#that's probably closer to the general premise

[swan2swan]

Did Chaos Theory have an episode where they just threw our characters in a hole?

....yes. They did. Sammy, Ben, and Yaz all got chucked into a lake.

[iceunhie]

latibule.

premise. in which all too many intrusions come in the form of one particular shadow guard. (or, moze always looks to you to patch him up. inexplicably, you let him do so anyway.)

warnings: gn!reader, pining moze but he's too edgy to know, one kimi ni todoke inspired (?) scene, treating injuries, banter (obviously), probably ooc, feixiao cameo, based off of the new quest, kinda mid writing

notes: not proofread i have no excuse i just like him okay???? inspired by @luvether's mozeqiu/reader fic (i love ur works ☹️) ty @lowkeyren for the chinese help!

“You're here again, Moze.”

In the wee hours between 1AM to 3AM, it has become a daily occurence for you to tend to Moze's injuries.

He nods. “I'm here.”

Despite having a perfectly (super) capable healer who attends to even the Lady General personally at her behest, you do not know why Moze always ends up at your window of all things during the ungodly hours of the moon's turn, complete with stupid, easily treatable cuts all across his body.

As General Feixiao's Representative Proxy, such work is not your forte—and rarely do you ever employ your few practiced arts in healing; the result often clumsy and sloppy, just enough to treat the few cuts Moze sports.

Still, it has since become routine to patch Moze up, and despite your insistence that he take care of himself more, the ashy haired man never listens, instead ending up at your home. You wonder if he does this on purpose.

Next time, you think, you're never going to open the windowsill for him again.

You open the windowsill further to let him in. Hypocrite, your mind echoes unhelpfully. Great, you must be losing your mind.

“Got into trouble again, hm?”

His expression tells you that whoever he fought wasn't all that—show-off—internally, you roll your eyes. “...Will you patch me up?”

No, your mind tells you, the words are at the tip of your tongue; you're always sneaking in here at night, and making me go through all this trouble.

(Your actions betray a different tune altogether.)

You don't know when Moze started to make you his personal healer despite Jiaoqiu in the vicinity; a moment of worry led to one thing, and now here you are, Moze's budget Jiaoqiu at home. The thought makes you laugh to yourself. Compared to the foxian, your skills could be described as subpar at best.

(Complaining to your own Lady General was no use. Incredulously, Feixiao believed that it was because—

“You're special.” Feixiao says with a grin. “Is it not obvious that it is because he wishes to see you?”

“What?” Looking at her, your voice is a tired drawl of resignation. “....My Lady, it seems your recent exposure to the Luofu's romance novels have dulled your judgement. Shall I call for Jiaoqiu?”

“Wha- Hey, don't call me senile!” Your Lady General deadpans, “Anyway, I'm telling you, Moze likes you!”)

“Why is it always me?” you grumble under your breath, though it doesn't escape Moze's ears.

It's good that you don't expect an answer; if Moze had to be honest, he doesn't know why he always goes to you either.

“Why wouldn't it be you?” Moze says, not missing a beat.

Your cheeks warm, the heat crawling up your neck from his audacious words. Jeez, he really doesn't know his effect on people, did he?

“...Not to mention, Jiaoqiu is asleep.”

Never mind. “Know the shame.”

“I don't wish to disturb Jiaoqiu as well.”

“Oh, so you see it fit to bother me but don't bother with Jiao-gege?”

“You'll live.” Moze blinks. Frowns. “Wait, did you just call him... gege?”

You raise an eyebrow. “Yes, what about it?”

“Since when were you two so close?”

“Mm, since a certain guard stops by my home at twilight hour?”

“....”

Sighing, your hands are nimble against the bandages, looping the white cloth in your palm and dabbing at the corners of Moze's face, gentle. Up close, his face is all sharp edges and harsh lines. Whether he notices how you gulp when you approach closer, swiping the cloth along his lower lip, he holds his tongue, for fear of disturbing whatever it was, permeating between the two of you like a thick haze, afraid of destroying the peaceful silence.

He watches, instead, as you scrub away the little bit of blood on his cheek.

You're talking; something about him being too reckless, taking care of himself more, yet he finds that he can't catch a word of what you're saying, focusing only on one thing.

Your hands are warm.

Heat creeps up to his neck like coiling vines, twisting his stomach, all because of you. Moze's heart thrums, breath stolen away—you're so close, it's unbearable—and he fights to keep himself even remotely neutral. All because of you.

“Moze?”

What are you doing to him? Why does he always come back to you? Is he sick?

“You're burning up.” You press your hand against his neck; and funnily enough, the thought of leaning into your touch crosses Moze's mind—it's maddening how much he wants to do so.

Blinking once, Moze looks to find you pulling away, and before he can think of it, his fingers wrap around your wrist in an iron grip, carefully maintained distance discarded.

“...?”

“Ah, wait, it's fine— Just—” don't pull away.

What?

Moze coughs. “Just continue.”

The night's breeze flows throughout your home; the chuang kou is wide open, with Moze looking less like General Feixiao's most trusted aide and more akin to an obedient dog. It's humiliation, Moze thinks—but when it was you, his dignity could be in tatters for all he cares.

Your eyes soften, just a bit, “If you say so.”

Inexplicably, relief assaults Moze's senses like a balm to his soul. Because the idea of being perceived, heard—by you—affects him in a dizzying, confounding way, and he knows not how to cure such an ailment whose only cure is your presence.

And maybe, just maybe, it's why he can never stop returning to you. Let you think him a fool, an idiot—so as long as he ends up at your window, by your side, it's a small price to pay.

“Okay.” he affirms, loosening his grip, (never you, though) finally letting you finish patching him up as you plaster what remains of the white bandages upon his face.

Noticeably, he doesn't let go of your hand.

“Okay.” you echo, and finally, you're finished with your work. The sight of Moze all bandaged up perfectly and finally getting to sleep makes you happier than you should be, the prospect of sleep way too enticing.

“There, all done. Take care of yourself better next time, 'kay?”

He hums, “I'll keep that in mind.”

“You sure you will?”

“Yes.” Moze looks at you, and he looks at you like it would be a sin of the greatest kind to take his eyes of off you; holding your presence in his irises, emulating you deeply onto his pupils, his tendons and his limbs. “I will.”

(How could he ever not listen to you?)

You release him, much to Moze's reluctance—opening the closed chuang kou. The night breeze welcomes Moze, kissing his skin, with the colors of the rising sun beginning to rise, vibrancy in the darkness of the inky night.

“...Moze?” you call, in the corner of your eye, seeing him already putting a foot on the rooftop.

“Jeez, if you wanted to see me that much, just tell me instead of going through all this trouble, really....” you mumble, glad that your back is turned from him, lest he sees the heat dusting your cheeks. You know Moze has probably left, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Well, you'll bring it up another time, then. Something tells you he'll listen, this time.

This time, you don't ignore the flutter of the butterflies in your stomach.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

(“Jeez, if you wanted to see me that much, just tell me instead of going through all this trouble, really....”

In the darkened corner of shadow, a figure slumps disgracefully with a loud thud. Using a hand to grip the side of the wall, nothing can compare to the burning heat crawling up Moze's skin, positively flushed.

Moze puts a hand to his face, slumping further to a near kneel.

It's warm—just like the ghostly feeling of your hands upon his skin minutes prior.

Maybe he'll take you up on your offer.)

a/n: sorry for the long sporadic activity :,D this is what a chuang kou looks like btw

[felassan]

David Gaider on Twitter: "Exciting! Some (completely uninformed) thoughts: A closer alignment with Mass Effect's style was inevitable, I suppose, but means both teams in Edmonton are working from the same premise. Which likely means good things for gameplay, I suppose. It probably also means a more action-y style where you control your PC but don't directly control your two chosen companions. You maybe do "shouts" to direct them in a very general sense. Which I'm less enthused about, personally, but... meh, I guess we'll see. Insofar as the new name goes it's fine, I guess, if the intent is to put less focus on Solas? Which maybe it is. So long as fans don't settle on DAVG as the acronym it's all good. The writing team will knock it out of the park, regardless. That much, at least, is guaranteed. :)" [source, two, three] --- DG: "Patrick and Sheryl remain, yeah, and both Mary and Luke still participated prior to the layoff. So DAV isn't going to hurt, insofar as its writing goes. The old gang was mostly all still assembled." [source] --- DG: "I earnestly believe that Patrick would rather die horribly than not write party banter. It is literally the most fun you can have as a Bio writer." [source] --- Twitter user: "The banters are some of my favourite moments in Dragon Age. So I hope so. I've seen fans saying we'll get less banter due to only have two companions in your team but I don't think that'll be the case." DG: "Less *variety* of banter while out running around, sure. Less *interaction* with the 7 companions? Well, that depends on what happens at your home base. If ME is the template, there was no shortage of companion interactions on the ship." [source] --- DG: "In my experience, EA always favored Mass Effect's style and believed it's inherently more marketable - actual sales numbers of DA or any other more traditional RPG be damned, honestly." [source]

[sophieinwonderland]

Debunking Sysmed Misinformation

Yes dear, people who aren't saying they have a disorder, by definition, cannot be faking that disorder. If you truly believe that somebody who not only doesn't have a disorder, but vehemently denies having it, is faking that disorder... I'm sorry to say that you've been brainwashed. There's truly no other explanations for still clinging to the narrative that people who deny having mental disorders are faking them.

According to who? Where the source for this?

In reality, "system" is a pretty broad term with a lot of different uses in psychology, rooted in systems theory.

There are two ways to approach discussions of the word system. One as a community term. And one as a psychological term. First...

As a community term

Back in the 90s and earlier, it was assumed that anybody with multiple personalities were disordered. It was treated as if the experience of multiplicity was itself something that people needed healed from.

The early online community arose from this environment, many taking the presumption of a disorder at face value.

