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kenobiapologist · 3 years

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Star Wars Novel Rankings

In celebration of the end of this year, I made a tier list of all of the Star Wars novels I’ve read since I joined this fandom in 2017 (which you can use to rank these books too). And I named all the tiers in a dorky but appropriate fashion. I would love to hear your thoughts on my rankings, as well as how you’d rank the books yourself! I’ve had a blast reading Star Wars novels from both Disney’s canon and the Legends extended universe over these past 3 years. Here’s to many more years of reading stories from the galaxy far far away!

I put longer (but not more coherent) thoughts below the cut.

The Chosen One: Bringing Balance to the Force and My Depressed Soul

1. The first spot of top tier had to go to Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization for obvious reasons. You simply cannot beat it. It’s a masterpiece. I literally had to put the book down to scream when I read the prose associated with the opening battle over Coruscant. It gave a whole new meaning to the triumphant music and the synchronous twirling of Obi-Wan and Anakin’s starfighters as they weave through blaster-fire in the battle over Coruscant. The rest of the book is the same way. You can’t put it down. I have wAyyYyYy too many feelings about this book oh my god.

2. Thrawn was a surprising book for me. For being centered on an admiral of the Empire’s navy, it had so much heart in it! I loved reading from Eli Vanto’s perspective too. god dammit I love that freaking Wild Space hillbilly dweeb with all my heart. I think his experiences getting to know Thrawn and learning from him guides the reader to feel much the same way as Eli by the end. Thrawn is a trusted friend, not the enemy you expect him to be. I could have done without Arihnda Pryce but she’s supposed to be unlikeable so I won’t blame Timothy Zahn this time.

3. The Clone Wars Gambit duology is basically Karen Miller writing fanfic and I’m HERE FOR IT. As is tradition with Karen Miller’s Star Wars novels, the emotions are dialed up the eleven. Our favorite dumbass Jedi team is back at it again with a mission to save the galaxy and this time they end up going undercover as two lumberjacks from the boonies. Anakin holds an energy shield back from collapsing with his bare hands like a total badass. Obi-Wan is in love with another woman despite it always ending in tragedy, while also bickering like a married couple with Anakin every ten seconds. get a fucking room, you two. These two books inspired one of my fics so they’re near and dear to my heart.

Jedi Master: These Books Have A Seat On The Council Too

4. Wild Space was appropriately named, I’ll tell you that. It’s a wild ride from start to finish. *slaps the front cover* this book can fit so much of Obi-Wan’s suffering in it! @forcearama has elaborated on the many reasons why this book is a gem in Snark Wars blog posts (linked here). It’s also the beginning of the best team-up since Anakin and Obi-Wan...Bail and Obi-Wan! These two bastards get under each other’s skin but it makes for the perfect character development. This book is the reason I screech with delight whenever Bail Organa appears on screen, or is mentioned in conversation. Bail gets a mysterious tip about trouble on a planet, and Obi-Wan decides to go with him to investigate. Cue Sith-induced suffering. It’s cool to see a normal person experiencing the weirdness of Force sensitives and how the world has this extra level of sensory information in it. Plotwise this one isn’t the best, but I think the interactions between characters really shine in this novel. Karen Miller’s writing is like a cup of hot chocolate to me. Indulgent character insight, full of sweet moments, has a bunch of extra marshmallowy dialogue, you’re reading it to have a good time but not to be satisfied with plot. You get me?

5. Do I even have to explain myself here? Kenobi by John Jackson Miller is both an interesting western-style tale set on Tatooine, and a beautiful character study of a man stricken with grief he keeps suppressed. How does one continue on when their whole family was murdered and their whole culture burnt to ash? I wanted to give Obi-Wan a hug the entire time I read this. The characterization was spot-on, from the way he wrangled animals to the way he severed a man’s arm off in a bar with his lightsaber. And when he meets a woman named Annileen Calwell, or Annie for short, Obi-Wan can’t bring himself to call her by her nickname ever and if that doesn’t just break your damn heart fucking fuck.

6. Ahsoka was the first Disney canon book I ever read and it kickstarted my love for E.K. Johnston. The writing is simplistic, but that makes it easy to jump into. Overall, it’s a quick and enjoyable read. By far the best parts are the flashbacks that mull over memories Ahsoka has of the time before Order 66. That shit hits you right in the heart, man. And the part where Ahsoka equates Obi-Wan and Anakin to her adoptive family ohhhhhhh god the tears they flow like a river. There are scenes that allude to Ahsoka becoming the vital part of the Rebellion we know her to be from Rebels, balanced with her current struggles to survive and find herself. Despite having cast away her identity as a Jedi and having any remaining bits of her culture destroyed by Palpatine, Ahsoka shows us all how bright a hero can shine in the darkest of times. AND SHE WAS WRITTEN AS QUEER! finally some good fucking food.

7. Oh shit, another E.K. Johnston book? Don’t be surprised. She’s a prequel fan and so am I, hence why Queen’s Shadow is so high on the list. E.K. Johnston pays homage to our favorite queen and badass senator Padme Amidala. There’s politics, there’s solidarity between female characters, and Bail Organa is in it so you KNOW I simply must give it a high rating. All jokes aside, I thought the story added lots of little details to the world of Star Wars without it being all stereotypical sci-fi nerdy language. You know how people want to describe something beyond our technological capabilities so they throw a bunch of nonsense together like “pre-praxis crystal bio-anode circuitry”? I’m looking at you, Karen Miller, I love you but please. There is none of that in this book. It makes sense, it adds color and culture and life to the worlds of Star Wars. Most of all, it devotes time and love to developing Padme outside of her place in canon as Anakin’s wife, Queen of Naboo, and Senator. She is all of these things, but she’s human too. I do agree that the pacing is slow, but it’s something meant to be savored, I think. E.K. Johnston really shines when she’s writing dialogue because she gets these characters. That’s something to appreciate, because not all canon books agree with the way we’ve perceived the characters as an audience.

8. Rogue Planet chewed me up, spit me out, and declared me an even bigger stan for The Team. People who say Qui-Gon would have been a better master for Anakin can ~get out~ because I could read about these two hooligans getting neck deep in space shenanigans all damn day. Anakin is like twelve, which is a time in his training that we don’t get a lot of in canon. Personally, I think it was equal parts heartwarming and funny to read about their adventures. There is some angst sprinkled in there because hey, we’re reading about Anakin here, let’s not forget the emotional trainwreck that is Anakin Skywalker. The duo is sent to a planet that makes super fast ships that are ?sentient? or at least biologically active. They bond with the pilot, which makes Anakin perfect for this mission. There’s a scene where these little floof things attach all over tiny Anakin because he’s so strong in the Force and it’s god damn adorable how dare he?? I’d probably rate this one even higher if I read it again, but it’s been awhile. Characterization is spot on and reminiscent of Matthew Stover’s writing in how it highlights the strong bond between Obi-Wan and Anakin, how they’re fated to know each other. I’m a sucker for soulmates, what can I say?

9. Lost Stars reads like a movie. Not a script, but just the perfect amount of detail that you can imagine the scenes but the pacing is still quick, the dialogue smooth and natural. I couldn’t help wishing this was a film because the story was so all-encompassing. The highs and lows of the emotions of both protagonists, their relationship developing, the differences in culture. Folks, this book has it all! It’s a totally different perspective on the events of the original trilogy, seen from the side of Imperial cadets training to become pilots. Eventually, one splits off and joins the Rebellion while the other perseveres in the Empire. It’s like star-crossed lovers, but covers so much more ground than that. And the characters are fully developed. These original characters knocked my socks off, and that’s hard to do since I’m usually an Obi-Wan stan through and through. For anyone uncertain of reading Star Wars novels, this book is a great place to start. Action-packed, emotion-filled, and stands on its own despite weaving perfectly into the established universe. What more could you want?

10. Back at it again with the prequel shit, amiright? Queen’s Peril is E.K. Johnston’s most recent Padme-centric novel and it does not disappoint fans that wanted a taste of the Queen’s side of the story. Set during the events of The Phantom Menace, we get a “behind the curtain” look at how all of the handmaidens came to be more than their title suggests. There’s teenage girls getting stuff done! It makes more sense why Padme was elected ruler of her home-world, and you come to appreciate that a royal leader is not alone; there’s actually a whole team at her side to help her overcome everything from the drudgery of daily governing to Trade Federation blockades that threaten to starve her people. I think if you enjoyed Queen’s Shadow, you’ll enjoy this book a lot. For those that are unfamiliar with Johnston’s work, I wouldn’t recommend this one first because it does cover events you’ve already seen in movies and therefore is a less suspenseful companion to them. On the other hand, because it does tie in with TPM, it doesn’t suffer from the pacing issues of Queen’s Shadow to the same degree. I read this all in one sitting, so it’s definitely fun, but wasn’t compelling enough in its character development to elevate the book past some of the others I’ve listed already.

11. Thrawn: Treason was a refreshing return to the Grand Admiral we all know and love after the second installment in this series slowed things down a bit. Although it wasn’t as character-driven as the first book (which I love with all of my heart), there were still many moments that had me cackling at the disparity between Thrawn’s immense intellect and the other Imperials’ sheer stupidity, and that’s what we’re here for in a book about the Empire, right? There’s a lot of pressure on Thrawn, as his TIE Defender project has been pitted against Director Krennic’s Project Stardust. Who will get the funds? We just don’t know?? Tarkin sits in between the two and as usual, manipulates everything to his advantage. Palpatine questions Thrawn’s allegiance to the Empire after some of the choices he has made, leaving him in even more of a pickle. Thrawn is sent on a wild goose chase task that should definitely end in failure (on purpose because Imperials all want to watch each other burn as much as they want to watch the Rebellion burn), but you know Thrawn will find a way. My main squeeze Eli Vanto makes his return after being absent from book 2. Missed you, my sweet sweet country boy. He doesn’t have a leading role in this novel, but every scene he’s in makes the story better. Thrawn says “perhaps” way too often for my taste, but if you can ignore that, this book is a solid read. Equal parts action and deductive reasoning, as any Thrawn book should be.

12. Most of Dark Disciple had me thinking this was going to be a top tier book, and damn do I wish we could have gotten this animated. We follow Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress on a mission to assassinate Count Dooku. Why the Jedi thought this was a good idea, I don’t know. But I’m here for it all the same. 3/4 of the adventure were intriguing, but the ending didn’t do it for me. I won’t spoil things for anyone who hasn’t read this yet, but after all of the character development, to have it squandered so quickly just left me disappointed? I got really attached to everyone in this novel, and I’m sure you will to. I’ve read this and listened to it as an audiobook, and actually I think it’s more memorable as an audiobook. Would recommend, except for Mace Windu’s voice being exceptionally southern for no reason. Weird. I think this novel captures all of the great things about The Clone Wars show; time to really get to know each character and their motivations, action and adventure with the darkness of impending doom tinting everything, and lightsaber fights! Plus, Obi-Wan and Anakin make appearances in this book and it just adds that extra bit of spice. Worth the read, even if you know they aren’t going to get Dooku in the end (which I am still mad about, screw that guy).

Jedi Knight: Passed the Trials but There’s Room for Improvement

13. Few books in the Star Wars universe are centered around characters with no use of the Force, but in Most Wanted, we see a young Han Solo and Qi’ra struggling to survive on Corellia and it provides a humorous but compelling backstory to both characters in the Disney canon. Han is his usual lucky goofball self, and Qi’ra is smart and cunning. You can see how they grew into the versions of themselves in Solo. While the book stays on the lighter side of things (typical of stories written for a younger audience), there are still moments of depth on droid rights, viewing the Force as a religion, and what life is like in a crime syndicate. Addressing these heavier topics without it killing the pace of the story is hard to do, but Rae Carson pulls it off flawlessly. I went into this book with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had. Han and Qi’ra start off as competitors, but eventually have to learn to work together to survive as more and more people start hunting them down. They’re honestly so cute together, I loved their dynamic. It makes Solo a better movie, and although I liked it on its own, characters like Qi’ra needed a little more time to get to know, which you can get here!

14. Thrawn Alliances was not what I expected at all, and it took me a lot longer to get through. Hell, it has Thrawn, Anakin/Vader, and Padme in it! What’s not to love? Apparently, a lot. The different timepoints and perspectives in this were more jarring than anything else. Although the interactions between Thrawn and Anakin/Vader were enjoyable, it was not enough to elevate this book into the Jedi Master tier. Things felt dry, the characters didn’t grip me like in the first Thrawn, and it all felt like a ploy to introduce Batuu into canon before the launch of Galaxy’s Edge.

15. Leia: Princess of Alderaan was a dive into young Leia’s life before we see her in A New Hope even though this was marketed as a journey to The Last Jedi book, which I disagree with. We really haven’t seen any content about Leia in this time period before, and although I can’t say I was looking for this, I did enjoy it. The book was a little long, but there was adventure and the seeds are planted for Leia to be a bigger part of the Rebellion. The romance wasn’t too memorable, but Holdo wasn’t pointless in this (a stark contrast to her brief appearance in TLJ just to sacrifice herself). There’s a hint about Leia being Force-sensitive but it’s not in-your-face. It’s a typical coming-of-age story but in the gffa. The best part about this is seeing Bail and Breha as parents. I’m forever in pain that we didn’t get to see more of this in movies because it’s so so sweet. Leia must choose what kind of person she is going to be--and what kind of princess she will become. It won’t be for everyone, but I liked it.

