#actually put my thoughts in the post and not the tag for once XD

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 6

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Here we are on book 2!

I took a couple days off because my body was perishing (read: my uterus was being a little bitch) but I am back :D

Today's tea is an apple crumble with milk and sugar and my little reading buddy (Charlie) has returned for this chapter Extra Needy and sporting his new necktie.

Let's get into this long chapter:

And we start three years later! I was wondering if there was going to be a time jump and there is! :) p9

Why is everyone so thirsty in this world RE: Ning YingYing p10

Oh dang. I really want to know what's making people melt into skeletons p13

Shen Qingqiu is such a vibe" I know I am physically useless, but i'm also a walking encyclopedia so I bring that to the party" p14 honestly same

So many corpses in the water!! p18

Oh shit, what the heck Wu Chen's legs? p22

RE: Wu Chen I did lol at "Great Master, you call this a bit uncomfortable?!" p 22

this totally feels more like a curse than a standard plague p24

why am I laughing so hard at "fuck me, with this speed, they wouldn't lose to a runner doing the 100-metre hurdles! 'Old Lady'? Yeah right! I must be blind!"p26

oooo! Gongyi Xiao is back! p28

Baby is back too!! Luo Binghe! pp29-31

omg and now there is a height difference! Shen qinqgiu being the smol one p32

Re: on the subject of thinking it was a curse like 15 pages ago, it is not a curse. I don't know why I thought it would be literally anything other than demons LOL this is the plot of the entire fictional universe of this book p37

Luo Binghe still only has eyes for Shen Qingqiu- even after being tossed into hell p38

I truly love the inner monologue of Shen Qingqiu's thoughts vs what people just kind of assume he's feeling. SQQ: Luo Binghe has brainwashed these disciples, he is definitely coming for me, I am fucked. Everyone else: this poor man misses his student so much, he is so hurt that Luo Binghe didn't go back to him.

LOL at Luo Binghe's hatefire at seeing SQQ and Gongyi Xiao bonding together p42

I can't XD SQQ: I have a huge announcement guys, Luo Binghe is back!!!! Everyone else: who tf is that? RIP p44

no shit that demonic activity increasing in frequency is 100% indeed a bad omen. p47

I'm crying SQQ thinks Luo BInghe is about to kill him p48

not the magpie bridge reference p50

This man is just crushing his windpipe for funsies -> why do I feel like this is their dynamic? p50

SQQ is actually an idiot. This fool is continuously operating under the assumption that nothing in the story has changed and the original story is guaranteed. If he heard these words and responded appropriately he'd probably be fine RE: "Then why did you tell me not to put too much weight on race and that no one is intolerable to the heavens" p55

Goddamn is Luo Binghe just going to keep beating the shit out of SQQ?? pp57-59

He really made him drink his blood (side note: when this is all said and done, I need to read some vampire aus) What even is that blood going to do to him?? (do not actually tell me, I assume I will find out soonish) p59

I am once again here to talk about how utterly Fucked SQQ is. He still has 0 idea that Luo Binghe has absolutely claimed him p65

Oh dang. Still, even after all this, SQQ has not shaken his original fate of being hated p69

Bro should have let Qi Qingyi finish that sentence. Re: out of his mind with grief" also probably would have changed some things (even if he was embarrassed as hell) p71

omg so much happening in this scene rn AND then Shen Qingqiu's ex shows up out of no where?!?!?!?!??!!? p73

this man truly cannot catch a break p75

holy shit not even his ex- his wife??????? p75

oop, we have SQQ backstory reveal p77

But also with this reveal: it's a little weird for her though. Like her family takes in this kid from the street, makes him a servant. He continues to serve them, his "family" starts to view him a sibling, AND THEN they get betrothed (not married). Like what. This is wild poor guy- weird because sibling dynamics, also he was their servant. I think she is the weird one honestly. p77

okay, well, he did kill her brother LOL p78

the water prison does not sound good. p81

he really wants to try and last a month there??? best of luck buddy, he cant even handle riding in a carriage without a snack p85

Bonus picture with no notes!

I'm actually so excited for the water prison- it sounds vile, but I need to know how he get's out/how his relationship with Luo Binghe progresses.

[awwyeah107]

2023 Fic Recs

Hello and welcome to my GIANT fic recs from 2023 post :)

I have been utterly obsessed with Tolkien’s works this entire year, and I’ve read more fanfiction in one year than I ever have before. My primary fandom this year was Tolkien, and I’m honestly rather astonished that it’s held my attention as long as it has, especially considering that this is a “recurring” hyperfixation (aka, this is not the first time I’ve had this hyperfixation).

So buckle up, ‘cause this is going to be a crazy long ride. The vast majority of these fics are Tolkien fics, but I’ve got a couple of non-Tolkien fics at the very end, and overall there's about 90-ish fics here in this bad boy XD

For each fic, I’ll give a one-sentence summary and then my thoughts on the fic!

I’m sorting them into oneshots, multi-chapter fics, series, in-progress stories, and misc & non-Tolkien fics. Within those sections, I'll loosely group them by various qualifiers like characters, time periods, and locations.

Intro: What to Expect & Fics Legend

Expect: Lots of fluff, lots of angst. Mostly genfic. Mostly Silmfics featuring or focused on kidnap fam, Fëanorians, Halenthir, Arafinwëons. Some Lord of the Rings and/or Hobbit characters are featured, so if you aren’t familiar with The Silmarillion, there are definitely fics that include characters a non-Silm reader would know. Most fics are rated T, with a few rated M.

Do not expect: Stories with a focus on romantic!Russingon (or any other first cousins x cousins ships—those really give me the ick), smut, or really gory or dark stories. No E-rated fics (with one *singular* exception where I did not know it was E-rated at first and only has a few E-rated scenes that can be skipped).

Fics Legend/Key These emojis are used to denote any stories that do have the following elements, and I’ll do my best to put appropriate warnings/mentions of certain potentially triggering topics as well, when needed.

🔒 Fic only available to AO3 users

⚠️ Features smut (skippable/not essential to the story or the focus of the story)

*️⃣ Features background/non-primary romantic!Russingon

🩸 Features somewhat graphic violence and/or heavy topics (including abuse and severe trauma or mental illness)

As I said, I’ll do my best to put appropriate warnings. However, a) there’s some stuff that just comes with the territory; Tolkien does not shy away from violence and trauma, and b) this is such a long list that I honestly may not remember if some of them apply to certain stories. Most if not all the stories do have content warnings given by the author as appropriate/necessary, so if I miss something, the author and/or the fic tags should tell you about it. My apologies if I do miss anything.

I will tag authors who are here on Tumblr; I've included multiple fics by the same authors, so I will only tag each author once.

Also, this may go without saying, but I feel like it does need saying: Your mileage may vary with these fics, especially those that are not particularly fluffy. For example, I don’t like romantic!Russingon, but I’m willing to read some stories with them in the background. I also don’t like smut, so I don’t read stories that prominently feature it, but if I’m already enjoying a story and I come across it, I will skip it. Same kind of thing with intense violence—I’ll skip or skim what I need to. So, read what you’re comfortable with, and don’t read or skip what you aren’t.

I want to give a massive thank-you to all of the fic authors, all of the people posting meta, and all of the artists out there. I was inspired to re-read The Silmarillion (for the third time) this year, and I highly doubt I would’ve been able to actually get myself to do that without all of the amazing stories and musings and art out there that drove me back to the canon we all love. So thank you ❤️

Oneshots

Haleth x Caranthir (Halenthir)

She is the Sunlight by @dreamingthroughthenoise (aka Alantie)🔒 - Caranthir and Haleth have a hike and a conversation. When I saw the title of this fic, I immediately thought of the Trading Yesterday song with the same name—and it turns out, the fic was named after the song, which fits Caranthir/Haleth as a ship so well! The fic itself is (bitter)sweet and beautiful, and I really enjoyed it.

easily sever what was never one by vauquelin - Haleth and Finrod have a discussion, and Haleth pays a visit to Caranthir. I loved reading this fic, and I’ve come back to reread it at least once. It was quite amusing at times, and I really enjoyed Haleth’s no-nonsense characteristics. The debates and discussions she has with Finrod and Caranthir are delightful to read—plus, I enjoyed Haleth and Caranthir’s dynamic and the waxing and waning tension between them. (Warnings: The fic outright says that Caranthir and Haleth have had and do have sex, in generally crude/slang terms, and there is one paragraph/section where things are described a little, but it can be easily skipped and I would not consider it explicit.)

Call It What It Is (Whatever It Might Be) by @sweetteaanddragons (aka Drag0nst0rm on AO3) (featuring art from @lidoshka) - Haleth is visited by several elves related to Caranthir, which raises her suspicions. A delightfully fun oneshot that had me grinning a lot! I love Caranthir/Haleth fics, especially when Caranthir’s denying he’s got a crush on her. Not a lot of Caranthir interacting with Haleth directly in this one, but it’s a great fic. The art was fantastic, I absolutely love Lidoshka’s art style!

Kidnap Fam

Enough by dreamingthroughthenoise (aka Alantie) 🔒 - Maglor and Maedhros argue over the twins, but later Maedhros comes to join Maglor and the twins on a picnic. This one’s a bit angsty, but it does have some sweet moments in it! I like the discussions the characters have; they feel thoughtful and well-characterized, especially in terms of how Maglor and Maedhros respond to each other. Both brothers have strong emotions, but they don’t go out of their way to be hurtful to each other.

Nightmares by @brievel - Snapshots of Maedhros experiencing nightmares and how Elrond and Elros respond. This is one of my favorite “Maedhros is having nightmares” fics where it features Elrond and Elros. It’s definitely angsty and tense, but I love seeing how the twins’ responses change over the course of the story. It really shows how their trust of Maedhros and Maglor develops.

Dawn (The Nightmares Remix) by sweetteaanddragons (aka Drag0nst0rm on AO3) - The aftermath of one of Maedhros’ nightmares from “Nightmares.” Good and angsty with relief by the end! I loved Maedhros’ reflections on the past (his memories of how he was trusted in Tirion with little ones are especially painful) and every aspect of Maglor’s interactions with his brother.

Chill in Your Heart, Life in Your Wings by @jaz-the-bard - After the Third Kinslaying, Elrond and Elros are kidnapped by a band of human raiders in Sirion, who decide to bring them to Maedhros and Maglor. I love JaztheBard’s kidnap fam fanfics, and this one is no exception. It’s a lovely oneshot with lots of feels! Features VERY cute Elrond and Elros. I just about died from cuteness during the fish book part, specifically.

Outrun the Storm by @secretlythranduil - Elrond and Elros are scared of the storm. I love a good kidnap fam thunderstorm fic, and I particularly love all the little details in this one: the guards joking about the claps of thunder being Morgoth’s footsteps, the twins thinking about what kind of state they would find Maedhros in, the reminder of how the Fëanorians found them in Sirion, and how Maedhros picks them up like Maglor had.

In Valinor pre-kinslaying #1

Unruly and ill-behaved, downright feral even by @swanhild - Fëanor and Nerdanel wrangle their rowdy, unruly bunch of elflings. This was quite amusing and adorable!!! I love the younger elflings’ antics and the older elflings’ “teen troubles” (so to speak), and Fëanor and Nerdanel parenting all of them.

Lack of All Trades by @darkfrozenabyss - Young Maitimo doubts that he has a trade or a craft. Cute father-son feels! I loveloveLOVE baby Maedhros and I loved getting to see Fëanor comforting him.

In Valinor post-kinslaying #1

The Spirit of the Law by @mynameisjessejk - Caranthir is re-embodied in Valinor. mynameisjessejk is one of my favorite authors who write the genre of “elves dealing with re-embodiment in Valinor.” This oneshot, along with the other re-embodiment fics they’ve written, is super super good. I really liked this take on Caranthir’s return, and I enjoyed the development of the Caranthir-Finrod friendship—one that isn’t usually seen in fic!

The Return of the House of Finwë by mynameisjessejk - The tales of the re-embodiment of five different members of the House of Finwë. Aaaaaa, this was such a heart-wrenching, feels-filled read! And so wonderful. I loved reading about each character coming back and seeing their reactions to those who came to meet them.

Pity Found by brievel and darkfrozenabyss - Fëanor and his sons are re-embodied in Valinor. Such an emotional fic! All the feels were amazing. I really enjoyed the fic, and I liked how the end left it open for the family to work things out further.

Beyond the Western World by thearrogantemu - Finrod and Curufin meet in Valinor. I really enjoyed this reckoning between the two of them! Finrod has such control in this conversation, yet he still has compassion for Curufin in a way. I liked how their conversation flowed and alternated between focusing on the present and the past. I think both of them needed to speak to each other, not only for closure but also to fully realize things about themselves. It was already a detailed story, but all the little reminders that they knew each other so well lent an even greater sense of depth to the story, which was beautiful. (Plus, I love the title.)

Though All Whom Ye Have Slain Should Entreat For You by thearrogantemu *️⃣ - Thingol has a conversation with Maedhros in Valinor. VERY interesting fic. I had never thought about Thingol and Maedhros interacting before, but hey, that’s what fanfiction is for, right? This was an incredible ride. I loved reading their back-and-forth debate and how calculating and emotional both were. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for unusual character interactions and a very intellectual and emotionally charged discussion.

There Are Fires, There Is Laughter by ithilielthechosenone - Galadriel and Aredhel take a walk and catch up after Aredhel is re-embodied. I really enjoyed this. It is so beautiful and contemplative, and I love reading about the only two female descendants in the 3rd generation of the house of Finwë.

