#that even in fanfiction where people are trying to give these characters a break from superhero-ing

[rogersstevie]

not enough people write stucky being married/having kids tbh

[crystallilytarot]

You and your future spouse first impression of each other. Choose a word (these are erasers btw)

(can be future partner too, if you don't want marriage)

Ps. It's supposed to be about impressions, but somehow the cards showed me a story too, but I hope you will still like it!

Pile 1 - power

Your fs

It feels like you will be with friends /family / colleagues. Even if it's in the workplace, it will be a lunch break, a company party or something lighter feeling. And you are talking, laughing and your future partner will see you, and like bumm, they will know right away that you are special. Not exactly love at first sight, but instant attraction. And not even lust, it feels more like they will find you very intelligent, an interesting individual. You probably have a good sense of humour too. If it's in the workplace, they will try to do something, to work with you. You seems like someone who is good at teamwork. They will have instantly protective feelings about you. A little bit like a protector, but they will admire you from afar. A secret admiror, but nothing creepy. I think they will just need some time. And they won't even realize at first, that it's not just they find you interesting, but they find you very sexy too. The sexual attraction is there too from the beginning so it's a little funny, how they don't notice this. You know, like in fanfictions, where everybody knows that the main character has a crush on someone. Everybody but them lol

You

Okay, so you are the same. Kinda. But I think you will know a little earlier that you are attracted to this person, but you would think that it's impossible. In the very beginning, you probably won't even notice them, it feels like they are not really your usual type, or maybe they are, but still at first you will think that they aren't. So I mean, maybe a little different from your type in the outside, but in the inside, they are everything you ever wanted. After there's a period where you will feel really in love with them, but you will be like, it doesn't matter, it's only a platonic love. A little bit of a feeling like the company rules don't let people date on that workplace, or they are in a higher position than you. Or just simply you both feel like the other person is not interested in you. But in the end somehow you will be together. Can be that some friends will help you or just your guardian angels, because you seems like can't even believe that this person is really interested in you.

Pile 2 - dream

Your fs

They will be very attracted to you, right from the beginning. And they seems like a confident person, so I think they will try to invite you to a date pretty early. But either you will say no, or the date won't be so good. There's a little separation here. I feel like their intentions are genuine but somehow they don't act like it. In the beginning, but later you will be together. I feel that they are confident but you seems out of their league, and they find you so sexy, they will ruin this thing between you. Can be that you already know them, but you were too young, or the time / place were bad, but later you will reconcile.

You

There's an instant attraction from your side too, and I think you will feel that you have a lot of common things. You will actually see behind their behaviour and you will feel that they are a loving person. But still something isn't right. But I feel that both of you need some time to heal something, learn something before you meet again. The potencial is there from the beginning, but it feels like it wasn't real love back than, but if you meet again, it's so much better. Like 2 people who are emotionally available, and in peace with themself, so they can give love too.

Pile 3 - magic

Your fs

It's strange because it feels like neither of you are looking for love at that time. Something bad happened or just they are busy with other things in their life. They are in their journey to be a better person, maybe in their job too, but in their life in general too. So it feels a little sudden meeting. You two maybe already know each other. It's just for some of you. But for everybody, you both will feel like you are know each other for a long time. This person will feel like you are their safe place. It's possible that it will be a love at first sight. They will just know, that they want to be with you right away. They will think that you are like a sunshine in their life. Something like a child, who can feel joy almost innocently. A happy, optimistic feeling. And they will know right away that they will want to be with you long term. If you want children, there's that feeling too that they will know that they want a family with you.

You

So there's a little difficulties in your life too when you are meeting this person. But they will bring back the hope to your life. Instant sexual attraction from your side too. And probably love at first sight here too. But it seems like you are more of a rational person or you just don't believe that it's really happening for you. So you will fight with your feelings a little at first. Maybe it's because of past bad experiences. And you will find that person very attractive, so you will think that they probably have a lot of suitor/ a lot of people interested in them. A little bit of a f boy/girl thing, but they are not. I think they are a charming person, quite friendly and open, but they actually want a stable relationship, something meaningful.

[buddiefix]

Fake Dating/Didn't Know They Were Dating Fic's (Part 1)

The following are some buddie fanfiction involving fake dating, or the characters realizing they've been partners all along.

What If I Fall In Love Backwards? by RedRidingStiles 

9-1-1 (TV)  

"I feel like we should go save him," Chimney said as he and Hen loaded their drunk and injured patient into the back of the ambulance (day drinking and balconies do not mix), nodding his head towards the small swarm of college girls surrounding a highly uncomfortable Buck. "And by we I mean you, Eddie." "Yeah I got this," Eddie reassured, cupping one hand around his mouth before shouting, "Hey Buckley!" "What's up, Hot Stuff?" Buck called back, his eyes holding crystal blue relief as they met Eddie's across the lawn. Eddie tried to bite back his amused smile but didn't succeed when his next words had Buck grinning like a complete fool. "You. Me. Tonight. Wear something pretty." "Edmundo Diaz, are you trying to ask me out on a date?"

 —or—

five Times Buck and Eddie saved each other by pretending to be together and the one time Christopher helps

Language: English Words: 9,879 Chapters: 1/1

baby, say you'll always keep me by hattalove

9-1-1 (TV)  

“Yeah,” Eddie says, and the darkness behind his eyelids takes on a white edge. “Be good. Nice to be married,” he yanks on Buck’s t-shirt, “best friend.” Finally, Buck takes a breath that sounds off somehow, but he laughs too, and that sounds normal, Eddie thinks. A normal laugh. “Sure, Eds,” he says, and there’s his hand in Eddie’s hair again, a puff of breath on the crown of Eddie’s head like Buck leaned in to press a kiss there and then stopped, but why would he stop—“I’ll marry you if you remind me tomorrow.”

—or—

The one in which joking about being married to your best friend is all fun and games, right up until you realize that you're not laughing.

Language: English Words: 8,251 Chapters: 1/1

I Hate Accidents (Except When We Went From Friends to This) by morganofthefairies 

9-1-1 (TV)  

“You should just move in,” Eddie said one night.  They were already laying in bed, Buck’s face half-buried in his pillow. “Where would I sleep, Eddie,” Buck deadpanned, sleep heavy in his voice. “Here,” Eddie said, not entirely sure how Buck missed that part.  “The same place you’ve been sleeping.” Bobby raised an eyebrow when Buck updated his address on all of the necessary paperwork, but Eddie wasn’t entirely sure what the big deal was.

—or—

The story of how Buck and Eddie went about their relationship in entirely the wrong order.

Language: English Words: 7,206 Chapters: 1/1

we could follow the sparks, i’ll drive by markofalover

9-1-1 (TV)  

“Oh! You must be Mr. Diaz!” someone says from behind him, and Buck spins around clumsily, all long legs, to find a woman with a Miss Perez tag stuck to her blouse. She’s smiling politely, white teeth against red lips, and it takes just a second too long to process what she says.

—or—

everyone thinks Buck is the other Mr. Diaz.

Language: English Words: 6,539 Chapters: 1/1

i'd never let you fall and break your heart by autistic_nightfury

9-1-1 (TV)  

Four times Buck and Eddie pretended to be in a relationship so people wouldn't bother them, and the one time they actually were together.

Language: English Words: 5,808 Chapters: 1/1

Say Cheese by S_lycopersicum

9-1-1 (TV)  

"Um... anything left to get?" "Snacks for that girl who has diabetes. Amy, Audrey, uh..." "Abby." "Pfff... I'd remember if she was called Abby," Buck half-heard Eddie say, but his focus was on the other end of the grocery store aisle, where at 11pm at night his ex-girlfriend Abby Clark was carefully assessing two different brands of provolone.

Language: English Words: 4,927 Chapters: 1/1

of bake sales and overdue realizations by brewrosemilk

9-1-1 (TV)  

Eddie doesn’t notice it until it becomes a thing that happens even when it’s just him and Buck, without Chris anywhere near them - but even then, he doesn’t find it strange, or give it much thought. Buck is the one who starts ending their phone calls with a quick ‘love you’ but it doesn't take long before Eddie does the same, often beating him to it. It’s never a big deal - most of the time it’s something along the lines of;

‘Hey, can you grab some milk on your way over? We’re out.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, I got it.’ ‘Great, love you.’ ‘Love you.’

Before long, they’re even doing it in texts.

Language: English Words: 4,823 Chapters: 1/1

the secrets we keep (the ones that spill out) by sparegarbage

9-1-1 (TV)  

The 118 is a close-knit family. It’s not surprising given how much time they spend together: endless hours at the firehouse, barbecues on the weekends, the occasional night at the bar. They’re a family, yes... but Buck and Eddie don’t have to tell them everything. They’re allowed their secrets, really, and it’s not… weird. Really, it’s not. It’s just that sometimes the 118 asks too many questions, and sometimes there’s just no good (or clear or logical) way to explain. Exhibit A: How Buck ended up in Eddie’s bed during a sleepover (and how he’s been sleeping there most nights since).

—Or—

Buck and Eddie comfort each other with cuddles, hugs, and kisses (platonically—or so they think).

Language: English Words: 4,624 Chapters: 1/1

With(out) A First Date by firstdegreefangirl

9-1-1 (TV)  

Buck and Eddie become boyfriends. Six months later, they start dating.

Language: English Words: 10,282 Chapters: 13/13

it's always been you by coupe_de_foudre

9-1-1 (TV)  

“What do I normally get from there?” Eddie asks him, chin settled back onto his shoulder. “The kung pao chicken.” he answers almost instantaneously, having all of Eddie’s usual take-out orders memorised by now. It comes in handy for when they need to get food in quick whilst navigating work and Christopher. It’s not weird. He, unfortunately, misses the odd look that Maddie sends him. As well as the way that Hen hides a snicker behind a cough.

