#the writing and characters matured a lot with time - as it is a fanfic written troughtout 10 yrs.

[purpleandstarlight]

Rereading an early DLTD chapter and getting hit with a nostalgic feeling over how (mostly) easy things were for the characters back then...

[tobes-zzz]

I think I’ve officially outgrown tumblr fanfics, it’s hard to find decent new stuff that isn’t just another smau full of poorly written characters that are nothing like their original personalities. For fandoms like Jujutsu Kaisen all the men are written like Toji=mean+horny, Sukuna=mean+less horny, Gojo=teasing+horny with little to any more depth. Or like Tokyo Revengers where most of the guys are given the same personality depending on if they’re categorized as confident or quiet. Then they make all dom-leaning characters talk with a forced accent that they definitely do not have, sometimes it’s a blaccent other times it’s a lot of “gi’me” instead of give me or “ya” instead of you. Its gotten to a point where they straight up just won’t say full words and I cannot describe the visceral ick it gives me lol. Don’t get me wrong I’ve been able to find good stuff on here before and I don’t doubt that there are good writers in these fandoms, it’s just getting harder to come by. I stopped using Wattpad for similar poor writing and it’s sad to see it happening here now.

Edit: I don’t plan on replying to the ppl reblogging this bc most of them are not approaching the conversation with the same level of maturity as I have.

If you think that having a blank blog means that you’re not able to give criticism as a reader then you’re just wrong idk what to tell you. That’s the reality that comes with writing and posting your work, that by no means justifies stuff like harassment or bullying, but that’s clearly not what I’ve done. Sorry if you took my opinions personally bc you have a 👀certain👀 taste in fanfic and smut tho lol

[lurkingshan]

Hii, hope you're doing well!! I've been meaning to check out more c-dramas. I've never really watched any, but I keep seeing them on my dash and want to start giving some a shot since I watch every other type of drama (BL or otherwise lol). I saw you post often about c-dramas, so I wanted to ask if you had any other recs besides Tender Light (which I'm planning on watching when it's done)? I'm more curious about c-dramas in general rather than any specific genre, since I'm so new to them

Hello, thank you for the ask! I'm glad my obsessive Tender Light posting has got you curious about cdramas. Some of my all time favorite dramas are from Mainland China, and I would be happy to share some recs! Since you are looking for a general sense, I am just going to give you a sampling of some of my personal favs.

Tender Light

Obviously I will be taking this opportunity to talk up this drama some more, which will be ending its run this weekend. This is, hands down, my favorite drama of the year and easily going on my top 10 dramas of all time list. It's one of the most gorgeous and precise and unflinching pieces of media I have ever seen. This is definitely one for people who love smart mystery writing, dark themes (I mean this for real, if you have a lot of triggers ask for CWs), and explorations of the human condition. It will be staying with me for a long time.

Go Ahead

Another of my all time favs (and with cast crossover from Tender Light), this is a family drama that digs deep on the meaning of family, finding your people, and resilience through intergenerational trauma. I love it so so much (I am actually rewatching it right now).

Lighter & Princess

A fantastic romance and owner of a coveted spot on the ride or die drama couples list. In this story you get to watch these two fall in love twice, first in college and then as adults, and both times it's epic.

Reset

How about a time loop thriller? This is one of the best I have ever seen, and its relatively short run keeps it tight and tense all the way through. There's a romance in this one, too, but kissing is definitely secondary to finding their way out of this death trap.

The Rebel Princess

Let's dip our toe into historicals! Granted, I still have plenty of gaps in my historical cdrama watch list (there are just so many and they're so long, I am doing my best people!) but this remains my all time favorite to date. It's epic, it's shockingly well written and paced for its length, the characters are excellent and compelling all around, and it has one of my all time favorite male leads and drama couples (another from the ride or die list!). Don't let the episode number intimidate you, it will fly by much faster than you think.

The Untamed

You watch bl so I am assuming you already know about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, but just in case I will also include this drama as a much watch. It's likely the best live action danmei we will ever get.

Love Between Fairy and Devil

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if a show put all your favorite fanfic tropes in a blender, cast beautiful people to act them out, and put them in lavish costumes? Well, here is your answer.

Love and Redemption

This one's for us angst with a happy ending girlies. An epic love story with lots of pining and struggle and strife, and it's so worth it.

Falling Into You

Back to the modern era, this is a classic sports drama with a noona romance. Very unassuming but full of charm and very well executed.

Fake It Till You Make It

An unusually mature take on adult romance from a cdrama, this one is about two career focused permasingle love skeptics who meet, realize they actually like each other, and try to figure out what the hell to do with that. I love it a lot.

That should be enough to get you started! There are many many more recs to be had, so once you give some of these a try and figure out what you like, feel free to hit me up for more!

[narutocharacterpolls]

Sasuke is an amazing character whose biggest "crime" is being better written for a seinen and not the shonen he was forced into.

It's ultimately Kishi's fault for toying with themes like genocide, state-sponsored ethnic discrimination, and intergenerational trauma without the proper skillset/genre to do those themes (and subsequently characters like Sasuke whose entire being is built on those traumas) any satisfying justice.

In a manga created to highlight the virtues of forgiveness and friendship, how is a character like Sasuke (whose entire family and ethnic group was systemically oppressed for generations and then slaughtered by the state) supposed to exist in a way that satisfies the marginalized readers who identify with the incredibly real themes of his story? Turn the other cheek and forgive those who committed genocide and faced no punishment? Be content with systemic conformity when that system has shown nothing but deadly flaws?

Sasuke is ultimately a survivor and even his creator recognizes how very real his responses are to the enormity of injustice he and his family have faced. It's just a shame that very real emotion and those very real injustices are inadequately told in the restrictive setting of a shonen.

Idk, at this point if you know, you know lol. If you don't, then just say you don't understand his character or don't want to bother reading the manga with a crticial lens and move on. Not sure what else to tell some of you at this point. It's been years... begging some of you to pick up the actual manga (not a fanfic or the anime) and read the material with more mature eyes.

I love you, anon. I hope you have the best of days and that kindness comes your way with ease. Absolutely perfectly stated, I don’t really want to add anything to this. You’ve said what the lot of us Sasuke lovers were thinking, I thank you so genuinely for putting the time into writing this.

[forestdeath1]

Sirius’s early maturity as a result of family views and traditions. Romantic and sexual behaviour

18+

First of all, I'd like to leave a link to this meta by @artemisia-black so I don't have to write the same things that are already covered. The part about boundaries is especially important.

Next, I'll add my perspective.

1. Most likely, Sirius couldn't be a playboy or casanova due to the social organisation of their society + his personal attitude towards boundaries of other people, including women, as described in the post above.

2. However, that doesn't say much about his sexuality and romantic behavior.

More likely JKR wanted to make him straight and prone to non-committed relationships, but canon itself says nothing about his sexuality and I think everyone can read him as they want. Honestly, I personally don't care who Sirius is sleeping with/not sleeping with in people’s HCs. I care about his personality, and his sexuality doesn't change anything about his canon characterisation, so I don't particularly see the point in arguing about his sexuality (straight/gay/bi/ace/whatever) with foam at the mouth. (And he is not queer coded.)

But there is some interesting things that I’d like to discuss.

1. First of all, why the playboy/casanova version seems the most untenable to me, besides what was written in the post above?

