#uprooted fanfiction

[nickythehickey]

i forgot to post the link here oops

that uprooted fic i mentioned like a month ago

[heatherfield]

I seem to have to start every story/fic with the protagonist in their deepest phase of grief.

Whyyyyyyyyyy?!?!

[this-lovely-universe]

The M Saga: This Story starts at 3am

M was slowly losing it.

It was never easy trying to work through your trauma, we all know this, but it was especially hard when you couldn’t even open up to people about.

She was so familar with the way her chest would tighten, and the feeling of her heart racing in her chest. It was never less frighten, no matter how often it happened. In reality, it made it more terrifying cause she was on her own.

Sure, she could get help to calm down but she couldn’t tell anyone what triggered her. Everytime she tried, my vocal cord was stop working.

She kept getting triggered again and again, without anyway of being able to stop it from happening. She couldn’t couldn’t work through it, she couldn’t tell anyone about it.

She felt hopeless.

These moments were what cause her mind to wander to the same dark places it did when she was stuck in that rancid place.

She wanted to get better, she really did, but how could she?

Unless some magically being came and rid her of this curse or whatever had cause this, she was stuck. And it was horrifying.

She was laid on the Hermes cabin floor, wrapped in her sleeping bag.

She couldn’t sleep. Not unusual at all. She had the world’s least ideal sleeping schedule.

Her mind was always too busy to sleep. Having a million thoughts at once, going over the day, planning for tomorrow, going to older memories, good and bad alike.

It wasn’t fun, in the slightest, but she had gotten used to it by now.

She stared into space, thinking about how exactly the universe never ended. Seriously? How can something not have an end? Is it like a circle? Would you just loop around or something?

She was rudely interrupted by her thoughts, with a bright light hovering above her head.

“Jesus…” She muttered, shielding her eyes from the blinding orb.

Groans filled the cabin.

“I thought you said lights out, Travis…”

“Bro, turn that shit off, I’m trying to sleep….”

“I just fell asleep, man…”

“Why isn’t going away…”

“Cause someone just got claimed, you dipshit-”

M shot up, the orb following her. Well, looks like it was time.

She glanced up, to see a full moon hovering above her head.

She felt like crying, maybe even throwing up.

The very thing that cause her the most physical pain in her daily life, the thing that completely uprooted her life and controlled her like a puppet, was her mother’s domain.

“You’ve got be kidding me.” She deadpanned.

“Oh, shit.”

“Selene?”

“Yeah, Artemis doesn’t exactly have kids.”

“Good point. That would be a true plot twist, now.”

“Why are you treating this like a fanfiction?”

“I mean-”

More kids continued to wake up.

“Turn it off…”

“I would if I could.” She snapped.

“Jeez, what’s your problem?”

She resisited the snippy comment on the tip of her tounge. “Sorry.”

The moon started to fade, the room becoming submerged in darkness once more.

“Finally…”

M just defeated sighed, laying down again. This felt like a cruel joke.

But it wasn’t. It was just her life, shitshow and all.

YOOOO WE HAVE ANOTHER ARCH STARTING

we're ignoring that's it's lowkey bad writing, I started it whilst in a writer's block

also I hope you like lesbian angst cause there's gonna be a lot here on out

@arisdaughter @childofthewargod @debacleofdaemons

@this-rose-has-thornes @ithacas-prince @daonedaonlysk @hispanic-child-of-hermes @i-was-never-sane

@gaygirldoodles @smileyalater @if-i-could-cry-i-wouldnt @hellincarnation @your-favorite-mess

If you want to be added, removed or if I forgot to tag you, let me know :)

[delawaredetroit]

ooooh found your blog recently and as someone who really likes bakugou, this was very uncomfortable to read! but you make a TON of good points.

I completely agree with your take on bakugou's final arc. I wasn't happy with it either (to be fair I kinda just skimmed through the manga after paranormal liberation). We don't see scenes where he's relieved that the world's been saved, we don't see scenes where someone he cares about is threatened, we don't see him accept that being second is okay, we don't see him go collaboration over competition. His arc would've been much more complete if they showed him showing empathy. I think his core, his absolute drive to keep going, to never give up, to keep trying, is rather inspiring, and it wouldn't have been diluted if we'd seen a moment of reflection --of going, "It doesn't matter if I'm second, if someone else is chosen, because trying is what matters."

I don't know. I like Bakugou's character. I like the idea of him changing gradually. I like fanfics made years ago that have much better final arcs for him. I like that he keeps trying --because isn't trying sometimes all that you can do? It's hard to uproot your belief system --one that was encouraged by so many people, one that made up his identity for a long time. I like that he simultaneously doesn't care what people think of him and cares way too much. He's multidimensional and conflicting, and that's hard. He's growing as a person in itty-bitty steps, but it's happening.

I don't really know why I'm writing this --a gesture of understanding? Because Bakugou's my favorite character, and it's clear you hate him, but I think we still agree on a lot of points?

Feel free to ignore this --I think, at the end of the day, people relate with different parts of different characters, and they'll see either the best or worst in them-- and we're all entitled to our own opinions.

No, this is worth giving an answer to. I agree with you on why Bakugou's character arc was lacking.

Listen, I may be a bit of a Bakugou hater, but I consider myself a fair hater. I'll call balls and strikes as I see them.

I'm so harsh on him because of the lack of follow through on his character arc. Because I did have expectations for Bakugou after all of that buildup. I realized around the time of the apology that it was never going to happen.

It's also made worse by how much panel time he has which makes the lack of follow through all the more glaring. Bakugou as a concept could have been an interesting character with an author who was willing to take a few more risks. I've said it a couple of times, but one of the main issues with Horikoshi's atonement arcs is that they reek of insecurity. They get too much focus and there is too much telling over showing on how the audience is supposed to feel about them.

A lot of fanfiction writers do great things with the potential Bakugou's character had. (And some people spend so much time there that they forget what exists in canon is subpar.)

I do appreciate you taking the time to read through my blog and leaving this ask knowing it probably wasn't fun given the critiques I have of your favorite character.

Thanks for the ask

[rosesradio]

My dark secret is that sometimes I wish part of the pjo fandom had whatever the fuck is in the water of the HP fandom. The side that loves dramione and is not scared to delve into toxic, downright radioactive stuff to tell a story and how sometimes love is the farthest thing from pure. And I wish they had a marauder-esque side — people who create entire universe about a character that was mentioned once — but about the Titan Army.

I do love and am very grateful for all the lovely art and great fanfics but i wish sometimes people were more willing to create and engage with the deepeer, more obscure possibilities canon offers

i see what you’re saying—tbh i don't fw hp at all due to the jkr of it all, plus i was obsessed for like 10 years and have been Over It for like 4 at least. i can’t help but feel a little annoyed by the maurader’s fandom because it’s like…sure, rep is hard to come by, but like…you could’ve done the whole “skittles squad gay wizards 🤪” with any one of the millions of other books on wizards, why that one?? but anyways

i also think that a fandom run that way can be a bit risky because you’re subjected to a fandom hierarchy. like if you think one thing about xyz character mentioned once, that can be contradicted by some sort of regarded Holy Text Fanfiction from the Most Popular Writer that is essentially the word of law (think…is it All The Young Dudes? i think is what it was called?). tldr is the discourse could be rancid, but it could under other circumstances as well, so it’s kinda a “pick your poison” situation

i definitely think one of the pjo fandom’s main problems is something i saw in sanders sides 🤢 for years—it’s kinda like purity culture, but it’s wholesomeness culture. aka the insistence that pjo is The Most accepting fandom, The Most diverse, The Best xyz—when it’s just not true. everyone has different ideas on how to make the fandom The Best and Most Pure, which can include harassing creators and attempting to only “allow” certain creations. (And, of course the most important: the racism is rampant. it’s a minority of the fandom from what i’ve seen, though i’ve also blocked a lot of people. it’s definitely still there)

i think what happened in the hp/marauders fandom was an attempted separation from the author (dont look at me dont talk to me 🚬). an entire rework of the content and characters (aka, i see what you’re saying about a potentially sympathetic villain, but draco’s canon “redemption” was too little too late, the guy is a one-dimensional asshole, He Would Not Fucking Say That)

what was i saying

oh yeah. i don’t think that could happen with pjo because part of its wholesomeness persona is the Uncle Rick of it all, in which the outer layers of the fandom praise him for his representation and Not being jkr. i’m willing to admit the guy has flaws, though supposedly not enough for an entire uproot separation.

but yeah that aside i definitely see what you’re saying—my hope is that fandom will change and get better. the puritans will either grow out of their restricting ideas or move on to another fandom, for the most part. perhaps it’s wishful thinking, though the only thing we can do is continue to make our works and make the fandom safer one step at a time 💌

[cinnamontails-ff]

Writing Interview Tag Game

Thank you so much for the tag @roguishcat ❤ I love getting to chat about these things.

When did you start writing?

I know this sounds cheesy, but the answer is probably as soon as I could hold a pen. My grandma still has stacks of little stories I wrote (and illustrated ...) when I was a kid. Very cute, but I'm glad I gave up on drawing in the meantime.

I've been writing on and off ever since, but it wasn't until I was in my mid twenties that I decided I'd actively pursue a career in writing. I wrote a few original novels, none of which were ever successful in the world of traditional publishing, then got into fanfiction as a way of rekindling my joy. Once I'm done with my current fic, I'm ready to try with traditional publishing again. Maybe it'll work this time, maybe not, but I guess the bottom line is that I'll always write in some capacity.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I really like stories that are a little unsettling. Not horror, per se (I'm a coward), but those underlying creepy vibes, especially when they come wrapped up in beautiful language and actually end up culminating in something cool toward the end of the story. "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik comes to mind, "The Devil and the Dark Water" by Stuart Turton, and "Portrait of the Pale Elf" by @larvasmoon.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Terry Pratchett is the person who first sold me on the English language. Prior to his books, I'd never seen anyone use English in such a fun, cheeky yet poignant way, and it's definitely something I find myself emulating (all while hopefully putting my own spin on it). I have been compared to him a few times and it's always made my day.

Oh, and I guess Stephen Sommers because people compare my fic to "The Mummy" a lot. Which honestly, is just as flattering.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

At my desk, with a mechanical keyboard. Not because I'm a hipster but because I have absolutely destroyed my laptop's keyboard and then the shop where I'd buy the replacement keys stopped selling my model and I refuse to replace the whole laptop.

I need a sense of quiet when I write. Usually, I write early in the morning before I go to work, and it's honestly my favorite time of the day. It's dark and quiet, I'm all alone, and the day still feels so fresh and full of possibility. I cannot write in public; I find it too distracting. Occasionally, when I'm very in the zone, I'll edit at work but it's never quite as productive.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Go and hunt that bitch down. I know many people love romanticizing their craft and if it helps them to light scented candles or play aesthetic playlists - go for it! For me, the most powerful tool is routine. Knowing that every morning I will sit down and I will write, whether I feel like it or not. Sometimes I drag my feet the whole time, sometimes things click into place and suddenly, I'm having the best time ever. But I will always put words on the page and for me, there's no better feeling than having written (past tense).

