#also started a terrible fanfic writing addiction

[maxwell-the-morose]

I wonder what time homestuck is going to start trending tomorrow. Egg boy's birthday always causes a big enough stir. Our discord server even has an event set for the date. Anyway Happy Early Birthday to the thing that led me to Tumblr and also started a terrible terrible AO3 addiction.

[meetinginsamarra]

Fanfics I really liked in November 2023

So. Since I keep a list of what I´ve read anyway (there´s always a list), I will rec all the fics I´ve wholly enjoyed on a monthly basis. Old and new, canon or AU, big or small authors, long or short but nearly always Johnlock (-ish).

What It Can Be by amaruuk @naefelldaurk

A beautiful post-TLD fix-it! Sherlock has to heal from his drug abuse and physical injuries and does so with the help of his friends. Balm for the (my) hurt soul!

Flesh and Blood and Bone and Heart by SilentAuror @silentauroriamthereal

A post-TAB fix-it. Back home after the tarmac scene, Sherlock finally confesses to John that he is merely human. And that he has feelings. And urges.

Can't Rewind-Verse series by Basser

11 stories that I re-read (again) in November

Sometimes, miracles happen. This wonderful series has not been updated in literal 10 years and now, the author found some written chapters on a harddrive and posted them. OMG!! I love this series about Sherlock's (druggie) past. It gets pretty dark sometimes, especially Sherlock's father is horrible but there is also the lovely OMC Eric Crenshaw , Sherlock's boyfriend. Part 11 Though We Went Our Separate Ways has been finished now (John meets Eric) and there are new chapters of part 9 We'll Keep Running For Our Lives where Sherlock is in the US and meets Martha Hudson.

To start/understand this 'verse you need to read the shorter part 1 Internet Killed the Video Star (The Met finds out that young Sherlock had been in a band) and then part 2 Can't Rewind Now We've Gone Too Far (The story of Sherlock's and Eric's drug addict past and doomed love). And read the other fics, too.

Light by Vanimelda4

An unusual ghost story, set in a remote lighthouse where a depressed Sherlock encounters an unusual friend and soulmate. Happy ending! Written in a kind of ethereal poetic writing style thhat really fits to the dream-like story.

The Shooting Party by 7PercentSolution @7-percent

Some months after moving into 221b, a difficult case stymies our heroes. An invitation to spend a weekend in the country takes John and Sherlock to West Sussex. Suspensful casefic, set in Seven's Sherlock-'verse with lots of surprising revelations.

In Absentia by SeaweedWrites

A bittersweet story with an imo ambiguous ending. You've been warned! Sherlock is involved in a terrible car crash, and everyone's lives are irrecoverably changed. Will Sherlock ever be the same?

[rubyfoxfyre]

What did you base Alastors Nox Magia off of? Why type of magic is it and where did you get the ideas for a good ass fanfic?

Thank you for the question!

The answer is sort of a long story that I suppose begins with my first exposure to Hazbin Hotel in general, during a particularly doomed D&D campaign where my character basically acted exactly like Charlie did in the pilot:

Granted, Fianna is not anything like Charlie at all, but the DM found it funny enough to send me the gif above and then everyone got distracted for about 5 minutes while they started meming.

The next day I watched the show and was completely hooked!

I started looking into the Wiki to get a greater understanding of the world shown, read the comics (like all 20 pages hahaha), and listened to Addict while working on prompts for Charlastor Week 2022, taking a break from my regular manuscript I'd been working on for a few years (stay tuned for updates soon on that one!). I had about a month so I decided to try my hand at smaller short stories, since some of the authors I idolize are so good at short fiction, and conveying strong emotions in just a few thousand words.

I watched and rewatched the Pilot, studying the characterizations there as well as thinking about funny and unexpected scenarios the characters could get into while dealing with the concept of redemption and how to make it work (needless to say that the fact that they already had it happen was... unexpected. I have thoughts on that but will put a pin in that for now to avoid getting too distracted from your question!).

I can't remember which rewatch it was that I picked up on an interesting exchange between Charlie and Alastor that turned into a whole mess that would consume me to this day:

She tries to put a limitation on his ability to do too much, and I wondered if that could lead to a sort of interesting power-play between them (because in the end this is the part of their relationship that is fundamentally interesting - they're both powerful people with opposing moralities, having to work together to acheive a common goal). Basically, because Charlie's not precise with her language, she ends up basically not controlling Alastor at all. Which works out in its way, because she hides from her deeper wellspring of power with the aid of a gentle persona.

I liked the idea of something deeper between them and within themselves - and with them being opposing forces, I wanted to work with the idea of Alastor being associated with "night" and "dark", versus Charlie being associated with "sunlight" and "rainbows".

Shadow and Flame, only a bit less Lord of the Rings and a bit more sexy.

Nox Magia , the "night" magic, follows basic arcane principles that I've picked up on through the long and involved process of being a massive nerd and reading a lot of stuff.

For writing magic, I like looking at basic logic structures and hovering somewhere between harder and softer magic. My other manuscript that is premiering this year will be discussing some differing types of magic systems as well, if you enjoy reading Riddle and my other works, I hope you enjoy those as well!

But as for the story itself, it wasn't meant to be a story about a man falling in love... it's the story of a man being dragged into love, kicking and screaming about it. 🦌🌈

To Alastor the Hotel is about control, and his experience there is just a game not to be taken too seriously. Charlie is also about control, or rather, trying to find a way to control without breaking everything with her terrible strength.

Alastor embraces his strength, while she hides from it, and he finds that contradictory instinct in her interesting, so he comes up with the idea of a game to teach her some magic that might help her. But as with all magic, intent governs everything (even when you don't realize), and the spells he's teaching are telling a particular kind of story - you can preview what's happening in the chapter titles that have the runes' names! 🍷

❤️ Thanks so much for reading! ❤️

[decepti-thots]

do you wanna talk about your opinions re: Drift in fanfiction, maybe?

I think fanfic Drift is something of a game of fandom telephone tbh. There's a core that has been steadily whittled away by fanon repeating itself enough it seems shallow. The thing is that a lot of IDW1 canon has been subject to this directly, because it wasn't of much interest to folks writing fic while the MTMTE stuff was ongoing, tbh. When Dratchet became a focus in the LL run, stuff got reevaluated about Drift in shipping terms, rather than as character analysis, I think. And it became more abstract through that, and it encouraged Fanon Drift TM.

A lot of fanfic-Drift does not incorporate pre-MTMTE canon for him. This is understandable, because in its own right, that stuff is not very good tbh. But much of what we see now in fandom is... a clear reaction to fanon that sprung up independently, and so is trying to pose a counterpoint to things that only exist in fanon, and the whole thing becomes a mess of self-referential shit if you take it only on its own terms. Drift often only exists as a discussion of those issues in fandom, and where the writer falls on them right now, or when the fic was being written. (Much early Dratchet fic treats Drift as something of an afterthought and Ratchet as the obviously identifiable protagonist, lbr.) Fanfic-Drift is more a litmus test for fanon than a character in his own right, even when he's being written more strongly in canon, I think. He's a cipher. What fandom decided to make that cipher mean is interesting.

I have a whole post I could make about how people's ostensibly anti-regressive takes on 'was Drift a [metaphorical] sex worker, and if so what are our ideas about that' are still fundamentally bound up in anti-SWer ideas and fandom conversations more than canon, because it's all just a reaction to fanon fundamentally based in terrible ideas about what sex work is. (By which I mean I have one post idea I have repeatedly junked bc uh. Don't want to listen to people get shitty about sex work.) But at base level, a lot of fandom's idea of Drift is basically rooted in this idea of the 'theoretically sympathetic addict who has extenuating circumstances we need to articulate for him to be sympathetic, but who is still Abject bc of all that' which I think go so against what we see of him in pre-MTMTE media. Here are some things I think fanfic is bad at engaging with: Drift is an addict, and not the kind of addict a lot of fanfic wants to talk about. Drift is isolated in a way that is not easily explained by people being unfair to him. Drift has strong political opinions that inform both him joining and defecting from the Decepticons. If Drift was a sex worker, metaphorical or otherwise, that is clearly the least important thing in any shame he has.

