#i very rarely get femslash

[olderthannetfic]

I have really mixed feelings about the small proportion of F/F fiction (original or fanfic), because yeah sure, people have their desires, they should write what they want, I get it. It all works out when I hear it from person to person. But somehow the logic only ever applies in one direction? "There are more male protagonists because men only care about male characters! Women also mostly care about male characters, because that's the majority of characters they get!" And then somehow we also yet kvetch when men write female characters (because it's incorrectly or something, nevermind if women are writing male characters correctly). Why don't we expect gay men to feel compelled only by femslash for the same reasons (but gender swapped) as the lesbian slashers/fujoshi? All of those very rational justifications are applied selectively, "for me for not for thee," and it all only leads to "idk I just don't wanna write femslash", for Reasons. Do we get to call them microaggressions yet?

--

No, you don't get to call other people's fantasy life a microaggression.

That is indeed "for me but not for thee" in the sense that you get to want what you want but other people aren't supposed to follow their id.

Do you also police gay men who spend too much time on drag and obsessing over female divas? That's an actual real world behavior that's somewhat equivalent. It frequently goes unchallenged, at least by progressives, because men are allowed to do whatever they want with chick stuff, while women are "stealing" if they dare to stray into dude stuff.

(God, I've seen so much more policing of drag kings being ~problematic~ for acting out stereotypical gender than policing of drag queens for the same. It's nuts!)

Fujoshi are often queer, but it's absurd to think we're mostly lesbians. We tend to be bi or asexual women with gender stuff going on, though there is a mix of everybody, including lesbians. There are also a lot of AFAB non-women who get lumped in with us. On the rare occasions I find a man willing to admit to being a similar demographic, he usually does like gender play in his hobbies and entertainment. It's just that men face even more pressure than women do to fit into tidy categories. Bi women get told we're whores. Bi men are told they don't exist.

Yes, I know plenty of lesbians who write more m/m than f/f, but in the big picture of all of AO3 or all of fanfic or all of media, they aren't the demographic driving these numbers. They're vastly outnumbered by the bi women, the asexual women, and the straight and gnc women.

The men we should be looking at as an equivalent aren't cis gay men but bicurious soy boys and the like.

Do most of us fujoshi object to equivalent men doing an equivalent thing? I've seen it sometimes, and I agree it's hypocritical. I'd like us to afford men the same ability to play and take on identities in their art. I remember enjoying Ranma fandom back in the day and reading quite a lot of f/f that was probably by men. It had some of that same sense of distance and fantasy that I so enjoy in m/m aimed at fujoshi. (I do consume some by-cis-gay, for-cis-gay content, both m/m and f/f, but it's often too literal and too bound up in specific named identities for my taste.)

On average, the people I see complaining most about men producing f/f material are the same people who think that because I have a clit, I should center my life around women exclusively. In other words, people spouting radfem ideology, perhaps on purpose or perhaps without realizing.

I do agree that some of the ways of expressing a lack of desire to write femslash can get pretty douchey. I want us to move away from some of the less accurate ones like "There are no compelling female characters" because of this.

But the reason for all these jerkass explanations is that women and people perceived as women who like m/m are constantly asked to explain ourselves. These aren't usually microaggressions: they're openly hostile. People get defensive and try to answer with important-sounding reasons about identity and pain because society at large won't accept "I like this" as the true explanation.

Pleasure is never enough of a reason for a woman to do something.

[zenkindoflove]

Fandom Shipping Terminology 101: ACOTAR edition

Hi! So I decided to put a little resource together for the ACOTAR fandom. Since many people join the SJM/ACOTAR fandom and have never been in fandom before, they encounter a lot of fandom terminology that they are not quite sure what it means or have seen others use it incorrectly so they get a false impression of the meaning of the word. So I put this together, including examples from the fandom, so that people can use it as a reference to learn more about what these terms mean and when they're appropriate to use. This list is focused on words related to shipping.

Tldr definitions (note: these are definitions that I wrote based on my own experiences/research on fanlore. These are always up for interpretation and meaning and nuance change over time and depend on fandom context)

Canon ship - a relationship where the characters have romantic interactions in canon

Fanon ship - a relationship where in canon the characters are platonic but the fandom has accepted as a ship with romantic undertones, canonical potential, or has become so popular within a fandom it's has surpassed the need/desire for canon

Crackship - a pairing of two characters where the idea of them together is strange or funny depending on the circumstances. Often in these ships, the characters have little or even no interactions in canon

Rare pair - agnostic to fanon or canon status. A rare pair simply means the fandom does not make a lot of fan content for it.

End-game - This is a canon ship that is together by the end of a series.

Slash ship - Fanon ships that feature queer relationships. M/M usually takes on the term slash and F/F has the term femslash.

OTP - Stands for One True Pair. This is a ship that a shipper considers to be the most important one that they love in a fandom.

NOTP - anti-OTP, or a ship that a shipper detests/is squicked out by

Multishipping - the act of shipping a character with multiple other characters.

For more context and thorough examples read more under the cut 

First, what the heck is a ship?

The origins of shipping and becoming obsessed with fictional relationships predate our modern understanding of fandom. Modern fandom roots can be traced as early as Star Trek: The Original Series. But the terminology of calling a couple you like a ship or the act of obsessing over fictional (and sometimes non fictional) couples "shipping" has its origins in the X-Files fandom. While ACOTAR is a romance, many fandoms do not have romance as a central element of its plot, and yet, shippers find a way. That's exactly what happened for the fans of Mulder/Scully. Those who wanted them to be in a romantic relationship were called "relationshippers" which then got shortened to "shippers". The verb "to ship" would appear later from this origin.

The way to think about "what is a ship" though is really based on do people think up romantic scenarios with these two characters? If yes, then you have a ship. And in ACOTAR, oh baby, are there MANY, MANY SHIPS.

Canon vs. Fanon ships

Where does a canon ship end and a fanon one begin? Now that, my friends, is not as clear cut as you might think.

I think this discussion is very important for the ACOTAR fandom because of the state of the ship war currently. Often, there is back and forth about which ship is canon or fanon (and *eye twitch* people throwing around crackship as a derogatory term to de-legitimize a ship which makes me wanna punch shit).

I'm gonna burst everyone's bubbles and say, I personally think Elriel, Elucien, and Gwynriel are all CANON ships.

Why? Well, that's the part that is up for interpretations my friends. What is deemed canonical romantic interactions? That is where a lot of lines can become blurry and if you have ever shipped a fanon ship before - you KNOW what I mean by that. Is it a charged glance? A caress of a hand that lingered too long? Is it a shared kiss? Or do the characters have to explicitly declare "I'm yours and you're mine"?

I've shipped a lot of kinds of ships. Canon. Fanon. Canon that had its end-game blown up. You name it, I've shipped it. And to me, a canon ship is anytime the writer of the canon is putting characters in a romantic situation, regardless if they end up together or not by the end of the series. If they wanted you to feel butterflies and think "could they?", and you felt butterflies, well my friends, you're responding to canon romance. And we've seen evidence of all three ships having those moments.

