the Dalaverse

I'm gonna give this a shot. It's only a couple of weeks, right?

Day 1 (on Day 3)

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

The Stars Are Set Alight - SW:TFA, Finn/Poe. Oh my, did I ever pour a lot into this one. While I had the basic idea laid out (inspired by a kink meme prompt on one of two pages I actually read), I got stuck on the scene where Poe reveals his diagnosis. For. WEEKS. Even when I finally broke through, it was maybe the slowest writing process I've ever had, which. means that I read through it over and over, and pretty much every word is exactly where I want it. It's at once a story about a primary relationship (my wheelhouse), and a story about how I feel about the central Star Wars story. It means a lot to me and I got some really meaningful feedback on it. Then I didn't write anything for eight months! But if I had gone out, I would've been happy to go out on this fic.
Runners-up: "Anywhere I Go There You Are" (writing the Skywalker twins at last); "Hang Onto Yourself" (for "mi cielo")

The Sum of Us - ST:AOS, Kirk/McCoy and others. I almost chose "Down to the River to Pray" or "Five Pets" (...I wrote a lot of 5 Times for Trek okay), because I think the writing is tighter on them. This was one of my first Trek fics and it shows, especially in the Winona section. But this was when my understanding of the characters really began to grow, and I do like that it uses multiple POVs (Team as Family foreverrrr). I feel like this was when I really, truly joined the Kirk/McCoy fandom, and I've loved every moment of my time there.

North and South of the River series - PotC, Jack/Will/James. Let me say upfront that this is not my absolute strongest writing, but it's among the most ambitious. What started off as a PWP one-shot turned into a full-bodied emotional journey for the characters. I have such vivid memories of writing the conclusion in my freshman dormroom at some ungodly hour of the morning, at my desk in the righthand corner of the room, sobbing into the sleeves of my St. Mary's sweatshirt. So while it might not be my best (and there is a sad lack of Elizabeth), it's still very close to my heart. That's why when I uploaded my fic onto AO3, "Set Fire to the Sky" is the only one that I did a heavy edit on; I love the story enough that I wanted to mitigate its flaws even after all these years.
Runners-up: "For Want of a Nail" (all 46,500 words of it, damn); "Bookends" (Will and Elizabeth, sittin' in a tree); "Five Ways to Wear a Green Ribbon" (allll the pairings); the "Brothers In Arms" series (aka the Naval OT3 which I did have serious plans of finishing)
(...one of these days I'm going to finish archiving all my Pirates fic, and I'm going to count up the words, and it's going to be a lot of words.)

That was rather fun. I'll have to catch up on the rest tomorrow.

Day 2

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.

If we go way back, I saw the movie adaptation of "Where the Red Fern Grows" at a very young age - maybe 6 or 7. I watched it in the basement, and then I went upstairs, and my mom found me crying on the couch. It was the first time I ever felt that swell of emotion for something outside of my immediate self. My paternal grandfather died when I was 4 and I remember my dad telling me at the funeral that it was okay if I wanted to cry, and me silently wondering why I would (which sounds awful written out, but I don't have any actual memories of my grandfather and I mean it in the sense that I simply didn't understand). But when Old Dan and Little Ann were buried side by side and the red fern grew up between them, my heart broke for the first time.

On a less existential level, I saw "Star Wars" for the first time in the theater in 1997. The opening notes of the theme blared out, the text crawled across the screen into the depths of space, and I was in love. Just totally, completely gone in a way I had never felt before, although I had lots of books and movies I loved. I discovered the existence of fandom on the internet immediately afterwards, and the rest is history.

Joni Mitchell's Blue album, on vinyl on my dad's stereo, lying on the living room carpet with my head between the speakers. And everyone one of them words rang true, like it was written on my soul, from me to you.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. The Little Prince.

Regarding fandom, the first thing that comes to mind is KJ's Moonverse. I reread it several years ago and it's still soul-destroying. "Don't come back. Ever." JFC you guys, what even is fandom.