#fandom love pouring out of every page

[afewproblems]

So it's my birthday today, and I originally wanted to try out the microfic challenge for this month's prompt - cake, but this drabble definitely got away from me! So, please enjoy this little Steddie bday gift to me and to everyone else in the fandom ❤️

🎂🎂🎂

Eddie wipes his cheek with the crook of his arm, as he pours the finished batter into the first greased cake pan on the counter. His shirt sleeve comes away from his face dusted with the same flour that covers almost every inch of the Harrington's kitchen.

Robin turns a page of the open cookbook on the counter, her eyes scan down the page, "the icing recipe is on this page, did you take the butter out?"

Eddie groans loudly and as he pours the rest of the batter into the second pan, knowing that the other block of butter is still sitting in the fridge on the top shelf.

"If you didn't remember, what makes you think I did," he grumbles, running his pointer finger along the edge of the now empty bowl before popping a large dollop of batter into his mouth.

It's perfect, and Steve deserves nothing but perfect.

Steve who confided in Robin that he hadn't had a birthday cake since he was twelve years old, let alone anything made from scratch.

Made with love.

Not that Steve needs to know that…or Robin for that matter.

Eddie hazards a quick glance at the clock on the stove, they should have time to give everything a wipe down before--

"Guys?" A voice calls out as the front door unlatches and swings open.

Robin whirls around in a panic, grabbing to recipe book and tossing it into the cupboard beneath the sink while Eddie picks up the mixing bowl and shoves the rest of the dirty dishes into the sink.

"Their shoes are still here," the voice continues, soft and contemplative this time as Eddie turns too quickly, colliding with Robins side.

He fumbles with the mostly clean mixing bowl in his hands, watching as it slips through his fingers and clatters loudly across the floor, flinging chocolate batter across the tile and baseboards before rolling to a stop beside a pair of socked feet.

Eddie looks up from the feet to see Steve standing in the kitchen entrance with a bewildered expression on his face.

He's in the middle of taking off his Family Video vest. Steve's shirt rises to reveal a slim patch of skin, his eyes shift from the bowl, to Eddie, before landing eventually on the oven.

"Well…it looks like you two had a busy afternoon," Steve says slowly as his mouth curls into a fond grin that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners. He pulls at the bottom of his shirt, stealing the hint of golden skin that has Eddie practically drooling in the kitchen.

God he's so unfairly pretty it hurts.

Eddie barks out a laugh and steps forward to block the view of the two pans on the counter.

"You know what they say about idle hands," Eddie laughs, his voice tinged with panic as he wiggles his fingers. He winces even as he says it and quickly drops his hands, god could he be any more of an ass?

He spots Robin standing to the side with clear panic on her face, mouthing the words, 'Get Him Outta Here' with wide eyes.

And, well, never let it be said that Eddie Munson couldn't think on the spot.

Steve tries to walk further into the kitchen as he drapes his vest on the island, "okay, you two are being more weird than normal what's--"

It's like Eddie moves on instinct, his hands dart out to cup Steve's cheek and the back of his neck, pulling him into a kiss.

Steve's startled gasp is muffled by Eddie's mouth as he walks them backwards until Steve is over the threshold and back in the living room once more.

Steve is frozen, tense, against Eddie and shit, he can't believe he tried this shit, he's so getting punched for this.

But then, Steve seems to relax slightly as he crowds closer into Eddie's space. His lips part as Steve breathes out a low moan.

Two broad hands come up to circle Eddie's hips, they squeeze once as Steve slots a leg between Eddie's own.

And holy shit, Eddie feels his brain go offline as Steve takes charge of the kiss, walking them backwards until Eddie is pressed against the wall of the living room.

It's good, so good, it's like something out of his dreams, the hot slide of lips against his own as Steve nips at his bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth to sooth the bite with his tongue.

"Fuck," it's Eddie's turn to moan this time as Steve pulls back slightly to run his nose along the crest of Eddie's cheek. Steve's right hand is splayed beside his head, against the wall, while the other rises to thread long fingers into Eddie's curls.

"You taste like chocolate," Steve hums softly against Eddies lips, "good choice for birthday cake".

Eddie winces, surpressing a groan, "Shit, you saw the pans?"

Steve laughs as he pulls back further and lifts his hand away from the wall to gesture behind him at the foyer.

"I mean, I saw the birthday bag and decorations you two left at the door?"

"God Dammit!" Robin yells from the kitchen; Steve snorts at the string of muttered expletives she continues to spout and shakes his head.

"I wasn't expecting a birthday kiss though," Steve continues after a beat, a small crease in the middle of his brow grows the longer he looks at Eddie with nervous eyes.

Oh.

It's Eddie's turn to grin now, he snags a handful of hair to pull over his face, hiding the pink flush he can feel spreading from his cheeks to his ears.

"Oh yeah, I mean, that was just a sample, see if you, uh, liked it or not," Eddie says softly. He steps closer, emboldened by the way Steve's breath hitches.

"I did," Steve whispers, "like it, I mean, a lot," a light pink flush rises in his cheeks to match Eddie's own blush.

"Ugh, get a room dingus,preferably one not in hearing range," Robin yells again, the sound of the oven door opening and closing punctuates her words, "cake'll be at least half an hour anyway".

"Is the rest of gift upstairs?" Steve asks slyly with a grin.

Eddie's head tilts as he processes the question, until Steve cocks an eyebrow and his eyes dart towards the stairs, then back to Eddie in one fluid motion.

Eddie swallows harshly and nods vigorously as Steve takes his hand, "Yes, jesus, it's supposed to be your birthday not mine".

"Best one I've had in awhile," Steve says softly before leading Eddie up the stairs and towards his room.

Robin's voice trails after them, exasperated but fond, "you assholes owe me, happy birthday you horn-dog".

Eddie can't help but laugh as they cross the landing and open the door.

This wasn't the surprise he and Robin had initially intended; but as he watches Steve walk backwards until his knees hit the plaid bedspread, Eddie can't help but feel that this was much better than he'd planned.

Perfect even.

Permanent Tag List: @eriquin @luvinthefreaks @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

[lancermylove]

Pickup Lines (HC)

Fandom: Obey Me

Pairing: DB, Royals, Simeon, Solomon, Thirteen with gn!Reader

Warning: Corny? Lol. Minors don't look under the cut.

Prompt: Which pickup lines would he use for you?

———————————————

Lucifer

"Do you have a name, or can I call you mine?"

“If you were words on a page, you’d be fine print."

"Are you a dictionary? Because you add meaning to my life."

Mammon

"Hey, are you a bank loan? Because you've got my interest, and I can't help but want to invest in you."

"If beauty were money, you'd be the richest person alive."

"If looks could buy, you'd bankrupt me in an instant."

Levi

"Are you a rare drop? Because ever since I met you, I feel like I've found the ultimate loot."

"Are you a cheat code? Because meeting you feels like I've unlocked a special power-up."

"If love were a game, you'd be my final boss."

Satan

"If you were a cat, you'd be a purr-fect 10."

"Do you believe in love at first chapter? Because ever since I met you, I can't stop thinking about the next page of our story."

"If you were a cat, you'd definitely have nine lives because one lifetime wouldn't be enough to spend with someone as special as you."

Asmo

"Are you made of diamonds? Because you shine brighter than any gem."

"Are you a mirror? Because when I look at you, I see the reflection of my dreams."

"If beauty were a crime, you'd be serving a life sentence."

Beelzebub

"If you were a fruit, you'd be a fineapple."

"If you were a cookie, you'd be a fortune cookie, because meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Are you a campfire? Because you're hot, and I want s'more."

Belphegor

"Are you a dream? Because every time I'm with you, I never want to wake up."

"Are you a cozy blanket? Because being with you feels like a warm hug."

"If sleep were a journey, you'd be the sweetest dream I've ever had."

Diavolo

"Are you a rose? Because just like its petals, your beauty is timeless and enchanting."

"If you were a kingdom, I'd gladly pledge my allegiance to you."

"Are you a royal decree? Because you've commanded my attention since the moment I laid eyes on you."

Simeon

"If you were a star in the sky, you'd be the most radiant one, outshining all the others."

"Do you have a map? Because I seem to have lost my way, and you're the only one guiding me towards the light."

"Are you a sunrise? Because every time I see you, you bring a new dawn to my day."

Barbatos

“I couldn't help noticing how captivating your smile is. It brightens up the entire room."

"Are you a puzzle? Because I'm intrigued by the challenge of figuring you out."

"If you were a vegetable, you'd be a cute-cumber."

Solomon

"Do you believe in magic? Because ever since you walked into my life, it feels like you've cast a spell on me."

"Are you eternity? Because with you, every moment feels like it lasts forever."

"Are you a scientist? Because you've just discovered the formula to my heart."

Thirteen

"Are you a lost soul? Because you've wandered into the realm of my heart."

"If you were a dessert, you'd be the cherry on top of my day."

"Are you a cupcake? Because you're cute, sweet, and I can't get enough of you."

N.SFW/heavily suggestive under cut!

Lucifer

"Are you a teapot? Because I'd love to steep with you and pour out all my secrets."

Mammon

"Are you a stock market? Because every time I think of you, my investments just keep rising."

Levi

"Are you a controller? Because I'd love to be in your hands."

Satan

"Are you a book? Because I can't seem to put you down, and I keep wanting to explore every page of you."

Asmo

"Are you a work of art? Because I can't help but admire every curve and contour of your beauty, and I'd love to explore you like a masterpiece."

