#.....I am devoted to the single fic I'm writing for this challenge...so you get a gif moodboard for an AU lmaooo

[emblazons]

“If this is to work, we must appear madly in love.”

Phoenixflare Week || Day 3: Pretend Relationship / Fake Dating Joshua Rosfield & Dion Lesage + The Duke & I/Bridgerton AU

Joshua Rosfield—Duke of Rosaria—recently returned from his travels to proper Valisthean court intent on avoiding his mother's intentions to introduce him to every high-born match available, in hopes of finally marrying him off. Yet, during the first ball of the season, an encounter with his childhood friend Dion Lesage—the now cast-off Prince of Sanbreque—provides him with another option. If Prince Dion agrees to a fake courtship, Joshua can deter his mother from a parade of marriageable prospects being placed before him—while Dion (whose prospects were reduced to all but the lowest houses when his true-blood brother Oliver was born) might once again see his prospects and reputation soar. Despite being a match between two of Valisthea's strongest families, a romance between two high-ranking men of the realm is unprecedented—and too interesting for society not to watch with rapt interest. The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of Valisthean elite, there is only one certainty: Love ignores every rule.

[wolfpants]

for the end of the year asks: 14 and 21. 

as a big wolfstar enjoyer, i’m definitely *manifesting* you writing a wolfstar fic in 2024. Happy new year :) 

Hello anon! A happy new year to you! I am very tempted to dip my toe back into Wolfstar. Whatever happens, I most certainly will be writing about Sirius at some point this year.

Thank you for the questions!

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

Pretty much all of Kinkuary, because I kind of decided at the last minute to challenge myself and participate. I also took a risk and used a random generator to come up with the pairings, which is why so many of them are varied! I never thought I'd write Draco/James, or Harry/Scorpius, for example. But it was loads of (stressful!) fun!

21. most memorable comment/review

Gosh, I was lucky to get a lot of lovely comments in 2023. I'm appreciative of every single one of them. I just did a scroll through my inbox and picked out this one, from a smaller fic I posted in the previous year (it always bowls me over whenever I get new comments from an older fic!). It means a lot to me because the fic is kind of... quiet, a Wolf deep cut if you will. Werewolf Draco fic, where Drarry are on the run in America.

Anyway, thank you to tea in the tardis (I'm sorry, I don't know if you're on tumblr!), for this gem:

This story is so beautiful, and honestly as good as any American road short story I've ever read. It was touching and raw. The details are the whole story. You don't have to tell us anything about them; they don't have to spell it all out in conversation. They are more than in love -- they are each other's family now. Harry's devotion and caring are like breathing to him. It's just what needs to happen for them to survive. Draco embodies "one day at a time" as he deals with what is essentially a chronic illness. He never complains or feels sorry for himself. They both just go on. And when a person's life revolves around seeking comfort, life on the road would be brutal. Harry sees all of this in Draco, and just loves him harder. I wanted to cry with relief for them at the end. ❤

From Look For Me In The Sun

End of year fic asks

[eusuntgratie]

Rec five fics that *changed* you?

okay this has been percolating around in my brain since you asked. such a good question <3

your blue eyed boys by feather (stucky/mcu) i feel like i talk about this one a lot but this one is like. THE FIC. that drug me into fandom and made me want to stay up all night voraciously reading. the characterization and the depth of care that the author brings to two of my favorite characters is just. perfection. you can tell when an author just LOVES and GETS characters in the same way you do, and feather's love for steve and bucky and so many of my fave marvel characters is present in every line (NAT!!). i come back to this one a lot. steve's devotion to bucky in this 'verse, to be whatever he needs, to never give up on him, to doing anything in his power to make his life a little easier, the way that the two of them wrestle with bucky's trauma, is incredible and is something that i come back to and think about and challenge myself about. i love fics that make me think and make me question things and help me process some of my own shit. i love it.

4 minute window (series) by @cesperanza (stucky/mcu) i don't even know where to begin. this fic is so goddamned good. and the universe here, the boys finding their happiness after, building a life together means a lot to me. the thanksgiving updates and advent calendars have gotten me through a couple of tough years of holidays. i'm not even caught up on the newest updates, but whenever new updates post it brings me so much joy. i love this 'verse so much; i want to roll around in it. it's just incredibly written; it blows me away every time.

Sell Your Body to the Night by @dsudis (sterek/teen wolf) THE sterek fic. this one absolutely wrecks me. the reason i got into teen wolf fandom. i re-read this fic often and it's so so good. reading this author's work makes me want to keep writing and keep getting better; i absolutely love everything of theirs i've read, across multiple fandoms.

