#but there’s not a ton of sapphic fic out there

[cowgurrrl]

hi friend 🩷 i am a huge fan of your joel x reader fics. i have a question that is kind of personal, so please feel free to ignore if you are not comfortable answering. i didn’t realize you were a lesbian until i saw your post for lesbian day of visibility. i am just wondering if/why you enjoy writing joel x reader or any other male character x reader romance/smut stories as a lesbian? or is it like not something you personally are into, you’re just writing bc someone requested it? i truly hope this does not come off as offensive - i am a straight woman so i am truly just curios. again, feel free to ignore if this is too invasive. love you so much, thank you for sharing your stories with us!! 🫶🏻

Hi! I’m so glad you enjoy the fics and this is such an interesting question!!

I do really enjoy writing for Joel and other male characters even as a lesbian!! In my head, I’m writing more for consumption by women (I use this term very loosely to include my friends beyond the binary) and pleasure for women. I grew up reading and writing straight stories (either fic or literature) and so I’ve never really felt strange about reading or writing it now! I think if I’m really drawn in by the story (The Last of Us, Narcos, Daredevil, etc.,) it feels more like an exercise in analyzing character/story details and writing things that I’m personally interested in like I wrote OFTM because I like the idea that Joel could’ve been in a band and they could’ve been successful and then how would that change what his life looks like? I don’t ever feel obligated to write anything and have definitely passed up some requests because I wasn’t comfy writing whatever it was at the time but I genuinely love creating loving, healthy relationships (and making them work a little hard for it) in my stories

For reading male character x reader romance or smut, it’s a thing of knowing it’s, more than likely, written by a woman and a direct expression of female sexuality which is not only empowering but it’s also HOT so while I’m not keen to have sex with someone with a penis irl, it’s still fun to read my silly little smutty stories and kick my feet in bed

I hope this answered your question and thank you so so much for reading and sticking around!!

[commanderbuffy]

Sapphic Books Reccs

Here is my list of recommended sapphic books! There’s a lot of YA here since that’s a lot of what I read. Everything on this list I have personally read and can recommend. I’m sure there’s a TON out there I haven’t read or ones I have read and have just forgotten!

Contemporary

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake (Adult)

My favorite of Blake’s! Enemies to lovers. SO good.

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (Adult)

A woman falls for her step-sister’s best friend. Oh, and there’s a kiddo in the mix as well.

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth (YA)

Two girls promise a summer of fun full of rom-com worthy dates. The only rule, no relationships. Just one summer, nothing more. Sure....

Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick (YA)

Amnesia fic where a girl forgets she ever met her secret girlfriend in their ultra-conservative town.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar (YA)

Fake dating between the girl who wants to validate her bisexuality to her friends and the girl who doesn’t mind the popularity boost.

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen (YA)

Best friends to lovers! A big piece of this is also the friend group involved.

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (YA)

Imogen thinks she’s just an Ally. Spoiler alert: she’s not. I loved the way friendship was explored in this. You see some really solid friendships as well as a subtly toxic one (that’s acknowledged as such).

Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen (YA)

An ode to late bloomers and a journey to self-acceptance. A girl goes to her first party, befriends a gay guy who introduces her to new group of friends and one really cute girl

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum (YA)

Super fun involving a girl asking another girl fo “Queer 101″ lessons. Bi and Autistic rep too!

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (YA)

A girl gives anonymous love advice and gets hired by a hot guy to help him get his ex back. Really FANTASTIC bi rep!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (Adult)

A sexy time-bendy romance with so much heart

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (YA)

My FAVORITE rom-com. I reread it constantly. Fake dating, enemies-to-lovers between the cheer captain and basketball star!!

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick (YA)

Two girl team up to get their crushes to fall for them and start developing feelings for each other along the way.

Six Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe (YA)

Childhood frenemies forced to move in together for their best friend moms’ sake. Trauma filled and SO SO good.

Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan (YA)

A fun rom-com between an out queer athlete and the local beauty pageant queen.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour (YA)

One of my favorite books of all time. A story about grief and friendship and love. A soft, quiet story.

Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall (YA)

A girl’s secret girlfriend dies and she is left to grieve alone until she finds herself turning to her girlfriend’s ex.

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Crier’s War by Nina Varela (YA)

A romance that leads to revolution by between two girls: one human, one Made

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (Adult)

This is historical and fantasy! Suffragette witches! Another one of those books I wish I could read again for the first time. Three sisters, one of them has a WLW romance

Thriller/Horror

Hide by Kiersten White (Adult)

A high-stakes hide and seek competition in an abandoned amusement park. One of my all-over favorite books of 2022.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (YA)

No wlw romance in this one, but the main character and her sister are both wlw. My absolute favorite book of 2021. What I would pay to read this for the first time again.

The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (YA)

The daughter of a con artist is finally allowed to stop running and faking her identity, only to get stuck in a bank heist with her ex-boyfriend and current girlfriend.

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (YA)

Three girls who shouldn’t have a reason to team up together against an ancient evil. The new girl, the pariah, and the queen bee who’s been helping the evil all along. I have reread this book easy a dozen times.

Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos (YA)

When a girl goes searching for her missing best friend, she finds a trail of other missing girls and battles with heartbreak after her girlfriend leaves her for California.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (YA)

Quarantined at her girl’s school after a gruseome Tox breaks out, a girl must find what happened to her best friend who’s gone missing

Historical

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood (YA)

The queer Little Women retelling we all deserve with a SAPPHIC JO! Set in 1942. Beth’s POV still haunts my heart

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (YA)

Two of the major supporting characters are WLW. This becomes more important and on the page in the later books in this series, but this is the first one.

