#SW London my beloved

[justfriendsbestthings]

So many of the shops on our high street have the Palestinian flag in their window displays 🥲

#SW London my beloved #just mimi things #not yr

[andorerso]

Wanting to spread some positivity among fic writers. 

When you get this ask, link your:

Favourite fic/series you’ve ever written

That one fic/series you poured your heart & soul into

One underrated fic/series of yours you’d recommend

You don’t have to link just *a* fic. Go ham! Even link your masterlist! This is all about all your hardwork.

Thank you for creating!

ooooh FUN

Favourite fic/series you’ve ever written

besides the vampire au, I'd say imaginary homelands

Summary: Two years after Jyn and Cassian separated, a chance encounter brings them back to each other again. Confronted with what she lost, Jyn wonders if it's too late to make it right. Canon-verse, post-war, exes to lovers, angst with a happy ending

I recently reread it because I got a new comment and although I'd change some things now (mostly world-building stuff, my SW-world knowldge is still shitty, but I've gotten better and I do see a few holes) but as far as the relationship and story goes, I really do love it. I was actually kinda surprised, I thought even my writing was pretty solid

but shoutout also to my beloved shadow preachers

Summary: Jyn doesn’t like other hunters, and there’s a good reason for that. She doesn't trust other people, preferring to work alone, a lone wolf by nature. Cassian Andor is no exception to that rule. But they keep running into each other - and he keeps surprising her.

Modern au, monster hunters, supernatural inspired, rivals to friends to lovers

I always love this one for the 100% self-indulgence. while there’s some angst, it was more lighthearted than usual and I enjoyed writing the banter and the humor a lot

That one fic/series you poured your heart & soul into

this is where I wanna use Blood Red Rose no question about it

Summary: 1920, London. An unknown creature dubbed 'the Beast' is terrorizing the streets at night. Vampire hunter Jyn Erso and recently turned vampire Cassian Andor might just be the city's only hope to catch the monster...

Vampire au, historical setting, enemies to lovers

I mean... there’s no doubt about this one. It’s been over a year and I’m still working on it, although we’re close to the end now. Before this one, the longest multichapter I wrote was around 4 chapters, so not that long at all. Writing this story, actually having a plot besides the relationship, trying to do worldbuilding, it was all very challenging but I learned a lot. I honestly used to think I wasn’t capable of writing such long stories (hell, we’re past 90k now) and I’m just very proud to prove myself wrong and keep trying

One underrated fic/series of yours you’d recommend

it’s hard to decide what I’d consider underrated so I took a look at my stats and I chose two fics based on comments and kudos (neither of them have the least amount of kudos and comments overall, but taking into consideration length, plot, my love for the story, date since published etc, I felt like these deserved the spot)

so comment wise I chose small rebellions

Summary: Imperial Jyn Erso finally seizes her freedom and escapes with undercover agent Cassian Andor. But the Krennics catch up to her.

Canon divergence, imperial Jyn, undercover Cassian, torture/violence

tbh I’m not 100% satisfied with this (and I think the plot/warnings themselves do turn some people off so it makes sense it did a bit worse than my usual stuff). I think I kinda chickened out in the end because I wanted to push it a bit further and make it even darker but didn’t in the end.... idk, maybe that’s what’s missing. but at the same time I always wanted to write something like this where one person is kinda in the position that they have to choose between hurting the person they love or possibly dooming them to death, and I think Rebelcaptain is the perfect ship for it, so I’m gonna advertise it anyway (although I kinda wish a writer more talented than me did this concept instead but sometimes you just have to write what you want to read)

and kudos wise I’m choosing i’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Summary: Released from prison after three years, Jyn Erso is just trying to pick up the broken pieces of her life. But the man who catches her eye might not be exactly who he says he is.

Modern AU, thief Jyn, assassin Cassian, Good Behavior inspired

writing this felt a bit like writing shadow preachers, kinda self-indulgent, kinda humorous, kinda intentionally messy. I absolutely adore writing modern Jyn who’s just a mess and super snarky, it makes for fun internal monologues, so I think that’s why both this and shadow preachers have a huge place in my heart. also hitman Cassian is really fun too, and if I can ever finish Blood Red Rose, there’s definitely more to tell in this universe. if I had to choose just one, I’d definitely recommend this one over small rebellions 

#thank you for this <3 #my fics #rebelcaptain #chassnachadic #replies #im actually gonna reread the last one now and agonize over the fact that i want to write a follow-up #it's fine

[loth-wolffe]

Uh for the celebration thing 👉👈

I'm a party animal! I really love to dance and sing out loud with my friends. But I'm also a chill girl, I love to read or play the piano while it's raining. Animals are very important for me, I have an emotional support dog and a couple of horses that keep me sane 😌

I would really like to hang out with Kix and Jesse but not in a romantic way- I think it would be fun to go to a bar or club with them? Kix and Jesse seem to be good partners to go for a drink💅

Okay I'll shut up now byee I love u 💖

celebrate with me ✨

bestie<3 love u more<3

i was gonna say kix? but then you said like, not in a romantic way? and I don't know if you meant as in, kix and jesse together 👀 or what but I'll just go and say cody instead.

