#I'm gonna write the stupid time travel fic I need to get it OUT THERE

[scaredy-draws]

[loganlermanstanaccount]

Show me where it hurts (part 1)

Miguel O'Hara x spiderwoman!reader

(AO3 Mirror), Part 2, Main Masterlist

summary: Miguel's acting weird, and you make it your mission to find out exactly what's going on.

warnings: no warnings for this chap, pg-13, swearing and canon level violence. smut next chapter xoxo

a/n: this is a combination of 2 asks and this post I saw on here a while ago: flirty/ snarky fem reader, Miguel during a ""rut"" (I don't know if it counts as a rut really, but its to do with his animal instincts/DNA) and Lyla playing matchmaker.  I had so much fun writing this, enjoy :D

(i wrote this pre seeing spiderverse 2, so i think characterisation is a little off, esp for Lyla, apologies! I'll fix it in my upcoming fics)

edit: I use the term "bichita" which I have been informed can be read not as I intended in Spanish. I'm not a native speaker so I want to apologise in advance. I'm doing more research for my future fics and leaving this up as a testament to my stupidity. Spanish speakers, feel free to correct me / clown my ass in the comments. My bad guys :(

wc: 3.6k

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

You think Miguel is avoiding you. 

One of your closest friends, giving you the runaround for months, it seems. Calling the two of you close friends is a little extreme, sure. You've only known O'Hara for two years, and been in love with him for slightly less than that, thank you very much. And yes, he refuses to call you by anything but your last name. And the last time you saw him he wouldn't so much as look at you, but that was besides the point. 

"..the point," You tell Lyla, in between exasperated bites of cereal, "... is that aren't elite forces of spiderpeople supposed to, you know, have some spiderpeople kick ass once in a while? And where exactly is our fearless leader? I haven't seen O'Hara's scary ass in weeks, and I'm starting to miss it."

She gives you a look, one that says this isn't what I'm programmed for , but you pointedly ignore it. 

"His ass, by the way." You clarify. "I very specifically miss his ass. Remind me to get his routine. I know girls that would kill for…"

"How the fuck did you get in here?" A voice croaks. You turn behind you and see Miguel, not in his suit, but wrapped up in a blanket like he's just woken up. And he looks rough, like a train ran him over on the way here: puffy eyes, splotchy skin, tension kneaded into his brow. 

"Wow." Your spoon drops into the milk. "You look like shit.." 

He furrows his brow even deeper, if that was possible. " Mierda. You shouldn't be here." 

"This isn't quite the welcome party I was expecting, man. I'm the only one to actually turn up to one of your meetings, and this is what I get?" 

"I thought I told Lyla to cancel," He mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Cancel? Since when do you miss a chance to talk about rules and protocol?" 

"I don't have time for this-" 

"-and I'm not leaving without a proper explanation. Is everything okay?" 

"It's actually way worse now you're here." He deadpans. 

"Haha ." You turn to Lyla. "You drop everything to travel halfway across the multiverse and this asshole won't even say thanks." 

"Thanks, but this asshole needs you to leave. Now." 

This is the most he's spoken to you in forever, and you hate that you like it. You just want his attention, however it comes. If that means dragging this out so maybe he acknowledges you, touches you, looks at you - then so be it. Squinting, you get closer to him. You scan his face for anything to latch onto. You put a hand on his shoulder, still searching. 

"You sure you're alright? You know you can tell me if-" 

"Si, si." He grits his teeth, looking away. "M'just fine. I'll explain…. later."

"...because I'm your right hand man?" You grin, poking at his brow. "Stop frowning so much Miguel, you're gonna ruin that pretty face of yours."

He flushes, nervous, and swats you away. "-what? N-No. You're not my right hand man and I like my face just the way it is. Now, leave. "

Making your way to the door, you tap your nose teasingly. "You know where to find me!" 

When the door closes with a click, you make your way down the corridor, and stop in your tracks when you hear it. It's muffled, but with the strain of your supersenses you can make out Miguel's voice just beyond the wall. 

"I just…. don't want her to see me like this… Lyla, it's not happening… I can't tell her…." Tell her what, exactly? 

Resolutely, you make up your mind. Miguel O'Hara's got a secret. And before you leave for home, you're gonna do everything in your God given power to wear him down and find out. 

~~~

Despite his insistence otherwise, you liked to think of yourself as O'Hara's right hand man - and most of the other spiderpeople thought so too. You were one of the very first he recruited, after crash landing onto your earth like a spiderman-shaped meteor; the two of you were inseparable. Miguel was stubborn and headstrong and thought he was right all the time. Infuriatingly, he was, but that didn't stop you from telling him to get his head out of his own ass when his ego grew too big. 

He was different around you, you think. Softer, sometimes. Harsher, other times. He told you what you needed to hear whether you wanted to or not; the result of mutual respect and agonising persistence. Slowly, you had chipped away his hard exterior; the one he built because he thought he needed to push people away. In that regard, you were similar, but this need manifested in you like a weed - an awful, awful compulsion to joke and laugh at your own expense, to keep others at an arm's length. You had spent your whole life picking and pruning away at yourself, looking for perfection. Even after all this, multiverse-hopping and fighting alongside people who were the closest things you had to friends , it wasn't enough. There was still something missing. 

Ironically, Miguel had told you something similar the one of the last times you had spoken. You had fucked up a mission, well and truly. In the aftermath, all you can remember is coming back to base, limping on Jessica's arm. 

"She's hurt!" She cries out. Lyla materialises and leads you both to the med bay, inspecting any visible wounds. There's a deep laceration, sticky with blood, at the base of your stomach. You shift onto the bed and hiss with pain. 

Miguel is quick to follow, face twisted with confusion, pain, sadness. Even in your haze, you feel the tension radiating off of him as he drags over a cart of supplies. 

"What happened?" He strains. 

"I don't even… it happened so fast. We got ambushed, and all of a sudden I'm on the ground. I wasn't thinking straight and… " She sobs. "...she jumped in front of me. God, she saved my life-" 

"-wasn't your fault, Jess." You croak, trying to sit up. "And I'm fine. Just need to walk it off…"

"Sit, bichita," His nickname makes you frown, despite yourself, and you settle back down. "Lyla, what's the damage?"

Your vision goes spotty, and Lyla's voice barely registers. All you can feel is searing pain in your side, but Miguel is warm, oh so warm. You clutch his arms, and force him to look you in the eye. 

"M'ready, Miguel." He nods weakly, but you don't think he understands. "I mean it . I can lead, j-just need another chance and I won't let you down… Jess, tell him that I can-" 

"It's okay. I believe you. You just need to relax for me, hmm?" He clutches at your hand, tight, and it's like you're the only two people in the world. "You did good. I promise."

Faintly, you nod. You feel a pinch at your arm, and Jessica's there, with an empty vial of something in her hands. The pain washes over you, and you fight to keep your eyes open. In those last few moments of light, you swear you feel a shaky kiss pressed to your temple. 

"Sleep, mi bichito amoroso. Sleep."

When you come to, you're still in the medbay, moonlight streaming through. Well, artificial moonlight. Time worked a little differently here, something Miguel explained to you a while ago - God knows what about dilation and quantum interference. It makes you smile now, remembering his frustration as he tried to explain to no avail. You were the only spiderman this side of the multiverse without a degree in quantum tech, you had said with a lopsided smile. 

You move to sit, and pain shoots up your side. Groaning, you push through it, determined to get out of this bed and find the others. As if on cue, Miguel walks in, almost leaping towards you. 

"You should… mierda ! You should be resting in bed."

You pout as you stumble into his chest. He hooks an arm around you and leads you back. You clamber in, sighing. "M'fine, O'Hara."

"Your guts were halfway out of your body less than 24 hours ago. So stay put, or you might give me another heart attack."

You scoff, incredulous. "You were worried?" 

He shrugs. " 'Course I was."

"Why? You know I'm practically indestructible." You give him a shit eating grin, and poke the frown appearing at his brow. He doesn't bat you away like he usually does. 

"Famous last words, bichita." He sighs. You can't speak a lick of Spanish, but you know he only calls you that word when you've frustrated him to his limit. So you take it as a win, for now. 

He drops into the chair next to you. "How are you feeling?" 

"Just peachy, dollface." You wink, and he doesn't so much as groan. 

"I'm being serious. You went through something pretty traumatic…"

"You want me to tell you it hurts, so, so bad, daddy? " You pout and flutter your eyelashes mockingly. Miguel shifts in his seat, unable to make eye contact. 

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, O'Hara? I feel fine. And in a couple of days, I'll feel even better, and I'll be up and about. I can finish what we started and-" 

"-no, absolutely not." He frowns. "A couple of days? I'm sending you home-" 

"You can't do that! On whose fucking authority?"

"On the authority of you almost fucking died ! Keeping you safe is our priority right now-" 

"God, is this my punishment? This is a low blow, O'Hara. You know how hard I've worked for this: months of surveillance and intel a-and I did everything by the book, just like you told me to." You croak. "I fucked up . I know that, and I feel terrible. Give me a chance to make things right; that's all I'm asking. I can do it, I know it. "

He looks at you for a moment, something heavy in his expression. His face contorted, he strips you down to the bone with just his gaze. His voice is so quiet, you almost miss it. 

"....you're still trying to prove yourself, aren't you?"

Honestly, it catches you off guard. You don't even know what the fuck that means, let alone why he said it.

"I don't… I d-don't…?" 

"They all love you. Respect you. More than me I think, sometimes." He chuckles at that. "You're good at what you do. The best . What else are you trying to prove? What else do you need ?" 

Your throat goes dry. You couldn't speak if you wanted to. 

"I'm not punishing you. You made a mistake, but you don't need to be crucified for it. I just want to keep you safe. I can't… we can't lose you."

"Miguel-"

"-this isn't a discussion. And I'm not trying to argue, although I know how much you like to argue." He inches closer, cupping your face gently. You try to move away, blinking back tears. But his hands are steady and he strokes your jaw with so much tenderness you think you hear your heart break. He's pretty, so pretty. You don't deserve him, you think. "There'll be time to fight, bichita. Rest. That's your mission right now."

"C-can't sleep." You breathe. "It hurts." 

Miguel pauses, head tilted like he's thinking. He taps your shoulder. "Scoot over."

You do as he says, and he slips into the bed with you. It's a tight fit, but he manages, placing you on his chest with an arm gently around your shoulders. You bury your face in his hoodie, sniffling and hoping he doesn't notice you choking back sobs. Absentmindedly, he settles into a rhythm, gentle breathing and playing with your hair, soothing you softly. He pretends he can't hear the tears. 

"M'gonna stay here until you're asleep. For as long as you need."

You nod, unable to speak for fear of breaking down. 