Language: English Words: 8,700 Chapters: 6/6

(Friendly reminder I do not own any of the works listed in this post, and all can be located on archiveofoureown.org)

[jonathan-samuel-smith]

TW bipolar discussion and nonconsensual kissing, mental health discussion

So about Saturn Girl kissing Jon without his ability to consent to it: I get that she isn't actively deciding to mind control the people around her, but she does have a choice in the matter. Her family wanted her to stay home until she could control her mind control powers, but she didn't want to and left. To me that's like if I noticed I was manic (not hypomanic) and didn't go to the mental hospital... Like I can't control my bipolar but I have the choice to stay away from others when it would harm them. That's not even a good comparison though because my judgement isn't clear enough to consistently do that when I'm manic, whereas she is at baseline and is able to think rationally. I wouldn't blame someone with bipolar because they have no choice, but I'm just saying the obvious choice would be to keep yourself away from others even if it's not fun for you. I feel like I can blame her, because she has a choice.

I do sympathize with her, but I really think she's hurting others disproportionately to the distress she feels stuck at home, and that's not okay.

If you look back on the events with the knowledge that she can't turn off her mind control, you see how manipulative she is, especially to Jon, and she does high-control group tactics: love bombing, isolation, guilt tripping, not letting him have rest alone where he would have time to realize he didn't want this.

I don't like the JonDami narrative that Jon was an asshole for leaving Damian in the past or was running away from his problems, because in my view he was dragged into a cult and I can't blame him for that, especially because he was extremely vulnerable at the time. I also don't believe Jon would have left in the first place if he knew up front that he couldn't bring Damian to at least visit him.

Jon had been in a state of fight or flight for around 6 years (not just talking about the volcano because there was also his verbally abusive grandpa and their deadly adventures and being trapped in space, and then him struggling to survive on the streets and trying to find a way home after he escaped) and the first time he really got a chance to cool down was when he was talking with Damian. He really needs a long break, therapy, and medication because what he went through can't be treated with therapy alone as the stress has chemical effects in the brain that need to be adjusted.

The writers don't care about how Jon should be extremely hypervigilant and defensive and anxious. I guess that's just not brave enough for a superhero, nevermind that leaving the house and getting treatment for these things, learning to trust again, and letting people help you is so much braver than punching guys when you have superpowers. It's natural to fight when your fight or flight is activated in a protective manner, but doing the logical thing when every signal in your body is telling you not to is really damn hard. The only coward is DC for giving Jon trauma and not actually writing a traumatized character.

That all being said, Damian clearly doesn't see how Jon is being manipulated, probably because his head is full of self hatred & doubting & repressed desires to ask Jon to stay, and thinks he needs to go against his abandonment trauma by swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction in his speech. With his c-ptsd and abandonment issues I can see him becoming bitter towards Jon for going to the future.

That could make for a really complex fanfiction, don't you think? The conflict coming from their unique life experiences and traumas, and them learning to understand each other like they're always doing. This misunderstanding of intentions born not out of something dumb like hearing the wrong thing or being unclear in language, but from their different points of view.

My jondami au where Jon leaves the legion early is calling me lmao "Isaac we have more problems for you to fix~"

That being said I have no exclusivity to these ideas for writing.

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

totally feel free to ignore but what are some tips you have for writing? I rlly want to write x readers soon but idk how to start

Write for yourself: write what you want, when you want, for whatever reason you want, and don't let it become an obligation. It's hard to gain traction on a site like tumblr so you don't want to get discouraged by a lack of feedback/notes: which will probably happen if you're trying to write for others instead of yourself. Gaining fame should be irrelevant to you: it'll make you happier in the long run and save you a bunch of self doubt.

Read a lot. It can be whatever you prefer: fiction, nonfiction, fanfiction, etc. It simply helps to remind you what proper grammar, sentences, and characters look like. If you ever find yourself struggling to word things, take a break and read something else.

If you're creating a new blog to write on, reblog things to it or make unimportant posts on it immediately upon creating it. They can be things you'll end up deleting in the future, it really doesn't matter, it simply helps your blog be seen in the tags you're looking to post in quicker. Tumblr; at least when I started, has a sort of authorization process (for lack of a better term) where a new blogs posts will not be seen in tags until they've made a couple posts/reblogs. It's a sort of "prove you're not a robot" process that ends quicker by doing the aforementioned things.

Tag things properly and learn proper fanfiction terms.

Rewatching/rereading is your friend. Sometimes it's necessary to watch clips back again to see the little things that you might have missed on your first viewing. Even the smallest of interactions can really help to flesh out a character when writing for them.

Watch other films. There's only so many different kinds of character archetypes out there and finding similar characters to watch can help you come up with ideas for the ones you want to write for.

Don't limit yourself. Experiment with different kinds of fanfiction and see what works for you. You might prefer one type of fanfiction over the other or you might want to write different kinds. (i.e. look into the difference between imagines, headcanons, blurbs, etc.)

Don't force yourself to finish something. If you want to write ten different things all at once, don't force yourself to complete the post you're struggling with when you could finish two different ones in the mean time.

Give credit where credit is due. Don't grab a gif from a random place and claim it as your own or steal writing from somebody else (even if it's just a small segment). Always tag or link wherever you've found something and respect peoples wishes if they don't want you to use it.

Being self indulgent is part of the fun but try not to let it cloud your judgement when writing for different characters; especially if you're trying to appeal to an audience. There's a fine line between writing fanfic and making an oc out of preexisting characters: both are fine but if you're trying to appeal to the masses and/or be accurate, don't force things to fit just because you wish they were so.

That's all I got off the top of my dome so I hope that this helps! Good luck!❤

[physalian]

Content Warnings for Original Books

Can we please encourage content warnings for smut and other triggering topics in published literature? This needs to be a thing. Everyone bashes fanfiction for being fanfiction, but I’ve never seen a fanfic where the smut or trigger warnings weren’t tagged to high heaven somewhere in the description or in the opening author’s note.

AO3, compared to FFN, even has a specific “mature” rating just for sex—”E”—that FFN didn’t have. FFN had nervous authors throwing objectively mild content into the “M” rating (e.g. "rated M to be safe"), which meant that if you wanted to read a story that was a little bit violent, you had to turn off your filters as a kid and sift through all the smut just to find that one smut-less, but violent, fic.

When I was a kid in my early FFN days, I was probably exposed to way more stuff I shouldn’t have been reading because I had to disable the mature filter, just so I could read so-called “graphic violence” from pearl-clutching authors. I’d be looking for that one action-adventure fic that happens to have a little murder in it, and sift through fifty pure-smut summaries that ranged from vanilla to straight BDSM—of which had a high chance of being incredibly unhealthy, but you wouldn’t know that at 10, 11, 12 years old.

Fanfic authors, especially when the fanfic platform gives them the freedom to tag, are very clear to let you know just what you’re getting into.

—

I doubt I need to explain what a content warning is on Tumblr, but I will anyway. A content or trigger warning is a heads up at the beginning of a work of media that there are some elements not meant for younger audiences, or for sensitive audiences, or for people who have experienced situations depicted in traumatic ways, or for people who just don’t want to consume media with such content.

In film, this is obvious. If it’s rated R, you generally know what to expect. Generally. Because an R rated film could be R because of anything from profanity to graphic sex/assault and torture scenes. The MPAA rating system is garbage and ‘harsh language’ is not nearly on the same tier as sex in terms of what we should expose our children to.

Before streaming like Amazon as a platform to get around cable censorship rules, you had premium networks like HBO for all your adult content, and then some shows greenlit on smaller networks like AMC—never on ABC, CBS, TNT, etc. HBO wasn’t only for adult stuff, I used to watch Crashbox all the time.

That was the place you went for media that circumvented foul language, violence, and nudity rules in America. It kind of came with its own built-in content warning by virtue of being on those networks, and even then they still give warnings for shows on HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc.

At the start of every episode, you either get a full screen from Starz with the little icons for profanity, nudity, violence, etc, or it would be up at the top around the episode's title. You'd know exactly what you were getting into.

—

In a fanfiction, because I’ve never seen one in an original book, much less for generic vanilla sex scenes, this is what we’re all familiar with:

A/N: Trigger warning! This story contains mentions of rape/non-con. Turn back now, don’t like don’t read.

They also tend to appear at the top of the chapter that contains said scene to double down on the warning, or will, upon completion, include which chapter or chapter section to skip in the work’s summary or opening author’s note. In the old FFN days, there might even be a 4th wall break mid-chapter. Though the terminology we use over the years shifts, we still manage to get the point across.

Like, if I turn off all the filters on AO3 trying to browse for tags and underloved characters that may be lumped in with stuff I’d rather not read, I’ll see tags like “DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT,” which was not a thing in FFN days, even if FFN had allowed things like tags.

While it’s easier to tell in movies due to that shitty-but-functional rating system, that’s not really the case with fiction books. With books, I know the genre, and I know the intended audience age group. If I pick up a book in the children’s sci-fi section, I know it’s going to be something about robots or space or the future and our characters are going to be about twelve years old.

If I pick up a YA thriller, I know I’m going to have a cast of sixteen-to-twenty-somethings and there’s going to be some violence, very vanilla cussing or the author’s own slang, and probably some murder.

Adult or new adult romance—Sex. At least one scene guaranteed.

The problem is that unlike films and TV shows, we don’t get a breakdown for books on what to expect and the nature of those scenes. There’s no little ‘R’ sticker on the back cover and there’s certainly no little insert between chapters to let you know what’s coming next. There's no "trailer" I can read to get a sense of your tone.

So if I’m in the mood for a new adult supernatural romance novel and I have to sit through a vanilla sex scene, that’s fine, that’s what I’m reading it for. But if Mr. Badboy is incredibly aggressive and dominating and being an asshole with very dubious consent, that’s different (although, objectively determining what is and isn't 'dubious' is mighty difficult).

Should I still expect that I take my fluffy or angsty romance with a fat grain of salt just in case?

What happens if it’s not a romance novel, but I get a surprise rape scene as my character’s Tragic Backstory? What if it’s an adventure novel? Spy thriller? High fantasy or historical fiction or murder mystery? If there’s no indication in the genre, summary, or by the style of the cover that I’ll have to read about two characters getting it on?

Some people don’t want to read your characters in all the nitty gritty details. They really like everything else about your book, they just don’t want to read a sex scene, and they really don’t want to be super invested, hundreds of pages and even years of series dedication in, and be massively turned off by smut.

