#even if Star Trek is not your thing; I have a mcu verse or a modern day verse

[benevolentgodloki]

Mun Tag Game

name/nickname(s): Pirate here. Some other internet monikers are Kit, Vyxy, and Cappy.

pronouns: She/her, but I don't mind being called he/him when I'm playing a character (I've been known to be a total hypocrite about this on games if I encounter some dudebro where my brain decides it necessary to make it known that women exist)

active blogs: Mostly this boy, but @killmebutneverinsultme is tentatively available to my mutuals (he has an immortal verse he can use in Marvel amongst other ideas), oh and @ask-xi is also available to meet mutuals

watching and/or reading: Currently reading Against A Dark Background by Iain M Banks. Currently watching Only Murders In The Building (current season), The Wheel Of Time (current season), and Sex Education (most recent season). Oh, and I'm doing a rewatch of MCU, too, so I'm currently into about 25% of Ant-Man. I can see your dirty mind, shush.

ideal superpower: Shapeshifting (painlessly)

animal you want to be turned into: Cat if I can't be a dragon

fictional character you would most like to meet irl: Oh, man. I think most of the characters I like would have no interest in me or treat me like crap XD I guess Thor??? He's a sweetheart, no.1 Loki fan, and likes to have fun :U

book/show/movie you loved as a kid and still love today: Labyrinth

book/show/movie you think is underappreciated: Farscape. Best show that ever existed, change my mind 😂

favorite thing to do on a rainy day: Doze in with the cats chilling nearby. Write or read. Have a warm drink.

favorite season: Spring. Not too hot or cold.

favorite holiday: Can't decide between Halloween or Yule. Maybe a smidge toward Yule.

star wars or star trek: See I always think Star Wars but I've actually watched a LOT more Star Trek than I think I have. Ack, idk if I can even choose. Probably leaning Star Trek. They've both got some amazing content and some terrible content. But then, the Mandalorian. No, they're a tie. Both, please.

marvel or DC: Marvel. DC haven't had my interest since the 90's.

parks and rec or the office: Parks and Rec but I haven't seen either version of the Office yet. Pretty sure I'll still pick P&R though because it was fantastic.

favorite disney princess: LOKI

favorite superhero(es, marvel edition): (not necessarily in order) Loki (shh he can count), Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Thor

stole it from: @antvnger and @brooklynbred

tagging: anyone who hasn't been tagged yet and wants to!

[arrthurpendragon]

Fic Recs - July 20, 2022

Here are some of the fics I reccomend reading today! They’re on my list, so I’m sharing. 

*I’m not above bribing (haha) If you go leave reviews/comments on at least 2 chapters of one of these fics, send me the link with the platform you commented on and I’ll send you the form for a request! I’ll make you a poster, banner, manip, or aesthetic*

Bulletproof [Mission Impossible] by Winter326

"I'M A TEENAGER, SO WHAT? I CAN STILL KICK YOUR ASS." when alexia ortega goes on an adventure to find her birth father, she gets a lot more than she bargained on for

READ AT WATTPAD

Electric Feel [DCEU] by @wokenhardies​

16-year-old Amber Talbot had a pretty good life; straight As, a job as a babysitter/live-in nanny for the Vasquez family, and a somewhat stable social life. However, when Billy Batson becomes a superhero, Amber winds up getting dragged into the journey alongside him as the Emissary. [First in the Emissary Verse, a DCEU/MCU xover series]

READ AT AO3 + WATTPAD

Force of Nature [Star Wars] by: @darth-caillic​

Sith Acolyte Darth Viveza is sent on a mission to spy on the Queen of Naboo and keep an eye on two enemy Jedi. Her instructions were clear. Do so and nothing more. She has a hard time doing this, due to the younger of the two Jedi.

All she had to do was wait. Then she would get her chance. Killing a Jedi would take her one step closer to becoming strong enough to defeat her master. Right?

READ AT AO3 + WATTPAD

Freaks & Geeks [Stranger Things] by @juliaswickcrs​​

Alicia Henderson doesn't expect this year to be different than any other. Boys, drama, endless homework, and maybe the occasional movie. But then three months after summer break Will Byers goes missing in the woods behind Jonathan's house. And one day later her own face starts to appear on missing posters. But then the impossible happens. Alicia Henderson comes back.

READ AT WATTPAD + FFN + AO3

Murphy & His Law Can Go To Hell [Jurassic World] by @themaradaniels​

Eleanor Scott, Jurassic World's lead paleontologist and a former student of Dr Alan Grant, is tasked with showing 19 year old Joan Grant, the daughter of Alan and Ellie, around the park for the week. Masrani leaves Joan an all-access pass to enjoy the park at her leisure, including the parts normally forbidden to tourists, in the hopes that it might convince Dr Grant to endorse the park.

READ AT WATTPAD + AO3

Pyrogenous: Shadowed Destiny [Merlin] by @oneirataxia-girl​

Born without status or wealth, Lynelda is willing to do whatever it takes to claw her way to a life of peace and plenty; but when she's been living in shadows for as long as she could remember and stumbles upon fate in the form of a bumbling, powerful boy, she just might have to learn how to step into the sun and embrace the call of destiny, and also embrace her steadily growing powers along the way.

READ AT WATTPAD

A Red Sky’s Warning [Pirates of the Caribbean] by @nixdragon​​

Charlotte Swann knows she will hate every single second she has to spend chasing after pirates but with a missing sister and a broken heart, she figures at least things aren't going to get much worse. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to be trying to prove her wrong

READ AT FFN + WATTPAD

Trust Love One More Time [Star Trek]��by @starryeyes2000​​

Enterprise's CMO yearns for a family. This need informs his every choice, including joining Starfleet, where he cobbles together a surrogate clan which he protects with the fierceness of a lioness safeguarding her cubs. With time McCoy accepted this new life in Starfleet he prudently constructed as good, as enough. Then an unexpected gift drops into his world.

READ AT AO3

Ultraviolet [Star Wars] by MM1776

Despite her promising future, Indaria Flare remained in the shadows, both because of her job and because of her family's past, one she hasn't managed to escape even after joining the Jedi Order. Since joining the Jedi Temple, Anakin Skywalker had lived in the spotlight of a Universe expecting him to bring peace and balance. Apart they were strong. But together, the light of their love burned ultraviolet.

READ AT WATTPAD

Variations [Marvel] by @ninjasawakenedmystars​​

In 2012 the Avengers' plan to go back in time and steal the Tesseract goes awry and Loki escapes. Even worse, one of the Avengers Sigyn Larsen-a human telepath and telekinetic-gets caught up in his escape while trying to prevent it. 

Declared "Variants" by the TVA, the two have to navigate their way through the mysterious agency that oversees all timelines, all while trying to not kill one another. Not to mention the apparent and troubling closeness of themselves from the sacred timeline constantly nipping at their heels...​

READ AT WATTPAD

[wuxiaphoenix]

Writing Fanfic: A Third Weird Trick

Yet another thing easier in fanfic than in canon: pick up your favorite characters, put them in a different setting, time, or planet, and see what happens. Yes, Hercules: TLJ pulled this one off too. The actors playing characters in the French Revolution will never not be funny. All hail the Chartreuse Fox!

Trick #3: Another Time, Another Place, Another Story.

Many, many ways there are to pull this off. Let’s see some of the classic subcategories.

The Fantasy AU. Exactly what it says on the tin; characters written into a classic fantasy world instead of the canon one. Dragons optional but definitely recommended. Knights, wizards, kitsune and shapeshifters common.

The SF AU. Ditto, but with space travel. Sometimes a generic space setting, sometimes a deliberate fusion with worlds like Star Wars, Star Trek, and the Firefly ‘verse. BTW I firmly hold that while Wei Wuxian may look like a disaster to anyone outside the Jedi Council, he’s actually one of the sanest and best they have. While Lan Wangji is one bad day away from being a Sith. All those attachment issues.... Escape Your Destiny is a good fic for that one.

The Superhero AU. Neither SF nor Fantasy, though it has elements of each. Superhero AUs are about characters having flashy powers, Fighting Crime, and otherwise being even more Dramatic than canon. BNHA and MCU fusion fics are common varieties; garden-variety superhero worlds abound as well.

The Time Travel AU. This is a particularly tricky one because it’s also often a Fix-It Fic. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just often a lot of plot is one character desperately trying to set right what in canon went wrong; sometimes with better results than others. This more than the other varieties relies on canon as a backdrop. The characters have to know what they’re trying to fix!

Some stories do mix it up with a side character who doesn’t know half of what really went wrong. Meaning you get the readers on the edge of their seats, trying to guess what will get fixed and what will be missed with horrible consequences....

Finally, you have various flavors of Modern AU. This can range from “characters in a completely normal life” (coffee-shop AUs, high school) to “characters think they’re in a normal life, but there’s actually going to be an unexpected genre shift to Urban Fantasy, Zombie Apocalypse, or Alien Invasion inside three pages”.

Canon provides a background for all these fanfic variants to play out, adding color and substance far beyond what your own wordcount would let you pull off. It lets everyone spin countless variants on a theme; much like the myriad King Arthur stories written centuries ago drew on the central “knights of the Round Table” concept everybody had heard of. Note, I’m not sure anyone beck then wrote King Arthur IN SPACE... but I wouldn’t be at all surprised!

[karimac]

For the Ask Meme for Writers ask #1, 3, 10, 14, 22 annndd 26 ^_^

Sorry I did not get to this sooner! Thanks for asking these questions!

1. Does writing energize you? Or does it sap your energy? Most of the time writing energizes me. The only time it doesn't is if I haven't been sleeping very well for a few nights in a row. I love being able to sit down and not "be myself" for a bit, and plotting out what my characters are going to do is always fun. One of my favorite things about gaming (and the one time so far I have done it on Tumblr with another writer) is working to develop plots and characters. I just don't wander into those waters too much if I am not familiar with the fandom for the other writer.

3. What is my writing Kryptonite? OK, that one is easy—feeling guilty about not doing my paying work. I work from home as a research assistant for a scientific publishing company, so the pull of the schedule for the paying gig versus the joy of writing can be enough to derail me on many nights!

10. What’s something you’d like to explore in your writing but haven’t had the chance yet? I guess I would like to dip my toes into another fandom one day, but I am not sure which one. I have had a version of Kari in play in online post-by-play roleplay settings for myriad versions of Marvel’s 616 universe for over 20 years, and this is the first time she has stepped outside the 616. I did try my hand at Image/Top Cow and Star Wars boards, but those crashed and burned because of bad timing/lack of gamers. I also tried gaming in the Star Trek realm on Tumblr, but I was not well-versed enough to do well with it, even as an OC. I am a fan of Legends of Tomorrow, so maybe one day an OC will click for that setting for me!

14. What’s a trope/type of situation you love playing around with in your writing? Oh, there are a lot of crayons I could pull out of that box! I guess the one I have used a lot is the “idiots who are in love but don’t really admit it too quickly” one. “Hidden facets of the hero/heroine’s past coming to light at the worst time” also has worked well for me. So have versions of "giving one's all/making the ultimate sacrifice--but with a twist."

22. Give us a window into your mind when you’ve let people read your work and you’re waiting on any feedback. OK, if you mean beta readers, I don't have any. My husband usually reads it right after I post it. He is not a member of any fandom, so he is reading to make sure it makes sense and has no typos. He is only acquainted with the MCU because our son and I take him along to the movies. To be honest, I was not sure I’d make it past the six month mark on my current Tumblr stint (I was here a few years back trying my hand at Star Trek RPG and left until August 2021), and I really wasn’t connected to a lot of people when I first came back. Going forward? Who knows what life will bring my way writing-wise. That said, I tend to be an anxious soul about my writing. I never feel it is well-developed or polished enough.

26. Do you get emotionally caught up in your stories, or is that for the readers? Oh boy, do I get emotionally caught up! In her gaming version, I killed Kari once. It was part of a plot developed with another gamer, and we knew she would be reborn in a few weeks time (for those who know Marvel 616, she is an External in that world—their version of Highlander). I cried for hours when I killed her. So yes, Queen of Emotional Writing here! If I can’t feel a tug at my heart, I’m doing something wrong.

