hope you have (had) a fast recovery from surgery!! 💕 WE MISS YOU!!
Awwww.... Thank you, Em! 🥰🥰💕
Thankfully, the surgery went off as planned back in July. Recovery was a bit more grueling than I expected—(when the surgeon told me that post-op would require one week of no activity followed by one week of limited activity, I didn't realize that was because I would be in excruciating pain for at least that long. Apparently sinus surgeries are just like that? 😅🤷♀️)—but the surgery fixed what I needed it to, and I'm glad I had it done.
I'm also glad to be back on tumblr! (And hoping I can make it stick for a while this time.) I've miss being here with you all as well!! 💕
Are either you or Astroboots British? If not, I just wanted to send a compliment on the way you write Steven Grant! I’m English and I have to say it feels authentic. I often see a lot of fix writers who just slap in a random ‘bloody’, ‘innit’ or ‘love’ and think the job’s a good’un. It’s just that one little thing in a great fic which suspends my suspension of disbelief. So when I cam across your stuff, I had to let you know!! I’m also reading Red Flags and omigod it’s so bloody good!!
Oh my gosh, thank you so much, 'nonny! 🥰🥰 I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying Red Flags, and that Steven's dialog passes muster with an actual Brit—that is very much the goall!!
For the record, @astroboots' husband is (half) British, and they've lived in London on and off for several years. I'm American—born & raised in Southern California—so like my natural way of speaking tends to like skew more 'valley girl' than anything else. (Like oh. my. god. Becky.)
'Boots likes to claim that I'm the one who's better at Bri'ishin' up Steven's dialog (and in fact, specifically told me to say so when I consulted her about this ask 😆), but I think she's full of it.
It's true that I'm often the one to go over our rough dialog and try to get it to sound as much like the characters as possible, but 'boots (and her much beleaguered hubby) are the ones who saved you all from having to wade through paragraphs and paragraphs of "It's bloody well bucketing down, and you've gone and forgotten your brolly again, haven't you? Bollocks!!" 🙈😂😂 I am very, very grateful to both of them for that, and you should be as well.
When you get this, you have to put 5 songs you actually listen to and publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)
❤
Oooh! Thanks for thinking of me, love!
I have 3 kids and they're all out school for the summer, so these days listening to music is often an exercise in compromise. Here are 5 songs that we can all agree on at the moment:
Taylor Swift - the last great american dynasty
There are a lot of Taylor Swift songs I could list as she's one of the few artists we can all agree on, but this one is a fav at the moment.
2. The Killers - Mr. Brightside
I've been slowly but surely wearing my kids down by harassing them with my old music from the 80's & 90's, and this is one of the songs they not only tolerate but actually request to listen to.
3. The Greatest Showman Cast - This is Me
A banger with a wholesome message. I'm still trying to get the kids to watch the movie with me.
4. Nathan Evans - Wellerman
Yuuup, it's the song that went viral on tiktok a couple years ago. It also sent us down the sea shanty rabbithole that lead to us discovering The Longest Johns and such hilarious spoof shanties as Moby Duck and Hoist Up the Thing.
5. John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)
Yet another 80's classic that I've successfully inflicted upon my children.
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And a bonus one!
I know I've already mentioned this one, but I still love it, and I've been subjecting the kids to as often as they're put up with:
Danish String Quartet - Sekstur from Vendsyssel - The Peat Dance
Hello I love your writing! Most of all the Mando storys! Will you write more for him soon? Did you like season 3?
Hello and thank you, dear anon!
I'm always thrilled to hear from people who like my writing, and Din is particularly near and dear to my heart! 🥰🥰 I have a handful of WIPs with him already (and a train car full of ideas that I'd love to write someday). There is one in particular that I've been polishing up a bit in hopes of getting it posted someday soon, BUT I don't want to promise anything because I am notoriously bad at sticking to any sort of deadlines or timeline as far as writing/posting goes (especially when my real life gets busy like it is right now) 😅🙈
As for season 3, I finally watched it a couple of weeks ago, and...
(Mando s3 spoilers below the cut)
First of all, let me just emphasize that this is my opinion and my opinion ONLY. It's not my intention to rain on anyone's parade, nor do I want to argue with anyone about it.
So... if you loved season 3, that's great! And I love that for you!! I know some people who were delighted by it, and I'm happy for them, but sadly, that was not my experience.
