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wixenforever · 4 months ago

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^^ Me yesterday putting these all in queue and listening through all these songs.

Coyote Theory's "This Side of Paradise."

This lyric specifically:

So if you're lonely, no need to show me; If you're lonely, come be lonely with me.

You are so spot on it's almost uncanny. It really does fit for all the nice little scenes I have planned at Hogwarts. Scenes of Harry forcing Theo to stop obsessively working on....something (can't say what, it hasn't been revealed yet!); them meeting way up in the Astronomy Tower to listen to Harry's CD player and just not talk, or sometimes talk about anything and everything, things that aren't even that important; times when they're both frustrated, angry, sad, grieving, and just come together to share the silence together...

I have this great - IDK what you would call it...a "cornerstone" moment of the fic where Theo is a massive comfort to Harry. And I think this song fits so well as Theo -> Harry in that moment.

Anson Seabra's "Welcome to Wonderland"

I cry. I love sad slow songs like this. I think thematically this really fits well with an essential tension with Theo's character that hasn't been fully introduced yet: his fear of precious things ending (huge part of the next chapter). It's been mentioned before that his mother specifically taught him that "the dead must go on" and that translates to a larger message she tried to teach him, which is that nothing lasts forever, and that's okay.

So I imagine Theo sort of playing this song in his head and embracing it, trying to keep special moments or precious places safe so they can last as long as possible so other people can experience "Wonderland" like he has. I love your vision of him showing Harry the Library. If only Harry could transport into his head and see it all through his eyes, ACK!!

Jacob Lee's "Chariot"

PERFECT FOR THE THUS UNPUBLISHED FIC (which I definitely totally started today and am now calling 'Traveler's Rest')

I love this so much. The energy, the slow build up from contemplative to a little bit more energetic, and the underlying passion and conviction of loving someone so completely you just drop everything and plan to love them all your life (because that's the greatest gift of all!!!!!) UGH. LOVE.

I Prevail's "Hurricane"

LMAO okay meta note, I was so surprised after all your song recs to get this one. It's just way more hard rock and took me back to my screamo emo days, it was a fun surprise for me.

This song is EXTREMELY Harry-coded, especially this part:

Tell me I was never worth the time (I reach out but it's pulling me under) Or just blame it on the person you think I left behind

To me this is him with the Dursleys. I have thought about the Dursleys so much over the years (more than is healthy) because, canonically, like....they kept him in a cupboard, didn't buy him his own clothes, got him donation bin glasses, barely fed him, and yet Harry is undoubtedly full of life, scrappy, and so self-assured.

I mean, when you think of nature vs. nurture, it's easy to say "Well, that's just who he is" but the kid was ELEVEN. Like, his sense of self at eleven is just so....strong, despite not knowing the truth about who he is.

I can't help but believe that, maybe....MAYBE....between bouts of accidental magic, Harry was somewhat accepted by the Dursleys before his Hogwarts letter. Not loved, not truly accepted, but they probably had some weird symbiosis where Harry performs all the unfair tasks they assign him (don't get better grades than Dudley, does all his chores, doesn't talk back) and in return he gets some kind of....approval? I dare not say affection. But enough approval to give him SOMETHING to yearn for from them.

IDK I just think, even though it's blatantly an abusive situation, canonically there had to have been some kind of base-level relationship that was upended by the Hogwarts letter, otherwise Harry would be way more fucked up than he is (case in point, any fanfic where Harry's trauma is like, more realistic if we take everything we "know" about how he was treated, but remove ANY positivity in the house at all).

Anyway, all that to say, I think this song perfectly captures Harry, so so so well. And Sirius and John and Theo will be there to help him remember that he doesn't have to feel like he's "already gone", instead he can be himself with them and just be present and they'll love him the way he is!!! 😭😭😭

OKAY my turn, just one song tho, sorry! I just added this to my playlist the other day because it soooooooooo perfectly fits Blaise and Draco trying to get Theo to open up to them in third year. It will also, eventually, work with either Harry and Theo to the other, but I think the song's vibe reminds me of Blaise the most.

youtube

Sorry I'm on my laptop which does not have spotify downloaded so I linked a youtube music video I've never seen lmao.

Thank you so much for giving so much to think on and be inspired by!!!!!!!!! ❤��❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Hi, hello, @wixenforever I have more music cause my brain is braining, and I'm obsessed with botl if that wasn't already obvious haha.

This Side of Paradise - Coyote Theory

The backing track just sounds like adventures in Hogwarts to me, honestly. Like, just imagine them in a movie style montage; chilling in the Library working on assignments, Harry dragging Theo out onto the Quidditch pitch to watch him practice, or just running around the castle. Maybe Luna drags them both into the Forest for a bit, idk, just fits that vibe tbh.

Then we have the lyrics and idk if I think it's Theo or Harry singing/talking to the other haha. Like, it fits both, I think? The first verse screams Harry to me though, especially with the themes in botl with him realizing that he doesn't have much of a reason to be, and filling that hole.

Welcome to Wonderland - Anson Seabra

So, with this song, it's just another of those soft, kind of idle moments in the story, those breaks in the chaos, and they're (Theo and Harry) just sitting in one of their dorm beds, or in a nook somewhere, maybe it's a time when they just confess once more (because I'm sure something else would play for the confession scene haha), or they're just being soft with each other. Idk, not much to say this one, it's just such good vibes for a soft relationship imo haha.

The vibe is a lot more solemn than what I imagine, but, it brings ideas so here we go haha.

Honestly, while the tone doesn't fit quite well, I see this as Theo showing Harry around the Library once he's able to. When he finally gets the magic right to have his moving Library. Just, the Library having its (their?) Gift and Knight walking around, the shadows moving just so as it glides books and sections around, as they're one to do. Theo, if it's designed similarly as the one in the Tower, pointing out places like the chair and run that his Mother used to be around, and cute things like that. Maybe a re-created little nook they find or make their own in Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Wonderland, I'll be your guide

Holding your hand under sapphire skies,

Let's go exploring, or we could just go for a walk"

idk, it's just nice and cozy (except we ignore the last 4 lines cause that makes it all a dream, and while nice let's not have it only be that haha)

Chariot - Jacob Lee

So this one is honestly only here for two reasons, neither of which really connect with the fic haha. Number 1, is because of the post about Theo's eye color and the fact that I'm obsessed with it lol. And Number 2 is that it's one of my favorites from him, haha.

Hurricane - I Prevail

All I can see when listening to this one is, is Harry talking to the Order, Ron, or someone who's completely bought into the Boy-Who-Lived thing. Like, "Cause I can't be myself when I'm with anyone" just feels so Harry coded in general, but also for this fic specifically, it just hits for me.

Then we have the

"Tell me that I'm lost inside my mind,

Remind me I've been searching,

For something I won't find"

To me screams Theo/Sirius/John/etc trying to get Harry to be himself, find what he wants to fight for, create that thing to fight for and all that, like you'd mentioned in chapter 22. All while you have Albus (probably, along with Moody etc) trying to fit him back into the moldable Boy-Who-Lived shape.

And then, once Harry just starts unapologetically being himself around anyone and everyone, the whole "The storm is coming down" part kinda kicks in haha.

Anyway, that's all I got atm, hope you've had a lovely day haha ♥️♥️♥️

#song headcannons #botl #i love thinking about all the characters through song this is truly my greatest weakness #Youtube

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kitkatt0430-recommends · 3 years ago

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Doctor Who & Torchwood Rec List

Since I headcanon the Doctor as being aspec, I'm kinda picky about ship fics involving him. Pretty much the only romantic ships for the Doctor that actually feel like they work are Doctor/Rose, Doctor/Rose/Jack, and Doctor/Master. (I really wish 13/Yaz had more chemistry since I adore Yaz, but the ship in canon came out of nowhere once Dan decided he was a shipper on board. And it was one-sided in a way that was super uncomfortable to me after how badly Doctor/River was mishandled, but this isn't my blog for talking about meta so I'll leave off on that.)

That said, there is a lot of shipping going on in these recs... they're just mostly not the Doctor. (And, okay, there's a Sarah Jane Adventures fic in here too...)

The Rec List:

The Boy Who Waited by Lunik Gen Fic In the timeline of the Earth without stars, Rory Williams loses the Pandorica - and his memories - and winds up working for SHIELD. It's a fun character study of Rory (who keeps changing his name since he can't remember his real one) and starts off during the events of the first Thor movie. It's got more MCU characters than Doctor Who, but because it's about Rory I think of it first and foremost as a DW fic.

Guardians of the Universe by Lumendea Ship: Doctor/Rose A series rewriting the entirety of the reboot series and its spin offs (well, it hasn't touched on Class yet, that I remember). Rose first meets the Doctor when she's eleven and the whole universe changes. The series is huge and well written, incorporating a lot of lore from the original series and expanded universe (though it's ignoring more recent revelations, such as the Timeless Child). A lot of former companions show up and handless the Time Travelers Wife type situation the Doctor and Rose are in a lot better than canon handled it with the Doctor and River. The series itself unfinished, but is being updated regularly. And there's 17 works in the series already, most of which are completed long fics.

The Mystery of the Hopping Vampire by David Hines (hradzka) Ship: Jenny/Vastra Jenny and Madam Vastra investigate an alien causing trouble in London. There are references to plenty of other adventures that make me wish we'd had a spin off show about these two investigating aliens in Victorian London. (They deserved a spin off show.) Jenny is particularly awesome in this fic and proves to be just as important a part of the investigating team as Vastra.

Stay Strong, Ponds by Starknight Gen Fic A short fic where 13 runs into Rory by accident and can't quite resist leaving him a gift afterwards.

drape me in your warmth by princessoftheworlds Ship: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones In which Jack Harkness never meets the Doctor and Rose, never becomes immortal. When Lisa Hallett dies at Canary Wharf, Ianto moves back to Cardiff and re-establishes Torchwood there. But a certain Time Agent winds up meeting the new head of Torchwood anyway. It isn't exactly a happy ending, though. So do keep that in mind.

Recall by Lumendea Ship: Doctor/Rose Gaia, the Doctor's daughter, has a recall device that takes her to the nearest safe point in the TARDIS when activated. However, it's not always a version of the TARDIS that lines up with her own time line. In which Gaia visits the TARDIS and meets versions of her father that are younger (or older) than the one raising her. The Doctor/Rose ship is largely background to the larger story, which is the Doctor interacting with Gaia and dealing with his curiosity about the circular paradox that is his daughter. It's unfinished, but ongoing, and Gaia's interactions with the Doctor and his Companions are really quite sweet.

Absent Friends by Beleriandings Ship: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones Based off the summary of the un-released Big Finish audioplay by the same name. The Doctor must team up with Jack's Torchwood when Cardiff is endangered by the voices of the dead.

This Is How The Universe Ends by perryvic and shewhoguards Ship: Jack Harkness/Death When the universe comes to an end, Death finds there's still one person left. Whom he can't seem to reap. A largely silly fic in which Death of the Discworld variety makes a new friend and Jack flirt with a talking skeleton over board games.

Doctor Who Season Four and Season Five by Aria Ship: Doctor/Master, Martha Jones/Thomas Milligan The Master doesn't die at the end of New Who series three and travels with the Doctor, ostensibly to keep him out of trouble. Which is not always a successful endeavor. Somewhat angsty and sometimes the Master gets one over on the Doctor, but the push and pull between them is quite interesting.

By Any Other Name by averita Ship: Clyde Langer/Ellie Faber Clyde and Ellie are reunited after the events of The Curse of Clyde Langer.

The Man in the Tower by blackkat Ship: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato A fusion fic using To Ride Pegasus/The Tower and The Hive universe by Anne McCaffrey as it's setting. Prime Talent Ianto Jones is resigned to his fate as a disgraced Talent when the universe rips open and drops Jack Harkness at his feet.

Pocket Watch Boy by Mhalachai Ship: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones When Ianto was a child, he fell from a tree and woke up with a different face. Years later he learns perception filters don't exactly work well on the dead. One of my favorite Timelord!Ianto fics.

Displacement (The Longest Three-Week Day) by michelel72 Ship: Rodney McKay/Donna Noble At another science conference gone wrong, Rodney McKay meets Donna Noble and that's when things get interesting. A fix fic for the state Donna was left in after Journey's End and a very cute crossover ship.

