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badassbutterfly1987 · 9 months

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Fandom Growth Exchange Letter/Prompts

Opt-ins: I am fine with pretty much anything. If you feel like taking a prompt in a dark direction (and there are certainly pairings here that would fit) then I am more than okay with it. Not picky when it comes to smut, no hard DNWs.

The Death Gate Cycle - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Haplo & Xar, Haplo/Xar

I am fascinated by the bits we see of their relationship, how it isn't especially healthy but is still very genuine (he considers Xar an adoptive father but also consistently thinks of him as his lord and master). That Haplo becomes a better person at the same time Xar becomes more villainous. That they still deeply care about each other even as they fight.

Prompts: an early look at their relationship after Haplo is brought out of the Labyrinth. A deeper look at their feelings when they turn against each other. A dark au where Xar tries to forcefully get Haplo back on his side. Or maybe an au where Xar survives the last book and they struggle to lead their people after the harm done between them (mostly on Xar's end, honestly).

2. Dresden Files

Bianca St. Claire/Rachel: poor tragic toxic lesbians. a deeper look at what their relationship was like before and after Rachel's death.

Inari Raith & Thomas Raith, Lara Raith & Lord Raith, Lara Raith & Thomas Raith, Lord Raith & Thomas Raith: twisted unhealthy family dynamics! Thomas trying so hard to keep Inari safe and wanting her to feel loved. the centuries of manipulative affection between Lara and Lord Raith. Lara and Thomas love each other but they're trapped in an abusive family and power structure, more codependent siblings, fighting together or with each other, Lara trying to protect him from Lord Raith, or hurting him at their father's command. I am deeply fascinated by the fact that Lord Raith apparently raised Thomas and allowed him to reach adulthood despite it being much more convenient to get rid of him early which suggests a lot more complexity than is portrayed.

Lara Raith/Lord Raith, Lara Raith/Thomas Raith, Lord Raith/Thomas Raith: similar to above but leaning into the canonical incest and sexual abuse. doesn't have to be smut but I would be intrigued how having that be both so prevalent and accepted would affect how the younger members view the world.

Karrin Murphy & Susan Rodriguez, Maggie Dresden & Susan Rodriguez: would love anything with Susan, there's so much left unexplored with her character. maybe she had a casual friendship with Murphy where they would have lunch and complain about Harry, magic, and monsters. maybe a look at her difficult decisions regarding Maggie from her perspective, loving her daughter and trying to keep her safe but also making the admittedly selfish decision to not tell Harry about her at first.

Margaret Lefay/Lord Raith: toxic trash couple that I adore, intrigued that canon suggests it started as a genuine connection before it went bad, will accept weird fluff or creepy dark.

3. Popsy - Stephen King

Dwight Renfield & Popsy's Grandson

okay so Dwight Renfield from Night Flier is indicated to be the same as the old vampire we meet in Popsy, where there is also a vampire kid that is referred to as his grandson

so what's the story there? is there a biological link? did the vampire adopt a young child and turn him out of loneliness? is this a one-off or a pattern of behavior?

4. Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab

Astrid Dane/Athos Dane/Holland Vosijk, Athos Dane/Holland Vosijk: we know the Danes tortured and used him. just how far did it go when Kell wasn't there?

Osaron/Holland Vosijk: maybe a deeper look at the deal they made?

Ros Vortalis & Holland Vosijk, Ros Vortalis/Holland Vosijk: These two fascinate and make me sad. Either platonic or romantic or something vague in between. Can be pre-canon stuff or a happier canon divergence.

5. Spares - Michael Marshall Smith

I came so close to adoring this book. so maybe a look at stuff that wasn't explored enough?

David & Suej: treated as the most mature well-balanced of the kids and indicated to be close to each other. how do they take care of the younger kids? what are they up to post-canon?

Jack Randall & David, Jack Randall & Suej: Jack accidentally adopted these kids and is definitely making it up as he goes along.

Jack Randall/Nearly: they're implied to get together in the epilogue. what does their new life look like?

6. American Assassin (2017)

Annika/Mitch Rapp: so the movie seemed to be setting them up as a couple before she was killed off, so maybe a closer look at that? maybe they officially get together or it sticks to light flirting? post-canon AU where they're loyal to different factions but also still care about each other?

Mitch Rapp & Ronnie | Ghost, Mitch Rapp/Ronnie | Ghost: a closer look at how these two parallel each other. maybe Mitch joins Ghost? maybe Ghost is instead captured and imprisoned/team tries to rehabilitate him?

Mitch Rapp/Victor: there was so much potential for these two, like there was definitely setup for a rivals-to-teammates-to-friends story. a snapshot of training together and grudging friendship? an AU where Victor doesn't die in the first mission and helps take down Ghost? post-canon AU where they're still a team and have to address the growing tension between them?

7. Ninja (Florentine Movies)

Casey Bowman/Masazuka: they had vibes in movie 1 and I'm convinced there was something going on beyond just student rivalry. like Masazuka is clearly resentful that this outsider was brought in and is treated as one of the best students (think a GI Joe Snake-Eyes situation), something Casey is aware of and seems to feel a little bad when he indirectly gets Masazuka kicked out. Add in the nearly 15 year age gap between them and there's potential for a lot of spiciness. did Casey ever look up to him as a mentor, and did Masazuka ever try to take advantage of that?

Casey Bowman/Nakabara: Casey clearly looked up to Nakabara and it's indicated they trained together. teen crush/secret dating? whatever Nakabara's thinking when he decides to manipulate Casey into killing a rival in movie 2? AU where Casey doesn't realize the truth and stays with Nakabara?

Casey Bowman/Namiko Takeda: these two are just very sweet, lots of lady+knight vibes but ninja flavored. a look at when they officially got together? movie 2 AU where she doesn't die and joins his vengeance quest? happy AU where they get to live and have their family?

8. Scream of the Wolf (1974)

Byron Douglas/John Weatherby

What I call the "intriguingly homoerotic werewolf thriller from the 70s". The full movie is on youtube.

ex-boyfriends? pre-canon hunt? AU where Byron is an actual werewolf? John chooses to accept his ex's murderous urges and agrees to hunt with him again?

9. Universal Soldier (Movies)

John: Day of Reckoning's tragic lead. thinks he's a human avenging his murdered family but nope he's a brainwashed UniSol manipulated into destroying the UniSol revolution. a look at his mental state as he realizes the truth? a look at the previous John clone who didn't go after Luc but didn't stay with the revolution either, trying to settle down with a regular job and girlfriend? an AU where our John joins the revolution? whatever he's up to post-canon with taking over the revolution?

Luc Deveraux/Andrew Scott: you can't tell me these two aren't ex-boyfriends in movie 1. just a couple army guys fooling around in secret? when they're brainwashed UniSols who work together and don't yet remember each other? Regeneration AU where Luc recruits the Andrew clone instead of killing him? a closer look at whatever their deal was in Day of Reckoning, how they managed to recruit an army of UniSols together?

10. Killer7

Coyote Smith/Dan Smith: enemies to rivals to lovers vibes.

Coyote Smith/Dan Smith/Garcian Smith/Kaede Smith/Kevin Smith/Mask de Smith: weird family polycule dynamics. so much potential with their implied backstories, where Garcian fits in as a later addition who became their leader. can include Con in a more platonic part of the dynamic.

Curtis Blackburn/Dan Smith: so we have Curtis, pure evil individual, and Dan, who is Complicated; what did that mentorship look like before it turned sour? considering Curtis'... private hobby, it isn't out of the realm of possibility he took advantage of Dan's loyalty. and after breaking away, is Dan ever haunted by their relationship/his own actions?

Dan Smith & Harman Smith: Dan's second mentor that he also once tried to kill. does he ever regret not killing him? does Harman ever struggle to keep him under control?

#fandom growth exchange #exchange letter

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miss-m-calling · 2 years

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Fandom Growth Exchange 2022 letter

Dear writer,

Hello and thank you for writing for me!

My requests this year are: Cast a Deadly Spell, Cyrano de Bergerac (Crimp version), The Sandman, and Starred Up, and I’m requesting fic for all of them (and I am open to both art and fic treats if anyone is that way inclined :-) ).

General likes:

-pre-canon, canon, post-canon, canon-divergent, and missing-scene stories

-character-driven as well as plot-driven stories

-fics which mix humor and angst/serious business (when this fits the canon)

-characters at work and play

-group dynamics, family dynamics (including constructed families), professional partnerships, friendships, alliances, rivalries, intimate couples (new lovers/first times as well as long-term/established couples), UST-ridden couples who are not just UST-ridden but connected in other ways too

-irony, snark, humor, angst – all arising from the characters rather than the plot crowbaring it in

-linear, non-linear, and 5+1 stories

-hopeful endings, happy endings, bittersweet endings, “everything is awful but you’re here and maybe I don’t entirely hate that” endings

-worldbuilding

-spiky characters who keep their jagged edges and spikiness in adversity as well as when their lives are going well, square-peg-in-round-hole characters, tough characters with (maybe not so well) hidden vulnerabilities, characters who are their own worst enemies, characters who manage to get over themselves when the occasion calls for it, characters with conflicting values which may or may not be reconciled/resolved, characters who treat each other with respect and as equals even if they hate/annoy/can’t stand/love to dislike each other, characters who may not be exactly friends and may well irritate one another but manage to rub along to get the job done and maybe even grow to care about one another (much to their surprise/reluctance/discomfort), characters who just cannot get along with each other or find common ground

-workplace stories (this can mean anything from an actual workplace/casefic/procedural setting to anything that revolves around the canon world in which the characters live) in which the characters get to be competent

Shippy and smutty likes:

-(where it fits the characters) banter

-competitiveness or antagonism shading into attraction (this tension need not be resolved)

-”oh god why did it have to be you what did I do to deserve this“

-”come here and say it to my face/do that again/kiss me, you motherfucker”

-bickering yet loving couples

-characters who are serious about their romantic interests

-characters who think they are much better at flirtation than they actually are

-characters forced to work together only to prove much more compatible than they initially assumed

-fics which mix an exploration of characters’ professional and everyday lives with shipping

-characters who are incompatible in some important way (they are ideological enemies, cop and criminal, spies from opposite sides, or there has been betrayal!!!), and while they love and/or want each other, they’re not willing to change sides or abandon/compromise their identity/beliefs for the other’s benefit

-I don’t know how better to phrase this than: smut which fits the characters; how does their canon dynamics spill over into hubba hubba stuff?

-sexual scenarios that subvert expectations a little and surprise the characters themselves

-sexual scenarios that contain an element of competition or antagonism

-“this is a bad idea but we’re going for it hammer and tongs”

-not wanting to admit feelings or show vulnerability except oops it happens anyway, whether the characters acknowledge it or not

-characters getting way more into the sex or being more affected by it than they thought they would

-quick and intense sex, slow and intense sex, rough yet willing sex (when it fits the characters), unexpectedly emotional and/or tender sex

-masturbation while thinking of the other half of the ship (or not wanting to think about them only oops there they are in the fantasy!)

-first time sex

-established relationship, we-know-each-other-so-well sex

-”we’ve both wanted this and now we both know it so here we go diving in headfirst” sex

-for het, slash, femslash, and/or poly, oral, vaginal, anal incl. pegging, manual (ifyouknowwhatImean) – all is good. You can go as veiled or as explicit as you like, but please avoid excessive medical jargon – I don’t find a lot of mention of “penis” or “clit” sexy.

Ship/smut DNWs:

MPREG, A/B/O, knotting D/s, formalized BDSM, painful sex, hard kinks (holding someone down playfully, hair pulling and such like, the odd spank are a-OK) scat, watersports knife/gun/blood play incest deaging/infantilization, mommy/daddy kink under-16yos in sexual situations humiliation body distortion/horror (feeding/weight kink, come inflation, vore, etc.) unrequested ships/pairings soulmates and soul marks pregnancy and children (can be mentioned if canon, just don’t make the whole fic about them) wedding setting/theme secondary characters shipping the main pair like it’s their job xeno, tentacles, bestiality noncon/dubcon

Other DNWs:

torture and abuse (this and noncon/dubcon can be mentioned, but please don’t dwell on it in loving detail or subject any of my requested characters to it) descriptions of vomit, shit, and piss (”He pissed up against a tree” and the like is fine), toilet humor lots of gore/blood (mention it, yes; lovingly describe it, no), cannibalism, serious illness or injury character bashing genderswap/genderbent characters, characters as kids/young teens issuefic, gender/sexuality/race/ethnicity/religion/ability/identity headcanons death of requested characters hopeless, unrelenting gloom/angst/horror RL holiday setting/theme, RL religions as a major theme (invented fictional holidays and rituals are fine) reference to RL current events 1st and 2nd person POV unrequested crossovers or fusions AUs which have nothing to do with canon fic written in lapslock

FANDOMS:

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

Hypolite Kropotkin/H. Phillip Lovecraft

Hypolite Kropotkin & H. Phillip Lovecraft

Fred Ward’s passing earlier this year reminded me of how much I used to enjoy this loving mashup of the Chthulhu mythos, 1940s noir, and broad comedy – and a rewatch confirmed that it is still delightful! I love how the strange combo of the two genre’s elements works so well, how the movie leans into its own silliness, all the hardboiled language and period detail, the uses of magic for everything from carrying luggage to summoning the Old Ones, and of course, everything about Lovecraft the deadpan gumshoe with principles, and everything about his spiky but friendly dynamic with Mrs. Kropotkin. Please just give me more of that strange genre brew and I’ll be delighted! Feel free to go for something more comedic/quippy/even cracky if you feel like sending up the noir and dark fantasy genres, or something darker (and more darkly humorous). You can keep Lovecraft and Kropotkin platonic as friends/occasional co-conspirators/landlady and tenant, or you can ship them (either getting-together fic or established relationship – or maybe an on-and-off arrangement? And do they always call each other by their last names?).

