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notcanoncompliant · 4 years

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can i request a fic where peter is in the military and when he comes home hes surprises his husband tony and his daughter morgan ? love your work xoxo

I've never written a kid!fic before, thank you for the challenge! I hope you enjoy 💕

Background:

> Age difference; Tony’s in his mid-late forties, Peter’s like 28-29.

> Pepper’s been friends with Tony for a million years, she carried Morgan for Peter & Tony (Tony is Morgan’s bio-dad)

> Tony’s still Tony Stark, he’s just not Iron Man. Pepper runs SI, Tony works/signs things/attends meetings from home so he can take care of Morgan

> Peter does IT for the government, gets contracted for military assignments

***

Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

The weather’s nice; chilly (but not too chilly) with sunshine spilling everywhere, glinting off iridescent birthday streamers and the few glittery party hats abandoned by a couple of Morgan’s friends in the grass and on the picnic table.

Tony’s hanging a little ways back from the party, watching Morgan run around with her friends. This is one of those times he’s grateful the other parents are a little (read: a lot) intimidated by Morgan’s pretty-much-celebrity father; it means he gets a few minutes of moping before he has to pull himself together and act like a person again.

He’s been trying, really trying, not to let too much of his sadness and frustration leak into his time with Morgan, but it’s hard. Peter was supposed to be coming home on leave for three weeks (!!!), but the military analyst powers-that-be had apparently needed him for just a little longer, another classified project that couldn’t wait.

It’s not the first time Peter’s had to cancel plans because of duty, but this would’ve been the first time Peter was home for Morgan’s birthday since the actual day of her birth, and Tony wishes there was something to rail against, something he could do. He would, but his husband loves his work and Tony would never put that in jeopardy or ask him to stop.

It’d be easier, though, if Tony were allowed to know where his husband is. Peter’s work usually falls under the ‘classified’ category nature. That in itself wouldn’t stop him...but Peter's forbidden him from looking up the locations. The uncertainty drives Tony nuts sometimes (all the time), but he’s been good.

(...and when he’s having a hard time being good, he has Pepper on emergency speed-dial as a safeguard to help talk him out of doing it; just another reason Tony’s grateful for her presence in their lives)

A familiar hand lands on his shoulder, squeezes once. He glances over as Pepper lowers herself onto the bench beside him.

“If you keep showing me affection, they might think it’s okay to talk to me,” Tony says, gesturing subtly to the other parents standing off a little ways away.

Pepper just gives him a fondly exasperated look, to which Tony shrugs. He knows she won’t give him actual flack; the PTA crew don’t really know what to do with themselves around a powerhouse like Virginia Potts, CEO.

“You know, you could take a page out of Morgan’s book,” she says quietly.

Tony heaves a breath, looks out at where Morgan’s running around with her friends.

They’re laughing and yelling and generally raising hell in their own little corner of the park, most of them in their wonderfully gaudy party hats, smacking each other with various foam weapons (Morgan wanted a warrior princess party; it’s the first childrens’ party Tony’s had to distribute liability waivers for, and he has a sneaking suspicion it won’t be the last). Morgan’s smile is as sunny as the weather, her cheeks pink from the cold as she begins to lead some kind of charge on the jungle gym.

He shrugs. “I don’t think the other parents would appreciate me beating their children with foam toys. Unfair advantages, you know. Better hand eye coordination. Longer limbs.”

Pepper huffs a laugh. “You know what I mean.”

Tony does know. Morgan always handles Peter’s absence with a grace Tony admires (and that she definitely got from Pepper). He worries about his glum mood running her over, does his best to be honest with her without making her carry his weight. She’s strong; strong and light and weirdly wise for someone so young (she gets all of that from Peter, no doubt, even without a genetic connection), and Tony’s so afraid to ruin that.

“I’m not dragging her down, am I?” he hears himself ask.

There’s a soft sigh from beside him as Pepper’s fingers lace through his.

“You’re not. You know you’re not,” she says, squeezing his hand. “You’re not handling it as poorly as you think, and it’s good for her to see you miss your husband. It’s always good for her to see that you’re only human.”

Tony just nods, not trusting himself to speak. It doesn’t lessen the ache, but he’s grateful nonetheless.

He tilts his head to rest on his friend’s shoulder, shuts his eyes. “Don’t know what we’d do without you, Pep.”

“You’d do alright,” she says, a smile in her voice.

It’s nice, letting himself feel. Not so much that he’s in danger of sobbing in a public park, but enough to acknowledge the weight in his chest, the soreness of disappointment, the gentle sting of love across a vast distance. To just lean there for a minute, temple pressing against the wool of Pepper’s jacket, just breathing…

“Papa!!”

Tony stiffens, opens his eyes, tries to process the rush of disbelief and hope.

No...It’s not...please be what I--please--

Morgan’s flying towards he and Pepper, but the giant smile on her face is directed somewhere past the park bench entirely, and Tony’s heart leaps into his throat.

He turns around in time to see Peter, resplendent in his G-man standard suit, striding towards them across the grass, a grin clear on his face. The stride turns into a jog turns into a sprint, and Peter collides, laughing, with their daughter, swings her up in the air before pulling her into a tight hug.

As Tony watches the display, he feels acutely all six months his husband’s been gone; the short phone calls a couple times a week, the video calls less frequently than that. Feels it all like a firestorm in his chest, his gut. Every sappy private moment, every night he curled up around a pillow sprayed with a little of Peter’s cologne.

He’s up, behind the bench and across the grass so fast he feels breathless.

Morgan’s got her arms around Peter, her face buried in his neck, and Peter’s eyes are red-rimmed and damp, his smile trembling just a little. Tony absolutely fails at keeping himself together as he kisses his husband hard, an almost painful press of lips, before pulling back and pressing their foreheads together.

“Hey, G-man,” he says, sniffing hard, grinning through his tears, “glad you could make it.”

Peter huffs a delighted laugh, kisses him again, cups the nape of Tony’s neck with his free hand and just...keeps him close.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

***

Extra -- I might come back to this 'verse, or one like it. Super basic plot idea: When Tony finds out his husband's been taken hostage, and that Peter's work for the government isn't what Tony had thought, he becomes Iron Man to save the love of his life.

***

Everything Tag List: @the-amazing-spidertwink, @starkercrossedlovers, @hoeforthegays, @silkystark

#starker #morgan stark #tony stark is a dad and a daddy #fluff #tiny bit of angst #tony stark x peter parker #married au #military au #kind of #flowers answers things #starkerflowers fic

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atamascolily · 3 years

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lily reads “Aftermath: Life Debt” by Chuck Wendig

This was one of the first nu-canon novels to come out in 2016, meant to fill the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. So far, all of the nu-canon stuff has been readable (unlike, say, some of Legends’ more memorable failures) but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Wendig’s writing is the most exciting and engaging I have encountered to date.

The problem is, of course, that he keeps using it to accomplish things I disagree with, but I am sure he did the best he could within the constraints Disney gave him and I don’t take it personally.

Anyway, I had to skip the first Aftermath book because it’s AWOL from the library right now, but fortunately, Wendig is pretty good about explaining How We Got Here without huge infodumps, so I got oriented pretty fast.

This book is written in present tense, which also surprised me. Even though I have read several pro-published novels that use present tense, I’m still not used to seeing it outside of fanfic, and it feels delightfully novel. I like present tense because it encourages concrete verbs, as well as a sense of immediacy and groundedness in the action (which is one reason I use it in fics). Present tense forces me to be a better writer precisely because it doesn’t come naturally. But I also enjoy it as a reader.

Life Debt is set immediately post-Battle of Endor in 5 ABY. Leia is a few months pregnant. Luke is name-dropped a few times, but never appears. (Sigh.) Han is upset that the New Republic is dragging its feet on liberating Kashyyyk and he and Chewie decide to take matters into their own hands. When things go wrong, Leia asks Wendig’s OC Nora Wexley and her crew to bring him back.

Nora Wexley was one of the Y-wing pilots at the Battle of Endor. Now she roams the galaxy hunting Imperials for New Republic bounty, with a motley assortment of beings. There’s Sinjir, ex-Imperial and gay; Jas Emari, a Zabrak bounty hunter; and Jom Barell, who didn’t have any defining personality traits that stuck in my mind outside of his on-again, off-again friends-with-benefits with Jas;. There’s also her teenage son Temmin “Snap” Wexley and the refurbished battle droid he built as a personal bodyguard, Mr. Bones. Mr. Bones is an unrepentant murderbot and utterly delightful, especially when he tries to “blend in” by being more human.

More backstory: Nora joined the Rebellion after her husband Brentin was imprisoned by the Empire and presumed dead. Nora and Wedge have a thing as well. Mon Mothma is chancellor of the New Republic, and Leia is... I’m not sure what her official title is.

Meanwhile, on Team Empire, there’s Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, ostensibly in charge of a large slice of the Imperial Remnant, but who is being manipulated--to her deep resentment--by a man named Gallius Rax with ties to both Palpatine and Jakku. Sloane tortured Wedge in the previous book and Nora is frustrated she didn’t kill the Grand Admiral when she had the chance.

There’s also a hilarious sequence where the guy running Coruscant tries to surrender and Mon Mothma and Leia refuse because he doesn’t have anything they especially want.