A bit about the school and society:

In my opinion, for the WW, it's quite illogical for a student to have a large number of sexual partners. Firstly, with whom? In some fanfics, Sirius finds a new partner almost every week and fucks someone every night. Where does he find so much time for casual sex at school/during the war and where do so many people wanting casual sex come from? No matter how handsome Sirius might be, not all girls and boys are willing to have casual sex. Most people want relationships, not casual sex.

So in my view, if in your headcanon Sirius never got out into the Muggle world of the 1970s, then he couldn't have had a large number of casual sexual partners at least in school, although the playboy reputation could have been there. To have that reputation, you don't need to do anything, just being charismatic and attractive. Reputation often precedes the person. Maybe that's why Remus said 'he always got the women'. They just paid attention to him. But if we consider the WW, especially the school, there's simply nowhere to get 'many partners' from.

2. Ignoring a girl as evidence of a certain sexuality.

The fact that Sirius ignored girls' glances at him doesn't say anything concrete. But it's often cited as an argument in favour of his homosexuality and/or asexuality.

But in reality, it can be interpreted in any way. As asexuality/homosexuality or simply as a demonstration that he really was attractive to many people, but Sirius himself, accustomed to such attention, no longer paid attention to the constant attention to him. When a person knows his attractiveness from his youth, he will not pay attention to every flirtation or every person who looks at him with lust. Often such attention can even be annoying.

Also, this character was probably well aware of his attractiveness and could see it in other people. The comments about Snape are very vivid. If appearance is not at all part of a person's values and they doesn’t pay attention to appearance, then a person is unlikely to insult someone based on their appearance - it’s usually a blind-spot. But attractive appearance, given by nature, are often seen as something that can't be taken away, it's always with you, and so the attitude is simple — if you can't wash your hair, fine, it's not that important. And knowing about his attractiveness and constantly receiving a lot of attention from other people – the value of this attention diminishes. A person just no longer pays attention to it.

That’s why he might have simply ignored the girl who was looking at him with interest (who had been studying with him and probably had been looking at him with interest for more than a day).

3. The age of consent. Early maturity. TW Underage.

The age of consent in the Muggle UK is 16 years old. And in the WW, people become adults earlier, at 17. However, Pollux became a father at 13. Cygnus became a father at 13. What was the age of consent? When did they get married? Was there even a concept of age of consent in the wizarding world? Perhaps their age of consent was 12 (given that in 1275, the first age of consent was set in England, at age 12 and only in 1875, the Offences Against the Person Act raised the age to 13 in Great Britain and Ireland, and the International Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1689, it's possible that wizards are still stuck with laws from that time). Or maybe Pollux and Cygnus got married later. For example, at 15 (17-2). Or maybe they have no concept of age of consent at all and there is no prohibition on marriage before reaching legal age, so they could get married whenever they wanted. Considering that marriages are magically contracted without the involvement of authorities, this option seems viable.

I'm not here to judge fictional characters, I'm discussing facts from the canon. There is every reason to believe that for some families in the WW, "maturity" came much earlier than it does for us now, and it wasn't nonsense. Rather, it was casual liaisons that were condemned as something that could cause unwanted pregnancies. But not marriage and sex itself before the age of 17.

Even in our time and in our society "an estimated 55% of teens have had sexual intercourse by age 18". These percentages have gradually declined since 1988 when 51 per cent of female and 60 per cent of male teens have ever had sex".

Your right to consider this something bad and refuse to write/speak about it, but it was, is, and always will be a part of teenage life, and judging by the Blacks, in the WW, the attitude towards this was quite... "old-fashioned", if it concerned marriage and childbearing.

I am inclined to believe that it was the Blacks who had this attitude towards early marriage and early childbirth, and therefore towards early sex, BUT not casual sex, because nobody wanted unwanted pregnancy.

And this could have influenced Sirius's attitude towards himself, his sexuality, and how mature he considered himself. Sorry, but when your grandfather became a father at 13, as did your uncle... well, you definitely look at growing up a little differently. He put up Muggle posters too because his parents were annoyed not by the fact that he was a 14-15 year old thinking about sex (although he might not have thought about it at all, he just knew it would piss his mum off), but by the fact that he was thinking about sex with mudbloods, which horrified his parents.

Just imagine what must be going through the mind of a 14-15 year old who decided to piss his parents off. What would James do? Well, paint the room red. Put dung bombs on the head of everyone who walked in. What did Sirius do? Erotic posters (women in swimming costumes are erotic posters to their world).

In my opinion, this says a lot about all the Blacks and the fact that they have some peculiarities in their family dynamics. Where did he even get the idea for this, if Sirius and the Blacks were innocent in their attitude towards teenage sex and growing up? I can totally see them yelling at him after these posters 'if you get someone pregnant, you'll really regret it!'.

The posters themselves don't say anything about Sirius's real intentions or his sexuality – he could have just put them up to piss her mother off, knowing that it would annoy her, or he himself might have liked them.

Meanwhile, James and his parents probably had a different dynamic, and they probably treated James as a child for much longer. So James matured sexually in his mind later. His parents probably didn't even talk about such things. And considering that they went to a conservative school, then further than kissing for him at 15 was probably not even a topic, if they even got to kissing.

Most likely, Sirius's 'early maturity' and all these posters are exactly the result of intra-family traditions and views.

4. It's confirmed by Word of God that he didn't have a girlfriend, but…

If we consider only the books as canon, then we don't know anything about his girlfriend/boyfriend, and he could have had some romantic relationships, because the canon itself doesn't say anything about it.

But I'll specifically analyze the case with 'Word of God':

Well, Sirius never had time to get a girlfriend, let alone marry.

Sirius was too busy being a big rebel to get married.

This means only one thing: he didn't give any commitments. That's it. It doesn't mean anything more than that. He could have had no partners at all, meaning he could have been focused only on friendship. Or he could have had a sexual partner (of any gender) without commitments. One or more. Who mutually wanted this. And these relationships didn't take up much of his time.

Non-committal relationships can be with sufficient respect for the partner. This doesn't make the character a Casanova/Playboy/fuckboy.

In the monoromantic concept of serious relationships, respect for the partner is often perceived only within the context of monoromantic relationships. But that’s not the only option. In non-committal relationships, there can also be a lot of respect for the other person's boundaries because the person isn't lying about their attitude (unwillingness to have a serious relationship), does not pile on false promises and usually does not confess eternal love. But playboys and casanovas can often lie to get someone into bed.

The view on purity and filth is very interesting, but in my opinion, purity for the Blacks is conceptually not the same purity as for the upper class in the Muggle world raised in a Christian reverent tradition. Purity is primarily 'noble blood.' To be pure is to be noble, and Sirius has his own understanding of nobility, not based on blood purity. For him, honor and nobility mean being loyal to friends, being honest, not betraying, and that's why he uses epithets of impurity for Peter. Peter lacks nobility.

As I said, having one/several partners without commitments doesn't automatically make the character a playboy and casanova – in other words, it's not about the Erot of perverted Aphrodite – people who love only the body, not the inner world (seeing people as objects, ignoring the person as a whole).

So, taking into account the Word of God, I actually see only two options.

He didn't have sexual relationships at all/tried it and didn't like it/ wasn't interested/ found it not very interesting or just was more focused on his friends and other things in his life.

Or the second option – he had non-committal relationships, which were always based on respect for the partner, but it was never like 'my girlfriend/boyfriend,' more like sexually-friendly relationships where he treated his partner not just as an object for sex but as a person.

The third option, if we discard the Word of God – he could have had regular monogamous romantic relationships of any nature with any gender, as there's nothing in the canon about his sexuality.

