#this fic was nearly my villain origin story

[rockitmans]

In case you couldn’t tell by my incessant commenting, I really loved ‘Witch Wanted.’ Thanks so much for sharing your work with all of us. Im eagerly awaiting whatever else you have in store.

Thank you so much 🥺

I always knew this one was going to have slightly more niche appeal but I'm delighted it's found an audience

And tbh I've been a bit nervous to tackle the comments on this one loool so it's nice to get some love on here!

[mixelation]

Literally all i know about wicked is the poster bc i think its nice. Can i ask you what its a fic of? Or just about?

uuuuh so wicked is actually weirdly complicated in terms of being a fic/adpatation/whatever. it's a fanfic of the wizard of oz but it gets weird:

the wonderful wizard of oz is a children's book published in 1900. it went on to have 13 sequels by the original author, and then literally tens more sequels by other authors. most of the books are about someone going on a journey and assembling a party of strange magical people and creatures and running into various strange places and occasionally dodging things trying to kill them. this means that there is a LOT of lore and zany characters to draw from.

the book is of course not nearly as famous as the 1939 movie, which is what most people think of when they think of the wizard of oz. the movie adaptation has the same basic plot outline as the first book, but streamlined and-- most importantly for understanding wicked-- it changed a lot of aesthetic details. the reason for this is that color movies were new, and they wanted to show off, so everything is ultra bright and colorful. in the book, the dorothy's magic shoes are silver. they changed them to ruby red because it pops more. also in the book, everything in the emerald city is white, but everyone entering the city must wear glasses to make everything appear green (for emeralds, you see). the movie producers were evidently like "what the fuck?" and instead made the emerald city extra color and bright and loud. oh, and the movie made the wicked witch green. in the book, she was not green and instead had one magic eye.

wicked is a 1995 novel which is of a specific genre which basically asks: what if the villain of the story secretly had a sympathetic backstory this whole time? what if the good guys weren't that good and the wicked witch was actually kind of the better person?! i did really like these as a kid, but they kind of appeal to me less now outside of nostalgia because as takes they're usually.... kind of immature? or else come off like they dislike the source material. anyway, wicked is about the origin story of the wicked witch of the west (now named elphaba), who is born green and discriminated against for it. i read the book back in high school and therefore don't remember a ton of details about the plot, but the world building involved feels like a bizarre fever dream and sort of lazy in its lack of canonical detail if you're an oz fan. i remember finding it especially bizarre because there's details drawn from the books, but the main premise is entirely in movie land, and a lot of major book details are basically just discarded/never acknowledged. this is what makes it, imho, a bad fanfic. i won't comment on the writing because it's been too long, but in terms of being a fanfic..... yeah, it's weird & kind of bad?

however, i don't think most wicked fans have read the book. most people talking about wicked mean the 2003 musical (which will have a movie adaptation this month and why i'm thinking about it). like the movie, the musical is more streamlined than the book it's based on, and fun songs are added!!! i've seen it twice and literally don't remember the plot. i do think the actually spectacle of it is cool, but i don't like most of the songs, and again, it feels like it hates the source material. some of the weirder things, off the top of my head:

i cannot begin to stress how being green is one of the more normal physical differences to have in oz. like i get that the "hated because she's GREEN" thing is just a vehicle for the metaphor, but what is the point of intentionally picking this setting if you're just going to discard it?

there's a subplot about the talking animals wanting rights. this could actually be super interesting to explore, because the status of animals in the land of Oz is never made super clear? it's stated that they can all talk, and yet we see farmers and people eat animal products. there are animal characters who are treated equal to humans, and animal characters that are very explicitly pets. yet wicked does not engage with this in any interesting way (at least in the musical -- in the book i just remember an animal sex club?!); it's just a very generic "we want rights!!!" thing happening without the actual method and system of discrimination being made clear

glinda's function in the books is to be a wise adult figure. she rides around in a flying chariot pulled by swans and hires only beautiful women to work for her and gives them swords. in wicked, she's a shallow prep character. i get it's supposed to be an ~origin story~ or whatever but my feeling was that there's no foundation for her future character being laid. unless you're only going with "pink, appears in a bubble" as your basis for character

the book and the musical are both set against highly political backdrops, but most of the politics are made up wholecloth because canonical oz is.... chaos. the land of oz is more like a bunch fo loosely tied city-states, many of which are so isolated they probably don't know they have a ruler. again, "the politics of oz" is something i think would be interesting to explore in a fanfic, but wicked seems to just want to have some politics around and slapped a vaguely oz aesthetic on it, making it feel shallow and preventing any sort of conversation with the source material

like i'm not saying that all fanfic NEEDS to be in conversation with the source material; i'm just saying, why write a fanfic if you literally only want the aesthetics of the movie? to help sell copies? sure. and i don't even think that automatically makes a piece of work bad (no hate, wicked fans), it's just makes it frustrating and unpleasant to consume if you're a fan of the source material

[sunlightmurdock]

this is your psa to just be a kind person and respect other people tysm

okay so after being subposted about a lot, I just wanted to clear some things up on my end because this was not random and I literally refuse to be made the villain here.

About a month ago, I was sent an anon about some similarities between my fic Blow by Blow and another creator’s series of drabbles. I messaged this creator calmly and we had a really nice conversation where we both agreed that lines get blurred sometimes and it’s easy to forget if you were potentially inspired by another fic you had read a while ago.

So, they had read Blow by Blow and still followed me at this point. But, they acknowledged the similarities and apologised. I was more than happy to continue with my life bc who cares.

Then, I received another anon about the same creator but about similarities between another of their series of drabbles and my fic Trouble in Paradise. I took a look for myself, and it was astounding. Upset, I blocked them. After a really upsetting day yesterday, I published that anon. I have since taken it down because exposing their name didn’t feel like the right thing to do at that point…

But, after they made a series of subposts last night claiming to have never heard of me or read any of my works, I’ve had enough to be honest. I have screenshots of this person in the likes of that fic. Even if they haven’t read the whole thing, they posted two chapters to their drabble Masterlist that were strikingly similar to chapter 1 of Trouble in Paradise, which they have liked and read. One of those chapters has since been deleted (I can only imagine why).

I reached out to them this morning explaining the situation and giving them an opportunity to talk to me, but they decided to block me instead, so here are:

similarities from the not stolen fic from a creator who has never heard of me or this work, theirs highlighted in purple while the original work (mine) is highlighted in pink. If you’ve read trouble in paradise, you may also spot some more underlying similarities. sorry in advance for the long post 🙄

so the premise of their drabble plays out exactly like the second half of Trouble in Paradise 0.1. reader is wearing the exact same thing. male mc is a stranger to the island, who on his first day has found someone exciting, happy and much younger. description of the bedroom is also looking eerily similar… they are both bartenders, who after a shift drive the male mc back to their place.

So in this realm, we can see that the dialogue is not only the exact same but once again, the reader is wearing the exact same thing and performing the same actions.

and here we have their Drabble ending the exact same way my chapter does, with the dialogue being nearly word for word the same.

I am not claiming to own the silly girl on an island trope, but after specifically speaking to this creator before about another one of my fics which had wayyyy too many similarities of theirs to be a coincidence, and them apologising, I thought we were beyond this. This creator then claimed to have never heard of me or my work.

I have screenshots of them in the likes of this fic, I know that they read at least the beginning, which is where the similarities start and end as far as I’m aware. Up until I blocked them, they had followed me for 11 months. This is the second time I have had an issue with them, after handling the first privately.

It’s really upsetting 1. not only to have had the premise of my stories rewritten by someone else but 2. for them to pretend that they have never heard of me when we have had conversations, and when I have screenshots of them interacting with my fics.

@devinedoll not really cool

[thebiggestfuckgiven]

Lore i

(for How I DIDN’T Become a Villain)

Note: This is based on fanon that is used and accepted by most of the phandom, with the addition of my own ideas on how the supernatural aspect of the DP universe came to be. I.e, the Ghost Zone/Infinite Realms, the title of Ghost King, the origin of Pariah Dark, and much more. 

• The Infinite Realms •

The Universe once began. We know how that story goes. The Big Bang, nebulas and planets and stars and light forming everywhere all at once. But there was something else. The Universe was alive, and everything living has something that gives it life. A mind, an engine, a (sub)conscious.

In this, the Universe had a void. An apparent one, at least. This void didn’t have tangible matter the way the Universe did, but it did have something. This void was nearly overflowing with it. Life Energy. It was no void at all, but a Source for all living beings in the Universe. In all Universes.

It had a different name, at first, but once Belief Systems started making their home in its center, thousands upon millions of them, it became the Infinite Realms. A kaleidoscope of energy, of life and death and everything in between. It is that which holds infinite ideas and infinite consciousnesses and infinite concepts and infinite infinities. It is that which holds everything together.

Something this large and this primordial to creation needed something else to take care of it.

