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sixth-light · 3 months ago

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WoT 3x01-3x03 thoughts

Book spoilers aplenty! Cut for those and length because I had more to say than I thought.

These are basically random things that stood out to me, assume I really enjoyed all 3 episodes and think the show has really hit its stride as of this season, as someone who has enjoyed it from the start and is a book fan from way back.

I continue to just be deeply, deeply grateful that my very first early-teens fandom is giving me a big-budget adaptation which is almost perfectly tailored to my interests and tastes as a middle-aged queer woman - like, that certainly hasn't happened with other adaptations of stuff I've loved, I know this adaptation doesn't hit that way for everybody who loved WoT as a teen, but it is more or less perfect for me and what a profound gift that is.

On to random thoughts:

These people like each other!!! Possibly the key reason this show works so well for me is the script and cast sell 100% that these are people who like and care about each other, not just in the big moments but the little stuff. The platonic chemistry is so bonkers good across the whole main cast. There was a bit of tonal whiplash in 3x01 from big setpiece battle to People Just Chillin' but I am willing to forgive it because I love the Just Chillin' bits so much. Mat making a dick joke about the White Tower and Egwene/Rand/Nynaeve reacting perfectly in character? No notes.

Much has been said about that big setpiece battle because it's been out a while but I genuinely do appreciate a show that lets a bunch of middle-aged women go to town in mortal magical combat - it makes me think of that infamous anecdote about the MCU female actors being told to not move their faces in big fight scenes because it looked bad - this is like the polar opposite of that. Love it.

Controversial take but I do think the choice to only show one key part of Egwene's Accepted test was the right call. Doing a whole episode focused on Nynaeve's means we know how it works, and they did one very effective scene to ram home the key conflict for Egwene right now. They get eight hours a season, it's fine.

The bubble of evil (with the twist of Lanfear doing it with Moiraine's contrivance!!!) was so well done. I was a bit confused by Mat and Nynaeve's scene because as a book reader I fully expected the cards to attack him but on a second watch I don't think I would be. The axe cutting off Perrin's wedding ring???? goddamn.

I was spoiled (happily) for the Avilayne hook-up scene (!!!) and it is early for that, but I like that it was played very much as a hook-up where both parties would like to take it further if they get a chance but can't be in the same place right now, I think that's going to lead both to some sweet future romance and some very funny Elayne-Aviendha-Rand dynamics. If we ever get Aviendha extolling Elayne's skill in bed to Rand in an attempt to get them to hook up, or vice-versa, I will die (complimentary). MAKE IT HAPPEN R2J2.

They're really letting the weight of compounding trauma hang on all the main characters, not just Rand, and it's making the big fantasy arcs feel grounded. But also...oh, babies, you've got so much more to come.

I'm glad Moghedien is very effectively creepy (it is so easy to forget HOW creepy she is at the start) but I hate and am bored by torture scenes so like...less of that in future I hope, except we're getting Semirhage, so probably not less. Sigh.

The show continues to use book canon in such fun ways to create show-specific plots - in the books Morgase does come to Tar Valon to demand Elayne back and leaves Elaida behind, it creates a rift between Andor and the Tower, it just happens off-page and before Elayne returns. This is such smart re-writing!

Tsutama survived!!! I am obsessed with all the Red Ajah stuff, yes it's setting up for the Coup but it is also setting up for a Black Ajah Hunters/Asha'man Warders plotline and they've established Tsutama really clearly as a level-headed and reasonable Red sister. Whether she ends up standing in for all the 'good Reds' (mostly Teslyn and Pevara, maybe Silviana as well?) I don't know but I like that we've got an early start on that. Yes, I love all the minor Aes Sedai plotlines, no apologies.

Fascinated by how show!Elaida seems to have a very similar backstory to book Lelaine and Romanda - an older sister who had semi-retired but used to hold significant power, was an almost-but-not-quite Amyrlin Seat, and sees opportunity in a time of crisis. It will I think make either Lelaine or Romanda seem obvious foils for her and Egwene's position more obviously precarious.

The way the Waygate opens when not channelled open is fucking cool, the VFX have stepped up a level even on last season.

Also obsessed with the way they've done Rahvin's plot - the long pauses before Leane and Elayne are caught were perfect - and the way he's been positioned, in an extremely Hugh Jackman Magazine Cover way, as a powerful woman's dream later-life partner instead of the somewhat generic rapist of the books (who is nevertheless an accurate portrayal of a kind of man who specifically enjoys abusing powerful women). Book!Rahvin would have been way creepier with Elayne, show!Rahvin is cosplaying Best Stepdad with her even when he has all the cards. And this too is an accurate take on how abusers are good at showing a caring face to people they need on side. It's going to make the reveal much more insidious. Now regretting my former takes that show!Morgase needs to die. I think she probably will but it's going to be so awful.

RYMA ISN'T A DAMANE FUCK YEAH. NGL this was also necessary (along with Tsutama) to balance out the show's very real S1 colourism issue which casting Alviarin as another dark-skinned Black woman would otherwise have, uh, not helped with. I mean maybe she still dies in the Coup or something but at least she's alive and free now.

Elayne with that line about the novice rooms being small - lmao ok I know this is an exigency of TV sets where they can't be that small but that room is HUGE compared to the book descriptions, like twice the size of the Accepted rooms. I guess she's a princess but still.

Galad literally white knighting his way around the Tower - there is a Character Arc coming here, I think it will also be very significant that the cold open for 3x02 set up the precedent of the male relatives of the High Seats murdering them to make peace with Morgase and Trakand and we'll see an explicit plotline about the Whitecloaks intervening in the Succession. Anyway he's not pretty enough but he's exactly annoying enough and I'm ready for his full fall and rise arc. Gawyn...was also there? Sorry Gawyn fans I'm sure he'll get more of a glow-up once his love interest status comes into play.

Everything in Liandrin's plotline is building towards her getting murdered by Moghedien so Moggy can win that promotion to Nynaeve's #1 Enemy status. Given that she's already sent Grey Men after her twice I am currently betting on Liandrin dying to try and save Nynaeve and Nynaeve having to live with that (and being mad about it forever, like HOW DARE LIANDRIN DO THAT).

Shout-out to the Evil Glow-ups Nyomi and the other Black sisters got in Tanchico. Is it a bit silly? Yes. Is it also fun? Yes. The costuming is so good this season, it's always been good but it continues to be spectacular and a real and heartfelt thanks to the costume team for deciding that in this turning of the Wheel, even though it's a fantasy show, women can wear trousers. (Butch Tower servant disguise Min? Impeccable).

Lots of scenes straight from TDR/TSR, all very well-executed (Siuan and Mat a stand-out) but I have fewer notes on those simply because they're doing what already exists well, it's the new or changed things which excite me. If I want to read the books I can read the books. Which doesn't mean I don't want those key scenes done well but there's just less to say about them.

Final note: I can't believe Nyomi had a non-book-character name so they could hide she was Black Ajah, I fully thought it was so she could die in the Coup. Good job writers there. I hope she adopts some cats, though, Marillin and her cats constantly outing them is one of the funniest subplots of the whole Liandrin crew storyline because it's so deeply exactly what some real person would do.

#wheel of time #wot tv show #wot spoilers #wot book spoilers #oh wow I had more to say than I thought

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littlejazzy · 1 year ago

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Do you have good recommendations for AgeRe stories? Something really cute and fluffy? (I'm a lonely regressor and I love reading stories about really sweet caregivers.)

I do!! I adore reading agere fics, so here are some recs! I hope you enjoy!!! 💖

Gen:

Decontamination by SailorChibi - Marvel - Baby!Tony and CG!Steve - After a battle, Steve takes care of his baby - (This one is a Classification!AU/Littles are Known!AU... like, one of the very first ones. Very good and fluffy. If you ever read thorough their fics, (tagged NSAP bc agere straight up did not exist as a community yet) you'll start spotting alot of things that other people were/are inspired from.)

