Thoughts on the Journey

I went to PAX East this weekend and saw Oxventure in person which was a lot of fun and overwhelming. PAX is a gigantic con, where I found some cool things, met neat people and tried not to get run over by multiple people. The cosplay was great, I didn't really get pictures since the expo floor was a lot. Since I was pretty much there just for a show on Saturday, I didn't really play any demos or tabletop but had a meet up with fellow Oxventure fans. I bought some absolutely beautiful dice and finally got myself a bard pin. It was a nice reminder of all the cool board games and such out there and makes me miss the gaming club I was part of in NZ with board games and tabletop. I appreciated how everyone was masked up and do want to go to cons again just smaller ones.

In terms of roleplaying, I think I'm back in a place where my writing is getting there. Andor and my complicated feelings about it left me with not as much writing brain. Deciding that's not my Cassian seemed to have been the step I needed and putting that on Cassian's profile for Milliways. I have some fics dealing with and inspired by Andor, mainly kind of spiteful ones of let me point out how awful these people are kind of thing. But I'm also feeling ready to go back to some of my works in progress.

Spring is finally starting to happen here which always makes me feel hopeful. I didn't get another option for more hours at work but they were impressed by me so that feels okay. I knew I wouldn't be the first choice, so that's alright.

Life's been intense this past week with it all kind of hitting me when I was taking the shuttle bus for the T on my way to volunteer at the BPL booksale and there were so many people. I don't remember the last time I felt that crowded on the T and I really didn't like it. The booksale wasn't as crowded and I actually took a break to eat before which helped. I like the Friends organization but this time made me aware of some things they need help with like more tech help, the ipads they normally use were locked and no one could unlock them so no card sales. That definitely left money on the table and the core of the organization is older, I think I'm the youngest one. Maybe at some point I'll have the energy to help them more but not this weekend.

Good tiring thing was on Thursday, I saw my brother and his family for a wonderful dinner after my work. They first went to the wrong library but we met up and had pizza and ice cream and I think the most amazing part was how easy it all was. There was no sense of wow its been years since we've seen each other in person and the boys are so grown up. It was more a lovely visit that I wish was longer but it involved talking about Star Wars, a fun bonus. My parents had shown the two little boys A New Hope so they wanted to know the story and my brother and his wife needed reminders of what happened when in the whole timeline. They also really loved Rogue One which made me happy.

My shark week is hitting me in odd ways which isn't fun but I'm having some quiet days like Friday hanging out with a friend and today has been lazy. I'm still enjoying watching the Olympics, my favorite part is all the first time medalers or the first time for their country, it feels like a nice change. Also it seems like there's a lot more kindness among the athletes or maybe that its more visible since they missed each other too.

Next week, I'm working every day of the week, not all full days but even the half days are five hours, which should be good just long at points. I meant to do my laundry today but didn't have the energy though did accomplish some errands. Also there's a fic I'm thinking about expanding and revisiting. I feel like my writing is kind of there but needs a push.

I've been having a lovely quiet holiday mainly involving some cooking, reading magazines and books, lots of Yuletide and then the busy of helping my parents with a New Year's Day party. This has been what I needed, time to be and be grateful to have time with my parents and phone calls with my other family. Now I feel like I can take on the new year with hope.

Before I left for the holidays, I saw the new Star Wars and mainly it left me feeling sort of like The Last Jedi, during it I was pulled in and interested. Then after as I started thinking about it, I ended up feeling disappointed. Both movies remind me of some fantasy novels I've read where great ideas but the execution is odd and I'm left seeing the holes. Also I felt like there was an uncomfortable balance in all the movies in terms of which characters the directors thought were the most interesting. The trilogy didn't feel much like a trilogy. I'm sorry about that as there's so much potential in the new trilogy but I felt it kind of got lost. Though I have enjoyed many of the other material from them like the various books. The way I feel about it, these aren't movies I'll eagerly rewatch the way that I do Rogue One, The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels.

