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maychorian · 6 years

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Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #50

I am still not caught up on all the fics I’ve read that need to be commented on and recced. You might be getting another list in a few days, if I can keep up the momentum I’m currently on.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Keith Doesn’t Have Time for Ghosts by aeruh for Forest_of_bread Words: 5,309 Author’s Summary: The Castle of Lions is haunted again, for real this time. Thankfully, Keith is a witch and knows how to deal with it. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who knows how to deal with it. My Comments: Keith’s approach to witchcraft and exorcism is absolutely hilarious. This was such a fun read from start to finish.

Breaking the Barriers by wingedflower Words: 4,277 Author’s Summary: A sequel to “Break Out, Break Down”. After Lance’s claustrophobia has casued him to collapse mid-training, Shiro decides it’s time for the paladins to have a heart-to-heart talk about their fears and phobias. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic that’s one of my absolute favorites. It’s actually saved in my Favorite Fics folder at work so I can break it out when I’m feeling particularly in need some good Lance h/c. Anyway, this one is more focused on everyone else rather than Lance, but it’s still really lovely to see them all talking things out and supporting each other BEFORE it hits the fan.

BLUR by limeadepeels Words: 1,209 Author’s Summary: “Allura,” Lance says, “I don’t want you to freak out, okay?” “Why would I–” “You have a hole in your tummy,” Lance says like the soft words will minimize the seriousness of the situation. “I have my hands over it and I’m trying to seal it off. I need you to help me by not moving and not freaking out until we have an extraction, all right?” Allura does her part and stays very, very still. My Comments: Hurt Allura and comforting Lance is such a fantastic dynamic. I would love to see more like this from the fandom.

Precipitous by mongoose_bite Words: 1,933 Author’s Summary: Kolivan knows orbital decay when he sees it, and knows if too much force is applied to correct it the object will be flung into space, unrecoverable. Nevertheless, he resolves to try. After the events at Naxzela someone needs to talk to Keith. My Comments: Great fic with Kolivan taking pains to ground Keith after he almost flew off the rails. I’m a big fan of this sort of father-son interaction between these two.

Identity by Revasnaslan Words: 1,034 Author’s Summary: Cubs weren’t supposed to be up in the middle of the night, but Kolivan does his best to be patient with the ones that are. — Written for Keith Birthday Day 2 (Identity) My Comments: Very cute interaction between Kolivan and wee Keith.

Not Just Another Rescue by Eastofthemoon Words: 8,568 Author’s Summary: Keith spends some time with his new human friends at the mall. However, when he finds himself whisked away by Kolivan to return home, last thing Keith expected was for his new friends to come chasing after him. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic in which the other paladins run across BoM Keith in a space mall and decide to befriend. I love the misunderstanding that fuels this one, and seeing Keith comfortable enough to be a brat with Kolivan was really cute and heartwarming.

The Lost Paladin by prettyshiroic (AnalystProductions) Words: 17,991 Author’s Summary: If he doesn’t leave, all of him will be reduced to cinders. But if he leaves, all of him will be undone. A course that he will choose to chart, no matter how it breaks his heart. It’s a battle that cannot be won.- Their names burn inside him, seared onto his soul. Black coal sits in the centre of his chest, fuelling a fire that was soon to be smothered by the very people that set it ablaze. My Comments: This is painful, but very well done. After the war is done and it seems like Voltron is going to disband, Keith leaves the team before they can leave him. Years together he’s found again, but it takes quite a bit of work to reconnect.

Safe Spaces by BluePlanetTrash Words: 1,620 Author’s Summary: Whenever Lance felt sick at home, he would find a small place to curl up until he felt better. Too bad the other paladins didn’t know this when Lance suddenly goes missing. My Comments: Cute little fic with everyone panicking over Lance, aww. He’s fine.

something wicked by ashinan Words: 8,206 (2/4) Author’s Summary: It’s been weeks since Shiro went toe to toe with the white haired demon in that old house. When the next haunted excursion leads the gang to a supernatural Bed and Breakfast, a new player makes itself known. My Comments: Sequel to a previously recced fic. This AU is so good. I love Shiro’s protectiveness, as always, though it’s a bit frustrating and I just want him to TELL the others what’s going on, holy crow. The spooky descriptions and action sequences work really, really well, and it’s just all around delightful to read and immerse myself in this story.