That seems like enough for now, but there are so many Doctor Who & Torchwood fics I've really enjoyed so I'll have to do another rec list for the fandom later.

#type: fic recs #fandom: doctor who

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procrastinatorproject · 3 years ago

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Picard Positivity: Dr Agnes P Jurati

I'm still working on the essay I meant to finish for Agnes's positivity day. I'm closer than I've ever come before, so this might actually happen!

In the meantime, however, I'm going to engage in a little bit of shameless self-promotion.

I loved Agnes from the moment we first saw her on screen. She's an academic, she's a quirky nerd, I really like her sense of humour, and she keeps laughing and finding moments of joy and connection even when she is in the depths of despair. I cannot tell you how much love I have for her, and it only got deeper as the season went on.

Despite her occasional nervousness and awkwardness, Dr Agnes P Jurati is actually incredibly strong, in her own way, and is a character who will Get Shit Done. I feel like that is a side of her that doesn't often get showcased, including by myself, and one of my goals for the next time I have the brainspace for more consistent writing is to give Agnes some stories in which she can really shine. I'm very curious to see what they do with her in season 2, I think there could be some very fascinating developments ahead.

But for now, here are a few of my takes on different aspects of Agnes Jurati, cyberneticist of my heart.

I wrote the majority of this one in one evening, when I was in a really bad place myself, thinking about trauma and dealing with regrets. One of the dynamics I absolutely adore in Picard fanfiction and that always helps me in these situations, is Emil (Sirena's EMH) acting as therapist for people, especially Agnes. Probably my absolute favourite fic in that context is Hisselpenny's Applied Ethics for Theoretical Cyberneticists, which inspired the story above.

Corset of Thorns a bit of a deep dive into Agnes's relationship with Bruce Maddox and her coming to terms with the fact that it was a really bad, no good idea. It's by far the angstiest and probably one of the most... poetic? things I've ever written. Please do take the content warnings seriously.

But even if you're not in the mood for angst, the notes at the end of the fic have a little rec list for Agnes-fic that I cannot praise highly enough, so go check that out if you're looking for something to read today!

I've been in academia for a good portion of my life now, and I like to think about academia in a Star Trek context (hence my wrighting a full-blown in-universe anthropological article that I will one day finish...). At one point last year, it occurred to me that the fact that Agnes more or less states she has never been off world has some interesting implications for her academic career and how academic conferences work in the Star Trek universe.

I come down pretty hard on the canon in this one, but I still like the bits of worldbuilding this fic, which started its life as a tumblr post, includes.

As a final offering, I have another bit of meta, this time about Agnes's relationship with Cris Rios. When a friend asked me if I could explain why I think their relationship works, I ended up writing an essay that I thought other people might enjoy as well, so I decided to share it.

The title is a reference to Your Light on Me, one of @regionalpancake's gorgeous drabbles from her Downtime collection, which explores the same themes I do just much more poetically and succinctly. And after I finished writing, I realized @smhalltheurlsaretaken had written a fic that essentially made the same argument I make here, except in beautiful prose in Love Comes Softly. (Which the multi-talented @thelaithlyworm turned into brilliant Podfic.)

#PicardPositivity #star trek picard #star trek picard fanfiction #agnes jurati #cristobal rios #agnebal #bruce maddox #and a bunch more things #and incredibly talented people!#and now to get back to my meta essay in defence of agnes #i WILL finsih it! even if i don't manage to do it tonight #it WILL be done!#lili's writing adventures #bear with me yeah? ;9

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charcubed · 4 years ago

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i was wondering if you could share some of your favourite wlw/sapphic ships? i really enjoy your queer content in general and so id love to hear some of your takes on sapphic subtext etc :)) hope you’re doing well!

Hello anon! It’s 2AM and I should be asleep but instead I’m going to answer this ask. Partially because I tend to be perpetually behind on messages / asks (shout out to everyone I have yet to answer, I am so sorry), both because I’m often busy and incapable of brevity. I do not want that to happen to you, so here I go!

Thank you for the kind words 🥺 I appreciate you wanting to know my thoughts and enjoying my content!

Here are some wlw/sapphic ships I love!!

• Carol/Maria from Captain Marvel. As far as I am concerned, they are canonically wives. It’s not subtle! I wrote a meta thread about how the themes of the movie are enhanced if you read it as a story about Carol as a gay woman. Also, every time I remember that “Kiss Me Deadly” is the song they sing together in karaoke, I freak the fuck out. I firmly feel like Stevebucky and Carolmaria are the 2 greatest love stories of the MCU movies and it’s astonishing how similar they are, too. I’ll never forgive the Marvel fandom for sidelining Maria in favorite of shipping Carol/Valkyrie because of insidious colorism. I wrote a mini fic about Maria feeling insecure when Carol meets Valkyrie to work out my frustrations about that too!

• Nomi / Amanita from Sense8. (In all ways but physical, Amanita is MY wife, actually.) I feel like they’re one of the coolest, healthiest, and most badass relationships on screen :’) They make me so fucking happy and I will never get over how ride or die they are for each other.

• Andy / Quynh from The Old Guard. I am crossing ALL of my fingers that they expand on them in the sequel, because I felt there was very strong subtext (that was barely subtext) there, and as far as I know they were together in the comics. Big shout out to Andy wearing Quynh’s necklace, for example. (I’d need to rewatch the movie to get lost back in the sauce and discuss them more because it’s been awhile)

• I have ships from Black Sails that I enjoy discussing in depth, but those are spoilers! (I tend to only talk Black Sails spoilers on @freedom-in-the-dark or my side twitter gaypiracy)

• This is fairly new, but I am eyeballing Katy / Xialing from Shang-Chi. There was subtext there too, I feel. Katy definitely seemed to have a crush on Xialing, and there was tension in the moment when Xialing saved her. I’m hoping they expand on that dynamic in future movies!

• I never finished this show (even though I meant to), but Cosima / Delphine in Orphan Black were near and dear to my heart a long time ago, so I can’t not mention them. It’s been a very long time since I’ve thought about them but they were a big deal.

• In the “fuck the CW” category: YEARS ago, back when I watched Arrow, Nyssa/Sara was extremely important to me. I adored them, and then of course they killed Sara (and later forced Nyssa to fake marry Oliver). I was also into Lexa/Clarke from The 100 during that era—because who wasn’t, though I didn’t love them as a ship as strongly as many people did—and we all know where that went.

That’s it for main ones, I think. Sorry if that disappoints! I’m especially sorry that I don’t have much meta to offer, unfortunately, simply because most of what I’m mentioning is either explicit canon so it didn’t involve subtext hunting or I watched it before I got super involved in media analysis. I’m planning on watching Killing Eve when it’s complete as long as it sticks the landing, and I know that show is going to eat my brain hahaha. Some of my friends are super into it and have sent me a couple clips here and there and I’ve unintentionally written meta off the cuff and they lose their shit. I’m looking forward to devouring it eventually.

As for ones I’m just sort of casually into... I never finished Legend of Korra (not yet anyway), but I loved and appreciated Korrasami because again, who doesn’t. Similarly, I could get behind Kate Bishop / America Chavez in my Young Avengers days, and Peggy / Angie from Agent Carter. From very far away, I salute the Supergirl fandom, because I know Kara/Lena would make me foam at the mouth if I was at all into watching it and I’m rooting for those crazy kids.

My last humble offerings...

Movie recs:

Portrait of a Lady On Fire (which I know most people have seen by now), though warning that it’s very bittersweet or sad. Please, PLEASE watch Colette if you have not; that movie is very important to me, and it is both sapphic and gender. Likewise, please watch Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, which is based on a true story and involves an m/f/f polyamorous relationship.

Niche fic recs because people deserve to read these:

Sharon/Natasha fic that is vastly underrated and I love it, and Eleven/Max fic from Stranger Things that lives rent free in my brain. (I think Will/Mike is endgame in that show and the parallels between Will and Eleven do make me wonder if they’ll make her gay too.) These are literally the only fics for either of these ships I have ever read. And of course, this genderbent f/f 1950s Johnlock case fic which will kick your ass. You’re welcome in advance.

Thank you again for asking! 💜

#should I queue this for tomorrow? yeah. but fuck it #sapphic ships #femslash #asks #anonymous

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k-s-morgan · 5 years ago

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Hey! just wondering if you had any fic recs for Hannibal especially with a more jealous/ confident Will (i'm not a huge fan of some of top ones as i feel like they write will too nice or timid.) Thanks, i love your metas and find the insights so interesting!

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed my metas! You can find the folder with the fics I liked here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rCAr55t_FIiVaZFKAzEUv6tsgAxjdBeX?usp=sharing. Among them, these are the stories that have confident and/or jealous Will I recall.

Romulus and Remus. Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter, two orphaned and deeply misunderstood children, bond together and become like brothers. It's disastrous.

Odalisque along with Timestamps. This is a super-long twisted series where teen Will works like a rent boy just to murder his clients and older Hannibal hires rent boys to kill them. Their paths cross one day. There is lots of sex, violence, and craziness, and I absolutely love it. Will is a twisted little fucker here.

Bright Hair About The Bone. ABO with sassy and strong Will. There is some jealousy from his side, too.

Fluffy Murder Husbands. It’’s post-canon and I’d say it’s OOC, but I really enjoyed all these stories, and Will is delicious here.

Enough. Will is Hannibal's younger brother. That goes about as well as you would expect. (I don’t remember it all that well in terms of Will, but I’m almost sure he’s jealous and creepy here).

One Way Out Of Many. I don’t remember it perfectly, but I think Will here is confident and decisive. I recall re-reading this story several times - I loved it.

Selcouth. Hannibal is 17, in college under a false age and making ends meet by selling his company to those willing to expend the patience and money. Will Graham doesn't want a rentboy. But what he wants, in buying Hannibal over and over, is something the young man can't quite figure out yet.

#hannibal #hannigram #fic recs

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ahiddenpath · 5 years ago

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5 Works Tag Game

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

So my dear @noctisfishing tagged me for this! Thank you <3

To anyone I tag- you can talk about whatever you want! Headcanons, meta, reviews/reactions to eps, WIPs, upcoming projects, whatever!

(Actually- While I enjoyed the heck out of doing this, I don’t want to pressure anyone, especially since productivity has been so difficult in 2020... So please consider yourself tagged by me if you want to do this!)

I’m gonna throw this beneath the cut, but please read on to see what I’ve made this year!

1.) The Digific Rec List

A list of recommended fics and authors, generated by the Tumblr fandom! And pst- you can add to it any time! Got a fic rec, hit me up! And authors, please remember that you can add a bio for yourself!

I’ve been trying to be more open and involved recently, so... I’m really pleased to have made this resource for everyone to find fics written by members of the community with everyone’s help.

Oh! I also have a Discord Channel! I’m not always that great at being on it, especially since returning physically to work on a weird schedule, but if you leave a message, I will respond when I see it! I am hoping to hold “watch Hidden edit” sessions, or maybe... Play a video game with anyone who wants to hang out?

2.) Tri: Integrity Lens

Sequel to Growing Up with You. It simultaneously continues OC Eimi Anami’s story and spins Tri in a new way. My goal is to take the great stuff that Tri has to offer and alter the storytelling in a way that I find enjoyable, which mostly means adding more investigating/making the Chosen more proactive/adding consequences, especially on the “dangers of being Chosen now that humans know about- and mostly fear- digimon” side of things.

The theme of my retelling is agency and responsibility.

I tend to be all over the place with how I feel about TIL. It’s more plot and movement oriented than most of my work, so sometimes I feel like I’m... not writing the same way I usually do? And maybe that’s bad? But there are parts I love, especially coming soon in Ketsui. And the art and screenshots and photo manips I do for it are! So fun! It’s cool that I’m trying something new by adding media to stories.

3.) Seeking Resonance

A story I started in 2014 and completed in 2020. Like most of my fics, I started it with no real plan, other than to explore my thoughts on longterm compatibility. I ended up with this... meandering, heartfelt, intimate, powerful journey about a bunch of adults struggling to figure out how to build their happiness. Showing you where everyone ended up this year was a true pleasure.

