#throwback fics

[moccahobi]

Yearly Toppers

Looking back at the data from 3 years, I wanted to honor and reflect on the top 3 fics from each year (2020, 2021, and 2022)! A note for 2022: I am highlighting the fics with the most notes at the current moment. I have fics that I’ve not posted yet and older fics will have an edge up on newer fics simply because of how time works.  

2020

Safety (Namjoon x Reader) 

Summery: You can’t lie to your soulmate. It was a fact that many people knew, including you. You just didn’t expect to find your soulmate during your night shift at the MSN book store you work at. You also didn’t expect them to be the Kim Namjoon, an up-and-coming star.

Angst, Fluff

I think something that struck me about this fic is it was my first time writing a soulmate au. I really enjoyed it and found the story something that I easily fell into. Just as I hope readers were, I found myself rooting for the reader in the climax and anxious with them as the show started! I’ve been meaning to write another soulmate au but I’ve simply not had time yet. Mayhaps next year I will try to!

Midnight Musings (Jungkook x Reader)

Summery: You just moved to Korea for a teaching job and on your first night, you decided to visit a local cafe. You even took a photo to commemorate the move! That photo actually lead to something very unexpected happening though.

Fluff, smut, a touch of angst

One of my first smuts! 2020 was truly a year of exploration for me! I think it was my first year trying mxm and branching out into got7 fics! I must admit, I don’t think I will write smut much more because though I am sex indifferent, the idea of sex really... I don’t enjoy it. It just sort of is something. I laughed all while writing this fic and my other smut. It was a fun experience and I greatly admire all smut writers but it isn’t something for me as a hobby writer.

Slow Mornings (Jungkook x reader)

Summery: You decide to make Jungkook breakfast in bed.

Fluff

Honestly. I was shocked by this looking back. I don’t often think of drabbles as stuff that really leads to much but please don’t underestimate the power of drabbles for getting eyes on your blog! It was a fun and short fic and I think it makes me want to get back into doing some drabbles! I’ve been thinking of how I want to start of 2023 and playing around with the idea of a drabble series. Maybe... if you all have drabble requests, I could take those instead!

2020 was truly a year of exploration for me. I had a lot of fun with all the stuff I wrote! It is quite fun to look back and see what range of stuff I did! Interestingly, the notes on these fics haven’t changed tons since I took note of them in 2020 but that’s ok. These stories hold a special place in my heart. Especially safety! 

2021

Taking it Slow (Namjoon x Reader)

Summery: Reading with Namjoon

Fluff

I had a lot of fun writing this piece. I started as half a page free write. Then I made it the length of a full page. Then I wrote it up on a google document and tried to double its length once again. I enjoyed it a ton and writing this piece made me feel quite calm! It was an attempt of mine to spark some creativity and while I found some creativity with writing this piece, I didn’t find much that carried over. 

A Spark in the Commons (Yugyeom x Reader)

Summery: You help an anxious deer shifter in the shifter union commons and a friendship buds.

Fluff

This might’ve been one of my first posted Got7 fics! What are my thoughts on it... 1) I am happy I started writing Got7! I really love them a ton and I am glad that I finally branched out again! I had leaned into BTS after starting to write for Seventeen. 7 is much less than 13 and only recently have I started branching out again! 2) I am... not the biggest fan of this fic. I’ve been open about my struggles with writing in 2021 so it isn’t personal to the event or anything like that... but I was using events to push me to write and while I am glad I wrote this and glad people enjoy it, I do not have a strong bond to it. 

Drawing Blood (Taehyung x Reader)

Summary: An attempt to get over a two year crush on your friend (and a suspected vampire) leads to interesting discoveries.