SO CODY MY BELOVED.

cody is TRASH for soft times so when you play the piano, he literally stops everything and wishes to be nowhere but there with you, listening to the soft rain hitting your window and hearing the lovely music, he likes watching you in your element, too.

sometimes you'd buy the same book and you'd read it while he's away, talking about it over the comms and cODY THATS A SPOILER STOP THAT. and he'd laugh quietly and say he's sorry but he isn't (he only tells you little things here and there, though, like "ohh, but when elizabeth goes to kent with–" and you stop him mid sentence because cODY can yOu noT. you just read that jane left to london, why wOuld yOU. or like, "you know when mr. darcy–" but he always cuts himself off before going MAJOR)

i don't know if dogs exist in sw so let's say you have a loth cat as a support pet, and cody says he doesn't like but he secretly loves ur lil cat and you've seen him play with it when you're home late and he's waiting for you.

he can't fool anyone really.

and alright. maybe you're friends with the 501st too, right, and cody sees you dancing with jesse and kix and having the best time, and he's usually not a jealous guy but HE should be dancing with YOU.

and cody isn't much of a dancer, or singing, BUT, jealous people sometimes do things that are outside our comfort zone. amirite.

so of course he joins you. hands on your hips, mouth on your neck and he'd whisper a few little things in your ear about how good ur looking.

"having fun, baby?" he'd ask, voice low in your ear and you giggle, between the alcohol and his intoxicating proximity, your mind feels foggy.

"mhm," you go, getting closer to him as you love, "more now that you're here, commander." and he smirks, looking smug, and he doesn't care who's watching before kissing you hard and sloppy.

you two probably dance the night away, drinking and laughing and having the time of your lives, and you sing to him some lyrics, shouting them as you jump and he laughs, a boyish sound that makes him look so young, flushed cheeks from the dancing, the drinks and your words.

(still I think 2 out of 3 times he goes and joins you bc he might not like dancing but he likes dancing with you. so yeah.)

#sorry for the pride and prejudice bit #i couldn't think of any other book and i know p&p like the back of my hand so yeah #cODY LIKES JANE AUSTEN SO WHAT #ari answers #ship games #400 followers celebration

[dramatispcrsonae]

I’ve seen posts going around the rpc with people giving tips about their cities as a resource to folks who write characters from those places. Here is my small contribution for Washington, DC. This is particularly relevant for people who write political characters or fic in fandoms such as The West Wing, Scandal, Bones, The Blacklist, House of Cards, etc. It’s too long and in no particular order but HERE GOES:

The Mall/Monuments. No one goes here unless your parents are visiting. End of story. There are some exceptions to this, of course: the occasional free concert or protest or an inauguration, etc. but generally it’s avoided. It’s rife with tourists, capitol police, and there’s not a lot to do if you’ve already seen it. TV shows so often have their characters hanging out together on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial or sitting on benches along the Mall…. No. Maybe your character will go jogging there but that’s about it.

Here’s a big one. If your character works in DC, odds are they don’t live in DC. They live somewhere in the DMV (District of Columbia/Maryland/Virgina). There are DC suburbs in VA and MD that are accessible on the metro that are often more affordable than living in the District. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in MD and Arlington and Fairfax counties in VA are heavily populated by people who work in DC. If you live in the District, you’re probably a) a college student, b) a twenty-something living with about 3 other people, or c) extremely wealthy. As always, there are exceptions to this, particularly in regards to certain neighborhoods, but more on that later. Also, if your character lives in, say, Rosslyn and works in DC, they will tell people not from around here that they live in DC. It’s not technically true, but it’s kinda true...

DC is a reputation-conscious city. The first things you find out when you meet someone are where they went to school, where they work, and what they do. You sort develop a sense of what the Important Person Hierarchy is very quickly. It’s squicky but it’s real.

It’s a company town and that company is the government. It’s not a capital city like London or Paris or Berlin that grew organically and has a larger identity. It’s a tiny place that was designed specifically to be the capital (see “The Room Where it Happens” from Hamilton). Certainly not everyone works for the government, but most people’s lives are touched by it in some way. This could be anything from when a non-profit’s office closes (many follow the federal government’s schedule), to dealing with traffic from protests or motorcades. There’s so much more to the city, but it would be silly to pretend that’s not The Biggest Thing here. 

People are ferociously career-oriented, there is an absurdly high concentration of people with law degrees, and other graduate degrees. Most people are thinking about what their next thing is or how X or Y will look on their resume. Basically it’s a city of Type A over-achievers. And yes that can be as unbearable as it sounds.  

It’s a small c conservative city. People dress conservatively, behave conservatively. Especially if your character does anything related to the government. Do not have your OC show up to their first day as Chief of Staff to Congressman Whoever with pink hair or a nose ring. Not gonna happen. Like I knew an intern who was once sent home for wearing khakis to the office….

If you work in politics or the non-profit world, it’s genuinely surprising to meet someone who is a DC native. Most people are transplants from elsewhere in the country who came for school or a specific career-related reason. 

Sports teams! The Redskins are (well were) beloved but suck. The Nationals are the new kids on the block who everyone now pays attention to (for obvious reasons). Like, if your character is a Hill staffer they probably love going to Nats games. And then there are the Capitals. I think everyone likes the Caps???

