#give me the most niche of aus or give me death!

[auspicioustidings]

Today on Mhairi's niche idea for an AU that she desperately would like someone to write or direct her to, astronaut!reader x alien!141. Thoughts below the cut!

Reader is on a mission gone wrong, whole thing goes to absolute shit and you are the sole survivor who made it back to the ship

You're already panicked, you are alone in space having only just managed to do a launch back off the surface of the planet the team was studying

Mission control is doing their best to send instructions because one person trying to get home alone is going to be damn tricky

It starts with misplacing things, swearing that something is not where you left it or that you must have eaten an extra ration because the numbers don't add up

Then you swear you start seeing someone around the ship, always just in the corner of your eye, multiple someones

You think you are going crazy and just scream into the void of the ship a lot of the time, knowing you are very far from home and won't see another person for months

One day you really know shits fucked when you wake up to find the ship is no longer heading to earth and the comms unit has been ripped out

Cue weeks or even months of space travel to somewhere unknown and you know you are not alone, but you can never catch who or what is on this ship with you

It's a cat and mouse game now, you trying every trick to catch them out as they get more and more bold with their teasing (because that's what it is you realise, they are playing with you)

Yeah bless him but Soap is def getting caught first because he snuggles up in your bed with you and you wake up before he does

Do I know what flavour of alien the 141 are? No, absolutely not, but I can tell you right now they are still soldiers

And while their orders are to bring back a human so it can be decided if they are a threat and need to be studied further, they are starting to find you a little too endearing

[lionleonora]

Reddie Fics for the Despairing It: Chapter Two Enjoyer

part of my unnamed "recommending non-classic fics for dead fandoms" series! this is a list of less well-known fics in the ITCH2 fandom, centered around reddie fics. these are all fics that i am passionate about, but you won't find them on the first three pages of ao3. if you're ready for something other than the classics, this is the list for you! organized in order of hits from least to most.

Revivified Death by ezlebe - something about me is that i love vampire fics, and vampire eddie. this features vampire eddie AND vampire richie—a treat! it's rated E, has some fun worldbuilding, and way fewer hits than i would expect (only 3,300!). some mentions of blood, but no crazy gore.

inertia and other properties of matter by skeilig - a “it’s always sunny in philadelphia” au, but not necessary at all to be familiar with the show! (i sure ain’t!) cool and seamless au worldbuilding, and some good mutual pining. plus, the gang is together and remembers each other! rated E.

your lips feel retro by kaspbrak_kid - the only T fic on here, but also teeth-achingly sweet! *stefon voice* this fic has everything—fake relationship, richie speaking at length about how much he loves eddie, multiple kiss scenes...plus some self-actualization + confidence boosts for eddie as he goes to his high school reunion!

push you out (pull you back in) by Anonymous - short, sweet, and sexy little one-shot! i don't usually go for established relationships, but i DO go for established relationships where each person has new and hidden depths of horniness that they have yet to reveal. enter this fic! rated E, and if you want more by this author, i'm preeeety sure i know who they are, but of course i'm just speculating.

the study of pathology by crescentluce - this is a sequel to crescentluce's fandom classic, the anatomy of a joke. this sequel is fantastic though! not as many people have read it, but it's absolutely worth it. told from eddie's perspective as he very quickly falls very hard in love with richie (though they've been dating for like, what. 30 minutes?). incredibly heartwarming and also super funny.

give a shape to this ache I have for you by youabird (nevulon) - i have a few all-time favorite fics that span multiple fandoms - this is one. this is a fic that i would take with me on a desert island. if this is the last reddie fic i could ever reread, it would be this one. featuring an eddie who is deeply unaware of his desires and desperately in love with richie. please please read this.

Health Improvement Planning for Dummies by glorious_spoon - a multi-chapter fic with a comparatively low hit count. dumbass for dumbass relationship, but also really hot. rated E!

hysteria when you're near by tempestbreak - this fic is fucking crazy, and i mean that in the best way. sex pollen is not common in this fandom (understandably - the worldbuilding is difficult) but this fic does it seamlessly and to great effect. an E-rated oneshot. this will literally change you.

Do you need anybody? by remusjohn - i am of the firm opinion that this should be a fandom classic. it's not quite there yet, but getting there! this is one of the first fandom fics i truly fell in love with, and also one of the only fics i've ever followed as it was posted! one of my favorite tropes is mutual pining WHILE they're having sex, and boy does this fic deliver. rated E. beautiful and fantastic.

Bonus: Author Recommendations!

organized in order of most to least fics written in fandom!

skeilig has a solid number of fics and a really interesting repertoire of AUs! as a purveyor of niche aus (REFERENCE TO MY BLOG??) i am very fond of the way they reimagine richie and eddie in a grounded, three-dimensional way.

glorious_spoon technically has fewer fics than skeilig, but they have a bunch more written anonymously for a kinkmeme event (i believe. something of that nature!). they write fantastically kinky, funny, and sweet stuff. if you're looking for something quick and satisfying (ayyyy) look through their library!

ezlebe is another in the ranks of "cool niche au authors." if you like supernatural creature reddie, or even just normal reddie, definitely look through their stuff! they have a unique voice and should be way more famous in the fandom imo.

remusjohn has the fewest amount of works in this list, but every one of them hits like a goddamn truck. they've written classics, they've written unknown fics—they've done it all! definitely check out their stuff for emotional smut and mutual pining!

thanks for sticking around this long! reddie is quite dead, but it will always be very close to my heart. reddie matters to me. i'm glad it and its writers matter to you too!

[gomacave]

What is your most niche reunion instinct idea? Or actually just tell me all of the ideas im genuinely intrigued

MY GOD I HAVE SO MANY. REUBUON IS LIKE MY FAV THING TO EXPLORE I LOVE IT SO MUCHHH.

this post is going to be kinda long also cw for nudity? perhaps?

1) I have this sfkr eva style fusing au where post-nibel seph seeks out cloud to try and become one w him and its like similar to black materia arc ish. but basically in this au seph is motivated by being betrayed by people again and again and watching them die and shes unwilling to try again and believe in humanity and do human relationships the way normal people do. so she basically convinces herself that cloud will Fix Her as the only person who could ever understand her (s and j cell connection plus having killed her once is a bonus) and this manifests in her tempting cloud like in black materia arc to give into his worst instincts etc.

on cloud's end the same ish thing is happening where he's also very sealed off and unwilling to believe in himself or others again + the allure of being praised, needed, and whole w your idol AND SO instead of giving the black materia and having it pass thru the crystal OGstyle she convinces him thru the arc to like, basically merge w her end of evangelion style human instrumentality style etc. and this complete dissolution of boundaries is essentially equivalent to death (loss of self) in that cloud is giving up on facing himself and facing the world as himself and giving in to the comfort of becoming one w seph to become god and float across the universe forever across timelines or whatever alone and forever immortal.

