#this fandom has a lot of really neat stuff that deserves attention outside of The Big Fics (which are big for a reason bc theyre very good)

[lavinialost]

hello again, this reblog goes out to @agent-p-94 and @urlocallesbiab who asked if I had found anything while deep in the dghda trenches. let's ignore the fact that it's been approximately four months since you originally asked me that question.

happy to report that I do in fact have opinions on everything I read and I've boiled it down to the ones that I've gone back to for a second read in the last three-ish months. it's mostly brotzly because (surprise, surprise) that's what makes up a majority of the fics (not that I'm complaining). I've also cross-referenced my list with Lavellington's bookmarks (which you should check it out if you're looking for a much more curated list of excellent fic recs)

(list below the cut in no particular order)

Toil and Trouble is an Understatement by TriffidsandCuckoos

witch au! it's such a fun spin on s1 canon, and I love it when authors move everything slightly to the left <3

you know it's good because I read all 19K words and still wanted more. personally shocked that it was in like page 75 of 108 when I sorted by kudos. bc it's GOOD.

feel like a person for a moment of my life by nosecoffee

must be logged into AO3 to view!

looks it's tagged Bart/Ken, but it's so barely there that I personally read it as platonic bc I didn't see the relationship tag originally.

pretty short, but the premise is really neat (the holistics are androids!!)

Bart POV, my beloved

in the stillness of remembering by reptilianraven

combination fairytale au slash casefic <3 a perfect oneshot around 8k

Forces Unseen by oneprotagonistshort

ok, I'll admit it's not exactly a hidden gem because it has 5k hits, but GUYS IT'S SO GOOD

a casefic with all my favorite tropes in one place (fake relationship, only one bed, arson!!)

this fic made me feel like I was sitting in a postcard.

not a moment I could choose by neville

spies! espionage! snark! but also deals with depression

Fear is Only in Your Mind by TriffidsandCuckoos

more by triffids sorry not sorry

im... deeply disturbed by this one ngl. read the tags (heavy emphasis on the lovecraftian horror tag) to make sure this is your vibe definitely. nothing too graphic imo, just deeply unsettling (in a good way-- the author did an amazing job)

i take your word by clockwordcheetah

casefic where todd has slowly growing amnesia and everyone's panicking and trying to fix it

have you ever had a fic tear out your heart really, really slowly and then put it back together again? this is like that. but better.

A Moment of Clarity by electricteatime

One-shot about Farah figuring out that she's a lesbian <3 it's so cute and all the characterizations and dialogue are on point

in this house, we all hate Farah's dad <3

On Egyptian Rivers of Some Renown by ThrillingDetectiveTales

the whole thing is Todd on the phone with Amanda after he realizes he's won the lottery, but there's some... miscommunication... about what they're talking about

ngl this is one of my favorites even though it's pretty short, it's just so silly <3 Todd's endless suffering is delightful TO ME.

How don't you feel about that by agent_p_94

EVERYONE GO READ THE LYDIA FIC. IT IS DELIGHTFUL AND MEANINGFUL.

the dirk and lydia dynamic is everything I have ever wished for and more

the whole agency needs so much therapy.

on bravery by Talls

when in doubt I am probably thinking about this fic: it's short and sweet and a quick + interesting brotzly character study

I've done it. I finally managed to make it all the way to the last page (108) of dghda fics on ao3.

yes, I am mentally unwell in ways the dsm-5 hasn't even begun to define yet, thank you for asking.

[mocknerd]

Anri Sonohara Appreciation Post

I know yesterday was her birthday, but I was busy with Halloween so I’m just going to post this today. Anri Sonohara is such an underappreciated character and she doesn’t deserve it. She’s amazing and unique and she needs more attention. So I’m going to take a brief moment to gush about her.

I legit can’t believe that it was only this year that I realized that Anri is like one of my top comfort characters. Right next to Shizuo, Masaomi and a few others. Apparently all you need to do to make me mentally adopt a fictional character is make them a victim of bullying and/or abuse. That or be a literal baby. Obviously there is more to it, but that seems to be a big factor. But thinking back, it does make sense. In my teen years I was obsessed with her, and a lot of female characters I made were somewhat inspired by her. I just didn’t get enough of a chance to notice because sadly there just isn’t enough content for her to make me notice. The stuff that IS out there, has her shoehorned in as part of the main trio.

