#because I apparently have a lot to say about hanahaki au in general but especially in regards to Yuri on Ice

[mydearjonah]

jenni’s TMA fic recs

for Elena @wellbustmybuffers but also anyone who wants it. 

i have spent a lot of time reading fanfiction, and i have read (at this point) almost everything that has piqued my interest in the tma ao3 tag from it’s inception to roughly july 18th, 2020. this is an absolutely non-exhaustive list of my all-time favorites. i tried to pick the things that stuck in my mind the best. it is also heavily skewed, naturally, by my own personal preferences.

to see all that i have bookmarked (as well as my own work), go here. i stand by all of these fics & only bookmark if i was really impressed with something. 

i marked the ones that i rec the absolute STRONGEST with a star.

jonmartin

☆ A Measure Outside of the Lines by Rend_Herring; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202806  

imo i consider this to be THE scottish safehouse period fic. scottish safe-house period is a great sub-genre of jonmartin fic that i highly rec to you, elena, especially if you’re just coming off of 159, and this is my favorite and the one that i feel captures their personalities and dynamic the best. highly, highly recommend; one of my top three favorites in the whole fandom. 

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22230022/chapters/53078617 

“Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.” 

extremely well-written jonmartin timetravel shenanigans pining. really, really good jonmartin content. i would describe the genre as “time travel fix-it au romantic comedy.”

take sides in divided cells by bibliocratic; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456720 

“Martin's father comes back into his life.“ 

post-series 5 jonmartin happily ever after set-up that allows the author to delve deeply into martin’s psyche. fanfiction at it’s finest. 

Dethroned by inkedinserendipity; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342663 

post-series take. warning for major character death. this is peak well-written yet sad & indulgent angst-y jonmartin. 

Be Your Raincoat by free_smarcher; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479480

“It's a rainy night at the tail end of 2013, and Arctic Monkeys' latest record is everywhere - including at the pub where a young Martin Blackwood is hung up on his coworker from the Institute.” 

pre-series oneshot that i adore for three reasons. 1) the jonmartin pining is absolutely excellent, in-character, gorgeous, 2) the author has a very sharp grasp on martin blackwood specifically that i think is rare in the fandom and 3) the author PERFECTLY captured the late 2013 Arctic Monkeys perpetual AM album zeitgeist in a way that makes me specifically feel SUPER nostalgic. 

The Watford Gap by chewsdaychillin; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24886216

“a Martin and his relationship w the og three study w class/accent discourse, pet names, slang, and tenderness. jonmartin north/south power couple“

pre-series oneshot jonmartin pining that i cannot recommend enough. author has an extremely good grasp on s1 characterization as well as british sociocultural realities. this fic makes me very emotional for a lot of reasons. 

jonmartin but with heavy monster!jon (and written before s5 aired so speculative as to the endgame plot--still rec tho if you like monster!jon)

☆ ceylon, assam, and darjeeling by Sciosa; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577347/chapters/48849719 

“People do not bring Jonathon Sims tea. Martin Blackwood, newly-minted archival assistant, has apparently not received this memo.”

i absolutely cannot express how much i adore this fic. it’s a three-parter that follows the jm relationship as it develops through the lens of martin making jon tea. the final part is the real whammy. i have read this fic repeatedly and cried each time.

Fall into the night with you by ZaliaChimera; https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851157 

“It's the end of the world, and Martin has one more thing to do before it is the end of him too. There is a calm wrapped thickly around the Institute, the eye of the storm, and Martin climbs.“

for me, this is the absolute peak monster!jon/martin. i will not lie, you gotta heed the warnings on this fic. but the end of this fic haunts me. 

lonely eyes

a note: i LOVE lonely eyes but a lot of it is really smutty or slice of life. i tried to choose the fics that i thought captured both characters the best and were smart & intentional about the dynamic. elena, if u ever go down the lonely eyes road & are interested in other recs, please let me know!

☆ Luck Be A Lady Tonight by prodigy; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257240 

“In 2014, Elias Bouchard takes a rare trip outside of his comfort zone. Peter Lukas wastes a bunch of money. You'd be surprised how many things can go wrong for two beings of cosmic power.”

this is a black comedy casino episode lonely eyes take that is one of my favorite pieces of work in this fandom and also, honestly, one of my favorite pieces of fiction straight up that i have ever read. prodigy has an extremely sharp grasp on both peter and elias (but especially peter), and they breathe life into the world of mag in a way that is absolutely unparalleled, even at times by the original series imo. 

walled up in your kingdom with radio wires by Ronabird; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465679 

so i’m not gonna lie i’ve never read His Dark Materials but this is a daemon au that i just can’t get enough of. it’s a short lonely eyes piece; the basic gist of it is that peter has lost a bet and now jonah gets to meet his daemon. this fic has everything that i want and rarely get in lonely eyes works: statements on both peter and jonah’s characters, and their dynamic sharply written. again, the last lines of this piece have stayed with me as well. 

jonelias (i’m sorry...)

note: none of these are terribly explicit but instead largely it is about their dynamic. 

a fish hook, an open eye by marrowbones; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22351618 

“Jon and Martin take a surreal holiday after escaping the Lonely. Everything would be fine if only Jon's strange dreams of Jonah Magnus would stop.”

this is a jonmartin fic in equal turn. set during the scottish safehouse period. essentially, jon is trying to reconcile that fact that elias is jonah while also being visited by him in his dreams. this is one of the first jonelias fics written after the “elias is jonah magnus” reveal, and i think it is still one of the absolute best. the author does a phenomenal job capturing this looming, atmospheric sense of dread. they also totally nail jonah magnus and the jonelias dynamic. 

thieves in the temple by havisham; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23287711 

“Elias wins and takes Jon out on the town.“

very short; shares a lot of the same dna as a fish hook, an open eye. essentially a dream-state meeting between the two of them during early s5. “a perfect fic.”

