I’ve said this line to more people than I’d like to admit. Almost always with the same expression. My voice was soft, my eyes downcast, and a burning sense of shame filled my stomach.
There’s a reason for this. You see, fan fiction does not have the greatest of reputations. It often conjures images of either fun but ultimately worthless smut or silly teenagers projecting their romantic fantasies onto fictional characters through self-insertion and a slew of Mary-Sues, Gary-Stus, and dozens of other hyphenated monikers.
These images are why I have always been ashamed of my fan fiction writing. But now that I’ve grown older, should I be ashamed of it? Is fan fiction genuinely worthless? A silly distraction at best and a horrible time-waster at worst? Lately, I’ve started to think about my past fan fiction writing career. It was filled with a lot of the cliches and tropes mentioned above. But now, I’ve concluded that my years of writing fan fiction were not entirely useless. To explain how I came to this conclusion, I will tell you the entire story.
I wrote my first fan fiction at 17, and it was terrible. The story was filled with tropes people deride, including self-insertion, poor grammar and spelling, and a Mary-Sue heroine. At the time, I didn’t realize that. I was too busy hurriedly getting all my feelings, thoughts, and daydreams about my favorite fictional world onto the page. I didn’t have time to worry about misspelled words or punctuation.
What inspired this frenzied desire? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
It was the summer of 2003. At the time, I didn’t think of myself as a writer. Sure, I would write bits and pieces of stories in my own time, and I would dream up fictional scenarios and think about giving birth to them as full-fledged novels. Despite that, I had never once finished a story. I would start work on a writing project and quit halfway through, convincing myself that the idea was stupid or that no one would ever read it.
Then Sirius Black died.
I’d been through fictional death before. I’d read Little Women and cried when Beth died. I’d cried as well when Cedric Diggory passed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire three years earlier. But, this time, something was different. It didn’t feel like enough to cry about Sirius while reading, close the book, and forget him. I kept going over the reasons for his death in my head. I knew they made sense in the storyline, but I still couldn’t accept it. So, as I often did when I was upset, I turned to daydreaming. Inspired by frequent listening to the Les Miserables soundtrack (in preparation for our high school musical in the fall), I created an alternate reality in which a musical theater actress enters the Harry Potter universe with the sole aim of saving Sirius Black from his fate. Eventually, I decided to write down this daydream and throw it on fanfiction.net.
When I published the first chapter, I was surprised and relieved to receive two positive reviews from people eagerly awaiting the story’s continuation. I was given a confidence boost by this and continued writing. I spent the rest of the summer holed up in my room, neglecting my school assignments and many other things in favor of pounding out my story. As I stated at the beginning, the story was terrible. Besides spelling and grammar mistakes, my heroine bore a striking resemblance to me as I wished I was, and she also had little depth or natural character. But, despite all of these flaws, positive reviews for my story kept coming. There weren’t many of them. Maybe two per chapter. That didn’t matter. The fact that there were people out there, even just two people, who seemed to enjoy my writing and wanted me to continue was enough to spur me on.
I completed my first written work in September of 2003. My two faithful reviewers were sweet and enthusiastic to the end. But I didn’t want it to be the end. At this point, writing fan fiction had become an addiction. In my senior year of high school alone, I wrote three novella-length fanfiction stories and two short stories. They were all in the same vein, with female characters that much resembled me doing things that I wanted to do in the universe, including punching an unlikeable character, Percy Weasley, in the face and dating a younger version of my favorite male character: Remus Lupin.
My fever for writing, in general, continued through college. By now, I wrote the occasional original short story or play in addition to my fan fiction. When the sixth Harry Potter book came out, I found a new reason to write.
In 2005 I became infatuated with an older boy at my university. Through signals, occasional looks, and brief touches, I had convinced myself that he felt the same way but didn’t want to say so. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Tonks revealed her feelings for Remus Lupin and Lupin expressed his reluctance to be with her even though he clearly loved her, I was ecstatic. I became convinced that this challenging, angst-filled, yet strangely romantic scenario mirrored my own.
Of course, I had to get this feeling out on paper. In a multi-chapter examination of Lupin and Tonks’ relationship, I found a creative outlet for my feelings. In Tonks’ passion, frustration, and a hint of hope, I was able to safely express the pangs of unrequited love I felt. Through Lupin, I was able to project what I hoped the object of my affection felt about me. Over two years, I wrote that story and many other Lupin and Tonks fan fictions. Through Livejournal, I discovered a whole community of fellow Lupin and Tonks shippers. These beautiful people, many of whom were genuinely excellent writers, gave me advice and encouragement to strengthen my skills in fanfiction and my original works.
I remember receiving advice on developing characters’ thoughts, feelings, and inner life. Good advice on how to show and not tell the audience what I wanted to say and even suggestions on how to improve my editing, proofreading, and grammar skills. Slowly, with the help of my new fan fiction colleagues, my writing began to improve. I was now submitting my own original stories to local contests. I even wrote a play chosen from several to be performed at my college. Confidence in my writing grew. Through it all, I continued to flesh out my angst-filled vignettes based on Lupin and Tonks’ relationship.
Then, one day, when there were only two chapters left to write in my great “epic,” I stopped. I couldn’t have told you if you had asked me why I never again updated that story. I might have said I didn’t have time. I was graduating from college and working a part-time job, after all. But, as my school work and job hadn’t kept me from writing other “one-off” stories in the Harry Potter universe, that explanation didn’t exactly ring true. The truth was, every time I sat down to write the penultimate chapter in this story, something stopped me, and I couldn’t make myself finish the story.
It wasn’t until years later, when I got a wild urge to look back at this old fan fiction, that I saw the date on the last updated entry and realized what had happened. I stopped writing my epic love story in October of 2007. That was the same month and year that I entered my first genuinely adult romantic relationship with a young man from the new college I had transferred to. Even though the story hadn’t ended for Lupin and Tonks, it was over for me. And while I wrote several more tales about this couple, that particular tale of longing, angst, frustration, and passion wasn’t something I needed to write anymore.
Looking back, I now realize that’s what fan fiction was for me. It was a safe space where, in complete anonymity, I could express my fears, my doubts, my views, and my longings. It was also a place where I could safely play around with plot ideas, writing styles, and points of view.
Now, with a published play, novella, and several ghostwritten works for Kindle under my belt, not to mention a career as an advertising copywriter with a national marketing agency, I realize how much of my life I owe to that first self-insertion fan fiction story. Writing that story showed me that I could finish the tales I started, that people would want to read my work, that people are willing to help and support me, and that I have a safe place to express myself.
The truth is a “bad” fan fiction that helps a teenage girl express and deal with her feelings can be just as beneficial as any great work of literature. Everyone has a strong emotion or impulse that needs to be let out at some point in time. The strength of our thoughts, feelings, and impulses makes us human beings. I believe that genuinely successful humans are the ones who find creative outlets for their intense emotions. Rather than snapping at strangers in a shopping line, destroying property, harming themselves, or harming others, these people find a way to channel their energy into creation. Fan fiction is one way to do that.
The way to measure fan fiction is not in its literary merits (though there is fan fiction out there that genuinely shines in this area). Instead, fan fiction should be measured by what it gives to its writers and readers.
It gives its writers a place to work out their emotions, trials, joys, and fears. And it provides its readers another escape into a world they love.
