#it is SO powerful they are my favorite couple in all of Dune.

[memendoemori]

Okay I do have one Cinematic Dune complaint and it's that for what I am sure are very valid, justified reasons, Denis Villeneuve removed my most specialest little guy Count Fenring from the plot and I was really looking forward to seeing the most cunning ratfaced piece of garbage on the big screen

[willameena]

13 books

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

this is such a cute idea! thanks for the tag, @magnusbae <3 all your recs sound awesome!

Last book I read: the last one I completed was Machines Like Me, by Ian McEwan. I'm on the last chapter of 5 Tuesdays in Winter, by Lily King, right now, and it's excellent. Machines Like Me had a cool premise, but I thought it really fell flat and got bogged down in the hypotheticals of 80s British politics, which I don't know much about to begin with, and while I thought it was cool that it explored what could have been if Margaret Thatcher weren't elected PM, it seemed like the book could have just done without that entire subplot, as the premise was advanced AI. Anyways.

A book I recommend: Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. A great movie, of course, but I love the book even more and my best friend recently started reading, at my recommendation so I'm very excited to hear her thoughts when she's done. I want to do a reread myself!

A book that I couldn't put down: Unfortunately, I don't have the amount of free time to be able to sit down and read uninterrupted. I haven't read an entire book in one day in a very long time, although I devoured them daily as a kid. In a less literal sense, Revenge of the Sith and Labyrinth of Evil. I have those downloaded to my phone, in the Kindle app, and I couldn't stop reading them. Having it on my phone made that easier to achieve, haha.

A book I've read twice or more: Again, I haven't done a reread of any books in a little while :( I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a few times though, pre-kids, when I had more time. Now, I prefer to move onto something new. It's one of my favorites, and the trilogy is so excellent.

A book on my TBR: I have quite a few that purchased from my favorite used book store that I haven't gotten to yet! Dune is one of them, and I'm excited to start that, although I think I'll read something shorter when I finish the book I'm currently on.

A book I've put down: I don't often put down a book I've started, just because I'll either hold out hope that it's going to get better, or I'll want to be able to explain in detail why I disliked it, haha. Sometimes, I'll put one down and return to it if I feel like it is too heavy for me at the time. I did try and read Lord of the Rings when I was a kid, and I just couldn't get into it... I'm hoping this doesn't make me any enemies lol

A book on my wish list: I really want a paper copy of Revenge of the Sith! I'd like paper copies of a few other Star Wars books that I have on the Kindle app, but that one's top of the list.

A favorite book from childhood: I was such an avid reader as a child! I didn't go anywhere without a book, or two. I loved A Wrinkle in Time, the Inkheart series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Roald Dahl's books, a book called Mandy, which was written by Julie Andrews. I loved Harry Potter, but everything that's happened has left a bad taste in my mouth.

A book you would give to a friend: The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Bell Jar, if they hadn't read any of those yet.

a book of poetry or lyrics that you own: If They Come for Us, by Fatimah Asghar, I can't recommend this enough!! It is absolutely gorgeous and very powerful. I believe they have also written a novel, which I haven't read yet. Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Falling up, by Shel Silverstein, which are my old copies from childhood and very worn and treasured <3 I have a book of Rupi Kaur poems as well.

a non-fiction book you own: quite a few! Spiritual Midwifery, Birth Without Fear, a couple books about Kurt Cobain, Anthony Keidis' memoir, Scar Tissue, a multitude of parenting books, a half marathon guide book, and some books in the "Highly Sensitive Person" series, which I really recommend for those who consider themselves a highy sensitive person

What are you currently reading: I've got 1 chapter left of 5 Tuesdays in Winter, which is a collection of short stories and has been a beautiful read. I'm also working through "The Highly Sensitive Parent" and "Half Marathon, You Can do it!" which sounds ridiculously corny, but is actually really informative and helpful, because I'm training for a half marathon

What are you planning on reading next: I think either Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon. My best friend bought it for me and said I would love it, so I'm guessing I'm gonna love it!

Soooo this was incredibly long and if anyone has read all of this, wow, haha. Thanks again for the tag @magnusbae this was super fun!

No pressure tagging: @cottonraincoat @sendpseuds @piecesofeden11 @wandering-not-lost04 @dragon-on-ice

@kenobster

@lesbianakins @tideswept @unspuncreature @sky-kenobye @betweensaintsandmonsters

@hausofroxann @kato-neimoidia

Also, a shelfie? A shelf selfie? A bookshelf picture? That's so adorable. I recently put up these shelves and while they don't hold all of my books, I really enjoy them and I am 100% taking the opportunity to show them off

[brongusthearcanist]

Sci-fi and Fantasy are linked in a strange way. Both deal with impossible premises and both typically have what we call "magic" but we don't normally call Sci-fi shenanigans magic, unless they are strictly spiritual. Sci-fi approaches the impossible as if it's simply not possible yet, and that this world has made a break through, allowing them to make this possible. Sci-fi also tends to spend a lot more time explaining how something works with science, or a modified version, while Fantasy explains it through the supernatural and mysticism.

Obviously no series in either category perfectly follows these rules. The cosmere explains that the supernatural is actually natural and measurable, therefore spiritualism is just another part of science. Star wars in my opinion does the opposite. It takes place in a society with future technology and all the trappings of Sci-fi, but it does it in a very fantasy way. Lightsabers are I think the best example, why would you ever need a sword when everyone else has laser guns, because cool fantasy that's why, it's a laser sword. The futuristic elements are portrayed with a mystic elements. And of course there is magic, they try to make is sciency later by explaining that the force is medicorians or whatever, but it still operates on a spiritual and mystical level, and truly isn't completely comprehensible. Which is in contrast to the Cosmere where all the mystical elements just feel like science that hasn't been explained yet.

Dune is where it gets a little weird to me. I think most people would put this in the hard Sci-fi camp, but I disagree. Yes this series is to Sci-fi what Lord of the Rings is to Fantasy, but I think there's a lot of Fantasy in there. I mean the voice? That's magic, Bene Gesseret being able to transmute substances in their body including poison? Magic. Prescience? It comes from a magic drug, made by magic worms! Yes the books do try to approach this from a very sciency way, but a lot of it just feels like magic, no matter how much Herbert tries to make it scientific. (Btw Sanderson's favorite book series other than the Wheel of Time is Dune, so you can definitely see a lot of his inspirations in this, in fact Taldain, the setting of white sands, is definitely just Cosmere Arrakis, like it even has its own version of sand trout.) There's also a shit ton of mysticism in Dune, and yes much of it is discussing the manufactured nature of religion and aspects of spirituality to control the masses, but there is also a sense that not all of it is made up, that the people in power are manipulating truth without really knowing what it is, just so they can get ahead and stay that way.

Obviously genre, especially in books are really just marketing terms designed to help find the right audience for a particular story. This is the same with YA. YA is an even less concrete genre as it requires very little. Mistborn was not originally marked as YA, it's an epic high fantasy, but after a couple years the boys at TOR figured out that it has a lot of the trappings of YA. It's fast paced, has a young strong female protagonist, a dark dystopian setting, and is written in pros that don't require an incredibly dense knowledge of vocabulary, making it easy to comprehend for all ages. It was a no-brainer for Tor to start printing a YA version(just a paperback with a different cover that is stylized in a way that is very common for YA). YA really just means a teenager could read this without feeling like it's homework. That's really it. There are a lot of people who hate YA for incredibly weird reasons. I personally am weary of YA, simply because I enjoy a slower plot with more room for nuance and sitting in the moment. YA tends to be more fast paced, which I enjoy, but it often comes at the cost of depth. There are a lot of YA books that I enjoy and a lot that I would enjoy if they were written to be a little more "boring". But some of y'all really just don't wanna read anything that is labeled as YA, and I'm positive it is just misogyny. Like y'all just don't wanna read books that are popular and "primarily" marketed towards women, and it's really, really pathetic.

I don't know how this turned into what it is, and I don't have a final point to end this on that will tie it all together. Enjoy this ADHD clusterfuck of a post where none of my points are truly taken to completion

I do not know how to end this, I just wanted to talk about it

[nihilistikal]

𝟐𝟎 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? Nine and counting! I do have the occasional scraps of WIPs stashed in various places, including my singular brain cell, but I usually only start publishing once they are fleshed out enough.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 110,204 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Resident Evil and Final Fantasy for the most part. I am working on a draft for a Dune fic as well, but due to my shifted writing time, which is sadly not much presently, I put it on hold in favor of continuing my re fic.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Unquiet Grave (Resident Evil) | @virologikal

The Darker the Weather, The Better The Man (Final Fantasy VIII)

Fallacy (Final Fantasy VIII)

Day 1 - A White Lie (Final Fantasy XV)

Obsession (Final Fantasy VIII)

5. Do you respond to comments? Absolutely! I try to do so in a timely fashion, sometimes it does take me a while though, especially when I'm busy doing other things and not checking in on my AO3. I am deeply humbled whenever someone takes some time out of their day to leave some words (or even compliments!) on my fics and it means a lot to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ...is this a bad time to menion I haven't really finished a fic before? x'D I mean, aside from my one shots of course. I have a penchant for working on massive ideas that take forever to write, so yeah. Anyroad though, the answer currently would be a hard tie between either The Price of Perfection (Resident Evil) or Love me whole (Final Fantasy VIII). The first is a glimpse at Wesker's life from birth to death, the second is a songfic based off of Missio's Love me whole, and focuses on a toxic interpretation of Squall and Seifer's ... "relationship".

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Day 2 - Festivities (Final Fantasy XV), easily. It was part of a series for an event or somesuch a couple years ago and focused on more casual themes (which I admittedly usually don't tackle).

8. Do you get hate on fics? Thankfully no.

9. Do you write smut? Big yes to that. I actually love writing intricate smut, which I did for Final Fantasy VIII without much story or context. I should get back on that for Resident Evil and Dune at some point (not everything has to be a novel Nihil, gdi.....) But admittedly, I enjoy when there is some set up around the actual smut just as much. It can be an amazing vehicle to convey character development, power dynamics, show trust or the loss thereof... I am a fan hahah.

10. Do you write crossovers? I did write crossovers in rp, so I think technically I could. But in fanfic, I personally don't really see the need to as I prefer to take the canon lore and expand on it, see how many headcanons I can make work with the actual lore so it fits seamlessly as if it was intended to be there. I do enjoy reading the occasional crossover though!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet, no. I am comfortable writing in English, despite German being my mother language, and honestly I don't think I could properly translate certain things into German without it sounding weird/cringe.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope! I could imagine doing that if I ever get my time schedule sorted. And I actually had plans to do a co-written fic with a friend ( looking at you, Bee :p ) but alas, time. I do sometimes help people brainstorm some fic ideas though if that counts^^

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Almahart (Squall Leonhart & Seifer Almasy), and of course Chrisker (Chris Redfield & Albert Wesker). Something about the blond bad guys and the brunet heroes ig °^^ With Almahart it's the tragedy binding the two together, the fact that Squall became everything Seifer wanted to be (without Squall even really trying/wanting it!), the resentment and rivalry that only barely manages to conceil the real feelings. I like them both as a ship that solves their hardships eventually, and as a toxic ship with Seifer never redeeming himself and not wanting to, either. As for Chrisker, it's a similar streak but darker, more violent, with a lot of psychological warfare included. The hardest thing is to convey Wesker's machinations and how he views the world (according to my interpretation) because I write him as extremely closed off, keeping to himself even with his facial expressions. It's a challenge to portray him correctly and I like it a lot. I love the tangle the both of them are in, how Chris wants to hate Wes so much for all he has done, while simultaneously being unable to let go, even decades later. There is desperation, hatred, blood, passion, everything I love in a ship.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am absolutely convinced I will finish both my Resident Evil project (which will consist of multiple one shots, The Unquiet Grave, as well as a sidestory to it focusing on HUNK), as well as The Darker the Weather, The Better the Man. What I will say though is that I am also certain it will take a long ass while. Both are huge and complex stories, so building them up and telling them correctly is time consuming, and oftentimes real life gets in the way, sadly. I hope the people who were excited about The Darker the Weather will have patience with me.