• The Linkeepers •

That which is now known as the High King of the Infinite Realms has a true name: Linkeeper. Like all things, there is an origin. The First Linkeeper. They were born of the connection between the Universe and the Source, with the inherent purpose to look after their parents and to assure that neither took or gave too much of the other. They embodied the careful balance between Matter and Energy. That which lived and that which was Life. 

The role of Linkeeper changed, the tiniest bit, with each chosen inheritor. However, it was when it landed in Pariah Dark’s greedy, bloody hands that the role was betrayed, cracked to its foundation. No longer signifying balance and caregiver and protecter, the Ghost King took the helm and brought on a role of control, power, and conquest. The balance was thrown off its axis, and war prevailed. 

Linkeeper was lost to the dredges of unspoken stories (as there was no one to hear them anymore), and all that could be done to try and retain it was to lock Pariah Dark away and wait. To wait for a chosen inheritor to bring back the balance that had been so carelessly disregarded for nearly three thousand years.

P.S,

this is a shallow, tried-to-keep-it-short explanation of the lore that WILL make an appearance in the fic. I avoided going into certain details of the Linkeeper (like the inheritors/predecessors, their names, and their stories) because i’m reserving that for the fic. 

There will be around two more Lore-dumps, and after that maybe a sneak peek at the first chapter (if i have it nice and tidy by then). The actual, full chapters will take me a WHILE to upload (to my ao3 account), because i want to at least have five to seven chapters fully written out before i start posting. That said, hope you like what I have so far!

[princesscolumbia]

And now for something different from my usual!

Normally, I write some variety of fanfiction, and I'm 100% proud of nearly everything I've ever written. (Yes, even THAT one.) If I could, without any sort of IP complications, write just for fanfic I'd streamline my process and chunk out words for fanfics all day long, get a book contract, and quit my day job. In a friggin' heartbeat.

Unfortunately, fanfic has all sorts of complications if you want to make a living as an author. This, unfortunately, results in fanfic authors either quitting because the whole thing is a time sink and they have a life a job and things to get done, or they become "grown up" authors with a publishing deal and (in many cases) wind up deleting their fanworks in bulk "because they're Srs Riters™️now!"

When I wrapped up My Empire of Dirt, I took a look at the finished product and said, "...you know, I think I might just be good at this writing thing." But I had in my head the little monster that wasn't quite Imposter Syndrome (more like an ugly cousin of Imposter Syndrome) that said that no matter how good I was, nobody would ever like what I wrote, especially if it was original work.

(This was my stepmother's horrible, abusive language that she hammered into me viciously during my teenage years. Knowing the source helps, but it's still something I have to work to overcome on occasion.)

I had some ideas that I started jotting down (and yes, they're still on the 'to write' pile), but nothing really 'clicked' as a, "OMG, I've got to write this thing!"

Then I read Trouble with Horns. And I needed more, so I read Witch of Chains...and Illegal Alien in an MMO World, and Lieforged Gale, and Digital Galaxies, and Esmie the Calamity, and Coven's Rebellion, and Digital Exodus. And even as early as Witch of Chains I knew I had a story to tell that the setting of a post-WW3 Earth in the middle of The Singularity would let me tell it in.

And I realized...wait, this is it! This is my "training wheels" for writing original fics! Because QuietValerie won't do collabs with other authors anymore (long story involving the Kammiverse and RoyalRoad), but does let people play in her sandbox with carte blanch (and, best of all, no lawyers involved), I can write a fic that's got only a few connection points to Troubleverse to prop it up and draw an audience, and if AuthorBun ever disavows Code of Ethics entirely, it'll take some work but I'll be able to de-couple it entirely! It's, from the outset, 95% original work. If I have to re-jigger that last 5%...well, published authors often have to rework a LOT more of their original works than that, so...let's do this!

And it's worked for me! ALL the hesitance I used to have for writing original fics is gone. I've created interesting, dynamic characters, built out entire story worlds, constructed a complex and interwoven plot that has my readers guessing and thirsty for clues, and the only reason I haven't finished is because there's just so much story to tell!

So for this November (and no, I'm not digging into the whole NaNoWriMo corporate BS right now), I decided to take an idea that, just like Code of Ethics, seized me by the throat and said, "This story is one that needs to be told and you're the only one who can."

George lives in a world that feels gray. In spite of superheroes based in the city he lives in with his mom, the clubs he's in at school, and the handful of friends he's managed to pick up, at ripe old age of 15 years old he feels disconnected from it all. Then one day a Quantum Storm hits. These storms are how superheroes (and villains) get their powers, and George is right in the middle of it, suddenly granting him super powers…along with a brand new GIRL body! Fortunately for HER, she stumbles onto a mentor at the same time. …that all happened six months ago. Now she's in a hospital on the West coast, super-cuffed to a bed, and about to answer for her crimes…including murder. How did this happen?!

Preview, as always, below the cut:

Georgie woke up.

She was somewhat surprised to discover that she was even alive, let alone awake. After what she’d done, she was surprised that anyone had let her live at all.

After what she’d done, she probably deserved it.

It wasn’t fair, of course. It never was, but complaining about whether life was fair or not only led down the path of the supervillain, heroes accepted that life wasn’t fair and participated in the Sisyphean task of making it more fair.

She’d learned the word ‘Sisyphean’ in English class a few weeks ago. She’d never quite understood why the former-hero-turned-villain Sisyphus had gone black-cape until recently, nor had she understood how his chosen name connected to the work he had been doing. Now that she had some experience being a superhero, she thought she understood better than anyone not blessed with superpowers could.

No matter what good you did, at some point it all came crashing down.

She looked around a bit, noticing the room she was in was dark, but there was a counter with a sink across from her, a lightbox mounted to the wall, a television mounted to the ceiling, and some translucent curtains over some windows showing it was about mid-afternoon…wherever she was. What little she could make out of the landscape through the curtains didn’t look anything like the city she lived in. I was running for a long time, she mused, And for me that’s saying something.

She turned her attention back to the room and noted there was an I.V. pole next to the bed she was in and a tube snaking down to what she presumed was the pinching sensation in the back of her hand. She couldn’t follow the tube all the way down to look at her hand, not yet. Had anyone else been in her spot, they might have been overjoyed to be alive after what she’d been through. Not her, though.

For her, there was a fate worse than death, and she wasn’t ready to face that yet.

On the other side of the bed was what appeared to be a heartrate monitor, but she was no expert on medical equipment. The bit that was supposed to be showing the two-peak bumping line that represented a human heartbeat was an almost solid bar of white, though the flickering of the screen told her that it was desperately trying to record a heartrate that was far faster than the machine was capable of registering.

There was no getting around it, she was in a hospital room, and a fairly high-end one, if she could rely on what she’d seen of such things on TV as an indication.

As for the part that came next, well, she had to muster her courage…and after everything she’d been through, ‘courage’ was a word she wasn’t sure she had any claim to.

It was surprisingly hard, knowing what was coming and knowing she had to face it. Just a little longer, a voice was whispering in the back of her mind, Just let yourself imagine nothing has changed just a little bit longer, it’s not like you’re not going to find out soon enough anyway.

Available exclusively to my supporters on Patreon.

[voxofthevoid]

Some people seem to forget that Yuji isn't the classic golden-hearted talk-no-jutsu forgive-and-forget-everyone MC like Naruto or the likes

Yes, he's incredibly kind and if given the possibility he can be open to giving a second chance (like we see with Sukuna at the end) but he also won't hesitate to punch the shit out of those who end up on his (s)hit-list

Yuji meeting Geto "Cult Leader Genocidal Racist (towards non-sorcerers) Delusional Queen" Suguru would absolutely hate him, and yes, maybe it could change over time if Geto showed signs of genuinely changing his views and methods for the better... But otherwise he would be kinda like Yuta was in the movie, who listened to him talk at first because he was hella confused when Geto first arrived but as soon as Geto started insulting Maki he switched immediately and basically told him to fuck off

I also don't think he would take it upon himself to make Geto a better person, either Geto gets his shit together on his own (or maybe with Gojo's help since, when it comes to Geto, Gojo is much more likely to actually care if he changes for the better) or Yuji isn't gonna do shit I fear

And now I'm imagining Yuji and Geto fighting/sparring (Gojo probably convinced Geto into partecipating) and since Geto hates non-sorcerers so much I could see Yuji punching the shit out of him with his raw strength, no divergent fist or curse energy-enhanced hits, just the pure strength he had when he was a "monkey" like everyone else

Negative talk of "sunshine Yuuji" characterization and Getou Suguru to follow. I'd recommend stopping here if you're a fan of either.

And previous anon, my rant below isn't directed at you but at certain JJK fandom trends I hate. I know you were just trying to help.

