#part of my sequel rewrite that may not ever happen

[sith-as-heck]

Homecoming.

The last person Lokki expected to visit on a sunny afternoon was his daughter.

“Lok..” Alexsandr broke the silence of the living room, he stood admiring the way the sun bounced off the lake outside, but a shuttle coming into land caught his attention “There’s a First order shuttle about to land.”

Lokki looked up from his datapad, a look of annoyance on his face “What in the name of Chobb do they want now?”

He rose from his seat and brushed down his clothes 

“Have you done anything recently?”

“No more than usual.” 

Alexsandr smiled “So thats a yes then.”

There was a light breeze that rustled through Lokki’s hair as he stood on the porch, ready to greet whatever sycophant the first order had sent to meet with him this time.

What he didn’t expect to see was his daughter, half limping and half crawling towards them.

“Syn’Da?”

It had been years since they saw each other last, they had cut off all contact when she chose the dark side of the Force and the First Order over everything, he had hated her for that.

That hatred fell away like dead petals, she looked hurt, his parental instinct took over and he rushed towards her.

“Syn..”

He threw his arms around her, her clothes had rips and burns on them, there was blood coming from her nose.

She clung to him like a woman lost at sea finding land

“Papa..” She spoke in a gasp “Forgive me, for everything…”

“Syn’Da calm down..” Alexsandr stood behind them, his tone full of skepticism “What happened?”

“We were just pawns..”

There was a fear in her voice that made Lokki want to cry

“Pawns are expendable..I tried….I tried to convince Ky- Ben to come with me…” She took a deep breath. “He wouldn’t..he might even be dead I don’t know.”

She buried her head in Lokki’s chest, crying so hard her whole body shook.

“We were promised everything and it was all a fucking lie..” 

Lokki stroked her hair and looked up at Alexsandr who was still looking at Syn’Da with distrust.

“Come..lets get you inside..” 

Lokki stood up, Syn’Da came with him

“Go..We’ll follow.”

Once Syn’Da was out of earshot, Alexsandr sighed.

“What do you think happened?”

“Not sure..But we can’t exactly turn her away, can we?”

Alexsandr raised his eyebrows “Are you forgetting everything she’s done?!”

“Let's not go down that path, Alex..” Lokki sneered, he was upset, angry and worried. “Look at her..I haven’t seen her like that since she stayed up to watch that horror vid, remember?”

There was a long pause, before Alexsandr frowned

“She isn’t a child anymore..” He brought a hand to his beard. “But you're right, we should give her a chance to at least explain..”

Lokki nods.

What in the galaxy could have scared her so much that she’d run home?

[mermaidsirennikita]

People are ridiculously entitled and it’s genuinely so disheartening. Books are someone’s ART. You don’t just get to alter a name in someone else’s creative work. (I’m appalled people out there think this is remotely acceptable - writers are not court jesters nor do they exist to please everyone - no human being nor their creative work does, in fact!) Thanks for putting your various responses out there! Here’s hoping people learn to respect and appreciate artists and creators once again

Quoth Nora Roberts:

I am not here to be a slave to certain reader’s wants, needs, whims. Again, I write what I write, and these are MY characters, in my books. Not yours. They are yours to enjoy or not, but they belong to me, they come from me...

You don’t have to agree, but I’m not writing for your particular point of view. Again, I’ve explained my reasons for this. I won’t do so again. My characters, my books, my decision. If you want something else, read something else.

And yes, I said that, too. Blast away, it changes nothing. I am not obliged to meet an individual’s demands.

So.

First off:

If you're really super chill about the idea of being able to change what writers write just because you didn't like a detail you think is small and irrelevant, I would sincerely encourage you to read La Nora's full thoughts on similar issues... and yeah, I'm gonna equate something as "small" as a name with what Nora's talking about here. Because it is ALL the author's domain. I've never personally subscribed to the idea that a work "isn't yours anymore" once it's out in the world. The way people interpret and interact with it isn't yours, sure. But it's still your creation, and you should be the only person with control over the content.

... and sometimes, I, as a reader, don't like what authors do with their content. I get it. I don't like that Lisa Kleypas edited her work years after publishing it, because I'm big on the "own what you wrote originally even if it's uncomfy" train... (for the most part--editing the fetishization of Cam and Kev would've made sense to me). And I don't think there's anything wrong with readers pointing out problematic shit in a writer's work, offering critique in an open forum, as Smart Bitches, Trashy books did when reading Hello, Stranger, which I speculate may have prompted some of Lisa's edits.

But! I can't say that it would ever be my right as a reader to, say, use future technology to tell my reading device "edit out the times Cam says shit that reads super fetishized". It's just kind of repellent to me to imagine rewriting someone's work in any way without their permission. Fuck, I don't even like the idea of estates releasing sequels or revised versions of books unless the author indicated that such was in their wishes in their will. (See: the TWO official Gone with the Wind sequels/prequels/whatever authorized by Margaret Mitchell's estate.)

We, as readers, have our lanes. The writers have theirs. And sometimes, as writers, they do tiny things or BIG things in their lanes that we dislike. (I love Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners series, for the most part. I really, REALLY hate the most recent book in the series. HATE. IT. But the only thing I can do about that shit is just pretend that book never happened, which I actually can fairly efficiently because I do in fact control what my brain does. Or, seek out books that give me what that series didn't with that most recent book. Sierra Simone's do a bangin' job.) But you know... Not only do I not think it is safe for me to merge into their lane... I don't want writers to feel like they have to submit to demand and give away pieces of their work in order to keep selling.

(And honestly? For the vast majority, I don't think it would make enough of a difference anyway--writers are often sold bills of goods with new strategies or tech. "This will change the way you sell books". Most writers won't ever be able to write full time anyway, and I find the way that this fantasy that you'll be able to do otherwise with THIS TECH optimizing your writing time, or THIS SUBSCRIPTION increasing the eyeballs that will see your book... Scammy. Not all of it's bad! But the selling strategy that you'll make more money... If you're selling on KU, if five extra people buy your book you're still making pennies, so it's gotta be more than one thing that converges to create the sale, and a lot of that, I gotta say, is word of mouth and people just LIKING YOUR SHIT. And I'd argue that they're more likely to like your shit if you're invested as a writer.)

Second:

No need to thank me! I honestly think that the majority of readers do appreciate what writers do (or don't feel either way about it and just read like people have always read lol) but I don't know. I can't really tell what it is--the sort of "fandom" that's been created around books (and like, author fan clubs and such have always existed, but obviously the accessibility is so different), new tech developing very rapidly when for centuries books were relatively stagnant technologically speaking, the fanficification of EVERY type of media it feels like... But the sense of entitlement that certain readers feel does seem to have grown. Or maybe it's simply become more visible. I mean, Nora Roberts has from the dawn of her writing career taken off had fans that can communicate with her, and I'm sure many have written letters like "Go give these characters a baby :(".

My biggest thing is always going to be this: some books ain't gonna be for you. There are books that sound so Caroline. I read them, and for whatever reason--writing style, one character choice, something ephemeral I can't name--they aren't. Everyone else loves these books. I'd love to love these books. I'd love to discuss these books. I'm not in the party. And that's FINE. Not every party is going to be a party I'm down for! One of my best friends loooooves Tessa Bailey and Tessa-like contemporaries. Tessa, by and large, doesn't work for me. So my friend and I can't discuss a lot of books in depth. Do I wish historicals worked for her so that I could nerd out with her? Sure! But I can't make something that doesn't work for her work for her, and I can't make Tessa's books work for me.

And I know that people will be like "it's just a name bitch", but... it's a slippery slope to me, just like ALL of AI and AI-related tech has been a slippery slope. Like, y'all said AI wasn't gonna be a big deal and would just make things easier, and people are now selling AI-written books under their names. Everyone said that authors would have control over how AI interacted with their books, and books are being scraped for AI on the daily.

I do not want anyone to have final control over what is and isn't in a book but the person who wrote the book. I do not want writers to feel like they need to cede any amount of control over the copy in that book over to readers in order to succeed.

And I honestly think it would be a lot healthier for everyone involved if we as readers (viewers, general audiences) just accepted that we don't get everything we want, and creatives are not here to dance to our tune. They are people, and they want to tell the stories they want to tell. Your power? Is in your dollar. If you don't like that shit, don't buy it. If you don't want to support it... don't! Fuck, if you want to talk shit on the internet about how the most recent book in the series was absolutely not for you, that's your right, too.

I don't want you fucking with a single word on the page, though. Feel free to go write your own shit--prosper! But that part of what Nora said that rings true to me most is "they come from me". These books come from writers. You have them because of those writers. So, I don't know, dude. Just take what's there, and if you dislike it, spit it out and move on to the thing you will like. Authors aren't churn factories to produce what you want, and ROMANCE as a genre, however commercial it is and however much it does have that One Rule that defines it as a genre... Is still something that writers should be allowed to experiment with. That's the work writers put in. The work readers put in? Finding shit that works for us. And I'm telling you... With a little practice, it ain't hard. How do y'all think I have all these books to recommend? Lmao

[galvanizedfriend]

2023 WIP List

I saw a writer I really love doing this here and decided to respectfully borrow the idea.

I'm feeling really bummed about writing lately, can't seem to find the least bit of motivation and have jumped from story to story without adding anything of substance over the last month or so. Nothing seems to spark joy. And yet I have thousands of words in half-written stories I'm not sure what to do with. Ideally, I'd like to finish them, but at this point, who knows 🤷‍ So this is a way for me to take stock, do some soul-searching, try to find where my heart is writing-wise at the moment and see if I can manifest some inspo.✨

These are not even all my WIPs, just the ones I have opened at least once in the last year.

▪ Speed Dating 3/3 Klaroline, friends/roommates-to-lovers

Started in June 2022

The final part to my Speed Dating sequel, which is much longer than the original story because I have no self-respect. Klaus and Caroline are roommates and idiots. The OG one-shot had them going on a round of speed dating and failing to connect the dots and realizing that what they really should be doing is sucking face with each other. The sequel is kind of an expanded universe situation, where I wanted to show a little more of their roommie chemistry and push them into situations where they are finally confronted with the reality of their feelings. But that only happens once they start seeing other people because of course.

I have maybe 60% of the final part written but for some reason, after word-vomiting non-stop for a while, I got stuck on a kind of major point in the story. I've tried to start it soooo many times and it just won't go. 🙃 I think I'm looking at a good 6 to 8k words more before it's finished.

▪ Random Fic (not the real title) Klaroline (duh), sorta exes-to-enemies-to-lovers I guess

Started in May 2020

The start of my romantic comedy phase. This predates even my coffee shop AU. It's Caroline and Klaus having a fling that ends very, very badly, but then having to come together again a year later to marry their common friend (and Caroline's ex), Tyler. I wanted it to be quick, witty and light-hearted and then at some point it got some very emotional bits in the middle and turned into something else completely. I guess it's still mostly light-hearted, but it has some ~~substance, whatever that means. I think it's an okay fic, and it's 55k words, which is not too bad, but then does anyone still read 55k all at once these days? lol

The fic is finished. I think I wrapped it up in April last year, so a year ago. But I haven't been able to go back and read it again. I've tried, and I've started it so many times, but then I always stop and never pick it back up. But like. 55k words of finished fic here. 🤷‍

▪ Pendulum Klaroline, soulmates!AU but make it sad

Originally in January 2019, started rewriting in July 2020 (lol)

I have issues with this story. It's the saddest damn thing I've ever written, but it's also my favorite storyline I've ever come up with. It got some hate at the time, I don't know why, but also some of the most heartfelt comments/responses I've ever received on any story (and I still keep them all!), so I think this is one where you either love it or hate it. But because I feel so protective of it, I have problems (of the personal brand) leaving it out in the open, and I don't want to repost it until I'm absolutely sure it's ok. As you can see, it was one of my first ever fics, so the writing wasn't the best. But I still love it, I don't care. I keep wanting to make the writing match how much I love the idea, and I don't know if that's possible. 🙃

It's the rare AU I write entirely from Klaus' POV, which is something else. I'm not sure I'm that good with Klaus. It's also an AH, but it has a little magic twist. Every time Klaus dies, his life just restarts from the exact same point. He's born on the same year, at the same place, to the same parents. Except he remembers his previous lives, and so he accumulates the knowledge of hundreds and hundreds of previously lived years each time he's reborn. And then shit happens.

First time I posted this, it was 57k words long. I have successfully finished rewriting the first of three parts, which is around 14k words, but as you can see, I have been in this process since 2020 (!!!), so I need to go back and tinker with that as well. May God have mercy on my soul.

▪ Mystic Tours (not the real title) Klaroline, friends-to-lovers but also fake dating

Started in January 2023

This was inspired by Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison, except it's not a Christmas story, and it doesn't actually have any farms. It has Klaroline fake dating to try and win a contest that can potentially save Caroline's failing business, and also loads of side-characters Sound of Settling style (including a horde of Mikaelsons and Bonnie and Enzo as Caroline's co-workers). I really like writing stories where I can fit a bunch of side characters and make the whole thing sorta absurd. But I also wanted to try to make something quicker, more dialogue-oriented and with shorter scenes. AND YET. I just can't seem to make it work, the writing kinda sucks.

I have some 6k words of this, but can't tell you how much of that is actually usable. And it's maybe 10% of the story. 🙃

▪ Friends that Ruin Your Life (may or may not be the title, undecided) Klaroline, Klefan (!!), affairs, fucked up people, angst

Started in March 2023

The five minutes during which I decided I wanted to go back to my origins and write something angsty and filled with complicated situations, a bit like Gasoline. It features Klaus and Stefan as a couple, and Caroline getting sucked into their messy marriage. So yes, Klaus is having an affair. In his defense, so is Stefan. Caroline's moral compass gets all out of sorts and she realizes the world is a lot less black-and-white than she'd previously assumed and sometimes you do get judged by your one-offs, even if your heart is in the right place.

I got super excited about this one and churned out the entire plan for the whole story, with all the scenes and most of the dialogues and the document alone is like 60k words long. I wrote that in like three days. 🥲 I don't think I could make it a one-shot, and I think that left me bummed because I didn't want it to be a multi-chapter. And then I'm not sure the writing was coming along fine enough, it wasn't flowing, and I started to question whether it was actually good or if I was totally tripping when I had this idea and this was actually insanely shitty. lol Leaning more towards the second right now.

▪ King Arthur AU (not the actual title) Klaroline, magic, fantasy, King Arthur

Started in March 2021

This is very high fantasy, and very intricate. It would be a multi-chapter, but I have no idea how long. I think I was leaning towards 10 chapters. I have four written. And the writing is fairly decent, if I may say so myself. But as it usually happens with me, I get to a point where I start wondering why am I even writing this, and then I stop. 🥲🥲 I also think I was having some doubts about how to wrap it up. It had maybe more plots than I wanted to work with. King Arthur was actually Elijah, and Klaus was Mordred, and Caroline was Guinevere-ish, a witch undercover in "Orleans" (I'm so creative!!).

Only reason this is even on the list is because I recently read the four chapters I have and thought they were pretty decent, but I haven't written anything in almost two years, so maybe I've swiped up on this one already.

▪ The Wolf III and IV 🤡

Started in October 2020 (!! when I tell you guys I've had this written for years lol)

I have technically written The Wolf 3. It's in my "headcanons" format, which is honestly a joke, because clearly I don't know how to write headcanons. 🤡 But as you can see by the starting date, it's very, very old, and it requires full rewriting and lots of editing. Chapters are 15 to 20k words long (some are longer). TW4 is a different story. I never actually wrote it down, all I have is a full, detailed plan of all the scenes and shit. My idea was to not split the two stories into two different fics, but rather continue on with TW4 in the same AO3 "document" (???) as TW3 and make it 34 chapters long instead of 21. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but also I don't have it in me to start another separate story.