16. What are your writing strengths? I want to say my high standards when it comes to fleshing out characters, finding their voice and writing their perspective. It's at least something I get a lot of compliments for, so I seem to be doing something right ^^ Also, I am very thorough when it comes to canon. I try to keep everything in mind and weave my story into the existing lore and world as seamlessly as possible. For The Unquiet Grave I took a whole day to collect all possible information about the entire Resident Evil Timeline (it spans from 1909 to 2037), which I regularly consult while I am writing to make sure I have events lined up properly.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I definitely question myself too much. As in, if the quality I am providing is good enough; if the characters are OOC, things like that. It's my perfectionism getting in the way of things. Generally I have a bad habit on putting too much unneccessary pressure on myself (publish within a certain time, write a certain amount of words, etc.) - silly, really.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Ohhh yeah I love that! I don't use this enough and definitely should. (needless to say but it should not be too much untranslated content of course, and made available for the readers in some way so they know what is being said)

19. First fandom you wrote for? I believe my very first fic was Ville Valo x Lauri Ylönen, don't hit me for writing smut about real life people please xD I was young! Aside from that, Final Fantasy VIII or Angel Sanctuary, not sure anymore (I am rather certain it was FFVIII though because I have always been obsessed with it)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?  Urgh this is hard.... Given how much my writing has improved and how I learned to apply certain tools (like drafting properly etc), I'd have to say The Unquiet Grave. Since I am not writing in my first language, the time I practised between this and The Darker the Weather definitely had a positive impact.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘: @judasiskariot (thanks again!) 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆: @sauron-kraut . @no-bee (if you like ofc) - any everyone who would like to do this, feel free to steal!

[souperblonde]

ten people i’d like to get to know better ✨

Tagged by @technofinch

last song: "remember me" by d4vid because I'm coping with s2 of Arcane :'(

fave color: red or green depending on my mood~

last book: genuinely trying to remember the last time I read something that wasn't for my MA. Tempted to say Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer but I haven't finished that yet... Might've been either Dune or my reread of Piranesi by Susannah Clarke this past summer

last movie: Bones and All!!!! Horror, Romance, Road-Trip movie about semi-psychic cannibals feat. the gayest heterosexual relationship in cinema (also directed by Luca Guadagnino who did the 2018 remake of Suspiria (one of my all time favorite movies (need to find a time to watch Queer soon or I might pass away)))

last TV show: Arcane S2 :((((((((((((((((((

sweet/spicy/savory: savory u-u

relationship status: single and rolling with it ig

last thing I googled: intelligence/faith scaling weapons in Dark Souls III because I'm back on my bullshit

current obsession: finalyyyyyy finishing this stupid grad degree so I can move tf on with my life

looking forward to: hanging out with a friend at some point this week to watch/lend emotional support while she plays a spooky video game, getting together with folks for a weird power point game this weekend, possibly an interview for a job after I graduate if I don't make an utter fool of myself on this phone call in a couple hours.

Not sure who to tag since my social medias are mainly for people I had already met/formed a relationship with in the meatspace, but there are a couple of you who seemed to come crawling out of the void to find this account so go nuts: @life-on-twix @evilreceptionist @koffeecakee @its-snowtime

[jesseisreading]

~~Long book post!~~

2022 Reading!

Hello! I usually make this post in the New Year, but I don’t think I’ll finish Hyperion by Dan Simmons or The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova in the next couple days so I’ll go ahead. Plus, I hope it helps folks find some ideas for their 2023 reading.

Usually I just post the list in chronological order (and I’ll still have that below, so you can see the arc of my reading for the year), but I’ll try to put a little more order and commentary for some of the titles. Feel free to discuss, give recommendations, debate, etc!

Visual Fiction

Dracula, Motherf*cker!

This one was really vibrant with gorgeous art and a fun take that felt fresh, but it was just too short to really be enjoyable. Quick pulpy fun, I guess.

All of the initial run of The Sandman:

I’d need a separate post for to really talk about this story, but yes. Some of the best fiction I’ve ever read. The whole of Dream’s arc (or at least what we get to see 😉) always felt both epic and microscopic at the same time. All the steps of such a grand journey to such a powerful panel. It, and the results thereof, brought me to tears. I had to sit with it for awhile, and it’s a weight I still feel. Like Dune, it might become yearly reading for me.

Saga volumes 1-4

Also a really fantastic story. Bright, cohesive, and brilliantly imagined. Royal TVs. Brutal war. Romance novelists. Wrestling moms and magic father-in-laws! Saga’s creators Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples have created something really special. It’s one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to dive back in. It’s also really exciting that their hiatus is over, and the story will continue.

The Sandman: Endless Nights

Yes, a brilliant but at times intense anthology with seven different artists giving life to separate pieces about each of the Endless (Delirium and Despair were hard to process with the former kind of sending me into a spiral). Won’t say much more other than that reading it at the sorta half way point was a happy accident. I had enough of a grasp on the world and the Endless to appreciate it, but there was still so much I didn’t know. Does show big spoiler without clarity though.

The Sandman: Overture

Once again, obscenely beautiful and a little tragic and I don’t fully know what to say. If someone reads this first (it was published 2014, long after the original run), I’d love to hear your perspective after finishing the main run.

Science Fiction

Foundation

More interesting than engrossing, this was still a neat read. I enjoyed the short story structure and all the world building, but it mostly felt like the beginning moves of a chess or MTG game where it all gets set up. Will eventually get back to this series so I can see where it goes.

All Systems Red & Artificial Condition (books one and two of The Murderbot Diaries)

These were both fantastic! Main character is a quick wit and immediately likable (and powerfully relatable for some). I think my favorite part of these books is that not only are they great for long time sci-fi fans, but they are also great for those don’t typically dive into sci fi. They are quick reads (I read them in 2-3 hours each), and the first book sets up a great mystery. I also feel like these books are great way to step outside of ourselves and get a third person perspective on our humanselves.

The Iron Widow

A really fun romp that blends Chinese history and folklore with big mech beat ‘em up science fiction. On one level, it’s a story about gender dynamics, oppression, and the nature of power. On another, it’s dragon ball z fighter furry self insert gundam fan fiction. High key recommended as a fun vacation/beach read.

‘Youth’ Literature

The Small Spaces Quartet

Nominally aimed at middle schoolers, this four part ghost story is just as brilliant as the author’s Winternight Trilogy and can be enjoyed just as much by adults (especially those who can still remember the trial and tribulations that come with that strange transitional period we like to call ‘Middle School’)

When You Reach Me

Another book that is nominally aimed at kids but *needs* to be read by adults, it had a profundity to it that I will be occasionally revisiting in the years to come. I guess, if it’s about anything, it’s about consequence and quantum mechanics and all these beautiful concurrent moments that our lives stretch across. Beautiful story and structure.

A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1-3 of the Time Quartet, or as I like to call it: the Charles Wallace Cycle)

I’m not smart enough or articulate enough to quickly breakdown for this post why I love these books or how important they or why you should read them. These books touched my core and reminded me of some lessons that are particularly relevant after the last few years. It’s never easy, and a lot of times it may be downright scary, but as long we try and don’t give in, maybe good really does triumph in the end.

Fantasy

The Divine Cities Trilogy and The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett

More selections that I just really can’t say enough good things about. I don’t know if I’m just getting softer as I near my 30s or if professionally doing theatre for young audiences has changed/expanded my capacities to feel, but these books (like a lot of titles this year) really touched. They cover a lot of ground without ever feeling dense or preachy. If I had to be concise, the books are about the effects of power on the large and small with Divine Cities focusing on the legacies of war and imperial oppression and Founders on capitalism and the results of an extreme klepto/plutocratic system. They can be tough reads, especially City of Blades with it’s exploration of trauma, but they’re important. RBJ’s worldbuilding and sense of increasing stakes are top notch. The end of The Founder’s Trilogy had me quietly weeping in public.

The Wee Free Men

Only my third exposure to Pratchett’s prose, and he really is one of the funniest and smartest writers this language has ever been blessed with.

Gallant

Another swing and a home run from V. E. Schwab. This was a beautiful ghost story with a fascinating protagonist and probably a good starting place for Schwab’s older aimed works before visiting something a little darker like Shades of Magic or Villains (really dark)

Etc.

Circe

Revisited this one, because the first time around it really didn’t strike any cords for me. I originally meant to do a deep/slow dive into the text but then had to speed up so I could get to When You Reach Me. This time around it had a much stronger impact, and I was able to see the world anew through a set of eyes that were very different than my own.

Authority

Book two of The Southern Reach Trilogy, I’m still having weird dreams because of this one and the preceding text (Annihilation). Reading it quite literally gave me headaches. Not for the faint of heart. Very good but read at your own risk. Still haven’t been able to finish the final book, Acceptance, and I will unfortunately probably have to start back at book one to finish the series.

Smoke and Mirrors

Not my top favorite of Gaiman’s short fiction collections, but it does have some of my favorite stories if his. I hadn’t visited this collection since I first experienced Neil Gaiman right after my high school graduation, nearly a decade ago. Charming and horrifying, it begs the question: what are we hiding and what illusions are we presenting?

The Maidens

A promising set up with an ultimately disappointing execution and ending. Finished but did not enjoy. 2/10, will probably get rid of my copy to have more room on my fiction shelves.

Things Read in 2022:

*indicates first time

1. *The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

2. *Dracula, Motherf*cker! by Campi and Henderson

3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

4. *Gallant by V. E. Schwab

5. *Authority by Jeff Vandermeer

6. SAGA volume one

7. SAGA Volume Two

8. *Saga volume Three

9. *Saga volume Four

10. Ranger Musky and the Mysterious Beast

11. *The Sandman: Book 2 by Neil Gaiman and co.

12. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet

13. *City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennet

14. *City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennet

15. *Amelia Earhart by Katherine Mills Schultz

16. *The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman and co.

17. The Sandman: Book 1

18. The Sandman: Book 2

19. *The Sandman: Book 3

20. *Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jean Pierce

21. *Inside Out by Kathryn Chase Bryer & Natasha Holmes

22. Miss Fancy by G. Riley Mills

23. *The Sandman: Book 4 by Neil Gaiman

24. *The Foundation by Isaac Asimov

25. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

26. *Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

27. *Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

28. *Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

29. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

30. *Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

31. *The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

32. *All Systems Red by Martha Wells

33. Circe by Madeline Miller

34. *When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

35. A Wind in the Door by Madeline L’Engle

36. *A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle

37. *Sandman: Overtures by Neil Gaiman and co.

38. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet

39. *Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennet

40. *Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett

41. *The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

42. *Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

[aevallare]

In honor of ur old username may she rest in piece. Do u have any mass effect fic recs

oh!!! you come into my inbox and ask me for my mass effect recs? :o

they are many. they are spectacular. they are occasionally (often?) NSFW. okay. let's do this. let's go. if you have a specific pairing, please come back and i'll try to be normaler <3

OKAY

i'll assume you're here because you've read my own mass effect fics, but i guess i'll start there? xd

i'm really proud of lionhearted and i hope to return to it soon. f!shrios, thane lives AU - evangeline shepard is ripped from the grave and unsure if she's the same woman that she was before. and she's right to worry. ongoing, because i'm the worst, but i've written through me2!

i also have a few assorted one-shots:

metamorph (f!shrex ft. smut)

help wanted. (tali/miranda)

exposure (f!shrios pwp)

alright. i'm done self-shilling. have some unbelievable work by people more talented than me.

Sound the Clarion by AmberPenglass

f!Shakarian and an all-time comfort fic. first contact AUs are basically the whole reason i'm alive, and this is one for the history books. shepard infiltrates the vakarian household as a... servant? i guess LOL to make contact with a human resistance cell on palaven. there's some squicky power dynamic stuff in here, so be aware of that going in. smut in here also! complete.

like a falcon in the dive by @spookyvalentine

i'm thinking about mercy shepard like. well. basically all the time? these are a couple of genfics and val has UNBELIEVABLE character writing. mercy is vibrant, and they pop out of my computer screen and into my heart whenever i read these fics. ongoing series, but the fics themselves are complete.

