#and i've read the same dynamics in some ffs

[nana-rierie]

i just finished the last part of the summer quest and i've been laughing my ass off 😂 😂 i always hc 4ggravate's dynamic to start with kaveh unintentionally being a menace and alhaitham trying to save his ass but making things worse followed by tighnari as a distraction then cyno being drag along willingly 😭😭😭

[festivating]

what's your favorite gelphie fic?

OOF just one is so hard. here's a few of my favs. though more than being my favorite fics these are my favorite gelphie authors so assume i love everything they've posted!

The Love Club by OrkButch. just delightful. extremely queer and extremely heartfelt. and it has my favorite things ever like grief, healing, learning to be in a relationship, and nuanced portrayals of elphaba & nessa's dynamic. very formative to my perception of book!elphie, i learned a lot about her with this fic even if it's a modern AU!

Wiretapped Life by tinyace. another fic that has aaaaaaall of my favorite things like grief, healing, learning to be in a rel--- you get the gist. also it has nor! more fics should have nor! no but seriously this fic is incredible and has some of the best explorations i've seen on asexuality, aromanticism, gender, queer platonic relationships, and how to navigate a shitload of trauma in a cruel world when you have so much love to give. the gelphie dynamic is so nuanced and the worldbuilding is so intriguing and well done and glinda is a poor little meow meow and agh. could talk about this one forever. also if you've read attrition you will like this one, it has so many similar themes sam and i are always joking our brains are the same lol

The Last True Eminent Thropp by Ridiculous Mavis. ask any gelphie fan who was here before november 2024 for their favorite gelphie fics and they will probably mention ridiculous mavis. read everything on her page, seriously. yes even if it's ff dot net. do it. do it right now. this one is my favorite of hers!

Per Aspera Ad Astra (Through Hardships Towards the Stars) by show_me_the_universe. this one is still unfinished but i have enjoyed it so much! gelphie are so cute and so teenagers and they go through so much and their dynamic with each other is the sweetest thing. also has great dynamics between the charmed circle which it's also one of my favorite things :)

Aftermath by narta_shall_survive. another one where glinda is a poor little meow meow. i read this fic like a year ago and brother it has stuck with me. i love the way glinda is written and it has my FAVORITEEE glinda & crope dynamic. also it blends musical and book in such a smooth way and the prose is so crunchy.

and my saint, she is dancing by Mayverix. this one is extremely clever and soo well written. i adore this author's prose so much. made me ache in the best way possible. the way book!gelphie is captured here is just superb.

oh and of course i love the classics aka gretchenmaurice's works. all of them from the long ones to the most recent ones :)

now!!! i haven't read too many movie fics (yet) but here are two that stuck with me and that i love and have very much informed the way i see and write the movieverse gelphie dynamic.

the faint of heart by Verannode. vampire!galinda. and if that wasn't enough she totally thinks she's in some sort of romcom while elphaba is in a supernatural mystery or something. it's just the best thing ever. the dialogue is so whimsical and hilarious and galinda is incredibly delusional and dramatic and i love her. i've reread this a bunch of times it always makes me laugh.

PERENNIAL by anaphoruh. no joke this fic is one of my favorite ones ever. it's just so. i can't even explain it the way its written scratches my brain in the BEST way imaginable. the prose is so elegant and smooth i want to study it. it's the perfect blend of book and MOVIE which i didn't think was possible. the descriptions are so fun and engaging. the gelphie dynamic is delicious. galinda is insanely rich and elphie is her sugar baby in the most lowkey way possible. i adore it.

now not related to the movie at all. last but not least. there is Emerald City Lies by Beta Nova. listen to me. i would never recommend a fic on ff dot net that was last updated in 2016 if it wasn't worth it. i started reading this fic on a plane and it was so good i literally had to stop reading it so i could savor it. made myself read only one chapter a day and yes it's unfinished and yet i reread it once a year. it's so good.

anyway! thanks for asking <3

[haedalkoo]

Hi! I hope you’re doing well<3

I’m not too sure if you’re involved with the Korean part of the fandom but, I was wondering if you had any insight into who the biggest bts ship is on the Korean side.

I saw a post saying that according to data from the Korean website postype (which is like ao3?) that jikook were the most popular ship on there. It’s interesting because people are always quick to debunk Jikook by arguing that their closeness and questionable intimacy is the norm in Korean culture and that Korean men are naturally just more affectionate. But, if Jikook are the most popular romantic bts ship on the Korean side….clearly their behaviour is recognised as distinctly abnormal for two ‘Korean bros’.

Also, I was reading a 2021 blog post from a Jikook blog where they explained that jikook’s popularity amongst the Korean side could be from them ‘fitting’ that very heteronormative idea of what a queer couple should look like. Jm is often perceived as more feminine and jk more masculine and so that ‘visual chemistry’ (again a very heteronormative take) could be part of what makes them as a duo so attractive.

Anyway, just wanted to see what your take on this is and whether you would know more about the k-side of things!

Hi!! this is such an interesting question <3

unfortunately i'm not very involved in the general k-army side. i follow a bunch of k-jikookers to read some content in korean but that's as far as i've gotten. I always tell myself i should engage in fandom in korean to practice but then i get lazy lol

i've also heard that they're the most popular ship tho! i used to read kookmin ff in postype a while ago when i was actively learning korean and i remember seeing them at the top of the list, but i can't swear on it. what i can say from the accounts i follow is that, most definitely, these two don't act like bros in the eyes of koreans. just recently, they went crazy over the joint flower arrangement because it was not normal for friends to do that.

i find that they often do things like this, slightly blurring the lines of what's traditional or a cultural standard. even when you operate through the basis of them just being friends, jikook (and bts in general) don't tend to comfort to traditional gender or age expectations, and i love that about them. the thing is, jikook sometimes present themselves through a code associated with couples only. ie, writing their names together in the same flower arrangement. whether that's intentional (i think so) or a sign that they simply are beyond those social rules, well, we can't know.

This brings me to what you mentioned: "jm is often perceived as more feminine and jk more masculine and so that ‘visual chemistry’ (again a very heteronormative take) could be part of what makes them as a duo so attractive."

you're so right, it is an extremely heteronormative understanding of queer couples. i think lots of people struggle to think jk could be queer as well because of stereotypes like these, as if he were 'too masculine' to be gay. clearly, some people need to interact with queer people irl LOL but just because there are certain 'types' of queer men or sexual dynamics associated to body/personality types (in the same way that there are plenty of butch/femme lesbian couples and expectations of what they should look like), it doesn't mean that every couple must fall under this stereotype or that they're any more or less gay because they check the boxes.

on the other hand, some people tend to enjoy stereotypical content and then struggle to understand that queer people exist outside of them (they might love a fictional gay ship but then be blind to obvious queer signaling from men that don't fit their idea of being gay, if that makes sense?). many shippers, including jikookers, tend to have a more conservative/stereotypical view of their dynamic when jikook as individuals and a couple constantly defy these rules and boxes shoved onto them.

i'm ranting about nothing and anything at this point 😭 this is all to say that if jikook are famous within the k-side, it's not for how they 'look' as that post implied, but for the reasons everyone, korean or not, can see. their chemistry, their love, and their commitment and devotion to each other. imo they spend more time breaking cultural expectations for men/couples than adjusting to stereotypes fabricated by people outside of the queer community 🤷🏼‍♀️

thank you for your question!

[snarkformysanity]

Review: Captive Prince (Series)

Okay, I've finally finished the lot! And... much like with my review of the first book, I was pleasantly surprised overall. The second and third books are an improvement on the first, with the second probably being my favourite one not just because it's purple I swear. I think overall I'll give the series a B-. I want to give it a B, because there's really some goods things here which I enjoyed, but I do have some gripes which I'll go into below. Well, one gripe, really, but it's a big one. This review is not spoiler-free, so... you've been warned.

The plot of the series overall is fairly straightforward - our protagonist, Damen, Prince of Akielos, is captured by his half-brother during a coup and sent to the nation of Vere to be a slave for its crown prince, Laurent. The two hate each other, initially, but gradually become allies of necessity and develop a grudging respect, which blossoms into something more. While this is happening, they're trying to outmaneuver Laurent's uncle, the Regent of Vere, at various political machinations (which are surprisingly decent, for YA/NA), culminating in their making a play to win both their countries back.