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

You probably know this, but I really, really love stories where a regular guy/gal saves the day. It makes me so happy to see the evil vampire lord taken out by the mousy accountant, the fountain pen striking harder than the sword. I think it's because I like to read about real people. People that you could have met in real life, that seem simple on the outside, but have all this strength locked up inside. It's why I dislike stories with picture perfect beauty goddesses that always have the perfect quip, always take out their opponents with 1 blow because they're just that special.

Normal people are special, too. You just need to look a little harder to see.

What is your reason for writing?

I believe it was Brandon Sanderson who said "Stories are like real life but with the boring parts removed". That has really resonated with me. I think the beautiful thing about stories is that they can portray very real issues and conflicts in a way that is infinitely more satisfying because it's all been arranged just so. It can give you closure, it can make you see something in an entirely new light without feeling confrontational. It's like a really, really good conversation with the author and I hope that's what my writing feels like as well.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Two things. I love when readers point out specific lines they enjoyed and I love it when they tell me they reread my work. The term "comfort read" makes me particularly happy because that's exactly how I reread my favorite stories as well.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I think the most important part to me is that my stories feel real. I dislike pretentious, over-the-top writing where you can tell the author is trying super hard to sound clever or sexy or just drowns you in heaps of cheap, undeserved drama that never leads anywhere. With my stories, I want things to feel earned. Natural. Maybe you wouldn't have made those choices, but it makes sense that these characters would have and now we're looking at the very real consequences of their actions.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Character voice, specifically in 3rd person limited. My favorite type of narration because I love getting into a character's head and making you see things through their eyes.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I think every writer struggles with their confidence here and there. I've gone through so many cycles in the past 1.5 years, it's kind of crazy. Going from constant failure in the world of publishing to writing your very first fanfiction just for fun and then having it blow up out of nowhere, all these people showering you in praise, only for the vast majority of them to disappear immediately afterward is a lot to process. We write for ourselves, yes, but as a writer, you can't help but take reader responses to heart. Fortunately, I've never let it influence what I write or how I write; it really only affects my mental state. I know what I like to read and those are the stories I am going to tell, whether they're successful or not.

Aww, this was fun! Tagging @larvasmoon @davenswitcher @pickel182 @karinamay @pouroverpaloma ❤ ❤ ❤

[errorryx]

unraveling — part three, season ten

read on ao3 | read part one | hermitcraft, 2.9k words

this is the third and final part of my fic for MCYTblr AUFest! once again, if you haven't read the first part, please check it out for more info about this AU. enjoy this infodump about plant-based fibers disguised as a minecraft fanfiction!

—

Ever since Pearl began expanding her original starter base, she’s been working on some kind of big secret project.

It probably has something to do with her choice of theme this season. Or maybe it's an even bigger, more spectacular redstone machine than the already very impressive Dyeduction. Whatever it is, Pearl’s determined to keep it a secret, which means Gem is even more determined to figure it out.

She watches Pearl from a distance, using her spyglass. Pearl’s base is developing into a labyrinth of different structures, with so many entrances and passageways wedged into tight corners, each building blending together into a larger whole. It’s getting big enough that Gem can get lost in it. She gets turned around even from afar, watching Pearl enter a building and emerge somewhere completely different a few minutes later.

This morning, Pearl seems to be harvesting some of the many different plants around her base. She clips back the fast-growing vines that crawl up the sides of her buildings, wades through dense fields of flowers to uproot entire plants, and even collects bark from the bushes and trees. Gem can’t imagine what she’s doing with it all, and she’s even more confused to see Pearl deposit her harvest into a large pool and leave it there.

After a while, Pearl spreads her elytra and rockets off in the direction of the shopping district. Gem takes the opportunity to poke around her base and investigate directly. She stops at the pool first, which has a small channel out to the river, not quite wide enough for a boat to pass through.

When Gem steps into the pool, the water only comes up to her knees. The bottom is full of different stems and leaves, weighed down by rocks to keep it from floating up to the top. Nearby is a small hut filled with shelves and shelves of the same plants in various stages of drying.

Gem has been toying with the idea of a proper scientific investigation for a while now, and clearly Pearl is the perfect subject. She takes a recording device out of her pocket and begins to describe her surroundings.

“This is Dr. GeminiTay in the field, reporting on my observations at PearlescentMoon’s base. Recently, I've observed several anomalies in Pearl’s behavior, and I came to the conclusion that I must analyze her natural habitat for hints as to what may be causing this…deviation.” Gem nods, proud of herself. She sounds so professional! “It appears that Pearl has been soaking plants in water, then letting them dry. The purpose of this behavior is as of yet unknown.”

Nearby the pool and the shed full of drying plants is a building that Gem knows has been here for a while, but she doesn’t think she’s ever been inside. The top floor is full of more plants in the next stage of the process, whatever process that is. One one side is a pile of fully dried plant material, and on the other side is a heaping pile of fibers and several chests stuffed to the brim with very tiny wood shavings.

Gem relays this information as best she can into the recording device, then takes a staircase down to the basement, which is much larger than the room above. The center of the room is taken up by several large spinning wheels, each hooked up to a redstone device that Gem doesn’t even bother to try and make sense of. Presumably they help automate the process, though they all seem to be shut off right now. Gem is tempted to flick one of the levers to see what happens, but she’s not Grian. She has more self-control than that.

Though, it would be really funny if she broke something.

Gem peeks outside to make sure Pearl isn’t back yet, before running back to switch the lever on, giggling to herself. The wheel starts spinning, but since there’s no fibers or threads on the spool, nothing else interesting happens. She’s disappointed, but also relieved that she didn’t break anything. She flicks the lever back off and moves on.

Pearl has hung several picture frames around the room, but instead of artwork, the frames contain embroidery projects. The largest of them reads live laugh love in familiar cursive lettering, surrounded by a border of leafy vines. Most of the others are textless, with designs of different plants and flowers.

A large table on the left side of the room is covered in dozens of small scraps of handmade fabric. Some are of higher quality than others. None of them look like the sort of crochet pattern that Gem’s used to seeing on Pearl’s body. Pearl must be trying to branch out with her projects, and these are some of her first attempts. There’s another embroidery project hanging right above the table, the only other one with any text, which reads, Start small.

Beside the table is an ordinary loom, and next to it, a larger, more intricate version constructed out of several different types of wood. Normal looms are only used for banners, but Pearl’s handmade loom seems to be built for broader purposes. On the other side of the loom, in the back corner of the room, is an iron door without any visible way to open it.

At this point, Gem can safely assume that she's found the room where Pearl keeps her mystery project. Clearly it's some kind of fiber art—or several different kinds at once, from the look of it. But all the things she's seen so far are just pieces of the puzzle, and she still can’t figure out what Pearl’s making.

Her only remaining option is to see what’s behind the locked door.

Now, Gem could easily go home and construct her own lever to open the door, or just break through the wall herself, but that’s no fun. She’d much rather figure out how to use this secret door the right way. Knowing Pearl, it’s not a special kind of lock that only she has the key to, but some kind of thematically relevant puzzle that anyone can figure out if they try.

So Gem tries. For a good long time, she looks around the room for hints. She stops in front of the table of scraps, looking at the embroidered message. Start small. It doesn’t quite fit with Pearl’s sense of interior decoration. The live laugh love one is clearly a joke, a reference to last season, but there’s nothing about Start small that holds any sort of meaning to Gem.

Unless it’s meant as a clue.

In a moment of inspiration, Gem stands on her tiptoes, reaching over the table to take the frame down from the wall. She looks over to the door, but it hasn’t moved. When she flips the frame around, she can see the messy backside of the stitching, plus a hand-written note from Pearl, reading, smaller than that.

Definitely a clue, then. Gem switches on her recording device and begins to narrate. 

“The wild Pearl is known for her cleverness,” she tells her imaginary peer-review science board. “One of the defining behaviors of a Pearl is to set up puzzles for her friends. It’s important to provide her with enrichment by participating, which is why I’m doing this, of course. Not because I’m nosy.”

She paces up and down the room, the reassuring rhythm of her footsteps against the floor helping to clear her mind. That is, until she steps down on a block that makes a strange metallic clanking sound.

Gem may not know much about redstone, but she knows a hidden hopper when she hears one. The spot where she’s standing is just a few blocks away from the door. All she has to do now is figure out what to throw into it.

“Pearls are practical creatures,” Gem says. “This Pearl would not choose something rare or difficult to access as the key to a door she uses all the time. It’ll probably be something inside this room.”

Start small. Smaller than that. The answer’s sitting right in front of her. Pearl doesn’t start a crochet project by jumping into it blindly and hoping for the best. She plans it out beforehand, making patterns and testing out stitches. All of the different test swatches on this table are her way of starting small, practicing for the big project she’s making.

Gem grabs one of the scraps of fabric, dropping it on the floor above the hopper. The door opens with a loud clank, and she enters the room, holding her breath in anticipation.

She’s not expecting Pearl to actually be inside. She knows for a fact that she saw Pearl fly off, though admittedly there was plenty of time for Pearl to sneak back into this room while Gem was wandering around her base. But the surprise of Pearl’s presence pales in comparison to the shock of what she’s making.

Pearl is hunched over a player-sized figure made up of many different kinds of fabric, lying on top of a large worktable. Only one of its arms are attached, the other sitting right beside the empty shoulder, and both legs end just below the knee, still unfinished. Most of the fabrics look coarser than the soft wool yarn that Gem is used to, but there’s no mistaking who it’s supposed to be.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Gem blinks several times, unable to believe what she’s seeing. “Pearl, are you multiplying?”

Pearl laughs, sitting back and looking up at her. “Do you like it?”

Gem takes a few steps closer, taking it all in. The new Pearl’s plastic button eyes have been replaced with wooden ones, and her hair is a mixture of several different textures and shades of brown. She’s wearing a white postal jacket like the one Pearl’s wearing now, but this one is made out of a more refined version of some of the swatches in the previous room.

When Gem commissions new outfits to fit her themes, she doesn’t spend much time thinking about the work that goes into it behind the scenes. She just pays their exorbitant prices and assumes they must have worked very hard. Now, having seen all the steps in Pearl’s process, she’s baffled as to how her clothesmakers are able to deliver their finished products so quickly, or how Pearl herself has gotten so much done without anyone noticing.

“It’s beautiful, Pearl. It’s so detailed.” Gem can’t think of anything to say that doesn’t feel like an understatement. “Have you been working on this all season?”