Two caveats: please ignore the existence of the (vastly inferior IMHO) sequel and treat the movie as a closed canon, and please don’t feel pressed to “clean up” some of the iffy gender dynamics at play here (ah, the 80s/90s!). I don’t need for Lovecraft to become a more enlightened person – you can ignore that or lean into it, but don’t strain yourself to fix it. (And while race isn’t a big part of canon, it is a version of the 1940s, and the characters I’m requesting are a White man and a Black woman with an accent – you don’t have to avoid bringing race into the story if the story needs it.)

Prompts:

-Why does Lovecraft dislike magic so much? There’s his monologue to Connie, yes, but what was it that decided him: when magic first became widespread (implied to have happened in the recent past), how did he know he wasn’t going to be like everyone else, no matter how hard it got? Did those events involve Kropotkin, and if yes, how did the two of them get past that to forge their sorta-friendship? Why does he always wear ties he knows (because people keep telling him) are hideous?

-What about Mrs. Kropotkin – all we can infer is that she’s a vodou/magic practitioner who used to be married to a Russian warlock and now runs a dance academy, rents out office space, and does spells. What’s her story? Does she have a coven? Was/is she always helpful, or does/did she use dark magic too sometimes? (She strikes me as pragmatic above all things so might go in for both kinds of magic when needed, just as she uses modern conveniences since she is “a witch, not a fanatic.”) How did Lovecraft and she meet? Was she once a dame in another tale and got caught up in one of Lovecraft’s investigations? Did he once do her a solid and that’s why she puts up with his being behind on the rent? Or did he just need cheap office space and she didn’t object to his star sign/aura/vibrations/the lines on his palm? And why is she so hellbent on getting to Miami, of all places, when the spheres align scarily?

-Any kind of case fic! Maybe a sequel centering on the fact that Lovecraft now has The Necronomicon, and a lot of people want it? Or Lovecraft, against all his preferences and instincts, needs Kropotkin’s magical help with a case? Does his distaste for magic grow or lessen due to that experience? Does she get a taste for the gumshoe life, or is she happy to return to her spells and her dancing lessons after the case is resolved?

-Bring in another part of the Lovecraft opus (or urban fantasy, M. R. James, and other fantasy canons, since the canon mixes them all up) and let ‘er rip! Or rework any of Raymond Chandler’s plots to fit this canon (I may not recognize the source but I’m sure I’ll enjoy the ride). Not a must, but since it’s Los Angeles in the 1940s, a riff on the shady goings-on in Golden Age Hollywood would be fantabulous.

-Or, how does this alternate history develop further? The Cold War (state-subsidized Soviet witch spies, maybe?), McCarthyism (but tell me your undoubtedly superior version over the one in the sequel movie), a magical war…

-“Magic! Gives me the shakes what you can buy in this town.” Tell me more!

-Or tell me about the first (or the second, or the hundredth! 5+1 would work too!) time Kropotkin and Lovecraft… went on a stakeout together? Slept together? Had a drink together? Posed as a couple to go undercover? Cooked for each other (whether than means elaborate magical cooking or heating up a can of beans on a hotplate)? Had a funny, philosophical conversation about the use(fulnes)s and abuses of magic? Or when Kropotkin’s various family members met Lovecraft?

Cyrano de Bergerac (freely adapted from the play by Edmond Rostand) – Martin Crimp

Christian/Cyrano/Roxane

I love the original play, but my goodness this updated and very meta version hit so many sweet spots for me! Stripping it all down in favor of contemporary class/gender/racial commentary – but still with the plot revolving around writing paper letters, and rivalries over the theater, and the importance of poetry (and cake). The arch, humorous, rhythmic language used as both a weapon and that which strips away defenses. The constant interplay between love as a subject for performative philosophizing and love as intense, unbearable, sexual longing. The added dimensions to the characters: Cyrano’s insecurities driving him to act more self-serving than a hero should, and to push away every friend and ally he might have, *and* to self-sabotage at every goddamn step (I enjoyed the staged version’s suggestion that his nose is “in his head” at least as much as it’s real); Christian being in many ways more honest than either Cyrano or Roxane and not at all dumb in an emotional sense (plus he kisses Cyrano, hello!); Roxane’s furious reaction when she realizes she’s been deceived and her wondering if she’d loved (idolized) two men or no man at all…

It made me crave a threesome fix-it more than ever! I’d love something that continues to explore each character’s flaws and hang-ups – the threesome heals some things, not all things between them, and their relationship doesn’t necessarily have to be sweet or particularly healthy. On the other hand, I’m also totally here for domestic fic with word games and sex. I’d love, but of course I’m not demanding, something written in the spoken-word/slam-poetry style of the play or with such dialogues. And yes, I am here for smutfic!

Canon-specific DNW: ignore the men’s canonical deaths

So that’s it, my one request for this canon: threesome fic. Make it work however you want:

-Roxane figures out the deception and confronts the two men about it.

-Cyrano gets over himself somehow.

-Christian refuses to play along either from the start or later, when he sees how the charade has taken on a life of its own and Roxane doesn’t really know him at all.

-Christian and Roxane get the chance to be properly married and learn some things about each other and agree to bring Cyrano into it as well.

-Roxane has to woo (or it’s a game/pretend wooing) one or both of the men as she has been wooed.

-The Siege of Arras still happens but Christian and (later) Cyrano don’t die and thus have to figure out how to make his/their marriage to Roxane work in the long run.

-The Siege of Arras happens and all three end up sheltering together from mortar fire, giving them a chance to have it out while adrenaline is running high.

-Roxane rolls up to the army camp to see why the letters have been few and far between, and discovers Cyrano and Christian have been a bit, ah, busy with each other to write – Roxane has something to say about this.

-Speaking/poetry competitions or pranks come into it somehow.

-Cyrano and Roxane agree to share Christian – and try to outdo each other describing his, ahem, charms – but Christian has something he wants too.

-Or… surprise me!

The Sandman

Thessaly & None

Thessaly is my favorite Sandman character and one of my favorite characters in general. I love that she is not always or even often likeable, but she is always compelling, intriguing, hypercompetent, ruthless, fearless, and sometimes foolhardy. Her solitary ways and commitment to her own long-term survival, without the reader ever figuring out what – other than the desire for more life – drives her, fascinate me, as does her humorlessness coupled with everything that’s fantastic and supernatural about her.

Prompts:

-I’d love to see Thessaly do more chilling magic (invent dark, bloody rituals and tell me about them, by all means), go on adventures in the Waking, Dreaming, or still other realms*, get into a jam (maybe the Moon tries to claim her? Or she obtains a magical artifact and its owner isn’t happy?) and get out of it in her own way.

-Thessaly’s past and/or future, over the many millennia she’s been/will be around. Thessaly in her witchy youth, when a night of especially intense darkness (was she born during a lunar eclipse and has always had a difficult relationship with the Moon?) or a bear totem being shattered were ways to measure time. Thessaly in classical Greece, or the Renaissance, or Han China, or pre-Meiji Japan (especially if you want to blend the legends and myths of these eras with the historical setting, kinda like in the “Ramadan” issue of Sandman). Thessaly in a post-apocalyptic setting or IN SPACE!!! in the distant future, still doing magic and keeping some old traditions alive alongside her own good self.

-Or, she must have moved from other worlds or planes of reality, possibly at their final destruction, to our own, just as she moves to Barbie’s dreamworld and survives its destruction; what were those worlds like, or where might Thessaly go once this world is gone?

-How does she outlast or out-trick the Moon in the process of living basically forever (or at least until Death puts chairs up on tables and turns off the light before closing the universe behind her)? What other enemies might Thessaly have made along the way, and how does she deal with them?

*Fusion suggestion: if you wanted to send Thessaly into the world of Jennifer Haley’s play The Nether, I would be there with bells on. If you are unfamiliar with The Nether, it’s a science-fiction play about literally living on the Internet (easily handwaved into a kind of magic or a living dream) and how that influences people’s sense of self – be forewarned that the play’s not explicit but is pretty damn dark.

One thing I would appreciate you not dwelling on is Thessaly/Morpheus – I don’t mean retcon it out of existence, just don’t dwell on the actual relationship, which I always found somewhat improbable. Exploring Thessaly’s hurt and anger after the end of that relationship is fine. And in general, I don’t see romance being something Thessaly wants or has much need for – her thing with Morpheus seemed to take her by surprise, and she rebuffs Fetch’s advances in the spinoffs – so gen fic or something mentioning Thessaly’s pragmatic approach to the issue of sex and human closeness, would be just dandy. I have also read the Thessaly spin-offs, so you can riff on those if you want (what does she do with all the dead crowding her at the end?), but please note that if you describe Thessaly, I prefer her frumpy, self-possessed design in Sandman over the Lara Croft-lite of the spinoffs.

Starred Up

Oliver Baumer/Eric Love

Yes I do ship it, I do, I do!

Ahem. Don’t get me wrong, I liked what the movie did with the father-son relationship and its influence on both men’s character development – but I really wish they hadn’t got Oliver out of the action before the story’s climax (not like that!). The final denouement with Love father and Love son was great, as was the hint at the end that Eric learned something in anger-management group and has a support network that will help him a lot. But. I would have wanted to see more of the intriguing dynamic between Eric the intelligent, semi-feral, yet not-incorrigible, young thug and Oliver the educated, dedicated, kind yet aware of his own potential for violence (what was he on about with “I need to be here”?), slightly older counselor. They had me at Oliver’s “I want him” and Eric later telling his father that Oliver’s a better man than Love Sr. Also the not-flirting and the push-pull in the scene when Oliver picks up Eric from his cell - yowza!

Exception to blanket DNW: dubcon is a-okay! If you decide to go there, my preferred flavors of dubcon for this canon are: power differential makes it a bad idea but they do it anyway; “I know you want this”; “if the answer’s no/you’re only doing this for a dare or to prove a point, then why are you enjoying this so much [as am I]?”; no no yes a.k.a. starts as dubcon (or one of them thinks they’re dubconning the other), becomes enthusiastic consent.

Also, if this is relevant or makes you nervous about writing for me, Eric would be 18-19, and Oliver is maybe 10-12 years older – and I like it!!! (The actors were 22 and 31 when the movie was made, FWIW.)

Prompts:

-I would love to see Oliver return to holding his group in prison, so the two of them can interact more, either in the movie’s immediate aftermath or years down the line, as it’s implied that Eric will be serving a long sentence. Give me more scenes from anger management or the ribald, honest, free-flowing conversations in group, either with the other men present (I liked Hassan and Tyrone especially, among the group members) or a one-on-one session.

-An oblique or open-but-undramatic admission/declaration that they both know there’s something there, even if they don’t know what to do with it. Or, one or both of them knows exactly what to do with it, and the push-pull that would result from that.

-Dirty talk: used for arousal, as a defense mechanism, as a form of flirtation. Eric using slurs to assert dominance, and Oliver not letting him hide behind profanity, when he can use colorful language to express emotion and/or sexual interest. There could definitely be some verbal taunting/flirting about who wants/is eager to do what or is good at doing something. There may be some sniping comments about logistics and (lack of) condoms and barebacking and what men get up to in prison. There probably wouldn’t be deep discussions about sexual identity.

-An emergency in the prison requires a lock-down, so Oliver gets temporarily stuck in Eric’s cell or another room with only Eric for company. Things get porny and/or emotional.

-Eric is eventually released (you can handwave this so it happens soon after the movie or have it happen years later) and crashes with Oliver while he adjusts to the outside world. You guessed it: things get porny and/or emotional.

-How do they get to the point where both can cross that line from friends/whatever the hell they are and become, to lovers? (There’s Eric’s personal history and general discomfort with vulnerability, plus all the ways prison sex can be or make things complicated, and if it helps, I headcanon Oliver as either gay or bi and at least somewhat closeted, at work especially.) Who initiates and “directs traffic”? How does their always-contentious dynamic shift during and after sex? Is the sex an isolated (series of) occasion(s), or a progression/escalation over multiple encounters (how would I love especially an escalating series of encounters, let me count the ways)? Eric might seem like the logical initiator and/or dominant partner as well as using the possibility of sex to manipulate and exert control, but then Oliver might (or might not!) surprise him and is definitely the one more in touch with himself as well as aware of his custodial duty toward the men in the group.