When The Sun Sets On The Dune, You Know Where To Find Me by WonderAss

this fic. dude. god. okay.

f!shreegar. is that anything. it's shepard and kal'reegar and i've reread it probably four times. kal'reegar joins the crew in me2. he's dealing with some stuff. this shepard absolutely rules. nsfw in here! complete.

An Atom Changed by 35g

shrios. this fic grabbed me by the throat and didn't let up. 14k words of holding my breath. tw for some general existential dread. complete.

Relay Monument Incident by Kahika

what's. what's the name for garrus and ashley? vakilliams? gashley is WAY worse. garrus and ashley rip in this series and i will recommend it to anyone not immediately put off by rarepair sensibilities. there's smut in here! ongoing series, but each fic is complete.

Queen's Gambit Accepted by RenWritesStuff/FahRENheit2006

f!shaynor. oh, this fic. deep breath. i'm normal. i've always had a soft spot for samantha traynor. ongoing, but it's 200k words of exquisite writing. there be smut! ongoing.

Trajectory by ad_astra42

f!shakarian. first contact AU. exquisite. astounding. so, so worth the read. garrus is taken captive, and well, you can imagine how things go from there. all our favorite marines are there, and many of our favorite turians as well. shepard and garrus communicate with ASL for a significant chunk of the fic, and the whole fic is written quite deftly. nsfw occasionally. complete.

[emometalhead]

Aftershock Day 3 Recap!!

Here's the artists I saw: Lilith Czar, Point North, Thrice, Theory Of A Deadman, Yungblud, L.S. Dunes, A Day To Remember, and My Chemical Romance

Lilith Czar's set was a strong start to the day! The band sounded great live, and Lilith had some power behind her vocals! She was really interactive with the crowd, and gave a speech calling all of the womeb in the crowd "powerful, magnificent, and beautiful...". Always nice to start the day with compliments lol. One unexpected thing was that Andy Biersack (Juliet Simms (aka Lilith Czar)'s husband)) was there! I'm a huge Black Veil Brides fan, so I got very excited to see him on the side stage. Of course my main focus was on the band, but I did snap a few pictures of Andy.

Point North was really cool! I hadn't heard of them prior to seeing them on the festival lineup, so they're new to me. I listened to quite a few of their songs, and really liked what I heard so I decided to see their set. Seeing them was a great decision! They had a lot of energy, were really appreciative of the crowd, and played some good music. I will definitely be listening to them more. They also had Jeris Johnson come out for a song, which was fun. I'm not necessarily a fan, but I know he's featured on a lot of songs. It was nice putting a face to the name. Also shout out to Point North for repeating "abortion is health-care" multiple times through their set.

I didn't watch Thursday perform, because that was my one little bit of downtime before other things, but I caught a bit of their set while walking. First of all, I freaked out because Frank Iero was on side stage watching them, and it made me fully realize that I was in his vicinity. Second off all, I appreciated that they also took a moment to talk about the importance of reproductive rights.

The next band I saw was Thrice! I didn't stay for their entire set, but I loved what I heard! I only intended to stay for a couple songs that way I could get in line to meet Mikey Way. I stayed a bit longer than planned, because I wanted to hear my favorite song by them (Black Honey. Highly recommend it!) They were great though! It was a chill crowd experience too, because we were close enough to see the stage but didn't push into the crowd.

I spent an hour and a half in line for Mikey. The line was looooong. People kept walking by and asking what the line was for lol. I made a friend in line! I was by myself because my dad and brother were in the crowd for other bands, so I decided I should try to talk to the people around me. I started a conversation with the dude behind me in line, and we spent the entire hour and a half talking. This dude was really cool! Though expected given the setting, we have a lot of music in common! He was really fun to talk to. We exchanged Instagrams and phone numbers. Another cool thing about the friend I made is that I hung out with him for seeing My Chemical Romance! I'll get more into that later though.

I made a separate post about my experience meeting Mikey, but I'll briefly talk about it again here. It was incredible. I've only heard positive things about fan experiences with him, so I had high hopes going into the autograph signing. He entirely met my expectations. He was very nice, clearly happy to be meeting people, and it was the first time in my life I've been happy to shake someone's hand lol. However, it was over 90 degrees, and we had all been waiting in line in direct sunlight. I commented to the friend I made that I felt bad that Mikey was having all of these very sweaty people coming up to him. My hand wasn't clammy, but I still wiped it on my shorts before touching him just in case 😭. It's been 2 days now, and I still can't get over that I met him!! I met him and have two signed items by him. I touched Mikey Way and own items that he touched. Oh my god. Also he took a picture of me!!! Like what?? I was so shocked and shaky that I asked the dude I befriended to confirm it actually happened lol.

While in line, I was able to hear Beartooth's set, but unfortunately I wasn't able to see the stage. They sounded great from afar! I caught Theory Of A Deadman's set while in line. I had a clear view of the stage and screens, and was able to hear the band the entire set. It was really cool. They're a band I've been wanting to see for a while, so I definitely had fun rocking out in line lol. I was out of line and had met Mikey by the last song, so I was just hanging out by a tree jumping around and screaming along to Bad Girlfriend. It was so much fun.

My dad forced me to take a break for dinner after that. I was upset initally, but once I started eating and the Mikey nerves wore off a little, I realize how hungry and exhausted I was. I think I ran the entire day off of adrenaline. While eating, we watched Yungblud! We were really far back, but I could still hear and see perfectly. I was the only person in the area dancing and screaming, but it was worth it. His set was so much fun! I would've loved to be in that crowd, but food was a necessity.

We left Yungblud a little early to get close for L.S. Dunes. I was so excited for them!! I love the two songs they've already released, so I was really looking forward to hearing more. I was shocked when a mosh pit formed during their set! I didn't anticipate that there would be one. The pit wasn't too bad to be next to, but I was holding my Mikey poster and Electric Century graphic novel, so I was concerned for the safety of my things. (They were in a cardboard sleeve, but it was still risky.) Unfortunately, for the first half of the set, we couldn't really hear Anthony singing 😭. His microphone was soooo quiet. The band sounded incredible, and Anthony had so much energy but we could not hear him. In between songs we had to chant "mic up" to let them know there was a sound issue. Once we could hear, it was better lol.

I actually saw Frank on the side stage before he went on to perform! His family was sitting on the side, and he went over to hug his kids before going on. It was cute! Jamia was recording Frank a couple times throughout the set, and Ray was there!! I managed to get a couple pictures of him. I have a video where you can see Jamia recording for a second, but I was intentional about not recording her or the kids. They aren't public figures like Frank or Ray, so I didn't want to make content of them for their privacy. I almost got a setlist at the end! I caught it, but then had it ripped out of my hand. The woman scratched me to the point that she tore my skin. I was profusely bleeding. That sucked.

As soon as I left L.S. Dunes, I very quickly went to refill my water bottle. I knew I was about to be in a crowd for almost 4 hours. I practically sprinted to the stage for A Day To Remember. They were the last band to play on that stage before My Chemical Romance. I was able to find the dude I met during the Mikey line, and my dad gave me the green light to stay with that guy's group. My dad, brother, and aunt ended up hanging around for a bit at other stages. A Day To Remember was good! I headbanged the entire time, and enjoyed myself despite not really knowing the music. The dude I befriended used to be in an ADTR cover band, and is a singer, so it was fun hearing him sing along. The pits got pretty intense! At one point I was caught right in between two pits, and got pretty smushed. It wasn't too bad though! Despite just having met the rest of the dudes in the group, they protected me from the crowd. The funniest thing was that while smashed together a woman offered me a sip of her seltzer, to which I explained I was underage. This woman (very visibly at least 35), said she was too and laughed when we were separated. Weird experience lol.

Every time the crowd pushed or moved, we did our best to relocate. I was separated from the one guy I knew for most of ADTR's set, but the rest of the group was really nice, fun, and kept me safe. We found each other again during the hour long wait for MCR. We managed to get really close to the stage after ADTR. Some people were leaving the crowd to see other bands, and some people had to leave for their own safety. We took advantage of the people leaving in order to push our way forward. It was PACKED. Like I thought it was crowded while waiting for Slipknot on Thursday, but this was so much worse. It was super hot. Everyone was sweaty and very close together. While setting up the stage, the crew was passing water bottles into the crowd. People were pouring the water over the crowd, and it felt great. It was difficult to stay in the crowd, but I was determined.

I can't put into words how it felt to see MCR live. They're real. That happened. I will never be the same. The band sounded incredible. The set was so fun! The crowd was pushing the entire time, so we were moving around a lot. The dudes in the group kept having to grab and protect me. It was the craziest crowd I've ever stayed in, and I am so grateful to the dudes that protected me. I owe them everything. I have never experienced more crowdsurfers. They were nonstop at points. Partially, it was due to people overheating and needing to get out of the crowd, but a lot of people were just doing it for fun. I only saw one person legitimately passed out, but there might have been more.

Gerard stopped after a couple songs to ask if everyone was all right. He kept making sure people had the opportunity to exit the crowd if they needed to. He thanked the security, reminded everyone to keep passing forward anyone that needed help, and basically told us to keep doing what we were doing. Prior to the set and several times during, they had a safety reminder on the screens. I'll post a picture below. Though the crowd was really intense, it was entirely worth it to stay in. I was hot, dehydrated, and getting shoved around. It was the best experience of my life. To be surrounded by so many other people with as much love for the band as I have was indescribable. I felt so connected to the band and the people around me as we all jumped and screamed the lyrics together.

I tried to take photos and videos, but the movement of the crowd made it difficult. I'll look over what I have and post things eventually. I tried to record and photograph everyone equally, but I think I mostly have Mikey content. I was on his side, so Frank and Mikey were the most accessible. I definitely got some Ray and Gerard content. They were just physically more difficult to photograph. I want to acknowledge the best and worst people of the crowd now. Here's the worst. Gerard noticed the sign the woman who scratched me had, so if you see this "do a flip" chick, from the bottom of my heart, f*ck you. I had no access to anything antiseptic or a bandaid. I had to hold a paper towel to my bloody hand during ADTR, and my hand was burning during MCR. Luckily my fingers aren't infected. The biggest thank you again to the dudes that protected me during that set. Bryan and Cam, you won't see this, but thank you so much dudes. I had the best time with you, and am endlessly grateful for the experience I had that was only possible because of you.

Lastly, I was crying in the morning before going to the festival, but was so shocked meeting Mikey that I didn't cry! I was happy about that. During MCR's set, I kept feeling like I was going to cry. I was so dehydrated that I could not cry. I even had to pee during ADTR, but sweat so much that by time MCR started I no longer felt the need to go. It was THAT HOT in the crowd. Like I said before, I think I survived off of adrenaline lol. There was no way I would leave that crowd unless I actually passed out, but I was vigilant about drinking water to make sure that didn't happen.

All right my dudes, this was a very long post. Saturday was my busiest day, so there was a lot to document. This post excludes so many details about the day. If anyone wants further details about my MCR experience please ask away!!!!! I would love to talk about it in more detail. Also I will be posting pictures and videos eventually. Until then, here's some other photos from the day.

Photos in order. Tw for blood in 4th photo.

1. Lilith Czar performing. 2. Frank Iero and Anthony Green during L.S. Dunes' set. 3. The safety message that showed before and during MCR's set. 4. The inital photo I took of my hand after I got scratched trying to get the L.S. Dunes set. At first I didn't know if the blood was mine or someone else's, but then it began to bleed a ton and it stung. 5. Andy Biersack on side stage watching Lilith Czar perform. 6. A very blurry Gerard and Ray during MCR' set. 7. Full band MCR moment. 8. My hair and makeup before leaving my house. 9. My hair and makeup after getting home. (Note that I had to put my hair into pony tails, because it kept getting yanked 🙄.

[theboredwritertm]

"Oh, darling, everybody sees how you look at him" fic request with Din/reader! (Please and thank you :3)

Everyone Knows

A/N: Another request done and dusted. I’ve been getting some new prompt lists ready for when I open requests back up again (not sure what tumblr etiquette is for compiling a masterlist using other people’s prompt-lists, but I’m considering doing something like that), but I still have about 4 or 5 fics to finish off before then!