[mkyujji]

Current Open Word Docs

It's not that I'm not writing these days, it's that I'm not finishing anything.

Cobra Kai

1. When there’s friction making it difficult to be co-senseis, Johnny wishes it was easier to understand how to deal with Daniel. His wish gets granted Scrooge-style by Miyagi and he gets hit with all the highlights of what made Daniel who he is. current word count - 1039

2. For the kink meme prompt about Kreese being of questionable morality but drawing the line at rape/child molestation, finding out Terry raped Daniel in '85, and being absolutely livid about it. current word count - 1538

3. for a kink meme prompt about Miguel being self-conscious about his scars. current word count - 611

4. for a kink meme prompt wanting fluffy Johnny teaching Daniel something un-karate related. current word count - 1643

5. Halloween inspired. Johnny dies and gets a chance to redo his life from the point he thinks it went wrong. Spoiler alert: he's wrong. Luckily, he gets a little help from a universe-displaced, bored Archangel. (mild spn xover). Current word count - 315

6. Mob AU. Daniel is in LA looking to expand Family interests to the West Coast. He probably shouldn't be mixing business with pleasure, but Johnny Lawrence is very pretty. current word count - 650

The Witcher

1. Post-Episode: Rare Species. Jaskier goes home to Lettenhove. He hates it just as much as he remembers. current word count - 292

2. ESO xover. 832

(I have another 3 or 4 ideas with less than 100 words each)

The Old Guard

1. In a world where your soulmates first words are scrawled across your body, Nicolo de Genova and Yusuf al-Kaysani’s parents have very different reactions to the foreign letters etched on their sons bodies. current word count - 435

2. Quynh turns Booker into a cat. current word count - 607

3. After they're safely away from Merrick's Nicky finally lets himself fall apart. Nile and Booker find out some unpleasant bits of their older brother's past. current word count - 2067

Star Trek

1. sequel to my STBB Devour the Soul, Reaper of Men. current word count - 2232

2. Mirror Verse, Reaper!Bones. Jim is determined to solve the mystery of his new roommate. This is actually a LOT more plotty than it sounds. current word count - 3006

3. Mirror Verse, Reaper!Bones. When Jim takes over command of the Enterprise from Pike, he's surprised to find out that the CMO of all people is the one not to fuck with. current word count - 1176

Torchwood

1. The Time Agency is not gone. It's just a little busy trying to undo the Doctor's massive fuck up with Harriet Jones and the lost Golden Age. current word count -

2. 5 Times someone found out Ianto Jones is immortal and one person he told. (highlander xover). current word count - 1427

3. In the aftermath of Canary Wharf, two immortals commiserate. current word count - 1407

4. Another Immortal!Ianto fic. current word count - 1986

Merlin

1. modern AU with Asexual Arthur who falls head over heels for Aromantic Merlin. Twice. You'd think he'd learn the first time. This one isn't the exactly the happiest thing I've ever written and is definitely shaded heavily with life experience so I don't know if I'll ever post it even if I did ever finish it. >_> current word count - 2790

NHL

1. Request from a friend. Flower finds out that Sidney's never been kissed and asks Vero if he can change that. current word count - 810

Leverage

1. X-Men xover - the Leverage crew are mutants. I have four different fics in this verse, though I might just combine them at some point. their word counts are - 1156, 546, 391, and 454

2. Hawaii 5-0 xover - when the law fails them and some rich scumbags threaten people he feels responsible for, Daniel calls in reinforcements. 600

X-Men

1. the file is literally called 'no prison for mags' so. word count - 1418

(I also have another 3 or 4 ideas that are under 100 words)

I didn't add any of my MCU or Agents of SHIELD fics because I haven't actually touched any this year that I haven't already posted. All of these have gotten words in 2021. I also have a handful of Star Wars ideas that haven't gotten much actual progress beyond like... thoughts and research.

[stormxpadme]

fic writer interview!

I got tagged by @effervescentdragon and @melkors-4th-silmaril! Thank you guys!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

As usual, I will include the stats from the biggest German archive here where I’ve been publishing since 2005.

AO3: 61

fanfiktion.de: 125

What’s your total AO3 word count?

AO3: 853,977

fanfiktion.de: 4,351,546

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

This is going to be long again, isn’t it ... In 30 years of writing, you collect a lot.

- Batman Forever and Batman & Robin - Bravestarr (Filmation series) - Elisabeth das Musical - Fantastic Four (Movieverse 1) - Firefly/Serenity - He-Man - Masters of the Universe & She-Ra: Princess of Power (OG Filmation verse) - Marvel Cinematic Universe - Meine neue große Schwester (German book) - Pirates of the Caribbean - Real Life Person Fiction (misc The Lord of the Rings celebs, misc skijumpers, misc Cast of German American Idol, misc Star Wars celebs, misc German Dancing with the Stars celebs) - S.W.A.T (1970's series) - Sense8 - Spider-Man (Movieverse 1) - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline - Star Wars (original 6 movies) - The Island (2005 movie) - The Lord of The Rings/The Silmarillion - Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - Verliebt in Berlin (German series) - X-Men (Movieverse)

And probably still forgot a bunch ...

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

- What was right here all along (Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline, ABO fic) - Nothing casual about us (misc Glorestor smut oneshots) - Naked thrills (misc Silm smut oneshots) - Shorten the reigns (Aragorn/Éomer/Legolas smut oneshot) - Two steps behind (Legolas & Thranduil oneshot)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Of course. If people take their time to read, that’s the least I can do.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably the original ending of my Star Wars (original 6 movies) hexalogy in which I gave Obi-Wan a girlfriend and a kid ... After the Jedi Purge, the Jedi girlfriend went into hiding and gave the child away so that it would be safe from the Empire, and Obi-Wan and the girlfriend never met again before his death. Fun times.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Not really though, though I do like to connect different verses of the same franchises that usually have nothing to do with each other. Having Barbara Gordon and movie Barbara Batgirl meet was a lot of fun.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really as a comment but there was lot of slandering in chats and boars in the old fandom days if you didn’t write exactly what people thought was the only legit theme and pairing.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Have you met me? Since I’m a RL BDSM lover, sub and advocate, I naturally write a lot of kink.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Boy, have I ever. About a fifth of the fics I have on were co-written with a now ex-friend who sadly does not want to have anything to do with fandom anymore. She also wanted her name removed from all of our stuff since she has a quite public job and doesn’t want people possibly finding her involvement in things. So people don’t know on first sight.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Huh, hard to tell. MCU has kinda ruined Clintasha for me which I once lived and breathed, and ever since then I think I kinda turned away from too intense canon shipping a little. Russingon is my current canon obsession, I guess. And Anakin/Padmé, maybe? Other than that, the shipping I could always get into most were always my canon/OC pairings.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Far too many fics on my pc that will never see the online light of day. But that’s okay. I like reading old stuff, even if it’s unfinished.

What are your writing strengths?

Hm, dialogue, I think? And smut, obviously, since this is kind of the only thing people really go for on my ao3 account.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Other than a few movie elvish phrases, I don’t really use that.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

S.W.A.T. (1970′s series) when I was like 9 years old. The first I published in online was She-Ra: Princess of power (original Filmation).

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m obviously very deeply attached to my LOTR longfic series “Tales Untold”. I’m also kind of proud of my long X-Men-movie series “Weathered” which worked many of the Dark Phoenix-saga elments from the comics and the cartoons into the movieverse and ended up to be incredibly epic, including los of wedding, sex, drama, death and the end of the world.

[bookspined]

❝ that’s all history is after all: scar tissue. ❞

{ cis-man, he/him }  huh, who’s FROY GUTIERREZ? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually SCORPIUS MALFOY. he is a TWENTY-TWO year old PUREBLOOD wizard who is A HEALING APPRENTICE. he is known for being CAPTIOUS, RETICENT, FACETIOUS, DISMISSIVE, and DRAMATIC but also RESOURCEFUL, CONSCIENTIOUS, FERVENT, INNOVATIVE, and OBSERVANT, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song IN DREAMS BY BEN HOWARD. i hear he is aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, so be sure to keep an eye on him. { merry, 24, gmt, she/they }

CHARACTER PARALLELS: Amy Santiago (B99), Claire Temple (Daredevil), Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place), Giles (Buffy TVS), Michelle Jones (MCU), Simon Tam (Firefly), Elizabeth Swan (PoTC), Spock (Star Trek), Clarke Griffin (The 100), Harley Keener (MCU), Gregory House (House) suggested honorable mention Gizmo (Gremlins) 

pinterest [blood, medical imagery tw]

wanted connection ideas

Full Name: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy Gender/Pronouns: Cis man | he/him Age: Twenty-three Birthdate: January 20th Parents: Draco Lucius Malfoy & Astoria Céline Malfoy (née Greengrass) [Not biologically Astoria’s due to her health, if you ever point this out he’ll flay your eyeballs] Siblings: N/A. Birth place: St. Mungo’s Hospital, England Height: 5’11” Weight: 56 kg Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic Bisexual Nationality: British Body Alterations/Marks: A ragged diamond shape scar at the base of his throat.

Blood Status: Pureblood Hogwarts House: Slytherin Wand Arm: Right Pet: His pet toad, Jarvis, recently passed away. Patronus: Arctic Fox Wand: 11 2/3 inches, Willow, Supple, Dragon Heartstring.

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

Personality Traits: Brilliance, innovative, empathetic, individuality, openness, social consciousness, inventive, logical, practical skills and self assertion; lack of attachment to people outside his circle and the “real world,” over-intellectualizing of the emotions, dismissive, anxious, crotchety tempered, facetious, rigid, prone to self-isolation, intellectual arrogance, and stubborn. Zodiac Sign: Aquarius/Capricorn Cusp Moral Alignment: Neutral Good Core values: Loyalty, Knowledge, Hope Four temperaments: Melancholic  

HOGWARTS HOUSE ANALYSIS

Slytherin Primary and a Burned Ravenclaw Secondary.

Slytherin Primaries prioritize their own selves and loved ones first. Slytherins don’t feel guilty or selfish about this– they feel righteous and moral. The most important thing is to look after your own. Abandoning or hurting one of your own is the worst thing you can do.

A Burned Ravenclaw Secondary might want to be skilled, curious, and prepared, but they feel like they are (or like people think they are) limited, clumsy, or inconstant. Gathering knowledge, hobbies, skills, or tools is the right way to achieve their goals, but Burned Ravenclaws know that’s not going to work within their capabilities. So they take other paths and use other tools– maybe a Gryffindor’s bluntness, a Slytherin’s flexibility, or a Hufflepuff’s slow and steady dedication.

You may have a Hufflepuff Secondary Model.

Hufflepuff is the House of grit, reliability, and determination, and Hufflepuffs use those values to help live, act, and succeed. If you model Hufflepuff Secondary, you also value these things and like to live by them. You like to be hardworking, dedicated, and consistent– but you wouldn’t feel guilty for abandoning those values in the service of other, higher priorities. If there’s another, easier way to get what you want– you’d take it. You think hard work provides valuable rewards– and those rewards are why you work. The work doesn’t have persuasive value in itself.

Despite his very best resistance he’s always been pretty empathetic in nature, he tries to rule his emotions as well as he can but fails more often than not. He was always one of those toddlers that if another kid started crying he’d be right along with them, not because he wanted attention but because he just couldn’t not. A bit of a crybaby, has researched how to magically seal up his tear ducts. Obviously managed to keep the family’s flair for the dramatic there as well. After a few years he leant into the sarcastic vague-snobbishness to hide the core of overwhelming anxiety.

Just managed to scrape through his schooling with nearly all top grades, this isn’t really due to him being a model student. He has always accrued information with a voracious appetite. Any knowledge he could find, even if most people would consider it entirely useless. His mind clicks into that place? You can’t keep him away. However, when there is not an immediate stir of interest on his approach to a topic he has to fight with himself tooth and nail to carry on. 

