#who has been writing about a rarepair for the past year

[aerodaltonimperial]

I'm really not used to people paying attention to me, I just sort of lost most of my wrestle fandom friends in the past year or so, and I guess I just want to say hi? Thanks for being here? I've gotten more followers in the past week than I've gotten in several months. 💚

[plague-of-insomnia]

WIP Wednesday: Sebardagni 1920s AU: Snippet - Bard meets Ruby

I'm back on my business hoping 2025 is finally the year I get to fill your lives with tons of kuro rarepair AU content!

Here's another scene from my 1920s sebardagni AU that has been floating around in my mind for months and that I was finally able to write the other day.

It's the first of two scenes in which Bard meets Sebastian, aka "Ruby," for the first time, and he's immediately smitten--even after he realizes "Ruby" is a man.

About this AU:

Sebardagni, multichapter, 1920s AU, Human Sebastian, Disabled Sebastian

Set in the US during the 1920s when Prohibition of alcohol was at its peak. Sebastian has a mysterious past that becomes central to the story as it unfolds, but when it begins works out of his apartment as a music tutor and at night performs at Undertaker's speakeasy. That's where he meets Bard, who was left aimless after the end of WWI, and now works as a bouncer for Undertaker in his club. Agni (who isn't in this snippet) is a doctor and who was living with Sebastian when Bard and he met.

*the image above is a preview of a comic by @luci-on-the-moon that will be revealed later

Enjoy, and if this is an AU you're interested in, let me know!

~#~

A hush fell over the entire club as all attention fixed on the piano, which played a simple, tinkling melody that seemed to float through the air like a mist. In the center of it all, spotlight illuminating, was Ruby, dress and jewels the color of her namesake glittering in the light. She was even more beautiful than Bard had imagined she’d be based on everything he’d heard. Her long, luxurious black hair draped over her shoulders, not chopped short like was the fashion, and Bard wondered if, despite the fact she was singing in an underground club run by a shady character like Undertaker, she might be a traditional, classy girl. Her lips were full and lashes long, with skin like fresh cream that Bard longed to touch. But then the piano swelled and she began to sing, and suddenly the entire world around Bard faded away into the soulful sound that cradled him like a warm embrace after years at war. “What’ll I do? When you are far away and I am blue.“ Bard’s mouth went dry as he listened, ash falling from his cigarette as he remained enraptured, as if Ruby were a siren mesmerizing him with her song. The melody was simple, letting the richness of her singing shine through. Bard could feel the emotion she was pouring into every word as she sang sadly of the lover she would never see again. The music crescendoed as Ruby leaned back on the piano, her long legs peaking from the slit in her unfashionably long dress. Though it fit her like God himself had made it for her, so Bard wasn’t about to complain. She wasn’t curvy, but she had a magnetism that made her beauty radiate. “What’ll I do with just a photograph—” She dropped her gaze, those captivating long lashes brushing her cheeks, and when she lifted it again, Bard could have sworn she was looking straight at him. “—to tell my troubles to?” Ruby smiled, amused, but only for a fleeting moment as she continued the song, heartbreak hovering in every note, “When I’m alone, with all the dreams of you that won’t come true. . .” Ruby paused, and so did the music, to let the audience hang on every single second, waiting for her to finish. She stared down at her legs, her voice shifting so that Bard would have sworn she were on the brink of tears. “What’ll I do?” The final chord played and the speakeasy erupted into whistling and clapping, most of the crowd jumping to their feet. But all Bard’s attention was still fixed on Ruby, her red dress glittering as she shifted, blowing kisses to the crowd and winking occasionally before the spotlight slid to the left and the MC began introducing the next performance. As much as he wanted to keep his gaze fixed on her until the last moment, when she disappeared backstage, a fight broke out to Bard’s right. which meant he had a job to do. But after his shift ended, he was gonna pay Ruby a visit.

[evanorphia]

okay, so if you follow me on tiktok you’re probably already aware of where this rant is going because i’ve spoken a bit about this on there, but i really need people to understand that fandom operates on a ‘don’t like; don’t read’ basis.

you can dislike/hate headcanons/ships/characters/fics/etc in this fandom (i have ships and hcs i dislike, and that’s okay, everyone is allowed to have different opinions and preferences) but the issue comes in when you take that dislike towards something and post about it publicly; when instead of ranting to your close friends, you put it on social media and/or hate on other people for liking/engaging with that thing. by posting about your hatred of something, that could a) be someone’s first impression of the thing and that can lead to them not forming their own opinion on it (i know this happened to me, my first interaction with one of the popular fics was negative and so i automatically disliked it rather than forming my own opinion on it), and/or b) upset them or make them feel bad about liking that very thing. this is detrimental to fandom as fandom spaces are supposed to be about creativity, sharing ideas, and a safe place.

the issue gets worse when, instead of just posting about the hatred on your own page, you go into the comments sections of other people’s posts. whether it be an edit/skit/etc that the person has made, they made it for free and out of passion for whatever the contents is. i’m going to use jegulus for this example because it’s a popular ship but this issue can apply to all ships (and more so applies to rarepairs), by commenting things such as “jegulus is a monstrosity of a ship” or “in canon this would never work” or “jegulus ruined this fandom” (which btw, it didn’t, no ship can “ruin a fandom” whatever that means) you’re actively making people NOT want to create content for this fandom and actively making people feel bad for things that they shouldn’t have to feel bad about.

moreover, this fandom seems to really care about characterisations of characters and i have three things to say on this. 1) we do not know enough about the majority of these characters to be able to mischaracterise them and the characters we do know about, we meet when they’re in their thirties and have been through copious amounts of trauma and a whole war to get to this point, they are bound to be different in their teenage years than they are in thirties. 2) the majority of this fandom is fanon and that’s the joy of it, everyone can have different opinions and headcanons and people can take inspiration from each other. if everyone characterised the characters exactly the same the fandom would be so boring and everything would just be a copy and paste of each other. 3) arguing over headcanons, especially stuff like “fem vs masc sirius” can have real life consequences. by saying that someone making sirius feminine makes him “less of a man” or “straightens wolfstar” you’re actively opening the floor for transphobia and homophobia and, as a transmasc who presents femininely and is in a relationship with a man, are you saying that our relationship is now “straight” or that i’m a woman purely because of how i present? please, let that sit with you before you argue over these headcanons again. if you don’t think the marauders boys would wear skirts, scroll or click off of the fic. (also btw, not everything has to be time accurate, that’s the joy of AUs).

furthermore, fanfiction is created for FREE. you do not get to criticise and hate on a fanfic like you do with published literature. fanfic writers have written fanfics for you out of passion with nothing in return other than kudos or comments, they are not making profit off of fanfiction (which would be illegal if they somehow were) and it is NOT their job like how it is with published authors. by hating on fanfics (no matter how popular or untouchable you believe them to be), you are actively discouraging people from writing their own and who knows — that could’ve been your new favourite fanfic. furthermore, a lot of ships lack fanfics because people are scared to interact with anything other than wolfstar and jegulus because of the hate that rarepairs get. there’s plenty of amazing ships out there that have so much potential but people are too scared to create for because of the hate/backlash they may get for creating for that ship.

all in all, like what you want and don’t like what you want, but don’t make it everyone else’s problem and if you don’t like something, scroll. thank you.

[zukkaoru]

it has come to my attention that i have not been talking about wlw ships enough, and for that, i am sorry. i apologize for flooding my mutuals' and followers' feeds with nothing but rarepair yaoi; as a lesbian myself, i should know and act better. i should simply like the most popular ship between two canonically female characters in every fandom i'm in, regardless of whether or not i personally feel they would get along or enjoy the majority of the fandom's characterization of them and their dynamic. and i should stop talking about rarepairs with male characters, instead only talking about mlm ships if they're popular, like real lesbians do.

since i first created my Ao3 account in december of 2016, nearly eight (8) years ago, i have only tagged fifty-four (54) fics with the f/f category, and an entire four (4) of those fics were also tagged with the m/m category. this is unacceptable behavior on my part. and while my span of time creating for the f/f category goes from january 10, 2017 with my first fic ever posted on ao3 to september 25, 2024, i realize this means it has been over one full month since i have posted a f/f fic, and none of my five most recent fics on ao3 are tagged with the f/f category. this is a huge misstep on my part and i will work my absolute hardest to rectify it as soon as possible. i understand, too, that my total word count of 266,147 words for f/f fics over the span of these past ~8 years puts me at only approximately 36,018 words of f/f fics posted each year, which is not nearly enough in any way, shape, or form. from the bottom of my heart, i apologize.

in the future, i will work to write more f/f fics, and i will do my best to make sure those fics are only the ones most widely accepted by the fandom, and most easily digestible for anyone who may come across them. this, of course, is simply the duty of a lesbian in any fandom, and i cannot express enough how sorry i am for failing in my job. i will no longer create new tags for sapphic rarepairs and instead pour my energy into making myself like all of the most popular wlw ships in whichever fandom i may find myself in. i will also refrain from going too heavy on the niche headcanons, so as to entice the maximum amount of readers. i have seen the error of my ways, and i accept that i am entirely in the wrong.

please bear with me while i work to better myself. any current wips i have of ships that do not fit the acceptable criteria for a lesbian in fandom to write about will be scrapped, and i will be dropping out of all events i have chosen to take part in if i cannot mold my work to fit these terms, since giving up on rarepair yaoi entirely is clearly the only way i will ever be able to redeem myself.

thank you all for your patience.

grace zukkaoru ❤️

[salty-autistic-writer]

For @911-rarepair-week, day 4: "What's your emergency?" Ship: Josh / Tommy

Josh chews on his lip. Maddie’s suggestion of a blind date is haunting his mind. He’s conflicted. Careful interest mixes with concern and resignation from past experiences. “I don’t know Maddie …”

"Come on, Josh, trust me. Chimney knows him. They've been working at the 118 together."

Josh perks up. "Really? So … Chimney would know if he's a serial killer, right?"

"Tommy is a pilot," Maddie says, smiling. "You might even have talked to him already."

A pilot. A first responder. Someone who saves people. Someone who worked with the 118. With Chimney. Really doesn’t sound like someone who would turn out to be a first-grade asshole.

"Fine," Josh sighs. “I’ll do it.”

At this point, his love life can't get any worse anyway.

* Tommy is a mountain of a man, holding a tiny box of pralines in his big hand. When he smiles down at Josh, his nose scrunches and wrinkles surround his very blue eyes.

“You must be Josh. I’m Tommy. Sorry, I’ve never done something like this before. I mean. A blind date.”

And oh God, he’s not only hot, he’s also cute. This isn’t fair. Josh was entirely unprepared for all the cuteness and hotness hitting him at once.

Tommy pushes Josh’s chair back for him, then bumps into the table while getting to his. Josh thought it was a good thing they would be able to talk about work and share experiences. But they don’t even need that.

Talking to Tommy is … easy. He’s a good listener. Attentive. Understanding. Asking for more information. Josh feels like for once, his date isn’t just waiting until they can talk about themselves. It’s nice.

He also never was out with a man who was that enthusiastic about ordering dessert after dinner. It’s endearing.

