An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Ship: Charlie x Vaggie
Summary: When Charlie breaks down the night before the battle, all Vaggie wants to do is take care of her without asking for anything in return, but nothing could ever stop the stubborn princess from taking care of her angel too.
Rating: M
Final Word Count: ~25,000
Important Tags: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Mental Health Issues
This fic is a follow-up/companion piece to I Know an Angel When I See One, but it can be easily read on its own; its predecessor just offers some context and nuance. But yeah, this was supposed to be a oneshot, just a quick li'l thing, except then it wasn't. The final word count here is according to Microsoft Word's tally on the fic as a whole, which is finished, edited, and otherwise ready for posting. I'm NOT slamming all those words up at once when the whole thing was written continuously with only one line-break transition at the end, though, so I split it into sections. Updates will be on 3/11, 3/14, 3/16, 3/19, and 3/21!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Ship: Charlie x Vaggie
Summary: Charlie adored her girlfriend’s wings from the second she saw them, but Vaggie’s feelings about herself have always been a little more…complicated. Fortunately, taking care of someone she loves is never a problem for the Princess of Hell.
Rating: M
Word Count: ~13,100
Important Tags: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Fluff
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Stranger Things
Ship: El x Max
Summary: With Henry dead and Hawkins finally safe, Eleven learns how to live without looking over her shoulder for the ghosts of her past, how to find family in the people around her, and how easy it is to fall in love with her best friend. Even with the newfound sense of security, the road to recovery is a long and painful one, and it's not always easy, but at least it's not a journey anyone has to face alone.
Ch. Title: I Don't Want to Say Goodbye
Ch. Summary: Life goes on in Hawkins, but El just wants Max to wake up.
OR
El yearns without realizing she's doing it in a sapphic way, bonds with her friends and family, and spends as much time with her comatose best friend as she can.
Ch. Word Count: ~19,700
Rating: T
Important Tags: Canon Divergence, Injury Recovery, Fluff, Trauma, Mental Health Issues, Hurt/Comfort
So this is actually the first work in a whole-ass series I've planned in this AU. I've been working on this for a while now, and recently decided to actually double down and make it a thing. It originally was supposed to just be one work, but then it kept growing, and the format just worked best as a series. This work itself will have four chapters. Normally I wouldn't make a post for each chapter, but considering each chapter is gonna be long enough that I could probably split it into its own chapters and make it its own fic if not for the format I'm using, I'm making an exception. Below is the briefest of brief excerpts from early on in this first chapter, just as a taste.
El could barely register what was going on. Even her own voice was distant, and she wished she hadn’t asked when she heard the answer. Max was asleep, and she might never wake up. Almost in a trance, she slowly moved to sit beside Max and carefully took her hand—what she could of it, at least. Max was always fiery, even down to the warmth of her body, so the cool chill of her skin made El’s throat close up. It was Max, she knew that—but it was Max without what made her Max.
It wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough. I failed.
“I’m here, Max,” she said softly, something inside her breaking at the thought that Max might not hear her, might not feel her—that she might be so very alone, not knowing that El was right there. She closed her eyes and evened her breathing, focusing. Mike, recognizing the way she stilled herself, shushed the others, and she heard someone quietly close the door. It was so easy to focus on Max—she hadn’t left El’s mind ever since she’d realized she could finally check in on her friends in Hawkins again—that she slipped into the Void with barely any effort.
It was familiar, the empty blackness, and it only took a second for a shape to appear. El broke into a sprint, reaching the projection of the hospital bed and the girl lying pale and broken in its sheets.
Max’s body in the Void was as still as her body in the hospital, but it was still so reassuring to see her here. One consumed when he killed, Papa said; if Henry hadn’t died, even if Max’s body was brought back to life, would Max be here? Or would she be stuck in red mist and strangling vines, inside of One until he was killed? Would anything even be left of her after that?