16. Master and Apprentice was a typical Star Wars novel, which means it’s full of original characters that are strange and outlandish to serve the plot, a new world full of beautiful landscapes, and Obi-Wan suffering. I want to make it clear that this book is 80% Qui-Gon, 10% Rael Averross, and 10% Obi-Wan. I was expecting it to be 50% Qui-Gon, 50% Obi-Wan, as the cover suggested. Although I was disappointed by that, the story overall was okay. Qui-Gon is kind of an asshole in this? When is he not, though. We really get to sink our teeth into the way he and Obi-Wan fundamentally disagree with each other, so much so that their teacher-student relationship is falling apart. Tragic! They go on one last mission before calling it quits. Qui-Gon is in over his head with prophecies, Obi-Wan just wants to follow the rules, and Rael Averross is Dooku’s previous apprentice that is living his best life as a regent until Pijal’s princess comes of age. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid book. I just don’t vibe with Qui-Gon and want to whack him upside the head every time he avoids confrontation with his own student. My protectiveness for Obi-Wan is showing again, isn’t it? Yikes.

17. James Luceno is one of the most analytical authors I’ve ever read anything from, but it seems to always work? Tarkin is all about...well, Moff Tarkin. He’s ruthless, intelligent, and just downright evil. His backstory was compelling and I found myself drawn into the story by the details, although it is dense and took awhile to finish. I’m not interested in him as a character, but despite that, I enjoyed this story. The plot wasn’t memorable enough for me to recall after 3 years, but it’s similar to how Thrawn rose through the ranks of the Navy, just in a different part of the Empire’s governing body. We don’t get many books completely focused on a villain (I don’t count Vader ones because we know who he was before and the whole damn saga is about him), but this one is good! Don’t be fooled by it only being in the Knight tier. I think people who read a lot of sci-fi will like this book a lot. This is like the opposite of Queen’s Shadow, basically. If you had gripes about that book, you might like this one instead.

18. Battlefront II: Inferno Squad was a worthwhile read for anyone who played Battlefront II. Iden Versio is a great protagonist in the game, and I think Christie Golden totally gets her character. She’s nuanced and relatable. The whole team is interesting and getting introduced to each member before the events of the game makes everything mean more. That’s the real goal of any prequel story, I think. Accomplished! The action scenes are on point, the plot served to highlight what makes Inferno Squad special, and you get a sense for the morally grey area anyone must function in as an operative for the Empire. Although not necessary for the greater canon, it’s a great adventure. Iden and her squad members infiltrate the remains of Saw Gerrara’s group (they’ve become a bit of extremist) and destroy them from the inside. It’s got the suspense of a spy thriller and all of the nerdy space opera elements you expect from Star Wars. Although it’s weird to jump into a story not knowing any of the characters, you’ll get attached to Inferno Squad fast. Well, except for Gideon Hask maybe. He’s kind of a dick.

19. If you’re craving some Dark Side action, Lords of the Sith will give you what you’re looking for. Sidious and Vader crash-land on Ryloth and have to work together to survive, and also defeat the Free Ryloth Movement led by Cham Syndulla. It’s all fucking connected, guys. I love when people weave together stories that fit into the canon timeline like this, bringing in side characters and allowing them to develop some depth. And a chance to sink into the mind of a Sith Lord is always fun, if you’re in the mood to read about destruction and anger. It’s cathartic sometimes. If you’re always wondering, why didn’t Vader just stab Palps when he had the chance, this book explains their dynamic more. It didn’t really change my opinion of any of the characters, which is why it’s not higher on the list.

20. Catalyst suffered from being in a really boring part of galactic history. Despite that, Galen Erso and Orson Krennic have a hilarious relationship that I would have loved to see on-screen. This book really develops Krennic to become more than just the whiny entitled evil man we saw in Rogue One. He’s ten times worse now! But I mean that in the best way, I laugh whenever he’s in a scene, that sassy man just brings me joy. James Luceno is at it again, making things as detailed and dry as possible. I read so many of his stories right at the beginning of my journey through Star Wars canon and it’s a wonder I didn’t quit. Some of them are dark as fuck. And also slow as hell. With this one, I think it all comes down to what you want out of a Star Wars novel. Some people will really enjoy the plot. I think seeing how Galen became a part of Project Stardust was interesting and every time something about the Death Star became more clear, I screeched because I knew what it would eventually become. This book may not hold your interest though, which is why I put it lower on this list.

21. Star Wars: Clone Wars was a decent retelling of the Clone Wars movie. I liked it because I liked the movie, but you have to be able to sit back and enjoy the ride, not thinking too much about the silly parts. For that reason, it’s pretty far down in the rankings. Ahsoka is young and liable to get on your nerves. I certainly wasn’t her biggest fan at this point in the series. The biggest problem is that Karen Traviss is very anti-Jedi. Some authors for Star Wars tend to do this? To me, it’s weird. I didn’t notice it too much because it was one of the first Star Wars books I read, but it contrasts starkly with the truth of the prequel trilogy and some of the other entries in the Clone Wars Novel timeline, like Karen Miller’s books. Needless to say, although this book wasn’t super memorable aside from the familiar plot, it kept me reading Star Wars books, and so it is at least an average book. Plus, any content with Anakin and the clones is worth it for me. I love them.

22. A New Hope was good, for Alan Dean Foster. I’m not a fan, I’ll be honest. But this novelization stands on it’s own. I’m going to have to do a re-read to really go in depth on why this isn’t farther up on the tier list, but the movie is always going to be better to me. If you want to re-live the great beginning of the Original Trilogy, it’s worth your time. I mean, the story is full of adventure and mystery and lovable characters. What’s not to love? I just feel like the movie really elevates the narrative with a great score and fun character design/costumes/sets.

Padawan: These Books Have Much to Learn

23. Attack of the Clones was more entertaining than The Phantom Menace because the characters are in funnier situations. Obi-Wan and Anakin chasing Zam Wesell through the levels of Coruscant? Hilarious, just like the movie. Anakin and Padme falling in love as they spend time together? Holy fuck it’s so much better than the movie. Please read it for that alone. Outside of that, the writing style didn’t really impress me. And my experience with it wasn’t super memorable. There was potential to really make the inner dialogue of these characters impactful, to really develop the story of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme beyond what we could get from the movie scenes alone. I didn’t think it went above and beyond there. Not a bad story at all, but you don’t get to look at Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, or Ewan McGregor the whole time either, so therefore I must rank it lower. So many beautiful people in that movie, holy shit. You can understand my, dilemma, yes?

24. I enjoyed parts of The Phantom Menace book, like deleted scenes with Anakin living on Tatooine before Qui-Gon and Padme meet him. The additional depth is lovely, but I think a story like Queen’s Peril adds more to TPM than this book does. The story overall is still fun. I love this movie so much, it’s hard for me to be critical. I did put a lot of post-it flags in my copy, so it does develop the characters and get you thinking beyond your expectations from the movie. What more could you ask for from a movie novelization? I’d say not much, if I hadn’t read Revenge of the Sith and had my fucking mind blown. In comparison to that, this one is just okay.

25. The Last Jedi novelization wasn’t bad, necessarily. It tried its best to bring this story up to par with some of the interesting novels that don’t have movie counterparts. But still, the plot suffers because of how this movie was made. It’s very focused on Rey and Kylo, and Finn’s little adventure with Rose seems pointless in the grand scheme of things. I’d rather read this again versus watching the film, but that’s all I’ll say on this because I’m trying to keep my opinions on this movie to myself to avoid digging up old arguments. Jason Fry did well, and of the two Sequel Trilogy books I’ve read, I would recommend this one over Ep. 7.

26. The Force Awakens falls short and I think it’s because of Alan Dean Foster’s writing style on this one? It didn’t really expand on anything from the movie, while taking away the beautiful music and visuals. This novel is the antithesis of Revenge of the Sith’s novelization, and for that reason I ranked it fairly low. I wouldn’t read this one unless you really really love the Sequel Trilogy.

27. To be fair, I read the new Thrawn book before I went back and read this one. Even so, Heir to the Empire didn’t impress me at all. Thrawn didn’t seem like a thrilling villain with lots of depth like he did in Timothy Zahn’s reimagined Thrawn novel. We barely saw him. A lot of time was spent on the Original Triology’s trio, which waasn’t bad. I thought Luke, Leia, and Han were all written fairly well. The latter part of the story was redeemed by the interactions between Mara Jade and Luke, for sure. Enemies to lovers, anyone?? Without Thrawn, this book would have been an entertaining story, but for all of the praise it has received from long-time Star Wars fans, I was expecting to be blown away and I wasn’t. Maybe I have to continue the triology to figure out what all of the fuss is about, but after this one, I’m not super motivated to read more. Change my mind?

28. Cloak of Deception really shines when you’re following Palpatine’s perspective because you can feel the undercurrents of his master plan to destroy the Republic underneath his calm persona as a Senator. Other than that, it’s a forgettable plot. This is all about galactic politics and some terrorist group trying to blow up some government officials. Basically the most boring parts of the prequel trilogy. I listened to the audiobook of this at the beginning of this year and I already forget what it’s about. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan should have been able to bring some humor and energy to get you rooting for the good guys, but there was barely any of that. I was disappointed in all of the characters. Everything felt distant, removed from the heart of the characters. Some people in reviews have argued that the events of The Phantom Menace really pinned this novel in a corner because you already know what happens, but I disagree, because we know how Revenge of the Sith goes and The Clone Wars show is that much more tragic and heartbreakingly beautiful because of it. Prequels can be done right. This ain’t it, Luceno. Sorry.

29. Star Wars: The Old Republic, Fatal Alliance needs to go home and rethink it’s life. I’m a huge fan of the Old Republic and I’ve put like 200 hours of my life into playing that game, so I was hoping for some fun content in this part of the timeline. Sadly, this book captured the worst parts of the game, like the fact that there’s way too many factions at war with each other. Jedi, Sith, Empire, Republic, Mandalorians. They’re all here. They’re all ready to throw down. And I’m tired. As with many of the books in this lower tier, I felt there wasn’t enough description of the world or the people in the story. We’re in the gffa, be a little weird and wacky. Be big and bold! Make things terrifying, or beautiful, or both. But give my mind something to work with. The number of characters made the plot messier than it could have been, and it definitely isn’t worth the read. I can’t speak for all Old Republic books, but this one didn’t impress me.

A Sith Lord?! On My Bookshelf? It’s More Likely Than You’d Think

30. So underwhelming, you might as well just read the first half and then stop. Last Shot is absolutely terrible, except for Lando Calrissian’s characterization, which was spot-on. If the whole story had been from his perspective, I probably would have a much difference opinion on the novel as a whole. Sadly, this is not the case. Han was boring, he bottled up his emotions, and seemed drastically different from the badass he was in the original trilogy. There are different timepoints in this novel, and in all of them, Han is unrecognizable. Don’t nerf one of your main characters like that. Daniel Jose Older and I might just not get along. I thought his writing style didn’t fit Star Wars at all. It was like breaking the fourth wall, totally pulling me out of the story constantly. Also, there were little to no descriptions of body language, locations, or movement. It left me feeling disoriented the whole time I was reading. I thought one of the most interesting things would have been seeing Han, Leia, and baby Ben being a family at this point in time, but Han’s family was there as a prop, nothing more. There was a big bad item that was going to cause galactic destruction and our heroes had to go save the day. There was barely any tension and no one lost an arm so I’m pretty pissed off. Is it Star Wars if no one gets their appendage removed? I can’t tell you how much I disliked this book. Which is sad because I was hoping to enjoy it. I like Han. I like Lando. I like space adventures. I’m not that hard to please, or at least I don’t think so.

#Star Wars Novels #tier ranking #long post #i worked hard to put my thoughts into words for you guys #i read these books over a long period of time but I thought I'd encompass all of it in one post #sw lit #i've had so much fun becoming a part of this fandom #and I love the conversations about the books and the gffa in general #hopefully this will inspire some discussion!#i would love you guys to make tier rankings as well #they're always my favorite youtube videos to watch

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qqueenofhades · 4 years

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The photo set you reblogged of Yusuf and Niccolo helping throughout time just filled me with so many happy feels and it made me realize that it seems so common in media with immortal couples that they take breaks from each other and reconnect after a few decades. Which is a great trope but seeing these two that seems to have been attached at the hip since the day they met just fills me with all the heart eyes.

(I haven't read your fanfics for them yet. I know I'm a bad fan but if it helps I havent been able to read anything since all this started but while writing this ask I got the feeling that all this rambling I spewed out is a big theme)

Hush. Bad fan nothing. We all are coping with this stupid, awful year in different ways, some of us by escaping into fandom and some of us being unable to engage with it and some of us doing both or anything else. You certainly don’t owe me or anyone any obligation to interact with our content, fic or otherwise. So just to have that there on the top. You’re good, hun. :)

ANYWAY, thank you for giving me a chance to meta a bit on the boys and their relationship and to have a window into what my brain looks like pretty much 24/7 these days. (I blame them.) I keep thinking about all the ways this couple is depicted in the TOG film and how lovely it was and how unusual it is for me to have an OTP where I actually love them in canon and don’t need to violently disavow it in order to create AU fan content with just the characters. (See: Timeless, Game of Thrones, pretty much any show I’ve hyperfixated on at some point.) I love AUs anyway, because that’s the way my brain works, but the fact that I can also enjoy canon just as much is rare for me and for a lot of us. I saw a post somewhere remarking on how the fanfic for Joe/Nicky isn’t fixing anything, which is usually the point of transformative fanworks: we take something that canon atrociously fucked up and fix it. But in this case, all our interpretations are based on actually appreciating the way they’re presented in canon and wanting to enjoy that and uphold it, and that -- especially with a couple like this one -- is shocking??