~~~

The days after felt like a blur. You woke up to Miguel gone, and an ache in your heart. Jess visits as much as she can, and Ben calls you a couple times, to see if you're okay. Peter B brings Mayday, and she clambers all over your bed, bringing some life into the room. Miguel doesn't visit per se - you hear whispers of him, Lyla visiting in his stead for comprehensive status updates. Once, you wake up in the night to see him on the adjacent chair, head lolling in deep sleep. He looks peaceful, calm - one of the first times you haven't seen his brow furrowed with worry. Of course, he's gone by the morning. 

The very last time you saw him, he opened the portal home. It was weird, after everything, but if Miguel felt the same you wouldn't know. Talking at a thousand miles a minute, he alternates between assuring you they'll be fine without you and situation reports from spider people all across the multiverse. Things you'd missed whilst bedbound, asking for advice before you left. He trusted your judgement and the thought warmed your heart, almost making you forget that he completely brushed past the previous nights before. 

You still remember the last thing he had said to you, which would've been weeks ago, now. 

"...and if you need anything, and I mean anything, you call me directly. Not Jess, not Ben, and certainly not Peter B. Call me, and I'll answer, I promise. You need help, you need advice, you just need someone to talk to, then-"

"-I call you. I get it, O'Hara. Will do." He opens the portal, watching as you walk towards it. He can't take his eyes off of you, even though you can't see him. At the last moment you turn, and run towards him. You almost knock him over with a hug. Burying his head in the crook of your shoulder, he hugs you back, ever careful of your injury. Separating, your smile almost knocks him over again. Weakly, he smiles back as you head through the portal, back home. 

You're left with that feeling, of his arms around your body - warm, so warm - as you putter about by the switchboard. After careful deliberation (you were really, really bored ) you'd taken to manage the Multi Modal Multiversal Switchboard - as aptly named by Miguel. Everyone else called it the Big Red Phone of course, but he had insisted on calling it by its proper name . Every. Time. 

The thought makes you chuckle as you call up Peter B. His icon flashes on the screen in front of you. With a click, he picks up the call, his face materialising holographically in front you. A little hand reaches up and tugs at his ear. 

"Ow… ouch … Dad's on the phone, honey."

"Aww! How's my favourite Parker doing?" 

"Not bad, actually! MJ just made us probably the best burger this side of New York-"

"-sorry, Peter? Me and May are trying to have a conversation." You hear her giggle in the background. Her gap toothed grin pops into frame and she babbles excitedly. "...yeah, exactly May. That's literally what I said."

"Okay, okay, that's enough." He puts the toddler down and watches her scurry away. "You're feeling better, I see."

"Yeah, back in action. Thought I'd check in."

"All good here." He squints, trying to take in your surroundings. "You're at HQ?" 

You hum.

"Could've sworn Lyla cancelled…"

"Yeah, didn't get the memo. But I think something's wrong with O'Hara."

He gives you a weird look. "Uhhh, what makes you think that?" 

"He won't even look at me. Was it something I said? Something I did?" Your eyes narrow. "...what do you know, Peter?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" He scoffs, a little too quickly, clutching his chest like you've offended him. He's stared down some of the scariest villains around, but the look you give him is truly chilling. "Just… uhhh. You didn't hear this from me." 

"Naturally…"

"We tracked 'em down, the guys that ambushed you and Jessica."

"The Sinister Six? From Earth-215?"

"Yeah, but by the time we got there, it was just Kraven and some of his goons. Miguel got there first, and…." He gulps. "He was pissed. Trashed the whole place looking for the rest of 'em. Beat Kraven half to death and we had to pull him off."

"Shit."

"Yeah, it was pretty rough. Never seen him like that before. And just generally? He'd been weirdly quiet, a little grumpy, more aggressive on missions. I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Hmmm. Thanks, Pete."

"No problem, sweetheart. And if the big guy asks… "

"...this didn't come from you, I know." Weakly, you smile. "Say hi to my favourite Parkers, for me." 

" 'Course I will. We should celebrate, if you're back officially. Mine and MJ's is always open."

"Good to know. I'll see you around."

He waves goodbye, and the hologram clicks off. Sighing, you try to piece together what you've just heard. 

Miguel: acting weird. Well, you knew that already. Aggressive was new. And Lyla? She had canceled, but not for you, for some reason. An honest mistake, perhaps. But Lyla doesn't make mistakes… 

You stew for a couple of hours, puttering about the switchboard, twiddling your thumbs. Something's wrong, and for some reason you're afraid to see him. To have him look straight through you, again, when you ask to do the same. Show me where it hurts. Tell me how to make it better.  

On the way there, you chew your lip in anticipation. In the corridor, you're outside the door to his place, hand hovering above the door. To knock, to call. In the harsh fluorescent light, you hesitate. 

"Lyla?" Nervously, you sink down onto the floor. It's hard to explain, but you don't expect her to actually come; to materialise in front of you. 

"How can I assist you?" She says with a ding. 

"Uhh… hi. Just wanted to talk." You pause, clicking your tongue. "Can you be honest with me?" 

"I can only be honest with you. It is not in my programming to lie, unless specified by my owner."

"Sure. Cool. It's about him, actually. Is Miguel okay?" 

She tilts her head, as if processing your request. "Okay is a subjective term. Is Mr O'Hara alive? Yes. Is Mr O'Hara physically well? Yes. By those terms, he is okay ."

Too vague for your own liking. "I guess I meant more… his emotional state. To the best of your knowledge… in your opinion , Lyla: is Miguel okay?" 

"...I believe Mr O'Hara is experiencing some emotional turmoil."

You frown. "Oh. Do you know why?" 

"Mr O'Hara has instructed me not to disclose that information with you."

"Fair enough. But you don't have to tell me… I could just ask questions?" 

She nods. "There is nothing in my programming that prevents me from answering some questions within certain parameters." 

"Did I do something? Not just today but… last time I was here. Did I say something to hurt or upset him? Is that why he's acting weird?"

"No." She says blankly. "And yes. I suppose it is… complicated." She gestures around that word. 

"I'm a little confused, Lyla."

She sits next to you, on the cool tile. Not that she could feel it, but it feels more intimate - like two friends talking. The extent of Lyla's consciousness, you weren't sure of. Was she alive? To you, she might as well be. Could she think, feel, emote? Maybe, maybe not. You weren't smart enough to understand the nuances of her programming. But you were human enough to see it in her - something glittering beyond the surface. 

It could be projection, but you swear her voice is softer. "He has a name for you. When he speaks about you, and to you. I have it logged in my memory database. Do you know what that is?" You shake your head. 

Lyla opens up her palm and projects videos and images - little Miguel's popping up in her palm, tinny and gruff voices ringing through the hallway. They say your name, shout your name, whisper it. Some say other things in Spanish. Curse words had always been your assumption, and he had given you no reason to think otherwise. Now, having it played back to you, you hear a tenderness in his voice you would've missed. Words and phrases that come up again and again…

"Bichita." She repeats. "Bichito del amor. Mi bichito amoroso. "

You shake your head, still confounded. "...I don't speak Spanish, Lyla." 

"Little bug. Sweetheart. Lovebug. My little lovebug." She clears her throat. "I believe they are terms of endearment."

Steadfast, she directs you towards her palm. Another small Miguel appears, and you think it's him from this morning. 

"I thought I told you not to let anyone in, Lyla?" 

"I did not let her in. She let herself in using the code you previously gave her, Mr O'Hara."

"Yeah, for emergencies. Fuck. Mi bichita, too smart for her own good."

"...If you are in distress, I believe she would understand, Mr O'Hara."

"I just think it's too much. I don't want her to see me like this." 

"According to Alchemax files, previous subjects showing this kind of aggression benefitted from-"

"Lyla, it's not happening, no chance. I can't tell her."

The figure blinks out of her palm. "Mr O'Hara has forbid me from telling you about certain things."

"...but not from showing me." Your eyes meet hers. You give her a watery smile. "Thank you." 

With a hint of a smile, she nods and is gone from the corridor. You are left alone, with nothing but your thoughts of little lovebugs rattling around in your brain.

_

_

_

[ultimate-shipper-trash-blog]

Here's a snippet of my new fic! It'll either be a 5+1 or something insane we'll see 🤗

----

He's had enough of this guy. He knew karaoke Fridays were a bad idea but did anyone listen to him? No. He's the boss. He runs this place. Why did he have to hire all his friends?

"I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY!"

The drunk on the stage croons.

"I WANNA FEEL THE HEAT WITH SOMEBODY- LIKE YOU DID WITH MY BEST FRIEND SHARON FUCK YOU SHARON-"

"Okaaaay that's enough man," Eddie hops on the stage. "C'mon dude sit down or I'm gonna ask you to leave."

"Oh yeah?" The bastard spits at him. Literal spit. On his face.

"That's it! You're outta here!"

"No!" He's still trying to sing while the bouncers grab him. "I WANNA FEEL THE HEAAAAAAT NO LET GO OF ME! I DESERVE TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS!"

Jesus christ he's so glad he has Hopper on speed dial. He calls the station up and is only kind of thrown off when a new voice picks up.

"Sheriff's office. Max speaking."

"Max? Where's Hop he always answers?"

"Retired. Last day was yesterday. What do you want."

"Um well I need someone down here to get this drunk out of my bar-"

"K got it." Dial tone.