El shook off the horror and fear that threatened to choke her. She needed to focus on Max, not slip into dark what-if thoughts. And Max was…halfway here. She seemed somehow blank. Empty. With a slow breath, El took her hand. It was just as limp and cold here as it was in that hospital room, and she swallowed tears.
“I’m here,” she said softly, closing her eyes. If Max was trapped in her own mind, if that was why she was asleep, maybe El could find her and wake her up. And if not, maybe visiting some of her happy memories would take that emptiness away, at least a little bit.
She didn’t find any sign of Max. When she knew she was at about half of her limit, she gave up on that for the day. Instead, she wandered through memories as politely as possible, trying not to invade anything too private, until she found one full of laughter and smiles and warmth: their trip to the mall, running around hand-in-hand, enjoying freedom from monsters and rules and stupid boys. It made El’s heart hurt with happiness and the longing to be able to be happy and carefree with her best friend again.
Please come back, Max. Please come back to me. You have to come back to me. I need you. I’m so sorry.
Reluctantly, El finally opened her eyes, a little woozy. She looked back at her friends with tears in her eyes, and they rushed to scoop her up in a group hug.
“She’s always been tough. Tougher than any of us,” Will said.
“And stubborn as hell,” Mike added. “She’ll pull through.”
El hoped so with all her heart, but it still hurt so fucking much. She leaned into Lucas and pressed her face into his chest, knowing he would understand just how agonizing it was for her to see Max like this. He loved Max with such strength and unwavering conviction—if anyone knew El’s pain, it was him.
“I know, El…” Lucas murmured, pressing a kiss to her head. She felt his tears, then felt her own start to spill out. “I know.”
That was all it took for El to finally fall apart, muffling her sobs in Lucas’s chest, surrounded by her brothers and her friend and her boyfriend but still cold and alone without her best friend there to pull her in close. Max felt empty, but so did El. It was like Max had a part of her, and without Max, that part of her was gone. It felt like half of her heart had been torn away. And it hurt like hell, to feel that emptiness inside her, but that part of her was with Max now. Maybe it would help Max be less alone, wherever she was, and that was more than worth the pain.
There was something else Neo wanted...but it was something she knew she couldn’t have. Not anymore.
Rating: T
Word Count: ~1600
Important Tags: V9E8 Spoilers, Hurt No Comfort, Spicecream, Canon Compliant
When I saw the painting with Cinder in it in Neo’s funhouse, I promptly came up with a 900+ word theory about it that I sent rapid-fire to my friend via text, and today I finally decided to put it in fanfic form. I’m dual-uploading the whole thing (here and AO3) instead of my usual MO of posting a link to the AO3 fic here, just because I feel like it. Now, I don’t know if “enjoy” is the proper term since this is just Neo’s introspective realization and there’s nothing happy about it, but I dunno what else to say, so...enjoy?
“You’ve finally done it!”
Had she? Ruby had done exactly what she wanted, and she’d disappeared accordingly, but it didn’t feel satisfying. It felt empty, like there was something else, like something was missing.
“Little Red’s gone. With your Semblance stronger than ever now, we can take over this whole absurd place!”
No! Neo shook her head reflexively, squeezing her eyes shut. She didn’t want to rule the Ever After, she knew that much. Roman’s voice in her head scoffed.
“Why not? Offing Little Red can’t be all you wanted…”
It wasn’t; she knew that too. There was still something she was missing. Ruby was gone, finally, after falling into another world instead of falling to their mutual deaths like Neo had thought when Cinder—
Oh. Neo’s eyes shot open with the realization. So that’s what’s missing.
“…Right?”
It was right in front of her—literally, hanging on the wall, directly in her line of sight. When she’d built the empty mockery of her childhood prison, she’d intended to create a single room inside, empty except for the table where her illusions would sit with their tea, but her Semblance had added five wall paintings without her knowledge. She hadn’t thought too much about them; just another detail, she’d thought, but oh, she really should have known better. Her Semblance seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes, and it was easy to forget that it was all from her own mind, whether she was consciously aware of it or not.