Like. Despite my historian gripes about the occasionally incongruous details for their graphic-novel backstories (which are the only things I HAVE fixed in my fics), I’m just... deeply appreciative of the care which everyone, writers and actors and all else, put into depicting Joe and Nicky and their relationship. And god YES, one of the things I love the absolute MOST is that they’re a loving, faithful, committed, happy married queer couple over centuries, and that seems to be the case for as long as they’ve known each other/ever since they got together. (See Booker’s “you and Nicky always had each other.”) These fools can’t sleep apart from each other even when they’re stuck on a freight train in the middle of nowhere, they flirt like teenagers at dinnertime and even when they’re strapped to gurneys in a mad-scientist laboratory, they make out to enrage bad guys and also because they’re just still that goddamn into each other after all this time.

I think it was Marwan Kenzari who pointed out that there’s simply no way to truly state the depth of their knowledge and devotion and commitment to each other. They’re 950 years old. They have known each other since they were in their thirties; they’ve been husbands for literal centuries. There is no way anyone else in the world could possibly come close to replicating the kind of bond they have with each other, and neither of them have ever had any inclination to look, because why would they? Especially with the fact that queer couples in media, even otherwise sympathetically portrayed ones, often have Drama and Third Parties and Promiscuity and whatever else (because of the tiresome old canard that Gays Equal Hypersexualized!), and Joe and Nicky don’t need or want ANY of that. There’s no urge to make their relationship a cheap source of soap-opera conflict. It’s the rock and the center and the core of both of their lives, and everything they do stems from that.

There have been some great metas/comments on how neither Joe and Nicky are sexualized, they dress like stay-at-home dads during quarantine (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are both objectively gorgeous men, and they’re out there looking like that, god bless), and the viewer is never invited to goggle at or fetishize their relationship. There are no leering or exploitative camera angles on anyone, and their expressions of love aren’t posed or intended to titillate the audience, they’re just solidly embodied and natural and lived in. It’s never bothered to be stated clunkily in dialogue that they’re a couple; we just see them exchanging looks and smiles in the early part of the film, and then we see them spooning on the train after the mission in Sudan, which confirms it.

At every turn, the narrative celebrates the kindness and love shared by the Immortal Family, the individual characters, and Joe and Nicky, especially and explicitly in queer form. The villains of the film are also defined by how they react negatively to that love. @viridianpanther had a great meta on how Keane as a villain is especially set up to menace Joe and Nicky as the narrative representation of toxic masculinity, aggressive heterosexuality, and the usual “Kill Your Gays” trope that we’ve all come to wearily expect. But instead, after that scene where Joe and Nicky fight Keane, Nicky is shot and comes back to life in Joe’s arms rather than dying permanently like we probably all momentarily expected, and then Joe gets to FUCKIN’ BREAK THE NECK of the guy who enacted that violence.... good GOD. The first time I watched it, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. (This goes for the whole film, but especially that scene.) Like... when do we get that?? When do we EVER get that???

Obviously, there are so many stereotypes, whether visually or in behavior or character traits, that could have been assigned to a gay Italian character (excessively dramatic, effeminate, fashionable, etc) or a gay Arabic/Muslim character (explicitly announcing He’s Not Like Those Muslims, having to actively reject his heritage to make him more palatable to westerners, being tormented over being gay, etc) and Joe and Nicky subscribe to none of those. I get very emotional about Joe referring to Nicky as the moon when he is lost during the truck scene partly because it’s SUCH a common motif in Arabic love poetry. To call someone your “moon” is a beautiful way to say they’re the light of your life, and since the Islamic calendar is obviously lunar and the holidays, months, and observances, are set by the phases of the moon, this also has a deeper religious significance.

I don’t know for sure if they did that on purpose, but it it’s a lovely and subtle way of showing us how Joe clearly doesn’t have an issue with being both queer AND Muslim, and is able to draw on both facets of that identity in a way that a lesser narrative would have denied him. And that is just really wonderful. Yes, we’re seeing these characters when they’ve had centuries to settle into themselves, but there are plenty of writers who would have forced those conflicts artificially to the surface, rather than letting them be long in the past. It’s the same way when you watch a film set in the medieval era, it wants you to know that it Is Set In The Medieval Era. Cue the filth, misogyny, racism, violence, etc! Rather than it being a lived-in reality, it has to be jarringly drawn attention to, and I’m just so glad they didn’t do that with Joe and Nicky. And for them to have met in the crusades and fallen in love??! Come on. That’s just rude. Rude to me, personally.

Anyway, this was a rather long-winded and feelsy way of saying that these characters are constructed, acted, and written organically in such a way that you hate to even THINK of them being separated, and it’s not because they can’t function without each other, but because they are two halves of a whole. We also see that the characters themselves can’t stand being forced apart: Joe’s freakout in the truck scene when Nicky briefly won’t wake up, Nicky making sure to tell Joe that he’s glad he’s awake in the lab, the whole post-Keane fight scene that I talked about above, the way Nicky fights ferociously to get to Joe when Merrick’s stabbing him, etc. For that to be given to the queer couple, where the strength of their love and devotion is reinforced as one of the emotional goals of the story, and for that queer couple to be written in the way that Joe and Nicky are, both individually and as a unit, is just so very rare.

Because yes, there’s plenty of drama and angst and pain in their lives, but there’s none at all in their relationship, and that’s what fans keep telling TV writers the whole time: they WANT to see the couple confront things as a unit, rather than being kept on tenterhooks the whole time and forced to go through manufactured or artificial drama. It would feel especially wrong for Joe and Nicky, who have known and loved each other for 900 years. The fact that their respective actors also put so much care and love into them is very obvious, and makes me feel even luckier that they’re played by people who clearly get them and honor them and know what they’re doing.

Basically: of course Joe and Nicky have been with each other the whole time, and of course we’re all drowning in feelings over it, and I feel very blessed that this ship exists, and I very much need the sequel ASAP. Thanks.

#the old guard meta #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #long post #roseoswiins #ask

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tasteslikemolecules · 3 years

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Top 5 fanfic tropes you like reading and Top 5 fanfic tropes you like writing

Top 5 Tropes I like Reading:

5. Modern AUs

I'm not actually a big fan of fantasy, horror and the supernatural. I'm mostly into SPN for the characters and their dynamics. I mainly read realism and literary fiction in novels, so if someone manages to transport the characters into novel-length plotty or character-driven modern stories, I love it. I don't really like High school settings, but anything from college to coffee shop to stuff I know nothing about is fine. I didn't like AUs when I first got into SPN, but the longer I'm obsessed with the show, the more open I am to all kinds of settings and worlds.

4. Case Fics The trope lists said this is a trope and not just a genre, so I'll take it. I love a well-written case fic with great characterisation, especially if it's Sam-focused. I also really like love stories or stories that focus on interpersonal trouble with case fics as a secondary plot – perfect for Sam & Dean stories. It provides such a neat story arc and I'm always impressed with how much better fan fiction cases tend to be compared to actual cases on the show. Case Fics are how I like to get most of my Gen fix, too.

3. Slow Burn

If I'm in the mood for a straight forward love story, it's always Slow Burn. It's pretty much the only way I enjoy stories that aren't dark or overly sad (depending on the pairing I sometimes even like some fluff this way). I especially like Slow Burn with obvious mutual pining and lots of miscommunication. Maybe one person 'obviously' being unavailable for whatever reason.

2. Unrequited Love Suprisingly difficult to find. Especially in longer stories. A great subcategory is unrequited love combined with themes of asexuality and aromance. It doesn't have to be necessarily fully unrequited love, but just they want different things. Basically I enjoy the dynamic: Person A wants something from Person B that they can't give/don't want (but they really care for Person A). (Or maybe they don't. Also good!) 1. Love Triangles These are so hard to find. At least the ones I'm interested in. I have only ever read a handful of the type I like, and I always go insane when I do find one. I don't like stories where one person is the 'bad' one and there is a pairing that is obviously supposed to belong together. I like the dynamics of people wanting different things and being unable to negotiate between themselves. I like people being torn and indecicive, making wrong decisions. I like reading what jealousy does to people. I like when love isn't described as destiny between two people, but as a journey, and when relationships are hard. I've honestly thought way too much about why I love this trope so much, but I don't know. It's not just fan fiction. I eat it up in novels, tv shows, movies... The tragedy being, again, that it's mostly handled in a stupid way. If there's infidelity, I don't want excuses, I want to see the consequences. I want to see what acting or not acting on impulses does to people. I want people sad and not getting what they want.

Top 5 Tropes I like Writing:

5. Cas has no grace /Sam has powers It's pretty much the same trope, just switched.

4. Slow Burn Friends To Lovers & (apparent) Unrequited Love Write what you know. 3. Lucifer/Halluficer returns Obviously I like reading this too, but with writing it happens unvoluntarilyy. I just always end up slipping in Lucifer in some shape or form. I guess I just can't ignore a main character's lifetime of hell trauma very well. Sam's relationship to Lucifer is one of my favourite things in the show. That itself isn't tropy, but the 'Oh look, Sam is feeling bad, let's make him see the devil' kind of is.

2. Love Triangles So, I know these are really not 'en vogue', but I already talked about why I love them above in general. With SPN and TFW specifically I love them because they feel, um, quite canonic to me. They all love each other in some way, and if you crank that up a little, violà. And even if you don't: a platonic love triangle is still that ('I mean, who are you gonna turn to next time instead of me? Another angel?'). If you devote your life in such an insane way to just one person, there's not really room to have a full-fledged relationship with someone else in any normal way without letting go. 1. 'Someone (Dean) is gone' Not sure if it's a trope, but I always end up writing this. I think this came up when I started wanting to write Sastiel and felt there was no way for Sam and Cas to explore anything with Dean being there. Not because Dean would necessarily 'disapprove' but because they are both so focused on and centered around Dean. And I also just love the hole Dean leaves in Sam's life, and the way it makes him free and disorientated at once. Because when Dean is gone, he's almost taking more part of the story. For Sastiel stories that means you get them both emotionally confused and vulnerable and... yeah, just typing this makes my fingers itch. Dean being gone doesn't mean dead. This also works with MOC Dean, Michael Dean, Dean in purgatory, Dean being sick, etc.

Overall, I don't really like reading very tropey writing, although it can be fun. I mostly like character-driven, slow stories focusing on interpersonal drama that make me sad. I'm honestly a lot more picky when it comes to writing styles than tropes. I'll give any trope and any pairing (bar Sabriel) a chance, but I nope out pretty quickly when the writing style doesn't work for me.

#writing #fan fiction #sastiel #my asks #writing is hard #tropes #this was actually illuminating to me...

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phemonoi · 4 years

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Review | The Song of Achilles

I would never recommend reading this book before reading the actual Iliad. Why? Because it is not meant as a retelling of Homer: Madeline Miller's narration is, almost literally, fanfic. It's very good, but it is not a replacement of Homer. And it's okay, because this is not her objective. Madeline is writing an addition to Patroclus' and Achilles' story, just that.

I really liked the book, although. I read it when I finished rereading Iliad for the second time, and at the beginning it truly trapped me. Madeline's narration is simple, quick, lively. She is able to portray complex things in an easy manner and that's what a good writer does. Patroclus' moral development is well done, and his psychology is too —and most of the mistakes can actually be excused by the fact that he's narrating the story.

It is a soft retelling of his love for Achilles. He's the protagonist and the story revolves around him and his feelings, and he's able to exclude the entire world around him to focus just on this, which is both beautiful and tiring. I enjoyed very much the romantic parts of their love, how they grew up together, how their devotion towards the other started to build up. This is a very easy, fast paced, summer reading. It's emotional, lovely. But it has its mistakes, many of them—

The first problem I found was Thetis' hate of Patroclus just for the sake of trouble. In Iliad, it is shown that Thetis is a loving mother, a sweet goddess. She knew of Patroclus' death, but when he dies she cries for him and Achilles, and expresses her grief towards the situation. This implies that the goddess was completely fine with his son's choice of love, you know why? because this was something common, it wasn't strange at all to have a male lover. why would she care? However, I recognize that Madeline's characterisation of her is based on other authors and not just Homer.

Another thing that I found annoying was Patroclus being completely obsessed about Achilles. I really liked the idea of his jealousy and anger growing into love and devotion, but it seemed to me that Madeline modernizes their relationship very much. Patroclus is portrayed as a stereotypical effeminate lover, rather than a loyal comrade-in-arms whom Achilles was deeply in love with. There's parts where their relationship is written as a commitment, and I disagree with that. When Achilles is taken to Scyros and Patroclus is panicked with the idea of Thetis taking him from her son's side because she hated him that was difficult to read. After all, Thetis is Achilles' mother. Patroclus often compares his love of Achilles with her love of her own son, and that was just... completely unnecessary.

Madeline also makes the mistake of erasing Achilles' bisexuality, which I kind of hated. While I completely adored Patroclus' and Briseis' friendship and her silent crush on him, I was kind of disappointed that Achilles lacked regard for her. In Iliad, and in many other sources, it is attested that Achilles did love Briseis. It would have been fine for Madeline to develop at least a friendship between them, but I hated that Achilles just doesn't even bother to look at her. In some passages, I interpreted a type of misogyny. Let me quote Robert Fagles' translation on Achilles' love for Briseis:

Why must we battle trojans, men of Argos? Why did he muster an army, lead us here, that son of Atreus? Why, why in the world if not for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair? Are they the only men alive who love their wives, those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man, a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own, as deeply as I —I loved that woman with all my heart, though I won her like a trophy with my spear... But now that he's torn my honor from my hands, robbed me, lied to me —don't let him try me now. I know him too well! He'll never win me over!

(Book 9: The Embassy to Achilles, 311-39, line 410)

Another thing was Achilles being shocked by Iphigenia's death, and three days later killing Trojans without blinking once. I just think that the passage between both stages of mind could have been better put. Another thing that bothered me was Achilles losing his connection to Athena. I understand that Madeline wanted to portray the religion differently, but religion was a very important part of the Iliad, and she seemed to forget that while the Trojans had Apollo and Aphrodite by their side, the Greeks had Athena and Hera, specially Achilles.