Picnic by SailorChibi - Marvel - Baby!Tony, CG!Steve, Middle!Bucky, Toddler!Clint, CG!Coulson, Kiddo!Scott, CG!Sam W., Kiddo!Peter P., CG!Wade, Kid!Wanda, and CG!Vision - All the Avengers have a nice picnic - (classification!au, but a different verse than the previous fic jsyk. this one is suuuuper fluffy and cute and fun <3)

Less than Five by SailorChibi - Daniel Craig's James Bond - Little!Q and CG!Bond - Q regresses smaller than usual; his daddy makes sure he's taken care of - (classification!AU, first of a series. first two fics are pretty fluffy, but the third has some angst, which makes the fluff even sweeter, in my opinion)

coffee makers and bumblebees by orchidsncrake - Daredevil - Little!Matt and CG!Foggy - Matt becomes overstimulated and after an altercation with the office's coffee maker, Foggy is there to make everything better

Small surprises by undergroundrice - Daredevil - Little!Matt and CG!Foggy - Foggy stumbles onto Matt regressing, and together they figure it out

A Second Shot by mylittlestories - MCU - Little!Natasha, Little!Clint, and CG!Coulson - Natasha didn't have much of a childhood. When she sees that having a second one is possible, she wants; Coulson and Clint are happy to make her family :) - (This one is unfinished, but what's there is just so nice I have to include it!!)

Give your Dreams the Wings to Fly by Honey_Dewey - FNAF Movie - Little!Matt and CG!Ness - Mike gets sick at work, but his boyfriend is there to make everything okay

the road to hope and adventures into the unknown (target) by romansprince - Barbie (2023) - Little!Ken, then CG!Barbie and CG!Gloria - Ken has become human... except he's never had a childhood. Sometimes he feels Fuzzy, but that's something he thinks he can keep secret. As he turns out, he can't, but it works out anyway - (Two separate fics that take place in the same universe/series. The first one/set-up is a little angsty, but the second is more fluffy)

Movie Night by mcschnuggles - Heathers - Little!JD and CG!Veronica - JD unexpectedly drops into headspace during a movie night with the rest of the teenagers; Veronica helps him through it - (Modern!AU, Everyone Lives!AU, this one is kinda angsty, but like, it's canon appropriate, lol - also!!! make sure that you check out the author's other works!!!!! lots of agere fics for a large variety of fandoms!!)

Toffee Ticking Time Bomb by GayCheerios - Star Wars - Little!Anakin and CG!Obi-Wan - Obi-Wan has to find his padawan's stuffie before the inevitable temper tantrum ensues - (classification!AU, part of a very nice and good series that, if you enjoy this fic, you should also check out)

Baby's First Bath by CyberToddler - Beetlejuice: The Musical - Toddler!Beetlejuice and CG!Maitlands - The Maitlands give Beetlejuice his very first bath - ( 👉👈 I wrote this one 😖)

Evolution by Cgetbrmj - The Last of Us (TV) - Little!Ellie and CG!Joel - Series that follows each episode of the show, and explores how these characters stumble upon age regression as a coping mechanism and how much they both realize they enjoy it. - (Slowburn agere, as it explores how it develops naturally between both characters. This one DOES contain some angst as it relates to the show, but overall is as fluffy as its setting allows)

Reader-Inserts:

The Doctor's Office by agerefandom (tazia101) - Twilight - Little!Reader and CG!Carlisle - Reader goes to their first check-up in their new town and unexpectedly regresses; thankfully, their doctor is more than understanding - (I can not emphasize enough how much I love this one. Hits all the right buttons, I'm so happy/thankful I found it before I had to establish care w/ a new doctor, it's just- so good)

Sugary Sweet by agerefandom (tazia101) - Twilight - Baby!Reader and CG!Alice and Jasper - A comfy, happy morning with your vampire caregivers - (be sure to check out the writer for more fandoms!! lots of agere fics, including gen and reader!insert!)

little life at the mansion by myworldoffanfiction - X-Men - Little!Reader and CG!X-Men (the main gang lol) - First chapter is a busy yet comfy morning while living at Xavier's Mansion. Second chapter is a fun Summer evening - (this one is sooooo sweet 😭)

Play Pretend by Vinnies_Comfort_Corner - Scream (1996) - Kiddo!Reader, Flip!Stu, and CG!Billy - You and Stu play pretend while waiting for Billy to come home - (if you enjoy this one, make sure you check out their other regression fics!!! there's even one with a petreg puppy!reader!! and other horror media!!)

Red Stained Fingers by CyberToddler - Scream (1996) - Little!Reader, CG!Stu, and CG!Billy - Unorthodox sensory play with diy-ed fake blood, lol - (I also wrote this one 😅 it's sugary sweet, I promise, lol)

#looked through my bookmarks and then realized two facts:#1) lots of the agere fics i like have lots of angst lmao #2)i forget to bookmark things #it's okay tho bc i just looked through my ao3 history ��#toddler babbles #agere #fandom agere #agere recs #asks

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rhonuscorner · 4 months ago

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20 questions for writers

@sandcastlekings tagged me, thank yooouuuu <3 Let's see how well I can answer this while dealing with a migraine yaaaaay.

Tagging @certified-handler @scarredlove @driftingmoonmenace @justyourawkwardghost and whoever else wants to, consider yourselves tagged. No pressure of course.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 5 right now. There used to be more but I got rid of them, and what I have uploaded is only a small fraction of what I have written over the last 20+ years as most of it is kept between myself and friends.

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

As of right now 480,939 but again, I don't consider this to be accurate in terms of how much I have truly written. We're talking millions of words.

3) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Considering I only have 5 works online right now and the one with the most kudos only has art in it, this is a weird one to answer lol.

4) What fandoms do you write for?

I've written for sooooo many fandoms but right now I only write for the DCA fandom. But I have also written for, just to name a few, Dragon Age, Dishonored, Cyberpunk 2077, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Pokemon and MCU. I feel like I should also mention that before recently all of my writing was RP based because I love writing stories with someone else and some of those stories found their way onto AO3.

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always!!! I you take a moment to leave me a comment, you bet I will personally thank you for it in a reply!

6) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

None, I love me some good ol' angst but never at the very end. Happy endings only.

7) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uuuuuhhhhhhhh... that's assuming I actually finish my fics lol.

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten some. Mostly from trolls bitching about the copious amounts of gay in my fics lmao.

9) Do you write smut?

Yes though I don't write it too often.

10) Do you write crossovers?

I've written a few, yes. The most notable ones were Dishonored/Assassin's Creed and Dishonored/Dragon Age. That latter one actually worked out really really well, it was a lot of fun to write.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Kiiiinda. I found my biggest Assassin's Creed fic on a Russian site once, translated into Russian, but I was credited with a link back to the original so I wasn't too upset about it. I also translated the comments underneath and people liked it, so yeah, I left it like that.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

One of my earlier RPs was translated into English by a friend, back when I still wrote exclusively in Dutch, and that same Assassin's Creed fic from the previous question was also translated into Chinese (but unlike question 11, this person asked for permission first).

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

That's like 99% of my stories lmao. RP makes for some of the best storytelling in my opinion and I really really REALLY love writing stories that way, but finding someone to write with, someone who shares a similar style and enjoys the same kind of tropes isn't all that easy. I'm always on the lookout though! Aaaaaand the ever amazing @scarredlove is hella indulging me right now lmao, writing out scenes with me involving our DCA OCs~

14) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Yeah no, this is impossible to answer lol.

15) What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

*nervous chuckle*

16) What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially inner dialogue, a character's thoughts and observations.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions, particularly of environments. It's kinda boring to me so I struggle with it a lot.

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Sometimes, only when it makes sense for it to be part of the story.

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Lord of the Rings

20) Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

That was hands-down a very lengthy RP I wrote with a friend back in 2014 that was unfortunately never finished. It was very dark, very gritty, akin to a zombie apocalypse but instead of zombies we had crazed humanoid robots, in a world where humans and sapient robots co-existed and all the troubles that came with it. The character I wrote for this story is still my favorite character to write, ever and I would honestly would love nothing more but to rewrite this story with the same basic premise with someone. Because sometimes a plot just works, y'know?

Perhaps one day. Keeping my fingers crossed.

#personal #tag game

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darkkitty1208 · 10 months ago

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on fic writing and fandom: where am i going forward?

So. It's a bloody dull Friday and I'm writing this post--have been meaning to, for a while--because I can't stop thinking about it. It's just a few (a lot, actually) thoughts I've had in my mind the past few days that I've decided to spill into a single post, which turned out far longer than it needed to be, but nothing too important. Under the cut.

