#i'm sure there were a lot of fics exactly like this when those episodes came out

[dearhargrove]

Reassurance

summary You comfort Evan after he has to deal with his parents over the course of four days.

word count 730

tags fluff, just someone being there for my bb buck, short and sweet

a/n So basically I was watching the Buck Begins episode and died every minute where his parents neglected him and generally every second of that episode :( so expect some more Buck fics to come (Eddie too tho !!)

masterlist

You didn't know but you were probably the sole reason Buck wasn't completely breaking down every day he wakes up and has to deal with the two people that call themselves his parents.

After the first dinner he had felt bad, but he'd felt like he usually does with them. Alone, unwanted and never enough. That day he'd come home to you, quiet and dull.

You hadn't made him talk about it when he didn't start explaining himself, instead you simply wrapped your arms around him and held him close. That's when he'd felt loved. That night he waited until you had fallen asleep before letting himself cry.

What did he expect? For some reason he had hoped they'd changed. Or at least that they would be proud of him. After all, he'd saved a lot of people and does so every day. Instead he is reminded that they hadn't bothered to check on him when he almost died twice - first by being crushed and second because of the blood clots - and then laid in the hospital.

Those were the people supposed to love him no matter what and all he got was constant criticism.

That night you had woken up not long after him because of his missing warmth. With a worried expression you'd found him and once again, held him close. He had melted into your arms, tears starting to fall again as he clutched you close as if scared to lose you.

After reassurance you would gladly give any day you had gone back to bed, your hand on his cheek and caressing his birthmark.

Today you hadn't even known Buck would see them or be confronted by their doings. The last time you'd heard about them was when he explained that he had a brother. That he was only conceived to be a match for a bone marrow transplant.

That night had been harder than the one before. You're quite sure no matter how much you tried to show him that he wasn't just a failed way to save someone you don't think it got completely through to him. And you didn't blame him; you couldn't imagine living with something like that weighing you down.

You're in his kitchen trying one of Bobby's recipes when the door opens and Buck comes in. You could read him like a book; there wasn't a moment you weren't able to tell what he was feeling. But now? You genuinely didn't know.

He was frowning but there's a smile resting on his face and his eyes are red.

“Buck?”

He looks up, seeing you there in his sweater with a knife in your hand as you chop vegetables for a recipe from Bobby he loved, and he breaks. But instead of simply crying he chuckles, too.

“Buck, what's going on?” Your voice is worried and he just shakes his head as he wraps his arms around your waist and presses his forehead to yours. You put the knife down and reach up to cup his face and your index finger soothes over his birthmark, something you'd made a habit over the year of being with him.

“I think they're finally accepting me for.. me.” He only says and you sigh but nod. He notices your slight apprehension and quickly adds on, “But I don't want them to. I don't need their acceptance. They don't decide how much I'm worth.”

Your mouth forms an ‘o’ in surprise but you laugh breathlessly and nod, “Exactly. You're saving lives on the daily, you don't need anyone to tell you how good you are. Not your parents, not your friends, not me.”

He nods along until the last part where he cocks his head and looks at you with his signature half smirk. “I do need you to tell me how good I am, actually.” That makes you smile as well and you sigh, “That's not what I meant and you know it.”

He just shrugs and unlike when he first came in you can see pure happiness and love on his face.

“God, I love you so much, Evan Buckley.”

He grins and surges forward to kiss you passionately, his hands gripping your hips as if you'd slip through his fingers any moment.

#evan buckley x reader #evan buckley #oliver stark #911 fanfic #911 show #911 spoilers #9 1 1 #9 1 1 fanfiction

[steeklover]

i never thought of stan/tweek before but you got me hella interested in the dynamic.. /pos

ahem...allow me to explain my lore behind this ship-

So I started shipping Steek not long after I joined the SP fandom, it was completely be accident if I'm being honest. I was trying to come up with a Stan-centric fic idea that would be based off the You're Getting Old/Assburgers episodes because I thought those episodes were really good and I love Stan!

I knew I wanted to make it a ship fic but I didn't know who to ship him with. When I first joined the fandom the only Stan ship I really knew about was Style but I didn't want to write it as a Style fic which left me searching for another Stan ship to use and I admittedly went to whatever Stan x Tweek was.

I went straight to Tweek because he's my favorite character but I didn't know anything about Steek, I didn't even know if it was a thing. So I did some research about it and found that there was some content out there but not a lot. The idea I came up with was pretty cute in my opinion and I'll link the two versions I have of the fic in case you haven't read them yet but would like to.

As I continued to dive further into the fandom and more specifically Steek, the ship quickly became my OTP which brings me to today where I can not shut up about them. They are literally all I think about and they bring me so much joy that all I want to do is create more content for them.

I can't decide whether I'm shocked or not that more people don't consider Stan and Tweek. The people that I've come across that don't like the ship usually dislike it for two reasons. The first reason is because they don't like the idea of shipping Tweek with anyone other than Craig which you can't really do anything about because haters are going to hate.

The second reason I've seen is because canon-wise Stan wasn't exactly the nicest to Tweek so people think he would be too mean to Tweek. Personally, I completely disagree with that. Sure Stan is a little shit and there were times when he was a little hard on Tweek but so was Kyle and yet I see a lot of Twyle content out there. There were also times where Stan was nice to Tweek like when he said he liked him better than he liked Butters (although I don't know if that's saying much) or when he tried to assure Tweek that things would be okay when Tweek didn't make enough paper hats in Free Hat.

Also, in seasons 2, 3 and 6, the main 4 weren't really fleshed out that much (at least in my opinion but I know others feel the same way) so of course Stan is going to act like a little boy who's a jerk, that's basically what all the main kids were in the earlier seasons. Now we have more of a personality for him but we haven't been able to really see how that would work with Tweek.

Besides, you can't really go off of canon here because Stan and Tweek barely interact with each other. I feel like for most South Park ships you can't go off of canon except for little background moments or like two or three lines that two characters happen to exchange. I see a lot of people say how do people ship this? or they barely interact and it's more about what they could be rather than what they actually are, at least in my opinion.

And also, if they hate each other than why not have enemies to lovers Steek???

Also I'm not trying to say that anyone's opinions or invalid by pointing these reasons out. I myself have ships that I don't like but I know others do. Even though their reasoning for liking that ship may not appeal to me, I still respect those opinions so I hope that you will respect mine too!! I'm not trying to call anyone out lol 😊😊

The number one reason why I probably ship these two is because they are both my favorite SP characters, one being Tweek and two being Stan (sometimes I find them being tied though) but I DO think they would work well together.

They both seem to be more in touch with their emotions versus Craig and Kyle who are more in touch with their logical sides. Because of this, I feel like Stan and Tweek would understand each other pretty well. I can't imagine either of them being hard on each other or not listening to each other when they're having their issues because they both have experience with not being listened to (Stan with Kyle in You're Getting Old/Assburgers and Tweek in Put It Down, and also not being listened to by their parents). I feel like they could sympathize with each other because of that and even though they might get frustrated with one another, I think they would try their best to understand and help.

I also find that they seem to have a lot in common. They both seem to have a love for animals, they both seem to like music and they both like legos. I think those would be things that they would bond over and have fun together with.

I can see them fitting into a lot of relationship dynamics (going off of Pinterest lol). Again they could be enemies to lovers if you want both of them (or at least Stan) to be little pricks. I can see them both being little jerks that only like each other plus a select group of people. I can see them as the nerd x jock trop with both of them in either role but preferably jock Stan x nerd Tweek. I'm in LOVE with the idea of goth Stan x sweetheart Tweek, I saw this comic about it on Pinterest and I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. They DEFIENTLY fit the moon x sun dynamic! There's more but I can basically imagine them in any trope/dynamic, maybe it's because they can actually work together or maybe it's because I'm forcing it too much.

You probably shouldn't have sent me this ask if you were looking for a short reply because I will literally take any chance I get to go on a rant about these two! 😂😂 I just love Steek so much and I really wish more people would be open to it. I have seen a little surge in the content for the pairing, like there's a few fanfictions that have come out and I've seen some new artwork for them. I think there's a lot of people that are interested in the pairing or are at least open to it but not enough to engage themselves in the content, if that makes sense. That's why I've made it my goal to try and produce as much content for the ship as possible, the soul purpose being that I want more people to pay attention to them. Call me selfish I guess-

I don't know how you came upon my blog but if you want to, here's some of my favorite Steek things if you'd like to take a look:

I Can't Handle Change Version 1 - By Moi

I Can't Handle Change Version 2 - By Moi

Goth Stan x Sweetheart Tweek Comic - By Unknown

Drawing - By @ari-nee-23

Drawing - By @kvsagi

Drawing - By Unknown

Drawing - By @naitosutan

Drawing - By @kingukairu

Lastly, did you know that Stan has canonically given Tweek a rose?

That's all. Sorry for such a long response again, I couldn't restrain myself from writing an essay. Hope you liked the response and thanks for the asks, it made me so happy as soon as I saw it! Have a great day anon!! ❤️❤️❤️

#sorry for such a long response #i know not everyone is into that #but i just had to rant #tell me your desperate without telling me your desperate #😂😂 #i'll take any chance i get to talk about steek #asks #steek #sp steek #thanks for the ask!!

[cha-melodius]

Fic Origin Story

Ooh, fun! Thanks for the tag @rmd-writes!

What was your first fandom (reading and/or writing)?

Xena: Warrior Princess, reading and writing. Back when new episodes were originally airing on TV. So yeah, I'm that old.

What was the first story you ever wrote (even if it was never posted) and what made you decide to write it?

Oh man I wish I knew exactly. It was a Xena fic for sure, and it would have been Gabrielle/Joxer because apparently I love hopeless cases just wanted my favorite pathetic man to be happy, the poor guy. Fortunately for me, the internet does forget some things, particularly when the fics are only published on a personal website that no longer exists.

What's a piece of advice you would give to your younger fic-writing self?

Don't stop writing! After Xena, I fell out of fandom until the LOTR movies came out, and even then I didn't read or write fic for a bunch more years. Given how utterly compelling I find writing stories now, I wonder what would have happened if I'd never stopped. Possibly I'd just have a lot more embarrassing stories to my name.

What's an early fandom interaction that stuck with you (be it a nice comment, a friend you made, a fic that got a lot of feedback etc.)?

Honestly my very first fan community, the mailing list of Xena fans I belonged to, really shaped my relationship with fandom. Just having that community of like-minded people in the very early days of the internet, connecting with people from around the world... I'm pretty sure my teenage self wouldn't be able to fathom the kinds of things that would be possible with things like tumblr and discord and the fan communities now.

Post a sentence or two from one of your older fics, and a sentence or two from a newer one (if you want).

I have to say, dredging up my first fics even from when I re-started writing in 2018 was kind of painful. My writing has improved a lot. Anyway, from one of those, It's Code (Westworld, Elsie/Ashley):

She tensed up instinctively; nothing in her code had told her to expect this. There were some aspects of Elsie’s personality and relationships that Bernard only guessed at, but she was pretty sure she had never been a hugger, and she didn’t think her and Stubbs had been on hugging terms. Certainly not a hug like this, like he was holding on for dear life, like he never wanted to let her go again.

And from my most recent published fic, FBI AU feat. stripper!Henry, All for a Taste of the Honey (RWRB, Alex/Henry)

Unfortunately, that plan is destined to fail. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to Alex that Henry’s path toward Vega would bring him by where Alex is sitting until a large hand slides over the shoulder of his jacket and a low voice, close to his ear, says, “You’re going to blow both our covers if you keep glaring at people I’m dancing for like you’re intending to murder them.”

Thanks again, this was fun! I honestly would tag all of my author mutuals and followers, but gonna specifically call out: @heytheredeann, @mirilyawrites, @cricketnationrise, @nicijones, @adinarj, @cheesecurdsgravyandfries, @ikeepwatchinghelicopters, @thetamehistorian, @okilokiwithpurpose, @afewbulbsshortofatanningbed, @dreamycloud, @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @dewdropreader, @deducitetemporacarmen, @coaldustcanary, @somedrunkpirate, and if I missed you and you want to do it please feel free to say I tagged you!

#about me #about my writing #fandom #tag games

[perexcri]

Reading them snap at each other is somehow both very hilarious and also sad:( They are both so sad and angry (at themselves, mostly, I think) and it’s making them bitchy with each other.

Also it’s very merthur of them bc if Arthur were exiled and had to live in an abandoned hut im sure they’d behave similarly djdkfjd

Enrjfkrei between the Merlin names and the Extended Party names I was just grinning……Honestly calling him wise one is prob the closest dndjdjekdkd

‘The wind gusts against their shoulders, cutting sharp lines of red into Will’s cheeks.’ The Parallels holy fuejcjeckwjf❌ how are u such a good writing I’m going to lay on the floor.

