#thank gods for ao3 and every one of its writers
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Another year, another rec list with some of the best xuexiao I've read these last 12 months!! >w<
And like last year's rec list, this isn't either exhaustive or limited to fics posted in 2023. It's just the things I have found, which I liked, and want to spread the love about ^-^
Here's, in no particular order, my favourite xuexiao (and occasional songxuexiao) fics. Also, take a look down below for other mxtx or danmei pairings!
You're mine by twilightshards. This is a phenomenal oneshot where Xue Yang does not wait patiently to take revenge on Baixue temple, but rather follows the annoying daoshi out of Jinlintai as soon as he gets off the hook. He catches up with them a couple of nights later, only to find Xiao Xingchen in a... compromised position. While moaning Xue Yang's name.
The tamed by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior. Last year I recommended the wonderful The Prisoner of Jinlintai fic, and now we got a sequel to that!!! Exciting stuff, very exciting... Xiao Xingchen saves Xue Yang from his botched execution and Song Lan is there raging at what he thinks is a psycho taking full advantage of his friend's kindness. Absolutely loved it!
蛇 - shé by shoujorei. A spectacular oviposition fic with blind snake hybrid Xiao Xingchen and enemy-posing-as-housemate Xue Yang, who really didn't know what he was volunteering for when he offered to "help" daozhang with his next heat. An absolute delight!
good lies go bad by istilfearkanna One of the Yi City what-if's I like so much, showing what would happen if Song Lan is successful in killing Xue Yang and, as per canon, vows not to tell his friend anything. So naturally you have Xiao Xingchen happy about his rekindled friendship, but also deeply worried about his missing friend... breaks my heart every time T-T (thx lionfish13 for the rec!!!)
Down in the black sea by @10holmes. A mermaid AU which has to be the sweetest Xue Yang /Xiao Xingchen tale I've seen in a while, with xxc being a revered merman saving the life of a handsome pirate... without realizing that is the infamous Xue Yang, mermaid hunter and slayer of plenty of his kinsmen!! But of course, they fall in love. It's downright adorable (and deliciously angst-inducing!) Also, the worldbuilding in this one is marvelous!
promises, promises by an anonymous author. Time travel fic!!! This one follows Song Lan trying to right the wrongs of his life in the easiest way possible: that is, to eliminate Xue Yang before he has the chance to hurt anyone else. Except... he gets distracted saving the life of a poor child with a mangled left hand. Still ongoing, and XXC isn't in the picture yet, but the new chapters are highly anticipated and the writing style is so, so, so good.
the non-con opition by the same anonymous author. How do I know? None of your business!! But the awesome writing style continues here, as well as the song lan/xue yang being brought together by fate is just as awesome. It promises to be songxuexiao eventually, for now it's a delightful soulmates/omegaverse with alpha!Song Lan in rut nonconning the hell out of a mysterious omega with a foul mouth.
Sant Xingchen i el drac by @ergbolli45 A little sweet adorable spin of a traditional legend very dear to my heart. It's winter, the Yi City crew are bored around their campfire, and A-Qing wants a story. So, Xue Yang offers to tell a tale from some exotic land on the west about a little princess, a brave knight and a fearsome dragon.
sticking their dick in crazy by Sectionladvivi. I'm not generally one for modern AUs, but this one is such a stupid and shameless pwp that it skyrocketed through my rankings XD SongXueXiao, and oddly enough, the crazy one alluded in the title isn't Xue Yang!! Delicious and filthy. No thoughts, just horn.
Priceless by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior. Another modern AU!! but how can I resist, when this is Xue Yang breaking and entering happily married songxiao's domicile, who were getting ready for a very sexy night... and end up, Song Lan tied up and forced to watch the criminal fuck Xiao Xingchen senseless (and unaware it's not his husband the one in bed with him!). Evil and sexy, another wonderful fic by such a wonderful author <3
hands, reaching out by @neriine. A retelling of Yi City but with mutation-like special powers, making it especially interesting when it comes to xuexiao's backstory (song lan is also there, in the background) and the night hunts. It's sweet, sweet, Xue Yang as always a murder gremlin who thinks he has it all under control when the first thing that he doesn't know half-way about is his own feelings... Very well-written, and creative in its worldbuilding!
THIS lovely picture is not from a fic (well, not yet, unless I manage to do something cute with it >w<) but serves as an example of all the wonderful pic manips @wangxianswuji has made, which maybe it's cheating a bit for a fanfic rec post, but. They're just so good. Go check their profile and drool with me ^-^
and speaking of art, I can't not mention @wrathyforest's art done for the fic Now that I see you, particularly one of my favourite moments with Xiao Xingchen defending Xue Yang from an undesirable... this fic was in last year's rec list, and very deservingly so!
ANd now for the other ships!
Love of my life, don't hurt me by @foreheadkissesforzewu-jun This is a delightful and spectacularly cruel tale of unrequired love by a gallant cultivator spiriting his soulmate away. At least, that's what Wen Zhuliu sees it, when in fact this fic is him kidnapping and brutally assaulting Lan Xichen, while following the events of the Wen war and the sunshot campaign. Loved it, but PLEASE read the tags.
Jade pillar, bending like reed by awkwardrecline. dark jades (and dark!Lan Xichen in particular) are so so sooo very dear to my heart... this fic has it all, a tyrannical Lan clan leader who will abuse his power left right and center, a jealous didi who wants nothing but possessive love, so much smut everywhere... Cloud Recesses is never as sexy as when the jades are so unrestrained, I love it! ^-^
My future mommy's mistake by tenwudzvrs. Is this fic pretty much what many people consider nono kinks? mpreg, noncon, xue yang being an utter dick? and do I love it precisely because of it? XD pregnant Wei Wuxian goes home one evening but comes across a ruffian in a back alley, who does everything to him up to and including speaking with his husband through the phone while nailing him to the wall. Lan Zhan isn't happy. I am delighted.
What brother needs, brother gets by @foreheadkissesforzewu-jun. a modern AU jadecest pwp which... to be honest, it's pure oral fixation Lan Xichen going to his didi after he got dumped by some idiot and Lan Wangji doing the best he can to comfort him. It's ridiculously shameless and incredibly enjoyable, just to see these two come to the conclusion that the best course of action is to fuck each other!! XD Wei Ying will find a surprise when he gets back home from his travels and finds his husband has collected another husband...
furious love by @alipeeps. From Till the end of the moon, a very nasty and wonderfully in-canon insight on the disastrous marriage between Ye Xiwu (the original) and Tantai Jin. Let's just say she decides to take her marital rights to the extreme, and using the very same lust potion that originally landed her in that marriage to begin with! Tantai Jin is one of those characters that truly suffer beautifully, and suffer he does here!
a fire, made high and wild by @judiwench. A fic for Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, which is a series that wormed its way into my soul. Sui Zhou desperately searches Tang Fan (him, please, him, not his corpse) only to find him... less than good. I was seriously debating between this one and is the festering that kills a man by the same author, but... Agh, they are both amazing snippets at their obvious mutual love, and the trauma that brings it to light. Highly recommend the series and these fics!
a long sleepless night by @dying-redshirt-noises. This one is from Mysterious Lotus Casebook, a wonderful three-way pwp in the Girls' Mansion where Fang Duobing gets doused with sex pollen... of course, Li Lianhua wants to help, but there is not much he can do with his yang disfunction. How handy to have someone like a-Fei nearby to rail the young master, then!! It is sexy and wonderfully in-canon, and I'm all for it.
And I'm probably still forgetting a few fics, there is nowhere near enough jadecest here compared to what I know I have read and enjoyed... Shame on me again for forgetting to bookmark more often than not.
I'm a bit sad that I barely found any of this year's authors on tumblr (don't know if they don't have accounts here, or do under different usernames) so if anyone knows about them, repost bc I'd like to engage and give them my most sincere praise.
Also, I will say I purposefully avoided tgcf fics for fear of spoilers until I read the whole book, so... next year I'm surely filling this with hualian and such!! >w<
Finally, since we're at it, I just will get a bit of self-promotion with the 5 fics I liked most of what I wrote on this year. I'm IMMENSELY PROUD to have produced 36 fics in this year of our lord 2023 (3 per month!!! omfg!!) and while I can't claim favourites, these might be the ones I'm most proud of:
Some kind of dream. Xuexiao roleplaying after a night hunt, with some nice power dynamics, very mutually enthusiastic consensual non-con, and Xue Yang all but confessing that he is Xiao Xingchen's worse enemy... Smut and fluff, all in one. I do love the 3 year bliss in Yi City, and all the in-canon opportunities it offers!!!
Incensed nights. An INSANE endeavor for kinktober, with WangXian dreaming each night a different cozy, cruel, smutty or simply crack-y scenario. 31 fics for the price of one!! multiple pairings, I can't stress how much Lan Zhan dreams of his brother, or wei wuxian's mind follows other ships... Extremely happy with this one, and I nearly went crazy, seriously.
Shards of morning nights and forbidden kisses. My attempt at jadecest, niecest and omegaverse, all in one. ANd quite successful, might I say! Both clan leaders Lan and Nie want to find a way to claim and marry their respective omega didis, but something something clan rules forces them to play a delicate and sexy political game. It ends in a very nice orgy XD
A Comedy of Yi City Errors. This one, I'm particularly happy with the sheer amount of planning and interlocking plotpoints it has, with Song Lan coming across Xiao Xingchen, a-Qing and Xue Yang without even realizing. I'm told it is quite funny... And I like it very much >w<
...what did you call it again? the only one not mdzs in the list, this is for Till the end of the moon and it's yet again Tantai Jin suffering in his so beautiful way! It was done for an exchange, following the premise: take a canon even and make it worse. Do you think ttj had it bad in the series, with the servants mistreating him in Ye Manor? Ya have seen nuffin!!!
Once again, thanks for reading, thanks to all authors for writing, and let's have a wonderful 2024 full of fics and love!!!
#2023 fic recs#ao3#the untamed#mo dao zu shi#mdzs#xuexiao#wangxian#jadecest#niecest#till the end of the moon#sleuth of ming dynasty#mysterious lotus casebook#xue yang#xiao xingchen#song lan#wei wuxian#thank gods for ao3 and every one of its writers#happy 2024#xiaoxue#songxuexiao
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A Tale of Spirits Status and Other Updates (Long Post)
I've gotten a lot of questions about A Tale of Spirits and its hiatus status over the past few days (months lol). I've been mulling over this post for a while now, avoiding it if I'm honest, but I've gotten to a point where even I can't avoid the writing on the wall.
So, let's start with what's holding me up. Over the last ten-eleven months, I've been dealing with a nerve issue in my wrists and hands (both, if you can believe it). Now it's nothing super serious (we haven't had any surgery talks, thank God), but it bothers me constantly throughout the day, and having an office job doesn't really help. It's crazy to go through some of these older Tumblr posts because my hands were bothering me even then, but I didn't want to admit it.
Long story short, I feel like I'm caught in this...loop of trying to heal. I'll have really good, consecutive days, and when I think I'm on the right track, something happens, and I'm pulled right back into it. It's frustrating, demoralizing, and terrifying all at once. I try not to spiral into worst-case scenarios with this whole thing, but my hands are numbing while I'm typing this. So....yeah, it's slowed my writing practically to a halt. I can bang out a couple hundred words here and there and focus on one-offs since they don't feel so...daunting, but chaptered anything mentally makes my hands twitch. My long sessions are gone at the moment and this leads me to that writing on the wall I mentioned earlier.
