#niche AUs are my jam

[autumnillustration]

Lady Joanna - by Sunryder (Ao3)

With HotD trailers dropping everywhere, my GoT obsession has grabbed me by the neck and won’t let go. I feed my obsession by reading fanfic, naturally. And then we see the results from caffeine-fueled, GoT-soundtrack-powered, fanfic-focused art frenzies.

The Lady Joanna series by sunryder over on Ao3 is a definite favourite of mine, hands down. All hail the strangest friendship in all the Seven Kingdoms.

We’re given an anti-social Lord and a young noblewoman who desperately wants to become a knight. I just love the unconventional nature of their friendship (and its a nice parallel to the complimentary nature of Jon and Stannis’ little-explored dynamic in the show). Both dutiful and honourable, but one’s more likely to bend first before breaking. And I just love how sunryder tackles both Stannis and Joanna; their dynamic is so well written.

There’s only two parts to Sunryder’s Lady Joanna Series so far, but I’ve loved every word of it.

... And the stories have been left at such a point that one can’t help but think of how this version of asoiaf could go… so naturally, my imagination got the better of me, and we have this little fan art series to explore that.

[nostalgia-tblr]

If I could do Fics With A Plot I'd probably attempt An AU Where Lauffey Dies And Odin Goes "Oh Hey, Frost Dudes, I Had Your Heir All Along :D He's Urs Now :D" Except Because This Is A Shit Plan It Does Not Go At All Well. Because it does bother me. Because I worry too much about fictional monarchies having the 'wrong' rules. D:

[other-peoples-coats]

if you’re still doing it, 48 (bleed it out) for the ask game?

(for the wip title meme) I am indeed, though I think at this point all of them have been covered!

48(bleed it out) is the game jam au I've been kicking around for a few months, as encouraged by ...I think it was @lttrsfrmlnrrgby and/or @notquiteaghost? probably? it is riffing off a bunch of hilariously local shit from my hometown, plus or minus what I need for the concept of the fic and what I think is funny, and is looking like it's going to be around about 15k when I'm done (though I am notoriously bad at estimating word count, so like. Asterisk that heavily.)

The entire room obliges, stomping feet and drumming hands on tables and bellies and backs alike. It's less a drumroll and more an excuse to make noise, but up on screen the presenters laugh and shove at each other, joshing like a pair of kids.

Cody joins in himself, of course, stamping his feet and drumming on the table in front of him; somewhere in the room someone whistles, ear splittingly loud.

The presenters laugh. 

"Alright, that's a good enough signal as any, and I think that might be long enough; our techie is waving that we're just about on time now, so! without further ado: your prompts this year are…." Cody tenses, despite himself; it's not like he's going to run anywhere, but somehow, every year, he finds himself just about ready to sprint out of the damn building, soon as they get those three words.

[moorishflower]

hi!! im absolutely astounded at the amount of depth and heart thats in all your fics, and im also very floored at the amount at which you write—im at a cross between admiration and maybe jealously lol!! I wanted to ask, are there any fic of yours (sandman or not) that you think are underrated/deserves more attention?? super excited for everything you ever write!!

asdfg anon thank you <3 So I have a Problem where I have a lot of anxiety about what I create, and when that's writing, if I am not writing The Next Great Novel, then I need to sate the brain demons SOMEHOW, and writing a LOT is the easiest way to do that. I want very badly to please people, and fortunately it's not a hardship for me to write the amount that i do, though I AM trying to consciously like. Take breaks if I need? Take a night off? Keep it healthy looool. But that I'm able to write things that people are consistently finding value and meaning in is a continuous and beautiful marvel to me so thank you, thank you very much!!!

So I read your second part of the ask wrong at first and had gathered uh several fics which I think are underrated that are NOT mine

One Half of a Whole by @violetequus8 - Absolutely REMARKABLE post-apocalyptic literature. Equus captures an entire world and history in 4000 words. There are sentences in this fic that rewrote my brain chemistry.

The entire like this slumber that creeps to me series by @tobrokenstone - THIS. This is survival the way I fucking LOVE IT. Bleak, stark, hard decisions, lasting consequences, surprisingly tender cannibalism (this last may be...specific to me and a few select others lol)

Once again repping the point-set-triangulation series by therm0dynamics, which is singlehandedly the series that got me into Hob/The Corinthian (it's about MIRRORS it's about PARALLELS)

And at this point I realized that you'd asked about which of MY fics I think are underrated, and I was just so caught up in the thought of repping my friends that I lived in a world where I did not write for a moment loool

Salt and Rye is the result of a prompt on tumblr. I wanted to try and capture that feeling of recreating a parent or grandparent's recipe and failing, because it's SUCH a disheartening moment, but I wanted to make it lighter, because Hob has someone there to share the comedy of it with him.

Here there be dragons is my latest fic in the Siren AU and I do think that people who aren't into scifi in general will be more likely to give it a pass, but I'm very proud of it, and very proud of the emotions it evoked in ME, and I promise it's not hard scifi like The Martian or even really pervasive scifi like Star Trek! I just tried to think realistically about what our planet would look like and feel like in 1500 years, and how we might need to leave it. Also, Dream's still a carnivorous octopus man.

an act of faith is the vampire fever dream that struck me at like 3pm on a Saturday and I blacked out for like two hours and this was what I'd written during that time. I enjoy writing obscene levels of devotion and you can't really get much more obscene than "willing to tempt death year after year even though no one's asked you to in order to prove to YOURSELF that your lover loves you"

Honestly I don't think many of my fics are underrated! They're all written at different points in my development and my understanding of myself as a writer, and they range pretty widely in terms of theme and genre sometimes, so some, statistically, are going to be kind of niche! And that's okay! I guess the only thing I'd say is that even if you think something isn't your jam, unless the tags are specifically triggering you give it a try! The worst thing that'll happen is you get a paragraph in and then back out again. An extremely smart person (it was @xx-vergil-xx <3) recently said something along the lines that part of healthy interacting with art is also knowing when to put it down, but it's also important to give different things a chance so that you learn more about yourself and your preferences. I myself am trying to expose myself to and write more angst? Because it makes me deeply uncomfortable to do so! But that's a valuable feeling to know and recognize! Idk i just think we all get different stuff out of writing and it's just nice that I've been able to provide something to so many people <3

[tapedsleeves]

kate barlow ain't got nothin on meeeeeeeeeee :eyes:

you've activated my trap card.

this is 13k of my extremely niche blorbos who *don't even play on the same team anymore*

it's also a cursebreaker au.

Kole Lind can break curses.

Dennis Cholowski gets cursed.

Problem? Dennis thinks that Kole hates him, but asks for him to break his curse anyway. The curse backlash results in a proximity curse, tying them to roughly the same 20 feet unless Dennis is prepared for his wrists to hurt very, very badly.

Dennis's mom is coming down to watch their game, and Kole agrees that they are both gonna pick her up from the train station. They have to sleep together, because they can't be in separate rooms. Also they have to touch to build up enough resistance so that Dennis's mom won't think it's super weird (dating) if they hold hands during their lunch.

wip title list

Snippet from them falling asleep under the cut!!!

He looks cozy, on his side facing the center of the bed blanket pulled up to his chin, his pillow jammed between his neck and shoulder. He looks sweet. 

There’s a pillow on the other side of the bed - a queen, at least. Something meant for two people. Dennis lays down, putting his phone on the table next to the bed. Kole lets him get settled, his wrist just beginning to burn when Kole’s hand snakes out from under the blanket to touch Dennis’s wrist. 

“Hey,” Kole says. His voice is syrupy, like he’s already mostly asleep. “Is this ok?” 