It’s too soon, he tells himself while scooping up delicious tiramisu. Too soon to get his hopes up. But … he has a feeling this might actually work. *

"How did it go?" Maddie asks curiously.

Josh doesn't even try to hold back. "Oh, I felt like a fool from the moment I saw him. He's big, kind, attentive, snarky, a dork, and so so so hot. He made me feel like a loveworthy fool. And ordered tiramisu. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since a man ordered me dessert?”

Maddie smiles. "That sounds nice. So. Are you seeing him again?"

"Yes," Josh says, his heart fluttering. "Absolutely." * They have many more dates. They also have a lot of good sex. And some fights. Stupid fights. Sometimes it's about things that bother them, sometimes it's about past baggage. Deep lying issues that keep coming back and threaten their happiness. They always manage to talk about it and reassure each other though. Clinging to each other like magnets because deep down they can't imagine not being together anymore.

All in all, it’s a healthy relationship with all its emotional rollercoaster hills and Josh is really happy. More happy than he’s been in quite a while. Years, actually.

He smiles when Tommy kisses his forehead one morning, holding a big bouquet of flowers that smells like spring. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” Tommy points out. “And you’re going to eat the best pizza in Los Angeles today.”

“I can’t wait,” Josh says, taking the flowers, his heart fluttering. Yes. He’s happy. *

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“Maddie?”

“Hey, Tommy. Are you alright?” “Right now. Yes. But I don’t have much time.”

Maddie takes a deep breath, her heart beating faster and a cold shiver running over her back as he realises what might be happening. “What’s going on, Tommy?”

“Rotor problems. Gonna crash for sure. Guess I hit a treetop or something. Didn’t see it in all that fucking smoke. Is Josh there?”

“Yes. Can you tell me where you are? I’m … I’m going to send rescue.”

He tells her coordinates and Maddie writes them down, her chest clenching when she hears him curse and something makes a shrill noise in the background. “Josh,” he says again. “Is he there? Can I talk to him?”

Maddie swallows. She turns, looking at Josh who is talking to two co-workers, a mug of steaming coffee in both hands, laughing carelessly, eyes bright. He’s happy right now. And Maddie has to shatter his world. This is cruel.

“Josh!” She calls.

He perks up, raising a brow, approaching Maddie. And maybe he can see it in her eyes. Because his smile fades. His forehead wrinkles in concern. “What’s going on?” “It’s Tommy,” Maddie says quietly, tears in her eyes. “He wants to talk to you.” *

It’s Tommy. He wants to talk to you. 

Tommy called 9-1-1.

Josh stares at Maddie, not able to move. His blood is rushing in his ears. No. This can’t be happening.

But it is.

Maddie gets up to switch places with Josh. He sits, his heart pounding, talking into the mic. “Tommy?” “Hey, Josh. I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Josh closes his eyes, swallowing. “Don’t … Don’t say that. Everything is going to be alright.”

Tommy chuckles. It sounds sad. “Yeah. I don’t think so. Wanted you to know though, that you’re making me really happy.” “You’re making me happy too. You’re the best thing that happened to me,” Josh says, tears blurring his vision. Please … “That’s good to know. Josh, I -”

The connection breaks. Just like that. “No,” Josh breathes into the silence. “No, no, no. Tommy? Tommy! Talk to me. Tommy!”

This can’t be the end.

“Josh …” Maddie is there, crying too, wrapping her arms around him. Holding him. And Josh is sobbing in her arms, still somewhat waiting to wake up. Because this can’t be anything else than a nightmare. *

“Josh? Josh, they found him.”

He just nods, still on that chair, staring into the void. Josh hasn’t moved for hours. He can’t. His body is frozen in grief. He doesn’t want to hear where and in what state they found Tommy’s body.

Maddie crouches in front of him, reaching out to take his hands. “Josh. He’s alive.”

“What?” Josh raises his head, blinking. That can’t be right. Did Maddie just say alive?

She nods, tears in her eyes. “They said it’s a miracle. He got out of the helicopter before it crashed. Saved his own life that way. He’s in bad shape. Still in surgery. But he’s alive, Josh.”

“He’s alive,” Josh echoes, his throat dry. “Oh my God … Where? I have to … I have to go, Maddie. I have to be there for him.”

“Of course, I’m going to drive you,” she says, squeezing his hands. “Come on.” *

“Don’t ever do this again.”

Tommy opens one eye, glancing at Josh. “Wasn’t planning on it,” he mumbles, voice still slurry from the painkillers and everything else they are pumping into his body. “Bad experience. Would not … not recommend.”

Josh snorts and shakes his head. He’s holding Tommy’s not-broken hand and now that his boyfriend is finally talking again, he finds the courage to ask. “What was it that you wanted to say?” “Hm?” Tommy’s eyes are closed again and his forehead crinkles in confusion. “After you told me “that’s good to know”. You started with “Josh, I”  - and then the connection was gone.”

Tommy blinks one eye open. “Oh. I remember. I wanted to tell you that you can’t eat the cake in the fridge when I'm gone.”

“Tommy Kinard!” Josh sputters, but he’s beyond happy that Tommy found his (sometimes terrible) sense of humour again, after weeks of drifting between unconsciousness and brief moments of confused painful awareness. "You are the worst!"

“Sorry,” Tommy says, lips twitching. He squeezes Josh’s hand. “Actually, I wanted to tell you that I love you.”

“Tommy Kinard,” Josh repeats, but this time it’s a gasp. “Are you serious?”

“I am serious,” Tommy assures, looking at Josh. “I love you.”

“Well, I love you too,” Josh says, his heart skipping a beat. “I love you so much, I never ever want to think you’re dead again.” “I don’t want to be dead. I want to be with you,” Tommy mutters, head lolling to his side, as he starts to fall asleep again. “Always.”

“Always,” Josh repeats with a nod, blinking tears away and smiling.

(AO3 Link)

[thecloudstan]

To the previous anon who asked about Rufus/Cloud blogs, I'm going to, sadly, agree with what Heich said. As a longtime fan, Rufus/Cloud has always been a VERY, VERY, VERY niche pairing among the other widely popular ones in the both the Western/Eastern fandom. Thanks to the "Remake" trilogy, there's been more fans, but it's still a rarepair. You'll find fans talking about their sexual chemistry on Tumblr/Twitter, but there's no dedicated blogs for them. Heich's the only one around, I think. 😭😭

Thanks for the response, nonnie. Oof, it's so sad for me to consider my blog the only thing remotely close to a dedicated fan blog for the ship, but...it kind of is most of the reason I created this blog years ago, around the time I started writing NTYC. I've found that lots of people will discuss Cloud and Rufus' potential, throw down some fanarts and fics and whatnot, but not really create and hold a space for them. It's fine, everybody does what they want (and that's the fun of fandom), and FF7 has so many popular ships, I guess it's to be expected. Even if I do multiship them, it's always been more entertaining for me to center whatever ship intrigues me most and just focus on that.

There are so many people that create fabulous works for the more popular ships, like practically every SECOND, it's okay if I distract myself with a rarepair. It's worked for the past decade or so, at least!

[savebatsartedition]

I Need A Little Sympathy, Disarm My Insecurities (Whitwo/Yancy Oneshot)

Also under the cut. :3

Summary:

Whitwo has a crush on her co-star, and this time she imagines her hands running through pink hair rather than brown. Or, Whitwo tries to confess her love to a girl before filming wraps up on a movie they are acting in together. Or, I didn’t know who to write, but I knew I wanted to write yuri. This is what I came up with, enjoy. :)

Notes:

Importantly, I headcanon Black and Whitwo as speaking German (which I called Unnovan in this), while White, Yancy, and Blake are the most Stereotypical American sounding New Yorkers you could imagine. (I called the English language Galarian.) Also, because I am who I am, I added some toxic-ish Agencyshipping in the background. I love them a little messed up. >w< Another note, I am basically Corruptedshipping’s strongest soldier, so there might (there are) some undertones of that. I love them too, I just had to girl out for a minute, okay? Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about how movies are made, that’s why I skipped all of the actual filming scenes. Sorry ‘bout that. Words: 8,475 Cws: Background toxic-ish relationship that doesn’t get fixed or anything, probably at least a little bit OOC but I tried really hard to not do that, rarepair, very vague mentions of cults and possible spoilers for the B2W2 arch of the Pokemon Adventures manga, very minor swearing.

End Notes:

(German language pun explained: I find it extremely funny that Black named a bird that was carrying his friend around by the hair Brav because in German that means "well behaved," and I think he speaks German.) Um. Yeah. I've been working on this since slightly before Christmas and most of it was kinda written on a plane. XP I love them a lot and would VERY much enjoy comments! Thank you for reading and I really hope you enjoyed!!!

Relationships: Whi-two/Yancy (Pokemon Adventures), Background Black/White (Pokemon Adventures), Past Blake/Whitwo (Pokemon Adventures), Past Blake/Yancy (Pokemon Adventures)

Characters: Whi-Two | Whitley, Ruri "Rukko" | Yancy "Nancy", Lack-Two | Blake, White (Pokemon Adventures), Black (Pokemon Adventures), Brav (Pokemon Adventures), Darleen (Pokemon Adventures), Dake-chan | Foongy

Some Other Tags: mentions of other dexholders, Whitwo centric, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Actors, Post canon, Blake is not a police officer anymore, Toxic Agencyshipping, (sort of), Dexholders are famous (Pokemon Adventures), Title from Turn Off The Lights by Panic! At The Disco, Darleen is a Sawsbuck

Whitwo was in a bit of a predicament.

It seemed like she always was, these days.

As one of the lead actors in a very popular superhero series, she was required to be near constantly on set in Virbank City or in a filming location nearby, and when she wasn't there, she was being shoved into fan meet and greets, charity Dexholder Pokemon leagues (which she always lost, by the way), or expensive hotels that White had only decided in the past year were a good fit for the human actors as well as the Pokemon. (Which were in Castelia City, for some reason.) For someone who was much more introverted than her superhero character would lead viewers to believe, that could get quite tiring, even when things were normal in her love life.

Well. Her love life had never been anywhere close to normal, she could admit that much, but her point still stood. (On feet as strong and steady as Black's Braviary, Brav, she might add.) These days she was not turning over and over in her head with her flirtatious co star Blake, no, the ex police officer was no longer the object of her very confused affection. They were still friends of sorts, especially now, since he had quit from his Police Inspector role to come back for the filming of Foongus Girl and Dewott Boy 2, the Castelia Civil War Saga, but she wasn't into him in the same way she had been back then.

The more she thought about it, the less sure she was that she ever had been. 

At least not in any way that made sense.

But, that didn't mean that there was nothing in a costar's sparkling eyes that made her heart flutter. No, not this time, though that movie, that Civil War Saga story, was the problem all the same. (And they weren't even finished!) Her racing heart no longer needed Blake to start it, it needed something new.

New-ish, anyway.

In the film Whitwo’s character Foongus Girl took to her usual role, that of the blushing sidekick who somehow always got herself into trouble when she was fighting side by side another hero, but never lost an arm or even a strand of hair when she was all alone against the very same villains. Blake's character, Dewott Boy, similarly followed his usual writing, the strong leader, the one every girl was meant to swoon over, the one who always saved her. (It was not lost on Whitwo how similar the two characters were to Blake and herself, but she tried her best to ignore it. Especially now that they weren’t a thing anymore.)