In good news, I wrote for the Rebelcaptain Secret Santa along with Yuletide this year and really do love the rebelcaptain fandom. It was so much fun to be going into Yuletide after having watched enough of Guardian to have context for fic. Later I'll do a proper Yuletide rec post.

Follow-on (1180 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Christopher Chant/Millie, Christopher Chant & Mordecai Roberts
Characters: Christopher Chant, Millie | Millie Chant, Mordecai Roberts | Tacroy
Additional Tags: after conrad's fate, Friendship, Cricket
Summary:

After the events of Conrad's Fate, Christopher learns that he disappointed Tacroy and realizes cricket might be a way to help their relationship. My wonderful prompt was about wanting more about how Tacroy's perception of Christopher isn't the same as everyone else's and I used that as a way to look into what happened after Conrad's Fate.

This was a tricky fic and at this point, I haven't heard from my recipient but I'm proud of it. Young Christopher is a fascinating character and Tacroy intriguing but hard to get a read on. This is the first fic I've written in the Chrestomanci fandom proper, I did write one odd fic that was from the fictional Millie series. At this point, I've now written Hexwood, Magids, Chrestomanci, and Eight Days of Luke of Diana Wynne Jones' works. I don't know if I'll ever write for all of them but her fandoms are great.

My gift:

Speak Low when Speaking of Love (3086 words) by estelraca
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dean Lorden/Quentin Sollys
Characters: Dean Lorden, Quentin Sollys, The Luidaeg (October Daye)
Additional Tags: Aftermath, Friendship, Musings on the Future
Summary:

In the aftermath of the situation with the Selkies and the Roane, Quentin and Dean try to help their families feel better. For Quentin that includes convincing the woman that most of the world is terrified of that she should come to dinner with him. Spoilers through Unkindest Tide.

This fic made me so happy. I love all the teens of the October Daye books and their perspective on what's going on around them.

The Rebelcaptain Secret Santa ended up being a lovely exchange and I wrote a very fluffy Modern AU fic. My prompt was a fluffy domestic and after asking, I learned my person liked baking together and I went for it.

Cookie Plan (1314 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Characters: Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso
Additional Tags: Modern AU, Rebelcaptain Secret Santa, Cassian the cook, Fluff, Domestic, Holidays, Established Relationship
Summary:

When it comes time to bake cookies for the holidays, Cassian has a plan and Jyn's ready to help. Since this is the first year that they're able to bake and prepare together. This modern version of Jyn and Cassian is slightly inspired by my College AU about them.

Written for Pawprinterfanfic and the 2019 Rebelcaptain Secret Santa. I hope you like it.

My gift was a sweet fic with Jyn taking care of Cassian.

Day and Night and Morning Light (1278 words) by YoukaiLuvr
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: Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Caretaking, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, tension headache, Post-RotJ, RebelCaptain Secret Santa 2019
Summary:

“Good morning,” he responded, ducking down to kiss her.

“What was that for?” Jyn asked.

“Just…because I can,” he said, smiling and leaning down for another kiss.

***********

RebelCaptain Secret Santa gift fic for FiKate.

I finally got all my icons back and added a few Star Wars ones but I want to add more. This is one of my favorites because its Cassian being a pilot and hyperspace which is cool and beautiful.

After I finished my college job, I started an over two week long vacation down at my parent's place by the shore. It turned out to be just what I needed after the last academic year.

Important thing that happened was I saw my mother's dentist twice, once for x-rays and for him to go, yes, you need a root canal and then the actual root canal. So now my tooth doesn't hurt and I'm not thinking constantly about my mouth. The dentist was really nice, his office was part of a very fancy dental complex and so while the whole process was long, it went fairly well.

For the Fourth of July, I made blueberry boy bait from a Smitten Kitchen recipe that was delicious but far too large a recipe for the small group that came to celebrate. If you ever want an easy recipe that makes a simple and very blueberry cake, I recommend this one. Later I also made a delicious blueberry and peach crumble when my brother and his wife stopped by for a quick visit. I was able to have soft shell crabs twice which are honestly one of my favorite parts of summer down by the Delaware shore.