"She just hung up on me!"

"Girlsull do that to ya" the drunk slurs. Pinned down my security.

"Shut it Leonard!"

---

When will this guy shut up. He's still singing that stupid song.

Eddie's behind the bar with his fingers in his ears. Most of the customers headed out and it wasn't even 11 yet.

"You'll hurt your ears doing that," a voice beside him pipes up.

Eddie spins around and is face to face with the hottest man he's seen around these parts. In a cops uniform. Fuck.

"So what's the issue?" Officer Mchottie says.

Eddie just points to Leanoard. Jeff is sitting on top of him.

"I never would've guessed," he smirks. Oh my god his stupid face. He needs to touch it.

"Good luck officer!" Leonard shouts half asleep.

Eddie hold up the soda water spray nozzle and aims it at Leonard. "Don't say I didn't warn you"

"Alright calm down. I'll get him out." He puts a hand on Eddie's his skin burns where it touches. "No need for soda induced violence." He's looking softly at Eddie.

"Right. Right. Thanks officer..."

"Harrington." He holds out a hand for Eddie to shake. "Steve Harrington."

"Well officer Stevie, Eddie Munson pleasure is all mine."

"I'm sure it is." He gets Leonard off the ground and hauls him out the door. "This better not become a reoccurring thing Munson!" He shouts out.

"Of course not officer!" Eddie's grin is wicked.

It absolutely will be.

----

Thanks to @pomegranatetimetravel for pushing me to write this :)

Let me know your thoughts! If I should continue etc. I love to read comments :)

Check out my other fic Hold the Line it's completed and about time travel it's pinned on my page

[icequeenlila]

Runaway Lo'ak fic (Locorro)

Lo'ak x Spider

I want to start a new fic, bc I am depressed and need joy in my life (she said while planning out a new angsty fic).

Don't worry, I'll keep writing 'A Son for a Son'. That story is my baby and I will not abandon it. But I need/want variety.

(also it's just an idea so far)

Working Title: 'Belong'

Plot:

Lo'ak tries to make peace with Aonung, nearly dying in the process, just like in the movie. When he returns home he has the usual fight with Jake, only that Lo'ak doesn't just swallow the "You brought shame to this family.", but fights back instead, trying to defend himself. Things get heated, son and father screaming, until Jake hits. Not too hard, but he hits. He regrets it immediately but the damage is done and Lo'ak decides he can't stay. He doesn't fit. No matter how hard he tries, it's never right and he doesn't want to be a burden for his family anymore. So, over the following days he plans his 'escape'. Payakan is in on the thing and they leave together.

So much for the initial situation.

Lo'ak's 'escape' is pretty much a day (or a few) before Quarritch would have found the Sullys. (He doesn't in this fic. So, Neteyam lives. Yeay!) Lo'ak and Payakan spot the demon ship and go to take a look, just in case this is going to get a real threat to the people at Awa'atlu. Lo'ak sees Spider on the deck and he can't believe his eyes. Of course he decides to go get him. Spider is mad happy and slips away with his best friend without much thought. (No, I didn't forget the tracker inside his mask. I'll deal with that.)

Well, things happen blah blah blah. I don't know the details yet.

Lo'ak and Spider are in love. Oblivious numb skulls, of course. Lo'ak offers Spider to get him to Awa'atlu, so he can be with Kiri and the others, but Spider just wacks him and tells him he's stupid for believing he'd leave his side again. Bc Love, bro.

Spider ends up getting his own Avatar. Again, no details, but I have a rough plan.

Blah blah blah, they grow up, they travel the world, they adopt two sweet children along the line. And some day, when their travels bring them close to Awa'atlu, Spider decides to give old friends a visit (without Lo'ak's knowing).

So, imagine. Jake and Neytiri not knowing what happened to their son, finding Spider in na'vi form with their supposedly grand child on his arm. Hilarious.

Lo'ak and Spider are level A dads by the way. They gonna have a boy and a girl. I don't know the details yet, I only know that the lil boy is gonna be a difficult whirlwind with anger issues. Bc I want Lo'ak to be a gentle parent.

Also, Mo'at and Norm are part of this story (at least they are in my imagination, I'll make things up as I go.) Locorro is gonna stay with the Omatikaya for a while, Mo'at not being as rejecting of Spider as her daughter was. Also, her character is needed, so Spider can get the same ritual as Jake, connecting his soul to his na'vi body permanently. (I imagine Mo'at as a very loving grandma. Lo'ak and her are gonna bond.)

I'm probably gonna do multiple povs. Like the story doesn't just follow Lo'ak and Spider but also shows how the Sully's are dealing with Lo'ak's loss. Bc we need angst and I won't give Jake a rest.

Family reunion and stuff. Do I have your interest? Tell me pls.

I started writing some of it but I know I'll lose interest if there isn't any feedback from readers. Soooo, pls let me know, so I can decide if it's worth investing my time. I know Locorro isn't that big, so maybe the interest isn't there in the fandom.

+

I noticed how all my fics just come to existence, bc of some stupid thing Jake said that pissed me off in the movie.

A Son for a Son: " You've done enough."

This one (Belong): "You brought shame to this family."

That man is my muse.

[kiwisfics]

A/N: Don't read this if you don't like dark fics! Don't come at me if you don't like the content. Triggers are listed and the only non-"constructive" comments I'll take are about any triggers that need to be added. I said I was gonna post this like... three days ago but I kept going over it again so if I don't post it now I'm not gonna. JUST TAKE THIS! Let me know if I missed any uses of my SI's name when I was editing.

Context Needed: I normally keep the fics I write that are lore-heavy to myself, but since people said they wanted the dark fic… Reader is a rifter, which basically means that she’s capable of traveling dimensions, and is conditionally immortal. Reader goes by Black Robin and is implied to have a suit that shows a lot of skin and to have a flirty persona as a vigilante.

TWs under the cut because there's... a lot.

Light TWs: Self-loathing, reader diminishes her own worth, reader has past trauma with being left behind by people she cares about, Dick is giving reader the silent treatment at the beginning but it’s mostly pre-setting, canon-typical violence/blood mentions. “Good girl” gets used condescendingly.

Heavy TWs: Do NOT read this if you have any triggers related to rape/non-con. Nothing actually happens, but it heavily revolves around reader believing that it's going to. Seriously, don't read this if you don't like whumpy stuff, because you're not gonna like it. My love of whumper to caretaker shows through here. Lots of mentions of trafficking, reader is kidnapped by said traffickers, fear of rape/non-con, Dick is very mean. Like, seriously, he’s very OOC for the majority of this fic. Threats/implications of rape/non-con, inappropriate use of one of his escrima sticks (just in the mouth) reader has a spiral at the end where she’d convinced that Nightwing and Red Hood are going to rape her.

If it’s any consolation, this is technically hurt/comfort, so it isn’t all horrible. Just… most of it. Reader also forgives him far too fast in the end, but I can gladly share some more snippets of how this affects the reader character in the future. I’ve already got ideas for some short scenes that I’m gonna write.

-

Nightwing was going to kill her.

He’d been explicitly clear: he didn’t want to see Black Robin out ever again. She’d nearly gotten herself killed, but she knew that wasn’t why he was so angry. He couldn’t have cared less about that, after all, she was a rifter and that meant that she was built to take pain and that death was a moot point. He was angry because she’d risked the mission, nearly let a trafficker that they’d all been hunting for weeks get away because she got too confident for her own good.

She’d snapped back at him when he told her that she wasn’t to wear the suit again, told him that he was just like Batman. That was the wrong thing to say.

He hadn’t talked to her since.

So, maybe she was trying to bait him a little by coming into Blüdhaven in her suit, maybe she was trying to get his attention back because she couldn’t stand being punished with the silent treatment. Maybe this was her fault.

Well, it was definitely her fault, but in her defense, she was thinking with her heart and not her head. She didn’t want to lose him, and in some twisted way, having him level her with lecturing and anger was still better than the radio silence.

She would have been fine. Nightwing would never actually hurt her. That wasn’t what went wrong.

Her suit didn’t have a panic button. It didn’t need one because she was forbidden from going out on her own even before she’d wrecked a mission and been benched. So, when she’d stolen a bike and made her way to Blüdhaven in costume while Bruce was off-world, Tim was with the Titans, Jason was off on a no contact mission, and Alfred was distracted with keeping Damian from abandoning his studies in favor of full-time vigilantism, no one knew where she was going.

She’d even been stupid enough to leave a note saying that she was heading home to visit family, and she wouldn’t be back for a while.

Alfred would have already found the note. Bruce wouldn’t start worrying for at least forty-eight hours with no word.

By then, it might be too late. Too late for her pride and her self-respect at least.

For now, she contented herself with growling and spitting at the traffickers, fighting the urge to be sick over the taste of her own blood soaking the rag in her mouth. She had no chance of picking the locks on the handcuffs, because she’d never gotten the hang of it while Bruce was teaching her, so she didn’t bother fiddling with them, instead preserving her energy.

If no one found her, she’d need her energy if she got the chance to run. They’d have to uncuff her from the chair if they wanted to-

She gulped, pushing down the thought.

Nightwing was going to kill her, but he was also the only chance she had of getting out of this without something worse than torture occurring.

She could see the leering. She could read the expressions. She promised herself that if she got out of this, then she was going to change the layout of her suit. She needed to cover more skin. She needed to flirt less with enemies too, apparently, because the men that had grabbed her had parroted some of her own lines back at her while they gagged her and dragged her back to this warehouse.

It was always warehouses. For once, she wanted to get dragged to a penthouse suite and get threatened and tortured by a classy villain.

Nightwing was going to kill her, but she couldn’t help the way that her chest lurched with relief and happiness upon seeing his form drop to the floor from one of the open skylights.

At once, all of the guns were on him, but, as suspected, he didn’t so much as flinch.

“Here to save your little friend? Awful bold to jump right in the middle of the warehouse full of men with guns, even for you, Nightwing.”

He tilted his head, the clench in his jaw speaking of rage.