But here we are, stuck on S03E17. 🤡 Gonna be honest with you, my dudes, it's been rough to find the motivation to open that document. I think I have half of 17, maybe, but I haven't touched that in over a month. Laely, I have been often sent into thinky thoughts that you really shouldn't have when you're writing fic just for the hell of it, you know. Like, this is in no way meant to be a great piece of writing, I shouldn't be worried about that. It's the fan service of the fan service. But I start to think about the real quality of it and whether it even makes sense to be writing it, I realize I wrote one fic that was good, a second one which I personally think was even better, and then I made the classic mistake of having one too many sequels. This is Jurassic Park III. It's not as crappy as Jurassic World, you have Sam Neill, but should it exist? I just want Klaus and Caroline to be together for a change, and I love adding random final scenes in every chapter where it's just the two of them being married, but - should this be written? Or rather, should this have been posted in the first place? Do we really wanna see them being domestic? Doesn't that kind of kill the vibe? I don't know, man. I don't know. Chapter one was a blast, people seemed so into it and I wrote five chapters at once and got maybe a little over-excited, and then which each update I feel like there's less and less readers and it really gets me thinking. These thoughts are sabotaging my will to write. I need to get back on my fuck it horse.

It will come to me at some point, though. I'm sure it will.

Anyway, these are all my current WIPs! Comments, ideas and positive energies are all welcome! ✨ Let's return to this in december and weep at how little progress I've made 🥲

[virtie333]

Twenty questions for fanfic writers

I was tagged by @agent-troi and @randomfoggytiger. Thank you! I needed this diversion today!

How many works do you have on AO3?

102

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

892,823

What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars (sequel and original trilogy), The X-Files, Triple Frontier (still have a Moon Knight WIP, too!)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Kinetic

Flight 814

Eyes in the Night

Let's Get This Show on the Road

My Best Friend's Weddings

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! Sometimes I only have the energy for an emoji or two, but I always respond.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I always have happy endings... unless they are a cliffhanger because I was already planning another fic in the series. My craziest cliffhanger was definitely Let's Face the Music and Dance.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them? LOL Uhm, probably my happiest ending was Kinetic, because it was the actual ending of The Rise of Skywalker, only elaborated upon (Poe Dameron was on the Millennium Falcon at the end of that movie, dammit!)

Do you get hate on fics?

No hate, thank God. I did get a few people complaining I had tagged Rey/Ben Solo in My Best Friend's Weddings, but I informed them that half of the fics that end up in the Rey/Poe tag are Reylo, so they have nothing to complain about. I was warned that by doing that I would get Reylo hate, and I did not, so that made me happy.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep. I usually include it in my long fics and the occasional smutty short, but I don't write PWP. My smut is pretty vanilla (one reader called it 'classy,' which made my day), but I do have a little bit of a praise kink myself, so that comes out sometimes.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. I was fairly well know back in my X-File days, and I think someone would have let me know if they saw my stuff without my name on it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I know I had a few of my X-Files fics translated years ago, and one of my Damerey, Just In Time, thanks to @marieziffer!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I was part of a crazy multi-writer X-File fic way back in the day. We wrote the thing on the fly, taking turns for every chapter. It was on the Delphi Forums X-File site. I have no clue what happened to it, but I know we never finished it!

What’s your all time favorite ship?

I am going to have to say Damerey, because I've been obsessed with it for over four years now. However, I will always love MSR and Han/Leia, and may yet write for both again someday.

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

I hope to God I can finish them all! My Moon Knight is waiting patiently for me to finish this crazy Sequel rewrite, and my angsty Damerey is also always on my mind.

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told my dialog is very realistic, and I've been told my smut is good, too. LOL

What are your writing weaknesses?

I find when I re-read my stuff that I favor certain phrases and use them a little too often. I also have a hard time writing action, but again, I've been told I do it well, so the struggle is worth it, I guess.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I like it, as long as it's minimal. I don't want to have to always look up what things mean and I don't want my readers to, either.

First fandom you wrote for?

Depends. I was writing Star Wars back in Junior High/High School, but nothing anybody ever read. I also wrote for Jack and Jennifer from Days of Our Lives back than. My first 'published' fanfiction was for The X-Files.

Favorite fic you’ve written?

OMG. This is tough. I really love a lot of my stuff ('write what you want to read' is my motto!). I think I'm going to have to go with El Halcón.

Thank you, muchly! No pressure tags for @romanarose, @ivystoryweaver, @melodygatesauthor, @reallyrallyauthor, @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction, @walkawaytall, @phoenix-rising-starbird-one, @diplomaticprincess, @missdictatorme, and whoever else wants to do it (not sure who all has AO3, but you can always skip that part if not!)

[lunarsands]

ALSMP Fanfic: Along The Roads To Sanctuary Ch 4

Bonus also Empires SMP S2 fanfic! I just didn’t want to make the title field too long ^_^;

Characters: PearlescentMoon, Scott Smajor, MythicalSausage, Eddie, Joel Smallishbeans, Bubbles the Dog, Hermes, mentions of other Empires S2 characters, including a certain misplaced warlock… Sausage Supreme

Relationships: MythicalSausage/Scott Smajor

Tags: Canon Divergent, fictional religion, scosage, Afterlife SMP meets Empires SMP S2 but in an AU way

Warnings: violence, surrealism via magic auras, humorous misunderstandings about infidelity (tfw your husband cheats on you…with you), kidnapping (although we know how that went in canon)

(Sequel to Echoing Through To You, When The Skies Cry, Until The Blood Moon Descends, Then We’ll Rewrite The Stars, Wherever These Flowers May Grow)

Summary: A happily ever afterlife is interrupted by the distant past; Sausage receives another calling and is sent into a different mortal world from their old one, with Scott insisting on following so they won’t be separated. They both lead brand new lives but only Scott regains memories of the previous one on his own, and he isn’t allowed to remind Sausage about any of it without jeopardizing the mission the angel was sent to complete – a mission someone else was supposed to have dealt with.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

[A/N: Two chapters in one day bonus because I’m experiencing burn out and need to forge on ahead.]

---

Chapter Four

 “This might be an even bigger revelation about where we are, if it can get through that barrier still up in your mind.” Scott held onto him all the way up to the patch of ‘unique’ flowers. “Does anything else about them seem familiar?”

Sausage gazed down at the blue and white flowers, but then shook his head.

Scott took on his second floran form, complete with a starflower in his hair. He carefully watched the aura around Sausage. “This memorial. The flowers. Our flowers, Sausage.”

Just as he had suspected, the silver part of Sausage’s aura flowed up around his head. “St-Starflowers. Angelflowers. Wait… This is THAT world?!”

“Yeah. I thought it was a crazy coincidence when I first realized—”

“Joel is THAT Joel?!” Sausage interrupted. “How did he not— Oh, right. Neither me or you look, uhh, whatever it is you are right now. I don’t remember that either.”

“Floran,” Scott said warmly. “It was honestly one of my favorites. It offered some unique opportunities, and fit right in with our love of beautiful gardens.”

Sausage hummed in agreement, then promptly plopped down on the ground and squished his face between his hands. “This is a lot,” he mumbled into his palms. “And… not all of it is making sense.”

“Sorry.” Scott changed himself back to his human appearance in case someone else happened to come across them, then sat down across from Sausage. “I don’t know what the entire plan is this time. This world now has new, thriving civilizations, built on top of what we did in the past. That other version of you mentioned centuries having passed – so maybe…” Scott pondered for a moment. “Maybe he was around when that corruption struck the land. Maybe he time-travelled to get here. What’s even in that white tower?”

“Oh, that was something I built based on a different kind of dream I had – sort of like being granted a vision by a god of creativity! A tower to greet the morning’s light after a good night’s sleep! There are a couple of special items in there… Um, one of them might have been able to allow entry from another reality, now that I think about it.”

“Let’s start there to see if we can get any clues.” Scott pointed to his left eye again. “We’re probably meant to do something about him, which might also help clear up your head and get you back to normal. I can now see your aura as well as your wings. You look like a bit of a confused mess, so obviously there’s more yet to be done.”

Sausage nodded and moved to get to his feet. Once standing, he cast about himself, checking his pocketspace. “The first thing I should do is ask the magic to give me a new Staff. Something tells me I’m going to need the power. Don’t know what that other guy is going to do with it, but maybe he has magic powers, too.”

They headed back and stopped off at the gifting tree. Upon Sausage’s request, a second Staff of Sanctuary appeared. He gingerly took hold of it, but he smiled when he could feel the magic pulsing through it as strongly as ever. However, he was very quiet as they made their way up through the white, mossy tower. Scott took it to mean Sausage was still processing everything, so he let him be, and meanwhile looked around at all the details inside the tower. Glowberry vines hung everywhere, with plenty of other greenery scattered around, and Scott would have figured it was just one more nature-themed portion of Sanctuary until they reached the landing that contained a pedestal directly in line with a window.

Scott could see it was swirling with a rainbow of different magics, but one that stood out the strongest was a dark gray stream of smoke. On top of the pedestal lay a single wither rose.

Sausage cautiously approached, then picked up the rose. His expression crumbled, and Scott saw wisps of pale blue encircle his head. He quickly stepped in and put his hand over the top of the rose. “Let’s try to stay focused. We’ll unpack anything else later. What is this thing?” Scott gestured to the pedestal.

“Part of it is a lodestone, to act as a guide for different energies.”

“Okay, that explains why I’m seeing every color of magic under the sun around it.”

“Are any in particular standing out?”

“It’s starting to dissipate now, but there’s gray smoke.”

“Gray smoke, black wither rose. That might have been his connection into this reality.”

Further explanations were cut off by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Sausage hurried to the window for a look. “I think that came from the Forgotten Cove!”

“Before he knocked me out of the window, he mentioned something about causing chaos. I’m thinking he has already started.”

“Let’s get after him before he hurts someone!” Sausage hopped up onto the window sill to take off with his foliage-covered elytra, then glanced back at Scott.

The disguised starborne shrugged. “I left mine at home. I can travel long distances without them as a starborne, but…” He gestured down at himself.

“You can borrow one from me! Back to the tree!” Sausage jumped to the floor and grabbed Scott’s hand, squeezing it once as they ran down the steps. He threw a hopeful smile Scott’s way. Scott shifted his hand to interlace their fingers and lightly squeeze back. They were halfway out of this mystery – halfway to returning Sausage’s memories of their life from before this.

The other half, however, was what worried Scott, and he recalled Pearl’s confession that there was something she wasn’t allowed to tell, and it relied on someone else not yet in this equation on his and Sausage’s end.

~*~

They tracked Sausage Supreme by the trail of destruction he left behind, as well as some of the other rulers complaining about Sausage – of the Sanctuary variety – pestering or outright bedeviling them by blowing up projects they had been working on, adding that they weren’t fooled by him changing outfits and pretending to be innocent. Sausage was consternated by the fact no one seemed to notice the difference between him and the other guy, but he wasn’t going to try to explain the concept of this particular case of different realities when he was still grappling in his own head to understand what was going on.

Finally, the two made their way to Chromia, where Scott was dismayed to see everything was overrun by llamas that had been let out of their garden by large holes in the walls. “I’ll worry about rounding them up and fixing that all later. How have we not caught up to him by now?!”

Rather than answer, Sausage took off again and made a beeline for Stratos. Scott gasped loudly as realization hit him.

Hermes was at Stratos. And with the way Joel sometimes left them unattended…

With daylight preventing him from accessing most of his starborne powers, Scott could only hurry after Sausage using his borrowed elytra.

Stratos had not gone undamaged. Wither roses surrounded the lore fountain and the water seemed to have been replaced with mud. But it was the row of signs in front of it that Sausage was staring at. “He’s been leading us on a chase as a distraction this whole time,” he said when Scott landed. He had his fists clenched tightly. “He’s got my boy. He went right back to Sanctuary. Let’s go!!”

Without waiting another second, Sausage flew toward the giant Nether portal in the center of Stratos. Scott followed but wished they had some kind of plan. Having his other scimitar might help, too, but he had forgotten about it with more important things going on. He hurried after Sausage into the portal, feeling the drag of the Nether’s heat and swiftly becoming uncomfortable due to its utter lack of a sky. He lost sight of Sausage, but stuck to the marked off path that led to Sanctuary’s portal.

He always hated going through the Nether, but with no one else to see at the moment he didn’t have a reason to suppress the weight of it on his breathing or have to be casual about how it made him slower. Except, now wasn’t the time to be slow; Sausage hadn’t waited for him and had already gone through the other portal. Scott kept the layout of its exit in mind as he flew into it.

He pulled up short at the edge of the platform. He could see them in the town square below already – Sausage Supreme to one side with Hermes in a cage behind him, the floor lined with copper to counteract the child’s storm-inspired powers, and Sausage was across from him, shouting for the villain to let Hermes go. The two Sausages were pointing their respective Staffs of Sanctuary at each other.

Scott carefully glided down, trying to remain out of sight in hopes of getting the drop on Sausage Supreme. Or, perhaps, he should try to free Hermes so there would no longer be leverage against Sausage and he could cut loose with the magic he intended to use; or maybe even unleash some angel power.

That hope was dashed when he saw Sausage become outlined by a red glow and be tossed up against a building. Not completely pinned though, Sausage lifted his arm and fired a bright blue bolt from his Staff toward Sausage Supreme, breaking his focus and disrupting the holding spell, allowing the Protector to drop to his feet. Then the spell slinging went into a full battle.

As he attempted to get closer, Scott had to shield his eyes. The feedback from his left one was starting to feel like an oncoming headache. He was about one street over from Hermes when Bubbles ran past him carrying a pickaxe in her mouth. She slipped right past Sausage Supreme’s notice and made it to the cage without any trouble.

Scott retreated behind cover. Maybe he wasn’t needed here, after all… But he would absolutely step in if it looked like Sausage was about to lose. Scott’s attacks would be weakened by the daylight, but even just the showy effect of a star strike could distract the villain long enough for Sausage to recover.

That is, if he didn’t end up incapacitated, himself, with how much ethereal energy was being revealed by his left eye. Sausage’s dual-mixed aura was surging and starting to blot out his features, while now Scott could see Sausage Supreme’s aura – itself a roiling combination of red, magenta, and gray. The bursts of magical energy from their spells made him clutch at his head; this was going to become overwhelming very quickly. “Pearl,” he muttered, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

He wasn’t sure he could keep up with everything enough to figure out where – or if – he even could lend a hand. He put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping a few seconds of not observing all that magic might help. He was drawn back to the battle, however, when he heard an angry cry.

He was now baffled by a new sight. Sausage’s aura was now split perfectly down the middle, silver on one side and pale blue on the other, which was also the side that held the Staff of Sanctuary. The villain’s aura was still a messy cloud, so it wasn’t as if something had happened that stabilized all the different energies.

Then a new figure’s aura crept into view from a different alleyway: small, diluted purple, and crackling with sparks. Scott tried to reach out but was too dizzy to even try stumbling over to stop them. Hermes. No. It isn’t safe!

The child’s aura crackled brighter. Scott squinted. Lightning shot forth, skewering through the red-magenta-gray conglomeration.

All right. Well. That could definitely be of help.

Scott then saw the hand on the silver side reach out to grasp the end of the lightning bolt. Silver flames erupted around the hand, and it trembled, but then the wrist rotated as if getting a better grip on a piece of rope and began to pull, dragging Sausage Supreme toward him.

The glow coming off of Hermes flickered, then went out as the remainder of the lightning was discharged. Scott could see the child unobscured now, tottering back a step with Bubbles at the side to lean on. Hermes seemed unharmed, merely out of power for the moment.

Meanwhile, Sausage Supreme’s aura shook from the side effects of the electricity. As he came within range, the pale blue hand struck its Staff of Sanctuary against the ground, releasing a pulse of energy; then it let go of the Staff, leaving it to stand upright on its own. Energy pulses continued to radiate from it, while the pale blue hand grasped hold of Sausage Supreme’s arm.

The pulses from the Staff grew brighter. Scott saw Hermes cover his eyes, and Bubbles laid down with a paw over her muzzle, so he knew he wasn’t the only one being overwhelmed by the light. He could no longer make out the difference in the two Sausages so he shut his eyes, placing an arm in front of them for good measure. He heard a sound like the reversed shattering of glass, then felt a final pulse of magic right down to his starborne bones. He hastily looked out across the square—

He saw only one figure now, with a mix of silver and pale blue churning around red, gray, and magenta. Those three colors were soon swallowed up, then, suddenly, the pale blue spread in a burst, forcing out the silver into a splatter across the ground. Scott’s stomach wrenched.

