#I read chaotically and then sort of fell off the map as life became crazy. but i wanted to highlight these fics i enjoyed!!

[meadowlarkx]

Some March fic recs!

For Tolkien Fanfic Reading Month! Limiting myself to stories I read in March (but posted anytime). (header by Anna Zakharova on Unsplash)

picnic by @swanmaids - A bored and reckless Aredhel goes to Vána's orchards seeking adventure and has an experience. This lush and sexy fic feels like a warm summer afternoon. I love how seductive and eerie Vána is here!

Kiss and Marry by @thecoolblackwaves - Have you ever looked at Celegorm and Curufin and thought, "They should be the stars of a romcom"? No? This fic is here to reveal that wonder to you.

弄假成真 by Divano_Messiah - Maglor has been telling people at school that he has a boyfriend. Maedhros is jealous until he learns who it is. (I admit I read this via google translate, you can too...)

Envy by @polutrope - In Tirion, Maglor and Elemmírë struggle to handle each other's reputations with equanimity. The people around them try to respond. This fic is so funny and sweet--I love this take on Elemmírë and Fëanor's guest appearance is hilariously him.

Youthful Regrets by kitkatkaylie - Turgon and Maglor fall in love in Valinor before Turgon's engagement to Elenwë. I really like the personality contrasts of this ship, with Turgon opening up to Maglor, and how this story sketches out their relationship through the whole arc of Silm to its bitter separation.

I risk my life to make my name by @maironsbigboobs - The brave knight Galadriel goes on a journey to meet the Green Woman Melian and her fate, ft. adventures along the way. I love how Tolkien is blended with Arthurian conventions here--it works so well and brings out the myth vibes of Silm that I love so much!

Strange Currencies chapter 12 by @jouissants - This is such a beautifully-crafted tale in every regard, but I want to especially mention this flashback chapter I read in March, covering Maedhros' and Maglor's voyage on the swan ships up to just before Fëanor's death. The horror of the Fëanorian Noldor arriving in the dark with their distrust, inflated ego, and total lack of knowledge of Middle-earth comes through here so, so vividly--this part can be read by itself, go check it out!!

Oubliette by Stramonium - Horrifying and so vividly written scene of Maedhros in Angband, isolation, and monstrosity. Poetic and awful, I can't do it justice in summarizing it.

arrangement for flute and harp by @jouissants - Maedhros is determined to work late, so Maglor and Fingon decide to entertain each other. The Himring atmosphere and incredible character dynamics make this also really sexy smut such a wonderful story.

whatever you would crave by @eight-pointed-star - Sooo sexy ficlet in which Fingon and Maedhros attend to Maglor's Needs. Short but immensely powerful.

scherzo for ink and parchment by @dovewifes - Charming and comedic missives exchanged between Maedhros and Maglor during the Long Peace, ft. romantic endearments and the invention of emojis. Maedhros' so-apparent love for Maglor is something I especially cherish about this fun fic.

Star-kissed by @aipilosse - Celeborn of Doriath rescues recently-of-Gondolin (and silver-haired!) Celebrimbor from a predicament in Nan Dungortheb. Incredibly clever, funny, and hot!

Purification by @zealouswerewolfcollector - Thingol is curious about Maedhros: throne sex ensues. A favorite ship of mine in a flavor I'd never considered. Incredibly intense and super well-written.

Comfort from a Heavy Hand by @undercat-overdog - After the Bragollach, Mablung tends to an injured Beleg, and they seek comfort together. The wreckage and destruction of the battle feels so vivid in this one, and the dynamic of Beleg/Mablung as past teacher and student (and current battle companions) is wonderful.

Thou knowest to-night, and wilt know to-morrow by @welcomingdisaster - A brilliant installment in an ongoing Children of Húrin AU series that has the most beautiful, unsettling, and dreamlike atmosphere. In this fic Maedhros teaches "Cáno" about pleasure in preparation for their marriage bed. Catnip to me personally!!

Proxy by @aipilosse - Celebrimbor comes to reproach Celegorm in Nargothrond after Finrod's departure. They fuck. Gender, tension, messy and complicated emotional dynamics all around. The dirty talk is so so good.

