#a realistic galaxy would have a lot of M stars

[tanadrin]

bugs me more than it should how abundant class O/A/B stars are in stellaris, especially for habitable systems. those stars are rare! and they’re very unlikely to host life!

[jillianallen14]

Spirk fanfic rec

Some amazing Spirk fanfic to bless your dash because I’m falling in love with this shit all over again (this is like the 10th time this has happened lol):

Entering Orbit:  Jim escapes to Iowa to avoid the media frenzy following the Narada incident, but a late-night miscommunication results in Spock turning up on his front porch; rated m; 30,957 words

Papers in the Roadside:  Non-Starfleet AU. Jim owns a small bar in Chicago, keeps on picking up strays and taking care of everyone no matter how hard it makes his own life. Spock is a journalist writing feature articles for the Chicago Tribune; he depicts the world with uncanny skill, but hides more than one personal drama and is possibly under surveillance from the Vulcan royal family. They meet by accident just before their lives start to spin out of control; rated e; 49,637 words

Take Refuge in What You Know:  AU - Kirk has moved into a apartment/house and wants to get to know his neighbors. He meets his neighbor Spock, a loner who suffers from extreme agoraphobia. Kirk thinks he's beautiful enigma; rated e; 120,334 words

Listen, this is not only my favorite Star Trek fic of all time, it’s also one of my favorite fanfics in general. It’s right up there with Text Talk and The Shoebox Project from the HP fandom, which if you’ve read, you know are incredible and frankly life-changing. And this fanfic changed my life. The description the author gives doesn’t do the beauty of this fic justice. I suffer from agoraphobia and Spock’s depiction as an agoraphobic man was probably the most well-researched, sympathetic, empathetic, caring, realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be agoraphobic that I’ve ever witnessed in fiction. It made me cry like a child because I had never felt so seen and understood. This writer is incredible, and this fic is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s an AU, which I’m usually pretty wary about, but it barely even feels like an AU. It just feels like Jim and Spock. The author’s understanding of both of their characters’ is perfect, like just a spot-on portrayal of who they are. This fic genuinely helped me accept who I am and helped me understand that I am capable of & deserving of love. If you don’t read any other Star Trek fics (and you def should read more Star Trek fics because they’re amazing), then let this one be the one you read. I dare you not to read it three times in a row like I did.

Observations:  First Officer Spock comments on life aboard the Enterprise and his service under Captain James T. Kirk; rated m; 500,000+ words.

So the author of this fic actually did a thing where they made this fic into two books (similar to what The Shoebox Project authors did many years ago in the HP fandom). They don’t get any money from people buying the books; the cost is just to go towards producing the books. This fic is the equivalent of two LARGE novels. We’re talking 600 pages & up. It’s a huge fic. Now, that being said, I read it in one day. ONE DAY. It’s that good. This is another one of my all-time favorite fics, though not quite as dear to my heart as the one I listed above. It’s focused on AOS, and tbh, I forget that what happens in this book isn’t actually canon. Like it’s so well-told, it just feels like it’s now part of the timeless story of Kirk & Spock. The “professional” Star Trek writers would never be brave enough to do what this author does with Kirk and Spock, though. This fic will make you angry, will make you laugh, will make you cry. It has such a good grasp on every single character. It also shows the love between the crew of the Enterprise, which is always a treat, and it’s beautifully done in this fic. It has a sorta-enemies-to-lovers arc between Spirk and an enemies-to-close-friends arc between Spock and McCoy that is beautifully done and fleshed out. This fic is definitely a journey to go through, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s extremely slow burn, and you will want to slap both Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) upside the head at certain points lol. 

Of Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves:  The progression of a relationship, through Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves. Basically, it’s an AU where Kirk works at a coffee shop to pay his way through school, and Spock visits often. rated t; 16,429 words

Love, love, love, this fic. It’s cute, it’s in character. They have kind of a rocky start together, so it’s got a little bit of that Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy i-hated-you-but-now-i-love-you-marry-me vibes to it. I’m a sucker for that, if you haven’t figured that out by now lol. It’s really good, and a really enjoyable read. And it’s not too long, if you’re in the mood for something on the shorter end of things.

 Please Don’t Touch the Vulcans:  The "yes" is out of Jim's mouth before he can think about it. Jim is chipper about having time off for the holidays. He asks everyone if they want to spend time together but sadly, everyone ditches Jim over the holidays because they have plans. McCoy visits his daughter, Nyota visits her family, and everyone splits. Not knowing Spock has feelings for him, Jim doesn't even bother asking if he wants to spend time together figuring he has something to do. Something cute, romantic with the boys spending time with one another and confessions; rated m; 17,690 words

Super cute and has lots of Sarek, which idk about y’all, but I’m always a fan of. Sarek and Jim kind of get to know each other a bit, and it’s cute. Sarek knows about they’re in love before Spock & Kirk know lol. If I remember correctly, there’s also some appearances from everyone’s favorite: Old!Spock! You also get a little bit of jealous and protective Young!Spock. So you’re in for a real treat with this one. 

The Ren shat’var Trilogy:  A split-second decision changes Jim's life forever, as he enters into a bond with Spock in the face of certain torture. Enemies to the Federation emerge from unlikely places, and the command team must contend with unexpected threats, as well as challenges within their own intense relationship. In this three-part series, the Enterprise races across the galaxy to confront the unknown, and Jim and Spock discover the true significance of their unprecedented connection; rated e; 184,411 words

Textual Attraction:  Valentine’s Day does not bring up pleasant memories for Cadet Kirk. But the serendipitous switch-up of his cell phone with a particular Vulcan professor’s will make his day far more interesting –and romantic. Perhaps some new memories can be made! 15,900 words

SO GOOD. Just SO good

Spaceman:  Academy AU. Five times Spock realizes he's attracted to a barista at the academy spaceport, and one time he decides to do something about it. rated t; 3728 words

Short, sweet, funny. You’ll love it.

Subtext: Texting your Vulcan first officer in the middle of the night is never a good idea. Especially when you have an obsessive crush on said Vulcan.The holidays are approaching and Jim is left entirely Spockless aboard the Enterprise when his First takes shore leave on New Vulcan. After some midnight pining, Jim sends a text he instantly regrets. That is, until Spock responds and willingly continues their textual communications to an inevitable conclusion; rated t; 13,032 words

Cute, sweet, funny. It’s a texting fic. I think you’ve probably figured out I love those. This one makes me laugh so fucking hard. Like actually laugh-out-loud-omg-did-i-just-snort kind of funny. Spock is great in this one

All Spock Wants For Christmas:  While Jim is away on a delegation mission, he panics about what to give Spock for Christmas. With help from Bones and Uhura, and in between some spam texting with Spock, Jim realizes he already has the perfect gift. And all it needs is wrapping paper and a bow; rated t; 11,966 words

And here we have another cute, sweet, funny texting fic. Sue me lol

The Morning After:  Jim convinces Spock to take shore leave with him on Risa, hoping the time together will help re-solidify their bond of friendship after some recent tension. Meanwhile, Spock convinces himself he's on Risa for one reason and one reason only, to prevent his wayward captain from getting into trouble. After a passionately illogical night of Romulan Ale and chocolate infused liquor, everything changes when Jim wakes with something other than a hangover filling his head. Something he's sure neither he nor Spock can handle. Because if Jim knows anything for sure, it's that his messed up thoughts belong nowhere near Spock's clean, ordered mind; rated m; 50,381 words

HAHA. This fic fucking cracks me up. You’ve got drunk boys pining over each other & not realizing it. You’ve got accidental marriage. You’ve got bed sharing. It’s great, it’s cute, it’s funny. 

Take This Sinking Boat (And Point It Home):  In which Spock pines, Jim isn’t stupid (except he kind of is), and Christopher Pike has had enough of this bullshit; 6698 words

Pike is great in this one, and it’s super, super funny.

Extracurricular Activities:   Spock returns to the Academy from a tour of duty to find an intriguing cadet captures his attention; rated e; 15,433 words

Veritas: Basically, Kirk and Spock are on trial because the Federation thinks they are emotionally compromised by each other, which is putting the lives of their crew in danger. They have to convince a court they’re not actually in love with each other. They think the claims are bullshit. They think it will be easy to prove that they aren’t in love or emotionally compromised, damn it. It isn’t; rated m; 186,80 words

This one is so, so good. A real gem off of Fanfic.net. I remember it was actually one of the first Spirk fanfics I ever read, and it blew me away. The progression of their relationship is really well-done and interesting. It has star-crossed lovers vibes and has some really emotionally intense moments in it, especially for Spock. 

A Habitual Affection:  Living in 1930s New York with the Vulcan you're secretly in love with is no simple thing. But Jim never liked anything simple. And then, the big snowstorm hit...; rated t; 7998 words

A beautiful TOS fic about one of the gayest episodes of Star Trek. Love this one. 

Atlas:  Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning; rated t; 135,529 words

A beaut. Really great characterization, and the progression of Jim and Spock’s relationship is really well-done.

[theyneedtobangstahp]

Stray kids reaction to their girlfriend getting her wisdom tooth removed

This may not be realistic because I haven’t experienced this but I tried my best so I hope you appreciate it ❤️ I also really had fun writing this :>

Genre: Fluff and crack

Requested by uwu anon ❤️

` C H A N ▪

Chan would be there next to you. He knows how scared you were when you were told you needed to get your wisdom tooth removed. If he could, he would be holding your hand throughout the entire procedure, but he can’t. All he could do was sit at the reception, leg bouncing because of how nervous he was for you. After 30 minutes or more, he was called inside by the dentist. 

“She is still under medication so she might be a little loopy. Are you her boyfriend?” The dentist asks Chan. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Well this is the best time to record her because she might spout out nonsense.” The dentist says while chuckling a little. “will do doc.” Chan says while shaking hands with the doctor and thanking him. He walks into your room and sees your face stuffed with cotton. 

“Hi baby, are you feeling okay?” Chan asks sitting down next to you and holding your hand. 

“Hmmmm..” 

“What baby?”

“I can’t feel my mouth... Do I still have a mouth?” You say panicking while touching your face with you free hand. 

“Yes, they’re there. If they weren’t how are you able to speak babe?” 

“Ohhhhh.... You’re right. Wait are you my boyfriend?” You ask.

“Yes baby I am. I’m also here to take us home so you can rest.”

“Woah, we live together?” You say, your eyes comically wide. Chan laughs at your reaction.

“Yes, for 2 years now actually.” He says while helping you stand up. 

“Wooahhhhhh..... That’s so cool. Like my parents approved? I didn’t have to run away or anything right? Like they know that I’m with you?” Chan laughs at your question. “Yes, they know. They are actually going to visit us today because you had your wisdom tooth removed.”

“Dang.. Thats so cool.” You say while staring off into space. Chan really wished he recorded you now.

` M I N H O ▪

I see Minho as teasing you a lot when you got your wisdom tooth removed. But he would be sweet about it. He would talk to you a lot just so he could see your confused face every time he asks a question. 

“Babe, did you know that dogs live on until 10 to 13 years?” 

“What? But thats so short. I thought dogs lived forever? Like they grow old with us?” You say as you get teary eyed. “Oh no baby don’t cry.” He says while reaching over to the passenger side of the car. “Dogs live a short life, but they live a happy life! So no need to feel sad okay?”

“They do? Thats so cute though. Can we get a dog?” You ask him. “Oh, we’ll see about that baby. It’s cause we have cats at home, and you know some of them don’t get along so well.” He says. 

“Well, how long do cats live?” You ask him.

“Like 16 years at most?” Minho answers you. “How old are our cats?” Minho looks at you disappointedly. Almost offended that you forgot about the age of your cats. “Wow, how could you y/n, their own mother, not knowing how old they are.” 

“Wait no I remember now don’t worry.” 

“So how old are they?” 

“They are new borns. Easy. They have a whole 16 years or more with us!” Minho glances at you and sees your happy face and decides not to let you know that they are not in fact new borns. The drive home was silent. When you guys got home he let you rest on the sofa while he got a new set of clothes for you. While looking for a tshirt he heard you crying really loudly. He rushes down, concerned of what happened to you. When he sees you hugging all of the 3 cats with tears streaming down your face, he was confused. 

“Why are you crying y/n?”

“You lied to me! They aren’t new borns! They’re big and fluffy!” You say while hugging them more. 

` C H A N G B I N ▪

With Changbin, I see him being really amused and really concerned. You weren’t talking nonsense after your wisdom teeth got removed, you were kinda sensitive after. 

“How was it pumpkin?” He asks while on the drive home. 

“It was great. They were talking to me a lot when they were doing it. I didn’t know how to answer though, there were a lot of things on my mouth.”

“Do you feel okay? Do you want anything?” 

“Can we get Mcdonalds? I really want to eat something right now.” You say.

“Okay we can. But you can only eat soft foods. Is ice cream okay?” 

You get teary eyed when he says that. “But, I want a burger and fries.” You say looking at him with a tear going down dramatically down your cheek. “Oh no, don’t cry pumpkin. We can order a burger in the next few days okay? You can have ice cream then I’ll cook you porridge when we get home.” 

You nod at what he says and wipe your tears. He orders ice cream and hands it to you. “What about you? Aren’t you going to eat?” 

“I’m good pumpkin. Enjoy your ice cream, okay?” He says and continues driving home. You look at him then at the ice cream. You take a scoop then put it near his mouth. 

“here, share with me please.” You say as you put the spoon closer to his mouth. “I’m okay baby. You eat it okay?” He says refusing your scoop of ice cream. 

You get teary eyed again. “Why don’t you want ice cream? Ice cream is the best.” Two tears roll down your face.”Okay, okay. If I eat the ice cream will you stop crying?” 

“Yes!” You say smiling at him and put the spoon near his mouth again. 

` H Y U N J I N ▪

Hyunjin would be really caring towards you. Would also definitely tease and record you because you were just so cute. Like yeah you were kinda acting high, but he found it really cute because while you guys were in the car, you were touching everything like it was your first time seeing it. So when you guys got home he practically dragged you to the bedroom because you had the attention span of a goldfish today.

“Okay stay on the bed. I’ll go get you yoghurt or something because the dentist says you can only eat soft foods.” He stands up then leaves the room, he hears shuffling when he was going to close the door so he peeks inside. You were trying to remove the blanket from your legs, them getting tangled more because of how you were trying to remove them. He came in again. 

“What did I tell you y/n?” You stop what you were doing and sit up straight. 

“You told me you were going to get food.” 

“Before that.” 

“Oh. Uhm, Wait I know this.” You say thinking really hard. 

“I told you-” 

“No! Don’t tell me! It’s on the tip of my tongue. It, it was, to stay on the bed!” 

“Okay good and what were you doing?” 

“I was getting the blanket off me because it was hot.” You say while pouting at him. “I wasn’t getting off the bed. I promise!” You say while making a cross on your heart. 

“Okay I believe you. Now, I’ll get your yoghurt. Stay on the bed.” 

5 minutes later Hyunjin returns and sees an open purse and you putting lipstick on your cheeks. 

“y/n! I told you to stay put!” 

“You told me to stay on the bed! I’m still on the bed!”

` J I S U N G ▪

Jisung would also tease you a lot. Almost like Minho. He was very curious to how you would react to all the nonsense he says and he would be very amused as to also how you answer with nonsense. He would also be the one to record you. Just so he could make fun of you after.

“You know when we came here I was really nervous.” You say to him.

“Yeah I know sweetie, you were holding my hand so tight while we were on the parking lot.” He says while pressing record on his phone.

“But then they started doing it. And, and I didn’t even feel anything! It was like I was just there , you know?” You say looking at him. “I think I fell asleep when they started. All I remember is seeing Shrek sat on that chair.” You point over to a table. “And then he was waving at me then when I blinked you were standing where he was!” 

He was laughing so hard now with what you were saying. Then it dawned on him.

“Wait, did you just indirectly say I looked like Shrek? I was the one sitting on the chair next to the table.” He says. 

“No, no. The one I saw was Shrek. Not you.” You pause then your eyes get wide. “Woah he’s back! Hi Shrek!” You say while waving and smiling at the door. Oh he was totally sending this to the boys and your parents when you got home. 

` F E L I X ▪

Felix would be so cute :< Always tending to what you need or being concerned if something hurt. He would pay attention to you the whole time you were recovering. 

“What do you need y/n? Does it hurt a lot? Do you feel weird?” He continues asking you all of these things. And you are just there, staring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that? He asks, very confused. 

“Woah you have stars on your cheeks.” You say while poking his freckles. He chuckles at you and lets you poke all his freckles. “How.. How did these get here?” You ask while looking at his freckles in amazement.

“And you have the whole galaxy in your eyes babe. I could stare into them all day.” He says. You don’t mind what he says cause you were kinda high as kite right now. 

“Are you done babe?” 

“No, wait wait. I lost count. Don’t distract me.” You say and poke his freckles more. 

“How many freckles do you think are on my face y/n?” He asks while admiring how your eyes really do sparkle when you look at him. 

“I don’t know bro, maybe 5 at most.” He bursts into laughter when you said that.

` S E U N G M I N ▪

Seungmin would be very patient with you. Unlike to the other members where they are almost always on thin ice. He would be very sweet and caring when you get your wisdom tooth removed. Even if you keep talking to him about anything even all the theories or nonsense you have to say, he will listen to everything. 

“Did you know that dogs understand some english?” You say to Seungmin. 

“Really? How is that?” He asks truly wanting to know your answer. 

“Well, I don’t really know. But can you just imagine, saying I love you to a dog and then it wags its tail so much because it knows you’re saying I love you to them?” 

“That’s so cute honey. What else do you know?” He asks hoping to keep the conversation going. 

“Well, did you know that most penguins only have one mate for life? They spend all their time together and if one dies the other one gets really depressed and doesn’t want to find another one to love?” 

“That’s really romantic and sad at the same time. We can just hope that the penguins that do find their mate live together until they die right?” Seungmin says to you. 

“Yeah. I hope they do. What was that one animal that finds the most perfect stone and gives it to their mate?” 

“You mean, a Penguin?” 

“Yeah! A Penguin! Speaking of Penguins, did you know that Penguins only have one mate for life?” You say to him again. Seungmin laughs at you, and yet replies.

“Really? Thats so sweet!” 