I have a feeling the Truth will Out because of the Shadow🤔 Like I know Will wants to tell him tomorrow maybe but either he’ll decide not to or the Shadow will make the decision first. Or maybe I’m reading into things lmao

God dude I just. Love this fic sm. I’ll be sad when it’s over but also hell yeah I’m happy for you with all the writing you’ve done!!

Ejdjdic Naruto-shirt fist bumping you. I think you met a Fae or a god or something djekckwkfwkdj

Hope you are doing wonderful !

honestly writing their banter for these chapters has been a double-edged sword. like it's funny!! hahahaha!! also they hate themselves and they're acting like this because of the respective guilt they feel!! hahahaha!! :')

you are,,,,so so right about the merthur parallels. writing this chapter was giving me similar vibes as that one episode where Gwen lets Arthur stay with her so he can participate in that jousting tournament as Not Prince Arthur and he spends his time acting a bit like an ass. yeag

eeeee i'm glad you liked the merlin and party name drops!! those were fun little things to sprinkle in this chapter of doom and gloom (also the mcr reference. i originally put it in as a joke to myself but when it came time to cut it out i couldn't do it. my little emo heart was just too attached T_T)

Vee i need you to know that any time you compliment my writing or bring up any parallels ever that i feel like this

or when anybody points out anything about my writing, for that matter, because i will just write stuff and then apparently it will reference back to earlier things and i never notice (unless i plan for it, which i only sometimes do). i literally didn't pick up on the fact that that line could refer to the scars on their chests either. wow. i am giving you a thousand glowing flowers for pointing this out because i definitely wouldn't have picked up on it~

you are not reading too much into things!! your theories are all good, and all i will say is that. um. this chapter marks the halfway point in part 4, and there is lots of resolution at the end of this part. lots.

it makes me unbelievably happy that you like this fic so much T_T i know i keep saying it but it has really been A Struggle getting through it, so it's nice to know that other people are enjoying it :]

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID ABOUT NARUTO SHIRT DUDE!! well okay my actual words to my brother were "i think i met a demon," but honestly fae or god works too. either way i'm convinced he wasn't entirely real. honestly it was a 10/10 interaction and i'll never forget it, but it was just. so odd.

i hope you're doing wonderful as well!! i am wishing you all the best :] 💜💜💜

#ask

[darthkvznblogs]

Thanks for Them just came out, yes! Tell us what you think when you see it!

I loved it! Definitely the major caveat that I do think this needed to be at least 3 to 5 episodes (and curse once more the execs who decided to trim down the season) instead of a double length special, but given the time they had to work with, I'm extremely impressed by the storytelling in Thanks to Them.

I was surprised by how...cozy it all was? I definitely expected more mayhem and shenanigans from the Witch kids, but I have to assume, given the montage, that's where the bulk of the trimming was done. But I do appreciate the tranquility, even if it's paper-thin, hiding a lot of grief, worry, and in the case of Luz and Hunter, guilt.

The reveals (or I guess, confirmations rather) were great, Camila being vindicated as a great mom was very satisfying, the Lumity feels were off the charts and...like, I'm pretty sure Hunter and Willow are headed there, too? Luz's state of mind was great to explore and Hunter becoming part of the family was such an incredible moment. Belos was suitably horrifying (and I'm glad he's still around, he's too compelling to lose yet), the fight scene was insane, and...

Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel about Flapjack. I think thematically, that's probably the best fate for him - saving the life he couldn't, originally, and Hunter being healed by the magic Philip so despises (and btw, can we appreciate that he pontificates about saving their souls while looking more messed up than most depictions of the devil himself? Wild). On the other hand, and even beyond my general distaste for character death, it felt to me like he had more of a role to play going forward, so while sad, it also felt a bit dissatisfying. It could just be the time constraints (and probably is), but I also wouldn't be surprised if there's just a bit more to Flapjack's story before all's said and done.

I'm excited for more! And maybe even more so excited about what fanartists and fic writers will fill those gaps with.

What TtT means for the Kryptonverse:

At this point, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to do a bit of a retcon (not the in-universe kind) even though I tried to leave it vague enough to seem plausible. Belos obviously never actually intended to merge the worlds so Luz would have no reason to give that explanation to Dipper, though I think I can probably leave the rest as is or change very little. I'm gonna wait until the other two specials come out before choosing exactly how to handle any changes though, I really don't like having to go back and correct stuff when writing new content already takes me so long.

#ask box #the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #thanks to them #toh season 3

[bloodfromthethorn]

Sleep is the Best Cure

“Jack? What-” Mac blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision even as he automatically relaxed into his partner’s hold, trusting him to keep him up while he struggled his way back to the surface.

“Pretty sure you’re going on about 72 hours without sleep and you’ve had, what? Three? Separate traumatic situations in that time? Not much of a surprise you’re about to crash hard.”

Tag to 2x11 and 2x12. Also on AO3. 

..

Mac’s eyes surveyed the wreck of his living room with a building sense of dread. The last few days felt like little more than a blur in his memory and he didn’t think he’d had a chance to pause for breath during any of it. Now that he had a moment to himself, he couldn’t help but worry that the world was about to come crashing down yet again, with him standing right in the middle of it. 

Charlie’s attention had been drawn away by one of the team responsible for lifting the barrels out from beneath the floor, while all around them Phoenix personnel were cataloguing every item they could find just in case one of them might grant a clue as to the Ghost’s whereabouts. Mac considered moving to help them - or perhaps back Charlie up in what looked as though it might be descending into some kind of argument about proper procedure - but the instant he took a step to do so, sharp, blinding pain struck him right between the eyes like a lightning bolt. 

It was there and gone in a flash, but it left him so startled he staggered back a step in surprise. A hand snatched at his arm before he could do more than sway, tugging him carefully against a supportive warm body. “Easy there bud.”

“Jack? What-” Mac blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision even as he automatically relaxed into his partner’s hold, trusting him to keep him up while he struggled his way back to the surface. 

“Pretty sure you’re going on about 72 hours without sleep and you’ve had, what? Three? Separate traumatic situations in that time? Not much of a surprise you’re about to crash hard.”

“I’m- I’m okay.”

“Yeah man, ‘course you are. But maybe we should get you some sleep, yeah?”

Mac’s head still felt like it was floating some way above the rest of his body, foggy and distant, but he was still able to feel himself frown as the suggestion stuck a chime wrong somewhere. “Can’t,” he managed. “House is in clean up.”

“Matty’s got it covered,” Jack said, sure and steady. “And while she’s getting everything here sorted, you can crash at my place.”

That did admittedly sound amazing, but Mac forced himself to mumble a negative and reclaim some of his own weight, shaking his head in a vain attempt at clearing out the cobwebs taking root. “No, I need to help Charlie,” he said stubbornly. 

The arm Jack had around his shoulders turned to steel, not letting him move away. “Charlie is doing just fine. He knows what he’s doing and he’s not the one dead on his feet right now. It’s okay man, it’s over. You can hand the reins over to someone else for a bit.”

With his vision steadily clearing, Mac could finally make out Jack’s worried face at his shoulder, watching him closely for any sign he was about to take another nosedive. Beyond the concern though, it was clear as day that Jack was starting to flag just as badly as Mac was, with pale skin and deepening crow’s feet emphasising the slight squint he’d picked up to combat the dryness of his eyes. “You’ve not slept either,” he pointed out unnecessarily. 

Jack huffed something that might have been a laugh if he’d had the energy for it. “True enough, but I also wasn’t arrested and I haven’t spent the last twenty hours working on defusing two bombs simultaneously.” He gestured vaguely around the wreck of Mac’s living room with his free hand as though to encompass everything that had happened. “I’m good to drive us both back to mine and then I’m planning on passing out until at least tomorrow. That plan sound good with you?”

Honestly, now that Mac was aware of his own fatigue, the exhaustion felt like a physical weight on his body and the very thought of handing over his safety to Jack and drifting off for a couple of hours sounded like heaven, but he knew his job. Once an EOD tech, always an EOD tech, and there was still a lot of explosive material in his house that needed dealing with before anyone in a mile’s radius would be safe. He had work to do. 

The sentiment must have shown on his face, because Jack went right back to frowning. “No, man, cut that out. Even if there wasn’t a perfectly capable bomb tech right over there, you’re in no state to be handling explosives. You’re shaking.”

Mac glanced at his own hands to confirm that yes, his whole body was indeed wracked by fine tremors that he couldn’t seem to stop. That… didn’t seem right. Since joining the army he’d had countless sleepless nights, both intentional and unavoidable, and while he knew he must be getting close to his limit of endurance, he was usually steady handed. Sort of an occupational requirement, really. 

“Something’s wrong,” he murmured to himself, still looking at his trembling fingers. 

With a heavy sigh, Jack tugged on him until he was pushed, unresisting, onto one of the bar stools and propped up by Jack’s warm palms on both of his shoulders. “What’s wrong is that you’ve been running on nothing but adrenaline and coffee for two whole days. Just ‘cause you’ve not been dodging bullets doesn’t mean you haven’t been going through the wringer. You’re exhausted. That’s all it is, bud, promise.”

Well, if Jack promised then Mac would believe him. Jack would never lie to him and he always seemed to know Mac’s hurts even before the man himself did. Something about it still didn’t sit right with him though. “Was dodging bullets,” he corrected, slightly petulantly, as he remembered handcuffs around his wrists and the desperation of trying to find a solution using nothing but a bullet and a ballpoint pen. 

One of Jack’s hands drifted up his shoulder to cup the back of his head comfortingly in a move that Jack liked to use when he wanted to check Mac’s pulse without him knowing. “I’m okay,” he mumbled again in protest, but didn’t pull away. 

“Yeah, I know you are. You’re pretty out of it though bud. Reckon you’re not going to remember this conversation tomorrow, huh?”

That was probably a fair assessment, honestly. With no witty retort lined up and thoroughly lacking the energy to search for one, Mac just hummed agreeably, blinking at him as his vision went wobbly again. 

Jack sighed. “Okay, I’m calling it. I know you want to help out here, but you need rest and you’re not going to get it while there’s a Phoenix clean-up op happening in your living room. And since I’m not letting you out of my sight just yet, you’re coming home with me, yes? Good.”

He finally broke his attention off from Mac to cast a glance around the room at large and caught Matty’s eyes, gesturing to his semi-conscious partner with a small head tilt. “I’m taking this one home.” He didn’t leave any room in his tone for argument, but softened it by adding, “If you need us, call me.”

Thankfully, as much as Matty might be a hardass when her job needed her to be, she was also one of the most observant people Jack had ever met. Her eyes took them both in with a single look and recognised the exhaustion staring back at her. She nodded with a soft smile. “Take as long as you need. We’ve got this.”

He spared enough time to shoot her a deeply grateful look before his entire attention turned back to Mac, who appeared to have been trying unsuccessfully to use the brief pause to rally himself. Unfortunately for him, he was long since out of any reserves to draw off; the best his attempts got him was some slightly more aggressive blinking. 

“Okay hoss, think you can stand up for me?” From the way Jack was having to keep him steady, it was obvious that Mac’s balance had completely gone to shit, but he obediently pushed himself upright and managed to at least keep his knees locked to take his weight. “Alright man, you’re doing great. Let’s get outside and get you sitting down again, yeah?”

Getting Mac outside and into the car turned out to be an exercise in extreme patience. Out of it as he was, he seemed to consistently forget where they were going and why, and made several attempts to turn himself around to go and help Charlie even though he could not more obviously be beyond that particular task. Each time Jack would nudge him back in the right direction with a soft push and a string of gentle words that seemed to more or less do the trick. By the time Mac was carefully folding himself into the passenger seat, the kid was scarcely still conscious. 

“That’s right, you just sit there and let Jack get you home, yeah?”

That Mac didn’t even groan in protest at Jack referring to himself in third person said a lot for his mental state. Chuckling to himself, Jack rounded the car and nodded at Bozer who had appeared at the front door to see them off. 

“I’ll get the house sorted as soon as I can,” he promised. “Make sure everything’s nice and clean when he gets back.”

“Appreciate that. But make sure you get some rest yourself, okay?” He said sternly, sending him a steady look. “Today’s been a long day for everyone, you included.”

“We’re good Jack. Matty will take good care of me and Riley. You just worry about Mac.”

Jack snorted, momentarily letting his bone-deep exhaustion show on his face. “As if I ever do anything else.”

