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pearlplusau · 4 years

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Chapter 5- The insertion (Part 1)

Decades passed in the home world galaxy, everything was different now, as the planet slowly ripped in half, the anguish of the three diamonds remains unscathed and permanent as the infinite suns.

After the incident, White Diamond isolated herself in her giant head ship all day, carrying out duties through simple mind control and formal messages to the higher ranked gems in her court, never needing to leave, never needing to see the empty palace of her starlight or the absent of the pink ship.

Blue Diamond wept, she wept day in, day out, as her only companion to feel happy together was lost and never would she returned. She suffered greatly from losing her, the sadness got so out of hand, under her eyes were dark bags as if they came to warn her about her powers draining her life force. Every now and then, she would visit Pinks sacred planets or the Human zoo, just to mourn for her, just to be reminded how she didn’t help as much as she should, just to feel what was left of her.

Yellow Diamond showed no more than what she already feels, anger. she would be in her chambers, attempting some long forgotten experiments of retrieved gem shards from the battle on Earth. Could she recognize her own soldiers from the rebels? No, it was impossible to distinguish gems by their shards, so she decided to continue the experiment. as she examines the various shards scattered on the counter,she thought of a plan . “If I can’t make a colony out of that hideous rock, then it looks like I’ll have to destroy it. White may have yet to approve my idea, but her refusal of talking anything regarding Pink won’t stop me from wiping that planet out of existence,” she thought as bitterness and anger fueled her, but she knew she was just as heartbroken as Blue, she just couldn’t show it.

She wiped off something from her eye and called out, “Pearl!”

The yellow pearl peeked out behind the counter with her arms in salute, “Yes my Diamond?”

“I want you to seek out the Inordinate one, and get her here immediately, I have a very important mission for her.”

“Yes,right away my Diamond!” Pearl bowed and left the room.

Back on Earth,

The remains of a war was mostly scattered about, there abandon weapons, obilerated lands, and broken space ships here and there, but no gem shards were shining in the dusty bright dessert, and no real sign of battles can be seen.

A corrupted giant yam monster, the size of a giant boulder was rolling away into an abondoned kindergarden. The Crystal gems, which consisted of Garnet, Pearl and Coral panted as they chased the monster for the whole day, but it was too fast for them.

"Not that i know of, but we need a break, i dont think Coral here can withstand another hit from the monster." She pointed to the aformentioned gem as she looks like shes gonna collapsed at any moment.

Pearl was the first to recover herself and started, "That’s the third time this week it got away! Garnet! Can you see if we're able to take care of it?"

The fusion, paused and go through the multiple outcomes of the situation, but none shows a newly bubbled gem in her room.

The pink pearl was panting and wheezing as she was rather in low health, but she held her head up and assured the two gems that she's fine.

"Really! I'm fine! Let's keep goin-" She almost finished her sentence before collapsing.

Before she went unconcious, she heard Pearl mumbling and complaining, "I knew it was a bad idea! Why was she so insisting on coming along? She was the one that lost track and couldn’t keep a stable stance with it!”

“Pearl,” Garnet said, “You can’t blame her for the inevitable, besides, Rose needed sometime alone and she was the one that suggested we do it together since we can’t all just swing a sword and poof them in an instant! At least she’s trying her best.”

Pearl responded the fusion, “Well maybe, her best just isn’t-”

Coral passed out before she could comprehend her last words, and drifted into some sort of realm of the past, or rather, somewhere that’s so familiar but yet still the same.

She was standing in a dark room, but was suddenly lit up bright, she found that she was in White’s Head ship with her heels up in the air, her arms stiff and stuck in an unsual pose, and she was…greyscaled? Before her stood White Diamond herself, she looked pleased of what she’d just done.

‘Ahh yes,’ The great diamond spoke, but her voice was echoing from somewhere nearby, ‘it’s been a long time since I used my powers but looks like its doing just fine!’

She looked at Coral as if this was a fun game, and only she know how it ends.

‘Don’t be too hard on yourself pearl,’ Her voice was almost, sympathy, pitying the pearl, ‘You wouldn’t want to remember any of this now would you?’

She placed her index finger under Coral’s chin and lifted it up to her bright face, her nail was so sharp it was a miracle her skin didn’t poof on impact.

‘I’m doing you a favour,’ Her voice echoed more, it was louder this time. ‘That crack of yours will never truly heal, she can’t be seen with an old, broken pearl, you understand now don’t you? Besides, she has her new pearl now, so don’t you wory about a thing!’

Coral tried to spoke, she tried to defend herself, but she couldn’t even look away, she doesn’t know WHAT to feel. All she could remember was Pink demanding a colony from the diamonds.

“Now off you go!” A white bubble materialized around her and floated out of the White torso ship. Everything went dark.

Back at the temple, Coral was lying in her room, tossing and turning and gasped, shes awake.

She found herself on a pile of human clothing, she doesn’t wear them, but they were soft, perfect to lie on and rest when needed. The different shades of pink from ranging from Light to Deep pink to medium violet red can be seen neatly placed in piles, almost the size of a human bed.

“What was that? I don’t think I ever... dreamt before?” Coral questioned herself.

She looked around and saw all the things too familiar, surrounding the pile of clothes was running water in a pink hue, stretching out longer and wider than the sea, but no deeper than a kiddie pool. Above her, pink clouds were drifting through, they seem endless as well, going to the same direction as the sea around her.

“Wait a sec,” Coral suddenly thought, “Weren’t we on a mission or something? Where are the others?” She rose up and took a step out of the comforting pile of fabric and ballerina her way on the water’s surface.

She concentrated and a door size glow materialized in front of her. As the light dimmed, rose stems with thorns glowed and departed, leading her outside her room.

Just as she was half-way through, she heard a voice, no, two voices talking aloud and complaining.

Rose’s voice was first recognized, “-too dangerous, you need Coral on this mission!”

‘For what? All she did was getting trampled and hit by that thing! Any more damage taken would’ve poofed her! Or worse!”

Garnet’s voice joined in, ‘That I agree.”

‘Well, even if she’s not capable of catching the corrupted gem, you should’ve leave her out like this, she’ll be heartbroken if she finds out you went without her!’

‘So? It’s better than her slowing us down! There’s so much more monsters out there, we won’t be able to bubble them all with her around! Garnet and I can’t fight AND keep her safe at the same time!’

Garnet chipped in, ‘And it’s not that we dislike her, we love her, all of us, but if we’re gonna take care of the planet and avoid locals from getting harmed, we need to bubble as much as possible in the least amount of time.’

A faint sigh can be heard, the leader spoke, ‘If it means less suffering and less humans getting hurt, then I suppose it would be fine for Coral to have a time-out for a few days. You two need to rest, but you should head out before Coral wakes up, all right?’

‘Of course’ said Pearl.

‘Noted.’ said Garnet.

‘Good,” Rose ended, ‘Dismissed’

Coral slipped back into her room before any of them noticed her. She was processing what was heard while the rest of the crystal gems head back to their respective rooms.

I’ll show them, she thought, I’ll show that I’m capable of handling a gem monster AND myself!

When the coast was clear, she quietly tip-toe out of her room and went back to the last known location of the yam monster.

Just outside the Earth’s orbit, various yellow spaceships can be seen in a form of a diamond, specifically, Yellow Diamond.

Inside the first spacecraft, with green and yellow glowing alien technology far advanced than anything that ever existed, and piloting each ships were handfuls of Era 1 peridots. These peridots each have a triangular gem and the same heights as pearls, but far more intelligent as they are very competent technicians. The peridots were capable of doing various tasks such as data logging, research, communication range bigger than the galaxy without external equipments.

(Art by @gemfiles, if you would like your artwork removed please dm me, as this pic here has the purpose of visual aids for the readers)

They were busy working on the coordinates and history of the planet Earth, typing required data and analyising it’s past reputation and current resources on the ships available platform and programs.

A peridot stood and walked off from her post, the others took no notice and persume their work. The peridot stood still in front of a door, and a scanner appears from the right wall. The contraption scanned her form for her gem and found it on the back of her left hand, the light scan turn from green to light yellow and beeped.

The door slid open and the peridot went through, her arms in diamond salute as she greets her superior officer.

‘My Anglesite,” She said, ‘I am here to report that we have arrived at the planet’s orbit, do I have your orders and coordinates to land ?’

‘My, my,’ The main gem-in-charge yellow Anglesite replied, wearing a white lab coat and triangular pointy shoulder pads in the colours yellow and white. She wore glasses so thin you could only notice it up front, the right side of her face was covered by her light blonde short hair.

If you think she’s the same as the other gems, she not, cuz her lower half was just hovering circle platform, so she would resemble a vase on the circular coffee table. But, the platform serves as a method of transport, as it is designed to float above any ground so she can travel as same as other gems, it’s just faster and requires her pretty much no energy to be in motion.

at the edge of the platform, robotic hands can sprout out and execute projects better and faster than a normal gem, weapons and defence systems? You dont need to worry about that.

The yellow gem continued, ‘Just as I calculated, looks like even the atmosphere is liking what will be done to that little chunk of rock, wiping it out of our starmaps will be so much faster, and then, the great Yellow Diamond will praise me for my work, promote me and i will finally have the chance to meet my glorious, shining White Diamond!’

The peridot was getting tired of hearing the “possibility” after the mission was complete, but she could only agree with her superior, ‘Of course she will my Anglesite! So, about the course-’

‘Ah yes, set the course towards north of the largest continent on the planet, that is where the final stage of the mission will commence!’ The yellow gem started giggling and laughing, but she gave one last order, ‘That will be all!’ and continued with her laughter.

‘Yes my Anglesite.’ Peridot trudged back to her position and set the course.

The ship entered the planet’s orbit and the technicians went to work.

It’s been a few hours, the sun was starting to rise, the cold nigh air was starting to warm up the atmosphere as shadows began to crept under the desert lifeforms.

Coral was walking aimlessly through the desert, mumbling and kicking the sand, just wanted to catch that gem monster and prove to them she’s not useless.

I can’t believe they didn’t want me to come along, she thought, I’ve been with Rose longer than Pearl has, and I was there when everything happened, it’s not fair!

She kicked more sand, but the impact wasn’t obvious, since the whole terrain was a desert.

She sighed and sat behind a rock to take a break, physically and mentally.

The whole trip was to catch that monster but she’s done nothing but follow her “instincts” and it led her nowhere. There was no tracks, no damaged that looks like its from a giant yam monster, and most importantly, no idea whats next.

Wait, she thought, whats that on the sky?

Is that….a homeworld spaceship? No wait, there’s more than one?

Ohnononono, she thought, they’re coming back for us!

I have to go back! I have to tell Rose and Garnet and Pe-

….

Or…

Maybe this is the chance I’ve been waiting for, to prove that I can handle myself.

Yeah, I wont be able to fight off ships of soldiers, but I can do a little sneaking around, trying to see what’s really going on, or better yet, their plan of attack so we’ll know what’s coming!

Coral summoned her trusty lance and did a quick jog to catch up with the ships.

End of Part 1.

(Heyo, so...as you finish reading this youll notice it’s pretty different from the story before.

But its not like im trying a COMPLETY different thing, its kinda like the previous chapter where we see what happens on homeworld, but in this chapter, we’re dealing with something that doesn’t really have any leads from the canon series.

Sooo, yeah, the north of the largest continent, Yellow diamonds plan, corrupted monsters, you should have a pretty huge idea of whats going on.

Also, the new gem is very different from what we usually see, but there’ll be a concept art in traditional paper, and probs no colour, just for you guys to see what she looks like, cuz the description of her isnt so...Complete?

But feel free to draw her tho, cuz i guess she kinda an OC here? If you could tell, she’s a gem under yellow’s court, but she also contains little essence from white diamond, which is why she has two diamonds on her design.

So yeah, she will be posted in a few days or smth.

Aaaannddd thats abt it for now, if youre reading this, it means you respect what i have to say, and i thank you for that.

Happy reading!

Pearlplusauchap Pearlplusauchap5

#pearlplusau #Coral #Pinkpearl #Rosequartz #yellowdiamod #bluediamond #whitediamond #stevenuniverse #fanfiction #Garnet #Pearl

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nonbinary-octopus · 5 years

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Virgil The Wee Vampire Chapter 9: Not Remotely Nuclear

Summary: The bois eat dinner and talk about adoption

Content/Trigger warnings: I think we’re good on this one.