But more important than those nuances, I think, is that Drift just isn't... allowed to be based on his canon stuff period? It feels honestly slightly irrelevant in the face of just. How much fanon Drift stops being based on extrapolating from his canon actions and starts being a character who exists purely to serve other characters. I think a really interesting take on him needs to do something with that sense he is someone who has deliberately buried what he wants to get what he wants. If you don't go a little meta with it, you get nowhere; and if you do you get something far more interesting than the 'ummmm sad SWer ig, ratchet kindly saves him' idea. See also: his most interesting canon relationship, and I say this as a dratchet shipper, is STILL Drift and Rodimus, because it dictates way more of WHAT THEY DO that Dratchet doesn't manage. Dratchet is great but canonically mostly exists as a culmination to a plot we are filling in behind the scenes; Rodimus and Drift exists as an ongoing discussion outside that. tbh.

tl;dr: sex worker drift would be great if anyone writing fic understood it has Zero to do with canon and approached it as such. it's not canon and people only think it's canon bc of bad opinions about what sex work is. either way i love drift. none of this is coherent sorry. we have discussed some of this before, and i have sharpened my opinions ig?

[ferretteeth]

monkey covering eyes emoji. discussing some mental health shit. nsfw and embarrassing

I'd like to start out by saying i'm not sex negative or a radfem. Pro-horny space

I had a problem in about fall of 2022 which I still don't know what to call or what it was. Dopamine addiction is genuinely the only thing I can think to call it.

Basically all I would think about, write and discuss was smut. This became a problem when it was all I was doing. Some of my relationships suffered because I was terrible to have a conversation with, I wasn't writing anything I was proud of, I wasn't deriving conclusions or analyzing media or really interacting with anything past smut.

My friends weren't shaming me. They enjoyed it for a while, but then it became clear that that was kind of all I was capable of, and they were after deeper conversations than that.

It fucking sucked and I was ashamed. I'm not Christian, I didn't even understand the concept of sexual taboo until early 2022, I'm not anti-porn or sex negative. I was ashamed because I couldn’t hold a conversation!

There was also no real help. Porn addiction help centers are usually all about finding God, and also, the sexual content was exclusively in written format (fanfic, threads, discussions, people's work). And then it was my own thoughts. Every time I was bored I'd go to my mental cummatorium, even if I was in public.

One of the reasons why I'm bringing this up is because of the posts I've seen saying porn addiction isn't real, which I agree with at large, but there IS still a porn consumption that is unhealthy. My situation was just really really really different from the average 'porn addiction.'

If I had to diagnose myself it would be with boredom. I started reading books and forcing myself to analyze them I started studying, and soon there were other things but sex in my life.

I had to fix myself and I'm kind of proud of having done that. I still write and read smut and am not against it as a concept. This is a very personal anecdote

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

This is the 20th segment of my IWAW series. I will break it down into volumes, so this is the wrap of Volume 1!

Thank you so much @fan-goddess for giving me the time to respond to my questions and allowing this series to continue. 💜

As always, Interview With a Writer is my ongoing series of the talented souls on Tumblr and ao3, and their brilliant writing!

Name: fan-goddess

Story: 10 Things I Hate About You

Paring: Ettore x Female!Reader

Warnings: Non canon Ettore, warnings vary per chapter.

So, when did you start writing?

I started writing early teens for a variety of fandoms. It was all on Wattpad drafts as I’d make all these plots, but find I’d be terrible writing actual stories. The first thing I wrote for was a cringey Draco Malfoy fanfic which is on my first ever Wattpad account that still is lying about somewhere.

After a couple years though I then transitioned to Tumblr, where after joining the HOTD I started writing and enjoying it and finding my passion for it.

Where did the plot for 10 Things I Hate About You come from?

The idea mainly came from me thinking of the movie, as me and two of my friends were talking about watching it together since one of them hasn’t ever seen it.

I was thinking about the poem scene on a bus ride and was wondering about how to possibly apply it to writing, wondering who would a reader hate to love, and one of the first characters I thought of was Ettore.

Then it came to me applying different lines to him, which in the original I think had some different lines to the one that was posted, but as I was trying to post the original I accidentally deleted it. Which lead to me immediately trying to write all the lines I could remember.

It was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but thought why not when people asked for a part two. The idea to do the different view point chapter came from @flowerandblood on tumblr, since I thought of their writing style which enables the reader to see both viewpoints of the scene, and I was interested in exploring in this.

Can you explain your interpretation of Ettore? What drives him? Why is he this way in 10TIHAY?

I wanted to stay as close to the movie character as possible, and if you’ve seen the movie, there is a scene that shows Ettore attempted SA. Of course, I never wanted to write a scene like that, so I decided to write a mixture of canon him and another version of him that didn’t involve the scene from the movie.

What drives him in this story is his need for contact he doesn’t even know he needs, which he finds in the reader. He gets obsessed by it and this entire need to own her, like you would a pet really. He’s drawn on this path of her since she involuntarily makes him feel emotions he never felt before her, and he just becomes utterly addicted to it, which in the end he interprets as what could be love.

Was there anything in specific that inspired your Reader portrayal?

Not necessarily? I wanted her to have struggles. I wanted to clearly have this idea shown that no one is perfect. I don’t specify the crime the reader committed, as it’s really up to interpretation (unless someone does request a one-shot with a crime specific).

I wanted her to have that split mindset of wanting to stay like her Earth self, and the mindset of wanting to give into this desire for Ettore, who draws her in.

Plus, like Ettore, she craves this contact that makes her human and down to earth. A same need, but for different reasons.

Do you think they complement one another well?

It’s a mixed thought, really. For Ettore, it’s good they complement each other since she effectively manages to humanise him in his own way. But for reader, it’s not so good since-thanks to Ettore-she’s embracing this dark side of herself that she never would’ve never thought to connect with if she hadn’t met him.

But I don’t know if I believe that they belong together entirely, since whilst they embrace a side of each other, they also simultaneously have the ability to destroy each other. They’re a weakness to each other and only Ettore really understands could be possibly exploited, which is one of the reasons he felt so conflicted about the relationship.

Do you think you will do a sequel? Or do you have any other WIPs?

I have no plans to do a sequel. But when I finish writing/editing my Abraham series I plan to open my requests, and I am interested in doing one-shot requests expanding on this story's universe. They wouldn’t be apart of the 10TIHAY universe though, but I did have one possible request on ao3 where a person asked about what would happen if reader was the one obsessed rather than Ettore, which I am interested in possibly exploring.

Do you have a personal favorite story you'd like to share?

I have so many to be honest I doubt I can name just one! Especially since I have favourites for certain fandoms I’m in too. One of my favourites though is ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ by flowerandblood on Tumblr. I did photography and it inspired me both in regards to writing and in photography too.

[lediz-watches]

Hazbin Hotel Pilot (kinda)

Yeah, I'm either three years late or three months early, but I'm here now and I'm documenting this for the sake of posterity, because SOMETHING is going to come out in January and the internet deserves to laugh at it.

Finally watched the pilot about a month ago. Loved it. Love the songs. Love Alastor because of fucking course I do. Love Angel Dust despite myself. Want to watch Charlie's story. Love it all. Am addicted to the fan songs. (One hell of a team and Radio Play are currently on repeat in my soul.) Hate fandom already. Miraculous Ladybug eat your goddamn heart out. No matter what happens, some part of the audience is going to hate it.

This post is actually more about why, than the pilot itself.

Before I get into it, I have to admit something. It's pertinent, I promise.

When Twilight was a thing, I heard all the hatred for it and believed it, but my sister was into it and I believe in giving everything a shot, so I read it too, expecting to hate it. And spoiler alert, by the final book, I LOATHED it. I literally had to stop myself from throwing that stupid thing across the room at least twice. But before that final book, I was so foolishly impressed.

Not by the writing, especially, but by what I thought it was doing. Because I looked at the characters and what I thought they were, and I thought that was so cool and subversive. An eternal teenager who was made a vampire against his will by a loving father figure. An immortal stuck in the body and emotions and hormones of a seventeen year old. And he falls in love for the first time. Could you IMAGINE anything worse? And a girl who swans (hah. Unintentional) into a new town and a new life, who also falls in love, but grows out of being seventeen. And there were these parallels! Romeo and Juliet! The fourteen year old trying to escape a life she didn't want, swept up in first love with an older lover! The idiot nineteen year old who's so desperate to Live His Life that he kills himself over a summer fling! THE PARALLELS, MY FRIENDS.