Mac was thoroughly dead to the world when Jack slid into the driver’s seat beside him, his head tilted awkwardly against the window and his arms wrapped tight around his middle. It looked wildly uncomfortable, but the journey was only short and now that he was actually out for the count, Jack was loath to disturb him until he had to. Instead, he jammed his keys in the ignition and headed for home without another word. 

Tired as he was, Jack drove more carefully than he was usually of a mind to and as a result ended up taking a full half-hour to make it to his apartment. Mac didn’t so much as stir the entire time. If it hadn’t been for his breath fogging against the glass of the window, Jack might have resorted to feeling for the pulse in his wrist just to be certain that he really was still there, still in one piece. After everything he’d been through in the last three days, the fact that the worst physical damage he would have to deal with would be a few scrapes and a hefty dose of exhaustion was something of a miracle - and Jack would still trade almost anything for the chance to go back and spare him of all of it. Mac had never deserved the shit that got thrown at him day in and day out, but it rarely came so thick and fast. 

And physical condition aside, Jack knew that Mac wasn’t getting away from any of it without some new mental baggage. 

But that was a problem for tomorrow, at the earliest. Right now all he had to worry about was getting 6 foot of mostly-catatonic secret agent up several flights of stairs, preferably without drawing any attention. Easy. 

Mac did make a valiant attempt at consciousness after a few gentle shakes from Jack, but it was clear the window of opportunity for his ability to hold his own weight had closed some time ago. In the end, it was left to Jack to duck under his shoulder and do his best to balance them both as they hobbled unsteadily up the fire escape. The lobby would have granted them an elevator, but with them both on their last legs, Jack didn’t want the attention.

No doubt they must have looked comical - or perhaps just drunk - but they made it in the end, and without anyone falling down the stairs to boot. Jack was going to count that as a win. 

“Mac, you still with me brother?”

There was a vaguely attentive hum. Mac’s eyes didn’t open. 

“You happy to share the bed or are you gonna make me sleep on the couch?”

Another hum that Jack chose to take as ambivalence. In truth the question was somewhat redundant - the pair of them had shared far closer quarters than a king-sized bed before, and Mac would never turf Jack out of his own room, especially when he was just as desperately in need of rest. Asking was more of a formality than anything. 

There was a second brief deliberation when Jack managed to get them both into the bedroom as he tried to weigh up the chances of him being able to bully Mac into changing into some borrowed sleepwear. In the end, he figured it wasn’t worth the hassle and just calmly battled him out of his jeans and his dust-covered henley before tipping him beneath the covers. With his consciousness waning once more, Mac offered little more than a sleepy grumble as he burrowed down beneath the blanket and went still once more. 

With a weary chuckle of genuine relief, Jack ran through his own preparations as quickly as his tired body was capable of before finally, finally folding himself into the other side of the bed. After everything, the sensation was heavenly. 

There was a long stretch of motionless silence, broken only by their steady breathing, and Jack felt the fiercely alert, wary section of his brain finally start to cede control to the comforting embrace of sleep. It was over; Mac was safe, the bomb was defused, no one was in prison, and Cage would be just fine after a bit of recovery time. Jack was free to let his guard down at long last. 

It wasn’t an easy task. For the next five minutes he struggled with slipping into light dozes that broke off suddenly when his adrenaline spiked, bracing himself against some new danger. He knew that he needed the rest and for once it was legitimately safe to do so, but he had too many years of forcing his body through every possible hardship for it to give up the fight so easily. 

Then, as he always managed to do, Mac provided the solution. After the fifth or so time Jack jolted awake, Mac let out a low, displeased huff and wriggled until he was able to reach out a hand and wrap long fingers around Jack’s wrist in a gentle reassurance of his presence. He didn’t even look as though he was awake as he did it - he’d just sensed that Jack needed his help, and had offered it without thought. Lost in his own exhaustion, Jack thought it was almost poetic. 

Not that he would know, of course. 

Safe at long last, and tangibly aware of Mac’s steady presence at his side, Jack finally let himself sleep.

#i'm sure there were a lot of fics exactly like this when those episodes came out #but im new #let me indulge #macgyver #mac #jack dalton #exhaustion #god i miss jack so much you guys #respect to eads' choices but the show is just not as good without him #still shouldnt have been cancelled though #fuck that

[prismatic-bell]

as youre very both old school fandom and also someone who works to preserve old fandom content, what do you think is the best way to print off and preserve fanfics? I've been wanting to start to move my many many many archived pdfs into actual physical copies but ive been way too intimidated to really look deep into it so I was wondering if you had a preference

Okay, so.

My preference is "yes." Yes, I want you to archive them. Yes, I want you to save them. I've worked to preserve 1960s teen pulp mags, for fuck's sake, it can't get much worse than that, and I'm grateful to have them.

With that said, pick any or all of the following options to make your physical printouts last longer: --select acid-free paper --bind by sewing, not stapling --store in archival sleeves, like the ones you use for old comic books And now, pick any or all of the following options to make my life easier as a historian (or, you know, the lives of the historians who come after me): --include the title --include the author's name --include the fandom name --include which version of the canon, if relevant (e.g. the OG Transformers show vs the Michael Bay movies) --include the date, or at least year, of publication --include the summary --include the site of origin, including the URL All of these things are called provenance and help not only to identify a specific work, but to place it within its cultural context. As an amusing example: I recently got into James Bond, and decided to go through every fic in the main pairing tag, in chronological order. There came a point where suddenly, out of nowhere, there were like two solid pages of nothing but A/B/O, which I previously had not seen at all. I had a suspicion, so I looked it up, and sure enough--those two pages appeared within just a couple of weeks of the corresponding Supernatural episode. Having publication dates let me determine that. If I were a historian trying to piece together a long-ago puzzle instead of going "lol I live on the hellsite, I bet I know exactly where this came from," that would be a huge datapoint. I could probably find a similar sudden explosion in other fandoms, as well--and if we're going far enough in the future, if Supernatural were to just vanish off the face of the planet along with its entire fandom, historians could still trace that it existed and even determine some of its events based on when certain tropes begin to appear in other fandoms. And further, the fact that its tropes and major events appear in so many other fandoms would allow those historians to say "this must have been a very, very popular story." (This isn't just me making shit up to sound important, by the way. This is literally how we have records of a lot of things throughout antiquity and even into the Renaissance. The more copies there are of something, or the more references that are made to a thing in other things, the more likely it is for at least part of it to survive. This is literally how we know about Shakespeare's two lost plays--he was a popular enough playwright that quartos of his plays were advertised for sale.) Whew! Now let's get into stuff you could do that would make me, as a historian, scream with delight if I were to open your folder full of labeled, acid-free fanfiction fifty years from now: --write a little something about why you picked this particular fic to preserve in hard copy when doing so is bulky and time-consuming compared to the easy instant storage of the internet, yes, even if your reason is "I'm trying not to use my phone in bed because the screen keeps me awake but this story is soothing to reread" --write a little something about who you are, even if it's just "my name is X, my age is Y, I live in Z, I printed this out in 2022" And last but not least: Marginalia. Marginalia. Marginalia, my beloved. That's when you write your thoughts in the columns on the sides, underline stuff, circle it, and so on. Having marginalia means I actually get a window into your thoughts as you read--your perspective, stuff that stuck out to you, places the story made you feel some kind of serious emotion. And yes, this goes for everything. Villain A kills Hero B and you write "YOU MOTHERFUCKER" in the margin, that tells Future Historian Me that you really loved Hero B, you were invested in seeing her succeed, and that this scene really resonated with you. One of my most treasured possessions in the fandom museum is a copy of the novelization of the Help! movie the Beatles did. This particular copy is very worn--unsurprising, it was a cheap paperback even when it was printed--but also, its original owner apparently took it to the movie theatre and

wrote notes in the margins indicating all the things happening onscreen that weren't in the book. What does this tell me? WELL. Let's go ahead and take a look: 1) the written ink doesn't look any newer than the book, so I'm guessing a little when I say this was the original owner and in the theatre, but I have an actual datapoint I'm basing that on 2) based on handwriting and the main demographic of the Beatles audience at the time, this was a young woman, probably a teenager. 3) she went to see the movie more than once (some notes are in pencil, some in ink, but the handwriting is all the same) 4) she was dedicated to making sure every moment of the movie was preserved. This was an era before home video players, so once the movie left theatres, she had no guarantee of seeing it again. 5) while the book is worn, it's not beaten all to shit. It was read a lot, but there's no evidence it was mistreated, so it was probably a prized or at least respected possession.

What can I extrapolate from this, with the understanding that I mean "what theories can I reasonably form but not prove"? Well. She was probably a pretty big fan, since she went to see the movie at least twice and also bought the book. Maybe she wanted to keep the story after the movie was gone. Maybe she was looking for answers for some teen mag contest like "find these things in the Help! movie and win a chance to meet the Beatles." Maybe she had a friend who wasn't allowed to go to the movie. You know what the most tantalizing possibility is to me, although I'll never be able to prove it and actual ethics as a historian mean I can only present it as one among many possibilities? Maybe she did it as a source reference for writing fanfiction. We don't know. We can't know, because I have no idea who the original owner was or if she's even still alive and no way to trace her. But that? In terms of fandom history, that is a fucking gold mine. Pure 24-karat all through. From a strictly historical view, that's worth more than the animation cel I've got in there, and I paid over a hundred bucks for that thing.

So yeah! That was a lot of words to say "just do it." But there's your answer!

#you ask nina answers #the fandom museum

[passable-talent]

OMG is it too much to ask for a continuation of the last person's ask request ? Like I loved it so much but was heartbroken at the angst ending. Could you like do where the reader has to adjust to him being there and they work through there feelings them eventually falling hard for zuko as they did for Lee and Zuko tries his best to make things right them and whether or not it works is up to you I'm down for a surprise will they/won't they?

I’m going to... scream

someone, you my friend, loved my fic SO MUCH you want a continuation??????

I owe u my life thank you so much 💕💕💕💕

side bar I watched The Western Air Temple to get the true 👌🏻👌🏻 canon compliance of this ask and I am like, not okay. i would give my life for Zuko and the episode is SUCH a rollercoaster and a masterpiece of the group’s collective opinions of Zuko, I could go off but I’m not gonna. mostly? 18 y/o me cannot handle the resurgence of 6 y/o me that just crushes on Zuko like crazy

this is gonna be another long one because I actually really like this storyline? also ya boi is a sucker for angst

continuation of this post

You’d stalked back into the temple, finding an empty room to sulk in, anger and sadness and betrayal and all sorts of upset wrestling in your heart. You thumped your back against the wall, scowling, and reached up to wipe a tear you weren’t aware had fallen, forcefully, as though you were angry at it.

Maybe you were.

Zuko had betrayed you. He had been given the choice, and he chose poorly. He had no excuse for that. You could’ve even understood if he’d regretted it immediately, but he hadn’t! He had stayed in the fire nation for months!

What had changed? What had rocked his life so deeply that he’d come to the avatar? Was he being honest, or was it a trap? You wouldn’t put a trap past him, not after all of his past treachery.

Though you didn’t want to see him, you did want to know what was going on, in case there was a fight and you needed to intervene. It was as good a time as ever, you decided, to practice seismic senses. You weren’t quite good at it yet, and not nearly as good as Toph, but you’d been learning.

Pushing off of the wall with a motion still angry, you took a step forward and kneeled, settling both knees onto the floor. Already you closed your eyes, regulating your breathing as though deep in meditation.

The touch of your fingertips to the stone floor was light, at first, feathery, but slowly you moved your hands forward and laid the palm down. You stilled, your body not moving even a bit, and slowly a scene began to take form. It wasn’t a picture, and you couldn’t see it exactly, it was like the way that your fingers could find your nose even when your eyes were closed. You just knew, as though the ground itself was an extension of your body.

You could sense Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, standing together and facing Zuko. You couldn’t quite understand his movements, but you knew they were frantic, whereas Team Avatar stood ready in stances prepared to fight.

The image went fuzzy as your heartbeat sped up, and by the time you could get it to clear up again enough to make sense of it, Zuko was gone. You stood up, and walked back out to the rest of the group, fists clenched at your side.

“So you kicked him out, huh?”

“We had to!” Katara said, a snarl in her voice. “He’s-“

“Don’t defend yourself to me,” you interrupted, “I probably would’ve done something worse.” There was a pause, in which you followed their lead to grab your sleeping bundle from Appa’s saddle. “And even if I hadn’t, my voice will only confuse our decision. I’m not even sure what I think of him, but I know I’m angry.”

“We can’t trust him,” Katara said, and you dropped your bundle so you could use it as a seat.

“I kind of have a confession to make,” Aang said, and the night only got weirder from there.

