11 for the fic game ask!

11. Bonus: recommend your favorite fic

Okay, you're getting two answers for this one because my real answer isn't a D20 fic, and seeing as that's my fandom at the moment, I'd be remiss to not rec something from it.

For the past... Jesus, four years, my favorite fic has been The Prestige by black_feather_fiction (also @black-feather-fiction) No contest. I don't do MCU fic or fandom anymore, but this is the one exception. It's just. It's so good. It's demonstrates the best use of the medium of fanfiction I've ever seen (yes, I'm of the opinion that fanfiction is its own distinct medium, but I'm not going to get into it now.)

Now the conceit of The Prestige is similar to a lot of MCU long fics: what if the plot was... good? Between the California-in-the-1840's/50's amount of untapped gold in the movies and whatever any given writer wanted to pull from the comics, there are so many elements to play with when rewriting a truly epic version of the story presented in the Infinity Saga, or even just a small segment of it. There are a lot of these, and I've read a lot of these. It's exactly my kind of thing, I love a good Plot.

The thing that's special about The Prestige is the way it incorporates the conventions of storytelling in its worldbuilding. To put it simply, an all-powerful God does exist in this universe, and he's three old women who terrorize innkeepers. The Norns/the Fates/other Mother-Maiden-Crone mythological archetypes, are real, and they control the threads of fate, so to speak. The entire universe exists as their plaything, and given the chaos and entropy of the universe, they pull stories from it. The laws of storytelling are just as influential, immutable, and important as the laws of physics in this universe. And just like the laws of physics, they can be manipulated towards a particular use.

This is how the fic opens: with Loki attempting to tell the universe a story so perfect and beautiful that the Norns cannot help but let the tale play out in real life. He doesn't quite succeed. However, the rules of storytelling are never forgotten, by the characters and by the author. Having the conventions of storytelling being a part of story's universe is a brilliant move that I have not gotten over after three years. Obviously, real life doesn't play out like a story, so when telling a story there's always some suspension of disbelief involved, because real life isn't that neat. Having an in-world explanation for the existence of story structure is something I'd never seen before and it's brilliant. And it's perfect for a story about two liars, image-crafters, storytellers, whatever you want to call them.

The story structure being built into the world is incredible, but so is the way the characters attempt to manipulate it in their favor. Even beyond the opening tableau, characters work to push the narrative in directions that will serve them. And the narrative pushes back. Every time I think about how the Fall of the Giant plot beat plays out, I fall more and more in love with it. It's the perfect blend of expectation subversion, expectation fulfillment, and effective character beats. It's fucking incredible.

Besides the rules of storytelling, The Prestige also makes reference to a lot of stories in the cultural zeitgeist in a way that's as delightful as it is earnest. The primary benefit of fic as a storytelling medium is that the audience already has a shared set of knowledge. We know who the characters are. We know how canon goes, and authors already have prepackaged tools to tell their stories with. Less needs to be established in fanfic compared to other kinds of fiction because the audience has a shared knowledge base. The Prestige takes this intertextuality further by pulling from more than just the MCU canon, but from works as varied as Mystery Science Theater 3000, Gremlins, and Alice in Wonderland. These cultural touchstones are in meaningful conversation with the contents of The Prestige and efficiently add depth in a really interesting and engaging way. Hel, even the title is taken from a Nolan movie. This fic is so deeply tied to the culture it's a part of, and I adore it.

Beyond the elements of the story that are inseparably tied to its in-universe use of narrative, the plot is very well put together. I find the bit with Ozymandias (yes, like the Percy Shelly poem) particularly clever, but it's all very good. Despite it's length, I find The Prestige compulsively readable, its writing is excellent. The characterization is excellent, the worldbuilding is engaging, the character dynamics are delightful to read about and devastating for the characters involved. I think this fic may genuinely have everything: Plot, romance, action, adventure, whump, angst, parent/child relationships, (explored from both sides) familial trauma, sexual trauma, self-destruction, sibling relationships, eating disorders--I'm really just listing tags here, but there's So Much, and I love every bit of it. I have loved every bit of it for years, and I don't care how long updates take, I Will Read It. It's the only MCU fic I've been able to read in years, and honestly? I'm not that mad about it, it's fucking incredible.

