I Cannot Describe The Glee I Feel When I Receive Comments On A Fanfiction I Posted Years Ago. Like What

In a world that wants to shove advertisements in our face every second of every day, do you realize how significant it is that AO3 doesn’t host ANY ads? They make NO revenue from the traffic they receive or from users in any way.

You might not even realize how exhausting it is to be bombarded with advertising all the time. Just look at FFN. You can’t read anything on the mobile version of the site without having to scroll past huge adds in the middle of a fic or between reviews. You can’t watch a YouTube video without encountering ads at the beginning of the video, the middle of the video, and/or the end of the video. With influencer culture, most YouTube videos are advertisements.

But AO3 is an ad-free space created by fans for fans. They ask for donations to keep running and to pay for lawyers (to protect our right to produce fannish works), what, twice a year? And no one profits off that money. Because AO3 is part of a non-profit organization….

Anway, I’m still baffled by the people out there who think AO3 is an evil organization out to scam people.

The purity wank stuff is another matter altogether.

Netflix: So…you’re making a horror show, right? This is gonna terrify the shit out of people. Right?

Mike Flanagan: Lesbians!

Netflix: Okay, but is it going to be scary–

Mike Flanagan: Lesbians!!!! 💕💘💖

Flower shop lesbians!

Horror lesbians!

Punk lesbians!

Pastel lesbians!

Gonna stab you to death with a poker lesbians!

Punk gf stopping her pastel gf from committing accidental murder lesbians!

I just saw the ghost of my dead ex while trying to make out with you and now it’s super awkward lesbians!

Crime solving lesbians!

Accepting that your gf will eventually succumb to the swamp lady living inside her and loving her anyway lesbians!

Domestic lesbians!

Vermont civil union lesbians!

Everlasting love lesbians!

Bittersweet ending lesbians!

Carla Gugino!

Netflix: Okay, but other than the lesbians, is there gonna be anything–

Mike Flanagan:

This!

She!!!

THEY!!!

Bebezz!!

Netflix: ……

Mike Flanagan: …But yes, also there will be ghosts.

Netflix: *heavy sigh*

Firefly vs. Moth: A spur of the moment and simplified analysis on the usage of bugs in The Last of Us

!!Spoilers for The Last of Us & part 2!!

In the first game the symbolic bug is the firefly. Joel is looking for the fireflies to give them Ellie. Essentially, he's looking for the light that he lost when Sarah died. The fireflies are that light, after all their modo is "Look for the light, believe in the fireflies". However, Joel realizes just in time that that light was Ellie all along. She is his new light.

In Part 2, Ellie is not a firefly anymore. Her symbolic bug is the moth, as seen on her tattoo and the many drawings of it she does throughout her journal. She lost her light, but just like a moth, she's searching for it, drawn to it. But this light is nothing like the gentle glow of fireflies, it's a strong, dangerous flame that almost burns her.

I feel the same could apply to Abby, the once firefly who lost her light. Although her animal is the wolf, she too acts like a moth, entice by the fire of vengeance which almost burns her, until she's able to pull away and renounce it.

I Was Raised out in the Cold - a Wolfwren fanfiction

A/N: Hello everyone! I have added a new story to my "Ahsoka season 2 and beyond" series, this one about a mission on Hoth! Here is the beginning and if you want to read the full story the link will be at the end!

“Sabine? Sabine? Sabine!”

Shin pushed past her and, contracting the Force above her like a muscle, deflected the snow away from them, blocking the path between them and the stormtroopers hot on their tails. A splash of powdery flakes fell on Sabine. The cold sharpened her mind, bringing her out of her thoughts. Shin turned around to look at her, but there was an indescribable expression on her face.

“Focus, damn it,” she barked at her.

The hissing of a flamethrower echoed on the other side of the wall of snow. They both knew they couldn’t linger. Sabine grabbed Shin by the wrist and took off running.

It had struck Sabine as ironic when they had been assigned the mission. The Empire was using the Rebellion’s former base on Hoth to hide. But now that they were in the thick of it, with no aerial support, she was as far from laughing as could be. Shin escaped her grasp and passed her, brushing against the walls of packed snow of the old trenches. The ammunition storage room would blow any minute now, and they better be out of there before it did.

Behind them, the stormtroopers had cleared the snow with a flamethrower and fired another rocket at them. It impacted on the wall beside them, leaving a melted spot and making the once sturdy snow crumple onto itself. Sabine flinched and picked up the pace. With one blaster in hand, she tried to aim back at them, however the trenches were irregular and their enemies used the terrain to avoid her shots as much as they did.