Fluff, Angst

I uh... remember making the graphic more than I remember writing this fic. TO BE FAIR! I WROTE 24 FICS IN 2021. TO NOT REMEMBER A FEW HAPPENS (plus I think because it was posted on sssc, I didn’t get the notifications of interest and thus had to check it rather than seeing it on my notif bar). That being said, I did have some fun writing this fic and when I look back, I am really curious about the world I was writing in. I think if I could go back and do this fic again, I would. I’d expand on it and add another plot that really highlighted the vampirism rather than just had it be a characteristic. It is 3.8k afterall. I wonder what more depth I could add to it if it became 8k! This fic was a gift for a dear friend of mine, @voiceswithoutlips. Potentially it could be something that I further expand on with Kas’s help!

A year of distance between me and 2021, I still don’t fully know how I feel about the year. There are stuff that I do hold dearly, but I really do think I was nearing or at burnout. I was tired and fried and I think it shows in my writing some. I wasn’t fried for the whole time but I was for a while. I think as well... I hold a lot of guilt for the year. As mentioned a few times on my blog, part of why I took time off from school early 2021 was because of a surgery and mental health struggles... last time I had a major surgery though, my writing surged forth like a protective barrier and this time... it got hurt with me. Again, I had fun and I look back on some of my stuff fondly but I also look back at stuff and wonder “when did I write this??” and I see the hurt and scared person I was. I see how I was struggling to cope and wishing desperately that my writing would be a safe space for me again while somewhere in me, I knew it wasn’t. 

2022

Heated Blanket (Jungkook x Reader)

Summery: After finals, you choose to take a nap. Your favorite heated blanket comes to join you.

Fluff

I posted this fic before I really started changing my writing habits... or at the very least, I wrote it before that happened. It was hard to write this fic on many layers. I was low motivation and energy, I was recovering from the first inflammation of my nerves, and I was battling the feeling of needing to do more. This fic was a gift to a good friend of mine ( @ditttiii) and I am really glad I managed to write something for her! It’s a fun little drabble!

A Story From a Different Time (Taehyung x Reader)

Summery:  Love. Love is such a wonder. Your love story is especially wondrous to your grandkids who love love as much as you and hang on to every word as you relive the time in your life as a teacher when you met a soft hearted tattoo artist.

Fluff, hint of angst

This fic was a year in the making! I started it sometime last year (maybe October? Or early November?) and had some bones of it created. That being said, I wasn’t happy with it. Throughout this year, I’ve worked on it bit by bit and tried hard to get it out in time for @taegularities birthday! Seeing it already able to make it to the top three was a shock because it’s only been a month or so (then again, most of my fics this year get like 10 notes or less so...). I am fairly happy with the writing process and how this fic came about! It’s full of tons of references and nods to Rid and I also got to write a fic that passes the Bechdel test this year (if you’ve not heard of it, essentially to pass it you need a woman talking to another woman about something other than a guy)! Having fics that pass the Bechdel test when I have women in my story is something I want to do more of (similarly, I want more representation of disabilities, sexuality, and of people all around the gender... cloud? I know spectrum is commonly used but like... it’s not really a spectrum so idk what to call it otherwise).

Let You Fly (Jimin x Namjoon)

Summery: Namjoon and Jimin have been together for only 7 months and it’s been near perfect. The two fit together wonderfully. All changes when Namjoon’s dream job offer slides itself into his inbox. He’d been eyeing the position in Japan for years… It wouldn’t be fair to Jimin to pack up his bags and join Namjoon, but it wouldn’t be fair to Namjoon to try to force him to stay. Instead, Jimin must let him fly.

Angst, hint of fluff

THIS FIC! I AM SO HAPPY THAT THIS FIC IS ONE ON THIS LIST! It’s based off of a song (Seven Months by Sunshine State) and I had so much fun writing this fic. This was written shortly after I realized something must change. I was very intentionally working on trying different things and I feel like it really paid off for this fic. I got immersed in it, made a playlist, made a graphic for it, did character interviews, and tried doing a teaser. Most of it’s notes came from BWC’s bookclub and honestly, I am so content with that because it came with people giving me their thoughts on it. It’s a brainchild of mine and I am so honored to have people share their thoughts on it and to have people read it!