Rating: PG?

Pairing: Din Djarin x ForceSensitive!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, a bit of alcohol, that’s about it. 

Word Count:  4500 (Me, failing to keep a story under 2k words? It’s more likely than you think)

Summary: After taking on the krayt dragon together, you’re forced to confront your feelings for Din (with a little help from everyone’s favorite marshal).   

***

The monster was unlike anything you’d ever seen before.

There’d been times aboard the Crest, when there were still thousands of miles to go between stops, that you’d sit by Din, giving him your rapt attention as he’d recount one of his many stories about a particularly terrifying beast he’d encountered. Not that he would ever call them terrifying – the man had a will of steel when it came to facing these kinds of things. And on this occasion, in the middle of the Tatooine desert, things would prove no different. 

Only this time he had you.

You were still coming into your abilities, not really sure what they meant or the true extent of what you were capable of, and amazingly enough you found you were learning a lot from watching the Child. For instance, before he came along, you had never known you could heal people. A simple experiment with Din had proven this to be true enough – the man was prone to injury in his line of work – and though it had taken a lot of concentration, enough that you were sweating by the end, it got you wondering just what other miracles your hands could perform.

Now, standing beside Din and the man who had introduced himself to you both as Cobb Vanth, you stared down into the dragon’s lair and found yourself hoping those powers might come in handy.

“So, how’re we drawin’ this thing out?” Cobb asks.

You glance back at the dozens of townsfolk and Tuskens around you, sensing their uneasiness as they shuffle from foot to foot and cast occasional apprehensive glances in the direction of the danger and you’re surprised to see a couple of the Raiders step forward. Considering how well their peoples’ last attempt to draw out the beast had gone, you hadn’t expected any of them to be so willing to approach the pit again. 

Cobb glances over at them and cocks his head in immediate acceptance. Given his past troubles with their people, he can’t say he’s overly concerned over the prospect of losing a few more of them.

But you’ve never been one to stand by and watch people get hurt.

“No, wait.” The words leave your mouth automatically. Up until this point, you’d been feeling completely useless. Din had been keeping an even closer watch on you than usual since a stunt you had pulled back on Nevarro; one that had involved your unpredictable powers and the dozens of stormtroopers who’d had him cornered. Though he had come out of the situation a lot worse for wear than you had, he’d been hovering over you, keeping you a safe distance from any action ever since. You were starting to get sick of being kept on the sidelines. “I can do it,” you say. 

The Tuskens turn to look back at you, not able to understand what you’ve said, but sensing a potential change of plans, then their attention is drawn to the Mandalorian beside you as he quickly dashes their hopes. 

“No,” comes Din’s clear, expected response.

You turn to him. “I can handle this.”

“No. You’re staying where you are.”

You gaze at him for just a moment, anger starting to bubble in the pit of your stomach, before turning around and striding down the tall dune, towards the gaping mouth of the empty saarlac pit. You know better than to argue – you don’t have the time right now, but every time you did, he managed to use it as a way to distract you. You wouldn’t give him that opportunity now. You’d already made up your mind.

You feel the air stir as his hand shoots out to grab you, but you’re too quick; one of the things that’s managed to keep you alive this long, but now maybe the very thing that’s going to get you killed. 

“Dank Farrik!”

Cobb glances between the man beside him and your retreating form, attempting to hold back a smirk. In the short couple of days that he’s known you both, he’s already witnessed at least three separate arguments, none of which seemed to get either of you anywhere. He didn’t see this one going the big guy’s way, either.  

The modulator seems to amplify the frustration in Din’s voice, but you ignore it. You were more than capable of looking out for yourself, as you had proven to him numerous times now, and whatever problem he had with that was his own – you weren’t about to let his fears hold you back. Yet, as you draw closer to the yawning darkness, your heart begins to thud in your chest. For the first time, you feel the enormity of this creature, and you’ve never felt so small in your life. 

You sense him approach before you hear him. That was one advantage you’d always had over Din; he could never sneak up on you.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m tired of watching everyone else do everything,” you say, finally coming to a stop, your gaze still trained forward, “I want to play my part. I need to play my part.”

“No, you need to stay safe.” His words sound threatening despite their context, but you ignore him once more. This time he does grab you, catching you around the forearm as you raise your hands in the direction of the cave. “Stop!”You’re tempted to use your powers to throw him off, but you can feel how much he means it and you’re struck with a sudden guilt. He cares. That’s all there is to it. 

“Please, let me do this.” You stare up into his helmet and feel him gazing back, considering things. His fingers loosen from your wrist. 

“Fine. But I’m staying with you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” you reply, not bothering to hide your bitterness at the constant babysitting – though, if you’re being honest, you do feel better with him by your side.

You raise your hands again and close your eyes, focusing on the low hum of energy around you. You don’t feel it at first, but then its as if you’ve suddenly locked onto a connection – plugged yourself into an electric charge – and everything suddenly feels heightened. Everything feels more. You draw on from that, concentrating on the pit of darkness before you, then you push forward with your mind, reaching out. In the darkness, something stirs.

“What is it?” Din asks, as if he’s sensed the sudden change.

“I feel it,” you reply, eyes still closed, your brow now marked with a frown. 

He stares down at you and you finally open your eyes to meet his gaze (as much as you can through the helmet) but before either of you can say anything, a low rumbling begins to emit from the ground.

It had worked. 

And it was heading right for you. 

You’ll admit that, as much you’d wanted to play your part in this, you hadn’t really considered what came next once you did manage to draw the thing out. So now, as you watch the sand shift and begin to rise a hundred or so feet in front of you, you find yourself rooted to the spot. 

It’s Din who moves first.

Your hands had come up again, all you can think to do to hold the beast off, then suddenly a strong arm is wrapping around your waist and you’re being propelled into the air. You glance down just in time to see the enormous mouth erupt from the ground where you had just been standing.

This time, you don’t argue. You clutch onto him, air whipping through your hair, thankful that he’s just as stubborn as you are.

When you finally land, he sets you on your feet and quickly glances down to make sure you’re alright. You give him a quick nod, sensing the question in his gaze, and then he takes off again to rejoin the action. It takes you a moment to regain your balance, and you still feel the ghost of his arm around your waist, but when you glance back you find that he’s set you down by the landspeeder, with the Child. He’s put you back at the kids’ table. 

You give a frustrated growl and the baby blinks curiously at you, eyes full of wonder. He’s just happy to be here, close to someone he likes. You offer a reassuring stroke over his little head, then turn to stalk back down the dunes; back towards the rest of the group whose lives apparently don’t mean as much to Din, since he’s more them happy for them to join in despite them having little-to-no fighting experience. You’re not about to sit back and watch them all die. 

As the dragon bursts out of the sand once more, the Tuskens and townsfolk begin firing harpoons into its side – a desperate attempt to keep it in place – and you watch as it wrenches itself free with a simple shake of its body. There’s no way this plan is going to work.

When you arrive back by Din’s side, he simply looks at you, not even bothering to admonish you, knowing it’s not going to get him anywhere at this point anyway. But as you look at him, a silent warning to not push you aside again, he sees you’ve got that same look in your eyes now as you had back on Nevarro. And it worries him. 

You move off together as a unit as the dragon begins its assault, firing with everything you’ve got to get its attention – in your case, your trusty blaster pistol – stopping only when it opens its jaws wide and proceeds to spit boiling acid down onto anyone within its reach. You watch in horror as people are disintegrated before your eyes.

A massive explosion beneath it distracts it long enough for any survivors to get clear of its path, and the creature suddenly dives.

You wait, watching for any sign that it’s coming back up, but the smoking landscape is silent and still. Yet, something doesn’t feel right.

“I don’t think it’s dead,” Cobb says, voicing your concern, and you exchange worried glances.

“Me neither,” Din replies. His grip tightens on his blaster, waiting.

Then suddenly, up on the mountain, the creature bursts forth once more. It opens its mouth wide and you glance down at the people in its path about to be annihilated. You can’t watch this happen again. Moving as fast as your feet can carry you, you rush down towards them, shoving them aside with a powerful force-push seconds before the acid hits the sand, clearing them of its path just in time – leaving you in a tricky predicament. You’ve caught its attention now – and you have nowhere to go.

You catch the sound of jetpacks as Cobb and Din land either side of you, weapons raised and ready to come to your defense.

“Get back!” Din barks at you, and you find you have no choice but to listen to him. Failing to do so now, even just to prove a point, and you’re certain you’d be the dragon’s next meal. You’d pick your hill to die on one day, but this just wasn’t it. 

Din and Cobb take off into the air again, firing their weapons to draw the dragon’s attention away and give you time to escape. It works. The dragon, furious from the sudden new assault, turns and comes after them, spraying up sand as it whips its massive body in the new direction.  

As you watch them draw it further away, you can’t help but wonder what the plan is, since the original one has long fallen apart. They can’t keep drawing it away forever. Now that you have minute to breath, you look around for a way to help, and spot the explosives-laden bantha that had been led down as bait. It looks like it would rather be anywhere else and, hell, you don’t blame it, but glancing between it and the massive monster that currently has its sights set on the one man who never failed to put himself in the path of danger for you, you think maybe it was time to return the favor and finish this once and for all.

So, you grab the bellowing, hairy animal by its halter and do something stupid.

You start yelling. And waving your arms. And when that fails to grab the dragon’s attention, you start firing your weapon. Taking your odd behavior as some kind of cue, the townsfolk closest to you begin firing, too, and finally the dragon turns to face this latest assault, drawn to the movement of your waving arms and the scent wafting from the bantha. 

You spot the two armored men, now free of the dragon’s attention, flying up from the mountain before one in particular makes a sudden beeline in your direction. You can practically feel Din’s wrath radiating off of him before he even gets close, and it’s like the bantha can, too, as it begins to protest and pull against its rope. Or maybe it’s the giant monster coming to swallow it whole that has it so skittish.  Either way, you feel like an ass as you try to calm it down, knowing the only reason you’re doing so is to keep it in place long enough to be eaten.

You’re grateful to have the marshal land behind you first as Din drops down in front, poised to lose his absolute mind at you for your reckless behavior, but finding the situation momentarily put on-hold as Cobb asks to no one in particular, “Now what?”

Din’s staring at you, gaze heavy, burning, and humiliating all in one, but he doesn’t have time to berate you as the dragon breaks from a nearby dune. “I have an idea,” he says, and before either you or Cobb can ask what that is, he shoves you into the marshal’s arms and sets off the man’s jetpack, sending you both careening up and away from the dragon’s path – and leaving him right in the middle of it. 

You had come to suspect that you were in pretty deep with Din Djarin, ever since he had first rescued you many years ago, but watching him disappear into the enormous jaws of the krayt dragon was a lesson you had never asked for in how you really felt about him. Even as everyone around you falls into a stunned silence, your ears begin to buzz and you have to fight to keep your footing, absently leaning against Cobb for support as the energy drains from your legs. Cobb reaches for you but misses as you collapse down onto the sand by his feet. Your throat starts to tighten. Everything feels hazy. 

This can’t be it. This can’t be the way it happens. 

Then the beast erupts from the sand once more and you spot a familiar shape fly out of its roaring mouth. 

Your heart leaps into your throat. Suddenly, you can breathe again. Then you’re back on your feet and racing towards him.

The huge blast that follows knocks you back and you hold an arm across your eyes to protect them from the cloud of sand billowing from the site of the explosion, but even that’s not enough to stop you as you keep your sights trained on the metal armor glistening in the hot sun. 

When you finally reach Din, you stand for a moment looking at him, then a sound escapes you halfway between a sob and shout, and you shove him – hard. He stumbles backwards but remains on his feet.

“What the hell were you thinking?” You don’t think you’ve ever been this angry in your life. Fury radiates from every cell in your body, and still Din just stares at you. Then you hug him. Neither of you are expecting it, and his body stiffens immediately in surprise, but when you feel him relax and one of his arms comes up to wrap around you in return, everything suddenly feels right again. You couldn’t care less that he’s covered in gross dragon goo and that it’s probably getting all over your clothes, or that there’s a crowd of onlookers witnessing this moment between you – all you care about is the fact that he’s here, that he’s still alive. 