ANYWAYS. he sinks into her chest slowly and it feels really good and sephiroth lets his hands melt into her and finally finally almost feels him touch her heart directly. anyways. after this either 1) avalanche shows up and has to fight a seph thats merged w cloud to wake him back up and give him a second chance at making the decision to Give Up or not OR 2) cloud decides last second that no, this is not any way to live and that this is just an elaborate way to die. and he pulls away and seph feels the warmth leave her and is like NO! YOURE MINE I OWN YOU DONT GO etc etc. but cloud is like. i'm sorry. and they last boss fight<3.

^ my vision.....

wait also btw if avalanche fights seph post fusing or mid fusing w cloud cloud is like embedded in her chest that she will guard and its her weakness that u target in order to do dmg to her

wearing a shirt that says i 💘 violent painful yearning desire to be whole to consume and be consumed to become one to become conjoined etc

[codename-adler]

AftG AUs I NEED : An Open Invitation to All Writers

sharing ideas i’ve toyed with for so long but i’m beginning to accept i prolly won’t ever write, thus i’m taking a chance some of these will bewitch someone out there body and soul, and i’ll be able to scratch the itch a little… the more the merrier after all !

The Last of Us : either a romantic version of Joel & Ellie’s dynamic (obv. with the ages adjusted) /OR/ episode 3 AU 🥲 [any ship] {EDIT: i KNOW it’s been done already once, twice, but i *need* more! not just with Andreil! let’s be explorers of possibilities, cmon!!}

Detroit: Become Human : this one i’m really only thinking of Andreil, with either as android and the other as human… i don’t necessarily see them conforming to a specific plot line from the game, i think the android/human dynamic is interesting enough and fits them perfectly, but go off i guess !

Brokeback Mountain : i don’t really need to explain this one do i? happy ending vs. canon character death, that is the true question… [any ship]

Titanic : it’s got so many options and tropes, it’s like a buffet for fic writers ! could be used as setting only, or follow Jack & Rose’s tragic (or not!) love story. [any ship]

The Haunting of Bly Manor : Jamie & Dani haunt me still. great opportunity for Renison, Lailalvarez or Kathea, or perhaps a gender swap on mlm ship? or not, leave them boys as is. haunt me, it’s all i ask. [any ship]

BBC Johnlock : don’t shoot the messenger alright? sorry for the ptsd flashbacks btw. i just think their dynamic and crime/detective AU are great opportunities. i’m personally partial to Jeanaaron for this one, as they were my og idea bc the similarities are??? amazing??? Sherlock!Jean & Watson!Aaron, and the Reichenbach Fall??? so neat. but really, [any ship]

The Maze Runner : Thominewt // Kandreil !?!?!? it’s right there! [any ship] tho.

SKAM : ofc Robbe & Sander from WtFock are physically the perfect Andreil which leads to a great adaptation opportunity here, but Élu from SkamFr are also a great blueprint for a Kevaaron story. honestly any S3 Skam + [any ship]

Dune : listen, i don’t have all the answers. idk how that would even work. but surely you can figure smth out ! [any ship]

Inception : i love the movie. i love hans zimmer. i love Arthur x Eames. NORA SAKAVIC LOVES ARTHUR x EAMES. they’ve got such Andreil vibes, but so do Jerejean, even Renison. and the Foxes as dream crew??? so perf it’s insane. give me and Miss Sakavic what we really want. [any ship]

The Fault in Our Stars : 🥲 [any ship]

CA: The Winter Soldier / Civil War : so it’s kind of like an amnesia AU, but more angsty bc Stucky dynamic. Andreil’s the perfect fit, but who knows who else… [any ship]

Jujutsu Kaisen : 🥲🥲 [any ship.s]

Attack on Titan : 🥲🥲🥲 endless, endless paths… to pain ! [any ship.s]

How I Live Now : is that too niche? or too boring? 🤷‍♀️ (also let’s leave out the cousin thingy…) [any ship]

Red, White & Royal Blue : duh. (but not so duh, apparently, since i’ve yet to read it !!!) [any ship]

The Old Guard : oh the possibilities… Yusuf & Niccolo my loves… nobody be doing it like them, nobody. absolutely one of the most movie ever… top 10 of mine for sure. ugh, gosh ! foxes as Immortals?? the action, the mystery, the soulmates?? please i’m begging. [any ship]

that's what i'm letting go of for now... if anything inspires you, please tag me in your works so i can indulge in and appreciate what you've come up with!!

Love, Adler xx

[trans-cuchulainn]

hello and welcome to the niche corner

hello i'm néide and this is my blog, which mostly consists of me being grumpy about niche things. i have multiple degrees in medieval irish literature and while sometimes i use these to be vaguely educational, more often i use them to write incredibly specific fic about characters nobody else cares about, and this fic can be found on ao3 (for logged-in users)

so this is a guide to my incredibly specific fanfiction, which i feel also gives a reasonably good introduction to the kind of thing i'm likely to be yelling about on this blog

i am reliably informed that you don't actually need to know anything about the source material to have fun with these fics (or suffer from the angst), but also they can be more fun if you do. some have bibliographies/refs/explanations so i also know a few people have used them as a way to get started with medieval Irish lit which will never not be extremely funny to me

current WIP: chasing someone else's dream (16k, WIP): a cú chulainn/láeg reincarnation fic. they have been reincarnated, not for the first time. they've also been cursed, and thus, unlike in every life before this one, they've never met. ngl this fic contains some of the best prose i ever wrote, please read it

group chats of the ulster cycle, or, the in loco parentis series

a modern AU of the ulster cycle. sort of a college AU, turned into a ballet AU halfway through. consists of:

in loco parentis (135k, complete): my magnum opus. cú chulainn and láeg are university flatmates; group chats featuring all your favourite ulster cycle characters and also some you probably never gave a shit about; cú chulainn as a tiny trans ballet dancer and ferdia as his pas de deux partner; baking; everybody hating on conchobar; nobody dies; way more feelings about both ballet and shostakovich than anybody was expecting, including me; and much more. comes with explanatory notes / bibliography because i'm just Like That

getting the dee (9k, in progress/abandoned): a prequel to ILP, sort of a longes mac nuislenn fic except nobody dies and there are more sex toys. naoise/deirdre with guest appearances from conall. one day i'll go back to this but also i'm a coward

valentáin's day (4k oneshot, complete): a prequel to ILP, featuring láeg and cormac in the pub on valentine's day making fun of all their friends in relationships. they make out, fortunately their friendship survives the experience.

and when you move, i move (2.5k oneshot, complete): a sequel to ILP. just a horny lil cú chulainn/ferdia oneshot set a few months after ILP wraps up.

miscellaneous ulster cycle oneshots

i will be honest, most of these are sad fics of oidheadh con culainn ("the death of cú chulainn") because i just love writing angst, but there's a couple of others in there

a moment's silence (3k): smutty cú/láeg fic set during táin bó cúailnge, inspired by this picture. the most explicit fic i've written

to walk this world alone (6k): extremely niche fic featuring láeg after cú chulainn's death. some otherworldly happenings. sad but not as sad as it was originally going to be.