Yet then the silver gathered itself together and rose up into a small pillar of swaying flames. The fully-blue Sausage form didn’t seem to notice it and instead took the Staff of Sanctuary from where it still stood on its own. As he lowered it, the intense magic faded from the area, returning Scott’s vision to normal. He saw… just Sausage of Sanctuary again, no outline of wings or other auras as he crouched and held out his arms while Hermes ran over to him. “Hermes! ¡Mi querido hijo! You were so brave! And so strong! Yeah, no one is going to mess with you ever again!”

The pillar of flame seemed to be watching, then it turned and started drifting toward Scott. He felt a warm sensation on his hand and remembered the other rings he had intended to give Sausage. One of them was now beginning to glow. Scott ducked around a corner. When the pillar reached him, a tendril of flame extended toward him. Scott took off the glowing ring and held the tendril as if it were a hand, then slid the ring onto it.

The pillar shifted and took on a vague humanoid shape with wings. The head turned to look back at the Protector of Sanctuary and Hermes. Scott then heard his partner’s voice in his head, strongly confident without any of the earlier confusion or reluctance, albeit distant and ethereal. “They’re a nice family. I’m sure Hermes will grow up to do great things.”

Relieved that it seemed like his Sausage had emerged with all his memories back, Scott whispered, “You need to explain to me what, exactly, just happened. You weren’t the only one in there, were you? You got kicked out just now. What did I just see?”

“Can we… go somewhere else? I need a moment. It got really weird there for a while but I needed to just stay focused. And, um, I’m not quite myself right now.”

“I can see that! But at least you’re more yourself than you were twelve hours ago.”

As quickly and carefully as they could, they crossed the town square. The Protector of Sanctuary was chatting away with Bubbles as he carried a now sleepy-looking Hermes, probably on the way to put the child in bed for a nap. Having been leaning his head on the man’s shoulder, Hermes could see over it as Scott and the silver-flame version of Sausage snuck past. He raised his little hand and waved. Sausage the Seraph paused and waved back, then hurried after Scott.

Hermes leaned their head back down and hugged his papa.

“Oh, mi niñito tiene sueño. I love you, too! We’ll all go rest and then you can have cookies and pumpkin pie for dinner later!”

.

Once they had entered the Nether and crossed to Chromia’s portal, the angel-shaped silver flames leaned on the frame and sighed with gusto. “Whew! That was a lot! I don’t think I’ve had to deal with that much magical energy since that time Pearl sent me to the Twilight Forest to try to negotiate with a High Lich!”

“When she— What? Never mind. Tell me how I managed to miss the fact I might have been talking to two different Sausages the entire time we’ve been here.”

“I found out the same time as you – like ten minutes ago, right? Of course, now that I look back, there was a kind of feeling that another soul was there, but like it was half-asleep, or something, through everything.”

“I’m. I’m sorry, like it what?”

Sausage went quiet; Scott wasn’t sure if the crackling-flame sound he heard was coming from his partner or the Nether itself. Then Sausage drew a deep breath. His form solidified a little more, but still resembled an apparition. He held up the index finger of both hands. “Two souls, two versions of me, inside the same body.” He pressed the fingers together. “Living the same life, gaining the same experiences. …Until I started getting my memory back, and the other me’s own memories also started to surface.”

He moved one finger away by a centimeter. “And then a third version from a different reality showed up, but was actually a piece missing from the soul of the other me that I was sharing a body with. Then add the missing piece back in, and there’s no reason for me to keep being there.”

“I think I need a flow chart. Why would this world’s Sausage be missing a piece of his soul that was in a different… reality? What.”

Sausage sighed loudly in exasperation. “How should I know! I’ve got my own memories of the life you and I had together, and now the shared memories of growing up here! Remember how I forgot all about originally being from the celestial realm and being one of Pearl’s angels? The other soul didn’t have any memories I could access to find out, not that I even had time for that when I realized it was there! I was too busy wrangling lightning and trying to stuff the evil soul into the whole mess of Mythical Sausage energy! Look, look – it was like if you’ve got a cup of water that’s two-thirds full, and you need to add the remaining third, but that happens to overflow the cup because it turns out one portion is like a different density than the others. Like mixing oil and water. I was the portion that didn’t actually belong, but the portion also already in there didn’t have the… uh… adhesiveness? Mergeability? To get the missing part to stick. I think I’ve lost track of the metaphor, hold on…”

Scott could only stare at him helplessly, trying to get a grasp of the explanation.

Sausage appeared to scowl, then sighed again, this time in resignation. “I don’t think the other me was strong enough to get the job done. And you saw that other guy – no way could he be allowed to keep running free. Who knows what he would have done – if he ended up influencing Hermes, turn the kid into a demon or something – that would be horrible! And the only way to stop him was to put him back where he originally came from.”

“So,” Scott said softly, “What about Hermes, then? He’s… your son, too.” He gave a gentle chuckle. “A child of a god and an angel.”

Sausage’s expression turned lost for a moment. “I’m not…sure. Technically they’re the son of the me of this world, and Joel. I was kind of… an extra co-parent? I guess that I’m sort of like a built-in guardian angel. And what happened at the end there was me fulfilling that part of a guardian angel’s calling. Stop a demon from causing harm. Demon is gone, threat is over, I move on.”

“Wait, what do you mean a demon?”

“Oh, that guy had some serious demonic vibes going on! There was a bunch of demon power mixed into his soul! Come to think of it, maybe that’s also why I needed to be here…”

Scott gingerly touched Sausage’s arm. “Well, we know how things go when your calling ends. You could always check in on Hermes from the reflecting pool, like you did with me.”

“Yeah,” Sausage said with a bittersweet smile, his tone soft. “I’ll be able to do that much.”

“Plus, since Hermes is a demigod, there might come a day where he ventures into the celestial planes and pays a visit to Pearl’s realm.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s true.”

They stood in silence for another moment, then Scott said, “So I guess we’re done here. We can check with Pearl to see if there’s anything else, but maybe we can go home. Um, but at the very least, let’s get out of the Nether right now. Not a great environment for starbornes.” Scott grimaced, then held out a hand toward Sausage to walk him through the portal out into Chromia.

“I’m done, yes, but what about you?” Sausage asked as they stepped down onto the grass.  “You still have a life here. Don’t you have anything you need to take care of? You still have Chromia to look after. Someone else is filling my shoes.”

Scott led the way toward the pond connected to the celestial realm, a little smirk crawling onto his face. “You know what? I think it’s time for the ruler of Chromia to go back to his adventuring days – who’s to say he didn’t simply disappear while hunting for another mysterious treasure?”

Someone called from behind them, “You would leave just like that, without saying goodbye first?”

They turned, both startled to have heard the voice of Sausage – the Protector of Sanctuary variety. He grinned as he trotted away from the Nether portal. “Where do you think you two are off to so fast?”

Scott pointed at himself and feigned confusion. “Us two?”

The Protector gestured toward the angel-shaped flames. “I can see him, too. We did just share a body for over two decades, even though I was asleep through most of it, and had you fill in until I was aware enough. I remember most of my past, now.” He nodded at Sausage the Seraph. “You must have had a similar experience, if they thought you were the one for the job.”

“Actually, I’ve figured it’s because I’m a really powerful angel, and that other guy had some demon energy mixed in! Could be a real challenge for the average reincarnated human, even if it’s a human version of me! No offense.”

“None taken. I’m glad for the help. Things got… messy, at my end. The big issue I now remember, involving my Pearl, well… She… ascended to godhood, but felt so much regret for being unable to help me when I was desperately trying to save her when the world was ending, that after she came to claim my soul at the end of my mortal life, she didn’t want to let me go when my soul was called back to this world. Before all that even happened, I had split the other guy off from my soul and banished him to a pocket dimension where he couldn’t hurt anyone – yeah, that’s a whole other story. But I guess the universe saw he would find a way to return to this reality, and I was needed to put an end to what I was responsible for creating. But Pearl – my Pearl – didn’t want me to have to deal with what was involved. So, the universe needed to balance things out after finally wresting me from her, so that’s where you came in.”

He sighed sadly. “She meant well. She got involved before, when I did something else kind of stupid.” The Protector then smiled weakly. “She means a lot to me, too, so I can’t really blame her. I don’t have a way to talk to her directly right now, but I hope she’s looking in and can see that it all went just fine!”

Scott put a hand on the Protector’s shoulder. “We need to get back to our own Pearl. I think she might have known what your Pearl had done, and was upset but couldn’t let it show. We need to let her know that everything did work out.”

The Protector placed his hand over Scott’s. “So… what actually are you?” He looked at him a little sadly. “Are you from another reality, too, and not just some cool star-powered hero from here?”

Scott nodded. “Yes, I’m from his reality. We have a tendency to follow each other around.”

He grinned over at Sausage the Seraph, who came closer to rest a hand-shaped flame on the Protector’s other shoulder. “Take good care of Hermes for me. And if Joel ever gets his memory back, ask him about the two spirits of the forest who came to rest in a bamboo jungle near a rock outcropping. He might be able to explain where those flowers came from, after all.”

The Protector seemed to mull that over, then looked between the two in wonder.

~*~

Scott and Sausage the Seraph continued on their way to the pool by the shed only to find it ringed by glowstone and the light from the water giving off so much supernatural radiance that Scott started to get a migraine within seconds. He covered his left eye and motioned for Sausage to enter the pool. Rather than extinguish his flames, he merely passed through. Scott hopped in after him without hesitation. The glowstone shattered behind him, returning the water to that of a simple decorative pond.

On the other side Sausage stood restored to his normal, solid angelic appearance. He looked himself over and sighed in relief. “Wow, that was convenient! For a minute there I was worried I would need a whole new vessel! How about you?”

He turned to Scott, who was still in his Chromian human form. “Well, I kind of still like this coat, but it clashes a little with the purple.” He waved a hand over his face and head, turning his eyes violet and hair shimmery purple, with the tiny constellation also returning to view.

Sausage studied him for a moment. “Hey, so, what is up with your eye? Is that some starborne thing we didn’t know about before, or just some extra magic you picked up along the way in that world?”

“The second thing, technically. It was Pearl’s doing, to be honest. My, um, eye got stolen by a creepy skull artifact and a wizard tricked me claiming he could get my original eye back from it, but according to Pearl he was going to sneak a fake one in, but she intervened in time to imbue it with magic first, to give me an edge in aiding you. I’m not actually sure how much it helped in the end, since I got overwhelmed by all the soul auras and magical energy around and couldn’t fight.”

“Well, I still think I was meant to handle that final part by myself – er, me and the other me.” Sausage then smirked. “Couldn’t stay away, could you? You followed me.”

“Do you really think I was going to wait decades to see you again? I don’t care how immortal we are like this. I don’t have that kind of patience.” Scott smirked right back at him.

They stepped toward each other to embrace, but then Pearl appeared and got between them. She turned to Scott and pressed the palm of her hand over his left eye. Scott uttered a quiet noise of discomfort as mild pain swelled around his eye socket, but as it faded, he could tell the input from that eye had returned to the way it was before the incident with the skull.

Pearl smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I had to wait until you came back to this realm for me to be able to fully restore it for you.” She then turned to Sausage with an even more pained look.

“Everything worked out fine, Pearl!” Sausage announced cheerfully. “I mean, that did get a little weird when I started remembering my life and the other me’s at the same time – but it’s pretty cool knowing there’s another me who led a different type of life, all mortal and plain and stuff! Well, aside from the magic. That’s not plain or boring!”

The pained expression on her face remained.

“Uh. Pearl?” Sausage asked, confused as to why she hadn’t even hugged them upon their return.

Pearl walked to the reflecting pool and waved a hand over it, then said softly, “Sausage, do you remember when I told you about my old world, and how I had a friend I had to leave behind?”

“Uhm, yeah?”

The pool resolved into the image of a sepia-toned scene of swaying stalks of wheat. “When he reached the end of his mortal life, I went down to collect his soul before a reaper could come to try to send it to the Plane of Souls…”

“Oh, this sounds familiar! Wait, are you saying you’re the Pearl that the other me was talking about??” Sausage’s eyes went wide. “I thought he meant another, parallel Pearl! Like how I’m a parallel version of him, but I’m an angel instead of a human with incredible magical powers!” He uttered a brief chortle, pleased with the idea of any parallel version of himself being powerful in some way, but when Pearl failed to smile, he stopped. “Uhm. Is there something else to this that I’m missing?”

Pearl glanced toward the pool. “Do you remember when I said you were so much like my old friend?”

Sausage nodded then exchanged looks with Scott.

“It’s… because you are him. I did something similar to that other Pearl. I put that soul into a brand-new angel vessel. I just wanted to have you by my side and at peace here, doing what you loved to do back in the mortal realm. My architect.” She turned toward Sausage again and reached out to gently touch him under the chin, then withdrew her hand. “But you also became angel-coded because of that vessel, so when you received a calling, I couldn’t do anything about it, and had to let you answer it, then wait for you to complete your journey through a new mortal world.”

She took a deep breath. “The other version of me wasn’t so willing to let her boy go. He didn’t get put in a new vessel. She just hoarded his soul somewhere. The threat he needed to face was something you had also dealt with in your original mortal life, but it was properly resolved, and there was no chasing down fractured pieces of your soul. And yet, your soul was similar enough that the higher powers that be enlisted you for this job.”

Sausage stared, dumbfounded. “Uh— Wait— You mean, some of those memories might actually have been mine, and not his?”

Pearl nodded. “I can’t say how much of it was one or the other.” She gave another weak smile. “I don’t have that much insight into what’s in your head.”

“So, Mythland—?”

“Was a kingdom you built up and restored in some places. Do you want to see it?” Pearl gestured to the pool.

Sausage shook his head. “No. I’d rather leave that in the past. I have what I have now.” He took Scott’s hand and held it tightly. “And also, I, um, think I need to sit down.” He started to glance around in distress, but Scott swiftly guided him over to the wicker throne to sit at its base.

The starborne was silently digesting all of this. It didn’t change how he felt, even if this was a whole new side of Sausage that he was finding out about. In fact, Scott let out a little laugh. “Does this mean you’re actually several hundred years older than me?”

“I don’t know,” Sausage mulled it over, the distraction perfectly timed. “Does it count that I sort of started over as an angel, like we started over in that world? Hey, Pearl – did you know that was the same world you sent us to as florans? And Joel didn’t recognize either of us! What are the odds of him losing his memory of the past when me and the other me had our memories sealed away! Can you imagine what would have happened if we all remembered at the same time? Hey, speaking of that – Scott, did you know the whole time, or did you get to have a little vacation from the past, too?”

As he babbled on, Pearl and Scott were both relieved that the revelations hadn’t dampened his spirits any. Pearl even chuckled to herself. Yup, Sausage was the same as always, no matter what form he was in. There might be more to unpack another time, but for now she was happy to indulge his enthusiastic ponderings.

~The End~

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[Post A/N: The story of Sausage of Sanctuary, as well as more revelations about which Sausage, exactly, he is, will be continued in the crossover “Thou, O Kings, Fair Be You All” coming soon!]

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Translations for this chapter:

¡Mi querido hijo! = My dear son!

mi niñito tiene sueño = my little boy is sleepy

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with tatooedlaura (Laura Sprys)

Laura has 28 fics at Gossamer, but the big treasure trove of her stories is at AO3, where she has 193 fics. Thank goodness for the richness of the X-Files and for talented, creative people like Laura who can find so many interesting ways to tell tales in the show’s universe. Big thanks to Laura for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Maybe reading mine but reading older fic in general is something I still do and something I still find entertaining. I do wish i could get into my old fics and post a warning that some of those were written before the author: ever had a drink, ever had sex, ever had a boyfriend, ever lived on her own, ever had a real job, or ever experienced much of anything in the real world.

Then again, fanfic is a perfect time capsule for the age and it’s always fun to see where the originals started and how they’ve grown.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

Back in the day and up and through today, it has always been a fun experience. From it, I’ve learned to love writing. I’ve learned that fans are crazy, weird, wonderful, generous, talented, committed, passionate, and imaginative. In a fandom, you can think whatever you wish and write about anything you like and because I’ve been around so long, I’ve gotten to watch the storylines shift and the relationships change ...