Yeah, I... I misinterpreted that one a little.

But this is the thing that we so often do with TV shows (and book trilogies....). We are watching and consuming something that is not complete, and in doing so we make assumptions and cling to things that may not actually be there. Edward was not an eternal seventeen year old, and Bella was not a normal girl growing into a young woman. It was a terrible, trashy, vaguely Mormon-propaganda teen romance that probably started as a Labyrinth fanfic, don't @ me.

(I love Labyrinth by the way, please don't come for my head)

Now, with Hazbin Hotel, and especially with Alastor, fandom is doing that in several different ways. Some of the fandom want him to be Evil Incarnate, here to corrupt the innocent and pure-hearted Charlie. Some of the fandom want him to be Bugs Bunny With Teeth. Some of the fandom (ie, I) want him to be Creepy Good and/or Do Evil Unto Evil (because that's what Louisiana Voodoo actually is, and it's so cool and I want to see a show do deals-with-the-other-side-for-good well andandand). Some people want him to be weak, some people want him to be super powerful, I would find it super interesting if he's super powerful because he's sold his soul to some greater power that's just using him to manipulate Hell... (today I was thinking about What If Lilith Is The Mastermind????)(also, ask me about my idea for a plot where he's actually a pawn to Heaven's worst)

No matter what happens with Alastor, some part of the fandom is going to be FURIOUS.

Now, for me, yes he's my favourite character from the Pilot, but the most important thing he does is provide a foil to Charlie, who is 100% the main character, and SHE is what's going to make or break the show for me.

Because the way I'm reading HER is that she's a preppy little private school girl that wants to save the whales and feed the children in Africa. She's taking gap years, she's doing voluntourism, she's holding charity balls for the homeless, she's taking cheesy photos in front of Homes She Built For The Kids and then gushing on Instagram about how she was hashtag blessed and got to feed the elephants.

The story I've read in this pilot, and the story I'm interested in, is that private school girl getting absolutely slapped down, so she can build back up into an actual good leader; stronger and better than her parents never even tried to be.

For me, the story I'm interested in, is all of the characters learning that redemption and goodness isn't some goal to achieve. It's a path. And sometimes, you find it only in the people around you. You shouldn't be good to get into Heaven, you should be good because you want to be good. Because you want to be there for your friends. It's about choice, and who you want to be. You make your own Heaven.

And to that end, I don't want Alastor to be the Evil Saboteur. I just want him to be her foil. Her equal and opposite, in every way that matters.

I want him to be evil only to those who deserve it, but be incapable of seeing himself as anything but worse still, even while everyone around him knows he's actually on the right team. The inverse of Charlie's arrogant light and hope.

I want him to push her, to challenge her, to be constantly watching and mocking and I want it to be a constant struggle between which of them is right or wrong about the sinners. I want them to represent the two sides of western religious ethics - the carrot and the stick. Be good so you're rewarded, or be good because torment awaits those who aren't. I want them to end up a platonic but perfect team, leading Hell's sinners out of this eternal struggle to survive and into afterlives they actually want to live.

But I don't know if that's what we're going to get. There are so many ways to read the second half of the pilot. Alastor rolling his eyes when Charlie tells him no voodoo, only to immediately offer a deal? The fact that Charlie, who effortlessly warps reality with her song, can't fix up the hotel or feed anyone, while Alastor, a supposedly mere human sinner, completely transforms everything with a few clicks of his fingers. The way Alastor treats Husk and Niffty - the way they respond to him! Niffty barely acknowledges this guy who we all assume owns her soul, and there are whole essays that could be written about how Husk responds to Alastor in general.

And outside the two of them, these characters are all so good! Angel Dust. I am not invested in his story (we've seen it before), but I ADORE him. A character that's so comfortable in his masculinity, and still considers himself a man, even as he wears women's clothing and works in a feminine industry and suffers a traditionally feminine tragedy. And he's so deadpan and snarky and horrible and I LOVE HIM. I'm not invested in his story, but I WANT TO WATCH IT.

Sir Pentious. What the hell is up with him? I must know more. I must cringe and groan and see him fail and then get back up to fail again.

Vaggie. What is she doing in Hell? HOW DID SHE DIE? How did she hook up with the king's daughter? Why is she signed onto this endeavour that she clearly doesn't really believe in?

I NEED IT.

So yeah. I will probably be disappointed, but god damn am I looking forward to this thing.

[hikarry]

For the ask game, to distract you from your french: 19, 36, 37

Bless your heart, honest to God!

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started writing stories properly when I was about 12. It was also when I started reading. My best friend and I were addicted to this anime and we used to roleplay on MSN (remember that? Boy, I'm old) and we kinda just...ended up writing a collection of 6 books with vampires and whatnot - we were also watching The Vampire Diaries at the time, who's surprised

I still have the word files of all 6 "books". They are not...polished. Far from it. I told her I would do it and...well, it has been 12 years so they are never seeing the light of day ever. They were really bad.

Since then we started writing together some vampire fiction until I started breanching out on my own and at 14 I started writing a shit tone of Once Upon a Time fanfiction. It was the most I ever wrote for any fandom. I wrote for OUAT for around 3 years. And no, I will never tell yall where those fanfics are, but they are still out there.

I had a period somewhere where I also tried to write some originals and Ladybug fanfics but eh. Never went far.

Then I kinda stopped writing because I was extremely depressed from 17 to 2021. In 2021 I watched Yuri on Ice and got extremely inspired and wrote some one-shots and fics I never finished and are on ao3 to die, honestly. Then from the beginning of 2023 to November 2023 I had a massive writer's block and didn't write shit until I started writing Good Omens little imagines here on Tumblr and eventually wrote a one-shot for ao3 and I'm currently posting a 27 long fanfic there too. And I'm also already working on another project.

Good Omens really inspires me a lot, not only because the characters and the universe is THAT good, but because I love studying religion (even though I'm an atheist/agnostic myself) and history and this fandom gives me the chance to play with both! It's perfect! I plan to keep writing for this fandom for a long time. Probably after season 3 too. And after it slowly dies down, which is sad but inevitable

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

Depression. Anxiety. Panic.

I love exploring those in my fics and...well, we have Crowley, don't we?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

God, am I gay and mediocre. That's what's going to be in the History books

Ask Game

[renegade-diamonds]

so i was scrolling through dash and then saw you reblogged the fanfic ask emoji post…

🥺😈✨🎶 🌞 💖 💌 🦅👀 🤲

hope you don’t mind how many emojis and questions there are HAHSWIHX I’m curious tbh 😅 <33

but also, no pressure on this!!

if there’s too many, you can choose only a couple if ever, i’m generally curious about any and would love to hear your thoughts on any of them in general yeeee

see you aroundd

@thefourchimes can I just begin this by saying how absolutely honored I am to be mutuals with you! :D

Hurt/Comfort never fails to put me in my feels, or betrayal/begging forgiveness tropes as well. I have a thing for the pregnancy trope as well (don't come for me, I know I have a problem).

Oh yeah, I really like angst. Specifically, the kind of angst that makes readers wanna throw their computer against a wall. I've done some evil stuff, muahahahaha.

I've been told my writing is good, so that counts as a compliment, haha!

Yesssss, I do. I love music. I've been listening to tiktok audios lately; slaughter-house 2 by zecki is a good one I've been particular to.

I write whenever the mood hits, but I guess middle-ish, when everyone else is at work. I like the peace and quiet.

Percy Jackson is what I first started writing, so I guess that did it. I'm neurodivergent, so once I hyperfixate on something, it is so hard to think about doing anything else.

I loooooooooooooooooooove comments and feedback. I neeeeed it. It's an addiction lmfao

It depends on how productive I'm feeling. I've outlined fics, but I've also winged it. My longest fic was completely winged.

My next fourchimes chapter will have a Conquest/Robin moment, so stay tuned for that ;)

10. Sure! Here's something from one my ABO works. It's tame, so nothing crazy to worry about lol

"Robin’s neck is bruised beyond belief, and the sight of it fills Nancy with such ugly self-loathing at her own perceived failure. 

They lay in her bed at the end of it all, finally resting after tending to their wounds and making sure the rest of their group is taken care of. Steve takes Dustin to the hospital to check on Max. Lucas and Erica haven’t even left the unconscious girl’s side. Nancy and Robin only left the hospital to take care of themselves. There was a visitor limit, but in the craziness following the earthquake, that hadn’t been strictly enforced. 

