#it doesn't technically have a prompt. just whump

[silvrash-797]

Febuwhump 2025 - As the Games Go 'Round

Read on ao3

Chapter 1: Don't Stop Believin'

A buzzer sounded. “Zzz-Wrong! Try again!”

Legend wanted to scream, or pull his hair out, or throw something. Maybe all three.

Phew…breathe…He had to remember why he was doing this.

He pulled out the package he’d found outside his door at the local inn, after waking up entirely alone. Atop the package sat a letter, written on fancy, brightly patterned paper in an atrociously flamboyant script:

Where the wind fish plays and the oracle sways

In the home of the once mighty and fallen,

From the light world high to the dark world low

You’ll find the four heroes calling.

Holodrum, Labrynna, Hytopia too

Tzikizi the Great is waiting for you!

Link, Hero of Legends, is cordially invited to my home by the sea.

Please bring your wit, your grit, and a hundred rupees or three,

For the games we shall play will be legendary!

Eurgh. He shivered, utterly creeped out that this random stranger knew so much about his life and adventures.

Under the letter, wrapped in harsh linen, were Wind's pirate charm, Time's ocarina, Twilight’s shadow crystal, and Hyrule's flute, all concerningly spattered with rust-red drops of blood. Presumably, these were the “four heroes calling" mentioned in the invitation.

From there, it had taken just a few questions in town to direct him to the manor on the shores of the Kohol Sea. The warnings from the townspeople about the character of this “Tzikizi the Great" left a sick feeling in his gut.

He put away the package and letter as the board reset, then made another choice.

“Zzz-Wrong! Try again!”

He groaned, thoroughly fed up with the puzzles and chance games in this goddess-forsaken funhouse. Every moment he spent on “Guess the Chest" or “Spin the Wheel" was one more moment his brothers were in danger.

The game reset, Legend kept a close eye on the pieces. He made his choice. Nayru, please let this be the one.

Bells above his head rang, and the lights around the board flashed. “Winner! Winner! Winner!!” a tinny voice sang, and Legend heaved a sigh of relief. One step closer.

A screen slid across the game board, a gentle light flickering within. Usually, these screens gave him his next clue in a stupid little verse, but this time a pictograph was projected instead.

In it, Legend saw his missing brothers, still in their sleep clothes, kneeling with their arms bound behind their backs and dark blindfolds covering their eyes.

Wind leaned on Time, while Twilight supported Hyrule. All four had bruises and cuts along every visible surface. It hurt to see, but at the same time a fierce pride welled inside – whatever had happened to them, they hadn’t let themselves be caught without a fight.

The image faded away, replaced instead with his next clue, in the same awful script as the invitation.

Time drifts ever on,

From twilight,

to night,

and then to dawn.

The wind o'er Hyrule blows foul and fair,

Says to the Hero of Legend, "Better beware!"

Follow the wind and the light where they go,

And at last you shall see those dear ones you know.

The verse flickered nauseatingly on the screen, but Legend read it twice more, trying to commit it to memory. Time, Twilight, Wind, Hyrule…Wishing me safety…Follow the lights and the wind? That must be the next clue.

The last line gave him hope – one more test, one more trial, and he’d find his brothers.

He was on his third read through when he noticed an oddity in the flickering light. In the lower corner of the screen, numbers were counting down steadily.

2:59

2:58

2:57

2:56

2:55

Simultaneously, a deep fog began to fill the room, punctured only by a series of torches, leading out the door and back down the hallway he'd just come from. A draft picked up somewhere within the room, also guiding him to the torches.

Guess that covers following the lights and the wind.

Wait. Time drifts ever on! That was a part of the clue, too!

2:33

2:32

2:31

2:30

The fog settled on his skin, cold and clammy, but the chill that shot through him was unrelated to the fog. Legend had two and a half minutes to find his brothers, in a manor the size of a castle. He took a few steps toward the nearest torch then stopped in shock.

Voices, in the wind, faint, near imperceptible, even to his bunny-like ears. But present nonetheless.

Worse, they were his brothers' voices.

Hurry Legend, please! Wind whispered.

Be careful! Hyrule pleaded.

We’re counting on you! Time and Twilight's voices overlapped.

Now centered on the screen, the countdown continued.

2:12

2:11

2:10

2:09

Legend ran. Torch to torch, following the breeze, driven on by his brothers' increasingly desperate pleas. His heart pounded in his chest as he mentally kept track of the time he had left.

0:18

0:17

0:16

0:15

He skidded around a corner and saw – in the distance or nearby, the fog was wavering too much to tell – a more steady, warm glow he knew instinctively to be the end of the path, directly ahead.

0:08

0:07

0:06

Legend poured magic into his Pegasus boots and sprinted, praying he’d make it before the timer in his head reached zero, watching the light draw ever closer.

0:03

0:02

0:01

He slid to a stop inside a dim room, with one bright spotlight illuminating a giant screen. On it, the numbers 0:00 flashed accusingly.

On the ground to one side of the door knelt his brothers, looking just as bad as they had in the pictograph. At the sound of his boots on the tile, they sat up a little straighter, ears twitching to locate his presence.

“Vet, ‘s that you?”

“You shouldn’t be here, this guy is crazy!”

“Wind is right, Legend, you need to leave, this man has it out for you.”

“Shush, all of you!” Legend snapped. He was grateful for their concern, but they didn't have time! He knelt behind Hyrule and started to cut his bonds. “I’ve already played this guy's games; it’s time to get you out of here.”

“You think you’ve played all my games, Hero of Legend?” a crackling, callous voice echoed around the room.

All five heroes shuddered, the four on the floor huddling closer together while Legend sprang to his feet, hand on his sword hilt, hunting for the person behind the voice. “Show yourself!” he shouted.

Chattering laughter bounced around the room, making the hair on Legend's arms and the back of his neck stand up straight. The voice ignored him. “How late was he, dear Hero of Time?”

Time gulped, but responded. “Half a second,” he whispered.

The voice tutted, affecting utter disappointment. “Oh dear, I expected better of you.” Then, like a switch being flipped, the tone turned glassy, fluting and almost bird-like. “No matter! Now that you are here, my collection is complete!”

