Fic meme

[extrapenguin]

via shadaras

Give me the title of a hypothetical fic (and fandom/characters/pairing if you like, or tell me to go original if you are inclined) and I will:
- tell you what it's about
- recall my favorite or least favorite parts
- possibly almost certainly attempt to write an excerpt of it

Fandoms I know
- Guardian
- MDZS
- Nan Chan (Carp Gong)
- Vorkosigan saga
- Nirvana in Fire
- The Goblin Emperor
- A Memory Called Empire
- Machineries of Empire
- Avatar: the Last Airbender
- Avatar: Legend of Korra
- KOTOR and KOTOR 2
- anything I've admitted to reading, or written on AO3
+ plus you can always tell me to go original!

Comments

[shadaras]

Do not feel obliged to write all of these; I am perfectly content for you to pick your favorite one and only do that if you'd prefer.

"Marrow and Morrow and Moor", MDZS

and/or

"Cyclical Action", Machineries of Empire

and/or

"Poetic License", A Memory Called Empire

[extrapenguin]

I'm going to at least do an attempt at all three, since they inspire some feelings:

Marrow and Morrow and Moor
This is obviously about Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants homesteading on the Burial Mounds. It'll have some excellent gen interactions between Wei Wuxian and the Wen siblings plus Wen Yuan, and Lan Wangji will turn up in a manner that doesn't quite fit what the fic wants to be. It's a nice and cozy read for people who enjoy agriculture and cooking and descriptions thereof with funny moments related to farming the corrupted soil, but I would probably find its pacing dragging in places. The best bit will be a heartwarming scene where Wei Wuxian actually manages to be a decent authority figure for Wen Yuan and teach him about removing resentful energy from soil and planting radishes instead. The comments will have a flame war over the inclusion of potatoes in an otherwise meticulously researched pre-Colombian exchange landscape (potatoes being canon won't stop the flame war).

Excerpt:
The radish was, Wei Wuxian thought, far from perfect. But it was recognizable as a radish, and that was what mattered, right? They had their first harvest; they could improve it from here. "What do you think, Wen Ning? Would you eat it?"

"I don't need to eat," Wen Ning laboriously reminded him. He looked like a lost puppy, eyes pleading in death.

"Of-" Wei Wuxian sighed. "I'll ask your sister for her diagnosis. She's a doctor, surely she should be able to see if a radish is edible, right?"

Wen Ning's lips were too stiff to answer. Wei Wuxian sighed again, picked up himself and the radish, and went off in search of Wen Qing.

---

Cyclical Action
This is an dual-timeline narrative where scenes of Jedao doing something are interspersed with scenes of Cheris doing the exact same thing in similar fashion. The fic isn't that long, and every word pulls its weight. Commenters, me included, are reduced to quoting large chunks of the thing, and everyone loves the spectacular final paragraph which ties it all together so that Jedao and Cheris become one and the same weapon pointed at the hexarchate.

---

Poetic License
This is a light-hearted longfic caper story about Mahit returning to Teixcalaan only to get involved in whatever's going on with the Sunlit. Three Seagrass is also involved. The eventual build is towards Mahit/Three Seagrass, foreshadowed through quotes from Teixcalaanli literature, and the whole fic is in heavy intertextual dialogue with a Teixcalaanli poem cycle where two women get together in a way Teixcalaanlitzlim would consider very tropey; Mahit and Three Seagrass get together in the exact same way. The conclusion of the plot is equally poetic and foreshadowed with the poetry. Best bit: all the poems.

Excerpt:

The Sun has cast its eye on you, but I am a jealous lover. Come sit in the shade of my crab apple's leaves.

Excerpt from one of Eleven Transistor's better-known poems, written while on military duty at the ends of the Empire. The subversive imagery of her poems was used as evidence during her court-martial, leading to her execution.

[shadaras]

I delight in all of these! :D I'm glad you found them all inspiring, in some way or another!

[lannamichaels]

"It's in the water", NIF, any pairing/gen.

[extrapenguin]

It's in the water
This is obviously a fic about water-related corruption, cunningly disguised as there being a monster in Jinling's water supply. Jingyan gets sent to investigate, only to unspool a complicated web of bribes and lies connecting Prince Yu, the Crown Prince, and people who've sold themselves twice over. Best moments: Mei Changsu and Jingyan talking to each other about how to present this to the Emperor for the best outcome for the common people. The moment Jingyan discovers the monster in the water was simply some seaweed and an enterprising whistleblower hoping someone would investigate. The final resolution, with the corrupt officials being dismissed and justice being served.

