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copperbadge · 4 hours

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Immediate Writer's Block

Had a comment on another post where I thought I'd probably need more space than the notes in which to respond, so:

constant-state-of-self-discovery Oh I get the envy I feel it right now how the fuck do you manage to write without impassable writers block after 5-9 sentences because I haven't fucking figured it out lol

I do have some advice on this!

I think most writers get blocked from time to time, it's normal and my general strategy is just to wait it out, but if you're frequently blocked after only writing a very little bit, I think the problem is one of two things: either you don't know what you want to achieve with the scene you're writing, or you don't know what should happen next within the scene to achieve that goal. If you frame "I'm blocked" as "I don't have an answer I need" then often you move from just sitting there, sweating and staring at a blank page, to thinking productively about how you're going to get where you're going. It's the difference between not knowing an answer and not knowing an answer but knowing where to look for it.

An invaluable piece of advice for this, which I think I picked up from someone who got it off a National Novel Writing Month messageboard, is "When in doubt, ninjas attack." It's not meant to be literal, you don't need to have ninjas or fight scenes just because you don't know what to do, but it helps to get the creativity flowing again. If you don't know what should happen next, or you know but you're having trouble actually writing the scene, it can be very helpful to induce a moment of uncertainty or surprise -- to have a metaphorical ninja attack. One time I did this literally -- the POV character was just on the road somewhere and I didn't know how to get them from a pastoral country road to their actual destination in an interesting way, so I had them get attacked by highway bandits and have to fight them off, which also allowed me to demonstrate that the character had significant unarmed combat skills. But it can also just be like, two characters who are having a boring conversation can be interrupted by a third person, even just a stranger asking for directions, or there can be, IDK, an explosion, or something goes missing, or etc.

Sometimes it also helps to leave it alone but keep it in your mind and go do something else -- listen to a podcast, take a walk, read a book, not because those things are distracting but because all our inputs eventually feed into our brain and come out as reactions. If you're thinking about your book while you're wandering around a park, something you see in the park might have an impact on it. If you've got YOUR story in mind while reading someone else's, you might be more inclined to look at what they're saying and see what you think of it, how it might play into your work.

And honestly, sometimes you just gotta go past it. I'm working on the next Shivadh novel right now and it opens basically with Simon the chef getting into a spat with his love-interest-to-be over some cheese. He want the cheese, she won't sell him the cheese, so they get off to a very contentious start. But I suck at writing conflict especially when it's basically "A character I like is being pompous and another character I want people to find likable is being stubborn and somewhat unpleasant". I've been stalled on it for a while. But I know where the scene ends up, like I do know what the goal is, so I just...skipped it and went on to writing a scene I like better, where they meet a second time and actually discover each others' identity and that they're about to be forced into the grownup equivalent of a school project. Once I've gotten dug deeper into the story I'll come back and write it, and by then I'll have the benefit of knowing the love interest a bit better.

So yeah -- I think a lot of breaking a writer's block, especially when you don't need rest but are just stumped about what to do, is to twist and look at it from another angle. It's not that you don't know what to write, or don't want to write what you know you have to -- it's that you don't have the correct answer to a question, or you need to leave that part alone to ferment and come back to it later. At least, for me.

#writing #constant-state-of-self-discovery #writer's block #inspiration #archive

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three--rings · 2 months

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One of the largest projects I've been working on is this typeset and book version of 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, one of my very favorite video games. (Which later became the first game in the Zero Escape franchise.)

The game is a visual novel and escape room game combo with multiple routes and endings leading to a true ending. So this version is structured like a Choose-your-own-Adventure book where you flip to different pages depending on your choices.

I also made it possible to skip all the less linear escape/puzzle sequences because they don't read very cohesively. But they do contain a lot of funny or revealing lines so I didn't want to eliminate them entirely.

I should also mention one of the reasons for doing this is that I wanted to preserve the original text of the game from the Nintendo DS version from 2010. When it was remastered/ported to PC and Switch a lot of the dialogue was rewritten very much for the worse. As well as making the novel sections optional, which destroys a lot of the point and atmosphere of the game.

The book is a full leather casebind, with stenciled titles. The leather was honestly a little too thick and required a lot of paring, which is terrifying because any slip could ruin it. And the final satin finish I put on made a lot of the leather flaws look worse and more obvious, which is annoying. It was my first time doing faux raised bands on the spine, and they came out nice.

My printer decided to fuck with me while printing this one and the color alignment is off. This is my second attempt at printing it and it's better than the first but still not great. But I wasn't gonna waste so much paper again.

And no, I'm not planning on doing the sequels. I can't imagine trying to deal with VLR's 28 endings when doing 6 was this challenging and annoying. And the sequels are perfectly represented by their existing playable versions, unlike 999.

#my fanbinding #binderary2024 #9 hours 9 persons 9 doors #999: 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors #zero escape

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justthoughts1310 · 2 months

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If you have not watched Netflix's live action ATLA yet, let me stop you right now. It is not good and it's score on rotten tomatoes is honestly too high.

However, it's far better than the 2010 Live Action movie.

I'm on episode 6 now, and as I watch, I've been trying to find the words that best describe the series.

I've struggled, but the first thing I've noticed is how all of the actors seem to walk their parts and miss the meaning and motivations of their characters all together. The only one who comes close to embodying their character is Iroh, and the only one who looks like they came from straight out of the avatar universe is the Bounty Hunter.

However, now that I'm in episode 6, I've found the word.

The series is Rushed. It's rushed. It feels that they are trying to pack as much avatar lore into the storyline as possible and they don't care what storylines or arcs they have to mangle in order to do it. It's like a really badly written fanficition or a bad spark notes recap of the OG show. I feel comfortable saying that because I've read the Kiyoshi novels (which are like fanfics) and they are EXCELLENT.

You notice this when the show starts. Aang can fly unassisted. Let me repeat. He can fly unassisted. Only two Airbenders in all of Avatar history can fly unassisted, and one hasn't even been born yet during the time Aang was trying to stop the 100 year war. This boy can fly, but we're 6 episodes in and he has not water bent once. If he hadn't turned into Kiyoshi, I wouldn't believe that he's actually the avatar.

As to not provide any spoilers, they've taken multiple storylines and mashed them together. For example, the spirt of wisdom that we meet in the library in the arc where Appa goes missing. Yeah, we meet the guy in the forest with the Panda Bear Forest spirit and then we meet Kah shortly after. As if that's not all terrible, then we are introduced to the Mother of Faces.

The mother of freaking faces! If you don't know who she is, she is not in the show. She is introduced in the graphic novel trilogy "The Search" when Zuko and Azula try to find their long lost mother.

It is my feeling that if you want to revisit a beloved show that you should work to make it better. Deepen it. Add color to it and help the audience better understand the characters insights. Take your time with it.

Netflix tries to do a little of this by providing some additional backstories, but it does this by running rough shot through literally everything else.

It even changes the characters relational dynamics with one another. For example you know how even though Sokka is the oldest, Katara very much has adopted the place of their mother? Yeah... throw that notion right out the window. Now, instead of Katara being the practical one who keeps everything on track, she's painted as the rash kid who needs to grow up and Sokka is the father figure.

Now, Zuko is kind of the beloved child even though he's been banished and Azula is seen as a nuisance to her father. Like what??????

It's actually ironic that the show removes Sokka's misogynistic nature because the show is kind of misogynistic in and of itself.