Now that I’ve come to realize that (well into my thirties, I might add), I’m no longer ashamed about admitting my terrible fan fiction writing past. Earlier this year, I let my husband read some of my oldest fan fiction works. I was lucky to marry a Star Wars fan who loved watching fan films when he was younger (and occasionally still does). From my very first shame-faced admission early in our relationship, he’d understood and accepted my fan fiction writing.
Now, I’ve come to accept it myself. Fan fiction is what made me the writer and the person I am today.
So, to fan fiction writers, especially young fan fiction writers, my message is this: keep going. Even if people deride your work as “self-insertion” or your characters as “Mary-Sue”or“Gary-Stu.” Even if authors and pundits decry fanfiction as “plagiarism”or“unoriginal.” Don’t listen to them. Listen to yourself and listen to your readers. If you feel something inside that compels you to finish this story about a world you love, that is all that matters. If you write fan fiction, you need to write it; chances are, someone out there needs to read it.
That’s the lesson that writing terrible fan fiction taught me. And it made all the difference.
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“Transformative work is about repairing the deficiencies of canon” no, transformative works is about using canon as raw material. Sometimes that means fixing the canon. Sometimes it means making the canon worse. Sometimes it means slapping a pair of Groucho glasses and a silly hat on the canon and hoping nobody notices what’s really going on.
I understand and acknowledge the flaws of the source material, and I have prepared several new ones for people to get mad about.
In 1883 New York, Tony Stark, millionaire inventor, is a man of science, reason, and a sense of humor that other people sometimes even appreciate. That’s why he has no time for the latest popular obsession with seances, the supernatural, and the afterlife.
Until a ghost finds him.
Fandom:Marvel Comics Relationships:Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts, Nick Fury, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Other Minor Characters Words:20,692 Rating: Teen Warnings:Fainting & Unconsciousness, Supernatural/Occult Subjects, Fire, Canon-Typical Violence
in which Valkyrja (a female Shadow Summoner) is being haunted by nightmares and decides to take some fresh air at night, only to come across Baghra by the lake. They share a small conversation about her horrors, the greed for power, and her relationship with the Darkling.
Note: This is a little piece from the Chapter 26 of my fanfiction Memoriam. If there is anyone here who is currently reading the story, be warned that there are spoilers ahead. I personally liked this piece as a stand-alone.
A frown appeared on my face as I saw someone in black robes by the lake, her dark hair was swaying slowly because of the wind. Baghra turned her head to look at me upon hearing my footsteps approaching her.
She eyed me from head to foot. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Can’t sleep,” I muttered while I stood right next to her with my arms wrapped around my body. “I thought you hated the cold.”
Baghra repeated my words. “Can’t sleep.” For a while, we stood in silence as we both gazed into the dark waters of the lake. It was a new moon, hence there was literally no light illuminating the grounds apart from the faint shimmering of the stars. “Your disturbance is impossible to ignore, girl.” Baghra spoke, I could see her turning her head to look at me from the corner of my eye. “It radiates off your body. What bothers you?”
The words left my lips before I could decide whether I wanted to speak them. “I killed a man with the Cut.” I said and looked at Baghra to see her reaction. She had raised a questioning eyebrow at me. I took a deep breath. “Last night, a Fjerdan assassin snuck into the Little Palace and tried to kill me.”
“So instead, you ended up killing him.” Baghra finished my words and I nodded. “Was he the first?”
I nodded once again and turned my eyes away from her blue ones. I could feel my arms beginning to shiver but I couldn’t decide whether it was because of the cold. “The image of his body cut in half haunts me in my sleep.” I muttered. “I cannot even close my eyes without seeing it.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Baghra spoke with a voice which didn’t contain even the slightest bit of emotion. “We have all gone through this. It might feel like the remorse is never going to leave you alone but it does after some time.”
“This is why you hadn’t taught me the Cut before the Darkling interfered, isn’t it?” I asked, my eyes were focused on the night sky. “You knew I’d use it impulsively in a situation like this one. You didn’t want me to have blood on my hands so soon.”
Baghra kept silent, which meant that I was right. When I finally found the courage to look at her, I saw the hints of sadness on her face. Taking a deep breath, I let myself put that question into words which had been invading my mind since yesterday.
“Then, why did the Darkling want me to learn it?”
The dark-haired woman eyed me before speaking. “Do you know his age?”
I nodded. “One hundred and ten.”
Baghra sneered but I couldn’t understand the reason behind it. “He has lived a long life, girl. After a while, human life tends to lose its significance in your eyes if you’re strong enough to live twice or perhaps thrice their lifetimes.” I was listening to her with a frown on my face. “That’s why he taught you the Cut without any second thoughts. Once you are as old as he is now, you’ll understand me better.”
Even before I came here to the Little Palace, I had heard about the ruthlessness of the Darkling; however, I had never thought that human life meant nothing to him. Perhaps it was the curse of an eternal life, or the curse of an infinite power –I didn’t know but I felt that I feared becoming like him. Just the simple thought of feeling absolutely nothing after taking the life of a human being terrified me.
A soft, scolding chuckle left Baghra’s lips. “You’re scared aren’t you?” she asked me. “Becoming just like him scares you? Power corrupts people, girl. Tell me, don’t you keep wanting for more when he amplifies you?”
I didn’t know if it was something that came with old age but both Baghra and the Darkling could read me like an open book and it overmuch disturbed me. “I do.” I muttered with a bothered voice. I saw no point in lying to Baghra. “But it doesn’t only happen when he amplifies me.”
Baghra raised an eyebrow at me.
“I always want more of him.” I confessed. It was foolish to believe that Baghra wasn’t aware of the thing going between me and the Darkling. She was like a hawk. “More of his touches, more of his amplifying, more of his kisses…”
I heard Baghra snorting at my words. “So you’re just like the other girls.” she muttered irritated. “You fell for his fancy words and that beautiful face of his.”
“No, I’m not.” I found myself speaking with an angry tone, a deep frown inhabited my face. “I’m not like othergirls for what we share is not a whim, Baghra. He needs me to control the Fold and create a safe passage connecting East and West Ravka. He can’t risk losing me. Did you think I’d not benefit his dependence on me?”
A somewhat impressed look could be seen in Baghra’s blue eyes. “Perhaps you’re not as naïve as you seem.”
“Perhaps,” I muttered with a smirk on lips. “Also, there is this… unique attraction between us. I haven’t felt a pull this strong before.” I shrugged. “As you’ve told me the very first day we met: Like calls to like. And I’m his only alike.”
Baghra took a deep breath as she turned her eyes to the dark waters of the lake. “Be careful around him, girl, this is my only advise for you.” she spoke, her voice contained emotions I could not put into words. “He is as manipulative as he is powerful and charming. He has had countless years to master it.”
I pushed a strand of raven hair behind my ear as I asked. “How do you know him so well?”
“I have taught him everything he knows.” Baghra responded. “I have trained him years ago, just as I train you now.”
Time Line: Chapter 6 is set during the day Tecna closes the portal connecting Andros and The Omega Dimension.
Rating:M
Warnings for Chapter 6: Sexual content ;)
*6* Give Into The Temptations
(Word Count: 3610)
Valtor rose from his seat and walked in front of the desk with slow steps “It took a little more than a day for you to win back your throne,” he spoke with a rather thoughtful voice “Either the Ancient Witches have been clearly underestimating you, or they have forgot how to play.”