However, from these online communities arose the Natural Multiplicity community, which believed their multiplicity wasn't caused by environmental factors like trauma, but that they were just... naturally multiple.

The reason some early terms from older MPD literature ended up shared was because the natural multiples branched off from this older MPD community in the 90s.

I've mentioned this before, but the Natural Multiples were not outside invaders. They were separatists who originally falsely believed they had a disorder, some of which were even diagnosed and rejected that diagnosis. Some terms that originated in DID literature naturally carried over.

As a psychological term

If we were to look at its earliest uses in relation to DID, this definition probably wouldn't apply.

See, to the point that system was used by psychologists in relation to DID, it usually referred to an internal personality system within the brain. The "individual" wasn't the system. The individual had a system.

It's a small but important distinction.

The individual to psychologists is everything. It's the body. The motor functions. The subconscious. The things that aren't controlled by any alter at all.

The psychological term isn't the same as the community definition.

Within psychology, this language isn't unique to CDDs either. I mentioned systems psychology earlier, but the closer parallel would be Internal Family Systems therapy, which is based on the premise that everyone is a system of parts and that the mind is naturally multiple.

IFS is a transformative tool that conceives of every human being as a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. We believe the mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us. Self is in everyone. It can’t be damaged. It knows how to heal. 

This dates back to the 80s before the natural mutiple community formed.

Moreover, studies that have addressed non-disordered systems have called them systems, such as this one from 2017.

Additionally, psychologists have also referred to tulpa systems as being... tulpa systems. Here is Dr. Michael Lifshitz, a psychiatry professor at McGill University, discussing is study into tulpa systems in an AMA.

So in psychology, it seems that "system" is going to be a shared term going forward, with doctors using the term to refer to any plural regardless of disorder or origin.

Which makes sense, because aside from being what the community uses for themselves, any human brain with multiple self-conscious agents is going to technically be a system through the lens of system thinking.

Back to the anti-endo post!

I'm not going to deal with this too much. Mostly because it's not really in contention that much. Most non-disordered plurals will use "headmates," and similar terms instead. Alter is generally considered too clinical.

But I will say that it's funny how every time I see "alter" defined, it's always slightly different. Like, nobody seems to know where this came from, nobody has the primary source for the term's coining, and nobody quite agrees on what it actually was short for.

Wouldn't... the individual be exactly one? Like, the idea is that the brain makes different parts that are all part of one collective whole personality.

I don't quite agree with this take. But if we were to believe it, then surely the "less than one" statement cannot be mathematically true. If you cut a cake into slices, you still have one cake. You don't have less than one pie.

Also, where are they usually referred to as "multiple personalities?" Because that isn't true in the modern DID community. And it sure isn't true in academic literature written in the past 20 years.

LOL!

So now we're referring to the dictionary definition of a word. Without an ounce of self-awareness when you ignore that "system" is a common word with a lot of different applications. 🙄

Not even surprised at the hypocrisy.

Also not surprised that the OP is lying about the origins of "plurality" by non-disordered systems. And I can say confidently that OP is lying because Cambrian already tried correcting them in a reblog, and was blocked.

Which means this isn't merely accidentally spreading misinformation anymore. It's intentionally lying to hurt others. They know they're wrong and don't care.

For those who aren't aware, the term was not, in fact, popularized by Tumblr. See this page from at least as far back as 1998.

We don't claim that every multiple system/household is a happy loving cooperative one. What we do question is the *identification* of "real multiples" with the characteristics or symptoms of a psychological disorder. We go further: we question by what right or authority doctors and therapists are given sole jurisdiction over the definition of "an individual".

This is one reason our clan encourages use of the word "plural" rather than "multiple". "Multiple", even standing by itself, brings to mind MPD/DID, "multiple personality disorder", "dissociative identity disorder", which are specific diagnoses created by the medical/therapeutic community. "Plural" is a much more neutral word, more commonly heard in the context of grammar than psychiatry. (The other reason, of course, is that plural can be construed to have a broader meaning, applying to anyone(s) anywhere on the continuum who experience themselves as plural in some way. )

Aside from the timeline being way off, from the very beginning, the systems who popularized the word plural were non-disordered systems, and it was done intentionally to separate it from medicalized language like "multiple".

Also, the current definition of plural as an inclusive term has found its way into academic papers, such as Transgender Mental Health by Dr. Eric Yarbrough.

Which has been reviewed and publish by the American Psychiatric Association.

If you mean CDD spaces, nobody without CDDs are going into those spaces to invade them. This isn't a real thing that happens.

If you mean using the word "system" and similar, I'm sorry to tell you that this has been a share communal term since before you were born. And it's not changing.

Because you're the one who is coming into our spaces. You're the one coming into inclusive spaces and spreading hate. You have been repeatedly informed that the plural tags are inclusive, that "plural" is an inclusive label, and that system medicalists aren't welcome there.

You're the one who has been invading spaces.

Your trauma isn't my problem. The harm you're causing to good people is.

I'm not sure if "your workplace might discriminate against you if you're publicly plural" is the slam dunk argument you think it is!

I mean, like, do you think your workplace would be cool with what you post on your blog?

Have you come out as a system at your workplace and told everyone about your 8 My Little Pony fictives?

(Fictive is a word coined by endogenic plurals, by the way, since you care so much about terminology. 🙄)

Remember, if you don't want a kid to be a system, don't start traumatizing them until after their eighth birthday! /s

But really, it's always weird how people have these very firm sort of cutoffs and present them as objective fact, when that's not how the brain has ever worked.

And if you look at academic papers, one thing you notice is that they have a really hard time agreeing about the so-called cutoff. Different papers will say it's 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10. And even if they did agree, that should only apply to DID. It would be a mistake to assume the cutoff applies to other forms of CDDs like OSDD-1 and Partial DID without extensive research into them.

"Being a system" is a disorder now?

Can you show me where "being a system" is in the ICD-11 or the DSM-5?

Tell me... do you HONESTLY believe that?

As I've already shown, the non-disordered and non-traumagenic community has existed since before you were born.

In that time, it's only been growing. Studies and papers focusing on non-disordered systems have only really begun over the last decade. Research has ballooned, with Stanford University investing tens of thousands of dollars into an fMRI study of tulpamancers that is likely to be published soon.

There are countless pro-endo discord servers. System-related apps like Pluralkit and Simply Plural have been explicitly pro-endo. Major figures like Aimkid have come out as being pro-endo systems.

I figure it's only a matter of time before the topic is explored more explicitly on television. (Other than that one time Chicago Med did a tulpamancy episode.)

You say being endogenic is a trend. People have been saying the same thing about being transgender for the past 20 years. Parents of LGBTQ kids have said their kids were just going through a phase, only for those kids to grow into queer adults. Their predictions haven't proven true.

I see no reason to think you'll be right this time.

What I say is that the future is plural and pro-endo.

I think this is what all the current trends point to. The academic support. The increasing plural resources and awareness.

We are not going away.

We are not just a trend.

We are the future!

[hungry-skeleton]

Anything you'd like to loudly info-dump about RN?

I do think Skylanders can make a comeback someday but it's business model will absolutely have to change. A thing I hear a lot in talks about a skylanders revival is doing away with the figures entirely but like??? That's a staple of the franchise?? That's why it's so cool?? Half the appeal of skylanders is getting cool figures that double as playable characters like what are you on??

This is just me daydreaming of a world free of capitalism but a made to order business model would probably be the best way to go about a future game in terms of convenience for the consumer. All skylanders are available for purchase at all times and they'll just produce what you order. I understand that's just more difficult for them then releasing in waves but not only will it kill scalpers they'll probably get more regular buyers that way + they can still create demand by having limited time deals and variants to order too. Idk I'm not business smart

I think about my dream skylander game a lot, it is huge in scope and completely unreasonable to expect but what's the point of dreaming if you don't want the impossible right? Lmao. I think everyone can agree an open world skylander game would fuck hard, I'd like to be able to explore past levels in it too. An idea I had that could expand skylanders with less development would be to give every skylander their own special level with a plot relevant to their backstory. Again, I'm just dreaming the impossible but it's a start I think, I feel bad thinking about how many skylanders only have their flat back story and voice lines to go off of for personality.

ANOTHER thing I had in mind for a while was a better premise for a skylanders series. I know there's a lot of Academy fans here n I love y'all sm there are aspects of Academy that I enjoy but oiughhh *said sitting upon a throne with a golden crown* I could do better.

I'm just gonna be real netflix's generic kids 3d animation style for many of their shows makes me wanna pull my teeth out I hate ittt it's so safe and bland and the movement has no life or character at all. I know I'm biased but a 2d skylanders cartoon would be so niceee. Plus the premise of Academy is like... Okay.. But skylanders was MADE for an anthology series like come onn. The appeal of skylanders is the variety of characters! I want a rotating cast! I want to see different dynamics and day to day lives every episode!! And this is just a personal gripe but I'd like it to be closer to the game canon, Academy being its own canon is fine and understandable but some of its choices are so odd

Erm yeah that's a rant about a version of the Skylanders franchise that will never exist I hope that counts lmaoo I just like daydreaming about stuff I know will never happen leave me be

[moonbeamastrology]

Postcard From Spirit

Hey guys, hope you’re all having a good holiday time and a peaceful end to 2024! What we have here is an oracle reading using the deck Postcards From Spirit by Colette Baron-Reid with a little tarot for some extra sauce. The oracle deck is one of my favorites it’s such an interesting concept and so thoughtful. So yeah, I have some scenic images for you guys to choose from. You know the vibes, take a few deep breaths, center your energy, and ask your intuition to guide you to the image that holds the message for you. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest! Love you!! Entertainment purposes only :) I hope you enjoy your reading! <3