A thing I liked was her kind of tricking us into thinking Patroclus wasn't trained in war. I did feel confused that he rejected Chiron's offer of training him, but when he battles in the last part of the book and proves worthy of being called the Best of the Myrmidons, that's when I realised Patroclus is not a reliable narrator at all. However, I do think his skills could've been better performed at other moments.

It was sad for me to read time passing so quickly in the novel because I enjoyed it a lot and I wanted it to last longer. I loved Patroclus' empathy and gentleness, and I fell in love with him very hard. I would've liked to be shown other characters' psychological traits and interactions too, but I understand that the novel has a more subjective, introspective tone. Achilles' mourning broke me down, Patroclus' death is written in such detail it thrills me, you feel it. Madeline makes it hard to believe he's dead, he's really not there anymore. And when you realise is it makes you cry. The novel is rushed at the end, however.

So in conclusion, it is a great novel and probably one of my favorites, but it is not perfect. It's understandable. Madeline's sudden changes in narrative times gives away her lack of experience, and that justifies many of her mistakes. It is totally a novel I will come back to many times in the future.

#Patrochilles #Patroclus x Achilles #Achilles #Patroclus #Iliad #Classics #Homer #Madeline Miller #Ancient Greece #Book Review #Trojan War #Circe #The Song of Achilles #greek mythology

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pooktales · 4 years

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Master Daddy: The Last Nightborne Godfather

Tagging some folks I follow here on Tumblr that I think might really enjoy a super-fancy, Godfather-meets-French aesthetic Nightborne fanfiction. Enjoy!

I finally did it! I got that big bird up in the air! *shakes fist like that guy at the NASA control center*

Today I found the courage to polish off and post the first chapter of my Nightborne fanfiction “Minister Daddy”. You’re getting daily updates during the Thanksgiving holiday, but then I’ll go to normal once-a-week updates. And just to all the folks out there who read my stuff and have been very encouraging, thank you. I still got a novel to write but at least this one fanfic story I really loved the concept of is out in the world!

Read Master Daddy here

Check Out Master Lucien Sabergryn’s Tumblr (I play this character in-game, and am ashamed to say I’ve been secretly saving up awesome posts for him for a long time, so I launched this today, too. He’s so pwetty.)

**I also really want to give a big thank you to @blueburds who did a devoted beta read of the first chapter for me. I was pretty scared, but they gave me some great confidence and helped me work through how to present it.

And now, I’m beta reading a Star Wars fanfic for them! So go follow them and read their stuff!

I've set out to write the fanciest, Warcraft, Nightborne, French aesthetic historical drama fanfiction you've ever read. Nightborne ambassador Master Lucien Sabergryn has a new wife and a new chance to salvage his family name, now that Suramar is free and the shal'dorei have joined the Horde. However, his ex-wife is still very invested in his life, pulling mafia puppet strings even while she sits in jail framed for high treason. Lucien must choose which woman he loves and which life he wants. A new life following Thalyssra as a loyal member of the Horde? Or, to continue enjoying the secret Elisande-era vices that threaten to consume him?

@seilune @blueburds @konietzko-lumenstone @talthorn-sylvoran @luminess-brightcoil @bread-elf @jaw-bones @turning-through-the-never @gloamingdawn @zaneryne

#master-daddy #nightborne #fanfiction #warcraft

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savrenim · 4 years

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you are without a doubt one of my favorite writers. I followed you for ifmlam and somehow, just searching through ao3, I stumbled upon your tma fic without even realizing it was you. i legit gasped when I saw your tumblr in the notes and kind of went “oh wack no wonder this was so good” anyways sorry for the weird ask I just wanted you to know that you’re incredible! doing great work my dude. also you are REALLY good at writing time travel, my favorite trope

oh my gods oh my gods no don’t apologize you are the best, that is the best, I’m so glad that it carries across fandoms

(also, like, oops I have a problem with time travel/foreknowledge as my favorite trope like my current works in progress right now are:

a seer in a world whose politics are entirely devoted to people with foreknowledge of the future attempting to out-maneuver people with other foreknowledge of the future, only this seer, like, can only see five seconds into the future, isn’t really interested in subtle manipulations at all, is really good at punching things. and just flat-out uses her abilities to be unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat. there’s an entire group that’s dedicated to taking her down but she keeps just, like, thwarting them without even knowing they exist and proceeds to accidentally pull a government takeover because the person that she’s just been assigned to protect from other seers went “what if, hear me out, I fucking hate my home country, elections are coming up, and by being really good at punching things we can win” and she goes “that’s how normal people make friends, right, they pull government takeovers together”. not to mention that the entire universe devolves into a bunch of even weirder multiverse timelines by, like, the sixth book in, but it does just start with seers (an original work)

not about time travel at all but it sneaks in there a little bit because it’s set in space so I use actual general relativity for the plot points (the lesbian hadestown in space fanfic)

not really about time travel so much as implications of special relativity and time on society, half of the tensions in the setting are about the deep societal tensions when a bunch of planet-colonizing ships were sent out across the galaxy at only, like, 15x the speed of light, and then portal technology was developed so when they got places circa a hundred years later the planets were already settled, except, like, the book itself is focused almost entirely on a huge ridiculous spacerace a la Redline (an original work)

okay this one is just “cowboy bebop bounty hunter in space aesthetic except, like, they’re a bounty hunter for ghosts. they use EM tech to just punch ghosts in the face. except half the time it’s not a ghost it’s faulty wiring and solar flares or, like, a weird alien fungus, so it’s also just this person going around being a discount home inspector but for space stations and terraforming colonies” I think there’s no time travel at all. some weird things about souls and psychic powers and cloning which is also a trope I love and appears in trash novel arguably in two separate places, but no time travel (an original work)

and then Book 2 of gay murder elf bachelorette heavily featured seer shenanigans and Iria Strell has been fucking obsessed with The Prophecy ever since, to the degree that a major meme of the entire story has become

(the GMEB letters are kind of fanfic? canonical fanfic. I need to finish Book 5 because it’s Good)

which means counting ifmlam five out of the six major writing projects that I am working on now have some sort of time shenanigans/ time travel/ legitimate physics about time/ foreknowledge of the future as a major plot point)

#my life #my writing #I think physicists are just obsessed with time because it is the single thing that makes the laws of physics break down the most #it's the one thing we can't get to cooperate so it's the one thing we can't let go of #also thank you so so much for this ask #I don't know how to articulate enough how much you've made my day

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loopy777 · 4 years

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I got an anonymous Ask that seems to be inquiring, in a roundabout fashion, about my methods for focusing on a single work and finishing it, but it mentions another author in a manner that I consider to be insulting, so I’m not going to directly reply to it. It also helps that I’ve only sampled that author’s works (liking what I tried) and haven’t had the time to read more, so I can’t even begin to analyze the author or guess at her methods.

What I will do is share my patented Loopy’s 8-Step Guide to Finishing Fanfic Projects! Follow these steps, and you can’t go wrong!

1. Don’t have any kind of social life. This step is critical. Don’t have friends you hang out with, don’t have romances, don’t have spouses, don’t have kids, don’t go to parties. You are allowed to attend geek conventions and celebrate holidays, and sometimes watch Youtube videos, but only about once a month. I am anti-social and the only family I have relying on me are all at least my age, so I can devote all my free time to planning and writing fanfic, if I desire. No, I’m not joking. I’m just wording this in a humorous fashion so that people don’t feel sorry for me. Yoink!

2. Plan it all out The writing phase is no time to be figuring out what happens next. Writing is hard enough. Do yourself a favor and figure out every major portion of the plot, and the vague connecting tissue, so that when you’re writing you can focus on word choice, scene staging, pacing, etc. I find it helps to outline the whole story first. Then I outline the smaller phases in more detail, focusing on the earlier portions because I’m inevitably going to change my mind about things as I write. I outline each chapter as I’m getting ready to write it, and for important conversations, I outline the points that each character needs to hit in between the banter. Having a plan means you have a guide into dangerous territory. It also means you have a plan that you can throw away in a dash of inspiration, and that’s always fun!

3. Stick to a ruthless update schedule I recommend weekly or biweekly updates, because anything longer and I think there’s a risk of readers forgetting what your story is about. But the best thing about making the schedule paramount is that it’s a great way to force yourself to settle for Good Enough. Sure, maybe the writing could be better, but it’s time to update. Maybe events don’t feel natural enough, but it’s time to update. Maybe you need to sit down and completely rework this part of the plot, but it’s time to update. This works out because the dirty secret of storytelling is that quality doesn’t actually matter- at least, not in the short term, as you should also...

4. Design your story to fail Even when things have been going well -- great, even -- you can stumble right into a scene or a plot point that just isn’t providing what you want from it. If you could get over this hill, the story would flow again, but this one stupid scene is critical and it’s holding everything else up. Gah! So, instead of not updating your story until you can make this part work, just leave whatever you have and make the next part awesome. Readers will forget the mediocre part as soon as they get something good. Just make sure there’s more Good in your story than Mediocre, and definitely don’t end a chapter on Mediocre. This is why the planning portion is critical, so that you can line up a whole bunch of great scenes or plot points, rather than trying to play catch-up during the writing phase when you produce flat results.

5. Hide your failures This isn’t the same kind of failure in the previous step. Even if you plan it all out properly (or more likely because you got impatient and just jumped into writing for the fun of it), sometimes your stories aren’t going to work and don’t feel like they merit more of your attention. Maybe the words just refuse to flow with this idea, no matter which scene or part you try to work on. Maybe the plans that seemed so cool in summary or outline become stupid when written out. I might very well have as many aborted stories as the author mentioned in the original Ask, but the difference is that I didn’t post mine. They’re sitting on my hard-drive. Never to be seen. Even though some of them are pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Thus, as far as you people know, I have a 100% completion rate. Because the key to overcoming the odds is always cooking the books.

6. For longer works, train and plan for a marathon A lot of people think writing a novel is basically the same as writing a bunch of unconnected short stories, aside from a novel requiring a little more planning. This is wrong. It is, emotionally and creatively, the difference between running a marathon and running a bunch of sprints. I had to train my way up to writing long works, starting with short stories for a long time, expanding into novellas, and then a novel, and then a Doorstopper With More Words Than The Lord Of The Rings. And, even after I trained up to that level, I still had to plan out breaks. I had to identify which months of the year would leave me less writing time, and work that into my update schedule. I had to figure out which parts of the story would emotionally exhaust me, so that I would have time to recharge afterwards. I had to figure out a balance with other projects, such as Shipping Weeks, that I wanted to take on. I had to decide if I had enough time to even play that 100-hour video game that would be coming out next year, if I also wanted to keep my story updating. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t. Too bad, as people seemed to really like that game.) Writing long works is an endurance test, even if you only write in short bursts. And the only way to find the motivation for it is to...

7. Love your ending more than the rest of the story put together A lot of people make the mistake of having the ending of their story only being a tying up of plot threads. That is wrong. Yes, endings need to do that, but if that’s all they’re doing, then both you and the reader don’t have any motivation to actually read them. An ending that provides a satisfying resolution to a plot thread is also an ending that can probably be guessed by someone who has thought about that plot thread. That doesn’t mean you should try to make the ending a surprise or twist (unless you also like to do that, which I do), it means you need to give the ending the punch, the impact, the meaning that makes reading the final product so much more than reading a summary of the same events. You definitely shouldn’t have the best part of the story, the part you’ve been most motivated to write, in the middle. What keeps me going through all my stories is the desire to get to that ending and reveal it in proper form to the world, because I make my endings the point of the entire story. A whole novella about stealing trains is just to properly set up the moment when Mai reaches out to touch Zuko’s face for the first time. A world-spanning epic is just to set up the moment when Aang finds the ultimate use for his connections to other people. If the ending is the best part of the story, the part you believe in the most, then that’s the best possible motivation to get through the rest of it. However, there’s one more critical component that ties into this, and that’s to...

8. Love your whole story Yes, love the ending most of all, but if you don’t love all of it, then you still won’t have enough motivation to write the whole thing. While I am always eager to reveal the ending of my stories to the audience for that final, wonderful impact, I’m also always eager to reveal the next plot twist, the next character introduction, the next joke, the next fight scene, the next clue in the mystery, and so on. Whatever you’re writing is always the hardest part, but knowing that if you finish this, you’ll get to that- well, that’s the track that will get your train to the station. Because the key to writing is not to love writing. No one does, except maybe poets, and who cares about poetry? Writing is awful. I love storytelling, but I’ll never be able to draw and can’t do public speaking and can only admire music from afar (or through ignorant imitation), so I write. If we live in an age where an Old Storyteller would hang out in the town tavern and tell tales to the kids and the young at heart, I’d be doing that instead.

Or, at least, that’s how it all works for me. But I might not be right in the head.

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loucifieri · 6 years

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NDRV3 HPA AU characterization notes

(also added some additional details on their character designs :D) I already made a character guide of the kids here, but after writing a spontaneously updated fanfic about their school/dorm life, I now have a better grasp of how to portray them in this AU. More under the cut~

Family headcanons here

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The HPA AU comics I’ve been doing admittedly focused more on certain characters, so I’ve hardly thought about how to flesh out the others. To remedy that, I wrote a chatfic that revolved around them as a class and what started as something ‘just for fun’ turned into something a bit more serious, complete with plot and drama (which is strange for something in a chatfic format lol).