[lannamichaels]

*\o/*

[isis]

"Machineries of Memory," the Machineries of Empire/A Memory Called Empire crossover!

(I couldn't resist, sorry...)

[extrapenguin]

Machineries of Memory
Uhh...the crossover is achieved by the Teixcalaanli Empire brushing against the Hexarchate. (The Teixcalaanli calendar is based on poetry, obviously.) The actual plot is some Shuos operatives turning up in the Empire, discovering that their exotics backfire when Shuos Operative #1 gets amnesia when attempting to shoot someone, and they hightail it out of there. The worldbuilding meld is cute, as are the OCs, but altogether the fic is slightly forgettable.

[isis]

The Teixcalaanli calendar is based on poetry, obviously.

This is, of course, my favorite part of this idea.

[phyrry]

I have so many Carp Gong ideas but they're all cheesy and terrible and self-obvious.

Love In The Time Of Vore
The Way To A Dragon's Heart (Is Through His Stomach)
Dinner [how you interpret this one is up to you, pwp + vore would be my take obvs]
Om Nom Nom
Fish Eats Man
Fasting

etc. etc.

... Obviously I need more canon-typical vore in my life.

[extrapenguin]

All of them would be similarish, but let's go with this one:
The Way To A Dragon's Heart (Is Through His Stomach)
This is a sort of side story to the main novel, where Cang Ji and Jing Lin stop in a village during their travels and solve a little case. Jing Lin feeds Cang Ji all the demons, Cang Ji appreciates the om nom noms, and then the fic makes use of the fact that one slang term for sex in Chinese is "eating" and Cang Ji bones Jing Lin. Best bit: the humorous dialogue while Jing Lin's holding down the main ringleader so Cang Ji can gobble him down unimpeded.

[china_shop]

"If You're Not Part of the Solution", Guardian, Ye Zun & Li Qian

"The Last Airhonker" - AtLA/Untitled Goose Game crossover

[extrapenguin]

If You're Not Part of the Solution
This is a heartfelt but underappreciated story about how Ye Zun tries to impersonate Shen Wei and Li Qian sees through him at once but pretends to be fooled. Eventually, talk turns to Dixing, and Ye Zun abandons all pretenses of being Shen Wei to lambast every single one of Shen Wei's Dixing-related choices; Li Qian agrees that life in Dixing is sucky and suggests actually solving the problems instead of making everything explode. Ye Zun lets himself be convinced to try this approach because sure, why not, and then it works (mostly). No brotherly reconciliation happens in-fic, but it's heavily implied it'll happen afterwards. Favorite moment: when Ye Zun finally drops the pretense of being Shen Wei and starts yelling, including outing Shen Wei as the Envoy, and Li Qian doesn't let herself look fazed.

The Last Airhonker
Aang got frozen in the iceberg before he could master airbending and needs to find an airbending master. Thankfully, one survived the massacre – but it's a goose. The Gaang and Zuko go on a wild goose chase! The Goose lets itself be found, but its honks are weapons-grade and it needs significant bribing before it'll teach Aang anything. Best moments: the Goose almost falling into Zuko's grasp but honking its way out; Aang learning to replicate the airbender honk.

[china_shop]

This is a heartfelt but underappreciated story about how Ye Zun tries to impersonate Shen Wei and Li Qian sees through him at once but pretends to be fooled.

Awww! *hearts* (Is she pretending as a survival strategy? I'm assuming so.)

The entirety of The Last Airhonker description is fantastic! HEE!

Aang learning to replicate the airbender honk.

*is ded*

[extrapenguin]

Hmm, I'd guess some mix of survival strategy and just playing along because it's surreal and maybe Professor Shen hit his head? Definitely edging towards survival strategy once Ye Zun grows creepier.

The entirety of The Last Airhonker description is fantastic! HEE!
In this universe, Aang defeats Ozai by honking at him really loud, and then the goose steals Ozai's firebending ability and tosses it into the lake.

[china_shop]

In this universe, Aang defeats Ozai by honking at him really loud

The Honk That Shook The World! :D :D :D