#this quote is not strictly speaking about point break but it was one of the examples given in the article so i used it anyway <3

[micamicster]

Point Break (1991) dir. Kathryn Bigelow

If desire is the differential between need and demand, desire always exists outside of the corporeal wants and wishes that have a pressing agenda all their own--desire becomes its own project, indeed yanking at the sometimes wayward, resistant body to which it's tethered in the effort to fulfill its unfulfillable, limitless agenda... Desire floats and fluctuates above, below, beyond us, always goading us, never revealing, satisfying, or fulfilling us.

-David Greven, Contemporary Hollywood Masculinity and the Double-Protagonist Film (2009)

[weirdmorefics]

If you're comfortable with angst, can you write poly ineffable husbands with a human SO they've been with a very long time and is now succumbing to old age and dementia? (the time period is up to you!) I just think the idea of immortal/mortal lovers has so much room for angst and big raw emotions with stuff like that!

Death Comes for Us All

Aziraphale X Reader X Crowley

3rd person point of view

A/N- I do love writing angst! I can also tell this request is absolutely going to break me, but it's a very good idea so we are going to have a love-hate relationship now lol.

Reader Pronouns-They/Them

Word Count- 1.6 k

Summary- Crowley cannot accept the reader's fate, the reader does not even know their fate, and Aziraphale is the one thing keeping them steady.

Aziraphale and Crowley met Y/n on the same day it was however very unfortunate timing for Y/n. Timing has never been Y/n's strong suit in general but this day turned out to be particularly bad. Y/n had received intel about the location of multiple Nazis. Y/N had snuck in an hour prior to the trade deal time the informant had told them and hid behind a pew.

Y/n listened to the deal intently and took notes in shock that this whole deal was about books with prophecies you don't even know are true. It was a huge waste of money in their opinion but once the man in the pale coat handed over his books they pulled a gun on them. Y/n prepared to intervene when another British intelligent spy entered the scene which was even more confusing to them because they thought they were the only one assigned to the case it was strictly on a need-to-know basis.

She thanks the man for the introduction and the man says how she recruited him which can't possibly be true the agency just heard the intel three days ago!

He says the building is surrounded by British agents but we definitely do not have the force for that right most staying back and evacuating towns to prevent fewer bombing deaths.

He quotes an American saying, "Played for suckers." Y/n instantly facepalms. This gentleman has most certainly been conned. He starts shouting for people to start taking the group down and they'll start laughing and the man gasps in shock. Y/n rolls their eyes and starts to come out of their hiding spot to protect this sorry fool and hopefully get him out of here without any harm.

Y/n pauses with a look of utter confusion on their face as another man enters the scene hopping from foot to foot. The two men start to bicker like an old married couple.

"What a pity you both must die," one of the Nazi spies wickedly smirks.

Y/n scoffs at this why did these two civilians have to come to ruin my entire mission. Reluctantly Y/n stands up from behind the pew gun pointed, "You will not be killing any civilians today!"

Crowley smirks joyously and gushes, "They think we are regular civilians how quaint."

Y/n makes their way to the front of the church, "This ends now!" They turn back to the two men, "Get out of here I will hold them off."

The gullible man in the pale trenchcoat shakes his head, "Absolutely not!"

One of the Nazi men smile widely, "Agent L/n we had no idea we would get the pleasure of killing you as well tonight. I certainly would have made your death grander as a message to the other agents. Oh well too late now." He shrugs and points his gun at Y/n's face.

The strange babbling-jumping man seems excited to jump back into the conversation, "Speaking of a grand death!" He gestures his arms out widely, "In a few moments a bomb will be landing directly on this church but if you run very fast you may not die."

The man starts rambling about the unpleasantries of death and the opposing force looks at him with doubting glares. They argue about the bombs' location but Y/n just wants to get the civilians out and is getting progressively more annoyed.

Y/n points her gun at the ceiling and shoots a warning shot into the sky. Pieces of the ceiling and dust fall to the floor and all eyes are on them.

"Everyone out if you want to live! I will escort the peculiar civilians and you will leave us be or I'll shoot you before the bombs get to you first!"

The strange jumping man smiles, "Ooo they're feisty! I like them."

Y/n rolls their eyes and walks backwards keeping their eyes on the Nazis directing the odd pair out.

"My books," the man in the trench coat shouted.

"Quite an odd thing to be worried about when we are on the verge of being killed." Y/n sourly responds.

The jumping man seemed to look directly back at the other man, "Yes it would take a divine miracle to save us and the agent." The two seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes even though one was wearing sunglasses even though it was the middle of the night.

The agent assures them that they are protected and that they will get them out.

The jumping man looks up at the sky, "It's a little too late for that sweetheart."

With that last sentence a bomb falls upon to the church and Y/N tries to cover the civilians with their own body, knocking them to the ground just making the jumping man laugh. The church crumbles around them but Y/n finds themselves completely unharmed.

They jump to their feet in utter shock and stutter out, "H-how did you do that!"

"I think you are in shock darling. I am Aziraphale and this is Crowley. Are you all right?" The gullible one says expecting Y/n's face.

"I am fine! Especially for someone who should be dead! That bomb should have killed us all!" Y/n shouts pacing back and forth.

Aziraphale ignores the question, "I am quite glad that you are all right. It is such a shame about my books though."

Y/n starts laughing uncontrollably, "We just survived a bomb and you are worried about books!"

"I think you broke them, angel," he says sauntering over to a pile of rubble. He pulls the bag of books out of the hand of one of the dead men under the rubble, "A little demonic miracle of my own."

Aziraphale smiles brightly, "How nice!"

"Shut up!" Crowley groans. "No paperwork," he rationalizes and starts to walk away Aziraphale not far behind.

"Wait! You must tell me what just happened!" Y/n chases the two beings and never leaves their side after that night.

Sixty Years Later

Y/N, Crowley, and Aziraphale have been inseparable since they first met. They have had many dangerous adventures together and quiet nights reading and drinking hot cocoa. Crowley was befuddled at Y/N's stubbornness to protect them when they were the ones who were immortal. Aziraphale loved Y/n's stubbornness they were the only one who seemed to be able to beat Crowley in a game of wills. Y/n's stubbornness never seemed to fade with age, unfortunately.

Aziraphale pulled the curtains open, "Morning sunshine!"

Y/n tossed and turned but they did not wake up they kept mumbling. They seemed to be having a nightmare their forehead glistened with sweat. Aziraphale walked up to them and brushed Y/n's hair away from their face.

"I don't want to leave you," mumbled Y/n.

"It's alright, I'm here," Aziraphale whispered.

"I'm not ready," Y/n groaned.

"You don't have to get up darling, but I do think it is best you have something to eat or at least some tea." Aziraphale tries to bargain with Y/n.

Crowley enters and slowly takes his sunglasses off, "That's not what they mean angel." He puts his hand on Aziraphale's shoulder filled with sorrow.

"What are talking about Crowley? They will be fine once they wake, mornings are just the worst time for them." He rationalizes trying to avoid the obvious that Y/n is near death.

Crowley has been warning Aziraphale that he knew it was coming soon. As Y/n fell deeper and deeper into the memories of their long past together. Crowley longed to be stuck in those happy memories with Y/n and Aziraphale together. Sadly, he was stuck on the outside watching Y/n relieve everything the good and bad while Aziraphale lived in denial.

"Angel, please just look at me," He begged.

"I know what you're going to say Crowley and no it is not their time yet it never will be." He said venomously.

"I am upset as you are! You knew this was bound to happen we were destined to outlive all of humanity," Crowley says back trying to fight back the anger rising in him but failing miserably.

"Aren't we supposed to be not on Heaven's side or Hell's, but our side!" Aziraphale passionately states with his hand to his chest.

"Believe me, angel, if I could do something I would," Crowley looks back at him sorrowfully.

Crowley's heart aches at the look Aziraphale shoots him one full of disappointment and fear.

"I suppose you are right.. nothing ever lasts," Aziraphale responds almost emotionless like he had a mysterious switch in his head and it was flipped in an instant.

"Angel, don't say that," Crowley says back in disappointment but Aziraphale does not respond and leaves lightly shutting the door behind him.

Crowley sighs and sits on the bed next to Y/n. He gently cradles their face, "I will be with you Y/n no matter where you go and you will always be in my heart wherever ago. Rest assured darling we will meet again." He says these last words like a spell that he knows will come to fruition and seals it with a kiss on their forehead.

Even though Y/n has been unaware of most of what is going around them for almost a year now they seemed to smile at this statement and their eyes filled with tears that Crowley wiped away. Y/n knew they were safe and they shut their eyes for the last time.

[amethystina]

"Han fattas mig."

One of the compliments I often get on my writing is just that — my writing. My word choices, my sentence structure, my imagery, my rhythm, my originality, etc. Now, I never thought I'd reach a point where I’d become that good at the craft itself, especially not in a language that's not even my native tongue. Partly because of imposter syndrome but also because I'm usually such a perfectionist that I never thought I’d dare to write something that doesn't strictly and stiltedly follow the rules.

Sentence fragments? Words used in unusual contexts? Odd or highly specific imagery? No can do!

Except, clearly, I can. I should, even.

And I want to share one of the monumental pieces of writing that made me realise that. And it’s not even a whole work. It's just one sentence, really:

"Han fattas mig."

Now, that probably looks a bit weird to those of you who don't understand Swedish, so let me explain.

That's a quote from the children's book Ronja the Robber's Daughter written by the famous Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. It was published back in 1981 and while I didn't actually read the book as a kid, I DID watch the Swedish live-action movie many times. But, even then, it took until my adult years to fully grasp the utter and heart-breaking brilliance of that quote.

For some context, the book/movie is about Ronja who, surprise surprise, is the young daughter of a robber chief. That quote is said by her father, Mattis, when one of the old robbers of their clan suddenly dies. Now, this old robber, Skalle-Per (uh... I guess the translation would be Bald Pete?), is clearly a father figure for Mattis. A wise old man who, while gloriously snarky, is also incredibly nurturing and emotionally mature. Which stands in stark contrast to Mattis who is the somewhat traditionally dominant, macho man. He HAS to be, on account of being the chief for a clan of rough and tough robbers. They, in many ways, complete each other, where Skalle-Per is kind, thoughtful, and sensible while Mattis is brash, violent, and impulsive.

Now, predictably, when Skalle-Per dies, Mattis throws a full-on tantrum. The kind that shows just how inexperienced he is with dealing with emotions without Skalle-Per to help him work through them. And, since the whole problem is that Skalle-Per is now dead? Mattis has absolutely no idea what to do.

He starts pacing back and forth, crying, flailing his arms, and yelling things like: "He's always been here! He's always existed, and now he doesn't!" And no amount of calming words from his wife soothes him and, eventually, he says that line:

"Han fattas mig."

And there is no direct translation I can give you that fully conveys the amount of raw, almost childlike, grief in that one sentence. This sentence was the one that made me realise that following the rules doesn't matter because, strictly speaking, this one doesn't. The words used are unusual to the point where they're even a little odd at first glance but, once you look deeper, also so incredibly impactful.

The rough translation would probably be "I miss him" but, as said, that doesn't convey the sheer desperation that those words do in Swedish. First of all, it throws the words around, completely changing the focus and weight of the sentence. "Han" is "he" and "mig" is "I." So saying "I miss him" reverses the order where the emphasis SHOULD be put on "him" but the main subject of the sentence now becomes "I" (i.e. less about the loss and more about how "I" am feeling). In “Han fattas mig” the “he” is the most important part.

Second, you have the word "fattas" which, yes, directly translated means "missing." But not the kind of missing that we Swedes normally use for grief. We have another word for that called "saknar." If you miss someone who has died, you'd say: "Jag saknar honom." Which is basically the same as the English “I miss him.” The word "fattas" is for a completely different context — a much more mundane one, with almost no emotional stakes. It's what we use when a piece is missing or something is lacking a required component. Kind of like you would say: "This stew is missing something" when it doesn't taste the way you want it to. But it can also mean "lost" as in "there's one puzzle piece missing."

So when Mattis says those words, he doesn't say "I miss him." He's saying: "He is a part of me and he is now missing," and "he is a part of me and I lost him," and "he is a part of me and now there is a hole where he used to be."

He is saying: "I will never be complete again."

Because "fattas" is also the word we use when something is missing and the thing won't be complete until you add it/return it/get it back. And, in this case, since the man in question is dead, you know Mattis will never get that chance. He will never be whole again. Which, sure, is a rather terrifying take on grief, but also not an untrue one. Grief will lessen over time, but the loss will still be there.

And this isn't me doing some sort of complex linguistic analysis — I don't have to. Because it's all there. It's so simple yet so effective. And yet, somehow, no one had really thought to use the word "fattas" to describe grief before. Because it's just a simple and mundane word we use for entirely different things, not big, painful emotions, right? Except Astrid Lindgren did. And while she no doubt did so to make it easier for children to grasp the concept — since most kids can relate to the feeling of losing something in the context of "fattas," which is much more direct and real than the elusive emotion of "saknar" — it also changes how an adult can view grief and loss.

Not even "I lost him" can fully encompass the absolute BRUTALITY of the grief found in the sentence "Han fattas mig."

And that is why I give fewer and fewer fucks about the rules. Now, obviously, I doubt I'll ever come up with something as brilliant as this sentence (it honestly rocks me to my core sometimes) BUT it's worth trying. It's worth being creative and experiment with the words you know and in what order you place them. Just maybe, you'll end up with something really cool. That's not to say you should ignore any and all rules, but it's okay to play around. It's okay to do the unexpected.

I think it's important to remember that. Writing is creative. We write to express things — to find ways to describe and explain complex emotions, grand adventures, and sweeping love stories. It connect us and gives us a way to share our experiences, thoughts, and feelings. And, sometimes, the set boundaries won't be enough. Sometimes, we might just need someone to look at how we describe grief and go: "I can make it simpler and, at the same time, so much more painful."

And it doesn't always have to be complex. It doesn't have to be difficult words and purple prose. Sometimes, all you need is three words so easy that a child can understand them and, somehow, you will describe a sense of loss so deep and so fundamental to that character that you KNOW that they will never be the same ever again.

So experiment. Be bold. And, above all else, have fun.

And, one final heart-wrenching fact to wrap this all up: The actor who played Skalle-Per — Allan Edwall — was in almost ALL of the movies/shows based on Astrid Lindgren's books. He played different roles, of course, but he was a staple — synonymous with her works. And, when the actor died back in 1997, Astrid Lindgren was asked how she was handling the loss and her reply was the same as Mattis’s:

"Han fattas mig."

[pb-dot]

10 Wip Song Tag

@dyrewrites tagged me in this game and I, after a couple of weeks, am now ready to fill that tag.

The rules:

Rules: Use your WIP playlist and put it on shuffle. Write the first 10 songs that come up and quote your favorite lyrics from each song and/or the lyrics that fit your WIP best (they might be the same lyrics), then tag 10 people.

Now, my WIP playlists need work and I haven't even gotten around to making one for His Impossible Brushstrokes at all. My "Jake and 13" playlist from The Clockwork Boy will have to do.

I also tag the following 10: @harleyacoincidence @marlenadutch @btranscrolls @fire-but-ashes-too @apolline-lucy @wordsmadeofmoonlight @meerawrites @sparrowrising @innocenthedgehog @silverslipstream

Tyson Yen - The Only Thing I Know For Real

I don't know the season or what is the reason I'm standing here holding my blade

This uncertainty is kind of how 13 feels at the start of his story. Unmoored from his memories and anything resembling a social order, 13 finds himself asking why he is made to do violence.

Orville Peck - Dead Of Night

Six summers down, another dreamless night You're not by my side Scratch on the moon, like a familiar smile Stained on my mind

Similarly to the above, this is Jake at the start of TCB. He's lonely, he's sad, he's queer, what more can I say?

I Monster - Daydream in Blue

I dream of you amid the flowers For a couple of hours such a beautiful day

This is one is mostly here for the contrast between the soft vocals in the verse and the noisy vocoded vocals of the refrain and bridge as a parallel between 13 and Jake honestly.

Orville Peck - The Curse Of The Blackened Eye

Always said, "I should work on my escape" Have a heart too long, it's bound to break Acting out the opus of your last eternal ache Boy, just sing the song for heaven's sake

Jake being sad and queer Quelle Suprise! This one speaks more to how Jake keeps avoiding emotional attachments in fear of losing the people he loves - again.

Jason Charles Miller - Rules Of Nature

For all that I've (no choice) Gotta follow the laws of the wild (alive) With their lives on the line (no choice) Out here only the strong survive

Man, there's a lot of Orville Peck and the Revengance soundtrack on this list huh? Anyway, this is kind of the antithesis of what 13 wants to be, and it's this fear of just being a tool for violence in a self-justifying "that's just how it is"/rules of the jungle sense.

Bill Evans et. al - Someday My Prince Will Come

No lyrics on this one, it's an instrumental. It's a pretty version of a jazz standard that, when it has lyrics, is all about yearning through loneliness, which is very Jake, and not entirely dissimilar to 13 for that manner.

The Algorithm - floating point - Vaporwave Remix

No lyrics in this one either, strictly vibes mode. This is kind of 13's theme, with the mechanical brutality of the original toned down by a downshift in tempo, lending it a slightly dreamy and inspirational vibe to it.

Orville Peck - C'mon Baby, Cry

I can tell you're a sad boy just like me Baby, don't deny what your poor heart needs

There's Jake and 13 in a nutshell for me. They're both deeply wounded men in their own ways, and the most important way they grow closer is by opening up about their struggles and allow each other to be vulnerable.

Graeme Cornies - I'm My Own Master Now

Born into a pack There's no choice, but take orders to attack Locked up in chains I get fed, but the hunger still remains

Another song about 13's pre-escape life. He's treated somewhat better than a hound, but not a lot.

Foo Fighters - Everlong

If everything could ever feel this real forever If anything could ever be this good again The only thing I'll ever ask of you You gotta promise not to stop when I say when

This is kind of how I view Jake's mindset in the early days of their relationship. He can hardly believe it, and he is very dependant on 13 not letting Jake turn him away, on account of his neurosises.

[kzele]

The Man Behind The Spider 5(?)

@hermesserpent-stuff and I did a back and forth convo. I was Peter and they were Tombstone. This is legit copy-pasted from our chat with their permission.

Tombstone: how much does the spider pay u?

Peter: What? That's. . .Look, it's really not about the money, alright?The Bugle pays me for Spider-man photos. That's it.

tombstone:hmmm

Peter: *not liking the sound of that* You have something to say? Not everyone is in it for the money, you know.

Tombstone: then why cover for him? Why do you make his gear, take his photos, and presumably do other things for a person who seems more of an endangerment to you and yours than any sort of benefit?

Peter: Because he's also saved me and mine a lot. Before either of us had anything to do with the Bugle, he saved Mr. Osborn from dying and Harry got to still have two parents. If I can help make sure that no one else has to get hurt, I will. Money or no money.

Tombstone: ah I see.

Peter: *raises a disbelieving eyebrow* You do?

Tombstone: somewhat. Blood loyalties are the hardest to break. Especially among good men. And I think you are a good man at heart Peter.

Peter: *flushes* I, uh, thank you? But I think just about anyone could do the same.

Tombstone: *shaking his head slowly* I can count on my hand the men who would rather fight and die for loyalty. The number that would turn against their own brother or anyone who's saved their sorry skin is akin to the number of stars in the sky.

Peter: You're getting pretty philosophical. Maybe you don't see many of them with your lifestyle, but they are there. It sucks you haven't been able find them around you, though.

Tombstone: Im not sure if your optimism is born of youth, foolishness, or is some inherit personal trait. And perhaps your right. But I've lived many lives with many faces. Trust that I might have picked up some wisdom along the way.

Peter: Don't see what's foolish about finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning. My aunt and uncle are *pause* and were good at finding a way of looking up, so it's definitely not an age thing. And besides, isn't the whole point of wisdom knowing you haven't experienced everything yet?

tombstone: *there is a note of delight in his smile* it seems you have had some very valuable teachers. And youre not incorrect. Wisdom relies on learned experience and seeing that you have not experienced all there is to learn. Though patterns tend to speak for themselves. as they say: history does not repeat itself. but it often rhymes.