-At some point in their intimate relationship (probably not right at the start, and probably not in prison, though if you can make it happen in prison, more power to you!), Oliver decides he’s going to take his sweet time and make Eric fall absolutely apart with pleasure, while using dirty talk to both arouse and empower Eric to own his desires – by that point, Eric is in a place where he can let that happen and enjoy it, even if he still talks tough.

-Or how about this: Eric gets out, relationship happens or is in the process of being negotiated, and while physical intimacy is a whooooole neeeeeew woooorld, you know what else would be cool? Phone sex. Yep. Or even, Eric gets himself one of those secret prison burner phones (preferably hidden somewhere that’s not someone’s arse), and… phone sex after lights-out and lock-down. Maybe nothing (much) has happened physically (yet), so phone sex can be a building block to that or one facet of that deepening intimacy.

#dear author letter #fandom growth exchange

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langernameohnebedeutung · 1 year

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Objectively some of the best dialogue ever put to screen

#listen im obsessed with everything about this exchange. everything.#even the micro-expressions are killing me. the shift in Liv's tone when she says 'growth in the natural world' and Blaine starting to blink #izombie #Liv Moore #Blaine DeBeers #fandom #also literally 'What's that chick's problem?' babygirl it's a card

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luna-lovegreat · 6 months

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Wait...

It's November. It's November first. Yesterday was October 31st, so October is over. ...it's over. Is it over?

Inktober, artober, whumptober, flufftober, linktober, every tag ending with -tober that's been circulating for the past month... is it over? I don't know why it's just hit me but...

This matters. So I will try to get the message across, even though I'm not the best at it sometimes

Fanartists, fan writers, artists, fic writers, people making comics, every single one of you that has created art for the past month...

Thank you

This is my first October on tumblr. When I started seeing the "tober" tags, seeing the posts from artists with wips, saying they were going to make something every day to a prompt, making masterposts to update with each day, I thought "cool"

But every day this month, I have gotten on here and smiled.

And I don't mean smiled. I mean I smiled at least 20 times every time I got on the app because I saw all the art and fics. I got to see artists/writers connect stories through different day prompts. I saw people having the most brilliant ideas and creativity, flowing from their hands into their posts. I saw artists responding to continuous asks, telling them how amazing they are. I saw artists getting behind, and keeping going.

I saw Free. Beautiful. Emotional. Amazing. Original. Creative. Art.

Every day

I haven't committed to anything of this before, so I can't directly relate to what you guys were thinking and feeling. But I'm willing to guess; I think you probably enjoyed it, because most won't do such a huge project unless they enjoy it. I think you probably saw it as a challenge you were willing to fulfill, and an opportunity to grow and develop your skills.

... but I'm also willing to bet you did it for us. For people like me, who love art, but don't do this specific type, who are in fandoms, who love tracking and watching you art and sending you compliments, who take joy in your work. For the other artists (and writers!) who admire each others styles and love to learn from each other.

If anyone ever tries to tell me that humans are inherently evil again, I will strap them to a chair, pull up these posts and say look. Look at what these people did. Look me in the eyes and tell me these sorts of actions don't come from the most loving hearts. Tell me these people don't want to make others happy, that they aren't inherently good. And I will tell you you're wrong.

I have so much going on, yet somehow it slipped into my life that I was constantly looking at your art for the joy of it without me even noticing.

And how is it possible. That we have such a beautiful community of people here that we will share. And communicate. And exchange compliments. And literally do things and send asks solely for the purpose of making someone smile.

I'm almost crying by now. God I can't express it well enough! But I am so. So. Grateful

You guys brought me a month of joy! You gave headcanons, and art, and stories!

Even yesterday, Halloween, I was blown away. Because I had expected... I didn't expect anything. And then I log on and see people sending happy halloween asks, exchanging doodles of candy, and headcanons and gifs.

And some are still catching up to the schedule or whatever, and that's ok! But at the beginning of this post, when I was simply realizing it was November, I asked myself "is it over?"

Is it over?

... I don't think so. I've seen artists say they're going to continue and expand on a piece they made and especially liked this month. Some people are still continuing, catching up to a voluntary deadline. All those masterposts with your whump/fluff/link/ink tober art? I know many as well as myself will be going through, looking over your posts with smiles, catching up on some things they missed this month... it will continue in the people and artists I didn't know existed before, but now follow. In the skills and growth in creativity! In the community we've grown, and art you've made, and the art to come, at a normal rate like every other month, even if it's not October anymore!

But my artists, writers... thank you so much. I don't know if you guys know how valuable and amazing you are. How incredible it is that you exist! People say it's amazing we exist under a sky of such stars, but how incredible is it that you made a stranger on the internet smile every day! Your life is so. So. Valuable. I can't even express how grateful I am that you exist, that you somehow are selfless enough to share the most beautiful parts of yourself simply to create, and to create joy. Thank you so so much.

(And this applies to all artists, in any fandoms, not just mine. And I'm just as grateful to people who couldn't do something every day, or only one day! You still share your art, you're just as... incredible. You are incredible.)

Okay.

So I'm gonna do this, and if others want to do it in the reblogs that's great! I do not care at all about reblogging or likes, but I want to make the people that have brought me such joy some appreciation- I hope I can bring you even a smidgen of the light you have brought into my life. So I'm gonna tag all the artists/writers I know of/can think of that have done any sort of October challenge, all of you creators that have made me smile. If people wanna want to tag others in the reblogs or replies to spread love that's cool.

(Basically I don't know social customs or anything at all, so if you don't want me to tag or if I was supposed to do something different or something let me know I have no idea what I'm supposed to do)(if I like accidentally tagged someone who isn't an artist/writer or forgot someone I follow... sorry)

@skyward-floored @kikker-oma @adrift-in-thyme @blueskittlesart @zeldaseyebrows @smilesrobotlover @bahbahhh @soso-dedeck @lennsart @arecaceae175 @illcamp @breannasfluff @solarfire-art @26kabeuchi @cathianemelian @truffeart @scribbly-z-raid @uniquevoidflowers

To all the artists and writers out there: thank you so much!!! You are amazing and I'm glad you exist. Your life is precious, and you matter. Thank you so much for sharing your beauty with us, we love you too!!!!!

... yeah. Just want yall to feel loved... because you are. Again, thank you. Thank you so so much to my beautiful creators who create joy as well as art, who keep storytelling alive. Just... thank you.

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adickaboutspoons · 8 months

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Honestly, I don't think we as a fandom talk enough about how this:

is a moment of HUGE character growth.

I think people tend to miss that, because Stede is bitchy, that he doesn't really draw boundaries for himself, and ESPECIALLY not with Ed. Ed puts him on the spot and keeps pressing him for a solution to the Spanish persuit (knowing damn well the whole time that he's got a solution already)? Stede just marvels at the brilliance of the plan Ed didn't bother to share with anyone, and never calls him out on what a dick move that was. Ed tells him that exchanging books on the raid is stupid (it's not. Stede only has a limited amount of shelf-space in the library) and knocks his books to the floor? Stede again says nothing. Ed joins the French in humiliating "Thornrose" and accuses Stede of being jealous of the attention he's getting when Stede has tried multiple times to warn him about how fickle the adulation of these people can be? Stede sulks on the deck about "not being any good at these things" and when Ed shows up, humiliated, doesn't utter a single "I told you so" and, indeed, immediately goes on Ed's defense. Ed is a dick the entire treasure hike? Stede keeps trying to cheer him up by showing him cool bugs and complimenting the tenderness of the snake, and playing (flirting) with him. Ed confesses to intending to kill Stede? Stede not only agrees to forgive and forget, he focuses exclusively on helping his friend through his obvious emotional crisis. So when Stede actually stands up for himself? Draws a line in the sand and says "These are the things you are doing that I do not agree with. You didn't do them until this jackass showed up. Ergo, I don't like the things you do when you are around HIM." That's a big fucking deal. It's a little clumsily expressed, but give the man a break; he's new to this, and, as much as I'm sure he wishes Ed would just stop, he doesn't ask that of him. Instead, he just explains why he's upset and removes himself from the proceedings. He's FINALLY expressing his emotions clearly, explicitly and directly (the way so many people in fandom always say they want him to)! And I just think that deserves a little credit and celebration. Even if it makes Ed sad to be told he's acting like a dick, when he is, indeed, acting like a dick.

#ofmd #our flag means death

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max-levchin · 9 months

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Shamir Secret Sharing

It’s 3am. Paul, the head of PayPal database administration carefully enters his elaborate passphrase at a keyboard in a darkened cubicle of 1840 Embarcadero Road in East Palo Alto, for the fifth time. He hits Return. The green-on-black console window instantly displays one line of text: “Sorry, one or more wrong passphrases. Can’t reconstruct the key. Goodbye.”

There is nerd pandemonium all around us. James, our recently promoted VP of Engineering, just climbed the desk at a nearby cubicle, screaming: “Guys, if we can’t get this key the right way, we gotta start brute-forcing it ASAP!” It’s gallows humor – he knows very well that brute-forcing such a key will take millions of years, and it’s already 6am on the East Coast – the first of many “Why is PayPal down today?” articles is undoubtedly going to hit CNET shortly. Our single-story cubicle-maze office is buzzing with nervous activity of PayPalians who know they can’t help but want to do something anyway. I poke my head up above the cubicle wall to catch a glimpse of someone trying to stay inside a giant otherwise empty recycling bin on wheels while a couple of Senior Software Engineers are attempting to accelerate the bin up to dangerous speeds in the front lobby. I lower my head and try to stay focused. “Let’s try it again, this time with three different people” is the best idea I can come up with, even though I am quite sure it will not work.

It doesn’t.

The key in question decrypts PayPal’s master payment credential table – also known as the giant store of credit card and bank account numbers. Without access to payment credentials, PayPal doesn’t really have a business per se, seeing how we are supposed to facilitate payments, and that’s really hard to do if we no longer have access to the 100+ million credit card numbers our users added over the last year of insane growth.

This is the story of a catastrophic software bug I briefly introduced into the PayPal codebase that almost cost us the company (or so it seemed, in the moment.) I’ve told this story a handful of times, always swearing the listeners to secrecy, and surprisingly it does not appear to have ever been written down before. 20+ years since the incident, it now appears instructive and a little funny, rather than merely extremely embarrassing.

Before we get back to that fateful night, we have to go back another decade. In the summer of 1991, my family and I moved to Chicago from Kyiv, Ukraine. While we had just a few hundred dollars between the five of us, we did have one secret advantage: science fiction fans.

My dad was a highly active member of Zoryaniy Shlyah – Kyiv’s possibly first (and possibly only, at the time) sci-fi fan club – the name means “Star Trek” in Ukrainian, unsurprisingly. He translated some Stansilaw Lem (of Solaris and Futurological Congress fame) from Polish to Russian in the early 80s and was generally considered a coryphaeus at ZSh.

While USSR was more or less informationally isolated behind the digital Iron Curtain until the late ‘80s, by 1990 or so, things like FidoNet wriggled their way into the Soviet computing world, and some members of ZSh were now exchanging electronic mail with sci-fi fans of the free world.

The vaguely exotic news of two Soviet refugee sci-fi fans arriving in Chicago was transmitted to the local fandom before we had even boarded the PanAm flight that took us across the Atlantic [1]. My dad (and I, by extension) was soon adopted by some kind Chicago science fiction geeks, a few of whom became close friends over the years, though that’s a story for another time.

A year or so after the move to Chicago, our new sci-fi friends invited my dad to a birthday party for a rising star of the local fandom, one Bruce Schneier. We certainly did not know Bruce or really anyone at the party, but it promised good food, friendly people, and probably filk. My role was to translate, as my dad spoke limited English at the time.

I had fallen desperately in love with secret codes and cryptography about a year before we left Ukraine. Walking into Bruce’s library during the house tour (this was a couple years before Applied Cryptography was published and he must have been deep in research) felt like walking into Narnia.

I promptly abandoned my dad to fend for himself as far as small talk and canapés were concerned, and proceeded to make a complete ass out of myself by brazenly asking the host for a few sheets of paper and a pencil. Having been obliged, I pulled a half dozen cryptography books from the shelves and went to work trying to copy down some answers to a few long-held questions on the library floor. After about two hours of scribbling alone like a man possessed, I ran out of paper and decided to temporarily rejoin the party.

On the living room table, Bruce had stacks of copies of his fanzine Ramblings. Thinking I could use the blank sides of the pages to take more notes, I grabbed a printout and was about to quietly return to copying the original S-box values for DES when my dad spotted me from across the room and demanded I help him socialize. The party wrapped soon, and our friends drove us home.

The printout I grabbed was not a Ramblings issue. It was a short essay by Bruce titled Sharing Secrets Among Friends, essentially a humorous explanation of Shamir Secret Sharing.

