#Even in rockie fics I don't feel like she always has much depth?

[lipglossboy]

honestly can we consider the circumstances surrounding Vickie returning fast times at ridgemond high with it paused on boobs?

So maybe she watched it and then went back to pause on that frame to stare at it. Questioning teen girl in the 80s it makes sense.

But then how did she not think to rewind before returning it that way? She has to know her peers work there and they'll be the ones to see it when they're doing rewinds?

Maybe it was like, she had it up and then oops her dad or boyfriend or someone shows up. Quickly! Take it out of the VHR before he sees! And then she forgot to rewind it before returning it. Or like, someone was doing her a favor and returned it for her before she could.

These passing details about Vicky make her low-key mysterious but I don't think it'll take us anywhere in canon (we don't have time for that anyway). She doesn't like, come across as mysterious but our collection of knowledge about her is interesting.

I kinda wanna characterize her as insecure and like, that's why she kind of tries to emulate molly ringwald lol. And that kind of gives some depth to the whole pausing on boobs thing. Just see her alone like struggling with these feelings (maybe for Robin!) and trying to test her own sexuality by staring at boobs lol. That makes the whole exchange in The War Zone more interesting too! Like she's struggling with her sexuality, specifically her feelings for Robin, and then suddenly Robin sees her being kissed by her boyfriend and she's like caught between these two worlds. The world with her boyfriend being kinda like, the familiar but increasingly unfitting, and the world of Robin being increasingly appealing yet scary and maybe even lonely (bc she only thinks her feelings are her own). But it doesn't feel lonely when she's actually With Robin! It feels all wrong, however, having those two worlds cross. They're not meant to. It's like even robin somehow knows since she runs away.

Also maybe Vickie's tendency to mimic out of an insecure sense of self is why in her nervous state she kind of emulates Robin.

Also don't get me started on her being casually in the War Zone? So much to unpack there. Is her boyfriend a big gun guy? She seemed pretty at home there lol enjoying herself. I forget if she was looking at something specific. Maybe someone in her family used to take her camping or taught her archery or something and she was Reminiscing while waiting for her bf to pick up whatever he needed. What did he need? Honestly who knows. I would say maybe he wanted to buy a gun bc recent events made him want to protect himself/Vickie, but she seemed so casual and chill it just wouldn't be fitting for that kind of shopping trip. I know the duffers like to play fast and loose with tone and the gravity of situations but I don't have to.

[daisychainsandbowties]

😏 top 5 favorite star wars droid scenes (can be from either canon or even fanfic)

i haven’t read very much star wars fic at all (actually only one short fic about B1 droids and… well, 🥰 some super secret very exciting and amazing work by a friend which would 100% make this list if not for the veil of wip mystery) so i will be pulling these from canon!

1. BD-1 is probably the droid of all time to me (like,, he's an expedition droid he's basically that two-legged cat video 🥺 he saves cal multiple times and the two of them are both so alone before they find each other it's!!! THE mood as far as droids go for me). really hard to pick just one scene but probably the scene on ilum because of how that whole level acts as a crucible for their relationship. cal at his lowest and BD-1 showing him that love is risky and cal i think understanding that being a jedi is about taking the risk in loving something (the world, people), and understanding that the risk belongs to you and any hurt that comes from love never gives you permission to lash out at innocent people. (you can however murder fascists the jedi code permits this)

something about the thesis statement of that game as forgiveness and sort of saying 'it makes sense that you were afraid. it makes sense that you were angry, and here's a hand reaching out to touch you despite it all. the empire is everywhere and here, in this outstretched hand, there's gentleness despite it all.' ANYWAY yes BD-1 in that scene and the moment they become inseparable just... always makes me cry.

look at BD's little face. we are best friends now 🥰

*andor spoilers for number 2*

2. that scene in andor after [redacted] where the camera focuses in on B2EMO, the dialogue washed out and faint and you can just feel his grief. i love what everything Cassian-adjacent has done for droids, but it absolutely broke me to hear B2 say "i don't want to be alone. I want m-m-maarva." that scene as cementing the depth of feeling that droids are capable of... the way B2 is treated by the narrative and by those around him. spoken to like he's maarva's other son and not just her droid.

3. everything K-2SO says in rogue one but especially the scene where he's like "Jyn... I'll be there for you" and there's this extremely heartwarming music playing and then he goes 😐 "Cassian said I had to." 🙄

4. when C-3P0 and R2 crash land on tatooine and 3P0 does nothing but whine and complain. basically

the whole

"where do you think you're going?!"

"well, i'm not going that way."