Finwëons in Beleriand/Middle-Earth

Regrets by dreamingthroughthenoise (aka Alantie on AO3) 🔒 - The Ambarussa have a discussion before the Fëanorians attack Sirion. I really like the characterization of Amrod and Amras in this fic! The way they decided to try to take responsibility for leading the attack in order to spare Maglor and Maedhros is heartbreaking but makes so much sense. I also had never considered how the situation with Eluréd and Elurín might have affected them, so it was interesting to read an interpretation of that!

Lands of the March by @cycas (aka bunn on AO3) - Maedhros discusses the lands and duties he has given to each of his brothers with Amrod and Amras. Quite an enjoyable oneshot! Maedhros is logical…but also quite caring, at the end of the day. I found myself smiling reading it!

Oh Makalaurë… by caeciliusestinforo - Maglor’s guilt over never going to find Maedhros in Thangorodrim causes him to neglect his health, which has consequences. I loved this fic. I’m a sucker for Maglor beating himself up over Maedhros’ torment and then coming to accept it, and Maglor’s desperation is depicted very well.

All the scars we can not see by waitingfover - Fingon has a flashback when he visits Himring. Awwww, poor Finno! Felt a lot of sympathy for him. It definitely felt like he didn’t really want to say what was going on, perhaps because it felt so obvious, but he did. Wish I could’ve given him a hug like Maedhros did.

i will not say the day is done by @southfarthing - Fingon and Maedhros avoid the conversation waiting to happen after Fingon rescues Maedhros from Thangorodrim. SO angsty, so intense, and so good!!! Maedhros and Fingon both have such different viewpoints on what happened and the context surrounding it—it pulls on my heartstrings to see them both struggling, but it makes it all the more poignantly beautiful when they can finally face each other.

Mithrim by @warrioreowynofrohan (aka WarriorEowyn on AO3) - Maedhros has three conversations with different people after his rescue from Thangorodrim. Oh my gosh, this fic is so freaking GOOD! Maedhros and Fingon’s first interaction was so intense and so good (“I’m sorry—” “You’re sorry?” was absolutely iconic. I practically shrieked and had to stop reading for a moment to compose myself). The fic also has a good dose of Maglor guilt, which I’m always happy to read!

Non-Finwëons in Beleriand/Middle-Earth

An evening off by earthbound_misfit - Rog enjoys spending an evening with his friend Egalmoth after work. This was such a good oneshot! So refreshing and peaceful. It felt like having a home-cooked meal :) Lovely!

Sharp Things in the Way by @dawnfelagund - A character study of Daeron, of sorts. This fic is a beautiful mosaic of moments in Daeron’s life—it’s all so bittersweet and deep and full of twisting emotions, and I honestly feel a bit of pity for Daeron after reading it. I haven’t read many fics focused on him, but I really like this one. I thought his and Maglor’s dancing around each other and the musical techniques they shared and took from each other were particularly fascinating parts of the story.

Reflections on Injustice by @hwestalas - Túrin sees Beleg heal a march-warden, and he himself later has the chance to help Beleg heal. Sweet, and a little painful! I enjoyed it. Beleg as a healer and a warrior is awesome, and I liked reading Túrin’s shifting emotions.

see it fall, child of war by swanmaiden 🩸 - Elwing says goodbye to her children. If I had to use one word to describe this fic, it would be “heartbreaking.” I expected it to be painful, and it really, truly was. I teared up reading Elwing telling Elrond and Elros she loved them, and I could feel the fear and anguish felt by the elves around Elwing. This fic really made me feel the terrible weight of the Fëanorians attacking Sirion, which was meant to be a refuge, and I think it was meant to do that. Very well-written!

Among the reeds by Adlanth - Elwing, Tuor, and those of Edain heritage spend time together in Sirion. I absolutely LOVED this!!! This is one of the first fics I’ve read that focus on the Edain and their heritage. I feel like they tend to be less appreciated in fandom, in favor of the house of Finwë (although I’ve definitely seen fics and meta about the Númenoreans). In any case, this was a delightful fic; I really liked seeing the small community of humans grow together and share their culture and history (mainly of the house of Bëor). Beautiful.

LOTR/Hobbit Characters

In A Yellow Wood by @lordgrimwing - Modern AU where Thranduil, wife, and young Legolas go on a hike. SUPER super cute oneshot!! Really enjoyed it. I love how Thranduil and his wife play with Legolas!

The Castaway by warrioreowynofrohan (aka WarriorEowyn on AO3) - Legolas and Gimli meet a stranger as they prepare to sail to Valinor. Quite enjoyable! I loved the difference in Legolas and Gimli’s opinions regarding what they should do, and how Gimli’s perspective and compassion helped Legolas to consider his prejudices. The dialogue between all of the characters was excellent!

A Warg in Sheep’s Clothing by @arofili (aka starlightwalking on AO3) - Fíli and Kíli find an injured warg pup in the woods. This was such a wonderfully fun fic to read! There were a few sad moments for sure, but I love reading stories with Fíli and Kíli because their characters have such a youthful joy and hopefulness to them. I loved “Buddy” and dwarflings’ bond with him was so adorable! (Also, I love the title XD)

General/Misc

Shinystarship Has Invited You To Join A Zoom Conference! by jaz-the-bard *️⃣ - Elrond’s father figures make a plan for how they will support Elrond when he sails to Aman (by using modern technology in Arda). THIS IS HILARIOUS. I love it. The Zoom names are perfect. I’ve reread this a couple times and I laugh every time!

Wealth Enough of Joy by StarSpray - Elrond and Celebrían enjoy time with their newborn twins and more family. This was such a sweet, lovely fic. It has the feeling of a summer evening—which is appropriate, since the description is “Elladan and Elrohir are born at twilight in summer.” I actually drew a picture in my little sketchbook of what I thought Elrond and Celebrían’s room would look like!

Mercy by @nothinghereisworking (aka cuarthol) - Snapshots of Celegorm and Finrod. I haven’t read many fics centered on Celegorm and Finrod, and I really like this! Features scenes in Valinor, Beleriand, and then Valinor again. I love how it comes full-circle and how the meaning of mercy changes over the course of the story.

An Unexpected Friendship by StarSpray (featuring art from lidoshka) - Belladonna Took makes a friend. I didn’t realize how much I needed to read about Maglor interacting with hobbits until this fic—and it made me interested in more fics of the same ilk. This particular one was SO much fun, and I loved how much hobbit culture StarSpray got into. I also really enjoyed Maglor’s and the hobbits’ characterization, too. The art of Maglor and Belladonna is adorable!

To Justify Your Existence by jaz-the-bard 🩸 - Maedhros meets his father and brothers in Mandos and braces himself for the worst. Delightfully angsty! Poor, poor Maedhros. The self-blame is off the charts in this one, whew. The emotional climax is so fulfilling!

AUs

stare death in the face (and never back down) by @oopsbirdficced (aka ingenious_spark on AO3) 🔒🩸 - Instead of returning to Gondolin when Sauron lets him go, Maeglin escapes…and runs into some relatives. This is such a cool AU/twist on what happened in canon! Lots of feeeeels—poor Maeglin. However, I love that he found [spoiler] and that they all essentially took one look at him and decided to adopt him XD

Retaliatory Kidnapping by darkfrozenabyss - Elwing decides that kidnapping the re-embodied Fëanorian twins (Amrod and Amras) might let her make a trade with Maglor and Maedhros for her own sons. This may have been the first fic I read by darkfrozenabyss! It’s so enjoyable and engaging. I loved Elwing taking matters into her own hands and being determined to rescue her sons, as well as the reluctant friendship that began to take root between her and the Ambarussa. Great ending, too! An all-around fantastic story.

Less scary than before by waitingfover - Maedhros is feeling homesick at college and receives a package (modern AU). I seriously enjoyed this oneshot! It filled me with so much warmth, and it reminded me of my family sending me things in college :) I love how each member of Maedhros’ family sent him something that showed how they loved him/thought of him, each in their own unique way.

Wayward Son by @thescrapwitch🩸 - After being re-embodied, Fëanor sets out on a mission to find his second son. This was sweet! I really enjoyed it. Fëanor’s dedication to loving and caring for Maglor is wonderful.

Where the Heart Is by mynameisjessejk *️⃣ - Amarië does not let Finrod go to Beleriand without her. A very cool AU where Amarië goes to Beleriand! We love to see it. I really like how it changes things and how the politics are different throughout Beleriand as a result.

Battle of Sudden Song by AeolianSands - Maglor encounters Sauron and recalls his cousin Finrod. I absolutely LOVE how this is written. I am SUCH a fan of Maglor using Song and living up to his name and reputation! This was so deliciously wonderful.

who could ask to be unbroken (or to be brave again) by @piyo13sdoodles - Tauriel meets a lone elf on the plains of Rhovanion and becomes friends with the mysterious singer. I really like reading “Maglor makes friends with people after being on his own” fics, and this one was so sweet! I enjoyed Tauriel’s curiosity and spirit, as well as how Maglor cares for her. Their relationship is wonderful, and I love how they grow into being each others’ family. It’s a beautiful story :)

Tumblr Oneshots

Wet Boots by @amethysttribble - Baby Maedhros is playing, and Uncle Nolofinwë comes to find him. So fluffy and adorable and silly and SWEET! I love baby Maedhros, and this is one of my go-to fluff fics. (There’s also a super cute fanart/comic of this floating around somewhere—I thought I had saved it but I can’t find it. If I ever do, I’ll add it here.)

Finrod and baby Galadriel in Valinor by @actual-bill-potts (aka oswinry on AO3) - Galadriel wakes up Finrod. SO FREAKING CUTE. I LOVED this little oneshot so much. Tiny Galadriel is super adorable and big brother Finrod is just as adorable. Fluff level 3000.

Multi-Chapter Fics

The following multi-chapter fics are all complete (or have not been updated since 2022), and they all have more than one chapter. If any are incomplete, I will note that.

Girl in Middle-Earth & Modern AUs

Pathology by @wild-houseplant (aka appalled.elf on FanFiction.net) ⚠️ 🩸 - A therapist ends up in Middle-Earth and builds a life in Rivendell. This was one of the first fics I read in 2023, and what a wonderful way to start the year!! I absolutely LOVED reading this fic. This was one of those fics that kept me up late and had me glued to my screen whenever I could spare time to read it. I love its central themes of friendship, grieving, and healing. The relationships that develop between Rhodri and the various Middle-Earth characters felt so real and healthy, and it was simply so wonderful to read! The author adds a lot of notes and information about the mental health care that Rhodri, the main character, provides, which is fantastic. Also, the character-lands-in-Middle-Earth plotline is handled quite well, in my opinion; questions that usually arise with that kind of plot were answered and explained in ways that made sense and added to the story.

(Warnings: There is plenty of language/swearing, a bit of violence [not super graphic, to my memory], and a few smut scenes; the author usually warns ahead of time if there will be any smut, and it’s fairly easy to tell when things are going that direction, so you can skip it if you don’t want to read it, like me. Also, the link I have included is to the fic on FanFiction.net, which is much more updated than the fic on AO3; there are 107 chapters on FanFiction.net as opposed to 29 on AO3. However, the version on AO3 is rated as E, while the one on FanFiction.net is rated as M, just so the reader is aware. I first found it on FanFiction.net, which is why I did not realize it was rated E before I read it, and if you skip the E-rated scenes like I did, I believe it would be considered rated M.)

This fic is incomplete—the last time it was updated was in November of 2022—but the reader is not left on a terrible cliffhanger.

Don’t Panic! by boz4PM - A more realistic "girl-falls-into-Middle-Earth" story. Quite entertaining and interesting! This is a spin on the typical “girl gets transported to Middle-Earth and everything is amazing” story, where things are a lot more realistic: there’s a language barrier, there aren’t high standards of cleanliness, there’s no indoor plumbing…the works! I read basically all of it in one night. I love how Penny and Halbarad’s relationship develops, and it’s fun seeing Penny learn to fit in with elves! There’s also a sequel, which is great too. (Warnings: General…gross-ness, I guess, lol! Also, there’s a LOT of swearing, especially in the first several chapters. This does calm down though.)

Ten Weeks of the Terribles by troiaspider - Maglor is forced to babysit his younger brothers while his parents and Maedhros are away for several weeks (modern AU). I really enjoyed this fic! Didn’t want to put it down. It was so fun, and I laughed several times. It also had many touching moments that I didn’t expect, and I found myself smiling at various moments.

In Valinor pre-kinslaying #1

Make You Pretty by @theladyvanya - Vanifinwë, the only daughter and youngest child of Fëanor, likes doing makeovers for her older brothers, which leads to some…interesting results. This fic is SO CUTE!!! I love how the brothers all give in and allow their baby sister to play with them, even if they know they look extremely bizarre by the end. And when [spoiler] is the only one who is actually truly upset by the game, it does get resolved by the end of the story. The fic is quite humorous and sweet!

Trial and Error by waitingfover - Each of the young Finwëons tries to bake something for their family, with varying results. Adorable set of oneshots! I like how the nature of each of the baking incidents matches the elfling or peredhel that is attempting to make something :)

In Valinor post-kinslaying #1

The Host of the West by mynameisjessejk - Finrod is re-embodied in Valinor. Oh my goodness, this was so good. I loved the exploration of Finrod’s emotions (and how being re-embodied affected him physically as well!) after coming back to life. The tension between him and his parents/those who did not know him in Beleriand felt very palpable, and my heart broke for him multiple times throughout the story. The resolution at the end was touching, and I felt reassured that things would look up for the characters as time went on beyond the ending of the story.

Memento Pugna (Remember, You Must Fight) by sweetteaanddragons (aka Drag0nst0rm on AO3) - Fëanor is re-embodied in Valinor, but from the very start, things are bound to go sideways. This was a great read! I loved the characterization and relationship development throughout the story, and I really enjoyed the chaos and shenanigans that happened. The story is quite hilarious at times and touching and angsty at others!

