#ski fic

[fushiglow]

no update this weekend so have a chapter 3 wip 🏂

remember when i said the smut for back on top might need a crack treated seriously tag? turns out it veers between that and straight up crack. forgive him, he's literally on drugs (it has nothing to do with why he's like this)

⚠️ BIG SPOILERS FROM THE START ⚠️

he's such a dork. thank god this is literally suguru when satoru so much as breathes in his direction. he's so smitten with his idiot ♥

[elisabethriddle]

Wizard of the Slopes, Chapter 6: Spiraea

“It seems that our dear friend Cormac has been giving Hermione a bit of grief with his overtures, so I have kindly offered to pretend to be her boyfriend for the duration of his stay so he’ll leave her alone. Naturally, as my friends, it would be expected for you to already be aware of our relationship. I trust you’ll both back our story if questioned.”

As Tom went on to explain the background he’d fabricated for their relationship, Abraxas merely grinned like a Cheshire cat. Tom wanted to smack the stupid smile right off his face. He’d known this would happen but that didn’t make it any less infuriating. Abraxas’s idiotic notion that things were as simple as asking Hermione on a date was wearing at Tom heavily. One of the things he loved about Hermione was finally having someone who was on his level (or close to, at least) intellectually.

“Well, it’s still far more complicated than necessary but one step closer to making a move,” Abraxas laughed as he slapped Tom on the shoulder.

“Took you long enough, that’s for sure,” Antonin scoffed. While he didn’t look quite as smarmy as Abraxas, his expression was still far too smug for Tom’s liking.

When Tom stormed out of the room, he almost thought he heard the two men discussing a bet.

KEEP READING

[fushiglow]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Back on Top

Satoru would know that voice anywhere. He could pick it out among a thousand others, even if Suguru wasn’t shouting over the gasps of the crowd. Cursing over the gasps of the crowd, actually. It’s a break with etiquette that’s entirely out of character for Suguru. On any other occasion, Satoru might find it funny. Maybe they can laugh about it later; he’ll pull up the replay and watch Suguru turn tomato red at the sound of himself swearing like a sailor on live TV in front of the whole wide world. He isn’t the only one swearing. All around him, voices rise in outrage at what is the most egregious case of underscoring Satoru has ever seen at an Olympic halfpipe final.

After he crashes out of the pipe four weeks before the Winter Olympics, Satoru finds himself pushing the limits of his body like never before. If he wants to defend his title, he'll have to soar to yet greater heights — but will he fly or will he fall?

This story is set a year after Race You to the Bottom, and features similarly silly (and sexy) SatoSugu antics in a winter sports setting. However, before that, it's time for Gojo vs Sukuna: The Freestyle Snowboarding Edition — read on AO3 ♥

[fushiglow]

here's more of the idiot4idiot wip 🏂

gonna try my very best to finish back on top this weekend so this damn fic doesn't become another weight around my neck. if only wips were gold medals, eh?

[fushiglow]

the satosugu dynamic in ski fic, both on the slopes and in the sheets:

[fushiglow]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Back on Top | Chapter 2

Taking up his starting position on the entry ramp, he digs his heel edge into the snow as he waits for the go ahead. He adjusts his neck gaiter. He adjusts his gloves. He plots his route down the pipe, visualising the future version of himself who’s lacing the most insane run of his life. He smiles at his win. And then Satoru returns to the moment. His moment. He stares down the Olympic rings, and the Olympic rings stare back at him. Eyes on the prize. Eyes on me, he commands, one finger pointed at the camera. This is his moment. It’s go time.

Are you the king of the pipe because you're Gojo Satoru or are you Gojo Satoru because you're the king of the pipe? It's time to find out 🏂 Hope you enjoy this chapter extra hard because I had the time of my fucking life writing it — read on AO3 ♥

[fushiglow]

snippet sunday ˖⁺｡˚⋆˙

thanks for the tag @massivelyanerd ♥ i am choosing to believe you tagged me in this hoping for a snippet from the ski snowboard fic sequel so that's what you're getting! enjoy!