counterweight (3k): cú chulainn/láeg during oidheadh con culainn, anticipating cú chulainn's death. this one's pretty sad too.

dindsenchas (3.5k): missing scenes between cú chulainn and láeg during táin bó cúailnge. narrated by the landscape of ulster and addressed in second person to cú chulainn himself because the best sex scenes are the ones narrated by a tree.

in one dwelling place (2k): láeg/cú chulainn/emer. vaguely smutty, vaguely fluffy.

we'll say goodbye, today (2k): cú chulainn and láeg during oidheadh con culainn, anticipating cú chulainn's death. big sad hours.

glorious as the sunrise (3k): this is just angst. cú chulainn/láeg during oidheadh con culainn again. not particularly shippy but they love each other very much.

a marriage of inconvenience (3k): modern AU. cú chulainn wants to marry emer but unfortunately never bothered to get divorced after he married láeg for househunting purposes. a very silly fic.

of grief and glory (1.7k): cú chulainn deals with the aftermath of táin bó cúailnge, especially fer diad's death. more sad times lol.

flight risk (2.3k): teenage cú chulainn and láeg steal a spaceship. they get caught. fun scifi AU.

other medieval lit fics (non ulster cycle)

patron saint of toasties (2.5k): finn cycle fic. oisín took time out of uni to travel and now all his friends have graduated and he's lonely enough to text the christian union's "text a toastie" hotline. which is how he meets patrick. very silly modern AU gen fic mostly taking the piss out of st patrick

two birds of a feather (2.8k): yonec (marie de france) | togail bruidne da derga crossover fic. bird dad support group. conaire and yonec hang out and bond over their dads having maybe been birds. stupidest thing i ever wrote and i adore it.

quiver and shake (1.8k): fourth branch of the mabinogi fic. gwydion and gilfaethwy's special brotherly bonding time. canon typical content warnings apply.

other

absent thee from felicity (11k, WIP): hamlet | romeo & juliet crossover modern AU in which horatio and benvolio attempt to deal with the aftermath of their respective tragedies. sad at first, will gradually get sillier. haven't updated in a couple of years but that doesn't mean it's permanently abandoned, i'm just busy

a guild doctor and an abolitionist walk into a bar (5.5k, complete): mortimer sark/daragh vernant (the butterfly assassin by finn longman). in which they become friends while coparenting their fucked up assassin child and pretending they're not doing that. blatant pro-mortimer propaganda tbh and i'm not sorry

if you've never read any of my fics before and are wondering where to start, i firmly believe the reincarnation fic (current WIP) is a good one because it has a solid mix of angst, shenanigans, and weird fuckery, so you can experience the tonal whiplash of the rest of my fics all in one place! but it is a WIP and i make zero promises about upload schedule, it happens when it happens, so not so good if you're impatient haha. plenty of others to get you started though

[pebblysand]

Why’s fan fiction so bad these days.

hi anon! i can't tell if this is a dig at my fics, a dig at other people's fics, or just a standard observation. having said that, i typically don't answer asks that don't say hello/thank you/some sort of minimal human acknowledgement but i did find this an interesting question to raise, so.

i don't necessarily think fanfic is "bad" "these days". IMO, the ratio of good v. bad fic has been pretty much equal in most of the fandoms i've been in overtime. about 30-40% are so bad they're unreadable (i'm talking: awful grammar, terribly OOC, plot that makes no sense, etc.). about 50-60% are "a bit meh", meaning that if you're in a very small fandom where there is nothing else to read, you'll probably read them out of sheer content starvation, but they won't really give you anything of substance. if you're in a big fandom with loads of content, you'll probably pass on them. then, you have probably about 9% that are really good. this, to me, is the stuff you would recommend if you were building a rec list for others, which you believe everyone should read. and lastly, you have the top 1%. those are the fics that have taken your breath away, are imprinted in your brain forever, you've re-read them ad nauseam and have written love letters to the authors about.

i find this ratio pretty much invariable. it was the same when i was writing for Silk, for The Good Wife, and now for HP. it also seems to be the same per HP niche. to me, there's a top 10% of post-war fics, there's a top 10% of harmony fics, etc.

but the major thing to note here is that what is top 10% for me might not be top 10% for you. that's why you don't have everyone reading or reccing the same things, and that's the joy and the beauty of diversity of taste and opinion, as far as i'm concerned. it's why i disagree with your general assessment that "fanfic is bad" "these days". that's something you think - not necessarily something someone else would think, on the basis of the content published. to give you an example, in hinny circles, i see floreatcastellum and northumbrian recommended a lot. on tiktok, i see manacled recommended a lot. having skimmed through these works, they -- personally -- do not do anything for me. but that doesn't mean they're "bad" fics. i'm sure they're great fics. they are loved by many, many people. they're just not something i vibe with, and they're not in my top 10%. just like loads of people think my fics are not for them. and that's absolutely fine. as long as you don't come in screaming in all caps insulting authors whose works you don't vibe with, we can all very happily coexist.

having said that, i have to admit that as far as my taste goes, i'm currently building a massive Google Sheets rec list (yes, coming soon, i promise ^^). one of the things i'm tracking in this rec list is the date of publication/completion of the work. and from what i can see at this stage, the average date of publication of my top 10% works is 2016. which, i think, does also say something. while i do still find loads of fics published semi-recently that i like, i also do have to acknowledge the fact that if we're looking at my own personal taste... you're probably kind of right.

so, why is fanfiction so bad these days?

i think a large part of it is that my personal taste doesn't necessarily align with that of the wider public. i'm not on-trend, let's say. AUs are pretty much the gold standard now, and particularly what-if AUs (e.g. what if Harry was a Muggle? what if Ron was in Slytherin? what if Sirius survived? etc.) you see tonnes of these recommended on reddit/being published all the time. loads of people are also interested in more exploration of characters and niche ships i'm personally not interested in (marauders, death eaters, etc.) there is also a prominence of fluff (or low-stakes romantic angst), particularly in the hinny, dramione and drarry fandoms. it's escapism from canon (and possibly, escapism from the harsh reality of our world), that i just personally don't vibe with/am not looking for. we see this in original fiction as well, with the drive towards fantasy/romantasy in recent years, and more recently still, with "cosy" literature. i don't particularly enjoy these genres in original fiction either, so i think that's probably also why i don't particularly vibe with the fanfic in that same trend.

i also think, just overall, there is less content being published in the HP fandom in general. thus, proportionally, less fics people will vibe with. this is in part simply due to the age of the source material (this happens to TV shows a lot: once a series is over, people tend to gradually drop out of fandom). it's also, i believe, due to the fact that there was a boom of fandom involvement during covid (as people had nothing else to do), and that people have now gradually dropped back out. lastly, it is probably also due to the fact that a large portion of people who used to be in fandom have dropped out due to JKR's controversial opinions. all of these things combined means that there is less overall content, and thus less content you're going to like as an individual.

