#gen freeform exchange

[drabbles-mc]

It's Not Brooklyn

Sam Wilson & Sarah Wilson & Steve Rogers

Written for the Gen Freeform Exchange!

Warnings: 18+, fluff, found family

Word Count: 4.5k

A/N: I wrote this for an exchange a little while back and i finally get to post it here! this was such fun to write so i hope y'all enjoy this little glimpse of Steve getting to meet Sam's family 🥰

It hadn’t taken Sam very long to put the offer out there once he started spending more time with Steve. He knew that Steve wasn’t going to go for it right away, but Sam wasn’t going to let that stop him from continuing to make the offer. He knew, even without Steve coming right out and saying it, that he was in need of someone to lean on.

Sam hadn’t been able to get Steve to show up and participate in group, even though Sam stood by the belief that it would be helpful for him on multiple fronts. Steve hadn’t caved to that idea just yet. Even though Steve hadn’t come around to that just yet, it wasn’t as though he’d boxed Sam out completely. The two of them had met up a couple times—coffee, lunch, whatever place was closest to both of them during any given conversation. Eventually Sam invited Steve over, and after that Steve figured it was only right that he return the favor.

The first time that Sam went over to Steve’s apartment was the first time that he brought up New Orleans.

He hadn’t gone into the evening with the intention of bringing any of it up, his hometown, his family. But when he got to Steve’s place, when he looked around while Steve kept himself busy cooking in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but notice the fact that Steve’s apartment might’ve been neat and tidy but it didn’t quite feel like a home. It made sense—Steve’s entire life was about seventy years in the past and he hadn’t been able to bring any of it with him.

“You do any traveling?” Sam asked as he sat at the counter that separated Steve’s kitchen from his living room. He already had a vague idea of the answer. He saw the look Steve tossed his way from where he stood at the stove and he chuckled. “For fun, I mean. Not, you know, not Saving America-related.”

Steve laughed quietly as he turned his attention back to the meal he was trying to pull together. “No, I haven’t.”

“Too busy?”

“That too.” There was a pause, and Steve knew Sam well enough by that point to know that if he didn’t speak up and elaborate, Sam would be perfectly content to sit there in silence for the rest of the night until Steve changed his mind about it. “Wouldn’t even know where to start, where to go.” He fiddled with the heat on the stove. “Feels like I barely got my bearings here.”

Sam nodded even though Steve wasn’t facing him. “It’s not Brooklyn.”

Steve had to laugh at that. “No, it’s not Brooklyn. It’s also,” he set the spoon down and turned completely around so that he was facing Sam head-on, “not the forties anymore.”

Sam’s smile was full of empathy. “That’s true too.”

There was a beat before Steve righted his expression. “Were you about to recommend a travel agent to me?”

“No, no.” Sam toyed with the beer bottle in front of him. “You ever make it to New Orleans?”

Steve shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Never had a reason to. Why? Recommend it?”

His smile was blinding. “That’s my town, man! Where I’m from!”

Steve chuckled, tension melting out of him. “That right?”

“Yeah. If you ever wanna go, let me know. I’m due for a trip back home anyway.”

“Your family still there?”

He nodded. “Yeah—my sister and nephews. Little punks, all of ‘em.”

Steve was smiling but there was a small twinge of sadness in it that he tried his best to hide. “That’s good.”

Sam saw it all, watching as Steve turned back around to the stove and continued cooking. He was aware that what he was going to say next might push it a little too far. But he also felt like he and Steve were at a point where they could come back from a little pushing. It wasn’t going to send anyone flying over the edge.

“I bet they’d really love to meet Captain America,” he threw out casually.

Steve’s shoulders shook slightly as he laughed. “Would they?”

Sam was laughing a little harder than Steve was, taking a sip of his beer before he said, “They would. And, I mean, since you never did come around to help me get the number of the girl at the front desk, least you could do is come on down to NoLa and let my nephews try to throw your shield around.”

Steve smiled over his shoulder at Sam before stepping away to grab plates and silverware for both of them. “That’s how that works, huh? That’s the trade?”

Sam nodded. “That’s the trade.”

He walked by Sam, over to the small table just outside his kitchen. He was setting up the plates and silverware as Sam pushed his stool back from the counter and walked over. Steve looked over at him, giving him a tiny nod. “I’ll think about it.”

It was hard to tell by his tone how much he really meant it. Sam could hear the humor in his voice but at the same time he saw the wistful look in Steve’s eyes, too. Everyone needed someone, needed family. Even though Sam hadn’t lived in New Orleans in years he still always knew that his sister was a phone call or a plane ticket away, no questions asked. Everyone deserved that, and it’d been a long time since Steve had had that.

“Think about it, yeah,” Sam said as he took a seat.

~*~

Steve found himself thinking about it more than he thought he would. It was an offer made in an attempt to be kind, something that was just a product of where their conversation had gone. Steve knew that, tried not to put more stock in the thought of it all than he really should. He was being honest when he said that he’d never been to New Orleans. It wasn’t even a place that had really even crossed his mind as a travel destination. He didn’t really know much about what was down there, really—aside from Sam’s family at least. But maybe that would be enough.

He wasn’t planning on bringing it up again. The last thing he wanted to do was put Sam in an awkward position, because what if he really was just saying it just to have something to talk about? What if there was no real backbone to the offer? Steve didn’t want to go through whatever that conversation would turn out to be, didn’t want to make Sam have to try and muddle his way through that either.

It was a topic that neither of them broached until about a month later when Steve was going over to Sam’s. He waited on the man’s steps after knocking on the door. When Sam answered a few seconds later it was holding his phone off to the side, clearly talking to someone, although it didn’t stop him from greeting Steve with a grin as he waved him inside.

“Hey, come on in.” He saw the apologetic smile on Steve’s face as he crossed the threshold, the man gesturing wordlessly to Sam’s phone. Recognition flashed across Sam’s face. “Oh, this?” He pointed at his phone. “Don’t feel bad. It’s just my sister. Should’ve hung up on her about five min—”

“Better watch what you say next,” she said with a laugh.

Steve was trying to figure out if he should introduce himself, or apologize, or remain silent the way that he had been. What resulted in the process was just him standing there quietly with his mouth slightly open like he was almost about to say something but no words were coming out. The two seconds that passed felt like hours to him before Sam stepped in and kept things moving along the way that he always did.

“Sarah, excuse me, I’m trying to have a conversation with Captain America here—please be respectful,” he joked.

Sarah was laughing on the other end of the line, and it was only then that Steve realized that the two of them were on a video call, not just a regular phone call, and that they could all see each other. Sam shifted the angle on the phone so that both he and Steve were in the frame now for her to see.

“So, my brother really hasn’t been lying, huh? He actually hangs out with Captain America.”

Steve smiled sheepishly. “You can, uh, you can just call me Steve.”

Sam chuckled, looking back and forth between Steve and his sister. “Right, right. Sorry. Should probably introduce you guys. Sarah,” he gestured to Steve, “this is Steve.” He looked over at Steve. “Steve, this is my pain in the—”

“Watch it,” Sarah cut him off, smiling without any malice in her voice.

“This is my sister Sarah,” Sam dramatically corrected himself.

Steve couldn’t fully hide the traces of awkwardness that he was still feeling about it. “N-nice to meet you.”

Sam was perfectly unbothered by all of it. “Sarah, you know this man has never been to New Orleans?”

She raised her eyebrows, appearing to study Steve’s face for a moment before returning her attention back to her brother. “I could see that.”

“I told him that he should go.”

She was still smiling as she shrugged. “He should.” She returned her attention to Steve. “Sorry, did you wanna be part of this conversation about your travel plans?”

It got Steve to laugh. “Sam mentioned—”

He was cut off by a loud clattering and crashing sound on Sarah’s end of the line. Her facial expression immediately changed. She looked exasperated, like she knew exactly what had just happened and why—whatever it was, it wasn’t the first time. “I gotta go, sorry. But hey, Steve, if you can get Sam to come back down here you should definitely come with him, alright?” She continued on before either of them could say anything about that one way or the other. “I’ll talk to you later, Sam. Stay outta trouble.”