As I said, I don't think it fundamentally changes anything about his characterisation, so no matter what his sexuality is, he should retain his canon personality traits.

[pebblume]

I never realized how liberating writing fanfiction would be. I hadn’t written creatively in years. It’s been so long that I kind of forgot what it felt like. The childlike rush of pouring your heart out onto a blank page, not caring about the results as long as you were having fun. I’ve tried writing fanfic a couple of times, for different fandoms across the years, but never finished anything I was really happy with, nothing that I felt comfortable sharing with the world. But something just clicked for me this past week. I realized how much fun it was to stretch out my writing muscles, to get inside the heads of my favorite characters. I realized that it didn’t have to be perfect to be worthy of being shared and loved by others. I realized that I had so many stories inside myself - more than I thought possible. 

But perhaps what I’m most in awe of is fanfic readers. The people who read my work and leave kudos and bookmarks and comments - one word comments, sweet comments, silly comments, paragraph-long comments. I love them all. I used to be afraid of leaving comments on AO3, afraid I wouldn’t have enough words, wouldn’t have the right words, to depict how I felt. But when I felt firsthand how much those comments meant to me I started leaving more and more of them, spreading a digital paper trail of love to all my favorite authors. More and more often I recognize the profile names and images in my comment section and think, Hey, I know you! Now I’m not just a guest on AO3, or a passive reader. I belong here. 

I won’t lie and say I don’t miss drawing a bit, my previous creative outlet. There are plenty of drawings inside me too, itching to be realized. I really just don’t have the time for two time extensive hobbies, not when I need to balance school and practicing and little things like sleeping and eating and relaxing. I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would. There’s a level of investment to sharing a story online that feels…special. When I post my art, I get engagement, and it feels nice, but ultimately, most people are only spending about ten seconds looking at the work I spent eight hours on, if that. When someone reads my fics, we’ve now spent time together. You’ve lived inside my head for a bit, made it your home. It’s about feeling seen, I think. Writing makes me feel understood in a way visual art sometimes doesn’t. It makes me feel vulnerable in the same way performing music does, but less exposed too. It’s interesting to me. 

The only downside, if you can call it that, is now that the writing bug has infected me, I’m finding it harder and harder to stop. I’ll have an idea and then suddenly five hours have flown by because I’m on a creative streak and I just want to write one more idea down, which turns into two, and so on and so forth. I dread stopping, because what if I forget something? What if I get into a writing block later? Suddenly I have people who want to read the things I write and I want to provide it, I really do, but I also have responsibilities. I say, as I write this, ignoring my audition tomorrow afternoon. 

I still have a bit of embarrassment attached to fandom works. When I tell acquaintances that I like to draw or write, I rarely tell them I mean fanart and fanfiction. As if loving something that deeply, that sincerely, is inherently shameful in this age of irony and soulless remakes. Especially when my interests usually consist of media marketed towards children, nevermind the fact that it has more emotional maturity than most ‘adult’ works. But I’m trying to get better about it. A lot of my closest friends know about my hobbies, and some I’ve even let see my work. It’s terrifying but also giddying, seeing them like an art post or comment on a fic. After all, to reap the rewards of being loved, one must submit themselves to the mortifying ordeal of being known, or something like that. 

I realized today that I’ve written over 30,000 words in the past two weeks about about two characters who don’t belong to me, but whom I’ve made my own.

And I’ve never felt happier

[skzhocomments]

A Chance of Fate - Lee Know Stray Kids Fanfic (Masterlist)

Pairing: Minho (of Stray Kids) x OC (name: Dal-Rae)

Genre: non-idol AU, angst, romance, fluff, mature

Word Count: ~33k

Warnings: mature, swearing, feelings of hopelessness, angst, depression, crying, mentions of domestic violence, depression, anxiety, angst, low self-esteem etc.

This is just a story that doesn’t describe Stray Kids members' true characters in any way. It’s just a product of my imagination and should be treated as such.

This story is also on Wattpad (click here) and AO3 (click here)

A/N: As any other writer out there, I would appreciate reblogs and your comments on this story. Please let me know if you enjoyed it, and most importantly, have fun!

---

Summary:

$7, a small suitcase, a thin coat and some old, worn-out shoes that took you nowhere in particular were the only belongings you grabbed when you decided on a whim to leave your abusive ex during a cold winter night. With the merciless wind blowing right in your face, you weren't sure where to go, or what to do. The only thing you were sure of was that you could never return back home, not when you've thrown away your keys to ensure you'd stay strong. Tired and hungry, you stumbled by a chance of fate upon a small restaurant called 'Know Your Cats', and you decided to walk in.

Non-idol AU Lee Know (Stray Kids) Fanfic Mature content ahead. 18+ ©storminsidemycore

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Hello!

Storm here!

A Chance of Fate is a story I've started writing on 27/10/2022 (yes, two freaking years ago!!!) that 'collected dust on the shelves' until yesterday when I finally managed to finish it.

It has around 33k words divided in 10 chapters, and I'm very excited to post it, since it's a story I actually enjoy and I've been working on for quite some time as you can see, hahah.

Surprisingly, no smut whatsoever in this story, however, like each and every one of my works, it includes lots of mature themes, so it's 18+ either way.

Main character's name is Dal-Rae, story is however written in 2nd person, so you can expect most phrases to refer to "You".

I hope you'll enjoy this story and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. ♡

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The story and cover are original and my property. Any similarities to other stories are purely coincidental. Jieun, the protagonist, is a made-up character.

Stray Kids members or any other famous people mentioned along this story DO NOT represent their true character in any way, they are simply mentioned in order to provide a visual representation for the readers. Their personas obviously have nothing to do with their true personalities. They're just characters I've created for this story, so please don't take this too seriously.

Mature content ahead. Lots of trigger warnings apply, so please read carefully.

---

18+

©storminsidemycore

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Chapter 1 - Know Your Cats - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 2 - We'll replace the broken plates - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 3 - Olivia's Store - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 4 - Blooming Feelings - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 5 - The Gathering - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 6 - Grandma's house - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 7 - Stay - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 8 - An Unwelcome Encounter - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 9 - Pain and Fear - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

Chapter 10 - A Little Family (Final Chapter) - Tumblr + Wattpad + AO3

---

Thank you so much for reading my story, and I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts!

[coolstoriesbro]

FOR THE ONES WE LOVE | CH. 1

FANDOM: The Walking Dead

SERIES: For the Ones We Love

STATUS: Ongoing

ERA: Prison

PAIRING: Eventual Daryl Dixon x Female Reader (No Use of “Y/N”)

CHAPTER ONE: Backseat Driver

WORD COUNT: 2k

SUMMARY: Daryl Dixon gets much more than he bargained for when his motorcycle breaks down while out on a run. Miles from the prison, he has no other choice but to hot-wire a car he comes across on the side of the road, only to discover that he wasn’t the first person to get there.

RATING: Mature

WARNINGS: Language, Mention of Attempted Sexual Assault, Symptoms of PTSD

A/N: While I’m not new to writing fanfic, this is my first attempt at Tumblr fanfic, which is somewhat different than what I’m used to. I have a whole backstory dreamed up for this character (she’s a nursing student who escaped from Grady Memorial after it was overtaken by Dawn and Gorman), but I know from what I’ve read of Tumblr fanfic, self-insert fics are preferred. This is my first attempt at that, so any constructive criticism is welcome. Please let me know your thoughts on the story as well. I have several chapters already written, just trying to decide what format to proceed with/if there’s an audience for it.

“Wow, thanks for that.”