It doesn't need to be this big to-do or hyperdetailed like fanfic. In my upcoming book, I had beta readers with personal and moral objections to some of my themes. From then on, I made sure to ask up front so I didn't trigger my betas.

ENNS is about vampires. I haven't settled on what my content warning page might look like or how exactly I want to phrase it, but it might read something like this:

Dear readers, this is a content warning for graphic violence and adult themes. This book contains mentions of assault, self-harm, and suicide. Please be warned that these themes are present and prevalent in this story and readers should take the utmost care for yourselves when approaching this book. Thank you.

Something like this, just a quick, lighthearted heads up for your novel would suffice:

Dear readers, this book ain’t for kiddies! Be prepared for some adult themes and suggestive romance between characters.

I'm definitely not in the camp of pearl-clutching suburban conservatives, but if I'm browsing for a new novel for my tweenage bookworm and I opened up a book with an intriguing summary, and saw that warning? I'd be much happier with the author for their consideration, instead of buying it blind for my kid. You have no idea why someone wouldn't want to read a sex scene. They might be prude, or they might be a survivor just trying to enjoy a new book.

Because romance and sex is taken for granted, most people are at least going to be open to the possibility of sex, but not everyone will be expecting it or wanting it or think it warranted. It’s not spoilery, it’s not revealing some surprise plot twist, it’s a kind and considerate gesture for those members of your audience who just don’t like sex scenes. And heck, maybe they don't want to read it right now, but they'll remember you and pick your book back up later because you tried.

—

TL;DR: I don’t mind smut. When done well.

There’s a reason romance such a compelling story and why it dominates fanfiction and original works leagues ahead of all other plotlines.

But it still needs a content warning, even if you think it’s obvious, or spoilery, or patronizing. Because if I’m not in the mood for it, it just drags and I want to put the book down instead of reading all your hard work to completion.

[pedrostylez]

500 Followers Reading Recommendation List

Hi there! Happy Saturday!

I just wanted to say thank you to the 500 people that are following me. I started this account back in March/April to have fun, start writing again (I was in the thick of it with One Direction fanfiction from 2012-2017 and took a massive break from that... Iykyk) and to make friends. I’ve connected with so many of you, and I love seeing us all thirsting on the feed, and just being a community? Idk if that’s cheesy, but there are plenty of things that could be improved with how this fanbase operates but this is my favorite part.

I felt like the best way to celebrate and to have fun is to bring attention to other people’s writing that I enjoy. Frothing at the mouth, or maybe just kicking my feet, whatever. I’ve been stockpiling these since the beginning (mainly so I can keep track because I will forget what I’m reading through and I don’t want to miss anything) and want to just highlight as many people as I can. 

I hope you all can give these guys some love too. If any of these are not your cup of tea and you want to make comments or say something to one of these authors I highly encourage you to read this announcement I made a while ago. I stand by this and encourage others to do the same.

I tried to not repeat an author with a character, but I will say that each of these lovely people writes for multiple characters (not always in the Pedro character universe either) and I have and continue to read from their whole masterlist. 

This is in no way the whole ongoing list that I keep for myself to find something that I enjoy, and I am positive I have missed some amazing people. I encourage everyone to reblog and interact with authors as you find things you like, “popular” or not, so as to keep us all as what I described above-a community.

Most of these recommendations are smut, which is indicated with *. If there is no *, it either has none or it does not at the time of posting this. Proceed with caution. 🙂

(If I get anyone’s name or pronouns wrong, please let me know so I can fix it. I tried to do my due diligence, however, I am prone to mistype so a quick message will get it changed!)

Joel Miller

@softlyspector-Honeyed

Becca’s story Honeyed is everything my fluffy heart desires. It is so soft, and I can feel my heart ache when I read it (I mean this in a good way and idk how else to describe it.) Ellie and Sarah’s dynamic is also so interesting, and I love how she writes the different connections between them all. Becca’s descriptions and ability to immerse you into the story is top notch. 

@jrrmint- Dad’s Best Friend (Series)*

JJ’s series absolutely destroyed me, in the best way possible. The way he expresses his feelings is so very Joel, but also so very “every man I’ve ever interacted with”, and the way he is so protective of reader…oh my lord. Just brilliant. JJ is here to kill it, every fucking time. 

@darkroastjoel- A Safe Haven (series)*

Vee is extremely talented, even when she thinks otherwise. (Vee I love you so much omg). So much effort and care is put into what she writes, and I am always sitting at the edge of my seat. A Safe Haven is angsty, makes my heart flutter, and Joel is portrayed so well. Hiding a relationship while having issues in Peach’s home to help the community? Real-life anxiety. Vee’s Ellie is also one of my favorites and gives comedic relief when necessary (but also a wakeup call to Peach a lot of the time). Love love love.

@hier--soir-Back to Texas

Jessie you probably thought I was going to put your professor joel series here, and while that is so fucking good (screeching into a pillow so my husband doesn’t hear, good), this specific piece you wrote? Emotional damage. Tears, in my eyes, sniffling and trying to keep it together. It really just calls upon my daddy issues to read Joel so distraught and loving and anxious about visiting his home where he last saw Sarah. Ugh. Love you. 

@joelscruff- One Thing I’m Missing (series)*

Cat’s ability to suck you into the world she has created is insane. I highly recommend all of the things she writes, but some sweetness mixed with horniness always makes me want to just pass away. Accidentally falling asleep together? And now you BOTH can’t stop? Bye. So deliciously heart-wrenching. 

@atinylittlepain-Hungry Hearts (Series) *

Dear god this series has me crying, covering my face in embarrassment, drooling, and so much more. Summer love wrapped up with childhood crushes and bouncing back and forth between past and present? Thinking you know what’s best for the person you love and hurting them in the process? The flow of how Ginny writes keeps me on the hook no matter what she’s writing, and this is no different. I am absolutely able to lose myself in her writing and just be fully immersed, and I so so SO appreciate it.

@dev1lm4n-Porn Star Joel (series)*

Ann I swear to you, you’re the reason I am now obsessed with this “porn star” trope, specifically for Joel Miller. Joel having a secretive side job to make sure he keeps his family above water, but suddenly not able to think about anything other than reader, an exchange student living in his house? So fucking good. Sink your teeth in and just indulge. 

Frankie Morales

@pedropascalsx- Relief*

This had my gut in knots reading it. I have such a soft spot for Frankie as a character, and I remember the first time I read through this one-shot I gasped out loud at how mean you had written him. (This is a good thing, trust me). The smut is top shelf, mesmerizing.  Cristina has some of the best writing around with detail that is chef’s kiss. 

@peterhollandkait-Everthing I Know Leads Me Back to You

This is another series that I had first read when I was thinking about restarting my page, and Kait does not disappoint. The angst and heartbreak for sweet baby Frankie who is having issues is out of this world.

@javiscigarette-Just Focus on My Love*

Cami has this way about how she writes that I just consume so quickly and I don’t think I can ever stop. This one-shot called to me and calls me out at the same time for how often I will just play video games for hours. And the idea of Frankie? Coming to try and distract me? Yes please.

Javier Peña

@pascalsbby-Little Bunny*

Man, I just love Javier Peña. Whether he’s snarky and is a slut or is secretly really sweet. This one doesn’t disappoint either, with Kat having the ability to just get Javier to bring you home and on your knees…

@lokischocolatefountain -Salvation*

Married Javi and his struggles is the most insane way to get me hooked on him, but lokischocolatefountain did that. They have a whole “married javi” section of their masterlist that I find myself coming back to often!

@devilmademewriteit-Salvatore (series)*

When I was first reapproaching tumblr as a platform to write on, I came across Em’s writing. I was in the middle of watching Narcos, and it called out to me like a siren song, and I wasn’t able to stop reading it. I love a sassy Javi who is really just basically in love with you and trying to hide it, mixed in with some amazing smut. Absolutely brilliant Em!

@swiftispunk- Let Me and Use Me*

Hannah’s ability to call upon my niche needs at the moment freaks me out sometimes, because giiiirrrlllll. When I first read Let Me and the follow up Use Me, I melted into a puddle and had to be mopped up like snow being kicked off boots next to a wood stove. I will never ever EVER be over Javi P, and this two parter is reread OF-TEN. The idea that a man can read me so well, and just knows what I need? Yes please. 

Din Dijarin

@frannyzooey-Take Me To Church (Series) *

Kelli has an extensive masterlist that I have gone through a couple times (or more, ahem). Her Take Me to Church series is what made me interested in Din as a character, since I had never really watched the Star Wars saga. I have a soft spot for western AU’s that can’t be helped, so that just pushed me along as well. Kelli’s writing is always so fucking satisfying-good soup.  

@whatsnewalycat- Passenger (series) 

Aly has quite a few series that I am reading constantly. Again, never really had been interested in the Star Wars series (sue me, people) but her portrayal of Din as a truck driver and bounty hunter is so heavenly. I am typically under the covers with all the lights off reading her stuff because I get so excited and so honed in that I haven’t realized I’ve basically burrowed into my bed. 

@no-droids- Rough Day (series) *

Originally found on AO3, and I sure do loveeeeeeeee it. The wait is worth it, and the smut is spot on. I love the character growth that is shown in this series, and while I haven’t ever spoken with no-droids, I know they are insanely talented. An amazing read. 

Agent Whiskey/Jack Daniels

@fuckyeahdindjarin-Palomino (series) *

Cee doesn’t need a whole introduction but IMMA GIVE HER ONE. The amount of effort, and time and love she puts into her writing is shown when you’re reading on your phone, eyes barely open at 3 in the morning, telling yourself you’ll go to sleep after this next paragraph. And then of course, you don’t because something juicy is happening or you want to see how Jack is going to look lovingly at Darlin’ and you just stay up until you complete the chapter. Cee has some amazing amazing AMAZING series, and this is just one of them! 

@psychedelic-ink-Move Me, Baby *

Sil, if you don’t already know what you do to me, then here it is. You literally destroy me. This three-part series is as delectable as they come, being angsty and fluffy but also smut city babyyyyy. Sil is extremely talented and often has me questioning if I have a new kink or what exactly my deal is. 

