tryingthisfangirlthing

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

So both @agent-troi and @electricrogue tagged me in this, the latter on my non-fandom blog under my more universal handle. Thank you!

Tag Game: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don't be shy and share anyway!

The description seems a bit vague on "most recent" and "first lines," but the trend to seems to be "most recently published," and "however many lines starting at the beginning seem to fit," so here goes nothing. :3

From most recent to least:

Unleashing

“Give me your lead?” Kate asked her, gently, and held her hand out. No matter how much Helen insisted she could demand the lead, Kate’s voice always softened, turning a command into a question, and she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

Kate watched Helen, as she asked: watched the way her tongue darted out over her lips, watched the way her lashes flickered as her gaze remained glued to Kate’s slightly curled, softly demanding fingers, watched the way her back straightened, her shoulders drew back. Kate had watched this woman stare down world leaders and charging werewolves, unflinching. Now she watched the ever-proud Helen Magnus struggle, her fingertip wearing an invisible groove in that gold-plated leather loop, and she waited.

Leave Your Mark On Me (It's Proof You're Alive)

"You're here." Kate kneels on Magnus' bed, fingers curled around the nape of her neck, fingers tangled in her hair that refuse to unclench.

"I am." She catches Kate's trickling tears with her lips, catches Kate's gaze with her gentle one.

Kate wrenches her shirt collar over her shoulder, silently pleading.

In The Dark, Let's Play (Close Your Eyes And I Won't Be Me)

She caresses her cheek and slips her thumb into her mouth.

"Miss Corrigan." Kate's accent is off, but Abby's eyes darken anyways.

In the Ring, In the Stall, Dear, For You, I'll Risk It All

Helena walks the tightrope with intimidating ease, setting Myka’s heart thudding. Helena flips off the trapeze into Steve’s waiting arms, and Myka’s stomach swoops. Helena leaps up again to the ribbon, climbing and twisting herself upside down, and Myka inhales softly. No matter how many times she has seen this, seen Helena like this, she is mesmerized.

Gingersnap whiffles against Myka’s shoulder, and she straightens. Her cue. She (or more precisely, the horse) has a cue.

Helena lets herself fall, the ribbon curling and unfurling around her, and Myka unclips the lead from Ginger’s halter. “Go on, boy!”

Bering and Wells Advent, Day #21: Never Masturbate to Thoughts of Your Roommate

Myka was an adult, okay? She had… needs. She had toys, even — adult toys. To help take care of those needs.

And she had rules around taking care of those needs. (She'd been taking care of those needs a lot more often since Helena moved in, and she really didn’t care to think too much about why.)

Rule Number One: Only when she was alone in the apartment. She didn't want to scar her wall-neighbors, and since some people (Pete) didn't always knock… Yeah. Only when she was alone.

Rule Number Two: Not exactly a rule, but — she'd find herself something to read, to get her worked up. Something fictional. She didn't support the pornography industry, and she didn't have any connection to random people on a screen.

She knew what she liked, and she had several bookmarks in an innocuously-labeled folder, and — she had her habits.

Rule Number Two Point Two: No real people, unless she was in a relationship with them. She wasn't some thought-purity-police, but… it felt weird. Celebrities included. They were people, too.

And she'd stuck to Rule Two. Especially Two Point Two. She wasn't going to let her crush get in the way of that.

Bering and Wells Advent, Day #20: Never Take A Trip With Your Crush

Myka tried to tamp down the apprehensiveness that rose in her, as she watched Helena pack her overnight bag into the trunk. The keys jangled in her hand. “Ready?”

“Absolutely.” Helena flashed her a warm smile as she semicircumnavigated the car, and ducked into the passenger seat.

Mrs. Frederic had surprised Myka with the announcement, yesterday, that Helena would be accompanying her as part of her analysis of the hotel’s operations. Myka made the trip every couple of months, to double-check on the cabins and campground that technically belonged to the hotel as a satellite property, and to negotiate with their suppliers for the restaurant for the upcoming quarter. And she couldn’t exactly protest, because, one, it was for work, two, it was for Mrs. Frederic, and three – even if she could have, Mrs. Frederic was always gone before you could even open your mouth to protest anything.

Even though this kind of trip was obviously, terribly, awfully, ripping up the rule about “not being alone with the ridiculously attractive roommate you’re in love with have a crush on” and throwing it out the window, like so much confetti from a moving car.

Myka swallowed, and climbed into the driver’s seat nonetheless.

