a still small vox

Fics in progress: OFF-Script (OFF) Fateswap Beyond (No. 6) AO3: Akumeoi

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

(Inspired by Gently On My Mind)

These ones are quite little so they will go together in the same ask... (Again, these are up for grabs, either writing or daydreaming :)

I GO WHERE I'M NEEDED In this AU, Buck has the ability to teleport anywhere he is really, really wanted. This could be useful for emergency situations, like Christopher wishing Buck were with him after getting lost during the tsunami, or Maddie wishing Buck were there at the gas station after Doug kidnaps her. (Or maybe doesn't wish he were there, because she doesn't want him to be hurt, and then afterwards Buck wants to know why she didn't let him come to her.) Having tangible proof he is wanted could be really good for Buck's psyche, and you know he'd have Feelings about it.

Then, Buck gets teleported to Eddie's house. When he gets there, Eddie claims everything is fine and he didn't send for Buck. He may even be sleeping when Buck gets there. But it keeps happening...

(I will be so for real, this one came out of that one smut scene where Eddie and Shannon were both thinking of Buck and wishing he were there, but I think the concept merits being used for more than just smut, lol. Probably to solve some emotional issue Eddie is having, or he's wishing he could confess to Buck.)

~

FRACTURE POINT This one came out of the lightning coma at the end of the fic. It's pretty conceptual. I just had the mental image of Buck looking at a broken mirror which represents the moment his life shattered, being unable to make sense of all the individual pieces. He has no knowledge of what caused this devastation to his life. Of course it's Bobby's death, but he won't be able to figure that out until he's reviewed all the broken pieces and put them back together. And in doing so, find a way to walk back the past to the moment of the shattering and undo it.

~

NINE LIVES TO DIE (Based on the "cat with nine lives" thing which was mentioned a couple of times in Gently On My Mind.)

Sometimes in this world, people's impending deaths will embody into a ghostly form, intended to stop the death from occurring. I have a couple different options in mind for what that form might be, such as: • The version of the victim that represents how they will die, aka a drowned-looking ghost Eddie from the well collapse or a stab victim ghost Chimney from Doug's attack • An uninjured ghost animal that represents the vibe of the death in some way, like a frog from the well collapse or a (mama) bear from Eddie's shooting

Whatever form they take, the 118 has seen plenty of these ghosts over the years, belonging to the victims they meet in a professional capacity. When they see one it's usually good news, because the ghosts represent a chance for their victim to avoid dying. But when they see an embodied death that's there for one of them, they start getting worried.

IDK who the main character of this one would be. But, after avoiding dying with the help of an embodied death, either Buck or Eddie experiences a strange phenomenon: the embodied death doesn't go away.

~

BONUS: inspired by Shake the Disease

What if the loss of Maddie's voice were actually related to a magic power some kind? What if Maddie should have an incredibly powerful voice that can compel people like a siren or even just speak her wishes into existence? Then perhaps the throat cutting she survived wasn't due to her involvement in the serial killer case, but because someone realised how powerful she was and went out of their way to silence her before she could realise it herself.

~

Hope you get some enjoyment out of some of these :)

Ooooh very cool!!! Finally getting around to reading these properly.

I GO WHERE I'M NEEDED - this is a SUPER cool idea! Very fun! I love the idea of him being pulled places, especially in an inconvenient moment.

~

FRACTURE POINT - ooooh very cool. Love preventing Bobby's death!

~

NINE LIVES TO DIE - this one is spooky!!!!!!!!! I love that being a Chim centered idea.

~

BONUS - Ahh poor Maddie! But that would be crazy!

