#but now that i leave more comments

[alexenglish]

i started tracking my fic reading (using this bangin’ tracker) because i’d love to know how much fic i actually read over the course of a year - not sure how long it will last because doing things for an entire year is not my style, but i figured i’d do some fic rec posts of stuff i liked once or twice a month if i keep it up so ! i’ve read a decent amount of fic since the beginning of the year, so here’s what i’ve got for you so far~

2023 fic recs 1️⃣

🚩 red flag: read the tags 🚩

flicker / illuminate by hollowcene - skz, minsung, 12k, t

It’s not like things in Seoul were great before the sound monster showed up.

rec comment: i will be That Guy and say I never read minsung so the fact that minsung is my first read of 2023 and my first rec is 100 percent a huge vouch for this fic. if you love world building & dynamics & FUN, then i cannot recommend this more

drown it out by rosecrush - skz, chansung, 2k, e 🚩

“ah, hyung,” jisung gasps. the way he squirms, struggling against chan—reflexively, chan bears more weight down on the arm pinning jisung’s hips in place, curls his hand tighter around jisung’s cock. jisung whines louder, knees pressing hard into chan’s sides. “please, please, i can’t—i have to—”

he cuts himself off. chan says, leveling his voice, honey-sweet, “have to what, hannie?” even though the redness of his face, flush with embarrassment, the now-constant wriggling—chan can guess.

rec comment: rosecrush i’m love you

quién lo diría by enbookcased - skz, minbinchan, 21k, e

"Did I ever tell you that pasta’s my favorite?"

"You know I don't listen when you talk about food," Minho murmured, concentrating on the task at hand. Finished chopping the garlic, he quickly added it to the large pan that was already filled to bursting with little neck clams. He topped it off with some white wine and then turned to Changbin. The pasta was already simmering away in its own pot on the stove. “All we gotta do now is wait,” he said, crossing his arms over himself.

And then he looked over at Changbin and did the weirdest thing yet: he smiled. It was awkward and fleeting, but Changbin had seen it. Changbin could probably count on one hand how many times Minho had smiled at him that didn’t involve a camera in their faces or a joke being cracked, and he couldn’t deny the effect it had on him, that it had him smiling back.

Minho's smile dropped immediately into a scowl. “Ew, what is your face doing? Stop it or it’s gonna get stuck that way.”

rec comment: the dynamics were fun, i enjoyed reading this as it updated, i especially loved the exploration of dynamics in the first two chapters as things were building

The Minor Fall, the Major Lift by hope_and_hardship - skz, soobgyu, 43k, m

Beomgyu looked down at his guitar and wondered if he’d ever be strong enough to put it away for good.

The trouble was he could run away from everyone he knew, could delete accounts, could change cities, but he couldn’t run away from himself. And the guitar was just part of him now.

But, goddamn, he was too young to feel this old and washed up.

rec comment: obsessed with this entire fic, a banger from start to finish. the heady commentary on art and the ways it we abandon it, and it abandons us, but never truly leaves us, and the ways we need to move on, and the ways we grow. the relationship felt so sweet and organic, and this is the best side character yoongi i’ve ever read in my entire life, literally huge rec

you and me (the series) by flying_dream - skz, jilix, 200k, e

When Jisung moves to Seoul for university, he just wants a fresh start. Study a course he actually enjoys, possibly make some new friends, find meaning in his life again: the works.

Then he meets Lee Felix and his entire world turns upside down.

rec comment: this was a reread because this fic has been lodged deeply in my head ever since i read it the first time. i LOVE It. i can’t even express how much i love it, how often i think of the elements of this fic, how well done they were?? it honestly floors me to think about what they did with this, and how it was over 200k and neither reading it the first or the second time did it EVER feel like over 200k lmao

Law of Probability by rhythmsextion - skz, binchan, 6k, e

In which Changbin loses a bet and is subsequently dared to give Chan a lap dance. And everyone gets to watch. 

rec comment: what it says on the tin. it’s fun!