Music from Another World by Robin Talley (YA)

1970s California. Two girls become penpals and bond over music.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Adult)

Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo famously had seven husbands. This is the story of her wife.

[vecnuthy]

whatcha readin?

Tagged by @judasofsuburbia This is suchhh a cool idea! This list doesn't even scratch the surface, but basically all of these JUST updated, so I'm in Kermit on a typewriter mode. They're all smutty with I think one exception, so. That's your warning. And they're all Steddie. Mind the tags as always!

Money, Power, Glory by @strangerthings1975 just wrapped and I'm an emotional WRECK because this story is fucking insanely good. Mutual pining, angst with a happy ending, communication is king, sooo much fluff even with the heavy themes. The summary from ao3: Steve starts paying Eddie for sex once he discovers that Eddie doesn't just deal drugs and perform at the Hideout. Strap tf in, heed the tags, bask in its magnificence. This fic is always on my mind, no exaggeration.

is your light on? by @toburnup I love how Vio weaves nuance and simplicity and still manages to have it all land like a ton of bricks. The slowest of burns, have aloe on hand!! Happy ending is guaranteed too thank god because I want to shake the shit out of these two sometimes. This story steamrolls my soul and lives rent free in my brain, and I'm so excited to read the chapter that just posted. I'm screaming!!

Tell Me "Don't" So I Can Crawl Back In They are disasters! They are everything! Steve ditches the old friends and decides to get friendly with Eddie. Steve surprises tf out of Eddie (and me) in this one, and it's a lottt of fun to read.

I can't tune you out by @hairstevington famous musicians Steddie, fake dating/enemies to lovers, slow burn, and Buckingham? Absolutely. Read it.

Tentative by @eddywoww Sapphic Steddie with Stevie in a ln all-girls pop group with Eddie as their assistant. Y'aaallll. Shenanigans. Delicious, thirsty shenanigans. I'm literally signed up for anything that Lee does. I Made Loving You a Bloodsport, Uneducated Guesses, everythinggggg.

Blood and Water by @aidaronan sapphic witches Steddie that has me so hyped to see what all is going to happen. I live for the vibes/aesthetic, and it's already so dark and juicy!

as good a place to fall as any by @rewritingicarus photographer Eddie and amateur model Steve. Oh. My god. I fucking love this story. It's so steamy, and come ON. The title coming from Bedroom Hymns by Florence + the Machine? I jumped on it as soon as I saw the title and I haven't looked back since. I crave the updates!

What about you? No pressure, of course! @steddiealltheway @flowercrowngods @grimmfitzz @henderdads @hairmetal666 @stevebabey @emryses @wormdebut @asbealthgn @steves-strapcollection @onirislanding and anybody else who'd like to participate ✨️

[broomsticks]

fic length by fic type (category & ship): hp fandom stats

more statsy conversation in the @hpsaffics discord -- @siriusly-sapphic and I were wondering how fic length varied with popularity of ship. @toastystats' findings that het works tend to be longer than f/f and m/m came to mind, and I was reminded that I've been meaning to check if some of these v interesting findings are true for harry potter fic, specifically!

so anyway I did not do quite that but did something kind of related:

took the total number of works on AO3 (filtered for english only, no crossovers, wc>=1, and otp:true), sorted by word count, and clicked through to get the word count of the ~10th* percentile fic, ~20th percentile fic, etc etc)

(*full disclosure: i used google sheet formulas to get the page number and took the word count of the first fic on that page. so, nth percentile work +/- 20 works.)

"F/F only" = F/F -F/M -M/M &c

"excl. top10" = excluded the top 10 ships, "excl. top 20" = did that and then did it again, which IK may not precisely be the top 20 ships but hey. the most common ships left were Prongsfoot, Linny, and Tomione, at ~1k works each out of 78.5k.

this above is the master graph, zoomed in versions below because the scale of that graph is impossible to actually read

'smooth line chart' went a little wonky on that last graph but

seems like the het ships DO tend to have long fics. feels like sevmione has a ton of both long (>20k) fic and midlength fic, and dramione has a lot of midlength (5-10k) fic, and jily more ~1-5k fic.

snarry has a lot of unusually short fics (<500, <1k words) that drag down the bottom-most part of the chart, but there's proportionally a lot of >20k longfic too. wolfstar surprisingly has much less >50k work than the other two mslash ships! in fact wolfstar & snarry have some real interesting contrasts going on there.

HP femslash is noticeably shorter than other types of works, ~30% shorter than mslash at every percentile and almost half the length of het works. the catch-up to mslash at the 99th percentile (or, conversely, drop-off of mslash?) is intriguing though!

brief observation re. third graph: interesting -- in the mid range at least, wolfstar looks/behave a lot more like a 'rarepair' (anything excluding the top 10 ships) than drarry, snarry, or even "M/M -F/F -F/M".

[aprillikesthings]

I have the house to myself because people are at a sportsball party

So what else would I do but keep watching spop amiright

s1 ep8 lez go

YES IT'S PRINCESS PROM AHAHAHAH

Oh, that explains why (in a muuuuuuch later episode) there's that little ideal future and they're at Scorpia's ball (iirc)

Catra: I NEED TO BE IN CHARGE Scorpia: party!

Poor Scorpia

Catra: giving a passionate-if-faked pep talk to Scorpia (like I get she's manipulating Scorpia here into going to the party, but it's still the kind of thing Scorpia should hear!) Also Catra: still real mad about Adora!!!

