this brief transit

hokuton-punch:

Well, Tumblr, we’ve had some good times, we’ve had some bad times, we’ve had some WTF times, and now it’s farewell time.  I’m not going to delete, but as soon as my queue runs out (which you’ll know because you’ll see this post again; I’m going to add it to the end of the queue), I’m going to close out Tumblr and just - not come back.

Other Places You Can Find Me

Dreamwidth: My personal journal is hokuton-punch!  Feel free to subscribe, though I may not subscribe back or grant access unless I already know you or if you comment to say hi.  I don’t update very frequently at the moment, but that may change (well, I hope it’ll change, anyway).  Fannish stuff will pretty much always be unlocked; RL stuff (unless it’s very vague/brief) will usually be locked.

I also have a fic journal, brief-transit; it’s a little out of date because ficlets can be a bit annoying to update there and that’s most of what I’ve been finishing lately, but longer/more serious fic is all there!  There are some guidelines about following it that are laid out in detail in the first post, but it basically boils down to 1) all the fic (and very old fanart) is unlocked, so you can just subscribe if that’s all you’re interested in; 2) original stories (and very old art) are locked, so if you want to see any of that, please comment and ask for access; 3) this journal’s just for posting stuff, so it DOES NOT subscribe back.

AO3: On AO3 I am Hokuto!  Currently all stories are Archive-locked, which means that you need an AO3 account to see them, and I am planning to keep them that way for the foreseeable future.  If you don’t have an account and would like one, please message me here before the queue runs out or get in touch with me on Dreamwidth, and I can hook you up with an invite.

FF.net:  My FF.net account is ShirouHokuto; I haven’t uploaded many stories there lately because it’s a hassle, porn is banned, and funky formatting like I like to use with Marathon fic doesn’t work, but there’s plenty of my older fic there and at least it has a PM system, so definitely feel free to message me there if that’s what you’re comfortable with.

… well, that’s actually it for the moment!  I probably won’t be committing to anything else between now and the end of queue, but if I do, I’ll add it to this post.  Thank you to everyone who’s followed me or talked to me on this site; I hope to see you elsewhere, but if not, let us part with fond memories of each other and feel neither grief nor shame.

Queue is done and so am I.  Farewell, everyone!

thequantumqueer:

veta-lopis:

it’s fun watching spartans being graceful superheroes because it represents visually how humanity at large views them, but what I like way more is them being efficiently, quietly brutal. no pizzazz or drama, just sharp and short violence that would be almost underwhelming if it weren’t so ferocious, because they don’t actually really enjoy what they’re doing. the twirling and dancing the IVs do in wargames and out in the field is a reflection of them leading a very public, very competitive life; their job is to inspire and win as well as protect. but the IIs have no audience, and they don’t revel in their duty. they just need to get the job done.

I’ll take this further. consider:

the spartan-iv program is only 5 years old and the spartan-ii program went public 6 years before that. sarah palmer is one of, if not the oldest S-IV at 31 years old, which means that not only is every single S-IV a war baby, but in all likelihood not a single one of them was old enough to drink legally when humanity started hearing stories of the IIs.

the IVs grew up living under fear and despair, and then just before they reached adulthood they learned that there were Heroes™ who could do things no other humans could do, allowing them to fight the covenant and win. they dreamed of moving like spartans because every single one of them has someone in mind that they would have been able to save if they could, whether it’s someone from a glassed planet or just the endless stream of dead squadmates from the war.

to the IVs, enhanced movement is an acute reminder that the world is different and they have the ability to keep that same kind of loss from happening again. if we use cars as an analogy for the augmentations and mjolnir, then the IVs learned to drive in their late 20s. it’s still new and exciting.

the IIs learned to drive when they were 14 and then they did nothing but drive for almost 30 years. and then most of them died and the survivors had to just keep driving. so yeah, it’s not especially fun for them, it’s just what they do.

Not actually tagged by anyone, but @anneapocalypse opened it up to anyone who wanted to do it and I do love doing memes…

This little tag meme is an opportunity for writers to reflect on (and promote!) our own writing, but also to hear about the work of our fellow writers and to find something new to read!

Rules: answer the following questions about your own writing, whether fanfic or original. If you can’t/don’t want to answer a question, just put N/A. If you don’t have that many posted works, tell us about your WIPs or individual chapters/drabbles or even your ideas! Then tag as many writers as you like :)

AO3 name and link, if applicable: Hokuto (although all my fic is currently Archive-locked, sorry)

What’s your most popular fic, by whatever metric is most relevant to you (hits, kudos, comments, reblogs, some other trait)?

By kudos, it is unquestionably “A Window in Time,” a Naruto fic I wrote for an exchange, because apparently there is just this deep untapped need for time-travel Zabuza/Naruto in Naruto fandom.  If you hunger for kudos, this may be a niche you need to check out!

