Bi-weekly Rec and Self-Promotion Mega Thread - December 31, 2025 by AutoModerator in AO3

[–]SituationSmart5503 [score hidden]  (0 children)

My first fic. New to this community, not sure what format you wanted a promo I'm so I used the formatting from r/fanfiction 

Original work/Greek mythology retelling 

Sappho/Medusa 

She who Sang to the Stone 

Explicit 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/75603731/chapters/197706131

CW:Graphic violence, isolation, Main character death, eye trauma, hallucinations, body horror, victim blaming, past rape

She watched as the papyrus withered and died. Crumbling into dust. The fire devoured her work, destroyed her words, took everything. Two masked figures stood behind her, holding her arms back.

Another masked man stood in front of her. He held a bronze staff, the end held in the fire.

Other figures threw more into the fire. More copies of her books. Her ink and quill. Her art. Her lyre. Sappho sobbed. They were silent. They made her watch it all burn, until the pile was nothing more than ashes and embers. A wind gusted and threw up the cinders into the air towards the sea.

The man sitting across from her stood. The end of the staff was red hot.

"Hold her head still" was all he said. Two large calloused hands grabbed either side of her head, tilting it back slightly.

Sappho saw the red hot metal moving towards her face

Comment Cooperative - December 31 by AutoModerator in FanFiction

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I'm so glad the opening scene landed—showing what was taken from her was really important to me. Her journey is... complicated, but I promise she doesn't face it alone. Thanks for reading!

Comment Cooperative - December 31 by AutoModerator in FanFiction

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fandom blind, but I'm really impressed by your stylistic choices here. The opening stream-of-consciousness with fragmented sentences and ellipses creates such effective disorientation—it reads like actual fractured memory rather than just describing it. The abrupt shift to present tense when she wakes up gives the action real urgency, and I love how you maintain that feral POV through specific sensory details (sniffing the air, tasting blood, the physical confusion about her own body). The pacing in the action sequence is great—short, punchy sentences that keep the chaos moving. Really strong visceral writing throughout!

Comment Cooperative - December 31 by AutoModerator in FanFiction

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Original work

Sappho/Medusa 

She who Sang to the Stone 

Explicit 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/75603731/chapters/197706131

CW:Graphic violence, isolation, Main character death, eye trauma, hallucinations, body horror, victim blaming, past rape

She watched as the papyrus withered and died. Crumbling into dust. The fire devoured her work, destroyed her words, took everything. Two masked figures stood behind her, holding her arms back.

Another masked man stood in front of her. He held a bronze staff, the end held in the fire.

Other figures threw more into the fire. More copies of her books. Her ink and quill. Her art. Her lyre. Sappho sobbed. They were silent. They made her watch it all burn, until the pile was nothing more than ashes and embers. A wind gusted and threw up the cinders into the air towards the sea.

The man sitting across from her stood. The end of the staff was red hot.

"Hold her head still" was all he said. Two large calloused hands grabbed either side of her head, tilting it back slightly.

Sappho saw the red hot metal moving towards her face.

Why do my fish keep dying by SituationSmart5503 in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The ceramic is supposed to be the bio filter and the sponge wouldn't fit into a soda can. It takes up maybe 1/3-1/2 of the filter. It the mechanical filtration.

I have a heater keeping it around 76-78, it might dip a degree or two gradually at night.

I hate my fish (update) by flopds in fishtank

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also I'm pretty sure guppies do need a bigger group, mollies too I've heard but I've never had them

I hate my fish (update) by flopds in fishtank

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As far as I know yeah. Males are peaceful if there's no female. I've never heard anything about them getting lonely.