In addition to the main plot, there are also short chapters titled “Interludes” showing various doings in the wider galaxy. I think a lot of these are supposed to be tie-ins for other material because they mostly don’t have any relevance to the current storyline. There’s one about a Vader-inspired death cult on Corellia, a pirate queen named Eleodie, Alderaanians mining asteroids from their former homeland and arguing about politics, Twi’leks freeing Ryloth, Malakili the ex-rancor-keeper gets a new job training a baby Hutt (?? - would have liked to hear more about that one!). I like the one about Maz Kanata’s castle, even though it still makes NO SENSE in terms of world-building.

I like Sinjir’s relationship with his slicer boyfriend, and I like that from his perspective, it’s not that the Empire particularly cares about homosexuality per se, (as long as you’re discreet about it), but the Empire uses relationships to manipulate and control people, so being open about them is a form of weakness. Just brings home the point that the Empire is a piece of shit (which is why it’s so hard for me to care about Rae Sloane or any of the scheming on Team Empire).

I don’t think I like Sinjir as a person, mind you, but he is certainly interesting, and he has no illusions that he’s a good guy, even though he’s now working against the Empire.

Also, there’s a bounty hunter named Mercurial Swift, which is the most metal name ever, and cameos from Brendol Hux, who ran some sort of boarding school, and whose bastard son is name-dropped occasionally.

No one will be surprised that my favorite scene is Leia meditating next to a sanctuary tree sapling on Chandrila she grew from a seed that Wicket gave her, and she touches the Force for the first time, and realizes that her child is a boy. Nice.

Anyway, Nora and her team find Solo--Chewbacca is a prisoner on Kashyyk when their rebellion attempt failed--and they sneak into a prison called Ashmead’s Lock on Kashyyyk, which happens to be where Nora’s husband Brentin has been this whole time! The prisoners have been stuck in stasis pods and mined for energy in a Matrix-like scenario that really should have been explored more, but they bust out, with Nora taking the prisoners home and Han and Chewie continuing to lead the rebellion.

Time skip! Brentin is distant and has PTSD, Snap is angry and acting out, Nora feels guilty because she’s attracted to Wedge and she isn’t able to connect with her husband anymore. Wedge is, of course, heartbroken.

Sloane comes to Chandrila for peace talks, and Leia leaves to go after Han on Kashyyk when Mon Mothma refuses to back her up. She ends up getting Wedge to come with her for back-up, and her pilot is Evaan Verlaine from the comics (nice to see you Evaan!)

Meanwhile, the Empire continues to be a piece of shit on Kashyyyk, and it’s way more graphic than I expected this book to go. They get what’s coming to them eventually, when Han and his team disable the chips that are keeping all the Wookiees prisoner.

The peace talks turn out to be a trap engineered by Gallius Rax--all of the prisoners from Kashyyyk are brainwashed to start murdering people at the big ceremony and Mon Mothma narrowly avoids assassination at Brentin’s hands thanks to Nora’s quick reflexes. Sloane escapes, is super-pissed about being manipulated yet again by Rax, and she and Brentin (who also wants revenge) go to Jakku to follow up on a lead about Rax’s past.

Han ends up stealing a Star Destroyer, and Leia saves the day, and they finally kiss and make up and it’s lovely. Han leaves Chewie behind on Kashyyyk to be with Leia. Norra and her remaining team members go after Sloane.

But the biggest disappointment, of course, is the New Republic’s inability to liberate Kashyyyk, which I think epitomizes the difference between Disney’s version of Star Wars and Legends for me. In Legends, it was never a question that our heroes would liberate Kashyyyk; that was important and the entire point of the Rebellion. Even though it happened more or less off-screen, it was mentioned and cited as proof of the New Republic’s victory and triumph. So to see Mon Mothma and Ackbar trying to dissuade Leia from this is just... wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Like I said, I think Wendig’s hands were tied on this one, but it just... lands wrong. It will never not feel wrong. Is it grittier and more “realistic” this way? Maybe, but what is the point?

Overall, this is an action-packed adventure, with lots of good moments and funny bits that feel very much “Star Wars” to me. The interludes range from fan service-y to “hey, that’s neat, tell me more!” to “wow, is there going to be a payoff for this years down the line?” In general, I find Disney Star Wars depressing as hell, but despite the downers I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. Like I said at the beginning, this is probably the best nu!canon thing I’ve read to date outside of the Shattered Empire comics.

I came to like most of Wendig’s OCs, even though I’d really rather read about characters I already know--like, say, Luke! Imagine that!

(I don’t know why Disney thinks we’re not interested in what Luke’s doing, but tbh they write him so poorly when they bother that I’m not really sure I want them to.)

#star wars #book reviews #WHY DISNEY WHY

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smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

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Delicious Cake

With the end of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, I've seen a tone of discourse about it’s climax. Now, I'm not here to talk about the shows politics as a whole. Personally, i didn’t have a problem with what they were trying to say, more with how they were saying it. I watched the first three seasons and the show was pretty bad. The writing was absolutely horrid. I could tell that this show was only green-lit on the merit of it’s politics, not it’s substance or narrative. We were living in a Post KorraSami, Steven Universe world so i understood. I wasn’t mad about that, i just found the writing to be so goddamn heavy-handed and pedestrian. That said, i absolutely adored this version of Catra.

Catra was the only character in that entire show who was an actual person. She had emotion. She had pathos. She grew. She changed. She was real. Scorpia maybe had moments, but the best aspect of the new She-Ra, hands down, was Catra. Imagine my non-surprise that she was actually in love with Adora the whole time. Look, that ship or reveal or whatever you ant to call it was so goddamn obvious, it hurt. It felt like bad fan fiction. That entire plot arc, the Catradora relationship or whatever, was Stephanie Meyers level of cringe. The whole show is written about as well as a Twilight novella and it really began to show toward he end there. I’m glad Catra got her happy ending, i just wish it would have been executed better. Interestingly enough, there is a very vocal part of the interwebs that hate everything about that ending, for all of the reasons they wanted it.

We are in a renaissance of visibility and representation across all forms of media. “OscarsSoWhite” has forced Hollywood to address the bland saltine-ness of most of their film and sh*t like Euphoria is killing it on the tele. I actually really like that show. It continues to demonstrate how dope Zendaya is at her job and the little Trans kid, Hunter Schafer, ain’t too shabby either. Hell, the Harley Quinn cartoon just had Harleen and her best girl, Pammy, lock lips all over that streaming shenanigan of a show. And yet, cats are upset about the type of visibility being presented. I’ve legit read articles about how "girl-girl is the laziest, safest, LBGTQ representation” there is. What do you want? Wold you prefer “Active and dangerous”? What the f*ck does that even mean? Another article tried to claim all of these shows fetishize lesbian relationships which are, in fact, extremely abusive? Really? The fairy tale, fan fic, cartoon for child aged girls, about a transforming Princess and her cute cat-girlfriend, is invalid because it didn’t end with one of them punching the other out for authenticity? Holy sh*t!

I don’t know what these people want. you scream about making Bubbline happen and when it does, you scoff. You yearn for HarleyPammy, you get just that, but it wasn’t how you wanted it executed, so it’s the worst. You want Catradora to happen, and then you attack the very premise of the entire relationship when you get it? This is the representation you all have been pining for. This is the visibility that you’ve been demanding for the last decade. It’s here. It’s prime time. It’s f*cking visible and successful, in spite of poor writing or corporate meddling. It’s resoundingly positive. Some of this sh*t is really well executed. I adored the Bubbline stuff, that was organic and beautiful. I hear the HarleyPammy thing was okay. I haven't seen that episode because i refuse to pay for whatever the DC streaming service is called. I’m ecstatic that Catra got her happy ending, even if it was poorly written and executed with the deft touch of a vertigo-afflicted, drunkard. This sh*t is progress. This sh*t is growth. This is exactly how we move forward. Cats can do more, diverse, representation now that these shows have taken those “lazy and safe” first steps. It’s like being given moist, chocolate, cake and getting mad it’s chocolate fudge even though you wanted German chocolate instead. They’re both chocolate cake, asshole! Rich and tasty. Shut the f*ck up and eat your cake, man. It’s delicious and you can always get the other flavor next time because the cake shop is finally thriving.

#She-Ra and the Princesses of Power #She-Ra #Adora #Catra #Catradora

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incorrect-pokespe-quotes · 4 years

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I read every single Emerald fic on FFN so you don’t have to

There are 66 fics with Emerald listed in the tags.

First, I took out any fic that was either not in English or actually gameverse, leaving me with 38 fics-- though I will say, the Spanish fics look like they slap

After filtering out “everyone appears” fics (I skimmed them to make sure) I was left with 26 fics. (While I would like to include “everyone appers” fics, I do not have the time nor motivation to read 30,000 words of derring-do and melodramatic heroics seventeen times in a row for Emerald to show up, deliver 2 lines, shoot something, and leave)

From there, I sorted them into various categories based on whether Emerald was a BG character or not, whether the fic had romance, whether Emerald was actually PART of that romance, etc. Then, finally, I was ready.

Below the cut are the reviews of all twenty six fanfictions!