And poor Anri, not only does she get forgotten by the fandom (and even characters in the main story), but also has to go through a real load of shit. She’s an orphan, but only cause one of her parents was an abusive ass that pushed the other to murder, only to then kill themself (that whole scenario is just...a mess but thats the main gist.) Now she’s possessed by a demon sword, which she just about has control over only because she’s numb to the trauma. Then there’s the aforementioned bullying, a pervy teacher, her friends being some secretive weirdos, her female friends also being pervy, and don’t get me started on the gang war thing with Izaya and all that. Yet this girl still comes out at the end with a smile. Like. Wow. I can barely go through a day without finding some aspect of life to be miserable about. Yet here she is. She’s way too tolerant for her own good.

Also, she’s super sweet, and really should have been given more of a chance to be hardcore with her sword and all that. I like that she’s a more feminine character that’s still badass. Way too much fiction has badass females be more stereotypically masculine, and to have her be more gentle and shy is a breath of fresh air. Especially because I and others in this generation, have grown to be rather shy. The best part is, she doesn't necessarily grow to be more social like in other media. Her introvertedness still remains intact, yet she still makes sure to still have connections outside of Mika after the first few arches. It's a development that's healthy both in that it shows its ok to be shy, yet still doesn't enable her to shut herself off to the point of destruction.

I like her design too, and I just wish their was more done with it other than that weird hoodie thing she got going on (while it's more practical, I don't understand why she wears it so often, even in the daytime). She’s cute and deserves more than that and the rule 34 official art. I've seen a lot of really neat fashion redesigns for her, and I'm glad that there seems to be some sort agreement that she needs to wear more pastel with black. Plus the redesigns sort of fit my own fashion sense (if I actually try).

She’s such a wasted character. All that backstory and design, and what happens to it in the end? Like there was a load of build up and then...nothing happened with her. Just Mikado nearly killing himsellf, but then she had no part of it. She didn't even stop the Saika army like she did in the Saika arch. I legit can't remember what happened to her in the end except for that moment in the van with the others. There really should have been more involvement. It's neat that her build up is more internal, but when you have a demon sword on the wall it needs to be used. Please. She became borderline useless.

Oh well. I love her regardless of the flaws in the writing. If I go on any further I’ll just be complaining about how wasted and mistreated she was, and this was meant to be a feel good thing.

See ya~

Ms

[autistichoromatsu]

daydreaming about a lot of things rn. chibita's complicated relationship with iyami, for one, since that never gets brought up in the ososan fandom i feel. and his deep loneliness and lack of resources and care as a child leading to him trying to care for everyone around him as an adult to make sure nobody lacks what he did at the expense of his own happiness and income. and i was like (screams)

but ALSO. i was imagining what it would be like if nyaa chan formed meaningful friendships with the sextuplets. nyaa and the sextuplets know totoko REALLY well but both know her from different sides, if that makes sense. the brothers have known totoko since they were all kids, they know what she likes and how she acts and what makes her mad. but she doesn't really talk to them about her personal worries, her problems, her actual inner emotional life, because she doesn't actually trust them to take that seriously or not take advantage of how she feels in some way. and she doesnt trust them to not be super fucking annoying about it. but she and nyaa DO talk about how they feel and their worries and their personal stuff. so i think itd be neat seeing the bros and nyaa trying to figure out how those pieces of totoko can fit together

that and i have a lot of Thoughts about totty, kara, kinko, nyaa, and eventually choro helping totoko with her brand. totoko is clearly super worried about her idol career and where it's going, but the Status Quo Is God part of the show means that the writers are complete pussies about addressing that in meaningful ways. for me it's really obvious that she CAN keep the fish themeing and be very successful. fish can be beautiful, be deadly, big and small and every color ever. also some of her outfits that are played off as ugly are actually really good displays of craftsmanship and i like them a lot (the one where shes a grey crustacean in particular but i forgot which specific animal shes supposed to be in that one lol)

i just want her partnership with nyaa to be further explored, since it's clear that it has become a permanent fixture of the show's canon and of nyaa and totoko's relationship with each other.