The tension between them melted in the wake of everything that happened. Nancy felt the embers of their attraction catch, and a slow flame was gradually gaining steam. 

It was comfortable, yet so very disheartening for it to have happened under such terrible circumstances."

[tigertofu]

(Just wanted to say first of all, Handsome in an Ugly Way was the first gta fic I read when I got back into the fandom and it was, and still is, the best gta fanfic I’ve ever read, along with all of your other fics. They’re all perfect!)

Anyways! If you feel up to it and have the time, would you mind doing the DVD commentary thing for this part-

“He dismissed you with a wave of his hand.

You pursed your lips. Considered saying something. Considered taking up his offer to cuddle, even though your feet were itching to run you back home. But you kept your mouth shut, turned heel, and left.

You softly clicked the trailer’s front door shut behind you. Head bowed, you took a second to collect yourself. A breeze passed over you, chilling the lingering sweat and saliva clinging to your face.

The beginnings of regret simmered in your stomach. Maybe your fantasy should’ve remained a fantasy—just a foolish little daydream you could entertain yourself with when bored at work or in bed. Maybe you shouldn’t have let Trevor work you over so easily. Maybe you shouldn’t have let him fingerfuck you; shouldn’t have let him have his way with your mouth. He definitely hadn’t washed his hands before touching you. You shivered. You needed to shower. ASAP.

You started your walk home, eyes still pointed down at your shoes as you crossed over the rickety front porch.

Despite the feeling of dirtiness inside you, that magnetic pull still existed. If anything, it had grown stronger; you couldn’t deny it. You replayed Trevor’s frantic declaration of love in your head, and your heart tripped over itself.

You hoped he wasn’t mad at you now.”

(💕💕💕 !!! im always kinda surprised when ppl tell me they liked Handsome In an Ugly Way sm cuz i wrote it just to be disgustingly self-indulgent 😅 but im glad to hear u like it !! srsly im honored, TYSM 🙏🙏🙏)

ok so this was from chapter 1 (sad that my memory is so shit i had to look up what chapter this came from)). chapter 1..... i was (still kinda am) experimenting w/ my writing style in this fic. me and looooong sentences have a love/hate relationship so i like forced myself to reserve the longer sentences for the more ~significant~ parts. that's why "Maybe your fantasy should've remained a fantasy — just a foolish little daydream you could entertain yourself with when bored at work or in bed." is the longest here cuz ooh i wanted that shit to have Weight

now smth that ive always been drawn to exploring/writing abt in my fics is, like,, the reservations one might have after realizing theyre attracted to trevor. cuz like cmon. ik that if i personally were in this situation irl i would be RIDDLED with confliction. like that clashing of "ohhh, i shouldnt.. he smells like death and is literally a murderous meth addict who recreationally shits behind dumpsters" with "oh but hes so hot why is he so hot" is just so ripe with interesting implications and the potential for storytelling. and drama the DRAMA

hm also. ive worked v hard to keep Reader going down this path in this fic w/out it becoming TOO similar to Kacie's story. like yes Reader is still mildly scared of him (("You hoped he wasn't mad now.")) but she isnt pissing her pants over it, and he is not being Too Terrible to her.. that may change a bit as the story progresses and she learns more abt him tho....

another thing: i wanted to immediately give smth for Reader to latch onto, to fuel her lil crush and make it clash even harder w/ those "oh i shouldnt. i rlly shouldnt" feelings, hence trevor's "I love you" during their first hookup (and just cuz yk. he totally would). hes just so charming 🥰🥰🥰

ty again for sending this in !! 💞💞 i hadnt read this bit of this fic in a long time so it was fun going back over it like this :D

[rottingmanifesto]

c, g, r and u for the fanfic asks :]

C: What character do you identify with most?

John or Anna. Back in my Outsiders days, I really connected with Ponyboy and I still do (though I haven’t written him in a hot sec).

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Start to finish! I’m awful with splicing scenes so I try to do it all in a few go’s.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

FiestyFeast from Fanfiction.Net was definitely a huge inspiration back in my Outsiders-days! I’d say my own writing is influenced by Barbara Kingsolver and Stephen King (though I’m nowhere near as good as them). I’m too character-oriented to fit into specific fanfic tropes, so I’ve realized. Also one of my close friends, Liv, is a big inspiration to me! (Love you Liv if you’re reading this)

U: Share three of your favourite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Damn, this one is hard. I’m admittedly terrible with authors (apologies), so I’ll just put in links to the stories I’ve been reading recently.

One Way Road by AliNasweter: excellent short story I find myself re-reading a lot. Amazing prose, good pacing, overall just a solid read.

Bad Moon Rising by SantadeMikey: an adorable and semi-quick read about an OC and Danny— it’s still in the works, so I’m curious about what all will happen in the future!

A lot of @tommytranselo ‘s works. What can I say? The works are addicting.

[estellamiraiauthor]

The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 23)

Well this one was mostly about a really depressingly heavy conversation.

As always, spoilers under the cut!

So, the two-month jump in time here, from August to October. This was something that took me a long time to decide to do. I tried many times to start a chapter that would pick up right where the last left off, but it was just a situation where nothing much HAPPENED for a couple of in-universe months.

I could have added more fluff here, because the slow development of the relationship is really the only change that IS occurring, but again, I was trying to get a major publisher to buy this so I had to keep it under a certain word count and make sure the plot wasn’t TOO slow. So instead I went with a little domestic montage to show the comfortable little routine they have, and how Teru is taking care of things like cooking and washing wigs while Rei takes care of him by writing and producing the album. I also used this scene to show how Chizuru fits into that dynamic, doing laundry and taking care of Rei’s income from his more mainstream music.

We also get an argument between Rei and Chizuru. I sort of wish I’d gone into this more, but essentially I think she’s annoyed that Rei won’t take better care of himself and thereby sort of creates more work for her. It’s partly genuine concern for him but partly purely selfish—but not really in a bad way. As she’ll tell Teru later in the chapter, she’s ready to move on, but Rei makes it hard by refusing to move on or even accept his situation in a lot of ways. But Chizuru deserves to be able to move on, even if Rei can’t.

THAT SAID, she’s sort of going after the wrong thing here, and I wish I’d made that a little clearer. I think Chizuru sort of has this idea that, in general, DOING something is better than working with the status quo, and so if any new treatment or anything is suggested, she wishes Rei would try it… while I think Rei is both traumatized enough by hospitals that he doesn’t want to do anything unless it’s absolutely necessary or guaranteed to help, and also afraid that changing anything might actually result in things getting worse. (This is VERY much one of those areas where Rei is just like me… I really don’t like the idea of doing ANY elective medical procedure or taking medicine that’s not life-saving… like, I’ve never been on the Pill, and I won’t even consider something like LASIK because of the tiny, tiny risk, so obviously anything more serious like the options mentioned here would be an obvious HELL NO from me.)

ANYWAY. Chizuru is concerned that Rei doesn’t really take his pain medication a lot of the time, but I think she’s partly being ignorant. I did a lot of research on chronic pain, and especially on traumatic brachial plexus injuries (which you can Google if you want the depressing details) and in a lot of cases medication doesn’t really work (which Teru sort of acknowledges internally here). And on top of not actually eliminating the pain, you can of course become addicted, and I also think Rei just prefers to have his mind completely clear, to not interfere with his creativity. So while SOME of the things he does are definitely more than a little self-destructive, not taking very strong prescription painkillers that don’t actually work all that well is not actually a terrible choice.

Anyway, Rei makes Chizuru carry their stuff “because she’s so worried about him”… their relationship is super interesting to me and I wish I’d need able to go into it in more detail! Feel free to explore in fanfic etc. ;)

The next important scene is during the break at rehearsal, when Teru invites Rei to have lunch with the band, but of course he refuses, so Teru goes to buy him something to eat and Seika, the only one who can see what’s going on here, tells him that he really does need to tell Minori, even though he shouldn’t have to come out on anyone’s timeline but his own, because his relationship IS affecting the band at this point.

Seika says “sleeping with”—which is the norm to HIM, an allosexual gay man. But Teru and Rei ARENT having sex, and I really wish I’d made the ace-spectrum stuff more clear because some reviewers have seemed to think that it’s because of Rei’s disability and I think it’s not? It’s self esteem, partly, which in Rei’s case stems from disability, but also just that… they’re fine at this point with not doing any more than what they are? Some people like to take it slow and that’s ok!