[a-still-small-vox]

I've written another 911 fic (buddie) and i would love a beta for it. anyone know where i can find one? discord server or something?

aside from a beta i'd also love to talk to someone who knows ASL.

fic description below the cut

the fic is a magical realism AU which is a lil hard to explain... basically, eddie wakes up one night and finds that half of his bed has become half of a stranger's bed, the stranger being buck. eddie and buck are able to share a bed from anywhere in the world thanks to this strange magic. in this way they are able to be there to support each other during major life events, like buck getting kicked out of college, shannon's pregnancy, afghanistan, etc. the magic bed space has certain rules, like they can't leave the bed, and they can't hear each other's voices unless they are very close to each other. so they learn ASL in order to communicate better.

meanwhile, buck is grappling with his ongoing search for a real family, and eddie is trying to come to terms with the fact that he's gay.

the AU is kinda smutty but there's also a lot of emotional drama and whatnot too. not very kinky, but they experience a range of sexual moods based on whatever's happening in their real lives. the second chapter gets a little angsty because of the afghanistan of it all, but the relationship between them is generally not a source of angst.

it's currently 36K. no archive warnings, but there is a brief mention of a suicide during eddie's time in afghanistan. happy ending. duh!

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Idea 2 is even more conceptual and really kinda artsy lol. Here you go!

Buck dreams.

He dreams little bits of many different lives. Finds the commonalities in them. No matter how disparate they are, many things are the same. Like a thousand translucent pictures overlaid on top of each other, until common details come into focus. It’s by knowing these commonalities he’s able to avoid the worst catastrophes. Also to achieve his greatest achievements.

(Basically, the recurring story beats that get written into many of your longfics end up coming into focus. Like the shooting and the well. Or the tsunami and the earthquake, but generally not so much the ransomware attack, for example. That one would still surprise him.)

But despite all this, he has one big problem he doesn’t know how to solve. He loves Eddie so much, and never sees himself getting with him. He has searched up and down the convergence of his timelines as far as he can go both ways, and can't find a singular moment for them to start being together. So it must just not be possible, right?

But eventually Buck has an epiphany. He comes to realise the reason them getting together never comes into focus is because they commit to each other in a thousand tiny ways every day. There is no one singular moment because they are caught up in a river of moments. The events and emergencies Buck sees are the rocks sticking out of the current of their lives. Buck and Eddie's love for each other IS the current.

Buck is awed and overwhelmed by the beauty of this realisation. He finds Eddie, or Eddie finds him, and all it takes is one word from Buck for them to simply fall into each other. Being together is so easy. Maybe they were never apart.

~

Hope you like! Thanks again for the inspo! :3

Oh that one is really beautiful! That feels like a very trippy, fun piece!

[a-still-small-vox]

[ALL THE MYTHS ARE TRUE - READ ON AO3]

L.A. faces another natural disaster - a dimensional perforation in the sky. Wild magic runs amok in the form of destructive creatures the magical Community is calling demons. Buck is determined to keep his loved ones safe inside station 118, no matter what. Even if the cost is revealing one of the biggest secrets he has - something he's been afraid to say for years.

Meanwhile, Eddie recalls a strange encounter with a wolf he had in El Paso years ago, experiences various emotions about the things Buck could be hiding from him, and ultimately decides to be brave.

~

The entire fic is already written - I just have to self-edit and post the remaining two chapters.

[a-still-small-vox]

Chapter two is posted!

[a-still-small-vox]

The work is now finished! 21K

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

hiiiiiii it's me again. i just read Any Other Way (banger, obviously) and my brain did this thing it does sometimes, where it takes a random line about something fairly mundane and turns it into a fantasy AU of some kind. you were the inspiration again, so i will share them with you again since you were previously amenable. c:

These ones are a lot more vague and conceptual. I have no plans to do anything with them, so if you want them, they're yours. (no pressure though obviously, i'm just sharing these for fun :) i'm also going to send them both separately in case you like one but not the other.

(Warning for a mention of Bobby's MCD at the end)

~

BAD LUCK BUCK

The first idea comes directly out of the scene starting with this line:

“I… It’s like I’m cursed or something,” Buck explains.

So a lot of bad things happen to the 118, and to Buck specifically, right? Right.