That setup alone had been fun for the first film, and even for the short five episode series that the BW Agency had decided to follow it up with, but now for the second movie there had to be something new. (New-ish, anyway.) Something interesting. Something to break the two superheroes apart. 

In this case, that something seemed to be none other than Yancy. (Or Nancy, as she was known to those outside the industry.)

Wel, not Yancy precisely, she wasn't playing herself (though with her and Blake's history it likely would have worked just as well as her “Darling Deerling,” persona if she had been), but her superhero character. A strong non-trainer with shapeshifting abilities, a cute and soft side, a towering and strong one, and the romantic appeal of a date to Lumiose City. Due to pelt constraints with the Deerling and Sawsbuck used for the character's transformation sequences, filming had to take place only in spring to match Yancy's pink hair, making the process even more of a rush than the episodes had been. (The first movie had been even faster, as it had been practically thrown together with nobodies from the street, but with the higher budget coming with popularity, Whitwo's schedule felt somehow even more crushed now.)

Crushed. Ha.

This second movie was about a rift between her and Dewott Bo. It was a classic enough story, and thus took a very simple path. A new hero shows up, she wows Foongus Girl and Dewott Boy with superpowers more impressive than their own (Foongus Girl was equipped with an enhancing ability to propel her Foongus’s spores faster and farther, Dewott Boy could move unnaturally fast in water.), and the duo would split while trying to be the one to join the Darling Deerling instead. The only real problem was that Yancy may have played her part a bit too well.

Whitwo had fallen for her, there, she finally admitted it! She had fallen for her costar, who just so happened to be her other costar's ex-girlfriend. The pretty girl with the pink hair and the soft skin and the bright eyes, the woman who was borrowing White's own evolved Sawsbuck (still named Darleen of course) for acting, and a bonus Deerling from the highest popularity Pokemon handler Castelia city had to offer, just because of how amazing she was.

Whitwo had fallen for her, and fallen for her hard.

“Oh Fongy,” she murmured, watching the Foongus hop around the marbled bedside table that White had insisted upon for the hotel room, “Do you know what to do?”

Fongy just looked up at her, waited a beat, and and produced a cloud of spores with a squeak, dusting the perfect surface below him in a gentle cloud of what Whitwo assumed was sleep powder with just enough clarity to notice that she should probably put her head down on a pillow.

“Yeah,” she grumbled, feeling it reach her, “Sleep sounds pretty good, Fongy.”

-

When she finally woke again, it was almost time for filming. In a blur, she collected her things, locked her ornate door, and headed for the subway to the filming location near Virbank City. Despite the popularity of both her character and the dexholder status that she kept with her Pokedex, she hardly ever got pointed out on the subway. Apparently no one wanted to hear anything but the automated voice telling you just how long you had to stew in your own thoughts or the gentle conversation of those braver than themselves.

At least the things were usually on time, if not very fast. And she liked not being recognized! It was comforting to know that she could still be her shy little self if she wanted to.

So that was why she jumped when she saw Blake on the other end of her train car. He never took the subway! What was he doing there?! He’d point her out for sure! She ducked her face into her hair, pushed Fongy into her bag, and prayed to whichever Legendary or Mythical she thought might be flying over the underground path to the city.

Unfortunately, about ten minutes before the end of the ride, he noticed her.

“Whitwo!” he called, waving wildly as he began to push through the throngs of people on either side, “I hardly saw you!” (It was like he didn’t even feel their stares. Some of them were in recognition of his pokedex, or his superhero character, or his pretty eyes, others were just plain annoyed.) Behind him, his Dewott (he had stuck an everstone on the poor little thing for the duration of the filming, it could finally be a Samurat next movie, if the two of them felt like it) kept the path wide with an angry growl, “How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay,” Whitwo said, cringing as the eyes turned to her. (Oh boy, if they weren’t getting recognized apart, they definitely were going to be now that they were together.) “Fongy knocked me out this morning, but I woke up in time to get on this thing,”

“That’s cool,” Blake laughed, giving her that million dollar grin, making his red irises spark off of the underground lamps as the subway car chugged past them, “You could probably collect that stuff and sell it on some sort of market,” he leaned in close, “but then I might have to arrest you, again.”

He always made a point of joking about arresting her in some way, it was like a “hello” to him.

“You aren’t even an inspector anymore,” she muttered, though she smiled all the same, “And I wouldn’t do that even if I got a million bucks from it.”

“I bet Sun would,” Blake mused, referencing the Alola dexholder the two of them had met for the first time the previous season at a Dexholder Charity Event. (It had been in Sinnoh at that super rich girl’s house. Even Whitwo had been a bit chilly there, she couldn’t imagine how he and his regional partner had felt. …though she supposed it had been that other girl’s house too, once.)

“He’d do it if he got ten bucks,” Blake joked, taking the seat next to Whitwo where someone had moved away at his loud voice. (Whitwo really wished he would stop, but it somehow seemed to be working out for him.)

She shrugged, and Blake reached up to pat her on the shoulder as he began talking again, but Whitwo didn’t hear him. She stared at his nose, eyes, chest, shoulders, neck… She could remember so easily why Yancy may have dated him, how could someone like her ever hope to compare? Her arms were skinny as sticks, her eyes too worried and scared by her Team Plasma past, her shoulders wide enough, not not nearly as muscular as his, her chest much less… solid. She was nothing like him, could Yancy ever like her back?

“Uh, Whitwo?” Blake’s voice swam back into her ears, and she became suddenly aware that he was waving one hand in front of her face as if waking her from unconsciousness, “You kinda spaced out for a second there, you sure Fongy didn’t hit you with a second round of that stuff?”

She laughed him off uncomfortably and shook the nonexistent sleep power from her hair and nose. “Yeah, I’m just a bit…” She caught his eyes and suddenly imagined Yancy sitting in her spot, leaning forward to take Blake’s mouth in hers, uncaring of the people staring. Her eyes blurred, and then she imagined Yancy leaning forward towards her instead… she shook her head again, ���Distracted, I’m just distracted,”

“I see that,” he flashed another one of his smiles, it reminded the former Team Plasma member how much better his life had become once he’d gotten out of the International Police of his own accord, “Anything specific?” he lowered his voice to something only slightly above the sound of the tracks, “Boy troubles?” he saw the look on her face and quickly adjusted, “Girl troubles?”

She spluttered and felt her face turn red as the automated voice system announced, first in Unovan, then in Galarian, that they were nearing their stop. She instantly began shuffling through her bags to get ready to follow the rest of the people out towards the exit.

“Just trouble huh? I’ll figure you out, you know,” he asked, standing and flashing his eyes that scary way he used to when he’d just caught a criminal. She looked up with wide eyes, and then felt her heartbeat slow back to normal when the look disappeared into a relaxed smile once more, “Saved by the bell, you lucky duck.”

“I know,” She couldn’t have been more glad. She knew she would have cracked under him, she’d done it before, if he got a chance to ask her again, her secret would be out.

And that would feel just like getting fired instead of getting to quit on your own accord.

-

The shoot session was a disaster.

Her distraction problem did not get any better when Yancy was really there, twirling in her short pink skirt, and talking directly to Foongus Girl with all her heart, and apologizing so so cutely whenever she had to do a third or fourth take, and diving out of the way of the camera in a way that showed off her lovely legs (at least to Whitwo’s girl-fevered brain) every time she had to pretend to be using shape shifting powers ,and- Well, even remembering it Whitwo was getting distracted again, and that was proof enough.

She’d been so distracted that she’d accidentally taken her Foongus Girl mask with her on the way out the door, but at least that had helped her make up her mind. She couldn’t keep costing the team time when they were already crushed into a single season (most of which was over now), she just couldn’t be that person. (Blake was never that person, let alone Yancy, she couldn’t be the only slacker out of the trio of co-stars.) If she wanted to get this over with, she had to tell the pink haired girl how she made her feel.

If that meant rejection, that was okay, Yancy had been broken up with before and still continued to work with the ex-boyfriend afterwards, she would be nice about whatever Whitwo said.

But that didn’t mean that Whitwo didn’t want it perfect.

She leaned over her marble desk, Fongy next to her and squeaked what must have been suggestions as her shaking hand dragged her pen over the flowery paper. (It was light pink with little white flowers and bows, exactly Yancy’s style. She always wore that cute little hat whenever her hair didn’t need to be perfect between shots.) Ugh, Whitwo wished she had grown up speaking Galarian instead of Unovan, that would make everything so much easier to word.

Maybe. 

It probably wouldn’t. She might die of a heart attack or butterfrees in her stomach in either before she finished the thing in reality.

“How’s this Fongy?” she asked, lifting the paper and beginning to read, “I’m really sorry for telling you in a letter, but I think you’re really pretty and talented and I think I love you,” She looked down at her pet mushroom, he shook his head with a small cloud of spores, and she sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, too apologetic, Blake was telling me that girls like someone who’s confident.”

She hoped that wasn’t true. She wasn’t exactly the picture of confidence.

“Something else, something else,” she muttered, crumbling up the paper like a cliche in one of those romance films she hoped she never acted in (they never got the Horoscope stuff quite right), ”Something better.”

Whitwo kept working. Running through worse and worse puns about Luvdisks and Flowetts and Deerlings and Fairy Types until she finally had something she was happy with. She stared down at her finally finished letter (complete with little hand drawn hearts and little Fongys to go with the printed bows and flowers), her mind made up and her heart already racing with regret and excitement.

She could do this.

She glanced at the clock and gulped.

She could do this tomorrow, how ‘bout.

Whitwo put her pen on top of her finished letter, forcing down feelings of premature embarrassment and regret as she crawled into her bed. She could do this, and even if she couldn’t, that was a tomorrow Whitwo problem. Already yawning, she waved for Fongy to release his famous sleep powder, and let it carry her to dreams of soft pink hair and even softer lips.

-

The next day was a bit of a slow one, with only an afternoon shoot and an optional lunch for writers (apparently Darleen needed a battle practice break to keep her antlers sharp), but Whitwo was up bright and early anyway. If she knew Yancy (and she did, because they worked together, and Whitwo didn’t call her Nancy), she guessed that the girl would be in her room for as long as it took the sun to rise, and then she would start admiring the inside furnishings of the hotel until it was time to get up for real.

Whitwo gently slipped her letter into a matching pink envelope and tucked both papers into her pocket. She had all the time in the world, she just had to think of it that way. Even if she didn’t drop it off, the two of them were working in the same franchise, after all. She had time even after filming wrapped up if she really needed it. Probably.

(On the way out of the door of her room, she grabbed her Foongus Girl mask. Though it didn't really make sense, she somehow felt that it would make her stronger.)

She slid into the expensive smelling hallway, and began to wander. She knew where Yancy’s room was, but she also knew she wasn’t in it. (The sun was already up.) Maybe breakfast? Perhaps the library in the hotel? Maybe the pool?