` J E O N G I N ▪

Jeongin would actually not know what to do. Like yeah he would take care of you and make sure you were okay. But when it comes to you saying how you saw a horse just outside your room, he wouldn’t know how to react. He will just know that you need all the love and cuddles he can give. 

“What did you say?”

“There was a dinosaur by the window. It was like this big.” You say pointing at the pillow by your side. “It was kinda small. I’m kinda disappointed that it wasn’t as big as a T-rex. Look there are fishes on the floor!” 

He looks down and then looks back at you. 

“Fishes? Where?” He takes a step towards you and you scream at him. 

“No! Don’t move! You’ll step on them if you move!” Then not a second later your head falls back on the pillow.

“What did they inject you with? You’re saying stuff and seeing things that I can’t see. I’m getting really concerned.” He says while laying down next to you. He hugs you and he thought that you were fast asleep. 

“Innie, the fairy is talking to me. She says that you’re really cute and she wants to steal you away from me! You won’t leave me right?” You look at him with big eyes and pouty lips. You were really scared that the fairy was gonna steal him away from you.

“Well, tell the fairy that I’m taken by the most beautiful angel there is. Even though right now the angel has a bleeding mouth, she is still very beautiful.” He says and kisses your forehead. 

“You heard that? He says he’s taken, and I’m his!” you give him a questioning look. “You were saying that I’m the angel right?” 

“Yes Angel. That’s you.”     

[stoppingby]

Any Reylo fic recs?

i’ve actually wanted to do a big fic rec for a while, so this is the perfect opportunity! 

i’ve gathered a list of classic tropes and tried to pick one or two favorites for each! this is by no means a comprehensive list, and if you guys like this, i would be happy to do another edition later on! these are all mostly fluffy as that’s what i usually prefer, but as with most reylo fics there is a lot of explicit content, so please mind the ratings!

without further ado, i present...

stoppingby’s first reylo fic rec: tropey favorites!

Arranged marriage? And Closer Still Is Never Enough - lovefrompluto (15K, E). sweet, tender & caring prince ben. rey is special, and he knows that. reminds me why i love fanfic - watching them fall in love a million different ways.

Best friends-to-lovers? i’ve been in love with you for ages (and i can’t seem to get it right) - akosmia (10K, T). when who you want is right under your nose, and not only can they give you everything you want, they want to. ben cares for rey without hope or agenda. 

Bleed Me Dry, I Don’t Mind - AttackoftheDarkCurses (12K, E). best friends to lovers from two perspectives. a little growing up together, a little university AU. they slip into love without even realizing.

Canonverse? chase all your cares away - LovesBitca8 (4K, E). ben defects to the resistance. rey loves his smile and is determined to get one out of him. 

Coffee shop? maybe i just wanna be yours - akosmia (13K, T). ben compulsively offers favors to rey’s friends. in return, they meddle. it’s a 5+1 (i am obsessed with those as you will come to find out).

Emotional hurt/comfort? thrilled by the still of your hand - akosmia (9K, T). canondivergent. ben is touch starved after… everything. rey helps. i cried multiple times, and i loved it.

Serotonin and Dopamine - pontmercy44 (28K, E). this is so unique. very realistic in the way that it shows the work that goes into a relationship. i won’t give away too much, but mental heath issues are integral to the plot, so be forewarned. 

Enemies-to-lovers? Left Handed Kisses - Ever-so-reylo (18K, E). a reylo classic. assistant district attorney vs criminal defense lawyer. hatefucking turns into something more.

Epistolary (including forms of communication)? Hanging on the Telephone - jeeno2 (11K, E). rey gets a sext from a wrong number. sure, she should ignore it and move on. but where’s the fun in that?

our love was meant to be (my love came back to me)  - BensCalligraphySet (3K, T). in this life, ben finds letters in a bottle from someone who seemed to know him in a previous one. the galaxy gives them another chance. 

Fake dating? Let Me Dream, Let Me Stay - Melusine11 (38K, E). rey backs herself into a lie and asks her coworker kylo to pretend to be her boyfriend at rose and finn’s wedding. they roadtrip, they share a bed, they eat at a punny restaurant. so much fun!

Roommates? Closer to Fine - jeeno2 (15K, E). pregnant rey needs a roommate and moves in with medical student ben. there’s a lot to be scared about, but they’re not alone. 

Someone You Love(d) - AttackoftheDarkCurses (39K, E). rey and prince!ben are college roommates. they end up spending break together with leia, han, breha, and padme. they claim to hate each other and misunderstandings ensue. so many tropes i can’t even list them. 

Flower shop/tattoo parlor? alderaan places - nymja (5K, T). a classic take on a classic trope. it’s valentine’s day!

Friends with benefits? Making Love Out of Nothing At All - LoveofEscapism (4K, E). ben will do anything rey asks. so hot, but full of emotion. 

Two to Tango - crossingwinter (6K, E). i love this one. absolutely nails the heart wrenching emotion of knowing you’ve made a mistake in the moment before you fix it.

Funny? First Order IT, Can I Get Your User ID? - krossartist (14K, T). witty banter and childish name calling with a small touch of hurt/comfort. adorable!

Harry Potter AU? the water smells like you - shruggyben (3K, G). every ship needs an HP ‘verse amortentia fic! feat. professor leia organa.

High school? The Buddy List - violethoure666 (23K, E). since reading it a few weeks ago, this has quickly become one of my favorites! if you miss the aughts this one's for you! AIM messenger drives the story. 

Medieval/Royalty? Tangled, but Unbroken - AttackoftheDarkCurses (20K, M). growing up together, star-crossed lovers, alderaanian hair braiding - what more could you want? my fave tag on this: uncle luke is a reylo.

Neighbors? Flux & Solder - angharabbit (23K, E). another one of my all time favorites. new neighbors ben and rey help each other with trauma. feels like a rainy day from the thunder through the rainbow. make sure you read the tags before reading this incredible work!

Office romance? Minus 1 - Ever-so-reylo (5K, E). rey sends a text to the wrong office IM number. rey doesn’t know who she’s texting, but friendship and… more develops.

keep calm and let HR handle it - hi_raeth (11K, T). another 5+1! ben is the CEO and rey is the HR director. coworkers to confidantes to lovers. super sweet.

Oneshot? spring will come again - prncesselene (8K, M). over the course of a year, rey’s life changes completely as she renovates padme amidala’s old greenhouse. 

Only one bed? under thy own life’s key - galvanator (23K, E). sexy with great emotional depth, but it’s the sequel trilogy gang that makes this stand out in the trope! makes me wish we got a post-TROS everyone-lives sitcom.

Romcom-inspired? if you’re ready comic get it - violethoure666 (28K, E). if You’ve Got Mail was with tumblr mutuals and a comic book store. 

We Never Met - KyloTrashForever (3K, E). that scene in When Harry Met Sally where the older couple talks about meeting in the elevator. what happens when two people who are constantly just missing each other finally meet?

Slow burn? My Heart Always Belonged To You - JGoose13 (52K, E). Persuasion AU! reylo + jane austen = magic. 

Soulmates? wholly to be a fool - bigfootsflannel (9K, T). when your soulmate confesses their love, their words appear on your arm. ben makes a drunken confession.

Stuck/stranded together? a place to go - delia-pavorum (52K, E). rey and ben go looking for solitude in luke’s cabin. they don’t get off on the best foot before getting snowed in. sickfic (which i think there is far too little of in reylo fanfic)! beautiful and warm.

University/college? Sociology of Sexuality - Celia_and (4K, E). ben is that just-playing-devil’s-advocate kid in class that we all have to put up with. y’all this is so hot. if this happened in my real life, i think i would never recover.

Work-in-progress? flesh stays no farther reason - galvanator (20K, E). i drop EVERYTHING when this updates! ben and rey are from completely different circumstances, but that doesn’t stop a hookup from turning into something more. i feel like this fic gets their dynamic so right, and i am anxiously awaiting the conclusion in two chapters!

My comfort fic? bloom (you fill my lungs with sweetness, you fill my head with you) - akosmia (12K, T). i’ve read this again and again and i don’t plan on stopping. blind bestselling author ben solo needs a scribe. rey gets the job. there is cooking, there is domesticity, there are overwhelming emotions. my go-to. 

as i’ve said before, akosmia (@kylorensx) is my all time favorite fanfic author. the fact that we are mutuals blows my mind daily. please please go read all of her stuff. you won’t regret it!

[myupostsheadcanons]

Books “Read” in 2020

Previous entries: 2019, 2018, 2017

I don’t rank these based on actual literary quality, but by how much i enjoyed reading/listening to them. Hopefully with Audible’s new “Premium Included” feature it would cut down on so many Average/Below Average books next year, it’ll give me more of a choice on what kind of books/podcasts i want to listen to rather than given a handful to pick from a month.

The “Top 10″

Forging Hephaestus / Bones of the Past: Villains' Code Series - Drew Hayes has became one of my fav authors over the past couple years, from his Vampire Accountant series, 5-min Sherlock, and his Spells, Swords, and Stealth books. FH is one of the few times he wrote Adult Fiction. This is the second time Drew created a world of super heroes (the YA Superpowereds), thus previous experience in dealing with the nuisances and meta of super meta dynamics. I love the main character, Tori, and especially love many of the side characters (like Ivan) and the comedy is the right tone of dark and not-in-your-face (not quite as well -written as something like The Venture Bros or The Tick, but being adult fiction you can get away with having characters named Johnny Three-Dicks and Captain Bullshit)

Dreadnought / Sovereign - the second super hero series I’ve placed on my top list this year, this one is Young Adult. This one is far more serious and deals heavily in issues like trans and women’s rights, mental abuse, and social acceptance. The main character is full of angst, but that should be a given for a 15 yo with lots of mental baggage and new social pressures. The main character is the main draw, most of the side characters are a bit more one-dimensional.

The Trouble with Peace: Age of Madness, Book 2. It isn’t a “First Law” book if you don’t want to strangle half of the main characters. Many are stepping outside of the shadow of the previous generation and finding themselves falling flat on their faces. If they aren’t at each other’s throats, they would soon have to deal with rebellion in the streets and the constant looming presence of Bayaz, who waits to sweep the board clear and rearrange the pieces the way he sees fit.

Michael J. Sullivan’s: The Riyria and Legend of the First Empire Books.

Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords / Rise of Empire / Heir of Novron

Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower / The Rose and Thorn / The Death of Dulgath

Age of Death / Age of Empyre, Pile of Bones

After finishing the Legend of the First Empire books that came out earlier this year, I went ahead and read the prior series that takes place in the same world. I would suggest reading the entire series by Publish order, but they can be read Chronologically. I read the Legends books first, and it helped me see where Sullivan was heading and when he started to plan out the Legends books in more detail. (The early cameo of the Main characters from Legends in a mural in Heir of Novron, and knowing who is behind the events in Dulgath)

The Dresden Files: Peace Talks / Battle Grounds - They really should be read as one book, because that was how they were written. It is a Feast of Crows / Dances with Dragons situation, where the book got too long and got split up. The fans are pretty divided by the book(s) ending and how some of the main characters are handled, but these are Jim Butcher’s characters not theirs and he can drop bridges on whom ever he wants.

What Lies Beyond: Cycle of Galand, Book 6 - This is a “mythology” book (like Sullivan’s Age of Death was) where it introduces most of the Pantheon of their religion and corrects much of the mythology that had been lost over the decades. They seek a weapon to vanquish the Litch and save their world and the afterlife from oblivion, but not all of their Gods are happy about it.

Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash - Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation!) has to be one of my favorite internet personalities for the past 10+ years, and I eat up every book he puts out and because he wrote the books, and is an actor himself, he could deliver the lines as they are intended to be. The sequel to Will Save the Galaxy for Food does not disappoint and even ups the stakes from the previous book.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon - This has to be one of the most charming books I’ve read. It is magic and wonder at it’s finest, no need for long explanations on how the world works. If you like Ghibli movies, you’ll be interested in this book. It has its dark moments but isn’t outside of what you’ll find in something like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Nausicca.

The Goblin Emperor - the youngest son of the Elf King finds himself emperor after the death of his father and brothers in an assassination. The only problem is, that he is only half-elf... his late mother was a Goblin, and he had been in exile as an embarrassment to the family for most of his life. He knows nothing of how the courts work and what’s left of his own family work against him just for being who he is.

Lost Gods: Brom - I liked this book more than I did American Gods (which I read a few years ago). It is darker and bleaker by the bucket loads. One of the few books with a downer ending that I actually liked. I would compare this book to books like All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men-- but it is a Fantasy!

Above Average.

Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth. Book 4)  - What happens to adventurers after they retire? A fun concept that is explored with our party of NPCs running across a town full of epic-level characters that no longer have a player.

The Arthurian Saga - The Crystal Cave / The Hollow Hills  / The Last Enchantment / The Wicked Day - A more realistic version of the Arthurian tales, taking the POV of Merlin, bastard son of a princess, as he earns notoriety as a scholar and wizard.  The Wicked Day takes the POV of Mordred, making him far more sympathetic than other iterations of his character.

Arc of a Scythe - Scythe / Thunderhead / The Toll - Science and Technology eliminates death and in order to prevent over population and complacency an order of grim reapers are chosen to randomly deal out quotas of permanent deaths. An example of what happens when every need and want is satisfied by a higher force and the apathy that causes rot in human society and the superiority complex of those in charge of life and death.

The Diviners / Lair of Dreams / Before the Devil Breaks You / The King of Crows - Horror during the Roaring 20′s. Tackles issues as Racism, Poverty, Government Secrecy, Christian-Evangelical Cults, Nationalism Cult Mentality, Communism, Labor Unions, Eugenics, Post-WW1 trauma... It could almost pass as an adult fiction book. I wouldn’t recommend giving it to someone under High school age.

Ancillary Justice / Ancillary Sword / Ancillary Mercy - Artificial Intelligence takes over human bodies as a form of capital punishment, controlling ships and space stations. The dominate human empire outgrew the need to label any gender, using “she” to refer to everyone rather than the vaguer “them/they” pronouns, and only outlying colonies stick to the binary ideals. Think of “The Left Hand of Darkness” but on a more broader scale and as the default majority/ruling empire. Toss in a solid military action novel on top and it isn’t nearly as boring as Left Hand.

Children of Time / Children of Ruin - War destroys the human population of Earth and those that remain are the ones that headed out to the stars on tera-forming missions. A virus created to advance life forms to prepare a world for human habitation runs amuck with out its overseers, creating intelligent arachnids, crustaceans, and squid.

The Licanius Trilogy - The Shadow of What Was Lost / An Echo of Things to Come / The Light of all that Falls -  It is very heavy on info overload, there is a lot to keep track of, so much so there is a summary of book one and two at the start of the third. I like the twist at the end of the first book and that the villain is actually trying to help save the world, and you spend most of the second stuck between who thinks they are doing the right thing and who is actually doing the right thing - a lot to talk about doing the lesser of two evils.

Mythos - Steven Fry - A humorous retelling of Greek mythology. I read Mythology - by Edith Hamilton prior to this book, which is a more scholarly take on the myths, and helps if you are unfamiliar with classical mythology prior to reading Fry’s take on it.

Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History That Inspired Game of Thrones - a nice history book about Iron Age royalty. It is actually refreshing to read after going through so much faux fiction that is in Philippa Gregory’s books.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? - Children ask questions to a Mortician about death and what happens to bodies after people die. I listened to her autobiography last year/year before and it is worth picking up this one along with it.

Average, but still good.

Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet Universe: Triumphant (Genesis Fleet, Book 3) / Tarnished Knight: Lost Stars, book 1 - The realistic space battles just drag me back in each and every time.

The Case of the Damaged Detective: 5-Minute Sherlock - Drew Hayes can’t write a boring book. It isn’t quite on point as his other series, but still fun to read. Hayes is really good at making YA books with Adult Protagonists. It is a road-trip book, the main character is a washed-out operative that is getting his second chance playing bodyguard and future assistant to the 5-minute Sherlock.

Locked In / Head On - Do you remember “Surrogates”? that Bruce Willis movie where people walk around in robotic avatars, well... it’s almost the same thing. A virus kills millions, save for a select few that experience “lock in” syndrome and are able to connect to robots via their brains and the internet.  The main character is gender neutral and you get a choice to listen to the book with a male or female reader.

Murder by Other Means: The Dispatcher Book 2 - more John Scalzi! The first book was in my top list a few years ago, and i enjoyed the sequel just as much. Between Scalzi’s The Dispatcher and Locked In series, i like the Dispatcher more.

The Shattered Sea Trilogy: Half a King / Half the World / Half a War - Joe Abercrombie’s attempt to make Young Adult books. It keeps all the grim dark, but lacks all the swearing and humor that made The First Law books more enjoyable. Many of Joe’s favorite character tropes are still present and is one of the better “Fall to Darkness” stories I’ve read. It also has different POV characters each book and is one of those “faux fantasy” settings.

Mage Errant: Books 1, 2 & A Traitor in Skyhold: Book 3 - If you are wanting to get away from Harry Potter, pick up this book series. It takes place in magic school, but it is its own world and setting and not just a hidden world within our own. The main group of kids are misfits among the school, unable to master their powers, that get taken up by the badass librarian to be trained in more unconventional ways.

Dawn of Wonder: The Wakening Book 1 - the main character has ptsd from growing up in an abusive household, and i thought it was handled rather well. He would be rather competent and cleaver most of the time until he gets triggered into an episode, he fights really hard to overcome this short-falling of his. Standard classic affair else wise, family leaves home because the local authority figure doesn’t want them around anymore, goes to big city, kid wants to do good and avenge the deaths he was accused of, joins the badass school of hard knocks...  big powerful evil thing trying to consume the world.

The Rage of Dragons - It shares a lot of tropes and story points with Red Rising... just in a fantasy setting, not in space. If you are wanting fantasy with POC main characters and a non-European-centric culture, that doesn’t pull any punches, give it a shot.

Earthsea - Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea - I had read the first three books several years back, and i did re-read them in order to refresh myself prior to reading the final two.

The Secret Garden - I absolutely loved the movie from the 90′s as a kid, and finally got around to listening to the book.