Ahead, they reached one of the caves that led further into the base. Shin unlocked the heavy door with the Force and pulled it open. As soon as both she and Sabine were inside, Shin shut the door behind them and bent the mechanism inside to prevent the stormtroopers from following.

“Where is Ahsoka?”

Full Story Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51630706

The Ice Witch Stole the Ruby - a RubyxChristina fanfiction

A/N: Hey guys! I’m back for more, this time with a Modern AU in which Ruby starts seeing Christina and Leti hates Christina. Tension arise. Here’s an extract and bellow you’ll find the link to the full first chapter!

Letitia was seating at the kitchen table, procrastinating her homework by complaining.

"All I did was whisper a single word that there's no way she could have heard, and she threatened to give me detention for disturbing the class!"

Ruby was fixing herself a quick snack before going to Sammy's bar for the evening, where she was scheduled to perform.

"I'm assuming that if she threatened with detention it's because she heard what you said."

"It wasn't even bad."

Ruby leaned against the kitchen counter, sandwich in hand as she listened to her younger sister's rant.

"What did you say?"

"I just whispered to Atticus that I thought more Confederate soldiers should have died. I mean, they defended slavery!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. Being opinionated was a family trait to be sure, but where Ruby had had the wisdom to hold her tongue during History classes, Leti had a tendency toward recklessness and impulsiveness that could only lead to trouble.

"Be that as it may, you can keep your comments for after the class."

This time, it was Leti who rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I bet the ice bitch had Confederate ancestors."

"Leti," Ruby warned.

"You should see her! She's probably super rich cause there's no way she's buying suits like that with a teacher's salary, and there's only so many ways an unmarried white woman has so much money."

At this point, Ruby had completely tuned out her sister's ranting. She washed her plate quickly, letting it dry in the rack, then glanced at the time on the microwave.

"Time to go."

She went into the living room to get her jacket and her guitar, already secured in its traveling bag. As she got ready and checked her appearance one last time in the mirror, Ruby said:

"Finish your homework. I seriously hope you'll be in bed when I come back."

Leti vaguely hummed and looked down at her open textbook.

"And Leti, please, I don't want to be called away from work because you called your History teacher a Confederate, or whatever. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Ruby sighed. This was at best as it would get.

"Good night," she said as she went to unlock the front door.

"Break a leg," Leti shouted before she left as she began focusing on her homework again.

Full story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27640927/chapters/67630861

Angels Like You Can’t Fly Down Here - an Avatrice fanfiction (in Space)

Hey everyone! Here’s an extract from the first part of my new fic, where Ava is a pilot/smuggler taking a job for the OCS. It’s all very angsty (but with a happy ending). If you enjoy the link to the full story is at the end!

There was a time when Ava used to like this song. That was the reason why she had thought it would be a good idea to set it as her alarm. Now, she hated that song. It blared in every room of her small ship, much louder than it had any reason to be. Her head was pounding with the base. She opened her eyes a crack and found far too much light on the other side. She forced them shut once more.

“Michael,” she mumbled, but it sounded like a shout to her. “Michael, turn it off.”

“I'm sorry, Ava, I'm afraid I can't do that,” the ship's AI answered. “You told me to keep playing your alarm until you were awake, and to wake you before ten.”

“What time is it?” she asked, her dried tongue struggling with every word.

“9:59.”

She let out a sound, half a sigh of resignation and half a groan of pain, and sat up, her eyes still partially closed.

“Alright, I'm awake. I'm awake. You can turn that shit off.”

Finally, blessedly, the music came to a stop. Ava rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She had slept on the leather booth in the tiny space she used as a living room, both legs and one arm hanging off the side. Her shoulder was killing her, but the pain was nothing compared to her massive headache. As she sat, she realized her belt had been undone, but not much else. Had she brought anyone home the night before? Were they still here?

“What happened last time?” she asked as she scooted out of the booth, stretching her right shoulder.

“You brought a woman back with you then promptly fell asleep in the living room,” Michael explained. “She left soon after.”

Ava groaned.

“Did she steal anything?”

“She did not.”

Well, at least that was something less to worry about. Ava took off her leather jacket – she needed to stop sleeping in that jacket, it made her sweat what little water she had left in her body – and threw it on top of the pile of stuff already on the small, circular table.

“I need a shower. And breakfast.”