(no suguru in this snippet but it WILL be E rated so...)

As Satoru pulls in, Yaga is standing there with his arms folded over his chest, looking even more furious than Satoru feels. Confronted by that stony expression, it’s practically instinct to apologise at this point. ‘Sorry.’ ‘Are you?’ ‘No.’ He’s just being honest. ‘That was sick.’ All at once, Yaga deflates, scrubbing his hands over his face. ‘It was,’ he admits. Satoru notices a vein throbbing in his temple and hopes the old man took his blood pressure medication. ‘I don’t know what the hell they’re thinking.’ ‘They’re hoping I’ll kill myself for real this time,’ he says cheerfully. ‘Keep your voice down.’ Yaga is looking around nervously, but Satoru has never felt so locked in. His mind has never felt more clear. He’s so fucking enraged that he’s moved beyond anger altogether. It’s just pure, single-minded focus. He looks off down the course at where Kashimo is earning oohs and aahs using the move that he made famous. ‘I’m gonna run it again.’ There’s a long pause, filled only by the gasps of the crowd as his countryman takes a hard bail on his last run. The announcer’s voice booms around the mountainside, underscored by the incessant beat of the kick snare rhythm blasting from the speakers. ‘What the hell…’ Satoru prepares to make his case, but then, ‘Sure.’ Turning to his coach in surprise, he finds Yaga wearing the same stony expression as before, but this time, Satoru knows it isn’t for him. ‘Give ‘em hell, kid,’ he says, voice gruff. ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Good.’ It isn’t even a lie. The ache in Satoru’s pelvis is easy to ignore when he’s this fucking fired up, adrenaline coursing round his system. ‘I can do it.’ At last, Yaga claps Satoru on the shoulder, cuffs him round the back of his neck. ‘I know you can.’ 

insta followers will recognise some of the dialogue. oh my god i love sport. awaiting the men's halfpipe final on february 13 to steal some moves and then who knows? if i can get my shit together, maybe we can commemorate ski fic anniversary on valentine's day!

tagging: @mikanseinic, @alpha-hydra, @detta-pica, @damn-that-shit-was-dope, @andiftheycare, @memosquita + anyone and everyone else. it's probably more like a monday snippet for some of you but...

[fushiglow]

okay my turn: tell me why you like writing no power AUs. What's the draw? How do they feel to write? also other general thoughts on this, pats chat for words

Yippee! I hope you'll find my answer insightful, because this is something I've given a lot of thought to in the past! I think it mostly comes down to the appeal of answering the question I mentioned at the end of my ask:

How far can you remove a character from the source material while keeping their essence intact?

I'll put the rest under the cut because I'm about to talk a lot, oops...

I would say I have two main motivations for writing fanfiction: developing my understanding of the source material and challenging myself as a writer in one way or another. No powers AUs cover both in a really unique way. Often, it begins with a challenge at a craft level, e.g. the opportunity to try using a narrative structure that lends itself to a specific setting. However, the question that inevitably follows is: "how could I make that work for these specific characters?"

I think there are lots of different ways to write "good" fanfiction. Only the author can say whether they've achieved their goals with a particular story, but for me personally, the best fanfiction is in dialogue with the source material. For obvious reasons, that's easier to achieve with canonverse fanfiction, but when I remove the characters from their original universe, I have to work a bit harder at it. How much harder depends on the no powers AU in question!

In the past, I have definitely written "bad" fanfiction by those specific standards, even if it isn't "bad" fanfiction at all by a different set of a criteria! These days, I'm pickier about the ideas I choose to pursue, and that's because I've developed a better understanding of what I find rewarding to write and a better understanding of the source material. The two things definitely go hand in hand, so since I mentioned the snowboarding AU earlier, I'll talk about it a little here to illustrate that.

This AU started with a romcom I published in February 2025. I'd never written one before so I gave it a try (challenge!) and quickly decided I'll probably never write one again lmao. It's a reader favourite, but for me as the writer, it lacked the stakes I apparently need to stay engaged. Still, it is a pretty good example of a no powers AU that's in dialogue with the source material, even if it's on the lower end of the scale.