Category 1: BG Emerald Every fic needs side characters, whether to provide extra voices or comedic relief or just a foil for the MCs. These fics don’t feature Emerald in a huge capacity, but he’s there and that’s what matters to me. I came into this site expecting anything: third wheel Rald, wingman Rald, Im-only-here-to-complain-about-your-flirting-Rald... I found everything but! It seems the most cliche writers among us don’t like using the Emerald tag, bc the few Frantic-with-BG-Emerald fics with I did find turned out to be spectacular! I’m pleasantly surprised and impressed.

1. That Special Someone - Team Cap Cap is on this list like 30 times so get used to it. This fic is mostly about Ruby refusing to shut up about Sapphire and how much he loves her (and how Emerald finds it infuriating). The details of this fic are super cute and the way Ruby and Emerald interact added 3 years to my lifespan, so I highly recommend this one if you want a nice, relaxing read involving the Hoenn boys (dare I say best boys?). In short, read this fic and all of Cap’s other fics while you’re at it.

2. A Picnic - Team Cap Oh look. It’s Cap again. This fic, surprise surprise, is also good, and while it’s a little more basic than the others (Emerald runs into Ruby/Sapphire at a park and they mess around), it’s still cute and I still love it! Not really much else to say here... but the fic is good and I recommend if you’re in for some light domestic reads.

3. High Hopes and Checkered Skies - aromatisse I’ll be honest: my general opinion of frantic fics with BG Emerald is... low. A lot of them shoehorn my poor boy into whatever the plot requires at the cost of his characterization but this fic really surprised me in the best way! This one features Sapphire bringing Ruby to a “special place” the two of them arguing, and Emerald having to patch things up (mature Emerald? I don’t believe it!!). I found this fic while making this list and immediately bookmarked it bc THIS SHIT GOOD FAM. Please read this.

4. Alpha and Omega- Ruby and Sapphire's Thoughts - Shadoweevee70 Not much to say about this to be honest. It’s exactly what it says on the tin. No plot, no development, not even 500 words. Emerald has a line. I think two.

5. Boundaries - Team Cap This fic hurt my heart. Though it focuses on Wally’s one-sided crush on Sapphire, there’s a touch of Emerald in there acting as Wally’s emotional support buddy, which tells me that either Emerald has matured or Hoenn is just devoid of emotionally stable individuals. Regardless, this fic is heartbreaking and beautiful but contains very little Emerald, so therefore I have very little to review. In short... not a lot of Rald, but you should read it anyway.

6. Summer Days - eonentity Crystal and Silver go on a “date” and Gold + Emerald try and stop them. It’s cute, it’s honestly kind of creepy if you think about it, and it involves Emerald. While the premise is kind of sketch, the banter between Gold and Emerald is incredible and I really like the general progression of the plot (especially the ending!) This is a very cute fic if you’re looking for something simple to read. Highly recommend, utilizes Emerald as a character really well!

Category 3: MC Emerald (gen) This... this is my bread and butter baby. These fics run the gamut from friendship to domestic to drabbles to angst and everything in between, but the gist of it is that it includes Emerald as a focus without pairing him off. Not to say this is my favorite category... but it is. I’m biased, sue me.

1. Family Inclusion - Team Cap They say to leave the best for last, but I disagree. You’ll realize pretty quickly that Cap is one of my favorite authors to appear in this tag, and this fic is one of her best! I’m focusing on Chapter 3 (that’s the part with Emerald) where he has to entertain a shiny baby Ralts while Ruby and Sapphire are away (everybody say awwww). The fic is stupid cute, and while it doesn’t really offer much in terms of character development or stakes, it’s the type of domestic fluff you can read over and over and still find just precious each and every time. Also... Emerald takes care of a baby pokemon how can you NOT love that. Seriously. Look at this.

2. At the Amusement Park - Team Cap Oh wow, another Cap fic I really like. What a surprise. I’m astounded /s. This fic focuses on Emerald’s dilemma of being short at a place where height restrictions mercilessly mock the vertically challenged and how he deals with it with the “help” of Ruby and Sapphire. Though there is background Frantic (which shouldn’t really come as a surprise), this fic mostly focuses on Emerald’s insecurities and his relationship with the trio. It’s introspective, it’s wholesome, I’ve read it six or seven times (I lost count). Regardless, it’s good, and like every other Cap fic on this list, I demand you read it. That is a threat.

3. Frantic Fight - Puph17 Any fic that drops a line like “margarine is in vogue” within the first three lines is immediately propelled to my top ten fics of all time list and this is clearly no exception. Despite the name, this isn’t franticshipping, just Ruby and Sapphire bickering and Emerald / Wally being annoyed about it. This fic, hands down, is one of the funniest pieces of fanfiction I’ve ever read on this godforsaken site. I am begging you to read this fic, if not for Emerald with a megaphone for the sheet amount of laughter it will cause. This fic may not be deep but it sure as hell is hysterical. ... Well, what are you waiting for? Why are you still here? Go read the fic, we’re wasting daylight.

4. Weird War - storm-aurora This is another fic I think I’ve probably read a dozen times and refuse to get tired of. Emerald and Sapphire are having a paintball fight in Slateport market, and I literally could not ask for a better friendship fic. The writing is high quality, the characters are very accurate (altho bc this is fanfic it doesn’t matter all that much), the friendships feel real, they’re having a paintball war.... everything about this is ideal. This is the quality content I live for. Please PLEASE read this fic, you’ll be happy you did. Close this tab and go read it immediately for your sake and mine.

5. Skydrop - ayasato Not a lot of people write about Emerald. The ones that do, for whatever reason, seem to do it very, VERY well. This fic, which is so long it might as well be considered an epic, is probably the piece de resistance of Emerald friendship fics. While not as snappy or funny or domestic as some of the other fics in this list, it more than makes up for it with a beautifully built slowburn friendship between Emerald and Sapphire, my favorite take on his living situation I’ve ever seen, and enough introspection to make your high school English teacher swoon. This fic is a must for any Emerald fan, even if it takes like an hour to read in full. It may be long but it’s magnificent.

6. Croissant Kings - ayasato The fact that this fic is discontinued is irrefutable proof that this is the timeline god abandoned. Emerald and Pearl running a croissant stand is quite possibly the single most absurd fic concept I’ve ever heard but... it works. Somehow? It works. This fic is perhaps, hands down, one of the most ridiculously entertaining concepts and executions I have ever seen in my life. Everything about it, from the setup to the writing to just Emerald being Emerald is so raw and so ridiculous that I smile fondly when I think of it. I wish there were more than 3 chapters, however...

7. Perfect - Micah Debrink I’m gonna be straight with y’all: I don’t like this fic. I’m not too sure what the plot is, and it was certainly an interesting read, but not my cup of tea. It’s good, don’t get me wrong; the writing is mature, very well paced, and overall well-written, but something about the characterizations is just not vibing with me. Thus, I’m not gonna pretend I thought this fic was perfect (har har) but I will say it’s something you should give a try. I’m admittedly a very biased party, so maybe you’ll enjoy this fic more than I did. For sure give it a shot, because maybe you’ll like it more than I did. This ain’t my jam, but it’s quality preserves nonetheless.

8. Roost - ayasato This is short and sweet and may have some Sapphire/Emerald crushing if you squint, but overall a fun read. Very short, very good, give it a shot. This author is very high quality and that’s that on that.

9. One Day - Jian-Kenkoku This is short yet again but has a super interesting (if poorly explained) premise: Emerald gets adopted by Gold / his mom! This short oneshot details his first day, and while it is a tad rushed, it gives me the Emerald family content I have been sorely lacking. Not sure if this is one of my “reread until my eyes bleed” fics, but it’s certainly worth the trouble of reading through! It’s very cute and I recommend!

10. Emerald: Lying to Himself - reminiscent-afterthought Very poetic and extremely well-written, but less than 200 words. This fic took me thirty seconds to read and it feels like time well spent. Please read it, even if for the sole reason that it’s super short. It’s also a super poetic way to talk about the Emerald arc.

11. Go Away Gold! - jayfeatherelle Ah yes, the “little brother enlists the help of a prankster to keep apart his sister and her boyfriend” trope... This may be cliche, but it sure as hell was enjoyable! Emerald enlists the help of Meddler Blue (side note: where did this trope come from bc she never does anything in canon that would be qualified as meddling other than just messing with Red at any given opportunity). Anyway, this fic is adorable, has a lesson at the end (that surprised me), had a really mature conclusion, and gave me Blue / Emerald friendship I really didn’t know I needed. In short? This is a cliche done well. It’s predictable, sure, but that’s not a bad thing! If anything, it’s a great nostalgic read.

12. What if: Emerald never met Crystal - LetEveryoneOveraRip This fic stole the last little bit of hope I didn’t even know I still had. You thought it couldn’t get more violent or sad? You were wrong. Everyone dies. This fic made me sad for like 45 minutes and I feel emotionally manipulated. I guess I should have seen this coming. Not much else to say except that this fic made me really sad, which, of course it did, but I still feel cheated out of a happy ending regardless.