Beelzebub

"Are you a marshmallow? Because I want to roast you over my fire."

Belphegor

"Are you a bed? Because I'd love to climb on top of you."

Diavolo

Dinner first, or can we go straight for dessert?

Simeon

Do you want to commit a sin for your next confessional?

Barbatos

"Are you a baker? Because you've got some buns that I'd love to knead."

Solomon

I’m not feeling myself today. Can I feel you instead?

Thirteen

"Are you a rainstorm? Because you make me wet.”

———————————————

➣ Obey Me Masterlist: [1][2][3] ➣ Main Masterlist

➣ Buy me a Ko-fi? ➣ Commission: Open ➣ HC/Scenario Requests: Closed || Quick Ask Requests: Closed || GIF Requests: Closed

[otdiaftg]

WHAT'S NEXT:

The out pouring of love for this blog has swept me off my feet. I knew the logic behind the follower count, but this weekend proved to me without a shadow of a doubt just how much this fandom cherishes these characters and this story.

I am overwhelmed with adoration towards every. single. one. of you.

I took the weekend to finally recoup after the whirlwind of this past year but wanted to take a moment now to answer some of the questions I've seen pop up and to inform you all of what my plans are for what's next.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

WILL YOU CONTINUE THE ACCOUNT THIS YEAR?

This took me a long time to ponder and I wanted to make sure I was in the correct headspace to answer it. Short answer: No.

Long answer: All For The Game is near and dear to my heart. And the reason I began this account was because the dates for 2023 matched that of the dates they were meant to be in 2006. To continue it in the year 2024 would mean the dates would be completely wrong and a lot more logistics would have to occur beforehand.

But also-- I'm not the best when it comes to technology, especially when it comes to BOTS so every post that was published was typed out, formatted and scheduled by hand by me. I did not have help. I did not have proofreaders, or editors, or managers. I contacted all the artists myself, sorted through every single page of the artists to find matches to the story, read and re-read the books for exact or guesstimation of dates/times, and made a hell of a lot of typos on the way through all that.

There was probably an easier way that I could have done all this. But I didn't/don't know it. So that all boils down to: It’s a long and tiring process.

Don't get me wrong, it was worth all the hours. And all the sleepless nights I had getting everything done and out. I already thanked my support network, but without my wife and my best friend being there to make me another cup of coffee, walk our dog, do the chores and generally make sure I didn't crumble from the pressure -- none of this would have happened.

So, putting myself through that again, after everything that has happened this year alone-- felt like it would cheapen the experience I had when the dates won't even match.

That being said.... 2034 isn't that far away. >__>

WILL YOU BE DOING AN OTDITSC?

Short answer: No.... sorry.

Long answer: As stated, it is VERY hard to organize what and how I did. HOURS spent researching, organizing, scheduling, etc. Time spent away from my family and other hobbies. NOT time I regret (need to keep prefacing that) but time I want back now. At least for a little bit.

It also doesn't sit right for me to start an OTDITSC when I know some people are still waiting for their copies. There are so many of us out here (as I've come to find out) and I don't want to exclude people's enjoyment and connection that this account gives. I also feel like the more posts about TSC out there, the harder it is for those who are (lets say) waiting for the physical copies to block/mute spoilers. We can say a tag is enough, but this is the internet. And that's not always true.

And lastly, personally, TSC is still SO VERY NEW. It's not even complete yet and we don't 100% know when the next one will be published. I don't want to start something, get to the end of the timeline, and than have a huge gap between posts that will potentially be moments in the second book. It doesn't feel fair to their story, to myself, or to the followers of this account to have incorrect information for something I love so dearly. If I'm doing it. I want to do it right.

SO, WHAT'S NEXT?

Well. A lot. For me personally, as well as this account. I don't want to leave everyone in such a finite way. I love this fandom. I love its art and writings and the abundance of talent and joy that it exudes.

So first, for myself, as well as those artists who agreed to help with this account, I want to post, for the next 40 days Artist Highlights (that means this account will still be active until Friday, June 7th).

Every day, I will post about an Artist and the work that I wanted to post but couldn't fit in. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, these artists are the reason this account thrives. Art, in a multitude of forms, speaks in a way words can not. And these artists prove that.

I'm excited to show them off for a couple more weeks at least. They are all wonderful people.

AND, FINALLY:

To also tie us over, I am opening both my personal account as well as this account to questions.

Questions regarding the process, the story, the best movie out in theaters, whatever. I will be answering your questions (as fast as I can) until that last Artists Highlight day (Friday, June 7th). After this day, I will leave the questions answered up for a week, and then remove/delete them from this account. I want to make this more of an archive of sorts and will be updating the Timeline Page as this progresses as well, so you can move freely within the timeline.

Keep in mind that I am only one person, have a family and a full-time job-- so answers may be sporadic, but I will answer them.

This has truly been such a pleasure. And whether I get questions or not, I see you and I appreciate you. I hope your life is filled with everything you ever want, everything you need, and that you never let it go.

🦊 🧡- Kelysium

[cerealforkart]

Announcements and Updates

I already mentioned this with my anniversary comic this morning (I'm glad people seemed to like "it's back on air"), but Dungeons and Daddies the Manga is a whole year old today and I wanted to talk about a couple things!

For starters, thank you to everyone who's been on this journey with me, from those of you who have been here since lesson 1 to those of you who only just discovered lesson 42 yesterday (you probably don't exist because the tags hated lesson 42). Whether you like or reblog every single lesson, you silently read the updates without ever interacting with them, and even if you fell out of the fandom but you read the manga at some point, I appreciate you all so deeply.

I might be making this a bigger deal than it actually is, but Dungeons and Daddies the Manga is a really special project to me. I'm so proud of my growth and I've put a genuinely crazy amount of time and effort into this. There was a time when I was trying to catch up when this was basically a second job. I would come home from work and draw manga pages until I went to sleep, it was all I did, it probably wasn't healthy tbh. People in the discord know, I've gotten crazy efficient at making these, if I don't have anything else going on, I can pump out 2-3 of these a day when new episodes drop. I've never undertaken a project this big before, I'm more the kind of person with a million abandoned first chapters, so to actually still be keeping up with this is huge for me, so I'm hyping this up a little bit.

If anyone has ever thought, "wow, I would love to support cereal financially! They seem to work very hard and would probably really like some money! I would also love some of cereal's cute art to plaster on my belongings," please keep your eyes open, I'll be dropping stickers in near future (Taylor in the trash can will be one of them)! I meant to have them ready for today, but I've never sold anything online before, and I'm kind of stumbling through the process. I'll try to have them up soon! So keep an eye out in the upcoming weeks.

For those of you who only care about Dungeons and Daddies the Manga, you can stop reading here, thank you so much for enjoying my manga this past year! For anyone interested in some personal updates and projects, please keep reading, I've been working on something I'm finally ready to announce.

I've learned a lot from my work on Dungeons and Daddies the Manga. My art has improved a lot, and it's still improving all the time, and I've really come to love making comics. Which is why maybe it won't be so surprising to learn I've decided to start an original webcomic. This webcomic won't interfere with my work on the manga, no need to worry, but as much as I love the manga, and the DnDads community, there's only so much I feel like I get back from it. I've been pouring so much time, energy, and love into Dungeons and Daddies the Manga over the past year, and I'm so proud of my product, but I want to start putting some of all that into something that's actually mine. I've been through a weird past couple of months where I went through some really bad burnout, looked around my life and realized "oh wow, this ALL sucks! I don't like a single thing I have going on here!" So, I quit my job, moved, and while I've been restructuring my life, I started dusting off some of those old abandoned first chapters I mentioned earlier and getting back into original work.

The webcomic is called The Rotting Things, I've teased it a very little bit here and there. It's about a boy with a power that is slowly but surely killing him and a man said to be unable to die trying to maneuver through a world of magic that hates anyone unlucky enough to be able to wield it.

I'm kind of nervous about starting a webcomic, but I've been waiting to be "good enough" to put something out there for a very long time, and I'm trying to come to terms with the fact I'll never be fully happy with my own work and just diving in. It would mean a lot to me if anyone wanted to give it a chance.

An eight page prologue will be dropping next Friday, September 29th, after which pages will start to drop one at a time every Friday. We'll see how I handle the one update a week schedule, it might go up to two pages a week depending on how confident I feel. Just like the manga was, this will be a learning curve for me, but I'm eager to try it out! Please give it a shot!