Quadrants. The city is broken up into four quadrants with the Capitol Building as the center point. These are NW, SW, NE, SE. These are a part of every address in DC and they all have reputations. NW is the biggest quadrant and probably where your character will work/spend a lot of time. SW is the Waterfront area and has recently become more of a hotspot. It used to be very sketchy. SE is still a pretty iffy place -- i.e. people don’t walk home alone after dark, etc. I have a co-worker who lives there and once came home to find a bullet hole in her living room. It’s that kind of place. BUT it is a big residential area and a lot more affordable than other places in the District. Your character totally might live there. NE is recently becoming quite gentrified.

Related to this are the streets. Downtown DC has a numbered grid-system like NYC, but… then you have the avenues (all named after states) that cut across the grid diagonally. It’s confusing and stupid but at least semi-reliable. Outside of Downtown though? Lol good luck. 

DC is a diverse city. It’s nearly half African-American, and something like 60% of the population is under 35. That said, though there is diversity, it’s not evenly distributed. You will definitely see a difference based on neighborhood. Ex: If your character lives in Georgetown, they’re surrounded by rich white people. If they live in Anacostia, it’s likely the opposite. 

Public transit! Driving in DC sucks! Most people avoid it! There is the metro (the subway but don’t call it that) and then there are buses. Metro lines are coded by color and the final stop in whichever direction you’re going. Metro… sucks. It’s not as frustrating as other cities, but it’s over-priced, and constantly on fire/broken. Complaining about metro is basically hobby here.

Know your neighborhoods. Downtown (where you’ve got the federal buildings and monuments) is nothing like, say, Adams Morgan or Anacostia. You could easily think it’s a different city. That’s actually one of my favorite things about this place...

There are so many fucking police forces: Capitol police, DC Metro police, park police, secret service, uniformed secret service, uniformed FBI, and that’s not even half it. Basically it’s small area FILLED with cops. 

It is an EXPENSIVE city. Sure, every major metropolitan area is like this, but it’s worth noting that if your character is a 20 something Hill staffer, they will 100% have roommates (or live in a roach-filled matchbox of an apartment), and they will totally know every good cheap happy hour menu within walking distance. Food trucks are also a big thing here -- like they line up downtown and sell anything from pizza and burgers, to Greek and Ethiopian. Food trucks are a CULTURE. 

Hill staff culture. This could be its own post honestly Most people are crazy young (like a 28 year old chief of staff is not even a little bit unusual) and are there to get to their next thing. Often people on the hill end up in lobbying or consulting before too long. The money is garbage, the hours are garbage and the turnover is high. A Hill internship sounds fancy to people outside of DC, but you’re basically the lowest of the low and you should know that everyone hates you lol. There’s a hierarchy here too, of course: House isn’t as cool as Senate, committees are more prestigious than members offices, unless your member is famous and on TV a lot, etc, etc. On the other hand, there are also Hill staffers who are ‘Hill Rats.’ In other words, they stay forever and never move to the private sector. These people are weird, and of the decidedly Josh Lyman type personality...

People who work in federal agencies tend to stay much longer in their jobs -- the money is better, the hours are better, and the benefits are better. But these are much harder jobs to get and it takes much longer to rise the ranks. 

The colleges. Georgetown is the fanciest and most prestigious. Also the most expensive. It’s the one that has the most caché. After that would probably be George Washington University and to a lesser degree American University. There’s also Catholic University, Howard University (an HBCU with a great law school), and Gallaudet University which is a school for the deaf and hard of hearing. But if your character is here to be a politics person, they probably went to Georgetown or GW. 

Going out. The hotspot areas are Adams Morgan, U Street, H Street, and to a lesser extent Dupont. The Waterfront area is becoming more popular too. The Kennedy Center is where fancy touring companies and operas perform (i.e. your rich socialite might have season tickets there). But there are other theaters in town and lots and lots of concert venues. The most iconic rock venue is the 9:30 Club, but Black Cat and U Street Music Hall are pretty good too.

Anyway, this is already way too long and by no means everything, but it’s a place to start! Also,I really need to add that this is from the perspective of a comfortable straight white girl who works in a government-adjacent job. This is by no means representative of what it’s like for everyone in DC or the surrounding area, particularly lower income folks or people of color. It’s a city with very wide and noticeable divisions on those fronts and I don’t want to presume to know things that I don’t. So if others want to add to this post, please do!!!!

#anyway here's my 'so you want a political oc' 101 post! #i. ｢ ooc. ｣ #i'm also a little tipsy so #what is coherence?

[lucidlucy]

BLACKOUT, Chapter 1 (A Dramione Fic)

Draco Malfoy is drowning in work and whores, Theodore Nott is head over heels for his muggle help, and Hermione Granger is—for some reason unbeknownst to the latter and soon to become an obsession for the former—living in Muggle London and running a bookshop & tea cafe in one of the buildings Theo inherited after the war, completely clueless to the fact that she's a witch.

Theo is determined to help his friend and Draco is determined to unravel this new mystery. Boy, where did things go so wrong?