Hel licked her lips with a seductive manner, the red lipstick didn’t inhabit her lips anymore “In both cases, it is equally disgraceful and lethal for them.” she said and nudged Alowix’ floating figure with her right elbow “I must admit, though, he wasn’t an easy win –in my absence he knew how to take advantage of the Underworld.”
It seemed like Alowix was trying to say something; however, the only voices that could be heard were the muffled sounds coming from him. With a frown on her face, Darcy asked “What’s wrong with him?”
Hel casted an evil look at her over her shoulder “He was making a little too much noise on our way to the Cloud Tower,” she began to explain as a smirk spread on her lips “So I cut his tongue.”
Darcy went pale straight away, Icy simply turned her eyes away in disgust and Stormy gagged “This is gruesome!” she said, causing Hel to shrug indifferently as she turned her grey eyes to the sorcerer in front of her. Without uttering any other words, the Trix left the office and went to their bedrooms, leaving the two alone.
The moment Hel saw the intense look Valtor was giving her, the smirk on her lips grew more. Of course, he has always found it attractive when I let the darkness take over me, Hel thought while she eyed him in an obviously hungry way –even though she hadn’t slept for more than two days and felt overmuch tired, all she could think about at that particular moment was the heat which was beginning to grow inside her.
Valtor leaned the desk as he crossed his arms over his chest “How’s the current situation in the Underworld?” he asked, apparently he was trying to distract himself from the dirty thoughts wandering in his head.
“It could have been worse,” Hel responded while she snapped the fingers of her right hand. A thin thread of shadows flew to her hand “Seems like I’ve chosen my latest kings –by latest I mean the ones I’ve chosen sixteen years ago,” While speaking, she was moving the fingers of her right hand so that the shadows were slithering between them very much like a black snake “A big majority of them have stayed loyal to me in my absence and haven’t let Alowix take control of everything.”
Valtor raised an eyebrow at her direction “And what about the traitor minority?” he asked even though he knew very well what her answer was going to be. He just wanted to hear those words from all because once such things were spoken, they became more real, and, in this case, darker.
The shadow thread moving between Hel’s fingers transformed into a dark dagger “I killedthem all,” she responded, despite the low pitch of her voice, her words easily reached Valtor’s ears. As she walked behind the floating figure of Alowix, the skirt of her dress lifted off the ground as if there was a special breeze flowing around her “One by one, with no mercy.” Holding Alowix from his blonde hair, Hel slowly pulled his head back so that his neck was exposed. His chest was going up and down so fast as if his fear of death could materialise any moment “They have made great examples, now everybody knows the fate of those who dare betray the Queen of the Underworld.”
Valtor ran his right hand through his blonde hair, Hel knows what she is doing, he thought while his grey eyes followed her movements. She is playing us both, just like a lioness playing with her prey. With Alowix, she wants to feel every bit of his fear and desperation before killing him with her own hands. And with me, she wants to slowly savour my growing desire for her.
Upon feeling the cold blade of the dagger caressing his cheek, Alowix began to make muffled sounds once again “Shh, baby, don’t be afraid,” Hel spoke with a seductive anddangerous tone, which freaked out her prey even more “I’ll make it quick, I promise.”
As she placed the dagger on his throat, Hel turned her eyes to Valtor “The Ancient Witches still see everything you see, don’t they?” she asked.
The sorcerer thought for a moment before nodding “If they wish to, yes.” he said “Why?”
The edge of Hel’s lip curled upwards “Perfect, then they’ll probably see me killing their puppet as well.” she said but her next words were not directed at Valtor, instead her aim was the Ancient Witches “You’ll be next, ladies. Take a good look at this.”
And with a swift movement, she cut Alowix’ throat. The moment life left his blue eyes, his corpse fell onto the ground. The blood spilling from where the dagger had cut painted Hel’s hands, arms and dress red; however, this didn’t seem to bother her even the slightest. All her attention was fixed on Valtor and judging by her darkened eyes, her mind had immediately wandered to different things.
The black dagger decayed into its origins –the shadows –as Hel took big steps towards the sorcerer. Valtor straightened and he, too, walked towards Hel. The moment she was within his reach, he pulled her into his arms and crashed his lips into hers. The blood on her body was leaving stains on his maroon-coloured jacket but at that moment, he didn’t give a damn.
The kiss was hard, passionate and hot. It was so hot that even though the dress on her was quite revealing and thin, Hel felt her whole body burning under Valtor’s touch. She wanted him right then and there; however, she had one last thing to do that night before her duties as the Queen were over.
Still, there’s no harm in exciting him more, is there?
As Hel let Valtor slide his tongue into her mouth, her right hands wandered down on his body until reaching the waistband of his trousers. The sorcerer gasped instinctually upon feeling Hel’s hand stroking his erection on the fabric of his trousers. However, before things could gain even more heat, Hel broke the contact of their lips and took a step back, leaving Valtor in a puzzled state.
“I want you, too, as much as you want me but there is still one last thing that needs to be done with him.” Hel explained while she motioned Alowix’ lifeless body lying on the floor with her head “After cleaning myself, I’ll be heading to the connection point between this world and the Underworld.” As she snapped her fingers, the corpse began to fly behind her. The dark haired woman blew a kiss at Valtor before leaving the office “You know where to find me, darling, so don’t be late, will you?”
***
The sound of branches being broken under someone’s steps cut through the eerily peaceful silence of the midnight. Since she was expecting a visitor, Hel didn’t bother changing her position as she continued sitting cross-legged in the air while the light of the full moon shone on her –she was flying a few feet above the ground. She had taken off her high-heeled, red pumps and her crown was safe in her room back in the Cloud Tower.
It was a bright night and simply moonlight was enough to provide sight.
To the north of the Cloud Tower was a huge graveyard by the name Forgotten Necropolis –just as the name indicated, the place was completely forgotten. It was an ancient graveyard but it’s main function was being the connection point between the Underworld and the world of the living. It was the only place on this part of the cosmos which brought ease to Hel since she felt her powers growing stronger and stronger.
Seeing Forgotten Necropolis as her territory, she had decided to exhibitthe lifeless body of Alowix there. As Valtor walked to the heart of the graveyard, he could see Alowix’ corpse impaled on a pretty tall pike –Hel had placed it so that it could be seen from everywhere around the graveyard.
He wasn’t surprised when he saw that Hel was floating above the big, black, marble table which stood in the middle of the huge graveyard –she used to come here every other day either to communicate with the kings of the Underworld or simply to meditate and recharge herself. Being the connection point between two worlds, Forgotten Necropolis enabled Hel to project image in her throne room in the Underworld, making it easier for her to keep a track of things while not missing out the fun in Magix.
“I should’ve know thiswas what you were going to do.” Valtor spoke as he pointed at the pike while Hel slowly opened her grey eyes. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as the dark haired woman elegantly descended and landed onto the marble table “Is this how you plan to strike terror into your enemies’ hearts?”
Hel sat onto the table and let her legs hang from its edge as she wore her high-heeled shoes “This is simply a warning,” she responded and jumped onto the ground, she was walking towards Valtor “I don’t need a visual feast to strike terror into the hearts of my enemies.”
