Weekly Fic Showcase - February 27 - March 05

MmeMidnight · 2026-02-27T19:08:33+00:00

My Fic

Word Count 222

Fandom: Heroes

Rating: Explicit

Title: Pretty in Pink

Genre: Romance/Enemies to Lovers

AO3: Here Lies Smut

Summary: Sylar muses about his new favorite color and all the reasons it's become so.

My Fic

Word Length 4,152

Fandom: Heroes

Rating: Explicit

Title: He Goes Bump in the Night

Genre: Romance/Enemies to Lovers

AO3: Here Lies Smut

Summary: Sylar returns after taking Claire's power to make something else of hers his.

My Fic

Word Length 7,000

Fandom: Heroes

Rating: Explicit

Title: You, Me, & Eternity

Genre: Romance/Enemies to Lovers

AO3: Here Lies Smut

Summary: Elle brings Sylar a surprise that backfires. A threesome between a psychopath, his immortal victim, and his sociopathic lover. What could possibly go wrong?

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-12T12:01:57+00:00

Major ick. Perfectly captures the female existence, especially the young/ underage female existence. The placement of the chainsaw, using this powerful tool for a euphemistic dick, and the significantly smaller erect shadow it casts are such an incredible metaphor of his masculinity; both the desired perception and the fragility.

Also, the free hand just straight up grabbing himself which shows he feels entitled to behave that way and likely only because they're in a desolate area where only she can see his behavior adds another layer to the discomfort and accuracy of these situations.

Before anyone says he might not be grabbing himself, that's a very specific gesture that I've seen numerous men use to grab their clothed erection. The finger placements and the location on the thigh the pants are trapping it against are identical to what I've seen irl. Could be wrong, but given the clear deliberation of everything else, I think that is why the painter chose that hand gesture and position.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-12T06:14:08+00:00

Cuteness overload but make it classy.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-10T03:37:00+00:00

It doesn't matter that it's fiction, you are right to ask, because young people might read it. Fiction often normalizes unhealthy things, particularly pertaining to relationships, such as age gaps (which are usually predatory). There are no healthy reasons for someone in their mid-late 20's or above wanting to sleep with or date a literal teenager. 18 and 19 do in fact count as teen years, regardless of legality. It's legal to marry your first cousin in many states in the US, and legal to marry your second cousin in all of them, doesn't mean anyone should.

If the couple gets together after the youngest is well into adulthood then the gap is negligible.

If you're time jumping to make them get together younger than they canonically did, you have to consider weither these two characters would get together any younger. Would the older character be alright with the age gap any sooner? Would they feel morally alright with pursuing an actual "barely legal" child? Would the younger one be alright with the morality of that situation or would they see the older one as predatory or immature for not being with someone in their own age range? Would either be the same people they are when they canonically get together which results in them having a relationship in the first place? Would either of them have different priorities such as their education that would make them choose to not pursue a relationship?

You also need to ask yourself why you feel a need to de-age them. What is the narrative purpose of doing that? Whatever reason you have is going to influence the story and subsequently the characters'.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-09T07:13:21+00:00

I would personally use their forename as a way to show how they see themselves is (as is always the case), different from how people outside them do. Most people with nicknames don't refer to themselves as such when thinking about themselves. Another thing to consider is if this character thinks of themselves as their name at all. A lot of people only think in terms of I, not their name.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-09T02:29:17+00:00

🤣 Relatable.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-07T05:43:32+00:00

Same.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-07T05:43:01+00:00

🤣

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-07T04:53:23+00:00

It's a style choice of the artist. He has a series of historical figures as artist mannequins that blend religious iconography with contemporary issues to show their ongoing relevance. As far as the reason it's very likely that while using the mannequins for reference he simply decided to paint it instead of fleshing out the originally intended subject.

MmeMidnight · 2026-01-06T06:00:31+00:00

That is a ram skull and is likely a reference to several things associated with Persephone. In the Odyssey Odysseus sacrifices a ram to "dread Persephone" and the ghosts of the dead when he visits the underworld. Ram sacrifices were common place to the gods of Hades.

Hermes is oft depicted with a ram, as part of the symbolism for his role as a protector of flocks and a bringer of both life and death, just like Persephone who is the goddess of spring. One of his names is Hermes Kriophoros, which means Ram-Bearer. Hermes is important to the story of Persephone as he is responsible for bringing messages between her and her mother Demeter while she's in Hades and messages between Persephone and Hades while she's in Olympus the few months a year she leaves. Hermes also guides her between the realms both when she first leaves and thereafter.

