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tozettastone · 3 months ago

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Fantasy Novels Recommended By Vibes

A note about warnings and assumptions: I have given no content warnings, but most of these books have them, usually for violence or sexism. Except the middle grade books. I have assumed everyone knows who Tolkien and Jordan and Le Guin and GRRM are and does not require me to recommend them once more. I have also assumed that everyone following me has read and enjoyed the trashiest of fanfiction at some point or other.

Now, let's go.

"I want something that feels like reading the unhinged fanfiction of a 16 year old girl, but written by and for adults so the sex scenes don't make me feel deeply uncomfortable."

Oh boy. Okay. Don't worry, I've got you.

The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. High fantasy. If you like to categorise things you will love the worldbuilding in this. Weird and gender essentialist, although not in the way you might expect.

The Merry Gentry series by L K Hamilton. Urban fantasy. Degrades in quality over time. I would say: read the first two, and then continue at your discretion depending on your tolerance.

"Do you have a version of this that is not quite so focused on sex as worldbuilding?"

I do, I do. Not everything that reads like unhinged fanfiction must automatically contain smut.

A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. It's billed as adult fantasy, but it reads like YA. If you like 2010s fanfiction and wish it were better written more often, you'll love these two.

Any book by Mercedes Lackey will read exactly like fanfiction. I make no comments as to technical quality, but if you like hurt/comfort idfic, you will like these. If you're looking for a zero-romance, one-book introduction to these books, I'd try Brightly Burning.

"That's still a bit too adult. I want something that's fine to read with kids, too!"

Sure! Fantasy loves YA and kids' books, haha.

The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper. Middle grade fantasy, leaning heavily on English folklore.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. Young adult urban fantasy. Concerned with the legacy of slavery in the US.

The Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix. Young adult high fantasy. The pacing is strong, the worldbuilding is rad.

Tithe by Holly Black. Young adult fantasy. Her later books are better loved but I reread Tithe and then went and read The Cruel Prince for the first time this year and Tithe is better.

The Tortall books by Tamora Pierce. I like The Immortals, but reasonable minds will differ on this one. Middle grade high fantasy.

The Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan. High fantasy, young adult.

"Okay, now I want young adult fantasy like that, but weird."

Weird. Hmm. Okay. Try:

The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce. Horror and fantasy, young adult, but not like... too young an adult. Give it to a 15 year old, not a 10 year old.

"That's... too weird. Put some weird back. I want something suitable for teens that's committed to the aesthetics of weirdness, but is not actually weird."

Alright, here are a couple:

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz. Historical fantasy, definitely young adult. The grizzly aesthetics of 19th century graverobbing are a gossamer veil over a cute, but not particularly sophisticated, YA novel.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Middle grade fantasy. Less weird than it thinks it is, but still fun to read.

"Enough kids' stuff. I want fast-moving urban fantasy!"

Urban fantasy occupies a weird nexus between fantasy and detective noir, which I'm kinda into. Here are my suggestions:

I think everyone who wants urban fantasy is probably aware of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, but I'll put it here anyway because there's a big fandom for the Dresden Files so if you stick it out for a bit you get access to all the fics. The first one will take you 3.5 hours and if you don't like it, move on — the writing doesn't really change. Also has a TV series.

The Felix Castor novels by Mike Carey. Urban fantasy, a little more grim, but definitely better written.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Urban fantasy. Main character is a police officer. I recently finished the first of these books and it was pretty fun, but I can't speak to the remainder of the series.

"Tozette, I fucking loved True Blood."

You're in luck, I can make this a whole category.

I bet you've heard of the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris already, but if you haven't, it's what the TV series was based on. Urban fantasy, but actually kind of rural.

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by L K Hamilton. Urban fantasy. Another LKH series that starts fun and degrades rapidly. The first three are fun, they come in an omnibus. I was obsessed with this series when I was 17, which both is and isn't a recommendation. Again, this series has a large fandom.

Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong. Urban fantasy. The rest of the Women of the Otherworld series is hit or miss for me, but I do recall liking No Humans Involved.