She hung up on them before Sam could try and come back with something witty. The screen blinked out and Sam was laughing as he locked his phone and put it back into his pocket. He turned back around to Steve, the smile on his face stretching farther when he saw the slightly flustered expression on the super soldier’s face.

“So that’s Sarah,” Sam said, like it wasn’t painfully obvious.

The comment got Steve to laugh and relax a little bit more. “She seems nice.”

“She will be to you, sure,” he joked.

The two of them exchanged a brief look as they made their way into Sam’s kitchen. Sam could see it on Steve’s face that there was something he wanted to say, to ask, but he didn’t. Whatever the question was died before it reached the tip of Steve’s tongue. Sam let the topic drop for the moment, but he knew that it wasn’t going to be the end of it. Even if he hadn’t been determined about it on his own, he knew that he wasn’t ever going to hear the end of it from Sarah now.

~*~

“Don’t get mad,” Sam said as they started walking into the airport.

Steve’s exhaustion quickly shifted to confusion. He didn’t consider himself the type to need that kind of a warning, although his concern faded a little bit when he saw the smirk on Sam’s face. “Okay. I won’t get mad.”

He handed the plane ticket over to Steve. “I changed the flight home.”

The statement didn’t do anything but worsen Steve’s overall sense of confusion. He started to speak as he unfolded the ticket, “Are we still leaving tod—” He stopped himself short when he read where their changed flight pattern was going to land them.

“I already called her,” he said as they made their way to their new departure gate, “and she’s super excited that we’re gonna be there. So you can’t change it back now.”

“Sam—”

“You change it, she won’t just have a problem with me—she’ll have a problem with you too. And,” he chuckled, “that’s a problem that you don’t want.”

Sam’s statement got a laugh out of him. Steve wasn’t mad—he was far from it, actually. Sure, their trip had been tiring and a little futile thus far, but the unexpected change in flight plans made Steve feel like the trip wasn’t a waste anymore. If he’d had more energy in that moment, he would’ve tried to come back with something witty to say anyway, but he didn’t have it in him. After a nap on the plane maybe he’d be a little quicker on his feet. And, if what Sam had been saying about his sister all this time had been at all true, Steve was going to need to be as on his game as he could manage.

Tapping the ticket against the palm of his hand, Steve smiled and finally said, “I’m not looking for anymore problems.”

Sam’s smile was beaming as he affectionately clapped one hand against Steve’s shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. “That’s right.” Checking the time on his watch, he cleared his throat and said, “Flight down is earlier than our other flight though, so we gotta get moving.”

Steve was shaking his head as he picked up the speed of his stride to match Sam’s. He muttered a quiet, “Of course,” under his breath, but there was no malice to it. There was still a tiny grin on his face.

Steve meant to ask Sam more questions about his sister, about his entire family really, on the flight. He’d talked about them in the past, of course, but now that Steve was going to be meeting them, he felt like he should know a little more. He felt it was a courtesy he owed them.

However anything that Steve was planning on asking fell by the wayside mere minutes after their plane took off. Once they reached altitude, Steve was out like a light. He hadn’t slept very well since they left for their mission, and even though the previous night they had been, technically, done and off-duty, he still hadn’t been able to rest in the hotel that they were staying in. Steve knew a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to sleep on a plane to save their lives, but he didn’t share that sentiment. It wasn’t something he ever really thought about much in the past, but when he was being nudged awake by Sam as they were getting ready to start their descent into New Orleans, he was almost wishing that sleep hadn’t decided to come so easily to him in that moment.

Shaking his head to get himself back to a presentable level of consciousness, Steve tried to get himself some reassurance from Sam. “You’re sure she won’t mind me just—”

“It’s not just you, man,” Sam cut him off with a grin. “It’s both of us. And yes, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Both he and Steve winced slightly as the plane put wheels back on the ground, the pilot not doing it with a whole lot of grace but it obviously wasn’t the worst thing the two of them had been through. Sam silently shook his head once the plane smoothed out and was taxing on the pavement. Steve looked out the window for a moment before turning his attention back to Sam again.

He tried to make up for the time he lost by sleeping on the plane. “Anything I should know? Things I should say? Things I shouldn’t?”

Sam chuckled at Steve’s apparent nerves. He should’ve been expecting it but he still found it amusing. “What you should say is that her brother is the best guy to work with and that you don’t know what you’d do without me. You know, play up that whole I’m Captain America’s right hand man thing.”

It got Steve to laugh. “Sam.”

“It wouldn’t even be a lie!”

“It wouldn’t be a lie,” he repeated, but the humor in his voice got Sam to give him a look of mock offense.

Once they got off the plane and got their bags, it didn’t take long for Sam to locate his sister. She was waiting right out front by her car, going back and forth between looking down at her phone, and scanning the crowd for Steve and her brother.

“And she’s here early,” Sam said with a laugh as he walked up to her.

He dropped his bag so that he could give her a proper hug. She gave him a light punch to the arm on the way in but it didn’t stop her from hugging him tightly. “Didn’t want to give you any reason to take off and not come back for another—”

“Alright, alright,” he laughed as he picked his bag up off the ground again.

When the laughter had died down, Steve made a point to introduce himself, since it was a skill Sam just didn’t seem to possess. “Nice to officially meet you,” Steve said as he held his hand out for her to shake.

For a moment, Sarah contemplated just pulling him into a hug anyway, but she figured she would do him the kindness of easing him into it. Shaking his hand, she flashed him a smile. “Nice to meet you too.” She nodded towards Sam as her hand dropped back by her side. “Sam told me this was a bit of a surprise for you?”

Steve chuckled, hand resting on the back of his neck for a moment. “Little bit.”

She waved for them to start putting their bags in the car. “Sorry about that. We’re a fun time though, I think. Or at least the rest of us are—I don’t know about Sam.”

Sam threw his hands up. “I didn’t even say anything!”

Sarah was laughing as she walked around to the driver’s door. “You will, though.”

Once their bags were loaded into the back of her car, both Sam and Steve got in. Steve didn’t hesitate to slide into the back seat. Sam getting to ride shotgun next to his sister was a given. He was looking out the window at all the other cars and taxis passing them by when Sam turned around to face him from the passenger seat.

“I’d put your seatbelt on.” He nodded towards Sarah who was looking back over her shoulder before pulling out into traffic. “Can’t trust this one’s driving.”

Steve was smiling and shaking his head as he strapped himself in, something that he was going to do whether Sam had spoken up or not. Sarah was about to say something to come to her own defense when Steve spoke up instead.

“I’ve survived driving with you, so I think I’ll be okay.”

Sarah’s laughter hit the air at the same time as Sam’s sound of mock offense. “Not even gonna have my back in front of my own sister?” He shook his head as he faced forward again. “Can’t believe this.”

Sarah was still laughing as they got back out onto the main road. “And to think that this was all your idea.”

“Don’t make me reach over and grab that steering wheel.”

She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead. See what happens.”

Steve sat in the back and watched the two of them banter and bicker back and forth. It was impossible not to find it at least a little amusing. The comfort between them was instant and Steve couldn’t deny that it helped soothe some of his own anxieties about it all. His nerves weren’t gone completely, but there was something to be said about Sarah pulling him in on her side of the little fake arguments they were getting into on the drive back to her house.

~*~

“I hope you don’t mind,” Sarah said as she pulled into her driveway, “but this might be the only place where you’re not the most popular one out of the two of you.”

Steve was smiling as he shook his head. “That’s perf—”

Sam cut him off, looking at his sister indignantly. “The only place?”

“What?” she asked, pretending not to know why Sam was reacting that way. “AJ and Cass are your biggest fans.”

“Could’a just said that,” Sam muttered as he tried not to laugh.