Dawn of the Dragonborn: Heart of a Hero, Heart of a Predator, Heart of Dovahkiin

The Last Dragonborn was of the cleverest and most graceful of races, and let no man nor mer nor lizardfolk say otherwise. She was Khajiit.

The Roar was once given to the men of Atmora, and they misused it. They returned from Red Mountain with their tails between their legs, and ran to the World's Throat to hide their shame and beg Khenarthi's pardon. Another chance, they were offered, in the Septim Emperor later called Talos. And he sundered the Dragon, broke time itself, with the weapon called Walking-Brass, the great golem Numidium, for the sake of his own glory.

So it was only right, at what might otherwise have been the end of days, that the Dragon-God of Time, Alkosh (or Aka-tosh to the men, or occasionally Auri-el to the mer) gave the Roar to a Khajiit. Thus M'aiq'a received what Dro'Zira was long-ago denied.

And with it she saved Tamriel and all of Nirn many times over.

Treading Softly Across Shifting Sands

James is still standoffish. He can't blame him. (He hadn't been able to confess, savoring stolen moments sitting across a study sipping on the same whiskey, ferocious shame silencing secret bloodlust, hoping against hope against the inevitable unveiling — and knowing far-too-clearly, minute by minute, he was only deepening those future gouges he now sees scarring his beloved's gaze.) 

Helen brings him his medicine every evening. (He'd taken a whole month's worth, once, hoping to kill this damned being that had latched onto him. He was the one who almost died, instead.) She sits with him, and talks with him — stories about Ashley, and the years with James, the precious moments he'd missed that he can scarcely believe she's sharing with him now. Some days she tangles her fingers with his on the sofa cushion, and he aches . Some nights she kisses the corner of his mouth, soft lips whispering against his, and she makes all of the pain worth it.

The Benefits of a (Boy-)Friend

It totally isn't weird to, like, linger around your boyfriend's workplace hoping to catch his boss, right? Right. She just wants to say good things to her, appreciate her expertise, maybe ask for a little advice in distinguishing oneself in one's field. (And God, Abby, pay attention this time, actually hear what she's saying, don't just look at those gorgeous expressive lips and drift on her soft accent… )

She's read Dr. Magnus' dossier, something so classified a legit black sedan had pulled up outside of her office, men in black sliding out with a triple-locked briefcase to linger over her shoulder as she read it, boss and coworkers warned off during with a flashed badge and a few short words, before taking it away again. It was a damn impressive file, too, and she'd been left with a card, with just a telephone number on it, and instructions to notify them if she gained any new information. (She never has — called them, that is.)

- I'll nudge @lavendelhummel @lilolilyr @purlturtle @ladyelysandra @tinknevertalks (though I know you've already been tagged by the same people who tagged me ;3) and anyone else who feels like doing it.

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

Skyblivion did announce they were planning to release in 2025. Two years ago.

Anyways go support the Skyblivion team.

Am I the only one who thinks it's WILDLY cruel of Bethesda to come out with an official Oblivion remaster NOW, after fans have spent more than ten years and COUNTLESS volunteer hours making the Skyblivion remaster piece by piece?

If I remember correctly, Skyblivion was supposed to release this year too, and Bethesda just swoops in like "nope fuck you and all of your hard work." I've seen the official statement from the Skyblivion team and they're being extremely gracious about it all, but jesus fuck that's just SO shitty.

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

So I might have written a fic about this. About him not being able to stand seeing her die.

(And then I turned it into smut, because I'm me. 😂)

“in the end, they all leave me” OK BUT ACTUALLY THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE HE’S IMMORTAL AND EVERYONE WILL LEAVE HIM EVENTUALLY EVEN HELEN BECAUSE SHE’S TECHNICALLY NOT IMMORTAL OH GOD HELP

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

actually i kind of love the semi-subversion of the “immortality has a price” trope. mortality also has a price and in the sanctuary universe that price is evidently a zombie apocalypse

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

Come back, I have to tell you the plot of a fic I’ll never write and get you excited about it so we can all be disappointed with me later

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

hobbies include: close reading the Redwall series to answer my most burning questions. such as:

- can I replicate any of these delicious-sounding foodstuffs and would they in fact be delicious if I was able to

- corollary to the above: are we just supposed to read “oat cream” and “nut cheese” every time we see the words “cream” and “cheese”? I think so. bc if not, what tha hell are their livestock animals

- what is Society like? I don’t think we ever see a Mouse City or even Mouse Town though we do see castles and obviously an abbey. are we supposed to believe that most creatures are either in wandering bands or these societies based around a single structure (castle/abbey?)