The Standing Dead by standinginanicedress (sterek/teen wolf) I know I rec this one a lot too, but this is one of those fics that I would have loved anyway, but it came to me at the right time and is sort of seared into my brain along with a certain point in time. This fic got me through the worst anxiety of my life, and even though I don't share anything like Stiles' trauma in this 'verse, I relate to him a lot and just really connected to these two. Another one I re-read often.

Centrifugal Motion by @tkachuckles (tknp, men's hockey rpf) hi hello are you tired of hearing me talk about this one yet? this fic single-handedly revived my love of country music, which i, like many southern queer folks, have a weirdly complicated relationship with. i've had so many amazing conversations about music and country and folk and queerness, both online and irl, bc of this fic. it's amazingly written and it makes me incandescently happy. i will re-read it over and over and over again and will forever be devastated that i cannot watch tk and pat sing fishin' in the dark.

authors if you want me to untag you please let me know; i only tagged folks who list their tumblr on ao3 but am happy to take you out if you want.

know that your fics changed me and mean more than i can say <3

[sugars-fluffy-escapes]

Try Not to Laugh

Peter Maximoff x telekinetic!reader

SFW; Silly fluff, romantic relationship

Words: 1199

Summary: The silver-haired speedster spends several minutes trying to make his telekinetic partner laugh with some silly 80's themed jokes.

Warnings: Really cheesy jokes, salty Peter Maximoff, flirty Peter Maximoff, and tickles

DISCLAIMER: This fic is old and although I edited it, the writing may not be up to par (I'm probably overthinking) Also please forgive me if this isn't super time accurate (80's jokes being told in the 80's am I right? 💀) I just wanted to find a way to incorporate bad 80's jokes with this dorky man 😖🤍

"Why couldn't the Ghostbusters ever finish Oregon Trail?" Peter questioned with a grin, patiently waiting for his partner to acknowledge the first half of the joke.

With a big sigh, followed by a slow exhale, Y/N played along. "I-I don't know, Peter... why couldn't they?"

"Because, they couldn't cross the streams," the speedster answered proudly.

"Peter, are you kidding me?" Y/N questioned, a sigh leaving their lips as they placed their hand on their forehead. Peter groaned as he'd yet again failed to draw out laughter from his lover.

"Oh come on! How did you not laugh at the one? You love Ghostbusters! That one was funny!"

"Do you see me laughing, Maximoff?"

"Alright, how bout this one?" Peter challenged, stretching his arms as though he were preparing to train in the danger room. His smile grew slowly as his mind ran through the buildup and the punchline repeatedly. "What do you call a special interest group devoted to getting Pac-Man elected?"

"What?"

"A pac-PAC."

Y/N raised an eyebrow before sighing again and shaking their head as Peter giggled over his own joke.

"Peter..."

"Come onnn, disco ball! That was a good one!" Peter insisted.

Y/N pinched the bridge of their nose. "It was cheesy. A 'pac-PAC?' Really!?"

"Fine then," Peter's lips curled down in a frown of determination as he nodded and shrugged. "Third time's the charm. What did the '80s tech employee say was wrong with the printer?"

"What did they say?"

"It was stuck in Depeche Mode!"

"That has to be the worst one yet."

"Alright, that's it!" Peter growled playfully, which made Y/N's breath hitch.

They shrieked when Peter gently tackled them backward on the bed, and squealed with laughter when their boyfriend's fingers wiggled on their sides. "You haven't laughed at a single joke and all of them were so. damn. funny!"

"P-Peheheheter! Thihihis i-ihihihisn't fahahair!"

"All's fair in a game of try not to laugh, sugar~" Peter hummed, leaning down to Y/N's ear. "I like making you laugh with this method more anyway. And I know for a fact that you do too~"

Y/N could only squeak in response, giggling when Peter pressed a few kisses behind their ear. He lay down beside them and gently pulled them into his arms, peppering kisses all over their face before holding them close.

"You're so cute," he giggled. "I love you."

"I love y-you too," Y/N said quietly, hiding their face in his shirt.

"Feelin shy? Totally my fault, right?"

"Y-Yehehes, you jerk..."

"Ouch~ Shy and feisty~" Peter bit his lip cheekily and batted his eyelashes. "I love when you get feisty~"

"Peter!"

The speedster was snickering at the expression on Y/N's face, but that smug little smirk fell when Y/N used their powers to keep him still. Ah, the drawbacks to tickling your telekinetic significant other~

Wait... what are you- disco ball, don't you dare," Peter warned, feeling giggles bubbling up in his throat. "Y-Youhou know I'll immediately gehehet y-you back."