Star of the Nevrast Shore by joanofarcstan - Silmarillion filk of one of my favorite folk songs! What more is there to say!! A sweet tale of Gondolin told from Voronwë's point of view, recounting the love between him, Tuor (the star of the Nevrast shore), Idril, and Maeglin.

A Light Burns in the Forest by fictional_hr_department - Thranduil and Oropher escape Menegroth with child Elwing. The title and art by @lycheesodas give me chills and the atmosphere of the fic as they make their disorienting journey to Sirion really brings to life the terrible aftermath of the second kinslaying.

By Your Side by HiyoriTomioka - fem!Eärendil and Elwing support each other in this ficlet... such a good vision of this ship, and the way Eärendil thinks about Tuor and Idril here with longing uncertainty makes me think of a trans!Eärendil even though that is not explicit.

Something Sleepless in Mirkwood by @imakemywings - Thranduil sickens as the Greenwood does. Elrond tries to heal him, but can't understand at first what's happening. Brilliant and canon-compliant (To Me) wry, proud, and eerie woodland king Thranduil--go give this a read!

A boat, my boat, out upon the River by Tethys_resort - Sméagol is trying to craft his own boat to take fishing. His family keeps getting in the way. This sweet fic paints such an idyllic picture of proto-Hobbit life and made me really feel the tragedy of Gollum.

The Fortress by TheLegendCreator - Brief and haunting fic in which a Dwarf visits the ruins of Himring and they have a conversation. I love the view this offers of Maedhros and the fierce loyalty Himring and its folk had for him.

one whole with my other by @i-am-a-lonely-visitor - Indis' marriage to Finwë is transferred to bind her instead to reembodied Míriel. This turns out to be a good thing. An incredibly touching, beautifully wrought and worldbuilt story. I just love it so much.

The Number One Exercise for Relieving Work-Related Stress (Click to Find Out!) by @imakemywings - Date night in Mirkwood. Maglor (Noldorin princess, ex-kinslayer) adorns herself for the benefit of Thranduil (the Elvenqueen)--or that's her plan, anyway. This story is so sexy, so funny, and honestly so touching. I just adore this ship as a happy ending for Maglor and their relationship is gorgeously fleshed out here.

Cousin, Sister, Lover, Queen by broken_pencils - Lesbian Éowyn discovers desire... through Éomer's betrothed Lothíriel. Lothíriel is a stealth fav for me from the Éomer fics I used to read as a kid and I really enjoyed her here, and the lush atmosphere of this story.

His Return by @danmeiljie - Beautiful, tender scene of Maedhros and Maglor reuniting as per @tari-cua's art. Such lovely descriptions in this one and so cozy.

#did i try to put these in like silm plot chronological order? Just a little bit #tolkien fanfic reading month #silmarillion fic #my posts #I read chaotically and then sort of fell off the map as life became crazy. but i wanted to highlight these fics i enjoyed!!

[fearfulkittenwrites]

Zukka Youtuber AU (pt 1)

Youtuber au inspired by @ratatosk-express – Link to the post (https://ratatosk-express.tumblr.com/post/622032956613115904/okay-so-idk-if-youtuber-aus-are-still-a-thing)

Sokka has a channel dedicating to his inventions and other projects, but his live streams are particularly famous for the amazing stories he tell.

Basically everything is the same, except it’s in a modern setting and Sokka is relatively internet famous.

** Hey, just a little heads up, I change some things from the original post, I hope it’s not a problem! **

Sokka tells his audience a lot of stories during his streams. Most of them are from his journey with the avatar, although he occasionally talks about his childhood in the Southern Water Tribe. Many of his fans watch these streams because of them, even if the overwhelming majority believes them to be fake. After he came back and decided to expand his content, Sokka found out he is particularly good at storytelling, and it granted him an audience that didn’t even followed his main channel but appreciated the contents of his lives.

He got annoyed sometimes when he recieved comments that treated his life experiences as a fantasy. His biggest mistake was sharing Yue’s story with his fans; all of the teasing and ‘yeah right’ comments really got to him, but there wasn’t much to be done. It was quite a surreal story, and if they wouldn’t believe him there wasn’t much he could do to prove it. Too many people have already forgotten the old spirits of the moon and the ocean and how crucial they are to water benders, so if they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t believe Yue’s sacrifice.