I don't know when A Tale of Spirit will return.
Man, that hurts to type. ATOS has been a part of my life for almost two years now. I've grown so much from this story, and my writing has evolved so much from this story. I have so much fun with ATOS. I mean, that's the point of fanfic, but I have fun with ATOS. I go back and reread parts, and I laminate past narrative choices as if those words are written in stone. I snicker while working out dialogue and really (and I mean really) let loose with action choices and experiment.
Hell, I have AUs of this AU on my drive lol. I owe a lot of my growth and confidence to ATOS. I mean, I read every comment and every Tumblr message (and I mean every comment). The support and love this story has received makes me believe that I'm not as terrible of a writer as I thought, that I might actually hack it in the literary world, so it's devastating that I can't put all my energy into this or my personal work.
To be honest, I'm still halfway in denial. I know I'm going to finish this story eventually. I love it too much, but I can finally admit that I'm not sure when that 'eventually' will be. Geez, I should've written this a while ago, but denial is a blinding thing.
I tackle writing when I can, but the nerve thing has thoroughly pulled me into a slump.
I'm going to update ATOS to say indefinite hiatus and put this same message on AO3.
I'm not saying goodbye to ATOS. I was deep in my unposted arcs before all of...this reached a peak even I couldn't ignore. I was really doing something with April, Zuko, and Suki (fun dynamic, by the way). Azula's been fun to play with, and angry, fed-up turtles have been a challenge in a half, so I want you guys to see that one day.
So, there it is. I know this is closure for some of you, and you all deserve to know what's going on with ATOS. I know this update will be a relief for some of you because now, there's no more guessing. The dreaded 'indefinite' has been typed and sealed in digital ink (dramatic, I know).
I'm going to leave it here because I don't know how to end this post. I'll be around, lurking in possible (short) one-shots and slowly chipping away at ATOS. So, until then, rest, rehabilitation, and copious amounts of books and music to listen to.
See you soon.
#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt#crossover#fanfiction#fanfic#atla#a tale of spirits#crossover fanfiction#atos#a tale of spirits question#a tale of spirits update#fanfiction update#health issues are the worst#this literally pains me to write#i'm not abandoning it#hiatus announcement#avatar the last airbender drill
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𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐎’𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐞 - 𝐏𝐭. 𝐈: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞
Miguel and Peter have been best friends since grade school. You’ve been in love with Miguel for about that long.
He’s messed with every girl on campus, all of your friends, any girl with a pulse except for you- Parker’s adorable little sister. Even so, there’s plenty of ways to get fucked.
|| 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐃 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦.𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ||
Characters: Miguel O’Hara, Parker!reader, Peter Parker
Tags: Explicit- MDNI, College AU, Brother’s best friend, friends-to-lovers, house party, alcohol, voyeurism with a third party, sloppy oral, degradation, yearning, sarcasm, shared Marbies and the insurmountable melancholy
Word count: 3k cross-posted to Ao3!
Thank you for your patience and encouragement, I survived my first case of writers block since being back. -xoxo, chiwhorei
You wobble forward on a pair of heels that pinch a bit too tight. Your favorite pair was lent out to a friend, they matched her outfit better anyway. The runner in the hallway slips under the balls of your feet.
The bathroom, that’s your excuse. His room just happens to be right next to the bathroom. You’ll just peek in to see if he’s hiding from the pounding music and drunk college students trying to talk over it.
The fruity drinks Peter keeps making you are starting to tingle in your cheeks. Miguel calls you a lightweight, but you’ve hardly seen him at all tonight. He’s not a very good host, you think, leaving his party guests to mill about without his company.
Most everyone seems plenty boozed enough to not notice, but you would miss Miguel even if you were sedated. You’re certain you could miss him the same, even if you’d never met him. You curse your own hyperbole, God, drunk you is annoying.
“Mmph,”
A muffled groan spills out of the creak in his bedroom door. Sober you probably wouldn’t creep any closer, but she’s long gone. Plus, you have to walk past it anyway, you remind yourself, to get to the bathroom.
Your eyes wander from their strained focus at the end of the hallway and catch on a familiar complexion. Strong arms hold Miguel’s meal against his bed as it whimpers and squeals, muscles flexing underneath the remainder of his summer tan. The space between the door and its fame is just enough for your face- too much, by far, but the blood under your skin seems to pull you as close as possible without it squeaking open any further.
“Calm down, Mami,” He shushes against her, you can hear how wet his lips are, “we’re not going to get anywhere with you squirming.” Miguel’s voice knocks the air from your lungs, it escapes past your lips in a clumsy gasp.
His stare, deep and unblinking, pins you to the doorframe. You’ve gotten Miguel plenty mad, riled him up more times than you could count- but this is different. It’s red-hot, soldering you to the ground below. It’s not anger, not surprise, not the mixture of both it probably should be.
“P- please, I can’t,” her voice is familiar, even broken around a cry, “I can’t cum again, Miggy.” He kisses up her leg, licking at her ankle as it’s pinned to his chest. Pink strappy heels sit limply against the dip in Miguel’s collarbone- the pair you leant her a few hours prior. They matched her dress better, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern anymore.
Miguel doesn't stop, doesn't flinch. You can hear his mouth as it purrs into her again, see his cheeks sitting high on his face- even behind the thighs that obscure your view. Instead of yelling at you to close the door, Miguel smiles wildly. Evil, in the sweet, tooth-rotting kind of way.
“Aw, Pobrecito,” he coos against her, but the words are shot towards his voyeur, “you can give me one more.”
It feels like a bullet in your chest, friendly fire.
“You’re my good girl, aren’t ya?”
“Hey,” A finger and thumb snap in your blank eyeline to rip you from your thoughts, you jump in your seat at the sound, “Are you listening to me whatsoever?”
“Claro,” Your accent lacks any semblance of confidence. Miguel scoffs, at least some of his work is getting through.
You clear your throat and focus back to the textbook in front of you to read off the next prompt, “Write out a response to the following question, ‘¿Qué haces este fin de semana?’
Miguel snorts in response, and your eyes narrow across the kitchen table. He swallows back the snicker he holds in his mouth, hands up in feigned innocence.
“Vale, but this one’s easy, ‘No tengo planes, porque soy pinche abborito-” You clip his last word, throwing the first thing in reach, your textbook, towards his head- hoping to land a papercut.
Your tudor’s braced for impact, catching it with one hand and laughing at your outburst. You huff, arms crossed and posture falling. Miguel and Peter have your parents old dining room set, your chair wobbles as you sink back in it. Just like it always has.
“I got that, asshole.”
“Well, you could have fooled me,” Miguel slides your book back across the wood between you, “You tested out of Spanish 101 and now you're going to flunk out of 205. What was it, hermanita, clerical error?”
God that nickname digs past your skin and into the nerve endings, eating its way outwards. It wasn’t always like this, was it? You can’t seem to remember a time where his voice didn’t ignite every cell of blood.
He must have a talent for house fires, you think, or maybe you’re just more flammable in the days following your little run-in. You retreat ever further into the wobbly dining chair to create some distance, digging your shoulders into the spoked back.
It feels the same as when you were kids. Slinking into your chair and puffing your chest when you and Miguel would pass insults over the table. Your cheeks feel just as hot, your blood just as cold. You’re 13 again and Miguel just told you that boys aren’t going to want to kiss you and get stuck on your braces.
“I did well on the stupid placement test because it was on paper.” You feel like you’re speaking around that mouth of braces again, “I can understand the vocab and stuff, but our final is all oral.”
“If the final is oral,” Miguel chirps, pulling you closer by the leg of your seat with a splintering screech against the floor, “you might as well just drop the class, mija.”
He’s far too close, your skin might start sizzling. This was a horrible idea, one you’re sure you’ll be paying for later. He might as well put it on your tab.
“I’m just going to go to the tutoring center tomorrow, or try to drop, or fail and lose my spot on the dean’s list.” You go to slam your textbook closed but Miguel’s fingers curl over the spine, spreading out to keep it open.
“Cálmate, you’re not doing any of those,” instead of looking dumbly into his stare, your eyes fix on the rings Miguel wears; one for every long, beautiful finger. He mixes silver and gold, and you can’t decide which metal looks better against his gilded complexion. The things those fingers could do, your eye threatens to twitch at the thought, the places those fingers have been. Nearly all of your friends and the majority of Sorority Row.
“I promised you I’d help, I’m a man of my word,” his tone feels earnest for a beat, and you watch a pointer finger come out to barely graze the hand you’ve still got holding your book. It’s hypnotizing, maybe you shouldn't be so hard on the girls that hang off of his every sentence. All of these years you should’ve been inoculated, and you’re still no better. You might even be fatal.
“Plus, your brother bet me that you’d fail your final.”
Fuck him. And every perfect plane of skin. And that lopsided, toothy grin. And that goddamn laugh that makes you feel undercooked and mushy.
You pull your hand away, moving to stand up but those dangerous fingers curl around your wrist. His touch is so familiar, so easy to get sucked in to, like a rerun of your favorite movie. A physiological horror, maybe.
“C’mon, I bet him that you’d ace it. You’re my smart girl, mi nenita.”
The opening you have to throw a smart remark, or maybe another book, is wasted thinking about if you’re the only one who gets called that.
Miguel drops his grip on you as the front door opens. From the corner of your eye, you see his tongue lick over his bottom lip, just like he does every time he’s won. He must like the taste of your turmoil.
“Is our girl fluent yet, Mig?” Your brother’s presence is booming and a more than welcome distraction. Peter’s hands wrap around your shoulders, pressing his stubbled cheek against your face hard enough to squish your mouth to the side.
“Oh absolutely, she’s on her way to nailing that final. We’ve just got to work on her or-”
“Peter,” your voice interjects, a few octaves higher than what would pass for normal, “you got a lighter? I need a break.”
Your brother pats his jacket pockets a few times before tossing you his zippo. You fumble the catch, nerves rubbed raw and bloody. Don’t give him a reaction. You reclaim a bit of your composure and swipe the pack of Marblo reds from the table.
“Hey! Those are mine,” Miguel’s protest dosen’t reach his eyes, and you can’t hide the pleased smile that he pulls up over your teeth, “fucking brat.”
“Put it on my tab.”
The cement fencing around your brother’s apartment is cold against your ass. Your brother’s lighter sparks a few times before you can light up the cigarette. He should get a new one, but you know he won’t. Peter hates change.
Must run in the family.
It wasn’t always like this, you think against the first pull from Miguel’s cigarette, maybe if I keep ignoring it, we can both pretend it never happened.
What’s longer, death, or a life sentence?
You would have gladly lived and died a lovesick puppy, following your brother and his best friend around like Miguel was leash training. Living in between the moments of your life where he was, where he’s always been. Wrestling in the living room, pretending to hate when he’d gain the upper hand and pin you down helplessly under him. Playing tag, playing house. Calling shotgun in his old mustang, giggling every time your brother tried to argue. “It’s her seat, Peter,” he’d say with his arm over the back of your seat, pulling out of the driveway as if he hadn’t just ripped out your bleeding heart, “get over it.”
You couldn’t tell at first, but that open bedroom door was the last straw bending. The last few moments before the break, the aching stretch as you’re snapped in half. You’re not just Peter’s clumsy kid-sister anymore, you’re the drunk college girl that watched Miguel fucking his tongue into your freshman-year roommate.
You’re the still-drunk girl that walked home alone and touched herself to the memory of his wet smile and lashing tongue. The sobered-up girl that came hard on a toy named after him.