I've been a fanfic writer for a while now. Not a long time by any means, but a while nonetheless. My first fic--which is now orphaned like a few of its brothers for undisclosed reasons, though if you're an og you might be able to guess why--was dated back to the 18th of November 2021. 3 years later and I've got a humble 89 works and counting (the orphaned works and unposted wips unincluded). I can safely say I've improved quite a lot since then.

Where are you going with this, then, Kitty? Surely you aren't here just to brag about your writing progress?

Well. Not exactly. But I'll start with this: I guess what I'm trying to say is I've lost the spark.

You know. The old feeling. That boost of serotonin you get after you finish a piece you're proud of, or when you get lovely reviews on ao3, or when you get a kudos email, or a new mutual, or some wild tags under your silly post. The spark. I haven't felt it in a long time, now. The last time it's been so palpable was... I'm not sure. Probably last year's October. That was a lot of fun. I was most prolific in fic writing, that year. It shouldn't feel like a long time ago. Because it wasn't.

Don't get me wrong. I love all this. All that's going on right now. The comments I'm getting--even if fewer than I had before--and all the other interactions, I appreciate and enjoy and love them so, so much. And writing my newer fic projects are well exciting. But it just isn't the same anymore. I'm afraid it never will be.

(Maybe it has something to do with the lack of interactions lately. Maybe? I don't really know, either. I'm sure we're all well aware the fandom is past its peak, and with the current developments in the MCU I am frankly unsurprised, but I dunno.)

I guess that's part of the reason I've been less active lately. I've been inactive as a whole this year, admittedly, and disappearing far too often for far too long (and I notice some of my friends are, too). I just didn't get the same joy from being in a fandom like I had when I first started this blog, or my ao3 account.

In hindsight, I've probably been a little too dependent on fandom to provide me serotonin. The past few years have been hard, the years before that, too. Life just keeps kicking me in the arse time and time again. I guess I've been using fandom and fic writing as a coping mechanism, and once I've had my fill, the joy dies off to something a little more dull. Like a gum I've been chewing for too long that the sweetness has since worn off.

Honestly? I don't want it to be this way. I want to live without being so dependent on my presence online. I want to live without only knowing joy through internet interactions. I've got to learn to. It sounds silly, but it's true. (I think I may be slightly chronically online, oh no. x'D)

So naturally my first instinct is to distance myself a little. I contemplated quitting, but I can't do that. I don't see myself ever doing that, no matter how many times my brain convinces me that I might.

When this year started, I had set some goals for writing. One of them was to write for more whumptober prompts than I did last year or complete them all. I did like 21 prompts or something last year. Of 31. Within a little more than a month. While still balancing all the life stuff I had going on. This is, if not obvious, an extremely ambitious goal. I am not insane. I don't know what I was thinking. I can't possibly do that now, can I? Not with all the stuff that's been happening.

...

Can I?

...

Yeah, no. Definitely not.

See, that's another thing: writing. Probably the thing I'm trying to get at in this post but otherwise derailed completely from. Fuck my brain.

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've been writing significantly less. I still post, obviously, but not as much as like, last year when the number of works I had went from a few to far too much. That had helped me improve quite a lot, actually, but those days I barely slept because I just insisted to replace my sleep time with Writing Shit For The Gays. It was pretty unhealthy now that I look back at it. My sleep schedule is still shit now but, yk. Some things just never change.

I was really, really caught up on wanting to be good at writing. Like, really good. I wanted to make awesome things. I wanted to write like a real fucking pro. Like all the more popular fandom authors I look up to. I want to be like the big dogs in fandom. It sounds so silly. I did everything; sprinting daily, setting a minimum of 500 words writing sessions every day, trying new writing styles, churning out works after works, writing for prompts and events and gifts and the like. I was enjoying it, yes, but was it really something I did for myself? Or was it because I wanted to please other people or impress other people for their validation, which is something I'm entirely too dependent of? Was it for the numbers?

Well. It was more for that than for me, I realised a little too late.

So yeah. Fuck wanting to be good. I want to write for the hell of it. I want to write something that's for me. Not what the majority of the fandom or other people want to read, but for me. Which is why I absolutely loved writing works like just a matter of time, how to kill a god, or how to become a god, because they're not meant for other people but myself. (Ironically that last work is a gift but, yk. I still liked it.) I know I joke about self-projecting a lot, but it's been seriously helping me rediscover the joy of writing that doesn't come from the incessant need to be good or perfect or focus on producing more and more and more. It makes me feel like a kid again. Also, I'm only realising this now but I'd rather get like 5 people who enjoy reading my works so much and express them to me rather than 100 people who silently thumbs up at me and then go away to consume another fic or demand more. (All this to say I still love interactions, it just shouldn't be my no. 1 priority to get them when writing fanfics.)

But yeah. None of those works are perfect. They're not meant to be. But they're mine. They're me. They represent me. And it's so, so great to feel that in writing. I've been so stuck up on being some sort of content machine. I'm doing this for myself, how could I forget? I've been saying this since the beginning, I don't know why I'm still struggling to do it. God. It's ridiculous.

Anyway. That's that. This has become a very long ramble. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk. And for letting me waste your time, if you make it to the end of this post.

#ramblings #personal #writing #i doubt anyone would bother reading this from start to finish but i needed somewhere to just Say Things and Let It Out

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marvelousazula · 9 months ago

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Thank you got calling out the bullshit about w@nd@ and the gargoyle that's supposedly her son. I haaate that the show and fandom is getting overtaken by them. Like we have QWOC and older queer women and yall want to drool over the whitewashed abuser and her white boy mini me? People once again gushing for m/m crap with that twerp and his bf when we might not even get a kiss from the canon f/f couple due to censorship? Ugh. Not even touching people villainixong Agatha immediately again.

So, I try to not be as vocal as I can be about how much I don't like Wanda and her stans, but here we go. I won't even tag her and such so don't come at me (or come, if you want). Little rant:

Yeah, like, I really, really don't like the way I'm seeing way too many people talking about him as if he's the main character of the show.

Like, yeah, sure, be excited about a character you like. I was jumping in joy when Carol showed up in the post credit scene of Ms. Marvel. I was talking about it on Twitter a lot but I also talked about the other stuff. I used to have a MCU side-blog and the majority of my posts weren't about that one thing. (Even if lots of my theories involved her since 1. The Marvels a movie I've been waiting and 2. she was one of the main characters in the direct sequel to Ms. Marvel). I still enjoyed the show for who the show was about even if my favorite character of the 'verse showed up + the series was very much connected to it.

(In the same vein, you don't need to consume every media with characters you like. I didn't watch WandaVision even if Monica was there.)

Agatha is the main character of the show, it's in the fucking name of the show. Sure, it's a trilogy and whatever (or so I heard), this part isn't about fucking Wanda, for fucks sake. It's Agatha All Along, not Wanda & Her Spontaneous Creations All Along.

But I knew it was going to happen. I've seen people tearing apart every non-Teen-is-Billy theory to shreds as if those were personally offensive. I'm sorry some people liked the theory that Teen was, somehow, the protagonist's kid. You know, because the protagonist is the character in which the story revolves around and the protagonist is the most important character because she's the FUCKING PROTAGONIST.

Queer representation is important, yup, and they fucked it up before (Loki anyone?). And the one in Eternals is almost a blink and you'll miss. But even if I'm not a lesbian/sapphic myself, I'm here like "come on, let the lesbians have this for ONCE". It was going so well, the jokes about lesbian witches and their emotional support emo twink, it was going so well.

I knew the moment that we had the identity reveal, the Wanda stans would be even louder and ruin the enjoyment of the others. I genuinely liked Teen and I still think that he was a pretty nice character before that fucking episode end – even if I wouldn't be surprised that he was manipulating them all this time, an evil little bitch like his mom (and that would be fun if it wasn't 1. for the twisted morals & 2. the fact that I ended up really liking Agatha).

About how they talk about Agatha: only Wanda is allowed to be mean, bitchy, evil, cruel and blame it all on her trauma. Every other villain? They're just evil. It's the kind of thing Ms. Volunteer-to-be-Experimented-on-by-HYDRA believes, considering her bullshit line to Strange.

Like, Wanda stans are really the fucking worse.

#anon ask #anti wanda maximoff #just to make sure the more reasonable wanda stans don't even see it

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voxofthevoid · 2 months ago

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I've been rereading a few of your other works and realized that you change pet names depending on the couple. Is this more for characterization of the character in canon (or in your fic) or just pet names that fit the character design?