Buck is a bad luck magnet who absorbs the bad luck of everyone around him. Every time something extremely fucking cursed happens, he takes the consequences of it into his body. Buck blames himself for what happens to those around him, thinking he is cursing them. In reality, it’s the opposite. His personal bad luck gets stronger and stronger as he takes everyone else’s bad luck into himself.

When he gets struck by lightning, that's the last straw. Buck thinks it's only a matter of time before his curse starts killing the people around him like it tried to kill him. (In fact, the lightning strike was quite helpful to him, as it discharged a lot of his accrued bad luck and made him safe again for a short while. But Buck doesn't know this.)

Buck seeks out a witch to help him figure out what's going on with him. Who is the witch? No idea. Though it would be cool if it were Eddie. Especially if he has some kind of family legacy of witchcraft he's been disconnected from, either because his parents made him feel incapable or because he grew jaded about it and disconnected himself at some point. But he now choses to return to it for Buck, even though it's been years.

They find out that unfortunately, Buck's curse is not removable. It was forced on him by the fucked up circumstances of his birth and has been there too long. The good news is that through certain techniques, either magical or psychological, he can become a conduit for the bad luck and shape it so that those who deserve it receive it instead of his loved ones.

(Read: He bounces all his accumulated bad luck onto shitty people like his parents and Craptain Gerard. It's very cathartic.)

When Bobby is about to die, Buck reverses the flow of bad luck and sends it to someone or something more deserving, and in consequence Bobby has such astonishingly good luck that he lives. Fuck yeah.

(The end...?)

Okay I love that??? That's amazing

[a-still-small-vox]

[ALL THE MYTHS ARE TRUE - READ ON AO3]

L.A. faces another natural disaster - a dimensional perforation in the sky. Wild magic runs amok in the form of destructive creatures the magical Community is calling demons. Buck is determined to keep his loved ones safe inside station 118, no matter what. Even if the cost is revealing one of the biggest secrets he has - something he's been afraid to say for years.

Meanwhile, Eddie recalls a strange encounter with a wolf he had in El Paso years ago, experiences various emotions about the things Buck could be hiding from him, and ultimately decides to be brave.

~

The entire fic is already written - I just have to self-edit and post the remaining two chapters.

[a-still-small-vox]

Chapter two is posted!

[a-still-small-vox]

[ALL THE MYTHS ARE TRUE - READ ON AO3]

L.A. faces another natural disaster - a dimensional perforation in the sky. Wild magic runs amok in the form of destructive creatures the magical Community is calling demons. Buck is determined to keep his loved ones safe inside station 118, no matter what. Even if the cost is revealing one of the biggest secrets he has - something he's been afraid to say for years.

Meanwhile, Eddie recalls a strange encounter with a wolf he had in El Paso years ago, experiences various emotions about the things Buck could be hiding from him, and ultimately decides to be brave.

~

The entire fic is already written - I just have to self-edit and post the remaining two chapters.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

So a friend of mine told me this is a lot like Detroit Become Human, but I swear I've never played that game, nor do I know anything about it. Anyway. Here 'tis!

In a world where humanoid robots are used to do some jobs that are too dangerous or unpleasant for humans, Buck is one of a few robots owned by the LAFD. He often goes into dangerous situations, like burning buildings or maybe even down that well, because it’s really fucking hard to kill him. Even if his body is damaged (and it usually isn't), he can always replace parts. He also lives in the fire house full time, albeit he is stored in a tiny charging closet instead of having a bed.

Machine learning is very advanced in this setting, and it’s gotten to the point where sometimes a robot will spontaneously develop true sentience. There is a specific software update including a glitch which increased the incidence of sentience developing, and Buck had the update, though it was quickly patched. It can be difficult to tell whether a robot has become sentient or not, as they are designed to appear human for the comfort of humans around them. For this reason, it’s dangerous to suggest he might have become sentient. He doesn’t want the city of L.A. to essentially factory reset him to make sure he's not sentient.

Meanwhile, the rest of the 118 has already figured out that Buck is sentient. They really love him, and are just waiting for him to tell them.

