Avid fanfiction reader.

Reading fanfic since 2004. Most of my posts are queued

[nocturnus33]

With over 20 years in fandom, I dedicate myself to binding the stories I like: with more passion than talent 😂. I also reblog the work of others as a way of celebrating fandom and these beautiful works of fan art that are bound fan fiction. For other ficbinders' work, I always use the same hashtag so that they can be found easily: "Fantastic ficbinders and where to find them"

Keep fandom free!

PS: Most of my posts are queued.

[letteredlettered]

By The Grace is my all time favorite Drarry fic, and I wanted to come by and say I’ve always found something so inspiring and beautiful in knowing that you would change everything about it if you could. It says something about how we all connect to art differently, and how a failed/scrambled vision can be someone else’s North Star, that so many people love By The Grace. I can’t exactly say what it is, but I’ve been reading your tumblr post for years and knowing you didn’t love how the story turned out has always made me love it more.

I love this ask so much!

I always feel bad dunking on By The Grace; I worry that I'm making people who like it feel like I'm telling them they're wrong.

But ultimately it's been such a lesson for me, teaching me exactly what you're saying--that we really can each see things in a different light. I've recently had that happen with my novel; I've given it to a number of people and quite a few times it's happened that someone will say something like "I don't like this chapter; I think you could just leave it out" about a chapter that someone else has said is their favorite chapters in the whole book, or someone will say "this part makes zero sense to me" and another person will say that same part made them cry.

I think it's an inspiration to me too, because I write a lot of things that I don't like. But it's nice to know that even if I can't be proud of something it can still be worth while.

I'm glad the story means a lot to you and I'm so glad that the fact that I'm not a fan of it is also meaningful. Thank you so much for telling me so.

[nocturnus33]

All We Do is Remix: How Borges Validated Fanfic in 1967

Thinking about how the legendary Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges basically validated fanfiction culture decades before the internet even existed.

In his essay "The Four Cycles," his whole thesis was that humanity literally only has four (4) core stories, and all of world literature is just us retelling, remixing, and transforming them over and over again until the end of time.

According to him, every story ever told is just a remix of one of these:

1. The City Under Siege: A doomed stronghold defended by brave people who know they're probably going to lose. (The Trojan War, Helm's Deep, your favorite sci-fi last stand). 2. The Return: The agonizingly long, terrible journey back home. (The Odyssey, characters trying to get back to their original timeline or universe). 3. The Quest: A massive road trip to find a very specific shiny object or ultimate truth. (The Golden Fleece, the Holy Grail, the MacGuffin hunt). 4. The Sacrifice of a God: An all-powerful being dying for humanity, for love, or for knowledge. (Odin hanging from the tree).

Here is how four of the most legendary HP fanfics map perfectly onto Borges' four basic narratives:

1. All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89

The Narrative: The Siege of the City

Why it fits: Borges described this as brave people defending a strong city, even knowing it is doomed to fall to "iron and fire." In ATYD (the massive, canon-compliant Marauders' era retelling), the "city" they are defending isn't made of stone; it's their youth, their friendships, and their world against Voldemort's first rise. The absolute tragedy of it is that we already know the defense is doomed. We know who dies, who gets framed, and who betrays them. But the beauty is watching them fight so bravely for it anyway.

2. The Debt of Time by ShayaLonnie

The Narrative: The Return Home

Why it fits: Borges used the myth of Ulysses spending years trying to get back to Ithaca as the ultimate "Return." In The Debt of Time, Hermione is thrown back into the 1970s and adopted into the Potter family. To protect the timeline, she has to live the "long way around"; aging through decades of history, surviving the first war, and watching her friends grow up all over again just to make it back to her original timeline. Her entire life becomes an exhausting, epic odyssey just to return to her own "Ithaca."

3. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky

The Narrative: The Quest

Why it fits: Borges defined this as a hero setting out to find the ultimate prize (like Jason hunting the Golden Fleece). In HPMOR, Harry is raised by a scientist and enters Hogwarts armed with quantum mechanics. While canon Harry hunts Horcruxes, this version of Harry is on a much more arrogant crusade: his quest is to defeat Death itself. It’s a purely intellectual journey to hack the universe's magic system and claim immortality for humanity.

4. Manacled by SenLinYu

The Narrative: The Sacrifice of a God

Why it fits: Borges' final story is about absolute self-immolation; a deity who sacrifices themselves for the world. Manacled is an incredibly dark, Voldemort-won AU, but at its core, it is a devastating story about sacrifice. Hermione and Draco both act as martyrs, sacrificing their bodies, their sanity, their morals, and their souls on the altar of the war. They make god-like, horrifying choices, essentially destroying themselves to save what little is left.

So the next time you feel weird about writing the exact same "bed sharing" or "enemies to lovers" trope for the fifth time, remember that one of the most legendary literary masters of the 20th century essentially said, "yeah, we're all just rewriting the same four fics anyway."

Put your blorbos in the doomed city. It's what Borges would have wanted.

[nocturnus33]

Nocturnus in search of the lost neuron

End of term, end of my brain cells. Also, the end of my queue post (I think there’s one left to do for tomorrow).

A few days ago, I found the perfect author to inspire the stories about Barty Crouch and Evan Rosier; and no matter how hard I rack my brains, I can’t remember who it was.

So I’m hoping that the winter holidays will help me find that one blessed brain cell I lost amidst the chaos of the end of the semester.

See you!

[womanguy]

you should get a second evening for reading fan fiction. And you should get an extra day in the week to do arts and crafts.

[nocturnus33]

Latin America roots for Norway. Don't ask my why.

GO Norway!

[nocturnus33]

Gilderoy Lockhart by W. Somerset Maugham

Maugham would treat Lockhart as a tragicomic study in the hollowness of public reputation. He would move away from the caricature of a vain teacher and instead paint him as a man who has fully hollowed himself out to feed the public’s insatiable hunger for a hero. His technique relies on the detached, biting irony that exposes the fraudulence behind a polished exterior. Maugham would dissect Lockhart’s life with a cool, surgical precision, highlighting the pathetic desperation of a man who knows he is a sham but is terrified of the moment the facade finally slips. By focusing on the interplay between Lockhart’s manufactured charm and his underlying, spineless mediocrity, Maugham would turn him into a quintessential Maugham character—an imposter who is at once ridiculous, pitiable, and deeply human in his pursuit of an applause he knows he never truly earned.

[nocturnus33]

Marlene McKinnon by Nadine Gordimer

Gordimer would frame Marlene McKinnon as a figure defined by the agonizing tension between personal conscience and the crumbling political morality of the Wizarding World. The writing would be surgical and taut, stripping away romanticized notions of heroism to expose the cold, systemic betrayals that characterized the war. Her technique relies on the precise observation of how the private self is dismantled by public terror, focusing on the way Marlene navigates the suffocating atmosphere of suspicion and surveillance, turning her resistance into a study of inevitable loss and the stark, unsentimental reality of what it means to stand against an institutionalized evil that seeks to erase not just the body, but the very possibility of dissent.

[nocturnus33]

Remus Lupin by Graham Greene

Greene would strip away the wonder of the magical world to reveal a landscape of moral gray areas, exhaustion, and quiet disappointment. He would portray Lupin not as a heroic figure but as a man burdened by an incurable, shameful secret who is trying to get by in a world that offers him very little kindness. His technique centers on a kind of gritty realism. He would use sparse, melancholic prose that focuses on the dirt on Lupin’s sleeves, his frayed robes, and the constant gloom that follows him. Greene would explore Lupin’s struggle through a lens of existential weariness. Every choice is a compromise between his natural kindness and the inevitable cruelty of his condition, leaving us with a man who is searching for a peace he feels he will never earn.

