Birdwings

I hate leaving things unfinished, or partially done. I started Snowflake with the intention of doing every challenge, but I'm gonna have to bow out of Challenge #5, a wishlist venture. Asking for things? Nope. Sorry. Not happening. I am bad at that.

So, on to Challenge #6. Top 10 Challenge.



And I'm gonna have fun and talk about ten tropes I love. Which I guess could also count as a sneak wishlist, just without the actual request feature.

They're numbered but not ranked. I thought about giving canon or fanfic examples for each, but this post is long enough as is.

1. Conversations with dead people

An emotional trope. Things left unsaid, fears unspoken, last regrets to acknowledge. Literal ghost, or a dream sequence, or a hallucination. The question: Is it real or the character's subconscious? What does the visitation signify? The possibilities range from spooky to redemptive. It is a heady brew of emotion and mystery, breaking reality and showing facets a normal conversation never could.

2. Best friend with a death wish

Pure loyalty in every situation is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately for one half of this partnership, the other half is running pell-mell for the cliff. Cue angst. Cue anguish. Cue agony. This is a first rate shipping dynamic, when one half of the pairing is bent on self-destruction and the other half can only watch in dread. It's supposed to be ride or die, not ride and die. How do you save your partner from their own demons?

3. Redemption equals living

I hate the Redemption Equals Death trope. Hate it. It's a punitive narrative action that says redemption isn't actually possible, that all attempts will fail and the only real value to the reformed is to conveniently remove themselves from the picture, letting everyone else get on with their lives. It's why I love the Angel and Faith dynamic, where Angel spells it out clearly. Laying down and dying is easy, one big gesture and it's over. Living with your actions, that's the hard part. Getting up every day to fight the good fight, knowing it won't undo what was done. That's the bread and butter of a good character arc.

4. Hidden identities/spies

The perfect umbrella trope for all manner of exciting developments. Spy vs spy! Spy vs handler! Truths within lies and lies which contain truths! False lovers getting lost in character! Once you introduce spies, it is a delightful playground of difficult relationships, but I also love all the classic accessories: the hidden compartments, masquerade balls, secret codes and smiling facades. And thinking it over, I realize this is one of the reasons I am eternally fannish about Jeremiah: lots of double agents. My earliest fics centered on that topic. This is my JAM.

5. Token evil teammate

There's nothing better than the merciful heroes allowing a villain to live, from dire necessity against an existential threat or compassion as the antagonist falls on hard times. Then we get this trope, which I mostly call "villain in a cage." Literal or metaphorical, the important thing is they are momentarily captive. A good villain is a dark reflection of one or more good guys, a path not taken, a worst outcome. They sit there, unable to harm anyone physically, so they use truth as a weapon, they find every insecurity and push buttons just by being present. And since a good villain is highly competent, they are useful, the ultimate double edged sword. And maybe the heroes start rubbing off on them, by proximity, by humanity, by lack of other options, but there's always the question - is it all an act? Lots of great character work can result from this pressure cooker. Always a good time for me.

6. Amnesia

Total amnesia is fine, but it's more interesting when it's selective. The person is mostly the same, but there are missing pieces. Accidental or deliberate, the result is a great crisis of identity and free will. It can increase paranoia in the victim, or anguish in a loved one. It can cause questioning or reaffirmation. It can propel a mystery. It can unveil psychological horror, if it was deliberately caused. It is guaranteed to cause a whirlwind of angst.

7. Enemies to lovers

As I said, a villain should be a reflection. That means commonalities. A subconscious ability to relate. A worthy opponent deserving respect. But with lines crossed and bad histories, every single interaction is a battlefield which facilitates character growth and ethical debates (hell yeah). Also, part of what makes villains villains is that they WANT things, and won't stop till they get them, so seeing that hunger turn toward someone they can't acquire by normal methods tends to bend them out of shape in a delightful way - and can be exceptionally cathartic if the character they covet is generally overlooked by the rest of Team Good. There is no more powerful depiction of the transformative power of human connection.

8. Slow burn

I can't tell you how many times I'm reading a shipping fic and they arrive at the whole "shut up and kiss" moment, and I'm sitting there going "no, hang on, go back, that conversation was interesting! It wasn't finished!" The best romances take forever. Skilled writers can actually do what feels like a slow burn in a brisk twenty thousand words, so it's less about the time spent reading for me and more about giving the yearning and pining and fighting of the inevitable its proper due. Don't skip to the good stuff when what you're skipping is the good stuff!