But, what does that mean for fanon ships? I have shipped a fanon couple where I got butterflies from their canonical scenes together. I've read into their moments and thought "wow, that was romantically charged". I think this is where the lines of canon and fanon are blurred. Because what this comes down to is, did the author intend this? Or am I seeing more into an interaction because I like it? Most fanon ships do hinge a lot of their interest in said ship because of what happens in canon. But, often times, the authors of said content are not necessarily wanting you to take away from their writing that these two characters are interested in each other romantically. You just can't help it. You see it. You see the potential, and you want it to go there so you see more of it the more you look.

Sometimes fanon ships are very clear that the canon is not even hinting at these two characters together romantically. And that is perfectly fine. To me, a fanon ship is a ship that has become so ingrained in the fandom community that the fandom thinks of these two together romantically. That it doesn't really matter anymore what the canon says or doesn't. The fandom has created this relationship and it lives and breathes within what the fandom builds for it. Azris is a perfect example of a fanon ship in ACOTAR. The canon interactions between Azriel and Eris are sparse and platonic in nature, yet the fandom itself has created a whole fanon around them with a large enough community that as soon as you enter the ACOTAR fandom, you immediately know this ship exists.

Rare pairs and Crackships

These two terms are often used interchangeably as if they are synonyms. Now, a rare pair can be a crackship but not all rare ships are crackships and vice versa.

Generally, a rare pair is devoid of canon or fanon connotations. A rare pair is a ship that receives little attention from fans and has few associated fanworks. So, a rare pair could be a fanon couple that few people think about romantically. For example, Emerie and Gwyn have a lot of interactions in canon. I would not think shipping them together to be a crackship because I mean, they're friends, they like each other, they read smut together. There are a lot of scenarios one could imagine them falling in love. But they have a whopping 12 fanfics under their tag in AO3. Therefore, they are a rare pair but not necessarily a crackship.

A rare pair can also be a canon ship. For example, Thesan and his unnamed lover are canon. However, when you look up their relationship tag on AO3, there are 23 works and most do not appear to be focused on them.

I also have seen people use rare pair for very popular ships (like Azris) when they mean fanon. Again, rare pair is really an indication of "how much fan content can you find for this" not necessarily are they canon.

Crackships really were birthed from the intention of putting two characters together "4 da lulz" to bring back early 2000s internet lingo. Crack shipping is usually a pairing that the idea of them together is a little absurd but also fun. Beron/Tamlin is a quintessential crackship example, especially why it came to be (but we will avoid getting into all the origins of that). There is no real reason to think Beron or Tamlin would ever have a romantic interaction and thinking about it makes you laugh. Crackships can sometimes turn into fanon ships. This is another example where the lines do get blurry. But really, crackshipping is about intention and the use of absurdism within fan creation.

I also want to say, often what I see in the Elucien v. Elriel and Elriel v. Gwynriel ships wars is the use of crackship in a derogatory way, and thinking that if one of these ships does not become end-game, therefore, it proves the other was a crackship. Simply put - no. That's not how it works.

End-game

Related to the above point, I think often where the ACOTAR ship wars really derail themselves, is conflating fanon/canon/endgame with each other. I don't see people often using the term end-game, when really, it would help so much with the judgmental and strange ship policing that this fandom loves to do. Specifically, this fandom has a hard time talking about the value within shipping fanon, or shipping the blurriness between fanon and canon for any characters that do not have end-game potential. ACOTAR is not a complete series. Therefore, in a strict definition, no couples are end-game. However, given the genre, there are several couples who are clearly going to be end-game. And really, what I think the ship war community needs in their discourse, is to start using the term end-game when they want to discuss the outcome of Elucien, Elriel, or Gwynriel having a canonical Happily Ever After. The reason being is that you can use end-game, and not insult another ship. End-game is simply a fact. There is no hierarchy involved in what ship is best or not. Because ships can be beloved whether they're canon or fanon or canon who did not end up together. And they all can have very valid reasons why people ship them despite not achieving end-game.

I also urge the ACOTAR fandom to realize that end-game is not the end of YOUR experience of your ship. Your ship lives on despite what the canon may or may not give you. Even if you ship a canon ship that does not achieve end-game, you can create those fanon end-games for yourself. Many popular ships end up being popular because of the effect of that ship not achieving end-game. And while I am using the prime-ship war as examples within this post, I've seen other microshipwars popping up within the fandom as well. So, I'm not trying to pick on this specific set of conflicts, it's just the one I see most prominently.

OTP vs NOTP

I think the ACOTAR fandom could also really benefit from adopting this terminology.

The point of declaring OTPs and NOTPs is a way for you to signal to others in your fandom, "This is how much I care about this ship. Whether I love it it or hate it. Tread carefully". These terms are not meant to say one ship is better than the other from a moral standpoint. Instead, it's to indicate to others that you have a strong preference. You're going to love your OTPs regardless of what arguments others throw at you to convince you to not love them. You will probably be very annoyed by your NOTPs regardless of what others try to do to convince you that they're actually cute/sexy/hot/perfect for each other. And what the ACOTAR fandom could benefit from, from readopting OTP/NOTP language, is having a common understanding where different shipping communities boundaries are and how they can better utilize those boundaries to prevent constant fighting. Now, ship wars are inevitable because of how people see their OTPs and NOTPs, but general rule of thumb is - don't engage with your NOTP's content for your own mental sanity.

Multishipping

Multishipping can be used in many ways. Some people use it to say, hey I'm in this fandom, and I ship a lot of couples. But the origins of multishipping as a term, comes from ship war discourse in other fandoms. Multishippers generally are people who ship one character with multiple other characters. For example, if you ship Elain/Lucien, Elain/Azriel, Elain/Gwyn, Elain/Tamlin, etc etc etc, you are a multishipper. I generally would not consider someone a multishipper if all of their ships do not cross streams. It just sort of means that you ship a lot of couples. Which tends to be normal for romance series with a lot of couples. Maybe not a single of those couples is your true OTP, and that's what you mean by saying you're a multishipper. And that's okay. I think though that multishipping generally in other fan spaces is a marker of you telling others that you don't draw harsh lines with who you see characters with. I often see multishippers not declaring NOTPs. It's kind of a state of how you go about shipping often. I, for one, identify as an OTP shipper. I've never really multishipped. But I also have a very strict standard of what I call my "ships". Anyways, this is to say, this term has a lot of uses. And sometimes it can be confusing which of these uses a person means when they say it.

Slash shipping 

I've seen over the years that slash as a terminology has fallen out of favor. In the past, slash shipping was the pinnacle of shipping in fandoms. The term slash comes from the first modern fanon ship, Kirk/Spock, where the / between their names, which we now all know and use to indicate a romantic pairing (note: & is used to indicate a platonic interaction between characters), exists because the Kirk/Spock shipping community really were the originators of shipping communities creating fan content and sharing it in with each other in a massive way. In general slash (and femslash) is an important modifier of shipping because it explicitly tells you that this is a queer ship which often were not mainstream and considered canon until more recently. With the rise of canonical queer ships, I think the subversiveness of shipping queer couples has lost it's edge, therefore slash is not needed as much anymore to directly state the nature of your ship.