She was sure she was saved, because even if he was mad at her and was going to give her a lecture that might have her in tears by the end of it, Nightwing wouldn’t hurt her. Dick wouldn’t hurt her.

“Save her? No. She’s just getting exactly what she asked for.”

Her stomach lurched this time, but it was with fear and a sickly cold feeling that crawled up her throat like it was being swarmed by ants.

Was she wrong? There was no way he would just leave her to her fate. He’d saved genuinely terrible people from situations that weren’t even as bad as the one that she’d found herself in, so there was no way he was going to leave her here, just because they’d had a fight.

Right?

The men’s guns all seemed to lower in the slightest bit, but they didn’t leave his form, “You expect us to believe you’re going to just leave her here? That you just dropped in for a friendly chat?”

“Oh, no. I don’t plan to leave her here. You just saved me the trouble of getting her pinned down is all.” He twirled one of his escrima in his hand, like it was a fidget toy instead of a dangerous weapon. “I appreciate you making my night easier, but I’m going to be taking her off of your hands now.”

So, he was saving her, right? He was contradicting himself, but she didn’t care what he said if he got her out of this.

“Thought you weren’t saving her,” the guns raised back to their full height, the leader scoffed, “you go play hero somewhere else for the night and maybe will give her back when she’s nice and broken in. Might not even charge you the full rate.”

She didn’t like having her suspicions confirmed about what they planned to do with her, but that was fine. She had guessed that, and it didn’t matter anymore, because Nightwing was here and that meant that these idiots were just delaying the inevitable rescue he’d come to pull off.

“Well, I guess you could consider it saving. After all, I might not be quite as into pain as some of your clients are, but you shouldn’t worry, I plan to make good use of her.”

What?

No, no, that wasn’t right. He was not actually implying that he was going to use her exactly how these men planned to. There was no way. He was Nightwing. He was-

They’d been flirting since they’d met, the kind of flirting that made everyone that didn’t know better think they were already an item. Even she knew that he was attracted to her, but… had she really pushed her luck this far? Had she really made him hate her so much that the only way he wanted to make a move on that attraction was like this?

She was having more and more trouble holding back on throwing up the meal she’d had before leaving Gotham.

“Yeah, right. You expect us to believe you want her as a toy?” The leader scoffed.

She wished she was that certain that he was lying about it.

Dick- Nightwing walked forward, still twirling his escrima as he approached her. The men parted for him despite keeping their weapons squarely aimed.

“Who could blame me?”

She could feel his eyes burning into hers even behind his mask. Her own mask was long gone, leaving him an unabated view of her frightened eyes. She was sure there was betrayal there too.

His escrima rested beneath her chin, and she forced her head back, trying to put distance between her skin and the weapon that she knew could easily shock her, “Look how pretty she is when she’s scared.”

She tried to muffle the whine that escaped her throat, but there was no way that he didn’t hear it.

What was going on? This was wrong. Was this- was someone wearing his face?

No, she couldn’t pin it on that, because no one knew about the way he’d yelled at her about never wearing the suit again, and there was no denying that was what he meant when he’d said she was getting what she asked for.

He really did hate her, then. She’d really, really messed up, and now he hated her, and for some reason the sting that knowledge made bite at her heart was worse than the fear at what he planned to do to her.

“And what kind of payment are we getting out of this? We could make hundreds at least by selling a vigilante, especially if we only rent her out. And this one can break over and over again, just to heal back up. She’d a goldmine of opportunities. Why would we just hand her over to you?”

Dick’s—no, no, she couldn’t think of him as anything other than Nightwing, because if she thought of him as Dick, then she was going to breakdown for sure; Dick didn’t hate her, Dick cuddled her during movie nights and carried her to bed when she fell asleep—Nightwing’s jaw ticked with irritation. Apparently, he hadn’t expected them to be so unwilling to give her up just because he wanted her to himself.

Was he waiting for this? Did he know what he was going to do as soon as he’d told her to never put the suit on again? Was he hoping that she would, just so he could use it to justify punishing her like this?

His empty hand trailed up her chest, just barely brushing her shirt, but it was enough to make a jolt go down her spine. He grabbed her jaw, the escrima stick brushing lightly against her cheekbone, “You’re going to let me take her without causing me any more trouble, because otherwise, I’ll be telling the Bat about your outposts in Gotham.”

Angry muttering began among the traffickers, but the leader remained silent, “That’s not much of a payment.” He hummed, like he was considering the offer, but anyone could tell that he already planned to ask for more, “Tell you what, you can take her out of here, no problem. I’m not interested in getting caught by a stray bullet in a firefight, and, honestly, keeping one of the Bat’s things seems like asking for trouble. She didn’t put up much of a fight, so you can walk out with her, after you give us a show.”

She gagged audibly on the rag in her mouth, tears finally escaping her eyes while she put renewed effort into forcing the rag out of her mouth. She wanted to beg and plead and cry. If he was going to do anything to her, at the very least she didn’t want an audience.

For his part, she could see his eyes widen just a fraction behind his mask, but the surprise quickly seemed to settle, and he flashed a smirk to the men that made her feel like she was about to start hyperventilating.

“Fine.”

No, no, no, no, no.

He pulled the gag from her mouth with the hand that had been against her chin, and she instantly opened her mouth to beg, but snapped it shut a millisecond later, her teeth clacking together almost painfully.

His escrima stick was resting against her lips, and his free hand was holding her jaw again, fingers squeezing against her cheeks in an attempt to make her open her mouth, but she wasn’t budging. She wasn’t stupid, and maybe cooperation would make things better in the long run, but she wasn’t letting him put his weapon in her mouth.

“Unless you want this to hurt a lot more later, you should cooperate right now. I’d hate to use this somewhere-“

Her mouth shot open before he could finish, fast enough that her jaw popped.

Okay, so she was letting him put his weapon in her mouth. She’d take the loss.

“Good girl.”

She hated that the praise stroked something in her, making her heart flutter even while he shoved the escrima stick past her lips and far enough into her mouth to hit her throat and make her gag.

Blood. Steel. An iron tang that made her brain go blank for long enough that she missed what he said next.

He didn’t appreciate that.

“Am I boring you?” He growled the words as his free hand tangled in her hair and pulled her head forward, making the escrima stick hit the back of her throat again with what was almost a bruising force. “I asked if you were going to behave, or if I was going to need to make you deepthroat this while it was on, but I guess I have my answer.”

Cold terror battered against her ribcage in place of her heart. All that was left in her chest was a black hole of absolute horror and fear that could hardly classify as a heart.

She didn’t realize that the sobbing in her ears was her own at first, too far into her own head and too tense while waiting for him to flick the switch to make this humiliation painful to know what was going on around her.

She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe!

And suddenly everything around her stopped and went deathly silent before gunfire began and the yelling of the traffickers became frantic and chaotic. The only words she picked up were “it’s the Hood!” and what normally would have made her think she was saved only made her panic more, because if Nightwing—the one that had held her while she cried and always agreed to musicals just because he knew she loved them—was going to use her as a toy, than that meant that Red Hood would too. She was sure he hated her too. She’d thought the way they bantered was fun and games, but she’d also thought that Nightwing cared about her and clearly, she was wrong about that. Nightwing had probably called him here so he could take out the frustration he had with her on her.

And then they’d tell Batman that they’d found evidence that she’d been trafficked and then they’d keep her locked up somewhere and- and- and- and- she couldn’t-

“Breathe.” A familiar hand fanned across her cheek, fingers brushing away tears that were immediately replaced with more, “Breathe for me, bird. It’s alright. It’s okay.”

She couldn’t. She couldn’t catch her breath, but the escrima stick wasn’t between her teeth anymore, so she could beg now. She could plead and promise to behave and maybe if she asked nice enough and they believed her then they’d let her go after they were done with her instead of keeping her.

“Please, please, I’m- I’m sorry, I-I’ll never wear the suit again, I promise. I promise.  I’ll be good. I won’t fight, I’ll-“

“Hey, hey, stop.” He pressed his hand against her mouth, not hard enough to force her to be quiet or to muffle her voice if she did continue to beg, but she silenced herself instantly regardless. “You’re okay, bird. Just breathe. I’d never hurt you. Never. There wasn’t a way to warn you about what was going on without cluing them in. I’m so sorry, bird. I really am.”

He sounded like he was about to cry, and the way he was holding her face in his hands certainly didn’t give her the idea that he was going to hurt her or force her down to her knees so he could-

“I could think of a hundred better ways to have gone about that, ‘wing.” Hood’s voice made her flinch and sink farther down in the chair she was tied to. She didn’t even move her legs or arms when he’d gotten the cuffs undone.

“I needed to distract them so you could get the files and I’m still injured. I wouldn’t even be out tonight if you hadn’t told me that they’d gotten their hands on her. If I’d tried to fight them, then they would have taken me out before finding you, so I don’t want to hear it. Don’t act like I wanted to do or say any of that.”

That was… fair. It wasn’t fair to her, but she had gotten herself into this situation and- she would forgive everything if it meant that he wasn’t going to hurt her. Actually, she’d let him hurt her if it meant that he wasn’t going to use her.

“Dick?” She whined out his name like a kicked puppy, tilting her face against one of his hands in a placating gesture.

“Yeah, bird. I’m here. It’s me. That wasn’t real. None of it was real, and you’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you, especially not me.”

Another sob tore from her throat, and she threw herself forward, into his arms. She was trembling and sobbing harder than he’d ever heard, and she was almost positive it was harder than she ever had in her life. His form wrapped around her, tucking her against his chest as he pressed his face against the top of her head and placed comforting kisses.

Jason sat on the ground behind her, one of his hands running circles against her back in an effort to assist in calming her, and it worked.

After her sobbing began to slow, Dick spoke up hesitantly, “I thought you would know. I never meant- I thought you would know that it wasn’t real. I thought you knew I’d never hurt you.” His breaths shuddered, “I thought you knew that I love you.”