Kaede Akamatsu: The cheerful, charismatic and kind pianoholic who promotes friendship and cooperation, earning her the position of Class Representative. Selfless and empathetic to a fault, but can be quite pushy and bossy. Behind her confident facade, Kaede is insecure of not being able to live up to her responsibilities believing that all she’s ever good at is playing the piano, going by a ‘fake it til you make it’ attitude so as not to disappoint the people that relied on her ‘leadership.’ She has a tendency to be tactless towards people when very annoyed or under extreme stress.

Add: While not a very good cook, Kaede is an experienced baker.

Closest friend/s: Shuichi (childhood best friend), Rantaro, Kaito, Maki, Kirumi, Tenko (she is at least good friends with everyone in class tho)

Shuichi Saihara: The meek and soft-spoken detective in training who eventually fills the role of assistant class rep to Kaede. Cool-headed and intelligent, Shuichi shows promise of being proactive and responsible, but has difficulty in asserting himself due to confidence issues. He can be very emotional, prone to easily cry when overwhelmed by negative emotions. He also struggles with depression at times, although he tries to hide it as best he could. To people he is close with, Shuichi can be quite sassy and would joke about his ‘emo aesthetic.’

(When Shuichi wore his hat, his necktie is the standard red one)

Add: Shuichi is an avid fan of all things detective (looks up to Kyoko Kirigiri, has a sizable collection of Nancy Drew Books and Detective Conan Manga, retweets a lot of Sherlock Holmes quotes etc.)

Closest friend/s: Kaede (childhood best friend), Kaito, Maki, Kokichi, Kiibo

Kokichi Ouma: The self proclaimed supreme leader, he is a compulsive liar and prankster, fond of being disruptive and annoying towards his peers. While he tends to lie a lot, it’s not as outrageous and over the top (like in-game), and he would never push the buttons of anyone who was already distressed. Behind his outward unpleasantness, Kokichi cares a lot about his classmates, often calling them out on their bad habits (albeit it’s also in an unpleasant way) and looking out for them in his own unique way (which is subtle, at most). He dreads showing this side of him to class 79, as this was a sign of attachment on his part and this was only reserved to D.I.C.E members initially.

Add: Kokichi doesn’t know how to dance.

Closest friend/s: Rantaro, Shuichi

Maki Harukawa: The surly, unapproachable ‘assassin’ who is the walking definition of a tsundere. She dislikes socializing with her classmates, mostly because of her inability for small talk and difficulty to relate with her peer group as she spent most of her time dealing with children (in the orphanage). Maki is blunt but not unkind, and may be occasionally dismissive but (secretly) greatly appreciates those who reach out to her. Being emotional is Maki’s greatest pet peeve, making her great at compartmentalizing and repressing her emotions.

Add: Maki was physically conditioned and trained to be an assassin but it was for her to be Motion Capture stunt girl for an assassin-centric game. Has not killed anyone in real life, but physically can if desired.

Closest friend/s: Kaito, Shuichi, Kaede

Kaito Momota: The loud-mouthed and passionate astronaut who likes to give pep talks more than Kaede. Kaito pretty much keeps the class lively with his dumb antics. Despite his air of stupidity, he is quite street smart and a good judge of character. He has patriarchal views on gender roles, naturally irking most of his female peers. Additionally, he is hot-headed, stubborn and very competitive. True to his very upbeat and positive persona though, he dislikes showing weakness/ appearing weak. Kaito suffers from Tuberculosis, hence he coughs a lot.

Add: Kaito makes the best omelettes.

Closest friend/s: Maki, Shuichi, Kaede, Ryoma (one-sided)

Rantaro Amami: The lax and enigmatic adventurer who likes to meme, apart from traveling the world. Rantaro has a big brother vibe to him, but can be quite silly at times. He is fond of recounting experiences about his travels, often retelling them in a more imaginative version. Despite his nonchalant approach on everything, Rantaro is very particular on people’s perspective of him. He craves to be an important figure among his classmates, just like his central role on his siblings’ lives.

Add: Rantaro has a Youtube channel where he makes travel vlogs in the style of Bear Grylls’ Man VS Wild.

Closest friend/s: Tsumugi (middle school bestfriend), Kokichi, Kaede, Kiibo, Korekiyo

Kirumi Tojo: The responsible and mature maid with a strict adherence to her creed on selfless devotion. Kirumi is very capable of doing any (reasonable) task given to her, completing them with practiced efficiency. Taking her talent more seriously, she appears impassive and mechanical to her classmates. Her maid schtick is actually a conscious effort for her; beneath the carefully-maintained frigid and collected persona is a shy and anxious Kirumi with personal whims and ambitions. She has a sense of humor and would sometimes tease her classmates in some way or another (which always takes them by surprise). She can be quite condescending and judgmental when pushed to the limit.

Add: Kirumi is a closet bookworm, and has a collection of cheesy, young adult romance novels (may or may not own some raunchy ones).

Closest friend/s: Ryoma, Kaede

Korekiyo Shinguji: The studious and aloof anthropologist who revels in the beauty of humanity. Kiyo likes to observe people, mentally taking note of the intricacies of human nature, although this hobby of his isn’t taken kindly by some. Ambitious and resourceful, he spends a lot of time reading to further his knowledge. In turn, he is quite socially inept and often scares away any ‘potential friend’ with his intelligent ramblings. He is very close with his sickly older sister, but gets annoyed with her fussiness.

Add: He is a capable illustrator, often adding sketches on his journal of anthropological notes.

Closest friend/s: Rantaro, Gonta, Angie

Tsumugi Shirogane: The quirky cosplayer and talented seamstress with a habit of referencing popular and obscure pop culture stuff. Tsumugi is an avid fan of a lot media, from games to animes to TV shows, both western and japanese, often spending most of her time in her room to indulge in her fandoms. She also has a tendency to break the fourth wall and would reference the ‘NDRV3 canon universe.’ Tsumugi is quite insecure of her geeky side, and is a bag of nerves when under the spotlight. She is cowardly and unable to stand her ground, often playing for both sides in an argument in an effort to please both.

(the only one wearing the HPA uniform without modifications lol)

Add: She is a big fan of Junko Enoshima (a fashion blogger with her own brand of clothing).

Closest friend/s: Rantaro (middle school bestfriend)

Ryoma Hoshi: The stoic and detached Pro Tennis player who is very fond of felines. Ryoma likes to spend most of his time alone and would often disappear to god knows where. He is responsive when in conversation, talking in a melancholic tone. He is profound and insightful, open to giving advice freely to those in need. While very patient, he is vindictive and unforgiving to those who wronged him horribly. His whole family was murdered by a mafia group (leaving him with just the family cat) and he has since personally chased leads that will bring the perpetrators to justice. Despite his pursuit of the killers, he is not interested in delivering justice on his own and merely conducted his own investigation to aid law enforcement.

Add: Ryoma has a folder of cat game apps on his phone, his favorite in particular being Neko Atsume.

Closest friend/s: Kirumi, Gonta

Gonta Gokuhara: The gentle giant with a fascination on animals, particularly insects. Gonta is good-natured (very kind, polite and honest) but naive and childish. In spite of this, he cannot be easily tricked by Kokichi and would sometimes even join in on roasting him. He wants to be a gentleman and really tries his best to exhibit qualities of such. While not academically smart (being raised in the wild), he has extensive knowledge on flora and fauna. Gonta has bouts of self-doubt, believing himself to be incapable of anything. He can be very hard on himself and would do reckless things to prove himself.

Add: Contrary to most of his classmates’ impression on him, Gonta is not technologically challenged. He plays Overwatch in his free time (he mains Bastion).

Close friend/s: Ryoma, Korekiyo

Miu Iruma: The lewd and brash inventor with onion skin. Miu is outspoken and campy, often considered obnoxious by her classmates. She likes to make dirty jokes and projects an air of self-importance, but is also quick to deflate when reprimanded or talked back at. Being neglected her whole life, Miu wants attention, hence her over the top personality but this in turn made her a deplorable person. She spends most of her time building knickknacks to stave off the loneliness she feels. Over time, she does try to be less of a difficult person.

Add: Miu doesn’t know how to swim or ride a bike (but she can invent something that will keep her afloat on water and something that can keep her balanced on the bike).

Close friend/s: Kiibo

Kiibo Idabashi (not a Robot): The well-meaning and pacifistic Robotics Engineer that has a difficulty in relating with his fellow humans. Kiibo has lived a very sheltered life and has not been exposed to any social interaction with his age group prior to his enrollment at Hope’s Peak, making him quite stiff and robotic. He is very shy and apprehensive at speaking in class or called to recitation. He is also wimpy, but can get very defensive of his robotic creations.

Add: Kiibo missed out a lot on his childhood, so class 79 would often indulge him on what he was deprived of (like having pizza, playing tag and watching animated films).

Close friend/s: Miu, Shuichi, Rantaro

Tenko Chabashira: The energetic and cheerful aikido master who loves to defend girls from the degenerate MENaces. Tenko loves to be active, often encouraging the girls to exercise (especially those with a sedentary lifestlye). A fiery character, she wears her emotions on her sleeves and reacts strongly on impulse. She has a on a hair trigger temper, especially if the aggressor involves a guy and has a tendency to be physically violent. Tenko’s distaste towards men in general stems from a dark past: she and her mother suffered abuse from her own father. Her mother was eventually murdered by her father in front of her (at a young age) and after her father was subsequently locked up, she was taken in by her mother’s friend who was matriarchal.

Add: She is an adept shogi and chess player.

Close friend/s: Himiko, Angie, Kaede

Himiko Yumeno: The resident sloth who also happens to be a magician (er… mage). Himiko is very lethargic, dislikes doing almost any physical activity, often trying to weasel her way out of doing assigned tasks and the like. She isn’t dismissive of social interaction though, and is quite talkative when you start a conversation with her. She loves to watch youtube videos and web series, particularly korean drama. She is good at math, and would tutor Angie and Tenko when pestered enough.

Add: Himiko is ambidextrous, and can seamlessly use chopsticks with her left hand.

Close friend/s: Tenko, Angie

Angie Yonaga: The eccentric and bubbly artist with a deep devotion to an obscure religion. Angie is a pious devotee of Atua, and is willing to provide for the spiritual needs of her classmates. She loves mentioning unusual habits and customs from her island home, such as blood sacrifices and orgies. Hardly anything fazes her, this nonchalance and ignorance being considered sinister by some of her peers. Even with the best intentions in mind, she sometimes used religion to get what she wanted.

Add: Angie owns four horses (named War, Famine, Pestilence and Death) that Hope’s Peak allowed her to keep in school (for some reason). Their stables were located at the student/staff parking lot.

Close friend/s: Korekiyo, Tenko, Himiko

Great Gozu: The former Ultimate Wrestler is now the homeroom teacher of Class 79A. Despite his intimidating physique, he is gentle, patient and very supportive. He becomes quickly attached to class 79A and is quite protective of them.

And now for the romantic relationships~ (I inadvertently retconned some stuff from the HPA AU comics in the fanfic version apparently, I’m not very good at slow burn lol)

Kaede//Kirumi: Both of them are altruistic, though one is out of pure selflessness while the other due to moral obligation. Kaede is the first to develop a crush on the other, mostly out of physical attraction but it’s Kirumi that first falls in love between the two of them. Kirumi is mostly drawn to Kaede’s comforting presence and empathic nature, and is impressed with the pianist’s diligence in perfecting her musical craft. Kaede admires the maid’s dedicated work ethic, and is very enamored with Kirumi’s elegance and grace. Kaede’s considerate nature holds her back from pursuing Kirumi head-on out of respect for the maid’s seemingly unshakeable adherence to her creed of selfless devotion, while Kirumi struggles internally in balancing her whims and sticking to her creed. This results in them tiptoeing around their feelings towards each other.

Shuichi//Kokichi: One lies while the other exposes the truth. Kokichi, despite his growing interest on the detective, denies his feelings. Shuichi, initially unconfident about his chances with the supreme leader, takes the leap and reveals his feelings first. Kokichi is drawn to Shuichi’s intelligence, good-natured personality and cute face (and he may or may not have a detective kink). Shuichi is drawn to Kokichi’s complex personality, considering it a mystery puzzle only he could solve. Both Kokichi and Shuichi suffer from insecurities that the other deserve better than themselves; Kokichi believes Shuichi wouldn’t fall for him because of his complicated personality while Shuichi thinks Kokichi was in love with the more appealing Kaito, somewhat resigned he has no chance.

Kaito//Maki: Polar opposites and yet both hide the same thing; one relies on outward emotion to hide a weakness while the other represses emotion to hide a weakness. Kaito is greatly drawn to Maki’s independent and capable mindset but struggles with his own sexist mindset. Maki falls for Kaito’s endearing personality, but struggles to make sense of her romantic feelings. Eventually, they both overcome their weaknesses. Maki is the first to fall for the other, and while she is also the one to confess her feelings first, it was Kaito who first changed his ways, learning to be less sexist. Maki avoids Kaito when her feelings toward him intensified, but this unfazed the astronaut and remained wooing her consistently.

Tenko//Himiko: Polar opposites that balance each other out. Tenko and Himiko may have been the first pair to be immediately drawn to each other but they are the last pair to be officially together. Tenko’s more active lifestyle gets Himiko to reconsider her lethargic nature while Himiko’s relaxed attitude grounds Tenko’s overactive nature. Tenko was drawn to Himiko from the get-go, and while the smaller girl was initially annoyed by the aikido master being insistent, she eventually warms up to her. They subsequently act like girlfriends, but surprisingly their ‘official’ get together doesn’t happen til later.

[others to be added lol]

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dollsome-does-tumblr · 3 years

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fic stuff!