Group 1

Hey group 1, welcome to your reading <3. Right before I began I saw a scene from the game Beyond: Two Souls, specifically the chapter where she’s getting her apartment ready for that one guy? I don’t know if this is significant to you in any way, it’s actually a really interesting premise for a game so maybe check it out if you’re into gaming at all. Right now you’re being asked to take a new perspective on something. You were/are hoping for a new outcome but Spirit is asking you to be more flexible with the outcome. All is well and positivity and good vibes are all on their way to you (even if it doesn’t feel like it). Some of you may need to check your ego a bit. The ego is attached to control and specific “stories” of how something should turn out but your soul knows that the divine is in control. Pay closer attention to the feeling of what you want and less on how it looks/what it is/how it shows up. Spirit loves you so much and wants you to have a little fun with friends to help you through the tough energy. Let your friends know you need some emotional support and you will be surprised at how they show up for you. Even if you don’t have anyone in the physical to help you through this, talk to Spirit (the wind, a tree, the moon, a rock) and open yourself up to support showing up for you from strangers. You are so loved, by the universe and also… by me.. !!! <3

Tarot: The Hanged Man, 3 of cups

Group 2

I’m feeling that this is a highly spiritual group. You’re learning to enjoy the journey. There’s a recent milestone you achieved that has placed you in a position to give back to the collective in some way. Make sure to take the opportunity now, give without expectation, give for the sake of giving. The message from the card made me think of the whole Grinch thing at the end where his heart grew three sizes lol. Not insinuating that you’re a Grinch in any way but maybe you went through a heart expansion so your capacity to give to others and yourself has increased. While shuffling the tarot I saw The World card and then The Fool ended up coming out. You’re entering into a brand new cycle (it is the end of the year so that’s fitting). It will require you to utilise discernment, strategy, focus, and determination. You have created a very stable foundation for yourself to achieve your goals and dreams (love). I asked for some clarity with the seven of swords and the nine of swords, eight of pentacles, and the four of wands came out. For some of you this could be a little bit of a warning to be careful of self sabotaging behaviors. Drown out the negativity and anxiety by placing your attention and focus on your craft, get out of the doom spiral by choosing to express and utilise your energy differently. For others (and this is ONLY if it confirms your intuition) unfortunately there’s someone around you that doesn’t want you to succeed. They want you in your head, anxious and depressed, they want to attack your peace and stability. They may be doing some sneakiness behind your back. Possibly a false friend. Backstabbing. Again this is only to confirm your intuition, don’t let it freak you out. You’re probably generally unaware of it because you are protected from it. You are focused on your own stuff and stay in your lane so it’s not coming back to bite you. Just keep focusing on yourself and maybe look into different ways to protect your energy. Do not feed into it, it is not worth your precious energy. Any way lol we do not give a fuck about that nastiness. It looks like you have really gained or raised your level of emotional maturity “accepting what comes and goes”. Keeping yourself focused on the good in your life. Lowkey you are entering this new cycle as a bad bitch (even if you’re masculine or nonbinary or what have you, bad bitchery is an energy we can all embody in different ways). This cycle wasn’t an easy one for you so be proud of yourself and who you are evolving into. I love you!!! I’m sending you so much love and healing!!! <3

Tarot: The Emperor, 7 of swords, The Fool, King of cups

Group 3

You’re coming into a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things at this time. Possibly reflecting on your own actions from the past, which is giving you a new perspective of everything (not necessarily bad actions though). Pay attention to your heart chakra, it might need some healing/balancing. Surrendering to unconditional love, when you see yourself and “others” as peers and equals regardless of whatever made up fake “hierarchy” then loving everyone becomes easier. For some it also eases anxiety because you are not less than them either. Right now you’re really being asked to trust the universe. If you’re lacking clarity then let your own intuition guide you. You’re building trust with yourself and the universe at this time. If you have been dedicated to your goals then Spirit wants you to take some time and reflect on how you can bring in more lighthearted fun and self care. You’re in an incredibly fertile energy right now, there’s space for lots of good ideas to come in with the ability to ground them down to the physical. You’re finding an ideal way to synergize all of your great ideas and your ability to make them physical. The King of Wands is an “ideas man” and the Queen of Pentacles is all about practicality, groundedness, and creation. Tap into what you want to create for yourself and go for it. Let your inspiration lead you. Trust your intuition and what lights your soul up. Thanks for reading! You’ve got this, I believe in you! <3

Tarot: King of Wands, Queen of Pentacles

[varethane]

I'm curious if you've come up with any backstory for Sorrel!

I have, actually.... For the most part it's quite shamelessly angsty, so I haven't incorporated it into any of my comics, which are (for the most part) pretty silly and lighthearted. But I have thought about it!

INCOMING LONG POST, so here's a readmore.

The broad strokes:

He was born in Gyr Abania to a farming family that fled at the arrival of the Garlean Empire, and ended up settling (after a long period of moving around/splitting apart) in the Western Shroud.

Wound up at Carteneau (likely with the Adders), was injured in the Calamity and left for dead. Woke up as essentially a blank slate, and wandered as a vagrant for a few years, nonverbal and barely lucid.

Was taken in for a couple of years by a Keeper of the Moon community in the Central Shroud.

Didn't fully regain his senses/any ability to build and retain new memories until he received Hydaelyn's vision in the wagon that brought him to Gridania

Sorrel came up with his own name on the fly aboard that same wagon after reading it off a map. He has never remembered anything from before that point, aside from some hazy formless images from the five-year period spent recovering slowly in the Central Shroud, but nothing he can actually pin down. He suspects any family he did have before is gone, and he's likely not wrong, considering the Western Shroud essentially stopped existing after the Calamity.

Throughout ARR he felt like a fraud, too worried to admit to his lack of memory, and by the time he started getting closer to some of the Scions, it had been so long that it seemed embarassing to admit to it. By Shadowbringers, he's convinced himself that it doesn't matter because his new identity and name are so established, though he does occasionally have moments of uncertainty. In particular, post-Endwalker, finding out about the whole Azem connection put some theories into his head...

ANYWAY......

I may have a half-written fanfic about the general subject of his backstory; the premise is basically that at some point post-Endwalker Sorrel admitted in front of a couple of Scions that he doesn't remember his past, and they (mostly Alisaie and G'raha) decided to make it their mission to uncover it, with mixed results.

If I ever finish it, I'll probably drop it on AO3!

[goddessofroyalty]

So- knowing that you arent hiding from spoilders. i kind of wanted to bring up viktors fate in the Zaun Family au.

Like, would silco and Vander know of viktors fate post councils attack? Would they see their son in the cocoon(girl idk the name).

What if when he leaves and makes the commune? What of Jayces disappearance for months?

Like, their son became an augmented arcane herald- *and then* became an eldritch being...like..that's alot. Vi, Jinx, the boys, that's their sibling. That's silcos and vanders first baby boy and he's turned into this -being-

And jayce sure isn't innocent as he's just as changed as Viktor is.

To start with I've always known that I would have to deviate Zaun Family from Season Two of Arcane because the chain of events that caused how Season One ended (ie Jinx blowing up the Council Chambers) wouldn't happen in this verse. The question was always just how much and how many B-plots I could continue to use.

I also did kind of bank on the "external threat" teased in Season One being a much bigger plot-point than it turned out to be. So... yeah gonna' have to figure that one out.

Zaun Family was designed to be a happy au (even if everyone's individual complexes are debatably worse) and what happens with Viktor this season does not fit within happy au territory. So I'm probably going to stick with my original plan that is a bit closer to League lore of Viktor augmenting himself in order to replace the organs that start failing from his disease (with the full Machine Herald fit being armour he creates on top of his argumentation because of... whatever that external threat ends up being).

Saying that I'm very happy to play with alternatives because this verse is more a premise with a bunch of branches shooting off than an actual set-in-stone story.

The first thing we need to actually consider is the very real possibility that Silco would be in the Council Chambers as well. Unless he's been kicked out and that's why Jinx is blowing up the place. But he could be right there to see the damage done to Viktor from the explosion.

And we know from Season One how desperate he can get when it comes to saving his child. So he's probably completely on-board Jayce's desperate attempt to save Viktor and is honestly probably breathing down Jayce's neck the whole time to hurry it up! (and quite possibly dragging Singed out of his cave all the way up there to Do Something To Help) Which means that when Viktor comes back different there is a level of responsibility (and guilt) that rests on his shoulders for it as well.

They probably don't pay Jayce's disappearance much mind. He's not their concern, and I think they do rest a bit of blame on him for whatever has happened to Viktor. So if he wants to fuck off in his shame, sure, he can go fuck off for all they care.

The appeals to Viktor's humanity / original self start a lot earlier. And this is the point where I probably need to have watched the season to get a feel myself for how much I think it's Viktor is being manipulated by the Hextech into doing what he's doing vs Viktor has been taken over by the Hextech. Because depending on that affects whether that would work before the whole other plot happens and Jayce showing back up or not. (Which is also kind of funny where Jayce goes through this whole nightmare adventure seeing how this path ends badly only to show back up to Viktor already deciding not to continue down it because in that alternative universe he didn't have two dads and four siblings grounding him in humanity)

On a slightly funnier note - Viktor is generally considered the "good" child of the five (because he has a high success rate when he does do illegal things to achieve his goals) but now he started a whole cult and his siblings are never ever going to let him down.

[cantsayidont]

While this ranks relatively low on my overall list of complaints about STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and STRANGE NEW WORLDS, something I find annoying about them is that they've really built up the size and strength of Starfleet to something closer to what it is in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, which contradicts TOS in ways that have far-reaching story effects.

TOS repeatedly indicates that in that period Starfleet has only a handful of ships in the Enterprise's class, presumably because they're resource-intensive to build and operate. As Kirk and John Christopher discuss in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday":

CHRISTOPHER: Must have taken quite a lot to build a ship like this. KIRK: There are only twelve like it in the fleet.