“Your appearance is a little too deceiving at this point, love.” Valtor said while he placed his hands on her hips the moment she was within his reach “After all those years, even I still tend to be deceived by it and forget how cruel you can be.” The sorcerer pulled Hel against his chest, then he began to caress her cheek with the side of his right index finger. Her pale skin was shining under the silvery moonlight “Though I cannot say I don’t like being reminded of your cruelty all over again –it is always so intoxicating.”
“I want you, Valtor.” Hel breathed against his lips as she wrapped her left hand around his neck and placed the right one on his chest “Right here, right now.” As the distance between their lips was slowly disappearing, Valtor’s breaths were becoming deeper “But I’m tootired for this, I haven’t slept for two days. I know I need to rest, still, I wantyou. So. Fucking. Much.” Keeping silent for a moment, Hel licked Valtor’s lower lip before going on “So just skip the foreplay, skip everything –make this hardandquick.”
As a response, Valtor pressed his lips against hers and in mere seconds, the couple was drawn into a passionate kiss. Hel took careful steps back while she dragged Valtor with her until her upper leg touched the cold marble. Her hands slid down his torso until reaching the waistband of his trousers. As Valtor’s tongue slid into her mouth, Hel was unbuckling his belt, then she quickly unbuttoned his trousers as well.
The dark haired woman giggled in a naughty way while she pushed down his trousers –she could feel how hard he already was through the fabric of his underwear “Seems like you didn’t need the foreplay at all.” Hel whispered against Valtor’s lips. Instead of giving a verbal response, Valtor simply slid his right hand under Hel’s dress through the slit on her left leg. She gasped upon feeling his fingers touching her underwear, the wetness of which could already be felt through the fabric.
“Hmm, you’re a fine one to talk.” Valtor said while he pulled a little back to lift Hel up and place her on the marble table. Spreading her legs so that Valtor could stand between them, Hel pushed her underwear to the side against her right inner thigh so that the barrier of fabric between herself and Valtor would get out of the way. As she saw that Valtor had pushed down his underwear to free his erection, Hel pulled him closer to her with one hand while wrapping the other one around his member. With careful movements, she guided him to her entrance and nodded quickly at Valtor.
The sorcerer captured Hel’s lips once again as he thrusted into her, eventually causing her to moan in his mouth. In a quite short while the movement of Valtor’s hips gained enough speed to make Hel throw her back and let her soft cries fill his ears. With every sound coming from her lips, Valtor could feel the heat within him growing.
“Mm,” Hel moaned as she pulled back her right hand, which was resting on Valtor’s shoulder, and moved it to her clit “Valtor, faster.”
A groan broke free from him as Valtor thrusted faster and deeper into Hel, which led her to moan loudly “Fuck, yes,” she spoke breathlessly “Right there.”
However, Valtor wasn’t planning to let them hit the edge so quick, despite Hel’s tiredness, hence he first removed Hel’s right hand, the fingers of which were circling her clit. Then he began to slow down his speed. Hel sent him a questioning look “Not yet,” Valtor whispered and didn’t let Hel protest “You can manage without sleep a little more, love.”
He was thrusting slow but deep into her as he placed his warm lips on her neck “When you edge me, it takes forever for us to stop.” Hel muttered, which caused Valtor to chuckle against her skin.
“This time it won’t take forever, I promise.” he said while his lips moved down slowly “I simply want to bring you to the point where you’ll scream my name into the night.”
His words had licked Hel’s skin like the heat of a flame, which only fed her arousal “That shouldn’t be hard to arrange,” she muttered while the fingers of her left hand played with the little hairs on the back of Valtor’s neck “Valtor, please,” Hel spoke with a low voice “This pace is a torture.”
Valtor’s lips had left her neck, he had pulled his head a little back to be able to look at her “Why don’t you try enjoying yourself?” he asked while pulling almost all the way out and then thrusting slowly but hardly into her. Hel let out a silent moan.
“But I want more,” Hel responded and pulled Valtor down to herself to press her lips against his neck “How do you manage to keep yourneed under such strong control?” She was intentionally letting her lips linger long on each spot on his neck as she licked and kissed and sucked on it so that she could break Valtor’s self-control; however, he seemed to have a will of titanium.
A groan left Valtor’s lips as Hel playfully bit his neck “I contain myself by thinking about the bigger prize at the end.” he spoke with a seductive voice and pulled out, taking a few steps back. The moment Hel felt the feeling of fullness disappearing, a frown appeared on her face “Come down here and turn around.”
The edge of her lip curled upwards in a naughty way as the dark haired woman jumped down from the marble table and turned her back to Valtor “Now, this is getting more interesting.” she said while she bent down. She was holding from the marble table not to lose her balance. Valtor gently lifted the skirt of her dress and after positioning himself before her entrance, he thrusted inside her, once again snatching a moan from Hel.
As Valtor’s movements sped up, Hel was moving her hips to meet his thrusts. Just like he had done the first time, he was increasing the speed quite much in a short time, which was bringing both of them near the edge. When Hel’s moans turned into loud cries of pleasure, Valtor knew he had found that spot in her which made the dark haired woman’s eyes roll to the back of her head.
Valtor’s groans were becoming louder as well, he could feel he was so close to this orgasm but he knew Hel still wasn’t exactly at that point where he wanted to bring her, hence with a million efforts he began to slow down. As he had expected, a frustrated grunt was heard from the witch “I was so close!” Hel said and casted a look at the sorcerer over her shoulder.
“I know, love.” Valtor responded cockily, then he pushed away Hel’s hand, which was reaching for her clit as he clicked his tongue “Not yet, Hel.”
Even though his movements had slowed down, Hel’s hips were still meeting his thrusts. For a few minutes, the only sound to be heard had been Hel’s silent moans and Valtor’s heavy breathing “Valtor,” Hel asked at last but it sound more like begging “Can I touch myself now?”
A big smirk formed on Valtor’s lips upon seeing how desperate she had grown for him, he wanted to savour every little moment of that “No,” he responded with a deep voice, earning some disappointed cries from the dark haired woman “But if you continue to behave, you might get a reward for it.”
He knew how hard it was for Hel not to let desire take over her body for he was feeling the same way –all he wanted at that moment was to take his thrusting to a rapid speed. It took some serious self-control not to give into the temptations.
Slowly, his right hand slid down from its resting place on Hel’s hips and moved between her legs. As she felt Valtor’s index finger rubbing her clit, Hel found herself whimpering “Darling, please, faster.”
“Shh, I’ll give you your orgasm soon enough.” Valtor said while both the thrusting of his hips and the rubbing of his fingers began to speed up. However, before Hel could began moaning loudly once more, Valtor pulled out, again. When Hel turned to face him and ask him what the hell was he doing, the sorcerer lifted her up and placed on the marble table once again.
No words were spoken, in mere seconds theirs bodies became a whole for the third time that night as Hel’s mouth captured Valtor’s, pulling him into a deep kiss. This time, however, Valtor didn’t slowed down after a while, which meant that Hel was about to get the prize she had been yearn for the whole night.
As Valtor hit her G-spot, Hel threw her head back and let out a loud moan “Right there,” she whispered breathlessly, the hold of her left hand on Valtor’s upper arm was getting tighter. Her right hand was holding from the edge of the marble table “Don’t stop.”
Well, he couldn’t even if he wanted to –he had long passed the threshold “Fuck,” Valtor grunted as he felt her walls clenching around his member but he didn’t need to feel that to understand that Hel was about to come –her soft cries had turned into scream-like moans.
