#tmrss21

Major Arcana - Lena, @nachoupala

i am 100% sure of this.

thominewt

lena likes merlin

slow burn

long, chaptered fic

newt has long hair

sitting on a bed + leaning against each other

hands in hair

generally intimacy between friends described in a way that makes you go hnghhhh and feel soft inside til you're just a puddle of happy yearn-y pin-y feelings

everyone going 'hmm i sure love 2 people wish there was a sOLuTioN for this' until lena hits them over the head with polyamory

newt's monologue on how love isn't exclusive to one person is very Lena

i mean y'know just generally the polyamory and friendship feels ygm

epilogue

and this is maybe random but: epilogue that takes place at a vantage point where there is not only a plot-overview, but it takes place at a physically 'higher' situated place where they can see over the city (in broken promises) or the surrounding city and countryside (major arcana)

this is all based on 'broken promises and how to fix them'. marvelous fic.

Body Pillow - Momo, @thominho-incorrectquotes

again, this is a 100% sure guess.

the book scene 'if i don't see you on the other side' is mentioned

momo loves bookverse

momo loves that scene

hc for that scene is that minho was serious when saying he loved thomas, and really hurt when thomas laughed it off

thominho being best friends, and them being the most important people to each other is really important to momo

cuddling and sleeping in the same bed

minho characterization is just Momo.

misunderstandings, build-up, dramatic moment (in flower fic is was minho nearly dying of that disease, here it's thomas' breakdown), love confessions

they've always loved each other

both thought the other didn't love them

i repeat: beautiful love confessions

ending that makes you feel Peaceful, like big time, and you know thominho are always going to be together

generally, if you liked this fic i highly recommend momo's thominho flower-disease fic.

draw me a heart in the snow (because my love is a blizzard) - Dee, @graeae

this i am less sure on, mostly because there's not that much of dee's writing i have been able to read. (some of their fic explores themes which are too heavy for me) also if you wrote a newtmas fic dee, i probably haven't even laid eyes on it yet i'm sorry.

but. i have read that nalby ficlet, and. yeah. here's what i've got:

the main thing is that this fic made me *puppy eyes* all over, and that's what nalby ficlet did to me.

nalby. need i say more. hilarious and amazing charcterization, newt's a little shit and alby's all Grown Up. they make an amazing couple

introversion/social anxiety. well described, and it goes away when minho feels comfortable

what i didn't know where to place were mentions of prague (don't know if dee's got any feelings on prague), and that thomas uses a french word for humor. i think dee knows a little french, but was under the impression that portuguese is the main foreign language they know?

"formal clue" (from the notes):

dee is relatively 'new' to thominho, and the notes, of this fic bringing them closer to thominho, makes sense under that aspect.

if you liked this fic, you'll like dee's nalby thunderstorm ficlet bindweed and clover

to hell with you - Clod, @un-ah / @manako-no-yami

this i will say i am... fuck it. i was gonna say 99% sure, but i'll give this one a 100% as well.

no one whumps gally like clod does

beautiful thomally characterization. this had me thinking of crest (@crestfallercanyon ) in the beginning, but that adds up bc clod and crest talk similarly about thomally. lot of beautiful tumblr posts out there to prove that

a Bad Guy that turns out not to be as clear black and white bad

humand are Complicated and their relationships hurt

this leads me on a tangent. as i said i at first thought this could be crest's piece as well. apart from the fact that my gift was uploaded later and i'm, again, 100% sure that it's crest who wrote it, this made me think of the differences in clod and crest's writing.

in crest's writing, bad stuff happens, but it always gets *better* with human connections.

in clod's writing, it's the human connections that hurt. not to go all pretentious but what clod does reminds me too much of it to not mention it: the french play 'huis clos' (engl. 'no exit') by sartre.

in that play, 3 people are locked inside a room and told that they're in hell. at first, they're not sure how this can actually be hell, but as time goes on and they tell their story, it becomes apparent that they're trapped with each other because each of them needs something from another person present (love, approval, forgiveness), while another one needs something from them that they're not willing/inclined to give. and that makes the play end with those famous words (i *think* it's the ending lol, maybe it's just a quote but whatever):

l'enfer, c'est les autres

[engl. 'hell is other people']

and yeah, i think that's what happens in clod's writing and what she manages to do over and over. okay sidetrack over, let's go back to the List.

thomas' attraction to gally is open and borders on pathetic which we love to see hmmmmm

an ending that's not a happy ending (this is actually quite cheery if you know the rest of clod's writing alskdjflas)

no one makes me cry and hurt over fic like clod does.

and no one does that in a way that leaves me begging for more, and where i'd let her do it again in an instant

so yeah. it's clod. hi bb <3

so like, stop me if you've heard this one... (Three Cryptids Walk into a Bar) - Snick, @persnickett

this one i'm less sure on. there's 2 main reasons for that:

i haven't read all newtmas fics

there's a lot of people who write newtmas, and i am familiar with almost none of them. unlike with authors for eg thomally and thominho.

so this was a harder one to guess, and if i'm wrong, this will just be a list of things that i like about snick's writing that showed up in someone else's writing.

writing:

brackets. FUNNY brackets.

mention of newt being cold in like the first few paragraphs, when it's the think gel and snick bonded over (consult Hot n’ Cold (or: Sweaters) [headcanon] on that)

newtmas have a major PDA problem (consult airport fic on this)

the word PDA. i know other people use it, but snick uses it, too, and i know that bc i had to look it up when she first used it lmao

generally the newtmas feels very Her. nuzzling into each other like there's no tomorrow (get yourself some snick newtmas nuzzling in catfic )

frequent mention of kink lololo

minho characterization. very Her.