4.) So You Were Alive

So the Kizuna novelization and the 2020 Digimon Adventure reboot hit at roughly the same time, ish? I think? And when Reboot Agumon seemed to know Taichi, I had this thought that- what if that’s OUR Agumon, from the original Digimon Adventure, come to help a new Taichi, now that his adult Taichi can no longer support him as a partner?

It’s a sweet oneshot about the bond between Agumon and Taichi, a bond strong enough to cross worlds and dimensions.

5.) A selection of 2020 blog posts!

-If I could assign Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori crests, what would they be?

-A video tour of my office

-What is a caretaker resentment cycle? (a post about Sora)

-Digimon Reboot 2020 Ep 11 Reaction

-Combating Writing Paralysis with Successive Drafts

#ask hidden #2020 projects

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joannalannister · 6 years ago

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I'm feeling really frustrated with the fandom these days. The final season of the show, which I loathe with the ferocity of a thousand suns, is coming and is everywhere and is going to reveal the ending of the books, which frustrates me. There are shipping wars, which I loathe. The theories have dried up. People seem to be extra entitled about TWOW than usual and the people who make fun of it in a good natured are also frustrating me. I just feel disenchanted. What do I do?

I can only tell you what works for me. Idk if my methods would work for anybody else, and just to clarify, this is not me dictating what anyone else should do, this is just what I do.

1) Block early and block often. I used to just mute people but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As they say in ADWD, winter’s here babe and not all of us are makin’ it to spring.

2) Blacklist like it’s 1947. I have three blacklists running simultaneously. Tumblr’s blacklist as a first line of defense, xKit’s blacklist for a “soft” hide because I also have xkit’s whitelist running, and Tumblr Savior for a hardcore blacklist without a whitelist. Blacklist everything. Politely (politely!!) ask people to tag a Thing for blacklisting if necessary. If that does not work, unfollow. Mute and/or block if necessary. I do not recommend using mobile.

3) Focus on what you love. I’m here to enjoy ASOIAF content. I don’t talk about the characters I don’t like. I don’t hate-read. I don’t write hate meta. Some people define “fandom” as “hating things” and I avoid those people. The people who predominantly hate on things are currently drowning out the people who just want to enjoy things and we gotta turn the tide, we gotta be the change we want to see in the world. (By ASOIAF content, I mean Lannisters.)

So ask yourself what you love about the books. What parts do you love? What’s your favorite passage? Favorite line? Go reread it. Go blog about it. Do it now, as if this were one of those writer memes. Talk about it or just quote it, but you need a reminder of what you love. Go. I’ll wait. We have time.

4) Pace yourself. As you well know, this is a marathon, not a sprint. You gotta take breaks, or you’ll burn yourself out. Read other books and watch other tv shows. (I have recs if you need them!) And for the love of r’hllor, make sure you pick up a tactile hobby that doesn’t involve a screen. When I do other things and I enjoy other media, I come back to ASOIAF refreshed. I have new ideas. I look at certain passages with new eyes. So pace yourself.

5) Brace yourself. This toxic storm is going to get worse before it gets better. I don’t just mean the trashfire that’s coming down the pipe over the next two months. I mean the years between TWOW and ADOS. TWOW is going to be a very dark book, where the Heroes make a lot of morally grey choices and do some terrible things that @ntis will hold up and scream, “see, they were the villain all along!!1!” Expect this with every pov character; batten down the hatches now (see #1 and #2).

6) Sow the seeds of kindness. I cannot change how toxic this fandom has become, but I can tend my small corner of it. I try to say at least one nice thing to someone every time I log on. Send a nice ask, comment on someone’s post, let people know how much you appreciate their hard work. Maybe if enough people did this, everyone together could turn the fandom tide. (Probably unlikely, but it never hurts to hope, or to dream.)

7) Know your exits. Define precisely what will make you hit the eject button. This can be something(s) the fandom does, something GRRM does, something the show does, whatever, but I have my lines drawn in the sand and I know what will make me say, “I’m done.” I have my exit strategy planned, if necessary.

8) Find a long term ASOIAF project. Write that looong fanfiction, draw that complicated thing, do that big analysis, whatever. I have more long term ASOIAF projects than I know what to do with, R’hllor help me, I need help with them.

9) Be steadfast. Listen to me: the books are going to end with the Others defeated. No, I have not read ADOS, but I know this in my heart to be true. GRRM is a dreamer, not a nihilist.

The show is also going to end with the Others defeated. (Permanently? I don’t know. But defeated? Yes.) The Others defeated - that is what I believe the “same ending” means in the books and the show.

Everything else is up for grabs. I have sat in an auditorium with GRRM in 2018 and listened to him say – very forcefully – that characters who die on the show will live in the books, and vice versa.

So when you say, the show “is going to reveal the ending of the books,” I have to disagree with you. I do not think that the endings are going to be entirely the same, aside from the fact that the Others are going to be defeated. I think the showrunners who tout the “same ending” are speaking very broadly, and they don’t care about anything except cool visuals and cold hard cash.

That show could end with Jon and Dany sharing the Iron Throne with their ten children, and until GRRM says otherwise, I will maintain that the Iron Throne is gonna get melted, and that Jon and Dany will die in the books while saving the world.

None of my ASOIAF predictions are changing until I have the books in my hands, or GRRM says something that disproves my theories.

So my advice to you is: Be steadfast. The show is not the books.

The books are an emotional journey. It’s the journey that matters – it’s the range of emotions those words on every page inspire in you – it’s the journey, not the destination.

I don’t know about you, but that tv show inspires no emotion in me. The books, on the other hand, inspire some of my highest highs and lowest lows.

Even if everything else turns out to be the same, without that emotion, that is not the same ending.

10) Theories. I can’t help you with theories, sorry, I hate 90% of ASOIAF theories, but can I interest you in some analysis? I want to talk about bath houses in ASOIAF, Jaime’s loss of faith, Roose and Fahrenheit 451, Jason Lannister, Tywin and remarriage… There’s still lots of things to talk about in ASOIAF. I’m just getting started. Maybe this is just me, but I can entertain myself on the current ASOIAF content for years, I’m mostly self-sufficient here.

11) The show. It’s coming. We all know it’s coming.

But that means it’s almost over. We’re almost there. It’s the final push. Our time of testing is almost over. We’re so close. This isn’t a time for despair; this is a time for rejoicing.

[The peach] was so small she could almost hide it in her palm, and overripe too, but when she took the first bite, the flesh was so sweet she almost cried. She ate it slowly, savoring every mouthful, while Ser Jorah told her of the tree it had been plucked from, in a garden near the western wall.

“Fruit and water and shade,” Dany said, her cheeks sticky with peach juice. “The gods were good to bring us to this place.”

You wanna know what I love about ASOIAF?

Vaes Tolorro. These past few weeks, I’ve seen it on the horizon, drawing nearer every day.

So have faith. Be strong. Be steadfast.

We’re gonna make it through.

The Winds of Winter is waiting for us on the other side.

#asoiaf #endgame #asoiaf speculation #sort of #the-winged-wolf-bran-stark #replies

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unequippedwit · 6 years ago

Text

An Informal and Incomplete Essay on One Fangirl’s Feelings and Descent into Mo Dao Zu Shi

So, if you’ve even glanced at my blog of late you’ve noticed a lot of dolphin screeching in regards to a series called The Untamed/Chén Qíng Lìng/陈情令. Or, something else called Mó Dào Zǔ Shī/魔道祖师. (Hint, they’re mostly sort of the same thing as The Untamed is MDZS’s live action drama with a whole ass stable of attractive).

Someone on my dash had done a recommendation list of things that they had watched and enjoyed and I made the glorious mistake of looking at the summary given, shrugged my shoulders, and said “Why not?”. I proceeded to change my entire life simply by turning on my PS4, tap-tapping my way to YouTube, and settling my behind in my easy chair where the cat and my knitting proceeded to fight for space.

I’m not going to say how many hours total that I’ve spent to watching/listening to the various adaptations (the 50 episode drama, the 23 episodes released of the donghua, and the first season of the audio drama), or reading the manhua, or reading the OG novel, but, I am going to say it’s a lot. Yes, I’ve calculated it and no I’m not telling. Oh, hecking heck it is a lot. And, considering that I’ve only really been into it since the beginning of August, well, even I’m impressed and I know how I can get in regards to hyper-fixation. I’m so glad that I have also dragged my BFF along for the ride.

I can say with some confidence that a part of the reason why I have done a full sprint down into this magnificent madness, as I cackled with glee and mass binge postings of gorgeous fanart, memes, and Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan’s faces, is that I was semi-floundering in the MCU fandom and post-release of Endgame, even more so. There had been a lingering sense of fatigue and this was needed. The fandom, for all that it is a fandom with its own faults and no fandom ever escapes them, is refreshing and new and a joy in a way that the MCU has been missing for me for quite some time.

Now, as to what actually kept me engaged I’m going to cut, because there’s A LOT and it’s going to get long folks. And a smidgen spoilery.

On the surface, the plot itself is simple. A supernatural who-dunit and where-is-it, a large and eclectic cast of characters, with two main leads who fit the one goes by-the-book and other is a renegade trope to perfection.

Then the series actually starts with the MC’s horrorific violence filled death, a bunch of vicious gossip, and someone waking up in a body that sure the heck ain’t theirs. Simple? Not so much and that’s just the first chapter.

And, oh, god, the characters in this series are just everything little ol’ me could want. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian have catapulted themselves to I STAN levels in my hierarchy of Favorite Fictional Characters and even secondary characters make me cry/scream/laugh/*insert every other emotion* on a level I haven’t experienced in a very long time. I would die for Wen Ning, any version.

In this cast we get several sets of foils and a whole host of morally grey characters. No one, with the possible exception of the Juniors in the present timeline, are not guilty of at least something. Our protaganist, Sunshine Idiot Genius Hero Wei Wuxian has caused the death of 3000-5000 fellow cultivators, dug up countless graves, and risen the dead at a level that’s, well, not been seen by me in any sort of fictional setting that has necromancers. Look, I like stories with necromancers. He is also someone who doesn’t hesitate to do what is right, loves his family and his friends, and a lot of the above actions were in direct relation to him wanting to protect those that are precious to him.

With such a set of complicated characters I get a whole murderboard worthy set of complicated relationships and often complicated motiviations that make me want to cry tears of emotion. Wait, no, backtrack that as there is no want, I have cried tears of various emotions as something else is discovered or thought about or I see someone giving me some good, good meta to chew on. Yunmeng Twin Heroes being one potent source of me wailing, “MAH BABIES” while clutching at my face is a good example. Jiang Cheng is such a misunderstood character.

Know what relationship is both complicated and not at the same time? WangXian. As in the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. As in the romantic relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. As in these two Idiots wandered off and got married at the end of the novel and fucked by the side of the road for their first time and we learn that our strong and stoic Hanguang-Jun is one kinky motherfucker and Wei Wuxian is really that guy and doesn’t shut up during sexy times. Considering that he doesn’t shut up during the rest of the time, it shouldn’t be that surprising, but, really, the man is missing a filter. Look at the exasperated Xiao Zhan videos of The Untamed BTS where he’s complaining about the number of pages he has per scene.

But, it took time for them to get there. It took years of hardship and anger and miscommunication and death, including Wei Wuxian’s in the beginning, to get them to the point that they are. I won’t wax poetic about Lan Wangji, other’s who word better than I have already said so many good things about how he is fundamentally a Good Person and I won’t hear a bad word said about him and the fact that there a number of people who thought he was the villain in The Untamed for a good part of it make me cry for humanity. Okay, I’ll wax a little poetically about him. But, the man has his faults. He’s not very verbal and that can and does cause problems, like leading to Wei Wuxian to believing that he hates him through most of their past, especially as they start hurtling towards the end of his first life.

I know I’m missing a lot, like how there is no true villain of the story other than people being at their worst and allowing that to lead so many of their actions. But, really, I’m just going to go back to screaming about WangXian and sharing memes. Oh, and a few recs because the writers in this fandom? Fucking Aces all around.

Five Times Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng Had a Civil Conversation, and One Time They Didn't by tabulaxrasa Summary: *Does what it says on the tin*Wei Wuxian's life is almost perfect now. There's just that one, angry, purple hole in it. If only there was some way to fix it.(There is. It's using their words.) Reason I love it: The relationship between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian is almost as important to me as the the one between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and this gives me hope that there is a future for the two of them at the end of the novel. That things can get better, never back to the way that it was because too much has happened, but they can reach a Good Place and that’s everything really.