When she came, as he had wanted it to be, Hel was screaming his name, which had pushed Valtor over the edge as well. He was whispering her name over and over again as he rode his orgasm.
As the shaking of her legs died, Hel loosened her hold on Valtor while she tried to steady her breathing “That,” she whispered “Was intense.”
Valtor pulled out of her and wore his underwear and trousers “Was it worth all the fuss?” he asked with an arched brow. Hel rolled her eyes at him and jumped down, causing the sorcerer to chuckle “I take that as a yes.”
Standing in front of him, Hel began to caress his cheek with the side of her index finger “Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asked with a surprisingly soft and almost caring voice. It nearly caught Valtor off-guard.
He nodded “Of course,” he said and at that moment he remembered that he intended to give her a little present “But before you go,” he said, causing Hel to raise a curious eyebrow at him “There’s something I’d like to give you.”
Valtor took out a little, black box from the pocket of his maroon-coloured jacket. After licking his lower lip, he opened the box, its inside facing Hel. Her grey eyes lit up almost immediately upon seeing the ring.
It was a grey ring with a big, black onyx on it. Hel knew the moment she saw the ring that it was enchanted to protect her from the deadly rays of the sun –she could feel the powerful spell vibrating off the ring. With a wide smile on her lips, she turned her eyes to Valtor, who had a small smirk on his lips.
“May I?” he asked, earning a quick nod in return. After taking the ring, he closed the box and put it back into his pocket. Then, he took Hel’s left hand and put the ring on her ring finger “Looks perfect,” Valtor spoke with a low voice as he brought her hand to his lips.
At that moment, Valtor saw within Hel’s grey eyes something he hadn’t seen for sixteen years. It was something so familiar yet so strange and it had been hard to decipher at first but once he recalled what it was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to forget it for the rest of his life.
Time Line: Chapter 5 takes place the day before Tecna closes the portal connecting Andros and the Omega Dimension.
Rating:M
*5* Serious Anger Management Issues
(Word Count: 2780)
It was dinner time in the Cloud Tower and as always, everyone was in the cafeteria. The witches carrying Valtor’s mark were eating their food in an eerily automatic manner whereas the Trix nibbled their food lazily –it seemed like they were starting to get bored more easily each meal time.
“I cannot stand this awkward silence!” Icy rebelled at last, causing Valtor to turn his grey eyes at her “If you’re going to sit there like a mannequin, at least tell us something interesting.”
Valtor raised an eyebrow at the platinum blonde “What would you like me to tell you?” he asked but his question was rather directed at all three of them since Darcy and Storm looked equally bored as well.
Icy shrugged “I don’t know, can be anything, really.” she responded and brought a fork full of spaghetti to her mouth.
“I have a suggestion,” Stormy spoke, causing everyone to look at her “You could tell us more about this Underworld.”
Darcy nodded excitedly “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” she said “We didn’t even know such a place existed before Hel showed up in the office.”
“Understandable,” Valtor muttered and took a sip from the drink in his glass “Hel is the only living person that can roam within the Underworld, hence all the knowledge concerning that place disappeared inside the Omega Dimension along with Hel sixteen years ago.”
Icy frowned “So this means that even you haven’t been to the Underworld?” she asked, only to receive a nod from Valtor “Geez, what does Hel do there with all those zombies, then?”
Her remark had caused the sorcerer to laugh “The dead aren’t zombies, Icy, as long as they stay in their own world.” he responded “However, they become zombies one they step a foot in ourworld.”
With a snap of his fingers, Valtor created a plate full of fruits in the middle of the table, around which they were seated. Darcy licked her lower lip as she quickly reached for the strawberries and took five of them to her own plate.
“So are they, you know, human-looking in the Underworld?” Stormy asked while brought a cherry to her mouth.
Valtor nodded “Exactly, they look just like everyone around us.” he responded and took a green grape for himself “Don’t you like fruits?” he asked at Icy upon seeing that she wasn’t eating. Before she could answer, however, Valtor snapped his fingers with the memory he recalled. The young witch’s eyes lit up as she saw the cup of ice cream appearing on her own plate “Now I remember –you prefer ice cream.”
As he felt the jealousy vibrating from Darcy and Storm, the edge of his lip curled upwards. Despite Hel’s presence, they were still competingfor him. How cute, he thought while his eyes wandered between the three of them.
“Are we all going to end up in Hel’s hands at some point?” Darcy asked, causing Valtor to divert his attention to her while he put a grape in his mouth.
“If you are deemed worthy of an eternal life in the Underworld, then yes, you will end up in Hel’s hands but that is not always the case.” Valtor responded “You see; thousands of people die every day but only a few are lucky enough to open their eyes in the Underworld.”
Now, the Trix looked truly confused “What is that supposed to mean?” Darcy asked with a frown on her face “All of these sound just too bizarre.”
Valtor chuckled “The Underworld can be rather complex for the living the comprehend at first. Let me start from the very beginning, ladies: After you die, you either join the cosmic energies and cease to exist as a living being, or you get to live an eternal life in the Underworld.” he began to explain and brought the glass to his lips “An eternal life might sound quite alluring at first; however, it is simply an illusion. In fact, Hel is only gathering men for her army of the dead.
“This used to be her main mission back in the old days –when we were serving the Ancient Witches, they wanted to create an army of the dead but it is a rather bothersome work.” Valtor continued while he moved his right index finger in circles on the tip of the glass. The three witches were listening to him with much interest “The Underworld used to be a mess before Hel laid her hands on it.”
“So that’s why the witches didn’t want to deal with the dead themselves,” Stormy said “Because it was no different than moulding clay from scratch.”
The sorcerer nodded as he brought another grape to his lips “Exactly and since they had a quite ambitious servant within their grasp, they made Hel the Queen of the Underworld and granted her the Magic of the Dead.” he spoke “With that power, she established a strong order in the Underworld. First, she was literally crowned as the Queen. Then, she created several kingdoms and grouped the dead according to their powers, sending each group to a different kingdom. They have their own political system there, even I cannot recall them all.”
Icy had already finished the ice cream “They are not too different from us, then.” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest “I mean they have kingdoms and they live in monarchies, just like we do.”
Valtor pursed his lips “Well, yes but no. Their monarchy is not based on the bloodline unlike the ones in Magix.” he said and reached for a strawberry “Hel chooses the most powerful one in a kingdom to be the new king every three years. The kings play a crucial role in the Underworld for they decide who ends up in the Underworld. In most cases, they prefer keeping the most powerful ones to themselves and leave the others to the cosmos.”
“And that place has been left without its Queen for sixteen years,” Darcy spoke with an unpleasant tone “Now I feel sorry for her, she has too much to fix.”
The moment Valtor felt the disturbance around the space surrounding them, he ended up flying into the air as a powerful shadow blast hit him from the chest. Everyone was caught off guard, even his little minions weren’t fast enough to react as he crashed into the parallel wall, which was literally on the opposite side of the cafeteria.
“VALTOR!”
Hel’s roaring echoed inside the cafeteria while she flew inside, she was once again in her leather jump-suit. However, this time she had a second layer around her, which were her shadows, and they were creating a thick, black glow around her. Her clenched fists were glowing with black magic as she sent another blast at the sorcerer. He absorbed her magic with his own.
