Zaniida's Fics(in other fandoms)

Three ways Mordecai could have reacted to being forcibly scarred.

Content Warnings

Mind the tags. Non-consensual body modification is just for starters.

Link

Carvings

Excerpt

“I said no! ” he spits, swatting Zulie’s smaller hands away as she reaches for his tie again, but then the hands on his shoulders slide in under his suit jacket and pull sideways, pulling it open—to his horror, he hears the buttons pop—and down his arms. He leans forward, tries to pull away but he can’t get loose of his jacket and there are hands grabbing his forearms, holding him in place, tying his arm to the chair with his own tie—

There’s a flask in his face, and he looks up, panting, as Serafine stares him down. “You drink, or I pour it down you troat. ’Cuz wit’out it, gon’ be messy business.”

When he ducks his head, snarling against the invasion, Serafine casts a longsuffering glance upwards, and the hands yank him to the back of the chair; a hand wraps around his jaw and forces his head back, and there are fingers prying open his lips and when he starts to kick he finds hands clutching his ankles, cutting off even that last avenue of protest—

—Serafine brings the flask in, ignoring the panicked breaths that whistle through his nose as she pours through clenched teeth—

Mordecai's enemies catch up with him, and leave him wanting to die...

Content Warnings

Suicidal Ideation. The whump happened before the fic started but the effects are not pretty, and include starvation and non-consensual body modification.

Link

Frayed Hems

Excerpt

So this is how it ends, then. The broken rib’s had a few days to fester, and the heat of the infection’s been getting steadily worse. His captors aren’t likely to render any sort of medical aid, and even if they did it’d be simply to keep him alive for a few more rounds of being their punching bag, so he’d rather it be over with — sooner rather than later. All that awaits him is a bit more agony before the death-rattle.

Explorations of an Autistic Mordecai Heller, and how he relates (or fails to relate) to other people.

Content Warnings

Mood Whiplash: The first chapter is a whimsical exploration of sandwich preferences, the next is Mordecai's reaction to losing his baby sister, and I've no idea where the others might go.

Link

Far from the Typical Intimacies

Excerpt

“I don’t eat pig meat. Of any kind,” Mordecai said pointedly.

“Bacon comes from pigs??” Rocky rubbed the back of his neck. “Good to know. Well, uh… can’t go wrong with a thing I picked up at a Jewish place! Pastrami on rye.”

Removing his pince-nez, Mordecai rubbed the fur at the bridge of his nose. “First of all, the very scent of rye turns my stomach; I cannot think of a less appealing bread. Secondly, pastrami is a spiced meat, and they typically compound the olfactory offense by applying mustard.”

Sorting the rejected sandwiches back into the box, Rocky perked up. “Well, you like tea; how about a tea sandwich? I don’t think they taste anything like tea, really, but then again I don’t drink tea so I can’t be sure. I’ve got mint-cucumber and, uh, ricotta-fig.”

“You’ve mixed sweets and savories there. Don’t do it again. And cucumbers are… slimy,” he added with a shudder.

When Freckle gets the Mumps, Mordecai becomes an unlikely caregiver.

Content Warnings

Nothing worse than canon, I don't think. Freckle's reaction to Mordecai's sudden appearance gets a bit intense because as far as he knows it's a serial killer come to finish him off.

Link

These Hands Have Seldom Comforted

Excerpt

“I can’t imagine being that sick for a week and not being cared for.” Mitzi sighed. “I guess we’ll have to let Rocky look after him.”

Pausing in his tea preparations, Mordecai looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t trust that jingle-brained buffoon to look after a squirrel that was already dead.”

“But somebody needs to,” Mitzi said. “Someone to make sure he drinks enough, to change the sheets now and then, read to him a bit… let him know that he hasn’t been forgotten. And what if he catches a fever and needs help and nobody notices because we’re all just staying out of the way?”