A dramione fic by yours truly under a new pseudonym (LumosMaxima)

READ CHAPTERS 1-3 ON AO3

1st Chapter Preview: 

Theodore Nott had seen a lot in his twenty one years of life. Sure, most of it had been from the sidelines, where he’d remained (mostly) safe thanks to his intellect and the very cunning that got him sorted into his House, but nobody could fault him for that. After all, while snakes are able to shed their skins, Theo quite liked his exactly where it belonged—attached to him— and that required he stay out of the way of hexes and curses and Unforgivables alike. So he’d watched from the sidelines even as his father got himself killed in a stupid war that gained them nothing, his beloved school got turned to rubble, and the people he’d considered acquaintances died by the bushels while the few he considered friends barely escaped with their lives.

Yes, Theo had seen a lot. What he hadn’t expected to see on this lovely spring morning, however, was a very familiar head of bushy hair disappearing around the corner of the old-yet-charming building he’d just inherited in the artist district of Muggle London. The same head of bushy hair no one had seen a single, curly strand of for the better part of three years in Wizarding Britain.

No—it surely couldn’t be.

Author’s note: Remember that story I was writing for shits and giggles and to entertain @darth-ej​? well, seeing as I can’t really get any work done on my other fics until tech support gets back to me, I decided I might as well mess around with AO3 and post the first few chapters of this one. Writing it under an attached pseud so I can keep my main strictly SW, but I missed HP. So here’s the first 3 chapters of a really hilariously self indulgent piece of fiction w/ my original OTP. The hilarity alone of seeing Draco’s world turned upside down is worth it. 

#dramione #fic: blackout #here be fluff and hilarity

[obi-lost]

Get to know me tag

tagged by @impllicit​

Rules: answer the questions then tag 20 people you’d like to get to know better

Name: Elizabeth

Nickname: Lizzy (unfortunately)

Zodiac sign: Virgo

Hogwarts House: Slytherin boi

Height: 6ft

Sexual orientation: tired

Ethnicity: nz european (Pākehā? i hope im using the term correctly)

Favourite Fruit: Mangoes

Favourite Season: summmer mm

Favourite book series: undecided, maybe the Warm Bodies books by Isaac Marion

Favourite Fictional Characters: idek how to make this list. today probably Anya from Anastasia (musical+beloved 90s movie), Cassian Andor’s been on my mind again, Bart and Farrah *and literally every other character* from Dirk Gently, FINN from sw, my girl Daisy Johnson, everyone from Firefly, Sarah Walker from Chuck, the guy who says “my cabbages!!” from ATLA

-idk suddenly every character ive ever loved has disappeared from my head

Favourite Flowers: Sunflowers

Fvaourite Scent: pure forest air

Favourite Animal: the Manatee embodies perfect peace, the Lizard- perfect chaos. i cannot choose.

Favourite Band: i like The Killers but majority of my phone space s occupied my musical cast recordings (Now Playing: Carousel)

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate: Coffee

Average Hours Of Sleep: *hysterical sleep-deprived laughter*

Number of Blankets: 7

Dream Trip: to New York (where dreamz r made of)  because they have The Musicals, or Mexico because i think its the most beautiful place on earth, or Russia (even though it mildly terrifies me) because it is so dramatically different from my country and so historically rich, or Greece, or -

Dream Job: writing plays or being in plays just being a part of the theatre somehow cos its home

Last Thing I Googled: “london revival assassins bootleg”

How Many Blogs I follow: Three hundred and something

Number of Followers: six hundred and something

What I Usually Post About: lets be real theres no long-running theme here

Do I Get Asks Regularly: no but thats probably for the best because i dont regularly have answers

Why I Made a Tumblr: to waste my youth

Reasons for URL: its a Gilmore Girls reference to a fictional band int he show- which no longer makes sense because im not a band blog anymore but i ran out of creativity 4 years ago so hep-skeleton i remain

just gonna tag a bunch of random URLs that come up, feeel free to ignore me:

@paragraphsoutofpalaces @keepcalmbutpanicatthedisco @fantasticbasterds @the-winter-demigod @to-oborni @urlocalgem @acidkibble @fantababy @belgianskeleton @ki-ndness @kitschwitsch @kawaisushi @worseningsouls 

aand anyone else that wants to b known

#get to know me #this was actually a decent way to kill 20min #thanks for the tag

[silentrunner1967]

So on the hottest day of the year I came to Felixstowe, Suffolk on a summers mini break to visit a close relative and the sun painted a beautiful picture postcard view this lovely traditional English seaside resort town!

Apart from tourism shipping is also large part of the  Felixstowe economy with the port being the biggest and busiest container port in the UK and is located at the mouth of both the River Stout and Orwell.

Great to see the huge container ships leaving the port on the horizon and wondering what distant countries they are bound for with their expensive cargo 🙂

Volunteer Superstar

On my tourist travels I have been lucky to meet so many parkrun event volunteer superstars that every week they give up there time just to volunteer at their event, but I think at Felixstowe our tail walker Rory Marriott has to go down as a ultra volunteer superstar with 589 roles completed from Run director to barcode scanning, 106 of them as a tourist and over a 8 years period that started at Valentines parkrun, London back in 2011, wow!!!