The Blood Books by Tanya Huff. Urban fantasy. Read if you've ever wished Harry Dresden was female. Also has a TV series!

"Do you have some traditional high fantasy recommendations that aren't Tolkien, Robert Jordan, GRRM, or Ursula K Le Guin? Please?"

Absolutely. Of course. One hundred per cent.

The Elenium trilogy by David & Leigh Eddings. High fantasy. Technically there's also a sequel trilogy, but it's not as good.

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. High fantasy. Lots of high fantasy politics.

Urshurak by The Bros. Hildebrandt. High fantasy. Extremely Tolkien inspired but with more amazon women in metal bikinis.

The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon. High fantasy. There's four of them and while I wouldn't say they're my favourite books ever, I do think they're a solid, competently written high fantasy series that will stop you from contemplating the horrors of reality for at least three days.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. High fantasy. A great rearrangement of European folklore. I struggled with the representations of women, personally, but they're well constructed stories.

"Recommend something that's fantasy but feels like a totally different genre."

Okay. I can do that. Here you go:

The Chronicles of the Crystal Singers of Ballybran by Anne McCaffrey. It's a trilogy that's set in space and therefore engages with a sci-fi kind of vibe, but if you scratch the surface, the trilogy is fantasy all the way down.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by HP Lovecraft. Horror, but also historical fantasy.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. The first three books of the Thursday Next series are gold, actually, but start here. This is about a literary detective living in an alternative history setting. Fantasy, but ideal for people who are going to get the rapid fire literary references.

"Tozette, what if you just recommend a single fantasy book, writer, or series, with your whole heart?"

My WHOLE heart? Okay. Here:

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Johannes Cabal the Detective, and Johannes Cabal: the Fear Institute by Jonathan L Howard are each different subgenres of fantasy, and all three of them are absolute fucking bangers. They are the best books on this list according to me. I love them.

#books and reading #fantasy books #fantasy #fiction #book recommendations

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bakanokiwami · 2 years ago

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TOP 10 BOOKS ON FANFICTION.NET BASED ON NUMBER OF FANFICTION (1999-2022)

To make this bar chart race, all series titles in the Books Section on November 29 (or the closest date to it) of every year were copy-pasted from Wayback Machine to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then inputted to Flourish to turn into a bar chart race.

Hitchhiker's Guide to [...] is short for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Romance of the 3 [...] is short for Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.

In 2000-2003, FFN used Miscellaneous Novels as a catch-all tag for all books that didn’t have their own category yet. It was then renamed to Misc. Books in 2004-2007 before it was removed by 2008.

In 1999, fanfiction weren’t divided into sections like Anime/Manga, TV, Books, etc. yet. It was just a small list of mixed fandoms.

Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles was actually in third place in the year 2000 with 126 fanfiction. However, it was the only year FFN had fanfiction for her works, that’s why it doesn’t turn up in the bar chart race.

In 2001, a new category called Harry Potter Author Fics��was in 4th place with 888 fanfiction, but this category was removed by the following year.

FFN also hosted Vampire Hunter fanfiction in 2001-2002, but was later on removed because its author L. K. Hamilton didn't want fanfiction of her works.

The Tamora Pierce category was in the Books Section from 2001-2009 as a catch-all category for Pierce’s works before it was removed by 2009.

Similarly, the L.J. Smith category was in the Books Section from 2000-2007 as a catch-all category for Smith’s works before it was removed sometime in 2009.

I've decided to keep the author categories in the bar chart race since most if not all of their series did not get their own category until their author's category was removed.

Originally, the fanfiction list was sorted alphabetically too, but was changed to number of fics at around early 2013.

By November 2013, FFN started abbreviating numbers above 1,000 to K, so exact numbers aren't available for series with more than 1,000 fanfiction.

This bar chart was made with the assumption that the numbers listed in the Books section are correct. I can't seem to get the same numbers for some of these series when I go to the specific series' page and toggle ratings, other filters, and language to All though... I'm not sure where the discrepancy is coming from. (And it’s not the crossover fic numbers that need to be added to serie’s total fics from what I’ve observed.)