13. Emerald Owner’s Guidance and Maintenance Manual - Pokerescue18 Nothing happens in this fic. It’s literally an instruction manual and it’s well written and all but also has no plot. It is quite literally what it says in the title, so perhaps this should have been obvious but even still, I was left confused after reading this. I think I need a nap.

14. Through My Eyes - Kaith1 Relationship angst that hurt my heart. This is less than 400 words so again, took me only around a minute to leave but the emotional impact scarred me for life. Very well done! This fic details Emerald’s inner turmoil as Gold and Crystal get together and Emerald worries he’ll be abandoned again. While I do feel like Emerald hating the two of them for getting together is a little ehhh, this fic does a great job of showing why Emerald would be so upset about it and his inner motivations for being so hurt by it. While I don’t agree, the author made me “get it” a little more, and for that I say bravo!

15. At the Fair - IanDonyer This one is short and focuses on Emerald meeting a security guard at a Halloween fair kinda deal. It’s also one of the first Emerald fics on FFN, released far before the remakes even came out! While obviously it doesn’t contain much in terms of character development, it also was written with only the Emerald arc to go off of-- so I can easily overlook any character inconsistencies. That being said, this fic is really cute and uses the OC pov really well! If you’re looking for a blast from the past, check this fic out!

Category 4: Emerald shipping fics On the rare occasion where the blue moon hangs melancholy in the sky, the planets align, and starlight rains down from the heavens... someone ships Emerald with another character. Romantically. Not sure where the aversion to shipping him came from, but for whatever reason everyone prefers him single. These authors, these brave knights, they’re changing that. Hell yeah for romance.

1. Left Out - RedCharmeleon Not to be like “this fic is painfully straight...” but yknow. Emerald is upset at Gold/Crystal’s wedding because he’s the only single one and needs a girlfriend. There’s also a “what are you, gay?” joke in here, which soured my mood for the rest of the fic. I’ll be honest, I never really liked the “all male protag / female protag ships and then taking Silver, Pearl, and Emerald and pairing them off with OCs” deal, so I’m heavily biased against this fic, but the writing is decent and the plot is fine. If you enjoy this style of plot (everyone needs to be paired up, blushing galore, love at first sight, everyone acts like they stumbled out of a hallmark movie script) then this is the fic for you!

2. Glances - Diemerald A collection of drabbles about Emerald and Wally becoming friends and falling in love. I’ve read it seven times now. While the plot is a tad disjointed because of the format, this author really NAILS Emerald’s character. Emerald (and Wally) show a lot of growth between the snippets and god it’s so beautiful I need more of it. Please read this fic. Tell your neighbors about this fic. This fic is fantastic.

2. Revolvershipping Cuddles - Charmerruby You’re never gonna guess what this one is about. It’s very cute but it’s literally just fluff. Very cute, like marshmallows. This is kinda short so there isn’t really much to say, but I will am starving for Emeruby content, so though this be but little, it be fierce. And fluffy. Did I mention cute? This fic is so filled with love my heart grew three sizes after reading it. I could keep calling it adorable, but I don’t think that’s productive. Spend the time reading this fic instead.

3. Misunderstandings - Pokeluv101 Reading this was very weird because I know the person who made the OC the story is centered around. Reading even the names thrust me so violently back into my middle school days I can almost taste the edge. It’s very good, and I suggest giving it a read even if you’re not a huge dexholder/OC fan. Also tsun Emerald is good Emerald.

4. Unexpected - Diemerald A fic about Emerald and Yellow falling in love. Not exactly my cup of tea so I skimmed it but this author is really good so it’s a great fic, even if it’s not to my tastes. I suggest giving it at least a once over because this author worked hard and I respect them, even if this isn’t really... my thing. Check it out!

5. Big Changes - Aquatales You know how I said I would read every Emerald fic? I lied. This one is about Emerald getting genderbent and immediately shipped with Wally against his will by his friends. Reading the summary gave me hives and I could not bring myself to read it in full.

Final Thoughts While I’ll be honest and say that I did find some of the the cliche fics I was expecting, I was incredibly and happily surprised to discover that more often than not, the people who bother to publish Emerald fics really care about his character and publish some pretty high quality stuff, and that’s pretty damn cool. There are shipping fics, BG Emerald fics, MC Emerald fics, and most of them are pretty fantastic! Way to go spe fandom writers, you did my boy justice, all..... 10 of you.

#trainer emerald #pokespe #not a quote #I read every fic so you don't have to #admin vex

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caedmonofthehighlands · 4 years

Text

Harry Potter Fic Rec List

I’ve practically been reading Harry Potter fics since I was out of the womb and unsurprisingly, I recently ran out and have been searching the web for stories that I haven’t yet read.

I figured that with all of my fanfiction knowledge, I should make a list like the ones that have helped me to find interesting and well written fics and so, I present to you a list with my favourite Harry Potter Fanfictions. Some are Classics, some are Muggle Au’s, but they’re all worth a read.

Gelosaþ in Écnesse by Batsutousai | Completed | 98.5k | Mature

Pairing: Salazar Slytherin/ Harry Potter

Summary: Caught in the backlash of Voldemort's Killing Curse, Harry is thrown through time to a world so very different from his own.

Notes: It’s a time travel fic! I have a special place in my heart for that trope and I love this one particularly. The pairing is one I’d never even seen before and at first, I was a bit sceptical at first but I was pleasantly surprised the way everyone interacted with each other and the amount of research that clearly went into this fic. In my experience, every work of Batsutousai’s is a good read.

Gray Skye Mourning by KneazleGriff | Completed | 183.4k | Mature

Pairing: Severus Snape/ Harry Potter

Summary: As Severus Snape lay dying on the filthy floor of the Shrieking Shack, bleeding in the arms of Harry Potter, a profound, devastating realization awakens a long lost love, latent for years, torn asunder by time’s cruel fate. Is love strong enough to overcome the pain of the past and ensure severus’ survival? Time-Travel fic. SSHP

Notes: Okay, I know the summary is kind of cheesy but this fic is fantastic. It explains why Snape was such an ass in canon and it’s really touching. It’s a very emotional fic. There are a few smutty scenes so you’ll want to make sure you’re okay with reading that. Also SSHP fics that I enjoy are pretty rare since I usually steer clear of Teacher-student relationships as well as Minor-Adult relationships.(Part of why I love time travel fics so much)

Zubats, Zubats Everywhere by RenderedReversed | WIP | 16.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: In which Harry is pretty sure his Pokémon journey isn’t supposed to have such a copious amount of Zubats—or just the figurative one, since Arceus knows Tom Riddle pops up in his life often enough to be a Zubat in disguise.

Notes: This fic is adorable. They have Pokemon Pet names, they buy each other stuffed animals and accidental stalking? It’s more of a Oneshot Collection than a continuous fic but don’t let that stop you. Comedy, Fluff and Harry Potter. What else could you need?

Away Childish Things by lettered | Completed | 153.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Summary: Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

Notes: This fic. The way lettered handled the whole ‘people from the wizarding world find out about Harry’s home life’ amazingly. The characterization of the characters, their younger selves and their opinions of themselves is just... *Chef’s kiss*. I’ve read this one over and over and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived by Santi | WIP | 147.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Female OC

Summary: Harry Potter loves, and is loved by, his parents, his godfather, and his brother. He isn’t mistreated, abused, or neglected. So why is he a Dark Wizard? NonBWL!Harry. Not your typical Harry’s brother is the Boy Who Lived story.

Notes: One of the only ‘Wrong boy who lived’ Fics I’ve enjoyed. Technically, Harry twin brother is the actual BWL so it’s not exactly the wrong one. This Harry is very OOC, keeping only his name and his physical features. His twin brother is really more ‘Harry Potter’ Personality-wise. Despite all of this, I absolutely loved this fic. The way Durmstrang operates is amazing and much better than Hogwarts.

The Spellmaker by SonnyGietzel | WIP | 166.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle | Voldemort

Summary: Latin; a dead language with no practical applications except perhaps the deciphering of old texts and as a particularly quaint party trick.Thankfully, as Harry finds out, Latin is not as dead as he was first taught when he decided to learn the language. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, of course; he loved Latin, and would have been proud to know it even had it been as useless as it was pretty. But in the world of Wizards, the world of Magic, Harry realizes his rare talent with words is particularly valuable, and allows him to use magic that no one's ever heard of, that no one's ever seen. But as time goes on, and he becomes more and more entangled in the webs spun by those around him, he starts to realize just how deep the magical rabbit hole goes and how dangerous power like his can be.All Harry had ever wanted was for the world to make sense.

Notes: Latin? Hell yeah! Harry’s spell casting by knowing latin and understanding science is so cool. Plus I just really love the librarian. It’s still updating too so you’re not just torturing yourself for the sake of entertainment if you read it,

SCHOOLED by WyrdSmith | WIP | 113.6k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: 7th Year Gryffindors learn why it is never a good idea to piss off Ravenclaw Hadrian Morgan. His payback during Professor Slytherin's class is BEAUTIFUL. In carrying it out, orphaned pureblood Hadrian catches the interest and libido of the present Lord Marvolo Slytherin, who -- with the assistance of the entire Slytherin student body as well as a few other surprising characters -- tries to lure Morgan into his life and his bed. But just how naive is Hadrian Morgan, really?1945-era mash-up of most major and minor characters of HP and other fandoms, as well as historical characters. [WAIT, PLEASE! .... ahem.... If you just heard a mental screech of brakes, please understand that this is not a farce, nor crack, nor crap. This has many reviews from now-devoted readers who almost bypassed it, but are now glad they accepted the dare to just try chapter one.]