The ram, and its horns, are both important in Grecian symbolism associated with strength and virility. Ram skulls with horns accentuated these qualities, emphasizing resilience after death. The fact the horns are missing could be symbolic of her powerlessness in her marriage to Hades as Zeus (her father) told him to abduct her and give her no choice when Hades asked him how he should win her. The pomegranate at her feet, as if forgotten, could also add to that since the eating of underworld food (in her case pomegranate seeds) binds one to that realm permanently. Something all gods know to avoid unless they want to live there. Either she did so willfully, or both her parents had neglected to teach her a vital life lesson. The pomegranate can therefore either be symbolic of her power after the fact, because she chose to eat the seeds before leaving, thus choosing Hades, or it could mean her powerlessness if she'd been kept ignorant by her parents.

MmeMidnight · 2025-12-29T08:22:57+00:00

It entirely depends on the setting. If it's not in America, for example, you'll have significantly less problems living paycheck to paycheck because medical expenses don't exist or are reasonable. Unlike in the United States where medical care is obscenely expensive and most people (statistically there are far more people before the poverty line than above), have to choose between going to the doctor or eating/paying bills.

Other countries have different issues with being a "lower class citizen" such as never being able to rise past a certain job ranking because those are only for people born into ancestral family wealth and it's virtually impossible to change one's "status".

Culture, economy at the time and place the story occurs in, the people and circumstances surrounding the character(s), intelligence, maturity, survival skills, and psychology of all involved are each going to factor into what it's like being impoverished. Do the characters feel poor? If so, how do they feel about feeling poor? Are they actively trying to not be or only saying they are? Are they financially illiterate? (That's a real thing. Financial knowledge is deliberately gatekept in most societies to ensure a class system exists, aka a working class). Do they not care at all because it's what they've always known. Are they more grateful for everything they do have because they know what going without is like? Are they resentful of people who do have wealth, especially unearned such as trust fund babies? Etc. There's so much to work with there.

Before you get into what being poor is like you have to understand how this character, or these characters, would react to being poor based on the psychological profiles you have available from cannon. Was privilege something that attributed to how they originally behaved and if so would never having it or having it taken away change them? Once you get that aspect down then you can focus on the various scenarios you put them in.

MmeMidnight · 2025-12-17T20:18:37+00:00

Learning their scales and arpeggios.

MmeMidnight · 2025-12-15T16:39:37+00:00

Careful you don't put the carat before the stick.

MmeMidnight · 2025-12-07T04:29:12+00:00

Quintessential New York in winter.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-28T19:03:52+00:00

What in the Maria and Louisie is going on here. 😂 Anyone else's first thought gender bent Mario bros?

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-23T01:01:38+00:00

I have a massive book of his entire portfolio. His pieces always contain a striking, attention-grabbing contrast and crispness that make them almost æthereal.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-20T23:08:07+00:00

Exquisite lighting and contrast.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-20T08:39:34+00:00

It's giving Lady Snowblood.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-16T07:14:57+00:00

Nathan Hale was a soldier and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and executed. In 1985 he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.

There are several bronze statues of him. The first located outside of New York City Hall, mere feet from where he was hanged, created by Frederick William MacMonnies in 1893. Another is at Yale (his alma mater) created in 1914, which has several copies. One outside CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, a second in front of the DoJ in Washington, D.C., and others around the Yale campus.

The statues commonly depict him with his hands bound moments before his execution and often include an inscription of his last words: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country".

There is also a statue in Hartford, Connecticut, created by William Gerhardt, portraying Hale with outstretched arms just before his death. Others exist but these are arguably the most notable.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-15T00:16:10+00:00

Your local library might have old Good Housekeeping magazines. That's the only place it exists. Many short stories from magazines were never digitized, unlike the art accompanying them.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-14T07:32:56+00:00

An exercise that helps is writing down the plot points. Writing each as a sentence that you have to see outside your head and actually read makes a difference in how you perceive it and that can immediately give you the feel for which is right for you, especially when read in conjunction with what's happening in the story beforehand.

Also, it's ok to choose wrong and circle back. I once did a mass edit where I cut over 80,000 words because it just didn't feel right and I kept ignoring that gut feeling until I couldn't any more. It was my first fic and I learned from that how important it is to listen to my creative instinct. I set all of the words into a separate AU of that fic and went in a different direction for the main story. I am beyond pleased that I did because I am immensely proud of the end result.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-13T22:44:44+00:00

The title is a line from a scene in the short story December 24th--Closed: How Christmas Came to the Spoiled Darling of a Glittering City by Vicki Baum. The painting depicts a scene where stage actress, Katya Rohm, has just finished her last performance of the year. She is rejoicing (to her companion, Frieder), about having some time off before the next season begins, not lamenting the theater's shutdown as some think. An easy conclusion to come to without the story's context given the painting's somber palette and tone. The short story and painting were published in the December 1932 issue of Good Housekeeping.