“What collection?” Legend growled. “What are you talking about?”

“Why, I’ve collected the Hero of Time and his descendants, fallen or otherwise!” Two claps sounded from across the space, and strips of lights like Wild's Sheikah tech illuminated the rest of the room.

At the head of a rounded, double staircase, a man stood. He was thin and twitchy, with sharp, hooded eyes and a beak-like nose. Around his shoulders hung a scintillating cloak of blue and purple scales. It sported a tall, wide collar that framed his head like wings, patterned in orange, black and blue scales that caught the light and flashed brightly.

The man smiled, all menacing teeth and cold, calculated intent. He described a deep, mocking bow. “Thank you for honoring the request of Tzikizi the Great, darling Hero of Legend.”

For all the showiness, Legend wasn’t impressed. “Yeah, no,” he scoffed. “Nobody’s staying here as part of a ‘collection.’ I’m only here to get them back.”

Behind him, Wind whimpered. Tzikizi's expression froze in a false smile. “What did you say?” he said, bright and venomous. He began to stalk down the stairs.

Legend gulped, but held his ground. “I’ll play whatever game you want,” he said, “but we’re not staying here.”

“Legend NO!” Hyrule burst out. “You can’t trust him! He’s a snake, he’s-"

Tzikizi snapped, and gags appeared around the mouths of the four bound heroes, muffling any further complaints. “None of that now,” he hissed. He eyed Legend, and Legend's bunny heart quailed at the predatory gleam he saw there.

A slow, cruel smile oozed across Tzikizi’s face. “I know just the one,” he breathed. With a flourish of his cape, he produced two dice and held them out to Legend, nearly vibrating with excitement.

Cautiously, Legend took the pair of dice and examined them. One had six sides, on which he saw the faces of his brothers, as well as his own face and Tzikizi’s.

The other die had a confusing array of image pairs: bubbling water, fire, a broken bone, forked lightning, a knife, a spear, a person holding their throat, and several sets of broken chains. Every symbol, aside from the chains, had an arrow pointing either up or down next to it.

Tzikizi clapped in delight as Legend examined the dice. As if it were a signal, a handful of Armos-like beings filed into the room and the blindfolds around his brothers' eyes vanished. “And of course my automata will ensure swift and fair delivery of any…prizes…to be won,” he chirped giddily. “So? What do you say?”

Legend continued inspecting the dice, trying to see how they would constitute a game, but came up empty. He looked up at Tzikizi. “I don’t understand,” he said plainly.

Tzikizi recoiled as if offended at the very thought. “Why, I thought it would be obvious. We will gamble for their freedom.” His eyes narrowed, and all bravado and false affectation vanished, leaving a stone-cold certainty in its place. “I want you to hurt,” he enunciated clearly. “That larger die has a series of horrible things I’m willing to do to make that so.

“The smaller die has the victim. The larger, what will be done to the victim. Landing on the chains will grant that person their freedom. You and I will take turns rolling the dice. My automata will follow through. Self-sacrificing hero that you are, you can choose to take their punishment yourself.

“No single consequence will kill you, I can promise that. But too many…well.” His eyes glinted madly, and the collar of his cloak flashed blinding-bright. “If death is your wish…for their freedom…I won’t stop you.”

[newbornwhumperfly]

12 and 24 for Morja and Brax!!!

ahhh, thank you for these questions, @whump-tr0pes! 💖

~

12: Do they have any affection for eachother? How do they show it?

Morja and Brax hold a great amount of affection for one another, as their relationship blossoms from friendship into...much more (though whether or not either of them are aware of just how much more is a matter of discussion).

Morja shows his affection for Brax by offering them a lot of practical support when they are tired or stressed, handling things they might miss (like food or tea or an opportunity to take a break), making sure their setting in comfortable, and that their needs are addressed with swiftness and care. Essentially, ensuring that they can rely on him for things.

(Morja is also secretly so, so, so touch-hungry, he could cuddle and hug and kiss Brax for a whole day if they wished to grace him with such, as long as they want, whenever, however. He would never ask for it but it's so nice. More positive physical touch please.)

Brax shows their affection for Morja through praise. They often see Morja's efforts - how attentive and precise he is - in ways most people do not. Ever since they took note of how responsive he is to positive feedback, they do their best to not let him become invisible in his effort, ensuring that he is acknowledged with warmth and respect.

They also encourage him to express himself by listening to him and giving him the space to respond and emote however he wills, because Morja doesn't get a lot of that.

24: How do these two interact with eachother in public vs. in private?

In public, the two of them tend to be quite conscientious about keeping their interactions on the formal side, especially Morja (because this is technically a workplace if you think about it). Warm but not intimate, they don't touch eachother. Morja because he would never presume to initiate touch and Brax because they don't particularly like touching in front of people (and they assume it would make Morja uncomfortable).

In private, they both feel like they can...let their guards down a lot around one another. Brax doesn't feel the need to be so in control, Morja doesn't feel the need to be so hypervigilant, so as a result they find a lot of peace in comfortable quiet. Being able to rest and be still, while being close, being seen, being held.

(Private settings also furnish a lot of conversation? Brax prompting Morja to speak more than he ever does just by listening to him and being interested in his responses and his ideas and his questions. Morja prompting Brax to speak with passion, at length, in all their nerdy glory, and his focus is so rewarding. You know that poem that's like one of you listens and talking is delicious and then sometimes one of you talks and listening gets delicious? Yeah, that.)

~

questions come from this prompt!

[comfortlesshurt]

September 2024 Plans!

As promised, I'm focusing on editing this month! No fandom update--you're still stuck with my Voltron obsession. I plan to publish one new chapter or oneshot tops since I'm focused on other things. (I have not been in a mood to finalize drafts, so I keep starting or working on them but not finishing.)

Had another mid-month change of plans, so if you saw the original goals, no you didn't!

General goals:

Newly published WC: 3,022/3,000

Have VLD surpass SM WC: 51,386/100,258

Since I missed the for funsies goal last month, here we are again aiming for 250k overall hits on AO3 by the end of the month! (Is it important? No, but it will make me feel good to be able to say I have a quarter of a million hits, you know?)