It's a part of characterization! I rarely write characters who have romantic plotlines in canon, so there's usually not much to go off on when it comes to endearments. I pick what feels right. Though "pick" is sometimes very generous—like with a lot of my characterization choices, it flows when I write and I asses it subsequently.

I started out just following fandom trends, in all honesty. You'll find some dubious Google Translate Lithuanian in my Hannibal fics, for instance. Then I started trying out pretty generic endearments, and I'd say those are hit or miss in a lot of my earlier works.

Going from MCU to Bleach and then to JJK is what made me conscious of how I work in endearments as a part of characterization. With Steve and Bucky, you'll find a wild variety of modern pet names and a few old-fashioned ones I picked up from reading other fics set in the 1940s—I have no clue about the authenticity; I'm no expert on American culture, past or present. Sappy sweettalk just fits the way I write those two.

For Grimmjow and Ichigo, no endearments are used. Closest Grimmjow gets to it is "Kurosaki" in a slightly less violent tone, and Ichigo is...Ichigo. They'll insult each other plenty. That counts.

In JJK, it depends entirely on the ship. I generally don't have Yuuji using any, but in some role reversal scenarios, he calls Gojou "little god" with an even mix of fondness and condescension. The only standard pet name I have Gojou using is "sweetheart," but I have a whole system of specific titles he uses for Yuuji—"little tiger" and "little beast," usually, but also "little lamb" when it's thematically apt. Yuuji's tiger motif versus the sacrificial lamb vibes. When I'm writing sukuita, there are no endearments in the equation, but I'm deliberate about Sukuna not using Yuuji's name even in interior monologue—the only exception is a full name drop at narratively significant points, usually one per fic. For all other Yuuji ships I've tackled, I think none of the parties involved use any endearments.

Thanks for asking, anon! This was fun to lay out.

#i love my anons #anon #my writing

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stellar-solar-flare · 2 months ago

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Do you have any advice to someone who is new to the MCU Bucky and Steve writing? I've been in other fandoms but this one is so intimidating that I keep abandoning my fics because they don't ever seem good enough. Any advice would be amazing! Maybe you could share what types of fics you enjoy reading or wish you have read? Thank you!

Oh, I'm flattered you decided to ask me! First of all, writing and especially a writing process is something that is highly personal to each, so please don't treat anything I said as the gospel truth. Take what you feel like is useful to you and gleefully disregard the rest.

A summary: Write a lot, write with joy, read even more, comment and interact with others' stories, find writer friends.

I am not sure what about this fandom is specifically intimidating to you. If it's the 'oh everyone has already written what I want to write' then please don't be discouraged - just look at the size of the romance or crime section at any bookstore or library. There can never be too many stories on one trope or topic.

If it's the size of the fandom or the fact that there are some writers who have a large following, don't worry about that. Everyone has been super friendly (and block button is your friend if someone isn't) and comparison can truly take out the joy from writing like nothing else.

Speaking of: do not chase popularity. Do not set out to write with the intention of 'Oh people are going to love this fic' because writing can be intense and time-consuming, especially if you're writing multi-part stories, and if you choose what to write based on how people will react to it, it won't be fun. Especially since there's no such thing as feeling like now you have enough notes/reblogs/comments. It is absolutely and completely fine to want people to read your story and interact with it - that is me also. Fanfic is about sharing with the community. But setting out as popularity as your main goal is not a good idea for either your writing inspiration or your mental health.

In that vein, it can take time for people to notice and find new writers, and that's not about skill or quality of the fic, it's just about the fact that everyone is not always browsing the tags and they might not even see your fic in the beginning. Do timezone reblogs and comment reblogs and just keep writing.

(In order to not sound like hypocrite since I am very fortunate and lucky to feel like I am not just shouting into the void and people do interact with my stories: I have a 30-chapter, 150k+ Star Trek fic on AO3 that literally has one regular commenter. I never would've finished that if the writing and the story themselves didn't bring me such joy.)

Read as much as possible, both the fics in the fandom you want to write in (And comment! That's a great way to connect with the community and also make new writer friends that can be so helpful, as moral supports and beta readers and all that.) and books. It'll help your writing feel like it flows better and you also get familiar with the characterizations that the fandom generally agrees upon. You are absolutely free to deviate from those characterizations, of course, but knowing them makes you make more conscious decisions on that front.

As for the 'not good enough thing'. A literal Nobel Prize in Literature Winner (Maya Angelou) has described that she feels like an imposter. Inadequacy is a VERY common feeling among writers no matter the skill level. It doesn't mean your fics aren't good enough - it just means that you feel like that. I wish I had some magic snap of my fingers to give to you to get rid of it but hey, if you find one, just let me know. You'll always be more critical towards your own writing, not only because we humans tend to be more critical towards ourselves but also because you have seen all the phases of a finished piece of writing. You know where the bunny the magician pulls out is coming from. In others' work, you just see the bunny.

So above all, my advice to you would be to find out what you love writing about, and stick with that. Keep writing, keep finishing things, keep publishing fics. I started writing Steve x Reader fic because I wanted to read more stories that had Reader characters I could relate to and long plot-heavy fics with romance. I had no idea if anyone was even going to read anything I wrote but I still wrote. Find your thing because that sort of genuine passion towards the story will carry you the furthest.

I hope there was something you find useful or interesting or encouraging here. Feel free to send me another ask if you have any further questions or if I didn't answer your question well enough.

Also open invite to all my followers to add to this post!

#stella muses on writing #stella muses on fandom

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onewingedsparrow · 3 months ago

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Fandom peeps to get to know better

Tagged by @traveleorzea ! Thanks, friend! :D Last Song: The Mission Impossible Theme, the original and also the trailer theme from Final Reckoning. The latter hits me in the gut because the trailer theme's skillful arrangement of the iconic composition really sings, "We have come so far, so please stay with us unto the end, whatever it may chance to bring." Dead Reckoning made me thrill so hard, and laugh so hard, and cry, and yell...I remember running out of the theater, I was so amazed, so excited that movies today could still carry such deep themes with a character written and acted like Ethan Hunt in Dead Reckoning. I am beyond excited for the next part...and what looks like the finale of Ethan Hunt's impossible missions. I am so ready for Final Reckoning to do the same to me: make me thrill, and laugh, and cry, and yell. I can tell from the trailer that the story is not holding back. I can already sense some of the scenes that will happen, heartwrenching though they may be. And I'm so ready to go on this journey, whatever is ahead. I can hardly wait for May. Favorite Color: Rapid Blue in motorsports terms aka Champion's Blue in Zelda terms. 🔥 Last Book: What was the last book that I finished...? I don't know. But I'm currently in the middle of reading Darkblade Assassin by Andy Peloquin, which is quite fun! Imagine Assassin's Creed meets Jeritza von Hrym meets Castlevania, question mark on that last one because I'm still learning the mystery. I'm so invested. Last Movie x 2 ⤵️ Last good one: Last Breath. Loved the suspense. Loved the actual underwater cinematography. Very little use of CGI! Simu Liu being a grumpy character was entertaining after seeing him be goofy in other movies previously. Last bad one: Borderlands. Specifically to analyze what made it fall flat. It certainly did. The costume design and makeup was good though...makes me sad so much work was put into a movie that was so empty when it had so much narrative potential. It wasn't even a movie so bad that it was fun...it was just...hollow. It had some really cool moments, but then it downplayed what narrative weight it had, and therefore even the few cool moments lost their spark. I don't know how it executed this so...tremendously. But it was definitely fun to watch with a friend and make commentary over. Hehe. Last TV Show: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds...watched the first episode...sighed over the writing that was so determined to dump exposition instead of showing story. Sweet / Spicy / Savory: TRIPLE THREAT. I love things that are flavored with oomph. Last Thing I Searched for Online: These FE Heroes alts I love themmmmmmmmmmmm Look at her jumping rope with the flaming Sword of the Creator, what a silly goose. She contrasts his serious, sensible battle pose perfectly. And she finally gets black armor????? I made her a Dark Knight in my Crimson Flower playthrough so I screamed when I saw her Resplendent Design. It's about TIME SHE GOT TO LOOK COOL WITH DARK ARMOR TO CONTRAST HER FLAMES