Predictably found exam season highly stressful, was never open about it but was quietly competitive and silently smug over his good grades. Could comprehend well above his reading level from an early age and would often look into experimental research and complicated magic but found himself lost in OWL level History of Magic when chapter upon chapter lay ahead of him about something that didn’t catch his interest. Some people he beat just to spite cause he hates them. It worked, whatever.

Tends toward introversion and finds himself tired sometimes quite easily by a large amount of social interaction. Witty and big-mouthed when he feels comfortable or is in the presence of those that embolden him and very likely to get flustered and snap at people when things are becoming a bit too much. Especially if he feels however unjustly that someone is blocking his escape. Has matured slightly in this since leaving school but it happens still, he’s just anxious. Quite fickle and can at the drop of a hat decide that he’s done with you for the day once his Give Me Attention Meter is maxed. Could be an absolute bloody brat when he felt like it but feels he has grown out of it, which he mostly has.

Always been very, very aware of many people’s distrust of him and his family, he used to sneer and play it up if anyone tried to bring up his dad and go on the offensive but was genuinely affected quite deeply by it all. In his early school years, despite his weakness to the cold, he constantly had his sleeves rolled up to the elbow so that his blank forearm was bared as a statement to just about everyone. I am not marked, I never will be. Now he’s older he has more of a handle on things and can be diplomatic in situations where people are clearly discomforted by his presence and his family history.

Even though the war culminated far earlier in this verse I imagine Scor would have had to have been relatively sheltered as a child if not for how emotionally sensitive and prone to periods of ill-health he was, it was definitely for his own safety. He is still the grandson of a known high-ranking Death Eater and that made him a media target and put one on his back for anyone else that might happen to be watching. 

Never produced much of a talent for offensive magic and wouldn’t resort to those methods unless he had literally no other choice, not a front line fighter by any means. His talents with strategy, potion-making, healing and his perseverance with defensive magic are what define him to the Order. While everyone kind of knows who he hung out with at school and who his friends are he is deliberately very mischievous with releasing rumours and misleading people. He deliberately keeps his cards very close to his chest so most people don’t know that he is aligned with anyone, he usually uses glamours or a scarf to conceal his identity if he has to. 

While he is knowledgeable about healing and anatomy, he is the WORST at taking care of himself. The literal embodiment of Healers make the worst patients, tends to forgo sleep and basic bodily needs if he’s locked into what he’s focusing on. Sometimes needs reminders to sleep and eat, like a child. 

Healing is the most satisfying part of his life and he would never give it up, he likes to experiment as he has a fascination with magic and muggle science and where they might intersect. A fucking nerd honestly. While he thinks he’s being fairly subtle about it a large part of his academic life has been doused in research into blood maledictions, for obvious reasons. He does his best not to flutter too obviously around his Mum. She is capable and ten times stronger than he is. 

Lives in a small studio flat in Diagon Alley that is mostly stacks of books and makeshift shelves.

the stillness of the world the moment you take the first step into fresh snow, cashmere and fine wool, the pearlescence of dreamless sleep draught, the scratch of a quill on parchment, faintly tremoring fingers, a shiver up your spine in a warm room, the exhilaration of a problem solved, a thunderous grey overcast sky, the bite of a stitching charm, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, petrichor, the burn in your eyes before a well of tears.

Always had somewhat fragile health tending toward sickly. Hands are never warm, his existence is an endless heat seeking mission. 

Went to one Slug Club meeting and used his time to verbally berate and or challenge most of the contacts in attendance, he was not asked to return. 

Potions Club, Charms Club, used to sometimes be willing to be dragged to Dueling Club but didn’t enjoy himself. 

Plays quite a bit of chess.

Bruises like a fucking peach and scars so easily.

Views quidditch as a good fly spoiled. 

Is a very skilled pianist almost entirely due to his Grandmother’s tutelage. 

Surprisingly great with children/toddlers/babies, no one including himself expected this, he mostly feared them beforehand. 

Bit of a mummy’s boy in that he practically GLOWS when people talk of Astoria’s achievements. 

When he has time off from healing he will have chipped black nail varnish on. 

Highly intelligent but rarely manages to match a pair of socks, chews his quills but no one else’s. 

While very eloquent and well spoken, he is markedly less posh than when he first arrived at Hogwarts.

When he isn’t prone to bouts of insomnia he can take a nap pretty much anywhere. He was once found in a tree after several frantic hours search.

[ CREDIT : CHARACTER PSD template by @karmahelper (defunct url) I tried to find a current social this week by messaging around but couldn’t find anything unfortunately. Forgot to copy this over from the google doc! ]

[brighteyedjill]

Year End Writing Round-up

I tumbled into Witcher fandom in 2020, as is obvious by my writing output. But it’s also important to note that this has been my most productive year EVER in the fic-writing department: 260,000 words, more than in the last five years combined. And yes, part of that’s the pandemic, and part of it is media inspiration (thanks, Witcher!), but I’d say the majority of it is the fandom. 

Witcher readers have been very generous with comments and excitement and enthusiasm, and the Discord communities have been great. People engaging with my work is hugely motivating. So thanks to everyone who’s commented, kudos’d, squeed with me in Discord, sent me an excited Tumblr ask, rec’d my work, left an all-caps tag on your AO3 bookmark or rec, or reblogged stuff on Tumblr. It’s because of you that I’ve turned out so much work this year!

Here is a list of everything I wrote this year, organized by fandom. I’ve included the pairing or characters, a link, and a 3-word summary. My most-written pairings for Eskel/Geralt (7 fics), barely edging out Geralt/Jaskier (6 fics), with Aiden/Lambert (4 fics) as a runner-up. If there’s something here you didn’t get to read, check it out!

Witcher

Witcher one-shots

Bardic Methods of Conflict Resolution. Eskel/Geralt/Jaskier. Threesome brings revelations.

Advanced Techniques for Pacifying Dire Beasts. Eskel/Geralt, Eskel/OC. Trainees learn monsterfuckery.

(I know dead people, and you are not dead). Aiden/Lambert. Broken, still good.

A True Companion. Eskel/Geralt. Roach is done.

A Little Chaos. Istredd/Yennefer. Practicing sex magic.

I Didn’t Come For Answers (to a place like this). Lambert & Ciri. Growing past grief. 

We’ve All Been Through It. Aiden/OMCs. Cat training sucks.

The Heart Entire. Eskel/Succubus, Eskel/Geralt. Sexily drowning feelings.

Dodge, Parry. Lambert & Ciri.. Lambert sacrifices himself.

Witcher Are, After All, Only Dumb Beasts. Eskel/OMC. Evil prostate milking.

This Was Once a Love Poem. Jaskier/Valdo, Jaskier OMCs. Cruel Oxenfurt gaslighting.

Where You’re Meant to Be. Eskel/Geralt. Axii prevents rescue.

They Say the First Time is the Hardest. Eskel/Geralt. Touch is scarce.

Giving Yourself Away. Aiden/Lambert. Exploiting weak points.

One Fewer Griffin. Coën & Vesemir. Grandpa rescues grifflet.

Wishing Doesn’t Make it So. Geralt/Jaskier. Yen shows mercy.

The Things You Have Caused Me Most to Want (are those that furthest elude me. Coën/Eskel/Geralt/Jaskier/Lambert. Winter A/B/O polycule. (With phenomenal art by @jerry-of-rivia)

Childish Things. Eskel & Geralt. Knighthood fantasies die.

I Want No World. Tentacle Monster/Eskel, Geralt/Eskel. Monster shares grief.

Set in Stone. Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/Tentacle Monster. Dawn effect dilemma. 

Our Name Be Witness. Eskel/Geralt. Post-Grasses tough love.

Motet. Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer. Secret past’s acceptance.

Witcher Series 

Potential

Potential. Lambert/OMC. Tragic trainee grooming. Joy is Not Made to Be a Crumb. Aiden/Lambert. Solitude brings growth. We are not wise (and not very often kind). Aiden/Lambert. Taming traumatized witchers. (Note: Unfinished, but not for long!)

Even Then (You’ll Still Be Mine)

That Which You Possess. Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/OMCs. Undercover sex slavery. But Do Not Yet Know. Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/Yen. Amnesia cultivates suspicion. Will Always Find Each Other. Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/Yen. Finding love redux.

Rusalki and Recompense

His Heart is Full of Trouble. Geralt/Jaskier. Monster possession confuses. Where is Their Haven at This Hour. Geralt/Jaskier. Mutual forgiveness heals.

MCU

Objects Contain the Possibility of All Situations: Steve/Bucky. Accidental trigger words.

That Which is Indelible: Steve/Howlies, Steve/Hydra Agenda. 4F ‘Verse kidnapping

Star Trek

A Violation of Procedure: Chekov/Aliens. Unfortunate away mission.

You’d forgotten I wrote for other fandoms, hadn’t you? That’s a total of 34 fics last year--phew. Now bring on 2021!

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #469

Top Ten Crazy WandaVision Theories

So all the while I was watching The Mandalorian I kept thinking, blimey, they’ve nailed this. There’s an oft-repeated problem with modern serial dramas, which is that they tend to tread water a little bit; despite being shorn of the network requirement of episodes being a certain length, or having a certain number of episodes in a season, there’s this in-built compulsion to make about a dozen 45-minute episodes. This is what scuppered the Marvel Netflix series in particular; there simply wasn’t enough story to cover the seasons, and as a result there was a lot of treading of water. This has also affected the recent Star Trek shows, although Discovery does show signs of pulling out of this “twelve-hour movie” mindset. Mando totally transcends this in a superlative way: each episode is basically an “adventure of the week” type thing (Mando versus spiders, Mando goes to the fish planet, Mando meets a Jedi, etc). But each episode also builds on the arc; he’s always on the same quest, and everything he does week by week furthers this quest. As much as I was looking forward to WandaVision, I kept reminding myself, there’s no way they can do this; no way these two shows – my most-anticipated shows from two of my most-beloved franchises – can hit the bar so successfully, back-to-back.

Well.

I’m not sure if WandaVision is quite the overall triumph The Mandalorian is, but they’re both pretty tremendous achievements in slightly different ways. Wanda manages to tell a rather unsettling story in the MCU whilst also doing a terrific job of parodying sitcom tropes; it works on a meta level as well as a practical one. Also, as far as puzzle-box type programmes go, this one has been doing an excellent job; week by week, you’re further intrigued by what’s going on in Westview; what’s real? Who’s behind it? is Vision still dead? Will Darcy get her own show? It’s a fantastic exercise in drip-feeding information, maintaining a degree of unease and suspense, and offering a compelling mystery. Will they keep it up until the end? I’ve no idea; the reveal at the end of episode seven wasn’t quite a jaw-on-the-floor moment but it was exquisitely done, with a theme song and everything. Even if the most obvious predictions end up being true and the finale becomes a relatively straightforward goodies-versus-baddies barney, I’ve got faith in everyone involved to at least give us something utterly compelling and thoroughly entertaining.

But what if there really is at least one huge surprise left up the show’s vibranium sleeve? Certainly, the reveal of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff – being, visually if not in character at least, the Fox/X-Men universe version of Wanda’s brother, rather than the Adam Taylor-Johnson version we knew from Age of Ultron – was a hell of a moment, seemingly bridging the gap between the MCU as we knew it and the previously Fox-controlled properties. Since then, there’s been this bubbling rumour (which I’ve tried not to read too much into by literally not reading too much; this is something I’ve divined from headlines or stray tweets, because I want to keep forging my way through WandaVision without a map) that there is another epic cameo approaching, on the level of Luke Skywalker popping up in the finale of The Mandalorian. That moment was something of a surprise, even though I had it rather spoiled by Twitter; despite muting as many words as possible to do with the show, “Luke Skywalker” still popped up in trending topics. I’ve learned my lesson, and I essentially forgo any social media (and a lot of other sites too) until I’ve seen the most recent episode. Anyway, what if this is true; what if there’s another character or moment that will rock the Marvel world to an even greater extent than The Other Pietro? If we’d be as surprised and delighted by something as much as we were by Luke making short work of those Dark Troopers? With this in mind, and being aware of the encroaching WandaVision finale, here are some predictions. What could happen? Who could we see? Which long-dormant plot thread will get resurrected? Read on to find out! And – spoiler warning – this has been revisited following the most recent episode; we are officially in the endgame now.