It's 6 episodes in and has already stripped three female characters of their core tenants.

1. Azula is a prodigy. She's the pride of the fire nation. Not anymore.

2. Katara is a motherly figure who is the mother of the group. She cares for everybody and keeps them on track. Not anymore.

3. Suki is a fierce and independent warrior who is not impressed by Sokka's misogyny. Now, she's a creepy woman who follows him around the entire time he's on the island until he asks to be trained by her.

When we heard that the OG creators and Netflix went different ways because of creative differences, we should have known right then and there that the live action was going to be trash.

Also, I'm going to put it out there. Considering the fact that this should be a block buster series, Netflix did not spend anywhere enough money on it, because the graphics are so cheesy and Appa looks terrible.

#atla #netflix #atla live action #sokka #katara #kataang #zuko #azula #nikelodeon #roku #kiyoshi #kah #avatar #avatar the last airbender #airbending #zaheer #legend of korra

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sunny-days-and-warm-mournings · 6 months

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It is finally finished!! I am done and is so happy!!!

This is an AU exploring the concept of Sūn Wùkōng/Dàshèng as a Yaksha and Tu Di Gong, rather than being a Yaoguai Warlord during his later years reigning as the Monkey King.

This AU follows the beginning (with some changes here and there) up until Wùkōng's shenanigans with Ao Guang, then he went on a separate path from Wu Cheng'en's novel.

In this iteration our favourite Monkey explored the realms as he burned up time, but then he took a particular interest in the humans' ways of producing food. Since Dàshèng was so used to the grandeur and bounties of Huagoushan (being surrounded by such lush forests and mountains that never withered nor died) he sort of took pity on them before deciding to help them grow their crops much better.

But this is just the very much shortened summary of the beginning of this AU, and I have compiled some research and even more lore in my Google Documents just to expand on this idea more.

This— Westward To Tathāgatagarbha Lore Google Documents

This is the Google Document of my AU, which I highly recommend for you to read! It explains all the other details and such on this story! I did my best on making them but there would be still mistakes that I have yet to find, but it should be decent!!

This is a more casual look for Dàshèng/Wùkōng for this AU as well as some brief pointers! I made this before the portrait so some things might have changed.

(Don't mind him holding a cup of beer it's fine.)

Taken from the server (with some hints for the next half of the archives/docs) which instantly kickstarted this whole thing haahahjjjss, but it really was so fun talking about it to others! They gave me more inspiration that I can handle.

And what is Tathāgatagarbha you ask? (Brief)

In Buddhist philosophy, Buddha-nature is the potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all beings already have a pure buddha-essence within. "Buddha-nature" is the common English translation for several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu, but also sugatagarbha, and buddhagarbha. Tathāgatagarbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone one" (tathāgata), and can also mean "containing a tathāgata". Buddhadhātu can mean "buddha-element," "buddha-realm" or "buddha-substrate"

The Chinese translated the term tathāgatagarbha as rúláizàng (如来藏), or "Tathāgata's (rúlái) storehouse" (zàng). According to Brown, "storehouse" may indicate both "that which enfolds or contains something", or "that which is itself enfolded, hidden or contained by another." The Tibetan translation is de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po, which cannot be translated as "womb" (mngal or lhums), but as "embryonic essence", "kernel" or "heart".

The term tathagatagarbha first appears in the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, which date to the 2nd and third centuries CE.

There will be more to this in the future when I'm finished researching more about it.

Also, speaking of people that inspire me, I'm calling my dear friends here who I think might like this: @digitalagepulao @kaijufluffs @sketching-shark @lavaflowe @sixteenthchapel @jttw-monkeybusiness and @hcdragoncat !!

Special thanks to Pardal and Grandpa Sun for getting me to write more of this too :D I had such great fun!

I have so much more to add to the docs and here but this is all for now :) and honestly this is one of the greatest projects I've started aside from the older ones. I'll come back again soon with more additions and art! And lore (And maybe some interactions with a few West Heaven occupants??)!!!

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karalynlovescake · 2 months

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THE CENTENNIAL HUSBANDS 2024 BIG BANG IS LIVE!

You can read my fic on Ao3 - Entropy and Optimism, rated T, 56k words, complete at 13 chapters.

Hob Gadling is offered immortality by Death in 1389 and he meets with her every 100 years. In his dreams, he befriends and grows close with a man who he knows is Death's brother, but who never gave Hob his name. After a disaster in the late 1700's ties him even closer to Death, Hob sees his Stranger less and less, and believes his choices are to blame. Meanwhile, exhausted by seeing Death everywhere he goes and heartsick over losing his relationship with her brother, in 1889 he tells her that while he still wishes to live, he does not want to see her again.

Hob goes over a hundred years with no word from either of them, until one day two women with two talking ravens show up and tell him that his friend desperately needs his help. He embarks on the quest, hoping to once again see his mysterious Stranger, who he learns must be the King of Dreams. But when he arrives in the Dreaming he finds two people he has never met ruling, his friend asleep as if under a spell, and the kingdom falling apart around them, with the legions of Hell trying to invade.

And check out the art from my amazing artist Koresephone !!!

@koresephone66

The plot for this story started out as the plot of the novel Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold, which is one of my favorite novels ever written. I consider it to be an absolute masterpiece of writing and plot weaving. It won a Hugo, a Nebula AND a Locus award for a REASON, and Ms Bujold is a far better writer than I am.

I had to change a lot of stuff to make the plot fit the setting and characters. So much stuff that I debated is it really even the same story anymore? Apparently very few people in the active fandom are familiar with the Bujold novel, which meant no one would see exactly what I was trying to do.

But it also meant that there was no one out there who was going to write this story if I didn't write it! This is the first novel-length story I've ever completed, and my first big bang, and honestly if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best of the best, right? I was already using Neil's characters, and I think I did a pretty good job!

I'd love to hear if you enjoy it!

#sandman fanfic #Centennial husbands big bang #CHBB 2024 #my fanfic #dreamling fanfic #novel length !#dreamling #Paladin of Souls

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jewishcissiekj · 3 months

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hi let's talk about her

Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it

-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)

-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad

-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho

-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon

-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you

-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)

-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there

-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:

-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?

-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?

-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?

-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?

-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?

-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).

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galvanizedfriend · 5 months

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what are your top ten favorite klaroline fics?

Hello, nonnie! I see your asks have made the rounds. Really nice to see lots of rec lists circulating!

I had to give this a thought. It's very hard to come up with just 10. I could easily do a part II. 😂 But without further ado, and in no particular order, 10 of my favorite KC fics:

. The Parisian Deal by Borzoi

I honestly vary between The Parisian Deal and Paradise Lost as my favorite Borzoi fics. It depends. I think I'm in my Parisian Deal era, though. I've recced this a few times over the last few months, whenever someone's asked me for my favorites or humanity-less Caroline fics. For me, this is the best one that comes to mind. Borzoi's fics are all brilliant. I love their writing style to bits. It reads like a novel, it draws in and it grips you by the throat until the very end. This one features Klaus being called to the rescue by a desperate Salvatore clan when Caroline turns off her humanity and fucks off to Europe. Unlike her friends, Klaus doesn't threaten her, doesn't try to force her to feel; instead, he offers her a deal. And it's perfect. I love this story with my whole heart, I can't even tell you.