Heavy boots stalk forward, tracing the sidewalk and landing in your eyeline. You take another drag, blowing out into Miguel’s face.
“No fucking manners,” Miguel pulls the cigarette from where it sits between your lips, “what am I going to do with you.”
From where you’re perched, you meet his gaze without having to crane upwards. Miguel’s lips wrap around the stain your lipgloss left. You wonder if he notices, if he likes that taste too.
“I think I’ve had more than enough of you today.” Your quip is half-hearted and falls flatly on the pavement between you.
“Ya know, for someone with a stick shoved up her ass,” Miguel steps closer, taking up the space between either knee, “your posture sucks.”
You straighten your back in protest, but a low tree branch pokes into your spine. A yelp splinters from your throat as the wood catches where your leggings meet your sweatshirt.
Miguel laughs, but leans forward and reaches around your middle to snap the branch from where it’s stuck against your tailbone.
“Told ya.” He flattens his palms against the cool cement, you can feel the warmth of his thumbs on either side of your thighs. Rule number three, Don’t let him get too close. But you’re trapped already, surrounded in three of the four directions.
“I think we need to have a little chat, Mami.”
Maybe if you fall backwards into the tree behind you, you could try to make a break for it. A few scrapes and bruises sounds significantly more palatable.
“I think I’m good, I’ve met my heart-to-heart quota for the year.”
You try to stand, but Miguel’s hands keep your hips down where you’re sitting. You can feel the ridges of his fingers where his rings lie, the warmth of his skin, the slight tremor in his left hand.
“Ay coño,” Miguel tilts his face up to give you a smile, his canines look sharp enough to break skin, “no need to play coy now.”
Flashes of wet lips and borrowed shoes run past your vision. There’s no way you’ll make it out of this conversation in one piece, you feel yourself chipping already.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you yank the cigarette from Miguel as he exhales, blowing his smoke from the side of his mouth. What a gentleman.
“I see,” he tuts. You watch him swipe his tongue across his teeth, it takes every ounce of will to keep you from thinking about how your lip gloss tastes in his mouth.
“Maybe I should bring in an outside perspective, I wonder if Peter saw anything on Saturday.” Miguel stands up straight and spins around to feign walking away, “He can help us track down the creep that was watching me fuck your little friend-“
“I don’t know what you want me to say, O’Hara,” your jaw is clenched hard enough to snap wire, “That I’m sorry? I promise I didn’t see anything? I promise I won’t tell anyone?” At least anger is a little easier than shame. Even if you’re the one in the wrong, it feels evil for Miguel to play with his food like this.
“O’Hara?” He laughs, turning back to face you with crossed arms.
“Well, Parker, I guess I’m just wondering,” Miguel takes the spent cigarette from your hand, pulling the last of it with a final inhale and dropping it onto the ground. You hear the crunch of his boot as he puts it out.
“Did you like what you saw?”
His face is only as far away as your eyelashes, two hands coil around your legs, hiking them up behind your knees. His lips are so close to you that you can taste his gum- cinnamon. A flavor so specific to him, you swear that’s the only reason he likes it.
“No,” your voice is barely above a whisper, speaking to someone you wish couldn’t hear it, “I mean, I wasn’t trying to… watch you. I was going to the bathroom and-“
“And you thought you’d stop by for an anatomy lesson? I only promised I’d help you with Spanish.”
Your eyes prick with frustrated tears, it’s either fess up or fall backwards and make a break for it.
“I was drunk,” your voice is louder than it should be, the arch in Miguel’s eyebrow seems to agree with you.
“I was tired, a- and drunk, and when I walked by your room I was… curious, I guess.”
His hands loosen from where they press into your leggings. He hasn’t let go yet, thumbs now drawing circles into the thin spandex. If his touch wandered any farther, you’d be done for- the damp heat spilling from your center outwards is mear inches from the tips of his fingers.
“Little Parker was curious,” his voice croons, “about what exactly? The birds and the bees? What mommies and daddies do when they love each other?”
Miguel’s waist blocks your legs from twisting over each other, there’s no relief to be found, it seems there never is- for you at least.
“I know what the-” his patronizing widdles down any sharp comeback you’ve got holstered until the points are dull, “I’m not a fucking kid anymore. I’m plenty versed in that area of study, and I definitely don’t need any notes from you.”
You’re not as hopeless as Miguel thinks, your first year of college was spent on any ‘anatomy lessons’ you had still been missing. Underwhelming, unsatisfying, clinical even, but the specifics would be buried next to your grave before you’d give them to Miguel.
“Hey Mig, ya ready to go?” Your brother’s voice almost knocks you from the cement ledge you’re perched on.
Miguel doesn’t falter for a second, whispering into the shell of your ear and punctuating with one last malicious smile. Your skin feels sticky, like you’ve just crawled out of a mouse trap.
The words he moved around his lips are left to echo in the now-empty space in front of you. His Mustang whines as it pulls out of the driveway and you try to shake loose from the grip still searing your thighs.
“Just let me know if you need help studying those more private subjects, I’m known to be quite the tutor.”
©️chiwhorei.2023 || don’t fuck with me I’m so serious
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Writers Guild Cock Fight
Art by woaini_ogelskerdig
Summary:
Crowley wants Aziraphale, but does Aziraphale want Crowley?
Moreover, Crowley has the hots for Aziraphale, hasn't ever had the hots before, and isn't even sure what "hots" are supposed to feel like. He can't even cuss properly because every sex-related cuss word just reminds him how fucking (see?) confused he is.
But there's help on the horizon -- in the form of one Greek demigod they just happened to rescue off the side of a mountain. Not that our ineffable idiots have the sense to ask for help. But they're getting it anyway.
Written by startledplatypus, find them on Reddit and AO3!
Word count: 16,049 words
Trigger/Content Warnings: Explicit; dubcon; sex pollen; anal sex; oral sex; masturbation; mild exhibitionism; naga sex; snake sex: Ancient Greece religion and lore
Excerpt:
Crawly woke up on a low couch covered in deep navy velvet studded with tiny gold stars. A matching neckroll pillow nuzzled his head. The air was warm but pleasant, scented with cinnamon and cassia and… myrrh.
F---
“OH, my God,” he heard from across the… room? Well, it was more cylindrical than that, with fluted columns around its circumference and a ceiling lurking somewhere above. Night-dark curtains of tassel-edged heavy damask hung between each pair of columns, masking whatever lay beyond. Tiny lanterns floated here and there, strobing saturated, shifting colors across what little he could see of the lush, carpeted floor.
The Greeks did not have carpet any more than they had soap.
“OH, my GOD,” he heard again. This time it sounded less surprised and more mortified. And more familiar.
It sounded like Aziraphale when he’d realized one of his “rare statuettes” was a dildo.
Crawly groaned. Quietly. This was not going well. He thought about calling out to the angel, but changed his mind when he looked down.
He was starkers. Even his sunglasses were gone. And he was very… male.
Something made a muffled sound from not nearly far enough away. Then there was a thump, a quavery curse which might have been that awful “f” word, and a rather desperate groan. And a cream-colored neckroll pillow with pale blue stitchwork came sailing toward the demon’s head.
Crawly, too busy considering the ramifications of this situation, failed to duck. The pillow flumphed into his face and fell onto the couch-bed. It was, of course, tartan.
Shit.
A feminine alto laugh echoed around the chamber. And something ssssed.
“What the FUCK,” a very Aziraphale voice shrilled… and all the lanterns flared, revealing a too-tall woman standing on a low, round, central marble platform with a long, sinuous snake coiling up her linen-draped legs, over her cloth-covered shoulders, and down her bare arms. Its great head lifted, amber eyes lazily opening.
“Ohhhh,” it said. “Guessssts.”
Read more on AO3!
Special thanks to!!!
For beta-reading: DoonaRose, harlotupdog, ckocek, Paperclip_Ninja, and blackjeans93
For snek-jucation: blackjeans93
For ao3 formatting help: cheeseplants, GaiasEyes, mrscakeishere, and polychrome
For ART!: woaini_ogelskerdig
#good omens after dark#goad#ineffable smut war#smut war#good omens#good omens fanfic#writers of after dark
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Readers' Choice Rec List Part 1 of 7
To celebrate 500 followers we thought we'd do a special rec list featuring recs submitted by all of you, the readers ❤️ Though at the time of posting this, we're at 800+ followers 🥺 From the volunteers and I, thank you for supporting this blog. We hope it's been a helpful resource! Hope you enjoy these recs, with a little comment from the reader. Thank you to everyone who submitted a fic rec 🥰
I'll be posting a list everyday till all 7 parts are posted
Go and leave these authors some love ❤️ Happy Reading!
Theme: A fic that you’d like to celebrate and give some love to ❤️
the poem you make of me by @omgcmere
@celaestis1: Just as they speculate under the linden tree, Henry is a writer; Alex a model. The story is just so beautiful, sweet and smutty and funny.
Omakase by @orchidscript
@historicallysam: Orchid made me fall in love with a brash American who wants respect and a stoic Brit who wants to be himself. I could read this story every single day.
We'll Invite Something In by @smc-27
@historicallysam: President ACD & HRH Prince Henry, grown up and willing to work for what they want. It's one of my top two favorite stories in this fandom.
Spoke Love to Soul by @celaestis1
@emmalostinwonderland: The story is gripping, the characters are compelling, and the myth they chose is really under-appreciated. I rode the entire rollercoaster of emotions with this one, and I would gladly do it again.
cover to cover by Anonymous
anon: The characters' voices are amazing and the narration is just super sweet! A feel-good fic for anyone craving a good intimate time.
On Thin Ice by @pirates-against-heterosexuality (WIP)
anon: A really sweet, in progress, NHL AU. It's in progress but It's really enjoyable so far, especially as it draws a lot of similarities to book moments, without being a copy.
Heartaches and Cupcakes and Sunshine Boys by @everwitch-magiks
anon: This was the first RWRB fic I read, and it's still my favorite! Henry as a writer (and her skill writing as Henry) and the emotional depth of this fic are things I need in every fic!
love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves by @kapplebougher
anon: I am simply OBSESSED with this oneshot, I scream about it to anybody that will listen. I come back and read it every time I read the climax of Alex and Henry's argument in London. It is Henry POV and the first time I read it I truly wondered if it was CMQ writing Henry fic on AO3. Not only does it build on the signet ring and give background on what it means to Henry and parallels it with his parents, but it also weaves fire/water symbolism for Alex/Henry. The thing that gets me is the quote at the end though. It's just like the queer historical quotes from the emails in the books and it makes the ending SO PERFECT it just makes me go feral. I wish I could give it all the kudos!
Picture On Your Corkboard by bleedingballroomfloor
anon: absolutely beautiful and a roller coaster of emotions. 100% recommended.
religion's in your lips (even if it's a false god) by @coffeecatsme
anon: NSFW but also incredibly good and i need everyone to appreciate billie's writing!!!
Someday We Will Be Home by witchseeker1133
anon: this fic is incredibly special to me bc it was one of the first ones i read. it is very angsty but i think its worth a read.
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Do you have any good Codywan fics to recommend? Preferably on AO3, preferably not too spicy, and preferably ones that will leave me happy inside and not drowning in a post-Order 66 pit of despair. If you don’t feel like answering this, that’s fine, I hope you have a good day! :)
First of all, I am so sorry for not replying to this sooner. I didn’t see the notification and also I really wanted to make sure I gave you a good list. I love getting asked this so thank you for giving me an excuse to make another one of these posts. Here is a link to the first one I made.