Peter: *relaxes and smiles back a little* The best teachers. Makes learning from experience much more fun. Glad we're on the same page with something, then.

Tombstone: *immensely pleased* Indeed.

Peter: Sooo, where do we go from here? How are you going plan around me now? Since you decided not to threaten me and stuff.

Tombstone: *he lets out a hum of consideration* I think it would be unwise to tell you. You have the ear of my enemy after all. But rest assured, my network wont bother you. Unless strictly necessary.

Peter: *rolls eyes* That's all I wanted to know. I'm not dumb enough to think you'll just let me in on your detailed plans. But what exactly do you mean by *air quotes* strictly necessary?

Tombstone: I dont think Ill elaborate. I do believe you would find reason to be irritated with the guidelines I have in mind

Peter:. . .How do I know if I crossed a line then? *frowns* Also, how did you come across me at all today? I would have thought I was too far beneath you for you to notice me.

Tombstone: *sidestepping the first question* I make it a goal of mine to keep a thumb on the pulse of the underground. and you have entered one of her main arteries. Working for spiderman will gain you many eyes. Including mine

Peter: *narrow eyes* That's not an exact answer for my second question and you didn't even answer my first. Did you talk to someone I know about me and they told you where to find me?

Tombstone: So you wont turn on spider-man but you expect me to turn on my source of information? *teasing* For shame.

Peter: *crosses arms* When it concerns people I know, yes. It's not like I'm asking you for a list of underworld informants. Was it Jonah? I know he donates to your charities. Or what about Mr. Osborn? You two run into each other from time to time and catch up on rich people things?

Tombstone: What benefit does it give me to tell you who my informant is?

Peter: . . .Are you actually saying you want something in return for that info? You're the one who cornered me using someone I know as an informant.

Tombstone: *shaking hsi head slightly* no. I did not mean to imply that. Rather, that would end in a burnt bridge where i get no more information from that source for other things. Though the bridge may be burned anyways, given that we have spoken, despite their... reservations

Peter: *thinking it over* Not Jonah, then. He's totally bought into your public persona. Same with May. I can't see Captain Stacy being happy about giving you info but I can't see that being called a burnt bridge either, since you two don't hang. I'm not in contact with the Connors now since I was let go. Burnt bridge crosses out anyone my age, which leaves Mr. O?

Tombstone: *smiles with a little more teeth, definitely pleased* Oh, you are quite quick on your feet. Im not going to confirm or deny. But your logic is sound.

Peter: *sighs* I'm quick enough to know that's as close as I'm going to get to a yes.

[serpentinearchitect17]

Hi there 😊

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I just had an idea for a particular scene today, so I decided to write about it. I’m taking a break from anything Red, White & Royal Blue related to focus on my current love and hyperfixation: Avatar the Last Airbender. I started watching the series last fall, and I haven’t been able to turn my mind off from it since then. Unsurprisingly, I quickly became obsessed with and fascinated by Zuko and Katara’s dynamic. They’ve become my muse lately. I’m working on a Zutara fanfic as we speak, and I’ll create a post about it once I get it up on AO3.

In the meantime, I wrote this very short scene. It takes place several months after the end of the 100 Year War. Zuko has made great progress as the Fire Lord, and Katara is now an Ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe. They’re in a committed and loving relationship at this point. I used some direct quotes from the Brooklyn 99 episode, “Chasing Amy.” This was initially meant to be a quick, humorous thing, but it turned into something sweeter (I have no regrets, heh). Full disclaimer: If you know anything about the reference to the B-99 scene, you’ll understand that Jake and Amy did have a significant moment of affection on that rooftop, whether it was technically love or not. As for Zuko and Katara, I personally don’t believe they were anywhere close to feeling love or deep affection in the Crystal Catacombs, but I think it’s the first time they truly connected on an emotional level.

Anyway, without further ado…

*****

After a long day of beginning preliminary discussions with the Earth King about the newest trade agreements among the Earth Kingdom, Southern Water Tribe, and the Fire Nation, Ambassador Katara snuck off for some alone time in Ba Sing Se. She managed to convince the Earth King to let her down into the Crystal Catacombs, even though most individuals in the city have been strictly prohibited from ever entering the area again. It’s still in the process of getting repurposed for better, more humane uses. She gave him some flimsy excuse as to why she wants to venture into the cavern. Despite the deep frown he gave her, he apparently didn’t question her motives, and had a couple of guards (thankfully, not the Dai Li) follow her to ensure that she made it there safely. She didn’t need the protection, of course, but she didn’t feel like arguing. She had told the Earth King not to let anyone else know where she was; she promised him that she’d be back to her guest house later.

Now, she finds herself back in the same spot that she was imprisoned with a then-banished Fire Prince.

Just as she runs a hand over one of the crystals, she hears soft footsteps behind her and turns around to find the love of her life.

The Fire Lord is dressed in his formal regalia, but he’s taken his crown off, and his top knot is undone, leaving his shaggy fringe hanging over his bright, golden eyes.

“There you are! Thank Agni,” he sighs in relief, drawing nearer.

A look of surprise flits across her face. “Hey, how did you find me?”

He raises his eyebrow at her. “Well, the Earth King didn’t want to tell me at first, but I figured it out. If I recall correctly, a long time ago, Master Katara and the banished Crown Prince Zuko were trapped under Ba Sing Se, in the Crystal Catacombs.” He gestures to their surroundings, and his lips quirk into a tiny smile. “This is where we were the night you fell in love with me.”

Katara snorts, shaking her head. She crosses her arms and gives him a half-hearted glare. “Zuko,” she warns, with just a bit of an edge to her voice.

“All right, fine. The night that you flirted with me for 20 seconds and I became obsessed with you forever,” he amends sheepishly, his cheeks flushing.

“That’s slightly more accurate.” She steps closer to him, so that there is barely any space between them. She reaches up toward his face, tracing her fingers over his scarred cheek.

“Are you okay?” he murmurs, automatically leaning into her touch.

“Yeah,” she answers softly. “I guess I just wanted to come back to see what it was like, now that things are so different.”

He swallows nervously, though he keeps his eye contact steady. “I understand. I kind of did, too, honestly. I hope…” he pauses, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. She waits patiently for him, and in the next moment, he continues, “I hope we can associate better memories with this place. They’ll never be perfect, of course, because of all the bad things that happened here before. But, maybe when we think of it from now on, it won’t be quite so grim.”

She nods before pulling him into her arms. He hugs her back with everything he has in him, pouring all of his affection and love, and apologies and regret into the gesture.

He lets her go briefly to press a kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to head back up?” he asks quietly, cradling her to his chest with his chin resting on top of her head. “We can probably explore more parts of the city before our next meeting, if you want to.”

She glances up at him and smiles. “Not yet. Let’s just stay a little while longer.”

He agrees and holds her, while the green crystals glow around them.

Yes, she thinks to herself, we’ll have better memories from now on.

[eiirisworkshop]

The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext

(As Used on Ao3) by Eiiri

Also available as a PDF here. This thing is 13,000 words.  The PDF is recommended.

Intro: What is Metatext?

Metatext is everything we fanfic authors post along with our story that is not the story itself: title, tags, summary, author's notes, even the rating.

It is how we communicate to potential readers what they're signing themselves up for if they choose to read our story, how we let them make informed decisions regarding which fics they want to read, how we get their interest and, frequently, how they find our story in the first place. A lot of metatext acts as a consent mechanism for readers, it's the informed part of informed consent.

Since most of us who write fanfic also read it, we understand how important this is! But, for the most part, no one ever teaches us how to use metatext; we have to pick it up by osmosis. That makes it hard to learn how to use it well, we all suck at it when we first start out, and some of us may go years without learning particular conventions that seem obvious to others in our community. This creates frustration for everybody.

Enter this guide!

This is meant to be a sort of handbook for fic writers, particularly those of us who post on Archive of Our Own, laying out and explaining the established metatext conventions already in use in our community so we (and our readers!) are all on the same page. It will also provide some best-practices tips.

The point is to give all of us the tools to communicate with our audience as clearly and effectively as possible, so the people who want to read a story like ours can find it and recognize it as what they're looking for, those who don't want to read a story like ours can easily tell it's not their cup of tea and avoid it, nobody gets hurt, and everybody has fun—including us!

Now that we know what we're talking about, let's get on with the guide! The following content sections appear in the order one is expected to provide each kind of metatext when posting a fic on Ao3, but first….

Warning!

This is a guide for all authors on Ao3. As such, it mentions subject matter and kinds of fic that you personally might hate or find disgusting, but which are allowed under the Archive's terms of use. There are no graphic descriptions or harsh language in the guide itself, but it does acknowledge the existence of fic you may find distasteful and explains how to approach metatext for such fics.

Some sexual terminology is used in an academic context.

A note from the author:

This guide reflects the conventions of the English-language fanfiction community circa 2021. Conventions may differ in other language communities, and although many of our conventions have been in place for decades (praise be to our Star Trek loving foremothers) fanfiction now exists primarily in the realm of internet fandom where things tend to change rather quickly, so some conventions in this guide may die out while other new conventions, not covered in this guide, arise.

This is not official or in any way produced by the Archive of Our Own (Ao3), and though some actual site rules are mentioned, it is not a rulebook. Primarily, it is a descriptivist take on how the userbase uses metatext to communicate amongst ourselves, provided in the interest of making that communication easier and more transparent for everyone, especially newer users.

Contents

How To Use This Guide Ratings Archive Warnings Fandom Tags Category Relationship Tags Character Tags Additional Tags Titles Summaries Author's Notes Series and Chapters Parting Thoughts

How To Use This Guide

Well, read it.  Or have it read to you.

This isn't a glossary, it's a handbook, and it's structured more like an academic paper or report, but there's lots and lots of examples in it!

Many of these examples are titles of real media and the names of characters from published media, or tags quoted directly from Ao3 complete with punctuation and formatting.

Some examples are more generic and use the names Alex, Max, Sam, Chris, Jamie, and Tori for demonstration purposes. In other generic examples, part of an example tag or phrase may be sectioned off with square brackets to show where in that tag or phrase you would put the appropriate information to complete it.  This will look something like “Top [Character A]” where you would fill in a character's name.

This guide presumes that you know the basics of how to use Ao3, at least from the perspective of reading fic. If you don't, much of this guide may be difficult to understand and will be much less helpful to you, though not entirely useless.

Ratings

Most fanfic hosting sites provide ratings systems that work a lot like the ratings on movies and videogames.

Ao3's system has four ratings:

General

Teen

Mature

Explicit

These seem like they should be pretty self-explanatory, and the site's own official info pop-up (accessible by clicking the question mark next to the section prompt) gives brief, straightforward descriptions for each of them.

Even so, many writers have found ourselves staring at that dropdown list, thinking about what we've written, and wondering what's the right freaking rating for this?  How do I know if it's appropriate for “general audiences” or if it needs to be teen and up? What's the difference between Mature and Explicit?

The best way to figure it out is often to think about your fic in comparison to mainstream media.

General is your average Disney or Dreamworks movie, Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon shows, video games like Mario, Kirby, and Pokemon.

There may be romance, but no sexual content or discussion. Scary things might happen and people might get hurt, but violence is non-graphic and usually mild. Adults may be shown drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco, and some degree of intoxication may be shown (usually played for laughs and not focused on), but hard drug use is generally not shown or discussed.  There is little to no foul language written out and what language there may be is mild, though harsher swears may be implied by narration. There are no explicit F-bombs or slurs.

Teen is more like a Marvel movie, most network television shows (things like The Office, Supernatural, or Grey's Anatomy), video games like Final Fantasy, Five Nights at Freddie's, and The Sims.

There might be some sex and sexual discussion, but nothing explicit is shown—things usually fade to black or are leftimplied. More intense danger, more severe injuries described in greater detail, and a higher level of violence may be present.  Substance use may be discussed and intoxication shown, but main characters are unlikely to be shown doing hard drugs. Some swearing and other harsh language may be present, possibly including an F-bomb or two.  In longer works, that might mean an F-bomb every few chapters.

Mature is, in American terms, an R-rated movie* like Deadpool, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Exorcist, and Schindler's List; certain shows from premium cable networks or streaming services like Game of Thrones, Shameless, Breaking Bad, and Black Sails; videogames like Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, and The Witcher.

Sex may be shown and it might be fairly explicit, but it's not as detailed or graphic or as much the focus of the work as it would be if it were porn. Violence, danger, and bodily harm may be significant and fairly graphic. Most drug use is fair game. Swearing and harsh language may be extensive.

Explicit is, well, extremely explicit. This is full on porn, the hardcore horror movies, and snuff films.

Sex is highly detailed and graphic. Violence and injury is highly detailed and graphic. Drug use and its effects may be highly detailed and graphic. Swearing and harsh language may be extreme, including extensive use of violent slurs.

Please note that both Mature and Explicit fics are intended for adult audiences only, but that does not mean a teenaged writer isn't going to produce fics that should be rated M or E.  Ratings should reflect the content of the fic, not the age of the author.

Strictly speaking, you don't have to choose any of these ratings; Ao3 has a “Not Rated” option, but for purposes of search results and some other functions, Not Rated fics are treated by the site as Explicit, just in case, which means they end up hidden from a significant portion of potential readers. It really is in your best interest as a writer who presumably wants people to see their stories, to select a rating. It helps readers judge if yours is the kind of story they want right now, too.

Rating a fic is a subjective decision, there is some grey area in between each level. If you're not quite sure where your fic falls, best practice is to go with the more restrictive rating.

*(Equivalent to an Australian M15+ or R18+, Canadian 14A, 18A or 18+, UK 15 or 18, German FSK 16 or FSK 18.)

Warnings

Ao3 uses a set of standard site-wide Archive Warnings to indicate that a work contains subject matter that falls into one or more of a few categories that some readers are likely to want to avoid.  Even when posting elsewhere, it's courteous to include warnings of this sort.

These warnings are:

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Major Character Death

Rape/Non-Con

Underage

Just like with the ratings, the site provides an info-pop up that explains what each warning is for. They're really exactly what it says on the tin: detailed descriptions of violence, injury, and gore; the death of a character central to canon or tothe story being told; non-consensual sex i.e. rape; and depictions of underage sex, which the site defines as under the age of 18 for humans—Ao3 doesn't care if your local age of consent or majority is lower than that.

In addition to the four standard warnings above, the warnings section has two other choices:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

These do not mean the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably. “No Archive Warnings Apply” means that absolutely nothing in your fic falls into any of the four standard warning categories. “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings” means that you the author are opting out of the warning system; your fic could potentially contain things that fall into any and all of the four standard warning categories.

There's nothing wrong with selecting Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings! It may mean that some readers will avoid your fic because they're not sure it's safe for them, and you might need to use more courtesy tags than you otherwise would (we'll talk about courtesy tags later), but that's okay! Opting out of the warning system can be a way to avoid spoilers,* and is also good for when you're just not sure if what you've written deserves one of the Archive warnings. In that case, the best practice is to select either the warning it might deserve or Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, then provide additional information in other tags, the summary, or an initial author's note.

Unless you're opting out of using the warning system, select all the warnings that apply to your fic, if any of them do. So if a sixteen year old main character has consensual sex then gets killed in an accident that you've written out in excruciating detail, that fic gets three out of the four standard warnings: Underage, Major Character Death, and Graphic Depictions Of Violence.

*(Fandom etiquette generally favors thorough tagging and warning over avoiding spoilers. It doesn't ruin the experience of a story to have a general sense of what's going to happen. If it did, we wouldn't all keep reading so many “there was only one bed” fics.)

Fandom Tags

What fandom or fandoms is your fic for?  You definitely know what you wrote it for, but that doesn't mean it's obvious what to tag it as.

Sometimes, it is obvious! You watched a movie that isn't based on anything, isn't part of a series, and doesn't have any spinoffs, tie-ins or anything else based on it. You wrote a fic set entirely within the world of this movie. You put this movie as the fandom for your fic. Or maybe you read a book and wrote a fic for it, and there is a movie based on the book, but the movie is really different and you definitely didn't use anything that's only in the movie. You put the book as the fandom for your fic.

All too often, though, it's not that clear.

What if you wrote a fic for something where there's a movie based on a book, but the movie's really different, and you've used both things that are only in the movie and things that are only in the book?  In that case you either tag your fic as both the movie and the book, or see if the fandom has an “all media types” tag and use that instead of the separate tags.  If the fandom doesn't have an “all media types” tag yet, you can make one! Just type it in.

“All media types” fandom tags are also useful for cases where there are lots of inter-related series, like Star Wars; there are several tellings of the story in different media but they're interchangeable or overlap significantly, like The Witcher; or the fandom has about a zillion different versions so it's very hard, even impossible, to say which ones your fic does and doesn't fit, like Batman. Use your best judgement as to whether you need to include a more specific fandom tag such as “Batman (Movies 1989-1997)” alongside the “all media types” fandom tag, but try to avoid including very many. The point of the “all media types” tag is to let you leave off the specific tags for every version.

In a situation where one piece of media has a spinoff, maybe several spinoffs, and you wrote a fic that includes things from more than one of them, you might want use the central work's “& related fandoms” tag. For example, the “Doctor Who & Related Fandoms” tag gets used for fics that include things from a combination of any era of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

And don't worry, from the reader-side of the site the broadest fandom tags are prioritized. The results page for an “all media types” or “& related fandoms” search includes works tagged with the more specific sub-tags for that fandom, the browse-by-fandom pages show the broadest tag for each fandom included, and putting a fandom into the search bar presumes the broadest tag for that fandom.  A search for “Star Wars - All Media Types” will pull up work that only has a subtag for that fandom, like “The Mandalorian (TV).” You don't have to put every specific fandom subtag for people to find your fic.

If you wrote a fic for something that's an adaptation of an older work—especially an older work that's been adapted a lot, like Sherlock Holmes or The Three Musketeers—it can be hard to know how you should tag it. The best choice is to put the adaptation as the fandom, for instance “Sherlock (TV),” then, if you're also using aspects of the older source work that aren't in the adaptation, also put a broad fandom tag such as “Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms.” Do not tag it as being fic for the source work—in our Sherlock example that would be tagging it “Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle”—unless you are crossing over the source work and the adaptation. Otherwise, the specific fandom subtag for the source work ends up clogged with fic for the adaptation, which really is a different thing.

By the same token, fic for the source work shouldn't be tagged as being for the adaptation, or the adaptation's subtag will get clogged.

The same principle applies to fandoms that have been rebooted. Don't tag fic for the reboot as being for the original, or fic for the original as being for the reboot. Don't tag a fic as being for both unless the reboot and original are actually interacting. Use an “& related fandoms” tag for the original if your fic for the reboot includes some aspects of the original that weren't carried over but you haven't quite written a crossover between the two. Good examples of these situations can be seen with “Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)” vs. “Star Trek: The Original Series,” and “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)” vs. “She-Ra: Princess Of Power (1985).”

Usually, this kind of mistagging as a related fandom happens when someone writes a fic for something that is or has a reboot, spinoff, or adaptation, but they're only familiar with one of the related pieces of media, and they mistakenly presume the fandoms are the same or interchangeable because they just don't know the difference.  It's an honest mistake and it doesn't make you a bad or fake fan to not know, but it can be frustrating for readers who want fic for one thing and find the fandom tag full of fic for something else.

In order to avoid those kinds of issues, best practice is to assume fandoms are not interchangeable no matter how closely related they are, and to default to using a tag pair of the most-specific-possible sub-fandom tag + the broadest possible fandom tag when posting a fic you're not entirely sure about, for instance “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: Enterprise.”

The Marvel megafandom has its own particular tagging hell going on. Really digging into and trying to make sense of that entire situation would require its own guide, but we can go through some general tips.

There is a general “Marvel” fandom tag and tags for both “The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom” and “The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types.” Most of us who write Marvel fic are working with a cherry picked combination of canons from the MCU, various comics runs, both timelines of X-Men movies, and possibly several decades worth of cartoons. That's what these tags are for.

If your cherry picked Marvel fic is more X-Men than Avengers, go for the “X-Men - All Media Types” tag.