“I suggest a cream cheese bagel this morning.”

“Again?”

“That is the only thing you have in your kitchen. You forgot to go grocery shopping again yesterday.”

Ava wished she could blame the AI for not reminding her sooner, but she knew Michael had reminded her every morning before she left the ship for at least three days now. She could only blame herself on this one.

She took a too long, too warm shower, letting the previous night run down the drain. She should drink less, she knew, but it was difficult when the best place to find work was a bar. She could order non-alcoholic beverages, sure, but who would want to hire a smuggler who couldn't hold their liquor? She had a reputation to maintain.

 She came out feeling better and even more dehydrated than before. Once dressed in clean clothes – a rare commodity on this ship, because she had forgotten to do the laundry again – she went into the kitchen to get the biggest glass of water she could find, and spread whatever cream cheese she had left on half a bagel. She would kill for some takeout, but until she'd scored another job, she had to be careful with her money, and she was slowly accumulating a tab at the bar that would need taken care of.

She chewed her bagel without thinking about it, her mind a thousand years away. She wasn't disappointed that the woman had gone last night before anything could have happened. She was somewhat glad. She knew what her drunk self had been trying to do. She was trying to forget Helen.

Helen wasn't her real name, Ava knew. She hadn't given her real name either. When the tall, beautiful young woman had introduced herself at the bar, and given the name Helen, Ava had decided to play along, and had introduced herself as Ariadne. Helen had seemed distracted at first, glancing about the bar, but as the night progressed, they had gotten along well. Ava had convinced her to go back to her ship. Helen had seemed nervous, but she had come along anyway. One thing had led to another, and they had slept together. When Ava had woken up in the morning, Helen had been gone.

Full story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44800671/chapters/112718467

Resistance is Futile - a CindyxAlice fanfiction

A/N: Hey guys! This is an extract from my new flower shop/tattoo shop AU oneshot, in which Cindy stubbornly hates Alice because it’s easier than confronting her feelings. It’s a fun story, I promise. If you want to read the whole thing, you’ll find a link to it at the end! Have a nice Sunday!

A minute is enough to change the course of someone's life forever, for good or bad. A flash, an instant, is enough to turn rags to riches and back around. It can be the difference between life and death. One decision, one moment, can lead one's life down a perfectly different path. In the case of Cindy Berman, however, this kind of radical change of life took fifteen minutes, at the very least.

The Milkman's was where they met after work. By six-thirty, the bar was usually crowded beyond belief, so whenever they wanted to have a drink, Cindy would go ahead while Tommy closed shop. Cindy didn't mind. The bar was clean, seemingly decorated by a baseball fan who hadn't seen a game since 1978, with memorabilia on the walls and over the booths. Most of the usual crowd was made up of nearby shop owners. Fier street was the most commercial street in town, and all the people working there made up a small community of kind, fun-loving people.

When Cindy settled in one of the empty booths, a few of the regulars who had already closed up shop welcomed her. She didn't order anything just yet. Tommy would be here any minute, and they would order then.

One after the other, the red leather-bound half-moon booths were filled up, usually by one person sent ahead like Cindy. Then, the rest of the group would arrive, filling up the booth. They too saluted Cindy in passing. She began to lose patience. She checked her phone, wondering what was taking Tommy so long. He closed off the shop on his own almost every evening, he should be here already.

When the front door opened, and the bell above it rang, Cindy was quick to look up. But it wasn't Tommy. It was a young woman, wearing a rock band tee-shirt. Her hair was a short mess of blonde locks. Both of her arms were heavily tattooed. Cindy spotted the image of a large green and orange snake disappearing beneath her sleeve. The woman looked over the room. All the booths were taken, but there were still a few empty tables at the back, and by the bar counter. Cindy watched as, from behind the bar, Ruby talked to the woman. The blonde turned around to face the waitress. There was enough of a brouhaha already, in addition to the music coming from the speakers, that Cindy couldn't make out what they were saying. Soon, Ruby left to pour a drink and the blonde leaned against the counter, waiting. There was a chain tied to the side of her black jeans. Although she wasn't wearing platforms, the sole of her shoes was still giving her an additional half-inch.

The blonde turned around suddenly, leaning her elbows against the bar. Her eyes spotted Cindy staring at her almost immediately. Cindy averted her eyes, pretending she'd only been giving passing glances to the room and not at all staring at the stranger. She made a show of huffing and checking her phone, then looking back up. The blonde was still looking at her. She gave her a wave. Cindy looked away.

