redrikki

In 2019, I wrote 30 stories in 13 fandoms. Here's a breakdown by month.

January

Parting Strands
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Looking out for each other had been their thing, but Adora's starting to suspect that's over. Her thoughts during that scene in "Promise." (Adora, Catra)

February

Second Wind
Star Wars
Ahsoka takes the wrong exit from the world between worlds and ends up with a second chance to save her master. (Ahsoka Tano, Shmi Skywalker)

A Modest Proposal
Agent Carter
The mess with Vernon Masters has left Daniel's office short staffed, but he has some replacements in mind. (Daniel Sousa/Peggy Carter, Edwin Jervis)

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree
Agent Carter
Three people who thought Peggy Carter and Edwin Jervis were having an affair and one who knew better (Peggy Carter, Edwin Jervis/Ana Jervis, Angie Martinelli, Jack Thompson, Daniel Sousa)

For Amidala
Star Wars
Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn't know if she had the strength to let one go. (Padmé Amidala/Naboo handmaidens)

Comic Book Life
Black Lightning (TV)
Comic book Thunder's boyfriend knew what his woman did, so why couldn't Anissa tell her girlfriend? (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi)

After the Funeral
Star Wars
Han offers Luke some unexpected support after the funeral of the guy who tortured him. (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo)

March

Bursts of Stardust III
Star Wars
A collection of seven short stories from tumblr. (Anakin Skywalker/Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Sheev Palpatine, Jedi)

April

Peanut Butter and Marshmallows
Umbrella Academy (TV)
Stuck in the apocalypse, Five reads about Vanya leaving him sandwiches. (Five Hargreeves, Dolores)

May

Heroes for Ghosts
Umbrella Academy (TV)
Eudora waits for Diego and things go very differently. (Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves, Eudora Patch, Hazel, Cha-Cha, Various ghosts)

( keep going, it's a long list )

Earlier this week, I read a joke on tumblr about how the Skywalkers were responsible for everything wrong with the GFFA. But, are they? It's an easy assumption to make. They are the main characters of the trilogies, after all, but let us examine the evidence.

( meta away! )

So, you may have heard the new Star Wars teaser is out. I want to be more excited about it than I am.

Growing up, I was not a Star Wars fan. I'd seen the OT, we had a bootlegged copy of the Ewok Adventure my dad recorded off tv and the free Return of the Jedi glasses from Pizza Hut, but I wasn't a fan. I watched the movies when they were on, but they never captured my imagination. I didn't write fic or seek out any of the tie in material. I never got around to seeing the Prequels or cartoons. I just didn't care about the franchise.

Then I saw The Force Awakens and Star Wars devoured my brain. I started writing fic, I bought DVDs of everything, and a bunch of new EU tie-in stuff. I watched Rogue One in theaters twice! I'd never ever done that before. I was well and truly obsessed.

Then The Last Jedi happened and all that love just curdled. I've broken up with fandom before. Buffy and I slowly drifted apart after the show went off the air. I dumped Supernatural's dumb ass after it hurt me one too many times. I don't want TLJ to have ruined Star Wars for me. I want to keep loving it, I want to be excited. But I'm not and it breaks my heart.

Politicians in the Prequels-era Republic talked a good game about loving democracy, but did they? Did they really? Obviously Senate operates on democratic principles with the Senators proposing and voting on legislation, but just how democratic is the Galactic Republic at large? Not very.

( Let's talk politics )

Title: For Amidala
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters/Pairings: Padmé Amidala/Sabé, Padmé/handmaidens
Rating: PG
Length: 603
Summary: Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn't know if she had the strength to let one go.

I actually wrote this on Valentine's day for acequeenking on the Bring Her Bleeding Heart to Me ficathon, but somehow forgot to post it here.

Read it on AO3 or ( here )

According to the Disney tie-in material, the First Order's recruitment and training program was based on the Jedi recruitment and training program by its creator, Brendo Hux. There's a lot to unpack there, but let's start with the basics. How are the training programs of the Jedi Order and the First Order similar and how did they differ? What do those similarities and differences say about them as institutions?

( Let's break it down )

I wrote over 2,000 words spread across 8 stories this month in She-Ra & the Princesses of Power, Star Wars, and one fandom which shall remain nameless until the exchange is revealed in February.