“Yeah,” Dennis breathes. He’s not sure if it is ok, but he doesn’t really have another option. Kole’s grip is gentle, his thumb stroking softly at the skin of Dennis’s forearm. His eyes are closed, his breathing slowing. Watching Kole fall asleep is strangely calming, but before he can figure out why, he falls asleep. 

His alarm wakes him up. Before he’s aware of anything, he curls his toes, stretching his feet, and he bumps into something. He pulls away instinctively, until he realizes that it’s Kole. It’s just Kole. He isn’t sure whether “just Kole” is accurate

[notasapleasure]

Oh I realized I forgot to ask about Jerott/Marthe plans (I think I’ve seen what you’ve written but I’d love to hear abt the other ideas too!) and “AU of an AU” bc I wanna know how the townhouse stay goes!

I'll answer Au of an au separately :')

Ik I must have mentioned this a million times, but it always bears repeating :') the whole ethos of band AU Jerott/Marthe is summarised by the song Precious Things by Tori Amos:

So I ran faster But it caught me here Yes, my loyalties turned Like my ankle In the seventh grade Running after Billy Running after the rain

These precious things Let them bleed Let them wash away These precious things Let them break Their hold on me

He said "you're really an ugly girl But I like the way you play" And I died, but I thanked him Can you believe that? Sick, sick, holding on to his picture Dressing up every day I wanna smash the faces Of those beautiful boys Those Christian boys So, you can make me cum That doesn't make you Jesus

These precious things Let them bleed Let them wash away These precious things Let them break Their hold on me

I remember, yes In my peach party dress No one dared No one cared to tell me Where the pretty girls are Those demigods With their nine-inch nails And little fascist panties Tucked inside the heart Of every nice girl

These precious things Let them bleed Let them wash away These precious things Let them break Let them wash away These, these precious things Let them bleed, now Let them wash away These, these precious things Let them break Their hold on me

--

I also actually made a band AU playlist for them ages and ages ago, but some of those songs have since been repurposed to other characters' playlists and I think I'd rework it quite heavily now. Still, gives an idea of the vibes.

More answer and fic below the cut

Marthe gets saddled with minding Jerott while he finishes up his stint in rehab (Anemone on Ao3). She doesn't let on what she knows of where Francis has gone - nor who he's gone with - and Jerott's probably surprisingly tolerable while he's sober and chastened after all the drama of the road trip etc. They get to jamming together and do a few shows for pocket money, and probably bond over some obscure artists and songs they didn't think anyone else knew about/thought were cool in that day and age (mutual love of Nature Boy ftw haha yes I am aware of what I did there: 'the greatest thing you'll ever learn / is just to love / and be loved / in return').

Marthe, cynical about her chances of a solo career in the wake of Kiaya's departure, sees in Jerott a competant musician who she might bend to play her kind of music, to allow her to kind of ride on-his-coattails into the charts/European market (grudgingly admitting the need for a Man in the music industry, thanks for the 'lesson', Kiaya), from where she might find her own niche. They do have chemistry on stage at this point, playing covers together and challenging each other to play better than the other. I think that leads her to a moment of vulnerability where she makes a last gasp effort to convince herself she's bi, when it's really just that competence is a draw no matter who they are. But Jerott's still sober and he's so excited she's willing to tolerate him (oh thank god!! I was attracted to her and not Francis after all!!) that he's well behaved and keeps his mouth shut when told to (see excerpt below). He is also, as we have discussed, A Good Sex Haver, or at least is very much the kind of guy who gets off on giving good head (it's MY au and I'll do what I want to make elements of their marriage less grim ok??), so even if Marthe's not keen on piv she can live with the situation.

The marriage is something they both claim to go into with eyes wide open - knowing it suits her to have access to European residency (I am not looking up citizenship law for this ask, but Jerott probably has dual French/British if that's possible at the time) and knowing that he's obsessed with her(/Francis) while she's kind of indifferent/tolerating him. But of course he believes she'll come to love him anyway, and he believes he doesn't love Francis, and she believes he'll stay sober and meek and won't mind being teased about Francis when it's obvious that's who he'd rather be with.

They do some touring and it starts well - Fleetwood Mac energy, bouncing from love to hate depending on the kind of day they've had. They get a pretty good record contract, but they absolutely blow the recording of it. They have to *live* together for the first time, not on tour, but in a place near the studio, confined and at each other's throats. He starts drinking again. She won't compromise musically. It's a total flop - the lyrics are called outdated and garbled, the music is overproduced, stifled and jars from one track to the next. They play a few live shows where some of the tracks come into their own a bit, but the reviews put such a strain on them they pull their tour and fuck off to Europe, like living together in Jerott's ancestral homelands and sorting through Marthe's grandma's junk is somehow going to improve things.

So that's when things start to come apart, even though they're ostensibly working on a second record together they're not touring and they're working from a home studio, so their world is quite limited and Marthe branches out and finds French friends while Jerott obsessively follows the music news and write great long epistles to Francis.

In terms of the fic I mentioned, the idea was trying to write the highs (well, moderate peaks) and lows of their relationship through sex. I never got very far with the first one (below) but the idea was that 1) leaves Marthe mildly impressed, 2) a bit uncertain of how this might evolve, but still happy enough, 3) he says 'Francis' when he comes, but he's sober and just very tired so she elects to ignore it for now, 4) starting to get bored with this, the tour is tiiiring, 5) studio life doesn't suit them, he's not sober, and when he says 'Francis' this time she's absolutely calling him on it.

I did still intend to write a version of this fic set between the Baron Morgan/Aga Morat stuff and Checkmate, but I only wrote one scene between them, which you've read :)

Others haven't though! So I'll post it beneath the excerpt from the unfinished bit. It makes reference to her suspicion that it's only a matter of time before he calls her 'Francis' and alludes to a less-than-happy occasion on which GRM pulled his hair, not like he's ready to talk about that with Marthe...uh...ever? I imagined it set sometime during their tour, before they get bogged down trying to record their album. It's more them, I think - Marthe eternally shadowed by a kind of self-loathing and resentment of Jerott that's never going to go away.

--

Draft 1

She's pleasantly surprised pre-wedding

No, that won't work, but keep doing it if you have to

He says 'Francis' when he shouldn't

So you can make me come it doesn't make you Jesus

She calls him out on saying Francis, he clearly had no idea he'd said it

1.

By the end of the encore, laughing and waving into what seemed a physical wall of noise, Jerott knew he had never been happier in his life. The crowd wasn't the biggest he had played to, the set had been rough and ready, but there was a spark on that stage that even Marthe could no longer deny. She stepped up to stand by his side and raise her own arms, and she smiled across at Jerott: a small, wry little thing, but a smile that contained genuine pride.

In the motel corridor, Jerott stopped at her shoulder, each of them facing opposite directions. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, her long, white neck held tall and straight, her smile something that even now she fought, but that made her cornflower blue eyes sparkle.

"That was pretty good, right?" He offered his most bashful, winning grin in return, lowering his chin and gaze.

Marthe snorted. "Yeah," she admitted though. "Yeah it was. You can play, I'll give you that."

He raised his brows and tried not to laugh or blush - he knew he could play, he'd never needed to hear it from her. But she was looking at him still, in a strange and calculating manner that made him feel weighted to the spot. Her eyes narrowed, sweat-smudged kohl hemming in their vibrant colour, and she bit her lip.

He didn't notice her hand move until it began to slide around his, neat and warm, her fingers following the sensitive contours of his palm.

Jerott sucked in a breath and his hand tightened reflexively on hers. At the pressure, Marthe's expression flickered, the corners of her mouth moving with something tight and resigned and her nostrils flaring. But she didn't try to withdraw.

She said nothing, and he saw blooms of colour, like peonies, cover the pale skin of her chest and throat. Her pulse flickered in the pronounced v of tendons between her collarbones and Jerott ached to press his mouth to it and feel her life, separate and strange beneath his lips.