Notes: My opinion on this fic is complicated. It’s brilliantly written. Harry is witty, sneaky and ruthless and I just love him. Tom is just a lil bit predatory. You should definitely give it a read because it’s awesome, just make sure to properly read the tags and the summary first.

Time to Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is by Tsume Yuki | Completed | 46.3k | Teen and Up

Pairing: None

Summary: Harry had never been able to comprehend a sibling relationship before, but he always thought he'd be great at it. Until, as Master of Death, he's reborn one Turais Rigel Black, older brother to Sirius and Regulus. (Rebirth/time travel and Master of Death Harry)

Notes: I love this. I love this so much. Harry is so great To Sirius and Regulus. He may be a bit OP but he’s honestly just a king in every single way other than literally. This was an amazing read and a great change from the more romance-centric fics that usually catch my eye.

Kudosed, Bookmarked, Subscribed by maquira | WIP | 49.6k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle | Voldemort

Summary: By day, Harry works as a lowly assistant to his boss: the cruel, controlling Tom Riddle.By night, he lives, breathes, and writes fanfiction. And when he's not writing, he's obsessing over the work of his favorite Ao3 author: Lord_Voldemort_.So, of course, it’s only a matter of time before Harry gets caught reading Voldemort’s latest fanfiction at work… by none other than his boss.

Notes: I know it’s Harry Potter and the nearly everything about the books has to do with magic but Muggle Au’s are my guilty pleasure. Pair that with maquira’s beautiful writing and I’m hooked. Really, check out any of maquira’s other fics, they’re all just as good.

Let’s Start the Show by Terrific Lunacy | WIP | 29.9k | Mature

Pairing: Kind of Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: It started as a game. When two highborn lords come looking for a distraction from boredom, they merge the worlds of the highest class with those of the lowest class. An invitation sets things in motion that were supposed to stay locked away. Because a kingdom on the verge of collapse, a noble without a past and a circus performer with a secret are not a good combination.

Notes: Something about this fic just captivated me when I first read it. It still does, really. I love the plot, I love Harry’s cheek and you’ll love it too.

Dreams and Darkness Collide by Epic Solemnity | WIP | 209.5k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/Voldemort

Summary: Though he was raised without the expectation of saving the world, Harry still possesses a savior complex. Only, it's so dark and twistedly immoral, he created an alter ego to practice vigilantism. His second identity makes a name for himself and immediately ensnares Minister Riddle's complete and obsessive attention. A game of cat and mouse begins and morals are questioned.

Notes: I’ve read this so many times I could probably recite it by heart but I could still read it a thousand more times.

My Name is Cameron Sage by thesewarmstars | Completed | 41.8k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Severus Snape

Summary: Things are going poorly for the side of the light, and in a last-ditch effort to fulfill his destiny, Harry goes back in time to try again.

Notes: Another Time travel fic! A particularly smutty one but Sevvy has a friend for once in his life and they’re so sarcastic but they’re also really sweet.

Consuming Shadows by Child_OTKW | WIP | 312.2k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Voldemort, Harry Potter/ Male OC

Summary: On the night of the attack, Lily managed to escape with her infant son, but at the cost of her husband’s life. Distraught and distrusting of her friends, she fled to France with Harry, to raise him away from the corruption in Britain and the rising influence of the Dark Lord. She trains him to the best of her abilities, shaping him into a dangerous, intelligent and powerful wizard.But when Britain re-establishes the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry is forced to return to his once-home, he finds himself questioning whether he really wants to kill the Dark Lord. Voldemort finds an unexpected challenge in the child, and as his intrigue and amusement grows, so too does the desire to possess the spark in those defiant green eyes.

Notes: Harry attending foreign schools is also a favourite trope of mine. I love the different interpretations of different wizarding schools. Bonus points if he visits Hogwarts to attend or participate in the Triwizard Tournament.

To be Set Free by Merrinpippy | Completed | 35.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: Harry Potter, raised and abused by the Dursleys ever since his parents died, lives in the cupboard under the stairs. He has no friends or family who love him and his life is dull until one day a letter arrives arrives for him, written in green ink, that promises freedom. Sounds familiar, right?King Thomas Riddle's illness combined with his political paranoia pushes him to arrange three royal balls, after which his son, Prince Tom Riddle, must choose a guest to marry, thereby securing the kingdom's future and solidifying their strength in the eyes of their allies/enemies. Tom is convinced that he will be able to defy his father and choose no-one, or at least he is until at the first ball he meets an attractive stranger with dark hair and glasses who won't tell anyone his name...

Notes: Fairytale Au’s are magical and this fic just proves it. You barely even need to put a spin on cinderella to fit Harry into his role in the story, which is sad but also absolutely perfect.

Azoth by zeigeistic | Completed | 88.7k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy

Summary: Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Notes: Portrait Snape. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.

Death of Today by Epic Solemnity | Completed | 500.8k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Voldemort

Summary: Raised in a Muggle orphanage, Harry arrives at Hogwarts a bitter boy. Unusually intelligent, he's recruited by the Unspeakables and the Death Eaters at a young age. As he grows older, he constantly has to struggle to keep his footing around a manipulative and bored Dark Lord, who fancies mind games and intellectual entertainment.

Notes: In all honesty, I don’t have much to add. Epic Solemnity is a fantastic author though so make sure to check out their other works.

Hermione Granger’s Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi | Completed | 93.3k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy

Summary: 'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

Notes: I live for this Au. I would give my right hand and make quite a few human sacrifices for a sequel to this story.

Rebirth by Athey | WIP | 269.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: Two boys grow up together in an orphanage, grow powerful at school, are torn apart by death and brought back together by rebirth. Horcruxes aren't the only way to live forever. Necromancy, reincarnation, TR/HP Slash dark!Harry.

Notes: Ah, reincarnation. I always figured that Harry’s type of immortality would be much more interesting than tom’s in this story. A little bit of smut near the end there so you might want to watch out for that.

#harry potter #fanfiction #tomarrymort #tomarry #drarry #snarry #rec list #Salazar slytherin #Honestly #i just love these

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justfandomwritings · 4 years

Note

Bro. BRO. United in Fear is the best GoT fics I have ever read, bar none. holy shit, it’s FASCINATING. This kind of soulmate lore is the only kind I will tolerate and it’s executed SO. WELL. The symbolism of Robb putting the marriage cloak on her?? *mwah* just divine. The “no one knows what she is to us” “you know”?? HELL yes, I’m so here for Robb’s rage. Plus I didn’t know how much I needed a TRULY strong noblewoman POV fic until I read this. Bravo my friend. Bravo.

Hello friend! I started getting into Soulmate AUs way back in the day when I still wrote fanfiction for bands, and I wrote a TON of them because I love the idea behind that AU.

For me, it was never about the insta-love you see in most soulmate AUs; I didn’t like easy, ready-made happily ever afters. I liked diving into the emotional consequences of being so deeply attached to one person. I wanted to explore the real world application of trying to find your soulmate, like how much of your life you’d have to give up to go searching for someone you may never find. I tried to write about the changing relationship that might come with soulmates who knew each other for decades. I loved toying with the idea that a soulmate was destiny’s perfect match “for a perfect world”, but since life isn’t perfect destiny got the real world soulmate wrong sometimes.

And then, my dear, dear, dear friend silentpeaches, posted this Soulmate AU Idea post which broke 30,000 notes, and until she deactivated it was one of the top writing idea posts for years. And she ended said post by naming me the queen of Soulmate AUs. Which was a real honor to hear her say, and at risk of sounding conceited, in some ways it wasn’t far off. I wasn’t THE FIRST person to do Soulmate AUs, far from it, but I probably posted more Soulmate AUs than anyone. And I came up with quite a few of the mechanics that have since become really common in fanfiction AUs.

But at some point, I got sick of writing fanfiction. In large part, that was because I’ve always written on a whim, writing a ton for a few months than not writing at all for the next few months. In smaller part, it was because I grew away from the main fandoms I was in, and I didn’t really know where to plant myself after that.

And since I wasn’t ready to write anything original, I stopped writing all together.

But when I finally wandered my way back, I planted myself in different fandoms. Only to find that not only had my fandoms changed, but the whole scene of fanfiction had changed.

It’s not that I don’t like what fanfiction has become, but at risk of sounding older than I am, back in the day, fans gave support, people were loud and proud, and fanfiction was on the up.

I could talk for ages about why it’s dwindled over the years, because there are a lot of reasons, and I’ve thought over many of them.

But I think that one of the lesser reasons is that readers are now a bit more judgmental (I would say discerning, but since fanfiction is free to consume, it’s not costing them anything that they would need to discern between two choices). And no one wrote Soulmate AUs anymore. The AU had been written off as ‘childish’ or ‘ridiculous’ or ‘bad plots’ or any number of other things.