what goes up by eugyne (AreteNike) must come down by eugyne (AreteNike) the law of gravity by eugyne (AreteNike) Words: 2,991, 3,255, 2,713 Author’s Summary: All Mark Kogane has left is his infant son and the empty sky. All Mirana Espinosa has left is her infant son and the memories of other times. All Colleen Holt has left is her teenage daughter and her husband’s collection of extraterrestrial paraphernalia. (This series can be read in any order.) My Comments: I really loved this canon-divergence AU built on the POVs of three parents who lose their partners, their foundations, and their children. The worldbuilding and character interactions were both fantastic and fascinating. Each story is satisfying alone, but reading all three really gives a sense of meat and heft to the world. I would happily read more in this ‘verse.

i used to recognise myself (it’s funny how reflections change) by watervld (helpmechildren) Words: 2,671 Author’s Summary: Everyone expects Lance to be with Hunk, because that’s the way it works; Lance and Hunk, side by side, taking down whatever bad guy stands in their path through excessive screaming and heartfelt reunions. Lance isn’t with him. Everyone starts to worry. My Comments: Lance disappears, and when he’s found again, he has amnesia and it’s years later. Bittersweet, emotional fic, kinda sticks in the brain. There’s a note of hope at the end, but it’s not a fluffy fic, just to warn you.

Two Inch Trust by SilverArson Words: 2,361 Author’s Summary: The Velqi have mastered transporting large amounts of material through small containers. When the paladins attempt to rescue victims of an illegal slave trade, Lance is trapped and they aren’t sure how to get him out. My Comments: A cracky premise treated seriously, which is the best way to do a cracky premise, sometimes. Anyway, Lance gets shrunk and stuck in a jar, and it’s more intense and scary than funny. Great protectiveness from the team.

Tastes Like Coffee by itsthevoid Words: 2,213 Author’s Summary: All Hunk has ever wanted was to live a normal life. Being a technopath who works at the most supernatural café in the word, that is all but impossible. At least Lance is still normal, even if he drinks Pumpkin Spice Lattes a bit too often. Or: AU where everyone is supernatural and works at an even more supernatural café, and neither Lance nor his coffee is what Hunk thinks it is. My Comments: The worldbuilding in this AU is fantastic, and the Hunk and Lance interaction is wonderful. I would happily read something much, much longer in this setting.

make yourself right, never mind them (don’t you know you’re not the only one suffering?) byorange_yarn Words: 3,143 Author’s Summary: Missing scenes for Reunion & Black Site. Matt feels the need to make amends. He’s not the only one.Fill for the “atonement” prompt on my hurt/comfort bingo card. My Comments: I wish we got something like this in canon, but fanfiction is great for filling in these emotional gaps.

sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before by prettyshiroic (AnalystProductions) Words: 1,746 Author’s Summary: Keith pulls his own strings, but his trembling hands can hold nothing right now. The final pieces of his composure slip, evade his reach. He trips, on the verge of his own unravelling. My Comments: Kolivan is a good dad. 4.01 missing scene.

Serenity by this_book_has_been_loved Words: 1,238 Author’s Summary: Lance has trouble sleeping, and decides to take a walk My Comments: I always love Pidge and Lance supporting each other.

Nightmares by luoup (ravenic) Words: 1,599 Author’s Summary: Day 1 Prompt 2: Nightmares Nightmare coping techniques My Comments: Cute and midlly bittersweet fic with the entire team coping together.

Icarus et Dea Tacita by DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee Words: 7,356 Author’s Summary: She’s drenched in blood; she’s literally cut open, how-? Keith doesn’t know, and the closer he is to her the more certain he becomes that he’s seen her before, that this is one of Lotor’s generals, but he knows he’s going to try to save her. No soldier or civilian left behind. Shiro’s taught him so much, but he learned that one from Pidge and Lance and Hunk.While on a mission for the Blade, Keith finds a dying Narti and saves her life. Friendship ensues. My Comments: What a fantastic premise. Keith and Narti form such an interesting and natural friendship, two people who don’t quite feel like they belong anywhere. It was a pleasure to watch them slowly figuring out how to relate to each other. The worldbuilding is great, too. I would be pleased if canon was something like this.

Of Tremors, of Quake, of Rushing Landslides, of Broken Vale by twilighteve Words: 12,268 Author’s Summary: Lance’s eyes widened. “Oh man. You’re like our own Toph from Avatar.” Hunk blinked, because that was actually a pretty accurate description of what he was feeling. “I’m like Toph,” he echoed, a smile on his face. Hunk discovers his powers and beats a bunch of giant alien insects with the team. Also, he cusses alien badgers a storm. My Comments: Part of a series in which the paladins discover they have elemental powers. I love to see Hunk coming into his own in this. The worldbuilding is great and the action and adventure aspects are super fun, and protective Hunk is fantastic. Just a really, really fun read.