If you are primarily working with MCU canon, use the MCU specific tags rather than “all media types” and add specific tags for individual comics runs—like Earth 616 or the Fraction Hawkeye comics—if you know you're lifting particular details from the comics.  If you're just filling in gaps in MCU canon with things that are nebulously “from the comics” don't worry about tagging for that, it's accepted standard practice in the fandom at this point, use a broader tag along with your MCU-specific tag if you want to.

Same general idea for primarily movie-verse X-Men fics. Use the movie-specific tags.

If your fic mostly draws from the comics, use the comics tags. If you're focusing on an individual run, show, or movie series rather than an ensemble or large swath of the megafranchise, tag for that and leave off the broader fandom tags.

Try your best to minimize the number of fandom tags on your Marvel work. Ideally, you can get it down to two or three. Even paring it down as much as you can you might still end up with about five.  If you're in the double digits, take another look to see if all the fandom tags you've included are really necessary, or if some of them are redundant or only there to represent characters who are in the fic but that the fic doesn't focus on. Many readers tend to search Marvel fics by character or pairing tags, it's more important that you're thorough there. For the fandom tags it's more important that you're clear.

If you write real person fiction, you need to tag it as an RPF fandom. Fic about actors who are in a show together does not belong on the fandom tag for that show. There are separate RPF fandom tags for most shows and film franchises. Much like the adaptation/source and reboot/original situations discussed earlier, a fic should really only be tagged with both a franchise's RPF tag and its main tag if something happens like the actors—or director or writer!—falling into the fictional world or meeting their characters.

Of course, not all RPF is about actors. Most sports have RPF tags, there are RPF tags for politics from around the world and for various historical settings, the fandom tags for bands are generally presumed to be RPF tags, and there is a general Real Person Fiction tag.

In order to simplify things for readers, it's best practice to use the general Real Person Fiction tag in addition to your fandom-specific tag. You may even want to put “RPF” as a courtesy tag in the Additional Tags section, too. This is because Ao3 isn't currently set up to recognize RPF as the special flavor of fic that it is in the same way that the site recognizes crossovers as special, so it can be very difficult to either seek out or avoid RPF since it's scattered across hundreds of different fandom tags.

On the subject of crossovers—they can make fandom tagging even more daunting. Even for a crossover with lots of fandoms involved, though, you just have to follow the same guidelines as to tag a single-fandom work for each fandom in the crossover. The tricky part is figuring out if what you wrote is really a crossover, or just an AU informed by another fandom—we'll talk about that later.

There are some cases where it's really hard to figure out what fandom something belongs to, like if you wrote a fanfic of someone else's fanfic, theirs is an AU and yours is about their OC, not any of the characters from canon. What do you do?! Well, you do not tag it as being a fanfic for the same thing theirs was. Put the title of their fic (or name of their series) as the fandom for your fic, attributed to their Ao3 handle just like any other fandom is attributed to its author. Explain the situation in either the summary or the initial author's note. Also, ask the author's permission before posting something like this.

What if you wrote a story about your totally original D&D character? The fandom is still D&D, you want the “Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)” tag.

What if there's not a fandom tag on the Archive yet for what you wrote? Not a problem! You can type in a new one if you're the first person to post something for a particular fandom. Do make sure, though, that the fandom isn't just listed by a different name than you expect. Many works that aren't originally in English—including anime—are listed by their original language title or a direct translation first, and sometimes a franchise or series's official name might not be what you personally call it, for instance many people think of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series as The Golden Compass series, so it's best to double check.

What if you wrote an entirely new original story that's not based on anything?  Excellent job, that takes a lot of work, but that probably doesn't belong on Ao3!  The Archive is primarily meant as a repository for fannish content, but in a few particular circumstances things we'd consider Original Work may be appropriate content for the Archive as well. Double check the Archive's Terms of Service FAQ and gauge if what you wrote falls under the scope of what is allowed. If what you wrote really doesn't fit here, post it somewhere else or try to get it published if you feel like giving it a shot.

Category

What Ao3 means by category is “does this fic focus on sex or romance, and if so what combination of genders are involved in that sex or romance?”

The category options are:

F/F

F/M

Gen

M/M

Multi

Other

The F/F, F/M, and M/M categories are for stories focused on pairings of two women, a woman and a man, and two men, respectively.  These refer to sexual and/or romantic pairings.

The Other category is for stories focused on (sexual and/or romantic) pairings where one or both partners are not strictly male or female, such as nonbinary individuals, people from cultures with gender systems that don't match to the Western man-woman system, and nonhuman characters for whom biological sex works differently or is nonexistent, including aliens, robots, and inanimate objects or abstract concepts. There are some problems with treating nonbinary humans, eldritch tentacle monsters, sexless androids, and wayward container ships as all the same category, but it's the system we currently have to work with. Use Additional Tags to clarify the situation.

Multi is for stories in which several (sexual and/or romantic) relationships are focused on or which focus on relationships with multiple partners, including cases of polyamory, serial monogamy, strings of hookups with different people, and orgies.  A fic will also show as “Multi” if you, the author, have selected more than one category for the fic, even if none of those are the Multi category. Realistically, the Archive needs separate “Multiple Categories” and “Poly” options, but for now we have to work with this system in which the two are combined.  Use Additional Tags to clarify the situation.

Gen is for stories that do not contain or are not focused on sex or romance. Romance may be present in a gen fic but it's going to be in the background.  While rare, there is such a thing as a sexually explicit gen fic—solo masturbation which does not feature fantasizing about another character is explicit gen fic; a doctor character seeing a series of patients with sex-related medical needs following an orgy may qualify if the orgy is not shown and the doctor is being strictly professional—but such fic needs to be rated, otherwise tagged, and explained carefully in the summary and/or author's note.

Much like the warnings section, category is a “select all that apply” situation. Use your best judgement. For a fic about a polyamorous relationship among a group of women, it's entirely appropriate to tag it as both F/F and Multi.  A poly fic with a combination of men and women in the relationship could be shown as both M/M and F/M, Multi, or all three. A fic that focuses equally on one brother and his husband and the other brother and his wife should be tagged both M/M and F/M, and could be tagged as Multi but you might decided not to just to be clear that there's no polyamory going on. If you wrote a fic about two characters who are both men in canon, but you wrote one of them as nonbinary, you could tag it M/M, Other, or both depending on what you feel is representative and respectful.

When dealing with trans characters, whether they're trans in canon or you're writing them as such, the category selection should match the character's gender.  If there's a character who is a cis woman in canon, but who you're writing as a trans man, you categorize the fic based on his being a man. If there's a character who is a cis man in canon, but whom you're writing as a trans man, he is still a man and the fic should be categorized accordingly. When dealing with nonbinary characters the fic should really be classed as Other though, by convention, fics about characters who are not nonbinary in canon may be classed based on the character's canon gender as well or instead. When dealing with gender swapped characters—i.e. a canonically cis male superhero who you're writing as a cis woman—class the fic using the gender you wrote her with, not the gender he is in canon.

Most of the time, gen fics should not be categorized jointly with anything else because a fic should only be categorized based on the ships it focuses on, and a gen fic should not be focusing on a ship in the first place.*

*(One of the few circumstances in which it might make sense to class a fic as both gen and something else is when writing about Queerplatonic Relationships, but that is a judgement call and depends on the fic.)

Relationship Tags

The thing about relationship tagging that people most frequently misunderstand or just don't know is the difference between “Character A/Character B” and “Character A & Character B.”

Use a “/” for romantic or sexual relationships, such as spouses, people who are dating, hookups, and friends with benefits. Use “&” for platonic or familial relationships, such as friends, siblings, parents with their kids, coworkers, and deeply connected mortal enemies who are not tragically in love.

This is where we get the phrase “slash fic.” Originally, that meant any fic focused on a romantic paring, but since so much of the romantic fic being produced was about pairs of men, “slash fic” came to mean same-sex pairings, especially male same-sex pairings. Back in earlier days of fandom, pre-Ao3 and even pre-internet, there was a convention that when writing out a different-sex pairing, you did so in man/woman order, while same-sex pairings were done top/bottom. Some authors, especially those who have been in the fic community a long time, may still do this, but the convention has not been in consistent, active use for many years, so you don't have to worry about putting the names in the “correct” order. Part of why that died out is we, as a community, have gotten less strict and more nuanced in our understandings of sex and relationships, we're writing non-penetrative sex more than we used to, and we're writing multi-partner relationships and sex more than we used to, so strictly delineating “tops” and “bottoms” has gotten less important and less useful.

The convention currently in use on Ao3 is that the names go in alphabetical order for both “/” and “&” relationships. In most cases, the Archive uses the character's full name instead of a nickname or just a given name, like James "Bucky" Barnes instead of just Bucky or James. We'll talk more about conventions for how to input character names in the Characters section. The Archive will give you suggestions as you type—if one of them fits what you mean but is slightly different from how you were typing it, for instance it's in a different order, please use the tag suggested! Consistency in tags across users helps the site work more smoothly for everybody.

This is really not the place for ship nicknames like Puckleberry, Wolfstar, or Ineffable Wives. Use the characters' names.

Now that you know how to format the relationship tag to say what you mean, you have to figure out what relationships in your fic to tag for.

The answer is you tag the relationships that are important to the story you're telling, the ones you spend time and attention following, building up, and maybe even breaking down. Tagging for a ship is not a promise of a happy ending for that pair; you don't have to limit yourself to tagging only the end-game ships if you're telling a story that's more complicated than “they get together and live happily ever after.” That said, you should generally list the main ship—the one you focus on the most—first on the list, and that will usually be the end-game ship. You should also use Additional Tags, the summary, and author's notes to make it clear to readers if your fic does not end happily for a ship you've tagged. Otherwise readers will assume that a fic tagged as being about a ship will end well for that ship, because that's what usually happens, and they'll end up disappointed and hurt, possibly feeling tricked or lied to, when your fic doesn't end well for that ship

You don't have to, and honestly shouldn't, tag for every single relationship that shows up in your fic at all. A character's brief side fling mentioned in passing, or a relationship between two background characters should not be listed under the Relationship tag section. You can list them in the format “minor Character A/Character C” or “Character C/Character D – mentions of” in the Additional Tags section if you want to, or just tag “Minor or Background Relationship(s)” under either the Relationship tag section or in the Additional Tags section.

There are two main reasons to not tag all those minor relationships. The first is to streamline your tags, which makes them clearer and more readable, and therefore more useful. The second reason is because certain ships are far more common as minor or background relationships than as the focus of a work, so tagging all your non-focus focus ships leads to the tags for these less popular ships getting clogged with stories they appear in, but that are not about them. That is, of course, very frustrating for readers who really want to read stories that focus on these ships.

If your fic contains a major relationship between a canon character and an OC, reader-insert, or self-insert, tag it as such. The archive already has /Original Character, /Reader, /You, and /Me tags for most characters in most fandoms. If such a relationship tag isn't already in use, type it in yourself. There are OC/OC tags, too, some of which specify gender, some of which do not.  All the relationship tags that include OCs stack the gender-specific versions of the tags under the nongendered ones. Use these tags as appropriate.

For group relationships, both polycules and multi-person friendships, you “/” or “&” all the names involved in alphabetical order, so Alex/Max/Sam are dating while Chris & Jamie & Tori are best friends. For a poly situation where not everyone is dating each other you should tag it something like “Alex/Max, Alex/Sam” because Alex is dating both Max and Sam, but Max and Sam are not romantically or sexually involved with each other. Use your judgement as to whether you still want to include the Alex/Max/Sam trio tag, and whether you should also use a “Sam & Max” friendship tag.

Generally, romantic “/” type relationships are emphasized over “&” type relationships in fic. It is more important that you tag your “/”s thoroughly and accurately than that you tag your “&”s at all. This is because readers are far more likely to either be looking for or be squicked by particular “/” relationships than they are “&” relationships. You can tag the same pair of characters as both / and & if both their romance and their friendship is important to the story, but a lot of people see this as redundant. If you're writing incest fic, use the / tag for the pair not the & tag and put a courtesy tag for “incest” in the Additional Tags section; this is how readers who do not want to see incestuous relationships avoid that material.

Queerplatonic Relationships, Ambiguous Relationships, Pre-Slash, and “Slash If You Squint” are all frequently listed with both the “/” and “&” forms of the pairing; use your best judgement as to whether one or the other or both is most appropriate for what you've written and clarify the nature of the relationship in your Additional Tags.

Overall, list your “/” tags first, then your “&” tags.

Character Tags

Tagging your characters is a lot like tagging your relationships. Who is your fic about? That's who you put in your character tags.

You don't have to and really should not tag every single background character who shows up for just a moment in the story, for pretty much the same reasons you shouldn't tag background relationships.  We don't want to clog less commonly focused on characters' tags with stories they don't feature prominently in.

You do need to tag the characters included in your Relationship tags.

A character study type of fic might only have one character you need to tag for. Romantic one shots frequently only have two. Longfics and fics with big ensemble casts can easily end up with a dozen characters or more who really do deserve to be tagged for.

Put them in order of importance. This doesn't have to be strict hierarchal ranking, you can just arrange them into groups of “main characters,” “major supporting characters,” and “minor supporting characters.” Nobody less than a minor supporting character should be tagged. Even minor supporting characters show up for more than one line.

If everyone in the fic is genuinely at the same level of importance (which does happen, especially with small cast fics), then order doesn't really matter. You can arrange them by order of appearance or alphabetically by name if you want to be particularly neat about it.

Do tag your OCs! Some people love reading about OCs and want to be able to find them; some people can't stand OCs and want to avoid them at all costs; most people are fine with OCs sometimes, but might have to be in the mood for an OC-centric story or only be comfortable with OCs in certain contexts. Regardless, though, Character tags are here to tell readers who the story is about, and that includes new faces. Original Characters are characters and if they're important to the story, they deserve to be tagged for just like canon characters do.

There are tags for “Original Character(s),” “Original Male Character(s),” and “Original Female Character(s).” Use these tags!  If you have OCs you're going to be using frequently in different stories, type up a character tag in the form “[OC's Name] – Original Character” and use that in addition to the generic OC tags.

Also tag “Reader,” “You,” or “Me” as a character if you've written a reader- or self-insert.

You can use the “Minor Characters” tag to wrap up everybody, both OC and canon, who doesn't warrant their own character tag. Remember, though, that this tag is also used to refer to minor canon characters who may not have their own official names.

Just like when tagging for relationships, the convention when tagging for characters is to use their full name. The suggestions the Archive gives you as you type will help you use the established way of referring to a given character.

Characters who go by more than one name usually have their two most used names listed together as one tag with the two names separated by a vertical bar like “Andy | Andromache of Scythia.” This also gets used sometimes for characters who have different names in an adaptation than in the source text, or a different name in the English-language localization of a work than in the original language. For character names from both real-world and fictional languages and cultures that put family or surname before the given name—like the real Japanese name Takeuchi Naoko or the made up Bajoran name Kira Nerys—that order is used when tagging, even if you wrote your fic putting the given name first.

Some characters' tags include the fandom they're from in parentheses after their name like “Connor (Detroit: Become Human).” This is mostly characters with ordinary given names like Connor and no canon surname, characters who have the same full name as a character in another fandom, such as Billy Flynn the lawyer from the musical Chicago and Billy Flynn the serial killer played by Tim Curry in Criminal Minds, and characters based on mythological, religious, or historical figures or named for common concepts such as Lucifer, Loki, Amethyst, Death, and Zero that make appearances in multiple fandoms.

Additional Tags

Additional Tags is one of the most complicated, and often the longest, section of metatext we find ourselves providing when we post fic. It's also the one that gives our readers the greatest volume of information.

That, of course, is what makes it so hard for us to do well.

It can help to break down Additional Tags into three main functions of tag: courtesy tags, descriptive tags, and personal tags.

Courtesy tags serve as extensions of the rating and warning systems. They can help clarify the rating, provide more information about the Archive Warnings you've used or chosen not to use, and give additional warnings to tell readers there are things in this fic that may be distasteful, upsetting, or triggering but that the Archive doesn't have a standard warning for.

Descriptive tags give the reader information about who's in this fic, what kind of things happen, what tropes are in play, and what the vibe is, as well as practical information about things like format and tense.

Personal tags tell the readers things about us, the author, our process, our relationship to our fic, and our thoughts at the time of posting.

It doesn't really matter what order you put these tags in, but it is best practice to try to clump them: courtesy tags all together so it's harder for a reader to miss an important one, ship-related info tags together, character-related info tags together, etc.

There are tons and tons of established tags on Ao3, and while it's totally fine, fun, and often necessary to make up your own tags, it's also important to use established tags that fit your fic.  For one thing, using established tags makes life easier for the tag wranglers behind the scenes. Using a new tag you just made up that means the same thing as an established tag makes more work for the tag wranglers. We like the tag wranglers, they're all volunteers, and they're largely responsible for the search and sorting features being functional. Be kind to the tag wranglers.

For basically the same reasons, using established tags makes it easier for readers to find your fic. If a reader either searches by a tag or uses filters on another search to “Include” that tag, and you didn't use that tag, your fic will not show up for them even if what you wrote is exactly what they're looking for.  Established tags can be searched by exactly the same way as you search by fandom or pairing, your off the cuff tags cannot.

Let's talk about some well-known established tags and common tag types, divvied up by main function.

Courtesy

A lot of courtesy tags are specific warnings like “Dubious Consent,” “Incest,” “Drug Use,” “Extremely Underage,” “Toxic Relationship,” and “Abuse.” Many of these have even more specific versions such as “Recreational Drug Use” and “Nonconsensual Drug Use,” or “Mildly Dubious Consent” and “Extremely Dubious Consent.”

Giving details about what, if any, drugs are used or mentioned, specifying what kinds of violence or bodily harm are discussed or depicted, details about age differences or power-imbalanced relationships between characters who date or have sex, discussion or depictions of suicide, severe or terminal illness, or mental health struggles is useful. It helps give readers a clear sense of what they'll encounter in your fic and decide if they're up for it.

One the most useful courtesy warning tags is “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” which basically means “there are things in this fic which are really screwed up and may be disturbing, read at your own risk, steer clear if you're not sure.” This tag—like all courtesy warnings, really—is a show of good faith, by using it you are being a responsible, and thoughtful member of the fanfic community by giving readers the power and necessary information to make their own informed decisions about what they are and are not comfortable reading.

Saying to “Heed the tags” is quite self-explanatory and, if used, should be the last or second to last tag so it's easy to spot.  Remember, though, that “Heed the tags” isn't useful if your tags aren't thorough and clear.

“Additional Warnings In Author's Note” is one of only things that should ever go after “Heed the tags.”  If you use this, your additional warnings need to go in the author's note at the very beginning of the fic, not the one at the end of the first chapter.  If your additional warnings write up is going to be very long because it's highly detailed, then it can go at the bottom of the chapter with a note at the beginning indicating that the warnings are at the bottom. Some authors give an abbreviated or vague set of warnings in the initial note, then longer, highly detailed, spoilery warnings in the end note. It's best to make it as simple and straightforward as possible for readers to access warnings.

Tagging with “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat,” “Heed the tags,” or “Additional Warnings In Author's Note” is not a substitute for thorough and appropriate courtesy tagging. These are extra reminders to readers to look closely at the other warnings you've given.

While most courtesy tags are warnings, some are assurances like “No Lesbians Die” or “It's Not As Bad As It Sounds.”  A fic tagged for rape or dub-con may get a tag assuring that the consent issues are not between the characters in the main ship; or a fic with a premise that sounds likely to involve lack of consent but actually doesn't may get a tag that it's “NOT rape/non-con.” A tag like “Animal Death” may be immediately followed by a freeform tag assuring that the animal that dies is not the protagonist's beloved horse.

Descriptive

There are a few general kinds of descriptive tags including character-related, ship-related, temporal, relation-to-canon, trope-related, smut details, and technical specifications.

Many character- and ship-related tags simply expand on the Character and Relationship tags we've already talked about.  This is usually the place to specify details about OCs and inserts, such as how a reader-insert is gendered.