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice coming from behind him, Daryl Dixon’s eyes flew to the rearview mirror as you sat up from where you’d been lying in the backseat of the car he’d just hot-wired. The all too familiar noise of a hammer clicking into place sounded as you lifted your arms, aiming a revolver directly at the back of his head.

With the way you trained the gun on him, combined with the intense gaze in your eyes, he knew that you’d shot it before.

Of course you had.

A woman, alone in this world?

There was no way in hell you could’ve survived as long as you had not knowing how to use a gun.

Daryl cut the engine and raised his hands. “This your car?”

You shrugged. ���No, but I was here first.”

“I got it runnin’; makes it more mine than yours.”

“I was getting to that.” You said defensively.

“Bullshit.” Daryl scoffed. “Ya don’t know how to hot-wire a car.”

“How do you know?”

“‘Cause ya ain’t that kinda girl.”

The stranger’s assumption pissed you off, but what pissed you off even more was the fact that he was right. Before he came along, you’d been close to having a full-on meltdown when finding the car just a few minutes earlier, only to discover that the keys were missing from the ignition. There’d been a hell of a lot of abandoned cars that you’d passed during your travels over the past couple of weeks, because apparently even after a goddamn apocalypse, nobody left their keys behind.

And who was he to pass judgement on you? With his Harley Davidson vest, greasy hair and the ability to steal a car in the first place — this guy was lucky you’d given him any warning at all. Although you hadn’t spoken to another human being since escaping the hospital, and were beginning to think you were missing even the most trivial of conversations, you had quickly come to the conclusion that human interaction was entirely overrated.

Especially with this particular human.

“How the hell do you know what kind of girl I am?” You practically growled.

Daryl hesitated, knowing that he ought to tread lightly, yet somehow his mouth decided to run off anyway. “Just do.”

Your eyes widened as you lunged forward to press the barrel of the gun to the back of his skull. “You don’t fucking know me.”

Dumbass, Daryl scolded himself.

What was he thinking, arguing with someone who was pressing a loaded gun to his head? After all this time spent fighting to survive, did he have a death wish all of a sudden?

With his hands still raised, Daryl nodded, his senses finally returning to him. “We can change that. I’m Daryl.”

Suddenly, a memory of your mother warning you not to talk to strangers appeared as the man introduced himself, and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing. After a few seconds, you lowered your gun and laughed out loud, no longer able to keep it inside.

The entire situation was absurd. You were running on zero sleep, hadn’t eaten anything in days, and hadn’t spoken to another soul since you’d left Atlanta. It was the most inappropriate thing in the world to be laughing in your current situation, and yet you couldn’t stop.

Daryl hesitated. He thought he might be okay at handling a pissed off woman — but a crazy, pissed off woman?

Might as well shoot myself now.

“Ya crazy or somethin’?” Daryl found himself asking.

You laughed harder at his question, leaning against the backseat as your sides started to ache. “Or something.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ya gotta name or not?”

Once regaining your composure, you peered over the passenger seat and noticed the large crossbow that he’d laid down while working on getting the car started. You also noted the backpack slung over his shoulder with several arrows sticking out through the flap. “Give me your arrows and any other weapons you have. Maybe I’ll tell you then.”

“Don’t wanna know that bad.”

“Hah.” You rolled your eyes, aiming the revolver at his head once more. “Wasn’t asking.”

With an irritated grumble, Daryl shrugged off his bag and handed it over. There was a brief pause while he rummaged around in his pants and pulled out a pistol, extending it to you handle first.

“No knife?” You asked suspiciously. 

He cursed under his breath, but a few seconds later you had a hunting knife to add to your collection as well. Finally satisfied, you met his eyes in the rearview mirror and told him your name.

“You alone?”

“Looks like it.”

The silence between the two of you clung in the air like smoke. Daryl kept his eyes glued to you now that you had all of his weapons, minus his crossbow, which was useless without the bolts. 

He didn’t pride himself on much, but one of the few things that he’d always felt he excelled at was being a good judge of character. The woman in front of him was young, probably mid-twenties, and pretty. In Daryl’s experience, pretty women were absolute bitches, but not necessarily dangerous. Even so, he couldn’t brand you with that particular title just for pulling a gun on him. You were only protecting yourself.

“Mind lowerin’ that thing? I did give ya all my weapons.” Daryl reasoned.

You paused, but reluctantly lowered your gun, your eyes locked on his as you sat it down on your lap.

“How’s that?” You asked.

“Depends, can I turn around without havin’ to worry ‘bout ya blowin’ my head off?”

You stilled at his words but found yourself slowly nodding your head in agreement.

When Daryl turned all the way around to face you, you held your breath. The last time you’d been this close to a man, it was Gorman, and he had tried to assault you.

The world had been a dangerous place for women far longer than it had been for men. Men may have recently had to learn what it was like to fear strangers now that the world had ended, but it had aways been something to fear for women, which made it twice as frightening these days.

As you studied Daryl, you noticed that he had lighter facial hair than that on his head, and pale blue eyes. With his intense gaze and bare biceps, he had a rugged air about him that you had a feeling he’d always possessed. He seemed like the kind of man who didn’t need an apocalypse to know how to fight for his life.

The two of you remained as you were, staring at each other for a tense moment, sizing each other up and down as you both tried to decide whether or not the other was a threat.

“Lay down.” Daryl grunted.

“What?” You blanched, your hand moving towards the revolver once more.

“Down!” He hissed.

Jumping over the partition dividing the front and back sections of the car, Daryl slid to his knees, tucking himself in the floor space behind the passenger seat, his hands clutching you by the elbows as he pulled you down, tugging your body flush against the backseat cushions.

When Daryl grabbed you, your first thought was a vile one, but your grip around the gun relaxed ever so slightly when he landed beneath you rather than on top of you.

“What the fu—” You cried as you both lurched forward, a series of bangs sounding at the rear of the car. Rather than finish your crude sentence, you cut yourself off when Daryl’s hand covered your mouth. Feeling your jaw tense against his palm, he raised a finger to his lips when his eyes met yours, slowly easing his hand away as a horde of walkers appeared from a clearing in the woods by the side of the road.

You both remained that way for what truly could have been hours, the only sound being your heavy breathing and the groans of the horde as they trudged along either side of the car like cattle. When the noise finally died down some time later, Daryl held a hand out to signal for you to wait, then eased up on his haunches ever so slightly, peering out the front windshield to find that the horde had wandered off up the road.

Once given the all clear, you slowly lifted your body from the backseat, your hand instantly going to the side of your neck as you attempted to work out the kink that had formed there from laying in such an awkward position. 

“Jesus.” You muttered.

Remaining where he was for fear that you’d think he might try something now that he was in close proximity of his weapons, Daryl kept his eyes on you for a few silent seconds.

“Look, I know all about wantin’ to be alone, but no one can make it alone now. You can keep my weapons, even hold your damn gun on me while I drive, but I have a camp a few miles back. My bike broke down, s’why I was lookin’ for a ride, but I can take ya someplace secure. I’m with a group of people back at a prison.”

“A prison? Really?” You asked curiously.

Christ. Was that actual hope in your voice? Had the last year not completely crushed you of that?

“Yeah.” Daryl nodded. “There’s eight of us. Men, women, a boy, and a baby.” Nodding towards his backpack, he continued. “Open it.”

Cautiously moving your hand to his backpack, you unsnapped the top and drew back the flap to reveal several tins of powdered baby formula. Running your fingers over the lids, you hesitated, your eyes slowly returning to Daryl. If this was some kind of trick to get you to come along, it was pretty elaborate.