Say you want to make sure that something really really important and secret (a nuclear weapon launch code, a database encryption key, etc) cannot be known or used by a single (friendly) actor, but becomes available, if at least n people from a group of m choose to do it. Think two on-duty officers (from a cadre of say 5) turning keys together to get ready for a nuke launch.

The idea (proposed by Adi Shamir – the S of RSA! – in 1979) is as simple as it is beautiful.

Let’s call the secret we are trying to split among m people K.

First, create a totally random polynomial that looks like: y(x) = C0 * x^(n-1) + C1 * x^(n-2) + C2 * x^(n-3) ….+ K. “Create” here just means generate random coefficients C. Now, for every person in your trusted group of m, evaluate the polynomial for some randomly chosen Xm and hand them their corresponding (Xm,Ym) each.

If we have n of these points together, we can use Lagrange interpolating polynomial to reconstruct the coefficients – and evaluate the original polynomial at x=0, which conveniently gives us y(0) = K, the secret. Beautiful. I still had the printout with me, years later, in Palo Alto.

It should come as no surprise that during my time as CTO PayPal engineering had an absolute obsession with security. No firewall was one too many, no multi-factor authentication scheme too onerous, etc. Anything that was worth anything at all was encrypted at rest.

To decrypt, a service would get the needed data from its database table, transmit it to a special service named cryptoserv (an original SUN hardware running Solaris sitting on its own, especially tightly locked-down network) and a special service running only there would perform the decryption and send back the result.

Decryption request rate was monitored externally and on cryptoserv, and if there were too many requests, the whole thing was to shut down and purge any sensitive data and keys from its memory until manually restarted.

It was this manual restart that gnawed at me. At launch, a bunch of configuration files containing various critical decryption keys were read (decrypted by another key derived from one manually-entered passphrase) and loaded into the memory to perform future cryptographic services.

Four or five of us on the engineering team knew the passphrase and could restart cryptoserv if it crashed or simply had to have an upgrade. What if someone performed a little old-fashioned rubber-hose cryptanalysis and literally beat the passphrase out of one of us? The attacker could theoretically get access to these all-important master keys. Then stealing the encrypted-at-rest database of all our users’ secrets could prove useful – they could decrypt them in the comfort of their underground supervillain lair.

I needed to eliminate this threat.

Shamir Secret Sharing was the obvious choice – beautiful, simple, perfect (you can in fact prove that if done right, it offers perfect secrecy.) I decided on a 3-of-8 scheme and implemented it in pure POSIX C for portability over a few days, and tested it for several weeks on my Linux desktop with other engineers.

Step 1: generate the polynomial coefficients for 8 shard-holders.

Step 2: compute the key shards (x0, y0) through (x7, y7)

Step 3: get each shard-holder to enter a long, secure passphrase to encrypt the shard

Step 4: write out the 8 shard files, encrypted with their respective passphrases.

And to reconstruct:

Step 1: pick any 3 shard files.

Step 2: ask each of the respective owners to enter their passphrases.

Step 3: decrypt the shard files.

Step 4: reconstruct the polynomial, evaluate it for x=0 to get the key.

Step 5: launch cryptoserv with the key.

One design detail here is that each shard file also stored a message authentication code (a keyed hash) of its passphrase to make sure we could identify when someone mistyped their passphrase. These tests ran hundreds and hundreds of times, on both Linux and Solaris, to make sure I did not screw up some big/little-endianness issue, etc. It all worked perfectly.

A month or so later, the night of the key splitting party was upon us. We were finally going to close out the last vulnerability and be secure. Feeling as if I was about to turn my fellow shard-holders into cymeks, I gathered them around my desktop as PayPal’s front page began sporting the “We are down for maintenance and will be back soon” message around midnight.

The night before, I solemnly generated the new master key and securely copied it to cryptoserv. Now, while “Push It” by Salt-n-Pepa blared from someone’s desktop speakers, the automated deployment script copied shard files to their destination.

While each of us took turns carefully entering our elaborate passphrases at a specially selected keyboard, Paul shut down the main database and decrypted the payment credentials table, then ran the script to re-encrypt with the new key. Some minutes later, the database was running smoothly again, with the newly encrypted table, without incident.

All that was left was to restore the master key from its shards and launch the new, even more secure cryptographic service.

The three of us entered our passphrases… to be met with the error message I haven’t seen in weeks: “Sorry, one or more wrong passphrases. Can’t reconstruct the key. Goodbye.” Surely one of us screwed up typing, no big deal, we’ll do it again. No dice. No dice – again and again, even after we tried numerous combinations of the three people necessary to decrypt.

Minutes passed, confusion grew, tension rose rapidly.

There was nothing to do, except to hit rewind – to grab the master key from the file still sitting on cryptoserv, split it again, generate new shards, choose passphrases, and get it done. Not a great feeling to have your first launch go wrong, but not a huge deal either. It will all be OK in a minute or two.

A cursory look at the master key file date told me that no, it wouldn’t be OK at all. The file sitting on cryptoserv wasn’t from last night, it was created just a few minutes ago. During the Salt-n-Pepa-themed push from stage, we overwrote the master key file with the stage version. Whatever key that was, it wasn’t the one I generated the day before: only one copy existed, the one I copied to cryptoserv from my computer the night before. Zero copies existed now. Not only that, the push script appears to have also wiped out the backup of the old key, so the database backups we have encrypted with the old key are likely useless.

Sitrep: we have 8 shard files that we apparently cannot use to restore the master key and zero master key backups. The database is running but its secret data cannot be accessed.

I will leave it to your imagination to conjure up what was going through my head that night as I stared into the black screen willing the shards to work. After half a decade of trying to make something of myself (instead of just going to work for Microsoft or IBM after graduation) I had just destroyed my first successful startup in the most spectacular fashion.

Still, the idea of “what if we all just continuously screwed up our passphrases” swirled around my brain. It was an easy check to perform, thanks to the included MACs. I added a single printf() debug statement into the shard reconstruction code and instead of printing out a summary error of “one or more…” the code now showed if the passphrase entered matched the authentication code stored in the shard file.

I compiled the new code directly on cryptoserv in direct contravention of all reasonable security practices – what did I have to lose? Entering my own passphrase, I promptly got “bad passphrase” error I just added to the code. Well, that’s just great – I knew my passphrase was correct, I had it written down on a post-it note I had planned to rip up hours ago.

Another person, same error. Finally, the last person, JK, entered his passphrase. No error. The key still did not reconstruct correctly, I got the “Goodbye”, but something worked. I turned to the engineer and said, “what did you just type in that worked?”

After a second of embarrassed mumbling, he admitted to choosing “a$$word” as his passphrase. The gall! I asked everyone entrusted with the grave task of relaunching crytposerv to pick really hard to guess passphrases, and this guy…?! Still, this was something -- it worked. But why?!

I sprinted around the half-lit office grabbing the rest of the shard-holders demanding they tell me their passphrases. Everyone else had picked much lengthier passages of text and numbers. I manually tested each and none decrypted correctly. Except for the a$$word. What was it…

A lightning bolt hit me and I sprinted back to my own cubicle in the far corner, unlocked the screen and typed in “man getpass” on the command line, while logging into cryptoserv in another window and doing exactly the same thing there. I saw exactly what I needed to see.

Today, should you try to read up the programmer’s manual (AKA the man page) on getpass, you will find it has been long declared obsolete and replaced with a more intelligent alternative in nearly all flavors of modern Unix.

But back then, if you wanted to collect some information from the keyboard without printing what is being typed in onto the screen and remain POSIX-compliant, getpass did the trick. Other than a few standard file manipulation system calls, getpass was the only operating system service call I used, to ensure clean portability between Linux and Solaris.

Except it wasn’t completely clean.

Plain as day, there it was: the manual pages were identical, except Solaris had a “special feature”: any passphrase entered that was longer than 8 characters long was automatically reduced to that length anyway. (Who needs long passwords, amiright?!)

I screamed like a wounded animal. We generated the key on my Linux desktop and entered our novel-length passphrases right here. Attempting to restore them on a Solaris machine where they were being clipped down to 8 characters long would never work. Except, of course, for a$$word. That one was fine.

The rest was an exercise in high-speed coding and some entirely off-protocol file moving. We reconstructed the master key on my machine (all of our passphrases worked fine), copied the file to the Solaris-running cryptoserv, re-split it there (with very short passphrases), reconstructed it successfully, and PayPal was up and running again like nothing ever happened.

By the time our unsuspecting colleagues rolled back into the office I was starting to doze on the floor of my cubicle and that was that. When someone asked me later that day why we took so long to bring the site back up, I’d simply respond with “eh, shoulda RTFM.”

RTFM indeed.

P.S. A few hours later, John, our General Counsel, stopped by my cubicle to ask me something. The day before I apparently gave him a sealed envelope and asked him to store it in his safe for 24 hours without explaining myself. He wanted to know what to do with it now that 24 hours have passed.

Ha. I forgot all about it, but in a bout of “what if it doesn’t work” paranoia, I printed out the base64-encoded master key when we had generated it the night before, stuffed it into an envelope, and gave it to John for safekeeping. We shredded it together without opening and laughed about what would have never actually been a company-ending event.

P.P.S. If you are thinking of all the ways this whole SSS design is horribly insecure (it had some real flaws for sure) and plan to poke around PayPal to see if it might still be there, don’t. While it served us well for a few years, this was the very first thing eBay required us to turn off after the acquisition. Pretty sure it’s back to a single passphrase now.

Notes:

1: a member of Chicagoland sci-fi fan community let me know that the original news of our move to the US was delivered to them via a posted letter, snail mail, not FidoNet email!

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antimony-medusa · 3 months

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MCYT on Ao3 — January '24

The state of MCYT on Ao3, just for fun. Yes I do this every month, I like numbers. This time the period we're covering will include many holiday exchanges, so I'm excited to see if that's represented!

The Cube SMP (8 works)

Slamacow Minecraft Animations (Web Series) (10 works)

iDots SMP (23 works)

30 Day SMP | Free Trial SMP (27 works)

Legacy SMP (28 works)

Cogchamp SMP (29 works)

Content SMP (30 works)

Epic SMP (32 works)

Art of Survival SMP (36 works)

Dominion SMP (38 works)

Shady Oaks SMP (49 works)

X Life SMP (51 works)

100 Hours Hardcore SMP (54 works)

IvoryCello's Prison Escapes (Web Series) (56 works)

Bear SMP (60 works)

SadSMP (66 works)

My Inner Demons - Aphmau (Web Series) (67 works)

Mer SMP (82 works)

Area Unknown SMP (89 works)

Kaboodle SMP (91 works)

Tortillaland SMP (115 works)

House Builder Gang SMP | HBG SMP (135 works)

New Life SMP (169 works)

Slimecicle Cinematic Universe (Web Series) (174 works)

WitchCraft SMP (182 works)

Pirates SMP (213 works)

Rats SMP (234 works)

SMPLive (295 works)

SMPEarth (304 works)

Mianite (Web Series) (379 works)

Outsiders SMP (393 works)

Afterlife SMP (395 works)

MindCrack RPF (504 works)

MyStreet - Aphmau (Web Series) (543 works)

Evolution SMP (693 works)

Minecraft: Story Mode (Video Game) (824 works)

Karmaland SMP (842 works)

Fable SMP (1,012 works)

Lifesteal SMP (1,546 works)

Origins SMP (1575 works)

The Yogscast (3,215 works)

Empires SMP (6,408 works)

QSMP | Quackity SMP (7,375 works)

3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series (10,336 works)

Hermitcraft SMP (20,093 works)

Dream SMP (85,051 works)

Minecraft (Video Game) (110,119 works)

Video Blogging RPF (279,422 works)

Some notes:

No new tags that I saw this month, though as always I could have missed something! As you can see, we already have quite the assortment of canonized tags.

Fics are still primarily in english, but we have three exceptions with significant spanish fics. Karmaland (740 of 842 are in spanish, from 731 last month), Tortillaland (110 of 115 are in spanish, the same as last month), and QSMP (752 of 7,375 are in spanish, from 668 last month.)

QSMP also shows 39 fics in French, up from 30 last month, and 405 in Brasilian Portugese, up from 375 last month. While I did not check every language this month, I checked on the languages I knew had a fic in QSMP and we see 1 fic in ASL (probably a misclick as it appears to be in english), 1 fic in Bahasa Malaysia, 1 fic in German, 1 fic in Esperanto, 1 fic in Filipino, 5 works in European Portugese, 5 fics in Русский (Russian), 1 fic in Suomi (Finnish), 1 fic in Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), and 3 fics in 中文-普通话國語 (Mandarin Chinese, I believe), all the same as last month. New is two fics in Polski (Polish), one fic in Svenska (Swedish), and one fic in Dansk (Danish).

In the small and micro fandoms (under 200 fics), some of the most active small fandoms have grown out of this category so we only saw small amounts of growth. The standout fandoms all saw an increase of 6 works, and that was a tie between Content SMP, New Life SMP, and Witchcraft SMP. Note that Content SMP was coming up from only 24 works, so 6 new works is an increase of 25% of the fandom, truly impressive.