I wanted to keep this in the post though, because I think it's incredibly important history for ALL ACOTAR fans to understand. Shipping queer couples, and especially shipping FANON queer couples, has always been the backbone of fandom. Kirk/Spock walked so Destiel could fly. These are all queer ships that have strong fanon roots (and that fanon has had impacts on their canon) and have shaped fandom and your concept of shipping and romance tropes in inextricable ways. You don't have / without Kirk/Spock. You don't have Omegaverse, without gay shipping within the Supernatural fandom. And I wanted to make this point because this fandom has a strong het (heterosexual) ship bias. Which is okay. It's a romance series with a lot of heterosexual canon couples. But, I think because of that, many people are not entering this fandom with an understanding that people shipping queer fanon couples have been the ones who were the originators of many fandom terms that we have come to know and use today.

Conclusion:

I hope you all found this informative and that you can take away something from this post that can help you have better interactions and ability to communicate with others in this fandom. Again, I want to stress, that this is heavily influenced by my own 25 years of experience being in fandoms. And I haven't seen it all. Others will have different interpretations of these terms and experiences using these terms. So, feel free to add on anything that you think would be helpful to those in the ACOTAR community to better understand how to "ship and let ship". I do think that ship war are inevitable and not necessarily a bad thing. But using the right terms can help you engage in a more respectful way within ship war discourse.

[sitp-recs]

top 5 rare pairs? :)

Hi lovely, thank you so much! As you know I love babbling about these, kind feel bad that I didn’t include any femslash but I wanted to keep this short and include some sneaky recs as always :D hope that’s ok, would love to see your picks too!

1. HARRY/TEDDY MY BELOVED, sometimes I feel like I love them as much as Drarry as my adoration for Teddy Lupin (and Harry’s too, I’m sure) goes beyond this life, and the next. as always a big shoutout to @lqtraintracks for single-handedly seducing me into this ship back in 2012, thank you for your service 🫡

2. Harry/Ron, things like this fic by @writcraft and this post suggest that friends to lovers might be in fact the ultimate trope. it took me so long to get into the idea of them as a romantic ship, and even longer to start reading it because I’m picky af, but after I did they started living rent free in my head and there’s no way back. rip liv 🤡

3. Harry/Ron/Draco because I really wanted to include a triad, also a bit picky about them but @tackytigerfic’s foundational Aim For My Heart punched me in the solar plexus with feelings (ugh!!!), and I can’t really resist the pull now that @dronarryfest exists. I’ll take this chance to also mention my love for Dron which has superb fics like this and this, a really fun and refreshing ship with its own brand of humor and angst.

4. Harry/Sirius, look I’m a simple woman with simple fandom needs and age gap covers most of them lol I don’t read it very often but I ache for the angst potential of those hotdirtywrong vibes & delicious want x guilt moral dilemma that our Sirry champion @lqtraintracks explores so well. orrr we can go the hot & sweet route and still get ruined by tender wall sex, how dare you @maesterchill

5. Draco/Albus Severus is on this list solely bc of birdsofshore’s invaluable contribution including my all-time favorite pwp, and also my pal @sweet-s0rr0w who gifted me this breathtaking T-rated gem, how lucky am I!!!

Bonus: special mention to Sirius/Draco which I hadn’t considered before being slapped in the face by this gem by @ruinsplume and this gem by one @citrusses you might have heard of her 😌

ask me my top 5/10 anything!

[musicalmoritz]

A more positive take on fanon Aoinene

I’ve talked extensively about the problems with how Aoi and Nene are characterized by fans of the ship, and I’m not here to take it all back. However, upon reflecting, I realized I may have contributed a bit towards fandoms’ negative perception of femslash. That was never my goal, my point in all my Aoinene-critical posts is that femslash ships deserve to be treated with just as much nuance as slash ships. This includes criticizing them without needlessly bashing them. I’d say I’ve been successful in my journey to make the TBHK fandom take Aoinene more seriously, so today I’d like to celebrate that progress by talking about the things I love about Aoinene shippers!!

First off, Aoinene is among the top 10 most written for ships on TBHK ao3. It’s above multiple canon pairings like Aoi/Akane, Sakura/Natsuhiko, and Sumire/Hakubo. Whether you think it deserves to be above those ships or not, it makes me happy to see a femslash ship be so popular in a fandom. It’s still the only popular femslash ship in this fandom (as much as people talk abt Aoi/Mei, there’s still very little creations for it), but baby steps. Aoinene has so many fan fictions, edits, fan arts, fan accounts, etc. It’s rare for femslash pairings to be so popular in fandoms dominated by male characters. I think it helps that the women in TBHK are generally well-written and important, but I’d say the male characters still outnumber them slightly. So just seeing a fandom so invested in two women getting together is enough to make me smile

I know I’ve critiqued their characterization a lot, but I’ve seen some major progress lately!! Both with how they’re written, and with how the fandom talks about them. It’s not as often nowadays that I see people bashing the canon ships to put them down, and most of their fans seem to be capable of acknowledging their flaws. There are some exceptions ofc but I see Aoinene mischaracterization way less than when I first got into the fandom. I’ve seen an increase in people depicting them as “toxic/doomed yuri,” aka the term that lowkey saved sapphic ships in fandoms lol. Keep in mind that when TBHK first came out, femslash was not nearly as popular as it is now (and we’re only just beginning, there’s still a long way to go). It was common, and still is, for femslash ships in shonen fandoms to be depicted as the fluffy, unproblematic side pairing. Fans saw femslash as a way to take a breather from all the angsty men. Aoinene was turned into another boring ship among dozens, but they haven’t stayed that way. With femslash gaining popularity, I’ve seen improvement in how femslash ships are characterized all across the board

Onto the fics themselves, I have never read an Aoinene fic I disliked!! (Besides the weird ones I skimmed for shock value). The vast majority of them are super cute and written so prettily. When I talk about their mischaracterization, I’m pointing out trends I’ve noticed rather than the fics themselves. The reason you don’t see me talk this way about Teru/Akane and Mitsuba/Kou is because I simply don’t read that much slash fan fiction, even for mlm ships I like (not anymore at least, I used to be way more into slash). I’ve read through the ao3 tags for p much every TBHK femslash ship, but if I’m reading a fic that’s mlm or mlw it has to be suited to my tastes. I could definitely talk abt how Mitsuba and Kou are mischaracterized by the fandom but I don’t really bother with fics that write them that way so it’s not gonna nag me to the extent that Aoinene mischaracterization does.

I'm saying this because I don’t want it to seem like I’m targeting them unfairly compared to other ships, I point out room for improvement because Aoinene is my favorite and I want to see more diversity in the way they’re written. Hear that? Diversity, the problem isn’t the fics themselves, I just want to see more where they’re written in a way that explores their conflict. Fics like this already exist but they’re not as common. My gripe isn’t wanting to see less of a “bad” thing, it’s wanting to see more of a really good thing

And also…not everyone has to agree with me. There are some sapphics that just want to see completely fluffy wlw content, or that want to limit the angst to “it was one-sided :(“. And ykw? I may want to see more than that, but if other fans want to keep writing or reading them a certain way then that’s great. There are also shippers who wish Aoi and Nene had been written differently, and I agree. I wish their friendship was given more depth than the crumbs we get in canon, though I still hold out hope that AidaIro will give them development. Some shippers specifically wish Aoi had been a lesbian, and that Nene had been the one to understand her rather than Akane. I disagree with this take- well okay I would love a canon lesbian character but I’m happy with Aoi and Akane being canon + I like that Aoinene have their own set of struggles. But if other people wish the manga had gone in a different direction then they’re perfectly entitled to that opinion. I don’t have to agree with them, and they don’t have to agree with me

Now I want to talk about some Aoinene fanon tropes I love because I don’t see people do that with them that often:

• When Aoi gets all flustered over how strong Nene is…the reverse is cute too but I have a soft spot for damsel in distress Aoi. Let Nene carry her girlfriend!!