Thanks for tagging me, @ladytharen! I have absolutely filled this out before, but like that’s gonna stop me now!!!!!

name: DOLLSOME!

fandoms: Too many to decently mention, but the fandoms I’ve posted a handful or more fics in are, according to good ol’ AO3: Gilmore Girls (34), The Office (US) (26), Merlin (TV) (20), Downton Abbey (17), Dollhouse (16), Game of Thrones (TV) (14), Reign (TV) (12), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) (11), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (11), Angel: the Series (9), 30 Rock (9), Doctor Who (8), Killing Eve (TV 2018) (7), Community (TV) (6), Good Omens (TV) (5), Grace and Frankie (TV) (5), The Durrells (TV) (5), Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery (5), Arrested Development (5). There are soooooooo many more that I have posted 4 or under in!

where you post: Good ol’ AO3! I stayed devoted to also posting on LJ/DW for a long while, but finally gave it up ... who knows how many years ago. (The passage of time? What’s that?? Something for a pre-2020 world, that’s what.)

most popular multi-chapter fic: Most definitely my Good Omens fic i’d like for you and i to go romancing, which has the most terrifying stats of my entire life! (There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since 6/1/2019 that I haven’t gotten kudos on it! There hasn’t been a DAY! How are there still new readers left?!?!?! Am I being Punked?)

favorite story you’ve written so far: Probably my Rory/Paris opus The Best of It just because it was such a long, long, long road. But I did it! I finished it! Also, I just love being able to spend time with the whole GG/Stars Hollow gang.

fic you were nervous to post: Ahahaha, Touched By A Gayngel. I’m still nervous that I posted it now! (And yet I haven’t taken it down for some reason?)

how you choose your titles: Usually song lyrics, though I hate this method and it brings me great stress, and it usually takes me a long time before I can begin to associate that title choice with the story at all. I feel like I’ve definitely picked the wrong lyric 95% of the time. Occasionally I’ll quote from a poem instead and I usually like those choices better. My stories almost always come to me completely titleless, and that way they remain! (See also: novel projects. D:)

My very favorite kind of title is when I just go full ridiculous in a way that amuses only me. Some examples:

Save Grizabella!

Sappiest Season

Touched By A Gayngel (I’m so sorry, world)

Waltzing With Digger

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Edward. (THE worst fic I’ve ever posted?)

do you outline?: I usually kinda write bits from each part of the fic like an outline and then go back and fill them in for one-shots. (We shan’t even speak about how I write any fic longer than a one-shot, because I just Shouldn’t and hopefully never shall again.)

complete fics: LOTS!

in progress: NONE!

posted WIPs that I have active plans to continue at this time: Ahahaha! That’s cute. What a pre-2020 sensibility.

posted WIPs that I have given up on: Oh man, oodles, mostly from fandoms/pairings I’m not really active with anymore (Merlin, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones). But the only one I really feel bad about is not putting the last chapter on my Mary Crawley/Tom Branson post-series, pre-movie (because who could’ve guessed there could’ve been a movie?) fic. ONE DAY, GUYS! One day if I can ever find the strength for a Downton rewatch and actually remember the specifics of what you’re like!

exchange fics due soon/unrevealed: I don’t think I’ve ever actually participated in an exchange in all my 20-ish years of fic-writing! I hate commitments, they make me way too nervous! (Though I’m sure it would be really fun and I’m missing out.)

WIPs that live in my fanfic folder and are incomplete and who knows when they’ll be finished: I have like 4,000 words of a Tom Haverford/Ann Perkins fic where Ann and Chris split up and Tom and Lucy split up and Tom and Ann accidentally start dating again, and I kind of love the idea of finishing this someday, even though I haven’t been in the Parks & Rec zone for ages. It’s just a true instance of me really singing my heart’s very unpopular song! Maybe my next Parks & Rec series rewatch, whenever that may be, will motivate me to finally finish it.

coming soon/not yet started: No current concrete fic plans in my life! Now that the Eleven era of Doctor Who is far behind me and I have somewhat snapped out of SPN madness, I’m kinda between fandoms that I would actually feel like writing about. If there was slightly more buzz around the new Saved By The Bell series and also I had an encyclopedic knowledge of the original series for continuity reasons, I would definitely be tempted to write some Jessie/Slater. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THEM BEING TEACHERLY COLLEAGUES WITH PERHAPS SOME LATENT LINGERING FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER, OKAY! Like, that is the exact scenario which I was born for as a fic writer. The kids would decide to match-make them for some reason and it would be AMAZING!

do you accept prompts: I sure do! And on rare occasions, when my life is very blessed and the stars align, I even sometimes fulfill them!

upcoming story you are most excited to write: I actually don’t have one, but I guess I’m excited to find out what it is someday! In this day and age, fic just seems to sneak up on me when I least expect it, briefly consume my life, and then free me.

#dollsome's deep thoughts #long post #(too lazy to figure out where to put this under a cut!)#CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED IF YOU WANNA TALK FIC!

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earlgreytea68 · 5 years

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This Fic Year in Review

Total number of completed stories: 17

Total word count: 427,711 (????? that seems like it can't possibly be right, but that's what my stats page says -- oh, wait, Dream Bigger finished at the end of January last year, maybe it's counting all of Dream Bigger?)

Fandoms written in: British actor RPF, Fall Out Boy, Inception, Original Works, Sports Night

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? I think I wrote more. I also wrote two novels this year for a publication contract, so in my head I had way less time to write fic stuff. But I am also one of those people who usually emerges from a period of constrained and focused writing into a huge flurry of different writing, so I guess it would make some sense that I managed to get a lot of fic squeezed into the time I had. Most of the fic I posted was short; the rest of my free time this year was devoted to "Swan Song" spinning out of control.

What’s your own favorite story of the year? I always love everything I write, but "Swan Song" has its teeth in my heart. I have wanted to write a band story for years and years (I actually started and abandoned a completely different band story about supernatural creatures forming a band together many years ago), and this iteration of it has been fun in all the ways I imagined it would be. Matt and Patrick are dreamy characters who seized the narrative and did all the work for me and it's just been a delight. Even if it's gone on for tens of thousands of words beyond my initial estimate for the story.

Did you take any writing risks this year? I wrote in a couple of new fandoms I'd never written in before. "Shipped" was actually my first time writing in a Sorkin fandom, despite my presence in them for years, and I spent months mulling the idea of the fic over in my head until I felt that I could hear their voices well enough to give it a try. I also leaped in and wrote a couple of bandom fics, which I think might be my first RPF fics? Even though, as with Sorkin, I am a long-time devoted RPF reader. I have in the past found RPF fandoms tricky to join, so I've been relieved that everyone so far has been really nice.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? I would like to finish "Swan Song," which, honestly, maybe this is famous last words but I don't anticipate being problematic. I have a huge chunk already finished and I think that FINALLY there is not much more left to accomplish. I have a novel to edit and then as soon as that's done, "Swan Song" is the focus until it's done. (I refused to let myself work on "Swan Song" for the past couple of months because I was supposed to be a Good and Dedicated and Productive Author when it came to my pro stuff, and so instead I ended up cultivating an entirely new fandom and writing a ton of much shorter fics in the past few months because I AM THE BEST AT PROCRASTINATION.) Once "Swan Song" is done, I really would like to finish the Jadenvale and Euphonia trilogy, which has languished too long. And then...Idk. I have a list of possible writing prompts much longer than I will ever get around to writing. Probably I'll just wait to see which one starts talking in my head. They can be unpredictable.

Most popular story of the year? "Dream Bigger" by every metric :-)

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I never think any of my stories are unappreciated but I'm actually really proud of The ribbon on my wrist says, "Do not open until Christmas." I feel like it's a little bit of a departure from the stuff I usually write, with a plot and everything, and I was really pleased with how the plot came together. I even had to do world-building and I do sometimes world-build but I think of myself as being lazy about it. It's also a fic where it takes many thousands of words for the OTP to meet and I felt like I had to manage people's expectations about who the OTP would be more than I usually do. And it was really the most extended period of time I spent in Pete's head (the other two bandom fics are really Patrick's POV), and I felt really happy that I stuck with him and got a feel for him. I was just really pleased with how that whole story came together and I know a lot of people don't read RPF so it didn't get read as much as my other stuff but I feel like it's possibly one of the best plots I've ever come up with.

Most fun story to write: Harry Styles and the OTP. I sent off a draft of the novel I'd been working on for months and immediately wrote this in a frantic thirty-minute burst of giddiness, and I was so overstimulated by all the writing that I couldn't stop laughing at how hilarious I was finding myself. I really never make myself laugh when I'm writing; this is the only fic I can remember laughing at as I was typing it out, and that was just so great.

Most unintentionally telling story: "Swan Song" is really everything I love to write about just indulged to the point of infinity, basically. That essential Mattrick story, of the two people who know each other better than anyone on the planet and can conquer the world together by loving each other just as they are, is my favorite thing to write (it's HGTV-verse in band form basically), and I just spoiled the hell out of myself all year just writing every over-the-top trope I could include in it. Social Butterfly / Favorite FTW :-)

Biggest disappointment: I really wanted to finish "Swan Song" this year. I'm not really disappointed I didn't, because I wrote as furiously as I was able and also the bit of delay has let me add a layer of depth to it that I think it would have lacked had I just dashed it out, but it would have been nice not to leave all of you waiting for so long.

Biggest surprise: Matt walking into "Swan Song" and stealing the show for the next 100,000 words an year's worth of writing. I didn't expect him and I'm so glad he showed up; he's been an utter delight to get to know.

#personal #fic year in review

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dontgobreakingmyart · 5 years

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Fanfiction: Why Is It So Popular?

As someone on tumblr, you probably know what fanfiction is and know why it is popular. My AP Literature teacher, however, wasn’t so informed.

My senior year, we were required to write a research paper about a trend. Some people did the rate of divorce, others did the increase of body modification and someone even did the death of Pokemon Go.

Our teacher recommended that we chose a topic that we were familiar with, and my first 2 thoughts were fanfiction and anime. I had already had a friend that had done anime the year the before, so I thought “why not?”

And thus, my senior paper was born:

March , 2018

Fanfiction: Why Is It So Popular?

INTRODUCTION:

Generally, the word “fanfiction” conjures an image of lonely hermits, obsessive fans, or even dangerous flirtation with copyrights, but lately, fanfiction has been given a new face―a face of validity, expression, and even publication. Since January 2012, the amount of fanfiction for just one fandom (a collection of fans supporting a certain medium) has increased an astonishing 1,154% (Pellegrini). Objectively, fanfiction is a fan-made story that contains strong elements of the original work, generally using the same characters, themes, and other various components. For example, there are numerous works based off Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, continuing on the story of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy; in fact, there has been a recent increase of published novels based on Pride and Prejudice of 32% since 2015 (“List of Literary Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice”). Why? Because fans were not satisfied with the original content; they wanted to see more of Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship or they wondered what the characters would do in a zombie apocalypse or any other variation of “what if?” Fanfiction allows “amateur writers” to express their love for a book, tv show, game, etc., and whether it’s because of the lack of LGBT themes in most published works or the increasing ease of sharing their fiction, fanfiction writers are not likely to stop any time soon (Knorr).

BACKGROUND / HISTORY:

Although it might seem very unbelievable, fanfiction did not just start recently, or a couple decades ago, or in the 70s with that one Star Trek fanfiction. In fact, a good amount of older literature is fanfiction. If fanfiction is being defined as “any work of fiction that borrows major elements of another work of fiction,” then works such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet could technically count as fanfiction; Hamlet was originally an “ancient Scandinavian folk tale . . .[known as] ‘Vita Amlethi’ (‘The Life of Amleth’)” that Shakespeare not only re-wrote as a play, but inserted his own, personal experiences (Clark). The Iliad, The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex were all orally-told, Greek myths that someone decided needed to be written down. The only reason theses works are not recognized as “fanfiction” was because copyright was not as strict in that time and practically did not exist; after all, no one knows for sure who the real Shakespeare was because he did not officially claim his work.

Fanfiction didn’t really become a label until Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in the 1880s and with the birth of the internet, the famous Star Trek fanfiction. Officially, “the actual term ‘fanfiction’ was coined in 1939” and was used as an insult towards crudely written sci-fi fiction (Reich). In the late 90s and early 00s, rather than the “all-purpose” fanfiction cites today, “fans carved out their own little homes on the burgeoning internet. Star Trek fans here, X-Files fans there, Frasier fans somewhere else” (Hill). Most of those sites, however, have since died and have been replaced with the “all-purpose” ones like fanfiction.net. One of the most infamous modern fanfictions is E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. Although it is technically a published novel, James has admitted that her novel was simply a Twilight fanfiction that she had written and aftered so that she wouldn’t break the copyright (Morrison). The largest development to the world of fanfiction, however, was the birth of Archiveofourown.org in 2007, a fanfiction website that “promised stronger resistance to legal challenges” to fanfiction writers unlike other, previous websites such as fanfiction.net (Burt). With the creation of this site, older ones have begun to die out just like the fandom-centric ones of the past.

#1 REASON:

Over the years, fanfiction has morphed from a shameful pass time to a socially acceptable medium of expression. Published authors have been, in fact, recommending fanfiction as a positive way to start writing. The author of the Princess Diaries Meg Cabot came out about her fanfiction writing, saying, “I myself used to write Star Wars fan fiction when I was tween. I think writing fanfiction is a good way for new writers to learn to tell a story” (Romano). And many other famous authors have made a contribution to the fanfiction community: Cassandra Clare, author of Mortal Instrument Series; Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game; S. E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders; Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman Series, and so many others (O’Brien, Kovach).