She imagined Yancy in a bathing suit and almost fell down the staircase she had just come upon. Hopefully not the pool. She would probably slip and break her neck.

The carpet was soft under her sneakers and the air conditioning felt nice in her hair. Golden curls flowed up the walls in paths of radiance that she would have never been able to imagine just a few years ago. A beauty that White thought her actors deserved, a beauty that Whitwo only thought Yancy deserved.

She was getting to the point of checking behind flower pots when she saw a smudge of pink in their petals and wondering if she had been incorrect about Yancy’s sleeping habits before her eye caught on something outside of one of the huge windows that lined a spacious ballroom. Pink hair. White hat. Adorable bounce to her skirt.

Yancy!

She was heading into the park!

Whitwo shoved her mask onto her face and took off running for the door, not caring about how ridiculous she may look. She felt confident while she was Foongus Girl, and if girls liked confident girls, she had to do this while she still embodied that. (Or the Butterfrees in her stomach would just use Fly and take her away.)

She ran past perfectly twirling conifer shrubs, pools of water where trainers were testing some new water moves, and flower arrangements that even a Florges would envy.

She didn’t really see any of them.

She slowed down, not wanting to be out of breath for the big reveal, but unfortunately it made her lose sight of Yancy. …which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for ten minutes! A full ten minutes in which she all but entirely lost her resolve to do this. Screw the perfect note, screw the perfect confession!

And then she spotted the Darling Deerling again. Her Darling Deerling. (How would Whitwo survive when the marketing photos started making it to the screens in Castelia City Center?)

Yancy was smiling and chatting with the Deerling handler beside a bench. Whitwo gripped her note with shaking hands. One of her buns twisted slightly open and dropped a waterfall of light brown hair down her shoulder and back as she strained forward to listen. She couldn't do this while Yancy was talking to someone! She couldn't! She could hardly pick up a warm-up-at-home microwave burger from the Pokemart by herself, let alone hand someone a letter while someone else was right there! What if she opened it and started reading it with them over her shoulder?! Whitwo pulled a handful of hair over her mouth, eyes wider with panic by the second. What if she read it outloud?!? What if she read it at ALL?!

Maybe this wasn't the best plan.

She leaned in to listen, putting both hands on the grassy patch under the tree she hid behind as she kneeled down.

“-I'm just feeling a bit tired, honestly,“ Yancy was saying. Her voice was quiet, as if she didn't want to be overheard, 

The Pokemon handler nodded and laughed, “I hear you,” they said, ”White's a tough director,“ she looked side to side, covering her Deerling's ears gently, ”but I better be quiet about that, I think I saw her walking around here a little white ago.“

The two women laughed as the Deerling looked around as if to see where the touch had come from.

Yancy adjusted her hat slightly, ”Well, yeah, that's true, but that's not what I mean,“ she smiled as the Pokemon handler quirked an eyebrow slightly, ”I'm just tired of acting,“ she explained, ”I thought it must have been my calling for a while, but I think you all are going to have to find a new Darling Deerling for the sequel if you plan on bringing her back, you know?“

Whitwo's heart dropped right on time with the gasp of the Deerling trainer. She was leaving?!

“At least you already have the real star of the show here,” Yancy joked, petting the Deerling's long nose with one of her perfect hands, “I'm not so important in the long run.”

Whitwo's ears blurred into nothing, echoing with the sound of boot heels clicking towards her as she stared unseeingly at Yancy. She was leaving the franchise? Leaving acting entirely?! There was only a month left of filming, was that all the time she had to deliver the letter? All the time she had to admit that what was in it was true?! How could she ever-

”Uh... Whitwo?“ A very familiar voice asked from behind her, ”What are you doing?“

Whitwo jumped, whirling around and knocking Fongy clean off her head. She stood as fast as she could, brushing off her black leggings and laughing awkwardly. ”White!“ She yelped, slightly delayed from her original squeak of surprise, ”What are you doing here?“

”Directing my film?“ White replied, raising one eyebrow as she looked Whitwo up and down, ”What are you wearing that for? Filmings not for another hour.”

Whitwo yelped again and quickly ripped the mask off of her face (much too fast for the costume department to have been comfortable with if they had seen her do it). “I was getting in character!” she said, far too loudly than was necessary. She leaned down and scooped Fongy back onto her head, a very nervous smile plastered on her face.

“Whitwo, I will never understand how you are such a good actor when you are SUCH a bad liar,“ White smirked, pausing just long enough to look over the shorter girl's shoulder to spot the Deerling handler and Yancy. She pulled out Darleen's Pokeball, opening it with the button rather than a throw, and gestured the Sawsbuck forward. Instead, she began to snuffle loudly at Whitwo's one undone bun. Fongy huffed, but Whitwo just stood ridgid.

White raised her eyebrow again. ”Normally you love petting Darleen,“ she said with all of the inquisitiveness of the Galarian Sherlock Holmes fellow, “Is there something going on with you?”

Whitwo shook her head, and then shook it a bit harder when White continued to stare at her. Fongy squeaked again, telling his director to back off. Whitwo hoped he wouldn’t Sleep Powder her. She’d definitely know something was going on then.

White shrugged, “Alright, whatever,” she patted Darleen's warm brown flank and pointed towards the Deerling and girl who played the other two thirds of her character, “Darleen! Your buddy is over there! Go play!”

The doe gave a snort and shook her flowering antlers, raining pink petals down on Whitwo and Fongy as she bounded towards her friend. Whitwo heard the Pokemon handler yelp a, “See! I told you White was around here!“ before the sounds of Pokemon battle drowned her out once more.

White smiled after her doe, and suddenly, behind her, Black and Brav swooped in. Whitwo gasped as she almost fell, holding tight to her colorful mask as the gigantic blocks of air from the Braviary's wings knocked Fongy back off of her head. She leaned down to pick him up as a final blast of air hit them, sending her sprawling.

“Sorry about that!” Black called, hopping off of Brav and giving the giant eagle a pat on one wing before running towards them, “I saw you when I was flying over, thought I could stop and chat!”

“Oh we would love to,” White smirked at him, ”I think Whitwo's hiding something, think you could call out Musha for a second and see what it is?“

”Please do not do that!“ Whitwo yelped, struggling to her feet and hoping that Fongy had a few spores left for a battle if it came to that.

Black laughed and lifted his fingers to his mouth as if to whistle, and then put them down again in a “kidding! kidding,“ motion when Whitwo brandished Fongy in front of herself like a weapon. ”Nah, I wouldn't do that,“ Black assured her, ”If you're holding your superhero mask it must be something real secretive huh? Is it in that letter?“

Whitwo gulped and looked down at her mask and letter. They had been behind her back. Why was he so perceptive?! It wasn't fair, he probably already knew exactly what she was doing just by looking at the blush on her face!

Brav stomped over. (Whitwo had to crane her neck to a nearly painful degree to look up at his black eyes and yellowy white plume of head feathers.) He squawked slightly and Whitwo hugged Fongy closer to her chest. Yup. Unnova had chosen the right national bird, this guy looked just as scarily smart as Black was proving himself to be. Whitwo shivered. Scary smart and massive.

White reached over and smacked her boyfriend lightly on the shoulder with the back of one hand, “Hey, you listen to me, remember? That was an order!”

”Not right now I don't, Boss,“ he smirked back, though he rubbed his shoulder uncomfortably, ”You couldn't force me into acting in this one, it's league season, remember? I don't have to listen to you right now“

He looked over Whitwo's shoulder, ”And! Speaking of battling, I think I see one going on over there, come on Brav! Lets own those does!“

White and Whitwo watched the two run off, Brav's talons scraping loudly against the stone path as soon as they reached it, his huge wings open slightly as he squawked excitedly.

“Hey!“ White yelled, cupping her hands to her mouth, ”Don't fight the Deerling too hard! We need her unevovled and clean! She has a scene to shoot in just a few hours!”

Black waved back dismissively, and Whitwo caught Yancy's eyes. She looked back down immediately. Oh Arceus. They'd made eye contact in a place that wasn't under the bright lights and scary cameras of the set. It felt almost… intimate. Whitwo gripped her letter so hard it crumpled in its little pink envelope. She was losing it.

“I didn't even notice the letter,” White admitted, smiling in a way that told Whitwo that she was gonna open it and read it out loud if she got her hands on it, “Who's it for?”

Whitwo felt her bun unravel the rest of the way.

“Uh, I gotta go now, bye!” She squeaked, hugging Fongy to her chest next to her mask and her letter and taking off in the general direction of her hotel room.

“Don't miss the subway to the shoot!” White yelled after her, “We need you too you know!!”

-

Whitwo missed the subway to the shot.

She was so busy cowering in her big fancy room, reading and rereading her letter (and playing and replaying Yancy's admission about leaving the profession in her head), that she didn't even notice the clock until Fongy's squeaking started to sound more panicked than irritated. She sat up, gasping and lifting her hair from her eyes with a scream. No! They didn't have time left in the season to reschedule! She couldn't be late, it couldn't be her fault!

She jumped up, stuffed her letter, her mask and her Pokedex into a bag, and raced around trying to remember if there was anything else she needed. She had everything important. Her little creature (she had just pulled a very irritated Fongy into her arms), her hotel room key (so she could get back in), her costume (she KNEW she should have returned the mask to her changing room as soon as she’d realized the mistake), her Pokedex (in case there was a robbery she had to stop on the way), her love confession... Oh! Her badge for actors!

She picked it up and put it into her bag next to the other things, and then jumped with a loud scream when the sound of something huge landing on her balcony shook her room. She whipped around, her own hair hitting herself in the face as she processed the huge shape outside of her hotel’s glass balcony door. Brav and Black, White must have sent them to get her.

She groaned. She really WAS late.

She slid open the door, shrugging her bag onto her shoulder. “Sorry White made you come get me,” she told her fellow dexholder in Unnovan, letting him help her up onto Brav's muscular back, “I forgot the subway ride to the shoot takes so long, I was thinking of taking the later one.” (It wasn’t entirely the truth, but it worked as one.)

He shrugged, “It's okay, I told her not to get you hotels so far away from work. It’s like the league, you don’t want to book a hostel in Striaton City,” he patted Brav on the shoulder and the eagle began to stomp around to face the open city air, crunching the metal bars into a twisted shape below him. Whitwo tried not to cringe. Black sighed and wiggled his shoulders as Brav did the same, ”She never listens to me,“ he paused and then, a bit brighter, added, ”But I had a feeling you were gonna get distracted, you looked really flushed earlier today, after all.“

Whitwo hummed awkwardly, made sure Fongy was shoved into her bag so he wouldn't blow away, and rooted her hands into Brav's feathers so she wouldn't. ”I'm still sorry though, Blake's never late like I am.”

Black laughed like he didn't understand why she was the way she was. As Brav adjusted his tail feathers and raised his wings, Black reminded her, “This is the first time you've missed the subway, and Blake has a Genesect, you'd never know it even if he was thirty minutes late to the stop, that thing goes so fast.”

He was right, Whitwo hardly saw the guy on the subway anyway. Somehow she felt that Black knew that just by looking at her. Like he could read her memories or something crazy.