[mrghostrat]

This isn’t really a question for you but to the other anons who say they “hate aus but love yours” and I kind of want to know why? I also LOVE your AUs and it’s not an insult to say they both (streamer/bnf) push the limits of the canon characters to almost breaking point. They’re really their own characters and it’s a good thing. But if you’re someone who hates aus I’m surprised they would go for the extremes? Have they just not given aus the chance? I think in their rush to praise you they’re unintentionally punching down on other aus. bBut if they like yours so much there’s so many other possibilities they could also love if they give aus a chance

i get it tbh! and i don’t think it’s inherently insulting to other AUs, because it’s not a matter of quality, it’s a matter of preference.

for some ppl, the characters’ roles as angel & demon and the STAKES that come with that, are so integral to their characterisation, and a key part of what makes their pining & their personalities recognisable. what they’ve been through, fighting the apocalypse and sneaking around under the noses of literal heaven and hell have formed them as people*, and their relationship, to an incomparible degree. and 6,000 years hits very different than a human lifespan.

it’s valid to prefer the setting that turned the characters into who they are. that’s the crowley and aziraphale we all love, after all. i love canon compliant or divergent fics, but for me, i just get restless reading such a narrow selection of plots and feelings, and have always loved the open-endness of AUs (in every fandom).

the other problem with AUs is that, by taking them out of their primary roles, it’s a lot easier for writers to tangent and drift away from accurate characterisation. without the tether of canon roles and settings and past decisions, you can very easily forget what makes them Them.

there are plenty of readers who consume fan fic because they want more stories about the characters AND the story/setting/context they’ve grown to love on the screen/page. i daresay most of them lol! i personally love characters more than anything, and like finding ways to tie their canon personalities and decisions into new settings, to see how they would approach human problems. but i understand feeling like crowley and aziraphale are only crowley and aziraphale when they’re in the universe that made them who they are now.

this isn’t to say that every other AU is badly written or unenjoyable. it’s just that it’s harder to get it right, which can be off putting for readers who value that to try and scour through the archive for something to read; and even when they are characterised well, it doesn’t change the fact that people who prefer canon simply don’t enjoy tearing them away from it. those people likely enjoy mine because i try very very hard to NOT make them their own characters, i want to change the setting and the stakes but i’m gandalf pouring over scrolls and documents trying to get every nuance of characterisation right, despite how Out Of Left Field the initial concept might seem. and so i’m lucky they’ve decided to give me a chance, be it from my art, my writing style, the snippets i share, or all the wonderful people who’ve recommended me.

source: i prefer human AUs and @thewolveswolf prefers canon compliant and we’ve had this discussion on the daily LMAO

[sgt-tombstone]

what got you into Call of Duty?

Annoyingly, tiktok...

I had seen a couple of Ghost thirst traps on my fyp and didn't really think much of them, but I had also seen some of the footage from Alone in edits, and one day as I was driving to class, it was pouring down rain, and all I could think about was Johnny's "it's pishin' it doon out here". I didn't know who he was or even the context of the quote, but I couldn't get it out of my head

Later that day, I opened ao3, searched for Call of Duty fics (I didn't even know any character names to narrow the search down to a specific ship), sorted by most bookmarks (I wanted to read what the fandom considered to be the best of the best), and clicked on the top fic, which happened to be Poison Apple, which is still one of my all-time favorite fics in the fandom

Over the next several months, I read every single fic I could find (the last 41 pages of my ao3 history are all CoD fics, spanning from mid-April to now) and I very quickly fell in love with the characters and the fandom. I started doing deep dives into military information when I started writing fics of my own, leading me to compile the resource lists in my pinned post, and that led me to here and now!

Shamefully, I still haven't watched a a playthrough of MW2 or MW3. I started with the 2019 MW and fully intended to watch the other two but I got busy and never got around to it (pls don't hate me lmao), but I will at some point (maybe not MW3, though...)

[yeyinde]

can i just say, I love your writing 💙 im new to the cod fandom though and I need a jump point so do you have any fav fics/fic recs?

of course!! i have a little something for everything! listing all of my favourite fics would take ages, so here are the authors i go to whenever i need a COD fix. this is barely scrapping the surface, however; and i know there are so many others that i've missed, but these stick out to me the most.

First Person/OC

@irnbru32 @raffe156 @bloodyknucklesforme all write incredible FP stories about Soap, Ghost, Price. their OCs are so fleshed out and real, but it doesn't take away from the story at all, and is so easy to superimpose yourself/your own OC into the fic. absolutely lovely!!!!! i have personal favourites from each but their whole masterlist is a must.

Headcanons

@bitchysouljellyfish has amazing headcanons!

want König? @bloodlst is the best place to go. not only are her König fics/headcanons amazing, she also makes the most beautiful gifs i've ever had the pleasure of viewing. stunning. she pours her heart into it and it shows 🖤

Reader-Insert

@charnelhouse is the reason i'm so obsessed with COD. her writing is absolutely impeccable, and shatters me each time. it's blisteringly hot, and everything she was writes is just pure gold. flawless. there are not enough words in the English language to describe how i feel about each piece that is posted.

@moondirti will break you into pieces and reassemble you again. Dee's writing leaves me windswept and flustered; waking up dazed on the beach. i die. it kills me. it's pure poetry. i'm obsessed with it. her recent Price fic has shattered me beyond repair, and is currently my number one favourite fic.

@spillways-mp3 rides the line between angst, heartache, and fluff in a way that leaves me spiralling each and every single time. i absolutely cannot get enough.

@sprout-fics pours so much effort and love into everything she writes. if you want something that has an abundance of rich texture, lore, and dedication to plot, characters, and story, this is where you should absolutely go.

@halfmoth-halfman i'm absolutely convinced they somehow found a way to bottle up fluff and domesticity, and the perfect amount of angst, shake it all together, and then weave it on a page. it's so lovely. most of my comfort fics are found here.

@mvtthewmurdvck absolutely breathtaking. insanely stunning pieces. her Ghost x Reader series has fundamentally changed the way i view Ghost. it has uprooted the things i thought i knew. it's also, for me, drenched in nostalgia for a place i miss the most. her way of painting pictures is achingly brilliant.

@guyfieriii she has an amazing series on an AU for Professor Price x Reader. it edges the line the between illicit and beautiful. not to mention, some of my favourite tropes?? all found here.

@taurus-ted has an amazing Ghost piece that will obliterate you in the best way. @konigbabe and @cinnamon-mey also have such wonderful fics!!!

[elwenyere]

Hello! The conversation about careening had me wondering--how do you like to do research for your stories? Are there any topics or sources you particularly enjoy delving into or including in your work?

Hello, my friend!!! What a wonderful ask: thank you for these great questions.

After reflecting, I think I could describe my process as having two general categories: as-needed research and broader worldbuilding research.

The first category is a part of almost every fic I write, and it involves things like sourcing locations, verifying timelines, tracking down character names, and (very often) looking up what it feels like to receive various injuries. If it's a Star Wars fic, at least one Wookiepedia visit is a given (the raw materials page is a frequent hit). And there are likely to be a few other general internet searches I repeat several times ("aviation terms," for example, or "New Orleans plant life," depending on the fic and fandom).

The second category covers the exploratory reading and viewing I do for fics that involve more worldbuilding because they extend further outside (or completely outside) canon. The Codywan Pirate AU has me doing all kinds of targeted searches for naval ranks and sailing ship terminology, for example, but I've also been browsing maritime museums for descriptions of what life on ships was like from day to day (look at this cool page about sailor libraries and sailing literature!) and for images that give me a visual sense of the environment. I also love looking at digitized resources through academic libraries. When @festiveferret and I were collaborating on Citation Needed, an MCU professor AU in which history prof Tony is writing a monograph about weapons development during WWII, I used the online special collections at University of Massachusetts - Amherst to learn what the primary documents (enlistment records, ration cards, etc.) featured in the fic would look like. (Ferret then did incredible edits for the epistolary portion of the fic: this post has the collected documents.)

In a couple cases it's actually been the research that has come first and inspired the fic. The initial ideas for Separation, for example, which is a Top Gun fic that leans into the context of the AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s, came from prep that I'd been doing for a queer literature class, so I was listening to music by queer bands in the period, reading poetry and essays about queer life in NYC and San Francisco (including this piece that discusses Nan Goldin, Thom Gunn's The Man with Night Sweats, "The Fall of 1992" by Randall Mann, and Alexander Chee's essay "After Peter"), and watching the documentary How to Survive a Plague, about the ACT UP movement. Much of that research informed the choices I made in writing the fic, even if it doesn't all appear directly.

Finally, I should confess that I am pretty self-indulgent with my fic research: I spend a lot of time studying and tracking things down when it's a subject I find interesting and/or when having more information will allow me to texture the choices I'm making in ways I personally find compelling; but I am also very unfussed about leaving other things vague or about fudging some details in service of the story. It's not at all out of the ordinary for me to spend 30 minutes looking up the names of camera models that hit shelves in 1991 and then write a sentence that says "when he gets off the carrier in mid-July, he goes to the mall" without specifying which carrier or which mall, because I couldn't be bothered to figure out the military logistics involved. This is one of the joys of writing fic for me: freedom to pour energy into those areas where research helps get me closer to things I want to discover and describe.

Thank you again for the terrific asks, my friend!!! This was very fun to write. <3<3<3

[cricketnationrise]

Hello! Would you be willing to write George Cooper from the Tortall universe? If you'd prefer a different character that's fine I just would love to read something of yours in this fandom. ♥️

Dancing Dove, 11:23am

of COURSE i will write you some George Cooper! here's a little moment of the first time he invites Alan to the Dancing Dove - hope you like it!

read the rest of the ficlets here!

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

before the noon bell, dancing dove

George was just getting back from a stroll around the Lower City when his Gift tapped him on the shoulder, saying pay attention, daft boy. He looked around for the source of his Gift’s focus and couldn’t help a delighted grin spreading across his face when he recognized a shock of red hair and purple eyes picking their way through the marketplace crowd. The youth was accompanied by Gareth of Naxen—the younger one—unless George missed his guess. So the lad was in page training, then, he mused as the pair stopped at a stall with armor and weapons for sale. Grin widening with impishness, George slid through the throng of people and tapped the small red-head on the shoulder.

The lad startled badly and turned to look up at him. George was momentarily caught in the sharp gaze of those strange purple eyes, but recovered quickly enough that the page didn’t notice.

“So—it’s the young sprout with purple eyes. I was wonderin’ if you’d fallen into a well.”