Marthe tugged his hand until he took a step sideways, and the lengths of their arms were aligned: his bare brown skin against her rumpled shirt and white skin, long black hairs mingling with the fine blonde ones covering her forearm. Her face was only inches from his. It was smooth as polished marble, distinguished here and there by traces of the complexities of her existence: fine echoes of all her frowns and smiles in the lines that could not be seen when he stood back. And he had never known her eyes so wide, her mouth part with such softness.

Jerott felt his heart jolt at the expression on her face. He had imagined it so many times, in so many places, and it could never have compared to the way she looked now: sultry and confident, gently, wryly amused, and - finally - interested in what she saw in return?

"You think I can play?" He murmured, leaning into her gravity, his smile smooth and his eyes steady.

She grinned, but it made the hairs on his arms stand on end: a sense of danger gathering. "Don't," Marthe said, her voice crisp and firm.

He raised his eyebrows and broadened his sweetest smile. With an unsteady breath he lowered his face still closer to hers.

Marthe snorted, blue fire dancing in her eyes, the dimples in her cheeks sinking deeper. "I said don't!" She repeated, but her grin crept into her voice. "Don't pull that smooth shit with me, you got your compliment."

Jerott laughed silently and looked down, his eyes hovering on her lips as he contemplated saying another foolish thing.

She must have seen the idiocy on the tip of his tongue and pre-empted it: "Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up," she raked the last syllable over her vocal chords, drawling , chuckling, edging nearer herself until her nose brushed against his. Her mascara-coated lashes lowered until the last moment.

Jerott met her eyes as their lips touched: blue like an open sky, blue like denim and fresh water. Her mouth was soft and hot, closed over his own parched mouth as she tested the feel of him, her open eyes seeking out the response she elicited.

He tried to hold her stare, but her lips moved against his, her teeth met his lower lip with gentle, teasing pressure, and he gasped and his eyes fell shut. His free hand came up to her shoulder, which was warm beneath the shirt she had shrugged on over her sweat-dark tank top, the perfect fit against his palm.

--

Draft 2

He'd proven himself, to Marthe's great surprise, an enthusiastic and generous lover. No inheritor to Gaultier's bored, unimaginative humping was Jerott Blyth; he'd go down on her at the drop of a hat, and he'd do it well; backstage, back alleys, motel rooms - wherever he could get his hands on her while they were both still buzzing with the adrenaline of the set they'd played.

Marthe wasn't sure if it made it easier or harder when he was above her in a motel bed then, taking what he assumed would be given freely in exchange for his own efforts. She did try, for the first few times, to work out if she might like it when it was a handsome young man between her legs instead of her dry, detached professor. But though she entertained the idea of being someone, something else, it wasn't long before she knew it just wasn't for her - neither in the sense of something given, nor in the sense of appealing to her tastes.

But he wasn't Gaultier, she wasn't his pet, and he could play. Their sets were electric, furious, wild in a way Marthe had never had the freedom to be publicly before. And afterwards he wanted to - and could - make her cum like no one she'd met since the girlfriend she'd had back in halls, and after that she was able to simply lie there and wait for him to finish without even feeling much of anything.

Gaultier had developed a habit of working on his compositions while he fucked her - eyes closed, mentally picturing the stave as he hummed and muttered notes to himself. Jerott, on the other hand, was gentleman enough to admire her with his eyes, his hands, his tongue. To never forget a condom the way Gaulter had from time to time �� because he could, too. Above all, he was very eager to tell her she was beautiful.

Marthe didn't need to be told that. But it was better than being used as a dissociative tool for someone's artistic process.

It seemed kinder, then, to maintain an air of curiosity, of interest. In order to do so, she made a bet with herself - with the money she was earning from this tour, she'd buy herself a new guitar if he slipped and called her Francis while deep in the throes. If he didn't, she'd do something sensible with the money. Put it in savings or something.

Maybe she was thinking of the guitar when, one night in Seattle, she sat up to take the foil packet from his hands and open it herself. He looked at her searchingly, dark eyes she found difficult to read scanning her expression for ulterior motives.

Marthe tossed the loose tendrils of her tied-back hair over her shoulder and tore the packet open with her teeth, aware of the weight of his stare, aware of his breath coming more heavily.

She rolled the condom on, thinking abstractedly of community sex ed workshops on the college lawn. For good measure, she gave his cock a couple of firm strokes, and he gasped, his brows raising.

Ok, that's plenty, Marthe sat back with an expression she imagined was closer to being a seductive smile than a grimace. She didn't want him to think she was going to do...that, every time.

Perhaps she was overthinking things, overestimating what he'd notice and what he'd expect. Jerott wasn't that complicated, after all - he reached for her and kissed her like there was only one thought on his mind, and Marthe let herself be brought close, kissed him back with the same sloppy urgency.

Then, impulsively, she moved closer still, lifting one leg and shifting to straddle him where he sat on the edge of the bed - he made a sound in the kiss that Marthe took to be surprise and pleasure, and she ground her hips against him, her body still wet from his tongue, from her own orgasm, slick against the rubber he wore.

Jerott moaned and Marthe gritted her teeth. She pushed him back to the mattress and lowered herself onto him, her eyes closed, her mind on the wares for sale at Eve's Garden. She had him half on the bed and half off, his lower legs dangling over the side, unable to brace himself easily against the floor - it gave her near total control of the rhythm, and she batted him back down again if he tried to sit up.

He didn't take much convincing, though he remained propped on his elbows for a time, gawping up at her. She could sense him watching, and cracked open her eyes to wince at his expression of ragged, lascivious desire - mouth loose and open, eyelids heavy, gaze blank. Marthe screwed her eyes shut again and sank herself as low as she could, upping the pace of her rolling hips.

Jerott at last admitted defeat, lay back and made a strangled sound of ecstasy, holding onto her thighs just above each knee with bruising strength in his hands.

She'd never done this with Gaultier - he didn't believe in a woman being on top, and besides, if she'd broken his hip or something, he wouldn't have hesitated to claim the medical bills on her insurance.

But there was, she found, far more pleasure to be had this way. There were no hot, grasping fingers or lips on her breasts, there was no sandpapery, rough cheek rubbing on the skin of her neck. She could keep her eyes closed and imagine herself wherever she needed to be to get off.

She began to believe that she might do so here, as well. She wielded her body with less deliberation, working herself to a sweat as she bucked her hips, her hands resting on the tops of her thighs, feeling her breasts swing heavily, the small, natural garland of fat on her belly and her flanks jogging with her movements. The bed and mattress shrieked and rattled beneath her, the sound like a crowd going wild for an encore.

Jerott let out a cry and Marthe was almost embarrassed to hear herself answer it, feeling fire crawl its way up inside her, flickering and crackling like a broken bulb at the edge of her vision.

Fearful he wouldn't last as long as she needed, she let herself lean forwards, one hand a fist, bracing herself against his chest, the other taking hold of a bunch of his black hair for good measure, fingers tangling against his sweaty scalp. She adjusted the angle of her hips accordingly and bit her lower lip, trying to keep her momentum going.

Beneath her, Jerott's body flinched.

"Fuck...!" he groaned. He gripped the wrist of the hand that was knotted in his hair but found that tugging it only tightened Marthe's hold. His other hand flailed for the bed clothes, grabbing at the sheets and relieving the pressure on Marthe's thigh so she could really move how she wanted to.

He didn't complain about her grip. On the contrary, his eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed with concentration. "Oh, god..." he said hoarsely as his head rolled on the covers.

It was never quite enough though - she didn't get further than eternally close before his body bucked beneath hers with a grunt. The way he craned his neck and turned his head against the mattress pulled her forward, jerked by the hand tangled in his hair, and her own concentration was lost as he came.