. In the Backseat by Lila2

After leaving Hayley as a wolf in the Bayou and earning the hatred of his entire family, Klaus shows up with baby Hope on Caroline's doorstop. He has no idea what to do with a baby, is too proud to apologize and is in desperate search of some validation, which invariably leads her back to her (just like in 5x11). Caroline is torn between being mad at him for having a baby with freaking Hayley, and also the fact that she loves kids and there's a part of her that resents him precisely because he gets to have them, when she never will. In her own way, Caroline puts him in his place and convinces him to make amends and go home, take Hope back to her mother - but only if she comes with him on the road trip. And boy, is it worth it. 🥰 It's a fic that has the baby as a catalyst for everything, at the center of everyone's woes in different ways, but it's not about the baby, in case you're a baby fic hater. And the writing is just chef's kiss.

. the birth and death of the day by @little-miss-sunny-daisy

For a good while there, this fic was my entire fandom personality. Whenever anyone gave me a second of their time, I'd preach about the birth and death of the day. I was obsessed. Kelly is a brilliant writer, so, so, so talented. I am not kidding when I saw I wish I could write like her. And the greatest proof of that is how this fic was everything to me, in spite of not being at all my cup of tea on the tin. I don't like Supernatural, I never watched more than two episodes, and the Klaroline bit here kind of takes on a secondary role to the end of the of the world. But it's such an intense and brilliant character study on Caroline that it had my whole heart from the start. Her relationship with her BROTHERS Dean and Sam is so heartfelt, and it exposes so much of who Caroline really is as a character. The plot is INSANE and AMAZING and HUGE and it's so incredible how it ties in so seamlessly with the Mystic Falls shenanigans. And then there is Klaus! When I saw secondary, I don't mean irrelevant. I just mean there's more to the story than just their relationship. But it is still brilliantly developed. Honestly, just writing about it brings me back memories. I love it so much.

. Quiet Light by @definedareasofuncertainty

I am biased when it comes to Luiza's fics because I'm a fangirl and I have been one since day one, before we even became friends. But in the years (years 🥲 we have been here so long, friend) we have known each other, her writing has only gotten better and better. It's atmospheric and understated and it has this mindfulness about it that I can't really explain. It really feels like being in the characters' stream of thinking, you get instantly pulled into it. It evokes emotions without it ever having to be minutely described, and I think that's such an incredible talent. I wish I could write like this! And Quite Light not only brings all of those things forward, but it also brings COMPLEXITIES and MORAL QUARRELLS and it was also WRITTEN FOR ME. 😌✨ Luiza thought she was getting revenge on me by torturing Elijah, but LITTLE DID SHE KNOW I actually loved it. I went into this thinking it would be just a rom-com style story (which I love), but it's so much more. By the end I was crying real tears. 🥲 It becomes such a beautiful story about the relationship between Klaus and Elijah. Honestly brilliant.

. light years by @definedareasofuncertainty

Honestly, this fic has a very specific target audience, and that target audience is ME. I'm not even exaggerating; this is one my favorite pieces of fic ever written in the KC fandom. The way a Klarolijah fic speaks to me can be so personal. 🥺 I love the Klarolijah dynamic. I really do. But it takes a very specific balance for me to feel it. It can very easily go from me loving it, to me wanting to throttle someone. And this! THIS!! This is absolutely it. 🥲 And it's just about my favorite thing ever. This is actually three mini drabbles combined into one. Each of them is written through a different POV - Klaus', Elijah's and Caroline's. And the combination of all three, the way they tell the same story through different eyes, is just !!!!!!!!! Honestly, I don't have words. This has ✨Yokan my beloved✨ written all over it and I feel it very much. Luiza has a ridiculous talent for writing things on the spot. She got prompted to write an Elijah piece, and then a Caroline piece, and then a Klaus one, and she wrote them all in like 30 minutes on one of her mini drabbles challenge, and OH MY FUCKING GOD. I hate her for how good she is. 😭 (I don't, I love her, but I also v much envy her talent).

. this is a harvest by @highgaarden

I spent a solid few minutes here thinking about which of Hannah's fics I wanted to list, because she has this huge catalogue and I've basically read all of them and have gushed over almost every single one over the years. But even though there are others that could easily be in my top 10, I always end of going back to This is a Harvest. I remember when I first read it, I closed the tab at the end and was just… Done. Not in a 'I can't stand this story/ship/fandom anymore', but in a 'this is the fic to end all fics' kind of way. And it's not so much about the style or the writing, which are both stunning, but the way the story is told. It's a canon divergence that spans over years and I felt it in my heart that this was where the story could've gone. The choices they could've made. The way Caroline's story could and should have ended. And I was satisfied. I started writing and reading KC fanfiction after TO was over because I was so indignant about the way the show ended, so unhappy that I needed to give it my own spin, and read other folks doing the same, and when I read this story I felt like I had achieved that. This is it, I can put this to rest.

Obviously, I was way too deep by then that I couldn't really abandon the fandom (even though, just between us here, I kind of wish I could), but for a whole week or two, I was at peace. This fic gave me peace. That's it.

. Into the Woods by @jinxedwood

"But Yokan, how would you like to see Klaus' part in Legacies play out?" Like this. Exactly like this. This story accepts the finale we were dealt in The Originals, and then makes something absolutely amazing with it. I love the premise, I love the mythology involved, I love how unique this take is, and I love how even though it's poignant and bittersweet, it still packs up everything about Kc that made me love this ship so much. Caroline has been in Europe for years trying to find a way to help her daughters with their Gemini situation, and then she ends up stumbling across something else entirely. While she thought the thing she most wanted to see on a brief stint on the Other Side would be Gemini witches, her heart betrays her by taking her to who she really misses the most.

. it takes a while to settle down by theviolonist

This story is so old school it was written before Steroline. It's about Tyler. But we all know who Caroline ends up marrying, so in my heart, this is really what happens before Caroline marries Stefan. And honestly, it works just as well. This story is a punch to your stomach, but it is PERFECTION in 8k words. It's hot, it's bittersweet, it's SO in character. Caroline's denial, telling herself that Klaus is there to see her because he still ones revenge on Tyler, when it becomes very obvious, very fast, as it always does on the show, that it's never about Tyler, it's all about her. UGH. Honestly, brilliant. (third fic on this list with a The National reference on the title, I SENSE A PATTERN).

. As One Wishes to Live by @lalainajanes

I had never in my life read a genie!AU, and simply could not wrap my mind around anything of the sort that wouldn't be extreme crack!fic. Imagine my surprise upon reading this story. It's bittersweet in the best possible way. At the same time it's endearing and adorable (and so very IC) to watch Caroline fumbling for a fair and non-insane way to handle Klaus, the genie Katherine accidentally gifted her with (and who just happens to look incredibly alluring), it's so very poignant to read Klaus' POV. He's Klaus in the way that he's suspicious and dismissive and kind of snobbish, really, but he's resigned to his fate. This is a Klaus who has been broken by years of enslavement as this prop who's there exclusively to serve others. Every time he mentions one of his past masters, you just get that stab - and so does Caroline. Laine is one of the most prolific and talented KC writers ever, and I have read and enjoyed so, so many of her fics, but this definitely has a special place in my heart.