Y/N ignored his warning, well aware that Peter would quickly turn the tables, and gently clawed the sides of his upper ribcage. A high pitched gasp left their boyfriend's lips before he bit his lip to muffle his laughter. When Y/N quickly spidered his fingers on his neck, he was unable to stop his giggles.

"Your laugh's so cute!" They giggled, moving their hands to his underarms.

"Dohon't youhouhou dahare! Dohohon't youhou dahahahahare- F-FUHUCK!" Peter squeaked, catching Y/N off guard with how high pitched his voice had become.

His partner's focus was replaced with surprise and he was able to use his speed to free his hands from their weakened hold. Y/N tried to move back with the goal of getting up and running, but Peter swiftly wrapped his hands around their waist and flipped around so he was leaning over them.

A nervous squeak left Y/N's lips and they giggled sheepishly. On occasion, they would turn the tables on Peter, who'd follow that up by mercilessly getting them back, knowing full well that Y/N was hoping that's exactly what he would do.

"Nice try, sugar~ Now you're absolutely getting wrecked."

Y/N squirmed and squeaked, butterflies in their stomach increasing when Peter smirked.

"IhI rehehegrehet nohOHOHOTHIHIIING! PEHEHEHETEHEHEHERRRR!"

After ten minutes, the playful revenge came to an end, and Peter gently pulled Y/N to lie on his chest after wiping the tears of mirth from their eyes and kissing their cheek.

"We're both horrible at that game," he laughed, giggles leaving his lips when he heard a familiar snort laugh from his partner. "Awww~ That's my giggly datemate~"

"S-Stop it..."

"But I love you~"

"I-I love you too, Peter," Y/N muttered into his shirt, feeling their heart skip a beat when Peter kissed the top of their head. The speedster's smile was replaced with concern when he noticed Y/N wince a bit the next time they lifted their head to turn it.

"Babe, you okay?"

"M-Mhm... abs a-are just a little sore from l-laughing so much," Y/N said quietly. "I-I promise, I'm okay."

Peter gently moved Y/N to lie next to him and turned onto his side. "Would a tummy rub help?" He offered, giving a soft smile when his partner nodded.

They timidly nodded again and averted their eyes from Peter's, but quietly muttered a "thank you" to him.

"I'm here for you, disco ball. Always always always."

"Peter..."

"You're my whole world," Peter continued. "I mean it. You encourage me, you reassure me, you take care of me, you know when I get all of those moments of worrying if I'm doing a good enough job with- well, everything. And... I-I... I can only hope that I've been doing the same for you."

"You absoutely have. You're the reason I'm not embarrassed, or ashamed about a lot of things," Y/N reminded him. "L-Like... w-well you know..."

The speedster knew Y/N was referring to their enjoyment of Peter tickling them to pieces.

"Mhm~" he affirm-hummed with a chuckle, leaning over and pressing a few soft kisses on his partner's abdomen.

Y/N let out the quietest giggle and squirmed ever so slightly, making the speedster chuckle.

"I just wanna stay like this forever," Peter hummed, gently pulling Y/N into his arms once more. "Just lying here holding you close, making you laugh, giving you head pats and kisses, us taking care of each other while we geek out about stuff we like, telling you stupid jokes. I love you."

"I love you too, Peter." Y/N muttered, biting the inside of their cheek before looking up at him. "The jokes were kind of funny..."

Peter's jaw dropped in sheer mock offense and he immediately began wiggling his fingers on their sides once more. "Yet you weren't laughing at them earlier!? Are you kidding me!?"

Y/N was thrown into another bout of loud laughter, giggling and squirming in their boyfriend's arms, yet again, with absolutely no regrets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This silver-haired dork lives in my head rent free, y'all. My ND self would love a silver-haired, fun loving, speedster boyfriend with ADHD 🥺🖤 The amount of mutual understanding and reassurance would be so comforting to me. Infodump exchanges? Sign me up please! (cute t-word fights while blasting 80's music would be a bonus 🥴) Also I see Peter calling his S/O his disco ball because whenever he looks at them they just seem to sparkle! I hope y'all enjoyed this little drabble.

[nachosncheeze]

Blindspot Mid-Season 3 Parallels

I made a thoughts post for the beginning and middle of the season, and I said there that I'd make another post about parallels because, while I am still working on some gifsets, many of the biggest parallels this season are wider themes that are sort of spread out over many episodes and harder to encapsulate in small clips; words might do them more justice. My thoughts are interspersed here too, but I've tried to keep most of it more observational than opinions.