“I just gotta ask ya three questions first.” He said.

With your curiosity getting the better of you, you shrugged your shoulders. “Go for it.”

“How many walkers ya killed?”

“Walkers? You mean, the living dead freaks that have taken over the world?”

Daryl nodded.

“I don’t know. Who keeps track of that shit?”

Daryl had to admit, at least to himself, you had a point. But it was one of the questions that Rick insisted on asking newcomers, and he wasn’t about to start breaking his rules for anyone.

Seeing that Daryl wasn’t willing to budge on the question, you sighed as you thought about it. “A dozen, at least.”

“How many people ya killed?”

Your mind instantly went to the lifeless eyes of Gorman and Dawn. 

“Two.” You answered, without a hint of remorse.

“Why?” He asked.

You stared at him, expressionless. “I’m a woman and I’ve pretty much been on my own since the world ended. Why do you think?”

Daryl stared right back at you, and in his fierce blue gaze, you knew that he understood you completely. 

“All right, let’s go.”

“That’s it? I passed?” You asked, surprised.

“Looks like it.” He grunted, using your choice of words from earlier and earning a small smile from you because of it.

“Okay.” You agreed. “I’ll ride back here, and I won’t hold my gun on you . . . unless you drive too slow.”

“Pfft.” Daryl scoffed as he climbed back over to the driver’s side and began to work on restarting the car. “Don’t gotta worry ‘bout that.”

[baldurs-writers-3]

Horror: A Baldur's Gate 3 Fanfiction Rec List

This week, we have Horror! Check under the cut for seven fics that explore some of the darker and more frightening elements of Faerun, and as always, comment and kudos if you like them!

Hand, Hearth, and Home by ElleKhen (393,131, Explicit) Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Body Horror Pairings: Astarion/Male Tav

This fic covers the backstory and in-game story of a warlock who was raised by a shadow-fey-possessed church. After being infected by the mind flayer tadpole, he meets a dream guardian who appears to him as a childhood friend and first love who he thought dead. As his party goes on with their quest, he is also forced to face the consequences of his shadow-cursed existence, and what that means for the people he loves.

Reccer says: I love that this fic is full of visceral, angsty smut and exciting action. But the author always follows up the hurt with comfort. They especially approach the Astarion romance with so much care, and do a great job of writing his voice. Due to the nature of Church’s magic, there are body horror elements especially when the story covers the events of Act 2. This fic expands upon the Shadowlands, Shadowfell, the Raven Queen, and shadow magic as a whole to depict terrifying sequences Church must face with his companions (and lover) beside him. I learned a lot about that particular D&D lore that way, and it made Act 2 feel a lot bigger and scarier than it originally felt.

A Dream of Silence by AbigailMoment (2,683, Mature) Content Notes: possible main char death Pairings: astarion/tav

An interactive story, where you have to save Astarion from a horrible nightmare of worst thing that Cazador ever did to him

Reccer says: Very well written with tons of replayability. Also you get to pet his hair

What Could Have Been by Bella1433! (119,228, Explicit) Content Notes: Dark themes, there are archive warnings Pairings: Tav (named) X Astarion

The maze scene, the race through the city. Astarion is a terrifying vampire lord in this fic!

Reccer says: Vampire lord acting like a vampire lord and being terrifying! Using his powers

The Tyrant, the Assassin, and the Corpse by aqeldroma (3,241, Explicit) Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Murder Pairings: The Dark Urge/Enver Gortash

After the Hall of Wonders, the Dark Urge visits Gortash to test him in another way. When she finds someone already in his bed, the night turns predictably violent.

Reccer says: Pre-canon Dark Urge and Gortash pairing, set back when they are testing each other's limits. The horrific things happen to everyone in their orbit, naturally.

Hunger is Satisfaction by CountTavula (25,904, Explicit) Content Notes: Very dark content Pairings: Tav X Astarion

The psychological horror in this is extremely high and surprisingly so.

Reccer says: Its a thriller, psychological horror, not even a dark fantasy most times, just...dread

The Vanishing of Astarion Ancunín: The beginning by Gally (3,526, Mature) Content Notes: None Pairings: None

A glimpse at his last few days of life and the first terrifying minutes of his new unlife.

Reccer says: He wasn't an evil man, he wasn't a great man... he was just a man.

Bathed in Sound by Nikolai_237 (1,005, General) Content Notes: None Pairings: Karlach/Tav

In the Feyweird, not all is dangerous but most is unsettling. For instance, sometimes you find your partner just sitting in the middle of a bunch of floating whale skeletons.

Reccer says: This is my first concept fic for the Feyweird, my psychological horror playground, and for some reason people seem to like it. I enjoy writing creepy stuff and I love weaving horror into my work.

The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ!

Next week, we’ll be returning with a character rec list, this time for Lae’zel! 

[speedierthanasubmarine]

Finished heaven official’s blessing and I really enjoyed writing an analysis on helluva boss I want to make this a regular thing because it’s fun so here’s my thoughts on

Heaven Official’s Blessing

Spoilers (duh)

I think it’s incredibly impressive when someone can make an overarching narrative in which different seemingly disjointed events are significant without A) putting a giant exclamation mark on top saying “REMEMBER THIS IT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER” and B) Significantly over or under emphasizing the importance of the scene in the moment. Each event stood on its own and I liked that.

There were several janky sentences and word choices but that’s a translation issue, this writer clearly knows what she’s doing.

Characters were a lot of fun and distinct, my favorites were Feng Xin, Pei Ming, Qi Ying, and Ling Wen whenever they were on the page I was like Ah yes, these pages are gonna be enjoyable and I was right, they’re all delightful (cept the brocade immortal stuff, but like I don’t care, Google assistant is fun) Xie Lian and San Lang are delightful, love them, and San Lang is so effed in the head it’s enjoyable to try and imagine what unhinged thing he’ll do next

Tbh there isn’t much plot breakdown I want to do with this series because it knows what it is, it’s a fanfic ass book with good times, trauma, gay fluff, and fights. Need I say more? That’s not a detractor, it’s a strength. Be what you are and own it because a house with a house’s foundation is a great house but slap a building on that house’s foundation and it fails in both regards.

The only aspect I’m going to analyze is the narrative voice the books are written in because holy crap is it super impressive. Xie Lian is a super mature (or ditzy, depending on your point of view) character, he doesn’t dwell on things, doesn’t hold grudges, doesn’t really care that much about people’s histories or even their present, doesn’t focus much on externals and it comes through in the way the book is written. I noticed this when throughout the books San Lang would do fucked up stuff like make it rain blood and kill a pit’s worth of people and Xie Lian kinda didn’t really seem to care and at first it pissed me off, why isn’t the author letting consequences occur because of these peoples’ actions, but then as it held consistently throughout the book and other people kept being super concerned about stuff, like Pei Constantly asking after Shi Qingxuan (I don’t know how to spell their name, it’s so hard to keep track I’m so sorry) or people bringing up Banue, I realized this is just Xie Lian, other people in the book are regular people like me, this one guy is just experiencing things, going “Well, ain’t that something” and then just moving on. Honestly iconic, but also I was halfway through book six when I realized. Especially since whenever they do flashbacks Xie Lian does all normal stuff. He describes settings he’s in, he mentions events that happened a few pages ago, he tells the reader how he feels, it’s after he experiences all his shit he goes through that this all kinda slips away. In “present” scenes he’ll reference things as they come up but like in the flashback after Mu Qing leaves they talk about it a few times and I find that aspect of acknowledgment to be noticeably absent in the “present” scenes. After the black water arc there is a complete lack of discussion about the frankly trauma inducing event that just transpired but sure Cie Lian, you and San Lang have to not hold hands for the billionth time. At first I thought is this author high but then I realized what shes doing is characterizing through prose which is IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. This may be a point I noticed and am now misremembering the entire series just to bolster my take and if that’s the case then I shall sheepishly shrug and say I’m sorry. I’m not rereading 8 books to write a tumblr review. Maybe if I ever start a YouTube channel

I don’t know, I just find it to be an incredible feat of actually good writing when a story is being told through the lens of the main character and you can characterize that character by simply reading the story and seeing how it’s written, not even through dialogue and action. It’s kinda like the Great Gatsby or a Separate Peace, and it’s super cool that a book like this can accomplish the same thing that makes those classics great. There isn’t as much symbolism or analytical potential but those books wouldn’t be nearly as impactful as they were without great execution, which this book pulled off in spades.