And I’m sure all of these are realistic and serious suggestions.

I Am Your Father: We have actually met Wanda’s parents at last; ordinary decent Sarkovian folk, it seems. But from where did her nascent witchy powers appear? What if, in a shocking last-minute twist, we discover her real father, and he’s played by… Ian McKellen! It was Eric all along!

SWORD versus Skrulls: a post-credit sting will reveal that – shock! – Tyler Hayward is, in fact, a SKRULL! Yes, finally, the shape-shifting buggers will get to be the baddies from the comics, as an up-to-no-good splinter faction of the beleaguered race makes its presence felt on the MCU, having successfully infiltrated world governments over the past thirty years. This will set up Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion series.

The Ultron of it All: there have been more mentions of Ultron in WandaVision than in any MCU property since, well, Age of Ultron. And now we have a custom-built all-white model of Vision, big as life and twice as creepy. What if – what if – shorn of his own psyche (his own soul?) and without an Infinity Stone to keep him upright, there remains in the hardware some remnant of everyone’s favourite sarky, genocidal mechanoid? Ultron returns! Screw you, planet Earth!

The Sorcerer Supreme is Not Happy: we know magic exists in the MCU because of Doctor Strange, so seeing Agatha and her family get their Hocus Pocus on in old Salem wasn’t too much of a surprise. But isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme supposed to keep an eye on magic use in the multiverse? I was half expecting Tilda Swinton to pop up in the flashback and bind Agatha with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. But now, with all the chaos magic Wanda is using in Westview, coupled with Agatha’s own spelling bee? Surely this has drawn the attention of somebody? Anybody? I mean, New York isn’t that far from Jersey, especially if you’ve got a sling ring, y’know?

No More Avengers: so Benedict Cumberbatch popping up wouldn’t be that much of a surprise (especially as Wanda is in the next Doctor Strange movie) but even if he’s not on Magic Police duty, wouldn’t an enhanced situation of this size draw the attention of one of the Avengers? Except – shock horror! – there are no Avengers! In a revelation that will set up the status quo of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, since the events of Endgame the Avengers literally don’t exist. So who will unite to save the world, not just from Wanda or Agatha, but also from the likes of SWORD? Well, right now, no one; but maybe that’ll change when the real villains appear…

No More Mutants: in the “House of M” storyline, Wanda very famously said “no more mutants” and it was so (more or less). Mutants don’t (seem to) exist in the MCU. But what if, at one point, they did? I don’t think this could have been Wanda’s doing, but what if in the past someone else had used magic to de-power/de-mutify the existing mutant population of Earth, and – basically – made everyone forget about it? And in the climax of WandaVision, well, “no more” is undone and – boom! – X-genes abound. This could even maybe set up some events in The Eternals, who I believe have some history with mutants in the comics (I’m really not very well-versed in Eternals lore)

Soul Stealer: so Wanda’s the Scarlet Witch, and a chaos magician, and super-enhanced courtesy of an Infinity Stone, but still: how did she create not one but three super-powered lifeforms? Where did they come from? Did she steal their souls? Is she leeching her own life-force to maintain them? I think we’ll discover a bit more about her powers and reveal that she’s drawing energy mutliversally, maybe from the Dark Dimension – maybe from Mephisto? I’d actually put money on Mephisto not showing up at all, despite his comic book connections to Agatha and Wanda.

Multiversal Madness: why that Pietro? He’s just a fake, just an automaton – right? But he’s still out and about spooking Monica whilst Agatha’s dealing with Wanda… yeah? And he looks like another Pietro from another universe (even if he doesn’t act like that). So… why? And who? I really, really think there’s some kind of multiversal craziness going on here, some force beyond Wanda (and Agatha!). Maybe it’s to do with Wanda pulling power from across the multiverse, maybe it’s… something else. Maybe we’ll get cameos from Lou Ferringo, Bruce Campbell, Spider-Ham and ROM the Space Knight. Hey, don’t forget: Transformers was a Marvel comic once! And they do have a Chaos-Bringer…

Wanda Did It: one of the prevailing theories/queries about WandaVision has been who’s behind it all. Wanda’s not powerful enough (or villainous enough), so who exactly did create TV Westview? Who brought Vision back, gave Wanda her sons? Well, the latest ep sure seemed to show that it really was Wanda All Along. The explanation being that she’s “the Scarlet Witch”, a presumably hella-powerful sorcerer and also (let’s not forget) imbued with Infinity Stoniness. But is she on her own really that strong, and would she – even in her despair – alter so many minds? What if there’s another Wanda, a Wanda prepared to go all-out, a Wanda who – after losing everything on her Earth is trying to recreate it by pooling her powers will another Wanda? An alternate universe, more damaged, more villainous Wanda – a Wanda who’s already said “no more mutants”, maybe; maybe even the Wanda from the Fox X-Men films (who AFAIK we’ve only seen as a little girl in her brother’s arms). That’s why Pietro looks like that, because she’s trying to rebuild her own life using the powers of this other Wanda. Two Wandas; two Witches. Dukin’ it out. And who can come to save the day, but the X-Men?

We’re All Doomed: giving credit to my brother for pointing me in this direction when he said “if there’s a big bad in WandaVision it either has to be someone very good at magic or very good at science”. Or… both? Think about it. Which character, if they cameoed in an MCU property, could possibly generate as much excitement as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian? No actor from the MCU; not even Downey. From another Marvel property? We’ve had a Fox actor already and with the rumours about Spider-Man: No Way Home, whether we saw Hugh Jackman or Tobey Maguire, I think that would be exciting but not as exciting. So I think it’s a character, not an actor. A character big and exciting enough to make us all squee. And which character from Marvel has never been seen in the MCU, is not necessarily expected any time soon, is very good at magic and very good at science? One. I’d say only one. Bring it on.

This actually became a lot more sensible than I’d intended! I was gonna go all-out, rolling in Muppet Babies, MODOK, HERBIE, the Phoenix Force, and basically the entire Patton Oswalt speech from Parks and Recreation. And whilst I think virtually none of these will (or should?!) happen, just imagine… man, I can’t believe we have to wait a week!

[smokeybrand]

Welcome Back

I am a card carrying geek. I was that nerd in grade school, reading comics, watching anime, and larping with his friends during recess. I’ve always loved things like books and film, mostly because my ma had a penchant for the sci-fi and we would share in her hobbies. I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since i was a wee lil’ Smokey and had a particular fondness for Max Headroom’s shenanigans. My chosen proclivities lend themselves to alternate universes, divergent timeless, and the interdenominational doppelganger or two. What i am trying to convey, here, is that i am not stranger to the revisit of a franchise. For me, rebooting an established work or expanding a loved lore is not a transgression. I am a fan of narrative. If you can tell a unique story, it really doesn’t even have to be that good, but something creativity and compelling, i am totally on board. This isn't as difficult a feat as you'd think considering how well Hollywood can adapt international films. The Ring and The Departed are effectively remakes of their original Asian fare and those films are spectacular. Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is the best example of this i can give. His deconstruction of the Batman mythos was one of the best cinematic and storytelling experiences I ever had. If you can take an established narrative, an established universe, and inject your own flavor into it, i am down for that, too. The Kelvin Star Trek timeline immediately comes to mind. Again, comic book guy, specifically a Spider-Man shill.

While i have years worth of alternate Spider-Men in the books to pull from, i think the most concise example i can give for a layman is to think Into the Spider-Verse, only with thousands more Spider-Men and Spider-Women. That’s the world I'm broaching this subject from, where there are decades worth of stories and reboots and remakes and reimagings, basically revisits, of a character that i absolutely love. Some are great like the Ultimate Spider-Man or the world of Renew Your Vows, and some are not so great, like that version Abrams’ kid came up with. That whole story was the worst. We have actually seen a little bit of this narrative reincarnation in the Spider-Man film franchise, itself, both good and bad. If we take the very first Spider-Man films, those campy, Raimi classics, as a starting point, then we had a terrible reboot in the Amazing franchise and a rather brilliant reimagining in the MCU outings. I really like the MCU retool. Tom Holland is THE onscreen Peter Parker and you can fight me about it all day.

Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are an interesting situation in the whole Revisit discourse. Both of these films are effectively reboots of the entire franchise and a whole ass remake of their initial entries. Beat for beat, theme for theme, these two films are basically the same as Jurassic Park and Episode IV, just less than they are in every conceivable fashion. Now, on paper, i should hate this but i don’t. There is a reason both of the imitations made billions for their respective franchise and that is simply nostalgia. We. as a culture, were starved for a Jurassic sequel and new Star War. When we got these movies in earnest, no one cared they were rehashes of the films that made them so important to the cultural zeitgeist. It was like seeing A New Hope and that initial outing to Isla Nublar for the first time, for a second time, but with much better effects. It had been decades since either of these movies had a proper release so we all just accepted that these were refresher courses in the lore. It was with the sequels that these things sh*t the bed so hard.

Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi skewed so far from what these franchises were, from the rules that had been established in the preceding films, including the first in their new trilogies, that they were offensive. Legitimately offensive. Jurassic World and The Force Awakens, as flawed as they were, left their worlds in respectable places. The narratives that could be built from those starting point were incredible. That potential was palpable. Lucas, himself, said that the stories should rhyme and you see that in his six films. Familiar yet different. Nostalgic yet original. Respectful yet original. None of that was recognized in the follow-ups and that is why these two franchises are on life support. It’s sad because there was potential there. Characters introduced were compelling and narrative threads left unties, could have become something great. Instead, expectations were subverted and the world completely sh*t on in an effort to be edgy, to distance itself from the established lore. That sh*t is whack. It’s not about being a fan of the franchise or a zealous istaphobe or whatever else the Twatter mob wants to accuse people of being. It’s about bad story telling. it’s abut a complete betrayal of a decades old franchise. It’s a bout being disingenuous with the property for personal gain.

I said at the beginning of this essay that i love a revisit. That’s why i went to see these sh*tty films. I also made very clear that i love storytelling. Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi lack in that fundamental aspect, that’s why they suck. They’ve done irreparable damage to the entire franchise and canon of these worlds that were so meticulously crafted by proper visionaries. Michael Crichton is rolling in his grave at what became of his Dinosaur Westworld and Lucas effectively bogarded his way into running Lucasfilm again after they sh*t on his legacy and that’s the thing; Legacy. These two franchises are part of American culture. They’re as revered as Apple Pie and Institutional Racism here. They’re not cash grabs or vehicles to push your politics. They’re modern fairy tales, myths, and should be respected as such. The thing is, though, i don’t believe there are actual creatives out there that have the vision to create like Crichton or Lucas anymore. Or, at least, Creatives that are willing to work within the constraints of this ridiculous studio system.

Modern film studios are disgustingly risk averse. That is a problem with anything making entertainment media nowadays but it’s most egregious in Hollywood. Films like Star Wars and Alien were made in a time when budgets didn’t swell to hundreds of millions of dollars so directors had to do what he could, with what they had, and that level of imagination birthed classics. It’s rare that creators get a blank check to deliver their vision nowadays, and even rarer that what they get to make if they receive that loot, is actually good. Zack Snyder and the train wreck that is Sucker Punch demonstrates my point perfectly. the new Lucases and Camerons are rare but there are a handful of directors who carry that torch. Denis Villeneuve is an incredible visual storyteller. He has a distinct vision for the grand and manages to craft proper worlds. Blade Runner 2049 is one of the best films i have ever seen in my life but it didn’t make money because people have been conditioned to ignore great storytelling for great effects. That sh*t is why people can say to me, with a straight face, that they think Batman v. Superman is better than The Dark Knight rises. That sh*t is stupid, shut the f*ck up. Deni was given the reigns to the Dune reboot and i think this might be the film that breaks him through to the mainstream.