These are all masterpieces in my mind. I have like twenty bookmarks in total even though I read fics all the time so here are some of my holy grails:
AUs
Oh, the weather outside is frightful by Celaestis (Christmas fluff modern au)
I wish there were more Christmas fics because I just love them and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the writing quality of this one is nothing short of breathtaking. This is ever so slightly spicy but its mostly fluff. Just a line or two of spice and it’s implied too. This writer has a way of describing things that is so intricate and intimate and I am just obsessed with their writing style.
love me long, be my sunlight by ricken (love island au)
I have never been able to sit through an entire episode of Love Island but when I tell you I screamed when I first saw this au. It is the most fun I have had with a fic in so long but it’s also actually incredibly heartwarming too. And what a creative idea as well. This is one of the fics I reread a lot and if you give it a go, you’ll understand why. It’s positively delightful and is such an original concept too.
Probably the spiciest fic on the list but there’s nothing crazy. It’s mostly just dialogue and references (it is a dating show after all) and the spiciest scene is interrupted. I had such a blast with this one and I really wish more fics were like this.
hunger + dreams by catboydogma (hockey/figure skating au)
Tell me why Codywan suit every genre. The very concept of a Codywan figure skating au is enough to make me screech but this one!!! It’s just so cute. Truly the most adorable little getting together fic and it does such a good job characterising everyone too. The interactions Obi Wan has with Anakin and Ahsoka are so much fun and Codywan deserve to be happy above all else and this fic absolutely delivers that. I would read a thousand chapters of this if I could.
Silver Lining by Wixiany (skiing au)
This fic!!!! Oh my god!!!! I have always believed that Codywan have suffered too much in canon that every au they are place in should be a romcom and that is precisely what this fic is. The sweetest little romcom ever. This fic has everything. A ski-slope accident meet cute. A Cody’s scar origin story. An Omega cameo (if you know me, you know that my opinion of any Codywan fic skyrockets if my fave Star Wars girl makes an appearance). Basically no angst!!!! I think this fic cured all of my problems ngl. I cannot recommend it enough. I genuinely just found this like thirty minutes ago and it has instantly become one of my favourite Codywan fics ever.
An Officer and a Gentleman by jimmytiberius (regency au)
I read this one last year and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. This is a Codywan regency au and regency era literature may be the only thing I love as much as Codywan so naturally the being combined is immaculate. This fic does a fantastic job of capturing the delicate romanticism of the time period and it’s a style that suits Codywan down to the ground. It just makes sense for them. I mean a Sense and Sensibility au??? Are you serious??? What an amazing concept. If you’re familiar with Jane Austen at all, you’ll feel right at home with this fic because it is just so incredibly sweet.
Rhapsody in Blue by KCKenobi (orchestra/mystery au)
Now I know I mentioned it on my last post but I have vowed to always recommend this fic whenever anyone asks. It is truly my favourite fic of all time and I’ve read it multiple times now. How many fanfics can you say have their own soundtrack? I think this is the third time I have recommended this fic in a post but it really is that good. This is a warning for some angst but I would never recommend a fic with an unhappy ending unless specifically asked so you can rest easy knowing that everything resolves well in this story.
What I also adore about this fic is that it does brilliantly what so few others do, which is that it doesn’t ignore its side characters. They are not just props in Obi Wan’s story. Each person, no matter how small their appearance, feels like a real person. They’re so believable and every relationship, platonic, romantic or otherwise, is completely fleshed out.
There's also a very sweet Codywan oneshot here but it is set during the pandemic and is a bit of a heavy read depending on how much that topic affects so be careful.
I would also like to say that, while this author doesn’t generally write Codywan, first of all when she does it is magical. Secondly, she is absolutely fantastic if you like platonic fics. There’s so many to read and every single one I have read so far has been wonderful.
Canonverse fics
Incognizant by marshMeister (5+1 fic)
It wouldn’t be a true list of recommendations if I didn’t mention a fic by one of my favourite humans @legobenkenobi. When I say he is one of my favourite writers ever, I am not just saying it because I talk to him basically everyday. I cannot think of a single other person I would trust more to characterise both Cody and Obi Wan. It’s perfect every single time, whether its just in a post or in a full fanfiction, and this fic is such a good example. It’s that classic 5+1 format but it’s so sweet and so in character.
What’s the one thing that could improve a Codywan fic though? Anakin being completely oblivious and (lovingly) made fun of for it. He has absolutely no clue how Codywan feel about each other even though basically the rest of the galaxy knows so this fic is him figuring that out and it is joy to read (and then reread like six times).
Also if I could make it required by law to read everything Ben has ever written, I would. So definitely check out literally all of his other fics.
if i don’t make it back from where i’ve gone (just know i’ve loved you all along) by thebitterbeast (featuring art from thegreencarousel) (time travel, non linear fic)
This fic does have some angst but rest assured everything works out eventually. It’s such a unique take on the events in canon and I already enjoy a time loop/ time travel fic. But the part I love the most about this fic is that it’s pro-Jedi. Too many Codywan fics find it necessary to disparage or misrepresent the Jedi and their beliefs in order to make the relationship work but Jedi are allowed to love! And this fic is such a beautiful reminder of that. It also captures the gentleness that Cody and Obi Wan have in their relationship with each other in such a lovely way. I fully accept this as the new canon.
Ghosts of the Dead by Just_Here_To_Procrastinate (zombie au)
This is definitely the heaviest fic on the list but trust me. It’s a masterpiece. Also happy ending too, so don’t worry. Just be cautious for mentions of blood and gore if that isn’t your thing. It doesn’t go overboard with it at all but better safe than sorry.
This is a zombie au and I understand that genre isn’t for everyone, but when people say that they’ve read fanfictions that are better than traditionally published novels, this is the kind of this they’re talking about. There’s a section of this fic which is maybe one of the most beautifully written things I’ve ever read. I wish I could give more context but it happens to be at the most pivotal moment of the entire story and I don’t want to spoil anything so you’re going to have to trust me. This fic is insanely good. It’s quite a long one and worth every single second you spend reading it. I love the narrative style and how it fits into the actual plot of TCW too. The characterization is fantastic too.
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E X H A L E
Author: Rowan (@/a-little-unsteddie on tumblr and ao3)
Artist: Silian (@/GlitterSilian on twitter)
Summary: It finally became too much in late December, after weeks of being unable to find anything to do to relieve the tension, and he snapped; Steve got into his car and just started driving. He didn’t really pay much attention to where he was going, just so long as it was away from Hawkins, away from his empty house with too many empty rooms, away from the horrors that lurked beneath the ground—just away.
or,
Steve goes to Indianapolis after the events of S2.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Chapters: 19/19
Word Count: 70.7k
Status: Complete
AO3 Link
Silian’s Twitter
Playlist I created for EXHALE on Spotify
Playlist with ONLY the chapter title songs
Playlist with ONLY the chapter title songs on YouTube
@steddiebang
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - —
okok hi! oh my god, it’s done. i’m not sure what to do with myself now.
i don’t know how it became this beast of a fic (for me), i started out estimating this fic to be 10-15k, and one of my closest friends, Rot (goingsteddi3 on tumblr and twitter), called me on my bullshit immediately and claimed it’d be at least 50k, but probably between 75k-100k. and it was fucking right, of course, so this fucker sits at a solid 70k.
i originally came up with this idea after watching a tiktok about something similar but somewhere along the way it got a mind of its own.
i have a laundry list of people to thank for their support and everything they helped me with over the last like, year and a half, and i’m gonna start with saying thank you to Rot and Townie (watertownie on tumblr) for supporting my delusions and hearing me out every time i got an ear worm about it. and thanking them in advanced for hearing me contemplate a sequel or not :b (maybe idk yet but i do have THOUGHTS)
thank you to Sails (sailing-through-hawkins on tumblr) for betaing the first half of the fic and to Townie, who’s gonna slowly make his way through the rest of it.
especially thank you to Silian (GlitterSilian on twitter, always linked down below!) for being the best artist i could’ve asked for and for creating the beautiful artwork you can see throughout the fic <3
most of all, thank you to the Steddie Big Bang mods for hosting this awesome event that helped me to meet so many wonderful writers, artists and members of the steddie fandom that i otherwise wouldn’t have been able to meet.
ah!! okay i’m done now. i’m going insane i hope you enjoy this final chapter of the fic :)
#fjdshshxhsha oh my goddd#this has been such a long time coming i’m so happy#but also so so sad#exhale#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddie#steve x eddie#steddie big bang 2023#steddie big bang#unsteddie writing
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The year is finished, so it is time to look back and go through the best AO3 treasures I found these last 12 months!! And since XueXiao has been the bane of my existence ever since i discovered it, I decided to make a top 10 list of them!
So these are (in no particular order) my favourite (song)xuexiao fics:
- the backyard is full of bones by @veliseraptor A thoroughly enjoyable what-if with Xiao Xingchen being a bit smarter about the wounded man he found. Extremely well paced and written, it eases into the enemies-to-lovers dynamic perfectly, and it depicts characters so believable and well-rounded that it practically feels like canon.
- I promised you a garden by @lady-of-the-lotus A short snippet into an alternate timeline where Song Lan’s consciousness is trapped in a paperman and forced to bear witness to the yizhuang’s (very sexy) domestic life. Cute and frustrating and very, very satisfying. (One of those where Song Lan’s not having a good time, which might be one of my favourite tags).
- Now that I see you by @10holmes Don’t usually go with unfinished projects, but this one is an absolute treasure which’d need to work very hard to go awry, so of course I’ll have it here. We have a double canon divergence with Not Blind!Xiao Xingchen, and Amnesiac!Xue Yang!! Which make for a delightfully angsty relationship as they both tiptoe around each other, all while battling with internal turmoil, conflicting morals and a misplaced low sense of worth. A fic absolutely worth keeping track of.
- The prisoner of Jinlintai by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior A rather recent project that had us in tethers for a month and a half (!) with the very sexy prompt of Xiao Xingchen being framed and arrested by the Jin, while a certain guest disciple with a sweet tooth was still around... Another enemies-to-lovers with a wonderfully natural evolution in their relationship, with the extra treat of a rich and entertaining world building that could easily sprout a few spin-offs.
- Nothing but a way of shading blood by @veilchenjaeger This one is very recent, but it shoot up to my top 10 immediately, both for the marvelous writing style and the perfect way they executed the prompt. It provides just the right amount of anguish in Xiao Xingchen, before and after certain discoveries are made, and the diplomacy game with Jin Guangyao and his minion just adds an extra flavour in an already spicy mix.
- Heaven has a road but no one walks it by @silvysartfulness The second (and last) ongoing project here, but just as deserving of the spot. This book-sized treasure is a long journey of (re)discovery, of a slowly kindling relationship with wonderful twists and turns. The slow pace balances out perfectly with some intense (and, in one occasion, thriller-like) action scenes. Also, it was the fic that made me see SongXueXiao with a more favourable opinion.
- lie back and let me unlock you by @veliseraptor A short and extremely sexy xuexiao roll in the hay, with the amazing prompt of Xiao Xingchen being (quite shamefully) aroused at the thought of his old enemy Xue Yang, and good ol’ Chengmei offering to rolplay. The result is even more unbelievable that what you can imagine!