In Sheep's Clothing by Mntsnflrs - skz, chanlix, e, 36k 🚩

“I’m sorry about this,” the man said. He took a sip of his coffee before continuing, “It’s the lesser of two evils. A mother and her young children, or a single kid. It has to be you.”

rec comment: listen daddy kink is pretty much always a hard boiled no for me but just skimming the first few paragraphs of this fic had me immediately hooked, i’m feral over this fic. the delivery of the pov did something to me that i can’t even explain. i will never recover from how good it is.

Collateral Damage by Mntsnflrs - skz, chanlix, e, 12k 🚩

Chan gets a boyfriend, and Felix doesn't deal with it.

rec comment: another felix pov that just fucks severely, i’m obsessed with how weirdly dysfunction this chanlix is - as GOD INTENDED.

fundamental mentalities by upottery - skz, binchan, chansung, minchan, 8k, e

The taut bowstring that runs along Chan's spine loosens for a moment, lets him straighten and cross the room in a few strides to the wall where Minho’s waiting. He doesn’t bother facing him, skips instead to resting his head on his folded arms, holding them above his shoulders. When he turns, his cheek hits the cold glass. He can feel Minho’s icy stare, sees it in the reflection only barely.

“That wasn’t so hard.” Minho says, low. “At least someone can listen around here.”

rec comment: ongoing bottom chan saga which i love, upottery writes bangers, i’m love u latte

this is what drives me crazy by ghosthunter - skz, hyunsung, 3ra, 8k, e 🚩

"Changbin-ah," Chan says, twisting around in his desk chair. "Can you go grab us drinks? I think Hannie could use one."

rec comment: LOVE an exploration of kink and discomfort and sex and relationships and how polyamorous arrangements relate and liking something because it gets someone else off and like, it’s all JAM PACKED in here with two of my fave ships so like god. fuck yeah. and pee!

winter in busan by booooin - bts, yoonmin, e, 43k 🚩

Alternate history!au. In a world where the Korean war never happened, Busan is the trashcan of the world, run by three clans (the Min, the Gwan, and the Bang) and able to feed itself only through the toxic waste processing industries and the polluting mining industries. Park Jimin is a Korean American who comes to Busan on business.

This fic is about environmental imperialism and the struggles of decolonization.

rec comment: honestly still chewing on this, it hits a bunch of my IMMENSE hit-or-miss tropes but god i thought the themes were handled well and like... the elements were worked in so well... the characterization... bonkers. wow.

[bajaja-blast]

you dislike Luke Castellan because he disagreed with an oppressive government system and actually took action to change the abusive ways him and his peers have been forced to follow for millennia.

I dislike Luke Castellan because in the Titans Curse he manipulated Annabeth, who he raised as his little sister, into holding up the sky, the FUCKING sky, for over 20 hours and had the audacity to walk away as though he was completely apathetic towards it while she begged and pleaded with him to help her.

we are not the same.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

posting this with absolutely no context

[cabeswaterdrowned]

honorable mentions:

Ronan being senselessly turned on by Adam on a motorcycle in Call Down The Hawk, eliminated for not technically being a car but still impressive

Jordan stealing Declan’s car and in doing so feeling closer to Hennessy while also closer to Declan.

Adam teaching Gansey about fixing cars.

The picture in Adam’s glove rendezvous has a the man (who looks like Greenmantle, which is to say like a combination of Ronan and Gansey, which is to say he looks like Declan but I digress) standing next to a German made car.

I could have sworn in addition to the Gansey comparing Adam to the Pig scene there was a scene where Ronan did as well but I looked up every time the word “Camaro” is mentioned in the Dream Thieves + The Raven King (only books with Ronan pov chapters) and did not find this so I wonder if I made it up, or saw someone else misremember and then adopted it in my memory. Someone enlighten me if not. There are certainly others but I either couldn’t remember them or couldn’t find text evidence to confirm they were real. Of course, you might say that some of these were likely more intentional from a doylist pov than others, however the text is the text and motifs are motifs. I am simply an academic presenting my findings to you all.

Also the Latin line is said twice once when the Camaro breaks down Ronan says it jokingly to Gansey in the scene where he also puts a leg over Adam’s, then Adam remembers it after a breakdown in TDT as applying to how he’s a “trainwreck” right before finding himself in Ronan’s dream. Feel the others are self explanatory enough but thought this one merited explanation if you haven’t reread recently.