For example, HP currently has 844k fanfiction, but if you go to HP’s page and toggle ratings, other filters, and language to All, you’ll only get 800k fics. HP also has 51.3K crossover fanfiction, but adding those two still doesn’t equate to 844k...

Please refer to this post for more bar chart races.

Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏

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jesterbells · 2 years ago

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What if Kel was executed for treason in Lady Knight? What if it caused a rebellion? Because you can't tell me that what the world will hear in canon isn't that Wyldon ordered her to follow the refugees. Anything else would create resentment. For all Wyldon's pretty talk, surely he noticed that. And if they tried to hush it up? I don't see Raoul and Alanna letting that happen. And if you knew your king executed nobles for rescuing commoners from a fate worse than death, wouldn't you rebel?

No, no, no, no I can’t do it. Kel is my lady, my light, my love–and I can’t imagine a world where the people on that war front would ever have allowed her death. So let’s tell this story–she was found guilty of treason. She was sentenced to death, kneeling on that Tortallan river mud, enemy territory a stone’s throw behind her, hundreds of abandoned souls saved by her stubborn hands.

Dutiful misery was stark in the grip Wyldon used to pull her to her feet and tie her hands behind her. (He would not leave that job to a lesser man.) Rage poured off Raoul, simmering, trapped. The King’s Own protested–when they shut themselves up it was not at their commander’s order but at Kel’s quelling shake of her head.

Wyldon could protect Owen, who was his squire and his responsibility. The King’s Own had technically, roughly, been following orders. The rescued civilians were ushered toward safety with faintly awed hands. Kel, Merric, and Neal were ushered forward, too, by awed hands, but it was with their own hands bound behind them and it was not toward safety.

But the awe was there– these knights had done the impossible. They had gone into enemy territory, after monsters made of death and metal, and saved their people. They had done the impossible– they had put protecting homeless peasants above obeying their lord. Wyldon tied each of their hands behind their backs and they did not apologize. Neal raised his chin like he was challenging Wyldon to demand it of him.

But the Giantkiller fortress was flooded with children and civilians who had been written off as collateral damage. After days of hard travel, the children were no longer unnaturally clean and coiffed; they would always be scared. They would always be brave. They would not allow Kel to be the price paid for their lives.

A pretty young woman who had once stabbed a Scanran slaver to death found out where they were keeping Kel and her knights. Children threw tantrums to distract while the ex-convicts picked the locks on their doors. Tobe got the horses and kept them quiet. When they got to the main gates again, Neal ready to put them all to sleep, the guards turned around the same way they had days before and let them through.

Up in the commander’s quarters, Wyldon slept restlessly. He had told Keladry of Mindelan once that he believed the best thing that could be said of his tenure as training master was that she had been in his care. He still believed that to be true, but he had his orders. When they woke him, he would be stranded somewhere between rage and relief.

Only a handful of Haven civilians came out into the woods with Kel that night. Neal tsked about Giantkiller’s healers and worked on them all while Merric went though their stolen saddlepacks and took inventory. Fanche pulled bread, cheese, and knives out of her bulging skirts and passed them around.

Kel sat, staring at the space they would have put a fire if they had thought it was safe to light one. Neal bullied some bread into her and Merric asked, “What do we do now, Kel?”

She considered saying, “Why are you asking me?” but Kel had always been very bad at lying to herself. She looked up at the trees. Fir. Spruce. “There’s a war on,” Kel said. “No matter what they say back there, we still have a sworn duty. Or at least I do.” Her school friends were looking up at her like she held their allegiances in her callused palm. The Haven people were careful shadows, tired, certain. Tobe looked at her like he was never letting her out of his sight again. “I’m going to keep fighting.”

They took down their first Scanran raiding party the next day, finding them almost on accident. The first Haven dogs and cats skipped and sauntered into their makeshift camp the next night, curling up by the fire and dropping rabbits for the humans to clean for them.

Haven civilians and convicts began wandering in, grinning tightly, bringing stories of Giantkiller all up in arms. After the first week, once she’d figured out they might be there for good, Kel had started looking for clerks.