I cackled, y'all. CACKLED.

I mean she's...not wrong...

Okay I know it's just how this kind of show works and isn't important but it implies the Ball is known about for years in advance, but the invites only actually go out like a day or two before?? IRL that would be such a disaster because they don't even know the theme until they get the invite. The sheer amount of logistics/planning attending something like this, including the outfits...

This was intended to be Lolita fashion and you can't convince me otherwise

Also CATRA. They intentionally made her look so, so gay and hot.

Same, Catra. Same.

Adora (to the weapons-check person): be careful with it, don't lean it on something with the other swords or it might get confused!!!

Poor Adora. I suppose if I had an object that made me both popular and nearly invincible I'd be upset and worried to be separated from it, too.

It's Molly and Nate!!!

🎶Just like the viiiiine🎵

I love that we know these characters enough that they can just say a couple of lines here and imply a ton more. Anyway Mermista's outfit is great.

This is literally their entire dynamic. They're clearly together, Sea Hawk is loud about it, Mermista is (mostly) pretending to hate it.

Sorry this is shot is just great

Glimmer's jealousy (over Bow coming to the ball with Perfuma) is SO ANNOYING and I know that's on purpose but boy do I hate most "jealousy makes them obnoxious" plots

ANYWAY one small note: you can tell their budget for this episode is just not very high, because the characters in the background are so often not moving or only moving like one thing.

Oh hey, Netossa and Spinerella! (...and Molly again lol)

"Bow isn't the type to just leave his old friends behind, and neither am--" *Scorpia and Catra walk in*

DIDN'T THINK YOU'D SEE HER HERE, HUH, DIDJA

I can't screenshot this bit but it's so good:

Catra, in her most fake-gentleman voice: I love rules and obey them all the time Adora in the most high-pitched voice possible: YOU DO NOOOOT

🎶Every move you make And every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you🎵

...I'm showing my age again. But also I'm looking at the lyrics and ngl they nearly all fit. If I knew how to make fanvids, I could make a vid that like ten people would watch.

Instead I'm working on a fic like ten people will read, heyoooo

*cries*

BACK TO THE GAYS PRINCESS PROM

is there crack-y pwp of this please say yes

Once again reminded of that fanvid of every time they say each other's names in the first two seasons

Literally cannot see Adora opening that without the "bah-dm tsh!" sound affect in my head from watching that video so many fucking times

Bow is so delightfully emotionally intelligent

Entrapta: have you met my new assistant? She brought snacks.

When Entrapta said "assistant" Catra's ears literally did a wiggle. Oh my gooooood

"she stole my food and asked me to spy on people with her,

lolol

once again whether the sword is actually sharp-edged or not is entirely dependent on plot

Scorpia is unreasonably hot sometimes

im gonna chew my fingers off ghgha;lksdhka;

I remember the screenshots/gifs of this scene hitting tumblr--that moment when every hopeful sapphic fan watching the show when it released went OKAY WAIT we're not making shit up this time are we??? ARE WE???

Also at least one person working on this show likes period dramas where tons of emotional plot happens during extremely formal dances where everyone is barely touching

there's nearly a billion gifs of that scene from one of the versions of Pride and Prejudice, but also:

once again proving my advanced age, this movie came out when I was 17 and side note I'm the same age as Claire Danes, anyhoodle

Has Adora been dancing Lead this whole time

HNNNNGNGHGHGHHHHHH IT'S SO GOOD

EXTREMELY UNDIGNIFIED NOISES Adora literally has one thigh between Catra's gghngng

i want to EAT IT

I'VE HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT FOR THIS POST LOLOL i don't wanna cut any out imma post this and then reblog it

[pinespittinink]

Hi! I'm a novice writer who is looking to improve. I recently saw your post about how writers need to read published books to hone their writing skills, and I was just wondering if you had any recommendations for books/authors that are very strong in their craftsmanship to read and study? 

I know I should be reading books similar to the stories I want to write, but I haven't finished a published book in years because of work and school. I'm not even sure I know what I like anymore, and I think that's evident in my writing because I can't commit to a single story idea. At this point, I don't know where to start but I know I want to get back into reading by starting with a book I can learn from.

Sorry if this seems like a silly ask, please don't feel obligated to respond. Have a good day!

Hi there! Welcome, this isn’t a silly question at all. If anything I was musing on it because everyone has different taste, so I wasn’t sure how to answer exactly, but I’ll just list some examples I can think of that I’ve really enjoyed! These all fall under the sff genre for the most part, as that’s my jam. Though I will say, for a craft perspective, Stephen King’s On Writing is really excellent.

Insofar as authors i can think of immediately who really have their craft and voice down pat, ones who come to mind are Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, Madeline Miller, Erin Morgenstern, Tamsyn Muir, and RF Kuang. All of these authors really decidedly know what they’re doing with the craft, at least in my opinion, and the results are extraordinary. I’m currently reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden’s most recent adult book since the Winternight Trilogy, and the research she put into the setting of WW1 is so evident throughout it, especially in the voice and colloquialisms. She also did a ton of research for the Winternight books, which is historical fantasy at its finest, while creating an authentic old fairytale feeling

Madeline Miller is another with excellent command of voice, the queen of Greek retellings with Circe and The Song of Achilles, which are really tremendous character studies. Ava Reid I personally adore for the nuance of her characters—Juniper & Thorn and The Wolf & the Woodsman feature tremendously human and flawed protagonists—their language seeps through their settings, their metaphors are divine, and A Study in Drowning, her YA debut, is thoroughly saturated with all its core themes.