Rory you are a dream for a event team trying to fill their weekly roster, a credit to the whole of parkrun community and jolly decent chap to have a talk to as well, we all salute you sir!!!

Small World

I had a lovely chat to a number parkrun patrons on the day including Gary Parr from Peterborough another fellow member of the unofficial UK parkrun tourist group, but Emma Hoddy who I run with at the end like me was born in Luton and noticed I was from the town as I was wearing my apricot Luton, Wardown parkrun vest, a very small world 🙂

For the record it was Emma’s first parkrun and I hope one day if she reads this article will join us back at my beloved home event of Wardown park 🙂

Course

The course is a single lap of the promenade that starts and finishes by the distance marker next to the leisure centre and surface is entirely made up of tarmac! The run starts off in a South West direction for 1.2km and your turning point is in front of the Martello tower, once you have got back to the start/line your run 1.3KM in North East direction until you reach the final turning point and then run back to the finish funnel.

Start/finish funnel

SW direction from start

Martello tower

NE direction

In the right weather conditions this has the potential of being your of being your fastest ever parkrun time! My time was 40:15 OK for the hot weather and when I am fitness wise at present!

Points to note

Position yourself at the start where you think time wise you with finish the event as it is a bit congested to overtake for the first couple of minutes

Definitely trainers running shoes kind of course

Very slight incline towards both turning points of the course!

Facilities

There is pay and display parking at Undercliff Road West that is right next to the start, post code IP11 2AE or about half a mile away there is free parking at Garrison Lane Car Park post code IP11 7SH.

There are toilet facilities at Broadwalk cafe on the pier and is a great location for the post run coffee afterwards!

There is so much to do in the town after this parkrun, I would recommend taking a look at their visit Felixstowe tour guide and explore!

Final Verdict

I would like to thank this weeks run director Caroline Stafford and her team of volunteers for the warmest of seaside of welcomes and a great job managing the 274 strong field of running, outstanding effort guys!!!!

So finally if you are looking for a flat fast course in a lovely traditional seaside town setting then Felixstowe parkrun has to be high on your to do list of touring!!!!

Best

Mark aka Silent Runner

Felixstowe So on the hottest day of the year I came to Felixstowe, Suffolk on a summers mini break to visit a close relative and the sun painted a beautiful picture postcard view this lovely traditional English seaside resort town!

[imsfire2]

WIP meme

Do This: List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or as little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on: writing, art, gifsets, whatever.

I was tagged by @thenewleeland - thank you very much!

And, ahem, you asked for it...

(I will add a read-more after a bit, since there is rather a lot of this.  Don’t panic...).

Fan fic – all Rogue One at the present time

In a dark time, the eye begins to see

AU in which Cassian is an artist and Jyn is sent by Saw Gerrera to model for him as a cover to get into the Imperial Archives on Corellia.  Angst, feels, smut, action and drama.  WIP – currently writing chapter 38 in draft, with the published text on AO3 now up to chapter 35.  

Keeping faith

AU in which Cassian and Jyn survived Scarif and are still with the Alliance, but are separated during the battle of Hoth.  Jyn is taken prisoner and then discovers she is pregnant, and angst and many feels ensue. WIP – currently on just over 9,000 words in draft with the published text on AO3 standing at just over 6,000.

Hot and wet

Rebelcaptain one-shot that won’t behave; primarily feels, not as smutty as the title suggests!

In your eyes

Rebelcaptain one-shot, a follow-up to A little more information (which was itself a follow-up to one of the Paths of hurt and darkness stories, On attachment elsewhere).  Cassian is hospitalised following a suicide attempt, post-battle of Endor.  Serious angst and feels.

The Hope of Lyonesse

Only just got started on this, basically it’s still at the planning stage, and it may be a monster as there’s a lot of material to work with.  Rogue One/Arthurian legend/other Celtic legends mash-up AU.  Cassian is Tristan, Jyn is Isolde, Draven is Mark of Cornwall, Chirrut and Baze are the last two acolytes of the Order of Merlin, Bodhi Rook is a character who fuses the roles of Bedwyr and Brangäne.  Mon Mothma is King Arthur, and is a rather more active figure than usual.  The Rebel Alliance is the seven Celtic nations, Albion, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Lyonesse and Galicia; they have a system of loose alliances and treaties cemented by dynastic marriages, and are trying to work together to fight off invasion on two fronts.  The Empire is an unholy alliance between the Saxon invaders coming from the east and the magic-wielding Formorians of Hy-Braseal invading by sea from the west.  Tarkin and Krennic are Saxons, Vader is the Lord of the Isle of the Torrent.  Other SW characters being slotted in gradually. Warning: Do not expect a happy ending.

Captain Andor lives for a day

Only just got started on this, too!  Total contrast to the above.  A Rogue One/Miss Pettigrew AU.  Late 1930’s setting, with jazz music, cocktails and romance for all.  Expect fluff and feels with just an undertone of angst (because some of the protagonists are not stupid and are aware of politics).  

Original fiction

The Bargain of Liberty (working title)

Just got started on this, so don’t look for it anytime soon!  Especially as, being original fic, it won’t be going on AO3.