Ezra (Prospect)

@the-ginger-hedge-witch- Adversity Western AU (Series)*

Ren. I stg. The ideas that you have send me into orbit. This is both Frankie and Ezra, but I am putting it under Ezra because the relationship between reader and Ezra is what I tend to focus on when I am reading this. Frankie’s relationship is also fascinating (and Ezra and Frankie together is extremely hot) but Ezra is written in this way that I just know is him exactly. She completely captured what Ezra’s cadence was (in my head at least) and I am infatuated with it.  

@ezrasversion-Heat*

Rue…my dear god. “Don’t stop on my account… unless of course you’d be more acquiescent to the idea of my assistance.” Like really?! I read this after I watched prospect for the first time and just about keeled over. How you captured how Ezra speaks was so spot on with the movie. So so good!

[tarjapearce]

Hey, I wanna say i really really like the way you write fics. It feels??? Natural?? To read it?? Always an adventure everytime I read a fic of yours.

How do you write so good?? I'm a writer as well and I'd love to hear your tips and tricks ^^

First of all, I wanna thank you for liking the crap stuff I write. (Cause I'm genuinely amazed some times that people just like it and I'm not saying this because.)

⚠️⚠️LONG AND POSSIBLE CONTROVERSIAL ANSWER AHEAD ⚠️⚠️

It's kinda funny, ngl. Lemme tell you something, I don't know if you guys struggle with Impostor Syndrome a lot like me, but everytime someone gives a compliment like this my brain just goes into self sabotaging mode.

In the outside its :

But in the inside, my brain immediately goes:

Cause I'm aware that I can do better. (And we will ~) it's weird. I'm always striving to do better.

As for the tips and tricks, I'm surely not the right person to ask advice from 😅, but Imma just tell you this from what I experience and from my perspective (Hopefully won't get backlash from this, if not, R. I. P. me jsksj) Be warned though, it's kinda contradictory cause writing is hard yo!

1. You gotta read. Either books or whatever your favorite genre is, but you gotta read. I consume fan fics and non fanfics cause you learn from other people too. I read fanfics mostly to know new words, how the character develops and the like.

I read more spanish stuff than anything. Which I try to transfer to what I write.

2. I try to keep it as simple as possible. With that I mean to not over embellish words cause it gets boring and weird. Sure, everyone wants to make their fanfics pretty (nothing wrong in that) but sometimes I feel that less is more. Like, nothing wrong if you wanna poet the f- out of your fic. (THIS IS A DOUBLE EDGED ONE SO BE CAREFUL!!)

I mean there is a huge difference in reading:

"The anger and frustration on her way of living was taking a toll on her mind"

and:

"Her nemesism had muddled her mind into an endless spiral of what ifs and what not, and frankly if her mind could speak, it'd beg for a break."

It's hard to pick one style, but as long as you keep it consistent, I guess it's all good (?) (Funny cause I always aim for the second one and end up in the first jsksj and I dont even know myself if I'm keeping it consistent)

3. Get yourself a beta reader that doesn't coddle you. It helps alot!!!! Cause again, compliments sure are nice, but they don't tell you where you could get better. ✨( Unless the reader provides puntual feedback on what they liked and what not. Those are my favorites and a rare gem ❤️)

4. I know this one is hard because everyone at some point have done this. But IF YOU COMPARE yourself to other writers? You'll lose yourself. Not only you'll lose motivation cause you seem unable to write like them, but you will fall into this... vicious circle of self deprecating and burnout. And the self doubt sky rockets nonstop.

Everyone is different. Everyone learns in a different pace. Trust me, I wanted to make great stories with a good looking writing when I had the slightest idea of what I was doing (Still do!) 😂. Writing fanfics is not a competition to who writes more beautiful/good/professional than others. Or who has more notes or the most canon-stuck character, or the cause let's face it, none will get a character's personality to a 100%!!! (And that's ok cause it's fanfiction and we all have a different approach to the character either emotional or mental) .

Personally for me, the cockyest thing someone can do is to claim to know a character more than the creators themselves. Kinda rude for me, if you ask . Like, sure feeling a deep connection with a character doesn't mean it'll grant us instant access to their whole self. Characters just like us evolve. Either for the good or the bad, but they don't remain the same, so knowing them completely is a big fat lie. Unless stated by the creator. (But we're delusional in this site, so~)

I mean, sure characterization is something we all struggle since we guide ourselves by some of the character's most prominent traits and make them their default personality. (I've sinned in this jsksj so don't worry)

5. HAVE FUN AND TAKE BREAKS. I mean it. The favorite things I've written is where Im genuinely having fun writing it. But also after a well deserved rest. Cause if something doesn't feel right, it won't be right. And burnout is easier to get at than we actually think.

6. I recently started to follow writing advice blogs, one of my favorite @heywriters.

@she-who-fights-and-writes. (They have amazing writing resources, so does Pinterest and YouTube. Seize them!!!)

But yeah, I'm still an amateur on this, I make emphasis in the 5th one tho.

Hope this helps you? ;w;.

Love you❤️✨

Thanks for stopping by. ❤️

[allaboutalf]

I saw your post talking about some Buddie shippers preemptively coming up with reasons to be upset over any Tommy and Buck scenes in the next episode. I'm pretty sure that's a direct result of the more recent interviews and the official instagram following Lou.

A lot of the more intense shippers seemed to have convinced themselves that 7x06 was going to be Tommy's lat episode (based on the four episode comment by Lou). But it's becoming more obvious that Lou is sticking around after it and BuckTommy is likely lasting longer than originally planned? I think they're coming up with reasons to be upset instead of just saying they're upset about Buddie isn't happening like they thought.

You’re spot on.

There’s been a lot of speculation from recent interviews and actions, especially around Tommy’s role in the episode and beyond. Especially Lou’s interviews and the Instagram follow.

Having this break between episodes builds anticipation but also gives a lot of time for theories and building outrage. It’s giving the toxic shippers a chance to latch onto speculation and start to build narratives that they can play up being upset over.

I don’t know why any were confident it would be such a short arc. I mean I do, cause they thought buddie would happen. But it was never going to be that fast. That would be terrible storytelling, make no sense for where the characters are right now and be a waste of a good narrative. The show may be ridiculous at times, but this is TV writing not fanfiction.

The 4 eps comment from Lou was always an initial contract as the season is still being written. There was always a strong possibility it would be extended once episodes were in the bag and post 7.04 reception. I think Tim’s plan was always to have Tommy around for a bit for such an important story. Hopefully he sticks around even longer now and we get a good slow burn for buddie and a positive romantic experience for Buck in the meantime (and an amicable bucktommy ending down the line if it comes to it).

I completely agree they’re just brainstorming reasons to be upset and trying to convince themselves and others they’re justified instead of being honest about what they’re really upset about. They have a right to be sad their ship isn’t together yet and progressing how they hoped, they just shouldn’t be toxic about it, or use shipping to virtue signal and hate on other ships.

Most of these people were thrilled by the first kiss and bi Buck, even with no buddie, so it’s baffling they’re now gearing up to spread negativity about potential future romantic scenes, when they should be excited it’s another step in the right direction for Buck. And that the character is happy.

[luniellar]

Breathe Me (Garrick Tavis X OC/Reader) - Chapter 2 - The Empyrean Series Fanfiction

When Xaden Riorson and Garrick Tavis arrive at Samara, they are forced to prove themselves all over again. When Xaden heads off to see Violet at Basgiath since their dragons are mated, Garrick finds himself alone in this unfamiliar area trying to get his name established navigating fights and ambushes. He owed his life to the man.

One particular night when Xaden leaves for Basgiath, Garrick finds himself with a new company. One who starts turning his world upside down and giving him something, that isn't just the Xaden and rebellion, to fight for. ______________________________________

All rights to Rebecca Yarros for her original work and original characters. My scenes and characters are my own. ______________________________________

Contains: Iron Flame Spoilers Warnings: Language

Chapters: 1 | 2

Read on AO3 | Wattpad

Author Note: As I'm writing this (February 2024), Garrick's signet is not revealed in Iron Flame. For this story, I followed my theory about Garrick's signet which is Near Sight (opposite of Liam's Far Sight). Near sight can easily recognize emotion changes, whatever emotion someone displays Garrick will pick up. This also relates to his dragon (Chradh) who is able to locate certain objects and is sensitive to runes. Garrick uses this to quickly learn who is trustworthy and gain information about people's true intentions making him a strong asset and an exceptional fighter.

Chapter 2: The Feelings

< Garrick Tavis >

The sun from the morning was nowhere to be found and the clouds were looking seriously ominous today. Temperamental like this guy, I glanced over at Xaden and his expressionless face from the hard floor of the outdoor sparring field. Something was definitely on his mind. My first guess would be Violet related. 

I welcomed the breeze against my shirtless, overheating body as my mind wandered off to what Lei was up to. Her smile from the morning flashed across my mind and I exhaled. Maybe it was her hair? I knew that most female riders kept their hair short, braided, or tied up to keep it from getting caught, but Lei’s ponytail was long enough and always swaying from side to side, like it was tempting me to grab. Oh gods, I shouldn’t have thought that. 

From the side, Xaden threw a clean towel that landed directly on my face, dragging me out of my thoughts. Right, this was supposed to be a quick break before another set. “Thanks,” I muttered as I grabbed it and wiped the dripping sweat across my face. 

“Riorson!” A familiar voice called out, full of disgust with each syllable. Tightening my core, I peeled my upper body off the mat and saw that bitch from last night. Fuck, what was his name again? 

Lei’s sharp, venomous tone saying his name last night replayed in my mind. “Move along, Pratt.” 

Oh yeah, Pratt. 

I looked up to see Xaden turned towards him with a blank face across the field. He didn’t answer, he just stared. Then a second later, Xaden looked over at me and was that worry that just flashed across his face? Pressing his lips together, he looked towards Pratt’s direction again.

Did Xaden know Pratt? Maybe he was an old friend? I could see the gears turning in his head staring at the blonde boy. 

“Where the fuck were you last night?” Pratt shouted. 

I scoffed and shouted back at him. He didn’t even have the courage to walk closer to us. “Damn, Pratt. I don’t think you wanted an audience to witness your ass getting whooped.” 