“Only since I decided on my solarpunk theme,” Pearl says. “It shouldn’t take me much longer. I’ve processed most of the fibers that I need already, and that’s the slowest part.”

“I have so many questions,” Gem says. It’s a little disconcerting to see this new version of Pearl in an unfinished state, looking so much like Pearl does now, but lifeless and incomplete.

“I can explain it to you if you want!” Pearl looks excited at the prospect. “There’s a lot of steps, but if you break it down it’s actually pretty simple—”

“Have you been hanging out with Mumbo recently?” Gem asks. “None of what you’re doing is simple, Pearl. This is very complicated!”

“Already had a peek around my base, did you?” Pearl tuts in mock disappointment.

“It’s only fair! You don’t get to complain after what you did to my base with all those pickle messages.”

“Ah, well.” Pearl shrugs. “You may have a point.”

“What is it for, anyway?” Gem can’t help but notice that Pearl isn’t making these modifications to herself, but to an entirely different entity. “Why do you need another you?”

“Gem!” Pearl laughs at her. “You got all the way to this point and you still haven’t figured it out?”

“What do you—Oh. Wait.” Gem blinks. “Are you—you’re building yourself a replacement body?”

“There you go,” Pearl says. “We got there eventually.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Gem says. “How do you get yourself into a whole different body? Can you turn back after you’re done? If you can just go around switching bodies, what’s stopping you from being a—a pig, or a sheep or something?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Pearl says, waving her hand dismissively. “I just, y’know…” She pauses, frowning. “Well, I—hm, okay. I’m not sure, actually.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I don’t know how it works,” Pearl says. “It just sort of happens. Like how everyone gets new outfits to stick through respawn.”

“That’s normal, though. Everyone does it!”

“Yeah, but how?”

Gem opens her mouth, then closes it again. She doesn’t know. How does she not know?

She feels a little dizzy from how fast her thoughts are racing. Gem pulls up a chair and plops herself down, trying to get her thoughts in order.

In this world, and in every world since she spawned, there have been rules. They vary from place to place, and they can be changed, too—even bent or broken. Gem knows people who break the rules—some of the most infamous rulebreakers in the world reside on this very server with her—but she’s never counted Pearl among that number.

And, now that she thinks about it, that seems like an oversight on her part. Gem has known Pearl for longer than most of the other Hermits, and she can’t remember ever questioning how Pearl came to exist in this form, this version of herself that Gem’s always known.

Gem has never broken the rules, or at least, she’s never knowingly attempted to do so. She’s happy where she is, building and mining and fighting the normal way, seeking out challenges from within the confines of what’s supposed to be possible. She’s amazed by the accomplishments of her reality-bending friends, but that sort of thing has never interested her.

Now, standing on the edge of what seems to be a rule-breaking realization, Gem wonders if this is how they felt—Etho, or Cleo, or Doc, or Pearl, apparently—any of the Hermits that ever asked the right questions, or put the pieces together, or stumbled upon a loophole in the rulebook.

She clings to the fabric of her lab coat in wonder. What kind of force tethers this silly costume she’s wearing to her own body? Why does it stay with her even after death? How does any of this make sense?

Is everything just a—

“See, you can't question these things,” Pearl says, bursting through her train of thought. “Or it all falls apart.”

“Falls apart?” Gem asks, alarmed. “What does that mean? That sounds bad. Is it bad? Have I broken the world?”

“No! No, of course not, don’t worry.” Pearl rests a soft hand on Gem’s shoulder. “Well, maybe a little bit, but it’s fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Gem puts her head in her hands, taking a deep breath. It helps, a little. “This is—a lot, Pearl.”

“Here, let me show you something.” Pearl holds up a swatch of fabric, which Gem is reasonably confident in identifying as crochet, though she doesn’t know the specific stitch. “It’s like this. The fabric holds itself together just fine if you leave it alone, but when you pull on the edges…” She does just that, and the first row collapses on itself, then the next, then the next. “Things start to go a bit wonky. But…” She pulls out a crochet hook and starts stitching, rebuilding the row she’d just unraveled. “You can make them right again, if you learn how. It can go back to normal. Or, well, normal enough.”

“But what about people who don’t want it to be normal?” Gem asks. “How do they deal with it?”

“You’ll have to ask them about it,” Pearl says. “That’s not how I do things. I prefer to patch the holes I find rather than explore what’s inside them.”

Gem leans her head against Pearl’s shoulder. “This really hurts my brain.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Gem. I didn’t mean to push you into this.”

“It’s okay,” Gem says. “The fact that I made it through two and a half seasons of Hermitcraft before getting here is probably pretty impressive, right?”

“It’s not for everybody,” Pearl says. “Like Grian, for example.”

“Grian?”

“He noped out of it even harder than I did, you know. Did it so well that I’m not sure he even remembers anymore. I don’t want to bring it up with him, because if he did forget, I think he meant for it to be that way.”

“Huh. I had no idea.” Gem lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know if I want to go his route or not. Or your route, or some other route. I feel like I know way less about the world than I did this morning.”

“You should probably talk to someone other than me about it,” Pearl suggests. “It’s different for everyone. But whatever you do, it should be your own way, not someone else’s.”

“My own way.” Gem smiles. “I like the sound of that, whatever it is.”

“Don’t stress yourself out over it,” Pearl warns her. “I know the way you are. Take your time, Gem. You have basically forever to figure it out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try.” Gem wraps her arms around Pearl. “Thank you, Pearl.”

“For what?”

“For explaining stuff,” Gem says. “For being my friend. For being so cuddly, too. You are so soft.”

“Aw, you’re welcome.” Pearl hugs her back. “Would you be mad if I got less soft, though?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gem says. “I love every version of you.”

Pearl laughs softly. “I love every version of you too.”

—

if you read this all the way through and enjoyed, please consider reblogging!

<Previous part

[achaotichuman]

Works on Ao3

This is the masterlist for all of my AO3 works. If you wish to request a work, my pinned page has all the relationships and characters I will write for.

I do not consent to any of my works being copied or reposted anywhere.

A Court of Song and Desolation

In the low lamplight, I was free Heaven and hell were words to me When my time comes around Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth Work Song: Hozier

It's been a year since the final battle of Hybern, and Spring remains in ruin. Darkness fabrics the land as its High Lord rots forgotten. Lucien, being unable to stand the distance growing between him and the male he once called his closest friend, decides to bring him to the Human Lands. But soon, a new threat tied to Koschei begins to unearth itself, promising to uproot Prythian entirely, and it has set its eyes on Tamlin.

Elain Archeron is lost to her dreams and visions, reality blurring, time and space intertwining and unravelling. Memories of who she once was are twisted now, and a woman from her past has been haunting her. After meeting Mintheal and Emerald, two escapees from the Hewn City, she decides it's beyond time to step beyond the Night Court and take fate into her own hands.

The Death God Koschei is the last threat left to eliminate, no one has yet seen the strings that move him, and the puppet master has decided its their time to come out from behind the curtain.

-Not completed. Set to have 70 chapters. Includes, Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Azriel/Eris Vanserra, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Nesta Archeron/Cassian.

A Witch A Warrior And A Reckoning

Life is peaceful for Dahlia Fairburn, running with her War Band, and commanding the Spring Court armies. Since the day she could wield a sword, she's been helping her father, along with her younger brother, to restore Spring to its former glory. Trying to ignore the festering magic in her body, that threatens to consume her.

One day, all that peace is threatened to be shaken, as a certain prince of Night asks for her to join the rebellion of the Hewn City and Illyria. From beneath the great mountains, an ancient song calls for her. She meets a woman with death in her eyes, and power in her veins, who makes Dahlia's blood boil while something clicks into place between them.

This new generation of Prythian was thought to be one of peace and prosperity. But the mask of the reigning High Lords begin to crumble, as secrets older than Prythian itself are uncovered, and darkness is unleashed.

An ACOTAR next generation fanfiction

-Not completed. Set to have 37 chapters. Includes Tamlin’s Daughter/Original Female Character, Nyx Archeron/Tamlin, Eris Vanserra/Azriel, Lucien Vanserra/Nuan, Vassa/Jurian, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand

The Gardens The Fruit And The Serpent

The prequel to A Witch A Warrior And A Reckoning

Years after the killing of the Deathless, Koschei, the Lords and Ladies of the Courts of Prythian have settled down, and their children freely roam the land, preparing for the day they may take on the Crown.

Dahlia Fairburn, the daughter of Tamlin Fairburn, the wildcard of her father's household, unpredictable with the same shimmer of gold her father has. Her wants are to serve her people, and hone her natural predatory skills in the dance of battle. And perhaps if she can score an invitation to work under the new King of Vallahan, she might get her chance she's looking for.

Azriel is trying to move past the feuds with Rhysand that drove them apart, settling into his life in the Autumn Court alongside Eris Vanserra. Still the ghost of what happened haunts him, and he sees in the now dull eyes of Nesta Archeron. The heaviness of his past weighs down, and he can only hope to shield his daughters from what had happened to him.

Elain Archeron has seen visions, visions she doesn't understand, but knows they are dark. The future is undecided, but all she does know, is one day this mask will come crumbling down. And when it does, it might be helpful to have the most powerful in history under her thumb.

-Not completed. Set to have 25 chapters. Includes, Tamlin's daughter/Original female character, Azriel/Eris Vanserra, Lucien Vanserra/Nuan, Vassa/Jurian, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Nesta Archeron/Cassian

How Nesta Archeron Learned to Trap A Beast-

Nesta leaves the Night Court for the Mortal Lands after they attempt to trap her with the male she loathes. After travelling through Summer, she finds the Spring Court and is determined to make it through to her old home. Tamlin is on the brink of ending it, but when the eldest Archeron sister comes marching through his lands, he finds a new reason to keep going.

-Not completed. Set to have 8 chapters. Includes, Nesta Archeron/Tamlin.

The Dog Days Are Over-

A gift for @shi-daisy for writing the beautiful A Court of Threads & Daises. The Spring festival is upon the Ambrose family. Joy and celebration is in the air, but this festival is a little different to any other. Amarantha is no longer looming on the lands and the people are free to celebrate as they wish, they are no longer weighed down by her sadistic hand, or by a curse. The dog days are over.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes the original ships of A Court of Threads and Daises.

A Game Never Worth Playing-

Their mating bond has been ignored for too long and Eris is finally and fully fed up with it. He marches into Spring and demands that Tamlin finally make a decision.

-Completed. 2 chapters. Includes Tamlin/Eris Vanserra.

Melodies In The Dark-

A snippet of what occurred UTM before Feyre came back to save Prythian. Tamlin misses the sun, when he sees Lucien again for the first time in weeks, he realizes his sun was Under the Mountain with him all along.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Tamlin/Rhysand.