Now with all that being said, my favorite D20 fic is a lot harder to pick. I've not been in the fandom that long, I haven't read a ton of fic, and my tastes skew towards the Epic, Plot-focused, and Looooooong. Which is a bit difficult to come by (as is time to read.) There are, however, a lot of excellent fics, out there, though I think I have the most to say about The Properties of Adaine by Tangerine_Blast (also @20dimensionsoftangerine) (and by extension its predecessor, but we don't need to get into it.)

The conceit is that because of Oracle reasons, Adaine gets kidnapped by Kalvaxus as a kid and grows older thinking of him as a great paternal figure even though he sucks because her only points of comparison are Arianwen & Angywn. The interesting part is only really discussed and addressed in The Properties of Adaine, which is that she's technically an object! Legally, magically, an object--a dragon's thrall to be more specific. It's a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of DnD worldbuilding, as well as an exploration of identity, security, trauma, etc. It's a bit of a thorny subject to tackle, but so far as I can tell, it's handled with grace and sensitivity. It's doing a lot of very interesting things with the Themes, plus Aelwyn is absolutely insane (she's adopted/kidnapped by Aguefort.) which I get a kick out of. Overall, a striking story (and also one that's still being updated, which is probably why it sticks with me.)

my friend events this week:

I reached out to an old high school friend after 12 years of not speaking, only to find that she's in Greece doing a phd on psychiatric euthanasia. I confessed to being ignorant about the topic, so she emailed me 19 research papers and said "this will be a good start"

I asked another friend to provide a professional reference for me as part of a grant application. she agreed to, on the condition that I log into neopets, collect the daily free item, and transfer it to her account

Funniest thing about writing Frostkettle resurrection fic is imagining Kristen in the back ground like

I've been sitting on this for MONTHS YALL

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Mary Ann and Kipperlilly might’ve played stardew valley or slime rancher together [pretend slime rancher has multiplayer] but kipperlilly had to quit because she was so type-a that she ran out of tasks to do after making everything as profitable as possible and didn’t know what else to do

gotta love riz’s track record of absolutely BODYING any boy who doesn’t treat adaine right. this is the same riz gukgak that shot biz glitterdew’s fingers off ten minutes after he admitted to wanting adaine in a palimpsest. oisin was doomed the moment he chose to fuck with adaine’s feelings bc riz is nothing if not ride or die for her SPECIFICALLY

these two had me rolling. no sneak attack, they are dealing 7 to 8 damage with their normal attacks and screaming at each other. Rogue on Rogue violence I love you

(click for better resolution, image without text boxes under the cut)

Marvel Studios is an American film and television production company. Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher.

As of the current date, the official BDS Movement has called for a Boycott of Marvel Studios upcoming Captain America film that features a zionist Israeli character who supports apartheid. There has been zero mention of Marvel Comics - or anything else Marvel - in either of their two statements I can currently find mentioning "Marvel" on their website, unless something is missing from that tag.

April 27, 2023: "Palestinians call for widespread boycotts of Marvel’s 2024 film, Captain America: New World Order, unless it drops Sabra/Ruth Bat-Seraph, its “superhero” that personifies the apartheid state of Israel. ... We encourage creative, peaceful protests to challenge Marvel Studios’ – and its owner Disney’s – complicity in anti-Palestinian racism, Israeli propaganda, and the glorification of settler-colonial violence against Indigenous people. ... We urge conscientious audiences worldwide to join us in boycotting Captain America: New World Order, and standing up for freedom, justice and equality."

November 23, 2023: "Marvel’s next Captain America film features Sabra/Ruth Bat-Seraph, a “superhero” personifying apartheid Israel. The character’s backstory includes working for the genocidal Israeli government and its occupation forces. By reviving this racist character in any form, Marvel is promoting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. It is complicit in anti-Palestinian racism, Israeli propaganda, and glorifying settler-colonial violence. Tell Marvel you won’t buy its toys, clothes or accessories."

It is my understanding that the only way a boycott will work is if it's organized and targeted - thus the reason for BDS in the first place. The demand was that Marvel Studios remove the Israeli character from the film. Since the demand has not been met, then the boycott remains in place. But boycotting some random comic book writer's work and some comic book shop that makes pennies, with nothing to do with the MCU, is not what is being organized at this time.