Erin Morgenstern, of The Night Circus and The Starless Sea, is known for her prose and atmosphere, a prime Vibes™️ writer. The Starless Sea is a more experimental novel, though both of her books play with disjointed timelines and perspectives, which is fascinating; The Starless Sea concerning itself with storytelling specifically.

Tamsyn Muir, the author of The Locked Tomb series, has such a handle on her characters and plot that it’s actually insane. Talk about a masterclass in writing a large cast with defined personalities. The difference in voice between Gideon, Harrow, and Nona, is unbelievably fascinating, just for how starkly different the headspaces of these characters are compared to each other. The layering and reread value is immense.

RF Kuang is a chameleon writer, who changes her style to match the genre she’s writing (grimdark historical fantasy, dark academia historical fantasy, contemporary satire-turned-thriller). Babel feels like her magnum opus, a modern day classic that I cannot praise highly enough. A slow start, but halfway through shit hits the fan, and it does not stop from there.

Shout outs also to: Simon Jimenez with The Spear Cuts Through Water, epic fantasy that uses first, second, and third person, and is a miracle for it. A masterclass of storytelling. Roshani Chokshi with The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, which might as well be evil toxic sapphic adult Bridge to Terebithia, dripping with decadence. Emily Habeck with Shark Heart, a contemporary spec fic novel that studies grief and caring for loved ones through a lens of terminal illness in the guise of a genetic disorder that turns people into animals; it plays around with script structure sometimes, and made me sob. Cormac McCarthy with The Road; bleak and dismal and post-apocalyptic, and nameless man and boy, nearly poetic. Camilla Andrew @aninkwellofnectar with When the Stars Alight, a romantic fantasy that positively teems with lush intentional language and is also a fascinating look at third person omniscient.

For classics: A Wrinkle in Time, the Lord of the Rings, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby, Lolita.

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these books or authors, though at the end of the day, there’s something to be learned from any book you read, whether it’s a good lesson or something to be avoided. I’m also down to try to give other recs, if you’re looking for anything specific!

[i-will-not-be-caged]

hi Emmett! (I love your name btw) I saw your tags on the post about starting to read again and I thought I would ask you for some help with a couple things, if you don’t mind 💖 (you can reply to this publicly if you think it’ll help other ppl!)

First thing—recs. I am generally a nonfiction person, I LOVE history and pretty much anything across the humanities. I love micro-histories/micro-(humanities analyses??) on any given topic. I love anything about death, Stiff by Mary Roach and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty are two of my FAVES. Because Internet by Gretchen McCullough (linguistics) is also one of my favorite things ever written.

For fiction, I loved My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Some things I’ve been wanting to read are Bunny by Mona Awad and A Good Happy Girl by Marissa Higgins. I love psychological/dark fiction but not super into thrillers/crime (dislike true crime especially). I also rly love poetry and I love lesbians generally long as they don’t die 😅 (although I’ll read some dark shit too)

Second, if you don’t mind giving some advice—how do you recommend getting into reading? I used to be a voracious reader but twelve years ago I developed chronic migraines along with other health problems, and it made it almost impossible. Now I find it so so hard to focus. How do you advise teenagers to read, especially those who maybe struggle with focus/adhd/etc?

Thank you so so so much for even taking the time to read all this 💖 I appreciate any help you can give!

(just pls no booktok 😉💖💖💖)

Haha, we must have been sending asks at the same time! I hope you got my other message with things to try. As for specific recs, it sounds like we have pretty different tastes - I’ve only read like two nonfiction books in the past few years, although both were excellent (Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz).

The good news is there’s been a huge boom in sapphic romances in the past few years. Romance was how I kept up my pleasure reading habit during grad school (I love a guaranteed HEA), although there’s a pretty wide variety of quality in the genre. I’m more of an mm reader, but check out Casey McQuiston and Ashley Herring Blake as a jumping off point. I also love Freya Marske’s Last Binding trilogy, the second of which is sapphic.

And I know you said no booktok, but that’s actually where I’ve gotten a lot of good recs; you’ve just got to find your niche. Here’s a couple people you might try:

-pagemelt has super thoughtful recs from a variety of genres and has never steered me wrong

-bookbinch reads tons of queer lit fic and poetry that it sounds like you might enjoy

-haleystewfart is hilarious and has some nonfic recs that make me actually want to pick some up

[alexissara]

The Best of Me 2023

I did a ton of writing on tumblr this year, with at least one post a week but multiple weeks with 2 or 3 posts in a week. I've worked hard to make writing that is relevant to my fellow sapphics and artists. I want to talk about the stuff I wrote this year I am most proud of.

Note: This list does not include my articles for Anime Feminist because they are professionally edited therefore a cut above anything I am posting on tumblr but please do read them here and tell them you want more articles by me [I actually have more to write for them ooops].

Why Hunt Monsters?

I am so proud of this little article, for me this is one of the things I feel very strongly about. As a TTRPG player I have found myself retreating from a lot more games because I just can't get behind, we murder monsters plots and I was really happy to share my perspective on this fairly taken from granted feature of games.

How To Find Sapphic Media 

This little guide to finding Sapphic Art was really important to me because well, I was really tired of seeing people say there was not compelling art about and by sapphic women and so I wanted to make a base level resource for finding amazing sapphic shit.