additionally, globally, many countries are currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. this matters because, as i always say, "fanfiction is a rich person's hobby". meaning that: if you're going to truly make an effort in writing, and truly get involved in fandom, you need to have time on your hands. time you won't have anymore if you're struggling, having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. writing at a high level is a massive time suck and very few people, right now, can afford to spend hours upon hours producing free content. it's sad, but it's true. so, of course, that's inevitably going to drive good writers out of fandom. and, sadly, it will disproportionally impact good writers, because they will be the ones who will spend the most time on their craft. it's very quick to write shit fic with loads of grammatical mistakes, much harder/longer to write something high-quality. it also disproportionally impacts, of course, marginalised communities, who will then not produce the high-quality content that represents them.

lastly, i also think that one thing that demotivates writers at the moment, is an overall drop in community engagement. i was very reluctant to buy into this up until very recently because, tbh, i always get the ick when people try and argue that things were "better before" but i have to admit... i've been getting loads of comments/DMs lately from people telling me things like "i never typically comment on fanfic, but...[your fic is great]" or people coming out of the woodwork telling me they've been reading castles for years, without ever making contact before. and, not to criticise any of these people, because i truly cherish every single comment, and i understand people might feel very nervous engaging, but you have to admit that if So Many People do the same thing, you end up in a situation where many good writers get demotivated thinking no one is reading their fics because they're not getting any engagement. and, while yes, people should write for themselves first, it's easier said than done when you're just posting into the void.

so, yeah, idk, maybe instead of complaining, we should be looking at making writing conditions better for online writers and encourage more diversity in fandom. you're always going to have trends and writing styles that you more ore less vibe with, that's immutable, but creating the conditions for more voices to be able to participate is definitely a very large factor in that.

[ghost-bxrd]

Dear GhostBird,

I’m genuinely considering writing a love letter to Owlsong because I simply cannot get over how much heart and care you’ve poured into it—especially into Jason. The way you’ve portrayed Bruce, Dick’s trauma, and most of all, Jason, is nothing short of breathtaking <33 I’m only a few chapters in, but I had to pause and write this because it moved me so deeply (I’m not yet ready to face his death LMAO)

There’s something incredibly compelling about stories where Jason’s virtues, particularly in his pre-Red Hood days, shine so brightly. He’s cautious and wary, yet hope and trust come so naturally to him. You’ve captured that beautifully, portraying him with such compassion and love. He’s witty, charming, and as someone who’s been a long-time fan of the comics—especially Barr’s run of Robin Jason—I’m beyond charmed with how you’ve written him.

Jason, despite everything that’s happened, remains kind. He loves Dick, teaches him, learns to communicate to him, and actively works on being able to make Dick live and survive with him. He’s still a bit reckless (as all Robins are!), but it’s done in such a believable, nuanced way. I absolutely love love love it <333

Personally, I feel that it is so unfair when his younger days are only viewed through the lens of the Red Hood narrative :/ You’ve struck a perfect balance between his struggles and his inherent goodness. He has attachment issues, sure, but despite everything he’s been through, his innocence survives. (Of course, that easy trust and attachment issues are what cost him everything with Sheila ;-;)

And just INCOHERENT SCREAMING ABT Dick and Jason’s brotherly relationship? It’s so precious to me, both in canon and in your rendition of it here. Your writing is gorgeous, and I’m in awe of how well you’ve explored grief—how Dick and Jason grapple with it both alone and together.

This story is truly wonderful, and I’m so grateful for it. Thank you for writing it, muah <3333 🌸🌸🌷🌸🌸

This might be the sweetest thing ever omg 🥹💚💚💚💚💚💚

I’m so happy Owl Song is giving you so many feelings! It’s honestly one of my fave Aus and every time I hear people enjoy it so much and give me such a detailed analysis of their interactions I’m just over here, tearing up with joy, unable to articulate how much it means to me 😭💚💚💚💚

It’s genuinely mind blowing how far this AU has come. I didn’t think it would get more than a couple readers at best with how niche it is. But evidently, im not the only one who digs those crazy levels of devotion and loyalty ksksksks ✨ It’s a shame we don’t see more of them working together (and actually being a family instead of uneasy allies) in canon. 🥲

I’d love to give you all the home baked cookies and cakes I can in return for this wonderful ask, but since this is the internet let me just say I love this letter like this cat loves their dog buddy 💚💚💚✨

[justhereformilgram]

Why yes I do find myself becoming enthralled with multimedia stories primarily told through songs and sometimes manga and other ways with characters labeled numbers one to ten who are all so complicated and deep <3

Under the cut is spoilers/speculation for the Kagerou Project and trial one and trial two of the MILGRAM project! If you’re a fan of one of these I recommend checking the other two out! Also discussion of suicide topics and general dark content considering these tragic characters

Ok those up above are just paired by number (prison number and order of joining the mekkakushi dan) but here is how I’d pair them based on power/themes + explanations, maybe even if there was a crossover or au sort of thing. The ones with the blue squares are what I think definitely fit while the others I had to go back and forth on

prepare for a ton of yapping. Lol. Lmao.

Kido and Haruka: Abandonment and attention issues + the power to conceal yourself so you don’t get noticed is really interesting to me… Kido is more confident and blunt than Haruka, and yet, I do think they match up fairly well.

Seto and Mahiru: I was debating on giving Seto’s power to Yuno or even Es since it’s like. I don’t know people pleasing/the whole motif of trying to see inside of people’s minds but Mahiru having mind reading powers compels me, since she’s so empathetic. It would also make her indirect murder so much more messy since she would have likely tried to show her love more if she could viscerally sense her boyfriend struggling, but ough.

Kano and Kazui: now this. This fits like a glove. They’re all about lies and pain baybeee… Yobanashi Decieve is such a perfect Kazui song it’s not even funny. (Using the Will Stetson Eng Lyrics but like. Come on)

“Act normal and all of that, but my heart’s still rushing fast so easily”

“I bit the fruit (apple motif!!) and the snake burrowed inside of me”

“But that’s only right, cause I’m a monster in kind”

“Listen closely to this coward’s beating heart, a selfish face that’s seeped in pain, the only me that remains”

“Though I say I’m really lonely, nothing’s ever gonna change”

Mary and Amane : Okay this is a more of a hear me out but hear me out. Both sheltered from the outside/real world, albeit for different reasons, Amane by her religious organization, Mary by her mom since she has Medusa blood. Petrification as a power would be helpful for amane in that murder and/or not getting hurt again, and/or punishing sinners. Also I think Amane would judge Mary since she’s all about stopping the natural cycle of death with all those timeloops

Muu and Momo: Simply they are both popular and that power of drawing eyes is so perfect for that. Less good for Muu once everyone turns on her but it still works.