We also had a fun and unexpectedly good visit out to the Air Mobility Command Museum that's right outside Dover. I've always had a love for aviation and my current interest in Star Wars has only added to it. This museum was really wonderfully done with the focus on all the planes and with really good and active volunteer docents. The museum was half inside and half outside and the day we went was really bright and sunny so going from the hangar to outside was intense.

Other than that, I spent a lot of time reading, a few walks though it was really hot and humid and planning what's next. I also had a phone interview with a school that went okay, it helped me think about recrafting my resume and things like that.

One wonderful thing that happened was the dwarf sunflower kit that I bought before my sister's memorial has finally bloomed. The plant's going to live down in my parent's garden where it can get more sun.

And I watched Good Omens, which was beautifully done but didn't completely work for me. The casting and the look of it was great but a lot of the choices made it more Gaiman's story not Pratchett's; too much focus on angels and demons, much less on the actual humans. Aziraphale and Crowley were amazing but I find it really telling how most of the fandom stuff I see about them isn't actually connected to the actual plot of the Apocalypse.

I spent this morning waiting to see if I would be called for jury duty and read all of Last Shot and on the train read Lost Stars.

Waiting to see if I was called and the questions they asked made me thoughtful about judgement and justice and knowing your own lines. I'm not using any specifics because it wasn't the specifics that made me go huh. It was more being impartial and really looking hard at my own biases and the points that make me say, that's not okay. I couldn't do a fair job about this. I know I'll be pondering this for a while and it will definitely work into my writing, there's already an idea nibbling at me.

In terms of the books, they're both good but I wouldn't say either of them is great. The Han and Lando book, the characters and the settings are rich and wonderful, the plot felt kind of tacked on. There were elements in the plot that I wished had been pushed harder at but hopefully they will be in the movie and Older writes good action. He also gets that a big part of the appeal of the Star Wars' universe is its diversity and complicated ethical issues around everything with nothing as black and white as it seems. It left me almost wishing they'd shrunk the plot since the character work was so rich. I recommend with caveats of a slightly convoluted plot added on.

Lost Stars, I wanted to like it better than I did since the idea is clever. It follows a boy and a girl from the same planet but different social classes who bond over wanting to be pilots when they're about seven. They work together to get into the Imperial flight academy and we track them from the time of their planet being part of the Empire, seven years after the end of the Clone Wars to after the battle of Jakku. I don't think its a spoiler to say that one goes to the Rebellion as this book's been advertised as a kind of Romeo and Juliet in Star Wars. This is one where I wish everything had been pushed a little harder because there were powerful moments to do with the good and bad of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Yet it felt like in terms of the Empire especially, there wasn't a balance in terms of what both characters saw. After a certain point, I wasn't sure if I truly bought one of the character's choices. Claudia Gray has a great gift for writing the Star Wars' universe and making it feel vast, complicated and rich. These aren't her strongest characters but its a good read. I read it on the train and didn't put it down once I started it.

Today I ventured into the cold and my new purple jacket kept me nice and warm. My fact-checking is done so this weekend I'm going to try and do some writing, maybe catch up on all my book reviews that I didn't get to in the last few months.

I've also been watching the US Figure Skating Championships, I've always loved figure skating and the commentators are wonderful.

Day 5

Recommend a fannish or creative resource.

Since I'm currently writing Star Wars, my favorite resource is Wookieepedia. I don't think I've ever not found something or sometimes not finding is the answer. Since I'm also a librarian, I have been slowly collecting all the various books with behind-the-scenes and background info about Rogue One. Also Star Wars' puts out great books like the visual encyclopedias and wonderful in-universe background like the Rebel Dossier. I have this plan to make a Star Wars' shelf for the books and various toys.

In my work as a fact-checker, where my focus is often based in a place like a state or country, I have learned to rely on historical societies. Also when looking into Native American history, tribal websites are so helpful. The closer you can get to the source the better.

I'm having a wonderful and rather Star Wars' holiday with an Alliance sweater, galaxy necklace and some silly Star Wars' band aids, alongside books and socks, a Christmas staple.