When Toph came back, you weren’t surprised she’d been burnt. And you weren’t surprised when Combustion Man resurfaced, too. You had the forethought to throw a rock shield from rubble in front of your friends, but very quickly Aang and Katara’s attempts at fighting back made the five of you realize you needed to find an even better place to hide.

What did surprise you was that Zuko swooped in, to try to stop the assassin. Despite everything about yourself, despite everything he’d done, you felt cold dread grip your heart when he was thrown back over the edge of the temple, and may have even tried to save him if it weren’t for Combustion Man’s constant explosions.

But Sokka did what Sokka did best, and soon the assassin was gone, leaving behind a clear view of the fire prince climbing a vine back up to safety.

“Oh. Zuko made it,” you said, your tone halfway between relief and annoyance.

His speech to Aang was everything you expected to hear, and it seemed as though he’d earned Aang’s forgiveness. Your heart still racing, you listened, to Aang’s words. You didn’t dare look at Zuko, and so stood beside Katara, staring at the ground by her feet. You tried to let anger be your shield, because Zuko’s presence made you remember all to easily how much you cared for him, even if it was a different part of him, under a different name.

“Now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love.” The sentence made you lift your head, and for the first time you let your gaze slide to Zuko. You caught his eye, just for a moment, as though the sentence had had the same effect on him. But he brought his focus back to Aang, to be told that he needed permission from all members of Team Avatar. Toph and Sokka’s answers were affirmative, and you knew yours would be the same- but that didn’t mean that you had to go easy on him.

“Y/N?” Aang asked, and you raised your chin, though still your gaze was on the floor, unfolding your arms from your chest.

“There’s good in him,” you started, and you raised your gaze finally to Aang. “I’ve seen it. And if you think that this is proof that he can let it-“ you slid your eyes to Zuko, a soft glare making up your expression. “-guide his actions,” you looked back to Aang with a small nod, “then I’m okay with it.” You didn’t dare look back at Zuko, you didn’t want to know his reaction. But mostly, you didn’t want to see his face, remind yourself how much you still cared for him.

It was easy, you decided as you laid in bed that night, to hate him when he wasn’t in front of you. It was easy to be angry and talk of how you’d hurt him when you couldn’t see him, hear his voice. But now that he was here, and you’d watched him fight, you knew that that wasn’t the truth of it. You still cared for him. Lee hadn’t been washed away in Ba Sing Se- the aspects of Zuko’s personality that Lee was made of were still there, and very much alive. You saw it in the small smile he’d let himself crack when you glanced back as Team Avatar walked away from him.

The boy you’d almost fallen in love with was very much alive. And though he’d betrayed you, he’d hurt you, he’d betrayed and hurt the people you cared about- it didn’t stop you from wanting to love him again.

“Y/N?” came Zuko’s voice from just outside your door, and your first response was to earthbend a slab from the floor that sealed the door shut. “I know you’re angry, please, just let me in so that I can talk. You don’t need to listen, or look at me, I just want to say things to you. I need to.” Despite yourself, you wanted to hear what he had to say, and so you uncurled just enough to pull your slab through the door, though you didn’t move it far enough to allow him to enter the room.

Reaching down to press your palm to the floor, you used seismic sense to make out that he’d sat down on the other side of the slab.

“Thank you,” were his first words, and you assumed that he meant for moving the slab. You were wrong. “-for saying that about me. You, I feel like I’ve hurt you the most. I know that that’s selfish, or- or ignorant, because I’ve done terrible things to Aang and Sokka and Katara, but-“ he sighed, and you heard what you thought was an impact between palm and forehead.

“But when I did those things to them, I didn’t care about them. I cared about you.” Though you couldn’t see him, through your little wall of rock, his words made you turn, rolling over to face where his body was.

“I cared about you a lot, and still I let Azula-“ once again he cut himself off. “You deserve a proper explanation, Y/N, even if it isn’t a good one.”

“My mom always treated me differently than my sister, I know that. My father did too, but in a different way. He didn’t- he wanted nothing to do with me. I was his eldest, his son, and he didn’t seem to like me at all. He was the one that gave me my scar, you know.” His next sentence was lost on you as you sat up, anger hot as lightning coursing through your veins.

You knew that scar had come from a firebender. But between Ba Sing Se and this moment, you’d been so caught up in your anger that you never stopped to realize that Zuko was a firebender too, and so a firebender must’ve hurt another firebender, and who would’ve done that? His father, the fire lord? If Aang didn’t take him down, you decided that you would.

“I spent years blindly searching for the avatar, not letting anything get in my way. I was so cruel. To Katara and Sokka, to Toph and Aang, I was so cruel because I just wanted to go home. I wanted to earn my honor, but moreso I just wanted to show my father that I could do what he asked.” You heard a tremor in his voice.

“And I was so blind, it made me ignore how important my uncle was to me. I see it now- and I think back on his face right after I betrayed him, and I just feel so ashamed.” He paused, leveling his voice before he said his next words.

“I think about how you looked. When Azula said that you were my enemy, too. I know it’s no excuse, but she’s so manipulative, she’s such a-“ There was quiet as he let out a breath.

“I don’t regret spending my time in Ba Sing Se with you. But I do regret how it ended. You have every reason to be angry with me, you’re right to be. I’m so sorry, Y/N.” You thought, for a moment, that he was done, but still he didn’t move.

“When I went back to the fire nation, I fell back in with an old girlfriend I’d had before I was banished. But it felt wrong. It felt like- like I was just with her to try to regain my life from before, but I wasn’t that person anymore. I wrote her a letter, but I didn’t know what to say, and...” Zuko paused, and sighed. You wondered, with a bit of bitterness, why he would tell you about a girlfriend he’d had between the last time the two of you saw each other. Wasn’t he just giving you more reason to be angry with him?

“I’ll never have enough words to tell you how sorry I am. And I know I don’t deserve a second chance from you. I deserve nothing but hatred and- and anger and everything you can throw at me, because I asked for it when I turned against you.” You stared at your slab, and wondered how long it would be before your eyes bore holes straight through it.

“Just... just know that I’m sorry, and I- I’m never going to treat you like that again.” He took a deep breath, as though meditating, or summoning his courage. “Know that I’ve thought about you almost every day. About that time you spilled tea on me and tried to pay for a replacement shirt, and-“ he tapered off, and let out the rest of his breath. “You’re probably asleep.” He was silent, for a moment, as he reached up to press his hand onto the rock keeping him from you.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” You heard him stand up and walk away.

You remembered the night he was talking about. Mushi- Iroh- had let you stay past when the shop closed, before you worked there. Zuko had sat down across from you and closed your textbook whenever you tried to read, and finally you’d gotten frustrated and put it away. You’d tried to put your feet up, but instead kneed the table, and sent his cup rolling, spilling his tea onto his shirt.

Looking back on it, it made sense why the heat of the tea didn’t bother him. He was a firebender, after all.

The part that he’d failed to mention tonight was how he’d walked to a back room to get another shirt, as you followed, insisting on paying for the ‘damages’. But the words had caught in your throat when he took off his shirt because wow, and that was all you could really fathom yourself to think, and you’d stuttered, and he’d just laughed before putting another shirt on.

You wondered, now, if things would have turned out differently if you had kissed him that night, instead of pulling away. Had you called him boyfriend, would he have been so quick to betray you?

Laying down slowly, you reached out to press your palm to the ground again. It took you a moment to get a clear seismic understanding, as your heart was pounding and your breath shaking, but you could sense him in the room he’d taken up as his own. You pulled your hand to your chest, losing the image, and closed your eyes.

Your throat burned the next morning.

ok this bitch got LONG AS FUCK so stay tuned for a pt 3 probably tomorrow

edit: | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 |

-🦌 Roe

#prince zuko x reader #prince zuko fluff #prince zuko #zuko imagine #zuko #zuko reader insert #zuko fluff #zuko imagines #zuko x reader #fire lord zuko #avatar iroh #iroh #general iroh #uncle iroh #wushi and lee #avatar fluff #avatar reader insert #avatar x reader #avatar imagine #avatar imagines #avatar: the last airbender #avatar #angst #prince zuko angst #zuko angst #lee and mushi #fics

[florelia12]

Why do you think flora holds back her powers when fighting. Also do you think that if flora got too mad during a battle she could destroy the magic universe.

Well, the reason’s never explicitly mentioned in canon but I do have a few theories

In the earlier seasons, especially season 1, you don’t really see her hold back her powers so whatever the reason might be, I think it developed during the series

In the later seasons, they do try and show it as her lack of confidence that stops her from being very ‘aggressive

Personally, from what I remember, I think the change from her being somewhat passive in her attacks to her really pulling her punches happened in season 4

In season 1, you have her almost killing Tecna and not even understanding why everyone was mad about it. Even from the episode that she is introduced, you see her standing up for a girl she barely knows and willingly getting into a fight with a bunch of witches on the first day of school. So, Flora is not really a pacifist. In my opinion. And, she’s more than willing to throw hands if necessary.

Okay a bit off-topic but Pacifist literally means someone who thinks war and violence is unjustifiable and refuses to participate or support in a war. So, I don’t think anyone of the winx & specialists (helia to be exact) are pacifists because…then i don’t think they’d even be involved in all the trouble they find themselves in.

Anyways, in season 2, you do get Flora being anxious and doubting herself when she has to heal the flower at pixie village. Which I think is not exactly an unjustifiable thing to be anxious about. All her friends had gotten her charmix, and she was the only one left so I think anyone in her position would have doubted themselves. Also, i think her shyness came into play with that scene because she is shown to be quite friendly and open, except when she started crushing on Helia. That boy clearly made her nervous and she was able to save the flower once he supported her.

Later when they are fighing darkar and while Musa and her are holding up shields to protect the rest from his attacks, she gets shot down first. Again, i don’t think its because she’s just a weak fairy in general but because like Stella, she also relies on sunlight. The situations just aren’t in her favour most of the time but I think she still does pretty good despite them.

And, in season 3, she’s still pretty strong. She gets her enchantix, she holds back guards chasing them through Solaria and Eraklyon. There is even one scene where the girls are practicing and they fight against Bloom to see if they can figure out a way to defeat Valtor. And, Flora apologises but still doesn’t hesitate to go against her friend. So, again, she doesn’t hold back.

Now, in season 4. I know a lot people stopped watching and dont really like this season but I really did. The only part that bothered me was how there were so many new transformations that seemed unnecessary. But, other than I liked their life post-alfea. Anyways, You have Flora being sassy with Anagan and also the first episode where she stands up against the wizards. and one thing I hope doesn't come off as hate is that the voice actress for season 4...did not do justice to her character. it made her sound whiny and I really really miss how soft and breathy flora's voice used to be in the earlier seasons.

also, Im not just saying this because I wrote a fic about it, but I am pretty sure Flora was affected by earth's pollution. Like, come on. The planet sucks and we've destroyed it beyond help at this point. and I doubt the fairy of nature would actually enjoy it. Then we have that episode with Diana where she is so weak she can barely fight.

I will forever be salty that Flora did not get the spotlight in those episodes.

you have that scene where Helia encourages her to fight against Diana's vines and she fails. miserably. That is bound to have made her feel embarrassed. Helia even did that before when she had tied up Anagan. I'm sure Flora's ego must have taken a hit from all the failed attempts.

and then you have Nabu's death. I read this amazing fic, but I forgot the name but I'm sure you can find it on yet-it's account. it was basically how Flora and bloom being the healers of the group reflect on how and why they didn't help Nabu.

So taking ALL of this into context, and then the oil spill on earth in season 5 where Flora tries to help but makes it worse and the tube literally explodes and all the oil spills into the ocean. She basically indirectly caused the events of season 5.

And that's when Flora starts to get more and more doubtful of herself. Going against my own fic, the Krystal-helia-flora love triangle was not actually about flora thinking Helia liked Krystal. I think it had to do with her self-doubts.

Flora is actually powerful, she just gets bad writing and little screen time. This is the girl who punched Darcy in the face for cursing the Black Willow waterfall and blew Icy off with a bunch of petals (bad writing but kinda cool).

I think that Miele or Helia being killed off would definitely result in her committing murder. I do think all the winx have the potential to destroy the universe. Especially flora because of how nature is basically...everything. She could tear apart planets, she could make eco systems attack people, and she has a pretty big motive to take revenge to for people's actions against nature both on earth and in the magic dimension.

I would love to see Flora go berserk. I've been waiting for it my whole life and I hope it happens soon haha

#i #rambled #im sorry #its so long #i hope it makes sense #im on medication so im a bit drowsy #but yes #i wish flora got so much more characterisation

[salmonthestoryteller]

Time for another episode of “Salmon says something not everyone is going to like.”