In the midsize fandoms (200-1000), Fable SMP has broken that 1000-fic mark and can no longer qualify for our standout fandom! Instead, our most active fandom was Evolution SMP, with 33 new works, followed by Mystreet with 20 fics and Minecraft: Story Mode with 24 fics. Mystreet and Story Mode are both new fandoms so it's unclear whether that's people retagging old work or true new fics.

For the post-canon big fandoms: Empires went up by 178 works, singificantly more than last month's 117, but not beating the previous month's 240, and Dream SMP's increase of 918 beat the previous month's 767, but is still only the second time I've seen this fandom fall under a thousand works plus a month. Hermitcraft is between seasons right now, but still experienced that holiday exchange boost, as its increase of 784 beat both last month's 574 and the previous month's 651. For active fandoms, traffic series posted a staggering 831 fics, which is its highest ever number, beating April 2023's 671 fics. QSMP saw 865 fics, which is part of a three month decline (894 last month, 913 the month before), but still posting numbers that are only exceeded by DSMP.

Overall, the number of fics posted under Video Blogging-RPF (the umbrella fandom that contains all MCYT) is 4,223 fics, a significant increase from last month's 3,489, and the previous month's 4,035, but still exceeded by October's record 4,702. Notably, it's higher than the summer numbers and almost exactly the same as the number we saw last January, 4,235 new works.

Detailed breakdown under the cut

The Cube SMP (8 works, 8 last month, 0-fic increase)

Slamacow Minecraft Animations (Web Series) (10 works, 10 last month, 0-fic increase)

iDots SMP (23 works, 22 last month, 1-fic increase)

30 Day SMP | Free Trial SMP (27 works, 27 last month, 0-fic increase)

Legacy SMP (28 works, 28 last month, 0-fic increase)

Cogchamp SMP (29 works, 29 last month, 0-fic increase)

Content SMP (30 works, 24 last month, 6-fic increase)

Epic SMP (32 works, 32 last month, 0-fic increase)

Art of Survival SMP (36 works, 36 last month, 0-fic increase)

Dominion SMP (38 works, 33 last month, 5-fic increase)

Shady Oaks SMP (49 works, 47 last month, 2-fic increase)

X Life SMP (51 works, 50 last month, 1-fic increase)

100 Hours Hardcore SMP (54 works, 54 last month, 0-fic increase)

IvoryCello's Prison Escapes (Web Series) (56 works, 54 last month, 2-fic increase)

Bear SMP (60 works, 59 last month, 1-fic increase)

SadSMP (66 works, 66 last month, 0-fic increase)

My Inner Demons - Aphmau (Web Series) (67 works, 64 last month, 3-fic increase)

Mer SMP (82 works, 80 last month, 2-fic increase)

Area Unknown SMP (89 works, 87 last month, 2-fic increase)

Kaboodle SMP (91 works, 87 last month, 4-fic increase)

Tortillaland SMP (115 works, 115 last month, 0-fic increase)

House Builder Gang SMP | HBG SMP (135 works, 134 last month, 1-fic increase)

New Life SMP (169 works, 163 last month, 6-fic increase)

Slimecicle Cinematic Universe (Web Series) (174 works, 169 last month, 5-fic increase)

WitchCraft SMP (182 works, 176 last month, 6-fic increase)

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#MCYT on Ao3 #Ao3 #stats #fandom stats #DSMP #QSMP #Hermitcraft #Trafficblr #qsmp

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qprstobin · 7 months

Text

It's interesting to me that the fandom looks at the "Steve Harrington isn't an asshole after all" line and 1) lords it as the first time Steve's gotten a compliment from a friend on screen and 2) that it's about Steve's growth as a character. Like I'm a Steve girlie don't get me wrong, that man is my pride and joy, but that line/exchange was very much about Eddie.

There's a whole layer of Eddie's story that fandom seems to love to ignore, in that the whole season he is grappling with the fact that the way he viewed the world (based largely on stereotypes and his viewpoint being the correct amount of nonconforming) is wrong. That's what the Munson Doctrine is all about. That preps act a certain way, that band geeks act a certain way, and that jocks act a certain way.

And he is finding out that this is wrong! That these people he judged as shallow his whole high school career and beyond are not actually as shallow as they appear! First it was Chrissy, then it was Steve and Nancy and even Robin!

And this isn't an insult lobbed at Eddie that he's uniquely ignorant lol. This is something all the teens (minus Argyle rip) go through when they get introduced to the Upside Down. Jonathan literally calls Nancy shallow and fake while defending the creep shots. Robin of course has her own "Mr. Cool Mr. Funny" speech about Steve in s3 and then later calls Nancy a priss. Nancy's is probably the most obvious because, yaknow, Barb

Like a key theme to the teens' Upside Down introduction arcs is that not only is their physical world being flipped on its head, but also that the petty shit that seems important isn't actually that important when your life is being threatened. Being introduced to the Upside Down very much also removes them from the main stream of high school life, and so even when they return to school they are not focused on the same social BS that they are before.

It really is nothing about Steve or Steve "changing". They don't know each other lol, I doubt either of them have given each other much thought before the kids joined Hellfire. But Eddie believed the world worked a certain way, and very much judged people for what their interests were and whether he considered them to be "conforming" or not. (Which, wasn't just about being a jock lol, he calls out the band kids and science kids before he even gets to the jocks and the partiers.) The Upside Down experience makes him realize that he is fitting people into boxes in the same way that he was protesting against.

It's actually really fun character growth, and a fun parallel I think to the other characters but especially s1 Steve. I really like it a lot and wish that fandom included it more in fics. It's wild to me that this aspect of Eddie's journey has just been completely dropped.

#i had other things to say but they sounded too much like bashing even tho i meant them with affection fdighdigjsd #i promise yall i love eddie i just hate fandom eddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things meta #stranger things #eddie #steve

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lathalea · 10 months

Text

Wild Strawberries

Moodboard by @linasofia 😍

Fandom: The Hobbit Relationships: Thorin x f!OC Warnings: smut, pure smut, so help me Mahal Rating: E (18+)

Summary: Several years after Erebor is reclaimed, Thorin decides to celebrate his beloved wife's birthday... and is very enthusiastic about it. A/N: This story is a birthday gift for @legolasbadass from Linasofia and yours truly. Once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LB! 🎉🎁🎈

You can find this fic on AO3.

Khuzdul: Bunnelê - my treasure of treasures

Leaving the northmost spur of the Lonely Mountain behind him, Thorin entered the forest at its foot. The lush, dark emerald sea of pine trees surrounded him; each of them at least as tall as two grown Men—their rapid growth being the result of the magic the elves of the Woodland Realm bestowed upon this land in exchange for goods only Erebor could provide them with. It was a bright summer day and the sun speckled the undergrowth of the forest with gold, as if someone scattered countless coins across it. A small smile curved up Thorin’s lips at the recollection of that very profitable agreement with the Elves and the role his clever wife played in hammering it out a couple of years ago. Anila… Ah, his sweet Anila and her talent of finding useful information in ancient tomes and musty treaties. Then, her cunning negotiation tactics side-blinded the Sylvan negotiator, driving every single clause home. The precedent she found—dating five hundred years ago—was instrumental in cornering the Elves and making them agree to their conditions. There was nothing better than the taste of flawless victory… especially if followed by a private but intense celebration that took place in his marital bed.

Taking in a deep breath, Thorin allowed himself to close his eyes and feel the tension leave his body. Being the king of a prosperous Dwarvish kingdom was a great privilege, but also a sizable burden; one that could have felt almost unbearable at times—if not for the assistance of his royal consort. Thank Mahal for the ancient tradition that required the king to take a wife. At first, this was to be an arranged marriage but one day spent in Anila’s company when they met for the first time, a year after Erebor was reclaimed, was enough for Thorin to know this would be an union of both hearts and minds.

Today was a special day: his wife’s birthday. Thorin’s most trusted companions and aides were working deep in the mountain, at the shore of the underground lake, preparing the celebrations for the evening: there were hundreds of candles to be lit and put onto minuscule boats that would float on the lake; countless flowers to decorate the caverns; dozens of dishes to be served, music and dances to be planned, and many other surprise attractions to be planned. Thorin’s task was to divert Anila’s attention until it was time for the celebrations—and diverting his lovely wife’s attention happened to be one of his favourite pastimes.

And so he found himself on the forest path, with a full picnic basket in his hand, on his way to Anila’s favourite hideout. From time to time, she would disappear with a thick roll of parchments and a quill and then return hours later with a mysterious smile on her face and ink-stained fingers. Thorin would take her hand into his, place an ardent kiss over her knuckles and ask what she had been up to. The smile on her delicious lips would widen, she would hide that roll of parchments behind her back, rise up on her tiptoes, peck his cheek, and murmur into his ear, “It is a secret of the state, my king.” The sultry tones in her voice would make his blood sing in his veins—that was a clear invitation to flirt, and with Anila, that game two of them played often ended with their clothes scattered all around, and them panting, their bodies entangled, in the most unusual places of the Mountain.

That was his Anila, an incandescent mix of fire and tenderness.

Today, she mysteriously disappeared before he woke, and now he was finally on her trail. He took a few more steps ahead among the brambles, careful not to make any noise, when he saw a familiar silhouette sitting on a blanket. It was Anila; her back was turned towards him, but he would recognize the dress she wore, one of her favourites, and the silky waves of her beautiful hair everywhere, dark as smoky quartz, the braids that adorned it, and the marriage beads with the sigil of his house he offered her over the marriage anvil on the day of their wedding. Her hair was side-swept to the right, uncovering the column of her neck, and Thorin licked his lips at the sight, wanting to press them against that smooth skin and taste it.

Later, he scolded himself. He was on a mission, after all.

After slowly placing the basket on the ground, he soundlessly kneeled inches behind her. Whatever Anila was doing, she was clearly focused, so much so that she did not notice his approach. Only when his hands covered her eyes from behind, she squeaked in surprise.

“Guess who…” Thorin murmured straight into her ear, his voice low and sensual. He was very much aware of the effect his voice had on her and he was determined to make a good use of it today.

“Thorin…! You scared me!” she chuckled, looking anything but frightened. Anila turned her face back towards him, taking his hands into hers and lowering them onto her lap. He still held her in an embrace and did not plan to let her go.

“Have I?” He lifted his eyebrow in amusement, moving his lips closer to hers. “May I remedy it somehow?”

Anila blinked, her eyes glittering with mirth.

“That would depend on the remedy, my king,” she offered.

He brushed his lips oh-so-lightly against hers. They were as soft as he remembered, and she smelled like those blue flowers he never remembered the name of, so sweet and innocent, like the break of a new day. When she held her breath as their lips joined for a few heartbeats, a sign that he had her full attention, Thorin deepened the kiss with as much tenderness as he could muster, his hand delving into her cascading hair, until he felt her body pressing against him in anticipation for more. A large part of him wanted to continue, coaxed by her dizzying closeness and that little sigh she gave, but he needed to follow his plan. It was his wife’s birthday and this day needed to be perfect—just like her.

He moved back slightly, giving her cheek a slight caress with his fingertips and trying to ignore the wave of arousal he felt looking at her slightly swollen lips, like fresh raspberries, her shining eyes, and her heaving bosom. She wore a green dress, one of her favourites, that happened to be one of his favourite garments of hers as well due to a generously revealing neckline. Mahal, this plan of his was more difficult to carry out than he thought. He was supposed to be the one offering distraction, not the other way around.

“I brought the remedy with me, my queen,” he hummed, placing the heavy basket between them and sitting down beside it. It contained the best delicacies the royal kitchens had to offer.

“A lunch?” she peeked under the colourfully embroidered piece of cloth that covered the basket. “It smells lovely.”

“I cannot allow my wife to starve, can I?” Thorin replied, taking in the way she looked at that moment—with a playful smile and golden specks of sun kissing her face, one of them dancing at the tip of her nose. He wondered whether his plan of having a romantic midday meal with his wife would be ruined if he was to kiss that very spot now.

“You are a very attentive husband. Let us eat, then!” Anila decided, putting away a stack of parchments from her lap to the side. Her fingers were stained with ink.

“May I ask what you were working on?” Thorin said, taking out all kinds of food from the basket. Freshly baked bread, three kinds of cheese straight from Dale, white radishes, a jar of honey, hazelnuts and a bottle of good wine from his private cellar.

“You may,” Anila reached for the bread. “But I will not tell you. Not yet, at least. It is not yet finished.”

“So it is as I feared. You are writing a memoir of our scandalous marriage,” Thorin crunched on a radish with gusto.

He adored making her laugh and the way her laughter found its way to her eyes.

“I doubt Erebor is ready for such a read,” she uttered between giggles. “Besides, technically speaking, the events pertaining to our marriage are a state secret and therefore cannot be made public.”

“Perhaps it is for the best. I do not think I would be happy if our whole kingdom would know of my wife’s talents,” he cast her a meaningful glance. “I would rather keep to myself the things you can do with your… ouch!”