“I would keep your thoughts to yourself if I were you,” Pratt said my name in the same disgust he did with Xaden’s. “Your days at Samara are getting shorter with each word.” What the fuck was his deal?

Before I could quip back, Pratt looked directly at me. “Oh and leave Lei alone. She isn’t into dirty traitors like you two.” Pratt walked off with his “friends” trailing behind him. Two of the guys behind him moved with uncomfort and I could immediately identify they were the same boys from last night. 

“Watch your back, Garrick. He plays dirty.” Xaden replied. From the tone of his voice I knew that it wasn’t a guess, it was a statement. 

“Good, I like it dirty anyways.” I muttered back, my body making a dense thud against the hard floor surface as I dropped in exhaustion. 

✦ ✦ ✦

Xaden and I managed to keep the score even until the very end. Maybe it was the years of training we did together and how we knew each other better than we knew ourselves? Every move I threw at the guy, he managed to block. Thanks to my signet I was able to see the way his eyes moved before a punch or a jab and countered each step. But, he was still able to get a good punch on my jaw right when my mind was starting to wander off. 

Chradh loved reminding me how I should be paying attention whenever Xaden broke through my concentration like that. 

“Lei! Can you help?” A voice called out on our way to the showers and my head immediately turned. I scanned the fields until I saw Lei running over to another rider with short blonde hair reaching down to pick up buckets off the floor. I made eye contact with the blonde rider’s green eyes. Her eyes widened and immediately tilted her head up at Lei, her eyes moving in my direction. She clearly knew me, but I didn’t know her. Shortly after Lei turned in my direction. 

Her shiny, dark as night ponytail tossed above her shoulders. The shorter strands of hair fell into place, framing around her round rosy cheeks. I couldn’t turn my eyes away from her as I stood there watching. The short haired rider said something to Lei and after a quick nod, Lei jogged over. 

“Hey! Do you have an outpost shift tonight?” She asked when she reached me. Her scent filled the space between us. I held my breath knowing that I could just drink her up. 

I nodded. “It’s mine this time around.” 

“Great,” she gave me a gentle smile. She opened her mouth to say something, but glanced behind her looking back at the green eyed rider who was struggling to carry two buckets in each hand. “Oh gosh, Iris! Wait!” Lei turned to me. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”

Before I could reply, she turned and jogged back. I felt a hand hit my bare back. 

“Do me a favor and remember to breathe,” Xaden sighed, walking ahead of me. 

✦ ✦ ✦

Fuck, this outpost was so small. The moment I showed up for the shift, Lei was already in here marinating every corner of this space with her delicious scent. Thank gods there was a breeze blowing tonight circulating the air around us. Her warm vanilla scent stirred around me. I’ll need to ask Xaden about an olfactory dampening rune next week. 

That’s going to be a fun conversation. Chradh said amusingly.   

The conversation started with us catching up on what we did during the day. I learned that Iris, the short haired blonde who I briefly saw earlier today, was her closest friend here. I told her about Xaden and the bond we shared for many years. You would have to be blind to not see our rebellion relics. So I told her what I could without bringing up Aretia or the impeding doom Xaden carried on his shoulders. Lei carefully watched my expressions, smiling and encouraging when appropriate, She always made she didn’t step outside her boundaries.

I asked about her signet and she told me that it was a form of distance wielding. She wasn’t sure if she could do long distance wielding because her power burns out when channeled for a long time. It surged quickly in powerful consecutive bursts. When mentors said she drew the short end of the stick, she learned to hone the power to her advantage. She could shorten distances so fast that it gives off the illusion that she was teleporting in short distance increments. They must have had their head stuck up in their ass not to see how lethal she could be.

For the most part, it sounded like she trained on her own. Last year was when she learned that she could travel more than just her surrounding areas only if she could paint in her mind where exactly she needed to go. I made a mental note to ask her if she wants to join us on a sparring session one day. She had so much potential in that small body of hers and I wanted to see more.

Near the end of our shift, I built up courage to ask her. “Um,” I started. “Can I ask you a personal question?” 

“What’s on your mind, Garrick?” She smiled, tilting her head to the side. 

“How does someone like you end up knowing a guy like Pratt anyways?” I asked cautiously. I watched her gentle smile drain from her face, like a sad memory was dragging her back down. Her blue irises trembled with hesitation as she held my gaze. 

“We were engaged,” she started, looking ahead at the mountains. “We met as a part of a political alliance. I don’t come from wealth or power, Garrick. I come from a small, insignificant island in the Emerald Sea.” She lowered her head.

Like Xaden and Cat. Power was never something I craved. Sure, I saw the allure of it. But when you watched public executions of hundreds, including your family, for challenging power, you learn survival is more important. You do everything you can do to survive. You survive to remember each name, each story, and each face as a big fuck you. Maybe I was like Lei, I just didn’t like bullies. 

One of the many reasons I chose you, Big One. Chradh echoed with pride in my mind. 

Lei let out a soft exhale. “When I was 10, my father realized that the island resources were finite and started inviting aristocrats from the Continent to create trade routes. Pratt’s family was the first to visit. Within days of them leaving, his family made us an offer for an arranged betrothal under the condition that I survive the Threshing when I turned 20.”

“Threshing?” My voice rose in anger and my hands curled into fists. “Lei, you could have died! Did your family know how dangerous that was?! Pratt gave you a fucking death sentence!” I broke my composure. Why was I so angry? 

She laughed a short, gentle laughter turning back to me. “Honestly, no. No one knew about the Threshing where I was from. Riders and dragons were stories that I only heard from elders in the island when I was growing up. Myths and legends with heroes, not a girl from an island somewhere.” She paused, muscles around her eyes tenses and her eyes were focused like she was calling for Cosheirm in her mind. 

I watched as she found her peace again. Cosherirm, the word for harmony. Lei found her harmony through Cosheirm. Her pale skin against the stark contrast of her dark as night hair. She was beautiful. 

“But Garrick, if I was given the decision again knowing what I know, I will always take the path to Cosheirm. Even if I wasn’t guaranteed that Cosheirm would choose me again.” Her determination was so strong that I could see an aura of confidence cloaked her body like a glowing shield. She was glowing.

“Lei,” I started and she got up from her wooden seat. 

There were sounds of footsteps coming from the outside. “It looks like the next patrols will be coming soon. Come on, I’ll walk you back.”

✦ ✦ ✦

"You have to admit. If this walking to my bedroom becomes a regular occurrence, people are going to start talking." I said as we headed toward my barrack for a second night in a row.

"You need to check that masculinity, Garrick. I can help if you need more practice getting down on your knees again," she shrugged.

Oh, we were on a joking basis now. 

"Hey, I'm not complaining. I've done it plenty of times, the whole escorting and getting on the knee thing... for other reasons," I glanced down to be greeted by her rosy cheeks. "I was just saying that I could get used to this."

It was Lei's looked flustered as she cleared her throat. "Anyone who sees us is going to think you're taking me to your room. We can stick to that story if you're worried about what people say. Deal?"

"Oh, I give zero shits about what anyone thinks about me, Lei. I just didn't know that was what you wanted others to think about us," I teased. 

An audible groan came from Lei. "Garrick, you're impossible."

 

✦ ✦ ✦

Wake, Big One. 

I rolled over in my bed, my eyes still closed. What’s wrong, Chradh? 

I sense something unfamiliar in the south clearing of outside of Samara. In the pit of stomach, I felt it too. I’ve felt this before.

Before Chradh could finish, my body was already up. I quickly got dressed and strapped on my rider leather. I walked over to the doorway and grabbed the two swords propped against my desk. In the same motion I’ve been doing for years, I crossed them on my back.

Wyverns. And I sense a venin, Big One. 

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 4, Match 5: Shōta Aizawa vs. The Fix

Submitted kids:

Shōta Aizawa: Class 1-A, minus Mineta, plus Shinsou Hitoshi (total of 20 kids). Mainly Eri, Shinsou, and Midoriya

The Fix: Conrad Schintz, and then he adopted like, an whole orphanage, named Madam Loathings home for wayward interests

Propaganda under the cut! (Spoilers ahead!)

Shōta Aizawa:

1. “This grumpy teacher pretends not to care about his students, sleeps during his own classes and why talk when you can also make annoying children silent by (harmless) force? Yet he loves them and they love him while he doesn't show it all that often.”

2. “He didn't mean to adopt them yet he did and he is grumpy about it. If he goes "those are my kids, damn it" it's not to someone else, it's to himself, with the damn it being a "fuck, why". Yet he is so 100% willing to risk his life for them. Because they *are* his kids now.”

3. “Idk the man is so tired what can I say. Harsh as australias wildlife but bc he doesn’t want them to actually die in the field so he’s trying to make them give up on signing up to risk your lives every day. I just submitted kiryu and I think that kiryu, bruce, and aizawa are soul sisters. They are all very special to me”

4. “Oh he tries so hard to stay scary and detached, keeps threatening to expel students, keeps saying he hates kids, and look at him now. Missing several pieces and risked death multiple times to protect them, at least 3 classes of ~20 students each lowkey adoring him, and literally canonically (not said out loud but it's basically official come on, they live together) adopted a little girl that was found by the protagonist and saved from the mafia. Also personally took the matter in his own hands when another department's student (so not one of his) showed a desire to change course, so much that even if this kid has living and loving parents he's often Aizawa's adopted family in fanfiction.”

The Fix:

1. “Ok ok so. Spoilers for mentopolis: First some context that mentopolis is a show that takes place inside one guys brain, all the characters represent something in the brain, and the guy whos brain they are in, named Elias Hodge, is so so very sad.

Ok so, The Fix, the personification of hyper fixation, is like is someone who has spent most of his life working for people, where his job was to 'eliminate distractions' (He kills people, basically). Then one day he is told to eliminate a child. His name is Conrad Schintz (Or the Conscience, due to an accident that happened to the guys who's brain they are in when he was a child- Conrad stopped thing he was useful, aka Elias stopped using his conscience, so his conscience has not grown since the incident, leaving him a small child)

The Fix has never had to hurt a kid before, and he doesn't want to do that, so he instead goes into protecting Conrad. Conrad kind of hates himself though and also kind of thinks he deserves to die so that's not good.