Eye to Eye by Dribbledscribbles; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24194554 

“In which Jonah Magnus attempts a post-apocalyptic pep talk.“

a s5 pep talk from jonah, who the author absolutely NAILS, to jon. this is not a fic with a happy ending so be warned. but it is a very satisfying read and the ending is... not quite a twist, but a really well done, dark reveal. 

heterochromia by screechfox; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186011 

“After Jon drags Martin out of the Lonely, Jon and Elias trade an eye for an eye. Quite literally.“

post-ep 159. this is basically a jonmartinelias fic, honestly. i am adding this here because i love it SO MUCH but also it is so intensely up my particular alley. hurt/comfort/angst. also GORE AND BODY HORROR. but it wraps up to be weirdly sweet. i cry every time ngl i’ve read this fic a lot. it’s because i’m a monsterfucker i’m sorry. 

a love that tastes like spring by sugarboat; https://archiveofourown.org/works/20189953 

this is a comically well-written jonelias hanahaki fanfic. that’s it. that’s the plot. it’s amazing. it’s basically a shojo oneshot except with in-character jon and elias. this is one of the first fics i read in this fandom that totally blew me away. 

stand-alones/gen/other

☆ The Timeline of the Theseus by Applea; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24018289/chapters/57784525 

“Jon tries to force the Spiral to send him back, but the Sprial's corridors never twist things quite the way you want them to. Back in 1996, Elias has no idea why or how the Eye made such a powerful Avatar out of an 8 year old, especially when said 8 year old doesn't actually know he has any powers at all. Clearly such a child cannot be left outside the Institute's care.”

i absolutely cannot say enough about this fic. this is one of the few works of fiction i’ve read in my life that i was so obsessed with i genuinely ruined my sleep schedule to finish. this fic is absolutely HILARIOUS. essentially, jon is an extremely powerful 8 year old w/ no knowledge of who he is who is being raised by jonah, who is completely out of his depth. also has a nice touch of gertrudeagnes & the author really nails their dynamic/the tragedy of their relationship...

☆ Scarred Ground by DictionaryWrites; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21791737/chapters/51999124 

this is a really interesting work of fiction just generally. it features a non-linear narrative, plays with a lot of unreality, and has a great deal of time wonkiness. i actually can’t explain the plot without giving it away, which i resolutely do not want to do because piecing together what is going on is a huge part of the fun. martin is the primary character, but everyone is featured. jonmartin and lonely eyes are the two ships. one of my favorite works in the fandom.

the last lines/final reveal absolutely tore me apart. i cried like a baby. 

patterns by fadewords; https://archiveofourown.org/works/22015792 

“Jon is ill and can't stop Knowing things. Daisy helps.“

long and worth it. very well-written. the author is very talented and essentially uses the world/set up of mag and the beholding to play. set during s4. everyone is extremely in character. 

out in the drowning deep by Wildehack; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473506 

“Basira holds it together.”

basira-centric s5 speculative fic. it has since been jossed but that’s no matter. this is one of the best basira fics in the fandom imo, and honestly the only one that i’ve read that i feel really nails her character and her relationship with daisy specifically. in general as well, this is a really fun speculative take on the apocalypse written before s5 aired. 

Chasm-e-Baddoor by kashinoha; https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917396/chapters/57510853 

“Wherein Jonah Magnus gets acquainted with defeat at the hands of his associates. Repeatedly.”

lonely eyes a little but overall gen. essentially just a very well-written 3 piece suite about instances over the course of jonah magnus’ long life when he gets absolutely schooled by people within it. the gertrude piece is my favorite, to the point where i consider it canon. 

And All Should Cry, Beware! Beware! by OldSwinburne; https://archiveofourown.org/works/24623179/

“When the Eye decides to select a new Avatar, it chooses Martin Blackwood, the Poet, rather than Jonathan Sims, the Archivist.“

very unique & well-written monster!martin that haunts me. 

avatar groupchat by gayprophets; https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599185/chapters/51501598 

fun gen popular chatfic. one of the only chatfics i’ve ever read where everyone is in character. a must-read in the fandom. lots of laughs to be had. i like that they bully elias. 

this is really just the surface!! there’s A LOT that’s still on my to-read list, and also obviously a lot of new and probably phenomenal work has been published since july 18th that i have to catch up on. i hope that you enjoy!!! i love fanfiction and there’s a lot of really unique and fun stuff in this fandom

#me #/ #my stuff #jonelias #jonmartin #lonely eyes #ships tagged for my own blog's purposes

[spring-emerald]

oh, shoot

For KuroDai Weekend Day 1: Celebrity AU / Hanahaki AU

“Kuroo,” Yaku puts his hands on Kuroo’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes with seriousness. “Your photographer for today is a well-known photographer, alright? We’re lucky to work with him. You are lucky to work with him. It’s an honor, a chance of a lifetime. So please, I beg of you, don’t mess this up,” he articulates carefully, punctuating his words with a dig of his fingers on Kuroo’s shoulders.

“Yaku,” Kuroo also puts his hands on Yaku’s shoulder, a little heavily, enough to make anyone else wince but not him, apparently. “You gotta chill, alright? I promise, I won’t.” He grins and pats Yaku’s shoulders, but it doesn’t ease the frown on his manager’s face. Really, he deserves more faith than this.

Modeling is something that Kuroo didn’t see himself doing as a full-time job. He didn’t believe himself to be that kind of handsome after all. (His grandmother thinks otherwise, but that’s his grandmother, so it doesn’t really count.) But he finds himself in the industry after dipping in it for a desperate part-time during a rough time in college. And while it’s not as glamorous and glitzy as one perceives it to be, he found himself liking it enough to accept more jobs and change the course of his future by signing up with an agency.

Two years into the industry and he’s worked with a lot of different beautiful people and a lot of different photographers. But it’s his first time to work with someone that has what could be considered a celebrity status in the modeling and fashion circuit.