I must say, the pacing throughout the series was very good. Nothing really felt like filler, which is always nice, and despite the relatively short length of each book, a lot manages to happen. I very much enjoyed the dynamic between our leads as it evolved and developed - they have legitimate grievances with each other, but at the same time, the series manages to build their relationship off a sense of actual growing admiration for each other (rather than just "he's hot", like in many other books I've had the misfortune to read). Like they're actually observing each other's personality traits. Very refreshing. And they do have some legitimately cute moments.

About my only gripe with the plot/pacing is that the ending felt a little... abrupt. I mean, I get why - their plans for the future which were alluded to (uniting Akielos/Vere) would take a smiiiidge longer than a chapter or two to resolve, but even so. We could have at least gotten Damen to the physician, surely. The man was stabbed ffs. I mean, we're told he'll be fine, but still.

I also didn't really mind the worldbuilding (with the caveats that I discussed in my review of book one regarding how it handles its darker topics). It's not an especially huge or deep world, but there's enough details to make the story work and make the world feel real enough. It draws very heavily on Ancient Greece and Late-Medieval France for Akielos and Vere, respectively, but does some unique and interesting things with them.

Honestly, apart from the book one caveats I mentioned (which, admittedly, are toned down a bit in the subsequent books), my single biggest gripe with the series is probably just the technical quality of the writing. Sure, it's better than, say, Twilight or Fifty Shades, but that's really not a high bar to clear. The prose is very, very basic, and sometimes suffers from awkward phrasing or odd, disconnected dialogue segues and such. More than once I legitimately had no idea what the characters were talking about, because they spoke only in weird allusions that just did not seem to be connected to anything that was going on.

Probably one of the most noticeable (and frequently-occurring) examples of this was with the use of pronouns (or lack thereof). And sure, it can be hard to be clear about who's doing what when 99% of the cast is male, and thus you're stuck using "he" all the time. But, if you find yourself using a character's name six times in a single (short-ish) paragraph, you need to go back and reword something.

When he returned, Damen let Laurent towel him down, with the sweet, unanticipated attentiveness that was also part of the way Laurent behaved in bed. He sipped from the shallow cup that Laurent provided, and poured water for Laurent in turn, which Laurent didn't seem to expect. Laurent sat awkwardly upright on the bedding.

Seriously. At least two of those "Laurents" could easily have been pronouns, and I'd even settle for an epithet like "the other man" just to break it up a bit. It's awkward and clunky. Pretty much any time I found myself pulled out of the narrative, it was generally because of the writing itself. It wasn't constant, but it was often enough to be annoying.

In the acknowledgements section at the end of the last book, I noticed that this series apparently started life as a web serial which, honestly, goes a long way to explaining both this and the sex-obsessed nature of the first book in particular. And, again, honestly, I'm surprised the rest of it hung together so well. Authors who made their names on the web have a bit of a reputation in this sphere, after all (Cassandra Clare. Sarah J. Maas. E. L. James. You get the idea). There was clearly a lot of love and care put into things like the plotting, the characters and their dynamic, and the setting - it honestly makes me excited to see what C. S. Pacat will do going forward, as they improve their technical skills in writing.

But, yes, it is the writing which drops it from a B to a B-. It's just really hard to justify rating it higher with the kind of clunkiness that crops up regularly throughout it. But, apart from that, and the YMMV nature of the series as discussed in my review of the first book, it's a solid series, in my opinion. It's entertaining. I was invested in the story and characters. And it holds together well.

[brw]

Okay, I've finished every Alpha Flight volume, all the limited series' and the one-shot, and most of the cameo appearances, and can I just say, I have truly no idea what the fuck people are on about when they say that Aurora and Sasquatch's relationship is uniquely awful, or abusive, or incredibly toxic, and I can't tell if it's because I have a uniquely high tolerance for weird and toxic relationship dynamics in comics (I have fun reading a lot of Ant-Man and Wasp comics, I love Vision and the Scarlet Witch, I'm a ReedSue warrior, etc), or if everyone else had Alpha Flight be their first 80s comics, because Sasquatch hasn't done like, anything! And I know she's my favourite, so I'm naturally inclined to be more gentle than most people, but even with that context, I feel like I'm usually pretty good at recognising when my faves do something messed up. I'm a Hank McCoy fan, I know how to criticise a blorbo for war crimes. but Sasquatch doesn't even do that very much until the last 20 issues of the series, and it wasn't Aurora. Because, okay, here are Sasquatch's crimes in Alpha Flight;

Attempted to calm Jeanne Marie down by explaining the relationship between Langkowski and Aurora. In this, the narratior dialogue literally says that Jeanne Marie does not feel the disgust she would expect of herself for learning of her altar's sexual activities, and that's what makes her react like that. It has nothing to do with Sasquatch's actions, and everything to do with Jeanne Marie's complex and negative feelings about her own sexuality, of which Sasquatch was kept in the dark about by Mac until this issue. Alpha Flight V1 #4

I've seen people say that Sasquatch persuing a relationship with Aurora after this fact was wrong, and I can see where they're coming from, but it does feel deeply infantilising, frankly. Would you say that about Betty Ross and her relationship with Bruce and Hulk? What about Marlo and Joe Fixit? Aurora clearly was interested in Sasquatch and was determined in pursuing that relationship, and I don't think Sasquatch is a bad person for returning those feelings and that desire any more than I think like, Janet van Dyne is a bad person for loving Hank still when he was Yellowjacket. This isn't an uncommon dynamic in cape comics, especially in the 80s. I don't know what to tell you. Acting like someone continuing to pursue someone with dissociative identity disorder is an awful person is just a really odd take to me, particularly again with the context that this is not an uncommon plotline in the remit of 80s comics. Is everyone who ever dated Moon Knight getting cancelled now, too? Or is it only women with D.I.D. who are too mentally ill to be capable of relationships and of consent? I'm not denying that the way this was written was ableist, and misogynistic, but acting like Sasquatch is awful for being romantically involved with a woman with D.I.D. while not being incredibly informed on D.I.D. is bizarre to me because you can say that about SO many comic book characters with dissociative identity disorder!

Camouflaged Aurora's x-gene when she asked Sasquatch to change her powers to be no longer reliant on Northstar. I've seen some people act like this entire situation was non-consensual, but no, Aurora went out of her way to ask to be changed to not rely on Northstar's powers with her light ability. Alpha Flight V1 #17

I don't think like, nonconsensual body experimentation is a good thing, but again, this is small potatoes to me. I'd understand it if it was Sasquatch changing Aurora's powers without permission, but the only thing she did was mask the X-gene, and I'd like to remind everyone this is the universe where they canonically have giant genocidal murder robots. Like I'm sorry but I just simply do not think this is the worst thing someone has ever done to their partner in comics! And granted, when Reed did the same thing to Franklin in the most recent FF vs X-Men, I also didn't care and I was on his side, so I might just be built different, but some of you people would not survive reading 70s Avengers comics. Is it a great moment? Of course not, but I think it's an understandable action in the universe where mutant genocides come monthly, and I do not think this holds water as proof Sasquatch is an awful abusive person, particularly when the reason for Aurora wanting to no longer be connected with Northstar came after multiple instances of Northstar assaulting Aurora, purposefully endangering her, slut-shaming her, being very controlling towards her regarding her relationship with Sasquatch as if that was not a choice she was making, and even after when Sasquatch was dead, continuted to be incredibly ableist to both her and the disabled man she was involved with, Roger Bochs. Like, I appreciate and I KNOW that their relationship has grown and has gotten much better, but at this point in time, frankly, Aurora was right to want to be separated from him, I think, because he was not a good brother to her.