Dune is a reboot. It looks like a revisit to the old David Lynch flick but with Deni’s penchant for the epic. This movie feels like what Jurassic World and The Force Awakens wanted to do; A respectful acknowledgment of what came before but an original take going forward. Dune is one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written and Deni is one of the most profound visionaries in the game right now.  I have no doubt the new film is going to be fantastic. This combination is a match made in heaven, similar to Alex Garland with Annihilation or, more accurately i think, Luca Guadagnino and Suspiria. Those two films are f*cking incredible and they adapt the source material in a very, specific, manner. Annihilation is a reimagining of the book and carries its own themes and tones while the new Suspiria is a complete reinterpretation of what came before, that i believe eclipses the original. Dune looks excellent but i don’t know that it will be well received. Deni has his work cut out for him because the world of revisits is riddle with the corpses of films that couldn’t care the weight of what came before or what could have been. Still, i don’t want Hollywood to stop. As unoriginal as remaking things is, i adore a fresh set of eyes on familiar fare. There are infinite ways to tell the same story and that’s the fun of revisiting an old tale.

[therealjambery]

Long fics rec post is long

What better way to while away the time than fanfiction? Long fanfiction! And when I say long, I mean long, like so long it is three novels put together, how on earth did you find time to write this, so long it takes even me more than one day to read long. I'm irrationally jealous of all of these writers, as I am the type of writer who has a hard time dashing off 10,000 words in a timely fashion, let alone writing anything longer.

I'm using the SFWA's definition of a novel here, which is anythiing over 40,000 words.

These are all stories I've loved, and most of them I've actually got saved as PDFs so I can re-read them wherever I want. I'm digging pretty deep into the archives for this one, kids, so hold onto your hats.

Fandoms: Avengers/Marvel, Firefly, Inception, Leverage, Merlin, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek AOS, Supernatural, Torchwood

Fandom: Avengers/MCU/Marvel/Whatever we're calling it these days

in deep with you darling by topaz Author's Summary: Darcy could have, under normal circumstances, resisted the aesthetics (however awesome they are, and holy crap are they awesome), but there's an itch under her skin—apparently, nearly dying by giant, fire-breathing robots from space in the middle of Nowhere, New Mexico will start you questioning your life choices. Who knew? Main Pairing: Clint/Darcy Words: 48024

runaways are running the night by anothercover Author's Summary: Clint did like that the photo stayed private. He’s shit at social media, only on it because, you know, he has to be, but even Clint knew it was the kind of candid that was Instagrammable - #queen, #legend, #rawmemama, etcetera, ad nauseam, he’s pretty sure he could predict the comments before anyone actually typed them. (Bucky once said “raw me, mama?” to her with a goddamn straight face and Natasha’s expression of abject horror while she tried to work out if he meant it had made Clint laugh so fucking hard he was certain he’d ripped an organ in half. He still wants to find a way to work that story into his act, because on the one hand, people love it when he talks about his marriage, but it’s hard to find a way into it that doesn’t sound like he’s making fun of their fans, and that’s a big no-go.) AU: Natasha's in a band, Clint is basically John Mulaney, it's great Main Pairing: Clint/Natasha/Bucky Words: 53873

Ready, Fire, Aim 'Verse by gyzym Author's Summary: There's no "I" in "Avenger." Main Pairing: Steve/Tony Words: 63019

Ain't No Grave (Can Keep My Body Down) by spitandvinegar Author's Summary: It's six in the morning, and Steve is heading out on a run when he nearly trips over a bouquet of sunflowers on the front steps of his brownstone.

For a second paranoia takes over, and he kicks the flowers a little, waiting for them to explode. They don't. They also came with a card, which he picks up. The front of the card has a tasteful picture of the Brooklyn bridge at sunset. It's very nice and sedate, like the kind of card you would buy to give to your boss. On the inside someone has written a short message in big, shaky block letters.

I AM SORRY FOR SHOOTING YOU.

Steve sits down hard on the steps. Main Pairing: Steve/Bucky Words: 107076

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series by owlet Author's Summary: The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect Main Pairing: Steve/Bucky Words: 264438

Clint Barton's Super Secret Snipers' Club by sara_holmes Author's Summary: Clint Barton's Super Secret Snipers' Club. (Invitation and pending mental health evaluation required.)

"When Steve brings Bucky back to the tower for the first time, Clint’s first thought is that Tony Stark’s pride and joy is quickly becoming a less of a very tall and expensive ‘fuck you’ in the faces of investors who don’t believe in self-sustaining energy, and more of a superhero rehabilitation center."

Boyfriends, compromises and learning to like oneself. Main Pairing: Clint/Bucky Words: 67059

Nobody Lost, Nobody Found by ClaraxBarton Author's Summary: "Look, dude, I get it. You’re fucked-up. HYDRA fucked you up. I’ve been there. But you’re my fucking Soul Mate!"

“I can kill you. I could kill you without even realizing what I was doing. I’m not fucked-up, I’m a monster. I’m a nightmare. You can’t be here. You can’t- All the people I’ve killed- I will not murder my Soul Mate too. Not after everything else I’ve-”

Clint worked his left hand between their bodies and managed to land a punch to the man’s right side, forcing him to shift his weight, and Clint brought his right hand down on the place where the man’s metal arm met his torso - hidden by the shirt he wore, but on full display in the video Clint had watched.

The man released Clint with a grunt of pain, and Clint pressed his advantage, landing another punch to his abdomen, backing him up against the opposite side of the RV and then pressing the kitchen knife he had pocketed while cleaning up earlier to the man’s throat.

“Like I said, I’m not a Boy Scout. I’m plenty dangerous myself. We clear on that?”

OR:

This looks bad, because it is.

OR:

How Clint Barton met his Soul Mate AU: soulmates! Main Pairing: Clint/Bucky Words: 108331

Ronin!Clint 'verse by shatteredhourglass Author's Summary: “Who the fuck are you and how did you get this line?”

“I have my ways,” the voice says, amused. “Don’t worry, I’m just enjoying the view, Captain America.” Main Pairing: Clint/Bucky Words: 63266

Fandom: Firefly/Supernatural

Weight and Motion by sevenfists [note: the podfic by dodificus is excellent] Author's Summary: The pears were ripe, Kaylee told him, but Mal wouldn't eat any of them. They were a present, nestled all sweet and green in a wooden crate that a grateful passenger gave them right before they left her on Greenleaf. AU: Crossover, Dean ends up on Serenity, just roll with it Main Pairing: Mal/Dean Words: 43117

Fandom: Inception

All the World is Bullet Shaped by pushdragon Author's Summary: If Arthur thinks that, just by waving enough money around, he can get Eames to risk his life and reputation to rescue him from a death sentence, he's got another thing coming. So Eames sets a malicious, undignified price on his services, one he can be certain that a man like Arthur would never condescend to pay. It turns out to be the first of many mistakes. Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames Words: 76656

I Seem to Be a Verb by Aja Author's Summary: Arthur owns a quirky hipster science bookstore. Eames is a world-famous mega-celebrity.

Clearly this calls for a meet-cute. AU: Notting Hill AU Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames Words: 93837

In Medias Res by starlingthefool Author's Summary: What's the most resilient infection? What's more infectious than a cold, deadlier than cholera? What lingers in your blood forever?

Love, of course. Mal has always known that. Her pointman Eames may dismiss her for a romantic, but for better or worse, love has gotten her this far. AU: Mirror-verse Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames, Mal/Dom Words: 52662

The Music Makers by mami_san Author's Summary: A. Graham Cole was twenty-one years old when he was killed in action in Iraq. This is the official story. The truth is, of course, somewhat different. Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames Words: I dunno, because it's not on AO3. But my PDF is 451KB so it's over 50k, most likely.

Presque Vu by rageprufrock Author's Summary: Or, "on the tip of the tongue." Arthur meets Mal first. He inherits Dom, after. Everything else is on him. Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames Words: 69588

Wherever You Will Be (That's Where I'll Call Home) [The DomesticVerse] by gyzym Author's Summary: People you kiss in an airport baggage claim and then don't talk to for thirteen months shouldn't be able to exist, let alone make your chest do the things Arthur's chest is doing. There are rules. Main Pairing: Arthur/Eames Words: 74828

Fandom: Leverage

Psychic AU series by Laughtsalot3412 Author's Summary: He had a sniper rifle scoping the girl’s bright eyes and the guy’s smile. AU: They all have psychic powers Main Pairing: OT3 Eliot/Parker/Alec Words: 89955

Fandom: Merlin

[note: look, I don't even go here. I've never watched the show. But.]

Drastically Redefining Protocol by rageprufrock Author's Summary: In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks loose. AU: Modern AU Main Pairing: Arthur/Merlin Words: 46,059

The Student Prince by FayJay Author's Summary: A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love... AU: Modern AU Main Pairing: Arthur/Merlin Words: 145222

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis

Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves by auburn Author's Summary: Vala Mal Doran and her partners, renegades Jehan abd-Ba'al and Meredith McKay, hijack the Tau'ri ship Prometheus and leave the Milky Way behind in search of the Lost City of the Ancients, Atlantis. AU: Space pirates! Main Pairing: John/Rodney Words: 180299

The Price That Life Exacts by cathalin Author's Summary:When John disappears without a trace during a routine mission, people in a beleaguered Atlantis eventually have to try to move on. Rodney never completely gives up hope of finding John, and though he soldiers on to help Atlantis, a year later he still lives every day with his grief. Main Pairing: John/Rodney Words: 63369

Written By the Victors by Spreranza Author's Summary: Caroll, Franklin R. Atlantis Revisited. New York and London, Routledge, 2011. Chapman, Denise. Several Kinds of Genius: The Life of Rodney McKay. NY: Harper Perennial, 2015. Croft, Rosalind. City of Spires: A Memoir. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2009. Dugan, Paul. A Political History of Atlantis. Oxford: OUP, 2012. Main Pairing: John/Rodney Words: 52843

Tongues of Men and Angels by Mad_Maudlin Author's Summary: When SG-4 is ambushed offworld, an injured Major John Sheppard must put his trust in a Tok'ra agent named McKay to survive. But what secrets is McKay keeping about his mission, the planet, and his own motives for helping John? AU: They didn't go to Atlantis Main Pairing: John/Rodney Words: 58523

Fandom: Sherlock (TV)

The Least of All Possible Mistakes by rageprufrock Author's Summary: If ever a people deserved tasering, it’s Holmeses. Main Pairing: Lestrade/Mycroft AU: Genderbent Lestrade Words: 118096

Fandom: Supernatural

Red by Big Pink [note: seriously, this is one of my favorite fics/series ever and I have the ebooks if you want to not read this on LJ or FF.net] Author's Summary: Something evil is killing treeplanters in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, possibly the same predator that Dean narrowly escaped years before. How Grimm will things get before the brothers figure it out? Main Pairing: none Words: 81839

Fandom: Supernatural/Stargate Atlantis

And All the World Beneath by seperis Author's Summary: Dean remembers Texas as blackland stretching in marker-thick strips of vivid brown and black, broken with the sprawling metroplexes of Dallas and San Antonio and Houston; farms spread with the yellow tops of maize waving in pre-autumn winds, threshers moving complacently through the fields with drowsy men in hats waving at the road. He remembers green and gold fields dotted with cows, half-year calves running on the outskirts of the herds. He remembers these were what he saw between jobs, lives being lived that had nothing to do with creeping twilight and sleeping only behind salt circles and ritual wards. AU: Cthulhu mythos Main Pairing: Dean/John, John/Rodney Words: 67279

Fandom: Star Trek AOS

Leave No Soul Behind by whochick Author's Summary: If you're Starfleet, you spend your whole life wishing you never see an EPAS uniform right up until the moment they become your only hope. Whether you're dying a slow, cold death in space, or a long painful one on some godforsaken planet, they're going to come for you. So count your last breaths, son, and hold on tight. They leave no soul behind. AU: Spock did not join Starfleet, he joined the Emergency Personnel Ambulance Service (EPAS) Main Pairing: Kirk/Spock Words: 258951

The Lotus Eaters by aldora89 Author's Summary: Stranded on the planet Sigma Nox while searching for a missing away team, Spock and Kirk find themselves pitted against a disturbing native life form. With the captain out of commission on a regular basis and Spock struggling to preserve his stoicism, staying alive is difficult enough – but when a slim chance for escape surfaces, their resolve is truly put to the test. Together they must fight for survival in the heart of an alien jungle, and in the process, uncover the mystery of the planet’s past. Main Pairing: Kirk/Spock Words: 93594

Only Good for Legends by leupagus Author's Summary: Detective Spock, born on Vulcan and resident of San Francisco, is assigned to the Midwest police bureau. I think everyone can guess what happens next. AU: Spock is a Detective. Otherwise it's pretty much the same, including Kirk's petty criminal tendencies. Main Pairing: Kirk/Spock Words: 149640

So Wise We Grow by Deastar Author's Summary: "Commander Spock, we have located your son," the Vulcan lady on the screen says, which would be great, except Jim can tell by the look on Spock's face that he's never heard of this kid before in his life. "If it is expedient, the child will be sent to join you on the Enterprise within the week." AU: kidfic Main Pairing: Kirk/Spock Words: 81248

Switch by Ceres_Libera Author's Summary: The life and times of Leonard H. McCoy MD/PhD … If Leonard McCoy's life could get any fucking weirder, it would be … Jesus, he didn't even want to think what that could possibly mean, because it's already been too fucking weird to make any kind of rational sense. Main Pairing: Kirk/McCoy Words: 230867

Fandom: Torchwood

The Rose of Jericho by kaydeefalls Author's Summary: Post-CoE. When Martha Jones encounters a dark UNIT cover-up in the wake of the 456, it's up to Gwen's new Torchwood team to bring the truth to light -- and save Ianto. AU: alternate ending post Children of Earth Main Pairing: Jack/Ianto Words: 62606

That should keep you busy for a while, right? If you have other long fic recs, let me know in the comments/with a reblog!