It’s not lost on me that all the fics that are on my top 3 for 2022 are ones that were gifts or bookclub fics. Why do I think this is? Well... a multitude of reasons. 1) I posted half as much as I had in 2021 and 2020 (24 and 28 respectively in comparison to the 14 I posted this year). And almost half of what I posted (6 fics) were for my series A Fae’s Brew to Take You Away. Something I started 3/4 years ago and let collect cobwebs for two of those years. It gets less than 10 notes and half of the notes are just nets rebloging. Please know, I am ok with that. I am not complaining. I just want to finish this series. 2) Aside from ASFDT and Heated Blanket, all I wrote was MxM which doesn’t do well on tumblr. 3) I post infrequently. 14 fics is roughly 1 every month. I know I didn’t post that regularly though. And on tumblr, there’s an expectation to churn from readers. It’s social media. You’re rewarded for more posting. 4) I don’t get a lot of traction to my blog. I sit contently at 750 some followers and many of my fics don’t reach the top page (or if they do it’s only for a short time). 

That being said, keeping in mind the few notes and the traction being from other writers reblogging, I am really happy with the stuff that I’ve posted. I finished writing AFBTTYA so hopefully I will be able to edit and get to a point where I am posting something from it every month all next year! In the past few months, the amount I am writing has increased. I am feeling creative with what I am writing! I think that this devopment may take a bit of time to shine through on my blog because with series, I am trying to finish it before I start posting. I am trying to widdle away my 30+ wip list. I am still in school. I still have nerve inflammation. But I think this year has been a year of me trying to better my relationship with my writing. It will take time and I still struggle (just yesterday, after writing 3.5k the day prior, I got anxious about not writing that much again) but I am learning better coping strategies. In some ways, the low notes help because I can really work to untangle my love of writing and want to post from those notes which will hopefully help me keep that boundary if I get higher notes. 

I think I am going into 2023 excited for my writing. It’s refreshing. 

#lillia talks #throwback fics #looking back

[choicesficwriterscreations]

Throwback Fics 2023

Throwback Fics #175 - December 14, 2023

Throwback Fics #174 - December 7, 2023

Throwback Fics #173 - November 30, 2023

Throwback FIcs #172 - November 23, 2023

Throwback Fics #171 - November 16, 2023

Throwback Fics #170 - October 26, 2023

Throwback Fics #169 - October 19, 2023

Throwback Fics #168 - October 12, 2023

Throwback Fics #167 - October 5, 2023

Throwback Fics #166 - September 28, 2023

Throwback Fics #165 - September 14, 2023, September 21, 2023

Throwback FIcs #164 - August 31, 2023

Throwback Fics #163 - August 24, 2023

Throwback Fics #162 - August 17, 2023

Throwback Fics #161 - August 10, 2023

Throwback Fics #160 - August 3, 2023

Throwback Fics #159 - July 27, 2023

Throwback Fics #158 - July 20, 2023

Throwback Fics #157 - July 13, 2023

Throwback Fics #156 - July 6, 2023

Throwback Fics #155 - June 29, 2023

Throwback Fics #154 - June 22, 2023

Throwback Fics #153 - June 8, 2023, June 15, 2023

Throwback Fics #152 - June 1, 2023

Throwback Fics #151 - May 25, 2023

Throwback Fics #150 - May 18, 2023

Throwback Fics #149 - May 11, 2023

Throwback Fics #148 - May 4, 2023

Throwback Fics #147 - April 27, 2023

Throwback Fics #146 - April 20, 2023

Throwback Fics #145 - April 13, 2023

Throwback Fics #144 - April 6, 2023

Throwback Fics #143 - March 30, 2023

Throwback Fics #142 - March 23, 2023

Throwback Fics #141 - March 16, 2023

Throwback Fics #140 - March 9, 2023

Throwback Fics #139 - March 2, 2023

Throwback Fics #138 - February 23, 2023

Throwback Fics #137 - February 16, 2023

Throwback Fics #136 - February 9, 2023

Throwback Fics #135 - February 2, 2023

Throwback Fics #134 - January 26, 2023

Throwback Fics #133 - January 19, 2023

Throwback Fics #132 - January 12, 2023

Throwback Fics #131 - January 5, 2023

#choices fic writers creations #choices fanfic #playchoices fanfic #throwback fics #throwback thursday #playchoices #cfwc throwback fics

[alwaysmychoices]

When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💜

Thank you so much for asking me this!