"Shit," Marthe barked breathlessly.

She tugged her hand free, noting that Jerott's hold was now on her hips, his thumbs softly caressing her skin, encouraging her own gentle rocking motion to continue as he finished, wringing every last drop of satisfaction out.

Marthe swept his hands away, rolled off him without preamble and sat beside his prone form with a sour taste rising to her tongue. Disappointment - she knew the flavour well. Stupid, to let herself get involved like that, to try and take something for herself. That wasn't what this was about.

It was about her career. Wasn't it always?

Marthe sighed and massaged her brow. Her grandmother would want to know when she was moving to Europe, when she was going to find a market she could really sell to. When she was going to make something of herself - or, failing that, make Francis Crawford make something of her. Whatever they really were to each other.

Her grandmother would have a great many questions when the tour finally came to an end in New York, but one thing Marthe's grandmother would be certain of was that the man currently lying next to her was second-best - and Marthe's grandmother would therefore judge him perfectly adequate to his task.

Jerott lay still for a moment beside her and then raised a hand and rubbed at the top of his sternum, at his throat like he had a pain there. He let out a cough and frowned at the ceiling, then sat up and slipped away to the ensuite.

Usually, when they were in the motel room, he couldn't wait to wrap his arms around her afterwards, to pin her close in his hold - where Marthe felt like a small bird gripped in a fist. He'd fall asleep and she'd lie there, smelling his tobacco, his whiskey, waiting until he was heavy and snoring and she could squirm free to lie comfortably on the other side of the bed.

Tonight though, he lingered in the bathroom, and Marthe felt chilled and exposed as she realised that, for once, she would quite like to have been held in his warm arms. It might have made her feel a little less silly about the whole relationship, just to follow through with the act a bit longer today. But he didn't seem in any hurry to come back to her. She lay naked on the rumpled bedsheets while he ran faucets and clattered about with mouthwash and water glasses.

Her head propped on one hand, the remote lying in front of her, Marthe glared at the tiny TV screen in the corner of the room and stabbed buttons on the remote with one-fingered vindictiveness. That was it, she'd decided. Penetrative sex had to be the worst joke ever told to womankind. She wouldn't bother getting her hopes up again about it.

Click.

Porcupines fucking on a nature documentary. Marthe accepted the funny side of it, and snorted.

Click.

Some lowest common denominator sitcom where the overworked woman was chewing out her lazy husband.

Click.

Teleshopping.

Click.

Pizza ad. Her stomach growled. Maybe she was being unfair. Maybe she was just hungry - she hadn't eaten since before soundcheck.

Click.

A familiar shade of rose pink caught her eye as the channels flickered, and she stopped her assault on the remote to frown at the screen.

"With revelations emerging about Rajneeshpuram daily, it's looking more and more like Graham Reid Malett's activities were standard across all the cult's sites."

It was a report into illegal activities at the main ashram in Oregon, but showed footage of the man who had styled himself Geetesh in custody and on trial for crimes committed at his own Nevada ashram. Marthe watched with a kind of fascinated disgust as the portentous voiceover barely scraped the surface of Reid Malett's wrong-doings.

"Fraud, invasion of privacy, coercion, and he presided over violent and sexual workshops in which willing participants..."

As she watched, Jerott emerged from the ensuite. He handed her one of the two water glasses he'd filled and paused by the bed, staring at the TV with an appalled expression.

"What the fuck are you watching?" he asked.

Marthe shrugged the shoulder that was uppermost and nodded at the bedside table, indicating that Jerott could leave the water there.

"You don't wanna know how Swami Graham is doing?"

He'd moved round to his side of the bed and she saw his face the way it was lit up by the screen: repulsed, furious, maybe even a bit scared?

"No."

Marthe thought she noticed his fingers tremble a little as he put his own glass down. He ran them through his hair and then his eyes fell on the remote.

"Switch it off."

She saw him reach for it and - because he wanted it, because he spoke commandingly and she'd let him have enough already, and more, that night - she snatched it away. "I'm watching!"

"Well don't! What do you even want to know that you haven't already seen with your own two eyes?" He gestured furiously, pointing two fingers at his own fierce features, and grabbed again for the remote.

"Hey!" Marthe wasn't above hollering when he laid a hand on her to stop her from protecting the device. "Don't touch me!"

Jerott had already retreated to stand by the bed again, maintaining a distance, his palms open at his sides, his expression one of vexed fury. "Please switch it off," he said carefully, but Marthe knew suppressed anger when she heard it.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why? You're not gonna...let it all out, get all cathartic on me?"

His jaw clenched visibly.

"Personally, I think it's reassuring to see him cuffed and guarded," Marthe added, eyeing up the picture on the screen.

"...swapped his disciple's robes of pink for fetching penitentiary facility orange..."

Jerott said nothing, but took three long strides to the far wall and yanked the TV plug from the socket.

Marthe rolled her eyes and swept the remote off the bed so it clattered to the floor. "Oh, Mr Rock and Roll. Gonna throw it out the window, too?"

Jerott got into bed and yanked the sheet over his body without turning to face her. "Good night, Marthe," he snarled.

She stared at his back for a moment and then made a sound of exasperation and got up to brush her own teeth.

It wasn't like she'd wanted to watch the programme anyway, it was just that any talk of the Rajneeshees wound him up so much, even now. Marthe, of all people, could well understand another's bitterness about the wasted years of their life - but Jerott's bitterness was always special. He couldn't accept that anyone else might have regrets about any number of things, oh no - nothing compared to the victimhood of the boy who had run off to join a cult instead of going to med school, who had run off to med school instead of joining a band with a man he was clearly deeply, obliviously in love with. He was evidently the first guy on earth to find out he was attracted to a man and feel conflicted about it, the first person in the history of mankind to have his illusions shattered about someone he'd trusted.

Marthe brushed her teeth and hair angrily in the dark bathroom and got back into bed with a heavy landing on the mattress, with deliberately exaggerated kicking of the sheet, plumping of the pillow, and fidgeting until she was comfortable.

"Good night, Jerott. Good gig today. Sleep well."

[little-meowyao]

Fanfiction writing asks!! 25, 32, 40, 50, 47 and 70

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

Writing itself, because I don't really do any of the others. I also love brainstorming with friends, but there's nothing like the satisfaction of seeing your story take shape (Especially if I daydreamed a lot about it). However, it does make me want to commit arson when it doesn't sound right (see: the source of my cannibalism fic! It was meant to be a nieyao JGY eats NMJ's heart fic, but that wasn't coming out how I wanted, so I scrapped it)

32. Do you take fic requests? Why or why not?

If someone asked me to write about a premise that I found interesting, I probably would! But I'm by no means a popular writing, mainly due to my niche interests (my wx deity au is my popular series and that's my only wx focused au, that I have lost interest in). See: suyao TPE, ruoyao ruling the world, dead dove nieyao, JGY sex issues, etc.

I really like writing for others, knife to the procrastination's throath

TLDR I probably would but I've never been asked

40. What is your favorite world that you’ve created for a fic?

When it comes to fic writing, I really don't deal in worldbuilding. Canonverse is my jam. The TPE au is just modern au focused on suyao, and the abo broodmare au, though very diferent from canon world dynamics, is also canonverse. Again, more character driven.

When it comes to my original projects, however 👀 My own original world for my books is nice and complex and I cherish it very much! I do love worldbuilding

Feel free to shoot me a message or an ask if you wanna talk about any of those!