[antianakin]

hiii, it's me again, someone who keeps popping in to say things nobody asked for lol. i was wondering if people who've been in the fandom longer (like you) agree with my impression that the novelizations are reallyyy important context for fanon interpretations? i didn't realize this until a discussion i had today iwth someone who helpfully summarized some of the popular prequel novels, which seem to match up really well with headcanons & fanon personalities. apparently stover emphasized obi-wan's devotion to anakin and how he's a ride or die for him. and apparently another popular novel wrote an adult obi-wan "as if a teenager in emotional maturity" which also would, you know- explain a lot.

the novels i've actually read are the jedi apprentice series, which i don't have much issues with, even though they certainly spin the trauma wheel lol. maybe it's been qui-gon and obi-wan both feel as if they are trying their best and their misunderstandings due to mutual action, rather than pure passivity? or maybe that even though the books have very dramatic conflicts that certainly put obi-wan in woobifiable situations, they more often than not help draw out distinct characteristics and strengths of his through those situations?

Just for clarity, I have NOT been in this fandom all that long by my own standards. I obviously did watch Star Wars as a kid and read some Star Wars fanfics when I was really young, but in terms of "participating in fandom" as such, that's really only been happening since like... 2021 maybe? It was basically a COVID byproduct, I had the time to consume some Star Wars stuff I'd never managed to get around to before and things devolved from there. And I honestly have read hardly any of the novels or comics myself, including the official film novelizations. Like you, the only books I've actually read are the Jedi Apprentice middle grade books, and that's really it.

So while I can speak to some of the experiences I've had in this fandom since I got into it a few years ago, I cannot speak to what fandom has been like since those novelizations were released almost 20 years ago now.

Matthew Stover's ROTS novelization seems to be pretty popular and considered one of the better novelizations. I've had people tell me that there's SOME evidence Lucas had something to do with the book and so it's often considered a fairly high level of canon as a result.

But the passage you're referencing where Stover emphasizes how Obi-Wan is "ride or die" for Anakin is genuinely one of the reasons I've never bothered to read it, no matter how pretty people say his prose is. If you want to actually see it yourself, I'll copy it below.

The line in question comes from an extended version of the scene in ROTS where Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu are discussing Anakin's reaction to being asked to spy on Palpatine as Yoda heads off to Kashyyyk.

“I think," Obi-Wan said carefully, "that abstractions like peace don't mean much to him. He's loyal to people, not to principles. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him." Mace and Yoda gazed at him steadily, and Obi-Wan had to lower his head. "Because," he admitted reluctantly, "he knows I would do the same for him.”

Interpret the scene how you will, I guess. The Anakin characterization meshes with how I tend to understand the character, but the Obi-Wan characterization could not be farther away from how I see him in canon.

I don't know anything about whatever novel wrote Obi-Wan as though he had the emotional maturity of a teenager. That doesn't ring any bells for me. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are authors who've written Star Wars books that just simply don't like Obi-Wan all that much and so if he shows up in their work, he could come across as having the emotional maturity of a teenager because that's how that author chose to write him. It would seem odd for it to show up in an official film novelization, I would expect it more in some of the Legends content, but I suppose it's not impossible.

Legends content in general DOES have an impact on fanon and fan interpretations of Star Wars because, for a long while, it was the only way to GET more Star Wars content beyond the films themselves. For a lot of people, they were canon because there was nothing to refute them. And even once there was, people sometimes were still so attached to those stories that they preferred them to the story told in the films.

So, yeah, it can have a major impact on people's understanding of things. Often if you get into discussions about, say, the Jedi or the Force, people will bring up Legends content to prove their arguments. You shouldn't feel like this means you personally have to consume any Legends content you don't want to consume. I tend to avoid it most of the time. It is perfectly for you to just stick with the films or the shows or whatever books you find most interesting. And even within that, what you consider canon doesn't have to include literally everything you've chosen to consume. I've read the Jedi Apprentice books and enjoyed them, but it ISN'T real canon and I don't necessarily take any of it into account in my own interpretations of the characters. Legends content and Disney EU content is, in many ways, just officially licensed fanfiction. If you don't consider every fanfic you read to be canon, you do not have to consider every Legends book or comic you choose to read to be canon, either. Sometimes it's fun to just see other people's takes on Star Wars even if there's no way to fit into the canon story of Star Wars (as a side note, this is why I love Star Wars: Visions so much as a show).

I don't know if this really answered your question. As someone who doesn't consume a lot of Legends content and hasn't read a single one of the official film novelizations, I may not be the right person to ask about this.

[monkey-banana41]

Fanfic Writer Interview

Many thanks to the awesome, amazing @hibiscesque for the tag! Very honored to do this <3 It's been a busy year for writing, so let's goooo~

How many works do you have on AO3?

In total 47~! For 2024, it's 41. (BSD really jumpstarted my writing juices XD)

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Not surprising all BSD (and also all SKK) XP

Always At Your Service, My Master - Oneshot / Explicit / 9,155 words - Written as a request for the BSD Gotcha4Gaza, it features DaChuu and their time before events of the Dark Era. It explores their relationship and unspoken feelings with a hint of spice and steam. Chuuya also wears a maid outfit. Because Dazai.

Forever My Loyal Servant - Oneshot / Explicit / 7,560 words - A short story for Bottom Dazai Week 2024. Takes place in the Beast universe, exploring the pining, the angst, and the unspoken feelings between Dazai and Chuuya. Also (makes attempts) to explore the power dynamic between the two of them, as they spend every night together. Angsty and sad. So many feelings when I got to the end ;w;

Our Unstoppable Destined Love - Oneshot / Mature / 6,401 words - Another Bottom Dazai Week story. Uh, Dazai in a dress while being the mafia boss is what got me started on this one. Just Dazai and Chuuya having a good old time while they're on the job. Whoops.