9. Dramatic declarations of love

This can be romantic or platonic love, but moments of peril and high stakes where love is unequivocally declared, preferentially through action, are great. Lifesaving! Emptying an entire clip into the enemy who dared threaten the object of affection (yes, my favorite hostage scene of all time is Wesley on the roof with dear old dad in 'Lineage'). Rescue missions! Thousand to one odds are no object. Those are the obvious ones, but it can be tailored to different characters and their wants. Meaningful action, synergy, sacrifice, all that good stuff. I gravitate to it because... Well, a lot of my favorite characters aren't the sort who are likely to say "I love you" easily, but could channel it into action without hesitation.

10. Found family

We'll end with a gimme. I mean, who doesn't love found family? Is this even a trope? It feels ubiquitous. Great though, isn't it?

I saw this writer meme via havocthecat, and (being in likewise need of rebuilding blogging muscles) I have answered it. Very fun questions.

Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

All of them qualify in one way or another. Point at any of my fics and I will rattle off things I'm proud of with each, starting with the fact that they exist. Even a trifle such as Diminutive Disruption, which I had legit forgotten I wrote, I am super proud of. Because I did manage to write something silly, and because it made a few people smile, and because I wrote it in two days while in bed with a fever. It's an accomplishment.

However, there is only one true answer and favorite among my own works, and that is Life in Death. My non-linear, epigraph-laden darling. My case for why Libby and Sims were both more nuanced than a surface read of "betraying bitch" and "sadistic psychopath," and where I attempted to salvage them as people, with motivations and personal codes and coping mechanisms for the horrible stuff they did.

It was a deep dive into the show's least explained lore and into the mental landscape of a man attempting to disassociate from his own existence. It was about the parallels Sims has (like all great villains) with various of the good guys. I also went to bat for my most cherished interpretation of canon and declared that actually, there is zero proof that Sims is dead and a weight of evidence suggesting the opposite.

It's still my favorite of everything.

What are your top three most commonly used tags on AO3?

"Angst" leads the pack with 7/14 fics tagged as such. Second place is "Female Friendship" with 3 uses. There's a bunch vying for third, and if I remove tags that belong to multiple works in a series, it's a tie between "Canon-typical Violence," "AU - Canon Divergence," and "Women Being Awesome."

I like canon. I like what ifs within the canon. I like female characters. And I love exploring dark emotions. Somewhere in the nexus of those elements is where I find most of my plots.

( Remaining questions definitely cut for length. )

Seems like half of my reading list have already done this. I was going to abstain, but the result is surprisingly varied among my eleven fics, so it seems like a nice morning activity.

Rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

Most hits: Without a Witness - Teen Wolf, 19,986 words. Lydia's relationship with Peter during season two, and her attempts to gain some form of control over her situation. The majority of people would bounce hard off this pairing, but that still nets me 326 hits.

Second most kudos: A Crime Spree Waiting to Happen - Highlander, 4,226 words. Matthew attempting to keep Cory and Amanda from meeting, and then attempting to track them down during 'Money No Object.' My first fic exchange, 28 kudos.

Third most comments: Guests for the Weekend - Highlander, 7,622 words. Amanda, Anne and Richie foil a burglary by burgling. A total of 9 comment threads.

Fourth most bookmarks: No More Reason to Stay - Highlander, 11,495 words. Brian Cullen visits Darius a few years before their ends, and has flashbacks to his tormented relationship with MacLeod and his steady deterioration. Somehow acquired 3 bookmarks.

Fifth most words: Other Angels - Jeremiah, 11,765 words. Elizabeth fix fic. Was supposed to be about half the length and a single chapter, but my brain wouldn't cooperate.

Fewest words: A Lasting Impression - Highlander, 3,165 words. A Methos character study set during his introductory episode. Every word was a battle, hence so few of them.

There's a quiz going around, seen via havocthecat.

Which AO3 Tag Are You?

My result: Hurt/No Comfort.

"you are satan's favorite, most specialist soldier, and I live in fear of you"

I thought this was harsh, until I expanded the definition to include emotional hurt, which... kind of tracks, if I'm honest.