. Psychedelic Kicks by @notalittlebutalottie

This is an ensemble story that has Klaroline at heart, but that gives every other character a moment to shine. And shine they do! Everyone gets their own side stories, and absolutely loved following every single one of them. Lottie made me care for characters I hate in canon, like Katherine and Kol. Even Stefan and Elena had my heart here. This fic is a journey, full of ups and downs, and it has such a satisfying end. It's also incredibly original in its setting and tone, which I think it's one of Lottie's greatest talents. It's very are for historical fics to be set in the 60s, and not only did Lottie choose this very particular time, but she also did such a remarkable job incorporating the decades' aspects into the story. Not just the fashion, and the music, and Woodstocky vibes, but the social and political unrest as well. This is a story with LAYERS, my friends, and it's incredible. I could totally see this being a TV show or a movie tbh. It's that good.

#klaroline #klaroline fic rec #klaus x caroline #yokan answers

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cacodaemonia · 10 months

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As we're all very aware, we live in a time when open hatred of many marginalized groups has been growing. And as many others have said, it's super fucking important that we stop fighting amongst ourselves over relatively minor issues when there are people who quite literally wants us dead, or at the very least, silent and subservient.

Punching down and sideways to attack the people who are 99% on our side might make us feel superior for a little while, but it's important to ask ourselves if attacking other marginalized people helps anyone.

With that in mind, I wanted to remind all of us that language, culture, and iconography all change over time, and not everyone keeps up with those changes at the same speed.

As an obvious example, 'they' is now a much more commonly used singular pronoun than it used to be. It's meaning has expanded and changed subtly.

Another example is the comedy genre in general: movies and TV shows from even a few years ago relied on humor that many of us now see as tasteless at best and dehumanizingly cruel at worst.

Then you have things like reclaimed slurs. For some of them, their meanings have changed multiple times.

We've also got all of the microlabels among queer folks, which are rapidly multiplying and evolving. Many of them didn't exist 2 or 5 or 10 years ago, but now they might be the most central part of someone's personality.

Pepe the frog is an example of an image whose meaning has radically shifted in a short period of time. What was originally a harmless cartoon was appropriated by the US alt-right movement and is now considered a hate symbol (though the ADL acknowledges that 'the majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted').

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, who were designed to be minstrels. Now, of course, almost no one associates Mickey Mouse with blackface or racism.

Those are just a handful of examples involving the English language and the internet's largely American-centric culture, but there are obviously many, many more. All of this is difficult enough for native English speakers to keep up with, but we should also bear in mind that, for many folks, English isn't their native language.

I've seen awful harassment by queer people against another queer person just because her English wasn't perfect and she used a term that, at that time, wasn't considered the correct one by the people who attacked her.

We should also keep in mind people who have other language or cognitive difficulties (I'm honestly not sure how to phrase this, so please don't assume I'm being derogatory or cruel—I am one of those people).

Even for those of us with the best of intentions, all of this can make online interactions feel like navigating a minefield because many people exclusively engage in paranoid reading of everything from novels to shitposts.

I think all of us would be better served if we stepped back for a moment to consider questions like, "Does this person have malicious intentions?" and "Is this something that causes real harm to real people or does it just bother me, personally?" and "Will calling this person out or shaming them help anyone?"

A lot of us are on the same side, and we might have slightly different beliefs, but we don't need to be enemies. Wasting our outrage on each other is exactly what our real enemies want.

#take a deep breath #and remember that not everyone is out to get you #you are not the prince with a thousand enemies #(ya like my watership down reference eh?)#marginalized groups #these groups aren't monoliths either - your way is not the only correct way just as mine is not the only correct way #a lot of us are on the same side #let's act like it #general human wank #racism #alt-right #queer stuff #paranoid reading #reparative reading #not sure how else to tag this #long post #internet culture #outrage culture

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antianakin · 5 months

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It doesn't happen as much, but some people said that Taron Malicos (that crazy ex-Jedi from Fallen Order) was right about the Jedi's decline, forgetting that Malicos is mentally-deranged and fallen to the Dark Side. Not exactly the most reliable authority on Jedi history and culture, if you ask me.

Yeah, the Cal Kestis games sit in that sort-of "soft anti-Jedi"/"Jedi critical" space where they have moments that are absolutely telling the audience that the Jedi were weak, or at fault for what happened or old-fashioned/behind the times, but that they were still GOOD PEOPLE and Cal is absolutely still identifying as a Jedi whole-heartedly and doing Jedi stuff etc etc. The entire storyline of Fallen Order is that Cal and Cere are trying to find the list of Force sensitive kids so they can try to rebuild the Jedi Order and it's sad when they have to make the choice to let that dream go in order to protect the kids from the Empire. Cal getting Knighted by Cere is a happy, triumphant moment. The whole flashback to Order 66 being included and being SO SO SAD is a major element of the game. Cal and Merrin literally bond over being survivors of the devastating tragedy that is the total loss of their people. (It comes up even less in Survivor, the one place it shows up is within his romance with Merrin.)

So the message getting sent is that sure, MAYBE the Jedi weren't always perfect, but it also DOESN'T MATTER because nothing they did warranted what happened to them and it's still a good thing to be a Jedi. So Taron Malicos might be "right" in the sense that the narrative doesn't really specify one way or another (but sort-of implies that he might be), but being "right" doesn't justify being a selfish asshole and hurting other people. So it stops mattering at all if he's "right" or not anyway.

Rebels does similar stuff, quite honestly. This idea that the Jedi might've made mistakes in places, but that ultimately their loss is still SAD and Kanan is fucked up by it and both he and Ezra learn to be better people as they learn to commit to being true Jedi. It's a GOOD thing for both of them to become Jedi.

They both sit in this middle ground of saying that being a Jedi is a good thing and the loss of the Jedi is still a tragedy, but the current Jedi are going to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors who fucked up enough that it might've led them to their own doom. It's kinda sad that some of the better Jedi centric content we've gotten recently comes with this need to criticize the Jedi for shit they didn't even do, but it's VERY common. Even High Republic has elements of this in it from the few of the novels I've read.

But I will say that, as much as it's annoying to me personally to have to deal with that, it's better than something like, say, I don't know, the Ahsoka show which has the darksider characters NOT come across as evil selfish assholes and none of the main "Jedi" characters ever seem to actually identify (or even WANT to identify) as Jedi and implies that being a Jedi might be a lesser or inferior way to identify just in general and that there's nothing truly sad about the loss of the Jedi themselves. At least there's a lot of other generally positive Jedi stuff in Rebels and the Cal Kestis games to enjoy. Ahsoka didn't give a single Jedi positive moment in the entire fucking show.

#star wars #jedi fallen order #jedi survivor #cal kestis #jfo #taron malicos #rebels #star wars rebels #jedi #pro jedi #anti ahsoka show

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aurorawest · 1 month

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I finished The Mars House last night and have been trying to gather my thoughts beyond ADJFAWEHDHA; and AHHHHHHHH. Let's see how this works out.

In a lot of ways this is a pretty typical Natasha Pulley book, which makes you love complicated people who have done bad things, possibly for good reasons and possibly not. The love interest is to all appearances a xenophobic nationalist, but you better believe I loved Gale pretty much immediately.

In other ways this book is different from her past work—obviously there's the far future setting, but it's pretty clear that Pulley wanted to Say Something about gender with The Mars House. This book is a response to and shots fired at the terf ideology and it is not at all subtle about it. And of course, it's a Natasha Pulley book, so there's still empathy for the far-future Martian terfs.