Black patted Brav on the shoulder twice, and the eagle leaped into the gap between the buildings. Whitwo's stomach lurched, and she leaned forward into Black's back. He, however, just kept talking, it was as if nothing had happened, or that the bird’s wings were his own. (Though he was at least using a considerably louder voice than before.)

“What WAS that earlier, by the way?” he asked, even as Brav turned nearly sideways to shoot between two skyscrapers and into the sky. “You looked a little sick.”

Whitwo laughed awkwardly. Trying not to sound too much like she was going to throw up in front of her senior dexholder, “Oh you know, I was just scoping out the park.”

“You were kneeling on the ground with a superhero mask on and staring at your co-star like she was Unova’s next top model,” he said, glancing over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised, “Is that scoping out the park to you?”

Whitwo blushed and held onto Brav's feathers tigher as the bird finally cleared the buildings, giving a triumphant squawk as he began going even faster. “You saw all that?”

He laughed, ”Man, you really WERE distracted if you didn't notice our shadow circling over you! How nice are her shoes?!“ He snickered so hard he started coughing and Brav had to glance back to check if his trainer was alright.

Whitwo groaned. How obvious has she been?!

”And that letter,“ Black continued, recovered, ”What's that about?”

“What letter?” Whitwo deflected badly, and then smiled painfully when Black laughed himself into coughing for a second time.

”The one in your bag, I saw it when you put Fongy in there.“

Why was he so damn perceptive?

”Oh, that letter.“

”Is it for her?“

Whitwo gulped, holding tight to Brav's feathers for more reason than just the insane speed at which they were flying, ”Is this an interrogation?”

“Nah, that's Blake's job,” he laughed at his own joke and then paused, “Or I guess it's not his either, not anymore, anyway-!”

He looked back at her with a grin, “It is for her, right?”

She stared at him for a few seconds, her hair whipping behind her like streams of clouds on a very embarrassed plane. She dropped her head. ”You figured it out.“

He let out a whoop rather reminiscent of Brav's. “Didn't even need Musha this time! I guess the Adderall White made me take really helped.“

“You shouldn't let her make you take medication if you don't want it,” Whitwo said, disturbed enough to ignore her embarrassment for a moment.

He shrugged, “Nah, I was probably gonna take it anyway, had to help Lenora translate a book from Galarian into Unovan pretty much all day, it helped me keep my mind off of battling her.”

”Still...“

He waved his hand dismissively, “That's not the point,” He pointed at her for good measure, “We're talking about you and your girl troubles, not mine,”

“Can you not say it that way?” she squeaked, and then screamed half of a scream as Brav took a very quick right turn. She slid back slightly and had to all but lay against the navy blue feathers of the eagle's back to keep herself from shaking. She was glad Fongy stayed on the ground.

“It's okay,” Black said, his hands resting casually on Brav's working shoulders like he didn't even mind the turbulence of the wind and wings, ”It's normal I think,“

“What is?” She asked, confused enough to get rid of her embarrassment once more. sitting up enough to get her legs back to a sitting position, “What’s normal?”

“Having a crush on your coworker,” he answered simply, “And almost falling off of Brav, that’s also normal.”

“Is that why you stay with her?” Whitwo asked, trying not to think about the fact that she was going to have to film an alone scene with Yancy after the flight was over.

Black smiled just enough to see it over his shoulder, his bangs blowing into his eyes as Brav took to a dive. She guessed he had romance details that he would rather not share, just like she did.

She dug her fingers into those pretty feathers one last time, and suddenly they were landing, Brav’s wings coming up high enough almost to hit her as he broke out of his glide and into a landing posture. His talons hit the ground, and Whitwo jolted forward and into Black, her bag spilling open and dropping Fongy and the letter out onto Brav’s back. She hissed out an apology and scooped Fongy up into her arms as she readied herself to slide down Brav’s wings onto the ground.

“Don’t forget this!” Black smiled, twisting enough to lift the pink envelope and hand it back to her, “Good luck,” he said, switching back to Galarian to signify the end of their conversation.

Whitwo opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the sound of hooves on the ground altered her of White and Darleen as they bounded towards the bird. “Black!” the director yelled, “What took you so long?! I told you to get her quickly!”

“Don’t worry, you’re still early by fifteen minutes, she’s just looking for an argument,” Black whispered out of the corner of his mouth, back to Unovan for maximum exclusion, and then back to Galarian to address his girlfriend. (Or was boss a better term for this conversation?) “She’s not super used to flying on Brav, I went slow!”

“That was slow?” Whitwo squeaked as Darleen stopped for White to help Whitwo off of Brav and onto gracious, gracious solid ground. The idea was so ridiculous that she almost forgot about stuffing her letter back into her bag, or even what it was for. The subway ride here would take thirty five minutes, and they had basically halved it!

White patted her on the head, where now both of her buns were undone and tangled, pointed her towards the temporary rest area for a reminder on what the scene would entail, “Glad you made it girl, you can find Yancy over there if you want to talk your emotions though before you put ‘em into action.”

“In the scene?” Whitwo squeaked, feeling as though she was as small as an ant next to Black on Brav and White on Darleen.

White gave her a quizzical look, “Yeah in the scene, you two arguing or s’mthn’?”

Black gave Whitwo a knowing smirk, and then put on his best innocent eyes when White turned back to continue berating him for showing up fifteen minutes early instead of twenty five, when he’d picked her up when she was already running late. Whitwo suddenly felt almost glad that all she had to worry about was shooting the same scene multiple times, or giggling awkwardly over both dating their same costar in the past three years, or being alone.

Yancy was leaving soon, she remembered. Whitwo’s heart ached with something between jealousy for Black and White, and terror for the future. She raced off towards the tent.

-

At least that filming session wasn’t as much of a disaster as yesterday’s had been. Maybe Arceus had decided to go easy on her after the absolutely terrifying experience that had been flying on Brav’s back. (“Brav” yeah right, Whitwo knew Unnovan just as well as Black did, she had no idea why he’d named the guy “well behaved.” He could have thrown her off with ease.)

At least the styliers had liked the… interesting hair style the flight had given her, White even threw her a line about Foongus Girl having to use her wind powers to fight off two more guys offscreen. Whitwo appreciated being written a little stronger, even if it was offscreen, especially with how weak in the knees the idea of her coming conversation with The Darling Darleen had made her feel.

She was pretty sure her knees had been really knocking together the whole fight. So much for being written a bit stronger.

She might have sighed about it if she hadn’t been hiding in the resting area with the strongest feeling of nausea since Brav’s sideways-through-the-skyscrapers flying earlier that day. (Though the alone seen with Yancy had been a close contender.)

“What are you doing down there?”

The sudden sound of Blake’s voice made her jump so high she hit her head on the underside of the table she was sitting under. At least Foongy was in her hands this time, that would have hurt him something awful. She clambered out from under the table, rubbing her head and half wishing Foongy had been there to sleep powder the two of them out of this conversation. “Oh you know,” she tried to joke, “just resting.”

“Why under the table of all places?” Blake reached out a hand to pull his co-star up and to her feet, and she took it with the hand that wasn’t holding the squawking little guy that was Foongy. “Won’t that mess up your hair?”

“Do you see my hair right now? Bit hard to mess that up I’d say,” Whitwo said, dodging the question again by gesturing to her still tangled locks, “Brav did a good enough job at that!”

“That eagle does have some serious spunk, I must admit,” Blake smiled and looked her up and down. (She clutched her letter holding bag closer to her side, glad to feel that it was closed too tight to see into.) “You look like that Yellow Caballero girl did after she flew around the event with her Butterfree.”

“Kitty,” Whitwo corrected (she always made a point to remember the names of the Pokemon she met, no matter how briefly,) “And she’s a senior, you shouldn’t talk about her like that.”

“Like you didn’t gossip about White on the way over with Black,”

Whitwo stiffened, how had he known that? Had he somehow listened in? Did he know about the letter? About Yancy? (She ignored the fact that Blake couldn’t speak Unnovan, as far as she was aware. At the moment that didn’t feel important.) “How did you know that?”

He shrugged and laughed and the fear dissipated somehow. “He’s picked me up before? Guy talk? Something like that.”

Whitwo groaned. That made sense. She really hoped Black wouldn’t rat her out. “Why’d you come looking for me? Filming’s over for the day.”

Blake made a face and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Whitwo raised her eyebrow. That was not the face she had been anticipating. He didn’t even hit her with a “I could say the same to you,” or a “why can’t a guy come looking for a beautiful girl these days?” like she would have expected out of him.

“I guess I just wanted to apologize,” he finally admitted, leaning down to pick up his snarling Dewott. (She didn’t know why it was always snarling.) “You seemed a bit off your game in our scene together,”

That was right. The kiss scene. Kissing Blake had been so low on her list of priorities that she hadn’t even added it to her mental list of things they were filming when she had been panicking that morning. She’d had a harder time acting than normal, she’d just wished it was Yancy. It just felt… wrong.

“It was fine,” she assured him, “I was just… distracted.” He cocked his head at her like he was trying to figure her out- his speciality.

After a long pause he spoke again, somehow even more serious than he had sounded before. “Well, I know how much it sucks to kiss someone you don’t love, especially for a job,” he looked at her searchingly, as if willing her to understand, “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt by it.”

She understood alright. 

She remembered the way he’d had to act when he was an Inspector. All those girls, all those kisses he didn’t really want, all those hearts he had to break. She shivered, suddenly realizing exactly why he’d left. Kissing him while in love with Yancy had felt wrong in a way it never had when she wasn’t, and that was just one time. (They’d made it through in one take somehow.) She didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like if it had been more than that.

She remembered that he’d been in love with Yancy once.

She remembered that Yancy had been in love with him too.

Remembering that made her realize how badly she wanted to kiss Yancy, and remembering that made her realize how badly she needed to deliver her letter.

Whitwo squeezed Foongy.

“I wasn’t hurt,” she assured him, “but thank you for checking on me.”

She meant it.

-

And she really did try!

But it got so busy.

That was the last quiet day on set, and before anyone on the team knew it, it was the last week of spring. The sun was getting hotter by the day, the shoots were getting longer and more chaotic (even though they were actually finished with the final battle and most of the resolution), and Yancy was starting to pack up. 

“You have until spring is over to tell her,” she whispered to herself as a reminder as she stood outside the pink and white door of Yancy's changing room. “Once the Deerling starts shedding its pink, we're wrapping up, you might never see her again,” Fongy made a little sound and Whitwo patted him on the head, a frown surely etched into her features.

”She's leaving, Fongy,“ Whitwo murmured, ”She might go anywhere. Kalos? Kanto? I can't follow her. We're actors, remember?“

Fongy made another sound and raised his little arms, hopping up and down in anger. Whitwo sighed and patted his little head, a gentle mist of spores drifting to the floor below as a result. ”You're right Fongy,“ she whispered, though she knew it was not what he had said, ”I have to tell her,“

She raised her fist and tapped gently three times against the door.

Muffled slightly, she heard Yancy's voice, ”Come in!” she called, “I'm decent!”

Whitwo briefly imagined what she would look like if she were not, and her face flushed bright red. It wasn't a bad look.