• Fics that have Aoi open up to Nene and let them talk about their problems. THIS is the thing we need more of omg I love it. This is what Aoinene is all about guys

• The flowers!! There are so many flowers in Aoinene fics!! Ahhhhh I love it sm. That one Beecalm fic where Aoi owned a magical flower shop and Nene took one home…it lives rent free in my mind

• Them having constant sleepovers, it feels so biblically accurate

• When they’re always going out and doing things together like going to the beach or shopping; again it feels very true to their dynamic

• Aoi pining is great and all but when people turn Nene into the pining one it’s so galaxy brain. Obviously mutual pining is superior but Nene being down bad for her best friend is so real

• I’m a big fan of fics that acknowledge that Aoi only gaf abt two ppl lmao, when they show her obvious bias towards Nene is makes me giggle

• Any fic that includes Aoi’s mommy issues

• The theme of seasons in their fics!! Omg it’s so creative. “my summer, my winter” by novaselic is a personal fave of mine (in addition to Beecalm, novaselic is also on the Aoinene Mount Rushmore btw)

• I know it’s overused in sapphic fics but I love when they go on picnics

• Nene showing up late to class and Aoi being early

• I love when fics lean into the extroverted side of Nene’s personality or in general have her act like an awkward ball of energy. Yes she’s very insecure and angsty but she’s also so funny and it makes me happy when I see writers capturing both sides of her personality. This girl befriends ppl so easily in canon, we should talk abt it more

• Whenever they simp for Sakura. Idc which one of them it is, it could even be both of them, it feels so canon. Sakura being the Teru to Aoi’s Nene is something that can be so personal

• When their friends know they like each other and tease them/try to wingman. Wingman Akane you will always be famous

Okay I’m gonna end it there because I could yap abt Aoinene fics forever. I might need to reread some, or find some ones I haven’t read yet. Every now and then I go through the tag and find some I’ve missed. Orrrrrr I might write Aoinene fan fiction, I should see if I can finish the Snow White au this weekend. No promises tho

Anyways I wrote this as a love letter to the Aoinene community; I love you guys, keep up the good work. If it weren’t for ya’ll I’d be alone in my hyperfixation so I’m glad others enjoy them as much as I do <3

[secretsofthewilde]

There's something particularly frustrating about how academic fandom studies tend to talk about fandom spaces as being a place for inclusiveness and queer representation when there's still a very prominent misogyny problem throughout them. Even when these studies address issues of racism within fandom shipping dynamics, they still tend to perpetuate the idea that fandom is the rare place where queer ships tend to be more popular than straight ones, without really addressing the fact that this tends to only true when it comes to cis, white, m/m ships. If you want some kind of numerical evidence of this, you just need to look at the statistics on ao3 to see that f/f ships are the least popular kind of pairing on that site. And when you think of the stereotypical big name fandoms, most of them are well known for their m/m ships, with the f/f ships often being dismissed or treated as a joke.

I'm not of the opinion, nor trying to make an argument in support of the idea, that this is due to the stereotype of fangirls fetishising queer men. Instead, I think it's largely due to misogyny* - shocker, I know. I really do think that the stereotypical fangirl gravitates towards slash pairings due to both internalised misogyny and the general prominence of male oriented media over female oriented media (which will therefore have more male characters that are fleshed out with more engaging writing as opposed to their female supporting cast).

However, it's one thing for the abundance of male driven stories to generate more fan works exploring said characters, and another entirely for those same fans to then ignore when we do have media that gives us well written and enjoyable female characters. I think it's in part due to our internalised misogyny that fangirls have a tendency to gravitate towards their familiar male orientated shows and then fixate on the same familiar character types, rather than exploring and celebrating the breadth of female-centric media we have finally been getting produced in recent years. And this inability to allow ourselves to enjoy female characters the same way we do with male ones is what leads to an abundance of slash pairings being celebrated in fandom spaces, while femslash ones struggle to get recognition**. The fact that there's a common joke in fandom spaces about popular pairings developing between two characters who never interacted (or for only a brief scene) is all very well and good fun, but this is almost always referring to a m/m pairing.

As fans we should really reflect on why we might celebrate a male character for doing morally grey things, but then hate a female character for exhibiting those exact same traits. It's fine to genuinely not enjoy the writing of a female character (especially when sexist writing is often to blame), but we should consider how much more willing we seem to be to forgive poor writing when it comes to male characters than we are with female characters. If we can make a million headcanons and claim to love a poorly written male character, who is now viewed as something so far removed from the canon of the media he appears in its practically a different character entirely, why do so many of us seem unwilling to do the same for female characters?

We should be doing the same with our female characters - we should be putting more female characters into our favourite dynamics and tropes. I want to see more enemies to lovers headcanons with femslash pairings; I want nbc hannibal levels of art and meta posts about toxic femslash couples; I want johnlock levels of delusion posts about a femslash couple the story writers are claiming they didn't write the subtext for. I would just really love to log into tumblr and see a femslash pairings tag is trending more than once in a blue moon.

*note: obviously misogny is not the only contributing factor, and this initial argument I'm raising doesn't address the issues surrounding racial, gender-queer identities, and other inequalities within fandom. Please do not think I'm ignoring or downplaying them.

**Theres also an argument to be made here about fangirls projecting themselves onto male characters in order to explore queer relationships, without having to challenge their own internalised misogyny/homophobia, but I'll come back to that later (and this in general) and expand on it some other time I think.

[alpaca-clouds]

Heteronormativity and (Fan)Fiction

Let me talk about something, that I am thinking a lot about right now. And that is heteronormativity and how fiction interacts with it - especially romantic fiction. Mostly, because I think there are a few parts that do not get spoken about quite as much as other things.

While reading some fanfictions - and some indie published smut - I did realize one thing: A lot of femdom straight romance actually feels a lot more queer than some fiction featuring gay romances. Doubly so when it comes to m/m fiction. Triply so m/m fiction written by women.

There has been a lot of talk within the queer community about heteronormativity and how it impacts us. Because, yes, a lot of us are drawn into comphet at some point, being pressured to get into a straight relationship to be "normal".

But it is of course something else, too.

See, while I was in the hospital earlier this year, I shared a room with an older gay man. An old, gay, white man, who was married to his partner. And obviously in his eyes, the queer rights movement had already reached everything that was to reach, because he could marry his partner - and was allowed to fuck around. And he did not quite see that the experience of him a cis, white man working in a business field that is fairly high regarded and somewhat well paid, was maybe not representative for everyone else.

And that is obviously the big thing here: White homosexual couples, who are at least middle class, and at least pass as having a monogamous relationship will be a lot easier accepted. This goes doubly so, when in their relationship they at least appear to pass for the "heterosexual roles". That is: A more male partner, and a more femine one. Be it the butch and femme lesbian couple, or the bear and twink gay couple.

