#ive never had so many fic subscriptions before lmao

[athina-blaine]

Bloodweave Fic Recs (12/23/23)

I come bearing gifts 🎁

First fic rec list here!

||

Start the Day by Anonymous (G, 500+ w || Slice of Life, Idiots in Love) A soft, sleepy sort of morning routine.

Small Traditions by Velwyn (G, 2k+ w || Fluff, Established Relationship, Post-Canon) It's the first snowfall of the season in Waterdeep and Gale is insistent he and Astarion brave the cold to meet up with his mother and Tara.

Gravity series by Kivea (T, 19k+ w || Slice of Life, Humor, Developing Relationship) A series of shorter, light hearted fics intended to glimpse at the downtime between the companions as they seem to gravitate to each other and couple up from Gale's view, feeling as though as Wyll and Karlach grow close, and Lae’zel and Shadowheart, he and Astarion are left together with no one but each other for company.

in the margins by theamazingbard (M, 1k+ w || Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship) Gale, with all the wisdom he claims to have, has gotten himself skewered by a dirty blade. The scent of his blood is so familiar at this point, yet it has never turned Astarion's stomach as it did then.

Don't Feed Me, I Will Come Back by Binary_Sunset (M, 2k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Goats) Gale finds a starving, half-crazed vampire in the woods.

Gale's Year of Rest and Relaxation by sapphala (M, 2k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Grooming and Abuse, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms) A modern AU where Gale and Astarion find pain and then solace and then violence in each other (in that order).

different hunger by little_bugger (M 4k+ w || Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Drinking) After an impossibly long three days, most choose the privacy of their tents over a group dinner. It doesn't escape Astarion what effect this seems to have on Gale. However, the effect Gale has on him escapes Astarion entirely.

The Robberwing by trashmaven (M, 4k+ w WIP || Angst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, Chronic Illness, Slow Burn) Gale goes to Baldur’s Gate in a desperate attempt to find a cure for his condition, but after a chance encounter with a pale elf, the orb becomes the least of his problems.

With This Ring by AuroraBiggsWrites (M, 4k+ w || Post-Canon, 1st Person) Gale works on a special project for Astarion.

Ask My Glass of Wine For Guidance by Caelanmiriel (M, 5k+ w || Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Academic Misconduct, Abuse of Power) Gale sits in the back of the taxi, fiddling with the wires of his headphones and bouncing his leg up and down, and tells himself that he does not feel sick. It’s just a party.

Bring me home in a blinding dream by Perching_Owl (M, 5k+ w || Whump, Suicidal Thoughts, Established Relationship) Gale is not doing well after he goes back to Waterdeep.

The Fourth Ring by Vamillepudding (M, 19k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort) Astarion is near the docks when he feels Cazador's compulsion on him snap. He doesn't think twice. He just takes the next available ship out of Baldur's Gate. Its destination: The City of Splendors. Waterdeep.

mortal bonds, immortal regret(s) by Sinister_Queer (E, 4k+ w || Epilogue, Ascended!Astarion, God!Gale, Manipulation, Unhealthy Relationships) The God of Ambition and the Vampire Ascendant attend a party. Gale has spent six months alone and Astarion is not afraid anymore. An arrangement is made.

Strigil by ZiGraves (E, 5k+ w || Soft Gale, Hand jobs) Gale is having some difficulties with stains on both skin and clothing. Astarion has a solution.

Disobedience by mossfloss1 (E, 19k+ w || First Time, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers) Good old-fashioned rumination on choice and compulsion. Gale and Astarion shake off their metaphorical shackles.

Stay Though My Arms Shake by Lunarwench (E, 34k+ w WIP || Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Domestic Fluff, Post-Canon) Two months after the brain falls, Baldur's Gate has picked up most of the pieces. The band of heroes that saved Faerûn has been there through most of it, helping the city back on its feet. But now it's time to move on. Old lives to get back to, families to return to. Gale is going back to his tower, back to Tara and the blessed quiet. Alone. Or, at least, that was the plan.

[maternalcube]

i did an art summary so now im doing a fic summary. i was tagged by @jamthedingus also!! ive never done one of these before!! lets go!!!