Monotone by Seredemia

Summary: Wei Wuxian died. Wei Wuxian died and he never came back, not after thirteen years, or a hundred, or a thousand. The year is 2019 and Lan Wangji is still here, having reached the highest point of cultivation that has gifted him with immortality. It's supposed to be a gift, an honour, yet to him it's nothing but a curse.

Wei Wuxian is dead, and life is colourless. Lan Wangji ghosts through time, simply living each day in monotone.

That is, until he meets a man who has the same face, same name, same smile as Wei Wuxian. Suddenly, there's colour and hope back in his life—but it's not long until he realises Wei Wuxian in this timeline has not escaped the sorrow that plagued his past self.

Maybe history really does repeat itself after all.

Reason I love it: It’s epic. Not only in length, but in how everything is put together. The past parallels the future in all the right ways with certain things coming together to make me cry happy tears as I clutch my cat in my arms. And, let’s not forget Lan Wangji and his haircut.

Perfectly Arranged by Mondengel

Summary: Three nights before his wedding to an omega from Yunmeng, Lan Wangji meets Wei Yuandao.

Reason I love it: I have a fondness for ABO. I’ve long stopped being ashamed of my enjoyment of it and I love even more when I find an ABO that gives me arranged marriages that stay so true to the characters. Even just this little slice of life, gives us something close to the actual meeting of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and it makes me so happy that their happiness is well and truly implied at the end of this.

Now, there about a thousand other things to be read that one should when it comes to this fandom, I’ve only thrown a few grains of rice to show what has been feeding my appetite, but, no seriously. The fic is so good guys. I think I’m actually going to start throwing up recs on the regular because gaaaaahhhhh and I’m going to go read some now that I’m done word vomiting.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #fic recs #jess watches things #fandom #this is the longest thing I have written in a long time #of course it's going to be on this fandom #because it hits all my english major buttons so dang hard #my professors would weep at my lack of proper essay format #suck it professors

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larenoz · 6 years ago

Text

Roswell New Mexico Fic Rec List

For a show that’s only had 13 episodes so far, the Roswell New Mexico fandom has produced alot of great fics and media. My criteria for inclusion is simple - these are the fics I like and in most cases, have read multiple times. If a character or pairing doesn’t have a listing, it just means I haven’t found something I want to list, not that I don’t like, or object to that character, person or ship (but I will never link to character-bashing fics). This is an ongoing post that will be updated (as I need to go back and re-read a few potential additions so I can do the summary/comments). If you’ve got suggestions, hit me up via comments, DM’s, whatevs.

Ratings - I’m not putting ratings on - read the tags and ratings on the fics, people. But be warned alot of these are explicit.

Links - Where available I will be linking to content on AO3. If you’d like your tumblr name included, just let me know (I’m not always great at working out who’s who!).

Status - All fics are complete unless marked as WIP except for series where it’s probably a mix of both complete and WIP.

Michael and Alex (Malex)

The Old Astronomer (series) - beamirang (@beamirang) - A canon divergent monster (in terms of words) that you can really sink your death into. Alex has found some real family in the military who help him find more family outside it as well.

This Slope is Treacherous - SuchASeeweedBrain - hockey AU - Alex is a young hockey star drafted to the NHL to a team populated by all our other favourites. A well written AU with a bit of angst.

still got a lot of soul underneath my skin - frankchurchillsaysrelax (@frankichurchhillsaysrelax) - I love this fic so much. Kyle asks about Michaels hand. It’s a painful angst-fest that we all need.

Maria DeLuca: Bar owner, psychic and honorary relationship therapist - littlecountrymouse (@littlecountrymouse) - I’m weak for a crying Michael. I’m weak for supportive Maria. I’d love a follow up (hint, hint).

Ad astra - beamirang (@beamirang) - WIP - Star Trek AU - this one is of to a very strong start. An under achieving Michael is recruited by an over achieving Alex for space based adventures.

Space Opera AU (series) - beamirang (@beamirang) - WIP - The first part is - Home Fires - which looks like it’s going to be on the dark side. But this author has a great track record, so I’m including it here.

Satellite's Gone - Anonymous - (every fandom needs a proper anon) - This one is a bit different stylistically but a fantastic read.

I just want you to know who I am - littlecountrymouse (@littlecountrymouse) - Up front and honest, any fic that involves discussion of Alex not calling Michael by his first name and Michael getting emotional about it, is probably going to end up on this list. It just does something to me. Alex and Michael’s discussion post-alien revelation and fireside chat.

tell me something good by Nanoochka (@nanoochka) - As soon as I saw this fic posted I totally squeed as this author is one of my all time favourites from another fandom. And they didn’t disappoint. Bar room hookup. Explicit.

Michael Guerin, Space Pirate - Enchantable (@planetsam) - a The Martian AU - enjoyable retelling with our guys at the centre.

Hades & Persephone - Enchantable (@planetsam) - I just find it very appropriate and good to read fan fics based on mythology. It just seams right. And this is a great retelling of one of my favourites. I won’t spoil whose who!

Michael, Alex and Kyle (Mylex)

open up my eager eyes (series) - haloud (@cosmicsolipsism) - The first two stories in this series (tuck my hair behind my ears and touch my soul and what yields the need for those who lead us ) are pretty much straight up PWP with D/s overtones. The third one - a bookend to the weirdest of weeks - is a fantastic character study of Kyle Valenti (with some totally in context sex included). Part one contains the best opening line in the fandom so far - “It starts at the Wild Pony, that breeding ground for bad ideas.”

Conversations in the Crashdown - darkangel86 - a bit of a talk fest but one where some very necessary things get said by all involved. No porn.

learning how to watch two points in space at the same time - - flintsjohn (@flintsjohn) - Classic road trip of discovery for our three boys.

practice - flintsjohn (@flintsjohn) - sequel to learning how to watch... - where our boys have many firsts and build their lives together.

need - beejohnlocked - straight up PWP with a very toppy Alex in charge.

With A Little Help From My Friends - AndreaLyn - Alex and Michael start up a friends with benefits thing with Kyle.

A little more conversation - BeStillMySlashyHeart (@bestillmyslashyheart) - a series of connected ficlets that somehow ends up with multiple couples trying to bed Kyle Valenti. Gen (despite the topic).

Complicated - @aliencowboyqueen - a set of scenes which show a developing relationship between the three men. Light and fun.

“I think we should stop seeing each other” (@el-gilliath) - Michael’s insecurity rears it’s head and Kyle and Alex have to communicate with him. Great characterisation, a bit of angst but a happy ending.

Liz, Max and Kyle (Kaliz)

Grounded - xForEverythingElse (PrimaryScavQueen) - Liz wants Kyle in the bed she shares with Max. Max will do anything for Liz. PWP.

Family Ties - laniew1 - WIP -

True to Your Heart - islndgurl777 (@islndgurl777) - Liz brings up Kyle. Max has a discussion about sexuality with Michael.

Lovefool - islndgurl777 (@islndgurl777) - Scenes of how their relationship might develop.

Michael, Alex and Maria

was it all too much, or just not enough? - colfield (@colfields ) - Where Michael learns to trust, Alex learns to give up a little control and Maria is surprised. Explicit.

Fixing what went wrong - Clockwork - fluff and soft, drunk boys.

Gen/Multi

give michael guerin a friend 2k19 (make that friend maria deluca) - islndgurl777 (@islndgurl777) - series of gen fics about the Roswell crew. Fairly angst free series of stories where Maria decides to be there as a friend for Michael. One of the best series in the fandom.

Til The Night is Over - Shenanigans (@ubiestcaelum) - WIP - Post-finale future fic - Max is dead, Rosa is alive and this is what might happen next.

Project Orion (Series) - laniew1 - Complete and WIP -

Gifs

@bisexualalienblast

@rawandmessyandbeautiful

Meta

@chasingshhadows - I don’t like to play favourites, but what can you do? My fav meta writer for this fandom. - Masterlist

@ober-affen-geil - Masterlist

@vlamito

@hannah-writes

#roswell new mexico #roswellnm #Roswell Nm #michael guerin #alex manes #kyle valenti #max evans #liz ortecho #maria deluca #fic rec #polyamory #malex #mylex #kylex #fic list #fic recommendation

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luminoustico · 6 years ago

Note

For End of the Year Writing Meme: All the questions sound super interesting so just use this as an opportunity to answer whatever questions interest you most

So funny story I put this in my drafts to complete in the quiet time of New Year’s Day, but then I forgot about it completely. BRACE YOURSELF.

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Lies by Marina and the Diamonds, to accompany the latter half of Valse Melancolique. It’s a really good song to show Irene’s POV at that point, especially her reluctance to accept that the webs she’s spun are basically collapsing around her.

“I just want it to be perfect / To believe it’s all been worth the fight,” is the most relevant set of lyrics, IMO.

B. Who’s your favourite side-character from something you wrote?

I really enjoyed writing side characters like Rose and Finn, though Rose just edges it because I’ve been enjoying writing her in Don’t Complicate It. Finn runs a very close second.

C. Get any good comments on your stuff this year?

Sure! All comments are good comments, let’s be real. Unless they’re an obvious troll comment or those “update now!!!” kind of comments. Those aren’t so good.

D. Any drawings or pictures that had a big influence on your writing?

The artwork of the late 18th century and Roberto Ferri definitely influenced the tone of Valse Melancolique. Many scenes from certain stories were driven by a single image I had in my head as well.

E. Who’s your favourite main character you’ve written?

Though I do enjoy delving into Ben/Kylo’s psyche, I enjoy writing Rey more – she’s more enclosed, and I love chipping away at characters to get to their truths.

G. Where do you think you grew the most this year?

Towards the end of the year, I began to realise that writing can actually be fun like it used to be. I’ve been so aware of the way the world is currently that I’ve been convincing myself that my writing must have a message, or it’s not ‘worthy’. I need to understand that I started writing not to pass on any morals or messages, but as a release and a way to find enjoyment in the constant buzz.

H. How do you write? Paper, pen, computer? Music, no music?

All of those. I write on my phone, on my computer, on pen and paper. Music and no music, it depends. Most often I’m listening to a playlist/album which then stops and I cease writing an hour or so later realising I’ve been writing in silence.

I. What’s your favourite work you did this year? Why?

I’m always tempted to answer this kind of question with my most recent story. But I’m going to be really honest and say that star among the stars is a personal favourite. And it’s not just because of the pegging.

J. What are the best jokes you told this year? Any jokes you thought were funny that people didn’t catch? Vice-versa?

I’m completely blanking on this one.

K. Who have you killed this year? Why did they have to die?

Qui-Gon Jinn (to match with canon), Molly and Sherlock (hey it was a story based on Dangerous Liaisons, and I was reading classical Russian literature at the time of plotting) and Kylo Ren a bunch of times (metaphorically).

L. Which character did you most write about this year, and why do you like ‘em?

I wrote more about Rey. As mentioned before, it’s because I like chipping away at a character’s surface but also it’s because I really relate to her, especially in regards to her feelings of loneliness and her tendency to put on ‘a brave face’. Plus I really admire her compassion and her strength. I envy it.

M. Meta! Have any meta about a story you’re dying to throw out there?

Not particularly -- just headcanons and reasons behind why I write what I write. (I’ve never been very good with meta anyway.) I really like it when other people meta my fic, or pick up on something I didn’t! That is an AMAZING feeling.

O. Do you believe in outlines? Show us one!

I do indeed! I love my outlines. For some projects, I’ve got whole folders with docs labelled Initial Ideas, Plot Summary, Chapter Outline, etc. etc. I’ve got my notes app on my phone stuffed up to the gills with mini-outlines. I frequently use my story structure template, which is technically more for screenplays, but the breaking down into acts thing helps my brain figure things out.

P. What are your pet peeves in other people’s work?

When an author relies too much on UST and ruins the pacing. Like, an author drags out the first getting together because they believe that the anticipation is the only thing generating comments. If it’s right to have them bang, have them bang! The awkward morning after is a delicious opportunity for UST -- just a different kind. 9 times out of 10, your readers are there not for the smut because they’re invested in the story and like your writing.