Pivoting to face her, Mordecai squared his shoulders, looking briefly uneasy. “Would it put your mind at ease,” he asked hesitantly, “if I were to take the lad in hand?”

The look Mitzi shot him was incredulous.

“You nursed me back to health when I had been your enemy. It would be discourteous to withhold my services when you’re in such a bind, and while I’m hardly the first choice in caregivers, I have cared for the sick before. I trust my skills would be adequate to do so now, and as I have nothing more pressing to do with my time…”

“You aren’t afraid of catching it?”

“I’ve had it,” he said bluntly, studying his gloves and smoothing out the soft leather. “It’s been well established that those who’ve caught it once rarely catch it a second time.”

When the thugs leave Mordecai dying in an alley, Atlas offers him a chance at a new -- and very different -- life.

Content Warnings

Typical vampire stuff. Atlas is highly manipulative. Mordecai struggles with his religious beliefs. An upcoming fic in the series includes Extremely Dubious Consent.

Series

Let the Moonlight In

First Fic

Daylight End: Mordecai's death, and Atlas turning him

Second Fic

Waking in a Wooden Kimono: Mordecai's introduction to vampirism

Third Fic

Passages: Mordecai meets Victor and Mitzi

Excerpt

“You saved me? I thought…” He feels his chest, his fingers finding the holes in his shirt, but there are no wounds, or even scars. Yet the blood is still on his clothes. “I was dying. How—” He stops short, narrows his eyes. “What have you done to me?”

The tom’s eyes glow golden in the darkness, and a frisson of fear shoots up Mordecai’s spine.

“I have given you power beyond what mortals could ever know,” the tom says, voice gone deep. “The power to hunt, and to overcome those who would hunt you. The power to drink of their life’s essence, and in so doing to escape the pull of time on mortal creatures. The power to defy death, to remain changeless while the world around you changes. This and more, I have granted you. All you have to do is… drink.” He motions toward the thugs, still on their knees, swaying slightly, eyes vacant.

Again, Mordecai feels the pulse of their blood within them, the hunger within himself; he’s surprised his mouth isn’t watering. But actually drinking blood, much less feline blood… it’s an abomination before the Lord. A godly tom does not drink blood, or even eat meat with the blood still in it; he’s known that since he was a kitten, learning his letters by studying the Torah on his sire’s knee.

“And if I don’t?”

The tom shrugs. “If you’d rather burn than drink, then walk up the stairs; there is day enough left. I have no use for the squeamish. So make your choice: blood or burning.” The golden eyes burn brightly in the darkness, holding Mordecai’s gaze. “But know that once you have drunk your fill, there is no returning to a mortal life; you will be bound to me. Forever.”

My April Fools' Day fic for 2024, building on my The Kitten from the Basket, where Asgardians are dog-people and Loki finds out he's a cat-person instead.

Content Warnings

Implied carnage when Thor takes up arms in the rum-runner gang war.

Link

Audacious Flimflam

Excerpt

Loki's whiskers twitched as he surveyed the carnage. "Can my brother go anywhere without starting a war?"

"The leaders here abuse their power," Hogun declared. "They have made it illegal to make, sell, acquire, or enjoy fermented refreshment."

It took Loki a moment to parse that thought. “They’ve outlawed alcohol??”

“Indeed they have! Yet Thor has joined forces with those who aim to right this wrong, securing the return to revelry and merriment for all!”

“Revelry and merriment,” Loki repeated, deadpan. The air was thick with the scent of blood, and the sound of gunshots and unhinged laughter echoed from down the street.

“Well, y’know… after the battle’s been won.” Volstagg chuckled, but his tail stayed tucked between his legs.

Percy's POV as he slowly integrates with the team. Follows the comic-book portrayal of events.

Content Warnings

Percy is not in a good headspace at the start. Delves quite a bit into his cynical viewpoint.

