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villa-kulla · 3 years

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Fic Writer Review

Tagged by @fontainebleau22, thanks for the tag, sorry for the delay!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

26 at the moment.

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

722 309. I’d have thought it would be more considering how long some of mine seem to get, although looking at other people’s answers to this meme, I guess 26 isn’t really a huge number!

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

My first fic ever was a little Lord of the Rings experiment for an exchange thing. But my first proper dip into writing for a fandom would have been Breaking Bad, where I wrote for a couple of years before it felt like my ideas had run their course. Then there was a Kingsman fic, and then Mag7 where - similarly to BrBa - wrote feverishly for a couple years until it felt like the well had been plumbed. Oh yeah and then jumped into the Marvel fandom to drop one Marvel fic before immediately jumping back out lol.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

So the Marvel fic has officially just become my most kudoed fic, which is kind of hilarious considering it was a SUEZ! CANAL! FIC! But in my opinion, a good one lol. So yeah, it would be 1. The SamBucky Suez Canal fic, 2. The Kingsman soccer AU, 3. Desert Sand, 4. Chisolm’s 7, and 5. Blue Devils. That last one surprises me, but I guess it was an early one for the fandom, so I think it became an automatic read.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not

I do! It’s possible I’ve missed some here and there, but generally I try to get them all.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t think any of them! While my fics definitely include angst, ideally it’s still in a fun way, or at minimum, bittersweet? I don’t generally want the last taste in a reader’s mouth to be angst. ALTHOUGH. I really really wanted to include an epilogue to the selkie fic that’s kind of angsty. Basically the story would end, but then many years later we’d see an old man get off a bus on the coastal road, carrying a suitcase. He’d be wearing a suit, clearly back from many years travelling. He’d walk to the coast, back over a hill where there’d once been a little fishing cottage, long since torn down. He’d walk down to the beach and into a little cove where he’d kneel by the water he knew better than anyone. Opening the suitcase he’d take out a box which he’d then empty into the ocean, ashes spreading across the water. He’d take out a folded bundle of cloth and wrap it around his shoulders. Then he’d dive into the water, disappearing into the waves, leaving nothing but an empty suitcase behind him, and a folded pile of clothes.

I loved that ending but I’m still not 100% sure if it was keeping in tone with the actual ending, so I left it out. Maybe one day I’ll go and add it as en extra chapter snippet.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t know if I’d call them ‘crossovers’ exactly, although I did stick Goody and Billy into a Some Like it Hot ‘jazz band on a train’ situation, and I also did a Breaking Bad one that used some elements of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Those feel more like ‘AUs’ though. I like situational crossovers, but I’ve never been super into fics where characters from different fandoms actually interact.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Thankfully not. The most off-putting comment I’ve gotten was someone who - despite being very complimentary - decided to make a full-on laundry list all the anachronisms in a chapter lmao, like what. Stuff like "interesting that this character used this expression when XYZ would only been invented 10 years later!” etc. I’m positive they didn’t realize how it came off, but still, that was kind of hilarious in its.....obliviousness lol. It was special.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do. And I guess I’ve done the full spectrum of ‘fade to black’ to ‘describe every bead of sweat in pearlescent detail’. It really depends on what the fic calls for! I’ve done some I’m quite proud of tbh, but there are others I’d like to go back and have another stab at, just because they felt kinda cookie-cutter.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

There’ve been a couple! I can’t remember which ones specially, but I had some people asking to translate some Breaking Bad ones, and I think a Mag7 one too. I remember someone messaging to ask permission like “We love your fics in Russia!” and that was a very sweet and wild thing to hear.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, I wrote one with @yoporkchopsandwiches! Our Victorian opium dens Breaking Bad AU lol. I was just thinking of that recently actually and remembering how fun it was to read what the other wrote! We plotted out most of it together, and then took turns writing chapters or scenes. But of course while writing you come up with other details or ideas, so we’d then present the new chapter to the other with all the new bits added. And it was so fun to read what the other came up with like ‘omg no way didn’t see that coming/good idea!’ and then picking up their idea from there. In that sense it was almost like improv but for writers.

13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

That I’ve written? I think I’ve had the most fun with Goodnight/Billy, partly for the time period, partly for the dynamic, but mostly for the plausibility. While I really enjoyed writing BrBa, it felt more like it came from enthusiasm for the show, not the central ship lol. Don’t get me wrong, the chemistry and its potential was extremely fun to write in a fic setting, but I don’t find I actually shipped it while watching the show itself. Whereas it’s been nice with Mag7 to write for a ship that’s actually....more believable lol.

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Ugh I can’t beLIEVE I have an unfinished fic up on ao3 lol it haunts me. I was sure I was done with Goodnight/Billy, and then early quarantine last year I had a train robbers AU idea, so I posted a couple chapters. But I don’t think my heart was super in it, I was more just messing around with the idea. I don’t want to delete it, but I’m also not super motivated to finish it haha, but we’ll see what happens. But tbh I like the poem summary better than the fic itself:P

15. What are your writing strengths?

Plotting, keeping things moving, and making stories feel visual maybe? They’re almost all movies in my head anyways, so I think I have good instincts for ‘cinematic moments’.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I think I’m a little lazy, and also ‘end-product oriented’. In some ways it’s helpful to picture the whole fic before you write it, but sometimes it results in some scenes feeling slightly slapdash because I’m just trying to get them out to move onto the next. Like ‘everyone did everything I wanted to in this scene? Great, next.’ I could stand to ‘stop and smell the roses’ more while I write, and actually see what else I can do to improve a scene.

(also if I use a word once it sticks in my head I end up using it like 5 other times in a scene and don’t notice lol, I need to stop that)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

All for it! Depends how it’s done though. I personally find long scenes of dialogue where you have to constantly jump down to the author’s notes for the translations to be distracting. I like when it’s integrated more naturally where actual translations aren’t super important. Like in River Grit, Billy overhears this little exchange between Goodnight and his childhood nanny:

“Ah c’est vrai, mon petit Bonsoir! J’en peux pas le croire!” she cried out and laughed as she embraced Goody. Billy realized with a start that he actually recognized one of the words: ‘Bonsoir’. Goodnight. (insert brief flashback of Goody teaching him the nickname) / “Ma Serafine,” Goodnight said with a laugh. “C’est vrai que tu ne vieillis pas. Tu vas me rendre jaloux, heh?” / Billy had no idea what Goodnight was saying, but he sure as hell recognized Goodnight’s tone for flattery, and it was confirmed when the old woman laughed and smacked his arm.

What they’re actually saying is: “Oh it’s true, my little Goodnight! I can’t believe it!” / “My Serafine, it’s true you never age. You’re going to make me jealous”. But it doesn’t matter because this fic is from Billy’s POV so it’s about how he experiences the language around him, which is why I wouldn’t have included a translation for the reader. If you understand it then it’s a bonus, but the words themselves aren’t really the point!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

That lil Lord of the Rings fic.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmm for Mag7 I’ve always liked River Grit and love how it turned out. I also think Ashes feels very complete as a fic and I liked the flashback format. And while it’s not my favourite fic, in hindsight I’m impressed with the Kingsman football fic and how I had to write about 5 different soccer games and make them all feel different and exciting, and not just some variation of ‘He kicked the ball!’ I’m really pleased with how those sequences all turned out.

La fin! Not tagging anyone this time, but please feel free to do this if you see it! I love when people just take initiative to do these things without waiting for a tag (also please tag me in it if you do, ‘cause I love reading these things lol)

#shares #fontainebleau22

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obsidianarchives · 5 years

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Black Wizard History Month 2019 Round Table

Every February at Black Girls Create we celebrate Black Wizard History Month, a celebration of the Black characters of Harry Potter, Black Potterheads in fandom, and magical Black folks everywhere. This year our month-long turn up included live tweets, a live show of our #WizardTeam podcast, and fanfiction hosted through our Hogwarts BSU project.

Fanfiction is a large part of fandom, and in many cases can be a place for marginalized fans to see and write themselves into the stories they love. Hogwarts BSU is a project specifically for Black writers and artists to write stories centered around Black characters, history, and magic in the wizarding world. As a way to wrap up a jam-packed month, we decided to host a round table with a few of the writers of the pieces that came out during this year’s Black Wizard History Month.

How did you get into Harry Potter?

Bianca Ramos: When I was in 7th grade, my younger cousin was assigned books 1-3 in school. It was during the conservative Christian outrage and my family asked me to pre-read them for him since I was a "reader." I knocked them out quickly and was hooked.

Delia Gallegos: Growing up, the books always peaked my interest in the library, even though I was only 5 or 6 years old. Our household was pretty religious, so my mom was wary about letting me read them. One summer, my cousin lent me Sorcerer’s Stone while we were at my grandma’s. I only got a chapter in but I knew I HAD to read it. After a lot of begging on my part, my mom relented and agreed to let me read it under the condition that she could read the first one out loud to me. The rest was history!

Constance Gibbs: I started reading Harry Potter when I was in sixth grade and someone was reading Chamber of Secrets. I can’t remember if I read that one first or if I went to Sorcerer’s Stone, but I read all three that were out at the time and had my grandma take me to pre-order Goblet of Fire, which was about to come out. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Porshèa Patterson: In 6th grade, my then-bestie told me about the series but had already lent the first book out. That summer I picked up the books from the library after learning I'd never see this bestie again due to me changing schools. Thus, Harry Potter became my new best friend.

Have you read fanfiction before? What draws you to it? Or what kept you away from it?

Bianca: I didn't read fanfiction before getting into everything going on here at Black Girls Create. I don't know why. I guess I just never found myself on that side of the internet. Now I think I’m more open to it.

Delia: I’m a long-time fanfiction reader. I first started after the 5th book came out. At the time, it was just a matter of Harry Potter sparking my imagination and there being no material to satisfy it. So, I turned to the internet. Now, engaging with Harry Potter and the fandom in a creative way is almost second nature to me.

Connie: I didn’t start reading Harry Potter fanfiction until sometime after the series was over because I didn’t want to spoil the series as it was coming out. I think I tried in 2007, when the series first ended, but it didn’t stick. But a few years later, I read a few post-series stories. Usually shippery ones involving Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione, but I went through a big Lily/James Marauders Era phase and I occasionally read Remus/Tonks. For the romantic stories, as we discuss on #WizardTeam often, there wasn’t a lot in the text, so it’s nice to see others’ varying but often similar interpretations on how the canon relationships could have gone with more effort put into developing them. Plus I’m a fuzzy Hufflepuff.

Porshèa: I'd started reading fanfic during the lapse between books 4 and 5, began integrating them into canon thanks to some very vivid dreams, then promptly stopped reading because there were too many books to go for me to have those problems.

What made you want to start writing fanfiction?

Bianca: I was inspired by revisiting Harry Potter through #Wizard Team, by the short stories on the site, and the complete gas up I received when I shared my ideas in the Slack. The team is a wonderful place to bounce around ideas and everyone is really supportive.

Delia: I was really young (probably too young, admittedly) when I started reading fanfiction. I started writing it on a whim. It was very much, “Hey I want to do that, too!” so I did. Being that young, you really don’t care that you don’t know how to plot a story or that you haven’t even really finished learning about grammar. You just do it because it seems fun.