A cheer erupts behind you as you part, and it’s not for you and Din, but for the smoking remains of the dragon nearby, and it’s soon joined by the howls of the Tuskens as they raise their weapons in victory. 

It’s over. It’s done. And as you look up at Din, you can think of many things worth celebrating.

***

And celebrate, you do. 

As much as he had wanted to make a quiet exit once he had collected his promised armor from Cobb, you had managed to convince Din to stay in Mos Pelgo just a little longer for the revelries. It had been a long time since you’d stayed anywhere close to civilization, let alone had a good reason to celebrate; and though you’d grown used to the comfortable silence of the Razor Crest, there’s some comfort in being surrounded by happy, chattering people for once, instead of the lonely vacuum of space.

Cobb had asked you back personally for a couple of drinks at the bar, and though the invitation had been extended to both of you, Din had failed to take it that way. In hindsight, you suppose your initial run-in with Cobb is to blame for this sudden standoffish behavior, since your contribution to convincing the man to hand over the beskar had involved you telling him that the helmet was ‘a waste on a face like his’. You guess that comment hadn’t sat too well with Din, but it had just sort of slipped out. What could you say? The guy was a looker. Yet even now, as Cobb glances over at your table from the bar, offering a warm, friendly smile in your direction, you find yourself distracted. 

You look around and finally spot Din. He’d been radiating quiet irritation since arriving back, and stands now in the furthest corner of the room, watching the festivities with what you imagined was a sulky expression beneath the helmet. The Child sits by his feet, on the sandy floor, playing with something round and shiny, completely absorbed in his own little world.

“I take it Mandalorian’s aren’t much for parties,” Cobb comments as he finally reaches your side with drinks, breaking you from you trance. He sits down beside you and slides one of the glasses of bright-blue liquid your way.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

He nods over towards Din whose gaze is currently burning into you, and you shift uncomfortably trying to find somewhere else to direct your attention, unsure why you don’t just look at Cobb. You realize why when your eyes shift back to him and the feeling of being watched intensifies. 

“Him?” you reply, trying to sound casual, now hyperaware that Din is currently reading every detail of this interaction, “Oh, he usually just prefers the quiet, you know? Not really the social type. He’s only here because I asked.”

“Just watching over his girl, huh?” Cobb teases, taking a swig of his spotchka.

“His gir—What are talking about?”

He frowns before giving you a knowing look, then risks a quick, pointed glance towards Din, who he’s noticed hasn’t turned his gaze away from you for longer than a few seconds the entire evening. 

“We’re just friends,” you tell him, even if that label doesn’t feel quite right to you. “It’s not like that.” You take a mouthful of drink just to give yourself something to do, and wince at the unexpected bitterness. When you glance back over at Din, your cheeks heat up a little when you realize he’s still looking back. You finally drop your gaze away, reassuring yourself that the weird feeling you’ve suddenly gotten in your stomach is just the alcohol taking affect, but when you look back at Cobb you catch him smirking at you. 

“We’re friends,” you repeat, wondering who you’re trying to convince now, since Cobb seems pretty damn decided on the matter. “Colleagues, you know. We’ve just been through a lot together.” You frown as he chuckles. “What?”

“I did not just spend two days listening to the two of you bicker like an old married couple, to hear you say that you two are ‘just friends’.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I guess I just don’t look at him that way.”

“Oh, darlin’, everybody sees how you look at him.”

You think back to the desert, to your arms wrapping around him like he might disappear again at any moment; to the arm that had pulled you closer and squeezed you in return. 

You take another gulp of spotchka to calm the fluttering feeling in your belly, and shoot a quick glance over to see if he’s still looking at you.

But he’s gone.

Panic floods over you.

You look around the room, hoping you don’t look as desperate as you suddenly feel, when Cobb nudges you. You look back at him and he nods to the door, where you just manage to catch a flash of cape and armor and Din disappears through it into the night.

Cobb smiles. “Go on. Go talk to the guy. I’ll still be here if you want another drink. If not, I hope we meet again someday.” He tips his glass towards you and you nod, managing a brief smile of appreciation as you stand. 

Your legs feel heavy as you walk towards the exit. It’s dark outside – almost pitch black aside from a scattering of light coming through a few windows, and the few fires burning outside to keep people warm on the cold desert night – and you breathe a sigh of relief as you spot Din still standing out on the road. It looks like the kid is giving him some trouble, his fussy cries reaching your ears easily in the quiet. He settles as soon as he sees you, though, and Din turns to see what has the ability to calm him so quickly. 

Of course, it’s you, he thinks. He should have known – you have the same effect on him.

“Hey,” you greet, still fighting back these unexplained nerves as you approach him. You’d known him for years, spent a lot of time in his company, and been through a lot together, but it’s the first time you feel nervous around him.

“Hey,” he replies simply, “I was just heading to take him back to the ship.” He pauses like he’s weighing up what he wants to say next, then adds, “When should I expect you back?”

“Back?”

“I can meet you there in the morning if that’s more suitable.” 

He’s acting weird, and though you know exactly why, you can’t help but frown at the bitterness in his tone. He’s trying to keep it cool and calm around the kid. You wonder what he’d be saying instead if it was just the two of you. 

“Why would you do that? Why would—” You hate what he’s implying, but you need him to say it, to admit why it’s a problem for him – to know if Cobb’s right. “Where am I supposed to be in all of this?”

You stare at him, the question written on your furrowed brow, wondering if he has the guts to admit the accusation outright. 

He looks back towards the bar and then back at you, cocking his helmet as if he’s expecting you to be the one to make the confession, even if there is a low rage bubbling away inside of him at the thought of it. He thinks back to the desert, to the feeling of your arms wrapped around him, to the way his own arm had come up instinctually to hold you closer, and he thinks of how much he wants that again.

“I’m coming back to the ship,” you tell him.

“Don’t do that on my account,” he replies, and you swear he says things like that just to piss you off. 

Before you can formulate a response, he turns away and starts walking towards his borrowed landspeeder. The Child looks back at you over his shoulder and stretches his little arms towards you with a cry, but Din ignores it.

You almost shout his name, forgetting for a moment where you are, and instead splutter out an awkward ‘Mando!’, which you haven’t called him in over a year; not since he entrusted you with his true name. He stops and slowly turns back. By now the kid is wriggling and fussing so much in his arms that he has to put him down, and the little one immediately heads towards you, reaching up to be held. You scoop him up and Din watches as the kid coos happily and buries his face in your hair. He’d thought they were leaving without you, Din realizes, and he can’t help but wonder if the kid’s picked up on his own emotions too – at his own distress at the thought of leaving you behind. 

He watches you for a moment as you soothe the Child, observing the tender way you fuss over him, and feels guilt start to creep over him.

“I am doing it on your account,” you tell him firmly, after a moment, finally looking back at him again, and his helmet tilts slightly as he stares back at you. You screw up your face like you hate the idea of having to say the next words out loud, but you do anyway for his sake. “I’m not interested in the marshal.”

He makes a non-committal noise like he either doesn’t believe you or he’s pretending it’s not a big deal, and you roll your eyes, turning your attention back to the kid. 

You wonder what you can say, how you’re going to make him understand what you’re feeling, because you can’t go back to the ship like this – things can’t just keep on going how they have been, with the arguments and all these unspoken words that are causing them. So, you step forward, closing the gap between the two of you as you rest a hand against his chest plate to get his attention. 

Din stares down at you, heart thumping as he tries to read your expression and figure out what you’re going to say before you say it, hoping he’ll be less caught off guard this way.

You reach up to the back of his helmet, guiding him down towards you, muttering, “Come here, you idiot.” Then you press your forehead to the cold beskar of his helmet and find a way to tell him.

“Where you go, I go.”

He seems to understand that well enough. 

[anglaoshi]

Lonely Warrior (孤勇者) - Algger - Hello Dance

Power and precision

The music for this work is Lonely Warrior (孤勇者) by Eason Chan (陳奕迅). I’m given to understand that the song has something to do with the League of Legends setting? Or Arcane’s setting specifically? I completely adore Algger, but not enough to watch Arcane @___@. I get the impression that there may be imagery specific to the story of Arcane, or connotations I’m missing because of that, so tell me all about it in the notes! The lyrics tell a mawkish story, addressed to an object of yearning, within a high-stakes world of violent, desperate conflict. The music itself is fine! But it feels a little soulless to me. I just don’t love this song. 

Maybe the music doesn’t play to my personal taste, but Algger looks good in melodrama. This composition is theatrical, emotional, and intricate. It explodes by turns with bursts of precision and power in a way that is unique to Algger’s embodied skills. As such, this performance is really excellent, and it deserves more attention. 

From a film production perspective, this video is notable for its significantly boosted contrast, which produces abyssal blacks and emphasizes the bright blue of Algger’s contact lenses. I wonder if the costuming was meant to be reminiscent of Dune, with the eye design, though the high contrast also adds impact to the draping and fluttering movements of the shirt. In such a fraught and theatrical piece, intensity for intensity’s sake is also perfectly acceptable as an aesthetic choice. 

For the first cycle, Algger dances alone, which isn’t easy to do on a stage with such a bare, unadorned sensibility. The venue is a ‘black box’ style stage, and the set is mainly lit by a warm white wash, with some depth added by a golden blaze from stage right. Despite the design simplicity, vivid and dense choreography suffuses both the screen and the conceptual arena. The dance is characterized by cyclical rising and falling through vertical space, which gives the impression of struggle, of instability that thwarts even heroic striving. Exhaustion and desiderium are central motifs in this dance. 

The piece expresses a superb array of feelings relating to the mood of the music. I admire the unreserved, unselfconscious, unironic performance of this highly emotional work. Though it is somewhat conceptual, the dance feels forthright and earnest. Many of Algger’s other choreographies are wrapped in a bubbly layer of camp that precludes vulnerability such as that on display in Lonely Warrior, so this is an exciting divergence from the norm. I’m continually impressed by Algger’s marvelous range and versatility, and furthermore, his execution here is technically masterful. The emotions flutter together in a bewitching tumble, like individual grains of falling, multicolored sand: despair, determination, pain, doubt, woe, melancholy. Each one receives its own mask and body expression. 

The emotional baseline of this work is a kind of stoic despair that magnetizes the viewer toward the character, a hero who struggles valiantly in spite of every defeat. But what really captures my heart about this dance is how dense it is with expert voguing designs. Clean, beautiful, isolated poses that are executed so quickly, entire sequences fly by in an instant. Who can do it like Algger? This is why he’s my favorite. There are several incredibly beautiful moments in this dance that I want to highlight, so let’s get into it.

Backward spin

A lovely and difficult move that occurs a couple of times throughout the two choreography variations is a lyrical reverse spin, or a kind of modified pirouette en dehors. The low, close position of the lifted foot creates a nice contrast with the more angular arm positioning, which flows well out of the sharp, flat, pulling motion that just precedes this spin. To seamlessly integrate a fast reverse spin like this requires a high degree of four core dancing skills: body control, balance, awareness, and timing. All of the dancers in the video do a good job with this very tough move. Algger spins with his characteristic texture, like molten glass. In the context of the surrounding sequence, this move is one of the last of a short series of upright gestures, and it contrasts with the ground roll a few beats later. That repetition speaks to the themes of loss, crumbling, and the corruption of cherished belongings or relationships. 

¾ turn with outstretched arms

Another quick and lyrical spin, this is the move that opens the dance. It is a sudden initiation, and its immediacy gives a sense of the story being joined in media res, implying a long history of this unabating quest, which the dance refuses to resolve. This choice quickly pulls the audience into the mood and story, since it lacks self-awareness of narrative that a more gradual introduction would create. There is no rest for the audience, as there is no rest for the hero.