Current Obsession: Fire Emblem. Not even one game, I've been Nerding out about ALL OF IT. There's so much care and passion poured into this franchise and Engage in particular is a testament to that. Fire Emblem balances a wacky wild multiverse but it makes it fun rather than tiresome (looking at you for the latter, MCU) through Heroes and Engage, and it just feels like a franchise that's celebrating being alive. Which, considering Awakening was supposed to be its last hurrah, is so beautiful to me. Fire Emblem is always about war and death but within those two things there always brims life and hope—just look to Marth, if you do not believe me—and the franchise's triumphant resurrection after the fittingly named Awakening that was supposed to end it all but only began a new birth of stories is a fourth-wall-breaking phenomenon that only upholds that very wonder, and the way the Emblems kindly speak to and exhort the young fighters in Engage shows how much the franchise takes its lifegiving impact on the real world seriously and in this essay I will— Looking Forward To: Big bang projects taking off. Spring and the flowers it brings. Motorcycles and sportscars emerging from hibernation once again. Meeting a long-ago friend for coffee. Meeting a not-so-long-ago friend to chat for hours once again. ;) More brainstorming and daydreaming an epic storyworld with my brother. So much. There is so much I am looking forward to. This world is crazy, and dark, and sad, and yet...there is so much I am looking forward to, all the same. I always like to add this one to this tag game as well, whenever I get a chance. Things I am Thankful For: My Father's provision when things look bleak. Bumblebee and what he means to me. A name so familiar, heard after so long. @mailrebel . Owl City. Sonic the freaking Hedgehog...I can't believe sometimes when things come full circle, like a loop de loop completed on Green Hill. Tagging @en-busca-de-mi-ikigai-blog @rubiarts @silentsafflina @louwhose @beyo-archives-and-shtuff @larissa-the-scribe @dragongirlie56 @annotated-catastrophe @itsyaboi-lehoe if you would like? :) Here's the template for whoever wants to play next:

Fandom peeps to get to know better

Last Song: Favorite Color: Last Book: Last Movie: Last TV Show: Sweet / Spicy / Savory: Last Thing I Searched for Online: Current Obsession: Looking Forward to: Things I am Thankful For:

#tag games #sparrow nerds about fire emblem #nerding about a lot of things really. so many good (and bad) stories i have thinking about lately

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notsolaris · 5 months ago

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(this is the longer old intro post, here's the condensed new one!)

nobody’s going to need this ever but i’m bored so i’m gonna make an introduction post thingy because why the hell not

some general stuff about me: my name’s solaris or sol, and i’m 16. i’m aroace and agenderflux, and any pronouns are fine (this includes neos, get creative if you want). there’s like an 80% chance i’ll follow you back if you follow me, and feel free to message me/send me asks or tag me in stuff :3

(more under the cut)

some not-so-general stuff about me, aka my interests (i’ll try and somewhat categorize this, there’s a fuck ton):

games/game-adjacent fandoms: fnaf, minecraft, evbo, grian’s life series, studio investigrave, little nightmares, mouthwashing, undertale, deltarune

books/movies: percy jackson, harry potter (yes i know, jkr’s a bitch, still like the series though), the chronicles of narnia, the hunger games, the 39 clues, star wars, pirates of the caribbean, the mcu, spiderverse, scarlet witch, young avengers, batfam, flash

(there’s plenty of other movies i’m into but they aren’t in series and if i listed them all it would make this part a lot longer so…i��m not going to)

shows: gravity falls, hannibal, doctor who, scott pilgrim, lego monkie kid, ramshackle, the amazing digital circus, arcane, heartstopper, danny phantom, hazbin hotel, helluva boss (another yes i know, i don’t like vivziepop but i do still like the shows)

music: tally hall, miracle musical, chonny jash, will wood, lemon demon, jhariah, vocaloid, will stetson, assorted musicals

non-fandom things i guess: singing, drawing, writing, my ocs i love them so much i am so normal about them, space, psychology, mountain dew, rubik’s cubes

i’m not really sure what else to put here so i’ll give a few fun facts about me :3

- i can solve a rubik’s cube in 15 seconds and have an overflowing box full of them.

- i have somewhere in the range of 40-50 hoodies. this is not an exaggeration, i don’t want to know how much i’ve spent on hoodies.

- my favorite colors are dark purple and dark green. think really dark, chances are what popped into your head isn’t dark enough.

- i am 5’0. i am tiny. it is very unfortunate, all my friends are taller and make fun of me.

- i collect things such as mountain dew bottles and cans, dnd dice, and playing cards. also star wars action figures from the 80s-90s that used to belong to my dad. and plushies. a lot of plushies.

- i took recorder lessons for six years.

if anyone actually read this, congratulations. you get a cookie :3

🍪

#sol’s ramblings

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saiilorstars · 1 year ago

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For Better Days | Ch.1: I Hate Camping

Fandom: MCU ○ Bucky Barnes x OFC

Story Summary: Chloe's forced to go camping with her brothers so Bucky decides to give her a few tips to survive...

Story Masterlist ○ Chloe's Masterlist○

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet@averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @caplanbuckybarnes

[If you’d like to be a part of any OC’s works/edits, let me know!]

His head was always clouded. In fact, Bucky couldn't really remember a moment where his head wasn't fuzzy and at a loss for coherent thoughts. Even after escaping HYDRA and freeing himself of their brainwash, he only ever felt real clarity a handful of times. And there was always one common denominator across all the individual moments.

"If you stare any harder, she'll burst into flames." Sam was smirking from ear to ear when Bucky met his eye. "You know, with that cyborg stare of yours…it could happen."

"Shut up, Sam," Bucky muttered. And then to lessen Sam's point, he turned away from Chloe and Sam's sister Sarah. Unfortunately, Sam had followed him to the porch steps and sat down with him.

"It's really not that hard, you know. I would think that after everything you've been through, asking some girl out would be easy-peasy, you know." Sam's smirk had not diminished in any way.

"I don't need your tips, Sam," Bucky said quietly. As much as he fought, he wasn't able to resist the urge to gaze ahead of them again.

Chloe was talking to Sarah and seemed pretty chippy about whatever their conversation was about. Bucky wouldn't say it but he could stare at Chloe for hours.

In the next minute or so, Chloe and Sarah started heading towards the house.

"Anything you need from us, just let me know, alright?" Sarah had gone up the porch steps, narrowly missing Sam's attempt to poke her leg.

Chloe had stopped in front of the steps, slipping her hands in her back pockets. "I will. Thanks, Sarah."

"What are you two up to?" Sam asked suspiciously when his sister had gone inside the house.

"She was giving me camping tips," Chloe said, leaving both Sam and Bucky confused. She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what they were thinking. "My stupid brothers want to go camping."

"And you stupidly said yes?" Bucky said with a much too innocent smile. She pointed a finger at him, warning him to watch his words. Bucky laughed lightly. "Sorry, I just don't exactly see you as the camping type."

"I'm not," Chloe agreed, flatly. "But since I've blown them off so many times now, there's no way out of it." She pulled her hands from her back pickets and crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, I think I'll be dead by the end of this camping trip. I know squat about camping, which they'll take full advantage of."

"That they will," Sam nodded. "We'll miss you."

"Be quiet, Sam," Chloe muttered.

"Yeah, be quiet Sam," Bucky said as he stood up from his spot. "Chlo, let me help you out. I can teach you a few things before you head out."

"Really?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you leaving too?"

"My flight was pushed back to tomorrow so I have all of today."

"Yeah, and he wants to take full advantage of it," Sam said with a wide smirk. Bucky looked over his shoulder in a rather murderous way.

Shut up.

Chloe was none the wiser of the brewing murder plot so she accepted Bucky's help. "Guess it wouldn't hurt but if you make fun of me, I'll shoot you."

Bucky smiled at her fondly. There was no way she could make the shot but he'd still let her take it.

With a few things from the Wilsons' shed, the camping 101 crash course started. Chloe reiterated how the whole damn thing was beyond stupid. Who needed camping anyways?

Bucky found it amusing the way she didn't run out of things to hate on in regards to camping. "Dollface, you were an Avenger — a fugitive at some point — and camping is what seems like a challenge?"

"Don't laugh, Bucky Barnes!" Chloe pointed a finger at him the moment his lips twitched. Said finger started glowing blue, giving Bucky a good idea of what was to come if she decided that he was laughing at her.

"Alright, alright, come here," he motioned her to follow him. "If you're going to do traditional camping, then you're gonna have to learn how to set up a tent."