Wordcount: 1.4K

Chapter 1: The Hungry Little Vampire

Masterpost

More stories

~~~~~

Logan was working that day and didn’t get home until around dinner time (The fact that they had arranged dinner time to be shortly after Logan got home on the average day was irrelevant), so Patton and Roman explained Roman’s suggestion over spaghetti.

As Roman had predicted, Logan had a theory as to why Virgil had taken to Patton so well. It was actually fairly similar to what Roman had said earlier that day, with Patton being there when Virgil most needed someone and filling the hole in Virgil’s heart. But, Logan being Logan, his theory included several citations to studies he had read sometime in the past and one he’d read over his lunch break.

“So…” Patton asked hopefully, “can we adopt him?”

Logan adjusted his tie. “From what I’ve gathered, vampires —as with vampire bats and humans— seem to be very social creatures,” he said. “It would almost certainly be detrimental to Virgil’s health if he were to go entirely without interaction. Ideally, he ought to be among his own kind—” Patton’s face fell. “—but as it appears Virgil is the only vampire in the area, that would prove difficult. It may be possible to assist him in finding another colony of vampires. However, not only do we not know where to look, or whether another colony would even be willing to take him in, but the act of moving away from everything that’s familiar would likely negatively affect his psyche.”

“So… what should we do?” Patton asked, eyes wide and pleading.

“Since we cannot provide the best scenario solution, we ought to try for the best we can do,” Logan said. He took another bite of spaghetti. “This is very good, by the way. Did you use a new recipe?”

Patton’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment. “Oh, the spaghetti? Yeah, I put an eggplant in the sauce,” he said. “But what about Virgil?”

Logan took a drink. “The way things stand now,” he said, “our best course of action appears to be to go with your plan and offer Virgil a home and companionship.” Patton lit up, and Logan continued. “Of course, he may decline, but I believe that living with us would be healthier for him than the alternatives currently available, even though we could not provide anything like a traditional family structure, either by human standards or vampire ones.”

“A family can be three best friends and a tiny vampire,” Roman answered with a grin.

Logan smiled back. “I did say ‘traditional.’” As the matter seemed to be settled, he asked, “Roman, how has that tricky quick change been coming?”

Roman lit up. “I think we’re nearly there,” he said. “There are now five actors assisting, and last night we got down to twelve seconds. And today I came up with a way to use some of the same pieces so they don’t have to come off!”

“How fast does it need to be?” Patton asked, temporarily distracted from his thoughts of adoption.

“If we can do it in five seconds, that would be perfect,” Roman answered. “But anything less than ten would honestly be pretty great.” He beamed. “I cannot wait to see you two’s faces when you see the play, it’s been a lot of fun to costume for, and we’ve got such a good cast. I love them all.”

The others smiled back at him, unable to resist his enthusiasm. “Opening night,” Patton promised.

Logan nodded. “I have double and triple checked that I will have that evening off, and that should there be any emergency for which I might ordinarily be on call, at minimum two other fully qualified individuals will be present.”

“Did anything exciting happen at work today?” Patton asked him.

“Nothing that is both non-confidential and wouldn’t turn your stomach,” Logan replied calmly. “Overall, my shift went optimally.” He ate another bite of spaghetti, looking thoughtful. “I did hold an infant.”

“Awwww!” Patton squealed.

Logan couldn’t help a grin. “It was less adorable at the time, as said infant was crying shrilly,” he admitted. “And I’m sure someone else could have done a better job of comforting. But yes. You would have enjoyed being there.”

~~~

After dinner, Logan put the leftovers away while Roman rinsed off the plates and serving bowls and put everything in the dishwasher.

Patton stood by the kitchen window, looking out at the darkening sky. The sun, while low, was still entirely above the horizon. Logan joined him, putting a hand reassuringly on Patton’s elbow.

“What if he says no?” Patton asked, not looking at the others.

“Then we will give him our best wishes and an open invitation to visit any time he likes,” Logan answered.

Patton made a distressed sound.

“Maybe think about something else for a while,” Roman said from the sink. He scooped up some water and flung a spray of droplets at their backs. They both jumped, though Logan tried to hide it, and Patton squeaked in surprise. “You can’t do anything right now to affect the result,” Roman continued. “So it’s useless to stress over it.”

Logan nodded. “It will take several minutes for the sun to set,” he said. “While we wait, why don’t we put a puzzle together?”

Patton nodded. “Okay. Roman?”

“I’ll catch up when I’m done in here,” Roman answered. “Still gotta wash the cooking dishes.”

“Very well.” Logan lead Patton away, leaving Roman in the kitchen by himself. They went to Logan’s room instead, and Patton immediately went to Logan’s puzzle shelf, while Logan stacked books and papers to clear space on his desk.

Patton ran a finger down the sides of the boxes, listing them out loud. “Butterflies, under the ocean, castle, old house covered in plants, medical diagrams, waterfall…” He paused, lingering on a box, and then grinned and tapped it twice. “Kittens!” Careful not to dislodge the rest of the stack— puzzles were fun, but none of them wanted to put together half a dozen at once again— Patton eased the kitten puzzle out of the shelf.

Logan turned to see. Patton held up the puzzle with a wide grin, and Logan couldn’t help grinning back. It was indeed an appealing picture, and Patton’s smile was contagious. Logan pulled his desk chair off to the side out of the way and waved Patton over. With a bounce in his step, Patton crossed the room and put the box on Logan’s now-empty desk, easing the lid off to expose the puzzle pieces within.

“Dump ‘em?” he asked.

“Dump them,” Logan agreed, so Patton upended the box, pouring puzzle pieces across the entire top of the desk. Then he replaced the lid and set the whole thing at the back of the desk, leaning against the wall so that they could reference the picture but it was out of the way.

Together, the two of them started shifting the puzzle pieces around. Logan flipped them over so they were lying face up, while Patton spread them out thinner. Then, once all the pieces were facing up, Logan began to sort them by color. Patton picked out a couple edge pieces for the border, but then he noticed that he could put one of Logan’s piles together to show a ball of yarn, and did so.

Gradually, the puzzle took shape. There were either twenty-three or twenty-four kittens (Patton and Roman had both counted, but they couldn’t agree on whether or not the tail sticking out from the side of the couch and the face peeking out from the front of it belonged to the same cat), and as each was completed, Patton gave it a boop on the nose, or if it was facing away, a fond pat. Logan thought Patton was far cuter than the kittens, but said nothing in words, only gazed at him warmly.

The puzzle was over half done when they heard a yelp from the hall. Patton looked toward the half-closed door worriedly. “Was that Roman?”

“It did sound like him,” Logan answered, still looking at the puzzle. “But as it was his ‘unexpected moth in my face’ or ‘suddenly the lights are off’ scream, rather than one of true fright, I doubt there is reason for concern.”

Patton looked unconvinced, but as no more sounds of distress followed, he returned his attention to the puzzle.

They only had a handful of pieces left when there came a knock, and the door opened further. On the other side stood Roman, and to the others’ surprise, Virgil was standing on his shoulder, holding on to Roman’s ear to keep his balance.

For several seconds, nobody said anything. Then Virgil said, very softly, “Hi.”

~~~~~

Chapter 10: Virgil Gets Up to Shenanigans

~~~~~

Taglist: (please tell me if you’re not getting tagged! Also, if you change your username, you really should notify the people whose taglists you’re on. Tumblr somehow automatically knew to update @pawtonsanders to @dannydeceito, but not @pansexualincineratorgirl to @thomassandersismygayidolll . (luckily, I was able to find that original taglist request and see the new username to update it, but if you asked to be on a taglist via a comment rather than an ask, or if you did it before I started tagging such posts more thoroughly, I have no way to do so. And really, checking up on your new username is not my responsibility.))

@yourfreindlyneighborhoodnerd @aroundofapplesauce @kaytikitty @kitkat-kiwikat @panic-at-the-everything27 @darkle-elkrad @justanotherpurplebutterfly @smolkuriboh27 @hiddendreamer67 @cricks-loves-you @nonasficcollection @tiny-enby @comicsimpson @fioxypurr @starlightvirgil @just-another-rainbowblog @battleblaze @whatschooldoesntteachyou @nienna14 @unicornlogansanders @twilight-trix @sanderssidestrash27 @icecoldparadise @hedgiehoggles @axyzel @stillebesat @awkwardcat @dannydeceito @thomassandersismygayidolll

#original #my writing #sanders sides #my sanders sides writing #Virgil the Wee Vampire #gt #sanders sides gt #Vampire Virgil au

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years

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Why can't I hold all these cool stories?

CURRENT CRAVINGS: Please see this GDoc, because I have some plots I’d like to try! I’m primarily interested in original plots and characters; setting them in original worlds or fandom worlds is fine. I am not interested in playing canons other than as side characters/world filler as of right now.

DISCORD: KYLO REN AT CHILI’S#8808

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

I’m over eighteen, and would prefer my partners are, too. This doesn’t mean I’m interested in NSFW-heavy plots; I do not write smut. It just means I’m more comfortable writing and interacting with other adults.

I consider myself to be lit-adv. I tend to enjoy partners in the lit+ category, but as long as you’re an enthusiastic and engaging partner, I don’t care about perfect grammar. I would rather write with someone just as involved and excited as I am, than I would with someone who isn't very engaging but knows exactly what to do with obscure punctuation.

I’m not interested in playing only one type of character or playing against only one type of character. I typically don’t enjoy writing with people who are only interested in playing one type of relationship dynamic or one kind of character (such as only m/f, playing the female, or m/m, playing the “bottom”). I have no problem with these dynamics or characters at all, nor do I have an issue playing against them. I just prefer more variety, compromise, and opportunity.

OOC chatter is really important to me. I can’t write with someone that I don’t feel like I can get to know. I’m looking for friends, not a faceless reply robot. I won’t communicate over any medium but Discord. I've tried Kik, Hangouts, etc.; they just don't stick for me. If you would prefer first contact be through email, you can shoot me a quick message and your handle to [email protected].

I’m fine with threading in a GDoc or a server, but I will not thread over DMs. It’s difficult to have OOC chatter and the thread over the top of each other.

If you're looking for a partner that writes a reply a day without fail, that's not me. I prefer that we don't have "posting schedules” or set posting times, because I find that it turns writing into a chore. It's great if you reply immediately, and it's totally okay if you need a week to figure something out! You’re absolutely free to poke me. I’m not always the most mindful. However, I’m not going to reply every day. Three to four times a week is my frequency.

PLOT PREFERENCES

I’m interested in both fandom and original settings, and I’m down for playing both canon characters and OCs. I don’t necessarily prefer one or the other.

I definitely prefer canon doubling from my partners in fandom plots; I mesh better with people who do a little give-and-take when it comes to that. If you only play one canon character or only play OCs against canons and won’t play canons, I don’t think we’ll work.

I can play as many characters as needed, whether it's just one or it's six. Whatever our story calls for, I can manage that. In fact, I would love to play multiple “main” pairings so we can both get what we want, versus a single main pairing (unless it’s a pairing/dynamic we both like equally well). I find more than one facet to a plot really interesting, and multiple characters helps flesh out a story’s dimensions.

I’m absolutely interested in joining groups, so please don’t be shy about asking me to participate in plots with more than two players. So long as they don’t involve me writing sexual NSFW, we’re Gucci; everyone else writing NSFW isn’t a deal breaker for me.

Multiple threads and plots at the same time are no issue for me. In fact, I love the idea that we click so well that we just can't stop coming up with good ideas! So definitely don't be afraid to pitch something new to me, whether it's because you want to switch gears (and drop a thread for another), or want to do everything at once.

Romance is a must for me! I prefer slow and agonizing journeys to get there, but my attention is best held by romantic chemistry between characters.

I can provide writing samples upon request, though I never require them from my partner. Additionally, I have some plots written out if you're interested in that sort of thing. Otherwise, we can brainstorm together!

FANDOMS

I’m very much a fandom player. I’m always down for AUs, or inserting our own characters into the plots of fandoms! This is in no way a complete list; never be afraid to ask if I’m into something! I’ve probably forgotten a hundred things I love.

Most of my fandoms will have favorite canon characters listed with them, both who I like playing and playing against; you’re always welcome to ask about others not listed.* There’s a good chance I’m pretty good with them!

*I will play OCs in every fandom, but I might not play canons in every fandom.

ALWAYS

The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Nathaniel, Kitty Jones, and Bartimaeus), DC (any Titan, Jinx, Arthur Curry, Steve Trevor, Circe, and Diana Prince), Elder Scrolls (player canons and/or OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Fallout: New Vegas and 4 (Arcade Gannon, Paladin Danse, R.J. MacCready, Arthur Maxson, Veronica Santangelo, Cait, Rose of Sharon Cassidy, and player canons), Game of Thrones (Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Ramsay Bolton, and Willas Tyrell), His Dark Materials (OCs preferred), Hunger Games (OCs preferred), Inception (Arthur, and Eames, but OCs preferred), Marvel (Peter Parker, Scott Lang, Bucky Barnes, Miles Morales, Loki Laufeyson, Thor Odinson, Gwen Stacy, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde, and Megan Gwynn), Miraculous Ladybug (Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste), The Mortal Instruments (Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, and Alec Lightwood), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase, Will Solace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez), Star Trek (Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy, S'chn T'gai Spock, and Pavel Chekov), Star Wars (Obi Wan Kenobi, Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel, Mara Jade Skywalker, Rey Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Sintas Vel, and Ahsoka Tano), The Walking Dead (Glenn Rhee, and Negan), Warriors (Firestar, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, and Hawkfrost)

SOMETIMES

Boku no Hero Academia (Bakugo Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijiro, Todoroki Shoto, and Uraraka Ochaco), Bungou Stray Dogs (OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Digimon (OCs preferred), Dragon Age (Fenris, Cullen Rutherford, Cassandra Pentaghast, and Dorian Pavus), Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Reno, and Sephiroth), Harry Potter (Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Regulus Black, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Luna Lovegood; play my favorite ship with me, and I'll do whatever you want, literally.), Mystic Messenger (Choi Saeyoung, Han Jumin, Kang Jaehee, and Choi Saeran), Naruto (Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Gaara, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke), Ouran High School Host Club (Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Hikaru, and Hitachiin Kaoru), Pokémon (Red, Blue, N, Guzma, and player canons)

NOT SURE, BUT WILLING TO EXPLORE

Avatar: the Last Airbender (particularly Zutara), Eragon, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiznaiver, The Legend of Zelda, Soul Eater, Steven Universe, Tokyo Ghoul, Twilight, Yuri!!! on Ice

GENRES

For the most part, I’ll genuinely play most any genre! Of course, everyone says that, but then they shoot down all your suggestions because everyone has stuff they don’t like doing. I’ll try to make this as brief as I can, and know that if something isn’t listed, but you’re pretty sure (based on everything else) that I’m into it, then definitely let me know what you’re thinking!

