#for auld lang syne

[undeadcourier]

thinking about how the theme of letting go (and the related motif of critically examining long-held beliefs/relationships) appears with the companions.

there's arcade and veronica, who were raised in insular environments and surrounded by enemies their entire lives, who fundamentally disagree with the politics of those groups, and who have to find a way to reconcile the love and loyalty they have for the only families they've ever known with their personal ideologies and goals.

while cassidy and crimson caravans aren't major factions in the vein of the ncr/enclave/brotherhood, cass' quest also revolves around whether she upholds the legacy of her family or follows her own path.

boone is disillusioned with the ncr after the bitter springs massacre but still wears his first recon beret, perhaps as a sign of lingering loyalty, or perhaps as penance. he participated in a horrible war crime because he was following orders, because that mindset was drilled into him since he joined the military. he's not as ideologically opposed to the ncr as arcade and veronica are to the enclave and brotherhood, respectively, but the similarity is worth noting.

what makes these companion quests so memorable is that we're meeting these characters at critical crossroads in their lives, where they have to come to terms with complicated attachments, where they'll define themselves by whether they choose to hang on to a legacy or strike out on their own.

[arcade-gaynnon]

I go fucjing feral every time I hear people talk about arcade's companion quest ughhGh it's so perfect. auld lang syne is sung at celebrations for new year in scotland and is the perfect blend of nostalgia and clinging to the past and to me it's a lot to do with who or what you will bring into the new year, a fresh start, a chance to reassess things that you want to change. being scottish myself it just means a lot to me idk I don't know if it's that clever but it just hits different for me specifically

[catstreet]

[m4ngey]

Making visuals for this trash fire makes me feel so nostalgic

Inner child is so stoked

@forauldlangsynewastaken (newest vid below)

[merge-conflict]

year in review

2023 is on its way out, and it's been... a year. First full year that I've actually been active on social media (i.e. not just lurking), and first time in fandom.

My first fic of the year? when her edges soften – the longer I wrote for Valentine and the more her relationship with Johnny got weird and intimate and full of casual innuendo the more I needed to write something where they were reunited. Also my first ever experience writing smut and self-indulgently adding a whole fencing scene. Goddamn that was fun! Feels like it's older than a year.

My favorite fic of the year? thread-safe – I became engrossed with cyberpunk because of Jackie but I imprinted hard on Takemura after that traumatic heist mission and perhaps the rest is history. Valentine's story has had a lot of tinkering and reworking and it was the thing that got me back into writing, but the original story in my head was something bittersweet and angry and grieving, one night only no encores, parting badly– and I finally was able to capture that in thread-safe and it feels so good.

Most fun experiments?? There are several of these. When I got stuck and discouraged and tired of working on the longfic and plotting things out I ended up working out a "shenanigans au" (fleeting fits of reason) where I could put Johnny and Kerry and V (and Alt and Rogue it turns out) together and just have them interact without plot. Well the plot crept in, but writing some loosely connected 1-1.5k pieces focused on a single scene or idea with minimal polish was incredibly freeing. Then I recorded some of my own podfic! I wrote a chapter of thread-safe in second-person! I wrote imago and decided to incorporate pieces of it into my longfic. Playing around like this has really kept writing fun for me when I don't have the concentration to play the long game.

Additional musings and personal reflections under the cut:

2023 the year sucked ass. It has been god awful. Just the fucking worst! Cyberhanami was in February? March? I remember finishing up some of my prompts that week while I was in another state with friends who were out and about while I was in bed too nauseated and weak to move. Writing was the only thing keeping me from going insane. My health has been shoddy, I had to cancel a much anticipated two weeks of international travel, spent at least two week long periods this year with anxiety so intense it made me almost physically incapable of eating. I had an incredibly expensive panic attack, and the world... things have been better!

I find it difficult to be honest about that sort of thing– my primary instinct is Not To Talk About any of that shit, because well... it's personal! And I handle reassurance about as well as I handle compliments (awkwardly. half in panic. friendly self-deprecation). But it feels disingenuous to celebrate accomplishments without acknowledging the yawning abyss we all struggle with from time to time. I remain cynically optimistic, as always, and I'm seriously grateful for all the connections and shared art and braincells and excitable messages, especially from folks tolerating my tendency to ramble onto tangents and use an oddly formal tone. I don't know what I'm doing, but who does? It comes easier with practice. It has to, right?

See you cool cats in 2024. :3 😼

[forauldlangsynewastaken]

It said there were only two viewers (and one person likes the video implying it was watched by at least one person unfortunately) SOOOOO, addressing the fuckshit

Several days ago I woke up to a video uploaded on my channel that I think I uploaded and meant to put on private but didn't. So I'm sure I just forgot bc ik how fucking weird it'd be to post something that personal on a public platform. I'm admittedly really fucking embarrassed that I've barely had a YouTube channel or online presence and I've already slipped up this way. So if u were someone who saw that, sorry about that. I can't really explain what any of that was bc it was so messily slapped together in a way that didn't make any sense at all and idk what my intention was even uploading it private aside from maybe something in there seemed important enough to wanna remember but that's honestly not the point. The point is that I'm doing what I can to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's why I made one video and haven't since. I didn't wanna risk something going up on accident bc my dumbass wasn't thinking or was half asleep or fucking high

I think I'm ready to start trying again soon. I have to remember that the whole reason I did this was to make sure I remembered shit and could talk to ppl who can relate or whatever. The blackouts have been worse so if nothing else it'll break up the sameness of each day and give me something to remember instead of just rotting

It's 2AM. Im losing complete track of what I'm saying. Expect something soonish maybe

[classicalsqueak]

Happy New Year! :) Just a little read of Auld Lang Syne on my >100 year old upright.

For more videos: YouTube (classicalsqueak) / Video Index

For more sheet music: Ko-fi (classicalsqueak) or SMP* (published by Ylan Chu)

[celesse]

Auld lang syne 🐰💗🐰

Here's to more happy memories in the year to come!

[ruby-static]

Dude caught me taking a screenshot, I'm cooked-

[aydracz]

When I saw these masterpieces

I was immediately reminded of this amazing scene from the movie Waterloo Bridge that takes place during the Blitz and where the lovers are dancing the Farewell Waltz.

[blood-mocha-latte]

george luz text posts (and also a little bit of luztoye because well. it's me)

[m4ngey]

We've been having a lot of fun with unfiction goofs ngl.

I can't wait to get some of our ideas on camera. -💛

@forauldlangsynewastaken

[consult-sherlockholmes]

Happy new year, John. @consultjohnwatson

[classicalsqueak]

A duet arrangement of Auld Lang Syne with 5-finger easy piano melody and intermediate accompaniment.

Audio/video of it here on ClassicalSqueak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TESf-N-YkGI

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

A video about Auld Lang Syne, my friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and the broad seas that roar between us.

Happy New Year. May 2023 be a year that justifies our hope.