So I would definitely call it the most...political? of her books, which for me was not at all a bad thing. It has everything that I love about Pulley novels—her gorgeous use of language, her ability to wring beauty and pathos out of the small and ordinary, the gay pining, the morally dubious main characters. I've seen reviews say both that the science is ridiculous and that the book is hard science fiction, and I would come down on the side of the science probably being a bit ridiculous, since it's definitely not hard science fiction (lol at the reviewers who are throwing that term around and not knowing what it means). I actually have no idea if the science is plausible or not and I honestly don't care, because that's really not the point of the book.

Anyway, now I'm just going to list things. Doing a read more for spoilers! And I'm not joking, I'm going to spoil the whole book under here so really, if you haven't read it and you care about that, don't keep reading.

The worldbuilding was so good. I mean, this is one of Pulley's strengths, but I had wondered how it would stack up in a sci fi novel versus her historical fiction. As usual, everything was so visceral and textured. Tharsis and Songshu feel like real places I could visit.

THE MAMMOTHS OMG OMG. When they decided to ask the mammoths for help pulling up the gravity train, I almost jumped up from the couch yelling (I would have, but I couldn't disturb my cat who was on my legs). The entire idea of communicating with mammoths and studying mammoth society almost made me cry. Having spent even a tiny amount of time around elephants in the wild, all of that rang 100% plausible. And true in my heart.

I need a sequel where River and January go to Alpha Centauri to talk to the aliens that the Penglai mission is going to find there.

I'M ABOUT TO SPOIL THE ENTIRE BOOK SO DON'T READ ANYMORE IF YOU DON'T WANT THAT.

Speaking of River, yeah I guessed that "Aubrey" was actually River. The clues were well done and I felt smug when I was right.

But!! I actually thought River knew more than they did! A literal chill went up my back when River revealed they had NO IDEA AUBREY WAS LITERALLY IN THEIR ROOM WITH THEM.

The scene in River's bathtub had me screaming crying throwing up.

Is Natasha Pulley working through something re: waifish orphans? I knew Yuan was going to end up being adopted into House Song within pages of their (his?) introduction.

I love that we never find out if River is biologically male or female. I love that January says it doesn't matter and he means that and never tells us.

Speaking of gender abolition, can I have that please for myself.

All of the animals were, as always, a delight. Shoutout to the puffin at the beginning who we never see again, as well as Shuppiluliuma in her basket.

The ancient Mediterranean references littered through this book (see above) were also a delight.

When you think about it, both of Aubrey's consorts fell for River, and that's funny.

The flashes of love between River and Aubrey were devastating.

The haptic implants are a dystopian nightmare and absolutely a realistic prediction of where we're going to end up.

Mori and Daughter!!

#the mars house #natasha pulley #reading tag

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pomrania · 2 months

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I want to talk about some books I've read recently, "Penric's Travels" and "Penric's Labor" by Lois McMaster Bujold.

First, that author is always a treat. When I saw those books by her at the library, ones I hadn't read before, I didn't even bother to check the back cover for their description; I knew I'd enjoy them, simply based on the author. And I was correct. (Also it turns out that the back cover didn't really give any useful information about the stories therein, so it wouldn't have mattered.)

I don't know how to best describe what I like about how she writes, but I'll try. Her stuff is very character-driven, with… it's not right to say "low stakes", because the stakes are very high indeed when you care about the characters things might happen to, but it doesn't have the super-high stakes you normally see in fantasy or science fiction. The characters and the relationships feel mature; the three main couples I can most remember offhand, from three different series set in three different 'verses, one half of the couple had been a widow/er, and the other half had had previous relationships of their own. (The Vorkosigan saga does admittedly start with a "young male protagonist", but it follows him as he matures.) And she's very adept at worldbuilding, which is honestly my favourite thing in SFF. If this sounds like the kind of thing you want to read, I recommend checking out her work.

Now, the specific books I mentioned at the start. They're more properly collections of three novellas each, written so they could be read in any order; which is good, because my library didn't have on the shelf the book which collected the earlier ones. Each novella is like 100-200 pages long, which might be a benefit over a novel-length story because it provides an obvious stopping point with a resolution for what's happened. Those books also include a 'reading order' at the end, for pretty much everything the author has ever written; I of course hadn't followed that, having gone by the time-honoured method of "whichever book I could get my paws on first", but if that's not how you do things, that guide might be of interest to you.

Finally, the reason I wanted to talk about these books (stories, more properly) specifically, and it's that the magic system is almost everything I've ever wanted in fiction; and it's so perfectly worked in with the religion/theology of that world, which itself is done way better than I normally see in fantasy. (Which, I suppose I hadn't mentioned it earlier; these stories are in the fantasy genre.) There is a REASON why somebody can't kill using magic; or, to be more accurate, they can do it, once. There's magical healing which isn't just "it's magic", but requires knowing what you're doing with each structure, and sometimes things just can't be healed. And there's the converse as well, using that same "healing magic" offensively; but with greater creativity than "burst someone's heart", since it must not be used to kill; the titular character's main method of disabling an assailant is "temporarily shut down the relevant nerves, very carefully". There's a cost for magic, in both "disorder" and "friction". It's just really good.

I won't try to give a comprehensive list of content warnings. However, I will say that if you're sensitive to "healthcare worker's burnout", you should avoid the novella "The Physicians of Vilnoc" entirely, as that's a major element in that story. (Also in the main character's backstory, but I don't know if there's a story which goes into depth with that.)

#filler tag #not a reblog #rambling

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poorlittleyaoyao · 3 months

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is jgy different in the books than in the untamed? sorry if u haven’t read them im kind of just assuming u have even tho i haven’t lol but i was wondering if his characterization has any major differences like how wwx in novel vs untamed they sort of sanitize him and take away any culpability and honestly some of his edge. just curious if there’s any major differences in his characterization between the two

I'm not the best person to answer because I've only read the first two volumes of MDZS. Short answer: Yes, he is different, and in fact gets the reverse of WWX's treatment: Drama JGY is more overtly villainous than Novel JGY. However, IMO it's a little more complicated than that!

(Novel enjoyers, please chime in if I'm forgetting or misrepresenting anything.)

A lot of JGY fans greatly prefer the novel and feel that The Untamed did him dirty, because a lot of the show's plot changes that make WWX look better make JGY look worse. Jin Zixuan's death is the most glaring one: in the novel, WWX really does lose control of WN because he overestimates his abilities, and it's a tragic accident. JGY and SMS's implied involvement in the Massacre at Nightless City also doesn't happen in the novel; that, too, was a devastated WWX wreaking havoc and/or losing control. The novel also establishes that JGY is subject to abuse within Jinlintai, so there's an element of duress that one can read into his actions under JGS. Novel NMJ behaves more aggressively towards JGY than he does in the show, so his murder doesn't have the same tinge of malice. (The novel timeline also has JGY and LXC meeting before JGY and NMJ, all during Sunshot, so there's that.) Additionally, the novel tells us that JGY is genuinely a very good leader once he's Chief Cultivator and has implemented policies that have improved the lives of regular people and contributed to political stability. We're also told more about his childhood and his love for his mother, and we learn that his relationship with QS is a tragic love story (he doesn't know they're related until after she's pregnant) rather than something he went through with anyway. So in the novel, he's got a lot of positive things going for him that censorship didn't allow to carry over into the show for fear of having too much moral ambiguity.

HOWEVER!!!