When Dom and most of his squad of the King’s Own walked into their camp without a single piece of official Crown livery on, Kel seized Dom by one rough, plain sleeve and dragged him to the side.

“You can’t be here,” she hissed. “Neal and Merric are as damned as I am. The refugees have nowhere safer to go, and I’m not going to keep them from a fight if they want it. But you– Raoul needs you, Dom.”

“Raoul needs us to win this war,” said Dom. “And neither of us could think of any better hands for my squad to be in than yours. If we’re going to win this, we can’t keep our best commanders in the dark.” He grinned. “Even if they’re grumpy giantesses of fugitives.”

Keep reading

#best stories on tumblr #keladry of mindalen #protector of the small #tamora pierce #fanfiction

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bemusedlybespectacled · 10 months ago

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extremely minor pet peeve but it bugs me when, in fanfiction, characters say "gods damn it" or "oh gods" in a setting without culture-wide polytheism

like it absolutely makes sense in a story based on a D&D campaign or a Tamora Pierce novel or Viking history, like, one where polytheism is Definitely A Well-Known Thing In This Culture

but if you have Very Catholic Nuns and Very Catholic Priests and Very Anglican Vicars running around your canon setting, you're going to need to establish for me that this character is pagan and in what way before they start swearing by multiple unspecified gods for no fucking reason

#writing #personal #worldbuilding

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sasseffects · 3 months ago

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Writer Interview Game!

Thanks for the tag @atsadi-shenanigans!!!

When did you start writing?

God, as soon as I could piece sentences together. I'm pretty sure I still have my first original short story hidden away somewhere. My first fanfiction was in elementary school, though- Sailor Moon!

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I love to write poetry, but not overly much a fan of reading it. I also enjoy reading nonfiction, but please dear god don't ask me to write it I'll die.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I really enjoyed Diana Wynne Jones' writing growing up, as well as Tamora Pierce's works. If I can possess even a smidge of their writing abilities I'll consider myself successful.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

It's wherever I can plunk down my laptop, though it's usually the loveseat in my bedroom. I usually lean against the arm so I can look outside my bedroom window while I type. My dog and cats will alternate sitting with me or on the bed, depending on their neediness levels.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

It depends on what I'm writing. Poetry? Definitely music similar in feeling to what I'm writing. Fanfiction? Go back and play/read/etc. whatever inspired me to write the fic in the first place. Sometimes I'll read previous chapters of my own fanfiction as well.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I've surprised myself with my penchant for hurt/no comfort. Sometimes life sucks and it doesn't get better, even in fiction. It's been extremely cathartic.

What is your reason for writing?

Stress relief, and it's really fun! There's a good community out here, and I've really loved making friends. <3

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any and all comments are motivating; it means someone took time out of their day to say something to me!

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Vaguely competent! I have this issue where if I feel like something isn't perfect the first time then it isn't worth publishing at all. So I just want readers to think that I'm like, semi-ok at writing. Because GOD do I try.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Emotion and description.

How do you feel about your own writing?

As I wrote earlier, I have this huge issue where if I feel something isn't perfect the first time then it isn't worth posting. I'm usually disgusted with my writing by the time I finish a chapter- when I start posting "Beneath a Shadowed Sun" I will 100% need a beta just so I don't delete the whole file and dive off a cliff.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

Initially, I just write for myself because it's what I enjoy and the writing is cathartic. If the writing gets even close to being posted on AO3 though, I start to panic and nitpick.

tagging @bullavellan, @thejessis, @tobuo, and @wick-de-la-vela! In case y'all have any writing projects to share!!

#sassy speaks #tag game #writers on tumblr

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artist-ellen · 1 year ago

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What do you think of genderbending?

It’s great fun? But I’m not sure the context you mean. In fanfiction? In stories in general? In manga/anime? In headcanons? Generally I’m a fan. I read a lot of Tamora Pierce growing up, had a genderbending manga phase and still occasionally indulge in the fanfiction. There are some really fun ASOIAF genderbent AUs out there if that’s what your asking. But I probably wouldn’t draw them without a commission because my list of things to draw is already wildly out of control.