Someone sank in the booth beside her and Cindy jumped out of her skin. It was only Tommy, wearing the orange tee-shirt with his shop's logo on it. The Lumberjack, house plants and botanical shop.

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes, at least."

Tommy shrugged.

"The curtain got stuck again."

"The longer you wait to call a repairman, the more you're gonna have to pay to replace it when it breaks down for good."

"I'll do it tomorrow," he said, and she knew he would forget and it wouldn't be done until she called someone for him.

"Anyway, what do you want?" he asked as he slid out of the booth.

"The usual."

She followed him with her eyes and noticed the blonde had disappeared from the bar. She was probably hidden in the growing crowd, Cindy figured.

They lingered in the booth for an hour, drinking a beer each – a light pale lager for Cindy, a tall old ale for Tommy. They talked about everything and anything, about Cindy's classes and Tommy's football friends and the movie they were about to see. When Cindy checked her phone again, it was about time for them to leave and she was thirsty.

"I'm going to get a water and pay," she said as she slid out of the booth.

"Can you get me one too? I'm gonna stop by the bathroom."

Tommy stepped through the crowd, too tall to disappear through it entirely. Cindy gently elbowed her way to the bar and waved Ruby over. However, the waitress was fleeting from one table to the next, serving drinks and picking up empty glasses. When Cindy finally managed to flag someone down, it was the bar's owner, Harry.

"Can I get two waters? And then I'm going to pay."

"Sure thing."

Harry slid down the bar and Cindy drummed her fingers on the countertop, following the rhythm of the music.

"Leaving already? Can I convince you to stay for one more drink?"

FULL STORY HERE

Wolfwren Fanfiction Posting Schedule - December 2023

Hello everyone! Since a lot of you seemed to enjoy the posting schedule I made last month I thought I would make a new one for the coming month and beyond, as I once again find myself with a lot of story ready to post!

Sat. 2nd & Wed. 6th December: The last two chapters of Gray November, I've been down since July (https://archiveofourown.org/works/51672217/chapters/130624462)

Saturday 9th December: Another addition to the "Ahsoka season 2 and beyond series" (https://archiveofourown.org/series/3825343). Temporary title is "The Morning Sketch" but definite rating is E ;)

Wednesday 13th December: 5 times someone interrupted Sabine and Shin making out + 1 time no one did.

Saturday 16th December: Beginning of my new multi-chapter fic (as of now only known as the Obi-Wan AU)

Thursday 21st December: Life Day on Peridea (short Christmasy fic)

Sunday 24th December: Second, longer Christmas fic set in my High School AU verse (https://archiveofourown.org/series/3812962)

Saturday 6th January: Begining of the next multi-chapter fic (hopefully)

And with that busy month ahead of us, I hope you will enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

No Longer You - a Wolfwren fanfiction

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with a new Wolfwren multichapter story! This one is inspired by Agathario. Shin is a witch on the run from her coven, Sabine just came out of a magic sword Shin stole. Here is the beginning, and if you want to read the whole story, the link will be at the end!

Without a sound, Shin reached for her coven’s ancestral sword on the wall. She tugged it in her sash and left the meeting house. Outside, the morning was still gray. The sunlight was blocked by the horizon. Shin’s coven lived at the top of a mountain, and the village was usually flooded with sunlight all day long. By the time the first rays scurried through the locked shutters of her coven sisters, Shin hoped she would be very far from here.

Though she had been born in this coven, the Coven of the Great Mothers, and raised with all the other witches her age, Shin had never felt like she belonged. She didn’t know who her mother was – no one knew who their mothers were – but somehow, everyone knew that her father wasn’t one of the coven’s brothers. That he had been a human outside of the coven. That somehow, this made her weaker than the others. Shin was not weak.

Shin wrapped her cape around herself to brace herself against the cold morning air as she left the village and began her descend down the hundreds of steps to the forest below. She didn’t look back. She would not regret leaving, she knew. The narrow steps had been dug out of the mountain’s side. There was no railing. The wind sheered the stone around her. Shin held her cape more firmly, though the bottom still snapped against her ankles.

The stairs led to a cave that Shin knew she would have to traverse if she wanted off the mountain. Within was the village of the brothers. They weren’t part of the coven, technically, though they were kept around for a variety of reasons. Mostly, they spent their days hunting and gathering food. They lived in the dark bowels of the mountain. Shin could only see the fire of the torches that illuminated the little village. At first, she thought they let the torches burn through the night, then she saw movement.