While I change my mind all the time, here are some of my current favorites:

"Him" (Ethan x Tobias)

One of my favorite lines: "You think that, to really hate someone, you must have loved them first. And you certainly hate him now."

2. "Never Had a Chance" (Drake x MC)

(this will always be on my favorites, no matter what)

3. "The Gala Part 2" (Ethan x Charlie) (part of With and Without)

4. "Calling to Say I'm Marrying Someone Else" (Ethan x Charlie)

5. "After Hours" (Ethan x Charlie) (Part of With and Without)

#asks #throwback fics

[adventures-in-mangaland]

I'm going with 10 All Time Classics from the Captain America (MCU) fandom. I mean, they're all classics to me, at least. In no particular order:

1. This, You Protect by owlet

First installment in the Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series, which are all amazing. It's a “Bucky escaping Hydra and rebuilding his sense of self” fic, which he does while spying on Steve. With eventual Avengers Family and a lovely cast of OCs bonding with Bucky in the meantime. It has a very distinctive perspective and writing style; Bucky's in constant internal (and sometimes accidentally external) dialogue with himself, making it hilarious and tragic all at the same time. I love it. I've recently been getting into The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and this Bucky has a similar sassy-but-vulnerable vibe? Read this if you like that, anyway.

2. The One Who Knows by Dira Sudis (dsudis)

This is a Political Animals AU, in that no-powers Steve is inserted into the Political Animals world and Bucky is TJ. Discusses being outed and depression but is ultimately hopeful. The author is one of my all time faves and has written lots of great stories for this and many other fandoms.

3. Blue Scales by chaya

Steve is a merman AU. He's still Captain America, though. It's crack with heart, I love it.

Best line: "May your scales and your love story be our weird secret forever.”

4. Our Lingering Frost by eyres

AU where Bucky is rescued from Hydra in the 50s (?) and so is around for Steve to be found.

5. Assets Out of Containment by follow_the_sun

It's a classic to *me*, OK? Bucky goes undercover at Jurassic World just as that movie's plot kicks off. They're Hydra dinosaurs! It's just great. Also has a podfic and crossovers with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

6. Not Easily Conquered (series) by dropdeaddream and WhatAreFears

Some of the greatest fanfiction I've ever read, the whole series is epic. Anyway, it's a "Steve doesn't go into the ice" AU with added queer angst when (never sent) love letters from Bucky resurface. I particularly like the second installment in the series The Thirteen Letters, which are just Bucky's letters and are insanely well-written.

7. to memory now I can't recall by Etharei

Time travel AU! Featuring post-CATWS Bucky accidentally switching places with CATFA era Bucky.

8. If Wishing Made It So by Leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)

Genie!Bucky AU! This author is great at writing AUs with fantasy/genre elements, it was hard to choose. They've also written an excellent werewolf!Steve AU and a horse!Steve AU that I really love.

9. Into That Good Night by Nonymos

An Interstellar AU! Very angsty and tragic but with an eventual happy ending.

10. Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Speranza

Speranza must be one of the best writers in the fandom, so it was hard to pick just one of their fics. Other strong contenders were All the Angels and the Saints and The Fifties, so check those out too! But this one has a special place in my heart. Steve, Tony and Natasha accidentally time travel to WW2 London, leading to an accidental run-in with CATFA-era Bucky. The author does tragic and romantic time travel tropes so well, but with a happy ending.

I now realise that most of these are AUs, so here’s a bonus rec for a non-AU in-universe story that’s severely underrated and deserves more love:

+1

Heart, Have No Pity on this House of Bone by Sena

This story follows Bucky in-action in the Pacific Theatre. It’s very well written and, from what I can tell, well researched. Steve only appears in Bucky’s imagination and the story focuses on the horrors of war rather than romance, but it’s gripping! And it explores unrequited love, being closeted and period-typical homophobia, which I also enjoyed. I’m still holding out hope for a sequel.