The thing about the novel (and why I don't vibe with it as much) is that it's very much WWX's story, whereas The Untamed spends wayyyyy more time with its supporting cast. You might've noticed that I said the word "told" a lot in the above paragraph, because... well, that's what happens. We're told things about JGY, but we don't see him as much, especially since the novel is focused on the post-timeskip era with the stuff in the past coming through non-linear flashbacks. You don't get to see Meng Yao being Just A Little Guy very much before he becomes the Kitten Thinks About Nothing But Murder All Day meme. Now, you also don't hear dramatic music telegraphing HEY!!! HEY!! VILLAINY IS AFOOT!! HEY!!! every time JGY does literally anything, but you do have everything filtered through WWX's unreliable narrator monologue, and he is out there saying some truly wild shit. (You also get less Xiyao. Like, it's there if you want it to be, but The Untamed really went all-in on that.)

For me, the show works better, because I am a sucker for corruption arcs where you see glimpses of the character before they start the atrocities. Seeing him be Just A Little Guy making the saddest meow meow faces when people were mean to him kept me from totally losing sympathy for/interest in him once things start getting squicky, because I had evidence that he wasn't always like that. Meanwhile, JGY's first big scene in the novel is the confrontation with QS (which already makes my skin crawl and is somehow WORSE in novel form), and I was just like "wow, this guy sucks" even though I knew the story and all the extenuating circumstances already. For others, the novel works better, because "first impressions and society's opinion are unreliable" is a major theme, so the reverse reveal combined with the fact that he demonstrably tries to improve people's lives as a leader is less expected and more satisfying.

So yeah! JGY is different, but the ways in which he is different are due to storytelling methods as well as to plot changes!

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vodika-vibes · 4 months

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A Little Miracle

Summary: After the Republic is reformed into an Empire, you are stuck working with the same men, under the same Commander, you worked for while in the GAR. Unfortunately, Bacara doesn't seem to remember that he loves you. And it's becoming too hard to handle.

Pairing: Commander Bacara x F!Reader

Word Count: 2079

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: So I was looking at all of my requests, and just, none of the characters I had requests for were speaking to me, and smut just wasn't coming out of my brain today for some reason. So have this instead, a project I've been working on for over a week!

“Commander,” You try not to quail under the stern gaze of the man standing in front of you, “I respectfully disagree. This is a horrible idea, actually.”

The former member of the GAR, and currently Commander of the Imperial Army, pins you with a glare that would have made a lesser person run away screaming. And honestly, the only reason you aren’t running is because you’re right and you know it.

“You have a better idea, Corporal?” Commander Bacara asks, his voice low and gravely, and you can’t help but wonder when the last time he spoke was.

“I do, sir.” You say, “Sir, it’s Life Day.”

His gaze is cold, “And why should I care about a natborn holiday?”

“Because, sir, it means that no one will pay attention to a small group of people sneaking onto the planet.” You say, “And…and, sir, it’s everyone’s holiday, not just a natborn one.”

Some of the ice thaws from Bacara’s gaze, though it quickly returns, “And what’s your suggestion?”

“Send me and one other person.” You say quickly, “We get in, meet the contact, and get out without starting an incident.”

He pins you in place with a severe look, “I suppose that might be a good idea,” He says grudgingly, “Do you have a suggestion as to which of my brothers you go with?” There’s something acidic in Bacara’s voice, and you flounder slightly, because you’re not sure what you did to earn his ire this time.

“I…my understanding is that you would choose the best man for the job.” You offer, hesitantly.

His scowl deepens, “I assume that you’re not going to go wearing armor?”

“No, of course not, sir! I’ll be wearing regular clothes.”

Bacara stares at you, hard, for a moment. And then he nods, “Wait in the hanger, I’ll have someone meet you.”

“Yes sir.” You salute and then turn and hurry out of the room. Hopefully it’ll be someone you can actually work with.

Once upon you were a soldier in the GAR. Once upon a time you were tasked with protecting the Republic.

That felt like almost a lifetime ago.

And while you’re not happy with the Empire, you didn’t sign up for this, you’re stuck. You can no more leave the Imperial Army than you can keep the sun from rising.

At least you still work with Bacara. Well. Under Bacara.

But he’s not the same man he was before the Empire took over. He’s colder, and he looks at you like he doesn’t recognize you.

You miss the man he used to be. The man who would tug you into his quarters and steal your breath with deep kisses. The man who would murmur jokes in your ear when no one is paying attention.

The man who would hum your favorite song to settle you when things were too much to handle.

You missed the man you fell in love with.

And you’re beginning to fear that you’re never going to see him again.

You slip into your quarters, somehow you don’t have to share with anyone, and you pull the pretty dress your mother sent you out of the closet. It looks out of place, mixed with the stark white of your military uniform, but you’re glad you have it.

You hurriedly pull the dress on, as well as some tights and your heels, and you pull your hair out of your regulation bun, allowing your hair to tumble around your shoulders, and then you hurry to the hanger.

The halls are empty…as is the hanger.

It’s nice, if not a little eerie.

If you close your eyes you can almost hear General Mundi walking over to you to discuss a novel that he read recently, or you can hear the shinies joking about which one of them was going to be the first one to get your number.

You release a shaky breath, ignoring the ache in your chest with the ease of long practice when you hear footsteps behind you.

And you start in surprise when you see Bacara standing there in civilian clothes. He pauses when he sees you, and you mentally prepare yourself for the insult that is inevitably coming your way.

But instead he winces and touches the side of his head, “You look…nice.”

You blink at him, “Thank you, Commander. So do you.” He looks more like Bacara than he has since Master Mundi’s death. “Um…are you ready to go?”

“You can’t call me Commander if we’re going undercover.” He says flatly.

You wince, “Yes. I know.” Except the last time you called him by his name, he verbally tore you a new one, and you’re still reeling from the hurt of that. “Bacara, then.”

He nods once, slowly, and motions for you to take the lead. Which you do, without much of a second though.

True to your predictions, there are a lot of people out and about. But no one is giving either of you a second look.

Bacara’s hand is warm on the small of your back, the heat sending jolts of electricity up your spine. It’s been ages since you’ve been this close to him. But it became necessary after a group of tourists pushed themselves between you and Bacara.

“There are more people than I would like,” Bacara grumbles in your ear.

“Relax,” You reply, “They’re just existing, no one is even giving us a second look.”

His hand slides to your hip when another group of tourists threatens to push between you, and it sits there comfortably, as though that’s where it belongs. “I know. The contact is at this party, right?”

“That’s what the intel says.” You agree.

“Great. Come on, the party is this way.” Bacara guides you through the crowded street, until you reach the open air party that this planet is known for. It’s loud and thrumming with an excited energy that you don’t think you can match…not this year at least.

Once upon a time you would have loved being here with Bacara. You would have tugged him onto the dance floor and spun around with him until he was flashing that secretive little smile at you, and you were giggling and breathless-

But that Bacara doesn’t exist anymore.

You tear your gaze off of a young woman and her beau, feeling your heart break as you watch them spin around on the dance floor, lost in each other. You swallow the bitterness and the tears, and you cast your gaze up to the taller man standing at your shoulder, “Do you see our contact?”

Bacara slowly tears his gaze away from the dance floor as well, and he looks down at you, “No. Not yet. We might be early.”

“Ah, well…it looks like there’s a snack bar. Would you like something to drink?” You ask, “Or eat?”

“Something to eat would be nice.” He says after a moment, “I’m going to go over by the side entrance. You can find me there.”

“Right. I won’t be long.” You smile at him weakly, before you turn and head towards the table. You’re able to feel his gaze on you, and when you turn to look back at him, to see why he’s staring at you, you see that he’s rubbing his temple again.

