#so it is true what they say about getting weirdly more inspirations for your OTPS whenever canon doesn't satisfy you pargporekgpoaek

[maburito]

ANYWAYS

Checkmateys meeting : Weiss and Blake are both pirates queens. Blake crew is only composed of faunus, Weiss crew is made of both humans and faunus cos she’s not like her father and is constantly stealing his ships to piss him off

They both meet when Weiss and Blake crew accidentally end up searching for the same treasure. At first they both fights each other to see who will get the treasure but when douchebag commander of Jacques Schnee float Cardin Winchester ends up taking it, they allies with each other to get it back and stuff it to Jacques-ass Schnee

[atamascolily]

Lily liveblogs: “Resistance Reborn,” part four

When we last left off, Finn and Poe and friends were about to go to a birthday party for one of Maz's smugger friends who has the list macguffin they're after. Please note they're not actually crashing this party for once - Maz got them actual invitations, lol.

Meanwhile, Bratt the Brat comes back to the office and beats Yama to a pulp, only to be taken aback when his superiors commend her for her loyalty in reporting Monti's theft. But he's offered a chance to prove his loyalty if he can fix the mess, even though he's still in denial about Yama and Monti's true allegiances because he’s a sexist asshole.  

The party is awesome - ocean and fish and rich people and smugglers, with the First Order providing security (??). Poe and Finn eat a bunch of sea-themed canapes and banter. It's delightful and I want entire fics of this instead of, like, three pages. They had to bring presents, and one of the other members of Poe's team got the gifts, so it's a surprise to him too when the birthday girl opens it, but it's a dwarf lylek, a spiky hermit-crab/praying mantis creature that stays small "as long as you don't feed it flesh".

The guest of honor is delighted because--who would have guessed?--she used to be an entomologist! I love her, and I'm kinda sad she's a throwaway character, because she's a member of the Collective, the Corellian techie version of antifa, which sounds wayyyy more interesting than the actual book.  

(I was also hoping that the lylek would start devouring canapes when the First Order inevitably breaks up the party and the shooting starts, only for the lylek to get HUGE and start going after stormtroopers... but alas, no, that doesn't happen either. DON'T TEASE ME LIKE THAT, OKAY??)

There's an auction to get the list macguffin as a fundraiser for the Collective and Poe is trying to figure out what the trick is because they're rapidly running out of cash. CorSec breaks up the party in the name of the First Order, which is weird because I thought the FO was providing security, but whatever.

Wedge, Norra, Snap, and Tasa Nasz, the ex-Imperial badass, go to the shipyards to steal ships for the Resistance. There's a Baleen-class freighter, and I love it. They run into Yama Dee, badly injured from Bratt's beating, and we learn that Yama is 15, so Bratt isn't just an abusive asshole, he's a child abuser, ughhh. Our heroes are rightly incensed and vow to help Yama, who is uniquely positioned to give them what they need.

Leia and Rey are sitting around on Ryloth, when... Rey has a bad feeling seconds before the First Order starts taking over (for totally unrelated reasons) and the Resistance forces have to GTFO.

Back at the party, the birthday girl is devastated because her husband was shot in front of her, so she agrees to give Poe the list macguffin for revenge (it's hidden in her jewelry in the form of a snake, which is a nice touch). They jump into a pool to escape the FO, and Finn hauls them out. Poe is afraid she's lost the necklace, but it turns out to come when called, which everyone agrees is awesome.

Bratt attacks the FO officer accusing him of treason and runs back to his office to track down information about Monti the Traitor--only to find Wedge and company with Yama and the escaped prisoners (including Leia's old political friend). Yama confronts Bratt, who denies everything, and Yama is appalled when she realizes she's parrotting his exact same arguments, that she is becoming the same as her abuser.

They fight, only to be interrupted by Teza, who is unsympathetic when she learns Bratt is the one who beat Yama in the first place. She tells Bratt he has a choice: either let Yama continue the beatdown, or she shoots him. Bratt is aghast at the idea of letting Yama beat him, so Teza shoots him and he bleeds out on the floor in astonishment while everyone else walks out. Leia's senatorial friend tries to offer him a hand up, but Bratt bats it away and dies alone and confused.

(Please note that the main reason the ex-Imperial comes along seems to be so she can be the agent of divine justice without our "good" heroes having to get their hands dirty. For all that ST fans like to talk about "edginess" and "grey Jedi" and "moral complexity" in TLJ, this is still Star Wars and our heroes don't shoot (usually) shoot people at point-blank range and leave them to die even when they're assholes.)

Wedge and company meet up with Poe and company, who have lost their own ship, so they steal a FO shuttle and escape with the prisoners and the full list. Since Ryloth is no longer safe, Poe makes a deal with the Collective for a safe haven in exchange for the rest of their credits.