Six of Crows - A heist book in fantasy world with the magic users being heavily “Jewish / Slavic” coded by how they are treated and persecuted. I might have thought more favorably about the book if i hadn’t read other books with “street rat slum” main characters. (Seriously, after spending six books with Royce in Riyria someone like Kas is just second bananas)

Unconventional Heroes / Two Necromancers - Comedic Fantasy, the humor’s not on par with say MogWorld, and has more jokes than Fred The Vampire Accountant. It is still a parody of villains and heroes in fantasy worlds. I would find it safe for a 12/13yo to read, cursing and all, though they might not be aware of many of the tropes that are being deconstructed. The reader of the book did better in this one then he did with Six of Crows and Beezer, still the audio needed some editing because it repeats itself a few times.

Once More Upon A Time (Free Audio Book)  - I don’t always care to read romance stories. I like the idea behind it however, to trade their love for each other in order to save their partner’s life, then learn to re-love one another again.

Monster Hunter International - If you think Dresden is too liberal, this takes a hard turn to the right.. replace the magic with GUNS, lots and lots of GUNS. An organization that hates the government but hunts monsters for government bounties. The main cast is multi-ethnic and they do make fun of that at one point. There isn’t a lot of thought into the plot, because action is #1, but it is fun enough to ignore the politicking.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Collection - i bitched about there not being an omnibus last year, and then Audible uploaded one. The ending is still one big clusterfuck.

Stephen King’s Insomnia - this book is the bridge between Steven King’s two universes. It is a sequel to IT and brings up the Darktower often. IT dealt mainly with childhood fears, Insomnia deals with Elderly and feminine fears.

D’Arc / Culdesac: War with No Name - I liked D’Arc more than i did Mort-e, and Culdesac is more on track with Mort-e. The virus that mutated the ants and animals reminded me of the virus from Children of Time/Ruin, even though i read Mort-e first, reading D’Arc after CoT let me notice it.

Michael McDowell’s:  The Amulet / The Elementals / Gilded Needles / Blackwater - From the guy that wrote the screenplay of Beetlejuice, and the pioneer of the Southern Gothic Horror. Gilded Needles is a bit out of place, taking place in 1890′s, and is more of a social horror rather than a super natural horror the other books are.

Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 - high fantasy dark fiction. if you really want some CHONKY door stoppers, there’s over 10 of them in this series. Could’ve done less with the manipulative bastard mage that speaks in 3rd person. I had read The Willful Child, an attempted comedy science fiction novel by the same author, and it showed that the author was unfamiliar with that kind of genera and should stick to grim fantasy.

The Knife’s Edge / Citadel of Fire: The Ronin Saga - This is one of those series that I’m always going “oh, that reminds me of [insert another better series]”  At times it reminded me of The Licanius Trilogy, Shades of Magic, Arc of Scythe, Riyria, Korra... It is just shy of being as good as them, and is rather firmly in that Sci-Fi Fantasy Ghetto and has a bit of “anime” feel to it with their magic users having ‘power levels’ and the power creep. 

In Calabria - My only problem with the book is the massive age-gap between the Main character and his love interest. Outside of that, the whole Unicorns in the modern world concept is done very well.

Pout Neuf (Audible Free Book)  - Journalism and romance during WW2. A quick read and the book really shows that research had been done about the setting and time period.

Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist: An Audible Original - Not only does it talk about the heist, it actually touches on the subject of migrant farmers and slave labor, as well as the desertification of the California Valley.

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel (Free Audio Book) - a neat little informative podcast if you are looking for an introduction to some of the harder science fiction.

Mythology - by Edith Hamilton - Text book about Greek Mythology. Like “used in schools” text book. It is a good read if you don’t want to go through Ovid, Virgil, Homer, and all the other classical writers on your own.

The Space Race: An Audible Original - America didn’t win the Space Race. Russia did just about everything first. The only thing we did first was put people on the moon. It also goes into detail about how the inventor of the Nazi’s V2 rockets became employed with the US Space program. As well as the government’s announcement to let space travel become privatized.

Pale Blue Dot / Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - It’s Carl Sagan. Come on! Everyone should be reading them. Pale Blue Dot was being turned into an Audiobook in the 90′s but with Sagan’s death, only the first few chapters were read by him and his partner reads the rest of it (she does a decent job, and i understand why they wanted her to read it, it should’ve been done similarly to Cosmos, with guest readers doing each chapter)

Thicker Than Water (Free Audio Book)  - start up pharmaceutical company scams people out of millions with promises of a miracle machine that was ahead of its time. Story told from the whistleblower himself as he recounts what his job was within the company and how he knew the owner/founder of the company and how coming out about what was going on ruined his relationship with his family and friends.

Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - biography on Douglas Adams and the history behind the creative process behind the Hitchhiker’s Guide series.

The Genius of Birds - It reminded me a lot of “The Soul of an Octopus” in quality. It is rather informative about birds, how they behave, and how we judge intelligence in non-human animals.

It’s “ok.”

Les Miserabes - I can see why people favor movies and theater versions because of how dense the book is, getting the cliff notes version of the book instead of reading several chapters about the Battle of Waterloo. 

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (Audible Free Book) - It’s cute, and I spent the next several weeks humming that freaking song.

Challenger Deep - A book about mental illness by the same person that brought us The Arc of a Scythe series. It isn’t a bad read, but if you are prone to get panic attacks and have mental illness yourself, you might get too into it and make you uneasy. It can help with neurotypical people with understanding how some illnesses work.

Into the Wilds (Warriors, Book 1)  - Ah, the cat book. It is prob because there are soooo many books in this series that it over-saturates the kids impressionable minds.

House of Teeth (Audible Free Book)  - I read this book prior to Monster Hunter International, and thinking back on this one, i am reminded about the other. Save for this one is PG. So... the kid friendly version.

The Martian Chronicles - Space Horror, on Mars. If you like old science fiction, like Classic Trek, Wells, or Forbidden Planet stuff. There is a lot of zerust.

Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection - The third superhero series I’ve read this past year. It is not as ground breaking nor subversive as Villain’s Code or Dreadnought. The humor is a bit too forced and parts of it falls into “we can be more offensive because it is an adult book” category.

Interview with the Robot - Don’t really care for books or programs that are set up in the “interview” format where it is two people talking to one another. (I have no fucking idea how this book got top Kids book of the year on Audible, it is more of a YA book... it must been because it was Free and lots of people picked it because the rest of the choices that month were complete garbage)

Micromegas - perhaps one of the oldest examples of Speculative Science Fiction. Written by Voltaire, it is about a giant from another solar system that is so big that humans and life on Earth are microscopic. “what value are the lives of ants to a man?”

The Three Musketeers - i had forgotten how much espionage there was in this book. I would say this is a good companion book to Don Quixote, as it takes its fair share of inspiration from and even name-drops the character a couple times. 

Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist / David Copperfield / A Tale of Two Cities - DC is the standout IMO among the three, it is Dickens’ Magnum Opus. Les Mis did a far better job with the Revolution than Tale did as well. I felt rather obligated to reading these books because of the subplot in the Age of Madness books being about Poverty during the Industrial Revolution and Workers Revolts against the Ruling Class.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the version i listened too made most of the Americans sound like GWB... which is funny because one of them is Canadian, and the Comic Relief character about how boorish Americans are.

Stuck (Free Audio Book) -  it is a neat idea, getting jarred free of time but everybody else isn’t and doesn’t remember. It gets a little heavy for a kids book near the end, edging into YA territory as the character gets older mentally and the people around him age physically.

Phreaks (Free Audio Book) - i knew a lot about Captain Crunch and other phone hackers of the 60′s. There is a subplot of the big radioactive corporation covering up causing cancer to their workers, and the father (voiced by Christian Slater) being in the closet but still homophobic about it.

Silverswift (Free Audio Book) - If you like fairy tales set in modern times, it is worth a look. It is similar to In Calabira in that way. The mom being the nonbeliever and thinking grandma is off her rocker, but the granddaughter knows it in her bones that grandma is telling the truth.

Sleeping Giants - alien mechs from the distant past, once mistaken as the titans and gods form mythology, now being studied and experimented on by the government. This is another “interview style” story telling.

Celtic Mythology: Tales of Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes - there is a lot of names and stories, it is worth prob getting a physical copy of the book to keep things straight and to use as a reference.

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps - A love letter to The Legend of Zelda’s Ocarina of Time and other RPG games.

Casino Royal: James Bond - the movie was rather faithful, including the part of being tied to a chair. I do wish they kept more of the book’s ending where Bond was ready to retire prior to his secret-spy love interest gets killed.

Aliens: Bug Hunt - a compilation of Alien stores about people landing on various planets and encountering aliens, not always the Xenomorphs we know, but the term “Bug” came synonymous to any dangerous alien lifeforms encountered.

Macbeth: A Novel - retelling the story of Macbeth but in a novel form. If you can’t get past the language of the original play, this would help. It sets it more firmly in historical fiction.

Hannibal: A Novel -  I went ahead and re watched the tv show after finishing the book. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, and i understand why they changed the ending to the movie. The book is the main one that characterizes Hannibal and the show uses a lot of the plot. Hannibal Rising wasn’t really needed because Hannibal (in this book) does think/talk about what happened to his sister and home, and i can see why Harris didn’t want to write that book either. The audiobook is rather poor quality, they talked too fast in places and i don’t really care for their acting...

The Power of Six - I read I am Number 4 several years back and this one popped up on sale so i nabbed it. I like Neil Kaplan, and i think this one is better than the first one and actually gets into the meat of the story.

Cut and Run: A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy - body parts harvesting.... mmmm.

Calypso - non-Fiction, biography of the author. Talks about his family, his life with his partner, and what he does. Much of it is charming and it is read by the author. this was prior to him loosing his marbles about retail workers and becoming a karen.

Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music and Soul at the Red Rooster - the history of Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance. I didn’t mind this podcast so much because i was reading The Diviners during the same time.

Malcolm and Me - another biographical book. one of the free books i got during Feb’ Black History Month.

History of Bourbon (Free Audio Book) - Informative about the liqueur industry in America.

Junkyard Cats: Shining Smith Book 1 - post apocalyptic action science fiction novel. the moment that guy showed up i was “that’s your bf.” and it was so... the plot wasn’t hard to figure out, it’s all about the action and setting.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - One of the better Heinlein books. The man can’t write romance and he is rather big on casual polygamy and open marriages. An anarchist-revolution book written by someone that is more on the Libertarian side of the aisle. Mycroft (the computer) comes off as rather antiquated, an AI that runs on a closed server, communicating through the telephone lines and printed paper, makes me wonder what Heinlein would’ve done if he was told about the internet and Deep Fake tech. (the book takes place in like 2075, but written in 1966)

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World - the production of coffee and it’s prevalence around the world.

The Life and Times of Prince Albert - Exactly what it says on the can. *rimshot*

The Real Sherlock: An Audible Original - a biography of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Design of Everyday Things - using psychology to improve the design of systems, products, and the modern business model.  It gives proper terminology for several common design features and how to improve on existing structures.

Bottom of the Barrel.

The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity. I was hoping there would have been something in there about European Religions, there isn’t, and the book was mostly Greek and Roman life styles and how gods are worshiped. It let me know where the word “auger” came from and why it was used in the Licanius Trilogy.

Life Ever After - disjointed at best. a couple that aren’t good for each other spend the next several hundred years in a crappy relationship.

Beyond Strange Lands: An Audible Original - The audio was complete crap on half of the voices. Which is bad because this could’ve been better. It is a Pod Cast Show and the director couldn’t make sure everybody had decent recording equipment and the sound effects often drown out the actors.

Henrietta & Eleanor: A Retelling of Jekyll and Hyde: An Audible Original Drama - They were going for a modern telling, but the language used is archaic. They speak like Dickens characters even though they talk about cellphones and computers.

A Crazy Inheritance: The Ghostsitter book 1 - The concept is there, but it is too nerfed. It was made for the 8-12yo crowd in mind by people that don’t know how to write for children.

Tell Me Lies (Free Audio Book) - It really wants to be smart. Who’s playing who and who is the actual villain of this story? If you want a quick “who done it?” maybe look into it.

Evil Eye (Free on Audible Plus) - told through phone calls between a mother and daughter. The whole genera of evil boyfriends/husbands isn’t really my cup of tea, and the boyfriend’s actor was too fake and the set up to the meat of the story was annoying.

The Half-life of Marie Curie - I didn’t mind learning stuff about Marie Curie... falls squarely in “made for TV lifetime movie” quality though. You should not carry around a vile of uranium where ever you go.

Alone with the Stars - A girl in Florida hears the call for help from Amelia Earhart, but nobody listens to her. Part fiction, part biographical. It would’ve been better as a biography and talking about various conspiracy theories about what happened to her and finding the pieces of the airplane.

Beezer - The son of the Devil learning to become a good person with a found family... however, most of the characters are annoying.

The Year of Magical Thinking (Free Audio Book) - very heavy on the subjects about loss and death.

Complete Garbage.

The Getaway (Free Audio Book) - A man being a POS by stalking and abducting women. It broadcasts just about everything that is going to happen.

Agent 355 (Free Audio Book)  - Do you like “American Mythology?” Like the whole “the founders are the greatest people in the world” kind of vibe? I don’t. I also hate the main character for being one of those “i’m smart, because i read books that women aren’t supposed to” girls when she doesn’t really think for herself at all.

[hydrospanners]

fic masterlist: swtor

at the request of literally no one, i’ve created a masterlist of all my swtor fic. first is a chronological collection of all the swtor fic i’ve written in my “canon”. it’s broken up into snippets of time relative to the events of swtor. aus and gift fics are at the end. this is more for me than anything else, but if you have a bunch of time on your hands and want to read some fic--enjoy!!!

i am the most self-indulgent author known to man so there are numerous fics that don’t feature any canon characters in any significant way. i’m not sorry, but i did mark them with an asterisk for everyone’s edification. i also wrote actually vaguely descriptive descriptions instead of whatever bullshit i put in the descriptions on ao3. all links go to ao3 because tumblr was not designed for reading and it shows.

53 fics below the cut... what a trip, y’all.

backstory these fics are about things that happened before the opening of the class story. 

* a very velaran life day - snippets of different life days in the velaran family history. no canon characters in it yet, but maybe this christmas i’ll get to some fics that aren’t solely about my own ocs.

* the shape of things to come - the story about how rea finally joined the jedi at the ripe old age of sixteen.

* a dimming star - the first steps on rea’s jedi path. they aren’t fun ones, lads!

* necessary sacrifice - like three years down the timeline and still no canon characters! rea continues to struggle with this whole being a jedi thing, and it continues to struggle with her! this one features a haircut as a symbol of a turning point in the story.

bars and stripes - canon characters??? in my fic????? its more likely than you think. this is a shameless ripoff of an episode of m*a*s*h masquerading as doc backstory. does it have cameos and/or mentions of other healer companions? maybe!!!

prelude these are fics set during the prologue of the class stories, everything that happens between the start and completing the capital planet missions. 

* memories - rhese? do you finally get a say in all this??? this is the moment rhese and rea finally see each other for the first time since they were recruited to the jedi, set at the very start of the class story.

attachments - kira and rea talk about rhese. that’s it. that’s the fic.

act one all the stories set between killing tarnis and beginning preparations to capture the emperor (everything after coruscant ending and pubside balmorra starting). rip orgus. one day ill finish all those wips about how sad it was when he bit it. in the mean time, can i interest you in some gifsets?

lessons - now rea’s padawan, kira reflects on how bad rea is at teaching, though maybe without as much clarity as i just implied.

a tangled web - so stupid it’s basically crack, kira has to rescue rea from an embarrassing situation.

of flowers, failure, and the virtues of friendship - kira and rhese start to bond over the shared torment of having to be around rea. rivals to friends (one day i’ll write the “to lovers” part that comes after).

act two all the stories during the time when the knight is prepping for the assault on the emperor’s fortress and then assaulting it. everything between pubside balmorra starting and breaking free from the emperor’s fortress after that super successful plan to bring him in alive. great job jedi!

filling the table - is that shipfic????? the reason i started writing swtor fic in the first place??? this is rea being thirsty disguised as me sewing seeds for the eventual doc x rea romance. pazaak themed for some reason? (doc x rea)

when the wicked play - this is me being obsessed with the translation of video game violence to vaguely realistic circumstances posing as doc feeling some kind of way about rea murdering a whole bunch of dudes who wanted to hurt her but weren’t powerful enough. not primarily romantic but definitely some setup for their relationship.

night shift -  everything is doc x rea and nothing hurts. rea’s got work to do but who can work when there’s a horny mustachio’d doctor trying to persuade her back to bed??? it’s not love it’s just good sex!!!!! honest!!!!(doc x rea)

these nights never seem to go to plan - rea isn’t yearning for affection, she’s just too tired to get out of doc’s bed after so much boning. okay maybe this is about slightly more than good sex after all... doc x rea TENDERNESS.

somewhere we’ve not been before - this is the good shit lads!!!! doc x rea!!! first dates!!!! shenanigans!!!! honest to goodness falling in love between all that fucking that do!!!!!!!!!!!! (doc x rea)

no better taste - a sequel to the last fic featuring the morning after!!! some post-horniness introspection!! tenderness!!!!!! hints of yearning!!! god i miss the days before the mind control and the carbonite when the problems were normal things like commitment and abandonment issues. (doc x rea)

heart - rea sends doc a rocking “thanks for the great sex” gift!! rhese is disgusted by every part of it! this is comedy folks!!!! (doc x rea... i guess)

interruptions - rea takes a work call while she’s boning doc. that’s the whole fic. i think this was my first spicy fic?? i can’t remember. (doc x rea)

* where you go to rest your bones - sibling tenderness!!!! their relationship is super complicated, but rhese is reminded that underneath all the bullshit rea really does love him a lot.... it’s both sad and not sad at the same time. schroedinger’s sadness.

gifts - the crew tries to plan a gift for rea, but what do you get for the woman who’s banned from everything?? so dumb it’s basically crack and i’m not sorry for it.

crapshoot - the crew takes bets on what rea’s next Bad Idea TM will be. she shows them you can’t predict chaos. basically crack but i don’t care.

spoonful of sugar - vignettes about the jedi knight crew dealing with sickness. almost entirely comedy and/or fluff. doc x rea content is present and rhese x kira content is suggested.

a little eggstra - grocery shopping gone awry, based on an old tumblr text post. hella stupid, yet hella fun. doc x rea is in the background.

to break our bones for kindling - you thought we were just having good times??? you’re a fool. doc’s job is to heal people and rea’s job is to break them. sometimes they have work-related disagreements!!! be sad with me. doc x rea.