Ene and Fuuta: This is so just because digital media like video games and twitter are so important to Fuuta like yes go into the computer buddy and cyberbully on another level. They also have similar outward prickliness <3

Shintaro and ES: this is really just about main characters and retaining eyes probably going to Es…? Wasn’t too sure of this one myself tbh

Hibiya and Mikoto (and John): Ok Focusing eyes I couldn’t really think of anyone since it’s very niche but ehh..? Graphic artist??? I do think a kagerou daze situation with Mikoto and John of John trying to save Mikoto in a death loop would fit them before the twist that oh no, sacrificing yourself just continues a different cycle…

Konoha and Kotoko: they can PUNCH. mostly did this one because kotoko would love to have the power to punch people to death and also. Well. Most inter-party kills. In konoha’s case due to possession but Kotoko would prob use hers for cold hard Justice

Hiyori and Shidou: ok this was Clearing Eyes since timeline shenanigans makes it so that Hiyori isn’t part of the group most loops. Maybe I should’ve put Kenjirou instead… well… welp. Shidou would go that far for his wife, that’s all I’ll say, and also the snake of knowledge fits him

Ayano and Yuno: Wasn’t sure about this one, since tbh Novel ES (the girl one) probably fits Ayano better, but Yuno having such a emotional power, able to express her feelings to another, while having everything she has going on could be interesting. Maybe Yuno matches Hiyori better I don’t know LOL Ayano is my favorite of the kagepro bunch though

[garrothromeave]

this is pretty niche but i’m sure most mcd fans will catch what i’m getting at, but to give a general understanding: i’ve been hyperfixated hardcore on sonic for a while now and there’s some neat things i’ve taken from trying to force mcd/sonic aus, lol.

in the game sonic and the black knight (my favorite game. no i don’t have a type/j), sonic goes on a quest to save the kingdom of camelot from the underworld, of which king arthur is trying to take over - but, in the end, it turns out that he’s just an illusion puppeted by the kingdom’s sorceress, merlina. merlina goes crazy, merging the underworld and the kingdom in order to make the kingdom live forever - because she’s saddened by death.

tl;dr sonic beats the shit out of the wizard merlia after she tried to take over the kingdom with immortality and then has this incredibly touching moment: “merlina… every world has its end. i know that’s kinda sad, but… that’s why we have to live life to the fullest. at least, that’s what i figure!”

and i can’t help but connect that to aphmau. to me, aphmau is PERFECT for sonic’s role - even if their personalities are very different, their core traits are still the same. make sure everyone gets to live life. to live freely, and to love!

another core feature about sonic, is that generally, he’s not meant to change. he changes the world around him. he, despite being the main character, isn’t the focus of the story - the people and the world surrounding him are! and i LOVE to imagine aphmau in that similar role, not necessarily changing herself, but everything else. motivating people to be their truest selves, liberating everyone for that chance of freedom, and giving second chances.

and honestly - she is this character. in season 1, aphmau stays primarily very much so the same. she’s the strong, fun, light-hearted one who never seems to take things too seriously (while still taking them as they are). that’s what’s so appealing about her! she’s driving the world to change! she’s making huge influences on the people around her! she’s the main character, the story-driver, the reason the world is going uphill.

and then by season 2, we lose that.

there’s nothing wrong with character development. obviously! it makes for characters to feel more real and 3-dimensional, and i’m not even saying that mcd’s format would have supported this type of character anyways, but truly… i think the concept still remains dear to me. aphmau is not meant to change; she’s meant to change the world around her. support everyone else into achieving what they’re meant to achieve. etc :(

kinda rushed art below but. consider. consider

[non-un-topo]

please give us a summary of summerwind and the tower!

Hello, my friend!! I would love to!

Summerwind is my big project that I'm most excited about currently. It's a canon-divergent au in which Yusuf and Nicolo were childhood friends (turned enemies, of course!). The amount of research and planning that has gone into this fic has made me really consider just writing an original book, but there are some major changes I'd have to make for that to happen. It's got a lot packed into it, and a lot of family ocs. I'm just obsessed with stories of two little friends who keep coming back to each other (or running in to each other by chance) despite the different directions their lives take, and all the strife and conflict they go through in their own lives and with each other, only to finally meet again in adulthood as enemies..... that's the good shit!!!

I've been hesitant to post it for a few reasons: The events lead up to the First Crusade, and so I'm worried about sensitivity. And, this might be stupid but, there is not a lot of romance. If there is any, it's one-sided. I know there must be some readers out there who don't mind non-romantic fics, but still lol. It's niche. There are also some moments that are quite dark, but I will include content warnings. I think I'm just really enjoying my Game of Thrones era.

Here's more of a summary for you: Yusuf's side of the story is mostly about his longing to chart his own path, to be adventurous, and most of all to serve justice. This starts with him witnessing an enslaved man being pulled by a horse as a child, and leads him to make some unfavourable decisions when he manages his own business. His story also has a lot to do with generational expectation (his grandfather leaves huge boots to fill, and his father struggles with this himself) and with his relationship to his mother, who is Indigenous. Nicolo's side of the story is very different, mostly because his family is much poorer than Yusuf's. He has six brothers all in one house, for example. There's a lot more to spoil from his side, but I can say that his close relationship to his uncle (who is his namesake), a seaman and soldier, and his later resentment of the world and the way his family is treated by the people around him all lead him to the Crusade. He's also not a priest in this fic -- I drew from the comics and mixed in my own hefty serving of headcanons lol. Instead, he wants to be a smith. His father, instead, was raised in the Church but left when he fell in love with Nicolo's mother. I've actually become so attached to both of the father ocs lol, Ibrahim and Lucio, but I've rambled enough.

I currently have the first two chapters completed, sort of stuck on part of the third but I'm making slow progress. I expect there will be around 11 chapters. I'll give you the names of the chapters, though, since I have those! And then I'll shut up. In order, with some of the dates included, they are:

Fledglings (1074-75)

Spring Thunder (1077-78)

The Free People (1083-84)

Midas (1085)

[as yet unnamed] (1086)

Spitfire (1087)

Interlude

Redwings

The Tide (1098-99)

To My Old Friend

Flight

The Tower is a tog and Annihilation hybrid I started in.... 2021 or 2022, I think? It's not technically an au. Instead I set it in the future, and from Nile's POV. All of the immortals are there except for Andy, whose death haunts Nile in flashbacks and dreams throughout the narrative. The old guard are tasked with a mission much like the one in Annihilation (book & movie), and things get very strange very fast. Without spoiling anything, I really wanted to explore what it might mean for immortals to enter Area X/the shimmer. I'm mostly following the events of the movie. As of right now, it's about 7.5 thousand words.

The title of the fic came from two things: It's in reference to the "tower" (inverted tower? tunnel thing?) that the biologist finds in the book. In the movie it's a lighthouse. The other reference is the Major Arcana card, which symbolizes danger, destruction, and unexpected change.

[ridearockox]

OK so you guys said "yes" tot he Murder Family AU thing and, well, it took me a while to type down everything about it, but here it is, all the info I have on this, so far!

Please, mind that this AU deals with some serious dead dove/heavy topics (murder, cannibalism, some really dubious kinks, blood/guro, sadism/masochism, and so on). None of these subjects are described in super detail in this post, but I didn't sugar coat anything either, so read at your own discretion.