SETTINGS

A/B/O (I will not play only alphas for only omegas, nor will I play overly trope-y, non-con, “boys love”/"yaoi" plots.), Age of Sail, alien worlds/alien invasions, celebrity, fairytales and mythology (including “inspired by” retellings), fantasy (including medieval, urban, and high fantasy), alt-historical and modern royalty, mutants/gifted, organized crime, science fiction (especially including aliens), some historical (excluding medieval, colonial, and the Roaring Twenties/Great Depression), supernatural, Victorian (especially the London ton), post-apocalyptic

PAIRING DYNAMICS

arranged marriage (I’m always down for slinging our characters together, whether or not they want to. It’s always a bonus if their families hate each other.), enemies to lovers (I love conflict of any sort, especially romantic!), human x not-human (The not-human must be sentient.), bad guy x good guy, intellectual x emotional, captive x captured (especially when the captured is willful, annoying, and full of fight), step-siblings (I don’t play step-parents x step-kids, so please don’t ask!), status/power imbalances (such as characters being from different socioeconomic strata or different ranks/positions in an organization), celebrity x bodyguard (I’m okay with the celebrity being the son/daughter/offspring of someone famous!), famous x not famous, rivals of any sort, unwilling traveling companions, unwilling soulmates

If any of this interests you, please feel free to reach out to me however! I'm really looking forward to hearing from you!

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #semipara #oneline #long term #messenger #marvel rp #harry potter rp #marauders rp #mcu rp #dc rp #submission

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rp-dreamland · 4 years

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Why can't I hold all these cool stories?

DISCORD: KYLO REN AT CHILI’S#8808

TIMEZONE: CST

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

I consider myself to be lit-adv. I tend to enjoy partners in the lit+ category, but as long as you’re an enthusiastic and engaging partner, I don’t care about perfect grammar. I would rather write with someone just as involved and excited as I am, than I would with someone who isn’t very engaging but knows exactly what to do with obscure punctuation.

OOC chatter is really important to me. I can’t write with someone that I don’t feel like I can get to know. I’m looking for friends, not a faceless reply robot. I won’t communicate over any medium but Discord. I’ve tried Kik, Hangouts, etc.; they just don’t stick for me. If you would prefer first contact be through email, you can shoot me a quick message and your handle to [email protected].

I’m fine with threading in a GDoc or a server, but I will not thread over DMs. It’s difficult to have OOC chatter and the thread over the top of each other.

If you’re looking for a partner that writes a reply a day without fail, that’s not me. I prefer that we don’t have “posting schedules” or set posting times, because I find that it turns writing into a chore. It’s great if you reply immediately, and it’s totally okay if you need a week to figure something out! You’re absolutely free to poke me. I’m not always the most mindful. However, I’m not going to reply every day. Three to four times a week is my frequency.

PLOT PREFERENCES

I’m interested in both fandom and original settings, and I’m down for playing both canon characters and OCs. I don’t necessarily prefer one or the other.

I can play as many characters as needed, whether it’s just one or it’s six. Whatever our story calls for, I can manage that. In fact, I would love to play multiple “main” pairings so we can both get what we want, versus a single main pairing (unless it’s a pairing/dynamic we both like equally well). I find more than one facet to a plot really interesting, and multiple characters helps flesh out a story’s dimensions.

Multiple threads and plots at the same time are no issue for me. In fact, I love the idea that we click so well that we just can’t stop coming up with good ideas! So definitely don’t be afraid to pitch something new to me, whether it’s because you want to switch gears (and drop a thread for another), or want to do everything at once.

Romance is a must for me! I prefer slow and agonizing journeys to get there, but my attention is best held by romantic chemistry between characters.

I can provide writing samples upon request, though I never require them from my partner. Additionally, I have some plots written out if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Otherwise, we can brainstorm together!

FANDOMS

*I will play OCs in every fandom, but I might not play canons in every fandom.

ALWAYS

SOMETIMES

Boku no Hero Academia (Bakugo Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijiro, Todoroki Shoto, and Uraraka Ochaco), Bungou Stray Dogs (OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Digimon (OCs preferred), Dragon Age (Fenris, Cullen Rutherford, Cassandra Pentaghast, and Dorian Pavus), Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Reno, and Sephiroth), Harry Potter (Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Regulus Black, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Luna Lovegood; play my favorite ship with me, and I’ll do whatever you want, literally.), Mystic Messenger (Choi Saeyoung, Han Jumin, Kang Jaehee, and Choi Saeran), Naruto (Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Gaara, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke), Ouran High School Host Club (Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Hikaru, and Hitachiin Kaoru), Pokémon (Red, Blue, N, Guzma, and player canons)

NOT SURE, BUT WILLING TO EXPLORE

Avatar: the Last Airbender (particularly Zutara), Eragon, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiznaiver, The Legend of Zelda, Soul Eater, Steven Universe, Tokyo Ghoul, Twilight, Yuri!!! on Ice

GENRES

SETTINGS

A/B/O (I will not play only alphas for only omegas, nor will I play overly trope-y, non-con, “boys love”/"yaoi” plots.), Age of Sail, alien worlds/alien invasions, celebrity, fairytales and mythology (including “inspired by” retellings), fantasy (including medieval, urban, and high fantasy), alt-historical and modern royalty, mutants/gifted, organized crime, science fiction (especially including aliens), some historical (excluding medieval, colonial, and the Roaring Twenties/Great Depression), Southern gothic, supernatural, Victorian (especially the London ton), post-apocalyptic

PAIRING DYNAMICS

If any of this interests you, please feel free to reach out to me however! I’m really looking forward to hearing from you!

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tearsofthemushroom · 5 years

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alright everyone i've been seeing a lot of lit crit discourse on my dash recently and it's making me fed up so i'm going to (perhaps unwisely) wade in with my opinion.

so first off, let's quickly sum up the two sides of the debate. one is saying that lit crit is pointless and writers don't put symbolism in their work deliberately, and the other is saying that lit crit is a valuable life skill and needs to be taught. i am perhaps in a minority if i say that, while i'm more in agreement with the latter than the former, i do think that both sides have a point.

now, why do i think this? first off, i think the anti-crit argument often stems from lit crit being taught badly in schools. i know i hated that part of english when i was doing my gcses, and it was only when i got too ill to go to school and had to study my texts (a christmas carol, of mice and men, and a view from the bridge, if anyone's interested) on my own at home that i started to really enjoy it. i think that's because in lessons the teacher would often focus on the more superficial, 'easily understood' elements of symbolism. an example i've seen floating around a lot is 'the curtains were blue', with the anti-crit folks saying all that means is that the curtains were blue, and the pro-crit folks saying it can be symbolic, e.g. of a character's sadness and isolation. again, i agree with the latter. however, when teachers focus on things like 'the curtain was blue' and only briefly touch on deeper symbolism and themes (e.g. colonialism, materialism, oppression) that can be frustrating, and lead students to think that lit crit is all about analysis of adjectives or metaphors and similes, when in reality it is far more than that.

i also think that it is important for lit crit to be a learned skill, as critical reading is vital not just for fiction, but in other avenues of life, e.g. in reading job descriptions, political manifestos, even posts like this, understanding both text and subtext is important.

now, onto the stickiest point i've seen floating around: do writers put symbolism in their work deliberately or is it all accidental? the answer, of course, is both. no writer is clever enough to catch all the symbolism they put in their work, but even if it is accidental, it is still worthy of analysis.

the fact is, accidental symbolism often stems from the writer understanding their work and its themes so well that they put in clever stuff unconsciously, it just happens on automatic.

in my a-level drama i studied the play jerusalem by jez butterworth. it is a play with heavy themes and symbolism surrounding england and englishness: the good, the bad, and the ugly of it (also it is such a good play you guys omg). when i was researching social, cultural, and historical context for the play, i came across an article from the author saying that none of this symbolism was intentional. however, it's still there, and it's still part of what makes jerusalem such a good play.

i've had this happen to me as well. i recently got my first novel up to a stage of drafting where i'm ok with other people reading it, so i gave it to my mum (who was an english student at oxford and really knows her lit crit). at one point when we were discussing it she mentioned something 'tying into the bigger theme of the underdog fighting back', and i was floored. surely i'm not a sophisticated enough writer to have things like themes in my work? but the fact is, i am, and that theme was consistently portrayed throughout the whole book, despite it being entirely unconscious on my part.

symbolism can also be a combination of accidental and deliberate. to bring in an example from my work again, i'm currently writing a murder mystery, and i noticed that the colour red cropped up a lot around clues and suspects of the murder, so i've turned it into a motif. what started as accidental became deliberate, and the reason i spotted it is because i've learned lit crit.

tl;dr: lit crit is often taught badly, leading to people thinking it's superficial and doesn't matter, but it is still a valuable skill, and just because symbolism is often accidental doesn't mean it's not still worthwhile.

#literary criticism #literature #discourse #long post #may is talking #please reblog you guys i put so much work into this

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jaydeiswriting · 5 years

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11/11/11 Tag

Rules: Answer the 11 questions of the person who tagged you, make up 11 questions, then tag 11 people to answer them.

Sorry this took so long. I'm really bad at tag games, but I do love to participate. Thanks for tagging me! I was tagged twice, so I'm going to do both.

Tagged by @liesversusjournals

1. Are you a plotter or pantser?

Definitely more of a pantser. I find if I outline things completely, I don't enjoy writing the draft or feel compelled to finish it. I have a lot of fun unpuzzling plot when pantsing and have a strong enough grasp of story structure to still produce a coherent draft.

2. Do you write using a computer or pen and paper?

Honestly, I do a lot of writing on my phone. I always have it on me and I'm a horrible typer. I do use a laptop for formatting and later drafts and I like to brainstorm on paper, but I do quite a lot of work on google docs on my phone.

3. How much writing do you get done on an average day?

Oof. I usually write at least a paragraph or poem every day so that's about 100-200 words. It usually leads to around 500 words if I'm writing prose, but not always. If I really don't feel like writing, I just don't. Which has been a lot of days in the past few months.

4. Which present work(s) are you most proud of?

I'm proud of my short story "Baby's Breath" (now called "Breathe for Me") in which a woman gives birth to a child with flowers growing in their throat, obstructing their airway. It has a ways to go, but it's fairly solid in this stage. I'm also proud the poem "Dancing to Our Deaths" which is a conversation on voicelessness in times of struggle and utilizing body language and ASL to reclaim voice without verbal speech.

5. Which past work(s) are you most proud of?

Hm, I don't know. I am proud of myself for writing and finishing things but as I look back, I see so many flaws in works. I take it to mean I'm better now, so I'm most proud of my current work.

6. Which present work(s) are you the least proud of?

Some short stories in They Leave Your Bones Behind have yet to reach their full potential. "Luminous Spaces" is basically my favourite concept, but it's not in the right place as of yet. It can be super dynamic and complex, but it falls a little flat in this early draft. It will get better, I hope, in revisions!

7. Which past work(s) are you least proud of?

I've written some really crappy stories in my childhood. Now that I think about it, when I was maybe 12, I used a site called Miss Literati and wrote a really weird romance I think is very cringe. Glad to have finished that novel, but it's like just not good.

8. Which books/authors have influenced you most?

The authors that helped me realize I wanted to write as a kid: Beverly Cleary, Kate DiCamillo and Cecilia Galante. And the books/authors that have illuminated, even in the smallest way, the niche I'd like to fill and/or the stories I'd like to tell: Kirsty Logan, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, Jen Campbell, Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley Doyle, Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff, The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan, and Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.

9. Describe your writing process from when you get the idea to when it's polished.

It differs from project to project, but generally I don't really outline. I write a zero draft to grasp what the story's going to be. Then, I reread and take notes about what changes I'd like to make in draft one. I completely rewrite for that draft, then from there make mostly smaller changes. It can be a lot of drafts until it feels 'polished'.

10. How many drafts do you write until you feel satisfied with a project?

It can be a lot. Anywhere from 3 to like 10 drafts. Probably 10 if I'm honest. I could go on forever, but you have to eventually concede if it's the best you can do.

11. If you could re-visit and write in any shelved project, which one would it be and why?

I have this one novel idea I've been working on for so long that I just haven't understood how to write yet, so I shelved it. If I could figure out how to get the story out, I would 100% return to it. I really like the concept and it's a slightly dark litfic novel, so it's not out of my wheelhouse.

Tagged by @softwishesx

1. What's your favourite stage of the writing process?

I absolutely adore both developmental and line edits. The story really comes together for me and I feel closest to it at this stage.

