(no subject)

[thedarlingone]

I haven't even started intoabar (I have a couple of vague ideas but I haven't had the chance to talk them out enough to pick one) but the rewrites on Dutybound are coming along spectacularly, so lemme just boost that again, cause we're posting chapter 5 around noon CDT (US) today and I'm really fucking excited.

Dutybound (13546 words) by camshaft22
Chapters: 4/?
Fandom: Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, Wes Janson, Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Leia Organa, Ackbar (Star Wars), Airen Cracken, Garik "Face" Loran, Tyria Sarkin, Kell Tainer, Rogue Squadron Members (Star Wars), Wraith Squadron Members (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Depression, Presumed Dead, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Suicidal Thoughts, Temporary Amnesia, Wakes & Funerals, Survivor Guilt, Captured by The Empire, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

After the Battle of Distna, Rogue Squadron is presumed dead, except for one survivor.

Hobbie Klivian is the Last Rogue. He hates it.

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aka, this is what happened when I was thinking out loud on a tangent about the whole Infinity War Part 1 thing, which tells you how long ago we started this (not very long ago really? but also like, an age of the earth), cause there was this tumblr post about "which half of your otp gets disintegrated" and I was like "well see the thing is neither option would be worse than Distna", because seriously, the premise where they both think each other is dead and neither one legitimately has the option to pick up the phone and call anyone who might accidentally happen to know the other is alive? Chris Claremont kept trying to do that with Uncanny X-men back in the day and not getting much mileage out of it (he's said so himself in interviews), but this is a really good setup for it. Wes and Hobbie legitimately each think the other is dead for six weeks and nobody has to be holding the idiot ball to make it work... and then the author, Michael A. Stackpole, does literally nothing with it! To the point that I had actually read this very confusing book (Star Wars Legends: X-Wing: Isard's Revenge, for those not in my tiny little fandom), while being someone who mentally tracks Wes's POV of events at all times, and not actually realized the angst potential until panamdea pointed it out.

Uh. Where was I? Right. So Wes "dies" in chapter 21, gets one paragraph of narrative grieving from Wedge, and then is never mentioned again for six weeks and fifteen chapters, till he gets one brief exchange in the epilogue revealing he's been alive the whole time. No emotional arc, no nothing. Which is why I have at least half a dozen Distna-angst-related stories in progress, unless I posted some and forgot about them since the last time I counted, because literally, you hand me a blank canvas like that? ^_^

So. Uh. Anyway. I swear I'm more coherent than this in actual fic. (I'm not billed as a co-author on this one, but I'm the beta reader and the author is also my co-author and the lines get pretty damn fuzzy.) But my point is, I was tangenting at myself about Infinity War, and I was like "the only way Distna could be worse is if Hobbie was the sole survivor instead of Wes", and I'm not sure it's worse but it sure as fuck is interesting. :D Because then Hobbie is being sour and depressed all by himself, and Wes is trying to keep being the heart of the squadron while grieving the one person he really depends on for emotional support, and it just... I'm really fucking proud of this one okay.

How it then turned into "Hobbie vs. the Wraiths", I genuinely do not know, except that Wraith Squadron is amazing and adorkable and we love them. How it wound up not being a shipfic despite being sparked by an OTP prompt is much less surprising, cause it's me (partly) and I'm always interested in nonromantic primary relationships. But we're at the halfway point - today's chapter is actually what used to be chapters 5 and 6 out of a planned 9 chapters, so now we have chapter 5 out of a planned 8 going up today. (Numbers subject to change until we finish the rest of the rewrites, obviously.) I am so fucking excited. Also really damn proud, because posting in chapters was my idea and it's sparked off a bunch of rewrites and made everything so damn much better. Even if I do feel rather like Indiana Jones running in front of that damn ball with this posting schedule, cause Sunday is my day off and we post on Monday, so there's no opportunity for "we'll tackle that tomorrow". :P

Anyway. Yes. If the depression (lots) and suicidal ideation (some) will not be a Bad Idea for you, you should maybe possibly read our story? The fandom is ten people and a bag of crisps, but like six of us are active writers, it's pretty spectacular for a canon from the mid-1990s. (Also if you need a source for canon I might be able to uhhh help. Although for Distna stories you really shouldn't need canon, because me rambling about Chris Claremont interviews here is a more coherent primer. ;P)

Also if you're like "hey this fandom sounds pretty cool where do I find people", we have a Discord server! Pretty slow-moving, very welcoming, full of queers. :D