They did believe his stories about the Kyoshi Warriors. After all that happened the girls became quite famous, and even if they thought the details were too exagerated and fake (I mean, the avatar was there? And he dated one of the warriors? Please.), it wasn’t impossible, that’s for sure. I mean, he did talk about attending formal events with his boyfriend, so, yeah, why not? The Kyoshi Warriors attend those too, don’t they?

Speaking of his boyfriend, he told them little about him. His audience knew he existed, but he was never seen on camera and there were many stories or commentaries involving him, but he never went too deep into it. When asked about it, he told them his significant other was a private guy, and he himself didn’t feel like there was a huge need to share their romantic lives online. Most people were pretty respectful from that point onwardars, although there are always some exceptions.

More often than not, his quick comments about his daily life involved him, and everyone though they were super sweet, although most of them gave his audience the impression that he was dating a very socially awkward and overly emotional man. They weren’t exactly wrong, they just didn’t have the whole truth; still they always asked Sokka to see them at least once during his lives. One of the most know and loved stories about him had been told in a stream as he built a new house for the turtle ducks’ lake. The last one was getting too old, and he had nothing else to do with his time.

“Hey, did I ever tell you guys about the time my boyfriend brought like, eight little turtle ducks home?”

The comment section was filled with negative responses, although some were very panicked.

“Yeah, it’s true. Happened about two weeks after I moved in. They were all babies and their mom got hit by a car? Some jerk was probably speeding and the poor creature died, leaving her children behind. He brought them here because they were too young and he was afraid they’d die if left alone.”

Many comments were praising him for the action, and some were worried about what happened to the little creatures.

“It was kinda of cute but I got a little freaked out about where to put them. Then he told me we have a pond? I swear, this place is so big I could die from starvation after getting lost on my way to the kitchen.”

He laughed. Once again, a lot of comments talking about how full of shit he was flooded the chat.

“I’m serious guys. I’d rather bring him to my tribe, but that’s really not an option, unfortunatly. So I moved here, and I think I only know about 30% of this building even after being here for like, almost a year.”

Someone told him to write a map.

“Hah, yeah, I should probably do that.” He smiled. “Actually, that reminds me of that time me and my friends got stuck in a cave with a bunch of crazy hippies while trying to get to Omashu. We were looking for an earth bending master for Aang. It was wild, the tunnels kept moving so I couldn’t keep a map of the labyrinth, and a badger mole almost ate me.”

The comment section went wild again. Some people were excited because he was finally telling a story, some people were calling bullshit on the moving tunnels... It was chaotic, and Sokka loved that. He was pretty chaotic himself, so this crazy comment section always amused him.

Sokka didn’t care that his stories weren’t believed. He understood that his situation was... unusual. Besides, many stories he told were of public knowledge already, he just set the record straight for most of them, adding unknow details or straight up correcting lies. There was only one thing he couldn’t stand being questioned on; his skills. When he mentioned he once built an armor for Aang’s sky bison, he wasn’t mad when they laughed at the idea that he was the avatar’s friend, no, he was mad when someone commented that he was lying about knowing how to build an armor. After that, he put out a series of videos on his channel in which he forged an armor for himself from scratch, even if he knew he’d never use it (And every single one of them started with a screenshot from said comment).

So his irritation at this moment really shouldn’t be a surprise. After showing off the sword he made for his channel, he told his audience about how he learned all he knew in the art of the sword from Piandao, who told him he had great potential to surpass even him. Of course, the comment section laughed again.

“It’s true!” He exclaimed, exasperated “Why would I lie about something like that? Okay, I see why I would lie about something like that, but really, I’m not lying. I swear!”

The comments still went on.

“Okay, you know what? I’ll prove it.” He got up and moved some furniture around to open enough space for a duel “HEY JERKBENDER,” He yelled from his door “GET IN HERE! AND BRING YOUR SWORDS!”

The audience heard a voice.

“What is it, Sokka? Did something happen?”

“No babe,” They heard Sokka answer, with a much softer tone this time, before planting a kiss to the other’s face “My viewers think I’m lying about being a swordsman, so I need to prove myself.”

“Really?” They heard an unimpressed voice.

“Hey, you’re all about honor, aren’t you? Help me defend mine for once.” Sokka apeared in the picture again, smiling, followed by Zuko, as in the Firelord Zuko. Many jaws were dropped.