Still, the people who were kind of expecting a steamy romance novel probably collectively lose their shit here. I’m really sorry I called it romance….

Anyway! There’s a little more arguing over Saki’s song and then, after Rei goes to sleep, Teru gets a call from Chizuru. I think at this point, the argument in the morning has kind of reminded her that she is ready to stop being Rei’s platonic life partner or whatever… but she still worries about him living off “alcohol and painkillers and no dinner”. I think she just wants Teru to take over so she doesn’t HAVE to worry, because she does want to know that Rei’s ok. She just doesn’t want to be throne in charge of keeping him that way.

So she asks Teru to meet her, and basically dumps all of Rei’s medical records on him. There’s a lot going on in this scene, and a lot of it kind of hinges on the limitations of modern medicine, which of course harkens back to all of those ignorant “This horribly disfigured character had plastic surgery and now looks completely normal” fanfics. I knew that one of the questions my readers would have was why Rei wouldn’t at least have done as much as he could to try to restore his appearance, and the short answer, provided here by Chizuru, is that really anything less than perfect wouldn’t have been good enough for him. He still wouldn’t look “normal”, so to him there’s no point in being LESS disfigured, unless “less” is “not at all”. Chizuru understands this, I think, but she doesn’t agree with it.

She also offhandedly says that Rei could “hire a chauffeur if he wanted to”, which I think shows that she DOESN’T really understand all of the psychological damage that the accident did. It frustrates her that because SHE has been able to move on after also losing a boyfriend that night, she thinks that Rei should also be able to “get over” certain things… again, even though she probably understands academically at least that it’s not that easy.

The last thing she mentions here as something Rei could do but won’t is amputating his paralyzed arm. This is something that I actually considered for the last couple of chapters, when they meet again after four years apart, but the reason I decided against it is because, again, it isn’t really guaranteed to actually help anything. The pain from that particular injury is essentially phantom pain. The nerves have basically been completely severed, so the pain comes from signals being sent and nothing coming back, so the brain says HOLY FUCK SOMETHING’S REALLY WRONG. Amputating the limb wouldn’t fix those nerves or the phantom pain, so the best it could do is, as Chizuru says, maybe alleviate some neck pain by eliminating dead weight. But I don’t think Rei would see that as a good enough trade-off to losing his arm (and losing any hope of some miracle treatment down the line, which is extremely unlikely, but I do think he has that stubborn little bit of optimism about him as well).

All of that is a very, very short passage in the book, but I thought it was really important to establish both that yes, there were things that Rei COULD do but simply chose not to, but also that there were reasons why, to him, those weren’t good options.

After this, Chizuru talks about her own past. She also lost a boyfriend, Aeternum’s bassist Taka, in the accident, and sort of ended up with Rei as a sort of antagonistic life partner because they were both the only survivors. In Chizuru’s case, she wasn’t even in the car, but went up to Sendai with Taka’s mother and ended up staying. She says that the four who died all had families who came for them, but that no one came for Rei. 

I didn’t really get to go into it at all, but I have a whole backstory for Rei’s family. He grew up in a farming family (which in Japan does NOT mean poor; if you own enough land to farm you’re local royalty), but was the youngest of MANY brothers and while I wouldn’t call Rei “effeminate” necessarily he was more into music and art than physical labor. Since his family had other heirs who were more aligned with what they thought a male child “should” be, he pretty much lost contact with them when he moved to Tokyo on his own at 16. He does HAVE living relatives, but no one who would’ve been contactable at the time.

I also mentioned specifically here that he would’ve been in the hospital for over a year, which I think is important to establish both his extreme dislike of hospitals and how long it’s taken him to re-adjust to “normal” life.

Japanese hospitals treat patients like prisoners and I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.

ANYWAY. There’s a lot packed into this scene I guess, and I’m not sure I did the best job of conveying it all to readers who might not already have the background. I’m really just reminded of how much I love Rei and how writing him is always one giant breath of catharsis.

[monsterenergysimp]

Permanence

corpse husband x fem!reader 

summary: you meet corpse on a stream and you’re surprised when he reaches out to you 

warnings: cursing, mentions of tattooing

word count: 1.9k

notes: This is proof read but could have missed some stuff. This is my first corpse fic and my first time writing fanfic since I posted that super cringey book on wattpad when I was like 12 or something. I’d appreciate feed back so please reach out to me :)

main blog @itsmysleepover

read part 2 here!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You were cleaning up your station so you can get home and stream. You loved your day job as a tattoo artist but you also really enjoyed streaming. It started as a way to promote yourself as an artist and the shop you worked at but it eventually became a really fun way to destress at the end of the week (or day if you were really itching to stream). “Hey Y/N was that your last client?” your boss, KC, asked as she walked to the front of the shop and put new flash drawings on the walls.

“Yes ma’am!” You said back excitedly. You finished cleaning your station and tossed your black gloves in the trash. “And you can’t trick me into staying and taking walk-ins,” you joked with her. She rolled her eyes and walked back into her office “It was one time,” she said as you slid on your jacket. As you walked out your phone buzzed in your pocket and you checked to see who had texted you. It was a message from Sean asking if you were free to play Among Us with him and some other streamers. You replied that you were on your way home right now and totally down. You were excited to see who was playing this time around since their Among Us streams are super entertaining and have gotten really popular.

On your way back you tweeted and posted to your Instagram story that you’d be streaming soon and set up all your stuff once you made it home. After a few minutes, you had a couple of thousand people watching. You entered the discord chat and Sean spoke up. “Everyone this is Y/N she’s sensitive so be gentle.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys and I’m not gentle, I'm ruthless,” You say into your mic and notice the chat calling you a liar. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for the game to start. “You sound way too sweet to be ruthless,” Corpse said. The countdown started and you were imposter with Charlie.

“This should be fun,” you told the stream. Yout tried playing strategically but after such a long shift your brain was mush. You saw Poki in nav and killed her then vented into shields. Not long after the body was reported and you were sure you were going to get voted out or at least sussed.

“Where was the body?” Felix asked. “Nav and I didn’t see anyone near there so whoever is imposter must have vented,” Corpse responded. Felix spoke up again. “I think I saw Y/N walk that way and I haven’t seen her since.”

Shit, shit, shit shit. “I’m in shield right now so-” you said trying to defend yourself but Charlie spoke up. “I was doing tasks with her earlier and I saw her walk into shields so she’s safe but I’m still not sure about Rae.” Everyone discussed a bit more and some people, including Corpse, voted for you but Rae got the majority vote and was ejected. You released your breath and kept playing being extra careful.  

“Okay, guys that was super close. Corpse knows and is out to get me,” you said to the chat. You were eventually voted off but one round later victory was written across your screen with your ghost and Charlie’s avatar. “Good game guys,” Corpse said.

“I told you guys I was ruthless!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat at your station doing nothing because a client had canceled a four-hour session. You were listening to music and sketching some stuff but you were bored out of your mind and you didn’t want to leave in case you got a walk-in. The music got quiet as you received a twitter notification saying someone had messaged you. You reached for your phone and saw you had gotten a dm from Corpse.

C: hey :)

You didn’t know what to respond. You were mostly confused as to why he decided to message you out of the blue. Did he want something? But what would he want?

Y: Hii! This is sudden

C: was i bothering you?

    shit sorry!

Y: Youre fine I wasn’t doing anything rn

C: how has your day been

    i dont usually do stuff like this

Y: Im glad you did im doing better now I was so bored

C: what were you doing that was so terrible

Y: NOTHING! thats the problem :(

C: im sure youll find something to do

You stared at his message. Unsure what to respond.

Y: Im gonna give myself a tattoo

C: what?

    NO!

You tossed the needles you used for your tattoo into the sharps box. “Oh my god you didn’t,” KC said. She noticed the wrap on your calve from the tattoo you just gave yourself out of boredom. “It’s not my fault I didn’t have anything else to do!” You said trying to defend yourself. She sighed and just shook her head. “Just go home business is slow today.” It was raining so the shop probably wasn’t going to get a walk-in anyway and you didn’t have any more clients for the day. It was only 2 pm but you drove home and after making lunch for yourself decided to stream. You weren’t expecting too many people so it was bound to be super chill. Your leg felt sore reminding you of the tattoo. You snapped a quick pic of the fresh jack-o-lantern on the side of your calve and messaged it to Corpse.