This is a dramatic, sweeping visual to begin the dance, and it is emblematic of the work’s emotional core: a whirling cascade of reversals, dauntlessness in the face of grief. The arms here move quickly in a wide arc, as if to suggest a vortex. The placement of this move is a little less difficult than the other standing spin. Since there’s more bodily stillness at the beginning and end of the turn, it isn’t as challenging as smoothly integrating a fast spin into a high-tempo series of motions. If you watch carefully, you can see Algger make a beautiful little expression with his left forearm as he bends his knees to begin the turn. It’s like an anacrusis in a piece of sheet music. I love it. 

Shoulder shake with perfect musicality

I’ll always fall for a move like this, which perfectly magnifies a subtle groove or musical notion. In this case, the motion matches a subtle drum fill that adds tension and anxiety to the music. Algger’s shoulder torque here is symmetrical, consistent, and expertly calibrated. It is a bridging move, not a focal point, but the choreography would be much weaker in its absence. This density of motion and concept is a signature of Algger’s choreographic style. There’s usually very little room to breathe, which amplifies the power and the affronting atmosphere. Of course, to create the full effect, intricate filling moves must be impeccably integrated with their surroundings, and this move is a perfect example of just that. 

This ethereal, face-framing hand wave

One of the softest images in the dance, and perhaps my favorite moment overall. This movement has such an entrancing liquidity. Set amongst the hard and turbulent visuals that dominate this choreography, it alludes to reprieve. Here is a fleeting respite from the struggle, barely the length of a breath. Algger’s masterful hand control is in full force here, each individual joint of the digits bending precisely to create an eddying visual, like water dancing on the surface of the mythical river lethe. The hand wave itself is closely followed by the hands and wrists forming a fluttering figure eight around the face. The figure eight move implies disintegration: it resembles a rougher reiteration of the impossibly soft wave, a deforming of the precious thing as it falls apart. This sequence offers a tantalizing vision of oblivion, which slips out of reach before it even fully materializes. 

The effect of gaze is also very powerful and striking in this image. Algger’s gaze follows the mesmerizing flow of the hand wave. It then turns forward for the briefest moment, gentle– almost dazed– and fluttering. As the peaceful moment breaks down completely, angular hands  entrap the face, and the eye contact is lost as the dancers fall backwards, almost as if they were pushed by an invisible enemy (the viewer?). This abrupt dislocation again refers to the motif of impermanent progress, the inescapable clawing of antagonizing forces that allow no true rest or growth. This artistic choice deftly heightens the mood of impermanence and loss, as the sumptuous moment of serenity disappears before it can be savored. Moreover, there is an acceleration to the sequence that hauntingly evokes irresistible corruption. 

This move appears only once in the two cycles, and is the more successful variant. In the first cycle, these beats are occupied by mincing, reaching movements, more characterized by turning of the wrists and arms than the hands themselves. As in the second cycle, Algger’s gaze intently follows the arcs of movement, which give a miasmatic impression of weightless motes. This variant of the sequence lacks the pathos of denied yearning, since the next move, a grasping and running action, flows naturally from the concept, imagery, and physical direction. It is an elegant, mature choice to vary the choreography of this story beat: The diaphanous hand wave in the second cycle is all the more impactful for its rarity and surprise. 

Winged hand swish

Just before that gorgeous hand wave is this sparkling little gem of an image. In the sequence, it is in opposition to a straight, sharp thrust of the hands toward the neck, and it serves as a contrasting energetic reaction. It occurs in both cycles, and is just a delightful little moment demonstrating what unusual visuals can be generated by perfect hands control, with the digits appearing to curve impossibly upward like a bird’s wings in flight. Indeed the shape gives the impression of tiny wings, or perhaps feathers–or embers– floating through the air. This choreography is full of such minute, thoughtful additions. 

Cascading forearm pivots

This is the last fantastic detail I want to discuss before addressing some of the broader themes and patterns of the work. Here, the veil between the story of the dance and the reality of dance as an art form becomes thin. There’s something so heartbreaking about the impermanence of dance. This pose exists only for an instant; I wish I could encase it in amber, hold it in my hand. But of course, its short-lived nature is the very foundation of a charming move like this. Pose is an essential feature of voguing dance, and poses like this that exist contiguously within the flow of a broader motion are the mark of truly exceptional voguing dance. Notice how the static image of the hand extending toward the shoulder exists as a distinct moment, though it lasts only fractions of a second. As the moment dissipates, it leaves behind an impression of the melancholy that fuels the emotional drive of the choreography. 

Conceptually, this move echoes the larger picture of Algger’s body dropping to the floor. It is an early depiction of the concept of thwarted stability. The hand that moves here initially begins as the highest point of the body, as if spared from collapse. But this moment of durability is short, and the hand soon comes tumbling down as well. As an echo, it has less weight than the larger motion, but contains more steps, boundaries, reverberations. It also provides the momentum logic for the next movement, a lateral swing that allows the character to rise again. Unlike some of the other difficult moves in this choreography, Algger is really the only dancer depicted here who is able to fully articulate this extremely fine detail. 

All of this in the span of one second

Mastery over detail is my absolute favorite feature of Algger, and this choreography is bursting with it. Moreover, these moments all have excellent musicality; GIFs don’t do them justice. Algger creates works that are full with intricate designs and layers of connotation; this is his signature as a choreographer. Each piece is a near-endless cornucopia of form, velocity, mood, and concept. 

The primary narrative or conceptual beats in this dance depict a warrior’s difficult path, and often include expressions of defeat, pain, or exhaustion. One of the most striking things about Algger as a dancer is his powerful mask, his ability to never express any emotion unintentionally. The more I notice his exhaustion, the more I believe that I’m meant to notice it, to feel it. Then again, this is undoubtedly a highly demanding and exhausting dance. There’s the tantalizing possibility of a hybrid expression, where Algger could be intentionally lessening his own powers of illusion to elevate the connotations of the dance. A lonely warrior, after too much struggle, drops the facade just slightly, in hopes that his effort will be witnessed. It’s an elegant portrayal of the ideas contained within this song, which describes a longing for connection, a wish for validation of a hero’s tenacity amidst loss. 

Many of the exhaustion images in this piece come from larger, drawn out moments. They tend to focus more on emotion than technique, though there is no lack of lavish execution. 

For example, this lovely hand shape here

In a few instances, especially in the second cycle, however, there do seem to be genuine slips. Here and there, Algger’s reach or rotation becomes attenuated, and his characteristically thoughtful phrasing seems rushed. I won’t immortalize those instances here because it seems rude to give excessive focus to a few moments of imperfection. Moreover, I appreciate such meta-textual aspects, which blur the line between the fantastical, melodramatic story concept and the physical story of the literal performance itself. Certainly, the performance would be weaker if it didn’t attain such a risky, demanding level of difficulty.

Algger’s ‘Lonely Warrior’ choreography perfectly blends stylized cathexis and ardent vulnerability. Broad sweeps frame magnificent, sharp details. The mood is completely enthralling and Algger’s technical mastery is overflowing. Like all of the best Algger compositions, this dance assaults the viewer with its powerful atmosphere. Allow yourself to be swept up in the vibrant, poignant details painted out in effervescent moments on the canvas of Algger’s physicality. 

Bonus thought: In the group dance, I really enjoyed the dancer in the green pants and white shirt! They had sumptuously smooth texture and graceful expression– it was really an excellent performance from that person too.

Next installment: An iconic performance with overwhelming power. Can you guess which choreography I'm thinking of?

[alittlefrenchtree]

so,

Dune.

I’m going to start quoting my own words. A few weeks back, I’d said that, in my opinion, for the movie to be great and a success, Hollywood has to respect the precious source material they had in their hands and Dune fans and readers have to remember that a movie can’t be a book and if the movie is made for them, it’s not only made for them and has to adapt to a larger audience, to people who don’t know anything about the universe and most of them never will. The key — for me — was for Denis and the whole team to find that balance. And I think they did a pretty great job with that. Do I think the movie will met boxoffice expectations? I don’t know. It’s been clear for decades that Dune isn’t, by its very own nature, a story for everybody.

It’s a beautiful adaptation. Of course, it’s visually mind-blowing and everything look incredible. The music and the sound are very powerful sometimes a bit agressive with some interesting takes and choices. It might be not my favorite Zimmer work but it does work pretty damn well. There is a boldness and an unexpectied aspect in the whole OST that makes it quite unique. It feels perfectly adapted to year… 10191 or whatever. Or rather, most of the tracks probably aren’t something I’ll listen to on a regular basis on a playlist (unlike some of other Zimmer work and except maybe for the House Atreides and the Paul’s dream tracks 💚) but the soundtrack does serve the movie quite perfectly.

The movie did grew on me on some aspects. For certains choices of their, I was pretty confused in the beginning, thinking why the hell did they do this like that but, later in the movie, these same choices somehow start to make sense and even to be likeable.

The whole casting is really strong with solid performances. I had some expectations for Rebecca and Tim regarding of certain scenes or aspects of their characters and they did not disappoint. An eventual part II would be almost more importantly for the depth of their characters than for the story. They only had time to make baby foetus of the characters they’re meant to be and they really deserve a movie to unfold their whole potential.

Most of the things we’ve already seen/suspect (the Atreides being given some humanity/compassionate/relatable traits ; Lady Jessica being bit cut off) were indeed there. Knowing what to expect made things easier for me. They didn’t do that bad for Jessica so it was fine, even if one of my favorite chapter about her didn’t make it to the movie (but it made sense since the said chapter mostly depends on a story line that has be rightfully erased). I still regret that Hollywood (because I’m almost positively certain that it’s something coming from the producers) felt, as always, the need to reinforce the relatable ‘good ones’ vibes in the Atreides side when it’s something that has very little reason to be in Dune. According to my sister (who was my control-viewer since she hasn’t read and didn’t know much about Dune), they didn’t make them too relatable at all. She was actually surprised hearing me say it’s worse in the book.

On the other hand, they made some clever adjustments, fixed things that didn’t make much sense in the book. Most of the choices they made, including simplify the whole story, were good ones for the sake of the movie, in my opinion. What we’re loosing a bit in terms of poetry of the writing and depth in some philosophical aspects is counterbalanced by other qualities. The movie isn’t trying to be a book, it uses its own strenghts and assets as an audio-visual medium. Even the most Hollywood-y aspect of the movie are used pretty in a pretty smart way. Even for when I was ready to roll my eyes, they showed me were and why they were going this way and it made sense, so I’m ok with it.

I don’t know if I had more thoughts… Of course, as someone who read the book very recently and in great details, I was doomed to be frustrated about a couple things. These are a few lines of Paul that I was waiting to hear and that has been cut or putted in other people’s mouth. I’m pretty sure they can still be put back in his own mouth in part II so I keep my fingers crossed. Overall, I did enjoy the movie very much and I think they all did a good job with something very difficult to translate. I got chills a couple of times and also a couple of starts/jolt which I wasn’t expecting and were very welcome in the experience of the movie.

I very often need a few times to fully embrace an definitive opinion about something so I’m planning to see it again (at least) a couple of times next week. I’ll probably have a few things to add by then.

Again, if you have question about something specific I didn’t mention, feel free to ask 💜

PS: sorry if it’s a bit all over the place or not completly clear. I’m still a bit tired and English is hard anyway 😅

[im-auntie-social]

time for some fic recommendations!

The @jaime-brienne-fic-exchange wraps up in less than four hours so I’m getting these in just under the wire!

Disclaimer/warning/whatever: I did not read all 1.3 million words :( I really was going to try, but it started to feel like homework after a while and these 102 writers deserve a better audience. So I took a bit of a break and as a result I had to triage a bit, choosing to read more but shorter stories. Sorry prolific multichap writers! You’re amazing and I will get there soon! I’ll even try to comment on every chapter to make it up to you! I also still have a hangup when it comes to talking about smutfic (I’m working on it, because it’s kind of dumb, but midwestern quasi-puritan conditioning is a real pain) so there won’t be any of those in my recs. Again, sorry smut writers! You’re great! Also, this is only main-exchange recs, because I haven’t read any of the Lil’ Oathkeepers yet.