* when a problem comes along, you must whip it - i can only stop being stupid for so long, so here’s the story about how rea came to possess her lightwhip, the stupidest weapon known to man. these events do not go well for rhese.

things unsaid - a dumb doc x rea drabble about stupid shit rea says when she’s been mortally wounded. if doc were to just let her die, no one would blame him.

* the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one - a bit of a character/relationship study about what rhese is willing to sacrifice for love of his sister, no matter how complicated things are between them. a second chapter about what rea sacrifices for rhese is in my wips and will be completed... .eventually. 

lovesick - doc x rea ship content. my interpretation of that one conversation where doc’s like “hey would your jedi powers tell me if im going crazy also do you love me? check yes or no. i will not elaborate.”

* the things we left behind - oh no lads.... we’re building up to the fortress shit.... our good times are over. rea does some underhanded shit to make sure her brother doesn’t go on this mission to capture the emperor cause the plan does not seem like a great one.

act three wow wasn’t act two fun??? so much silly nonsense and love. now get a drink assholes it’s Time To Be Sad. act three covers everything in the class stories after coming back from that super successful assault on the emperor’s fortress (great job jedi!) to finally stabbing the bastard in the dark fortress and hoping that gets the job done at last. (spoilers: it doesn’t!!!!!) aka stories from belsavis to the final assault on dromund kaas.

everything we left there - it’s trauma time!!! rea’s fucked up from the fortress and feeling the pressure (thanks for the prophecy scourge!!! love that!!!!) so she hurts people she cares about to protect them. it’s her signature move!

the only thing that’s real - rea continues to be fucked up from what happened on the fortress but hey... at least she isn’t fucked up alone??? sad doc x rea content.

into the jungle - the gang is on belsavis and no one is having a good time! since rea isn’t herself, doc tries to pick up the slack and reassure kira that it’ll all be okay! it goes about as well as you’d expect.

interlude now that i’m looking at it, there are some serious gaps in my fic coverage. anyway, sad hours are over, the emperor is (kind of but not really) dead and there may still be a war on but things are looking up! this covers everything between the emperor’s death and the beginning of kotfe, including forged alliances and the shadow of revan.

hands too hungry - doc finally takes rea on that honeymoon she didn’t really care about in the first place! tragically, rea is way too horny to be impressed by what an amazing vacation he planned for himself them. peak rea x doc content.

no kind of romantic - it’s doc and rea’s one year anniversary but they are both working on opposite sides of the galaxy. sad! it’s doc x rea fluff disguised as angst.

a little help from a friend - rea and theron are worst/best friends and i recycle romance tropes into annoying friendship ones. this is the least sexy sharing body heat fic you’ve ever (not?) read. bite me.

retirement - rea has some feelings about her very violent, stressful job and how it interferes with her husband doing things that actually help and heal. doc x rea content.

the dreaded kotfe content these are sad hours!!! this is everything from arcann’s invasion on, cause i’m not breaking it up by post-carbonite storyline you bastards. i don’t know why i’m being so hostile no one asked me to do this.

every doubt we had - after watching what may have been his sister’s death by exploding starship, rhese is having trouble sleeping. no one is more surprised than him when seeks out doc for comfort! doc & rhese brothers by marriage solidarity. carbonite angst...

love is a waiting game - rea’s been MIA for six months since the ship she was on bit it and her crew is finally making some changes. doc is sad about it. doc & rhese brothers by marriage solidarity again. doc x rea angst.

waiting - some time has passed and now rhese is the sad one again!!! grief is so funny isn’t it??? hahahaha haha hahahaha why is no one else laughing? doc & rhese brothers by marriage solidarity yet again.

the greatest distance - rea’s back baby!!!! oh but this isn’t a celebration. she’s taking a tour of her long lost ship now that all the people she loved aren’t in it. it’s a sad one, fellas. 

* when the stars are the only thing we share - rea tracks down some people from her past to help her track down her brother since he went missing while she was having a nap. no canon characters were used in the making of this fic.

leave her sleeping a little longer - rea has a dream and wakes up missing doc even more than she was before. sad hours. doc x rea angst.

take back what the kingdom stole - after theron pulls some Shenanigans (you know the ones) his friendship with rea is in peril. they both break character and actually talk shit out for once.

a wish your heart makes - rea dreams a dream. so does doc. it’s a wet one. this makes it sound lighthearted but actually it’s angst with a side of porn. doc x rea supreme spicy/sad content.

overserved - back to crack baby!! rea gets drunk and acts a fool based on a joke made in a discord server. this is the best shit i’ve ever written.

thrusting back into my skin i feel anew - the band is back together again and everything is fine!!!! just kidding -- actually people change a lot in six years and rea and doc are having some trouble fitting back into the marriage they had back then. doc x rea angst but with a hopeful ending!

non-canon fics i’ve written a couple of things with my dumb characters that are too stupid even for me to put into their canon story or are otherwise aus. these are them, listed in no particular order.

the lies we tell ourselves - a sadder (yet possibly more realistic) take on the ossus reunion and what follows. a bit experimental. doc x rea angst au.

archiban frodrick’s kennel - a romance au where doc is a vet and rea has a pet with a health issue, inspired by my own stupid dog whom i love very much. doc x rea. spiciness suggested but not detailed; sorry horndogs.

fallen - a fun au where rea’s shittiness as a teacher and everything being bad leads to kira falling to the dark side... its angst lads.

the new recruit - rusk’s squad adopts a kitten. that’s the fic.

cruel - ever wonder how things would have turned out if rea was never smuggled off eriadu and got plucked up by the sith?? no??? well i have and i wrote about it. the self-indulgence never ends.

fill my lungs with sweetness - a gift fic for @hoiist; flower-themed vignettes about doc expressing his love for hoiist’s knight, vii. this is some real soft shit, lads.

remember me, love - another gift fic for @hoiist; this time some ossus-flavored angst about doc seeing through vii’s eyes in his dreams. what he sees is not comforting!!! all aboard the angst train--choo choo!!

[newcaptainofsquad9]

Cool Louisiana Nights~Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau

Summary: Maria’s bed always stayed empty on one side for years. After Carol's return from her six year, “death”, she believed her lover would remain at her side, and in her arms for many nights to come. However, with the Skrulls and the galaxy needing protection by Captain Marvel, Maria’s nightmares and pent up fears become a reality again. However Carol arrives home to comfort them this time.

Word Count: 801

Writer’s Note:  Just watched Captain Marvel again, since I own it now! Anyway, ya’ll know that scene where Carol and Maria are sitting at the table talking and Maria literally tries not to break down and Carol’s face--the feels. I just wanted you, as an audience to keep that scene in mind. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

_____________________________________________________________

Carol had been gone for seven months. Longer than her supposed “death” was and it kept Maria on edge every night. Reassuring Monica was the easy part, the girl practically believed anything Carol told her. However, Maria saw things much more realistically. Her partner had obligations to the galaxy, the skulls and ending the conflict with the kree. It was something Maria was fully understood and comprehended, practically encouraged Carol to do it, and yet it somehow made her furious as well. Carol had an obligation to her family, to Monica to earth. To me, Maria whispers, to herself, a mantra a thousand times over. She needed Carol, more than the warrior would ever know. 

...

Maria had took Monica over to her grandparents house, hoping that time to herself would clear her head, get her mind off of Carol without Monica bringing her up every time she picked her up from school. If there’s one thing Maria can’t stand about Carol is how optimistic she is, especially with Monica. Sure, Monica should shoot for the stars, but there’s always limitations. Maria knew that, being a black woman in the male dominated air force, she had to work a lot harder than everyone else. Carol understood that too, however that didn’t stop her from giving Monica the world, the galaxy. With that type of encouragement why wouldn’t Monica ask for her. Maria was fed up with it. 

...

The bedroom she and Carol shared was cool, much cooler without Carol’s inhuman warmth. Maria often found herself tossing and turning for long, prior to falling into a deep sleep. 

Tonight was different however. Maria found herself in a heat of deep breaths, forehead slick with sweat and heart pounding deeply. She rises from the bed and wraps herself in a robe. Another dream about Carol. Unlike in reality, the dream showed Carol in an actual coffin. Monica bawling her eyes out with Maria trying to keep it together, but breaking down just as easily. 

The thought of her previous nightmare got Maria moving, down the stairs and into the living room. She headed for the light switch only to have her window engulfed with bright light, followed by a loud crash.Her bones rattled as she tightened the robe closer to her and trots for the door. She opens it, but stops in her tracks at a familiar voice. 

“Carol,” Maria whispers. 

Carol appears through the dust, dirt, smoke and bright light. Just as beautiful, Maria thought as she rushed out towards the hero. 

“M-Maria,” Carol breathes as she stands straighter. 

The two pilots meet and embrace each other. Carol squeezes tightly while Maria holds on, taking into her scent. Even though the dirt, the void of space and all, Carol still smells like Carol. Fresh soap, a hint of a little perfume and the grass that she and Maria would lay against to stargaze. 

“I woke you, didn’t I?” Carol asks. 

She pulls away from the embrace and Maria shakes her head, eyes watering in front of Carol’s eyes. 

“Hey,” Carol whispers, “I’m here now--you can tell me.”

Maria takes Carol’s hand, but not before Carol leans in to kiss her cheek. She goes for her lips but Maria stops her with a hand on her chest. 

“It may be in the middle of the night baby, but we’ve still in Louisiana,” Maria chuckles. 

Carol nods  and follows Maria inside. 

Once Maria has the door closed, Carol kisses her. One gloved hand on her cheek while the other rested on Maria’s side. 

“I missed you,” Carol whispers against Maria’s lips. 

Maria returns them fully, but hesitantly. The thought of Carol truly being dead still lingering in her head. Carol pulls back with a concerned stare. 

“Maria? What’s wrong?” she asks. 

Maria bites her lip before whispering. 

“Bad dream.”

Carol’s eyes widen and pulls Maria back into her arms. 

“You want to talk about it?”

Maria scoffs. 

“It’s stupid Carol--”

Carol gives her an indignant look. 

“It’s not stupid if it’s gotten you to cry,” Carol explains. 

“Fine I--”

Maria gasps as Carol lifts her bridal style and flies her back up to their bedroom in record time. She carefully lays Maria on the bed prior to kissing her on the forehead. 

“Wait right here,” she says, “let me get out of this suit.”

Maria takes Carol’s wrist before she could move away and brings her in for another kiss. 

“I’m good,” Maria says, “take your time.”

Carol presses her forehead against Maria’s.

“You’re sure?” Carol asks. 

Maria nods. 

“We’ve got all night,” Maria says while moving to rub Carol’s shoulders, “Monica’s at my mother’s house.”

Carol’s face lightens up. 

“Oh really? Let me get out of this suit real quick then!” Carol declares. 

Maria laughs fondly as Carol rushes towards her closet. 

[immortalcockroach]

21 + 15 + 8!

asdfghjkl rose thank you for asking ♥️ this ended up coming out incredibly long, so i apologize in advance!

8) where do you take your inspiration from?

surprising! mostly from visual media, actually. graphics, art, moodboards, films, tv series, that kind of stuff. occasionally, music, and even more rarely, written media (fics, books, poems, similar). that’s for when i’m starting to get ideas. when i already have something written or ideas developed a bit more, then i have a moodboard on pinterest and a playlist on spotify, or i watch something that has the same mood/theme as the thing i’m writing.

15) if you write oc’s, how do you decide on their names?

i don’t usually write oc’s for fics, but i do them for my original stuff. the names depend on the characters’ background and location, but they all have a name that either sounds specific to their character or who they’re supposed to be, or the meaning is very connected. 

in other cases, most of the time, i just go ‘woah this sounds cool’ or sometimes i build a whole character because of their name and subsequently the whole story.

21  tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? what is it about them that you admire?

i love this question!! let me give my favourite fic writers a shoutout, even though i’m probably missing some too!! it’s really long but honestly these people worked hard and they really deserve it

@grumpybell‘s ideas are absolutely brilliant. i’m a huge fan. the stories themselves, the plots would be enough for me to have a whole paragraph about, but for me, the characters are where it’s at. well-developed, very true to the canon but also to the universe the fic is set in, but also very well-rounded and overall realistic. the fics just flow really nice, honestly, and i could read them for eternity. 

fic shoutout: oh darling, here’s hoping god i remember reading this red riding hood au and just... falling in love. i did. i fell in love with bellamy as the wolf and clarke’s desperation to save him, and the new take on the fairy tale, it was just absolute perfection. i keep coming to it every once in a while, honestly. it’s just magic.

@asroarke is one of those people who are just integrated into a fandom’s fanfiction. imagining t100 fanfiction with asroarke is like... imagining the sky without the stars. i think those fics were the first ones i read when i joined the fandom, and i remember one of the things i thought was how easy it was to read. everything flowed as if there was no effort needed, as if the words have always been there, just plucked and placed on a blank document. and the consistency, honestly, damn. these fics are better than probably more than half of published stuff i’ve read. 

fic shoutout: drag me down. look there’s a pattern here and it’s the mythical/legends/fairy tale aus. i present you with a retelling of little mermaid in the most beautiful, soul-wrenching way. i waited every single chapter for when i came out. i read it as soon as i saw it came out, even if i was in the middle of grabbing coffee with a friend. honestly everything by asroarke is absolutely fantastic. 

@blvke-bellamy okay look. when i saw may is just 15 i nearly fell off my chair. i’d kill to have that talent at 15. i would. look, i keep saying look, because i’m shook. but honestly, may’s characterization is brilliant. she took my faves from the 100 and managed to insert them into a different universe, and they feel so much like the original characters and not at all. the dynamics between them are so raw and so pure and so believable i cried at one particular scene in her fic. or it might be two scenes. and look, this is impressive on its own, and then knowing she’s just 15...god.

fic shoutout: step into the sun is a bellarke tangled au and honestly. i’m a slut for tangled. it’s so damn good. and this fic?? inspired by tangled?? absolutely brilliant. marvelous. 11/10. brought my fish to life. and honestly murphy is my favourite in the fic, literally one of my favourite portrayals of him in every fic i’ve ever read. i binged this. i lost sleep over this. no ragrets.

@pawprinterfanfic (i’m biased but. in top 3 fic writers ever. and i’ve been in a lot of popular fandoms.) paw manages to take a universe and make it hers. paw manages to create a universe out of nothing and make it feel more realistic than my own life. and honestly, i am reading her hunger games au right now and it’s amazing, but the best part is that i’m also reading the harry potter au which is even better and although both are masterpieces, i can see the improvement. the development of the characters, the amount of effort in planning and mapping things out, it’s marvellous. her fics just speak to me on a different level, it feels as if i’m experiencing them myself rather than reading them, and what i’m mostly in awe of is how immersed i am in those fics, especially the newer ones. i feel like it’s a rare skill to have.

fic shoutout: starry eyes and galaxy minds (we’ll be dancing on the clouds at night) which is a spider-man au, and honestly, i cried. it’s beautiful. it’s a masterpiece. but so is literally every single one of paw’s stories, so it was a really difficult choice. the harry potter one? j k rowling wishes she wrote it.

skai_heda (i don’t know their tumblr please someone help me find it). where do i begin. honestly. when i started reading the fic i put below, i was mesmerised by the writing style. it was partly in second pov which i’d usually refuse to read, but this writing style is something that belongs to gods. the characterization is amazing, it manages to fix some of the stuff in canon without actually changing it. everything just comes together naturally, and i always feel so satisfied when reading their fics. plus, the writing style again, especially in the fic below, is flawless. some people can create magic with their words, and i’m convinced i’ve just found one.

fic shoutout: everything that comes after deserves so much!! more!! attention!!! i remember reading the first two chapters and just being like...wooow. i was starstruck. i left a long ass comment. it’s so unique and so beautiful. it’s the only fic on this list written in the canon universe, and it’s one of my favourites i’ve ever read about the canon universe. it hurts. it makes you cry, and ache, and understand, and smack your head because you just want people to be happy. if i could pocket the way this fic made me feel, i would always keep it with me. (a little frustration, but a whole lotta love.)

give me a number and i’ll answer questions about writing fanfiction

just in case you’d like to see the same questions answered for non-fanfiction/non-fanfiction influence, see below!

15) if you write oc’s, how do you decide on their names?

specific example of mentioned above - a wip about teenagers who come from a rich side of town and a poor side. there’s posh names, like cedric, declan, byron and gregory, for people who are supposed to represent the posh, stuck-up class; hadley, tessa, abigail, kate for privileged people who are the ‘good guys’; and luca, oliver, han, freddie, who are from the poor side. it’s very classist so it was very important that the names represent the characters. usually, i go for the “vibe” of the name over the meaning, to be honest. 

21  tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? what is it about them that you admire?

i love this question!!

fiction: maggie stiefvater, because her raven cycle series genuinely feels like magic when i read it. the characters are brilliant. erin morgenstern, who wrote the night circus, because that novel also feels like magic. donna tart’s the secret history feels as if you’re reading a secret and the storytelling sort of reminds me of f. scott fitzgerald’s the great gatsby in a way i can’t really describe. she creates a beautiful, magnificent atmosphere and you know what the characters are doing is wrong, but you completely understand them and it makes me, as a reader, question my own moral standards. madeline miller’s the song of achilles is a beautifully written masterpiece that made me fall in love with mythology, legends and history all over again. the way she develops the characters and retells the story i’ve heard a million times is so poetic and beautiful it just resonates with me on a different level. and finally, leigh bardugo with her six of crows series that again, makes me question my morals, but shows the friendship and loyalty between people in a beautiful way. it also shows a romance that i think is one of best written i’ve read, up there for me romances from the novels/series i’ve already mentioned.

there’s a pattern - storytelling and character-building that feels almost otherworldly, very focused on emotions and character development. basically, stories that you feel like as if they were made into films without proper, detailed development, wouldn’t translate well enough to bring the world to the screen. and romances incredibly well-developed over time, that go beyond just being romances and actually show a beautiful connection.

special mention of these directors, as they have a huge influence on my writing: christopher nolan, john krasinski, quentin tarantino, m night shyamalan, steven knight, guillermo del toro, alfred hitchcock, for their storytelling and character building. also, some of these are for the suspense that seems to come naturally. i know most of these are very popular directors, but they’re popular for a reason. i could literally write an essay on each of these people, honestly. my writing is very inspired by motion pictures, i most often look up to how these directors approached some things that i have in my writing, especially themes. (this could literally be a whole essay on its own)

[sl-walker]

Maybe you’ve done this before, but can you speak to how you came up with all the Blackbirds’ personalities and/or goals? Like what inspired them and such. I think we know the story behind a few, like Raze, but I’m curious about all of them!