This is the situation Eddie walks into when he joins the 118. Buck keeps displaying these quirky behaviours that the rest of the 118 assures him aren't that weird for robots. So what if Buck doesn't like going alone into his closet to charge at night? Robots can profess dislike of almost anything. It makes them seem more human. Did you know one of the other robots the other day said it hated Bobby's cooking? We know it said that just to say that 'cause it can't even eat. Ha Ha, Robots Are So Funny And Buck Is Super Normal

Despite being confusingly told that Buck is just a normal robot, Eddie starts falling in love with Buck. Buck is, well, himself. Funny, kind, brave, loyal, and curious. His tendency to know random facts is dialled up to 11 because he begged Bobby to install the Encyclopaedia Britannica in his brain and Bobby said yes.

This culminates in a situation where Eddie kisses Buck, but then stops because robots can't consent. Even if Buck says he wants to be with Eddie, how can Eddie take that at face value? It's probably just some part of Buck's human-positive programming that's making him want what Eddie is stupid enough to want.

Buck does something a lifesaving protector robot is not supposed to do and picks Eddie up and holds him against a wall, not in a genuinely aggressive or threatening way, but just to show that he can do something that should be impossible for him.

Eddie realises Buck is a whole, real person. Buck is scared that Eddie has figured it out, even though he wanted him to. Eddie promises he will help Buck be legally declared sentient. Buck doesn’t think it can happen for him and that he'll have to hide for the rest of his life. But Eddie has an ace up his sleeve. Carla is one of the few robots lucky enough to have succeeded an attempt to be declared sentient, and can help them. She is in touch with robot advocacy groups and pro-robot lawyers who will help them for free, for example.

Buck winds up in court before a judge. Carla is worried because this judge has literally never approved a Petition to be Declared Sentient before, and is known to be strict. Buck makes his case, with Eddie as his witness. They were too scared to tell the rest of the 118 about this, so they have no other witnesses or evidence. The judge asks if anyone else has anything to say in Buck’s favour, but there's no one. It seems like the judge is about to reject the petition.

Then, Bobby, Chim, Hen, Ravi, and maybe some of the people Buck has saved come bursting into the courtroom (Maddie? Or is she like a robot mechanic who's helped him the few times his parts have been damaged?). It turns out, Bobby got a notification about the court date since Buck is LAFD property in his care. He and the rest of the team hauled ass to get to the courtroom before it was too late.

Bobby has actually got an entire fucking dossier proving Buck’s sentience. It has videos of his actions on calls, copies of incident reports, and more. Bobby also makes an appeal using his personal expertise. He has extensive experience with robots due to being captain over the 3 - 5 other, normal robots in the station, and he can tell that Buck is different from the others. He even explains that when he saw Buck had received the faulty software update, he did not patch it, giving Buck an increased chance to become his own person. (Though for the judge's benefit he may pretend like it was some kind of accident.) Bobby's defence of Buck is incredibly passionate, though of course professional and respectful for the court setting. The other members of the 118 want to speak, but the judge says they've heard enough.

For the first time ever, this judge allows Buck’s sentience petition to go through. Buck is now legally a human and has to be paid by the LAFD to continue his job, as well as being allowed to freely access "his" charging closet at the station (kinda like it's now his apartment but he doesn't have to pay rent on it). He doesn't care much for the closet, but that doesn't matter - now he can be with Eddie, and live in Eddie's house, and get to openly be the person he always has been inside.

~

Eyy, so that's the idea! I think it works great thematically since canonically Buck's job is a big part of his identity. Also externalises his tendency to see himself as expendable, since he is now just a thing in the eyes of others. Even though the others who matter still see him as a valuable person.

Hope you liked it, and thanks for being inspiring!

That's a really interesting idea! I think it works for Buck a lot! You should totally write it!

[voxiferous]

I'm super glad you liked it! I don't have plans to write it at the moment but it is saved in my story ideas document. Along with a bunch of other fantasy AUs, because they sustain me.