Link

Resistance, Reliance

Excerpt

Honestly, could he ever dream up a group this naive? They bust him out of a jail cell and hand him an unpredictable weapon and don’t even seem to consider the possibility that he might turn on them. In a couple of hours and a single conversation, with no proof whatsoever, they’ve gone from accusing him of human sacrifice to simply asking if he’ll keep his word.

He’s not sure how to meet that trust if not with sincerity—the type of sincerity he hasn’t had occasion to use in far too long. Since waking up on that fishing boat, he’s been afraid to acknowledge himself, afraid of how easily the name could be used to hurt him, hunt him down. He’s gone by whatever people care to call him, and when he needs a name to hand someone it’s been a borrowed one, sometimes Julius but most commonly Oliver. Bearing his brothers with him and learning to distance himself from the worst of the memories a little at a time.

But he’s not a child anymore—no longer on the run, but on the hunt. He needn’t hide himself any longer, and if word gets out that a de Rolo is still alive, it might actually lead him to his quarry that much the sooner.

And there’s something about this little group that makes lies feel… unbecoming. So in that moment, he decides to give them a gift of trust, and lets his true name cross his lips for the first time in five long, harrowing years.

Combine a cutesy childlike video game with an adult-aimed web series and see what happens, right?

Content Warnings

Tone Clash. Mention of prostitution -- Vax is used to selling his body to cover the times when they don't have funds.

Link

Raising Funds

Excerpt

…so when Vex had sent him off to barter for supplies — “with what?” “I’m sure you’ll manage” — he’d merely rolled his eyes and hunted down the nearest shop, already shifting his movements into something loose and cocky and sensual.

The cheerful voice that cried out “Welcome!” when he entered was… rather younger than he’d had any reason to expect, and belonged to a girl wearing colorful clothes a bit too large for her, with straps falling down off her shoulders, and too many pockets. And beaded hair-ties.

For a moment, Vax felt like he’d misjudged the last step on a staircase, but he shook it off and sauntered up to the counter, putting on his best smile. “I’d like to speak to the owner.”

“That’s me!”

His grin grew a bit wider at her absolute confidence. “…oh, really?”

Percy's trauma is worse, to the point of selective mutism -- how does that change the way the team adjusts to his eccentricities?

Content Warnings

Link

Let My Bullets Do the Talking

Excerpt

Scrawny to the point of starvation, dressed in poorly mended rags, and clearly terrified, he doesn’t respond to her questions or give any sign that he even understands her.

Hasn’t said a word since we caught him, the warden had informed them, and that much, Vex can believe. But the thought of this ragged beggar being a merciless killer doesn’t sit right.

Still, just like they don’t kill every bad guy they come across, they can’t save every innocent either—and according to the warden, the prisoner isn’t even that.

But it’s abundantly clear that if they leave him here, the poor man is going to starve to death. If he isn’t just hanged… for what might be a false charge, at that.

And for whatever reason, Vex just can’t let that go.

If the team hadn't found Percy in that cell, what dark endings might he have faced? Let's start with a cult devoted to human sacrifice....

Content Warnings

Link

Cell Divergence

Excerpt

Percy’s last defiant struggles earn him nothing more than a quick and brutal beating.

He might have screamed for help earlier, nearer the village, but hadn’t thought it worth the effort.

To save the team, Percy hands himself over to the Briarwoods.

Content Warnings

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. Contains rape, non-consensual body modification, mind control, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Link

Enchanté

Excerpt

The hand just squeezes tighter and tighter until he can barely draw breath, until he stops writhing and goes limp, vision narrowing, spots dancing before his eyes.

There’s the tickle of a beard at his ear, a lick along his earlobe, and he shudders and whimpers as new terror courses through him. “If you’re hoping for the guards,” Sylas murmurs over the pounding in his head, “I’ve arranged for a little… distraction.”

Gods, he’s going to die. Or get tortured and then die.

And he wouldn’t mind it quite so much if it meant something, if he’d managed to secure some level of justice for the ones cut down—if the last survivor of the de Rolo clan had managed to take down even one of the Briarwoods before the end.