So, I'll start by telling you flat out that, despite being on ao3 for years, I never knew you could sort by kudos until about a year ago. I'll also tell you flat out that since discovering that knowledge I have used this function exactly 0 times. And I will never use it.

I want to be nicer about this. I do. But I spend a lot of time reblogging posts helping reassure fanfic writers not to judge themselves by their likes and kudo counts.

And you lot are out here flat out telling people to sort by kudos because those fics are “better”?? That once you get to a certain kudo level “the quality goes down”??

Yeah, no. Screw being nice. Fucking check yourselves. You have no right to tell a bunch of fanfic writers whose fics you just admitted you have never even bothered to read that their work is bad. You came across a fic you didn't like? I'm shocked. Capital “Sh.” /sarcasm. I'm sure you did. I'm also sure it had nothing to do with the kudo count.

Not gonna bother putting a fine point on it, most fics get a lot of kudos for three reasons:

It’s written about a popular ship

It's written about a popular character

It's written by a popular fanfic writer in the fandom

That's it.

Gen fics, case fics, and friendship fics never get the same level of attention romantic fics do.

Fics about less popular ships and characters will never reach the kudos level fics about popular ships and characters reach.

Popular fanfic writers are often someone who has either been in the fandom longer or is more prolific than other fanfic writers. They're work may be good - I'm not saying it's not. But fanfic writers who came to a fandom past “peak popularity” of a fandom will never reach the kudo levels on their fics that the ones who wrote during the height of fandom popularity did. Writers who write more fics for a fandom often get more kudos on all their fics because people follow them to their other fics. Where a writer with only a couple of fics or only one fic in a fandom won't have that same experience, and will struggle to get their fic(s) noticed. Especially in larger fandoms.

Look, kudos are like a best seller's list. (Which I also never bother to use.) Objectively, the books on the best seller's list are considered well written. I personally have read books, not because they were on said list but because the premise sounded interesting, and thought “This book is a steaming pile of garbage.”

I never look at how many kudos a fic has before I click in. There's been a few times I've noted them while clicking out that has left me feeling like those books from the bestseller lists I disliked. How is this so popular when, to me, it's garbage? (I have never commented on or left a review for fics I dislike. That's what my back button is for. Nor do I support anyone who does. Reading is an extremely subjective hobby, and fanfic writers are offering you their hard work for free. If you don't like oatmeal cookies, don't eat the free oatmeal cookie and then complain because it's an oatmeal cookie!)

I look for fics by tags. Characters, ships, tropes, themes, episodes, ect. I choose which fics I read based on a combo of tags and summary. Which is probably why I like fics that put pieces of scenes in the summary, because to me it's like when paperbacks put a teaser at the front of a book. I've bought many a book because of the teaser page. I've clicked many a fic because of the piece they've posted in the summary.

I'm not saying to stop sorting fics by kudos altogether if that's what you've always done. Some people like best seller lists. That's their prerogative. But I've never met someone who honestly enjoys reading who would ever suggest that books not found on the bestseller's list are bad just because they aren't on a bestseller's list. Nor would they ever refuse to read a book because it wasn't on one.

So, to be frank, especially in larger fandoms, if you sort by kudos? You're missing some of the best fics you'll ever read.

And to all the fanfic writers with low kudos who have to put up with posts insulting your hard work despite the fact that those writing said posts having never even read a single word of them:

You're amazing. And your kudo count has nothing to do with how good your fic is.

Period.

#fanfiction #salmonrants #salmon rants #writing

[julies-butterflies]

Honestly, your writing reminds me a lot of the buffyverse. Just the perfect balance of humor and sadness and romance and heart that just feels like a vivid window into the world you've created.

God the Body...the best forty minutes of television I may never watch again. I've rewatched Willow and Tara's kiss (because I'll adore them forever), but just...the weight of it. It took me a full month to work up the nerve to watch the episode, to be ready to cry that much.

What you said about not wanting people to suffer, because of your work...It's never once felt like that for me. And I've cried a LOT while reading your work. I'll try to explain it the best I can

Grief can be so isolating, and disorienting. Your world goes topsey-turvey, supports you took for granted go flying into the abyss and suddenly it's a minefield of those glass shards. And no one's grief is identical. No two circumstances are the same. It's not possible for anyone else to know exactly how you feel, because no two hearts break alike.

Sometimes, it's because people just don't understand. Sometime's it's because they no longer want to. But some days, that feeling of aloneness can be crushing.

Then one night, I stumbled upon Let These Shadows Fall Away Like Dust. That one hit me way harder than I was ever expecting. The question of how to grieve the living, the dilemma on when forgiveness is deserved...Alex's anger, his devestation, the rawness of it all....That's my broken glass. Those are concepts I've been struggling for over a year. I'm still picking up pieces every day.

I sobbed, because it was such a relief. To see the feelings that had been scrambled up in my mind just reflected there, on my screen. The reminder I had desperately needed, that I was not alone. That even though my circumstances were different, I was not the only one trying to unravel those messy emotions.

Then again, I also read your deathfic for fun, so maybe I'm not the best judge of this. I tend to like angst. I tend to get a lot of "WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT THAT SAD" in group chats :D

Please don't feel any pressure to respond to me quickly or anything. I never mind the wait. I'm so sorry for the rough times. Wishing that you and your family gets whatever you need to help ease your storm. Sending love and support as well.

(sorry for all the metaphors. I'm super sleepy and apparently, I resort to purple prose when tired lol)

I know exactly what you mean about Emily. I understand why people don't like her, but I just love to see her written as such a grey character. It's just so much more powerful when the love is so clearly there.

I mean, that's what a tragedy is, really. Love cut short. Grieving a future that could have been everything, if fate had not been cruel. I don't know if you know musical theater, but I like to think about the Barber and His Wife, from Sweeney Todd: the whole tragedy of that show, is that they were happy all together, and then permanently broken. How their paths keep crossing, but they never connect to heal. Never lost, but never found.

And that's the tragedy of Luke and Emily: too stubborn and too late. You find that grey area, the messiness so well, and just bring it all out so wonderfully. You do the same with Bobby/Trevor, ESPECIALLY in the horror and the wild. God, that absolutely devestated me. I'm not a big fan of horror in general, and I haven't explored the genre that much but...if all horror is like yours then DAMN, I might just have to become a fan.

This got super long (lol) so I'll wrap it up now but! THE SIC FIC QUEENS TOGETHER???? When I tell you I lost it.... all too well Bobby and what you've lost reggie in the same story are killing me. I am hooked and incredibly hyped. Loved both updates so far, and cannot wait to see where the story goes!

Oh yeah and I forget: I have to ask, do you have a fan cast of the one, the only, the incredible Keith Richards? (and that goblin is so cute!!! I really want to pet the blood thirsty monster. So badly)

Love, your totally-not-undead-pen-pal, :D

-Vampire Anon

Know musicals? Vampire Anon my beloved, I am a musical theatre bitch. Take a look at my high school graduation cap! (Anastasia is my favorite musical... something about the themes of home, love, and family, the idea of always finding a place in the world even after enduring incredible hardship, that anything is survivable with faith and love in your heart... I'm also a Romanov history bitch, and Christy Altomare is such an incredible talent and human being.) Literally, talk to me about musicals anytime!

And yeah, I definitely see your metaphor... the tragedy of The Barber and his Wife was how close they came to each other throughout the whole show, existing within reach the entire time, after being separated for so long. But it wasn't the same; it never could be. Time and trauma had changed them both into something unrecognizeable, and when they came face-to-face, they could only hurt each other. At a certain point, the ghosts of your past are meant to stay ghosts. Sure, you might want them back more than anything --- but what would it mean? What would you truly be getting back?

Luke's "back", of course, and he comes home to visit his parents multiple times... but they're not the same people he left. They're older, greyer, changed by grief... while he's just the same. A snapshot forever frozen in time, a memory crystalized in amber. You can't hold memories in your hands. You can't pull them close and refuse to let them go. Eventually, they'll slip away... and to Mitch and Emily, a memory is all their son is, now. That's what's so heartrending about the situation we see in the show, especially --- so much love still exists between all of them, but it has no place to go.

Okay, sorry, it's 3am here and I'm rambling too, haha --- mentioning musical theatre was a mistake.

I'm so glad my stories have been able to connect with you, especially 'shadows' --- that one resonated with a lot of people, more than I ever realized it would. It's not the most personal story to me... but definitely one that needed to be told, and the emotion in it... hits home for a lot of people. It means so much to me knowing that story, and Alex's internal struggle, has made people feel less alone.

I think I'm going to have a hard time looking back on that one, though. We were staying at my aunt's house for the weekend where I wrote most of it; I read a few excerpts to her, and she said she liked it. She was always interested in my writing... I kind of wish I'd gotten the chance to share more of it with her.

Like you said. Grief's a funny thing. Disorienting, relentless, and crushing.

Please just remember, though --- whatever you're dealing with, you're not alone. You don't have to cut yourself on those broken pieces... one day, you'll wake up, and realize you feel whole again. It will never feel the same, and the pain will always be there... but healing around it is what makes us stronger. You don't owe anyone your forgiveness; it's okay to grieve when you've lost something, regardless of whether death has taken them from you. Grief doesn't have to be earned, it simply has to be felt.

You'll be stronger for it, in the end. I'm sorry you've been hurting so much.

Anyways! Oh gosh! On to lighter, happier topics! Please tell me...

What are your favorite fics? (Like, my fics, obviously, which fics of mine do you just go gaga over? Please praise me or else my ego will shrivel like a worm on hot pavement.) No, okay, I'm kidding --- what are your top fics for this fandom? Like, what are the ones that really resonate with you, that you could read over and over? The JATP fandom has so many greats, but I'm always drawn back to Some Killer Queen You Are by pearlcaddy (buffyverse meets jatp!! iconic!!), Lantern's Light by thefairhero (literally the SOFTEST reggie), the sky's not empty tonight by firefall (just... devastating and beautiful in a dozen ways), and literally anything by foundfamilyvevo.

How long have you been in the JATP fandom? Who are your favorite characters? What's your favorite JATP song?

And finally, most importantly... what are your favorite musicals?

(also... since u asked... behold keith richards and tremble)

#vampire anon my beloved #also... vampire anon... you're a writer #i can tell!! i can read it in your words #youre so eloquent and put things so beautifully #do you write fic?? have you posted any for jatp??

[freddieslater]

ALL OF THE WIP TITLES YOU POSTED LOOK. SO. GOOD. i'm going to limit myself to three - can i ask for three at once? is that chill? okay well i'm gonna ask anyway and you can choose one/two/all three! so here we go: "High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition", "Prison World Trio", and "Shorpanga Wedding." <3 <3 <3

YOU'RE ALWAYS COMING IN HERE AND MAKING ME LOVE YOU. Of course you can ask for three, I'd have done the whole list just for you ♥️ zhhxhshz okay let's do this!! I'm gonna put a read more because it is Long

"High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition"

It's occuring to me now just how misleading this title is even though it makes perfect sense to me 😭. So, this fic is actually a crossover between The Flash, Supergirl, and Glee! Basically, there's a reunion happening at McKinley and invites go out to both Barry and Kara as, in this universe, they were Sebastian and Marley (with a couple of tweaks). None of their friends are aware of their secret former lives as members of semi-successful high school glee clubs (Iris and Alex are the only ones because, well, they grew up with them)!

And to make it better: Barry and Kara didn't recognize each other either! So, you can imagine their great surprise when they both find out their high schools are hosting reunions on the same day. In the same town. In the same building. Drama ensues! They have some reunions with other ex glee club members, including one Music Meister (excluding one he-who-will-not-be-named for multiple reasons but one being that he was also in Supergirl and I'm not going out of my way to find a loophole in the plot that makes sense for him). Their friends find out! Songs are probably sung!

And here is your snippet:

He can't go. Barry decides it without even opening the email. Or the three Facebook messages, or the two voicemails, or the five texts. They're all from the same person, more or less. One of the messages is from Trent, and he feels a bit worse about ignoring that one than the rest, but he can't because the second he opens a single one of them, it's over.

The date for the reunion is in a week and he's managed perfectly to ignore it so far! If he just waits until the date passes, then he can reply to Trent and to Blaine with profuse apologizes, but he was busy, and he never got around to checking any of his emails or texts, but he really is so sorry to have missed it, maybe they can meet up just the three of them sometime soon? 

A deep sigh is pulled from between his ribs. He slumps back in his chair and closes his eyes, letting himself spin slowly.

"You should go," Iris insists. Barry opens his eyes and catches a glimpse of her across the room, leaning against his desk. Possibly accidentally touching evidence. Totally fine, not a problem at all. "Seriously, it's been ten years! I know that it's not Dalton and technically McKinley wasn't your school, but everyone you went to Dalton with will be there."