And finally, I am reccing a few stories that I’ve been speculated to have written (and I’m not reccing the one I *did* write), so I’m sorry if that gives away too much information? But see also: less than four hours until author reveals. (also can I just say I adore the handful of people who guessed me as a writer-- I don’t even know what my style is but it’s really cool to know that other people do!)

So here we go!

Part 1: Stories aimed directly at my face (mostly metaphorically)

First and probably most obviously: Queens of Love and Beauty (T, 6k, modern AU) is my gift and I love it! Brienne runs a body-positive portrait studio with vintage glamour vibes. The author even threw in a reference to my abiding love for the calming power of spreadsheets as a special treat for me. There’s a wonderful interplay between historical and modern that highlights the contrasts within and between characters that I absolutely adore. It’s all so warm and pretty and it makes me extremely happy. AND THERE’S CORSETS.

Then we have the modern AUs that I didn’t personally request but still hit so many of my favorite things. Funny Way of Showing It (T, 3.5k) features our heroes as academic scientists (be still my heart!), with a wonderful cast of supporting characters as their grad students. It’s told from Pod’s POV too, which is an absolute delight. Unrestrained Summer Fun (T, 4.7k) has them meeting as children when Genna and Cleos rent a vacation house next door to Selwyn and Brienne. I love Brienne and Cleos being friends before Jaime comes onto the scene, and I adore the dynamic between the three of them once he does. Cleos, my boy! The canon stuff is done really well (I laughed so hard at one bit in particular that I don’t want to spoil) and the childhood-summer vibes are pitch-perfect. The beginning of devotion (T, 11k) features Brienne inheriting a decrepit Evenfall Hall and deciding whether to keep and restore it, and as someone working on a project house at the moment, I found this one very relatable. But on top of that, the slowly-unfolding backstory between our heroes is so SO well done, and everything’s woven together in an incredibly satisfying way. And finally, Climbing Mountains (G, 3k) starts with a Mary Oliver quote so I’m already sold. But then it goes on to spin a beautiful story of Brienne’s approach to risk, and how that relates to Jaime, and I am entirely made of heart eyes.

Finally (for this part), a couple of my favorites from the bounty of space-themed fics. As an avowed and die-hard fan of this kind of AU I was so happy to see so much fun genre work this year! And I haven’t gotten to some of the longer ones, so I’m looking forward to that and will rec as needed. It is not in the stars (T, 3k) is a Dune AU that I just felt in my whole body. I haven’t read Dune in ages but it’s a huge part of my genre-childhood and this story really captured the atmosphere. I would have happily read 100k of it, yet at the same time there’s something really magical about the economical storytelling. Absolutely the best use of Brienne’s blue eyes I’ve ever seen in an AU. And finally, I have to shout about show me where my skin begins (E, 41k), one of the only 30k+ fics I’ve read and one of the only E-rated, but the giftee was so effusive about it (and I trust their judgement) so I loaded it up before my long car trip and holy shirtballs folks, it is incredible. I will say that it doesn’t become E-rated until the last chapter, but also the E-rated stuff is incredibly beautifully done. The story takes place in an original space/sci-fi setting and it blew my entire mind. So much creativity, so much fantastic character work, so atmospheric (no pun intended). (just a note: space and/or genre fics seem to be getting a bit less attention at the moment, and while it’s cool to have preferences, I’d really suggest giving them a shot this year!)

More to come in part 2, this time with THEMED SUBGROUPS!

[rogersandclarke]

ON THE BEACH Neil Young

god great one thank you so much.

walk on: “some get stoned, some get strange / sooner or later, it all gets real / walk on”

see the sky about to rain: “played a silver fiddle / played it loud and then the man / broke it down the middle” -> tbis one is totally my favorite it’s such strong imagery and so sad

revolution blues: “and in this land of conditions, i’m not above suspicion / i won’t attack you but i won’t back you” or maybe “we live in a trailer at the edge of town / you never see us cause we don’t come around” or “ten million dune buggies coming down the mountains” it’s hard to choose.

for the turnstiles: “all the bush league batters / are left to die on the diamond / in the stands the home crowd scatters” -> all the lyrics in this song are really beautiful and raw. i chose tbjs one cause it’s like, oh , neil young baseball song. finally the exact thing i wanted!

vampire blues: “i’m a vampire baby, sucking blood from the earth / i’m a vampire baby, sell you twenty barrels’ worth.” -> just learned this song is about the oil industry. that’s pretty great and makes sense.

on the beach: (sorry this is kind of a long one i just really like the whole verse) “i went to the radio interview / and ended up alone at the microphone / now i’m living out here on the beach / but those seagulls are still out of reach” -> the titular lyric! but also i like the way he says “radio interview”

motion pictures (for carrie): ok i also have two for this one. “motion pictures on my tv screen / a home away from home and i’m living in between” -> i really appreciate this sort of feeling movies can give you as a movie fan who is often neil young-type-moody.

& then “i hear the mountains are doing fine / morning glory is on the vine / the dew is fallin’ / the ducks are callin’ / yes i’ve got mine” -> this one is so sad it could kill me. it’s a subtle sadness but it’s powerful. the mountains are where he wants to be—where he feels be belongs—but he’s not there, and he can only hear about it from others. he misses seeing the morning glory, the dew, and the ducks, but no. he made his decision & he’s the big music star out in LA. he’s got his, even if it’s not what he would go for now.

ambulance blues: this one is my favorite song on the album & i love almost all the lyrics so it’s very hard to decide. so i’ll pick a couple that shine out ahead of the rest of the pack.

“waitresses are crying in the rain / will their boyfriends pass this way again?” -> conjures up images of something that has always mattered to me: truck stops, the people who stay there, and the people who pass through, which is most of them. but for those who stay still day after day to work the diner, the transitory nature of everyone else around you can be painful.

“well, i'm up in t.o. keeping jive alive / and out on the corner it's half past five / but the subways are empty / and so are the cafes” -> beautiful city imagery, close to my heart. but it’s cold and eerie when the city is too quiet and empty, instead of bustling with life. in addition, it feels like neil trying to go back in time to when he was a folk singer on a toronto corner (also reminiscent of last trip to tulsa), only to discover all the other folk singers on those corners have gone, just as he did. also beautiful reference to the subway.

well i guess i really got into it by the end. that’s kind of the nature of this album. it starts loud, fast, intense, & by the end the listener is sitting on the porch swing with neil thinking about the past.

[beautifulgiants]

The World May Be Ending But at Least We Have Lee Pace

He's a science-fiction head, a star of the show Foundation, Twitter’s new crush, and an all-around good guy. He also looks great in this season’s most stylish outerwear.

By Matt Miller

Sep 24, 2021

Lee Pace and I have formed a sci-fi book club. His idea. Without anyone intending it, dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Brooklyn has turned into our club’s unofficial first meeting. There’s The Lord of the Rings and Dune, of course, which the actor has read more times than he remembers. He also sings the praises of his favorite writer, Ursula K. Le Guin, and the universe-rattling Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu. He pulls out his Kindle to show me the Bobiverse series, which he’s currently reading, and to download a couple books I suggest (Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice and Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire). I have no doubt he’ll read them immediately. “We have to get back together and discuss,” he says.

Pace strikes me as not just a fan but a scholar of sci-fi, a world where bona fides count for a lot and fakers get no respect. His reading list may come as a relief to the millions who know Pace, age forty-two, for his roles in some of the biggest sci-fi and fantasy franchises of all time. He played Thranduil the Elvenking in the Hobbit series, Ronan the Accuser in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Not to mention the vampire Garrett in the Twilight saga. Now he’s adding another character to that list: Galactic Emperor Cleon on Apple TV+’s Foundation, based on the Isaac Asimov series from the 1940s and ’50s. The novels are often credited with inspiring Stars both Wars and Trek and defined science fiction for modern fans.

Nonscholars, here’s the gist: Pace’s Emperor Cleon has ruled the sprawling Galactic Empire for generations as a series of genetic clonelike successors, with absolute power. And he looks good doing it. When a trailer for the series dropped this past summer, it caused something of a social-media fervor, with fans online calling Pace an “Intergalactic Emperor Daddy.”

“I’m deeply flattered,” he says of the distinction. “My mother would be so proud.”

He’s laughing, but honestly, Foundation is serious business that comes at a serious time. Our dinner-cum-book-club took place a few days after the release of a grim United Nations report on our future. You know the one: We can no longer stop climate change from intensifying over the next thirty years, but there is a chance we can mitigate the worst possible outcome if we act right away.

“That sounds like a line from Foundation, doesn’t it?” Pace says of the report’s top line. The world of Foundation is based on the fall of the Roman Empire, and it begins with a mathematician predicting the fall of the Galactic Empire. He’s got a plan to shorten the dark age that will follow, but time isn’t on the Galactic Empire’s side. Depending on your personality, it’s either the best or the worst possible viewing for our apocalyptic times.

Pace is in the first camp: “That thing, change, is the only thing you can bet on, that things will change. What the Cleons are hoping for is this imperishable permanence. You can’t do that. That’s not the way it works.”

Pace is the best kind of climate optimist in that he can acknowledge that “there’s a limit to control” without giving up. He’s on the leadership council of Conservation International and has traveled with the group’s scientists. “I feel like, hopefully, some of us during Covid have had the experience of a way of life that doesn’t involve overconsumption and all the things that we know we should be a bit more mindful about, but we’re spoiled, so we can’t help ourselves,” Pace says.

Ironically, for a climate activist, Pace is probably best known for playing characters who lack the physical fragility that actual humans in the grip of climate change have: an elf, a vampire, a Trumpian space king, and, most memorably, a pie maker, Ned, with the gift and curse of bringing people back to life on the cult hit Pushing Daisies. The show ran for only twenty-two episodes in the late 2000s, but it’s enjoying a reanimation thanks to HBO Max. Pace did a rewatch of his own alongside the new and old fans and compared notes. More than a decade later, he finds himself wishing to be back at the Pie Hole, with Ned’s friends. Will there be a second life for a show about bringing back the dead?

“I mean, we always joke about it, fantasize about it. I know [creator] Bryan [Fuller]’s told me his ideas for it, and they sound so cool. Everyone’s busy doing different things. I would love to be with everyone again. Yeah, I mean I’m game for it,” Pace says. Until then, there’s a stack of new books on both of our nightstands to keep us busy.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: November 2021

The snow is starting to fall around here and so I’m given even more opportunities to stay indoors and watch/read/play stuff! Here’s how November shaped up.

……….FILM……….

Dune (2021) Refreshing. I know it’s a remake and based off of a book but it still felt like I was watching something...new, you know? Such a sense of grandeur and scale while still feeling very personal. Just a boy and his mum off on a grand adventure. I’m so glad part 2 is a go. 

Heathers (1989) I watched this back at the start of the month when I was trying to find something to keep the Halloween spirit alive. So not as...spooky as I thought, and it took me a bit to adjust to the movie’s tone, but it really grew on me. I think it’s one that I’ll like more upon rewatching as it definitely left an impression.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bachelorette (episode 18.03 to 18.07) Oof they are just swapping one villain out for the next! But outside of those guys, everyone else is really really great. Good group and great Bachelorette so I guess I’m saying top notch season so far?

Hawkeye (Episode 1.01 to 1.02) This series is based off of one my absolute favourite runs of comics so I’m going into it with a lot of good faith (plus I love the holiday setting). It’s mostly working for me so far but the fight scenes in ep 1 just go on too long and don’t really tell a story. They’re just...people fighting. I zone out. But ep 2 (no fighting! Lots of Kate/Clint banter) is great. More of that.

……….READING……….

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Page 80 of 371) I’m just getting into the book but already it’s been really insightful. There’s a lot to process but I never feel like anything is going over my head. As someone not versed in ethics or psychology, it just does a really great job of catching you up to speed.

Rinkitink in Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) Bilbil is probably my favorite of the new characters. It’s interesting that these later books have less and less to do with Oz (despite the name). I find the books that feel the most natural either feature classic Oz characters or are set in Oz. This has neither and because of it feels like I’m just reading a random story by Baum. Am I being weirdly critical of a story published for children over a hundred years ago? Yes.