I am wrapping up a werewolf!Buck feat. magical natural disaster AU right now. I did not have the time to write that one either, but you know... I was compelled...

[midnightcowg1r1]

“but one day if you can’t sleep at all, and I’m sorry’s not enough,

come find me”

[a-still-small-vox]

Bid on me for FTH before it's too late!

I've got three offerings this year: Maze Runner fanfiction, any fandom fanart (including book covers and podfic covers), and any fandom fan labour in the form of helping you write crime fiction or casefic. The latter has no bids on it yet, and starts at only 7$. If you are thinking of writing any kind of detective, lawyer, crime solving, forensic, or legal AU for any of your blorbos, bid on me! I listen to way too many podcasts...

Links are here:

[Maze Runner fanfiction]

[Fanart]

[Crime fiction fan labour]

FTH is a fan-run charity auction raising money for progressive nonprofits. My offerings this year are supporting a variety of causes. You can find out more on their main blog, @fandomtrumpshate

Bidding closes at 8PM EST, in 4 hours!

[voxiferous]

Wtf is MAIN for the wip thing 😂😂😂 tell me all about it!!

So that was the original document from when I thought that fic was going to be a oneshot, lol. Then after I started writing, I began hopping around non-linearly and had to create all those other documents to mark scenes I was sure of the location of. "MAIN" is around 8.5K. The others are 8.5, 3.6, and 3.6 respectively. There are maybe one or two thousand cut words as well. That's what "Darling CPR" is. You know, they say to kill your darlings. I keep mine on life support in case I decide I want them back XD

Normally I don't write so non-linearly, but sometimes stories just come to you in weird ways.

[voxiferous]

Parrot!Newt AU ???????????

Lmao, yes!

So at some point the author of the Maze Runner, James Dashner, did this Q&A online where he was asked to share some facts fans might not know about Newt. The facts he shared were:

Newt loves cheese

Newt saw visions of his loved ones before he died

Newt would be reincarnated as a parrot who is Thomas's pet

I SWEAR I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP

As soon as I learnt that, I went on AO3 to see if anyone else had already written this premise. There is one which is sort of like a princess-and-the-frog type deal. It's very funny, and definitely unserious. I in all my infinite wisdom was like, "Nobody in the world takes what Dashner said seriously. Obviously, the premise is insane. But what if I were a good enough writer to make people care about this dumb idea?"

Now we're here. Around 20,000 words later because for some reason I decided this needed to be a slow burn for full emotional impact. I'd say it's like. Half done? Now the problem is I don't think I can convince anyone in the world to read it, but I promise if they did it would be an experience!

[voxiferous]

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous and tag as many people as you have WIPs. People send an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then you post a snippet or tell them something about it!

Tagged by: @revasnaslan

I don't have that many wips because I tend to finish fics immediately after starting them. However, I do have these:

love you. pretty boy (this is for The Maze Runner. It's a parrot!Newt AU)

Be the change you want to see in the world AU (this is Destiel, basically a smut oneshot)

Maladaptive Alien AU (this is Captain America, but I'm probably not gonna finish it)

I also have a metric fuckton of plot bunnies, but those are not wips - they're just me writing down ideas so I don't forget them. But if you want, you can send me one of my fandoms and ask for a random plot bunny from it, and I'll see if I have one.

Tagging: @riotbrrrd @sirladysketch @glittercracker @pigeonsimba aaaand anyone else who wants to do this!

[a-still-small-vox]

Now the bots are transphobic.

"But Vox," you might be saying. "This person claims to be supporting transgender rights. Why do you think they're a transphobe?"

Because this message is designed to provoke anger and/or fear against a person "supporting" trans rights. They want you to think someone is has doxed you in furtherance of the trans agenda and is holding your creativity hostage. It's a manipulation tactic designed to encourage transphobia.

I sure hope those 15 hours of downtime helps AO3 crush these bots into powder. They're pure evil.