"That's the problem," Barry emphasizes, his hands dragging through his hair to grab the top of the chair. "I just... the thought of facing any of them now? After everything, after ten years?"

He just shakes his head, pressing his lips together. His stomach is rocking and he's aware that the spinning probably isn't helping, but he's also afraid that if he stops he might throw up. So he pushes himself with his foot and goes around again, only catching a blur of Iris' exasperated expression. 

"Things are different now!" she tries again. "You've seen Blaine and Trent! Look how much they've changed. Who's to say that it's not the same for everyone else? I mean, you're certainly not who you were when you went there -- you're not him anymore; Sebastian."

"Prison World Trio"

This is, unsurprisingly, a TVD fic. I decided, you know the only thing that could make Bonnie and Damon being trapped in the Prison World more interesting than it already is? If Enzo was there, too. So, essentially, he waits on the other side until Damon arrives because he's actually worried about him, but by the time Alaric has been sent through to the land of the living, the spell has been broken, leaving Damon and Enzo trapped along with Bonnie. Then bam! Prison World! Now, I don't have a clear idea of where I go from there, but I know that it involves domestic shenanigans, catching feelings + old feelings resurfacing with angst and arguments and Bonnie wanting to murder both of them! They will, of course, still meet Kai and that's a whole thing because it's Kai, but I still haven't decided an ending yet.

Stop! Snippet time!:

"Take him," Bonnie says to Damon. "Please. He's your murder buddy, not mine."

"Hold on, I still have a say in this," Enzo tries to protest. "And for the record, I am no one's murder buddy anymore. I wouldn't be here if I was, now would I?"

Damon groans, "Oh my god, let it go, we're stuck with each other now, alright? So, your little grudge isn't exactly going to do anyone any good, and if you haven't noticed, you're not exactly dead anymore, so would you shut up?"

"Oh, well I'm glad to know that my death is a mere grudge to you," Enzo quips back drily, throwing a hand up. "You sure you want me to come with you at all? By the sounds of it, you wouldn't even notice if I was gone, so how about you two go ahead and I'll just be on my merry way."

Unbelievable. Trust Enzo to kick up a tantrum at the most inconvenient of times. Damon looks to Bonnie to share in his exasperation, but she raises her eyebrows and presses her lips together in a clear display of not taking sides. Though her pointed silence and looking away feels a whole lot like tiptoeing onto a side. 

"Are you -- No!" Damon waves his hands. "How is splitting up going to help us? No, either you come with me, or you go with Bonnie. Your choice, but those are your only two options."

"I'm not exactly seeing how you're going to enforce that if I decide on neither," Enzo says with a shrug, and at this point, Damon's thinking he's just doing it to piss him off. Then again, that's usually his motivation. 

"I'll just..." Bonnie gives a vague motion behind ahead of her with an awkward smile and proceeds to try and edge away, "leave you two to it," 

"Wait," Enzo calls to her, staring at Damon, "I'm coming with you."

Damon stares back at him, arms spread. But Enzo just gives him one last look before walking away. Bonnie falters uncertainly and doesn't look too thrilled about this decision either but she just shrugs at Damon like she's sorry, then she goes after Enzo. Leaving Damon standing in the middle of the road on his own. 

Fantastic. Just the way he likes it.

"Shorpanga Wedding"

Title says it all, really, I think. We're at Cory and Topanga's wedding (this is Boy Meets World if that wasn't clear), and Shawn is obviously a mess because the two people he is in love with are getting married, but they don't know he's in love with them, and now his chance to say anything is about to be gone! I'm going to need to rewatch that episode before I can get back to this one because I can't remember a lot of what was said, but I know it's going to be extremely angsty with a happy ending!

Teeny tiny snippet:

Don’t go in. Shawn repeats the words over and over in his head, pacing the hall of the fanciest hotel he’s ever stepped foot in. But he came this far, didn’t he? He can’t let how he’s feeling get in the way of this. It’s Cory’s wedding. And… Topanga’s. His best friends. How can he not go in?

He stops pacing and looks down at the rings in the palm of his hand. If he goes in there, these rings will be on Cory’s and Topanga’s fingers for the rest of their lives. 

Groaning, he clenches his hand into a fist, feeling the rings dig into his palm. He starts pacing again until singing starts up around the corner. Oh god. What does singing mean at a wedding? That it’s over? 

But it can’t be, not without the rings, right? Or did they find replacements? Did they just assume that he would let them down, that he wouldn't show up, so they just went ahead without him?

There’s only one way to find out. 

Taking a deep breath, he turns the corner and walks through the hall. His heart leaps into his throat at the sight of the wedding taking place. Cory and Topanga at the altar together. Nausea sweeps over him, but he bites the inside of his cheek and ignores how disconnected his head feels from the rest of his body as he marches up the aisle towards them. He glances at the stage and notices Mrs Matthews on it, the source of the singing. Figures. 

Every step forward feels heavier than the last, and like he’s a roadrunner heading straight for the exact spot where the anvil is hanging, waiting to drop and crush him. Except seeing Cory and Topanga standing there, ready to get married, has already done that. 

This took me so long to answer but it has been so fun!! Thank you for asking for three at once, you're amazing and wonderful!

#trulyalpha #ask away earthlings! #wip folder meme #fanfiction stuff #works in progress #the flash #glee #the vampire diaries #boy meets world

[coinofstone]

5x12 The Diamond of the Day pt 1

Final two episodes! Big finale! Why am I making myself cry in the middle of the afternoon! Both eps in this post.

I do love that they made Arthur a sore loser

Enter treacherous white woman #2. Srsly it was lazy writing when they did it for Mordred, it's worse now with Gwaine.

I do love the actual Round Table war room discussion but a) why isn't Merlin seated at the round table and b) why does Leon have so much goddamn faith in Camelot's walls? Like??? You literally said the same thing last year and yet Camelot *did* fall when Agravaine brought an army through the tunnels!

Poor Aithusa. Kid's had a rough life.

I do love Arthur responding to Merlin presenting him with all his supplies ready - which he prepared without his magic mind you - with suspicion 😂

But then he calls Merlin a coward and it's sad

Katie has such a great voice. That entire thing in the cave from her taunting to her laughter to the spell, it just just beautifully played.

Whole ass battle to prepare for and Arthur is just walking around moping cuz Merlin isn't there

So, Merlin's father-vision telling him he's magic itself and he just needs to believe in himself to get his magic going again, does this mean he *didn't* need to go to the cave to get it back? Cuz it seems like he needed to recharge in the cave itself, his injuries were healed when he woke up. That seems like magic cave stuff to me.

Also that "always have been and always will be" - I'm taking to mean 'always have been' in the sense that since he's 'magic itself' even before he was born, his magic existed in other, intangible forms, like we are all stardust etc. But now that he is, he will always be, aka he will not die.

Arthur waking up with his wife in his arms and Merlin's name on his lips, jumping out of bed to act on dream-info.

Balinor telling Merlin to trust in what will be.... like bitch that is literally not how this ends.

5x13 The Diamond of the day pt 2

You know that gif of the cat knocking everything off the table? That's literally Merlin shooting lightning at everyone from his perch on the ridge.

I have a lot of snarky things to say about Merlin coming out of the cave in full Dragoon gear and riding a horse instead of teleporting like the other witches but I'ma keep that to myself.

Mordred is a bitch and Aithusa has terrible aim. At least Aithusa's loyalty to Morgana makes sense.

Arthur said oh shit I'm magic - oh wait no it's that old man again

He also straight up "No! Bad dragon!"-ed Aithusa

Y'know, for all I've watched this episode and screamed about Arthur's death, I don't think I've ever focused on the exact moment he gets stabbed before.

Mordred catches him from behind and he meets it, no fault there. But as soon as he realizes his assailant is the knight who turned on him and joined Morgana, what does he do? HE LOWERS HIS FUCKING SWORD

He leaves himself wide fucking open and vulnerable and Mordred seizes the opportunity. I understand wanting the moment of recognition for Arthur, but on what planet is a trained warrior going to drop his sword mid-attack because he recognizes his attacker as a dude who only just recently decided to forsake him? It's soooooo dumb

There was a whole sequence a few episodes back where Mordred and Arthur are sparring, the point of it was to show that Mordred has become a skilled swordsman. So what exactly was the point in having Mordred run Arthur through as soon as Arthur idiotically lets his guard down? This should've been a meticulously choreographed sword fight, with Mordred getting the upper hand and sticking Arthur properly. Not this nonsense. Look at Arthur's FACE! Oh, Mordred... 👉👈 do you maybe wanna be friends again- STAB ... guess not

Uther's been rolling in his grave but he's taking an extra tumble watching Arthur forget all his skills and training in that moment.

I do appreciate Arthur getting Mordred back though. Like that moment of merciless anger followed by the hurt and regret playing on Arthur's face, warring with surety and responsibility. It was good.

I've rewatched the big confession scene about 16 times just now.

I don't quite understand why Merlin took Arthur to the woods to begin with. Instead of bringing him to the med tent in the battlefield or back to Camelot. What was the reason?

Merlin saying it feels strange (to use magic freely in front of Arthur) and him just going 'yeah' completely deadpan makes me laugh every time.

I really feel like Arthur's head should be elevated at a further incline if he's going to be fed.

Gaius refusing to outright expose Merlin as the sorcerer but nonetheless letting Gwen figure it out on her own warms my heart.

My God Arthur is sitting there dying, feeling betrayed about his best friend 'lying' to him, and still he can't stop himself from looking at Merlin's mouth.

Percival summoned MUSCLE POWER

Hey um random but why does Gwaine even know where Merlin and Arthur are headed? Why would Gaius tell him?

Arthur looks at Merlin so lovingly after he's killed Morgana 😭😭

And now he's literally grabbing at the man's hand 😭 "just hold me, please"

That's gotta be the gayest death scene in television history. If you can watch that without thinking Arthur puts his hand on the back of Merlin's head because some part of him wants to bring him down for a kiss, or that "just hold me, please" is in any way shape or form a 'bros' thing, and certainly not at all an intentional mirror/callback to Isolde dying in Tristan's arms, then I'm afraid you are what we professionals refer to as a dumb-as-nails fucknugget, more commonly phrased as 'willfully ignorant'.

"All that you have dreamt of building has come to pass" yeah except for the whole, y'know, magic still being illegal thing.

I've said this before, but, while I'm sure there was a determined intention to have Arthur die in his armor, probably in some kind of attempt to make sure the audience knows he's died a warrior's death, I *really* think it was kinda stupid that Merlin never removed it, despite Arthur being weak, despite the fact that there was something like five days between him getting stabbed and him actually dying, despite that for the duration of that time they were traveling or hiding out. Merlin managed to produce a cloak to put on Arthur, why did he need the full armor on that whole time? Like even if they left the chainmail on, those plates on his shoulder were just getting in the way, and it looked quite uncomfortable.

Also not for nothing but Lancelot got like, every flower in the forest surrounding lush verdant greens in his death boat, Arthur gets a bunch of sticks.

It suddenly occurs to me, watching this now, that the reason Leon/Percival is such a common side pairing in Merthur fics, is because these two motherfuckers are the only original Knights of the Round Table to survive the series. 🤦‍♀️ I dunno how I failed to notice that before now. My stupidity amazes me.

I'm *really* glad they decided to do this scene with Gwen wearing the Pendragon red dress instead of the black mourning dress. Yes she looks fabulous in it but it's more the symbolism than the 'reality' - with Gwen wearing her house's colors it represents a continuation rather than a finality. Camelot will go on, Gwen will undoubtedly end the war on magic and with Morgana dead (and frankly, I think by now she already brought about the death of all the angry incel type rulers in Albion) there stands to reason her reign will begin with a period of peace, possibly longer than Arthur's. We kind of have to assume that the 'time the poets speak of' is, inevitably, Gwen's reign - which only came about through Arthur's death. It's a little bit toooo subtle in my opinion, but at the same time, I understand the need for the focus on Merlin and Arthur - after all, this show was their journey - not leaving much time to focus on Gwen and Camelot in the aftermath of Arthur's death.

I will just say, the first time I watched this that fucking truck scared the ever living shit out of me. I also just immediately, viscerally hated that scene and declared it invalid - but I think it was because the truck made me jump out of my skin. It has since grown on me, particularly once I started reading 'Arthur Returns' fic.

Everything beyond this point is post-series spec and headcanon, so if that's not your jam you can exit safe in the knowledge that as usual, if there's anything worth commenting on in the S5 extras, I will create a separate post!