This does reflect in fiction, too. And it leads to a lot of gay fiction kinda mirroring this.

Look, folks. I don't think there is a big issue in general with women writing m/m slash stuff. But I do think there is some issue when those m/m slash stories get written basically as a straight story with very clear straight roles. With one man being the clear "woman", who will more likely end up as the damsel in distress, who will more likely be the caring one, the one who might in a fantasy setting take up the healer role, and if there is sex will be the bottom. And mind you, will always be the bottom, because switches often do not exist in those stories.

Ironically this is a bit less common with femslash, which does feature a lot less butch/femme ships than one would assume. While yes, those do exist, there is way more femme/femme stuff around, though butch4butch exists as well.

Though this might also be based on the fact that femslash more often than not gets written by women as well - who might just project the kind of female character they identify with into their fiction.

Ironically - and here is where we loop back to the femdom - it even loops back into straight romantic fiction. Because yes, normally femdom romance fiction is very, very rare and often only get published indie.

It shows even stronger in fanfictions, though. Because in fanfiction we will see those rare examples were a male character might be a lot softer, feminine and submissive, will actually be once more pushed into the strong male role of the kinda toxic protector.

I noticed this a lot in terms of how Hector/Lenore is written in the fandom. Sure, there are some other femdom stories with them. But most of the time, Lenore just loops back to being the damsel, while Hector steps up to be the protector. Even though that is kinda the opposite of what we see in canon.

It also is the reason why I dislike seeing Astarion with female Tavs/Durges so much. Because Astarion is very much a twink and a bottom. He wants to be the one who gets protected by someone else and such things. But in a lot of m/f stuff I see with him, he just takes up once more just the classical male love interest role. Which I find boring.

And sure. Like, everyone can write what they can. I am not saying you can't. I will not read it, but it is totally fine for people to write it.

I just want to note that it is definitely rooted in patriarchal gender roles - and heteronormativity. And I find that really, really, really icky.

There is also the fact, again, that I am really not a big fan of the whome "Top and Bottom in male gay stories are permanently assigned roles, that do not only assign a sex position, but also a sort of pseudo-genderole". And yes, there are more than enough gays (especially those who self-identify as tops), who still want to cling to that idea. Because it is more in line with the rest of society. And because in their heads, too, there is this idea that the penetrated partner in sex should be more submissive.

It still gets to me that so much fiction and fanfiction keeps this kinda stuff up. I mean, queer stuff is the place to let go of patriarchal norms and genderroles and still, people... somehow don't?

The two ships where this irks me the most right now is Trevorcard (Trevor/Alucard) and Mizrox (Mizrak/Olrox) in Castlevania. Where most people just go: Trevor and Mizrak are the tops - and Alucards and Olrox are respectively the bottom.

And, let's face it. This originates that to a western eye Alucard and Olrox read more feminine due to their long hair.

Now, wihen it comes to Alucard I find it mostly annoying. But when it comes to Olrox? Well, I cannot help but think: "It's a bit racist, right?"

Because the fact is, that reading Olrox as "more feminine" because of his long hair is just pushing western ideas onto an indigenous character. But to him, of course, that long hair is a very masculine trait. So, yeah... I just cannot help but feel that folks really project a lot of shitty stuff onto a shipping.

In the end... I really just wished that fiction - original and fanfiction alike - would go more an explore genderoles and relationship dynamics outside of heteronormativity. Because this kinda stuff it shitty, and does a lot more harm than good.

[trashpidgeon48]

Sweeney Todd Fic Recs

So, I’ve been reading almost exclusively Sweeney Todd fic for the last few months and I wanted to gather up some of my favorites to present to y’all. (Fair warning most of these are Sweenett fics)

Pushing Daisies by FelixCited

Rating: Explicit

Words: 55k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Wonderful Canon divergent fic. Starts with the Barkers arrival in London and goes from there. Equal parts Sad/Spicy/Sweet/I want to bash the characters skulls in cause they’re so stupid.

Any fic by worstpies

Rating: Almost always Explicit

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Very smutty Sweenett smut ahead, be warned. But within each piece, you also find very interesting character studies, especially relating to my girl Nellie. For me, the character studies are the best part.

Any fic by armandjolras

Rating: Almost always Explicit

Ships: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett, Lucy Barker/Nellie Lovett, Nellie Lovett/Mrs. Mooney

Once again, another author rec. Once again, more smutty character studies. But besides the standard Sweenett fare, we also have some lovely femslash, as well as a wonderful Lucy Barker character study. I want to inject this author’s writing into my veins sometimes.

give you my wild, give you a child by stonehearts

Rating: Mature

Words: 6k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Cute, mildly angsty pregnancy au. Sweeney starts out incredibly reluctant but he comes around. Trying to earn his father of the year status back after returning from Australia.

not a lot, just forever by stonehearts

Rating: Gen

Words: 6k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Another pregnancy AU, but this time we’re at the beach and Johanna is here. This fic is such a treat because we get Johanna POV, that is so rare and it is so well done in this fic in particular.

Barber, Baker, Beggar, Bride by demonbarberofbeepbeep

Rating: Mature

Words: 16k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Lucy Barker

Sweeney stops being an idiot and realizes that the Beggar woman is his wife, Lucy. And then all the angsty complications that go along with it.

A Slice of Afterlife by Moonlightshadoww

Rating: Teen

Words: 12k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Ghost AU that goes by Beetlejuice logic. Mrs. Mooney buys the bakery after the events of the musical and they try to haunt her out. It’s a very silly and enjoyable fic.

something like love with nowhere to go by Macremae

Rating: Teen

Words: 7k [Complete]

Ship: Gen

Johanna POV character study as she reads Sweeney’s letters to her Post-Canon. Wonderful exploration of Johanna’s upbringing, complicated relationship with her father, and grief.

Passing Strange by Pamena

Rating: T

Words: 125k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

An oldy but a goody on ff.net. Nellie and Sweeney are fated to be together and so the fates make them immortal after the events of canon until they admit that they love each other.

Death is for the Alive by Defying.Expectations

Rating: T

Words: 184k [Complete]

Ship: Sweeney Todd/Nellie Lovett

Another ff.net fic. Post-Canon Afterlife AU with an incredibly creative version of the afterlife.

Bitter Freedoms by MoonlitSerenity

Rating: T

Words: 259k

Ship: Gen

More ff.net fic. Pre-Canon. A teenage Johanna ends up running away and shipped off to Botany Bay for stealing and meeting her father, Benjamin Barker. This fic is mostly complete, just without an epilogue so the ending doesn’t feel as satisfying.

Anyway, these are all the fics that I have for you today. If I’m missing any good fics, let me know. Also shoutout to my own writing on A03, plenty of Sweenett goodness to be found.

[cilil]

Femslash February

⬡ Prompt: Fantasy & getting lost (rare pair bingo) | Uinen x Tar-Míriel ⬡ Synopsis: Lost in her dreams, Tar-Míriel encounters a mysterious presence. ⬡ Warnings: / ⬡ Drabble ⬡ AO3

"What is it that you dream of, Queen of Númenor? What is your desire?"