That plainly doesn't mean that Starfleet has no other ships, but ships of what TOS describes as the "Starship" class ("Constitution-class" is a later coinage) are uniquely capable. As Merik, former commander of the SS Beagle, explains in "Bread and Circuses":

MERIK: He commands not just a spaceship, Proconsul, but a starship. A very special vessel and crew. I tried for such a command.

This special status is a central part of the premise of TOS: It's the reason why the Enterprise is assigned such a diverse array of duties, and why what the Enterprise does is so important to the plot. Even into the TOS cast movie era, we're frequently told that the Enterprise is the only ship in the sector capable of responding to a problem or threat, and the crew is rarely in a position to call for reinforcements even where that would be tactically or strategically advisable.

While that makes duty on one of these ships very risky (as evidenced by the number of the Enterprise's sister ships that are lost with all hands in TOS, including Constellation, Defiant, and Exeter), as Merik's remark indicates, it's also a plum assignment, and one for which there's obviously fierce competition. The TOS bible makes much of the fact that Kirk is the youngest person ever to command one of these starships, and he also appears to be one of the lowest-ranking. (Many of the other starship captains we see are fleet captains or commodores, as well as being older than Kirk.) This comes into play at a variety of points: For instance, it's at the root of Ben Finney's animosity toward Kirk in "Court Martial" (and presumably why Kirk's peers are quick to give him the cold shoulder when he's charged with negligence in Finney's apparent death), and it's part of the tension in "The Doomsday Machine," where Kirk and Spock have to maneuver around the fact that Matt Decker outranks Kirk and is clearly the senior officer.

The limited number of starships also provides a useful Watsonian explanation for the dichotomy of a capital warship (which the Enterprise unequivocally is) being used for scientific research and exploration missions. Although TOS is reluctant to say much about civilian life within the Federation, we can probably assume that such costly starships are the subject of a lot of political wrangling, and the different roles the Enterprise plays probably reflect those tensions: The Enterprise's scientific duties may be a concession to those who (like David Marcus in STAR TREK II) are wary of Starfleet's military role, and perhaps an effort to extract a greater civilian return on the Federation's obviously substantial military investment. It might also be a diplomatic ploy, or an attempt to maneuver around arms control treaties with rival powers like the Klingons and Romulans. (Arms-limitation treaties are probably the most plausible explanation for the Enterprise-A being so hastily decommissioned and its entire class apparently being mothballed shortly after STAR TREK VI.)

DISCOVERY and STRANGE NEW WORLDS pay lip service to the specialness of ships of the Enterprise's class while undermining the point by indicating that Starfleet also has hundreds if not thousands of other, slightly smaller starships with 80 or 90 percent of the Enterprise's capabilities, carrying out a similar range of missions. I can see why they've gone that way, and there's obvious precedent for it in the TOS cast movies, which depict several other classes of Starfleet ships, but interposing that into the TOS era inevitably weakens the premise of the original stories, and renders many of the conceits of TOS unintelligible. (If it were up to me, I would attribute the expanded range of ships to changes between TOS and the era of the movies, which are set years later and have different narrative priorities.)

This retroactive Starfleet expansion also exacerbates the increasingly jingoistic militarism of modern STAR TREK, which is uncomfortably pronounced in both the Abrams films (which got money from the Pentagon for it) and in the recent shows (which I suspect are also getting DOD money, although I haven't seen that specifically confirmed). The large-scale fleet maneuvers of the finale of PICARD, for instance, are frankly terrifying, and would be even without the contrivances of the plot. A Federation that celebrates "Frontier Day" with a massive display of military power within the solar system, obviously aimed at awing and intimidating citizen and adversary alike, seems like a pretty harrowing "post-scarcity socialist utopia," even by the standards of a show that's always been about the crews of a spacegoing navy doing interstellar colonialism.

[miningforheart]

i went to a character tag and got annoyed &my hand slipped and i ended up writing like 700 words of a character study of shen jiu so. don't mind me just putting it here.

i feel like people are so focused on the trauma plot of shen jiu in the question of whether or not he could lead a happy life (which is to begin with a strange question in itself) that they completely dismiss the reality of his situation. i always say that i love sj's "whatever you've heard about me believe it and leave me alone" stance because it's funny but i only now noticed that readers completely miss why he behaves like this at all? or rather, they talk themselves in circles of his psychological flaws while the most obvious reason is that he simply knows he will not be believed. he has no actual background he can refer to beyond his life at the peak. more than that, everything that he says about his life before can point to the truth of him having been a slave. and this is obv a dangerous thing; knowing he was a slave, it could be easily found out that he murdered his owners - and in that case he would most probably lose everything.

which is all to say that readers clearly forget that our justice standards do not exist in that world. the general public learning of his past would not make them more sympathetic and the abuse he withstood would not be taken as justification for his actions. it would just humiliate him and perhaps even land him in prison. for all purposes it is better that his trips to the brothel are taken to be "whims of a spoiled promiscuous rich master" as opposed to visits to women that he once was closer in social status with and an escape from his current environment where he does not feel safe because he's afraid of men. of course there are other situations when he could have been truthful -- irt lqg's death, for instance -- but when you think about it, he is already isolated by then and yqy's opinion's is already known: while yqy has this pitiful little endeavour to keep sj safe going on, he does always assume the worst about shen jiu anyway.

and speaking of, it's not like yqy ever offered sj truth himself. who's that person that sj is supposed to offer veracity too? with whom is he supposed to be vulnerable?

above it all there is the simple notion of sj's shame and the explicit statement that he believes himself to be one of people who were just 'born bad'. but it is also not like he never tried. the thing that got him sold to the qiu family was his attempt to help a boy that he did not even like. and then, there is even the radical moment when he is gifted the name 'qingqiu' and he thinks that from now on, he will be a 'new person.' and yet, the ironic strike of luck (or the opposite) that made the peak lord choose this name for him tells us all we need to know: that sj can never be free of the qiu family. it's not just some inherent character flaw nor his desire to wallow in misery that are a downfall of his reputation. sj is not stupid. he knows there are things that cannot be said.

the fact that it is not obvious is tbh baffling to me given the title of the novel, its general premise and the fact that one of the first questions asked by shen yuan as he's looking into mirror is 'why are you like that?!' shen jiu cannot answer this question because he is dead. he could not really answer that question when he was alive either. but while sj is merely haunting the narrative, we learn that nearly every single thing said about him was a fabrication -- and it is quite clear in the extras where he actually appears that every single time he tries to do something right, it is taken to be malicious. so to say that 'he did all of that to himself' or some variation is reductive given that this is the initial assumption about him in the book that gets reconstructed and debunked??

[beautifulsnake2162020]

Intertwined Voices (Wangxian One-shot)

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction and I only do this for fun.

Premise: During their honeymoon period the Wangxian song finally becomes a duet.

Rating - M (Emotional love making, not graphic enough to be E)

AO3 link

AN: Please accept this humble little one shot based on something I've observed among all existing versions of the Wangxian song in its duet form (Wangxian from the audio drama, Xianyun from the donghua, and Wuji from the Untamed series). Mainly that Wei Ying always sings first in the first couple lines of the first verse and Lan Zhan always follows completing the first verse.

I wrote this while mainly listening to the audio drama version of Wangxian (the version which largely inspired this fic). But hopefully it could work with Xianyun and Wuji too.

If they seem out of character I apologize in advance I haven't read the books yet but I plan to during my Xmas break. I only completed the Untamed and the donghua. Also I'm inexperienced in writing M/M love scenes so I did my best to focus more on the emotions.

"Lan Zhan."

Wei Wuxian says as he leans back into Lan Wangji's chest as he drinks the finest local wine the inn they are staying in has to offer. They were just generously awarded for dealing with a challenging night hunt in one of the more isolated towns of their first journey together as a married couple. It was midday and their spiritual energy was still recovering from their hunt which ended that morning. Too tired to do any travelling or exploring what the town has to offer they decided to spend the rest of the day recovering in their room.

"Mn."

"I just realized something after we played 'Wangxian' last night. I don't think I've heard the lyrics yet. Only the melody."

"Mn."

"Lan Zhan will you finally sing it for me?"

"Later."

"Huh? Why not now?"

"The walls have ears. Wangxian is for Wei Ying's ears only."

"I could just put a silencing talisman!"

"Your spiritual energy needs to fully recover."

He feels Lan Wangji pull him closer and his hands gently press him against Lan Wangji's body. As if encouraging him to snuggle in his embrace. Wei Wuxian relents after letting out a mildly dramatic sigh before pressing a kiss on his husband's skin.

"Aw Lan Zhan - I love staying in your arms. You don't want to let me go now?"

He feels Lan Wangji press a kiss to his cheek as he feels him caress his waist while drawing him even closer. Wei Wuxian couldn't help but melt as he embraces his husband. 

"Later Wei Ying. Later."

A few nights later and warmed by the fire they made in their camp in the wilderness little Apple began dozing after Lan Wangji gave three large apples to fill the donkey's stomach enough that it would sleep soon after eating. He wanted as much privacy as possible when playing the song of his yearning for the love of his life and the next. Across him Wei Wuxian sat while drinking their supply of local wine from their last night hunt. They initially wanted to pay for it but the town's folk insisted that they take it as gifts in gratitude of solving their troubles. They left the town with enough to last for at least a month if Wei Wuxian could control himself.

Lan Wangji takes a quick breath to prepare himself and to restrain any urge to lean forward and lick the stray drops of wine that drips on Wei Wuxian's neck. Knowing himself he would probably be more intoxicated from his husband's skin than from the wine itself. He turns his gaze to meet Wei Wuxian's eyes hoping that it would quell his slowly rising arousal for him. Only for him to find that Wei Wuxian's expression mirrored his own but was mixed with the excitement of finally hearing Wangxian in its entirety.

