#bchu

[lies]

My best bird photos of June 2023 according to eBird*

Dark-eyed Junco, Black Phoebe, Marsh Wren, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Hooded Oriole

*I cheat by fudging the results sometimes b/c eBird users don't always know what they're talking about. Or just because.

[maychorian]

"Like this, leaning on Lance's chest, listening to his heartbeat, feeling the rise and fall of his breath, Hunk felt himself growing steadier, stronger. And Keith was here, too, his eyes dark with sympathy. Hunk would never break, not while he knew that his friends were waiting. The thought was a fire in his chest, in his belly, warming him from the inside despite the uncomfortable coolness." from Bars Can't Hold Us !!! (one my fav fics ever btw)

Ooh, thanks for picking this one! I really loved writing this passage. It was nice to have the focus on Hunk, with Lance the one doing the comforting for once. I also loved just letting go and writing it as a slight future fic, with the relationships further developed from where they were in canon, so I could let Hunk and Lance be as touchy feely as I wanted them to be without feeling like I was straying from canon characterization. 

I’m a fat person, too, like Hunk, and the idea of leaning on someone’s chest and listening to their heartbeat is very relaxing. I don’t know how I would react to a situation where I’m being tortured, but I hope I would be as strong as him, too. I just identified with Hunk extremely strongly in this story, even more than Lance, so it was great to write in his perspective. 

[lies]

Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri)

Image by Wikimedia user Mdf

#236

Finally! I was pretty sure I’d had glimpses of these in the flowering eucalyptus opposite the Cape Honeysuckle lately, but I’d never had a long enough look to be sure, what with the Rufous Hummingbirds constantly chasing away all the less-aggressive hummingbirds. I’ve probably spent a total of 4 hours under that tree in the past week, craning my head to sift through hummingbirds. The people who live on the other side of the creek probably think I’m a little… odd.

But today after work I tried one more time, and Black-chinned magic happened: Nice long looks at an adult male. 😃

[maychorian]

I know you must get lots of asks like this and I don’t want to bug you. But can I ask if you still intend to continue with the Bars Can’t Hold Us series? It’s my favorite of your stories right now and I really want to know what happens next.

I do! I don’t know when. After I finish On the Mend and Burning Up, Burning Out, probably next on the docket will be the next volume The Cycle of the Five Lions and a sequel to Little Boy Blue, probably simultaneously or at least overlapping. Also a Dream, Seam ‘verse oneshot where Lance and Allura become friends, I think with mice POV. I will also probably be writing other hurt/comfort one-shots, including more chapters of I’ve Got Sunshine. And I want to do something for Platonic VLD week. Then it’ll probably be time for BCHU sequel and QP Hance Beauty and the Beast AU. And the rest of the C5L. And whatever else my muse demands, and maybe some zine fics here and there, possibly some prompts.

That’s kind of the plan. We’ll see how long it takes me. It might be years.

[maychorian]

Sweet holy hell, I started reading Bars Can't Hold Us last night, and now focusing on work is super difficult because all I want to do is READ >.< Your writing is amazing, and it introduced me to a new term, 'queerplatonic', which, thank you, I needed that word. <3

Aw, thank you so much! And I’m glad I could introduce you to that word. It’s very useful.

[maychorian]

Lance was brought up short, frowning. He'd never actually thought about it. What he and Hunk had was good, really good, and they were both glad that their relationship had deepened this much since they ended up stuck in space together, fighting aliens. But they had never made any attempt to define what they were, just letting it flow, letting things fall where they would. They were both comfortable and laid back like that, and they both liked that about each other. :)

Ooh, interesting choice. This really reads like romance out of context, doesn’t it? With this passage, I wanted to emphasize that Hunk and Lance’s queerplatonic relationship did not seem strange to them at all. They acknowledged that it was different than most friendships, and it was different than how their relationship used to be, but they don’t feel a need to agonize over it, to question who they are or what it means. They just love each other, not in a romantic way and not in a sexual way, and it’s important and wonderful and they’re happy, but they don’t need a label. 

I’m presuming also that the average American teenager, even one some time in the future, probably won’t know the word queerplatonic or what it means. Once they get back to Earth, if they ever feel the need to look into it, they’ll probably find that word and go, “OH, that’s what it is.” And they’ll feel this kind of slotting into place, like I did when I figured out what aromantic meant. But they’re in the middle of a war generally, and of being tortured at that point in that fic, so the word isn’t necessary for them to enjoy being together.

Give me a passage up to 500 words from any of my fanfics and I’ll give you a DVD commentary.

[maychorian]

Thank you so much for both your fic recs and your writing! I loved the Boom Crash series and the Bars Can't Hold Us series, which I don't see you being complimented on often, and of course, Dream Seam! I also really appreciate that most, if not all of your fic recs are gen, with little emphasis on romance as another aroace person myself. Keep up the good work!

Aw, thank you so much! :D I’m glad you like all of those. I’m especially glad to meet another gen fan, haha, glad I can provide! It can be rough out there, looking for that platonic content. But this fandom provides quite a bit, I’m happy to say.

[maychorian]

Hi! I hope I'm not bothering you, but I was wondering when you plan to start posting the sequel to Prisons Can't Stop Us? Your latest works are amazing, as always, but I really want to know what happens next in that series!

Not sure! I put it up for a vote a while ago if folks wants the Bars Can’t Hold Us sequel, more Boom Crash, or a few other projects, and the votes were for Boom Crash by a long shot. So I’m working on that project right now, as well as The Cycle of the Five Lions and On the Mend. BCHU sequel and Little Boy Blue sequel are on the backburner for now.