Historical fantasy set in a sixteenth century AU in which the Spanish did not succeed in conquering the native kingdoms of Central and South America.  Consequently the balance of power across the world is totally different. In London, Dr John Dee has worked a great act of magic, the eponymous Bargain of Liberty, to ensure the freedom of his beloved sovereign, Elizabeth of England, and her people, and to enable her to marry her true love, her cousin Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots.  A work of magic which has had unexpected ramifications.  As our story begins, two British spies, Emilia Tanqueray and Kit Marlowe, and a mestizo Aztec sleeper agent, Javián Cuauhtémoc Sanchez, set out together to thwart the plans of the Inquisition.  The Inquisition’s goals are to overthrow the Emperor Axayacatl the second of Mexico, and to send an Armada to invade the island of Britain…

Also sitting in my Dropbox, Pt 1: Uncompleted original fiction

The taker of daughters

This is a rewrite and expansion of an earlier Hansel and Gretel: Witch-hunters fan-fic.  Significant character changes and hefty filling-in of background.  A steampunk historical fantasy using characters from various ballet versions of folk tales, set in the aftermath of a great war between the High and Low Kingdoms of Faerie and the Middle World of Humankind.  Main character is now Klara Stahlbaum (from The Nutcracker), other characters are her brother, who I’ve named Anton because I don’t like the name Fritz, a Firebird, an OFC who is a human/Firebird mongrel, the Lilac Fairy, and a pregnant giantess.  The main antagonist, the Taker of Daughters, is Kostschei the Terrible.  Currently at just over 77.000 words.  I’m not sure if this is working, though.  I’m having what I can only call tonal problems and struggling to find a balance between the darker and the less-dark elements of the story. So it may end up being abandoned altogether.

The Smiling Assassin

This was a NaNoWriMo project from 2014; a thriller about a retired MI6 agent working for a small London charity, who gets pulled back into his old world when a friend from the past asks him for a favour.  It backfired at around 36,000 words when I realised the plot was not only derivative as all hell but also really sucked!  

Fortitude

A Sci-Fi story about first contact with a telepathic alien species; needs re-writing a lot, but the basic storyline is still good.

A dream of death

My “no-zombies zombie apocalypse” story.  Yeah, that.

Midnight in the Café Tana

An urban fantasy about a local government employee who is a practising witch, and her attempts to help her ex who has fallen victim to a psychic vampire.

Nohomer

A Sci-Fi piece mixing a love story inspired by Pelleas et Melisande with a background of social conflict between rich and poor in a far-off future of Rampant Intergalactic Capitalism.

The war is over

A Sci-Fi story inspired by the core ideas from my very first ever fan-fic, which was a sequel to Return of the Jedi written when I was a teenager. Key plot points are A) the Emperor is dead and the beleaguered Evil Empire is on the verge of losing the galactic civil war, looking for ways to fight back and sabotage their enemies, and B) any Emperor worth his salt is bound to have a son-and-heir tucked away somewhere.

Also sitting in my Dropbox, Pt 2: Completed original fiction

The Healers

A magic realist historical fantasy Western; a faith healer who really can heal rescues a member of the Jesse James gang from certain death and hires him to ride shotgun with her. They travel through 1880’s Missouri having assorted adventures, healing various people and one another and trying not to get killed by various other people who want to bring him to justice, while falling in love.  Features lots of gritty local colour, dirt, violence, whores, blood, sex, angst and feels.  I had a ball writing this and it’s probably my best piece of full-length original fic so far.

The Secret Country

Urban fantasy with people who have real magical powers/superpowers trying desperately not to get found out and caught by a government agency determined to make use of them as weapons.  Flawed as a piece of writing, but quite an exciting read if you can get past a few sticky patches.

The eternal love of Gabriel Yeats

A slightly bonkers magic realist historical fantasy, featuring time travel, reincarnation, doomed romance and a lot of major character death.  Very fond of this one too though it has its issues as a piece of novel writing – it’s much too episodic and has a big structural flaw which I never managed to solve successfully.

Ramundi’s sisters

A historical romance about an artist and his three sisters in early C20th rural Sicily.  Very angsty and feels-y, with thwarted love and lots of unhappiness for everyone.  This was my first full-length novel and although I think I’ve improved a lot since as a writer then I’m still fond of it because I remember the thrill of writing it and having it flow.

[hardynwa]

