The Newest Family Member

[MoiraShears]

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43878321

So this is my most popular fic on AO3, and well, it does have quite the story behind it. Who I am today can be traced back to this fic in fact.

So the story behind this fic is that a Discord server I’m in was hosting a Secret Santa in which we would create something (fanfic, artwork, edit, ect.) for another Cloti based on one of three prompts. I decided to participate and write a fic for someone, thinking it would be something fun. Little did I know what I was really in for.

So I sent in my three prompts, and soon after received the name (and the prompts) of the person I would be writing for. My recipient was Hyoukane, whom I am sure many of you know. If you don’t, she’s an artist who draws Cloti in a shoujo-anime style artstyle, and her art is adorable. At this point, I’d seen her art on my timeline a few times.

So at first, I looked at the three prompts I’d been given, and at first, it was really hard to decide. Eventually however, I visited Hyoukane’s Twitter account and found out that she’s Ukrainian. This was late 2022, and well of course, I knew there was a war there, and that Russia was shelling cities and killing civilians. I saw it on the news a lot. Ukraine’s message at Eurovision that year “Please help Ukraine!” echoed in my head. I had decided what I was going to write.

I chose the pregnancy prompt because I wanted to write a happy story for her, something that could act as an escape from the world for her. So I did just that and it took me just a couple of days. After editing it, I submitted it.

Boxing day came around and when I woke up, I found a message from Hyou on Discord. She thanked me for the story, telling me it was the best Christmas present anyone had ever gotten for her and that it really meant a lot to her during such a rough time. What was even more amazing was that she had gotten me, and had drawn me a beautiful Cloti family artwork.

Not long after, she sent me a friend request (which I accepted) and thus began a beautiful friendship. We’ve become quite close over time. Because of the friendship, I started to keep a close eye on the situation in Ukraine out of concern for her safety, and have even been learning the language.

So that’s basically the story behind this fic. I love Hyou to pieces, and hope that Ukraine can defeat Russia so that there can be a just and lasting peace. She’s basically Tifa IRL – kind, strong, brave, and resilient, and even if I do worry for her safety a lot, I have no regrets becoming friends with her.

My message is that no matter how far apart you may be, online friends are real friends. Without the internet, there are so many people you most likely never would have otherwise met, especially with fandoms, because you live in different countries. Remember that.

[Zayana973]

It’s a wonderful message, full of hope and love.