Thoughts on the Journey

My last couple of days have been busy as I substituted for middle school drama on Friday then spent yesterday at Arisia then back to fact-checking today. Sadly my energy level hasn't been great as shark week hit and on Friday, my cold decided to go, nope, not gone yet.

Arisia was amazing and reminded me of how much cool stuff there is in the Boston area that I want to try and get involved in along with fascinating people that I know. I went into the con with a lot of holiday money and happily spent it on jewelry, books, a cool antique satchel that made me think of Cassian and delicious chocolates. There was a huge amount of gorgeous cosplay but I ended up not taking a lot of pictures as I was having some shy moments. Though I found it all really inspiring, next year, I want to try and get more involved and spend a longer time there.

Day 11

Share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life.

I'm going to choose two musicals because one of the best parts of yesterday was going to dinner and talking Sondheim with cool people. There was a point where PBS was showing Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George on television and I was caught. In Sunday in the Park, there are a few songs about making art from Putting it Together to Finishing the Hat and they still feel to me so true about how creativity works.

Into the Woods has become one of my favorite soundtracks, I connect listening to the music to starting at Milliways as someone shared it with me. No More and No One is Alone are songs that they always get me. Its oddly hard to describe why, because this music clicks and I think that's how it is. There's that moment of oh yes, you've said it and I always feel better when I hear it again. I just put on the last song of the first act of Sunday in the Park when the painting comes together and my breathing has matched it.

Day 12

In your own space, create a fanwork.

I wrote a Jyn/Cassian fic that I've had in mind since the first cold snap, when it seemed that everyone was writing them snuggling for warmth. I saw a post on Tumblr about men wanting to be little spoons and it gave me the push I needed to write this as Cassian wants to be held by Jyn.

Cold as Home (421 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Characters: Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K-2SO (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Hoth, Domestic Fluff
Summary:

After returning late from a mission, Jyn searches out Cassian for warmth and he shares some truth. My version of Jyn and Cassian together on a cold night.

Day 13:

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year.

These goals are very much inspired by this weekend. No deadlines as I get enough of those with fact checking.
-Invite friends over to my place
-Finish and post more fics
-Investigate and attend meetups and fannish groups
-Figure out how to follow up with friends of friends that I had good conversations with at other events
-See about auditioning or volunteering, something with a theater group
-Spend more time with my relative in the area
-Apply for more jobs, get a reference from where I'm teaching

Today since the weather was nice, I went out exploring. I had gotten a discount for a coffee shop that turned out to not actually be what I was hoping for. It was in a store, didn't have anything for lunch and hand uncomfortable seats. Instead I ended up having lunch in a local sandwich/hoagie kind of place which was just right. I was reminded how its actually not that hard to get in between the various neighborhoods in my area. I live in a part of Boston with hills and twisty streets so sometimes things are closer than expected and other times farther.

Day 8

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.

So my first instinct on this was to go Rogue One as its been inspiring me and fueling me for over a year. Then I thought harder and want to talk about the Rogue One novelization, because it was what gave me inspiration. This novelization is amazing as it gets inside everyone's heads but especially Cassian's with all his pain. It also showed me places to expand and poke at canon.

Day 9

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created.

This challenge is always a little tricky but I've gotten better at recognizing that I'm a good writer and feeling comfortable promoting it. For this year, I'm going to focus on works that are firsts for me.

The Death Star Job, my first chaptered fic, my longest fic ever and also the most complex AU that I've ever written. This is a Leverage and Rogue One fusion built on the idea that Eliot and Cassian served together and are friends since to me they feel like the same kind of character. Its not finished yet but I have the next two chapters planned out and most of the next chapter drafted. Sometimes I've gotten in my head with this fic as it hasn't had a lot of kudos but there's at least one loyal reader and subscribers which means other people are interested. Also once I figured out that what mattered wasn't the plot but the relationships around the plot, it worked better. Leverage is good at using plot and tropes to give relationships depth and time while Rogue One had powerful interactions and not enough time. That helped me go, okay, I can do the plot in key scenes and really lean into conversations and moments.

It's you and me, a series of four fics set in an Everyone lives Rogue One AU. This actually started with the second fic and then the other ones kind of dropped into my head going, nope, story's not over yet.

Its really hard to pick a third one as I've been doing a lot of stretching in terms of writing this year with backstories, AUs, funny fics and other things. So I think I'll end with one that I really like.

Echoes is a fic about what kind of impression Cassian left behind. The heart of it is that I love history and wonder a lot what kind of marks Cassian left in his world. And I have this headcanon of Poe, who loves Rebellion history and is fascinated by this spy who was at the heart of Rogue One, but few records remain of.