[biblically-accurate-dca]

au where moon fills in while sun is "on vacation" and nothing bad happens

[lazylittledragon]

right now i'm very torn between "taking critique is important as an artist and it's not an attack on me personally" and "people commenting about my same face syndrome under my posts upsets me an unreasonable amount and i wish they would stop doing it"

[viperwhispered]

Too Hard

Woop part 2 of the trip inside Jamil's head. Part 1 here.

The next time Jamil caught sight of you on campus, his first instinct was to turn around on his heel.

What a stupid thought to have because of you.

Besides, that would only make him more conspicuous, not less.

So, when your eyes met his, Jamil gave you a short nod in greeting. He would’ve left it at that and kept on his way, had you not walked up to him.

“Hi Jamil! How’s it going?” you said with that impossibly disarming smile of yours.

Why was it so difficult to look at you like he normally would? You had no right to make him feel so stiff, so unnatural.

On autopilot, Jamil exchanged a few pleasantries with you - those lessons from his parents had been instilled too deep in him for him to falter too badly in a simple exchange such as this. Still, Jamil quickly excused himself by telling you he still had to find Kalim before his next class.

Jamil didn’t miss the way your smile faltered. Had you hoped to get something out of him?

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you two later, then.”

Something about that irked him, though Jamil did not allow himself to dwell on it further.

His heart really had no business still racing as it did when he walked away, unaware of the frown on his face.

Just act normal. That’s all he needed to do.

After all, he had no time for dwelling in silly fancies.

If Jamil had been acutely aware of you before, it only seemed to worsen now that he was making a conscious effort to not act any differently with you. In fact, the harder he tried to keep you out, the more you invaded his thoughts, unsettling him.

The most innocuous words from you looped in his mind, and even the simplest actions caught his eye. For goodness's sake, he’d found himself staring at you while you were queueing up in the cafeteria the other day, not even doing anything other than standing around and looking bored!

For once, Jamil found himself grateful for all his duties. At least they provided him with something else to occupy himself with.

After all, if he was busy enough, it was difficult to think about those bright eyes of yours, your sweet laugh, or the way you bit your lip while thinking.

Still, sometimes it felt like no matter which way he turned, you were there, ready to throw him off-kilter. Not like it was his fault that often the most convenient route to class intersected with your daily routines. Or that your face seemed to jump out from any crowd, catching his attention.

Which certainly did not help his basketball performance. Jamil certainly did not recall you having such an interest in sports before, yet suddenly you were always there, distracting him. What had changed?

Could you possibly-

Jamil scoffed to himself, forcing his thoughts back on track for the nth time that day.

He picked up the tray of food and started taking it to Kalim. After dinner, he’d need to help Kalim with his homework, there were some housewarden tasks that would need dealing with, not to mention the preparations for the next-

Jamil froze in his tracks.

The voice he heard was quiet, but it was unmistakably you.

Really, it should not have come as such a surprise to him. You had become a rather frequent visitor to Scarabia, and Kalim often invited you to stay for meals. In fact, Jamil had started planning the dorm’s meal prep with your tastes and dietary restrictions in mind, just in case.

Jamil rounded the corner with strange exhilaration, his heart fluttering needlessly.

Yet, his mood evaporated when he saw you.

Why did you stop talking and look so guilty as soon as you caught sight of Jamil?

Jamil knew that look you gave to Kalim, had used it himself a thousand times. The one telling Kalim to keep quiet about something.

What could there possibly be that you would be comfortable sharing with Kalim, but not with him? That would give Kalim reason to sit so close to you, a comforting hand on your shoulder?

Jamil's mind raced with possibilities, yet could not settle for any single explanation.

He’d have to ask Kalim about it later.

Jamil gave you a short, polite greeting, his eyes lingering on you in an attempt to read what you were hiding.

“If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve prepared something for you to eat as well,” Jamil said, already thinking about which parts of the dorm’s dinner to spruce up for you.

“Oh, no need, just figured I’d pop by. I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” you said, something sheepish about your expression.