Finding Love in You - Oneshot / Mature / 11,871 words - Written for Chuuya Week 2024. Chuuya is the royal king, and Dazai is his newest wife. They start off on the wrong foot, but Dazai just can't help but wooed by him. It's such a cute little story <3

May You Be Mine? - Oneshot / Mature / 10,251 words - An office AU in which Chuuya is the custodian and Dazai is the office worker. It was supposed to end sadish, but then somehow, it turned out to be cute. Re-reading this makes me wanna eat chocolates made by Chuuya. Dazai is so lucky!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I respond super slow, but I eventually do! It's neat to interact with others, and it's a way of showing my appreciation to the lovely readers who enjoyed the story <3

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I like to write angsty stories, so a lot of the stories tend to have bittersweet/sad endings. But I think it's a tie between The Wicked Truth Among the Gentle Lies and The Unobtainable Glass Soul. The first one is SKK and... oof. Without giving too much away, the line between reality and desire is harsh. :') As for the second one, it is a FyoZai story, and it was written for Dead Dove Week, so the DD ending is... tough to swallow. Poor Dazai. The emotional pain killed my heart T_T

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Dreaming of You, Fated to be With You, in particular Chapter 5. It's a super sweet and cute AU in which Akutagawa is an archeologist/explorer and Atsushi is cursed as a tiger. The interaction between them is just down right adorable and hilarious sweet, especially since Atsushi can't communicate using regular words due to being a tiger. It's such a light-hearted, fun little AU.

Do you write crossovers?

Not yet. But I once thought about a crossover between Demon Slayers and BSD. It'd be fun to see the characters interact.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Knock on wood, I haven't!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Alongside complex, layered issues and thought provoking emotions.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Luckily, I haven't. Hopefully it stays that way.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! It wasn't a BSD story. It was for a story I wrote called A Punishing Gift. It was for an otome game, Piofiore, featuring the pairing, Yang / Lily. I'm still super honored and humbled that it was widely loved by the reader who did such great working translating it into a masterpiece.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I've written with Lily (another Lily; she sadly isn't on tumblr) on plenty of stories. It's always such a blast bouncing around ideas and seeing the characters lose it because of such said ideas. (Always up for co-writing with my moots and anyone in the community! Co-writing is so much fun <3)

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That's a tough one. A toss up between SKK and Fyozai. But also SSKK, Kunizai, and DazAtsu. Okay, I just love these pairings too much to choose only one T_T

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Uhhhh... all of them. The WIP list is endless. Although I'd love to continue the two stories I did for the SKK Summer Exchange 2024 - Seeing My in You and Living a Life of My Own. My brain already has scenes and ideas for the next chapters, but... the time ;w;

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told it's transitioning in between scenes and characters' introspective thoughts. I also have lots of fun writing villains and their characters, exploring their motives and learning that they're very human despite what the they do.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing way too much when it's not needed sometimes. I get really into the story and the character, then forget that it needs less words, more clarity lol!

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it depends on the feel and intent of a given situation that is happening in the story. For myself, I don't do it too much, as I'm not sure I do it justice, writing dialogue in another language.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

For fandom, it's Demon Slayers, JJK, and Pandora Hearts. Without rambling too much, the worlds are so fascinating and the characters are equally fantastic. Would love to explore lots of ships for all three series. For a particular ship, I'd love to write Emily and JJ from Criminal Minds. Their dynamic is peak.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

All of them! I had so much fun writing each and every single one <3

Tagging: @theroadtosomewhere, @bunnys-tales, @aurorahrt, @falloutjuli, @xerx, @apatheticanvas91305 (no obligations! many apologies if already done >_<)

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: What We Make of It (Shotgun Wedding)

The important thing, Crowley tells himself -- the most important thing -- is Adam, his brilliant, creative, empathetic nephew. Being fourteen's hard enough; the kid didn't ask to deal with the weight of the world on top of it. And if taking care of Adam means Crowley has to tough it out at a job he can’t stand, so be it. And if Crowley's job means that Adam’s charming English teacher is NOT a romantic possibility, well, that's just how things go. But the occasional drink with Aziraphale proves hard to resist. They frequent the same pub, so who can object to them saying hello? Briefly sharing a table? Perhaps a little conversation? The painful knowledge that it can’t be anything more -- not without somebody getting fired or sued or both -- well, that can't be helped. Until Crowley stumbles onto a terribly reckless idea...

Length: 213,340 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥🔥

Best for: Safe in Public, Human AU, Slow Burn, Pick-Me-Up

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by charlottemadison

*Minor Spoilers* I was so certain that I had already posted about this one! When I saw I hadn't, well, that just warranted a reread didn't it! This is a very famous fic, so I wouldn't be surprised if you've already read this. But if you haven't, or maybe didn't know if it was worth committing to the length, I'm here to tell you its very much worth your time.

Not only is this an excellent parent story, it's also a fake marriage story! Crowley is a single parent to his nephew Adam who strikes up a friendship with Adam's English teacher Mr. Fell. The problem? The company Crowley works for has a strict rule against dating anyone in the School Industry. You know, it's a tiny bit dramatic, but also one of the cleverer ideas to justify writing a forbidden relationship. Does this happen in real life? I don't know, but the way this is written I fully believe it could! Either way, there's a loophole they can exploit so they can be together, and all it takes is a quick, "I do."

Ugh their relationship is so wonderful here. It's very mature and healthy, the kind of relationships we want to read about because they are just so safe. They're able to talk through their issues and feelings and know they're always going to be supported. The love they have is so heartwarming it’s sickening. A lot is told through letters and text messages, which I personally loved. These are different characters from canon, they've both been changed by their human lives and surroundings, but this story just understands who they are deep down. They're not shallow characterizations.

Who this story really gets right is Adam. I full on believe this is the best handling of Adam in any fanfic I've read for Good Omens. A majority of the plot revolves around him being narcoleptic and epileptic. It has tons of amazing things to say about health care, being chronically ill, and being a parent to a child with health issues. But outside of that it understands who Adam is. Someone who is brilliant, creative, a leader, manipulative, arrogant. And how those traits can be both positive and negative for him. He wants to change the world, but has some learning to do along the way. I loved him, and I love how much Crowley loves being a dad. He even remarks on it, that people don't expect men to love being parents. It's nice to read a story of such a devoted guardian.

A really excellent story, it deserves it's popularity! I would say this is largely safe for public. There are a couple explicit scenes tucked in but they are skippable and a small section of a large story. Which by the way, will fly by! This story does NOT feel like 200K words. If you haven't gotten around to this one, I highly suggest you do!

Read it here, fic by charlottemadison

[aurorahrt]

fanfic writer interview!

thank you to the lovely @monkey-banana41 for the tag <33 almost cried at my pc anyway weeeee

How many works do you have on AO3?

i have 34! they were all posted this year, and 32 of them are sskk or sskk-centric... i might be crazy

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

i rarely check this one but it actually surprised me a little bit :3 they are, of course, all sskk :D

lasting until the next time - explicit | 39.4k | 31 chapters my kinktober for 2024! i wanted to write something that had a "developing relationship" type of plot, but also featured an nsfw scene for (most of) the chapters! it's set two years into the future, after everything is cleared up and sskk reunite for the first time in a while.

two flints make a fire - explicit | 24.5k | 10 chapters originally started as a rivals-with-benefits smut shot after i watched dead apple three times in one weekend, but turned into 10 chapters of somewhat canon compliant sskk porn, basically!

skin to skin - teen | 18.1k | one-shot this was the first fic i posted in march! an sskk ability swap fic where they learn to understand each other whilst trying to get their abilities back, set after the decay of the angels saga. lots of fluff, a little bit of angst and a slightly-unhinged atsushi!

inevitable dwindling; awakening metempsychosis - teen | 17.2k | one-shot i'm so glad this is up here because this is my favourite thing i have ever written. an sskk fic around the six month promise and how that might happen, which turns into an accidental-roommate-situation and a lot of overthinking! essentially one big akutagawa character study that i did after rewatching bsd in the summer.

from duality to singularity - mature | 10.8k | one-shot a post-beast au where atsushi joins the ADA and sskk basically hate each other until they love each other. it's part of twin flames, which is an entire world where beast sskk and canon sskk meet and learn a lot of things about each other!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

absolutely yes, whenever i can find the time. i love talking about my projects, and comments are always the best place for it. for me, if someone enjoyed my fic enough to comment, i want to reciprocate that gratitude and energy :D

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

ehe... well i think we all know the answer to this one, but definitely a hope to return, as it's literally canon-ish mcd. i also think i should give an honourable mention to double edged blade, which is just my personal headcanons on tachihara's back story up until chapter 90.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

i tend to write with more ambiguous endings. to me, sskk are a pairing where they still kind of hate themselves and need a lot more time than just a silly mega one-shot where they get together to heal. i think the to transmogrify a hound series (especially home comforts) are quite cathartic, and that makes ME happy...