#people ask me things #isn’t that wild #genderbending #answered #may you have a spectacular day

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elephant-in-the-pride-parade · 7 months ago

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20 Fic Writer Quesions

First, thank you @singeart and @mytardisisparked for tagging me!. I did a set of these last year and it was fun to see how my answers have changed since then!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1.6 million and counting!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Trek Voyager

Star Trek Prodigy

Sailor Moon

Harry Potter

Madam Secretary

Ive debated writing SwanQueen for a long time but by the time I had the energy and time to write, I'd lost interest in the show. I might rewatch and come back to it one day...

I have thought about writing Wynonna Earp or Tamora Pierce universe fanfiction but have yet to get an idea that grabs me. I like to find things i want to fix and it's hard when the source material is perfection.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Parent Trap (305)

Sailor Moon H Order of the Phoenix (289)

Sailor Moon H Half Blood Prince (222)

Eden's Deception (167)

Out of Reach (150)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! although if I'm busy or feeling down it can take me a while. Sometimes I forget.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I still think What Even is 3 Minutes takes the cake. Or I'll be Your First if You'll be my Last

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I Heard the Comm on Christmas Morn and Parent Trap

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I've gotten hate on fics since I started writing them... and it's become just something I expect to happen. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes it makes me sad. It really depends...

The memorable haters:

There was the delightful Fanfiction.net reviewer who got pissed i was "making everybody gay" (that was funny actually). I forget if they were the same person who flamed me when Mcgonagall and Hooch kissed under some mistletoe. I digress. They thought queering up the canon was like sinful or whatever. I was delighted to disagree and make the story even queerer.

Another person cussed me out for magically restraining Sailor Plutos time travel powers so my plot would work and for making her have feelings about it. aparently mad the senshi were not all powerful deus exmachinas who never feel feelings... That one stung. That was the reason I left FFN.

Hate because in Sailor Moon H, Harry Potter was not the main character.

Hate that I made a magic bio baby for the magical lesbians. (I can't have a biobaby with my wife irl, can't I at least let the fantasy girlies have one!)

Hate for including C/7 in a story

...I wouldn't call it hate for the fic but I have had an uncomfortable amount of commenters who hate on Chakotay any time I have him involved with Seven / don't have him grovel to Kathryn / really any time I let him advocate for how he's been hurt... at first comments like this stressed me out because i worried i had not written the character sufficiently sympathetic. But then Parent Trap breached containment and I got enough comments to be able to see I had definitely written the character fine... it was just that some people were always just rooting for a "Chakotay falls over himself to apologize to Janeway for not immediately dating her" storyline that... I'm not sorry 😅 I'm never going to write that. The older I get the more I feel like both of J/C just need therapy! They've been through so much trauma. Their feelings are valid (yes, even for other people).

Parent Trap breaching containment also meant that when I hit an irl rut and couldnt get in the writing headspace for a bit, a bunch of - sincerely, well meaning - fans got into their heads to start a commenting campaign to get me to update. I heard about it and panicked (i had bad experiences that year of getting people who only commented "update soon" and those conversely stressed me out and made me not want to write - I love fic writing for the conversations and community... so it made me feel like readers thought i was just a content vending machine). so just the thought of potentially getting an avalanche of guests, well meaning or not, begging me to update made me lock commenting until the fic was done. I wound up deciding after that that since "update soon" requests were becoming a lot more frequent that I'd consider before posting whether getting them would hurt my ability to finish. So most of the time now if I know a fic is going to reach a bigger potential community, I don't start posting it until it's almost done. That has had some upsides! (Im less dependent on positive feedback for motivation now!) and some downsides (no one comments on my fics with their theories anymore) but on a whole, a good decision.

Immediately after finishing Parent Trap I wrote Fever and got this amazing guest comment from someone who said (paraphrasing cuz i'm too busy to go find it) "Youre better than this. how dare you write this filth. J/C are better than this" that one had me laughing for days. But the comment did prompt me to create a second account later when I wrote a tentacle fic. At the time I worried i'd get a ton of similar flame comments from people who were subscribed to my main for other types of fic... but I am even feeling like that's unnecessary now. I write what I write! Yes, some of it is really dirty, weird smut. I'm not sorry.