He’s done his research about Sawamura Daichi, as per Yaku’s instruction. He’s glad he followed it because he learned that Sawamura is the same age as Kuroo, younger than him by a month even, and entered around the same time he did. He’s got a Cinderella-eque early life story, about how he supported himself and his family through doing side-jobs and assistants during college, started his own studio from basically nothing with the help of trusted friends and underclassmen, until he’s reached the place where he is right now. He’s far more accomplished than his contemporaries, especially in terms of portfolio.

(It’s also been said that he’s Oikawa Tooru and Sugawara Koushi’s-two of the top and most-sought actors in the business today-named him as their favorite photographer. That’s from a celebrity tabloid but he thinks it’s worth its dime.)

The point is, that’s how good he’s touted to be.

And really, Yaku was right when he said it’s an honor to work with him. Not just with him, but working in this campaign as a whole. Out of the many, more beautiful models from their agency, like the Haiba siblings, he was the one handpicked by Nekomata-san to be included in the anniversary line of one of the famous clothing brands in the country, and it will be advertised in electronic billboards and fashion magazines. It’s a miracle to be handed such a project like this and Kuroo would be a fool to mess this up.

So yeah. He promises to be in his best behavior and he will not mess this up.

-----

Kuroo is messing this up.

He’s half-naked, only clad in high quality jeans, hair pushed back and tamed and he’s sweating. The studio is cold enough and he’d been in front of the bright lights numerous times already, but none of those had affected him for him to sweat like buckets like this. He knows he’s not looking very attractive right now and far-fetched from the model he claims to professionally be.

In his defense, none of those photo shoots had Sawamura Daichi as the photographer.

God, he’d seen what he looks like when he was researching about him and he had believed the articles when they said that he’s plain but kind looking. Because he is. Kind looking, that is, a strange softness to his define jaws. And god, he’s plain, alright.

Plainly gorgeous.

Downright stunning with a great one dimpled smile and a firm handshake. It doesn’t help that he’s down to earth and friendly to the staff.

Basically, Kuroo’s a goner.

He is not shallow to fall just for looks especially when his work allows him to be surrounded by a lot of good-looking people, where beautiful is a word that can generally describe them all and not be wrong. Gorgeous is the one word he reserves for really special individuals that it would be an insult to call them just beautiful.

But by gods if he doesn’t have a problem describing Sawamura like that.

Kuroo can only dazedly follow the instructions, lost in the play of Sawamura’s arm muscles every time it involuntarily flexes when he poises to shoot. Kind of jealous of the camera strap that get to rest on his well-defined chest under the tight Henley that he forgets to project the feeling that the shoot is asking for, which definitely isn’t the dumb smitten model look.

Did Kuroo mention he’s messing this up? No? Well, he’s messing this up. Big time.

Yaku’s going to chew his head off after this and Kuroo will actually let him, just so he doesn’t have to live with the embarrassment.

Sawamura’s looking down on the screen of his camera, a small frown on his face. Kuroo knows it for the look of dissatisfaction. Goodness, of all times to flop his shoot, it has to be this one. Sawamura looks at up him, head tilted a little to the side. He drops his camera down gently and walks toward Kuroo.

Kuroo glances at Yaku, sees how he’s biting down on his thumbnail and swallows the nervous lump that grew in his throat.

“Kuroo-san,” Kuroo straightens his shoulders at being addressed. Thank god he’s taller than Sawamura and he’s the one slightly looking down on him. His pride won’t be able to take the hit if it had been the other way instead. “This isn’t how your hair is usually styled, is it?”

Kuroo blinks, hand coming up to touch his styled hair. “Uhm, yeah. It isn’t.” The unexpected question unbalanced him enough to answer truthfully.

Sawamura nods and hums thoughtfully. “What do you say about changing it back to your more, natural style?”

“What?”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with it, pushed back. And you really look good and register on the camera fine,” Sawamura quickly explains, and if Kuroo isn’t nervous and confused, he would’ve found the gesticulating adorable. “But… there’s something missing?”

Kuroo shakes his head then. “No, I mean, you’re the boss right now, so whatever you say goes, but I just feel like I have to be completely honest you know? My hair, well, naturally, it’s,” Kuroo pauses, looking for a word that won’t completely embarrass him and settles with “…untamable.” He looks at Sawamura pointedly, conveying that he would probably look and do worse if he changes back to his hairstyle.

Sawamura gives him a small smile and Kuroo remembers why he’s doing so badly in the first place. “It can’t be that bad,” he assures.

Kuroo doesn’t have the heart to say that oh yeah, it can. It is. His friends tease him Rooster Head for a good reason. He can’t say that his performance and bad frames have nothing to do with his hair, but just with him being useless in the face of someone handsome. Kuroo’s not that above blaming Sawamura.

“Anything you want,” Kuroo says instead. He meant it casually and professionally, really, but given that his mind is in the gutter at the moment, he thinks it comes out way more than he intended.

Sawamura looks taken aback by the words and coughs lightly, clearing his throat. “Uhhh, yeah.” He gestures to the direction of the hairstylists awkwardly, stepping back and away from Kuroo.

Kuroo purses his lips and nods stiffly then leaves before he can say or do something even more stupid.

When he comes back, hair styled in its usual get up, only a little tamer, Sawamura studies him, nods with approval and asks him if he’s ready to do some test shots. Sawamura points and clicks, letting Kuroo pose as he please and looks at the few frames he’d taken, a satisfied smile on his face.

“Hmm, it’s better,” he says smiling, catching Kuroo off-guard yet again. He doesn’t think he can take the fact that Sawamura had just basically complimented him, saying he looks better with his natural style on. Or maybe, he’s reading too much into this and the guy is just being kind, so stop thinking so hard Tetsurou and just do your job.

And do his job he did. He followed Sawamura’s direction and obeyed every instruction, listened well to suggestions and was glad that he can freely suggest some of his own and met with approval, growing more confident and relaxed as the shoot progress. It helps that Sawamura talks to him like a friend, casual and light, unlike some photographers who’re extremely stiff and all business. It’s a great bonus whenever he smiles, something that Kuroo had grown accustomed to, thank god.