Number One Fan by Araloth Words: 4,255 Author’s Summary: Lance discovers a forum for fans of Voltron after one of their shows and can’t help diving into it. My Comments: Absolutely adorable. I loved how the mystery was solved in the end. Protective teammates are the best.

The Drifter by Bandity Words: 15,959 Author’s Summary: The team needs to figure out what’s wrong with Lance, before it’s too late. My Comments: Very cool fic with a great premise and fantastic execution. There are several scenes that were really memorable, and the worldbuilding is interesting and feels like a real place, if a bit spooky. Love Shiro and Hunk taking such a good care of Lance, as always. A great fic for Halloween. Going into my favorites, of course.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

As Color Fades Away (205120 words) Why it sucks to be a snake in space(47136 words) The Sea In Between (74253 words) Young Blood (7636 words) Road Trip to End Times (20349 words) Shadows of Stars (52425 words) Fusion Confusion (21601 words)

#voltron legendary defender #weekly voltron fic recs #fic rec #vldgen

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elesianne · 7 years

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Tolkien fandom, the English language, and a ridiculously terrifying private message

The wonderful and wonderfully prolific fanfic writer @yeaka did a post about how they appreciate people who write fanfic in English though English isn’t their native language. Participating in fandom in a second/foreign language is something I’ve been wanting to blog about for a while and seeing that post inspired me to actually do it.

So here is the long and slightly funny story of how Tolkien fandom and the English language have gone hand in hand for me since 2003, as well as some related, more general ramblings. (I thought originally I’d do this as a reblog of @yeaka’s post but this got so long and tangential that I thought it’d be more polite to do a separate post.)

I’m one of those non-native fanfiction writers these days. When I first wrote LotR fanfic as a teen my English was far from fluent enough to use for fics, so I wrote in my native language. While there was an active (small, but active) fan community in that language too, I knew that if only I knew a little more English, if I was a few years older and had more than four years of bad English teaching at school to build upon, I could take part in a much, much bigger community that seemed to have, and actually must have had, more people in it than there were residents in my small country town.

But I lacked the communication skills necessary to be part of that bigger world, so I actively participated in my country’s fandom, read and wrote fics and talked about the LotR books and movies in my ‘own’ language. I also browsed many English-language fansites, looking for movie stills and trivia and info about Tolkien’s life and whatnot, whatever text I could find that was simple enough and short enough that I could read it with the aid of a little red-backed dictionary. At first I often had to click on links on the fansites without knowing where they’d take me, because I hadn’t been taught any useful words like ‘screencap’ and ‘biography’ at school, not to mention ‘fanart’.

So I was a lurker on some English-language websites, though I didn’t know the word lurker. I had to register to one – a nerve-wracking process – to access some portion of the site or something like that, and soon after registering I received a private message from an admin or moderator or such. It was probably a standard message sent to all new members; I was asked whether I’d like to take part in a Sindarin (? I think it was Sindarin – it was years ago though so it might have been Quenya) language course they had going on via the forums.

It makes me laugh now but thirteen-year-old me was terrified of that message. Firstly because I was startled by getting a message when I’d just intended to lurk and now my presence had been noticed, and secondly because, being a polite little thing, I felt I had to reply to the person who had greeted me by my (user)name and asked me so welcomingly to join their course.

I had never, not even once, interacted in English with anyone outside of classroom exercises.

But I began the arduous task of composing a message thanking the admin for the invitation and explaining that though I’d love to learn Sindarin, I was still learning English so I wasn’t up to the task of studying another language via the medium of English.

It took me like an hour to write that three-sentence message, relying heavily on my dictionary and, if I remember correctly, consulting my schoolbooks for grammar rules. I sent it, still terrified, now of not being understood and of somehow making the unknown English-speaking Tolkien fan angry by mangling their language.

They didn’t get angry, of course – to my great relief. Instead they replied with another very nice message, complimented my English, said they understood and that if I wanted to join later, I’d be welcome; in any case, they wished me a nice time browsing the website. The joy I felt once I’d deciphered that second message was intense. It made me so happy that I had been understood.

That first successful communication in a language other than the one I’d spoken as long as I could remember was... I don’t know how to describe it, except as my world widening around me until I couldn’t see the edges anymore.

If I could somehow get in touch with that person now, I would thank them so much for being nice to a newbie and for quite accidentally teaching me that a) English was so much more useful than I’d thought, b) my English was better than I’d thought, and c) that being a Tolkien fan, and in general passionately caring about the same thing, unites people who are divided by different languages and nationalities.