in my daydreams specifically i just love the idea of her friendgroup all arguing around a big table about her costuming. kara added too many sparkles to the design but totty's suggestions on their own are all incredibly bland, choromatsu is too focused on the cute factor, kin-chan's taste is eccentric and questionable, nyaa is simultaneously trying desperately to keep the peace and add her own suggestions, and overall everything is chaos. but in the end, all of them come together with costumes and themeing that is genuinely impressive because they cover each other's weaknesses. totoko can be a fighting fish or a shark or a mantis shrimp, all strong and unyielding and COOL, and have her costumes still be cute and frilly while retaining the aquatic themeing

her strong personality coming through in the kinds of fish she represents on stage could be really cool. nyaa being a housecat but also a big threatening wildcat depending on the loose story their music and stage themeing has would be so cool as well. like, i genuinely think there's a lot of potential for their competitive spirits and strong wills to really shine on the stage and be compelling for audiences. ITD BE SO FUN. OKAY.

itd be so fun to see totoko get the love and attention she deserves but from people who also won't just crumple under her Intensity. i think the matsus in particular need to see women as people instead of sex objects and i think this storyline lends itself well to that as well. like, choro helping nyaa with her themeing and ending up seeing her a lot outside of her constructed idol persona..... i think after he realizes she's just some lady with a Lot to worry about, they could actually be friends. i also think that she and oso should be friends. i think everyone should be friends and hold hands in a circle and work out their problems. and nyaa and totoko should kiss. i love how they love (by yelling)

[flyswhumpcenter]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me requests according to this marvelous card! (Red cross is the completed prompt, character headshots are prompts I’ve already filled. Green deltas are for requested prompts.)

I'll fix what's broken. 

I'm not even sorry for writing this much Inazuma. I love Inazuma. I need to catch up all the years I haven't written content for it.

Also, yes, this ship? I ship it. It has a lot of my soft spots combined into one neat little burrito I immediately fell for it. I wish Akane was better written than what the anime gave us, sure, but it won't prevent me from imagining things and rely on a lot of personal interpretations. Thus this fanfic, which was supposed to be much grittier and edgier and stuff, with more focus on Akane being a more cunning spirit than she lets on, with a ton of regret and an insistence on the theme of fixing and patching things out.

You know what my mind told me instead? "ngh... soft..."

So instead, we all get fluff. I'll see if I can't fit the original idea somewhere, I still have 600-ish words written for it. I restarted this fic like 4 times before finally sticking with this version lol

but like see you soon for more angst on the flygon channel

-------

Dawn of a New Day

Summary: Akane watches over a dear friend.

Fandom: Inazuma Eleven (Ares/Orion continuity; post-canon) Ship: Akane/Haizaki (pre-rel, implied, can be read as platonic)

Wordcount: 1.5K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

-------

It’s not so bad, it’s going to be fine, Akane repeats in her mind. It’s not so bad, it’s going to be all fine.

Easier thought than applied, sure. The rational part of herself knows it’s not bad: people just happen to need surgeries, sometimes, and this one wasn’t anything bad. The surgeons looked fairly relaxed about it, the nurses told her it’d be fine, that it was nothing to get this worked up about. Yet, even knowing this, she was still worried: it was still a surgery, it wasn’t just like getting a flu shot.

 Still, in her heart, not getting worried is impossible. She cares about her friend too much not to be scared he won’t open his eyes again, stolen away from the world by a malevolent spirit. They’re too young to go to sleep forever, she figures, and she squeezes his fingers inside of her palm with even more strength now.

It’s funny, when she thinks about. Ryouhei has gone through so much, much more than her in fact, having fought against an enemy much bigger than he was, having faced adversaries coming from the entire world and helped save its order with strong teammates; and yet, she’s worried he won’t ever wake up from a surgery a lot of people have gone through just fine. It’s irrational, paradoxical in a way, but the feeling won’t go away, and she still has a vulnerable picture of her best friend right before her eyes.