- On the topic of cold by @andreri25 A cute little snippet in the early days at Yi City, where Xiao Xingchen almost dies from hypothermia and Xue Yang has to keep him warm. So what if he takes advantatge? Daozhang won’t remember, and he does need some hot friction after all! It’s wicked and cute in equal parts, because Xue Yang starts off really concerned (even if he wouldn’t admit it or know why, really) but changes gears when the danger is over...
- Final victory by @fieri-sentio-et-excrucior A funny concept very well executed, particularly in the emotional response both Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang give at the different turns of the plot. Daozhang discovers that his old enemy is in town, killing people, and after recovering from the surprise, Chengmei offers his help to hunt him down. Cue some well-placed deceit and a cruelly cute happy ending.
- it hurts at first (but it ain’t that bad) by @veliseraptor Yet another change in dynamics with Xiao Xingchen discovering his mysterious friend’s identity, if only this time because Xue Yang flat-out tells him (well, he thought he was done for anyways). What follows is a wonderful deluge of arguments, moral dilemmas and Xue Yang’s particular brand of twisted social logic that allow a deeper (and less deadly) reprise of their last canon conversation. Just lovely.
Which one of those I like best? I don’t know. I don’t care! They are all fantastic.
AND, since this year was also the first I started actually writing some original content, and not only devouring other artists amazing works, lemme put them here as well >w<
- Phantom Threat The foregone conclusion of all the fix-its that have xuexiao become an item (sans hidden identities, that is), in which Song Lan arrives at Yi City and does what he should have done in canon and talks directly with Xiao Xingchen, to reveal the terrible secret... which he already knows about.
- To carry a bit of yesterday A small slice of life in the Three Year Bliss, where Xiao Xingchen wants a family portrait and despite being quite contrary to the idea, both a-Qing and Xue Yang end up complying. It has amazing art by @wrathyforest, too!! ^-^
AND FINALLY, just a few non-xuexiao fics I also loved to the moon and back, but have little-to-no connection other than belonging to the mxtx universe.
- You’re stuck with me by LikeAFlamingKiss_Consume A delightful jadecest with dark!Lan Xichen (well, dark!Everyone and their mother, it’s a fucked up AU) and a reluctantly horny Lan Zhan.
- Blood array by @giraffeter Though it could technically be a xuexiao fic, the actual fucking here is between Demonic Gremlin Team Extraordinaire! Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian, sooo... doesn’t count. The fic is entertaining, very sexy and their interaction is marvelous to follow!
- Despite warning signs by @extrapenguin A surprisingly cute and light-hearted Xue Yang/Mo Xuanyu little treat, from their days as Jin disciples. A happier alternative reality for both of them, with fluff and smut in equal parts, which never fails to make me smile.
- Qi Rong’s day off by @ahintofblue Too bad the only tgcf fic to make the cut is a very, very nsfw alternate outcome of the mausoleum scene from book 2, but what can I do? The writing’s so smooth and engaging, it’s rough and cruel and I loved every single minute of it.
I have the gnawing feeling I’m still forgetting something, either here or in the xuexiao part... but until I discover the way to check which fics I left kudos in, I either go through an ocean of titles from my ao3 history page (that won’t even let me filter!!!) or I just wait for my two braincells to click one day. Oh, well!
Thanks for reading, and to all writers, THANKS FOR WRITING!!! I love you all. Have a happy new year!
#the untamed#mo dao zu shi#mdzs#cql#ao3#xuexiao#thank gods for ao3 and every single one of its writers#mdzs fics#fanfic review#the most PRECIOUS THINGS I've read this year#octopi reviews#tgcf#heavenly official's blessing#tian guan ci fu#(yes. the last one ^^U)#mdzs recs#fanfic recs#rec list
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Consequences
[ao3]
summary: After Lucy wakes up one morning to find a dark red lovebite blooming on her neck, she frantically looks for a way to cover it up – and eventually drags Lockwood into helping, too. After all, he is the one who left it there.
words: 2335
rating: T
note: I fell SO in love with the netflix show then got so overwhelmed with lockwood content that writers block snuck up on me, but I have defeated it at last!! huzzah
enjoy these kids being stupid and foolish and deeply in love
Lucy stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Her eye bags were slightly less pronounced than usual, which was a nice change. Only a few spots dotted the skin of her face – a small one on her chin, one on the side of her nose – but they were fairly calm and bound to fade soon. If she squinted and covered one eye they almost passed as freckles.
Her lips were alarmingly chapped, thanks to the hours upon hours spent in freezing cold haunted locations with little to no motivation to bother moisturising them; Holly had picked up a habit of commenting on it, and every time, Lucy responded by peeling off a bit of the flaking skin. It was always effective in cutting the conversation short.
Her jawline was soft as usual, thanks to the round face and thicker-set build inherited from her mother, but she’d grown to not mind it so much. After all, her appearance was never a hindrance to her work, so it had never mattered.
Aside from the blooming dark red bruise on her neck.
That was sure to stir up some commotion.
“Talk about unprofessional,” was the first thing out of the skull’s mouth when she flipped its lever that morning. Still half-asleep and brain somewhat foggy, she hadn’t registered his words and simply opted to ignore them as she padded over to the bathroom. She’d been at 35 Portland Row for so long that her morning routine was all muscle memory: haul herself out of bed, drag her body a few feet across the room before stepping to the right to avoid that oddly squeaky floorboard, then to the left to miss that nail haphazardly sticking out, then enter her bathroom, shiver as her feet hit the cold tiled floor, and grimace as her eyes fall onto the bright red hickey on her reflection’s neck.
Hold on.
Shit.
A strange, strangled noise escaped the back of her throat. The skull must have heard it, because he let out a cackle and called out, “Don’t tell me you’ve only just realised. He must’ve been sucking on your neck like his life depended on it!”
“Oh, shit,” she hissed, trying to tune out the skull’s taunting. She lasted less than a minute before stomping back out of the bathroom and flicking the skull jar’s lever with more ferocity than she ever had, before returning to the mirror to stare slack-jawed at her neck some more.
Her makeup collection started and stopped with mascara, and she hadn’t the foggiest of where to even start finding a product to cover the hickey – no, lovebite – no, god, how she hated all of its names. If only it was a bit lower, she could’ve hidden it with a thick turtleneck, but she knew just from looking at it that it still would have peered out over the top.
She desperately rummaged through the back of her wardrobe anyway, and heaved a sigh of relief upon finding something that would cover the offensive red splotch for the short term.
By the time she finally emerged from her room and followed the smell of toast into the kitchen, most of Lockwood & Co. were already there, either busying themselves making breakfast or, in George’s case, already in the middle of scoffing it.
“Morning,” Lucy said as she entered, making a beeline for the kettle to make herself a hard-earned cuppa. Holly paused from slicing a healthy-looking thing (it might’ve been an avocado, but Lucy didn’t care enough to look closely at it) and stared at her.
“Are you a bit chilly, Luce?” George said, lowering the last slice of half-eaten toast back to his plate.
“Hm?” Lucy replied, scooping up some sugar.
“I mean – I’m glad you liked my Christmas present, but you’re aware it’s July, yeah?”
Lucy paused, hand halfway to the kettle’s handle. “We live in England.”
“Climate change renders that a poor defence, really. I swear every other week’s a heatwave.”
“What’s this about heatwaves?” Lockwood said as he entered, newspaper in one hand and a mug in the other.
“Lucy’s wearing a scarf in the middle of summer,” Holly oh-so-politely explained.
Lockwood’s gaze darted to the scarf in question.
Then to Lucy’s eyes. And very, very briefly – for such a small fraction of a second Lucy almost wondered if she’d imagined it – down to her lips.
Then back down to the scarf.
“An… interesting fashion choice,” he said slowly.
“Indeed,” Lucy replied matter-of-factly, finishing making her tea and taking a long, scalding sip.
The room was silent for a long, excruciating moment, until reality suddenly restarted and Holly resumed chopping, George resumed chomping, and Lockwood snapped himself out of his trance to turn on his heel and head towards his favourite armchair to catch up on the news.
Slowly but surely, the rest of them followed, migrating into the living room and making themselves at home on the sofas in wait of an informal morning briefing. Holly was fully dressed and ready to go for the day, but the rest of them still lounged in their pyjamas while lazily sipping their tea, not quite yet ready to begin their working day.
“Okay,” Lockwood said after skimming through the newspaper. “Our priority tonight is to close off that case with Mr McShane… Holly, if you could give him a ring and look into why on earth he decided to not show up and give us the keys so we could get to work last night, that would be great – I can trust you to make it sound polite and professional. Maybe we should consider some kind of no-show fee… it could help us recover faster from that recent bulk order from Sunrise. Or is that too harsh? I don’t know. Something to think about later.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy spotted Holly jotting it down on a notebook she’d seemingly produced out of thin air. Lockwood continued his briefing; a client was due later that afternoon, George was to get a head start on the background research, and Lucy was to join him to visit a different client at their home in a couple of hours.
“We’re a bit busier than usual,” George mused from his deep, sunken-in spot on the couch.
“That McShane fellow knocked us off our schedule. We have a bit of catching up to do, but it’s doable.”
“I suppose we’d better get started then,” Holly said, closing her notebook. Lockwood solemnly nodded. Still, it was another fifteen minutes until they were all able to haul themselves back onto their feet, and another twenty for everyone to get dressed and make themselves look presentable.
Lucy spent most of that time checking her mirror. Each time she moved to look into it, part of her hoped and prayed the mark would have somehow magically begun to fade, though deep down she knew she was only setting herself up for disappointment.
The scarf was itchy and garish; realistically, she knew it couldn’t stay, but her limited wardrobe left her with – well, not a single other option.
She’d pulled on a jumper, skirt, and tights by the time there came a soft knocking at her door. In the seconds that followed came an intense internal debate as to whether the scarf was to stay on, or if she could get away with only facing whoever it was at a specific angle.
A voice softly called from the other side. “Luce?”
Lockwood.
The scarf was promptly thrown across the room. Lucy opened the door, and before she could even give him a scalding look, the sheepish grimace on his face said he knew what was going on already. Slowly, quietly, he shuffled inside, and took his time in closing the door behind him.
“So…” he said, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. “No more scarf?”
“I don’t know what to do, Lockwood. You did this, you should be paying the consequences – not me!”
He followed the sharp point of her finger, and the second his eyes fell on the deep red blotch on her neck he let out a whistle, long and slow. “It’s starting to go purple.”
“Thank you for that observation.”
“Perhaps Holly has–”
“I’m not letting Holly catch wind of this,” Lucy sighed. “Besides, our skin tones don’t match in the slightest. Her makeup would make it more obvious.”
“Oh– er, yeah. That’s true. What about–”
“Don’t even think about suggesting asking George. He’d never let us forget about this.”
Lockwood’s gaze drifted across the room and onto where the scarf had fallen, draped half on the bed, half on the floor. “Scarf it is, then.”
Lucy looked at the scarf witheringly. Before she could turn back around to face Lockwood, she felt a pair of hands settle gently at her waist.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured into her ear. “I got carried away, I didn’t think it through. It won’t happen again.”
Lucy sighed and replied with as much nonchalance as she could muster, “I never said I wanted that.”
“Hm?”
“It can happen again,” she said slowly, “as long as I have a reasonable way of covering the aftermath.”
“Oh,” Lockwood said. And then, a few moments later, “Oh.”
He backed away, his hands left her waist, and before Lucy could register the loss of his warm breath against the shell of her ear, he’d gone, leaving the door to swing shut behind him.