But in the end, his efforts have done nothing but make the world objectively a more dangerous place. And the only thing he can think to do—

“I surrender!” he croaks, feeling oddly as if the past five years have been a dream, a way to make the torture all the worse once he finally gives in.

Behind him, Sylas goes still—not even breathing.

“Just let them live,” Percy gasps out. The man’s hold relaxes, and Percy, not hesitating lest the chance be lost, reaches his free hand up to touch his earring. “Inform L-Lady Briarwood that Percival—” The rest of the words stick in his throat, ties to people he couldn’t even manage to avenge. “That Percival de Rolo has surrendered. Completely. On condition that the battle ends now.”

The protests come quickly—a chorus of words washing over him, meaningless—but he can’t let them sway him, not at such a cost. “I won’t have any more of you hurt because of me. Tell her. Say the words,” he stresses, “…and stay far away from Whitestone.”

Crossover with The Sandman: Despair of the Endless tries to get her hooks into each member of the team, but one by one they are claimed by other members of the Endless.

Content Warnings

Various spoilers, including a key one from a later campaign. Intense moments, but they're portrayed in short form and not dwelt on.

Link

Passing Despair

Excerpt

“It hurts,” screams the spirit of the boy — flesh torn, legacy lost, spirit nearly broken — and Despair reaches for him.

“There are things that need to be eradicated, and we need destroyers to do it,” Destruction muses, stepping between them. “This one will learn my arts, and become the arm of retribution in the world.”

“He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword,” Destiny cautions.

“Oh, he’ll do better than a sword — but he’ll still learn the heavy price I extract from all who walk too far down my path.”

In converting him into their puppet, they've removed key portions of his humanity, and he can't even remember why that's important.

Content Warnings

Gore, trauma, brainwashing/mind manipulation, body horror (sorta)

Link

Five Moments Lost

Fan Comment

Oh man, the smiiiiiile, imagining that and the strain often in Kevin's voice, excellently creepy!

Kevin's last moments before Strex takes him down. He's a radio host to the very last.

By "acted podfic" I mean that it's not just me reading a story; I actually played it like a scene, complete with background sound effects and plenty of emotion in my voice. Also, the original fic is a lot more gory than my take, chiefly because mine merely implies what Kevin is seeing (and stops short of the ending). Be warned!

Content Warnings

Implications that Very Bad Things happen, but most are

Link

Last Broadcast

Original Fic

Sing, Little Hummingbird by kittleimp (much worse than mine)

Fan Comment

Excellent work, now please excuse me while I sob

Things that the citizens of Night Vale take for granted and Carlos is starting to wonder about.

This one's kinda weird: Basically I've been going back through the early episodes and listening to them with Carlos-colored glasses on, trying to pick out what he'd pick up on while hearing the show, and how he'd categorize it. What sort of questions he'd ask.

It's been an interesting exercise, it's just that, despite its short length, it's highly time-consuming to create. I literally cannot do anything else while trying to pay attention to the content. With just about any other project, anything I need to listen to or watch or remind myself of, I can multitask, but not this one! Any time my mind wanders, I completely lose sight of the main reason I'm listening to the content. (Maybe I should do it while sorting laundry.)

Content Warnings

You might not be able to listen to certain scenes again without some disturbing thoughts. More than usual for the series, I mean.

Link

Things to Get Used to in Night Vale: A List

Fan Comment

That reminder is cute, and very scientific of him 😊

Ways in which Rayek and Cutter touched each other, and what it means to Rayek in retrospect.

Rayek has long been my favorite character, although he drives me mad sometimes with his inability to abide by certain standards of ethical behavior.

Still, when Rayek's not acting like an ass, he's quite the compelling character, and I'm glad to start my (hypothetical) ElfQuest collection with a piece from his point of view.

Content Warnings

Rayek imagines what would have happened if Cutter had died on the Bridge of Destiny.