That realisation that learning English – learning it well – meant not only opening doors to new stories and new books but also to new people drove me to pursue fluency in English more enthusiastically than I had pursued pretty much anything in life by that age. I read more and more in English (a big thank you to my mum, who agreed to buy all the English books I’d read; she had to rescind this policy three years later by which time it had already cost her hundreds of euros) and took extra lessons at school.

I also soon started writing little poems and short stories in English. I didn’t show them to anyone for many years – I think I was seventeen by the time I dared to post my first English-language texts online. By that time I’d become fluent and spent three weeks in England on a language course and was considering studying English/linguistics at university (I went on to do that) because English had become a passion of mine on its own, not just an instrument of communication.

Many people are much braver than me and start posting their stories earlier on their path of learning English, which I think is fantastic. But even if you write only for yourself, writing still improves your skills. All those poems and little stories I kept editing while my fluency grew taught me a lot.

To all aspiring non-native fic writers I’d say, every story you read and especially every story you write in any language will make you better at that language, and eventually will come a day when you’re typing out your author’s notes and think, ‘No, I’m not going to apologise for or explain about this not being my native language’.

I don’t do that anymore, partially because I think there’s nothing to apologise for in being a non-native speaker and partially because, after several years of university studies and a total of 18 years of studying English, I hope that at least some of my stories contain no non-native mistakes. (After rigorous editing. I spend more time editing than writing.)

Re-entering the Tolkien fandom, and this time doing it in English, stepping into that bigger community that I once yearned to be a part of, has been delightful and one of the reasons is that it’s so international. I’ve spotted many people from my own country (hei kaikki suomalaiset!) and people from all over the world, creating beautiful art and interesting fics and all kinds of entertaining and thought-provoking stuff, and it’s wonderful how everyone is equally a part of the community.

I haven’t seen anyone shamed for their non-native use of English – it might still happen, I know, though I really hope it doesn’t. And while I still go over every sentence of my fics with a fine-toothed comb and check every word I’m uncertain about in a dictionary (Oxford Dictionaries Online this time, though the little red-backed dictionary is still in my bookshelf), I trust my English now and I trust my fellow Tolkien fans to be nice even if my language skills fail sometimes. Just like that one fansite admin years ago was.

#other non-native fans (and why not native English speakers as well):#please share your experiences!#are they anything like mine?#I know there are idiots in every community but I've always felt welcome among Tolkien fans #another post I've been meaning to write: how English is the language of smut to me like it is to many others #fanfiction meta #tolkien memories #real-world languages #personal stuff

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bi-dazai · 7 years

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Also I might just write something General on how to deal with internet stuff like this. Because it’s happened to me multiple times, particularly on this site, and I can say that after over four years on here there’s a way of dealing with drama that I only finally really understood a few months ago.

1. Don’t use buzzwords. Don’t use inflammatory language. Tag your drama posts with something that your followers can block and tell your followers about the tag.

2. If you find yourself typing out the same response for the tenth time, then it’s time to start deleting anons and stop replying. You’ve said what needs to be said. Focus on responding to new arguments, or just take a step outside and go for a walk.

3. Do actually consider their argument. Consider from their perspective. Be understanding. You’re dealing with real people - that’s an actual human being with feelings behind the multiple “fuck you’s” and “liberal cucks”. Not everyone has had the same upbringing and experiences you have.

4. Look into their arguments, then look into blogs and responses that offer the opposite perspective or aim to disprove the arguments. Consider the reliability, accuracy, etc, of each side, then respond thus.

5. It’s okay to agree. If you’ve taken steps 3 and 4 and found that, hey, your perspective has shifted in a few aspects, that’s okay! Tell them you agree in those aspects! This is called a civilised debate.

6. If you don’t agree with anything, or you still want to rebut some of their points, then offer good sources of disprovals of their arguments. Avoid tumblr blogs, Wikipedia, any content from places such as Mic.com, breitbart, buzzfeed, youtubers, etc. These offer opinionated views, and no matter how accurate and evidential their actual content may be, they do have reputations that can shut down the credibility of their words pretty damn easily.

7. You actually don’t even need to respond. Even if all the world is ganging up on a post you made, you’re quite welcome to ignore it, block the notifs of the post (that’s an xkit feature) and carry on your merry way.

8. If you choose no 7 be aware of respect. You can vent about what they’re doing, but dont tag it as anything, don’t name names and URLs, remember the handy //. You’ve chosen not to engage with them. So don’t.