Sarah was proven right within the next sixty seconds. They were getting their bags out of the car when they heard the house door being flung open. It smacked against the side of the house but neither of the young boys charging outside and down the walkway paid any mind to it. They were too busy excitedly yelling and cheering for their uncle as they sprinted out to the car. Sam was pretending not to hear either of them until the last minute when he turned around and scooped both of them up at the same time.

Sam was laughing almost as hard as his nephews as he whisked them off onto the lawn. It took no time at all for it to turn into a tumbling match with the three of them. Steve was still mid-reach for his suitcase when Sarah popped up beside him.

“I’ll help you bring these in—they might be a minute.”

Steve laughed as Sarah pulled the last bag out of the car. He reached up and pulled the trunk door down. “You weren’t kidding,” he said as they made their way up the driveway to the house.

She shook her head as she pulled the door open for the two of them to get through. He could hear the smile in her voice as she said, “Not about that.”

Steve dutifully followed Sarah into the house. The second he stepped through the door he could sense that her house was really and truly a home. He was caught between feeling comforted and slightly out of place all at once. There was the slightly muffled sound of the television in the living room. It didn’t take much to put together that the boys had been watching it until they realized who had pulled into the driveway. Steve listened as Sarah pointed out different rooms as they went along, taking in all the photos and small pockets of trinkets and clutter that let the world know a family was living there.  It made his apartment back home seem almost clinical in comparison.

Sarah’s voice kept him from thinking about it too much. “I banned Sam to the couch by the way.” She stopped by the door to one of the bedrooms at the far end of the hallway. “You can have the guest room.”

Steve was shaking his head even as he set his suitcase down in the doorway. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine on the couch.”

She smiled as she motioned for him to go into the room. “Go ahead. Guarantee the three of them will be staying up late and camping out out there anyway.”

“You’re sure.”

“Positive.” They stood there in the doorway for a few seconds longer before Steve finally caved and went into the room. Sarah watched him with a satisfied grin on her face. “Get some rest if you want. I’m gonna start dinner in a little bit.”

“I can help,” he offered as he dropped his bags beside the bed.

“I’ll let you do that,” she joked before turning and heading back towards the kitchen.

Steve didn’t unpack too much. He and Sam were staying for a few days but not long enough to constitute taking everything out of his bags. When he was done taking out what he’d need, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. He could hear the footsteps and laughter coming from down the hall and he allowed himself to soak it all in. There had been a couple times when he was getting his things settled that he’d seen one of the boys go sprinting by the doorway in a flash.

He got to formally meet Sam’s nephews when Sam had captured both of them and told them, “Not even Captain America can save you now!” Then of course Steve had to step in and save them. It was only fair. It resulted in both Cass and AJ quickly taking off after Sam again, Steve following behind but not quite as determined.

“I’m stealing my cook back from you!” Sarah yelling to the rest of them as she motioned for Steve to join her in the kitchen.

That seemed to bring the commotion to a stop. Or it at least brought Sam’s commotion to a stop—it didn’t stop his nephews from eagerly trailing after him. Sam stopped at the edge of the kitchen and watched Steve as he listened to the instructions Sarah was giving him.

Sam chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re gonna let this guy cook for—"

“Cook with,” Sarah corrected.

“Still.”

Steve looked at Sam with an expression that was supposed to read as hurt but he started laughing too quickly for it to work. “I can cook.”

He shook his head knowingly. “There’s a reason I always invite you over.” He saw that Steve was getting ready to debate about it, so Sam held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, man, I get it. We got a lot more spices and stuff now than we did in the forties. It’s a lot to keep up with.”

Sarah rolled her eyes at her brother before turning to Steve. “Don’t let him push you around.” She gestured towards Sam with the spoon in her hand. “Like he would know anything about anything if Mom hadn’t made him pull up a stool right where you’re standing when we were kids.”

“Psh,” Sam laughed as he casually pulled AJ into a headlock since the boy was trying to push him into the kitchen, “I don’t remember any of that.”

“’Course you don’t,” Sarah joked back at him. She was looking at Sam while she was pointing at Steve. “This whole time you could’ve been teaching him.”

Now it was Steve’s turn to cross his arms over his chest as he looked over at Sam. “Yeah. This whole time.”

Sam shook his head as he felt Cass starting to try and climb up onto his back. “I knew I was gonna regret putting you two in the same house together. I knew it.”

Sarah laughed as she returned her attention to the stove. “Too late now.”

Sam and Steve looked at each other for a split second longer even with all the chaos happening around them. Even with Sarah still giving instructions, even with Sam’s nephews clamoring all over him. They looked at each other and there was a smile on Steve’s face and an ease about him that Sam hadn’t seen in a long time, if ever. The small nod that Steve gave him was a thank you he would be sure to get around to saying out loud at some point before the trip was out. For now, though, Sam just nodded in return, glad to be able to share his family.

(divider by @silkholland 💞)

MCU Taglist: @garbinge @artemiseamoon @late-to-the-party-81 (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know! xo)

[lurking-latinist]

Gen Freeform Exchange, the best exchange (in my gen-loving opinion), is open for nominations! I’m putting in a bunch of Doctor Who stuff and my favorite freeforms from last year. Check it out!

[theminecraftbee]

Just out of curiosity, do you know any alternative ways of showing types of relationships that could be used on ao3? I find the & and / method to be very constraining, especially with ambiguous or multi-dimensional relationships. & for platonic and / for romantic does not allow for a proper representation of nonstandard relationships, for example an enemy/loathing or polyamorous relationship. (Homestuck quadrants are their own thing and are not what I am asking for/about.)

answer that answers your question:

yes and no. if you just want another category of markers to exist, i know you said no homestuck quadrants, but those are probably most commonly used, although they're all synned to the / tag. i've seen some exchanges that want to differentiate use /& together, i've seen ? be used, and i've seen some invent their own tag (largely exchanges use these for matching purposes and it's rare but i HAVE seen it). however, there's no unifying convention, and ao3 will eventually syn all of these to either the / or & tag (usually the / unless the wranglers have a very good reason to think it's the & tbh). so know that even if you use your own symbol, it will show up in the relationship tag it ends up synned to.

one of the most common solutions to this is to use the symbol closest to what you want--personally i tend to just use the & unless there's fic content i think gen fans would really hate, since & is the tag that covers the much wider spectrum of relationships in my head, although some people will differ--and use freeform tags to disambiguate. for example, last days has the & tag for joe and cleo, along with a "queerplatonic relationships" tag! i believe "ambiguous relationships" is also a canonical tag, and you don't have to use canonicals if you can't find the one you like! the world is your oyster.

(here i'll also note: the & doesn't require them be like... friends. it just requires the fic be about their relationship in some way, and for this relationship to not be romantic or sexual. enemies is absolutely covered here, as is like, weird coworkers, or even tags like "hero & the public".)

(similarly, the / tag doesn't require they like each other, it just requires it to be a "ship"; enemies who have a ton of sexual tension goes under this, as do things like abusive romantic or sexual relationships; just make sure you're using your warnings and additional tags appropriately!)

the other most common solution is to tag both the / and & tag and use a tag like the "ambiguous relationships" or "this can be read as either" or "queerplatonic relationships" or whatever other disambiguating tag you think it needs. this is less common in the mcyt fandom because of the mcyt fandom's history of being SUPER WEIRD about shipping, but it's often the most common solution in fandoms that aren't this one.

"i want ao3 to have a ship tag that is neither & nor /, and is not considered synonymous with either" unfortunately this doesn't exist and isn't going to. like i'd love to say there's a way to make it exist but it Won't because of how ao3 was designed to work on a backend level and also ao3 does NOT change quickly, for better or for worse. you're going to have to pick between "make up a symbol and it will probably be synned to /", "use the tag you think you like best", or "use both". i wish there was another option too, if it helps, but the additional tags are really useful here!