Recycling some goals from last month:

Finish 40k in 42 days by 9/14

Finish one bingo prompt

Full outline for LTS(LTFH) fic 1

Seven Songs of Suffering:

Did I forget I said I was gonna do a September challenge? Hell yeah, I did! These will be on the shorter side, and I'm not promising to do all seven. (But all seven is the goal in theory.) Since I forgot, I'm giving myself an extra week to wrap these up, so they're now due 9/21.

Control - Halsey

Sweet but Psycho - Ava Max

Bury a Friend - Billie Eilish

Daylight - David Kushner

Secrets - OneRepublic

I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters

Rescue - Lauren Daigle

Editing by priority:

All are getting a technical review and a review of summary/tags, but some older fics are getting some extra help. This is NOT intended to be complete by the end of the month. It's just a list to keep me on track for when I don't feel like drafting new stuff.

Emeto: title change, style update

Flu: title change, style update

on the run: deadass don't remember this one, so we'll see

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter +1 Time He Finally Does

Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a house that's always haunted)

Chemicals, chemicals in my brain (where'd you go, where'd you go anyway?)

Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away)

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism, +1 Time Tony Helped: possible style update

Whump Bingo: major edit--these were barely edited in the first place, oops

Anywhere but Here: style update

Sick Days

Take the worst situation (make a worse situation)

We are the reckless (we are the wild youth)

Cocktails and Consequences: content edit since I barely drank before I wrote this and didn't research alcohol at all

Sickdays 5.0 Day 7: Temperature: title

See me here (meet me here)

And it hits between the eyes on this side

Sickdays 2.0 Day 2 & 5: Sick at a Party & Gently Tinged with Red: title, brainstorm for a closing chapter

Sickdays Day 5: Rapid Onset: title

Impressions

Sickdays 4.0 Day 1: The Oblivious Partner: title

Sickdays 4.0 Day 7: Chain Reaction: title

Sickdays 5.0 Day 6: Public Illness: title

I've got you stuck on my mind (and it's driving me crazy)

Days locked in a haze (trying to forget you)

Sickdays Day 6: Public Illness: title

I want to know who you are (I want to know who you were)

Will you stay with me for another day? (I don't want to be alone in this state)

I'm keeping you at bay (and I'm lonely)

Sickdays 5.0 Day 3: Caretaking Focus: title

Weightless (only wait for a fall)

Hiding It

I feel strange

Bullies and Bailing: possible content edit because I just don't like this one at all

Made a Mess

Season Three

Oh god

I'm not saying I told you so...

Sickdays 5.0 Day 4: Not the Norm: title and possible content edit because I HATE this fic with a burning passion

Accident

Don't ruin this

Rapid Onset

No Right Side: content edit because I don't like how this came out

Frostbite

Happily Ever After

Wes

Touch of the skin brings trembles and shivers

Favorite Outfit

Sleepless folks watching light grow (through their early morning windows)

Folklore

Origins

Ember

Monster

Red

Food

Peace

Road Trip

Fentonworks

+2 anonymous works

LTS(LTFH):

As always, I'll be working on this in the background. Still hoping to have the first fic ready for the new year!

Fic 1: reach 50% completion on 100k rough draft (reach goal: 60%)

Fic 2: reach 40% completion on 50k rough draft (reach goal: 50%)

Fics 3 & 4: note ideas, adjust outlines, & just generally figure these out.

Side stories: add content as it comes up in main fics.

Longer term:

As always, this is a loose plan and I may adjust future goals based on current performance.

September 2024 - editing published works and drafting LTS(LTFH).

October 2024 - currently looking into Whumptober; if not that, it's another big LTS(LTFH) month.

November 2024 - still NaNoWriMo (though now unofficially), definitely LTS(LTFH) as the project. I won't be starting from a blank doc, but I never was a NaNo rule follower, and I'm just happy to add 50k to a project or split it between two or three.

December 2024 - LTS(LTFH) major content and continuity edit plus first technical edit. (Or possible writing break month. TBD.)

January 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 2 & 3 & aspiring first publish date for fic 1.

February 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 2 & 3.

[gasmeros]

May I haps ask about the solstice kidnapping zuko AND the zuko jumping one? That smiley face makes me so nervous

ok so the solstice kidnapping one is basically all plotting with a few lines of actual prose that are totally unrelated, so uh. don't actually really have a snippet to share there hhhhhhhh. but basically, there was this post ages ago that got popular, got a lot of fanfic spin offs actually. i just wanted to do my own take on it. the post is here

to sum up, during the winter solstice episode (the one where the gaang fly into the fire nation to go talk to roku for the first time), zhao locks the water siblings up with zuko instead of chaining them to pillars, and they end up talking, and the sibs learn about how zuko got his scar, and thus the gaang basically adopts zuko.

so it's like. imagine that but with my style dialogue and extra whump cuz im me. here's a bit from my plotting:

commence operation learn more about zuko through various kidnappings. from here on, the formula is zuko chases aang, aang kidnaps zuko :) zuko fucking hates this. each kidnapping reveals a bit more information about zuko's circumstances, and last a lil bit longer than the last. at some point the gaang officially decides that zuko is really just a proxy for their real enemy (the fire lord), and they're gonna try their damnedest to sway zuko out of his mindset, or at the very least not cause any harm to him while they defend themselves. zuko's fuckin confused cuz why are they refusing to fight?? to the point where he gives them opportunities to hit him back in combat just to verify that they're actively choosing only defense. that pisses them off cuz what if they weren't doing that? dude??

i actually have two variants branching off this prompt, the other is technically better plotted? that one's the s1 soltice to boat au. basically the same start, but then the gaang starts camping out on zuko's boat with immunity due to a technicality in a promise zuko made to them. here's some of that plotting cuz i feel bad not having actual writing to share with either of them ahdmhsjg

so we get Bison Time, wherein zuko's still not a fan of anything that's happening, but compared to how he was acting with zhao, he's downright pleasant. which is not to say that he's actually pleasant, he is very much being an angry brat who's like one second away from trying to fight them while still on the bison. the siblings have a lot of questions, because what zhao said about banishment and two years searching and public executions was fucking wack and they need to know why he said that, why zuko fought so hard that he thought burning his mouth as bad as he did was an acceptable trade off. they know why, but they need to hear it.

zuko does not let them hear it. he yells and doesn't answer any questions and demands they put him down or else. bits about the mouth burns obviously bothering him, just cuz im me and im predictable

they end up going to drop him off at his ship cuz his crew wont attack without a command, and zuko's not so dumb to make them attack the bison he's on. they end up making him swear to not do anything until after they fly away

Eventually theyre able to land on zuko's ship without risk of zuko being arrested. zuko keeps his word and doesn't let anyone attack until after they leave, and THEN. aang is a smartass and takes advantage of that by just. not flying away :) so zuko can't do anything, cuz then he'd break his word!! that's pretty fuckin dishonorable!! zuko would like to murder aang.

so yyeah. sorry for the dud ask there.