You bite your lower lip, concerned, but turn back to the table. Luckily, no one seems too keen to bother you as you grab two wine glasses and some sandwiches.

And then you walk around the outside of the party to get back to Bacara, who is still rubbing his head. “Com-um…Bacara,” You say slowly, setting the drinks and food on a nearby table, “Are you alright?”

He glances at you, “Just a headache. I’m fine.” He grabs a glass and takes a sip, “Have you seen our contact?”

You watch him for a moment, “No. No, I haven’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just keep your eyes open.”

You settle on the stool at the table, absently shredding your sandwich as you keep your eyes on the dancefloor. The longer you watch the couples dance, the worse you feel, until you can feel the tear pricking at the corner of your eyes.

“If you want to go dance, I’m not going to stop you.” Bacara’s voice is flat.

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you’re about to cry.”

You press your lips into a thin line, “This just…isn’t how I foresaw my life going.”

“We’re lucky to have the positions we have,” Bacara’s voice is low and chiding.

You lift your chin, “Yes sir.” And then you hesitate and you turn to look at him, “You don’t…you don’t remember me at all, do you?”

Bacara stares at you silently for a moment, “Is there something to remember, corporal?”

You flinch as if he had just struck you…and honestly, his punching you likely would have hurt less, and you quickly look away, “No. I guess not.” You slide to your feet, “Excuse me.” You slip away before he can say anything. You don’t want to hear anything that he has to say.

You wander around the party, taking in the decorations and the ice sculptures, and, before you realize it, you’re standing outside the party, looking out at the crowds of people.

It would be easy, you realize suddenly. You’re dressed just like most of the other women out there. No uniform. Nothing marking you as a soldier at all.

It would be easy for you to vanish into the crowd.

You take a step towards the crowd, when a strong hand wraps around your wrist. You whip around to look up at Bacara. He looks…conflicted. And slowly, very slowly, he releases your wrist, and it falls to your side.

“I won’t stop you, if you want to leave.” He says, “You’re not made for military life-”

“...right.” You whisper. “You could come with me.” You offer.

“I am a good soldier-”

You squeeze your eyes shut, and then you spin on your heel so you’re facing him, and you reach up to press your hands against his cheeks, “You don’t remember me, Bacara!”

“I don’t-”

“You once promised to take me dancing,” You say, and this time you don’t stop the tears from falling, “Properly dancing, you said, not the secret dancing in your quarters late at night, after General Mundi went to sleep and we’re both two sheets passed tired, but we’re together so we dance.”

His hand comes up to brush a tear off your cheek, and it only makes you cry harder.

“You used to love me, Bacara, and I don’t know what the Empire did to you to make you forget, but I can’t do it anymore.”

Bacara’s other hand comes up to cradle your cheek, and slowly his forehead lowers to bump against yours, “...Corporal-”

“You used to call me cyare,” You whisper, “You used to tug me into empty rooms just to steal kisses and would whisper jokes in my ear to make me laugh after hard missions and would hum my favorite song when you thought I needed a pick-me-up…”

His grip tightens slightly, and for a moment his face twists in pain.

“If you can’t give me that again, if you can’t be that man anymore, then please, let me go.” You beg, “I deserve more than this.”

Bacara says nothing for a moment, his eyes squeezed shut and his face twisted in pain, and then, after a whole minute, his eyes open.

His grip softens, and Bacara slowly strokes your cheek, “My cyare,” He whispers, pain and guilt and horror in his voice, “My beautiful, perfect cyare.”

You look up at him, and there’s recognition in his eyes. Recognition and more than a little guilt.

“Cara?” You whisper.

He smiles at you, and wipes a tear from your cheek with his thumb before he leans in and presses the sweetest kiss against your lips, “I did something awful, cyare.” Bacara whispers.

“We can run. No one will ever make you do something against your will like that again. I promise.” You say.

Bacara stares at you, and slowly he nods. Quickly he shoves his comm, and yours, into a dumpster, and then he leads you into the Life Day crowds.

Within days, both of your faces are going to be plastered from one side of the Empire to the other, listed as deserters, but at least you’ll be together if nothing else.

#star wars #tcw #commander bacara x reader #bacara x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction

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liquidstar · 7 months

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do u have any recs for folks newer to the yuri genre? I've never really read any manga other than shounen and some magical girl stuff

Omg i can totally give yuri recs. (And which ones to stay away from. Sakura Kiss has cousin shit in it, Citrus has stepsister dubcon, Dragon Maid has lolicon, Happy Sugar Life is also lolicon but it’s edgy about it and tries to act like this makes it deep, we can do better)

Anyway here’s my actual recs! I'm going to give details but if you don't wanna read them I bolded all the titles.

YuriKuma Arashi (By Ikuhara of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame), is about lesbian bears. But it’s actually a metaphor for the simultaneous objectification and demonization of lesbians, the expectation both for purity and predation. There are some nitpicks I have with it like the sexualization being a bit too much to bring the point home, but overall I do like its themes and its message. And I think the ending pulls everything together really nicely. There is both a manga and an anime, and I believe the anime came first. I’ve only seen the anime so I’m not sure if/how the manga deviates!!!!

Bloom Into You is an absolute must. Like, for real, I think it’s one of the best romances out there, yuri or otherwise. It gets really deep into both characters' respective psyches and the ways that they’re both Very Screwed Up when it comes to love and romance, or really just life in general. Giving details would be doing them a disservice honestly. Both characters are very messy but also do try their best to genuinely communicate, and what comes of that is a lot of teenage lesbian drama, but the growth they both experience though it TOGETHER is just great, and you can tell they care about each other so much.

Okay this one I’m not really recommending for the good writing, it’s more-so just really cool. Liberta (EXPLICIT) is a series about a vampire who can turn her body into guns and a human woman who is sick of being seen as lesser in her ordinary life. And then they fall in love and are vampires together. The artstyle and character designs are awesome and it has some really cool fight scenes. However it also has full blown barely censored sex scenes. A few of them. One of the women uses her tail at some point. If that’s not what your cup of tea is, give it a pass.

Anyway for something more wholesome you should check out The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All, which I’m actually not fully caught up on bc life, but has still been a super fun read so far. It’s about a girl who works at a music store, and her classmate who gets a crush on her while she’s at work. The classmate doesn’t realize that they’re the same person, due to her looking different at work, and thinks her worksona is a guy. Hijinks ensue.

Otherside Picnic is also highly recommended. Its manga adaptation is lagging behind the light novel, which I can’t find a translation of online (But if anyone can help me out w that 🙏). The story itself is about two college students who go on adventures to a parallel plane of reality, which contains cosmic horrors who can only communicate with humans through fear so intense it will make you go insane. They’re also looking for someone who went missing, and gain cool powers like Ghost Hand and Sans Eye. Yes this is still a yuri series and it’s also really really extremely fucking cool.

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, is a slice of life story about… Well exactly what it says. A woman with a passion for cooking, making lots of food and sharing it with her neighbor, and they end up bonding through this. It’s also like, cool to see a big butch woman for a change! The story itself is very straightforward but I love watching the relationship progress as well as the mc question her sexuality. This story will absolutely make you super hungry though.

Show Me Your Bust (EXPLICIT) is also exactly what it says on the tin, though it’s technically a webtoon. Again this is a series with explicit sex scenes, but it actually does have a story and actual depth to its characters. Honestly there’s a lot to unpack with all of them and a lot of the relationships aren’t totally healthy but it’s a drama so that’s the point.