And in any case, the mutant gene thing, the actual issue and the actual symbol of non consensual body modification, almost immediately gets forgotten. Writers have since talked about and discuss the way her powers were altered; none of them in the main Alpha Flight series have ever acknowledged her X-Gene being masked, so outside of this one issue, it literally does not come up and is never framed as an issue. I think you could, and I'd be interested if they did, but I do not think altering Aurora's powers WHEN ASKED to distance her from her brother, who at this time, was a distinctly controlling, cruel figure in her life, was a bad thing to do. The sense of ownership over her, the justifiying mutant bigotry, sure, that's messed up, but I've read every single fucking issue after that, and it does not come up again, so you're going to have to try harder to convince me.

And after this, that's sort of it? Like, I'm trying to think of anything else that happens in any of these runs, and nothing's really coming to me. They don't get back together after Sasquatch comes back, and don't get back together for the rest of the run.

I guess there's the bit where Sasquatch helps instituionalise Aurora in that random issue of Wolverine (#173), but like, I'm really sorry, you'll have to forgive me if a random issue of a Frank Tieri comic that only happened to set up Frank Tieri's Weapon X series which is universally hated by Alpha Flight/Aurora fans isn't something I'm gonna sit here and call core characterisation. It happened because Tieri wanted Aurora in that series so she could get sexualised and abused, and to my knowledge he has never written Sasquatch or Aurora before or since his Weapon X series, so again, you'll have to forgive me if this, to me, feels like the equivalent of pulling out Bendis' Avengers Disassembled as a core piece of Wanda Maximoff characterisation. Like, no. That is ridiculous. What are you talking about.

Look, alright, look. I'm aware, as I've repeated, that I have an unnaturally high tolerance for comic book nonsense. I like 60s comics a lot. I read all of Force Works, and Silver Sable and the Wild Pack recently. You think Byrne was weird in Alpha Flight? Try reading his West Coast Avengers. So it makes sense that some people would read these moments, and see them as unforgivable, because they aren't deep in the weeds of what nonsense comic books can be. They haven't sat down and read Avengers #200, one of the most infamously awful comics ever. They haven't followed the trajectory of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne's relationship up to it's divorce, and afterwards, and seen how misogyny, ableism and saneism all combined in a very odd 15 years of comics. They haven't read fucking Force Works. Or Silver Sable and the Wild Pack. Or Super Soldiers. Or any of the other obsucre, awful comics from the 90s I've been reading. Fine!

But what I don't understand is the volume of people who have read all of Alpha Flight who think these are completely unforgivable, awful actions, when they barely rank a D tier to me in the grand scheme of comic book crimes. Like, okay. In issues #59 and #60 of Marvel Team-Up, Spider-Man teams up with Yellowjacket and Wasp, and over the course of those issues, we learned Hank injected Janet with like, extra Wasp DNA to make her powers stronger while she was sleeping as a surprise anniversay present. And when Janet finds out, she's like, "😊 You're so thoughtful", and you're telling me the worst thing you've ever read is someone agreeing to change someone's powers very slightly to not be reliant on the twin brother she has an incredibly fraught relationship with, a twin brother who purposefully tried to force you into a wild bloodlust to scare his sister so he could be the sole person she trusted??? That's the worst thing you've ever read????And I was under the impression that only weird people who read a lot of comics and are naturally used to this sort of thing read Alpha Flight, but I guess not??

Whatever. I guess I just expected a lot more and a lot worse in the grand scheme of comic books from the way people were talking about them and this relationship, but while I don't like, think these two are good for each other, or should stay together, their relationship at most just seems like regular John Byrne shenanigans, and I've read too many John Byrne comics for that to phase me. Did you guys go from reading slice of life webcomics to Alpha Flight with no in between? Sasquatch doesn't even leave Aurora to die in the Antarctic like Rogue did with Gambit (Uncanny X-Men #350)....

[franollie]

Why do you think you like Spideytorch?

i actually hate them.

okayyyy fineeee. i'll talk about spideytorch.

first things first: i do not want them to be canon. ever. are there versions of them that i play with like barbies so that they are married and happy in my brain? yes. do i want to see that play out in canon? NO. i have many different reasons for this but just know that i dont want them canon also if you want domestic and happily married johnny, wyatt is right there

another thing: i'm still relatively new?? ig? to shipping them. i mildly shipped them back in 2018 when i was reading a lot of spider-man, but i was more of a casual fan. a spideytorch enjoyer if you will. now that i've started reading for the fantastic four they've wiggled their way into my brain and it's horrible. all that too say, i'm by no means an expert on their relationship or all of their history.

now that that's out of the way, let's get into some of their history:

they've known each other since the beginning of peter's career as spider-man

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #1

in general, i love peter's relationship to the four, and since basically his creation spider-man has featured the FF and been featured in FF comics. in part 3 of the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, peter breaks into the baxter building to "apply" for a role on the four.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #1: Peter breaking into the baxter building, the four being fully aware that peter is breaking in, and johnny's first words to peter ever

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #1

during this time, spider-man was being portrayed as a "menace to society", and so the four have understandable reservations about him EXCEPT FOR JOHNNY!! sue obviously wants to help spider-man because she acknowledges that he is so young and carrying so much, but johnny is the one who immediately decides that despite everything the media has said otherwise spider-man is a good guy.

Bonus panels of baby peter admiring johnny and his first words to johnny too because i can:

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #3

the first time they team up, though, is in Strange Tales Annual #2!

prior to this issue, johnny and peter were set up as rivals of sorts (with johnny being the flashy, legal superhero that craves attention and peter being the smaller, vigilante that gets a lot of unwanted attention...and also. johnny knew spider-man as "the guy that broke into my house and asked for a paycheck"). in strange tales, spider-man goes to johnny for help because he's been framed for a robbery. many shenanigans later they finally team up and catch the actual art thieves. all of that aside, this issue features a lot of the staples in johnny and peter's friendship for years to come (ie. the bantering, the writing in the sky, THE STATUE OF LIBERTY)

Strange Tales Annual #2

also! they're friends! they're buddies! they're best friends! have i mentioned that they're best friends? look at them being buddies :)

there's definitely some queer-baity, shipping fodder in their interactions especially in later interactions too (notably FF #17 and ASM digital #17) but its more important to me that they are friends first and foremost.

The Amazing Spider-Man Digital #17 and FF #17

all in all, i think if you're interested in their dynamic definitely look into Spider-man/Human Torch (2005). I have some minor nit-picky issues with the series but overall it does a pretty good job covering the important parts of their relationship and how it's evolved over the years. it includes a lot of references and retellings of older issues of The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four

Spider-man/Human Torch #3

peter describing who he is when he's with johnny being the same person he was with gwen WHICH COULD MEAN NOTHING.

this is my personal favorite issue in the mini series! look at them!! they're so important to each other! issue #5 is also fun. not as fun as #3 but still has really good moments!

Spider-Man/Human Torch #5

at the end of the day, it's really important to me that Peter is seen as an extended member of the FF family at the very least on the same level as Jen.

if you're asking why i think i specifically am drawn to spideytorch as a ship, i honestly think it just comes down to i really like the idea of knowing and caring for someone for so long that you don't notice when the feelings change. something something best friends to lovers stays on top 💪 💪 💪. it's about the blind trust and the "i'm always here for you" of it all.