To his pleased surprise, the lad grinned back at him. “I’ve been at the palace.”

Master Gareth interrupted then, breaking off their conversation with his suspiciousness. George introduced himself with a bow and, on a whim he’d never be able to explain to himself, invited them for a drink at the Dove. By all rights, he should have stayed in public, shouldn’t have brought two pages—one of which would likely be Prime Minister—into the heart of his kingdom. But he had a good feeling about the little red-haired lad, and besides, the invitation made his Gift curl up like a contented cat in a sunbeam.

He signaled to Solom for ale and lemonades and settled in with Gary and Alan at his customary table, subtly waving off his curious inner circle of deputies. Gary’s questioning was expected, his sharp mind on display, guessing George’s real position within minutes of sitting down. Alan stayed quiet, sipping his drink and seeming to just take it all in. His face betrayed nothing, no sign of approval or distaste as George named himself as Corus’ King of Thieves, the Lower CIty’s Rogue. It was frustrating to be unable to get a read on the young sprout—the lad’s own Gift canceled his own out. Oddly, he wanted to know everything about Alan, was itching to know what Alan thought of George’s life; it was clear he was waiting for all the facts before giving any sort of reaction.

“I like you—” Gary said then, interrupting George’s train of thought. “For all you’re a thief.”

George laughed. “And I like you, Gary—for all you’re a noble. Friends, then?” They sealed it with a handshake. “And you, Alan?” he asked, using every bit of his hard-earned diligence to keep the trepidation out of his voice.

“I…want some more lemonade,” he said, pouring himself a fresh tankard, the hint of smirk hovering around his mouth. George couldn’t help but smile at that; the lad would be keeping George on his toes, for certain. He heard the noon bell ring out over the city and slumped internally; it wouldn’t do for them to spend their whole afternoon in the Court of the Rogue, no matter how much George was enjoying himself.

“You’d best be gettin’ back.” He couldn’t help but make his position clear before they left, though. “If you need anything, send word through Stefan—he works in the palace stables. You’ll find me here most of the time, and if not, ask old Solom. He’ll fetch me quick enough.”

Both pages shook his hand after standing; George suppressed a jolt when the feel of Alan’s hand seemed to send a shock up his arm.

“You’ll be seeing us, then,” Alan promised with all the gravitas of a vow of fealty. “Good day to you.”

George watched them leave with a smile on his face. He had a distinct feeling that the next few years were going to be quite interestin’ indeed.

[molter-writes]

—Oh. And then she’d turned, and the horse looked, a spark of attention she hadn’t once seen. This is Meleys.)

Oh fuck you, it’s TOO SOON. Ow, my heart, my bb.

Oh god, Rhaenys being Rhaenyra’s second mother is SO painfully GOOD, I must take a page from all the hacks and steal it ;)

— “But we’re meant to have power.”

“No,” she’d said, again; and the horses had chuffed, standing by. “We’re meant to serve.”

GOD SHE REALLY SHOULDVE BEEN QUEEN 😭. Westeros would be a queer draconic utopia. ~~you can’t~~ Change my mind

—you betrayed me, pushing and shoving—and Rhaenyra, letting her, eyes just as cutting, you betrayed me first—remember?

GRRRRRR THE ANGSSSTTTTTT IT KEEPS ME GOING. I think you’re one of the few people that get how multidimensional their relationship is and has been and can be. Sometimes to love someone is to let them knife you in the gut because the knife is attached to their hand and it keeps you connected. Every time you put a new spin on them I am in aware.

—“This is an absurdity—Mother loved Rhaenyra—"

“You are a Velaryon.”

(It’s said sort of final; like so call the field to rest. Like here endeth the lesson.)

Oh ho ho! Excellent. I do always wonder why we as a fandom give Corlys such good intent, when he’s just as ambitious and chauvinistic as the rest of them—Rhaenys is simply too much a force of nature for him to go against her, but if she’s no longer a present force turning his ambition to good, he is as much a villain as Otto.

— Rhaenyra still straps him into the baby carrier when they walk, fits his knit hat over his ears; he still falls right asleep. The sight still does something to her

The most important question, however, is: do they watch peppa pig? 🤪

— She swallows. Schools her face. “And Rhaenyra would, if he succeeded—I don’t—” Inhales, slow. “No longer be heir. Or so he thinks.”

Oh my god is Otto handing her HER GREATEST DREAM? Rhaenyra once more out of the public eye and ONLY HERS, with time and energy to devote to her family? Say less Otto. You’ve found Corlys Velaryon’s greatest ally.

—AAAAAND of course Otto is a royalist of convenience, I threw up in my mouth a little with every word of that little “divine right, constitutional duty yada yada” spiel.

—Criston Cole, AMERICAN MARINE oh my goooodssss it’s perfect 😂😂😂

—“No. You were right. You are the truest of all my counsellors, Rhaenyra.” It crackles through the phone; something pitter-patter, something like rain. “You’ll certainly make a true Queen.”

Viserys, you motherfucker! Why must you always say the wrong thing? that shit IS A CURSE, maybe tell your daughter you love her in plain language??? Would it kill you?????

—I tried to reach you and the more I tried the more I was met with your punishing fucking silence.

Please kill me.

—I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!!!

Exquisite, as always. I spy a glimmer of hope, maybe, if Rhaenyra could just focus on the love she has, and not the one she wishes she did (Viserys, you motherfucker), and if they could only communicate honestly. A lot of ifs. I shall away my next torture appointment patiently.

these long beautiful responses unfurl my limbs and pour chicken soup into my soul

[cha-melodius]

2023 Fic Year in Review

I've been doing these for three years now, and they always grow each year as I get tagged in other year-end posts that make the rounds. Feel free you grab it if you want to do your own review! And I’d like to add a hearty thank you to each and every person who’s read my fics over the years, y'all continue to make this a joy!

2020 Review | 2021 Review | 2022 Review

AO3 Username: chamel  My Page: Link  Active Fandoms:  Red, White & Royal Blue: 20 works The Man from UNCLE (2015): 8 works Loki: 5 works New Fandoms: None thank GOD Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count  This Year: 33 works, 278k words  All Time: 113 works, 1.27 million words

This year a little movie that came out in August absolutely destroyed these stats lmaoooo. Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): This Year: Always Where I Need To Be (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 5.5k) All Time: Class(room) Warfare (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 7.8k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos):  This Year & All Time: Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood  (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 20k words)

Events/Challenges: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gift Exchange 2023, The Brownstone Anniversary Fic Exchange, Halloween Huh?

More reflections, stats, and planned fics below the cut!

Additional Random AO3 Stats

By number of fics: 85% one shots, 15% multi-chaps

By word count: 52% mult-chaps, 48% one shots

Ratings by number of fics: 48% T-rated, 33% E-rated, 15% M-rated

Musical artists contributing highest number of titles: Jeff Tweedy (Tweedy/Wilco) & The New Pornographers, tied at 3 each

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?  Somehow I topped my word count from last year by 10k, which I was not expecting. That said, this year was right about average.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?  God this is a hard question this year because I wrote a lot of fics I really really love. For one single fic I'll go with Nova, Baby, because I love the story and I've got a lot of lovely feelings about it.

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?  The Goal: I want to complete a few large multichapter fics, which will probably mean my one-shot production goes down. I completed one long mulitchap, and then a few mid-length (~20k) multichaps. I think I wrote more of those than I have any other year. Surprisingly, my one-shot production wasn't super significantly decreased.

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year? Ok, I gotta come up with something. My goal is to have a similar mix of fics as least year, and also to write my first collaboration with @cricketnationrise, which will be a long multichap.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Wrote on a topic outside my wheelhouse (therapy 😬) and also posted a fic in a fandom where there weren't a lot of fics in similar genres (action/spies). Now that's no longer true, but at the time it was really freaking nerve-wracking.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Every fic I write in a fandom that's not RWRB? 😅 It's hard to complain too much, especially considering what happened to my numbers this year.

Most fun story to write: All the Old Showstoppers, Will You Brie Mine?, You're the Perfect Gift for Me. Silly RWRB boys being silly, basically.

Biggest disappointment: Again, I feel like it's hard to complain when I have a fic that's closing in on 4k kudos. The goalposts keep moving, don't they, though? I still live in fear of pouring my heart into a multichap and having what will count as "lukewarm" reception, when before this year I didn't have a single fic above 1k kudos.

Biggest surprise: Most definitely Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood. Like I figured it would do pretty well (I hoped, since I put so much into it), but holy shit?? I still can't really believe it's on page 2 of the tag by kudos? And honestly also Always Where I Need To Be, this little one-shot about David stealing glasses.

Coming soon/planned for 2024:

False Dichotomy (RWRB You've Got Mail AU)

Kissed Out (RWRB pro-pool players AU)

RWRB 1940s noir AU

RWRB conductor/piano soloist AU

RWRB hockey AU (with cricket)

A shitload of prompts from my fandom fest

Extremely delinquent MTH fics

TMFU art thief/gallery owner AU

Thank you for the tags on your end-of-the-year fic reviews @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @kiwiana-writes, @rmd-writes, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @indestructibleheart, and @welcometololaland!