By comment threads, it is - well, huh, “love is a curse for your enemies” (RvB, Felix/Locus) beats out “(Nice Dream)” (Naruto canon-divergent AU) by eight!  I was not expecting that.  … probably the former having a higher chapter count (even if the chapters are just ficlets) helps.  One day I need to finish “(Nice Dream),” or at least finish the last chapter I’m on and post it + the preceding one and an outline of the rest of the fic.  D:

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

This is such a tough call because I just - have ended up really liking my own writing and re-reading a lot of my own fic, although of course there’s always room to grow and I have to restrain myself from tweaking stuff that’s five years old and doesn’t need to be messed with (even if it would be an improvement).  /o\  Also, I suck at choosing favorites.  I think I’m gonna go with “burn this building down” (Marathon) because I enjoy pain.  Honorable mention to “Cold War” (Marathon/Pacific Rim fusion) and the little prequel fic I wrote for it, “and bring grace to the strong,” for sheer number of times I’ve re-read them.  And also “Crossings in Mist” (Marathon/The Lathe of Heaven) for same.  … and it’s not done yet, but I am really, really enjoying this Felix/Locus backstory fic I’m working on so far.  So terrible, so good.  :D

What’s your best fic, and is it different from your favorite fic?

“Best” is so hard to define…  But I think I’m going to go with “burn this building down” again, actually, because I had such a good beta help me turn it into MAXIMUM PAIN (without narm) and although I could probably have eased up on the funky formatting a bit, overall, there’s very little I’d change about it.

Second place: “bright the hawk’s flight” (Mononoke), which I thought was going to struggle with because the canon is so unique, but I ended up breezing through it and still being proud of the result.

Do you have a fic whose popularity surprised you?

Definitely “A Window in Time,” haha.  I mean, I’m super glad people like it!  I just didn’t realize there were that many Naruto/Zabuza shippers out there.  (Or maybe people are coming for the time travel and just enjoying the Naruto/Zabuza hints as a bonus.  … actually, that might make more sense.)

Do you have a fic you wish more people would read?

I mean, I completely understand why they don’t (Le Guin novel about dreams, noninterference, and balance + “shoot all the aliens” game is not the most intuitive or enticing combination, and it’s really not a fic that makes sense without knowing both canons), but “Crossings in Mist.”  I love how it turned out, that’s all.

Is there a ship or fandom you haven’t written, but really want to?

Mostly, all the Carolina femslash in RvB.  There’s so many Carolina ships I like!  I’m just more of a consumer than a producer so far.

Tell us a random fact about your writing process:

I don’t do drafts; I just write in a text file (or by hand and type it up later) and edit as I go/re-read a lot and edit.  I have, on very rare occasions, snipped out a bit of scene that I thought might not be working and kept it in a separate file in case I changed my mind and wanted to put it back in or could use it for something else, but that’s about it.  I guess you could call the handwritten versions a rough draft, although I tend to dither and delay over them almost as much as I do when I’m writing in a text file.

haedonists:

caterfree10:

discoursecatharsis:

Oh no, they’re turning on actually published YA novels.

(above submitted by anon)

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You heard it here first folks, from now on, there can never be YA novels about teenagers experiencing sexuality. Since pretty much all published authors are adults, this is illegal now. Only teenagers can write stories about teenagers having sex. How dare adults write about their experiences with discovering their sexuality when they were teens, it’s so gross

These people have no common sense, I swear. There are so many horrible issues in the world, and they act like some YA novel is the end of society as we know it

GEE I LOVE HOW ANTIS ARE COOPTING CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN LOGIC

Also loving the fact that it’s yet again women in particular that these packs of brain-fried neopuritans are specifically targeting.

Reading the above is sort of fascinating, in a dark way. Because look at how OP twists themselves into a pretzel to provide their ass-pulled, lurid and salacious interpretation of why an adult YA author would write about teenage sexuality. I’ve noticed this thing again and again on here – a small army of teenagers who seem mentally stuck in a paranoiac view of reality, where seemingly everyone is out to get them, where every adult who interacts with them is conceptualized as a Potential Predator and where child-molesters lurk behind every corner and in every shadow. That’s why explanations that most adults who write about teen sexuality are basing it on their own memories and recollections, self-inserting into their own pasts, fall on deaf ears – because it runs counter to the paranoid filter-bubble, where the only reason an adult would write about teen sexuality is an attraction to teens. You can point out that your reaction to you or other adults going after teens is basically

Originally posted by rejected-on-a-cosmic-level

and it’d still fall on deaf ears – because, again, it contradicts the filter-bubble and mustn’t be permitted to break through it.

I’d like to make some scathing quip about a society that detains parents over photos of their babies naked in the tub (we’re still laughing about that here, a decade later) naturally producing a generation of perpetually terrified and tremulous teenagers, with paranoia complexes the size of the moon, but I’ve a feeling it touches too close to the actual truth to be much of a joke.