[nocturnus33]

Mundungus Fletcher by Charles Bukowski

Bukowski would treat Mundungus as the ultimate denizen of the Wizarding underworld, a man whose existence is defined by cheap firewhiskey, smoky taverns, and the desperate hustle for survival. He would ditch the "magic" for a gritty, unvarnished look at the streets, focusing on the smell of stale tobacco and the nervous sweat of a man who is always one bad deal away from prison. His technique relies on unfiltered, raw realism that shuns any attempt to make the character look heroic or noble. By using short, jagged sentences and a cynical, stream-of-consciousness style, he would capture the pathetic yet resilient nature of a petty criminal who views the great war between Dumbledore and Voldemort as just another background noise to his own small-time schemes.

[theaawalker]

Alternatives to "Saw"

ᚑ      ᚑ

When a character notices something quickly:

»-♡→ Spotted »-♡→ Caught sight of »-♡→ Glimpsed »-♡→ Noticed »-♡→ Detected »-♡→ Clocked »-♡→ Picked out »-♡→ Espied »-♡→ Observed »-♡→ Sighted

...or if they're searching for something:

➺ Scanned ➺ Surveyed ➺ Examined ➺ Inspected ➺ Searched ➺ Swept their gaze across ➺ Looked over ➺ Studied ➺ Pored over ➺ Scrutinized

...or if they're admiring something:

➵ Beheld ➵ Gazed at ➵ Admired ➵ Marveled at ➵ Took in ➵ Drank in ➵ Appreciated ➵ Feasted their eyes on ➵ Reveled in ➵ Absorbed

...or if they're shocked or horrified:

̗̀➛ Witnessed ̗̀➛ Stared at ̗̀➛ Gawked at ̗̀➛ Recoiled from the sight of ̗̀➛ Bore witness to ̗̀➛ Froze at the sight of ̗̀➛ Locked eyes on ̗̀➛ Gaped at ̗̀➛ Couldn't look away from ̗̀➛ Found themselves staring at

ᚑ      ᚑ

[nocturnus33]

Minerva McGonagall by Edith Wharton

Wharton would view McGonagall as the formidable guardian of a decaying, though still potent, social institution, much like the rigid society she chronicled in The Age of Innocence. The narrative would be deeply concerned with the tension between individual passion and the crushing weight of duty, capturing the subtle, unspoken sacrifices McGonagall makes to maintain the "sanctity" of Hogwarts. Her technique centers on masterful social irony and the psychological architecture of restraint, where the drama unfolds in the smallest of gestures—a tightened lip, a perfectly phrased reprimand, or the strategic placement of a cup of tea. Wharton would strip away the magical spectacle to reveal the cold, tactical brilliance required to navigate a patriarchal establishment, portraying McGonagall as a woman of iron resolve whose greatest battle is suppressing her own human heart to preserve the order she serves.

[nocturnus33]

Filius Flitwick by Jorge Luis Borges

Borges would find the essence of Flitwick not merely in his stature or his mastery of Charms, but in his nature as a scholar of the esoteric and the infinite. He would treat Flitwick’s classroom as a labyrinthine library of hidden truths, where each spell is a fragment of a forgotten, ancient language or a geometric paradox waiting to be solved. His technique employs metaphysical inquiry and the blending of erudition with fantasy, treating the mechanics of levitation or transfiguration as philosophical puzzles rather than mere tools. Borges would write Flitwick as a quiet, precise intellectual—a man who understands that in the precise articulation of a incantation, one is not just moving an object, but altering the fundamental architecture of the universe itself.

[scribeherself]

seeing people say "this trope has been done to death" as if that's ever stopped anyone from eating bread. BREAD HAS BEEN DONE TO DEATH FOR LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND WE STILL WANT MORE BREAD. write your chosen one AU. write your coffee shop meet-cute. write your 47th iteration of "there was only one bed" because guess what??? we're still hungry.