50. How would you describe your writing style?

I'd say it's very subjective/ focused on what is happening on a certain character's head. I do admit to adverbing A LOT and to telling not show (though that is necessary for the kind of emotional charge in my writing). I

47. Is there a trope that you’ve written before but are now sick of?

Oooh, fics focused on stupidly intense chronic pain. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good chronic pain fic, but I look at my chronic pain series and just euugh. My writing style was kinda weird back then, and I wasn't so deep in the JGY hole. I don't think I'll write anything focused on taht alone again

70. Are you subscribed to any writers on AO3?

I actually am not! I don't tend to subscribe to things a lot, so there's that. I am subscribed to a few fics (not a lot, since I tend to avoid reading unfinished fics), but the only one I can remember right now is Jade and Fire.

[zenaidamacrouras1]

M, T, and Y?

Hi! These are fascinating questions (ask link here)! Would love to see your answers to any of them!

M: What’s the weirdest AU scenario you’ve ever come up with?  Did it turn into a story?

Well. Weird is a hard term. What does weird mean? However, I would love to write a fic about the National Radio Astronomy Lab in Greenbank WV which is a "quiet area" where you can't use most electronics because they interfere with the radio astronomy signals. It's the perfect place for a meet cute. I have the plot all sketched out. I just need to write it.

Probably counts as weird?

T: Any fanfic tropes you can’t stand?

Can't stand is a strong term because really I am talented and brave about not reading stuff that isn't my jam, people should write whatever they like!

I think any trope can be done well, I used to have some less favorites but I've been proven wrong enough I'll give any trope a chance.

I have a lot of triggers and do not wants, most around consent and humiliation kink. But I get those things are hot for a lot of people, I adore ao3 tags for that reason.

I will say I am developing an eyeroll reaction to penis having people having anal sex without any preparation and it's described basically like penis and vagina sex (particularly if characters involved have never had anal sex). I mean. It's so....penis and vagina heterosexual to the point it feels anti-queer almost to me??? Like if you are writing smut about queer people having sex maybe think about how queer people might have sex (or fade to black or whatever)? There are a lot of ways to have sex if you are say, lost in the woods or stuck on an airplane or whatever with no lube, or can't wait a single second to prep.

Penetration with a penis is not inherently more romantic or "meaningful" than other kinds of sex and it feels like a harmful thing about society leaking into my happy fanfiction when this gets portrayed to extremes is I think the source of my annoyance.

But, no one asked me to read that fic, and no one needs to be going to ao3 for sex lessons.

Y: What are your thoughts on your personal satisfaction with something you’ve written vs. the popularity of your stories?  Do you tend to be most satisfied with your most popular stories?  

This is interesting to me especially since my college AU and my Shrunkyclunk with Captain America and Lawyer Bucky are my most popular. Clearly they are popular because they use tropes/settings that are popular.

I like all my stories well enough or I would pull them down (which I have) but I think Backhoe is probably my "best and favorite" and it's just long and kinda niche. Which is fine. People re-read that one too and it has a lot of chapters (so you have to visit the fic more times to read it) so it ended up with a low kudos to hits ratio which is also fine but something it took me time as an author to understand.

Plastered is probably my least favorite, I just think it's rough or maybe I was just sad when I wrote it so it makes me sad?, and it is more popular than Backhoe.

Anyway, no, popularity doesn't impact my satisfaction with my fics, but it did take me time to figure it out and I still find statistics fascinating of anyone ever wants to talk ao3 stats with me!

[shingekinomyfeelings]

AOT OC Show and Tell Days - Day 1

she basically always looks this dopey in my head

Name: Vega Hase

Gender: Female

Age in setting: 18-19 during Cadet training in my personal canon divergent imaginings

Bold all of the following that apply to your OC!

Context: Canon Setting | Modern AU | Other AU

What niche does your OC serve for you? Self-insert | Completely original character | Self-shipping | Roleplaying | Writing fics | Creating art | Only the scenarios and adventures that I imagine inside my head and share with no one! get fucked | Something else

If your character is in the AOT canon setting, what's their allegiance? Cadet Corps, Survey Corps

Do you ship your character with a canon character? If so, who? Yes good god we all know it’s Reiner, I make zero apologies

Do you have any cute art or picrews of them together? Let's see one.

zero apologies. they're adorable together and anyone who disagrees is wrong. art by the super amazing @thecowboykatsuki-anon

How long have you actively been developing your OC? Almost two years in her present incarnation, but was definitely floating around my head with various other names for a while

Is there any significance behind your OCs name? Honest to god at first I was just calling her Zeki Vega, which is literally two of my personal names jammed together, but I kinda feel like it doesn't have a great ring to it, so I changed it to Vega Hase. The surname was something I originally using for a character I kept telling myself I'd write an actual fic about, titled Rabbit Heart - Hase means hare and there was symbolism and blah blah blah anyway eventually the concepts blended together and here she is

If your OCs appearance is based on yours, do they have any different features? Ngl I just imagine her as overall cuter than I am, and far more physically fit due to being in the Cadets/Survey Corps.

Is there anything you want to try doing with your OC that you haven't yet? I really do want to start a dedicated RP with someone where I can write Vega because I tried with someone and it fell through, but I have so many ideas and so much backstory for her and a whole character arc planned. she is just a little squeaky toy for savagely chewing on, come on

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Hello!!! For the ask meme, I gotta put my bid in for one aster ed phoenix please!

EDWARD ASTER PHOENIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First impression: when I first encountered him in Duel Links I was like "oh my god is he like. a rival superhero user. do he and Jaden have like a dc vs marvel thing going on. oh i fucking love that" i was tuned into him RIGHT away

Impression now: OOUGHH. ASTERRRRR he is my third favorite GX character after the Truesdale brothers. he's just fucking good. Rare character where the dub accidentally made his backstory even more fucked up. I love that he's short. I love the Destiny Heroes. His whole situation is so agonizingly sad and if I think about it too long im like AUGH. OOF. OW OW. OUCHIE. OOF. I love his stupid little tie.

Favorite moment: when his dad manifests out of D-Hero Plasma and Aster has to face the fact his stepdad killed his real dad (and, again, in the dub--HE THOUGHT HIS DAD WAS STILL ALIVE. HE THOUGHT THERE WAS STILL HOPE HE'D SEE HIM AGAIN. GOD.) and then he fucking kills the D in that big yacht fire and he's CRYING. GX moments that go hard as hell. I do also love when he throws himself in front of everyone to take Exodia's blast. he's just a good kid.

Idea for a story: i have the messy outline of a postcanon aster/jaden fic where they go fishing together in Colorado and Talk About Shit sitting around and i stg if i can get my brain to work again I'll write it. I just like them.

Unpopular opinion: again i never rly know what the unpopular opinions are. Special shoutout here though to Manga!Aster, who I also love. They really somehow made his backstory EVEN MORE FUCKED. also idk. i like heroshipping a lot and i think as a romantic dynamic it works better for aster than, say, shipping him romantically with zane. (zane and aster as bestie worsties who hang out is much more my jam in that department lol)

Favorite relationship: AGAIN I DO LOVE HIS PARALLELS TO JADEN AND THEIR DYNAMIC but i think my absolute favorite Aster relationship is his friendship with Sartorius/Saiou.... they are besties and it's so important to me. This little 5'2" kid who throws himself through windows and fights crime will always prioritize his 6-foot-a-million weirdo tarot girlie bestie he's know since he was like 6 and I LOVE IT. SO MUCH

Favorite headcanon: the Batman DC stan of all time. gets into fights on superhero subreddits. Is constantly picking up different niche sports and hobbies in a bid to not think about his Various Issues Problems. also this is more for my College AU but i made Aster from California and then later from Chicago and now Chicago!Aster is just in my brain forever. he has a lot of hard opinions about pizza.