The One True High Lord

Even after everyone expected Nesta Archeron, the eldest of the Night Court Heirs would take the throne, Feyre Acheron has been chosen by the Cauldron. With her new precarious position, and resistance against women in power in the Night Court, Feyre decides to ask an old friend to turn her male. Now High Lord of the Night Court. Feyre explores the ins and outs of ruling and finds drama waiting for her in the hands of a beautiful stranger.

This was based of Tumblr Prompt but I turned into an AU

-Not completed. Set to have 4 chapters. Includes Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Nesta Archeron/Morrigan, Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra.

Citrus Tears, Sour Souls

I went on an angst kick and uploaded some angsty oneshots to Tumblr, this is them collected on Ao3.

-Not completed. Unknown number of chapters. Includes Lucien/Elain Archeron, Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Eris Vanserra & The Lady of the Autumn Court.

A Field Of Dahlias

Finally free of the Mountain and Amarantha's grip on the people. The Spring Court is scrambling to get back to normal. With their wedding not far away, Tamlin is struggling to keep his Court from falling into disarray. When he starts to get sick things begin to take a turn for the worse and worser.

When Feyre is taken by the Lord of Night, it doesn't look like anything it can get any worse. With his life experience Tamlin should know that things can always get worse.

-Not completed. Set to have 5 chapters. Includes Feyre Archeron/Tamlin, Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Ianthe/Elain Archeron, Nesta Archeron/Eris Vanserra.

Heaven Help A Fool Who Falls In Love

Tamlin mumbled something too quiet for Lucien to catch, the Fox chuckled, and pressed his forehead to Tamlin’s, “What was that, pretty boy?”

Tamlin breathed a laugh, “Pretty boy?”

Lucien bit down on his lip, trying to contain his grin, he was unsuccessful, “Yes, pretty boy.”

“Okay, handsome man.” Tamlin replied.

Tamlin gets sick, and Lucien takes care of him.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra.

A Mate Is Someone...

Mating bonds are an enigma, something that can be lovely and sought after. It can also bring forth terror, resentment, anger and hatred. For Lucien Vanserra, a mating bond is more like a chain than a thread.

Equals don't always have to like each other. ____ Lucien stumbled forward, his legs couldn’t hold up his body anymore. Reality was slipping between his fingers, and everything had a glaze over it.

The sinner before the altar, he fell to his knees. ___

Request from Tumblr- proceed with caution anti elain ask ahead I am new on this app and saw your neslin fic which I enjoyed could I please ask you to write a fic with lucien as a emisary he tired of elaine leading him on he ignores her and breaks bond and elaine is annoyed but she deserves it she and aziel are losers and deserve each other

It was also requested that there be a Tamcien second chapter, so here is that as well!

-Completed. 2 chapters. Includes Feyre Archeron/Lucien Vanserra, Elain Archeron/Azriel, Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra

Naked Poetry

The Seasonal Courts are gathering for an annual meeting. With tensions growing between the Courts, they aim to settle what they can and allow the magic to return to harmony as it was before the Curse of Amarantha.

But after so long away, the magic of each Court is writhing for its sister. From Spring's weakened magic, the power of the Seasons is demanding rejuvenation.

Magic comes with a price, and this is theirs.

Title from Naked Poetry by SKYLAR would recommend listening to whilst reading.

-Not completed. Set to have 2 chapters. Includes Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Tamlin/Beron Vanserra, Tamlin/Eris Vanserra, Tamlin/Kallias, Tamlin/The Unnamed Vanserra Brothers, Tamlin/Tarquin, Kallias/Lucien Vanserra, Kallias/Beron Vanserra, Kallias/Eris Vanserra, Kallias/The Unnamed Vanserra Brothers

At The Stroke Of Midnight

The night is young, and the Hewn City is below the feet of their master. Rhysand is spending the night amongst his people- more above them than anything else.

Perched on his throne, a glimmer of white catches his eyes and keeps them locked. A woman with cunning eyes and a thirst to piss him off has his head spinning in circles.

When this mysterious female fled into the night without so much as a name to put to face, who was to judge him for never being able to let go?

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Tamlin/Rhysand

My Faery Lord

It was followed by a symphony. A string of notes that poured out one after the other. Turning to a river of music that flowed through the forest like waves of the ocean. Shocking through her body, filling some strange empty place deep in her soul.

A strange, full body sensation that had her sitting up, barely of her own awareness. Her head turned towards the source of the sound. Somewhere deeper into the forest.

Like something else was guiding her. Feyre moved towards it, the pain of her injury somehow lessened, as something more akin to bliss called to her from the source of the sudden song.

When Feyre strays from the group of sentries patrolling, she hurts herself after falling.

But not even an injury will stop her from finding the source of wistful music that floods her entire body when she hears it through the woods.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Tamlin/Feyre Archeron

Bravery Is In Spite Of Fear

“Feyre.” He whispered, not a question, just acknowledgement. Still keeping her eyes tightly sealed, she felt a soft, tender kiss to the crown of her head.

Just like the loosened chains in her soul, her eyes gave away from the tension, against any will of her own. Like it all crumbled before him.

She held onto his hands. Grasping his fingers tightly, “Please. I can’t lose you again.”

“You never lost me.” He murmured, pressing another kiss, this one to her brow, “You have never lost me.”

When Tamlin is preparing to head to Hybern, Feyre holds him back. Unable to forget the day she last said goodbye and nearly lost him forever.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Tamlin/Feyre Archeron

I wanna be yours

For @praetorqueenreyna for the ACOTAR Gift Exchange

Lucien's fucked up. Royally fucked up. And his father, already on the hunt for a reason to get rid of him, takes the opportunity to finally disown him. Now, jobless and wondering what he's supposed to do without catching more of Beron's attention and bringing his wrath upon him, Lucien finds himself venting to his oldest friend.

What he didn't expect was for Tamlin to offer him a position as his personal assistant.

It's just temporary, of course, but it's not long before the two find themselves entangled closer and closer together, and the more Lucien learns about Tamlin's friends and family, the more he finds old feelings rising to the surface faster than he can push them down again.

He's only gotta hope that Tamlin doesn't learn of what he did...

-Not completed. Set to have 20 chapters. Includes Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra, Feyre/Mercenary Lady, Tamlin/Rhysand, Tamlin/Hart

A Proposition

The High Lords meeting is being held in the Night Court, and Lucien is bored out of his brains, but when he realises the Heirs of Night and Spring have slipped off, what would have once been a very boring day suddenly becomes the opportunity for something he'd never even thought of.

-Completed. 1 chapter. Includes Rhysand/Tamlin/Lucien Vanserra

[genericpuff]

Genuinely curious as to if you asked permission to use Rachel’s characters and she said yes or if you just decided Lore Olympus is popular enough to make a fan comic of and are hoping you don’t receive a cease and desist? Can anyone create a remake comic of original content and just change what you don’t like about it and it’s considered legal if you say the characters belong to the original creator? There is plenty of disappointing media out there that could be remade. I understand you cannot use their characters for profit so is just posting it ok?

Yes, anyone can, because it's called fanfiction lmao Obviously in my case the term "fan" is being used loosely here as at this point it's more like "foe"fiction LMAO but the same principles apply. Unless I try to claim LO is my own creation or make a profit off Rekindled, I should be in the clear. If legal action was taken against me then it would set a precedent against all forms of fanfiction, rewrite, redraw, etc. content around LO which are all essentially doing the same thing Rekindled is doing. I think people tend to view Rekindled as somewhat of an "exception" that's vulnerable to legal action because it's an actual weekly comic put into practice in the same playing field as LO (though they're on massively different bases obviously LOL), but there's not much more separating it from the LO redraw accounts or even the genuine fan accounts that have learned how to draw in Rachel's style (and use it to make their own LO self-inserts and whatnot). I had the time and resources and experience to do what I do through Rekindled, but every redraw, rewrite, fanfiction, etc. account are making the exact same statement I am, whether intentionally or not - "I do/don't like the canon, but/so here's what I think it would be like if it went like this".

There is definitely plenty of media out there that could be remade, and a lot of them are by the fanfiction writers out there who are filling that niche within their respective fandoms. LO is the one I want to do because it's the one that interests me and compels me the most to rewrite.

Not to mention, it's already a bold statement in and of itself to say that I'm "using Rachel's characters", a statement that likely wouldn't hold up in court LMAO Her "characters" are literally just stylized self-insert versions of public domain figures. She did not write The Hymn to Demeter. She did not create Hades, or Persephone, or Hecate, or any of the other characters she writes about. She does not own an entire religion or its deities. The only thing that she really "owns" is the licensing rights to the name "Lore Olympus", and while the style of LO is very unique and identifiable, you can't trademark/copyright a style because that uproots the entire foundation of what art is (ironically no one has had an original idea SINCE the Greeks, we all just learn and adapt our styles based on other artists that we get inspired by and learn from).

Shit, there are series completely unrelated to LO that get harassed or otherwise warned that they could cross into "legal territory" with LO just because they're Greek myth comics. Punderworld, Theia Mania, H x P Ficlets, all of these are comics that also tackle the H x P myth, and while they aren't attempting to do the same thing as Rekindled (as they exist on their own terms) it's really disappointing when I see people talk about these comics purely through the scope of Lore Olympus as if LO invented Greek myth. If WT/Rachel tried to pull rank over the story's "characters", they'd be picking a fight with every other Greek myth comic, book, movie, etc. and they oughta know that's not a fight they're gonna win lol

So everything beyond LO's branding is, in and of itself, fanfiction. Rekindled is just another level deeper by being fanfiction of a fanfiction. As long as I'm not profiting off Lore Olympus' namesake or distributing my work with the misconception that I created LO, it's legally fine. Morally, I'm sure it doesn't exactly make me a saint to do it, it definitely took a lot of hubris for me to say "yeah I don't like how you wrote your story enough that I felt the need to rewrite it completely" and I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking doing so is icky. There are certain lines I won't cross - I don't use the general LO hashtags because my content is very critical and my work isn't really for the fans, I don't encourage anyone to "show Rachel" what I do here because none of what I do here is obligated to be seen by her (and I know it wouldn't be in her best interest to see it anyways, she's literally said that she doesn't like criticism so why tf would I wanna show her a comic that exists to criticize her work lol), and I'm not planning on posting it to Webtoons because that's Rachel's territory. I don't want to overstep both in the legal sense and in the moral one. I think it's more than enough for me to just post my stuff here for the people who are seeking it, and not profit off it or directly affiliate it with LO/Rachel beyond crediting.

All that said, in a moral and legal sense, what I'm doing is literally the basis of fanfiction, and I wouldn't be going to such lengths and spending this much time every week putting out episodes every week if I never cared about LO and how it made us all feel, even if some of us don't love it as much as we used to.