A piece of bread hit him right in the middle of his chest as Anila cleared her throat loudly.

“... brilliant mind. I meant your brilliant mind!” Thorin explained, trying to make his words sound as sincere as he could.

“Truly? Is that what you are thinking about at this very moment?” she teased.

“What else? I am still in awe about the way you handled those envoys from Minas Tirith,” Thorin hoped he looked like an embodiment of innocence at the moment.

“Oh? Remind me?” Anila tilted her head and gracefully licked her honey-covered fingers. It made Thorin swallow hard. That vixen. She knew very well what she was doing to him, but he was going to be strong and so he continued this charade.

“That expression of shock on their faces when they understood they would be discussing matters of state with a woman! And the realisation that you completely outwitted them!” Thorin could not help himself but chuckle at the memory.

“Ah yes, I seem to remember something along these lines,” she admitted, lazily taking another bite of bread and looking into his eyes. A drop of honey landed on her shapely bosom, making Thorin lick his lips as it glistened in the sun.

“And so you should, bunnelê. You used their greatest weakness against them marvellously. I will never understand why the People of Men underestimate their women so,” he reached out to take her hand and placed a kiss on it. Not over the knuckles, oh no, his lips found the centre of her palm and pressed against her skin. She smelled like flowers in bloom and tasted like honey. Despite the food they ate, his hunger was far from satiated.

“Cultural differences, my love,” Anila replied, cupping his bearded jaw before freeing her hand from his. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her fingers brushing against his beard. “One of our greatest assets when dealing with Men.”

“Exactly as I said, brilliant mind,” he gave her a playful smirk that coaxed a silvery burst of laughter from Anila.

This atmosphere—and their mutual teasing—reigned throughout the whole meal, accompanied by the twittering of the forest birds and gentle rustling of trees. You are a lucky Dwarf, thought Thorin, enjoying the feeling of content, laying on his side, his body weight resting on his elbow as he admired the sight in front of him. A beautiful day spent with a companion who is not only beautiful but also smart… to the point of putting your willpower to a test with her merciless teasing. And she happens to be your wife. Just look at her, the way the summer breeze plays with her hair, the way she takes a sip of wine, her sensual lips wrapping over the edge of her cup, or the way her fingers seem to dance in the air as she explains something about that newest decree on mining safety. And the way she speaks your name, with so much feeling and softness in her eyes. Is she not perfect? The true queen of your heart?

Thorin would never put these thoughts into words, of course. His wife would surely think him ridiculously mawkish and overly sentimental. The king of the Khazad of the Lonely Mountain should be anything but ridiculous. The best course of action was to keep such maudlin thoughts to himself.

“I think a dessert is in order,” he decided after a few more moments of his reverie.

“A dessert? I feel so full, I do not think I can eat even a bit more,” Anila sighed.

Thorin simply said, “Wild strawberries.”

“What?” she gasped.

He placed a small woven basket in front of her, its contents covered with peppermint leaves.

“How…? This forest is too young for wild strawberries…” she whispered to herself, removing the leaves and seeing small, oblong ruby-red shapes laid out in layers. “They smell delicious. It has to be magic!”

“Try one and see for yourself,” Thorin gave her a triumphant smile. Surprising his wife was something he never had enough of. Perhaps it was also partially because of the enthusiastic way she showed their gratitude, but even a king could be self-indulgent from time to time, he decided.

“A rider from the Woodland Realm brought them at the break of dawn,” he divulged his secret, admiring the way his wife put one of the berries into her mouth. She closed her eyes and hummed approvingly.

“You asked King Thranduil for a handful of the first wild strawberries of the season?” she then asked.

“Aye.”

“And he agreed?”

“Aye.”

“And sent a messenger to you in the middle of the night?”

“As you can see,” he pointed at the berries in front of them.

“Are you truly telling me you had a peaceful conversation with Thranduil during which you agreed on something? Without shouting and cursing each other’s ancestors five generations back? I think I will go with the ‘magic’ explanation,” Anila shook her head, but Thorin noticed the sparks of laughter in her eyes.

“I did not say there was no shouting involved,” he humoured her.

“If you say so,” she chuckled and took another berry. “Mmmm… They are very sweet. Have you tasted them yet?”

Thorin shook his head.

Without a word, she put the berry into his mouth and let him close his lips over her lingering fingers a moment before she retreated them.

“Very sweet indeed,” he admitted, still feeling her caress against his skin. “Just like you.”

Now it was his turn to take a berry and offer it to Anila. Her lips opened a bit and she gently took it between her lips, the tip of her tongue brushing against his fingertips. A wave of heat passed through him, a multitude of thoughts flooded his mind, but not a single one of them was mawkish.

Before he had a chance to react, she put another berry into his mouth and sealed it with hers. A low purr escaped him when their lips met, her kiss even sweeter than the fruit, and he tasted her to his heart’s content. There was tenderness and gentleness in that kiss, but the song of her supple lips dancing against his spoke of fire kindling inside her—and in his mind, Thorin agreed that it was time for another kind of distraction. He covered her cheeks with a myriad of feather-light kisses, whispering words of adoration into her ear as her fingers ran through his hair, caressing his scalp, eliciting a groan of pleasure out of him. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, revelling in the way she responded to him, their bodies pressed against each other, their lips on fire. Then his lips traced a smooth trail along the line of her jaw, and found the way to her neck. Each of his kisses aimed at claiming her skin, every single inch of it. She tilted her head back invitingly and he continued his explorations, his lips finding the sensitive spot below her ear, and then adorning that place at the juncture of her neck and shoulder with kisses, precisely the way she liked it. When she rewarded him with a moan, he felt her body tremble in anticipation. Thorin was still hungry, hungry for her, even hungrier than before, and he refused to restrict himself any longer. Not on a day like this.

He lay her on the blanket, her eyes shining, her cheeks slightly flushed, the round peaks of her breasts rising and falling, her hair scattered around her head, glowing in the sun like a halo or richly veined marble, and he found himself in need of stealing yet another kiss.

“Anila,” he murmured, “you are breathtaking.”

She did not reply—busy with stealing a kiss from him this time and wrapping her arms around his neck—while his hand travelled down until he felt that round, supple softness under his palm and the warmth that seeped through the thin fabric of her gown. He played with the idea of simply ripping her bodice—her whole gown—apart and feasting on her naked body until dusk and beyond… and then wrapping her in his cloak and smuggling her back into the mountain for a long and eventful bath, the birthday celebrations be damned, but this tempting plan had to wait. Instead, he gave her breast a gentle squeeze and proceeded to undo the front of her bodice while his lips slipped down her neck and found the sweet spot on her left breast that tasted like honey.

“The High Council…” Anila gasped as his tongue swirled over her skin and then his lips closed over the spot again. “That meeting tomorrow… They will be scandalized when they see that hickey, my love…”

“We both know they will not say a word about it,” he chuckled. “Just as it happened last month, remember?”

“I forget what a clever strategist you are. Yes, I remember, Master Finulv was speechless, Balin pretended not to notice anything, and you could barely keep awake during that council meeting. That high collar doublet suited you very well, by the way,” she admitted, helping herself to the buttons of his tunic.

“It was my attempt at covering the proof of my wife’s fiery temperament,” he smirked, observing Anila’s nimble fingers at work. “I do not think I was successful. Master Bragi did not dare to lift his gaze from his notes even once.”

His wife’s only response was a chuckle just before she covered his lips with hers.

Among the kisses and caresses generously bestowed upon each other, among their whispers and sighs, they eagerly shed most of their clothes. Thorin gave out a satisfied hum, admiring Anila’s sun-speckled skin, the alluring curves of her body glowing as if imbued with the light of thousands of Ereborean diamonds. He was certain there were words that could describe this vision of ethereal beauty before him, but he could not find any.

“My king seems to be lost in thoughts,” he heard her say playfully. “Allow me to help you.”

Anila lowered herself in front of him and her hands started roaming his body, releasing him from his trousers. Her kisses burning a bold path on his lower abdomen, and he found himself unable to take his eyes off her; of her nimble fingers wrapping around his already hardened manhood; of her hair like silk between his fingers, of her lovely lips that closed over his tip, of her sultry gaze, of the soft heat he was delving into, of her palm that…

“Anila… Mahal…” His wife knew him so well and she knew exactly what would please him, but today was not about him. “Allow me to take care of you first.”

“I was under the impression that you were in the mood for dessert,” she looked up at him innocently, licking her lips. Vixen. Merciless vixen. And he wanted more of her.

“Oh yes, I do,” he smiled, moving towards her.

“A dessert…” she gave out a chuckle when his lips greedily closed over her nipple, lavishing it with attention. Between the gentle nibbles and soft kisses scattered over her rosy peaks, among her sighs and his praising murmurs, his hands painted devout patterns along her body, in an act of physical worship. Thorin did not wish to stop; he craved to cover all off her body with his kisses, to bedeck it with his caresses, to offer his queen endless ecstasy. He wanted to offer her as much pleasure as he could and revel in her rapture. Soon she was stretched beneath him, pleading for more, her fingers entangled with his hair as his tongue drew spirals around her navel, his lips covered the softness of her lower belly, his hands caressed the roundness of her hips.

When his kisses finally moved to her thighs, and his hot breath skimmed the mound between them, Anila whispered, “Have mercy...”

“What do you wish for, my queen?” He lifted his gaze to her face, her eyes hooded with pleasure, her lips slightly parted, her breathing fast, her fingers playing with her nipple. What a beguiling view it was.

“I want you to please me, Thorin,” she whispered, parting her legs slightly. This was the only invitation he needed.

“Your word is my command,” he replied. Settling himself between her legs, he cupped her bottom, enjoying its round firmness. It fit perfectly in his large hands and he lifted her slightly. Anila moaned in delight when he eagerly buried his mouth between her thighs, his beard brushing against them. She writhed beneath him as he showered her most intimate places with kisses and caresses that brought her the most pleasure. His tongue explored the folds of her womanhood. The taste of her arousal made him even harder than before, made him dizzy with desire for her, but that had to wait. Now he was intent on pleasing her this way and so his lips found the most sensitive point on her body, tenderly tugging on the silky bud, and then started sucking on it. He heard her whimpers, her incoherent mewling spurring him on, and he continued his ministrations, pleasing his queen.

He gripped her thighs firmly when his tongue sank rhythmically into her, evoking waves of elation, one after another, each of them stronger than the previous one. Thorin recognized the signs all too well, and he drove her further and further, among the heights of pleasure, bringing her closer towards the very peak of ecstasy with every caress. Purring into her flesh, he caressed her swollen nub with his thumb, feeling how she arched against him as waves of pleasure sent tremors of ecstasy through her body, and he relentlessly kept on taking her even higher until her blissful moans and praises echoed through the forest. He stopped only after Anila went completely limp beneath him, one of her hands letting go of the fistful of the blanket.

Thorin moved up towards her, pressing his lips to her shoulder, and then brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. Her eyes were shut, her face flushed, her long eyelashes casting small shadows on her cheeks, beads of sweat covering her forehead. His caress caused a small smile to bloom on her lips, but her eyelids remained closed.

“Is my queen pleased?”

“A little bit…” she muttered, smiling still. “But I wouldn’t mind a second… no, that would be a third course.”

“Insatiable woman,” he whispered teasingly, kissing her collarbone. His fingers busied themselves in lining out the shapes of her breasts and unhurriedly following the curves of her ribs. Then his tongue joined in, exploring new, exciting paths on her body, each of them punctuated by her moan. Mahal was a great architect indeed, creating such wonders as this woman beside him. Compared with the elegant lines of her body, he felt like a block of unhewn stone; and yet when she lay so close against him, it felt as if they were made from the same piece of rock. Perhaps the Creator put all of his energy into making Thorin’s life companion perfect and decided it was enough. In fact, she was more than he could ever hope for. Absent-mindedly, he took Anila’s hand into his and placed a tender kiss onto her wrist.

Anila gave out a content sigh and opened her eyes, oblivious to his thoughts.

“Insatiable? It is because you have spoiled me rotten,” she stated. Her hand found its way to the back of his neck, coaxing him closer to her, and when she closed the distance between their lips, he hummed approvingly. A new fire woke in her and there was hunger in her kiss, the same hunger that had been wreaking havoc through his body since the moment he saw her alone in this place. Her hip brushed against his erect member and he let out a low growl-like moan. Patience was not one of his virtues.

Anila found his hand and placed it over her breasts.

“Make love to me, Thorin,” the words were simple, but the timbre of her voice brought a much deeper meaning with them. And the desire in her eyes met with tenderness in her gaze.

“My queen,” he murmured, offering her an affectionate kiss, the softness of her lips giving him a promise he was eager to see fulfilled.

His kisses were careful, measured, and yet thorough, each of them aiming at telling her things he was unable to say with words. One of his hands caressed her body, eliciting sweet little sighs from her, until it found the secret trail that led his fingers to the treasure she hid between her legs. The moans that filled his ears in response to his feather-light caresses sounded like music.