She jumped to hide against the nearest house. When she peaked out, she saw one of the brothers replacing the torches, bathing the village in the new golden glow of fire. They would be off hunting soon, she assumed. She had to go now, or they might spot her. She chastised herself. She should have thought about it. She waited until the brother walked away to run past him. She tried being quiet and quick, but it was difficult. Her footsteps still echoed on the stone streets, and around the cavernous village. She did not stop, did not look back to make sure that she wasn’t being followed. Instead, she rushed to the exit.

Outside, the sun had broken past the horizon. Its orange glow blinded her. Shin had to rub her eyes a few times before she could continue her descent. At the foot of the mountain was a luscious forest that seemed to expand with no end in sight. Shin had not packed any food with her. Aside from the sword she had stolen, her only possessions were a waterskin and a knife. She would have to hunt to survive, but she was ready. Anywhere but her coven.

Scars Will Heal - A CindyxAlice fanfiction

A/N: Hey guys! I’m back with a new story! This is a canon divergence story where Alice and Cindy both survived the night at Camp Nightwing and are now determined to break the witch’s curse. Here’s an extract of the first chapter, and I will be updating three times a week. If you want to read more, the link to the full story will be at the end! Enjoy!

In early October, when the air would shake the last of its summer heat, it wasn't unusual to awaken to thick fog. The low clouds covered all of Shadyside for hours, and driving for even the smallest of errands became dangerous, at best. By midday, however, when the lunch break rang through the school, the fog would be gone. As the sun rose in the sky, the fog would disperse, layer by layer, so that by the time Cindy left her last morning class, only a few wisps of pale mist clung to the sidewalk.

This was what waking up in the hospital felt like, Cindy found. The heavy fog over her mind lifted, layer by layer. First, the sounds. Obnoxious, regular beeping nearby had woken her up, and for a moment, she thought it was her alarm clock. Then muted voices:

"I told him, 'Beddy, you can't just give those to kids like their candies.' I swear, one day he's gonna be in trouble, and I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"

Sensations returned soon after, and Cindy remembered she had a body. But it was heavy, and she struggled to move even a finger. She knew she was laying down on something too soft, sinking into it a bit more with every passing second. She feared she would disappear into it completely if she didn't do anything to move. But as she tried, the pain returned. It erupted from the center of her chest and radiated over her entire body. Every breath felt like an ax to the chest.

Memories came flooding back, and Cindy's eyes opened with panic. Camp Nightwing, the trip to the witch's house, the tunnels, Tommy... She choked but realized a moment later it wasn't because of the sadness closing her throat and filling her eyes with tears. There was a tube in her throat, bringing air to her lungs, forcing her to breathe. It prevented her from speaking. She tried to reach for it when she felt a hand grabbing her own.

Her mother was leaning over her, looking somewhat more put together and yet more disheveled than usual.

"It's alright, Cindy, you're okay. You're in the hospital, you're okay."

Cindy wanted to scream that she wasn't okay, but she could only gag on the tube as she tried.

"Don't move, I'll go get a nurse."

Her mother left the room, and Cindy tried to calm herself. She was in the hospital, she was fine. She tried to take a deep, slow breath, following the rhythm of the loud ventilator beside her. New pain flared up with every breath, and exhaling wasn't any better. She remembered the ax hitting her square in the chest, but she couldn't move her head enough to see even the edge of a bandage.

Her mother returned a moment later with two nurses in tow.

"You weren't supposed to be awake yet," one of the nurses said, although Cindy had a feeling it wasn't addressed to her.

Together, they pulled the tube out of Cindy's throat. Despite the morphine floating through her bloodstream and the gentleness of the nurses, Cindy still felt like her throat was peeled from the inside. She gagged on the tube again, and every heave of her chest irradiated more pain over her ribs. When finally the tube was out, Cindy rubbed her sore jaw. A thin tube was wrapped around her ears and beneath her nose.

"The doctor will be with you in a moment," one of the nurses said. "Can I get you anything?"

"Water," Cindy huffed out with a broken voice.

She'd hoped the water would smooth the sandpaper feel of her throat. However, swallowing even the smallest amount of water made her want to scream. So she took sips every so often, hoping this one would be the one that wouldn't hurt, and being disappointed every time.

Once she felt she could speak again, she turned to her mother, who'd seated in the cozy hospital chair once more.

"Where's Ziggy?"

FULL STORY HERE