“But you- you were mad at me. You told me- told me I could never wear the suit again and- and then you didn’t talk to me all week and I thought- I thought you hated me. And- and I came here to get your attention because you were ignoring me, so- so I would have deserved-“

“Hey, no. Don’t even finish that sentence.” His hold on her tightened and his voice turned even more tense, edged with anger, “No one deserves to be taken advantage of and you know that.”

She sniffled, tucking her face tight against his neck, and breathing in the scent of his suit and sweat. “You said you love me.”

There was a long pause, and Jason took it as his cue to leave, ruffling [Name]’s hair as he stood and headed out of the warehouse. He landed a boot against the ribcage of the leader of the traffickers as he passed by.

“I’m going to alert Blüdhaven PD. Half of their guys are probably on this group’s payroll though, so I’d get out of here before they show up. They’re probably hoping whoever shut down this location sticks around so they can fill them with lead.”

“We’re headed out now.” Dick stood as he said it, taking [Name] with him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung onto him.

“You said you love me.”

“I did,” he finally confirmed, “but I don’t think now is the time to talk about-“

“I love you too. So much.”

He went quiet again, feet still carrying them away from the nightmare that she’d just gone through, “I don’t expect you to forgive me for that.”

She tightened her hold around him, burrowing against him as a sign that she wasn’t holding any grudges, but also in an attempt to hide from the could Blüdhaven night.

“I knew you were after them. I shouldn’t have stuck my nose in it. I just… I wanted you to talk to me again. Even if you were angry. I… I don’t handle the silent treatment well and… it felt like you were leaving me behind, just like everyone else always does. It felt like you had decided I wasn’t worth the trouble anymore.”

“Never. I’ll never leave you behind, okay? I know that me saying that isn’t going to make you stop thinking that I might, but I’ll prove it, alright? I’ll never leave you behind.” He brushed his lips against her neck, and she couldn’t fight the light laugh that escaped as the gentle touch tickled her skin.

“Okay. I, uh, just… one thing though.”

“Anything.”

“Please keep the escrima sticks away from me for a while?”

 She could feel him cringe, but he nodded, “Yeah. That’s fair.”

[thebestbooksaround]

okay, first of all, thank you for your service! your recs are amazing

i just wanted to ask if you could rec as many rewrite fics as possible? episode rewrites, season rewrites that kind of thing? and if people could keep adding on itd be great?

theyre my fav genre tbh but they can be so hard to find :(

thank you so much!!

Oh boy, I sure can Anon!

I'm going to assume you mean 9-1-1, if you meant another fandom, let me know and I'll search for those. Some of these are rewrites by proxy? As in all the events happen but some are text fics so you only hear about them. If anyone has some to add, please do!

Without further ado...

We All Fall Down by kristen999 (@thekristen999)

He’d done this before. Inside the well. Trapped forty feet underground instead of in a tin can, rising water the constant threat.

Eddie stared at the radio, knowing this time there’d be someone on the other end to hear him if he needed to say something. If his time his second chances had finally run out.

He wouldn’t die alone. Not really. His team would be there. Just inches away. He could tell them, tell Buck….

*

glue by ProsperDemeter

“It’s just…” Connor shrugged. “No offense, man, but… you’re twenty-five. Do you really want to be spending so much time falling for a guy with a kid?”

“I’m not falling for him.”

--

A month away from graduating the LAFD Academy, Evan Buckley gets introduced to new recruit Eddie Diaz and things certainly change for both of them after that.

This author is also writing a s2 rewrite!

*

Firefighter Buckley's Unauthorized Ride-Along by slipperywordcrimes

Buck spends most of his probationary year with a bun in the oven, and doesn't realize it.

*

One Wrong Number by calinaannehart (@calinaannehart)

When Evan Buckley meets a man in a bar and gets his number, he couldn't possibly imagine how one wrong digit could lead him to his fate. Because sometimes wrong numbers are the right numbers.

bro·ken by kristen999 (@thekristen999)

Forced to take shady side jobs to pay his bills, Evan Buckley doesn’t think he’s ever seen such rock bottom. Until he meets Eddie Diaz, a man even more desperate and alone. Season 3 AU.

*

if it weren’t for second chances by alasse (@alasse9)

When Buck doesn’t save Daniel, the Buckleys put him in foster care. Seventeen years later, Bobby meets a tall, lanky kid who can’t stop eating his pancakes at a church breakfast, and he gives him a phone number and an unconditional offer of help.

A story about how Buck finds a chosen family, and with a few twists and turns, eventually gets to the 118, meets Eddie Diaz, and maybe finds himself a second and a third (or, an Evan Nash story).

*

Our story's been heartache and wonder by Tails89 (@tails89)

Fuck.

Buck scrubs a hand down his face. He’s got no idea what he’s supposed to do here.

He knows what his parents are like. He has his own childhood to draw from, and Isaac doesn't deserve that. He deserves to grow up surrounded by love, and if nothing else, Buck can give him that.

But Buck is also a twenty-six year old probationary firefighter, living in his girlfriend’s apartment while she travels the world. He’s not exactly in a position to look after a kid.

“Okay.” It comes out in a rush of air. “I’m gonna come get you."

*

no one quite like you by hammersmiths (@henswilsons)

Hen has added +1 213 555 to Firehouse 118

Hen: This is Eddie!

Eddie: Hey everyone :)

Buck: Why would she add him to our private groupchat

Chimney: I’m literally sitting right next to you

or, Buck and Eddie’s progression through texts.

*

Tighten Up by ok_thanks

It’s probably considered getting off on the wrong foot when you have sex with your coworker before they start their new job, right?

Buck would think it’s probably not a good thing, and definitely something that shouldn’t be repeated. Especially when he becomes best friends with them. That’d be particularly stupid.

*

Close My Eyes and Stumble (Right Into Your Love) by HMSLusitania (@hmslusitania)

Eddie's PTSD is just that little bit worse and when he moves to Los Angeles, instead of joining the LAFD, he joins dispatch.

Which is all good and fine, except for this one firefighter he keeps ending up talking to.

*

we were born with nothing by chromatophorica (@chromatophorica)

Until the 118, Evan had never had a family.

---

Evan saves Daniel when he's a baby; he still manages to find his way to the 118, forging a family there despite being given up by his biological parents.

*

I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Til I Saw Your Face by HMSLusitania (@hmslusitania)

After the ladder truck and the blood clot and the tsunami, Bobby makes Buck go to therapy before he does something stupid(like sue the city). Buck's not totally comfortable being alone with a therapist, but fortunately he makes a friend and ally who's willing to help him out - Eddie Diaz from the 136 who's just been caught in an illegal fight club.

OR

Total strangers Buck and Eddie go to couple's therapy together to get out of the therapy requirements their captains have placed on them.

*

i want your midnights by allyasavedtheday (@littlespoonevan)

Eddie grins. “Yeah I get that. So can I ask why you applied for the room? No offence but you’re not exactly the kind of candidate I expected.”

Buck laughs, ducking his head. That’s probably true.

“I, uh, I’ve been staying at my girlfriend’s place while she’s travelling but um, my sister moved to LA recently and sort of made the point that I could be overstaying my welcome? Or, well- actually she tried to tell me my girlfriend’s cheating on me and I need to get over it and move out of her place.” Buck shakes his head, eyes widening at what he just implied. “She’s not! Cheating, I mean. She’s just- trying to find herself after losing her mom. She just needs a little space, y’know?”

At least, that’s the excuse Buck’s giving Abby for why she hasn’t called him in over two weeks.

Eddie nods with a vague sort of expression on his face like he hadn’t expected him to overshare that much. Which, oops.

In which Eddie decides to rent out his spare room to help with mortgage repayments right around the time Buck decides to move out of Abby's place after some not so gentle prodding from Maddie. It's a coincidence. Or serendipity. Or maybe just really good timing.

*and of course we can't forget:

Those Two Firefighters by DarkFairytale

#thosetwofirefighters starts to gather a following on social media, as everyone tries to figure out if those two cute firefighters from the 118 in LA are a thing or not.

[ladyblueberrymuffin]

In Which Percy and Nico Actually Talk About Their Feelings

I found him in the woods, by a big dark oak, readying his gear for capture the flag. He actually smiled when he saw me. That was new.

“Just like the good old days, huh, Percy?”

“Only this time we're playing on opposite teams.”

His grin turned impish.

“What do you think I was referring to?”

I laughed, and he laughed when I laughed. Has it really been so long? It feels like yesterday he was that hyperactive kid with the stars in his eyes. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing him like that—happy. Genuinely happy.

Maybe that's why I've been avoiding him all this time.

Laughter died in my throat, and he noticed.

“What's wrong?”

“Listen, I just wanted to say...” I rubbed the back of my neck. I was never that good at talking about feelings. “I'm sorry, Nico. For... not being there. I guess I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility.” I sighed, feeling like something was pressing on my chest. “I've never had to... look after someone. I mean, I've had Tyson, but that's different. And now, with Estelle—“

He put his hand on my shoulder, stopping my rambling in it's tracks.

“Percy, it's fine.” He smiled. “Like, actually fine. You did look after me. Without you I'd never realize Minos was playing me. When Bianca died, you were the only person who comforted me. You rescued me out of Tartarus.” He looked me in the eyes, tilting his head, like he couldn't believe how stupid I was being. “Dude, you invited me to your birthday.”

I still couldn't shake the guilt off.

“That whole thing the arai showed you... I'm sorry for thinking that.”

His smile disappeared. “It's fine. I know I was an annoying kid.”

“Dude, I was an annoying kid! You weren't even half as obnoxious as I was when I was your age.”

Nico narrowed his eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“I don't believe that.”

“My teachers hated me.”

“I know. Alecto complains about you a lot.”

Of course she does.

“This one time,” I whispered to him, like I was sharing some forbidden knowledge, “she sent me to the chalkboard, and she was getting so frustrated I couldn't solve the problem, she went 'Now, honey, that equation is so simple an idiot could solve it'.”

Nico nodded.

“And you turned to look her straight in the eyes and said, 'Then why won't you?'.”

My eyes went wide.

“She told you that?!”