 A nurse occasionally shows up to tell her she should be moving around and not stay on that chair, that it’ll be all well and good. Akane doesn’t bulge: she’s determined to be there for him as much as possible and, frankly, she doesn’t feel like she needs to go for a walk, she’s over that. Patience is the one thing she’s always had that she can put towards anything she wants and that’s a liberty she won’t give away for anything. She’s determined to stay here, this much is sure.

She appreciates the attention and recognizes some of the nurses passing by. She sometimes chats with them, they reassure her, she observes them do a few things here and there: changing an IV bag, updating vitals on their notepads, taking temperatures and pulses. She doesn’t say anything about that, lets them to their job: she’ll have to pay them back too, someday, but they’re less close to her than Ryouhei is, so she thinks of them as secondary thanks. She’ll give them flowers in the near future, she swears, because they often compliment those she brought to put in the vase of the room.

 His room isn’t unlike the one she had to stay in, except it’s meant for two and the other patient isn’t here anymore. She’s seen him leave when arriving with the bouquet and a rare plushie she’s grinded at the claw machine for, packing his things away and slipping a “have a nice day” at her before disappearing forever from her sight. It leaves her alone with the passing nurses and her friend, whose hand she holds even if she starts having a cramp from having her fingers in the same position for so long, watching the time go buy on a clock, looking at the sky through the window, glancing at him and smiling to herself about how peaceful he looks like this, both eyes visible.

It’s a rare sight of tranquillity, now that the things that caused them turmoil are over. He deserves this rest from the world.

 She has lost track of time passing, more focused on staring at his chest rising and downing softly, slowly under the covers. It’s an innocuous detail nobody pays attention to, usually, yet she can’t help but find it soothing to watch now. It has a different meaning, here, giving this attention more sense. It’s a vision of serenity, of calm after a violent storm. It’s a gentle warmth she welcomes.

To be honest, Akane spent so long merely watching the window with an empty soul and eyes staring into the void that she doesn’t mind finally spending time for something dear to her, hitting home. This is an unconventional way to spend time with a childhood friend, sure, but this she also can’t mind: in a way, it’s like Ryouhei felt, watching over someone and never getting an answer. The main difference is that she was certain he’d wake up sooner or later, even if she nourished all those irrational worries, when he never knew when she’d do so, if she’d even wake up someday. She’s glad and relieved to be able to say she’s won over her previous ailment and is currently making up for all the time and the lies.

 Her eyes flutter, tired. She finally glances at a clock: it’s already fairly late in the evening, nearing the very early morning. Visiting hours are closed, but she’s been allowed to remain: perhaps her already existing links with the nursing staff allowed her to do that. She’s going to fall asleep soon, even if she doesn’t want to, starting to lack in energy. Ah, that’s a shame… She’d have at least liked to be there when he’d wake up. Not that he’d need her to remember why he’s here, simply because she wants to be the first to say him hello in the morning.

She should have drunk coffee before getting here, but she doesn’t feel like getting up and fetching a can downstairs. What if he wakes up while she’s gone? She doesn’t want that, does she? She’ll remain by his side, now, so she can finally be truly forgiven and make up for her mistakes, clutching the plushie close to her chest.

 She still ends up falling asleep, eventually, slowly dragged into Morpheus’s arms. Her dream is nothing out of the ordinary: it’s abstract and colourful, as she walks around a beautiful garden with fountains made out of crystal shimmering under the summer sunlight. She always feels like she’s been here before, but never knows why, the reason remaining in the shadows of the nearby forest she used to be trapped in. It’s peaceful and calm, gentle like the breeze going through her untied hair.

She follows a golden path, the breeze still blowing through the meadow, flowers slowly dancing to it as they perfume the air. The prize waiting for her at the end of the path always changes and, this time, it’s a familiar pair of eyes she carelessly runs towards.