When it comes to character-related tags, one of the most common types in use on Ao3 and in fandom at large is the bang-path. This is things like werewolf!Alex, trans!Max, top!Sam, kid!Jamie, and captain!Tori. Basically, a bang-path is a way of specifying a version of a character. We've been using this format for decades; it comes from the very first email systems used by universities in the earliest days of internet before the World Wide Web existed. It's especially useful for quickly and concisely explaining the roles of characters in an AU. Nowadays this is also one of the primary conventions for indicating who's top and who's bottom in a ship if that's information you feel the need to establish.  The other current convention for indicating top/bottom is as non-bang-path character-related tags in the form “Top [Character A], Bottom [Character B].”

Other common sorts of character tags are things like “[Character A] Needs a Hug,” “Emotionally Constipated [Character B],” and “[Character C] is a Good Dad.”

Some character-related tags don't refer to a particular character by name, but tell readers something about what kinds of characters are in the fic. Usually, this indicates the minority status of characters and may indicate whether or not that minority status is canon, as in “Nonbinary Character,” “Canon Muslim Character,” “Deaf Character,” and “Canon Disabled Character.”

Down here in the tags is the place to put ship nicknames!  This is also where to say things like “They're idiots your honor” or indicate that they're “Idiots in Love,” maybe both since “Idiots in Love” is an established searchable tag but “They're idiots your honor” isn't yet. If your fandom has catchphrases related to your ship, put that here if you want to.

If relevant, specify some things about the nature of relationships in your fic such as “Ambiguous Relationship,” “Queerplatonic Relationships,” “Polyamory,” “Friends With Benefits,” “Teacher-Student Relationship,” and so on. Not all fics need tags like these. Use your best judgement whether your current fic does.

Temporal tags indicate when your fic takes place. That can be things like “Pre-Canon” and “Post-Canon,” “Pre-War,” “Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “1996-1997 NHL season,” “Future Fic,” and so on.  These tags may be in reference to temporal landmarks in canon, in the real world, or both depending on what's appropriate.

Some temporal tags do double duty by also being tags about the fic's relationship to canon. The Pre- and Post-Canon tags are like that.

Other relation-to-canon type tags are “Canon Compliant” for fics that fit completely inside the framework of canon without changing or contradicting anything, “Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence” for fics that are compliant up to a certain point in canon, then veer off (maybe because you started writing the fic when the show was on season two but now it's at season four and you're not incorporating everything from the newer seasons, maybe a character died and you refuse to acknowledge that, maybe you just want to explore what might have happened if a particular scene had gone differently), and the various other Alternate Universe tags for everything from coffee shop AUs and updates to modern settings, to realities where everyone is a dragon or no one has their canon superpowers.

The established format for these tags is “Alternate Universe – [type],” but a few have irregular names as well, such as “Wingfic” for AUs in which characters who don't ordinarily have wings are written as having wings.

If you have written an AU, please tag clearly what it is! Make things easy on both the readers who are in the mood to read twenty royalty AUs in a row, the readers who are in the middle of finals week and the thought of their favorite characters suffering through exams in a college AU would destroy the last shred of their sanity but would enjoy watching those characters teach high school, and the readers who really just want to stick to the world of canon right now.

Admittedly, it can get a little confusing what AU tag or tags you need to describe what you've written since most of us have never had a fandom elder sit us down and explain what the AU tags mean. One common mix up is tagging things “Alternate Universe - Modern Setting” when what's meant is “Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence.”  The misunderstanding here is usually reading “Alternate Universe - Modern Setting” and thinking it means an alternate version of the canon universe that is set at the same time as the canon universe, but is different in some way. That's not how the tag is meant to be used, though.

The Modern Setting AU tag is specifically for fic set now (at approximately the same time period it was written), for media that's canonically set somewhere that is very much not the present of the real world. This can mean things set in the past (like Jane Austen), the future (like Star Trek), or a fantasy world entirely different from our own (like Lord of the Rings or Avatar: the Last Airbender). Fic for a canon that's set more or less “now” doesn't need the Modern Setting AU tag, even if the world of canon is different from our own. If you're removing those differences by putting fantasy or superhero characters in a world without magic or supersoldier serum, you might want the “Alternate Universe - No Powers” tag instead.

Some of the most fun descriptive tags are trope tags. This includes things like “Mutual Pining,” “Bed Sharing” for when your OTP gets to their hotel room to find There Was Only One Bed, “Fake Dating,” “Angst,” Fluff,” “Hurt/Comfort” and all its variants.  Readers love tropes at least as much as we love writing them and want to be able to find their favorites. Everyone also has tropes they don't like and would rather avoid. Tagging them allows your fic to be filtered in and out by what major tropes you've used.

Explicit fics, and sometimes fics with less restrictive ratings, that contain sex usually have tags indicating details about the nature of the sexual encounter(s) portrayed and what sex acts are depicted. These are descriptive tags, but they also do double duty as courtesy tags. This is very much a situation in which tags are a consent mechanism; by thoroughly and clearly tagging your smut you are giving readers the chance to knowingly opt in or out of the experience you've written.

Most of the time, it's pretty easy to do basic tagging for sex acts—you know whether what you wrote shows Vaginal Sex, Anal Sex, or Non-penetrative Sex.  You probably know the names for different kinds of Oral Sex you may have included. You might not know what to call Frottage or Intercrural Sex, though, even if you understand the concept and included the act in your fic. Sometimes there are tags with rectangle-square type relationships (all Blow Jobs are Oral Sex, but not all Oral Sex is a Blow Job) and you're not sure if you should tag for both—you probably should. Sometimes there are tags for overlapping, closely related, or very similar acts or kinks and you're not sure which to tag—that one's more of judgement call; do your best to use the tags that most closely describe what you wrote.

Tag for the kinks at play, if any, so readers can find what they're into and avoid what they're not. Tag for what genitalia characters have if it's nonobvious, including if there's Non-Human Genitalia involved. Tag your A/B/O, your Pon Farr, and your Tentacles, including whether it's Consentacles or Tentacle Rape.

Technical specification tags give information about aspects of the fic other than its narrative content.  Most things on Ao3 are prose fiction so that's assumed to be the default, so anything else needs to be specified in tags. That includes Poetry, Podfics, things in Script Format, and Art. If it is a podfic, you should tag with the approximate length in minutes (or hours). If a fic is Illustrated (it has both words and visual art) tag for that.

Tag if your fic is a crossover or fusion.  The difference, if you're not sure, is that in a crossover, two (or more) entire worlds from different media meet, whereas in a fusion, some aspects of one world, like the cast of characters, are combined with aspects of another, like the setting or magic system.

If the team of paranormal investigators from one show get in contact with the cast of aliens from another show, that's a crossover and you need to have all the media you're drawing from up in the Fandom tags. If you've given the cast of Hamlet physical manifestations of their souls in the form of animal companions like the daemons from His Dark Materials but nothing else from His Dark Materials shows up, that's a fusion, the Fandom tag should be “Hamlet - Shakespeare,” and you need the “Alternate Universe - Daemons” tag. If you've given the members of a boy band elemental magic powers like in Avatar: the Last Airbender, that can be more of a judgement call depending how much from Avatar you've incorporated into your story. If absolutely no characters or specific settings from Avatar show up, it's probably a fusion.  Either way, if the boyband exists in real life, it needs to be tagged as RPF.

Tag if your fic is a Reader-Insert or Self-Insert.

You might want to tag for whether your fic is written with POV First, Second, or Third Person, and if it's Past Tense or Present Tense (or Future Tense, though that's extremely uncommon).  For POV First Person fics that are not self-inserts, or POV Third Person fics that are written in third person limited, you may want to tag which character's POV is being shown. Almost all POV Second Person fics are reader-insert, so if you've written one that isn't, you should tag for who the “you” is.

A fic is “POV Outsider” if the character through whom the story is being conveyed is outside the situation or not familiar with the characters and context a reader would generally know from canon. The waitress who doesn't know the guy who just sat down in her diner is a monster hunter, and the guy stuck in spaceport because some hotshot captain accidentally locked down the entire space station, are both potential narrators for POV Outsider stories.

Other technical specifications can be tags for things like OCtober and Kinktober or fic bingo games.  Tagging something as a Ficlet, One Shot, or Drabble is a technical specification (we're not going to argue right now over what counts as a drabble). Tagging for genre, like Horror or Fantasy, is too.

It's also good to tag accessibility considerations like “Sreenreader Friendly,” but make sure your fic definitely meets the needs of a given kind of accessibility before tagging it.

Personal

Even among personal tags there are established tags!  Things like “I'm Sorry,” “The Author Regrets Nothing,” “The Author Regrets Everything,” and “I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping” are common ones.  Tags about us and our relationship to the fic, such as “My First Work In This Fandom,” “Author is Not Religious,” and “Trans Porn By A Trans Author,” can help readers gauge what to expect from our fic. Of course, you are not at all obligated to disclose any personal information for any reason when posting your fic.

The “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag is common, but probably overused. Tagging is hard; very few of us have a natural feel for it even with lots of practice.  It's not a completely useless tag because it can indicate to readers that you've probably missed some things you should have tagged for, so they should be extra careful; but it can also turn into a crutch, an excuse to not try, and therefore a sign to readers they can't trust your tagging job. Just do your best, and leave off the self depreciation. If you're really concerned about the quality of your tagging, consider putting in an author's note asking readers to let you know if there are any tags you should add.

You might want to let readers know your fic is “Not Beta Read” or, if you're feeling a little cheekier than that, say “No Beta We Die Like Men” or its many fandom-specific variants like the “No Beta We Die Like Robins” frequently found among Batman fics and “No beta we die like Sunset Curve” among Julie and The Phantoms fic. Don't worry, the Archive recognizes all of these as meaning “Not Beta Read.”

The Archive can be inconsistent about whether it stacks specific variants of Additional Tags under the broadest version of the tag like it does with Fandom tags, so best practice is usually to use both.  You can double check by trying to search by a variant tag (or clicking on someone else's use of the variant); if the results page says the broader or more common form of the tag, those stack.

There's no such thing as the right number of tags. Some people prefer more tags and more detail, while other people prefer fewer more streamlined tags, and different fics have different things that need to be tagged for.  There is, however, such a thing as too many tags.  A tagblock that takes up the entire screen, or more, can be unreadable, at which point they are no longer useful. Focus on the main points and don't try to tag for absolutely everything.  Use the “Additional Warnings In Author's Note” strategy if your courtesy tags are what's getting out of hand.

Tag for as much as you feel is necessary for readers to find your fic and understand what they're getting into if they decide to open it up.

A little bit of redundancy in tags is not a sin.  In fact, slight redundancy is usually preferable to vagueness. Clear communication in tags is a cardinal virtue. Remember that tags serve a purpose, they're primarily a tool for sorting and filtering, and (unlike on some other sites like tumblr) they work, so it's best to keep them informative and try to limit rambling in the tags. Ramble at length in your author's notes instead!

Titles

Picking a title can be one of the most daunting and frustrating parts of posting a fic. Sometimes we just know what to call our fics and it's a beautiful moment. Other times we stare at that little input box for what feels like an eternity.

The good news is there's really no wrong way to select a title. Titles can be long or short, poetic or straight to the point. Song lyrics, idioms, quotes from literature or from the fic itself can be good ways to go.

Single words or phrases with meanings that are representative of the fic can be great. A lot of times these are well known terms or are easy enough to figure out like Midnight or Morning Glow, but if you find yourself using something that not a lot of people know what it means, like Chiaroscuro (an art style that uses heavy shadow and strong contrast between light and dark), Kintsukuroi (the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold), or Clusivity (the grammatical term for differences in who is or isn't included in a group pronoun), you should define the term in either a subtitle, i.e. “Chiaroscuro: A Study In Contrast,” or at the beginning of the summary.

As a courtesy to other writers, especially in small fandoms, you may want to check to make sure there's not already another fic with the same title in the same fandom, but this is not required. In large fandoms, there's no point in even trying. After all, there are only so many puns to be made about the full moon and only so many verses to Hallelujah.

It may be common practice on other platforms to include information such as fandom or ship in the title of a fic, but on Ao3 nothing that is specified by tags belongs in the title unless your title happens to be the same as a tag because, for instance, you've straightforwardly titled your character study of Dean Winchester “Dean Winchester Character Study” and also responsibly tagged it as such.

Summaries

Yes, you really do need to put something down for the summary. It might only need to be a single sentence, but give the readers something to go off of.

The summary is there to serve two purposes: one, to catch the interest of potential readers, give them a taste of what's inside, and make them want to know more; and two, to give you a space to provide information or make comments that don't really fit in the tags but that you want readers to see before they open the fic.

We've already talked some about that second function. When you put an explanation of the title or clarification about tags in the summary, that's the purpose it's serving. You can also put notes to “Heed the tags” or instruct readers that there are additional warnings in the author's note here in the summary, rather than doing so in the tags.

The first function, the actual summarizing, can be very hard for some of us.  It's basically the movie trailer for your fic, butwhat are you even supposed to say?

There are two main strategies as to how to approach this: the blurb, and the excerpt. Blurbs are like the synopses you at least used to see on the backs of published books, or the “Storyline” section on an IMDb page. Writing one is a matter of telling your readers who does what, under what circumstances.

Depending on the fic, one sentence can capture the whole thing: “Sam and Alex have sex on a train.” “Tori tries to rob a bank.” “If anybody had mentioned Max's new house was haunted, Jamie wouldn't have agreed to help with the move.”

Sometimes a blurb can be a question! “What happens when you lock a nuclear engineer in a closet with a sewing kit, a tennis ball, and half a bottle of Sprite?”

Of course, plenty of blurbs are more than one sentence. Their length can vary pretty significantly depending on the type and length of fic you're working with and how much detail you're trying to convey, but it shouldn't get to be more than a few short paragraphs. You're not retelling the entire fic here.

An excerpt is a portion of the fic copied out to serve as the summary. This, too, can vary in length from a line or two to several paragraphs, but shouldn't get too long. It should not be an entire scene unless that scene happens to be uncommonly short. It's important to select a portion of the fic that both indicates the who, what, and under what circumstances of the fic and is representative of the overall tone. Excerpts that are nothing but dialogue with no indication of who's talking are almost never a good choice. Portions that are sexually explicit or extremely violent are never ever a good choice—if it deserves content warnings, it belongs inside the fic, not on the results page.

Counterintuitively, some of the best excerpts won't even look like an excerpt to the reader if they don't contain dialogue. They seem like particularly literary blurbs until the reader reaches that part in the fic and realizes they recognize a section of narration.

Some of us have very strong preferences as to whether we write blurbs or use excerpts for our summaries. Some readers have very strong preferences as to which they find useful. Ultimately, there's no accounting for taste, but there are things we can do to limit the frustration for readers who prefer summaries of the opposite kind than we prefer to write, without increasing our own frustration or work load very much. Part of that is understanding what readers dislike about each type so we know what to mitigate.

Blurbs can seem dry, academic, and overly simplified. They don't automatically give the reader a sense of your writing style the way an excerpt does. They can also seem redundant, like they're just rehashing information already given in the tags, so the reader feels like they're being denied any more information without opening the fic.

Excerpts can seem lazy, like you, the author, don't care enough to bother writing a blurb, or pushy like you're telling the reader “just read the fic; I'm not going to give you the information you need to decide if you want to read or not, I'm shoving it in front of you and you just have to read it.” That effect gets worse if your tags aren't very informative or clear about what the plot is, if the excerpt is obviously just the first few lines or paragraphs of the fic, if the except is particularly long, or, worst of all, if all three are true at once.

A lot of the potential problems with blurbs can be minimized by having fun writing them! Make it punchy, give it some character, treat it like part of the story, not just a book report. A fic for a serialized show or podcast, for instance, could have a blurb written in the style of the show's “previously on” or the podcast's intro.  Make sure the blurb gives the reader something they can't just get from the tags—like the personality of your writing, important context or characterization, or a sense of the shape of the story—but don't try to skimp on the tags to do it!

Really, the only way to minimize the potential problems with excerpts is to be very mindful in selecting them. Make sure the portion you've chosen conveys the who, what, and under what circumstances and isn't too long.  You know the story; what seems clear and obvious from the excerpt to you might not be apparent to someone who doesn't already know what happens, so you might need to ask a friend to double check you.

The absolute best way to provide a summary that works for everybody is to combine both methods. It really isn't that hard to stick a brief excerpt before your blurb, or tack a couple lines of blurb after your excerpt, but it can make a world of difference for how useful and inviting your summary is to a particular reader. The convention for summaries that use both is excerpt first, then blurb.

If you're struggling to figure out a summary, or have been in the habit of not providing one, try not to stress over it. Anything is better than nothing.  As long as you've written something for a summary, you've given the reader a little more to help them make their decision. What really isn't helpful, though, is saying “I'm bad at summaries” in your summary. It's a lot like the “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag in that it's unnecessarily self depreciating, frequently comes across as an excuse not to try, and sometimes really is just an excuse. Unlike the “I'm Bad At Tagging” tag, which has the tiny saving grace of warning readers you've probably missed something, saying you're bad at summaries has no utility at all, and may drive away a reader who thought your summary was quite good, but is uncomfortable with the negative attitude reflected by that statement. Summaries are hard. It's okay if you don't like your summary, but it's important for it to be there, and it's important to be kind to yourself about it. You're trying, that's what matters.

Author's Notes

Author's notes are the one place where we, the writers, directly address and initiate contact with our readers. We may also talk to them in the comments section, but that's different because they initiate that interaction while we reply, and comments are mostly one-on-one while in author's notes we're addressing everyone who ever reads our fic.

The very first note on a fic should contain any information, such as warnings or explanations, that a reader needs to see before they get to the body of the story, as well as anything like thanks to your beta, birthday wishes to a character, or general hellos and announcements you want readers to see before they get to the body of the story. On multi-chapter fics, notes at the beginning of chapters serve the same function for that chapter as the initial note on the fic does for the whole story, so you can do things like warn for Self-Harm on the two chapters out of thirty where it comes up, let everyone know your update schedule will be changing, or wish your readers a merry Christmas, if they celebrate it, on the chapter you posted on December 23rd but is set in mid-March.

Notes at the end of a fic or chapter are for things that don't need to be said or are not useful to a reader until after they've read the preceding content, such as translations for that handful of dialogue that's in Vulcan or Portuguese, or any parting greetings or announcements you want to give, like a thanks for reading or a reminder school is starting back so you won't be able to write as much. End notes are the best place to plug your social media to readers if you're inclined to do so, but remember that cannot include payment platforms like Patreon or Ko-fi.

As previously mentioned, warnings can go in end notes but that really should only be done when the warnings are particularly long, such that the length might cause a problem for readers who are already confident in their comfort level and would just want to scroll past the warning description. In that case, the additional warnings need to go in the note at the end of the first chapter, rather than at the end of the fic, if it's a multi-chapter fic; and you need to include an initial note telling readers that warnings/explanations of tags are at the bottom so they know to follow where the Archive tells them to see the end of the chapter/work for “more notes.”

When posting a new work, where the Preface section gives you the option to add notes “at the beginning” or “at the end” or both, if you check both boxes, it means notes at the beginning and end of the entire fic, not the beginning and end of the first chapter. For single-chapter fics this difference doesn't really matter, but for multi-chapter fics it matters a lot. In order to add notes to the beginning or end of the first chapter of a multi-chapter fic you have to first go through the entire process to post the new fic, then go in to Edit, Edit Chapter, and add the notes there.

Series and Chapters

Dealing with Series and Chapters is actually two different issues, but they're closely related and cause some of us mixups, especially when we're new to the site and its systems, so we're going to cover them together.

Series on Ao3 are for collecting up different stories that you've written that are associated with each other in some way. Chapters are for dividing up one story into parts, usually for pacing and to give yourself and your readers a chance to take breaks and breathe, rather than trying to get through the entire thing in a single marathon sitting (not that we won't still do that voluntarily, but it's nice to have rest points built in if we need them).

If your story would be one book if it was officially published, then it should be posted as a single fic—with multiple chapters if it's long or has more than one distinct part, like separate vignettes that all go together. If you later write a sequel to that fic, post it as a new fic and put them together in a series. It's exactly like chapters in a book and books in a series. Another way to think of this structure is like a TV show: different fics in the series are like different seasons of the show, with individual chapters being like episodes.