The first painting was miserable, and she hated it. She hated remembering Trivia, and her parents, and how they’d locked her away, and stifled her in every way except pushing her to use a voice she didn’t have. The second was slightly less so—it was before she left her old name behind, but after she’d started to come into herself. It was distancing herself from her parents, having fun, and starting to become Neopolitan instead of Trivia. The third picture was the largest, and for good reason. It was of her as herself, as Neo, with Roman. Her parents were dead and she was starting a life for herself with her friend and partner. It was the best time of her life, without question. On its other side, though, was the fourth picture. After she’d finally made it back to the ground, and rushed to the wrecked airship, and found all she could of Roman. It was the moment that started the next part of her life: her mission for justice, for revenge, to make someone pay for taking everything away from her. She’d gotten rid of Ruby, and Ruby was responsible for Roman’s death no matter what she said—she was on the airship before it crashed, of course it was her fault, it had to be—so that was over now.
And then there was the last picture.
Neo had given it a cursory look when she’d noticed it. She’d eyed the familiar throne, and Cinder standing there, and herself unarmed, and shrugged it off as nothing important. But of course it was important. Her Semblance was good at dragging things from her subconscious out into the world and forcing her to face them.
That picture was what was supposed to come next.
Neo and Cinder’s alliance had been built on two facts: that both of them wanted Ruby Rose dead, and that Cinder was unable to kill her herself. Neo would be lying if she hadn’t found herself preening a bit at the idea that she could do something the domineering woman wanted to but couldn’t. In Vale, Cinder had delegated work, but it was always just work—if she wanted to do something, she did it, and gods help anyone who got in her way. But now here was something Cinder desired so deeply yet couldn’t do anything about on her own, and she’d needed Neo to fulfill that desire for her. Cinder had needed her, when Cinder hadn’t needed anyone in Vale. It was deeply satisfying.
And no matter how insufferable Cinder could get, the two of them worked well together. Cinder was perceptive enough that Neo could communicate with her more easily than she’d been able to with anyone except Roman, and they quickly came to a mutual respect and understanding. It was tense at times, but the fact that they managed to sleep in the same room spoke volumes about the trust they’d managed to scrounge up between them.
Salem…changed things. Neo much preferred it before the Grimm witch showed up, when Cinder was bossy and stubborn but would at least give Neo credit where it was due. It was oddly unnerving to watch Cinder show such deference and obedience to someone, too. Not to mention that they were inside a giant Grimm whale. Neo had to admit, she’d grown increasingly frustrated with Cinder while Salem was a more direct influence, and that was the main reason she’d finally decided to just take the stupid lamp and force Cinder to remember that she’d made a deal of mutual benefit with Neo, and she had yet to hold up her end of their bargain. Neo got her to Atlas and got her the lamp, but Cinder hadn’t given her the chance she needed to kill Ruby. They were supposed to be partners in their deal, but Cinder was taking more and more control, and Neo just wanted to get back to where they were supposed to be.
After Neo killed Ruby, Cinder would have had no choice but to acknowledge her as an equal. She would have owed Neo respect for doing the one thing she wanted to but couldn’t even attempt. The skewed power dynamic would be set right, and their partnership would go back to being a partnership instead of the superior-subordinate relationship Cinder had been trying to turn it into ever since they’d met Salem. Neo thought that would happen, and she’d wanted it to happen, and she hadn’t even realized how much she’d wanted it until now, staring at that damned painting as it mocked her with what was supposed to come next.
It was supposed to be Cinder offering Neo that place of respect beside her. It was supposed to be Cinder showing more loyalty to Neo than to Salem, who reminded Neo too much of the parents who tried to turn her into what they wanted instead of letting her be herself. It was supposed to be Cinder and Neo together, doing whatever they wanted, like when she was with Roman. They should have been partners after Ruby died.