The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees Complete) You know when you’re feeling stuck with your clothes? Or you buy something new and it’s not working and you’re like “why?” Same. This book has really helped and in a sensible way. It doesn’t try to push you towards a specific style, rather it makes you look inward to say “what wardrobe is YOU?” while helping you answer that and get on track. Obviously this is for a very specific market/purpose but I can’t recommend it enough.

Dragon Ball: 3-in-1, Volume 4 by Akira Toriyama (Complete) This is where, for me, the series starts to pivot from “fun adventure, a bunch of fighting” to “all fighting, all power levels, all the time”. It’s the transition into what I think of when I remember watching Dragonball Z. It’s...not what I love about the Dragonball world but that’s okay. Only one more volume to go and this is a reread so I know where it’s all heading (and to be honest I do like the “ending” of Dragonball).

……….AUDIO……….

Texis by Sleigh Bells (2021) I love Sleigh Bells’ earlier albums and I think it’s because they have a balance of vocals and instrumentation that works for me. Their later albums leaned more towards vocals and kinda lost me, but this shifts to a balance that I dig. Glad to have them back in the mix.   

……….GAMING……….

Metroid Dread (Nintendo) Just a really special game. After finishing it and giving it a break for a couple weeks I find myself wanting to go back and that...doesn’t usually happen with video games. Loved it thoroughly.

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Back in Neverland after Oztober and lots happened! Alliances with the Mermaids are crumbling and the Party has discovered a secret camp kindly old Nomads! Full session recaps are here in case you want more detail.

And that’s it! As always, let me know if you have anything to recommend and see you in December!

[vannahfanfics]

A Queen and Her King

Category: Friendship Fluff, Puppy Love

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Characters: Sora, Kairi

Hey, everyone! I finally decided to try and get back in and participate in full fandom weeks, so here’s a story for Day 1 of @sokaiweek​ for the prompt “King & Queen”! I hope you enjoy this sweet childhood fluff :)

Kairi cooed in delight as she sat back on her heels to admire her artistry— an absolutely splendid sand castle complete with tall towers, a moat with a driftwood drawbridge, and some hermit crab guards that weren’t quite as good at their jobs as she would like. It was an exceptionally large castle, too, one that she could step in! She’d gathered some big palm tree leaves and folded them up to make a nice, comfy throne right in the middle of her castle. She’d made another one right beside it, too, because what was a queen without her king? 

“Wow, Kairi!” She heard someone cry behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Sora and Riku dashing over the sandy dunes toward her. Their faces were flushed with exertion and their hands clutched driftwood sticks that had some chips in the bark; no doubt, they’d spent the last thirty minutes or so whacking at one another in a “swordfight.” Sora cast his stick aside as he ran up, and then he squatted down in front of her sand castle to admire the seashells studded into the smooth walls. “It’s amazing!” 

“Thank you very much,” she said, puffing out her chest with pride. Riku tipped his head as he walked a circle around it, inspecting it critically before giving an approving huff. Sora stood up to peer over the edge, squealing happily when he discovered the two makeshift thrones inside. 

“Ahh, are you the queen of the castle, Kairi?” he asked, looking at her with sparkling blue eyes. Kairi’s cheeks flushed a little pink. She’d always thought Sora’s eyes were so pretty, not unlike the glittering sea washing in and out of the shore a few feet away. 

“That’s right,” she said as she stood up. She shyly clasped her hands behind her back and gave him a demure flutter of her lashes. “A castle isn’t complete without a king, though…” 

Bless Sora’s heart, though, he really was an airhead sometimes. The invitation was obvious, but he just gawked stupidly at Kairi while he tried to figure out the meaning behind her cryptic statement. Riku got it just fine, though, prompting him to stomp up and jab his thumb into his sternum in a clear declaration of hubris.

“Why didn’tcha say so, Kairi? I’ll be the king of your castle,” the silver-haired boy declared haughtily. 

“What?” Sora objected. “No way! I’m gonna be the king, Riku, back off!” 

Kairi poked her finger into her cheek as the two began to squabble. She should have known they were going to bicker about it. She hadn’t been on Destiny Islands for very long, but one thing she’d learned very quickly is that despite the two being the very best of friends, Sora and Riku had an intense rivalry about almost anything. She didn’t have the heart to tell Riku that she was really asking Sora to be the king of her castle, but what was she going to do about it? 

“Why don’t we just fight it out, then?” Sora huffed and snatched up his driftwood sword. “Whoever wins gets to be Kairi’s king, and even more, the loser has to marry us!” 

Well, it looks like the two had worked out a solution for themselves— even worse, it was one that had Kairi burying her face into her hands as a blush ran rampant across her cheeks. 

“You’re on!” Riku agreed, brandishing his own stick with a wide smirk. “This’ll be a piece of cake. I beat your butt four times a week.” 

“Yeah, but I win the other three days,” Sora refuted matter-of-factly. Kairi groaned inwardly; those odds weren’t exactly in her favor. She peered through her fingers as the boys marched off to the little island jutting out into the sea with the curvy palm tree in the middle— their favorite battleground. Kairi scurried along after them, nervousness swirling in her belly. Maybe she should have just ruled solo after all…

“You’re going down, Riku!” Sora asserted while pointing his stick at him. 

“Funny, you stole the words right out of my mouth!” Riku taunted back, which made Sora huff indignantly. Kairi crossed between them to sit in the bend of the palm tree, feeling no less than a trophy. It was kind of nice, watching the two boys fight over her; a girl couldn’t help but feel flattered. Still… She’d be a liar if she said she didn’t want Sora to win. 

“Do your best!” she smiled at him, and the brunet looked at her like she’d hung the moon for him. That gave Riku the opportunity to spring at him with a battle cry, and Sora only just managed to throw up his driftwood sword in a block before it whacked him over the head. 

“Hey! No fair!” Sora pouted as he shoved Riku away. 

“What? I was supposed to wait around while you made heart eyes at Kairi?” Riku jeered back, which made both Sora and Kairi flush bright pink. 

With a strangled battle cry, Sora rushed at Riku, swinging his stick wildly back and forth. Riku pranced around on the balls of his feet, parrying each blow. However, Riku underestimated the power behind Sora’s swings, so one of them finally caught him off guard and knocked his stick aside. Riku could only yelp as Sora tackled him to the ground. Driftwood abandoned, they began to wrestle in the sand like a couple of dogs. 

“ I’m gonna be the one to marry Kairi!” Sora insisted as he grabbed Riku by the collar and slammed him into the sand. The spongy surface of the dune absorbed most of the impact, giving Riku the freedom to laugh. 

“I thought it was about being king of the castle?” Riku scorned playfully. Sora had been caught red-handed, making him flush the color of an apple. Kairi was too busy burying her face back into her hands again, both mortified and delighted at the boy’s spontaneous declaration. Riku took advantage of Sora’s shock to try and flip him over, but they ended up just rolling over one another until they plopped right off the edge of the circular island and into the water. 

“Ah!” Kairi exclaimed at the sound of splashing, and she rushed to the edge of the island to peer down into the sea. At first, there were just a bunch of bubbles popping at the surface, but after a few seconds, two heads burst through the surface, spluttering and coughing. Kairi laughed, then squatted down to extend her hands to the two of them before they could start trying to drown each other. 

“You two are so silly,” she chuckled. The boys grabbed one hand each, and she dug her heels into the sand to haul them over the small retaining wall back onto the island. They both collapsed on their backs into the sand, chests heaving with exertion, and Kairi sat between them next to their heads. “Did you decide on a winner?” 

“Just gonna take a breather,” Sora grunted. “Then I’m gonna kick his butt!” 

“Save it,” Riku panted. “As soon as I rest a bit, then I’m gonna kick your butt.” 

Kairi sighed, putting her cheeks in her hands. This was going to take a while. Maybe while these two battled it out, she could find some pretty seaweed to string along her sandcastle walls? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. 

It was just as she was draping the last bit of seaweed across her sandcastle’s battlements that she heard Sora’s triumphant crow echoing across the island. She glanced up to see him standing triumphantly over a very bitter-looking Riku, who was nursing a goose egg sticking out of his silvery hair. Kairi couldn’t help but smile as he scampered over to her, flinging his driftwood stick aside so he could wrap her up in an excited hug. 

“Didja see that, Kairi? I beat him!” 

“You did!” she praised. Sora pulled back from her, sliding his hands down her arms to shyly hold her hands. 

“And now I get to be your king, right?” he asked bashfully, a smile playing over his lips while he toed at the sand. Kairi nodded meekly, prompting Sora to wiggle his hips in a little happy dance. Kairi giggled, finding herself excited at his enthusiasm. Riku came trudging up behind Sora, still rubbing the top of his head and looking like his ego was a bit bruised. 

“All right, all right. Now I have to marry you two or whatever, right? Darn, and I really wanted to be king…” he muttered under his breath. 

“We’ll build you a nice big castle and you can be our next-door neighbor, Riku!” Sora suggested, and Riku immediately brightened. Kairi felt a little relieved that Riku was more concerned with having a throne than marrying her. She peeked out of the corners of her eyes at Sora, who was looking at her with this big, goofy, dreamy smile on his face again. 

“All right, all right, enough with the heart eyes,” Riku snorted in disgust. “You have crowns, right? You can’t be a king and a queen without crowns!” 

“Oh, right!” Kairi exclaimed. She rushed back to her castle to lean over the edge and retrieve a pair of crowns she’d woven out of fern frowns and tropical flowers. She put one on her head and dropped the other on Sora’s brow, blushing at the absolutely adoring look he was giving her at the moment. Riku crossed his arms impatiently and clicked his teeth as an indication for them to come stand in front of them, so they hurriedly did so, though Sora and Kairi still snuck glances at one another. 

“All right,” Riku said with a roll of his eyes. They weren’t being as sneaky with their glances as they thought, apparently. “Dearly beloved, we gather here today to join these two in marriage, blah, blah, blah,” he said with disinterested gestures of his hands. “Whatever, whatever, Sora, tell Kairi how much you love her or something.” 

“Okay!” he exclaimed with zeal that had Kairi hiding her flushing face in her hands. She squeaked when Sora pulled her hands away from her face to grip them enthusiastically. “Kairi, as your king, I promise to protect you with my life! You’re the most beautifulest girl I’ve ever met and I’m so happy that you’re my queen and you’re gonna rule alongside me!” 

“Sora,” she said quietly. It was so moving that tears had begun to flood her eyes, and with a sweet smile, Sora reached up to thumb them away. “I’m glad you’re my king. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

“All right, all right, by the power invested in me or whatever, I pronounce you king and queen. Now kiss, guys!” Riku ordered gleefully, pointing at them with a mischievous grin. Kairi’s mouth dropped open in shock; how had she forgotten the most important part of a wedding? She turned around to see Sora comically puckering his lips and leaning in. She barely had time to clamp her mouth shut before he delivered a sloppy but quick kiss to her mouth. Her face went fiery red at the contact, but… it was kind of nice. 

“Yay!” Sora grinned as he pulled back. “Now, let’s go sit on our thrones, Kairi!” He tugged her to the castle, nearly tripping over his feet and destroying all her hard work in the process— but they managed to step over the wall and plop down on their palm leaf thrones without incident. Sora wiggled on top of the folded leaves with delight, while Kairi rested primly on her knees beside him. Her hermit crab army scuttled around them, as if they were celebrating the arrival of their rulers. 

Of course, Sora got bored of sitting there after about five seconds. 

“All right!” he cried and jumped to his feet. “Riku, let’s build your castle!” he said and clambered back out to run over to his friend. “It can’t be as big as mine, though, because you don’t have a queen.” 

“I could if I wanted to! Maybe I’ll ask Selphie.” 

“Psh, I bet Tidus’ll build a castle and declare war over her!” 

“That sounds like fun, actually. Oi! Tidus! Selphie!” 

As the two boys ran off, Kairi chuckled to herself. They really were a bundle of energy, those two. Kairi reached up to her crown, her fingertips brushing over the petals of the hibiscus flowers woven into it, and she smiled softly. 

I wouldn’t want it any other way… My brave, wonderful king.

Enjoy this oneshot? Here’s Part II! Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!