Oh gosh.  I probably have in pieces, but I’m totally down with answering it. XD  Thank you for asking it, too!  This’ll get long-ish, so under the cut it goes.  But the easy answer is that all of them actually evolved very organically; aside a few notes, I didn’t really plan any of them.  They just kind of happened in the best way.  But for more detail, read on.

Shiv I stole from a short comic where he was actually fridged at the end on Orto Plutonia.  His habit of writing to his dead brother charmed me and broke my heart, and his own end was just a big ole nope.  Maul needed a sergeant, I wanted Shiv, so I grabbed him.  Even in the short span we saw him in quasi canon, he displayed a dry sense of humor and a quick wit (and some skill at words), so I just built on that limited framework.  He would have had to have been highly trained to be an advanced scout like that, he would have had to have been level headed, and beyond that, he really just grew into his own person organically.  Him wrestling with losing his twin, him having to process that while coping with the burden of leadership, with a new squad on one side and a green CO on the other, all of that just kind of happened as the story went on.

Tally's definitely been my answer to the habit of people writing mean, snarky medics.  I wanted one who was kind to the people in his care, who believed in consent and autonomy.  Beyond the fact that the squad was built around Maul -- who would need someone like Tally if he was ever going to learn how to be a person -- it’s just enjoyable to defy the trope.  Originally, he was going to be older, more along Husk’s relative age, but it was clear right off that he wasn’t.  Of all of them, I think I most end up projecting my ‘politics’ onto him; his open cynicism, his belief in solidarity, his subversiveness and distrust of the establishment.  But Tally, no joke, grabs the reins every single time I write his narrative.  All of the Blackbirds feel really real when I write them, but he’s the one who often surprises me.  I don’t so much think I came up with him as that he ended up with some part of me and then went on to totally do his own damn thing.  And if that sounds crazy, I’d love to see someone else try writing him organically and find a different result.  LOL!  He’s just a really strong personality.

Smarty is a total geek, except not.  Because unlike the stereotypical geek portrayal of like, the 1980s, he had no trouble getting laid.  He wears graffiti on his battlefield armor. He’s skinnier and softer looking than most of the others, but he’s also kinda fearless and badass.  He’s apt to go on and on, but he’s also sharp as hell.  I loved the idea of a clone who self-studied everything because 1.) he was intensely bored on Kamino, and 2.) because he has a genuine, enthusiastic passion for learning.  Like-- honestly, most of the Blackbirds are subversive not just in narrative, but also outside of it, because defying tropes is a lot of fun, narratively.

Castle’s personality is partly because I love engineers.  Scotty from Star Trek is my hero, has been my whole life, and Castle is kind of a sideways homage to him.  His skill and talent at building or repairing things, his steadfastness, but also his occasional struggles understanding what’s going on with people internally speaking.  Scotty’s his own thing entirely -- don’t even get me started there, the Arc of the Wolf can be googled -- but Castle shares some traits with him.  Castle is also a bit more like the clones we see portrayed in canon, which makes him an interesting perspective in this group of odds, ends and eccentricities.

Husk also serves that; of all of them, he is in the mold of Rex and Cody.  I wanted someone who was older and had been around for damn ever, who got the full load of indoctrination, both Mando and Kaminoan, and who would offer a more ‘traditional soldier’ perspective on things.  One thing is absolutely sure, though, is that I never, ever wrote Husker to be villainized because of that.  His view of things -- though it’s evolving now thanks to experience and kinship -- has always been just as legitimate a take as the other Blackbirds and I never wanted him to be portrayed in a bad light because of it.  I also wanted him to be 501st originally because that would be an interesting bridge between Skywalker and the Blackbirds, and an interesting conflict Husk would have to work through.  His personality kinda grew around all that; his fierce love and loyalty to his brothers, his unique place trying to balance who he was raised to be while being surrounded by the other, more subversive Blackbirds.  (He was named in homage to Bill Adama in BSG, too.)

Your boy Misty is kind of the most normal of everyone, honestly.  He’s the one who’s managed to not be traumatized by war, or by their upbringing, or by anything else.  He’s actually incredibly resilient in that regard.  It’s not that he doesn’t feel things deeply, but he seems to have kept from letting those get hooks into his brain, and that’s no small feat in their galaxy.  His genuine love of the water was the first thing I knew about him, and it’s remained kind of a constant in how his personality develops.  His ability to be a fair leader when put to it, but not enjoying the role, for example; his absolute confidence when he is in charge of something like a water rescue.  I’m really looking forward to doing more with him in Year Two and highlighting just how good a specialist he is in that, as well.

Brody was always going to be a slicer, but like the others, his personality just happened over time.  I knew he’d be a bit cynical because he already has more exposure to the wider galaxy than the others, but I didn’t anticipate a lot of the nuances.  Like his idealism finally getting stoked by Radio Anarchy.  That was a lot of fun to see, and brought home that he, too, is a young guy and not immune to hope.  The Llanic arc was a big one for Brody, not only in terms of development, but in terms of his entire life after this.  His mischief at the Viable ad was also a Moment(tm), but if you asked me what his actual defining arc would be, it’d be Llanic, and it happened kinda on its own.

Raze, as I’ve said, ended up being homage to my son; the ADHD, also the introduction of meds and how those made his life easier, also his cuddly nature and kindness and generosity.  His artistic lean, however, is in homage to my oldest kid.  I knew he’d be kind of distractable, never on time to meetings, hyper competent in his field, always down for a hair-pet and someone to snuggle up to, and oddly enough, Raze is the one who doesn’t surprise me often.  LOL!  I guess because I live with his inspiration.  His being ace just-- was.  I didn’t intend it, but it happened; when I was writing the camping fluff back in the day and Tango was lamenting, Raze was just like, “Nah, not interested.’  He’s just a wonderful, positive presence, and while he’s having an awful time with survivor guilt right now, he’s still wonderful.  And I honestly don’t know of anyone who doesn’t love him.

Tango ended up being one of the most complex of the Blackbirds!  Like, there is part of him that is definitely me -- “HDU write about this person I love inaccurately, I’ll just have to do it better than you!!!” -- but most of him is actually not.  Like-- his actually-pretty-inaccurate crush on Maul. LOL!  He loves the idea of being in a relationship with Maul, but doesn’t quite grasp what that would entail realistically?  The crush and literally everything else about Tango happened in the course of the story.  I knew early about his fanfic leanings, but not how he would get there; I knew about his superstitious streak, but not that he would end up slowly losing it piece by piece in favor of something he can control, namely his writing.  His feelings about Rabbit and what happened to Rabbit are more added layers to his complexity.  And while Raze is the teras kasi protege, it’s actually Tango who’s probably a bit more Force sensitive than the norm.  Nothing to Jedi levels, but there’s something there.  His future’s going to be an interesting one.  (And Etah and Adao will be a running thread through the whole series.)

Rabbit was always going to be Rabbit.  I knew his name and Rancor’s before I even wrote the first chapter.  And I knew he wasn’t going to see the end of Year One.  I knew that he and his twin were both brand spanking new, and would therefore have to develop on their own, over time, and they did.  I had no real personality traits in mind for either, beyond their desperate attachment (and in fairness, co-dependency) with one another.  So, he happened.  And I wanted him to be a person, even knowing his fate.  I didn’t want him to be cannon fodder.  I didn’t want the audience to suspect what would eventually happen.  And when the time came, it was absolutely, critically important that when I wrote his end, I was sobbing on my keyboard.  I had to love him, and to do that, I had to write him well.  (And I cried so hard I could barely type, then I cried for hours after, too.)

Rancor is the least developed, but that was by design?  I still don’t know him as well as the others.  I know he’s Rabbit’s twin and some things about him now, as an individual, but Rancor himself has always been defined by his proximity to his twin.  He’s never thought for a second to step out into his own so far as to lose sight of Rabbit, and so he hasn’t.  We get hints of it -- his vote on Bravo-984, his punching a clone in the teeth at the climax of that training mission, his possessiveness and anxiety, his basic quiet competence when put to it -- but it’s only really going to be over time that he gets to figure out who he is.  He’s always going to be Rabbit’s twin, but now he has no real choice about becoming his own person, and we’ll see how that goes.

Thank you again for the ask!  I hope these answers work.

[sciencenewsforstudents]

R2D2 and BB-8 never seem to let anything hold them back, even when faced with vast, terrifying desert planets. R2D2 trundles cheerfully across the sands of Tatooine. BB-8 takes his own sandy trek on Jakku. Sadly, such scenarios aren’t realistic. Not because Star Wars is fiction (though it is). It’s because a droid with wheels has no place on a desert planet.

“Wheels don’t work well in sand, period,” says Robin Murphy. She studies robotics at Texas A&M University in College Station. Wheels, she notes, “dig in. The traction is just not there.” Using them in a setting on sand, she says, is just “wrong on so many levels.” Murphy published an article on the pros and cons of Star Wars droids February 21 in the journal Science Robotics.

It’s easy to think that the wheels of R2D2 or the ball of BB-8 would just slip over the sand. But slipping is why they would be in trouble. It has to do with the way a wheel rolls, explains Daniel Goldman. He studies biophysics — the physical forces related to living things — at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Sandy surfaces

A wheel (or a BB unit) moves forward because there is no slipping between the wheel and the ground. “If an ant was riding on a wheel, it would go around, contact the ground and come up at the same point,” notes Goldman. This is because there is friction — resistance that the wheel encounters as it comes in contact with the ground.

That works pretty well inside the Millennium Falcon, with its solid metal floors. But sand is different. It’s not a solid surface but a compilation of tiny particles of rock. Those small pieces slip and move against one another. If BB-8 attempted to roll across a dune, the sand would slip around the little droid. The robot would soon dig itself into a hole. And as the little ball kept spinning, the sand would continue to slip. BB-8 would be unable to get enough friction under itself to climb out.

Goldman knows just how badly this turns out. “We tried it, when [Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens] came out,” he says. Goldman and his colleagues placed a model of BB-8 on a bed of sand. “It’s terrible,” he explains. “It makes a little pit it can’t climb out of.”

Director J.J. Abrams of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and others discuss how the idea for the BB-8 droid came about — and more. CREDIT: Star Wars: The Force Awakens/YouTube

R2D2 wouldn’t be much more successful, notes Murphy. The older droid (which made its first appearance in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope) has sets of wheels on its “feet” that would get just as stuck.

When dealing with slippery substances like sand, Murphy explains, it’s best to have lots of surface area in contact with the surface. “When you see things going across the desert, they use the properties of the sand like sidewinders,” she notes. Sidewinders are a type of snake. They don’t press into the sand as they move. Instead, they flatten their bodies, which helps them keep contact with the sand.

A sidewinder-like robot might be one option for a desert droid. Another might be a droid that uses wide, flat treads to move, like a tank. Those treads spread out the tank’s weight and prevent the vehicle from sinking in as it moves.

Murphy and Goldman have mused about droids because they are developing robots that can handle any terrain. Such robots would be useful for tasks ranging from search and rescue after a disaster to exploring distant worlds in space. So, while BB-8 and R2D2 belong in a galaxy long ago and far away, the lessons they provide could be pretty useful to us Earthlings here and now.  

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Superhero Spotlight: MCU Post Phase 3

With all this talk about ideas and hopes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers 4 wraps up the first 11 years of said universe, I am slightly concerned as to whether or not anyone has actually sat down with Kevin Feige and said “Seriously, what are we doing after 2019?” because so far the talk is about how Avengers 4 is going to be the last hurrah for our original Avengers from Phase 1, with a possible exception, and also the arrival of the X-Men and Fantastic 4 now Disney has bought Fox.

So I thought i would offer some realistic suggestions for where the MCU can go post Phase 3 and where I think it should go both to keep the universe fresh after it potentially rotates the Avengers team roster and also now Feige has double if not triple the toys.

What’s Coming:

So what we know as confirmed movies for the MCU going forward is that hotly anticipated Captain Marvel movie, Avengers 4 which will end Phase 3 and potentially an era of the MCU and the start of Phase 4 which will be Spider-Man: Far From Home all scheduled for release in 2019.

I have to say just that year of movies itself makes me excited both as a Marvel fan and movie goer because people are buzzing over finally seeing Carol Danvers join the MCU, obviously everyone wants to know the final fates of most of the MCU characters post-Infinity War which includes Peter Parker and also his sequel will introduce Jake Gyllenhall as Mysterio.

However, after 2019, due to problems that have faced Disney this summer with firing James Gunn, no confirmed dates are on the cards post-2019. Guardians 3 is still on the table but its release date has been pushed back. This means that, unless Feige pulls an ace out of his sleeve rather quickly with either a surprise announcement or a distraction, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will not have any slots in 2020 which will be a huge loss for Disney considering they’ve striven to have up to 3 Marvel movies a year for years, that’s been their formula for practically the 10 years.

What’s Most Likely:

Now as fans of the MCU have come to realise, Kevin Feige likes to keep things simple...even if it means not faithful to the source material. This hit home for me with Ultron and how he was created by Tony Stark rather than Hank Pym. Simple because they already had Tony Stark established, not faithful because Ultron is possibly one of Hank Pym’s greatest storylines and they gave it to RDJ.

The other thing to consider when understanding Feige’s mindset at the moment, is that he is in the centre of a major s&*tstorm right now. Not only with the fact he has had to put Guardians of the Galaxy 3 on hold until he can find a new director due to this past summer of trouble with James Gunn, but also with the fact one or two vocal members of the Guardians cast, Bautista especially, are being brutally honest about not trusting Feige or Disney anymore. So Feige I imagine will strive to keep his creative decisions as simple as possible while also pulling some major damage control to try and keep both actors and fans happy.

I did an entire post on how I think he could fix his Guardians problem with introducing the Asgardians of the Galaxy, however if he doesn’t choose to go down that route and they do bring out Guardians 3 as scheduled, then I have a way to create a positive media buzz around the film.

A b-storyline in Guardians 3 could be rebuilding the Nova Corps, which was destroyed along with Xandar in Avengers: Infinity War by Thanos in order to acquire the Power Stone. So to recreate the Corps, how about bringing in the original Nova - Richard Rider  Now just listen to this set up: “When the last surviving member of the planet Xandar's elite Nova Corps, Rhomann Dey, is dying, he selects New York high school student Richard Rider to replace him.” Firstly, Rhomann Dey has already been introduced in the first Guardians of the Galaxy portrayed by John C. Reilly, he only needs to appear as a cameo or flashback on how Nova was chosen. Not forgetting Thanos, off-screen, ravaged Xandar to acquire the Power Stone leaving the fates of the Nova Corps unknown, so what a perfect set-up for Guardians 3 or even Avengers 4 to introduce a young Richard Rider. If they wanted to retcon him slightly he could even go to the same high school as Peter Parker. But to be contemporaries with the other Guardians I think Feige will be best to cast in a similar age to Pratt and maybe show his origin in a Nova movie.

Bringing in the Mutants:

Another suggestion and possibly a more realistic option for Feige is to introduce the X-Men. They have of course been hotly anticipated to join the big leagues for years, and now they are owned by the Mouse House it’s just a question of when and how they’ll debut.

I have doe a Fan-Casting Frenzy post where I make suggestions for the MCU’s version of the Brotherhood of Mutants because a YouTube channel I watch has already appropriately cast the MCU’s X-Men team. But while I think an X-Men team movie potentially with the Brotherhood as the villains is inevitable, I do believe introducing individual X-Men members first to tease the movie is the way to go. Not only will it save us as fans having to meet an entire team of characters at once but, as Feige is known for, it’s a great way for fans to have their favourites going in.

I personally feel, like most, that Storm should definitely appear in a Black Panther sequel. It’s just too perfect to not happen! Not only is Ororo Munroe the wife of King T’Challa in the comics but also it would create hopefully an interesting love-triangle between the already established T’Challa and Nakia. Lupita N’yongo is someone everyone wanted to see play Storm and I still feel she would have been perfect for the role, but now she’s settled for the girl that needs a copy of He’s Just Not That Into You when Storm flies onto the scene, also yes make the Weather Witch fly for goodness sake! Two simple character traits; she has to fly and actually be African, and Ryan Coogler did a spectacular job honoring African culture with the first Black Panther movie, so surely he is the right person to bring Storm into the MCU.

Another place to introduce more X-Men members is in that hopeful Doctor Strange sequel. Both T’Challa and Stephen Strange are hot commodities for the MCU currently not only being part of the new wave of heroes to take centre stage after Phase 3, but also starring in solo movies that were highly successful with both critics and fans. Also with a Doctor Strange sequel, the two most logical ways to go with the story are either a House of M retelling which would see Scarlet Witch appear in the sequel, but the other way is Doctor Strange: Illuminati which could see him become one of the founding members of the secret government that works behind the scenes. The team also includes Iron Man as well as Professor X, Mister Fantastic and Namor. The latter three of which are now owned by Disney from Fox.

I am not saying a Doctor Strange sequel is the best place to introduce three characters, but if they don’t focus on them in terms of major character development and simply focus on the fact they are in the MCU and will be developed in future movies it could be a great introduction.

Fantastic Four:

Speaking of Mister Fantastic, introducing Marvel’s First Family would be a logical suggestion for the MCU due to the fact Disney has found storming success with Pixar’s Incredibles franchise. Yes they have co-morbidity in their powers but the Fantastic 4 did come first.