Simply put, it follows adrenaline junkie Gojo as he seeks solo thrills after becoming profoundly bored on a skiing holiday with friends who neither want nor are able to keep up with him. Basically, the story hinges on the reveal that he's the reigning world champion in halfpipe snowboarding, which was actually my first idea for the fic. I watched a video of Hirano Ayumu talking about his Olympic gold run where he pulled off a never been done triple cork in terrible conditions. He said, "To stay at the top, you have to accept loneliness". Naturally, I was instantly sold on the idea of Gojo Satoru the freestyle snowboarder!

Fast forward to January this year when Ayumu "broke his entire body" a month before qualifying for the Olympics and still set out to defend his gold. I'm suddenly hooked on halfpipe snowboarding like never before, I'm incredibly invested in an aging Scotty James' quest for the only medal he's never won, and I realise I've given myself the convenient opportunity to write an action sequel to the romcom which will parallel my favourite arc in the manga (Gojo vs Sukuna) while digging into everything about this character that compels me most.

While writing this fic, I did a whole lot of research about athlete psychology, and accidentally learned a whole lot about the winner's mentality that Gojo instils in Megumi in the process. I've basically come to believe that the athlete state of mind and the strongest sorcerer state of mind are one and the same, especially when it comes to extreme sports. Rather than explaining it, I'm going to share a passage which, I think, illustrates the exact appeal of writing a no powers AU for a character like Gojo, if you can find the right angle for approach:

Perhaps more than a test of skill on a board, riding the halfpipe is a test of the ability to thrive in chaos — to brush off the unpredictable, to meet the unknown head-on without fear or hesitation. It’s a test of self-belief, most of all. Dropping into the pipe, state of mind is everything, which is why some people wear lucky underpants or recite prayers at the top of the course. As for Satoru, he believes in preflight checks rather than preflight rituals. To engage in superstitious practices is to suggest that winning or losing is outside his locus of control. Satoru doesn’t give any importance to things outside his locus of control, so as he bends down to clip in for the biggest ride of his life, he isn’t wearing lucky underpants. Instead, he checks his bindings once, twice, three times before he hops out onto the groomed snow at the front of the start house. [...] Taking up his starting position on the entry ramp, he digs his heel edge into the snow as he waits for the go ahead. He adjusts his neck gaiter. He adjusts his gloves. He plots his route down the pipe, visualising the future version of himself who’s lacing the most insane run of his life. He smiles at his win. And then Satoru returns to the moment. His moment. He stares down the Olympic rings, and the Olympic rings stare back at him. Eyes on the prize. Eyes on me, he commands, one finger pointed at the camera. This is his moment.

To me, that's just "Nah, I'd win" in a few more words lmao.

Admittedly, it's not very ship focused, simply because of the solo nature of the sport. I think that's more reflective of my personal preferences as a writer, though. I set out to send people's heart rates through the roof with a really high stakes action scene, and that's what I did. Although I did explore Gojo's relationship with Sukuna a little, perhaps someone else would focus more on the interpersonal rivalry between them, e.g. scenes set in the Olympic Village.

(Fun fact: the athletes got through their free condoms at a record rate at this year's Winter Olympics. They used 10,000 condoms [around 3.5 per athlete] in the three days immediately before Valentine's Day.)

I probably will return to this universe in the future, because I think I can eke more out of the parallels with JJK. For example, the inevitable "changing of the guard" that happens in a high risk Olympic level sport like freestyle snowboarding is something that translates really nicely. In other words, I want to write Satoru coaching Megumi, hehe.

How far can you remove a character from the source material while keeping their ~essence~ intact?

To summarise, putting myself in a position where I can answer this question by pointing to my fic and saying, "Pretty damn far!" just feels really fucking good lmao. For me, there's nothing more satisfying than writing "good" fanfiction by my own standards, but especially when I've executed it with a no powers AU.

I hope this was interesting to read! Please tell me all your thoughts! Are you any more sold on the idea? Have I persuaded you?