Rest (13106)

Keith & Lance's Island Adventure (20631)

Atlantis (10014 words)

The Way to a Man’s Heart (6858 words)

nobody's business (2096 words)

leave, and take (557 words)

dead girl walking (1661 words)

the course of fate (1039 words)

who ya gonna call (465 words)

come here often? (806 words)

til kingdom come (1950 words)

stars in the sky (pt 2) (5404 words)

a song of falling (630 words)

Eyes to the Sky (3683 words)

Feet on the Ground (4050 words)

Divergence (6669 words)

homecoming (1426 words)

Window of Opportunity (11144 words)

along that wilderness of glass (3801 words)

string theory (2327 words)

Katt Week (1062 words)

The Pining-Plant (3860 words)

at the end of many worlds (21684 words)

you're my home (19646 words)

Believe Me (3177 words)

Starchild (3568 words)

Summer Heat (2285 words)

third time's the charm (5349 words)

Blackbird (59546 words)

The Sixth Planet (9444 words)

all the infinite realities (1197 words)

Total Fics: 31! (plus one i posted anonymously lmao) Total Words: 229999! (except parts of string theory and the sixth planet were actually posted last year... but still, what a number)

more under the cut!

Ship/character breakdown: i didnt filter out my prompt collection or abandoned wips here so /shrug Ship breakdown:

klance - 6 sheith - 5 shance - 5 katt - 4 heith - 3 pallura - 2 and one each of plance, kallura, allurance, shatt, shkatt, kidge, kidgance, and shunk. and keiths parents lol. let it never be said i am not a multishipper.

and i know gen isnt a ship but it tied with klance at 6 (plus whatevers in the prompt collection) which was a surprise

Character breakdown: man if theres a way to get ao3 to show me ALL the stats, i dont know it. but.

keith - 25 (shocker) shiro - 23 lance - 21 pidge - 17 hunk - 16 allura - 12 matt - 12 and then coran and sam are at 4, and zarkon ats 3 and presumably many others are at 3 or less

Characters that had the main focus: well ~9 were from keiths pov, and ~5 each from shiro and lances povs. i think i also had ~5 from multiple points of view. its safe to say that keith has my heart tho lol

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title: i still like “at the end of many worlds.” i weirdly still like “Blackbird” too even if it has nothing to do with anything... Worst title: “Rest.” :/ also like all of the abandoned wips bc i didnt care. and “Keith & Lance's Island Adventure.″ some of my zine fic titles were also... bad. im bad at titles.

Best/worst first line?

Best: Keith & Lance's Island Adventure. ok the title is bad but this line? this really sets the tone for whole fic. you know what youre getting yourself into here.

When Pidge invited Keith to a fully-funded graduation party aboard the Holt family boat (“the smaller one, anyway,” she’d said), this is not exactly what he'd pictured: three of them standing on a wobbly dock, packed bags at their feet, sky cloudy and gray, while the Holt siblings stand on a little ledge off the back of the boat and deny entry.

Worst: ive got two for this lol

at the end of many worlds: even i have to read this a couple times to figure out what i was trying to say. at least you know youre in for pain...

Keith’s mother shows up to interrupt movie night often enough that, this time, Keith almost doesn’t realize anything’s wrong. Almost, because she’s silhouetted by the movie, but she’s clutching her arm and panting for breath, and in the thin edge of light around her he sees a wet and vibrant red.

Divergence: because all your friends being dead is EXACTLY like losing at dodgeball. yeah, theres a reason i abandoned this one.

Hunk always hated playing dodgeball. Not because he was bad at it--though he was--but because he always ended up the last one standing, and therefore the only target for the entire other team. It was due to a tendency to hang unnoticed in the back, he knew, but that didn't change the sickening, empty feeling of looking around and realizing there's no one left but him, and there's no way he can win. Only wait for the inevitable.

This, Hunk decides, is a lot like that, only, like, a billion times worse.

Best/worst last line?

Best: The Pining-Plant. there are a few others that were cute too but this one is also good out of context so

And then the pod swishes open and he's scrambling to catch Pidge as she stumbles out. She clings to his arms to steady herself and his heart swells.

"Falling for me again, huh?" he asks, and she groans loudly.

