weirdest shits.

Like… I was searching for a „Harry Potter& James Sirius Potter“ fanfic with some „Fluff, Angst and comfort“ and the first thing that showed up was an explicit Fiction with Harry doing the devils tango with James S. (Without any of the tags that I put on the search bar????) Than I changed it with „Albus Severus Potter&James Sirius Potter, Brothers, Fluff, Family“ and… again… incest🫠

And it went on and on… James Fleamont Potter/Harry Potter, Lily Lu/Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Harry Potter, Harrys Parents/Harry,… Dumbledore/Harry (I just searched for Albus and Harry. Some fix it. I don’t even know what I wrote wrong)

Only cursed Ships🫠 Is it maybe a bug?🫠

I am not long on AO3, read all my fav fics on ff.net by reddit recs and started reading AO3 much later.

Do you know how to block such weird and disgusting shits on AO3? And on Tumblr too?

Tumblr recommended me so many Wolfstarbucks (Poly James/Sirius/Remus) and so many Jegulily (James/Lily/Regulus) fanart and it doesn’t matter how many times I blocked it, it still recommends me that🫠

Help?🫠

I am just 20🫠

I FEEL you but I am the worst person to ask this question because I am old. I legit exclude a bunch of tags and STILL can’t find anything I want to read because it’s weird shit. So I don’t go looking for fics anymore.

I really rely on recs from trusted Hinny authors or readers.

A good place is to go on the tumblrs of the authors you know you like and see what they recommend. Changes are, you’re gonna like what they read because it’s probably similar to what they’d write.

Another great place is the Ginny’s Lovers Discord. It’s a discord dedicated to Hinny lovers. They are so friendly over there. There’s a thread? (see I’m fucking old) where it updates whenever selected authors post. So sometimes you get things you don’t want to read or from different fandoms because the author used to write Hinny, but I have put a lot of stuff on my TBR from there. But I’m weird because I can’t read a bunch of WIPs at a time because I forget what’s happening so most times I just wait until a story is finished to read. I only keep one WIP at a time (that updates fairly consistently) but I constantly check the fanfiction updates tab there so I can see what stories are still posting and not. You can also ask for recs on different CHANNELS (is that what they’re called?? See how fucking incompetent I am??) with something specific and those amazing people always come through. While I’m not very active on there because social anxiety, they’re all super nice and helpful and may help you find stuff you want to read.

Other than that, ask your favorite authors on tumblr what their favorite stories are or what they’re currently reading.

Make friends in the fandom and read what they read. @funbunnypotter26 is an AVID reader of all things Hinny and Jily. She’s my sister from another mister. She knows exactly what I like and don’t like and she sends me recs ALL THE TIME. Everyone needs a friend like her because she just knows how to find the gems. What is your secret?!?!?

But those are my suggestions. I hope that helps!

[drdemonprince]

hi, i was following the discussion around the ask regarding the “top shortage” article, and i’m honestly a prime example of the issue at hand; i don’t think i’ve ever initiated a successful interaction and thus far my sexual history has relied entirely on being approached by others.

there’s some garden variety fear of rejection (the mortifying ordeal of being known and all that) and some autism at play but what i find interesting and have been completely unable to unpack, is that i am in fact a quite effective communicator if i come across someone else who is also able to communicate well. the greatest hurdle in my experience is that trying to state my needs, ask for what i want, and solicit the same from the other person if they are not operating on a very high level of communication and transparency feels like swimming upstream through molasses. i simply don’t know how to navigate what feels like interrogating the other person just trying to small talk because they’re giving me single sentence answers with no elaboration on any discussion topic

you stated as a contrapoint to the idea of a top shortage that in your experience regardless of what community or sub-community you’re in “[when i make] any active attempt [] i’m drowning in options” . i’m understandably envious of this. really what i’m asking is what is the anatomy of an “active attempt”? is there a bullet list or perhaps a flow chart for how to guide the interaction towards the kind of discussion actually leads to getting laid?

So first, I'll say that while communication is always an interplay between at least two people and it must be responsive and dynamic (and if one can't communicate with a variety of types of people, one is not a good communicator) -- you can't squeeze water from a stone. There are many bad communicators online and in the kink and dating scenes, and if you find someone is sending the dryest possible texts imaginable and not giving you anything to work with, it's usually time to cut your losses and move on.