2. What's your least favourite stage of the writing process?

This is going to sound weird, but drafting. It's not that I don't like it, I just prefer having a baseline to work off of, which is why I usually write quick 'zero drafts' to start with.

3. What would you say is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think I generally do pretty well at creating interesting conflicts and maintaining tension in a piece.

4. What would you say is your greatest weakness as a writer?

I worry that I use too much repetition and over-explain concepts, undercutting the intrigue of a story.

5. What have you learned about your writing in the last year?

A year and a half ago, a post-colonial lit class cracked open the magical realism genre for me. Since then, I've found my niche in writing. I really enjoy writing literary fiction with elements of magical realism, leaning often into gothic horror and fabulism. I also prefer to write short works rather than novels.

6. Is writing full time something you would like to do or is it more of just a side hobby?

Honestly, I don't know what career path to follow. I'd like to work in literature in some way, but writing fiction full-time may not be realistic or the best choice for me.

7. Would you ever write a semi-autobiographical book? If so, would you ever reveal that it is semi-autobiographical?

Essentially, this is the role poetry takes for me. It's not always based on a specific experience, but it's often true to my emotions, fears, desires, etc. I write in a confessional style, so it reveals itself. I have, however, feared people putting experiences on me that are not my own based on their readings of my poetry, so I think I would try to be quite clear where I could.

8. What's your 'I have to write in this otherwise everything is trash' font?

I have to write every major project in a different font. They all have their distinct voices and moods and personalities, so they have to be separate. A Mouthful of Cotton is written in Garamond and They Leave Your Bones Behind is written in Spectral. I also often use Georgia and Times New Roman.

9. Do you read books similar to your WIP for inspiration while drafting?

Yes, absolutely! I've been reading a lot of poetry while writing poetry and reading a lot of literary fiction and magical realism when I can lately.

10. How many people in your real life know that you're a writer?

Pretty much everyone. No one would be surprised if I locked myself away for a while to write. I don't talk about it a lot in my life though.

11. What's one of the best lines you've ever written?

Ooh, tough question. I don't think many stories I've written recently are quotable because they're pretty early drafts and older ones have drifted too far from my voice. Here are some:

"What point was there to a magic that only worked if you believed? In a God that did the same?

We were all already grieving. If healing worked like magic, it wasn't working at all."

- "Muñeca", They Leave Your Bones Behind

"The strung up bodies of so many women made a collective wailing; they moaned stretched cello notes in a minor key."

- "Flesh", They Leave Your Bones Behind

I tag: @hobywrites @futureauthor-mabye @wolvesofarcadia @writer-jessicac @atelierwriting @delphwrites @headspace-hotel @lend-your-lungs-to-me @mademoiselleink @teacupwriter (no pressure, of course!)

What is your ideal writing environment?

Do you have any writing rituals?

What's your favourite aspect of drafting?

How do you go about brainstorming and developing ideas?

What was the most recent thing you've been inspired by?

Rainy day writing inside or sunny day writing outside?

Which themes/topics are you most drawn to?

Do you read a lot in the genre(s) you write?

How would you describe your writing voice?

Which project gave you the most challenges? How did you overcome them?

Which project gave you the most enjoyment to write?

#tag game #writing tag #writeblr #am writing

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holocronarchive · 6 years

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How is the Star Wars Galaxy mapped/referred to?

Short Answer- Core/Outter Rim/Unknown Region

Long Answer-

I am sorry for how long this might be lol

Well as of Canon- the Galaxy is estimated to have over 400 billion stars mapped out

which would include 3.2 estimated star systems (habitable)

its clocked in at around 100,000 light years (thats big...I think? its the same as the milky way)

the galactic arms rotate around this super massive black hole (insert muse guitar solo here) in the center (as most do I believe)

So now that we covered the basics

The Galaxy had the following regions

Deep Core

This served as the innermost and most brightly lit region of space, densely packed with stars/nebulae and other anomalies. HIGHLY dangerous to navigate, leaving it relatively unexplored It’s here where the super massive black hole (guitar solo) bound everything together.

Core Worlds

Here is where the richest (we’ll cover the dispersion of wealth another time) planets in the galaxy were situated. Densely inhabited and located on the strategic ends of major trade lanes (see below) the planets were hubs of fashion, education finance and technology. Humans in the galaxy arguably started in the Core worlds (and like in real world- got bored then expanded outward lol) Coruscant, Corellia, Kuat, Hosnian Prime and others like these that the fate of the galaxy at large was decided. (for better or worse)

Should be added- due to this high rate of humans, it could be suggested (by my humble opinion) most governments of the galaxy having a “humanity first” type xenophobic perspective could come from this situating of government location being gifted to human centric worlds- but again that’ll come up again later if we wish to cover human/non human relations

Colonies

Many of the colonies were worlds that were settled on by people from The Core, these worlds sit along the major trade routes that would probably have started as outposts/trading stations/etc then growing beyond that into full fledged societies. Most notable of these worlds is Carida, Cato Nemoidia and Abednedo.

Diversity would be more common starting here for the most part between human settlers and native species coming together to survive and flourish

Inner Rim

When first settled the Inner Rim served as “the frontier” of Galactic Civilization for centuries. know for too long as “The Rim” Colonizing spread outwards causing these worlds to prosper because of the travel, emigration and potential for making a name for yourself in these brave new worlds untapped and unexploited.

Bestine, Onderon, Thyferra and Taanab were some of these worlds.

Expansion Region

Similar to the Inner rim, more colonies sponsored by core worlds who wished to keep going beyond the inner rim. Worlds like this would be including Umbara, Mimban and the mining station known as Ring of Kafrene. (You’ll notice a trend more and more- further you get from the core, the settling of these worlds seems very exploitative/expansionist)

Mid rim

Here was a tranquil region of space, brimmed with varied Galactic Worlds, boasting successful governments, thriving economies. Distance from the Core gave these places less fame or notoriety, but that was fine for most of them generally. The Mid Rim was unofficially considered the lawful extend of the Galactic Republic and subsequently Galactic Empire. Spillover piracy from the outer rim tended to affect the region quite frequently.

This was probably the last bastion of “civilization” before trekking into the outer rim. But for those going towards the core- it was viewed as the last grasp of being on the frontier. For some that could mean the end of their vast freedoms. (loose use of the term)

Naboo, Malastare, Bothawui, Kashyyyk, Ringo Vinda and Ord Mantell are some of these worlds, many of which would be part of the Republic but sometimes forgotten in the long run due to how far they were from the core.

Outter Rim Territories

aaaand now we get to the messy shit see the Outer Rim, this was the largest region of the KNOWN galaxy. considered lawless, strange and even savage to some. Crime syndicates like the Hutts, Black Sun, the Pykes, and Zygerrian slavers were abundant and operated without consequence of “law and order” The galactic republic had no reach here and many of the people who knew of the Republic resigned themselves to their fate that as long as they were in the outer rim- no one would come to help them if they fell into bad with the hutts or the other crime groups.

Tatooine, Dathomir, Felucia, Geonosis, Sullest, Eriadu, Ryloth, Mon Cala, Hoth, Lothal, Mustafar, Kessel, Scarif, Yavin 4, Florrum, Endor and Dagobah are all worlds included in this region and not even a large percentage of it, these are just a grab bag of them.

Unknown Regions

its unknown what more do ya want? kidding This is where many hyperspace anomalies happened, solar storms and rogue magnetospehere occured frequently making travel near impossible for those who wished to explore the area. Now that doesn’t mean it was impossible, there were mapped out worlds, actually civilized worlds and the like out here, Notably Csilla (Home of the Chiss Ascendancy) Illum (a world I will cover in the future in relation to the Jedi), Rakata Prime (another world we’ll cover as it is important to a lot of the history of the Galaxy) and origin point of the Starkiller Base is the Unknown Regions (which honestly has lead to a LOT of fan theories regarding the world SKB started out as)

Western Reaches

Not much is given on this region, mostly that Jakku is from here...and we all kinda hate Jakku sooooo NEXT :D

Wild Space

Unlike other regions of the galaxy, Wild Space existed along the entire circumference of the galactic disk and on the borderlands of the Unknown Regions. It was inhabited by sentient species but not fully charted, explored, and civilized.Explorers and cartographers sought their fortune here at their peril

It also had the following major trade routes, these routes are mapped out as commonly referred to “Hypersapce lanes” or courses in hyperspace that allowed the FASTEST rate of travel from point A to B as hyperspace is a EXTREMELY complicated and admittedly not 100% understood process (seriously in star wars, no one 100% understands hyperspace...its kinda just...guess work with occasionally good numbers done by computers, sooo dont think about it too much)

Corellian Run

Corellian Trade Spine

Hydian Way (this one is important to the clone wars and I’ll enjoy talking bout it later)

Perlemian Trade Route

Rimma Trade Route

Now, many people HAVE asked in the past - why doesn’t many people from inside the star wars galaxy LEAVE their galaxy and explore beyond it. Well here is where we LEAVE canon and head into Legends of the EU

Legends version of the EU has shown/said, it was believed that extra galactic travel was impossible. A few people had tried, but never managed to succeed. Either they were never heard of again, or if SOMEHOW they came back...they were more or less not them anymore, insanity/nonsensical/whatever, its variations of the same- you leave...YOU don’t come back. There was supposedly hyperspace "turbulence" of some kind at the galactic border that would tear ships apart. The Yuuzhan Vong accomplished it, but their ships work differently and use a completely different style of technology that is far more advanced than what is currently present in the galaxy. We’ll cover the Yuuzhan Vong LATER cause that’s a HUGE can of worms I can’t add to this post in good faith lol

more another time

~The Holocron Archivist

#star wars #star wars lore #star wars canon #star wars legends #start wars expanded universe #star wars EU #holocron archive #the star wars galaxy #star wars galaxy

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outlanderfanfics · 6 years

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Getting to Know Owlish Peacock

Next up in my Getting to Know series, I've interviewed another amazing Outlander fanfic writer, @owlish-peacock36!

Owlish Peacock, a.k.a. Ali, was born and raised in Kentucky, U.S.A. She has a very diverse background, being mostly German, Irish, Scottish, French, and English, with a little bit of Native American—though, you couldn’t tell it by looking at her. She can only speak English, although she did take Spanish for four years in high school, so she can understand a bit of it. She is now 25 years old and has only been writing Outlander fanfics for a little over a year. In school, she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education and is currently working on her Master’s in Higher Education Administration. She is also currently a full-time substitute teacher for her local high school, teaching English for the rest of the school year. For fun, she enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, baking, plus being an amateur makeup artist. Her unique talents include being good at memorizing and being a surprisingly decent dancer. Her boyfriend says her talent is compassion—how sweet! If she could travel through the stones, she would go to either Colonial America or the English countryside in the 19th century.

Read on to see the full Q&A.

What inspired you to start writing Outlander fan fiction?

I had gotten into Outlander after watching the first episode of season 1. From there, I was hooked. I read the books, I watched the show. Around Fall/Winter 2016, I became curious about the online presence of Outlander. I began searching for blogs and fansites. That was when I began reading Outlander fanfiction. I had read fanfiction before, but had never written it. I had always loved writing, so I decided to take a stab at it. I had ideas, and I wanted to share them. I contacted gotham, spoke with her a bit, and she boosted me. That’s that, pretty much. I’ve been writing ever since!

What are some of your favourite quotes that you have written?

That’s a tough question, honestly. I can give you a few that I like, though:

“Wide awake, Jamie painted without abandon, and without thought. He had no outcome in mind for this cacophony of color and texture, but he knew that he had to do it. He had to put these…these feelings down on canvas.

He surveyed his colors.

Orange? Yes, orange. Fiery. Flames. An accurate depiction, he thought. His body radiated warmth, all centering around his core. His heart.

He wondered if he could recreate Claire’s skin. A soft pale color with a light, peachy glow. Long, ivory lines: her legs wrapped around his…

Red. For his hair. His colors melting into hers. His fires setting her earth ablaze.

More of her. More of him. Movement. Collision. Explosion.

Love?

Perhaps.” – Alla Prima: Chapter 5

“He couldn’t stop himself though, couldn’t turn back. His body would not allow him. So, he trudged behind this spectral being, guiding him through a valley of death.” – Ghosts in the Daylight: Chapter 3

“She seemed to glow, as if lit from within by a candle. The world around them darkened; she was the only light.” – Seek, and You Shall Find: Chapter 7

“He rolled over, then, pinning her beneath the weight of his love. He tickled her with stubble and lips, and she adored him in kind.” – Imagine Reality: Chapter 5

What is your writing process when writing your fanfics?

When I begin a story, I usually have a clear beginning and end in mind. From there, it’s a matter of filling in the blanks. I usually have a good idea where I want a story to go, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never veered off and taken a story completely off course!

I don’t have a specific writing schedule; I’m sort of a temperamental writer! I love writing, but if the mood doesn’t strike me, I can’t churn out a story. When the mood does strike me, though, I’m writing like crazy! Sometimes I’ll write at 2 am, sometimes I’ll write during a break at work. It just depends on the day!

I’m not a huge editor of my writing. I’ll proofread it, but most things I post are first drafts. For me, editing can take some of the “in the moment” emotion away from my writing. I’ll nitpick until it isn’t any good anymore. So, I just leave it alone.

