#naturally this makes trawling for fics incredibly difficult

[alteredphoenix]

So seeing that HotS [Heroes of the Storm] is no longer going to get any official updates after being in limbo for the past couple years, it makes me question as to what should be done with First Impressions now. I’ve seen people say that there’s the slimmest hope of Microsoft revitalizing it and the other Blizzard franchises a’la Starcraft that have fallen to the wayside once the acquisition goes through, but it’s not only a year out before we see if something like that happens but there’s no guarantee it’s even going to happen.

Honestly these past two years have put me in a rough, awkward spot when it comes to fanfic writing, seeing as the only fandom I’ve dug my stakes deep into is WoW, and the reception people have had toward it - and Blizzard by extension (although not without good reason, given, you know, everything going on) - has been extremely hostile. It’s probably been the most volatile it’s been since I started playing it back in 2011, so seeing the reactions play out in real time makes me wonder (and has made me wonder since this whole thing started) if it should be time to pack up and find another fandom to get invested in.

And that’s another problem: I can’t force myself to like something if the interest isn’t there, nor can I expect myself to jump into something and hope it’ll spark that interest in me; it doesn’t matter if it’s Flavor of the Month or so popular/mainstream everyone and their dog is enjoying it (name a fandom and chances are good I’ve considered it but can’t get into it). That’s just not me. I am very fussy with my fandoms. I have to have that fandom resonate with me before I do any stuff for it. Other than WoW, there’s Tales of Luminaria...but even though the game is going to get all its content archived (and I hate to indulge using this term, but the confirmation of its shit getting archived gives me the dreaded sliver of “hopium” that it’ll get a non-mobile revival with more budget in the future; that’s better odds than Crestoria getting a manga adaptation that won’t follow the game that features other Tales characters), it’s and my heart still getting Old Yellered; no, the OVA doesn’t count because it’s self-contained and your best shot at learning the story - which, mind, not even a quarter has been told - is through videos that YouTube hasn’t demonetized. I have to hope that fucker gets defibrillated somewhere down the line by the higher-ups that are well aware the cast and story are popular online or I’m shit out of luck with what I’m supposed to write in my downtime. Okay, I still have my Prompt Dump Doc for WoW WIPs but what point is there to picking numbers out of a hat (so to say, especially if some of those WIPs are set anywhere between Legion and Shadowlands) if the community is in a constant state of scrutiny?

So I don’t know what the future holds for me. For the time being, I have plenty of ToLumi WIPs to tide me over, most of all The ZM Fic, plus the WoW WIPs from the Prompt Dump Doc. Beyond that? I don’t have any other fandoms to fall back on; ToLumi was, for me, an extremely rare case of well-earned hyperfixation and genuine interest. Then again, I tend to listen to my muse. I just simply watch and wait. If there’s a fandom to place my stake in it, then hey, that’s one more fandom for me to be in. Maybe HotS will part of it again, too, in the future, like WoW and ToLumi are.

All I can do is play the waiting game.

[dumpsterhipster]

The Trash Dweller's Dumpster Dives: 1

Welcome to my fic recs series, where I try to convince myself all the hours I spend trawling through the Skyrim tag is worthwhile.

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Comfort, Companionship, Confidence - by uttzer

fandom || Skyrim rating || T categories || m/m, gen genre || coming of age, romance characters of note || Talvas, m!OC, f!LDB, Neloth status || complete, 55k

Solstheim may be freezing, but your heart will be warmed.

“Sometimes being Master Neloth’s apprentice can be… painful.” Talvas said after a while. “But if I want to be a great wizard one day, that requires hard work. And that includes volunteering for Master Neloth’s experiments sometimes.” “But you could still say no?” “You don’t get it.” Talavs’s voice cut through the calmness of the room like a knife. “Being the apprentice to a Telvanni wizard – something like that won’t happen again. This is an opportunity I can’t pass up.” “But is it still such a great opportunity if you have to suffer for it? Will you lose it for standing up for yourself once in a while?” “If I want to inherit all of Master Neloth’s power one day, I have to do this. And then it will be worth it.”

Comfort, Companionship, Confidence is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Neloth's assistant Talvas, a young Dunmer mage aspiring to become a powerful wizard under Neloth's stern tuition and mercurial temper. His life and ambitions are thrown into disarray by the arrival of Neloth's new steward, a stranger to Solstheim called Vilco, who forces Talvas to confront what it really is that he really wants out of life and love--and just how much worth he really has.