Leia and her old friend have a tearful reunion. Poe makes an inspiring speech about scattering to the winds to become the spark that will burn the FO down. I don't know how much sense that makes in terms of strategy and tactics, but everybody is impressed. Poe has overcome all his angst about Crait and is happy to be--in charge? Second in command? I have no idea how the chain of command even works right now.

Wedge and Norra leave to do their own stuff; Snap wants to go with them, but Poe won't let him. Finn says he's coming with Poe, and that's Rey's cue to show up.

"Where are we going?" Both men turned to find Rey, looking expectant.

Finn grinned. "I didn't want to ask."

Rey grinned back. "You didn't have to."

The two friends laughed, leaning in to touch shoulders in acknowledgment. Rey looked at Poe, eyes narrowed as if unsure. "You don't mind?"

Poe pressed a hand to his heart, giving Rey a small bow. "I'm honored."

She flushed, pleased as he'd hoped she would be.

This is great, and I love it, but this doesn't have as much emotional resonance as it could have because THIS IS LITERALLY THE SECOND TIME IN THIS BOOK THAT ALL THREE OF THEM HAVE BEEN IN THE SAME ROOM WITH EACH OTHER AND REY AND POE HAVE SPOKEN TO EACH OTHER and so it feels like... it wasn't really earned??

Leia is smiling at the three of them in satisfaction because "the Resistance is in good hands" and "she's got us".

Poe slung an arm around Finn's shoulders and pulled Rey in close on the opposite side.

"That's right, Poe said. She's got us.

"Now let's go and save the galaxy."

Again, this is all A++ good, but I don't feel like any of this has been earned. At all. Like, does Poe know anything about why Leia believes in Rey, what Rey can do? They're just all friends now because of Finn even though Poe and Rey barely know each other?? Is he this affectionate with everyone?? I don't mind this closeness, but... it would have been nice to have more of this earlier so it doesn't feel so out of the blue and forced.

Also, what did this book accomplish? So the Resistance has some ships now. It has a few more fighters, they freed a bunch of influential prisoners from the New Republic that the First Order had taken into custody, and they have a list of current and future targets to warn. And they're not dead yet, so that's good.

But Leia and Rey barely got to do anything in this book, Rose is barely there at all, and Finn is only tangentially involved at the end. Most of the plot features Poe, Wedge, and occasionally other characters like Bratt, Snap, and Dross Squadron.

So despite the marketing, which makes it sound like this is an All-Resistance Adventure featuring our main trio, I would say Poe is the protagonist, because he's the only one with a character arc: moving from depressed and angsty over the failed mutiny at Crait to letting go of his failures and moving on to be a leader. There's also a smaller arc with Wedge moving from retired warrior and active farmer back to warrior again, but it's much less nuanced.

Outside of that, though, the book feels like it's tugging in too many direction and not going anywhere near the ones I find most interesting. There are lots of characters I'm expected to care about who are not in the films, and little in the narrative itself makes me want to. (The only reason I know about Leia's friend, for instance, is because I read a summary of Bloodline on Wookieepeedia.) It feels like Disney made a very deliberate decision to make all the plotlines 100% more convoluted and confusing than they needed to be, just so you'd read/buy all the supplementary material, and that is a... choice, I guess. But it makes me grumpy.

Honestly, if I wasn't writing a ST fix-it fic, I wouldn't have bothered with this. I found Resistance Reborn to be adequate, but mostly unexceptional, and occasionally frustrating. The few really delightful bits are when major movie characters are together in the same room, but that is weirdly and woefully rare, and I honestly do not understand what the story group/Disney was thinking here in not making those the meat of the book.

Question: who is Disney's target audience for this book? I'm honestly not sure, and I'm not sure they know, either, and I think this book demonstrates that. Which is... really weird for a billion-dollar corporation intent on milking every last cent out of the franchise, that's all. I don't get it. 

TL;DR:

The Good:

Stormpilot feels (brotp or otp depending on your preferred ship)

the Collective (Corellian techie antifa) 

Poe’s fabulous hair

fancy dress party heist

Wedge’s garden and space chickens

barely any mention of Kylo Ren whatsoever

The Meh:

loads and loads of characters that are not in the movies and therefore hard to keep track of or care

macguffin plot macguffin

cooler plot threads and story ideas are teased and never followed up on (in this book, at least)

The WTF:

movie characters barely interact with each other

assuming they have a role at all

does any of this matter?

feels like filler

[sybilius]

dnd alignment chart: fanfic writer craft

not-exactly sort-of requested by @wordwenching, a DND alignment chart for writing fanfic -- most that I’ve seen are based on length and completion, but this one is more based on fandom-closeness and craft, tagging and authorial intent. 