While visiting a Writing Workshop, the published author hosting it, Pamela Thibodeaux, encouraged me to begin writing and posting fanfiction in order to start a healthy fanbase, so that when I go to get a book published, the transition is much smoother. Writing fanfiction is just as stimulating as writing an original novel. In a CNN article about fanfiction, they explicitly stated that “even if the subject matter is a little blue [writing fanfiction] is a positive form of self-expression,” compelling parents to “encourage writing” (Knorr). In fact, the main difference between the two is that writing fanfiction “takes the pressure of world-building off” which allows the writer to explore their writing style without getting tangled up in creating something from scratch (McQuien). In a way, fanfiction is the box of cake mix in the literature world―it helps amateurs to take the first step of baking without getting too overwhelmed, but in the end, it can taste just as good.

#2 REASON:

As the overall acceptance and validity of fanfiction has increased, fanfiction has found its way into the publishing world, being branded as actual literature. Time-honored novels such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have several published, fan-made additions and recreations of the original tale like Pride and Prejudice II: The Sequel by Victoria Park and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was turned into a filmed phenomena in 2016 (“List of Literary Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice”). Although there have been many literary adaptations of this novel spanning as far back as 1932, there has been a 32% increase of published fanfictions just for this fandom (“List of Literary Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice”).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has also witnessed this movement with his iconic Sherlock Holmes series, especially with the popular television series Sherlock, a “modernization” (or modern au [alternate universe] in fanfiction jargon) of the classic cases between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (“8 unconventional Sherlock Holmes adaptations”). These published fanfictions have been able to keep the trademarked names of their beloved characters, but many novels had to undergo extensive editing to cross the line of “fanfiction” into “literature.”

One of the most famous, or rather infamous, examples of this is how E. L. James’ 50 Shades of Grey was originally a Twilight fanfiction (Morrison). Another, perhaps not as well known, is L. Stoddard Hancock’s Cruel and Beautiful World, which was heavily based off of J. K. Rowling’s beloved Harry Potter; in fact, her novel indulges the ship [romantic pairing] of Hermione and Draco, fondly known as “Dramione” in the Harry Potter fandom (Sarner). While some fanfictions have to undergo a facelift in order to be published, their true identity still remains intact: they are still devoted extensions to the esteemed works of another author.

#3 REASON:

Fanfiction has evolved greatly throughout history, and how to post fanfictions and share them with the world is just getting easier and easier. As mentioned prior, the creation of Archive of Our Own revolutionized the world of fanfiction with its promise of legal support, but how? In 2002, there was a great purging of fanfictions on the original fanfiction posting website, fanfiction.net, shaking the fanfiction community and dissuading writers from posting their fanfics (Silver). It was this sort of mass-banning on works that encouraged the creation of Archive of Our Own and its legal branch the “Organization of Transformative works” where they “clarify the legality of fanfiction, champion fan-created works whenever they were legally challenged, and provide fans with legal resources in case they were targeted by copyright claims” (Silver). In short, Archive of Our Own gave fanfic writers a safe place to share their fanfictions.

Because of this difference with websites, despite the age difference and advantage Fanfiction.net may have with it, the increase of Harry Potter fanfictions on Archive of Our Own, for example, have increased 795% more than those on Fanfiction.net since 2010 (Pellegrini). Not only that, but Archive of Our Own has many other unique features that makes both writing fanfictions and reading fanfictions much more convenient such as tagging (Romano). Speaking from personal experience as a user of both Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own, although the first is not a bad place to read fanfiction, it is not nearly as user-friendly. For example, if I wanted to read a Harry Potter fanfiction, I could easily do so on both sites, but if I wanted to read a Harry Potter fanfiction that had the ship “Dramione” or had “zombies” or where Fred didn’t die, I can only specify those tags on Archive of Our Own to find that perfect fanfiction. And fanfiction sites are still continuing to expand, to shape, to mold themselves in order to fit the preferences of the ever-evolving writers that post on them.

#4 REASON:

The world of literature is a diverse melting pot of ideas and people, but even with this diversity, there are many minorities that are pushed to the side such as the LGBT community―in the world of fanfiction, however, they are the majority. Seeing LGBT often connotes inaccurate concepts, especially in literature, where one thinks “gay” when they see LGBT and then “the label of ‘gay’ often overshadows the important elements of the story/author, often tarnish[ing] the book before it can be read” (Guy). The LGBT community is so much more than just “gay,” and those different branches are very rarely explored in published literature, but in fanfiction, they florrish.

Although majority of fanfiction does involve romance and a good amount of it involves couples of the same sex, that is not the only layer as is with most “gay” literature. In fanfiction, everyone is represented―if you want to read a fanfiction where the main character is asexual, where the main character is genderfluid, where there’s a polyromantic relationship, where someone is aromantic, bisexual; no matter what it is you want, I can almost guarantee it’s out there somewhere. The fanfiction website Archive of Our Own found that only 38% of their users were heterosexual, meaning that at least 62% belong to the LGBT community and more people identified as genderqueer than as male (Hu). Everyone wants to be represented in media, to have someone to relate to.

The little gay literature that is there, is only just now being reprinted, falling out of print since the 80’s, and a good amount of it is being banned (Healey). For example, Amazon refused to sell a gay Victorian novel, claiming it was “pornagraphic,” yet they have an entire section for “erotic” fiction such as 50 Shades of Grey (Healey). With fanfiction, writers don’t have to worry about labels, whether a couple is straight or homosexual or genderqueer or whatever. Writers care about the stories, the chemistry between the characters that make them a dynamic duo, and with fanfiction, writers can share that.

CONCLUSION:

Fanfiction has existed for centuries with Sophocles's Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek and it shows no sign of stopping now. In fact, the amount of fanfiction hasn’t just increased because of its acceptance or its publication or the ease of posting, but because of new and continuous material.

Before the release of BBC’s show Sherlock, there were fanfictions based on the original book, and the addition of the show allowed Sherlock Holmes and John Watson to become more familiar, and thus, more fanfictions to be added to the overall fandom. The same occured with the Harry Potter fandom. When Jack Thorne’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (a published fanfiction continuing J.K. Rowling’s original series Harry Potter), fanfiction writers exploded with new material, new ideas, and new fanfictions; a total of 1,682 fanfictions concerning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have been posted on Archive of Our Own since the play’s release date in 2016 (Search Results for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Due to the recent release of Voltron: Legendary Defender in 2016, there has been a staggering 5,054% increase of fanfiction for the show originally from the 80’s (Search Results for Voltron).

With every reinstatement of a show, a new generation of potential fanfiction writers are exposed to it, adding on to the classic mediums other fanfiction writers wrote about before them such as Star Trek or Sex in the City, where there are still significant increases of 8,600% since 2005 and the show ended in 2004 (Kneale). Fanfiction increases because more and more people are being exposed to that world. Just as there will always be incoming literature and TV shows and movies, new fanfictions will be trailing in afterwards like a relentless shadow.

Works Cited

“Archive of Our Own Beta.” Archive of Our Own, www.archiveofourown.org/works/search?utf8=✓&work_search[query]=Harry potter and the cursed child.

“Archive of Our Own Beta.” Archive of Our Own, www.archiveofourown.org/works/search?utf8=✓&work_search[query]=Voltron.

Burt, Stephanie. “The Promise and Potential of Fan Fiction.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2017, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-promise-and-potential-of-fan-fiction.

Clark, Cassandra. “‘Hamlet’ Origins: The Legend of Amleth.” Shake It Up, 28 June 2017, sfshakes.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/hamlet-origins-the-legend-of-amleth/.

“Eight Unconventional Sherlock Holmes Adaptations.” The Week - All You Need to Know about Everything That Matters, 29 Feb. 2012, theweek.com/articles/477729/8-unconventional-sherlock-holmes-adaptations.

Guy, Lauren. “What's the Point of LGBT Literature?” The University Times, 16 Oct. 2016, www.universitytimes.ie/2016/10/whats-the-point-of-lgbt-literature/.

Healey, Trebor. “Early Gay Literature Rediscovered.” Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/trebor-healey/early-gay-literature-redi_b_5373869.html .

Hill, Mark. “The Forgotten Early History of Fanfiction.” Motherboard, 3 July 2016, motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/4xa4wq/the-forgotten-early-history-of-fanfiction.

Hu, Jane. “The Revolutionary Power Of Fanfiction For Queer Youth.” The Establishment, The Establishment, 16 May 2016, theestablishment.co/the-importance-of-fanfiction-for-queer-youth-4ec3e85d7519.

Kneale, Heidi. “Final Staff.” The Appeal of Fanfiction, July 2005, www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10165.

Knorr, Caroline. “Inside the Racy, Nerdy World of Fanfiction.” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/05/health/kids-teens-fanfiction-partner/index.html.

Kovach, Catherine. “7 Authors Who Wrote Fanfiction.” Bustle, Bustle, 20 Mar. 2018, www.bustle.com/articles/160939-7-authors-who-wrote-fanfiction-because-its-actually-the-best.

“List of Literary Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice.” List of Literary Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/List_of_literary_adaptations_of_Pride_and_Prejudice.html.

McQuein, Josin L. “My Bloggish Blog Thing.” Novels vs. Fanfiction, 18 Apr. 2012, 12:53 PM, josinlmcquein.blogspot.com/2012/04/novels-vs-fanfiction.html.

Morrison, Ewan. “In the Beginning, There Was Fan Fiction: from the Four Gospels to Fifty Shades.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Aug. 2012, www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/13/fan-fiction-fifty-shades-grey.

OBrien, David. “Famous Authors Who Began in Fan Fiction.” AUTHORS.me, 27 Oct. 2016, www.authors.me/famous-authors-began-fan-fiction/.

Pellegrini, Nicole. “FanFiction.Net vs. Archive of Our Own.” HobbyLark, HobbyLark, 15 Feb. 2017, letterpile.com/writing/fanfictionnet-vs-archive-of-our-own.

Romano, Aja. “10 Famous Authors Who Write Fanfiction.” The Daily Dot, 9 Mar. 2017, www.dailydot.com/parsec/10-famous-authors-fanfiction/.

Romano, Aja. “Is It Possible to Quantify Fandom? Here's One Statistician Who's Crunching the Numbers |.” The Daily Dot, 24 Feb. 2017, www.dailydot.com/parsec/toastystats-ao3-fandom-statistics/.

Sarner, Lauren. “This 'Harry Potter' Fan Fiction Author Adapated Dramione Into A Novel.” Inverse, 18 July 2016, www.inverse.com/article/15572-dramione-fandom-harry-potter-fan-fiction-romance-l-stoddard-hancock-broken-wings.

Silver, Farasha. “How Archive of Our Own Revolutionized Fandom.” FAN/FIC Magazine, 26 Mar. 2017, fanslashfic.com/2015/11/01/how-archive-of-our-own-revolutionized-fandom/.

Times, J.E. Reich Tech. “Fanspeak: The Brief Origins Of Fanfiction.” Tech Times, MENU$(".Topsearchbutton").Click(Function(){ $(".Srcframe").Toggle(); }); $('Input[Type="Search"]').Keypress(Function() { $("#Srcform").Submit(); });TechScienceHealthCultureReviewsFeatures, 25 July 2015, www.techtimes.com/articles/70108/20150723/fan-fiction-star-trek-harry-potter-history-of-fan-fiction-shakespeare-roman-mythology-greek-mythology-sherlock-holmes.htm.

#senior paper #fanfiction essay #yes i wrote an essay about fanfiction #educational #informative paper #pls dont judge me

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hpconsentfest · 6 years

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Weekly Roundup 1

Hey All! Here’s our first HD Consent Fest Weekly Roundup! If you’ve missed some of the works as they’ve been released, here’s the list of what was posted this week.

Thanks to all the creators, (cheer)readers, and commenters for getting the fest of to a cracking start! <3

ART:

Title: Suits and Serenity Artist: Anonymous Prompt: 3: One works as a public defender, the other works for the prosecutor’s office. The sparks fly both in and out of the courtroom. # 3 Rating: PG Warnings/Content Notes: Established married relationship Summary: “You looked hot out there today.” “Don’t I always?” “Mhm, can I kiss you now?” "I thought you’d never ask” Medium: Digital Art Artist’s Notes: So, I decided not to go with explicitly showing what they do after Harry attains Draco’s consent, because I felt it would take away from the essence of the art. My vision is to show that even after years of their marriage, Harry and Draco still ask for each other’s consent. They look comfortable in the drawing due to an established relationship, but that doesn’t mean that it would stop them from asking each other’s permission before just kissing. Thank you to the mods for arranging such a wonderful fest! It truly has been a pleasure!

Suits and Serenity

FIC:

Title: Start a Revolution (From My Bed) Author: Anonymous Prompt: # 54 Rating: T Warnings/Content Notes: Eighth Year, Coming of Age, Pining, Humour, Persons of Colour Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, Supportive Ron Weasley, Friendship, Open/Hopeful Ending, Sexism, Racism, Very Brief Mention of Past Abortion, Gender Studies, Party, Alcohol, Breakfast, Jam, Footnotes, Crafts Summary: Harry’s coming of age starts at breakfast. A peek into the lives of the Eighth Years as they become bona fide feminists over jam and croquet. Featuring the fear of growing apart, Blur and a pink cravat. Word Count: 29755 Author’s Notes: The title is taken from ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis. Many thanks to the mods, my alpha and my betas. This couldn’t have happened without you.

Start a Revolution (From My Bed)

Title: Cold Like Fire Author: Anonymous Prompt: Draco giving a “Consent is Sexy” training at the Ministry after there had been problems with witches and wizards being harassed. Draco using Harry to demonstrate ways to ask for consent? Rating: Mature Warnings/Content Notes: Discussions of consent theory, reference to rape in theory only Summary: Head Auror, Harry Potter, had no problem with mandatory consent training for his team. He’d actually been looking forward to it, that is until he discovered who the teacher was. Now, he had no idea how he was going to get through the training without throwing a hex at Draco Malfoy. Or a punch. Word Count: 12k Author’s Notes: Love to my beta BB.