#wow throwback #found this in my drafts #originally intended for international fanworks day #yikes #anyway #fic recs #fic rec friday #international fanworks day #captain america #fanfiction #mcu #stucky #nostalgia #kind of an old fandom for me now #but still #classic fics #fandom classics #stucky fic recs #stucky fic #my fic recs #my fic rec posts

[nyoomkitty]

Toki has been with Dethklok for over two years now and the band is finally making it big as they prepare for their first world tour that will either make or break them as a band. However, Toki is still missing something - his passport. When it finally arrives, the band learns they’ve made a huge mistake about their youngest bandmate for far too long and, against their usual policies, they decide they have to repent for their wrongdoings by granting their youngest member a wish.

#metalocalypse #toki wartooth #skwisgaar skwigelf #fanfic #created by Kat #nyoomwords #throwback to one of my favorite fics #still needs editing but I love it anyway

[diazsdimples]

Several Sentence Sunday

So Wednesday's poll overwhelming voted for Single Dads AU as my next wip to focus on, and I've managed to write a few thousand words on that since then! I also did a couple of thousand for Frostpunk AU too, so we're gonna be tag teaming those two I guess 💀 I love both these fics so much and can't bear to leave them alone so I'll be working on/ sharing bits of both over the next few weeks 💙

Here's a snippet from Single Dads, right before we introduce an important character! It's not great atm but it's gonna be reworked when I can string together a sentence askdjhsa

“Lily!” Buck exclaims, sprinting across the driveway and up the steps before he knows what he’s doing. “What happened?” “She fell through the door,” Carrie supplies helpfully. Buck kneels next to his youngest and gingerly helps Lily up off the floor, pulling her into his lap where he proceeds to check her over. She’s holding her arm loosely and tears stream down her face as she hiccups miserably, which Buck figures is likely more due to shock than anything else. “The door was unlocked, Daddy!” Lily whimpers as she tucks herself further into his chest. “Fell on my arm.” Buck takes her arm gently in his hands, feeling up and down the length for any deformities or crepitus. She winces slightly as he prods at the delicate bones of her wrist, but there’s no swelling and she seems to be able to move it fine. Not broken, then. “Dad, why’s the door unlocked?” Carrie asks, voicing the very question he’d been thinking. There’s no way he forgot to lock it this morning, it’s a part of his many-step routine to get him and the girls out the door on time for work. Unlocking the door always comes after closing it, and before the full-body pat down to make sure he hasn’t forgotten his phone, wallet, or car keys. It’s routine. “I don’t know, honey,” Buck replies as he stands up, lifting Lily onto his hip as he does so. Lily lets out a shuddering sigh as her tears slow, and rests her head on his shoulder, her thumb making its way into her mouth. “Stay behind me, okay?” Buck takes an apprehensive step inside. The house is seemingly empty, every little knick knack and toy still exactly where it was left this morning. Lily’s sparkly shoes are still kicked in the middle of the hall, the door to the girls’ bedroom is still only slightly ajar, and none of the drawers in the cabinet in the front hall have been opened. Buck leans and places Lily on the ground, beckoning Carrie close to him so he can circle an arm around her too. “Go into your room, shut the door, and sit on Lily’s bed please. I’m going to have a look around and I’ll come get you in a minute, okay?”

Been tagged through the week by many people, thank you for bearing with me as I navigate my new schedule.