Do you write crossovers?

no, i don't think i will either! canon is my playground :D

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not yet... hopefully never...

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes i do! it really depends. i've written pure nasty nothing smut, but introspective smut is my favourite to write.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

other than when a bot sniped the whole of ao3, i have had a few snippets/plot stolen in a fic i saw once, but i just kind of let it slide and took it as a compliment

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no but watch this space............... /threat

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

i think it's pretty obvious that it's sskk for me. i'm hoping to branch out into other ships i like for 2025!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

i currently have a spreadsheet of 15 wips that i stare at blankly then start something new. one of the wips i have that i don't think i'll ever share is a rewrite of an au that i published before 'auroraheart' was born. i always think of a good time to post it, then change my mind!

What are your writing strengths?

i guess i understand the characters i write pretty well, and even though i have my own characterisation, people seem to like it and/or think it's pretty close to canon! i'm definitely good at introspective fics, or character studies, and i think i make pieces transition really well from different scenes!

What are your writing weaknesses?

i do not branch out from what is comfortable, and when i do, i really overthink it. i would like to test that in the new year, because i've never really attempted 'world building' and i would love to try.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it depends on the context, but i tend to not do it.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

so many... i'm going to hopefully start posting for sgdlr soon! i also want to branch into more bsd ships i enjoy, like tachihigugin (and any variation of the three), sigzai, suegiku, odango, etc... which is part of my new year goals :D

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

i've already mentioned id;am and deb, so i think i will use this space to say checkmate! it's one of my lesser known fics, but it was hard to write and i'm very proud of it :3

tagging: @acreeperinawhitevan, @doctorweebmd, @heartless-cur, @spliqi & @frankenjoly <3 (feel free not to do of course)

[fluffydice]

What first drew you to Kusou and Aren as a ship?

I really like the way you write their parallels in your writing.

Also curious. Who else do you ship Saiki with?

Just bothering you because it's fun!

I’ll be so honest, I like Aren and Kusuo a lot because it reminds me a lot of my own relationship. Like a lot. To the point where some of the incorrect quotes or lines I’ve written in fanfic are based off of (or even direct copies of) things we’ve said to each other.

They also work really well together and have a lot of trauma to explore. Writing was originally my way of understanding my own, and helping me understand how people work in the first place. I’m not naturally empathetic, so using them let’s me make connections between the way a person acts and the why behind it—particularly because their reasonings are so plain to see.

I’m not averse to most Saiki ships. I ship quite a few, actually. I just never write about them because I’d either get more out of a friendship dynamic between them or I think Kusuo isn’t really ready to be in a relationship with people who are naturally put together. This might sound weird, but I think Kusuo needs at least slight tension in his relationships, things to argue over, because if he doesn’t, he feels infantilized. Or worse: insane. Not being the only one who’s dealing with crap can make you feel more normal, something Kusuo definitely craves. It also lets him indulge in those mother-henning tendencies of his, so bonus!

,,,He’s also a snarky bastard who needs someone who can handle being his verbal scratching post from time to time—someone he can play bite and know they won’t break. It’s a huge bonus that Aren can give as good as he gets. Aren is one of the few that will drag Kusuo by the ear and make him listen, and someone who Kusuo respects enough to let it slide. Those are two small categories already—it’s hard to find other characters, besides maybe Aiura, that fit both.

My favorite Saiki ships are with Teruhashi, Aiura, Akechi, or Nendo—though I’m very fond of Saiki being Kaido’s first crush, and think they could be work well together if they mature a bit in the romance department. They’re both really inexperienced when it comes to romance, but it’s hard to be in a relationship where both of you are doing the mental equivalent of frantically offering the other person to go before you in a queue.

(And as a guilty pleasure ship, Saiki, Kuboyasu, and Aiura hold a special place in my heart. I’ve thought a lot about writing something for them lmfaooo)

[ellecdc]

hihi!! i really love ur writing and all your series (CBBH, drink snob, AMWAP) and all the rest. they’re just so beautifully crafted and it shows you put a lot of of thought into every fic.

i was just wondering what are your boundaries with minors on your blog? i didn’t see anything about it so i’ve refrained from interacting to make you comfortable but, i just thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

thank you! <3

*update as of may 4th, 2024*:

I swear, I can be vulgar, and I make inappropriate jokes/comments at times; so do many of my characters - please do expect to find both profanity and perhaps lewd comments/jokes in my works.

I always ensure to properly tag my fics in order to notify followers and readers that there is mature content, smut, or otherwise explicit material; what you do with that warning is ultimately up to you, however, I ask that anyone under the age of 18 please not like, comment, or otherwise engage in discussion with myself or any of my followers regarding mature, smut, or explicit themes or works whether written by myself or other writers on this app.

I am not anyone's mother and I will not be telling anyone whether they can or cannot read what I've written on an app that is free for all to use, however, I expect you to also respect my boundaries on my blog.

This is my main takeaway:

All-in-all... I think you are responsible for the content you consume on the internet. I don't like the idea of restricting access to my works to a demographic on the off chance someone may find it inappropriate or uncomfortable - so I won't, but I'm also trusting that minors will be responsible and knowledgable when it comes to the kind of content they may find across Tumblr.

TL;DR - you are welcome to interact with my blog so long as you're safe, aware, and mindful of both yourself and those around you.

Uhm wow, first of all - I love you! Thank you so much, and I'm very glad you've enjoyed my works!

Second of all, I think this is a really good question and I appreciate you bringing this up

I posted the first part of The Drink Snob & Come Back, Be Here when I had zero (0) followers. I was enjoying reading fanfics by writers on the platform, and I had some of my own that I figured I'd share. I never really imagined my fics would get any attention - let alone the amount of attention they've since received! I've also gained a lot of followers since then, so I do suppose it would be good to acknowledge the fact that not all Tumblr users or Marauder's fans are over 18.

I swear a LOT. Like....a lot a lot....and so do my characters (specifically our werewolf mcswearwolf). I think to in order to remain authentic to myself as well as who I believe these characters to be - I won't stop that. Some of my jokes/content/references may be a little mature or slightly 'inappropriate', as well.

I haven't posted anything particularly steamy/smutty - I've never been requested nor have I ever tried. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to trying - however, if I do post something like that I would put the appropriate content warnings on the post.

All-in-all: I think you are responsible for the content you consume on the internet. I don't like the idea of restricting access to my works to a demographic on the off chance someone may find it inappropriate or uncomfortable - so I won't, but I'm also trusting that minors will be responsible and knowledgable when it comes to the kind of content they may find across Tumblr.

TL;DR - you are welcome to interact with my blog so long as you're safe, aware, and mindful of both yourself and those around you.

Thanks for asking, my love 🫶