PART 2!!!! zuko jumping :) is about a suicide attempt :))) sorry agsjshf. basically zuko goes to offer his help to the gaang in s3, they reject him, and he just. has nothing left to do with his life?? like he can't go *back,* and he can't do what he set out to do, so.

viewer discretion advised for this snippet, obviously. like the snippet isn't that part, but still, the context might be enough to want to avoid.

Katara's gaze is worried, and she's always been too good at reading him. "Aang? What's wrong?"

He knows he shouldn't say anything, that Zuko's hardly comfortable letting Aang see his suffering, let alone the rest of his "maybe, sort of, don't want to be but am" enemies. Not when they're the reason he—

Aang starts bawling.

i have no idea if i intend to finish this one. it's just not something im sure i know how to handle appropriately.

[phoenixyfriend]

Dear Creator Letter: Anakin-Clone Appreciation Exchange

Organized as:

General/Setting Likes

Gender Stuff

Setting AUs I like

About the ships

DNW with clarifications

General Likes:

Working with/around PTSD with each other

Asexual or ace-spec characters (doesn’t have to be explicit, just an underlying Vibe is fine)

hurt/comfort (NOT whump)

Generally I like ships being really sweet with each other, even when the sex or kink is rougher

I enjoy pretty much any kind of gender play, including:

Character is now Nonbinary

Trans (in the direction of canon)

Trans (in the direction opposite canon)

Questioning/Experimenting

Fluid

Magic sex swaps of the ‘woke up with my body a different reproductive setup, am learning the meaning of gender euphoria’ variety

Whatever the hell Ranma ½ technically is

Cisswaps (born a different cis gender) so long as it’s not used primarily to turn a same gender ship into a het ship

I do like AUs of all sorts, so long as the core of the character is intact, with vibes to match. This includes:

Time-travel, fix-its

Arranged/political marriage

Soulmate AU

Background or role swap AUs

Omegaverse (WITHOUT exaggerated omegaverse sexism or cissexism at all, and without mild/moderate sexism or cissexism as major plot points)

Modern AU - chill bakery/coffee shop/bookstore/beekeeper stuff - classy criminal playing cat and mouse with the FBI agent trying to catch them - “oh no, you’re my teenager’s English teacher and this parent-teacher conference just got very awkward because we started dating over the summer before I knew” - one of them is a celebrity - literally just whatever

Historical Fantasy (mostly for the fashion and/or if the author gets really invested in things like trade routes and agricultural pressures and inane tax law)

History AU, but only if you go the Bridgerton route of Fun And Funky Tropes Without The Racism

Royal Fantasy

Soulmate

Role Swap (does not have to be between the ship!)

Backstory swap (e.g. Never a Jedi AU, Raised a Sith AU, Senator of Tatooine AU, etc.)

For Want of a Nail

Faustian Castle AU

ABOUT THE SHIPS

These are not prompts! These are just me trying to explain why/how I ship them, the vibes I usually go for, or the kinks I associate with them.

Cody&Anakin or Cody/Anakin I think Cody is tentatively respectful and unimpressed by Anakin. I've got a whole post about it.

Rex&Anakin, Rex/Anakin, and Rex/Cody/Anakin I don't think Rexwalker needs much explanation. We all know the draw there. As for Codexwalker... I need them to share him. I need Anakin flustered. I need Rex flustered. I need Cody laughing at them.

Any given mix of Anakin with Fives, Echo, and Hardcase A ship of shenanigans! I do want Fives and Echo treated as a set whenever possible. Doesn't matter if they're both dating Anakin, or if one is dating him and the other is wingmanning like kingdom come, just need them to be A Set.

Fox&Anakin or Fox/Anakin Reluctance, suspicion, and a slow growth of trust is the name of the game. Fox is so very guarded and he is JUST as unimpressed by Anakin's nonsense as Cody, but with far less cause or inclination to trust or develop affection for Anakin.

Rex&Vader or Rex/Vader Bring that boy back to the light, baby.

Kix/Anakin or Kix&Anakin Not too grumpy of a medic, please. He's soft-spoken in canon, yeah? Also I like the idea that Kix is eager to prove himself to Anakin in non-medical settings. He's already proven himself as a medic! Let him prove his kissing skills!

Alpha-17/Anakin Alpha is challenging Anakin to prove himself. He is even less impressed than Cody. He is mean about it. I'm not sure if he'll ever like Anakin, but he might tolerate him long enough to have a grudging fondness after Anakin manically destroys a walker that was about to crush him or something.

Regarding my unwanted list/clarification on my DNWs

DNW that don’t need much elaboration:

incest (cloneshipping is fine)

bestiality

minor/adult ships - age difference of less than three years is fine - major age difference where both are adults is fine

Reader inserts, major inclusion of original characters

Lower body fluids (talking about blood or saliva is fine; excrement is not), vomit

Sick fic (injury recovery is fine)

IDK I just get nothing out of most sick fic

Non-canon Dark Histories meant only to make someone more sympathetic or pitiable (e.g. especially Rape as Backstory)

Downer endings (includes breakups that are not resolved)

Smoking/cigarettes/alcohol/recreational drug use

General sexism or bigotry as a major theme, or from one member of the ship to the other, as well as bigotry-based dirty talk

Moderate to extreme sexism or cissexism for omegaverse

anti-intersexuality bias, usage of 'intersex’ for dualsex (they’re not the same thing)

Misgendering

Particularly dark topics, including: - Noncon - major character death (I’m fine with “Tarkin died and that sure is impacting the war” but “the main character’s younger sister just died and the plot revolves around the grief” is a bit much) - underage sexual content - adultery/infidelity - whump - unresolved terminal illness - suicide - self-harm - domestic abuse - child abuse

To keep things simple, no nsfw for this one

Basic character/setting things:

Werewolf or folklore AUs.