“Traitor. Traitor.” The witches carrying Valtor’s mark began to chant simultaneously as they all charged at Hel’s flying figure with their magic; however, their blasts got stuck on the shadows around Hel. As the dark haired witch moved her arms, all that magic was repelled back at the poor witches.
“You are early,” Valtor spoke with a sarcastic tone as he commanded the Cloud Tower. A magical, gigantic hand reached out from the ceiling to catch Hel but she flew the opposite direction to escape from it. Then she sent a shadow blast at the hand, causing it to explode.
“And you are dead!” Hel shouted at him. Valtor didn’t remember seeing her that angry before and Hel’s fury had never been a good sign for the angrier she was, the more powerful she became. As she felt the movement behind her, Hel swiftly turned back to meet the Trix “I don’t want to hurt you, girls, so stay away from this.”
“You need to calm down first.” Icy said and sent ice-daggers at Hel’s direction. The dark haired woman deflected them with a simple movement of her hand as she heaved a sigh and snapped her fingers. A faint, black, circular line appeared around the Trix and the moment they tried to pass it, they were hit by the shadows within the line. Not taking another look at those three, Hel flew towards Valtor with an inhuman speed.
The sorcerer teleported behind her and hit her with one of his blasts, which caused Hel to crash into the wall in front of her. Quickly regaining her strength, she charged at Valtor once again “You knew about it, didn’t you?!” she almost screamed on top of her lungs “They must have told you about it –you’re their preciousson, after all!”
Just as Hel was about the attack him, Valtor trapped her inside a bubble of his dragon flame “I have no idea what you are talking about.” he spoke with a calm tone, which ended up pissing off Hel even more.
“Let me out of here!” she screamed as she tried to break free using her magic; however, it wasn’t working “What have you done to my magic?!”
Valtor slowly landed onto the ground while lowering the bubble with him “The bubble restrains your use of magic.” he explained and casted a look at Trix, who were freed from Hel’s spell and were flying down towards him “And you are not going anywhere before you calm down.”
It took almost ten minutes for Hel to transform into her regular dress so that Valtor knew that her fury had been tamed. During that time span he had sent the witches back to their dormitories –it was just him, Hel and the Trix left in the cafeteria. The moment Hel’s leather jump-suit turned into her black, satin dress, the protective bubble around her disappeared. As she stepped out, Hel stumbled for she had used an immense amount of power, hence she felt drained.
“Finally,” Icy muttered while she crossed her arms over her chest “I was beginning to think that she wasn’t going to change back until morning.”
Hel muttered something under her breath as she held onto the column on her right to keep herself balanced “Now that you’re on your right mind,” Valtor said and took a few steps towards her “Explain me what all that mess was about.”
“Yourmothershave sent someone elseto the Underworld,” Hel spoke as if she was spitting the words in disgust “To put an end to my reign as the Queen.” Upon seeing the shocked expression on Valtor’s face, Hel clicked her tongue “Judging by the look on your face, you haven’t been informed about the recent change in their plans as well.”
“I haven’t spoken to them since my return,” Valtor said as he shook his head “So no, I didn’t know about that.”
What are they trying to do? I have never known they wanted Hel’s demise this hard! First Mandragora and now this –nothing makes sense anymore.
Darcy asked with a confused tone “Why do the Ancient Witches keep messing with you?”
Hel gritted her teeth in fury, a bloodthirsty look had fallen on her beautiful features “They are afraid that I’ll grow strong enough to defeat them, that’s why.” she responded and threw her hands into the air “Apparently, those three old witches don’t want me having an army of the dead under my control anymore!”
Valtor slowly nodded as he understood the motive behind his mothers’actions “Of course, they knew you’d come after them once you escaped the Omega Dimension, hence they took some extra precautions.” he said, then eyed the dark haired woman for a second before speaking once again “What are you planning to do?”
A cruel laughter escaped her crimson lips while she walked towards Valtor “I’m going to kill their little minion, of course. He is a sorcerer who names himself Alowix and since he can roam the lands of the Underworld alive, he also has the Magic of the Dead.” As she stood in front of Valtor, Hel pressed her right index finger against his chest in a threatening manner “The next time you speak with your mothers, tell them that they’ll also be meeting the fate of their little minion Alowix soon enough. Tell them that the Queen of the Underworld, the monster they’ve created with their own hands, will be coming after them.”
And with that, Hel disappeared into the shadows without leaving any trance behind her. Stormy shook her head “She has some serious anger management issues.” she said and asked Valtor “How come you were able to bear with all her tantrums?”
Valtor took a deep breath as he fixed his maroon coloured jacket “Her anger was rarely directed against me back in the old days, so I never really had to deal with her tantrums.” he responded “But now, all her fury is focused on the Three Ancient Witches and unfortunately, I am a living remainder of them for her. I can understand why she decided to direct her anger at me.”
Icy rolled her eyes in annoyance “Whatever, I don’t want to face any more of her tantrums.” she said and placed her hands on her waist “I mean, why don’t we make her direct that fury at the Winx? She’s powerful enough to take them all at once if she is angry enough –you get what I mean, don’t you?”
The edge of Valtor’s lip curled upwards as he began to walk towards the exit of the cafeteria, the Trix were following him “Now, that’s what I’d like to hear, Icy –yes, we aregoing to use Hel’s unbalanced personality for our advantage.”
***
After her sudden disappearance, no one heard from Hel in the next twenty-four hours. However, there was a clear disturbance within the shadows –it was so clear that their bizarre actions didn’t go unnoticed by the Trix as well –which meant that she was probably overmuch busy fighting for her throne in the Underworld.
Valtor had no idea how much of the Underworld that sorcerer Alowix had been able to get a grasp of but he knew something for sure: One way or another, Hel would certainly take back her throne. Even if it meant playing unfair.
It was around midnight when the Trix had gone to sleep and left Valtor alone in the peaceful silence surrounding him inside the office. While keeping an eye on the collapsing portal which connected Andros and the Omega Dimension, he was carefully reading the last spell books he had taken from the Cloud Tower. What brought him back to reality had been the knocking on the door.
Hmm, who could it be at this time of the night?
“Yes,” Valtor said and then raised a questioning eyebrow upon seeing the Trix entering the headmistress’ office “I thought you were going to sleep?”
“We were,” Icy began to explain as she yawned and stepped to the side “But thishappened on our way to bed.”
The moment he heard the sound of the high-heeled shoes, Valtor understood who was about to walk into the office. However, he certainly wasn’t expecting her to bring a souvenirwith her from the Underworld.
Hel was in her usual dress and she carried a big victory smirk on her crimson lips as she walked to the middle of the room. There were several cuts on her arms and her hair looked messy, which showed that she had been through some serious battles. A man, who was being suspended in the air with his hands tied behind him, was flying right behind Hel, following her as she walked inside the office.
The man following her was presumably Alowix –the sorcerer the Ancient Witches had sent to the Underworld to overthrow Hel. His blonde hair looked also messy but in general, his body was in a far worse shape than Hel’s: He had a deep wound on the right side of his belly, which was bleeding and creating small, red puddles of blood on the ground beneath his feet.
Valtor’s grey eyes shone with both amusement and excitement as he saw Hel walking in front of him with a strong, vicious, and cruel aura surrounding her. Her dark side was so dense at that moment so that Valtor felt as if it could materialise any minute.