His eyes never leaves his husband's gaze as he begins playing the melody on his guqin, Wangji. Long ago he was only brave enough to hum the song he made to the subject of his work. He had once thought he could be satisfied with only a musical expression of his feelings. He wasn't brave enough to sing the lyrics, for words had the power to make things clear and he still wanted to hide behind the ambiguity of the music he composed. Throughout all his life he was trained to restrain or suppress any desire that lead him astray from being calm and mindful. And yet ever since Wei Wuxian came into his life his mind was anything but calm. His request when they were alone in the cave was his chance to confess his feelings. But not by singing them, as long as his inspiration did not know the words which would shed light on his feelings he could avoid giving him the burden of reciprocating out of pity. His beloved should not have to be responsible for them when it was clear that he did not know how much he has affected Lan Wangji. To Lan Wangji's mind this was proof that his feelings were unrequited.

A thought he once thought he could bear; to love Wei Wuxian from afar as Wei Wuxian gives his affections to others. He had sought ways to suppress or restrain his feelings. After all he was taught that to give in would be selfish, and acts of selfishness lead to injustice. Had he known that perhaps it would have been better to have given in back then, maybe things would have been different. Till now he wishes he could tell his younger self not to take those precious moments for granted. 

He doesn't know how but he begins to feel his eyes water as he pours out his feelings in a song he considers as his most important work. Wei Wuxian's eyes were already shedding tears while gently smiling. The kind of smile that even he could not fake for all his dramatic antics that Lan Wangji couldn't help but love. The look of love and appreciation in Wei Wuxian had allowed more feelings he had kept hidden to be released. It was only by the end of the song that he realized that he too had been shedding tears.

"Lan Zhan why didn't you sing this to me when we were in the cave?"

Wei Wuxian asks as he settles himself on his lap after the guqin was set aside. Lan Wangji cups his face as their foreheads meet.

"You were exhausted and shouldn't carry more burdens."

"But Lan Zhan nothing from you could be a burden to me! I even enjoy your punishments!"

"Wei Ying."

"Well not all of them, but you being there with me made it more bearable."

Their hands meet and their fingers close keeping them in place.

"Will you please sing it again?"

"Mn."

He sings it once more, this time with the intimacy of his soulmate's embrace and the comfort of his feelings not just appreciated but wanted by Wei Wuxian. Their eyes never leaving the other's as he once again sings of his yearning to his beloved. Byt the end of it Wei Wuxian could not help but lean forward and pour his own feelings into a kiss. The kiss began slow as he feels the love shared between them through their lips. Before he knew it he was pushed down without their kiss breaking. Together they stayed as their kiss lead to something more.

"Lan Zhan." A happily exhausted Wei Wuxian snuggles in his arms as he covers their naked bodies with his outer robe which was used as a blanket. The fire dying out and the glow of the embers weren't enough to offer comfort in the cold night. He was still inside of him with Wei Wuxian clenching whenever he made any move to leave. He wouldn't want to anyway.

"Will you sing Wangxian one more time? I want to hear it again before I sleep."

He presses a kiss on his lips before once again singing their song. This time as a lullaby to bring Wei Wuxian to the land of dreams.

This lead to more frequent requests for him to sing. Usually it was during times in between night hunts and in the more relaxed periods of their journey. Whenever they stayed in an inn the door would have a silencing talisman as he sang to him. Sometimes while playing his qin, sometimes with Wei Wuxian accompanying him with his flute, Chengqing. But the times he was most fond of was whenever he would sing it with his voice alone with Wei Wuxian in his arms. It wasn't long before Wei Wuxian asks if he could make a musical talisman for Wangji.

"Just for Wangxian. I was thinking your fingers might start getting tired with how often I ask you to sing it for me."

"Utterly false."

"I know I know but I was thinking of something else we could do while Wangji and Chengqing plays it."

"Ridiculous."

"What?! How is that ridiculous?! Lan Zhan please. It would be a temporary talisman that could be easily removed at any time so it won't be a problem in case something urgent happens."

"Chengqing only."

Before Wei Wuxian could try to persuade him further Lan Wangji waves his hand over his qin and Wangji on its own begins playing Wangxian. Wei Wuxian begins laughing as he makes a musical talisman for Chengqing.

"Lan Zhan why didn't you tell me earlier that you had a spell for that? How many times did you play Wangxian before you decided that Wangji should play it on its own? Was it for convenience?"

"To remember you."

"Oh Lan Zhan." Wei Wuxian smiles, touched by his answer. Wei Wuxian quickly sticks the talisman he just made on his flute as he settle himself on front of Lan Wangji.

"How am I supposed to give you my surprise if you keep startling my heart like this? Is this how you like treating your husband?"

"It's the truth."

"Lan Zhan you're really romantic! I'm so lucky to be loved by you."

Wei Wuxian leans forward and kisses him as Wangji and Chengqing begins playing the opening notes of Wangxian. When it was near the time for the opening lines Wei Wuxian breaks the kiss and begins singing the first two lines. Lan Wangji couldn't help but be stunned as he listens to him sing his words. This time it was as if he was the one being confessed to as he feels his husband, the very person who inspired the song, pours his own feelings to his own words. Words of love and yearning once thought to be unrequited. Now he was using them to express his own feelings to the song's composer. And he sang it without any mistake in word, timing, or note.

"Well? What did you think?" Wei Wuxian asks with a nervous smile.

"...again."

This time he initiates the kiss while bringing Wei Wuxian on his lap. Singing it to him was one thing, but to hear him singing it right back at him was like ascending to a place he didn't even know he wanted to be in. 

Soon they sing their song together, slowly transforming it into a musical dialogue between lovers. The words and the song remained the same but their feelings intensified.

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but fall even more for Lan Wangji. His romantic husband accepted his own musical confession. A confession he much preferred over the embarrassing one in Guanyin's temple. As much as he remembers it with fondness he couldn't help but feel embarrassed by how he had confessed. Not because of what he has said, but because any words he said seemed to not be enough in showing the true extent of his feelings. Even though they are now married, a part of him couldn't help but feel that there was more that he would like to confess. Music had always connected them and was the key to Lan Wangji knowing he was back with a new body. It was the bridge to convey the feelings that words and actions could only hint at. When he first played Wangxian in his new life it was the most memorable melody that he could find comfort in. He couldn't fully explain why, but if he found comfort in it perhaps it could offer the same and calm down Wen Ning. It was always one of his favorite melodies. To learn later on that his husband was the composer and had only played it once before his return and finally hearing the entire song from his lips...Wei Wuxian couldn't help but admire how talented and intelligent Lan Wangji was. Maybe it was because of his more quiet nature and his more thoughtful approach to words that he has been able to make music that could express the true extent of his feelings. His lyrics perfectly chosen that he couldn't help but cry when he first heard them. Wangxian in it's entirety was absolutely perfect. Though it was a product of Lan Wangji's yearning it captured how he felt about Lan Wangji. The only person who never gave up on him. One of the few who actually cared and respected his principles. 

What better way to confess for a second time than using their love song? His husband's very own creation seemed to be the only thing that was able to express what his own words failed to fully show.

"Wei Ying."

Lan Wangji says against his lips as they enter the Jingshi but not wanting to break their kiss. Lan Wangji shuts the door as he slowly leads them to the bed. 

"Mm?"

"Chengqing's musical talisman."

"Mmhmm."

Wei Wuxian deepens their kiss as he casts the paper with the musical talisman on Chengqing and Lan Wangji casts his own spell on Wangji. Together they begin playing their song, as they begin undressing each other. They settle on the bed as Lan Wangji grabs the vial of oil they've been using in their journey and kisses his way down.

"Mmm Lan er-gege."

"Don't strain your voice too much. We've barely begun."

"Easy for you to - Lan Zhan!"

"Mn." Lan Wangji inserts his fingers and begins preparing Wei Wuxian.

"Hangguang-jun." Wei Wuxian whines clenching the pillows under his head.

"Breathe, save your voice."

Once he was stretched out and ready Lan Wangji removes his oiled up fingers and carefully guides Wei Ying to sit on his lap. Then carefully impales Wei Wuxian, groaning in his neck as he feels his walls welcome him. No matter how often they've consummated their marriage he would never get used to how amazing it feels. As he hears the opening notes of their song he kisses his way up Wei Wuxian's neck before meeting his gaze as Wei Wuxian begins singing the opening lines of their song. Wei Wuxian clings to him as he sings, his face expressing his love for Lan Wangji. Slowly Lan Wangji begins to move as he follow Wei Wuxian's voice with his own.

The first time their voices join together with the same words Lan Wangji thrusts up and Wei Wuxian thrusts down. They maintain the slow but steady rhythm as they confess through song. An intoxicating cycle of reciprocation through their voices, the music, their words, and their bodies.

After finishing the song together their lips meet and their rhythm becomes slightly faster. Not by much, but just enough. Tonight was about making love in their first night as a married couple in their home. 

They let Wangji and Chengqing continue to play. Whenever their voices joined it was ecstasy at they felt their souls become one.

"Lan Zhan!"

"Wei Ying!"

Soon their rhythm became faster as Wei Wuxian's fingers entangled in Lan Wangji's head and his other hand clung to his back. He moaned in delight as he felt Lan Wangji's teeth as he continued riding him and Lan Wangji angled his hips to give deeper thrusts. Their voices were no longer singing the lyrics but were still intertwined in their music.

Lan Wangji quickly pulls Wei Wuxian down for a deep kiss as they moaned into each other. Their climax was close as they hear notes finishing the second verse and leading to the chorus. They didn't know who came first, but one triggered the climax of the other, their cries in time with the music. 

After a few more thrusts Lan Wangji laid Wei Wuxian down and their foreheads meet as they share a look of love.

"Welcome home."

"With you it always is." 

[the-raven-lady]

Psychoanalyst anon here. ‘Why does every warhammer x reader fan have a breeding kink?’ ‘why do we keep writing about astartes nutting inside us??’ Look, and I’m metaphorically grabbing you by shoulders here, 99% of the x reader fics everyone writes are about the Horus Heresy narrative. The very famous 60-something book series called the Horus Heresy. The very famous book series about a family tragedy.