As expected, Kalim asked you to stay and dine with them, and with just a bit more persuasion you agreed - though not before telling Jamil that he should join you too and have himself a breather.

And since Kalim agreed with you, Jamil soon found himself sharing a meal with you and Kalim. Yet, even as he sat down with the food, his mind raced.

Had you been getting particularly close to Kalim lately? But surely Jamil would’ve noticed such a thing. Maybe someone from the dorm had been giving you trouble? But if that was the case, then surely you could let Jamil know about it, too. Unless for some reason you did not want to? But if it was something that concerned Kalim, then sooner or later it was bound to concern Jamil, too.

All the while, Kalim was talking to you about this and that, the latest topic being the animals kept on the Asim estate.

“I’ve got some pictures, let me show you!” Kalim said with an excited grin.

Only, a thorough patting of his pockets and a look around confirmed that Kalim’s phone was nowhere to be seen.

Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose. Where had Kalim left it this time?

Before Jamil even had the chance to say that he would handle it, Kalim sprinted off. Jamil hesitated for a moment, automatically halfway up from his seat, before he decided that leaving a guest unattended would be a worse offense than not helping out his master.

Jamil slumped back down with a sigh, mentally tracing the path Kalim took today, trying to recall the last time he saw Kalim handle his phone.

“Breathe. He’ll manage,” you said. There was the faintest of smiles on your lips, and Jamil could not decide if it was knowing or amused. Perhaps both.

Somehow, despite his frustration, Jamil’s own lips wanted to curl up too.

“Hmm. Maybe he will.”

Sure, Jamil could’ve called Kalim’s phone, to make it easier to find, but it was not that urgent, was it?

Jamil took another bite of his food, keeping an eye on you from the corner of his eye.

How was his mind so empty and so buzzing at the same time?

“You know-”

“So-”

You looked at each other, both just as surprised that the other had spoken up at the same time.

Even your surprised look was so-

“You first,” Jamil said. The way you bit your lip... Jamil had to raise a cup to his lips, slowly sipping his drink.

“Just… Feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you be still, you know. Or exchanged more than two words with you,” you said. You were attempting a light, joking tone, yet it was quite clear there was more to it.

“You say that like it would be unusual for me to be busy.”

He was not prepared for the way your soft sigh tugged at his heartstrings.

“No. It is not.”

You were both quiet after, poking at your meals. Normally, Jamil would’ve cherished such a moment of peace, yet this particular silence between you two was decidedly awkward.

Where was your usual chatter? Why weren’t you looking at him like you usually did?

“If you’re worried about me, don’t. I’m fine,” Jamil said, some softness creeping into his tone despite his best intentions.

“That's what Kalim said too,” you said. Yet the way you looked at Jamil made it clear you were still skeptical.

Wait.

Had you clammed up earlier because it had been Jamil you had been talking about with Kalim? That Kalim had comforted you about?

The thought twisted his stomach into knots.

Eta: you can find part 3 here, part 4 here, and finally part 5 here. Hasdhfsdf the way I fought with that last scene I swear. I don't even want to know how many versions I went through, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted without rubbing it into your face or making it too veiled. The joys of trying to convey things through a limited pov. Hopefully it came out reasonably balanced in the end. Rip to all those sentences that were lovely on their own but didn’t work for the whole. Hopefully I can rehome y’all one day. I do have thoughts for part 3 and part x (might be some chapters between those two as well, who knows at this point), so maybe we'll see those at some point, too. Tag list: @colliope @crystallizsch @diodellet @jamilsimpno69 @jamilvapologist @twstgo If you'd like to be tagged for future works, let me know! (Just be aware that sometimes I do also write nsfw, though you can certainly ask to be tagged only for particular kinds of works.)

[intheholler]

hiiii, i will probably write out an actual love letter to appalachia as well, but here's a visual love letter dedicated to my holler ❤️

.