"use no relationship tag" is also always an option; the relationship tag is not a required tag!

answer that answers your two examples, neither of which really fit the question as i understand it, hence me separating them out:

a fic about the relationship between two enemies is either the & tag if you just want the one that is actually meant to be used or the / tag if you mean for it to be like, the kind of enemies that have sexual tension. use additional tags to additionally disambiguate (example: just put in the tags the canonical tag "enemies" and you're good to go). the & tag is for ANY kind of platonic relationship, it does not require the two characters like each other, only that the fic is about their relationship! you can use the homestuck <3< if you REALLY wanna make it clear but that's synned to /, so like, up to you. if you're super worried someone will misunderstand the & tag you can also just not tag a relationship, relationships aren't mandatory tags.

i have no idea why you're asking about polyamory because that has a solution that's entirely unrelated to the problem you propose: you just tag the ship. ship tags with more than two names in them are legal tags, as long as it doesn't go over ao3's tag character limit you're good. if you do hit the limit, just use more than one tag! this is totally fine and follows ao3 conventions, don't worry. if it's the kind of polyamorous relationship with metamours, where not everyone is dating everyone, this is where more than one overlapping relationship tag REALLY helps. plus: you can mix / and & tags! not all of them will be canonical yet, but that's true of ANY ship tag you're originating! i have seen the form of "character/character & character" in many fandoms before, it's totally valid and will disambiguate! (also, the ensemble tags may help you here if you're doing like, a polyhermits thing; "hermitcraft ensemble/hermitcraft ensemble" is a legal tag and i think what polyhermits is probably synned to.)

so yeah, hopefully this helps some! good luck out there!

[mdzsxchange]

MDZS Close Quarters Exchange

Happy New Year! mdzsxchange is pleased to announce our next art, fic, and podfic exchange all about forced proximity — only one bed, trapped in a coffin, arranged marriage, bodysharing, mindlinks, and more! Gen, romantic, and spicy combos from all adaptations are welcome.

Tag-Set Nominations: January 10 – January 31 [link]

Sign-Ups: January 17 - January 31

Assignments: by February 5

Posting Begins: March 24

Requirements will be 1000 words of fic, one completed art piece, or 500 words of podfic for a fandom/ship/freeform combo in your giftee's request.

Full details available at the AO3 Collection! We hope you can squeeze us in!

[arthropod-concoctions]

And here's a treat i wrote for @oshawottarchive, inspired by @greenix' fantastic artwork "The statue queen and her knight!" very happy i managed to finish this one in time for the @mcytrecursive exchange.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Secret Life SMP

Relationships: Ethoslab & ZombieCleo, Grian & EthosLab

Characters: ZombieCleo, EthosLab, Grian

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, kind of; theres monsters at least, Weeping Angels - Freeform, EthosLab (Video Blogging RPF) is a Weeping Angel (Doctor Who), Gorgon ZombieCleo (Video Blogging RPF), Time Travel, petrifcation

Summary: What happens when two monsters that can't kill each other cross paths?

Fic below the cut!

Deep in the labyrinthine halls of an abandoned temple that only the exceedingly reckless dared enter, a gorgon stood next to a petrified warrior, trying on his armor.

Cleo fastened the clasps of the breastplate, but quickly unclasped them after seeing how poorly it fit. She sighed as she put the armor back onto the warrior's body. She was getting a bit tired of the dress she was wearing, but none of her recent victims had anything that fit her. It's because female warriors are going out of fashion again, she thought, and no civilians ever enter this temple anymore. Maybe she should try going out into their settlements again. That didn't end too well for her last time, but honestly, she was starting to get bored all alone in here...

“ˈiːθəʊ?” a voice suddenly called out. “hɛˈləʊ?” Cleo froze in place, almost like one of her own victims, trying to determine the source of the call. It was clearly a human, but that wasn't a word in any human language she knew. she also heard footsteps now, seemingly getting closer.

The same words were called out again, and the footsteps grew louder. Maybe this was some fool from foreign lands, who hadn't understood the locals' warnings about this place. That would be a nice opportunity. Cleo began to move towards the sound.

A man with unusually light hair turned the corner, and Cleo watched the expression on his face go from concern to relief to horror within a second. He screamed, first wordlessly in terror, then again in some unknown language. “ wɒt ɑː juː-”

Cleo lifted her veil, and the scream died on stone lips.

“An honour to meet you too.” Cleo said. She moved over to inspect her newest statue, but she could already tell it was going to be a good one. Most of her recent work didn't show abject terror like this one, they were too prepared for her presence. And the clothing-

Huh. The clothing wasn't like anything she'd seen before. The man wore tight-fitting trousers that were almost as grey as his skin now was, made of a material she could not identify. By contrast, the garment he wore over his torso was as red as blood, and very soft- soft enough to make Cleo gasp slightly as she ran her finger over it. it didn't fit the man's form in the slightest, almost as if it'd been made for somebody else. Fortunately, that meant it might fit her as well.

“I'll be taking this... whatever it is, thank you,” they said as they lifted the garment off of the statue, and chuckled. Who were you, oblivious wanderer? She found herself wondering. Where did you come from?

– – –

Etho stalked restlessly through the overgrown stone building. He'd picked this spot to camp out, hoping he'd easily blend in with the statues all around, but that was days ago, and he hadn't seen a single human since. And he was getting hungry. He was beginning to suspect humans purposely avoided this place. Maybe they did that because of the statues? He'd heard once that some humans were scared by statues. Which was stupid; why would they make statues if they were scared of them? These couldn't possibly all be his fellows either. He froze in place, which told him that there was somebody seeing him. Finally, he thought. He couldn't see anybody, which meant they must be behind him. He could hear footsteps, and then, a voice.

“...You're new,” the voice said, and then the human it belonged to stepped into Etho's view-

Nevermind. Etho was quite certain humans didn't usually have snakes emerging from their heads. The not-human woman was wearing several layers of mismatched, brightly coloured clothes, and a veil covering the top half of their face. They circled around him, hands clasped behind their back, almost as if they were inspecting him. Infuriatingly enough, Etho saw them blink, but couldn't regain his mobility; the eyes of the snakes watched him too, not leaving him unobserved for a moment.

“I didn't even know i could catch other monsters,” they said, and Etho felt them touch one of his wings. He wasn't sure how he felt about that statement. “You're definitely getting a place of honor... but first, I'm gonna try on that mask.”

Then they did something Etho definitely did not like: they reached towards his mask, aiming to take it off. That would nullify his only trump card, unless he played it now.

“Please don't,” he said. The woman stopped.

“What!?” they yelled out, then took several steps backwards. “How are you talking?” they demanded. The snakes on their head seemed surprised by their sharp voice, which was good for Etho; it meant they at least didn't consciously control two dozen eyes.

“You're not technically looking at my mouth. The mask covers it,” Etho replied. It was a trick that most of his fellows knew, but few ever used it. The mask just got in the way unless you liked talking to your victims, like he did.

“That's not how this...” the woman trailed off, flabbergasted. “Oh, whatever. Monsters petrify by different rules, i guess.”

“Monster? Oh, come on now. I'm just a regular human. Who turns to stone when you look at him. Something which you are used to, apparently,” Etho rambled. If he had an organic body, he would be sweating right now. Normally he'd be having these kinds of conversations with regular people, and he'd be able to move about two percent of the time, leaving him comfortably in control. With this creepy snake lady his mobility was reduced to zero percent, which was a whole different story.

They just chuckled at his remark. “And has wings. Can't forget about that.” They briefly placed their hand on a wing again, then took it off. “What's your name?”

“Etho.”

They turned their head sharply at that. “How long have you been in this temple, Etho?”

“...Two, three days?”

“Well now that can't be true,” they said, eyes narrowing, “because I've been getting confused wanderers walking in here calling out your name for at a century.”

Ah. He figured this had to come up eventually. “...It's complicated. Let's just say, those people haven't entered the temple yet.”