Some people seem to forget that Yuji isn't the classic golden-hearted talk-no-jutsu forgive-and-forget-everyone MC like Naruto or the likes

Would you care to guess why I say I don't read much fic in JJK? Because this is why. Sunshine Angel Yuuji, who shits out rainbows and cries if he hurts a fly, is going to be my villain origin story.

(Yes, there are plenty of stories that do characterize him right differently, but they're in the minority. I ran out of patience very quickly in the tags and no longer bother.)

He's a very compassionate, very forgiving kid who's boyishly charming and easy to love—the sunshine elements are certainly there, and I enjoy them. But reducing him to those does him a gross disservice. Yuuji's also extremely comfortable with violence, whether that's lethal violence toward curses or training/sparring with peers and mentors. The little we know of his pre-canon backstory features him beating up bullies, and he may not have been as dramatic about it as Megumi was, but the look on his face was sure something else. This is also the same kid who declared his intent to kill Mahito and said that it felt so true that it made everything else he'd ever said feel like a lie. And toward the end of the manga, we have him straight-up admitting that he could've been like Sukuna if not for luck and the man who raised him.

I find Yuuji to be such a fascinating character because his capacity for compassion is matched by his capacity for violence. He actively chooses the former over and over, but dear lord, he's not shy about using the latter. Even outside of physical violence, his personality isn't what I'd call soft. He's friendly and good with people, but he's also snarky, blunt, and at times rude. Also pretty damn insane. I could also go into how a lot (but not nearly all) of Yuuji's cheery demeanor seems like a mask; that kid is repressed as hell, it's just not obvious the way it is with other characters.

Anyway, the people Yuuji wants/resolves to kill are few and far in between, and he's fairly quick to forgive slights against himself, but he's got his lines in the same when it comes to other people's lives and he's willing to enforce them violently.

Personally, I think how he treats Sukuna at the end shows a degree of leniency he wouldn't extend to most people who'd kill indiscriminately. That was influenced significantly by his and Sukuna's respective situations in life and also possibly the intermingling of their souls. Like, nothing Mahito could've done would've spared him from Yuuji.

Getou would likely fall in between the two. His ideology is destructive and cruel (and fucking stupid, how the hell has no one poked holes the size of Texas in it), but it arises from a place of pain and compassion, which opens up certain avenues for discussion that would be lacking with, say, Mahito. Plus, in that fic scenario, Getou's essentially neutralized, and Yuuji's not confronting the direct effects of his actions the way he did with Mahito or Sukuna. In sum, he's not the kind of person Yuuji would write off, but he's also someone who thinks people like Yuuji's grandpa are "monkeys" who should die. I have zero intentions of wrangling their relationship into something good, functional, or mutually beneficial.

Re sparring, Getou's CE is blocked in that fic. Yuuji would devastate him. That's not even in question seeing that, without CE, no one except Tōji and post-awakening Maki would be able to handle Yuuji. This is also likely to make the situation worse, given Getou's experiences with Tōji. That whole angle will depend a lot on how Gojou handles/arranges the situation, which is something I'll likely only find out when I outline or write this properly.

[evelili]

okay I’ve been reading your magnum opus fic and I’m at the chapter with fluttershy and the manticore and GOOD GOD this fic is amazing. Your writing of twilight is stunning. Her steadfast belief in science at the start seemed odd but now that her past bullying has been revealed it feels like she was just clutching to the one thing that couldn’t hurt her. God sunset getting possessed is so cool and I am TERRIFIED of when twilights going to be forced to see her like that. Your characterization of Celestia blows me away, she’s this perfect mix of a loving mentor and a woman who would do ANYTHING to keep her demons locked away. I really like how you write that there’s this shift between her when she is talking to twilight normally vs when she’s talking about magic. She goes from loving to almost cold, it’s brilliant! I’m halfway through fluttershy’s chapter and good god. Applejack’s speech about it not being Twilights fault she got bullied and having to trust her in spite of all that has happened nearly brought me to tears but GOD. Twilight being a bit possessed by the manticore is such a cool shift from the original episode it makes it all so much more intense. Fluttershy and twilight talking about how twilight didn’t deserve to be bullied and it’s alright that she didn’t get over it!!

“Something’s wrong with me,” she whispered back, her mouth dry with guilt. Fluttershy nodded carefully, the stinger still inches away from her throat. Twilight didn’t trust herself to move, and instead added, “I don’t mean just right now. There’s still—” She choked on her words. “I didn’t get over it,” she said instead. “I couldn’t. Not like you.”

Like!!! This bit right here fucked me UP. Your descriptions of the emotions she’s feeling and how she’s expressing it physically between her mouth and her voice and how the wings and scorpion tail are reacting are BRILLIANT!!

Twilight didn’t try to move away. “But I’m not better,” she admitted. Fluttershy’s hand brushed against her cheek, gently tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “And I don’t know why.”

This line is the one that broke me and made me write this. GOD. I don’t have words besides just. oh my god. Fluttershys gentleness is so good and so heartbreaking and I love it

I’ll be honest I’m not yet sure how to write long comments on fimfiction, but when I finish this fic you’re eithering getting a long ass ask in your inbox or a comment on there if I figure it out. Love this fic so far!!! Ah!!!!

AHHHHHH tysm for taking the time to write such a lovely comment!!! like holy shit you have just given me enough serotonin for WEEKS omg, it makes me so happy to know that you're enjoying the story!!

celestia is a rlly interesting chara to me, and im super happy w how the version of her in the fic turned out! actually, most of the reason for the 30k epilogue jumpscare is that i really needed to properly resolve her "arc" with twilight, so if you are a fan of this version of her please look forward to that! and, sunset as a "villain" was something we only saw briefly in eqg1 (and for my tastes, i wasnt a huge fan of how it was done) but there's so much POTENTIAL there i couldnt help myself in exploring it :)

chapter 5->act 2 is the real "turning point" i guess of the fic in terms of tone, and even tho it was a struggle to write shy's chapter i think over time i've rlly come around to liking how it turned out :D in the fic i ended up writing fluttershy as more of a later season version of herself (less cowardly maybe?), but the essence of her chara to me is someone who can be kind even in situations when she is receiving unkindness in return. and sometimes, this "fighting fire with kindness" is actually the only solution, and one that only shy can find.

wahhh i never know how to properly express how much i love and appreciate these sort of detailed responses, so please also accept a little doodle of the scene you mentioned liking as part of my thanks!

[greyias]

I wish you would write a fic where... Theron somehow amasses a following of actual, physical porn bots droids and shenanigans ensue

I saw this prompt come in and devolved into a fit of heinous cackling. How, oh how could I resist trying to render our collective Tumblr nightmare into fictional text form?

Context: While not required reading, this is technically a sequel to this stunning crackfic, authored so long ago. If you need a refresher on the Medical Droid Love Triangle Saga, follow this link. Or this one, which is the real villain origin story of this fic. Or don't, you're already cursed if you click beyond the read more of this post.

With special thanks to @grumpyhedgehog, @sandwyrm, @storyknitter, @kitsonpaws, and @andveryginger for providing me with ideas, cursed pornbot summaries, and many cursed HoloNet websites that should never exist. You are not required to read any of this.

Technically rated T, but in reality rated N for Nobody, because no one should have to read this. I'm packing my bags, as my ride to superhell just came. Enjoy.

It had started as such a normal day -- if you could indeed have called any day on Odessen “normal”. What with the galaxy always being at the brink of some disaster or another, and their merry little band of misfits being led by the galaxy’s most notorious do-gooder, Theron’s schedule and to-do list had a tendency to get derailed on almost a daily basis.

This, however, was not how that usually happened.

He’d paused, mid-step, finger still hovering over his datapad, mid-entry as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, slowly dawning horror washing over him. His head turned slowly, like one of those doomed characters in a horror holofilm to look at the droid he’d just passed.

It was one of the new ones that had come in on a recent shipment. So new in fact, that there was still a fleet of them in the middle of being unpacked in the Logistics Wing. Shining, tall and blue, its highly polished quadranium head pivoted to look back at him.

“What,” Theron swallowed, willing his voice to sound even and not give in to the creeping dread, “what did you say?”

“Theron Shan,” the droid repeated helpfully, “is a master lover.”

“Oh no.” The words slipped out of their own accord.

“Just a moment, sir,” the droid continued, seemingly oblivious to the human’s distress, “I’m not quite done with your evaluation yet. Let’s see, where were we?”

“No no no no.”

The round flattened dome that served as its head tilted to one side, beady orange eyes sweeping over Theron from head to toe, before resuming its cheery, if horrifying report. “Subject is an exemplary specimen. In good cardiovascular health, above average muscle tone. Tall, well-built, and very clean...”

“Um,” Theron stammered. “I’m...” Flattered? Taken? Leaving? Wait--yes, that last one. “Going now!”