Tar-Míriel wandered through heavy fog and shallow water, attempting to find the source of the loveliest voice she had ever heard; soothing like the sea on a calm day, ancient like its depths, beautiful like its glittering surface. 

"Is it to regain your power? A queendom worthy of you?"

"Of kingdoms I have had enough," Tar-Míriel said. "But I would ask to see you, lady, for I desire your companionship." 

"Very well."

A lovely maiden rose from the sea, and Tar-Míriel was lost in her dreams. 

Thanks for reading! ♡

taglist: @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @bluezenzennie @edensrose @eunoiaastralwings @i-did-not-mean-to @singleteapot @wandererindreams

[beyond-far-horizons]

Hey, I'm always on the lookout for sfw and non-slash-focused Tolkien blogs because they're unfortunately all too few, so your pinned post really made me hope I found another one - you do say you occasionally reblog explicit fics though, do you tag them?

Sorry if this is a weird question 😕

@marietheran  Thank you for getting in touch. It's always great to connect with a fellow fan that looks like they share your views/way of appreciation regarding a beloved story.

No offense to anyone else on here, but yes, I too find the 'tumblrisation' of Tolkien's works difficult to deal with/interact with. There are some amazing fanworks, but mostly the way the majority on here filter the Legendarium through their modern lenses and shipping goggles (while understandable) is a total turn off to me. I try not to engage mostly as I loathe gatekeeping and fandom-fighting so I try not to neg people the way I wouldn't want to be negged. Which is why I won't tag this post in the main tags this time - too much scope for drama and backlash!

To answer your questions (no harm in asking at all - I too try and be careful who I follow because I'm very sensitive about what I see too), allow me to clarify. It depends what you consider NFSW of course, but generally anything that I see as being a bit risque I tag. Obviously, my views on that and yours may differ. I try to tag everything I post so people can filter regardless of what it is, but I don't always tag a pairing or a fandom if I'm venting because that would be rude and I don't want to get hassle from fans. That point about explicit fanfics on my pinned post was in case I wrote anything myself. In fact, I don't think I've ever posted anything most people on here would consider explicit - I feel quite awkward about that stuff myself! Not to be a prude and each to their own, but I also loathe a lot of the explicit stories and reader fics on here. I wouldn't reblog them I don't think. But yes, anything x-rated I would tag. I also would tag on the rare occasions I might reblog say a femslash pairing or something. You may also wish to filter some of my JJK stuff as some of that could be a polyship/OT3.

Regarding Tolkien, I have adored the Legendarium for 25+ years, ever since I was a child. The Silmarillion is one of my all time favourite books as is LOTR. I tend to return to my perennial hyperfixation yearly, but I do post about a lot of other things - mainly SF/F and nature pictures. Tolkien, as one of my all time loves and a childhood fandom (plus the way it's written and his own views) means I tend to engage with it mainly as it was written. Meaning I don't really like modern interpretations of it, lots of different types of shipping etc in the way I might do of something like say...an anime I just got into. So I think you might align with me on that. The only thing you might not like is the fact that Melkor is my favourite Tolkien character even though I deplore his actions. I find him such a fascinating character in various ways. Also I'm a person of faith too, although not via organised religions...I love the deep metaphysical aspects of the Legendarium, even though I can be a little critical of Eru and the Valar's actions at times. I also love all of Tolkien's ladies, Fingon, Finrod, Feanor (again deplore his actions), Maedhros, Varda, Nienna, Aule, Manwe (sometimes when he isn't playing faves with the Elves), Beleg, Mablung, Gandalf, Celebrimbor, Aegnor (love him and Andreth), Gimli and so on... If canon mentions the characters are family and/or friends I don't ship them and generally get irate when I see this in the fandom (although, you know, sigh, ship and let ship and so on...). The only non-canon ships I have a soft spot for are Melkor x Varda (I do see it as canon unrequited and more in a Timeless Halls/metaphysical way, although I also love Manwe x Varda obviously), Finrod and Andreth (although I love Andreth x Aegnor and love Finrod and her being friends) and Caranthir and Haleth. Also, I'm very much a fan of platonic relationships across fandoms, but especially in Tolkien where they are so beautifully and at times intensely portrayed.

I think that's it! Apologies for Wall of Text TM!

[ezrisdax-archive]

the very first gifset I ever made was on january 26th 2014, it took me a month to immediately make a set for a femslash pair for characters who had never met. (shoutout to anyone who a) remembers the old blog and b) remembers the pair)

I've been doing this for almost ten years now.

and for ten years I've had to put up with ridiculous tags that only come up on a femslash set. "feel free to ignore the romance implication" "I don't ship this" "friendship goals" and it's forever something I've noticed that only happens on those kinds of sets. never the (extremely rare from me) slash set or the het sets. hell at most if I make a gen set someone will say "I don't go here"

fandom likes to pretend it's so much better now than what it used to be in the days where female characters were just blatantly ignored and femslash was lucky if it wasn't from xena. (sorry, I love xena, I'm just trying to make a point that other fandoms didn't get that wide femslash base, yes I know there was still a few). in truth fandom hasn't really changed much of it's attitude at all.

if you've ever followed the top ships post of ao3 that's done here you realize that out of 100 you can count the number of femslash ships on your hands.

and you can always make the argument there aren't enough female characters, or they don't get the same dynamic male characters get and that's true. but that's never bothered fandom to make up a ship before for a slash pairing. fuck man, moran didn't even show up in bbc sherlock and yet it's there with over 3000 fics on ao3 with moriarty. I'm lucky if a femslash ship gets out of the rarepair section when rare pair fic exchanges come around.

I guess this just comes across as preachy and annoying 'why isn't my ship as popular' but there's always been a push back in fandom when it comes to femslash. they don't get the depth that fandom is willing to explore when it comes to other pairings. they're the cute background ship that's saying 'lol oh guys when will you get your act together' for the slash ship.

it's exhausting.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

--

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

--

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

--

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

--

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

--

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

[jaimebluesq]

ship ask! Yu Ziyuan/Wen Zhuliu and/or Yu Ziyuan/Jin-furen

also xisang

Yay!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I very very rarely get any of these ships in ask games, so I'm going to answer them all (because it's my blog and I can :-p).

Yu Ziyuan/Wen Zhuliu

Ship It

What made you ship it? - We know there is a history - he's the only person to ever refer to her as something other than YZY and Madame Yu. What is the story behind the Violet Spider and the Core Melting Hand??? Like, okay, MXTX probably didn't intend it to be sexy, but damn, when you look at YZY's marriage, the idea of her having some secret past before JFM where she really got to live, but gave it up for duty... That's the kind of thing I eat up!

What are your favorite things about the ship? - THE NAMES. Seriously, Violet Spider with a sexy purple whip, and hand that could crush your golden core, two seriously dangerous people that one-on-one you would NEVER want to mess with!!! *Sighs* yeah, definitely sexy.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? - Are there any *popular* opionions about them? /s When I think about it, I guess it would be that they would be no better for each other than YZY and JFM, that there is a reason their history is history, having much to do with the sects they ended up in, and they were never a "meant to be", just a "could have been, maybe, had the world been different".