A Monster Wants To Eat Me is actually hard to describe without spoilers. It’s about a girl who lives by the sea, meeting a mysterious girl with eyes that remind her of the ocean itself. The girl says that she’s actually been looking for the mc for a long time, and it’s revealed that….

And lastly I wanna mention Hanamonogatari, a story about an old widow who begins to regain confidence in herself as she experiments with make-up with the help of another old lady who works at a local cosmetic store. Honestly it’s very very very sweet, it’s rare to get romances like this of old women when so much of the focus of romances (yuri or otherwise) is often on the characters being attractive. I also really appreciate how the make-up is being used specifically to accentuate their wrinkles. Not hide them. Because aging is beautiful too. Sadly IVE ONLY READ TWO CHAPTERS BECAUSE I DONT THINK THE REST ARE TRANSLATED IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN HELP ME PLEASE DO 🙏

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kurt-dontcry · 23 days

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COD au idea help!

(Please inform me of any spelling errors or grammar mistakes I didn't check I'm literally writing this one hour before midnight)

Ok ok so listen listen. My brain is obsessed with an COD au idea. I'm not sure tho if I should go for it.

I'm only planning to mske this a short comic so probably only 1 chapter. Because A I'm still working on the Poltergeist Roach au and B I don't have a clue how to make this more than one chapter.

Au idea:

Ever heard of the show "Pantheon" ?honestly best show I've seen in a long time.

no? ok let me give you a quick run down on the premise. Some smart guy (don't exactly know what his job was/is) has figured out how to create an Uploaded intelligence (Ui for short) which essentially is an exact scan of someone's brain (the original brain gets destroyed during the scanning process) Uploaded to the internet and essentially a copy of the person with the same memories,senses, feelings and so on they are the same as their past self just faster and ... immortal. That guy essentially has the dream to create a perfect world where every human is an Ui, free from mortality. With endless possibilities he's willing to do everything to achieve it. (Btw the public is not aware of Uis)

So the show is essentially about those Uis and the conflicts they bring as well as the chances. For example people that don't have long to live being given another chance or people that never had a fair chance to begin with. But then there is also the dark side unethical experiments. Uis intentionally Uploaded to attack certain groups. Uis hacking into systems like the military to control weapons,steal data and so much more.

(For better explanation just watch the show please I wasn't able to cover everything In this explanation unless I wanted to turn one post into a 6000 word mini novel)

Yes or you have read the above

So essentially this concept but COD like Idk one of the 141 members getting injured during a mission and falling into a coma, that they are very unlikely to wake up from getting uploaded without their consent. leaving that person and the rest of the team struggling with the new reality. Some of them maybe not accepting it claiming that person got killed by the upload and so on.

soooooooo what do you think? Should I go for it?

(You can also use this idea for your own works if you want. no credit necessary after all I do not own either of these source materials. Would still be nice if you tell me tho I would love to see it)

#gary roach sanderson #call of duty #simon ghost riley #simon riley #ghost cod #john price #price cod #kyle gaz garrick #gaz cod #john soap mactavish #soap cod #roach cod

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knickynoo · 24 days

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Back to the Future Part II, The Novel by Craig Shaw Gardner: Thoughts, commentary, and general ramblings

Part 1: An Interesting Start

About a year ago, I picked up a copy of the ridiculous, off-the-walls novelization of the first Back to the Future and had a thoroughly enjoyable time, which I documented in a series of posts (you can check out here).

Well, guess who got her hands on the Part II novel? And while it's not nearly as wild as the one written by George Gipe, the few chapters I've read have been fun, so I decided to make posts to go along as I read. Let's jump right in.

• The book begins with a recap of the major events of the first movie, then catches up with Marty on the morning he wakes up to find that his life is now very different. As Marty thinks about the changes in his parents, he recalls the versions of them he had grown up knowing. There’s description of what a pushover George was, followed by this: “And his mother had reacted to all of this by quietly stepping back from life. she had also started drinking more than she should. They had both been good parents, had raised Marty and his brother and sister the best they could, but still…”

Then the thoughts about his parents just end there. And there’s something so sad about the little reflection and the way it trails off and leaves things unsaid. Dysfunctional as they were, they had been good parents. They had tried their best. But still…

Still, it wasn’t the greatest environment to grow up in. Still, it was difficult. Still, there was brokenness. I cry.

• As Marty takes in all the new things in his life, he finds himself wishing that Doc had waited a bit before taking off into the future. “The way all these things had changed—Marty thought they were great and all, but still—if you looked at it a certain way, all this change could be a little scary.”

THANK YOU, BOOK. Yes! All these changes ARE scary, and there’s no way a kid could be expected to just shrug and carry on when the very foundation of his life has been altered so dramatically but he doesn’t remember any of it and now he’s a stranger in his own life with no memories of growing up with these significantly well-adjusted versions of his parents and even though things are technically better how can he not miss the way things used to be and the parents who raised him and honestly Doc could have waited a day or two before jetting off into the future ya know?

Just gonna drop this here

Eric Stoltz wasn't the right fit for Marty, but he was right about this. He Got It.

Yeah, so ANYWAY

• Marty is so happy to see Jennifer that he has to “keep himself from jumping up and down.” Marty’s so cute. Lil’ jumping bean guy. Golden Retriever of a boy.

• When Doc is rifling through the trash for stuff he can throw into the Mr. Fusion, it refers to the banana peel (twice!) as “banana skin.” Which is. An interesting choice.

• As Doc backs the car out into the road, it’s mentioned that Marty lives on a street with a dead end. Idk why this tiny little tidbit is intriguing to me but it is.

• After they arrive in 2015 Doc responds to Marty’s questions of if he’s a rich rockstar by saying maybe this whole thing was a mistake and he should just take Marty right back home. Which, to me, is the equivalent of a flustered parent doing the whole, “If you don’t behave, I am going to turn this car around,” thing. Very funny. Marty scrambles to apologize because he Does Not want to go home.

• Little confused about the clothes Marty is described as wearing when he arrives in the future. I mean, since the opening scene to part II is just a re-shoot of the ending scene in the first movie, we know Book Marty is also wearing those same clothes: checkered shirt and red tee underneath, yes? Well, as Book Marty gets changed into his future clothes, he’s described as wearing a purple t-shirt. Purple??

I’m sorry, that is not purple. What happened here? Didn’t the guy writing this novel know that Marty’s character color is red? He wears so much red. How did this shirt being described as purple make it into the book?

• Also!

I feel like the entirety of the first two movies can be summed up with those two sentences.

• I’m glad the movie went with Marlene trying to break Jr. out of jail and ending up in prison instead of the horribly depressing route the book (and script its based on) mentions. Good move.

• Intrigued by a bit where Marty is thinking about skateboarding and it's mentioned that he skateboarded “once or twice during the week he had spent in the 1950s.” I’m sorry? Once or twice?? Mr. Gardner, I don’t know about you, but we see Marty skateboard one whole time in 1955, which is not a difficult number to keep track of. Are you trying to plant a headcanon in my noggin’ in which Marty might have snuck in another round of skateboarding for funsies in 1955? Because if so, you’ve succeeded.

And that's it for now. Gonna go ponder the idea of Marty doing some Secret, Forbidden Skateboading during some downtime in 1955. Perhaps I'll even picture him wearing a purple t-shirt.

#back to the future #bttf #marty mcfly #bttf II: the novel

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