That said. Not everyone can easily put all their fantasies into words at the drop of a hat, but that doesn't mean they can't express their desires. This is where having a kinky tumblr or redgifs account or fetlife can really come in handy. Everyone has hang ups about what they want to some degree, and everybody runs out of ideas sometimes, and so trading pics and fics and porn videos back and forth with one another and taking note of what a partner of yours likes/reblogs and folding that into your own sexual repetoir is always an excellent move that shows you are considerate and communicative -- and it is itself a form of communication.

Some of my best partners over the years have been people who've been able to use the sending of an erotic gif or short story or video to get the conversation going and direct attention and desire. Plus exploring one another's kinks can really expand your own sexual palate of things you're into or down for, which means more future adventures for you either way! Communication is not only words, it's an act of inviting another person into your realm of experience and that can be physical, visual, aural etc.

As for how to go about actively communicating on say, fetlife or a dating app (or even tumblr, i've met people on here!):

I write in moderate detail about what I'm into, and I make it sound hot and fun! It's not a laundry list of expectations that I have in a partner or play scene, it's not a diatribe about hang ups or frustrations I've had on the site or with other people, it's bubbly, and infectious, and outlines some of my favorite things to do.

I've heard many times from strangers that even just reading my profile(s) has opened up their interest to a whole realm of activities and play themes that had never ever appealed to them before. This means I get a lot of curious questions and interest right off the bat, and from there I can review people's own profiles, ask them what they are into (that's usually how I word it, what are you into, or what kinds of play have you gotten into lately, etc), and take it from there. It always evolves pretty naturally because I take a genuine interest in people and want to hear all about their past activities and present interests and it flows easily from there.

And on the flip side, if I see that someone else is cute, or they have mutual interests to mine, I reach out to them, tell them how I feel, ask questions relevant to the kink, and again just direct a lot of interested genuine attention their way while also sharing excitedly about the stuff i've done and the things i'm into. In either case, whether I've been contacted or am contacting someone, if the vibes are good I move pretty quickly to escalate to actually meeting up or doing something, usually within a few days (or that same night if its that kinda app lol).

I dont know, if the interest is mutual and both parties are open and excited it all moves pretty easily! Doesn't mean every encounter is all that much fun, some people you just dont have chemistry with in person -- but you want to identify people who are compatible and who can express themselves openly as quickly as possible, kindle that connection, and then escalate it to real contact quickly as well. And communicating openly is not about being the best writer or orator, it's a question of spirit -- is the person closed off, or are they genuinely excited to share themselves with you and to take you in. And that's worth asking about oneself as well: am i an open, enthusiastic, present listener. but, like i said, this also means ignoring or fading away on plenty of dry, nothing-there messages.

I wonder if in your case getting more in touch with who and what you desire in an active way rather than a responsive way could be helpful, since you mentioned mostly only having success when approached. Maybe you can challenge yourself to find at least five people you find hot and message them this week. And take notice of feelings that you have about that, or people that you tell yourself you don't deserve to message, or any other points of resistance you feel internally and what that resistance sounds/feels like. and then contacting the person anyway.

[debb987]

UAHHHH!!! i read your eldest brother fic this week (i had started it earlier but hadn’t gotten more than a few chapters and i finally sat myself down to read it), and let me say it’s AMAZING!!!!! probably my fav fic in the fandom tbh. it’s incredible. i love the way you handle both splinters, while not apologizing for their actions you point out that it’s not impossible to change and that GROWING is something that is not impossible. i think that this type of character development, regarding flawed characters who aren’t villains necessarily but are definitely not helping the protagonists is hard to come by and i really appreciate how you handle it. i also would just like to put into words how much i love and appreciate raph and his alters. i am not a part of a system but i know of people who are, and i have sent them this fic so that they know that they are being represented in media!! because god knows there’s not enough DID representation around. raph’s system is incredibly well done and written, and i love each of his alters equally, they’re all amazing. AND RAPH HIMSELF!!!! is a phenomenal character i hope you know that. he has gone from my least fav rise turtle to battling for first BECAUSE OF YOUR FIC!!!!!!! i think he is just. the guy ever /pos. i hope that he gets to keep his new adopted bros as well as the old. speaking of new bros, i love the way both the rise boys and 2012 boys are written. i LOVE seeing the similarities and (haunting) differences each pair of bros has. i cant wait for them to meet up and for them to all just become besties with the same older brother. i also really, really want to see cassandra, mostly because i just want raph to be himself without having to take care of his bros. i just think he deserves someone to talk to and appreciate who doesn’t have to rely on him all the time. truthfully i just wanna see their wholesome dynamic; raph deserves some platonic love.