The entire premise of it is not only about daddy issues, but also about how extremist beliefs destroy families, and it’s also about how you can never leave a family, no matter how hard you try. 10,000 years in and every single space marine still carries a legion/chapter specific bit of trauma with them, I mean take a look at the blood angels, they straight up have their dad’s ptsd. It’s not something any of the marines or the primarchs or the custodes can’t run away from, a tapestry cannot run from the thread it’s weaved from, a person cannot run from the genetics that created them. And the genetics that created them are like, the literal worst, straight up coloniser dna.

In many books they refer to each other as ‘blood relations’, and in many books that blood is spilt over and over and over again. On first glance the space marines, primarchs, and custodes seem to be just a parody on that ‘manly macho man’ trope, but the closer you look at it you start to realise that it’s all about the cyclical nature of generational trauma.

So is it really that surprising that a lot of people who enjoy the ‘worst family ever’ book series would also have a breeding kink about it? I think that what we’re doing is just engaging with the source material in a meaningful and slightly kinky way.

The other reason for why most people here have a breeding kink about it is even more obvious. The entire kink is just a part of your brain that controls reproduction going a tiny bit overdrive sometimes. And how could it not? The characters in the HH series are always described as either being the most gorgeous, powerful, or intimidating people to ever appear in your pitiful baseline field of vision. So of course the ‘maybe I should have kids’ part of your brain would fixate on a big strong beautiful guy that could protect from all harm.

Especially so when it comes to the primarchs, because that’s literally how the Emperor intended them to work. ‘You see how hot this man is? Yes? You want your kids to be 50% him, don’t you? Well congrats because you can! All you have to do is just send any young children you already have to your nearest astartes initiate program-’

But again, I’m not a licensed anything so don’t take my word for it. I don’t know your brain.

Thank you for blessing my inbox. I'm sorry I fell asleep before you appeared.

I know for me personally, my breeding kink existed far before any interaction with 40k. I actually think the assessment of "Big man who is pretty" is closer to my side of things than the daddy issues side of 40k.

Now that I'm sober, I posit another explanation as an addition to what you've already given: It ties back into domination and devotion.

Being marked and claimed by someone large and powerful who can protect you definitely appeals to the lizard brain, but I think there's a little bit more to the consensual domination of being marked with someone's seed that appeals to me personally. And generally, the before, during, and after tend to be full of praises and devotionals and excitement from your opposite. "You're going to look so good carrying my children," etc. Getting doted on and taken care of by a devoted partner is probably the second largest appeal to me, but you've already eaten us alive over that and left no crumbs, so I digress.

I appreciate

[campbyler]

Hello!!

I’ve had an unpublished modern au byler fic in the works for an embarrassing amount of time and I’ve noticed that you two talk about characterization a lot, which has been my main struggle. I’ve figured out choices to make for characters and how they relate to choices and characteristics of the canon characters in the show, but I’m not sure if the reasoning behind those choices and traits will translate to readers.

I love the fic and I feel like y’all did a great job with making those reasonings clear in your writing without directly saying it, so I’d love to know if you have any specific tricks for that!

Also sorry if this kind of formal, I’m stuck in email mode with finals coming up :|

hello! soooo sorry this is such a late response — i was thinking it over when it came in and then i ended up talking about something similar on another ask and totally blanked 😔 thank you so much for asking for our input, i’ll try to be as concise as i can! (<- edit from future me who has finished typing up her answer to this ask: famous last words. you were not concise. at all. oh my god i’m sorry) i know you said you already made your initial characterization choices and everything so please bear with me while i word vomit and rehash what was probably part of your thought process anyways just to be able to follow my own train of thought lol

some general thoughts here that thea and i have been mulling over for the last few months regarding how we’ve written our fic and choices we have made for it: we’re both well aware that acswy is not everyone’s cup of tea for many reasons, but i’m specifically bringing this up in response to your ask because every once in a while, we do see someone refer to our mike and will as being written out of character, whether or not that’s a deterrent for them in reading. and i want to make it clear that this doesn’t bother us and nothing im about to say is meant to sound defensive or like we’re making a case to people who feel this way — we have our reasons for making the decisions that we did and also already heavily retconned our og concept for them on account of it having been pretty ooc at the time, even to us, so we’re confident with where we are now — but it has made us think about what people actually consider to be “out of character.” this brings me to my first point re: characterization which is, to us, the importance of differentiating between something that the character in the source material doesn’t/probably wouldn’t do versus something that is more of a direct contradiction to the character themselves. for example, we’ve seen people say (often while reading for the first time) that will is ooc specifically in the first couple chapters of acswy, a big reason being because he’s “mean to mike.” it is, of course, vastly different from how he acts in the show and is probably a slightly jarring dynamic to be dropped into right off the bat, especially since the entire premise of the fic is that the reader has almost zero context for why he’s behaving this way, and even more so at the beginning of the fic before his and mike’s relationship develops further. to me and thea as writers, the importance lies more so in the context for it all: how mike and will would turn out after growing up without each other as best friends, with a lot of the cultural pressures of the 1980s removed but having some new ones of the 2010s/20s introduced; not going to high school together, being in the same friend group for years and getting closer over time with many interests in common, but also facing a lot of conflict and having that friend group be geographically separated while a lot of it goes down.

and with this context, what we would consider to be ooc would be if we just like. made will a straight up DICK or something lol. no nuance involved, constantly berating mike with no reason to do so, even with their unknown history, like just ragging on him all the time and never backing down, even when mike isn’t engaging (side note: giant personal pet peeve of mine that max constantly gets written this way but i digress). we see in the show that will is often snarky and sarcastic and will stand up for himself when needed, especially with mike — which imo is another sign of will’s trust in him and their bond, that he can be honest with mike and not fear genuine retribution, and in acswy, he knows mike will meet him where he’s at. he sometimes isn’t afraid to hit a sore spot, but he would never ever just be a jerk for the hell of it -> we even see him apologize after their fight in s4, despite it clearly being a very emotional moment for him and a lot of truth behind what he was saying. whether he intended for it to come out that way or not, he still felt bad for reacting that way and apologized to mike’s face about it. likewise, there’s a reason acswy will acts the way he does with mike specifically, and we were also intentional with making mike match his energy like he does in canon, which will counts on, even — the way these boys BICKER, oh my god — and he has his own ways of pushing will’s buttons which prove to be very effective. even in the early chapters there are a lot of moments of softness and real friendship between them that (we hope!!) make it pretty clear that it takes some effort to maintain this facade, that there is more than enough of their “canon” bond and dynamic and chemistry where being friends and having fun together is a much more natural state to exist in, and is where they usual end up during those brief periods where they let that mask slip. same principle if we had made mike some uber-jerk who had completely different interests than he does in the show (we are so glad that book annotator and zelda fan mike wheeler is ringing true for you all ☺️), or someone who’s super self confident and popular and charming (outside of will’s very unreliable pov) once he and will start hooking up. i think most people would look at that and look back at canon mike wheeler and say yeah that is Not my mike, because making will an actual asshole or making mike any of these things would be going against core character traits that are central to their arcs in the show. will wouldn’t be will if he was generally a confrontational dick, and mike wouldn’t be mike if he was popular and exuded self confidence and so on. that’s just not them! so to summarize, i guess the question to us is more along the lines of “would they ‘not do this’ in the show out of circumstance/lack of necessity (e.g: canon byler going to the same schools until s4, never having a reason for rivalry to develop, growing up living in close proximity to each other and all of their mutual friends, etc) or would they ‘not do this’ in the show because it’s antithetical to the way they have been written?” we find it much more interesting to put a character in a situation and then essentially work backwards in a way to see how they would react to it, rather than putting them in situations that correlate to things we have seen before, and therefore would probably result in them reacting in a way we have seen them do before.

and now coming back to what i think you were actually asking: i think my biggest tip to making those references without it being said outright is honestly just to have faith in both your readers And the creative choices you make. which sounds like a bit of a cop out answer but i simply can’t understate the important of trusting your readers to pick up what you’re putting down, and to trust that they’ll read between the lines for you. a lot of my favorite characterization moments in aus are ones that are really really subtle, where a character does or says something that is clearly a callback to something in the source media, but it isn’t explained in a way that’s actually calling attention to it — it always seems much more natural that way, like whatever they did is just a progression of who they are in that story instead of the author trying to make a point or force a connection. just off the top of my head a small example might be how i see so many authors in non-magic/no upside down aus still make will really struggle with the cold, often just as a throwaway line or paragraph which imo is much more effective for me than trying to explain why he’s feeling this way. or having him enjoy the same media as in the show in a slightly varied and less direct way (e.g: being into the new star wars shows as a continuation of his canon interests, putting him in theater club to play off of the posters we saw in his room, etc). i think it also helps to have something specific in mind that you’re trying to tie back, like an important moment for that character’s story or something that stood out in the source material. like, i love writing lucas and dustin bickering over stupid stuff bc it takes me back to them in s1 in the principal’s office or s2 in general, or one of my personal favs in my own fics was one where i had will be on a constant rotation of fun patterned socks. he’s creative, he’s an artist, it’s (hopefully) a pretty clear connection to make once i write it in, and i really do think a modern version of him would get a kick out of something like that! and sometimes people just won’t pick up on what you’re trying to say and that’s okay too! everyone reads fics a little differently so some connections might be more obvious to some people than others and so on. from my experience as a reader, i find it pretty easy to connect the dots between an intentional and thoughtful moment of characterization vs one that doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head, or the author felt the need to spell out for the reader which maybe took me out of the moment a little too much or something. to me, making those choices and translating canon to an au is honestly the hardest part, especially with a modern au and a show like st that is So defined by the period it’s set in, so if you’ve already got that out of the way i genuinely think you have the rest of it in the bag as well. unless you worked through it in the month it took me to get to this in which case i am so so so sorry LOL

okay that’s been my word vomit of the day, hopefully any of this made sense or was useful at all, but thank you again for your kind words and support and for thinking to ask us! always always happy to chat writing, even if it takes me a million words to do it 😗

[sineala]

Hi Sine, have you read the new Ultimates (2024)? Any thoughts? I'm currently on the fence, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I have read the new Ultimates! I have actually been keeping up with it since Ultimate Invasion, so I've read Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe and am also mostly keeping up with Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men, but since none of those three are really my corner of comics fandom I think I am less qualified to speak to how they are going since I don't generally follow their 616 counterparts and wasn't reading them in the original-flavor Ultimate universe either.