OK, so to give everything some context first: the term “family” is used more to describe their dynamic (aka how they live together and share a house) than to signify any type of relation between them (then again the only thing that could make this whole concept more messed up is that if they were actually related). They are just four very messed up individuals who happened to cross paths. They’re still a band, albeit a more underground/niche one. There are stories about fans of theirs being invited into their shared house in the middle of the countryside and never coming back, but it’s more of a hushed rumor and most people think it’s fake stuff spread around intentionally to make them more “mysterious, spooky and enigmatic”.

Now here’s some info on the boys individually:

=John: Band leader in this AU’s context instead of Pete. The house they move into is John’s originally, which he inherited after his mom’s death. Enjoys killing but in a “mess free” type of way, and is the one that gets the least emotionally involved during killing. Honestly killing isn’t even the thing he’s most interested in. Sure he enjoys the rush here and there, but to him it’s more of a means to end. And that end is cannibalism. He’s very very keen on eating human flesh and is actually rather good at preparing it. Gets very mad when Keith goes overboard and defaces the bodies so much that he can barely use it for anything. Likes taking advantage of Roger’s darker desires to get sex in return. Has been friends with Pete for as long as he can remember, yet still doesn’t fully understand him and his strange behavior. Is more or less responsible for keeping things in order and under control, and doesn’t hesitate when it comes to reprimanding bad behavior. Has a slight preference for male victims, specially if they are very young and fair.

=Pete: Absolutely messed up. If you thought Pete had issues, you ain’t see nothing. Has a really weird and “artistic” way of seeing death, and that’s reflected on how he kills his victims, which is always very deliberate and slow (often with the victim fully knocked out so he can appreciate his work undisturbed, but sometimes, once in a blue moon, he listens to the devil on his shoulder and…). Victims are almost exclusively women, as he believes the female figure is far more fetching for his artistic endeavors than that of men. However, Roger is the exception. Roger with his thin, delicate figure and fair features framed by loose golden locks. Pete just knows he would look so pretty, with his bright blue eyes devoid of light and with his crimson red guts spilling out of his tanned abdomen… However Pete knows that it doesn’t matter how much he dreams and fantasizes about that, it’ll never turn into reality, so he keeps trying to find what he sees in Roger in other bodies, but to no avail. And the frustration pushes him to become weirder and weirder.

=Roger: Uses his good looks to serve as “bait” to lure victims into their house. Very charismatic and innocent looking, you would never think he’s trying to drag you into a murder house if you saw him in the streets with his welcoming smile and short stature. Doesn’t really have the stomach to kill, but certainly has the stomach to watch others being killed. Has a kink for murder actually, which John takes plenty advantage of. Unsettled by Pete at times, to the point he feels safer with Keith, despite his feral nature. Very reluctant to engage in cannibalism, at first. John was quite persuasive, however. Tries his best to keep everyone (and himself) centered, but is sometimes prone to angry outbursts that only escalate the situation.

=Keith: Honestly just doing his thing. Absolutely feral when he kills, he just likes watching blood spill, plain and simple. He doesn’t care about artistic merit or harvesting body parts for meals. All he wants is to let out steam and waste some of his pent up energy and frustrations. A little more “hyper” than the regular Keith is, if that’s even possible. Is constantly being put in time out and given punishments by John for just being a menace and literally never learns. Or he just likes being punished by John, it’s still unclear. Often hurts himself when killing and therefore is covered in many scars. Particularly enjoys blunt force when killing because it’s more messy (and therefore more fun). Has zero preference for victims, he will kill whoever.

[purble-gaymer]

got any good fic recs? i read most of yours a little while ago and i really liked them so i'm looking for something kinda similar-ish (i'm really into gsa and knight stuff). or not lol i know this is a very hyper-niche thing to be into.

i don’t do a lot of fic reading, but i do have some suggestions. i have a couple public bookmarks on ao3 that are all recommended but i’ll link those and others here:

if you’re a sword/blade/mk guy i really recommend turtle_plushi’s three bros chilling in the forest. i’m not a hanahaki fan (see aromantic label) but i absolutely love this one. if that’s not your thing, i also suggest a couple others of hers with the lemon demon one and worthy to wield, which are both meta knight-centric.

here’s my dark meta knight segment: triangulation by FluffleStar and persona non specchio by catgirltomboy are a couple i really like. they’re both anime-verse, though the gsa only makes a brief appearance in triangulation. neither are completed at the moment, but they’re great.

discrepancy by LadyEtherKnight is one of my favorites. this one is game-verse technically but there’s a bit of crossover.

an echo in waiting by TheWinterRaven is another favorite. this one’s about the gsa. i was thinking about it nonstop for months when i first read it. highly recommend.

and of course i have to add camachine’s Metamorphosed AU. you may have noticed i love it to death, and if you can stomach the body horror it’s a great time.

i think that’s everything. kind of assuming you’ve seen Heart & Soul cause it’s The gsa series but hey if you haven’t, you should give that one a read too! post was a big inspiration for me when i started writing kirby and their stuff is great.

NOW that’s everything. thanks for giving my fics a read :] it means a lot

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Information for each found below the cut. It could be some time before either series will be closer to having chapters ready to publish, which is why I'm opening requests for the time being! I worked on these a little while in the middle of the Hunter series.

"Wounded Wings":

Started out with the idea of being an x reader, realized "hmm, this feels more like an OC because there's a lot of Hey The Person Writing This Really Likes Birds And Is Projecting™ vibes about it" for what I've written of it so far and felt it's getting too niche for an x reader. Chances were not many Tech girlies (GN) were also gonna be Really Into Birds. [I could possibly re-write to make it an x reader.]

You're... gonna be reading a lot about made-up birds, most likely.

This series will take place Pre-TBB!Echo, and there is a chance he will not show up at all or until much, much later. [This will require me to actually get to Season 7 in TCW by suffering through a few fan favorite deaths I've been putting off (Tup, Fives, ect.) to have the full context of their TCW appearance characterizations.]

OC will be Force-sensitive, many possible instances of "the Force works how I say it does", and it works around the headcanon that Tech has some autistic tendencies. Smaller AU factors. Slow burn. Idiots (affectionate) to lovers sorta thing; Tech's bros see it a mile away, Tech just thinks she's a "Very Good Friend :)" for hopefully just the right amount of time.

"Hunting the Nexu"

HtN is an AU/fix-it series involving a fem!Bounty Hunter "hired" by the Bad Batch to spring Crosshair from Mount Tantiss. Meaning "Plan 99? Don't know her!" for all of us traumatized by the Season 2 finale.

No one dies in this series, at least not the major fan favorites.

Like "Sorry, Wrong Comms!" there will be hints of Reader having a backstory/aspects of personality that are not left quite so vague or open-ended; but for the most part flexible enough to put yourself in the place of the few uses of "[____] spoke with a slow drawl as she gave the marksman a cool look. 'Aw... I didn't take you for the type to hold a grudge, Crosshair...'" [not an actual sentence in-series] throughout the series.