[vyunok-obyknovenniy]

Really happy with how she turned out! I decided to give her some naiad features, inspired by this post and it was really fun! I hc that she can breathe underwater (even though she doesn't have gills. Do naiads have gills?), although I am not sure if she can do it freely or for a limited amount of time 🤔

The fabric piece covering her chest was loosely inspired by 18th century neckerchiefs, because I wasn't sure how the Mycenaean open chest fashion would fly with the censorship here or on other platforms ¯⁠\⁠_(���⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[companion-showdown]

Who had the worst time aboard the TARDIS?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[worstloki]

i feel like the thor movies should have explored more about how the other realms hate Asgard and it's not all because of Odin because Bor also killed off basically the entire race of dark elves with the bifrost beam and that came back to bite them as much as Hela did

[laesas]

RamKing + Venus Flytrap || by kinnbig

[slavhew]

fun fact the word "dirk" sounds exactly like the root of the croatian verb "drkati" which means to jack off

get the dirk brush here

[the-kipsabian]

wrestling fic writers!!

i have decided to be the change i wanna see, so lets do a nice little thing for each other, as a community full of incredible and talented writers. yes this is writer specific only, but thats cause thats where the main problem of people not interacting with creative works lies in this fandom as far as i can tell and have seen people talking about it especially in the last couple of months

if you read this, please add links to your written works. it can be just a single fic youre really proud of, your writing blog, your writing tag, your ao3 account, anything where your works can be found

and if you leave your link here, PLEASE check out someone else that has left their works, and interact with them. leave them a comment, even just a kudos, REBLOG their fic, etc. interacting is the keyword i want to emphasize here, along with building a sort of a masterpost of where to find people writing in this fandom

and if you are not a writer, youre still highly encouraged to interact with this post and share it and show love to the writers in this fandom, obviously!! i think that should go without saying, but adding it in anyways

a bit more about my vision and resources and such under the read more, but thats the gist of it. happy linking and please be kind and supportive to each other!! 💜

nobody is too big or too small to add their things on this list. if you write and post anything in this fandom whatsoever, be it fics or drabbles or headcanons, any companies or any kind of ships or reader inserts or any content whatsoever no matter how 'dead dove dont eat' or hell even if its just meta, we welcome all here and nobody can say that one thing is less valid than another. just please tag your content accordingly, especially if theres content warnings, and feel free to mention what you write, who you write, any info you wish to leave that would help people before they click on your links. but even so, that should not and hopefully will not deter people from interacting, no matter what it is. someones trash is another ones treasure, i promise you

and unless the amount gets really overwhelming, im personally going to be checking out everyone that leaves something here. unless it squeaks me out, but even then, i'll spread the word. and i just wish as many people as possible will do the same, and not just use this as a potential board to only get eyes on their stuff. ofc thats also the point, but you should give as much, if not more, than you get. we need to be kind and supportive of one another (besides, from personal experience, if you show love to someone else, they are more likely to do it back than without you taking the first step, so... pay it forward)

as for resources, heres a few links that should be helpful in leaving comments and feedback. of course everyone does their own thing and no comment is too big or too small to leave, but for those who need them. if you have anything you'd like added to this list, dont hesitate to get in touch or drop it in the post yourself!!

101 comment starters

ao3 floating comment box

kudos html

dont know how to comment? easy solutions

a quick hot guide to commenting (by yours truly)

an overall guide to appreciating fanfic writers

and just in general.. leave people comments. leave them asks about their projects. just go over and gush about their work. i know it sounds embarrassing but writers love nothing more than to hear that someone likes what they are doing. if you find a fic that hasnt been updated in forever, comment on it. it might just be the spark the author needs to continue. while kudos and likes are nice, and just as valuable to some, its definitely in the words the people leave for them that matter the most. im not saying this to put pressure on anyone, its just how it is, and i feel like unless people are writers themselves, and even then sometimes, thats just hard to grasp, especially if the writer is a smaller and less popular one who doesnt get a lot of traffic in the first place

i think thats all. just be nice and considered to everyone, reblog peoples works, this post with others add ons and so forth. and if i find anyone talking shit here or at other writers for something they share, you'll be blocked and im probably taking your kneecaps. be fucking nice. we are all struggling here and we need to stick together

happy sharing and commenting 💜💜

[ainosgarden]

can't stop thinking about lestat and his mindfulness coloring book from the beautiful fic love me at the ungodly hour by @pynkhues

[thinkmanythingsofit]

I don't think I've ever seen you this ... happy.