For those interested, my go-to post-series fic is We Begin Again by katherynefromphilly I fully headcanon this series as the continuation of the series.

I have a lot of thoughts about Gwen and Merlin post-Camlann.

For one, poor fucking Gwen. She's lost her father, her brother, and her husband, all by what, age 30? That's rough. And who knows what happened to her mom, that was pre-series and I don't think it was ever mentioned.

Merlin, dear god poor Merlin. First of all, I just wanna say straight off that my instinctive headcanon about Merlin was that he never returned to Camelot. I couldn't really say why exactly. I just don't think he could stand being there after Arthur's death. But practically speaking, Merlin's still got Aithusa to deal with, that dragon needs some godsdamned house training asap. He's still the last Dragonlord, it's reasonable to assume he'd immediately take that on considering Aithusa is partially responsible for Arthur's death (the sword Mordred killed Arthur with, only succeeded in killing Arthur because it had been forged in Aithusa's fire-breath) so he's either going to attempt to train the bad behaviors out of Aithusa, or...well...

The only thing is, I do not believe Merlin would abandon Gwen, or Gaius. So my hc is inherently flawed. I do think Merlin probably spend a couple months with his mum, and I do think he ultimately settled near lake Avalon waiting for Arthur's return.

But I do wonder, what must their relationship have been like? Gwen, surely, would've sought his guidance in establishing laws governing the use of magic. And surely, peace cannot last indefinitely, so Merlin absolutely would've defended Camelot and protected Gwen. There's just no way he could've completely turned his back on them, but I doubt he could bear living in Camelot. And Gwen is both strong and practical enough to get on without him there 24/7, even though I'm sure she'd miss him.

I also think she would've found love again. Whether with Leon, as many people hc, or someone else not in the series.

ANYWAY.

Thanks to everyone who came on this journey with me. I will post comments on the extras if I have anything worth saying - and I think I'll do a master post linking all these episode posts after I clean them up once I get time to sit at a computer and do so. Until then! 💙💚

(Gif source) (h/t @shut-up-merlin)

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #onceandfuturerewatch #5x12 #5x13 #5x12 the diamond of the day pt 1 #5x13 the diamond of the day pt 2 #bbc merlin 5x12 #bbc merlin 5x13 #merlin 5x12 #merlin 5x13 #the diamond of the day #the diamond of the day pt1 #the diamond of the day pt2 #for the love of Camelot

[aftgonice]

I'm not sure if this is weird but maybe story time I guess. There was this anon that bashed one of my fav authors.. Said that they wondered why author was so well liked when said author is self centered and doesn't really have good work. Several minutes later, messages came pouring in. Author's mutuals defended said author and well of course, said anon's an asshole and all that (to be continued) - 💙

I’m not close with fav author and I know that anon is asshole but when I saw the comments from author’s mutuals, all I could think is how much envy that anon felt after.. And maybe it’s because I’m not a mutual to the author, but I empathize with the anon more.. (to be continued) - 💙

I saw myself then and there, how shitty I was and how I lost respect from potential friends/peers and how much it sucked that said anon just being bashed by other’s when really that anon might be a lonely person who just wants someone to talk to.. (to be continued) - 💙

And it just made me want to reach out and say these things, support them, tell them on their bullshit without telling them off that they’re the worst human being ever (because really human’s are flawed and that said human probably just need a friend.. That.. Or they really are an asshole.. I wouldn’t know haha but it just.. It stung my feels so hard… - 💙

Sorry if this is becoming an angst fest hahaha it seemed like a weird thing for me I guess soooo yea I just shared.. Anyways have some 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 - 💙

Hey Blue Heart Anon!!! (I love that you sign your messages)

Okay, first of all, thank you so much for these messages! They’re really personal so I want to thank you for opening up and most of all trusting me with these.

Secondly, I need to make it clear that something similar happened in my circle of mutuals (and I think it’s likely that you’re referring to exactly the same episode I witnessed). I don’t know why I feel like I should point it out but I guess it’s a disclaimer I want to have here in case my mutuals think this episode touches them personally.

Okay. Now. 

You, dear Blue Heart Anon, have a great heart and a very sensitive soul and I appreciate it a lot. And let me tell you, while reading your messages I could see my own thought process and I could see myself writing the exact same things. Are you actually me?

You see, when people find a way (here the way is anonymity) to be needlessly mean like that anon was (from here on: Mean Anon), it means they’re envious and jealous. So when they say: “your work isn’t good enough”, what they say is: “I’ve never written anything in my life and I’m jealous that you’re writing something and are so successful”. 

It’s perfectly fine not to like someone’s work, and depending on what type of content they create there are ways to let them know. For example, it’s essential to the book industry that published books get honest reviews from readers. But books are something you pay for, and there’s a whole market behind them, and the reviews don’t go to the authors themselves (unless they do decide to read them, but reviews are supposed to be for other reviewers/readers and for the publishers).

When dealing with fanfiction or fanart, obviously everything is very different from what I described about the book industry. First of all, any criticism (unless the author/artist asked for it, usually in the form of constructive criticism) should be kept to yourself. That’s because content creators are giving you something for free, they’re often exposing themselves in a way they would never do with their friends and family, and you’re just a witness to what they chose to let you see. And unless they gifted their work to you specifically, you chose to click on their work and could have stopped consuming it at any point. So, unless the author asked for criticism, you simply leave, maybe even unfollow them, but that’s it. 

(Sometimes a fic/work is very offensive and it hurts a group of people, that has happened in two of my fandoms and that’s a whole other thing to deal with, but I wanna try to keep this as short and as in-topic as possible.)

TL;DR so far: generally speaking, if something is free and you are somehow able to talk to the content creator directly, do not criticize. 

Let me go back to the comparison with the book industry a little bit.

I feel like there is this barrier we see between ourselves and someone we know is a published author. Even if you can talk to them via twitter these days, we still see them as automatically better than us.

This barrier doesn’t exist on tumblr. We see authors or artists interact with other people we follow or even our mutuals. Maybe we’re mutuals with some of them. We actually talk to them and share many of the same interests as them. 

So when we see their success (a bit like we’d see a published author’s success), it’s much easier to both identify with them and also to ask ourselves, “Why not me?”

If my mutual or this person I follow is just a “common person” like me, maybe even someone I have talked to, what do they have that makes them more successful than I am?

We aren’t envious of something that we know is almost impossible for us to achieve. To change metaphor a bit, we don’t send hate messages to, let’s say, the greatest pianist of our generation, because it’s very unlikely that we could have ever competed for that spot ourselves (unless we’re a great pianist too). 

We are most envious of what we could see ourselves achieving, and yet don’t.

We don’t because we aren’t brave enough to try, to put ourselves out there, and that’s okay! Not everybody needs to be writing or drawing, but the thing is: we see that there’s only one tiny step between Doing The Thing and Not Doing The Thing, and content creators on tumblr are just one step further than other tumblr users (the ones who only reblog and send nice messages and that we all love because we wouldn’t have an audience without them). 

That’s where Mean Anon comes in. Envy is normal and natural, and a healthy amount of it is actually what drives you to do better and put yourself out there, as long as you recognize it for what it is and put it to good use.

But people like Mean Anon aren’t able to take that envy and turn it into something productive, so they twist it and turn it to something ugly like hate messages (all as anons, of course, because they would never show their faces while saying those things). 

And you, dear Blue Heart Anon, are absolutely right. Mean Anon is probably unhappy IRL for whatever reason (@ Mean Anon or whoever identifies and sees themself as a possible Mean Anon: I don’t know you and I don’t want to make any more assumptions about you, but I hope you’ll somehow see this message and maybe it’ll help you) and coming on this site where creating and being successful is so potentially easy that it seems like everybody could do it must be really hard (and no, that’s not sarcasm: it really is hard to see others succeed while we simply don’t, no matter if it’s IRL or here).

It’s okay and it’s good for us to acknowledge that there are real people with real feelings behind these Mean Messages, because sadly they won’t stop coming, so we might as well try to understand why they act the way they do. True, some people are just pure assholes and that’s it, but I think when we’re talking specifically about someone attacking someone else because of their success, there’s always envy at the root of the problem.

And envy is one of the worst feelings ever. I talked about how Mean Anons are probably people who were never able to take that step towards creating something, but we all experience envy even if we create content ourselves. The same people who got hate messages probably envy someone else they deem more successful than them.

I envy some of my mutuals every day because they are faster writers than I am, or they write stuff that attracts more people, or whatever reason, and on bad days I need to take a step back and be off tumblr for a bit, but at the end I turn that into a way to push forward or tell myself that it’s okay if this is the best I can do. 

Their success is not your failure. There is a role for everybody and you just have to find yours. 

I don’t think it’s my place to tell people how to react to this particular kind of Mean Anons (the envious ones). I can’t blame people at all for treating them like the assholes they are, especially in the heat of the moment. The thing is, Mean Anons are bullies that, regardless of their reasons and personal history, want to intimidate others because that’s much easier than showing them support, because they have no one to properly vent their anger and frustration to, so they vomit all over you and your shit and that might give them a tiny bit of satisfaction right away, but believe me, they’ll feel like shit afterwards. Even if they don’t feel like shit about what they said, they just keep feeling like shit because living life this way only makes you more bitter and sad and there’s no way out unless you start loving yourself and others.

So, this turned into one of my longest rants yet, but I’m really grateful for your messages, Blue Hearts Anon. Keep seeing good in people even when they’re in the wrong and when they’re flawed, as long as you acknowledge that what they do is shitty. Maybe one of these Mean Anons will meet you or come across your nice messages and will feel understood and won’t harass anyone anymore.

#fandom life #dealing with online hate #okay to reblog #wisdom pulled out of my ass tbh #idk which tags i should use tbh #long post #blue heart anon #renee answers #renee rants

[elizabethrobertajones]

Do you think they descibed the mixtape for this episode? I feel it would've worked even better if we actually had a scene of Dean giving Cas the mixtape and now I'm thinking did they only think if it rn and it was to late for the gifting scene or did they maybe cut it out and its gonna be a deleted scene?

No, it all happened too quickly unless there was going to be a ridiculous romantic flashback of it, because Cas comes back, Dean storms off, Cas follows and gives it to him, so he had to have already had it on him when he came through the door, which means he has to have had it since at LEAST 12x12 when we last saw Dean and Cas in the same space. I’m pretty sure it was meant to imply that at some point off screen since Dean n Cas knew each other (although likely in the last year) Dean had given Cas the mixtape, and it was the change in circumstances that made Cas give it back, and that was the first time we were supposed to know about it. Like, with the shock that this was something that HAD happened.

In a way it’s kind of forced character development if this WASN’T Dean and Cas would be a bit empty and a dick move to make us think they care - it’s the kind of shit Doctor Who pulled all the time that annoyed me where characters would pull out whole backstories they’d apparently known all along and SHARED or whatever but we only found out about them belatedly, often as emotional manipulation to make us more invested in whatever was going on, the kind of things where a casual viewer has to double check with the fan in the room if that was ever mentioned before or if it’s new or they’re filling in years of character history which necessarily has to change the dynamics but we never saw how it happened, they just tell us what’s new. I was always annoyed when they just pulled out stuff like oh yeah such and such happened in our past and we know all about it but we’re just telling you the audience about it in passing so you believe these characters care about each other now without us having to do work. (I’m sorry I can’t think of examples but bad writing tends not to stick for the very reason it’s trite and not deep enough to make me care because in this case it’s exactly where “show don’t tell” is an actually important mantra… I guess River Song’s intro is the most egregious example but it’s really not limited to her even if she was the embodiment of just telling us a character cared without needing to develop it, which no matter how deep it’s professed, is totally empty without OUR experience of it… As a writer I personally always want to focus on the moments that change and grow and bring people together or break them apart and the gaps in between are when things are normal, not when anything dramatic happens.) 

BUT in this case Dean n Cas have a deep complicated relationship and this is a good example of using a random artefact from their past to suddenly pull us in - even if that “past” is something that’s blatantly happened not just since we knew them but like, probably since Cas got that truck or whatever. Dean probably looked it over for him some other time at the start of the season and was like, cool, you have a tape deck, brb need to be a love fool, and went to make him the tape. It implies extra depth that they can’t show on screen and we already know, in AGONISING detail how much Dean and Cas love each other. 

The fact Dean made Cas a mixtape is surprising that Dean did it but doesn’t actually tell us anything new about Dean’s FEELINGS because basically at least half the length of the show now Dean has been clearly in love with Cas via the subtext and narrative stuff, so this is just telling us about how he’s been expressing these feelings lately and in this way the sudden introduction of something that already happened, retracting it before we even knew it had been offered in the first place, says so much in one moment it’s ridiculous. 