Cold Like Fire

Title: A Gift for Draco Author: Anonymous Prompt: #66 - When Harry can’t think of a Valentines present for Draco, he teams up with budding photographer Pansy Parkinson to take nudes (the photos can only be seen by the person who gave them and the person they’re given to) all over Hogwarts to surprise his boyfriend. # 66 Rating: Explicit Warnings/Content Notes: No Warnings Apply Summary:Though their new relationship is going well, both Harry and Draco have trouble communicating and are holding back from taking things to the next level–both emotionally and sexually. When Harry decides he is ready for more, he stumbles over how to start the conversation, but figures out a plan with the help of his friends. He comes up with the perfect Valentine’s Day gift to show Draco trust, commitment, and desire: sexy pictures of his naked arse. Thankfully, Pansy Parkinson has a camera and is willing to help… Word Count: 33,492 Author’s Notes: Huge thank you to the Mods for this awesome, positive sexy Consent Fest! It was a lot of fun to explore themes of consent, changing boundaries, and finding creative ways to communicate consent in a relationship. Many thanks to my beta, D, who fixed typos, workshopped dialogue, and squished a bunch of ramblings into a story with a theme. Disclaimer - I don’t own them.

A Gift for Draco

Title: When Nightmares Lead to Day Dreams Author: Anonymous Prompt: #22 Rating: Explicit Warning/Content Notes: No archive warnings apply Summary: Harry Potter didn’t want to return to Hogwarts for 8th year, concerned that the castle held too many terrible memories. Lacking any other plan, though, he agreed. He soon discovered how right AND how wrong he was. Word Count: 9,231 Author’s Notes: First, I want to thank the ConsentFest Mods for pulling this incredibly timely and important fest together. I also want to applaud their patience with a newbie like me who doesn’t know time management if it blocked my schedule itself. The prompts for this fest were beyond amazing and I had such a hard time narrowing down the selection. I only hope I have been able to please my prompter and help explore ideas of consent. Secondly, I literally would not be half the writer I am without my amazing, selfless Betas that came together and spent their weekend working with me. To C and G - you are my literal baby angels and I am so happy we have been able to connect over this crazy, intoxicating world of Harry Potter Fanfic!

When Nightmares Lead to Day Dreams

Title: I Don’t Want This to Be a Mistake Author: Anonymous Prompt: # 49 Rating: Explicit Warnings/Content Notes: Lots of sexual tension, professor!Harry, Father!Draco Summary: Consent can be tricky when Harry is Scorpius’ professor. Word Count: 5500 Author’s Notes: A big thanks to my beta, L!

I Don’t Want This to Be a Mistake

Title: Treat Your Body Like A Temple Author: Anonymous Prompt: Whether it be for kissing, touching, or sucking, Harry’s gotten into the habit of breathing, “May I?” against Draco’s skin. #20 Rating: mature Warnings/Content Notes: No Archive Warnings Apply Summary: It hadn’t been easy, and it hadn’t been fast, but after many years Harry had finally gained Draco’s trust. Now he woke up next to him every day, and he knew just the way to show the Slytherin how grateful he was for that. Word Count: 1707 Author’s Notes: Beta-read by the wonderful MM (thank you love<3). This was my first attempt at smut, so I do hope it was somewhat decent. It was great fun to write this, especially for this amazing fest. Consent is such an important subject, and it should get more attention. I hope I did that in this ficlet. Great thank you to the mods of the fest why reminded my dumb ass to submit this after I sort-of completly forgot, whoops.

Treat Your Body Like A Temple

Title: Bloody Tease Author: Anonymous Prompt: # 50 - Harry gives consent loudly and with delicious details, but somehow Draco just isn’t convinced. (Or basically Draco teases Harry mercilessly). Rating: E Warnings/Content Notes: Explicit sexual content Summary: Draco wants to be sure that Harry is willing. Very, very sure. Word Count: 1433 Author’s Notes: Thank you to s for the beta on this fic.

Bloody Tease

Title: Have Me Then Author: Anonymous Prompt: OWN Rating: NC-17 Warnings/Content Notes: unenthusiastic consensual sex between Draco and another character (detailed in the notes before the fic on AO3, explaining this tag better), infidelity, Female Draco, Canon What Canon, Alive Sirius, Cousin Incest (heavily implied, not visual), Misogyny, Slut Shaming By Another Character Summary: In Draco’s world, women are expected to be demure, non-lusting creatures. They are expected to be devoted while their husbands cater to base desires with women of the evening. All passions they are permitted lie between dusty, well-worn pages of romance novels. Draco doesn’t want to be that woman, but as she spends her days—unfulfilled—in the arms of a boring lover she dreams of more. Potter is so much more than she could imagine. Word Count: 3,632 Author’s Notes: Decided to do before for a brief warning. Draco consents to sleep with Theo, but when they are together she clearly is unenthusiastic and fulfilling a duty. This might be traumatic for some. I did not write it with the intention of dubious consent and K my beta, and one of the mods of the fest, assured me it was within the bounds of the fest. It was written to showcase how she wants better than what she is getting with him. The idea of consent that I tried to work with was that Draco has been raised in shame and Harry is patient with her, asking her to voice what she wants from/with him—as explicitly as she can. It is supposed to be a woman finding her own agency in sex, and knowing that it is okay to want more and not settling for anything less. IDK if it came across like that, I kinda wrote it in two days since I had a lot going on and forgot I had a deadline. It was definitely intended to be longer.

Tagged “Always A Girl” because I kept getting traffic on a thing and some DM’s asking for a continuation. This ISN’T a continuation but *jazz hands* more Female Draco.

Have Me Then

Title: A Hag, a Hex, a Tale of Redemption Author: Anonymous Prompt: # 58 Rating: E Warnings/Content Notes: Fuck or die, hags, curses, wandcraft, wandmaker Harry Potter, Muggle life, clubbing, tattoos, mild recreational drug use, angst, falling in love, getting together, kiss consent, safe sex, anal sex, oral sex, non-penetrative sex, switching, minor Ron/Hermione Summary: A fuck-or-die fairytale in which Draco Malfoy lives a despicable and unapologetic life — that is, until he’s cursed to die unless he can fall in love with and fuck Harry Potter. Word Count: 43,345 Author’s Notes: Huge thanks to the crew—you know who you are.

A Hag, a Hex, a Tale of Redemption

#weekly roundup

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bsinoranges · 6 years

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In which it gets sappy

Tagged by the amazing @lethesomething!!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

So uh. BS is actually short for bittersweet, but now it doubles as my in-joke for BS in whateverCourse -- hence the in. So BS in oranges.

Then it’s bittersweetoranges because i read this fic called bittersweet and it was damn good to me at the time. Also my favorite fruit is orange.

...I’m bot good at giving names nor titles. Haha.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

Hm. Overall, that would be my KuroYachi one-shot The Lights in the Sky are Stars. It was sort of my love letter to the KuroYachi ship, and so I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be able to add on to it.

For subscriptions that would be my still unfinished brofest piece, The Thief, the Witch, and the Fae. This one is my bid at making an interesting take on certain characters and dynamics in a dark fantasy setting. Futakuchi is the lead if only because @haruhi02 accidentally gave me his name when I asked for random characters.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

A freezing link from Breath of the Wild. Well, why not? Haha. I love Link, I love Breath of the Wild, and when I resurfaced back on tumblr botw recently came out and also the free icons.

(the rest is under a cut because it’s long and sappy)

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Well. I won’t name favorites. Frequent commenters tho... they’d be my friends from chat, so shoutout to @lethesomething and @haruhi02 because you guys are great.

To be fair, I don’t think I post frequently enough for people to keep their eyes peeled for me.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Boy, do I. Basically anything in my bookmarks are the things I regularly return to read. Quite notable, however is anything by bigspoonnoya. God. I love her work. From the HQ to the BNHA to the YOI.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I bookmark more than I subscribed. Buuuuuuuuut I’m subscribed to a grand total of 4 works, and I’ve bookmarked 62 fics.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Fantasy. Hands down. There’s three-ish urban ones, then there’s two full-on fantasy pieces. The rest are slice-of-life.

There’s just something about fantasy that makes me really happy. It might be the freedom to make, or that I like using fantasy as a substitute for when I want to comment on current events. But usually I like writing things that are fantastical.

Someday I want to make write a slice-of-life that makes the mundane fantastical, and then vice versa. If only because it’s the little things that steal my heart and imagination every single time.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Four wonderful people are subscribed to me, while 12 are subscribed to my stories. For bookmarks, I have a total of 24. ^^

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Many of my topic matter don’t really make much, if any, waves -- at least that’s what I think. I’m only afraid I can’t do justice to my dark/fantasy elements, because that would be a real shame.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

First it’s definitely finishing what I start. My multichaps aren’t incredibly long, but I worry a lot about continuation and future chapters that it spoils writing the present one, so I hope to work on that.

Next is my exposition and narration. I can only say “Name smiles.” so much before I think I write in a horribly stale matter.

... Does writing romance or any sort of sexual or romantic contact count? Cause, boy do I need practice.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Is YamaYachi popular? KuroYachi? I’m pretty sure they’re an okay and accepted ship. But in any case the rarest pair I’ve written is KuroYachi, and then KamaFuta. Because those pairs need more content, and I’m pretty willing to fill them.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

I have 9 works in total. Five of which are completed oneshot, and the other four are unfinished multichaps. See the trend yet?

One of the finished oneshots is the longshot Nowhere in the Sea. It’s the first fic I finished in my whole 17 (at the time) years of living.

Of my unfinished things, one of them is an anthology (that I should probably close since I’m not planning on updating anytime soon) and then the three fantasy pieces that has a lot Worldbuilding™.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

H A H A.

Hm. So, I switch between Google Docs, Sublime Text 3, and OneNote. But there’s a whooping 17 unwritten stories in various states of disrepair.

I’m most excited for the YamaYachi one, and also the sprawling ensemble cast one. :D

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I mostly keep them in my head. So they flit in and out of my memory like deadlines. On the rare occasion that I’m possessed by the idea, I’l have written the idea down and then some on anything I find convenient at the time (laptop, phone, or paper.)

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Yes. @haruhi02 was my partner for the hq fantasy fest thing. She was with me when I finished my first ever fic Nowhere in the Sea.

16. How did you discover AO3?

I was friends with this author back in FF.Net, and she had an AO3 account. Then, I branched off her fics to read the FE:A fics.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

LOL. Of course not. I can say, with confidence, that I am probably obscure.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Hm...

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

Fun fact, the first fan fic I wrote was an unfinished novelization of the Swan Princess (Nest Family Entertainment), and then an illustrated re-telling of Barbie’s Princess and the Nutracker. I started seriously pursuing writing around... the grade 5, when my bully of an English teacher said I had a talent for writing. If I had any it remains to be seen. But it was my friends back on FFnet. The likes of Mafi, and Tune, and Loke. They were there for me during my baby days writing for a fandom. We weren’t in the same fandom, but they inspired me so much.

Also I really like Philip Pullman and J.K. Rowling and thought it would be awesome to publish and write books.

Today though, it’s my friends in the chat who continue to inspire me everyday.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

I don’t think I’m qualified. But if I should, it’d be to stay strong and welcome to addictive cycle of happiness and misery. Because there’s nothing like writing that one perfect scene -- it’s worth all the stress and the struggle.

Also. Writing is like wine, it get’s better with age, but it doesn’t mean that you like wine.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I plot a lot. Like a lot. But I throw out a lot through the window when push comes to shove. Sometimes I’ll outwrite what I’ve planned or plan something new and then I’ll get flung into a crisis. Haha. Fun.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

The worst comment I’ve had is spam on Nowhere in the Sea. I just wish I had more comments. #NoShame.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Smut. A bit of action, but action is easier than doing the sexy.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

I’m focusing all my energy on Amor Fati, which is my gift for the fantasy exchange. I need to finish that because it’d be sad if I didn’t. And, most importantly, I want to make my giftee proud.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

The plan is to keep up with my plans. I have no shortage of plans. Hahaha. But I do plan on finishing up Amor Fati then finishing either Scales or The Thief, the Witch, and the Fae before moving on to other projects.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Nope. It would probably be better if I did, but acads just eats a lot of my time.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

I think it’s arrogant to think that I did, but I guess I did. I was 13ish -- two years after fifth grade -- when I took writing more seriously... And looking back my writing style changed. ^^

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

I love all my stories for different reasons. To be honest tho, it’s what I haven’t written and am yet to write. I love The Thief, the Witch, and the Fae for it’s dark and heavy atmosphere. Scales for its hesitance and its secrecy. Amor Fati for the melancholy and for its world. Nowhere in the Sea for being my first in a lot of things (but also it’s magic system and world gdi). Lights in the Sky are Stars for it’s sweet fluff. Class Pizza for its tomfoolery. So on and so forth.

As much as I have a hard time looking at my writing, I won’t deny that I love them for the things that they are and could be.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

... Probably my anthology? It reminds me of bad memories.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Here, still suffering but instead out of school (hopefully) and knee deep in some sort of job.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

The planning and the talking and the crying and the reading.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

The writing. Or maybe that point between the first scene and the third. Something like that.

33. Why do you write?

Why don’t I? Writing is me. I’ve did things for the sake of reference, I’ve devoted a lot of myself to writing and the idea of writing. I love it. It’s an amazing way to express.

I wouldn’t give it up for the world.

Sooo. For tagging. @spacegaykj and @astersandstuffs and @slothesaurus if you guys don’t mind ^^. Feel free to ignore if you want. Thank you for the time.

Also double tagging @haruhi02 because I can.

#ask me stuff #thanks for the tag #I didn't expect to be so sap #but you know acads just chewed me up and spit me out so that might be a thing #hahaha

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