This series does give fem!Reader an established moniker that you'll be referred to more often than an actual name.

Canon-divergent. One sided Enemies-to-Lovers vibes. [Would require me to stop putting off Season 2 re-watch.] Crosshair will not be a complete shit all the time, and there's going to be better coping strategies for everyone much like in S,WC! because they deserve 'em.

[jade-of-mourning]

hey! it’s your hopefully favorite anon again. genuinely thank you so much for responding to my asks and stuff. it’s so eloquently written and it feels like it’s actually mako’s grief in text form. that doesn’t really make sense but. reading that little cat blurb actually made me feel better. I cried. like. heavily. 😭

im glad you liked my goofy insane mentor-that-needs-a-mentor korra idea, even if you’re not going to use it. I actually had the thought while watching a video comparing korra and zuko. it’s not exactly a niche thought that ‘korra is aang’s successor and Zuko’s spiritual successor’ but then it struck me. zuko was the oldest member of the gaang (just a bit older than sokka, the former eldest) but he is still absolutely batshit reckless and insane so,,, what if i Korra’d it.

also,, triple threats,,, since I’ve already revealed that I like to fuck around with canon in every possible aspect. consider: au where bolin dies (this one came to me after seeing a video saying mako would probably… yk, himself, if Bo died) but instead of giving up or chasing whatever criminals got him/dedicating his life to helping other orphans/etc. he just. replaces zolt. and maybe he would have a zuko style redemption arc?? I’ve been listening to Brutus by The Buttress on loop too which has not been helping me escape. yk what would make the takeover even better? zolt has bolin killed to try and get a more firm grip on his chosen protégé (maybe even around the end of the events of republic city hustle) and mako finds out and just,,, absolutely bodies him. like some scraggly 15 y/o just fucking cold blood murders a crime syndicate boss and takes over and?? everyone’s like well ig he was bound to get there eventually. and there would be attempted takeovers obviously but this little fucker is like. nuh uh. you can have this as soon as I get bro back (never)

sorry I’ll stop going insane now. I think you should really listen to Brutus btw it is SO fire

-🐌

hi snailon! (i'm going to call you that. snail + anon mashed together!) you're my only anon so you're my favorite by default,,, but you'd be my favorite even if you weren't! and it's lovely to hear that my writing has helped you <33 also sorry this took a day to respond to whoops

(cont)

okay on the mentor!korra part — it is such a big brain idea that i might have to one day write an au on my au just for that alone LOL okay but korra is so zuko the same way mako is so katara!!! one day i'll talk about it i swear. the classic comparison of mako = zuko is just so Off and it bugs me haha it's really korra and it always has been. bryke is out there spreading false propaganda about their own show like wtf man

second, on the triple threats! see i was reading this and i was reminded of deerstalkerdeathfrisbee's the only thing we've ever organized is crime! (which is a BRILLIANT fic even if i don't really like wuko), except then your train of thought veered divergent so promptly that i was like. woah. woahhhh. i've always been partial for terrifying mobster boss!mako since reading this one a few years back and i wholeheartedly believe that if it weren't for bolin, mako could have very quickly devolved down a really bad path. i've seen it float around a lot of older posts, but to sum it up most succintly, mako made sure bolin survived and bolin made sure mako lived. and if bolin is gone? mako would not give two shits about trying to be a better person, and if bolin's death was of a tangible human person's doing… well. it would not end well for that person, let's say. that person being zolt would abolutely lead to mako promptly desecrating the man, and even if it wasn't a grab for power, i can totally see it proceeding to him actually becoming the teenage mob boss of the triple threats.

(ALSO STOP "this little fucker is like. nuh uh. you can have this as soon as I get bro back (never)" WHY ARE YOU SO FUNNY this is so sad i'm laughing so hard)

but really; mako is just such a guy of asinine stubborness to survive, with the single-minded goal to protect bolin. if there's no one left to protect, and if bolin didn't just succumb to the horrors of their circumstance but was rather brutally murdered as an attempt to control mako himself, that asinine stubborness to survive could very easily translate into cold-blooded violence, and would come with an unnerving facade of quiet apathy while he's really simmering on the edge of a really bad breakdown at any given moment. the guilt would also be endless, and mako would probably project the personal villain so hard on every single member of the triple threats in his general vicinity. working under this angry/guilty/repressed/violent teenager would actually be the most terrifying thing ever.

continuing your ask from last time because i realized i never addresssed this part —

I just had another brain worm sorry. so remember how I was talking about korra potentially being a guiding adult-ish figure in the avatar mako au. what if baby bending brothers. and either lin/tenzin/whoever or them and the other 2 krew members,, taking care of little gang monster and his brother,, and addressing some of the insane trauma and helping him heal and build a stable life,,,

i do love child acquisition, but for tiny feral children! mako and bolin really could've been the most unhinged trauma children of all time and i don't think that any adult on the show would actually be able to handle them as they were except probably pema. tenzin would try his best but i think that he would very easily get overwhelmed and a certain phase of mako would probably incessantly insult him with the deliberate intention to rile him up — and admittedly, tenzin has more of a temper than he'd like to admit, so i just think they'd be at odds a lot to an almost dangerous amount. (but ig i'm exploring that in the actual fic lol) i think mako as a kid would be considerably more abrasive than his is now and far more distrusting and paranoid, to an extent that i don't think that there are a lot of adults in lok that would be well equipped to handle that. (maybe kya? i could see both of them taking to kya actually. that would be funny. maybe i'll write kya into this au.) i do think that bolin could easily get all of them wrapped around his finger, lin grudgingly (and i think she'd be the sort to hold a reluctant affection for prickly loser boy mako).

also idk how i missed it initially but throwing teenaged korrasami into the mix makes it funny though. they would manage the pair of them so badly. (i'm sorry it is cute but i personally don't believe in babysitter!korra and definitely not babysitter!asami.) korra would be in a physical brawling session with mako the little punk ass bitch if asami looks away for one minute because bolin will not stop crying and mako is now trying to bite her head off because that's his little brother. bolin just thinks these two cool older girls are super neat and not at all demanding of his respect so he just incessantly says the most batshit insane things at them while mako is just like. hmm wealthy girl. i am full of anger at life i think i will project that onto you because to me you represent everything i hate about society, i've decided. meanwhile asami is just so confused because she's literally just being her sweet self and this random mobster street kid pema found won't stop giving her a look like he wants to fillet her

sorry none of this post makes any sense at all my head is OVERFLOWING i am UNHINGED thank you for enabling me once again <333 you'll never be a bother also yes i will go listen!

[transboysokka]

First of all, I'm soooo excited for that finished Zukki drawing. I am feral over it!! Also, could you maybe give a summary of each of your wips? I'm curious about all of them!

Thank you so much!!

Sure, I'd love to give some summaries! Then maybe y'all can PLEASE tell me what u are most interested in reading to help me figure out what I should prioritize?