The character in question hasn't even been featured in comics in 10 years - though of course she never should have been created in the first place. But Marvel Studios is choosing to pull her out of nowhere, when they have thousands and thousands of characters they could adapt instead. Please boycott Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titled New World Order) set to come out February, 2025, even if you're a Sam Wilson fan.

that fic was supposed to be like 700 words it is 4k help

hey guys guess who’s made a new ghost au. any fantasy high enjoyers in the chat (the tumblr)

anyways basic info for said au (which is a fun little thing that was spawned from conversations me and my good pal @scalpho had)

takes place in the modern world in england ish, no magic except for ghosts. bad kids centric because . yeah it’s a fantasy high au so. historical but also we’re not trying to be perfectly historically accurate, we’re just having some fun. we just love some ghosts

gorgug is a guy who’s going to a local college (around 20 yrs old) and his parents have recently bought the creepy abandoned manor because they decided to do a little fixer-upper project on it

while living in the house, our guy gorgug befriends the ghosts of some people who had died on this property!

fabian aramais seacaster: noble from the mid-late 1600s. died in a duel (technically yes but he’s lying a bit about the specifics) in his home. family constructed the manor. early 20s

kristen applebees: townfolk from the mid 1600s. burnt at the stake under the accusation of witchcraft and betraying the church of helio. early 20s

adaine abernant: died of a sudden unknown illness soon after blatantly refusing her family’s expectations of her in the late 1800s. the abernant family had purchased the manor after the seacasters died out. late teens/early 20s

riz gukgak: shot and killed in a gunfight during a detective mission in the 1950s. manor was involved in the case he was investigating. mid 20s

figueroth “fig” faeth: famous rockstar who got too carried away in the addiction that comes with fame. partied in the now-abandoned manor. mid-late 20s.

and now gorgug has to deal with five ghosts that only he can see while also trying to just live his daily life

AU where Porter succeeds, ascends, and drags Elmville to his own rage hell. The Rat Grinders work for him, but eventually realize that he's been manipulating them and turn on him. Too weak to defeat him themselves, they have to rescue and revive the Bad Kids to have help defeating God-Porter. Everyone is soooooooo mad about this turn of events.

The further out we get from last night's episode the more sad feelings I have, but I think I will simply write fanfic and avoid discourse. At the moment I am working on:

Post-battle, Lucy convinces the Bad Kids to resurrect the Rat Grinders (Kipperlilly POV, Frostkettle)

Rat Grinders discord chat fic (gen, humor)

After Ivy sees "Lucy" (really Fig) at Fabian's party, Lucy's ghost (?) starts talking to Kipperlilly. (Multi-chapter, Kipperlilly POV, Frostkettle, doomed yuri vibes)

Lucy's paladin training with Porter (Lucy POV, exploration of Porter as a dark mentor figure and Lucy feeling torn between Ankarna and Ruvina)

The priority is my Fire Emblem zine fic that is already late, but hopefully I can get some fantasy high fic published instead of just obsessively thinking about it.

The further out we get from last night's episode the more sad feelings I have, but I think I will simply write fanfic and avoid discourse. At the moment I am working on:

Post-battle, Lucy convinces the Bad Kids to resurrect the Rat Grinders (Kipperlilly POV, Frostkettle)

Rat Grinders discord chat fic (gen, humor)

After Ivy sees "Lucy" (really Fig) at Fabian's party, Lucy's ghost (?) starts talking to Kipperlilly. (Multi-chapter, Kipperlilly POV, Frostkettle, doomed yuri vibes)

Lucy's paladin training with Porter (Lucy POV, exploration of Porter as a dark mentor figure and Lucy feeling torn between Ankarna and Ruvina)

The priority is my Fire Emblem zine fic that is already late, but hopefully I can get some fantasy high fic published instead of just obsessively thinking about it.

This moment brought to you by ice feast

jace telling buddy off for saying bacharath, mary ann telling him that she feels bad, the way the ratgrinders still fundamentally trust these teachers who have been actively hurting and using them for at least a year