He didn’t give the cursed machine any more time to continue ogling him, instead taking off down the hall at a very brisk walk that nearly bordered on a jog. His mind raced at he beat a hasty retreat, trying to understand what was happening. It had been over a year since the The Incident, dubbed by some as the “Sexy Spy Virus”, and others by much more crude names, where a little harmless reprogramming had taken on a life of its own. Theron had been meticulous in his coding of the antivirus, wanting to ensure that the entire debacle would be forgotten. There was simply no way that it could crop back in on its own.

“Theron,” the brisk accented tone of one Lana Beniko burst in over his comm, “why did a droid just feel the need to inform me that they found rust on its insides during its last tune-up?”

“I don’t know,” Theron insisted, but his words were almost drowned out by a metallic clanking echoing down the corridor.

He threw a look over his shoulder, and to his horror, saw that his robotic admirer had decided to give chase. 

“I’m going to have to call you back,” he quickly said into the comm as the droid picked up speed from a walk to an all out gallop.

“Theron,” she sounded both concerned and exasperated, which, considering Lana, was about par the course, “what’s going on?”

“Save me!” He shouted as he took off a dead sprint.

In his many years in the field, Theron had been threatened, sure. Shot at? Many times. He’d been drugged. Tortured. Stabbed through the gut with a lightsaber pike and lived to tell the tale. He’d run into Sith, Revanites, bounty hunters, thugs, fanatics and cultists alike. He’d been in more firefights than he could remember, and more covert ops than he cared to. He’d even been accused of being a traitor (although that was kind of the point at the time).

None of that compared right now to being chased down by a droid yelling at top volume claiming he was the best lover it had ever seen.

And this time, he was pretty sure it wasn’t actually his fault.

He rounded the corner from the corridor leading from the Logistics Wing, passing by the Commander’s (and at this point, his) Quarters. HK-55 and Z0-0M straightened to their full height at his arrival. Oh thank the Force, allies.

“Salutations: Agent Shan, you are looking quite spry today.”

“What?” he panted as he approached.

“Yes, Agent Shan, don’t believe what anyone else is saying!” Zeeyo exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air. “Your undercarriage doesn’t look rusty at all!”

Mind sharp as a tack, Theron realized the implications of this just in time, and dodged to the side, ducking and rolling as the assassin-turned-bodyguard droid lunged forward to trap him in a bear hug. Not pausing to even catch his breath, as soon as his feet hit the ground he propelled himself forward and further down the hall.

“Frustration: I only wish to profess my admiration for you, Agent Shan!”

“Nope nope nope nope!” Desperation was starting to tinge the edges of his words now.

The metallic clanking intensified as more droids behind him joined in the chase, all of their vocabulators joining in unison to tell him in one way, or another, that he was in fact, the pinnacle of sexual prowess.

Theron couldn’t run forever, despite whatever their programming was forcing them to say, his stamina would give out before the lustftul droids’ power supplies. As the corridor zigged and twisted, he saw an opening in the form of a door sliding open. Without hesitation he dove in, shoving the individual there, thankfully made of flesh and bone, aside as he slammed the door controls.

The door slid securely shut just as the thunderous clanking filled the corridor beyond, their lustful words of appreciation and encouragement nearly drowned out by the racket. Theron hadn’t bothered to look or count, but he was pretty sure that the number had risen from three in the scant moments it had taken Theron to dart from one corridor to the next.

He held up a hand to his lips as he turned to thank the person who had unwittingly provided his temporary salvation. The words of gratitude died on his lips, as he realized exactly who’s room he had sought refuge in.

For a moment, Theron truly considered surrendering himself to the lusty droid mob.

Draike Highwind’s face was caught somewhere between confusion and amusement, but the latter was winning out as he started to decipher individual phrases drifting in from the corridor. A dark brow arched higher, lips twitching with undisguised mirth as the stupid blue droid that had started this whole mess yelled once again about Theron being a master lover.

More seconds passed, the ruckus quieting down, before silence descended once more, and it was finally safe to speak.

“So,” Draike drew out the word, somehow lacing it with more innuendo than all of the malfunctioning droids combined, “what ya been doing, Shan?”

“Nothing!” he insisted, voice still hushed just in case one of the droids could somehow hear.

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” His brother-in-law’s smirk widened into an almost feral grin, eyebrows waggling. “Sounds like you’ve been getting... busy.”

One of the greatest mysteries in the galaxy was how one man could make anything sound that dirty. “I was minding my own business!”

“Oh, I bet you were.”

“You’re having way too much fun with this.”

“I mean...” If looks could kill, the pilot would have melted on the spot. Unfortunately for Theron, Draike was apparently immune to that sort of thing. “How often do I get the chance?”

“Did you do this?”

“Me?” Draike let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Stars, I wish I could have thought of something this good! These are memories I will cherish forever.”

Theron massaged the bridge of his nose. “I hate my life.”

“I mean, I’m not really into droids,” Draike went on, either not knowing (or more likely caring) about his brother-in-law’s predicament, “flesh is more my kind of thing. But you know, if you and the little lady need to spice things up by bringing in a little metal--”

“Please stop. I’m begging you!”

“Begging, eh? So you’re saying you’re more into--“

“Forget it, I’m taking my chances with the sex-crazed machines roaming the halls.” His palm hovered over the door sensors.

“Theron, wait!” There was enough urgency in Draike’s voice to give him pause. “It’s dangerous out there, take this.”

At first, he was honestly afraid to look, expecting to be offered something like a condom or some other bad joke, but was surprised to see the other man holding out a stealth generator.

“To escape your fans.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“I know. I’m a genius.”

“I didn’t say that.” He quickly nabbed the stealth generator before Draike could change his mind and frowned at the initials carved in the side in Aurabesh. “Is this even yours?”

“Eh, close enough.”

Whatever, beggars couldn’t be choosers. Theron would deal with those potential repercussions later.  He flicked on the power to the stealth generator which let out a low, almost inaudible hum as a burst of life engulfed his form. He closed his eyes against the sudden burst of brightness, and when he opened them again, dark spots of the light pattern danced in his vision for a few seconds. He blinked a few more times before they faded away.

He waved an arm experimentally in front of his face, and only felt the slight movement of air. Draike didn’t seem to react at all, and that was probably good enough.

“Thanks,” he said, palming the sensor to the door.

Draike rolled his eyes and ambled out into the corridor, looking around with the air of a man all too used to hiding from those looking for him. Theron watched as he raised a hand to a very slowly moving GNK power droid.

“How’s it hanging?”

“GONK!” 

“Oh yeah? You don’t say! I think I saw him head that way.” Draike pointed in the direction leading to cantina. “Just between you and me, I heard he’s sweet on that droid who’s a comfort enthusiast.”

“GONK! GONK! GONK!”

Still hidden underneath the stealth field, Theron had to bite down the urge to make any noise of frustration and just turned an invisible, irritated gaze at the other man’s back. As if sensing Theron’s irritation, Draike just grinned wider.

“Yeah, you know how those spy types are. Always toying with droids’ hearts. You could do better than him.”

“GONK!”

“Oh, you spicy droid! Yeah, trundle off that way, big guy. I’m sure you’ll catch him!”

With a loud clanking, the GNK droid began his slow and steady journey towards the cantina. As the echoes finally faded, Draike casually stretched, pointing towards the direction of the War Room.

Theron skulked on by, but not before giving his brother-in-law a well deserved whop upside the head. The stealth field flickered momentarily on the physical contact before shimmering back into place.

“It’d serve you right to get caught by doing that,” Draike sniffed indignantly, “after all I’ve done to help you.”

“When all of this is over--”

“Hush now,” Draike waved at the air in front of him. “You have bigger problems to deal with. Meanwhile, I will be heading to the cantina. And definitely won’t be live-streaming any brawls breaking out over the Master Lover breaking droid hearts everywhere.”

Theron snorted out an annoyed breath, and checked his urge to trip Draike as he sauntered off, hands jammed into his pockets as he whistled a jaunty tune. Like the purloined stealth generator, he’d have to worry about slicing and corrupting any servers containing evidence of this mess after he figured out how to stop whatever this was from spreading any further.

The upside to this whole unfortunate side encounter, was that the stealth generator made it possible for him to quietly creep around any droids he passed in the corridor. Most seemed to be making a hasty exit for the cantina, almost as if word had spread of Drake’s false rumor about his and C2-N2’s torrid love affair and every heartbroken circuit was flocking in that direction now.

And when he thought about it like that, when exactly had this become his life? Oh, right. Like fifteen minutes ago. Or however long this nightmare had started. Time had sort of lost meaning, if he were being honest.

He managed to make it to the war room, undetected and unmolested, and quietly snuck his way towards the irritable blonde Sith, holding her head in her hands as if she were battling the world’s strongest migraine. As Theron approached the Sith, he could hear her muttering under her breath in frustration. He hesitated for a moment before clearing his throat, causing her to jerk her head up in surprise.

“Who’s there?”