Trying to recover, she gripped her paper tighter, took a small step forward, and slid the door open. Her legs were shaking so much that her knees were knocking together, but she was trying. Oh boy she was trying.

“Hey Yancy,” she said, her voice shaking just as much as her legs, “I- I wanted to speak to you,”

Yancy turned from her spot at her mirror, her curtain of pink hair swirling like some sort of magic spell around her face as she smiled at her soon-to-be-former co-star. Her eyes flashed and sparkled and Whitwo was forced to swallow hard. “Decent” was certainly a way to put a tanktop and a mini-skirt, she looked positively beautiful.

Hands shaking, Whitwo held her paper out. For so long now she had failed to give it. For so long she had kept it to herself. Even with her conversation with Blake it had taken until now. She’d just been scared of what would happen if she regretted it.

Wordless as Yancy took it, her pretty eyes questioning, Whitwo realized that she had passed that point of getting to regret it. It was done now. She clasped her hands together and ducked her head as if in prayer, taking comfort in Fongy’s small form on her shoulder as Yancy read through the letter.

It seemed every sentence required a new pause of understanding, a new gasp of recognition, a new bringing of a dainty hand to gentle looking lips, and Whitwo was burning in it. Boiling in shame, regret, terror at being rejected, but also a faint pinch of something more.

Yancy was leaving either way.

But if she was leaving alone was another question.

No, Whitwo did not plan to fully leave the acting industry. She’d thrown her lot in with them, and no matter how much she sometimes wondered what life would be like without it, she did love the art of it all. She loved the costumes and the fancy hotels and the pay that she could support her mom with, she loved the feeling of creation and of safe battles and the view of the stars on far away sets when the lights went out. She loved the game she played.

But she loved Yancy too.

It was time to see if it was reciprocated.

She squeezed her blue eyes shut as the sound of paper shifting altered her that Yancy was done reading. A gentle footstep, and then another, and then suddenly Yancy’s soft fingertips were on her cheek and brushing through her long brown hair, twirling it like it really was her heart strings.

“Oh Whitwo,” Yancy’s beautiful voice murmured, sounding as if she were floating in some sort of dream world, beckoning Whitwo to join her, “I had no idea that you…”

She trailed off and titled Whitwo’s head to face hers more directly. Whitwo’s eyes flickered open, and she felt her face heat up as she stared right into her former co-star’s eyes. She was so beautiful.

“Can- can I…?” Whitwo started, and then stopped. Her heart beat so fast in her chest, as if preparing for a well behaved Braviary’s swift liftoff into that weird dream world where she actually got what she wanted. But as Yancy looked back at her, her own cheeks just as red as Whitwo’s, her smile was that final countdown. Dreamland. The girl leaned forward, tucked a strand of her pretty pink hair behind one ear, and…

Well, it was way better than that kiss Foongus Girl had shared with Dewott boy, that was for sure.

–

Whitwo didn’t quit acting, but Yancy did. She’d made her move at the right time, as thankfully neither of them had to quit each other, despite their sudden difference in jobs. It turned out that Black hadn’t been that far off in his assessment that Whitwo had been staring at Yancy like Unnova’s next top model, Pop Stars and Idols were pretty close to that weren’t they.

Now all of the region could admire her girlfriend for her gorgeous looks and her gorgeous-er voice. (At least, even more than before.) Whitwo didn’t mind that at all. With the both of them staying stars, she had enough money for the two of them and their parents combined, and even some extra to put into possibly hosting the next charity event of Dexholders, especially now that she was coming back for a third film in the franchise, why wouldn’t she share? This wasn’t the forced ploy of an International Police Inspector. Nor was it half boss and employee, half loving boyfriend and girlfriend dynamic of her other friends, or the teachers with the matching last names that Cheren and Bianca had so recently received.

She loved her.

Sure they had their hiccups, but acting as a duo for an entire season had made them much stronger for it. The two of them knew each other well enough to do a choreographed fight scene in superhero attire, they knew each other well enough to work around a disagreement about the color of their napkins. (They should totally be light pink, they matched Yancy so well that way.)

Whitwo was going to be happy staying like this for the rest of her life, even if White constantly bugged her to “go ask your girlfriend if she’ll do a cameo in the next film, it can be a song even!” and Black punched her in the side and landed Brav in their flowers and generally acted like a nuisance because he’d been right after all, and Blake just smiled like he’d missed his chance and congratulated the both of them on getting such a wonderful girl.

Foongey hardly even had to sleep powder her to bed these days, it was that comfortable.

Whitwo was happier than she’d ever been, and Yancy was too.

[1lostsoul0fishbowl]

annual writing self-evaluation 📝

Many thanks and muchas smooches to @justhere4thevibez for tagging me! 🥰

1. List of works published this year (in no particular order):

chapters 56-84 of With a Little Help From My Friends (completed 5/15/23)

Next Time I Fall (24 chapters, completed 12/19/23)

Lost and Found and Turned Around (7 chapters, completed 11/16/23)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

I’m incredibly proud of all my works, but I think probably I’m most proud of Next Time I Fall. I created a brand new rarepair, shaped a beautiful fluffy love story for them, and persevered through extreme personal difficulty to finish the fic despite the temptation to abandon it.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

There are a couple of chapters in Little Help that I feel aren’t as strong as they could’ve been. 64, 73, and 81 in particular. I don’t know what I should’ve done to make them better; I just know they needed more.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I’ll pick one little snippet from each fic…

Little Help:

Wayne waited until she’d finished her tiny blueberry slice and was debating over which to try next. “Actually, sugar,” he said quietly to Max, “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“About what?” she asked, puzzled. “About gaining weight? That was a joke.”

“No.” He watched Eddie let Lucy lick a tiny smear of pie filling from his finger, despite Chrissy’s protest that sugar wasn’t good for cats. “About staying with us.”

A chill ran through her. “It’s still okay, right?” she said hesitantly. “My mom’s getting out of the rehab next week, but Claudia said I could stay longer if I needed to. But if that’s changed…” She trailed off, swallowing hard.

Wayne patted her shoulder. “Naw, sugar, that ain’t changed. You can stay long as you like. Fact is”— he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly bashful— “fact is, what we really want is to keep you for good.”

~~~

Next Time I Fall:

Gareth couldn’t imagine having to grow up without his mom and dad. He thought of the way Janie held so tightly to his mom every time they hugged, and a lump formed in his throat.

“They never found your parents?” he whispered. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

Honestly, he hadn’t even thought before speaking, he’d just blurted that out. But somehow it had been the right thing to say; Eddie and Chrissy’s tense expressions melted into something that looked like relief, and Janie’s crushing grip on his hand finally relaxed a little. Gareth laced his fingers through hers, giving her hand a little squeeze, before gently turning it to examine the small number tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

“Is that where this came from?” He lifted her hand to his lips, softly kissing the tiny 011. “Did they do that to you in the Lab?”

She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “It was my name,” she murmured. “That is why everyone calls me El. El is short for Eleven.”

Fucking hell. Gareth felt tears running down his cheeks, too.

~~~

Lost and Found:

“Jane, you need to wake up!” Kali tried unsuccessfully not to shout. “You really are naive! They can always take you if they really want you. You need to face facts. Your policeman cannot protect you, you have to be able to protect yourself. Are your friends helping you with that? Is your boyfriend? No, they just want you to be ‘normal’. They want you to suppress your gifts instead of using them, and they want you to forget who you are and where you came from. And if I stay here they’ll do the same to me. Putting on their hypocritical smiles as long as I convert to their idea of normal. I don’t want to hide who I am, and neither should you, Jane. You can’t heal by hiding. The only way to heal is to face up to the truth, confront and conquer your past.”

“Stop calling me naive,” Jane snapped, “just because I am trying to accept my past instead of confronting it. I confronted Papa face to face, and then I let him die, and it did not change anything. All your revenge has not changed you either.” Just as quickly as her anger flared up, it dissipated again. Her voice softened, her entire demeanor settling into something more gentle. “You talk a lot about healing, but you are still so mad, Kali. I think I am more healed than you are. Maybe if you stayed here, as part of my family, maybe that can heal you like it did for me.”

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

I love every single comment I get, truly I do. But I think the ones that made me smile the most this year were the few on Next Time I Fall that basically said ‘I never would’ve considered El and Gareth together but your fic made me ship them’. Is there any greater compliment? 😄

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Basically the last eight weeks have been awful. I got covid, and had barely recovered from that when a family emergency happened and I was thrown into the role of caregiver, and since then just more and more stuff keeps going wrong. I’m exhausted and honestly in a pretty dark place, mentally and emotionally, right now.

And yet. In spite of that I finished both Next Time and Lost and Found. Neither of them seem to have made any great impact— I barely even got any comments on either finale— but it was a goal of mine to finish them both and I’m still proud I managed to achieve that.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Kali, in Lost and Found, was so much fun to explore! I rewatched “The Lost Sister” before I started writing this fic, and I realized that I still hated her obnoxious friends but Kali herself was a super interesting character with a lot of potential. I had a lot of fun digging into what might possibly make her want to reconnect with El, and what would make her feel drawn to Steve. Also it surprised me how much I ship Stali now!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I learned that my stories come out better when I write them the way I want them, instead of “taking requests” and pushing the characters in directions I wouldn’t have chosen if left to my own devices. I feel like certain parts of Little Help suffered because of this, so I resolved I’d stick to my own plans for Next Time and later Lost and Found, and I think those two fics came out better for it.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

Next year, if I write any more, I want to somehow learn not to be so obsessed with stats. Stop comparing my kudos/comments count to other fics and feeling sad and inadequate. I have no idea how to accomplish this, but it’s where I need to be if I’m going to keep writing.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Oh it’s 1000% @pearlypairings — she’s been all of the above for me and so much more! Lost and Found would never have happened without her, and Next Time would likely have been abandoned unfinished.

11. Anything in your real life show up in your writing this year:

Lots of things, yeah, I don’t think I can help adding little bits and pieces of myself to my stories. I write the kind of world I’d like to see, and populate it with characters I either want to be like or wish I’d had in my own life.

A very silly specific example, though, is that I made Eddie adopt a kitten because I lost my cat last year and I missed her so much.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Um. Not really? I don’t think I’m good enough yet to be passing on wisdom to others!!!

13. Any new projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I have a couple fun ideas jotted down in my Plot Bunnies folder, but no definite plans to start anything new right now. I gotta get out of this awful headspace before I can even think about new projects.

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read:

@sokkas-first-fangirl @bratanimus @slowandsteddie

[aerodaltonimperial]

It’s nearing mid-December, I’m loopy as shit due to being heavily medicated for preschool germs that finally took me out, and that means I am gonna be REALLY SAPPY about fandom and fic and stuff for a hot minute, sorry in advance lol.

When 2024 started, fandom was, for me, kind of a shit show. We still didn’t know what was happening with Jack or if he’d ever come back to AEW and were heading into month five of his complete social media exile and disappearance. I had lost most of my OG fandom group after I deliberately walked away from the pairing I’d built my entire fandom reputation on. I was really feeling the effects of the overall decline across all fandoms of engagement and interaction, as things became less community-oriented and more of the (still true) TikTok content creation expectation that we’re still struggling against. It was a tough time! I really wasn’t sure I would stay! (In fact, in January of ‘24, I actually did step away for awhile, thinking I was probably done.)