Link

Touched by the Wolf Chief

Fan Comment

Rayek's an interesting character, in that he's originally an antagonist but not exactly a villain, and for the rest of the series (the parts I've read) he wanders back and forth over the line between ally-we-don't-always-see-eye-to-eye-with and wait-he's-gone-off-the-deep-end-again. Which is to say, he grows and learns in some ways, and he has some redeeming qualities, but he never quite grows out of his big central flaw and everything that comes from it.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The filk song about the cat-snake-beast that destroyed half the tribe before the story began. (Yes, I know it's technically called Nightcrawler, but I figured that would be confusing to my normal audience (on account of them being MCU fans), and "Madcoil" better expresses the idea if you know nothing of the original context.)

I sung this one in the shower enough that I went off in a whole different style. Can't say that the singing's all that good, but I like how it turned out, more or less. I could see singing this one in public if I ever ended up famous enough to have strangers/fans ask me to sing one of my cover songs.

Content Warnings

Link

Madcoil

Fan Comment

Oo, I like the style choice here—it wouldn't have occurred to me to do it that way, but the soft/sweet rendition is effectively creepy and a good match for your voice.

See Octodad's antics from the point of view of a local woman who has no reason to think anything's amiss.

I don't think I'll ever give the neighbor a name, or any personality other than being generally positive and accepting and totally oblivious to the implications of what she's seeing. I rather like having a characterized non-character as a host for these tales 😊

Content Warnings

Series

Quirky Neighborhood Dad

First Fic

Some Random Neighbor

Sequel

My Quirky Neighbor's Daddy-Daughter Moments

Fan Comment

This is absolutely adorable. Very well done. And it is always nice to have a outside POV fic.

Xellos comes to Zelgadis in a mood more inscrutible than usual, with a problem and a plan, neither of which Zelgadis is likely to appreciate.

The fic I based my on leaned heavily on the comedy side; I lean heavily on the drama side (as is pretty normal for me).

Content Warnings

Xellos reveals that he's been ordered to find a way to turn Lina into a Mazoku agent

Link

Bound

Inspired by

Bind by Irk (sadly, the site appears to have gone down)

Fan Comment

Oh wow! What a fantastic start!

I've got like three chapters rough-drafted, but I'm stuck on a piece of the next chapter that is simply not coming together, so I give it another shot now and then, realize I'm still blocked, and go do something else.

I miss having a steady beta reader. We fixed these problems so much more quickly and consistently than me trying to do it on my own.

Recette spends some time with five of her new adventurer friends, outside the normal dungeon and store encounters.

Content Warnings

This is probably the most wholesome and least traumatizing fic I will ever write of any significant length. Maybe use it as a fluffy blanket for when you get traumatized by my normal stuff.

Link

Five Moments of Friendship

Fan Comment

I don't understand why Recettear doesn't have more fics! There is such potential here that is being wasted!

Thank you for writing this; maybe it will shine light for people who still enjoy the game to write something too.

Combine a cutesy childlike video game with an adult-aimed web series and see what happens, right?

Content Warnings

Tone Clash. Mention of prostitution -- Vax is used to selling his body to cover the times when they don't have funds.

Link

Raising Funds

Excerpt

…so when Vex had sent him off to barter for supplies — “with what?” “I’m sure you’ll manage” — he’d merely rolled his eyes and hunted down the nearest shop, already shifting his movements into something loose and cocky and sensual.

The cheerful voice that cried out “Welcome!” when he entered was… rather younger than he’d had any reason to expect, and belonged to a girl wearing colorful clothes a bit too large for her, with straps falling down off her shoulders, and too many pockets. And beaded hair-ties.

For a moment, Vax felt like he’d misjudged the last step on a staircase, but he shook it off and sauntered up to the counter, putting on his best smile. “I’d like to speak to the owner.”

“That’s me!”

His grin grew a bit wider at her absolute confidence. “…oh, really?”