To save a life by waitingfover 🩸 - Fëanor is re-embodied in Valinor, and he has to deal with several hostile family members and other problems. Really great! It’s quite interesting, and I loved how Fëanor’s character developed over the course of the story, and how he comes to prioritize family over his own desires and pride. I also really liked how the plot changed and how various characters were introduced and included! (Warnings: There is a scene with mention of sexual abuse and a traumatized character expecting further abuse, and a brief scene of physical child abuse by a crowd of unnamed characters.)

More than the Stars Above by sweetteaanddragons (aka Drag0nst0rm on AO3) - Elrond visits his father, Eärendil, in Valinor. This is one of my favorite fics centered around Elrond and Eärendil. Their interactions here are so well-written and so spot-on! I like the alternating point of view, and I simply love how their relationship was portrayed.

The Ransom of the House of Fëanor by @eirianerisdar - Elrond petitions the Valar to return Maedhros and Maglor (and their brothers and father) from the Void. Oh my goodness. This fic broke my heart in the best way. SO. MUCH. ANGST. AND. FEELS. AAAAAGHH. I could see a lot of the different emotional situations coming, which made it even more angsty when they finally hit. I kept having to pause and stop reading because TOO MANY FEELS A;SLDKFJALF. Highly recommend if you want Elrond angst (and just angst in general).

The Last Ember by eirianerisdar - Nerdanel and Fëanor begin to reconcile in Valinor (compliant to The Ransom of the House of Fëanor but can be read separately). I absolutely love this Nerdanel-and-Fëanor-work-things-out-in-Valinor fic!!! Nerdanel’s vacillating emotions were so palpable and real, and both her and Fëanor’s characterization was wonderful. The pacing was done quite well, and I love how things ended :)

Rising as if Weightless by StarSpray - Elwing’s brothers return to life in Valinor. This was such a wonderful, feels-y fic! Elwing’s emotions throughout pulled on my heartstrings—and Eluréd and Elurín were so sweet. I loved meeting so many characters who were important to Elwing, and I really enjoyed the storyline. I couldn’t put this fic down!

In Beleriand & Middle-Earth

Family Reunions by Drapa *️⃣ - Finrod brings his human friend Bëor with him to a family reunion. I don’t think I have ever laughed more at a fic than I have at this one. I fondly remember sitting down to a bowl of soup and some bread for dinner and opening this fic because the premise looked promising…and then proceeding to nearly spit out my soup multiple times while reading. Finrod’s over-the-top behavior, the miscommunications and misunderstandings, the hijinks, and the ridiculousness of all of it was just way too funny. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for some humor (or even if you aren’t).

Refuge by hwestalas - Maglor comes to Maedhros at Himring and does his best to hide that he is injured; this goes unsuccessfully. I absolutely love the interactions between Maglor and Maedhros in this fic. They are so filled with affection and teasing and the gentle kind of pushing between siblings, and it makes me so happy to read, even though they are dealing with war and deaths of their people. The love they have for each other and their siblings—and their people, too—is clear as day. It’s a lovely hurt/comfort fic, and one that I’ve reread a few times. Wonderful read!

This Taste of Shadow (SPECIFICALLY the Caranthir x Haleth chapters) by Mira_Jade - Caranthir and Haleth meet and slowly but surely fall for each other. I didn’t realize how much I needed a fic that took the question “what would it look like if Caranthir and Haleth really truly decided to get married, and not just in the elvish way [aka, through having sex], but to commit to each other until the end?” seriously and chose to explore it. I literally was obsessing over this fic for three to five days after I read it. SO. FREAKING. GOOD. This is one of the most well-written, satisfying, thorough Caranthir x Haleth fics I’ve ever read; the story is deeply emotionally engaging, and I loved it. Mira-Jade is phenomenal at exploring characters and really understanding them on a fundamental level, and how their relationships play out with other characters. And while it’s her interpretation, it feels very real and true-to-text. (Note: This is specifically a rec for the Caranthir x Haleth chapters; the entire work is a series of ficlets and oneshots that largely make up out-of-order story arcs. The link to each chapter can be found in the index/first "chapter" of the fic, which is linked above. I have not read the rest of the work, so I don’t know if there are any warnings I should give for other chapters. The tags do indicate that there is romantic!Russingon in the fic—there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference in the Halenthir chapters, but otherwise none. Also, warning for a version of Celegorm who lives up to the epithet “Celegorm the Cruel.”)

Of Bright Stars and Dark Skies by @katinkacassio (aka CassioP on AO3) - The Fëanorians attack Sirion and take the twins, which leads to the twins living at Amon Ereb. This was one of my favorite kidnap fam fics I read this year! The characterization was well done, and I will always enjoy tropes like Elrond and Elros running off and Maedhros and Maglor having to search for them. Elrond and Elros are wonderful, and both parties opening up slowly to each other was heartrending and sweet.

Maglor Plays For His People After Doriath by Himring - Maglor contemplates Doriath and plays a lament for his people. Quite enjoyable—the contemplative nature of this fic is beautiful. I liked how Maglor considers what his people need and what he plays for them, and his memories of meeting Daeron at Mereth Aderthad were amusing and sweet. This fic really conveys deep a sense of wistful mourning.

Generally Interesting Lives by @glorf1ndel - A collection of oneshots for Tolkien Gen Week 2023. I love how unique these are and how each one of them stands out! I really liked the vibe of the stories—they were easy to read and the characters’ “voices” and personalities are strong. I particularly enjoyed the chapters about Maedhros and Lúthien, Huan and Oromë, and Galadriel and Bill the pony!

I need you more than ever right now by @senalishia - Elwing and Eärendil weather Elwing’s pregnancy with their twins. I love how this fic explored Elwing and Eärendil’s relationship, their personalities, and their perspectives on their responsibilities and having children! It’s compelling and well-paced. Also, I really liked the OC healer Curunada’s curious yet brusque nature! (Warnings: Childbirth, which is a little graphic)

General/Misc

Of starlight, s’mores and misadventures by waitingfover - A collection of oneshots about elflings and their adventures. These oneshots are SO CUTE and occasionally come with a serving of angst at the end with a flash-forward. A few of them are angsty in general, but the majority are just adorable, fluffy stories. If you ever need fluff, you will find it here! Also, this fic is how I finally got all of the Quenya names of the House of Finwë ingrained into my mind XD waitingfover uses them a lot in the story and provides lists of the names at the start of chapters, so that was super helpful! (Note: This fic is still being updated, but not on a regular basis, which is why I put it in the multi-chapter fics section instead of the in-progress section.)

As the Tides Flow by @starshipsilmaril 🩸 - The story of Maglor’s life, from start to finish. I loved it! Starshipsilmaril does a great job with Maglor's emotions, and Maglor’s love story and family were so sweet. Telumë is a wonderful character, and she and Maglor fit together quite well, I think. Definitely gets more angsty as the story goes on, which is expected. Great read! (Warnings: Silm-typical violence, not super graphic [to my memory] but it’s there. Also, The fic outright says that Maglor and Telumë have sex, and there are a couple paragraphs where things are described a little, but it can be easily skipped and I would not consider it explicit. It’s also pretty easy to see coming—it’s on the wedding night.)

Some Wild Thing by warrioreowynofrohan (aka WarriorEowyn on AO3)🩸 - Aredhel’s story, from Valinor to Beleriand. I love this exploration of Aredhel’s personality and character. The small snapshots and snatches of dialogue that relate the bigger picture are beautifully written, and Aredhel’s fiery personality shines through so well. I also really liked the depiction of her and Eöl (and Maeglin!)—it felt real and the way things subtly changed for the worse over time was chilling. Great read!

To Safety by jaz-the-bard - Young Elrond and Elros get transported to the Years of the Trees in Valinor and encounter their captors once again. I seriously love this story—I felt so bad for Elrond and Elros, and I felt sympathetic towards a bewildered Maedhros and Maglor (or should I say, Maitimo and Makalaurë). It’s fantastic! I’ve reread this at least 3 times XD

In a Field of Blood and Bone by @theheirofashandfire (aka ScribeofArda on AO3)🩸 - The Battle of the Five Armies, from the point of view of the elves. This was fantastic! It was awesome to read the events from a totally different perspective; the elves (and Bard!) come at the situation with different motivations, needs, and hopes for the future than the dwarves and Bilbo, and I think that ScribeofArda handled that very well. I loved the OCs Belhadron and Rhovaniel; they felt very whole and fleshed out, and it made me wish they were in the actual story so I could read more about them. Also, Legolas and Thranduil’s relationship was so sweet, and I love how much Thranduil loves Legolas even though he doesn’t outright show it much. (Warnings: Battle violence, as can be expected from a fic that’s about the Battle of the Five Armies.)

AUs

What once was mine by waitingfover - Maglor is given a second chance to go back and change things, starting at Losgar. What a great fic! I had the privilege to follow this fic from start to completion, and I loved getting updates. The changes—or lack thereof—were quite fascinating to read! This story features a strong dose of Maglor dealing with guilt and depression, which was heartbreaking but also understandable (and, as per usual, I ate it up with a spoon). This one of my favorite AUs!

The Rescue Party by AeolianSands - Fëanor, Fingolfin, and Finarfin decide to travel to Middle-Earth and save their children before the Doom of Mandos takes them. Really enjoyed this! Quite humorous, with some sweet touches of fluff and some angsty bits. There’s LOTS of chaos and things happening at the same time, and it reminded me of a contemporary fantasy story where all these plotlines are overlapping! There were lots of twists and turns I didn't expect, which was super fun.

Waiting for Dawn by theheirofashandfire (aka ScribeofArda on AO3) 🩸 - The Fellowship of the Ring finds Maedhros alive in the aftermath of the Battle of Pelennor Fields. I love “Maedhros-and-or-Maglor-are-alive-in-the-Third-Age” fics, and this one is quite well-written! I absolutely adore Pippin in this fic; his compassion and sprightliness are so in-character and it’s amazing to read. The rest of the hobbits are delightful as well. There’s also a serving of kidnap fam with a good amount of angst and feels :) Gotta love Maedhros being healed (against his will) and coming to accept that he wants to live! (Warnings: There’s somewhat graphic descriptions of the aftermath of the battle and torture, and there is a very disturbing injury in the first chapter that was done by torture. Additionally, Maedhros is suicidal for a while.)

Say NO To Shiny (And Other Valuable Life Lessons) by @fflewddur-feanorion *️⃣ - Maglor joins the Fellowship of the Ring! As soon as I saw the description of this fic, I immediately knew I had to read it. It is absolutely HILARIOUS. I laughed so much! I enjoyed the more casual, less serious characterization of the Fellowship and felt both amusement and sadness towards Maglor at different moments. The story also features Fëanorion brother shenanigans and some epic Song awesomeness!

Little Bird by darkfrozenabyss - Elwing is lost in the woods of Doriath instead of Eluréd and Elurín, and Amras Fëanorion finds her. Oh my goodness, this one pulls on my heartstrings. It’s beautiful and sad and amazing all at once. I loved Amras as a father, and I felt so much for Elwing, having to be so grown-up so young. I also didn’t expect Eluréd and Elurín’s characterization (though it does make sense) and it made me upset for Elwing. I loved reading about her learning about her birth culture and about her relationship with Eärendil. I also liked how the story ended!

Accidently on Purpose by waitingfover - Curufin accidentally turns Finrod into a younger version of himself. I read this almost all in one sitting and it was delightful. I’ve already reread it once or twice since finding it!! The characterizations and handling of the plot were amazing, and baby Finrod was SUUUUPER cute.

The Ghost of Erebor by @mistergandalf (aka ItalianHobbit on FanFiction.net and AO3) 🩸 - In an “everyone lives” AU, Fíli has intense trauma to work through from the Battle of the Five Armies—but nobody knows what happened to him. *slaps roof of fic* This bad boy can fit so much angst in it. Soooo much angst! Fíli is so traumatized and it’s heartbreaking to read. Kíli and Thorin’s attempts to help Fíli are also heartwrenching; they care about him so much, and their worry is so palpable. And of course, the pressing needs of running a kingdom and having an heir don’t make the situation any better. This kind of story is right in ItalianHobbit’s wheelhouse!

Series

Lengthening Shadows series by waitingfover 🩸 - What if Maglor went to bargain with Morgoth instead of Maedhros? This is a fantastic concept and I loveloveLOVE it! The way things go differently is so interesting, and it opens up a whole new dimension of feelings for the characters to experience (especially Maedhros and Maglor). I really like the inclusion of the other Finwëons in the story too. Go give this series some love, these stories are some of waitingfover’s earliest Tolkien works and they’re great!

Sons of the Star series by brievel (most fics in the series are open to all readers, but a few are locked 🔒) 🩸 - This is the “Sons of Fëanor as a biker gang” AU that you never knew you needed. I certainly didn’t know I needed it. But I LOVE it. Brievel is still writing the series and I’m enjoying it! I love the characterization of the Fëanorians as tough and scrappy criminals, but with generally good hearts (especially Max). I get excited every time a new installment comes out. I also highly recommend Óhchikaape, an in-progress story [at the time of this writing], which is set in (mostly) the same universe. (Warnings: There's a lot of violence, and many of the stories deal with heavy topics.)

Maglor is an Eldritch Horror series by thescrapwitch *️⃣ - Speaking of AUs you never knew you needed, the name says it all: Maglor is an eldritch horror. The vibe is “cozy horror,” which I love; I’m not really a horror fan, but the ‘monster’ is on the good guys’ side, and I think that’s what makes it the good kind of scary. Most of the stories in this series are oneshots of Maglor and various characters living in Rivendell, but other characters come in from time to time. This series is mostly complete, but every so often theScrap_Witch has another idea and I get an update to this series in my inbox (which always gets me flailing with excitement). (Warnings: If you’re particularly squeamish or super sensitive to horror/any scary things, you may want to proceed with caution. However, I will say that I’m fairly sensitive to that, and I could just skim past any things that squicked me out—but there have barely been any.)