I think the actual Ultimates comic itself has a surprising amount of potential and I'm liking it a lot more than I expected to like it considering that we are only two issues in and the fact that I'd literally never heard of the writer before did not fill me with a lot of confidence. But, y'know, I'm here for Steve and Tony and if Steve and Tony are friends I am, in that regard, fairly easy to please.

So I like the team dynamic so far, but from the beginning I haven't really been a fan of the worldbuilding, and I think a lot of my problems with the worldbuilding would be fixed if they simply had not also called this Ultimates, but as we all know, it is forbidden for Marvel to come up with new names for anything ever.

See, the original Ultimates had a pretty clear and relatively unique mission statement: it was meant to be a low-continuity universe, set in something closer to the real world than 616 is, with grittier and more realistic storylines. The idea was that fans could read and enjoy this universe without needing to know decades of backstory. And, sure, if you knew the backstories there would often be little Easter Eggs, but you're totally capable of reading and enjoying Ults 1, say, if you don't know why the Hulk is gray or why Hank and Jan have a terrible relationship. Because within the context of Ults, that's just how things are. Sure, they're that way because of things that happened in 616, but you don't need to know that.

The original Ults is also gritty and grimdark and polarizing. A lot of people don't like it. The new Ults universe has almost nothing in common with it except that the Maker (Reed Richards) originally hails from Earth-1610. Which, as it happens, does affect the plot a lot, but old Ults and new Ults are different things, and I think the shared name actually hurts new Ults. Because, when you think about it, who's going to want to read this? You've got the people who liked old Ults and are sad that this isn't it. And then you've got the people who didn't like old Ults and have been avoiding this universe because they assume it's the same one. So who's left? People who just like the name "Ultimates?" People who are willing to take a chance on anything Marvel releases? I just feel like there are probably fewer of those people.

I know that the new Ults universe was supposed to be Donny Cates' project before he had to leave due to medical issues, and that Ultimate Invasion was then taken over by Hickman. And honestly I would have liked to see Cates' take, because I wasn't a big fan of Hickman's Ults run, mostly because I didn't like the Maker -- so I'm not, you know, really thrilled that the one thing that gets kept from Earth-1610 is my least favorite character.

The new Ults universe has also pretty much abandoned the two things I thought were the big draw of old Ults: a more "realistic" setting as well as a low amount of continuity. As you probably know, the premise of new Ults is that the Maker goes universe-hopping, gets to Earth-6160, decides that's good enough, stops there, and proceeds to epically fuck shit up. He has his City going, just like 1610. The Earth now has a handful of massive countries, which I guess makes it easier for a shadowy cabal to rule them. So we are definitely abandoning any kind of real-world…geopolitical similarity. Britain and France are the same country; Captain Britain speaks French. China and Japan are the same country. The US fell apart in the 60s. I mean, it's not necessary to use real places in superhero comics -- DC and its array of fictional cities seems to be doing fine -- but it seems weird to do it here when that was supposed to be part of the attraction of Ults (and later on, the MCU, which pulled a lot from Ults). It's a thing people like to read. It gives you a little more investment, I think, as a reader.

The Maker's goal is to prevent superheroes from showing up at all by taking them off the playing field. He gets there at some point after WWII -- because Steve was still Captain America and got iced -- but before the modern Marvel universe kicks off. The Maker is clearly going after as many people as he can. He prevents Peter Parker from being bitten by the spider. He has a creepy museum/mausoleum where he collects artifacts and corpses of dead heroes; for example, we see an adamantium skeleton that is presumably Wolverine's.

Of course, the heroes aren't going to stand for this. Which heroes, you ask? Who's left? Well… mostly Tony, actually. In this universe, Tony is very young and has more of an MCU-influenced backstory in terms of his relationship to his father and to Obadiah Stane. He's also Iron Lad. So, yes, this is a Kang thing. He has help from this universe's Reed (who is masked like Doom) and they're going to assemble the Ultimates and get back as many heroes as they can. Tony finds middle-aged Peter Parker (who is married to MJ and, oh, yeah, Uncle Ben's still alive) and gets him a spider. They are going to fix the world and make everything right.

Is this fun? I think so! I am down for a plot where Tony restores superheroes to his world. However, the thing it isn't is low-continuity. Unlike original Ults, there is so so so much continuity just embedded into the worldbuilding. We see the Maker's big list of characters he's gotten rid of. You're already supposed to know who these people are.

If you pick up the original Ults, let's say Millar's Ults 1 & 2, you don't need to know anything about anything. Sure, like I said, there are lots of things in it that are callbacks to 616, but you don't actually need to know what they are to understand the plot. But everything in new Ults is, within the plot, a reference to something else in the multiverse. They're putting things back the way they were. To do that, you actually need to know something about the way things were. Some of this stuff is going to be obvious to most people who are even vaguely familiar with comics -- I don't read Spider-Man, generally, and even I know it's a big deal that Uncle Ben is alive. But not all the changes are as big as that, and if you don't know them, it's confusing. Ultimate X-Men is all about a teenage schoolgirl named Hisako, in the country presumably formerly known as Japan. "Mutants" don't seem to be a recognized group of people. She doesn't know anything about her powers and I didn't even know she was a mutant until someone told me that was Armor, a mutant obscure enough that I only vaguely remembered her after I was told her name. I spent all of issue 1 wondering who this character was and why I was reading a horror comic about her classmates dying and what she had to do with anything. Apparently she's a mutant and I would know that if I had kept up with X-Men.

Over in the realm of the Ultimates themselves, the worldbuilding has a lot of stuff I wouldn't bank on people just knowing. Does a casual fan know who Iron Lad is? It's probably going to matter! The FCBD issue features Steve liberating Jim Hammond from the Maker's storage. Now, I am very fond of the Invaders and I was thrilled that someone here at Marvel remembered Jim Hammond, but I would bet that a lot of people reading this don't know who Jim Hammond is or why Steve wants to find him. Similarly, I thought Midas was a great villain for Ultimates #2 but I also read a discussion thread where someone asked who he was and three people in a row managed to extremely confidently misidentify Midas' origin and what decade of comics he was from. The earliest they got was the 90s. (Iron Man #17 is from 1969, guys. Also the first appearance of Whitney Frost as Madame Masque, which is why I know it.)

(Skipping ahead a little to the Ultimates team itself, you can take Hank and Jan as an example. They're both recruited in Ultimates #1 and Hank learns about what he's like on other worlds and his first concern is whether he's going to hurt Jan if he becomes a superhero. To fully understand this plot point, you actually need to know what Hank has done, because otherwise you don't actually know what he is upset about -- and that means you need to be familiar with a bunch of other comics. In the old Ults, Hank just hits Jan. Yes, Mark Millar went for the gritty, edgy choice. But it's also a choice that doesn't require you to know anything about Hank hitting Jan in any other universe. It just matters that it's happening here.)

This is a roundabout way of saying that, after Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe, and seeing the starts of the other Ultimate comics, I didn't have high hopes for the new Ultimates comic, and I also had never heard of the writer, which didn't really help.

And then I started reading the new Ultimates comics and I know we've only got two issues but I honestly really like them. Like I said, I am here for the high-continuity new universe; I don't think that's necessarily going to be a winning long-term move in terms of getting new Ults fans, but, like, I am in this fandom partly because I like being in fandoms with massive amounts of continuity.

Jan is great. Did I say that already? No? Jan is so great.

And, of course, I am a Steve/Tony fan, so I am here for the Steve/Tony dynamic and I think it's really interesting. Steve wants to have a revolution. Hell yeah. I'll definitely read that Captain America. He knows the world's wrong and he wants to fix it. 1610 Steve -- in early canon, at least -- just kind of exuded depression from every pore and Did Not Want To Be Here but he was a soldier, goddammit, and he was going to run the mission. 616 Steve was a little more lost, still sad, but kind of keeping that to himself as much as possible and trying to just find meaning in leading the team and the things the team was doing. This new guy seems more like that. but sadder. because the world is way more fucked up. I mean, he woke up and learned America didn't exist anymore, which has to be a downer.

I'm still not a fan of the Iron Lad thing, but the letter Tony writes to Howard is pretty amazing.

It's interesting that Tony is younger and so much less experienced than Steve. He's clearly smart, of course, but it's clear they're not great at teamwork yet -- not because they don't like each other, but because they don't know each other well enough, which I think is interesting and which I haven't really seen in canon, because this wasn't a thing Marvel was going to show us in 1964. But, like, we've had multiple fight scenes where they aren't quite pulling off the plan as intended -- say, when they're rescuing Jim Hammond and no one else can do what Steve is asking so he just does it himself. Or in #1, Steve telling Tony that his recruiting plan isn't going to work, and Tony not listening, and then, surprise, it doesn't work. Or in #2, when Tony tries to tell Steve that his suit modification will drain all his power if he uses it, and he doesn't manage to tell Steve this, so he does the thing when Steve tells him to do it and then, surprise, he has no power. Like, that doesn't happen in 616. Either 616 Tony does the stupid thing without ever telling Steve because he knows Steve would tell him no, or he just flat-out tells Steve no because he's not afraid to disagree with him, or he asks Steve for advice and actually follows it. They don't do this. So this is pretty fun. It's different. Maybe Tony is a little intimidated by Captain America? We shall see!