The year 2024 starting saw me in this fandom writing almost solely for a pairing that A) did not exist prior to me getting obsessed with them in the spring of 2023, B) had not interacted in canon since May of 2023, C) half of whom was not even known to be ALIVE as the new year rolled over, and D) had never, ever been fandom darlings, let alone an actual thing beyond me dragging a few friends into rarepair hell with me.

That’s a really difficult way to be in a fandom! It can get lonely and difficult to keep motivation, and I feel like wrestling in general is hard anyway, simply because of the sheer number of characters and pairings and every single person in this fandom has attached themselves to something different. It’s a tough fandom to be in if you are creating, for sure, because you are really at the mercy of so much outside your control, haha.

We are ending 2024 in a way I never could have predicted, and I’m just so grateful for everyone who has been here or joined in this year or just supported me continuing to write the same crap all the time even if you don’t care much for them! 💚 Thanks to the feud I could not possibly have anticipated actually getting in canon, I was able to find so many new friends this year in fandom. We hit 100 works in the pairing tag before my birthday! I know it’ll never hit the numbers that the OG pairings in this fandom have, but that’s okay, and that was never anything I even expected. I’m just so happy that people are still open to reading my stuff and that I’ve got so many new people to flail excitedly with!

That’s really the part of fandom that matters to me: community. I love flailing with people, and being excited about stuff with people, and bouncing ideas off people. I love creating with people, because for me, that’s what it’s always been about. Being the sole creator gets really isolating, even if you love what you’re doing. And losing my original group I created with definitely factored into how tough I found times this past year and a half.

I didn’t get into this fandom expecting to make waves or anything, haha. I’m still kind of surprised that this rarepair ever took off and got as big as it has managed to, given everything. I wrote a shit ton of words this year as I dealt with the aftermath of finally admitting I failed at traditional publishing, and I’m beyond grateful that people took time out of their lives to read my silly fics. Sometimes people tell me that my fics made them smile on a bad day, or that they go back and reread old ones because they really like them, and I’ll never be able to explain how much that means to me to hear. I am so, so glad that I can make a handful of people happy with what I write. 💚

2024 was a weird year for me. My relationship with writing has fundamentally changed, probably forever, in the wake of failure. This fandom has had some real ups and downs for me that have changed the way I interact with people here. But I’ve also written some things I’m really, really proud of this year. And I’ve made some new friends who are so important to me through fandom. In the end, I’m still here, and I’m still finding joy in creating (when the depression isn’t bad), and I’m just really glad that you are here, too. Thanks for being part of things with me, everyone. 💚

[hungrydolphin91]

WIP Folder Game

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have WIPs. People can send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet/preview or tell them something about it!

Thank you Jay (@lildoodlecat) for tagging me!! You have such hilarious titles for your wips, I feel like mine are more boring/straightforward by comparison 😅 luckily for me I recently made a list of all my wips and their words counts (the document word count, most of it is NOT prose) so I can just copy and paste it here. fair warning, there's quite a few, and some of them have been "on hiatus (i'll come back someday bet)" for years so i may have less to say about them if prompted. But without further ado here's the doc titles of all of my Tales wips!

Graces:

Grace richass hurt/comfort: 1456

Graces AU Compilation 2 Eletric Boogaloo (You Shape Me): 465

Graces AU of ambiguous definition but it's the same bullshit I always write (Training Wheels): 4982

Graces AUs in a jumbled mess (titled ones include: Seasons Are Changing; Lambda 2 Electric Boogaloo: There's Another One, Folks; Inside and Out. also a G/T Richass AU and a Psi POV story): 19,933

Graces Berzesty AU: 2285

Graces Chapters (Two Hearts Could Be One part 1): 47,862

Graces charcter reference and outline (Two Hearts Could Be One part 2): 92,690

Graces long fic: The Sequel (Two Hearts Could Be Two): 19,616

Graces rarepair Cheribert ideas: 2430

Zesty:

Living House AU: 15,857 (items with an * are wips under this same AU. Yes, they're all house-related puns)

*Room For Improvement: 4083

*Welcome Home: 5754

*Amazon Home: 951

*Shingles Virus: 2328

Joyride: 5339

Sormik timeloop angst: 1387

Innominat Returns (Falling Awake): 33,304

Zestiria but I dont have a name for it yet idk how to describe it either (personality nonsense): 1275

Zestiria ideas in a jumbled mess (featuring AUs such as human!mikleo, cult Elysia, noragami AU, Skyward Sword AU, that one kinky one): 14,695

Rose and Mikleo’s Day Off: 4185

Berseria:

Berseria But I Don’t Have a Title Yet (To Walk With the Reaper): 5453

Berseria Van Eltia Fluff (Maiden Voyage): 608

Bien-formant: 342

Diary of a Pengyon: 1579

Dotnw:

Dontw Polwiggle: 3115

Dontw Spur of the Moment fic (Didn’t Know I Was Lost): 1312

Vesperia:

Fighting of the Spirit: 1345

Ghost Trick Repede (Chance 4 a Big Reversal): 12904

Vespy nonsense of the self-indulgent kind (Angel/Demon AU with so many cliches you're gonna drown in them): 1471

Vespy Ooo (Without a Shadow): 6211

Xillia 1&2:

Eurydice: 378

Kind of a depressing mess (RIP Julius): 901

Notes for Leia (aka this girl has problems (and maybe a ghost) haunting her): 1153

Some kind of Xillia AU (ft. AUs such as spiritvessel!Jude and spirit!Jude): 4873

Sad fractured dimension stuff (jude's sister AU): 2091

Smol jude: 1281

Arise:

Werewolf!Law (You’re Running in Circles): 2332

Okay, that's all of them, currently! I really do write a lot for this fandom I just never finish anything ever so they stay stuck in my wips folder forever 😅 But anyone is free to ask me about these, in fact I will take your interest in my half-baked ideas as flattery of the highest form 💜

As for tagging others, I think Jay already snagged up my mutuals so I will open this up to literally anyone who sees this, Tales fan or no. And please @ me in it, I wanna see what other people are working on!!!!

[nebulousmistress]

2024 Fic in Review

format lifted from @luddlestons who borrowed it from @ziskandra but nobody will notice since I live in rarepair hell lol

Total number of fics: 44, tho this includes WIPs I posted to that I'd started previously

Total wordcount: 342,031

Fandoms: 4, if lumping all Dragon Age into one fandom. 18 Stardew Valley, 24 Dragon Age of various types, 1 Original Work in the Cthulhu Mythos, and 1 Original Work of my own

Smut scenes: 6 explicit, more if you count alluring suggestion

Most Popular Fic (by bookmarks): A Farmer's Madness with 12

Most Popular Fic (by kudos): The Green Rain with 154

New Things I Tried: 60 thousand words without ever naming one of the main characters. Liberal usage of 1st person POV but not for all of it, nowhere near all of it. I started just to see if I could then it became a running joke then it grew into a realization of eldritch proportions

Fic I spent the most time on: Memento of Legacy, it went deep into left field and dragged an entirely new rarepair out of me and AO3 kicking and screaming. And it's still a WIP

Fic I spent the least time on: The Purpose of Aesthetics, about half an hour

Favourite thing I wrote: Confessions, I don't even go to this or any western religion and yet there was something delightfully cathartic about this one. Sebastian was trying to get me to torture more but I kept the Templar rape out of it. Man was a masochist looking to get punished. He's better now and this fic is part of why

Looking Back, Did You Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected? [looks up at 300k words] Honestly I expected that number to be lower. But I wrote about as much as usual? This is fairly normal for me. I write when I'm stressed and A Lot happened this year

Story Of Mine Most Under-Appreciated By The Universe, In My Opinion: Most of them? I have to go with Safe, an original work with only 18 hits. I knew it would never breach a hundred hits but I posted it anyway. It's a EM-induced musing I had while the rest of the world marveled at aurorae and got migraines

Most Unintentionally Telling Story: Either Protector of the Valley where I admit the Farmer's name and unintentionally reveal how much one version of me has done recently, or The Seeker's Quest: Kirkwall where I heavily imply one of the greatest secrets of the series

Biggest Disappointment: I still couldn't bring myself to work on my Star Wars AU, it's gnawing at me

Biggest Surprise: So @bengesko has been recommending this game for a while now, Stardew Valley, so I picked it up and on my very first playthrough... Now I've got 60k of fic and a series that might actually END all based on that very first meandering playthrough I ever did

My Favourite Part Of Fandom This Year: This was the first year in 20 years of fandom that I ever had the courage to actually commission art for a fic FOR THE PURPOSE of putting it into stories and it rocks ngl

Writing goals for next year: finish shit. Finish all stories planned for the past in Dragon Age. Finish this Eldritch Stardew series. Write for the Inquisition in Exile era. Enjoy myself in rarepair hell since it is where I excel

Did you meet last years goal? I had a goal? Lies

[shehungthemoon]

3, 5, 8 and 9 for the end of year fic asks?

tumblr ACTUALLY eats my mail so sorry I'm just seeing this now! 💜💜💜 thank you for the ask friend! x

3. What piece of media inspired you the most? Super hard question to answer because of my ADHD brain ping-ponging me through media non-stop, but based off fic stats alone it would have to be Alex Rider! The show finished airing this past spring and it seems has definitely ruined me just a bit.

5. What ships captured your heart? I don't think I can not say bucktommy here. This couple came out of NOWHERE and completely rewrote how I felt about one of my favorite shows. The ship and its fandom have given me so much joy and the best, warmest reception I've ever gotten on a fic ever. (And now I have a new TV papi and one less show to care about! Thx Lou.)

8. What fic meant the most to you to write? This baby right here was a labor of love that I am very happy to have out. The rarepair of all rairpairs, just two minor characters from The Conjuring universe, but I was able to flesh out their characters in my own way and I'm really happy with the results. I basically invented a love story from scratch, which was exhilirating and everything an author could want.

9. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? butter and seasalt, because I wrote it for one of my favorite people @mirabilefuturum who I have not been keeping up with as much as I want to, and whose Hannukah I hope has been very peaceful and warm 🤍 They got me back into The Godfather this year and I was genuinely very happy to be able to give them anything that might put a smile on their face. My love! (one day discord will let me log in again so I can talk in our chats).

[bluedalahorse]

Hi hello friend! Is there anything you'd like to tell tumblr about the road trip fic?

Hi friend! Thank you for asking!

There are so many things I want to tell tumblr about road trip fic. I will be vulnerable about this for just a minute. I have to admit, there’s a little part of my brain that is maybe taking this assignment too seriously, because it’s wondering what details I could share that would actually draw in an audience without spoiling them too much. I need to let that part of my brain go—the part that wants to figure out how to draw more people toward my controversial rarepair fic when it’s a little bit more of a niche thing that is never going to draw a lot of people—and remind myself that writing for myself is the most important thing when it comes to fanfic. I will admit I am very very bad at internalizing that, but I will also admit that I am working on it.

Next, I was going to share some bullet points, but then I realized I have an initial list of bullet points here. Which I know you saw!