Sapphic Games Goddess List

In my efforts to make Sapphic Art more known I have worked really fucking hard to research what sapphic games are coming up so people wouldn't even have to put in the effort to go hunting them down. I want people to be able to live out there sapphic dreams and so it's important to me to share what I am researching for my own play time since I at this point really only play games I can be a lesbian in or otherwise are standout in gameplay with probably no romance instead. I even did an updated version of this list since most of the games on the first list have come out and I am working on the next one as we speak with more new additions gearing up.

Why Obsession Hits Different When Gay

I love diving into queer theorizing. I am not going big brain citing a ton of people or doing a lot of academic research but I like to share my own thoughts, experiences and the stuff I have learned over years especially as a writer and general creator of sapphic art. I think it's a perfect little rebuttal for folks who may claim there is a "double standard" that lesbians have or something.

Polyamory Is Queer

This is a deeply personal little blog post I did where I talked about why polyamory is so important to me and why it is in fact queer. I have seen so many people demonize polyamory over the years and I was just tired of seeing people in my own community bullying other polyamorous folks.

Fantasy Vs Sexuality Labels

As a writer this is maybe one of the things I feel most passionate about a creative choice for my fellow queer creators. I really wanted to make my case on why we should use labels in fantasy worlds and why these labels matter for stories.

My entries for Edelgard Rarepair week and Monica Week

I from time to time to time write fan fiction and I had a blast doing it this year for two different week events going with both the Edelgard Rarepair week and the Monica fics week. I love Three Houses/Hopes so it was a blast to throw my passion into something even if in general I don't like to be a free marketing arm for companies by making creative works like those.

TTRPG Characters Need Trauma In Their Backstory

I had one person who utterly hated this post and started attacking me in basically every post I made on some social media site I abandoned because of it. That alone makes me love this post even more because it made me sit down and think about this post and feel even more assured that what I wrote is correct and that trauma is in fact needed for TTRPG characters. I think I wrote something that really dived into the idea of what is trauma, how trauma relates to us as humans and why it's basically propaganda to remove us from trauma.

Trans People Deserve More 

I feel super strongly about this article, I sat on it for a long time but I've met so many other trans people with awful relationships and mild relationships with their family. I wanted to make a shout out to all my fellow trans folks to tell them that it's okay to demand more, that we don't need to settle.

A Dive Into Heather 

I adored diving into one of my all time favorite Fire Emblem characters and it's something I've wanted to do more of. I'd love to do more dives into characters in video games I like and I did well before this post have a series of drafts that I still have up as a series that particularly is just a bit by bit break down of Edelgard's political beliefs.

[goldenempyrean]

do you know blogs similar to yours? I need more sickfics in my life

Hey anon! Sorry I must've missed this in my inbox so sorry for the late reply! I do know some so lemme give you a little rundown of my favourites:

@somber-sapphic - Overall an amazing blog with tons of stuff for you to read. Mainly MCU women but theres also some Supergirl and Criminal Minds stuff. Personally my favourite fic so far is the 'She's Clingy When She's Sick' series, it's got three parts and its just adorable :D

@bloomingflowersthings - Another amazing blog, I literally love her fics so much and its obvious that they put alot of effort into them! They write for the MCU women too. They wrote a fic called 'Cold Widow' which is so great so I'd say thats my fav from her!

@budzdorovanatasha - This was the blog that actually made me want to start writing. Its amazing but unfortunatly currently inactive. It's mainly Nat sickfics but theres some Scarlett too. Its hard to pick a fav but I love the series 'Mission' it had 8 parts but its a super easy read and its so cute :D

@thewidowintheweb - Again this was one the blogs that made me wanna write my own stuff! But unfortunately inactive. She writes for MCU women and then some Supergirl too! It's not just sickfics either, all her stuff is awesome but personally her 'So Casual' series one of my favs :D

@lyak12 - I love her writing sooooo much, it's honestly adorable :D She writes for Nat and Scarlett. Theres one fic about period comfort which I totally love, it's adorable and it's called 'No Need To Pretend' :)

@straightupsickfics - Now most of her work is for OFMD but she does have a few really cute Natsharon fics (even though I dont ship it myself, they're literally adorable!) so they're definetly worth checking out, I personally really liked this one -> Here

Okay well I think that's about it but I'm bound to have missed some! Hopefully that helps you a bit anon :)

[princesscolumbia]

So the ace/aero crowd is absolutely part of the LGBTQIA+ community, no doubt about it, anyone who disagrees can go cry in a corner or something because if you disagree your opinion doesn't matter.

But...

However...

I AM LE-HORNY!!! I am a sad, late-blooming sapphic butch transbien who just wants to get absolutely railed by other butch lesbians. I want to be part of a cuddle puddle of hot goth big tiddie cis lesbians and bi-girls who a short and pudgy and have a tum-tum. I want so see the so-called "made for male gaze" girl-on-girl porn 'cause IDGAF about the "male gaze" I wanna see two (or more) girls so aggressively horny they seem to have completely tuned out the world around them as they seek to drive each other to absolute carnal desire. I want the soft, quiet, long, slow-burn fics where two mature sapphic girls pine for each other in an ongoing cycle of "...is she?!" until they finally kiss after 99% of the fic is finished and that one kiss is so hot I need a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates, and about 2 hours of "me" time after. I wanna be a porn starlette that loses, like, EVERY possible form of lesbian virginity on-screen in a massive orgy where I'm the centerpiece. I want a lovely little polycule where we grow old together and someone's always there to greet you when you come home and we all know how we like our hot chocolate and we cuddle on rainy days. I want the "forbidden romance" of a metric shit-ton of Omegaverse fics featuring every possible pairing and every shade of the "smut" scale. I want the art that looks like a teenage girl sketched it in a spiral-bound notebook at 11pm because she needed fap material and I want the art that looks like it could have been considered by one of the greatest creators in the world if the creator weren't a sapphic woman.