Q. Quote three bits of writing you read this year. Can be your writing, or not.

Let’s mix it up.

“ “Why did you do that?” he demanded as they ducked into a side alley. “What part of ‘keep a low profile’ is difficult for you to understand?”

“I’m a good haggler,” Rey said through a full mouth. She didn’t have any idea what she was eating, and she didn’t care. It took so much effort to chew each bite instead of gulping it down whole. “He was trying to cheat us.”

“You didn’t haggle. You pushed.”

“I did not. Why would I knock him over in the middle of his stand?”

Kylo just stared. “You need a teacher,” he muttered. He watched her eat for a moment, his expression somewhere between thoughtful and disgusted, before taking a bite from one of his own skewers. Disgust won out. ” -- Symmetry and Black Tar by audreyii_fic. (Grumpy smuggler Kylo Ren, spunky scavenger Rey, canon divergence. Excellent.)

“ "Ben," Rey breathes once Kylo's mere inches away. It's the name Luke introduced him with, the only name she knows him by, and he's never bothered to correct her. Why hasn't he corrected her? The question flees from his mind as she closes her eyes and he leans down into the space between them, kissing her full on the lips. It's not gentle, he doesn't know how to be, but she opens for him the way the flowers she loves so much bloom in the sunlight. ” -- the surface of last scattering by diasterisms. (It’s the apocalypse, it’s exactly the right time to meet the love of your life, right? Read for utter devastation.)

“ Rey could spend hours in the Falcon’s inner workings. She’d spent so much time in the belly of hollowed-out Star Destroyers, which were horrific remnants of old worlds, cold and grey. The Falcon is alive, speaking a strange language she’s just about half-deciphered. Sometimes, on days where she misses the connection most and dreams of a boy reaching across the stars to find her, it feels like the Falcon doesn’t want to speak to her. It shuts down. Sparks spit at her, and mechanisms develop odd faults.Today, a jet of steam blows directly in her face, not harmful, but almost like a snarl of 'go away'.

Rey climbs out of the hatch, fetching tools. She works with that fault first.

“I’m not thinking about him,” she promises to no-one but the ship she’s looking after. ” -- If I was born as a blackthorn tree, by me!

R. If you had to rewrite one of your stories from scratch, which one would it be? What would you do to it?

Going to cheat here and head back to 2017. I’d rewrite Two Stars Aligned. What I’d probably do is make it a post-TLJ fic, where Rey and Ben decide to run away after getting involved in a secret relationship, but get shot down by the First Order -- after landing in Giaca, they become embroiled in Game of Thrones style politics and the ruling families, while the Resistance and the First Order conduct searches for them. I’d cut out the weird Force shit and make the redemption arc thing more organic by giving the whole story room to bloody breathe. Two Stars Aligned is actually the reason why I now try to stick to oneshots for exchanges and any anthologies I get involved in.

S. What’s the sexiest thing you wrote this year?

Sexiest thing written in 2018... It’ll have to be the pegging in star among the stars.

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

Feminism. Females being allowed to be as fucked-up and broody as the men they love, and perhaps, even broodier. Make women afraid of commitment, 2k19.

U. Any stories that took an abrupt U-turn from where you thought they were going?

If I were a blackthorn tree took a pleasing turn away from the initial outline. The initial idea was lots of secret trysts and stuff like that, but I much prefer the quiet romance with a note of hope at the end that it turned out to be.

V. Which story was the most viscerally pleasing to write? Tell us your narrative kinks.

Huh. Hm. Don’t Complicate It is turning out to be kind of fun to write; when I’m not allowing myself to be crippled by the brain goblins that is (they’re strong lately). It’s a combo of writing a trope/kink I’ve been wanting to write for ages -- A/B/O -- and remembering that it’s okay to have fun with it.

W. Who are your favourite writers?

@kylo-wouldnt-like-those-chips - @conchepcion (every time I think I’m out, she pulls me back in *shakes fist*) - @introspectivenavelgazer - @audreyii-fic - @kylorenvevo - ambiguously - @fettuccine-alfreylo and SO MANY MORE (this post is long enough already!!)

X. What’s your least favourite work of this year?

My least favourite has to be In Cars. It was an ambitious idea, which I didn’t really fulfil, I feel. Curse of being a perfectionist. I want something to be amazing. World-changing! Tear-jerking! I want Vestal virgins to weep golden tears over my words, already delicately transcribed onto ancient parchment by monks. Obviously, that’s an impossible standard, but I can’t help being cross when I don’t reach it.

Y. Why did you write? For fun, for a friend, for acclaim?

During 2018? Mostly for acclaim. It made 2018 a very difficult year for writing, and just a difficult year in general. I’m trying to make sure I have fun during 2019 with this stuff. Striving for perfection is a punishing task that no-one can ever accomplish because perfection doesn’t exist. Contentment does, though. As does happiness. And those should be more important.

Z. If you could choose one work and immediately finish it, what would it be? How would you end it?

I’d finish Sanctum, my priest Kylo fic. I’m split between continuing or rewriting anyway (the rewrite would include relocating the action to the medieval era, around the time Luther wrote that damned essay and pinned it to the church door). But I do know the exact image I want to finish on, which will remain whether I end up rewriting or not. It involves a name, a scrap of material and a rather fetching colour scheme.

Ooh. Cryptic.

#anonymous #answered #end of the year #did i just answer all these q's?#yes #i did #my ego is MASSIVE and i'm so sorry for that #long post for ts

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gffa · 7 years ago

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There are a lot of STAR WARS novels out there and that’s a really great thing, I would honestly be happy reading 90% nothing but SW books, given how good they are! But it can be a lot to navigate and sometimes you just want to know if one is worth putting at the top of your To Read list or not! SO HERE’S SOME CRYING ABOUT SW BOOKS. BECAUSE THEY ARE SO GOOD. STAR WARS NOVELS RECS: ✦ The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu, luke & ocs, 432 pages As a cargo ship rockets across the galaxy to Canto Bight, the deckhands on board trade stories about legendary Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. But are the stories of iconic and mysterious Luke Skywalker true, or merely tall tales passed from one corner of the galaxy to another? ✦ From a Certain Point of View by [various authors], a new hope cast, 496 pages Every scene is told from the point of view of a background character. Whether it’s the X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star or the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View places the classic movie in a whole new perspective. ✦ Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy by Pablo Hidalgo, entire cast, 112 pages Whether it’s a Star Destroyer hovering over a planet or an X-wing delivering a message of resistance, propaganda images have become synonymous with life in the galaxy far, far away. This in-world art book explores the creation and stories behind these images of power and persuasion. ✦ The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein, rose & page & leia & cast, 224 pages New characters from The Last Jedi, including mechanic Rose Tico and her gunner sister Paige, get the chance to shine in this hardcover adventure. ✦ Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures, Volume 1, Volume 2, The Rey Chronicles, The Leia Chronicles by Emma Carlson Berne, rey & leia & padme & ahsoka & sabine & cast, ~120 pages each The choices we make, the actions we take, the moments–both big and small–shape us into forces of destiny. ✦ Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker by Todd Strasser, obi-wan & anakin & padme & qui-gon & cast, ~112 pages My name is Anakin Skywalker. This is my story. ✦ The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition by Jason Fry, rey & luke & leia & kylo & poe & finn & rose & cast, 336 pages From the ashes of the Empire has arisen another threat to the galaxy’s freedom: the ruthless First Order. Fortunately, new heroes have emerged to take up arms—and perhaps lay down their lives—for the cause. ✦ Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel by Michael Kogge, rey & luke & leia & kylo & poe & finn & rose & cast, 208 pages A junior novel retelling of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with deleted and extended scenes, as well as exclusive scenes you won’t find anywhere else featuring Rey, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Finn, and more! ✦ Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind by Travis Langley + others, luke & leia & anakin & obi-wan & yoda & cast, 320 pages This essay collection offers a fascinating psychological analysis of the compelling and complex universe of George Lucas’s richly rendered Star Wars series. A group of expert contributors examines such topics as family ties, Jedi qualities, masculinity, girl power, and the values embodied in both the “dark” and “light” sides of this psychologically spellbinding world. ✦ Last Shot by Daniel José Older, han & lando & cast, 368 pages It’s one of the galaxy’s most dangerous secrets: a mysterious transmitter with unknown power and a reward for its discovery that most could only dream of claiming. But those who fly the Millennium Falcon throughout its infamous history aren’t your average scoundrels. ✦ Most Wanted by Rae Carson, han & qi'ra & cast, 348 pages Han and Qi'ra don’t have a lot in common other than not having a lot. They’re street kids on the industrial planet Corellia, doing whatever it takes to get by, dreaming of something more. full details + recs under the cut!