There however lies the problem Feige may face, being compared to the Incredibles. Yes there is a different family dynamic with the Richards-Storm-Grimm set-up to the Parrs, but there is no reason to say that a CGI and live-action version cannot co-exist. If anything I think the Fantastic 4 can learn from the Incredibles particularly with what to do with Mister Fantastic. The trick is not falling into the same trap as what has come before in attempts.

A-Force:

An idea that has been batted around a lot recently is an all female Avengers movie, logically speaking this would mean A-Force. While every female hero in Marvel seems to have been a part of the team in the comics. It makes sense in the MCU to have a team comprised of the already established female heroes, along with Captain Marvel who could easily lead the team. We’re talking Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, The Wasp, Nebula, Captain Marvel, potentially Gamora and maybe Okoye & Valkyrie. That’s eight female members already established. With the potential additions of Storm, Jean Grey and Rogue from the X-Men and even Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four and you have a full roster. I do not think Jessica Jones, Elektra and Quake will be elevated from their TV serials but to be fair I think those 12 are more than enough.

Young Avengers:

One suggestion I will always favour is the teenage “sidekicks” to the Avengers. This team would either make a great movie or Netflix series and definitely show up DC’s upcoming Titans series.

As a purist obviously I want to keep to the founding members, as such the team should be comprised of Nate Richards aka Iron Lad, Eli Bradley aka Patriot, Billy Kaplan & Teddy Altman aka Wiccan and Hulkling, Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye, Cassie Lang aka Stature, Vision 2.0. and Tommy Shepherd aka Speed. That is the main line-up of the original team.

Now I would say to stick with the original team because the current team does not have Cassie Lang and so far she is the only member established in the MCU. However, the later incarnation of the team is more racially diverse so maybe they can be brought in at a later date.

Wiccan and Speed are the twin sons created by Scarlet Witch, Hulkling is the son of Mar-Vell and a Skrull princess both of whom will most likely appear in the upcoming Captain Marvel. Others can easily be introduced either in a film or TV series.

But when thinking about the storylines; you have Wiccan and Hulking who would be the first openly LGBT characters the MCU has but also teenage gay characters hopefully in a realistic portrayal of a homosexual relationship, Patriot does kind of represent teenage substance abuse, there’s the family dramas with both Wiccan & Speed but also Stature and how Scott Lang feels about his daughter being a superhero not to mention Hulkling discovering his true heritage and maybe contributing to the Kree-Skull war that could be shown starting in Captain Marvel. Not to mention the first Young Avengers story which sees them face off against Kang the Conqueror who in the comics is most likely a descendant of Reed Richards. Numerous possibilities.

Nuhumans:

My final suggestion is a way to firmly solidify the connection between the Movies and TV Shows by introducing the newest generation of Inhumans, known as Nuhumans, in a movie and then giving them their own TV series possibly on Netflix or on Disney’s new streaming service.

Firstly the Nuhumans are mostly credited for introducing the new Ms. Marvel, who not only has gone on to join the Avengers but also could very easily become the new heart of the MCU.

Now the team could easily be led by Daisy Johnson aka Quake and would be a way to keep Chloe Bennett around or get her away from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as I do not see much more longevity in that series. But because she is a TV actress primarily, it could work for her to appear in one movie and then go back to television just with a bigger budget for her Quake powers and costuming.

The movie could introduce Ms. Marvel, Inferno, Moon Girl, Blizzard and Ana Kravinoff to the movies. In essence they are all teenagers and yes I do have a preference for bringing in a younger generation of heroes to the MCU post Phase 3 but I do think this opening line-up could not only form a good team but also a solid fanbase.

Some die-hard comic book fans may notice that Blizzard has already been introduced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. portrayed by Dylan Minnette...well yes he has but has since gone on to form his own fan-base in both 13 Reasons Why and 2015′s Goosebumps as well as being in an Indie Rock band. Blizzard aka Donnie Gill was treated more as a mutate than an Inhuman but after his final fate in the TV series saw him frozen in the water leaving his ultimate fate unknown and these Nuhumans emerged from a water contaminate outbreak, it makes sense that Quake, who has a history with Donnie, either finds him or he finds her and becomes the troubled student of the team maybe along with Ana who is Kraven the Hunter’s daughter.

All the characters suggested would be great to see portrayed but my hotly anticipated pick is Moon Girl for the pure and simple reason that I feel she’d be a great start for an up and coming child actress considering in the comics she is supposed to be 9 years old. She should also be accompanied by her dino sidekick Devil Dinosaur.

It could also be a wonderfully diverse cast of characters if cast regionally appropriate; we already have Quake portrayed by Chloe Bennet both of whom are of Chinese descent. Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel is Pakistani American so finding a teenager or young adult actress of that heritage would be brilliant, Ana Kravinoff, like her father Kraven, is Russian, Moon Girl is African-American and Inferno is Latino-American.

In case anyone is wondering why I’m not trying to introduce the Inhuman Royal Family into the movies, Marvel already tried that and the result was a rather horrendous TV series whose cancellation was dragged out unintentionally. Yes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduced Inhumans into the MCU in their Season 2, but to get the real experience of Inhuman powers you need a higher budget that a movie or maybe this new streaming service can provide.

I am not saying the Royals can’t be in this film/series, in fact if they want to either retcon or recast the series I would be happy with that. I would love to see Medusa done right and who doesn’t love Lockjaw? But in terms of where the MCU is going I feel a younger more current generation is the key.

So those are my suggestions for where the MCU should be headed post Phase 3, what do you guys think? Are you wanting to see the Inhumans done right? Do you think Chloe Bennet should make the jump from TV to film? Is a younger generation of heroes the way to go? Are the former Fox-owned properties the MCU’s best hope? How would you feel if Guardians of the Galaxy 3 did not focus on the current team we have?

Post your comments and check out more Superhero Spotlights as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

[dgcatanisiri]

Were we as an audience too harsh on Mass Effect Andromeda?

If your answer to this question is anything other than ‘yes,’ you’re wrong.

Look, I won’t deny that there are issues on multiple levels in this game, things that the game failed at, or made a mistake while doing. And I’m not even saying that it’s above criticism – Hell, BioWare DEFINITELY deserves to be taken to task for its handling of M/M romances. I’m not saying that it’s perfect, or that if you didn’t like it, that you’re inherently wrong. But ‘too harsh’? Absolutely. This fandom tore the game to pieces, was doing so even before the game came out.

You want to know something? Mass Effect 1 wasn’t a whole lot to write home about either. Oh, it’s a fun game, sure, but a lot of Mass Effect’s success as a franchise? Came because of the successive games. We look back on it fondly now because we can see where many of the plot threads and storylines introduced there are tied up in the course of the rest of the games, and saw progress on each step along the way, where these ongoing plot threads were woven through the ongoing story.

Mass Effect Andromeda is a beginning, with several plot threads left dangling precisely because these are stories to go forward on – since successive games are going to be set in this universe, in this galaxy, of course they’re not only setting them up here and now, but they’re also not going to wrap them all up in a neat little bow because they’re platforms to launch off of in later games.

Mass Effect Andromeda was ALWAYS going to end up being a soft reboot of the franchise. This was inevitable. Not just with the new setting, but with the new protagonist, Mass Effect’s first ever protagonist and major cast change – ME2 and ME3 introduced new characters, but they were always supplemented by familiar faces, and especially a familiar protagonist. That’s a luxury that was denied to Andromeda.

Frankly, I half think that the reason that ME3 ended as it did was that the original plan WAS to end the franchise there. Whether you want to take that in a positive direction of ‘that was where they envisioned its conclusion’ or the negative of ‘torch the franchise and run from our EAverlords,’ ME3 was an ending… And then, not just on a business level, but on a fan level, came the call for more. For the next stage of the franchise.

And when your previous stage broke off into three different and mutually exclusive directions, well, you’ve written yourself into a corner.

So since they had none of the familiar characters to fall back on, because that would have been defining that corner that they had to now studiously avoid, saying that there’s an explicit canon version of events, they had to start new. And everyone immediately starts comparing these characters, characters who only have this one game, to the characters who grew and developed over three.

Like… Disconnect Garrus from his characterization in ME2 and ME3, is he REALLY any better in ME1 than any of the Tempest crew? Because I’m thinking not so much. Like… He really didn’t have much character in ME1, certainly no more than anyone on Ryder’s crew. But he’s remembered fondly because he returned in successive games, and became written as Shepard’s best friend. That was only due to him appearing in multiple games. The Andromeda cast obviously do not have that, because this is their first game (and, if BioWare goes to a rotating protagonist for the series, like in Dragon Age, probably only game).

I also sometimes think people get ridiculously overblown on the subject of graphics, and maybe this is an age thing – I have distinct memories of not just playing 8-bit and 16-bit games, featuring sprites with limited mobility against static backgrounds, but even the early days of 3-D gaming, where the characters were made up of blocks of varying sizes, and we ooh’ed and ahh’ed at how ‘realistic’ they were because you could vaguely make out humanoid features. So when I see facial animation glitches, I remember that the protagonists of KOTOR and Jade Empire were barely capable of facial expressions beyond blank stares. Having video game characters capable of emoting has come a long way, but it’s an ever evolving art process. That people declared the game ruined forever on this basis honestly says they’re shallow to me, to care so much about glitches that were going to be patched that they’d drop the game entirely over them.

Mass Effect Andromeda’s biggest sin, for all that I can tell, is that it wasn’t the trilogy – which, I might point out, seems to have been THE POINT. The trilogy was its own thing, it was, despite having been broken as three separate games, one ongoing story. The trilogy was Shepard’s story.

Shepard’s story ENDED.

Say what you will about the how, it ended, and the next step was always going to be taken as a new start. And instead of judging this ‘new start’ on its own merits, people lined up to judge it on the basis of how well it did (or, rather, DIDN’T) hold up against the original games.

So it borrows from the same well as the original game – exploring the ruins of unknown precursors while a galaxy-spanning threat looms. News flash, people, this is pretty much the core of all the BioWare games. KOTOR? Search Rakatan ruins to discover the origin of the Star Forge, while Darth Malak threatens the Galactic Republic. Mass Effect? An ancient prothean beacon warns of the imminent arrival of the Reapers, intent on harvesting organic life throughout the galaxy. Hell, despite the setting, given the ancient elven ruins and the primeval thaig, plus the darkspawn threat, Dragon Age fits this same mold. BioWare’s actually been running on this same concept for much of their history, if you’re condemning Andromeda for it, it’s not the fault of this game, it’s the fact that BioWare has been able to tap this well enough times to almost literally build careers out of it.

Mass Effect Andromeda was always going to have to walk a delicate balance, on a razor thin wire. It’s not surprising that it stumbled, and honestly, I don’t think it should be blamed for it, because it DID make the effort to be its own story apart from Commander Shepard’s tale. And, as I’ve stated before, ultimately, this game WAS about giving a positive message. Ryder is there to help the Initiative build a new home, a goal that they manage to accomplish, despite the adversity. A story with a message of hope? Hell yes I’ll take that these days.

Again, there are certainly things to criticize. There’s room for improvement. But judge this game on its own merits first and foremost, not how much it does or doesn’t skew to the original trilogy. The line of people who want this game’s proverbial head on a pike because it is both too much like and not enough like the trilogy really need to get a goddamn grip.

Speaking of getting a goddamn grip, all this talk of ‘shelving’ Mass Effect came from a single unsourced Kotaku article that had to be walked back almost immediately that people are STILL, months later, taking as gospel. Mass Effect would always go on the backburner after Andromeda’s release – even calling Andromeda being BioWare Montreal biting off more than it could chew, BioWare had two games on their docket already, Anthem and Dragon Age 4. Putting a third game into active development? That much anyone would always have said was biting off more than they could chew, not just something that came from hindsight. Maybe it wasn’t a runaway success, but it’s highly unlikely NOT to get a follow-up game greenlit. Maybe – MAYBE – with a reduced budget or something, but Mass Effect getting ‘shelved’ for the foreseeable future? Nothing more than the anticipated result of BioWare’s project list already being full.

[welcometoyouredoom]

Here then is my current provisional list, from most to least realistic, where 10 is the real world, and 0 is total cartoon nonsense, with especially emphasis on spaceships and space opera:

10. The real world. Science is explained, no handwavium. Also, Non-Fiction. As TV Tropes puts it: “The Apollo Program, World War II, and Woodstock fall in this class.”

9.6. to 9.9 Technothrillers and Futurology. Technothrillers take place only a few years in the future, with only a few plausible near future tech projections. This category overlaps with Futurology which includes, as explained in TV Tropes “stories which function almost like a prediction of the future, extrapolating from current technology but do not assume or invent any important new technologies or discoveries.”  Quite likely some of the more rigorously and scientifically realistic of the ultra hard space exploration categories of the following category actually go here.

8.6.to 9.5 Ultra Hard Science – only extrapolation from known laws of physics. In TV Tropes this is called Speculative Science. In contrast to the previous categories, the science is “genuine speculative science or engineering, and the goal of the author to make as few errors with respect to known fact as possible.” Interplanetary vessels have milligee thrust. Rockets have to choose between high thrust low isp, or high isp low thrust, you can’t have both. Adherence to thermodynamics, real science. No torchships. Preferably no aliens, if there are, they are limited to the same physics we are, and also must justify in terms of Great Silence (Fermi Paradox). Greg Egan, Kim Stanly Robinson Mars Trilogy, Arthur C Clarke 2001, Asimov The Gods Themselves, GURPS Transhuman Space, Andy Weir’s The Martian, the first two books in Robert L. Forward’s Rocheworld series and Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress fall in this class. 9.5 is the most realistic, with only plausible near future tech projections.  For some excellent examples on Ultra Hard SF ships in fact and fiction, with authentic rocket science, see Winchell Chung’s Atomic Rockets website, a resource that I simply cannot recommend highly enough.  For tabletop spaceship combat game, see Ken Burnside’s Attack Vector: Tactical (although this also has less realistic FTL as a background explanation for why the battles are not in our solar system). John Lumpkin’s Human Reach series features similarily authentic spaceships, although the setting includes wormholes which pertain to one or two realism grades down.

7.6.to 8.5. Very Hard Science – extrapolation from laws of physics, with minimum handwavium for story purposes. Basic torchships (high thrust high isp), interplanetary vessels average around 0.3 gee thrust or less. Adherence as much as possible to thermodynamics and real science. Interstellar, non-relativistic travel. In TV Tropes this is called “One Small Fib”, “stories that include only a single counterfactual device (often FTL Travel), but for which the device is not a major element of the plot.” Some alien or posthuman handwavium / unobtanium allowed. Big Dumb Object without handwavium. Preferably have an explanation for Great Silence (Fermi Paradox). Arthur C Clarke Rama novels, Gregory Benford, Bruce Stirling Schizmatrix, Stephen Baxter. Many Hal Clement novels (e.g. Mission Of Gravity, Close to Critical) and Freefall belong here.

6.6 to 7.5. Hard Science – extrapolition from laws of physics, plus some handwavium for storytelling purposes. In TV Tropes this is called “One Big Lie”. “Authors invent one, or, at most, a very few, counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles.” Tech otherwise consistent and explained. Interplanetary vessels average around 1 gee. Relativistic travel. May have reactionless drive but must be realistic, say exotic matter or singularity or other unusual tech. FTL only if plausibly explained, otherwise relativistic travel. Includes thermodynamics, rocket science, etc. Aliens with realistic-seeming biology, non-humanoid only. Token explanation of Great Silence (Fermi Paradox). Most works in Alan Dean Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth series, the Ad Astra board games and Robert A. Heinlein’s Farnham’s Freehold fall in this category, as do many of Vernor Vinge’s books. Also Haldeman Forever War, Niven Mote in God’s Eye, Greg Bear various stories, Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space/Galactic North Universe, Posthuman Studios Eclipse Phase (everything else very hard, say 9 out of 10, but “sleeving” consciousness with its associated cartesian ghost in the machine implications, also alien wormholes that are pure unexplainedium). John C. Wright’s The Golden Age probably would go here as well (say 6.7)

5.6.to 6.5. Firm Science – with handwavium and unobtanium, but these reasonably explained in the context of the setting. Torchships rather than reactionless drive, but absurd acceleration given energy allowance (fudging the figures). Token thermodynamics only. FTL with reasonably plausible explanation. Ignores Fermi Paradox. Niven’s Known Universe, Peter Hamilton, James Corey’s The Expanse, a lot of space opera in general.

4.6.to 5.5 Physics Plus (to use the TV Tropes moniker). “Stories in this class once again have multiple forms of Applied Phlebotinum, but in contrast to the prior class, the author aims to justify these creations with real and invented natural laws — and these creations and others from the same laws will turn up again and again in new contexts.” Some Science. Reactionless drive ships easily pull dozens or hundreds of gees. Doesn’t explain why relativistic reactionless drive ships aren’t used as doomsday devices to annihilate whole planets, or as perpetual motion free energy devices. Differs from Token Science in that there is still some rocket science. Heinlein Citizen of the Galaxy, Starship Troopers, Brin Uplift universe, Iain M Banks Cultureverse, Schlock Mercenary, David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, David Brin’s Uplift series, and Battlestar Galactica (2003) fall in this class.

3.6.to 4.5 Token Science. Some real science, but only because this is “science fiction”; the science is there only for storytelling purposes rather than realism. For the most part handwavium and unobtanium with little or no explanation. Ignores thermodynamics (no radiator fins). Reactionless drive, agrav, forcefields, tractor beams, stealth, some aliens look like humans, others very different. FTL with arbitrary explanation.  Consistency in worldbuilding, in contrast to the Pure Technobabble category.  Frank Herbert’s Dune, Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos, Firefly/Serenity, maybe Eve on line.  Babylon 5 may belong here, although humanoid aliens belong to the next category down, and conversely fighters use vector thrust and larger ships generate artificial gravity by centrifugal spin, which put them in at least the 6 or 7 out of 10 category.