“Quiet,” Theron hissed. “They might hear you.”

“Oh, for Sith’s sake,” she exhaled, “where in the blazes have you been?”

“Hiding,” he whispered urgently. “These droids have all gone haywire!”

“And who’s fault is that, I wonder.”

“Not me,” he insisted, “not this time!”

“Right,” she said sardonically, “and I suppose that’s why there isn’t a reality holoseries entitled ‘Programmed for Love’ currently being live-streamed in the cantina for the entire HoloNet to see.”

“Damn it, Draike!” Theron cursed. “I thought he was joking about that.”

“Of course. How did I not see that coming?” she muttered.

“I’ll slice in and scrub all of the servers after we figure out this... this... whatever this is?”

“Your insecurities laid bare in binary?” she suggested, oh so helpfully.

“Why did I come to you for help again?”

“Because--”

It was at that point, that a probe droid, currently speeding its way towards the cantina, happened to take notice of Lana talking to thin air, and veered off its intended trajectory, heading straight for Theron’s position near the back of the war room. If the loud alarms and flashing lights were any indication, it had been able to see through his stealth generator.

Wait... those weren’t alarm proximities it was flashing. As Theron watched its rapid approach, he couldn’t help but stare at it in dumb fascination, brow furrowing as he tried to make out the images it was projecting. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost say it was a bizarre mixture of Aurabesh and hologlyphs.

He squinted, just able to make out: “DX-98 🤖🔥 Analytical  Scanner 💋🙏 Okara Droid Factory 🔍🌌💕 Exobiology Research 🥵🍑 Top HoloFans 0.7%!”

Before he had a chance to process any of that, the droid was already upon him, pincher arms spreading wide to snap him up for some purpose far beyond its original programming. He only had milliseconds to react before the droid reached him, when an explosive force sent the droid flying backwards harmlessly, and had Theron landing ungracefully on his tailbone. The stealth field fizzled out with a pop on his impact with the ground.

A familiar figure landed between him and the droid, twin blue scarves billowing behind her dramatically, blonde ponytail swaying with the motion of her movement. A small frown of concentration bunched her forehead as his wife threw a concerned look in his direction.

“You requested rescue?” Grey asked.

“Ah, my knight in shining armor has arrived,” he quipped back.

“I am not wearing my armor.” The frown of concentration morphed into one of confusion.

“I--never mind.” He pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his hands. “Thank you for the timely intervention.”

She graced him with a hint of a smile and a bob of her head in acknowledgment. “Any time.”

“As touching as all of this is,” Lana broke in sourly, “it still doesn’t solve our larger problem.”

“Yeah,” Theron rubbed the back of his neck, “you’re not wrong. It sounds like this has spread across the entire base?”

“It appears that way,” Lana said tightly. “You know, you assured me that all of this had been taken care of the last time we dealt with this issue.”

“Hey now,” he bit back, “I’m a man of my word!”

She snorted at that. “Tell that to the Umbaran Transit Authority.”

“How are you still mad about that?”

“You tazed me!”

“Focus,” Grey said, eyeing the stunned probe droid warily. “If memory serves me correct, you had a program you deployed to revert the programming of the droids the last time this happened.”

“Yes, that’s what doesn’t make sense.” He watched as the holoprojectors on the downed probe droid flickered, hologlyphs flashing rapidly in the War Room’s dim light. “I programmed it to eliminate all trace of the offending code. The only way it could be reappearing now is if someone took one of the infected droids offline before I deployed...”

Lana arrived at the same conclusion right about the time that Theron did, picking up the thought. “I seem to recall a certain someone requesting you replicate your work for less-than-legal purposes.”

Theron angrily punched the button on his comm as he growled, “Gault!”

The Devaronian’s voice came back immediately, almost a little too suave. “Theron! What a surprise to hear your dulcet tones requesting my presence.”

“Gault,” Lana managed to keep some measure of calm, “are you responsible for this current situation?”

“What situation is that?” he asked far too innocently, even as a distant call of a droid’s clanking nearly drowned out it’s loud declaration of the presence of rust on one Theron Shan’s “bolt”. There was a moment of silence before he continued. “Oh! You mean the lustful droids currently running amok on the base?”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Lana said dryly. “My original question stands.”

“I am shocked, shocked and scandalized that my name would be the first to come to mind! Might I remind you, it was one Miss Djannis who requested you create her a Shan Sexbot.”

“Yeah,” Kaliyo jumped in on the comms, clearly annoyed, the sound of metallic brawling nearly drowning out her voice, “I wanted it for hilarious crimes! Not whatever the fuck this is!”

“Gault,” a third voice, Hylo Visz, cut in. From the background noise, it seemed she was in the same location as Kaliyo. “I swear, if you don’t help us figure out how to stop this, when you’re not looking I’ll cut off your--”

“Okay, okay, geez!” He interrupted before his significant other could finish whatever that threat was. “Fine, it was me! I deactivated a droid before Theron uploaded his program.”

“Of course.” Lana rolled her eyes upwards, as if asking the Force for patience.

“In my defense,” Gault continued, “originally it was just to shut the stupid thing up! But then Kaliyo came up with that brilliant idea for the Shan Sexbot Distraction, and I thought, why not hold on to this beauty in case it came in handy for a con?”

The sound of Theron smacking his forehead in frustration echoed throughout the War Room.

“So you know, just had a fun idea come to me the other day, so I extracted the original programming and altered a few things, and tried to put it into a new droid for my plan.”

“Did that droid happen to be a blue medical monstrosity?” Theron was actively massaging his temples at this point.

“I will have you know,” Gault said, “that BL-U3 is a consummate professional. You would be lucky to have him perform a medical exam on you!”

“Yeah, that was definitely his intent,” Theron shot back. “Purely professional and not lecherous at all! Which was not in any of my code.”

“Hey, I never claimed to be very talented when it came to software programming. I may have made a mistake or two when altering your code.”

“May have?!”

“How was I supposed to know that the remnants of the Gemini Frequency code in our systems was going to work after the entire Eternal Fleet had gone offline and deploy your software STD to the entire network? Sue me!”

“I’m considering it!”

Before the mostly pointless argument could escalate any further, the sounds of metallic clanking from above, roughly from the location of the cantina, began to grow closer, the cacophony increasing in volume, until it sounded like it was coming in all directions.

“That is not a good sign,” Grey’s mutter was nearly lost to the noise.

“Hey,” Drake’s annoyed voice cut in over the comm, “my livestream is now officially ruined! I hope you’re all happy!”

“I’m afraid to even ask why,” Theron said.

“Oh, it seems all of my extremely eligible and single contestants heard your voice over the comms and abandoned challenging Seetoo Enntoo to unarmed droid combat for the right to court you, and are now all headed in your direction.”

“Oops.”

“Worry not Agent Shan,” the unusually warbly vocabulator of C2-N2 came over the comms, “I will not rest until I alone can provide you with the ultimate in comfort!”

“We should probably get a different housekeeping droid after this is all over,” he told his wife.

That seemed a lesser concern to Grey, as she had shifted into Alliance Commander mode, and was currently on the comms, shouting for every available member of the Force Enclave to get to the War Room as fast as possible to help hold off the incoming army of lustful droids.

Yeah, come to think of it, that was probably more important.

“We must use nonlethal force,” she stressed, giving a particularly severe look to Lana when she said that, getting a simple nonplussed shrug in return, “as we only need to hold the droids at bay until we can come up with a solution. They are not to blame for what’s happening.”

Theron begged to differ, but she was probably right in this case. The cost of repairing or replacing an entire base full of droids would be astronomical.

As Force users began to stream in and take up position around the room, the sound of wheels racing along the metal plating caught Theron's attention, and he looked over to see a familiar silver T7-series astromech racing into the room. He tensed up instinctively at the sight of a droid, as anyone would have in his situation.

“Teeseven!” Grey called out with a smile, clearly not as wary or droidshy.

The little astromech let out a friendly whistle and series of chirps in binary, that roughly translated to: “T7-01 = Safe! // Been off network entire morning!”

“Oh, what a relief,” she breathed, “I would have hated for you to be infected with this too!”

He let out another series of beeps: “T7-01 = still in possession of original antivirus code. // Can tweak it and upload to servers = Save the day?”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Theron muttered.

“T7 = not scared!”

Grey’s expression melted into one of admiration and pride. “Teeseven, that’s incredibly brave -- but are you sure? Theron’s right, it could be very dangerous.”

“T7 = Jedi + Theron’s friend. // Helping > Risk!”

She looked at him and he returned the gaze with a small nod, realizing there wasn’t much in the way of choice. It was either that or let the droids overrun them. And then whatever happened when one of them actually got their hands on on Theron -- a prospect he wasn’t really that thrilled to explore right now.

“Fine,” he said tersely, “let’s do this!”