[xcziel]

Multi-Fandom Slash Fic Recs: Long reads for your quarantine needs

Was gonna add my own 2 cents for each rec, but it got long and I'll never post if I have to think about it anymore - may edit to add more commentary. Suffice it to say, these are all great long reads, not much angst, some smutty some not, highly improbable levels of things-working-out because it's fanfic and that's what it's for. Feel free to troll through my AO3 Bookmarks as well.

The One Where They're Stars on HGTV Series

earlgreytea68

Inception: Arthur/Eames

AU, 466,359 words 9 works Complete

Summary:

"Have you ever seen "Love It or List It"? In which Arthur is the real estate agent and Eames is the designer.

Eames is certain that they will excel at being celebrity judges.

Arthur is not so sure.

But then, that's usually how their relationship goes."

My 2 cents: Just what it says on the tin: Arthur and Eames are HGTV stars of a show which pits straightlaced realtor Arthur against flamboyant designer Eames, but the new show they're embarking on will give them a chance to work together. Arthur has his reservations - not least among them the surprise arrival of Eames' superficially charming ex. Eames, of course, has all the confidence in the world. Featuring fun design challenges, mildly insecure Athur, fluffy confidant Ariadne, reality show 'backstage' melodrama, Arthur becomes a meme, Eames fantastical decorating schemes, a Matt Bomer lookalike complete with fedora (trilby), and acres of gauzy romantic fluff.

We Begin Again Series

katherynefromphilly

Merlin: Merlin/Arthur

316,197 words 4 works

Summary:

"For many long years Merlin waited.

For the other part of his soul, for the other half of his life. He was born to serve Arthur. So that meant he was also born to wait. Even if it took a thousand years. Even if the wait seemed never to end.

Until one day, suddenly, it did.

When Arthur stumbles from the Lake of Avalon 1,500 years after his death, he finds a world unlike the one he knew. Faced with the loss of everyone he loved, and the threat of impending prophecy, Arthur must learn what it means to be not just a king, but the Once and Future King. Merlin does all he can to guide him, even as he struggles to hide his love for his king, and his fear of losing him again.

Story includes sass, banter, horseplay, & True Love."

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail Series

owlet

MCU: Steve/Bucky

264,438 words 8 works

Summary:

"The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

Integration into adult human social dynamics requires attention and effort. Especially with this bunch of damaged bozos.

(A series of interconnected one-shots.)"

2 cents: Post-Winter Soldier Bucky works his own way through. Recovery fic from Bucky's POV, not shippy in the beginning (unless you consider MCU-canon-level co-dependency shippy I guess) and with added 'Avengers living in the Tower' flavor

The Sonnet Series

nekosmuse, afrocurl

X-Men: Charles/Erik

AU, 196,721 words 3 works

Summary:

"Erik Lehnsherr is a visiting professor at Columbia University, as well as an acclaimed and award winning poet. Charles Xavier is a lead researcher with the Genetics Department who is well on his way to tenure. But what happens when Charles has to cancel a class because half his students abandon him in favour of a mysterious new English Lit professor? Naturally he ends up sitting in in the class, where Professor Lehnsherr mistakes him for a student. It's really too bad Erik has such a strict policy against dating students. It's also too bad Erik doesn't seem to know how to use Google."

Hollywood 'verse Series

clio_jlh

Star Trek AOS: Kirk/McCoy

80,063 words 7 works

Summary:

"From Variety, June 2008:

Pavel Chekov ("Charlie X") and Gaila ("Bread and Circuses") have joined the cast of small budget drama "That Which Survives," funded by Fleet's indie arm Academy and supervised by Nyota Uhura.

The debut feature from longtime script doctor Leonard McCoy, former show runner on sitcom "Three to Tango," centers on a college student coping with his father's terminal cancer. Chekov plays the son, Gaila the nurse. The father is yet to be cast.

Also attached are director James T. Kirk and producer Spock, the team behind the blockbuster spy-girl franchise starring Carol Marcus, the latest of which, "A Taste of Armageddon," opened last month.

(A modern-day Hollywood AU.)"

A Curious Carriage of Crystal and Cold

Etharei

X-Men: Charles/Erik

AU, 114,261 words

Summary:

"Charles, a miner from a poor village in the countryside, saves the life of Erik Lehnsherr, scion of a successful business family and the richest man on the planet Eisen. Charles is a telepath and somewhat anxious about it, while Erik abstains from relationships because the lights flicker and doors open and electronics vibrate when he gets too excited.

Also featuring a long-suffering sister, a foul-mouthed bodyguard, and a best friend with a heart that is definitely not gold.

In which there are princes, spaceships, long journeys, and old secrets uncovered. (An AU sci-fi fairytale)"

Shadowlord and Pirate King Series

Footloose, mushroomtale

Merlin: Merlin/Arthur

AU, 216,060 words 3 works

Summary:

"A fast ship, a good crew, a treasure, a Clan to lead -- that's all Arthur Pendragon has ever wanted. He sits on the Council, he supports his father's kingship, and he keeps an eye on the Imperial Conglomerate when they come too close to Pirate space.

One day the Conglomerate infiltrates the Clans and poisons the King. Arthur must search for a cure to keep his father alive and the Clans from civil war.

An escape route, a sharp knife, a target, the shadows at his command -- that's all Merlin has ever needed. He fulfills his assignments, he uses the Sterling to sustain his once-royal House in their exile, and wages a private war against the Imperial Conglomerate.

When he learns of an elaborate plot to assassinate him, Merlin does the opposite of what's expected. He flees onto a Pirate ship.

There's a saying among the Pirates: that one's fate is written in the stars. Destiny will always set to rights what has been made wrong.

Arthur and Merlin know that they were meant for the other from the moment they meet. They can feel it from across the galaxies separating them. Nothing can stop them from being together or from fulfilling an ancient prophecy."

Children, Wake Up Series

hollycomb

Star Wars sequels: Kylo Ren/Armitage Hux

non-canon after Force Awakens, 608,083 words 3 works

Warning for torture and past sexual assault (offscreen)

Summary:

"Hux follows orders and loses his way.

Barricaded in the darkness of Snoke's citadel as part of his final training, Kylo Ren senses a disturbance in the Force: General Hux in great pain, captured and tortured by a faction of radical traitors within the First Order. Ren seeks Snoke's counsel and finds him gone. He knows this is a test, and that he must resist the urge to assist the General. And yet."

2 cents: I don't even know. I started just to look at it and then somehow I couldn't stop. Two characters I find wholly irredeemable given back story enough to make me suspend disbelief just enough to enjoy the fic - now that's talent. Features background Finn/Rey and Luke/Wedge if you care about that, and generally has everyone written in a positive light except Snoke, including a surprising handful of of First Order refugees. It's weirdly not at all a dark fic, despite the premise and extreme levels of Force Ex Machina.

snipers solve 99% of all problems

silentwalrus

Fullmetal Alchemist: post-canon gen

HP crossover, 170,861 words, 59 chapters so far, WIP

Summary:

"Ed had thought, after the whole Promised Day, homunculus, entire country harvested for alchemical batteries thing, the batshit quotient of his life would have settled down some. He really ought to have topped out the meter with that one. But no. The bullshit is just getting started.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Ed demands. “The wizards?”"

2 cents: Neither of these are my fandom, but I have read all the HP books, so I could get the gist. While jonesing for an update, I ended up bingeing FMA: Brotherhood and I have no regrets. Ed working alchemy-as-science and trying to translate wizardry into scientific alchemical workarounds is all I never knew I wanted. Team Amestris takes JKR's creation to school, with all the swearing you'd expect sprinkled throughout for ambiénce.

[snowinabottlearchived]

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄

answer  the  following  for  your  muse(s)  so  people  know  how  shipping  works  on  your  blog.

WHAT  IS  YOUR  OTP  FOR  YOUR  CHARACTER ? wow .  that  is  really  hard  to  say ,  since  i  have  no  preference .  i  mostly  ship  amelia  with  characters  who  are  as  interested  in  science  as  her ,  since  she  has  a  thing  for  sharp  minded  creatures .  though  i  must  say  that  i  am  very  attached  and  fond  of  every  ship  i  write  with  my  beloved  bea  @valdreyri  or  @synthdeus  because  we  have  kept  this  going  for  quite  some  time  now .  besides  that  it  just  has  to  be  chemistry  (  between  muses  and  muns  preferably  ) .

WHAT  ARE  YOU  WILLING  TO  WRITE  WHEN  IT  COMES  TO  SHIPPING ? depends  on  the  character  amelia  is  interacting  with .  i  somehow  always  end  up  with  angst  and  sad  stuff ,  but  i  also  crave  some  happy  ships  for  my  girl .  honestly .  i  simply  want  her  to  meet  someone  who  sees  her  the  way  she  is  and  not  for  her  flaws  or  problems .  especially  in  her  marvel  verse  acceptance  and  support  is  EVERYTHING  and  a  big  point  of  shipping  with  her .  

HOW  LARGE  DOES  AN  AGE  GAP  HAVE  TO  BE  TO  MAKE  IT  UNCOMFORTABLE ? depending  on  her  verse  it  is  really  hard  to  say .  in  her  main  verses  amelia  is  between  31  and  36 ,  so  it  is  more  likely  to  happen  with  characters  older  than  her .  yet  i  would  never  ship  with  a  minor  (  unless  its  set  in  her  past  or  in  a  vese  where  she ‘ s  still  a  teenager ) .  it  really  depends  i  guess .

ARE  YOU  SELECTIVE  WHEN  SHIPPING ? sometimes .  i  am  not  solely  here  for  shipping  and  given  that  there  are  so  many  more  ships  than  romantic  ones ,  i  might  be  a  bit  picky .  for  me ,  good  chemistry  between  the  two  muns  is  an  absolute  go  for  writing  such  topics  together ,  as  well  as  mutual  respect  and  interest  in  plotting  and  developing  things .  i  hate  it  when  people  simply  throw  their  characters  at  me  with  the  addition  “  whatever  you  want  “ .  in  my  opinion ,  this  whole  process  should  be  ENJOYED  TOGETHER .  let  us  suffer , cry ,  be  happy  and  weep .