If you have several fics that all take place in the same AU but really aren't the same story those should go together as a series.  If you wrote a story about a superhero team re-cast as school teachers, then wrote another story about different characters in the same school, that's this situation.

Series are also the best way to handle things like prompt games, bingos, or Kinktober, or collect up one shots and drabbles especially if your various fills, entries, and drabbles are for more than one fandom. If you put everything for a prompt game or bingo, or all your drabbles, together as one fic with a different chapter for each story, what ends up happening is that fic gets recognized by the Archive as a crossover when it isn't, so it gets excluded from the results pages for everyone who told the filters to Exclude Crossovers even though one of the stories you wrote is exactly what they're looking for; and that fic ends up with tons and tons of wildly varying and self-contradictory tags because it's actually carrying the tags for several entirely different, possibly unrelated stories, which also means it ends up getting excluded from results pages because, for instance, one out of your thirty-one Kinktober entries is about someone's NoTP.

Dividing these kinds of things up into multiple fic in a series makes it so much easier for readers to find what of your work they actually want to read.

If you've previously posted such things as a single fic, don't worry, it's a really common misunderstanding and there is absolutely nothing stopping you from reposting them separately. You may see traffic on them go up if you do!

Parting Thoughts

Metatext is ultimately all about communication, and in this context effective communication is a matter of responsibility and balance.

Ao3 is our archive. It's designed for us, the writers, to have the freedom to write and share whatever stories we want without having to worry that we'll wake up one day and find our writing has been deleted overnight without warning.  That has happened too many times to so many in our community as other fanfic sites have died, been shut down, or caved to threats of legal action. Ao3 is dedicated to defending our legal right to create and share our stories. Part of the deal is that, in exchange for that freedom and protection, we take up the responsibility to communicate to readers what we're writing and who it's appropriate for.

We are each other's readers, and readers who don't write are still part of our community. We have a responsibility as members of this community to be respectful of others in our shared spaces.  Ao3 is a shared space. The best way we have to show each other respect is to give one another the information needed to decide if a given fic is something we want to engage with or not, and then, in turn, to not engage with fic that isn't our cup of tea. As long as our fellow writer has been clear about what their fic is, they've done their part of the job. If we decided to look at the fic despite the information given and didn't like what we found, then that's on us.

Because metatext is how we put that vital information about our fics out in the community, it's important that our metatext is clear and easy to parse. The key to that is balance. Striking the balance between putting enough tags to give a complete picture and not putting too many tags that become an unreadable wall; the balance between the urge to be thorough and tag every character and the need to be restrained so those looking for fics actually about a certain character can find them; the balance between using established tags for clarity and ease and making up our own tags for specificity and fun.

Do your best, act in good faith, remember you're communicating with other people behind those usernames and kudos, and, most importantly, have fun with your writing!

[joyokosuka]

Re: I loved him...And I betrayed him...

I have seen some people say “Ryuki’s ‘I loved him’ quote is ambiguous” or “Ryuki doesn’t mean romantic love because he used ‘suki,’” so I wanted to clear things up a bit…Please excuse the wall of text, but I hope this helps.

Ryuki’s line in the explosion end is as follows:

あんなに好きだった。。。伊達さんのことを。。。裏切ったんだ

Anna ni suki datta…Date-san no koto o…Uragittanda.

I’ll break it down by each part.

Anna ni: adverb meaning “to that extent, so much, that much, etc.”  Ryuki uses this to contrast his love for Date against the fact that he betrayed him.

Suki: This is loaded, so it will take a bit more explanation.  The common three ways you’ll hear someone confess “I love you” are suki, daisuki, and ai suru/shiteru/etc.  There is a misconception in English-speaking fandom that they are translated strictly in the following ways:

Suki: I like you (platonic)

Daisuki: I like you a lot (strong platonic)

Aishiteru: I love you (romantic)

This is not accurate. It is true that aishiteru is stronger than suki or daisuki, but they all can be romantic.   Suki (or daisuki, literally just a stronger version of suki) is what you would use to describe hobbies, food, etc., but it functions fine as a romantic confession as well.  In fact, it is the most common word to use when confessing one’s love to another person.  You can use it in a platonic sense…But that is much more common when saying you like a person’s attributes, i.e. “I suki you as a person” or “I suki your personality.”  (Name) ga suki is a very common, albeit casual, way to declare romantic love.  If intended platonically, it will come off strong and off-putting to the recipient. (Name) no koto ga suki is less casual, and more overtly romantic, but I will get to the nuances later.  It should be noted that, though Ryuki is technically acknowledging his love for Date to himself, rather than confessing directly to Date, the same word conventions apply.

As a side note - aishiteru is very rarely used in real-life relationships.  It is so strong to the point that, if used, it can raise alarm bells - “Why did you use aishiteru?  Are you okay?  Am I never going to see you again?”  You hear it more often in song and anime/manga, but that’s because it comes off as more “poetic,” and has a bit more potential for interlingual wordplay.

Datta: Literally “was.”  Suki functions as a noun in Japanese, although it is a verb in English.  Ryuki is using past tense here because:

He assumes Date is dead at this point

He is relating his feelings to a past event (his betrayal)

Date-san: Mr. Date.

No koto: This phrase doesn’t really exist in English, but the literal translation is “of a thing.”  That’s not super helpful, but it’s made clearer with the context.  No koto is used to refer to a person when you want to address all of their aspects.  In a simpler sense, you can view the nuance as (name) ga suki being “I love you” and (name) no koto ga suki being “I love everything about you,” though both can be appropriately translated as “I love you.”  The no koto generally makes the phrasing more romantic.

O: No real equivalent in English, but this just indicates that there is a verb (uragitanda) about to occur to a subject (Date-san).

Uragitanda: Betrayed.

So, to summarize…The sentence, at its most literal, could be something like “The person I loved so much, Mr. Date, I betrayed.”  However, it carries more of an implication of “How could I betray the person I love so much?”

I will be frank for clarity.  This is a blatantly and explicitly romantic line.  Suki datta Date-san already sounds fairly romantic, but the anna ni and no koto push it above plausible deniability.

This might be confusing to some English-speaking fans - if it is blatantly romantic, why hasn’t the team confirmed this?  The answer comes down to cultural differences in fandom.

I just want to put a quick note here that fandoms are not monoliths, and even a single country’s fandom will be extremely varied.  However, I did talk to several people raised in Japan/living in Japan to get their take on both the line and the following trends:

In English-speaking fandoms, there is a lot of talk about representation re: LGBT characters.  If characters are presented with coding, but aren’t explicitly LGBT, some may contact the creator directly to determine if they are interpreting a character correctly.  While some creators may offer direct confirmation, some may not.  Those that don’t can come across to LGBT fans as “not wanting to go all the way with LGBT characters” and like they are denying representation.  Thus, creators are often seen as the final say; the right interpretation for a character’s sexuality or gender.

In Japanese-speaking fandoms, there is less focus on using characters as a vehicle for LGBT representation.  More importantly, there is also a distinctly different creator-fan relationship.  There is much more focus to allow text to be text, and fans to have their own interpretations.  It can be seen as stifling and disrespectful to fans to overtly confirm a character’s sexuality or gender.  So any refusal to comment on a character’s status as LGBT is less of an inherent cop-out, and more of a sign of respect to fans.

In summary, yeah, this line is overtly romantic.  The text itself is enough to confirm it.

[sophieinwonderland]

Okay, I want to break down this post that made it to the top of the syscourse tag, especially since it was vagueing an earlier conversation with me.

For the first point, the term "plural" was used specifically to distance itself from OSDD/DID, as an alternative to "multiple" which was more used in OSDD/DID spaces at the time. I assume then that this statement isn't about the term "plural" being intrinsically linked to DID/OSDD but rather, the concept of being multiple beings in one body itself.

And that, I feel, is an equally problematic claim. Spiritual possession has existed throughout the entire world in nearly every culture throughout human history. In contrast, OSDD/DID were only recognized as medical disorders in the past couple hundred years or so. Most plurality throughout history has been considered spiritual in nature. OSDD/DID systems don't own a monopoly on the concept, nor do they even make up the majority of people who could technically fall under the plural umbrella.

As for this hypothetical, sure, it can happen in some case. But OSDD and DID are already highly comorbid with a large number of other disorders. I legitimately wonder how many endo-identifying traumagenic systems with PTSD symptoms with suicidal ideation who aren't in therapy already would suddenly decide to seek help if they knew they had a dissociative disorder on top of that.

Most of the time, this is just stacking one extra diagnosis onto a pile. And if someone's not getting treated for other issues, why would they get treated for this one?

There's obviously value in getting the diagnosis for treatment purposes, but this seems like it could usually be worked out between therapists and patients naturally over the course of treatment for other conditions.

(By the way, I believe the statistic that this is referencing is that 70% of outpatients diagnosed with DID had attempted suicide. This is not a suicide rate. That's obviously way too high and I'm not saying this to minimize the statistic, but because I want to keep facts straight. Also, this study was focused strictly on DID, and did not include OSDD systems as the quote suggests.)

It's never just been about how this hurts non-disordered plurals. That's narrow-minded. It's about how psychiatry as a whole handles and should handle mental health.

The focus of mental health programs is helping people reach a point that's healthy for themselves, not just stopping them from being "different."

For tulpamancy, specifically, many tulpamancers report improvements in symptoms of other disorders because of their plurality. It's likely the same would prove true for other non-OSDD/DID systems If a non-OSDD/DID system is seeking treatment for reasons unrelated to their plurality, trying to diagnose them with a dissociative disorder and convince them that a system that's been overall beneficial to their mental health is part of a disorder can be extremely harmful to the system's mental health.

In the case of someone with MDD who create a tulpa for companionship, the plurality should be seen as a form of treatment to an existing condition, not a disorder, and attempting to treat the plurality could deprive a "DISORDERED" person something that's helping them to heal.

But let's go beyond that and talk about religious considerations. Like I said, the first plurality was spiritual. Should all instances of possession where a spiritual identity takes over be considered pathological? What about voices?

The book When God Talks Back describes religious practices where certain evangelical Christian groups speak to "God" until they can have two-way conversations with it in ways that resemble mind-voice communication. (Also mentioned here.) Should we deem this form of voice-hearing inherently pathological due to similarities to certain hallucinatory experiences, even though the evangelicals (like the tulpamancers) report positive health benefits with no notable impairment?

I know some atheists have the meme that religion is a mental illness, but at what point would medicalizing all experiences of voice hearing and dissociative identity states become religious discrimination?

Finally, let's come back to how this affects disordered systems. You say that you're not saying systems need final fusion, and that's great. But you're supporting the same mentality that leads to that, by pathologizing the experience of plurality itself.

If plurality is inherently pathological, then why wouldn't final fusion be the ideal option for healing 100% of the time? That's the logic used by singlets who think final fusion is the only valid goal for therapy, and don't understand why any system would choose to remain plural.

When you shift the definition of a disorder to any experience of being different, you then subsequently shift the goal of therapy to reaching normalcy and fitting in with society rather than achieving a personal standard of health. And that's sanism.

In the end, I think we're lucky that the American Psychiatric Association is intelligent enough to acknowledge and recognize that not all presentations of similar symptoms should be considered pathological in the DSM-5, and it's integral that we continue to defend that going forward against people who would seek to medicalize non-medical experiences.

[caparrucia]

I just read your Twitter thread about engaging with TERFs/TERF-lites re: "kink critical" because I've been reading responses to the ask I sent OTNF. I actually read all of the threads you linked to because they're very engaging reads. 😅

I don't have a Twitter so I can't respond there, but I found it really interesting that the way you recommend dealing with TERFs (do not engage, do not try to convince them you're a person, just block them and move on) is also how I've seen anti-fascist experts recommend you deal with fascists/incels/alt-right dweebs on the internet. The similarities between TERF behavior and online fascist behavior is something I find fascinating. You deal with a TERF on Tumblr the same way you deal with an Incel on Reddit because both are predators fueled by hate looking for an easy target. Both groups demand the scapegoating of a more vulnerable group as a cost of membership.

I'd love to know if you have any thoughts on this, and if so, I'd love to read them. Treating TERFs as the indefensible bigots they are seems to be an effective tactic, and I think there's value in insisting on labeling them as extremists. However, I don't know if there's been any research on TERFs like there has on incels and the alt-right. It seems like a deep rabbit hole to go down.

I'm glad you found the threads interesting!

I tend to apply my academic upbringing (philosophy, theology and literature) to most things I talk about, because that's just how I experience the world, but I don't do gender nearly as strictly as I do, say, media analysis/historical revisionism critique, because all my gender/race insights are more from a lived perspective than a "studied/research" perspective.

My thing with TERFs and other extremist/radical niche groups is that I've sort of reached the conclusion they're essentially disconnected micro cells of high control groups, and so I tend to apply moderation methods surrounding high control groups to them. Their message itself is the harmful thing, so minimizing exposure to it is the best way of dealing with it, in my experience. There's value in challenging their ideas when they start showing in people you personally know and have a connection to, because a lot of times, a radicalization pipeline gets derailed because someone close to them pushes back and that sort of jolts people awake, so to speak.

The good news is that there is in fact plenty of ink spilled over the years, regarding TERFs. Third wave feminism does contend a lot with the burn-everything-to-the-ground insights of your average second wave radical feminist, and the clout-chasing idiots who pretend to be that for the sake of internet brownie points and the chance to shit on trans people. The thing about TERFs is that they tend to parrot the talking points but not really talk in nuance about their framework because the framework is rotten and it doesn't really take long for a thinking person to start poking holes in it.

Some resources, top of my head, that I've found incredibly useful in navigating TERFs from a less lived perspective and a more academic one:

The Clayman Conversations about the TERF Industrial Complex.

TERF wars: An Introduction.

Terfism is White Distraction: On BLM, Decolonising the Curriculum, Anti-Gender Attacks and Feminist Transphobia.

Decolonizing Trans/Gender Studies: Teaching Gender, Race and Sexuality in Times of the Rise of the Global Right.

I found the quotes and bibliography of these to be a decent starting point to start digging into the WTFery of TERFs.

Another source I recommend a lot as a starting point is The Alt-Right Playbook video series by Innuendo Studios. The entire series is absolutely amazing at neatly breaking down and explaining exactly how alt-right tactics work, how to recognize them, and in some cases how to not engage with them. It was one of the first things that made me sort of zero in on the wide similarities between seemingly disperse/ideologically opposed groups, because they're all pulling from the reactionary, radicalized playbook and I think it's useful to know how to spot it.

If you can't stomach the whole series, and it's a lot, so that's fair, the one I 100% wish was required viewing before joining any kind of social media or online community is this one:

How to radicalize a normie.

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Are you confident Bughead will be endgame on this show? That’s literally the last strand I’ve been holding onto, but the thread is weakening. I really can’t believe that they would take this ship, their absolute most popular and loved one, and just end it like this forever. I am so angry with the writing!!

Hey there, anon! It is unbelievable, isn’t it?

What a tricky question you ask! confidence + prediction + the Riverdale writers ... As Jughead would say: yikes!

The thing with these writers is that they use a lot of words without knowing their meaning. “Endgame” is one of them. “New” is another. “Exciting”. “Darkness”™. “Adult stories”. “The message”…

Dangling the bughead “endgame” carrot at the end of one or two seasons of no bughead or -worse- of b*rchie and j*bitha f.e. is not an endgame. The general definition of endgame -outside of chess- is: the last stage of a process. If the process (i.e. the season’s content) isn’t about bughead, then bughead coming together at the very end is not an endgame, it's a peripeteia i.e. a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances.

In shipping, endgame is a couple that will inevitably end together (for ever and ever and ever). In order for something to be inevitable, you have to create that sentiment, you have to build the couple up.

There’s an article about the misappropriation of the word “endagame” that I find particularly funny, as it starts by mentioning Riverdale!

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that, yes, I do believe that the show will end with bughead and varchie as their main canon couples. It’s just that, like you, I’m so very tired with these story lines. There is satisfaction to be had at the notion of endgame but a seasonful of investigative bughead would be infinitely preferable. For me (and I can only speak of myself) the journey is more important than the destination -even if for the simple reason that -in TV show time- it lasts longer!

Why do I think bughead is still … that word? Everything’s under the cut, so as not to clutter your dash!

1. A lot of people have been theorising that what happened in 5x18 was not the original plot. I agree.

Let’s start with 5x18 varchie.

Their break up came completely out of left field. Its unexpectedness is reminiscent of 4x17. I make fun of how s5 is a reboot of s1+s2’s leftover ideas, so another copy-paste shouldn’t feel out of place, and yet … really? Another repetition? To what end? If the season’s goal was not varchie, b*rchie was already there waiting at the beginning of the time jump! Why abandon that plot? In terms of romantic varchie time, that was extremely limited, since after their kiss in 5x7, Veronica’s divorce kept them apart until 5x17 … Why have Archie being extremely jealous of Chad, Veronica getting involved in all of Archie’s schemes (firefighters, bulldogs), Archie getting involved in Ronnie’s (rescuing daddykins) or Veronica telling her father she chooses Archie over him in 5x17? Also, for those who remember, there was this by the-writer-who-shall-not-be-named.

The reason of the break up is as ludicrous as Veronica moving into Archie’s childhood bedroom (with its effing slanted roof!) on the premise that long term the Andrews’ residence has more room! (By the way, I don’t know what surprised me more: that Veronica thought that Archie and uncle Frank would know who Ina Garten is or that Jughead didn’t.) Why is Veronica astounded by Archie’s involvement in the same activities he has been involved in all through the season?! For f***’s sake, she’s the one that gifted him the fire truck!

Ok. Now let’s give 5x18 j*bitha a try.

For me, 5x18 could either have gone bugheadwards or j*bithawards. J*bitha had some heartfelt talks, a hand touch, a hallucination and a kiss. Bughead had one unfinished heartfelt talk (the only one in the whole season for Betty), two shoulder touches, two hallucinations and Jughead attempting to reconnect with Betty (without specifying what his intent was, it's true).

While I do think that j*bitha is a ship that has been adequately teased, the way they were explored in 5x18 was … not underwhelming exactly (after all, they’re not my ship, so I didn’t have any expectations about them) but … maybe lukewarm is the word? They had but minimal dialogue, only enough to establish that Tabitha’s parents were in town. Then a song where Tabitha initially rejects Jughead, although she had been supportive before. Then another song, where the lyrics were heavily altered and didn’t make much sense anyway (we hadn’t been properly introduced to the Tates) but where the original lyrics were very compatible with Bughead’s history and state of being as of 5x17. The kisses were ok, I have no problem with the actors’ chemistry. But -and this is strictly a personal opinion- Jughead’s flirting scenes (not the make-out ones, you perverts!) with Cora were better and so was the j*bitha kiss in 5x10. For the 5x18 j*bitha to flow, more dialogue and more flirting was necessary (always a persona opinion). So, no, I don’t think j*bitha were supposed to sing what they sang in 5x18.

Production for s5 wrapped up one week after the official announcement of the 5 special episodes for Riverdale and The Flash: “we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule” was the official quote. Re-organising the cw’s overall schedule didn’t happen overnight. Yes, more likely than not, the writers knew about the specifics of s6a before shooting 5x18-5x19 and had time to re-write them.

2. The couples spoilers for s6 do not make sense plot-wise.

If the end-goal for 5x19-6x1 had been b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie all along, these were pairs already happening (except from v*ggie) at the beginning of the time-jump. As for v*ggie, last time we saw them, Veronica pulled a face when she heard that he had had (still has?) an affair with Hermosa. And what about Nana Rose?! (ok, that was a joke! ... or was it? 👀)

The majority of both the fans and the general audience are bugvarchie shippers. Teasing b*rchie and j*bitha as a means of maintaining the viewers’ interest in a will they/won’t they way, only works if the audience finally gets what they want. In this season. Not the next one! There is so much trolling one can take after all. In the space of 1.5 year (4x17-5x19) b*rchie will have been teased ... THREE times (and still lacking build-up)!