I've also added a new bread recipe to my collection, a sweet filled bread from Smitten Kitchen, that I might try with other fillings.

My Yuletide gift is just what I wanted, an Ivan story about him growing up and figuring things out. Now I will enjoy the delicious fun of diving deep into the archive as its cold outside. My recipient liked their story, which always makes me happy.

Genuinely Self-Absorbed and Deeply Shallow (1575 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ivan Vorpatril, Alys Vorpatril
Summary:

Or, Three Moments in the Evolution of Ivan Vorpatril, innocent bystander and political non-combatant

I had one of the best ups this weekend when I was able to play in a Star Wars' LARP. I've missed LARPing so much, its one of my favorite types of RP as there's improv, playing dress up and this time I got to say kriff. The setting was really interesting, a variation on the end of Republic and the scenario was very much the mods going we hate the prequels and are doing our own take. I need to make sure to get on this groups mailing lists as it made me so happy and was very well run.

In other happy news, I've been posting a lot of fics as I've had more time then I expected due to slow job stuff. So that's up and down all at once, I love finishing and posting things which are all Rogue One connected other than having my Narnia Exchange fic revealed.

In Transit is a missing moments' fic inspired by two Milliways' DE prompts from sardonicynic

Echoes is my archive and what ripples did Cassian leave behind fic.

Warmth in the Black is a bit of Jyn and Cassian fluff with a little backstory, its hard to write pure fluff for them, that I wrote for dodger_sister.

An unexpected door was the fic I wrote for the Narnia exchange which is about a Narnian bird ending up in England.

The big downs are that I didn't get the job I interviewed for at the start of the month but I have a new fact-checking job. Also that things are looking a lot tougher for my sister but she has a lot of good doctors helping her.

So I kind of created a Cassian Andor account and gave him an EP over on PFSB, he got into my head. I expect after reading the novelization, I'll end doing more writing and I might need to do a Clone Wars rewatch and finally dig into Rebels.

Today I'm having a bit of a low feeling even though there are good things opening up for me. Just a bout of self doubt. The storm blew a lot of branches around here and some of the roads were flooded but my family and our friends were all safe. Since we didn't get much snow in Delaware, most of it has already melted.

I really want to do a picture post of the amazing Star Wars' costume exhibit but I can't figure out which is the best platform for it, DW or Tumblr. Either way, I'll crosspost it, but I'd love any suggestions from people who do more picture posts. I don't do them very often. Thank you.

In terms of my reading, there’s been a lot of great stuff that I want to recommend.

What I finished reading

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. At first I wasn't certain I wanted to read this book as I didn't know a lot about it but then I read an amazing review on The Book Smugglers. Illuminae is in the form of a dossier of emails, reports, IM messages and inside an AI's mind. The heart of the story is two teenagers losing their home and becoming refugees and getting caught up into a much larger story about corporations fighting, ships and disease. I don't want to give a lot of details of the plot, because the way it unfolds is cleverly done. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction, horror and YA, because the heart of it is how messy and true Kady and Ezra feel.

Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon. I picked this up because it suddenly appeared on Overdrive and I've been curious about it and needed something lighter after giving up on the Rogues anthology, too many stories with women in peril. The illustrations were hilarious as was the way that normal life and fantasy melded together.

What I'm currently reading

Tradition!: The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World's Most Beloved Musical by Barbara Isenberg. I bought this book at the theater after seeing Fiddler on the Roof and I highly recommend it. The writer has a great sense of what are the interesting stories and either interviewed or had access to interviews of so many people that were involved. Reading it reminds me of when I took playwriting classes and behind the scenes of shows I've done but even more so. I just finished the first part of the book which dealt with the musical and I'm into the second on the film.

What I'm reading next

I have a couple of options but I don't know which one I'll pick. I've been in the mood for some romance and have lots of those. I also picked up at the library; Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection and Beastly Bones the second Jackaby book. Oh and I have a hold that's about to run out on Archivist Wasp. Though knowing me, I might end up going with something else entirely.