"I hate tents," went Chloe flatly.

Bucky's back was still to her so hiding his smile, almost laugh, was easy that time. "Yes, but you're gonna want a tent if you plan to sleep. Unless you're doing sleep bags outside."

"There's no fucking way I'm doing that!" Chloe said, appalled. "I'll actually murder my brothers then."

"Then let's practice setting up a tent." Bucky had done them the favor of taking out the tent pieces from the shed and left them on the ground. "It's a good thing the Wilsons love their camping too."

"Mhm…" Chloe eyed the pieces with disdain. "So where do I start or whatever?"

"Well, first you would want to make sure the area you pick to put your tent in is flat, alright?" Bucky looked back at Chloe, dead serious now. She nodded with him.

"Flat ground, got it. What's next?"

"A tarp on the ground before you set anything up." Bucky pointed at the folded tarp next to her.

"Why?" She reached over to pick it up.

"Keeps moisture out."

Chloe's nose crinkled with disgust. "Moisture? Eugh, what did I get talked into doing!" She groaned and slapped the tarp against her face.

Bucky chuckled then, and to his surprise Chloe didn't try to shoot him. He gently took the tarp off her face and assured her that it wasn't that bad.

After putting the tarp down on the ground, Bucky showed Chloe the tent poles they had to put up. Chloe felt her head spin when he started showing her the corresponding flaps in the tent. She had to slid the poles into the right ones or the whole thing would be messed up.

Bucky showed her how to do the first one then let her do the second one. She nearly ripped the fabric from frustration.

"Eugh, I hate this!" She was shoving the tent pole through the flap but it kept getting stuck so she had to pull it out and try all over again.

Bucky came around beside her and stopped her altogether with a hand over her wrists. "Let me show you again," he said, absolutely calm and patient.

Chloe let go of everything and watched him redo what she'd been trying and got it done so easily. "You're good at this stuff," she said with a faint smile on her face. "And you're a good teacher."

Bucky pretended to be solely focused on what his hands were working with because the alternative was looking at Chloe and therefore revealing the stark red blush on his face. "It just comes with experience," he said after clearing his throat. "The days of a soldier — the good one."

Chloe didn't miss the way he was quick to clarify what side of himself he spoke about — the urgency, really, like she would automatically assume that every part of his past was the Winter Soldier. She often hoped that one day he wouldn't feel compelled to always have to clarify his "good" and "bad" parts of life.

Eventually, the tent was built and although Chloe knew that she could've helped more, Bucky assured her that she had done it in the end. A pure lie since he was the one who set it up but there was no winning against that guy.

"Now taking it apart—"

"Will be my brothers' jobs," Chloe said decisively. Feeling Bucky's side-glance, she met it with a smirk. "I'm the little sister. They gotta do something for me, right?"

With that face, anyone would do everything for you. Bucky's face warmed at his thoughts. He quickly moved onto a different skill. Campfire set-up.

For that, they ventured a little further from the Wilsons' residence. On their walk, Bucky explained to Chloe what she needed to look out for.

"You're gonna want to find dead, dry wood. Nothing bendy and definitely nothing moist which means fresh wood us out too, got it?"

"Got it," Chloe affirmed and helped him find the right pieces of wood.

They started making a small pile of woods with the intention of lighting it when they were done. Bucky went into deep details about how to set the wood properly and how to light it.

"I hear you, I do," Chloe started, bringing her hands up from her sides, "But I could also just do this." She shot a ray of a psionic blast at the logs and started the fire.

Bucky deadpanned her grinning face (which was kind of cute). "That's not proper camping," he pointed at her.

"But I got the fire going," Chloe retorted. "Isn't that what we wanted?"

"You're cheating!"

"But is it actually cheating or is it me working smarter not harder?"

"Chlo, c'mon…" But Bucky was chuckling, which made Chloe start to do the same…which just meant the seriousness of the situation was gone and that she was ultimately right.

After properly learning how to put out the fire — without the use of powers — the two started heading back to Sam's place. Bucky still had some tips to hand out, like what she should bring, the things she shouldn't bring, what she should wear…

"I'm only going for a few days," she reminded him. "Any more than that and I'd personally hang my brothers."

Bucky chuckled at her. "So how'd you even get roped into this? You don't strike me as the camping type." She wasn't at all.

"It was my brothers' idea. Bonding or whatever," Chloe shook her head. "As if we couldn't do that at a restaurant or something. Even like a proper cabin and stuff. Ever been to Big Bear in California?"

Bucky gave a shake of his head. "Not really."

"That's my kind of camping, not sleeping-inside-a-tent shit." Chloe continued to complain all the way back to the Wilsons'.

She plopped down on the porch steps and motioned Bucky to do the same with her. He of course had no protests against the idea.

"I would much rather help you and Sam out on your missions. Aren't you guys headed to, like, Quebec?"

"I think so, yeah," Bucky said then laughed at Chloe's put-out reaction. "No need to get all grumpy, doll. It's not like we're going out there to have fun. You're the one who gets to go and relax, so have fun."

"You and I have very different ideas of what having fun is," Chloe said dead seriously, leading Bucky to laugh again.

"If your definition of having fun is going on a mission in the middle of nowhere, then I fear we do…"

Chloe shot him a look but in a few seconds it dissolved and she was smiling at him…which then made him do the same. Her smiles were always infectious.

"I would still rather be with you — and Sam!" Chloe's face flushed immediately as she heard her own mistake. "With you and Sam on your mission, I meant…" She cleared her throat and looked straight ahead. What she would give for the ground to open up and swallow her whole right now…

Luckily, Bucky didn't seem to notice her 'grave mistake'. He reiterated that a nice camping trip was still the better choice. Chloe agreed to disagree and before she could make a fool of herself again, her phone rang in her pocket.

"I'll leave you to that," Bucky said and stood up from the steps. "Hungry?"

Chloe nodded at him. "A bit."

"I'll see what they have going on in the kitchen. Don't be long — it's getting cold out here."

Chloe chuckled. Bucky didn't feel cold the same way she and the others did, what with the serum and all. Still, he was always attentive to the weather for their sake — for her sake. She was no stranger to his sweaters and jackets when they happened to be outside in a chilly moment. She loved his attentiveness, making her feel quite the special girl…not that she would ever say it out loud.

"Hello?" Chloe answered the phone before her thoughts got away from her too much.

"Hey! I was just about to hang up. You took forever to answer!" Seren Soul was on the other line and much like always, she was very cheery.

"Sorry, I was, uh, getting some camping 101…" Chloe looked back at the house and saw the front door was shut. Bucky was long gone.

"Ah, so you couldn't get out of it then? You'll be camping with your brothers?"

"Horrific, I know," Chloe said with a sigh. "And me, the worst camper in history. I'm sure they'll be ganging up on me. It's what brothers do, especially older ones."

"Times like these, I'm glad to be an only child!"

Chloe smiled dryly. "You want one? I have two so I can definitely spare one."

Seren laughed. "No, no, I'm good. I like my life just the way it is."

"Mm, I bet you do," Chloe smiled. She could hear the faint hollering of kids in the background. "Sounds like you have a show going on over there…"

Seren hummed. "Oh, you know. With a five year old and a toddler in the house, Steve and I barely get a moment of peace. What you're hearing right now is a rendition of Frozen. For the third time today."

It was Chloe's turn to laugh. "Record and send please. You know I love my God-children."

"Will do! So I was just calling to see if you still need me to pick you up at the airport?"

"Yes, if you still can of course. I need to get packing asap. Sort of left it for the last minute."

"Of course you did. What about Bucky? Steve said he had a mission in Quebec or something? Is he not coming back to New York first?'

"He's flying out tomorrow instead. Apparently, his flight got delayed. But the mission's still on. Wish I could join them instead of this camping stuff."

"Right, and it totally has nothing to do with the fact you'd be spending the whole week with Bucky instead of your brothers, right?"

Chloe could hear the smirk on Seren's face. "You don't know what I'd rather do than camping. Don't underestimate my hatred for camping, Seren."

"Oh, I don't, but I also know you'd rather be with Bucky 24/7."

"I'm gonna hang up now."

"Oh c'mon! All I have at home right now is Let It Go and a stupid snowman going 'I've been impaled' on repeat. Give me something, Chloe!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to give, Seren. We've been over this many times."