And I was a bit defensive that this thing I like to think I helped shape had been largely abandoned. To be fair, there are and were tons of Soulmate AUs that fell into those categories of ‘insta-love’ or ‘boring’ or ‘poorly written’ or ‘lowbrow fanfiction’, and I am more than guilty of contributing some of them because I was not always a good writer. Many of my AUs missed the mark.

In this age of readers who feel entitled to quality fanfiction, readers don’t support just any fanfiction, they’re often finicky and picky and treat free works like books they’ve bought and paid for.

In search of encouragement and likes, fanfiction writers write things people will read, and Soulmate AUs just sort of fell into this category that was lesser and wasn’t up to snuff. I wanted to show that Soulmate AUs weren’t at fault for their falling by the wayside, and I was bound and determined to show that they could still hang with the ‘big boys’ for lack of a better expression. Writers just had to change how they presented them.

And thus, we have my longwinded story about why I decided to write “United in Fear” (and “Loyalty”, my Loki fanfiction).

You’ve hit the nail on the head with your comment about “Lore”. Soulmate AUs aren’t the problem. It’s a lack of worldbuilding.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you find more Soulmate AUs that strike your fancy, and hopefully more stories of mine too!

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llawlietofficial · 5 years

Note

What type of characterisation do u like for fics? I do find that fic from back in the day is mostly 1 dimensional but I was curious what ur issues w it where?

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to answer this but I’m gonna be real my opinions on stuff like this have led to me being labeled toxic to the point where people have literally implied they want me and people who share similar opinions with me to leave the fandom, so I’ve been kind of hesitant to answer something like this bashing some recent characterization again. So if you’re one of those people I’m sorry and you should probably stop reading now.

opinions under the cut with some lawlight characterization stuff I don’t like + some stuff I do like:

Honestly? I try and read at least the first chapter or so of every new lawlight fic in the tag and recently it’s been impossible for me to enjoy a lot of it because when I read it it just doesn’t feel like L and Light to me at all? Like it feels like someone at some point wrote a big fic with strong characterization and interesting characters, except they weren’t much like L and Light and they acted in ways L and Light wouldn’t act. And a lot of fics now are based off that same characterization, which in turn inspires fics with that characterization, rinse and repeat. And that’s just not enjoyable to me when I’m looking to read lawlight fanfiction.

Obviously old lawlight fanfiction wasn’t all 100% perfect and there were a lot of doozies in that mix too but it felt like there were more really solid multichapter fics that might have been messy and toxic in ways but they made sense with the canon characters. And fics that did have a happy ending and some fluff thrown in were still written using circumstances that could be believable, even if it took a long time or a slow burn to get there.

To answer your question more specifically, here’s some common tropes that feel out of character to me (and I’m not calling out any specific author or saying fics that do any of these things are poorly written because they’re not and we have a lot of talented and dedicated people here):

Either one of them changing their principles and switching sides within the first 20k words and without a LOT of persuading. IMO “we’re two sides of the same coin and not that different despite both being hugely stubborn” is shit I love, “actually I’ve sided with you secretly the whole time/your magical dick has cured me of disagreeing with you/I’m willing to sacrifice the principles I literally died for in canon easily because I want to be with you” is shit I don’t love.

“We suddenly agree and work super well together as partners now that we’re in an AU and there’s no death note” doesn’t feel authentic to me because death note or no death note their entire outlook on the world is different. Light would think L’s methods are disgusting. L would think Light’s initial idealism is naive. Light believes mankind is inherently good and once you get rid of the bad that can shine, L…doesn’t seem to share that. That’s not to say they can never work together but the good shit is when it’s a long journey into understanding each other and where they’re coming from and slowly making compromises and falling in love.

L being a naive uwu tries his best baby who’s being taken advantage of by Light. Light being a misguided uwu baby who tries his best and is being taken advantage of the whole time by L. They’re more complex than that and they’re both bad people but they also both have good sides so any sort of simplification of the characters into one being a villain and one being a victim is uninteresting to me.

They shouldn’t work but somehow despite everything they do, because they’re alone and because despite disagreeing and being enemies by circumstance and by beliefs, they know without the other they’d never really be challenged or fulfilled. That’s neat. I like that. It’s messy. They’re drawn to each other even as they’re disgusted with each other.

It’s more interesting when they are their own conflict rather than the conflict solely coming from outside sources.

The 500000 fics where Light is a rebellious and progressive omega who actually secretly wants to be protected by L and feels grateful that they’ve found each other? don’t love that. I dislike omega fics in general even if there’s a couple I’ve thought were pretty alright so that doesn’t help either. It is kind of interesting that despite their differences this could be an in-universe reason to force them together. It just seems like omegafic is the lawlight default right now. Like even fics where the plot doesn’t revolve around omegaverse stuff is sometimes omegaverse and that’s ? hard for me to wrap my brain around? that’s not just a lawlight problem though that seems to be happening in a lot of fandoms

Similarly to point one, either of them being okay with losing like lol what.

yotsuba can be difficult to tackle because there’s so much going on there with the characters, but there’s so many interesting layers to explore and dive into that sometimes get ignored in favor of fluffy hijinks and that’s boring to me. from Light’s perspective L took everything from him and has made his life pretty miserable because of this whole Kira thing and catching the real Kira is the only real thing that could totally clear Light’s name and L just sort of….gives up, for a lot of it. mopes about and acts unmotivated and uninterested because Light isn’t Kira. that’s probably very frustrating for light! and fun wacky fluff or hijinks can happen, but I love when it happens in the “we got so distracted being the smartest people in the room we forgot we’re supposed to be enemies” way because that’s juicy to me

sometimes it’s the little things, too, that bother me. stuff that’ll happen and it’ll completely pull me out of the story. like L Lawliet made Naomi Misora destroy her whole damn computer after he slid into her DMs and you really think there’s any way in hell he’d have any sort of google home or siri or alexa? or casual social media, even under fake names? facebook knows everything. or light saying something or making a joke that i could never in a million years see him saying in canon because the author thought it would be funny or cute.

anytime Light is suddenly some kind of beacon of goodness champion of justice just because he didn’t find the death note. the death note didn’t make him a completely different person, he’s bitter and jaded and thinks some people would be better off dead even before getting the death note. self righteous yeah totally but actually righteous? nah man

or Light just being a fucking awful person who kidnaps and r*pes L because he lusts after him but it’s okay because somehow in the end they end up together ? i’ve seen that trope a few times and i know it existed in 2007 too i just avoided it like the plague then also.

I see a lot of AUs that are less “what would L and Light legitimately do if this was the situation or universe they were placed in” and more “i want to write this situation happening like this and i want to make it lawlight because that’s my main ship”

like, the characters that are being written are fine but if you want to write OCs right OCs. I know all of this seems really harsh which is why I put a warning about it at the beginning, and of course I know some of these problems were also prevalent between 2013-2017 and there’s tropes here that have been happening like this since the dawn of lawlight fanfiction, but since it’s happening now and now is when i’m frustrated by it now is what i’m complaining about, it could be the reason i go back to older fanfiction so much is because i had lower standards back then and it was easier for me to wade through the ones i hated to get to ones i liked and now it’s easy for me to find those again. who knows. Also I agree most fanfiction from 2007-2009 were pretty 1 dimensional.

And like, fuck me I guess but I actually like the canon characters and I joined the fandom to experience more of them and apparently that makes other people feel unsafe.

I’m not saying people aren’t allowed to express opinions that are different than me or that I Know Better Than Everyone Else or that I don’t like people posting their own headcanons or ideas or things they wish were different about the series, it’s just not my cup of tea and it’s a little frustrating that fanon is mostly all I get in fics now and that people are allowed to express opinions but only if those opinions are “people who stick too close to canon are elitist and should die and are sticks in the mud and need to leave the fandom to stop ruining things for everyone else” because like, we’re people too?

Anyway sorry this veered in a bit of a different direction and I hope I don’t lose followers over this because it’s sad to see people go but I’ve been blogging here for over 5 years and I’m not going to stop anytime soon. I also wrote most of this while having bad anxiety at like 3am last night so it’s all over the place and i’m probably going to think of like eight things in the shower later I forgot to mention because i’ve been thinking over this ask for like two weeks now.

#this is a LOT and i'm sorry #please don't all hate me for this #i promise i'm not trying to ruin anyone's fun i'm just bored of what's out there right now #and there ARE some good works too that i have enjoyed a #it's just.#hhhhh #death note #discourse

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danphanwritingprompts · 5 years

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Friday, February 8th : AU

Let’s keep this train rolling!

Estrelas by Shimegami-chan

AU where Danny lives in Sam's grandma's attic. Is DxS

Why do I love it? Takes a deep breath. Just screams for ten minutes straight. One of my absolute favorite AU phics EVER. It's so well written, so well paced and just packed with great ideas. So many good plot developments, characterization, themes. It's just....so good. It dives into Sam’s relationship with her parents and, to my knowledge, was one of the first to explore a concept I won’t say to avoid spoilers.

The Warden’s Daughter by fruit1oop

Slight AU where Walker has a daughter, who is tasked with going undercover to get some dirt on Phantom and convince him to turn himself in.