Y: [image] it came out nice!

C: thats  super cool actually

    i was concerned why you would just give yourself a tattoo but i found your instagram and       youre super talented

Y: Thank you!

For some reason, it felt strange to just have that be the end of your response.

Y: Im about to start streaming if you wanted to watch

    [link]

C: ill be watching ;)

What’s that supposed to mean?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat in your apartment watching tv, hand lost in a bag of Doritos, and scrolling through twitter. You had stopped paying attention to the anime playing on the screen since you’ve watched it a hundred times and knew you wouldn’t miss anything. It was Saturday and you usually take those days off. Take the time to do chores or meet up with some friends but today you felt like not doing any of those things. As you continue your endless scroll (not helping the twitter addiction you told yourself you’d try to get a handle on) you got a message from Corpse.

C: wanna talk?

You looked down at the message unsure of how to answer. It was a simple yes or no and the obvious answer was yes. You and Corpse had started talking more regularly. You still didn’t have each other’s phone numbers but it was fine. Your conversations weren’t too big-- just you sending him memes, tiktoks, and telling him how much you liked the songs he would drop. Or him complimenting a tattoo you did. Sometimes he’d message you during streams telling you funny stuff his fans would say in the chat and you’d do the same. You learned a bit about each other but nothing too deep or serious. Like how you two lived a few cities away and you both really liked Donnie Darko. When Sean first invited you to that game out of everyone else there you were most excited to meet Corpse. He’s just so sweet and funny. Of course, you’d love to talk to him but you were also itching to talk to him and the last thing you’d ever want to do was make him uncomfortable.

Y: Yeah id love to talk

Here goes nothing.

Y: Wanna facetime or something?

     No pressure or anything it could even be a regular call

     I think facetime is just my default lol

You sent those last two messages quickly after you had sent the first. You wished you could know what he was thinking. It was killing you to think you had turned him off from talking to you completely. You put your phone down on the couch and went to wash your hand of Dorito dust. When you got back from the kitchen you turned off the tv and tossed yourself onto the couch.

Still no message.

Why am I so fucking stupid?  

Just as you were standing up to stretch from sitting on the couch all day your phone buzzed. You reached for it fast and looked to see that it was him. You became super excited still not even knowing what the message said. It could have told you to never talk to him again for all you knew.

C: sure lets facetime

    xxx-xxx-xxxx

You had his phone number. You added him to your small but growing contact list and called. You sat on your couch waiting for a response when he finally picked up the screen was black. It didn’t upset you; you kind of expected it and didn’t care what he had to do to make himself more comfortable during this call.

“Hey,” he said. His voice was raspier than usual.

“Did you just wake up?” You asked and looked at the time. It was about a little past noon and you had only eaten Doritos all day. Shit, you should probably make a decent meal.

“Not that long ago but yeah,” he responded and giggled. That giggle.

“Well, I’ve eaten nothing but Doritos all day while rewatching Ouran High School Host Club, so you’re welcome to join me as I make myself something to eat.”

“Sounds like fun; what are we eating?”

“I don’t know yet,” You said as you stood up and made your way to the kitchen. You opened the pantry and looked. You noticed a can of diced tomatoes and reached for it then checked the expiration date. It was still good. On your counter were some onions and garlic. “How about some tomato soup?”

“Sounds delicious.” you smiled at Corpse and your phone screen not knowing if he was also looking at his screen or not. “You’re really pretty-- you know that?”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to--”

“I’ve already told you what an incredible artist you are so many times I bet you’re tired of hearing it, but you already know what a talented artist you are.”

“That is very kind of you Corpse,” you said to him bashfully as you chopped the onion and opened the can of tomatoes. “But once again you don’t have to reach so far to compliment me.”

“I’m not reaching you are talented and beautiful and--”

“I thought I was pretty.” You could hear him chuckle with a smile on his face. “You’re both,” he said. You could feel your face getting warm from blushing.

“Fuck you you’re making me blush. My face is all hot and stuff.”

He laughed at how flustered you got. “That’s the cutest thing ever.”

You didn’t know how to respond so you just put some olive oil in a pot and tossed in your onions. It became silent but it was a comfortable silence. You turned the stove on and watched the flame for a few seconds. “If it was dark we could pretend we were together and having a bonfire or something,” you said to the phone as you turned the camera to show him the flame (still not 100 percent sure if he was looking at you or not).

“I’ll put it on the list of things to do when you visit me someday.”

[bucky-at-bedtime]

Stucky Fic Recs

So basically I went through all of my ao3 bookmarks and collated a list of some of my favourites (I couldn't fit all of them on this list, so if anyone shows interest there might be a part two).

Please read tags and descriptions of the works before reading, some of them are pretty dark or extremely horny so just make sure you check that the fic is for you!!

Please please please send me your favourite fics in return! I am always happy to hear fic recs, headcanons and any other ideas/comments you all have!

Without any further ado, here are a few of my favourite Stucky fics:

‘Not Easily Conquered’ series by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFear

Rating: M, Words: 117,692

https://archiveofourown.org/series/115516

“I told you, you heard me: I told you never to follow me into Hell. Now I’m not vain enough to think that’s why you’re out here now — if there’s any person in what’s left of this God forsaken planet who’s part of a bigger picture, it’d be you. But I’ll keep saying it until it sticks. You got nothing to prove. I’m not worth much, I damn well know that, but I’ll ask you anyway: Stay for me. If you leave me alone in this world I’ll turn into something terrible. I’ll turn into the nasty creature that’s growing inside me. This war, it’ll swallow me whole”

[To me, this fic is like the classic Stucky 101 fanfic – if you're a Stucky fan and you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. The authors explore the Steve/Bucky relationship in such an interesting, tragic, emotive way and I cry every time I read it. I couldn't praise this work enough.]

‘Ain’t No Grave’ series by spitandvinegar

Rating: M-E, Words: 131,789

https://archiveofourown.org/series/426577

"Yeah, he never calls me by my name," Steve says. "It's always champ, ace, hotshot, that kinda thing."

"Man, that is flirting," Sam says. "That nicknames thing, he is flirting with you. He's just working his way up to calling you baby or something."

Steve goes redder than a damn coke can. Sam pumps his fist. "Yes, I am so right, I am wise as hell. He did, didn't he?"

"He called me sweetheart," Steve says grimly, "because he's a drug addict with brain damage."

"Or because he looooooves you," Sam says. Captain America throws a cookie at his head. Sam eats it, because he deserves a treat for being so damn wise.”

[I'm currently re-reading this fic and absolutely loving it. The way spitandvinegar writes Bucky's road towards recovery and Steve's entire characterisation – it's all just so good. It's another one that covers some pretty dark themes, so make sure you're checkin those tags!]

'Einherjar' by thecommodore_squid

Rating: M, Words: 71297

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157024/chapters/16249814

But Steve was fine.

Sure, he hadn’t seen Bucky in months, and sometimes he was at the punching bag so long that his skin started to peel off to expose the bones of his fingers, and sometimes he couldn’t find the energy to drag himself out of bed, and sometimes he went weeks without sleeping, and sometimes he thought about throwing himself head-first off the nearest tall structure, but he was fine.

He was absolutely, perfectly, one-hundred percent, fucking fine.

AKA In which Steve learns how to deal with his shit, and Bucky learns how to stop leaving.

[basically the definition of a recovery fic, I absolutely adore it. This is tragic and amazing and makes me cry and smile. It’s got a bunch of fantastic cameos and It really just ticks so many of my boxes.]

‘Like real People do’ by 2bestfriends

Rating: E, Words: 67,775

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887376/chapters/47103217

“"Ask me what?" demands Bucky. "I didn't hear a question."

Steve licks his lips. "Will you stay with me? Will you come back home, Buck?"

"Home," repeats Bucky in a small voice, and then he's crying for real.”

[Basically soft lumberjack!steve and lonely twink!bucky being horny and in love. This is a comfort fic for that’s really just about my favourite boys falling in love.]

‘This City Bleeds it’s Aching Heart’ by anonymous

Rating: E, Words: 34,537

https://archiveofourown.org/works/835829/chapters/1591736

“The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.”