And the best part was that she was carrying hercrown on her head –the black crown which was adorned with black diamonds looked simply astonishing on her. Once again, she was the Queen of the Underworld.
“Ah,” Hel spoke with a silk-like voice “Revenge tastes so sweet, doesn’t it, darling?”
I know I said the story wouldn’t be longer than 5-6 chapters but just as I expected, I ended up writing more ^-^ My current guess is 8-10 chapters max.
An indulgence, as I needed a spot to write up a little META. These are some of my thoughts on the ‘is Good Hal/Bad Hal a split personality’ debate, but also as a supplement to my own fanfiction story, which is about Hal’s life with Sylvie, the one love he thinks about when he needs to stop himself. So alot of this is in general, but a few comments wont make sense unless you read my fic.
I wasn’t fond of how the whole split personality idea was introduced in the show, him choking, blacking out, being all sexy wicked bad, then choking his way back. And it was hard to reconcile this episode with his prequel where he was Bad but knew he’d be turning soon and came to Leo for help. My (mis)understanding of split personality was only based on movies, and in many of what I’ve seen, the personalities don’t know of each other, they are drastically different from each other, they have blackout periods and never remember what they did. But then I did some research, and this convinced me that he could indeed have a version of Dissociative identity disorder. The symptoms had an impact on my interpretation of how Hal deals with traumatic events and guilt, and how Sylvie’s fate came about.
1. Dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is thought to be a complex psychological condition that is likely caused by many factors, including severe trauma during early childhood (usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse).
Well we know from his prequel that he grew up in a brothel in the 15th century and by the time the army surgeon found him he had “seen every dark corner of the human heart”. It’s easy to extrapolate that he had suffered all types of abuse growing up, was likely put to use in the brothel for those clients that had a predilection for pretty young boys. So, check.
2. Along with the dissociation and multiple or split personalities, people with dissociative disorders may experience a number of other psychiatric problems, including symptoms:
Mood swings - I think we can agree that vampires are moody
Suicidal tendencies - how many times did he ask Tom to kill him?
Sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleep walking) - This is my personal canon, and it’s addressed a tiny bit more in the epilogue. I had the inspiration for it from Rubyrosettared’s fic “Numb”. This is my interpretation of how Hal didn’t seem to be aware that he was about to revert, but Sylvie wasn’t surprised.
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias (flashbacks, reactions to stimuli or “triggers”) - The panic attack when he encounters Natasha and has to resort to arranging the paper clips is the biggest one I remember.
Alcohol and drug abuse - *cough* Blood *cough*
Compulsions and rituals - not stopping on the left hand side because it’s unlucky; the domino spiral; his strict rota
Psychotic-like symptoms (including auditory and visual hallucinations) - Hal warns Crumb and Alan about this, and we indeed saw it happen when vampires try to detox
Eating disorders - Does the whole drink blood for 50 years then starve for 55 count?
3. Other symptoms of dissociative identity disorder may include headache, amnesia, time loss, trances, and “out of body experiences.”
Also part of my personal canon, inspired by the fact that on three distinct occasions in the show, Hal seemed to be in a trance, and was confused after. In S4 after Leo died, when grown up Eve urged him to kill baby Eve. When Tom stopped him, Hal seemed to wake up, and answered that he didn’t know what he was doing. At the end of S4 when Mr. Snow welcomed him back into the fold (although that could have been due to some sort of supernatural link through the blood that runs through him from Mr. Snow). And, in S5 when The Controversial Split Personality happened, and Crumb proposed they both drink the blood. Crumb obviously chose the werewolf blood, and Hal almost drank the human blood, but Alex stopped him. “Were you going to drink that?” “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”
As for amnesia, I had assumed that his personalities would have holes in their memories. I had a hard time reconciling Bad Hal’s words to Tom “We wake up in the world the other has created around them.” with the fact that Good Hal tells Annie. “I never forget anything.” How can Hal know all the horrible things he’s done if his other personality had done them. But then I found out that he could suffer from Dissociative fugue. ‘a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state is usually short-lived (ranging from hours to days), but can last months or longer.’ So, it is entirely possible the memories would come back quickly. Maybe his vampiric state has something to do with that.
4. The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping mechanism – the person literally dissociates himself from a situation or experience that’s too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his conscious self.
I think this could be why he can fight for so long, and then the guilt is too much to bear and he flips. In the show, even though he’d drunk blood several times, and he knew it was coming - "feed the monster a little to keep it from taking alot, from taking everything" - the blood wasn’t that the cause of him reverting. It was Alex loosing faith in him. He couldn’t bear having disappointed her. For my story, after the events of Chapter 24 and 25, when Good Hal realizes what he’s done, it’s too much for him to bear.
A final note, Jamie Mathiason, one of the BH writers, said that Hal is a bit autistic. I always suspected something like that, and it surely comes into play somehow.
Ahhh tumblr, how I’ve missed you. Popping on to posting a link to the latest chapter of my Being Human fanfic, because I finally brushed off the cobwebs and I know some people found it through here.
A big shot-out to all those who comment on fanfics. Thank you for telling us that you liked our characters. Thank you for telling us that you noticed the details we were hoping you noticed. Thank you for telling us that you read our chapters completely. Thank you for telling us your interpretation and headcanons of our scenes.
Thank you for acknowledging us. Thank you for respecting us. Thank you for giving us the signal that our words reach people and have an impact.
Just, thank you. We love you all <3
I’m 100% honest when I say that people who comment are the reason I keep sharing my stories and ideas. And from those stories and ideas, more stories and ideas spring from other people.
When you encourage one writer, in many ways you’re encouraging a fuckton more. Never doubt your own power, or the power of words.
There’s fanfiction…. And then there’s FANFICTION. The kind of shit you happen upon at like 3am or some other ungodly time because you were trying to find a fix for ur fixation at the time and you are just SUCKED IN and every sentence feels like a line of cocaine and it has quotes and imagery that permeate your brain and it’s the shit that sticks around in your consciousness forever and it never goes away and it’s always going to be one of Those Fics.
When Percy was struck by a wayward curse to take him back to 6 years old for a week, everyone thought it would be funny. This is the kid who got kicked out of every school he went to, who fired canons and wrecked aquariums.
It’s not funny.
Percy stutters. Terribly. Nearly every word is stilted, every sentence an incredible effort. He’s shy, and avoids speaking all together if he can. It’s worse when he’s upset.
Percy’s cute, adorable even, but small in an unhealthy way, too skinny and knobbly to be just young age. When he’s frightened or intimidated (and gods is the fear in those green eyes clear) he makes use of this in a practiced way, curling up to be as tiny and unobtrusive as possible. He’s almost fragile.
Percy’s terrified of men, and he flinches constantly. He ducks and hides away from Frank, Jason, Leo, Nico, the Stolls and especially Mr.D. Those who should be friends are viewed with only a deep wariness. Efforts are made and he warms up to most of them, but he’s rarely fully relaxed without Annabeth or another girl there with him.
Everyone thought tiny Percy would be hilarious. And for the most part heis a curious, laughing child with a troublemaking smile. But most also forget that the tall, athletic, twice hero of Olympus was not always the man he is now. That at age 12, barley introduced to their world, he helped his mother murder his step father. Everyone had their suspicions why but…
The endless cycle of complaining you’ve run out of fics to read, devouring the new 10-20k at the top of the date updated page and going back to complaining how you’ve run out of fics to read.