I cannot myself see b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie as endgame couples. For the audience to invest in them after 4 years of bugvarchie, the writers have to a) give j*bitha an absolutely incredible development that will surpass bughead and the cinematography to go with it (good luck with that) and b) undo Archie’s character (highly unlikely) and/or give Betty a lobotomy (at which point a lot of people will quit en masse, because Archie as The One All The Girls Want just doesn't resonate with the majority).

I have no idea if s6a is an AU or not. But if it’s not, no one will be left to watch 6b.

Can I guarantee a bughead endgame? Of course not. I have no idea how the minds of the Riverdale writers work. But I do think that Jughead and Betty getting back together is more than wishful thinking.

Fervently shipping Jughead/Betty, Jughead/his book and Betty/therapy, sincerely yours, @raymondebidochonlifechoices

I hope you have fun with the Riverdale universe regardless, dear anon. Riverdale has given us one of the most beautiful getting-together stories in s1 and lots and lots of beautiful canon bughead afterwards. Here's to many more! Much love to you!

[becomewings]

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

     BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 1 / 4

» pt. 2

Introduction

BTS Universe Story, a mobile game published by Netmarble, was released on September 24, 2020. While the majority of the app is essentially a sandbox and engine for users to create their own interactive stories, it also includes official and canon BU content. The first eight segments were introduced between the release date and December 2020, gathered under the title The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>.

“I’m Fine” is half of the I’m Fine/Save Me ambigram introduced in the Love Yourself era. Notably, all of the BU content available in the game so far falls between events of the webtoon Save Me (also called HYYH0 in its logo) and The Notes 1—chronologically, that is, while bearing in mind that time resets to the morning of 11 April Year 22 whenever SeokJin fails to avert a tragedy among his six friends. I want to assure anyone who is unable to play the game that you are not missing any new, major plot beats from the overall BU narrative. Instead, the stories provide more insight into the motivations and consequences of SeokJin’s decisions in the earlier time loops, as well as more depth to individual characters and their circumstances.

The goal of this guide is to summarize each of the eight stories and highlight noteworthy details, especially if they are not yet present in other BU media. Within each story (which I often refer to as an arc, due to their character-focused nature), episodes must be played successively, but the stories themselves can be played in any order. I will present them over a series of posts in the order they are listed under the <I’M FINE> heading. The Prologue and NamJoon’s arc are free to play; the rest are paid content. Please note that due to the app’s Terms & Conditions, I will not include in-game footage here. The images in this guide are sourced from the official trailers/videos and the live action MVs as appropriate.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Game Mechanic

Before diving into the summaries, I would like to address the primary mechanic of the game: the user’s control of character choices at designated moments in the stories. It’s a primary marketing point that the player can influence the progression of the narrative, with a frequent in-app tip also declaring, “stories’ endings can vary depending on your choices.” The latter is not strictly true—and it cannot be true due to the structure of the game. Choices are presented within most (not all) episodes, but each episode is an isolated unit: episode 2 provides the same content regardless of what you choose in episode 1. Since the consequences of your decisions are not cumulative, each episode reaches the same ending, and each decision inevitably rejoins the “main” story path (effectively reducing the script size).

So what is the point of this mechanic? While the system is not nearly as complex as what major platform titles are capable of nowadays (I suspect due in large part to the story creation portion of the game), it does foster a sense of interaction with the narrative that isn’t present in static visual media like comics or film. The episodes with choices also have incentive for replay to discover the impact of changing a character’s dialogue or action. Sometimes the differences between the outcomes are inconsequential, but other times you unearth new details, interactions, or memories that are missing in the other path.

I say this partially in reaction to all of the comments and tweets I read for the game trailers and even Smeraldo Book twitter’s choose-your-own-adventure style teasers with The Notes 2 excerpts released last summer. Many users expressed excitement, through words or memes, about finally being able to give the boys the happy ending they deserved. I don’t fault anyone for wanting that happy ending—I wish for it, too. But no matter what the rather overzealous marketing has claimed, I don’t believe that the canon ending of BU is ever meant to be in the audience’s control. But I do feel that this mechanism fits the BU narrative. It echoes the “countless loops” SeokJin has experienced in an effort to save his friends, the choices he must make at every crossroad, and the butterfly effect those actions have on all of their lives. I think it is reasonable to interpret the simple branching paths in the game as alternatives SeokJin has explored across multiple loops in his struggle to find the “right” way forward. I’d love to hear if you have theories of your own!

Prologue

The prologue is a brief episode introducing SeokJin’s repeated struggle and failure to save his friends. He wakes up yet again in his bed on 11 April Year 22, the beginning of the time loop. After reflecting on the tragedies that keep befalling the others, SeokJin realizes that he has only tried to fix the problems he can see. He wonders: “Have I tried to understand the root of my friends’ misfortunes? How much do I really know about my friends? Maybe I was never brave enough to confront their real scars and the worlds they’ve been living in. But I need to do it. Because it may be the key to saving them all.”

How to Offer a Hand

In this story, SeokJin attempts to prevent NamJoon’s arrest after he gets in a fight with a rude customer at Naeri Gas Station, his place of work. The first episode opens on the night of 11 April Year 22 with NamJoon curling his fists, glaring as crumpled bills lie untouched on the pavement. (The money looks similar to the shot from the I Need U MV.) SeokJin reaches for his shoulder, but NamJoon shrugs him off and strides away to punch the customer who deliberately dropped the bills for him to pick up. The gas station owner runs over at the customer’s furious shouts and orders NamJoon to apologize. He refuses, and police officers soon arrive and charge him with assault. No one listens to SeokJin’s protests that the customer started it first. The man sneers as NamJoon enters the police car. “Do you even have money for a settlement? Hey, you’re done for.” NamJoon is sentenced to prison again, and SeokJin hears glass shattering before the loop resets.

Rising from his bed on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin reflects on his failed efforts so far. He has hit the customer’s car, called for NamJoon in the middle of the incident, and stopped the fight himself, the latter of which caused his friends to avoid him later. The fight has even escalated; the details are unspecified, but the audience is provided an ominous shot of SeokJin speaking to a police officer alone at the scene. NamJoon is not the kind of person who would normally respond to that kind of provocation with his fists. SeokJin realizes that he cannot merely stop the fight but must discover and fix the true cause of it.

With this in mind, SeokJin heads to Naeri Gas Station during the day and tries to engage NamJoon. This is their first time meeting since they both returned to Songju, although SeokJin has experienced it in many loops already. “It’s been a while,” he greets (as he does at the end of the Blood Sweat & Tears Japanese version MV). Before SeokJin can dig deeper in their conversation, NamJoon is called away by his boss. SeokJin enters the small employee break room which serves as NamJoon’s living space when he’s not at the container, hoping to find some clues about his friend’s life. SeokJin locates something bundled in newspapers. If the player chooses to open it, he sees a strange shard of glass inside that may belong to a car or motorcycle headlight. He continues on, finding the book Cosmos by Carl Sagan and a notebook. SeokJin hesitates over the invasion of privacy but decides to read it since he needs all the information that he can gather. The journal entries detail NamJoon’s daily life since returning to Songju: his work at the gas station isn’t too bad despite the occasional rude customer; he purchased a book and hopes to get more in the future; he picked up a second job at a wedding hall to help catch up on bills; his brother NamHyeon got in trouble again, leading to more expenses; and his dad’s health has worsened, with hospital bills after an emergency surgery rising to levels that the family cannot afford. SeokJin knew that NamJoon was the de facto head of household due to his father’s illness but was unaware that it was to this degree. He feels sorry for NamJoon yet is also impressed by his maturity, for NamJoon never writes how difficult his situation is.

NamJoon arrives and asks what SeokJin is doing in the room. If the player chooses to answer “reading” instead of “just sitting there,” SeokJin privately observes that the conversation flows more easily when they talk about books. NamJoon says he must leave and declines when SeokJin offers to wait for him there. SeokJin knocks over a pile of books along with money and receipts as he stands. He thinks it is unusual that NamJoon picks up the books before the money. The books seem to be more than a hobby to NamJoon, holding special meaning. Walking to his car, SeokJin wonders if it is pride or determination not to falter that keeps NamJoon from journaling his grievances. He realizes that money is a constant source of frustration and misery to NamJoon, and that’s why he can’t stomach being insulted over the customer’s dropped money. SeokJin’s new plan is to prevent NamJoon from picking up the money. He also calls Palgok County Hospital and offers to pay the patient bill for NamJoon’s father. Anticipating that NamJoon will be angry if he finds out, SeokJin says the payer is Songho Foundation.

That night, SeokJin returns to the gas station with the excuse that he forgot to fill up earlier. The luxury car arrives with a honk, and NamJoon hurries over to assist. He shakes with anger when the customer drops the money on the ground. “Why aren’t you picking it up? You don’t want it? What’s with that look? Pretty arrogant for a part-timer, aren’t you?” goads the customer. SeokJin intervenes. Whether the player chooses to have him advise NamJoon not to pick it up or to order the customer to pick it up himself, the end result is the same. SeokJin asks the customer, “Why are you harassing a pitiful part-timer?” The customer drives away, and something about NamJoon seems off. His face is expressionless, not mad or humiliated. “SeokJin, you…” He stops. “Never mind. Thank you for your help.” The words sound difficult for him to speak.

SeokJin believes that he has saved NamJoon, although this ending feels sloppy. He continues on in the loop to rescue JungKook and later YoonGi, but uneasiness plagues him. Though he meant to help NamJoon with his actions, SeokJin wonders if he hurt him instead. On 5 May Year 22, he returns to the gas station and follows NamJoon when he leaves work early. NamJoon enters a bookstore, and SeokJin sneaks in after him to watch from afar. He overhears employees talking about NamJoon, worrying that he might dirty the pages of the book he’s perusing. NamJoon is too absorbed in the book to notice one of them calling for his attention. SeokJin recalls a memory from their school days when he found NamJoon reading alone in their classroom hideout: he asked why NamJoon read so diligently, and his friend explained that he found it comforting to empty his thoughts of everything else while focused on the book. In the present, SeokJin wonders how he forgot how much books mean to NamJoon. He sacrifices some of his food and transportation budget to afford them, but they enable him “to endure the weight of the world he’s forced to bear on his shoulders.” After realizing this, SeokJin wants to apologize for carelessly sympathizing with the reality that NamJoon has weathered alone.

The next episode is from NamJoon’s perspective, revealing his excitement over being able to purchase a book for the first time in two months. He wants to buy two but can only afford one. The employee at the register sighs and asks why he leafed through a book he wasn’t going to buy. NamJoon apologizes, and she mutters, “So dirty.” He notices his reflection, clothes worn and smelling of gasoline, and realizes she’s talking about him, not the book. He tries to shake off these depressing thoughts, but he is still not accustomed to this treatment despite experiencing it regularly at work. As NamJoon begins to exit the store, the security alarm goes off. The employees demand to check his bag despite his insistence that he didn’t steal anything. Their certainty of his theft angers him. NamJoon allows them to look through his bag, and they are suspicious of the like-new book in it which he brought from home. One begins to call the police until SeokJin appears, vouching for NamJoon by saying he saw everything. The employees accept that the alarm malfunctioned and excuse their suspicions as a mistake.

Outside, SeokJin asks NamJoon if he is all right. NamJoon is thankful but wonders how SeokJin materialized right when he needed him. “How’d you find me here?” he asks aloud. SeokJin explains that he happened to notice him while walking through the neighborhood. NamJoon wonders if it’s because they said goodbye on a weird note last time. He thanks him and turns to leave. SeokJin calls after him. “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you that day at the gas station. It was a mistake to have called you pitiful. If my rash actions hurt you, I’m really sorry.” NamJoon accepts his apology, believing it to be sincere, and says that things would have turned out a lot worse if SeokJin had not intervened. Thunder rolls overhead, and NamJoon uses the impending rain as his excuse to depart. He declines SeokJin’s offer of a ride and runs home, feeling his friend’s eyes on him.

Before he can settle down to read at home, NamJoon receives a call from his cheerful mother. She thanks him for paying off the entire hospital bill. NamJoon is perplexed and asks what’s on the receipt, since he didn’t pay it. His mother wants to leave it be, but he insists that they investigate so they don’t get in trouble or sued. She reads that the Songho Foundation is credited as the payer. NamJoon calls the hospital, introducing himself as the guardian for Kim YoungMin, but they can’t transfer him to the administrative department at this time. Disappointed, he looks up the foundation’s website, unable to recall why it sounds familiar. He wonders why a scholarship foundation in the city would get involved with him. Spotting photos of a recent launch ceremony on the site, he recognizes a few people: Songju High School’s principal, the familiar-looking face of the foundation’s chairman, and SeokJin. First, NamJoon forces a laugh, and then it’s difficult for him to breathe. He thinks that SeokJin really had pitied him at that moment. The only thing keeping NamJoon going is the idea of getting through life on his own strength. Why does he have to live like this?

The last episode opens on 5 May back in SeokJin’s perspective. He is confident now that he has saved NamJoon, although it occurs to him that a better alternative may have been to simply pick up the money himself instead of stepping forward. (This decision is enacted in a later loop and depicted in the Euphoria MV.) While reflecting on what comes next to save his other friends, he receives a text from NamJoon. “What’s your account number? I’ll pay you back for the hospital bills. I don’t need your help. I’ll handle my concerns on my own.” Heart sinking, SeokJin wonders how he found out. With a sense of foreboding, he tries calling NamJoon, but no one answers. SeokJin texts him back, pretending that he doesn’t understand, and tells NamJoon to call him. SeokJin’s second attempt connects while he’s gathering his car keys to visit the container. “That’s enough. Just send the account number over text,” NamJoon instructs. SeokJin coaxes him to talk for a moment, and NamJoon asks flatly, “Are you going to apologize again?” SeokJin attempts to salvage the situation, but his friend turns cold when he insists that NamJoon is misunderstanding and that he just wanted to help. “So, why? Why are you helping me?! Yeah, you’re always a good person. You’ve done nothing wrong and I’m the one misunderstanding.” SeokJin apologizes again. NamJoon refuses his request to meet in person. “No, I thought maybe there was a reason for everything you did… But I guess I misconstrued it. I’ll pay you back, so I’d prefer if you stopped contacting me.” Long after the call ends, SeokJin stands holding his phone, feeling that the glass is going to break at any moment. He wants to believe that it’s not over, but hope is slipping through his fingertips.

The episode finishes in NamJoon’s perspective. On 8 May and 9 May, he accepts part-time delivery work and reflects on his three jobs. Whenever he thinks he’s at his breaking point, he focuses on his new goal of returning SeokJin’s money. On 10 May, NamJoon wakes up to his buzzing phone and is called in to work. On a scooter, he passes by a bus stop and notices graffiti. (This is the same bus stop, with matching graffiti, that appears in the Highlight Reel.) Mesmerized, he wonders if it’s TaeHyung’s. As soon as NamJoon looks up, the scooter’s brake fails, and he crashes. The shattered glass on the cold pavement reminds him of the headlight shard and the kid who looked like TaeHyung. (So the piece of glass SeokJin saw in April was really a memento NamJoon retrieved from the scene of the crash in the mountain town, where the delivery boy whom he privately called TaeHyung died. This event is described in NamJoon’s 17 December Year 21 entry in The Notes 1.) NamJoon’s vision grows blurry, and the distant sound of an ambulance doesn’t come any closer.

The arc concludes there, but it obviously marks another reset for SeokJin. It is interesting to note that in this failed loop, NamJoon suffers the same fate that he narrowly avoided in the snowy mountain town before returning to Songju.

Please stay tuned for the next Highlights post featuring JungKook and YoonGi!

[necromancy-savant]

Is Shakespeare's Richard III a Psychopath?

It is once again Shakespeare Richard III hours on this blog. A question that's come up in multiple conversations I've had with people in the past is whether or not Richard is a psychopath. With the disclaimer that this is not a strictly literary question and that it's hard to put modern psychiatric diagnoses on fictional characters from 400 years ago, etc., I looked up the actual DSM V criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder and I think reading it actually highlights some interesting things that are going on the first tetralogy.

So let's go through the diagnostic criteria; all the letters here are criteria that need to be met:

A. Impairments in self-functioning, either in "identity: ego-centrism; self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure," or "self-direction: goal-setting based on personal gratification; absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior," AND impairments in interpersonal functioning, either in empathy or intimacy.

B. Pathological personality traits: antagonism, characterized by manipulativeness, deceitfulness, callousness, and hostility, and disinhibition, characterized by irresponsibility (defined here as not following through on agreements, promises, or obligations), impulsivity, and risk-taking.

C. "The impairments...are relatively stable across time and consistent across situations."

D. "The impairments...are not better understood as normative for the individual's developmental stage or sociocultural environment."

E. "The impairments...are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance... or a general medical condition...

F. "The individual is at least age 18 years."

Looking through A and B, we're checking a lot of boxes based solely on the text alone. But C and D are where things get interesting.

As many boxes as I was able to check going through those first two criteria, most of them are not stable or consistent throughout the three plays Richard appears in. When we first meet him at the end of 2H6, he is ruthless but more than capable of pro-social behavior, helping the "old" and "feeble" Salisbury three times in battle by going into the middle of the danger, bringing him away, and then keeping him safe (see the beginning of 5.3.) Up until he emerges as a villain in 3.2 of 3H6, Richard is portrayed as brutal to his enemies but loyal to his family and allies. He even calls out Clifford's killing of Rutland, an innocent child, as morally wrong. And that's not even speaking of his monologue in 5.3 of Richard III, before the Battle of Bosworth field, where he feels incredibly guilty and regrets everything.

That leaves us in kind of a weird place, to be presented with a character who displays all these dysfunctional and harmful traits, but only in the middle of his story.

But it's D that raises the real questions and I think helps you see something that's going on in the tetralogy. Is anything Richard does nonnormative for a sociocultural environment full of warfare, murder, and backstabbing for political gain that's been getting worse and worse over the course of four plays? I don't really think anything he does is completely unprecedented. Part 2 is full of nobles plotting against and killing each other and even starting rebellions to gain and keep power. Humphrey is pretty harsh during his stint in power. Clifford later kills Rutland. And let's look back at some of Richard's early ruthlessness in light of this: his father York (who also breaks his agreement with Henry to end the war) praises his brutality. This behavior is not only normalized, but encouraged. Richard's bloody rise to power and paranoid rule are kind of just the logical conclusion of everything that's been building up over the course of the tetralogy.

So I guess my answer to the original question is no, I don't think so. You do have to meet all the letters to qualify for diagnosis, and I didn't even quote the language about "impairments in functioning" - Richard functions just fine until there's no more fighting - but more importantly, trying to view Richard as pathological pins everything on one individual in a narrative that chronicles the downfall of a civilized society into one where this stuff is normal. Maybe part of the point is that he's a product not just of family or interpersonal dynamics but of his larger social environment, and maybe that's why, in the end, even he is able to recognize that it isn't right.

[sometimes-i-write-4-you]

Hi I was wondering if I could request something for JJ from outer banks (I saw you had request open for it) with when him and Pope are getting beat up behind the movie he protects reader, you can decide the rest just make it fluffy:)

Fight for me - JJ x reader

a\n: i feel like there’s more angst than fluff but this show is lowkey the defenition of teenage angst so honesly not suprised.

trigger warnings: cursing, fights, gun mentioning, underage drinking. if i missed anything lmk.

word count: 3227

"so" Kiara started. We were standing in the line at the beach for a movie screening they had. It was in the Kook's area, but Kiara invited us. JJ and Pope were there too, but Kiara and i went to get Pepsi. "now that it's just us girls, spill it" she said. "spill what?" I asked her, confused. "don't deny, you know what I mean" she insisted. "Kiara, is this about JJ?" I asked.

I was sitting at the beach, a red solo cup in my hand. I'm not too sure how many beers I had at this point, but it really didn't matter. After everything went down, I run as fast as I could. I needed quiet, and so I went to my favorite spot at the beach – the balcony over at the deck. What the fuck was JJ thinking?