*** Okay first a side note. A lot of content I have seen for mid-season 3 seems to have felt the need, as I have up to now, to add extensive “I don’t support it” disclaimers about Jane's secret, but it can get a bit exhausting to repeat. So before I say anything else, here’s my blanket disclaimer: Cheating and infidelity suck. Jeller were not a couple when Weller kept tripping over his own penis every time he got a little sad. This post is about thematic parallels, not infidelity per se, so while it's impossible to not reference it, I'm not here to pass judgment on the semantics of whether or not what either of them did “counted” or "was worse". I also recognize that lying to someone about their own child is a dick move no matter why you did it. I'M NOT SAYING ANYONE'S NOT A JERK. EVERYONE SUCKS HERE. Last thought: BLESS the writers for their lil self-pisstake vis-a-vis fan reactions when Rich was talking about Friends in season 4. Anyway, I’m not gonna rehash any of that so I trust anyone reading this to keep this disclaimer in mind from here on out.

On to the parallels.

1. The Return of Ye Dreaded Season 1 Baggage

In my other post I mentioned that a lot of people have identified issues/challenges with the writing this season, but I have to give props to the creative team for finding what each half of Jeller would probably see as the single biggest gut punch and betrayal possible, calling back to their baggage from all the way back in season 1. Weller lied to Jane and withheld critical information about her past and identity; Jane went behind Weller's back working (and also briefly working, wheyyy) outside the law with another man.

Could the writers have found other ways to dredge up those wounds? Maybe, but personally I really don't mind the routes they chose. (To be clear I also don't judge or begrudge anyone who comes down on either side, and I’ve enjoyed fics that explore or give more weight to different sides of the drama.) I also don't mind that this parallel is so much more subtly displayed - and it is a little subtle; I'm working on a gifset for it and it's hard to pick and choose moments that encapsulate or illustrate it in just a handful of images. So many of Blindspot's parallels are case-by-life or shot-by-shot or phrase-by-phrase, I think it's neat that there are some you kind of have to think and squint to see, even if they're annoying to gif.

2. I'm sorry, you did WHAT while I was in hell? And you're telling me this now?!

I think this one probably gets lost in all the surprise/anger about the cheating and disappointment over the cursory on-screen reunion, but I think it’s really worth noting the circumstances in which each half of Jeller found out about the other’s dalliances while they were apart in the hiatuses. Jane found out that Allie was pregnant - and you know she did the math on when that happened the moment Allie said how far along she was - in the middle of a dangerous mission; and Jane had to completely shelf her feelings to complete the mission, get Allie to safety, and save Kurt's unborn child. Weller found out about what Jane had done with Clem just as they were about to embark on a dangerous mission, and he had to completely shelf his feelings and work with Clem to rescue her kidnapped child.

What you have here is two heartbroken people who are barely even on speaking terms at the time, but are nonetheless so devoted to each other and so dedicated to doing what’s right that even in the awful moment they received gut-wrenching news that makes it seem almost hopeless that they could ever bridge that gap... they lock down the pain and rise to the occasion in the fiercest way to keep each other's daughters safe.

I've already made a gifset about this one. :)

3. How Very DARE You. (a huge betrayal of trust)

I’ve seen a lot of commentary to the effect that “Allie wasn’t the same” or "Nas wasn't the same" because of the relationship status, i.e., Weller was single. Absolutely true! At this juncture, please recall my disclaimer. Because there's another parallel there that does make Jane and Weller's betrayals pretty much equivalent imo, but trying to compare the two situations on just "shipping"/sexytimes grounds leaves out a giant elephant from the season 1/2 rooms.

In season 3, Jane holds Weller's heart in her hands, and she betrays that trust in a huge way. But long before wedding rings were involved, Weller was bound to Jane in a very serious, albeit non-ship way. And he, too, made shitty decisions that were clear violations of that particular brand of trust. In season 2 (and even season 1 after Mayfair's arrest) Weller was Jane's boss at times when Pellington was no fan and every other agency was gunning for her. She was entirely dependent on the FBI for her income, the roof over her head, and by season 2 even her freedom and her human rights. His advocacy was sometimes the only thing standing between her and the loss of every one of those things. And the worst part? He wouldn’t have even had to do anything to cost her everything. His inaction was all it would have taken - if he’d gotten angry enough to glance the other way again, or even just gotten distracted at the wrong moment, she could have found herself destitute if not back in an actual torture chamber.