[The plot in this one is just a good time and i think it’s just a really fun take on the fake relationship trope. Also some really great characterisation.]

‘Home is Wherever I’m With You’ by cydonic

Rating: E, Words: 88,570

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18868081/chapters/44783077

“Bucky kisses Steve and Emma goodbye before they leave for school, which is why – partway down the road – Amelia turns to him and asks, “why are you and Daddy kissing?”

Which is definitely a conversation Bucky’s been expecting since Steve just did it, but it still takes him by surprise. Again, he thinks he should wait for Steve, but Amelia’s not the sort of kid to let anything rest. Plus, Bucky’s taking her to school where she will undoubtedly share the story with anyone who’ll listen.

He also stops to think that Steve’s asked him to stay, which means Bucky must be trusted with their happiness and well-being, at least in some small capacity.

Bucky clears his throat and searches for some explanation that will help Amelia make sense of this sudden turn of events. “Because we love each other,” is all he comes up with.”

[Bear with me, this is a House Flipper!Bucky Au. And dad!Steve. I just love a found family trope I’m not gonna lie to you. Another comfort fic that warms my lil heart.]

‘Lucky Seven’ by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves)

Rating: E, Words: 94,364

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7033105/chapters/16002481

“Back from where--?” James says, the sentence ending in a distinctly undignified squawk as Steve sweeps him up in his arms, bridal-style, and starts carrying him upstairs.

James tenses momentarily then relaxes into Steve's arms and throws back his head and starts laughing. The laughter peals out of him, his body shaking, his amusement occasionally broken by little gasps of pain.

“What's so funny?” Steve frowns.

“You are,” James says, still giggling. “You're ridiculous, Steve Rogers.”

“Behave. Or I will drop you,” Steve growls.

[The shrunkyclunks modern AU of my dreams featuring Mechanic!Bucky and cap!Steve and some really beautiful writing.]

'Dishonor On Your Cow' by mandarou

Rating: E, Words: 111695

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10659162/chapters/23589582

“Sergeant Barnes?”

“Oh, hell no, don’t call him that, man,” Sam warned.

“Captain Fuck Off!” Barnes shouted over him. “Fight me!”

Steve didn’t know whether to laugh or just slink away. He managed to combine the two by pacing two steps and snorting instead. Like a bull.

“I’m gonna need you to calm your ass, Barnes,” Sam said as he went limp again, obstructing Barnes’s struggling under him. “This is so undignified. That is Captain goddamn America.”

“Captain goddamn America!” Barnes repeated, louder. And angrier.

Steve cleared his throat again. “I’ve been looking for you,” he told Barnes.

“I hope you brought lube this time!” Barnes shouted.

[I’m not gonna lie it took me a minute to get into this one but by the end I was crying with them, laughing with them, and just really in my feels. Some very insane things happen so here’s a few of my favourite tags: ‘Seargent Barnes is done with your Shit Steve’, ‘blatant disrespect of a man’s motorcycle’, ‘Steve you ding dong’ and ‘PR nightmares in the form of Supersoldiers’.]

Propietary Information by Notlucy

Rating: E, Words: 85141

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964402/chapters/27054777

“Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.”

[We were never gonna get through this list without a Sugar Daddy!AU (I have a weakness). This one is… saucy and sexy and sweet and uh pretty kinky so read the tags and all. I’ve read it a few times, and I love the way the author has written Steve in this one, he just makes my heart go '!!!']

‘Roots Have Grown’ by AustinB

Rating: M, Words: 17280

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912451/chapters/15767941

“Bucky is a mildly agoraphobic veteran with funds to spare, who becomes enamored with the cute blonde guy in his building.

So when Steve mentions needing a roommate to cut down on rent costs, Bucky decides it would be a good idea to volunteer.”

[Another weakness of mine is Roommate AUs, and this one is phenomenal. I tend to go for post serum!Steve stories more often, but this is a pre-serum Steve that I just adore.]

‘The Cold Never Bothered me Anyway’ by icoulddothisallday

Rating: E, Words:75562

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11728869/chapters/26425530

“Bucky Barnes has spent his whole life in a state of mild hypothermia. Steve Rogers has spent the last 70 years in the ice. The two things aren’t related until, suddenly, they are. Shrunkyclunks soulmate AU (AKA the awkward bb au).”

[I think this is the only soulmate AU in my bookmarks? I would totally be down to read more though! This one is really fun and really enjoy Bucky’s characterisation here!]

'War, Children' by Nonymos

Rating: E, Words: 106615

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373050/chapters/12409394

“After Bucky was released from the hospital, it only took him a couple of weeks to give up on himself. Difficult to believe in any kind of future when the simple act of staying alive was almost too big an effort.

Out the frosted window, across the street, there was a tiny homeless guy burrowing under an awning.”

[An interesting exploration of Bucky’s PTSD with a trans!Steve which was a cool take on his character too!]

'The Company You Keep' by orbingarrow

Rating: G, Words: 51191

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468605/chapters/7613072

“Hurt, hungry, and on the run, the Winter Soldier doesn’t have a lot of safe options to go to for help. Figuring that any friend of Captain Steve Rogers is unlikely to be HYDRA, Bucky takes a chance and reaches out to the first Avenger he can find.

It works out better than anyone could have expected. Eventually.”

[hurt/comfort, recovering Bucky, protective Steve, found family and domestic avengers, need I say more? I absolutely loved this one]

[a-froger-epic]

Get out your glitter leotards and pour some champagne in your cat mugs! 🥂 🍾 It’s time to celebrate Freddie! 🎉😸

🎊 Freddie Mercury Weekend 2021 🎊

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

ABOUT THE EVENT

This weekend is a content creation event in honour of the man himself, the legend we all love, Freddie Mercury! Once more, everyone who is inspired by Freddie is invited to share their creativity with the fandom. You can write, draw, edit, record, even cross-stitch 😉 content for absolutely anything related to Freddie, any ship, any genre, any way you like. This is an indiscriminately inclusive, positive event. Everyone is welcome, there is no wrong way to be a fan of Freddie! (Except convincing yourself you're dating his ghost maybe. That's pretty wrong. And weird. Don't do that.)

WHEN? On the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of May.

HOW? On the above dates (or after!), post your contributions to the AO3 collection or alternatively on Tumblr, tagged ‘#fmw2021’ or/and ‘#freddie mercury weekend 2021’. If you post on Tumblr, please also tag @a-froger-epic to make sure you get a reblog from me!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

THE PROMPTS

You can be as free with the prompts as you like. They are here to inspire, there is no wrong way to write them! Change them around, mix them up, make them fem!Freddie, A/B/O, add your favourite ship. Anything goes! 😊

21st of May - 500-1000 word challenge!

We’re kicking off the event with ficlets and drabbles. First time writer just testing the waters? No need for an epic, just write a scene! No time to write but you want to participate? Surely you’ll find time for 500 words! 😉 Interpret these mini-prompts however you like (every one is a separate prompt, but you can combine them!):

Make-Up 💄   |   Pain/Pleasure 👀

Strip 👕   |   Ring 💍

Forbidden 🤫   |   Delilah 🐈

Piano 🎹   |   Dormitory 🛏 

Outrageous 🎉   |   Contentment 😌

Come Together 🎇   |   Ballet 🩰

Piece of Art 🎨   |   Leather 🧥

Cockring 🐔   |   Kimono 👘

Petals 🌸   |   Leotard 🕺🏻

Mustache 🧔   |   Last Time 😔

22nd of May - Is This The Real Life? 

A list of real event/canon timeline prompts from Freddie’s life. How real you want to keep them, however, is entirely up to you!

Down in flames

Freddie is 16 years old when he leaves boarding school. Does it have something to do with the school gardener, Sanjay? Did he flunk his exams or did he not even sit them? Is one thing connected to the other? Does he really find a boyfriend when he goes to stay with his aunt in Mumbai (then Bombay)? Either way, there’s the small matter of his parents finding out about all of it... (Sources: x x )

When Freddie met Kenny

Freddie is a guest on Kenny Everett's radio show in spring 1974. Freddie is living with Mary, Kenny is married. Two gay men, deep in the closet. To no one's surprise, they hit it off immediately. (Source: x )

But when did he? 