Today the Narnia Exchange was revealed and I wrote a King Frank and Queen Helen fic.

This wild new paradise (1292 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: King Frank (Narnia)/Queen Helen (Narnia)
Characters: King Frank, Queen Helen (Narnia), Bacchus, Ceres (Greek and Roman Mythology)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Established Relationship, Domestic
Summary:

The inspiration for this fic was your wonderful letter with a request for wanting to know more about Frank and Helen, how they set up Narnia and how they interact with all the strange parts of Narnia.

For me the form that took was thinking about their domestic life, beginning in London with what Helen wished she had and then in Narnia near the end of their first year as Narnia is becoming itself around them. As I happen to love Ceres myself, she makes an appearance to help Narnia flourish.

The title comes from In Kerry, by J. M. Synge.

Thank you to Jennie for betaing.

Last night, I finished watching Cleverman on Netflix and wow, I can't recommend it enough. Its a near future dystopia set in Australia which involves major racial issues and pulls you straight into the world without a huge amount of explanation. Everything that's going on in the world now; racism, police brutality, surveillance, issues of land, sexism, all there. Major warnings as its not easy to watch but it pulls off what Mad Max does in terms of the sex crimes, nothing overt is shown but you know. In terms of other media, the closest to it for me is something between Heroes, the Craft sequence and The Book of Phoenix. The creator actually talked about why he created it here.

The other great piece of media I finished was Once Broken Faith, the newest October Daye. Normally I inhale these books but due to substituting on Friday and being busy with other things, I read this book slower, which worked. I feel like as this series continues on, the world grows wider and the plots aren't as much of a head long rush. Instead every choice ripples outward and matters. This one plus Full of Briars has me considering doing a reread in the midst of my huge to-read pile.

I've also started the newest Riordan, The Hidden Oracle, which is going to be a fun ride and so far has me thinking about The Just City. Apollo is one of those gods who

In terms of not great stuff, my substituting day was tough, a little boy cried in my arms because of a lottery thing the teacher was doing. I understand the choices these teachers make but the rewards are complicated. I might write more about that later, I don't know, its just stayed with me.

There's something about Porn Battle that always gets me writing. The deadline and prompts that make me willing to take on fandoms that I love but have never written clicks for me. Its going on this week and I've already written my fic, which is also my first one in the Vorkosigan fandom. This is a heads up that as I write these fics, I'll be posting here and on my Tumblr. And there's some job stuff that's making me feel hopeful as I'm planning a trip to Boston in the middle of April.

Living in Now (382 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Simon Illyan/Alys Vorpatril
Characters: Simon Illyan, Alys Vorpatril
Additional Tags: New Relationship, Memory Loss, Politics, Breasts
Summary:

Written for Porn Battle Prompt Stack and the prompt: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold, Alys/Simon, discovery, new, power, remembered.

After Ivan discovers Alys and Simon during Memory, Simon realizes how being with her has him living more in the present as he still struggles with what he doesn't know.

Winter has finally arrived, there were snowflakes falling when I went to the library and its properly cold.

Day 4

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Draft a critical essay about a particular media. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of a Broadway show, a movie, a concert, a poetry reading, a museum trip, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Compose some limericks, haikus, free-form poetry, 5-word stories. Document a particular bit of real person canon. Take some pictures. Draw a stick-figure comic. Create something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This challenge had me looking through my WiPs folder and I found a ficlet that I realized can stand on its own and was actually ready to publish. I want to revisit this fandom and relationship more at some point but I feel like this is a good beginning.

My kind of jock (252 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Friday Night Lights
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Matt Saracen/Julie Taylor
Characters: Matt Saracen, Julie Taylor
Additional Tags: missing moment, Developing Relationship, Season/Series 01
Summary:

A glimpse inside Matt's head at the beginning of his relationship with Julie. Entirely inspired by Zach Gilford's cute and surprised face.

With the holidays coming up, I love being able to send cards and/or write fic for everyone I know. The fic will probably happen after Christmas and Yuletide and if you want an idea of what I've done before, check my fic tag.

Please comment here if you'd like a card and your address and if you want a fic, characters and a prompt. Many of you, I already have addresses but I want to check that I send to the right place. When I look for cards, I search for ones that are general holiday because getting mail is one of my favorite parts of this holiday and sending mail to all my friends.

I've been being lazy today after two weeks of fact checking and interviews. Its so nice to be able to sit and just read without worrying about various deadline. I do have some fic exchanges coming up, but that's a different kind of pressure.