 It’s already shining outside when Akane finally comes to, eyelids fluttering back open, the discomfort of sleeping in a chair making itself known in the background. The first changes she notices are on her: she now has a jacket on her shoulders, whose scent has never been hers, and there’s a cushion in her back. Someone’s undoubtedly been there while she was out. It’s a given, considering this is a hospital.

She hasn’t moved much in her sleep, she realizes, considering her hand is still in the same place as it was before she fell asleep. She doesn’t dare move it as she otherwise stirs to further wake up, immediately greeted by a familiar voice.

 “Tch, don’t tell me you’ve been here all night…”

It’s groggy and obviously tired, most likely still tinted with some anaesthetics. It’s accompanied by a smirk on his face, eyes half-closed.

“Good morning, Ryouhei,” she replies with a smile, noticing her own voice to still sound tired and not entirely awaken yet. Maybe he’s only woken up recently too.

Despite his hostile words, which lack the bite he tried to put into them, he puffs, “good morning, Akane.”

 She takes his hand in hers, trying to shake away the lethargy she feels in one of them.

“Go to bed, you look like crap,” he tells her again, but his fingers trying to hold hers betray him.

“I’m happy to see you’ve not changed while I was asleep.”

“Tch, like I even would… That’s just a tiny operation…”

 To her slight surprise, Ryouhei loses his smirk.

“Wait… You did stay here all night, did you?”

“I did! It was the least I could do after you’ve watched over me for so long!”

He tries to shove his head in his hand, but the way he’s positioned makes it funny to watch.

“I told you that it was fine… You didn’t need to do that, geez… ”

“Maybe I didn’t need to, but I really wanted to…”

The hint of red she sees on his face makes her swoon on the inside, like she’s getting tickled under her skin. A weird, yet not uncomfortable feeling.

 They shortly fall into silence, neither of them speaking, as she watches the sun rise from the window, peeking through the curtains. The dawn is beautiful.

“…thank you, Akane,” she hears getting mumbled by a boy looking the other way.

“It’s nothing,” she replies, hands closing in on his.

 It tastes like childhood again.

[autisticmob]

tagged by uhh nobody but allie @pundeserving kinda left it open and im swoocing in because its fun. you cant fuckng stop me.

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in any order), answer the questions and tag 10 people you want to get to know better

I choose…

1. homed Stuck

2. mob psycho

3. fma

The first character you loved!

1. ARADIA like ok first panel she was in i saw her and i was like “telekinesis? kinda spooky?? oh shit my TYPE” and that was it. it helps that she turned out to be objectively the best homestuck character as well.

2. MOB HES SUCH A GOOD BOY!! like, he���s the first character you’re exposed to and he’s so good, I don’t think you can avoid loving him first.

3. i mean. it’s gotta be alphonse. like... what a sweet boy? all the bad shit happened to him and he deserved NONE of it, my poor fucking SON.

The character you never expected to love so much!

1. ok in all honesty, sollux. sollux is tied with aradia for my all time favorite homestuck character, but the only reason i ever paid any attention to him was because i happened to have some weird 3D sunglasses, and that meant he was the first character I was able to cosplay easily. but obviously if you pay enough attention to him you realize hes a fantastic boy. like hes a fatalistic douche and a massive weenie but he cares about his friends so much?? like to the point of repeated, kinda horrifying self-sacrifice? and he was 13!!! its so fucked up but he just is love his friends THAT MUCH and now I’m sobbing.

2. shou. it’s 100% because i watched the anime first, and he’s barely in it at all, so it’s hard to get a read on him from that. but obviously after reading the manga im like oh hes just a young chaos gay. a sweet baby boy who doesnt know shit except how to exploit psychic powers for fun and profit (and also revolution against his shitty dad.)

3. ed tbh? hes such a shit boy. like tbh i found him kind of annoying and unlikable at first? but he’s the protag, so you KNOW he’s gotta get that good good character development throughout the series, and he does! hes a lot more complex than he seems at first and even if he’s largely STUPID about his interpersonal relationships, that’s just because he’s, y’know, a literal child, and doesn’t mean he doesn’t care a whole fucking lot about his family/friends.