Anyways. Spideytorch is dead. Don't support white boy yaoi. Do as i say not as i do. This is my own personal circle of hell. I hate them so much but also like. they're just so. i don't know dude they're fun....nobody look at me.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Do you have any shuggy fanfic recommendations? I already read and rearead (and reread) yours one piece ff…

i can certainly give you some recs!

everything's hosted on ao3 and set in the one piece universe; i do read modern/mundane AUs but i'm always really picky about how an author adapts a ship's canon history into an AU, so i've yet to find one that really grabs me except that one college AU i forgot to save a link to… i hope i'll find you again someday…

for all my life i’ve watched from afar, i’m too afraid to try by Badopportunities - complete, 18k

this is probably my favorite shuggy fic i've read so far. a canon divergence in which shanks hunts down ace instead of whitebeard to warn him off the blackbeard hunt directly, and just so happens to find ace while he's hanging out with buggy's crew. love the outside POVs on shanks & buggy before their history was common knowledge, love their dynamic while trying to keep that history secret, love the optimistic way the story ends.

uncharted waters by vestigialmoods - complete, 41k

a long, multi-POV sorta kinda get-together—this one written after we knew the warlord system was being dissolved but before we learned about cross guild. buggy tries to figure out what to do now that he's lost government protection; shanks is encouraged to go for what he wants for once, instead of passively letting fate decide his path. features very fun characterization for both crews, and a really well-crafted scene that deals with phantom limb pain and sexual tension simultaneously.

in the deepest depths i lost myself, i see myself through someone else by Badopportunities - WIP, 36k

it may be gauche to rec multiple fics by the same author but Badopportunities has yet to steer me wrong! this is set during the timeskip, while buggy is searching for an island to claim as his warlord base of operations and shanks is trying to look after former whitebeard territories. they clash. uses one of my favorite lines for a childhood friends-to-lovers ship: one of them says he's single because he's having trouble finding a partner with “similar life experiences.” iykyk

currently incomplete at 4/5 chapters, last updated in 2022… but they just posted a new chapter of their other shuggy wip (which i also recommend, buggy time travels and saves ace & uta) this week, so it feels like anything's possible!

I'll See You in My Dreams by doublejoint - complete, 4k

shanks keeps dreaming of being older, on a ship with only buggy for company, wearing matching rings and sailing for who knows where. i love how efficiently and effectively this fic explores his thoughts on these dreams over the years—are they visions of the future, his secret desires, bad gas? the ending is very sweet.

We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together (and other lies Buggy tells himself) by Transformatron - complete, 11k, explicit

i am not much for smut (being ♠️🏳️‍🌈 and all), but occasionally one gets in the mood, and this fic has some intense emotions to go along with the intense, kinda kinky smut. shanks has found out about cross guild and comes to see buggy, not convinced that this is a safe, sane, and consensual situation buggy's found himself in. they fight about it, and then… 😳

there is background established buggy/crocodile/mihawk, but crocodile and mihawk aren't present for the explicit portion of the fic.

i like lipstick on my neck by kiriya - complete, 20k, explicit

if i'm recommending smut-with-feelings, i have to rec this fic. genderbent butch/femme shanks and buggy run into each other in east blue, post-roguetown and pre-canon, and spend three chapters bickering, drinking, and… you know. absolutely fantastic characterization, buggy is an awful little gremlin and shanks likes her very much despite herself.

i don't know if the fic was inspired by this art or if the art was inspired by this fic, but either way… if you read the fic you should look at the art. that butch shanks is just. absolutely inspired.

[missingn000]

HI!!! This is not a real question(unless you count the dumb one), but since I guess it will be more possible for my words to reach to you by tumblr rather than Ao3, I undusted my account hahaha

This comment its about tpg, because I have a REALLY big hyperfixation on it right now, just you know

First - I FUCKING LOVE YOUR WRITING

I think I have never seen anyone use literary resources son damm well, you got me shouting and laughing in total silence in the same paragraph, just to my mouth being wide open with shock the next second- I could speak for hours about thisssss

Second - YOUR CHARACTERSS

How you make them ALL charismatic???Even the ones I cant stand in canon, I will read about them with joy

To take a character that its already as deep as a lake, and make the as deep as the mariana trench, amazing as shit

And the character development??No words.

Third - SUKUNA AND YUUJI

They were my favourite characters before reading your ff, but you see, I really wanted to explore their dynamic, wich is already complex but could be a LOT better, so I look for a ff with that

Then I found tfg, wich is that and MOREE

I could literally read a million words long ff ONLY about them, their back storyes and how they interact with each other, and would never get tired if you were the one to write it

I could never fucking shut up about them, like, never.

Literally me about them ↓↓↓

Btw, can I imagine Sukuna with a terrible british accent? It just makes him more funny in my head lmao

I would say more, but its 2 am in Spain and I need some sleep, maybe tomorrow idk

(If I had any mistakes im sorry, its a mix of my being unable of writing to words correctly unless I do it with a pencil and English being my second language)

HIII OH MY GOODNESS first off, i apologize for taking so long to get back to you -- i've been rotting under a massive pile of Overwhelmed lately, but this message was like a glimmering ray of sunshine in the back of my mind and i'm glad i've finally got the energy to get to it!

AHH I AM SO OVER THE MOON TO HEAR YOU LIKE TPG SO MUCH <33 my writing style has certainly evolved throughout the story, and i've gotten better at waging literary devices like weapons at my readers. it's very fun and i'm happy it has you on a rollercoaster of emotions with every chapter, because believe me, i feel exactly the same

and MAN, IT'S FUN TO KNOW THAT SUKUNA & YUUJI HAS THE SAME GRIP ON YOU THAT THEY HAVE ON ME....i've absolutely loved exploring their dynamic and making it even more deranged, and i look forward to developing it further as we finally reach the comfort in hurt/comfort between these two. thanks for your patience and for sticking around while i'm on break from this, i'll get back to it in time!! and thanks for this kind message, i truly appreciate it <333

[ravenishishtrash]

Okay so ✨Hamilton fanficion✨

Back in 2018 I was a big Hamilton (and other musicals like BMC, DEH, Heathers) fan, and I'm talking like a having amino (and a semi decent following on it), drawing silly fanart of the characters in maid suits, reading fanfiction fan

And sometimes I just go by my day and I randomly remember something from a Hamilton fanfiction that makes me stop in my tracks

And so, I decided to come onto here and provide a list of things I remember, that I want to forget, and am afraid that I'll forget at the same time, about Hamilton fanficion

(this being said, if you're still a hamilton fanfiction writer, you do you, this post does not mean to offend you)

I think like 80% of the fics if not more were college AU fics, and 15% were just different AUs but I don't think I've actually read a fic that wasn't a random one-shot taking place in canon timeline (I do believe it was because all of the hamilton ff writers just like me were 16 back then, and just simply did not know how to write historical fiction)

Most of the fics were LAMS (which is Alexander Hamilton x John Laurens) and it was practically canon in fandom eyes, and before anyone says anything, I've seen the letters, of course I've seen them but guyz, I think we were just a little bit delulu with how firmly we believed this (and I'm including myself in this!)

Still on shipping, the second most popular one was Jamilton (Thomas Jefferson x Alexander Hamilton) and I'm gonna be honest, this was my shit, I enjoyed this dynamic a lot more (I always found friends to lovers a bit boring), but man, were the ship wars brutal, I remember when amino mods tried to actually do some sort of a debate lams vs jamilton in which there were actual teams that wrote whole essays about which ship is more valid, but they ended up insulting each other after maybe two rounds

The last ship with its own point is Hamburr (Alexander Hamilton x Aaron Burr), I've always perceived this one as a cool kids ship, I think people who shipped this were the most chill about it

Background ships included Mulette (Muligan x Lafayette), which was one of those ships that were always in the background some sort of "if you don't ship this as your side ship i don't trust you" kind of ship, the same goes to Jeffmads (Jefferson x Madison) in lams fics, and in a lesser degree, and i don't remember its name, Eliza Schuler x Maria Lewis Reynolds (if you don't remember her from her name, is the woman Hamilton cheats on Eliza with), which is always fun, we love seeing some wlw

And now, the random facts that were just headcanons that people very often included, Jefferson and Lafayette were almost always in some sort related (especially in Jamilton fics) and that's because of the double cast, but I don't really think the same was true for any other character it was just them

Hamilton was always a caffeine addict with a bad sleep schedule who was way too engaged in whatever topic the fic made him and I remember one fic (it was a college au, of course) where the whole point was that it was actively ruining his relationships around him (it was a hamburr fic)

John Laurens loved turtles bc of some historical letters in which he mentioned he liked turtles and fandom did its thing and you couldn't read a lams fic where turtles weren't mentioned at least once

Charles Lee and Samuel Seabury were always minor villains/mean college students and the latter was sometimes in a weird unhealthy relationship with (king) George

There was no Eliza slander! I know it's a weird point, but now seeing how fandoms like spn or 911 reacted to female love interest I’m actually suprised there wasn't any, she was always just a good friend (or, in one Soulmate AU I think it was Jamilton, Eliza had Hamilton's name on her wrist but he didn't have hers and that was just brutal)