“Is this to your liking, my queen?” he asked while his fingers explored her boldly, dancing in circles around all her sensitive spots and enticing even more moans from her. This, combined with feeling how aroused she still was, caused his manhood to throb even more in anticipation. He took a deep breath, trying to control himself.

“You know it is very much to my liking,” she admitted, bestowing a smile upon him. “But I need more.”

Thorin could not stop himself any longer. Taking his manhood in his hand, he growled with arousal, feeling her wetness against him. Anila tilted her hips, offering herself to him and he cast her a satisfied look, devouring her with his gaze. It was not long before he pressed his tip to the heat of her core. An unhurried thrust of his hips brought him home, his torments rewarded at last. He lowered himself over her and repeated the movement, studying her face as she bit her teeth into her lower lip.

“Yes, Thorin, more,” she whispered, taking deep breaths.

As he covered her body with his, Anila seemed so small under him, almost fragile, and yet she was perfect. He knew he needed to be gentle with her at first, and he did that gladly, anticipating the bliss that awaited them both. He could feel how snug she was around him, how an occasional tremble of pleasure came from deep within her as he carefully moved another inch forward.

As her body accommodated to his hardness, he gave another slow thrust, filling her completely. Her breath hitched and she welcomed him with a small cry of pleasure.

“My lovely, lovely Anila,” Thorin whispered, unmoving, his lips brushing against her forehead, his thumb running across her cheek. He knew his size was a challenge for her, but every single time she took him in with passionate eagerness that multiplied his arousal. “We fit so well together, do we not?”

“We do,” her melodic, dreamy voice reached him, her breath wafting against his sensitive earlobe. “I don’t think I will be able to let you go.”

With these teasing words, she wrapped her legs around him, lifting her hips slightly. That made him burrow himself even deeper into the dewy paradise of her womanhood.

“Then don’t,” he rasped out. “We can stay like this for as long as you like. Only say a word, my queen.”

“Then take all the time in the world with me,” she decided.

And so he did. With his movements slow and measured, his eyes remained on her face, revelling in the growing signs of ecstasy he noticed. Anila, his wife, his queen, deserved all he could give her—and more. Her first (or rather third) peak of ecstasy came soon, just after he changed the pace, murmuring seductive promises into her ear. Her lengthy moan rang out in the air as her body trembled with ecstasy. It took all of his resolve not to follow her over the edge at that very moment, but Thorin denied himself that pleasure. He was not finished with her, there was more he wanted to give. He paused, cradling her face in his hands, placing a tender kiss on her burning hot lips, waiting for her to recover, but Anila’s affectionate gaze once again rested on him as she asked for more.

Soon he found himself finding the perfect rhythm, sinking inside her for what seemed forever. As he drowned in Anila’s eyes, their moans intertwined, celebrating the union of their bodies. They were drifting away together on the sea of their shared passion. Every thrust was a promise of endless joy Thorin would offer her, every caress was imbued with his adoration, echoed by his whispers until they came together as one. She clung to him, responding to his every move, her nails sinking in his back, driving him forward, demanding more, and he gave it to her in a series of rapid thrusts, the waves of their bliss growing higher to finally wash over them in pure rapture.

***

“Happy birthday, sweet Anila,” he murmured as he rolled on his back, his arm wrapped around her, but she only hummed something incoherent in response and cuddled up closer to him under the clear blue sky above.

They remained in a sweet, languid embrace for an eternity—or perhaps minutes—Anila’s head resting on Thorin’s chest, her arm limp across his stomach, her hair scattered across his body, his nose full of her flowery scent. Their breaths evened out and the only sounds around them came from the birds in the trees and he found himself drifting off to sleep.

“Thorin…” Anila breathed into his skin after a longer while.

“Hmmm?” He opened one eye reluctantly.

“You are as wild as these berries,” she pointed towards the forgotten fruits, now scattered among the grass.

“Am I?” He hummed into her hair.

“I think I will have to personally thank King Thranduil for your fervour,” she replied with a smirk.

“Don’t you dare, wife… unless you’d like to be spanked,” Thorin protested.

She chuckled and he felt her hand travelling down his abdomen, “Is that a promise, my king?”

“Insatiable woman,” he managed to say before her lips stopped him from talking for a very long time. For perhaps all the time in the world.

💙 Read it? Like it? Spread the love and reblog it! 💙

📜 Searching for more stories to read? Check out my masterlist!📜

Do you like my writing? Would you like to read more? Feel free to show your support by having a Ko-fi with me! Thank you 💚

General taglist: @fizzyxcustard @shrimpsthings @dark-angel-is-back @sherala007 @amelia307 @anyaspidergirl-blog @jotink78 @rachel1959 @saltwater-in-the-afternoon @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @yourqueenunderthemountain @reblogunderthemountain @guardianofrivendell @elrawienthewhite @xmly-xo @mrsdurin @nelleedraws @beenovel @vee-vee-writes @mcchiberry @dumbassunderthemountain @errruvande @laurfilijames @emrfangirl @s0ftd3m0n @lilith15000 @kami-chan1512 @ragsweas @enchantzz @aduialel @myselfandfantasy @thewhiteladyofrohan @elliepie1226 @middleearthpixie @i-did-not-mean-to @blairsanne @fckmini @clumsy-wonderland @wormsmith @mailinsblogofstuff @medusas-hairband @xxbyimm @knittastically @saucyminxbrainspill @quiall321 @frosticenow @glassgulls @evenstaredits @sotwk @theblackdeath87 @the-fragile-heart-of-a-lady Please let me know if you'd like to be added/removed from the list. If your name is crossed out, it means that Tumblr doesn't allow me to tag you any longer.

#thorin oakenshield #the hobbit #fanfiction #thorin #richard armitage #thorin fic #thorin x oc #thorin x reader

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romirola · 9 months

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Balancing Act: A Redactedverse Fanfic (Chapter 1/18)

READ CHAPTER 1 OF BALANCING ACT ON AO3!

Summary:

Rating: T; WC: ~75K over 18 chapters

Note and Thank You Shoutouts: It’s here. It’s here! IT’S HERE! The Redactedverse power swap fic is finally here and ready to share with you all! I’ve been steadily working on this fic for months, barely able to contain myself as I shared the occasional snippet on Tumblr. I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to contribute this long labor of love to the fandom. Before I kick things off, I want to give some special shoutouts to the wonderful people who let me incorporate their creativity into this story: @claracatlady, for Bob, William’s spoiled ragdoll cat; @pinksparkl, for suggesting Anaia be a panther shifter; @floofdeloop, for Asher’s surname “O’Connell” and his parents’ names, Ciaran and Áine; @frenchiefitzhere, for use of the Dahlia Academy for Magical Novices Alma-Mater Song; @gwenifred , for use of the character, Dani; @palilious, for use of the character, Manu; @itsdaifuku for letting me adapt this art into a textual moment; and @pycth for Zephyr, Lasko’s and his partner’s pet blue jay. Check out their amazing work if you haven’t already. Another thank you to everyone who showed support and excitement for this story during my months of writing it. One last deep and heartfelt thank you to anyone who chooses to read this story. I truly hope you enjoy. As always, any and all feedback is welcome and encouraged.

As requested, I’m tagging @starlitangels, @shellssstuff, @thegoldenlittlerose, and @halscafe in posting updates of this story. Would you like to be alerted when Balancing Act is updated? Please let me know and I’ll be happy to add you to the list.

Looking for more info about this fic? Find a list of characters and tags at the above AO3 link or below the cut. Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to me! Ready to read? Then let’s go, because there is a lot of story to tell...

Characters: David, Angel, Asher, Babe, Milo, Sweetheart, Darling, Sam, Cutie, Huxley, Marie Greer, William Solaire, Starlight, Lasko, Damien, Geordi, Freelancer, Aaron, Gabe Shaw, Colm Greer, Aggro

Tags: Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Love, Support, Trust, Communication, Friendship, Fluff, Banter, Suspense, Action, Adventure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Guilt, Mates in Love, Relationship Growth, Memories, Healing, Character Growth, Happy Ending, Power Swap, Vernal Equinox, Exchange Ritual, Unempowered David, Shifter Angel, Smol-Wolf Asher, Vampire Babe, Big-Wolf Milo, Telepath Sweetheart, Unempowered Sam, Earth-Elemental Darling, D.U.M.P. is a Toxic Workplace, Vampire Discrimination, Negative Self-Talk, Consensual Trancing, Consensual Blood Drinking, Rival Pegasus Shifter Group, Mate Bond, Child Stealth, Magneto-Energetic Attack, Humor, Bonfire, All Listener Characters are Gender Neutral, Pack Anniversary Party, Pack Dynamics, Pack Bonding, Adult Language, Humor, Bonfire

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cfr749 · 16 days

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I still dont understand how you went from Lucy supporter to this nonsense. She is again just a vehicle for the man pain and you are celebrating it. Disappointed and disgusted

Welcome back, anon! First off, thanks for sending two rude messages so I can respond to one and use the other to block you 👋

To be clear, the only reason I’m giving this the the time of day is because I think the “man pain” issue is worth addressing.

I’m always open to talking about this show and issues with misogyny, representation, race, etc. Even with people I don’t completely agree with.

What I’m not gonna do is discuss it with someone who can’t converse like a rational adult and finds joy in sending toxic, judgmental anonymous messages, so this little exchange of ours is over after this.

I am so sorry that my feelings about the show don’t line up exactly with what you want them to be. Sounds like you have some pretty strong feelings of your own though, so here’s an idea 💡 : post them on your own blog!

Shockingly, I’m capable of considering that there might be multiple perspectives on specific decisions the show makes. And that more than one of them can be valid at the same time!

I completely get how this could be viewed as growth for Tim at Lucy’s expense. I agree that sucks. I’ve posted multiple times that I will be LIVID if Lucy doesn’t actually end up with any type of storyline of her own or character development resulting from all the shit they put her through, and just ends up as a supporting character in another Tim-centric SL.

But, I can feel that way and also have other opinions all at the same time:

- I am glad they let Tim be the flawed human instead of the victim.

- I’m glad they didn’t villify Lucy in the breakup because god knows how quickly this fandom would tear her to pieces if she ever did to Tim what Tim just did to her.

- After years of Lucy doing barely anything on screen other than the odd UC op and propping up storylines for Tim and Chenford, I’m glad her character is 3-dimensional again both in the relationship and outside of it.

- I am heartbroken over the break up. I can’t watch the scene without bawling my eyes out. I feel nauseous thinking about it. But I am also glad they now have another chance to get it right this time for Chenford. Specifically because I love Lucy. Because I feel like she deserved so much better than what she got the first time.

- I’d love to see Tim value her and fight for her instead of just having her drop everything on a dime for him bc he deigned to look her direction after getting dumped by his girlfriend.

- I’d love to see him deal with all his unresolved baggage and realize what a complete and total idiot he is for throwing away what they had.

- And I’d love to see Lucy [continue to] recognize her own worth and thrive in the meantime. I am SO proud of who she’s been this season. And I hope she becomes even stronger and more sure of herself.

- I hope she recognizes she deserves so much better than what Tim gave her and that his decision has nothing to do with her worth (even if it feels like that at first), and I hope she *demands* better from him before even considering taking him back.

I’m not psychic. I don’t know what they have planned for the rest of the season (and no, I’m not gonna jump to conclusions off of a few vague interviews either). Maybe I’ll love it; maybe I’ll hate it. We’ll see.

Either way, I’m clear that’s it’s still just a TV show and that these are fictional characters. Are you?

#Chenford #the rookie #go touch some grass anon #but get off my lawn first #my asks #see lana ramble

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nottheweirdest · 1 year

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Fanfic Writer 2022 Wrapped Ask Game

🤩 What's your favorite fic you posted this year?

🎉 Where have you noticed the most growth in your writing?

✍ How many words have you posted this year? How many words did you write?

🎵 What was the #1 song you had playing while writing? What fic was it for?

😅 Did anyone new find out you write fanfic? Or do you share that information openly?

✨ What was your most popular fic?

💖 Was there a comment or another piece of feedback that made you feel all the warm and fuzzies?

📚 How many wips are you taking into 2023?

👀 What are the top three tags that dominated your fics this year?

🥳 What writing accomplishment made you most proud?

📈 Were there any recurring trends in your writing? Common themes, tropes, etc.

😮 What surprised you this year? Was it reception to a certain fic? A direction change in one of your stories?

🤯 What's the coolest thing you learned researching for a fic?

💥 What held you back this year? Burnout? Writers block? Something else?

🙌 What character did you champion or channel most in your writing?

👹 Did you have to deal with any trolls? (Sorry if you did. Don't listen to them. You're awesome! 💙)

🧮 How many fics did you post?

😥 Is there a fic you wished would have received more attention?

😍 What's one of your favorite lines or exchanges you wrote this year?

💪 What ship gave you the most brainrot this year?

🧐 What genre dominated your 2022 fics? Romance, adventure, angst, etc.?

🏆 What kept you motivated?