The two of them rushed over to the center console in the room, Theron pulling out his slicer spike as Teeseven plugged his scomplink arm into the main network terminal. The rest of their reinforcements from the Force Enclave arrived just in time and formed a ring around the two slicers. They managed to erect a large Force barrier just as the metallic clanging and clatter grew to a roar, announcing the arrival of the lecherous horde.

Near the front of the mob, Z0-0M threw up her arms in glee and excitement as she jumped to try and catch sight of her beloved. “There you are Agent Shan! You left before we could finish our conversation -- you were saying something about oxidation?”

“Interjection: Do not listen to this hussy, Theron! You and I will make sweet explosions together!”

Theron valiantly tuned them out as he took in a feed of the original antivirus code that Teeseven shared with him. Yes, this all looked correct. Unfortunately, he was going to need get a look to see how Gault had mutilated his beautiful original coding to know how to alter it.

Teeseven was two steps ahead of him, and a stream of code flashed across the HUD in his ocular implants. He watched in horror as he saw the butchery with his own two eyes.

“Gault, where the hell did you get this code?” he asked over the comms incredulously. “HornHub?”

“Excuse you, I only frequent the classiest places on the galactic communications grid, like HoloHump!” The growl of Gault’s name from a very angry Mirialan smuggler had him quickly adding. “You know, I’m just going to shut up and let you concentrate on what you’re doing.”

Teeseven, ever the valiant worker, ignored the conversation completely, and was hard at work running diagnostics on the altered code and the best way to modify the antivirus to address it. Theron watched the stream of letters and numbers fly across the HUD at lightning speed.

The little guy was good at what he did. He let out a flurry of beeps and whistles as almost the last piece of this very lurid puzzle started to fall into place. The little droid seemed to almost be singing along with the code as he wrote it, like a mechanical maestro conducting an orchestra. They were close, so close and--

The next whistle Teeseven let out was not his normal, cheerful way of communication, much lower in timbre and more seductive.

No.

Teeseven whirled his flat head around until his visual sensor faced Theron, and let out another wolf whistle, his holoprojector lighting up to proudly display: T7-01 🤖👀🔍 Observant 👁️🔭 Scanner 🔍🏞️ Tython 🌄👏 215 ��♎ Repairing 👅🙈 Top HoloFans 3.6%

“What was that?” Grey shouted to be heard over the droids catcalling.

“No no no no,” Theron muttered, “we’re so close! Don’t do this to me, little buddy!”

“What happened to my precious baby boy?” Grey demanded, sweat trickling down the side of her face as she struggled to maintain the Force barrier.

Beyond the barrier, the rest of the porndroid army followed suit with Teeseven, all either wildly projecting their own series of hologlyphs and random facts about themselves and their planets of origins, while others struck disturbingly seductive poses, and a scant few demanded that “ShanDaddy” start a holocall with them in private.

With no time and no recourse left, Theron dove back into the system, yanking Teeseven’s unfinished code as he was nearly overwhelmed with lewd images and thirsty hologlyphs, struggling to finish and upload the code as the volume in the War Room rose to a crescendo just as the Force users’ began to fall, one after the other, their barrier weakening by the moment.

The overwhelming cacophony of hologlyphs, lewd poses, and robotic come-ons that had filled the War Room suddenly disappeared. All eyes turned to the droids as almost in unison, as they all powered down—a sign that their malware had been neutralized. Theron slumped back in relief, his work finally done.

Grey, Lana, and the others let out a long sigh of relief, the tension leaving their bodies in a rush.

“Thank the Force,” Grey murmured, sinking down to the ground. “I do not think I could have held that barrier much longer.”

Theron nodded, feeling a similar sense of exhaustion. He leaned back against the console, closing his eyes but was unable to banish the mentally scarring series of images that were probably permanently burned into his retinas.

“Remind me,” he said faintly, “to obliterate HoloHump’s servers. Once I’m done murdering Gault.”

“You act as if there will be anything left after I find him,” Lana said darkly.

“Remember everyone,” Grey spoke in her best and most official Alliance Commander voice, “murder is bad and frowned upon in the Official Alliance Employee Handbook.”

“Query: Why are we all in the War Room?” HK-55 asked as he came back online. “And more importantly, why is that blue meddroid manipulating its medical instruments into a heart shape, as if expressing affection towards the Commander?”

[kittynumyum]

Asking some writers/artists I follow:

Is there anything in your fic/comic that you as the author know about, but won't end up in the actual story?

There has been several things I have scrapped in my story. Most of them are minor, but I can give out a couple ones that were major. 1.) Big Mama was originally gonna be a big part in my story. She would be the host of the Battle Nexus in the Hidden City, and also be one of the members of the Pantheon. Unfortunately, she was scrapped due to how I decided to structure the Pantheon, as well as what the civilization in the Hidden City would be like. As much as I want to put Big Mama in my story, there really wasn't any good way to fit her in. The best I can possibly do is make her a minor villain in the beginning of the Yokai Uprising Arc, where she is the head of a yakuza in the Hidden City.

2.) Rat King was originally going to be a member of the Pantheon. But, I decided to scrap the idea and just make him as his own villain.

3.) The Triceratons were originally going to be the good guys in my story, in where they would play a major part in the final arc. Here, I was originally gonna have them in where they were nearly extinct and were sent to Earth to warn the turtles about the upcoming Krang invasion. Another thing to add on to this was the Krang was going to be Donnie's nemesis. However, this was all changed after I watched TMNT 2003, and decided instead to make the Triceratons the bad guys and create the Galactic Frontier Arc. And here, this arc would be Donnie centric and the Triceratons would be his nemesis

[veliseraptor]

WIP meme: let the foxes fight ?

I have to ask about DoL fic but if I can do two I am 👀 beholding the "original fiction- ex villains project" also

i'll allow it (she said officiously and entirely non-seriously)

so let the foxes fight is one that I think I referenced relatively recently as one of my fics that's like...this feels relevant to only my interests, probably, and would not exactly be a Hit even if anything in doctrine of labyrinths fandom could be described as a Hit (considering its size). the premise is basically "mildmay finds himself back in time before felix gets picked up by malkar, and takes it upon himself to rescue a traumatized older-younger brother from the brothel he's stuck in, and then is like 'okay but what do i do with him now' because as much as mildmay i think likes kids and knows from trauma this is not exactly a situation he was/is prepared to deal with.

i also don't really know where this is going, which is part of why this one has been sitting unfinished on my hard drive for literal years. part of my policy of "oooh I have an idea, let me just start writing it and see what happens" and then a couple thousand words in I run into a wall.

I exhaled hard trying to think what to say and finally just said, “I ain’t mad.” He gave me that real careful sideways look. “You ain’t,” he said slowly. I shook my head and he unwound a little, maybe, so I guess he might be buying my story about being a long-lost relative. That was a kept-thief fairytale right there. Felix was a little old for those now but I guess you never really grew out of wanting. “Yeah,” I said. “Like I said. I just want to help.” He relaxed a little more, and nodded, barely. “Okay,” he said, and gave me this little nervous smile, and it looked like the ones he’d given me sometimes when he was crazy and scared but glad I was there just the same, and sure as fuck felt like someone had my heart in their fist and was squeezing.

and then there's the ex-villain story which is probably my main squeeze as far as original fiction goes right now even if I've been stalled for a while because Worldbuilding Is My Nemesis and I need to do kind of a lot of it. this one was born out of my redemption equals death bugbear and how I love stories about people who have done awful things who then have to try to live with them, especially when they don't really want to live with them but they're kind of stuck with it. so my main character (kazem, @portraitoftheoddity actually made art of him here) is basically the Dark Lord of his world (or, well, he was, up until the local hero managed to beat him/talk him into beating himself) and the story takes place three years later when he is in a depression pit with no idea what to do with himself. also featuring:

a very angry mess of a woman whose sister died as a result of kazem's bad stuff;

another very angry woman who's my main antagonist because of some stuff in the hero's past (because i'm obsessed with hero figures who create their own villains) but i'm going to have a really hard time not rehabilitating her (only my problem is that she would rather die than give up on revenge, so);

said hero character who is basically acting as kazem's sponsor but is more of a fuckup than he looks at first blush;

and I really like it in concept and what I have so far in execution (again, a couple thousand words) but Worldbuilding, My Nemesis keeps getting in my way.

anyway, a snippet:

On the third anniversary of his defeat, Kazem didn’t get out of bed. The first year he’d stayed out of the way of the celebrations out of a sense of propriety and because of the fact that he was still coughing up blood every time he tried standing for longer than thirty seconds at a time. The second year he tried attending, thinking that he should pay his respects, show some sort of regret or remorse or...something.  He’d nearly gotten himself hanged.  So the third year, he woke up in the morning and stared at the ceiling, and made the very deliberate decision that today he was just going to...not. The sound of the celebrations outside drifted through the window of his dismal current abode, and he tried to shut it out. He was vaguely aware that he was indulging in self pity, but could not quite bring himself to care.  He could stay here feeling sorry for himself for the next three days if he damn well wanted to. 