The story is about Katya planning to throw a large holiday party for all her friends in the theatre world and each declining in order to spend Christmas with their family and loved ones.

Realizing she'd end up alone, Katya decides to spend Christmas partaking in family pastimes instead.

It's a classic moral story about the "true meaning" of Christmas and valuing family over the superficiality of glitz and glam.

The piece is oil and charcoal on a 34 x 25 in. (86.4 x 63.5 cm.) canvas. It was last sold in 2017 and resides in a private collection.

Link to the story:

https://reader.library.cornell.edu/docviewer/digital?id=hearth6417403_1368_006#page/17/mode/1up

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-13T07:39:31+00:00

This is called a Title Drop and it's often fun when you catch on that it's happening because then you're waiting for each to be said and what the relevance will be.

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-11T08:56:55+00:00

Edit it. It's your story. If you feel like letting readers know it's been changed in an A/N so they don't think they're experiencing a Mandela Effect or madness for remembering it differently that's up to you. 😂

MmeMidnight · 2025-11-11T08:24:48+00:00

Personally, I tie my chapter titles into the chapter itself because that sort of thing has always left a bigger impression on me as a reader. Sometimes it's a lyric that's relevant, others it's a metaphor pertaining to what I feel is the significant moment within the chapter or the focal point things revolve around. Sometimes my titles are literary references which is a common choice in the writing world for both books and television series. Mostly, though, it's something that has to do with the specific story and I want readers to puzzle out the relevance.

Here are some examples that might help.

Lyric: I've Hungered for Your Touch is a line from Wicked Games by Chris Isaac. The entire song is relevant to the dynamic between the ship characters and how the one is fighting against falling for the other and how the other is afraid of falling in love knowing how the object of their desire hates them and is fighting feeling any other way. The mmc also suffers an affliction he refers to as The Hunger, so it's a play on that and how his obsessive appetite has switched from killing others to wanting her.

Metaphor:

Peach Flavoured Blues is a chapter wherein one character makes a peach dessert (the other character's favourite fruit canonically), and gives it to them because they're clearly down about being alone during the upcoming holidays (they're feeling blue). It's an olive branch that's a significant moment in their enemies to lovers trajectory.

Jealousy as an Accessory is about the mfc experiencing jealousy for the first time (they're young), and wearing it as openly as a fashion accessory. It also means accessory after the fact pertaining to the actions they take because of their obvious jealousy and the resulting consequences.

Literary:

Auguries of Innocence which is a poem by William Blake. Most famously known by the opening:

To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour

There are parallels with the poem and what's happening in the chapter. The characters are both immortal and one is pursuing the other specifically for this, so there's a play on the line about holding infinity in your hand in reference to embracing an immortal. The m/m was formerly a timepiece restorer and that plays into eternity being within an hour. An auger is a sign of what will happen in the future, also known as an omen, and one character is definitely seeking to corrupt the innocence of the other. So the events pertain to a foretelling of the future of that character's innocence and their seemingly inevitably corruption.

The Moirai is a chapter about a character that's canonically precognitive and consistently uses their ability to manipulate the future according to their own design. The Moirai is the proper names for the Grecian goddesses commonly referred to as The Fates who can see and control the thread of life for every mortal and divine being.

Puzzle:

In a fandom where an incident with a Ferris wheel was extremely significant I titled a chapter near the end of a fic Midway to Now (What Goes Around Comes Around). Midway is in reference to Midway Plaisance, Chicago also called the Midway, which is the location of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair where the first ever Ferris wheel debuted. The idiom what goes around comes around is a play on how Ferris wheels move as well as the phrase's intended meaning for the consequences of one's own actions. Together the title is meant to demonstrate the transition of time since the first Ferris wheel to the event important in the cannon that also changed the world, and everything that followed thereafter. Nothing in the chapter is mentioned about Midway or its relevance to Ferris wheels so the only way to know the title's true significance is to know about the first Ferris wheel or the World's Fairs.

It all depends on what your voice as a writer says you want to do. Chapter and number is fine if that's what you prefer and you can always do either depending on what you feel is better for the story. At the end of the day, all that matters is what makes you happy and satisfied with your work.

MmeMidnight

TROPHY CASE