They grunted. “Traveling through time, then? Doesn't seem that complicated to me.

“Well, Etho, I am the gorgon Cleo. I'm the scourge of this temple, as they say, so I'm supposed to chase out or kill anyone who dares enter, but...” a small smile quirked their lips. “Well, clearly I can't get rid of you, because you have to be around in the future to send these people to me. So it looks like I'll have to... tolerate your presence near me.” Despite their words expressing disappointment, Cleo's voice didn't sound disappointed at all. They sounded happy about it, even.

“...Thank you?” Etho replied. He decided to keep to himself the fact that he was unlikely to stay here for much longer if there really were barely any people. Unfortunately, they did have a point; causality dictates that he would have to hunt here at some point in time, and it didn't seem like he would ever be able to get to Cleo, given the amount of eyes they had. So, it would be better to keep them happy for now.

“You're welcome,” Cleo replied, still smiling. “So, I understand you can't move as long as I'm looking at you?”

“Maybe,” Etho replied. “Maybe I'm just standing really still for fun, though.”

they laughed at that. “Right. Well, I can't keep you here forever, so I suppose I'll get out of your way for now. Until we meet again, angel Etho.”

With that, Cleo turned around and walked back the way they came. Before turning the corner, they looked back to see Etho still standing where he was; some of the snakes on their head had been lookng in his general direction still. They waved at Etho.

Then they turned, and as soon as Etho was removed from all their lines of sight, he was gone. That was by far the strangest conversation he'd ever had. It looked like he would have to abandon this hunting ground, which was a shame-- it really would have been a fun one, had it not already been occupied. Although, the gorgon didn't seem to mind sharing the space with him. they seemed happy about it, even. That was the weirdest thing; never before had he ended a conversation with someone on good terms. They always ended with one person hunting the other-- but he could never hunt Cleo, and they could never hunt him, so instead they were... friendly with each other. Fascinating.

Maybe he'd give the temple another shot after all.

_ _ _

This is it, Grian thought to himself as he took a deep breath, then stepped through the gate-like shape of the rubble, into the gate filled with statues. His head swiveled around, looking for one that seemed out of place. He wasn't entirely sure what to expect-- well, no. He knew exactly what to expect: a talking statue. That's what this ruin was known for, after all. He just didn't know the details; what did the statue look like? Did it move as well as talk? This place didn't have as much documentation as other monsters' domains in the area, which is exactly why Grian was drawn to it.

“Hello, weary traveler!” A voice suddenly spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. Grian turned around to see the answer to his questions: a stone statue of a winged figure, wearing a scarf across his face. He was standing with his hands on his hips. “What brings you here?” he asked.

“Oh. You, mostly,” Grian replied. Honestly, he wasn't expecting his exploration to be over so soon. Did the statue really have to come right to him?

“Aww, me? You shouldn't have. I'm just a humble tour guide.” Grian never saw the angel move, but every time he blinked he had a different stance- and was standing slightly closer to Grian. “There's so many beautiful statues here. Don't you want to take a look at them?”

Grian shrugged. He might as well make the most of this trip. “Sure. Lead the way.”

“Great!” the angel responded, and didn't move. Grian blinked, and he moved about a foot, then stopped again. “Uh, maybe you following me isn't the most efficient way to do this. Just wander around, and I'll provide the commentary.”

Grian snorted, then followed the angel's advice and started looking around the yard. The first thing he noticed was that all the statues-- apart from the angel-- were naked. Some of them were holding what looked like weapons and shields, but they were rotting, not sculpted from stone like the bodies. And most of them were striking thoroughly unimpressive poses. The whole thing weirded Grian out a little. The statues didn't look anything like what he would call art, realistic though they were. “Do you have any idea who made these?” he asked the angel.

“An old friend of mine,” he replied. Then he asked: “So, I'm famous, huh?”

“Yeah, kind of.” Grian turned around and searched the room for the angel, and saw that he was standing between some sculptures, filling a gap in the rows. He fit there weirdly well. “Everyone knows this as the ruin with the talking statue. Uh- do you have a name, by the way?”

“Etho.”

Grian hummed. It was a surprisingly... modern name. “My name's Grian,” he replied, then continued looking at the statues. He'd noticed some of them were covered in some weird dust, which he figured might be the remains of fabric clothing. Whoever made these statues had apparently decided to dress them in actual clothes, instead of simply sculpting them clothed. In order to avoid looking at what the decayed clothing was failing to cover, Grian now focused on the faces of the sculptures. Some of them-- mostly the ones holding decayed weaponry-- had an expression of noble determination on their face, but the majority of the statues looked scared. And they were incredibly detailed; to the point it gave Grian the creeps. “Your friend had some... interesting artistic visions,” he said.

The angel-- Etho-- chuckled. “Isn't it great?” he asked. Grian decided his honest answer to that might not be what Etho wanted to hear, so he didn't respond.

Etho spoke up again. “'The ruin with the talking statue', you say... is that all this place is known for?”

“...I think so, yeah. Why?”

“No stories about, like... people who go inside and never return?”

That did not help with Grian's creeps in the slightest. “Why would you ask that!?” he asked, spinning around to face Etho.

“Oh, no reason. Hey, have you seen that statue there yet?” he replied, moving with a blink to point somewhere behind Grian.

Grian hesitated to turn around, suddenly worried what Etho might do behind his back. This feels like a trap, he thought; but at the same time, he was very curious what the angel was getting at. He took a few steps backwards, ensuring that Etho didn't get too close to him-- then he turned around. Behind him was another statue with face and limbs contorted in apparent terror- A very familiar face, actually. The face Grian saw every time he looked into the mirror. Grian's blood ran cold. There was a statue of him in this ruin. Why the hell was there a statue of him? Was this some kind of elaborate prank someone pulled on him? The statue's moles lined up exactly with his own. No, it couldn't be a prank, he hadn't brought anybody with him on this trip. He was alone in this ruin with Etho- Etho! Grian whirled around to face the angel, but couldn't find him. He'd only been turned around for a few seconds, where could he have gone?

“Oh, wonderful!” Grian heard a voice behind him, and spun around again to find Etho's face inches from his own, his hand reaching towards the scarf around his neck. “Looks like you get to meet my old friend!”

Grian backed away, breathing deeply. He looked at Etho, avoiding blinking as long as possible- but it wasn't long enough. The second his eyes closed, he heard an indescribable static noise and felt a horrible squeezing sensation around his entire body... And then it was over, and Grian was still in the ruin, and he felt fine. Except... was he still in the ruin? The sun was coming from a different angle, the place looked less decrepit than it did before, and there were significantly less statues. There was no sign of Etho.

“What in the... Etho?” Grian called out, his terror having mostly changed into confusion. “Hello?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[note: the bits in IPA read "Etho?" "Hello?" and "What are you-" respectively.]

[hitmanexchange]

Welcome to Summer Bonus Missions, a fest to create and share fanworks set during or inspired by the bonus missions of Hitman World of Assassination!

Detailed schedule and rules under the cut!

General Links

2024 Tag Set | 2024 Collection

Schedule

June 1 – Nominations open June 15 July 1 – Collection opens for prompts July 13 July 31 – Work Reveals (16:59 UTC) July 20 August 4 – Creator Reveals (16:59 UTC)

All times are 23:59 UTC unless otherwise specified.

The Basics

Hitman Summer Bonus Missions is a fest for the Hitman fandom to create and share fanworks set during or inspired by the bonus missions of Hitman World of Assassination.

You can create and claim prompts for any of the bonus missions in the game. Minimum wordcount is 500 words. Art is welcome. AI generated prompt fills are not welcome.

What is a fest?

A fest is a challenge in which participants create works that fit the theme of the challenge.

Is this a gift exchange?

No, you choose the prompt you want to create for. Please gift your fanwork to the prompter, if they're not anonymous.