- they appear to have an idea of what currency is (the bad guys always want treasure — maybe just to have, not to sell? but less ambiguous is some dialogue I just read, “acorn for your thoughts?” “you can have them for free”) but again, we never see anyone using money or making goods for the market. is this after the fall of Mouse Capitalism? are the bad guys (the idea of rat pirates gives me a headache, vis a vis the political/economic systems needed to power piracy) raiding preindustrial mouse societies for treasure/meat?

- corollary to the above: the abbey creatures have oats and wheat but we don’t see anybody farming or trading for farm goods on a large enough scale. is the abbey “orchard” really a like an indigenous forest farm of mixed foodstuffs? is that possible if you live in the same place the whole year or only if you travel each season? I have to do some googling

- both the lack of mixed-species families and the idea of mixed-species families give me a headache. has a squirrel never fallen for a handsome otter? what is the culture shock like if you marry into a subterranean mole family?

- this is the least “important” question but this read through I’ve been desperately trying to figure out What Size Everything Else Is. i’ve come to the conclusion that everything other than animals are at mouse scale, given that they can make seaworthy vessels their own size (a mouse sized vessel with real-world-sized waves seems impossible) and pick and eat apples and plums. but so far it seems like they’ve avoided mentioning how tall trees are — like a person compared to a tree or a mouse compared to a tree?

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

It's not just that. Jacques grew up with a certain amount of food insecurity rationing, as another poster pointed out — dude was born in 1939. So lots of food meant peace and happiness and plenty. The feasts weren't just for his audience, but for himself, too, a signal that Redwall was a haven in more ways than one. Everyone shares. Big appetites are not really shamed but treated by the narrative with a bit of humor and provided for too. Jacques liked thinking about and imagining the food and feasts and all of that, too.

guys I had this realization the other day that Redwall works really well for reading aloud, and kinda half-remembered something about the author reading to kids? So I looked it up to see if I had made a connection.

And it turns out, yes, actually, because he read aloud to kids at a school for the blind. But all the books they gave him to read were depressing. So he wrote Redwall, a story about heroism and courage and making it through struggles, and filled it with so many sensory, visual details so he could give them something better and I just-- that's so wholesome-- help

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

The Fox of Marseille by @gwennhadu-bug

One of the best Alyanette fics I've read. Heed the content warnings, but damn, so good.

So many complex dynamics between everyone, touching on social issues and differing approaches to crime and punishment, spotlighting Alya's journalism career, genuine Parisian and French flavor to the fic that was super interesting and immersive to me. And of course Alyanette, with a super cute setup, and Renabug as a bit of a slowburn enemies-to-lovers ship, instead.

hey tumblr can anyone suggest some good alyanette fics please 😭😭😭 i can't find any good ones on ao3. i found like one but it was only a oneshot... are there no good long alya×marinette fanfictions?? is it that unpopular of a ship?

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

"it's you. it's always been you." but said in a resigned tone. tired, giving into persistent ache, accepting it as a truth. almost comfortable in unrequited feelings, but unable to keep it to oneself any longer

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

#how exactly is one meant to propose without a doomsday device?

^ @tinknevertalks's tags

Fair. I mean, that's certainly what would go through Nikola's mind. Death Ray in WW2 Era, Nuclear Anti-Vampire Map to Praxis...

There is a 50/50 chance that leaving the Arch Mage and Head Scientist alone in a room together will result in either a marriage proposal or a doomsday device. More likely both.

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

Thinking about androids with disabilities. Weak servos, faulty wiring, damaged vocal processors, cognitive corruption, anything and everything that humans struggle with having a robotic equivalent. And just because they’re mechanical doesn’t mean it’s an easy fix, these are parts that cost thousands of dollars and need a specialized technician if they can be replaced at all. Disability does not disappear even if we can leave our flesh behind.

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

Please imagine some warrior culture (e.g. Klingons) getting super into video game esports in a relatively war-less setting and just getting insane about it

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

hate when I finish a really brutal movie that shakes me to my core and then I can’t even recommend it to people. like it’s incredible and everyone should see it but also I have to slap 3,000 warnings on it and tell you you’re gonna feel like shit

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

my punchy berserker Rore

[tryingthisfangirlthing]

My name is Helga Sinclair. I’m acting on behalf of my employer, who has a most intriguing proposition for you. Are you interested?

ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001)