(mostly i just wanted to tell u how much i appreciate and love this fic. it has been such a treasure to read. you are a phenomenal writer who has made me love both the rise and 2012 boys even more. never stop doing what u do ❤️)

lmao sorry for the rant

I'm gushing right back and it's so long so more below the cut!

OMG AKSJDAKSHD AHHHHHH This is so flattering, I'm exploding!/pos This fandom has so many great fics, for TEB to be among the favorites it's really high praise, such an honor 🥹🥹💕💕

The "Splinter is Trying" tag, my beloved!!! 🥰🥰 Both Splinters are very flawed, yes, but OH How I love sinking my author claws deep into their characters to pull them apart and take a peek at their core. What caused this? Do they realize? Do they try to improve? TEB is just one massive Character Analysis in form of a story aksjdakjshd👌👌

Ahhh thank you so much, I really tried to give justice to the Raph has DID tag!! I'm not a system, nor am I friends with any in IRL, so all of it is lots of investigation on different sources and I'm happy it's coming across as good representation so far 🥰🥹 Even though TEB is NOT an educational novel on these matters in any shape or form, I do try to give good rep whenever possible 💕💕

SFKJSSJS YES! YES! Convert to the dark side, come put Raph among the top fav turtles! 😈😇ksksksk Welcome to the club 🤝🤝 the fact that TEB managed to somewhat rise his spot in the "Favorite turtles" list is also high praise, I'm so flattered, I love him so much and sharing that to the point of making others love him too is flattering🥳🥳🥳

I love writing their similarities and diferences too! The 12 and Rise brothers have so many similarities on their "core" but circumstances shaped them to be different, their own individuals, and I love to explore that along with the parallels ksksks I really can't wait for them to meet! 🤩🤩

Cassandra is the best, fr fr, I'm really looking forward to that part of the story where Raph can finally take a break from family-matters and can just be silly and chaotic with his bff 😌👏

I love the rant, I love it with all my heart, like please, PLEASE, if you can copy-paste it in AO3, Idc which chapter, or if its Anon, just let it be there so I don't lose it to Tumblr ephemerality 🥹🥹 It's such a beautifully long comment, I love gushing about these sm, I love sitting down to answer all my comments in AO3 aksjdajsda but overall just.

Thank you for taking the time to write this and let me know, you brightened my day, I'm smiling so much! As I read this, as I answer this!! Thank you! And I hope the story continues to be enjoyable 🥰🥰

[cartograffiti]

Kinds of fan creation events and how they work!

Challenges, including calendars and bingo

This is the broadest event type. Many challenge types have distinct own names and format designs, but all involve a time limit and a theme. The best way to organize one is to pick a subject or format with a medium degree of specificity, like supporting characters or drabbles, but big fandoms can get more granular and still have a great turnout. I recently ran a 6-week challenge encouraging a fandom with a lot of new growth to “weird the tag,” and that was a blast!

One popular subtype is calendar challenges, mostly aimed at artists. These are classically daily prompts for a month, like Inktober and its many riffs, but some more narrow prompts like mermaids for Mermay have widely been reinterpreted to make a single, substantial piece during the right time. Bingo cards are also fun for all mediums, though they can be tricky to balance—whether you’re issuing everyone the same card or letting them be generated from a pool (like in Bad Things Happen Bingo), a funky distribution of difficulty can make a line hard to complete.

There are very few stumbling blocks in a challenge. If you don’t finish, you just try again another time! They’re also easy to run, as most of the work is preparation. They tend to be less social than many events, but that can be a blessing, and they’re very new creator-friendly.