“Fine, but I won’t make this easy.” He swung his dual swords.

“Me neither.”

They attacked each other for some time, occasionally getting out of the frame before jumping back in. Sokka eventually tossed an used shirt at Zuko’s face to throw him off. It made him confused, but he didn’t give up so easily.

“Unfair!” He exclaimed, getting up and defending himself from another one of Sokka’s attack “I’ll fire bend if you keep this up.”

“You’re getting me a replacement for anything you burn!” Sokka complained, jumping on his bed for leverage, but Zuko kicked it and he fell with an emasculating yelp. The fire bender had the upper hand now, but Sokka was quick to get up.

Eventually, Sokka managed to disarm Zuko, and used the tip of his sword to lift his chin up.

“You really ought to practice more with the swords.” He said, a smug smile on his face.

“Shut up, you dork.” Zuko answered, a little frustrated from the loss, but mostly proud of his boyfriend’s mastery.

He walked up to his boyfriend, replacing the blade with his fingers.

“Thanks baby. You’re the best.” He leaned in and softly kissed him. Once he tried to step back, he felt Zuko gripping him by the waist, holding him and deepening their kiss.

“I miss you. We barely had any time together this week.” Zuko complained “Go by my room when you’re done, okay?”

“Sure babe.” Sokka smiled, still being held by Zuko “Wait, why don’t you say hello, then I end the transmisson, huh? They’ve been wanting to see you for a while.”

“Really?” Zuko asked, a little amazed and curious.

“Yeah! I think they fell in love with you after I told them about the turtle ducks. But, honestly, who wouldn’t.” Sokka smiled and guided him to the camera “See guys, I told you I’m a...” He turned his face to the screen again “Oh.”

“Oh.” Zuko mimicked, watching as the comments rolled in faster than he could read, all of them some sort of variation of ‘Is that the fucking Firelord?’.

“I-I...” Sokka stuttered “I mean, I’m pretty sure I mentioned his name.”

A comment said ‘Yeah but there are many Zukos in the world’.

“It’s not my fault you don’t believe my stories! I told you I travelled with the avatar, the same avatar who is friends with the Firelord, who happens to be my boyfriend. I thought it was kinda obvious.”

‘Wait’ Said another comment ‘SO IT’S ALL TRUE???’.

“What do you mean it’s all- Yes it’s all true. Of course it is.” He looked at the comments flooding in and sighed. “Y’know what? I’ll deal with this tomorrow. I love you guys, but I’m a little too tired to do this now. Byeeee!”

With that, he turned the stream off. Zuko had an amused smile on his face.

“What?” Sokka asked.

“Nothing.” He answered “I’m just... I don’t know, when you said they wanted to see me I thought it was because I’m the Firelord and all. But... They didn’t know. They wanted to see me from the dumb stories you tell them about me.” Zuko smiled at the ground “You must’ve painted me in a very kind light, love.”

“I mean... There’s no way I can paint you in a bad light, really.” Sokka placed his hands in Zuko’s waist “You know that, don’t you?” Zuko kept his gaze fixated on the ground “Zuko, baby, you’re a great, kind, brave man. And I’m madly in love with you because of it.”

“I love you too Sokka.” Zuko smiled, but still couldn’t bring himself to look at Sokka. After some time together, Sokka figured it was best to just let him look at wherever, if it made him comfortable. He already had to sustain too much eye contact as fire lord, so when he was in his arms, Sokka just wanted the man to be at ease. Even if that meant he wouldn’t always look him in the eye.

“C’mon,” He squeezed his sides slightly “Take me to your room, my lord, because mine is too messy for the cuddles you deserve.” Sokka teased, getting a small chucke from Zuko as he turned to walk out of his boyfriend’s chaotic room.

“It is impressive how messy your room is, considering our maids clean it everyday.”

“What can I say? It’s one of my many talents.”

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I know that originally Zuko’s supposed to win, but like... In my mind, after all that happened, their skills were pretty much on the same level, and considering that Sokka would have more free time to practice than the Firelord would, well... I think his victory is not all that surprising plus i think his smug smile directed at zuko would be so cute and make him melt af

#Zukka #Zuko #Sokka #ATLA #avatar #avatar the last airbender #modern au #youtuber au #Zukka youtuber au