What is your favourite genre to write and why?

I always feel more comfortable writing modern fics. That way, I can take some snippets from life and sneak them in there. However, I always tend to add fantasy or supernatural aspects to my writing, whether they are set in the past or in modern times. In that way, I sort of create my own world inside this existing Outlander world.

What has been your favourite season of the show so far and why?

My favorite season has probably been season 1. It seems to have that perfect mixture of romance and adventure and humor. Plus, it’s the first one, so obviously it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.

Have you read any of Diana’s books? If so, which ones? Do you have a favourite book?

I’ve read the main eight a couple times, but I’ve never read any of the spin-offs/novellas. I don’t necessarily have a favorite; I have multiple favorites! Outlander is always fun to read, simply because it takes me back to the very beginning of this adventure. But, I also love Voyager, and seeing how the characters have/haven’t changed with age. And then there’s Drums of Autumn which is great for a couple reasons:

1) I love seeing Jamie, Claire, and Brianna together and

2) I live on the eastside of the US, so I see places every day that make me stop and think, “Fraser’s Ridge could be here…”

Lastly, A Breath of Snow and Ashes just makes me super emotional. Those are the top four!

Do you read/write fanfics for any other fandom?

I’ll read some every now and then, but I only write for Outlander.

What is one random fact about you that you have never revealed on Tumblr before?

I was Prom Queen my senior year of high school. It’s trivial, but kind of cool because I didn’t expect it.

I also met Jack Antonoff (musician) one time.

And there you have it. A deeper look into the mind of yet another one of our beloved fanfic writers. I haven’t added her stories to my archive YET, but you can check out her fanfiction master list on her blog.

#outlander fanfic #owlish-peacock36 #outlander #fanfics #aotw #outlanderfanfics

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grantimatter · 3 years

Photo

From the Guild:

SONG: Welcome to the Landing

SONG:

“Welcome to the Landing” [Download]

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: Based on NASA, 5 Mar 2021, Welcome to ‘Octavia E. Butler Landing'”, as used in the Science Art post “Welcome to ‘Octavia E. Butler Landing’, NASA, 2021.”, as well as, to a smaller degree, Science, 22 Feb 2021, “ Martian rover sends back ‘overwhelming’ video, audio from the Red Planet“, as used in the post “Mars rover sends “overwhelming” audio home. (And video and pics too.)“.

ABSTRACT: I really wanted to sample some that Mars audio for this, but it didn’t really fit. I even tried running my voice through NASA’s kind of fun “Your Voice on Mars” page … but it doesn’t come out sounding musical enough for this pretty little song.

The song started as a kind of challenge to myself. I used basically none of my usual audio tools, not even my microphone. It was done entirely on a new, inexpensive laptop a friend gave me, and was done with basically an out-of-the-box installation of Reaper in nagware mode. I downloaded a single VSTi, a synthetic hang drum – one of those fun tuned percussion things that are like steel pans that you play with your hands. The drums, which is what I started with, were just my fingers tapping on the keyboard with a lot of effects on them. Then I added the hang drum track, then the sine-wave synth Reaper comes with. Everything else is a vocal sung into the onboard mic inside my car in the driveway at 2 a.m. The house was sleeping.

It turned out pretty well, performance-wise, and the mic made sense from a story perspective, as a kind of message from Mars.

The idea for the song – well, this is only the second time I’ve ever done a song on a “Science Art” thing rather than a research project, but since it’s on the Perseverance landing site, it’s still current.

I’m still turning over in my mind the idea of someone in the near-ish future living on Mars and using placenames given for people who’d never been there. That seems like a very colonial thing (did Columbus ever visit Colombia? Or Columbus, Ohio?), which makes it fairly ironic that this particular landing is named for Octavia Butler, who was a pretty thoroughly post-colonial science fiction writer. She was also very concerned with growing things and the relation living beings have with the soil, so it seems like future settlers would appreciate her way of looking at things (although probably not the things she did with parasitic wasps in some of her stories). I’m sure she’d be tickled, too, to have a place named for her on Mars.

And of course, if a colony does get established and take root on Mars and grow, eventually places like Octavia E. Butler Landing are just going to become like Jamestown – historical sites. There will probably be tours. And some local guide will have to explain that no, this landing wasn’t named for a colonist, or even an astronaut. Just a lady with an imagination and a knack for a good plot. A spiritual mother for future generations of space people.

LYRICS:

Welcome to the landing Thank you for understanding Despite our atmosphere She never landed here

Except in science fiction When Mars was just prediction Our ice, imagination Our soil, ripe for creation

She built a way to be Before the rockets came. We were colonized Here’s her name.

Welcome to the growing green The first farmer’d never seen. And follow us across the field Where we’re bringing in her yield

Mother never saw this sky Never planted, never cried From blisters in this dust Yet she lives in us.

She lit a campfire here Before the rocket flames. We were colonized Here’s her name.

Welcome to the landing Welcome to the landing Welcome to the landing

var zbPregResult = '0';

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sarissophori · 4 years

Text

Forebode, Chapter 1

UCS Wayfarer, registration 0732-419-058B

Crew: 15

Homeport: Sorenson Orbital Shipyards, Nova Astria, Reyal system

Destination: Uncharted system XH-31590M

Mission: To locate UCS Wanderer and crew, classified missing;

To rescue, if any, survivors from Wanderer;

To resume, if able, Wanderer’s assignment of surveying moon XH-Ld for possible habitation.

Manifest: Hindel, Captain Laura B.

Ellson, Ensign Brian A.

Tajmaran, Ensign Ashok K.

Komev, Ensign Nanya H.

Walsh, Dr. Kane S.

Talgold, Dr. Elliot T.

Hornens, Chief James G.

Mason, Chief Ben R.

Ausmith, Lieutenant Jim A.

Han, Dr. Henry F.

Varrez, Dr. Anna I.

Barrens, Sgt. Frederick R.

Farzen, Pvt. Jon D.

Davis, Pvt. Calvin S.

Duvin, Pvt. Amal L.

The interior of the Wayfarer was empty and still, the corridors dark, lit only by reserve power. The dull drone of the engines, the ship’s loudest noise, hummed through her three main decks, with no one to listen. For six standard months this was how she traveled, ghosting her way from her home system out to the unknown for the purpose of making it known, boosted by her main drives to a fraction of the speed of light. The onboard computer monitored, along with everything else, the closing lightyears and astronomical units towards the ship’s ultimate destination: a distant system once beyond the reach of humanity’s interstellar grasp, and far, far beyond the homeworld where that reach started near three centuries before.

Now entering the boundaries of this alien system, the computer decelerated the main drive to impulse power, and warmed the primary generators; harsh florescent lighting kicked on, and it began waking the crew under its care.

Its lonely sojourn and last-minute tasks completed, it now awaited the command to return automated control of the ship to manual, reverting to standby once more, until the long journey back home.

Inside the Wayfarer’s stasis chamber, fifteen cryo-pods began the process of slowly revitalizing their occupants, gently rising them from frozen sleep to the eve of consciousness. The lids hissed and opened, taking the crew from dark pleasant numbness to a stark, florescent reality.

Stiffly, one by one, they sat up, rubbing their cold dry skin and stretching in the artificial gravity. The crew’s assigned search and rescue (SAR) contingent, sergeant Barrens and privates Farzen, Davis and Duvin, were first on their feet.

“We’re warming up before we hit the showers” Barrens said, rolling his shoulders. “Come on, forty reps each, get to it.”

“And lose first dibs on water, sir?” Davis said.

“I guess so” Barrens said. “A small price to pay for keeping your mind and body sharp floating in the middle of nowhere. Don’t make me go to fifty.”

With that Barrens dropped and started his push-ups, his men following.

Next out was Captain Hindel of civilian rank, who wasn’t quite as enthused with exercising first thing after cryo-sleep. Stifling her yawns, she went from pod to pod, checking on her crew and helping them amble out onto the deck: engineers Hornens and Mason, and shuttle pilot Ausmith, veteran ship-hoppers with years spent beyond the core systems, always used to doing more with less; doctors Walsh and Talgold, on their first deep space assignment; ensigns Ellson, Tajmaran and Komev, fresh from the academy and also on their first assignment; civilian science officer Han with a twenty-year background in xeno-biology; and geological specialist Varrez, who had never left Nova Astria before; a fresh crew under a first-time captain hoping to make a good impression for Sorenson.

They all showered, dressed, ate and manned their stations, be it the hangar bay, engineering, or the bridge. Captain Hindel was already at work, giving the computer the codes necessary for manual control, restoring initiative to all primary consoles and terminals. Successful readouts showed green across her display, and the soft hum of electricity filled the bridge.

The doors behind her opened and her flight officers walked in, each assuming their post under the gaze of her captain’s chair.

“Morning ma’am” they said.

“Ensigns” Hindel said. “Enjoy your first cryo-sleeps?”

“Ugh, if you can call it sleep” Komev said, sitting down at navigation. “More like passing out inside a freezer. Christ, they’re cold.”

“You get used to it” Hindel said.

“If you say so, captain” Ellson said, joining Tajmaran at the helm.

“At least none of you got nauseous” Hindel said. “That’s very common with first timers.”

“I wanted to” Komev said. “I still want to.”

“You can, just not on your console, please.”

Komev swished a quick salute. “Aye-aye, ma’am.”

“Good” Hindel said. “Has manual been fully restored to helm?”

“Yes ma’am” Ellson said, testing his controls for responsiveness. “Helm’s green.”

“Scanners showing green as well” Tajmaran said.

“Navigation?”

“Navigation’s green” Komev said.

“Secondaries?”

“Checking with Engineering” Tajmaran said. “Engines on medium burn, fifty percent impulse. Reactors within normal parameters; coolant systems functioning properly.”

“Any signals from the Wanderer?”

“No ma’am” Komev said. “No beacons, no distress calls, not even broadband transmissions. Just space and static.”

“Keep trying” Hindel said, even though she, and they, knew how remote the chances were of picking up anything. The last transmission from the Wanderer was nearly two standard years ago, before she was declared missing; a check-in from their captain letting home base know they had reached the system safely. That in mind, Hindel sent out her own check-in back to control at Nova Astria, getting a funny, foreboding feeling as she did.

The Wayfarer sailed on into system XH-31590M, the twin suns Xandra and Halbert shining faintly off starboard side, bathing radiance on the twelve planets and dozens of moons in orbit; mostly small, rocky worlds bare to radiation, unfit for colonies. More promising was the system’s four gas giants and their impressive array of planet-sized moons, some measuring twenty thousand kilometers in circumference, with atmospheres.

Gliding past the outermost three, after one-hundred and twenty standard hours, the Wayfarer came into visual range of the innermost and largest of the giants, XH-Lambda, a rusty orange twinkle on the forward windows, three point twenty-five AUs from their current position; Xandra and Halbert were now the brightest stars in their relative space.

“Try again” Hindel said.

For the hundredth time Komev sifted through all available channels for any kind of transmission indicating the Wanderer was still broadcasting, repetition somewhat dulling her resolve, but always ready to catch the faintest ping on her headset. After a few minutes, she shook her head.

“Nothing, ma’am.”

“Are you scanning for short-range comms as well?”

A slight pause, then “With respect ma’am, those aren’t strong enough to make it out this far— assuming its originating from the planet.”

“Even so” Hindel said. “Now that XH-L is in visual, I’d like you to start. Your point is noted, but we can’t assume their position until we have confirmation. I want confirmation.”

“Aye Captain.”

Hindel turned to the helm. “Anything on scans?”

“Just dust and radiation feedback” Tajmaran said. “A few metallic signatures too, but none matching the Wanderer; most likely asteroids.”

“There’s a debris cloud point seven-five AUs off portside” Ellson said. “But that puts it too far out from the Wanderer’s course to be her. Scans show the composition doesn’t match anyway.”

“I still want a report sent to my quarters before rotation’s end” Hindel said.

“Will do, ma’am.”

Hindel sat back in her chair, elbows on armrests, and stared off past the forward windows to the twinkling gas giant growing before them with every hour, touching the dark corners of the bridge with a soft orange. Her training always insisted on proactivity and improvisation to help achieve a mission, especially in uncharted space, but what more could be done? Sitting in a chair, listening for a noise, looking for a signature, repeating to nauseum; it gnawed at her instinct to do more, especially after so long with nothing to show for it.

Yet she admitted to herself, quietly, that her expectations really weren’t too different than her officers at this point. She knew they weren’t going to find anyone out here in the literal middle of nowhere, not after all this time. This was a glorified salvage mission, absolutely. Still, she felt the need as captain to put on a brave face, insist on finding survivors, and keep her crew focused. Besides, if they were ever lost, she’d sure like to know that any ship sent to look for them didn’t simply write off hope at the start. Anyone lost out here deserved that much.

After one hundred and sixty-eight standard hours since waking, the mass of XH-Lambda filled the forward windows of the Wayfarer’s bridge, making them polarize for compensation. Bands of red and dusty brown swirled and mixed like estuaries, blending into thunderheads flickered by pinpricks of static lightning, or swelling into deep crimson spots fed by their own tidal rotations. Ellson and Tajmaran took their readings and uploaded them to the ship’s computer.