And it’s important it’s a small detail that changes nothing outwardly in the big plot episodes and how they act and that we can’t guess when Dean might have given it to Cas exactly except for “not any time this week”. 

It’s microscopic in the grand scheme of things - it’s no crypt scene or formal gesture that needs to have a grand stage to show us how it happened. It was just something cute Dean did for Cas which actually tells US all his feelings as burning away as usual but this is how he showed them at some point recently, and it shows Cas misses this cue that we’d even find out about the tape, because he didn’t understand the significance and tried to return it. If he knew what it meant he’d have played it until it was too scratchy and weird to listen to any more, but even knowing how much Dean cares about this stuff, I don’t think Cas gets that Dean gave him a bit of his heart when he did it. If Cas KNEW it was a bigger gesture that deserved a stage to be introduced, we’d have either seen that or they would have been leading a totally secret off-screen Destiel relationship that we know nothing about. Which is not, as Jensen says, how they act it. Dean had to give Cas that tape within the perameters of their existing awkward but caring relationship and for it NOT to change anything secretly behind the scenes, and yet we’re at a point where it’s plausible (if thrillingly exciting to discover) that Dean would give Cas a mixtape away from our eyes, just as part of the general day to day of how they live and how Dean cares about Cas, and telling us that probably Dean does other things on the small level of giving mixtapes that people do when they care for someone.

And so because it’s SO small fry that Cas doesn’t even understand that it was the hugest gesture Dean’s ever made in a turning up on his doorstep with flowers way like the subtext about it implies, and that means it’s easier to tell us he did it and betray Dean’s feelings to the audience via Cas’s misunderstanding, to drop it in as an aside of this is how Dean and Cas have been developing away from the camera. This is showing us there’s small cute moments, tender exchanges that probably have all the fan fic tropes we imagine of Dean, idk, gruffly shoving the tape at Cas? Shyly pushing it across the table one day pretending he didn’t? And is Cas baffled or immediately touched? Does he play it right away, or pocket it and forget until he’s on the road with Crowley and want something to drown out his endless talking? Did Dean give it to him TO help him drown out Crowley’s endless talking? Who knows? It’s never going to be answered, because in the grand scheme of things it’s a tiny little gesture. But between Dean and Cas it’s enormous, and for us to see how Dean feels… 

But yeah, the power is in that we don’t know how it happened, but it betrays and shows how things are between Dean and Cas away from the drama and the fighting demons and angels and panicking about end of the world situations and so on. In the quiet moments between episodes stuff like this happens. I mean, like, in 5x22 Chuck casually betrayed that Sam and Dean actually have downtime between episodes and do stuff like go to concerts and other normal human activities brothers do when they’re not hunting ghosts? And Cas especially has this massive disconnect from a normal life sort of feeling because he only drops by for plot episodes, he’s been in like 3 episodes where we see him doing anything even, like, human or hunter-y rather than dramatic angel-y. Cas doesn’t GET downtime on screen, in the way many episodes start and/or end on giving us a moment of Sam and Dean’s day-to-day life and how they occupy themselves between hunts. 

Cas doesn’t get that luxury, but we do know that OCCASIONALLY he can spend time with Sam and Dean off-camera, and especially this season, he HAS been. Maybe not much, but at the very least, we’ve had gaps and time skips and times when Cas has had the option to at least drop in, if not being taken home or following them back, and when Sam and Dean were gone in 12x09 he used their space without them in it, which I think was a first for Cas being alone in the Bunker. His inner domestic world is growing and we don’t know a LOT about it and they’re often adverse to showing it being connected to Dean, like how Cas was in Sam’s room in 12x07… But we know that Dean and Cas are close and WOULD be closer when they’re alone together… So this fills in a gap that has always existed, to imply that Dean and Cas are, well, gross and in love, even when we don’t see them, in those times when they’re alone together and things are quieter. 

I guess this is also a symbol of the off-screen Destiel we have never been able to definitively say happens and often felt like was deliberately not being shown or avoided being implied?

#Asks #if there was a deleted scene it would have to be for a previous episode #but I think this is what it was for #12x19 #season 12 spoilers #Destiel #top 13 Zepp traxx

[condensed-theorem-shop]

Hi, you seem to have lots of opinions on fics (esp. Glowfics) and I'm reading radiance right now. So I was wondering if you have any good fanfic recommendations for when I finish c:

Ooooh okay I can do this :D I’m not sure if you want recs for glowfic or fanfic or both or what, so I’m gonna err on the side of Everything.

Cut for Much Length.

Part 1: Glowfic Collections

If you’d like another big reading project to start on, boy do I have recommendations for you.

Effulgence. I’d describe Effulgence as the paradigmatic glowfic. (Don’t be daunted to the fact that the link is to a ‘how to read’; it is not in fact tricky to read. There’s a series of links on an index page, and you can just read through each in order.) The basic conceit is that Alicorn writes AU versions of Bella-from-Luminosity into tons of different fanfic universes, and then all of them meet up and take over the universe and also cuddle a lot. The exciting other half is Kappa(/Pyth/@shitifindon), Alicorn’s cowriter for Effulgence; Kappa writes various AU versions of the Joker (yes, from Batman) who are fantastic adorable masochists and fall madly in love with the AU-Bellas (“Bells”). The shipping is so adorable. I cannot recommend it enough.

Silmaril. Probably the biggest glowfic continuity (“story spanning a bunch of worlds that meet up”) aside from Effulgence, and (unlike Effulgence) currently updating, so it’s talked about a lot in the community right now. Hence, a good choice if you want to hop right into the discussions. (Please do!!) The writers for this one are Alicorn and Lintamande, the latter of whom writes a fantastic Lord-of-the-Rings setting with a cast of Elves from the Silmarillion who are traumatized and fantastic and huggable.

Particularly Good Threads. Okay, this one is cheating, but it’s worth linking. People on the forum are trying to compile a list of recommended glowfics. Some of them are not necessarily maximally recommended to someone new to glowfic, but people put brief explanations of what they’re reccing them for, so it should hopefully still be helpful.

Part 2: Individual Glowfics

The thing about glowfics is that they tend to spin off each other – Lintamande decides to write her elf characters in space this time, Alicorn has a version of Bella who is male and a demon visit, he ends up interestingly traumatized from that, then Kappa goes “hey can we write about what would happen if that interestingly traumatized Bell met my version of a character from the Vorkosigan Saga who was from a different universe and then met a monument and now travels in a floating canoe,” and you end up with a really fantastic story which no one can make sense of unless they have read, like, a dozen prerequisite threads.

So I can’t just recommend my favorite glowfics, because none of them would make sense; and you can’t really just start browsing through the glowfics on the Constellation unless you’re willing to put up with half of them being nonsensical. Reading through Effulgence will help a lot with that, as will getting familiar with the casts of a few of the more prolific glowficcers (Kappa writes the Joker, Miles Vorkosigan, Tony Stark, and Sherlock Holmes a lot; Pedro writes Sadde, who’s original to him; Lintamande has her various Elves). For the moment, though, here’s some glowfics that require relatively little context.

blood sweat tear: A fairy Bell meets Miles Vorkosigan. Works well without much context because Miles is figuring out what’s going on, so you can figure it out along with him.

in spite of a nail: An episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if Bella were the Slayer and Kappa’s Sherlock were a vampire.

Lindworm: A classic fairy tale, with Bella as the heroine and a Joker as the dragon.

there’s only so much I can turn into: A good introduction to Sadde, since you’ve read Luminosity already! Getting to know Sadde will make a lot more glowfic accessible. Addy finds a Sadde.

in which a Bell is the second coming of Christ: exactly what it sounds like, and fantastic. No context needed.

Pre-Jump Earth Literature: a good introduction to Miles Vorkosigan, in his canon setting. And you get a gander at the popular Miles/Yvette ship!

Uninvited Guests are Welcome Here: another case where both sets of characters are a bit lost and explaining their worlds to each other, which makes it an excellent introduction to those worlds.

you know what they say about the young: Matilda (yes, from Roald Dahl) appears in Middle-Earth and makes friends with a very tiny Feanor. Excessive adorableness ensues.

A Table for Two: Gregor, the emperor of Barrayar from the Vorkosigan Saga, meets … Hannibal. From Hannibal. It is very satisfying.

More Than One Kind Of Artifact: another characters-explain-their-worlds-to-each-other thread. A Bell from an original world with magic artifacts meets magical-girl Edie and Emily (who are the AU offspring of Magneto and Professor X, but that’s a whole nother thing…)

Part 3: Shameless Plugging

You didn’t think I was going to let you get away without reccing you a couple of my own glowfics, did you? :D

For context: Jean is my spy/revolutionary/actor/bundle of issues/world’s worst planner. Faith is my teenage antichrist who keeps trying to fix the world by taking it over via mind control and otherwise making very bad decisions.

the prettiest song I heard: a Jean in an original universe of Kappa’s gets really, really fucked up, and then falls in love. (So many warnings. So many warnings. I am serious about the warnings. But if you like that sort of thing…)

one for sorrow (two for joy): a Jean attempts to kidnap a prince and accidentally falls in love with him in the process. Hilarity ensues.

don’t let’s ask for the moon: set in an original universe of Alicorn’s, but not much of that actually comes up. (People get magic from eclipses.) Jean rescues Adelene’s character Denice from an institution; there is adorableness.

neither fish nor fowl: Jean and Denice in Star Wars, and this time she is the one rescuing him from himself. Jean does not make a very good Jedi.

Out of the Blue: Faith and Throne’s character Theo explore vampires in an original setting. Mistakes are made. So many of them.

Incipio: Faith and Theo again, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer this time.

Part 4: Fanfic

Taking a break from the glowfic for a while! Here’s some general fanfic recommendations.

At the End of All Things: If you’d like to meet Lintamande’s Elves outside of a glowfic setting, she’s got an enormous (in-progress) story about Elves brought back to life in the modern day! It is fantastic and depressing!

The Stone Gryphon: a serious, historical-fiction take on the Narnia books, and the events in England that happened in between them. Amazing historical tie-ins, and strikes a nice balance in its attitude towards the more spiritual aspects of the Narnia books which I think a lot of fics have trouble with.

The Foodieverse: an astonishingly well-written Avengers AU … in which all the characters are involved in the restaurant industry. Captain America has a food truck. It’s amazing.

Five Places Cinna Came From: a series of Hunger Games AUs, exploring different possible backstories for Cinna and doing a ton of worldbuilding along the way.

Move Fast and Break Things: @ozymandias271’s now-complete Avengers AU, with female!disabled!Tony Stark, adorable!Bucky, and general amazingness.

Steve Rogers at 100: Celebrating Captain America on Film: a story wrapped around accounts of Captain America movies, good and bad, that might have existed in-universe. I am so delighted by this kind of worldbuilding.

Part 5: Original Fiction

You didn’t ask, but I am sharing some online favorites anyway!

Worm: If you have not read it yet, you should! A gritty-superheroes narrative, distinguished from the million others in the genre by the really awesome thought that’s put into powers. Everyone thinks of inventive ways to use their powers and does it. Warning: super long. And depressing. Read it anyway! There are glowfics set there!

Goldmage: An original novel of Alicorn’s! Delightful worldbuilding, sweet and exciting and depressing, read it read it read it.

Elcenia: An immense work of original fiction by Alicorn. Very glowficcy in some ways (and lots of glowfics are set there, so that’s another reason to read it). In the first book, a woman is accidentally magically transported between worlds, and explored Alicorn’s super-thoroughly-worldbuilt original setting while figuring out exciting ways to leverage the contact. Each subsequent book takes some minor character or characters from previous books and tells their story. This has the delightful effect that you can then reread it, and when Random Dude #12 is being grumpy and unreasonable you know it’s because he’s just had his best friend kidnapped and is having to pretend nothing happened as part of an elaborate plot involving telepathic vampires (no, not a real example).

Cordyceps: Another one popular in the same general circles as Luminosity is. Mystery/horror/post-apocalyptic, and marvelous. And depressing and needs a lot of warnings -- you may be sensing a theme here.

Part 6: Other People

Other glowficcers on tumblr who might have recs for you, off the top of my head: @luminousalicorn @kelsbraintumbler @scientiststhesis @curiosity-discoverer-of-worlds @shitifindon @lintamande @aestrix @trickytalks @throne3d @marrinikari @ansiblelesbian @inquisitivefeminist @mischiefmanaged777twoofus @erinflight and I’m sure I’m still forgetting people. They are all way more approachable than you think! At least if you are like me and decide people are scary and unapproachable for no particular reason!

All y’all I tagged -- any other rec ideas? :D

#glowfic #recs