"Yes, so I don't understand what keeps getting lost in the conversations. It's quite simple, really. You like Bucky. Bucky likes you. See? Simple."

Chloe snorted. "I know you of all people are not telling me about having feelings for someone when you literally spent how long denying your feelings for your current husband?"

"Well take it as someone with experience, then," said Seren. "You should tell him. I mean, you guys are at this secluded place, right?"

"You mean Sam's family home? Where Sam and his sister and his nephews live? You see the problem, right?"

"Yes, okay, but truthfully there's not gonna be a right moment and I feel like you're just prolonging this. Bucky too. It's so obvious that it's painful to watch."

"Goodbye, Seren." Chloe was prepared to end the call right there when Seren shouted at her to wait.

"I bug you with the best intentions," she said as a weak apology. "I'm your best friend. I'm just trying to help you out. Sorry."

"I know you are," sighed Chloe. Seren would never do anything malicious. Chloe wasn't even sure Seren could do something of the sort. "But it's a lost cause."

"Mm, I wouldn't be so sure, Chloe. But I'm gonna have to put a pause on the conversation. One of my kids is making eyes at my bookshelf…"

Chloe chuckled. "Good luck with that."

"Ditto! Gotta go!" Seren hung up shortly after, leaving Chloe to dwell on the conversation and her thoughts.

Eventually, Chloe gathered herself up and went back inside to have her last dinner with the Wilsons and Bucky. She struggled to take her mind off Seren's words whenever she glanced at Bucky. He was damn cute when he interacted with Sam's nephews. He was clueless around them but that was the charming part. She liked watching him trying to be him — carefree and simply trying to live. He deserved the opportunity and much more. Which was why she often re-decided to keep her feelings to herself. She didn't want to add any kind of stress to his life and his new journey to build himself up again. What she wanted most was to see him happy and if she had to do it as his friend, then so be it. It was a small price to pay for his happiness.

~ 0 ~

The following week, Bucky counted each day that passed by like his life depended on it. Never had time gone by so slowly. Despite the fact he spent half the week in Quebec on a mission, time still managed to pass by so damn slow. He knew why, he just didn't admit to it out loud…not that it stopped Sam from teasing him about it. The fact that Chloe was camping and completely away from technology wasn't supposed to hit him that badly. It was like a dry spell.

Time was when he lived in Wakanda, he had to go days — weeks even — without contact from Chloe (and the rest of their friends). Now he was so used to having Chloe at a simple call away that it seemed outrageous to have gone almost a week without hearing from her.

On the day that she was supposed to be back in the city, he got a message from Steve in the evening. He was supposed to go to some bar down in Manhattan. Bucky didn't think twice. For once, it looked like Steve was playing the wingman.

When Bucky stepped inside the bar, his eyes immediately scoured the area for his — Chloe. He scoured the area for Chloe. It didn't take long for him to spot the gorgeous blonde sitting at the bar counter with their friends Seren and Steve. She looked so happy, not to mention crazy beautiful. She was wearing a dark dress hugging her body so nicely…

His feet walked before he even thought about it. It was Steve's voice that broke him out of his trance — he was greeting.

"You and Sam didn't kill each other!" He clapped Bucky on the shoulder.

"Don't sound so sad about it," Bucky mumbled. His eyes barely left Chloe when he greeted Steve and Seren. "How was the camping?" He asked Chloe, who immediately snorted.

"Peachy," she said, raising her glass up at him. "I should have gone to Quebec with you."

Bucky half smiled at her. "That bad, eh?"

"Get a drink, it'll be a long night by the time I've finished telling you everything my dumbass brothers did to me."

Bucky's smile spread. He would've laughed had Chloe not been so serious. That, however, didn't stop Seren and Steve from laughing.

"Shut it you two," Bucky warned the couple.

"I think we're no longer needed here, honey," Seren whispered to Steve. He agreed with a hum and took out a few bills to cover their bill.

"We'll be seeing you two," Steve said, slipping out of his stool. He took his wife's hand and walked away.

Neither Chloe nor Bucky seemed to mind — they barely noticed them leave.

"So," Bucky sat next to Chloe, "how bad was it, really?"

Chloe had a tight smile on her face when she answered. She hated camping before, but now she detested it. Camping was useless to her. Pointless.

Bucky let her go on until she literally ran out of things to say. He thought the whole thing was funny. Chloe was a bit of a drama queen — he loved that about her and he would never change that — so he knew the camping couldn't have been that bad. Sure, her brothers may have messed with her but not to the extent that she swore up and down by.

After a few more drinks, Bucky decided it was time to cut her off. She didn't seem drunk but it was better to quit while they were ahead. She didn't mind, especially when he asked if he could walk her home.

Screw the drinks, Chloe immediately thought and was getting up from her stool before Bucky even offered to pay for their drinks.

They were soon on the street heading for Chloe's apartment. Bucky shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Chloe's shoulders, earning a soft smile from her in return.

"Thank you," she said and held the jacket closer around her.

"So how bad was the camping trip really?" he asked her.

"Bad," Chloe groaned, making him laugh. "I'm being serious. I got a ton of bug bites! I'm pretty sure I touched something I was allergic to because I got a wicked rash on my foot!"

Bucky laughed again. "What, were you walking barefoot or something?"

"Ha, ha," Chloe mimicked his laugh before shooting him a sharp glance. "I'll have you know that I saw a spider and I bolted."

"So you were walking barefoot?"

"Running, if we're being technical."

"You're lucky all you got was a rash, then. You never walk barefoot in the woods!"

"Don't you think I know that!? I got scared!"

"Of a spider?" Bucky teased her. "You have been through hell with missions and you are still afraid of spiders?"

Chloe couldn't take his laughter. She pulled his jacket off her shoulders and used it to smack him with it in the middle of the street. Bucky's laughter actually got louder instead.

"Alright, alright, I surrender!" He said with his hands covering his head. Chloe was smug at her victory and stopped hitting him. "So much for all the Winter Soldier training…" He mumbled under his breath and gazed at Chloe fondly. She was still semi-glaring at him but a little smile was trying to overshadow it. He reached over and took his jacket from her and placed it over her shoulders again. "Okay, I'm done now. I promise."

Chloe still did her best to keep glaring at him. "I could shoot you right now…"

"And I could take it…right now," he copied her with a smug smile. She rolled her eyes. He chuckled. "I'm done." He tugged his jacket closer around her, and in the process her body to his. "You know I'd let you win any day."

"This doesn't sound like you're 'done' to me…"

"I had one more, sorry."

"You're still taking me home?"

"You know it." Bucky let her go and instead took her hand in his. He didn't often touch her and when he did, he always tried to do it with his flesh hand. Especially these days and nights when it was colder, he didn't want to add on to the coolness. Chloe never said a thing, though. She loved any of his touches, no matter how minimal they were (and they usually were).

They walked the rest of the way without bickering and hitting. Chloe finished telling Bucky about the rest of her camping experience and declared that she would never, ever, go back to such a horrid thing.

"Think I've never heard someone hate camping so much," Bucky said with a chuckle.

Chloe reached her apartment door first and searched for her keys in her purse. "There are just so many other great things to do, Bucky. Why would I ever want to go back to the dirt and sleep on the ground?"

Bucky rolled his eyes and watched her unlock the door. "I guess I'll leave you to it, then…"

"What?" Chloe looked at him quickly. "I thought…I mean — do you want to come in? You haven't told me about your mission in Quebec."

"I haven't…" Bucky agreed. He would take any excuse to spend more time with her. He let Chloe tug him inside the apartment like he didn't have super strength. He'd let her lead him any time and anywhere.

Chloe took his jacket off and handed it back to him. "Oh, you know what? I have something of yours here too. Give me a sec!" She hurried off into the hallway, disappearing for all of two minutes before coming back with another familiar jacket in her arms — a few of them. "Think I've been making you a spot in my closet or something."

Bucky hadn't even realized she'd been accumulating his things but he remembered each and every one of his jackets draped over her shoulders. Every time they were out somewhere and he thought it was chilly, he would give her whatever he was wearing to cover herself up.

"Anyways, thanks for letting me borrow them," Chloe put the jackets on the table for the moment. "Don't worry. They've all been washed."

"Doll, you did not have to do that," Bucky said, making her chuckle. He wouldn't mind having some of his things smelling like her.