The Wayfarer tilted slightly starboard and nosed down, shifting their view of XH-Lambda and making a play of the shadows. As they entered its outer orbit, they came within visual of a moon glowing in the distance, an unassuming speck in the void. This speck, XH-Ld, was the Wanderer’s destination, and likely location.

“Scans, people” Hindel said. “Give me some good news today.”

Static crackled in her headset as Komev tried again to hone in on a manmade signal, beacon or communication on any frequency…finding none. Tajmaran analyzed sensor pings around the moon’s orbit for artificial traces, including wisps of ionized radiation, also coming up empty.

“Sorry captain, the usual story.”

“Well that just leaves the moon itself then, doesn’t it?” Hindel said. “Ellson, take us within low orbit over XH-Ld, holding at three hundred kilometers.”

“Setting course” Ellson said, tapping in the coordinates. “ETA in four hours.”

Hindel nodded and stood up from her chair.

“Ellson, you have the bridge. I’ll be in my quarters if anyone needs me.”

The captain isolated herself in the ‘study’ of her bedroom, taking the time to send off her first report since entering the XH system:

<Log 1

Hindel, Laura A. manual report

Mission time: 4,488.23.00 hours

System scanned for all comms; negative finds, no responses. Within short range

broadcast of XH-L and moon. Area around moon scanned; no results. Will attempt

again once in low orbit. Search team on standby. Secondary mission parameters

still assumed. >

“Computer, sinfonia number two, the romantic.”

Classically-styled music played from her desk, filling the room with its waltzing melody and sending her worlds away from the tedium of the bridge, back to the green, rolling fields of Coasta Paradizia on Mars where she grew up. She closed her eyes and saw the sun again, and wind-swept plains with deep canals emptying into the wetlands of Mare Cydonia. The summer cloud fronts over the Arabia Gulf made for particularly beautiful sunsets, and she saw them again, here at her desk, at least for a while.

#story #sci fi #science fiction #horror #sarissophori

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alexsfictionaddiction · 4 years

Text

'It is not enough to be the non-racist. We must be anti-racist.’

I don’t think I need to explain too much about what has prompted this post. There may be readers of it who will feel that my sudden creation of it is performative and that I don’t REALLY care all that much about what’s going on. That I’m simply jumping on a bandwagon and cashing in on some internet clout amidst the horrors of what is happening in the world. Hopefully my regular readers will know that I actively seek out Own Voices books and that I’m constantly reviewing them or recommending them on this very blog. Hopefully my regular readers will know that this post is very much in line with my inclusive, diverse ethos and that I am simply using my white platform to amplify those of the unheard.

It’s true that I’ve never written a recommendation post dedicated to one particular marginalised group. I think this is because I’ve always felt like these are not my areas to sway into. That these posts would be better written by bloggers who have direct experience with what these books talk about. Honestly, I’m shocked and incredibly upset with myself for having long harboured this mentality. Yes, these books will affect readers who can directly relate to the characters in a way that they couldn’t ever affect me but why on Earth should that mean that I can’t give them a platform in the first place?

Of course, I’ve always known about white privilege and I’ve always used it to take down racists both on and offline. In fact, the events of the past few days have caused arguments within my own all-white British family. There are currently protests happening in central London and Manchester but we are not allowed to use public transport at the moment and we don’t have any local demonstrations, meaning actively protesting just isn’t a feasible option for most Brits right now. It does feel like movements such as Black Lives Matter are ‘an American thing’, despite the huge amount of all types of racism in the UK.

I had never realised (or perhaps never wanted to realise) the amount of extremely questionable attitudes within my own family until very recently. I have had to explain white privilege to my parents, who have actually always been reasonably liberal in their political views, so I was astonished by exactly how much they didn’t know. There is an essence of ‘things aren’t anywhere near as bad as they used to be’ and ‘the police don’t arrest or kill innocent people’. It’s honestly only in the last few days that I’ve realised and therefore had to address the internal racism within my own family and therefore in my own origins and so I think that, as well as what is happening across the Atlantic, is what has really triggered this post. Despite considering myself an ally, I can do so much better than I have been and chances are, you can too.

Because it is a global pandemic. It’s not something that is only happening in the US, it’s happening here just without the guns. It’s happening in every country of the world and I (and my fellow white people) should not be leaving it up to the victims to sort it out. We have the power to boost their blatantly unheard voices and there is so much we can do, in order to do that.

Sign petitions, donate money and help in any way you can right here. Buy from Black-owned businesses, read all you can about the Black experience and above all, call out your friends and family on their racism. Of course, if you don’t want to take the advice of a white person like me, I’d recommend you check out these fantastic Black BookTubers and book bloggers:

LaRonda @ flyingpaperbacks

Madeline @ madelinewilsonojo

Jazmen @ lit-erally black

Nox @ noxthereader

Myonna @ myonna reads

I'mogén @ Peace&Cookies

Ben @ Benreadsbooks

Lauren @ The Novel Lush

Jo @ Jo The Great

Ella @ ella’s novellas

Keeana @ Reading in the Clouds

Francina @ Francina Simone

Lucie @ LucieReads

Jesse @ Bowties & Books

Joel @ fictionalfates

Ane @ Ane Adores

Olivia @ Olivia’s Catastrophe

Cecilia @ thatdisneychik

Taylor @ PageScreenTaylor

Tori @ Medusa Reads

Justin @ Ghost Reader

Seji @ The Artisan Geek

Mina @ Mina Reads

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and I encourage you to please search for and support more wonderful Black bookworms and creators. They will give you more insightful reviews and recommendations than I would ever be able to, so please check them out and show them some love.

Here are 50 books by Black authors that deserve your attention. While I have read a good chunk of these, I will admit that I have not personally read all of them. This list was compiled following a deep scouring of the internet and reading countless reviews and synopses. I believe I’ve found some incredible hidden gems in here that you will love and pass on to those who need them. Each of them have a link to an online retail outlet that isn’t Amazon, so you can buy these books in quarantine without lining Bezos’ already over-filled pockets. Enjoy! -Love, Alex x

NON-FICTION

1. Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. This history of racism in America seeks to completely rewrite the way we think of racism and encourages change in the every-day assumptive white ally.

2. Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Told in the form of a letter to his young son, Coates attempts to convey what it’s like to be black in America, using history, personal experience and the hope of liberation.

3. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock. An unapologetic powerful memoir from a trans mixed-race working class woman in America that will teach you how to be undeniably real.

4. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Possibly the most widely-read non-fiction book on racism in the UK, Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book explores its links to class, white feminism and the black history we were never taught.

5. So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. Highly relevant to the current situation in the US, this book talks about police brutality, BLM and the N word, answering the questions that no one ever dares to ask.

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

6. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. The winner of last year’s Women’s Prize, An American Marriage is the heartbreaking story of newlyweds torn apart by a wrongful rape conviction. Devastating, urgent storytelling.

7. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. Searingly relatable and timely, you will fall madly in love with Queenie. She is flawed, overlooked and underestimated. You will laugh, cry and scream as you spend a year inside her life as a British-Jamaican.

8. Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. When straight-laced nerd Chloe Brown almost dies, she vows to start living in the moment. Enter bad boy Red and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a sweet, sexy rom-com.

9. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Joint winner of 2019′s Booker Prize and shortlister for 2020′s Women’s Prize, this is the combination of 12 very different Black-British characters that paints a very real picture of contemporary British life.

10. I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan. When Georgia Young begins to feel dissatisfied with her seemingly perfect life, she decides to shake things up. It’s the perfect reminder that it’s never too late to make big changes and start living your best life.

11. Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim. Showcasing some of America’s best black female writers, this anthology explores the importance of finding yourself in books. Glory Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, an online book club exclusively for black women, which you can check out here.

12. The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré. At 14, Adunni is a wife and commodity within her tiny Nigerian village but she is determined to get her education and her voice. Original, powerful and unbelievably inspirational.

13. Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid. When Emira Tucker starts dating someone with a direct historical link to her boss, things get more than complicated. This is a very clever contemporary, driven by racial differences, that is completely unputdownable.

LITERARY FICTION

14. The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Winner of the Booker Prize 2016, The Sellout is a black comedy ringing with social satire about one man’s deceit having knock-on effects for an entire community. Controversial and weird but incredibly unique.

15. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Morrison’s debut novel focuses on our obsession with conventional beauty, fitting in and being accepted. Wonderfully written, it addresses race, gender and class in a truly captivating way.

16. Stay With Me by Ayòbámi Adébáyò. Amidst the social and political turmoil of 1980s Nigeria, Yejide's husband takes a second wife when she fails to fall pregnant. It is a heartbreaking portrait of grief, fractured families and motherhood.

17. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. An epic road-trip novel with hints of supernatural and magical realism, this is the story of a young boy’s coming-of-age within a broken family told in a gorgeously lyrical style.

18. Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Set during the Nigerian Civil War, three very different characters are entwined in a story about colonialism, class, race and love. You’ll want the tissues for this one!

19. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. This strange unique novel focuses on the split selves of Ada and their gradual rise to power within her. It’s one of the most unique mental health books I’ve ever come across and will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled with finding their own inner peace.

SCI-FI AND FANTASY

20. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Dripping in African mythology, the first in the Dark Star trilogy gets off to a gripping start with plenty of unique characters, as hunter Tracker searches for a missing boy.

21. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. When aspiring writer Dana is pulled from 1976 into 1815, she is assumed to be a slave. After saving a young man’s life, the mystery of their connection kicks off and takes them both on an incredible emotional journey. This is an amazing time travel story that is thoroughly unputdownable.

22. Rosewater by Tade Thompson. Rosewater is a town on the edges of a strange alien biodome which is rumoured to have healing powers but former criminal Kaaro knows the truth and is in no hurry to revisit it. Whilst making subtle digs at contemporary culture, Rosewater offers a fascinating view of the future.

23. Do You Dream Of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh. Ten astronauts leave a dying Earth to find another habitable planet. Set entirely aboard the ship, it’s a coming-of-age story that reaches beyond the sci-fi boundaries and focuses on human relationships and emotions. Brace yourself for tears!

24. Children Of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Inspired by West African mythology, this magical adventure tells the story of Zélie on a quest to restore magic to the kingdom of Orisha. At the end of every chapter something happens that makes you want to keep reading, making it highly addictive.

25. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle. Hidden dark magic in the depths of New York is awakened when hustler Tom attracts its attention. With elements of classic horror and mysticism, this is one for lovers of weird speculative stories.

26. Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi. This touching story is a searing reminder of systemic racism and the violence that black Americans face at the hands of the law. When Kev finds himself in prison, it’s only the visits from his magically-gifted sister Ella that keeps him sane and gives him hope of revolution.

27. We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. Desperate to protect his son in a profoundly racist America, a man embarks on a mission to get his boy a ‘demelanization’ to make him white. It’s an original and edgy satire full of suspense and heart.

MIDDLE-GRADE

28. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. This poetic memoir charts the story of Woodson’s own childhood, growing up as an African-American in 1960s and 1970s. These are truly beautiful poems that sing a young girl’s desire to be heard and to know who she is.

29. Ghost by Jason Reynolds. Ghost is a sprinter but it’s only when Coach sees his talent that he really starts to chase his dream but his dark past is hot on his heels. Full of Reynolds’ signature humour and heart, it’s highly relatable to almost any kid from around the age of 10.

30. The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste. This creepy magical middle-grade adventure sees fearless Corinne on a dangerous mission to save her home from dark forces. Steeped in Caribbean folklore, The Jumbies is a fantastic gateway into eerie fantasy.

31. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Twins Josh and Jordan are basketball stars, following in their father’s footsteps but hardship tests their brotherly bonds. Merging basketball and rap, this verse novel gives us a stark reminder of what really matters.

32. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Get set for a truly heartbreaking but horrendously timely story. Jerome was shot dead by police at the age of 12 and his ghost wanders the Earth in search of answers as to why he was killed. Not sure I need to say anymore as to why this is a highly important tearjerker.

33. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. When a plane crash brings two sisters on either side of the Atlantic together, family secrets unravel. Exploring sacrifice and identity, this verse novel is a stark reminder that most losses and tragedies are felt only by the families they directly affect.

34. Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence. Marlon has promised his mum that he won’t follow the path of his gang leader brother but when a date leaves him a hunted man, he has some impossible choices to make. Laced with musicality, this pacy urban thriller puts you directly in the shoes of an ordinary boy caught up in very real danger.

35. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta. Struggling with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen, it’s only when he starts university that Michael gains his wings through the power of drag. Tackling both racism and homophobia, The Black Flamingo teaches acceptance and self-love.

36. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. Natasha and Daniel meet on the same day that Natasha’s family are about to be deported to Jamaica. Cue an epic quest for love to overthrow the authorities! It’s a sweet romance about fate and taking the future into your own hands.

37. Dear Martin by Nic Stone. When Ivy League-destined Justyce is arrested, he turns to the lessons of Martin Luther King to help figure things out but then shots are fired. Undeniably relevant to today’s America, Dear Martin confronts the blatant racism and injustice within the justice system.

38. On The Come Up by Angie Thomas. Aspiring rapper Bri is desperate to make it to help her family, despite all the odds being against her. Better known for her break-out debut hit The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas’ follow-up is an equally hard-hitting story of standing up and speaking out for what’s right.