[nocturnus33]

Great authors do not avoid tropes; they anchor their genius within them.

When Jane Austen used the "Marriage Plot" in Pride and Prejudice, she wasn't failing to be original; she was utilizing a structural "load-bearing wall" of 19th-century society. By using the trope, she was able to focus her energy on the internal architecture: the wit, the social critique, and the psychological depth of Elizabeth Bennet.

If an author tries to build a house without walls (without the familiar structure of a trope), the story often lacks the tension and resonance needed to hold the reader’s attention.

Tropes are not the opposite of great writing; they are the scaffolding upon which great writing is built. By utilizing established tropes, authors free themselves from the burden of explaining "the rules of the world" and are instead given the creative freedom to explore the depths of human nature. The greatness of an author is not measured by their refusal to use a trope, but by how skillfully they inhabit one.

[nocturnus33]

Harry, Ron, & Hermione by Patti Smith.

Patti Smith would portray Harry, Ron, and Hermione not as the heroes of a finished war, but as ghosts of a revolution that never quite stopped burning in their blood. Her prose would be raw, rhythmic, and steeped in the romantic grit of the late twentieth century. She would treat their survival as a kind of long, beautiful, and exhausting rock and roll fallout. She would focus on the tactile artifacts of their shared history: the fraying wool of a jumper, the weight of a wand like a microphone held too long, the permanent imprint of scar tissue. She would frame their adulthood not as a settled peace, but as a restless, nomadic existence haunted by the electricity of their youth. Ultimately, she would view them as survivors of a myth they were forced to inhabit, capturing the aching nostalgia of three people who know that while the fighting is over, the feeling of being on the run and the profound, soul-deep solidarity of the outsider is the only language they still truly speak.

How does this interpretation of them as restless, myth-haunted survivors resonate with how you imagine their lives in middle age?

[luna-azzurra]

Things characters never say out loud!!!

✮ I need you to stay without me having to ask

✮ I'm not actually fine and haven't been for longer than I've admitted  

✮ I'm afraid that if you really knew me you would leave

✮ I don't know who I am outside of what I do for other people

✮ I miss who I was before everything that made me who I am

✮ I'm lonely in a way that having people around doesn't fix

✮ I think about that moment more than I will ever tell you

✮ I'm proud of myself and I don't know how to hold that without someone giving me permission

✮ I chose you specifically and I need you to know that even though I'll never say it

✮ I'm angrier than I look and have been for years

✮ I forgave you a long time ago and kept the grudge because the grudge felt safer

✮ I want to be taken care of just once without having to orchestrate it myself

✮ I don't know how to let this go and I'm not sure I want to

✮ That thing you said changed the direction of my life and you have no idea

✮ I stayed because of you specifically and I'll never tell you because of what it would mean

✮ I'm scared that this is as good as I'm capable of becoming

✮ I love you in a way I don't have the right category for

✮ I needed you to fight for me and you didn't and I'm still not over it

✮ I'm grieving something I never had and I don't know how to explain that to anyone

✮ I think I could be happy and that terrifies me more than anything that has ever hurt me

[nocturnus33]

Molly Weasley by Louisa May Alcott

Alcott would embrace Molly as the absolute center of her domestic universe, elevating the daily grind of running a chaotic household into something noble and deeply sacred. She would focus on the intense, protective love Molly feels for her children, portraying her fierce temper not as a flaw, but as a righteous fire necessary to guard her family against a cold and dangerous world. Her technique relies on warm, moralistic sentimentality blended with a keen eye for the economics of poverty. She would detail the mended sweaters, the home-cooked meals, and the bustling, noisy warmth of the Burrow as acts of profound resistance. Alcott would paint Molly as the ultimate matriarch, finding deep, quiet beauty in the sacrifices of motherhood while emphasizing that a home, no matter how small or broke, is a fortress built of love.