Whenever I think of the fandom's hidden gems, this is one of the first that comes to mind. It's difficult to believe it's the author's first longfic: for me it ticks every box, from the technical aspects to the much more important bones of character writing and storytelling. Talvas is a perfect coming-of-age protagonist, possessing a very sympathetic and believable mix of gentleness, competence and insecurity, and uttzer does a brilliant job of showing us his strengths and failings and inner world in a way that makes it impossible not to root for him. I particularly appreciated how we weren't just told he's smart and creative, but rather had the opportunity to witness several times over the story his using his mind to solve problems and advance the plot. His was an excellent perspective to view the story through, and his character arc was incredibly heartwarming and satisfying both.

Uttzer's two OCs, Vilco and his sister Ylva, were wonderful additions to the narrative. Both served as perfect foils for Talvas in different ways, and all three had really fun and interesting interpersonal dynamics, both as a group and individually with each other. Uttzer's Neloth was deliciously nasty, working really well as the closest thing the narrative had to a true antagonist. The dialogue was always very natural and authentic, with all the characters having strong voices and very clear, believably personalities.

One thing which particularly impressed me about this fic was its plot and pacing, two of the most elusive elements for fics to really nail. The plot was overall an original one, focusing on this pivotal period of time in Talvas' life, where his future hangs in the balance, but used the Dragonborn DLC storyline in a very clever and deft way to support this core narrative. Uttzer did a tremendous job of using enough of the canon plot to hit that fandom dopamine button while not getting bogged down in gameplay, and only choosing those parts of the game story to use which enhanced their own. Their pacing was also brilliant on both a macro and micro level, choosing excellent times to 'zoom' in and out to make for a very tight, satisfying story (and very exciting action scenes) which never draggged but also never felt like it was moving too quickly. Uttzer also has a very deft hand for worldbuilding, weaving in lovely little worldbuilding touches and headcanons in a way which brought the setting and characters to life without ever feeling like exposition dumping or dragging down the pacing.

All up, I loved this fic from start to finish. It's a beautifully written, beautifully rich and powerful coming-of-age story with a fantastic cast and moving plot which brings Solstheim to life. Oh, and by far one of the best dragon fights I've ever read in a Skyrim fic. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

[ganymedesclock]

Can I just say I love your Coran metas? One thing that really frustrates me in reading (otherwise excellent) VLD fanfic is ~angst~ that could be cleared up if everyone just talked to Coran! Especially Allura, who canonically discusses her fears and grief with Coran.

So I really like the elemental symbolism for the five initial paladins and I think it informs a huge amount of their character, that led me to try and ascribe elements to Coran and Allura. Because I think even when Lance, Keith, and Allura shuffled positions, they retained their respective symbolism.

Lance working with Red still acts like a leg, still acts like a water-aligned person. His focus is still on support, coordination, empathy, interpersonal connection. We don’t see him taking up a “firelike” disposition as VLD codifies that, or operating more according to passion and loyalty as Red’s virtues. He also doesn’t act like an arm pilot, with that kind of high-energy, slightly volatile and fractious disposition.

This is, I think, the nice underlying implication to the paladins’ all having their own colors that they retain whatever Lion they’re flying. It’s because their inherent nature, what initially drew their respective Lions to them, remains unchanged. 

So Allura has her own element, her own identity, and working with Blue doesn’t negate that because Lance’s character wasn’t negated working with Red, nor was Keith’s working with Black.

(I promise, this comes back to Coran, and what you’re talking about in him being overlooked in fic, but bear with me)

With Allura, the element I think that best describes her is light. Not just because she’s conflated with it practically- all of her shows of power come with these flares of radiance- but it’s also reflected by the arsenal of the Castle, which is functionally Allura’s Lion.

The Castle shields itself in a barrier of light, and it attacks by raining devastating beams of far greater power and intensity than any of the other laser attacks we’ve seen. And its dominant color is white, like Allura’s gorgeous, eye-catching silver hair. 

It’s also worth noting that Allura is the only paladin who appears to have multiple colors- she’s associated with white, cyan, to a certain degree the same darker blue as Lance, and her ‘signature’ pink. This would seem to again create an image of Allura as a prism, as light, opalescent in her associations.