The character you relate to most!

1. dave. there is an ever-expanding running tally of outside sources which have pointed him out as my government-assigned homestuck kin and at this point it would be foolish to argue. rose is a CLOSE second.

2. mob. i have a whole post about why he’s so relatable to me but tl;dr he’s got mad issues with expressing emotions outwardly, but that doesnt mean he doesnt love his friends more than fucking ANYTHING and thats a mood

3. winry. special interest hell, no time for bullshit.

The character you’d slap!

1. andrew hussie the man himself... (among a number of other characters. it would take a lot to list all of them but just know orangeman is at the top of that list)

2. touchy hoe is the obvious answer, I think.

3. envy. the nonbinary representation i deserve and you’re coming in here with that hair?? that fucking crop top monstrosity?? get the fuck out.

Three favourite characters (in order of preference)!

1. aradia, sollux, dave

2. mob, shou, serizawa

3. alphonse, riza hawkeye, olivier armstrong. im gay, what do u want from me.

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore!

1. i had a phase toward the beginning of my time in the fandom where i really really liked eridan. i don’t like... DISLIKE him now or anything, but i just... don’t really care about him all that much anymore?

2. this is hard because my love for most mp100 characters has only grown over time. i guess mezato? again i dont DISLIKE her, i kinda thought she’d have more to her character than just manipulating mob for her own interests, but then she just... didn’t, really? which was disappointing, i thought there was more potential there.

3. most of the homunculi? tbh? they all seemed really interesting and honestly opening with greed’s arc the way they did I thought they’d all get more development than they did. like... envy got some, sort of, and pride/wrath kinda did too, but like. not enough to be satisfying. and then lust gluttony and sloth were just kinda... there? idk i understand WHY they didn’t all get individual arcs because like thatd be a mess but the fact that they didnt is why my interest in them kind of dwindled off over time. (aside from greed who was Very good the whole time.)

A character you did not like at first but do now!

1. She Who Must Not Be Discoursed. like at first i was like aight shes bitchy and terrible whatever im not interested but then as time went on i was like oh shes bitchy and terrible AND interesting. idk. still have mixed feelings about vriska and i absolutely will Not get into discourse about her but yeah shes Neat if nothing else.

2. teru... honey im sorry but before i watched mp100 everyone was like “wow i love teru!” and when i first saw him i was like “... okay why tho...” but I KNOW NOW. teru did a lot of things wrong, in his life, i know this and i love him.

3. roy mustang. literally didn’t give a shit about him for like... a lot of the time? toward the end i started warming up to him tho.

Three OTPs!

1. aradia<3sollux, sollux<>terezi, dave<3karkat. like... these are just some kids who genuinely care a lot about each other, and i like to cry about that sometimes.

2. teru/mob/takenaka is a good one. teru and takenaka both like mob because he likes them regardless of the fact that they are passive aggressive dicks. they continue to be passive aggressive dicks to Each Other for a while until they like, idk, actually talk to each other like real people and realize that they have shit in common and are actually capable of being decent. After this point they Will kill or die for each other (and mob still.)  serirei is of course a classic tale of two disaster gays. and then ritshou is VERY good. like. its SO fucked up how quickly they go from like one-sided crush, one-sided Mortal Enemy Status to just. Real Chill Bros in canon it makes no sense and my only explanation is that they were both so goddamn desperate for a meaningful connection with somebody their own age that they just. Settled for each other?? at which point they got VERY lucky because they both turned out to be genuinely good and sweet boys underneath all the trauma and questionable life choices.

3. ok ed and winry are okay and all, i get the appeal and stuff but like. WHY DO PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT ALL OF WINRY’S EXCELLENT GIRLFRIENDS? paninya?? an incredible option, 10/10 cyborg gf. sciezka? cryptid live-in gal pal. LET WINRY HAVE A TON OF GIRLFRIENDS, ITS WHAT SHE DESERVES!!

gonna tag...... uh. @whentvsfly @imhereformysciencefriends @margoslxix and i think most of the other people i wouldve tagged have already BEEN tagged so uhhh mutuals all of u DO it