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Originally, I never had much interaction with people other than ones who sent emails commenting on my fanfic … the internet at my parents house was dial-up and I had to access through the AOL free disks that arrived in the mail so, for the most part, I didn’t have the bandwidth or the connection speed to do more than upload stories and download episode guides.

Good lord, I remember submitting a story and having to wait upwards of two days to two weeks before the new batch of stories was posted ... then ephemeral came around and you could actually have your story up in under a day ... all ya'll who started on tumblr and ao3, you have it great, let me tell you :)

One thing that stands out in my mind still (and I’m still friends with her on Facebook) was a woman from western Canada who I stumbled across somewhere while looking for the blooper reels. She offered to send me her copies on VHS for my collection. I don’t think she asked for payment and one day, a package arrived from a lovely woman near Lethbridge, bloopers playable, tapes labeled in clear printing. I still appreciate that 20 some odd years later :)

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Fandoms are crazy places. Tread lightly at first but enjoy what you want, ignore what you don’t, rewrite what you hate, and write what you love. Don’t be an asshole when you don’t agree with someone … when you do, tell them …

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I was on board from the first episode. It was a show about two people who you felt were destined to be together but weren’t, and wouldn’t be for years. It was a cop show about aliens and a monster show with cops. I was in the right place at the right time in the right frame of mind and there was just something that clicked and I never looked back. Friends were not allowed to call me on Friday night and once it switched to Sunday, I made sure that my parents got us on early evening bowling league so we’d be home in time to watch. Even my boyfriend (eventual husband) knew to shut the hell up from 9-10pm, even if he was sitting next to me on the couch (with my parents in their chairs watching as well)

Also, my 56-year-old dad had a crush on Scully from the start so that was entertaining as hell as well

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I have been writing stories in my head for literally as long as I can remember. Watching some episode, I honestly don’t remember which one, I suddenly had an idea for a story about Mulder and Scully. I had never written a story with pre-existing characters before and it was totally foreign to me. How do you write a character with a current storyline. It was weird, it was difficult, it was some of the most fun I’d had writing up to that point.

Suddenly, I didn’t have to explain or describe the characters, think of jobs and mundane things … they already had those … and it was great.

Honest-to-God, my first fic was written, in pencil, on a yellow legal pad by flashlight while lying with my head at the foot of my bed so I could see my parents coming down the hall if they happened to wake up at midnight to go to the bathroom. Later fics were written by the light of an 10” TV/VCR combo with me still lying with my head at the foot of the bed. I still have those old legal pads somewhere and I remember having to type them in secret, having to wait until the house was empty for 20 minutes to an hour at a time. Uploading them was always unnerving because of the slow dial-up and the fact that I didn’t have my own email address, but had to use my dad’s. I’d have to make sure to check it whenever I could, intercept the feedback I’d get off gossamer.

I was such a damn rebel.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Well, I now know how to interact with people given tumblr and AO3 but it hasn’t changed much. I contribute a little more now that I understand posting on social media but mostly, I still just write like a fiend and post, read voraciously and give kudos and likes often, comment some and reblog.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

I dabbled and have a favorite ‘Fringe’ fic … I tried to read a Harry Potter fic once … I type ‘West Wing’ occasionally in ao3 and tumblr ...

And nothing, absolutely nothing, has ever caught me like the X-Files did in regards to the fandom experience.

I have shows I watch and re-watch and re-watch but no two characters have ever had me writing and thinking and planning like Mulder and Scully. No other combo has ever made me write upwards of 300,000 or more total and still have plenty of stories to tell.

I’m okay with this.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Aside from Mulder and Scully and the gentlemen three of Frohike, Langley, and Byers … I love all Scully’s nieces and nephews in my ‘Life’ series … I also love Corduroy (picture books), Harold (purple crayon fame), Neville Longbottom, the characters from my own novels, Katniss (book not movie), Anne Shirley, Elnora (from the Limberlost), Will Stanton/Merriman/Barney/Jane from ‘Dark is Rising’ and 10,459 others …

I’m a children’s librarian so most of my favorite books are those written for the younger and YA crowd. I like my job :)

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I watch this show all the damn time. I will think about Mulder and Scully when I have nothing else to think about, normally writing and editing whatever story I may have in the hopper at the time about them.

My husband laughs when I have the show on. He knows all the episodes with me and it’s one of my comfort shows that I don’t have to pay attention to when it’s on. During it, I have edited books, decorated cookies, been sick, been recovering, simply wasted a perfectly good day because I could.

My 17-year-old daughter keeps it on while she does homework and works out.

It’s a staple at our house and no one is allowed to make fun of it, even though we all know that parts are completely ‘make fun-able’

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I read fic all the time … I have worked my way through AO3 starting from the beginning and if it was more easily readable on a phone, I’d work my way, once again, through gossamer.

Restated from above: I dabbled and have a favorite ‘Fringe’ fic … I tried to read a Harry Potter fic once … I type ‘West Wing’ occasionally in ao3 and tumblr ...

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I have all kinds of favorites on tumblr but right now, I honestly don’t remember most of the names … I pretty much read everything that comes through my dashboard and every few days, i read through the newest posts on AO3 … I love you all!!

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Of X-Files fics, I love my newer stuff … I read “Life” and its sequels every few months … ‘Your Place or Mine’ is another one I will read … actually, I’ll just say it .... I read all my own fic over and over again …

With fic, you get to write the characters as you want to see them and write situations that you want to see … I write for myself most of all and I love to read what I wrote :)

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I write them all the damn time. I have tons of snippets and half-finished that I occasionally glean things from but while sometimes, old stuff morphs into new, sometimes, it just needs to gather that dust and live a quiet little forgotten life in some backhand folder on my dropbox account ...

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

First question is answered above.

As for other creative work, I have published two YA novels, have the third in that series in editing … I have five other novels in the hopper in various stages of ‘good lord this needs an edit or twelve’ …

I am writing things constantly in my head or on my laptop … most is crap … stome sticks … some turns into fic and some turns into books …

But the point is, I am writing, in some form, at all time :)

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Some two sentence conversation will spark an idea … the line of a song will inspire an idea … a word will start a sentence which will turn into a paragraph which will tumble straight into a story … and sometimes, stuff just pops in my head for no damn reason at all ...

What's the story behind your pen name?

On gossamer, I am L. Sprys because that was my name at the time :)

On tumblr and AO3, I’m tatooedlaura because my name is Laura and I have, now, six tattoos (yes, I spelled it wrong in my handle but that’s life) … when I decided on the name, I think I only had two

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

They do now … it took me years to crack and tell them … my husband has never read them, nor have any of the people I have told (as far as I know)

Now, I don’t really care who knows … I’ll tell them I write smutty X-Files fanfiction and family-friendly X-Files fanfiction …

I am too old at this point to be embarrassed by what I like to do. If they laugh at me, I tell them they only get to laugh when they’ve published a book and I pull up my books on Amazon … I’ve only had to do that once and it shut them right the hell up …

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Gossamer: L. Sprys

Tumblr and AO3: tatooedlaura

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I love you! I see you! I appreciate you! I hope you enjoy! Don’t judge me for my grammar issues! I will never be able to spell the word ‘excersize’!

(Posted by Lilydale on April 27, 2021)

[messifangirl]

I... I kinda want to know more about the Cressi waiter and Royalty AUs? They sound like incredible stories. Is vampire/werewolf the one you have a chapter posted? Could you show something more, pretty please?

(Adding a cut!)

The Waiter AU I actually wrote way back in the day. It’s Like A Fairy Tale (5.5k) But I always wanted to write a follow up to it and I have a lot of notes and pieces the sequel. Here’s some:

Cristiano rolls his eyes. "Nothing's wrong," he says. "I just feel like..." He lowers his voice. "Like, I'm chasing him." It sounds silly to say it out loud, and Cristiano's fears are proved right by Marcelo's response.

Marcelo laughs. "Good! It's about time somebody made you work for it." He slaps Cristiano on the arm, laughing again and turning back to his bag. "I like him even more now. Make sure he stops by after the game so I can say hi." He fist bumps Sergio and heads towards the exit.

Sergio watches him leave before focusing on Cristiano. "So it's a little unusual for you. And you're chasing him. But... He's worth it, right Cris?" He widens his eyes imploringly and bites his lip. "I mean, you love him." He flicks his eyes around the room to see if anyone overheard him before turning his attention back to Cristiano. "Right? You've always loved him. He was your first kiss!"

Cristiano's smile dims a little. "Sergio," he says, exhaling and tilting his head back. "It's not that easy, okay?"

And this really isn't a conversation he wants to be having here.

Or at all.

A few seats down, Fabio catches his eye and looks at him questioningly--ready to save him from Sergio if necessary. Cristiano gives a quick shake, indicating everything is fine.

"What do you mean?" Sergio asks, crestfallen. He sits down on the bench in front of Cristiano as if his knees can't hold him up anymore. A hand darts to his waist to fidget with his towel. "You don't love him anymore?" His voice wobbles.

"Sergio," Cristiano starts, rubbing a hand across his face. He takes a deep breath. "I *did* love him. Once. As a child... But it's been fifteen years. And sure, I like him. But I like the idea of him—I liked who he was, and of course I like the look of him now. That's not the point, of course... But things have changed for the both of us... He doesn't know me, and I don't know him. Not really.”

Sergio's still looking up at him with sad eyes. "But..."

Cristiano huffs. "All I'm saying is, we're taking things slow, okay? And it's a little hard, what with our schedule, and the fact that he works two jobs." He shuts his eyes and pictures Leo's face, imagines stroking his cheek and seeing that gorgeous smile. "But yes," he says quietly, opening his eyes again. "I think he's worth it."

The Royalty AU is actually a fairly new idea. Royalty AU has always been one of my fav AUs to read in other fandoms but because I’ve reread kkslover9′s A Tale of Two Princes a thousand times and it is sooooo good, I never really thought to try my own. Until now. It’s still very much in the works and being outlined, and I just completely decided to rewrite the beginning so I don’t want to give you anything that won’t make it into the final, but here’s a little haha.

"It's your duty," Sergio says quietly. "We're all required to do our part. Mine, since I was a child, has been to follow your every step and keep you safe from all harm." He claps a hand on Cristiano's shoulder. "And yours is to lead your people when the time comes. You've already proved your worth in battle, and your men will follow you anywhere. But you've been raised since birth with the expectation to one day take the throne when His Majesty passes. And despite your feelings about what's happening today, I know that you're aware of your responsibilities."

Cristiano's jaw tightens but he forces himself to relax. "Of course you're right," he says, shifting to lean against the wall as well. "I'm just..." He trails off and swallows his frustration down until he can find the words. "I would have preferred Prince Koke over some savage from Barcelona," he adds with a huff. "At least I've met Koke and he's not terrible to look at."

"Koke?" Sergio scoffs. "We both know that you could never be interested in a man who never picked up the sword." He wiggles his eyebrows. "Now, on the other hand, they say Prince Lionel--like you--has commanded Barcelona's armies for years. He's the second son and barely ever attended court. And when he did return home, it was never without a trophy from battle. Apparently, his skill with the sword is unmatched. They call him La Pulga." He quirks his lips. "Think he'd be up for a bout? I'd love to see if what they say is true. And if so, test myself against the best."

Cristiano ignores him. "La Pulga? He's going to be hideous," he murmurs. "I just know it. Probably some uncivilized creature who's disgustingly bloodthirsty and unfit to be seen in our company." He stares down toward the courtyard again, and shudders. "I don't even want to think about it."

The Vampire/Werewolf one is the one I posted a chapter of, yes. It was inspired by some art @detodores did for Cressi week a while back. Here’s some not yet posted :)

The vampire--Leo--looks away, seeming embarrassed. "Yes, but... I'm sorry, it's just feeding is usually just such a private process." He opens his mouth and then closes it like he's rethinking his words. "I fed from two of the wolves from the other pack. They were the ones that volunteered, and I will not betray their names," he says warningly.

"So it did not have to be from all of them?" Cristiano asks, his worries about how much the vampire needed to drink coming to the surface. On the other hand, he's grateful that the rest of his pack can be kept safe and be spared the entire process.

"I realize you are just curious," Leo says with a blink, "however you should be aware that you have just implied I am very promiscuous." He doesn't quite look at Cristiano. "As I said, it is a private process. It can be very... sensual."

Cristiano's cheeks flush as he realizes his misstep. "You're saying it's like fucking," he says, envisioning throttling Sergio for sending him in to do this. Wolves are not shy of their bodies, with the constant shifting leading to the necessity of nudity, but anything leading to actual sexual acts is much rarer and much more sacred.

Leo has no reaction to the crude word. "It can be. Or, it can be simply... meaningful." He sighs. "Blood given is very different from blood taken, despite what you have read or what they show in movies and shows these days. It's about a connection with someone, as well as being about nourishment."

"So it doesn't hurt?" Cristiano asks then, not really wanting to explore this any more than he has to. He's grateful to turn away from the mention of sex and into something else. Of course, he's also somewhat incredulous that such a thing is painless.

"I can make it hurt," Leo says, eyes still not looking at Cristiano. "But I do not. There's no point." He tilts his head as if in thought. "I can not speak for others of my kind. If you are bitten by another vampire, it may not be as I have described."

"So you're not a monster," Cristiano says skeptically, thinking back to the tales of Dracula and trying to replace them with something like a sparkling Edward Cullen.

"Oh, no," Leo says, interrupting his thoughts. "Make no mistake. I am most definitely a monster." He smiles again, and this time, shows two large fangs jutting down from the top of his mouth. They're as white as the rest of him, looking sharp and pointy and dangerous. "Even in this," he pauses and sounds frustrated, "weakened state. I would not call myself anything other than a monster."

"You've killed people then," Cristiano ventures, easing the pressure on his heels even as the conversation does nothing to ease his anxiety.

"Haven't you?" Leo asks, sounding tired again. "The world is not always kind to monsters, is it? And I've lived a very long time. I've had to eat. Had to survive." He closes his eyes again, black lashes stark against his pale skin. "Humans have always been so fragile... It's why I thought working with the wolves would be so beneficial. A way to take humans out of the equation entirely."

"And now your wolves have abandoned you," Cristiano says flatly. "Left you here, in our territory, to die. Because they certainly know we have you. They've had a month to figure that out. And still, they did nothing." He doesn't know why he's trying to drive this point home. Maybe because he hates those wolves and wants Leo to hate them too.

Leo does not reply. 

[dani-luminae]

Dani’s Fic List

As promised for my 300 followers celebration, a list of all my active fics on Quotev! I think this is comprehensive. If there’s a fic that’s left off, that’s by accident. All of these are on my “published” list on Quotev.

For this story list, I’ll start with ones that already have links posted on here, then move to other lesser-known ones (below the cut). These are listed in no particular order at all.

@auradon-bore-a-don Since you asked to be tagged, here it is! Like 95% of this is all Descendants-related. It’s been my hyperfixation since the first book came out back in early summer 2015 and it’s stuck... 

Behold, a bunch of nonsense that comes from an overactive imagination and no social life!

-

 Title + link: Sophronia

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Sequel “A” to Good to be Bad: A Disney Descendants Twisted Tale, this story focuses on Ben and Audrey’s adopted daughter, Sophie. When the terrible Horned King escapes the Isle of the Lost, Sophie sets out to protect her kingdom from any evil, no matter who it is.

Title + link: Nightshade Rose

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Sequel “B” and a sort of “What if?” take on Good to be Bad: A Disney Descendants Twisted Tale, this story is focused on Princess Nightshade, a Princess of Auradon who lives unaware that her parents are the Rulers of Evil who threaten her land.

Title + link: Never Enough

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: The sequel to Rewrite the Stars; Ben follows Lia to her home planet of Solasar as Lia prepares to marry her fiancé and become Queen. However, there’s more happening on Solaar than they could ever expect.

Title + link: The True Defender

Fandoms: Disney’s Descendants (mostly), Treasure Planet

Basic plot: A D2- and D3-based AU featuring Lia. Will also go on to cover an AU of Good to be Bad: A Disney Descendants Twisted Tale.

Title + link: Love from the Stars

Fandoms: Disney Descendants; contains elements from the world of Treasure Planet

Basic plot: Ben and Mal’s wedding is derailed by the arrival of space pirates who abduct Ben, but he’s rescued by an Etherial, one of the most powerful creatures in the galaxies.