Why do I love it? Dolly is just one of the absolute best DP OCs I’ve ever come across, and I will fight anybody who says she’s a bad character (in that she’s poorly developed, and I mean it, meet me behind Denny’s and we’ll throw down, Dolly is my NIECE). She has so much character and is cocooned in amazing worldbuilding and background that gives so much more life and depth to the GZPD. I absolutely love the plot and the way the author writes. I also have the slight privilege of being a somewhat beta of this amazing fic, and it’s been a joy to read. The author’s also a major sweetie.

Lilacs by BlueMyst19

It's basically an AU centered around Princess Sam needing to find a husband. It's a major DxS fic.

Why do I love it? Well written. Fantastically paced, it's got some cute as hell moments. It’s one of those that’s kind of hard to pinpoint what exactly it is I love about it. It may be the good pacing and story telling, but I think it just has this spark of creativity that was hard to find around the time it was first published.

Tainted Snow by ElphieBLW

It's an AU about where Jack died and Maddie married Vlad, and they move to Amity Park. Has TW for parental abuse themes (Vlad, not Maddie).

Why do I love it? I remember this being written and being so fucking hyped about it. It's a very interesting AU, and it's just such a treasure. I go back and re-read it regularly, and it just holds up so well. It’s main focus is on the idea of Danny, having spent so much of his life being abused by Vlad, and moving so much finding a true home and friendship in Amity Park.

Masters' Weapon by Secret Spy Guy

AU where Phantom was designed by Axion Labs for Vlad. Maddie is forced to be in charge of him.

Why do I love it? Hnnnnn it's so good guys. This was one of the fanfictions I most clearly remember eagerly waiting emails for to see if it's updated. Unfortunately, the author's seemed to retired, but this fanfiction just has such a BEAUTIFUL idea. It's such a good idea, and it's so wonderfully executed with the right amount of hurt and comfort intertwined in a concoction of hopeful misery. It’s got delicious plot developments and twists.

Stray by Secret Spy Guy

Jack and Maddie are arctic researchers who find Danny, who's basically supposed to be a last known member of an ice dweller race.

Why do I love it? It's a great idea and concept executed brilliantly, Brent. It's a story that just captures such a unique concept and idea. This fanfiction is old, and one of the first I've seen that took Danny's ice powers and built such a cool AU around it.

#phandom phic recs #nick posts #not a prompt #hey so it's not officially friday yet but it WILL BE IN 30 MINUTES FIGHT ME

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jandjsalmon · 6 years

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Okay, I started this post whilst on vacation in Las Vegas - sitting next to a beautiful pool in weather that is literally the late July temperatures I get here in Canada. I left this draft sit in my draft box for a couple of days because I wasn’t sure I wanted to wade into the fandom drama that has erupted lately - but after today - I decided that I’ve had enough and now that I’m home and I can properly format the damn thing, I’m going to come on here and say a few things - but it’s gonna be under a Keep Reading cut because it’s long and I tip-toe the line of being irritated and rude and sassy and sarcastic and ain’t nobody got time to scroll through that. See - I’m thinking of all of you. ;)

We already knew Twitter fans in general are rabid and unkind. I don’t care what ship you are - don’t be a douchelord (to anyone - let alone the writers and/or reviewers). If you feel inclined to write decent messages to the powers that be (hitherto TPTB) - fill your boots - but do so politely and respectfully. I’ve already seen a few very nice messages. Cool. If that’s how you choose to engage - awesome. Not everyone enjoys the discourse there and that’s also fine. The key is - don’t be asshats to the writers or to the reviewers or to fellow fans - even if they’re being obnoxious. It’s called the higher road, people. Seriously.

As for the Brian drama from last week - We already know that the writers of our show want maximum attention and they're not above throwing a bone to another contingent of the fandom to do it. They’re also contractually not allowed to absolutely discount any idea - or tear down any ship because it might come back in the future. “Will Betty and the Black Hood finally get it on?” “Tune in to see!”

Harassing actual official content-makers to change their plan does not and will never work. Like Cole said, making demands like this and expecting to get your way would be like going to an art museum and insisting that the artist change their work to suit you. You don't like sunflowers? Van Gogh should repaint them as tulips then. This idea is ridiculous. If you can't see that then there is nothing I can say to change your mind - but it’s seriously unfortunate. Your life is going to be full of disappointments.

As for the deleted scene drama from today... You can’t honestly think that RAS listened to a ‘petition’ by one set of shippers when he already has a history of releasing deleted content anyway. TPTB had mentioned the particular scene in answers to questions prior to the episode. The duet was on Spotify with the rest of the episode’s music. OF COURSE they were going to release it - petition or not - and thinking that a very vocal but relatively small group of fans made noise and got their way because of it is silly. The fact that those same fans (and worse fans) think that this is now the way of doing things is even more awful.

Additionally, thinking that doing the same thing for a canon ship that already has so much content is the only way to get more content? That’s even more ridiculous. Honestly - has there really been that much of a Bughead drought? Objectively? From where I’m standing - even in the middle of their super-brief breakup there was Bughead content. They were working on the car for the race together. There were longing looks. There were typewriters and Beloved and ‘I’m not sure I even know how to stop loving yous’ - I know it felt like a lot longer and a lot droughtier but if you were binging (and not dealing with hiatuses) it wasn’t.

And yes - there have been deleted kisses that have never been released - but there have been a lot of NOT deleted kisses too. And because one ship gets something doesn’t mean that we should also get something (because we’re super nice about asking for it). It would be like living a comfortable suburban life where we can easily afford to buy our own school lunches full of chips and cookies and pudding cups and Bughead kisses... but when we see the kids from the other side of the tracks getting a subsidized lunch with mystery meat and cold tater-tots - we demand that too and figure that if we’re polite and asking really really nicely then we deserve the same because it’s just showing the cafeteria lady that we really really care about lunch because maybe JUST MAYBE if we don’t show enough interest, she’ll take lunch away from us. *facepalm*

Speaking as someone who previously participated heavily in a fandom where my ship was not (and was never going to be) canon, the crux of my rant today is this:

The fact that we currently ship a canon ship is a freaking privilege.

If (heaven forbid) that ever changes - FANDOM DOESN'T CHANGE!

Our actual canon is often written poorly with cheesy dialogue and Telenova style storylines (long lost twin brother? Come on - what's next? Amnesia!?)

If canon did reduce itself further... it would not change the fact that the Bughead fics we've loved and read are still amazing. Case in point: I rarely rarely read the actual Harry Potter books... but I often reread some of the best D/G fics that I loved in my HP days. My corner of that fandom still remains my favourite part of that time. Seriously.

One of the things to do to counteract canon that you don't enjoy is to do as @raptorlily suggested in this great post - Create Content or Support Content Creators. This is how it's always been - how else can you explain ‘fix-it fic’ or ‘post-episode fic’ where everyone writes to solve the problem introduced or hiatus-fic-explosions (like our answer to the possibility of Serpent!Juggie last summer and the fic explosion that happened) or any other kind of canon divergent fic out there. I'm not sure if you know this - but Betty wasn't really raped by Chuck... but Fall in Light said it happened. Juggie didn't really join a stage production of A Mid Summer Night's Dream... but in What Fools these Mortals Be, it happened. Hell... Archie didn't really beat the living crap out of Juggie (causing Betty to end any and all friendship with him) but it happened in In the Still of the Night. Fic isn't canon. Fandom isn’t just about canon. You don't even have to watch the show to love the fic. There are still episodes of this season I haven't seen. There were weeks and weeks where I watched the YouTube highlights because I couldn't stomach canon... but I didn't stop reading fic.

And there are fandom people out there who don’t read fic. I understand and accept that. So maybe this argument isn’t for them.

But whether they’re involved in the fic side of fandom or not - campaigning relentlessly to get your way on a television show that is plotted and written way in advance is tiresome.

Guys - fandom is an amazing place.

It's a break from the drama of everyday life.

Chill the frick out and enjoy it for what it is.

#bughead #sometimes fandom is super tiring #call me reactionary or whatever #but seriously the level of drama #reminds me of junior high #and it's been a while since I was a thirteen year old girl #this isn't dragon boat races

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deathnoting · 7 years

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heyo! i was wondering if you have any lawlight fic recs?

hi! wow. it’s been a long time since anybody has asked me this so bear with me. :~) i honestly don’t read fic in the fandom that much anymore. or in any fandom? i’m veeeery picky about writing style and i keep getting pickier year after year. of course there was a point in the history of my relationship with death note where i’d read literally anything but we’re a bit past that now, and i haven’t found anything that really stood out to me in the last few years. so, i’m going to just give you a few of my longstanding faves. hopefully you haven’t read at least one of them, in which case you’re in for a huge treat.

a tithe to hell by aja (~30k)

hands down the best lxlight fic there is. it’s well-written, true to canon but also served as a basis for a huge amount of fanon, ingeniously structured, funny, a little bit gruesome, and narrated by a light pov that’s every bit as hectic and biased and violent and naive as the one in canon. exactly the death note fic everyone craves after the first arc.

going to marrakesh by edmonia_dantes (~30k)

i’ve got to admit, it’s been so long since i read this one, i can hardly remember what happens in it. what i do remember: the style of writing. surreal and lucid and batshit. the intelligence of the characters and the sharpness of their perceptions of one another is really present in this. also, it’s l/light/misa, and executed brilliantly.

those who stand for nothing fall for anything by halfpromise (600k+)

alright. so i’ve never actually finished this one, but i can still rec it without reservation because the writing is literally? some of the best, if not the best, writing i’ve ever encountered in any fandom. it’s a politician au and it’s pretty distant from canon, which i usually dislike, but it’s so funny and sad and sharply rendered that it creates its own, equally believable if not more-so, universe. the lawlight here is tragic and unhealthy and desperate, and the light characterization is truly the most realistic one you’ll ever come across.

second chances by spades44 (400K+)

it’s kind of a spoiler to even class this as lawlight but whatever. second chances is so much fun. very long but fast paced, expertly plotted, moving, funny, and sweet in ways that i didn’t know death note could convincingly be. the L characterization is a little softer than my tastes tend to skew, but this fic makes a great case for a poorly adjusted L with good intentions. also it’s just! so fun!!

hope you find something you like, anon! and if anyone has any recs that might fit in among these, or with similar writing quality, please hit me the heck up! there’s so much lawlight fic i’m sure i’ve missed some gems.