No character bashing. I know the event already has this as a rule, but I want to make sure it's clear that I don't want ANYONE bashed, not just Anakin and the clones. - By this, I mean vilifying them based on negative fanon or otherwise non-canon actions or behaviors (e.g. Anakin mind-controlling Padme into a relationship), or stories that prioritize punishing a character for their narrative crimes in the plot, especially in a way that is inconsistent with the setting or characters doing the punishment (e.g. Padme or the Jedi being incredibly harsh with Anakin about the Tusken Massacre, despite Padme moving past it easily in canon, and the Jedi displaying extreme forgiveness and providing rehabilitation to other characters that Fall, like Quinlan). -The whole Anakin/Consequences movement is one that I dislike immensely. If you don’t know what it is, you’re probably not doing it. If you do know what it is, then you know what I mean here. - It is very common/popular to write Qui-Gon as a neglectful, cold, or downright abusive caregiver/parent figure to the children in his care. I do not like this in the slightest.

For some reason, a lot of writers are very casual about violating a character’s bodily autonomy “for their own good.” I don’t like this (unless it’s horror, but that’s a different topic), and ask that you refrain from having characters do something like that for a person’s own good unless there are some massive extenuating circumstances. Please, for the love of god, do not have characters nonconsensually drug each other with sleeping pills as an act of care unless it's meant to be a sign of how dark and fucked up they are. Like, if Vader is drugging someone 'for their own good,' that's one thing, but...

I’m pro-Jedi and pro-New Mandos. I do not want anything that suggests they: - deserved what happened to them - needed to change or learn to accept more militant values/that attachment is good - were stealing/brainwashing children or engaging in cultural genocide - Traviss-style Mando Supremacy is a no-go - This isn’t technically a DNW because it’s too difficult for the mods to enforce, but I’m not a huge fan of large amounts of Mando'a. If it makes sense for a scene (as in, characters are speaking Basic to one another and would include Mando'a for contextually necessary reasons) or has connotations that can’t be translated, then sure, but dropping in “ad'ika” or “gar gai” every few lines grates on me. Translation convention, please!

I do like the True Mandos but please don’t lionize them.

I have minimal interest in the Original Trilogy and no interest in the Sequels; my mind is squarely in the Prequels and pre-canon era. - That said, I do delight in having baby versions of the characters present; I am always open to toddler Skywalker twins cameo. - I’m not very into the Bad Batch. Cameos are fine.

No Barr*ssoka. No, not even as a background thing.

No Cod*wan. No, not even as a background thing. Preferably, no Jedi Master/Clone ships at all, but especially not Obi-Wan/Clones. (Knight/Clones is fine).

No Master/Padawan. I have exceptions when reading, but for an exchange, I’d prefer not to have any in my gift.

Vilifying Padme in the process of explaining why she isn’t with Anakin. She can be an ex, they could be in an open relationship, they could have not gotten in a relationship at all and just stayed friends, I don’t care, just… be nice about her.

The suggestion that Padme was mind-controlled into loving Anakin.

If you write Rebellion/OT setting versions of the ships, please don’t go hard on the clones being Old.

The word wh*re is considered a slur among many sex workers, and while I’m not among that category, I feel uncomfortable seeing it in contexts that don’t really justify it. If it’s a matter of characterization, to signify a character is a bad person, or part of a rougher underground community where it’s an in-group term, or a period setting, that’s one thing, but just as a part of dirty talk or an accusation or teasing? No, no thank you.

[cercess]

Requests Open!

Hi there,

I'm a writer who's recently entered the Honkai Star Rail fandom, and I'm opening my requests!

I'll leave some more rules and guidelines below. Please send an ask if you're interested!

Will Write:

✓Character x Reader

✓Up to three characters per request

✓One shots and ficlets/drabbles

✓Spoilers for the Trailblaze quests. Anything with spoilers will be tagged accordingly

✓Smut long as I'm comfortable with the subject matter. If you are going to read/request NSFW fics you must be 18+ and I will block anyone who violates this rule.

✓Fluff

✓Angst

✓AUs

Will Not Write:

☓Character x Character

☓Certain kinks, such as age-play, anything involving bodily fluids, BDSM, and extremely violent kinks.

☓Anything that has to do with any form of medical condition, both mental and physical. This is purely because I do not wish to misrepresent or offend anyone. Requests that involve prompts like a nervous reader are fine

☓Minors (characters with child bodies, like Tribbie are included. Doesn't matter if they're technically 1000 years old)

☓Domestic abuse, assault, cheating, stalking, non-con

☓Whump

☓Yandere

For the most part, I will just delete any asks that I'm not comfortable writing unless they are actively harmful. You're always welcome to dm me directly is you have a question about what I do and don't write! This is a judgment free zone, and if I turn down a request, it's just because of my own boundaries, and abilities as a writer.

I try to answer requests as soon as possible, but I’m only human, so please be patient with me. I’m also currently working on a long-form Phainon/Reader fic that I write whenever I feel like it, so if that gets uploaded after you send an anon, it’s just because that’s what I felt like writing that day. Requests are typically answered in 1–3 days, but it may be longer depending on traffic, and if I'm working on a new chapter of a longer fic.

[bridgetlynn]

hi! i came across your sacrifice prompt drabble a couple hours ago and i havnt been able to stop thinking about it. its very heartbreaking. while you were writing it did you have any idea of what will happen next? i mean, do you know if frank will wake up and theyll be able to talk things out? i really like cliffhangers and when i write them most of the times i know what will happen next, i just dont write it ahjdhksj soo im wondering how it is for you? do you plan what happens next or is it a mystery to you as well??

First of all, thank you very much for the kind words. I'm glad you found it heartbreaking? (It always strikes me as weird to basically be glad I made someone sad) But mostly, I'm thrilled that you're still thinking about it - I like getting in peoples heads and making them think.