Nominations

The first phase of Hitman Bonus Missions is nominations, where you submit the characters, relationships and additional tags that you are interested in writing or receiving in this prompt fest to the tag set. Each person can nominate 20 character and relationship tags, and 20 additional tags. The tag set is what participants can use for their prompts later in the process.

What fandoms are eligible?

Hitman (Video Games)

Nominations Format

You can nominate characters, relationships, and additional ("freeform") tags.

Nominating Characters

You may nominate named characters that don’t have a tag on the Archive yet. Please use the name order "Given Name Family Name" as usual for Western canons.

Nominating Relationships

You may nominate / or & relationships. "A/B" is a romantic or sexual relationship; "A & B" is a platonic or familial relationship.

Please alphabetise ships by family name.

Additional Tags

Additional tags add flavour to your prompts. Nominate scenarios or tropes you think would be interesting to see in fanworks for the bonus missions.

Prompts

You can add up to three prompts to the collection. Please pick one of the Bonus Mission additional tags for your prompts. Prompts need to be Bonus Mission-themed.

Additional Tags

For each prompt you can include up to 20 additional tags from our 2024 tag set. If you’d like to suggest a specific scenario, add it to your prompt’s description.

Try to find the right balance between an interesting idea that gives authors something to work with and a too restrictive prompt.

Characters and Ships

Requests for individual characters can be gen or shippy. You may request a single character and mention in your optional details what scenarios or ships you would enjoy them in; however, a ship is not guaranteed.

If you absolutely want to see the character interacting with a specific other character, make sure to request ship tags — A/B for romantic or sexual interactions, A & B for platonic or familial interactions.

Worldbuilding

If the scenario you're requesting is not based on specific characters or ships, you can request the Worldbuilding "character" in the character tags.

When filling a request with the Worldbuilding character, please don't add it to the character tags!

DNW and Letters

You also have the option to add a link to a letter. These can be very useful to give your writer ideas for possible scenarios. It can also be invaluable for telling them what you do not want at all.

If you have anything you Do Not Want (DNW), it must be in the prompt directly to be enforceable. Authors should respect the Do Not Want list; however, the requester should not abuse it to try and force the author into a corner. Do Not Wants that appear only in an external letter will not be enforced.

Am I guaranteed one (or two, or three) gifts?

No. This is a prompt fest, not a gift exchange. Prompt fills are not guaranteed, but we can work together to make sure everyone gets a gift.

Can I stay anonymous?

You can add your prompt(s) anonymously, but I’d recommend de-anoning before April 25th, to give your author the option to gift their work to you. You don't have to de-anon your prompts if you prefer to stay anonymous.

Fanworks

Minimum Requirements

The minimum wordcount is 500 words. The work needs to be complete and qualify as a fanwork on AO3.

Works need to fit the theme of the claimed mission prompt.

Works need to be newly published for this fest and created by you. AI-generated works are not allowed.

Posting

In order to post, go to your AO3 claims page and click the "fill" button on your claimed prompt. That will take you to a new-works form with the prompt already tickied.

Please gift your fanwork to the user whose prompt you filled, if they're not anonymous.

Tagging

Make sure to tag your prompt fills correctly. This means not only remember to add the mission tag, but also, please choose the correct relationship tag if necessary.

A/B is for romantic or sexual interactions, A & B is for platonic or familial interactions. Don't tag both unless your work is deliberately ambiguous.

Deadline

There is no hard deadline, but work reveals are on July 31st, and creator reveals are on August 4th. You can add your works after that, but the anon period is part of the fun!

You may add (more) prompt fills after reveals!

Anonymity

Works are anonymous until creator reveals, the Saturday after work reveals.

You may add your work to the anon collection if you wish to stay anonymous even after creator reveals.

Additional Prompt Fills

You can claim as many prompts as you want, and each prompt can be claimed multiple times.

Be friendly!

Make sure that your fanworks do not contain any hostile elements towards people you disagree with in any part of the fanwork (title, tags, summary, author's notes, body text). Refrain from adding DNI notes.

If you shame or harass other participants or non-participating fans, or if there are signs that you have deliberately caused problems in multiple exchanges, the mod will delete your signup.

[pinkygrocket]

Mirtala finds a weird frog on the shore of Lake Oblongata, and takes it to Nurse Cruller to help nurse it back to health. --- On a late-night trip to the boy's bathroom, Raz feels something watching him, staring at him from the trees.

author reveals are live for gen freeform exchange 2023! here's the gift i wrote for @kibasniper - some light horror comedy featuring raz and mirtala!

[ao3feed-tf2ships]

Relax

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52337665

by xyzer

Scout has a goal in mind when he decides to follow Spy on his vacation. Spy just wanted to have a nice, relaxing time.

Words: 2600, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Team Fortress 2

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Scout (Team Fortress 2), Spy (Team Fortress 2)

Relationships: Scout/Spy (Team Fortress 2), Scout & Spy (Team Fortress 2)

Additional Tags: Father/Son Incest, (Attempted!), Vacation, Flirting, Unrequited Crush, Canon Compliant, mostly - Freeform, Fluff and Humor, Folgers Flash Exchange December 2023, Day At The Beach, Denial of Feelings

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52337665

[fanwork-exchange-promos]

METAL GEAR SOLID EXCHANGE - MGSX - SIGNUPS OPEN!

Posted by: mgsx_mod Metal Gear Solid exchange is an all ratings accepted freeform exchange for the Metal Gear series. Anything under the Metal Gear series umbrella is fair game. (Rising, Acid, Portable Ops, etc) All ratings accepted means All ratings. From torture scat snuff rape to fluffy kink and gen fic, you are free to request anything your heart desires. MINIMUMS 500 words, 60 second vid, Clean sketch. SIGNUPS ARE NOW OPEN! Sign ups close on December 28th 2023, 11:59 PM, EST. MGSX 2024 All times are 11:59 EST nominations OPEN: DEC 7 nominations CLOSE: DEC 14 sign ups OPEN: DEC 15 sign ups CLOSE: DEC 28 ASSIGNMENTS OUT: by DECEMBER 30th CREATION PERIOD: DEC 30-JAN 30 ASSIGNMENT DUE: JAN 31 ANON REVEALS: FEB 7 CREATOR REVEALS: FEB 14 For more details, be sure to check out the mgsx comm! 2024 AO3 COLLECTION | 2024 TAGSET | Info, Rules comments via The Fandom Calendar https://ift.tt/kE6fKmv

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43805785

All the way home I'll be warm by Anonymous After saving the world a few times, Peter Parker feels older than he should, is a bit moody, even post-holiday gift exchange and food eaten and all the other feel-good moments with his Avengers family. He thinks no one notices, but of course, two in particular do and provide the much-needed comfort and advice. Words: 3092, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Peter Parker, Loki (Marvel), Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Loki & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Mood Board, Winter, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Loki is a good friend, Loki makes a good pillow, Domestic Avengers, Found Family, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: No Way Home (Movie), Fix-It, Tony Stark is the Best Dad, Background Relationships, Background Loki/Tony Stark - Freeform, background Steve/Bucky - Freeform, Background Thor/Bruce - Freeform, Happy Hogan/May Parker mention, Recipes

[redrikki]

2022 Writing Round-Up

Now that Yuletide is out and I'm remembering to do this, let's breakdown my last year in writing! I wrote 4~ fic in four different fandoms, including one crossover, as well as 3~ meta in three fandoms. My most prolific fandom was Cobra Kai, but my most popular story was in Star Wars. I found I struggled with self-motivation, but had great success writing for exchanges and, to a considerably lesser extent, challenges.

Anywhere, here's everything in alphabetical order by fandom:

Agent Carter

Catch Me A Catch - Four times Jack failed as a matchmaker and one time he pulled it off. (Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa) Written for the SSR Confidential 2022 which is always fun, even if over all fandom enthusiasm seems to have fallen off lately.

Cobra Kai

Snake Bites: Cobra Kai Meta - Originally intended to be a collection of essays, I fizzled out after the first one which looks at how the show handles the issue of Jewish masculinity.