Tagging @theotherbuckley @hippolotamus @watchyourbuck @disasterbuckdiaz @puppyboybuckley @bucksbackwardcap @fortheloveofbuddie @spotsandsocks @aroeddiediaz @daffi-990 @jesuisici33 @tizniz @steadfastsaturnsrings @wikiangela @buckbuckgoose @exhuastedpigeon @cal-daisies-and-briars @wildlife4life @slightlyobsessedwitheverything @evanbegins @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @rainbow-nerdss @elvensorceress @epicbuddieficrecs @smilingbuckley @actuallyitsellie @spagheddiediaz

#single dads au #she's back boys (gn) #it's been a hot second #throwbacks to when I thought I'd have this finished before I started uni again #I was so young and full of hope #buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 abc #911 buddie #911verse #911 fanfic #911 #eddie x buck #buddie fic #buddie wip

[motleyfam]

Amazon just recommended me a 10ft x 10ft weighted duvet called “the coma inducer” and my hurt/comfort fic loving ass has never felt more called out

#throwback to envysparkler’s alaskan king bed fic #a true classic #this blanket weighs 43 pounds #sadly I’m one of those people who can’t stand weighted blankets #I want to like them because in theory they sound amazing #and I’ve tried multiple styles of them #but always ended up returning them because I get instantly wigged out when I feel trapped #anyway maybe it’s a good thing I’m not more tempted bc the last thing I need is to drop $300 on a blanket lmao #but my god does it look cozy

[astudyinfreewill]

thing is i know ronan lynch is extremely male presenting. like mstief has made this abundantly clear. he is a guy’s guy through and through, muscle bro, gym tank top, piss in the woods, manly beard type of guy who likes guy things like fast cars and power tools. i get this. i understand it. so you have to understand that when i say he would deeply relate to the lyric i’ve got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt i do mean in a purely spiritual way. like that’s very much not him but also in a real way it IS him. do you see my vision

#the funny thing is i’m not even that big of a swiftie. but apparently i’ve made it my mission in life to make all tswift songs about trc #i think it’s because i read that ‘the boy king and the knight’ trc blog which assigned taylor swift as a boy king back in the day #and i’ve simply never recovered #(this was the same blog that had a whole ‘angels in america’ declan extravaganza. they simply don’t make content like that anymore #trc #ronan lynch #taylor swift #throwback to my 2016 (?) fic that used this song as a title lmaooo

[blorbocedes]

in honour of vegas grand prix, may I offer: my OG kinkmeme fill, a Galex gets fake married in vegas hangover style

what happens in vegas stays online forever 3.5k, M, crack treated seriously

“Oh, good, you're up. Do you want to have sex before we get divorced?” Alex asks, exiting the bathroom, also shirtless and so very blonde and gorgeous, holding 2 tablets of ibuprofen and a cup of mouthwash. George has never swallowed anything faster.

Alex and George get drunk, get high, get hitched in Vegas.

#galex #my fics #f1 rpf #a throwback for vegas!!!

[enviedear]

if i said i was doing a series of southern!love interest’s and thus making a southern!luke castellan fic you’d be cool with that. but if i write him as the local baker…? making, never decorating, (that’s for beckendorf) everyone in towns wedding, graduation, and birthday cakes. he’s so good a his job that you, and the rest of the town seem to forget that he’s only been doing this for two years. since his mom had to go away for treatment… besides he makes it hard to notice her absence, he still adds a free chocolate chip cookie to every order just like her.

#luke castellan x reader #throwback to 2015 me hating luke fics to 2024 me abt to write one #—oliviaspeaks !

[atinylittlepain]

coming tonight...

#yes this is the [redacted] fic #straight from the tinylittlearchives #the artwork even has the old format i used to use for everything blegh #throwback babyyyy #marcus pike #marcus pike fanfiction #marcus pike smut

[superblysubpar]

I know a few people are working hard to get older fics and artworks circulated on Thursdays as a way to bring some positive energy back to the fandom as well as circulate works that seem to slip away.

You know I'm here to reblog always, and trying to spread some positivity in a space that's growing more and more NOT happy? Count me in.

Feel free to use my banner or I know there are some others floating around out there as well. I hope you participate - you could be the reason someone smiles today, how cool is that?