STAR WARS NOVELS RECS: ✦ The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu, luke & ocs, 432 pages As a cargo ship rockets across the galaxy to Canto Bight, the deckhands on board trade stories about legendary Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. But are the stories of iconic and mysterious Luke Skywalker true, or merely tall tales passed from one corner of the galaxy to another? If you’ve checked out my tumblr, you’ll know I’ve done a fair amount of blogging about this book and one of the reasons it hit me so hard is that it came at exactly the right time I needed it, when The Last Jedi was coming out and I really craved some good Luke Skywalker characterization. I’ve always enjoyed his character, but this book really hit exactly the right notes for me in a way that was above and beyond what I expected! It’s a canon novel, but the way it’s told–as a handful of people telling second or third hand stories about Luke–means you can’t take everything quite at face value, but some of them are so Luke Skywalker that I could have cried with how well Ken Liu gets the character. All of the stories are at least reasonably fun to read, but “Fishing the Deluge”, “I, Droid”, and “Big Inside” are the three stellar stories that capture the heart and spirit of who Luke Skywalker is. The main theme is Luke going around the galaxy, learning about it and the Force, trying to uncover lore about the Jedi after it was lost, and getting into adventures along the way. There’s a ton of great detail in there, some things that connect to other stories (the fishing he learns on Lew'el that we see in TLJ, the compass that’s been making appearances in various bits of Star Wars), as well as we get to see other cultures’ connections to the Force as Luke interacts with them and learns more. But it’s really that he’s so good and kind and noble, that he’s eager to learn and yet has such a strong sense of self, that he’s bright and brilliant and so very Jedi. It gave me so many feelings about how the Jedi’s spirit absolutely lives on through Luke here, as well as just plain gave me feelings about the character himself! It’s one of the absolute must-reads for those who are looking for anything with his character or to feel better if TLJ disappointed you, because this shows that Luke’s life wasn’t all misery. There is so, so much joy to be found here, especially in those three stories. (As well as some great Luke & Artoo friendship moments that had me crying over them again!) ✦ From a Certain Point of View by [various authors], a new hope cast, 496 pages Every scene is told from the point of view of a background character. Whether it’s the X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star or the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View places the classic movie in a whole new perspective. I will warn ahead of time that not every story in this collection worked for me, that probably half of them were ones I could have done without reading (though, only a handful were ones I felt weren’t worth the time), but that’s a very, very subjective thing–any stories I haven’t liked I’ve heard from people who did love them!–and the ones that I did love? I love so much that I would have read this book just for them. The whole concept is a really neat one, where it’s 40+ different authors taking on different points of view from the various characters of ANH, whether a Stormtrooper or a mouse droid or a bartender or a bounty hunter or a familiar Jedi, all who add something to the tapestry around the movie that started it all. Some of them are just intriguing, some of them made me laugh out loud, some of them made me think, but all of them combined together to really make me feel like this was a living, breathing galaxy of actual size! But, yes, my favorites were the Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Yoda stories, because they come the closest to the heart of the story, because they bridge the gap between the OT and my beloved prequels, because they are the one with the strongest sense of character. I have spent so much time talking about those three stories especially on tumblr because they’re richly written and have a ton of little details for me to pull out and Obi-Wan’s point of view, how his life and his death are so defined by his love for Anakin and Luke, how Qui-Gon looks over on Obi-Wan and where he’s at just before the movie starts, his views on all that have happened and what’s coming, Yoda’s story with the little things he kept with him (I DID NOT AS FOR FROG GRANDPA FEELINGS LIKE THIS) and what he can feel from Anakin when Obi-Wan dies. All of it is so, so worth picking up to read and crying over! But also, for real, read the Motti chapter, because I fuckin’ cried during that one, I laughed so hard. It’s the most glorious thing I have ever witnessed in my life. But also-also read the whole thing! Breha’s story is heartbreaking, the Wedge chapter was actually really engaging and exciting, the Beru story is weird and artsy and I really liked it, etc. There’s a lot that’s just really, really cool here and stuff you might not get anywhere else in Star Wars! ✦ Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy by Pablo Hidalgo, entire cast, 112 pages Whether it’s a Star Destroyer hovering over a planet or an X-wing delivering a message of resistance, propaganda images have become synonymous with life in the galaxy far, far away. This in-world art book explores the creation and stories behind these images of power and persuasion. I did not expect to ever get something like this or for it to be so incredibly fantastic, it’s exactly what I wanted, where it’s an in-universe meta book about the history of art as propaganda which is used to show the course of the plot from the Rise of the Empire era all the way to the First Order era. It sounds like a bit of a flimsy premise to stretch so far, but it’s really more that the art is the lens through with the book is telling the entire galactic history over those ~60 years of time, so you get all this history and reference and context about how things came to be. You get a sense of how the Clone Wars came across to the public, you get the sense of how the Republic failed the people it was supposed to represent and protect, you get a sense of how the Jedi were victim to this terrible war, you get a sense of how the Empire came across to the public, you get a sense of what the Galactic Civil War was like, you better understand the First Order. It’s a book told through the perspective of art history, how that swayed opionin, but it’s so much more than that, it’s a history of the GFFA. I originally read the digital version, but then loved it so much that I also had to go buy the physical copy of the book (which looks really gorgeous in a way the digital version doesn’t quite match) because it balances being like an actual relic from the GFFA with being a great Star Wars merchandise book. I love that it’s structured the way it is, like I’m reading actual in universe essays and history papers, but also it’s coming from an author who is one of the best people at keeping the history of the GFFA in view and so it’s great on that front as well. It’s a book that I had a hard time putting down because it’s just so well done and so cool and so informative and actually gave me a lot of feelings (let me cry about all the Clone Wars-era stuff it gave us!!) and is one of my favorites out of everything I’ve read from LF. ✦ The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein, rose & page & leia & cast, 224 pages New characters from The Last Jedi, including mechanic Rose Tico and her gunner sister Paige, get the chance to shine in this hardcover adventure. I listened to the audiobook version of this one and I really recommend that way if you can, because Kelly Marie Tran narrates it and she does an absolutely fantastic job! This is another book I recommend if you want to have greater context for The Last Jedi, if you want more of Rose’s character, or you just want more Star Wars stories with female-centric stories! It’s not super plot heavy, the action is pretty standard, but it’s a great look at the characters, including some really lovely Leia moments, it’s a great look at the relationship between Paige and Rose, to give context to why Rose is so devastated by her loss in TLJ and why Rose has the views she has, given her history, and it’s a great way to care more about them, to feel like there’s more depth to them than the movie had time for. It also brings in some more context to just what exactly is happening with the First Order and so I liked it for filling in detail in that sense, too! But mostly it’s just a really, really good Rose Tico story and I adored it for that. ✦ Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures, Volume 1, Volume 2, The Rey Chronicles, The Leia Chronicles by Emma Carlson Berne, rey & leia & padme & ahsoka & sabine & cast, ~120 pages each The choices we make, the actions we take, the moments–both big and small–shape us into forces of destiny. I’m going to collect these books together because they’re all pretty similar to each other–they’re largely just retellings of the Forces of Destiny shorts, with occasional bits and pieces of extra moments added. There’s not a lot that’s added for character insight (of the ones out so far, the Rey ones are the best, I found the most to be excited about there–though, the Sabine one had some stellar lines about her and Ketsu!) or things that will surprise if you’ve already seen the shorts, but I did enjoy reading them! They’re very cute and would be great for younger readers or those who just want something cute and fun to read that won’t take a lot of time. There are also audiobooks (which I haven’t listened to) if you’d rather, and it’s all just a really cute, fun line-up that, while I wish they were telling more stories instead of the same ones over and over (though, the comics have more stories, which is fantastic!) they’re adorable and fun. ✦ Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker by Todd Strasser, obi-wan & anakin & padme & qui-gon & cast, ~112 pages My name is Anakin Skywalker. This is my story. I wanted to wait until I’d read more of this series to write up a review of them, but honestly they’ve been dropped down on my list of things to read, because I was hoping for some interesting character insights, but they’re really aimed more at young readers who just saw the movie and wanted to read it in novel form, so there’s not much that’s really new here, not much character insight or any added scenes. There are some cute Anakin/Padme moments, there was one moment that seemed to maybe imply that Anakin Force-whammied his mother without even realizing it, and one really nice Obi-Wan&Anakin moment at the end, but even with those, I struggled to find moments to talk about. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s a really, really straightforward retelling of the movie, just from the first person pov. But that’s what it’s meant to be, so it achieves what it sets out to do! Just that it wasn’t what I was looking for, unfortunately. ✦ The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition by Jason Fry, rey & luke & leia & kylo & poe & finn & rose & cast, 336 pages From the ashes of the Empire has arisen another threat to the galaxy’s freedom: the ruthless First Order. Fortunately, new heroes have emerged to take up arms—and perhaps lay down their lives—for the cause. My judgement of novelizations is largely based on the Rogue One book that really contributed a ton to my understanding of Jyn Erso’s characterization, that it gave depth to understanding her motivations and insight into how she thought, in a lot of ways it recontextualized her character in a really, really good way for me. So, my definition of what makes a novelization stellar is when it can do that for me, which most of them don’t. That doesn’t make them bad novelizations! And this one is perfectly functionable, it tells the story and adds small bits of character motivation here and there (nothing earth-shattering, though, nor does it fix some of the logic gaps I found TLJ to have) and I certainly had a ton to say about all those little differences on tumblr, especially because it was a good way to basically liveblog my feelings about the movie as well. There are moments where I think the book did well (adding the moment of Luke and Rey dancing or Rey realizing in her thoughts that Snoke is just trying to manipulate her), but other times it highlights just how much chemistry the actors brought to the roles to make things fun (I think this is especially true for Finn, but the Luke and Leia scene felt much stronger in the movie, too) because the scenes read as very straightforward and plain. The prose is solidly readable, I never had trouble picking up the book and sliding right back into reading it, but neither does it elevate the story. There are lots of little details, fun shout-outs to various other bits of canon, and the gaps there (like the vagueness in referring to “their allies” in the Outer Rim without specifics) are often the fault of the structure of the sequels (ie, you can’t reveal too much because they’re always saving it in case the next movie wants to use it), but it is on display here. It’s a book for fans who like novelizations, who like little bits of trivia or brief moments of cool additions (I’m not knocking this type of fan, this is exactly the type of fan I am!), but otherwise it’s about 95% a straightforward retelling of what was on the screen. ✦ Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel by Michael Kogge, rey & luke & leia & kylo & poe & finn & rose & cast, 208 pages A junior novel retelling of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with deleted and extended scenes, as well as exclusive scenes you won’t find anywhere else featuring Rey, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Finn, and more! My feelings about this novelization are basically the same as the expanded novelization of TLJ–there are a handful of things to pull out that are interesting to talk about (and, boy, have I!) but that 95% of it is still a straightforward retelling of the movie. It’s a perfectly functional junior novelization and I have absolutely no regrets about reading it, because I like reading novelizations and I enjoy hunting down those handful of things that are different. But also I was at a point in time where I wanted to have something to pull out my TLJ thoughts, to give them structure, so much of the enjoyment I got out of this was an active blogging about it, rather than enjoying it as a passive read, which I don’t think it would be as strong for. What I mean is–if you’re reading this book to liveblog it, I think it gains something, because there are jumping off points to talk about! But if you’re looking for a book that will fill in the gaps that you felt TLJ had or to recontextualize the story for you, this isn’t going to do that, it’s a direct retelling aimed at young readers. I do have some characterization caveats (most of them can be explained as unreliable narrators, though) but I did feel that the Kylo Ren characterization skewed too hard towards evil in the wrong way, that he laughed at things he should have been conflicted about, that he didn’t care about things he obviously did, etc. It felt like the author really hated the character and that bled through to the writing, so he was off or else it was written based on only the script and assumed things that later were given a different kind of depth by Driver. It’s not anywhere near enough to ruin the book for me, but it did feel like something was missing–however, reading it at the same time I was reading the adult novelization, switching off between the two, it was really kinda cool to see the way they each seemed to trade off points of view. If one book got the Rey pov, the other got the Kylo pov. If one book got the Finn pov, the other got the Rose pov. Given that each book didn’t have that much new material, it helped feel like it fleshed things out and made a bit more of a complete picture. So, do I recommend this book? Depends on what you’re getting it for, honestly. ✦ Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind by Travis Langley + others, luke & leia & anakin & obi-wan & yoda & cast, 320 pages This essay collection offers a fascinating psychological analysis of the compelling and complex universe of George Lucas’s richly rendered Star Wars series. A group of expert contributors examines such topics as family ties, Jedi qualities, masculinity, girl power, and the values embodied in both the “dark” and “light” sides of this psychologically spellbinding world. I wasn’t sure what I was going to get when I picked up this book, what kind of essays, what kind of focus, what kind of writing it would be. But I got caught up in it pretty early and found that I just enjoyed the absolute hell out of the various topics, that it fit with a lot of how I viewed Star Wars, but as seen through much more professional lenses. There are essays around various topics, looking at various characters (but the usual ones are those that get the most focus, of course), things like how Anakin Skywalker’s nueroses led and inform his actions as Darth Vader, what the Jedi teachings say about how to handle various situations, the way role models influence us as we grow up, etc. Some of them are more generalized looks at topics or groups, some of them get much more specific (the Anakin ones are my favorites and felt very in line with the way I see him, especially as someone who is haunted by anxieties), but all of them are well laid out, well explained, and may be just the foundations of various psychology aspects, but are fascinating for it. I wound up quoting a lot of the book (and will probably quote a lot more over time) because it does a great job of explaining things, like why Jedi mindfulness is a really good thing, why faith and religion can be so helpful for us, depending on our motivatons for it, why having a role model like Leia Organa was so important, why Luke’s journey is set up the way it is, why the Sith are not actually a stable force, etc. It’s a great place to start if you want to learn a bit about psychology through the lens of Star Wars OR a great place to go if you want to read about Star Wars through the lens of psychology, as well as that it’s clear that a lot of thought has been given to the characters and what George Lucas was putting into the story, so that one flows really well into the other and back again. It’s a great book to read and a really great look at the whys of behavior and meaning to us as complicated humans. ✦ Last Shot by Daniel José Older, han & lando & cast, 368 pages It’s one of the galaxy’s most dangerous secrets: a mysterious transmitter with unknown power and a reward for its discovery that most could only dream of claiming. But those who fly the Millennium Falcon throughout its infamous history aren’t your average scoundrels. I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this book, because there’s a lot it really did wonderfully well, but a lot that was ultimately really unsatisfying. My two biggest problems are the tone of the book (there’s a lot of meme-speak that feels off for a galaxy far, far away) and the way Han and Lando seem to really lack any thought of how their significant others have internal worlds of their own. What I mean is that Lando is getting ready to Maybe Settle Down For Real, but Kaasha is someone we know practically nothing about, we learn almost nothing about her or have Lando think about what her wants and desires are. Whenever he thinks about her, it’s about how he feels about her. The same is true of Han with Leia–it’s not until three fourths of the way through the book that there’s anything touching on what Leia is going through that’s entirely her own, rather than it being about Han. Previous to that, all of Han’s thoughts about Leia are about her understanding him, her reading between the lines of his terrible way of expressing himself, her packing his bag because she knows he needs to go, her comforting him about his fears on being a terrible father. He misses his family, but there’s little sense of them that’s beyond being extensions of his character. To a degree, that’s fair enough, this is a book about Han (and Lando), but we can tell that Leia clearly does have her own world (she’s rushing off to meetings for the New Republic, she’s mourning Alderaan, she’s probably still dealing with the blow about Vader being her bio-father) and clearly thinks about Han’s internal world, but he doesn’t do the same for her even within his own thoughts. And I’m not sure if he’s meant to come off as that self-centered, despite that he’s genuinely trying to be a good husband and dad! The book does seem to try to say something about various issues, like one of my favorite things is that there’s diversity in gender and body types (there’s an explicitly non-binary character–a dark-skinned nb character!!!!–who is simply part of the narrative, they’re just there, and it’s fantastic, they’re a stellar character, also Lando is clearly attracted to a heavily curvy woman and it’s not a joke, it’s legitimate “that lady is hot” and the narrative agrees, which is also wonderful! and there’s an apperance by a m/m couple who got married!! like, all of this could make me cry from how happy I am to see Star Wars inching its way forward in progress in such wonderful ways!) as well as it seems to touch on the idea of droid rights. But then that doesn’t really go anywhere, it’s brought up and then never really finished. Or there’s a Gungan who is offended that Han thought he spoke with a Gungan accent–is this a commentary on racial stereotypes or a dig at the prequels (as the author definitely had some anti-prequels things to say a few years back) or just a quirky thing to add? How am I supposed to take that, when just a few pages later, there’s a different character with a similarly over the top accent? I’m just never quite sure what this book was trying to say. That said, I’m glad I read it, there’s some really stellar stuff in it–L3 is great, I love that Lando is a fashionista, that he’s dramatic and Extra about it, but in a way that’s delightedly charming and clearly a great thing about him. I loved the brief mentions of baby Ben showing up, there was some SERIOUS cute going on there, but also a great quick peek into what his early life was like, how he was difficult, but still such a sweet kid at that point, how loved he was. I loved “Uncle Wanwo”, like, holy shit, worth the book right there! I was absolutely delighted that there was a very strong sense of this being placed in the Star Wars galaxy, from droids to aliens to planets to tech, it was recognizable (though, I could have done without almost all the aliens being described as ugly), and the plot was a solid action chase plot. Ultimately, while I find it easier to talk about the things that didn’t work for me (but isn’t that often the case with most people?) I don’t want to discourage people from reading this, because I’m genuinely glad I read it, I thought there was a lot of good stuff here and I really enjoyed getting to see Lando, who was still a gambler and a bit of a scoundrel, but with the good heart he’s always had. That there’s progress made on giving him character depth! That Han genuinely struggled with having a family and how to deal with that, that it doesn’t do a disservice to that part of his character or that he genuinely loved them and wanted to be there with them and support them. There was a lot done to make these characters more relatable and human, which goes a very long way with me, so I’m glad to have gotten this book and I’d love to see more about Han and Lando again! I also plan to listen to the audiobook after seeing the Solomovie, as I think more familiarity with the updated versions of the characters might help, but even without that, I thought this was a solid read I’m glad to have gotten! ✦ Most Wanted by Rae Carson, han & qi'ra & cast, 348 pages Han and Qi'ra don’t have a lot in common other than not having a lot. They’re street kids on the industrial planet Corellia, doing whatever it takes to get by, dreaming of something more. I wish I’d had more time to read the rest of this book before seeing Solo (and I would have swapped the publishing order with Last Shot, but I also recognize that there wasn’t time because the author had other committments that pushed this one back and am totally sympathetic to that) because I think reading the first handful of chapters did an amazing amount to help me with Qi'ra’s character in the movie, as this book dovetails so very well with who she is there. She made perfect sense to me, someone who was genuine about being glad that Han got out, who genuinely had feelings for him and kept those feelings close to her, wasn’t going to betray him if she could at all help it, would have probably died to help him, but also wasn’t going to stay where she was, that she knew shutting the door on the possibility of more was what she had to do. This book really does a fantastic job of showing who these characters are prior to the movie and gives a lot more depth to the opening scenes on Corellia, a lot more meaning to the White Worms and Lady Proxima and just how desperately hungry both Han and Qi'ra were to get the hell off that world. It also does a fantastic job of connecting it to the rest of the GFFA, that there are recognizable aliens amongst the new ones, that there are references to the rest of the galaxy, that this fits with Han feeling isolated in how he grew up yet it’s not unrecognizable as the galaxy we know. So I would have enjoyed the book and recommended it for that alone, but it’s also just a fun book, one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve read of canon! It has a good blend of action with character insight, it very obviously kept the future in mind (working up towards Han’s characterization in ANH especially, what with his saying the Force is a bunch of mumbo jumbo or why he doesn’t join causes, as well as the book felt aware of Qi'ra being similar to Leia, except the more you get to know her, the more she’s not really Leia 2.0 but instead her own character, one that I adored) and yet was legit exciting. I knew things had to work out reasonably well, given that it was set before canon events, but the path to how it would work out, how they’d get out of this seemingly impossible mess (and I loved the how of how it worked out!) to put them in place for the movie, all of that was great. I legitimately cared about these characters, Han was this great character who is smart but somewhat naive even as he’s street smart in other ways, you can’t help but fall for his entirely genuine charms, Qi'ra was wary and closed-off, except she was a person who had respect for others, she had a core of strength that you could feel, no matter how hungry she was, she was someone I hope we get to see more of. And having them run all over Corellia and running up against crime syndicates and droids and rich people who may or may not be truly helping them, all of it was just pure Star Wars fun! One of my faves, especially ones tangent to the Solo movie!