2.6 to 3.5. Technobabble and Handwavium. Differs from Science Fiction In Name Only in that at least there is some attempt, no matter how poor, at a rational explanation. Or in otherwords, to quote TV Tropes: “Phlebotinum is dealt with in a fairly consistent fashion despite its lack of correspondence with reality and, in-world, is considered to lie within the realm of scientific inquiry.” So for example the Enterprise cannot land on a planet, showing that large ships are outer space only. Even so, this is still full of sillytech and inconsistent worldbuilding. Because of handwavium and phlebotinum, anything can be explained. You can have ST style matter transportation because it is assumed all the technical problems were solved, most aliens are humanoid, many identical in appearance to H. sapiens, human and aliens can interbreed, and humans live in similar environments can eat same food etc, because it is assumed there were humanoid progenitors. At the same time, there is serious worldbuilding incompatabilities e.g. if you have ST matter teleportation otherwise you could easily drop a nuke in an enemies lap, have immortality, limitless clones, etc. But it is never explained why this never happens. Star Trek is the classic example, but also included here is E. E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Warhammer 40k, the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels (now called “legends” and considered non-canon) which at least make some attempt at explanation over the totally unrealistic canonical movies, Cowboy Bebop, and StarCraft.

1.6 to 2.5 Artistic License. Although unambiguously considered to be “Science Fiction”, there is no actual science to be found. Rather, the story follows what looks good artistically from our contemporary early 21st century perspective. Ships wheel and bank in a vacuum, blaster bolts move slower than tracer rounds. Battles directly mapped from WW II naval engagements. Lantern-jawed heroes and busty maidens, or scary monsters, or both. More realistic than comic book superheros only in that it’s assumed you need a spaceship to travel through space, and there is an attempt at a consistent plot. Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr Who, Red Dwarf, Farscape, Space Battleship Yamoto. Some Star Trek movies, e.g. Star Trek out of Darkness has worldbuilding inconsistencies  that are if anything even worse, e.g. Transwarp allows teleporting across interstellar distances, but it is never explained why people still use spaceships

0.1. to 1.5 Comic books. Only token attempts at explanations – Marvel and DC superheros, e.g. superpowers because from a planet with a red sun, Genetic mutation, or Peter Parker bitten by a radioactive spider. Sometimes not only that, so that, to quote TV Tropes: “Green Rocks gain New Powers as the Plot Demands”. The DC and Marvel superhero universes belong here, along with Futurama, manga and anime like Dragonball Z and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and humorous aspects of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

0. Cartoons that are not meant to make sense, e.g. Marvin the Martian

[benperorsolo]

Guide to Admitting you Love Her/Letters ofc

thanks, doll

let’s tackle the big one first (probably do Guide in a separate post):

Letters from an Apologist:

What inspired you to write the fic this way?

I started thinking about the basic scenario for Letters literally the second I stepped out of the theater after watching TFA. I started writing it on Christmas Eve 2015, so a little under a week after that. (What I’m saying is that Letters is my receipts that I’ve been a Ben Solo redemption ho since it was possible for me to be one.) I started the fic because I’d been fantasizing about Ben and Leia repairing their relationship after the war, and imagining various scenes between them. The formative one that actually got me to start writing was just a single image of Ben and Leia walking together in the forests of D’Qar, and I worked backwards from there to imagine how I could take Ben from Point A as he was in TFA to Point B, my forest vision, in a realistic way.

What scene did you first put down?

Like you, I write in order, so the first scene I wrote is the first scene in the fic— the one where Kylo is in his quarters on the Finalizer, and Han’s ghost is mercilessly haunting him a la Macbeth and Banquo.

What’s your favorite line of narration?

Probably from Chapter 16, after Ben makes the choice to be Ben again and the name is used for the first time in reference to him in the narration:

Ben —and this name is not painless either, but it is a different sort of pain, and Ben thinks the question might always have been not how to be free of it but how to choose the kind he could best live with, the kind he could not live without— freezes, breathing hard. 

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

Any between Ben and Leia is usually up there, but this exchange from Chapter 11:

“What should I say?” Kylo says. He wants to push her hands away, and ruin something. Someone’s belongings, someone’s life. “That if I’d never been born, you might have been happy?”

It’s as though he’s slapped her.

“You are my happiness,” she says, and her voice is choked. Her fingers splay against his collarbones; so near his heart. Not quite touching. Never quite there. “You’re my boy.”

A suffocating sound rumbles deep in his throat.

“I killed your husband,“ he tries to shout. His voice cracks into a whisper, a hiss. “I cannot be your happiness.”

Her face grows pale. “You did,” she says softly. “You took away the only man I’d ever loved. You did.”

He can feel her pulse points through her fingertips, slow in its sorrow, deep in its grief. It was always Leia who stayed behind. Leia, who did not run, who did not cower, but left the wellspring of her heartache in her innermost secret place, where she could visit its still waters and choose when to be consumed.

Such a quiet sufferer, she. Such a gift.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you for that,” she says quietly. It washes over Kylo like a balm. “I am…trying.”

“Don’t,” Kylo says. He swallows. “Don’t forgive me.”

Leia smiles weakly, cups his cheek in her free hand. He hasn’t been touched so often since he was a small boy. “My pup,” she says. “That isn’t how this galaxy works.”

What part was hardest to write?

Writing Ben’s POV in general. I don’t mean to say he’s a difficult character to write, per se, because I love writing Ben-POV, but in a fic of this nature there’s the issue that Ben is so deeply clung to his delusions that it’s difficult trying to get some point across in my writing if Ben himself would not admit to it. This was harder when Ben was still written as Kylo, because at least with Ben-as-Ben there’s a certain level of clearheadedness about his own motivations that comes with stripping away the entire artifice that the Kylo Ren persona is. But at the same time, whereas Ben-as-Kylo overestimates his righteousness, Ben-as-Ben underestimates it, and is just constantly beating himself up over everything, even things that weren’t his fault.

What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

It’s the longest fic (or any piece of writing) I’ve ever written, for one. 

Where did the title come from?

It’s a pun on the dual meaning of the word ‘apologist’. The first definition is of one who defends a faith, a cause, or an institution, especially when it is under attack or criticism. This first definition applies to Kylo as he is in the first part of the story, when he is still under the thrall of the First Order and the Dark Side and so acts as his own apologist for his evil deeds in the face of his family’s desperate attempts to sway him from his cause.

The second definition of ‘apologist’ is, of course, someone who apologizes. This is Ben in the second half of the story, after he’s renounced his cause and must begin the painstaking path of reconciliation with those he’s wronged, as well as his family and, ultimately, himself.

So, he goes from being an apologist to an apologist. 

Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Not explicitly, but I’ve based large amounts of Ben’s mentality on my friends who have suffered from mental illness and abuse, as well as Ben’s family’s attempts at reaching him on my own interactions with those friends.

Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Nope. It’s like the kitchen sink fic for all my general redemption headcanons.

Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

No pairings. The reason why I went with no pairings is due to my absolute hatred of redemption arcs which have romantic love as their impetus. Rephrasing slightly– I think it’s too easy to write redemption arcs wrong when they involve romantic love. The impetus of a true redemption must always be the person in need of redemption themselves. Other people can and indeed should help them, but at the end of the day it must be an internal decision. Romantic love makes it too easy for x character to ‘reform’ just because they like the warm fuzzy feeling y character gives them, or, even worse, solely because character y told them to, making character y their sole reason for goodness. It’s really gross, and I hate it, and if you’re going to look at stories which did romantic redemptive love right (say Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast) the love ultimately displayed is not romantic love but agape love– selfless love in which they expect nothing in return. And that makes all the difference.

What do you like best about this fic?

I’m really pleased with the overwhelming positive response I’ve gotten to this fic. It’s the first multichapter fic I’ve ever written. I’ve gotten so many incredible comments from readers who identify with Ben and his struggles with guilt, mental illness, and family dysfunction– and I’ve in general been glad to have represented these things in such a way that those who have struggled with those issues have been able to use my fic as some small form of solace and catharsis. And then of course there are the general readers who are pleased with my handling of Ben and an attempts at a realistic redemption arc. Since that was what I set out to do, that’s the greatest compliment. 

What do you like least about this fic?

As with all of my writing, I know I get a little (a lot) purple prosey sometimes. I semiregularly go through published chapters on ao3 and try to weed out whatever bullshit I thought was a good idea when the chapter was first published. There’s also the fact that Letters is more or less an unplanned fic, so I feel like some chapters are more extraneous than others and could have been cut– yet there’s just enough character development in them that I feel unable to just take them out altogether. This is the part I regret about fanfiction being largely a post-as-you-write process instead of being able to finish it and edit it as a whole.

What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

As of now, my apologist playlist on Spotify has 78 songs. I plan to actually put the playlist up on playmoss after Letters is done. Anything by Radical Face, The Oh Hellos, Mumford & Sons, or Bastille tends to get me in the mood. Regretful banjos, yo.

When actually writing, I love listening to the soundtrack of The Village (yes, that M Knight Shyamalan movie). The Gravel Road and the appropriately titled Will You Help Me? are some of the best from that soundtrack. Anything with aggressive violin and sorrowful piano is so Ben to me.

Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

There is no such thing as having gone too far. Becoming a person again is hard, but other people want to help you. Let them. There is courage in kindness. There is bravery in compassion.

What did you learn from writing this fic?

A lot. As I jokingly said to a friend today, I love Star Wars because it basically allows me to grapple with Christianity IN SPAAACE. I’m endlessly fascinated by the concepts of sin, grace, and redemption, and the practical implications of believing in them. They’re the cornerstone of the Christian faith, after all. I’ve read a lot of books that handle these themes due to my desire to wrestle with them in Letters: Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed, Silence, The Power of Myth, etc etc. 

[lannisterslioness]

Wild Things - One

Summary: It all started with a chance meeting and a young Jyn Erso wanting a tattoo to honor her late mother, she never thought she'd get to fall in love with the free spirited tattoo artist, Cassian Andor, who is more than used to keeping to himself.

A/N: I need to get better at writing descriptions dear god, but hey, if you are reading this than yay! This is a random AU I just thought up for these two, I wanted to write something modern for them and, well, I just got my second tattoo not to long ago! I really hope you guys like this, please let me know, I don't know how you guys will react to this yet! <3

Pairing: Rebelcaptain (Jyn x Cassian)

Words: 3,544

Rating: M

AO3: (x)

Jyn was just turned 18, and there was one thing that she knew she wanted to do as soon as possible: a tattoo. And now, rather than seeking her father’s permission, she could simply surprise him.

It was something for her mother, who’d passed away when she was still just a girl. Jyn missed her dearly each and every day, though the loss had slowly become something easier to bear.

The design was simple, a little something she’d been drawing for a few years since she’d decided on getting ink: a crystal, as her mother had been a geologist, with flowers wrapped around it. Jyn remembered how much she had loved the blooming flowers of spring, and within the crystal a small galaxy whirled for their shared love of the stars. As to where to put it, she still wasn’t sure. She’d spent ages trying to think of where it could go and hurt the least, though she knew wherever it ended up was going to sting.

She’d chose a parlor not too far from her house, somewhere she’d just stumbled upon one day while in town. The place was called Rogue One Tattoos, and she’d seen a fair share of people going out of the place with brand new tattoos that looked amazing. Today it was quiet though, so she figured not a lot of people were getting a tattoo around lunch time on a Monday - even if it was summer.

The inside of the place fit the look of most tattoo places (not that Jyn had seen many). Dark walls were covered with pictures and drawings of tattoos, small collectibles that seemed more creepy and morbid than overall decorative, really. There was no one behind the counter or anywhere in the shop when she first walked in, Jyn was worried they were closed despite their sign reading ‘open’ in bright neon.

“Hello?” Jyn called out.

“Over here.” A voice replied, so Jyn looked past the desk. She saw a man on a ladder inside the walls of a private stall carefully hanging a new picture. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

“Okay.” Jyn replied quietly. She browsed through the pictures decorating the front before she heard the man finally take a seat behind the desk. The first thing she noticed about the asian man that sat before her was that he was blind, but what amazed her was that he somehow managed to hang a picture up on the wall and climb down off a ladder with no one else to help him.

“Can I help you?” He asked, almost as though he knew she were staring, trying to figure out how he did what he did.

“Oh, uh, hi.” Jyn blurted out nervously. She couldn’t rationalize what so unnerved her---she knew she wanted a tattoo, had made the tattoo, so why did the thought of actually getting it scare her? “I wanted to see about a tattoo.”

“Well, you certainly came to the right place.” The man grinned. It was warm, and Jyn smiled . “Let me get someone who can still see, as entertaining as it would be to see a blind man try and tattoo someone.” He rose from his seat, a walking stick in hand. He didn’t use it to tap his way around, and Jyn wondered what it was for? Burglars, maybe?

She saw why: he approached a sofa towards the back of a place and prodded the man lying on it, lost in watching whatever was on the TV. There was a brief grumbling between the two before he rose and followed the other man back to the front. This man looked like someone that would work in a tattoo shop: intimidating, a seemingly permanent scowl, scars, and worn-out tattoos he must have had for ages.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Baze.” He introduced himself before gesturing to the other man. “This is Chirrut. You’re lucky you don’t have to meet Kaytoo today, or get talked into a coma by Bodhi.”

“‘Lucky’ is an understatement.” Chirrut chimed in with a grimace before taking his seat again behind the counted.

“What did you have in mind?” Baze asked her. He seemed friendlier than he looked, which put Jyn more at ease.

“This.” Jyn pulled her drawing out of her bag and handed it over to Baze, who studied it carefully before a smile crossed his face.

“Did you draw this?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Jyn admitted.

“It’s very beautiful,” he smiled, “it’s also something I think Cassian would do better than the rest of us. He comes in later today if you want to bring it by then, he can tell you when he can do it for you too.” Baze handed the drawing back to her.

“Okay, sure.” Jyn nodded.

“He’ll be in around three.” Baze added, and fell into conversation with Chirrut.

Jyn returned a little after three, and the place that had been so empty in the morning was now busy with person in every chair in the place. Chirrut was still sitting at the desk, seeming to be listening to the hustle and bustle in the place, though he still managed to notice when Jyn walked through the door without any chimes or alarms to tell him so.

“Hi, is Cassian here?” Jyn asked.

“Ah, welcome back.” Chirrut’s face lit up, recognizing her voice. “He is, I’ll go get him.”

Chirrut didn’t have to walk far before he stopped beside a young man, someone probably just a few years older than her and tattooing an owl that looked completely realistic onto some man’s leg. As Cassian paused his work to talk to Chirrut, his eyes also seemed to wander over to her right away and study her with intense curiosity. Jyn looked away quickly hoping to hide a blush. Why did such a cute guy have to tattoo her?

Chirrut came back with Cassian shortly after giving the man he was tattooing a break to sit up and walk around. Jyn tried to keep focused on the task at hand--- she came here for a tattoo and she was going to get it, even if she had to try and ignore just how attractive the damn artist was with that intense stare still locked onto her.

“Hi.” Jyn spoke up nervously, hoping she was hiding it well.

“Hi, I’m Cassian.” He held out his hand for her to shake, which she did, and couldn’t help but to notice the tattoos he had, like the tattoo of a faded forest that wrapped around his arm. “Baze said you had something for me?” He asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Jyn dug through her bag to pull her drawing out again, and handed it over to Cassian for him to look over.

His expressions were far more readable than Baze’s; as soon as he saw the drawing, something lit up in his eyes and a grin bloomed on his face.

“It’s nice.” Cassian said before looking back up at her. “Where were you thinking of getting it?”

“On the back of one of my legs.” Jyn said.

“Which side?” He questioned.

“Uhm, left side.” Jyn made a quick choice, she hadn’t thought about it much, though it didn’t really matter since it was the back of one of her legs.

“I could do it.” Cassian assured her. “It might have to be a bit bigger than your drawing to do the stars in the middle of if, but it can be done.”

“That’d be great.” Jyn genuinely smiled for the first time, and Cassian’s grew in response.

“I could do it tomorrow afternoon, I’ve got to draw this up tonight. Around noon okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Jyn nodded. “I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow.” He nodded.

When Jyn got home she felt just a bit happier, she wasn’t sure if it was because she was finally getting her tattoo, or if it was because she met a cute guy - it was probably a combination of both.

It had taken hours of Jyn sitting in a rather uncomfortable position for the tattoo to be done. Cassian had drawn it out perfectly and Jyn was trying to contain her excitement to see the finished result. He’d turned out to be good company as well, trying to keep her talking to keep her calm since it was her first tattoo and neither of them knew how she might react to the pain of it.

    “So, what does it mean?” Cassian asked her, he was finishing up the color, and Jyn was more than ready to jump out of the chair after being stuck in it for so long.

    “It’s for my mom.” Jyn said. “She passed away when I was younger, but she was a geologist. She always loved crystals.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He replied. “But hopefully if she were still around she’d like this. You’re all done.” Cassian turned off the machine and wiped down Jyn’s leg before slathering it with cream. “Want to look at it?”

“Of course!” Jyn was bubbling with excitement and sort of regretted moving as quickly as she did with the slight bit of pain reminded her of her new tattoo.

As soon as she looked into the mirror, she loved it instantly. It had turned out better than expected, and Cassian had done one hell of a job with it. It stung like a terrible sunburn, but seeing how wonderful it had turned out to be made it all worth it.

“What do you think?” Cassian asked.

“I love it.” Jyn replied instantly, a wide grin on her face. “Thank you so much.” She turned to him, trying to ignore the look he gave her, the one that studied nearly everything about her.  Jyn hugged him without much thought. She could tell it must have been a rare occurrence from how slowly and carefully he reacted.

“Sorry.” Jyn mumbled as she pulled away, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

“It’s okay.” He gave a slight laugh.

For some reason it crossed her mind that his laugh was one of the most pleasant sounds she ever heard.

1 Year Later

Jyn didn’t really think of herself as rebellious, but there had been many people - her father included - who thought she was more than rebellious. She’d had a fake ID for a few years now, ever since one of her friends in high school had gotten exceptionally good at making them.

Jyn used it maybe a handful of times since she’d gotten it, but something about her nineteenth birthday made her want to go have some fun. She only had a few friends to go with her, Leia who had gotten in with a fake ID of her own and her twin brother Luke, and Han who was more than happy to buy everyone drinks so they could have a good time.

Somewhere along the night Luke wandered off talking to some girl, and Han and Leia vanished after having a fight, leaving Jyn to sit all alone at the bar and trying to drink in peace ignore the drunken men hitting on her.

“Jyn?” A familiar voice called out.