In personality, while Shiro is often more of a strategic head in small scale, Allura is the leader of the coalition and she’s the leader of the paladins- she’s their guiding light, and beacon of hope. When it seems like she’s gone in s2e13, the situation is depicted as actively unwinnable. It helps that both the pose she assumed in s1e8 literally reviving the Balmera, and the position Voltron holds when she empowers it in s4e6 are very stereotypically messianic- arms spread, palms upright, head thrown back to the heavens, standing upright and gazing skyward.

So why am I talking about Allura in reference to Coran? Because I think a lot of Coran is informed if you consider both Alfor (fire-aligned) and Allura (light-aligned) and their incredible importance to him.

Fire in VLD is associated with illumination and enlightenment, as well as passion. Instinct in this case refers to a kind of certainty, but also a kind of higher knowing, distinct from the learning and adaptation embodied by the Green Lion and wood. Keith is, functionally, the team’s prophet- and Alfor, his predecessor, was Voltron’s. So this creates a very strong image of a fire that casts a bright light into a dark cavern. Which makes sense- Alfor and Allura were very close to each other.

I think Coran’s element is darkness.

Because the thing is, Allura and Alfor are characterized as luminous people. Charismatic, front and center, brilliant and colorful, seizing attention and connections. And Coran was a part of that; he wasn’t ignored, or pushed aside, but rather, it’s his nature to follow. Light and darkness can be seen as mortal enemies, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Allura at full strength, seated at the helm of the Castle, is a kind of archetypal force. The castle’s size and shields outstrip those of Voltron itself- it can rain devastation on entire imperial fleets. And it is also a symbol- literally, being the castle of a kingdom that long after said kingdom fell to ruin, the sanctity of its castle was never truly defeated. It’s been invaded- some have come close- but in effect, this is the unbreakable will of Altea’s legacy, of Allura as its last living princess. It bears the same sense of lore, decorum, and ideals entwined together with sheer determination that Allura herself does.

Conversely, Coran has no ship of his own. He can work the castle’s systems, but not all of them, and not perfectly- that sort of thing is really reserved for Allura. And he was spectacularly rejected by the Red Lion in s2e6. This, to me, is a pretty glaring indicator that despite his great adoration and fondness for Alfor, Coran and Alfor are wildly different mentalities. Different essential characters.

(Allura was also rejected by Red- but Red let her in, Red allowed her to sit at the console, and Allura is able to understand Red clearly when he calls for Lance, which suggests that they do have their notes of harmony- and Red was likely denying Allura to guide her towards Blue, who would do her more good in that situation)

But think about that. Coran has no signature ship, but he’s able to work Allura’s. Because of this, while all of the other paladins, and Allura even without a Lion, are glaringly obvious, known entities to their foes, Coran? Isn’t. Coran is a virtually untraceable ghost to the team’s enemies. It would take a foe far more attentive and far more focused on them than even Lotor to notice the red-haired man running the microphone for Voltron events is more than he seems.

And with Alfor and Allura both being very light-aligned people... bright lights cast very large, dark shadows. In that sense, a shadow can be perceived as a loyal thing- something that follows light.

Allura is a kind of archetypal active force at the height of her power. On foot, she’s a match for her castle- supernaturally powerful and a potent front line attacker either with the weighted staff she used in season 2 or grappling and immobilizing foes with a bayard. 

Coran, I think, is a kind of archetypal supporting force.

His own identity is probably the most well-developed given his age and maturity compared to the rest of the team. But at the same time, it’s very difficult to pin down. It doesn’t have an obvious glaring hallmark of its presence. We don’t see a signature weapon or ship from Coran to clue us in to his affinity. If my theories about his comment in s1e9 reflecting his weapon of choice are true, then even him revealing said weapon and taking the field as a combatant won’t clarify the matter, by wielding something fundamentally formless and impossible to define.

Because darkness doesn’t clarify itself. It obscures, it vanishes, it acts behind, underneath, and through with the certainty of always knowing what it is, but comfortably remaining an unknown factor.

Coran- happily and comfortably- lives as the man behind the scenes. He is not the king, he is not the princess, he is not the leader- but he will follow them, to the ends of the universe if need be. He will do, and be, what they need of him.