Yes, you get your ace/aero representation posts and you get your part of pride month because you're awesome and worthy of love and respect and all the good human things you were denied and the community is about kicking in the doors of the patriarchy and shouting, "I LIVED, BITCH!" while wearing our respective pride flags as capes with middle fingers dual-wielded in the faces of the security jackboots that are called in to enforce the, "No Queers Allowed" policy.

BUT WHERE M'GIRLS AT?!? Where's all the posts about thirsting for pussy like a woman dying in a desert? Where's the "I'm looking respectfully" photo posts when we all know very well the looking is anything but respectful? Where are the predatory lesbians my mother would have warned me about if I'd been born AFAB?

[diudiudiu]

Hi! I really enjoy your fics. I generally believe that good writers have good taste so I was wondering who some of your favorite fanfiction and non-fanfiction writers are? Thanks!

hi! and thank you!! 😊

i have to admit, i haven't been reading a ton of new stuff recently and it's def hard for me to single out any individuals since there are so many talented writers out there but i've been re-reading a bunch of older stuff, so i can mention a few of them

also i have no idea why i seem so fixated on re-reading and rewatching things recently. just nostalgia ig? and also there's just something comforting about knowing what's going to happen 😌

Fanfiction

i know these authors may write for more fandoms, but i'm listing out ones that i've read of theirs

paxbanana: ATLA, ALOK, Arcane i'm re-reading Measure Each Step to Infinity atm and this in particular is one of my fav fanfics ever. if anyone knows if she's published any books, please let me know so i can buy them!!

PrimalInfinity: RWBY they've been strongly holding down the white rose fort since 2021 with quality fic after quality fic and i am super grateful for their continued service 🫡

SimplyKorra: RWBY, ALOK, Warrior Nun really enjoy all of her fics, her writing style is very easy to read 😊

RaeDMagdon: ATLA, ALOK, She-Ra, The 100 she's written a lot of well known ABO fics (and for good reason)

Non-fanfiction

Melissa Brayden i've pretty much read most of her books and she's one of the authors where i just know any new book she releases will be solid

ZR Reed i'm also re-reading Charon Docks at Daylight atm and will be excited when this is officially published in 2025 🙌

and finally, not sapphic and a completely diff media but i also wanted to specifically mention Kotaro Uchikoshi - he's written a lot of real clever stories for games (mainly visual novel type ones). i love plot twists and stories that make you dink the dink 🤔 i don't think i'll ever forget the way the plot twists in ever17 and his zero escape series made me feel. they were just so original - both for their time and the vn genre in general

[lena-rambles]

Happy Tv Tropes Thursday (I know, I just made it up)! What's one/some of your favorite Tv Tropes from the site?

Ooh good question, thanks for the ask! And I like the TV Tropes Thursday idea. I haven't actually spent much time on the website other than when people make it for their fav AO3 fics, so here I go — rabbit trail time!

Alright. I skimmed through some of the pages for Casey McQuiston's Red, White, and Royal Blue, Jason Todd, NBC's Hannibal, and Clouds' BNHA fic Deku? I Think He's Some Pro. I was also going to look at Mastermind's tropes but the list was already too long haha. Here they are . . . I tried shortening the list:

Also my fangirl comes out in this but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's Tumblr — I'm not ashamed to out myself as one lol

Unholy Matrimony, The Family That Slays Together, Dating Catwoman, : Relationships with villains and/or morally gray characters are some of my favorite tropes in fiction. There's a reason I thoroughly enjoy villain AUs on AO3, my favourite DC character is Jason Todd, and I adored Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games prequel.

Queer Romance: I'm a disaster pining sapphic. I live for any queer romance, it's my bread and butter, my way of making through my day to day life /hj

Reformed, but Not Tamed: I love redemption arcs as much as corruption arcs. But for a redemption arc, I almost always need this trope otherwise it doesn't feel right? Also I just,, love someone being reformed but still absolutely feral. It's Very Enjoyable.

Dramatic Irony, Loophole Abuse, Blatant Lies: I love just the comedic aspect of all of these. Sometimes the tragedy, but mostly how they make the audience and writer laugh.

And finally – Shout-Out: I'm a massive nerd; it's no secret. I love drawing parallels between my muses/writing and other pieces of media. There's a reason I make a shit ton of playlists and I have a Notion page filled with quotes for my characterization of Jason Todd. And one of my favourite parts about RWRB is the references that the characters make it in it.

This was more than a few, but it was fun! Thanks again for the ask. What about you? What are your favorite TV tropes?

[starlight-write]

🔥🧠Welcome to Braindump Central™🧠🔥

❤️ Welcome to my own personal Hell! ❤️ Here is where I store all my weird thoughts and writing projects that would have my neurodivergent ass shunned by my friends and family if revealed to the real world.

Originally, this blog was meant solely for writing tk fics (tw btw!). And while that is still our primary focus here, you can also find some regular-ass fanfics on my AO3 account, (which will be revealed soon enough) as well as sleep deprived ramblings, a shit ton of reblogs, and all sorts of other nonsensical shit.

The current annual hyperfixation that haunts my every waking moment is Hazbin Hotel, if that wasn't already obvious enough. So most of what I write will revolve around that.

Other fandoms I will write for are My Hero Academia, The Amazing Digital Circus, and The Owl House. (I live under a rock and don't know much else.)