Yu Ziyuan/Madame Jin

Ship It

What made you ship it? - Because there is a history between them we know so little about, two women who were so close they pledged their firstborn children into an arranged marriage (and you know Madame Jin would have had to fight JGS tooth and nail to arrange it, because logically JGS would have wanted to choose the most politically/economically advantageous option, and while the Jiang had some political clout at that time, I'm sure JGS would have preferred an alliance with someone like the Wen). And because I think they'd be sexy together :D

What are your favorite things about the ship? - To a certain degree, the ship is a blank slate because we know so little about Madame Jin (including her effing name), but what we do know is that both of them are strong, opinionated women who can be vicious in their own ways, particularly when they believe they're protecting their children, even if they don't always show it in healthy ways (this is fiction, who cares about healthy ways lol). And again, the actresses in CQL are gorgeous and remind me I'm bi over and over again.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? - That, personally, I find them more interesting and engaging than any other femslash pairing in the fandom? Because I can enjoy various groupings of Mianmian, Wen Qing, and Jiang Yanli, but to me they just don't have that tooth, that bite that the older ladies do. But that's just a personal opinion - I'm very ship and let ship so enjoy your ships :D

XiSang (for this one, I'm going to borrow a format I saw on one of @fortune-maiden's responses to one of these).

Neutral Ship

Why don't you ship it? - I'm trying to put my finger on it. Because I HAVE read a handful of fics, and I can appreciate the stories and the writing, and it's a perfectly fine ship! How can I not appreciate a love for NHS and LXC. I guess it just comes down to me not feeling it. They don't reach into my chest and grab my heart and scream at me that their story needs to be told in every variation possible.

What would have made you like it? - I dunno, really. As I said, I've read a few fics and tried, so I'm not sure what would shift it over from neutral to ship. I can see the potential, it's definitely there, I just kind of... *shrugs*

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? - The biggest one is the shippers - a lot of the people I started following on Tumblr when I first got into the CQL/MDZS fandom were XiSang shippers, and they're all such awesome people that I will defend the ship on their behalf at the first sign of attack ;) And the characters are both ones I enjoy (NHS more so, he's my MAJOR BLORBO), and I can at least see the potential in the ship! It's one of those things where all the ingredients are there and correct, but it's just not the cake I want to eat.

[bittercape]

I was tagged by @mightymightygnomepriest, thank you lovely

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

204 posted works under 2 pseuds

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

484,365 as of 2/6/24.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly DC and Marvel now, but I'll dip into others from time to time

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Kiss and Tell (DC, M, wc 1,845) Paradise At My Fingertips (DC, T, wc 1,559) a bird on the edge of a blade (DC, T, wc 1,261) The Unbearable Lightness of Bedding (DC, T, wc 2,045) raps at my window, waits at the gate (DC, E, wc 2,865)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I want to, and I try to, but it's difficult when I fall behind. I cherish every comment like the treasures they are, but it's sometimes very difficult to respond.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do angst, and at least not angsty endings. The closest I get is Once More Into the Fray or The Road to Tartarus, both RQG fics and both ending with MCD. Somehow they're still not angsty.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my endings are happy, or at least funny. I think maybe What Spring Does With the Cherry Trees?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Very rarely

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

So much. Mostly M/M, but I occasionally do femslash, and sometimes omegaverse. I am far too willing to answer any challenge (or percieved challenge) that comes my way, so I have written a lot of different kinks, some of which were a struggle.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

Yes! I love crossovers and write a lot of DC/Marvel, which is not crazy at all. I'm quite happy with the DC/Discworld fic I wrote, though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, but there are some fics similar enough to mine that I have gotten anon messages about it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of

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

Yes! Baguettes At Dawn with @mightymightygnomepriest, and The Care And Feeding Of Tjelvar Stornsnasson, Or, What I Did Last Summer, by Edward Keystone, aged 27 with @ex-libris-craux a couple of years ago

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

So many. So, so many. Like many others, I shipped Gigolas before I knew what shipping was, and I don't think I'll ever stop shipping 00Q and Arthur/Eames. Current favourite is Jason/Slade, but I'm willing to ship Jason with almos anyone. Sailing up as a new fave is Jason/Frank Castle. And of course Winterhawk, which truly has some of the best writers out there.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Avignon, which I struggle with because of JKR. It's been ten years, so if I don't manage to pick it up this year, it's probably officially abandoned.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I'm good at beginnings, and I like to set the scene with a bang -- which is a necessity when mainly writing shorter fics like I do. I've also been told my dialogue is good.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I like writing long paragraphs, which is not universally appreciated. I'm trying to find a balance. I struggle a lot with writing longer fics, and I think it's unlikely I'll aim for anything longer than 20k again, at least when I'm writing on my own.

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

I've done it a couple of times, mostly single sentences in Russian for Nat or Bucky. As a reader, I enjoy it a lot.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

What Spring Does With the Cherry Trees is probably the one where I made the most effort and I think it shows. How To Get Ahead In Gotham was probably one of the most fun to write. But I think my actual favourite is Seven Days in June, which is a tiny little found documents-style thing and possibly the most me thing I've ever written.

No-pressure tagging: @ex-libris-craux @there-must-be-a-lock @drgrlfriend @katzynia @daisyapples

[saintsenara]

Narcissa ship meme edition: Narcissa/Hermione. ; Narcissa/Snape. ; Narcissa/Lily Evans ; Narcissa / Arthur WEasley

thank you very much for the ask, anon! delighted to see narcissa getting some rare-pair fun.

hermione granger/narcissa malfoy

so i don't back this, but not for the reason that you might expect...

why i think it's flopping is because hermione is someone who values unshakeable - and public - loyalty. and while she predominantly values this loyalty in relation to the cause that she herself supports, i think she'd equally apply the principle to those on the other side.

which means that i think she can understand - even if she doesn't like or agree with - the unwavering commitment bellatrix has to voldemort. narcissa - no matter her late-in-the-game turn against the dark lord [which i think hermione would approve of since it keeps harry alive, which isn't to be sniffed at] - is someone i think she would regard as a bit sly and insubstantial.

narcissa, for her part, would think hermione was hugely interpersonally off-putting and needed to learn to shut up every once in a while.

neither would be wrong.

narcissa malfoy/severus snape

canon.

no, really. i've explained why here.

lily evans/narcissa malfoy

ok, so i’m afraid to say that narlily is one of those marauders-era ships which i don’t fully get the increasingly popularity of - and so, if you do ship it i would be thrilled to get your recs and manifestos as to why.

my objection doesn’t actually have anything to do with narcissa being a blood-supremacist [although i don’t think i’d vibe with a story which didn’t address this at all - and i’m not compelled by a common version of fanon!narcissa which has her as not sincerely holding these beliefs: she is just as much of a bigot as lucius] - i think something quite interesting could be done with narlily [as in all death-eater-with-a-non-pureblood ships] as a vehicle for an examination of the hypocrisy of blood-supremacy; and with narlily as a femslash ship specifically as a vehicle for an examination of how sex with a non-pureblood which has no chance of resulting in pregnancy would be more acceptable in a culture which is so obsessed with heritage and lineage than sex which could.

why i don’t really think it would slap for me, though, is that narcissa always comes across in canon as someone who is conformist and a bit staid - largely, as i’ve written about elsewhere, because she feels a desire to perform according to the gendered conventions expected of a woman of her class background as a way of deflecting the shame brought upon her family’s standing in polite society by bellatrix and andromeda’s behaviour. lily - on the other hand - is famously a bit bolshy - cheeky and adventurous and argumentative and stubborn.

and so i simply do not imagine their personalities either working well together in any meaningful way or clashing spicily [they’d clearly both regard the other as not worth their time popping off at].

please change my mind!

narcissa malfoy/arthur weasley

yes. a pure, unadulterated [except - well - for the adultery] banger.

my justification for why... here.