Neo wanted to go up to Cinder and tell her with just a grin and a wink that Ruby Rose was gone, knowing Cinder would understand exactly what she was saying without the need for a typed-out message. Neo wanted to watch the delight glow in Cinder’s remaining eye and the satisfaction in her smirk, and she wanted the Maiden to praise her for a job well done, like she’d done in Vale, back before Ruby took so much from the both of them. Neo wanted Cinder to accept her as her partner, different than Roman but with the potential for just as much meaning. She wanted that picture. She wanted Cinder to offer her Salem’s throne, not to rule the world, but to be the person who mattered most to her; she wanted Cinder to be at her shoulder as an equal, neither of them offering deference to the other. Even down to the look in Cinder’s eye in that painting—a look she’d given Neo more than once, and that Neo had given her right back. So what if she wanted Cinder to be her partner in a few ways Roman hadn’t? She was mute, not blind. And with the eye she had left, Cinder had made it pretty clear that the attraction was mutual. Neo had even chosen to go with Cinder to the coldest place in the world in an outfit that showed more skin than her previous one, just to confirm the theory and reinforce Cinder’s interest.
The fifth picture, the one that showed so much, the one that showed Neo what she’d wanted to be the next part of her life, the one she was just now realizing she wanted so desperately…
It was out of her reach now.
Neo knew that was probably her own fault. “You should have never threatened me,” Cinder had said before she threw her into the void. Neo had miscalculated. She knew Cinder respected her, probably even liked her, but she hadn’t realized how easily that could be negated. And it probably had something to do with Cinder’s shitty little children leaving her—Mercury willingly leaving her under orders from Salem, and Emerald running away to join the very heroes who had taken Cinder’s arm and eye—making her actively wary of being betrayed again, but in the end, it was Neo’s choice to use the lamp to force Cinder to do what she’d promised or else face the wrath of Salem that had ruined the future she hadn’t even known she wanted. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for losing what she could have had—what they could have had.
Neo knew there was a way back to Remnant, so she could get back to Cinder, but she also knew she wouldn’t be welcomed. Cinder wasn’t one to let go of a grudge—she was more likely to attack Neo on sight than to give her a chance to express any of what she was feeling. Killing Ruby wasn’t all Neo wanted—there was something else, too. There was someone she wanted. But she couldn’t have that anymore. There was nothing left for her to pursue. Even when she lost Roman, there was a goal she could chase after, but not anymore. She wasn’t hurting, and she wasn’t even numb. She was just…
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Attack on Titan
Ship: Mikasa x Sasha
Summary: Sasha didn't care what her roommate said: there was no way Mikasa could ever like her back. Pining from afar was her rightful place, and that wasn't going to change, and Ymir could just shut her stupid face about it.
Rating: T
Word Count: ~3200
Important Tags: College AU
Prompt: Steel
Yes this is a Femslash February prompt that I’m posting in July, oops. Writer’s block is a little bitch.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Ship: Acxa x Veronica
Summary: War is a messy affair. When the Galra occupied Earth, Veronica had to learn that firsthand; fortunately, she doesn't have to handle the ghosts in her mind alone.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: RWBY
Ship: Cinder x Neo
Summary: For most couples, Valentine's Day is a romantic time; for Cinder and Neo, it's a time to take revenge against one of their roommates for her tacky decorations.
Rating: T
Word Count: ~1200
Important Tags: College AU, Established Relationship
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Danganronpa
Ship: Mukuro x Sayaka
Summary: Sayaka is asked to perform at a festival and brings Mukuro with her; the festival itself isn't great, but good company can make all the difference.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Toradora!
Ship: Ami x Minori
Summary: After graduation, Minori drags Ami on a beach adventure to search for mermaids; Ami has a feeling that their abrupt trip has less to do with imaginary sea creatures, more to do with Taiga, and everything to do with escapism. She's only partially right.