He’s putting on the last pair of jeans he’s had to model for the shoot-a tight, skinny one-when Yaku approaches him and gives him a pat on the shoulder.

“You’re doing great, Kuroo,” he starts, but the pause offsets the word. Kuroo waits for him to drop the ‘but’. “But maybe you can try to be a little, you know, playful? Flirtier?”

Kuroo scoffs at Yaku, looking at him funny as he zips the jeans up. “Flirtier?”

“Yeah! You’re good with that, right? I mean, it’s really nice to see you this serious, but also a bit disconcerting? Especially since you actually look like you. Let your personality shine through. I think that’s what Sawamura likes to happen too.” Yaku shrugs.

Kuroo snorts. “Alright, one, despite my appearance, I’m not flirty. And I’m pretty sure that’s not what Sawamura likes to happen.” He’s just really generous with his compliments, like a good professional should be. There’s no way Kuroo is going to read more into that. Anyway, “two, this hair is actually charming and not the disaster you all think it is. And three, you can just say that you like me for me, Yaku-paisen.” He grins, which earns him an eye roll and a hard slap on the arm.

“Whatever. Forget it. You’re insufferable.” Kuroo’s laugh follows after him.

Kuroo returns to the set, a small smile still on his face because of his conversation with Yaku and he startles when the lights go off along with a sound of the shutter. He looks up and finds the camera trained on him.

Sawamura lowers it, looking guilty at getting caught. “Sorry. It’s just…your smile was nice and I just,” Sawamura shakes his head. “Never mind, sorry. Anyway, uh, are you ready?” He rubs the back of his head self-consciously and tries to give Kuroo a confident smile.

Kuroo thinks that if he steps closer, he’ll see the blush on Sawamura’s cheeks.

Adorable. He wants to see Sawamura make that face again. He remembers Yaku’s words and a smirk blooms on his face.

“I’m always ready for you, Sawamura,” he says with a wink, ignoring the inner Kuroo cringing at him at the line he used.

Sawamura stills, eyes wide because Kuroo isn’t even being subtle, then clears his throat and shakes his head again, harder this time. “…Right. Okay.”

Kuroo counts it as a win since he got flustered again. Yaku doesn’t think so.

“Kuroo!” Yaku seethes, eyes bulging out and looking between him and Sawamura, expression alternating between scandalized and apologetic. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“What? You said to be flirty.”

“Yeah! But I meant the camera, not the photographer!”

“But-” Oh. Oh. Damn… that’s not what Yaku meant earlier. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. “Sawamura, I am-”

His apology gets interrupted when Sawamura snorts softly, covering his big smile and flushed face with his hand. He’s unable to hold it, and to Kuroo’s utter mortification, he laughs. A full bellied, mirthful, music to Kuroo’s ears actually if it isn’t done in his expense. The make-up artists and hairstylists join in and wow, can some of the light stands just fall on him now, or maybe all of them, he’s not picky.

“Oh, god,” Sawamura breathes, chuckling still. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He waves a dismissing hand, while the other wipes a tear on his eyes.

“It’s alright, really. It’s fine. You’re good. I mean,” his smile turns into a bashful one. “I don’t mind.” He glances up at Kuroo shyly. “But,” he continues. “Maybe we can…talk… after the shoot?”

Kuroo blinks and snaps out of his daze of asking how this guy could be real, and seeing Sawamura’s hopeful face boosts his confidence and eagerness to finish the shoot. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

----------

A few months later, Kuroo sees his photo displayed in one of the electronic billboards. People stop and stare, some girls even squeal, not noticing the real thing is just among them.

“You really look good in that,” Daichi says, stepping up beside him, looking at the big screen with a small smile.

Kuroo hooks an arm around his shoulders. “Nah, my photographer’s just the best.”

#haikyuu!! #kurodai #kurodaiweekend #kuroo tetsurou #sawamura daichi #hq fanfic

[jojotier]

I was looking at your post on ABO stuff and it made me think of stuff like soulmate AUs and that weird Hanahaki Disease thing... I always thought those were kinda dumb, too :/

Honestly, I think the Hanahaki Disease and Soulmate aus are at least passable- sure they can be generic as hell and its silly and dumb, and mostly wishful romantic fairytale thinking, but you can still do something with them relatively easily, and I do enjoy a good bit of silly fairytale nonsense from time to time

A/B/O on the other hand is fucking detestable, and the mere sight of it makes me recoil.

However, I’m a firm believer that almost anything can be done well if enough thought and planning is put into it. And I mean anything. 

So tl;dr of the masterpost I’m leaving below the read more: I personally find hanahaki disease and soulmate aus to be extremely promising and will leave some ways you can twist them into something more interesting.

A/B/O on the other hand, I hate with a fucking passion because it has some of the worst parts of humanity etched into it, and is generally used for all the wrong reasons- though I can see it working, if you’re really fucking careful and put a lot of thought and effort into developing it, and if you have good reason for it. I’ll leave some ideas below for tips on how you might be able to pull off an a/b/o au, even if i probably wouldnt touch it with a five foot pole

So before anything, there’s a couple ways to personalize a soulmate or hanahaki disease au:

- tailor it specifically to the fandom you’re writing for (for example, a stand that causes hanahaki disease so the user tries to gain control of the person’s heart by trying to convince them that he can ‘save them’ by taking the disease ridden heart away for jojo’s) - take the idea and giving it a twist (soulmates doesn’t necessarily mean romantic partner and your soulmate can be the person you beat the shit out of, a platonic friend, a government scheme trying to keep the masses compliant, etc)

- try to base ideas in reality- exploring the cultural and societal norms, including alternate histories and alternate social movements centered around the existence of something like soulmates being common for instance. how would soulmates, particularly if you find an enemy soldier is yours, play into how a war is conducted? are soulmates to be trusted in battle? how does the political and social climate change during things such as the suffrage movement or during industrialization? or you can come up with the science behind hanahaki disease and come up with an entire slew of research and studies for it. what medications are available to lessen the symptoms? are there alternate strains? people who are immune? where does hanahaki disease come from, and has it been part of human history for long?