So, I’m going to share some additional bullet points, mostly dealing with inciting incidents plus a few extra bonus facts:

The fic takes place about 8-10 years after canon, with the characters in their late 20s.

Air travel is suspended due to a volcanic eruption, and Sara and August both happen to be in Antwerp at the same time. They drive back to Sweden so they can get to Wille and Simon’s engagement party in time.

At the beginning of the fic, Sara has been living in either Malmö or Copenhagen (I need to decide) for the past five years or so. Simon and Wilhelm and Felice are all in Stockholm, so she enjoys visiting them, but she’s also a little worried they’ve grown closer without her.

As part of Sara’s backstory, she started up a vlog when she was in university, which then became a place where she talked about doing university and 20something life when you’re a person with AuDHD. She built up her skills and was pretty happy with what she was producing for a while. Then PuzzleChildren (a charity that’s basically that awful one you’re thinking of) hired Sara to vlog for them. They were attempting to rebrand after coming under criticism for not hiring autistic people, and at first things looked promising enough and they were offering Sara enough money that she felt confident about it. Sara’s feelings are changing at the beginning of the fic.

Sara has a neurotypical colleague named Hedda who co-hosts the PuzzleChildren vlog with her. Hedda is… well, she means well, she tries to be nice, but she’s problems for Sara all the same. Hedda also used to be an independent vlogger who made videos about how to be a supportive sibling to a person with autism, since Hedda has a non speaking autistic sibling. (As it happens, Hedda and her sibling are now estranged.) PuzzleChildren sells the story of Sara and Hedda as being sort of like, besties who are just like sisters, and they have to roleplay that relationship on the PuzzleChildren videos. Sara is increasingly frustrated with this.

In the first chapter of the fic, Sara is on a panel at an autism conference, and explains that she and Hedda play their relationship up for the cameras, but that it’s not based on reality. She has a brother and a best friend she loves very much IRL, thank you very much. After confessing this, she moves into a space of anxiety, because she knows it’s going to get her in trouble. She wanders off (her conference center shares space with a zoo, so I imagine her wandering off to the zoo portion) and that’s when she first runs into August.

August has just left the monarchy maybe six weeks before the story starts? He has also refused to talk to the press about why, nor has he put out an official statement about that or anything. The rumors, naturally, are out of control.

Later in the fic though, August has found out a secret about Sara that makes her feel pretty vulnerable. She’s having a tough time. They stop the car, get some strawberries at a roadside stand, and eat them while looking out at the sea. Then August tells Sara he’ll tell her why he left the monarchy, as a sort of evening of the playing field.

I won’t tell you why August left the monarchy, but it has something to do with his dad.

Vincent (now divorced) will briefly show up with his preschool aged daughter, who also has ADHD. I’m sort of interested in the existential crisis Vincent could have if he had an ADHD kid and heard himself saying the same things to her his parents said to him, and wanting to stop. It’s a small part of the story but I want to nod to the idea that even he can break his awful cycles.

Honestly? I might write August and Sara as bi4grayro just to spite the anon haters who call them boring because they’re “just straight.” (I mean do we know either of them is 100% hetero? DO WE? I don’t believe it.)

This fic is on hold until January due to grad school. I hope I’ll feel motivated to write it when I’m done!

[my-cabbages-gorl]

I am so happy I found youuu <3

I love love your writing about ZukAang in AO3 and I am here to support you in this agenda °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

This Aang x Zuko dynamic is meant to be explored more and I just believe it creates such interesting tropes (Fated Enemies --> Lovers/ Yin & Yang/ The Banished Prince x The Avatar/ The Peacemaker x The Conqueror/ Younger!Top x Older!Bottom ETC) AIYOO THE MATERIALL??

I am just here to tell you that I really loved your writings it is just really well done and you bring more depth into them which makes it is such a good story. I love how you envision Aang as he grows older to be more grounded and stable, still very faithful to what he believes but there is still parts of him that he gets to be a BIT greedy for (ahem *cough* zuko *ahem). Then you have Zuko, someone who just got restored his honor and home, yet his past haunts him. He is such a babygurl to me and he definitely needs someone that he can be vulnerable with, and to just let loose and to be mentally grounded (ahem *cough* aang ahem) LIKE TOGETHER THEY BALANCED OUT SO WELL. (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

Anywhooo I hope you get more inspired <3 <3

well well well this has to be the nicest, sweetest, most uplifting and inspiring thing anyone has ever said to me??? thank you so much?? I know i speak for a loooot of fic writers out there when I say this kind of feedback keeps us GOING. Especially for zukaang, a modest lil ship that's been squeezing it's way out of rarepair territory for the last few years and into the mainstream- your excitement and support is the wind in our sails. THANK YOU so much sending you lots of love and appreciation

[sunsetmaidenwrites]

Hi! In Your Eyes? 👀 (I have been down the Ava x Bucky rabbit hole before)

Hi! Thanks so much for asking me about this one. This is a rarepair that really captures my interest. I wrote a one shot for them not too long ago and have been wanting to write more. (I have a bit of an Ava Starr-agenda. She's made a few cameos in recent stories, too. I find her very fascinating!)

This one is a movie au based on an indie flick by the same name. It has a twin flames concept, with Bucky and Ava being strangers who can sense what the other one is feeling. Somewhat aware of this from an early age and not really understanding it, they've managed to shut the bond down and shut the other out.

But as they get older, both find themselves desperately lonely and at a crossroads needing a connection. Ava is trapped in a loveless marriage to a controlling man; Bucky can't seem to escape his troubled past. Feeling vulnerable, frustrated, and lost, their mental connection sparks back to life and they begin communicating with one another through their shared bond.

Here is a snippet (language warning):

After that visit, he’d gone back to his cell, huddled down on the hard lumpy cot that was his home for the foreseeable future and he’d sobbed. Deep, silent, shaking shudders. Surrounded by the moans and howls and cursing of his fellow inmates, the smell of piss, sweat and broken dreams hovering heavy in the air as he mourned every way he’d gone wrong. Every mistake he could never fix because every path set before him had always led exactly here.

If he didn’t die in this hell hole, it would be another. Alone and miserable, getting what Fate determined from the start he had coming. His hands clenched into fists, and he wished he could hit something…probably himself. He deserved it after the disappointment he’d seen in Steve’s eyes.

I’m sorry, his soul screamed, but who was he apologizing to? Steve? Becca? His Ma for turning out too much like his ol’ man? Or maybe…maybe there was someone else. Some distant aching memory he’d pushed and hidden away, never completely relinquishing though he’d refused to give it a name for fear it made him a madman. Carefully, in the depths of his misery and recrimination, he unfurled one hand, letting it rest listlessly by his side as he waited. He could do it. Just once, though it’d been years. He just had to concentrate, open his mind, pull the cord on his tightly shuttered heart and let the phantom light in. Gulping down breath, spit, and guilt, he opened his eyes and peeked into the void. There was nothing there. Just the peeling, cold unforgiving gray of the ceiling. No other pictures for his mind to cling and sift through, probably because he’d forgotten how to dream so long ago. But there was something…just beyond him. Out of reach. An itch. A tingle. A certainty that he wasn’t as alone as he insisted. I did it for you. His mind screamed, his fingertips twitching in desperate beckoning. Just once. One more time. One last time. And I’ll shut you out. I’ll never ask again. He swallowed hard, tears leaking from his eyes. He was 18 years old, and he’d already fucked up every chance at a decent life. Please. Then by some miracle he’d never understand—surely the imaginings of a fucked-up brain—he felt it. The flutter of fingertips, grazing the length of his own. Warm, safe, and capable as they traveled up the length of his fingertips, before flattening so they were hand to hand. His real palm and an invisible shadow palm that existed only in his mind but felt more fucking real than anything else he’d experienced. He felt the sliding sensation as fingers sank into the crevices of his and squeezed. Held on.

Bucky closed his eyes once more, the silent sobs abating as he sank into the serenity of the moment. A simple touch. Surely all in his head. But it didn’t let go. And neither did Bucky.

[ffviirarepairweek]

Hello! What is the definition of rarepair?

I feel this group is overtaken by the same old popular pairs we see everywhere all the time

Hi there, so there’s two parts to your question.

I’m going to address the second part first – that it’s just the same popular pairs being shown. Before your ask arrived in the inbox, I had reblogged the following pairings for this year's event (in no particular order):

Reno/Aerith

Sephiroth/Elfe

Reno/Veld

Ifalna/Lucrecia

Biggs/Wedge

Scarlet/Lucrecia

Reno/Tseng

Aerith/Kunsel

Reno/Rufus

Seph/Zack

Vincent/Veld

Cloud/Wedge

I’m also writing requests for Seph/Elfe, Seph/Lazard, Reeve/Vincent, and Biggs/Wedge which will be posted later in the week.

I wouldn’t call that list just all the same popular pairings. If you mean there’s a lot of repeats from previous years of this event, well, yeah. We have a number of repeat participants who, unsurprisingly, still like the same pairings they did last year.

In order for me to share a pairing, someone needs to make content for the event for them (and of course Tumblr has to cooperate in showing it to me, or they can mention to me that it exists – a quick reminder to please do let me know if I’ve been missing your posts, we’ve already found one person who the tag is ignoring > . <) so that I can share it. (Or, someone can request a pairing and I will write something for it to the best of my ability.)

The second part – what is a rare pair.

On the prompt post ( https://ffviirarepairweek.tumblr.com/post/740152122290618368/ffvii-rare-pair-week-2024 ) I have the opening as:

Urban Dictionary defines rarepair as “A ship or pairing that not many people ship or is very rare to find fanfiction and fanart of. Typically happens within small fandoms or with minor characters.”

Of course, people often ask for more specific clarifications because some events are very specific about this. I’ve answered this previously, and this year in this post: https://ffviirarepairweek.tumblr.com/post/740261946911260672/is-there-a-number-of-fics-on-ao3-that-you-are

I’ll copy that reply here as well however:

Obviously there are the big huge pairings that you can’t avoid, and no one is going to mistake them for being rare, and there are some pairings people feel are rare on AO3 but may have had a bigger home on other sites in the past. There’s always debate on what counts as rare. If a pairing has their own currently running active annual event week, then I’d encourage folx to seek those out for those pairings first, as someone is trying to create a space for that pairing already and I’m not trying to take that away (but not everyone knows those are happening either!). My general policy is I’m not going to police a rare pair. At the end of the day, I want folx to have fun and encourage people to create above all.

To further elaborate on that, my goal, as always, in running any event (week or otherwise) is to encourage people to have fun and create for the things they love. To help people find others that share their interests. Maybe introduce others to a pairing they may not have thought about yet, when it comes to rare pair week in particular. I would much rather people feel welcome to create, than sit here looking at every fan site calculating how many entries there is for each pairing and tell someone, sorry, your pairing has x number more things than another, so you’re not welcome in the playground. My table has enough room for us all to sit at for show and tell.

I'll try to be better with tagging the pairings so you can ignore the pairings you don't like for the rest of the week - I was working off mobile the last couple days to post things more frequently. That's on me. If there's something particular you need tagged, you can always send in an ask or message me directly.