[explosionshark]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @coraniaid and @isagrimorie. thanks!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

45 stories

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

361,583 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively? Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Life is Strange, Mass Effect, Avatar the Last Airbender, Warrior Nun. But i'd be down for other stuff!

Formerly: MTV Scream, She-Ra, Oxenfree

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

You Got Cool (She-Ra, 6,990 kudos)

Everybody Needs a Fence to Lean On (Life is Strange, 2,140 kudos)

Tear You Apart (Life is Strange, 1,918 kudos)

Every Other Freckle (Life is Strange, 1,579 kudos)

Dream Blue Haze (Life is Strange, 1,535 kudos)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I've been trying to more recently! But I'm not always great at it. At the very least when someone comments something detailed and thoughtful I try to reply - those comments always mean a lot to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Not fully intentionally but the place @holdsteady and I left our collaborative fic How to Live Here was basically right after a massive fight/breakup between characters that we fully planned to resolve and then just.... never did. Oops. Surprisingly, people are very rarely mean to us about this.

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

Probably Body Language? Very much intended to have that one wrapped up with a bow.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not in a long time. Last time I really did was on some of my Life is Strange fics (either homophobic hate or bc i was writing a ship people didn't like).

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

Yeah! Femslash only.

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

I sometimes joke about/hc elaborate crossovers when I'm watching stuff with my friends, but I don't really have any interest in writing any. Or reading any, really, for that matter.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! Had one of my LiS fics translated to Vietnamese. That was cool.

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

Yeah! I co-wrote How to Live Here with my best friend @holdsteady! That's the only one that's been published, at least. @nataliving adn @jewishsuperfam and i have worked on some stuff together too and that's been fun :)

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

I don't know if I actually can pick one but honest Buffy/Faith are all-timers and absolutely formative. Second to that would be Rachel/Max/Chloe from Life is Strange.

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

God, How to Live Here absolutely haunts me. There's a few Mass Effect ones (Shepard/Liara arranged marriage AU and my Jack/Miranda series) that I would love to finish but probably never will. Those are the ones that probably have the most written for them that I just haven't wrapped up.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at a lot of it! I write pretty good smut, I'm good at character voice, I think my writing is pretty readable

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually writing lmao. I struggle with coming up with workable ideas. I intimidate myself out of projects a lot. I fall off stuff kinda easy too tbh. And I'm TERRIBLE at writing alone - for anything bigger than a oneshot I need someone to hype me up and hold my hand through it or else I get bored or lose confidence :?

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

Generally in favor of skipping the google translate stuff. It's usually pretty whack

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically digimon when i was a little kid and before I even knew what fanfic was. First i posted was Danny Phantom

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I think Body Language is probably my best fic but for sentimental reasons I really love How to Live Here, since i wrote it with my best friend.

tagging @nataliving, @holdsteady, @shittinggold, @earthenterran, @lafgl, @aliceinwondrbra,, @strangesmallbard, @areweunderscoreweare, @jewishsuperfam, @morningsound15

[flightfoot]

Do you know any good fics where either Marinette or Adrien has other superhero partner?

Hm... those do happen, but it's rare.

Stone Streak by kingxuppu

Ladybug and Violet Tigress had been fighting the mysterious Duskwing for eight years now. Through the years, the two have grown stronger together and even gotten married, they are waiting until they finally beat Duskwing to start a family. At least, that was the plan. When Juleka gets confronted with the realization that her friends are starting families of their own, she realizes just how badly she wants to be a mother.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Juleka and Marinette get the chance to adopt Juleka's young modeling friend Adrien.

Maybe they aren't quite a traditional family, but with magic, rockstars, and fame, normal was never an option.

Via Discovery: There are actually two terms of venery for tigers, depending on the makeup of the group. The first is a streak of tigers and this refers to a female tiger and her cubs.

Now this is a rare pairing, there’s not a lot of Julenette fics! Adrien and Rose actually have some ship tease going on, the whole kid group in canon got broken up into two groups here, one that remained around canon age (so like 13) which notably consists of Chloe, Rose, and Adrien, and then I think everyone else are adults in their mid-twenties. It’s weird seeing Adrien as Marinette’s and Juleka’s son, but hey it works! I love how Juleka really showed Adrien the ropes on modeling and became a Mama tiger for him, the fic’s mostly just very sweet, though with a surprisingly dark final act. 

---

Accidents Are Also Miracles by @liiinerle

After a few turbulent days where four new people discover her secret identity, Marinette loses faith in her ability to keep the secret hidden. Wracked with doubts and insecurities, she pleads with Alya to take over as Scarabella, but she still can't let those worries go. Especially not once Monarch starts taking a particular, and personal, interest in her.

Along the way, she also starts to date Kagami, and has to deal with changing feelings about herself, Adrien, Alya, Kagami, and the idea of being Ladybug. At the same time, Alya works to uncover Monarch's secret identity, while Kagami struggles against a controlling parent, and a girlfriend who seems bent on destroying herself - with or without Monarch's involvement.

Fantastic Marigami fic here! You’ve got three major POVs in this fic: Marinette, Kagami, and to my delight, Alya. I loved getting to see Alya cope with taking over as Scarabella especially.

But of course, this fic centers more around Marinette and Kagami, with Marinette struggling with Monarch targeting her, and Kagami struggling against her abusive parent, as well as both of them trying to navigate their relationship together when they know that not everyone will approve. 

There’s also some other plots going on in here, like Sabrina breaking away from Chloe and becoming more independent (and closer to Adrien in fact), as well as a Lila takedown plot, though thankfully not one that involves demonizing other characters. While there are conversations about people believing Lila and siding with her, no one’s actually attacked for it except for Lila herself.

Oh yeah, and while this fic may not have much focus on Adrien, he’s still treated fairly and with respect, even when he messes up. He can make mistakes, but people understand where he’s coming from, and are still kind to him and want things to be okay, and to help him escape his abusive circumstances.

---

Crepes and Petals by @fruitdragon1a

For MLB Femslash February 24! AND for nik's birthday! Happy birthday :D Day 26: Alya/Marinette 'idea', 'taste' Alya and Marinette have been friends ever since that fateful first day in collège. Scarabella and Lady Noire have been friends ever since they started fighting crime together at the age of fourteen. Alya and Lady Noire? Their friendship is newer-- and Alya wishes it were more.

---

Withered Wings by @11jj11

Nino wasn’t sure if anyone had ever willingly took the akuma butterfly before him, but with his mind completely open to this apparent son of Hawk Moth he knew that he couldn’t turn him away. Not someone that was so afraid, not someone who would be left at the mercy of Hawk Moth.