[warrenwaskilledbyadeer]

I'm really sad that there doesn't really seem to be a Mortuary Assistant fandom at all because my brain has been working on overtime thinking about Vallery

She doesn't even have a page on the wiki but she's arguably the most important part of the game, every vision that isn't about Rebecca's own past centers around Vallery, she's constantly calling out to Rebecca for help

I believe Vallery is still present as well, not "gone" like Raymond says, because she appears as herself, not as a demon (except in the one where there is a big king of Hell type guy behind her, who I assume is the demon possessing her)

And in the vision where you see her hanging and the blood pouring from her wrist into the bucket, that ends with Raymond saying, "What are you doing here!?" That's not something he ever said to Rebecca nor ever says to Rebecca, I think that's a memory of Vallery's when she stumbles upon the basement hatch

I haven't gotten the secret sixth ending yet but I am SO excited to, because hopefully at least some of these questions will be answered by it

I love Rebecca, but the biggest mystery of the whole game is Vallery and I am determined to solve her

(Raymond has also got a couple mysteries I gotta solve but Vallery is far more important)

[lamaenthel]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you for tagging me @ahsokathegray !!<3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25! 

2. What's your total A03 word count?

231k lmaoooo when did that happen I feel like I've been in a fugue state since February

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars (and technically, TECHNICALLY The Matrix but it's a Star Wars AU fusion lmao)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Porg Eyes, Princess For A Year, Ram'ser'ika, Better Than Nothing, The Contingency

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

Yes every single one omfg I love everyone

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

Well, Soft Dark Nothing is Ahsoka and Rex on the moon right after The Tribunal crashed so by default it's gotta be her (rip Jesse my beloved)

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

Not Bad ends up with Snips n Skyguy going to Biscuit Baron lmao

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet but I live in fear every day especially since I'm dipping my toe in the Republic Commandos pond and I know the girlies are passionate

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

I do and it's ridiculously graphic HAHAHA no but there's a reason I haven't posted any Rexsoka smut. Makin y'all wait for it until they COMMIT, gotta keep that tension in there somewhere uwu. But wlw, mlw, mlm, aliens and cyborgs gonna work their way in there eventually (?) I have Not Out Loud, which is an mlm fic with Boba tying up Cal and facefucking him (Kesett nation rise)

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

Go Ask Ahsoka is the Matrix crossover that I wrote for AU August which I will eventually update lmfao

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No but I would cry

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

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

Not like… technically but Erika is my beta and my bestie and she comes up with amazing ideas and lets me play with her OCs so honestly she counts (ilu)

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

Rexsoka 💙🧡, closely followed by Anidala (burning down the galaxy for a single person is objectively WRONG but also hot)

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

Well Do Not Go Gentle is a huge fucking project that I HOPE I finish one day

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at action. I enjoy it which helps lmao

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get really ahead of myself laying out hints and red herrings which I then forget about (Princess For A Year especially is the worst about this, I am so sorry for all of those hints about Sylen being a pretend Mandalorian I fucked up so bad with that one but I'm going to rewrite it eventually to bring back a bunch of my dropped subplots)

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

I enjoy it and do so regularly. Mando'a nuhur'shya ni ru'kar'tayli. And it makes my brain work in unexpected ways, it's like a puzzle trying to figure out the wacky ass baby's-first-conlang grammar that is Karen's creation (what the fuck kind of language doesn't have a passive voice)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OKAY OKAY TECHNICALLY, TECHNICALLY????? It was the Lion King. I was in first grade and we had to write a little storybook and illustrate the pages they gave us with crayons and my story was How Simba Lost His Mane lmfaoooo

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I have poured my whole heart, soul, brain, and pussy into Tivaevae pls read it it's longer than The Hobbit

no pressure tags: @soliloquy-of-nemo, @tangledlichen, @ink-in-books, @hannah-schooler

[umbry-fic]

With Love (1)

Summary:

Over a thousand miles of distance and letter after heartfelt letter, Colette learns to love.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia

Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving

Relationships: Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving

Rating: T

Chapter: 1 of 3 (Next)

Word Count: 5807

Mirror Link: AO3

Original Post Date: 11/06/2024

Chapter Title: Now

Notes:

The final chapter of this fic will be posted on Colloyd Day and features the wedding. There will be three chapters, and in between each chapter, I'll be posting another two fics. This is aro4aro Colloyd and also relationship anarchy, i.e. the relationships don't have to follow society's rules - what's constituted in the relationship and what it involves is up to the people in it, and there are quite a few relationships here that overlap and are all equal in importance. It's not meant to be polyamory or an open relationship but it can be read that way. The main focus for the most part will still be Colette and Lloyd's relationship (or more accurately Colette's feelings for Lloyd) but there is still mention and exploration of the other relationships, with some alluding to sexual elements between certain characters.

Lloyd is aro bi and Colette is aroace. Happy pride!

~~~

The rustle of grass reached her ears over the crackling of flames and the slow turning of pages, an unexpected sound breaching the calm bubble that had formed around her, though it was deeply familiar. Colette smiled to herself, getting up from her comfortable seat by the fireplace to pour a second cup of coffee for the guest who would soon be entering the house - actions that came to her like clockwork.

The lock on the door turned and the door swung open, just as she’d expected, a familiar face greeting her as blue light rushed through the entryway, dancing across her furniture. “Hi, Colette,” Lloyd said, stepping onto the wooden floors with care, dropping the key into a pocket before running a hand through his hair and sending it into further disarray, strands of chocolate brown falling into his eyes. His voice, sweet as honey, washed over her and made her heart swell with fondness. He wore the smile he reserved only for those he held dear, his gaze flooded with so much affection.

“How’ve you been?” She took his coat, hanging it up on the hook by the front door she’d installed just for him, letting her fingers linger in the soft shimmer of his wings for a moment, gentle warmth settling against her skin. It was a redundant question - she’d read about the mangrove he’d visited in the letter that had arrived last week, now securely stored with the rest of the letters he'd sent her, covered in his messy scrawls. But she still liked to ask it, no matter how long they spent apart - a week, a month, a year. It had been three months this time, after two weeks spent together in the breathtaking garden the elves had started cultivating near Ymir forest, filled with mystical flora and fauna.

He didn’t look too tired, thankfully, unlike the times when he'd been dead on his feet and she'd had to carefully escort him to the bed to ensure he didn't fall asleep on the way. Who knew how long he’d flown just to reach Iselia.

He retracted his wings, the light they’d been casting disappearing as he rolled his shoulders, gratefully accepting the offered cup of coffee, the green and white painted face of Noishe staring back at him from the rim, matching with the cute little puppy on her own. Carefully retrieving a perfectly preserved leaf from one of his many pockets, he left it on the table for her to collect in the morning, returning the piece of her heart she had gifted him before he left. “Good,” he answered as he joined her by the fireplace, giving her a peck on the cheek before taking a quick sip. “You?”

She curled up next to him, taking his hand. “Things have been much the same. Peaceful.” Just the way she liked it. Quiet, time passing slowly as her every day continued without any troubles.

“You’re growing it out again,” he remarked, his fingers playing with the golden strands that tickled her shoulders. The last time he’d seen her, it had barely reached her chin.

“Felt like it,” she mumbled, a small yawn leaving her as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. The novel Sheena had lent her was not going to get any further attention from her tonight - not when she was comfortable slowly melting into Lloyd’s arms. Raising his hand, she let her thumb map the new callouses that had found their way onto his knuckles, speaking of the new journeys he had undertaken. It was a reassuring, intimate rhythm, one that they fell into whenever he visited her humble little abode - the two of them slotting perfectly into place as if they’d never been apart, the physical distance between them dissipating with the steam that rose from their cups of coffee.

“Hey.” His eyes, under the flickering orange light of the fire, seemed like liquid gold, drawing her in. “Do you want to get married?”

The words washed smoothly over her, and her breath caught, her voice wobbling as she asked a question. "Why now?" In the space between them hovered a single cherished memory, of a warm summer's day when blue flowers had fallen between her fingers and a promise had been made.

His shoulders had risen to his ears, she realised with a jolt - he was nervous, something she rarely witnessed. “I remember how much you wished to have a wedding of your own,” he whispered, his hand trembling in hers as he forged onwards, his words flapping their wings tentatively to bridge the space between them. “I don’t know if you still feel the same way, but we made a promise that we would marry each other, and what I said that day still stands. The only one I’d want to marry is you.”

Blinking rapidly, she tried to clear the film of tears which had suddenly sprung into existence. Squeezing his hand, she beamed, his words nestled within her chest like a sphere of warm light. “Thank you for remembering, Lloyd. I would love that more than anything. To marry you.”

Pulling a velvet box out of his pocket, he presented its contents to her, a shy smile on his face.

She’d known something was going on when some of the older villagers kept finding opportunities to mention to her that they’d seen Lloyd around town, their pitying gazes that she had long since grown used to ignoring sliding off her like water droplets. But she hadn’t imagined the outcome of all that sneaking around would be something like this - something so beautiful, speaking perfectly to the unique understanding between them that had developed over the years.

Staring at the ring sitting snugly in the box, speechless, she gently plucked it out, cradling it in her palm. Her fingers traced the intricate line of forget-me-nots that twined around it. The same plant as the flower earrings that dangled from her ears, the same plant as the dozens of pressed leaves between the pages of the book on the mantelpiece, that had passed between their hands on the many thresholds they had found themselves on.

It was perfect. He must have spent hours labouring painstakingly over it in the forge at his father's house, sweat running down his forehead from the heat and his attention squarely focused on the little piece of metal. It was a gift infused with all the memories they had made together, and one that she would treasure forever.

Glancing back up at Lloyd, her smile grew cheeky as she noticed something he clearly hadn't.

“But alas, soon-to-be husband of mine, you have a hickey on your neck.”

His hand shot up to cover the patch of skin, his expression contorting into horror.

“Don’t start apologising or you won’t stop,” she teased, carefully placing the ring down and getting up to rifle through drawers for a handy box of makeup. She'd dealt with this enough times to know what to do. In fact, she'd say she was a natural at this.

“I didn’t notice. But I don’t think anyone else saw -” He cut himself off when she threateningly waved the makeup brush in front of his face, already coated with powder.

“I’ve told you countless times that I really don’t care what others think about us. And I’ll keep telling you that until you get it through that thick skull of yours!” Hand on her waist, she gave the brush another threatening shake. “Now sit still.”

He often felt guilty about the nasty things people said to her sometimes because of how they perceived their relationship, apologising for any outward signs that their relationship wasn't all that typical, no matter how often she told him it was wholly unnecessary. What did it matter what opinion others held of them when they didn't understand anything about them? All that mattered was that they were both content with the relationship they had built, and for her, what they had now was more than enough - she could ask for nothing more. But even irrational emotions were difficult to overcome, so she helped in the ways she could, and got her fun out of teasing him along the way.

“Right, right. I’ll keep my mouth shut.” He raised his hands in surrender, an easy grin playing on his lips.

She brushed her lips against his cheek. “Good.”