With these ideas, they seem shallow and silly on the surface (and there’s nothing wrong with silly and shallow, if it’s done well and is inoffensive; sometimes i just need a good fairytale bullshit fix of flower tattoos appearing on your skin when your gf is near) but there’s still an underlying potential that makes them worthwhile to explore and keep around, especially if you mix and match with different genres like fantasy, modern magic, solarpunk, scifi, horror, thriller, etc!! 

But the thing that pisses me off about A/B/O is that 1) that’s not how humans fucking work, nor do a lot of animal species, and it simplifies the complex social and societal structures associated with people, 

2) 9/10 it’s an excuse to write men into the societal roles of nuclear parents with things like mpreg and assbabies and heat without female characters ‘getting in the way’, 

3) if you even decide to explore the social and political aspects of the population being separated into 3 races positions in power society with rigid norms of ‘this person has to be Aggressive and Dominant because its In Their Nature and everyone Will Submit’ and whatever the fuck, thats just… wrong on so many levels. trying to explore A/B/O while romanticizing it in the same breath is the absolute worst crime you can commit, especially if your A/B/O has extremely rigid class structure and ‘behaviors’ associated with all the classes’ biology that are enforced and seen as good things. 

At it’s worst, A/B/O can become an allegory in favor of racism, sexism, classism, and the fetishization of gay men.

 Do the writers of these aus want it to come off that way? I doubt that many of them do, and I doubt it’s intentional- but when you read a summary that says that ‘oh this character is an OMEGA who SNEAKS INTO an ALPHAS ONLY parlor, can this sheep in wolf’s clothing hide their secret??’ it’s impossible not to draw parallels to Jim Crow. When there’s a summary about how Character A needs to find an alpha so their heat can be taken care of, it’s impossible not to think of the seme/uke dynamic that its upholding. when you see a story thats full of male characters where their dynamics are ‘explored’ while the female characters get brushed to the side with no mention of their apparent status in this society, it just highlights how much the author wants the female characters out of the way

Do I think that A/B/O can be done well? Yes. When I say I believe almost anything can work, I mean anything. 

Here’s my tips for attempting to write a successful A/B/O:

- Do some fucking research before anything. Research is key to both improving your writing skills and finding new ideas that people might not have looked at before. If you want a lighter slice of life au, I suggest researching how best to build a culture and how historical influences weave their way into present customs. If you want something a little heavier, start researching different social movements and learn about how social reform is undertaken. How does a social movement form? Are there any technological advances you think might be inspired in an A/B/O world?

- Unless the people in the A/B/O aren’t human, for the love of fuck don’t make anything specific to their biology. If you have A/B/O in your au because there are things like werewolves or vampires or some other mythical creature, then there is a little more leniency, since then you can make an actual case that you’re making a couple behaviors actually part of their biology. Even then though, you’re thin ice, which brings me to the next important point…

- SUBTLETY. Just make it another part of society, like you would with a gay or PoC character. Don’t hammer the entire dynamic into your readers’ faces unless you’re prepared to do actual research and definitely not unless you are 100% dismantling why harmful societal structures are bullshit. This can be done in a few ways, such as developing a sort of culture around each of the roles (for example, maybe Alphas traditionally favor spicy foods as a test of strength or tend to steal bites of their partner’s food, or maybe Omegas tend to prefer sweet foods and wear patterns). You can make people of all castes equal across all fields (an equal amount of alpha and omega politicians and ceos for instance), and you can show characters with diverse tastes that don’t fit what might be stereotypical of them (alphas cuddling stuffed animals, omegas with a love of going to a fight club and beating the shit out of each other, etc). Don’t be afraid to let identities intersect- trans omegas, aro/ace alphas, etc. 

- The final and most important point- Have A Fucking Reason For Including A/B/O or Making An A/B/O au. 

Do you want a/b/o in your au because you feel it will give an extra dimension that sets apart a supernatural creatures’ social dynamics from human social dynamics? Cool! That’s some chill worldbuilding you can pull off! Do you want to explore how a social movement forms and how to challenge an oppressive society? Neat! Just be careful not to go too far and do your research! Want to see how x character would react and navigate the world with the cultures associated with A/B/O? Want to do an entire genre swap where A/B/O is the norm of a dystopia, or horror based, or a sci-fi where AIs are programmed with it and have to overcome the structure to develop a social structure of their own, or anything of the like? Go for it! 

Do you want to have a character be seen as suuuuuuper weak and feminine but!!! They aren’t actually because girl power they’re just the same as anyone else and can run with big strong ones like the alphas so they’re not like other omegas? Want to get rid of those pesky girls so they don’t get in the way of your ships? Want your two gay characters to have a super imbalanced relationship with one character being aggressive because it’s just their nature? Want your ~sinful gay babies~ to still be a nuclear family and have 2.5 biological children? Want to explore things like racism without that pesky need to research anything ever? NO. NO NO NO. STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW. You better fucking not. 

So yea wow this post ended up longer than intended but here you go!