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #luke skywalker #leia organa #han solo #yoda #rose tico #finn #rey #qi'ra #lando calrissian #ben solo #kylo ren #paige tico #novels #fic recs #long post under the read more

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hydrospanners · 6 years ago

Note

A-Z on the writing meme because I need to know absolutely everything immediately.

WELP okay but just remember you asked for what’s about to happen. meme is here. most of this is under a cut cause i’m longwinded as hell.

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Um I absolutely was vibing to Lips by The xx when I wrote a wish your heart makes and you should too.

B. Who’s your favorite side-character from something you wrote?

I feel like the answer here is supposed to be Doc because he is not The Main Character in the game but also I have written about him and from his POV so much it feels unfair to call him a side character at this point. So instead I’m going to say this random woman named Cherita who was just trying to make a midnight snack for her pregnant wife from a little eggstra. I thought she had a lot of character for someone I pulled out of my ass for the sake of an outside perspective.

C. Get any good comments on your stuff this year?

I am thirsty for praise and I feel every single comment is a good comment but I think the one that sticks out to me is when I wrote a wish your heart makes someone said something like “if you like doc at all you have to read this” and I don’t remember who it was or where they said it but it really stuck with me!!! If that was you, thank you!!!!

D. Any drawings or pictures that had a big influence on your writing?

No!!! I feel guilty about this answer somehow but it’s true. I think it would be a fun challenge to try to write a piece of fic inspired by someone’s art so I may play with that idea next year (Editor’s Note: it was still 2k18 when I wrote the answer for this one) but for 2k18 the answer is no. :(

E. Who’s your favorite main character you’ve written?

I feel like this answer is obvious but it’s my girl Rea. I’ve reincarnated her as an Inquisitor and a Pathfinder but the OG Jedi Knight is still my fave.

F. What stories are you planning for the future?

I won’t pretend that a lot of planning goes in to my fic. I normally only write short bits so it kind of goes like this: I have a concept, I write the bit I fixate on, and then it sits in my WIPs for five years until I get motivated during some Fictober or something to finally finish it.

I will say I do have serious designs to finally finish the second chapter of the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one as that one is a little more complex than stuff I usually write. I have plans to do some kinda flashback-y thing that finally lays out The Velaran Backstory in clear and obvious terms after years of hints and tidbits I’ve been peppering through my fic. I also have a thing planned and kinda partly written about the first instance of horrific violence in the lives of all the Knight’s companions. Also I have a long series of AU vignettes that glimpses into universes where Rea is a Sith or Kira never made it off Korriban or Rusk remained a pacifist or where Rea never joined the Jedi after losing her family the second time. Stuff like that.

G. Where do you think you grew the most this year?

Structure? I’ve been really working on trusting my reader to bridge some gaps and not letting myself get caught up in details that are important for me to know to write the next part but that don’t necessarily need to be in the story. I think I’ve really tightened up my game where trimming the fat and staying focused are concerned.

H. How do you write? Paper, pen, computer? Music, no music?

My fic writing process is very different from when I am trying to write original stuff and is even kind of different depending on the mood I’m going for? I always write fic in Google Drive cause I write fic from a lot of different machines and need the easy cloud saving.

My ideal condition for fic writing is listening to instrumental music or ambient sounds playing through headphones either in a coffeehouse or the library or when I am at home completely alone. Angst and smut are best written at night with the lights low and warm. Comedy and fluff are best written in the late afternoon/early evening after one single alcoholic beverage (any more than and one I am drunk and no longer capable of writing).

Realistically though, I usually write in whatever time I have. Mostly at work. My job requires me to sit at a desk and wait for things to happen. Since I start work at 5am, things usually aren’t happening. Even with me going out of my way to create new work for myself and excel at what work I do have, I have a lot of downtime. I spend it writing fic. I get interrupted too much to have the focus I need for original writing, but fic writing is much easier so mostly I write my fic at this bland little desk under the terrible fluorescent lights with lots of noise and interruptions, occasionally playing a thematic playlist very quietly in the background.

I. What’s your favorite work you did this year? Why?

This is a very tough question. Surprisingly, I published a lot of things that I really liked? ([not pictured: me high fiving me for finally allowing myself to state that I like my own writing]) I think I’ll go with when the wicked play if I have to pick just one. Relative to my other work I think it’s very structurally sound and thematically focused and pretty efficient with its characterization and imagery without ever getting too sparse. Also I’m a slut for examining the commonplace nature of violence and brutality in the Star Wars universe.

J. What are the best jokes you told this year? Any jokes you thought were funny that people didn’t catch? Vice-versa?

I’m gonna say the pun I used as the title for bars and stripes. Honestly the whole fic is a joke and I like it and I don’t care if anyone catches it or not because I know that I am hilarious and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

K. Who have you killed this year? Why did they have to die?

No one, I think? I don’t think I even mentioned any specific off-screen deaths except for shit from the decades old Tragic Backstories. Not even Valkoriate. I’m not an especially murderful writer, maybe because I haven’t had to deal with a lot of that kind of loss in my own life. Mostly I write about things that are somehow adjacent to my own emotional state/journey. That’s why I fixate a lot on the weight of duty and moral philosophy and the nuances and complications of relationships, of how you can hurt someone and be hurt by them and still love them and how messy yet fulfilling the whole thing is. Thankfully--for me--not a lot of grieving the dead in there yet.

L. Which character did you most write about this year, and why do you like ‘em?

Pretty sure it’s Rea. Maybe Doc because of the Docember thing I squeezed in at the last second but I’m still pretty sure it’s Rea. Pretty sure it always is.

There’s a particular kind of release I get from writing her because her whole sloppy person is a part of me that doesn’t often see the light of day. I won’t say she’s aspirational because I like who I am and I don’t have any special destiny or Force powers or anything to save me when the consequences of living like she does catch up. But there are pieces of her that I admire, pieces that are still part of me that I have a hard time expressing, and spending time with her gives me a little more strength to unlock those dark musty corners of who I am, I guess? Writing Rea makes me a little more bold, a little less apologetic, a little less prone to overthinking and anxious fretting and a little more prone to doing. She makes me feel strong enough to ask for the things I want and confident enough to feel like I deserve them.

Also she is a damn good time, even when she’s falling apart.

M. Meta! Have any meta about a story you’re dying to throw out there?

Of course I do. I could ramble for hours about the story behind any single one of my stories. Aren’t all of us creative types like that??? Don’t we all love to talk about what we were going for and why we made the choices we did??? What we liked and what we think needs improvement??? Why we wanted to make the thing we made in the first place???

I could ramble about this for hours and honestly the possibilities are overwhelming so I am not going to go into any detail and just say yes. Obviously I am willing to ramble about the story behind every single story I’ve published but there’s 63 of them so if there’s something specific you want to hear about you’ll have to ask about the specific one!!!

N. Anything you were planning to write that never got written?

Nothing will ever be “never got written” until I am dead and unable to write. I am still going back to WIPs from 2014. I am rewriting garbage exercises I wrote in 2013. I like to think everything in my WIP folder will eventually be moved to my Published folder and I am going to keep thinking that until I am physically incapable of writing.