For each series, a pair of outsider characters connect.

My favorite characters in Star Trek (and many other shows, but ST in particular) have always been the fish out of water, the characters who can view humanity from odd perspectives: Spock, Data, Odo, the Doc, Kes, 7/9, Garak (also Bashir, who was outsider in a different way). It actually bugs me that the captain is Always Human.

For this piece, I chose the normal outsider character and paired them with a different, less prominent outsider character, and then tried to figure out any common qualities or connection or contrast I could make.

Content Warnings

Link

Moments Like Stardust

Excerpt

“The way I talk, people don’t take me seriously,” he slurs. “I’m not skilled at writing, either. No one’s going to listen to what I know, or carry it into the future. But as a storyteller…” A slow grin spreads across his face. “I can plant ideas. And long after I’m forgotten, maybe those ideas will carry on and spread out and become what people know of Russia.”

I haven't watched much of Enterprise, so I had to depict Hoshi Sato and the doc from the bits I understood about them and some browsing of wikis and YouTube clips. Hope I didn't do too badly.

Twilight decides to spend a day getting to know each of her new friends.

She maybe didn't think this through.

It's been a while since I was watching the show, but I'd wanted this to be one of my first alt-fandom FMI pieces, on account of the abbreviations (FIM + FMI). The timing didn't quite work, but I'm glad it got started the same year I hosted my first FMI writing event, August Intimacy.

Content Warnings

Canon-typical shenanigans

Link

Five Moments of Friendship Is Magic

Excerpt

“See, if anypony needed help and nopony paid attention, they’d be stressed instead of happy, right? So every week I check in on everypony and make sure that they have whatever they need. Since I know everypony in town, I know what each pony can do, and since I know what each pony can do, if one of them needs help then I know who to ask! Because it would break my heart if there was an easy solution to the problem and it didn’t happen just because they didn’t know who to go to for help!”

“That’s… surprisingly logical,” Twilight admits. In fact, the more she talks with Pinkie, the more she finds that there’s an underlying rationality to her behavior—well, most of the time. Some of the weirdness they’ve been through today seems beyond explanation, but, on the whole, she’d expected Pinkie to be far more scatterbrained than she turns out to be.

And a bit more self-centered, to be honest; she’d expected Pinkie to be focused mostly on her own enjoyment, but it turns out that she takes her role quite seriously. Even if that means running off to arrange a welcoming party for a newcomer before even getting to know her.

Double-Drabble sections (with two-word titles) about the main character meeting five outlier characters.

I'm still a bit annoyed that you can't marry Clint.

Anyway, this is characters getting to know the (narrative-viewpoint) main character over time, and being able to open up to them and find connection. It's not gonna be all sweet and uplifting, but I expect an optimistic ending (eventually).

Content Warnings

I have some darker topics planned for the second or third chapter, including possibly miscarriage.

Link

Five Friendships in the Valley

Excerpt

But when you try to pay, the guy behind the counter pushes your money back toward you with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Use that to buy some seeds,” he says, “and start that farm up right. A little extra now can make a big difference, come autumn.”

The unexpected generosity brings tears to your eyes, and as you savor the nostalgic treat you promise yourself to pay him back somehow… come autumn.

Menlo feels nostalgic as he watched TJ playing with his new friends, and recalls the friendship that they used to share.

In one episode, it gets revealed that TJ and Menlo used to be the best of friends. (It's also an episode where TJ displays great loyalty and honor: "A promise is a promise!") Since I've always felt a kinship with Menlo, it was nice to see him given an episode where he comes across as human, historied, and positive, rather than merely an annoying antagonist.

Content Warnings

Canon-typical childhood traumas

Link

Five Wistful Memories

Fan Comments

I like how, from the get-go, Menlo's feeling the bittersweet nostalgia of having grown apart from someone with whom he was once so close. You can really feel that.