~~~

"No pushing!" Sheena yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth as she masterfully balanced her steaming cup of green tea on her lap.

If she'd tried to do that, Colette thought mournfully, her lap would be soaked with scalding hot tea and there would be a lot of towels involved while Sheena fluttered about her anxiously.

"Honestly. The children are always so rowdy after training." Her tone was resigned, but her eyes sparkled with proud joy as she kept an eye on the children running amok in front of her house. Their smiling faces were a sign of Mizuho’s bright future - such a sight would have been unthinkable just a decade prior, when the population had been dwindling and the village was on the brink of disappearing. Sheena had worked herself to the bone when she’d taken over as Chief to reverse the fate of the only home she had ever known, and things were finally looking up, a deserved outcome considering how much work she'd put in.

She did, however, tend to push herself too hard, so Colette often had to put her foot down and insist she take a break. Doing so was thankfully something Sheena had also gotten better at over the years, so Colette had managed to convince her to take one on her visit today with minimal protest. There had been no need to physically drag Sheena away from her work.

The two of them were sitting in front of Sheena’s house, the sliding door open to let the autumn air through as they shared a moment of peace. Sheena was relaxed enough to have let her hair down, black tresses spilling to the middle of her back. They ruffled in the gentle breeze, cool against their skin, and Colette reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair away, Sheena giving her a gentle smile in response.

"I'm glad they're taking their lessons seriously, but they've got to stop trying to get onto my roof."

"Why?" she asked, taking a sip of tea, glad for its warmth settling in her stomach. "Chief secrets?"

Sheena snorted in response, throwing a playful glare her way.

"You're heading to Meltokio after you leave, right? Zelos mentioned the gala when he was here last week."

She nodded, reaching for the chain that ran under her shirt, hiding the piece of cold metal pressed against her skin - a constant reminder that the events of a few days ago had not been a transient dream that would have vanished with the morning sun, but rather happy reality. "Yes, for the gala. Despite how some of the Tetha'allan elite go on and on about how we Sylvaranti are beneath them, they still insist I show up!"

Her friend’s raucous laughter drifted into the sky, emptied cup placed safely on the table beside her. She smiled a little wistfully, fingers twisting the lily-embossed bracelet she wore, as she always did whenever she mentioned Zelos. "Don't envy Zelos having to plan it every year."

Their relationship was, as Sheena had often described it over the years with a nonchalant shrug and a quirk of the lips, “strange”. Just as strange as her and Lloyd's, Colette supposed, and that was before she factored in their own involvement with the confusing tangle of emotions. It was all she needed to know - there was no need to pursue every thread and undo every knot to come to a full understanding of all that lived and breathed between them, coiling around them and pulling them close together. Her two friends had never appeared miserable when faced with each other's company, perfectly happy with the current arrangement. They'd never made anything official, refusing to give the gossip columns anything to write about, even if they were often targets anyway whenever the news cycle was slow.

Around this time of year, Zelos was always busy planning the annual Tethea’llan gala, so Colette did her best to spend the entire week before she had to travel to Meltokio keeping her friend company.

And she had the perfect idea for a distraction - she had come here with the goal of informing Sheena of what had happened, after all.

"Is that… is that what I think it is?" Sheena gaped, dumbstruck, at the ring she'd finally managed to pull out.

At her small nod, a delighted shriek left Sheena’s lips. The veneer of graceful chief slipped away, replaced by an excited friend that flung her arms around her in infectious joy, nearly smothering her.

"I never thought I’d see the day!"

"Hey!" Colette protested, pouting. "I will have you know that we have done some things normally. For one, I kissed him when I was fourteen. It was horrible and we never did it again."

Wheezing laughter was muffled into her side, Sheena’s shoulders shaking. "Seriously? That’s your best example?"

"Fine," she said, conceding the point without much of a battle. “Do you want to help with the wedding planning?”

"Of course I would! You don’t even have to ask!”

Sheena’s ready agreement and the merry excitement flooding her amber eyes warmed Colette’s heart, causing it to flutter softly in her chest. Tenderly, she cupped her friend's cheek, brushing her lips against the other and giggling at the light blush that instantly spread across her face. So shy, even now, but still as beautiful as the day she’d met her, that radiant glow she’d possessed then having not dimmed a bit over the years.

Unfortunately, the gratitude Sheena had earned would not save her from the incoming teasing.

“Oh, I have something to ask you though.” She fought to keep her expression straight, knowing the grin that was fighting its way to the surface would surely give her away. Making sure to keep her tone flat, she launched her assault. “Were you the one that gave Lloyd the hickey? The one on his neck?”

As expected, Sheena reeled backwards so fast she nearly fell off her chair. It was a good thing she was no longer holding her cup, or it would have shattered against the dirt with how violently she was flailing.

Really, they were all so easy to tease.

“From past observation, Zelos doesn’t usually do that. So it was most likely you, unless it was just someone Lloyd hit it off with last week, which I suppose is possible,” she mused out loud while doing her best to suppress gleeful laughter that threatened to bubble up within her, keeping a careful eye on her friend's expression, which was now twitching with embarrassment.

“You’re terrible, Colette! Stop teasing me!” Sheena’s glare held no heat at all as she crossed her arms, though her blush had greatly intensified, her entire face having turned a deep shade of red reminiscent of the tomatoes Lloyd so despised.

Unable to hold it in anymore, she broke down into a fit of giggles that didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon, her entire body shaking from the force of it. "The look on your face!" she forced out between bouts of laughter.