For me, this week I'm reblogging quite a few, and I'm choosing to focus on some fics that bring me an immense amount of comfort. I've been having a tough time lately, and I owe these fics and authors quite a bit more than they may realize. They're listed below, and I hope you give them a chance if you haven't read them yet 💛

She's Gonna Save Me by @chechelia

"between working at the shop and taking care of maeve, eddie hasn’t done anything for himself in over fourteen months. he’s trying to change that."

When It Rains by @sweetsweetjellybean

When a storm moves over Hawkins, your neighbor stops by to check on you.

always something there to remind me by @carolmunson

ten years after the sealing of the upside-down, you and your fiance steve head to a cookout to unwind during memorial day weekend. with steve on edge after a rough half sleep full of night terrors, you hope the day can be salvaged by seeing the party and just relaxing, but a violent thunderstorm changes those plans for the worse.

Constellations by @loveshotzz

under the stars, you just want steve to kiss you.

We Tried The World by @upsidedownwithsteve

Steve Harrington gazed at you with a shockingly sincere expression, with a little furrow knitted between his brows and he asked you: “D’you wanna run away with me?” The road trip au where you’re trying to find a home.

#fandom throwback thursday #stranger things fics #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley

[mar-im-o]

“What are you doing?”

“Lore Lizzie. What does it look like?” Lizzie’s taken it upon herself to become familiar with her neighbors around the continent. The world they have is small, and many of their boarders shared, so it’s a fool’s game not to get aquatinted with the people who may very well declare war on your kingdom in a few moon’s time.

So she makes her rounds, the clever disguise of a young woman protecting her from the scrutiny of otherwise prejudiced eyes. She meets the princess of the sun and the bees she harbors by the shore. She meets the Goblin King and his underground city. She meets a sheriff with no name and a colorful recluse and a studious historian.

And she meets Joel.

She’s quite sure she’s met him before. He seems oddly familiar in the way he speaks and acts and dresses, but she’s found herself preferring to observe him from afar. More than anything, he seems... not fully there.

For one, the elytrian seems quite certain he’s a god of all things (which is ridiculous. What god walks with mortals?) and continuously insists he’s eleven feet tall (no matter the fact that he’s got but a foot on Lizzie who’s barely five foot herself). He also knew Lizzie’s name long before she offered it, and goes about interacting as if they’ve met before.

But strangest of all is his tendency to ramble on about the oddest of things. Like, for instance, when Lizzie found him standing ankles deep in a fountain, struggling to pin a faux beard to his cheeks.

“What are you doing?”

“Lore Lizzie. What does it look like?”

“Lore...?”

“Lore. Yunno--” he waves his hand around aimlessly, the beard slipping without the support. “Lore. Plot. For the viewers.”

“The...” She shakes her head. Maybe she should slip away while she has the chance.

“Can you help with this?” Joel asks instead, looking towards the feigned human and curse her kind heart she sighs and climbs into the fountain to help adhere the beard.

“You look ridiculous.”

“I look cool and awesome and sexy thank you very much.” He says it with a wink, and Lizzie about slaps him for it. “It’s for my character this season.”

A beat. “Summer...?”

Joel snorts. “Funny. This season of Empires.”

Lizzie pulls her hand away and the beard seems to stick. Joel gives a hoot as he tests it out, grinning at her. “Looks awesome! Tumblr’s gonna go bonkers over this one.”

And of all the horrid ideas Lizzie’s ever had, she decides to ask: “Tumbler...?”

That, out of everything, seems to make Joel stop and reconsider things. “Yunno. Like--like twitter but a bit bluer. Darker blue. The blog site.”

“Right....” And, well, he’s saying a lot of words she doesn’t quite understand, so she ignores them all and goes to climb out from the fountain. “You take care, your majesty.”

“Wait, wait, your--” Joel stops her with a hand on her wrist (she considers slapping him for it, but composes herself and simply tugs her arm away). “You said ‘your majesty’?”

“Right, do you prefer ‘your cool and awesome and sexiness’ instead?”

“No, I--Why are you talking like that?”

“It’s called respect.”