[egipci]

top 5 j/d songs & top 5 j/d fics you'd like to write or that you'd like someone to write

Answering on Friday, so Merry Dadfucker Holidays <3. I already answered top 5 j/d songs, so here’s (some of) what I would like to write (or rather, what I want to find fully formed and ready to post in my drafts) in no particular order:

Mary lives normal au — I've somehow gotten it in my head that even in a completely normal world where Mary doesn't die j/d would be possible. This relies on Mary's characterization from later seasons as pretty emotionally withdrawn, her keeping secrets, etc. , and what we know about her and John's less-than-perfect marriage (potentially leading to John's affair with Kate). I could see in this world how, without the obligation to care for Sam, Dean and Sam end up somewhere like they are in 2x20, or possibly closer, but nothing like they eventually become in canon. The John/Dean side of things though would be pretty unchanged in its intensity— Dean would become elektral over time, providing John that emotional support to fill in Mary's place, and John, without the anxieties associated with hunting, would be much mellower in some respects (though of course he wouldn't be John without giving Dean approval-and-masculinity related issues). In a way it would be much more sinister than canon, real family horror shit-- but my guiding principle is always that what little joy is in John's life revolves entirely around his children and Dean in particular.

Alpha!John/Alpha!Dean --- this is like super niche and hyper-specific and completely flouts the purpose of a/b/o and the place Dean usually occupies in it ---- but I'm so so intrigued by alpha!John/alpha!Dean! I must have read fewer than 5 a/b/o fics total in any fandom and it's generally not my jam. I think it does away with the thing that makes gay sex interesting, namely that its teleology is pleasure in and of itself. (This is of course also possible in straight non-reproductive sex, but reproduction always looms as its true purpose, even if undesirable, I think). What a/b/o does, in a way, is create a biological imperative to have sex that is functionally identical to straight sex. Which, you know, is fine, though not super interesting to me (straight sex is obviously sexy and interesting, because I find women sexy and interesting — and that’s what genderswap is for). What's super compelling to me is alpha!Dean, who does have all the pseudo-animalistic impulses and instincts involved with being an alpha, but also the desire to submit to his dad, to be fucked by his dad, to be his dad’s omega, whatever you want to call it. That conflict between hard-wired teleology and desire is really fascinating in a world where sexual roles are very rigid, I find. Like, what do you do if you want to be fucked but your body is unfuckable for whatever reason? And on the other end of that, I'm also super interested in John's scruples about violating Dean's body when he has obligations to raise an alpha, etc. etc. In a way this just compounds the anxieties re:masculinity already present in their normal canon dynamics + knots and rough snarly sex or whatever.

Fuck-or-Die/truth curse --- Dean has to be fucked or he dies. Of course the curse can only be broken when a certain person fucks him. Of course Dean doesn't even know who the fucker must be, because of course Dean is not in love with anyone and is just a normal guy. Of course the fucker has to be Dad. Of course Dad would never fuck Dean and would just leave him to die, so why even bother saying it. Except, as it turns out, Dad would fuck the shit out of him without even fully figuring out how the curse works. Of course. (The shape of this is super vague, though I think the conceit has to be that the curse is mostly about humiliation, which begins with recognition and admission of feelings, and then I suppose reciprocation would come in — the trouble is John would of course fuck Dean to save his life, he would die to save Dean’s life — that’s canon — but how does that happen at a pre-canon point such that it doesn’t become its own canon-divergent thing? And how would that square with Dean’s irrational Dad-related opinions in s3, for example?)

Heaven reunion --- sometime in the distant future, after Sam gets there, they finally go visit Mom and Dad. Dean and Dad do normal father and son things like go on long drives, fix cars, go fishing while not talking about whatever the fuck was going on since Dean turned sixteen (which is decidedly incestuous, though not necessarily physically consummated). Is reconciliation possible? Is a normal relationship possible? First time in a long time? What happens if they relapse into weird shit while John is committed to living with Mary as his heaven-life partner? etc. etc.

John/Deanna first time --- I've said this before but Sharon Olds's "Reading You" is one of my favorite j/d poems. The lines "cock promised and never given/ that I would strip my skin for" capture this forever incurable unrequited longing Dean feels for his father -- but what happens when the cock is finally given? More and more I find myself uninvested in the question of consent and the centrality it seems to occupy when it comes to j/d. Rather I'm more concerned with the ways consensual sex can be terrible and traumatizing and ruinous (even if also pleasurable and physically fulfilling). So, that would be that story.

Bonus: and this is less a fic and more just a specific thing I want to see, which is really possible in all of the scenarios above-- I need John to fist Dean and make him piss himself :) (Deanna gets two fists because more holes obviously <3). This is one of those things that is so intuitively possible and plausible for this ship and at the same time involves so much intricate politics that I think it would be hard to pull off in a canon-feeling way. Yet I think about it daily.

Anyway--- this is an open call for anyone who wants to chat about these weird notions or tinker at them in fic form or just nag me into writing them or whatever. My inbox and dm's are open.

[disgruntledkittenface]

I was tagged by @allwaswell16​ and @jacaranda-bloom​ to share five fics of mine that I really like. Thank you!! I’m pretty decisive, but I agree with Dee, these picks could change depending on the day, mood, etc. But here are the ones I’m going with!

Darling, so it goes (195k)

Harry Styles is a world-famous actor at the height of his career but a personal low point when he meets His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Monaco by chance. He doesn’t think they’ll ever see each other again, but after striking up a correspondence, it turns out they have more in common than he thought. Then they start to fall for each other. Louis is different from anyone Harry has dated before and their relationship moves fast as Harry realizes he’s ready for a change. Soon Harry finds himself adapting to an entirely new life, in a country where he doesn’t know the rules, the customs, even the language. Harry is used to people underestimating him, and he’s more determined than ever to prove them wrong.

He just needs Louis to meet him halfway.

Grace Kelly AU.

Okay, so usually the last thing I wrote is the one I like the most, but this is probably going to be my all-time favorite. This is the fic I have always wanted to write, and I finally got to post after it lived in my mind and my heart for three years. It’s my epic, and I love it. I loved researching it and including all of the details that fascinate me (looking at you, chapter 8). I love the characters (especially Harry’s family), the relationships, the settings, the smut, the fashion. Everything, I just love it. This fic is me. 

this is my jam (4k)

Harry goes to a gay bathhouse for the first time. 90s AU.

If you’ve read the author’s note, you know this is based on a story that my friend told me. I wish that I had written it before he passed away, and I just hope wherever he is, he knows how much I love him and how much I miss him everyday. I really like the way I interpreted his experience in the fic; I had to figure out how to capture a specific moment in time and I’m happy with how it turned out. As much as I hated using the AU Historical tag, I came of age in the 90s and I loved writing something set then. 

like sun on the rise (8k)

“Sorry,” Nick says at last, a crooked grin replacing her usual friendly, but not too friendly, customer service smile. “It’s my second double this week, so I’m kind of out of it. What can I get you, pretty?”

“No, I know you,” the girl insists, her green eyes wide as she leans over the counter. “I have known you so many times, in so many different forms, in so many different lives.”

“Uh…” Nick blinks, speechless for maybe the first time in her life. The thing is, the girl looks totally sincere. Kind of awestruck really, her pretty pink lips parted slightly as she takes Nick in. Like she can���t believe her luck or something. It’s not Nick’s fault that she has no idea how to act; no one has ever looked at her like this before. “Okay?”

Harry isn’t like anyone Nick has ever met before. Maybe that’s why they work.

I LOVE THIS FIC. I think it’s a little niche (its stats are... not great), but I just really love it. I was inspired by a quote from Megan Fox about Machine Gun Kelly of all things, and I tried to do a vague five times structure with it. I talked about how I’ve tried to grow as a girl direction author on the @roseanddaggerpodcast​, and I think this fic really exemplifies that; this is not a gryles fic with just the pronouns switched, it’s really about wlw characters and I’m proud of it. 

i must admit i thought i’d like to make you mine (50k)

Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one.

Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

I got writer’s block the first time I tried to write the Grace Kelly AU, so I decided to try and do a long, trope-y girl direction fic for Big Bang that year instead. I did not realize that fake relationship AUs are really hard to write! I finally had to create a spreadsheet to track the character’s emotions and motivations in each scene. But I ended up with a story that I really love, and I like that I contributed a longer fic to the girl direction fandom.

a bagel for all seasons (29k)

Niall is a lawyer from the big city who’s sent to a small town to get paperwork signed for his firm’s biggest client. He only expected to be there for one night, but the longer his stay lasts, the more he starts to fall in love with the town and its cast of quirky characters.

One in particular.

A Shiall Hallmark Christmas AU.

This fic was inspired by a photo of Niall and the tags that @fallinglikethis​ included when she reblogged it. A Hallmark Christmas Movie esque story just sprang into my mind, almost fully formed. I remember getting stressed out while writing, and spending a lot of time figuring out what legal questions the small town residents could ask Niall, but I reread this one lately and it’s just warm and cozy and FUN. I really liked casting all of the characters, and I think they all really shine (including the cats). 

I’ll tag friends for five fics: @crinkle-eyed-boo​ @wabadabadaba​ @louandhazaf​ @kingsofeverything​ @uhoh-but-yeah-alright​ 

[grasslandgirl]

1, 14, 24 for any, 48, 49!!

mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

sfjkvnksjfbs this is so difficult bc i feel like so much of what i write is impossibly niche and only for myself and a handful of my friends skjfvnsk so i have no idea what an effective introduction to my body of work would be. my figayda coffeeshop au, maybe? just because i think it's really solid and a good demonstration of my narrative style/rhythm? alternately, my figfabian lounge singer au for similar reasons? i dunno ksjfnksjf

honorable mention jamie @gilears and my 2nd pov figgorgug fic we wrote last year bc its some of my favorite and best work and one of the things i've most enjoyed writing-- and i think it's a really solid hook into figgorgug, which i have not been able to stop writing since kjsfnbvksfjbn

14. Are there any tropes you would only read if written by a trusted friend or writer?

i really only read oc-heavy if i really trust the author!! as a genre/style of fic they don't usually hold a lot of appeal for me unless i know the person writing it/ the backstory and process of the oc/ trust the author to build and integrate appropriate and interesting ocs (a really great example of this is santeri @fearlessjournalism 's brushfire, and also casey all of your clsoc fic <3)

24. Are there any easter eggs in [insert fic], and if so, what are they?

idk if it's really an easter egg but jam and i have a running joke about a handful of beats/moments i keep putting into my figgorgug fics, with varying amounts of intention; including but not limited to: diners, pancakes, (fig) sitting on counters/tables, sunflowers, stolen clothes/sweatshirts, and kissing hands <3

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

i was looking around through the zuko/sokka tag and read a modern nye get together fic and it was. fine. readable but not something i'd bookmark or send to people like "oooh i really liked this"

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

working on a fig/gorgug right person wrong time fic rn 😵‍💫 having many thoughts in my silly little head about it <3

There’s something rotting inside of her. Fig’s always been a little on the wrong side of selfish; Sandra Lynn says she gets it from her, but maybe it’s the hell influence too. She wants to be happy for her friends, the freedom from Aguefort and school and childhood thats burning on the horizon for all of them. A whole class of peers ready to stumble forward into the real world all together- college and work and more adventures and quests ready for the taking. Fig wants to be happy, wants to glow with a vicarious joy when Fabian talks about learning specialty knots and sending letters to Garthy and Jamina on the Leviathan. Or when Riz rolls out his conspiracy board and talks through it to them with tapping fingers that itch to get back on the road- with Penny, this time. Fig wants to join in on the excitement when Gorgug and Kristen make plans for finding a cafe on campus that’s theirs and trying to convince the dorms to let them room together. But she’s not. Because Fig can’t help but feel like everyone’s moving on without her. Like it’s the last weeks of eighth grade all over again and her horns are finally getting too big to be covered by her hair and all her (ex) friends have stopped pretending to make plans for the summer or for freshman year with Fig, anymore. The Bad Kids have been Fig’s roots, and her wings, and all the other metaphors she’s shoved into her songs all these years, and she doesn’t really know what she’s going to do with herself without them. Now that it feels like they’re all going their separate ways, with no school year starting in the fall to drag them back together. It’s just Fig, and the band she started because she wanted to scream and hear Gorgug slam on the drums- only this time it’s really just Fig.

send me numbers from this fic writer's ask list!!

[ghostwoohoo]

📱 But for everyone in st

📱: Social media they use the most

(rubs my hands together) okay so considering the year the game was released, JRO would use myspace and the curious brothers would be on reddit and probably 4chan and small forum sites and that’s it. howeverrrrrrr approaching it from a modern au of sorts is more fun so let’s get into thatttttt

curious: all 3 of them are absolutely still on reddit and probably 4chan but lazlo is also on twitter and pascal is on facebook. he posts lots of pictures of tycho on his page because jenny and pol love to see him even if they’re all usually too busy to visit regularly. they’re also still on small niche forum sites and that’s how pascal met nervous, on a forum dedicated to the mysteries in the town. he also still has aol just to talk to him. vidcund loves arguing with people who are blatantly wrong on forums and subreddits, especially this one asshole who seems to be in every forum he frequents. lazlo loves using his alt to comment blatantly wrong things on forums to troll people but he seems to mostly just get angry responses from the same person… very weird…

smith: jenny and pol are Facebook Parents 1000%, johnny is probably on twitter and instagram and all that, jill is an animal jam kid i think. back in elementary school i would get home and log into animal jam and call my friend on the landline and we would play together and that’s what she does with buck after i think. (sidenote i think it’s so funny that i just graduated to discord and i still do that… the more things change the more things stay the same)

specter: okay so considering olive regularly rolls a fear of sending an email i assume she’s not on any social media but ophelia is probably on twitter and instagram (and discord) and she has to beg olive for computer time even though it literally runs windows xp…. she prefers to just sneak out to talk to her friends because the phone she saved up and bought herself (so olive couldn’t listen in to her calls on the landline) is probably also ass

beaker: i don’t see loki or circe as the type to use social media? they’re too busy being in love and evil abt it so they probably just have facebook pages they don’t use very often… loki might have a reddit he sometimes talks to lazlo on… nervous probably still uses aol because he doesn’t know anything new has come out and he’s also on the niche strangetown forums

loner: erm i don’t know actually because he doesn’t have a personality. twitter, probably. he has a lot of extremely middling, inoffensive takes. sorry to this man

grunt: ripp is on everythingggggg twitter instagram twitter discord TUMBLR reddit 4chan tiktok probably fucking pinterest . buzz has a facebook that he only uses to post about his job, tank’s accomplishments, and buck sometimes. buck is also an animal jam kid with jill but he’s also giving roblox vibes. he would be an ipad kid if buzz paid enough attention to him to give him an ipad

singles: 4 single attractive girls in their twenties living together? y’all that is a tiktok influencer house 😭😭 that’s their social media of choice

[brainrotdotorg]

Okay so first off, In Short, I Love You. Great fic, def have ONLY read it and totally have not used it for nefarious purposes.

Also you wrote in the notes how surprising it was to not see any other sex pollen works and. You’re right?? There’s only 5 tagged in ao3. Which got me wondering about how little of the common fandom tropes there actually are for de.