"I know, but what kind of friend would I be if I returned everything all dirty?"

He watched her set his pile of clothes on the table for him. His heart was yearning for her. "Well, why don't I thank you for the gesture? Maybe some dinner tomorrow somewhere nice?"

Chloe heard the question and for a second wondered if she was jumping to conclusions because it very well sounded like a…

"Like a…a date?" She had tried saying it boldly but her voice had shaken in the end. She tucked some hair behind her ear and looked at him nervously.

Bucky gave a firm nod of his head. "A date." Why not? He already made a fool of himself plenty of times before, so what was one more time if it meant he could go out on a date with the prettiest girl in the world?

"Okay," Chloe nodded, smiling with an even darker blush on her face. "Yeah, I'd love that. Um, yeah!" She bounced excitedly and threw her arms around Bucky, laughing with him.

He loved hearing her so happy and he wanted to keep being the reason for it. He passed his flesh hand on her cheek, taking the moment to gaze at her. "You're real pretty, doll."

Chloe smiled from ear to ear. Even though her nerves were making her heart race intensely, she couldn't be any happier. "And you're very handsome…" She retorted, reaching for his other arm — the metal one — and brought it around her waist. Her sharp look was that of a challenge in the face of Bucky's hesitance. "I like you all," she said bravely and after a few more seconds of boldness, she added: "And I love you all."

Bucky blinked a few times at her. His lips parted several times but each time he was unable to say a word. How could she be more brave than him?

His metal hand gripped her waist and sighed. "I love you but you are way more than I deserve."

"No," Chloe said, still smiling, "We are exactly what we deserve." She leaned forward, touching noses. "Now I know you're all about being proper but what's it going to take to get a little kiss from you before the date?"

Bucky chuckled lightly. "Not much if I'm being honest."

"Ooh, I like that answer…"

"Yeah?"

Chloe chuckled with him. "Yeah!"

"Already off to a good start then…" Bucky mumbled and pressed his lips against hers. He could hear Chloe's giggle against his own lips and by God, it felt even better reverberating against his skin.

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alicesadventuresinffxiv · 9 months ago

Text

What are the most popular F/F Final Fantasy XIV ships?

(*on AO3, as of October 13, 2024)

I like writing femslash, so while I was doing the FFxivWrite challenge, I had the thought: wouldn’t it be fun to try writing each of the top 10 most popular FFXIV F/F ships?

I figured it would be a good way for me to learn to write characters I wasn’t used to, plus hopefully it would mean some of the well-liked but rarely-written pairings would get more fic for them!

But then I ran head-first into the question: what are those F/F ships? I hit some interesting challenges attempting to figure that out, so here’s a post about how I reached my answer!

First things first: I’m using AO3 stats for this analysis, entirely because AO3 has the most robust searching and filtering tools. Trying to wrangle this kind of analysis on tumblr or twitter would be a nightmare, as much as I’d love to know the answer on those sites!

Second, let’s quickly double check my assumption that F/F ships are indeed rarepairs in this fandom.

Yep, if you’re at all familiar with @centrumlumina's work on AO3 stats (which this analysis is somewhat inspired by ^^;), this is exactly in line with general fandom trends! For reasons that I understand intellectually but not in my heart, F/F fics tend to hover at around 6% of AO3 output overall.

Interestingly, this small slice of femslash makes FFXIV more similar to large, broad fandoms like the MCU or MHA (pictured above), and less similar to other online multiplayer videogame fandoms (pictured below). You might think that given its friendly reputation, FFXIV would attract more women and/or LGBTQ+ players and therefore have a higher proportion of femslash. But nope!

(Admittedly, pitting FFXIV against the fandom that contains Arcane feels a little unfair... :P)

So alright, with that out of the way, let’s start by doing the obvious thing. Hey AO3, what are the top 10 relationship tags when searching FFXIV on the F/F category?

[Note: Since the Warrior of Light is typically written as the author’s original character - especially in cases with multiple WoLs - I am combining the WoL/WoL and WoL/OC tags together.]

If you’ve been in FFXIV spaces for a while, you probably already guessed the #1 result! But as someone relatively new to the fandom, I was actually quite surprised. None of my previous fandoms had nearly this much focus on original characters!

Indeed, WoL/NPC ships and OC/ OC ships absolutely dwarf the numbers for any NPC/NPC ships, with the exception of the three largest M/M pairings (Aymeric/Estinien, Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus, and Thancred/Urianger). Also, given that not everyone tags their OCs using either of the WoL or OC tags (ack! please use tags, your works get lost otherwise!)… you can always expect results for OCs to be an undercount. Woah!

Anyway, since WoL ships are so huge, I decided it made the most sense to give them their own list:

Another thing that surprised me is that male characters in FFXIV are so many times more popular than female characters that genderbent M/M pairings will show up in these F/F lists.

And… I wasn’t quite sure how to count those ships in my tallies.

On the one hand, genderbending (not to mention trans headcanoning-ing!) characters is a fun and often subversive way to approach popular ships. More power to everyone doing it!

On the other hand, part of the underlying motivation for my own writing goal was that I wanted to write pairings that fandom somewhat overlooks.

As such, I went with a compromise: I’m including pairings with canonically male characters in my graphs (those are the pink bars), but I kept the lists going until I reached 10 pairings involving characters who are portrayed as women in the source material.

(There were no nonbinary FFXIV characters which placed on any of my lists, sadly. Apologies to Feo Ul, who is still the loveliest of branches in my heart.)

Other than that caveat, the results here aren’t too far off from my own guesses. Anecdotally, I’d seen that a lot of WoLs are self-inserts for their players, so it makes sense that typical WoL ships are with NPCs that are generally considered to be attractive by the fanbase. Correspondingly, the Reader/Character fics that are somewhat common in other fandoms don’t even rank on these lists, which might suggest WoL/NPC ships are largely fulfilling that niche.

(Something something, FFXIV is a dating sim with combat, in this essay I will…. :P)

Anyway, WoL ships are nice, but what I actually wanted to write were NPC/NPC ships. So let’s add a bunch more excludes to the filtering… and…

Hm. That's interesting. There's a bunch of F/F ships that I know I’ve seen fic and art for that are missing from this list!

Out of curiosity, I did a few searches specifically on these missing pairings, in case they were so rarely tagged as purely F/F (or so commonly shipped alongside a WoL ship) that trying to find them via excludes didn’t work. These were:

Alisaie/Tesleen (20 total, 13 tagged F/F)

Krile/Tataru (14 total, 7 tagged F/F)

Ysayle/Heustienne (5 total, 5 tagged F/F)

Wuk Lamat/Sphene (4 total, 4 tagged as F/F)

[Note: The first number is what I used during the writing challenge last month… which is how I ended up putting Krile/Tataru over Lucia/Hilda. Oops! But the second number is more in line with the rest of the analysis here, so I will use that going forward.]

Seems my expectations were flat-out incorrect! Of these four, only Alisaie/Tesleen makes the top ten. Meanwhile Wuk Lamat/Sphene is a pairing consisting of very new characters... so perhaps it will grow over time!

Right then, let's add Alisaie/Tesleen in, and while we're at it, let's run direct searches on all the potential candidates rather than using excludes to ensure no fics are getting needlessly thrown out.

With those adjustments in place... I reached my final top ten!

Not bad! Predictably, pairings that get more focus in canon (Gaia/Ryne and Sadu/Cirina) tend to place high, as do pairings involving Y’shtola (since she’s a very popular character overall).

As a Lyse-enjoyer, I found Lyse getting 3/10 spots on the list to be pretty funny, as was the heavy presence of Stormblood characters! Apparently I’m not the only one who thought StB was a good expansion for lesbians. :D

There are also a few pairings here that I hadn’t ever considered before doing this analysis. But hey, that was the point of making the list! And trying to figure out the dynamics for pairings I didn’t usually ship did indeed turn out to be a fun writing exercise last month.

So what do you all think, tumblr? Did the results surprise you like they did me? Or did I overlook a pairing that really deserved to be included?

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading this analysis!

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite #ffxiv analysis #fandom stats #fanfic #wolship #femslash #wlw #my ramblings #read more #I was thinking of analyzing race/ethnicity stats too #but boy oh boy attempting that would be like...#multiple nested cans of worms #if there's interest I might make an attempt though!#also it looks like I owe everyone a lucia/hilda fic sometime #hehe

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