Title + link: A Wondrous Place

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Essentially an AU of Descendants, just with BenJay as the endgame instead of Bal.

Title + link: Come Alive

Fandoms: Disney ZOMBIES

Basic plot: Zeraphina is a Zombrid – half-human and half-Zombie – forced to hide her hair color and fit in. But now that Zombies are welcome at Seabrook High, she’s hoping to start on a new chapter of her life, one where she doesn’t have to hide who she is.

Title + link: Darkness Falling

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Book 2 (of 3) in my Dark Haven series; Bianca, Princess of Dark Haven and daughter of the Rulers of All Evil, returns to the kingdom of Auradon to help Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos destroy the talismans (from Rise of the Isle of the Lost.) But there’s a more dangerous threat that none of them know of… (This fic is completed and this link currently acts as a placeholder for this series, until the sequel is published.)

Title + link: Fate and Fairy Tales

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Carly is looking forward to a happily-ever-after with her fiancé Chad Charming, as Carlos looks forward to a future without their mother around. But the sudden and unexpected arrival of their father, the malevolent king of a magical race, complicates everything. (This fic is dedicated to Cameron Boyce, who passed shortly before its publishing.)

Title + link: Blue Fire

Fandoms: Sky High and Disney’s Descendants (crossover)

Basic plot: Haley is just your average, everyday super-powered teenager attending Sky High. It just so happens that her hair turns into blue fire and she has no idea where she comes from, or who her father really is. 

Title + link: The Crown and the Sea

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: a crossover between me and my girlfriend @megamultifandomtrashposts featuring our characters Bianca and Sophia. Bianca is with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos as they return to the Isle of the Lost (from May Evil Reign), but the reign of Ursula’s daughter, Sophia, over the Isle complicates things...

Title + link: An Untold Story: Tales of Auradon

Fandoms: Once Upon a Time and Disney’s Descendants (crossover)

Basic plot: The second of three books in my An Untold Story crossover between OUaT and Descendants, this book takes place between Season 3A and Season 3B of OUaT. Instead of going to the Land Without Magic, Emma and Henry come to Auradon to stay with King Adam, Rose, and the rest of their adoptive family. This book includes an adaptation of Rise of the Isle of the Lost and the first Descendants movie.

Title + link: Heroes and Villains

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: This four-part story encompasses the first Isle of the Lost book, the first Descendants movie, and the Return to the Isle of the Lost book, before departing into an OG fourth part. This is the story of Royal, Mal’s half-sister, in a version of Auradon where the Isle of the Lost wasn’t the first solution for working with the villains and history is a bit different.

Title + link: Spells Were Made to be Broken

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: Basically a crossover between Heroes and Villains and the world of Descendants 3 post-D3, Royal, Chloe, and Skalja, the Princess Trio, are tasked to save the kingdom from an unexpected enemy.

Title + link: The Return

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and MCU (crossover, kinda?)

Basic plot: An adaptation of Return to the Isle of the Lost, featuring my OCs Lily and Balthazar, the children of Loki (from the MCU.) This isn’t an active story exactly, but it is the latest in the series while I’m planning out the next and final book.

Title + link: More than Flesh and Bone

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and Disney ZOMBIES (crossover)

Basic plot: Gwyn, a cheerleader in Seabrook, has mysterious ties to a certain Werewolf pack, ties that originate from her mother on the faraway Isle of the Lost.

Title + link: The Dragon That Cannot Fly

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: In the third and final book of her series, Nara, the adopted daughter of Queen Narissa, must team up with Naros, her brother from an alternate and almost-identical world, in order to put a permanent end to Queen Narissa’s evil.

Title + link: The Believers

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: In an OUAT-inspired story that combines OCs from various different stories, Ben awakens from a coma and discovers that his memories of Auradon were nothing but dreams. However, he soon learns that the world he’s in, Auradon City, is really his kingdom placed under a curse and controlled by Maleficent.

Title + link: Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and Pirates of the Caribbean series (crossover, sorta)

Basic plot: Jackie is the daughter of Captain Jack Sparrow and Angelica. When she goes to Auradon, she finds a little adventure and a little romance with an old friend and a new one. (No love triangle, just polyamory.)

Title + link: Fathoms Below

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: In the final book of Selina’s series, Selina must confront and defeat Morveren, the first evil Sea Witch and the originator of her lineage, in order to protect her family and her kingdom. With fewer allies than ever before, this is quite a daunting task.

Title + link: The Unusual Kingdom Keeper

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and the Kingdom Keepers book series

Basic plot: Aria, the twin sister of Audrey, unexpectedly finds herself in the Magic Kingdom. In this world, Disney Characters are made real through the power of children’s belief in them, heroes and villains alike. And the villains are just as evil as ever.

Title + link: The Thieves in the Shadows

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: The second book featuring Jay and Aza, the two of them try to track down a mysterious rash of thefts throughout Agrabah. Unfortunately, they uncover a plot launched by Jay’s mother, the sorceress Azirah, to take over all the lands.

Title + link: The Rebel Descendant

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and Ever After High

Basic plot: Reign is Raven Queen’s adopted sister, and a Rebel to the core. But there’s more to Reign’s story than just a Rebel. She comes from somewhere else, somewhere that doesn’t need a Storybook of Legends.

Title + link: Maddie Baylor and the Second Titanomachy

Fandoms: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Basic plot: Maddie is a friend of Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, and she’s no stranger to the world of gods and monsters; after all, she’s a daughter of Dionysus, herself. When it becomes clear that the Titans plan to rise again and defeat the Olympians once and for all, she’ll fight by Percy’s side in quest after quest to save the world.

Title + link: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Fandoms: Disney in general, I guess?

Basic plot: Belladonna Valaise is an apprentice studying in Sorcerer’s Town in a hidden, magical dimension. When an unusually mouse-like apprentice from another place arrives, seeking help to recover his master’s Animating Pen, Belladonna decides to seek out a little adventure and help.

Title + link: Bringer of Spring

Fandoms: Dreamworks’ Rise of the Guardians

Basic plot: Embla Springbringer has a very important job: each year, on Groundhogs Day, she battles the Frost Giant Rasgol to end winter and allow spring to come to her small Norwegian fjord. Embla has been doing this job even since the Man in the Moon called on her to do so. Now, the Man in the Moon has a very different job for her: becoming a Guardian to help defend the world’s children against Pitch Black.

Title + link: The Heroes of Tomorrow: The Next Trickster

Fandoms: Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Basic plot: An AU and then some of the movie Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow featuring my OC, Lokabrenna, daughter of Loki.

Title + link: Frost and Flame

Fandoms: Sky High and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Basic plot: When Muspels, the Flame Giant enemies of Frost Giants, begin to come after Cassia for her half-Jotun heritage, Cassia is forced to turn to the last people she would like to help her: the Avengers.

 ~

Shared stories! These stories are shared/co-authored/inspired by @thetimelordbatgirl and her stories. 

Title + link: The Daughters of the Trickster

Fandoms: Disney Descendants, MCU, and Marvel’s Descendants

Basic plot: In our very first crossover, our OCs Lily and Locket meet for the first time and have to navigate the realization of alternate worlds and alternate families while battling Mariana, Lily’s mother.

Title + link: The Trickster’s Daughters Return

Fandoms:  Disney Descendants, MCU, and Marvel’s Descendants

Basic plot: In the second team-up, Lily and Locket return to join forces. They must face Mariana again, but this time the stakes are higher, with the impending freedom of the demonic Chernabogs.

Title + link: Sisters of Fire

Fandoms: Disney Descendants, Sky High, and Marvel’s Descendants (crossover)

Basic plot: An AU of Haley’s story, Blue Fire. Haley is not the only inexplicably fire-powered child at Whitefield Foster House. She has a foster-sister named Jayla, a powerful girl with golden eyes who can transform into a magnificent and fearsome dragon.

Title + link: Devil’s Due

Fandoms: Disney Descendants and Marvel’s Descendants

Basic plot: An AU of the above story. What if Haley was never kidnapped? What if she stayed on the Isle with her father? And what if Jayla had still found her way to this family? They’re quite the unexpected family, that’s for sure.

Title + link: Ties to Evil

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: A future AU on Heroes and Villains, inspired by the Family Business series. The second in the series featuring my OCs such as Adam (son of Royal) and Beryl (daughter of Beast and Belle.)

Title + link: The Dragon’s Son

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: A future AU on Nara’s series, inspired by the Family Business series. In which Fairen is the son of both Evie and Nara, he reluctantly leaves his mothers behind on the Isle when Prince Alexander chooses him to come to Auradon in his proclamation. While in Auradon, Fairen learns of Nara’s unlikely connection to Auradon, and the kidnapped Princess Roseleta.

Title + link: Heirs of Agrabah

Fandoms: Disney Descendants

Basic plot: A future AU on Aza’s story, inspired by the Family Business series. Ben’s proclamation never happened, but now his son Alexander chooses some children to leave the Isle of the Lost. One of these children is Jayra, daughter of Jay, who makes a unique and unexpected connection to Aza.

Congrats! You’ve reached the end of my list of masterpieces and nonsense.

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Fanfic recommendations part three: Season 7 fix-its

Some of these stories are post season 7 finale, some of them take place during season 7 and diverge from canon. Season 8 who? We don’t know her.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of these stories, they are all worth the read.

(By the way this is a big category, so this post is huge)

All Our Yesterdays by ChronicallyChill

After the events of "Street Fighting Man", Jackie and Hyde wish more than anything that things had happened differently. The next morning, they wake up in the past, on the morning of Vanstock where Jackie promptly makes one dream come true. They are not together—but, soon enough, one change snowballs into another... Time Travel AU.

I didn’t knew if I should’ve placed this story on the season 7 fix-it category or in the AU category, in the end I chose this one, if you think it’s incorrect, please let me know so I can change it.

Okay so this story deserves a special comment because OH MY GOD, it’s incredible. It’s amazing how the author writes the characters so well, and I simply love the addition of Buddy Morgan to the gang.

This story is a WIP, it hasn’t been updated in a while but I still have faith.

121k words, 7 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Buddy/Fez

Also available on AO3

As You Wish by c00kiefic

A dark comedic look at love, loss and death. Hyde’s there for Jackie when she needs him the most.

This story is complete.

7k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Daddy’s Home by bellamarie

Jackie and Hyde’s relationship has been smooth sailing for the most part since their last break-up in ‘79. As Hyde begins to seriously commit to Jackie, her dad is released from prison and he returns home to supposedly rekindle his relationship with her. Hyde, suspecting that Jack’s intentions aren’t pure, enlists the help of his friends to try and expose Jack for the still crook man that he is. While Hyde may be a paranoid burnout, he knows that the wily politician is up to no good. There is one thing, however, both men have a common interest in: Jackie Burkhart.

Okay so this story basically ignores the existence of season 8, that’s why it’s in this category.

Oh, and I’m pretty sure this is an abandoned story. Unfortunaly. It only has two chapters and damn, I’m dreaming about the day the author will update this, I’m already hooked.

4k words, 2 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Finding the Right Future by springsteenicious

After Chicago, Hyde starts driving to Las Vegas, planning to get over Jackie. His car nearly breaks down in Iowa, forcing him to stop. While he's there, he meets Fortune, a woman who will change the course of his life forever.

This story is complete.

13k words, 8 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Halloween is Over by MistyMountainHop

Eric wants to be scared for Halloween, really scared. Donna proposes a contest, and all their friends are in. But Hyde and Jackie's renewed relationship might not withstand the stress. Donna and Kelso must fight their impulses, and Fez and Eric's chances of survival are slim.

This story is complete.

25k words, 8 chapters.

Rated M

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Also Available on AO3

Hyde’s Long Way Home by MistyMountainHop

This story is perfect. It literally has no defects. I love ALL of MIstyMountainHop’s stories, literally, all of them, but this one has a very special place in my heart. It’s complete and it’s definitely worth the read.

Hyde goes on a self-destructive bender after finding Jackie with a towel-wrapped Kelso. The day after that, he wakes up ... and it's the same day as before. He's doomed to live the same day over and over — unless he can figure out a way to live it right.

151k words, 26 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Also available on AO3

I’d Have You Anytime by anonymous author

What if Jackie after panicking in her show, gave up? And what if she made an unnatural friendship? Basically a fix it of season 7. If you like a story with good Jackie/Eric friendship moments, I totally recommend this one!

Trigger warning for past eating disorder.

This story is a WIP and it’s being updated frequently.

15k words, 9 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

I Found a Reason by JoyfulHeartEO

Can Donna help Hyde see the light before he loses the one thing that's most important to him? Or will Jackie decide to leave at all?

Rated T.

9k words, 3 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Jackie and Hyde: The Untold Story by Lotusflower655

I was going to place this in the “Hidden Moments” category (spoiler alert, the next category), when I realised this has a different season 7 finale, so... here it is.

Rated M.

12k words, 6 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Let’s Grow Up Together by yabookreader96

One day Jackie receives a certain letter in the mail, and she finds her life quickly beginning to change. Suddenly she is a grown up navigating life on her own, drifting away from the sleepy little town of Point Place...and from her friends who can't seem to find the courage to discover life outside the Forman basement. Will her friends catch up, or will Jackie be all on her own?

This story is complete.

67k words, 12 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Magic by poetdameron

Hyde has never been good at words and Jackie has never been good at waiting, they need to find a balance to stay together. Hopefully, they'll do it before is too late.

16k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also Available on AO3

Please Don’t Say You Love Me (’Cause I Might Not Say It Back) by orphan_account

An alternate take on the end of season 7. Instead of running off to Vegas Hyde downs a couple of beers in the good ol' El Camino before deciding that some things are more important than his pride - i.e. his relationship with Jackie.

This story is complete.

3k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Reflections Through the Glass by MistyMountainHop

Okay, this story is quite a trip, and it’s amazing. It’s based on a minisseries called The 10th Kingdom.

Six months after Chicago, Hyde no longer believes in love — or in Jackie. Donna's not speaking to Eric. Kelso's confused about his whole life, and Fez has gone missing. The only way back may be to leave it all behind.

This story is complete, and there’s a sequel, called Beneath a Shattered Sky. Honestly, I love the first story, but the sequel... The sequel is probably one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Those are both very long stories, but they are worth it.

138k words, 46 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Season 8 redo by tanith75

This is the most famous story of the fandom for a reason.

The story starts after the s7ep21 episode, so there’s no Chicago problems or people going to Africa over here :) It’s amazingly written, it’s funny as hell, and it honestly feels like I’m watching an episode of the show when I’m reading it. It’s amazing, it’s what should’ve happened in the show.

This story is not complete, but please, don’t let this stop you from reading it.

293k words, 42 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Red/Kitty, Fez/Laurie, Kelso/Brooke

Shade by MistyMountainHop

This story ignores season 8 completely and season 7 is canon, that’s why it’s in this category.

Hyde finds himself homeless on a night where Jackie is without parents. The gift he gave her last Christmas draws him to her, but his attachment lingers past that rainy first night, grows through countless experiences, and leads him across state lines. Their relationship is a high-stakes gamble, but Jackie may fold before Hyde can show all his cards.

This story is complete and it melts my heart every single time I read it.

43k words, 10 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also Available on AO3

The Seeker by QuarterflashWoman

With Donna and Eric's own relationship kaput, after Eric left Donna at the altar, what does this mean for our favorite opposites-attract couple Steven and Jackie? Wedding bells, baptisms, betrayals, and ultimatums. It's just another year in the lives of those of Point Place.

This is mainly a season 7 hidden moments story until it diverges from canon, and it’s lovely. I wish it was complete, but it’s still worth the read.

121k words, 23 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, some background Eric/Donna angst.

We’re All Alright by glittermila

In which Hyde and Jackie actually talk things out after he caught Kelso at the motel.

This is a lovely story, and I really enjoyed it, seeing Jackie and Hyde having a mature relationship is everything.

This story is complete.

48k words, 21 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Mainly Jackie/Hyde

Zenmasters: Seasons 3-5 by zdbztumble

I was having a lot of trouble categorizing this story, in the end, I decided that it was a season 7 fix-it of sorts, since season 8 doesn’t exist and season 7 ends in a satisfying way.