The Fix gave this like, beautiful speech to Conrad once about how hes important, I wont give the whole thing but something along the lines of ""There is a butterfly who has a tail that is there for if a bird was to grab on to the tail, it would break off and the butterfly would escape. I don't think you are the tail of the butterfly, I think you are the butterfly."" (its better in the actual show). I cry. There is another speech about eagles he gives Conrad when Conrad offers himself, to basically die, but i don't remember it that well.

Other then Conrad though! So There is this orphanage, called Madama Loathings home for wayward interests. Basically its a bunch of kids that represent past interests of Elias. Its run by this women called Madam Loathing (represents Elias' self Loathing)(she is very mean to the kids). The Fix donates a lot of money to this place, and visits a lot, the kids there love him and think he is so so cool. There is this one kid named Ronnie Reptile. He loves reptiles, and The fix gives him reptile facts, its cute. In the first episode, The Fix tells Madam Loathing how any of those kids/interests could be rediscovered by Elias at any time, and madam loathing sort of taunts The Fix, sort of saying how ""Oh I'm sure I can tell the kids they will call be adopted by The Fix soon, but that would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it?"" Implying that that won't happen. (cause, The Fix is hyper fixation, and hyper fixation adopting an interest would be good, you know.).

Note that Conrad used to live at madam loathing's, because he was mis identified as just a simple interest and not Elias' whole sense of conscience, but Corad ran away with his best friend, a dog named Justin. He lived on the streets after that.

So a bit later on in the series The Fix and Conrad have to go to to madam loathing's together (and another character is with them but he isnt relevant for this). When they get there Madam Loathing asks The fix if he is here to drop of Conrad here, and The immediately is like "Absolutely not, shut the fuck up." (I think that's the direct quote). I just really like that scene.

At the end, end of the series. Some plot stuff happens. The Fix met a women named Pasha N (She represents Passon), and they are in love, The fix proposes to her, its sweet, but then madam Loathing, who got some like, character growth I won't really go into here, and she says to The Fix how, she needs to go on a trip to find herself, and then she offers the entire orphanage to The Fix and Pasha, which is accepted. So in the end of the show, The Fix has basically adopted, that entire orphanage, so thats a lot of kids, along with Pasha, but she isn't in the show as much so I wont submit them as a pair. I didnt mention it before but The Fix is known for knowing a lot of facts and saying "Did you know." before saying a fact, which a lot of the time, it is a fact that is truly terrifying but thats a lot, and The narration at the end of the shows, says how The Fix and Pasha spend their lives with kids around them, constantly saying "Did you know? Did you know?" and it is very sweet. Conrad sort of had his own ending away from The Fix, but I still head cannon that The Fix adopted him too and Conrad comes to the orphanage sometimes.”

2. “listen. i don't know if this really counts as propaganda but just saying, mr. the fix thinks you're not the tail of a swallowtail butterfly. you are the butterfly.”

[justatalkingface]

what's your opinion on the big 3? When I was hyperfoxed on this series they were the thing I care Abt the most (I enjoyed season 4, obv I'd change some stuff now but I still remember it being atleast ok)

I hate how dirty they did my girl nejire, as far as I'm aware they didn't even do anything with her after the whole pagent thing she just got a small backstory about how she was sad (don't know all of it I haven't been keeping up that well w the manga)

mirios not having a quirky and having to save eri (a girl who I can't imagine would be that skilled at the age she is and has been training on lizards to give his quirk back all together, I'd imagine it taking a few more months but bnhas time is shit so) and coming back in the war arc to punch one person and then basically do noting iicr

The only decently written one was amajiki, I wish they had more going on I think they have a fun dynamic (w them helping taking care of eri and me rlly liking idk what it's called but I love the fluff it brings) :(

Lots of mixed feelings, in all honesty. Lots of mixed feelings.

I'll admit, a big part of my mixed feelings about them is they showed up as the latest, 'Stomp on Izuku's everything' at the point in the story where it was becoming obvious that there was always something stomping on Izuku, and that gave me a bad first impression on them I've never been able to shake... which isn't helped by how they're connected to the clusterfuck of Nighteye, of all people, which is kind of my whole thing with Mirio (warning; I am biased):

As a person, he's obviously nice, but as a character, basiclly his entire reason for existing was, 'give Izuku an existential crisis' and I don't think I've ever forgiven him for that, really. His entire character is just bigger, stronger, older, happier, more capable, more confident, more successful, more loved Izuku, who had a Quirk his whole life and only had to dig deep to find out how strong it, and he, was all along.

Unironically. It's....

It's a really bad look, to be blunt; he feels kind of like a bad fanfiction character written by a bad writer who wanted to put their super special OC in the story, except he's canon.

Since we've never seen him even think something unheroic, there's really nothing that distinguishes him from that impression factual statement, which, again, makes it hard for me to give a shit about him, or even remember him... which is a problem Hori seems to share, lol. It doesn't help that I loathe Sir Nighteye and that most of his development time is spent admiring him, to boot, and that his parts of the story are either empty or focused on a living plot device I can't quite like no matter how hard I try because of how blatant the emotional manipulation is about the biggest story breaking, SOD shattering plot device until Stars and Stripes showed up.

If he ever got any kind of development to flesh him out a human being rather than being either Izuku and/or a heroic archetype, it'd help, but beyond all of that his biggest personality trait is liking jokes, and that barely even comes up. Or, rather, considering both the Final Arc and his response to Bakugou's name, along with Nighteye's own tendencies, 'jokes', maybe.

He doesn't deserve it, I admit it, it's not his fault, but I just can't get past that. He also doesn't deserve to just be forgotten until his big moment of a butt joke, but... MHA, everyone. In all honesty, I'd just like him better if his entire story arc didn't exist in and as some of the worst parts of the Overhaul arc, but he's tainted by that fact.

I freely admit that I am unfairly biased against him, so take all of that with a mountain of salt.

As a side note though, god, the story doesn't seem to realize how badly Nighteye is using the poor kid; Mirio thinks Nighteye is training him because he's worthy, while Nighteye mainly seems to be doing it because he's the closest thing to an All Might clone he can get, bar him actually cloning All Might, even if he grew to like him for who he is. I'm not sure Nighteye ever thought of Mirio with just his Quirk as anything more than a temporary situation; even at the start of canon, when on his own merits he's rising to fame with how successful he is, Nighteye's overall focus is still about getting AFO into the kid.

I almost wish I could see Nighteye explaining how all of his training came down to getting All Might's Quirk, just to see MIrio react and tear Nighteye down a peg about it, except Hori's history of handling these kinds of things means he'd never be allowed to be properly offended on his own behalf, the poor bastard.

Moving on, Tamaki. Out of all of them, he's had the biggest of an on-screen story arc, and in a intellectual way his Quirk is easily the most interesting. Unfortunately, while he has a personality, it feels so bland at times that he's far easier to remember for his Quirk than who he is.

I liked his story, really, but at the time it was overshadowed by Mirio and his everything, and by the time he showed back up it was clear how irrelevant it and he was, so it was more about how (admittedly, very) cool he get his Quirk to be than it was about him, and with some brutal honesty, it's probably because his Quirk is so interesting that he even got that much focus beyond that initial arc by Hori.

And... Nejirie.

In a combat sense she's easily the best of them, really; Mirio is almost purely defensive, which limits him (especially if he's not surprising someone with it) while Tamaki's Quirk, while flexible, is so conditional in ways that can easily hold him back (we only ever see him fight with full preparation; if he's not gearing for a fight he'd be easy to ambush), and like a lot of things in the Final Arc, his big laser canon thing is.... questionable.

Nejirie, though, is just simply powerful. In a setting where everyone has one power and one main application of that power, where you either fly or blast things, but not both, she's the closest I've seen to a 'traditional' super hero, like you'd see in Marvel or DC.

At the same time, though, out of the three of them she least has a story, for obvious reasons, and it's a disgrace, really. If Hori had just spent some time on her, on the her backstory that apparently exists (yeah, I'm not sure where that is either), she could have been so interesting... but really, all she is is the Girl Teammate. Her personality traits are The Girl Teammate's personality traits. She's just The Girl Teammate stamped over all of the interesting stuff, and it's such a waste, it really is.

And finally, as a unit? The Big Three is a shiny toy that Hori forgot in the corner somewhere as soon as he got bored with it. He spent a few minutes oohing and aahing over them, focusing really hard on developing interesting powers, how they could be used, and how strong they were, only to start to lose interest as soon as those powers were established, and he was writing the three of them off before their introductory arc was even over.

[spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers]

Let's talk about Tidus and Yuna, shall we?

As someone who enjoys FFX, this probably should have come a long time ago. Tidus and Yuna's characters in the original Final Fantasy 10 are excellent.

Tidus successfully portrays a seventeen-year-old boy in this fantasy situation - slightly annoying, slightly arrogant because of his famous father and his own famous Blitzball career, and utterly overwhelmed by being thrust into an entirely new world without knowing if he can go home.

While FFX tries to fake you out into thinking it's a time-travel story where he has been thrust 1000 years into the future, the city of Zanarkand is a physical location in Spira that just requires you to be made of pyreflies to enter (aka dead or a summon). This makes Tidus essentially a summon, which is an interesting theory for another day. This means Zanarkand is just a place that hasn't changed in 1000 years, likely in some infinite loop imagining and reimagining people who had once lived there - warping them slowly over time, but ultimately just trying to keep the city alive (which is how we got Tidus from Shuyin, I think, idk I really don't care for 10-2's plot). The fayth were trying to imagine what would happen if Zanarkand was never destroyed, but I think they simply would have started running out of ideas for new people who lived there, so it did end up looping old characters into slightly newer forms. Like fanfiction characters, honestly.

But it's so great to see Tidus's journey. He starts the game a confused outsider just trying to survive, someone who doesn't mind speaking up about how he feels and what he believes. His outsider perspective provides a means for the audience to be introduced to Spira's world building as well, and we also get to see an unbiased point of view to Yevon's religion - and not necessarily a disrespectful one. Tidus, though he doesn't preach Yevon as a devout follower for his entire life, still tries to make an effort to be respectful of the good parts. When Shelinda corrects him, "That's MAESTER Seymour, or LORD Seymour", he says "Sorry, I'll be careful."