[raointean]

Funniest responses* to the "What does "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" mean?" question

(In reference to my silmarillion fandom linguistics project, the results of which you can find in my "survey says" tag)

*not necessarily the full response, some are just fragments from longer responses. Also, I'm not filtering by "correct" or "incorrect" responses

Like a China doll that has been polished so much it’s face has worn off.

an overly idealized self-insert, one who exerts a black-hole like effect on the surrounding story and characters

Typically a derisive term.

It's like, an OC in a fic who is written to be "too perfect". All the canon characters fall in love romantically or platonically with the Sue/Stu, and they're given uncompelling and unexplainable abilities to solve all problems and be better than anyone else in the story. Often associated with self-insert OCs.

Everyone likes them. They're often instantly good at anything they try. The narrative's darling

Mary Sues are way more common than Gary Stus because people like to shit on girls having fun i guess

even my mom has heard about this one)

Often has a tragic backstory and unusual physical features

Very op character, too flawless (luthien)

OC

often this is used pejoratively against self-insert characters

everyone likes them (except the villain for arbitrary reasons)

Originated from Star Trek fan fiction

May have a comically tragic backstory. Usually in a relationship with the authors favorite character. May be a canon character a fan author has twisted beyond recognition.

Annoyingly perfect female protagonist (Mary Sue been used to mock and belittle stories about women. I've never seen Gary Stu in actual use: male characters with the exact same abilities are just 'strong')

Unrealistic, overpowered, or flawless main character, usually assumed to be a self-insert for the author. However some of the best characters are Sues and Stus, so the term is considered not very nuanced

has little canonical reason for being Like That excepting that it makes the author happy.

A term for an overpowered wish-fulfillment avatar

with a host of "desirable" traits (lustrous hair, shining eyes (sorry I mean orbs))

Overpowered perfect character in a bad story; always negative

Sweet harmless prim rule-following vanilla

super over powered oc who the plot revolves around usually female sometimes self-insert blah blah misogyny. i don't think this term should hold much weight.

idealised character, probably original. Think it was invented by people who enjoyed bullying younger writers on LJ

Batman, gender swapped, would be accused of being a Mary Sue.

they have no flaws except that "theyre just too perfect and thats hard uwu (sad face)"

Sue if female, Stu if male

An OC who is better at everything than the existing characters, unusually beautiful, and often "fixes" all the difficult/sad parts of the plot by Being Amazing and Knowing Everything. Usually written by immature writers. "Tenth Walker" fics and "So-and-so's other/secret daughter" fics are nearly always "Mary Sue" stories. (Also a phrse that gets thrown at any interesting and powerful female character by insecure and sexist men.)

Overpowered (often self insert) character that is loved by everyone

The feminine is much more often used, because sexism

I think the term was often used in a very demeaning way in the past, but it can still be s useful term in modern fandom

Self-insert in an overdone, heroine kind of way. Was originally a derogatory term, but diesnt really have much reason to be.

overpowered, flawless character who has reasonable justification for every Really Stupid decision they make

warp the plot and other characters around them due to their need to be The Most Awesome

Also Feanor

(and also no one ever wants to admit canon characters are already Like That, especially in comics)

for example, a girl's only "flaw" is that she's so small and petite she needs help from the big strong male character. This could be developed into a "serious" flaw with her easily becoming codependent, but with a Mary Sue, this idea would not be pursued (#226)

As for Gary Stus, I think I would also consider a male character a Gary Stu who NEVER shows emotion but still gets the girl in the end. (#226 cont.)

I think the terms are very gender stereotypical in their nature so it kind of makes sense that the descriptions I gave play into those same stereotypes - not to say this shouldn't be questioned, but when I'm asked to define a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, it's very connected to gender stereotypes to me. (#226 cont.)

self-inserty character... over cool

Special Origins (mixed race, super powers, one of a kind etc)

Term used by haters to criticize a character they interpret to lack flaws but without having to do any literary analysis.

A negative connotation word about a character who is unbelievably talented

not every op character is a ms/gs, only the ones that are perfect

(disproportionately applied to women)

someone with a level of pilot-armor so thick it breaks immersion

Bunnies hop at their feet. Darkness flies before their sunny aura. And then everyone appplauds

A self insert character with a protagonist halo

Practically perfect in every way

usually get a romance with The Blorbo

You're asking for an essay here...

Often feels like someone's first D&D character.

considering the source material, I wouldn't use it for a silm fic

I kind of enjoy these sometimes lol

A self insert in a fandom who is you but the idealized version to an unintentionally hilarious degree, often to the point of being awkward and poorly written, “passed off” as an OC

Often associated with preteens (writers and characters)

Central common traits include lack of consequences, unjustified competence or skill, and poor social skills.

what if i was the coolest person on earth

The "Oh, yeah? Well, I have a shield that can block laser bolts" of fiction.

An OC who is too perfect/has no flaws, usually written by someone just starting out

OC thats a bit... inept at doing things in their New World

similar to the og star trek fanfic Mary Sue

there has been criticism in recent years of the term Mary Sue being used in a misogynist (and just plain mean) fashion

& occasionally parenthood.

/ refers to the fact that these two people are portrayed to be in some sort of relationship in the fic

The tea is SMOKING, y'all! 🍵

[fazedlight]

23 and 24 in fic in review meme

23. Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

There's a scene in Even Though You're Kryptonian, where Lex aims the phantom zone projector at Lena, and Kara jumps in front of her. Lena briefly thinks Lex missed, until she realizes otherwise:

But Kara glanced down at her own hip, and Lena’s eyes followed, landing on the blue supersuit giving way to a cascade of colors as it rapidly began to spread across Kara’s body. No, Lena thought, no no no, Kara- Lena glanced back up to Kara’s face, sorrowful blue eyes meeting her own, Kara’s brows furrowed slightly in some mixture of trepidation and acceptance. “Lena,” she whispered, as the fractured light spread rapidly across her body, crawling up her chest and along her arms. “Kara, don’t go-” Kara smiled softly, the expression not quite reaching her melancholic eyes, as the light enveloping her reached her neck and her face, becoming nothing but a burning, bright as it enveloped her in her entirety - the wide flame suddenly collapsing into a small sphere as it hovered. A momentary, brilliant spark that vibrated quickly, before snapping out of existence. And Kara was gone.

I really wanted that scene to land - it's a chapter-ender that sets up the remainder of the fic, and it's supposed to be especially wrenching because... Kara and Lena are still in full Rift Mode in the fic. I originally had it with more dialogue, but realized that didn't feel right (vibe or pace). I think it came out doing what I intended that scene to do.

24. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

Alura.

In early outlines of Darkness in All Things, I didn't know what I was going to do with her. She couldn't be let off easily - she had nearly destroyed the human species. But I didn't want to make her a simple evil villain. For a long time, I thought I was going to kill her, but I didn't want to give Kara yet another trauma on top of a pile of traumas.

I think I found the balance (at least for me, if not the reader) allowing her to be complex and yet not simply absolved. After all, the story is about the darkness in all things, and how we wrestle with it. (Though not everything in my head on the topic would be obvious to the reader, I think, but that's okay.)

Thanks for asking! ❤️❤️

ask meme

[allthatglittersisnotgoldrush]

I have read your entire series by this point and I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that this fic isn’t just my favorite fic, it’s one of my favorite book series ever. The writing is so lyrical and genuine and descriptive, I feel completely immersed in the world. Every single character is complex and sympathetic in their own way (except for the villains lol). All together this story is a western thriller like format McCarthy and I’ve nearly been brought to tears multiple times.

Your Maedhros is the best Maedhros I’ve ever read and really an original character in his own right. I said this before in a comment and I’ll say it again - he is at once Byronic, sensitive and deeply deeply strong. You show at every moment how riddled he is with fear- and how he refuses to let that hold him back from doing what needs to be done. There are scenes in this story that absolutely haunt me, moments I had to put it down because it was so painful. And also moments that made me want to cheer for this tight knit, ferocious and absolutely loving family.

I also wanted to give you a song that reminded me of Maedhros and that last scene in pharmakos where he thinks he will die: it’s called walkabout by Augustine’s

Thank you so so much!

*inarticulate shrieking*

Ok but seriously your devotion to the AU here and on so many fics through beautiful and insightful comments and a countless number of kudos has been so, so felt and appreciated. Especially because we NEVER tire of hearing of Maedhros, who really does feel unique (and real) to us through our years (sjsjjsns how is it YEARS?) of writing him. Will absolutely go and listen to the song rec (we love song recs!) since I (TG) am working on Pharmakós installments... 👀

Seriously, it is hard to convey just how meaningful it is to hear readers' takes on what we are doing because we feel both validated in our work to create complex dynamics and high stakes plot points (both adapting and changing canon), and often surprised and delighted by the details You see or the subtext you point out. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Our inboxes are always open 😊

(also pls tell us what points moved you almost to tears bc we angstmongers loveee this kind of data)

[holodexmachina]

Listen. I wrote a thing.