There was this fic that I won't mention by its whole name (it's off the internet anyway, I don't think the author wants to be reminded of it nor associated with it), that was a hanahaki AU Jamilton that nearing the end of its run had 300k+ words; it was about Alex having a mean spirited rivalry with Jefferson at their corpo lawyer job but hearing he has hanahaki so deciding he wants to be nice to him now, but little does he know that the hanahaki in question is *for* him and later he himself develops hanahaki for Jefferson and they even live together at one point so they have this situation where both of them are willing to die in order to keep the other one happy and cure them by being their rebounds but they actively making each other worse, it's probably not as good as I remember it to be but godDAMN was it a cult classic it really was one of the kind, ALSO a girl on a plane asked me what fic I was reading bc she was peeking over my shoulder because it looked good and it's just one of the interactions I will *never* forget

This fandom was also my first impression of A/B/O dynamic and it wasn't a good one, one of the fics with it that I remember was Jamilton, in which Hamilton was some sort of Omega activist (there was a scene where he was annoyed that romantic comedies in universe pushed the agenda of omega leaving their omegaxomega relationship for an alpha when oxo can be fully normally sufficient) and Jefferson was an alpha and there was a scene at a diner where Jefferson was spreading his pheromones so the other alphas would stop looking at Hamilton? yeah thanks, no thanks

Washington was 95% of the time Hamilton's father in one way or another but what did you expect, in one fic he was even Hamilton's mother soulmate but she died before he met her which I didn't know was possible in soulmates aus

I read one Jamilton fic on wattpad (even then I rarely used wattpad) that I think was (a college au) about how madison and jefferson were in abusive relationship and hamilton "rescued" jefferson out of it? (it feaured a truly iconic quote in a scene that i still remember where jefferson was having a panic attack in the dorm's bathroom and madison didn't want hamilton to think he was an abuser so he said something along the lines of "Don't listen to this whore" and Hamilton responded "I won't listen to a whore" and Jefferson was like no he also hates me no one loves me and then Hamilton added "But Thomas isn't a whore." and I kid you not, I think about this scene every time I see that stupid "do you think im pretty?" "no." ":(" "you're beautiful" meme) and my art was featured in one of the chapters! it wasn't a good art, but it was one of my biggest achievements back then (I drew the most art during my hamilton phase, I wish I kept that passion for drawing in the years to come)

And... I think that's all that I can think of off top of my head

Despite many peoples' opinion now, I don't think the fandom was wrong in how they perceived the source material, any who was in the fandom at that time can tell you that sometimes it felt like it's own entity, those were our characters and what they did in the musical and the historical context didn't really matter in the long run, besides some limited posts about lams or just funfacts about the real lives of the characters (i have so many funfacts about inaccuracies in hamilton stored in my head), just what the dynamic between them was

But, as have many, I grew out of hamilton fanfiction, it shaped how I moved around fanfiction and fandom spaces for years and no matter how much "cringe" that fandom was (and it was cringe in every way possible) I probably won't forget the fun parts (for example how I joined judges guild on amino that was supposed to host contests regularly and then we did one contest and 90% of the members stopped responding so I pretty much single-handedly picked the winners when we had like I think about 20-30 entries? contests were a big deal on amino) and I won't regret it, I think it was one of the if not best then funniest places to be on the Internet in 2018

I have recently rewatched Hamilton now that it is available on streaming and one) I found out that I didn't really know all the lyrics and certainly not what some parts mean (english as you probably already have noticed is not my first language) and two) I actually found myself thinking, man, i would like to read some good fanfiction about this, but not a single one Hamilton fanfiction on ao3 can be separated from how the fandom perceived the characters and that's okay, it's just the way it is

If you truly want to know the grasp of what was normal or not in this fandom, let me tell you this: I saw Jefferson Miku Binder before it was a meme, and it really wasn't that weird, I was seeing art and headcanons like these on the regular, that just how the fandom looked like

and with that, I'm signing off

[sharpth1ng]

No joke bruv I really haven't read ff in a while but GODDAMN HAVE I DEVOURED THE ACTUAL FUCK OUT OF DEBASER IT IS THE MOST PSYCHOLOGICALLY COMPLEX AND YET PALATABLE PIECE OF FICTION I HAVE EVER READ ITS FACINATING. I'm a big whore for like circumstantial relationships and destiny and all that bollocks and you have actually completely ticked all my boxes well fucking done man five stars. jigsaw type dynamics yk (like metaphorically not the horror franchise)? and the fact that you made sadism so appealing despite the fact that I am 100% not into that shit? hats off to you sir. also if there are any other ships with the same type vibe/dynamic that you are aware of PLEASE LET ME KNOW cheers. like anything psychotic horror-y knifey would be mad appreciated. murderous boyfriends or really who the fuck ever idc ILY MWAH

also p.s. I don't mean to sound demanding or wtvr but you gotta write much fucking more like now ur way too good not to and plus ur the only one I've read that's captured stuilly properly. like not romanticising yk proper fucked shit u wizard fucker pls do it again

Hooo damn there are so many incredible compliments here thank for all of them 🫣 when y’all tell me I made sadism or idk some random kink appealing to you I feel so powerful lmao.

In terms of other ships like this I can offer GhostFrank, which is the Ghostface from dead by daylight with one of the other in game killers. Proceed with caution, there’s a lot of dark themes with them, and a lot of fics with them deal with some real fucked up stuff so read the tags carefully. But I’d recommend this fic “Two of a kind” if you want to check them out. I actually started writing them before I wrote debaser, I just never finished it or published it.

Hannibal/Will Graham would be another, although I haven’t read much fic with them, but the show is incredible and I know lots of people write for them.

Otherwise if you like wlw stuff too I would suggest Jennifer/Needy from Jennifer’s Body or Eve/Villanelle from Killing Eve.

And hey don’t worry I have lots of plans to keep writing these two, I’m not done with them. I’m actually really pumped for the Sequel I have planned, I’m already writing little bits of it and I haven’t even finished debaser 😅

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Loved loved the cabinet maker. Was going to send it to you when I saw you mentioned in your top 10 fic post that you liked stories set in earlier time periods.

On a slightly different note, because you also mentioned Bridgerton as a guilty/not so guilty pleasure - there's this whole array of tropey fanfics (especially for M/M pairings) where there's a lack of realism or historical accuracy . For ex - arranged marriage in historical times for 2 men . I've never been able to read any of these because it requires me to get over the realities of how many women in diff cultures/time periods were forced into marriage very young for bearing children. Reading a ff which suggests a similar background for 2 male characters just for the sake of romance requires me to move past all the historical reasons why this happened and take the story just at its face value.

Similar to what Bridgerton requires me to do - accept that British colonial history didn't happen as we know it. So I guess the question is - to what extend are you yourself comfortable doing so while reading.

Well, it's suspension of disbelief, isn't it? We have to in situations like the ones you described. Or at least we're willing to for whatever our reasons are.

I think we can take a lot from fiction because it offers so much. I'm going to use your examples to explain the way I see it. With Bridgerton, it's the historical inaccuracy. But is the show/book trying to be accurate? Is that an essential part of it? Based on what I've seen, it's not. It's a rewrite of a period in time which acts like some alternative version of history. That is made very clear and I as the audience, I can either choose to accept that or not. Nonetheless, I'm being made aware of and not mislead. Once that's clear and I decide to watch it, I have the opportunity to find what works for me. Is it the story or the plot and the characters? The production? The chemistry between the actors? I watched all 2 seasons of Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte for reasons that have nothing to do with accuracy. I like period dramas, even when they're part of an alternative universe. I was also not a big fan of the first season because the love story and the protagonists did nothing for me, as opposed to season 2 which had far more interesting couple, enemies to lovers trope, much better chemistry and made me realize I like Jonathan Bailey which made little impression on me in the first season.

So you see, I don't think it's a great piece of television. It's a bit more elevated that the usual day time tv like in the old days, but it doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable. Sometimes that's all I need.