"hi" a quiet voice said. speaking of the devil. "hi" I relied, taking another sip of beer. "hey, (y\n), that's like, you're 7th cup and you know that I'm the last one to say such thing,  but that might be too much beer" he said, taking the cup away from me and leaving it on the table as he sat down next to me. I moved to the end of the bench. "look, (y\n), I'm sorry. I saw you running off after the fight and-" he says, and I laugh. "you call that a fight? That was not a fight, JJ, you pulled a gun on the guy-" "he was drowning John B! why doesn't anyone understand, I'm not the bad guy here" he cuts me off, and our eyes finally meet. Even in the dim light, his eyes were shiny, or maybe they were glossy from the tears that threatened to burst. " JJ, I don't think you are a bad guy, but you know that they are going to paint you as one" I said, my tone cold. It took every muscle in my body to keep calm, because deep down I wanted to cry. "you are so stupid, JJ. Do you have any idea how much trouble you are going to get into?" I say. "well, jeez, (y\n), If I wanted to get yelled at, I'd stay with Kiara. I came here to see to you, but whatever man, if you don't want me here, I'll just leave" he said. "how did you know I'd be here?" I asked, and he froze halfway through getting up. "well. It's your favorite spot" he said, sitting back down. "oh" I said, "yeah, it really is".

We sat there quietly, and I moved back toward the center of the bench, resting my head on his shoulder. He tensed up for a second, surprised by my actions considering the fact I moved when he first sat down, and then proceeded to tell him he's stupid. He stretched his hand behind me, brushing my shoulder. For a guy that just was at party full of alcohol, sweat and fights, he smelled good. "look, (y\n), I'm sorry if I scared you. You know, when I" he said, and shot the air with his fingers along with a terrible impression of a gun. "it's okay, I guess. I mean, you were scared too" I said, and he sighed. "yeah" he said and kissed the top of my head. "thank you" he suddenly said. "for what?" I asked. "for not walking away when I got here and for not letting me walk away when I wanted too" he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "no problem JJ" I said, looking up at him. I finally noticed the tears that were running down his cheeks. His voice didn't even break, and if it wasn't for the shiny stripes on his face, I would never know. I set up straight and cupped his cheeks, rubbing my thoubs against his tears to wipe them away. A pair of lips crushed on mine, kissing me hard, desperate to feel my lips move, and I kissed back. JJ's hand stroked my jaw line, pulling me closer. That was the moment I realized that you don't think about how shiny your friend's eyes are and you don't think the smell of beer and sweat is good unless you see someone as more than a friend. "oh my god, I'm so sorry" he said, pulling away. "what?" I said, confused. I kissed back, it's not like I pushed him off me, "I can't- you are drunk, and I'm taking advantage of that, you're my friend, that's not-" he said, leaning on the bench. "JJ, it's fine, I really didn't mind it" I say, smiling at him. he looked at me, "it's the alcohol speaking, kiddo. Let's get you home".

"yes, thank you very much" Kiara sighed, bringing me back to reality. "look, it was just a moment, and anyways, there's the rule. No pogue on pogue action" I said, hoping she wouldn't notice the sadness in my voice. I of course never mentioned all the details, I couldn't do it. Kiara, John B and Pope would kick us off the team, or at the very least kick us. Especially JJ, since I only hung out with them for the past month, since I moved to Outer Banks. I simply told her I think I have a crush on him. "great" Kiara smiled, "and thank you for like, talking to me about that" she added, and I laughed. "Kiara, it's normal girl talk" I said. "yeah, well, if you think I ever had those…" she laughed, and it was finally our turn in line. "two Pepsis" Kiara said to the guy behind the counter.

"hey kei, what's up?" someone asked. It took a moment, but I recognized him as the guy who almost killed my friends more than once. "how are you?" Rafe asked, and Kiara rolled her eyes as she told him she's fine. She turned to him, wondering what the heck does he want from her. She might be a Kook by social status, but those guys don't like her, and she doesn't like them. "good, good" he mumbled, "tell your boy that we know what he did". His posture was threatening, and I wanted to disappear, even though his attention was on kei. "sorry, what boy are you talking about?" Kei asked, returning his don't-mess-with me attitude. I had no idea how she is not terrified. "he'll know" Rafe said, and Kiara had enough. She took the Pepsis and started walking back to our spot. I followed. "bye" he said, and I don't know if he heard, but she called him a douche. She was right. "man, that guy's a creep" I say. "yeah" Kiara sighed.

We got to Pope and JJ. "just saw Rafe, and he said, and I quote ' tell your boy that we know what he did', what is that?" Kiara asks the boys. They looked at each other and I knew something was going on, and they were not about to share it. "where is he?" JJ spoke. He was wearing his hat backwards. I used to think it look dumb, but he looked good. We acted like normal ever since the party, never even mentioned it. I think he thinks I was too drunk to remember, and so he doesn’t bring it up and I'm scared to do so, cause he's my friend. "right there" Kiara replied, looking at the direction me and her came from a second ago. Both boys turned around to look. Topper, Rafe and Kelce were looking right at us, smiling like they are some Disney villain. "great. The whole death squad" Pope said, and JJ turned his head back to us. "don't stare bro" he said. "just warning you bro, if they corner me, I'm coming on swinging, okay?" JJ said, and I wanted to tell him to satay the hell out of trouble, but I knew he wouldn't listen. "slice and dicin', I'm on the edge right now" JJ kept going, and I was almost tired of hearing it. "yeah, yeah" Pope said, half dismissing JJ's words. JJ had so many fights with those stupid Kooks, but they always win, and I find it hard to believe this time would be any different. I love him, I really do, even if I have to keep this as a strictly platonic love and seeing him getting beat up by some rich bullies is breaking my heart. "If that doesn't work" JJ says, sensing the septicemic in the air, "I got this right here" he said, picking up his bag. "yeah, yeah, so we just gotta stay in group" Pope nodded his head, "they can't get us in the group". "like school of fish" JJ agreed. "stay in school, can't leave the school" Pope said, and it seemed like he is calmer. "I'm sorry JJ, please tell me you did not bring a gun hear?" Kiara said, half disappointed but not surprised. Kiara looked pissed, and rightfully. He looked anywhere but at us. "JJ, there are kids here. . She was annoyed, and upset, and I felt for her, but it really seemed like it was not my place, so I got up. "Kie, I didn't bring the gun, okay? Everything is fine" JJ blew her off, and their voices slowly fade away as I got closer to the water.

A few moments passed, and I felt someone is approaching. The mystery figure stopped right by me. I looked up to see JJ. "hey, you okay?" JJ asked. "yeah" I said, but his voice overpowered mine as he kept talking. "because you left up, and I just wanted to check up on you" he said, turning his face to me, but his body still faced the water. "just felt like it's not my business, so I-" I started. Our eyes meet and it's just like that night. The both of us facing the water, looking at each other's eyes, and one of us has tears in his eyes. I look away. "well, it is your business, you are a part of us, (y\n)" JJ says, placing his hand on my shoulder, "just to keep you updated, things might go down tonight". "you'll get yourself killed, JJ" I say, regaining the courage to look in his eyes, and the dammed salty liquid is now running down my cheeks. it's just a few drops, barely noticeable, but JJ is quick to pull me into a hug. "hey, hey, it's okay, I won't die. Don't worry, okay?" he said, slightly pulling away from the hug to wipe away the tears. He doesn’t move his hands, and as he's starting to lean down, and I'm about pull myself up to meet his lips halfway, we hear someone calling our names. (y\n), movie stars!" Pope screams, running toward us. We clear our throats and step away from each other and turning back to the seats.

Fast forward to a few hours later. The moon was out, along with the stars, and Pope's need to pee. Him and JJ went together, which I thought was funny until I realized why. Minutes pass, but there is no sign of them. "kei, we should check on them" I say. "and risk catching them pee?" Kei replies, laughing, "no yeah, you're right, they've been peeing for really long" she admits after she realized I'm serious. So, with that, we get up and start walking at the direction they went, taking JJ's bag with us. The sounds we heard could not be mistaken.

"get off of him, Topper, you fascist asshole!" Kie called without thinking to much, hitting Topper with the bag. If she's on helping Pope, guess I gotta save JJ, who's taking punches from Rafe as he struggles to escape Kelce's grip. "leave him alone" I say, approaching them. Violence is not my thing, but if words won't help with those guys, which is highly likely, I might have to use my self-defense skills. My mom forced me to learn those when I was younger.

"or what, you gonna paint my nails?" Rafe laughed, leaving JJ alone and getting closer to me, which allowed the blond surfer to escape Kelce's hands. My goal was to make Rafe leave JJ, so goal achieved, I guess. JJ punched Kelce's Jaw and ran toward me, but his body was all bruised and he still needed to breath a little before he can do anything. i was scared, but rule number 1: don't let the other guy know you're scared. Well rule number 1 is actually to avoid fights, which I already failed, then rule number 2 is to never attack, only defend yourself. Now that I'm thinking about it. I'm not sure "don't let the other guy know you're scared" is anywhere on the top 5 rules of fighting.

"look, bitch, I don't care that you're a girl, a pogue is a pogue and I'll beat your ass back to your dirty neighborhood" Rafe said, raising his punch and aiming at me. I adjust my legs and move to the right. Rafe's punch hit the air, and I used his loos balance to push him on the floor. I pushed so hard, I lost my balance and fall over him, he quickly pushed me down, getting on top of me and holding me down. His hands were sweaty and dirty, and the spots on my hand he pursed on hurt really bad. I started kicking in hopes to hit a sensitive spot. "aw!" he groaned in pain, put it wasn't me who pushed him on the ground, it was JJ. "stay out of this Kiara!" I hear Topper scream as he's shaking her off of him, and she rolls on the ground, landing next to JJ's bag.

Speaking of JJ, he was sitting on Rafe's stomach, punching his face. "you fucking dick, don't ever touch her again" JJ calls. He pulls Rafe's shirt to pick the bleeding Kook only to smash his face on the ground. "you hear me?" He yells, "I want you to promise, say it!" JJ says, and his fist meets Rafe's face once again. In the background I can hear Topper yells something about admitting something. "I barely touched her man, she should've just stay out of it" Rafe insisted. "say you'll never go near her ever again" JJ doesn't give up. The smell of something burning Is finally shaking me off the shock and I get up. "JJ, come on, let's go" I say, looking at the burning screen. "say it!" JJ yells. His knuckles are covered in blood, and I couldn't tell if it was his or Rafe's. "JJ, there's a fire we have to go" I say, and I reach my hand, pulling his shoulder back to sign him to get up. "yeah, you should listen to your stupid bitch of a girlfriend" Rafe smirks in an attempt to keep JJ there. "JJ, get off of him right the fuck now" I say, and finally, he looks at me.  "look, I'm fine, let's go, okay?" I say, he nods and gets up. Before we walk away, I kick Rafe's chest. "that's for calling me a bitch" I say, and JJ's fingers intertwine with mine to pull me away from the scene.

"what the fuck, JJ?" I ask when we finally stop. I look around I see that Kiara and Pope are nowhere to be seen. We're at the beach, at the pogue part of the island. His hand still holds mine and he pulls me closer to him. "listen, man, I gotta ask you something" he said. "no JJ, first give me my answer. What the fuck happened there? What did Rafe and his goons wanted from you and Pope?" I asked him once again, insisting to get my answer. "the other day, we were doing deliveries and they jumped Pope. Told him they never wanna see him on their side of the island.  Those fucking assholes, and I wasn't there to protect him, (y\n)" he says, taking my free hand in his. "you promise not to hate me if I tell you what happened next?" he asked when I looked at him waiting to hear how the story continued. "JJ, I can never hate you" I admit. "okay, cool, so uh, we-, Pope and I, we drowned Topper's boat" he said, half a proud smirk on his face. He tried to stop himself, but when I started laughing, he couldn't hold it any longer. "that's-" I tried, "they had it coming, JJ, you did nothing wrong". He smiled and pulled me into a hug, whispering "thank you".

"you know how you said you can never hate me?" he asks, breaking the silence and the hug in the same time. "yes?" I say, my tone turning the word into a question. "well, there's something I have to tell you. At the party a few days ago, I kissed you. I was pretty sober, but you weren't and as much as I wanted to kiss you, I stopped" he confessed, "and you know, you said you were okay with it but I'm pretty sure it was the alcohol – you drank way too many beers, (y\n), and-" "you can stop talking, JJ, I remember that" I said, smiling at him. "you- oh" he laughs awkwardly, "then why- cause you never mentioned it". "I don't know, I guess I just thought there was nothing to talk about, you said I'm your friend" I said, my eyes meet his. The sea of blue he had for eyes was now surrounded by a sea of red. "do you think I'll beat Rafe like that for just a friend?" he asks, slowly wrapping his hands around me. "I think you'll beat Rafe for pretty much anyone" I laughed, and he pulled me closer. My hands reached to the collar of his shirt, fidgeting with the stained fabric. "shut up" he laughs. "no, JJ, you shut up. And kiss me while you're at it". I have no idea where I got the courage to say that, maybe it was the adrenaline or whatever, what mattered was that he did. "thought you'd never ask" he smiled before connecting his lips with mine. I pulled his shirt to get him closer to me as our lips moved in perfect sync. My hands reached for his jaw and settled on his cheeks. "ow, man" he says, laughing into the kiss. "shit, sorry" I laugh and pull away to look at his black eye where I touched. "nooo" he calls, disappointed the kiss came to an end. "JJ, we can kiss anytime, however you don't have a black eye all the time. Please, let's go over to my place, I'll get you some ice, and-" "really?" he asks. "well, yeah, I'm not gonna let you walk around with this thing and not take care of-" I said, confused. "no, I mean, really, can we kiss anytime?" he asked. "sure, yeah, it's- yeah" I replied. His smile got wider. "so like, are you my girlfriend?" he asked. "do you want me to be?" I shoot him a question back as I take his hand and start walking toward the street. "yes" he says, a little scared. "well, JJ, than yes, I am your girlfriend" I say.

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS | A MYSTERIOUS INTERLUDE

first time reader click here

This is a scrapped chapter. Originally, I was planning to 1) give Reader a longer, more intense destructive streak before her ending up with Tony. I planned three or so chapters that involved an abusive Quentin Beck, but, ultimately decided that to be too cliché. 2) I had planned to write at least 30% of the fanfic in Tony's/third person POV. This chapter would have been number 11/12 - Tony would have rejected her advances in the lab & she would have got hooked on Beck's charming facade.

Why am I publishing this? It seems like a waste if effort to shelf it, plus, it's Tony's POV. You can skip it since it has no relation/bearing on the current story. Just a tiny "what might have been" tidbit.

It was a moment's notice. One second, they're standing in a group, laughing, soaking in the warmth from the fireplace, chattering amongst themselves, telling tall tales and sipping their liquor. It all goes black briefly, and then they are surrounded by darkness - it's nearly impenetrable, so thick that their voices echo in it.

Tony's body was encompassed by the nanotech suit immediately after his eyes and his brain adjusted to the rapid change of surroundings. His teammates, too, had their skills honed on an instinctive level - the faint thump of Mjölnir in Thor's hands, the golden-green glow of his brother's magic, whirring of Barnes' prosthetic arm. Steve's shield stayed tucked behind the living room couch but his enhanced physique and readiness to fight 24/7 has him covering the unenhanced Clint and Natasha in mere seconds.

Tony was mostly angry rather than afraid. The team was having a good time at his party and the chance encounters of weird shit like this had been reduced to nearly zero percent possibility thanks to Friday's screening process: supervillains, Hydra agents and the likes strictly prohibited on Stark-owned premises.

It was a strange coincidence Banner had to take a break to check up on one of his experiments not even five minutes before the rest of the team was experiencing the strange change in scenery. Speaking of Strange, the sorcerer also was nowhere to be seen - Tony distinctively remembered seeing Stephen ten feet away from the bar, engaged in a hearty debate with the lead of SI's Medical Engineering department.

"This is not magic," Wanda piped up from behind him, confused. "I don't feel anything on the usual frequency. It sounds more like Friday humming in the walls, like electricity."

Good to know, Tony thought. It was nice having someone who was familiar with the undiscovered side of science - after all, Tony had always considered anything 'magical' to be science he had not personally understood yet. Wanda's most redeeming quality in Tony's eyes was the fact that more often than not she seemed to be as clueless as everyone else when it came to her powers and didn't act so high and mighty as some other people. Cloaked people, and horned people, for example.

"The fuck, man? I was hoping, just one evening, one normal evening with my beer and wings," Clint whined. Tony could hear Natasha huffing in annoyed agreement.

"Mr. Stark, what are we going to do?" His very own spider-child, on the other hand, sounded distraught. Peter's voice has this funny thing it does when the boy is upset but tries to hide it: it quivers on the vowels, wobbles slightly.

Tony had to blindly grope the air for a moment before his arm found Peter's shoulder. The boy was shivering and took the offered comfort eagerly, folding into the older man.

"Okay, whoever is pulling this stunt, my advice is: don't," Tony sighed, 12 000% Done With This Shit™, exclaiming loudly. "If that's a prank, stop it or speak up. If you got beef, then you got some nerve doing this in my tower. Show yourself."

He could feel the fine hairs on his neck stand up as the team tensed next to him, readily gearing up to pounce. Peter was vibrating in Tony's arms and the billionaire suddenly remembered the curious side-effects of Peter's powers, the spidey-sense. It must have been going absolutely haywire - the kid nearly hyperventilated himself into a heart attack.

"Stark, I must apologise for the uncomfortable circumstances. Believe me, it was a necessity - you always demand attention, whereas I need people to pay attention to me for a moment. Don't worry, you'll get yours when the time is due."

The voice was vaguely familiar. Male, slightly nasal but quiet and creeping. Insinuating. It lacked the usual boisterous bravado of a mid-grade bad guy, Tony had to take an educated guess that the owner of the mysterious voice was well-off, white. Privileged. No hint of desperation in it, as if the man was pitying everybody.

"The fuck? Q, is that you?"

Oh shit, Tony realized in muted horror. She must've been hanging around somewhere in their vicinity - which wasn't unusual, the girl usually orbited around Barnes, Wanda, Peter or Bruce. All of whom were present at the party. Tony had forgotten about her, to his shame, somehow having had automatically assumed she trotted out of the room on Bruce's heels. His science bro and her acted like conjoined twins when it came to their scientific ventures.

"Stop talking," The man growled, the voice suddenly coming from a very different direction. Tony heard a distinctively feminine yelp, albeit muffled. Peter violently jerked in Tony's arms. The engineer put the superstrength of his suit to use, holding the teenager down.

"Aw, hell no!" She yelled, the indignant shrieking followed by the sound of a moist palm slapping something glass...y? "What the fuck? I am asking you again. Are you... Oh my God, are you wearing a fishbowl on your head? Ow, motherfu-" The rest of the sentence is muffled, garbled. Whoever this "Q" was, she obviously knew him and he had silenced her. And, apparently, Q had an uncanny choice of headwear.

Tony was sure the rest of the team had followed his lead on doing a spit-take. They've fought enough supervillains with more than questionable fashion sense but a fishbowl? That was new.

"Be quiet, baby. It's for your own good. I don't want to hurt you if I can help it," The Fishbowl chastised her.

Tony's confusion once again returned to irritation at the frivolous way the villain addressed his science buddy. Peter's friend would have been more accurate but Tony had put her into the 'science bro' category not too long ago. They were close, as much as they could be, with the age gap and totally different interests and... The immense amount of guilt Tony felt for his attraction towards the girl. He was a dirty old man and she was barely an adult.

Every damn day Tony did his best to avoid making a shiny, big, new problem. Yet her brains and her wit and the uncanny ability to pull anybody into a conversation had a firm hold on his attention.

"Leave her alone," Stark angrily declared, powering up a repulsor. "What do you want? Party crashing isn't allowed in my tower anymore."

"What I want, Stark, is for you to give credit where it's due," The man answered simply, giving Tony just enough time to shove Peter behind him towards Natasha and take a tentative step forward.

The soft glow emanating from the repulsor illuminated barely two inches around his hand. The darkness surrounding it seemed to swallow the light. Tony moved on quiet feet towards the voice, easily avoiding furniture. His memory was good and he knew his tower, his home, better than anyone else.