[bookworm105616]

This is silly, maybe. Maybe it doesn’t need to be said at all. But I’m saying it because I’m learning to take up space again, and to speak again, and to allow things to matter to me again because I’ve accepted that I simply must live.

I cannot let go of the DSMP, because when I was maybe fourteen or fifteen years old I was uprooted from the one place my parents promised they would never make me leave. And I was sitting on a rapidly deflating air mattress in my hollowed out house with my hollowed out heart eating cold Mac and cheese because the microwave was packed, and I happened to click on a video explaining the lore of the DSMP. I was enamored. You could say it was just because I, an incredibly mentally ill teenager prone to inappropriate levels of empathy related a little too much to the destruction of L’Manberg and the themes of losing your home, and you’d probably be right. You could say it only mattered to me so much because I was looking for a distraction, and you’d probably be right about that too.

Nevertheless, I took one look at this piece of media and one look at my freshly torn up roots and I thought, this will do.

For the next several years, I became deeply entrenched in the story the dsmp told and all the media related to it. My playlists, which had previously consisted almost entirely of Sara Bareilles songs, were soon filled with songs I’d discovered via DSMP animatics. I’d sit there during lunch in a quiet corner by the trophy with my headphones on and my phone plugged into the wall, watching the same six or so animatics over and over again every day.

I honed my writing skills because I was writing DSMP FanFiction. And that sounds cringe, it is cringe—but I wrote over 100,000 words of it, and I posted my stories, and people liked them. When you’re isolated and miserable and hating yourself and nobody ever tells you that you’re doing good, you’re talented, you’re loved, that kind of validation is everything. Even wilder, any terrible experience I had became something new I could write about. When I was hospitalised for a suicide attempt, I took note of every detail of how it felt so that I could write about it later. Which is objectively insane, but it got me through it. I’ve tackled so many issues through these silly little guys.

Some of my best online friends were made through my engagement with the fandom as well. That saved my life more than once I think. I was viciously lonely, I desperately needed someone to talk to, and here were people who not only understood my weird, impossible to explain interest but shared it! Once again, that was everything to me.

Now I’m sitting here, an adult, and my roots are still curled tight around the version of the DSMP that I loved. I know that’s horrible and selfish—I’ve tried to cut myself off from it, to disengage properly and mourn and then move on, especially given all that we know now about the people involved. Please believe me when I say I’ve tried. But so much of me is twisted up in this story and this fandom and this community that every attempt makes me feel like I’m hacking off something vital or scooping my guts out, and I’m just—I’m not ready yet. And I have to admit (horribly, selfishly) that if I could do it all over again, I would choose to click on that lore video over and over again.

I would be a different person if I didn’t.

[howlsmovinglibrary]

Could I trouble you for a book recommendation? As someone who usually pretty exclusively reads fanfiction or nonfiction, I’ve never been good at finding good fiction and you always seem like you have interesting reads!

hey anon!

if you have anything specific you're looking for, genre-wise/dynamic-wise/tone-wise etc., please feel free to send another ask! :)

for now, I've gone with a list of books that I all rated five stars when I read them, that remind me of fanfiction (or at least, the things *I* like in fanfiction!)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett This is a fantasy novel with an academic rivals-to-lovers romance in it, focusing on an academic trying to document fairy activity in Iceland (in a world where faeires are real). The way the romance is written reminds me of my favourite fanfic dynamics (mutual pining high Charisma x high Intelligence, my beloved), but the plot of this novel is also really fucking stellar and it holds it's own not as a romance book.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik if you've read anything by astolat on AO3, then you've read Naomi Novik lol :')))) i prefer novik's fic, but Uprooted is one of my favourite novels. This is like, sorcerer x wizard, but again I feel like while the romance has fic qualities the plot of this novel really holds up (no one I know has been able to put it down for the last 100 pages. You then read the last 100 pages so fucking fast that you don't remember anything that happened.)

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan Sarah Rees Brennan writes with that humorous-but-serious style that I like in fanfic - like, the emotional moments hit so hard, but the rest is a wee bit silly and the jokes always land. This is a coming of age novel about a human guy who goes to portal-quest magic school, but basically tries to implement diplomatic/bureaucratic solutions to problems. The main character is a sarcastic bisexual after my own heart.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black This is the vibe most enemies-to-lovers fics wished they had, to be honest. This book is very easy to read, but the relationship between the two leads is Very Good. It tails off in the third book (still sad about this, to this day), but the 'let's be worse together' dynamic really had me by the throat for a while! Jude is an adopted human girl living in Faerie, ruthlessly intelligent and desperate to keep herself and her family safe, trying to find ways to survive in a place where she is constantly under threat. Cardan is an asshole. But he's about to be humbled like you'll never fucking believe.

The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood The Serpent Gates duology is the book series I've read most recently that gave me the serotonin hit of a solidly good fanfic. The author has this perfect balance of humour and solid, heartrending character work. Csorwe is a girl who has been selected to be the Sacrificial Bride to a god called the Unspoken One, but at the last minute is saved by a wizard who offers to take her away from her death and give her a new life.

[tripleglitchwriting]

You mentioned Ultra Magnus trying to cope with the world of One Piece and the Strawhat Pirates and I. Am. Here. For. It.

UM is a very ernest stressed out lawful good character. and the Strawhats are a chaotic good force. More Chaos than all the Wreckers and the Lost Light put together.

So in honor of that post If you don't mind me asking for two requests in one request box open run I'd like to request a One Piece/Lost Lighters crossover.

The Strawhats are helping The Lost Light crew because Luffy and Rodimus vibe. Roddy has a grand fleet flag and Luffy has a Rodimus star.

Either, Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus in a lull in the action asks Robin why she's a Strawhat Pirate. She's the only sane one here.

Or, if your in the mood for something lighter, Franky and Brainstorm Share The Brain-cell^TM while Usop and Perceptor attempt damage control.

YOU UNDERSTAND. YOU GET IT. I will be happy to write this!! I’m sorry it took me so long, I’ve been going through a rough patch when it comes to motivation.

The lost light characters may be a bit ooc because I’ve been having a hard time gauging their personalities. A lot of what I have for them in my head is from other fanfictions.

Also, this is just the start of the story, it’s just how they meet. I’ve yet to write specific interactions between characters, but I wholeheartedly plan to write more!

A little side note for clarification on One Piece in case anyone needs it:

- This takes place sometime after Jinbei gets on the ship

- I watch the dub so I’m going to use all of the names and such they use there (ex. Black foot Sanji -> Black leg Sanji)

- Sanji and Brook will be normal to women. I just don’t want to write them being weird.

Without further ado, I present…

Ten Idiots Meet A Ship Full Of Other Significantly Bigger Idiots

Synopsis:

After an experiment gone bad on the Lost Light (again), a portal is temporarily opened up to another dimension. Before it could be closed, however, a group of strange individuals manage to slip through.

After a long day at sea, The Strawhats always look forward to a first-class home cooked meal by Sanji himself. It was a beautiful evening- the crew opted to stay out on the deck of the Sunny to watch the sunset.

“SANJI! I’M HUNGRY! FOOD! NOW!” Not that much peace could be had with a captain like Luffy.

“I’m coming! Not every cook can whip up something like this every night you know. I swear, you guys eat more than a whole island every day.”

“Hey, that’s just Luffy. Don’t include the rest of us in this!” Nami shouted from the stairs leading to where the rest of the crew sat.

“I’M YOUR CAPTAIN AND I SAY FEED ME! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!” Luffy pumped his arms as he chanted, sticking his tongue out as he watched Sanji cart out a giant platter of cartoonishly large meat.

“Smells as delicious as ever, Sanji.” Brook commented.

“Thank you, Brook. At least someone appreciates my food around here.” He glared at his captain, who was completely oblivious to everything else around him and solely focused on his food. Everyone else chatted away. Laughing, eating, looking up at the beautiful swirling vortex that had just appeared in the sky.

Wait.

Luffy had to stretch his arms up as his food began to be sucked into the portal above them, but it was in vain as he began to float too. The Sunny creaked as gravity shifted around them, everything but the ship itself beginning a startling ascent upwards.

“MY MEAT! NAMI, WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

“How should I know?!” She clung to an uprooting tangerine tree, “This is NOT normal! I haven’t read anything about whatever this is!”

“Everybody hang on to something!” Jinbei ordered, staring to float himself. Brook didn’t seem to get the message, as he was the first to loose his grip.

“SOMEBODYHELPMEIMBEINGPULLEDIN—”vwoop! And then he was gone.

“BROOK!” Luffy, having already eaten everything on his plate, launched himself into the portal.

“Damnit Luffy!” Zoro did the same soon after.

“What? Are we seriously going in that thing?” Chopper squealed, Usopp and Nami seemed to agree.

“Maybe we’ll all be immediately killed once we enter. It would be a painless death at least.” Robin said calmly, affixing herself to the ground with her devil fruit powers.

“YOU ARE NOT HELPING!” Usopp, Nami, and Chopper all screamed in unison.

“I suppose this is our next adventure!” Jinbei leapt through the portal. Sanji sighed and followed after him.

“Well, Sunny’s too big to go through that thing, so I guess we’re goin’ in without her.” Franky detached himself from the mast.

“Okay everyone, come on.” Robin peeled Usopp, Nami, and Chopper from their death grips on the ship and took all of them with her as she joined the rest of the crew.

“ROBIN WHY-“ Vwoop! And just like that, the Thousand Sunny was left empty.

————————————

Brainstorm was in big trouble. And possibly the entire Lost Light. And maybe the universe. The good news is his portal machine worked! The bad news is it was now pulling in random things from a random space in the multiverse. This would be a great opportunity to study it, unfortunately the stability of the thing was questionable. That is to say the portal was currently beginning to implode.

“Brainstorm, what are you doing!?” Preceptor skidded into the room right as he heard the snapping and crackling of something that probably shouldn’t be making that sound.

“Oh, nothing. It’s fine! It’s fine. I just need to- oh that’s not good. Actually do you mind helping me shut this down before it destroys the entire ship?”

“You’re going to be the death of all of us-” right as he began to walk toward the vortex, a screaming clatter of something came speeding out of it. On closer inspection, it seemed to be the corpse of a human.

“Oh, well, that’s new.” Brainstorm oh so helpfully commented. Just after another being came from the portal, also screaming but not quite as dead. Another followed, this one with a complete and utter look of annoyance on his face.

“What in the- Brainstorm, what did you do?” Ratchet entered, as did Ultra Magnus.

Soon there was an array of things entering the room. Aside from the array of random objects, there was a large blue organic followed by an another human wearing a black suit, then large possibly techno organic. Four other small people shot out shortly after.

“CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT NOW!” Ratchet ordered.

“Oh why didn’t I think of that- oh wait, I did, and I COULD USE SOME HELP!” Together they pulled on a comically large mad scientist like lever affixed to the portals control panel. As quick as it had arrived the portal was gone, though what- or who- it had just pulled in were gaining their bearings.