She-Ra & the Princesses of Power

Parting Strands
Adora and Catra have always looked out for each other, but Adora's beginning to suspect that's over. Her thoughts on "Promise."

Star Wars

Everything this month was based on John Mulaney quotes. Despite their comedic origins, the stories all got rather angsty. Oh well.

"Whats that? Over there! Don't do that!" with Obi-Wan (and Anakin) on tumblr or AO3
"I think I'm becoming more like my mom" with Anakin on tumblr or AO3
"My life is a freaking nightmare" with Anakin (and Padme) on tumblr or AO3
"It's easier to do nothing rather than something" with Palpatine on tumblr or tumblr or AO3
"When people are mad at it, it's my fault" with Anakin (and Obi-Wan) on tumblr or AO3

Mystery story was written for the Past Imperfect Future Unknown exchange which will go live on Saturday and be revealed on the Saturday after that. Spoiler alert, it involves time travel and is awesome.

Now that I'm done tooting my own horn, I'll take a moment to toot someone else's with some recs. This month I've mostly been reading Into the Spiderverse stuff. Here are my favorites:

It's a School Night, Why Are You Out Saving the World? by TechnicolorVocab01

After the events of the film, Jefferson is determined to be more supportive of both Miles and the new Spiderman. It takes him a while to figure out they are one and the same.

Lay it on the Line by badgerpride89

Nine months after the collider, Miles has been meeting up with Gwen and Peter for lunch every Saturday. Naturally, this attracts his parents' attention. This is part of the series Afterward. All the stories in it are good, but this is my favorite.

Spider-Man is Dead (Long Live Spider-Man) by tajargirl

Series of four short stories focusing on the death of Peter Parker in the lives of every Spider. Including Peter Parker.

A split second power outage at the office shorted out the router for my section of the building, cutting me off from internet, e-mail, and the server. Unable to get in and update the catalog, I spent the day organizing a recently donated collection of newspaper clippings instead. They covered the fall of the American railroad industry from the 1950s through the 1990s thanks to said industry's refusal to maintain their rails, meet the needs of their customers, or adapt to the changing transportation environment in any way. My city lost passenger rail service back in the 1970s and it's incredibly frustrating because, while I wouldn't kill for rail service to New York City, I would gladly seduce a railroad executive for it. Ended the day with Arlo Guthrie's "The City of New Orleans" in my head because that's my go-to railroad song.

I had yesterday off for MLK day. Spent it finishing my story for the Past Imperfect Future Unknown exchange. Now I just need to do a quick Agent Carter re-watch and get started on my piece for Agent Carter Valentines.

Last week I found a John Mulaney quote sentence starters and solicited writing prompts on tumblr. So far, I have received twelve prompts and filled three of them:

If you see a quote you like, feel free to drop my a prompt along with the name of any character I've written in the last 3 years in the comments below. Or just hit me up on tumblr, which ever. 

PBS has a new show called The Dictator's Playbook, which looks at a bunch of real world dictators and analysis their rise to power. Watching it, one of the things that struck me is that most (successful) dictators do something which benefit's the masses immediately upon taking power as a means of gaining their support. Kim Il-Sung implemented land reforms which gave peasants their own farms for the first time in ever. Saddam Hussain granted equal rights for women and used oil money for infrastructure projects, free universal health care, and free universal education. Mussolini made the trains run on time. It got me thinking. What, exactly, did Palpatine and the Empire do to cement the loyalty of the masses?

( Thoughts below )

Force visions and prophetic dreams to be part of the skillset of even untrained Force sensitives. In the prequels, Anakin dreams about becoming a Jedi (TPM), his mother's death (AotC), and Padme's death (RotS). In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke has a vision about his friends being in trouble. In The Clone Wars episode "Assassin," Ahsoka has a dream and series of visions about an attempt on Padme's life. In Star Wars: Rebels, Ezra has a vision of Gall Trayvis and later a dream about his parents. In The Force Awakens, we learn that Rey has been dreaming of Luke's island long before she ever set foot there. So here's my question: if Force visions and prophetic dreams are a known ability, why did Anakin receive such consistently bad advice on dealing with his?

( Read more... )