#venusmelody

[melyzard]

If you receive this, send it to 10 people you love & appreciate and try not to break the chain 💜💜💙💖💖💜💙💙💖💙

Thanks, friend! I’m pretty bad about passing these on, largely because I am not so good with public displays of affection. But it’s nice to be appreciated, so thanks for dropping this in my box (also thank you to @riderunlove and @atthelamppost, who also sent me this! You guys are lovely!)

[incognitajones]

fanfic guessing game: groan

Strangely enough, the only thing it crops up in is an old (abandoned) snippet from the MSF AU:

Cassian threw his arm over his face and groaned. “Did you really come here just to be offensive?”

[hearthouses]

fanfic writer meme - 6!

What themes do you most enjoy writing?

Dark themes always come up in my writing, whether it’s dealing with abuse or survival of abuse, or the aftermath and the messy, imperfect recovery with “bad” survivors and unhealthy coping mechanisms, or things like incest, codependency, and obsession—I’m kind of drawn to the darker side of life due to my own experiences. I also really love horror and all that entails, especially themes of monsterhood and what it means to be a monster, or simply humanity in monstrosity or what makes a monster. I also just love gross, ugly descriptions and body horror, focusing on the visceral, bodily side of horror.

But on the flipside, I very much like themes of hope and growth, not an idealized version, but rather a focus on making something out of nothing, persevering despite everything, creating a new definition of success. Found families, unlikely friendships or romances pop up a lot—I love people finding each other in the wake of fucked up backgrounds and finding commonalities. Domesticity in the face of all of that is kind of my wheelhouse—I love the themes of making a home despite ugly backgrounds and parenting from the perspective of being a survivor of parental abuse. These are all really close to home, personal themes I enjoy.

I write mostly quiet moments, focusing on emotion and physical intimacy, saying things without words (because I feel like my weakest points as a writer is dialogue). I wish I could be more plot driven because I can get really elaborate when storyboarding and thinking up arcs in my head, but my instincts always lead me back to these more intimate moments of close encounters. So sometimes there’s a disconnect between what I desire and love, but what comes out? Like I often feel like my desires are bigger and louder then my output is, like I want to make my writing an epic action-packed movie, but my stories end up being a slow indie movie instead.

[ssimpleandclean]

I would love commentary on "Legacy", 500 words (or however far you want to go!) starting from "The instant his foot touches the duracrete ground".

ahh thank you! I’m gonna take that 500 and talk about it, and then maybe pick a few other bits. under the cut because it’s gonna be a bit long:

The instant his foot touches the duracrete ground of thelanding bay, he gets hit with a wave of déjà vu so strong it nearly knocks himoff his feet. Young pilots in orange jumpsuits tear past, helmets tucked undertheir arms. Droids beep and whirr and clank. Thrusters rev all around them.

“Looks like we made it just in time,” Jyn remarks. Her hand slides intoCassian’s. He squeezes it gently. They used to be more circumspect, even whentheir relationship was common knowledge – call it a misplaced sense ofpropriety, maybe, at least on Cassian’s end. But since he resigned hiscommission long since, there’s no real point in keeping up the pretense.

“You okay?” she asks quietly, her shoulder bumping into his.

“Fine,” he says. “It just—it feels like we never left.”

She mulls that over, bright eyes scanning the activity around them. “Atleast it’s not freezing,” she says after a moment. “That’s an improvement.”

He snorts in agreement. No one misses Hoth. No one.

A familiar form detaches from the activity around the X-wings further downthe bay and jogs towards them. Cassian recognizes him well before he reachesthem, and has time to process the initial rush of combined surprise and reliefbefore Poe skids to a stop.

“General Andor, Major Erso,” he says, a little out of breath. “I didn’tknow—it’s good to see you!”

Cassian lets the title slide; he hasn’t managed to convince Poe not to usethem the last three times they talked about it, and he doubts a fourth timewould be any different. “It’s good to see you, too,” he says instead, andtrades a glance with Jyn. “We’d heard—“

“About Jakku?” Poe finishes, and nods, sobering slightly. “I… got lucky.”