Return to Aman series by cycas (aka bunn on AO3) - Maglor sails with Elrond, Bilbo, Frodo, and Gandalf to Valinor. Oh. my. gosh. These were stories. SO well-written!!! I devoured every bit of them, and I think I need to reread them because I inhaled them crazy fast the first time around! (I’ve already reread a few out of order, but they work so well together as an arc and I would love to reread it again fully.) There’s so much that gets explored, the characterization is great, and overall the stories are just absolutely DELIGHTFUL. There are 15 fics in the series, and most are oneshots.

Nossecilmë series by fingonsradharp 🔒🩸*️⃣ - Oneshots of the kidnap fam. These are pretty cute (with a bit of angst from time to time)! I particularly enjoyed Little Stars and Nightingale. (Warnings: 🩸 only applies to the oneshot "Little Stars" for kidnappers physically abusing Elrond & Elros.)

Of Half-elven Children and the Difficulties that Result series by waitingfover - Kidnap fam oneshots. This collection of kidnap fam oneshots is so wonderful! These range from full-on angst to pure fluff, and there’s a whole bunch.

Old Maggie Took series by @tanoraqui (aka NevillesGran on AO3) - “Maggie Took” (aka Maglor) has become a friend to those in the Shire. A delightfully fun and touching series! There’s two works and both are simply fantastic. The first is centered around fighting ‘Sharkey’ when he comes to the Shire; I found myself grinning, cheering for “Maggie,” and alternating between laughing and going “awww” at the hobbits and Gandalf. The second story is about a going-away party held for those sailing west, and it gave me the exact feeling I get from being at a good, fun party with friends: celebratory and joyful in the best way.

In-Progress Stories

These are ones that are unfinished that I've really enjoyed and I hope get updated in 2024!

(Also, for any of the authors who see that I’ve included their in-progress fic, please don’t feel pressured to update—me saying that I'm looking forward to more is simply meant to let you know that I like the story and would love to read more if/when you update.)

Daughters of Therindë by darkfrozenabyss - Nerdanel and her 2 daughter-in-laws go back in time to prevent the kinslayings, but they accidentally bring someone along with them that they weren’t expecting: Haleth. You guys. I am glued to this fic. I get ridiculously excited every time I see an update in my inbox; I love it so much and go back every so often to reread my favorite parts of the chapters (and sometimes just end up rereading most of or the entirety of the fic). The characterization is great, and the plot is super fascinating! The tension between Haleth and Caranthir is highly entertaining, and I eat up every bit of Caranthir’s brothers’ teasing with a spoon like it’s ice cream. You will also find me screeching and grinning like a fool at every emotional moment I come across. I seriously enjoy this fic so much!

Óhchikaape by brievel and The_Anonymous_Coauthor 🩸 - Set in the Sons of the Star universe (read about the Sons of the Star series in the Series section); Riser Way [aka Celegorm, for the uninitiated] wasn’t intending to be a dad…but it seems this scrawny, sassy Native American kid is in need of a parental figure, whether either of them like it or not. I am absolutely LOVING this story and get excited over every update. I’ve stayed up late multiple times to read the newest chapter that’s been posted, and I’m 100% sure that I will do it again, given the chance. I love how Riser and Nikki’s relationship develops over the course of the story. There’s a lot of humor and heartwrenching moments, and some serious and soft moments as well. If you aren’t familiar with Sons of the Star, I definitely suggest you read some or all of the series to get an idea of who the Way brothers are, because they (especially Riser and Ken) are primary characters in Óhchikaape. This story is now one chapter away from being done and I'm super excited for the next installment of the series! (Warnings: The story features violence, and it deals with heavy topics, including trafficking and child abuse.)

if somebody loved you, they'd tell you by now by @aurorapillar (aka auroracode on AO3) - Maeglin escapes Gondolin. I’ve been really enjoying this one! auroracode writes Maeglin so, so well—it breaks my heart to see him so traumatized, but it feels very real, and I feel proud of the progress he’s made so far! I also really love how [spoiler] interacts with him and helps him feel safe. I’m excited to see where this fic goes, and it’s been cool to read it from the beginning.

Identity Theft by waitingfover - Eluréd and Elurín come out of the halls of Mandos and are given to Nerdanel by a Maia who implies that the twins are Celegorm’s children; this most certainly does NOT cause any problems in the future ;) If this fic had an alternate title, I think it should be called something like “Olórin Makes a Habit of Kidnapping Elves” 😂  Because (slight spoiler) it’s something that happens multiple times throughout the story and always causes chaos! Anyway, this bad boy has 80-something chapters and is still going strong. The plot of the fic mutates throughout, but it is largely focused on Celegorm and his adventures, with lots of cameos from various Noldor and Sindar elves. I started reading it back in March, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing Celegorm’s character development as the story has progressed!

The Harrowing by @chthonion 🔒 ⚠️ *️⃣ 🩸- Sauron comes back to life from the Void and brings the Fëanorians with him. This fic has such a cool premise: Sauron being reembodied along with the sons of Fëanor and learning how to Be a Good Person™️ and Do Life™️ with all our favorite characters in Valinor. It does feature Silvergifting (Sauron x Celebrimbor), which I virtually never read because I’m not a fan of them together (in large part because the ship tends to remind me of unwanted stuff from my past); that being said, the fic isn’t just about Sauron and Celebrimbor. It’s mainly about Sauron and the house of Finwë (and Frodo!) learning to coexist with each other and heal from the past. Chthonion’s writing is fantastic, and I love the interactions between the characters. (I particularly enjoyed Finrod and Sauron’s first conversation.) I’ve really enjoyed reading this fic! (Warning: There is a little smut, but only in chapter 16, I believe; I’ve skimmed and/or given a fairly wide berth to most Celebrimbor-Sauron one-on-one interactions to protect my mental health, so there may be more that I’m not aware of.)

Not About Owing by dreamingthroughthenoise (aka Alantie on AO3) 🔒 - Finrod and Amarië come to rescue Maglor on the beach. If there was an alternate title for this fic, I would vote “The One Where Maglor Gets Loved.” All of the characters are determined to make sure Maglor knows that they care about him and want him in their lives, and it’s so delightful. I also love the strong themes of redemption that are woven throughout, and there’s a deliciously dramatic scene with Eärendil that I practically screamed at. Each of the characters and their relationships feel so real and well-fleshed out, and it’s just lovely to read!

The Longest Night by mistergandalf (aka ItalianHobbit on FanFiction.net and AO3) 🩸 - A mysterious creature has attacked a village near Ered Luin, and Thorin Oakenshield and his nephews go to help. I’ve read all of ItalianHobbit’s Tolkien fics, and as I expected, this fic has got lots of whump, even for just 4 chapters so far! ;) It’s so very angsty and I’m eating it up with a spoon. I always enjoy reading Durin family fics—I just love their relationship and I really love how ItalianHobbit writes them. The link to the fic I put above is to the fic on FanFiction.net, but it is also posted on AO3.

When mercy stayed his blade by BarbieBlue - Maglor and Maedhros take Elrond and Elros with them after the Fëanorians attack Sirion. This is one of my favorite multi-chapter kidnap fam fics I’ve found! It’s got a lot of emotion and a fair amount of angst—it’s not super fluffy. I really like Maedhros and Maglor’s characterization in this one; they aren’t totally falling apart, but they’ve definitely got their issues, and BarbieBlue doesn’t shy away from that. I feel a lot for Elrond and Elros, who are certainly quite traumatized. Seeing the trust slowly developing between them and the Fëanorions is sweet, and I enjoy reading the dynamics between all of the characters.

we will make this place our home by @leucisticpuffin - Elrond and Elros get sent to live with their distant relatives Maglor and Maedhros Finuion. This fic is basically ‘The Secret Garden meets kidnap fam’! It is such a lovely story. I devoured most of it one time when I was up late (I had told myself that I really shouldn’t start a fic that had 40-something chapters at 2 am…but then found myself falling asleep at 4:30 am as I was reading. As soon as my eyes were open the next morning, I kept reading until I caught up!). I love the setting and all the little details that make the story work so well, and it’s really fun to read Silm characters in the mode of 1970s England. There’s a few OCs that help fill out the cast, and I enjoy their personalities and how they add to the story.

Less Wise and More Dangerous by DeepWatersWaiting 🩸 - Legolas is mysteriously transported to the First Age and runs into Fëanor and his sons. Great story, compelling and very well-written! I felt a lot of sympathy for Legolas, being plonked down in First Age Beleriand and facing people who he knew would kill his kin in the future. I like the development of the friendships he started forming (especially with Celebrimbor!), and I’ve been rooting for him as he’s been navigating the strange situation he is in. (Side note: anyone remember the AO3 shutdown back in July? This is what I was reading when that happened, lol.) (Warnings: There’s some graphic violence and injury/illness.)

Life After Death by actual-bill-potts (aka oswinry on AO3) 🔒 - Finarfin and his wife welcome Finrod after he returns from Mandos. So so so SO good. Oswinry writes SUCH good Arafinwëan fic. So carefully handled and well-written, and you can truly feel Finarfin’s desperate love and care for his son and his family. It fills a place in my heart I didn’t know was empty until I read the fic. (There have also been a few updates on Tumblr, too! Check out "my writing" and/or "silm fic" tags)

Yet Open Once Again Your Heart by @luteoflorien 🩸 - Maedhros has a breakdown, and Maglor realizes the twins are not as fragile as he thought. This one’s super heartwrenching, and I love it. The way Maglor treats Maedhros when he’s having his panic attack/breakdown/trauma-induced flashback is so well-done, and I really liked how the brothers had learned how to help each other on those bad days. The exchanges between Maglor and the twins (and between just Maglor and Elrond) are so raw and full of emotion, and Elrond himself is so wise and sweet.

What Was Sauron Thinking? by Chisscientist - Sauron is defeated…but it seems that in the process, he turned Gil-Galad into a child. The premise is so fascinating, and smol!Gil-Galad is adorable! I at turns find myself amused by him and want to give him a hug. The characterization is great, and I feel for Gil-Galad, having been unexpectedly turned into a child with memories of his adult self. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes, and I’m glad Gil-Galad has friends/guardians around him who care for him!

Misc & Non-Tolkien Fics

Tolkien fics that don't fit into other categories:

The Silmarillion Rewrite by Jenavira - A rewrite/summary of The Silmarillion in modern language. Amazing. It was quite an enjoyable read, and it honestly helped me remember a lot of Silm characters! I think this was one of the main fics that inspired me to reread The Silmarillion again this year. I laughed several times, and I often loved the wording or phrasing of certain things that happened. (Warnings: There’s a lot of language/swearing, and there’s Silm-typical violence and trauma that happens.)

Never A Monster He Couldn’t Love by luteoflorien 🩸 - Harry Potter/Silmarillion crossover fic where Newt Scamander finds a new humanoid creature to befriend and care for, and Maglor finds a human who believes he is worthy of care and love. I absolutely adore the friendship that develops between Newt and Maglor. I’ve never read Fantastic Beasts fanfics before, despite being in the Harry Potter fandom, but luteoflorien’s Newt feels so incredibly in-character and it makes me want more. He is so kind and caring and curious, and he is exactly the type of person Maglor needs in his life to start healing from his past. luteoflorien’s writing, characterization, and handling of all the mental/emotional issues the characters go through is phenomenal, and the feels are off the charts. (Warnings: Maglor struggles with his severe trauma, and sometimes self-harms.)

Non-Tolkien fics:

hear you calling from some lost and distant shore by @sighonaraa - Loki meets Thor after the events of Avengers: Endgame (mostly compliant with the Loki TV series). Marvel fandom. This was EXACTLY what I needed after the ending of season 2 of Loki. So, so good. The banter between Thor and Loki, and also Valkyrie/Brunhilde’s character was great—the brothers care SO much about each other, and it's wonderful to read.

Lemon Cake by @afaroffsong 🔒 - Rosalind needs to make a cake for Jane’s birthday. Penderwicks fandom. I seriously enjoyed this fic! It's amazingly well-written—it felt to me like it could've come right out of the books! So lovely.

I mentioned this at the start, but I wanted to reiterate because I truly am very grateful: I want to give a massive thank-you to all of the fic authors, all of the people posting meta, all of the artists out there. I was inspired to re-read The Silmarillion (for the third time) this year, and I highly doubt I would’ve been able to actually get myself to do that without all of the amazing stories and musings and art out there that drove me back to the canon we all love. So thank you ❤️

And thank you to all who read this far XD Hope you enjoy some (or all!) of these fics!

[alicelufenia]

A few haphazard post-MSQ thoughts for Dawntrail

okay first of all fuck Zoraal Ja loved your trial

Dawntrail in general makes me want to go back and actually finish FFIX, and part of that is also to actually find out more about Kuja's deal. I was in vc with my static over DT ending and my co-tank pointed out Zoraal Ja's whole arc is a dead wringer for Kuja. Which makes sense based on the wiki summary I found. I just also dreaded the possibility of people comparing him more to Zenos, which thankfully, I haven't actually seen much of. But then I'm not on Twitter, and only just started exploring the tags, so maybe that take is out there. Sorry but as a dedicated Zenos Fucker I still don't see it XD not every violent man with daddy issues is a Zenos.

Speaking of daddies, it's a genuine accomplishment for Dawntrail to bring us both the BEST and WORST dads in the game. Congrats Gaius your seat at the bottom has been taken, but Man did Zoraal have to earn it.

Just one little issue. WHO IS GULOOL JA'S MOM??