Part of me still can't believe I've done this, but, okay, here we go: I wrote some Star Trek fanfic! And while posting fanfic is a pretty banal activity in tumblrland, it was kind of A Whole Thing for me. I’ve never written fanfic before! I haven’t even written fiction of any sort since, good lord, my sophomore creative writing class, which was *checks watch* twenty years ago. And it’s been way too long since I wrote anything just for fun. So it’s been kind of a wild practice, and now it’s out there, and I want to tell you about it.

The fic is called “A Woman of Your Century,” and it is a rewrite of the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Space Seed,” but imagines Khan as a woman. [You don’t need to have seen the episode to get the story, but here’s a quick synopsis: the Enterprise encounters a ship full of sleeping humans and wakes one—Khan Noonien-Singh, played by Ricardo Montalban. The crew soon realizes that Khan is an “augment”—one of a group of genetically engineered superhuman despots who took over Earth in the 1990s, causing the disastrous Eugenics Wars. Khan tries to take over the Enterprise so that he can conquer the galaxy. Khan nearly kills Kirk; fist fights ensue; Khan loses, and Kirk ditches the augments on an abandoned planet (thus setting the scene for Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan twenty years later).] 

“Space Seed” is my favorite Trek episode, hands down. Khan is a pretty interesting villain—ruthless, narcissistic, ambitious—and the augment storyline has always been incredibly compelling to me, especially as it gets picked up and developed further in several other series. That said, the episode isn’t without its flaws; like many TOS episodes, the premise didn’t need to be thought through any more than was required of its 50 minutes, and later attempts to explain the augments’ history tended to introduce more questions and canonical conflicts. And then there’s the squick-inducing relationship between Khan and the ship’s historian, Marla McGivers—a relationship that provides plot devices, but has a deeply fucked dynamic. I mean, he negs her over her hair, and she decides, yeah, I’d engineer a mutiny for this man. You can tell the writers really respected women. 

Then a friend said: could you imagine how this story would have gone if Khan had been a woman?

Oh. Oh—

Yes. Yes, I can imagine that. 

I started thinking about what would change if Khan were a woman. How would the crew of the Enterprise react to such a powerful female villain? How would it unfuck Marla’s interactions (or not)? What kind of rivalry would develop between Kirk and Khan? TOS doesn’t skip female villainy, but does tend to keep it squarely in the realm of “seductress acting on behalf of a male.” The limitations of midcentury masculinity make it hard to imagine Kirk seeing a woman as a true threat—as a mind on par with his own (let alone far beyond it). 

Thinking through the gender-bent implications also led me to considering the story from Khan’s point of view. It’s a tricky balance—Khan is a genocidal sociopath with the blood of millions on his hands. Let’s not defend that, maybe! At the same time, there’s a reason the best villains are humanized: we need to be able to see ourselves in the monstrous, and the monstrous in ourselves. Cartoon evil is boring and unrealistic. But finding ways to create sympathy for a villain—without condoning them!—is very interesting. 

Rewriting “Space Seed” let me not only explore material I adored, not only fill in minor plot holes, not only build out augment backstory—it also let me highlight the current of sexism and misogyny that has always been part of Trek, and blow it up real good. Marla’s treatment in the original—and the crew’s reverence for Khan’s aggression—both speak volumes about gender attitudes in the 1960s (and, uh, beyond). But swapping genders—Khan for Khana and Marla for Marlow—forces (I hope) a reexamination of character, of narrative, of values. Which is what science fiction is for, after all.

Also: it was just fucking fun to do. Which makes me wonder if I should…write more fic? (I’m open to ideas! What should I try next?) Either way: thanks, friends, and happy reading!

[lettalady]

20 Questions for Writers

Felt a little like rambling through some answers about writing and AO3. Feel free to play if you're up for it!

How many works do you have on AO3?

200 at the moment, though of those there are a few that are prompt challenge works because they were hardly enough to be considered a full story on their own.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

985,325 words and counting, which makes me want to pull the word counts from the various WIPs that haven't made it to AO3 yet but ♫ patience is a virtue ♫ (that I'm clearly struggling with at the moment).

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I've written for the Hiddleston, Evans, Brühl, Mikkelsen fandoms - and have a few WIPs that haven't made it to the point of being posted yet but are in development. (And always am open to prompts though I haven't posted anything about the word prompt challenge in awhile... hmm)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

You've Only Just Arrived (actor!TWH) Unsettled (actor!TWH au) The Long Journey Home (TFATWS Baron Zemo/Sokovian reader/Bucky Barnes) A Turn of the Knife (Ransom Drysdale/ Knives Out prequel) Close Quarters (actor!TWH)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. Nearly always and likely far too soon after they're posted. Comments are fantastic for learning what pieces of the work really resonated, or what needs to be amended going forward because it didn't land the way that was intended.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Where we've left off in Unsettled probably allows that story to claim the title (which arguably that story wins angstiest anyway), but standing alone I'd say there's a fair few oneshots that could qualify. If you consider snippets of What If, there's one from the LJH world that would win hands down, but I don't consider those snippets as full fics...

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

Completed works - probably Lakeside or The Journalist (proper). Where we've left off in You've Only Just Arrived is setting us up for the happy ending that will inevitably occur.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

I've had a couple comments that stemmed more from misunderstanding than seemed grounded in hate. It was easily clarified and the issue remedied (at least for the first thing that springs to mind).

9. Do you write smut?

Yup.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Haven't had the opportunity yet, but never say never.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. Quite a shitty feeling when your work is posted without your consent. Please don't do that.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

The Heart of a Villain (jaguar-villain!TWH)

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

I very much enjoy creating [insert character here]/ reader (or original character) ships within various fandoms. My current favorite ship I'm working on isn't even posted yet, but head over heels for villain!Brühl. In terms of a ship I'll always love, though I haven't written for it, is Evelyn & Rick O'Connell from The Mummy (1999)/ The Mummy franchise.

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

Never say never. I've had a few peter out from my attention being drawn elsewhere, but fully intend on going back and finishing out what I started.

16. What’re your writing strengths?

I'd estimate that when the dialogue flows it flows really well? When I reread that's what I tend to enjoy the most, along with the emotional connection to the characters. Then again, having lived in those worlds in order to write them... biased opinion. So very biased.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

It varies fic to fic honestly. Sometimes the scene doesn't want to be described and it's like pulling teeth to get anything in there. I'd classify the umpteen ongoing WIPs as a weakness as well. The urge to chase the other characters, the other story, and let the ones active/in progress languish... it's something I'd like to improve on, at least.

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

I've used it as a storytelling element in a few works at this point. I tend towards including the translation in { brackets } for clarification - so long as the characters know the language they're speaking or overhearing. (And please please if you spot anything that's not correct I'm always open to amending the errors!)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First ever isn't posted here, or to AO3 either. I doubt I'll ever pull the docs and notebooks together to transcribe the Backstreet Boys works - but I suppose never say never holds in that situation too. First that is here and AO3, after I gave myself permission to start writing again, is You've Only Just Arrived.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Too difficult a question. There's too much of me in the words, in the characters. I love each of them for varying reasons.

[lambourngb]

finished my most recent project, a gift-fic for Endless Summer. I'm really proud of it, I finally wrote the DADT story that I have been dying to read in fandom, and for the most part, it came out well, considering I wrote it 18 days basically.

Anyway, it's on to the next project. I am always so depressed after posting, the only cure is writing more. On deck:

"good fences make good neighbors" - it needs 3000 more words. I did that last week without breaking a sweat but I've only managed 90 words.

"you're the villain of your own story" - a post script to "there are no unnamed sources in a fairytale" - lots of commenters want to see the wife of Captain Van der Hollen again. So I'm working on something that picks up 5 years later in 2015.

maybe time running out is a gift - kicking around the idea of writing an Ice goes back in time. Not sure about this one- the number of timetravel fix-its in fandom numbers 90, of which one-third are IceMav. Can I say anything original here?

forgive me my trespass - Newly divorced, Ice receives notification that Mav is MIA presumed KIA and finds out he was the next of kin and executor of his estate. Among Mav's belongings are two videos, one for Bradley, and one for Ice.

survival is insufficient - my ICEMAV last of us WIP. There's nearly 80k on this. There's probably 50k more to write.

ghost in the machine - Bradley's postgraduate degree with the Navy revolves around AI intelligence and creating a timeless simulator for future pilots, and who better to model the program, but the late Admiral Kazansky? At first, Pete agrees, believing there is no way a computer could come close to being Ice. Then he sees what the engineers have done.