HISTORICAL

39. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Escaping an extremely violent and abusive past in the 1930s American South, Celie finds the strength to be her true wonderful self. The Color Purple is considered a staple of black literature and considered one of the most mind-opening books in existence.

40. Roots by Alex Haley. Tracing the story of his own ancestors, Alex Haley’s Roots is a highly educational documentation of African American history during the Slave Trade. Published in 1976, it made a massive impact on the world and Kunta’s story is just as urgent and vital today.

41. Freedom by Catherine Johnson. This historical middle-grade story follows Jamaican slave Nat as he makes his way to London, where he has heard that slavery doesn’t exist, which he soon finds to be false. Freedom is a moving, action-packed look at British slavery that is the perfect starting point for educating pre-teens.

42. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This classic tale follows wrestler Okonkwo, who returns from exile to discover his village has been taken over by colonials. It’s a difficult read that captures powerlessness and pain in a short, impactful burst and will no doubt force white readers to look at their own behaviours.

43. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Exploring bigotry and racism across the US, our protagonist tries his best to play by the rules but continues to be knocked down. Despite being published in 1952, Ellison’s arguments are painfully relevant to today, indicating that not much has changed at all.

44. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Life as a slave in Georgia is hell for Cora but when new arrival Caesar tells her about the Underground Railroad, escape plans are hatched. Cora’s determination and courage are hugely inspirational and her experience, which mirrors that of many real slaves, should never be forgotten.

45. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This epic story of two sisters’ very different experiences of 1800s Ghana sprawls across generations, clearly showing how history resonates and the ripples are felt long after the original event. A stunning captivating read.

THRILLERS

46. Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. Highly selective, isolated academy Catherine House sees teenage runaway Ines join its ranks and a strange Gothic mystery unfurls. This subtly unsettling chilly novel is a brand new debut that I devoured earlier on this month and I’m sure you will too!

47. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Korede is used to clearing up her younger sister Ayoola’s messes -and disposing of the bodies she leaves in her wake! There is a wonderfully dark tongue-in-cheek tone that makes this fast-paced thrilling celebration of sisterhood truly delightful.

48. They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall. Seven strangers find themselves in a mansion on an island with no contact with the outside world and no escape. With strong Agatha Christie vibes, it’s a highly entertaining mystery whose pages you’ll keep turning.

49. Devil In A Blue Dress by Walter Mosley. When a war veteran is pulled into a search for a mysterious woman, murder and lies are uncovered. Set in 1940s LA, Walter Mosley expertly weaves the natural fears of a Black man of the time into the smoky intrigue, making it extremely immersive.

50. Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett. Broke former actress Dayna didn’t mean to solve a hit-and-run but the reward money would definitely come in handy. Once she starts digging, she becomes determined to find the killer. I love cosy mysteries with amateur detectives and this more than fits that bill.

#black lives matter #black authors #black books #anti-racism #social justice

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gospacegay · 7 years

Text

LRTIHEW: Part One

The title stands for “Longest Rusame Thing I Have Ever Written”. I have been writing it for a very long time and have no idea what to name it anymore. I will post extra chapters when formatting isn’t being a cruel mistress. I will leave reference links for previous chapters. Enjoy some creepy Ivan!

There is swearing, fluff, eventual smut, insanity, and lord knows what else.

American politics could be so volatile, yet entertaining. No one had expected such a sharp change in Alfred's disposition after the American elections. Granted, the happy blonde was mildly affected by his frequent leader changes. But never had the blue eyed blonde seemed so calm and collected before at a world meeting. Normally he was sleeping or bouncing off the walls with stupid ideas.

Ivan, the immortal symbol of Russia, watched with immense interest. He was curious as Alfred wore a trademark Hollywood smile, not listening to the current speaker like usual. Canada's speech about a political trend towards extreme bipartisanship was ignored by most anyway. Russia jotted down the highlights, only pretending disinterest. He loved to make the nearly invisible country squirm like that.

Royal purple eyes swept back to Alfred, surprised to lock with beautiful blue. The younger seemed to be sizing him up, analyzing the taller ash blonde nation. Finally his real smile showed through. The expression existed only a short time but it was so warm. Alfred then resumed dissecting the rest of the room with his eyes, being noticeably more subtle than usual.

Happy to see his plucky American scheming much like himself, Ivan returned to the same hobby. When the meeting finally ended, Ivan trailed behind. He could hear Alfred arguing hotly with his former motherland in the hall outside. “I'm fine. Leave my leaders to me, Arthur!” the loud mouthed American yelled, stomping off somewhere. “Boy, you don't know what mess you're in now!” Arthur rebutted, always wanting the last word.

Ivan used extreme stealth, trailing a hall away from Alfred at all times. He was very good at it despite his towering height and renowned strength. When the distress American slipped into an office alone, Ivan followed. He closed the frosted glass door noisily, his form of an introduction. Alfred whipped around in alarm, then slumped his shoulders. It was an discovery to see him relax now of all times.

“Oh thank god it's you big guy. Thought it was someone scary!” Alfred greeted teasingly. Taken aback by the younger nation's genial tone, Ivan's false smile changed to a flat hard line. Something was definitely going on. He wasn't sure what to say now, the usual hostile string of insults no longer suitable as an opener.

“Going the quiet route huh? I can respect that. Leaves me more room to talk,” Alfred started, dropping into the luxury office chair. The whole office was quite nice, probably belonging to a German politician of some sort. “You know, I've been thinking. These past 16 years... I know my leaders have been jokes. I know. But I'm really tired of being a living joke? You know?” he continued, frowning.

It was true. The past four American presidents had been international disasters. From drunk social media posts to 'losing' deadly missiles, each term had been a fumble. Ivan didn't envy the internal economic damage his former enemy was surely suffering.

This serious and unhappy aura, it didn't suit Alfred at all. “I understand, little America. It is over twenty five years since my soviet fall, but I am joke of the whole world.” Ivan replied honestly. There was no risk to truth, he decided. Ever since the elections, Alfred hadn't called him a communist once. It was a pleasant change from the tired rhetoric. Perhaps he was finally maturing?

“It's nice... just talking to you. No bullshit.” the honey blonde sighed, reclining a bit. Ivan hummed in agreement, not sure how to proceed. He dealt with international rage, ridicule, and doubt well. Having civil conversations not tainted by sarcasm was something Ivan was not well versed in. These past few decades had been hell for foreign relations.

The silence was killed by America's own anthem for a ring tone. He looked at the display screen, visibly cringed, then answered the cell phone. “All American awesome speaking.” he greeted cheerfully. His forcibly light attitude dropped instantly as he rubbed his temples. “Yes, boss. I understand.” he mumbled. A minute later, he continued “Of course. I'll take care of it. Just don't say anything yet.” he sighed, hanging up after. Ivan intimately understood the look of frustration after being chewed out by superiors. America wore it with resignation, covering his face with both hands.

“FUCK!” Alfred cursed suddenly, startling Ivan. “I have to go, but maybe we can hang out sometime.” the younger nation offered casually, winking at him mischievously. He ran off without waiting for a response. Ivan wouldn't have known what to say anyway. Sure, he had dozens of practiced and sardonic responses. Normally, that was all that was required with the rashly stupid American. This civility and distant kindness was boggling. What did he want now? What game were they playing?

Three weeks later, Ivan decided to test the limits of the informal offer. He wanted to get away from work for a few days anyway. The price of oil was a mess right now and his grossly incompetent officials were blaming him for the short fall, as usual. The nine hour flight to Washington, DC, was mind numbing. Russia instantly regretted not bringing some nice literature from his own culture.

By the time the plane landed in the United States of America, jet lag was starting to take it's toll. Ivan blinked heavily during the taxi ride, the driver glancing back in concern. The burly Russian glared back with a silent promise of violence. The cabby was suddenly less curious, looking fearfully pale. Good boy.

Alfred's Washington home was easily one of his oldest, and his most sentimental. It was a small white colonial house with normal proportions and a second story. It was quaint in comparison to some of the mansions in other states. Due it being three in the morning, there was no point in ringing the door bell. Like Ivan would ever do that anyway. There was no challenge to it!

He scanned the building dimly lit orange by old street lamps. The sly ash blonde could scale the sides and get in through a window. Not only would it be test of acrobatics, but it would scare Alfred. That was a worth while deal. Rubbing his hands together, Ivan spotted a lone sunflower on the southern style veranda. Abandoning his plan, Ivan jogged over to the patio. Oh beautiful flower, who could leave you to suffer? Scooping up the single bloom lovingly, he noticed a large paper tag tied to the robust stem. He read the tiny looping writing immediately.

'I know you want to get through a window or a toilet or whatever, but I left a key. There's no way in hell you're wrecking my siding again.'

Oh, yes. Ivan had forgot about the last time he broke in. He was doing something lithe and graceful, but a window sill gave under his great weight. A large chunk of siding fell with him. Not one of his best feats of athleticism. Still, to be given a key... It completely sucked the fun out of breaking and entering.

Begrudgingly, the Russian looked around for this 'key'. Maybe there would be riddles or tricks to solve. The pale nation adored puzzles and mind games. Ivan huffed, unimpressed at once. He could see a fake rock for holding keys from the veranda. It wasn't even the right color to blend in with the soil. Popping open the plastic 'rock', there was a key with a gold star sticker on it. Wondering if the gold star was a reference to his soviet era, Ivan tried it on the front door.

It worked, the door swinging open silently on oiled hinges. Once inside, Ivan locked it shut and quietly padded around. Exploring the kitchen, he found muffins. They were raspberry, his favorite. Eating one, he explored the rest of the place. Alfred's gun cabinets, all six of them, were looking well stocked like usual. His overflowing movie collection was heaped around the big screen television in the main room. Upstairs was a poorly locked war planning room, a bathroom, and three bedrooms. Having broken in and memorized these places before, Ivan skipped them. He entered what he knew to be Alfred's bedroom, not caring about personal invasion in the slightest.

America looked so tired as he slept. Ivan was glad to he wasn't the only one being dragged down by crashing oil prices. The global market was quite stressed at the moment. Placing the sunflower on the huge oak dresser, Ivan rubbed his eyes. A soft yawn ripped out of him, confirming the obvious. Dumping his small bag of clothes in a corner, Ivan made himself comfortable beside Alfred. Not only was his bed the softest, it would weird out the American until he sputtered like a fish. Making his former foe overreact and make a idiot of himself was hugely entertaining.

Wondering if he should set small traps and pranks around the house, Ivan lay down in his travel clothes. It probably wasn't worth the effort to set traps. Alfred was very skilled at disarming them. Russia could get the same result from less effort by playing mind tricks and moving around furniture. Scheming happily, Ivan drifted off.

It was a terrible screech, like a surprised chicken. Ivan couldn't recall hearing that sound in a very long time. Cracking open one eye, he spotted the thing that wretched him from sleep. His pillow was actually America, in full freak out mode. Oh, what a treat. A sleeping companion and mobile entertainment.

“Fuckin' Christ! What are you doing here?” Alfred squawked. Apparently Ivan draped an arm around the other in his sleep, so might as well run with it. “Oh, so you don't remember? We had so much fun too.” he teased, looking smug. Letting the younger nation assume the worst, Ivan watched as Alfred rolled out of bed. Oh, nothing but NASA boxers. That was just adorable. Perhaps Ivan could tease him about it mercilessly during a meeting.

“Take a picture! It'll last longer asshole!” The tanned blonde snarled, picking himself up off the floor. “You are such a hospitable host! I will take a picture.” Ivan replied happily, digging his phone out of a pocket. Two blurry pictures later, the American had fled to the bathroom. Already not bored. Visiting another country had been a great idea.

#LRTIHEW #what have i done #rusame #russia #it never ends #hetalia #fluff #aph #america #amerus

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tokyoteddywolf · 7 years

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A Blue CatAstrophe!

Lance isn't missing, he's right there. It was an accident, how he'd ended up 'missing', but Blue said that there should be some cure for this. He wished he was human again, so he could comfort his team with the knowledge that he wasn't dead. But no, he's a cat, and the only way to make sure they smile is to knock all the pens to the ground, chase some string, and occasionally wake up his crush and idol up from a nightmare and almost get smacked across the room by accident. Well, okay, that last one had to be mended since he was apparently a good stress reliever if you ran your hands down his back... too bad it wouldn't happen if he was a human. So, for now, he'll deal with being a brown and darker brown swirled tabby kitten for just a little bit longer. Purrrrrrrr.....

A Cat Au, where Lance becomes a cat and hell ensues.

“Well, maybe you should go find a better, more serious Blue Paladin who's more useful than I apparently am, Shiro!”

Lance gunned Blue's engines, rocketing away from the Castle and across the planet they were currently trying to form an alliance with, away from the city and away from the boiling argument he'd just had with the Black Paladin. They nearly broke the sound barrier with the speed they were flying at, but Lance just had to get away. He couldn't stand seeing that angry look on Shiro's face. The one that was usually filled with fond amusement or seriousness during battle or planning. He couldn't get it out of his head, the fight they'd had during the strategy meeting on the diplomatic approach to the alien colony down below.

He'd just wanted to go down with the team that was to speak with the city leader, but Shiro had told him that he would be better elsewhere, away from the city's population. He'd asked why, and got a “Because we can't have you flirting with the wrong alien and lose the chance for an alliance, Lance.” in return. Of course, he'd tried to say that he could be serious when he wanted, only to be rebuffed because he was “the joker of the group” and his people skills weren't exactly helpful in this situation.