O. Do you believe in outlines? Show us one!

I believe in them very much and yet I do not practice them usually. I rely on them more with my original work which is longer and more involved and doesn’t already have a convenient structure to follow in the form of 300000 hours of video game. Most of my fic is really short, just a single scene or so. I usually start out by writing the moment that inspired me to write the fic and fill in the before and after. I do have an outline for the second half of the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one but I don’t really want to share it for something that isn’t written yet!

P. What are your pet peeves in other people’s work?

This question makes me kinda uncomfortable so here we go with some disclaimers: I write the stories that I want to read or that I really need to tell to satisfy something inside of me and I assume other authors do the same. I don’t want to say anything here that might have a chilling effect on someone exploring some idea they really need to explore, even if it’s tired or cliche or offends my own tastes. Writing is very personal and I think everyone should tell the stories they want to, whether anyone else likes them or not.

That being said, I am always desperately wishing for more media about close, intimate friendships and familial bonds. As someone who isn’t interested in sexual or romantic relationships, it makes me weep basically every time I read a story about characters who are friends or family that give that kind of relationship all of the value and weight and nuance that you see romantic relationships getting. It is a very special kind of feeling to see that it is possible for people to value what I have to offer them as much they might value someone who will romance them and sleep with them. It is very validating to see the possibility of emotional intimacy with people outside of romantic/sexual partners.

But I would never want anyone to feel bad about or stop writing their romances and their smut. That stuff speaks to people and that’s what fic is about. Telling the story that speaks to you. I want everyone to write what they want to write and if that leaves gaps, well that’s why I started writing fic in the first place. There was a story I needed to read and no one had written it yet, so I did it myself.

TL;DR Genfic & friendfic & familyfic is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me, but no one should write to satisfy other people. Always write for yourself first and foremost.

Q. Quote three bits of writing you read his year. Can be your writing, or not.

I keep little quotes everywhere--index cards and sticky notes scattered among all my belongings, snippets on my phone, untitled documents on every cloud service there is, random word docs hidden amongst my many hard drives--but the only ones I can find right now are from @meonlyred‘s Dark Horse so please enjoy three bits from that fic that I loved:

They remained sitting on the floor, Rossa leaned against him, eyes staring into the distance. Her silence might as well have been weeping.

I just love how I can feel the vacant, numb quality of her despair in this line. How it feels more poignant for its lack of drama.

“You're an idiot and I hate your hair,” Jonas said over the rim of his glass.

I mean.... Do I need to explain this?

He had never believed in happily ever afters. Not for him, at least. But the cruelest thing about being with Rossa was that he had begun to believe that maybe, just maybe, it was possible.

Closing his eyes, Theron didn’t expect to open them again.

This little snippet still punches me in the gut no matter how many times I read it. It’s so relateable and so Theron and so painful.

R. If you had to rewrite one of your stories from scratch, which one would it be? What would you do to it?

I don’t think I’d rewrite any of them? At least half of my fic has been completely rewritten once or twice before it ever gets published so I mostly have it out of my system before anyone else sees it.

S. What’s the sexiest thing you wrote this year?

a wish your heart makes. It may also be the saddest thing I wrote this year which I consider an achievement. (I was asked for smut but I literally do not know how to write just smut without anything else going on in the story.)

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

The importance and nature of family (it is what you make it and not what you were born with! but sometimes you get lucky and get to choose the one you were born with!)! The cost/impact of violence and war! Failure and coming back from failure! The nature of what is right and what is wrong and how much responsibility any one individual bears for the moral direction of their society!!!!

I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that didn’t include at least one of these concepts and most of my stuff deals heavily in at least two of them.

U. Any stories that took a abrupt u-turn from where you thought they were going?

Yep! I was trying to make a stupid joke about a haircut when I started making take back what the kingdom stole but in working my way backward from the joke I ended up with a heartfelt exploration of my character’s past emotional trauma, her character growth, and the nature of friendship and forgiveness.

V. Which story was the most viscerally pleasing to write? Tell us your narrative kinks.

I don’t know that I would necessarily call the sensation pleasing but, once again, the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one was probably the story that made me feel the most, that I was the most connected to. It hit on every single one of the themes I find compelling and I really got to play with telling the story in the white spaces, which is something I really love. I’ve been working a lot on trusting my readers and not over-explaining and I think this story really saw the impact of that work, stylistically. It’s peak self-indulgence honestly.

W. Who are your favorite writers?

Does this mean like authors of original published works or fic writers????? How am I supposed to choose???!!!! Either way my reading habits this year have been abominable. I have really been going through some shit, lifewise, (not bad shit but emotionally consuming and time consuming nonetheless) and I had to let the reading go a little bit.

I have been really into NK Jemisin though. Her stories are complex and challenging and there is so much poetry and power in the straightforward way she tells them. I also was obsessed with the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. The characters were so textured and real with such clear voices and the relationships and ideas were so complex and compelling, yet the story never got weighed down by the heft of the subjects. She has a very light touch as a storyteller that makes her work so easily digestible without making her tale any less impactful or profound.

As for fic…. I’ve got about forty million fics bookmarked, waiting for me to get around to reading them and I am the worst kind of person because I have not yet read any of them. I’m behind on reading one of my very favorite fics right now. I think I’ve read a total of like ten fics this year and straight up probably only read that many because I was doing a bit of beta’ing.

I’m gonna do better in 2019 and I’ll get back to you on all the good shit I’ve read then.

X. What’s your least favorite work of this year?

crapshoot. It was a really old concept that probably would have been better as visual art than a fic but my artistic talents were too limited so I wrote it instead. It could probably stand a little more meat and a lot more polish, but I don’t have the time to try and turn every goofy image in my head into a fictional masterpiece.

Y. Why did you write? For fun, for a friend, for acclaim?

For fame and fortune obviously. It’s why most of my fic is about a super popular ship in an enormous fandom.

Or, y’know… not. I write for fun and because I have to. Because there are stories inside of me I want to tell, ideas I feel compelled to explore, things I need to say. It doesn’t matter if anyone else hears them or likes them; I need to get them out of me. Also it’s a really great way to work through my own emotional turmoil at a safe distance, so I can engage with what vexes me without being consumed by it.

Z. If you could choose one work and immediately finish it, what would it be? How would you end it?

the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one. It’s the most self-indulgent thing I’ve written probably but it means a lot to me and if I knew how it ended I would have finished it months ago. D:

#memery #writing tag #long post #Anonymous

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makeste · 7 years ago

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self-promote as if I were to die

Hey guys, so I’m going to do something I don’t think I've ever done this blatantly on this blog, which is to shamelessly self-promote my own fanfics. And the reason I am doing so is because I have actually written a new fic (see the bottom of this post for more details), for the first time since 2010 (I'm not counting the crack stuff in this case). And I am very excited, but also nervous, because after eight years of inactivity, I’m basically diving into an entirely different fandom landscape. And I think I am currently “known” (so to speak) mostly for my recaps and crackfics, as opposed to a bunch of character studies and angst pieces I wrote like ten fucking years ago lol.

So! These are my fanfic archives:

Archive of our Own

Fanfiction.Net

Livejournal

Themes I tend to write about (and some recs):

Character Studies: When I first started writing KHR stuff, I did a bunch of these. This was back before I had the attention span and confidence to try writing longer fics, but I think these are still pretty good.

Rec:

Dieci Anni - introspective piece on Gokudera and the contrasts between his 14 and 24-year-old selves

Gen: SO MUCH GEN. I love friendship. I mean, like romance too, but I just don’t write much of it.

Rec:

Invincible - 8059 car chase in Italy, because it’s the mafia and you gotta have a car chase at some point damn it

8059 Gen: Yeah I’ve written enough of this that it probably warrants calling it out as a specific genre fave of mine. I will take 8059 friendship in any and all forms. Friendship, fluff, rivals, brothers in arms, partners in crime, shoulders to cry on; you name it and I’ve probably written it.

Rec:

Indeterminism - um. This one is a bit harder to describe. It’s Yamamoto first-person POV, and the premise is that he’s somehow died?? Apparently?? but somehow Gokudera can see and talk to his “ghost” self, and then after a bit they get it into their heads to try and go back in time to stop Yamamoto from ever dying to begin with, and things get really kooky from there because time travel physics yep yep. This is currently my favorite thing that I’ve written up til now.

Angst: For the most part nothing too extreme, but I really dig characters having minor emotional crises and being bailed out by their loyal friends (and/or pragmatic but secretly loving infant tutors).

Rec:

Please Give the Name of the Person Who Referred You - this takes place immediately post-Future Arc and features Tsuna freaking out because he killed someone (Byakuran! Yeah, this was before he inexplicably returned) for the first time ever

First Kills: Another specific genre for you. I’ve written three of these, one for each of the main trio. Idk. They’re in the mob and sometimes I just want them to act like it (but then freak out and wrestle with their emotions after).

Rec:

The Test - and here we have Yamamoto’s first kill, during which he freaks out about how much he is not freaked out, because lol natural born hitman and all that

Being Mean to Yamamoto: The most specific genre of all. I don’t know why I’m so compelled to fuck around with this kid all the time. Probably because he’s so naturally angst-resistant that I just can’t help but want to throw terrible situations at him just to see how he would react if shit ever really hit the fan.

Rec:

Down the Stairs - this is an alternate-timeline fic in which Yamamoto’s dad was killed by the Ninth’s son Enrico, resulting in Yamamoto siding against Tsuna and Gokudera in the resulting Vongola civil war. I will also tell you right now that this features a major character death so if that’s an immediate ‘no’ from anyone I completely understand

Lastly, here’s a barefaced plug for my soon-to-be-posted new fic, because I’ve had this idea in my head for more than six years, and I’ve finally managed to get it all on paper, and it's very, very long, and I put a lot of love and thought and planning into it so fuck modesty. I am a strong, independent woman who... uh...

...SO YEAH, I WROTE A NEW FIC, AND IT FEATURES:

805927 Gen - That's right, all three of these losers. The last two canon arcs did not focus on this trio much, due to having too many additional characters to keep track of, so you can be damn sure I aimed to do otherwise, because I love them.

Post-Series Plot - One of the good things about KHR having ended (sob why does the wound still feel fresh) is that I can take the story in any direction I want to from here and not have to worry about canon trying to undo all of my hard work for once. So this takes place about three months after the end of the series. There are new bad guys and a new threat which is more personal than in previous canon arcs.

Italy - This takes place in motherfucking Italy

Headcanon - Ohhhh man. Okay so have you ever had a headcanon so powerful that you couldn’t escape it and it just grew and grew and eventually became canon!canon to you, but it was also so fucking convoluted that you felt like you couldn’t ever explain it to someone else without writing a 50k word fic about it so you could show how it all would make sense? I’m sure that’s a problem everyone has had. Anyway yeah so this features my giant headcanon which I’ve held secret and safe for more than half a decade but am now finally presenting to the world for approval and/or sound rejection.

Gokudera’s Past - Oh right, and the headcanon is all about Gokudera’s past

27 Character Development - So I also have some thoughts on Tsuna and his steadfast refusal to accept the title of Vongola X even after everything he’s been through, and what it might take for him to begin to change his mind. And this is another thing that I for some reason found easier to explain via a novel-length story rather than just writing meta like normal people. So yeah.

5927 (Friendship) - For ten fucking years I’ve insisted to people that while I endgame 8059, I also totally support 5927. And then I’ve proceeded to write nothing but 8059 content. The problem is that I’ve always thought there was some development missing between Tsuna and Gokudera that was needed in order to truly make it work. But to make that development happen, I needed a massive, angsty plot to act as the impetus. So that’s literally the only reason why I’ve never written 5927 before, but now it is finally happening so strap in. (Though I should repeat that in terms of story this development is strictly gen, like every other damn thing I write.)

A Yamamoto Fight - Oh you bet

Angst - Of fucking course

So! I will be posting part one of that tomorrow. Ha ha ha I hope there is some interest, but if not at least I finally got it out of my brain and it feels fucking good.

ETA: Here's the link to part 1 of Blood of the Covenant over on Archive of our Own: Link.

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #fic #khr fic #sawada tsunayoshi #gokudera hayato #yamamoto takeshi #8059 #805927 #shameless self-promotion #so shameless #'don't worry' I tell myself #'you're just posting links to some of your old works'#'it doesn't come off as egotistical and won't annoy anyone'#'that sounds fake but okay' I reply as I hit the post button and then run

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