Requests are Open and here are The Rules™!!!!

1.) Story Prompts, Character Headcannons, Character Pairings and similar ideas are all free game. (Also if you just want to talk, please I'm so lonely.)

1.5.) Requests aren't limited to fandom or tk fics! I love a good challenge so if you got a good prompt you wanna hit me with, I'm all ears!

2.) Obviously, I reserve the right to deny any requests if I can't vibe with it but don't think that means I appreciate your inputs any less!

3.) I will not write anything NSFW. (Dude, there are children here!)

4.) Requests will NOT be answered in a timely manner as I have the time management skills of a narcoleptic seahorse and run off of hyperfixation and spite alone.

5.) I'm not comfortable writing anyone's OCs for fandom fics, sorry.

6.) Keep it silly. Keep it fun. Don't be an asshole.

About the Author: (over sharing)

Here's some personal details about me that I feel like have a significant affect on my perception of reality and therefore my writing as a whole.

First things first, my irl pronouns are she/her. But let's be real, we're on Tumblr so call me whatever you want. Get creative with it.

I'm a 21y/o software engineering student diagnosed ADHD. (I keep praying to God but he's not answering) But y'know, that double homicide clearly wasn't enough and I got nerfed with a chaotic and relatively unstable living situation so if I go ghost for a hot minute that's probably why.

I identify myself as a sapphic-oriented AroAce abomination who ironically, is in a happy relationship with a man... (It was an accident I swear!) I'm just as confused as you are don't worry. So needless to say the pairings I write are going to be affected by that aroace lens but hey, if you're like me and enjoy exploring platonic dynamics a lot more then you've come to the right place!

Your girl also has a condition known as Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder (MaDD), as if my pea-brain wasn't screwed enough already. Pretty self explanatory, basically means I have this dumbass condition where I have to disassociate into my fantasy worlds for hours and hours on end instead of actually contributing to society. Fun, right? I mention this not only to spread a little awareness but also to *cite my sources* in a way. Pretty sure it's forced me to become a better writer in a way, too. So it's not all bad ig.

If you want any more personal information out of me you either gotta hunt down my FBI agent or fill out my friendship criteria form on Github.

Now scroll and enjoy yourself.

Also if I get one more dm blasting me for the badges I probably won't do anything but IT WAS FOR THE BIT!!!!

[ticklishraspberries]

hey I want to say this but uh- nobody owes anyone any kind of art? The tickle fandom is full of different peoples, creators and more. Artists arent exactly easy to find for the tickle art that’s put out, and it normally is cis people or anime main characters that are primarily cis men and or not human. Yea, it’s hard to find WOC art. It’s hard to find trans art too. Or most fandoms on anything! It’s hard to find tickle art for most stuff! It’s great to find stuff and share artists when you do! But sending aggressive anons to a fic writer is highkey shitty because it’s not their or a communities part! I don’t like the random hostility I sensed in that post and honestly just wanted to share that nobody owes anyone A THING! :)

I personally didn't take any hostility from the ask - I mentioned in a previous post a few hours earlier that I felt fandom spaces usually focused on the cis white men while pushing other characters aside.

I know that I don't owe anyone fics at all, but I genuinely...don't mind writing things that people want to see more of. I have gone through phases on this blog where I would ONLY accept prompts for F/F pairings because as a sapphic person, I wanted more fics about it. Just because I am white doesn't mean I can't want to help others feel represented in our community and fanfiction space.

I think that anon was just venting in response to what I had said in an ask earlier, and I was happy to give them a place to rant as well as hopefully provide them a resource that may have more of the fics they're looking for!!

It's hard to find tons of specific content in this community, or in general, and it does suck!! But I don't think it's fair to assume that wanting to see more women, people of color, trans people, etc. is a hostile demand. If the anon had blamed me for NEVER writing WOC and being a part of the problem, that would have been more hostile, and untrue as I have done so in the past.

I totally get where you're coming from but I just didn't see it that way and want to be clear that voicing a desire for more representation, at least to me, is not a rude demand, and I'm always willing to hear those things out!!

[riddlerosehearts]

your post about mailee says everything i’ve felt about how this fandom (and many others) treat female characters, especially in the context of sapphic shipping.

i could never personally get into mailee due to the annoyance that is it’s fandom. the constant bashing of certain sapphic ships by proclaiming them as toxic (as if that isn’t the appeal) was so annoying to see in 2020 that it sadly left a sour taste in my mouth.

it also just fits into the most boring stereotypes of cute and fluffy sapphic ship!! something that tends to be the case nowadays.

but even with all that aside it’s obvious why mailee exists. they’re a side pairing for more popular ships and oh what a surprise, it’s a mlm ship leading it. i can’t deny that zukka fans mostly contribute to mailee content because they do but also how deeply annoying it is to see this pattern of wlw side pairing for mlm over and over again.

especially with atla of all shows. a show that actually has a complex female character whose unintentionally lesbian-coded but people will not bother exploring her queerness because shes “mentally ill” or “too much” or “she doesn’t need that rn” or whatever excuses people come up with.

it’s a shame to see all this play out but i’m not surprised. at the end of the day it’s always going to be mlm or f/m at this point.