Sheena sighed, rolling her eyes. "You are a menace," she grumbled with fondness, leaning forward to return her kiss to the cheek.

~~~

“What is it, Zelos?” she asked as she pushed her way through the door to his room, heeding the muffled yell for assistance she had heard through the thick walls of the manor, layered in wallpaper. Her gaze skirted over the surprisingly spotless room - most of the time, there were clothes scattered over the bed, ranging from nightwear to formal dress. Lloyd often liked to recall the time when Zelos had scrambled to get everything in order before Seles came to visit, only to get caught in the act by his less-than-impressed little sister, the story never failing to elicit laughter from everyone as Zelos sank in his seat and hid his face with an embarrassed groan.

“Could you help me with the braid?” Zelos asked from his perch on the dresser, tugging rather frustratedly at his hair, tumbling down his shoulders.

He was already dressed in the fancy suit he’d said over glasses of wine last night that he would be wearing to the gala, which was good. There had been a few years where the dread of attendance was so terrible that she’d had to wrangle him into a respectable outfit so they could make it on time. She didn’t want to go either - all that awaited her was two agonising hours where everyone saw her as only Sylvarant’s Ex-Chosen. But they both had to attend, to keep appearances up and to placate the nobility. They were still on schedule this year, barring any… unfortunate mishaps.

She really, really hoped they wouldn’t be held up again by shrieking women wearing dresses that were far too complicated, featuring so many laces it made her head spin, their faces laden with too much makeup. How had they not given up after this long of the cold shoulder?

His outfit looked comfortable, the sleeves not too stiff, the fabric giving him the space to breathe, the dark colour bringing out the blue of his eyes and making his vibrant hair resemble dancing flames even more. A good choice for the hours they’d have to spend on the ballroom floor until the streets were cast into pitch black, sticking to each other’s sides like glue in a bid to avoid unwanted company. Inevitably, he’d be dragged off to dance by some noblewoman who still thought she had a chance with him, and she’d be stuck in conversation with a circle of snobby nobles who thought she couldn’t detect their thinly veiled insults - snarling beasts that hid their fangs behind a facade of friendliness. Both Sheena and Lloyd would have responded with an explosive fieryness that would have stolen her breath, but she preferred to simply let their barbed words slide harmlessly over her, a serene smile plastered to her face.

Zelos had taught her how to navigate the poison-coated politics that arose in gatherings like these, where the elite clustered together and exchanged pleasantries that disguised knives with glinting sharp edges. He’d held her hand when she’d first stepped shakily into the very same ballroom they were heading to later. Back then, she’d quailed beneath the weight of all the stares, and he’d patiently guided her, staying by her side to prevent her from becoming overwhelmed. “Born and bred Meltokian,” he’d joked once, his tone heavy with the disdain he felt for the intricate dance of lies and deceit that he’d mastered in childhood. But even then, he stayed when he could have vanished into obscurity, unable to bear leaving behind this city that he loved despite all of its flaws.

Under the first rays of moonlight, creeping into the room, his eyes seemed to shine, the erratic tapping of his fingers against his thigh giving away that he had more than just the gala on his mind.

“Come here,” she said softly, settling on his bed and patting the space next to her. After he’d gotten into a comfortable position, her fingers settled into the silky strands of his hair and she began the familiar motion of weaving. She’d gotten so much practice doing this with the Iselian children that it came to her naturally - she could probably do this with her eyes closed.

“I… heard you and Lloyd are getting married.” His voice was tiny, almost timid, a stark contrast to its usual swaggering confidence that had been his shield against the world for as long as she’d known him, painstakingly maintained to ensure nothing could get through to his fragile heart. He still struggled to take it down sometimes, even when faced with those he was closest to, and she'd never begrudged him for that. His voice as it was now would not have been audible in a room filled with chatter, an environment that Zelos was used to, navigating and directing the flow of people's attention like it was nothing. But here in the sanctuary of his manor, it cut through the weighted silence with ease.

“Lloyd told you, hm?” He gave a small nod, not enough to disrupt her motions but enough to answer her question. She’d already guessed that Lloyd had visited a few days before her - there were signs of him scattered all around the manor. A pair of red gloves on the dining table, a set of carving knives that had been freshly polished, a cloak haphazardly thrown over a chair. Just as there were signs of her and everyone else lying around, such a natural sight that she barely noticed them. Holders of happy memories, suffused into the rich wood of the floors, alleviating the cold that had seemed to cling to every surface in the past.

“Would you like to officiate the ceremony?” she asked casually as she threaded one strand over another.

“What, me?” He almost moved and jeopardised the half-done braid, but a quick nudge from her knee made him fall still again. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she hummed, working her way towards the tips of his hair and hoping the repetitive motions would help make the tense set of his shoulders vanish. “I can’t do it myself. Father hasn’t wanted anything to do with the Church for a long time, not that I blame him. And with grandmother’s passing, you’re the only one left I trust to do this.”

She had known for close to a decade that the Church had been built on a sham, its foundation a lie maintained by a child who had held the fate of the world in his palm, grieving his sister and hoping to immortalise the best of her. But it was still an integral part of her and the memories that had made her who she was today, one that she had decided she didn’t want to let go.

Zelos, more than anyone, understood that endless struggle of trying to separate all that they had been taught from the ideals that they wanted to put their faith in, having gone through it himself. And neither would he question her and Lloyd’s union, which every other priest in Iselia she could turn to certainly would, casting their judgement on a relationship they had never tried to understand from the very beginning.

“All done.” She patted him on the shoulder, leaning back to observe her neat handiwork. It looked like it would last the night.

“Thanks.” He turned to face her, tucking his legs close, his gaze determinedly avoiding hers as his hands went to picking at the fabric of his pants. “I’d… I’d be happy to do it. If you’re sure you want me to.”

Shoulders hunched, he seemed so small, reminiscent of the young man who had desperately held his weapon to her throat in the Tower of Salvation, terrified of being loved as he'd attempted to bloodily claw his way to a future where he could be free to find his own happiness. He had held the same uncertain expression on a snowy night a few years ago, cheek pressed against wood, eyes gleaming with unshed tears as he’d asked if it was truly alright for him to enjoy Lloyd’s embrace even when she loved him so.

She could understand, a little too well - they were two souls with intimate knowledge of what the other had been forced to endure. On some nights, she woke from vivid nightmares of that horrible moment when she had faced Remiel and signed her life away, thinking it was worth nothing compared to that which her sacrifice would save. Her heart in a vice and cold sweat running down her back, she could do nothing but curl up into a ball and sob, feeling very much like that girl who had believed herself to have no future, until the sun rose to drive away the fog that clung to her, shrouding her in its icy darkness.

To the silent question he posed, she gave him the same response now that she had then, leaning forward to brush her lips gently against his forehead, hoping the affection she harboured in her heart for all of her friends, threatening to spill out of her at any instant in time, could reach him. “I'm sure. And… I only want you to be happy.”

Because that’s the least they both deserved. It was a lesson Lloyd had taught her, and one that she had taken a long time to take to heart. She owed the world nothing, and even if she had, she had surely paid her dues long ago, as he always reminded her on days when it seemed the sun could not chase away the chill piercing her soul, as she shakily questioned if she deserved this pocket of peace she had carved out for herself.

He loved Lloyd just as much as she did, just as much as Lloyd loved them both, in a myriad of ways that were all beautiful.

The shaky smile she got in response told her that the remnants of melancholy still gripped his heart. But there would always be good days waiting on the other side of the horizon, and until then, she would keep him company and do her best to cheer him up.

~~~

“Colette!”

Presea greeted her warmly, jumping up and dropping the shovel in her hands to rush over as Colette dropped the final few inches from the sky and into the impressive garden on the rooftop of the Lezerano Company, retracting her wings. The smell of dirt and flowers, which she'd been able to distinguish from miles away, was even stronger here, a calming, familiar presence.

Over the years, Presea’s face had never shed the impassive mask that had been forced onto her by her Exsphere’s parasitic influence, but she had certainly grown more expressive if one knew how to look for it. It was in the musical lilt of her voice, the strength of the back-breaking embrace she pulled Colette into, squeezing the breath out of her.

“Colette.” Regal was not far behind Presea, sleeves rolled up and dirt coating his hands, looking nothing like the distinguished head of the Lezerano company. Here, he could shed that image and be nothing more than a normal man, experiencing the joys of gardening with the warmth of the sunlight dancing on his skin.

She managed a weak wave, Presea's arms still firmly holding her in place until she finally let go, leading Colette to take deep, heaving breaths to once more fill her lungs as she observed the current state of the garden.

When the winds of spring began to blow, Regal and Presea could usually be found in the rooftop garden in the early hours of the morning, tending to the flowers they’d specially planted around Alicia’s grave. Dozens of heads tipped with petals bobbed and weaved, nodding an enthusiastic hello to anyone who visited and keeping Alicia company. There were new holes in the dirt, neatly dug in a set of two rows.

“We’re planting lilies,” Presea explained cheerfully before she could voice her question.

“I believe congratulations are in order?” Regal asked with a small smile, steering the conversation in an entirely different direction.

“The news has spread this far, then?” she commented wryly, already moving towards the bucket conveniently placed by the piles of dug-up dirt, extra gardening tools placed inside for anyone else who wanted to join in.

“Sheena came by yesterday to provide us with the iris buds, and she told us. I’m so happy for you two.” Presea followed her, grabbing her hand to give it a firm squeeze.

Despite the vastly different lives they had all returned to after their journey together had come to an end, they still made an effort to keep in contact, the many diverse paths they walked always managing to intersect in one way or another, despite the changing sceneries and their many meetings and partings. The threads of their lives had weaved together to form a colourful tapestry that would never come undone, each and every one of her friends having left their permanent impression on her soul, forging a unique bond that had endured through thick and thin and would always link them all together.

“Thank you.” A bright smile graced Colette’s face. “Regal, would you mind -”

“Settling the catering and the equipment?” he finished her sentence before she could, taking the words straight out of her mouth and looking highly amused. “Consider it done. Just tell me what you need.”

“And I’ll help with any decorations,” Presea offered as she pushed her shovel into the dirt, resuming her gardening.

She grinned, gratitude that they were willing to offer their precious time sinking into her every action as she picked up a shovel and joined Presea in kneeling in the dirt, the sweet scent of flowers surrounding them. Working in a garden was a familiar routine to her - she'd grown to love it as a child when she'd realised it was one of the few things she had full control over, and she had spent hours painstakingly tending to her flowers to ensure they would all bloom and make her garden as beautiful as possible. She still did so now, having never fallen out of love with the hobby. So it didn't take long for her to fall into a rhythm, assisting her friends in creating a new home for yet more flowers to bloom, once more breathing colourful life into the world.

~~~

“What about this one?” Raine pointed to a page of the book they were flipping through. Displayed on it was a white dress that would have covered up to her ankles, elaborate and overflowing with tiny details, and far too many laces that had to be done up at the back.

“Hm. It’s pretty, but… It's too much?” Colette offered, not quite sure how to phrase her thoughts as she turned them over in her head, imagining what it would be like to wear that dress for close to half a day. She was certain she'd trip over the hem of it and ruin the ceremony by crashing into something. It was inevitable. And even getting into it would be a nightmare to begin with.

Raine only nodded, taking a moment to absorb Colette’s words before flipping to the next page.

“Ugh! I swear -”

Both she and Raine swivelled their heads to stare at the entryway, where Genis had just broken off his impassioned yelling to blankly return their stares.

“You’re back early. I thought you had class until late afternoon?” Raine asked, an eyebrow raising as she observed the state of her brother, his hair sticking to his forehead and drops of water falling from his sleeves to create puddles on the floor. “And why are you dripping wet?”

He rolled his eyes, pulling off his shoes and stomping over to the kitchen to squeeze the water from his clothes and conjuring a small ball of fire to encourage some of the water to evaporate. “Some idiot decided to conduct a water spell that was out of her league and blew up the whole classroom, so class ended early.”

Colette hid a smile behind her hand, watching Raine do the same. Seles again, huh?

“It’s nice to see you again, Colette,” Genis said as he wandered over, slightly more dry than before, wild curiosity dancing in his eyes. “What are you two…”

He trailed off when he caught sight of the white dresses peeking out from the pages of the catalogue, eyes widening as he went very still, resembling a statue.

“I was waiting to tell you in person this afternoon,” she said with a smile as she pulled out the ring from under her shirt, glinting as it caught the light of the sun through the window. “But I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

She wasn’t quite prepared for the armful of Genis that she suddenly had to contend with as he practically tackled her, vibrating with energy. He was finally reaching the age where those of elven descent began to mature - he’d shot up in height and was now all awkward long limbs and sharp elbows, jutting painfully into her.

“I’m glad Lloyd remembered,” he beamed, looking like he was going to burst from joy as he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

The three of them had been best friends for as long as she could remember, and they likely always would be. And that meant a sacred trust - trusting the other two with promises made, with hopes cradled in trembling hands, with dreams she aspired towards. So while Genis had not been there in person, that fateful day with forget-me-nots resting in her palms, he still knew everything that had transpired - and had nestled that knowledge safely in his heart, safeguarding it to ensure he never forgot.

She returned the gesture, heart overflowing with a gentle warmth, before wrapping her arms around him and holding him close, uncaring of the way he fit imperfectly in her embrace. “I’m happy you did too.”