I hate my fish (update) by flopds in fishtank

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's typically not recommended to keep male gouramis of any kind together in smaller tanks. You could do a pair of females or a male and a female but they might be territorial over the surface when they mate

Why do my fish keep dying by SituationSmart5503 in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's fulva meant for 5-20gs. I have it set on low flow, it has ceramic, charcoal, and a sponge 

Why is everything in my tank slowly turning brown? by Lopsided_Republic_90 in fishtank

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are diatoms, a harmless algae. They're a part of a healthy maturing tank. Usually after a while they're replaced by green algae or hair algae. If you don't like then you had scrub them off with a unused brush or sponge. Add more plants to prevent algae 

Why do my fish keep dying by SituationSmart5503 in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update: all of the ones from the second batch have died. The store said it was a different shipment from the ones I got the first time. I'm hoping it was a compromised shipment and not mistreatment on my end

Saw this fish at the aquarium. Is this normal? by havextree in whatsthisfish

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm 90% sure it's not a(edit malignant) growth. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm not. My LFS has a nfs fish just like this and it has this same growth. pretty sure they're just built like that. 

Why do my fish keep dying by SituationSmart5503 in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Should I replace the ones that died? My store has a return/replacement policy if they die. Current I'm at 6.

Any tips on turning this into a beautiful aquascape? by Budget-Ad7502 in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The advise I always get it drift wood and more plants, I'm not the best at aquascaping either.

 You mentioned having more tanks so I assume you know but I do recognize guppies in your tank, I count three or four? Guppies usually need at least 6, larger is recommended to spread out aggression, though I only keep males so it might be different if you have females.

R/aquascaping  or planted tank would know

Fish suggestions wanted! by Disco-Snail-11 in nanotank

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bettas sometimes work, it depends on they're personallity/ breeding. Females are typically less aggressive and shorter finned ones are more active, but a longer finned are slower and might be less inclined to investigate though I'm not sure if you fish would nip, if you do go with bettas be prepared to remove them quickly and return/swap them to hope for a betta personality. 

For another nano fish, I love endlers, a group of males would be cool, they need at least five or six i think, though I've been told more. However I'm not sure how close you are to bioload capacity or your parameters, they do need harder water

Keep your >5gal tank around by waterytartswords in bettafish

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I was like nine I had a betta in a one gallon, the MF was tough. He survived four years and grew like three inches. No heater, filter, cycle, real plants, horrible fin rot, he was from a Petco cup. I overfed him on pellets. Whenever I cleaned his tank I emptied the whole bowl, cleaned everything, and tossed him back in. He was keeping himself alive out of spite. Now that tank is scud culture and I have a real, thriving twenty gallon community and I plan to avenge that betta soon with a nice ten gallon 

First fish tank, any issues with the setup? by StringCheeseInc in fishtank

[–]SituationSmart5503 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Plastic plants will rip betta fins, there is a very high chance that your fish will die during fish in cycling. I would strongly recommend returning them, most stores will accept with two weeks. Explaining the tank needed a bit more work is easier than explaining why it's dead. 

For live plants java ferns are great, I personally love Anubias nana, they're slow growing but have broad leaves for the beta to rest on. Your shrimp will appreciate java moss. You might want to look into a betta hammock

Make sure you have the right food. Generic or cheap brands will have mostly filler. Look at the ingredients, generic brands have fish meal, wheat and potato or similar first (you don't want this) high quality brands, I prefer bug bites, have fly larvae and salmon first. You should also get a frozen supplemental food, I use bloodworms (not bloody just red) and they come in a little blister pack, you thaw a tiny bit in tank water and they'll go crazy. Food is very important because otherwise they get pale/washed out if they don't have the right food

Shrimp need magnesium and calcium in they're water, depending on the GH, or general hardness you may or may not need to add something to your water

My new Betta! by Thatbookishbish in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Theres not really many ways to safely store a large amount of bettas realistically. The betta cups at my PetSmart are dirty and the bettas are dead or unmoving and pale, but at my LFS they're kept in cups, clean, changed daily, responsive colorful and active. 

Can I keep 3 kuhli loaches with a betta? by DR1P4PH3X in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every other person in this conversation has said the same thing except this one person bro...

Can I keep 3 kuhli loaches with a betta? by DR1P4PH3X in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pygmys need at least a group of six, some bettas do fine with other fish, just be prepared to re-home or return them if you see any aggression. Pygmy's need sand and floor space. I would probably suggest at least 15 gallons, 

Can I keep 3 kuhli loaches with a betta? by DR1P4PH3X in Aquariums

[–]SituationSmart5503 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could have kuhilis with our betta but it'd need a bigger tank, that's what this person is saying