I cannot believe this wasn't even at least questioned at any point, they put more words towards reasoning how he must be Zoraal's kid cause of his coloring but didn't question who his mother could be? Especially with Sphene the LITERAL QUEEN right there looking AWKWARD AS HELL when he's brought up.

My guess is this will be explored in the patches, but good GOD you thought FFXIV was shitty with its female characters, Gulool's mom wasn't even a character! Legit negative for me and any further storyline is just going to make me question why it wasn't relevant earlier.

However to shift tracks to GOOD female characters, I freakin' love Wuk Lamat! I love her design her facial expressions her voice good god her VOICE, I love her goals and how she tries to relate to her enemies but will not hold back but also won't sacrifice others to get what she wants.

I know she's every shonen protagonist rolled into an orange tabby, and that's great! They didn't stumble once with her as far as I'm concerned.

I'm probably gonna have to devote a whole other post to thoughts about Sphene and the Twelfth(?) reflection's fate. I appreciate that the stakes have been simultaneously scaled back but also shifted, I guess sideways would be the best description?

I find it interesting that the main threat is very similar to in Endwalker-that of moving on from dead end ways of living. But while Endwalker was finding a reason to go on living, Dawntrail is about finding peace with death. Cause you need both to live a happy life, and to have a society that doesn't eat itself, or everything around it.

Also a quick comment on msq-appropriate jobs; obviously any job is great, but I feel really good about sticking with both Dark Knight and Viper throughout. Viper in particular, for having both its roots in the main setting, and its capstone ability Reawaken has you call upon the memories of your hunter forbears, a kind of healthier version of the regulators' soul consumption ability. And Dark Knight is just my WoL's canon job, but also her self-styled title comes from DRK's quest title The Boundless Dark. So I HAD to finish the expansion as The Boundless Queen standing against The Queen Eternal.

Unfortunately, the Neo-Ishgardian Top didn't get the texture upgrade, so it clashes a bit too much. I'm gonna have to work out a good glam, but am using the Fallen set plus pieces of the Neo Kingdom Fending set as I get them.

Viper on the other hand, is perfect as it is and I love it. I don't even have to finish the role quests except for completeness. Look at the worn folds in the leather!

Anyway those are my current thoughts, I've only since unlocked Expert roulette and will start the normal raids later tonight, and then level crafters this weekend. Time to do the mmo bit!

Edit: Also the raid series is gonna be perfect for Alice. "Time to honor the memory of your queen! With Bloodsport! Let's go Zenos!" *Shinryu minion squealing sounds*

[ante--meridiem]

I really liked the idea of ship classification ask game based on that post, but honestly I don't know what fandoms you've been into lately, cuz I'm just back on tumblr after a big hiatus xD

So I'll formulate my question like this. What about the quadrant thingy for the four popular ships from the fandom you've been in the longest?

(From my tags here)

Hey!! Thanks for biting! I think the fandom I've been in longest is tma? I don't know exactly which 4 ships are most popular for it so I'll try to do it as "for each category I pick the most popular of the ships that clearly (to me) belong there".

Also some clarification on how I interpret things, based on other people's responses to the post it seems like a lot of people are taking "makes sense" as "proximity to canon" where I was seeing it as either "yeah I can see what personality compatibility these characters would have" or "I could see how the situation they're put in could be made easily shippy even if canon doesn't follow up on that". So "makes sense, doesn't compel me" doesn't mean "canon but boring" here, it means "I see the vision but am not that enticed by it". Meanwhile very many actually canon ships fail to make sense to me.

So with that said

Makes sense, compels me: jonelias (Elias' "shaping Jon for his own ends" thing could easily be developed into fascination/obsession; Jon's hunger for answers and desire to regain some control over his life could easily be developed into hunger for the person who can give him those things)

Makes sense, doesn't compel me: wtgfs aka georgie/melanie (on first impression I did think this came out of left field and didn't make sense but on further reflection I do see where it's coming from? Georgie has an established pattern of being interested in people more prone to boldness/acerbicness/need-to-dig than she is, between Jon and Alex (I think that's the name of the girl from her statement who I thought it was fairly heavily implied she had some level of crush on), and it makes sense for her to be drawn to/admire those traits because she wants to be more like that herself; meanwhile it makes sense for Melanie to go for someone capable of a more grounding/calming presence who continued to respect her when her reputation was damaged. Nothing canon does with them really compels me but hypothetically someone could do something with them that does; I think I read one fic once where I did find their dynamic interesting.)

Doesn't make sense, compels me: gertrudeagnes (they only interacted once and we didn't even get to see it directly, and there's nothing in their personalities that immediately indicates compatibility, but they both have strong personalities that could mix and clash in interesting ways and I'm pretty intrigued by the possibilities)

Doesn't make sense, doesn't compel me: jonmartin (rather than redo one of my many rants about them I'll just say that I can see that the intention with them may have been a similar kind of complementary personalities thing to what made me now concede that Georgie and Melanie do make some amount of sense, except that Georgie and Melanie admire the traits the other has that they lack and would want said traits for themselves, while Jon and Martin mostly show frustration/disdain/disinterest towards each other's complementary traits.)

[spectrearia]

Hiya! I've seen you reference Eggs Benedict, but I don't think I've ever heard anything more about him except that he's a cat! (I may have missed posts, potentially.) Can you tell me more about him? :o

oh of course!! I've mostly posted about him on my art blog, but I can't help but tag posts that remind me of him here on this blog as well xD here's a link to his tag for all the chaotic sketches that I've done over the past few years: [link]

basically, Eggs started out as a silly sketch of a weird cat that I drew once and then he evolved into an actual Character once I found a cat like him in Minecraft and named it Eggs Benedict. my friend Cookie and I turned it into this running joke that he's a fae entity of sorts trapped in a "cat's" body (in quotations because he's got this... unnatural appearance to him that's not Quite a real cat but is still Just Enough like one to count). he likes to torment Khalan for fun but Aya is fooled by a glamour that conceals his true identity from her, so she thinks he's a normal cat and doesn't understand why Khalan vehemently insists that he's Not and claims that the cat is out to get him. (they fight about this A Lot. Khalan has had Enough of this demon cat and wants it out of the house but Aya claims that Eggs is just -baby- and is mad at Khalan for saying otherwise lol)

the name Eggs Benedict is one Aya gave him (since she names all of her pets after food), but no one knows his true fae name because if anyone did, I feel like they'd just instantly die idk xD he was put in a cat-like body as punishment for horrible crimes against the fae council and is forced to stay with Aya as part of that punishment because we just thought that would be a hilarious idea lol (she absolutely babies him - which is incredibly demeaning and patronizing for someone of his status). what did he do to deserve that...? we have no idea. it will always remain a mystery.

anyway, sorry that's a lot haha. i've just put a decent amount of thought into this silly character over the years because I Wanted To and it's Fun 👍

[peoplcshope]

GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

name — Jay

pronouns — I'm/Him j/k he/him

preferred comms — Discord or LINE granted I'm sometimes slow with replyin' mostly due to work and at other times it's distractions like gaming. Or maybe some errands.

name of muse — Trunks Briefs

experience in RP — over ten years, started first on a site called Myspace then drifted through different other roleplaying sites and forums until I eventually gotten here.

best experiences — I once had to answer a question like this on another blog and the answer was just...man too much too ready because the experiences were countless. Whenever I meet a mun and then we just hit it off to the point we're discussing our muses for hours and hours over discord. Or even doing little mini threads on discord, those are really THE best experiences in roleplay.

pet peeves/dealbreakers — When people get on my ass for a response, little 'hey I'm just reminding you that you still probably have a post of ours lost in drafts or BLESS the people that link me to something I missed through the activities. Those peeps are a Godsend but the fuckers that just dick ride you for a response? They can go to tell, harrassing you for a response day in and day out like bro that'd make your reply even LESS than a priority. This shit's a hobby, not our lives.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — I don't have much of a preference, I'd say give me ALL OF THOSE but I mean if I HAD to choose one It'd be angst. Oh people that knows me KNOWS I love putting not just mine but my writing partner's muses through emotional damage.

plot or memes — Give me a meme any day. I love plotting too but with plotting comes over-excitement and there's gonna be a moment IN the story you're plotting that you just CAN'T wait to get to but your ass has to wait because LORD knows it could be after the roleplay's timeskip or even far down the line into the future. Then again even with memes eventually that thread is going to be thought about and plotted..can't win XD

long or short replies — Write what you feel I always say (and it's not cause i'm bad at long posts I swear XD) sometimes when things need a little explanation you gotta go all out and send something long but sometimes that's not the case and it's okay.

best time to write — For me it's just at the crack of 4AM or 5AM when i wake up for work and then a little after im back by evening. Those are really my best times to write.

are you like your muse?: NOT AT ALL, not even a little bit, in personality he's nicer than I can ever be, temperament I'm even further behind, believe me I WISH I could be like Trunks but if I'm honest I CAN DO WITHOUT HIS TOUGH LIFE. The man may look like he's got everythin' goin' for him with how he looks, carries himself and whatnot but he's got WAY too much shit going on for me to actually want that life.

tagged: @particlecreator , @swordsxandxsakuras (thanks for tagging yo boy :D)

tagging: @acoldsovereign , @kiealer , @n3rdb0x , @hopefromadoomedtimeline , @infintasmal , @universestreasures , @eternalbxtterfly , @crimsontwins , @kaguyahiime , @ofhope , steal this one homies and tag me so I can learn a little bit bout you.

[thetragicallynerdy]

nerdy's OFMD fanfic recs

I was going to send some fic recs to a pal, but then realized my list was super long, so I thought I'd write a list instead. All are Our Flag Means Death, and most Jim/Oluwande centric. I very rarely read anything that's not Jim centric in OFMD fanfic, so this list is heavily biased towards them as a character, be warned. I'm sticking it under the cut, but the categories are:

Top Ten (Twelve, actually, but who's counting)

Other SFW

NSFW - mainly smut, a few that are not pure smut but still NSFW

Reccing my own fics (aka stuff I wrote, because I'm not above that XD)

If you'd rather scroll ao3, most are also bookmarked by me here!

I've only tagged folks I know here on tumblr, (and only once in the list, because effort) please feel free to let me know if you recognize authors on here tho and I'll give them a tag! (Or if you're on here but I forgot your on tumblr pls lemme know jsksjks)

Top Ten (Twelve, but who's counting)

Listen most of these are written by my pals but I stand by the fact that my pals are amazing writers.

suck the rot right out of my bloodstream by @nevershootamockingbird – Jim, Frenchie, and Lucius, on the Kraken’s ship. Sad and yet so much hope. One of my all time faves. 7K.

some say it's a blessing by @swallowtailed – God. This fic. Literally made me have to lay down on my couch like a fainting lady in the 1800s at a certain point. Jim/Olu, soulmates who feel each other’s pain AU. 11K

what you take with you (what you leave behind) by @lovewithagirl – Jim/Ed, modern au, the world is ending. Listen. I love this fic with my whole heart, it gives me so many feels. 2K.

Leda House and the Kraken 'Verse by @dragonmuse – The Drag Queen AU, feat transfem Ed. Really lovely series, and very long – a lot of the parts can be read as standalones up to a certain point. Feat. ace Frenchie and Wee John. The Jim/Olu focused one (they're in more than one, but there's one that's focused primarily on Jim's story) is a regular re-read for me. Different parts have different word counts, the whole thing + au's of the au is around 930K.

how the west was won and where it got us (a.k.a. the revenge ranch) by @yerbamansa – long series, starts very Jim/Olu focused and brings in the rest of the crew. Modern AU where Jim and Oluwande meet, and eventually make their way to a ranch Stede runs in the American west. I adore this series with my whole heart. Beautiful soft vibes, more focused on characters than plot. The whole thing is 137K.

drink of the feeling of quiet again by @alfalfairy – absolutely stunning Jim character study – focused on ‘Jim returns home to help Nana as she gets older’. Lots of healing of the relationship and trauma etc. (Alfalfairy has a few others that make it on the list, but this one sits in my heart) Long oneshot, 35K.

make your peace with weariness and let it be by anirondack – jim character study, focused on Catholicism and trauma from their childhood to post-canon. Absolutely stunning. A fic that I actually read in almost one go, which rarely happens for me, because I couldn't put it down. Second person POV. 19K

Transformative Work by mia_ugly, pinehutch – Frenchie/Olu, Frenchie/Jim, Jim/Olu. One of my fav OFMD fics hands down. Frenchie POV, really beautifully done. Heed the tags. 40K, smut in later chapters.

Oluwande/Jim collection by MintPepper – a series of their jim/olu stuff – all are fantastic. Some are smut, some not.

orange & teal by owlinaminor – Jim/Oluwande focused series, some NSFW, some not. Absolutely stunning series.

Trouble Me Always: Being A True Chronicle of the Early Deeds of Oluwande Boodhari, Outlaw Shipwright by zmayhem – longer fic, Oluwande’s backstory to meeting Jim and joining the crew. I absolutely adore this one. Finished multi chapter. 30K.

that unwanted animal by @yourlocal-charlatan - Jim/Olu, Jim focused – goes through some canon, as well as before canon events – I really love this one, it’s so fantastic. Multi chaptered, unfinished. 16K.

Safe For Work

my heart could break for a one-legged seagull (that’s bad luck) by thingswithteeth – Frenchie centric, post-ep 10, very good from what I remember.  10K ish,

March Into The Sea by cranialaccessory - post-episode 10, Jim on Ed’s ship, or “5 times Jim tries to kill Ed”. Fun, sad, but not too sad. 5.5K

May There Be No Sadness of Farewell by hopeless_eccentric – Jim gets top surgery. 1.5K

Disruptors by yerbamansa – SMAU focused on Stede and Ed in the tech industry. I adore this one!! 21K, completed.