Prompts, including timed events and kinkmemes

Timed events with prompts work a lot like challenges, but with works being submitted under a given prompt instead of simply responding to the general theme. Usually multiple people can fulfill the same prompt, and nobody is assigned to any particular one.

Sites with nested commenting, especially LiveJournal and Dreamwidth, work best for hosting prompt lists with no deadline or end date. People list prompts they’d like to see in the fandom, and when someone has posted a work fulfilling it, they reply directly to let OP know. These can be called promptmemes, but they’re more often called kinkmemes, even when not specifically sexual.

Bangs, including big bangs, mini bangs, and reverse bangs.

In a big bang, a group of writers submit summaries of a wip to the event mods, and the mods anonymize them for a group of artists to name their favorites. The mods match them into pairs so the writer-artist team can collaborate to complete an illustrated fic. Everything gets posted on a set day or period of days, so it’s like an explosion of new work (“bang!”)

Big bangs usually have word count minimums in 5 digits and sometimes ask artists to complete multiple pieces, while mini bangs do the same process with a lower minimum, usually a 4 digit number, and consistently ask artists for a single piece. Reverse bangs have artists create an artwork first, and then writers are paired with them to write an accompanying fic inspired by the piece.

All types of bang really shine for pulling together different corners of a fandom. In addition to introducing people who work in different mediums, because submissions for matching are anonymized and wips are kept secret until posting, there’s a leveling effect: big name fans and newcomers share the shine, and it’s hard to game the system to get paired with your friends. Most bangs make a chat group for co-working (Discord or elsewhere), so it’s easy to bond with other participants!

They’re a bit complex to run (matching is real work!), and deadlines matter a lot, since there’s at least one other person relying on you to finish. I’ve seen the bang format criticized for reminding participants of business transactions by emphasizing these timetables as a commitment. Good mods always frame it as fun, but if you don’t have a handle on how fast you work, or how to gauge the size of a new project idea, it’s easy to bite off more than you can chew.

Exchanges

These are often fic-for-fic or art-for-art, but many are mixed. In all exchanges, participants choose some tags (subjects they’re willing to offer), and some they’d like to receive. They then create a work for their assigned recipient, respecting wants and do not wants (DNW), and receive a work from the person assigned to them. These are almost always different people, but it’s common for people with shared interests to get assigned into “loops” (A wrote for B, B wrote for C, C drew for A) even when matching is done by Ao3 code.

Exchanges are really exciting since there are waves of anticipation—what have I been assigned? What did I get? Who wrote my fic, if authors were kept anonymous for a week? They work great for any size of group, and for multi-fandom or single-fandom events. The tags to choose from can be assembled by event mods, or submitted by interested folks and then approved, so it’s easy to see what directions people are interested in before you sign up, and solicit people to join you. Exchanges also have a strong culture of “treating,” writing additional fics for requests that caught your eye, or your friends, even if you didn’t formally sign up.

Like bangs, there’s a greater degree of commitment to finish on time because someone else is counting on you. Well-run bangs have rules about when you can default without penalty and let a “pinch-hitter” take over the assignment, how to get off the blacklist if you didn’t follow through, and what they’ll do if anyone doesn’t have a gift when the collection is meant to open. Sometimes exchanges that are having trouble finding a pinch-hitter for someone whose assigned gifter had to drop will delay reveals (“hold the collection hostage”). If you struggle with things not happening on time, stick to larger exchanges, since they’re less vulnerable to this.

Fandom parties

In a party, everyone is grouped into teams to make the greatest number of fanworks during the event. They usually run for a week, with broad daily prompts (like a character name, season number, or motif), and every work submitted is a point. These works must be put together, from beginning to submission, within the 24-hour period of the prompt.

The first time I did a party, it rewired my brain chemistry for the better, because it pushed me to let go of some perfectionist and self-critiquing habits. I’ve put out more fics I’m proud of ever since. Better still, the party culture emphasizes inclusion of fan creations beyond the big two: Gifs! Edits! AMVs/fanvids! Cosplay! Crochet! Filk songs!