Lucy frowned. She turned to the skull jar, wondering why he hadn’t been incessantly ridiculing her throughout the whole fiasco, until she remembered she’d flicked its lever in a fit of rage earlier that morning. It was probably for the best that it stayed that way for the time being.
“Okay,” Lockwood said as he backed into the room, turning to reveal his arms full of medical supplies – plasters of varying shades, bandages, cleaning alcohol, the same supplies he’d uncovered after she’d slashed her wrist at Kensal Green – which he unceremoniously dumped onto her unmade bed. “We’ll just make it look like a minor injury. We were practising rapier techniques and I accidentally nicked your neck with my blade. That sounds reasonable, right?”
She sat on the edge of her bed, watching him rummage through the small pile. “I’d never let you nick my neck.”
“Well, you certainly let me do something else to it.”
For that, he received a swift whack to the back of his head. “Shut up and sort out my rapier wound.”
Lockwood tucked her hair behind her ear, gave one last dramatic wince at the mark on her neck, then fell quiet with concentration as he carefully placed a plaster over it. He took far longer than was necessary, but Lucy found she couldn’t complain. It tickled as he smoothed out the adhesive with his fingertips, and once he was satisfied with his work, his hands glided up to tenderly cup the sides of her face.
“Thank you,” Lucy murmured, feeling a smile creep onto her lips.
“Told you. I’m a fully qualified doctor. No wound is too much for me to handle.”
“Codswallop,” she scoffed. “This one scared you.”
He smirked, amused. “Only very briefly, before my fantastic intellect kicked in.”
“Oh, is that what you’re calling it?”
“Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Maybe,” Lucy said, lips no more than an inch away from his. The air between them was warm and smelt faintly of Lockwood’s cologne. “Maybe I do.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“Shut up,” she said breathlessly, closing the gap between them. The pile of plasters and bandages were left forgotten beside them as they became wrapped up in one another, hands roaming and mouths gasping for air between kisses. Lucy was sure they could have stayed there for hours if it weren’t for George shouting from downstairs.
“Lockwood!” his muffled voice called.
Lockwood took a moment to catch his breath. His forehead still pressed against Lucy’s as he called back, “What?”
“Can you come here? I need to check something with you before I head to the archives!”
“Is it urgent?”
“Er–” George paused. “It pertains to ghosts, which can be pretty fucking lethal, so, yes!”
“Be there in a tick,” Lockwood replied. It took considerable effort to untangle himself from Lucy and, once he’d hauled himself off the bed and onto his feet, to then smooth out the creases that now tarnished his outfit.
George shouted up to them one last time, “Bring Lucy, too!”
***
It hadn’t been that urgent. Just a minor query from an unremarkable case that he wanted to clear up before leaving because, well – he was George. And George found joy in leaving no question unanswered, no stone unturned.
Next to a bad drawing of a Rawbones, he’d jotted down a to-do list for himself on the thinking cloth. He contemplated his scribblings for the millionth time, and then peered up at Lucy over the rim of his glasses. “No more scarf, then?”
“No.”
“Shame. You were about to kick off a new fashion trend.”
Holly entered the kitchen. She’d been busy cleaning the living room, if the three apple cores she held at arm's length before throwing in the bin were anything to go by. “I thought it looked quite quaint.”
Lucy gave her a look. “You don’t need to lie, Hol.”
Lockwood rested a hand on her shoulder and lit up the room with his grin. “Lucy was only hesitant to admit I bested her during our rapier practice last night. I do feel quite bad for catching her neck with my blade, though.”
Holly and George exchanged looks, and for an uncomfortably quiet moment, Lucy feared they’d seen right through the cover story.
“Don’t feel bad,” George eventually said. “She’d be ecstatic if she managed to do that to you.”
Holly nodded in agreement, and Lockwood turned to Lucy with an almost wounded look. “Would you?”
“Of course. Better watch your back the next time we practice. Might get my revenge.”
end note: now with a Revenge sequel!
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I know I already commented this on AO3 but I literally cant stop thinking about this fic and I so want to talk someone's ears off irl. Cuz holy fuck. I just absolutely the characterization in the story. The voice and expression of Grian is just so palpable and well-written. You sympathize for the guy even as he digs himself deeper into the abyss. Like, I know from the beginning, from playing Firewatch, that there is no conspiracy, just circumstances. But you understand where Grian is coming from, you hope that he is in some ways right, that Mumbo is still out there (doesnt help that Im a mumbo main lol). At some point, part of you just believe the conspiracy along with him even as everyone else, including the back of your own mind, tells you otherwise. And the other part wants to grab Grian from the other side of the screen and shake him til he realizes. That fucking dread of in some way knowing the ending just created that underlying layer of tension when reading. And, as someone else has pointed out, Grian's agency in his search for Mumbo being like denied somewhat fits in so well and just hits home that, nothing is really in his control, that its all just an accident. Its that gut-renching punch and realization that is stuck in my head after reading chapter 11. And im glad that chapter 12 presents some closure and breathing room. Its not the ending, but its an ending and a start. The melancholy of the last chapter, of Grian's acceptance and him finally meeting Scar. All of it is just, GOD. Anyways, excuse my ramblings, I love this fic and its genuinely one of the best Ive read. You did an amazing job.
THANK YOU!!!! I love this review of my work so much, as well as your AO3 review :)
I like that you bring out that having played Firewatch clued you in on the lack of conspiracy. I know the game's ending is controversial, but I actually like it a lot. I love the way the game makes you paranoid and how the remoteness of the setting reinforces that. I love how it's just a story about broken people running from their problems. Whenever I think about the game, I think about this Medium article I read (massive game spoilers.)
And so with this story, I didn't want to do the same thing as the game's plot, but I wanted to harness some of the same themes and explore them in my own way. I think the fic works well alongside the game because it sort of complements it, neither requiring prior game knowledge to read nor spoiling the game--but having game knowledge makes it even better.
I worked backwards knowing I was going to have an obvious ending. It's obvious because it's the most realistic option. But there is also an interesting extra level of writer-reader meta to play with, which is that nearly everyone is primed to sympathize with and believe the pov character. Everyone is also generally primed to expect better ending, or to expect that impossible will somehow happen because it's a fiction story. So I knew that readers would start off with a similar hope to Grian. And I knew that as the story went on further and further, I could direct readers toward the real conclusion. At some point, the very length of the fic itself and number of chapters left with make readers realize they're running out of time for things to happen. At some point, the reader is going have an objective picture of events and realize how irrational some of Grian's actions are.
I'm glad it worked to create a lot of tension! I also think the way a lot of other characters interact with Grian creates tension, because most of them are sort of "scared" to be direct with him since they know it'll upset him. And the way every one of Grian's actions keep adding and adding until the potential consequences grow greater and greater continue to add to the out-of-control feeling of this story. My goal for his character was always to keep pushing him to see where it led. It was a sad story to write, but it's a fun one to analyze for me.
I'm glad you liked chapter 12. I wanted it to try and resolve some of the things that needed to be said still, and provide a little bit of rest from the last three major action-filled chapters. The story is really 11 chapters of getting Grian to the first step in healing, and chapter 12 is that first step. It isn't the last one. Just the first.
Also my condolences for being a Mumbo main, I really need to get my blorbo rights revoked. I've been privately joking for the past year about fridging the poor man 😭mumbo ily i promise
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IYWBW: Bonus chapter: Candy
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Summary: Candy's thoughts
Warnings: Drug use, slight smut, feelings (eek!), sex work, im just gonna say dub con because she's not exactly thrilled with this part of sex work.
Immersibility: Reader is Latina, had curly hair, fem
AUTHORS NOTE: Because I am a shitty writer, the smut from last chapter came off to a lot of people as a threesome. I edited it so the Santi's bits are in italics and i think its more clear. The scene was meant to portray two DIFFERENT scenes.
**************
As Candy did a long line, the party in it's height, she was thankful this was a perk of the job. She'd already fucked 3 men tonight and then of of the other girls at the party while a group watched and christ, she was gtting tired. The drug began to pulse through her veins, however, giving Candy renewed vigor to finish the last stretch of the night. She had been able to take a breather, thank god, and was having a few drinks and a few lines, occaionaly chatting with the men and other women, most of whom she knew.
The girls liked Candy because Candy stood up for herself and for them, offering a layer of protection in a harsh world. Things could be dangerous in this line of work, women were killed all the time, but it'd not like Candy had a lot of options. She needed to get out. She needed to get a visa and go to America. She needed to get Javi something him and Santi could use.
What she'd do there, she wasn't sure, but it had to be better than this.
If her work only consisted of men she chose coming to her apartment when she chose, it would be a good job. Candy didn't mind her work most of the time and there were men like Javi and Santi who made it fun. That was good.
However, that wasn't paying the bills, so Candy had to attend these parties.
Another line of coke. She was aching and needed at least one more fuck from a rich man if she was going to be able to afford an air conditioning unit this summer. With air conditioning, she was more likly to get clients during the hot months; no one wanted to fuck in a muggy apartment in mid-july.
Javi would come either way, she knew.
Despite the fight, they had been able to repair things and her and Javier were back to normal, having excellant sex she got paid for. Santi too, although the sex was different, it was still just as mind blowing. Santiago reminded her of a little puppy, desperate and eager and wanting so badly to please... and please he did.
She tried so hard with those two not to fall, but it was hard. Santiago was so sweet, so adoring, so fucking good. Javier was strong, gentle, passionate. Both of them made her feel safe and loved. Sometimes, when she was lonely and tired and a little drunk, Candy would fanaticize about what a life might be with either of them, if they wanted kids, what they would be like as her husband.
She couldn't be that far off, could she? They both cared about her, that much was obvious. Especially with Santi, he was so open, so loving, so adoring as he looked up at her with those big brown eyes with his mouth devouring between her legs... did he want her outside of this?
And Javi, the night he made up with her and brought her the Audry Heffburn poster... he hadn't paid her, he hadn't fucked her, he simply fingered her until she came three times on his soaked hand and tucked her safely into bed... would he want a life with her, where they could fuck every night and she could make him the food he was always munching on when stressed?
Hands wrapped around her waist.
"Hola, Candy, I havn't seen you hardly all night." Martin Lorea, the drug lord that her two favorite clients were after, and a frequent client of hers. His hands lifted up her skirt and slipped two fingers under her panties, feeling her soaked folds.
"Mmmm" Candy liked the way he touched her, it was no Javi, but it did feel like. "I've been busy."
"I can feel that." Martin references the cum dripping out of her. "Better do one more, bebita." He leans around her, cutting up the last of the coke into two lines and doing one himself. "I've got lots of plans for you tonight. Don't worry, I'll make it worth it."
He would. He always paid well, liking to flaunt his wealth. Candy did one last line, feeling everything become less and less clear around her, and she barely felt it as he bent her over the table a little too roughly and her face pressed into the wood.
Her skirt was lifted in front of all the party goer, and Candy did her best to put on a preformence.
She had to get out of here, and the only way was to find out information from Lorea to give to Javi.
**************
Yeeeeesh. That was a little dark than I intended. Don't worry, candy is okay! I'm trying to find a blance between not like, demonizing sex work, because this is a sex work safe blog, but also being honest about the realities of being a prostitute in Colombia in the 70's. its not always pretty, in fact its often ugly.
ANYWAY! My belovedest Fen and I are working on the next chapter and it's gonna be a goodie!
I'm doing what I do best, HIGH DRAMA! And Fen is gonna deliver some of the BEST smut with baby santi and his mommy issues.