As for the drabble itself? Honestly, that piece is a bit of an outlier for me. I wrote it with absolutely zero plotting or outlining ahead of time. Which is weird for me - even for something that is essentially meant to be a drabble. Which is a roundabout way to say "Nope. I didn't know anything while I was writing it or now after I finished writing it."

The fic itself was written very loosely. I wrote it on a night when I had to take a higher dose of pain meds and sort of rode the slight high I had as a result of that higher dose. The fic itself went through a few iterations - lots of writing and backspacing and copy and pasting chunks into another word document to "Save for later use".

I mean, at one point, Frank had a random dead brother and somehow the sacrifice theme tied into that (that version was more focused just on the "Langdon Whump" request). I actually have 3 pages of (probably shitty) drabble work around that idea now.

Once I landed on the actual "Frank is severely injured saving someone" route it also jumped all over the place. At one point Frank had saved Tanner from a car outside their house. At one point he saved Mel at the hospital. Then it was Dana. Hell, at one point he saved Santos. And something just wasn't clicking.

It finally occured to me that while all those people had an effect on his life; the sad fact of it is that not one of those people would it be considered a "sacrifice" for him to potentially lose his life over. Tanner is his son - of course he's going to throw himself in front of a car. Mel is his friend (or potentially more) - he'd absolutely save her. Dana he's known for years and even in the finale when he was breaking her heart, you as a viewer knows she would forgive him - he'd jump in front of her/push her out of the way in a second. Even Santos an argument can be made that he wouldn't think twice - she's a small female (he'd have a better chance surviving the hit), SHE already saved HIS life, she's (technically) his student, etc.

But Robby? Robby is potentially where the sacrifice part comes in. Because despite all of their history together prior to the big reveal of Frank's addiction/stealing meds - the way they ended that season doesn't line them up for an easy healing of their relationship. And (in my opinion at least) Robby got his own hits in. Unnecessary ones that (again in my opinion) allow for the argument to be made that Langdon doesn't have to forgive Robby either. So, following that train of thought - Langdon saving Robby from a potentiall lethal hit by a moving vehicle is actually a sacrifice. A real one. It's one that doesn't immediately make sense or have an "obvious" payoff.

So that's kind of how my brain worked to churn it out.

As to what's going to happen? I do know what's going to happen. There are three options - a) I don't do anything else with this. b) I expand it. c) I insert it as a part of another fic. Because of B & C I don't want to reveal too much in really specific detail - but I'll give you this some broad strokes because you took the time to actually ask about my writing.

Frank will wake up. He's going to be in a very not good place physically or mentally. And is justifiably kind of "done" with Robby at that point. As Robby outlined in the narrative - Frank has done all he asked and more. Frank has tried. Now it's Robby's turn to attempt to close the gap between them. Which is going to be difficult since Frank was ready to move his family back to their original home so that he can attempt to build his career again. Mud sticks and hospital workers gossip and Frank Langdon will obviously have a bit of a reputation in Pittsburgh. Despite being an excellent doctor. He's a liability. That being said (again, I can go dark) this accident has kind of given Robby the most important thing - time. Frank isn't going to be able to go anywhere at the moment. And he's also going to be very angry at himself - not really for saving Robby. But, it was partially instinct. And his brain didn't really think of the consequences at the time. And now he has to live with them.

So, the one thing I'm not sure about is if they manage to reconcile. But I didn't kill him. So there's that. lol.

Thank you again so much for the kind words. I'm very happy you enjoyed anything I wrote.

[whumpfish]

Been banging out the bingo squares I was supposed to have done in June....

Just needs to be typed up:

- Fever Dream + Fate Worse Than Death

Synopsis: basically, the "take me instead" post I made earlier was about Shimura. With a 103º fever, he gets to experience not having the chance to self-sacrifice instead. I love creating fucked up trippy nightmare imagery, this one was a blast to write. And the Reaper himself is just walking nightmare fuel, so he's always a blast to write. Especially after the whole psychogenic fever experience.

First draft, half done:

- Power Exchange + Lack of Oxygen

I'm a little concerned Kiriko and Shimura’s power exchange won't come through as clearly as it does in the show... But their friendship really is striking in that you have this crime lord with the entire underworld at her fingertips who will drop everything the second her detective bestie is seriously threatened and sacrifice whatever she has to in order to save him, and this wild Regular Guy with anger issues who for the first time in years is able to become laser-focused when she needs him instead of going off like a bomb per usual and andhggjakk I just love their whole dynamic.

Staring at the final draft, feeling obvious/expected, and wondering if I even want to use it for this:

- How could you?

Erhfhghhhhh... honestly I can't even. I always have trouble when it comes to writing emotional whump that it doesn't seem to "go far enough." Years ago I would have considered the old graveside-confrontation-with-the-dead bit plenty whumpy, but lately idk. I think my whump threshold goes up when my pain threshold does. And the stupid part is that it's not maudlin in this particular case because of the canon Situations. Not to mention the prompt itself is inherently an emotional whump prompt. So I, in all technicality, should not be hesitating.

And yet.

Idk I have that one thing from the red room chapters mostly done (Isogaya continues to be compose of 1/3 cloying ambition, 1/3 snacks, amd 1/3 innatention; his partner suffers for it; you know whose buttons that's going to push,) it's a minor dialog tweak to get it in there? Idk.

[librathefangirl]

Love your fics btw 🥺❤️

But 🦈 and 🍬 for the ask game ❤️

Thank you!! 🥺❤️ And thank you for the ask too :)

(Also can I say that I'm impressed that I've gotten 7 emojis for this ask game now, but none have been duplicates)

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Ooh. For nnt I gotta go with daytime Escanor and Diane. I just... don't really know how to handle those two.

I much more prefer writing wimpy night Escanor than arrogant day Escanor. Although both will show up in an upcoming fic of mine (day 21 of my Febuwhump series, whenever I get to that one). So, we'll see how that works out.

As for Diane, I don't know, I just struggle a lot with her character. Which is probably why I have never actually written from her perspective yet.

🍬 Do you write for multiple fandoms? If yes, what is your favorite fic of yours for each fandom?