That’s just vague enough to prompt a slew of follow up questions inCassian’s mind, but there’s no time for that now. Not considering what broughtthem here.

Poe, for his part, doesn’t let the silence last long. “I’ll tell you thewhole story over a drink sometime,” he says, his cheerful tone just a littlestrained. “For now, you should head to the War Room.”

Makes sense that’s where she’d be. She always was one to be in the middleof things. Cassian nods, and reaches out to clap a hand on Poe’s shoulder. Hedoesn’t wish him luck – X-wing pilots have always had strange superstitionsabout that sort of thing. All he says is, “I’ll hold you to that drink.”

They leave Poe to his preparations and head across the landing bay. Jyndoesn’t say anything, but she stays close, and her hand is tense in his.Cassian thinks back to the reports he read on the way in; the Hosnian system (system, he still can’t wrap his mind around it)destroyed. A weapon that puts the past to shame, rising from the ashes of theDeath Star like a phoenix, stronger than ever before.

She pulls a little ahead of him, and he can see the weight of her father’slegacy on her shoulders.

It’s really interesting to look back at this, because I wrote it in like an hour at the last second on the day of Rebelcaptain week. The prompt, iirc, was “future”, so naturally my mind went to TFA and the moment when Starkiller Base gets fired. How devastating that had to be for Jyn, who gave so much to take the first Death Star down, to see her father’s legacy come back in such an awful way. 

So I had to think about where Cassian and Jyn would be at that point. I’ve seen a bit of meta about whether Cassian could ever really leave the Rebellion, given how much it’s dominated his life from a young age, but I like to think he’d give it a shot. I don’t think either he or Jyn want to leave it behind entirely, but they deserve a little peace, damnit. I’m not 100% sold on whether or not they’d have a child (though obviously for this fic I decided that they did), but if they did I think they’d want that child to have a chance at a normal life. Or at least one where they’re not constantly surrounded by war and fighting. Besides, they’ve both sacrificed so much already, I felt like they deserved a break. So, in the backstory of this fic, they left the Rebellion at some point to raise their daughter, but were still involved enough to know Poe and keep track of the rise of the First Order. I’d imagine they were on the brink of coming back anyway to help stop the FO when Starkiller Base happened, and then what else could they do? Especially since, despite their best efforts to keep her insulated from it, their daughter joined up anyway. 

Wall of text! Anyway, some other bits I wanted to note: 

Jyn’s shoulders stiffen. Leia smiles, just a little. “I’m a mother too, don’t forget,” she says. “I know what it feels like. Go. Maybe when you come back I’ll figure out a place for two fossils like you.”

I love how so much of Carrie Fisher’s personality made it into General Organa, and had to let that show in this fic. Rest in peace, General.

They spot Kay at the exact same time, looming in a corner of the room, and without exchanging a word they make a beeline for him.

When Cassian and Jyn left the Rebellion, Kay stayed, though his role shifted from an infiltration droid (especially since his model was no longer commonplace) to more of a strategic advisor type deal. But when Lyra joined up, he became her companion just as he was her father’s, so rather than try and pick their daughter out of the crowd, they look for Kay, because they know she’ll be nearby. :’)

“No, everything is not alright,” Lyra says, spinning in her seat to face him. She has his eyes, but the way they spark when she’s angry is 100% Jyn.

Still not sure how I feel about the name. There’s a headcanon kicking around inside me about Jyn not wanting her daughter to carry the same legacy that she does. That Erso is enough of a burden to bear without making their kid carry a dead person’s name. I definitely think that, if they’d had a son, they would not have named him Galen. I don’t know; at the time, I didn’t want to lose momentum and get bogged down, so I went for an easy choice. 

When Lyra decided to join the Rebellion, she expected to have to convince her parents it was a good idea. They weren’t thrilled, to be frank, but as long as she knew that it was 100% her choice, they were supportive. Cassian was very relieved when Kay attached himself to her, though he wouldn’t admit it. 