The competition and short turn-around can be hard on those with a tendency to overwork or blame yourself if your team falls behind, so they require some self-awareness to stay fun. Parties often allow submissions to count for points without being publicly posted, which can help! (For example, you might submit an unpolished fic and post the revision later, or submit a cosplay despite not wanting your face on that blog.) My experience with team rivalries has only been low-stakes and appropriate, but it’s another unusual element to not be caught off guard by.

Jams

These are most popular with any kind of project or fan labor that involves the word “edit.” Video, gif, and screenshot editing; podfic recording; fandom wiki and resource brush-ups; sharing your wips around and leaving each other feedback.

They usually run between a few hours to a week, and often don’t carry any expectation of being done at the end. They’re more about making progress, camaraderie, and sharing techniques.

Zines and e-zines

This is the trendiest event format right now! They spun off the broader culture of zines: self-published arty magazines and short books, popular for sharing ideas in the diy, punk, and queer scenes as well as fandom spaces. Outside of fandom, they’re usually printed by the creator physically operating the machinery in limited runs. In fandom, they’re usually digital (e-zines), and when they’re physical, the organizers have usually paid a printer to do the run for them.

Unlike any other format on this list, fandom zines usually work on an application and approval process. Instead of signing up and being for sure in, the mods choose a selection of interested people to proceed with their pieces and be included in the zine. Unfortunately, this means the barrier to participate is higher, with big name fans and personal favorites or friends prioritized. I do like that they’re more art-forward than many formats, even often art-only, and it’s fun to be in a group exploring an interest or making a point together.

E-zines are often free, and physical zines almost never are. Either way, profits might be given to charity, donated to the creators of the canon (such as in the case of indie podcasts), or split among the contributors. Whether you’re applying or buying, read carefully about paid zines to make sure you’re comfortable with where it’s going, and know that there’s always risk involved. Scams and mismanagement do happen.

Auctions

Fandom auctions are charity events, raising money for organizations or sometimes the fandom’s own community members in need. Like parties, auctions put more than usual emphasis on fan edits, and also labor such as bookbinding, sensitivity reading, and proofreading.

Usually, participants donate their time by offering a small number of tasks and fandoms, and their resulting work is a gift in acknowledgement of bidders’ donations, with their preferences in mind. It’s a lot like exchanges, but instead of getting a gift back, the creator gets satisfaction from raising money for a good cause.

Like with paid zines, when there’s money involved, you need to read the details with care. It’s also easy to fall into the trap of thinking of bids as what your work is “worth” to people, and you really need to have a backlog of completed projects for bidders to see your style, so this is better attempted after you’ve been around the block a few times and feel confident in yourself.

Other games (masquerade, round robin, art rotations, exquisite corpses...)