It's the same with fanfiction and m/m stories. Of course arranged marriages in real life had a strategic purpose because of all the reasons we know and those reasons don't really apply to these stories. But I allow myself to move past that because it's fiction and if I can get something out of it that could be to my liking. The characters are written well, I like their dynamic and so on. Oh, and if the smut is good and not boring and predictable, it gets some extra points!

[jeremy-queere]

PSA about FF net bots

(please share if this is relevant to you or someone you know)

I know very few of you youngins probably use fanfiction. net, but its scam commenter level has been ramping up lately. I've gotten two reviews/PMs (in ao3 parlance, comments/DMs) today alone which, let's see:

Your story "Caged in Gold" has the power to captivate, let's bring it to life! As a commissioned artist with 4 years of experience, I specialize in turning stories into dynamic visuals, whether it's a graphic novel, action-packed manga, or a beautifully illustrated webcomic. Let's create something unforgettable! DM me on Discord: [REMOVED] or ask for my socials to see my work.

and

Subject: Paid collaboration Proposal Hello , As an artist and a big fan of your storytelling, I find your work incredibly inspiring! Do you connect with your audience on social media?

I used to just roll my eyes at these but they seem to be more frequent now.

An unexpected review or PM messages lavishing compliments (which are vague since they are copy/pasted) and asking seemingly benign questions, hinting that they want to collaborate somehow in a way that may make you money. It's a pretty obvious scam to me but is phrased in a way that would take advantage of anyone excited and flattered to have someone read their fics at all. (Not to say I don't appreciate readers, but I've been in the game long enough that a single "great fic!" comment, while very nice, doesn't give me butterflies and palpitations anymore lol.)

They seem to especially target fics with low readership I think? Not all of the shit I wrote in middle and high school are bangers.

I'll put a history and quotes of the messages I've gotten in the last few years. I'd gone years without ANY reviews/PMs before this started.

August 31, 2024 Subject: Collaboration Opportunity – Bringing Your Story to Life Through Art. Dear: Donteatacowman I hope this message finds you well. As a concept artist with a deep appreciation for fantasy literature, I am truly impressed by your work. I believe there is a great opportunity for us to collaborate. I would love to discuss potential collaboration opportunities and explore how we can work together. Please let me know if you have any other social media handles so we can continue this conversation in more detail. Thank you for your time and consideration. Discord: [REMOVED] Best regards, Gloria

Scam. No reference to fic or fandom whatsoever.

October 3, 2024 Subject: Let's Discuss Hello, my friend! How are you? I read your story and really liked it. Keep up the good work! I am a concept artist, and I draw book covers, original characters, and more. Would you be interested in collaborating with me? I would be happy to work with you?

Scam. Same as above.

Maybe these are genuine artists asking for you to commission them, but it's so shady that I am not sure they would provide anything once you paid them.

October 24, 2024 Subject: Appreciation Hi Author, I hope you're doing well! I'm Everley, and I recently read (Only One Is Mine ). I really enjoyed it. I've been thinking about adding some artistic elements to bring the story to life visually, and I'd love to explore how we could collaborate on this idea. Let me know what you think!

Copy/pasted the fic title in in a way that makes me wonder if this was a bot.

October 25, 2024 Subject: Really inspired by your story Hi Donteatacowman! I loved your work on [Only One Is Mine] and I'm inspired by your storytelling. I'd love to bring your characters to life with my art. Do you have a social media platform to connect?

November 15, 2024 Subject: A Creative Connection. Hey, Hope you're doing well. Your work inspires me deeply. I'd love to be your artist on a project that brings your ideas to life. You up for that? November 15, 2024 Subject: A Creative Connection. Hey, Hope you're doing well. Your work inspires me deeply. I'd love to be your artist on a project that brings your ideas to life. You up for that?

November 28, 2024 Subject: Evelin Commission Artist Knock Knock Donteatacowman!!! Such an amazing story "Mind games", Highly appreciated

This one's interesting because it is a positive comment on the story (again, with the name of the author and fic coded in), only presenting the chance to commission them in the subject line to trick someone into thinking that it's their idea to ask for a commission.

November 28, 2024 You're an amazing writer! I really enjoyed the story and all the characters none of them felt out of place. I especially liked the character of Sai As an artist I want to make character art of Sai in good price. If you're interested feel free to reach me through my social accounts which you can find in my bio

Pulling the name of a character from the fic (also presumably could be done by a bot) is a new one. Another potentially real offer with shady practices.

December 4, 2024 Subject: open commission Hi I hope you are doing well and I reached out to you bec I read your story and like it so much and have dope ideas for your story related to artwork in good commish so I hope you are interested to hear. are you?

December 30, 2024 Subject: Story Appreciation Hello! I hope you're doing well. I wanted to say how much I admire your writing, I recently read your story and was so impressed! I'm a concept artist specializing in character art and book covers. Would you be interested in teaming up on a creative project? Feel free to check my FF profile for details or share your preferred way to connect.

January 21, 2025 Subject: concept Artist and Reader Hello, Your creations are incredibly inspiring! The way you bring scenes to life is truly amazing. I'd be thrilled to showcase your stories through my art at an affordable rate. If you're interested, let's collaborate!

None of these come from the same user, by the way.

January 25, 2025 Subject: feedback Hi Author, I hope you're fine. I'm Everleigh. I read (Season 1 Haiku) and loved it. I'm thinking about enhancing it with some art

February 4, 2025

Subject: Feedback Hi Author, I hope you're fine. I'm Lorena. I read (Montague and Capulet) and loved it. I'm thinking about enhacing it with some art.

February 7, 2025 Subject: Artist\Illustration Hey, I recently discovered your work and was truly impressed by your writing! As an illustrator, I have some creative ideas for both your story and its artwork. I specialize in book covers and character designs and would love to bring your vision to life at an affordable price. Let's connect! discord: [REMOVED] instagram: [REMOVED]

[historybunnny]

this is going to get wordy so scroll past if that's not your jam! there are sooo many wonderful stories & simblrs on here but these are some of my favorites!

@antiquatedplumbobs' sewell legacy was the very first story i ever read on simblr! her eye for photography, and the way her scenes and storytelling truly transport you back in time caught my eye from the beginning and it has only gotten better as time has gone on. each character's voice is so strong and as someone who watches a lot of YouTube videos on the topic, i can honestly say this is NOT an easy task to accomplish by any means! she also has gorgeous historical builds, and an AMAZING 1890's themed save file (antiquated brindleton) to help get you started.

helena zhao is dead by @thebramblewood is easily one of my favorite stories on simblr right now. it takes the piss out of classic vampire tropes, while still making it feel natural and combines both light-hearted goofiness with an eerie darkness that gripped me from the moment i started reading. i adore her take on the sibling dynamic between caleb & lilith and i'm positive you will too! plus, shannon is one of the sweetest, kindest people i have ever met here on simblr and i'm grateful to call her a friend!

another vampire story i've been hooked on is @stinkrascal's straud legacy. i still have to catch up but every time i see jade's sims, especially their vampires, i am in awe! and their sets are just as stunning, which is truly remarkable given what we have to work with sometimes!

comedy, in my opinion, is the hardest genre to write but you would never know that by reading @theplottdump's evil spy story, titled the plott dump. the fourth wall breaking is truly hilarious, as well creating dialogue that seriously has me in stitches when i read it. i'm not exaggerating when i say this, but anne's story seriously helped pull me out of a depresso funk recently. she is also the creator behind some truly ICONIC retro cc, under @surely-sims and every piece of cc she creates is a piece of friggin' art! anne not only is a great (and hilarious) storyteller but so helpful, caring and dedicated to being a kind friend.

i love a dark, moody vibe and @inlovewithregencyera hits every mark with their regency era inspired story the curse of the damned. every single post feels like something out of a film, every set is crafted so flawlessly and beautifully, and ugh, i just cannot get enough of their aesthetic and writing style! they also make stunning historical cc and the historical simming community would not the same without her!

i recently stumbled upon @softpine's story camellia (and an extension of that called frozen pines which uses supernatural elements eeeeek!!!), and i was awestruck by the fact that it has been going for six years! SIX! YEARS! like, that is crazy! it's such a fantastic read and i've enjoyed every second of my catch up. their characters are so well-written, a perfect balance between relatable, and realistically flawed, and they have so much advice on how to do the same, which is soooo helpful!

and if you thought six years was crazy, wait until you hear about @applesaucesims' 8 year old decades challenge legacy. uta's editing, and dedication to telling her story for that long is so inspiring to me. i adore looking through every generation, and watching how her editing style has changed and evolved overtime. when i tell you i am LIVING for louis' nutcracker / ballet arc, i am LIIIIIIVING! it's so cute, and unique, i eat it up every single time. uta is one of the most supportive people i've ever met on simblr, and just such a good & kind friend.

and last, but certainly not least, is my favorite storyteller @aheathen-conceivably. alexis has managed to tell some really difficult, hard hitting parts of history while remaining true to her characters throughout it's entirety, in her decades challenge: the darlington legacy. every arc, every character, every word, EVERY SHOT FFS, feels so perfectly thought out, and as someone who's been reading since the titanic arc, let me say truthfully, she just keeps getting better and better! alexis was the first person to chat with me like a friend and i treasure her, and her pixels endlessly!