And he’s compassionate, and he’s nurturing, and we see that sort of accommodation also applying to the paladins. After all who could you possibly count on to have your back in any situation, always, but a shadow?

And I think this also comes back to the fact that Coran, quite frankly, has the full capacity to be terrifying and we’ve been treated to multiple innocuous or otherwise offhanded nods in that direction. Such as.... so why was Coran, seemingly, the go-to guy for explaining how to wrestle with one of the deadliest enemies in space back in the day in s2e9? At the same part of his life where he was very noticeably muscular as hell?

(it’d also lend some hilariously meta context to his adolescent emo phase that we found out about in s2e1)

Hell, Coran in s1e11 alludes to us that he was actively planning revenge on Zarkon over Altea. Friendly mustached dad figure seems to have mostly dealt with the loss of his planet by neatly compressing a grudge, bundling it up neatly with cloth, and not acknowledging it until he is actively in a position to shoot Zarkon in the face, in which case he unfolds it like a lovely picnic lunch.

So how this all comes back to what you were saying, anon, about Coran and fanfic and him being overlooked is that- it’s arguably Coran’s quintessential character to be easy to overlook. He’s a really fascinating head to get into with a huge amount of depth, but, you really have to trawl those depths to get to the good stuff. And I’ve said it before- there’s a lot of perfectly good fanwork whose primary struggle is not scratching any of the characters deeply enough. Coran is just a case where it shows very often, because he’s so at peace with, and arguably pretty much lives in, his own depths, that unless you’re paying attention it is beyond easy to forget he’s even there. And the show’s begun to poke at him, his history and deeper undercurrents- 

S4e4 may have been comical on the surface but it is an incredible case study in just how much the team means to Coran, what he’s willing to do and what he’s able to fight off just to be there for the team- and, hell, the fact that he needs to be hijacked by a brain parasite for him to ever push them the way that he did.

-but there’s still way more with Coran than we know. It’s a reason I keep comparing him to Iroh from ATLA: because he very much does the same thing.

Iroh is a master firebender with personal ties directly to the royal family, grieving the loss of his son, and also part of an organization against the fire nation’s aggressive politics, not to mention his own lengthy history as a warrior (see, his history with Ba Sing Se and his mythic defeat of a dragon) and for all that... the first impression he gives is Zuko’s goofy tea-loving advisor. And after coming to understand the serious side of him, it makes it much clearer that he is, in-universe, doing that completely on purpose.

Even Azula, who arguably knows a lot of Iroh’s history, dangerously underestimates him in not immediately going “oh, crap” when he stands up and goes “Do you know why they call me the Dragon of the West?” in a particularly knowing and unconcerned tone.

The thing is we haven’t had Coran have his obvious moment of flexing those hidden claws- there’s been small ones but not really a massive “oh, holy shit, don’t mess with Coran” .....yet. I frankly think that’s completely inevitable, given these guys and again, given every underlying nod to his capabilities. But I think if you’re not really delving in and carefully poking at things, it’s easy to read Coran as someone who just doesn’t have much depth since he’s very much, to a degree, the unsung phantom of Team Voltron. His work is important but often not particularly glamorous or narratively “heroic”.

But really... I think that’s kind of the point. Especially if you consider that Zarkon places a great deal of importance and focus on Alfor, and on Allura- the people he considered worth dealing with.

Coran? Coran was a lesser noble and an attendant to Alfor. In Zarkon’s books, exactly the sort of person he probably would barely even make eye contact with or speak to.

But Coran was the one who flew the castle away from Altea. Coran was the one who made the Black Lion disappear out of Zarkon’s hands and comprehensively denied him that decisive victory ten thousand years ago. It’s arguably on Coran that there’s any ability to counterattack at present.

And Coran- who lives in darkness, who thrives on eyes being turned away from him. Coran, who actively has confessed to holding a grudge and his not acknowledging it since tells us after that season 1 finale, he just folded it right back up and kept it there, maybe rolling it around between his fingers every time he hears more about what happened to Shiro, every time he sees what’s become of the universe under Zarkon, every time he remembers what became of Alfor, of Altea, because they trusted him. Calmly saying things like “Alfor’s affection for his former colleague blinded him to Zarkon’s true intentions.”

Coran is really not someone Zarkon should be ignoring, if the dear emperor has any ability to evaluate serious threats.