A lot of other fun games are worth knowing about if you’re thinking about an event for a small or existing group! One I love the sound of is masquerades like this one, in which people disguise their styles and even imitate each other, and then have a round of guessing. Round robins involve sending a fic wip to a succession of people, who each write a suggested amount of words (usually in the hundreds) to further the story that’s there. Have people volunteer to be the beginning and end before you start! Art rotations aren’t actually a coined name, I’m inventing it on the spot. This is when a pair or trio of artists each do a different layer of a drawing (like one does lines, the other does colors, or a trio does pencils, inks, colors) so that they have the same number of finished collaborations as people in the team. Exquisite corpses are drawings, stories, or image sets where you only see what the previous person did (or a sliver of it) when adding your part.

~~~

I’m sure there are others I’ve overlooked, but hopefully this helps inspire you to look out for or organize some new events in your fandoms!

[neonbrutalism]

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them? How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc) What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

How would you describe your style?

Character-Driven. Sometimes it's a real effort to stop characters from just talking and cracking jokes to make the plot happen.

What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Usually I try and go for something chronological but I'm getting less strict about that these days. Now I do whatever scene sparks in my head just to get it out before I forget.

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

I have .... 9 wips right now and maybe 5 or 6 ideas that are percolating.

Since I haven't shared any Daredevil stuff in a while, that's what I'll share under the cut below! (There's some stuff about a dog in danger in this wip, but the dog doesn't get hurt)

(The fic is called The 5 People You Meet in Hell's Kitchen and is about Daredevil's non-violent encounters with people he knows in the neighbourhood)

Usually, Matt followed screams.

Tonight, he was following the echoing sound of sobbing and the high pitched whimpering of a frightened animal. Hell’s Kitchen seemed to be thankfully low on screams tonight.

“Charlie!” he called out as he slid down a fire escape ladder to where an older man was reaching desperately into an open cellar, “What’s the matter?”

Matt made a point to know the unhoused people that stayed in and around Hell’s Kitchen. He especially made sure they knew Daredevil was an ally. He knew where shelters were, which were safe and clean and he knew where food, healthcare and support was available. And when he had the information (picked up from eavesdropping), he would warn encampments if the cops were coming – even distracting them if he could.

It wasn’t entirely selfless. Matt relied on them for information – when you’re invisible to people on the street, they’re a lot less likely to be careful what they say around you.

Charlie turned to face Matt for a moment, but didn’t sit up or stop reaching down into the cellar, “Leo – the door – he’s stuck – the rats are g- going to…” 

Leo was Charlie’s dog – a mess of labrador, beagle, husky and maybe a hint of raccoon. Matt liked him from a distance; even for a dog, Leo smelled awful in a way that had nothing to do with his health or diet or living outdoors. It was a purely natural stink that made Matt’s eyes water. Maybe he was part skunk, rather than raccoon.

Leo was shaking about 4 feet down into the collapsed cellar. Most of the stairs – metal, rather than concrete, had rusted and crumbled when the door fell in on them, leaving Leo stranded precariously on two stairs that had held up. They were, unfortunately, near the middle of the case, with no way back up to the sidewalk and the only way down jumping into …

Matt knew there were rats under the city streets better than just about any New Yorker – except for probably Moleman or Vermin. Matt could hear them. In an otherwise quiet night, he could catch the scurrying and rustling under the pavement, constant as the flowing of the river.

He didn’t dislike rats – there was something comforting about the continuing triumph of nature in the face of human progress – but the rat river noise was why he could never live in a basement apartment.

And of course, in a decaying and moldering old cellar like this one, with fresh rain water dripping in from the leaky door and easy access to sidewalk food-trash, there were bound to be rats. They swarmed and roiled like Charybdis in the dark under Leo’s stair island, disturbed and upset by the collapse of their roof. 

“Shit,” said Matt.

How to approach this… normally, the rats would be unlikely to attack if Leo DID fall in, but they were agitated and possibly injured, which made them unpredictable. Charlie couldn’t afford a vet bill and, Matt knew, had a deep fear of the shelters that had free care taking Leo away if they thought Charlie couldn’t take care of him. He couldn’t see a way to safely grapple Leo without risking him falling, or getting down closer to him and upsetting the rats further and risking a bite (from rat or flea) – Matt wasn’t keen on doctors either and even less keen on having to explain to Foggy how he caught the bubonic plague. He needed a distraction that wouldn’t scare them.

“Okay, just … ” Matt said, mostly to Leo, when he caught the scene of discarded food, not yet rotten. The greek restaurant across the street had a bag out on the sidewalk of mostly stale pita and vegetable ends. 

“Hang on!” Matt called as he grabbed the bag and ran back. 