Tournament of Lies (All Valley 100 Drabble Challenge) - Collection of drabbles based off the All Valley 100 weekly drabble challenge. I managed 10 before I kind of lost interest, or at least focus.

Queer Eye for the Karate Guy - Cobra Kai/Queer Eye crossover! The fab five remakes everyone's favorite disaster sensei, Johnny Lawrence. Started off as an All Valley 100 challenge which escaped containment.

Ms. Marvel (TV 2022)

Three Times Kamala Thought About Revealing Her Identity and One Time She Didn't - Pretty much what it says on the tin. This was written for Yuletide 2022 and I struggled mightily with it. So mightily, in fact, I signed up for a second exchange (which didn't go live until 2023 and hasn't be revealed yet), just to procrastinate on writing it. It turned out pretty okay, though, so I'm proud.

Queer Eye

Queer Eye for the Karate Guy - Cobra Kai/Queer Eye crossover! The fab five remakes everyone's favorite disaster sensei, Johnny Lawrence. Started off as an All Valley 100 challenge which escaped containment. Yes, I listed it twice. It's a crossover!

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Meta of Ice and Fire - Another one of those metas that's supposed to be a collection of essays, but right now is just the one. In this one I content that Ned would have absolutely killed Theon if ordered by Robert to do so, but it would have constituted a moral injury.

Star Wars

Now Leaving Bespin - AU where Vader manages to capture both his kids on Bespin and hilarity ensues. Written for the Gen Freeform Exchange 2022. This was far and away my most popular piece of the year, clocking in at 2669 hits and 384 kudos. See what I mean about challenges?

Teen Wolf

Howling in the Dark: Teen Wolf Meta - A collection of meta essays that actually contains more than one essay! It has 7, in fact, looking at characters, relationships, and some world building.

[ffxvficrec]

by sillylittlemisfit As a boy, Prompto made a deal with the Gods. He asked for just one friend and in exchange, he would do anything they asked. The Gods gave him three, and in exchange, Prompto became a Reaper. He's not mad about it though. In fact, he's the most cheerful Reaper in Division 13. Even his performance reviews say so. But his life is thrown into chaos when he learns his best friend is Cupid, and really bad at his job, by way of a misplaced arrow. Now Prompto’s crushing hard, struggling to convince a kid to cross over, Noct's terrible aim causes Gladio to fall for Ignis, and Prompto’s being harassed by the Daemon King, Ardyn, who doesn't think he needs to play by the rules of soul acquisition. Words: 2317, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen , M/M Characters: Prompto Argentum , Noctis Lucis Caelum , Ignis Scientia , Gladiolus Amicitia , Cor Leonis , Cindy Aurum , Ardyn Izunia Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum , Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia Additional Tags: Grim Reapers , Cupid - Freeform , Crushes , Awkward Crush , Awkward Flirting

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Phantom Scholar

by zero077 Danny Phantom was known as a quiet, effective hero/menace. Danny Fenton was known as a geek, Twink who couldn't speak. Danny hadn't expected to lose his voice in exchange for something else. Then he gets a scholarship along with his two friends and discovers Gotham. Words: 10081, Chapters: 6/6, Language: English Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton (Danny Phantom), Danny Fenton, Clockwork (Danny Phantom) Relationships: Danny Fenton & Dick Grayson Additional Tags: Phandom - Freeform via https://ift.tt/wlYkv9Q

[arthropod-concoctions]

I had an amazing time participating in the @mcytrecursive exchange these last months! I've made a gift for @sharo-maneru, based on her and SugarsweetRomantic's fic Speak to the gods, and they shall answer.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP

Relationship: Zedaph & Docm77

Character: Zedaph

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Religion, Mythology - Freeform, not inspired by any specific myths, liberal use of epithets, Animal Sacrifice, not shown but repeatedly mentioned, Ascending to Godhood.

Summary: The story of an inventor, driven by desperation into godhood.

Text of the fic below the cut!

The inventor was the son of shepherds. He loved his parents and their sheep greatly, always taking care of them both, but there was nothing he loved more than inventing. Hours upon hours he would sit in his room, creating contraptions of all shapes and sizes. He would sell some of them; to like-minded inventors as inspiration, or to other farmers and friends of his parents, on the rare occasion that there was a clear way to use the device. Many of the devices remained in his house, existing just to sate the inventor's curiosity, and to be a curiosity to his parents.

It was one such day, when the man was deeply invested in his creations, that armed figures arrived at their doorstep. They demanded to be given their best sheep, as an offering to their gods. The shepherds, who were getting old and were in no shape to protest, complied.

When the inventor realised what had happened he was distraught. He berated himself for being so caught up in his work he didn't interfere, but his parents told him there was nothing he could've done.

“All we can do now is pray that they don't return,” they said, and so they did.

But the warriors did return. Every week they would come and demand a sheep, and every time the shepherds complied, their herd dwindling quickly.

The inventor grew restless. There had to be something he could do to save his and his family's livelihood, he thought as he lay awake one night. But his parents were right; he had never been trained for combat, so he had no hope of stopping them that way. All he could do was pray; but they had been praying for months, and had received no help. Meanwhile, the warriors took their sheep as offerings, to gain the favor of their own gods.

It was unfair, he thought. Why do they gain the favor of the gods by taking from us, while we receive nothing but silence for our suffering?

Then, an idea sparked in the inventor's mind. Maybe he had to do a little more than pray to receive the gods' help.

The next day he returned to his workshop with a fervor; he was crafting with purpose now. He took an armful of ram's horns they had stored away, and fashioned them into a crown to wear on his head, adding a support that would lean on his shoulder to help manage the weight. He took the mystical red dust that powered so many of his creations and mixed it with crushed blue stone, creating a glowing purple paste to paint his face with. He took a pristine woolen blanket that he used in wintertime and made it into a coat, using the same paste to decorate it with intricate patterns. Then he went outside, gathered many heavy stones, put them into a large bag and tied the bag to a pulley, in such a way that the stones would be released at the pull of a trigger. After his preparations, he told his parents that one way or another, the gods would ensure the warriors did not return.

Seven days after the previous raid, the inventor took his disguise and painted his face, went outside, and waited. He had never seen the warriors that terrorised his family's homestead, a fact which he saw as a blessing now; it meant they had never seen him either.

The sun was setting when they arrived, and the inventor quickly understood why his parents had never argued with them. They wore heavy armor and carried fierce weapons. The inventor grew nervous at the sight of them, and he almost decided to stay hidden, let go of his plan-- but a burst of determination hit him. He had to do this, or his family's livelihood would be gone. He rose from his position and approached the warriors.

“Just what do you think you're doing?” he called out, and the warriors spun around in shock.

“Who are you?” One of them asked, pointing a spear in the disguised inventor's direction.

“You know who I am. Offerings of sheep have brought me here,” he replied, resisting the urge to draw away from the spear. A god would not flinch at a mortal's weapon. Fortunately, the support of his crown of horns forced his head to stay proudly upright.

He saw the looks on the warriors' faces; some looked skeptical, but many others seemed to believe him. The long shadows of the setting sun obscured the edges where his disguise failed, and the shining swirls of paint on his face and cloak would make him look otherworldly, especially to those unfamiliar with the properties of redstone.

When the leader of the troupe spoke, his voice was tinged with awe: “Are... are You satisfied with our offerings? Have You come to bless our mission?”

“'Your' offerings? You must be mistaken,” the man appearing as a god said. “Are you the ones that raised and cared for those sheep?” He took a step forward; the warrior took a step back.

“Are you the ones that depended on those sheep to live? And are you the ones that had them taken from you, putting your lives at risk to feed Me?” he continued, stepping forward with each question.

When the leader spoke again, his voice was trembling. “We are the ones that cast the-”

“No. I have seen these sheep's lives, and I know where they came from. As far as I am concerned, the offers to my favor were made by these shepherds.”