Connie: I’d never written fanfiction before Hogwarts BSU/#Wizard Team. I was content to lurk in whatever fandoms I was reading fic for. I think wanted to give it a try because of something Robyn and Bayana said on #WizardTeam, and that’s where my first fic, Do Black Wizards Nod, came from. The idea of whether the Black students give each other the nod and how they would deal with that. Then I kept getting prompts or fic bunnies and it feels so much easier than when I try to write original works.

Porshèa: I've recently taken to writing fanfic because I want to fill in the holes within the fandoms I love. I'm empowered to do so because of the community that BGC has curated, the validation of headcanons, and understanding that we're the best at crafting stories from our individual lenses.

What was your inspiration for your piece?

Bianca: The complete ball drop that was History of Magic in North America and J.K. Rowling ignoring valid criticism. Like most American fans, I was excited to see the wizarding world expand to include us. However, the fact that racism — RACISM — something that plays a major part in the development of the three largest countries here, isn't even recognized on a small scale is insulting to readers. You can't tell me that a country with a history as bloody and messed up as the U.S. has wizards of every racial background being besties. It's not realistic. I also understand that maybe J.K. Rowling felt unqualified to talk about it, but I believe it can be done in a way that is both careful and makes sense.

Delia: I’ve been preaching the good word of Deanmione since February 2018. Since coming aboard the ship, I’ve been surprised to find that I am pretty much the only person sailing on it. The existing fanfic of the pairing is sparse. So when To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before came out on Netflix, I fell in love again with the story (I had read the book) and the gears in my head started turning. Then, when #WizardTeam started on Half-Blood Prince, I realized that was the perfect fit.

Connie: I’ve written a few things now, but I like thinking about the Black students forming a group and watching out for each other. I was never part of a BSU, but in high school and college I went to predominantly white schools and found myself most comfortable around my peers of color. In high school it was just natural, gravity, but I think in college I sought it out more deliberately. So I could relate to Blaise’s desire to find/start a group to help him feel less alone on campus. I remember that feeling, though I can’t say I consciously channeled it when I wrote Umoja. Other inspiration included the idea of honoring Kwanzaa in a way that helped me connect with the holiday more than I do in real life, and finding a creative way to use each principal to tell a story. And further inspiration comes from Delia and the rest of the team being instigators.

"...if you want something written about Black wizards learning within the wizarding world to be done well, you've gotta roll up your sleeves and do it yourself." -- Porshèa Patterson

Porshèa: The inspiration for my piece comes from the wandless magic conversations throughout the books — specifically when it comes to powerful wizards and house-elves — the disappointment that is Magic in North America, and Uagadou. All of the missing elements in these spurred me into writing, because obviously if you want something written about Black wizards learning within the wizarding world to be done well, you've gotta roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.

What are some things in Harry Potter canon that you would like to explore or fix?

Bianca: As mentioned before, we can fix History of Magic in North America. I think that exploring the wizarding world here could be pretty awesome. I'd love to see stories of Indigenous wizards, Mexican wizards, or a story of Japanese American wizards and wizard immigrants (especially if they are written by someone in that community). Why did they decide to come here and what have they experienced and endured since? Also, we need to get rid of that "Cursed" play and Dumbledore and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day prequels.

Delia: I started as a Harmony shipper, believe it or not. I read others, but that was my OTP. I was just so underwhelmed by the romance in the books. Since the series finished, my biggest sore spot has been the Epilogue. They went through so much trauma. How did they work through it to get to that happy ending? How on EARTH did Hermione end up with emotionally stunted Ron (sorry Ronmione shippers, it’s all love)? Why is Harry not the DADA professor? I'd also love to fix Leta's story. I wish she could have a fully fledged story that isn’t based in tragedy. A story where she lives and is happy. She deserved better.

Connie: Like Bianca said, the global wizarding community is one thing I wish we could fix in canon. Jo did such a poor job of thinking of anywhere outside of Europe and it really hinders the story when considering how global both the fans and the Muggle world, even in Britain, are. I also wish we could remove Fantastic Beasts and Cursed Child from existence. I wish Fantastic Beasts starred an actor of color for Newt and that it was romps in the jungle searching for beasts and perhaps treasure. I wish they were adventure stories set in the ‘20s a la Indiana Jones or the Mummy franchise and not…what it is.

Porshèa: While there's a lot that needs to be fixed — see everyone else's answers — I think I only have the patience to 'fix' the ways in which Black American communities practice magic, the integration of magic and modern tech — because there are too many Muggle-borns for this to NOT be a thing — and wizarding higher education.

Are there Black characters in other media you would want to write fanfiction for?

Bianca: As of right now, no.

Delia: I don’t really see myself writing outside of my own original work and Harry Potter fanfiction. Potter is the only world besides those of my own creation that I know well enough to write in. But who knows!

Connie: There have been so few Black characters that I relate to, and I find myself not reading fanfic leading them very often. I’ve read only a few characters that were Black in other fandoms, Abigail Mills from Sleepy Hollow and Chidi from The Good Place more recently. I think I also read some fic starring Tucker from Danny Phantom (throwback!) who the fans thought had good chemistry with Danny’s sister Jazz. But there are few characters in other properties I feel drawn to enough to write, which really makes me sad. Hopefully I get more characters to want to play with and can expand my fic reading beyond shiny white people problems (or anime characters, as was my fanfiction beginnings). Perhaps some day I’ll be drawn to Doctor Who fic for those Black characters, but it hasn’t quite happened yet.

Porshèa: There is a character from the A Song of Ice and Fire series that I relate to heavily, though we know very little about her. My goal is to start on a fanfic for her after completing the Founding Home series.

Do you think Black characters get enough love in fan spaces? Why or why not?

Bianca: It depends on who the story was written for. In predominantly white stories with white main characters, Black characters are usually thrown in as an afterthought, and it shows. The same goes with color blind casting and not adjusting the story to make sense for a person of color. On the other hand, you get stories written for Black characters and characters of color like in Scandal or Pose and there is this level of care that is woven into it that changes how the characters are viewed. Fans can't help but fall in love with a fully fleshed out character.

Delia: You can read Mel’s Critical Companion piece from this month for the long answer. The short answer is, no. At best, in fandom, Black characters are often overlooked, save for when they serve a headcanon for a white character. At worst, they are overly harshly scrutinized or rejected, even though they are often one character of color out of dozens of white ones.

"At best, in fandom, Black characters are often overlooked, save for when they serve a headcanon for a white character." -- Delia Gallegos

Connie: Definitely not. I get sad when I think about how I perhaps perpetuate this lack of love by not talking about those characters enough or, more to the point here, not reading fic starring them. But also, those characters only have a few stories on the fanfic websites or don’t get as much screen time or development to work with. Or perhaps they’re not put in situations I want to think on too often, leading me to not even go looking for “fix-it” fic where writers fix whatever bad thing happens to them. And I think the stories I like with predominantly Black characters are in recurring works where I’m waiting to see where the actual author takes them. There may be something to the idea of me just being happy they exist and not wanting to mess with them too much. Two book series I think of are the Shadowshaper Cypher by Daniel José Older and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. The worlds are so new and I’m just so happy to get these great characters that I’m not looking for anyone else’s take on them just yet, but maybe that will come down the line. In more established franchises, I definitely think Black characters don’t get enough love in the fandom nor by the writers/producers.

Porshèa: What they said. I do love that the actors who portray the token Black faces call out the Black fan appreciation they get, especially when Luke Youngblood and Alfie Enoch pointed out that they'd realized that the Black fans made a point to seek them out within the films during BGC-led panels at LeakyCon.

What is a character or theme in Harry Potter that you want to write about or explore in the future?

Bianca: I have a list of things that I would like to write about in Harry Potter, and it seems to grow everyday. New schools, founders, and histories. I'd also like to flesh out some characters like Mrs. Zabini.

Delia: I think even after To All the Wizards I’ve Considered Before is finished, there will still be more to be told of Dean and Hermione.

Connie: I’m interested in exploring more Blaise/Desiree as a flourishing Black couple in the wizarding world and what challenges in their relationship they may have to overcome. Also just showing Black love cuteness. I think beyond the BSUverse, Robyn and I keep trying to come up with some post-First War detective story, perhaps involving an original character or Kingsley.

Porshèa: After Founding Home, I'm going to (someday) flesh out my Parvati, Lavender, and others boss witch writers story, and my Dumbledore and Prince ‘90s fashion-off story. More after that, maybe?

Make sure to read our guests and other writers’ pieces on our Hogwarts BSU page. If you have fic you would like published, or if you would like to participate in Black Wizard History Month in the future, feel free to check out our submission guidelines or hit us up at [email protected]. Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you next February and all the months in between!

#Black Wizard History Month #Hogwarts BSU #Harry Potter #fandom

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neioo · 5 years

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Fanfic Rec! ( • ω • )

Rules I’m constraining myself to: I’ve either had to read the fic more than three times and/or have thought about it years in the future. (This means I’ll have to leave out some other fics I really enjoyed reading and thought were well written)

A bunch of different fandoms will be under the cut! (as I expose what I ship across the board too lol)

We’ll Meet Again by George deValier (usuk) (complete)

This is the first fic of george’s that I read, and I’ve read it multiple times, and it’s been integral in my shaping of characterizations within my own hetalia fics. I could include all of his works, but this one stands out the most. I also listen to the vera verse songs and get extremely nostalgic, so there’s that

WW2 AU. London pub owner Arthur Kirkland is driven to distraction by loud, brash American fighter pilot Alfred Jones. Unable to stop it, Arthur finds himself falling for Alfred’s charms… just as the pilot is preparing to leave for war.

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue… by anonymous (pruaus) (unfinished)

This fic is odd in the sense that I found it while suddenly getting on a pruaus kick, during which I followed a bunch of pruaus people on tumblr. Eventually, I would find out years later that I was going to the same college as one of these people and become friends with them. So not only does this fic have a nostalgic tie to it, I find the story brilliantly written with wonderful characterization, though it is in a weird format.

Inspired by the film 500 Days of Summer, I’d really like to see a couple meet and fall in love, but eventually one (or both) ends the relationship because they realise it’s not working/they can’t imagine spending their whole life with this person/what have you. I’d really love to see how the relationship develops, with the happy times and the eventual bad times as it falls apart, and then the hope of finding love elsewhere.

Redeemer by CocoaCoveredGods (L x Light, Mello x Matt, Mello x Light) (complete)

I can’t tell you how happy I am that I found this fic after 6 or so years. I can’t tell you how nostalgic is makes me for my death note phase, remember when I would read this in my mom’s office, minimizing the fic on a laptop I hope she never checked. The writing is phenomenal. The format on this site is wonky, but doable to read. (I’m even reformatting it myself right now). It’s mostly everything I could have wanted in a death note fic; it even inspired my own very complex death note AU back in the day. In some alternate reality, I wrote that instead of AWH. I plan to maybe make a personal paper copy for myself of this fic I love it so much. It is on the level of George’s stuff on how much it means to me.