In general, I found that I needed to... hmm, let's say... adjust my expectations somewhat to be able to enjoy the season 3? I think mostly because I loved s1 & s2 so much, and it seemed like these most recent episodes never quite lived up to the same level for me.
Basically, there were a lot of places where I felt like the plot, dialog, and/or characterization could have been tightened up or handled differently to better effect. I often felt like cohesive storytelling (and/or in-universe physics—hello, 30 second trip to the core and back, I'm looking at you) took a backseat to checking off plot points, and the chance for greater emotional engagement was ignored in favor of video-game-style high-speed chases and/or fights, which like..... yeah, those sequences were cool and all, but I never really felt all that invested in the outcome because it seemed like the show skipped over the groundwork needed to.... make me care?
Ironically, the bit of storytelling that I found most interesting and did emotionally connect with was the part of ch 19 focusing on the "rehabilitation" of Dr Penn Perishing and other Imperials, which……… turned out to be just a way to snip that particular loose end and lead us back to Moff Gideon.
And really, there seemed to be a lot of shoehorning in bits of the wider Star Wars universe, often in ways that placed the emphasis on that to the detriment of... the rest of the show. (A bit like they were so excited to show us the forest, to the point that they forgot we also wanted to see the individual trees, perhaps?)
Eventually, I did realized that part of the reason events felt so random was that I was expecting more of Din's story, but that's not what Season 3 is anymore. It's Bo Katan's story, with Din and Grogu along for the ride. (Sort of the reverse of what happened with tBoBF, I think, and I found it equally awkward there.) Once I resigned myself to the fact that I was watching The Bo Katan Show, some of the storytelling choices made a bit more sense, and I do like s3 marginally better when viewed through the lens.
TLDR (because that got really freakin' long--sorry, anon 😅)
I liked season 3 okay, but I felt it could have been handled better, and I wish the focus had stayed on Din and Grogu's story because that's what I'm most interested in.
Like... C'mon, Favreau, where's The Mandalorian, Supplemental Chapters: The Further Adventures of our Favorite Tin Can Space Man Dad Bounty Hunter and his Green Bean Son?!?!?
Poppin’ my Mando s3 cherry with @astroboots this morning! Will I love it? Will I hate it? Will I descend into a horny puddle of goo over Mando’s voice alone??? I guess we’ll find out!
My darling TWP - I’m laying in my daughters bed while she acts out a very elaborate stuffed animal battle. She has been at this since 4 am. Honestly, it’s riveting. I was on the edge of my seat when the doggy and ghost-spider went swimming with the mermaid. Her knack for story telling is out of this world.
All this is to say that I love you and I hope your Tuesday is filled with stuffed animal battles (that are now dance parties???) and you have a smile on your face all day. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of joy than you ❤️
Awww... 😊❤️ That sounds absolutely adorable—like the very best sort of live theater/puppet storytelling hybrid possible!
Alas, my littlest is not currently into stuffed animal theater, but I do still get the occasional full theatrical and/or dance performance from her and her middle sister. That plus branch-fort building in the butterfly preserve; cut-throat Uno competitions; Girl Scout cookie sales mania; the slog and the triumph that is high school Algebra; and getting to watch my teenager fall in love with some of the same sci-fi/fantasy stories that first made me fall in love with those genres back when I was her age.
My life has been a little (okay a lot) crazy recently, but… It's a pretty darn amazing life, when I actually remember to stop and take a breath and experience it, isn't it? Thank you for reminding me 🥰🥰
And to quote my 6yo: Reverse Uno on you, so there!! Cat, my love, I hope your Thursday is filled with just as much everyday magic and joy as you've wished for me... and more!! 😘💕
“Once more unto the breach!” I say, grim-faced, jaw set as I reach out a trembling but determined hand and double-click to open my latest wip doc, “Once more.”
Thank you, everyone, for all of the lovely, funny, kind, and thoughtful birthday wishes you all sent me!!! I’m gonna try to respond to what I can tonight, but I’m exhausted from camping all weekend, and may or may not manage to reply to everyone before I fall into a coma for the night.
But!! Please know that I saw each and every ask & msg, and that getting to read them between activities throughout the day was a joy, and made an already decent birthday absolutely fantastic!!