“Hahahaha! That was fun!” One of the humans, one wearing a yellow hat with a red line across it, put his hand on his head and looked around. It took him a second to notice, but when he finally realized where he was the man yelled, “WOAH! Cool! This place is huge!”

“It seems to be some sort of… metal building. A giant workstation perhaps.” The blue man said thoughtfully.

“Well I say we get out of here! I don’t want to be around when we find out why this place needs to be so big!” A long-nosed human whisper shouted.

“What, like those freaky statues?” The very annoyed man gestured at Brainstorm, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, and Preceptor, who were all standing completely still. That is, until Rodimus showed up.

“Brainstorm, I heard yelling, is there a fight? Without me?” He strolled in casually, not looking at the floor, and instead focusing on his crew who were all staring at him. “What? What did I do?”

“That. Is. AWESOME!” Something from the floor shot up at Rodimus’s face. “Are you a robot? Can you shoot lasers? Do you eat metal?!” Somehow, someway, there was an ecstatic human right in front of his optics.

“Luffy! Get down from there!”

“Woah. So, care to explain? Anyone?”

“We are not robots, we are Cybertronian.” Ultra Magnus automatically stated.

“Cool!” ‘Luffy’, as his friend called him, somehow managed to launch himself on top of Rodimus’s helm. “Is there any food here?”

“Luffy! Damnit-” Another of the humans, the one in the suit, jumped. Accept when one would normally begin to succumb to gravity and fall back down, he took another step in the air and kept going. “You are so reckless!” The man tackled Luffy off Rodimus and they both began to plummet down to the ground- a height deadly to something so small.

“Sanji, let me down! I want to talk to the robot!”

“How about you shut up and come up with a plan before you get us all killed!” The moment they jumped off, Ratchet was already in motion. He was able to dive behind Rodimus to catch the two, but as he slid on the ground to save them ‘Sanji’ jumped off the air again and landed perfectly safe.

“I… I can’t even begin to explain this.” He admitted in a completely defeated tone, now chassis down on the floor.

“Do they all move?” A small voice whispered from the group still standing where the portal once was.

“I hope not.” Another replied.

“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Brainstorm said calmly.

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted this.” Ultra Magnus put his servo on his helm. The two that had just survived a deadly landing like it was nothing walked back to their group- one much more unhappy than the other.

“Sorry about him. He does this a lot.” The annoyed green haired man glared at both of them.

“Oh, like you’re any better moss head.”

“Oh yeah? At least I didn’t jump in the face of a giant robot!”

“Yeah, cause you’d get lost on the way there!”

“You take that back-“

“STOP IT!” Half of the new arrivals shouted at the same time. One orange haired girl stepped up to comfort the bickering duo.

“This is not the time to argue! We’re kind of… we- look!” She gestured at, well, everything. Everyone else seemed to silently agree.

“Greetings visitors from another world! Welcome aboard the Lost Light!” Brainstorm announced with a flashy arm movement.

“Hey, I’m the captain, I get to welcome people into the ship!”

“You’re a captain?! Is this a pirate ship? Are you giant robot pirates?!” Luffy shouted in awe, though still in the arms of Sanji, who promptly dropped him.

“He said he was ‘Cybertronian’ bro. Not a robot.” The probably techno organic chastised.

“Psh, whatever.” Luffy got himself to his feet.

“We are not pirates.” Ultra Magnus said very sternly. “We are on a perfectly legal exploratory expedition.”

“Oh, bummer.” He glanced around once again. Apparently deciding now was a good time, he introduced himself. “My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!” Luffy smiled brightly and giggled, either ignoring or disregarding his friends facepalms.

“Well, I’d say this was a great success!” Brainstorm cheered to himself. “Who knew that was possible! I really am a genius.”

“And who are you?” ‘Moss head’ sneered at him. “Who are any of you? This is weird.”

“Well, if I’m allowed to introduce my own ship this time, my name is Rodimus Prime, captain of the Lost Light!”

“Hang on, this is your ship? How did you build something like this, it looks like it’s straight outta Vegapunk’s lab! What part of the world are we in anyway?” The blue hair techno organic asked, putting his oversized hand on his strangely shaped chin.

“Space, my friend. We’re in space. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if anything living would make it through that portal. Looks like it’s got about a 9 out of 10 survival rate which is better than most multidimensional portals I’ve seen. That is to say I’ve never seen one before, because I built the first one. Just now. No need to congratulate me.” Ignoring Brainstorm’s blatant narcissism, the of new arrivals looked absolutely flabbergasted by this information.

“We’re in space? Like, space space? Outer space?” Luffy asked with eyes wider than any moon, a big bright burning ball of excitement building in his chest.

“I assume you’ve never been off your planet before?” Perceptor asked. Luffy didn’t respond this time. He looked like he was about to burst with excitement, though his crew mates didn’t seem to pay much mind. One or two of them shook their heads in response to the question. “Well, Brainstorm, care to explain what you’ve done here?”

“What I’ve done- well, if you have the mental capacity to understand- I can give you a basic rundown. I’ve designed this portal to reach into alternate dimensions, which have hardly been confirmed to exist other than the dead universe. I’ve been worked steadily on it for a while now, and today I tested it out. It brought these ten organics here as well as some other junk.”

“Brainstorm.”

“Yes?”

“You mean to tell me, you turned on an untested and extremely dangerous machine that could obliterate our entire existence within nanokliks for no reason other than bragging rights? And when it miraculously did work, you pulled in ten random people from an unknown possibly incredibly dangerous world that could have also imploded our entire existence?”

“Yes that about sums it up.” Perceptor’s optic twitched, but as it seemed time was moving a bit too fast for him to start lecturing. The corpse on the floor began to move, slowly at first, and then in a sharp practiced motion it popped up on its feet.

“Yohohoho! I think I passed out for a second there!” The skeleton looked around. “Oh. I definitely passed out. No bones about it!” The apparently not corse laughed to himself.

“Cool! I didn’t think those human stories about corpses coming back to life were real!” Rodimus said with a childlike playfulness.

“They’re not.” Ultra Magnus argued bluntly.

“Oh, I am a skeleton. It’s a long story. Say, Luffy, what is going on?”

“We got sucked through a portal and now we’re talking to giant robot guys.”

“Oh okay.” The skeleton nodded, and then quickly scurried to where three of the other humans (and animal thing?) were huddled.

“Well, remind me to change that to a 10 out of 10 survival rate!”

“I feel like introductions are in order here…” Perceptor stated, “I’ll go first. My name is Perceptor. I’m a scientist. Now, you.” He gestured at Brainstorm.

“Well, if you insist. I am Brainstrom. Genius inventor of the machine that brought you all here.”

“I am the duly enfor- ah, I mean Ultra Magnus. I try to keep the peace around here.”

“You know me, I’m Rodimus.” He nudged Ratchet. “It’s your turn, doc.”

“Fine. I’m Ratchet. Retired head medical officer.“

“Cool names!” Luffy, having sprung back up, was jumping up and down. “This is my crew, the Strawhat Pirates!”

“Roronoa Zoro. Soon to be greatest swordsman and second hand man.” ‘Moss head’ introduced himself. The orange hair girl stepped out of the group.

“I’m Nami, the navigator.” The long nose man shakily emerged after her.

“I am commander Usopp! Best sniper in the world! I’m also the leader of one thousa-“

“Don’t even start.” The suit wearing man stepped up. “Sanji. I’m the crew’s chef.” The animal like thing approached from behind another crew member.

“Um, my name’s Chopper. I’m the doctor.” He tapped his hooves together nervously. A woman, one who hasn’t said much until now, patted the hat on his head in a compassionate manner.

“I’m Nico Robin, an archeologist.” She smiled sweetly and quickly got out of the way of the blue haired inhuman human man rushing to the front.

“Name’s Franky!” He struck a strange pose. “A SUPER good shipwright!” The skeleton stepped up beside him and did a short bow.

“My name is Brook. I am lucky to be the musician of this crew. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” When he stood up the large blue man stood beside him.

“I am Jinbe, the helmsman. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.” He bowed deeply.

“Now that we did that, do you guys have any food?” Luffy asked immediately and without hesitation.

The fifteen of them stood in Brainstorm’s mildly disfigured lab space, each with very different thoughts running through their heads. A new world, a new people, things most on the Lost Light never even imagined possible. From then on, the world got a little more chaotic.

[hattiestgal]

What led to your furry awakening?

Ooh, this is actually something that happened in two parts!

So- this was around the time of when I was making a youtube channel as a kid. My brother was having his furry awakening at the time for one reason or another, and being as close as we were, I wanted in. There were definitely things I didn't realize at the time as to why furries as a whole were clicking with me so much, but it just felt fun (and... right) to draw silly animal creatures! Especially having a fursona made me happy.

I think another reason I enjoyed it so much is that it sorta just felt like a thing where you could be... you, y'know? I saw the furry youtubers my brother was watching at the time, and it was one of the first times I had seen an openly gay person beyond overdramatizations of those folks on tv. And even beyond that, these were folks who wanted to portray themselves as animals! They'd talk about being bullied and the likes, but still holding onto their identities regardless.. it was very inspiring.

That is until I hit a pretty dark period in my life. I won't go into the specifics here, but there was a lotta tension and trouble among my family at the time, and then later my entire life as a whole was uprooted and moved away, and well... I sorta just felt like I had to become a featureless mannequin for a while. I didn't wanna worry anyone by being anything other than as approachable as possible, no matter what. Especially as my minor attempts at expressing myself got shut down, things.. got put on the back burner for a long time.

It was only a few years back when everything finally clicked again. Deltarune had been out for a little while, and I had finally gotten some exposure to it at a friends house. I was an undertale kid when I was younger- obsessed with the game, and it's fandom for the longest time- so it just reawoke something in me. Seeing toby's writing again, the complete lack of fear to depict characters that drastically went against gender roles, characters who were gay, the whole big deal. And a good deal of em were silly animals! When chapter two came out, I was neck deep in the games fandom for a long while. I was drawing fanart, looking at others' interpretation of the story at hand, started reading fanfiction, and it all just clicked again.

Soon, I took a dip back into drawing regular old furry art again, inspired by my friends asking me to make a snake thief character, which eventually turned into my first sona after so many years.. Sydney.

Not only did this goofball help solifidy a lot of my still VERY developing queer identity at the time-

But it led to me making this little shit >:3

[sylve0nlover]

Watching the uprooted livestream while reading the most cringiest, Mary sue, once upon a witchlight fanfiction ever is a new hobbie

(Edit): She’s a fucking cleric 😭😭, another edit why is she singing to mr light? Edit again she’s 5’3 😐 she’s has blue orbs and blonde luscious hair 😢 final edit I couldn’t finish it,it was too much

[libellule-ao3]

Welcome!