The story takes place *after* Death Note ends, although the main characters have not died. Here the Yellowbox Warehouse is essentially the pinnacle of L's 6-year long offensive against Kira, who believes L to be dead, when he really isn't. L faked his death, and proceeded with the case behind the cover of his three top heirs, Mello, Matt and Near. Kira himself doesn't succumb to his defeat, but is instead rescued at the last moment by his nemesis lover who decides that a more apropos end to the God of the New World is not death--but redemption, in the form of a new case and a 5th so-called Kira, that L and Light must bring down together... or risk losing everything. Yes, there is actually a plot LOL Buuuut, this puppy has yaoi and pairing's aplenty. LxLight and MelloxMatt are technically the mains, but when you cut straight down to it, this is a story about Light and Mello and how they go from hate to need, from enemies to lovers, and maybe even something more...

and indeed there will be time --orginally by lawlietismyfavorite, but they have since deleted their account :’( (the fic is still on AO3, though!) (L x Light) (unfinished)

I love death note, okay? After the beautiful live action series came out (the recent japanese one not that fucking netflix shit), I felt the need to read some fanfic of the series again, and I found this. HOLY SHIT. It’s a soulmate AU that goes through the plot line of the manga/show and fuck. Light is Ace?? The writing is so good??

L is the greatest detective of not only this century, but of six centuries. And then there’s Light.

Between the Lines by Klitch (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) (complete)

I’ve read this fic about 5 times and have accepted it as canon for this stupid show

The first time Yata saw him the kid was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria all alone with his bought lunch spread out before him, painstakingly picking out the vegetables and stacking them according to color and size.

Picking up the Pieces by SilverThunder (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) (complete)

I really like K. It’s a weird show, and it has copious faults. Maybe I just really like that the characters have so much potential, and this fic (as well as the one above) truly expands on that potential. This fic is an excellent exploration of these two character’s relationships, there’s just the right amount of angst. I’ve read it multiple times.

A whole year, gone from his head just like that - and how many memories could you fit in that time, anyway? It wasn’t a question Yata thought he’d ever have to ask, but with so many things changed between Saruhiko and himself, he wasn’t about to leave it alone.

It just sucked that the new world they’d built was still so easy to break.

to be first, to be best by kittebasu (chanyeol) (iwaoi) (complete)

haikyuu!! is odd for me because I don’t care about it anymore, but I really like this fic, and I’ve read it about 5 times. The characterization is on point, and the story is extremely well written.

Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks“I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren’t I?”

Cat's Cradle by evocates (Fujioka Haruhi/Ootori Kyouya/Suoh Tamaki) (complete)

every new years eve, since 2011, my brother and I have watched Ouran High School Host Club. for the past 4 years, I have read and re-read this fic without fail in the days after

Kyouya had been able to see the red threads between people’s fingers since the day he was born. A song of fate, and the breaking of. Tamaki was a man who could never be predictable. Vague spoilers up to Chapter 63.

"Relationship Stuff" by arokitty, Ponderess (shinara) (complete)

This fic helped me realize I was asexual. It’s beautifully written.

"Relationship stuff" — that's what Yasutomo kept calling it on the occasions we discussed how things were going between us. He never failed to say it dismissively, as if it was an annoying plague he was forced to put up with. But even when I told him that he could opt out of it at any time, he did not pull back.

[lithromantic asexual Shinkai, aromantic asexual Arakita, quasiplatonic Shinara]

You Really Ought To Know by isengard (midotaka) (complete)

I really like this ship, and out of all the fics I’ve read of it, this is the one I adore the most (obviously enough to read it three times)

The Fates have an important message for Takao Kazunari.

A Gradual Fall by grassandcitrus (originshipping) (complete)

This maybe isn’t the best written fic, but it has a lot of heart, and for a ship that there is little content for, this fic served me well. It’s hard to write a realistic pokemon AU, but this feels grounded. For whatever reason, this ship still means a lot to me, so when I get in the mood for it, I’ll re-read this fic.

Meeting Wallace turned out to be a life changing event for Steven. He realizes that pretty early on. Other things, however, come with time.

The Punchline and the Resulting Silence by youremyqueen (thiefshipping) (complete)

from the author: “so i went ahead and wrote ygotas fic because, hell, if LK can record videos in which he vocally flirts with himself while playing video games, and then write gay porn about it, I sure as hell can write gay porn about it too.” yeah.

In which Marik destroys many household appliances, Bakura naps doggedly, and they sometimes pretend - with very little success - not to be in love. (YGOTAS, thiefshipping. ridiculousness meets poeticism meets more ridiculousness.)

Six Days As Boyfriends by sitabethel (thiefshipping) (complete)

I just really like this ship and I have since I was a 14 don’t @me

In order to avoid talks of arranged marriage, Marik convinces Bakura to trick Ishizu into thinking that they're in love.

The Longest Job & The Smallest Favor by emanthony (hisoillu) (complete)

everyone in like march-ish of 2018: omg in the new update of hxh illumi says that he and hisoka are engaged!

me having watched 10 episodes of hxh 4 years ago and having a faint idea of the series: who?

me: *looks up fanfics of them*

me: *finds these two*

me: *proceeds to read them 15 times and gets obsessed with the ship*

Illumi is forced out of the Zoldyck estate and seeks a living arrangement with an associate. He's not altogether pleased with it.

Hisoka is a floor master at Heaven's Arena and has the unexpected pleasure of spending time with one of his oldest acquaintances. He doesn't share Illumi's frustrations.

///

A sequel to the Longest Job, another HisoIllu fanfiction.

Hisoka and Illumi have been living together for six months now without much trouble. But when Illumi's youngest brother goes missing, Hisoka manages to make the situation just a bit too complicated and much more fun.

Lessons in Etiquette by KnockKnockBadminton (promtis) (complete)

I knew nothing about this video game but for whatever reason decided to look up fanfic for it after seeing some fanart, and then because this one was so well written, I, again knowing absolutely knowing about this video game or the series it’s a part of, binged the entire 164k fic in like two days. I’ve also re-read it and convinced my brother to buy the video game as a result. He refers to them as the “leather boy band” and sends me updates about his play through lmao

Begins in high school. From Prompto's desire to befriend the sullen, bullied prince blooms a relationship even the Astrals themselves could not have foreseen. Basically fills in the gaps from Brotherhood to the fall of Insomnia. Some liberties taken.

say it like you mean it by spaceburgers (takuleo) (complete)

Ever since playing the video game, I loved the dynamic between these two characters, and this fic is a wonderfully crafted and fun to read AU staring both of them.

Wherein Leo is a transfer student, Takumi is overly competitive, and they're doing Romeo and Juliet (but not as the titular roles).

#the hour i spent doing this was fun c:#miscellaneous #the fandoms are uh..#hetalia. death note. k. pokemon. yowyapeda. fe fates. hxh. final fantasy.#ouran high school host club which i know that's spelled wrong #haikyuu.. kurko no basket. and yugioh.#lmao that's a mixed bag #anyway \o/ feel free to check them out but i also made this for my own reference haha

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segadores-y-soldados · 6 years

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Personal and Fic Updates

Hey everyone!

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these personal update messages. I’m trying to get my stuff in order but life continues to outpace me, it seems.

The quick and dirty: Fic Stuff:

Moira has been integrated into the overarching plot of “And Overwatch For All”

Because of this, I am currently rewriting major portions of Old Habits. Yesterday, I finished a major rewrite of chapter 10 (the “evil council is introduce” chapter). I have the majority of chapter 11′s rewrite done and hope to finish that today as well. With luck, I will start working on a rewrite of Chapter 13.

Shockingly, I’m keeping a lot of the “present day” plot elements the same (aka, all the stuff leading up to Recall). But several major “past events” have changed, including Reaper/Gabriel’s backstory.

More on this later. I will also be writing a separate post JUST for fic stuff, if you prefer to read only that.

Personal Stuff:

Extra expenses have started showing up in my life. Details are under the cut.

My job has not yet promoted me and a coworker the way they said they would in the timeframe they gave us (1 year). Because of this, I am starting the job hunt again.

I have created a Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ)

More under the cut

Alright, so here’s the longer version of what my last like...three months have been like, with both personal/work stuff and fandom stuff.

Personal life/Work:

I have said this in a few places, but I currently work as an entry-level archaeologist for a state department in California. Full disclosure: I and my fellow coworker are underpaid for our work, which is as variable as conducting documentation research through databases and organizing research on behalf of our higher-level archaeologist and historian supervisors to performing surveys and actual fieldwork digs in every type of weathers in California. As an example, two weeks ago (the week of Thanksgiving here in the U.S.), myself and one of my supervisors did an 8 hour fieldwork day which consisted of 3-4 hours of surveying through waist-high grass in pouring rain at 55 degrees F/12 degrees C. This upcoming week, I and (other underpaid) coworker will be doing two 12-hour days of construction monitoring. Our work consists of traveling all over the state, with driving that can take a full day to get to a work destination (these are charged to work, don’t worry - I don’t have to pay for that, thank god).

The reason I’m explaining this is because this is a huge reason why some days (or even some weeks) my activity on tumblr, twitter, and AO3 will take a straight nosedive. On Thursday of this past week, I spent 8-10 hours without checking my phone and came home to 4 missed calls, 8 “active chats” on messenger, 600 messages on discord, and basically a whole day of “social media-ing” missed out.

If you’re rolling your eyes over this, I get it, I really do - it sounds like all the stuff that older people complain millennials “overvalue,” but (for example) one of those phone calls was from my dentist’s office saying that they will not serve me because (after three months of them NOT checking) they realized that I don’t have the right dental insurance for them.

Fun.

I don’t make enough money to switch to higher, “better services” health and dental insurance, but since I work a job that requires physical labor, I’m scared to cut them from my life. Said coworker twisted his ankle earlier this year, and work only compensated him for 1 week of “missed” work, when in reality he was walking with a slight limp for 2-3 weeks. Because of our low-level, we are not given access to benefits that many other state workers get.

Moreover, our sub-department has been promising that the two of us would get promoted “within the year.” We reached a year working with them in mid-November, and that promise still hasn’t been reached.

So in terms of my personal life, I’m at a cross-roads: I will tell them that they need to promote us, even to the next “low-level position” because that will give us just a few more $/hour which will help A LOT when accumulated, or I’m going to tell them that I’ll have to search for something else.

On top of this, my parents have decided it’s time for me to “pay rent” to live at home with them - a discussion we, frankly, haven’t had on a serious level yet and one which blindsided me this morning. I am looking into my options but without a better job, they’re not good.

This also doesn’t cover whatever it will take to help me start the legal and medical processes of transitioning, which are, frankly, the main things I’ve been saving money for.

What does this mean:

I’m looking for places to cut costs, but the combination of current expenses + what my parents want from me will take 1/3 to 1/2 of my current monthly paycheck. I already spend next to nothing on personal stuff, so all my current expenses are “necessities” such as food, gas, and insurance. I’m looking to cut down on gas costs but it may be awhile before my daily schedule gets adjusted.