*

lawful good: Canon-close fic that really fills in unexplained parts of the lore, explores relationships that demand more attention, or fleshes out characters that seem interesting. Detailed tags, you know exactly what you’re getting here.  

neutral good: Well-written shipping fic that pulls out the emotional stops effectively. In the case of a short fic, a PWP that secretly has a really meaningful plot while also being hot. In the case of a long fic, a really satisfying ship arc plus a beta-plot that fleshes out some of the minor relationships between secondary characters. Stays in canon but might play fast and loose with the lore. Manages to tag so you know what you’re getting but doesn’t have spoilers.  

chaotic good: Skillful aus/crossovers that slot nicely or unexpectedly into canon, or well-done kink-focused fic. Generally the kind of fic you’re skeptical of on clicking the link, but once you read it you can’t stop thinking about it and how well it fits the characters. Tags don’t really describe the fic that well but all triggers are appropriately tagged. 

*

lawful neutral: Dull canon-close fic. Often one-shots focusing on secondary characters that you think on click “oh, I want to know more about this character” but by the end of the fic the only emotion you can manage is a shrug. Tags are very good, you should have known this would be better in your head. 

true neutral: Smutfic, or trope-heavy shipping fic. Think “the kind of fanfic people think of when they think of fanfic”. A few moments in this fic won’t be your cup of tea, but it will also make you swoon a little and give you what you’re after for your OTP. A good fic to read when you’re early on the ship. Tags start to ramble with the author just sorta thinking out loud. 

chaotic neutral: Crackfic, or smutfic with specific au tropes (Omegaverse, soulmate au, wingfic, etc). Most of these will, like true neutral, have a fair spread of moments that are kinda eeeehhh, and moments that make you feel the feels (or laugh out loud, in the case of crackfic). I’d also put self-insert and Mary Sue/Gary Stu fic in this category, because I don’t think of those as inherently evil forms of fic-- just ones that are too inexperienced or too busy projecting to care much about craft. Don’t like, don’t read :) A ridiculous amount of tags, gets the triggers but you probably missed them because of how many tags there are.

*

lawful evil: spitefic or purity wank fic. These are the fics that feel like they were written for ‘woke points’ or specifically as a rebuttal to popular fanon. That’s not to say going against fanon is a bad thing, and sometimes what looks like a lawful evil fic is actually a chaotic good fic. But if you walk away from a fic with more guilt than enjoyment, or feeling like a character was weirdly enshrined for reasons that make you uncomfortable....welll..... this is it. Tagged very specifically. 

neutral evil: Stolen or translated without credit fic. If it sounds like you’ve heard this before but better, well, you have :( . To clarify I definitely don’t think that writing fic inspired by another person’s works is inherently evil but!! Ao3 has the “inspired by” button for a reason! No tags.

chaotic evil: untagged hardcore kink, or fics written to clog up a tag as part of a ship war. Don’t fucking do this. 

[purenguyening]

1, 5 and 11 (Salty ask list for Touhou)

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

In terms of why people are drawn to the ship, the list that fall into this category is very short. Usually crack/joke pairings I don’t really give much thought because more often than not it’s just light-hearted fun.

I’d say Aya/Cirno is a weirdly popular ship on the JPN side of the fandom and I can’t really see the appeal too much. I’ve always thought of them more as hype buddies when HSiFS was announced.

2. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

I don’t know if ‘ruined’ is quite the right word...but I have a very hard time getting invested into Miko/Tojiko. Generally when I’ve tried to see the appeal almost always the first one is: Prince Shoutoku and Tojiko no Iratsume were married (i.e. they’re canon because their real life figures were married).

Normally that on it’s own isn’t enough to deter me, but there’s not really a follow up to it? Like, marriage is often treated as the end point in establishing the relationship instead of the beginning.

I say this because usually marriage in that time period were arranged political marriages. With this thought going along with above, it’s a hard for me to stay invested. Side step the fact an arranged marriage was floated to me in the past. Generally I have a hard time getting too attached to ships that rely on the marriage argument (really dependent on the time, marriage out of love is a fairly recent phenomena).

Futo/Tojiko was also somewhat in this camp because it was fairly common for people to interpret Futo as Mononobe no Futsalhime and Tojiko as Tojiko no Iratsume. But I learned to stop caring because both Futo and Tojiko have more than one source of inspiration and the ship made me happy. Though the rule about me wanting to avoid using they’re married (I believe Soga no Umako + Mononobe no Futsalhime is the usual pair associated) also holds true for them as well. Hence why in the my ship in five minutes meme I responded the proposal with this.

3. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Is there an unpopular character in Touhou? I think nearly all Touhou characters have their fans. All of them have also experienced some sort of flanderization or another.

I really like Hatate (mostly because she’s a fun character to draw, even though I still kinda think I’m not consistent enough to draw her with my own charm to her...yet) though there’s some were animosity towards her (IMO unwarranted). 

I’m also just weirdly attached to Lily White, but that might because of the amount of hours I’ve dumped into Great Fairy Wars (Lily White getting a portrait when?) High-key I want a 2nd Great Fair Wars so that Clownpiece and Eternity get added in and maybe Lily can finally get a portrait.