📩 Simblr question of the day: any other simblrs that you love?

answer in whatever way is most comfortable for you and feel free to share this SQOTD around, make sure to use the hashtag SQOTD and tag me in separate posts ~ 💛

This question was contributed by : @/missmoodring ~thank you for the SQOTD contribution~ (This is question 7 out of 10 that they have contributed :))

[dayeongi]

Hi, shikatema lovers here! ☺️

So I've been in my feeling lately and want to reminisce the feeling of all the good shikatema stories. Do you have any recommendation of shikatema's ff that is a lil bit angsty? Or any great shikatema stories that I really need to read for my mental health?

Thank you and I love your stories too!

Hi there!!!!!!!

This is all based on my history from AO3 and over 10 years of having a FF dot net account so some of these may not be to your taste, and some of them I read a long time ago, but what I can promise is they’re memorable. Blanket recommendations are very up-to-date and can definitely vouch for! 

Some of this may be incomplete so please keep an eye out before you read if you’re only looking to read completed work!

Yeongi’s faves:

Truth or Dare (Astroboy) by ChlorineObsession

coffee shop soundtrack by viiisenya - “Goddamn it, Chouji, I thought the second-coming of Hagaromo walked in,” Shikamaru groaned, exasperated. (HILARIOUS)

The Levels On Which We Lie by pearlsong

Between Then and Now by Snooparty - such a fun concept!

The Theory of Effort & Will by SimpArmy

The Torn by ShatteredAwe (no words. But prepare thyself, I cried again just thinking about it.)

and I'll be good (if you can tell me how) - by lollipopmania - fake dating? Spies???? YES. You can’t miss this.

Rain in Konoha by OstaraNight

Bodyguard by ArmchairAnthropologist

Hotel Rooms by ArmchairAnthropologist

Intertwining Fate by glockcourage - Such an interesting AU that I need to re-read, very memorable

Secrets and Shadows by SillySnowden

There's a Head in the Forest by greenho4

Valerie Sabrina Verzoe - always interesting concepts and dynamics - AUs so different I didn’t realize all these fics were by the same person until I started putting this together. I haven’t read their other stuff though so be warned!

Limelight

Chains

A Dance of Wind and Fire

AUTHOR BLANKET RECOMMENDATION:

Here is a few of my favorite authors that have more than 3 shikatema works I’ve read and I’m obsessed with. I will link their profile as well as what I consider my favorite of their work.

Notquitejiraiya - @notquitejiraiya

My faves:

Love Means Nothing - “It’s your problem if you’re in the firing line. You’re on a tennis court; there are gonna be tennis balls.” - This line solidified the idea that I’d made the right choice of Meet Ugly for my fic, Setting Sun

CHESS - “Chess?” she muttered. “You come to a psychiatrists office and you want to play chess?” - made me chuckle

9/10 - Only one chapter but my god, what a chapter, and I’m not spoiling a single line of it!

Majsasaurus - @unioncolours

My faves:

Trial of the Heart - I wasn’t strong enough to finish this one yet, I still have it open on a tab.

no one cries for unknown soldiers - a masterpiece and one of my favorite fics ever

SpookyMoth - @thespookymoth

My faves:

Treasures - Just such a creative AU! I love it

Torn - PREPARE THYSELF I SAY

I Want You To Want Me - BAND AU!! HECK YEA! You can’t miss this. It’s part of a series

SpicedGold

P much anything by them! But my current favorite is When All Is Said And Done

Cinder_Rose - @cinder-rose22 - a person with very evil writer plans and the will to carry them out - very scary

My faves:

Of Sand and Shadow - “Those disgustingly arrogant eyes,(...) He had never hated anything more than those eyes.” - YOU CAN’T MISS THIS

The Ruins of Us - This one is the entire reason Asuma has a bookshop in Setting Sun. Originally he was going to have an antiques shop or a stationery shop.

Clumsydragon28 - @clumsydragon28

My fave:

The Meeting Place - I had never read poetry in the context of fanfiction before but I really think this was the perfect intro!

Sunaprincess7 - @sunaprincess7 - I’ve loved their stuff for more than a decade

My faves:

Anthem for a Doomed Youth - no words.

She dances for me - one of my all time favorites! I re-read it regularly. Inspired by Memoirs of a Geisha (which is a great story, but has some controversy, which I recommend reading up on. I suggest reading “Geisha of Gion” by Mineko Iwasaki)

The Woman - "To Shikamaru Nara she is always 'The' Woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex."

I’d love some recommendations myself so if you feel I’m missing some let me know!! And thank you for your kind words about my stories!

[yuukei-yikes]

Do you have any headcanons about Hibiya's relationships with the rest of the Dan after the series? I was always a little disappointed we didn't really get to see him interact much with anyone besides hiyori, konoha, and momo. I would have loved to see him properly integrated as a member of the group and hanging out with them 🥲

YESSSSS I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN MEANING TO DRAW HIBIYA HANGING OUT WITH EVERYONE SEPARATELY TO LIKE POINT OUT DYNAMICS but then i never did 💔 i still will at some point

hibiya is the mekakushi dan's little brother.

0. ayano's big sister radar goes off incredibly fast when meeting hibiya. she spoils the hell out of him because hibiya is largely independent and already has momo as a big sister for emotional stuff so when ayano's like WANT ME TO PATCH UP THE HOLE IN UR SHIRT hibiya's like what. i know how to do that myself. and ayano's like fine i will buy your love if i must. so she's always taking him shopping and asking if he needs anything new. he comes back every summer to the city with broken ass sandals and ayano's always sending him back with shiny new ones. he still rly enjoys having her around but he looks at her more in a motherly light than sisterly. he'd DIE before admitting it tho

1. srry to play the cooking card with kido again but. hibiya and kido cooking together :) i think kido is very impressed with hibiya's cooking and hibiya is SUPER used to being taken for granted so when they point it out to him he almost bursts into tears. i think hibiya is always looking for compliments from kido bc kido is super cool and The Leader and they kinda have a teacher's pet dynamic LMAOO hibiya is always asking kido if he can help with any chores so of course it works and he's kido's favorite student. if this was a class which is not. so he's just a rly helpful kid kido enjoys having around and hibiya loves that kido is really normal. also kidomomo. yeah. hibiya and his lesbian moms. also kido teaches hibiya how to bind. ratio

2. with seto... i remember reading this fic in ff/net back in the golden days of kagepro (so like. 10 years ago) that was like hibiya resenting seto bc he was still hurting abt hiyori and while everyone died with a loved one seto lost a DOG. i thought it was so funny bc it's so immature but seems so in character for hibiya. also in the novels when hibiya is unconscious he's taken to seto's room. i think hibiya thinks the whole dan act like fools (bc they ARE) but kind of respects and looks up to seto because hibiya is 12 and according to my intensely calculated family headcanons was raised in a toxic masculinity household so he sees this Buff Guy getting up at 5am everyday and holds more than one job for his family...he's like (nod nod nod) and he also really respects how seto refuses to use his eye power because of its. erm. unethical nature. hibiyas like UGH SETO IS SO COOL SUCH A MAN'S MAN. seto is mostly oblivious to this and always always always ruffles hibiyas hair. everyone does this but seto is the only one hibiya doesnt yell at