The alternate is taking a second job that will permit me to only work my free three days a week.

Doing this means I will have zero time to write or produce content.

For now, I’m not jumping out to do that. I’ve made a Ko-Fi account (https://ko-fi.com/U7U063ZJ) that I would greatly appreciate any spare money you’re willing to contribute. Something as simple as a few dollars can go to me covering the cost of my health insurance per month, while I figure out the bigger problems of searching for a job.

The reason why I started with this is because:

Fic Stuff/Writing Stuff:

I do the equivalent of 3-4 full days of “writing” for fandom stuff per week: on my days off, I can write anywhere from 8 to 14 hours a day. Using just Friday and yesterday as an example, I wrote 9k words, and with whatever I do today, I will likely push that to about 11-12k.

Yes, it is all voluntary, and I do not have to write at the pace that I do, nor the amount that I do. I do it because I enjoy it, and because, honestly, writing for Overwatch has given me some of the biggest joys and happiness I have felt in like, a decade. And that includes writing the long essays. My last big R76 post (http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167321630835/everything-you-want-to-know-about-reaper-and) spans a whopping 67 pages and 7.5k words in Google Docs (that includes pictures and sources/credits/links/references).

Again, this isn’t to brag, but just to put my writing into perspective, I guess. This is the equivalent of doing a second part-time job, which was something I attempted last year but was unable to balance my current archaeology job + a part-time retail job + writing. I dropped the second one because, at the time, I finally had the luxury to choose a job in my profession and writing on the side. This is a luxury I was fortunate to enjoy for the first half of 2017, but it is steadily becoming undoable as my work increases my responsibilities without increasing my pay.

Fic Updates:

For those of your who have been waiting patiently for information on “And Overwatch for All” I do have some good news that I’m finally ready to share:

Moira has been integrated into the plot.

I got a number of comments here and on twitter that were really supportive of my current version of “AOFA” and I just want to say, thank you all so much. It means a lot to me that you guys have liked the version of Overwatch I’ve built up and that you found all the characters, including my silly OCs, to be engaging and well-written. It was soul-crushing to think I would have to lose some of them, but after some time and doing more research on Moira, I feel ready to talk more about her and how she’s going to factor into the updated plot.

To start off with:

None of the OCs will be cut, but some of their roles will change.

Lmao, this surprised me as well, but I’ve figured out a few different ways to make all of the OCs, especially the very obviously contrived “Death Agents,” stick around in the updated plot.

Only one OC (and you can probably guess who, if you’ve started “New Wars”) will change names: the character called “Reaper” in “New Wars Chapter 1″ (the “young Hanzo chapter”) will be called “Reaver.” This is due to his updated role in the plot. His background has changed only slightly.

If it wasn’t apparent, this “Reaper” was meant to act as a plot device to cause confusion over Gabriel/Reaper’s actions after the fall of Overwatch, but that has changed because:

I’m switching to Crisis-era and “undercover mercenary” Reaper.

If you’ve read some of my more recent posts on Moira, you’ll know that I’ve switched over to supporting the idea that “something went wrong with Gabriel Reyes during SEP/the Crisis.” This is due to the fact that you can find a folder labeled “Soldier ID: 24″ in Moira’s Oasis lab, that Michael Chu said that Reyes was interested in getting her help on “matters of genetics,” and that this appears to mesh the “Reaper has existed for decades” concept in Reaper’s hero profile.

Truth be told, I’ve actually been a supporter of this idea of “Gabriel has been Reaper behind the scenes for decades” plot point for a long, long time, almost as long as I’ve been posting Old Habits. “Reaper”/“Reaver” was semi-messy OC that attempted to bridge Reaper’s original hero profile with the “Old Soldiers” explanation that Gabriel/Reaper gave that “Jack and Overwatch ‘left [him] to suffer.’” However, I also knew when writing Old Habits that the “Mercy is evil” theory was ALSO not true, so I was kinda stuck:

“If Gabriel = Reaper for decades, why did he appear to blame Jack and Overwatch for his current condition?”

My original solution was to make “Reaper” a different character and have him operating the situation in the background (like a mystery story), but over time this solution got trickier and trickier to work with. With Moira, I have a chance to rework much of Old Habits/AOFA to better suit some of the details that have come out since drafting it.

This does mean, unfortunately, that all the “76+127″ content is going to become its own, standalone series.

To switch over to integrating “Soldier: 24,” the “76+127″ stories will have to become their own standalone series. Don’t worry - I’m not deleting anything. Old content from “Old Habits” will be moved to their own fics, so you can read the whole thing in chronological order.

A new version of my updated ideas on SEP has already started being drafted. Writing it out is just a matter of time at this point, haha.

The conspiracy/Talon council “mysteries” will become more transparent almost immediately.

With Moira, I finally get the chance to explore some of my ideas in “full format” instead of the kinda awkward “Sombra hacking a chat log” parts yall originally got. This DOES mean that written portions will suddenly be much, MUCH longer. For example:

Old Habits original chapter 10 (Sombra hacks an SSO chat log): 17 pages

Old Habits revised chapter 10 (Moira discusses the Route 66 battle with council members + Sombra hacks a chat log): closer to 34 pages

The explosion fight has been changed.

Because of the changes to Gabriel’s plot, the nature of the explosion fight between him and Jack has changed significantly. It does incorporate new information that Moira revealed.

If it wasn’t obvious, I’ve had a draft version of my ideas for the fight sitting in GDocs for about a year now, and I use that for all my flashback/memories, and also for when Reaper and Soldier: 76 are arguing in the present. There was a major plot point in the explosion fight that I was extremely uncomfortable with, but found it to be “solid angst material.” In retrospect, I dislike this plot point and have removed it for another plot point that sits better with me, and fits the overall story more comfortably (I think).

So yes, I DO have a new draft of the explosion fight - written completely from scratch, 100% different in tone and emotionality. Parts of this should begin to show in updates to Chapter 13, when Soldier: 76/Jack reflects on some of the fight.

The Goal:

The goal for AOFA right now is to update Old Habits in “two big batches” - update the first half (Chapters 1 - 15) within 1 - 2 weeks, and then update the second half (Chapters 16 - 31) shortly after. Optimistically, before January, but realistically, closer to late-January/early-February.

Thanks for sticking with me - both with this post, and with my life changes. Things are incredibly and often overwhelmingly busy for me, and I don’t really know where many of these things (both personal stuff and fic stuff) will end up. I really do appreciate any and all support, even if I’m not able to respond to comments. You guys make it worthwhile to keep writing, and I apologize for how distant I’ve been with this stuff.

#personal #my essays #my writing #an update #ko-fi #segadores y soldados #long post

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ifuckekureto · 7 years

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Headcanons

So I’ve been chatting with some people, and a few of them have asked about my headcanons… and tbh, I have reaaallllly in-depth headcanons about Kureto, Seishiro, and their mother. Like I could write a whole fic about it. But I don’t have the time or the patience haha. Therefore, I’m putting a summary of them under the readmore. It’s probably pretty disorganized, so I apologize in advance for that. Also, I reference some spoilers from the most recent chapter, so be warned!

I’ve tried to keep things canon-compliant, but a lot of these headcanons were developed before the most recent chapters so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ngl I feel like I’m doing Tenri a disservice here b/c I made him out to be a pretty terrible person, but maybe it’s really Shi-chan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let’s begin…

So I think on the ONS wiki, it says that Tenri had a lover that was executed, and this lover was presumably the mother of Kureto and Seishiro. Ngl, I have no idea where that came from (probably a fan book or something), so I don’t know the specifics of what was said, so this may stray into AU territory.

To start, in my headcanons (AU? I think I should say AU at this point), Mama Hiiragi is a woman from China. I gave her the name Minori (meaning “truth”) before I started thinking about her origins, and I realize Minori is a Japanese name and not a Chinese name, but I’m kind of attached to it at this point. I’ll work that out later. Maybe she changed her name when she came to Japan. But anyways, her mysterious origins play a big role in the AU. All Kureto and Seishiro know at first is that their mother was the daughter of the leader of a very important magic organization in China that fell into ruin after some experiments went wrong. They’re under the impression that Minori negotiated for a spot among the Hiiragi (which isn’t exactly true, more about that in the next paragraph) but they are aware that she holds an extremely tenuous position within the family.

I’m still developing this, but what Kureto and Seishiro do not know is that Minori is closely related to the experiments in China that went wrong. In fact, she was the one being experimented upon (voluntarily). Obviously, the Chinese and the Japanese have very different cultures, but Chinese religions/philosophies and spirituality did influence Japan throughout various times in history, so I imagine that their magic and talismans would be at least somewhat similar in the Owari no Seraph world. So with this being the case, the Chinese magic organizations would be pursuing the power of the cursed gear as well. Just like the Hiiragis seemed to be interesting in messing around with genetic experimentation, so was the organization Minori came from. They were able to successfully introduce demon material into her body, but they lost control of the experiment. This in addition to infighting within the organization left it vulnerable to be destroyed by other rival organizations in China. Since the Hiiragis had also been researching genetic engineering, Minori’s circumstances caught their interest, and they offered to help treat her in exchange for information about the experiments. Minori complied.

In my headcanons, Tenri was actually not the head of the Hiiragi clan at this point in time. His father was still alive. I think Tenri was around 24 when Kureto was born, and I think the wiki said it was Tenri’s parents (or at least his family) that had his lover executed, so Grandpappy Hiiragi has to be around somewhere. Anyways, for Tenri to have 4 extremely attractive children, I think he would have to have been pretty attractive himself when he was young. And, well, probably a bit horny too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. To secure her place in the family, Minori sort of latched herself on to Tenri. They didn’t necessarily have a deep care for one another, but uh-oh spaghettios, now Minori is pregnant with Kureto. This worries the elder Hiiragi and the leaders of the other noble clans (I will now refer to them altogether as the Elders) because she was not even being remotely considered for contributing to the Hiiragi progeny. But this also provides them a unique opportunity to see if a child with a strong affinity for the power of the demons can be created since Minori has been experimented on. During the pregnancy, Minori begins to understand just how unethical the Mikado no Oni are. And then Kureto is born. Tests on the infant show extremely promising results, though it is unclear if the child’s talents comes from the Minori’s experimental augmentation or Minori’s inherent proficiency with magic. The Elders decide to see just how much potential the infant has, and they subject him to horrific experiments that frequently involve excruciating pain to see if they can enhance the child’s strengths further. Minori at first objects, but it becomes clear that if the experimentation on little Kureto ceases, there will no longer be a reason for the Mikado no Oni to keep him alive. They would dispose of him.

The tests on Kureto yield good results, but not good enough. The reasons why the Mikado no Oni were trying to activate the Seraph of the End haven’t been made quite clear yet at the writing of this post, and to be perfectly honest, any speculations I might have about them would probably end up being wildly inaccurate. So I’m just going to leave it as a mystery for now. In my AU or whatever, the Mikado no Oni is trying to integrate demons into humans for the purpose of obtaining the Seraph of the End, but Kureto is simply not good enough for their needs, and he’s the only child they have to work with since all of their other experiments have failed miserably until this point. That is, until Mahiru is born. Many of the leading scientists in the organization were sure that the fetus wasn’t going to survive. The demons had driven her mother (one of their test subjects) insane. But Mahiru was a marvel of biology and magic as she had been genetically engineered as the Hiiragi family’s response to Kureto, down to the purple hair that she shared with her father in contrast to the dark hair of Kureto (yes, they really are that petty). The clan’s position on where Minori and Kureto stood was clear; they were outsiders to the Mikado no Oni.