"Did I hear that correctly, you're accusing me of plagiarism?" Tony tried for indignant, hoping to provoke the man into an inevitable, drawn-out speech where he lists all the wrongs Tony ever did him, giving the team precious time to regroup and form some semblance of a plan.

"Yes," Q simply answered, pausing for a second. "I hope you enjoy your next adventure. It certainly will show you the potential of my creation."

Tony shared a muted sound of confusion with the rest of the team.

"Q, I am very disappointed," To Tony's horror, th girl stared talking again. She sounded somewhat breathless, and closer to him than before. "Stop it with the dick measuring contest, you're a grown ass man. Go work for OsCorp, or Hammer, drink your sorrows away." She sounded so tired. And even closer to him.

"This is not a dick measuring contest!" Q roared suddenly and wow, that man was unstable. "This was my life's work, my creation, he insulted, berated and threw away!"

"I get it, I really get the whole 'being discarded and thrown away' thing," She replied, somewhat sarcastically. "But you know what? I'll be damned and I'll be fucked if I give some piece of shit any more of my undivided attention. They don't want me? Fine, they can fuck off and take their complaints with them." Her speech was periodically interrupted by shuffling noises.

Tony didn't dare to interrupt, seeing now the possibility of Q being actually calmed down by a teenager (probably) quoting some teen drama TV show.

"But going full Joker? You're a brilliant man, Quen, I wouldn't even look at you twice if not for your brains and your baby blues, however I don't fuck with the bad guys. That shit kills," The hand that rested on the wrist cuff of Tony's suit unmistakably belonged to her. She had the remnants of some sort of wire around it, sleek and quicksilver-shiny, irritating the tender skin under it. "And I want to live. You've gone and pissed off an entire crew of supers and I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think, Quen," There was genuine sadness in her voice.

Tony stood silent in confusion.

Whoever this Quen was, they obviously shared a close relationship. Tony's brain ran through the list of her friends, her relatives - there was nobody named Q, Quen or even remotely similar. Natasha had mentioned a possible boyfriend at some point but the man sounded too old for that, he was at least thirty. Or maybe? Tony wouldn't put it completely past the girl, if judging by the blatant way she flirted with Bruce. With himself.

"Baby, this is not about you. I don't want to hurt you," Quen replied, a hysterical edge to his voice. Something began flickering in the distance, attracting Tony's attention to the shape of a man with a round sort of helmet and a red, billowing cape (hello, 2012-Thor!).

"Too late, Quen. You've tied me up and you went on to attack my friends. I've already told you that if you yell at me one more time, I will leave you. So I guess this is it," Her voice broke at the end, pitiful sniffles following the statement.

Tony watched the exchange, mildly uncomfortable and very concerned. The man yelled at her? That was absolutely unacceptable, however, what else could one expect from a maniac with a flair for the dramatic?

The girl bodily placed herself in front of Tony, standing, doing nothing but rubbing her wrists. It was then that the engineer noticed Q nearing them, the shape becoming distinctively closer. And - yep, there it was - the fishbowl on his head. It completely obscured him, making his face invisible, unrecognisable.

The man seemed rather fixated on the girl standing in front of Tony. He floated in front of her, ignoring Tony, taking her bound hands in his own. A brief click and a hiss later, her wrists were released and the contraption fell freely to the floor where it landed with an oddly heavy thud. Tony hoped there was no lead in that thing - supervillains were dangerous but lead poisoning was cancerous and fatal.

"Baby..." Quen timidly touched her face with a leather-bound glove. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry." Tony took the chance to examine the man's costume. If anything, it looked somewhat steampunk-y? There was a lot of bronze, and the chest brace had some sort of glowing lines on it. Power storage units?

She stared up, towards the man's hidden face. "M'sorry, Quen," She mumbled, going in for a hug. Or that's what Tony thought. The majestic cape that billowed behind Quen was unceremoniously yanked from his body as the girl ducked, covering herself with it, yelling: "TONY, NOW, SHOOT, SHOOT!"

Tony did just that, shot Quen flat in the chest and the man stumbled backwards, tripping on the cape - such a stupid, unexpected thing. But Tony knew, his girl was clever and resourceful. Pride swelled in his chest as he shot the man again, Rogers running out from behind him blindly, body-slamming Quen into the ground for good measure. Two hundred pounds of supersoldier later, the battle was over before it even started.

"No!" The villain shouted as Steve pressed and popped the hilarious glass contraption on his head. The accessory was no match for the Captain's super strength. Tony immediately recognised the man as his former employee, Quentin Beck, and it clicked for him. It was totally a personal vendetta.

"This stuff is tough, plexiglass, maybe," The Captain remarked, pointing at the scattered shards around Beck's head. "It appears to be augmented too, some kind of tech, I don't know. You're good at this, Tony," Steve chuckled humorlessly, roughly turning Beck around and securing his hands with a pair of vibranium-reinforced handcuffs. God only knew where he'd gotten those from.

"Good at what? Making enemies?" Stark couldn't resist the self-depricating joke.

"Stop it, Tony," Natasha's gently admonishing voice interrupted Steve's incoming lecture. Tony, for once, was thankful that the Widow interrupted. He was in no mood to listen to another one of Steve's speeches.

"Who do you work for?" That deadly gleam in Natasha's eyes was terrifying and Beck was only a man.

"I don't work for anyone but myself, thanks to Stark," He spat venomously.

Natasha cocked an eyebrow in Tony's direction.

"Fired him years ago, this guy was going nuts. Brilliant but crazier than a bag of cats," Tony replied, feigning nonchalance. He could feel a mild headache begin to gnaw at his skull. "We worked on a project together, he got upset that I refused to weaponize it. We had a falling out. End of story." With that, Tony stood up, retracing his suit to only leave the gauntlets on his hands, gathered the various pieces of tech the good captain had removed from Beck's persona and made way towards the nearest table.

Or where he thought it was. All of them were still surrounded by the uncanny darkness. The anxiety that Tony forcefully shut down reared it's ugly head as soon as he lost physical touch with his teammates. He stumbled, his foot catching onto something on the ground.

"Ow, motherfucker!"

"Buttercup, I haven't fucked your mother nor I plan to," He snarked back automatically, flooded with relief at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Hope so. She'd probably bite your dick off if you try," A hand was groping his calf and then she stood up in front of him, still clutching the ridiculous cape. It appeared to be a source of light, which was very strange. The girl looked positively demonic, illuminated by red light, face scrunched up, eyes puffy, and clothing in disarray.

"You good?" Tony managed to choke out, confusion and worry and anxiety making his chest tight.

"Balmy. My boyfriend is a homicidal maniac with an inferiority complex," She sassed, an edge of panic to her voice. "Oh, and he tried to kill one of my best friends. I am fine and dandy."

"Your boyfriend?" That was the only thing Tony heard. Bat-shit crazy Beck, his babygirl's boyfriend? There was no way in Hell he'd allow such a thing...

"My ex-boyfriend, I guess," She sighed, removing the cape from her persona. Refusing to meet his eyes, fiddling with the hem of her top. "Here," The girl abruptly thrust the cape at him. "This is a funny thing, it's like a hologram but you can actually touch it. You should, uh, probably disinfect it, or something. I've been on-uh, around it many times," It was so unlike her, the fumbling, the embarrassment, Tony wanted to wheel her straight to medical to check if she's gotten concussed again.

Then his brain caught up and all he saw was red. Figuratively and literally - the cape was still in his face, loosely hanging from her outstretched hand. She must've seen the look on his face.

The step she took back was quick and worrying. "Forget I said that, I don't know why I said that. Oh, god."

"What were you thinking?" Tony inhaled a solid lungful, prepared to make his opinion very clear. "Getting involved with a lunatic! For a second I actually thought you were smart, there isn't a chance you missed that the guy is short of a few marbles," His voice was quiet, the one of a calm fury. His words cut deeply and he could see the hurt, the shame in her eyes, on her face. Tony knew he'd regret it later however his brain insisted it was a necessary evil. He continued ranting until he ran out of breath. "Not to mention he's, what, twice your age? And he yells at you and tells you to shut up? It didn't ring any alarm bells in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Tony, stop," Steve's hand landed on the engineer's shoulder and he simply shrugged it off, staring at the quivering girl in front of him.

She was crying, silently, few tears pooling in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, leaving ugly streaks in her make-up. Tony expected her to sass him, to argue back, to yell obscenities like she usually did when something or someone upset her but he was met with hurt, stunned silence. His worst fear came true when she looked away, shrugging.

He'd seen this sort of dejected shrug the time her father drugged her and... She just took it. She expected it, even, his outrage, his disappointment. Being hurt and mistreated was the norm for her, Tony realized belatedly. There were too many parallels between them both that made him uncomfortable deep inside. His chest felt tight, regret washing over him like a tsunami wave.

"I'm turning on the lights, close your eyes for maximum comfort," Strange's voice announced suddenly, causing everybody to jump and shudder. Tony complied begrudgingly. The sudden influx of light was painful even from behind closed eyelids. His headache became a full-on dull throb.

"What happened?" "Are you okay?" "Is everybody alive?" Resonated across the room. Tony spied several small drones smoking and crackling next to the exit door, Stephen Strange closing a portal he must've used to evacuate the civilians.

The puddle of red holographic cape on the floor. And her hastily retreating back. Damn.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

[femslashhistorian]

Cat / Kara / Lena Fic Recs

In this fanfiction recommendation I have collected my two favorite Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat) and my four favorite Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (SuperCarp?, SuperCatCorp) stories and a complicated story that I love that is mostly Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (read the full rec).

SuperCat was one of the most popular ships in season one and continues to be popular. The chemistry between both Kara and Cat and Kara and Lena is undeniable and while Cat and Lena never met in canon, this has never stopped anyone from shipping them in a polyamorous relationship with Kara. While not hugely popular, there is a decent number of fics on AO3.

Cat/Lena is a rarepair but in some of the polyamorous stories Cat and Lena are in a relationship first.

Featured stories - Detailed recs and links after the cut

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Between Two Mountains by fiddle_stix04 *

With Love's Light Wings by writerstealth (orphan_account) *

Promise Not To Break by SpaceshipsAreCool  

I Wish I Could Carry You Away by PoppyCartinelli 

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (it’s complicated)

Art is Expensive by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered *

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat)

Commander in Chief by fictorium

Asking Too Much by fictorium

Note: * are my favorites

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

The first two fics are by favorites. They have a very different dynamics and settings:

With Love's Light Wings is an AU set post season 2 in which Cat returns to National City.  Between Two Mountains is set around season 5 (and diverges from canon then) and in this story Lena left National City, heartbroken because of Kara’s betrayal. Instead of the stupid things she did in canon, she does something much more sensible: she escapes to her ski resort.

 Between Two Mountains by fiddle_stix04

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 3 chapters, 74k words, 2020

Mature; smut with story

Lena runs off to her Metropolis ski resort to put Kara out of her mind. Across the globe, Cat's grueling schedule is no longer working to distract her from where she really wants to be, and as luck would have it, Carter has found the perfect vacation spot in Metropolis. But he needs a babysitter while on the slopes. Since Kara's powers are fritzing while she nurses her own despair, a vacation away from the demands of National City would be just the thing.

 This story starts with a very hurt Lena and a fascinating look back on Cat and Kara's past, told from Cat's perspective. Cat and Lena meet for the first time and start an affair (or more?) before Kara can start her holiday.

I enjoyed this wonderful, very well written story. It is funny, witty, smutty and pretty much angst free. I especially loved Cat and Lena’s banter.

 Favorite quote

“You received my thank you note for your donation?”

Lena laughed and leaned back in her seat. “I seem to recall it saying something about not destroying your city, your hero, and your assistant. I don’t really remember much of a ‘thank you,’ however.”

“Then I suppose it was really just a note,” Cat shrugged, unconcerned. “But it’s the thought that counts,” Cat said, eyes twinkling.

  With Love's Light Wings by writerstealth (orphan_account)

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 19 chapters, 34k words, 2017

Explicit; ESP!Lena (Extrasensory perception); post Season 2 AU

Three women, each with their own sets of walls, find that they need each other to bring them down. Set about two years on from current S2 canon, Kara is a more seasoned reporter, more comfortable and mature. Her friendship with Lena Luthor has long teetered on the edge of becoming something more, but her lingering hangup on Cat Grant has kept it from even starting.

Lena Luthor is a lonely woman with ESP that she developed as a teenager after an accident in her brother's lab. The irony is bitter; she's subjected to everyone's feelings, like it or not, yet struggles to ever share her own. Cat Grant returns to National City to resume her role at CatCo, despite her own unresolved feelings for Kara, and things become complicated for all three of them as they realize that what they need is something different from what they ever thought or expected.

 This is an AU, although the premise of the story only really diverges from canon of Season 1 and early season 2 in Lena's powers and that Lena and Cat meet. After that, it obviously diverges more from canon.

I am always a bit skeptical when Lena gets (super)powers in a fic, but my concerns were unfounded. This is a great and beautifully written story.

 Favorite quote

“Lena was the first person who even began to make me think I could have something with someone anywhere near as good as you.”

Cat looked a little sad at that.  “So, you do love her, then.”

Kara nodded.  “Yeah.  She’s a lot like you in ways, but then… in others, not.  But… she’s been there for me so many times, and taken care of me, and tried to protect me, just like you.  You know, protect me in… in the ways I can’t do for myself.”  She smiled a little, then.  “And she needs so much love, just the way you do.”

She couldn’t stand the wistful look on Cat’s face, so she kissed her again, so lightly, so carefully, imagining her lips and tongue as a butterfly coming to rest on Cat’s mouth.

  Promise Not To Break by SpaceshipsAreCool

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 8 chapters, 32k words, 2017

Explicit, dom!Cat, dom!Lena, sub!Kara

When Cat and Lena fell in love, they accepted that they would have to forgo certain desires in order to be together. For over five years they’ve been happy with that decision, but when Cat’s new assistant enters their lives, they can’t help but wonder if there’s another way.

What is really different in this story, is that Cat and Lena are together, have been married for years. I love their interaction. And their jealously and protectiveness for Kara. Cat and Lena are drawn to Kara, but they are afraid to start anything.

There is smut in the last chapters, but considering the tags, this story is really not that kinky. I enjoyed this well written story.

 Favorite quote

“Don’t tell me you fired that young blonde one, Cat, she was cute. Do you know she blushed the most delightful shade of red when I complimented her cardigan the last time you sent her to my office?”

Cat shook her head, standing up from her chair and coming around her desk to greet Lena with a soft kiss. […] “She doesn’t need any encouragement in that area, Lena, but don’t worry, I haven’t fired her, I just sent her to get me a fresh latte. Aside from her continued horrendous taste in clothes, for which I apparently have you to blame, she’s actually decent at her job. And no-” Cat raised a finger, shushing her wife before she could interject, “if you tell her I said that, I don’t care how ‘cute’ you think her reaction will be. I’ll fire her and you’ll be sleeping in the spare room for a month.”

   I Wish I Could Carry You Away by PoppyCartinelli

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 1 chapter, 7k words, 2018

General audiences

Disaster strikes, but our local heroine saves the day

 Lena and Cat get stuck in a remote cabin for a day or two. Set after Cat left national city to join the government. Cat and Lena know that Kara is Supergirl.

Nice medium length fic. Angst free, lighthearted and soft.

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor – it’s complicated

Art is Expensive by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant, Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Lena Luthor/Veronica Sinclair

Completed, 12 Chapters, 18k words, 2018

Mature; Cheating, infidelity, complicated relationships, end of relationships, angst; minor character death

Human disasters making a mess of things.

I have written about this story before, but I have expanded on my notes here.

Cat cheats on Kara with Lena (who is in a relationship with Veronica). Things get messy and complicated.

None of these are really my favorite ships and this is not something I knew I wanted, but I am mesmerized by this story. It is beautiful and so well written. It is told from Cats and Lena’s POV.

If you are looking for angst free, fluffy, and the usual Supergirl pairings, then this fic is not for you. But if you are open for an unexpected, bittersweet tour de force with a slightly unconventional happy ending, then definitely give this one a try.

Kara is asexual in this story, but while she has a role in this story, she is not the main protagonist. This is also not a happy story and while there is hope and some new beginnings, this is mostly a story about infidelity and the end of relationships.

And as this sums it up so much better than I could summarize it, let me also copy paste in a comment and the author’s response from AO3 here:

  Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat)

Commander in Chief by fictorium

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant

Completed, 21 Chapters, 73k words, 2017-2018

Mature; No powers AU (Alternate Universe), President!Cat, Lobbyist!Kara

45th President of the United States, Catherine Jane Grant, is entering the third year of her first term. Enter Myriad International, the country's most formidable environmental lobbying group, and their newest recruit: Kara Danvers.

With an ill-timed remark in a White House meeting, Kara makes an impression on Cat, who isn't about to let being President stop her pursuing the first woman in years to intrigue her. Can they overcome their political conflict to get closer?

 Plot broadly lifted from Sorkin's 'The American President' :)

While it is (also) a story about Kara and Cat falling in love, it is probably more a fic about two people overcoming the first big crisis of their relationship.

While the point of view switches between Kara and Cat, I feel this is more a Cat than a Kara story, that Cat is the main protagonist.

While strictly speaking you don't need to know anything about the Supergirl TV show to enjoy this story you will probably enjoy it more if you do know it - in particular Season 1. I liked that many characters are featured and have small supporting roles: Hank, Alex, Winn, James (even Mon-El has a few scenes and gets what he deserves ;-) and especially Lena, Lucy, Astra and Sam - they are all written lovingly and their roles in the story nicely fit with their characters.

It is very well written and perfectly edited and very fast paced. I think it is mostly due to the quality of the writing that I liked this story a lot, even though I am not the biggest SuperCat shipper.

Notes:

This story has no relation to the short lived TV show of the same name (2005, with Gena Davies) that I actually enjoyed.

I have not seen the movie the author mentioned this story is based on

 Favorite quotes

She walks down the short corridor and finds herself joining a line of guests waiting to go through the metal detectors. Just like at the airport, Kara has a vague sense of unease, as though she might have forgotten putting a machete in her clutch, or a titanium rod in place of her shinbone.

Completely irrational, and yet she can feel a prickle of sweat at her hairline.

But she steps through without a single beep, and then she’s being greeted by none other than James Olsen, White House Press Secretary.

 The day is unbearably long, topped off by a trip to honor some… thing in Pennsylvania that Cat just hopes she was handed the right speech for. No one lost their mind on Air Force One on the way home, at least, and back from Allentown was only a short ride. It makes her too late for Carter’s goodnight, and that always darkens her mood. She looks in on him, pile of briefing memos in one hand, and smiles at how peaceful he is when he sleeps.

 Asking Too Much by fictorium

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant

Completed, 29 Chapters, 94k words, 2015-2016

Explicit; diverges strongly form canon as the story goes on

Anonymous said to fictorium:

Cat needs a date to a party, she convinces Kara to go with her ("You're my assistant, nobody will think anything of it").

That's how it began.

Only it's not Kara who steps out on the red carpet, but Supergirl. As they continue with the public deception, chaos erupts around them: battles fought, lives lost, enemies old and new. Somewhere in there Kara and Cat have to deal with what happens when pretend feelings become all too real, along with the additional complications from Superman and both of the sisters Lane.

Ultimately, Kara has to find a way to make her ever-changing life workable. Can she do that while keeping Cat, her secret identity, and her family intact?

 I am usually not that much into SuperCat but this story’s summery caught my eye. The premise is interesting, the power dynamics is quite intriguing and there is hot sex. The story goes far beyond the typical fake dating trope and is mostly about Kara. I was fascinated by her development, especially in the aspect of Kara’s vs Supergirl’s identity. This story drives this into a direction that is pretty uncommon in fics.

 Note: I had written about the last three fics before, but I have slightly updated the recs for this post.

There are a few additional Cat/Kara/Lena stories (which I have not read and most of which are incomplete) on the Polyamorous Femslash Fanfiction Masterlist on my WordPress blog

This was cross-posted to tumblr and my WordPress blog

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