~~~

Dear Lloyd,

I know I could just fly to Altamira and visit you instead of sending this letter, but I suppose it's just habit to write my thoughts down.

All the preparations on my end are going well. You know, whenever the fairytales mention weddings, all they write about is the ceremony itself. How beautiful it is and how everyone who attends has so much fun. They never mention the preparations, and how incredibly hectic it is! But I am having the time of my life planning this, and I hope you're enjoying yourself too.

We're almost done on our end, and the last update Presea gave me gives me hope that you two will be done soon as well. If that's the case, then we might be able to hold the ceremony in a month's time. Could you meet me in Iselia in two weeks? I’ll give you all the updates then, and we'll see about final preparations.

I hope this letter arrives on time. If not, we’ll just deal with it if it comes to that, like we always do.

I’ll be waiting to see you again!

With Love,

Colette

Pressed between the folded pages is a forget-me-not, each petal carefully preserved.

It is a promise, of a future that would be forged together.

[theoneandonlysemla]

Self-rec post

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thanks for tagging me @rakaiawriter!

Feels weird to recommend my own fics to be honest and I will have to sprinkle in some German works that I have not translated yet to get to 5 that I really like. So, lets start:

Dealings with Daedra

Of course I have to put my baby first. What was once a little plot bunny has become a story of 150k words and will get a second part. This fic is about my OC Nevri and her struggle as the dethroned Champion of Boethiah. There is blood, there is friendship and a blooming romance, all under the eye of another daedric prince.

Doe and Wolf

Another Skyrim fic, this one does not have a ton of OCs, but a rare pair! I had this headcanon of Ancano taking a liking in Faralda, mostly inspired by the Song She Wolf by Sia (fuck her, but it's a great song!). I imagined him as a gaslighting ass and her as a little too naive to not fall for his advances. Writing Anacano was an absolute pleasure so he will get a little page time in the second part of DwD and there will be a connection between the two stories!

Whisky by the Sea

Originally written in German, this is a product of my hyperfixation on Mötley Crüe, Hair Metal and the 80s. I hoped to catch the spirit of the time with that story, even tho I was caught in spermatogenesis back then. Experimenting with a dual point of view was fun, but also a challenge. I really want to reread it, now that summer comes back. It really is a summertime romance.

I think I'll eat your heart

This Hannibal fic is only available in German and I really can't say, if I'll ever finish it. I started it in 2015, rewrote it completly a few years later and honestly, it might need another rewrite. But my attention span has left the Hannibal fandom and is now pouring into Elderscrolls. Occasionally I am working on chapters, because I do know how it should end but... Who knows if that day will ever come. But it has a place in my heart!

Daedric Drabbles

Out of a whim, I started writing some drabbles as an exercise after I had produces a 10k word chapter. And it did help to get a better feeling for wordcounts! Every Daedric Prince gets a drabble, so far 8 are done. If anyone has any idea for a prince, I have open ears!

Turns out, I just took one German story into this? But those who are interested can take a look at my other stuff on fanfiction.de!

I really don't know who to tag, as I know @thequeenofthewinter already did this thing. How about @ladytanithia & @vanilleeistee?

[deiliamedlini]

Final Fantasy Masterlist

A list of all my Final Fantasy 16, fics with links of where to find them and brief summaries! All long fics, and almost all oneshots are Clive/Jill because that’s my thing. Except... one fic which is just Charon focused because she's a queen let's all be real here! Fic-related stuff is tagged with “writing”. 

Masterlists for Legend of Zelda and other fandoms can be found here!

Longfic 

~~In Progress~~

Cast Beyond the Moon (Ao3)

Clive and Jill knew each other like the backs of their hands. But when they're both taken away from the life they knew after the events of Phoenix Gate and are forced to learn how to survive in their new worlds, they never expected that the one constant in their life would once again eventually become each other.

Imaginations Run Wild (Ao3)

Jill stumbles upon an OnlyFans account for a man named DominantIfrit, someone with a body to die for but who's face is hidden in everything he uploads. Which, for Jill, means she can use her imagination to pretend this page belongs to her roommate and secret crush, Clive. But she doesn't realize that Clive was in need of some extra money after being laid off from his job. And when Jill realizes just how much money people can get from a picture or two with a hidden face, she decides to give it a try, a page with a body that Clive finds irresistibly attractive. Will DominantIfrit and QueenShiva ever realize that they were actually roommates?

Oneshots:

The Burden of Leadership (Ao3) 🔥

Clive and Jill can't keep their hands off each other; it's a known fact. The problem is, Gav has the worst timing a couple has ever known, and he's determined to give Clive a report.

Caught (Ao3)🔥

While Clive is out gathering wood with Torgal, Jill takes the opportunity to have a moment to herself. What she doesn't realize is that a wolf's hearing might be better than either Clive or Jill know, and Torgal is exceptionally concerned when it comes to his humans.

The Fire Inside (Ao3)🔥

Jill and Clive are madly in love and have been rather unafraid to show it. But when Clive reveals that there's another part of him that wants to be with Jill just as much as he does, Jill is eager to explore every part of Clive.

Whatever Necessary (Ao3)

To succeed in a mission to bring a slaver to justice, Jill goes undercover at the Veil as a courtesan to lure him into trusting her so she can end his rein of terror over Bearers, but when Clive appears, Jill knows the plan has gone terribly wrong, and it's time for everyone to improvise a little.

Books Between Lovers (Ao3)

Clive realizes it's time to act on his feelings after finding Jill asleep with a book in her lap as the rain begins to pour, and she's never looked more beautiful to him than in that moment.

A (Virtually) Perfect Life (Ao3)

Clive refuses to admit to himself that he's in love with his best friend and roommate, Jill, but when he's playing The Sims, he doesn't have to admit anything. Because it's all fake. Clive would never kiss her a thousand times in a row. He'd never have a family with her, or a perfect house, or a yard for Torgal. That was just a game, and it wasn't like Jill will find out. Besides, playing around never hurt anyone.

Night Terrors (Ao3)

Ultima needs Clive to relinquish his will and sever all humanly bonds, and he realizes that among the strongest bonds Clive has is with Jill. And when Jill is involved, giving up his will doesn't sound like the worst choice anymore if it means protecting her.

Off-White Wedding (Ao3)

It's Clive and Jill's wedding day, and excitement are taking over for both of them. But what's a wedding without some eccentric guests to help celebrate?

A Fresh Look (Ao3)

Jill is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that her childhood best friend is alive. But she had a crush on him then and is quick to realize that it hasn't faded with time.

Frozen Fire, Melting Ice (Ao3)

Jill and Cid are drinking together in the Fat Chocobo when Clive comes to join them. But he may wish he hadn't as soon as Cid starts talking. "So then, what were we talking about?" he asked Cid, taking a sip as Kenneth slid the drink in front of him. "Sex, Clive! Sex!" Clive choked. Jill leaned against the bar, a satisfied grin on her face. "I warned you not to ask."

Soothe My Nerves (Ao3)

Jill has been worried for Clive before, but when he decides to go through with a dangerous procedure that has killed others in the past, she can't help the overwhelming sudden onslaught of nerves that she feels for Clive, despite his reassurances.

Sick Days (Ao3)

When Clive misses a meeting with Jill, she checks in on him only to find him in bed with a raging fever.

Placed Between (Ao3)

Clive is only a young boy when he learns a few lessons that will stick with him throughout the rest of his life, and they all start with Jill.

Rumors (Ao3)

Everyone at the hideout knows Clive and Jill are made for one another. Everyone, that is, except Clive and Jill themselves.

Jealousy (Ao3)

When Jill notices Clive acting strangely, she isn't sure if he's simply distracted, or if there's something more going on in his mind. Turns out, what's on his mind is her.

Revenge (Ao3)

Hugo Kupka realizes rather quickly that Jill is to Clive what Benedickta was to him, and he's keen to make use of their connection to get what he wants: revenge.

Sage Advice (Ao3)

Clive wants to ask Jill to take their friendship to the next level by asking her on a date, but he's not sure how. Joshua decides to help his brother out with his sage wisdom, but Joshua has been out of the dating game for some time. Meanwhile, Asta, the hopeless romantic, overhears Jill talking about Clive and has some advice of her own.

What the Hell Am I Doing Here (Ao3)

Charon was minding her own business when she suddenly appears in front of a god hell bent on destruction. But who's more afraid of who?