But Minori pleaded for the life of her son, pointing out that with no precedents to be compared to, Mahiru was essentially an unpredictable bomb that could go off at any moment, and that it would be unwise to throw Kureto’s enormous potential away. After a long and heated discussion, the Elders decided to let Kureto live. However, they concluded that if Kureto could not outperform Mahiru, then their methods of producing children would be proved to be superior, and Minori would be dealt with since they had pretty much obtained all of the information they wanted from her. Of course, Tenri didn’t really care about whether or not Kureto’s life was spared. He was too busy plotting Mahiru’s role in the end of the world.

Well, maybe not too busy, because uh-oh spaghettios, Minori conceives another child with him. Although this pregnancy is more or less an accident, she hopes that this child will be powerful like Kureto to further prove her worth to the Hiiragi. Kureto is still a bit too young to fully understand the stakes (though in the ONS light novels, young children seem to possess an extremely high intelligence, but I’ll chalk that up to anime logic), but he is aware that something is wrong, especially when the preliminary testing of the unborn child does not produce good results. In fact, when the second child is born, only a handful of research staff is present because no one really cares. It’s clear that the second child has nowhere near the potential that his brother had. This child is Seishiro.

Realizing that this child does not have the inherent power Kureto does, Minori decides to shield him from as much of the experimentation as she can. She doesn’t want another child to go through what Kureto did. The Elders are more willing to let this slip by since Seishiro is fairly insignificant to them, especially since he couldn’t possibly be a contender for being the heir of the Hiiragi, and killing him would just be more trouble than he’s worth since they’re more focused on the competition between Kureto and Mahiru.

Time goes by, and although Seishiro is subjected to brutal training like his brother, the clan is still more concerned with Kureto and Mahiru. At this point, Kureto is now fully aware of what will happen if he fails. Not only does he train with instructors from the Mikado no Oni, but he also trains with his mother to learn more efficient techniques developed in China that involve crafting talismans and spells and the like. Minori is a brilliant woman, after all. (These times with his mother are perfect for fluff, like Minori encouraging Kureto to do this not for her sake, but for his own sake and stuff like that). But it’s still no match for Mahiru’s genius. Every day, Kureto works diligently to find some advantage he can have over Mahiru, sacrificing more and more and more of his own self for his vision of the Hiiragi clan’s future. It’s around this time in the AU that the Mikado no Oni were beginning to realize even the best plans they could develop to activate the Seraph of the End would result in Mahiru’s death. They needed to make another child like her to be the Hiiragi heir after she dies. Thus, work on creating the child that will be named Shinoa begins.

This is bad news for Minori, Kureto, and Seishiro. If Mikado no Oni can replicate their results with Mahiru without wasting too many resources (aka test subjects dying… yikes), then their position in the clan will once again be threatened. Kureto and Seishiro train even more vigorously for the next few months, but it’s no use. When the girl is born, preliminary testing produces findings that exceed the researchers’ wildest expectations. It’s so clear that the experiment was successful, disposing the child is not even considered, and she is given a name almost immediately. (The implication here is that the Hiiragis would not name the children born of these experiments until it was certain the infant had power and would survive.) This child is Shinoa.

In the months before Shinoa was born, Minori prepared a plan of escape with rebellious Mikado no Oni members whose daughters had been taken and killed in the organization’s experiments. It was a very simple plan that involved sneaking out of Japan in a small plane and flying to the USA. Illusion talismans could be used to great effect to slip in under the radar. In America, Minori could sell research information with one of the Western magic organizations there in exchange for shelter. Seeing as many of entities from Jewish/Christian religious traditions appear in Owari no Seraph (seraphs, Abaddon, etc.), I think Minori’s information would still be very appealing to magic organizations in America that would likely have a more Western magic foundation. (On a sidenote, I don’t know enough about Wicca to connect any elements of it to Owari no Seraph, but I imagine that in this world, it would have also influenced Western magic organizations.) The short-term plan would be to survive. The long-term plan would be to find a way to rebuild the Mikado no Oni from the bottom up.

So after hearing that the child was named so quickly, Minori realizes just how dire the situation is and immediately fetches Kureto and Seishiro from the Hiiragi estate with the help of the other members mentioned earlier. They only make it to the airfield before Tenri and Mahiru stop them with a squad of soldiers. After a tense confrontation, Minori attacks Tenri in the hopes that Kureto and Seishiro can escape in the ensuing flurry of activity. But Mahiru is hot on their trail, and Seishiro only manages to defend himself for a few seconds before she incapacitates him with a few slashes of her sword. Kureto puts up more of a fight. Predicting that an all-out fight with Mahiru would be coming soon, Kureto had been deliberately using less than his full strength in practice matches to trick her (an example might be staggering after blocking an attack even though he was actually capable of quickly counterattacking). But she had been deceiving him as well. Just as he was about to deliver a fatal blow, she dodged and (this next sentence might be a bit gory, be warned) stabbed him clean through the stomach. Her sword cut even deeper into his flesh as his body slid off the blade and landed on the ground. He was going to die.

But Minori, seeing that Kureto had been mortally wounded, quickly casted a healing spell to save his life rather than using that precious second to block an incoming blow from Tenri. She was struck down violently to the ground. (This might get gory again. And warning for angst tropes haha. Rip.) Little Seishiro, lying on the ground covered in blood and bruises, reached out desperately to his mother in her final moments, and just as their fingers were about to touch, Tenri decapitated her in one swift motion. Extremely traumatized and bleeding heavily, both Kureto and Seishiro lose consciousness.

With Minori dead and the two brothers captured alive, Tenri returns to the Mikado no Oni, impressed with Kureto’s strategy. He might be a worthy adversary for Mahiru (and potential successor?) after all. The plan is to keep things status quo for now, though after Minori’s death, Seishiro becomes increasingly difficult to work with. An indefinite amount of time passes, and a problem emerges. Soon after Tenri begins using Shinoa as a hostage for Mahiru, Shinoa’s performances on tests administered to her drop dramatically, below even those of Kureto (but still above Seishiro’s). It’s unclear to most researchers what’s going on, but Tenri correctly suspects that Mahiru has somehow interfered with the demon within Shinoa. Now, Kureto is a better candidate for leading the Mikado no Oni after Mahiru’s death, so Tenri becomes more involved in overseeing Kureto’s progress, and Shinoa is cast off to side, not unlike Seishiro.

However, there is something in this AU that will become important later - Mahiru and Shinoa had a separate demon entity bound within them. But Kureto and Seishiro were born from someone who had demon material within them. Therefore, in a sense, Kureto and Seishiro are demons, but it is a latent power that neither of them become aware of for a very long time. But the stronger their own demon power is, the less compatible with demon contracts they are, meaning that the reason why Seishiro is not a candidate for black-level demon augmentation is because is own demon nature is too powerful. Of course, everyone (including himself) thinks it’s because he’s weak. But he’s actually one of the most powerful. As I stated before, this will become important later on in the AU.

Haha wow, that was a lot. Tbh, there’s still a lot more, but that’s a general summary of the pre-ONS stuff. I know Kureto and Seishiro are controversial characters, but I think my full AU does a good job of showing a different perspective of their actions without trivializing the horrible stuff they’ve done. I want to address their flaws, but I also want to see them overcome them. I hope that makes sense! Hopefully, I’ll get around to writing the next part soon… Yeah… I think there are 3 parts total to this AU. Rip. I really hope I can one day find the endurance to make this into a fic.

#haha oh boy #it's here #finally #i need to change my theme so that long readmores like this are easier to read #ill get on that asap #mama hiiragi is just very important to me #kurethoughts #rip mobile people who have to scroll through this

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this-book-has-been-loved · 7 years

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Singularity: Chapter 8

AU where instead of landing in the trash nebula, Pidge finds herself on the same planet as a certain Galra prison camp.

(Holt family reunion fic; no romantic relationships)

Read it on Ao3

Read it on FFN

Part III: Stardust Chapter 8: Beings

Something inside her had broken.

After their rescue mission to Serva had failed, the atmosphere in the castle had gone somber. They felt like they were waiting—for what, they didn’t know. But the tension hung in the air, leaving a distinctly unfinished tinge.

After nearly a quintant-and-a-half of everyone avoiding the topic, Pidge firmly pushed it out of her thoughts.

Stay distracted, she recited. Keep yourself focused on other things. Put it out of your mind. Don’t think about it.

And so she did what she best: buried her feelings and got to work on whatever tech-related problem needed her attention.

Taking a moment to steel herself, she knocked on Shiro’s door.

“Come in.”

The door slid open, and Shiro stood up a bit straighter at seeing her. “Pidge?”

“Keith told me there were some coordinates or something encoded in your arm,” she said, jumping straight to the point. “Should we take a look at that?”

He paused, glancing down at his prosthetic and then back to her. “That…can wait. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” she snapped. She took a deep shaky breath, steadying herself. “The best thing we can do for my family is to take down the Galra empire,” she continued softly, looking down at the floor. “And if the next step to that is finding some mysterious coordinates programmed into your arm, then that’s what we should do.” She met his gaze, and they stared at one another for a moment.

Shiro exhaled and nodded once. “Okay. Let’s get everyone else.”

The days passed in a blur. The traveled from Thaldecon to Olkarion to Taujeer to the Unilu swap moon/space mall—constantly hopping throughout the galaxies. When she wasn’t fighting, she was working. Upgrading the cloaking for her lion, trying to see if she could equip her podship with the cloaking (unfortunately she couldn’t seem to figure out how to integrate it into her armor), studying the inner workings of the castle, decryption of all the data downloads (and partial downloads) they’d been collecting, reading through and analyzing and taking notes on any data she could get her hands on….

She wasn’t sleeping as much. Her brain tended to run wild at night, bringing back painful memories she’d rather not relive. No—it was easier to stay awake, to keep busy, to pour herself into her work.

And now, finally, they’d made it to the Blade of Marmora’s headquarters.

Where she was stuck with nothing to do for two days while Shiro and Keith spoke with the Galra rebels.

She sat in her chair in the bridge, her fingers holding tight to the seat. “I wish I was in there,” she muttered. “Whatever’s going on in there has gotta be way more exciting than just sitting here and waiting.” Her leg was bouncing impatiently; distantly, she wondered how long that had been going on. “This is agonizing.”

“I don’t know if I’d say agonizing,” Lance called from where he was sprawled out in his own chair. “Kinda nice getting to relax for once.”

“Mm, I’m gonna have to agree with Pidge on this one,” Hunk said. “I’d kind of like to know what’s going on rather than just…speculating.”