“Okay…” Matt said, unholstering his batons, screwing them together and assembling the grappling hook at one end, “Charlie, I’m going to go down there and get him – I need you to drop the bread in that bag down and lead the rats away from me and Leo – drop it in the corners or something – and when I say so, press this button –” he pointed to a small switch on his baton, “and pull him up. Keep your hands on the cord, so it won’t retract too fast. Actually …”

Matt handed Charlie the grappling hook and pulled his gloves off, “Wear these, so you don’t get rope burn. You got it?”

Charlie swallowed and nodded, wiping his sleeve over his eyes, “Yeah, I got it.”

Matt stood and tore the bag open, throwing a few crusts down to clear a landing place on the basement floor.

He braced himself and jumped. 

The rats were thankfully more concerned with the rain of manna from heaven than they were with him landing in their midst, though he shuddered when a few ran over his boots. 

“C’mere buddy,” Matt murmured as he approached Leo. Leo whimpered, his legs shaking. Matt shushed him, soothingly, “It’s okay…” and reached towards him.

Leo pulled back with a yelp and the corner of the step he was cowering on cracked loose from its rusting bolt in the frame. Matt swore.

“Daredevil?” Charlie called, panic in his voice.

“It’s fine! It’s fine, I got it, Charlie!”

Matt reached under his chin and pulled his cowl up so Leo could see his face. “S’okay, I’m not so scary, right?”

Leo obligingly stood still as Matt gingerly wrapped the cord around the dog’s body - maybe comforted, but more likely frozen in fear going by his pounding heart. Matt wasn’t as good at reading animals as he was people.

“Okay, Charlie!” Matt called when he had secured the baton around Leo’s middle. He braced Leo with a hand as the bread rain stopped and the cord began to retract – suddenly at first and then more slowly as Charlie gripped it. 

Matt hopped, grabbing the edge of the cellar entrance and pulling himself up out of the rat nest just after Leo passed the threshold himself. 

“He alright?” Matt said, dropping down to sit on the curb as Leo, deliriously happy, scrambled and wiggled in Charlie’s lap, licking tears off his face and beard. Charlie obligingly looked away from Matt’s face until his cowl was back on properly. 

Charlie sniffed again, “Thank you – thank you. I mean it – nobody – people just walk by, you know?” 

Matt nodded, detangling the knots in his baton’s cord before slotting it back into its holster, “Yeah. I know.” 

Matt stood and stretched, “I’ll call the city about the door collapse – you got somewhere to go tonight?” 

“Yeah,” Charlie said, “We were going over to Janice’s place – said she’d put us up for a few days if I fix the hole in her wall Nighthawk made with his head when Sandman threw him through her window. Landlord fixed the window, but not the wall.”

“Sounds pretty typical,” Matt said, “You two keep safe. Stay off the cellars, though, huh?”

Charlie waved as Matt pulled himself back up to the roof and took off into the night.

[physalian]

I think for a lot of AI Apologists, and I have explicit confirmation from someone I know who refuses to see my side: “It makes me feel smart”. Whether you agree with this sentiment or think it’s bullshit or have all your arguments against AI on the tip of your tongue—save it. The use of AI by people like this comes from insecurity.

So arguing with them and screaming about fuck AI (which I wholeheartedly agree with) will only make them feel worse.

It’s absolutely on them to work past their insecurities and not expect the world to coddle them. Learning how to write and communicate isn’t some niche skill and relying on anyone or anything to do it for you won’t help you in the long run.

However.

Arguing with someone who already feels bad about themselves and defends generative AI without admitting that they’re insecure about their writing skill will only make them desperate to defend it harder, because they don’t want to think of themselves as a fraud at worst or unskilled at best. They want to write or draw just like the people they admire and want to take a shortcut to get there (don’t we all?) and just don’t see or understand or think they have time to put in the work we all took to get here.

Normally, I sort fanfic on AO3 by kudos. In my head, the most popular fics tend to be the most well written. But then some fandoms are disproportionately skewed by prolific writers or fanfic type, like an excess of ABO fics, for example—either fics written with a style or a kink that I don’t like or think works, but I’m in the minority and you can’t filter out specific authors, so I keep having to scroll, and scroll past all the popular fics I don’t like to get to what I think is the good stuff.

But today, all this week, in fact, when I have time, I’m going to look for fics in my favorite fandoms with low hits, low kudos, and low comments and come up with something nice to say about them, even if they’re not well-written. We all started somewhere and if we want to curb the spread of generative AI, I think a huge part of that is getting people to realize that they don’t need it to be successful.

So I’m challenging all my followers and mutuals: Go find ten fanfics that need some love. Just ten. And give them a kudos and a comment. I don’t care how old it is, I don’t care how long the comment is. It can be a string of heart emojis. I had somebody comment a string of sparkle emojis twice on one of my fics. It still made me smile knowing they took the time to say something.

Ten fanfics (that are not tagged with gen AI). If you can’t support baby fic authors with just ten kudos and ten little comments, then you can’t complain when they turn to AI desperate for attention and validation.

This is how we beat it: By making it obsolete.