#writing advice #long text #a/b/o dynamics #hanahaki disease #soulmate au #thats my hot take on it anyway haha

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Raskovnik AU, aka my hanahaki-spite AU

So I’ve been sitting on this Yuri on Ice AU for something like 2 years by this point, and I’m probably not going to be finishing it, so here’s the (very long) run-down

(the reason it’s called hanahaki-spite is because I really do not like hanahaki. If you like hanahaki AU, that’s entirely your prerogative and you’re free to do as you like, but I’m not sure how much you’ll appreciate this one

The disease: 

First off, the reason why it’s called Raskovnik is because of this cryptid plant, which is based on an aquatic fern. Supposedly, it unlocks/uncovers whatever is locked/closed, but can only be identified by chthonic animals in Slavic tradition (eg tortoises, snakes, or hedgehogs)

The disease is NOT based off unrequited love, because that honestly skeeves me out for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the idea that ‘unrequited love’ is enough to disease someone and the fact that the ‘cure’ is kind of sketchy in regards to the fact that the target of the unrequited feelings has apparently has to reciprocate them or they’re implicitly responsible for the victim’s death in-universe

Oh yeah, the disease doesn’t kill you unless you let it grow way too long and the surgery to remove the plants, while causing a minor depressive episode, does not ‘surgically remove the feeling of love’ for anyone, because love really shouldn’t be something that easy to excise from a person

Basically, what happens with the disease is this aquatic fern thing (a red four-leaf clover type thing with heart-shaped leaves, in this 'verse) grows in some people’s lungs if certain conditions are met. It’s not very well understood in-universe, but there’s lots of (scientific and popular) speculation, which is where the idea of ‘unrequited love’ being the cause comes from

‘hanahaki’ is the popular general term for the disease, and most scientists/doctors hate it because it’s generally associated with the ‘romanticized’ version of the disease with the unrequited love and the cure being the confession and the surgery removing love along with the plant nonsense - similar to how tuberculosis was romanticized for making ladies ‘pale and faint’ like it wasn’t a frickin disease

The actual conditions are that 1) you’re genetically susceptible (usually associated with ‘green thumb’ types of people who are really good at talking to plants and helping them grow, 2) you’re trying to ‘box’ your relationships in some way that simplifies or generalizes what love is, and 3) you’ve encountered the Raskovnik spore at some point, so it’s like... actually in your lungs

Basically, the idea is that people produce some kind of particle in their lungs (I don’t have a name for them, so they’re just ‘love particles for now I guess) that’s good for plant growth, and it tends to be produced more when you’re like, lovingly talking to plants or just loving in general (kind of like oxytocin but not really)

Normally the love particle is kind of just made and released as produced, but people who end up metaphorically locking their love away subsequently lock these particles in their lungs - this creates a buildup of the particles in your lungs that Raskovnik then grows off of it

When you’ve resolved your love-boxing issues, the Raskovnik has done its job and ‘unlocked’ your heart, so the particles are exhaled as normal and the plant eventually dies out

The reason why the surgery creates a depressive episode is because it’s not very precise, so taking the Raskovnik roots out of the heart can damage the nodes that produce the love particles - they recover eventually, but until then your body’s kind of just not happy with the imbalance that causes

(If you want a brief snapshot of ‘hanahaki’s’ impression on society, here you go: Viktor reads as far as “her breath is perfumed with the scent of wild roses as she confesses, ‘I hate Valentine's day because it reminds me of my incurable disease and the curse I must suffer,” before he throws his cheap airport romance at the wall.)

Anyways, the actual Yuri on Ice plot

So it starts with the banquet, because duh

But really, when I say ‘start’ I mean, this is the very beginning, because Viktor’s been feeling that ice-skating burnout for a while, so he’s been a little too grey to really remember what it was like to love ice skating. He knows he used to love it, and he knows that he used to remember what love was, but nowadays it's really hard to care

Then the banquet happens, and everything’s champagne-gold bright and warm, because Viktor gets to dance with one Yuuri Katsuki and he feels a bit more alive

Except after that, he’s got radio silence from Yuuri, so he figures it was kind of a one-time thing

He doesn’t actually have the disease at this point, but this is where it starts. This is where his personal fondness for Yuuri starts at least, beyond his professional fascination for his artistry and emotive skating, and this is where he manages to find hope, even despite the radio silence

at this point, the love particle build-up is pretty slight, and he doesn’t actually have the spores in his lung, so there’s a groundwork for it, but no disease

Anyways, that kind of liminal state lasts about as long as it takes for Stammi Vicino a la Yuuri to happen, because well. Canon happens.

Viktor arrives full tilt in Hasetsu and, under the impression that Yuuri actually remembers the banquet, is concerned about Yuuri’s... less than ecstatic response to his arrival

so he figures okay this wasn’t as magical as he’d been hoping, but it’s still better than the utter gray that he was feeling before, and he really does want to help Yuuri reach his full potential.

besides, even if it’s not shaping up to be a fairytale, he’s still thankful that Yuuri gave him that spark anyways, so he can still do this to show his appreciation anyways

so that’s not the problem, the actual problem is when Viktor figures that, since Yuuri’s not really happy with Viktor, he’s going to figure out which version Yuuri would be happiest with and do that

... it doesn’t really mesh well with the ‘don’t box in love’ type of thing for the disease, though to be fair no one really knows that’s an actual condition by this point

Yeah this is when the disease really takes root, both because he’s now fueling the disease a lot more actively with his mentality and because he has the actual spore in his lungs

Viktor tries to hide this. Considering that he’s periodically coughing up Raskovnik leaves and his lung capacity is shrinking, he doesn't hide it very well. He manages something like a week at most

No one in the family buys into the popular ‘unrequieted love’ explanation for Raskovnik, because they know better

Yuuri, in particular, has listened to many of Phichit’s rants about how dumb it is to romanticize a poorly understood disease, because he was there for all the research Phichit had to do for one of his class assignments

Anyways, that goes on for the like, week or so it takes for Yurio to arrive and kick off the whole Onsen on Ice thing

At which point Yuuri’s adorable ‘I want to eat Katsudon with you’ thing happens - it doesn’t quite spark a realization in Viktor, but it’s one of the first steps for him changing his perspective on things

Anyways, the general thing with Onsen on Ice is mostly little bonding snapshots. Yuuri’s... not exactly open but he’s not jumping, screeching, and finding the nearest dark place to hide anymore, while Yurio is kind of failing to aggressively dislike the Katsukis in general, and Yuuri in particular (he follows Yuuri around like the world’s most belligerent kitten, but he’s also very clearly growing attached to everyone). Viktor is getting along well but somewhat tentatively with the other Katsuki’s, considering he’s in a bit of a weird guest-but-also-not-really phase with them