“I wanted to meet them,” Pidge said, more to herself than to the others in the room. “If they have double agents or whatever infiltrating Zarkon’s ranks, I want to talk to them.” She pulled her legs up into her chair and hugged them to her chest. “They might be able to give me some answers.”

“Well, it’s going to be a while before we hear anything back from them,” Coran said, chipper as always. “So we’ll just have to wait until then.”

Pidge let out a scream of frustration, curling further into herself. “I. Hate. WAITING.”

“Easy there, Pigeon,” Lance told her, sitting up. “Come on, I’m sure we can find something to do to pass the time.”

Hunk lit up. “Oh hey, that reminds me! I think I may have found a way to hook up that video game you guys bought back at that space mall!”

Lance brightened considerably at that. “Hunk, have I told you recently how much I love you?”

Hunk grinned, shrugging nonchalantly. “You could afford to say it more.”

Allura sighed, tapping at her display screen. “Well, while you go do that, Coran and I will stay here and monitor the base. Be on alert in case something goes wrong.”

Lance saluted as he sauntered across the bridge. “You got it, Princess.” He stopped by Pidge’s chair, where she was still resting her forehead on her knees and grumbling to herself. He crouched down beside her, gently prodding her side. “Hey Pidge. Pigeon. Pidgey. Pidgeroo. Pidge-asaurus. Pidgeotto.”

“What, Lance?” she snapped

“Ya wanna go play some Mercury Gameflux Two?”

She sighed, relenting, letting him drag her out of her chair. “Yeah. I could use some mindless video games right about now.”

Lance had crashed.

After several hours of gameplay and complaining (“Come on, Pidge, winning’s not winning when your opponent doesn’t have their heart in it.”), he had passed out on the lounge’s sofa, the mice curled up on his chest, leaving Pidge and Hunk alone.

Halfway through their third round together, Hunk pressed the pause button.

Pidge almost didn’t notice at first, just kept pressing buttons. Confused, she turned to Hunk, to find him watching her in concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes, turning back to the paused game. “Peachy.”

Hunk sighed. “Pidge, I’m going to be honest with you. You haven’t been the same since Serva. It’s been over a week. Don’t think we haven’t all noticed. You’re barely eating. You haven’t been sleeping. You’re overworking yourself, Katie.” At the use of her birth name, she stilled, and her hands clenched. “We’re worried about you,” Hunk continued, reaching out to rest a hand on her back. “We all are.”

She flinched away from his touch, and her grip tightened on the controller. Her hands were shaking. “I don’t need your pity,” she muttered. “Can we—can we just go back to the game now?”

“Pidge, please—”

She let out a frustrated yell, throwing her controller to the ground. “No! I am sick and tired of everyone treating me like I’m so…so…fragile!! I’m not going to break!” She took a deep breath, collecting herself. “I’m…I’m fine.” Her voice broke. “I’m going to be fine.”

He was silent for a moment, then carefully reached out to her again. He placed his hand on her back, and this time she let him. “You know…it’s okay to not be fine.”

“You don’t understand,” she muttered.

“I’d like to.”

“I can take care of myself!”

“I know,” he said simply. “The thing is, Pidge…you don’t need to. You don’t have to do everything on your own. We’re all right here.”

“Ugh!” She buried her head in her hands. “You don’t understand,” she repeated, more desperately. “I have to be okay. I have to keep going. I can’t let this control me and get in the way of things. If we don’t stop Zarkon, then who will?” She was frantic, her voice rising in pitch with every word. “How else am I supposed to help them? I—how can I call myself a defender of the universe if I can barely hold myself together?! How can I be a Voltron paladin if I can’t even do that?!”

“Well of course you’re a paladin,” Hunk replied, as though it were the simplest thing. “Green chose you, Pidge. There’s no changing that. You’re the Green Paladin. But you know what else you are?”

“What?” she muttered.

“Human.”

At that, she looked up.

“You’re human, Pidge. You’re allowed to have feelings. You’re allowed to deal with those. You don’t have to keep pushing them away—pushing all of us away.”

The mice had stirred, abandoning Lance’s chest to instead curl up against her legs. She sighed, absently petting Platt’s head. “I know,” she murmured. “I just…I’m used to dealing with stuff myself, and….” She shrugged. “I’m tired.”

Hunk rubbed her back. “I think you need to get some rest.”

She shook her head weakly. “It’s worse then,” she whispered. “When my mind starts wandering. I need to stay focused. I…I can’t….”

He sighed, pulling her fully into his arms. “Alright,” he said. “Then stay here. Lance and I will keep you company.”

“Lance is asleep.”

“As you should be.”

She curled in on herself. “I can’t,” she said again. “Not…not yet. Can we just…go back to the game?”

He gave her an askance look. “Promise me you’ll tell us when something’s wrong?”

She nodded. “Promise.”

He smiled, reaching forward to pick up her controller and handing it back to her. “Alright. Thank you, Pidge.” He un-paused, and the game flickered back to life.

Pidge leaned up against him, resting her head against his chest. “Thank you, Hunk,” she told him firmly. “You’re the best.”

“Love you too, Katie.”

They met the Red Lion in its hangar.

Keith stumbled out of the cockpit, followed by Shiro and two other figures. And if Pidge thought Keith looked a bit worse for wear, she didn’t say anything. After briefly introducing them to their Galra companions, Keith and Shiro exchanged a meaningful glance.

“And…,” Keith seemed hesitant to add, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

Allura frowned. “What’s wrong? Keith, you look exhausted. What happened?”

Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “That’s what we need to talk about,” he said. “Can we go somewhere else?”

The Princess sent a cold glance towards the Galra—Kolivan and Antok—then turned back to Shiro and Keith. “Of course. We should move to the bridge. Kolivan and Antok can wait for us in the conference room.”

“Keith, you look like you’re about to collapse,” Hunk said as they walked. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“‘M fine,” Keith mumbled. “Just…haven’t slept.”

“Dude, you realize that’s the exact same excuse Pidge uses, right?”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Shut up,” she said, shoving Hunk lightly. “You mere mortals may need sleep. But Keith and I are of a higher calling.”

“A higher calling,” Lance repeated dryly.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Pidge, you live off coffee and spite.”

“Damn straight.”

Keith didn’t say anything. Instead, he waited until they’d made it to the bridge, with Kolivan and Antok waiting in the next room. With everyone’s attention on him, he took a deep breath. “A lot happened while we were at the Blade’s headquarters,” he started. With that, he delved into explanation, going over the knife he’d carried and the trials he’d faced, all culminating with the way his blade had awoken. “And Kolivan mentioned,” he finished, nearly stumbling over the words, “that…well, that would only be possible if…if Galra blood ran in my veins.”

He was met by silence.

After a long moment, Allura spoke, her voice chilling. “What?”

Keith winced, but it was Shiro who answered. “Keith is part Galra,” he repeated, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “We don’t know how much, but that’s not important. We just thought that as part of this team, you all deserved to know.”

There was another pause. “If you’ll excuse me,” Allura said icily, “I should tend to our guests.”

She left the room without another word. With a stammered apology (“I—I’m sorry. I should talk to her….”), Coran had left only steps behind her. As for the rest of the team, none of them really knew how to respond.

Keith fidgeted anxiously. “Yeah,” he muttered. “That’s pretty much exactly the reaction I was expecting.” He pulled away from Shiro, stalking towards one of the other sets of doors leading out of the bridge.

“Wait,” Lance stammered. “Keith!”

But the Red Paladin had already stormed out of the bridge.

Shiro sighed. “Give him some space. In the meantime, we should talk with Kolivan and Antok about our next steps against Zarkon.”

She found him in the lounge.

Allura, Coran, Shiro, and Lance were on the bridge with Kolivan and Antok, discussing their plan for taking down the Galra Empire. Hunk had decided to take this opportunity to catch up on lost sleep. Pidge was tempted to join him, but instead found herself wandering the halls of the castle.

She didn’t realize she was looking for Keith until she walked in on him.

He was slouching on one of the sunken couches, arms crossed over his chest, as he glared out the window at the stars surrounding them.

She knew that he’d heard her enter; she noticed the way his eyes flickered towards the door, the way his posture tightened almost imperceptibly, as though he wanted nothing more than to run away and hide.

And he looked exhausted. As she came up to stand beside him, Pidge noticed the bags under his eyes, the way his shoulders sagged against the back of the couch, the bruises blossoming across his collarbone and disappearing into his shirt.

She stopped about a foot away from him, but he didn’t turn towards her. “Keith. Buddy. You should get some rest.”

He didn’t move. “I’m fine.”

She raised an eyebrow. Well, doesn’t that sound familiar. “No, you’re kinda not,” she told him. “If what you and Shiro told us is accurate, you’ve been on your feet fighting for nearly two days straight. You need to get some sleep.”

“Sleep is for the weak.”

“Keith, you haven’t slept in two days.”

He gave her a withering glance. “Like you’re really one to talk.”

She sighed, collapsing onto the sofa beside him. “Yeah, alright, fair enough.”

They fell into silence, tense and charged. The words hovered unspoken between them––neither of them wanting to make the first move.

After a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity, Pidge took a deep breath. “Can we…can we talk? About the whole…Galra thing?”

He closed his eyes in resignation, somehow managing to curl up even further into himself, still stubbornly refusing to meet her gaze. “Pidge, I’m sorry—”

“No. Shut up.” He froze, surprised at her vehemence, and finally turned to meet her gaze. She bit her lip, trying to find the right words. “Just shut up and let me say things.” He motioned for her to continue and she nodded, steeling herself. “The Galra have taken everything from me,” she murmured, looking towards the starry expanse through the window. “My father…my brother…and just when I get him back they take him away again, and so they’re still just out of reach. I hate the Galra for all they’ve done to me.”

He turned his attention towards the floor. “Pidge, if you’re trying to cheer me up—”

“Let me finish,” she said, elbowing him playfully. “What I’m trying to get at here…is that’s not you.”

He stilled, glancing up at her curiously.

“That’s not who you are,” she continued. “None of that defines you. You’re still the same Keith you were yesterday.” She smiled at him. “You’re still you. I know that. You know that. The rest of the team knows that, too. You’re still the Red Paladin, and you’re still our friend. You’re still part of this team…part of this family. And that’s not gonna change—Galra or not.” She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “I trust you.”

Keith flushed, smiling wanly as his grip on her hand tightened. “I—Pidge….”

She rested her head on his shoulder, curling up on the sofa beside him. “Now I don’t know about you,” she began casually, “but I know I haven’t really gotten much sleep these past few days. Or weeks. And I am tired.”

He laughed, wrapping an arm around her. “Believe it or not, I think I can relate to that.”

Kolivan and Antok had returned to the Marmora base, to wait until preparations were complete and to keep in contact with their infiltrator.

Everyone else waited in the bridge, going over the details and specifics of their plan once again.

“For this to succeed, we’re gonna need to split up,” Coran intoned as they all stood in the bridge. “We all have a task to do. If any one of us fails, the entire plan fails.”

“Right,” Hunk mumbled. “No pressure or anything.”