"it's much too rocky! this way is much easier."

then kicking R2 and storming off and R2 just like "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 'guess you'll die' and rolling away peacefully, humming to itself. then C3PO lost in the desert muttering "!! he tricked me into going this way" 😡

5. oooo i'm going to be gay and say another BD-1 scene. this is during the Trilla fight on Zeffo where she (good for her. valid of her. always) Force-yeets you across the room and is about to do a very beautiful again very valid downward strike to finish you off and BD-1 activates a particle shield between you and her. heroic work by BD because it triggers by far the best Trilla scene, even including the opening fight on Bracca. look at his smug little face he loves cal so much 🥺

[themagiciansreccenter]

The Great Blank Spot: knowledgekid

So much goes into creating fanfiction even before the first words hit the paper. And in-depth spotlight on our writers and the process behind their work.

Tell us about your current project.  

The 39 Grave Project: we're writing every timeline. I have timeline 11.

The fics are finally posted from The Trials. Did you participate?

No, I wasn't writing fanfic then or I totally would have!

What is your current word count?

94909

Do you try to write daily? Do you have a word count or other goals you try to hit for each writing session?

I wake up at 5 am every single morning and write for about 4 hours. This doesn't count the work I do in the evenings. All of it is a mix of professional work (gotta pay the bills), OG work, and fic. I just keep writing. I get bitchy when I have to edit instead of actually writing. 

What was the inspiration for this fic?

I got the idea from the stipulations they gave me. The more I thought about them, the more I realized that this was the way the story needed to happen on a thematic level. Though I have to credit my husband for telling me the ending. He looked and me and was like, "Duh, this is what happens." And I was like, oh, yeah, that. Obviously. 

How do you stay motivated between chapters/stories?

I don't. I'm never in between anything. I always have something to do. 

Did this fic require any research? How much research do you typically do for your fics?

39 Graves required a lot of questions to a lot of people who know the universe better than me: like, I was informed I needed magic mushrooms to do one spell, and exactly how to cast a probability spell. 

The amount of research I do depends on the fic. I am working on another one right now that's seriously research intensive because it's VERY time-dependent: I need to know EXACTLY how much time passes between events in the show. So I have to go online and bug Theo into telling me. 

Do you typically write ahead or post as you go?

I post as I go, though I try to know where I'm going with something. A lot of the time I don't, though, which is a big part of the fun. 

How much planning and outlining did you do before you started putting words on paper?

Some? I'm not a planner or an outliner. I have very bad ADHD and that kind of stuff frankly freaks me out. I did enough that I knew how stuff was going to work out --- I like solved my major plot dilemmas -- and that's about it. 

Has it been pretty smooth sailing or rough waters? When things get rocky, how do you handle needing to rewrite sections or scrap scenes entirely?

This particular fic was super easy to get through. I knew the characters and where they needed to go and they went there pretty well, except for the excerpt I'm about to share: that was like fucking banging barbie dolls together until I got together and talked it out with a friend, which is what I tend to do when things get rough with either my fic or my OG work. I send up a distress signal to another writer like "This is my issue, WTF do I do now?" and usually @thevolunteertomato or @hoteldestiel can fix it for me. 

Excerpt

Their feet crunch on the grass. It’s one of the first frosts of the year, and it’s cold tonight, the wind whispering through the trees. Quentin takes off his jacket and drops it over Jules. She gives him a half smile he can see in the slanting white moonlight. His stomach is sinking and fluttering at the same time. He feels like a stupid preteen at his first middle school dance. “Do we do this, then?” 

She looks up at him, and she’s all big, dark eyes. “If we want to bring Penny back, we do. And if it makes you feel better, I trust you, Quentin.” 

“I trust you too, Jules, it’s not about that, it’s —” 

“I love you, Quentin.” 

“I love you, too, Jules. But we both have —” 

“And sometimes saving the world means making some sacrifices. Come on.” She takes him by the hand. “I promise it won’t hurt. Let’s go be sex heroes.” 

Anything else you want to add/think we should cover?

This fic has Julia and Quentin, as kids, specifically getting rainbow sprinkles on things all the time. This was written pre-Season 4 and now it has all kinds of terrible associations that make it totally hilarious. I refuse to change it.

The Great Blank Spot is an in-depth spotlight focusing on the writing process and previewing in-progress fics for our fandom. It is meant to be an organic, ever-evolving feature. Previously interviewed fic writers can reach out to us here, to have a specific work featured. If you’d like to have a work featured but haven’t done the author spotlight, reach out to us to get started. If you have suggestions for questions you’d like to see answered, shoot us an ask!

Screenshot credit to @highkingfen