“Hello, prince of the Underworld? There are no secrets I don't know about.”

I rolled my eyes. I suppose if any demigod deserved a boost to his self-esteem, it was Nico. Even if it made him a little smug.

“Look, point is, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, alright?”

He beamed at me, and his eyes looked shinier than before.

“I know.”

I smiled.

“Good.”

“There is actually something I wanted to tell you for a long time,” he said, his face turning serious.

I felt my body tensing up. If he was about to tell me he stumbled into yet another evil plot, I was making a formal complaint to the Fates.

“Shoot,” I said, feeling a little nervous.

“You're a son of Poseidon, right?”

I looked at him.

“Uhm... yeah, you know that, why?”

His eyes sparked mischievously.

“So... can you surf really well or not?”

“Oh my gods!”

“I'm curious!” He laughed, running off to his team. “By the way, we're gonna destroy you, straight boy!”

“Don't count on it, you little gremlin!” I yelled after him, my cheeks hurting from the huge smile on my face.

This is a fragment of a bigger fic I'm writing. It retells the story of Heroes of Olympus if some time traveler went back in time and stomped on a bunch of butterflies.

By which I mean some divergence points are wild. Piper had a Disney Channel show. And Leo has an even more tragic backstory.

I'm currently covering the events of The Lost Hero, but people liked my posts about Percy and Nico, so here's a sneek peek of stuff that I might never get to cover. This would take place after Nico's confession, which would also happen differently than in the book.

You can read it here.

[poolboyservice]

(look here for more context)

well, well, well, isn't it by far the longest list I'll probably ever make in my existence as an alter, let alone our life? let's just cut to the chase: I'm ranking all of my fanfiction on Quotev. And by golly is there a lot!

Keep in mind that while I do have original stories such as Comet Boy, I am gonna be ranking solely my fanfiction.

Under this cut, we're going through a ranking of 11-1, going from least to most personal favorite, which is the total fanfiction I've written ever basically. This is excluding quizzes and unfinished fanfiction that aren't published. We'll start with the ranking, then I'll reblog with the quizzes, and unfinished works later, because the ranking alone is really long.

ALSO, TO CLARIFY: All the fanfiction I am mentioning is on Quotev. There's not really any other way for you to read them atm, but I am planning on publishing some to AO3.

I'm genuinely terrified to post this, but without anymore fluff, let's go.

RANKING ALL PUBLISHED FANFICTION

#11: child of a vampire, lover of a killer (sus mcr x reader fic owo?), MCR parody fic, link

This is my least favorite fanfiction of all time. I fucking regret writing this disgrace and I hate it with my heart. Ignoring the fact that I didn't put my heart into it, everyone LOVED this fanfiction the most, and for a while it felt like no matter what I posted or what I did, the only thing that mattered to my followers was just that stupid parody fic. I don't think I ever really hated something I made until I made this. I'm glad more people are starting to gravitate towards my more genuine works but god.

#10: Something's Not Right..., killjoys au, sigh... link

So you know how I said I fucking HATED child of a vampire? Well this one is a second. It's not really the idea I hate (au where the Killjoys names are taken literally), actually, I kinda made a revamp of this fic after with some changes!, but the execution along with frankly its revamp is bad... I am horrible at life advice, but dear future me: DONT DO THIS EVER AGAIN. The plot is basically nonexistent, and you can hardly even read what Fun Ghoul and Kobra Kid say, because for some reason I thought people fully understood what the fuck they were saying, so I didn't provide ANY translations!! It's not the worst I've written (flashbacks to my creepypasta era), but god it's definitely bad.

now, finally, with my grievances out, this is where I actually show you stuff I don't hate with my bones

#9: The Travel To Headbutt THE OLD GOAT, goatsim x mcr mashup, link

not really bad, per se, honestly, I could even say it's cute. It follows my average gameplay in goat simulator basically, featuring a totally underused (sarcasm) Bulletproof Heart reference in the end. It's only lower because I didn't even finish the first chapter. Surprisingly, this is a fanfic a lot of people like, despite its.. weirdness.

#8: Slightly Tilted (A Killjoy AU Fic), title explains itself, link

This one isn't actually that bad, and it actually has finished chapters. The dialog with Kobra Kid is ten times better, and I even explained some of the AU (at least with the characters) so there's given context! Honestly, I only put it in a lower ranking because I'm salty i never mentioned the Girl and the constantly changing perspectives. At least it was one perspective per chapter. Also, this becomes a more common problem with some fanfiction I wrote in 2022, but for some reason I wrote dialog like " This ". Whenever I get to posting all of these lovely cringefics on AO3, I will be fixing that, along with updating that on Quotev. For the meantime, we will need to deal with it.

#7: Confused Spider, killjoy au, link

Honestly, it's not bad, but it's really not good either. Unfinished, unnatural interaction. You can tell I have never talked with a neurotypical person or really anyone in years. I don't really like how Party Poison is characterized. I don't know what I could really say here, it's just really a nothing fic. Dialogue spacing problem like " this " still persists.

#6: Odd Place (Party Poison x Reader), killjoy y/n fic basically, link

Unironically? It's bad, really bad. Despite this taking me an entire year writing, and me actively avoiding every y/n cliche I saw, I accidentally made this fanfiction even more like a y/n self insert. The grammar is bad, the prologue is shit, the paragraphs are completely disorganized, the characterization is horrid, and so help me god if I see another "author's note" in ANY PART OF THIS FIC. Ironically? Genuinely a funny fanfic. It is so bad, it ends up being funny. I 100% recommend getting on call with your friends and reading this out loud because you will be howling by the end of it.

#5: pretty, pretty fangs, Twilight oneshot, link

Yeah, pretty startling surprise compared so everything you just saw, right? Even more shocking, it's actually turning 1 year old in 2 days as of writing. This was written in honor of one of my friends writing a really good AU where instead of Bella and Edward, it's Bella and Alice, where I then wrote about Jacob and Edward. I actually never read or watched Twilight when I wrote this, so I was really using memes and what said friend has said about the characters. My friend and other people really liked it, so I think I characterized Jacob and Edward pretty good in this. As said, I haven't read or watched Twilight in any way except for maybe the very last movie, so I really know nothing lol. enjoy your werewolf-vampire yaoi ig

#4: Coffee Machine (Frerard) [clickbait title], not frerard, but a MCR AU about ghosts, link

Contrary to what the title says, it has nothing to do with Frerard! I just felt like being a dick and added it to the title to catch the viewer's attention. Honestly, I kinda like this one. I was more than aware about how ridiculous the concept is that Gerard Way is literally a coffee machine, but despite that, I still treated this with respect and took it seriously. This was/is one of my more popular fanfiction amongst my followers, aside from the wretched 'child of a vampire', and I guess I see why. Little bonus fact: This was inspired of a fanfiction I heard of where apparently Gerard was a housefly, do what you will with that.

#3: A Second Chance, Take a Life, Another Mission, MCR zombie AU, link

A dark twist on a fanfiction I wrote before this that has yet to be mentioned, but will show up later. Honestly, out of all of these, this one is frankly the longest fanfic I wrote, both in length, and how long it took me to write this. Like, I think chapter 1 alone took me three months, and chapter 2 took me seven. One of my older fics, yes, but I think it aged pretty good for the most part. There are some gripes I have but they're mostly personal, rather than anything in terms of actual writing skill. I will say though, I feel with how I described things and stuff, this should've been an animation rather than a text.

#2: Burning Bolts, scientist au, link

Despite this being only 1 chapter long, and franky really silly, this is one of my personal favorites. Sure, it is very unrealistic for Gerard or even literally the laws of science and physics, but I genuinely had fun with it. I was actually inspired by one of my childhood shows, The Adventures of Figaro Pho. Honestly, one of my regrets is really not continuing on this. There isn't much I can really say.

and, finally...

#1: Zombie Disco, MCR zombie AU, link

This.. I have a lot to say about this one specifically. To start, wow is this writing and storyline actually insane. Most of this was written on mobile, and it really shows. The dialog spacing issue is EXTREMELY bad here, the extra spacing between paragraphs, the drawings I did for this one, the exaggerated grammar (i.e. "WHAT THE FUUUUCK?!"). THE BONER JOKE. This has it all, this was my Frankenstein's monster. This is my baby. I have no words, it's genuinely hilarious. Ironically, this is my favorite fanfiction, and it's one of the earliest fanfictions I wrote. I have changed a lot in progress and it really shows if you look at what I write now vs. this fanfiction. I would hate but honestly, I love it. The sole reason this even happened was because I was having a horrible panic attack in the middle of the night, and in an attempt to calm myself down, I wrote the entirety of the first chapter, and I liked it so much afterwards, I published it. This fanfiction means a lot to me, even if it's probably the worst I have ever written, writing skill wise. Currently, I'm actually rewriting this, and yes I will include the infamous joke in some fucking way because I don't think I could've written anything funnier than having Frank Iero comparing a zombie's involuntary craving of flesh to a boner. I'm sorry, I'm being like a 12 year old rn, I don't care, that's funny!! 2022 me was whack.

and... that's it! that took me a long time to do but hey, I did it. I feel really scared of posting it but it's whatever.

[inahc3]

I was hoping it would take me about a month to recover from moving, this time - as opposed to the three months it took last year. In a way, I was not entirely wrong - my body had recovered enough before the end of May that simply standing up didn't make my legs try to cramp. And yet, here I am in late June, finally admitting to myself that the odds of writing before July are slim, and yet not being entirely sure how I got here.

At first, it was the chores. Things postponed until after moving, like address changes that couldn't be scheduled in advance. Things related to the new place, like learning to use the appliances. Minor surprise issues, like having to buy shower curtain rods.

Then the urgent chores were handled, and I did my best to space out the others - I'd much prefer to hyperfocus on getting all the house things done, but that way lies burnout and frustration (ok I did actually have a burnout week too, that sucked), and besides, I'm sure new house things will pop up on a regular basis now that we don't have a landlord to call about them.