I'm a reader and writer of fanfiction, active since 2020 on AO3 [➡️ Libellule-Sulfureuse].

Below you'll find my fanfics, my character profiles, fanarts, HCs...

I like the idea that fanfiction is all about sharing, excitement, and good times. So please feel free to contact me with any requests or questions about my stories/characters. 💚

And Thanks to everyone who likes, reblogs & comments on my stuff! It means so much, you can't imagine! 🫶

✅️ = Completed fanfiction

⚠️🤜 = Graphic depictions of violence

🔞🔥 = Smut

➡️ HL Fanarts (commissions & gifts)

✅️ | Obsession | 🔞🔥 | Dark!Dominis/You-F!Reader | 21k words

After Hogwarts, Ominis Gaunt embarks on a journey of introspection to gain perspective on his life. Haunted by your promise, which he ignored at the time, he returns to London a year later and discovers your new intimacy with Sebastian. No matter! For Ominis, you must honour the promise he never asked of you. Whether you like it or not.

☆ Lullaby for Cursed Seeds | 🔞🔥 | ⚠️🤜 | Ominis Gaunt/Evelyne Lavandin (#EVINIS)

Ominis Gaunt, the pure-blood wizard, struggles to thrive in the stifling shadow of his family manor. A prisoner of a heritage he rejects.

Evelyne Lavandin, on the other hand, is a precocious Muggle-born witch who has been uprooted since people greedy for power and money tore her away from her family.

Two characters and two solitudes separated by everything. And yet, who still believes that encounters are the fruit of chance?

✅️ | Venom & Velvet | 🔞🔥 | Ominis Gaunt/Evelyne (#Evinis) | 6,9k words

Evelyne has never celebrated her birthday. But Ominis, having uncovered this truth, decides to show her that she deserves to be celebrated. Between reproach, passion, and tenderness, he turns the day into an unforgettable memory.

✅️ | Wild Surrender | 🔞🔥| Sebastian/You + Garreth/you) | 3k words

Sebastian doesn't want you! And although he has kissed you passionately in what he calls a moment of weakness, he never misses an opportunity to remind you of it. For Garreth, this rejection is too ostentatious to be sincere and he decides to help you force Sebastian to reveal himself.

✅️ | The Snake's Duality |🔞| ⚠️🤜 | Dark!Seb /Ominis, ambiguous relationship | 2k words

Sebastian has just been released from Azkaban after more than three years in prison. 1 223 days to be exact. His first instinct is to find Ominis, whose weekly letters rekinkled in extremis his desire to live, drained by the dementors, and he realise that a shadow reeking of malevolence is following him like a shadow.

✅️| Bloody woman! |🔞🔥| Sebastian/F!reader | 1k words

✅️| Veins of time | Leila Sae-OFC & Evelyne Lavandin-OFC (Written for the Secret Magic Santa 2023)| 2k words

✅️ | Late Bloom | Mirabel Garlick/OFC | 1k words

After the shared night with Viviane, Mirabel reflects on the path that led them to this intimate moment, anticipating the challenges of their future together.

✅️ | In the Shadow of Midnight Confessions for silverxstardust |Sebastian/You | 3k words

When Sebastian met you in the Slytherin common room, you didn't expect to receive such a confession. Nevertheless, it explains a lot.

✅️ | Lonely Pleasure |🔞🔥| Ominis/you | 600 words

✅️ | Sex under the coat | 🔞🔥| Ominis/Evelyne | 850 words

✅️ | In the Shadow of the Lost Time for Tamayula💛 | M | Dad!Sebastian/Sakurako (MC) | 8kwords

Devastated by the loss of his wife Sakurako, Sebastian falls into despair and obsession. Torn between his duty as a father and his quest for escape, he seeks solace through questionable means.

✅️ | Desiderium Patris Indigni for Tamayula💛 | 🔞🔥| Sebastian/Sakurako (MC) | 5k words

Haunted by his past mistakes, Sebastian fears he may be unworthy of his future role as a father and of his child's love.

✅️ | Himitsu no Shibari for Annarielmidori 💚| 🔞🔥| Ominis/You-F!reader | 4k words

In feudal Japan, where duty reigns supreme, you find yourself trapped in an arranged marriage with a ruthless daimyo. However, you unexpectedly discover solace in the arms of your brother-in-law, Ominis.

☆ In Mrs Gaunt's Nightgown | 🔞🔥|Ominis Gaunt/You-F!Reader

Like all young women, your friend Adelia dreamed of a loving union.But like most pure-blooded witches, she found herself trapped in an arranged marriage. However, she sees a clause in her marriage contract that offers her a way out... and you are the key.

My HCs :

Ominis' wand + Sebastian's wand

Some Hogwarts Legacy characters & their MBTI types

Ominis, his eyes and his experience as a blind wizard

NSFW Alphabets: Ominis Gaunt | Dark!Ominis | Sebastian Sallow

Meet: Evelyne Lavandin (OFC- Hogwarts Legacy)

Jae Kim's bets |🔞 🔥| ⚠️🤜| Jae Kim/Annie Thorn | 59k words

When Jacob's sister makes a stupid bet to motivate him during the chore of washing dishes imposed by Pitts, she has no idea what she's getting into. Indeed, Jae Kim is a particularly mischievous boy, with much naughtier aims than she imagined. Will their little games strengthen their friendship, destroy it or lead to a romantic relationship?

Life Links | T | Second war against Voldemort from the POV of the hphm characters |

The members of the Circle of Khanna, an underground student organisation dedicated to bringing justice to their murdered comrade, have grown up. Since graduating, some of them have never left each other's side, while others never thought they would see each other again. Yet as the final battle against Voldemort looms, only one question remains. How will the links forged yesterday influence the battle of Hogwarts?

✅️ | Are flowers counted? |Jae Kim&Annie Thorn | 1,000 words

For the first time in 100 years, Phyllida's Flutterby bushes will bloom at Hogwarts. This is an exceptional event which, by chance of the calendar, falls on Valentine's Day.

✅️ | Skating Lesson | Jae Kim&Annie Thorn | 1,000 words

A lesson in skating turns out to be much more instructive and valuable than expected.

✅️ | Broken Promise | Jacob&Annie&Peregrine | 3,5k words

Jacob suffers from his father's absence and tries to spare his little sister the same grief.

✅️ | Little Sheninagans for Eternalchocolaterain 💙| T | Merula Snyde/Quinn Lee) => [on Tumblr] 1k words

Gossip about her relationship with Quinn is getting on Merula's nerves, and she's determined to divert attention from the rabble.

Meet Annie Thorn (MC) & Jacob Thorn

✅️ | From Monster to Brother | ⚠️🤜 | Gaara & Temari & Kankurō & Baki | 13k words

Fanfiction about how Gaara reconnected with Temari and Kankurō after the Konoha Crush.

[vivitalks]

you are a wildflower garden growing in my head

not to be insane about my own fanfiction that i wrote but i am a little insane about this one. so like come be insane with me. join me. dont be afraid. i dont bite (lying) nico deserves hobbies especially when they enable his own self-actualization. anyway. this was written for the bingo prompt "jason remembers nico" i'm normal normal normal about it (still lying) title from the witching hour by the ready set. nico di angelo ass song read it here on ao3

Jason finds Nico among the strawberry plants, staining his hands and knees with dirt.

It's not…like, he's not embarrassed. Plenty of people like to garden. Nico is entitled to his hobbies. Even secret ones. And it’s only a secret because he doubts the Demeter and Dionysus kids would be particularly receptive to Nico tampering with their beloved source of income.

Despite this, he can't help his instinct to be defensive when Jason walks up, the early evening sun haloing him in light.

“Whatcha doin’?”

Nico gestures. “Weeding.”

“Cool,” Jason says, because he’s Jason. “Mind if I join you?”

“To keep me company, or to help?”

“Whichever.”

Nico points to a few rogue sprouts. “If you're here anyway, you might as well get your hands dirty.”

“Done,” Jason says, immediately tearing out the weed with ruthless force. Nico cringes.

“Try to be gentler,” he says, and demonstrates on his own. “Like this. And make sure to get the roots out, otherwise it’ll just grow back.”

“What's the difference?” Jason asks. “We're killing it either way.”

“Yeah, but…” Nico squirms. “Just because we're killing it, doesn't mean we have to make it suffer. Wouldn't you rather die in your sleep than bleed out with all your limbs torn off?”

Graphic, but it gets the point across.

“Fair enough.” Jason looks a little faint, but he tugs out the next weed with a lot more precision, careful to unearth its roots and all.

“I know it takes a little longer,” Nico says, “but mercy is a worthwhile use of time. In my opinion.”

Jason has this look. It lands on Nico. “You never cease to amaze me,” he says. Almost reverently.

Nico turns the color of strawberries. “Shut up. Keep weeding.”

“Aye aye.” Jason salutes and returns to his assigned task. Every so often he'll stop to check with Nico if something is a weed or not, but he's always gentle pulling them out.

After a few minutes, Nico says, “How did you find me?”

Because realistically, anyone looking for Nico would probably never consider checking the strawberry fields. In fact, most people would discourage him from being there at all.

“I don't know,” Jason says, which causes Nico to look up in surprise. A thoughtful look crosses Jason's face. “Lucky guess, I suppose.”

“Hell of a guess,” Nico says, reaching for another green shoot. It comes out of the earth so easily, barely old enough to have burrowed down, and some part of Nico feels a sting at that. Plants uprooted before ever having a chance to grow. Nico knows what that's like.

He also knows that weeds don't mean to be bad. They don't mean to be anything; they're harmful only when rooted near bigger, better flora. It's not their fault they hog the nutrients and land. Like any living thing, all they want is to survive. Their only crime is trying to grow with something prettier flourishing close by.

Nico knows that feeling, too.

He really hates weeding. But he's long since learned it's a necessary part of gardening, and of life. Not everyone can live. Not everyone can grow. Some plants — some people — are poison. Sometimes the only thing to do is to whisper apologies and dig out the roots, and hope that whatever this dead plant becomes next has better luck than what it was first.

“Did you need something?”

“Do I have to need something?”

“No, but…” Nico shrugs. “I don’t know. I assume you hunted me down for something. And you didn’t have to stay here and help me weed.”

“I did not hunt you down,” Jason says indignantly. “I was looking for you because I wanted to hang out with you. You’re doing this, so I’m doing it too.” 

“I'm not trying to say you shouldn't. And I always—” Nico falters. Stupid. This is his boyfriend. If he wanted to continue being an unknowable enigma with emotions under lock, key, and unbreakable steel trapdoor, he wouldn't have gotten himself involved with Jason ‘Heart On His Heroic Sleeve’ Grace. “I always want to hang out with you. I just meant, you didn’t have to help. You could have sat and done nothing.”