Till Human Voices Wake Us, And We Drown by alfalfairy – short series focused on mermaid Jim (with fangs, and claws, and a thirst for blood) – I adore it. 8K total.

bitter like whiskey, sweet like wine by alfalfairy – Jim/Olu centric, from their meeting pre-canon through canon. Ongoing longfic, currently unfinished but semi-regular posting. One of my fav series. 72K

to be more than this devil inside of me by alfalfairy – Ed and Izzy adopt a 18 year old Jim  before they meet Olu. Young pirate Jim. Great series. Ongoing, updating semi-regularly. 40K.

All Ships Sail by UnscrupulousArtist – 5 times Frenchie and Lucius almost happened (and one it did) – cute, loved this one. Lots of mentions of sex, none on screen from what I recall. 6K.

set my body free by eldrai – another ‘Jim gets top surgery’ au, lotsa gender and dysphoria vibes. 1.5K

Spindrift by Acephalous – “Jim contemplates family, memory, and their duty to the dead.” 2K.

in the deep end by rabbitinrain – jim isn’t a mermaid, but oluwande is. Short and sweet. 3K.

Vodka x Orange by AtlantisRises – modern au, jim and olu working at jackie’s bar. Unfinished, hasn’t been updated in a while. 4 chapters so far. 5K.

the art of gift giving by Nanashi07  - jim and ed friendship, as they both try and figure out how to be partners to olu and stede respectively 7K.

come build your home in me by Fool_for_love  - long series, split between ‘during the kraken era’ and ‘post kraken era healing’ – each fic has a chapter with different viewpoints – pete, olu, izzy, jim, Frenchie, and Lucius I think? Very trauma and recovery focused.

so nice to have you back where you belong by SweetPollyOliver – lil Frenchie and wee john focused oneshot – “frenchie finds wee john’s doll after the crew is marooned and keeps it safe.” 1.2K

you should be so happy now by waveridden – Mary Bonnet gets taken captive on the Kraken’s ship. Fantastic fic, very Mary and Ed focused if I recall correctly. ~8K

not a mermaid by awenswords – Jim focused, gender feels a plenty. One chapter out of 3 written, not updated in a while. 2K.

the sea and you swim to meet me by stanzas – Jim and Olu centric Daemon au. One of my absolute faves, it’s a stunning little fic. 2K.

hoist up the thing, batten down the whatsit by SunsetOfDoom – Daemon AU – this bit is Jim focused, part of a longer series featuring the whole crew.

just the two of us by @jesperr-fahey – Jim + Frenchie friendship all alone aboard the Revenge post S2.

 Friendship (Derogatory) by peaktotheocean – Black Pete whittles Jim a packer. Great little fic. 1K.

i'll be a friend and a fuck-up and everything by iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid – Jim Ed friendship, they set out to kill Blackbeard and it doesn’t go as planned. 6K.

and if my body is a temple (then this ruin is a mess) by sakutsu – Trans Lucius fic. 1K.

cut through my frozen heart (watch the blood spill, fresh and clean) by your_local_charlatan – little jim and olu centric h/c – jim’s hands hurt when it gets cold. Olu fixes it. Lovely little fic. 1.5K.

To Skin a Catfish by peaktotheocean – Frenchie focused, Jim is a cat. And also a witch. 3.5K

Not Safe For Work (Mainly smut)

pull me from the earth by MintPepper – Jim asks Lucius to draw them naked. Very lovely body positive stuff. M, not E, but still goes under NSFW. 4K.

Revenge Becomes Us by Anonymous – Jim centric character study. Absolutely fantastic. Contains some NSFW stuff. 10K

Ven Conmigo by DarkwingDukat (pushingcrazies) – jim/olu, facesitting.

Like Real People Do by Gwendolyn (storiesofchaos) – jim/olu, first time, 2.5k

Tengo una Obsesión by Anonymous – jim/olu, 2.1K

please don't call, i need another hour by exastris_scientia – jim/olu, modern au smut, lovely little oneshot. 2K

Living in Sin Situation (Complimentary) by SpaceJackalope – Jim/Olu, pegging. 3K.

I Think We're Alone Now by Ptolemia – Jim/Olu, 6K.

The More the Merrier by SweetPollyOliver – Wee John/Olu/Frenchie – 1.5K

Mermaids Singing, Each to Each by SpaceJackalope – Jim/Olu beachfucking, with a side of Lucius watching. Sweet little smut fic, great vibes. 1.5K

When Your Depths Resound by Bassarid – Jim/Olu, hammock sex. Great vibes. 1.5K

Oral Fixation by izzyxhands for suchgreatheights – modern au, Stede/Ed, trans leather daddy dom Ed. Very hot. 5K.

My Own Fic recs (aka ones I wrote, because I’m not above that)

to build a home by @lovewithagirl, @nevershootamockingbird, and myself – a series of oneshots in a shared modern AU where everyone is poly, and everyone is in love. Soft vibes, very family focused. Ed/Jim, Jim/Olu, and Ed/Stede are the main pairings (with lots of others thrown in)

and we will build a home from the wreckage – cowboy au, Jim/Olu centric, injured outlaw Jim gets taken in by farmer Olu. 22K ish, unfinished (updates slower than molasses in January)

Ask Me Anything: A TealOranges SMAU by me and @yerbamansa, can also be read at @askmeanythingofmd – modern jim/olu SMAU I’m co-writing, focused on Jim/Olu falling in love while figuring out how to kill alfeo de la vaca. Unfinished, updates on tumblr weekly (ish), on ao3 every few months.

i like to call myself wound (but i will answer to knife) by tragicallynerdy – series of Jim-centric h/c or whump oneshots. Fics in the collection vary from 1K-15K ish.

full of flowers and heart shaped boxes by tragicallynerdy – Jim/Olu, modern au where they go on their first date after months of being together. Comedy focused. 10K

There's a few smut ones on my ao3 account too, if that's your interest. Feel free to find them XD

Enjoy!

Tagging @frrenchie who was interested in some recs! Sorry there's so many XD

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

What do you think of Soulmate AU with the Grimm Reapers where every person is born with a symbol/tattoo that changes color according to your soulmate mood and will start glowing once you meet them. When your soulmate d*es, the tattoo loses color and turns grey. Now imagine your tattoo is already grey from the moment you're born (since Reapers commited s******) meaning your soulmate d*ed before you were even born! Everyone feels sorry for you but you accepted the fact. But one day, your tattoo unexpectedly starts to glow!

aaaaaaaa it makes me cry, is what I think!! so obviously I had to write it XD

and you don't have to put asterisks like that with the words, tbh; while I do tag triggers when I can, replacing letters like that makes it more difficult for blacklist to catch it. I've had my own issues with it, as well as reading others' thoughts.

for example, typing out "suicide" will cause blacklist to catch it, so that any post with the full word "suicide" will be blocked if someone has "suicide" blacklisted. if you type "s******" or "su*cide" or any combination of asterisks replacing letters, blacklist will not catch it, and people who actually have "suicide" blacklisted might see the post since it won't be blocked. if you want to make sure that people who have a word blacklisted won't see a post like this, don't replace letters with asterisks, just type the whole word and blacklist will catch it!

ok PSA over, now onto, THE REAPERS MY LOVES-

He’s… a little sad for you, that you lived so much of your life thinking you’d be alone forever. Even though he knows people are born alone and die alone, they shouldn’t live alone. He always knew he’d have someone, based on his own tattoo, but you must have been so worried. As soon as the two of you meet, he apologizes for what he’s done to himself, because it led to you suffering and wondering and feeling like something wasn’t right. However, now the two of you have found each other; even if his afterlife ends up being cut short by his illness, he intends to spend the rest of it getting to know you. And… hopefully you’re happy getting to know him.

As much as he regrets what led you to him, he’s grateful he found you. At some points, he would stare at his own tattoo and will it to turn grey, simply so he could know you would stop being tortured by the thought that he was dead. (And stop eating at him with guilt, knowing that he’d doomed you before you were even aware of him.) You didn’t let the so-called impossibility stop you, and… he found you, at last. It’s… okay, that it’s him you ended up with? You’re not disappointed? Well. At least now the two of you can be together without any cares. Now that he has you, he promises, he’ll do anything for you.

Goodness, it’s about time you showed up! They’ve been waiting for you, you know? Of course… they know they haven’t done themself any favors. Unfortunately. By killing themself before they could meet their soulmate, they’ve effectively made you think you’re never going to find them. They’ve been watching their own tattoo daily, excited by your feelings of passion when it turns red and wanting to rip apart whatever made you sad when it turns blue. And here you are, at long last! They’re ever so delighted that you didn’t give up looking for them. You held out hope for them, and now they get to be with you. It’s like a fairytale, and now they get to live with you, happily~ ever~ after~

That’s just his luck, isn’t it… that he’s fated to have died before his intended ever existed. He’s angry at himself that he took his life away, but he can’t help thinking — would he have had someone else if he didn’t? If he stayed alive, would he simply have no soulmate at all, because there would be no way to be with you if he hadn’t died? It makes his head spin and he loves it, some unknowable questions to ponder over. He’s overjoyed that he finally gets to have you, though, so as long as the two of you are together, he doesn’t fret over what might have happened. As long as he isn’t a letdown to you, he’s glad that things eventually ended up where they did. You’re the best puzzle of his life, and even if he never figures you out… he loves the adventure of trying.

God, he was starting to think he’d never get to be with you. And here come to find, you thought you were fated to be alone from the start? He’s gone through so many people trying to see who it was who was his. Countless one-night stands, endless breakups when it became clear he wasn’t compatible… there’s never any way to know for sure. He’s been lonely, searching for you. There’s a little guilt that you had to live for so long feeling lonely too… though, now that you’re together, he’s prepared to thoroughly enjoy being with you. He’ll show you the best of this life that he has to offer, if you’ll let him!

Damn, did you really wait all this time for him? Instead of just going off and trying to find someone else? He held out for you because he knew you were alive, but if he thought his soulmate was dead… he would probably give up on the idea entirely. A person only gets one, right? He’s disappointed in himself that he made you wait, that you almost certainly felt isolated and pitied and a million other things. It’s bullshit, and he’s the one who put you through it by killing himself. Then again, it may not have worked out this way if he hadn’t, so… it’s complicated. If nothing else, he’s thankful he’s met you at last; he thoroughly teases that now he has even more of a reason to want to be done with work.

You must have known they would find you soon enough! You never gave up hope, ja? Here they are with you now! It’s not something that they really like thinking about in general; the fact that they took their own life. It’s worse that doing so led to you thinking you were destined to be alone forever, so it’s something they have to confront particularly after first meeting you. They’re… sad that what they did led to you suffering. They never wanted to hurt anyone but themself. Even then, it’s… ugh. It’s a lot. They’re just so happy that you’ve found them now, that finally they have their beloved! You must have been so lonely, so they plan to make up for lost time. They also take all the photographs of you, wanting to have as many as they can. They’re so excited to start building a life with someone!

This is… it’s real, at last? After waiting for so long, the two of you have finally found each other? He was starting to think it would never happen, that even though his own tattoo proves otherwise, he was doomed to be alone. So many people he’s seen die, so many he’s lost, and none of them have been the one. The very first one he lost drove him to kill himself out of grief, and… it’s infuriating, that this was the thing that would lead him to meet you. He’s waited so long for you, and you’ve been in so much pain just like him, because you thought for most of your life that he was dead and would stay dead. But… he’s here now, love. He’s here. You’ll never be alone or doubt his love again.

It’s not any great surprise, is it, that what he did begets ever more punishment? It’s just a tragedy to him, that his actions led to you being punished. You’re the one who’s been hurt and has thought that the person you were meant to be with was someone you’d never meet. He’s not happy with himself, that you’ve been through so much and it’s his fault. All he can do now that he’s together with you is try to make sure the rest of your life is better than what came before. Even though he works a lot, surrounded by reminders of death, he’s with you as much as he possibly can be. Any time that isn’t taken by his job is yours. While he may not be overly emotional… there’s no denying that he loves you, that he’s glad to have you, and that he’ll do anything to make sure you know it.

[hollowflight-propaganda]

I occasionally liveblog Warrior Cats and Wings of Fire!

Here's how my tagging system works:

"phoenix liveblogs warrior cats" is for any of the warriors liveblogging I do! If you want to look at it all, this'll be the tag everything goes under. And "phoenix rereads wof" is the general tag for any of my wof thoughts I have while going on my reread

For warriors (still debating on doing this for wof) if there's a specific book you want to look at, I'll be tagging each post I make with the book's title, for example, I've gone through Mistystar's Omen and all of those posts are tagged with "mistystar's omen" (I also plan to use the arc's acronyms once I get to them)

If there's something notable about a specific character, I'll be tagging their name

I use the "warrior cats" and "wings of fire" tag occasionally because I don't want to clog the tag, but I tend to use it for the posts that I think should have more reach (so the ones I actually put effort into or I think are funny)

"wc" and "wof" is for anything I reblog from other people

"warriors designs" has kinda turned into "warriors art that I really really like," as well as character designs I like!

And since this is my pinned post I should probably finally make list of my fandoms *continues under the cut*

Ninjago (main)

Wings of Fire (main)

Warrior Cats (main)

Night in the Woods

Echo Visual Novel, as well as Adastra and Arches (I haven't read The Smoke Room yet, so no spoilers pretty please)

The Magnus Archives

The Owl House

Amphibia

Steven Universe

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Avatar: The Last Airbender

other lego things like Legends of Chima and Monkie Kid

Spyro / Skylanders

DreamWorks Trolls (I am cringe but I am free)

Lab Rats (yeah. the disney xd sitcom)

Chronicles of Narnia

The Dragon Prince

Stranger Things (I really only care about El to be honest. you wanna ask me about El so bad~)

just xenofiction in general really

also a whole bunch of xenofiction webcomics (shout out to What Lurks Beneath, PatFW and Doe of Deadwood)

[seven-thewanderer]

An introduction!! 💖

Welcome to my blog!! I know this is my 3rd intro but hush hushy hushy

I am Seven, and I use both she/her and he/him pronouns (with no preference)!!