9. If you’ve chosen to interact with them, then you have to know when to stop. If you find yourself constantly apologising and re-explaining, if it’s been 3 or more days and you’re still getting an onslaught, then stop. Make a post saying you’re done, then delete any messages about it that come into your inbox, stop responding. Do number 7 and 8.

10. know that this will all blow over fairly quickly as soon as you stop interacting with them. They thrive off your interaction. Along with this, they form their own side of the internet that’s separate from yours. Eventually they’ll fade out and you won’t ever interact with them again. True story - I’m on several TERF blogs callout lists (despite me being a minor and messaging them this to point it out they weren’t a fan of removing my name so). I legit don’t even remember their URLs. They’re on a different side of tumblr than me. As soon as I stopped reblogging their posts and by doing that encouraging them to enter my side again (since they had barged in first), they just faded out of my world.

11. DO NOT ENGAGE OR MAKE THE FOLLOWING POSTS: - “callout posts” - tagging certain people’s content as “receipts” - receipts always end up more popular than apologies and fosters an unforgiving culture - “doxxing” - dear god, do not expose stuff like that. That can destroy people’s lives. Yes, maybe they’re a racist shit. But if you find their employment info and you want to get them fired for shitty behaviour - fucking file a formal complaint, saying they’ve seriously damaged the reputation of the company/establishment/whatever. You think you might need more to get proper actin to be taken? Keep pressuring the place to do something and/or get some friends to also make complaints. Don’t organise an internet witchhunt. - while you shouldn’t be doing the above anyway, if you’re going to be an immoral crazed hate-machine, then ALWAYS CHECK WHETHER THE PERSON IS A MINOR. If you’re going to do these horrible things, at least don’t do them to minors. If you’ve seen a kid do something shitty and you find which school they go to, follow the advice given in the point above this one.

I’ll just add in some stuff about dealing with this emotionally as well.

1. Internet drama will affect you. It will make you depressed, it will make you miserable. It’s not stupid because it’s the internet - it’s perfectly reasonable to be depressed about coming home to find your blog invaded by 25 messages from people you’ve never met telling you you’re a horrible person for not supporting their worldview. Earlier this year when I started getting put on those TERF hit lists I genuinely began considering self-harm. What made it worse was the cultural idea that it was just petty internet drama, which made me feel even more awful because it made me think I was shallow. You aren’t. Dare i use the cursed phrase - your feelings are valid.

2. Replace the tab. By this I mean close the tab with the site/s with the drama on it. Replace that tab with, say, your favourite tv show. Or look for some events happening around you and see what you might be interested in. Play a flash game. Literally do anything else but engage in social media. The internet is diverse and huge - there are many other things to do. Sometimes your internet session just needs to be something else for a bit. You might need to take a break from a site for a bit, so use the time you would spend on that site on a different one. Again, not social media. All social media is cruel.

3. Know that it will blow over. It will end. People will forget. The internet is horrible because it starts drama, but it’s also great because it forget within a matter of days. After that short time you can go back to whatever you were doing.

4. Go outside. I know it sounds silly but. Please. Go for a walk and make yourself promise you won’t pull your phone out and check the internet during that walk. The internet world and the real world are two fairly separate entities and removing one to involve yourself fully in the other is good for the soul in times when you’re getting 400 messages a day telling you to kill yourself. There are dogs in the real world. Go pat ‘em.

5. If you took option 7 above, a good reason is that it isn’t worth it to engage. Often people will reblog a post of yours days later when it has barely any notes and write essays on why you’re wrong and because of that you’re a terrible person, despite them having to dig through piles and piles worth of posts within a certain tag (often which these people wouldn’t go to unless they were deliberately seeking out drama) to find yours, to which they’re now working themselves into a frenzy over. If this is happening to you then guess what? That shit is hilarious. It’s honestly pathetic, and it’s 90% of the drama you will get into. Finding the “haters” funny is good, because it grounds you. It gives you a sense of reason and place. Another thing to laugh at is if you keep restating your counter arguments yet the person/people you’re arguing with just keeps restating the point you’ve rebutted despite not rebutting your rebuttal. That’s also pathetic, and also desperate. Find humour in the situation to ground yourself.

6. Find other people who share your view. Let their views reassure you. You don’t have to agree blindly with everything they say, but it’s nice to know you aren’t alone.

Anyway. People were creating a storm over a post I made and I felt the urge to inform the world on how to deal with everyone in your notifs saying you’re a bad person.

#long post #mine #notvoltron #I've been meaning to make this post for a few months but I never got around to it #I suppose now is the perfect time then

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