Jyn raises an eyebrow. “If you honestly think we could have stayed tucked away when you were in danger – never mind the rest of the galaxy – then we must not’ve raised you right.”

Like I said above - while I think they gave normal life a good shot, I can’t imagine either of them sitting by once the First Order becomes a real threat. They’re heroes to their bones, and that’s not something you can walk away from. 

“It’ll be alright,” he murmurs into Lyra’s hair. “Rebellions are built on hope, remember?”

“Ugh,” she groans halfheartedly. “Don’t you get tired of saying that?”

“Never,” Jyn says, grinning. “He’s proud of that one.”

“Not as proud as I am of you,” he says.

THIS IS SUCH A DORKY DAD THING AND I STILL LOVE IT.

Cassian lets her go, reluctantly. “Okay. If you need us, we’ll be here.”

Lyra’s already turning back to her station, but she pauses to look back at them. “I know,” she says, “You always are.”

I’m not gonna lie, I love this ending. I love that Cassian and Jyn -- who had to grow up too fast, who never had a family to fall back on or parents to rely on -- get to be there for their daughter. I love that, at least in my version of their story, they get to break the tragic cycle. 

This was really fun! Hopefully it’s as interesting to read as it was to write. I’d love to do this for any other fics, if anyone wants to hear me spew at length!

[wondertrevficrecs]

if you wish deeply enough, if you fight hard enough

The ocean air shimmered, and suddenly she could see Steve drifting back to shore like so much flotsam, left to bake under the hot sun. His skin turned deeper and deeper shades as the sun crossed the sky, until at dusk, a battered fishing vessel pulled up to a rock close by, and someone shouted from the distance–

Dreams can change the world. And suddenly, a voice drier, far less vague, than the sea's whisper: "I suggest the south of France."

(Alternately, Diana finds Steve after the events of the film, and saves a few people along the way.)

by  rosaxx50

Read it here!

[leralynne]

dcu movies series! it counts as a series...

Totally counts! This is going to wind up being super Wonder Woman focused, but oh well.

favorite character: Diana Prince

second favorite character: Steve Trevor (told you this would happen)

least favorite character: Fully acknowledging that I have never seen the movie, but I still think I’m completely justified in saying: Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad

character i’m most like: whichever amazon lady was like “my queen we can’t keep this man here forever think of the logistical issues and also he seems nice?”

favorite pairing: Diana/Steve pretty much owns my soul now so that’s been fun

least favorite pairing: ?? Uh. the Joker/Harley Quinn, I guess?

favorite moment: is it cliché to say no man’s land? eh, whatever. no man’s land.

rating out of 10: ........for wonder woman? 10/10 amazing awe-inspiring much wow. i have so little basis to be able to judge the series as a whole.

[hurricanedancer]

Six sentence meme: cassian/jyn + the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it.

Jyn beats Cassian back to the ship by barely a minute, but she’s still standing in the bay when he trots onto the ship--fast and purposeful but not a run, because a run gives you away. His eyes fasten on her the instant he comes in, likes hers do on him. He’s pristine as usual, and his hands are steady when he puts down the case carrying his sniper rifle; she wonders what she looks like, with blood still on her shirt from where the blood from the mark’s gunshot wound had splashed on her. 

“Good shot,” she says, and knows he’ll understand the thanks in it. 

Cassian just reaches out, his fingers tracing over her cheek. She shivers. He’d just killed a man, but you’d never know it from the wonder in his gaze, or the lightness of his touch. “You aren’t injured?” he replies, and she understands what he isn’t saying--that he’d do this and more to keep her safe. And who needs grandiose declarations of love when she has this? 

[jynandcassianandor]

But nothing safe lies down any path he takes, and he is too far gone. He has been too far gone since the light played in her hair, since she prayed to that crystal, since they circled one another like twins stars and made unhidden promises of home.

where my caution should be by rosaxx50 (@venusmelody)