Lance, having become tired and increasingly frustrated during the past year they'd been in space, finally blew up at his former hero. He was so sick of always being pushed aside in favor of someone else. Tired of trying to help only to be scorned and grumbled at, tired of trying to keep up the fake act of being happy and trying to cheer up the others, tired of being nobody special like the others. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he'd bolted for Blue's hangar, not noticing the shocked and horrified faces of his team and the Alteans he left behind in that hologram lit room.

Blue growled in concern, and he finally landed her in a field of giant green and gray flowers that looked vaguely familiar. He stumbled out of the cockpit and in a fit of childish anger, roundhouse kicked one of the large green flower trees. He threw back his head and screamed in frustration, the stress that had built up and torn into his chest bubbling up and bleeding out into his voice. He punched the nearest tree, barely registering the pale golden silver dust filtering down from the overhead petals and getting into his hair, giving it a shiny glowing sheen. “Why?!? Why am I not good enough?!?” He wailed, punching the tree over and over, leaning his head against it and furiously fighting back tears. Blue whined, worried for her Paladin. Lance didn't hear it that well, but as the anger and frustration faded into sadness, he suddenly realized it was getting really hard to breathe, and that the air felt really dry and dusty for some reason.

Coughing, he pulled up his arm to rub at the strange, almost gritty feeling on the back of his neck, and noticed that his jacket was covered in pale, fine dust that shimmered in the white light of the overhead sun. Right. He wasn't in Paladin armor because the planet had breathable air. Ha. Breathable air? Lance was choking on the... sudden burning feeling... in his throat… oh shit.

Gasping, Lance stumbled away from the tree he'd been banging his bleeding fist on, since the bark of the tree felt like rough glass and scraped his knuckles, and clawed at his throat, trying to hack up the fireball currently traveling down his windpipe and into his lungs, where it got even worse. He screamed, this time in agony, as his whole body felt like it was on fire. Blue roared in panic, activating her ice cannon and freezing the offending plant and surrounding area, covering everything within a ten mile radius with ice.

Lance stumbled and slid, collapsing onto the ground and convulsing, tears streaming down his face as he burned alive, feeling his bones bake and his blood boil under his skin, and the last thing he remembered before blacking out was the screams of Blue as she scooped him up and activated her particle barrier, trying to filter out the air and get him to breathe again.

He woke up and regretted it, as everything ached and throbbed dully. He let out a soft, pained noise in the back of his throat and curled up tighter on the chair he had somehow landed on during the black, fuzzy haze from when Blue had tried to help him. He heard loud noises from outside, and felt the entire cockpit shake as something had picked them up and was moving them somewhere. His body felt strange and out of place, and way too small. He flattened his ears back as another too loud sound echoed outside his Lion, tail twitching over his paws as he looked around… wait. That did not seem right at all.

He didn't have a tail or paws, nor did his ears move. Blue purred with relief at the fact that he was awake, but rumbled with concern as she sent him a mental image of what he'd become. Soft, dark brown fur with lighter brown stripes, sock paws, ears and tail tip. Pretty blue eyes with slitted irises and four light brown spots lining under his eyes, swirls on his back like a river. A small black nose. Lance flinched. That pollen stuff or whatever, had turned him into a cat?!? No wonder he felt wrong in his own body, like he should be bigger but wasn't. Blue rumbled and sent him an image of Black and Yellow towing Blue back to the Castle, and how they were currently setting them down in the Blue Hangar. Lance curled in on himself, his clothes having been shredded during his violent transformation and ruined with blood that had been squeezed out from his rearranging body, and trembled in his seat. “I don't want to be seen like this.” He thought, panicking. Blue, acknowledging her Paladin's wish, kept her barrier up and her jaw locked, even as Black growled at her to open up.

Lance could see Hunk and Shiro out of Blue's monitors down below, Keith and Pidge also appearing to stand below Blue's jaw, all looking very worried. He snorted. They wouldn't find him in Blue. Well, not his human self anyways. He registered Black's commanding growl, and Blue struggling not to bow down to her leader.

“Not here, not here. My Paladin is no longer here, as he used to be.” Blue whispered mournfully to her sisters, showing them the blood splattered cockpit and shredded clothes, and the tiny, fluffy body in her Paladin's seat, trembling and scared. Black immediately ceased growling, and instead rumbled with worry, as the other Paladins all jumped or flinched, startled by whatever their Lions were sending them, and then Shiro began banging on Blue's barrier, frantically calling for Lance. Hunk looked almost sick, Pidge seemed like she was about to cry, and Keith was clenching his fists and tapping his foot against the ground.

Blue, feeling guilty that she couldn't have stopped Lance from getting hurt, finally bent down and opened her jaw, the Paladins all hurrying inside with frantic, desperate movements. Lance hissed and slid off the seat, scrambling for a place to hide, squeezing himself into a corner under the dashboard. Blue sent him waves of soft, soothing comfort, tinged with guilt, and he sent back the thought that it wasn't her fault, they didn't know, and it was okay, but he still didn't want to be seen like this.

“Lance!” Shiro was the first to reach the pilot seat, and Lance watched from his hiding spot as a look of pure horror flooded the Black Paladin's face as he saw the blood and torn up fabric. The others had similar reactions, Hunk covering his mouth and trying not to vomit, Pidge going as pale as a sheet of ice, and Keith making a choked noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

Lance let out an involuntary mewl of grief at the sorrowful faces in front of him. He didn't think that him disappearing, possibly being dead, would have them react like this. Pidge, with her sharp hearing, looked over to where he was hiding. She moved over, and crouched down, reaching in and feeling around for him. Lance hissed, and swatted at her hand with sheathed claws. The others made sounds of astonishment at the noise, and Pidge somehow got her hands around his wriggling, tiny form and pulled him out, gasps echoing in the Blue Lion as they saw Pidge holding what looked to be an Earth kitten. Lance mewled again, wriggling around, trying to fight the tired achy feeling in his body, but Pidge was cradling him close, and he was just exhausted from all the stress of the day, and he slowly settled into a barely awake, half alert, ears pricked state of being in his friend's warm arms.

Blue purred quietly in his mind, informing him that all would be well once he woke up, and he had nothing to fear for now. So, he drifted off, hoping that he could figure out how to turn back to normal in the morning.

//thats a wrap for chapter 1!!! next time is probably Pidge POV, instead of this weird all over the place POV i've been doing lately. Next time, kitty Lance gets tangled into things he shouldn't, and Shiro is an absolute wreck. Langst is kind of fun to write, ngl. *yawns * well, i'm going to get some sleep now, hope you enjoyed! I'm gonna go post this on AO3, too :) Night! (or morning, afternoon, whenever.)

#langst #lance mcclain #shance #shance fic #ch.1 is angsty af #your tears fuel my motivation tank #pidge and lance brotp #Cat Lance #cat au #kitten!Lance #Blue Lion #mama Blue Lion #shiro is a mess

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yapakan-luma · 7 years

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The Lusong mortar: What the island of Luzon was named after.

If you ever ran an internet search to find out where the island of Luzon got its name, then you will probably have read that its name from (to quote the current Wikipedia page for “Luzon”) “the Tagalog word lusong, which is a large wooden mortar used in dehusking rice.”

If you’re anything like me, that would raise a few questions. The most obvious question, of course, is “why is a mortar so important that you would name the 15th largest island in the world after it?”

The answer is that they originally didn’t. According to William Henry Scott, the name originally referred to the Pasig river delta region, the “alog” (river delta) which also became the origin of the word Tagalog (”taga-alog,” famously also interpreted as “taga-ilog”, but that’s a subject for a different blog.

Once you’ve answered that question, the next question is equally obvious: “why was the Pasig river delta named after a mortar?” If you’re familiar with tagalog place-names, then your question would more specifically be: “Shouldn’t it have been “dila” (lit. “tongue”), which is what Tagalogs typically call river deltas like the one in Bay, Laguna?”

If you look at the image currently on the Luzon Wikipedia page, you’d remain pretty clueless.

The image, clearly taken in some unidentified Philippine museum, is of an artifact described as the “Bankang Pangpinawa.” The label describes it as “Isang tradisyonal na bayuhan ng palay. Ito ay ginagamit sa maramihang palay.“ (Roughly: “A traditional mortar for rice. This is used when there is a lot of rice [to be pounded].”)

This still leaves us clueless as to why the name of a rice mortar was used as the name for the river delta. By now, you will have guessed that the bowl shape of a mortar would have something to do with it, because the Pasig River delta empties into Manila Bay, which is pretty bowl shaped.

Things finally become clearer when you see an actual lusong.

Because most Filipinos reading this haven’t used a mortar to pound and dehusk rice, and the actual word “lusong” is no longer in use to describe a rice mortar, it took a while to confirm what a lusong actually looked like.

I had seen a lot of artists’ concepts of lusong, and they all depicted a large cylindrical wooden mortar - quite unlike the one in the wikipedia article. In fact, it looked a whole lot more like the mortar my paternal greatgrandparents kept, back home in Parang, Marikina.

So I went to google, and of course, ever-brilliant blogger “Traveller on Foot” was his usual useful self. The search quickly uncovered his images of modern day lusong still being used to dehusk rice in banawe. I have no permission to use his images, and they haven’t been released as fair use images, so I’ll just point you to the link: https://traveleronfoot.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/when-it-rains-in-banaue/

Further browsing also revealed that the Chammoro people of the Mariana Islands used stone mortars, also called lusong, to mill rice.

Wanting a more academic source describing the lusong mortar, however, I ended up reading Eulito Bautista and Evelyn Javier’s 2008 PIDS Research Paper on “Rice Production Processes." On Page 44, they describe Rice Milling:

“The rice grain is covered by a hard rough coating called hull or husk that must be removed by milling. Traditional milling was accomplished in the 1900s by pounding the palay with a wooden pestle in a stone or wooden mortar called lusong (Figure 18). The first pounding takes off the hull and further pounding removes the bran but also breaks most grains. Further winnowing with a bamboo tray (bilao) separates the hull from the rice grains. This traditional hand-pounding chore, although very laborious and resulted in a lot of broken rice, required two to three skilled men and women to work harmoniously and was actually a form of socializing among young folks in the villages.”

I’m not absolutely certain PIDS’ images are public domain, so I’ll let you see the “Figure 18″ for yourself; it shows two children with a lusong and a bilao.

According to Bautista and Javier, the use of the Lusong as a traditional technology eventually went out of mode in most areas after the advent of commercial rice mills in the 1920s.

Jean Mallat’s “Tagalog Couple Pounding Rice”

Now that I have an academic source confirming the appearance of the lusong mortar, I know how to find a public domain image I can share with you (and perhaps later post on wikipedia.

The one that cought my eye first, because it displays the lusong rather prominently, is Jean Mallat’s illustration of a “Tagalog Couple Pounding Rice.” here it is on a P22 Philippine Stamp released in April 2002:

You can find a higher resolution image of the original online, but as you can see, the introductory image for this post has a low-res detail of the Mallat illustration. (This isn’t actually Mallat’s handiwork, apparently; but his illustrator remains anonymous so for now, we credit Mallat.)

Looking at the image, you get a clearer idea of why Luzon, the Pasig River delta area was named after this mortar. The deep bowl shape, which is what allows the lusong to so effectively pound rice, recalls the sudden drop (probably also the source of the Tagalog verb “lusong”) of Manila bay from dry land to ocean floor, and the round shape of the cylindrical mortar’s mouth (these lusong were probably often carved straight off of Philippine hardwood tree trunks) roughly recalls the shape of Manila bay.

(While I’m at it, let me point out some out-of-topic details in Mallat’s image: (1) Clothing dyed with what is obviously indigo blue for the man (a typical color for Tagalog laborwear) and vertical red (achuete?) stripes for the woman; (2) a Bahay kubo, clearly made of pawid and standing on stilts, with what looks like a high window; (3) Proximitiy to a large waterform, likely Manila bay if that european ship is any indication; and (4) accessories in the form of headgear, and a shawl for the woman. Plus botanists will probably be able to derive insights from the herbiage depicted in the illustration.)

And there you have it. Knowing what a lusong looks like gives you a good idea of why the Pasig River delta, home of the Manila Bay polities of Tondo and Maynila, was named after the lusong mortar. In the 1570s, the Legaspi expedition came to this fabled area of Lusong in search of a favorable location to set up their colonial headquarters. They found a deep harbor protected by a large bay, a river that facilitated a healthy inland trade, and more importantly, none of the famines that forced Legaspi to abandon Cebu and Panay. Here, Legaspi set his capital, and the whole island eventually took on the name of the delta: Lusong, Luson, Luzon.

And the rest, as you well know, is history.

The Writer, Yapakan: Where Our Feet Found Rest

Notes:

This post was posted twice accidentally on 10 May 2017. This is the second posting, about two hours after the original, which has been deleted.

Public Domain and Fair Use material first posted on this blog was posted on Wikipedia on 10 May 2017.

#Lusong #Mortar #Rice #Dehusking #Geography #history #PhilippineHistory #Luzon #LuzonHistory #ManilaBay #pasigriver #JeanMallat #Tondo #Maynila

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