I'm a little grumpy that Ults is making me like (presumably) Teen Tony, though. I did not like The Crossing! I really did not!

So, yeah, it's interesting! Looking forward to seeing more of it! It could all go wrong, of course, and two issues is kind of a small sample size, but so far I'm into it.

[bonefall]

stonefur got a dishonor title ??

what are all the dishonor titles i’m so interested now

Lemmie see if I can remember all the Dishonor Titles and list them out

Dishonor Titles are not supposed to be permanent except in the case of serious crimes

A leader not ordained by StarClan has dubious authority to bestow them; but a leader like Bluestar can truly and permanently strike a righteous name from the stars.

Names are magical to Clan cats, like incantations. As a spirit, your "True Name" is what must be used to communicate with you-- though it can shift over many generations.

Adderfang -> Browntooth (Personal request for losing the joust against Mudfur)

Shroompelt -> Yellowfang (False premises, blamed for the murder of Marigoldkit)

Brightpaw -> Swifthound (for the death of her cousin, Swiftpaw, considered cruel)

Darkstripe -> Belladonnaheart (baby poisoning)

Stormpaw -> Graypaw (Because his father is not here to pay for his own crimes)

Featherpaw -> Silverpaw (Her mother died giving birth to them, to pay for the sin of their lives)

Mistyfoot -> Festerberry (same word in Clanmew for a fleshy growth, to imply she is a possible deadly disease.)

Stonefur -> Heartworm (A deadly parasite only discovered when it's too late. Both of these are for the crime of "loyalty" to Bluestar, their "mother.")

(After Russetfur discovers a group of ShadowClan cats who watched Berrykit writhe in a snare without helping and flips her shit, Blackstar probably offers them a choice; Dishonor Titles, or publically perform a song about the Code at the next Gathering. Haven't picked those cats yet though besides Ratscar, who chooses to sing.)

Breezepelt = Dodderheart (For dragging WindClan cats into Dark Forest training)

Harespring = Darkseeker (DF Trainee, went into the DF to learn more about his biodad/uncle Mudclaw)

Sunstrike = Fallensun (DF Trainee. In Clanmew this is closer to "Extinguished Sun" and her prefix didn't change. Sundrenched. Sunsputter.)

Furzepelt = Fleapelt (DF trainee)

Spiderleg = Spiderbite (DF Trainee. Awkward Bramble name; translates to Spider-Cannibalism)

Mousewhisker = Stupidhead (DF Trainee. THE best name Bramblestar has ever given. It was incredibly funny)

Blossomfall = Shredbloom (DF Trainee)

The Impostor also gives out a ton of Dishonor Titles, to anyone who stands up to him. Though I haven't picked out titles for everyone who should get one yet.

Blossomfall = Clearface (Also the first sign that something is wrong, because Bramblestar is suddenly dropping good names)

Twigbranch = Fumbleclaw

Sparkpelt, Squirrelflight, and others will also get them. Briarlight may or may not; Ashfur realizes she's going to be a problem that public humiliation will not "fix".

[vio-lets]

Me evilly convincing people to like various ships through fun fic recs <3 pt 1- tdbk

Okay uhh most of these are going to be for MHA because when the MHA hyperfixation hits, it hits HARD-- but I'm going to rec a handful of fics from HP and Haikyuu, too.

Todobaku - I actually got into this pairing pretty recently! I think mid to late November of last year? So I'm definitely late to the party, but that's okay. It's hard to put into words exactly what I love about this ship, but it really comes down to how well they work together, and how fun their dynamic is!

This may sound crazy, especially if you've read this fic, but the first fic I'm putting in this section is Bakugou and Todoroki's Foolproof 5-Step Plan to Fuck with Mineta Minoru by anubisisms (Teen, Completed, 37k words). To make this clear-- it's not a Todobaku fic, at least not in any romantic capacity. It is, however, the fic that first made me want to look more into the pairing. It's overall a hilarious fic, which you can probably gauge from the title, and has a lot of focus on the companionship between Bakugou and Todoroki. If you don't understand the ship, as I once didn't, and want to start with a platonic fic-- this would be great for you! In general it's just a great fic. I blanket rec most things by this author, though I haven't read everything of theirs. Also,, in this both Todoroki and Bakugou are with different people, but it's not a major part of the story imo. Still resulted in me shipping them lol.

This next one is a bit different from the first, and it's ALSO amazing. The fic I'm talking about is @DynamightsShortcake made a new post by haoboutno89 (Explicit, Completed, 16k words). Premise is basically Pro-Hero Shouto secretly runs a Dynamight fan account on Twitter and things get better from there. I definitely have a thing for Crack Treated Seriously and Social Media fics, and this fic perfectly hits both of those marks! When I first read this I was laughing my ass off. I absolutely adore how this fic is written and it definitely helped solidify my love for these two.

To keep my fics diverse, this next one is a bit more angsty-- but it's sweet, I promise. You and Me (Is All I Need) by lurethegalaxy (Teen, Completed, 8k words), is an Established Todobaku future fic that is Shouto-centric, and it's about Shouto not wanting children. This is a heavily introspective fic and explores Shouto's character really well. The relationship between him and Katsuki in this is amazing, too, so I had to include it here.

For this ship specifically, I've been in love with demon/angel dynamics??? Like. I don't often seek out fics like that, but closer to heaven than you'll ever know by kae_karo (Teen, Completed, 15k words) HOOKED me on the concept, and now I can't ever let it go. This one in particular is really unique because it's about Fallen Angel!Shouto and Risen Demon!Katsuki-- which is just, amazing. Shouto has to basically teach Katsuki how to perform miracles. It's sweet and somber and reading it will give you brainworms for at least 3-5 business days, I promise.

I've decided to make the next few fic recs Angel/Demon type-fics and I promise they're amazing and all you've ever wanted just trust me please. take you (for all that you got) by allmus (Mature, Completed, 15k words) is SUCHH an interesting fic omg. I absolutely adore Katsuki in this. They're stuck in purgatory together and have to work as customer service for heaven and hell. kinda. This one's also Demon!Katsuki/Angel!Shouto-- not quite fallen. But they share food!! And if you enjoy Katsuki yelling at Endeavour.. there's a very amusing scene in this fic where that happens. You should read it, trust me it's amazing c:

Ineffable Partners by LostLoveLetters (Explicit, Completed, 30k words) is like Good Omens-esque? I think? I've never watched Good Omens, but that doesn't matter, this fic is amazing either way. Again, Angel!Shouto and Demon!Katsuki, and they work together in this! Y'know that trope where you're so familiar with each other/banter so much like a couple that strangers say you look good together? Yeah. That happens. And trust me when I say that Shouto practicing human negotiation tactics in this will be one of the funniest things you've ever read. The smut veers sliiiiiiightly into monsterfucking, but not really. Either way, if it's not your thing, you can just skip it, since it's towards the end of the fic. All of it's incredibly well written, though, from the humor to the smut. I've read this fic many times. Again, I got into this pairing in November. That's how good it is.

Okay now Counting Stars by Starisia (Mature, Completed, 16k words) is different in that it's Fallen Angel!Shouto and Demon!Katsuki. Well. Katsuki is also a fallen angel, technically, but you'll read about why in the fic. This fic was amazing. The Hurt/Comfort, the Pining, the everythinggg. It is, like, sad. But in a good way I promise. Another one where Katsuki and Endeavour fight, except physically, now. 10/10 fic it's truly lovely.

I'm done with the Angel/Demon fics for nowww... but like, I have read others. If anyone wants a longer list of those. They're sososo good. Anywho. Next fic! bewitched, bothered, bewildered by dinosuns (Teen, Completed, 10k words), who, by the way, has soo many good fics. In this fic, Shouto is a street magician. He doesn't have magic. He's a little pathetic, but like. In a cute way. Katsuki, on the other hand, does have magic. Shenanigans ensue. Ft. supportive friend Izuku. This fic is soo silly and I'm in love with it. It's adorable and fluffy and perfect for when you need a pick-me-up.

This next fic is so warm and there's really no other way to put it. strawberry candies & colorful notes by waywardfacegarden (Teen, Completed, 6k words) (oh wow another great author!!) is just. Lovely. It's filled with pining, nonsense, and it's a secret admirer trope!!! What could be cuter. Truly. The dialogue between the two in this is.. aa!! Shouto is everything to me. Adored this fic <3

My true love gave to me... by alchemicink (Gen, Completed, 5k words) is SUCH a funny fic omg. Picture Christmas time. Shouto's away. He hears the 12 days of Christmas song and deems it peak romance. Katsuki and Ejirou are also roommates in this and it's all so amazing and funny, and we're a bit past the holidays I know, but like. Read it for winter or something idk. Romance exceeds all holidays.

For my last fic on this list-- though I have read many more, believe me when I say that Todobaku has taken over my brain-- I have to put red hearts, red hearts, that's what i'm on by underfallingflowerpetals (Mature, Completed, 1k words), who, by the way, has an INSANE amount of Todobaku fics that are amazing and no I haven't read them all, but I've read a good chunk. So I mentioned I like crack and social media, and this has aspects of both again. It also does have Omegaverse and Age Difference tags mixed in so if that's not your thing that's fair, but I promise this fic is hilarious. The author's summary is better than anything I could ever come up with, so here:

Their number four is in the middle of the street yelling about knotting omega pussy. This, barring the subject matter, is not that unusual on its own, if not for the fact that the number one is about to hurl a ball of scorching fire at him. Or: Dynamight punches Endeavor on live TV. For love.

and, like. If that doesn't sell you, I don't know what will. Oh! The news reporter in this is hilarious. by the way. That could sell you on it. I loved her.

I guess that's all for now? Feel free to ask for more, I've been dying to talk about these two. I might make more rec lists in the future for them, but I definitely want to make some for a few other ships first.