"Let me go, I'm getting back in the pod," she says, and he laughs. He doesn't let go, and neither does she.

Worst: if im bad at titles, im worse at endings. most are bad. i suspect the ending to “Rest” is terrible but i cant bring myself to even open that shit again so: Believe Me. if weather were a recurring theme in this fic, itd be fine, but as is its just... a weird note to end the fic on lmao

Hunk rocks back on his heels. "We aren't counting this as our official first date, right?"

"I dunno," Keith says, and now he smiles at the rain instead of frowning. It shows no sign of easing up, but whatever—they're soaked anyway. "This seems pretty good to me."

“...All right.” If nothing else, it’ll make a good story. And, Hunk had to admit—he’s pretty happy with how it’s turned out, rain and all.

But next time, he's double-checking the forecast, just in case.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

more than i expected! considering ive been in grad school all year!! i wrote about the same amount wordcount-wise in 2017 which i spent only half in school so. idk how i managed it.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

the anonymous fic was a surprise but im not gonna talk about that lol. otherwise... nah, its all been my usual stuff.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

blackbird, probably. i like working on that one. summer heat was also fun, id sort of forgotten about it bc it was a zine fic but coming back to it, i really liked it. likewise with third time’s the charm. and i like t6p a lot even if i kinda hate drawing for it :’)

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

depends on your metric. window of opportunity has the most kudos, keith and lance’s island adventure has the most hits, and t6p has the most comments and subscriptions. 

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

AT THE END OF MANY WORLDS. oh man i killed myself over that fic. it was important to me. but i think the mcd scared everyone off :’)

Story that could have been better?

i realize “all of them” is kind of a cop out answer but like

Sexiest story?

i have written nothing sexy, ever, in my whole life

Saddest story?

i mean, ateomw. considering all the death. blackbird def has its moments too.

Most fun?

i feel like i answered this in the favorite story q lmao. you’re my home also gets a shoutout, that thing was,, super self-indulgent lmao. and id be lying if i said i didnt have fun with parts of ateomw, even if its mostly sad.

Story with single sweetest moment?

man i write a lot of fluff but so much of you’re my home is just tooth-rotting. heres part of the proposal scene lmao

"Lance!" Keith yelps, barely rescuing the ring from falling into the sand with them. Lance pushes himself up on his arms, silhouetted by the sun and glowing with it.

"Really?" he asks breathlessly.

"Yeah," Keith says, and maybe he should've prepared something to say, that's a thing people do, right? Hell, he's winging it. "I know we can't stay here on Earth forever, 'cause we're paladins, and there's still stuff out there we gotta do. And I know you probably want to stay because this is your home—but you're my home, and if we gotta go, at least you'll have me, good or bad." He grins crookedly. "Or rocket science. Whatever happens, I'll be there."

Hardest story to write?

well t6p gets a shoutout, but its not the writing thats the hard part for that. uhhh ive struggled with parts of blackbird. i remember k&l’s island adventure giving me a LOT of trouble, i think i posted late lol

Easiest/most fun story to write?

anything short uhhh for all the infinite realities, i kind of just sat down the other day (actually i was in bed but) and was like “im gonna write this” and then in the morning i just sat down and wrote it in one go. i dunno if id call it fun, but it was easy. t6p is super fun to write but, as mentioned, drawing it sucks.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

no... my perceptions probably have shifted but not due to anything i wrote in particular. i did talk myself into liking allurance with a prompt fill, though, but im not sure that was 2018...

Most overdue story?

all the infinite realities lmao. at the end of many worlds needed that happy ending. and another shoutout to t6p, because thats been going on over a year and im still nowhere.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

does posting my abandoned wips count? ive still got some of those hanging around... blackbird was a bit of a risk bc my last longfic was written while i was unemployed and out of school, so like i had the time for it, and now i kinda dont. still chugging tho. ateomw b/c of all the death but it turns out i really like writing whump woops. and writing any sort of kissing always feels like a risk bc i suck at it but im getting better lol... i hope...

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

write more! finish things! do more sheith! i really want to work on this sheith longfic i came up with the other day... but i want to get blackbird over with first.

Tagging: eh! do it if you want to!