Her position only got more fragile and her dependency on him more intense once her cover was blown and Roman was in custody, when they could hang all those same threats against her brother over her head, too. In my opinion, it’s not an exaggeration to say that in the early days of the Sandstorm mission, Weller literally held Jane's whole life in his hands. But he still ostracized her; he called everyone out in a briefing but made little attempt to set a better example for the team to treat her civilly. We also shouldn't lose sight that it was his refusal to talk or listen that created the circumstances leading to her torture, and there didn't seem to be any explicit assurance in those early days afterwards that her personal safety was anything more than a coincidental byproduct - or maybe even a necessary evil - of the transaction forced upon her by the NSA. Those alone go hard against the duty of care, and then somewhere in there, even as the camaraderie between them improved, he still knowingly chose to keep sleeping with the person who was leveling these threats and spying on her most intimate thoughts almost daily. Kurt's shitty behavior didn't come in the form of a single act with a big reveal like Jane's did, but workplace bullying, or a series of middle fingers and emotional slaps to the face against someone who can't leave spread liberally across many episodes, is still a betrayal. When we zoom out from the "ship", each took their turn failing in their responsibilities to the other in a pretty spectacular way.

4. The audience is angry because we empathize (structural parallel)

The lovely @kate-dammit-run and a few others made some really excellent discussion posts back when 3x09-12 aired, that pointed out some pretty significant similarities in story structure between seasons 2 and 3 (and also, how the fandom mood was similar in each case, though I wasn't here at the time so can't personally comment on that). To summarize:

In the front half of each season, the audience is overwhelmingly shown only one half of the pair's experience when they were apart in hiatus, and that sets us up to take sides emotionally. In season 2, we see that Jane was tortured, and continues to feel guilty and beat herself up over everything, taking reckless chances and accepting all the poor treatment leveled at her; in season 3, we're shown that Weller had an awful time the whole time she was gone and that something happened in Berlin that was so dire Roman can blackmail him, and he's continuing to beat himself up over whatever it was. The only thing we know about Weller in the s1/2 hiatus is that he [maybe] knocked up Allie fairly quickly after Jane was gone; the only thing we know about Jane in the s2/3 hiatus is that she was doing K&R and met a host of shady characters that we only know a few of by name. In either case, we watch one of them suffer while they struggle - almost one-sided - to restore and preserve the bond they had, while the other kind of just gets on with things as if nothing happened. The audience is primed to be more sympathetic to one than the other. So while Jane is absolutely a hypocrite this season to be so mean to Weller over Berlin when she was hiding something too, Weller was a hypocrite last season to be so mean to Jane when telling her they thought she was born in Africa could have stopped the whole damn conspiracy in its tracks, and the audience is systematically primed to be angry at each in turn.

5. This hurts... FUCK EVERYTHING *Tasmanian Devil/human tornado noises*

In each season, one of the two is really not in their right mind. For Weller this was obvious from the moment he found Taylor's bones, and was confirmed time and again by his bottles of scotch among other things. Jane loses some stability when she first finds out she had a daughter (seriously, the way she visibly begins to retreat, bit by bit, from those first few episodes as the "your Remi is showing" treasure that is Fewer Fucks Jane™ into something more like the Jane we knew in seasons 1 and 2, is a great move from the writers imo and a brilliant bit of acting by Jaimie). She really loses it though when she finds out about Berlin, and then she's every bit as irrational as Weller once was. The contrast in how they each approach pain and their character growth in that arena are roughly parallel too, even if they're moving in opposite directions. Jane once dealt with pain by lying down and taking it, but after being forced to "find herself out there", she comes back with an approach that's more Remi-esque, which is to say, pain prompts an almost immediate defense that manifests as anger. Weller, on the other hand, used to deal with negative emotions by turning into a bit of a human volcano and erupting everywhere, but after he has Bethany, he's more prone to pleading and earnest displays of emotion as Jane once was, than he is to seething anger.

Love two crazy people who manage to kind of even each other out once they finally talk about shit.

5.(a) You were protecting yourself

This isn't a big theme parallel, but I wanted to add it as an adjunct to the above. @indelibleevidence has pointed out the excellent parallel between how Jane responds to the Avery's death reveal versus how Weller once responded to the Emma's murder reveal. I may gif this later if I have time, because it's really, really apt, and not only does it stand as a parallel on its own, it also illustrates to an extent how Jeller's responses to pain have gone through a role reversal.

There are undoubtedly tons of other parallels between season 3 and seasons 1/2, but those are the big ones that I'm finding most challenging to summarize in gif form. So there you have it! Let me know if you spot any more, I'll make gifsets as part of the series, or add them here!