[yuumei-art]

Gossamer wings

Transparent strings

Tomorrow greets yesterday

Like all the words on replay 

[fandoms-princess]

@a-still-small-vox reminded me of you

[a-still-small-vox]

ugh this art is to DIE for, thank you so much! ♥

[a-still-small-vox]

Ben/Gally fic rec list!

One of the squares on my bingo card for @fanartfrenzy was to comment on a fic for a ship with fewer than 100 works. Ben/Gally fits the ticket! I decided to pick a few works I like the looks of and comment. Here are the ones I read:

You Between My Arms by @faiasakura Or, unrepentant fluff involving a sunset. (AU where everyone (except WCKD) lives and makes it to Safe Have/Paradise. Everyone.)

Of the ones I read, this one was my favourite. It's very fluffy, with some funny moments sprinkled in. I love an Everyone Lives AU, and it's nice to see all the characters interacting at the safe haven together as Ben and Gally work themselves up to the sweetest love confession imaginable.

everything under the stars is in your arms by @makuroshi When Gally moves to a new town, he doesn't expect to have his heart stolen by a ballet dancer whose messy blond hair and clear blue eyes make him lose all ability of coherent speech.

This was my favourite Ben/Gally AU I read. It gets into the complexities of Gally's emotions and insecurities, amid a backdrop of art and domestic-type moments. Despite being in Gally's POV, Ben got to have quite a lot of feelings as well. Very beautiful.

Greenie Builder Day by @astralpenguin Gally was excited about Ben’s day with the Builders.

Our canonverse rep for these two. Nothing very eventful happens, but it's a good exploration of how this relationship could've started, and slots right into canon in a totally believable way. A good starting point for daydreaming other stuff that could've happened between them in the Maze era. And it's nice to see Gally get a happy moment amid, well, the Maze.

rules by @astralpenguin It didn't matter that Gally loved him

Also canonverse. The fic is only 3 sentences long (this is by design), and boy does a lot of emotion fit into those three sentences. Explores Ben's Banishing from Gally's perspective. Angsty but thought-provoking. Worth reading from both an emotional and structural standpoint.

A little piece of something by PeonyMoon Sunshowers, morning cuddles with your boyfriend, and no work. What more could Gally ask for?

Really fluffy fluff, seemingly set in a high school AU, where Ben and Gally get to snuggle in bed together. So cute and so sweet.

wake up to the sun by @faiasakura Ben and Gally watch the sunrise. (AU where everyone lives. Everyone.)

Another oneshot with Ben and Gally cuddling together, but post-canon. Two cakes, you guys!!!

art by @astralpenguin Ben's been acting strange around Minho ever since Gally and he got together.

A high school AU. Definitely the funniest of the fics I read. Minho is SO chill and so big hearted. Bonus Minho & Newt friendship.

Bonus:

From Now On by anglophileadventures Gally reconnects with his childhood best friend, Ben.

This one is 19K, and I didn't have time to read it for this bingo square, but I've marked it for later. If you'd like to give it some love in my stead, please feel free!

Content warnings for mild homophobia, anaphylaxis, and trauma.

[Podfic] Flowers For Your Heart by writing_moonchild What if the Flare was just hanahaki, and nobody had figured it out yet? (Newt/Thomas & Ben/Gally)

This appears to be the sole podfic in the Ben/Gally tag. Now, the fic in question was written by me. But writing_moonchild read it in a really beautiful way, and deserves kudos for their hard work! If you've never listened to a podfic before, I totally recommend making this one your first.

[a-still-small-vox]

Here's my @fanartfrenzy bingo card! I changed a couple of the prompts to the ones on their extra bingo cards because I knew I wouldn't be able to complete some of them, and wanted to increase the odds that each square would result in a gift for an author.

I will be recording my crossed-off bingos here on this post.

If you'd like to participate, they have those bonus cards up. It's not too late to grab one!

Write a comment for a ship with fewer than 100 works