One more step forward. “And they only prayed for one thing: to be left alone. So leave.” With those words, the inventor released a string he had been covertly holding; the string connected to a large pulley, which had been holding up the bag of stones. They now clattered to the ground, causing a powerful rumbling and making the ground tremble.

The warriors, frightened by this display of power, fled. The inventor breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that he'd scared the warriors off for good, and he and his parents could live their lives in peace.

It was when he turned around that he saw a different figure, the sight of whom made his disguise pale in comparison. A shining green light coalesced into the silhouette of a man, with long curved horns like those of a goat's protruding from his head; he towered over the inventor, face unreadable.

“You are bold, mortal, to claim to be one of Us,” the god said.

The inventor gulped, his bravado threatening to leave him, but curiosity prevailed over his fear. If this was a god-- and it had to be, even he couldn't comprehend how to form an illusion like this-- then this was a chance like none other to finally receive answers.

“Why have You come now?” he whispered. “Why not earlier?”

“I have been watching you,” the god replied, his voice sounding like a whisper yet clearly audible. “Testing your inventiveness... and your faith. I chose to reveal myself after seeing what you've done today.”

Of course. Pretending to be a god was blasphemy of the highest degree. “I'm sorry, I didn't think-” he stammered, then looked down at the ground. “Well, I thought you'd abandoned us. That was foolish of me, I shouldn't have-”

But the god interrupted him. “No. Look at me,” he said. The inventor obeyed, and watched the god's appearance shift; his skin and clothing shifted from being made of green light to natural colors, he morphed from a towering figure to a man's height, and his horns seemed to fade into the distance, forming just a faint green outline of his head. He looked intimidating, but human. And he smiled.

“I was like you, once. I believed myself to be equal to the gods, greater, even, and proclaimed this proudly.” His voice sounded more natural now, and the inventor heard a foreign accent as the man-god spoke. “To show me how wrong I was, the gods decided to give me exactly what I wanted: an inkling of Their divinity.

“They called it a curse, but I call it a blessing. It is an existence of power, but also loneliness; and that is why I turned my attention to you. What is your name, mortal?”

The inventor's mouth was dry. He understood the god's words, understood what he was offering, yet could not believe it. A fraction of divinity; the ability to see the world as a whole, to be able to create with only a thought? Who could possibly call that a curse? And yet-

“Will I be able to see my parents again?” he asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.

“You will always watch over them, but they can never see you. What is your name, mortal?” the god repeated.

He didn't like the idea of that loneliness, but again, curiosity prevailed over his fear. He could not decline. “Zedaph,” he said.

The god's smile widened into a grin, almost mischievious. “I am Doc. Follow me, friend. We have much to talk about.”

And so the God of Invention, patron of shepherds, became twofold. And though the shepherds mourned for their son, they would never be attacked again.

[hitmanexchange]

Welcome to Sapienzanniversary, a Prompt Fest to celebrate Sapienza's anniversary on April 26th!

Detailed schedule and rules under the cut!

General Links

Hitman Exchange on Tumblr

2023 Collection

2023 Tag Set

Schedule

February 23 – Nominations Open

March 5 – Nominations Close

March 5 – Collection Opens for Prompts

April 25 – Sign-Ups Close

April 26 – Gift Reveals (16:59 UTC)

May 1 – Creator Reveals (16:59 UTC)

All times are 23:59 UTC unless otherwise specified.

The Basics

Hitman Sapienzanniversary is a prompt fest for the Hitman fandom to celebrate the anniversary of the World of Assassination destination Sapienza on April 26th.

Prompt fills should have a minimum wordcount of 500 words.

What is a prompt fest?

A Prompt Fest is a challenge in which participants can submit one or more fanwork prompts that other participants can choose to fill.

Nominations

The first phase of Hitman Sapienzanniversary is nominations, where you submit the characters, relationships and additional tags that you are interested in writing or receiving in this prompt fest to the tag set. Each person can nominate ten character or relationship tags and 20 additional tags. The tag set is what participants can use for their prompts later in the process.

What fandoms are eligible?

Hitman (Video Games)

Nominations Format

You can nominate characters, relationships, and additional ("freeform") tags.

Nominating Characters

You may nominate named characters that don’t have a tag on the Archive yet. Please use the name order "Given Name Family Name" as usual for Western canons.

Nominating Relationships

You may nominate / or & relationships. "A/B" is a romantic or sexual relationship; "A & B" is a platonic or familial relationship.

Please alphabetise ships by family name.

Prompts

How many prompts can I add?

You can add up to three prompts to the collection. Prompts need to be Sapienza-themed.

Additional Tags

For each prompt you can include up to 20 additional tags from our 2023 tag set. If you’d like to suggest a specific scenario, add it to your prompt’s description.

Try to find the right balance between an interesting idea that gives authors something to work with and a too restrictive prompt.

Characters and Ships

Requests for individual characters can be gen or shippy. You may request a single character and mention in your optional details what scenarios or ships you would enjoy them in; however, a ship is not guaranteed.

If you absolutely want to see the character interacting with a specific other character, make sure to request ship tags — A/B for romantic or sexual interactions, A & B for platonic or familial interactions.

Worldbuilding

If the scenario you're requesting is not based on specific characters or ships, you can request the Worldbuilding "character" in the character tags.

When filling a request with the Worldbuilding character, please don't add it to the character tags!

DNW and Letters

You also have the option to add a link to a letter. These can be very useful to give your writer ideas for possible scenarios. It can also be invaluable for telling them what you do not want at all.

If you have anything you Do Not Want (DNW), it must be in the prompt directly to be enforceable. Authors should respect the Do Not Want list; however, the requester should not abuse it to try and force the author into a corner. Do Not Wants that appear only in an external letter will not be enforced.

Am I guaranteed one (or two, or three) gifts?

No. This is a prompt fest, not a gift exchange. Prompt fills are not guaranteed, but we can work together to make sure everyone gets a gift.

Can I stay anonymous?

You can add your prompt(s) anonymously, but I’d recommend de-anoning before April 25th, to give your author the option to gift their work to you. You don't have to de-anon your prompts if you prefer to stay anonymous.

Prompt Fills

Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements are intentionally low: 500 words. If you want to write more, you can!

Prompt fills need to include the requested character(s) and character dynamics, as well as the scenario suggested in the prompt. When filling a request with Worldbuilding as a character, please don't add it to the character tags!

The prompt fills also need to be Sapienza-themed. Works need to be newly published for this exchange and created by you.

Posting

In order to post, go to your AO3 claims page and click the "fill" button on your claimed prompt. That will take you to a new-works form with the prompt already tickied. If the prompt you picked was not anonymous (or is not anonymous anymore by April 25th), please gift your work to the person whose prompt you picked. You might need to add the username yourself.

Deadline

There is no hard deadline, but since this is a prompt fest to celebrate Sapienza's anniversary, you should aim for having your prompt fill ready before April 26th.

You may add (more) prompt fills after reveals!

Anonymity

Works are anonymous until creator reveals, the Monday after work reveals.

Additional Prompt Fills

You may claim a prompt that has already been claimed by someone else. Since this is a prompt fest without assignments, please try to also claim a prompt that hasn't been claimed yet, to make sure everyone who participates receives at least one gift.

Be friendly!

Make sure that your prompts and your fanworks do not contain any hostile elements towards people you disagree with in any part of the fanwork (title, tags, summary, author's notes, body text). Refrain from adding DNI notes.

If you shame or harass other participants, or if there are signs that you have deliberately caused problems in multiple exchanges, the mod will delete your signup.

[caiti-creative-corner]

Title: Blossom of Star & Flower Written for Gen Freeform Exchange 2024 Characters: Lily Evans & Sirius Black Rating: T Summary: Of all the people she might find in an alley, bruised and bloodied as if he'd been in a fight . . . Actually, Lily probably shouldn't be surprised to find a Marauder in that state, should she?

LINK