I am both bisexual and bigender, but am still figuring myself out (since I may also be somewhere on the aroace spectrums)

I am a minor (but I am not actually seven, Seven's just my online nickname it's not my age), so don't be inappropriate. please. (not saying nobody can be nsfw anywhere, just please not directed at me)

Some examples of things I like (cus why not):

My friends!! (both online & irl)

Sweets (some sweets, not all)

Apple Cider Donuts (I will go crazy over apple cider donuts)

Stuffies/Plushies

Forest-like vibes (idk how to word it)

Nature

Most bugs (so yeah this blog may get a slight cw for bugs) (especially with the bugs on my sona's hat)

And some examples of things I dont like:

Chocolate (stating this first cus I often get offered chocolate and I just. I don't like chocolate.)

Pizza

My space/privacy getting invaded

Homophobes & Transphobes

Art theft

And there's probably more things I like & dislike but I can't think of everything XD

Also, please don't interact if you're:

Homophobic

Transphobic

Ableist

Racist

Pedo

And the more common lists of DNI (that everyone except me knows XD) (but yeah if you know that common list and you fit as one of the DNIs then you know that means don't interact)

And now it's time for the...

(if it's hard to read it says "Tags" in all caps)

Some of the tags I use commonly a lot are tags like:

My Art (plus the non-mobile link) (since I'm pretty sure the first one is the mobile link)

Random Post (plus non-mobile link)

Random Reblog (plus non-mobile link)

Random Art Reblog (plus non-mobile link)

Then there's the important tags like:

Important reblog (plus non-mobile link)

Important (plus non-mobile link)

Then there's less important tags:

rant (plus non-mobile link)

<3 & 💖 (I didn't put links for these cus they're honestly very hard to track, they're unconsistant) (I can't link every sparkle heart post with just 1 sparkle heart, it's a random number of em)

Intro (this just lets you see all the intros I've made, which I believe is just 3? idk) (plus non-mobile link) (it's actually about to be 4 now. huh. I always thought I had 2 before this one.)

Then there's character tags like:

Sona (plus non-mobile link)

Sonas (yes they're separate blame past me) (here's non-mobile link)

my ocs (plus non-mobile link)

devicesonas (plus non-mobile link)

Clowns (so if you don't like clowns avoid this tag) (plus non-mobile link)

There's also character-specific tags:

Seven - my main sona (plus non-mobile link)

Silly - my silly goofy lil sona (plus non-mobile link)

Tabby - my tablet devicesona (plus non-mobile link)

Chromey - my chromebook devicesona (plus non-mobile link)

Swii - my switch devicesona (plus non-mobile link)

Phon - my phone devicesona (plus non-mobile link) I'll add more tags for any more sonas that get tags, like if I ever tag my piranha plant sona by their name, and if I actually share that new sona I made while I was gone.... (also apparently I haven't tagged Swii & Phon before, but I swear I tagged em once)

Then some extra tags like:

Tag game (plus non-mobile link)

Asks (plus non-mobile link)

Ask game (plus non-mobile link)

And I have a few AU tags like:

Sun & Moon AUs (plus non-mobile link)

SAMS AU (plus non-mobile link)

Treats! AU (plus non-mobile link) Also I've kinda lost my hyperfixation on Sun & Moon, so probably no more Sun & Moon AU content, but they'll still have a tag

And then some fandom-like tags I've kinda done (they're not gonna be linked, sorry):

FNAF (Five Nights at Freddy's)

AAF (Andy's Apple Farm)

Fandroid/Fandroid the Musical Robot

QSMP

TWOMP (The World of Mr. Plant)

Gen Loss (Generation Loss)

Diep.io (yes I did once post a Diep.io oc don't question me)

Rainworld

SAMS (Sun and Moon Show) & some of the other channels (honestly Im kinda losing interest in this but I can't escape it's a daily thing it makes me wanna see what happens each day like what if I miss something-)

Deltarune

Undertale

Roblox T2D/Roblox T2D DCO (Roblox Try to Die/Roblox Try to Die DCO)

Pokemon (and Fakemon but idk if that counts as a fandom)

Some of these I'm barely in, but I still like it

There's also some I either haven't done content for, or haven't shared yet like:

Murder Drones

Spooky Month

The Amazing Digital Circus (yes I do like TADC, I dare yall to guess my favorite character) (...or maybe favorites)

Chikn Nuggit

Billie Bust Up

Plus others I cannot think of rn XD

(Also I'm not in the Cookie Run fandom anymore, but I do still like looking at others' fan content)

Now, to exit the tags section, we have my side blog to mention!!

I've brought it up before, but I do have a side blog, which is specifically for a silly lil species I made called Floserds!!

Short summary: Flower Cows. That's legit the best I can give.

I'm leaving the rest of the details over to that blog, but yeah!!

I mainly bring that blog up though because if anyone's interested in the content there, then they can look at it!! However, I don't really want it to be either forced, or just for you to follow it because it's my side blog. It's mainly just if anyone's interested in the idea.

Of course, if nobody's interested in it then that's fine too, of course!!!

But yeah that side blog is @floserd-theflowercows!!

(also, so irrelevant but on the topic of sideblogs, it's a lil fun fact: one of my other sonas, Silly, was actually supposed to have a sideblog, but I didn't do it, since I thought it'd just be this blog, but sillier. Thus Silly doesn't have a sideblog)

But yeah so that this intro doesn't get too long, that's it!!! I hope anyone who's new here has fun!!!

[terresdebrume]

Ok so Hi, Hello, I hope you're having a great day! I just read your latest fic for the time between us series on ao3 and I found your blog while I was on Aphrodite's tag having a small trip down memory lane lol I just wanted to thank you for this new fic, and also to tell you that I loved it, and that it was a really nice surprise in an otherwise rather boring Sunday. Also, please don't think I was stalking your blog or anything djfshdf, but I saw you made a post about how you hc that Piscies training turns their cosmos into a kind of autoinmmune disease and 👀👀 I'm curious now and would love to hear your thoughts about it if you feel like sharing!

Hi Nonners!

I woke up to your message so yeah, my day is starting pretty well :D

I'm so happy you liked the fic, it's been so long since I updated this series I'm still riding the high of posting tbh xD And btw, stalk my blog as much as you like, that's what I tag (most of) my posts for xD I love seeing people pick a tag on there and just go through it, it always makes me go 'hey friend, I see you!' so really d'ont feel self conscious about it :)

Okay, now on to the headcanon part of the ask, under the cut because it might get long.

So, the thing is that officially, Athena's knights/saints are supposed to be normal people who figured out how to unlock the super special part of their brains, more or less. But normal people don't have poisoned blood, so while figuring out what Aphrodite's deal was, I thought it would be good to figure out how the heck he made that work.

Now I could have said the poison blood was just another cosmos technique like his roses but

It's less angsty

From a Watsonian standpoint it makes no practical sense bc then other knights would be able to sense his cosmos heighten and get advance warning that the poison was coming, which defeats the purpose of Aphrodite's 'you'll be dead before you realize I'm trying to hurt you' MO

So if the toxic blood wasn't a cosmos effect, the easiest way to make it is to essentially treat the Pisces Saint's body like a big syringe, with teeth/nails/blood needles as the needle: just pump the guy full of poison and let him release it through bites in the event that someone gets close enough for it.

However, once you start putting poison into said apprentice's body, you have to have a way for them not to die. So essentially, what I decided happens in the TBU verse is that Pisces apprentice are actually picked out at around 6 months to a year old, and undergo a sort of passive cosmos training, in which they are given manageable doses of poison and their master guides their cosmos to make it inert/ineffective. As they grow up, the doses of poison become bigger, and the filtering of their blood via cosmos becomes an autonomic reflex, like breathing

Which is why, if they stop ingesting poison, their cosmos instead attacks other parts of the blood: viruses and bacteria, yes, but also blood cells and white cells and all the nitty gritty stuff that you want to have enough of for your body to function properly. In practice, I imagine if Aphrodite didn't get his (quite high) daily dose of poison for a while, he would start developing symptoms similar to AIDS (bc of the attack on white cells) and some Red Blood Cells disorders.

The reason I used the term autoimmune disease even though those two examples aren't autoimmune is because it would be a sickness caused by the Saint's body/self rather than something exterior to it.

TL;DR: Back when a friend let me his copies of Lost Canva, Albafica was said to have poisoned blood and the question of how that looked, in practicality, has been poking at my brain ever since :P

[meiloorunsmoothie]

📱🌡️📷🔑🌼 + one you want to answer that no one has asked 👀

hello! thank you for the questions :D

📱show your phone lock screen and/or home screen ha! I bet you thought it was going to be jeremy…well it’s not (it has been in the past though).

for my wingfeather saga fans, which might only be @theragamuffininitiative (i'm sorry i keep tagging you) at this point (i need to advertise that part of myself better LOL), this is actually kind of morbid and i’m a little ashamed now but:

uhhhhhhh....yeah......

yikes, that's massive

🌡️ fave season fall-winterish! i love the colors, vibes, and flavors of that time of year 🍁

📷 post the 12th photo from your phone’s gallery this one is actually jeremy XD. well, we didn’t get the tub scene in the b&c proshot, so here’s a little bathtub jeremy (+ eva) for you now

🔑 key to your heart this is a tough question…and to be completely honest, i’m not totally sure.

i think definitely putting up with my obsessions and interests is a good place to start XD.

also, i can't tell if this is in the context of romance, but just in general:

I always like to see loyalty in a person, but also I think it’s really important to be able to be open minded—as well as be open to agree to disagree. I definitely think that that’s one thing my peers tended to lack growing up—and also why I feel that some relationships I carry from those days could be on thin ice if I “say the wrong thing.” I grew up in a place where people were supposedly “super accepting,” but in my experience, they weren’t? Not really. They were only accepting of certain things, or “the right things” as they viewed them, and I think as I’ve progressed in life, I’ve learned that I shouldn’t have to hide certain things I believe in. Anyways, turns out I could write an essay on this, but maybe that’s for another day 😅.

But yes, loyalty and respecting/being open to listening to other peoples’ opinions even if you might not always agree. (also, woah, you got proper capitalization for that one 😱😆).

🌼 fave flower i’m inclined to say peonies, they are very pretty.

one you want to answer that no one has asked

oooh…i think i’m going to do dream job

i’ve always thought would be super cool to be a voice actor (note: i am not an actor, nor have i ever taken any acting class). i actually just really want to work in entertainment in general (star wars, i blame you. i was never the same after i watched that movie.)

and, i did actually audition for an animated role once (it was the wingfeather saga. i was too old, but i did it anyways. if you’re curious, feel free to ask. i clearly did not get the role, but i’m happy to talk about it XD).

but yes, voice acting seems like a lot of fun cause i’m really shy but i’d love to be in some kind of media :D.

[dude1818]

Back to my Call of the Night liveblog. When I left off, the Mahiru/Kiku arc had finished with the two of them committing suicide together, which seemed pretty out of place in this story. That arc was about 50% longer than each of the first two, so either we finish with a mini arc or a really long dénouement. In either case, the pacing has been a little wack

Oh right, this d-bag. Particularly bad timing after all that

Appropriate response

Why is "dinner at a fancy restaurant" the most gremlin he's ever been?

Yeah, okay, closure arc

A blood bag will not stay good for ten years. Red Cross says whole blood has a shelf life of 42 days. Even though the point isn't for it to remain viable, you're still looking at months until it breaks down and isn't blood anymore, just dirty water

Oh dang, gremlin mode is diegetic?

Keeping this one XD

Incredible. No better way to ruin the mood than to realize the reason the date is going surprisingly well is because you're technically related

God damn it, Nazuna, I thought you learned this lesson at the end of season 1. Seeing you is how to make Ko feel better

"No way he's actually going to be at the vending machine this time, right? Rule of threes, gotta subvert it on the third time"

Double baited, amazing!

She's so cute 🥺

Ko, you're a menace

Oh no, poor baby 🥺

Huh. I thought her thralls were still human. I guess that wouldn't work since they're glamoured to love her. Actually, are they not glamoured in the first place? They're just freaks?

I remember seeing this panel in the tag when the chapter came out. I thought they were being domestic and having a board game night, not house hunting

Oxymoron of the century. I bet the issue is that as someone who was never human, she's actually more human than all the normal vampires

Nazuna doesn't drink ... wine. (I think she only drinks beer. Maybe she had sake once? I'm not sure if you put sake in a wine cellar)

All vampire live in the non-Euclidean Seinfeld apartment, apparently

QPR! QPR!

Yeah, I caught her catching Nazuna blushing last chapter. This is another point in favor of the double-human ending. I know that was in my predictions for the finale post, but I'll have to check what I said about it

Jeez, Nazuna, that's harsh. I can't think of a worse thing for a vampire to say when you offer them your blood

Oh, well then. I wasn't expecting her to just come out and say it already. ("Already," it's chapter 171)

At least I'm not the only one surprised XD Although I've been saying she's fallen in love with him since the end of season 1, she just didn't realize it yet

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

OC Tag Game

got tagged again by @shivunin! <3 You're right that this is a curse to do fsdkljfls, i am indecisive af so prepare for rambling

Favorite OC: Wow starting with a mean one :( It rotates and switches between all of them, but Liam and June probably occupy the spot the most often

Newest OC: Uhh i guess Robin? They are In My Brain but i have yet to do a playthrough with them lol

Oldest OC: In general? Des xD (she was a warrior cats oc i made when i was 11 but she's still very dear to me <3). For DA, it's Neira! I played he games in order & she was my first Warden :)

Meanest OC: June for sure lol. Both in that she is very blunt and does not belive in lying for the sake of being nice, and in that she is the most likely to be actively mean on purpose. 2nd Place goes to Noya because she can also be really nasty when she wants to be.