He dashes into the Cloister of Trials to save the summoner who might be in danger, regardless of the rules or presincts, because he's got a childish outlook life and a good heart despite his many inital arrogant qualities. He wants the best outcome, he's willing to believe in doing the right thing even when it's hard, and yeah it's unrealistic at times, but it's a breath of fresh air for the people of Spira who live rather docile lives always in fear of Sin and dedicating themselves to the kindness of Yevon's teachings. He admits "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea" after he breaks the rules for the first time, and watching Yuna on her pilgrimage and how she interacts with the people who admire her for her father and her own summoner status allows Tidus to humble himself while still remaining fundamentally defiant to anything he doesn't agree is right - aka Yuna sacrificing herself.

Religion isn't always a bad thing, and FFX makes a point to emphasize this. The people of Spira are kind and respectful, banding together in the hard times and unting together to have hope. Yuna is initially a beacon of hope - all summoners are - making people smile and flock to her wherever she goes, and she gives people respect and encourages them to have faith not only in her, but in themselves as well. Even when she's branded a traitor, a significant number of people recognize Yuna's dedication to the people and immediately believe the next tale about it all being an evil Al-Bhed rumor.

Yevon's corruption is just a few people abusing their power, twisting a good message into a cult-like dedication. Wakka is the most notable case, but technically all of the characters go through a period of blindly believing in the teachings and Yevon and eventually finding their own path. Even Tidus, who didn't grow up believing in Yevon or knowing its teachings, finds that the people's way of life living in rightful fear of Sin has them NEEDING Yevon and the messages of kindness and compassion it preaches. Maybe they shouldn't believe in everything the Maesters say Yevon is, but he can understand the intentions behind it and how the regular, uncorrupt people just live their lives trying to be good.

Now that I think about it, the parallels between Yevon and Blitzball actually make a lot of sense - Blitzball is the entertainment people go to in order to forget about the fears of Sin, and Yevon is the religion people worship in an effort to band together and have hope against Sin. Huh. No wonder a Blitzball sign for victory became a religious thing.

Anyway, Wakka eventually apologizes! He recognizes that the Al-Bhed are just people. They don't believe in Yevon's ways BECAUSE they care, just from a different perspective. Just because they don't believe in Yevon doesn't mean they're savages, and when their Home is destroyed by merciless Guado, he hears them singing the Hymn of the Fayth to respect their fallen as well. Wakka admits he didn't want to hear anything he didn't agree with, that he was a jerk, and Cid agrees that he's hated Yevonites just for being Yevonites too.

Here's a Wakka glare just for our collective amusement.

Who were we talking about? Ah, Tidus.

Tidus is indeed a whiny character, childish, toeing the line between humor and annoyance. But he matures throughout the course of his journey, caring for the entire crew but Yuna especially. When they reach Zanarkand and learn the truth about the Final Summoning, Lulu tells him, "If you want everything, you'll end up with nothing," and he replies, "But I want everything!" His unwavering hope and optimism even when everyone is telling him it's impossible is necessary for the story, to tell the characters that yes, your sacrifices will be pretty and give temporary relief, and you'll be dead and martyred and remembered - but how can it be right? It's not.

From his basic, outsider, new perspective on this world he only just joined, it's not right. He didn't grow up with this being normal, so even in comparison to the Al-Bhed, he knows that it's not.

There's a saying somewhere that I forget the source, but basically it goes like "Children are raised to believe the world is good and fair but are outraged when they grow to learn it is not." Tidus asks what an ADULT would do, sacrificing a summoner and just moving on with their lives like it was fine to give one life for many, just happy it wasn't them. Adults are indoctrinated into a way of life and a way of thinking, and it's extremely hard to get people to change their minds - but not, as FFX proves, impossible. Both he and Yuna are still kids, kids who are still able to grow up to see the world for what it truly is.

Yuna was betrayed by Yevon, all her beliefs torn down and the hope she had placed on the system shattered. But she continued her pilgrimage. She dreamt of all the fun things she could do if she quit, knew that all of her friends and Guardians would accept her choice, but she knew she could never let it go. She stood up to the Ronso saying that she was fighting for the people, not the temples or Yevon - impressing Kelk Ronso who says she has an iron will that towers over Gagazette's peaks.

She has given her everything to this trip, but it's not fair. Just because it's the right thing to do doesn't mean it's right - and you need a character like Tidus to put his foot down and say no. Everyone is willing to sacrifice themselves, everyone is willing to be the one to die so that others can be happy. But it's not fair. It's not right to let anyone die, even if they're willing, even if it's one for many. It's a temporary fix, it's feeding an endless cycle of lies and false hope. It's not real.

But it is YUNA who ultimately makes the choice to say no. All this time, she's been insisting she keeps going despite both Rikku and Tidus's protests and desperate attempts to get her to change her mind. She's been the most resolute out of all of them to go through with this, but in the end, it's not Tidus or Rikku who kill Yunalesca before she can get the chance or present her a stirring enough argument or some alternative. No, it's Yuna who asks directly what the cycle of the Final Summoning and Sin mean, hearing that the hope they offer is false, and when asked who will be her fayth, everyone is silent, waiting for her answer - because it is Yuna'a choice, Yuna's pilgrimage, Yuna's story. And she says, "No one."

She would have gladly died for the people of Spira, but she is done. She isn't going to join into this cycle of death and lies. Her father chose to become a summoner and defeated Sin, but it was because he truly believed that it would make a difference. He died because he had hope, and maybe it was indeed false hope, but somewhere deep down, he really did want to find a way to stop Sin for good. He and Jecht went into that battle hoping that Jecht and Auron would find a way to break the cycle. And let's be honest, they did. Tidus and Yuna were brought up differently, but they end up seeing each other's sides of the story and agreeing on so many things. The people are worth fighting for even when they're being misled.

Yunalesca's argument is that sorrow will always exist, and false hope is all anyone can offer to soften the blow. But Yuna is ready to live with her sorrow and brave whatever comes from it. She will find her own hope, even without knowing there will be another way, and she knows she will conquer it. She proved it long before she reached Zanarkand, after enduring Yevon's betrayal; now her methods have changed, but her end goal is as resolute as it's always been. She's going to defeat Sin, and she's going to give people REAL hope, even when it's hard.

Yuna says no to Yunalesca. She joins in the fight to destroy the Final Summoning forever, and slowly she learns that she can function beyond Yevon's teachings. The team who made 10-2 seemed to think that Yuna needed to toughen up and become some kind of badass (which they failed at portraying, Yuna is an utter wreck in that game and let's not talk about how Rikku devolved), but she was already a freaking strong character! She stood up for herself the entire game as a strong-willed summoner willing to give her life for the cause, but she also stood up for herself by declaring she would LIVE. It's entirely in character for her, even when she's changing her mind and broadening her horizons. Yuna was the character who smiled even knowing she was on a long, slow journey that would end in her death, who was willing to do it if it would make others smile too. That is a strong character right there.

I do agree that she might not know what to do with her life now that she doesn't plan to die, but come on, don't make her into a wanna-be who tries to pretend like she doesn't care only to reveal yup she cares, what a pushover. Her caring nature is what makes her great to watch! Frustrating when she tries to do everything on her own with the Seymour thing, but entirely in character. Empowering when she makes her own choices and decides for herself. I don't know why she does nothing for two whole years during Eternal Calm but okay maybe I can see it. But for her to try doing a 180, respecting no one and no one respecting her even though she DEFEATED SIN was such a mistake. Plus the mini games in 10-2 are utterly atrocious. Anyway, tangent over.

But then the script has flipped at the end of 10. Tidus is the one that realizes Zanarkand is what Sin is protecting, that defeating Sin will make the whole city and everyone made from the dream disappear. He is the one who has to sacrifice himself for Sin to be defeated. Unlike summoners, however, Sin won't come back if he does this. He's grown across the journey just like Jecht did, following a summoner and learning what it means to want to give your life living in hope that it'll save everyone else.

Yuna has to sacrifice the Aeons she's forged her own bond with - which, remember, every summoner makes a unique bond with the aeons. She has to say goodbye to Auron, see Sir Jecht only one more time as he gives his life as an Aeon and uses the last of his power to give his sword for the final battles to fight on (did ya notice that?). Then, in the final tragic scene, Tidus becomes intangible and tries to say a cheerful goodbye, apologizing for not being able to show her Zanarkand like they had pondered when Yuna was dreaming of the things she'd do if she abandoned her pilgrimage and lived. Now, Yuna is the one having to say goodbye to the one sacrificing their life. The soft piano, the wailing of the colorful pyreflies as they disperse with all the dead, it's freaking beautiful man.

Yuna's final line hits hard too, her speech about how everyone has lost homes, dreams, and friends. They can build new homes and new dreams, even if they can't get back lost friends. "The people and the friends that we have lost...or the dreams that have faded...never forget them." Get it? Be...Because Tidus is a dream that faded? Anyway I'll just be crying in the corner over here don't mind me.

In the end, it's sort of understandable why Yuna just sits around in Besaid after the end of 10 during Eternal Calm. Maybe. Not only did she have no plans for her life after Sin was defeated (thinking she would be the one to die), but she lost her entire purpose in life AND she's reeling from the fact that even though she made the choice not to sacrifice herself just for everyone else's false hope, someone still had to give their life - Tidus. Someone still ended up dying for the cause, even after all she went through deciding to live.

The ONLY moments I actually respect Yuna from 10-2 is during the end, when Nooj volunteers a plan to give his life to win the battle (which was already stupid even before Yuna's speech because we're talking about an Unsent, Nooj your plan does nothing to stop someone who's already dead, idiot). Yuna's lines are extremely good and well voice acted too: "'We had no choice.' Always 'We had no choice.' Those are our magic words. We repeat them to ourselves again and again. But you know... The magic never worked! The only thing we're left with is regret. No. I don't want this anymore. I don't want friends to die...or fade away. I don't want battles where we have to lose in order to win."