Afenifere has no regrets supporting Tinubu to be president – Secretary

National Organising Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Chief Kole Omololu, shares his thoughts with PETER DADA on the current crisis bedevilling the group, among other issues When did you become a chieftain of Afenifere? I was involved in the NADECO (the defunct National Democratic Coalition) movement in the United Kingdom; I was among Nigerian citizens demonstrating against the military junta headed by Sani Abacha. We covered very important areas of the capital of the United Kingdom, the Westminster Parliament, White Hall, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. We would now settle at the Nigeria High Commission. At that moment, none of us knew that our photos had been taken and forwarded to Nigeria. I even took the risk of carrying my last baby by then on my neck to demonstrate at the High Commission. She is 34 years old now. No wonder she is a very strong manager at work now. I was arrested at the airport on my visit home and labelled an unpatriotic citizen. So, how did you escape from military captivity? How I escaped is a story in my forthcoming memoir. Before this, I was a follower of now Oba Olu Falae, who introduced me to Afenifere. I became the chairman of Afenifere UK, which enabled me to attend the caucus meeting in Nigeria. Pa Abraham Adesanya affirmed my chairmanship, which was recommended to him by my Afenifere colleagues. We hosted Pa Adesanya at a Nigerian restaurant called Labalaba in Brixton SW London. We further hosted the late Uncle Bola Ige and Pa Solanke Onasanya at the same venue. Later on, we now launched Afenifere with the attendance of Pa Olanihun Ajayi, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Alhaji Ganiyu Olawale Dawodu, and Oba Olu Falae on Woolworth Road, London SE17. I was appointed the national organising secretary by the leader, Pa Fasoranti (OFR), about 10 years ago or so. How is Afenifere faring now under the leadership of Chief Reuben Fasoranti? I have never come across a leader like Pa Fasoranti. He is exceptionally accommodating and deep with few words. Papa is a 1951 graduate of the University of Ibadan. He was one of the young intellectuals sitting around the table with the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. When the likes of Prof (Sam) Aluko, and Prof Aboyade Cole dined with the leader (Awolowo), young Fasoranti would be there. Most of his contemporaries in the party were just running errands for the leader. Discussing issues with serious mental magnitude with the leader, you would find the young Rueben there. As soon as he became the acting leader during the illness of our highly cherished and beloved leader, the Apamaku of Nigeria, Chief Abraham Aderigbe Adesanya, Pa Fasoranti started picking up the fragments of what remained of Afenifere after the 2003 general elections. Not a single public statement was made without clearance from Pa Adesanya. The meetings moved to his Akure home after the death of Pa Adesanya. He would allow every shade of opinion before he passed his comment. Because of his welcoming nature, members strive to go to Akure for meetings despite the challenges of finance and security in the land. He has the ears of the President and governors. Under Pa Fasoranti, Afenifere is doing very well. It appears that the succession plan of the group is shaky. What are the laid down succession plan of Afenifere from the inception? The founder of the group was Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He died in 1987; our leaders met at Ikenne (Ogun State). Chief Bisi Onabanjo nominated Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin. There was a secondment and the house unanimously voted Pa Ajasin. The meeting moved from Ikenne to Owo, the hometown of Pa Ajasin. Pa Ajasin fell sick as a result of old age, he graciously appointed Senator Abraham Adesanya to act on his behalf. After the appointment, the meeting continued in Owo. Why? It was because Pa Adesanya was acting on behalf of Pa Ajasin. He briefed the leader on the outcome of all meetings. Chief Ajasin died later; the meeting moved to Ijebu Igbo where Senator Abraham Adesanya was unanimously elected as the leader. When Senator Abraham Adesanya fell sick, he appointed Fasoranti to act on his behalf. During this period, the convention of Afenifere remained intact. All meetings were held at the leader’s place. Why was this so? It was because the role of an acting leader was meant to be a buffer and support system to the leader. The position is held in trust for the leader. Afenifere never had a retired leader, it is a life position. As a result of fatigue of calamities that befell the leader, he decided to step aside and appoint an acting leader in the person of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and a deputy, HRH Dipo Olaitan, until the positions were scraped on January 24, 2024, to pave the way for Afenifere National Elders’ Caucus. Their decision will still be subject to the general assembly. At the recent meeting in Akure, the position of acting leader was scrapped but Pa Adebanjo’s group disagreed with the decision. What is going to happen now? The Afenifere high command has spoken. Its decision is final. Some have linked the crisis in Afenifere to events before the 2023 general elections when Pa Ayo Adebanjo insisted that the Yoruba socio-political organisation would support the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, instead of Bola Tinubu. But the presidential election is over and a winner has emerged. Why is the crisis still on? The disagreement is in the open and not unusual. Remember that the leader, Pa Fasoranti, addressed the group in August 2023 and expressed his dissatisfaction with the way Afenifere was being run. He was concerned about the erosion of the collective leadership style of the group. He advised against dictatorial tendencies. The leader believes Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the best who can implement what Afenifere stands for. He did it with the knowledge of most Afenifere and Yoruba leaders. He never singularly imposed any candidate on us; it was a collective decision. The decision to support Asiwaju was beyond Tinubu. He was seen as the best among the pack in all ramifications. What have been the roles of the other chieftains of the group in ending the crisis? They are making efforts. Let us give kudos to them because they have been striving to keep this group together and realise that Afenifere is a legacy group bequeathed to us by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his compatriots. At our August 2023 meeting, the members ran riot, demanding the expulsion of some individuals, but thanks to Oba Falae, who deployed his experience to quell the action. His resilience, wisdom, and brilliance are second to none, as he reminded members of the essence of Omoluabi in a Yoruba person. Dr Segun Mimiko deployed his time and resources to seek and sue for peace, likewise Senator Iyiola Omisore. Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu intervened and asked us to put Yoruba at the topmost of our hearts. Basorun Seinde Arogbofa was not daunted in suing for peace. He took personal risks for the sake of the group. So, what do you think is the way out of this crisis? The way out of the crisis is that the restructuring of the group has started to make it relevant to her calling. Afenifere was known for its constant call for the restructuring of the country. How come your group has not reminded President Tinubu of the need to begin the process of restructuring the country? I am concerned a little that this government will not take restructuring seriously; I will say that is their direction. Let us remember that they are the ones who included restructuring in the APC manifesto, and then we heard that President (Muhammadu) Buhari said they were not going to touch it because it was Afenifere’s manifesto, and that Asiwaju and his people were pushing it. If that is true, which I am looking at a strategic government, the way the man will handle restructuring will not be the way he wants it, maybe he wants an incremental restructuring in some area first before a statutory restructuring. When I say statutory, it has to have legislative backing. In the 2014 confab, I think the President was told to push it to the National Assembly for the benefit of what is called restructuring or rearrangement, I think a lot of people are taking the word ‘restructuring’ as a negative illustration. It is just grammar; we are talking about rearrangement of things to work better. Take for example, there was a time in Lagos when Ikorodu Road was impassable; it is a federal road but it is inside Lagos. The road was bad and the federal attention was not there. Look at the international airport road, Lagos; look at the road from there to the city, but the government of Lagos stepped in and did it by itself, waiting for reimbursement from the Federal Government. Why do we allow that to happen? Why do we not allow the state government to take care of all these things? States should be in charge, it should be in their budget. Bridge and road construction should be rearranged for things to work. How can someone in Abuja be in charge of the road in Aba because it is a federal road? All these things should be restructured. Why will Lagos State be collecting as much as half of the budget of the states combined? There should be a rearrangement. We are not encouraging productivity, but encouraging laziness. If you are hard-working as a state, the government should compensate you according to the amount you remit to the federal purse, rather than taking everything to a particular country; I am sure that those who encourage unitary government are regretting it now. The major restructuring we want now is state police; this is very essential; the most important person in the life of a Yoruba is their king. They respect their kings more than the president. Look at them (kings) being killed and kidnapped by hoodlums and terrorists because we don’t have enough policemen to guide the citizens. Substantial numbers of policemen are attached to big men (the VIPs). I just believe that state policing is important. The states should handle them; the people know each other. If a stranger is in their midst, they will know. Nigerians are tired of this mess (insecurity). Your group supported President Tinubu in the last election, but the administration has yet to ease the suffering of the people. Are you not regretting supporting him? We are not regretting anything. The continuation effect of former President Buhari’s legacy is what President Tinubu is battling now. Terrorists, bandits, and evil men of the underworld are out everywhere. Buhari bankrupted the humanity in us. There are satanic influences everywhere. It is like President Tinubu is starting from ground zero to rebuild Nigeria. Take, for example, most of our crude oil has been sold, swapping it for goods. The NNPC could not get enough forex to meet demand; hence the law of demand and supply will come into play in the market. The effect on inflation is hyper. The yoke on the people is burdensome. The government must subsidise food and food items now. Food is a priority. For our safety, a total war on insecurity should be declared. Nigeria has 310,000 police personnel; out of these, about 100,000 are looking after big men, leaving 210,000 to look after 220 million citizens. It is laughable. The Federal Government can start as a pilot project with the state police system. The South-West is ready with the Amotekun, while Lagos has the Neighbourhood Watch Corps. Arm the personnel with the required tools. Apart from the internal turmoil, no foreigner will come and invest in an unsafe environment. What do you think should be done about the japa syndrome in Nigeria? Do you think it is right for Nigerian youths to abandon their country for greener pastures elsewhere? People are not just migrating from Nigeria but from other countries too; people migrate for more opportunities, including better education, and I believe that after their studies, they’ll come back. Because of Internet communication, the youth know what’s going on everywhere in the world and they want to be there. They see development over there and they want to experience how it feels. If they are professionals like doctors that we need most here, the government should finance them by providing more facilities so that the hospitals will be well equipped. We have some of the best medical practitioners in the world; when they go abroad, they perform excellently. So, we are appealing to the government to look at our medical professional area; let us encourage them by providing good facilities for them and paying them good salaries. There is nothing abroad that cannot be here; God has provided us with so many facilities to grow, and we have been told that by former American President, Barak Obama. The government should repair the damage that has been done and start afresh. It should also encourage the youth; Nigerian youths are one of the most brilliant in the world. They excel everywhere they find themselves. Chief Obafemi Awolowo brought about the idea of free education in the South-West, but that idea is no longer a priority for today’s government at any level and that is one of the reasons people leave the country. What can be done to make Nigerians achieve quality and affordable education? Chief Obafemi Awolowo said the weapon for development is education. Without being informed, without being trained, without being educated, we are still going to be operating a primitive system. Many developed countries of the world don’t take education for granted. For example, in the United Kingdom, education is just like crude oil. They invest big in it, which makes it one of the best in the world. People travel from other parts of the world to study in the UK. For their children, they must go to school. Everything is free up to age 18. After that, you will go to higher institutions. There is what we call a student loan; the government will provide it for you. Everything you need to have a good education, the government will provide it. After completing your education, you will start to work. So, education and health are very vital. Education should be our number one priority for development. Read the full article