This is a v smut focused series but im lowkey a little smut burned out and i got a lot of project im trying to wrap up so fen is being amazing and helping me. Plus, this particularly smut is riiiiiiiiggghhhttt up their ally. If you like subby men, check out fens great work at @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction esp fics like Trine, with subby! blue jones and Good Boy with steven grant
thank you for you're continued support! Only a few chapters left <3
I have a triple frontier fic my dark account, Room's on fire, with a totally different characterization of santi <3
Notes are going down with is fine but its kinda tiring doing all these tags and then people dont respond at all so if you can give me at least a like to show your still her or a comment, ill know to keep tagging you <3
I have a update blog now too, @romana-updates
@runa-falls @lunar-ghoulie @campingwiththecharmings @whatthefishh @persephone-girl @criticalarchitecture @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @beelzebeth87 @pimosworld @millerscoffee @heareball @thatwonderouswoman @poolb @meveispunk @lovable-liar @millllenniawrites @read-and-wip @missdictatorme @the-fox-den @milkymoon2483 @k-ra @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @rosellacwrites @legendary-pink-dot @dreamingofbucky @englandsgray@starsthatwatch @fairlyang @alwaysmicado @theywhowriteandknowthings @casa-boiardi @lostfleurs @ninebluehearts @puglover12 @sub-aro @laiisleitte @itspdameronthings @heareball @comfortlessjoy @csarab615 @bit-dodgy-innit @stevngrant @kirsteng42 @mrsjavierp@nanfafnan @lovable-liar @axshadows @cookielovesbook-akie
#iywbw#triple frontier#triple frontier fanfiction#narcos#narcos fanfiction#javier peña#santiago garcia#if you wanna be wild
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20 Questions for Fic Writers
tagged by @lo-fi-charming
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
82, 83 if you include the one I wish I hadn't orphaned.
2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?
2,721,477 words
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Oh boy. Homestuck, The Magnus Archives, Mission Impossible, Borderlands, Welcome to Night Vale. Some one-offs in other fandoms. First really cut my teeth on The Dresden Files.
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
Let's seeeee.
dustsceawung (The Magnus Archives) with 4,600 kudos
a steady hand, a delicate man (The Magnus Archives) with 3,316 kudos
dripping with alchemy (Borderlands) with 2,663 kudos
The Eurydice Suite (Homestuck) with 2,164 kudos
I'll bring the motion (The Magnus Archives) with 2,163 kudos
5. Do you respond to comments?
When I have something fun or interesting to say, yeah. I don't wanna just say "thanks!" on every comment so I tend to try to repay the comment with a tidbit or something?
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Hmmm. See I'm a Happy Ending Guaranteed kind of writer so I don't know. Maybe we float before the sea at dusk because it's technically a bad end?
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
GOD that's hard... I think maybe all the world is earth and water or the Five Years Later ending of The Eurydice Suite.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not anymore. 8)
9. Do you write smut?
what's smut never heard of her
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I'm going to choose to interpret this as "fusions" instead of "crossovers" and in that case I have written....
Homestuck/Inception (The Eurydice Suite), Homestuck/Kinda Sorta John Wick (so we don't kill the ones we love), Homestuck/Fallout New Vegas (out here the good girls die), and WTNV/Good Omens (all plans are golden in your hands)
Out of those, I think the New Vegas one is the most out-of-left-field.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
By now, at least 10 times that I'm aware or.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
A few times, yep! Russian and Ukrainian I think.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
BOY HAVE I.
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
I despise this question and if this question had a face, I would punch it. I assume this has to be a ship I have written since this is a writing questionnaire.
In my heart of hearts, it's Karkat and Kanaya. I enjoy their platonic love more than any romance pairing....
SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION is that I... think for me personally, the pairing is a vehicle of the wider story/themes, so I can't say "Oh its DirkJake" because to me the KTOWL DirkJake is wildly different from, like, TES DirkJake.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
The barely-inspired-by-Hellboy AU that I should probably just write as an original story. But I won't because I'm a coward, lmao.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Consistency and structure, I think. I'm a tradesperson, not an artist.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I feel like I lack a lot of foundational material that other artists have due to my lack of education and just generally not knowing things. Like, the kind of works I personally admire and learn the most from, I lack the toolset to create myself, which is constantly frustrating.
Structure is sometimes a shackle, and I often feel like I can't execute something truly Artistic because to me, writing is a trade, not an art.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I do this sometimes and lemme tell you, every single fucking time I do, I rigorously check everything.
Like, I recently agonized over whether a character would use Verzeihung versus Entschuldigung in a fic, and that was a solid hour of research. Worth it tho!
I'm of the opinion that if you're just going to use google translate or something, then I would elect to write it as ["Excuse me," he said in overly-polite German as he passed], but that's me.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Uuuuuuuuh ppppppprobably Gundam Wing or something? Way back in the era when you could post smut on FF.Net.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
Could it be anything other than KTOWL? Honestly.
I am taggingggggg @arquiving and @interropunct
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20 questions for fic writers!
Thank you @bazzybelle and @aroace-genderfluid-sheep for tagging me in this game!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
Currently 29, but there's a chunk of them where I'm just the artist and not the author, so 23 actual stories written by me.
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
522,789 words. That's honestly surprising since I've only really written a handful of longer fics! Tho also some of that word count isn't actually me.
3. What fandoms do you write for?
All Carry On these days. I wrote for SPN in the past, like seriously a decade ago. It's been a minute.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
These are all my SPN fics, even tho I do genuinely think my writing has improved drastically since those days, it was just a bigger fandom.
Blackbird Fly (163,191 words) Kudos: 3,368
In Our Nature (62,200 words) Kudos: 2,086
To be Alone with You (6,248 words) Kudos: 1,664
We Are What You Say (8,868 words) Kudos: 1,361
He Woke Me Up Again (7,642 words) Kudos: 1,121
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do! I really appreciate comments and I feel like it's one of my favorite things about writing, getting that active feedback and engagement, and so I want to engage in conversation about it and also make sure the commenter knows how much I appreciate it. And maybe provide additional context! Sometimes people's response to my writing is profound and unexpected and meaningful in ways I can't anticipate, and I love it, and I want to talk to them about it.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't really write angsty endings (just beginnings and middles and climaxes and maybe a bit of angsty denouement). I write a lot of imperfect endings tho, because I'm also allergic to tying things up in a neat little bow. What We Crave specifically doesn't have a happy ending but it does have a clearly hopeful one. I just stopped writing before everything was resolved basically, but you know those crazy kids figured it all out in the end. I could make the argument that there are angsty elements in a lot of my endings. Other Penny from The Mirrors that Hold Us comes to mind.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
The fic with the most unambiguously happy ending is probably ... oh god this is tough. Because actually like I said I write imperfect endings, and I can think of how every one of mine might not be perfect. Sixty Seconds has a very happy ending. But also eighth year hasn't happened yet so who knows what's in store. But WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE FIC, its definitely happy I think ... I think.
Or maybe it's Touch Starved, because they are in a happy committed relationship and Baz finally (finally) (finally) gets to *censored* Simon's rock hard *censored* until he can't *so fucking censored*
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not these days, I think this fandom is particularly kind. Or maybe I've just been lucky. I did get hate on fics back in my SPN days, not so much on AO3 but definitely in anon asks. Pretty much "you don't deserve all the attention you get" which okay, fair.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Yes. Emotional as fuck. We're not getting off to this smut, we're crying about it.
I occasionally do write kinky stuff but its harder for me. Not because I don't want to, but I have to be in a particular mood and willing to let Jesus take the wheel for a bit and not overthink. (Yes you can thank Jesus specifically for my kinkiest of smuts.)
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
Nope and I kinda doubt I ever will.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I'm aware of! Had art stolen before, tho.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
I don't think so.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Not really, I've kinda dipped my toe into this pool but I'm a very independent creator in general and so I kinda veer away from it. I'm not good at group projects.
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
I mean, it's obviously Snowbaz.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I have tried really hard to finish everything I start but I do have a few outstanding WIPS. Actually, one per fandom. In Our Nature will never be finished because its been a decade and I don't care for Destiel anymore, but A Mild Case of Madness still has hope. I'm just struggling to write anything right now. But I do still have a ton of momentum left on AMCOM. It just might take a really long time.
16. What are your writing strengths?
I think I write emotions and intimacy really well. I'm good making people feel those emotions. I also think I shine writing people navigating relationships and trauma.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I think I'm pretty meh at dialogue, I tend to enjoy writing people's emotions and actions more than their words and if I don't check myself I will sometimes put very minimal speaking into scenes. I also narrow in my focus when writing to interpersonal drama and trauma and therefore really struggle with big plotty stories, and im not good at setting up antagonists so the conflict tends to be smaller scale. Like I love stories with quests and some evil to defeat and complex politics and action and adventure but I've realized thats probably never going to be the kind of thing I'm good at.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I love it, but I do appreciate a translation unless the point is that the POV character also has no idea what's going on. If it's important to the context of the story PLEASE give me translations.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Homestuck, actually. My fic still exists on Fanfic.net and I'm too terrified to read it.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
It's gotta be Someone Wicked - I think this was the fic that convinced me of what I really cared about when writing a story. Before that I thought I needed something maybe more compelling than just exploration of character and relationships and trauma and intimacy, but then I wrote this very like, simple story where I just got to hyperfocus on those things and it was just exactly what I wanted to write. And apparently people liked to read it, too, which is neat.
tagging @cutestkilla @facewithoutheart @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @fatalfangirl @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias @whatevertheweather @nightimedreamersworld @orange-peony @larkral @shrekgogurt
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Positivity Chain!
Please recommend 3 favorite fanfics by other creators and 1 of your own.
Then tag 5 other creators to do the same.
This is the sweetest ask, thank you anon! 🌷
Choices Fandom
Incident in the Ghostland (AO3 | Explicit) by @dreamscapingsblog
sorry for the notif my sweetest bestest friend, I know tumblr isn't your vibe but I can't have the opportunity to rec your works put in front of me and not JUMP at the chance to put Ghostland out there first and foremost!! Your prose is poetry, your angst makes my teeth hurt, and I will forever be in awe of how you capture such beautifully emotional motifs in the most unique and expressive ways. I'd put this whole fic in an art gallery if I could. Love you, love you, love your writing 💖💖💖
Let Me Be Your Valentine, Saint Valentine (AO3 | Teen) by @aallotarenunelma
Another beloved ID writer, but a MAH fic this time! I was tossing up between this and Indigo Blood because I adored the bond between Skylar and Saini (see how I'm cheating by linking both? 😈💞), but they way you told Donovan and Edelmina's story just brought me so much peace. I always loved their bond in canon over their shared grief, and seeing in here as this deeply vulnerable and trusting relationship just made my heart so happy (and it was really cool to read about Edelmina's aspecness)
The 2AM Christmas Tree Farm by @thosehallowedhalls
Listen I'm a fool for only having just caught up on CoP, because I have been missing out on all this goodness, and I just know I'm going to have so much fun making my way through the rest of your works, but holy hell what an introduction to your Emma and Trystan this was!! You can perhaps tell, from the absolute chaos that was my comment, that I rather enjoyed this one!! And with the way you write? I know I'm going to find some more gems to adore in your masterlist 😊
Non-Choices Fandom
For a Good Time, Call (AO3 | Explicit) by ScarlettStorm
I gotta take a second to rec this, because it might be hands down my favourite fic of all time. The authorial voice is just ✨DIVINE✨, and it is just so deeply moving, I have no words. Its just so... healthy? Portrayal of sex and consent and sex work? Amazing. Attitudes towards trust and communication? Wonderful. Exploration of mental health, PTSD, panic attacks, ASD, inward growth as well as fostering something beautiful between the two romantic leads? Fan-freaking-tastic. Plus it also features lines such as
He wonders if Wei Ying would keep talking, even while being kissed. He thinks he probably would.