I mean, technically yes? If we're looking at both my early fanfic days over on FF.net and my current ones on ao3, I've got 60 fics across 12 fandoms. Although, this year I've only posted fics for nnt. Which I don't mind actually, I haven't been this inspired to write since I started writing fanfic (for Lab Rats) back in 2016.

Only 5 of my written fandoms have more than 1 fic posted, so let's look at them, shall we? Going oldest to newest:

Lab Rats - Betrayal

I guess it would be cheating saying my entire A for Always fic, since it's my advent calendar fic and is thereby a collections of 24 fics? (Actually that advent calendar was fun to write, maybe I should do something like that for nnt this year?). So let's go with chapter 2: Betrayal. This one's actually a bit different from my usual stories. It's more of an introspection and deals with Chase's (canon) experiences of betrayal and the emotional impact these had (that was't explored in canon). Over 6 years later I'm still proud of this one.

Lab Rats: Elite Force - Her Baby Brother

This one's a set of three drabbles, showcasing Bree's relationship with her little brother during different stages of their lives. I like this one because writing drabbles is not always that easy, plus at the same time I managed to make them feel like three parts of the same story with a similar structure. (Not a story for people who don't like main character deaths.)

Glee - The Boy with the Christmas Sweaters

Okay, looking back at my Glee fics was actually kinda hard, because the ship I loved back then I can't stand anymore. But I do like this fic! It's a Samcedes fic based on a Christmas prompt. Just some fluff and humor (a rarity for me).

Stranger Things - Trust and Needles

I have a total of 3 ST fics. All of which less than 700 words. All of which Stoncy. This one's just fluffy ot3 shenanigans combined with Steve whump. It might leave a smile on your face (unless you don't like needles or stitching, then you won't like this fic).

The Seven Deadly Sins / Nanatsu no Taizai - Who'll Hug the Prince of Hell?

This one wasn't easy to choose. They're all so new and all so loved. I think I'll have to go with this one though. For starters, it's my first nnt fic, the start of a new era and all that. It also includes a lot of things I love to write about; Meliodas angst, the relationships between the Sins and Meliodas, Meliodas getting the love he deserves, Merlin knowing his whole story, Meliodas and Ban being Meliodas and Ban, King dealing with his feelings and actions towards Meliodas after the reveal. Also, who doesn't love a story where Meliodas gets hugged repeatedly? (I should make Mel get hugged more often)

Anyway. Here's the list for the ask game, if anyone else wanna send me something :)

[titconao3]

13, 19, 40 - for the writer/fanfic ask :)

For this set of questions ^_^

13. What is your planning process? Eeeerrrr. i'm more of a... plantser, i think is the technical term ;-) i know the general idea and end point, but little details that turn into bigger plot points happen as i write, so i can't really plan much - it's the writing itself that will give me the meat. When i start off, i only have the general stick figure of the story, as seen from afar in the dark without wearing glasses ;-)

This is also why i write linearly: one little thing, a little detail (idk, the colour of char A's socks) will come up again and become #meaningfulTM later, and i can't foresee that early on in the process. Planning stuff would be pointless, because the story grows organically and will ignore what i plan anyway (it's a big reason why i dislike detailed scenario prompts: i think my brain chugs in the background and suddenly pops an idea at me on the page all by itself, but i'm not conscious of it until the words are Right There in front of my eyes; if i have to follow something another brain plotted, then mine just freezes and sulks and whines "what's the poinnnnnnt" ;-) Okay, yeah, sure, i do go back and add sock colour later on to tighten a plot point/foreshadow etc, but the idea is that a tiny word-butterfly will create big word-storms later on :D This is also why i don't post WIPs: something that comes up may need me to edit previous bits.

If i have extra notes, ideas, scene outlines, mid-way beats to hit, or bits of dialogue for a later part, i just jot it all down at the bottom of my document (i write in a word processor that's synced with an online drive, no fancy Writing Software For Fancy Writers for me. i'm basic ;-). i don't write out the entire scene / dialogue in advance, because it would be futile; by the time i get there i'd need to rewrite most of it anyway. And i might get bored and not feel like connecting the prewritten bits ;-) especially if it means rewriting everything as i go because it doesn't fit as well as it would if it had flown more organically from one part to another. (i've tried it, and it's not for me; it works for others!)

19. Dead or overused tropes? Oh my, there is no such thing as a dead or overused trope :D it's all about what you do with it! Play it straight, have a coffee shop AU but IN SPACE, take a common fanon characterization and twist it just so... i'll even sometimes take tropes i don't really like just to see how i can do them in a way i can stomach (one day, one day, i'll do a Soulmates AU. i find the premise a bit creepy when it's played twu wuv 4realz, but one day i'll play with that). (no shade on Soulmates AU lovers; kink tomato and all that!)

It's not like storytelling hasn't been using and reusing Coming Of Age, Revenge, Hero vs Fate, Fuck You God(s), etc patterns since, uh, forever. It's not the fact they're used that makes something enjoyable or not. *slaps Star Wars' hood* this baby can fit so many tropes in there! (This example is Just For You, Beguile, because i'm not much into SW ;-)

And, look. You'll have to pry hurt/comfort and whump from my cold dead hands ;-)

The only times i find something (trope, pattern... call it what you will) overused are when i see the themes, rhythms, expressions, words, obsessions that come up again and again in my own work. i see them only too well, and i fight them, and they always win in the end. They probably say too much about me, too! And then i angst about being predictable (@vulnerasanenturmyprince KEN FOLLET), boring, etc. (And then i go read fics that hit the buttons i want hit again and again)

40. Do you have any rituals before uploading a fic? Uh, rituals... it's usually fretting around the title, tags, and summary ;-) i rarely have the title early on, and i think for the summary it's happened... once? (out of, as of the time of answering this, over 160 published fics). No special underwear or whatnot for me. And fretting about how it's The Worst Fic Ever and how i Can't Write Anymore and Should Just Stop but i just need to chuck it on the good ole AO3 so i stop tinkering and quite possibly making it worse.

i try not to worry about feedback because it's pointless, which means i worry about feedback - by which i don't mean Comment Or Else, but that i write and publish (and organize events) to be part of the fandom community and squee with my fellow fen: as my AO3 profile says, to me, fandom is connection!