Currently any time I post a Threshold AU fic an anon drops into my comments section in order to call me "Sick" and "Deranged"... they make me so sad I don't even make a quippy reply. I just delete them. I write that universe for my own wish fulfillment... Someday (soon, hopefully) I'm gonna have kids. And I am going to have to have conversations with them about who their biological dad is. Why they look like one mom and not the other, whether their non bio family love them even if theyre not blood related. I might have a kid who feels different from everyone else because they're queer or they're neurodivergent or they're some new alienating feeling I am totally unprepared for. and I'll need to help them navigate that.. Writing about hybrid salamander kids getting raised in a blended family is FUN. But more importantly... it helps me practice those situations. It comforts me to know that if the characters can figure this out in the AU then I can figure this out in real life! What the hell is sick and deranged about that!?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write all sorts of smut. I post the stuff that doesn't totally mortify me once i've gotten out of whatever mood had me writing the smut in the first place.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have exactly two crossovers to my name: Sailor Delta and Sailor Moon H. I think on the basis of word count alone Sailor Moon H (>500,000) is definitely the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I consider the unlicensed use of the AO3 archive for ChatGPT and similar LLMs theft. (and there are several court cases pending that are also seeking to address whether it is legally theft as it pertains to published fiction and newspapers). The canon creators of the fandoms I write for aren't allowed to make money by using uncredited ideas pulled from my fanfiction (just like I am not allowed to make money from writing fic with their copyrighted settings and characters) and i continue to be apalled that ChatGPT and other LLMs think they can get away with using others copyrighted ideas without permission. Especially that they can take advantage of people who cant profit off their own work.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but i would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Once with @magdalenejaneway, once with @jellybeansarecool and once with @trekflower and all three were fantastic!

Most of what I write for Threshold AU is also increasingly collaborated on a great deal by the AU creators and a few other folks. It's been going for over 2 years now and doing that more and more has enabled us all to drop more references to previous fics and to create a more cohesive body of fic for the AU. in general its just been so fun and fulfilling to make these stories with other people who are as invested in the characters as me and it just fills me with joy. I'm really grateful for you guys.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

On the one hand J/C have inspired over 50 fics, But on the other I have also been loving Sailor Moon and those ships since before I knew what fandom or shipping were. And really the only reason J/C inspire more fic is that all the sailor moon characters got a happy ending.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to give up on a WIP...

but I am in knots about what all to do with Out of Reach.

Out of Reach is a St:Prodigy S1 AU where Chakotay has amnesia and doesn't remember anything from his time on Voyager, all the while he and Kathryn are in a situationship with a baby.

There's two questions I never figured out how to answer: 1. Does he get his memories back. If so, how much and what enables it. and 2: Do he and Kathryn stay together?

On the memories front. saying he never recovers seems unfair to the character. But saying he magically does thanks to 24th century science feels cheap and disrespectful - to the reality of real memory loss and to the plot that built up so much tension around this. Saying he gets back some or more over time is more realistic, but left me uncertain of where exactly to end the story. Tying his retrieval of memories to Kathryn also tied me up in knots. On the one hand they're in love and thats romantic. on the other hand the optics of his recovery totally dependent on one person is icky.

I also found the baby really annoying to have there by the end - I still think he's cuteeee i really do!!! - it's just... he makes the "we should stay together and try to figure this out" answer a bit too convenient 😅. and he complicates Kathryns reluctance to restart their relationship. The more she resists, the more callous she seems (deliberately not trying to patch things up with her kid's father) when i really just want to focus on her fears that Chakotay would be happier without her and that even if they restart their romance, she might lose him again on a future mission. It's ironic because i originally created the baby to ensure she wouldnt just run away from her fears. And now hes contributing to my difficulty ending the fic...

Actually the more I think on it, my real problem is I could write my way out of this, but I cant do it in only one or two chapters and that makes me feel tired. i was sorta hoping to wrap that fic up. 😅🙈

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery has always been a strength for me. But i think I'm also getting really good at action scenes too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Only if it was information i wanted the reader to understand but not the POV character.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H way back when I was 15.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Universe to Mend - I even have a few sequel or companion novel ideas to come after it.