HOW  FAR  DO  STEAMY  MOMENTS  HAVE  TO  GO  BEFORE  THEY’RE  CONSIDERED  NSFW ? everything  that  goes  beyond  kissing  and  touching  certain  spots  will  be  tagged  by  me .  IF  i  write  such  things  i  mean .  i  am  still  not  very  used  to  that  and  considering  english  is  not  my  first  language  i  always  feel  way  too  potato .

WHO  ARE  OTHER  CHARACTERS  YOU  SHIP  YOUR  CHARACTER  WITH  ? hard  to  say .  everyone  with  brains  and  a  good  heart . 

DOES  ONE  HAVE  TO  ASK  TO  SHIP  WITH  YOU ?   oh ,  i  would  prefer  that .  though  you  should  never  be  shy  to  reach  out ,  since  i  won ‘ t  bite .  i  am  always  open  to  discuss  things  !  ! HOW  OFTEN  DO  YOU  LIKE  TO  SHIP ? whenever  it  fits .  i  don ‘ t  have  any  preference ,  but  please .  give  me  ALL  KIND  OF  SHIPS .  give  amelia  good ,  honest  friends  who  believe  in  her  and  support  my  girl .

ARE  YOU  SHIP  OBSESSED  OR  SHIP  MORE  -  OR  -  LESS ? somewhere  in  between .  a  good  balance  is  always  nice ,  but .  if  we  have  a  solid  basis ,  a  good  established  story  and  click  well ,  I  LOVE  ME  SOME  SHIPS .

ARE  YOU  MULTI-SHIP ? always  !  !  even  though  i  will  not  ship  with  multiple  copies  of  one  character .  i  am  not  interested  in  collecting  a  certain  muse .

WHAT  IS  /  ARE  YOUR  FAVOURITE  SHIPS  IN  YOUR  FANDOM(S) ? i  consider  my  two  main  fandoms  star  trek  and  the  mcu ,  so .  my  favorite  ships  in  them  is  everyone  with  happiness .  besides  of  that  i  am  a  huge  trash  for  wanda  and  vision ,  as  well  as  spock  and  kirk .

HOW  DOES  ONE  SHIP  WITH  YOU ?   SIMPLY  ASK  ME .  jump  into  my  ims  and  don ‘ t  be  shy . STOLEN FROM : @stormweathered TAGGING : @valdreyri , @patriaetgloria , @mysticmastered , @srpntloyalty , @immrtlsd , @vulku , @sicarea

[adigeon]

february fic roundup & fic recs

(originally posted on dreamwidth)

I wrote 13,830 words in February, according to my tracker, which isn't awful. On average I wrote 493.9 words a day. The most words I wrote in one day was 3,013, and I had 12 days where I wrote nothing :(

Details on what I posted in February behind the cut, as well as some links to fic I read and loved in February:

What I posted:

Days When the Rain Would Come: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, 1,732 words, rated T. Summary: Tony deals with someone unexpected coming to Peter's rescue, someone he really would rather not be playing nice with.

Peldor Joi, Doctor Bashir: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, 5,279 words, rated T. Summary: The Bajoran Council of Vedeks insists that Deep Space Nine's temple host the Orb of Time during the Peldor Festival celebrating the tenth year since Cardassia ceded control of the station. What could go wrong?

better than a homing beacon: Star Wars Original Trilogy & Star Wars: Rogue One, Cassian Andor/Luke Skywalker, 4,055 words, rated T. Summary: Cassian repeats what he’d told Loneozner: he needs transport to the Thand Sector, and quickly. No Hutts, no Imperials, and he can work for passage. And, of course, the droid: “There’s something wrong with my R4 unit,” he says. The R4 spins its dome in acknowledgement. “Any time it accesses its nav systems, it crashes.” “Luke’s really the person to ask about droid stuff,” Camie says.

Diffused Light: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Karl Mordo/Stephen Strange, 1,440 words, rated T. Summary: While trapped in the Soul Stone, Stephen Strange receives a visitor.

The Latest Work: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, 1,220 words, rated T. Summary: Garak is put in the unfortunate position of having to correct a misconception Bashir seems to have about Cardassian culture.

Found Wanting: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ezri Dax/Kira Nerys, 945 words, rated T. Summary: There's one of Jadzia's memories in particular that Ezri thinks a lot about.

What I read: 

Now for some recs! I did a lot of reading in February, so this is a bit lengthy. February was also the month of "huh, didn't realize I shipped that," including me dipping back into Harry Potter fic for the first time in years.

The Second, Silver: MCU, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, 9,122 words, rated M.

Summary: It was a beautiful watch. A mechanical wonder in rose gold, with a blue dial that showed the heavens, the moon and the stars. But it didn’t mean anything. It was simply another beautiful object that Tony owned. Though he admired the construction and design, the watch wasn’t even particularly to his taste, too cold and remote, its hands too delicate. He wondered why he’d gotten it in the first place.

Rec notes: Can't recommend this one strongly enough - mundane/no powers AUs for MCU aren't usually my thing, but the Tony voice in this is dead on, and Tony's POV of watching Stephen change is excellently done. There's a great thread running through the whole thing about Tony's reputation in the public eye and the extent to which he's closeted that I found incredibly compelling. (I actually read this in January according to my bookmarks, but I couldn't bear not sneaking it in here!)

we're in the process of rebuilding (and we're starting from scratch): Star Wars: Rogue One, Cassian Andor/Bodhi Rook, Bodhi Rook/K-2SO, Cassian Andor/K-2SO, Cassian Andor/Bodhi Rook/K-2SO, 4,524 words, rated T.

Summary: “I think my best friends have replaced me,” Cassian said over his breakfast. / Jyn was the only one left at their table, and she raised an eyebrow in reply. He knew what that meant. She was just interested enough to continue listening but not so curious that she’d ask him to go on. He did anyway. / “Bodhi and Kay have been sneaking off to spend time together when I’m not around.” / “Pretty sure that’s just called ‘hanging out,’” said Jyn.

Rec notes: Post-R1 everyone lives, has Bodhi befriending K2, Cassian being jealous of both of them, and it's just really lovely. Nicely understated, almost, given how complicated the relationship dynamics are in this.

Flighty: MCU, Scott Lang/Sam Wilson, 5,472 words, rated T.

Summary: In which Scott Lang spills his guts to Sam Wilson at who cares o' clock in the morning, and it all goes uphill from there. Feat. Wakandan infomercials, brooding worthy of any A-list superhero, an uncomfortably sincere compliment, and a requited crush.

Rec notes: This is so great. Scott POV, Scott learning Xhosa from Wakandan infomercials, just a fantastic portrayal of Scott in the aftermath of CA:CW. Also just pure chemistry between Scott and Sam and great banter. I did not realize I shipped this but I think I ship this.

volatile: Star Wars: Rogue One, Cassian Andor/K-2SO, 1,856 words, rated T.

Summary: Found Index : startled laugh, with the light in his eyes; squinting up at, his mouth shaping kay kay kay like a benediction as if machines could be blessed, but maybe they can, because there is cassian andor, smiling and squinting, and—

Rec notes: Bang-on K2 POV, and the pseudocode interspersed throughout works wonderfully.

deep in my soul: MCU, Karl Mordo/Stephen Strange, 1,695 words, rated E.

Summary: Within the Soul Stone our heroes dream the sweetest of dreams, all unaware they are in trapped in an imagined paradise. All except Stephen Strange, who wants to savor what the Stone has gifted him.

Rec notes: It's porn and it's also very sad and very very good!

To Watch the Faraway Stars: MCU, Heimdall/Loki, 2,930 words, rated T.

Summary: There aren't many things Heimdall cannot see. Loki is sometimes one of them.

Rec notes: Wonderful Heimdall POV, especially the bits where Heimdall is looking over the universe and seeing things that no one else could. There's such a great melancholy optimism to the fic, too, which befits its setting post-Ragnarok.

Sick Day: Broadchurch, Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller, 1,560 words, rated G.

Summary: When Hardy calls in sick, a suspicious Ellie decides to pay him a visit.

Rec notes: Dead-on Hardy & Miller chemistry, and I love how restrained Hardy is in this. Hardy/Miller can be a little...florid, sometimes, with Hardy coming out of his shell too readily for my tastes, but here he's perfectly in character while being a little more emotionally vulnerable with Miller than we get to see him in canon.

when the wolfsbane blooms: Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, 7,576 words, rated T.

Summary:  Even a man who is pure in heart/And says his prayers by night/May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms/And the autumn moon is bright. Or: Severus Snape makes a new friend, invents a new potion, and accidentally changes everything.

Rec notes: Canon divergent Marauder-era Lupin/Snape; diverges after the Whomping Willow incident. Snape starts researching werewolves and decides to cure lycanthropy. Cue Snape spending lots of time with Remus, testing potions on him. Snape is still convincingly Snape, and all the potions-theory stuff included is aces.

upon this tidal wave of young blood: Harry Potter, Harry Potter/George Weasley, 10,124 words, rated T.

Summary: George stands before him in the doorway, like a gangly, terrible ghost. His face is heinously pale, which makes the dark bags under his eyes pop in a way that is altogether unflattering, and he wears only a large, striped sweater and a pair of boxers with bats on them. His hair is much longer than it had been last time Harry had seen him, and it’s pulled back into a loose knot. “Harry,” he says, and it comes out breathlessly. / “George.” Harry stands there, wholly encapsulated by familiar heartache just at the sight of his friend. His eyes flick past him to investigate the flat. Clothes and dirty dishes are strewn all over the living room and, if he’s not mistaken, there are at least three pairs of underwear hanging from the ceiling fan. He glances back at George, who is now leaning against the doorway staring at him, expressionless. Harry clears his throat. “I, um… came for a visit. Sorry.”

Rec notes: Harry/George is a post-canon HP ship I had never thought about before, but now that I've thought about it I reckon I might never stop thinking about it.

George Smiley's Wikipedia Page: John Le Carre's works, gen, 1,139 words, rated G.

Summary: What it says on the tin. An imagining of how George's wiki page might look in universe circa a few years after Legacy.

Rec notes: An in-canon wikipedia page for George Smiley. Excellently put together; I especially got a kick out of the "In popular culture" section.

@heyitsspiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, gen, 27,392 words, rated T.

Summary: @heyitsspiderman: people act like they know this city but when i’m in the air i find more boroughs all the time. so far ive counted ten. dont listen to big brother in your ceiling (google) telling you otherwise (google maps)

Rec notes: Marvelously put together work where the various Spider-people figure out how to text between their dimensions and end up in a group chat together. Also, Miles is on Twitter! The coding on this must have taken so much work. The character voices are dead on (I especially enjoy Noir in this,) and the way the plot comes in while sticking to the text/Tweet/etc. format is extremely clever.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Welcome Back

I am a card carrying geek. I was that nerd in grade school, reading comics, watching anime, and larping with his friends during recess. I’ve always loved things like books and film, mostly because my ma had a penchant for the sci-fi and we would share in her hobbies. I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since i was a wee lil’ Smokey and had a particular fondness for Max Headroom’s shenanigans. My chosen proclivities lend themselves to alternate universes, divergent timeless, and the interdenominational doppelganger or two. What i am trying to convey, here, is that i am not stranger to the revisit of a franchise. For me, rebooting an established work or expanding a loved lore is not a transgression. I am a fan of narrative. If you can tell a unique story, it really doesn’t even have to be that good, but something creativity and compelling, i am totally on board. This isn't as difficult a feat as you'd think considering how well Hollywood can adapt international films. The Ring and The Departed are effectively remakes of their original Asian fare and those films are spectacular. Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is the best example of this i can give. His deconstruction of the Batman mythos was one of the best cinematic and storytelling experiences I ever had. If you can take an established narrative, an established universe, and inject your own flavor into it, i am down for that, too. The Kelvin Star Trek timeline immediately comes to mind. Again, comic book guy, specifically a Spider-Man shill.