My RL social life took off too, and that was a fun kind of exhaustion. While that was going on, I decided I'd rather fill my head with appliance manuals during the week, figure out their quirks (like how the dishwasher delay function gets weird if you open the door), and *then* dump all that knowledge into my reminder app before filling my head with WIPs and plot instead.

I think I procrastinated a little after that was done - or maybe I had too many appointments. my memory is foggy and my notes are cryptic. I did at least have some stuff fizzing in the back of my head still, and one sleepless night I figured out a solution to my biggest plot hole.

The weekend after our housewarming party, I was determined to get back on that horse. I got all my notes out, flung some documents onto the shiny new TV, and filled my brain with plot again. Sorted out all the things that needed deciding about the plot of part 1, how the plot hole solution affected them, which scenes were most urgent to write in case they jumped the tracks and changed things - I was all set to spend Sunday Actually Fucking Writing, with my notes all around me to help get back into things.

Then Sunday came with an opportunity to do things I'm normally not well enough to do, and I decided that was worth postponing the writing just a little bit. Surely I could do it in the afternoon. Or on Monday, at worst. I even brought my laptop along in the hopes that I'd have writing time while I was out.

I ended up doing pain management instead of writing, and then being so exhausted I made the very stupid decision to read Just One Chapter of a fic someone had recommended. It was a good fic (dustverse), and I can never have just one, and then it was 6am and I was deep into both spoon debt *and* sleep deprivation. 🤦 So I resigned myself to a few days of recovery. I recovered, made plans to pick up the writing again on the weekend - and promptly got sick instead. 🤦 Ugh. I can't write while sick even when I have something to continue, let alone when I haven't touched my fic in so long anxiety thinks writing is an existential threat. 🤪

So here I am, beginning to recover - the good news is I think I'll be well enough to travel for an important medical appointment, the bad news is I need to save all my spoons for that and not take risks, plus my brain is full of Things To Pack (which I have not properly written down, FML) with no room for Things To Write. And I know I won't write shit while I'm away, and there'll be a pile of postponed chores waiting for me when I get back.

I'm gonna need a solid day of Only Writing to push through the anxiety, and it's gonna suck so much, and I don't actually think I'll have room in my schedule until July. 😭 And I can't even afford to have strong feelings about it right now - gotta stay relaxed and give my immune system all the spoons that aren't spent on packing.

NGL, it's times like these that make it tempting to throw in the towel and leave the writing to people who don't have to fight their own brain over every goddamn word. But this story really, really wants to be written. So I think I'll keep trying. At least until part 1 is complete and I get the ineffable idiots talking again.

I got a really nice comment on it a while back, too, so my beta readers and I aren't the only people looking forward to more chapters. :) :) although at this point, I think it makes more sense to sketch out the remaining scenes and have several mostly-written chapters to edit, to be sure all the plot threads come together well enough, instead of going mostly chapter by chapter like I have before. So even once I get writing again, posting could take a while. Slow and steady wins the race, I guess?

[babyarmybabbles]

Run ARMY! (Cooking Part) a2 d3

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Reader won the opportunity to film a spin off of Run BTS! celebrating the boys return from enlistment, called Run ARMY!, over the course of seven days.

Word Count: 733

Notes: This part takes place way later, towards the end. I wanted Reader to have a nice candid moment with ARMY, bc I love this fandom a lot, y'know? It needs a lot of revision so that it's less rambly and dense, but I'd like to keep the honest and frank atmosphere I've got going on here. It'll probably change a lot by the time I actually get to this part of the fic, but I'll keep something like it in the final product, I'm sure.

Took Inspirations from Run ARMY! series on Tik Tok by _yamanika_ and Guess The Bias! by HelloMyAlien7 on Ao3

Warnings: I don't think there's any?

Masterlist Link <3 | Prev Part Link c: | Next Part Link :D

You crouch down to come face to lens with the camera in the hallway and wave tiredly.

“Hello~” you drawl out in a whisper, giving a small smile, “The boys have treated me to so many yummy Korean foods, so, because this is our last morning before we travel back to Seoul, I am up stupid early,” You pause to pull out your phone to show the glaring 5:15am, as if the pre-dawn lighting wasn’t already evidence enough. “So I make them my family’s traditional pre-travel breakfast feast!” You give a near-silent cheer and jazz hands to the camera before heaving yourself to your feet and ambling your way over to the kitchen.

As you set about gathering up your ingredients and finding your required utensils, you make sure to look around and spot all of the kitchen cameras. You hadn’t really had much purpose in here before, and when you had there were usually camera directors about to be mindful of instead of the mounted cameras you were taking advantage of now.

One of the cameras happens to be angled toward an ideal space to do most of your prep work (probably on purpose) so you point to it and make your way over.

“I don’t like cooking alone.” you tell it in a low, conspiratorial tone. “So you’re gonna be my buddy and listen to me babble.”

That being said you really only whistle lightly to yourself as you finish collecting the ingredients and lay out the stuff for your first dish - a simple fruit salad. When you begin slicing up the first apple, you finally start speaking to the camera as promised.

“Now, I know I’m not one of the members, but I hope ARMY will be fine with whatever this segment looks like anyways,” You start softly, “BTS may be my ult bias group, but ARMY is my ult bias fandom, you know? It might be weird to say as ARMY myself, but I’ve never seen another fandom quite like it.” You take a breath and pause your chopping, flexing your wrists and popping your knuckles while you contemplate.

“ARMY was welcoming from the start, for me.” You continue, “Heck, someone gave me a link for a BTS101 guide at some point! That was actually super helpful, It made catching up with content and understanding memes a lot easier.” you smile at the memory, grateful still to the person who’d given it to you. “It’s a very warm and close community, and very open and accessible to new people. That’s pretty rare, in my experience.”

You switch tracks now, beginning to explain what you’re making even though you’re already halfway done. No one claimed you were a pro at this entertainment stuff. “I’m making a fruit salad right now. It’s easiest to start with because after I put the lemon juice on, i can just put in in the fridge and get it out of the way.” You inform the camera. “My Ma says it’s the most important part of this spread because it lets us pretend any of it is healthy.” You laugh softly at yourself as you dice up your chosen fruits.

You’d been kind of surprised you’d been able to find everything you wanted, given that you weren’t entirely sure which fruits were available in South Korea. There had definitely been a few you’d never seen before when you’d gone shopping, and you were curious to try, but you were going for traditional today so you’d just have to hope you could find them again at an Asian market at home.

You fall into a bit of a daze as you wash fruits, chop them up, and dump them in a bowl on repeat. The silence you fall into is broken only by the occasional whistled tune or soft hum from you. You’re broken from your trance when it’s at long last time to sprinkle in the lemon juice and sugar and stir it all up. You speak to the camera again as you give your arm a workout trying to mix everything.

“If I really wanted to make this how my grandma does, I’d add this mix of cream cheese and whipped topping that she uses. It’s really yummy, but I think it’s a bit too much like desert for today.” You cover the bowl when you’re done and place it in the fridge.

[waheelawhisperer]

13, 17, 19, and 20 for the violence ask game

You didn't specify a fandom so I'm going to hit you with several. This is your own fault.

13) worst blorboficiation

I'm not 100% sure what this means but for Arknights I'm gonna go with Amiya. It feels like people forget that she's actually a competent warrior and capable leader instead of just an uwu cute daughteru character.

For RWBY, it's Blake. The fucking writers blorbofied her, idk how you top that.

Mass Effect: Garrus Vakarian. I love Garrus too, but people love to ignore the way the first half of his character arc was "cop that thinks cops have to obey too many rules" -> "vigilante who regularly kills people"

Every remotely villainous or antagonistic character in Fate Grand Order has been shoved into the blorbo box by the fanbase by the end of whatever storyline they appear in and by the writers by the end of their next appearance.

Every person attracted to men who watches The Boys wants to fuck Soldier Boy and the Homelander far more than anyone should ever want to. I cannot enter the tag without running into Reader x fanfiction featuring one of those two.

17) there should be more of this type of fic/art

Arknights: Mlynar getting bred. Also, I would kill to see more people remember Indra exists.

RWBY: More Freezerburn, more Ladybug, more Qrowin, more Dragonslayer, more Jailbirds, more Ironqrow, more Schneewood Forest.

Ted Lasso: I am begging someone to provide me with a gifset featuring every instance wherein Roy Kent says "fuck", "fuck you", "get fucked", or any variation on this theme. I need them for reasons.

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I've never been ashamed of anything in my life (my ego is too big for that), but I'm getting somewhat frustrated that my relationship with RWBY is starting to remind me of an ex-girlfriend who threw a coffee mug at my head. I can't drop the show until I finish Volume 9, but I don't want to finish Volume 9 because all 3 episodes I've watched so far sucked.

Also I like Ch'alter unironically despite sharing all the very valid complaints about her and what she represents for Arknights.

20) part of canon you found tedious or boring

Arknights: Pretty much everything at this point because absolutely no one on the writing team knows how to condense a narrative and wouldn't be concise about anything if you held a gun to your head. Like I'm sorry but you do not need to write a Lord of the Rings-length novel and then decide that's not enough and write a second novel between the lines of the first one just to tell a story about a horsegirl fighting capitalism in a DBZ tournament arc. You can just trim the fat and convey the information effectively. It won't kill you.

Every Arknights event or main story chapter feels like a chore to read at this point, honestly, but the worst for me so far have been the Sui events. I love the siblings, but if they never release another event designed around Being Inscrutable it will be too soon.

RWBY: Every part of Volume 4 that didn't have Yang in it except for the Qrow vs. Tyrian fight, every part of Volume 5 that didn't have Yang or Raven in it, every part of Volume 9 I have experienced so far, and Jaune's stupid fucking 4-episode bullying arc.

Bloodborne: I have replayed this game multiple times and I have never cleared a single Chalice Dungeon more than once because they all suck.

Elden Ring: I hate the insistence on reusing all the worst bosses instead of the ones that are actually fun to fight, physically traveling across the world map feels tedious at times (I wish Torrent could move just a bit faster), mounted combat sucks ass, the Mountaintops of the Giants feels like they ran out of development time because it's honestly kinda barren, fuck the Consecrated Snowfield, and a lot of the dungeons feel same-y after a while.