The beach thing from the ending happens - Mari finds some old sprinklers from last summer in storage, and she suggests Yuuri can take the Russians out to the beach and show them how they work (“Yuuri,” Mari says, “they’re Russian they can probably handle a little Japan spring chill”)

Anyways, Onsen on Ice happens and Yuuri wins, so after they eat katsudon in celebration Viktor gives Yuuri the weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) off

which means less ‘no work’ and more ‘you don’t need to wake up at 6 for warmups anymore, we can keep a lighter schedule and start whenever you wake up’

Yeah, so Yuuri’s been pretty good about waking up at 6 for warmups (or at least about staying up once he’s gotten moving), so Viktor doesn’t actually realize that Yuuri’s a night owl until he gets worried two days later and Yuuri’s still not awake at 10 AM

Viktor’s a morning person

Anyways, this and other little things helps Viktor to see more of Yuuri-the-person rather than Yuuri-the-banquet-dancer. This is important because it helps him to realize (much later) that like... you don’t have to be an idealized version of yourself to be loved. Even if that’s kind of what skating fandom has pushed at Viktor, he’s kind of seeing otherwise - he sees Yuuri as less of his idealized image and falls more in love, and eventually realizes that it probably works the other way around, too

Which leads to the beach talk in episode 4, where Viktor starts chucking different masks at Yuuri and asking which one he wants, and Yuuri says he just wants Viktor to be Viktor

He’s not sure why his heart flutters at Yuuri’s declaration, but it does. It takes Viktor a little while to figure out that he also wants to know who ‘just Viktor’ is

This is the major turning point for Viktor. Yes, we’re not even halfway through the season. Yes this is still the major turning point because this is where Viktor stops using his masks

Not to say he’s cured at this point, because he still has other things he needs to work through, but like this is the peak of the Raskovnik growth - it’s only going to get smaller from here, though there’s some confusion as to why it never quite dies out (that happens shortly after the GPF)

Most of the time between here and the GPF is for like, small things that highlight the slow burn, fall-deeper-in-love YoI goodness, but one of the more relevant things is Viktor starts helping out with the plants in the hot spring

Most relevant are the cherry blossom trees, cuz like... they’re beautiful, but they don’t bloom that long. Normally. Basically, Viktor talks to the tree as he tends to it, mentions offhand that he’d like to see the cherry blossoms again but he’s not sure he’ll still be there by next year, and boom. Cherry blossoms everywhere. In something like the middle of summer. This is because of Viktor’s ‘green thumb’ thing, which subsequently makes him susceptible to the disease

I also imagine that, either after the beach or after the Cup of China, Viktor and Yuuri start sleeping in the same bed at night (and I do mean actual sleeping, though I suppose if you wanted to do otherwise that’d be up to you)

You know the airport scene? It’s beautiful, it’s romantic, Yuuri asks Viktor to coach him until he retires and Viktor says he wishes Yuuri would never retire? Yeah, this is build up to the climax

Because it is exactly everything I described, but also like. Viktor’s been getting better about the *Edna mode voice* ‘no masks’ thing, but that doesn’t mean he’s really completely resolved it. Understandable, considering it’s something like a half a year unlearning that compared to something like ten years of consistently wearing masks for the public and being isolated from even your peers in private, but not great for the disease that feeds off it

So here’s where Viktor accidentally solidifies the thought that he’d be willing to give up everything for Yuuri - even himself. If being Viktor-the-coach is what Yuuri needs, then that’s who he’ll be

This isn’t actually a conscious decision, or like, a rational one, but well. People aren’t always rational, and as they’re nearing the end of the skating year, things are looking a little more muddled. Viktor would like to stay with Yuuri for the rest of his life, but that’s not a certainty like coaching is, and Viktor’s not really used to not having a plan

that being said, I do think Viktor’s a lot more confident in their future together than Yuuri is, because Viktor doesn’t have Yuuri’s anxiety brain - in my mind, Viktor’s natural fears for the future are kind of colliding with Yuuri’s unease (which Viktor isn’t consciously aware of, but is still picking up on)

honestly if you have a better idea 

Anyways, while that’s kind of percolating in the background, episode 10 happens, with all proposals and banquet revelations that entail. Also Viktor accidentally spiking Yuuri’s anxiety with the whole “we'll get married once he wins gold” because like, Viktor meant for it to be something along the lines of ‘I have complete faith in Yuuri’s skill and ability to win’ and uh. Yuuri heard differently.

So Viktor’s talk with Yurio goes here, including the bit of his internal monologue of “If I’d stayed in Russia, Yurio wouldn’t be as motivated and neither would I”, because it’s still very indicative of how he’s grown - his potentially backsliding on some of those lessons doesn’t mean he didn’t learn, and it doesn’t mean he can’t pull himself back up. 

Anyways the GPF short program happens, and Yuuri trips up because he’s unbalanced - he can’t get in the right mindset for his skate, though he’s skilled enough with it that he still does really well - Viktor notes this, but he doesn’t connect it to his whole ‘we’ll get married once he gets gold’ thing until their confrontation that night. 

Also relevant, Viktor’s looking at all these skaters and remembering what he loved so much about competing, and about making his own programs. He’s not thinking about it at this point, but this is what Yuuri sees when he thinks Viktor wants to go back

"Let's end this” happens because of Yuuri’s anxiety brain

Viktor’s all sorts of distressed about this, but one of the biggest things is just... what did Yuuri see that convinced him Viktor wanted to go back? Was there something he missed that Yuuri had seen?