3. i think kano would go easy on hibiya cuz he's a kid but not entirely bc if kano isnt totally insufferable to everyone he knows at least once a day he gets sick and dies. i think kano tries to do the big sibling thing abt convincing the little brother of a total bullshit lie like basically his hobbie is gaslighting hibiya for fun. hibiya goes screaming for kido to make him stop lol. also kano's the one who's always saying shit like hibiya is 8 years old. even when hibiya's an adult kano's like how old are u again. u turned like 15 right

4. man mary tries acting SOOOO GROWN UP to hibiya she's like desperately trying to seem like a cool older sister but on purpose. with everyone else it's kind of natural but she is actively trying. momo bestie so also around a lot and sees how momo (hibiyas big sister #1) acts around him and tries doing the same and hibiya's like. this is pathetic. but still endearing and accepts it LOL he's also respectful of mary bc he's well aware of her role in their survival so he's like SIGHS okay

6. takane is everyone's demise because she introduces hibiya to smartphones and gaming. like hibiya rly wanted a smartphone right and then he makes all these friends and has to go back to the village so he takes an intensive course ran by takane abt how to use a phone. which is all good. but the thing is she is ALSO like ur so weird kid. here. play some amongus. this is how amongus hibiya can still win. everyone like vinnie hibiya cant be a fortnite kid bc he has no idea abt gaming he doesnt even have a phone WELL i got news for u buddy my fave character is takane and im also totally delusional. she is the reason hibiya is texting the gc in total typos asking if anyone wants to among us. and he's so thankful to her he expresses his gratitude thru sending her amongus and minecraft memes he finds around that she's seen a thousand times but it's rly endearing. also hibiya is shintaro coded so takane knows how to handle him sorry im so delusional abt their friendship (holds their chapter together from novel eight close to my chest)

7. eheheheheh. like i said. hibiya is shintaro coded like in canon both momo and takane say hibiya reminds them of shintaro like he's a little shin. and momo adopting hibiya means shintaro gets little brother by default too. his ass is always at HIS HOUSE!!!! i talked abt this in a post once abt how seeing hibiya and momo together makes shintaro want to try a little harder at being a big brother. i think they like each other and shintaro always lets hibiya sit in his room if momo is being too insane, and hibiya sometimes is like well shintaro's actually pretty normal!! (immediately sees him act a fool bc ofc he does) eugh. also shintaro helps hibiya with his summer hw, i think hibiya's a good student but appreciates the help and tells shintaro he thinks he'd make a rly good teacher and continues writing down on his hw all casually while shintaro has to act like he didn't get all choked up hearing that

9. i've talked abt the haruka and hibiya shitshow lol but again i love the idea of hibiya just totally refusing to acknowledge konoha's gone and keeps kicking and screaming abt it. bc if konoha is rly gone then it means he regrets everything bc he was so mean to it and its bc of it hiyori is alive (hiyori doesnt act this way bc she's well aware of it) and that SUCKS. so hibiya largely avoids haruka and isn't all that into how hiyori is really accepting of him and all. and haruka is also like. awkwardly trying to approach him because it's the least he can do in konoha's memory but hibiya's like hissing at him. eventually hibiya would accept it after a couple breakdowns. i think momo also punches some sense into him. i want hibiya to lash out at haruka and scream all sorts of things at him abt how it's not fair konoha is gone and like who even is he and just overall say all the things haruka is already super insecure about but then it ends on hibiya sobbing in his arms abt how much he misses konoha. and haruka can only hug him back and apologize :(

[surrealsunday]

Jamie! What are your thoughts on KimChay? I have to say that I was completely ambivalent about KimChay until this last episode. During this whole show so far my brain has only attached to KP while the side couples, as hard as I tried to like them, just didn’t spark much of anything and that has nothing to do with the actors or character or the storyline itself, it’s just how my brain works unfortunately. After the bar fight with Kim and Chay I’m kind of intrigued by their dynamic now. It’s not as fluffy and innocent like it was before. They’re almost like KP in reverse. With Kinn and Porsche it started as enemies of a sort. They were at odds with each other and then slowly they got to know each other, they let their walls down and it added much needed sweetness and tenderness to their relationship. Kinn was mesmerized by Porsches resilience and then completely disarmed by his genuine charm and kindness. He was screwed before he even knew it.

I see the opposite direction with KimChay and now my brain finds it somewhat interesting. Which I, myself, find interesting.

Kim seemed charmed and somewhat fascinated by Chay when he first met him and as he got to know him, you could see an affectionate bond happening. Obviously Chay is young and translated his intense feelings as love - even though I don’t think Chay is prepared for what really loving Kim will feel like once it happens - but because of his deception from the start, I don’t think Kim allowed himself to really acknowledge how deep his own feelings for Chay were. Normally I watch their scenes once and then ff through when I do a rewatch but I found myself rewatching that bar scene a few times. Like finally some meat! Gimme more!

It was hella interesting to see him so emotive in that scene. For once he didn’t have a handle on his emotions and we’ve up until now only really seen a very quiet and controlled Kim - aside from when he stormed the warehouse, of course. This is the first time in their interactions that I saw some real passion between them. I also think, just like KP, Kim will be even more drawn to Chay once he starts standing up for himself and being a little more stubborn like his brother. Obviously Theerapanyakul brothers can’t resist the sweet yet bratty contradictions of the kittisawasd bros.

I’m still very much on the fence about VP for my own specific reasons but, I’m kind of excited to see where KimChay lead and I’m super happy that I’m now looking forward to more scenes between them.

- Crazy Theory Anon 👋🏻

Sometimes I read your messages and wonder if we're the same person 🤨😂. It's like you pluck thoughts out of my head. But yes!!! Let’s discuss these two because we really haven’t yet.

I felt the exact same towards Kimchay. I found Chay absolutely precious in their scenes (and sometimes so cringe I had to watch through my fingers 😂) so in that way those scenes were always charming to me, but the dynamic was so entirely a kid with a celebrity crush it just didn't compute in my brain as a romance tbh. That's why I mentioned needing angst to 'age up' Chay in my eyes - not literally of course, but in a way that would allow him to exist on a more level playing field with Kim.

Talking about them like KP in reverse is fascinating to me and I didn't think about it that way. "Normally I watch their scenes once and then ff through when I do a rewatch but I found myself rewatching that bar scene a few times. Like finally some meat! Gimme more!" Literally we are the same person lmao. This is exactly me as well. I don't tend to watch their scenes more than once but I've watched this bar scene a few times now. And I watched the 'Kim being a badass motherfucker' scenes from ep 10 - but those weren't particularly Kimchay scenes.

You are right in that Kim is normally sooooo controlled. Tbh he's probably the most stone-faced/ controlled out of all the characters normally. Like he's better at that than Kinn! So when the switch flips and he shows those emotions? Sweet jesus. He can actually be genuinely scary (and I approve 😌). And I like the idea that characters like Kinn and Kim have it pretty together until faced with that one character they are just weak for no matter what - like they are utterly undone in the face of the Kittisawasd brothers. That is a trope I can get behind.

I agree that Kim is going to be more drawn to Chay this way - and not because Chay is becoming a different person or anything, but Chay telling Kim off and standing up for himself does put them on more equal footing. It was very necessary. Imo, it will allow Kim to see Chay more as an equal than a love-struck boy with a crush (something Kim enjoyed of course but I'm sure something he saw a bit cynically).

"Obviously Theerapanyakul brothers can’t resist the sweet yet bratty contradictions of the kittisawasd bros." RIP Kinn and Kim truly 😂. This is a very accurate statement. Both Chay and Porsche are so incredibly sweet and loving. They love with everything they are - body and soul. But they are also sassy little fuckers and capable of giving as much as they're getting. We've seen a lot of that in Porsche and only a little in Chay - but I seriously can't wait to see more 😌. Best of luck to you, Kim 💀😂.