Obviously as a demigod he is immensely if not the most powerful out there, but besides the storm bringing and earth shaking, I think it would be so funny if Percy was also just littered with incredibley random gifts on the side.
Percy can canonically talk to ALL marine life and horses. Where is the mortal outside POV of Percy appearing at a horse ranch and just baffling everyone as this kid proceeds to prove that horse whisperers are somehow real. Give me Percy riding in on the wildest horse there absolutely unfazed and unintentionally reenacting every horse girls dreams.
In canon he can also tell his exact coordinates when at sea. Watch Paul lose his goddamn mind out on a sailboat asking Percy in dense fog where they are and Percy just listing off a string of numbers and walking off to guide them home in what looks like a completely random direction.
Canonically Percy can sail any boat, but what truly qualifies as a boat? Watch Percy and his friends sending Percy out to sea in a shopping cart with a napkin and straw taped on top as a sail and he just bobs away to wherever he wants to go. Again he is completely unfazed while everyone loses their minds because Percy is somehow floating in a literal sieve.
A Percy who can, with the correct concentration, give himself a tail, but just gets himself into an H20 type situation where it’s just happening at the most inappropriate times. Various demigods have had to carry Percy back home when he inevitably gets stuck as a half fish throughout his day. One minute he’s at a Roman senate, the next Franks having to drag him out like a bag of potatoes.
Percy who in dark water is bioluminescent. Everyone makes fun of Will for glowing but it is one of Percy’s deepest darkest secrets that if you put him in the bathtub and turn off the light, he’ll be radioactive green in 30seconds. This was great fun for Annabeth to discover, and even better blackmail for Leo who accidentally found out about it.
Siren Percy! It always say he can’t sing, but what if it’s a front? Percy’s a very morally straight character, he wouldn’t want to be exercising a charm speak level of control over people. This secret’s kept under even tighter lock and key than his glowiness, known only to his mother and father. Percy is low-key terrified of others finding out about it, not only because it’s a dangerous power but even some Gods are desperate to hear a siren song without immediate danger and Percy’s not looking for that kind of attention.
The fantastic @inhonoredglory has done me the very great honor of creating an animation based on my Book Omens fic, Be Ye Therefore Merciful.
Links to the animation and the story on AO3 (rated T, both SFW) will be in the notes/comments, as this hellsite likes to barf when you feed it an external link in a top-level post.
[Fic]Be Ye Therefore MercifulbyAmberDiceless - 9515 words, Rated T, H/C, pre-A/C. Crowley does something unexpected, and Aziraphale must face an opponent who cannot be thwarted.
Fanfiction is an often under-rated genre. Tons of authors have honed their writing skills with fanfiction, not to mention the millions of writers and readers who love exploring familiar stories and characters! Today, NaNoWriMo participant Ville V. Kokko has a few tips for making fanfiction writing shine:
Fanfiction is a popular form of writing and one of the recognized genres for novels on NaNoWriMo. Yet, it’s also stereotyped as an inferior—some might call it silly—form of writing. While denigrating any genre as a whole is never a good idea, there are some common patterns in fanfiction that may contribute to this stereotype.
Of course, one of the popular stereotypes is that fanfiction is full of “Mary Sues”: overpowered, supposedly awesome self-insertion wish-fulfillment characters. I’ll skip that familiar topic and dive a little deeper into what’s behind it and what other fanfiction tropes can appear for similar reasons.
1. Give your characters some depth.
Fanfiction is almost by definition created by people who were touched by the original work enough to want to build something more out of its foundation. This can be a great fount for good story ideas: what if, what next, what about this character’s unexplored story, etc.
However, the writer’s personal love/hatred/whatever for the original story and characters can also lead to stories that are rather subjective. If you’re motivated by your strong feelings about a particular character, say, it may affect your writing them and others as fully rounded characters. A disliked character might be shown as one-dimensionally negative, a loved character as so loved by others that it’s not logical.
None of this is automatically bad by definition. Palpatine in Star Wars is one-dimensionally evil with style, leaving the hidden nuance and backstory for Darth Vader. Hilarious humorous stories may be built around characters reacting to another unrealistically.
However, it’s a good starting point to write your characters realistically. A story that doesn’t do that, and hasn’t carefully considered why not, may feel off to most readers.
2. Include elements that make your story’s plot interesting.
There’s a more general phenomenon behind this that may turn people off to a lot of fanfiction. The writer is so often writing what they want to happen—maybe because of how they feel about the characters or some other aspect of the story, but not necessarily because it will make a compelling story. This is why wish-fulfillment, while not inherently bad, can be seen as something to be avoided: it may sacrifice other aspects of the story. It’s the opposite of being ready to “kill your darlings.”
3. Try something new!
Another consequence of this is that fanfiction writers may write a lot of the same kind of story—which others might get bored with sooner rather than later. Fanfiction communities may also collectively prefer kinds of stories and tropes that seem repetitive from an outside perspective.
4. Write what makes you happy.
All of that said… it’s fine to do whatever you like.
There’s absolutely no rule saying you can’t do this or that, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you’d enjoy writing a total wish-fulfillment story, go for it. Even if it’s got a Mary Sue. The reward that you (and maybe a bunch of other fans, too) will like it is reason enough.
I would be hypocritical of me to offer any other kind of advice, anyway. In 2021, I wrote fanfiction for NaNoWriMo for the first time. And it was based on a work where one of the central themes is that anything that makes someone happy is valuable. I was even working on a sequel that makes the ending happier for the characters, even though I think the original ending was just right for the story.
It all depends on what you’re doing. You’re allowed to write for yourself or a particular community. Even if you want to aim for something bigger later, it’s all practice. The only thing is to know what you’re doing. So maybe if you actually want to focus on good characterization, you’ll be careful of some fanfiction tropes that might hinder it. Although, again, nothing automatically does.
Ville V. Kokko is a Ph.D. student and aspiring writer of both fiction and nonfiction living in Turku, Finland. He keeps getting short stuff published in smaller outlets all the time, but is working to make it bigger and publish whole books. He started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2010 and has, separately from that, written a few hundred thousand words of fanfiction. His Goodreads author page can be found here and his general blog here.
Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been posting often, I’ll get something out this week, I promise, but I need to ask a question.
If I were to start posting for other fandoms, which ones would you want? Should I make a second blog for other fandoms or no? I think this blog may be getting a little too crowded with fandoms, but if I should put them all into one that’s fine!
Seiya & Saori - I find you quite fascinating (Fanfic)
“After the wars are finally over, everyone is at peace and able to live their lives normally. However, not all was well for a certain couple. Seiya ended up getting a job opening as a sales manager, only there was a time when he he was forced to work in another city, which made the brunette travel far away from Saori, thus making the couple miss each other enormously.”
Guys, I would like to present my new fanfic! After so long without posting a new fic, but I’m back here with a new fic of my babies! And this time, this story is going to be more productive than my previous fics, because I’m really going to take this fanfic, writing and all that stuff seriously. Anyway, I hope you like my new fic <3
There will even be references to a certain character that I love a lot too! I hope they find and recognize you :)
It is available on Spirit FanficsandWattpad in Portuguese, and on Pixiv in Japanese and on Fanfiction.net in English. My profile on both sites is the same nickname I use here :3