The current priority is the one going by "Zuko Sees Sokka Fucked Up" lol bc @witchering10123 wrote the most beautifully painful Whumptober series about Hakoda and Sokka just Going Through It and I wanted to write the last two entries from Zuko's perspective when Sokka gets found because I think that would be so good and I love pain and suffering!!

Let's see... Modern Taiwan AU is the one I'm most excited about! This will be a long one and I've never written a modern AU before but basically it's based on SKAM (particularly season 3 of Druck) so it's like a cute trans love story BUT it is also going to have a LOT to do with Taiwan's ghost month and is going to be kind of inspired my Marry My Dead Body hehehehehe

Toxic Jetko I just posted about but basically it's my take on if Zuko and Jet had tried to make things work but it really just wouldn't have. It IS based kind of note for note on a real relationship I've had in the past because the dynamic was way too Jetko and I was like wow wouldn't that be a great fanfic actually

(how terrible it is) to love something death can(‘t) touch is a FUCKING. VAMPIRE AU!!! and it's so so so far from being ready but it's uhhhhh basically like if IWTV was about Zukka and Izumi. So there is some Divorced Zukka in there and also references to asshole Zhao in flashbacks... It's going to be angsty and exciting, but probably also pretty long

i will not be great, but I’m grateful to get through is a very niche sequel to if i fade away (the awful things we do to make the head go quiet) because that is a Dead Dove fic with a cliffhanger ending and I'm excited for the healing that we will see in the sequel but it does deal with heavy shit so I haven't been super quick at writing it. It does fix the Big Problem we saw in the first one though.

ZAtD Katara Arc - So when I wrote Zuko Amongst the Dragons I rushed it a bit too much and I love the universe that has been created for it so I want to go back and revisit some stuff. I skipped over the Puppetmaster and the Southern Raiders episodes in the plot and I thought it would be cool to write something with that like a deleted scene where Dragon Zuko is with Katara dealing with these terrible things

ZAtD Izumi Epilogue - I couldn't fit this into the main story BUT I want to write like a 5-10 years later snapshot of Zukka so happy with Druk and Izumi and kind of revisit how Zuko is dealing with his humanness, and is he the Fire Lord or nah?

ZAtD Divorce Epilogue - This would be way later but I'm obsessed with the idea of Divorced Zukka BUT with their psychic connection from their Dragon Bond and like what would happen any time they get into a room together hehe

ZAtD Extended Torture Scene - This is just because I had so many ideas for when Azula interrogates Sokka at the Boiling Rock that I left out of the original fic bc it kind of disrupted the tone but I DO like whump and angst so I WOULD like to finish what I had kind of wanted for that scene muahahaha

So yeah anyway, any opinions on what I should try to finish and publish first???

[myalchod]

20 questions for fic writers

Stole this from @backjustforberena because procrastination tastes delicious and also I love a good excuse to babble. Not tagging anyone else, but if you want to steal it and tag me in your replies, I'd love to read your thoughts in turn.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

110 currently.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

249,772. Which is a whole heck of a lot more than I ever thought I'd write. (70k of those were in the last year, which is pretty amazing for me when I think about it.)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At present, primarily Fate the Winx Saga, with a side of House of the Dragon on occasion. I tend to be a serially monogamous fangirl, but right now that seems to have an Eve Best asterisk. A number of others previously, most recently BBC's Musketeers.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Never and Always (Musketeers, post-S2 Milathos-centric canon-divergence AU, also the longest thing I've written for posting ... or possibly ever?)

A Pear and an Apple (X-Men comicverse, Kitty Pryde, for Jewish Comics Day)

Lessons (Musketeers prompt fic that just kept going; me writing completely against type except insofar as I am a people pleaser)

instinctively (FtWS, Silrah kink meme fill for a sex pollen prompt)

Show Me (Musketeers, Milathos sparring plus baby's first proper smut)

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

I try to! I'm consistently pretty far behind, but I like to try to show appreciation for the people who take the time to comment. (Whether I do or not, commenters are a gift and I love you all.)

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

Oh dear god. Considering my predilections, I'm not even sure what would win -- considering I've used the angst tag 26 times, there are definitely a few contenders (and in hindsight, there's things without that tag which could count). I think I'd probably put it as a toss-up between let's pretend i'm a man (because in my head it does not end well) and that thunder in your lungs (despite the tag I wrote later). (Despite the death count, I would not give it to who shall i say is calling?, mostly because canon?)

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

Probably gonna give that to the fading year. Is this in large part because of @anne-in-dreamland's ridiculously soft and gorgeous art for that last scene? Entirely possible. 💙

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. I feel like I write niche enough fandoms that it's not commonplace, at least. The occasional ones I've gotten have felt more bewildered than really hateful. (Hate commenting is bad, people. Do something better with your time.)

9. Do you write smut?

I didn't for the longest time, but was convinced to try in my last fandom and found I actually enjoy the challenge -- though I have to be in the right frame of mind and it has to fit what I'm writing. There's a puzzle to both the headspaces and the words, and I like trying to figure that out.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Also rarely. I have a couple that made it to AO3, and both were with the Sandman comics, which lend themselves well to that.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, which hopefully means never.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, not that I'm aware of -- I don't mind the idea but find the idea of it being done without explicit permission to be unaccptable. (I've had one fic podficced, which was such a flattering request.)

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

Only one, for the March Madness challenge on the Winxsource server ... and I don't know if I'd call that co-writing given the blind activity and the crack. The two collaborations I have posted were for RBB, with some wonderful artist partners.

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

I refuse to choose. All of my idiot children are precious emotinally-constipated morons.

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

Oof. The easy answer would be Between Midnight and Dawn; the framework is all sketched out, but thanks to the circumstances I hit such egregious writer's block on it that I don't think I'll ever be able to go back and finish it. This makes me sad, because I've got some parts of future scenes written out that I love, and I very much liked the concept and that (entirely unplanned) AU and how it took on a life of its own, and the fandom was so lovely and supportive, but ... alas, no. On an unposted front, I'm beginning to realise I will probably never actually write the House of the Dragon AU where Rhaenys and Meleys limp home after Rook's Rest and everything changes as a result. Intentions good, but the distractions are infinite, and right now they show no sign of flagging.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think that I handle emotional beats and introspection fairly well, and I enjoy playing with word choice and sentence structure -- which people respond to positively, so let's go with that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action, my behated. Extended dialogue, my equally behated. Plot, my kryptonite. And yet. (If you know, you know.)

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

Depends on the length of it, whether translation is necessary (or the requisite understanding can be inferred), and how it fits. It has its place, but it has to be handled carefully or it can really be unpleasantly jarring.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Trek (TNG, mostly). In pencil, on notebook paper, starting in my preteen years, and lost to the ages ... which is probably for the best.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Once again, I refuse to choose, because I'm certain that once I do I'll think of another one I love. Each and every thing I've written has had a purpose: to get something out of my brain, to explore an idea, to push myself to grow as a writer ... As long as I got something out of it, and hopefully someone (or someones, even better!) enjoyed it, that's good enough for me.