Thank you, @beguilewritesstuff :-)

[kaesaaurelia]

take care

For @whumptober day 11: "911, What's Your Emergency?", for the prompt "sloppy bandages."

In ancient Pompeii, a woman finds the demon Crawly on her doorstep, badly beaten. She's aware of the supernatural -- her husband serves a goddess, after all, though he's away on business in the heavens somewhere -- but she assumes he's an agathodaimon, a spirit of good fortune, and takes him in to try and heal him with her husband's holy salves.

Content warning for period-typical attitudes about slavery and well-intentioned but very poorly-thought-out first aid.

Also, while this fic is Crowley whump, the first part and some subsequent parts are from the point of view of an original character I've written about elsewhere, so there's backstory and it might not really be your thing if you're just browsing Crowley's tag. I haven't decided if Aziraphale will show up, but the angel Lucilla's married to is definitely not him.

Lucilla had been about to go out for a nighttime stroll, because her husband Volesus was away on business, and stargazing always made her feel better about him being gone. He had explained to her that the goddess he served did not operate on mortal time -- well, no, he'd said, "Heaven doesn't really respect human lifespans, and fuck if I know what Gabriel wants this time," and he'd sounded very annoyed when he'd said he might be gone for a year or more, but Lucilla tried not to think uncharitably of the gods, not because the gods didn't deserve it, but because she didn't want to annoy them. (It was difficult not to judge this Gabriel person, but everything her husband said about him suggested he thought he was hot shit, so she wasn't worried.)

At any rate, she had been about to go stargaze away from the lights of the city, perhaps up the mountain a little, only she nearly tripped over a man lying in her doorway, which was very disconcerting.

At first she'd assumed he was a drunk, or maybe a vagabond, and she tried to rouse him, but her hand came away wet when she'd tried to grab him by the shoulder and shake him, and the coppery smell wasn't wine or piss. He made a small, pitiful sound, and his eyes came slowly open. They gleamed yellow in the low light of the street, and they were slitted like a cat's eyes, or maybe a snake's.

She had been about to get a physician, but seeing his strange eyes, she knew this must have something to do with her husband's work, because they weren't even the strangest eyes she'd ever seen -- her husband's were gold in the light, and his longtime lover's eyes glowed a brilliant red. (What exactly his lover was was a matter of some dispute; he claimed she was a daimon, and she said she was an aspect of Venus. Lucilla was on the fence about this, although the evenings she'd spent with the woman were pretty convincing on the aspect-of-Venus front. She ought to visit Nisroc sometime; she must be getting lonely for Volesus too.)

So, quietly, she hurried inside and roused one of their servants, and together they carried the man to the spare bedroom and lay him on the bed. In the light of the lantern they lit, she saw that he had a scrap of papyrus pinned to the front of his clothes, and she read it quickly. It was addressed to her husband, under the name he used when he was working for his goddess, and it said:

Sorry, in a hurry, please take care of this demon. -- M

"Should I go fetch someone to patch him up?" said the servant. Technically he was a slave, but Volesus had always asked her not to treat the slaves any differently, because they were to be freed as soon as he found them homes and jobs. It annoyed Lucilla a little bit not to be entirely the mistress of her own home, but her husband asked for so little, and he was so kind, so she obliged.

"No," said Lucilla. She had always suspected that the goddess he served was Minerva, although he said a lot of very silly things that made her sound like half the pantheon rolled into one. She had to assume that that was what the M stood for, though. "He was sent for Volesus to care for."

"He doesn't look like he was sent," said the servant. "He looks like someone beat the shit out of him and dumped him."

"He was sent," said Lucilla. "This note says Volesus should take care of him, but he isn't here, so I'll do it for him. If they'd wanted him to have a physician's care, they would have left him with someone else." She did not think the servant could read, but he was a recent purchase and sometimes they surprised her with how much they knew, so she did not show him the note; she didn't want him to find out her husband had another name.

"Get Volesus' special ointment, the one he uses on new arrivals. Do you know where it is?" When this servant had come to their household, he had been in much worse condition than the man before them -- had been missing an eye and several fingers! But her husband had infused some mixture of herbs with his own holy magic, and the result was capable of curing nearly anything very quickly.

"Ah. Yes. He showed me," said the servant. "Is -- do you know if it's safe to --"

"I can take care of myself," said Lucilla, with confidence; she was much handier with a sword than most women she knew, and at least several men who'd had the gall to try and fight her. "Go get the ointment." Volesus was awfully trusting with these servants, and she tried not to resent that; it had taken her years to gain his trust, and she was his wife. The servant must have noticed her tone, for he scampered away.

She turned her attention to the man -- or daimon, apparently -- in front of her. He was bleeding in several places -- there were large gashes across his chest and one in his stomach that looked very nasty. His nose had been broken and his lip split, and his face was one big bruise. She began to undress him so that she could better apply the holy ointment.

"Ssstop," said the daimon, trying weakly to push her arm away.

"You're very badly hurt," she said. "It's best not to move. Probably." She didn't actually know anything about medicine, but that seemed like a sensible assumption. Hopefully the ointment would help with that.

The servant came back with Volesus' holy ointment and she spread it on the man's wounds, though he squirmed and tried to escape, and the servant had to help her hold him down. "Burnsss," he hissed. She could see he was going to be a difficult patient, so she had the servant fetch some undiluted wine and made him drink it, so that he would sleep, and when, after drifting into a fitful, hissy slumber, the man's form flickered and became a large black snake, she knew she had been right. This must be the mountain's agathodaimon, and it was a good thing she'd been here, even if Volesus was away. Most mountains were pretty even-tempered compared to what Lucilla was used to, but their mountain was different, and Lucilla didn't like to think how angry Vesuvius might get if she'd allowed its daimon to bleed out on the streets of Pompeii.

And so, the demon Crawly drifted off into a confused and drunken stupor, knowing only that some idiot human had taken him in, but at least the Archangel Michael was gone, and what harm could this human do? He didn't like whatever she'd put on his wounds, but at least here he was absolutely safe from angels.

[To be continued on day 22]