👾 Ruh roh. Your FBI agent just took a peek at your internet search history. What kinds of things will they find?

😩 Are there any ideas or fics you scrapped?

🎭 Did you do something new this year? Write for a new fandom, in a new POV, new ship?

🎆 What are you most excited to work on or share in 2023?

#fanfic writer ask game #ask game #fanfiction #ao3 #fanfic writer wrapped #I did this instead of writing 😅

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shipmistress9 · 4 months

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Some Things Will Never Change

Fandom: Fourth Wing -- The Empyrean

Pairing: Xaden/Violet -- Riorgail

Rating: Teen

Summary: Just a soft morning, years after the events of the books.

. o O o .

It’s early morning as I stand at the large window in our living room and gaze out at the land around us, a hot mug of coffee warming my hands. Soft grass-covered hills with dew glistening in the morning sunlight, broken apart by rough cliffs. To the left, I can just see the entrance to the cave our dragons live in, and in the distance, the wide ocean is beckoning, the sound of the waves sometimes audible even from up here. It’s beautiful, and even after all these years, I’m still stunned that we made it this far.

I feel Xaden behind me even before his hands wrap around my waist, his warmth against my back, and he lowers his head to place a soft kiss to where my neck and shoulder meet.

“Morning, love of my life.”

I chuckle, both at his words and at the way his sleep-rough voice sends a shiver down my spine, setting my body alight in an instance. How does he still do that?

“Morning,” I hum back at him, tilting my head to give him better access. My eyes flutter shut as he trails a path of kisses up my neck, lingering on that spot at the side of my throat that aways makes my knees go weak before moving further, his breath tickling behind my ear. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

Xaden grunts in affirmation, but I don’t think he meant the view. I’m not sure I did, either. I lean back against his chest, all but melting against him as his hands roam up my sides and I turn my head to seek his lips with mine. It’s a slow kiss, full of emotions and tenderness. It’ll change soon, I know it, but for the moment it is everything I ever wanted, this closeness, the assurance that there will always be a ‘we’, that until the end of our days, we won’t be separated.

His hands tighten, the emotions overflowing through our bond. It’s nearly enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I lift my hand to bury my fingers in his soft hair, to hold him close, to feel as our lips part, our tongues meeting in that dance they know all too well.

“Urgh, really? Before breakfast? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Xaden’s lips twitch into a grin, mirrored by my own, before we part and look over at where Liam just left his bedroom. At now twelve years old and after his latest growth spurt, he looks exactly like a younger—and much lankier—version of Xaden. Well, except for the eyes. Those, he got from me, and when he’s happy, the blue in them outshines the brown, as if his name-sake is smiling back at us through our son.

“Of course, before breakfast,” Lilith pipes up at her older brother from behind him, yawning as she rubs her eyes. “Didn’t you get used to that by now?” She trudges over into the kitchen, strands of her long brown hair sticking in every direction from where they escaped her messy night braid.

Liam grunts and rolls his eyes, following her to help set the table. “You’d think they eventually get past that stage,” he grumbles.

“Evidently not,” Lilith says in her currently standard know-it-all tone, sounding a little exasperated.”

I can’t help but smile, at their exchange but also at how Xaden’s hands move down to curl around my round belly. “He’s right, you know?” I turn in Xaden’s arms, my hands resting on his chest. “You’d think we eventually get past this stage…” This stage where all I can see and think about is him, where everything else stops existing the moments he enters a room. Where my heart and soul belong to him, entirely, irrevocably, forever.

And of course, it changed. Our two—soon three—children hold an equal share of our affection. And yet…

“I hope it never changes,” Xaden purrs into my mind, his lips finding mine again. “This craziness between us. The fire. I never want it to end.”

I chuckle. “Same…”

“Besides,” he mumbles against my lips, his arms holding me close. “I told you so the first night we spent together, and so many times since then. I’ll never get enough of you.”

. o O o .

AN: I was in dire need of some fluff. Hope someone enjoys. 😊

**Inspired by a comment from my own 12yo 😆**

#Riorgail #violet sorrengail #xaden riorson #fanfiction #fluff #iron flame spoilers #fourth wing #iron flame #rebecca yarros #the empyrean

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starrierknight · 5 months

Note

What do you think of fanon Gojo/Megumi being presented as dad/son and canon Gojo/Megumi being presented as benefactor/student and Gojo saying he could kill Megumi because he looked like Toji and everything? What's your opinion on how Gege writes them?

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐒 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

— 𝐠. 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮 & 𝐟. 𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐢

"Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb."

HOW DO YOU VIEW GOJO & MEGUMI?

wc— 1.6k

tags/cws— major manga spoilers, death mentioned, Getou's cult mentioned, proofreading is for the weak lol

FATHER/SON DYNAMIC

Why it appeals to the fandom (the desire for fanon dynamics)

Found family in JJK

Why it appeals to the fandom

Narrative Potential: The father/son dynamic often comes with built-in narrative potential. It can be used to explore character growth, conflicts, and resolutions, providing opportunities for interesting and engaging story arcs in fanfiction.

Protective Instincts: Fans may enjoy the idea of Gojo taking on a protective and guiding role in Megumi's life, especially given the dangers and challenges the characters face in the world of JJK. This can evoke feelings of warmth and support in the fanbase.

Fan Creativity: Fandom often involves creative expression, and fans may enjoy exploring and expanding upon the relationships between characters through fanfiction, fan art, and other fan-created content. The father/son dynamic can serve as a rich source of inspiration for creative works—especially for those who enjoy the 'found family' trope.

Sense of Belonging: Fans sometimes enjoy the sense of belonging and community that comes with shared interpretations of characters and relationships. A significant portion of the fanbase embraces the idea of a father/son dynamic between Megumi and Gojo, so it can contribute to a sense of shared enthusiasm and connection among fans.

It's worth noting that these interpretations are fan-driven and not necessarily reflective of the creator's original intentions. The beauty of fandom lies in the diverse ways individuals engage with and interpret the source material.

Found family in JJK

Arguably one of the most major thematic features that Gege explores in JJK is the idea of "family". While I could make a completely separate post and write essays on this subject, we’re here to talk about found family specifically. Let’s look at three examples:

Itadori and Todo: While Todo’s affection for Itadori may have a scantly accurate origin (as it is revealed that Todo’s mind created some false memories of shared time between them during middle school), it is undeniably true that both characters share a strong bond. Todo is more boisterous and unconventional, while Itadori is pragmatic and initially sceptical of Todo's methods. Their friendship evolves despite these differences, echoing the found family trope where individuals with diverse backgrounds find a strong connection.

During Todo and Itadori’s fight with Hanami during the Kyoto Sister-School Exchange Event Arc, we repeatedly see Todo refer to Itadori as “my brother” (<- at least the VA does in the anime, from what I remember) and his “best friend” until Itadori eventually adopts these, too. Both characters learn to adapt to the other as they fight, and comfortably find a rhythm to fight against Hanami with—yes, both are skilled fighters, but is unlikely that they could fight so seamlessly together unless there was some deeper connection.

Additionally, during Itadori and Todo’s fight against Mahito during the Shibuya Arc, we see that Todo carries a locket on his person with his favourite idol photographed on one side, and on the other, Itadori. His two favourite people. Cute.

Getou, Nanako, and Mimiko: These three are probably the clearest example of found family in JJK. After massacrering a village of non-sorcerers and sparing Mimiko and Nanako, Getou adopts them into his “family” (his cult) and treats both girls like his adopted daughters. Nanako and Mimiko are the first members of Getou’s “family” that we see he chooses after rejecting (and murdering) his parents.

Long after Getou has passed, we still see his cult honouring his “family legacy” during the Shibuya Arc. The girls even attempt to bargain with Sukuna after he was re-possesed Itadori’s body to kill Kenjaku—they are enraged that Getou’s body is being puppeted about by Kenjaku. To try and attempt bargaining with Sukuna, The King of Curses, is a clear example of how dearly the girls were devoted to Getou—even if their “family” was fucked up.

Fun fact! Gege has referred to him as "Papa Getou" on several occasions.

Tsumiki and Megumi: The most overlooked example of found family by the fandom, by far. In elementary school, their parents disappeared without a trace, leaving the two children to look after themselves. We’re shown in flashbacks that Tsumiki and Megumi attended the same middle school, where she often scolded Megumi for getting into fights—she even throws her milk box at his head, which is peak big-sister behaviour lol.

At such young ages, both children were left by their parents to care for one another while Gojo acted as Megumi’s benefactor—on the condition that Megumi would do what he could to become strong and then attend Jujutsu Tech to become a sorcerer, once of age. Megumi did not accept this proposition because he respected Gojo or trusted Gojo as an “adult” figure, but only because he was assured that Tsumiki would be miserable if the alternative were to happen—that is, if he were adopted by the Zen’in Clan.

It’s important to distinguish that Megumi did not seek the company, reassurance, or protection of an adult (like Gojo—if we can even call Gojo that, in this instance) because he had been disappointed and abandoned by adults so many times in the past. His priority was Tsumiki and her happiness—regardless of his own personal cost, even safety. Gojo was likely to be viewed by Megumi, at such a young age, as more of a business partner who only later grows in to a mentor figure.

BENEFACTOR/STUDENT

Why the father/son dynamic and found family trope do not apply to Gojo and Megumi

The issues with applying the father/son dynamic and found family trope to Gojo and Megumi

How should we view them?

Why the father/son dynamic and found family trope do not apply to Gojo and Megumi

From what I have gathered, there are two main reasons:

Megumi does not want to rely on adults: Whether it be for the sake of Tsumiki’s happiness or otherwise, Megumi wants to be self-sufficient and strong enough by himself that he can secure a future he wants. Naturally, he cannot do this by himself, so he begrudgingly learns how—even learning in the future that he can rely on his classmates.

The key difference is that Megumi chooses these people with great care. Megumi, by force of circumstance, agrees to Gojo’s deal; Megumi, by force of will, agrees to let Gojo mentor him and looks to him for guidance, acknowledging that he does need Gojo’s help—but he does not choose Gojo.

Far too much has happened to Megumi for him to choose Gojo.

Gojo primarily sees Megumi as raw potential: Having just successfully fought Toji after nearly being killed by him, Gojo’s interest in Megumi likely lies in a few places. How strong would the child of Fushiguro Toji be? What could make that child stronger?

Speaking purely in terms of clan politics, in Gojo’s position it would understandably be the most beneficial to have the child of someone so strong on his side, rather than as an opponent. If Megumi was taken in by the Zen’in Clan—who do not get along with the Gojo Clan because of some shared history*—Gojo and his clan could have potentially been under some threat. It’s better to have the insurance rather than risk.

*A Ten Shadows user from the Zen’in and a sorcerer with the Six Eyes + Limitless fought and both were killed by the other

Gojo’s main interest is strength, and using strength to define a future he wants—that is, a future where Jujutsu Society is no longer dictated by corrupt, conservative Higher-Ups. Having just been radicalised by Amanai’s death and Getou’s defection, Gojo is left with a substantial loss of allies that he desperately needs. Megumi, in a way, is a blessing of a solution for Gojo at this point in the story. Megumi has the potential to help shape a future that Gojo wants to live in.

The issues with applying the father/son dynamic and found family trope to Gojo and Megumi

It overlooks the family that Megumi does have: More often than not, it very easily brushes past why Toji would leave Mehumi behind and how Tsumiki was left to watch over him. Tsumiki was the primary nurturing force, and Megumi’s kindness is likely to have been taken from her set example.

It (often, not always) mischaracterises Gojo: Gojo is not a warm, nurturing figure in the slightest. He’s cheerful, humorous, but not nurturing. Gojo, for better or worse, casts the Jujutsu World in its most harsh light—strength, survival, and death.

“You die alone.”

There’s more than one way to interpret this:

You die and no one will be sharing your death with you, regardless of how much you loved them or how hard you fought or who you are. There is nothing you can do to change this.

You die and you won’t be there for those you loved. You leave them behind, and they can no longer reach you.

You die and it means that you were never strong enough to protect the ones you loved, because you couldn’t fight alone. The fight, in your case, was just a slow death. You were always weaker, you were always going to die weaker.

You die because you were never strong enough to stand by your loved ones. You needed shielding, and you hid your own weakness behind them. Your weakness is your isolation, your death.

There is no sentimentality. Gojo sees and tells it like it is, regardless of where that leaves Megumi.

How should we view them?

There is no set way! With the best will in the world, we can all read the same manga panels and take in the same empirical information, and come to very different conclusions and interpretations. I would always suggest gathering as much evidence and justification to support your reasoning, though. If not because you like to debate, but rather to fully understand how and why you came to the conclusion/s you did.

There's no harm in changing your mind or liking more than one way of interpreting their character dynamic.

A/N: If you've read all of my word vomit, then wow. Bravo LMAOOO. I hope you enjoyed my two cents.

#[ ✉ ] — reece's mail #[ ⌕ ] — reece's lectures #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk gojo #jjk megumi #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #megumi fushiguro #fushiguro megumi #jjk manga #jjk anime

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