This story is a rewrite of some episodes, the author foreshadowed J/H relationship during seasons 3 and 4, and she added some pretty nice J/H moments in some chapters. The author also changed some things in some episodes (like the way J/H get back together after the nurse, and some other things). It’s a pretty good story, I like it a lot.

After "Jackie Bags Hyde," a certain subplot went into hibernation for a season and a half. What if it hadn't? And, if it hadn't, what other surprises would pop up along the way? "Tune in" to find out!

This story is complete.

170k words, 43 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

One-shots:

A change in fate by KaraSkinner

After leaving Jackie in Chicago, Hyde gets into a car crash and meets an angel that shows him just how bleak life would be if he doesn't change his fate now.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

don’t I love you so by orphan_account

Hyde’d spent so long trying to keep her out, and what had happened? He’d finally opened up the gates, only to realise she’d been there the whole time and had had enough. Love — it was a goddamn Trojan horse.

or; a 7x25 fix it where hyde and jackie talk like adults for once in their damn lives.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Hyde Asks Jackie to Stay by springsteenicious

When Hyde finds Jackie in the basement when she's supposed to be in Chicago, his first instinct is to push her away. Instead, he asks her to stay.

2k words

Rated G.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I’m not a heartbreaker, so be gentle with mine by FalaZure

It's just a proposal, Hyde's been through worse and really how hard can it be?

or: 5 times Hyde tries to propose to Jackie, and one time he succeeds.

This story ignores season 8 completely, and it’s mainly just fluff, I LOVE it.

12k words.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Jackie Doesn’t Leave Before Getting an Answer by springsteenicious

Jackie stays in Point Place and waits for an answer to her ultimatum. At long last, Hyde gives her one.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Let’s Do It by poetdameron

According to the tags, season 8 does not exist on this story, so off to the season 7 fix-its category you go.

There are things a man should not say after great orgasms on Christmas' Eve, Steven Hyde should have known better.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Moth Drawn to Light by blackorchids

After Hyde sees how good Jackie is with baby Betsy, it makes him start to think.

Ignores the existence of season 8 completely. Just a fluff little one-shot on Hyde’s thoughts about fatherhood.

1k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Our Last Night on Earth by c00kiefic

When Hyde wakes up in the beer warehouse, he decides to actually fight for his girl.

3k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Remember to Breathe by PrefectMoony

She’s all bubblegum laughter, and butter scotch kisses. Hyde thinks he loves her, thinks he’s always loved her. Hates that it’s taken him so long to tell her as much.

Hates it even more that the first time he’s ever told her so is when the break between them is too raw— too jagged— to be able to mend with pretty platitudes.

Beautifully written.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

sighs in my sleep by finkpishnets

“Congratulations,” the nurse says, smile pulled too tight as she glances at Jackie’s unadorned hand.

Jackie wants to shrug it off — “My husband’s getting the ring engraved as an anniversary gift. Isn’t that just so romantic?” — but she can’t find the breath to let the lie trip off her tongue, even in the face of pity.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Street Fighting Man by springsteenicious

Hyde finds Jackie crying at the Packers Game. He tries to fix it.

1k words

Rated G

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Tea For One by KayRight

The second Mrs. Forman walked in with a letter for him he knew what had happened. Marrying her scared him, but losing her terrified him to his very core. Takes place in Season 7 after Jackie tells Hyde she got a job in Chicago.

2k words.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The One Where They’re Happy by amidtheflowers

When Jackie and Hyde start dating, it takes the gang a while to see how that relationship even works. Something that creepy and unnatural can't possibly work, right? Meanwhile, Donna wonders why she puts up with any of them.

Adorable, I love this story so much, please read this.

3k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

we’ll be alright by marvelfoodlover

What if Jackie didn't easily forgive the gang after they missed her graduation party?

Season 7 fix-it because it diverges from canon.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I think that covers it.

I’ll repeat this at the end of every single post: speaking as someone who writes, it would be really cool if you guys decide to leave a review (or a comment, if the story is on AO3) in the stories you read, especially the unfinished ones. It really motivates the authors, and receiving a compliment is always a mood lifter. I’ve seen some authors updating stories after years because of nice reviews, so… yeah, this is just an idea.

If you think I left out a good story, feel free to reply to this post!

Next category: Hidden Moments

[bezdddakota]

I just finished my second play-through of TLOU2 and instead of understanding the game and its characters more, all it did was made me dislike everything more than before, especially how it was structured.

I really dislike it when games make you play as 2 different characters like Devil May Cry 4 because not only did I already spend 10+ hours as one character and became attached to them but I was focused on leveling them up and now you took all my XP away and have to start all over but now I have become attached to the second character and the way they play just to go back to the first character!!! I thought I was doing good as Ellie with almost upgrading a full  ANYTHING on her end just for the game to make me play as Abby and just when I nearly got one of her weapons upgraded, it makes me go back to Ellie. I now need to go through another play-through just get upgrade everything which even isn’t much!!! [ Side note: since I hate how much this game relies on the square button when you are grabbed by anyone because my square button is broken, I like playing as Abby because she had shivs to use but Ellie didn’t. ]. Yes the story is all over the place and I hate how you had to wait until the near of the end to see the whole dance scene but since I have no idea how you can fix that without changing the whole game, it might be best to leave it.

Secondly, the NPCs that you are supposed to care about have no character, other than the most basic thing you can imagine. I liked Manny the most because I liked how funny he was but on the second playthrough, I realized that’s basically his whole character: He’s funny and the other characters are worst because Nora and Jesse are just there for what feels like no good reason other than to die. Owen and Mel have characters but they’re stupid characters. Why would a pregnant woman who knew their enemies were crossing their lines more and more each day would willingly go on patrol because her boyfriend is avoiding her?? I understand relationship problems and wanting to do something to avoid your thoughts but to put yourself and your unborn child in danger is very stupid. Also, WHO LET THE PREGNANT LADY GO OUT????? Dina learned she was pregnant and stayed inside the theater instead of going with Ellie but Mel just goes on patrol because she wants to be useful?????? You’re a doctor!! THAT SHOULD BE PLENTY USEFUL!!! Now I want to discuss Owen because while he is the most devolved character out of Abby’s friends, he makes really bad decisions like sleep with his high school girlfriend when he’s ON THE RUN AND WAS ABOUT TO FRIGGING LEAVE HIS PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND TO GO TO SANTA BARBRA AND ASKED HIS HIGH SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND TO GO WITH HIM BECAUSE THEY “ DESERVED TO BE HAPPY “!!!!!!! Just gonna abandon the woman carrying your child which by the way, you never seemed excited about or even to care for???? Maybe he got what he deserved. #sorrynotsorry

Thirdly, the emotional manipulation. Just know I do not actually hate Abby and consider her story to be the best part of the game but I really hate how they introduced her father by having him track a pregnant zebra and they really act like “ oh gee he’s a good guy!! See how he cares about dem poor critters?? “ ( please read that in a Sandy Cheeks voice ). It’s really hard for me to care about someone who is apparently nice to animals but didn’t think twice about killing a kid without explaining it to her why they were doing it. I remember caring about Marlene way more than Abby’s dad because one of the tape recordings you find the hospital in the first game, she says how much she regrets allowing the doctors to kill her but she just wants it to be over and she sounded so tired by how much work she had put in to find the vaccine, meanwhile Abby’s dad has a very punch-able face. Also there’s the whole dog petting which can get pretty annoying ( I threw the ball over the fence because THOSE DOGS BROKE MY CONTROLLER!!!!! ) but it only happens like twice, so...

Fourthly, I feel like the game is too short. The game wants you to be sad over Ellie and Abby’s friends but it’s hard to be because you only spend a few minutes with them while you have spent hours with Abby and Ellie ( or in my case, years ). I liked Abby’s friends especially Manny but you only spend 20 minutes with him and most of that is that the sniper section and I wanted to like Jesse but he has no character and you only spend 2 hours with him, which in a 30 hour long game, is not long at all, [ Side note: most of the friends’ deaths are basically rehashes of Henry and Sam’s deaths ]. Also some people thinks that Abby’s section was too long but I thought it was really short and because of how short it was, I couldn’t see how she could turn from a blood hungry person to someone who would care over 2 kids and abandon her WLF family for. 10 hours is not enough time to develop anything story wise and while the first game was only 15 hours long, it only told one story while this game is trying to tell multiple stories!! I want more Abby!! I want more Dina!! I want more of this game to fully understand but I just feel like those posts about It: Chapter 2  where people love the relationship of Richie and Eddie but the movie killed off Eddie without him ever telling Richie anything and people basically rewrite their relationship because we were never given it.

Fifthly, I don’t just like the game. I wanted to even though I knew the spoilers and didn’t mind Joel died but I feel empty and not in the way Druckman meant for me to. This probably has to do with the fact that I waited 7 years for this game and when I meant 7 years, I really mean that I have loved this game since 2013 and I feel like the sequel is just off, somehow. It wants to be something bigger than itself but it’s not and when it wants to comment on the cycle of violence but other games has done it already and much better. The game that comes most to my mind is God Of War because Kratos got his revenge and realized he started the apocalypse so he tried to kill himself but that didn’t work so he moved to Norse mythology and when Baldr went to confront his mother, Kratos stopped him and told him that the path of vengeance is not worth it but he still went for it and CAUSED RAGNAROK!!!! I really have no idea why people love this game and I want to say it’s because they never played the first game before or they love it because it was LGBT characters in it but that doesn’t explain anything at all. I also want to say that many people were paid off because the game was over 500 GOTY awards and I don’t see how that was even possible!! Maybe some people saw something I didn’t but I still feel weird about this. I wanted to like this game but it’s hard when it’s not good.

[mr-and-mr-dameron]

Learning to love ALL of Star Wars

I’ve grown a lot the past few years, and with that I’ve came to appreciate a lot more things about what I love. I’ve went from bitter and spiteful about what I don't have to appreciating what I do have, and at the centre of that storm is Star Wars. A franchise I’ve only really been invested in the last year. 

The beginning

So I was always a “fan” of Star Wars, sure. I grew up with the prequels and I was excited when Disney was releasing their new movies. But the past year is where I really got invested and found a whole new love for the franchise. And strangely enough, it was through the simplicity of Lego.  You see, I started watching videos by Brickvault about Lego Star Wars minifigures, and something about seeing the toys I loved as a kid from a modern perspective took me right back to wooshing my Jedi starfighter around my room. From there, I started moving away from Lego and dipped my toe in theories, lore videos and eventually discussion and review videos, the turning point being Cosmonaught Variety Hour.  Now, I have some opinions on the guy now, but Cosmonaught was perfect for me at the time. He was opinionated, entertaining, but most importantly knew his shit, and I liked that. His videos on Star Wars are pretty good, and really helped form my opinions back then... In a bad way... Now I’ll make this clear, this is NOT on Cosmonaught, it was just how impressionable I was as a person back then. I’m just saying how his video affected me on a personal level.  Up to this point I didn’t really understand the hate for the prequels besides the fact they were “bad movies” and “people don’t like them”. Cosmonaughts video on the prequels gave me those reasons, and I finally felt like I got the distaste for those films. However, like they say... A little knowledge can be dangerous, and boy was I about to learn that lesson the hard way... 

The fall

So here I am, knower of all things, the CORRECT things... I’ve watched my fair share of videos from a handful of sources, I know my shit. I’m making my opinions known, and I’ve become that friend.  But whats this! A dissenting opinion!? My boyfriend actually likes the prequels more than the Original Trilogy!? SACRALAGE!! I must prove him wrong! And prove him wrong I...! Did not... In fact, something rather bizarre happened... He convinced me.  I was stubborn at first, but I’ll admit, my wall got broken down at long last. He (bless his soul for dealing with me) managed to get through to me exactly what it was he loved about those films, and it wasn’t just the nostalgia. I had always seen the politics of the Galaxy like most other people did, some boring preachy nonsense that had no place in Star Wars, but I came around to it.  Granted with a little help from the Clone Wars I managed to piece together just what it was there was to like about these films... I wont say they’re perfect, far from it. But internally they have so much more going on compared to the Original Trilogy. The Era has some of the most fun and expandable concepts and ideas in all of Star Wars, and while it may not be as iconic, the visual artstyle of it all is still its own recognizable brand of Star Wars.  And almost like magic (or my phone spying on me) youtube started recommending videos that disagreed with Cosmonaught, and I got my first taste of how his video wasn’t as sound as I thought. Now as a side note: I still like Cosmonaught. He’s a funny guy who like I said knows his shit, but he obviously isnt the be all end all right and wrong which I hadn’t quite learned. I can enjoy his content while disagreeing with it, and I think thats just fine. I find myself disagreeing with a lot of creators I watch now and he’s just joined them.  But hang on, we’re missing something here... A certain... Mouse? Perhaps?

The dark times... The Disney Empire... 

So hop back to modern day for a sec, this timeline pretty much lines up with the end of the Disney movies right? So how do I feel about those? Well... When the first three came out, I liked them. Like everyone else I was loving new Star Wars. As a young art student, I loved Rogue One and TLJ for their stunning visuals, deeper themes and their attempt at something new and fresh. I loved the throne room fight scene, the light speed ram and how Rogue One had such a bitter sweet ending.  But ho ho no one else felt that way! And whether it be peer pressure or my love of dumpster fires my opinions changed like that. I laughed at the Rose Tico and Snoke memes, I hated the Canto Bight subplot and poor Luke being butchered on screen like that, and then there's Rey...  Solo came and passed. I refused to go see it, as I did with TROS which came out around the time I was getting back into Lego, and along with the prequels I was watching video essay upon video essay about why the sequels sucked and how to rewrite them. Some of them coming from a positive place, others... Not so much..  And so my hatred for them grew as I got back into the franchise and came to appreciate the originals for what they done great, and loathing the new films for lacking that same spark. And unlike the prequels, I didn’t really get enough pushback to change my mind. But what I did get was the full brunt of spite and hate the fans had for these new films, and honestly? It was depressing. 

Hate leads to suffering. 

I finally reached my rock bottom. I genuinely reached a point where I debated giving up Star Wars for the sheer amount of negative feelings I had towards the state of the franchise (which might I add is valid if you ever end up feeling that way about something you’re meant to be enjoying). 

I struggled to get past how Disney “ruined” Star Wars, and clearly nothing was going to change. 40 Years of history had been wiped out and the new timeline was a contorted mess, and the amount of discourse and disagreements in the franchise honestly did not help at all. 

Nothing was simple, everything had a catch. You like how Kylo was irredeemable in TLJ? Well he’s redeemed in TROS. TFA is a fun film but it sets up a lot of the things people hated about the sequels so you cant even just head canon that the other two never happened. And then...

Saved by Lego

There was Lego, making the best of a bad situation. It didnt care if you didn’t like that Palpatine was back (somehow), it didn’t care about the clunky prequel dialog, and it didn’t care about the thousands of retcons from the entierety of the franchises existence. 

Whether by contractual force or not: It was pure, distilled Star Wars. 

I loved how a set with Rey could stand beside a set with OT Luke and thats just how it was. It put into context that this was reality, and I could either be bitter about what could have been or accept what was, which wasn’t easy and I’m still not really over it. But I reached a place where I could accept the fun in all of Star Wars, that I liked how some of these characters looked, that these characters all existed in one Galaxy, and it was nice. 

And it led me straight back into... 

Learning to love Star Wars

One of the most important lessons I learned in the past year was trust your gut. Sure, hear out other peoples take on something, and if it changes your opinion all the more power to you. But don’t fight the fact you felt something in that initial reaction. I liked the prequels as a kid, so why don’t I as an adult? Is it because i outgrew them and see them for the disasters they are? Or is it because a someone who watched them as a fully grown adult that grew up with the OT was underwhelmed? 

And to that extent... I rewatched TFA and TLJ with an open mind and an open heart. The result? 

Im indifferent towards TFA. It has fun character moments and has a decent adventure, for what it is its good. But I actually found myself enjoying TLJ after all these years of hating on it. I liked their take on Luke, I liked the mutiny subplot, it didnt push the story forward leaps and bounds but it was a more methodical take on the franchise and for the I liked it. It wasn’t perfect, its biggest flaw is how bleak it can feel and its lack of doing anything interesting with its setting, but it does do a fair amount of decent things and I’ve come to appreciate it for that. 