At some point during his relationship with Mary, prior to his relationship with David, Freddie had already begun sleeping with men. But how and when did that first happen? Cottaging in London? On tour somewhere in the world? Your guess is as good as ours… 

Flying High

Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll. Like all rock bands of their time, Queen doesn’t escape the copious amounts of cocaine in the entertainment industry for long. Somewhere on tour in America, perhaps, Freddie is first introduced to it. Where? How? 

Hide your tears

Jim said that he tried to be strong for Freddie and only cried in private, so as not to burden Freddie with his feelings. But this time, he is found. 

One-liners:

In 1969, Freddie doesn’t know how to cook an egg and neither does Roger (Source: x )

In 1977, Freddie meets Joe while on tour in Boston and starts dating him behind David's back

In 1990, Brian and Freddie work on 'The Show Must Go On' (Source: x )

In a year of your choice, Jim reminisces about his fondest moment(s) with Freddie

In 1976, Freddie and Mary end their relationship 

In 1984, Winnie gives Freddie a wedding ring (middle of the post: x )

In the late 60s, Freddie agrees to model for an Ealing Art School fashion show, but panics and flees the runway (Source: x )

In 1974, Freddie is strip-searched upon arrival in Australia (Source: x )

In 1982, Freddie and Roger go shopping in Amsterdam (Source: x )

In 1978, Freddie swings from a chandelier - naked (Source: x )

23rd of May - Is It Just Fantasy?

A list of AU prompts to spark your imagination. Take them and run with them or change them up, just have fun!

Make your dreams come true

Freddie hasn't been very fortunate in his life, until he finds a very special oil lamp, and rubs it just the right way. 

Beautiful stranger

Freddie meets an alluring stranger at a masquerade ball, who has more secrets than he can hide behind a mask. But Freddie has some of his own. 

Thicker than water 

Freddie agrees to a dreadful fate in order to save his little sister from the very same. Fortunately, he has friends who are more than willing to help him, but can they? Or are they, too, in danger?

Diamonds are a boy's best friend

Freddie is the prized jewel of the court, a skilled belly-dancer and entertainer, but he may also be plotting murder and getting away with it. 

Almost Real

In a distant future, humans have all but done away with face to face interaction. Humanity largely lives online. Children grow up isolated and live with only their families well into young adulthood. Cybersex is the new normal, although some families take a puritanical approach for fear of addiction. One day, impossibly, a real life young man falls through the containment field in Freddie’s back garden. 

One-liners:

This plane is going to crash (Freddie knew there was a reason he hated flying) 

Shipwrecked on an island (Freddie could never bear to be alone, but luckily/unfortunately for him…) 

Hunger Games AU (Freddie is so dead) 

A terrible road accident (Everyone is so dead, or are they?) 

Blind Date AU (Freddie's best friend is so dead for setting him up with this person… or are they…) 

Bank robbery (but who are the robbers and who are the hostages?) 

Magic AU ("Yer a wizard, Freddie!")

Film Noir AU (Secrets and cigarette holders) 

Interior Design AU (Does the carpet match the drapes?)

The Bodyguard AU (“And I will always love yooouuuu…”)

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

RULES & FAQ

⛔ Strictly No Hate ⛔

This is the NUMBER ONE RULE of the event, to ensure that everybody feels safe. No rudeness, provocations or hate aimed at creators or other commenters will be permitted, not on AO3 nor Tumblr.

Follow these steps if you receive a comment or ask that distresses you:

Do not engage. (You can take a screenshot as proof.)

Delete it. No ifs, no buts. Just delete it. (Don’t hesitate to block anon hate on Tumblr.)

Alert me ( @a-froger-epic ) or @aboutnothingness, who is lending me a hand to make sure all needs are attended, all questions are answered and everything runs smoothly. We are here to actively support you. We’ve got your back, and we will gladly talk to you and help you feel better.

If you choose to ignore this rule, your work may be removed from the event. We would hate to resort to that.

But what if one of the works has upset me?

Can the thing that upset you be tagged, but it wasn’t? Then please inform @a-froger-epic or @aboutnothingness, and we will bring it to the creator’s attention. (Remember to use the appropriate tags, everybody!)

Was the thing that upset you already tagged? Or is it perhaps simply the characterisation you find disagreeable? Then we suggest you click on the ‘back’ button, take a deep breath and remind yourself it's just fanfic.

Who can participate?

Anyone who is inspired by Freddie Mercury in any way shape or form. This event is open to all.

Can I combine prompts from different days?

By all means! We look forward to your futuristic Freddie-gets-kicked-out-of-boarding-school Maycury Film Noir AU. With leotards. Go crazy.

I'm not sure where my creation fits in, what day do I post it? 

The days, like the prompts, are only suggestions. We don't mind when you post it, as long as you post it! Even if it's two weeks late! 

Help, I've never posted fic before! 

Don't worry, we've got you! (And more importantly, we've got AO3 invites!) @aboutnothingness is more than happy to walk you through the process of setting up an account and is also offering her services as a beta.

I’m still too nervous to participate!

You can post anonymously to the collection. You can disable anon comments on your work. You can disable comments entirely and just collect the kudos. You can close anon asks on Tumblr temporarily. But most importantly, we are here for you and we want you here!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

“I love the fact that I make people happy, in any form. Even if it’s just half an hour of their lives, in any way that I can make them feel lucky or make them feel good, or bring a smile to a sour face, that to me is worthwhile.”

- Freddie Mercury

[anarmorofwords]

If CC handed me Baby Matthew I would drop him and go give small Alastair a candy

I can't help it

I feel like I don't really know Matthew at all which is redicouls giving the amount of book page he gets??? (Compared to others)

He can be nice and good but while CC seems to love him so much he's in a really bad state right now and I can't love the person he is that way?? What am I supposed to do, love the person he could be if CC actually let him have real development and addressed his issues?

... this is a really peculiar thing to write to someone who loves Matthew and asks explicitly for no Matthew hate? also a little immature, but ok

"what am I supposed to do, love the person...?" yeah, actually, that's exactly what I'm doing, so I guess you've answered your own question.

Though, just so we're clear, you're under no obligation to love him, really. I do, but there's plenty of people who don't, and as long as everyone's respectful about those opinions and knows fandom etiquette, we're fine I guess.

But yes, I'm mad at how little we get to know actual Matthew and his pov, despite, as you say, him being featured quite often in the books. I hate how CC is handling his character. I hate how she's probably not going to let him make up for his own mistakes, because, as I said numerous times in the last few posts, CC herself doesn't consider them mistakes. And no, I won't let CC's poor judgment and bias to ruin one of my favourite characters.

On the other hand though, he is in a terribly bad place atm. His addiction, his trauma, depression? (I'm getting an impression he's depressed, but that's just my interpretation), it all clouds his judgement. He's so far gone in his own pain, he doesn't think much about the damage he's doing to others. He hates himself to the point where it makes perfect sense for him that everything would be "about him", because surely others hate him equally much. I'm not saying that excuses his actions - namely, his treatment of Alastair - but it does explain them, and I think Matthew deserves a chance to heal and become a better person once he realizes his wrongdoings.

Because here's the thing - when we talk about Alastair's bullying, we know he always knew it wasn't right. He hated doing that. So the first moment he could, he started working on making up for that.

Matthew however doesn't really know his treatment of Alastair is wrong? In his mind, Alastair is a monster. In his mind, Alastair could actually hurt Cordelia (especially that, judging by his own experiences, he knows siblings aren't always like Lucie and James), and Thomas, and everyone he comes across, so what he thinks he's doing, is protecting his loved ones from hurt. So Matthew doesn't think he's being unfair, as Alastair knew he was at the Academy, he thinks Alastair trully deserves that.

And Cordelia not only not standing up for him, but saying things like "Maybe you think I'm terrible, still loving him." (I don't remember the exact quote) just further legitimizes his way of thinking. And don't get me wrong, this isn't on Cordelia - this is, as I said a few times already, on CC and her messed up view of Alastair's actions.

So considering he's in a really bad place mentally, he won't realize he's in the wrong on his own, and if everyone refuses to call him out - because CC believes Alastair deserves what he gets, how is Matthew to change? You have no idea how much I want him to get better, to realize he's hurting others - unfortunately I'm not sure CC will give him that, but I intend to. So since I have no control over the actual books, all I can do if my faves are ruined by the author is ignore that and fix it in fanfic/headcanons etc.

And I will do that.