Softest OC: Oof hard pick :') I have come to terms with the fact that i am unable to make OCs who are not softies in some way or another, and they definitely all are. But.. i wanna say Kala? Because she has a big nature vs nurture contrast, and once she has the chance to she is actually very soft, and very deliberately. In that she craves a lot of closeness with loved ones, but also in that she sees the beauty in the small things, and in being determined to spite cruelty through small kindnesses.

Most Aloof/Standoffish OC: Also Kala xD She is. Not sociable at all fsdfjk and is also not overly involved; yes she cares, but she also knows how to distance herself.

Dumbest (affectionate) OC: I wouldn't call any of them *dumb*, but at the same time, all of them are at least A Little Bit dumb <3 Liam is the most likely to have brainlag or head empty moments, June is the one who will do dumb things despite knowing better and/or not think things through, Lilian will have internal "yeah i got this :)" (she has not got this) moments the most, and so on.

Smartest OC: Tie between Ari and June! At least for the traditional definition of smart lol. Ari is very booksmart, is very good at remembering things, processing concrete information, thinking ahead and making elaborate plans. His thoughts are always 5 steps ahead and sometimes it feels like he is thinking for three people at once. As long as he has precise information to work with, he's gonna make it work.

June is the opposite, she is really bad at encyclopedia type knowledge or planning but is super good at conceptualising abstract ideas, at making connections and bending thoughts this way and that, at combining ideas and theorising. She has a good intuition for how conceptual ideas might work in practice, and a creative approach to problem solving.

Bonus shoutout to Var'renan for being the most people-smart. They're very perceptive and very good at reading people and social cues.

OC I'd Probably Be Friends With: Well, i would say i'd probably vibe with Renan or Kala or Ari, but irl i seem attract all the extroverts, so chances are i'd end up being friends with Noya or June or Adriel lmao. Ig Adriel would be the best bet though. Cos she's energetic but not overly so, she'd still be totally down to just hang out and chill; we're both chatty but awkward talkera sometimes and would probably hype each other up really well when we get exited

edit: bruh why did tumblr delete part of the post (part of the last bullet point & the tags got cut off)???? I Do Not have the energy to put in all the tags again, so if you read this, you can consider yourself tagged! If you do it please do tag me, i'd love to read more about all your OCs :3

2nd edit because. It cut off the last category again smh (not the text after this time tho??) and idk why but i am also Not gonna rewrite that again e-e

[fangirlwriting-stories]

20 Q's for Fic Writers

Another tag from @assorted-candy, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

193 as of now! Wow that's more than I thought I'd have.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

1,537,974! That's about what I expected actually xD

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well I got dragged into the Danny Phantom fandom recently as I'm sure you all can tell. The show was actually a really big part of my childhood, but this is the first time I've been actively in the fandom, go figure! Of course I'm still in the Sanders Sides fandom, and I'm back once again in the Phineas and Ferb fandom, still chipping away at that long fic I've been working on for a while.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 

These aren't too surprising to me, as they're also my fics with the most hits.

5. You Just Didn't Notice with 349 kudos (dear god please don't go find that one it's from so long ago I can't bear to look at it).

4. Warm with 356 kudos! I think this is the touch starved light sides au I wrote! Yeah I'm still fond of that one

3. By Any Other Name has 365 kudos! Still think fondly of my time writing that one, it was so fun.

2. Consequences with 420 kudos! Honestly I'm a little surprised this one is in my top 5 I guess a lot of people just really liked it.

Protector! Yeah, no surprises here. This one seriously blew up on me, it's got more hits than any other work I've ever posted on AO3. 504 kudos!

5. Do you respond to comments?

Sure do! I make an effort to respond to every single one I get if I can, unless I just cannot for the life of me think of anything to say. And I do read all of them, rest assured that even if all you get is a "Thank you!" that I loved and appreciated your comment, and that I mean those "Thank you"s every time.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Honestly, I'm not sure, most of my fics tend towards happier endings, even if the time before that sucks ass for everyone involved. I could pick any number of one shots from series, but I'm not sure those count as complete stories, since most of one shot series do actually tell a story. Oh you know what, I'm looking through my stuff and it's "Denied Reconciliation" for Roleslaying With Roman. Yeah nothing's getting better in that one.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This might sound weird for anyone who's read the fic, but in my mind I think it might be Protector? I listen to "Carry On" by Fun whenever I think about the ending for that fic because it fits the vibe so well, and because that's what the ending is about. Everyone is going to move on and live their lives to the fullest. Not everything's going to be sunshine and rainbows, but the characters don't want that anyway. They get to work to fix things and they have a chance for a really good and full and fulfilling life coming for them. What's happier than that?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really, actually, I'm very fortunate in that everyone seems to get that I'm just trying to share stories I love writing for fandoms and characters that I love. Thanks to all my readers, y'all are the best!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope! Not necessarily because I'm completely opposed to the idea, I have technically written a couple makeout fics, but when it comes to smut I feel like I'm too ace to know what I'm doing xD

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't, mostly just cause they don't scratch my brain in the way that inspires writing for me. I've read some really amazing ones and I definietly come up with some in my head from time to time, but I'm not sure I'll ever actually write one.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Thankfully no, or at least not that I know of.

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

Yep! I'm currently writing and co-posting Defense Mechanisms with VorpalGirl on AO3, and I brainstorm enough with her and with my QPP @mishiitake-mushrooms that I end up putting them in the author's notes with credit quite a bit, and in my mind, that counts!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Honestly I don't ship nearly as much as I used to. This may be a bit of a cop-out answer, but I find myself getting way more invested in sibling dynamics lately. I'm loving writing about Phineas and Ferb and Candace in my long fic, and Danny and Jazz in my new AU. Even in Sanders Sides, I'm tending more towards Roman and Remus lately, and of course brotherly dukexiety will have my heart until the end of everything. If I had to pick one, it would probably honestly be Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice? Kind of an out of left field answer, but I love how much both of them change in the book and I love how their romance is handled. Jane Austen is good at romance, I know, hot take.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Light Side Virgil AU where Virgil was a light side from the start that I still absolutely love, but I'm not sure I'll finish at this point. I still want to, I've just got so much going on that it's going to be a while if I ever get to it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and plot! Sometimes I write what I jokingly refer to as my "stick two characters in a room together" fics where I do exactly that and just let them talk to each other. It's some of my favorite writing to do, actually. And I absolutely adore getting to plan and figure out plots and watch everything as it comes together as I write. Story epiphanies are the best.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle a bit with action scenes, since character and dialogue are my strong suit writing characters just doing a whole bunch of stuff is difficult (especially if it's a fight scene, woof.)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I am definitely not strong enough in any languages other than maybe French to pull it off, but I think it's really cool when people do it!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. I was 12 no you can't see them.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I'm not sure I have one, honestly? I have this thing that happens where I put all of my excitement and energy into whatever fic I'm currently writing xD

I do definitely have a couple that are very close to my heart for various reasons, though. Protector was my first fic that went over 100,000 words, and for that as well as numerous other reasons I'm very proud of it! Hope With Me turned out almost exactly how I pictured it in my head which is, like, crazy to me. I did a shit ton of math I'm really proud of for Three Minutes Less. I did coding for Seeking Advice. I wrote a bit about how I think aplatonicism would work in Friendship is Magic in Same Conclusion, which is the one MLP fic from me you get to see.

I don't know, I don't really want to name a favorite fic I've ever written, that takes away the possibility that I could still write it in the future! And yeah, I get the question is really asking "favorite fic so far," but... I don't know, I like too many of my fics for different reasons. I hope that's not too much of a cop-out answer.

Tagging @anxious-mess19, @sometimes-love-is-enough, and @prince-rowan-of-the-forest again, still no pressure!

[fitzrove]

Writer Asks

Tagged by @yallemagne (thank you<3) ages and ages ago... Inspired to answer because I just published a fic and feel good about it hjejejfjj

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Undisclosed amount xD I've put a bunch on anon, especially from fandoms I'm not active in anymore (lbr, mostly Endeavour). Publically, it's 26 rn.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

212040!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Elisabeth, hopefully in the future Tanz der Vampire (I've been thinking about it for like five years), in the past Endeavour (TV).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

They're all Endeavour because those are older and in a (slightly) bigger fandom... Unfortunately I think they're not the best ones I've written, a lot of them were when I was 18 (no offense to 18 year olds) and had just started writing fanfic ajajjjd. Which is why the top 5 are on anon except for one LOL. I really do think kudos doesn't tend to accumulate "correctly" xD People like familiar tropes and time of posting also affects it, there are many fics of mine I consider "underrated"

My top five kudosed Elisabeth fics are: black as the earth (shortened title), Flights of Angels (todolf longfic), Dominion, Midnight Man & Starwalk. tbh deserved...

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

Yes, I try to respond to every single one of them so people will hopefully comment in the future too, especially if they're kind, funny or thought-provoking!!! However, I delete them if I don't like them or they're weird, boundary-crossing or TMI ahdjfjjf (has happened a handful of times - the joys of writing explicit stuff lol. PSA: do not tell fic authors about your sexual activities in the comments, i do not consent...)

6. What's the fic you wrote that has the angstiest ending?

I often do bittersweet, or "sweet but also has Implications" >:] Oh and I guess there's a lot of them where Rudolf dies at the end... I think the actual angstiest might be No Forevers (Endeavour fic) even though nobody dies in that one. Though I ruined it by writing a sequel to it, after the showrunner wrote one of the characters back into the show after like 10 years xD In my defense, this wasn't my idea!!!

7. What's the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

Beams of Morning (Endeavour). I retconned one of my own DIY bittersweet endings whoops... 🤣🤣😭 It's sappy, even, but maybe that's allowed. For elisabeth it's Flights of Angels because the happiest happy endings are ones that feel deserved.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No - I've gotten hate for my headcanons/meta and my video essays though (never to my face ;D) which can be fic adjacent. I guess it's because there's a better tagging system with fic, like, people won't be exposed to stuff they don't want to see as readily as with tumblr and youtube etc. And people also know how to leave other ppl alone!! Ajdjjfjf

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. The unpleasantly sexy kind 👀

10. Do you write crossovers?

Noooo, I don't really read them either. The kinds of crossovers I like are the ones that are crossovers "in name only"; ie. setting or tropes lifted from one work, characters/cast from another. Wildly incongruent characters showing up in each other's universes and interacting etc doesn't fit into my suspension of disbelief most of the time 😭

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Luckily no!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I once helped someone translate theirs into English, which was cool. Oh, and recently I've been asked for permission to translate at least one of my fics - I hope it happens because it's always an honor!! >:]

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

I've collaborated on series, but I haven't co-written stuff on a deeper level. I think I'm too much of a control freak to get into it ajsdjjf, I can do stuff inspired by other people and am happy if my stuff inspires other people, but if I need to agree on plot/characterisation with someone consistently I don't think it'd work out, since no two people have identical takes and preferences with stories and characters.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

For around 2.5 years it's been todolf, it captures a lot of stuff I've liked in fiction for a longer time already >:D I can't really say whether it will be the Ship of a Lifetime for me... I mean it did make me move countries (as one reason of a few) but if someone asked me in the summer of 2016 I would've probably said [checks ao3 reading history] um. h*milton x j*fferson... so like. IT CHANGES A LOT OK ajajsjdj

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

I don't want to doom any of my current wips to the graveyard!!!!!! I am having worries about the fate of my todolf swan lake modern ballet au fic though. The original draft outline is complete but it doesn't really fit my character interpretations for tod or rudolf anymore, it's from january 2022... Idk maybe I can one day rework it somehow with different characterisations ajsjdjf but yeah mostly it's interesting concepts haphazardly tied together but no coherent plot

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagination/coming up with ideas, metaphors, descriptions (usually), grammar and syntax, writing crown prince rudolf really well (XDD), rhythm/pacing (usually), the way it Sounds (my brain sometimes fixates on phonetics randomly because after all, English is not my first language, and sometimes there'll be like, a really pleasing/satisfying combination of sounds in smth I think to write and I think I'm good at picking up on that, like how it flows and sounds. Idk if those preferences are universal though or if it's just me writing what I think sounds pleasing)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing varied characters, writing varied speech patterns/"character voice" also in narration, vocabulary.... I am but a humble English as a second technically third language speaker,,,, (i'm doing an english language grad school degree rn lol so i think i'm no worse than natives, not humble abt this actually, but i'm on the level of like. a not so well-read native speaker. Because most actual fiction literature I've read in my life has been in Finnish, in English I've just read academic literature, fanfic and like 10 books max! I need to read more and become a better writer ahhdhhdhf)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

No... Dialogue is a big no from me, it often feels cringe ngl ajsjdjdj. My personal philosophy is "if you need a translator's note for people to understand what's going on, don't put it in" 😅 A lot of the time different languages are also used in fic in nonsensical ways where it will look ok to a lot of people but bother the hell out of native speakers/ppl who speak the language. This is smth that can technically be done well but it's usually not aksldlldd. I think pet names and individual words can be fine but it needs to be done in moderation... I also obsess a lot over research, like, the nuances of the word need to actually mean what the author thinks it means :'D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First published for Endeavour, first wrote for H*rry P*tter... (never-to-be-published fan comics and little stories as a young kid, like 8 years old).

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Right now it's vers l'onde souterraine... ;) I think I'm constantly improving as a writer and hopefully every fic will be better than the last!!