I just reread Brothers in Arms as part of my plan to play Ivan Vorpatril more and now I'm thinking about tossing a younger Ivan into the sandboxes. All the layers in Miles' narration about him, how its clear he trusts him, knows he's smart and lazy and I think at times sees more of Ivan than Ivan does, just like Ivan is good at reading Miles in ways that Miles isn't comfortable with are intriguing. This book has scenes of Elli and Ivan alongside Miles and their relationships are clearly mirrored, but how they got there isn't the same. I also find the issues of Miles and his identity fascinating and how in this one, he uses that to try and help Mark. I'm not sure if I want to reread Mirror Dance as while its good, some of the most brutal parts of the series are in there, at least violent. Perhaps if I have Memory on hand for after that would work since that's more about healing.

ETA: I've put an Ivan from after Brothers in Arms up in PFSB and Mixed Muses and I need to update his profile.

For the first time ever, someone podficced one of my fics: [podfic] we're having tea (5 words) by croissantkatie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ellimere (Old Kingdom), Prince Sameth
Additional Tags: Family, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3
Summary:

On a rainy day, Ellimere decides she and Sameth are having tea. Set post-canon in this moment, Ellimere and Sameth work towards rebuilding their relationship.

Its wonderful to know that someone else likes my words enough to do something with them.

This week I've also dived headlong into Sense 8, which hit me right in the feels. I finished watching it, watched the behind the scenes' show and then started a rewatch. I mean I did watch other things but it worked for me. Its far from perfect, I wish the stories had been a little more balanced but I loved how it was clear that each country was almost another genre and how everyone intersected. I wish I could remember who first pointed out that the feel of each country and Senseate plot fits where they're from, because its so true. The music was glorious and while the plot was weird with some points of huh, perhaps those will be answered in the second season. Rewatching, I'm able to see how some parts fit together which is nice. Overall, I just love that the heart of it is people connecting and reaching out to help and be there.

Life has been busy for me, but good other than some bad dreams. One was strange but almost nice. I dreamed about being with a group of people who were traveling with Alan Cumming, first to a party at his wonderful and complicated apartment and then to I think Jamaica. That part wasn't as nice as suddenly we were meant to be swimming with the sharks. I woke myself up then and then last night I had a dream about being at a school and a general bad day.

I've seen this meme going around and love the idea of it. After this I'm going to go and ask other people about their fics. I'm also in the midst of finally watching Leverage's final season. I love this show.

Comment with the title of one of my fics and a number (or more than one of either) and I'll witter egomanically about:

1) how I came up with the idea
2) something I deleted
3) my favorite bit
4) something I struggled to write
5) what the writing process was like
6) how I thought people would respond
7) how people actually responded
8) something I wish I’d done differently
9) something I think I did right

My works are over here and I'm also open to questions about fics connected to RP or even OOMs.

Alternately, or in addition: tell me about a book you read recently, and I'll tell you about a book I read!

I love this bit too as I love knowing what everyone's reading.

I like the question today for snowflake_challenge as its an angle I hadn't thought about before.

Day 9
In your own space, talk about what surprises you about fandom. It could be a pairing or fandom you never thought you'd like. A fanwork type you never knew existed.

What constantly surprises me about fandom is how those moments of oh, wait, you like that too never, ever get old. Also all the ways that people will translate their love of fandoms and since the love and care comes through, I find myself going, I like this too.

One of the best examples of this is how a group of my friends have shown me how wonderful a good AU can be especially based on Teen Wolf. AUs are something that I normally like the idea of more than the result like the amazing photosets that circulate of Pacific Rim AUs or Avengers' AUs but I don't really read them. I don't even write them that often since I usually get pulled into various details and then the fic never gets finished. So many of my works in progress are various AUs including at least two Pacific Rim ones. Also since I do panfandom RP which is basically all about AUs, I don't always feel as much as a pull to write them.

Yet whenever a Teen Wolf AU that's recced by this group of friends pops up, I always follow the link and find myself impressed. Some of them really stick with me, I'm currently reading a contemporary romance about band life and it has me thinking about a Rock Star Teen Wolf AU since they both show this world I don't know and found families plus music.

Title: What do they teach in these schools?
Fandom: The Flash (2014)
Characters: Barry Allen, Joe West, Iris West
Rating: G
Summary: dodger_sister had asked for a story about Narnia and snow, but instead I wrote a fic about Barry and Narnia. She's one of the reasons that I took a chance on The Flash and watched the entire season in two days. I thought about that wonderful scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where Professor Kirke talks with Peter and Susan about believing Lucy. I hope you like it even though its not exactly what you asked for. The title comes from that conversation.

Apologies for the earlier version, my HTML was being weird.

( I’m not a liar. I saw something like Lucy did. )