gally characterization. very Her.

used words i had to look up. from the authors i read, that only ever happens to me in snickfic.

generally: language. rolls off your tongue and guides you through the story lightly and like a rolling boat, if that makes sense.

puns. loads of other people picked that out, too, but again snick's the only one who thinks puns are funny i've seen use puns in writing (consult: coffeeshop fic)

long 1 chapter fic

i wanted to keep reading

sweet scene breaks, i see that being her

gally‘s eyebrows even made it into a tag for snick‘s 2019 minally fic so their ample description in this fic could check out

the pining/describing minho‘s attraction to gally and all the little things he notices and how gally feels like *home* and feels *safe* are also super beautiful in both that 2019 fic and this one. so beautiful. minho and gally. my heart. 🖤 (gally's stormy eyes make an appearance in both fics i think?)

bc this was a harder guess, i'm going to include 'formal hints' in this one.

the title, 1) funny, 2) long, 3) brackets

the notes, happy cryptid-mas lmao

2nd time snick wrote a gift for gel, first time around there was a long personal message, this time she tried to keep it short and not let on how well she knows her wife.

formal thing: i first thought 'raise the black' could be snick, then scrolled through rachel's writing bc some people guesses it was hers, and it turns out rachel places periods outside of brackets also when they're full sentences, like so:

(words words words).

while snick does it

(words words words.)

cryptid fic does it the snick-way.

the notes, 'For the maze runner secret santa (tmrss21)', snick has used a variation of that each year. ('This was written for The Maze Runner Secret Santa 2019 (tmrss19)' in 2019 for example)

tags: i know no one else who posts fics with as little tags as snick does. these 2 tags, just specifying the universe.

the drawings of chrismtas soniet and tha gladers around the campfire - Juliette, @ohbluesky

i loved her piece on vulnerability for thominho week (admire it here), and instantly knew this was her. i'm not good at art so i can't say more on that, i just Knew. and just as thominho week art, these drawing made me feel super Soft inside, especially the soniet one, it's just so beautiful!

these truths unbound and ripe for burning - Crest, @crestfallercanyon

100% sure guess.

the campfire. the drinking. the friendships.

gally's brew.

generally, i caught major vibes of crest's first ever (Beautiful!) maze runner fic

safe haven (crest has 3 safe haven thomally fics and so is very comfortable writing them, and i daresay she likes the setting.) (to build a home is one of them)

bookverse. this is a bookverse fic, and crest loves bookverse. she read the books growing up, and they've felt like home to her in way that's unique to this day. she also knows those books intimately and by heart, so she feels very comfortable writing in their setting.

Minho Is A Good Friend

apelsin references. crest knows apelsin, crest loves apelsin, crest has written a fucking continuation of apelsin. additionally i think crest knows i love apelsin.

minho/sonya reference!!! (other people could know that, too, but crest definitely knows of it and she'd be thoughtful enough to include it <3)

has some vibes of sha's ( @hoesaekyoongi ) writing as well, and i know crest has read that (it's great, read it here)

the attraction

the beautiful characterizations

the words. the fucking WORDS. crest takes words and makes things with them i don't even know how to say it.

gally. he's holding back, he's There, he's so much, he's guarded but ready to be loved.

thomas. he's careful, he knows his flaws, he likes gally a lot, even if it takes him some time to realize it.

thomas' and gally's past isn't just pushed aside. thomas forgives gally, there's a sense for the things they've done, the guilt, and the way they cope with it is just so palpable, so Real.

generally, the Thomally! they're maybe even 'reluctant' at first, there's a lot of potential for misunderstandings, and there's rough edges, and it all takes Time. the time spent besides each other, the slow understanding that creeps in. the appreciation.

the way they both come to appreciate each other's company, the way that the other fills a... Place inside of them in a way that no one else quite can

i know this isn't supposed to be a liferead, but that kiss. that kiss man. it killed me. a lot like he goes down easy for me which i love to death. this is how crest writes attraction, physical contact up until s*x. it's SO fucking real, the emotions are just There, and you want to sink into this moment and never reappear again.

i'll end this by saying this fic made me feel the way crest's writing makes me feel. it makes me feel peaceful, it makes me feel whole, it makes me feel happy in a way i didnt' know i could feel.

if you liked this fic, you'll love: he goes down easy for me and those heavy hands aren't sure

Knocking on Your Heart, Could You Let Me in? - Fabs, @go-catch-a-chickn

this guess has the same problems as snicks guess:

i haven't read all newtmas fics

there's a lot of people who write newtmas, and i am familiar with almost none of them. unlike with authors for eg thomally and thominho.

it would be insane luck if i'd spotted both of my newtmas friends' fics, so i'm totally aware i could be wrong here. let me list the reasons why i think it's fabs anyway.

hair porn. need i say more.

pining. fabs likes them to pine. it's what she thrives on, i'm telling you.

fabs likes stargazing and dates

formal clue:

german quotation marks. i didn't see them in other fics, but they could have snuck in all the same. i know my word sometimes changes from english to german quotation marks randomly.

we were together, I forget the rest - Saph, @onceuponabluemoon

this one is mostly based on ~vibes~ to be honest. same as with dee, i haven't been able to read all of saph's writing because of some of the heavy topics. the one's i've read though i loved, you know that. (that scallison ficlet hmmmmm <3)

strong on environmental descriptions. i loved saph's piece on the greek village in summer that demonstrrates this perfectly, read it here)

dark, but also Good

formal:

end notes explain and give reference to the title, just like the end notes of solid ground say which songs were used.

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