This has gone on a while... 😅 - thank you for tagging me and letting me ramble! i'll tag anyone else who wants to answer! have at it.

#writing asks #elephantwrites

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thatonebirdwrites · 8 months ago

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🥺

🥺 what’s a truly underrated book/series you recommend and wish the whole world would read? All of these books are ones that either never won awards, or are not well known -- as in if I mention them, people give me blank looks or show no recognition of the series or author.

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers

Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane

The Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, and Will of Empress by Tamora Pierce

Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

The Species Imperative Trilogy by Julie Czerneda

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection edited by Hope Nicholson

A Psalm for the Wild Built is a novella and about a nonbinary monk who travels the countryside and serves tea to people, while listening to their troubles. Except they decide they need to go into the wilds, but during their journey, they encounter the first robot humans have seen in over two hundred years. Their friendship is adorable. It's a solarpunk world, and it's message of hope is everything. I adored it, and I wished I lived in this world honestly.

____ The Young Wizards series started in the 90s actually. I was a kid when I read the first book: So You Want To Be A Wizard. I grew up reading these books, and so I never got into Harry Potter. Mostly because when I tried Harry Potter, it felt like a poor shadow of the Young Wizards series. So I abandoned Harry Potter to continue to read Young Wizards. Honestly, I adored Nita and Kit and their fantastical adventures. @dianeduane is a master at twists and turns, and the plots of Young Wizards goes from localized problems to multi-universe problems the young wizards must rush to solve. I can't recommend it enough. Seriously, I want more people reading Young Wizards so I can talk to more folks about it. So that we can have some fanfiction for it, so that we can have more fanart. It deserves so much more attention, plus the author is super awesome and supportive for LGBTQIA folks! I'll sound the drum on this series forever. lol

____ Another series that I grew up with that I wish more people knew about is The Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, and Will of Empress by Tamora Pierce. Sandry, Tris, Daja, and Briar were my found family, comfort characters, and their teachers were so gay (the two lesbian teachers were together actually). The themes explored were complex and fascinating. Pierce is more known for her Alanna series, which I think isn't as good as her Circle of Magic series honestly. This is my comfort series that I've read a bazillion times.

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Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer is very hard to describe. I know a movie was made of the first book -- Annihilation, but the movie really doesn't capture the true weirdness of this series. Nor the rather hopeful if bizarre ending. I keep going back to re-read this series because it's prose, its worldbuilding, how the land itself becomes a character is so utterly fascinating. I want more people to read the books so I can talk to them about it!!

____ The Species Imperative Trilogy by Julie Czerneda is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. It's not well known at all, which makes me sad. Julie Czerneda is a master at crafting alien species. The story is about a salmon researcher that ends up on an investigation about an alien species that may or may not be eating entire planets of aliens -- it's a conspiracy that spans the galaxy. I couldn't put it down, and I keep going back to it because its themes are fascinating.

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Nnedi Okorafor is more well known for her Akata Witch series (I highly recommend) or her Binti series (also highly recommend). However, her Lagoon really by far one of her best I think. It's the story of first contact with aliens, but it's also an exploration of identity, liberation, community, and how we react to change and difference. It has a very diverse cast including well-written trans characters, and I wish more folks read it (beyond scholars) so I can chat about it!

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection edited by Hope Nicholson is a kickstarter I did randomly, and I'm so glad I did. I have three in this collection, and it's comics by Native American artists. They are all fantastic and I don't even know where to begin. There's just so many good stories in it, and I wish more people knew of this collection and would read it. It explores identity, intergenerational trauma, healing, liberation, and community. One of the best comic anthologies I've ever read.

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I'll stop there. Mostly because I'm getting tired and I know the question only asked for one. But I can't choose! These are all so good, and I highly recommend them all! So thank you for asking. :)

#writing #books #diane duane #nnedi okorafor #jeff vandermeer #hope nicholson #tamora pierce #julie czerneda #science fiction books #fantasy books #book ask game

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