Its absolute ADHD meets Autism solidarity, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. (Plus, the smut is seriously god-tier.)
Oh, yeah! I was mean to rec one of my own!
Uhhh... Snow in Crimson, Starlight in Gold (AO3 | Explicit) is very much my baby, and every time someone tells me they liked it and/or my charactersation of Cas, Gabe, and Luca, I go ugly cry for ten years
But also! If you want something about a million times shorter, Whatever You Say, President Adalhard (AO3 | Explicit) is a wlw!Gas fic which is pretty cute. (and I'm trying so hard to finish chapter 2, I swear)
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Hello. I hope you're okay with me dumping every ounce of my adoration for you The Games of Divinity series here, because I simply cannot stay silent any longer. I read the whole thing yesterday in the span of fifty three minutes at one a.m. with my eyes barely open and a blanket up to my chin so it was truly one of those Authentic Fic Experiences TM. I'm obsessed. I'm enraptured. I'm in love.
Your character analyses of Neuvillette and Furina? Chef's kiss. I am throwing them into a glass jar and shaking vigorously to watch them bounce off the walls. I am chewing on them like a four year old with unlimited access to a bag of Starburst and every flavour in their mouth at once. I am gripping you by the shoulders with tears streaming down my face because you have ruined every fic I read for the next two hundred and sixteen business days. Nothing will ever compare. Sanity is a long lost dream. Your AO3 account isn't a prison, it's home.
If you can't already tell, I adore your work. As a writer myself, I get gender envy while reading it. Except its writing style envy. Your use of italics for highlighting humour is wonderful. The shift in dynamic across the years with Furina and Neuvillette is masterfully done. It's hard to ship Neuvifuri because to me it's only appealing in one of two scenarios: an AU where Neuvillette knows, or one in which he begs pitifully for Furina's forgiveness after trapping her and putting her on trial without knowing what she was going through. Your fic is easily the best example of the former I've ever read. The only reason I haven't flooded your inbox with Kudos and AO3 comments is because my account is acting up and I had to read as a guest.
I love every chapter. Like actually. The first one? Seeing their initial attitudes towards each other was fascinating. The one where Neuvillette gets The Horny? Literally so funny and somehow hot as hell at the same time. The chapter from the POV of the Gardes? Hilarious and an incredibly creative way of showcasing their relationship from the perspective of an outsider. On that note, the Gardes themselves are such colourful characters, I think it's amazing how you went to the effort to give everyone such a distinctive personality. Also the scene with Xiao and Zhongli was scrumptious, that one line... "Zhongli placed a hand on the back of his neck, thumb gently kneading the soft spot where his neck and shoulder met like a man scruffing an unruly cat." That's so cute to me. Your Honour. They are so cute. And Neuvi being all baffled by himself for trying to intimidate Zhongli was endlessly amusing, especially when you said something along the lines of '"Neuvillette didn't mind being spoken of like a dog in heat, but he drew the line at barbs being aimed at Furina." You nail the dynamics every single time. Wild.
The internal conflicts of both Furina and Neuvillette are delightful as well. Furina's guilt for needing Neuvillette versus Neuvillette wishing Furina would let herself need him? Collapses. I am bleeding from multiple stab wounds. It's so eiohrohsiowiourwhrf. They're so vdhkfhoewirdkf. Neuvillette being awed by her humanity versus Furina wishing she could properly hide it. Neuvillette wishing he could share her altruism but knowing he would send a fleet to die in Furina's place even if she despised him for it. Banging my fist on the table. The intrinsic protectiveness and the guilt of needing to be protecting. Clutching my head in my hands. Tearing out my hair. Shuddering like I'm attached to an electric chair cranked up to the highest voltage.
I would suffer the trials of every hero from Greek mythology to read more of it.
Thanks for reading! Love hearing your thoughts on this; I think one of the big appeals about this pairing is crazy devotion that can happen between two people lying to God's face. It's like the greatest hits of every ship that's tickled my brain over the years and I'm glad I have an opportunity to play around with it.
No Neman Lions will need to be slain for the next chapter (probably)
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20 questions for fic writers
The impossibly lovely @mihrsuri tagged me in this a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get round to it - but I find myself in need of distraction, just a little bit, as Last Cat Standing is in the veterinary hospital getting his radioactive iodine treatment for his thyroid, and we can't have him back for maybe ten days as he's going to be somewhat radioactive for a little while; I'm sure he's going to be fine (this is the treatment described to me by the treating vet as both 'the gold standard' and 'magical', in that it's effective in 99.5% of cases, and in the 0.5% it isn't, they just give it another go and then it's effective), but we haven't had an entirely cat-free house for this long in 20 years, and I'm feeling a bit weird about it. Also I'm procrastinating finishing off an essay plan (I'd rather just write the damn essay but no, we have to submit a plan for tutor feedback to make sure we're on the right lines, and as you all know by now, that's really not how I work XD )
1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 362 (plus another 76 on the other account for the fandom that does not speak its name...)
2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,491,388 (good grief; nearly 1.5 million?! and if you add in the 270,606 on the other account, that's 1,761,994 O.O )
3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien (chiefly the Hobbit movies, and LotR, a mix of movie and book-'verse); King Arthur (2004); Fisherman's Friends (fandom of one); The Alienist (TV; occasionally); Marvel (occasionally, chiefly bits of the MCU and X-Men comics/Evolution); Top Gun (here and there) - and a bewildering number of others...
4. What are your top five fics by kudos? My Heart Is An Empty Vessel (621); Shape Up (422); Safe (414); Not Alone (413); The Unworn Jumpers of Molly Weasley (343)
This is bewildering but also a fine illustration of the vagaries of AO3 and the absolute folly of measuring anything by the amount of kudos a fic has: Empty Vessel is three and a half years old, took two years to post and has 115 chapters, so was at the top of the tag many many times over those two years. Shape Up and Safe were written and posted not long after Top Gun: Maverick came out (I don't know how busy the tag still is, but it was very busy when the film came out so the fics in that fandom got a lot of interaction because a lot of people were there looking for fics) and are both one-shots. Not Alone is also a one-shot (for X-Men: Evolution) and has been up on AO3 for nearly twelve years (and has had a bit of a boost with the release of X-Men '97). And Unworn Jumpers (on which I really ought to put some sort of disclaimer, along with the small handful of other ancient HP fics I've got up there) is a seasonal one-shot that's been up for over ten years and tends to get a bit of a boost every December. So *shrugs* go figure. And if anyone wants to help the only HP fic in the top five not be in the top five any more, Come Home is only 36 behind it, and it is fluffy and cute and has Elrohir persuading Maglor to come to Imladris for Midwinter somewhat in the guise of the Elfling he hasn't been for a very long time... :D
5. Do you respond to comments? Yes. Sometimes it takes me a while (oh god six months, but I got up to speed with them all and now I'm trying to make sure I do it within a week) as I am a champion procrastinator but I feel it's important for me to say thank you. And sometimes squee a bit. :D And sometimes it makes me a new friend, which is extra-awesome.
I have a few very very old comments on the stuff I posted before 2020 which I never did get round to answering, which I feel bad about, but I also feel like it would be weird to go back and answer them now...I dunno, what do you guys think?
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings very often, but The Last Watch (in which Bard dies) is really sad, and Never Forgotten and See This Storm Through (in which Sigrid and Thranduil comfort each other after the funeral, and Legolas comes home to Dale to look after his father and his family and grieve with them, respectively) are almost as sad although they both end with a small amount of hope.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ah, most of my fics end happily :D I'm far too tired for anything but, most of the time, these days. But let's face it, My Heart Is An Empty Vessel ends with a coronation and a wedding (spoiler alert! XD ) so let's go for that one.
8. Do you get hate on fics? I am lucky; the closest I've had was some anon complaining about Empty-Handed being a spoiler for the then-unposted Empty Vessel although the events it 'spoiled' were inevitable in the context of a mortal-immortal relationship, and someone whingeing in a bookmark comment that Thorin and Bilbo don't even talk until the end of Mr Underhill's Finest Seafood Specialities, thus completely missing the point of the fic (and the 'past' after the pairing tag) - it wasn't about them - which made me chuckle as much as the rudeness annoyed me.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Sometimes. I have phases when I feel like it, and (much longer) phases when I don't. It's generally only fairly tame and euphemistic (with the single and solitary exception of that one hanahaki fic about the twins the premise for which, although not the smut, came to me in a dream) and probably not all that imaginative since, as the acest of aces, the whole idea completely bewilders me XD
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Not unless you count various different parts of the Tolkien legendarium. My brain just doesn't work that way.
11. (there doesn't seem to be a question 11; I feel like this might be one of those Tumblr traditions, as I've definitely done question memes on here before that have been lacking in a question 11...)
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have! I am deeply honoured that my KA fic Anniversaries was translated into Russian by Elenabu some years ago, and It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... appears on Lofter in Mandarin, translated by AntheaXi. There were a couple of other Russian translations of some of my very old stories, but that was 15 or 20 years ago and I can't actually remember which or where.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have! A long long time ago, the fic that eventually became the original novel that is Two of a Kind, the tale of Hal and Jack, was a co-production, and I really enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth - and of course, there is the Tudors OT3-'verse fandom stuff that @mihrsuri and I have been pinging to and fro just recently, which is also hugely enjoyable. :D :D :D
14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Oh, too many to name! Gawain/Galahad from KA2004, the bi widower dads, Legolas/Imrahil, Elladan/Elrohir, Erestor/Glorfindel, Sigrid/Tauriel, to name but a few.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am determined to finish All I Want Is You. I am also determined to finish part whatever it is now of It's Always Been You, although that's been on the back burner for a long long time. There's one WIP on the other account which I'm also determined to finish although who knows if I'll ever get there. I'm not one for saying never, though. I was out of Tolkien fandom for 16 years, and after the fandom that does not speak its name fizzled out, I genuinely thought I'd never write again. And yet...here I am.
16. What are your writing strengths? Ooooh, I dunno. Spelling, punctuation and grammar, dialogue, leavening the serious romantic stuff with a bit of humour, kindness and love for the characters and settings, happy endings and quite a lot of fluff. :D
17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. XD Can't plot to save my life.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Only when necessary for character reasons, and always provide a translation. Otherwise you're shutting out readers who don't understand (unless it's not important that they actually understand precisely what's being said as long as they get the gist).
19. First fandom you wrote for? Knowingly? X-Men (comics), and that fic is here, although I posted it ten-odd years after first posting it to ff.net.
20. Favourite fic you’ve written? All of them. I cannot possibly choose.
Thank you so much for the tag, lovely! Entirely no-obligation tags go to @lemurious, @verecunda, @writerman, @scary-grace, @seagull-energy, @herawell, @thenookienostradamus, @sallysavestheday, @myeaglesong, @palavapeite, @bigneonglitter, @bishkebab, @peonybroadbeltofbuckland, @redeemer46, @spiced-wine-fic and anyone else who wants to do this - if you see this and fancy it, please consider yourself well and truly tagged!
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