Damn. That was beautiful. Menlo is actually one of my favorite characters; I liked the little tidbit about TJ and Menlo previously being friends. Thought it was interesting and gave some depth to the studious bespectacled boy. Probably a good thing that this was bittersweet, sometimes you have to let go.

Again, this puts a focus on characters other than the most prominent.

My favorite characters are Winchester, Sidney, Mulcahy, Klinger, and Radar, in that order (more or less). Not that I didn't enjoy many other characters, but those ones stand out to me. And I think the best thing that ever happened to the series was the cast switch, allowing the characters to evolve from comic relief to heartfelt connection (without losing the comedy). Winchester is layered and nuanced in a way that Burns never was. BJ feels real to me in a way that Trapper never did. And Potter feels like a guy who could actually run a place this messed-up, whereas Blake seems like the kinda guy who would never have been promoted to that kind of position. Even Margaret Houlihan was allowed to evolve once Burns was out of the picture.

One of the fandom exchanges I participated in had M*A*S*H as a possible choice, and I got all excited until I found out that the only pairing options were Hawkeye/someone and Margaret/someone. Like, okay, Hawkeye's the main character, fine, but… that same exchange had like twenty possible crack-pairing ships for Revolutionary Girl Utena, and they certainly didn't stick by the main characters. I'm still a bit miffed over that letdown.

Content Warnings

Some of the characters bring up some big topics, and you might need to bring tissues.

Link

Little Wartime Intimacies

Fan Comment

Nice to see a fic not focused on sex. These characters have so much depth to go into without it. Loved this!

I made Sidney Freedman and Father Mulcahy as Sims 3 sims, but unfortunately my CC is buggy and I need to do a fresh install and remake everyone from scratch. Which I don't have time for right now. But it's quite fun to see Sidney enjoying himself in my personal Sims 3 runs 😊

Agents discuss how to deal with a group whose scips prevent other people from getting near them.

This isn't within the SCP fandom as far as any recognizable characters or groups of interest; it's just set within that worldbuild, using the general idea of how to handle this kind of retrieval.

Content Warnings

Some of the details and implications get really dark, including suicide, self-surgery, and animal abuse.

Link

Bracelets of Intimacy +5

Fan Comment

This fic is amazing! It starts off okayish, and then as the conversation goes on and new detals are added, the slow build up of creepiness, it's disturbing, makes you slightly uneasy. I loved it so much!! Exactly the right level of creepy. Just what I needed to start off October.

Each of the siblings (minus Destruction) sends Morpheus a dreamer, and he deals with them in various appropriate ways.

Content Warnings

Deals with some sensitive topics, including despair (naturally), adjusting to new disability, and gender identity.

Link

The Intimacy of Dreams

Fan Comment

That last one made me cry. It was just so beautiful, Z.

I'm not sure, but this might be the first fic I've posted with gender-neutral pronouns. I do explore gender concepts in a lot of my work, but I'm kinda feeling my way around when it comes to evading the way that language enforces a gender binary. I also have a piece called Costumes that depicts a canonically masculine character in an ambiguously genderqueer way by not using pronouns; that was quite the challenge to write with natural-sounding language!

Content Warnings

Link

Clopin's Illness

Fan Comment

Possibly the most amateur-fanfic-hour ideas out of all my Amateur Hour. Kinda interesting in that respect.

Content Warnings

Link

Freedom Perishing

Excerpt

Frollo hurried on to read the letter, and at once his eyes grew wide and his face white. The gypsy seemed moderately pleased by the reaction.

Staring at his visitor in something approaching trepidation, Frollo asked incredulously, "It is true?"

"Would I be here were it not?" he replied, enunciating each word.

"No… no…" mused Frollo in clear, if unexplained, distress. "Come inside," he barked sharply, then turned without even assuring himself that his visitor followed. With narrowed eyes, the gypsy entered the Palace.

Content Warnings

Link

Leonardo's Fears

FFN version

Fan Comment

Really well done! Poor angsty Leo is so up in his own head that it's affecting him….