#death note #jaye's recs #Anonymous #asks #lawlight

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smokeybrand · 4 years

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Delicious Cake

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mittensmorgul · 7 years

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1) I saw your tags on that post of Lizbobs about Twist and Shout and I am so happy that clear thinking meta writers like you agree that it in no way should be as popular as it is. It makes me cringe whenever someone brings it up as if it is actually a ‘beloved’ fic. I’m sorry if this sounds hateful, and I don’t mean to bring hate on the writers who put effort into it, but at some point this fandom has gotta realise that this fic being the ‘flagship fic’ for Destiel is a really REALLY bad thing.

2) Consider this fandom: We are close to getting canon destiel. That could put this show on the map, get real media interest. There is no doubt therefore that some media will dig further into the ‘fandom phenomenon’ behind destiel. Imagine just how CRINGEWORTHY it will be for mainstream media to discover that the most popular destiel fan fic is nothing more than poorly written tragedy porn rip off of Forrest Gump with the standard ‘kill your gays with aids trope’ at the end?!?! It is actually

3) disgraceful and we should be ashamed of ourselves for trying to push this fics popularity. Imagine how, on the chance destiel DOES become canon (which in my mind is rather likely) the writers, creators and actors on this show would feel that their beautiful love story about an angel and a hunter was butchered and turned into something frankly AWFUL?

4) How would Misha feel to know that a so called majority of destiel fans actually idolise a fic where his character dies from aids thanks to his decent into drug abuse?! What the HELL fandom?! WHY is this such a popular fic? It is a disgrace to the show, a disgrace to the characters and frankly an insult to our intelligence as a fanbase looking for LGBT+ representation. We don’t need more gay tragedies. That is pretty much ALL we get in mainstream media.

5) Yes the aids crisis was a horrible tragedy, but after decades of mainstream media giving LGBT people basically NOTHING but tragic stories where there are no happy endings for us, isn’t it about time that this trope DIED? Yet here we are, a modern and at least somewhat progressive fandom, still glorifying a fic that falls under that same tired miserable category. Not to mention that the fic is terrible written and the characters are absolutely nothing like their canon counterparts.

6) Sorry, I know this is getting rather mean, but years of pent up anger about this stupid fic is bringing it out of me in your inbox. Lets all be honest here. Twist & Shout is our ‘My Immortal’. It needs to die. Just like ‘My Immortal’ did for Harry Potter, it gives all other destiel fics a bad name. Can we PLEASE stop glorifying it and admit how shitty it is already.I know this is a harsh message, and I am sure that a lot of people would be upset by me saying these things, but it’s the truth

7) and I’ve spoken to enough people in fandom who silently agree with me. Though we all live in silence for fear of offending this mysterious majority of destiel shippers who apparently adore this fic? I’m sorry, but I am convinced that if we were to do a survey of peoples actual opinions on that fic, it wouldn’t come up positive at all. Popularity grows popularity. That’s the problem here. New people search for the most popular fics on AO3, and they become more popular, and those same new

8) people then believe that T&S is the standard to live up to in destiel fandom. That is an embarrassment for all of us. I just really want the obsession to end. Its not a good thing.

Oh hi. I see you have Feelings™ about this, and since I largely agree…

I’ll start off by linking the post you’re referring to, with my attendant tags on it, here:

http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/163613335445/hey-lizbob-i-was-watching-12x03-and-i-noticed

as well as a few other tag rambles I’ve gone on over the years here, going all the way back to 2015. So that at least gives readers an idea of how I personally feel about it. And now on to the disclaimer section of this post:

I’ve always been, and will ALWAYS be a proponent of fanfic being a “ship and let ship” environment. I will NEVER assume to dictate what people write, read, or find enjoyment in. I will NEVER judge what “should” and “shouldn’t” be written or enjoyed by ANYONE. FULL STOP.

I am also a fierce advocate for “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” when it comes to discussing fanfic. And that will never change.

But that’s not the issue when it comes to the inexplicable fandom “popularity” of this particular fic. If you read it and loved it, that’s GREAT! I’m glad. More power to you. It’s not the fic itself I have an issue with. I just wanted to make that clear. I am not here to dissuade people from enjoying it, nor to speak ill of the story itself.

It’s the nature of the story itself, versus the nature of fanfic, versus the fandom mystique surrounding it– the fact that it has somehow become the Flagship Fic Standard for ALL destiel fic, and the fact that for some reason the fandom itself seems to push it at the actors and creators and crew members of this show over and over again.

I’ve often wondered if some of Bob Singer’s cavalier attitude about having killed Charlie Bradbury wasn’t directly rooted in the fact that the entire production staff seems to be aware of T&S, even if they haven’t actually read it for legal reasons, but at least know that this particular fic that is apparently glorified in this fandom is founded on the Kill Your Gays trope.

Like, we constantly yell at TPTB to be better than that, and yet THIS is the story we’ve chosen as a fandom to elevate to the highest pinnacle of fanfic glory?

It’s just… depressing.

(and honestly, this fic is THE reason I refuse to read ANY fic that’s tagged “period typical homophobia.” I just… refuse to torture myself with that damn trope anymore)

But from everything I’ve read about it (and from the half a chapter I managed to struggle through myself before noping out), the only thing necessary to make this an original work of fiction would be to change the names of the characters. It’s not even a “file the serial numbers off” job. It READS like original fiction where the characters and plot share little other than the names of our beloved Dean and Cas.

And to me, that’s not why I read fanfic. If I wanted to read about entirely different people, I’d read original fiction, you know? Not struggle to identify with characters that bear little to no resemblance to the characters I actually care about.

It’s not just a problem with AU fic, because I’ve read HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of AU fics that don’t seem to have this problem with keeping the characters “in character” even in entirely different situations. If they can feel like Dean and Cas in a Firefly AU, or a Regency Romance, or a Gothic Horror, or Ancient Rome, or in a fantasy AU where they’re witches or dragons or a freaking octopus, then yeah, they can remain in character in ANY AU. HECK I ADORED AN AU WHERE DEAN AND CAS WERE FREAKING CHICKENS. LITERALLY CHICKENS. And it was more in character than T&S.

I’m not going to presume to suggest the sort of fic that I believe is more representative of the best of our fandom, but having read far more than 5000 fics (I’ve got over 4k in my AO3 history, and I read fic for over a year before I got an account there to start tracking my history, PLUS all the fic I’ve read on LJ, FF.net, tumblr, etc… I mean the real number is probably closer to 10k or even MORE if you count all the little drabbles and things), I have to say that the MAJORITY of fic I’ve read has been far better at representing Dean and Cas as I know and love them.

We as a fandom don’t have to agree on what the “best fanfic” of the lot of them is, but can we at least agree to stop pushing THIS PARTICULAR FIC so forcefully and directly into the faces of the actors, writers, crew, etc.?

If we want THEM to do better by our characters, if we want our shouts of STOP KILLING OUR QUEERS to actually hit home, maybe we need to stop glorifying this particular fic to TPTB at every goddamn turn.

(and second disclaimer: In all my years in fandom, aside from anon messages praising the fic, I have spoken to exactly TWO people who admitted to enjoying this fic. Talking privately with hundreds of others, people express a far less enthusiastic opinion of it. I firmly believe that the vast majority of hits on it are from people just like me and others I’ve talked to about it, that the only reason we ever clicked on it was due to this very fandom mystique, the controversy about its popularity, and curiosity over what all the fuss was about. It’s become a self-sustaining enterprise of generating more and more hits, you know?)

Newbies to fandom and fanfic are often encouraged to go to AO3 and search the ship results by either hits or kudos to read “the best stories” first, and of course T&S is the first result either way.

But as a fic WRITER? Can I just speak for all of us when I say getting a comment that our story was “just as good as T&S” doesn’t really feel like a compliment? Most of us don’t WANT to think we’ve written an OOC Kill Your Queers tragedy porn, or to really be associated with it in any way.

Honestly, we need to stop hating ourselves this much.

#Anonymous #fandom problems #standard disclaimer blah blah blah

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