Between the loud music and the even louder people in the club, Jyn thought it was Luke finally noticing that his sister was gone and was searching for her. Instead when she turned around she was greeted with a face she hadn’t seen in a long time, one that had her surprised that he still remembered her name.

“Cassian?” Jyn asked in disbelief.

He looked different from their last meeting, some scruff had started to grow in on him to form a beard, and he was dressed up to blend in with everyone else in the crowd, though his shirt was mostly unbuttoned. She could only guess that he’d been out there dancing from the slight sheen of sweat on him, and probably drinking, too, judging by the big grin on his face. People weren’t usually that happy just to see her.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.” He smirked.

“I’ll have you know I’ve been thinking about another tattoo.” Jyn admitted.

“Good.” Cassian laughed, and something about it resonated with her and she remembered that she liked his laugh, that she wanted to hear more of it, but didn’t think she would. “But if I remember right, unless you’ve aged a couple of years in just one, I’m wondering how you got in here.”

“Are you gonna rat me out?” Jyn asked, for some reason it had come off far more promiscuous than intended, or at least she thought.

“No.” Cassian smirked and was the one to look away, and Jyn swore she saw him blush a bit, but from all the drinks she had it could have been her own mind tricking her. “But I do want to buy you a drink and just talk for a bit.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve turned down every guy tonight that’s offered me the very same thing, but I think I’ll make an exception for you.” Jyn replied.

Jyn never thought she'd end up in the backseat of Cassian Andor’s car just outside his house. Neither were able to their hands off each other long enough to get inside. She wanted to think it was just the alcohol that made her want his lips all over her, but in the back of her mind she knew that wasn't it: she just wanted him.

That wanting left her with her dress hiked up, her underwear lost somewhere in the car, and her heels digging into his sides while she screamed out his name and her hands tangled in his hair. Every muscle in her body ached after her second release in that backseat of the car, and it left her gasping for air.

Cassian pressed a few more light kisses to the inside of her thighs before pulling away with a broad grin, proud of how he'd unraveled her with just his tongue and fingers. Jyn pulled him to her lips, his kiss muddled with the taste of her, and something about it made Jyn want him all over again.

“Do you, uh, wanna come inside?” Cassian asked nervously. She found it odd for him to be so nervous after what they'd just done, but ultimately she found it endearing.

“I thought you'd never ask.” Jyn smirked.

He detangled himself from her awkwardly, though Jyn just smiled. She thought a guy like Cassian would be more confident in situations like these, but she liked his honest nature. Jyn sat herself back up and straightened out. Wordlessly, Cassian wrapped her in his coat from earlier that had been quickly cast aside.

When the two had finally got into the house, Jyn was surprised at how bare it felt inside. Yes, there was furniture and papers cast about intermixed with beautiful drawings, but there were no photos on the walls, only the occasional drawings pinned up that looked like Cassian was still working on them.

It shouldn't have been awkward when they made it to his bedroom, the most lived-in feeling place of the whole house with its painted walls, even more of his drawings, and his clothes cast about, but it was.

It had finally hit Jyn that this was all happening, that some of it already happened in the car. She wasn't sure what to do, and Cassian seemed just as nervous as she was.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Cassian asked, hoping to break the silence.

“No, I'm okay.” Jyn replied. How did all of this start, or, rather, how could it start again?

Jyn decided to make the first move this time. She shed his jacket, tossing it over one of his chairs and rose on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her just as hungrily as he had before. Jyn pulled away only for a moment to turn around.

“Help me get out of this thing.” She asked as his fingers made it right to her dress and swiftly got her out of it.

She instantly felt vulnerable and crossed her arms over her bare chest.

“It's okay.” Cassian assured her, pressing kisses to her neck from behind.

Jyn only turned in his arms after that, knowing she could keep herself slightly covered with his arms around her. She worked on getting him out out his own clothes as she unbuttoned his shirt and tugged at it to get it off him. Cassian smiled against her lips and assisted in getting himself undressed.

Immediately after his shirt was gone, his pants followed with Jyn’s help. He led them to the edge of his bed, though was Jyn barely tall enough to climb onto it herself. Cassian assisted her by scooping her up and setting her down on the mattress. He pulled away and just looked her right in the eyes, asking for permission to continue to which Jyn responded with a quick nod before Cassian climbed on top of her.

He started kissing her from just above her most sensitive point where he'd spent all his time before in the car, all the way up her stomach and chest, taking his time once he reached her neck to find all her sensitive spots. It didn't take him long to have her moaning again, and it didn't take Jyn long to notice the hardness pressed between her legs, kept at bay only by the fabric of his boxers.

Jyn reached to get her fingers under the waistband of his boxers, and he bucked back a bit in surprise. He watched her for a moment, their eyes locked together while Jyn’s hands roamed over him. She eventually hooked another finger under the waistband before she started tugging them down, and Cassian had to bite his lip to keep himself from reacting to her touch.

For a brief moment, Jyn felt a rush of something brave inside her chest, though it was dashed when same lustful look appeared in Cassian's own eyes. He leaned in and kissed her so slowly and gently, it somehow felt more passionate than all of their other kisses before.

     There wasn't much thought put into what happened next; both of them were too caught up in the moment over everything. There was no grand announcement or gesture or anything to signal what happened next--it just happened, much like everything else that happened that night. In a matter of minutes Jyn was sighing out his name again; his lips were on her neck while the rest of him rocked her gently into the bed.

It was almost painful how slow he kept things at first, afraid of hurting her or being too quick. Jyn couldn't really form the words to tell him this and decided to use her body to get her message across, moving herself against him to urge him on and grinning when she finally got a moan out of him.

He understood what she wanted, then and there, and responded to her every need, even those she didn't think she had, like how she desperately wanted his eyes on her when he kissed down her chest, or how she loved how the scruff of his beard felt against her neck. And when his hand ran over her tattoo, the one he'd spent hours putting on her body, something inside of her just gave out and she lost any sense of control she might have had.

“Cassian--!” Jyn managed to gasp out, egging him on even further at the sound of his name falling from her lips. “Cass, please.” She didn't know what she was really begging for until he hit just the right spot that had her keening even louder.

“Jyn.” He mumbled against her skin and that was what sent her over the edge into another climax, she was sure this was the final one she could muster up for the night.

Her body was shook like a leaf, and she was covered in a layer of sweat, but even though she felt like sleeping for the rest of the week, Cassian still hadn't gotten his own climax.

“Cassian.” Jyn mumbled out lazily, trying to keep her thrusts in time with his despite feeling drained of all energy.

He finally seemed to reach his own end: his thrusts became sporadic and jerky until he finally groaned out her name over and over again like a prayer into her skin, releasing himself inside of her with bursts of wet heat, neither of them caring in the moment.

A few moments after his final thrusts, Cassian collapsed beside her in the bed, trying to catch his breath just as she was, only he reached out and held her close even though he was burning up.

Jyn scooted up, pressing a few featherlight kisses just under his jaw before grabbing the blankets to cover their lower halves. She didn't know when she drifted off to sleep; all she knew was that she woke up with a smile the next morning at the sight of Cassian awake and beside her, just holding her and rubbing small circles into her lower back.

[stevemoffett]

Movies, 2017 (TV and music too)

I didn’t have time to see too many movies this year, but I saw enough to be generally satisfied. Here they are below, in roughly chronological order. Ones I saw in the theater are marked with an asterisk.

Split John Wick: Chapter 2* Get Out* I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore Logan Kong: Skull Island T2 Trainspotting Ghost in the Shell The Discovery Graduation (Bacalaureat)* Alien: Covenant* Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Baby Driver* Okja Dunkirk* Kidnap It* mother!* Kingsman: The Golden Circle* Blade Runner 2049* The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) Star Wars: The Last Jedi* The Trip to Spain American Made Bright

I’ve just grouped them into a general positive or negative feeling. Many of the negative feelings were just a result of my expectations: if I expect a movie is going to be good, and it turns out to be just okay, then I tend to like it even less. On the other hand, there’s Kidnap.

Generally negative takeaway:

Split (Spoilers):

Oddly enough, it was M. Night Shyamalan himself who spoiled this movie for me on Twitter--well, the very end of it. Anyway, as with this and “The Visit,” I was surprised with Shyamalan’s gall in storytelling, how he implied some unspeakable acts, and killing at least as many people as would be necessary to make it scary, and then some. On the other hand, the whole split-personalities conceit was a little bit stupid. Especially the little kid one. What little kid acts like that? Little kid actors, that’s who.

John Wick: Chapter 2:

John Wick 1 I liked because it was a good action movie that didn’t have filler, not because of the all the “world building” it did. Personally, I could not care less about a bunch of assassins and their version of chivalry. This movie leaned into the world building part and sacrificed the urgency.

Kong: Skull Island:

The part liked the most was its blend of end-of-war Vietnam blue balls with something incredibly silly. Like most modern big action movies, though, aside from a few clever moments, it was pretty run-of-the-mill.

Ghost in the Shell:

I’ve never seen the original, but this movie seemed like it had parts cut out of it, and maybe the original was just so influential that this movie seems old because everything made after it has tread the same ground.

The Discovery (spoilers):

Big disappointment. It started with one of the best setups I’ve heard in the past few years (a scientist proves empirically that some kind of afterlife exists, and millions commit suicide when they hear about it), and then the whole thing devolves into a rip-off of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, without the convincing romance. I didn’t care much about any of the characters--they seemed like maybe the least interesting people the movie could have followed given the setup.

Okja:

Another disappointment, only because 1) it was too long, and 2) knowing Bong Joon-ho’s earlier movies made me ready for this movie to be truly biting, and it did not deliver. At times it was silly to the point of “why am I watching this,” and at other parts, it seemed to pull back when it could have really gotten dark.

It:

The kid-drama stuff was good, the actors were good, but it might have been the least scary movie I’ve ever seen.

Generally positive takeaway:

Get Out:

This movie’s been analyzed to death, and for good reason, so let it just be known that I thought it was one of the best of the year and that the movie kept me completely at unease the entire time. It had great script economy, by which I mean all setups led to satisfying but non-obvious payoffs. That’s one of the great pleasures of storytelling--when you get to look back on earlier parts of the story and realize that you’d read things completely wrong, but the correct reading seems obvious, even inevitable, when you look again. If I had one small criticism (and this is more critical of the online reaction to the movie than it is to the movie itself), it’d be that it wasn’t quite as astonishingly original as it’s purported to be since it had so many parallels to The Stepford Wives.

I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore:

This movie was made by a guy who works with Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room), and it was sort of a cross between Saulnier’s stuff and the Coen brothers’ movies. A well-timed sense of humor and well-earned anxiety about meaninglessness made it interesting.

Logan:

Yeah, Wolverine + realism + lots of F-words + no inter-dimensional cataclysm at the end = a better superhero movie than usual.

T2 Trainspotting:

I thought this was going to be some kind of sad revisiting of the consequences of the first one but it turned out to be much better: it was a sad revisiting of the consequences of the first one, wrapped up in a sleazy and funny story. It kind of made Begbie into a cartoon character, though.

Graduation (Bacalaureat):

I saw this movie because I wanted to appear sophisticated and cosmopolitan to the person I saw it with, but it was still pretty good. It seemed to be realistic about corruption--specifically, about the banality of that particular kind of evil. We had a long conversation about what makes a good or bad parent afterward.

Alien: Covenant (spoilers):

Some stuff was telegraphed too obviously so the “twists” weren’t surprising, and occasionally it went into the realm of the schlocky slasher movie, and there was a 20 minute part of the movie that seemed to have no purpose, but at the movie’s best, it was frightening and disturbing and had some big ideas. There’s a reason that when I have good nightmares (i.e., nightmares that don’t involve family sickness/death, or taking a final in a math class I forgot I’d registered for), the alien xenomorph is usually the thing that is after me.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:

Cool movie.

Baby Driver:

I saw this on my birthday, and I was in a great mood, so I might remember it as better than it was, but I think in retrospect, 1) it was a better-than-average action movie, and 2) it was extremely well choreographed and edited.

Dunkirk (a big spoiler):

One cool thing I realized after getting out of the movie is that aside from one or two shots at the very end, you never actually see the enemy. I think that’s partially what made it effectively claustrophobic. It’s kind of miraculous that this movie was made--it was so spare that it seemed like a gigantically-budgeted art film.

Kidnap:

This one-long-chase thriller I was prepared to groan at, but it was like another movie I saw and loved called Breakdown with Kurt Russell. There were plenty of “why doesn’t she just...?” moments, but there were also a lot of moments where I was thinking “Yeah, do that, exactly! Yes!” Critically, I thought it was unfairly trashed.

mother! (spoilers):

I generally like Aronofsky’s movies, but this one I might like the least of the ones I’ve seen. In the beginning, by the moviemaking craft alone I was totally rapt, up until a little before the halfway point, when I suddenly figured out what was going on. It was like pulling the correct piece of string from a huge knot. The rest of the movie became meaningless when I realized that there was no logical progression to the story.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle:

This movie was of the same quality as the last movie, but it didn’t do anything as surprising as the original one did, either. I was entertained the whole time, but never really caught off guard.

Blade Runner 2049 (spoilers):

I think if I had to choose I’d say this was my favorite of the year. I hope that it gets a nomination for best cinematography. K’s character was great, the setting was great, and the mystery was actually involving (unlike in the first one!). One thing that bothered me, though, is how the most disturbing murders in the movie were of women. One of the murders seemed almost gratuitous. I guess it was meant to push my buttons, in which case mission accomplished. A huge success in atmosphere and acting, though.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected):

This movie could almost be a sequel to The Squid and the Whale, but I liked it more. It was more schmaltzy but also more realistic and prosaic (in a good way; lately I have less patience for Lou Reed and the final two shots from The Squid and the Whale).

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (huge spoilers):

Even though I wasn’t as over the moon for this movie as for The Force Awakens (this year, it comes in at second after Blade Runner), I’d say that it was almost assuredly because I had ultra high expectations for it to meet. Since it’s not doing that great at the box office (for a Star Wars movie), I hope they don’t get rid of Rian Johnson for his standalone SW trilogy. In this movie he got the tone right (in my opinion), and he made some weird choices, most of which I really liked. They were different and unexpected, and that is really valuable, even if they don’t succeed. The problems I had with the movie are problems I would have with any movie (e.g. why don’t they just make hyperdrive missiles?, where did that romance come from?...).

The Trip to Spain:

This is the third movie in the series and the first one that feels like a retread. While the first two were able to mine ennui out of the landscapes and the men’s reactions to it, this one felt more like someone decided they needed to add plot in. The result is no ennui drawn from the surroundings, and more like the emotional turns could have happened anywhere.

American Made:

After I saw the movie I looked up the real story of the main guy and the movie is almost a total fabrication. That said, it was well-paced, scripted, acted, and edited. Somehow it made a U.S. citizen’s and the U.S. government’s enormously unethical actions entertaining (while also giving reminders of how awful they were, without having to resort to scenes that viscerally demonstrate their consequences). 

Bright:

This movie and Star Wars have made me a little bit uneasy about my relationship with critical reviews. Star Wars got 86 on Metacritic, and while I really enjoyed it, almost none of the critical reviews I read had any of the problems I had with the movie. On the other side of it, Bright got a 29 on Metacritic, with critics calling it dull, awkward, tone-deaf, poorly plotted, et cetera. I found myself entertained all the way through. I think that other than “dull,” those criticisms are valid, though. Maybe it’s just like I said at the beginning--my expectations heavily color the experience I end up having. I’d say that Star Wars was a better movie, but I don’t think I’d be able to easily point out exactly where Star Wars zigged and Bright zagged. Bright reminded me of something I’d channel surf to in 1997 on a Sunday afternoon and stick with. I’m actually thinking specifically of a movie I barely remember called Alien Nation.

Ok--now, for TV:

Master of None season 2:

I liked this season a lot more than season 1. I think the main reason was because it was a lot less didactic this time around.

Love season 2:

Not as good as season 1. I don’t think I’d want to be spend any time with either of the main characters if they were real people. It got a little too convoluted towards the end.

Stranger Things season 2 (BIG spoilers):

The first few “slow” episodes were the best ones, I thought. I didn’t like the X-Men-style episode. Joe Keery’s character was probably the most entertaining (I know I’m jumping on the internet bandwagon with this opinion). I didn’t like the interdimensional cataclysm at the end, as usual, but there was no dropoff in quality compared to season 1 (though, like with Kingsman, the lack of novelty was inevitable. And the X-Men episode wasn’t so much something innovative within the universe but instead hopping into another, extremely well-tread universe).

Mindhunter:

I have read that some people say this show is disturbing. I don’t think it’s disturbing at all, but it’s really interesting and the atmosphere is totally unique.

The Leftovers:

Oh, damn! How could I have forgotten this? The final season was truly great, and it’s one of my favorite shows of all time as a whole. In only a fraction of the episodes, all my anger at the mishandling of Lost is gone.

American Vandal:

The mystery was excellent. I haven’t been in high school for 15 years, but it certainly seems to be an accurate portrayal. Highly recommended.

Black Mirror:

Still my favorite show, but now I’m trying so hard to anticipate the twists that it’s not quite as mind-blowing as it was in its first two seasons. It really is very similar to the Twilight Zone (my favorite episodes of which were “The Lonely” [except for the end] and “A Nice Place to Visit”). I haven’t finished this season yet, but I’ve enjoyed the five that I’ve watched (episodes 2-6).

Whoa, those are all Netflix shows. Aside from that, all I’ve watched was Ninja Warrior (in a group) and Saturday Night Live (I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this, but I’ve watched almost every episode of SNL since around...1999 or 2000?).

Music:

I generally don’t listen to music that I dislike, so here are the albums I liked the most this past year, in decreasing order of enjoyment (each one links to a track on the album I liked):

Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

LCD Soundsystem - American Dream

Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog

The Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody

Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid (actually came out in 2016)

Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 3 (came out on Christmas 2016)

Beck - Colors

St. Vincent - Masseduction

Foxygen - Hang

Beck’s new one was a little disappointing, considering that he’s one of my all-time favorites. I liked the new Arcade Fire album fine, but I got sick of it after about a week.

My friend Dan got me into the hip hop albums. I almost never listen to hip hop (except the newer Kanye West stuff), but these albums were a really big help when I was a bundle of nerves at the lab.