While i have years worth of alternate Spider-Men in the books to pull from, i think the most concise example i can give for a layman is to think Into the Spider-Verse, only with thousands more Spider-Men and Spider-Women. That’s the world I'm broaching this subject from, where there are decades worth of stories and reboots and remakes and reimagings, basically revisits, of a character that i absolutely love. Some are great like the Ultimate Spider-Man or the world of Renew Your Vows, and some are not so great, like that version Abrams’ kid came up with. That whole story was the worst. We have actually seen a little bit of this narrative reincarnation in the Spider-Man film franchise, itself, both good and bad. If we take the very first Spider-Man films, those campy, Raimi classics, as a starting point, then we had a terrible reboot in the Amazing franchise and a rather brilliant reimagining in the MCU outings. I really like the MCU retool. Tom Holland is THE onscreen Peter Parker and you can fight me about it all day.

Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are an interesting situation in the whole Revisit discourse. Both of these films are effectively reboots of the entire franchise and a whole ass remake of their initial entries. Beat for beat, theme for theme, these two films are basically the same as Jurassic Park and Episode IV, just less than they are in every conceivable fashion. Now, on paper, i should hate this but i don’t. There is a reason both of the imitations made billions for their respective franchise and that is simply nostalgia. We. as a culture, were starved for a Jurassic sequel and new Star War. When we got these movies in earnest, no one cared they were rehashes of the films that made them so important to the cultural zeitgeist. It was like seeing A New Hope and that initial outing to Isla Nublar for the first time, for a second time, but with much better effects. It had been decades since either of these movies had a proper release so we all just accepted that these were refresher courses in the lore. It was with the sequels that these things sh*t the bed so hard.

Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi skewed so far from what these franchises were, from the rules that had been established in the preceding films, including the first in their new trilogies, that they were offensive. Legitimately offensive. Jurassic World and The Force Awakens, as flawed as they were, left their worlds in respectable places. The narratives that could be built from those starting point were incredible. That potential was palpable. Lucas, himself, said that the stories should rhyme and you see that in his six films. Familiar yet different. Nostalgic yet original. Respectful yet original. None of that was recognized in the follow-ups and that is why these two franchises are on life support. It’s sad because there was potential there. Characters introduced were compelling and narrative threads left unties, could have become something great. Instead, expectations were subverted and the world completely sh*t on in an effort to be edgy, to distance itself from the established lore. That sh*t is whack. It’s not about being a fan of the franchise or a zealous istaphobe or whatever else the Twatter mob wants to accuse people of being. It’s about bad story telling. it’s abut a complete betrayal of a decades old franchise. It’s a bout being disingenuous with the property for personal gain.

I said at the beginning of this essay that i love a revisit. That’s why i went to see these sh*tty films. I also made very clear that i love storytelling. Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi lack in that fundamental aspect, that’s why they suck. They’ve done irreparable damage to the entire franchise and canon of these worlds that were so meticulously crafted by proper visionaries. Michael Crichton is rolling in his grave at what became of his Dinosaur Westworld and Lucas effectively bogarded his way into running Lucasfilm again after they sh*t on his legacy and that’s the thing; Legacy. These two franchises are part of American culture. They’re as revered as Apple Pie and Institutional Racism here. They’re not cash grabs or vehicles to push your politics. They’re modern fairy tales, myths, and should be respected as such. The thing is, though, i don’t believe there are actual creatives out there that have the vision to create like Crichton or Lucas anymore. Or, at least, Creatives that are willing to work within the constraints of this ridiculous studio system.

Modern film studios are disgustingly risk averse. That is a problem with anything making entertainment media nowadays but it’s most egregious in Hollywood. Films like Star Wars and Alien were made in a time when budgets didn’t swell to hundreds of millions of dollars so directors had to do what he could, with what they had, and that level of imagination birthed classics. It’s rare that creators get a blank check to deliver their vision nowadays, and even rarer that what they get to make if they receive that loot, is actually good. Zack Snyder and the train wreck that is Sucker Punch demonstrates my point perfectly. the new Lucases and Camerons are rare but there are a handful of directors who carry that torch. Denis Villeneuve is an incredible visual storyteller. He has a distinct vision for the grand and manages to craft proper worlds. Blade Runner 2049 is one of the best films i have ever seen in my life but it didn’t make money because people have been conditioned to ignore great storytelling for great effects. That sh*t is why people can say to me, with a straight face, that they think Batman v. Superman is better than The Dark Knight rises. That sh*t is stupid, shut the f*ck up. Deni was given the reigns to the Dune reboot and i think this might be the film that breaks him through to the mainstream.

Dune is a reboot. It looks like a revisit to the old David Lynch flick but with Deni’s penchant for the epic. This movie feels like what Jurassic World and The Force Awakens wanted to do; A respectful acknowledgment of what came before but an original take going forward. Dune is one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written and Deni is one of the most profound visionaries in the game right now.  I have no doubt the new film is going to be fantastic. This combination is a match made in heaven, similar to Alex Garland with Annihilation or, more accurately i think, Luca Guadagnino and Suspiria. Those two films are f*cking incredible and they adapt the source material in a very, specific, manner. Annihilation is a reimagining of the book and carries its own themes and tones while the new Suspiria is a complete reinterpretation of what came before, that i believe eclipses the original. Dune looks excellent but i don’t know that it will be well received. Deni has his work cut out for him because the world of revisits is riddle with the corpses of films that couldn’t care the weight of what came before or what could have been. Still, i don’t want Hollywood to stop. As unoriginal as remaking things is, i adore a fresh set of eyes on familiar fare. There are infinite ways to tell the same story and that’s the fun of revisiting an old tale.

[aniseandspearmint]

@princesssarcastia, here are some of the things I’m reading right now! I took a quick look at your listed fandoms and tried to keep it to those, though I added a few really good ones from others.)

WIP I’m currently reading off the top of my head (various fandoms)

Lightsword by Esama (Star Wars/ff7) Cloud reincarnates as Obi-wan Kenobi. Composed of one word prompt sections. Very well done and I really can’t wait to see where the author goes with it. Gen so far (well, hinted Zack/Aerith?)

Survival is a Talent by Shanastoryteller (Harry Potter) Soulmate AU fic. This kind of AU is one I really enjoy when it’s done well (and so long as the fic isn’t one of those colorblind until you meet your soulmate ones those irritate me so much) and this is done well. It’s Harry/Draco, starting in second year. And the best part? There’s no bashing of either Ron or Hermione. I could have cried in relief when they weren’t distorted out of character. They stay Harry’s besties throughout everything. The issues of Harry and Draco realizing they’re soulmates is handled extremely well. Draco doesn’t just change, nor does Harry. They have to work at being friends, and as of the current chapters there’s only friendship. The endgame pairing is Harry/Draco, but Shanastoryteller has clearly remembered that the boys in question are 12/13 and there is no romance yet. Draco’s very real issues with the knowledge that his father is not a good person (for all that he clearly loves Draco) makes my heart ache for him. Draco loves his father, Lucius loves Draco, but Draco is coming to realize that he doesn’t want anyone to die, not even muggles or muggleborns.

Resident Project by Kryal (Resident Evil/Tatterdemalion Verse) The Tatterdemalion Verse is a sci-fi/horror AU of Bleach and Saiyuki created by Vathara, that I cannot rec enough, even to people who aren’t into either Bleach or Saiyuki. In my opinion, they read fairly well even if you don’t know who all the characters are, since it’s such an extreme AU from the original series’, and the Bleach fics are actually set way pre-series and feature few of the main cast (as they have not been born yet). A quick google of the names will get you general appearance, and you can read from there.

Kryal, author of The Dragon King's Temple, THE best Avatar/Stargate crossover, was apparently chatting with Vathara one day about how well the Resident Evil verse would mix with Tatterdemalion, and this fic was born. I may have screamed a little in joy when I saw the notification in my inbox. And I don’t even know more than the bare bones about Resident Evil. Fic is Gen, no pairings, people are too busy trying not to die for romance.

Friends Across Borders Series by MueraRashaye (Heralds of Valdemar) Dunno if you know this book series or not, but I’ll toss this in too. FAB is on it’s 10th story in the series (long series is long btw, currently over 300k) , and is honestly one of the best Valdemar fanfics I have ever read. The characters are OCs, but fully fleshed out and beautifully rendered. I had absolutely no problem getting into them, and had the odd but hilarious experience of idly wondering what Kir and Anur were up to during the canon book series the last time I read it, only to remember mid thought that the were OCs, not Mercedes Lackey’s characters. Ace and Aro characters!

Triumphant, The Dreamer by Shadowblayze (Harry Potter) This is a lovely OC reincarnated as a Harry Potter character fic. The character is Heather, a twin to Harry. EPIC worldbuilding and amazingly well done characters. No character bashing, but also pulls no punches regarding certain stupid moves made by canon characters. Gen so far.

Find Your Way By Moonlight by Blackkat (Naruto, Vampire AU) I usually don’t really go for AUs that take away the whole magic ninja aspect of Naruto, but damn this is a good story. Totally an exception to my usual preferences! 

It focuses on Hunter Kakashi and Vampire Obito, and there are a whole host of twisty vampire and other supernatural creature politics, and currently there are a lot of people enacting epic plans without checking to see if maybe anyone else is currently enacting their own epic plans, and it’s promising to be a glorious train-wreck of tangled up coup/rescue/assassination attempts. Very much not Gen. Main pairing is Kakashi/Obito, with a ton of crack pairings on the side.

Karmic Balance by Sanjuno (khr/Naruto) Epic reincarnation of kakashi and Obito. They think the mafia is adorable, but ultimately dumb as rocks. The mafia does not see them coming. Epic worldbuilding (there is a theme there. I do love my epic worldbuilding *G*) This story is excellently spun, manages to treat the khr world seriously danger wise, but still retain the humor rainbow colored fire mafioso deserve. Kakashi/Obito main pairing (they’re kinda scarily co-dependant) gen for everyone else so far.

Star-Queen by TheBetterAngelsOfOurNature (Guardians of the Galaxy) Pre-movie AU, what if Meredith Quill had been able to chase after Peter? There’s endgame Meredith/Yondu, but it’s very slow burn. I really love how this author is filling in Meredith’s personality, and fleshing out other characters that the movies never did. There are a whole host of transplanted comic characters, and OCs to fill voids, but they’re very well done. Updates are kinda sporadic now, since the author just moved to an area with no internet and only gets to town once or twice a month, but it’s worth the wait.

Damaged Defenders by Sherza (MCU) Incredibly long and plotty re-imagining of how things would have gone if Thor had noticed Loki’s eyes were the wrong color. Features multiple crossovers with other Marvel works. Canon relationships only, and little focus on those. This is primarily a ‘gather the forces in preparation for a major alien invasion’ fic.

Harnessing Starfire by Sherza (Star trek AOS) A fic that actually lets the Enterprise crew be the BAMF individuals they truly are. AU after the first movie. Spock Prime gets his Kirk back! Takes the characters canon backstories into account, so Jim was on Tarsus. Takes a good analytical look at what it really means for Vulcans that Vulcan was destroyed, and what it means for the Klingons to have had most of their fleet gutted by Nero, and what it means for the Romulans to have had a Romulan do all of these things, time traveling nutjpb or not. Pairing is endgame AOS!Spock/AOS!Jim and TOS!Spock/TOS!Jim. The is Spock/Uhura at the beginning, but they amicably end things. No bashing.

Weirdness is Genetic by Sherza (BtVS/Sentinel/Stargate) This is the rarest of rarities, a GEN sentinel fic. Features a sentinel/guide bond between Xander and Clone!Jack that is handled beautifully. Also a sekret!father fic, wherein Jim Ellison is Xander’s biological father. The three fandoms are meshed well, and there’s not bashing of characters. Fic is totally gen apart from some canon barely there pairings.

Jason Todd: The Not-So-Outlaw by GoAwayOlivia (DCU Batman) A lovely fic that features Jason coming back to Gotham after deciding to take a break from the Outlaws. There’s some excellent exploration of family dynamics in the bat clan, and of what being resurrected with the Lazerus Pit’s really does to someones mind. I really love the developing relationship between the now much saner Jason and his adopted siblings in this, plus GoAwayOlivia’s Alfred is fantastic. Jason does therapy through home renovation, it’s great. Genfic. (*blinks* Huh, and apparently this is complete now? I never got that notification!)