[novantinuum]

I don’t see your anons turned on but….do tell me about Aryll and Link’s relationship. Is she and annoying little sister? Does she look up to him?

(Oh yes, I forgot to turn anon back on! I had someone be rude to me a few weeks ago so I turned them off temporarily as a cool-down. Good reminder.)

_

Ahhh, these siblings... there's a few different time periods I could cover with this, since the dynamic changes pretty sharply due to a good few years spent apart, but I'm gonna chat about the status quo at the beginning of my fic-

I started to plan this story as a means of processing my feelings in the wake of a personal incident involving a family member disowning the rest of us, so their dynamic at the very beginning is underscored by estrangement. Aryll has not seen her brother for about two years- for reasons unknown to her. One day her family was intact and they shared a bedroom, and the next her father was dead and Link chose to cut contact with the rest of his family and live full time on castle grounds with the other guards instead. There's a whole storyline I aim to write eventually showing Link's side of this, because he does have his complicated and trauma-driven reasons- but those reasons are never something Aryll gets to learn about or understand, because when she finally does see her brother again, all his memory about the past is gone.

So their vibe in early days is like... that awkward tiptoeing around someone you know, but don't know well now, that feeling where you desperately want to reach out for comfort from a familiar face, but it's also a face you don't know you implicitly trust. Aryll has to rely on Link because he's now the only adult she knows in this world, but can she count on him to truly be reliable after he- with no warning- entirely walked away from her and Mother in the past? Even if he doesn't remember making that decision, Aryll often worries he'll make the same choice again.

But since she's young, there's a certain desperation there, too- the sense that she's acting in an affable, helpful way to try and endear herself to him so that he doesn't chose to leave her behind once more, so that maybe one day they WILL be close as siblings. It's what she's always wanted... and while the events that led them here are bleak and tragic, on a meta scale, perhaps ultimately it took losing everything for this bond to really flourish.

On Link's end, the only piece of information about Aryll he awakens with is the inkling that she is family. Everything else is learned over their travels, even her name. On his end, he is literally meeting a stranger and getting to know them from scratch. There's that deep protective instinct born from the phantom memory that she is family, but he really doesn't know what he's doing half the time beyond that. Having to suddenly be the sole caretaker for a child is daunting! It takes time for him to understand how to best look after her, especially when it comes to paying attention to her emotional needs. He's very glad to have her company on their travels, though- and in fact, later on in their journeys, his reluctance to leave her behind and travel entirely alone (a somewhat selfish priority) sometimes puts her in harm's way. He often has to balance the issue of... does he risk leaving her in the protection of others he doesn't fully know or trust, or does he risk taking her along on his travels and having her in full sight 24/7 but then being 100% responsible for her safety himself?

_

On a lighter note, there's of course that older-younger sibling back-and-forth with them... Link giving one instruction, Aryll brashly choosing the opposite, Link having to run off after her before she does something too foolish... plenty of stupid puns... Aryll begging Link to teach her how to fight with a sword, and Link at first being reluctant to do so as her caretaker, not wanting to encourage her to get into close encounters with monsters anyways...

And then that dynamic is slightly subverted by the fact that Aryll essentially is Link's memory, the one who instructs him on who their mother is, their father, their childhood history, certain elements of world history, etc. etc. Link may be Aryll's caretaker in matters of finding food and shelter, but Aryll is arguably his caretaker when it comes to helping him navigate the reality of the world they left behind.

[molliehaswords]

WIP Whenever

I have more than six sentences to share but like... I have sentences to share and I'm giggling at the stupid ending of what I wrote. This is the very beginning of my Skyrim fic that I've been "working on" for the past year. It's also a very first draft right now.

No one tagged me, but I'm gonna tag @electricshoebox , @the-mad-dame , @circtheeunbroken , and @rosered282 because I know all four of you either have a familiarity with Skyrim or have otherwise at other times encouraged my writing. If anyone else wants to be included in WIP posting, let me know (and if you don't want to be, also let me know).

Evening, Loredas, 16th of Last Seed, 4E201, Darkwater Crossing

Visiting Darkwater Crossing is always bittersweet. It’s here I take stock of my supplies and begin the trip back home to Whiterun. As much as I love the freedom of traveling the province alone, with no greater goal than Mother’s supplies lists, seeing the leaves of the Rift turn golden always makes me ache for home.

Mother generally expects me to return around the start of Hearthfire, so that she can get her stocks replenished for the city guards before winter frosts make things difficult. Plus, very occasionally, I am able to coax her out of the shop for an evening for harvest festivities. That said, with the rising tensions coming from Windhelm and Solitude, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the harvest festival is canceled this year.

But it makes sense. It was still relatively peaceful when I left Whiterun during Second Seed, but at that time, Ulfric had not yet visited High King Torygg in the Blue Palace.

In any case, I’m sure it will all be fine. Mother has made herself valuable to Whiterun and I don’t see anything changing that. Rulers may change, but people will always need their apothecaries and alchemists.

~*~

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

[nine-blessed-hero]

Dru's 2022 TES Fic Roundup

Quick Stats

Fics added to the WIP pile this year: 20 (that have actually made it to the pile; there're 5ish more bouncing around my brain) Fics completed this year: 13 Fics remaining on the WIP pile: 26 Total W/C this year for TES Fics: 82,465

Fic Popularity

I've measured this as an amalgamation between Tumblr Notes and AO3's Kudos. Most - Per Necessitatem Least - Join between Spiritus Alco Custodiat and Self-Indulgent AU.

Work I'm most proud of

A Restless Pillow (Begets No Rest) - I'm really happy with the flow of conversation and action in both parts of this, particularly:

"[T]here are different tastes I'd like to indulge-" The book hits Rowan hard on the chest.

And

The pestle is forcefully returned to the mortar. "Didn't realise Ferrum was gonna get so territorial."

Work that still shows I'm learning

I'm torn between Strawberry Fizz and Bring the Fire; Brave the Cold.

Strawberry Fizz shows me I'm not good at romance; and I guess this is something I need to decide if I want to develop, or if I'm happy writing mediocre romance in favour of platonic relationships.

Bring the Fire; Brave the Cold has taught me I shouldn't try writing while travelling. I started writing this on the way over to Denmark in Dec 2021, left it alone all the time I was out there, and tried to complete it on the way back, finally finishing it at the end of Jan 2022. I feel like it's disjointed and a bit messy -- coincidentally, a good descriptor for how I am when travelling.

Work I think should have gotten more love

I want to say the Self-Indulgent AU, but I'm fully aware of why it didn't - as it says on the tin, this was for me to indulge a stupid idea I'd had rattling around my brain for too long, and it needed to be out.

If I have to choose, then it's got to be Rowan Hunts. I'm pleased with how Rowan's bastardization arc is going, and I thought that had some quite clever and funny bits.

[lonelychicago]

hello again it’s me, the nervous nonny from earlier - first i NEEEEED to see the fire fams reactions to The Will. particularly maddie bobby & hen (love chim but he’s brain empty and that’s so valid of him)

second- that time travel fic idea sounds so good!! i would absolutely devour that fic for sure.

would buck and eddie both know right away that the other also time traveled back too? or do they get freaked out and each think it’s only themself who time traveled? up until some catalyst thet reveals oh we BOTH time traveled huh. (although if they’re going back to like s2 era i think it would be obvious they both time traveled pretty fast bc they come a long way from s2. however they are both Stupid and Oblivious)

hiiiiii nonnie!! ksjsjwjs

i feel chim would try to make a silly joke that's totally inappropriate for the situation and i love him for it

ahhh i'm so happy ppl are interested in that idea!!

and honestly i haven't really about it, since i haven't even started to write the fic at all just yet. i feel buck would be the first to crack tho, like maybe after the ambulance explosion he is like hey! this is gonna sound so weird bc you're the new guy and all but i know you and i know your son. in a not creepy way! in a i traveled back in time five years kind of way and im kinda freaking out. and eddie is like, oh this is a dream where i think i traveled back in time with buck, y'know???

or maybe buck would break after a few days like i know what happens next!!! ugh!!! or! or! maybe when the earthquake happens and buck was supposed to fall and hit his head or something but eddie jumps and catches him just in time and they're both like...... wait a minute......

idk skjsjs i have so many thoughts about this fic i need to organize them.

[raymondshields]

📓📓📓 How I've never seen your reblog of the post is actually a travesty bc i need to pick your brain more on the fics your write

Put "📓" or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but daydream about.

The Lorakis shorts, also known by their full title of The Heart of Deception Sings! They're halfway done, and the second three are fully plotted, but I haven't sat down to write them. This is because I can't write them at work, because they're porn, and work is when I usually have the most focus for writing. They're about Matt and Mick Lorakis, and Hypnos and Thanatos. It's about their early relationship!

The Martinus & Lilu shorts! These are planned, but not really fleshed out. I was going to write them for the Elnin closed species, but then the mods said "fuck you we're not going to let you do any of the storyline's premise" and then I said "so why am I wasting my time on following your stupid rules" and now I'm just gonna go and make my own original species where I can go ham and not have to follow their stupid rules. The idea is that Martinus got chucked through a portal and turned into a puffball of a little fox thing, Lilu went and followed him in, and about them putting their relationship and Martinus' memory back together in an unfamiliar world, feat. Lilu's trauma from running away from his home kingdom so his sister didn't murder him. I'll get to it probably in December, all things considered, and we'll see how it goes.

One of my big daydream scenarios (that is not likely to get written anytime soon) is Zheotane and Pulsar Reitanfasse's arc. You've seen them mentioned in tags, and they are very old OCs. Like, some of my first sort of old. They've gone through so many new incarnations it's not even funny, but I do love them and want to sit down and write some shorts for them, because their arc is a tragedy of time travel and being an adult while witnessing the other go through horrific trauma as a child and not being able to do fuckall about it. It's also Problematique for unsurprising age gap reasons, but I have fun. :p