I’m planning to watch TROS at long last soon, so maybe I’ll update it here. But what I will say is that I hope Lucasfilm don’t give up on the sequel era and characters quite yet. There is still a lot to love here as much as you may not like it, and I hope that they can explore more interesting meaningful themes and narratives in external media that they couldn’t in mainline films cough cough Stormpilot cough cough...

I know not everyone will agree with how I feel now, heck a lot of my problems I had still stand, but I’m at peace with it all now. I just want to sit back and enjoy this franchise for what it is. While I might not forgive Disney for its severe mishandling of... everything (a rant for another time) I’m content just not them supporting to the best of ability.

Star Wars is in such a unique position where each generation has a different stance and appreciation for different parts within the franchise. The prequels were hated until its fans grew up and started defending it, The Clone Wars was hated until its fans grew up and started defending it, and the sequels ended last year, their fans haven’t quite got their voice yet. But I’m interested to hear what they have to say. 

[kervinredfire]

My Other Fanfics in the Future

Well, I made announcements about my 2 Loonatics fanfics-related stories coming soon. So here are my other fanfics that I am making. But before I am going to show you my other fanfics, I like to share what most of them are like. Kervinverse related. If you checked my Tumblr header it's pretty obvious.

As you may wonder what is the Kervinverse is all about? The Kervinverse is like the multiverse but with all different kinds of Kervin. Inspired by Spiderman Into the Spiderverse all the versions of Kervin contained different personalities, stories, almost the same appearance, fighting styles, and special abilities. One of the most signature outfits is the black and red formal suit.

I already made a folder in toyhouse. However, most of it are unfinished and still ongoing.

https://toyhou.se/Kervin619/characters/folder:812137

People think that those stories a self-insert but it is actually not. Me and my other Kervins are the same but they are different the appearance, abilities, and personalities. An example is Denk Ops’s Chris Danger from the WWE games. And note that this is another long announcement for the other fanfics

So anyway, here are my Kervinverse stories that I would really like to share about Wattpad in the future. So are book covers later

KERVINVERSE STORIES (Including crossovers):

Grand Theft Auto Origins: Kervin Made Liberty – Set in the GTA HD Universe. Before Kervin (GTA Online) came to the place called San Andreas, he was just a very young boy who was born in the place called Liberty with his parents. His father Claude who became rich and retired to a life crime and his wife Misty who used to be a prostitute. It was normal and happy life for him and his parents. But when years passed when he is getting older, he slowly starts to realize what kind of broken world he is living in.

Now for those who played the HD Universe of the GTA Games you know every protagonist in the HD universe like Niko, Johnny, Luis, Michael Franklin, and Trevor. As much as they have different stories and perspectives but this story about GTA OC that he was living with full of offensiveness, disrespectfulness, brutal honesty, and others. An example in GTA IV a radio commercial of Babies Overnight that said that someone was not satisfied with the baby it can be disposed of. Although it would be interesting to have that backstory for my next OC for GTA. So, this story may contain a lot of murder and crimes on what led to him going to San Andreas. So, watch out. And for those who have not played GTA Online why his parents are both Claude and Misty is because it was part of the premium edition for free in Epic Games.

Def Jam X Kung Fu Panda: Book 1 Fight for A New Fight (maybe a working title) - After the events of Def Jam Vendetta, Fight For New York, and The Kung Fu Panda Trilogy including Legends of Awesomeness. Set during Paws of Destiny Season 2 in the Kung Fu Panda universe while in Def Jam 2 years later in the year 2005 after Crow's death (Fight for NY still takes place in 2003) Kervin (Def Jam Fight For NY) the new leader D-Mob's crew but also officially known as the Def Jam Crew after Blaze appointed him to take his place. Kervin has to manage every venue, club, and arenas in New York including places that Crow took over. But in Chinese New Year there was something strange that Kervin and his crew got transported to a different universe. Including former members, fighters, and circuit fighters.

Now, this fanfiction sounded really odd. As you may know why I am making crossover fanfic of Kung Fu Panda X Def Jam? Easy. The first one is because this is what would have been my PS2 games if I ever have a PS2. I was thinking of Mortal Kombat or Yakuza for Def Jam but Kung Fu Panda is the only thing I know when I was 7 years old. The second is because back in the days Hip Hop mixed with Kung Fu was very popular. Although Def jam may be a wrestling game martial arts stole my heart in Def Jam Fight For NY. I heard about things like the Wu-Tang Clan for example but the biggest problem for me is that I am not a true fan of Def Jam because I don’t know about hip hop artists. Just only the games so I will be focusing on their video game counterparts in their fictitious manner meaning pretending real-life characters with their real name are fictional characters. So, if there and fun facts in those real-life counterparts I may add them to it like easter eggs. The third is that there are Kung Fu Panda characters that did not get enough love and mostly art. So many recognizable characters like Po, Tigress, Tai Lung, and many more have become the most recognizable characters in the movies. But what about the tv shows like Legends of Awesomeness and Paws of Destiny? One of my favorite characters of Legends of Awesomeness is Peng, in short, he is the nephew of Tai Lung and he is such an interesting character that he deserves a lot more love. While for Paws of Destiny is Xiao because she is such a cute character, so is her personality and the best character to have hugs with. So, what I am trying to say is that I need to start off with the character that is unrecognizable then bring it recognizably. I may also add characters from shorts like student Mei Ling in the future book and it would be funny and to see rogue Mei Ling. 2 Mei Lings in one. Even Su and Master Snow Leopard because are both female leopards with the same appearance and outfit. I may also include some characters from the flash game Tales of Po and may possibly rewrite them in different stories because I love the character designs thanks to Blue Maxima’s FlashPoint. And the fourth and final part is that to make the Def jam games more recognizable. Def Jam in music is not absolutely enough but video games are. The Def Jam games did not bring a sequel after Fight For NY so I might as well make a sequel with interesting and experimental crossover fanfic just like The Loonatics Road.

The Red Fox (Kingdom Force Spinoff and maybe a working title) - The Kingdom Force has 5 members defending the 5 Kingdoms. Luka the wolf who leads in red, Jabari who runs in yellow, TJ who drills in green, Delilah who swings in orange, and Norvyn who strengthens in blue. Each of the 5 drives Kingdom Riders and turns them into Alpha Mech to fight against evil in the 5 Kingdoms. But even if they save the day multiple times the 5 Kingdoms are still filled with more crime and every antagonist came back doing other crimes and evil deeds because they were not arrested or eliminated. That's is when a red fox came along...

I have seen popular fandoms in cartoons that were supposed to aim at younger kids like Lion Guard, MLP, Paw Patrol, and even Bluey. But Kingdom Force is the cartoon that did get enough love. It's like Power Rangers and Voltron but with anthropomorphic animals like Zootopia. However, the stories and episodes in the show is very confusing and give me almost a lot of questions. But I do like the character designs in the show. My favorite hero is Luka who is a leader with and cute cuddly character personality and my favorite villain Envie Fernadez which she has a pretty hot design, name and voice and so is her personality. Reminds me of Sly Cooper but I have not played the game yet. But for the red fox also OC Kervin (Kindom Force) It’s still at work.

APB Reloaded X Zootopia: Anyone Can Be All You Can’t Be: - In Zootopia “Anyone Can Be Anything” But in San Paro “Be All You Can’t Be” Zootopia is a place where vicious predators and meek prey live in harmony. This means that people in Zootopia live together without the prey getting eaten by predators and predators not getting feared by the prey. They almost eat like us, they sleep like us, they speak like us, they walk like us, they run like us, they bathe like us (well almost), and most importantly they use technology like us. While San Paro maybe has a good look to sightsee but this city has a lot of crime. Robberies, bombings, thefts, drug dealing, murders and causalities, vandalism, and much more that we can think of. But that does not mean there is no justice in this world. When the Criminals like the Blood Roses and the G-Kings try to take over San Paro? The Enforcers Prentiss Tigers and Praetorians from come and save the day. What would happen when a human Enforcer meets a police fox and a police bunny? And how did it happen? Only one way to find out.

Now this one is also a Kervinverse crossover story. It focuses on Kervin (APB Reloaded) meeting Judy and Nick. I am trying to find a way on how will they meet each other. But the only thing ideas I know is that it can be a delivery gone wrong, an invention gone haywire or maybe a criminal stole something magical that is transported to a different universe. But I have a lot of strange things in the game like the Christmas events and Halloween events. I like to see any volunteers who play APB Reloaded. And for those Zootopia fans who have not played APB Reloaded you check it here. https://store.steampowered.com/app/113400/APB_Reloaded/

Well, that is it for the Kervinverse stories. Now it’s time for the other stories that I also planned in the future.

OTHER FANFICS:

Alza Flare (Road Rovers Fan Spinoff)- Alza is a black cat born in the place in New York City, USA. He was born inside a pet shop without cat parents since he was born. His parents' status is unknown. Although he did make friends with other cats and non-cats in the shop. But it was a short while until a human customer named Drayson Flare and adopted him as Alza Flare. Alza has been Drayson's pet for 3 years and they instantly became best friends but when during the time when they are about to go home from the park. A terrible accident happened.

A long time ago I watched Road Rovers on my phone just to try something nostalgic and the show is pretty good though although there are some parts that don’t use their powers all the time. One part that caught my eye is how brutal car accident in the episode “Dawn of The Groomer” which gave me an idea of my new anti-villain OC character named Alza Flare. Sadly, he does have an image of him yet. But I will tell you that I will give you an interesting revenge story for him.

The Best Surfer In The World (Surf’s Up Spinoff. Maybe a working a title and synopsis change) - After the events of Surf's Up and Surf's Up 2: Wavemania. There was once a wolf who lives in the place of Chicago Illinois. He quit his own career due to being a rejected member of Hang 5 for being too unstable and after beating J.C. in a tournament years ago and after his early retirement, he spends his normal life as an ice cream man in his own ice-cream motorcycle with one of his own freshest ingredients and swears to himself that he would never in the waters again. Until he met a young Toyger.

Surf’s Up is my first favorite mockumentaries since I was young. It’s like you are watching animals andromorphic animals absolutely existed in the world we live in. It had an interesting story and writing so are the interesting characters. But when I watched Surf’s Up Wavemania. Well, I honestly love the WWE Superstars and Diva came into the movie but the story did not actually surprise me a lot. Even if the movie has a lot of beautiful locations it still did not surprise me enough because it is more like an adventure than a tournament. That is why I am planning to start my fanfiction in a new different approach with a real story and a real rivalry. Starting with wolf inspired and based on CM Punk during the part when he won the WWE belt against Cena in Money in the Bank when I watched it since intermediate school with a little rename change so it won’t be obvious. And of course, my Toyger OC because he would be trained by his own surfing master. Also, I added a Slam City easter egg

Fire Pro Wrestling World Origins: Story of 2 Angels – There is no synopsis of them yet. But I will tell you they are brother and sister with the last name “Angel” The brother who is a pop artist while the sister who joined a motorcycle club. What they both have in common is they both can fight. Their stories about my 2 new Fire Pro OCs will be coming soon. But they are not part of the fighting roads.

Well, that is all for all the future stories with some summaries that I really want to share coming soon. Thanks for following including Wattpad

For those who are new here follow me on both Tumblr and Wattpad with the orange word link

Feel free to donate to me in PayPal

Also making fanfic is really long to make just like making an announcement. So again. I only post all chapters in 1 book.

[thompsborn]

Happy FFWF! What's your favorite title you've given a fic? Why?

okay so i looked through ALL of my posted fics, including my ~secret identity~ and my it account, and i’m too indecisive to pick a FAVORITE favorite, so here are the ones i can’t choose between, in no particular order

• sea green, see blue

this one isn’t marvel, it’s my ron/harry one shot that i’m still planning to write a sequel for eventually, but this title just HITS me okay?? i love this fic a lot too, like i put say more thought and effort into this bitch than i needed to, and i spent literal HOURS of my time trying to think of a name for it, and then i found this song while listening to a playlist of music that was on how i met your mother, because himym is one of my favorite shows and had so many great songs in it and oftentimes i’ll find such good lines in those songs—case and point being this one, which, while the lyrics don’t FULLY fit how i think of ron/harry, the title of the song fits the fic PERFECTLY, because the entire central point and theme of the fic is the two of them seeing each other—how they think, how they act, how strong and smart the other is. it’s all about their perception of each other and harry, green eyes, seeing ron, blue eyes, who sees harry right back. it’s just. i love it. SO much.

• when healing hurts

this title is kind of self explanatory and not hard to grasp, but i still just love it a lot, especially since it perfectly grasps the main part of why i wanted this fic to be in this series and why i wanted to write it in the first place. peter’s healing factor is incredible and is written about a lot but i just always think about how there are situations where his healing would be agonizing, and i’ve read fics that explore that but i wanted to write my own version of it that fit into the series, and the title gives the two main points of the fic—healing and pain, and how they can go hand in hand. idk i just think it’s nice and suits the fic really well!!

• the portal closed

again, self explanatory title once you read the fic, but that’s kind of the entire point of it! this is a fic about a different version of the mcu, one where everything changed due to a singlilar event going differently—tony not making it out before the portal closed. and this is an exploratorion of everything that follows from that point. it’s simple but it’s exactly the purpose of the title and i get so excited whenever i open the doc to work on it (which i need to do since i haven’t updated in a hot minute) and it’s just v satisfying to me!!

• hold me (like the night sky holds the moon)

lol so ~secret identity~ (even though anyone i’ve been in a marvel discord server with knows this) but this is my other account where i post anything that includes ~spicy~ content just bc i like having it completely separate from my main fics since a majority of my fics don’t actually include explicit content, HOWEVER i love this fic and the title and wanted to include it anyway! this entire one shot was directly inspired by three songs written by anson seabra and i don’t even remember how i got the idea but i rememver listening to those three songs (especially broken, which i still listen to very regularly) on repeat and busting this fic out in like a day or two, and the title comes from one of those songs (this one, specifically) and it just. it captures the point!!! the point of the fic!!! is peter going from “fuck it i ruined my life and i’m still ruining it and now i’m just living what’s left of it and that’s just what it is” and then making it to “this is still hard and i’m scared and i’m sad but you helped me see what i wasn’t seeing before and i’m so grateful for you and i want you to be here and me to be with you even though that scares me even more” and the song is just AAAAA !! the title is so poetically lovely and from the song that CAPTURES THE ENTIRE POINT and just. wow.

anyway.

• butterflies and storms and ooey-gooey feelings

i have no justification for this other than i think it’s a really cute title for a really cute one shot

• fall into your blue

so this is also a lyric from a song (any jon bellion fans? anyone? hello?) that i was so grateful to realize fit this fic because this was also a fic i remember spending HOURS trying to brainstorm a name for, and i just happened to be listening to jon bellion and this song came on and i was like,,,, wait. this fic isn’t complete (but i did recently get back into my it fics a little bit and started rewriting the second part) but the premise behind the fic is these guys, two different separate people, who are in their senior year of high school and who are getting ready to become adults and have their whole futures ahead of them but they can’t do that yet because there is so much behind them that they need to address and deal with, and they meet and they fall into each other and help each other and end up being the people they needed to help them through this last year of really being like a high school student.

they’re both sad—aka blue. they fall into each other. hence, the lyric fall into your blue being literally the PERFECT lyric for this.