He loves coaching Yuuri, but he loved skating first. Seeing everyone skate so passionately made him remember that viscerally, so that new revelation along with Yuuri’s insistence on not stealing him away from the skating he loves makes him doubt himself 

Look, Viktor barely even knows himself as it is, after ten years of putting on one mask after another - maybe Yuuri really does know him better, he was already the one who told Viktor there was a person to be loved under all the masks (he doesn’t, but also anxiety brain)

Anyways, Viktor and Yuuri end that talk on a... tense note, but with a promise that they’ll both think independently on what they want personally, rather than what they think would work best for their fairly young relationship

The free skate happens, in all it’s beautiful glory, and Viktor realizes what Yuuri wants - Yuuri’s always been a beautiful skater, but he’s been mired down by his doubts and anxieties. This skate is quite literally the best he’s ever done, and Viktor knows Yuuri well enough to know that Yuuri wants to be even better. He hasn’t reached his zenith yet, but he still has the drive to improve, and enough determination that Viktor won’t have to sacrifice his dreams to help Yuuri with his goal

also YUURI WINS GOLD which isn’t so much a Raskovnik thing as it is me still being slightly salty about the ending thing

I’m just saying Yuuri deserved gold and also it would have fit the narrative journey better

(The matter of his dream is a different story)

Okay, here I have two potential endings, depending on how I’m feeling about Yuuri getting the wrong medal in canon

The first one is further from canon, in that Viktor decides wholesale that he doesn’t want to skate competitively. He remembers why he loved it because of the passion everyone (and especially Yuuri) showed, but it's in a nostalgic way. It’s not what he wants anymore, but it’s good to know that he wasn’t imagining it when he thought he used to love skating competitively

The other one is actually my saltier one, because like... you didn’t actually need to steal Yuuri’s gold to have Viktor skating in the next season. Specifically, this ties into the fact that Viktor ended his last season with gold shackles clamped around his throat

it’s... it’s not really the high note that one might want to end a competitive season

It’s also going to be how he ends his career if he doesn’t choose to skate next year

considering that Viktor’s recently recaptured his love for competitive skating, and considering the fact that he only really has this year to try it, he’d like to end on an emotional high note, regardless of how he scores, so he chooses to skate next season as well

Considering how much he’s learned from Yuuri and how much Yuuri’s learned from him, they can both kind of teach each other while also training under Yakov, assuming that doesn’t cause problems

I have to admit, I’m not too clear on skating regulations, except that it seems like there’d be issues regarding the idea of having a competitor also coaching as a massive conflict of interest

In any case, the season basically finishes with Viktor being cured of the disease, since he finally figured out the balance of loving Yuuri without sacrificing himself (and like, there’s nothing wrong with sacrifices for the one you love, but they very much shouldn’t be because you think you’re worth less, or because you don’t value your own joy and happiness)

it takes a few days for the plant to well and truly starve, at which point it dies and Viktor ends up hacking up a bunch of roots along with the Raskovnik ‘petals’

It’s not exactly romantic, but its also the end of the disease, at a very convenient timing because Viktor’s lost a fair amount of lung capacity from it, he’s going to need to train himself back up for the next season (NOT for Worlds, that’s way too soon)

Additional notes

As mentioned before, Phichit has done quite a bit of research and gone on quite a few angry rants about “hanahaki, as it’s wrongly called” - Yuuri ends up introducing him to Phichit through video chat so they can talk about things

I was debating whether or not to have Viktor journaling in the meanwhile, to track his mental state and the state of the disease. If he did the journals, they could be good case study material for in-universe scientists studying Raskovnik, but it might also be extraneous to the story, so who knows

The fact that Yuuri rightfully wins gold means that Yurio doesn’t, which I honestly think fits better for his arc as well - part of the problem for the show is that he’s very much trying to fill in Viktors (and Yuuri’s) skates, and he’s being pushed to skate ‘beautifully’ when it goes against a lot of his nature

that’s not to say he doesn’t like being beautiful, but Yurio is fierce and passionate more than he is beautiful, and that’s the way he likes it (side note, I tend to headcanon Yurio’s theme for the season as ‘passion’ or something similar, due to the juxtaposition of the holy passion of his SP and the firey energy of his FS

Anyways Yurio pushes himself too far, as was foreshadowed for the entire season, and tires out too much to skate his FS perfectly

He still does really well, though, because he managed to skate the way he wanted, in his determination to convince Yuuri to stay (it’s not exactly a game-changer, because he was already going to, but it’s very encouraging for Yuuri nonetheless)

His skate is fiery and elegant and fierce in a way that it hadn’t been before, at least until he tired out - it contrasts pretty distinctly with Vitkor’s skating, which tends more for a more smooth, serene type of elegance, which Viktor and Yuuri both bring up at separate points

This ends up being why Yurio changes up his exhibition - he’s been kind of thinking about this for a while, but he never got the chance to perform as he wanted and well. He’s impatient, so he’s going to take that chance now

And that’s how he ends up mixing brainchild skate ideas with Otabek’s music and their combined teenage fashion skills to make Welcome to the Madness

Despite the fact that Yuuri did, in fact, win gold, the wedding needs to be postponed because the entirety of Hasetsu might actually try to murder them if they’re not at least involved.

also, planning a proper wedding at the same time as multiple skate programs (three to six, depending on your ending of choice) and also a good amount of coaching seems like a really bad idea

So anyway, this entire mess of an AU is brought to you by my brain rebelling against one too many hanahaki AUs, with Yuri on Ice ending up as the inadvertent victim. I have a few things written for this, but not near enough to post in any really coherent form, so I figured I’d release the thing to the wild in this way instead

(If anyone wants to do anything with this, I’d just like credit and a link so I can see your stuff. If you want to use the idea for anything outside of Yuri on Ice, that’s perfectly fine, too)

#yuri on ice #raskovnik AU #long post #VERY long post #because I apparently have a lot to say about hanahaki au in general but especially in regards to Yuri on Ice #also #rough count #but I made it through 87 out of the 100 points tumblr's apparently allowing now #and only a few of those points are for dramatic formatting