A group of strangers try to figure out how best to go about their first days under the surface.

I used to love Exile, back when it actually worked on my computer. Great RPG with oldschool aesthetics, enormous and detailed worldbuilding, and the best Shareware Demon I have yet to encounter. And one of the key features that made my day was the chance to develop a team of six whole characters, fully customizable.

I can't think of another game that allows six characters in the same party at the same time, let alone one where you got to customize those characters. The most I can recall is five (Final Fantasy IV). And the thing is, a four-character team is basically the Tank, the Healer, the Wizard, and the Rogue/Archer. A five-character team lets you have a Tank, a Healer, and a Wizard, with two characters to spec into Archer, Rogue, Lancer, or Hybrid Mage. It's fairly limiting, if you want to include all the basics.

But a six-character team? Tank, Healer, Wizard, Rogue, Archer, and you still have an extra character to play with. I did runs with a Lancer, or with an even split between magic-users and not, or where some of the front-row fighters had a few points in healing or magecraft. I did runs where the sixth character was specced into all the non-combat skills (I forget the terms, but search/perception, cavelore, lockpicking, first aid, etc.). I did runs where the sixth character was a pacifist, unable to raise a hand in combat, and it didn't handicap my team to any noticeable degree.

And then they brought the game to Steam, under the name Avernum, and I was elated… briefly. Then I realized that they'd (a) added a compulsory hand-holding tutorial, (b) drastically reduced the amount of fine-tuning I could do with character stats, and (c) reduced the team to four members tops.

Also got Phil Foglio on board for art, so it's not like I can complain too much 😋

But anyway, this piece was written well before the Steam port, so only the name refers to that. And I guess this is a good example of the type of writing I did twenty-odd years ago when trying to come up with my own characters, rather than craft stories around the characters of others. (Or, more to the point: In most of my fanfics, I borrow the characters; in this fanfic, I borrowed the worldbuild.)

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Six-Character Teams Are Awesome

Excerpt

"A thief, like I," he said, putting a hand delicately to his chest as if prouder of that than of anything else he could ever have or do, "steals things. A crook deceives and tricks people into acting against their best interests. I'm not at all like a crook. And Koshoa thinks worse of me than that—I'm sure he thinks I might murder, rape, destroy, pillage, and commit all sorts of other atrocities. I'm not that kind of person—that's why I ended up here instead of being sent first class to the afterlife."

"You disgust me," said Ada with drawn brows.

Raising his eyes heavenward, Ner gave a comical sigh. "I've never gotten on well with redheads. Some flaw in their genes, I'll warrant."

I'm pretty sure I based Ner on Silk from The Belgariad.

Some years back, I had been vaguely playing out a whole CATS AU in my head; this is what's left in my notes.

The first chapter is just a little snippet of what might've been; the second is a rundown from my notes of how I would've played the characters. I kinda wanted to get that all posted before I went and saw the new version of the show, so as to ensure that my mind could treat the characters as two variations, not infect the old versions with the new interpretations.

Also, somewhere along the way, I ran into a behind-the-scenes tidbit: The cast are given only three words around which to build the character. Grizabella, for example, is described as "Proud, Hurt, Indomitable," while one variation of Rumpleteazer is described as "Naughty, Impressionable, Effervescent." This is quite an intriguing way to characterize. Also, I'm still annoyed that they gave the role of motherly, fastidious, homemaker Jennyanydots to Rebel Wilson, who seems practically the opposite; I can't help but think that they did this entirely because of her size.

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Worries (an old snippet of a tale)

Fan Comment

Some interesting sketches here! I particularly like your take on Skimbleshanks—I've found him a bit trickier to get into so it's appreciated!

I was once contemplating the spider egg sac I'd just squashed, and came up with this idea.

Content Warnings

The idea might make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.

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"Finding Nemo meets John Wick"

Fan Comment

I'd watch the hell out of that

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