“Right, but--” He shakes his head, looking genuinely genuinely confused. “But we aren’t roleplaying right now. I’m not even saying lore! That means there’s no lore.”

Lizzie pulls herself full out of the fountain, trying to squeeze out the legs of her pants. “Right. Good day to you, your godness.”

“But that’s how it works,” Joel continues to say. “I say lore, you say lore, we say lore in the discord server. Then we do lore! We don’t just roleplay out of nowhere.”

“I’ll leave you to your fountain then.”

“Is this a joke? Did Jimmy set you up to this? Real funny, haha--”

The god-mocking king’s voice fades as Lizzie makes her way back towards her home, a chittering laugh on her tongue as she shakes her head. “What a weirdo.”

#where the joel in empires is cc!joel rping but everyone else is like. actually from the world #because i think it's funny that Joel says lore in canon #also throwback to when joel mentioned tumblr in this ep #that really got me #joel if you're reading this please don't be i hate the idea of being perceived #ANWYAYS REAL TAGS #empires smp #esmp #esmp s2 #smallishbeans #ldshadowlady #fic #empires s2 #happy birthday joel smallbeans

[birlwrites]

hey! this is your sporadic reminder that i wrote a book!

it's called rainfall, and it's an original fantasy novel, about 70k so a quick read compared to some of my fic lmao, about a blacksmith's apprentice named aurie whose brother becomes the Chosen One and is gifted magic to save their kingdom from a recently installed ecofascist regime.

said brother immediately fucks off into the desert because he doesn't want to do it, so aurie decides she's going to save the kingdom instead, with the aid of a fugitive princess, a gremlin bladesexual, and a hammer. has she ever done anything remotely like this before? no. is she gonna make the ecofascists regret pissing her off? oh HELL yeah. is she gonna impress the princess--NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW AURIE

here's the official description:

Fate doesn't take kindly to broken promises. After an extremist group called the Spring overthrows the king and queen of Hiedos, Hiedean god Larai grants Silan Baridu magic to save the kingdom. Only the Chosen One can save Hiedos, but Silan refuses. His sister Aurie steps up and promises Larai that she will defeat the Spring instead. With the help of a growing rebellion, Aurie works to resist the Spring's regime, but how can she defeat them without Silan's magic? She needs to figure something out fast. Because if Aurie can't keep her promise, then she—and Hiedos—will be in even more danger.

if you're a fan of stga, i think you'll like this! it's faster-paced and more action-heavy than ttdl, with a less intricate plot, so if you're a ttdl reader trying to judge if you'd like this, just keep that in mind. that being said, i think it's a good time!

it's available through a bunch of different retailers, or you can request that your library buy a copy if you want to read it for free. you can get ebook or print copies here!

#rainfall #it's a 2020 project so a bit of a throwback #i often hesitate to like. promote it since ik people mainly follow me for hp fic #but!! trying not to shoot myself down prematurely!! so HERE WE GO #also it's wlw if that wasn't clear #i'd rate it as YA

[rayofmisfortune]

Hey- *leans over* a little of a guilty pleasure of mine, I love seeing my favorite characters suffer. Just absolutely be tormented both mentally and physically. Bonus points if they start to hate themselves and believe the lies fed to them day in and day out by their tormentor and feel like they are deserving of the pain.

#is this a throwback to prison dream dsmp fics? #yes- #OKAY SUE ME THIS WAS THE FIRST THING THAT POPPED INTO MY HEAD WHEN ECLIPSE SAID HE'D TORTURE THEM #i'm so torn between wanting them to just be okay and being okay with them getting a taaad bit hurt- just- #RAH ALL THE MENTAL SCARS THAT WILL LEAVE ON THEM #i'm biased #ray's ramblings #ruin eclipse literally did nothing wrong and here I am comparing them to a tyrant (that I may or may not have hc's as being possessed by a #demon) #... I'm starting to see a pattern here #OH AND DAN HENG FROM STAR RAIL- #yep #yep there definitely is something with me and liking characters that have been locked up in a prison at 1 point... #for something they as their current self had no hand in #huh #cool