“Look, if I'm that bad at weeding, you can just say—”

Nico throws a handful of weeds at Jason and he dodges, laughing. “Shut up. I hate you. I wish I could pull you up by the roots.”

Smiling, Jason says, “You kind of did.”

Nico's brain gives him an error message.

“What does that mean?”

“I mean…you literally uprooted me.” Once again, he has that pensive expression, like Nico is an abstract painting that Jason is admiring while also trying to interpret. It's not the worst way to be looked at. “My whole life before you was Camp Jupiter. The legion. Being Roman. Being Jupiter's kid.”

“I didn't change all of that,” Nico points out. “You did.”

He can feel the chill of the cold ground through his jeans. Every inch of his palms is smudged with dirt. Jason's hands are starting to look the same. There's a dark streak by his hairline, and one on his jaw, and the setting sun keeps glinting off his glasses. It is, on the whole, unfairly attractive of him.

Jason hums like maybe, maybe not. “It still feels like you were the catalyst to all that change. The good change, not the…manipulated-by-Juno change.”

“I appreciate what you're doing,” Nico says, “but you understand that's ridiculous, right? We didn't know each other until after the prophecy and the quest and everything. I can't have had any impact on you before then.”

“But you were at Camp Jupiter. You arrived just before I disappeared.”

“I know that,” — People suspected me, Nico doesn't add — “but we barely spoke.”

“Yeah, but you…” Jason falls silent, his eyebrows drawn together. If Nico was art before, he's a riddle now, and Jason is struggling to solve it. “I just…feel like it was important. The timing.”

Nico buries his fingers in the ground, relishing the way the dirt crumbles and closes around his touch.

“The timing was important,” he says. “My dad knew Hera was planning something, so he sent me to Camp Jupiter like…an advance team. But it had nothing to do with you.” He pauses. “No offense.”

“No, none taken.” Jason’s laugh is a little off. “I don't know. Maybe I'm going crazy.”

“If you're crazy, I belong in an asylum,” Nico says, digging and digging until he can feel the roots of the closest weed. He pinches it between his thumb and forefinger, and watches as it turns brown, then shrivels into a dead, drooping dandelion.

He winces. That's his least favorite weeding strategy. He didn't even mean to do it just now. It's like his own body is saying, You're damn right you should be locked up. See what you can do?

I'm helping plants grow, he retorts.

His brain says, Only you would inflict death and call it ‘helping’.

Nico growls under his breath and stops listening to his brain.

“Anyway, you're not crazy,” he adds belatedly. “A goddess literally played with your memory and identity like Play-Doh, so cut yourself some slack.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Nico figures Jason is deep in thought, but when he glances up, he sees a different look on Jason’s face — like he’s just solved the riddle.

“I’ve seen you do that before.”

It’s quiet and distant, Jason’s voice, and weighted with a revelation. Of something, though Nico���s not sure what. Nico doesn’t mean to, but he recoils a little — at the thought of Jason, some previous Jason, watching him ruthlessly murder an innocent plant, maybe even without meaning to.

“At Camp Jupiter,” Jason murmurs.

Those words don’t make sense. They smack into Nico’s memory like birds into a glass window pane, seeking a target and failing miserably.

“What?”

“At camp,” Jason says slowly, his hands resting limply in the loam. Behind the frames of his glasses, his eyes are unfocused. “One of your…first days there. I saw. You killed a hyacinth.”

An icy hand reaches into Nico’s chest, past his ribs, and closes around his heart.

“You saw that?”

Jason nods, still lost in the memory. “You were coming up to the principia, and you knelt to admire the flowers.”

To admire the flowers. Yes. That’s all he'd been doing. The walkway leading to the principia had been gorgeous, elegant flora lining the path in a rainbow of colors, a dozen or more different varieties in bloom. And Nico had only wanted to appreciate their beauty. To breathe in the fragrance of something so alive. 

“As soon as you touched it,” Jason says, “it died.”

Nico flinches.

“I was— I was nervous,” he says anxiously. “You and Reyna had asked to see me, and I was afraid you would decide I couldn’t stay. Couldn’t— be trusted.”

“I…” One of Jason’s hands comes up to rub the back of his neck, smudging dirt all over himself. “When I saw that, I had my doubts. But the way you reacted — like you were scared of yourself.” He shakes his head, his eyes sliding over Nico but with the distinct impression of looking beyond him. “I thought you must not have done it on purpose.”

“I didn’t.” Nico feels sick. He doesn’t know what to do here. Jason can’t even look at him. “I had never done it before, not by accident. I was scared.”

“And then I saw something else,” Jason says, blinking repeatedly. He pulls his glasses down the bridge of his nose and rubs his eyes with grimy hands, leaving the impression of twin shiners behind. But when he pushes his glasses up again, his gaze is sharp and focused. He faces Nico, straightening his shoulders. “That night, I watched you plant a new hyacinth.”

Nico stares. The ground underneath him might as well be thin air. “You…you saw that?”

“It was late,” Jason says, perfectly clear now, growing more certain every second. “I mean, later than anyone should have been up and about, but I left something in the principia, so I went back to get it, and when I came out, you were there. Kneeling by the flowers, just like that morning.”

Nico vividly remembers this. The wilted hyacinth had haunted him that whole day, a lethal combination of guilt and fear in equal measure. Something beautiful and alive was now ugly and dead, because of him. If he could do that to a flower, without even meaning to, what could he do to another person? What if he could stop someone’s heart on contact? How could Nico ever trust his own touch again?

And then something else had arisen, the way a new substance can emerge from two chemicals interacting. Determination. Nico may have been a child of death, but damn it, he could be more than that. He had to be more than that.

“I killed something,” Nico says hollowly. “I wanted to give something else life. To atone.”

Jason puts his dirt-stained hand over the knee of Nico’s equally dirt-stained jeans.

“Nico, I watched you plant that flower. I saw…” He hesitates. “I saw you pray. I couldn’t hear you, but the way you just…” He shakes his head, obviously overcome by the memory. “You didn’t do it for anyone else. You weren’t trying to prove anything to the Romans, you were just trying to make up for your mistake.”

“I didn’t know you were there,” Nico says weakly. How long had Jason stood in the shadows of the principia, a silent observer, as Nico mourned for one dead flower?

Jason ducks his head for a second. “I thought— I didn’t want to embarrass you,” he admits. “I figured you would misunderstand me if I said I had been watching you.”

Well, that’s true enough.

“I forgot,” Jason says, which is a familiar sentence out of his mouth. He grips Nico’s leg tighter. “But now I remember, and I was right. It was important. The timing was important.”

“What timing? What are you talking about?”

“My whole life, I had this feeling like I wanted to be more than who my father was,” Jason says. “I mean, you know. Big Three dad. They named the camp for him. Big shoes to fill, and it wasn’t that I didn’t want to fill them, but a small part of me was always thinking, why me? Why can’t someone else lead? You know?”

Nico nods. He does know.

“And then you came along,” Jason says. “The only other Big Three kid I had ever met. And yeah, at first, you seemed like the quintessential descendant of Pluto.”

“Scary, unapproachable, and surrounded by death?”

Jason breathes a laugh. “Yeah. But then I watched you plant a flower.” A slow-growing smile starts at his lips, then spreads up his cheekbones and illuminates his eyes. “The son of death. Nurturing life. Showing remorse and empathy for the living thing he’d killed, that he didn’t even mean to kill.” There’s impossible brightness in Jason’s gaze. “You were so much more than just the son of Pluto. And I thought: if he can do it, why can’t I?”

Nurturing life. Like now, Nico thinks, deliberately closing his fingers around the base of a strawberry plant. That instance, the one Jason is talking about — that had been the beginning of a chain reaction in Nico, turning all of his fear and self-doubt into stubborn conviction. The slow dawning of his refusal to being bound by his father’s name. He would always be Hades’s son, but sooner or later, he had to become his own man, write his own story, choose his own fate. Be Nico di Angelo, and decide who exactly Nico di Angelo would be.

He’d known then who he wanted to be. Someone who protects. Preserves. Sustains. Someone who accepts death and who cultivates life, who one day strikes a balance between light and dark.

He’s not that person yet. But he’s a hell of a lot closer than he once was. And it began with that hyacinth, planted under moonlight.

To which Jason bore witness.

If Nico believed in coincidences, he would call this one. As it is, he tends to believe that everything happens for a reason. Nico was fated to plant that flower. Jason was fated to watch.

“I’m telling you, Nico, it was you who got me thinking about how I could be more than just Jupiter’s son,” Jason says. “You really opened my eyes. And then a month later, when Juno took me…” He chews his lip. “I didn’t remember that moment until now, but I remember how I felt afterwards, like I wanted to just — do something spontaneous, something completely out of character. Surrender my rank and figure out what Jason Grace could do that Jupiter couldn’t. Even when I had amnesia, and even after that, I still had that feeling. It’s what made it so easy for me to choose Greek, to promote Frank as praetor, and then to stay here.” His fist knocks a quick pattern against Nico’s chest. The rhythm is indistinguishable from Nico’s heartbeat. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it started with you.”

Nico, historically not great with emotions, pulls Jason in by the shirtfront and kisses him in all his dirt-smudged glory. Jason laughs, but he doesn’t break away to do it, so it vibrates over Nico’s lips and travels down his throat like a mild electric shock.

“What?” Nico asks, pulling away.

Jason’s smile looks indestructible. “Nothing.”

“You laughed.”

“I like when you kiss me,” Jason says, with the sun shining from his dimples. “That’s all.”

Nico blushes. “Oh.”

“I didn’t mean to stop you.” Jason’s lips twitch. “But while I’m at it, I guess I should thank you.”

“Thank me for what?” For kissing you? Nico considers, but he’s not that deluded. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You always say that,” Jason says, “after doing something amazing.”

This blush is not going anywhere, anytime soon. “Well, I didn’t do anything on purpose. I didn’t know you were watching.”

“Exactly. You inspired me without even meaning to.” Jason cups his face, so tender. Always. “Then and now.”

“It’s like you want me to kiss you,” Nico says, because he can’t take a compliment to save his life.

But Jason only grins. “I do want you to kiss me.”

Out of respect for Jason’s request, Nico kisses him again. 

This time, Jason doesn’t laugh.

Nico twists Jason's shirt into his fingers, right over his hips. Jason buries his hands into Nico’s already-tangled hair. A cool breeze rustles the plants on all sides and tickles their exposed skin.

Jason is gentle. Not like Nico is fragile, but more like Nico is worth taking his time. He breathes, “Sorry if I get dirt in your hair.”

“Don’t care,” Nico murmurs.

If only Nico from Camp Jupiter could see him now. Kissing a beautiful boy in a field of living things. 

I did this, he thinks. I nurtured this.