Like-like, there are only 3 soulmate aus. Which in and of itself blew me away. Then I could only find 11 ABO fics (side note: Kim was an omega for all but 1. This disappoints me narratively and personally) Then 4 werewolf and 10 vampire aus respectively. Out of the 2800 fics tagged de, only 65 are marked alternate universe At All. (With most of them being what if scenarios)

My point is: Thank you for writing that very good (Very good 😏) fic and I think you may have inspired me to come out of writing retirement to write for every fic trope under the sun. It’s got me nostalgic

(i made a huge post that crashed the editor so im. gonna try my best to reconstruct that)

THANK YOUUUU im so glad you enjoy it!! and I KNOW it's shocking right? DE fic (at least on ao3) is fascinating in that like. there really isnt much of it in the first place like you said, just under 3k. as for the tropes themselves, it could have something to do with the source material itself, which is already so strong and compelling that it doesnt really need much trope support to make it interesting.

Maybe its because of different circles i run in, but these types of tropes like soulmate AUs, ABO stuff, coffeeshop AUs, etc. are all received fairly favorably, so its not like there isnt a demographic of people who would enjoy stuff like that.

fans really seem to gravitate towards canon-compliance, at least the ones who are writing about it ! which is neither a good or a bad thing btw, its just how it is, the selection that we have afforded to is absolutely JAM-PACKED with some of the best stuff ive ever read. i just hope that doesnt discourage some people for getting more self indulgent and out there in your fic.

all this to say im happy to hear that you feel inspired to write again!! i highly encourage. literally anyone. if you have an idea for a fic you want to see, and are sad it doesnt exist yet-- you can be the one to write it! dont worry about your skill level. just give it a shot. someone will be happy that you did. it can feel great to be the one who gets the ball rolling in an obscure ship tag or niche trope. find a friend who also has a niche idea and do a fic trade, if you want to see someone elses interpretation of your idea! commission a writer whos comms are open (not off of ao3 tho, iirc theres rules about making money off of the site)

seriously there is nothing better than knowing that you made something that specifically appeals to you, and odds are, will appeal to other people. i thought no use crying over spilled milk would be my least popular fic and was pleasantly surprised. dont be afraid to be the change what you want to see in the world!! see a need fill a need !! write niche stuff!!!!

[teaandinanity]

Tag game!

Tagged by @quilleth​

Not tagging forward but mutuals are all invited to do this and say I tagged them because I love knowing useless facts about people. :D

slow burn or love at first sight // fake dating or secret dating // enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers // oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance correspondence // hurt-comfort or amnesia // fantasy au or modern au // mutual pining or domestic bliss // smut or fluff // canon-compliant or fix-it // reincarnation or character death // one-shot or multi-chapter // kid fic or road trip fic // arranged marriage or accidental marriage // high school romance or middle aged romance // time travel or isolated together // neighbours or roommates // sci-fi au or magic au // body swap or gender bend // angst or crack // apocalyptic or mundane   

and some conditional/qualification nonsense under the cut because like. Me? make a DECISION? be CONCISE? No.

slow burn or love at first sight: I actually love both of these but the second one is SO FREQUENTLY ‘welcome to Allo Nonsense O’Clock’ and I’m sorry but my aroace ass is just not here for that. I do, however, love ‘oh my god what are these feelings do I have food poisoning do I hate them WHAT IS THIS.’ Instant Feels accompanied by confusion and mortification and rage? Oh yes, love that, good shit.

fake dating or secret dating: I do not actually have super-strong feelings for either of these but the first is more likely to involve idiots in mutual pining and I LIVE for that shit.

enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers: Both of these have excellent pining potential but the first one includes more ‘and I’m ANGRY ABOUT IT’ and I do, as mentioned in the first item, LOVE that shit. Yes, please be furious about these horrible feelings while also being powerless against them. [hellmo.gif]

oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance correspondence: This was literally just because I’ve read more tasty fic with epistolary segments. The first one is good! The second one is just slightly more in line with my very niche preferences.

hurt-comfort or amnesia: I fucking LOVE hurt-comfort so almost anything else put into this bracket would be losing to it but also I just don’t really vibe with amnesia most of the time. Like, I’ll read it, it’s not a Hard No, but it’s not a plot point in any of my top ten or indeed in like... the top fifty.

fantasy au or modern au: FANTASY AU MY BELOVED but also why are modern AUs so much a thing, they’re everywhere, I filter them out and it wipes out like 1/3 of the fic for a fandom. I live in this reality because I don’t have a CHOICE why would I want to stay when fiction can instead take me to places with dragons or spaceships or magic or literally anything other than More Goddamn Capitalism????

mutual pining or domestic bliss: Mutual pining is the one thing that could have beat out hurt-comfort. This wins against literally everything. Also established relationship is another thing I usually filter out because it’s about the Yearning.

smut or fluff: Yeah I said what I said. I’m here for yearning and sometimes also for porn. Fluff does not usually contain acceptable levels of Yearning. Smut, on the other hand, is surprisingly compatible with it as long as the principles are idiots who can’t communicate.

canon-compliant or fix-it: fix it, always, I am a weak little marshmallow and canon likes to kill my faves.

reincarnation or character death: Neither of these is My Jam but if they have to die at least they don’t have to STAY DEAD okay?

one-shot or multi-chapter: porque no los dos? But also if we’re talking about writing it’s 100% one-shot because I’m an ADHD disaster gremlin.

kid fic or road trip fic: Honesty time my first impulse was ‘eh, neither?’ And then I remembered that I love road trip fic actually it’s just that my favorite settings do not have CARS. Travel is great! Travel stories are great! Reality is boring and I would prefer not to be here!

arranged marriage or accidental marriage: Okay TECHNICALLY I think arranged wins this but I don’t really go in for the traditional ‘they’ve never met before and other people are forcing the issue’ thing that the term usually signifies. At the same time, I can enjoy an accidental marriage thing if it’s not a farce but that’s ALSO usually not what people mean. So I’m not picking one because if we’re going by The Usual Meanings I tend to actively avoid both. If you’re wondering what the fuck I’m talking about I was trying to decide if I’m too ashamed to explain myself but then I realized you had to click under a cut and then keep reading after I was like ‘porn > fluff’ so you know what you’re in for and the answer is ‘I enjoy a good warprize fic because I am a trash panda who deserves to live in the dumpster.’ I don’t like strangers making them get married. I like one of them making them get married and probably the marriage goes unconsumated for ages and they fall in love and neither realizes the other has feelings and-- yeah.

high school romance or middle aged romance: What do you want from me here, you can fit SO much more yearning into several decades than you can into several years. See also: my conviction that Persuasion is the best Austen novel.

time travel or isolated together: Both of these can be Good Shit, but time travel wins it by a smidge because Isolated Together can feel like what is actually happening is they are breaking under psychological torture and like. I would prefer they have actual feelings. I say this as someone who loves a good fictional codependent relationship; they still need to talk to other people sometimes.

neighbours or roommates: I was all ‘I don’t care whatever’ and then I remembered that Carry On exists and went ‘oh right, I do in fact care; roommates.’

sci-fi au or magic au: magicmagicmagicMAGIC--

body swap or gender bend: I love the ‘I’m desperately trying to be respectful and it’s weird to check out the body I’m in but ALSO--’ Like, it can get stupid if they’re trying to hide it for whatever reason (I swear I have a sense of humor it’s just that I also get CRIPPLING SECOND-HAND EMBARRASSMENT from like, everything in the universe), but it can be pretty great when handled well.

angst or crack: My entire fic preference can be summed up by that ‘I want them to fall SO far and then land on something soft’ thing someone said which I cannot find because google’s algorithm no longer actually tries to find you what you ask for and instead tries to anticipate your wants which is hard to do with me because I don’t know what’s going on in my head 90% of the time. Anyway. Angst. I can very occasionally be in the mood for crack but usually that’s a No.

apocalyptic or mundane: See: my answer to fantasy or modern. I do not like reality and I only live here because the emigration options fucking SUCK.