oh wow i'm glad to hear i'm not the only one feeling this way!! like i mentioned in my previous post, i honestly don't really like mai, but i've tried to get myself to over the years. in 2019 i had rewatched the show and thought "hey, mai and ty lee are kinda cute together, i still don't love mai but maybe i could if i try to think more deeply about her character and see if i can find some meta and fics and such that flesh her out and examine her good points. maybe ty lee could be someone who really understands her and brings out the good in her". but mailee was very much a rarepair back then and i could only really find fluffy drabbles to read. i like fluffy drabbles and all, but they just weren't what i needed in this case. so then in 2020 the show gets put on netflix, i come back from a tumblr hiatus to see there's been a massive fandom renaissance, and now mailee is so popular it's getting to high numbers on weekly fandometrics lists! great!

so then i again look for content about them and see that a ton of it is either zuko-centric or zukka-centric with them as a side pairing at best, and zukka just isn't for me. i have a close friend who ships it so i understand the appeal, but i'm always and forever a zutara stan. i could've multishipped (i do reblog cute fanart of them on occasion) if i didn't keep seeing things from the zukka side of the fandom that really frustrate me, this being one of them. and every time i choose to dive back into the fandom and see if things have improved it's still the same, i should not have to go through 53 of the most kudos'd fics in mailee's tag before i find a fic about them especially since they have less than 1/5th the amount of fics as zukka in the first place, and it just makes me sad that this is an issue in almost every fandom. i may not like mai, but you would really think the people making shippy content involving her would like her and be willing to actually focus on her in said content!

as for the constant bashing of other more "toxic" f/f ships and unwillingness to examine another female character's complexity and potential queerness while using her mental illness as an excuse... i believe i know exactly who and what you're talking about it's an issue with certain mailee content for me as well. see, even though i've loved ATLA since i was a kid and have been on the internet just as long, i used to always dismiss the concept of tyzula because i myself never appreciated azula enough and wasn't interested in ships with her (and because frankly i really hate how azula's voice actress sexualizes the ship). but on my current rewatch of the show i've started loving azula a lot more and now like to imagine her redeemed and happy, repairing her damaged relationships with her family and friends and maybe even falling in love. i've realized that part of the appeal of tyzula for me is that while, yes, azula's entire dynamic with both mai and ty lee is toxic and messy during the show, i don't personally think it always was. i think the three of them were genuine friends until things gradually got fucked up because of how ozai's treatment of azula fucked her up. and i think that if azula were to have a redemption arc, the 3 of them could salvage what once was and have a healthy friendship again.

a lot of mailee fans do not seem to agree with this, though, because i've seen several metas and headcanons that rely on the idea that the two of them were always just afraid of evil, nasty azula and that they can bond over how much they hate her. i am not here for that, and yeah, i'm also not here for the whole "this ship would never work because [insert character] just isn't ready for a relationship, i ship them x therapy!!" thing fandoms love to use as a way to demonize certain ships. mentally ill people can be in happy, loving relationships and they can go to therapy while in said relationships. they can even use therapy to--gasp--figure out how to keep their mental health issues from getting in the way of continuing to have healthy relationships! this happens in real life and i fully believe it can happen in a fantasy cartoon for children. also, i know some people use the comics to justify the idea that mai and ty lee have just always hated and been afraid of azula, because apparently it's implied in those that they were fake friends? but fuck the comics, they're OOC and horribly written lmao.

this ended up being a much longer reply than i initially intended but yeah, all this is to say that i 100% agree with you and thank you for sharing your thoughts, anon. sapphic ships and the female characters within them deserve just as much space in fandom as m/m and m/f ships get, to be fully explored and appreciated in their own right and even to sometimes be complicated and imperfect.

[consistentsquash]

Pass the happy! When you receive this list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 5 people😙✨

Ooh this is a great ask! Thanks! I went with 5 fandom things!

Tagging @billsfangearring, @danpuff-ao3, @lumosatnight, @broomsticks, @my--witch... no pressure! only if you want to do it ofc.

5 Fandom things making me happy

Recs - Super excited by the @hpsaffics blog rec lists. A lot of times people complain about how they don’t find good femslash fics. The level of amazing dedication @lumosatnight is putting into this “rec library” needs more love. I have been finding insanely good and new to me fics here. I am actually on a femslash reading kick. So this has been an amazing resource for me. Also it made Sapphic September feel like a community instead of just people creating/reblogging.

Fanfic - Ossuarium! OMG. This is the first time I am actually getting to see eldritcher’s webweaving in its full form. One of my biggest regrets was that I didn’t get to fully experience eldritcher’s craft because I read their “symphonic” fics after they were completed. Ossuarium is giving me everything I missed out on. I don’t care I had to catch up with a new canon to read this. Because this is brilliant on like all the levels ever and I get to read it and I am so totally living the good life.

Fan art - @my--witch is on Tumblr. So. Life is good. Best life actually. Mywitch draws Snape with a ton of humor/sadness/emotions/flaws/passion. A lot of their work makes me go “OMG! This is exactly how he looks/does things/behaves” … Brilliant characterization. So if you are new to their work definitely check it out on their AO3!

Fan events - inktober is happening right now! Inktober generally gets me into new ships/fandoms because of the brilliant art. Excited for that. Also all the *tober events...not doing a lot of reading right now outside my shiny new fandom and femslash but super excited to know new fics are happening!

Fandom - I got a new fandom! House of the dragon! Honestly it’s insanely amazing to vibe with a fandom which is getting new content. The energy levels are off the charts. Theories/Nitpicks/Show criticism/Speculation/Meta/GIFS/Fic/Art… lots of creativity. The show has a ton of flaws and it’s not really a top tier show. But the book is pretty interesting because it uses a “reporting” format from multiple unreliable narrators and that makes the speculation/meta side of the fandom pretty active. It’s like Real Housewives + Dragons honestly.