Keith clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”

Shiro nodded towards them. “Keith, Hunk: you’ll be in charge of getting the scaultrite. Pidge and Lance and I will head to Beta Traz to free Slav. Coran will go to Olkarion to coordinate the construction of the teludav, and Allura will get a crystal from the Balmera. Once that’s done, we’ll pick up Kolivan and Antok and head for Zarkon’s base.”

“And then Zarkon’s going down,” Lance said with a grin.

“Alright, the faster we get this done, the better,” Shiro continued. “Is everyone ready?” Nodding from around the room. “Good. Let’s move ou—”

Then the display screen starting flashing red.

“Zarkon again?” Pidge asked, already heading towards her station. “I thought we’d finally gotten him off our tail.”

“It’s not an attack,” Coran told them, typing away at his control panel. “We’re picking up a distress beacon.”

That didn’t do much to lessen the tension in the room. Allura and Shiro exchanged worrisome glances. We’re stretched too thin.

It was Keith who spoke. “We don’t have time for that. Kolivan told us how to stop Zarkon; we need to focus on the issue at hand.”

Allura pursed her lips. “The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “When was it?” he continued sarcastically. “Oh, right. We were on our way to the Balmera when we were hailed by Rolo and Nyma.” He crossed his arms. “Hey, does anyone else remember that? The last time we got sidetracked from an urgent mission by a distress beacon like this?” he asked pointedly. “It ended with me handcuffed to a tree while Rolo and Nyma stole my lion. Ringing a bell?”

“Not every distress beacon is gonna be a trap set by bounty hunters,” Hunk tried to reason.

“I’m just saying.” Lance held up his hands in surrender. “Maybe we should stick to the plan at hand. You know, stopping Zarkon?”

Pidge crossed her arms. “I’m not turning my back on anyone who needs help.”

Shiro turned to Coran. “Where is it coming from?”

Coran pressed a few more buttons, and the image of a planet appeared on the main display screen. “A planet called Vallen,” he told them. “Our records show it was taken over by the Galra hundreds of years ago. They’ve…well, it seems they’ve been using it as…as a prison.”

The tension in the air only tightened. No one said it, but it still hung unspoken in the air: like Serva.

Shiro didn’t react outwardly––only continued to watch Coran. “And the distress beacon?”

“It appears to be coming from the prison. The prisoners there are rebelling, and are requesting backup.”

Pidge ignored the looks the others sent her, keeping her eyes pinned to the display. “We have to help them.”

Allura sighed. “As much as I think we should stay on track with our preparations, Pidge is right. We cannot ignore their calls for help simply because we’ve set our sights on a bigger target.”

Lance sighed. “Alright. Guess Slav will have to wait.”

“Coran, send them a response,” Shiro commanded. “Let them know that Voltron is on it’s way. Allura, we’re gonna need a wormhole. The rest of you: suit up.”

They exited the wormhole and Vallen came into focus. The planet, a mass of grays and blues, hung before them, suspended in the stars.

Shiro took it in calmly, nodding. “Alright, bring us in.”

“Ah, slight issue with that.”

Allura frowned. “What is it, Coran?”

Coran was fiddling with the data readouts of the scanners. “There’s a Galra ship coming in ahead of us.”

Keith’s head snapped up in surprise. “What? That’s impossible!”

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, then turned to Coran. “Are you sure it’s Galra?”

Before Coran could answer, the ship appeared before them. And along with it, multiple smaller ships, pods, and fighters, all blasting into view one by one. An entire fleet, in all it’s imposing purple glory.

“Pretty sure,” Coran squeaked.

“This can’t be good,” Lance muttered.

“How did they find us?” Allura demanded. “They must have known we were coming.” Pidge didn’t miss the sidelong glance she cast towards Keith.

“I thought Zarkon couldn’t track us through the Black Lion anymore,” Hunk fretted.

Pidge frowned. “They must’ve intercepted the distress call.”

Shiro set his jaw. “It doesn’t matter how they found us right now. We should get to our lions.”

“Wait.”

They all paused at Coran’s outburst, turning towards him curiously.

“Coran?” Allura pressed.

He took a deep breath, looking up from the console. “Incoming transmission, Princess.”

She seemed dumbstruck. “From…the Galra command ship?”

Shiro shot her a concerned glance, then turned back to Coran. “Accept it,” he commanded warily. “Everyone, be ready. Whatever they have to say, it can’t be good.”

The display screen flickered, and the view of Vallen was replaced by a vidlink with the Galra ship. A single Galra officer took up most of the screen, his chin pointed up in disdain.

“Voltron,” the Galra sneered. “I am Commander Reggar.”

Allura pursed her lips, glaring at the screen. “To what do we owe this call?”

“I come offering a bargain,” he told them. “I believe you have something I want. Namely, the Voltron lions. In return, it seems that I have something you want. Or, rather, someone. Two someones, who I’m sure some of your Paladins would be very pleased to see.”

Before Pidge could say anything, the image on the display screen changed. The camera panned over to show two people. Their hands were cuffed behind them, and sentries held them by the arms.

Pidge froze.

Matt.

But no, it wasn’t only Matt.

“Dad?” she whispered.

Ahead of her, Shiro tensed.

“Surrender Voltron,” spoke Reggar’s voice from offscreen, “and guarantee their freedom.”

Matt jerked away from the sentry. “Katie, no, it’s a trap!”

One of the sentries beside him smacked him with the butt of its gun, and he grunted in pain.

Pidge let out a small squeak, her hands flying to cover her mouth.

Lance put a hand on her shoulder protectively, coming to stand a half-step in front of her.

“Let them go, Reggar,” Shiro ordered, his voice steely. “They’re not involved in this.”

“Not involved?” The camera turned to focus back on Reggar, this time with a wider angle so as to keep the prisoners in the background. “Then in that case, perhaps I should simply dispose of them now—”

“No!”

She didn’t realize she had been the one to scream until the words had already left her mouth.

Reggar was smirking in triumph. “As I thought,” he quipped. “You have one varga,” he added. “Don’t disappoint me.” The comm link switched off, and the bridge was filled with silence.

Pidge couldn’t breathe.

Within two ticks of the transmission ending, Lance’s hand had moved from her shoulder to pull her into a hug. “Oh, Pigeon.”

And the rest of the team was there too, circling her, reaching out, their voices swirling around her as everything faded and conflicted and bled together. “Pidge—” “Is she okay?” “We have to do something.” “Katie?” “I’ve got her.”

She gasped in between her sobs, trying to remind herself to breathe. “We—we have—”

“I know,” Lance murmured, rubbing her back. “I know. We will.”

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t focus, couldn’t do much of anything other than cry.

Come on, Katie, pull it together, you don’t have time for this, just breathe, Pidge, breathe.

Distantly, she was aware of Shiro saying the same thing: “Deep breaths, Katie. Come on. Breathe with me.”

Her grip on reality tightened, and the tension in her shoulders started to ease.

When her tears slowed and her breathing evened out, she pulled back from the hug, blinking as everything came back into focus.

She was sitting in a heap on the floor (when had that happened?) with Lance kneeling by her on one side and Hunk on the other (hadn’t they done this already?).

Shiro was watching her face intently. “You here?” She nodded, and he reached out to help her back to her feet. “Alright, we need a plan of attack. And fast.”

She felt like her head was spinning. “But—But Zarkon.”

“This takes first priority.”

Pidge wiped at her eyes. “But the Blade—”

“The Blade of Marmora can wait.” Shiro insisted. “This is your family on the line here.”

Keith nodded. “Kolivan will—no, scratch that, Kolivan won’t understand. But you know what? Fuck Kolivan. We’re Voltron. He can’t tell us what to do.”

She didn’t quite laugh, but she felt herself smile. “Thanks, guys.”

Hunk rubbed her back, smiling softly. “‘Course.”

“We’re always gonna stand by you, Pidge,” Lance agreed.

Pidge took another deep breath, still trying to put her nerves at rest. “So?” She looked to Shiro. “What’s the plan?”

#Voltron Legendary Defender #Voltron: Legendary Defender #Voltron #vld #Voltron fanfic #Voltron fanfiction #vld fanfiction #fanfiction #Pidge Gunderson #Katie Holt #Matt Holt #Hunk Garrett #Keith Kogane #Takashi Shirogane #Lance McClain #Singularity #mine #I'm a writer #my writing

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kittae · 7 years

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say you're writing something long as apposed to a quick scenario that doesn't need much thought, how do you go about planning/drafting?

hmm, good question! I’ve only recently started planning out longer fics and they absolutely need more time to think things through! (well, in my case, that is)

i’ll give you the steps i’m currently taking when i plan out longer fics under the cut!

1. Summary

First of all, i usually write a short summary of the plot, make sure some important keywords are included so i won’t forget them when i’m going deeper into the story. It’s like a global view of what the story is about, no details, no plot twists, just the general idea.

2. Bullet point list

Next, i make a bullet point list of events i want to happen, maybe in chronological order, maybe not. It’s like the first, rough outline, and thinking in short bullet points gives me the freedom to write down anything i want. These are mostly just thoughts or images floating around in my mind, and i simply put them on paper (or screen, lol). I also just write random sentences that come to mind, or even just words that could come in handy to remind myself of things.

Now, you can start writing from here if you just needed something to help you remind yourself of important things throughout your story, but of course you can go way deeper.

For the fic i’m going to write in the summer, the modern day AOT fic, i’m planning out much more than i usually do.

3. Character development

After i’ve done the rough outlines and i have a good idea of how i want the story to go, i go deeper into the characters. Of course oneshots aren’t long enough to see a character develop throughout the story, so i’ve never done this before, but when you’re writing a chaptered series or a long ass fic, i’m convinced you need your characters to have some personality at least. Something that differentiates them from the others, make them go through things that will change them for better or for worse, to bring depth and dynamics into the story.

I usually look up personality types and base my characters off of those characteristics. In fanfiction, it’s easy to just base your character entirely on (the idea of) the celebrity/character you’re writing about, but in long stories you’ll end up getting stuck if you don’t have some sort of plan for them, or a firm guideline on what kind of person they are. That’s my personal opinion though.

So, i just map out how they’d respond in certain situations, if they have psychological disorders, what their nature is, their background (like family, things that happened in the past that could have influenced how they’d grown into the person they are in the present,etc...) and also a short list of what their roles will be in the story.

4. Outline

I think the last step to this process is to just start outlining your fic. If you’re writing a chaptered fic, it could be useful to write short summaries of what needs to happen in each chapter, chronologically. I figure it’s the same for long fics, but then without the chapters. You can start mapping out your plot, integrating plot twists, come up with a thread so your storyline won’t fall apart in the middle, foreshadowing, clues, ...

This way you won’t get stuck when you’re at a certain point in the story, or you realize that suddenly your whole storyline doesn’t make sense anymore. Having a proper outline prevents plot holes! Of course, when you get plot bunnies, you can go back to your outline and change things up until everything makes sense again! You can go back and forth with no problem if you plan your story right.

Though i’ve discovered writing series/long fics really takes a lot of time and planning out and makes you want to tear out your hair sometimes, it can be really fun if you have enough patience to do it! Creativity is very unpredictable and one day you can wake up with a fantastic idea that could mess up your entire plot, but those things happen and then you just gotta roll with it lol.