• empty world

i’ve mentioned this fic before on this account because it is still my favorite thing that i’ve literally ever written so far in my life, but the title is also very important to me and to the fic. it has a double meaning!! this fic is three parts, right? part one is richie being forced to grow up in a world that is literally empty—he doesn’t know why, but everyone else is just gone, in the blink of an eye, and he’s alone, and it slowly gets more and more apparent that this loneliness gets to him and all he wants is to see his friends again, to see eddie again. part two is eddie growing up in a world where richie is “missing” and they can’t find him no matter how hard they try, and he runs on empty hoping that richie will shownup one day, and bases so much of his life around the fact that he knows a huge part of it is missing, and he may have the rest of the losers and he may go to college and get a job, but he still feels empty because he knows that a vital part of him is just gone. part three is the reunion and the aftermath and how they try to process the fact that all of this happened in the first place and the fight against pennywise and all of that, and then they win and that emptiness is gone because the losers are all together, eddie and richie are together, and they get to have the rest of their lives like this. there’s so much meaning packed into the words empty world that it’s insane!!

plus i wrote a literal song in order to have good names for the chapters, as well. so

part one — “i have not seen your face in so long” aka richie and being alone, doing everything he can to never forget the losers and eddie and trying to picture what they might look like as he gets older since he never got the chance to see them grow up with him

part two — “but i will never forget your name” aka eddie doing what he can to live his life after having to accept there’s nothing else he can do to try and find richie but in every single thing he does he remembers the boy he loved anyway and it constantly weighs him down

part three — “without you, this is an empty world” aka they feel that emptiness in them start to fill up and heal once they’re together again and they get their happy ending

• an old heart, a new home

another one that feels a bit self explanatory once you’ve read the fic, but it’s a reddie fic and this is a marvel blog so i doubt anyone has or will pfjjf, but the title captures the fic! an old heart (eddie, due to being cursed to live forever until blah blah magic magic i can’t remember the specifics—and to an extend, richie, too, since he is a reincarnation of the man eddie originally fell in love with) a new home (the apartment building, each other). plus this is a fic series that i’ve been considering taking down and turning into an original book for a while now, and if i did i’d keep the name the same bc i feel like it fits so well !!

and that’s it :D i listed too many but oh well !!

[herosofmarvelanddc]

Fic Writer Review

Thanks for the tag Ash @maos2013 ! You happened to catch me when I had some free time and this was super fun to look through and think about.

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

31 but I have like 10 wips currently 2. what’s your total AO3 word count?

84,088 because I posted this morning but again I have like 25k in drafts on my computer lol 3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Three (AoS, MCU, and Blacklist) if you lump all of the MCU together (I have fics for TFATWS and one that touches on BW and WandaVision)

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Allies and Hope we find in Liminal Spaces - 232 Kudos - My first big crossover fic with Nat and Daisy (and some May). I'm super proud of this fic and I was happy that so many others loved it too

Come Back To Me - 167 Kudos - My first Romanogers fic! I love Endgame fix-it fics and I decided to write my own version with a Soulmate AU element to it as well. This fic definitely holds a special place in my heart.

Saving Daisy from a Future of Pain - 163 Kudos - This was one of two fic ideas that actually started me writing so it holds a special place in my heart. A S7 rewrite kinda with Philindaisy feels overflowing

Our Precious Miracle - 152 Kudos - Another Romanogers fic. I wrote this while in my feels about people close to me being pregnant and how there isn't enough media showing the harder aspects of child bearing such as miscarriage and premature births. Anyways, I love it though and never had expected to write it lol

How far she’s come (How far she’ll go) - 122 Kudos - This is Part 2 from the Allies and Hope fic. A happier, post S7 follow-up with Nat, Daisy, and May. Even though I love this one so much, I'll be honest that I felt a little disheartened when it didn't get nearly as much love as the first story.

5. do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Um YES! I love responding to comments! Comments make my day and I always know I get super happy when I get a reply to a comment I left, so I want to repay the favor!

6. what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don't like writing things without a happy end so none of mine probably truly meet this criteria lol. The Allies and Hope fic is pretty angsty and is a semi open-ended so that one might fit. Or the fic I just posted today, Someone New To Rely On, is also slightly angsty and open-ended.

7. do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Unless crossovers between AoS and the MCU count, no. I sometimes think about crazy crossovers but I would never probably write them. I love crossovers between different Marvel branches though so I will continue to write those.

8. have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think so? I hope not at least

9. do you write smut? if so what kind?

Nope, I don't know how to write anything higher than a Teen rating lol

10. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

11. have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would be awesome!

12. have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. The concept sounds interesting but I don't think I have enough confidence in my writing to co-write with someone.

13. what’s your all time favorite ship?

All time favorite??? That's way too difficult. I'd probably fall back on Percabeth but Olicity, Booth x Brennan, and Romanogers are definitely contenders.

14. what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have a fic temporarily titled "Daisy's Family Jouney" that technically has been done for 9ish months, but I don't love it. It needs major revisions and I don't think I will ever bring myself to the point where I can do them. The fic has some traumatic and personal elements to it and I don't know if I can do them justice or even if people would want to read something so heart achingly personal. The fic means everything to me but I'm unsure it will ever see the light of day.

15. what are your writing strengths?

Feels with a happy ending

16. what are your writing weaknesses?

Humor. I am not a funny person and if I'm being honest, a lot of comedy just doesn't make sense to me. So it can be really challenging to write funny characters

17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I always get too scared I'm going to mess it up so I do the lame thing and just put it in Italics or something lol. If it was a phrase I knew or in a language I knew (which I only have an intermediate level knowledge of French) then I might put it in but so far the only languages I've needed is Russian, Mandarin, and German and I don't know anything for those.

18. what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Agents of Shield! Unless you count the Percy Jackson and GWM small trashy drabbles I wrote as a kid.

19. what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

This is so hard! They are all so different and have different aspects that I love. Definitely my top 3 from question 4 are in my favorites but The Sweetest Little Part of Fate and it's sequel of one-shots, Family: where Life begins and Love never ends, rank high on my list of favorites. The idea of Daisy adopting kids in need holds a special place in my heart and I love these kids and their story I created. I haven't updated in a while because I was getting disheartend by a lack of love for something that meant so much to me. But hopefully I can get back to writing and posting it soon.

I've hardly been on Tumblr recently so I'm sorry if anyone has already been tagged but I tag @pocketmouse18 @cloudypaws @browneyedgenius @samanthaswishes and @momentofch-aos

[letteredlettered]

Hm, I think something went wrong with the message I sent you. So sorry! I'm trying again. It seems so frivolous to ask you a question but I'm in dire need of escapism after already one week of lockdown in Germany. I hope you are ok! I've only discovered your Drarry fics beginning of this month, love them! And "Another mask behind you is really lingering. I can't seem to get over it. Brilliant!

I’m sorry it took me so long to reply to you! I know lockdown is over in Germany, but I hope you made it through okay, and thank you so much for this ask.

Since the ask is very long and my answer even longer, I have placed the remaining portions of the ask and the response under this cut. The discussion is about Another Mask Behind You, which is a Harry/Draco I wrote that involves Draco being a sex worker. It also has elements of both non-con and dub-con. If any of these topics disturb you in fiction, please take heed if you check out the fic or read the reply. I do not think this ask or answer will make sense unless you have read the fic, which I can’t really say that I recommend, though there are parts of it I like.

The way you brilliantly use searing, toe-curling sex-scenes to draw me in, but because the drivers behind the intense need for both characters are not sexual, it’s never enough, NEVER ENOUGH, and I keep getting more and more frantic as the fic progresses, just like Draco. Well done :-)The way you disregard expected tropes and make the journey so much more complicated, so much more nuanced ….. well, so much more painful – it’s just incredibly rewarding. So painful, but so rewarding. (2/7)

The brilliant way you use the unreliable narrator, always delusionally speaking through his survival-shell of shame defense, his biased perception of reality in general and Potter specifically, but especially himself. And this confrontation-scene when he finally implodes into his shame – my god, do you really want to break my heart? Seriously? (3/7)

Then the way you capture the obviously intergenerationally transmitted Malfoy-steel-spine, the “holding on to the last thread of myself in impossible circumstances” - the emotions that invokes I can’t even put into words. There is so much more I want to say, but this format is too restricted. I postest a long comment on Archiveof OurOwns. I'm getting to my question :-) (4/7)

Another thing I adore about your writing is that you write powerful endings. This fic and “Away with childish things” are so, so psychologically satisfying but with quite a bit of narrative tension unresolved - so that I’m forced to spend joyful days with filling in the gaps.However, with one gap of this fic I’m really struggling and I would love to hear your take. (5/7)

I get the struggle with the betrayal and all, but as Draco so accurately puts it “So many unfamiliar expressions had he made in the last two times Draco had seen him, that Draco was no longer sure he’d ever really known him – as though in some sense, Potter had been playing a part as much as Draco had.”I don’t see any awareness develop in Harry regarding his obvious control-compulsion, the covert objectification hidden behind feelings of “love”, that made Tristan a “safe” partner. (6/7)

It will be so bitterly precarious for Harry (not so much Draco) to ever share this side of him within a power-balanced relationship, so risky and hazardous. Will he ever be able to work himself up there? It could be potentially so incredibly cathartic but I’m not so sure. Harry would need extensive aftercare, I guess. Would love to hear your head canon and thoughts? Do you have a story in your head how things would develop between these two? Thank you so much for your art! (7/7)

For those who are interested, I replied to the full comment on AO3. I’ve reproduced most of my answer below for those who are interested:

I'm glad you enjoy the unreliable narrator, and I’m very touched you like my stories.

Regarding my endings--thank you for your kind words, but I have to say most of my H/D fics do not end the way I plan. Most of them were written in a big rush to meet a fest deadline, including this one. I was not at all satisfied with the end of this fic, but I realized that to get satisfaction from it, I would either need to rewrite the fic or write a whole sequel, because the story of Harry and Draco working toward a healthy relationship is not this fic. This fic is about getting them to a point where they might even want to work on a healthy relationship, and so by the time I got finished there was just not room to write the other things I wanted and I didn’t have time to fix it because of the deadline.

I think Harry could get to the point where he would bottom for Draco. I also think he could get to the point where there is a balance of power in their relationship. I think it would take much longer for him to get to the point where he would say that the reason he was comfortable with Tristan was because he held all the power. I honestly believe that that understanding would not come intuitively for him, that he would either need therapy or many many years to get there, possibly both.

I'm guessing you saw this, as you quoted the part about his unfamiliar expressions, but part of the point is supposed to be that Harry is lying to himself just as much as Draco, just in different ways. The way Harry sees things is:  Tristan as an essentially good person with many great qualities. Tristan's snobbery and selfishness and arrogance and entitlement and pettiness seem to be his flaws, but because Harry sees Tristan as good, Harry can accept these flaws. This leads Harry to not take the flaws very seriously--he feels they are surface attributes of someone who is deep down good. He even finds these flaws charming. When Harry finds out Draco is Tristan, because Harry believes Draco is not a good person, he takes the flaws seriously. He no longer sees them as surface attributes and takes them as evidence of Draco's deep down horrible character.

I think that because Harry still wants Draco so viscerally even after everything, and because Harry can still see all the ways that Draco is Tristan despite Draco's betrayal, Harry begins to understand that this is a very simplistic view of people and the world. Just because we're on the side that is against the side of the genocidal bigots does not make us fundamentally good, and being fundamentally good does not make our flaws light and fluffy and charming. And just because we're on the side of the genocidal bigots does not mean that nothing can be good in us, that everything you found good and lovely in us was a complete lie. Eventually, Harry learns  that Draco is a whole person, neither good nor bad in essence, just really someone who has done lots of horrible things, but has the capacity to grow beyond that. And as Draco does grow beyond that, Harry begins to love him as a whole person, rather than a black and white one.

This is the story that Harry sees and thinks that he experiences as he learns to love Draco.

However, I do believe there's another story under that, and that story is possibly one that Harry never understands.This story is about power, as you mention, but it's also about the depth of Harry's delusion. The main premise that drives this under-story is why Harry was so willing to believe Tristan was, in essence, good. Why was he so willing to see Tristan's faults as charming, when some of Tristan's snootier comments actually suggest some underlying pure-blood bigotry?

The answer is that Harry wanted to believe that. He wanted a person who wasn't real, and Tristan having flaws just made Tristan feel more real, even though he wasn't. And why does Harry want a fake? Because Harry doesn't want to be real either. He doesn't want to really share himself, or give pieces of himself he doesn't want to; he doesn't want to stop being a hero or spend time that may make himself face himself and who he is. In this fic, Harry is someone who does not know how to love except to perform acts of service, which I find believable because so much of his friendships were built on saving each other and working together to save others. He does not know how to relax, which I also find believable given all the abuse and hardship. This leads to repression and difficulty seeing to his own needs, which in this fic leads to him becoming quite controlling. In this fic he wants to relax; he wants to stop and take time with himself and those he loves, but he has become so pent-up that he doesn't know how to relax without being forced to do it.

However, being forced to relax is a loss of control, and the Harry of this fic is too messed up to find a way to do it straightforwardly. Thus, for him, hiring a sex worker means he is in control of the situation on one level, but can let go of control on another level. The fact that he wants to bottom right away with Tristan but took a long time with Weatherby (his ex in this fic) is further evidence of the fact that Harry is really only okay with ceding this control because he has a different kind of control over what is happening. It's the same, actually, with Tristan demanding that Harry not work so much and spend time with him. Harry wouldn't like it if a non-sex-worker-boyfriend were asking the same thing, because he wouldn't feel that he ultimately had control of the situation.

So, again, no, I do not think Harry would admit any of this or understand it about himself without a lot of work and time.

However, I'm just not sure he has to for Draco and him to have a happy, healthy relationship.

I think the story Harry tells himself--that he saw Tristan as good, Draco as bad, and that this is ultimately too simplistic--is actually enough for Harry to begin to let go of some of this control. Harry would have to realize, with this understanding that people are not black and white, that he wanted to spoil Tristan not just because Tristan was morally good, but because he likes to spoil people. Harry would have to realize that he enjoyed Tristan being selfish and demanding not just because Tristan was morally pristine, but because Harry actually gets hot for that kind of behavior. Harry would have to realize he enjoyed Tristan topping the fuck out of him not just because Tristan was morally flawless, but because Harry just really likes to get fucked and fucked hard. With Draco, Harry wants the happiness he had with Tristan. To get it, Harry has to allow some of the behavior that happened with Tristan, without that extra veneer of control Harry once had because Tristan was a sexworker that Harry was paying.

Draco would learn from this too--that he can still be himself, that he can still be demanding, that he can still fuck Harry. And with that would come more self-acceptance for Draco and more confidence, which would actually help him grow to become more like Tristan was. And that would make Harry more accepting as well. I think eventually they could have something that approximates a lot of the love and comfort and domesticity they felt during the month Harry contracted Draco, but it would be without lies, and without control, and without attempts to manipulate each other.

I think for that, Harry would not need to know that the reason it worked for him was because he had all the power.

I do feel like Draco probably understands it very well. I could see a long time after they finally become quite comfortable with each other, them lying in bed after fucking, Draco finally saying, "You do know you were only okay with me doing that to you at first because you were paying me." And Harry would say, "No, it's because you lied to me and had a different face." And Draco would say, "Mm-hm," and trace the circle on Harry's chest, and then eventually say, "It's also because you were paying me. You wouldn't have let anyone else do those things I did." And Harry would say, "I don't think you understand how attracted I was to you." And Draco would say, "Mm-hm," and trace some more. "But it was also because you were paying me," Draco would say finally. "You knew you were in control." And then I think Harry would finally think about it, but it would be so long ago, that finally he could say something like, "Yeah. I don't know. I guess you're right." "I'm always right," Draco would say, and Harry would find this charming too.

I hope I answered this very interesting question to your satisfaction, and sorry again for the wait!

[allycryz]

Writing asks -- 1, 2, 3, and 16? :D

Thank you! From this prompt list

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

My main project is ever Daughter of Gelmorra which is me writing one-shots about my WoL Nerys and her relationships. There’s no set end date for these really–once I run out of canon I will probably just write shippy stuff. 

More specifically, I’m editing the duology of stories about Thancred, Urianger, and Haurchefant in Vesper Bay during the first part of Stormblood. And I love how this canon is going–because in canon we never got to see these dynamics and I’m really excited about Haurchefant grappling with serving as an “emissary” when he would rather be in battle

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I have grand plans for Shadowbringers set fics: a sequel to the Thancred/Nerys/Emet fic; the fic in the aftermath of rescuing Eulmore where Haurche, Thancred, and Nerys become a trio; in addition to a whole lot of other things. This is when the OT6 really happens.

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Honestly the way I take brain breaks is to write scenes on my mind and reference them later when I find places for them to fit in. A lot of the fics I’ve written started as scenes in the middle I used later.

I do have some desire to write scenes in the Vampire AU I’ve been poking at but also that one may never actually get finished. 

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

Been on a present tense run for a while and dipping back to past tense. Also I am writing a quick AU plot bunny with very minimal detail, just getting it down and not worrrying about it. Though when I rewrite it, I may do something fun or poetic with structure.