It also demonstrates better than that stupid minigame how difficult it was for Yuna to have destroyed the aeons she had forged a bond with. What I'm saying is, fuck Beclem and everyone else who dares disrespect Yuna, summoners, and everything they went through. Even though that time and age in Spira might be over, that's NO reason to immediately scoff in the face of everything all those people went through - everything YUNA sacrificed and endured for the sake of these ungrateful whelps.

Both Tidus and Yuna were excellent protagonists of X, despite both of them having a lot of growing to do. In conclusion, let me make use of this fun poll feature if you made it this far down:

[pancake-breakfast]

Time for another Shameless Self-Promotion for Trigun Fanfiction Appreciation Week (@trigunfanfic)!

The Gunman and the Cowboy's Wife

Words: 7,557

Status: Complete

Rating: Teen

Relevant Tags/Warnings*: Vash the Stampede, Mentioned Rem Saverem and Millions Knives, Various People of NML, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism (not Vash), Depression, Parental Death, Mild Gore, Radiation Sickness, Sexual Assault Threat, Poverty, Angst and Drama, Accents, Loss of Parents, Canon Compliant (fits in every timeline, but the "when" is vague aside from "one of those times when Vash was traveling by himself)

Summary: Vash goes to check up on an old friend, but that friend isn't doing so hot.

This one is my longest Trigun fic (maybe I should break it up into chapters?), and a great example of the prompt running away with me. It was only supposed to be between 1k and 2k words. But then I wrote a little song (lyrics only; I'm not much of a musician) to frame it, and that alone pushed up the word count, and it needed time to build, and there were a lot of characters I wanted to do justice to, and... and....

Anyway.

I was talking with a friend earlier this week about Trigun fic, and I mentioned how much I love writing my fics in the in-between places in stories. Given the timeline on every iteration of Trigun, there are a lot of in-between places, and especially places where Vash was traveling alone. I got to thinking what he might be doing in those times, the people he'd meet, the friends he might make that we have no idea exist because he's just so old and they don't have space to show up in the official stories we have.

Then I started thinking about the people of Noman's Land. What kind of jobs would they have? What kind of struggles would those come with, especially given the struggle for resources on the planet? What happens when they run into... and run afoul... of Old Technology? Surely not all of it is Plant-related, and precious few people outside of Home seem to know much about it at all.

And so this story was born. I guess you could say it's Vash doing Vash things, as he does. Helping people the best he knows how at any given moment, trying his best to find ways out of trolley problems, giving people good advice he somehow fails to apply to himself. It's also a story of family, of struggling between wants and needs and failures and the will to keep trying, about the ways we do and don't communicate (be they intentional or unintentional), and perhaps more than anything else, about second chances. Or maybe third chances or fifth chances.

So if you've ever wanted a story about what Vash does in the in-between places, please give it a read. And do tell me if it would be easier to read if I broke it up into chapters; that's a genuine question I have.

*We all know some AO3 tags are added for fun/shits and giggles/because how does one even tag, so I’m just listing some of the basic ones that might be of use to people when deciding whether or not this is for them.

[babygirlbdubs]

so @stitchthesewords asked me a very important question today

i think this might be my greatest masterpiece

[ids under cut]

[ID: A screenshot of a discord message reading "High pressure round: you have to explain fanfiction to an italian mobster who does not speak a ton of engliah or you have to explain the queer theory underlying the life series to a victorian woman Important notes: there is something homoerotic happening between you and the mobster and you are interrupting it The victorian lady is waking up from fainting and thinks you are a ghost - you have to explain without her screaming for her husband"]

[ID: A screenshot of a discord message reading "okay so. the mobster and i... we've got something homoerotic going on despite not speaking one another's languages much... maybe we're dancing at a like... ballroom thing. some kind of fancy party, a coming out or something maybe. maybe he's the son of the don and i'm wearing something stunning. something cunty. we're dancing. we're close. face to face, even. i realize this is something straight out of a mob au. i'm autistic. so i tell him i've read something like this before. he asks what. i tell him it's a story where someone takes two people from another story and puts them in a new situation. new place, new story. old characters. he asks me to tell him about it. i say why don't i show you. we dance. we kiss. i never give him my name except a fake one. i vanish into the night and he never sees me again. i become the one that got away. he obsesses over me for years, desperately trying to find me. little does he know i was only in italy for that month. he searches and searches and finally, years, maybe even decades later, i'm in florence studying the palazzo publico. it's my dream. i'm approached by a handsome man, dark hair with a bit of silver growing into the sides. it's a hard life being an italian mobster. he looks me over. looks in my eyes-- which honestly is a feat considering i am autistic. but i'm entranced. he's dashing. handsome. i've never seen him before in my life bc my memory is shit. he steps forward. "did this happen in your stories?" he's learned english for me. i've learned italian for my job but it works. i realize who he is. i tell him if this were a story i'd have been waiting for him this whole time. but it's not a story, and i have a wife and two dogs and it's actually kind of weird that he's been so obsessed with me. he insists that he will have me one day. i get a restraining order against him. he breaks it and serves time in prison where he is murdered by members of a rival gang that his father landed in prison decades ago. i see it in the news. i'm like. man. didn't want him dead but at least i don't have a creepy murderer trying to win me over from my loving wife who i adore. i go home that night and she has dinner for me already, and we eat, and i love her so much. life is good. for me, at least. rip that italian mobster."]

[END ID]

[avelera]

I am not a mental health professional of any kind (psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.) but I am a writer and I've noticed a trend in fanfiction and original media spaces where actual clinical terms are being misapplied in a romance setting which I find to be a disservice both to real mental health concerns and romance itself.

Cut for length but in particular I want to get into how the terms "love bombing" and "codependency" are being discussed and, I believe, misapplied to describe normal romantic behavior, particularly in the romance fiction space, and the risks of how the loss of nuance of what these terms were originally developed to describe might lead individuals to see threats in otherwise innocent behavior.

The most recent instance of this was on Ted Lasso 3.7 when the term, "love bombing" was used to warn a character about how their new love interest might be showering them with gifts and affection as a way to control them.

However, as I understand, love bombing was originally about cult behaviors. It was about how cults recruit new members by showering them with over the top displays of affection in a coordinated effort by the group to lure them in and then make it difficult to leave. Cults are organization with goals and motives, including but not limited to fleecing money, sex, or free labor from their recruits, which is why this tactic was developed.

Now, love bombing is also used to describe the portion of the cycle of abuse where the abuser showers the victim with love to tie them closer. And I think it's really interesting that we're deconstructing some of these heretofore unlabeled behaviors as a society (not just within professional circles) and examining how even the "positive" parts of a relationship with a person or an organization can contain danger within them.

That said, as the wiki article notes, "Excessive attention and affection does not constitute love bombing if there is no intent or pattern of further abuse."

Which I take to mean, yes, people should be wary in a new relationship about excessive gifts if they might be leading in a controlling or abusive relationship. Being aware of this as a tactic is definitely a good thing and a way for people to keep themselves safe.

That being said, gift giving and showering someone with excessive attention at the beginning of a relationship is also normal human behavior that we also call the honeymoon period among other nicknames. Someone showering you with love and attention isn't inherently a bad thing, even if it seems excessive. And in romance especially, a genre made up of grand gestures and exaggerated, wish-fulfillment takes on human behavior, we especially see a lot of excessive displays of love and affection including gift-giving, and real life people who are trying to be romantic borrow from the romance genre to inform their attempts to show love and affection to a partner.

"Love bombing" is also just one potential symptom, one potential red flag among what is most likely many. It's good that we're popularizing knowledge of it, but I fear that the nuance that this is part of a larger strategy of control and abuse which includes other tactics will be lost, and people may begin to see normal human efforts to convey love and affection as somehow malicious or worthy of deep suspicion.

Likewise along these lines: codependency.

Let's start with a definition: "In sociology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced relationships where one person enables another person's self-destructive behavior such as addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-achievement."

Yet the way I see codependency most often discussed in fandom spaces like Tumblr and fanfic is basically, "Two people who are very into each other and who would break down if they lost the other person."

Which, by most normal human standards, would simply be called: love.

Codependency being used to describe love is, in my opinion, actually rather insidious and sad. As a psychological term, codependency is a condition that is meant to describe situations in which someone cannot function in day to day life without the other person, that the other person enforces as part of an effort to exert control.

Most psychological examinations and concerns (again, not a doctor, this is picked up largely anecdotally through contact with the field that comes from being neurodivergent) aren't about, "Is this thing slightly disruptive to your life?" they're about "Does this thing prevent this adult from taking part in society?" Is it fair? No. Is it right? No. Obviously value to society isn't the only measure by which we should be studying pathologies and whatnot but it is one of the most pressing ones and one of the most common measures of if something is a mental health or behavioral problem rather than just an oddity: can this person function in day to day life on their own.

Codependency is supposed to apply to whether someone can hold down a job, if they can feed themselves, if they can interact with others, if they can leave the house on their own without the other person. If they they had all power taken from their life so that the death or the absence of the other person would reduce them to an almost child-like state of helplessness?

It is not, "The love of my life died and I'm inconsolable." It is not, "I love this person so much I want to spend every day with them." Generally speaking, if that's romantic love, we consider those people good candidates for marriage not a psych evaluation. If those people who are obsessively in love with each other can still hold down a job and go about daily life, good news! That's not codependency! If someone loses the love of their life and falls into a grieving state where they need help in their life and lack the motivation for self care, good news, that's also not codependency, that's grieving. It is normal to grieve when we lose someone important to us. It is not inherently a pathology.

I realize I might be making a big deal about nothing here. Hopefully, most people who throw around these terms like love bombing or codependency are doing so with a foundation of understanding of what a normal human relationship looks like and using words without doing so in a nuanced way is hardly a crime.

But I worry for younger people, or people less experienced with relationships, or those who are anxious when they see these new terms brought up as red flags without the context of their original meaning or how they are part of larger cycles of abuse. I think it's important for those who write romance to be aware of the proper usage for these words and not throw them around casually when describing love unless it is meant that way or unless they are deliberately describing abuse. Creating awareness is good! Make sure it's for the actual threat, and not being sloppily misapplied in a way that makes audiences question normal human behavior.