I hope this helped! Happy writings! ^^

#ask #answered #writing advice #Anonymous

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trans-peridot · 7 years

Text

Halfidot (Fluorite chapter 3)

Here’s chapter three. As of now, the whole fic totals above 5000 words. I’ve recently stumbled upon this great thing called lapithyst, so have some fluff (padded with a whole lot of angst, of course).

Reblogs are always appreciated, and thanks for reading.

The world was happening around Amethyst. Although other, more painful emotions would set in soon, numbness was all she felt in that moment. Steven carried the scratched gem gingerly as he walked Amethyst back to the warp pad. It went off and brought her back to the home she had been sharing just a few hours ago. The temple door opened and invited her in.

Before Amethyst could turn and walk away, Steven took the initiative to try and reassure her. “Like Pearl said, she's going to be alright. Just go inside and rest for a bit. She'll be back before you know she's gone.”

“Wait, what?” Amethyst snapped from her daze and turned to Steven. “Steven, I know you're trying to help, but I'm not stupid.” She sighed. “When we were Fluorite, I felt her get scratched-- I felt myself get scratched. I mean, I've been cracked before, but this felt different. It felt like something integral to her was hurt. I think Pearl could tell too. It's gonna be a while before I see her again.” She turned back towards her door. “I need to sleep. See you tomorrow, buddy.”

Steven looked down at his shoes. “Okay. Feel better.”

---

More than a week had passed. Peridot was still retreated into her gem, and everyone was on edge. Every morning, Amethyst would come out to find the lifeless stone still sitting in its shrine of protective bubble wrap. She would stare intently at it, as if her gaze might summon out the person held within. It never did.

The gems hadn't gone on any missions since Rose's fountain, and it was clearly affecting their morale. Pearl would isolate herself in her room, practicing her spearwork while Garnet monitored the bubbled gems in the burning room. She insisted that something was going to happen down there, and soon. Connie was in a state of near-constant sleepover, trying to keep Steven calm about his family. Amethyst figured Lapis probably didn't even know what had happened.

In other words, nobody was prepared for what happened next.

Ten days after the events at the fountain, Garnet came out of the temple with two bubbles. Amethyst was trying to entertain Steven and Connie with some lackluster shapeshifting, but she quickly returned to her normal form when she recognized the gems Garnet held.

“Those are the two halves. The one that did this to Peridot.”

Garnet nodded. “Indeed. Even though it's been broken for quite some time, this gem is still trying to reunite itself. For the past few days, the halves have been gravitating towards each other. If we don't do something about this, it will reform and escape.”

Steven smiled. “But that's good, right? It can be happy then.”

“That's why I'm here. I want your opinions. Should we let it go, or will it be too great a threat?” She turned to Connie. “You should leave. This might get ugly.”

Amethyst scowled. “We all know what Steven's about to say. Some emotional junk about how everything deserves a chance to live or whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Me, though? I say we get rid of it. It was dangerous already when it was in pieces, and the last thing we need is more of us getting poofed. If we aren't even safe from it when it's bubbled, we might have to do... something more drastic.”

Garnet avoided eye contact with Steven. “I'm afraid you have a point. Steven, you should go outside with Connie. This won't be pleasant.”

“Wait! Are you going to shatter it? You can't do that!” Steven stood up from where he was sitting.

Garnet looked down at him. “Steven, we can't save everyone. I'm sorry, but if this gem connects its halves, it will still be a monster. We don't have a healing fountain to even try to fix that.”

“But it's wrong!” Steven jumped and grabbed the bubbles from Garnet. “If you won't save it, I will.”

Steven popped the bubbles and light began to snake out of the gems. At first it came into two separate forms, but they started to weave themselves together into one. Its full form came into view, and everyone backed off a bit.

The monster was still split with a jagged line down the middle, matching the one splitting its gem across the chest. On its right side, it was just as corrupt as it had been initially, though a bit smaller. Its arm ended with long sharp claws, its mouth was filled with needlelike teeth, and its eye had a deadened look to it. On the other side, though, she was completely different. Her green hair came up in a neat triangle above her half of a round face and petite half of a body. Her eyes darted around at the people in front of her.

Steven stepped forward. “Are you... a peridot?”

Her left eye met his. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a choking and gasping not unlike a jammed garbage disposal. She lifted both her hands and hesitantly touched her face.

“Is there something in your throat? You sound like you’re choking.”

Garnet looked down to him. “There is something in her throat, in a way. All of the corruption in her body seems to have moved to one side of the breach. That side of her is crushing the other like a cancer.” She summoned her gauntlets. “Now please, Steven, it’s best if we just put her out of her misery.”

“D-do...n...t.”

Everyone stared at the half-corrupted gem and Garnet put her fists away. “What was that?”

The Peridot was covering the corrupted side of her mouth and furiously gripping at her throat. Slowly, like her throat was filled with wet sand, she repeated, “P-please don’t kill me.” She coughed heavily.

“You hear that, guys? She doesn't want to die!”

Garnet sighed. “Nobody wants to die, Steven. But her...” She gestured at the half-peridot. “I don't think she has a choice. But if we poof and bubble her right now, she won't be a danger to herself.”

Amethyst chimed in, “Yeah, let's get her out of our house.”

“Hold up, this is about Peridot, isn't it?” Steven glared at Amethyst. “You're just mad because she hurt Peridot!”

Amethyst avoided eye contact. “Steven, stay out of this. You've done enough already.”

The terrible voice of half a monster sputtered out again, “Your... friend.”

Amethyst stared down the corrupt half of her, but avoided the contorted face on the other side. “What?”

“I... remember... your friend.” Each sentence she spoke was punctuated with another coughing fit. “The... other peridot. I remember... seeing her. I couldn't... couldn't control... my body. It thought... she was part of me.”

Amethyst finally met the other gem’s eye. “You remember killing her?” She was screaming now, “You knew what you were doing?”

“Amethyst, stop!” Steven was on the verge of tears. “She's scared. Leave her alone.”

Amethyst turned and grabbed the still-lifeless Peridot off the ground. “That's it, I'm out. You two can do whatever with her.” She walked over to the warp pad. “Meanwhile, I've gotta talk some sense into a certain lapis I know.”

---

Lapis was surprised when she heard something slam on the barn door. “Peridot, are you back already? I thought I made it clear I'm not letting you back in!”

The voice outside was not Peridot’s. “Lapis Lazuli, come out here this instant!”

Lapis opened the door. Her face was the perfect embodiment of unhappy, with her messy hair and wet cheeks. “Oh, it's you. Amethyst, right? What do you want?”

“I want you to stop being so selfish and maybe pretend to be concerned about Peridot.” Amethyst held up the scratched gem. “While you were here moping, Peridot was hurt because she was worried about you.”

Lapis cringed at the sight of the gem. Like Amethyst, she knew what it was like to be cracked. “What happened? How long has she been like this? Why did nobody tell me?”

“So now you care all of a sudden? If you actually gave a fuck cared, you would have known about this a week ago.”

Lapis looked up at Amethyst with fire in her eyes. “What did you just say? How can you really say that I don't care about her?”

“Easy. She told me herself. She said that you care about her just as much as you care about yourself: not at all.”

Lapis was shocked. “She... said that?”

“Yeah. She thought she loved you but in the end you brought her nothing but pain. I could faintly feel her emotions when we were fused, and she was only thinking about you.”

“I hadn’t realized. I-- I wish I could apologise somehow.” Lapis looked away. “But it's a bit late for that, isn't it?”

Amethyst’s expression softened a bit. “No, that's actually why I'm here. What if she's not coming out because she's too worried about you? Maybe all you need to do is tell her you forgive her, and then she'll be alright.”

“I guess it's worth a shot...” Lapis gingerly took the green gem from Amethyst’s hands. “Peridot, I'm sorry. I overreacted and didn't consider your feelings. Please come back. We all need you.”

Tension and silence hung thick in the air. Both gems held their breath and waited.

---

Steven looked to Garnet anxiously. “Should we go after her? She took Peridot.”

Garnet shook her head. “No, it's important she does this. Besides, we have other things to worry about right now.”

The peridot was having increased trouble against herself. Her right side was starting to move independently of her left, as if she had no control over it anymore. It was slowly dragging her forward towards the gems in front of her. “I... can't... stop.”

“Garnet, we need to help Halfidot!”

“Who's Halfidot?”

Steven pointed at the monster. “Her. The half-peridot.” He summoned his shield in case the monster side chose to attack.

Garnet stepped up behind Steven and put a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry, Steven, but if we don't poof her now, she'll only end up hurting people. You need to learn that you can't trust somebody just because you named her.”

Steven lowered his shield. “You're right. Let's just make this quick.”

When she saw Garnet’s fists come out again, Halfidot panicked. She backed away towards the temple door before turning and bolting to the warp pad. She barely gasped out an “I'm sorry” before activating it and escaping.

Connie came back inside with Rose’s sword drawn. “Guys, I heard shouting.” She looked around. “Where are Amethyst and Peridot?”

---

Five minutes had passed, and Peridot was still motionless in her gem.

Lapis sighed. “We tried.”

Unexpectedly, Amethyst began to laugh. “Lazuli, look at us. We both picked a troublesome person to fall in love with, didn’t we?”

Lapis couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah, we sure did. One time, we were trying to grow cabbage out here, and she...”

The two gems sat side by side for a while sharing their favorite stories about Peridot, and only stopped once the sun went down.

Amethyst stood up. “Well, Lapis, it's been fun. I think I should bring Peridot back now though.”

“Wait. I think that once she comes back, Peridot will want to be somewhere familiar. We should wait here until then.”

Amethyst shrugged and sat down. “If you're sure.” She sat in awkward silence for a bit. “Hey, while we're waiting, I have a great way to pass the time.”

“What?”

“Have you ever tried sleeping?”

Lapis looked confused. “What's that?”

“Pretty much, you close your eyes and think about a whole lot of nothing until your body turns off. You might like it.”

Lapis closed her eyes. “Like this?”

Amethyst laughed. “You've gotta lie down first. It's more relaxing that way.”

Lapis did as she was told, staying perfectly still for a few moments before asking, “Is it working?”

“Not if you keep talking like that. Just calm down.”

Lapis didn't respond, and after several minutes a quiet purr of a snore escaped her mouth.

Amethyst smiled and laid down next to her. “See? You're a natural.” She closed her eyes. “Sleep well.”

---

Pearl tucked Steven in to bed. “Sleep well. Tomorrow we'll go find Amethyst and Peridot, and then we can find this ‘Halfidot’ person. In the meantime, you still need your rest.”

Steven stared at the ceiling. He was having more trouble sleeping than he usually did. He couldn't stop thinking about Amethyst and Lapis fighting, or Halfidot hurting people without wanting to. “I hope they'll be okay,” he whispered to himself.

#i'll see if i can finish chapter four before next week #thanks for reading #steven universe #amedot #lapidot #lapithyst #sort of #su fanfic #fluorite #amethyst #lapis #halfidot #garnet

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