Worlds Slowest Fanfic Author Tries Really Really Hard

Oh my god oh my god Faramir put Éowyn in (okay something closely resembling) the HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR’S CELESTIAL MANTLE.

*it’s not clear when you first look, but it’s showing stars in the celestial sphere. I swear.

McCluskey, Astronomies and Cultures of Early Medieval Europe

(X)

Shut up I’m having a fan moment. Clenching my fists. I love the stupid star mantle. This mantle is a celebrity to me.

Stargazing with the boys

More thoughts on the rest of season one:

Raina keeps talking about what she and Skye will become even way back here.

A guy stabs May and she later uses the same knife on him, just like with Izel later.

The contrast of Quinn hugging Skye to shoot her again more effectively with Coulson cradling her body hurts.

Garrett doesn't realize that all the kerfuffle is because Hydra has revealed themselves until Skye decrypts the signal.

When Coulson locks May up in the cage, you can see Ward trying to figure out if she's Hydra too. He's so confused for a minute, and it's hilarious to me.

Speaking of Ward, Raina tells him how she would manipulate him if that's what she wanted to do and then immediately follows up and does it, but he totally falls for it.

I forgot how intense (and ridiculous) Fitz's one-sided grudge against Tripp is. The Moby Dick bit is great.

Daniels tells Audrey something like, "I'm a monster, but you can save me," which is interestingly similar to how Ward is treating Skye in these episodes.

Speaking of which, the cello continuing to play over Skye discovering Koenig's body is amazing.

Skye says May left because she didn't care at all, but it's the opposite—she cares too much.

While they're talking by the pool, Jemma says Fitz will never have to find out what it would be like if she were Hydra, but thanks to the Framework, she will have to see him that way. Poor babies.

Garrett sarcastically tells Deathlock/Mike that he loves him right before a cut to Fitzsimmons in the pod.

Coulson says Skye was compassionate, not weak, when she chose not to let Ward die, whereas Garrett calls any sign of compassion in Ward weakness. It really hammers home how much of a difference it makes who finds you.

I've recently started rewatching Agents of Shield with my sister who hasn't seen it before, so here are some rewatch-inspired thoughts about the first half of season one:

The Bus Kids are all such babies! Especially Skye.

May gets knocked out in each of the first two episodes. It's definitely taking her a moment to readjust to fieldwork.

So many Shield water bottles.

Even though I know what Ward actually is, he still makes me like the version of himself we see here.

May and Coulson's one-sided conversations are amazing.

I honestly can't remember. Did Ward's younger brother die in the well? The flashes we see aren't super clear.

Interesting that Coulson tells Skye that there was a little girl in Bahrain, but he doesn't mention that she died.

I'd never realized that we get a glimpse of the carvings during Coulson's flashbacks of being revived.

Speaking of which, I thought looking at the carvings was what triggered his instinct to carve, but the drawings on the whiteboard in Eye Spy don't seem to set him off.

I love the way that when Coulson is kidnapped, he doesn't say the "Previously on" or "We'll return in a moment" bits. I remembered that from later seasons, but it's a nice touch to start it now.

Thinking about a howling commandos show that takes place during the war so we get to see more of the commandos’ missions and stuff, and also more development of Steve and Bucky’s relationship. There would be a couple episodes where trains are mentioned or they have missions involving trains to scare the audience, so that it catches everyone off guard when the last ep ends with the scene right before Bucky “dies” in first avenger.

it's funny how often, in the queen's thief books, the sad and shocking twist is that the love was there all along. there's the big obvious one, of course, but it comes up again and again: Dite with his hopeless crush, Sejanus with his mocking cruelties, Relius with his abject devotion and Teleus with his stalwart loyalty, Attolia's ladies closing ranks around her, Sophos telling all his tale and bashfully leaving out how often and how wistfully he thought of Eddis. in other cases it grows silently and catches our narrator by surprise: Costis down the well, Pol on the cliffside.

and it doesn't save everyone. love is not always a gentle thing, and it's not always enough. the minister of war nearly strangled his son to death. Sejanus committed treason. Eddis went to war. but it's always there, unobtrusive as a shadow, pervasive as the sunlight.

I think sometimes of a quote from mwt saying she front-loads the trauma: the worst thing that is going to happen to the characters, emotionally, generally happens in the first few chapters. their world ends, their life shatters, they lose everything, they are alone and afraid with no allies and no hope. and then we rebuild. over the course of slow, painstaking pages, they regain their footing in the world, carve out a new self, discover a new perspective and a new strength. further ills befall, of course, and at the great climax everything seems bleak and dire once again, but it's still not the worst thing to happen to them. they face the dire moment bravely, afraid but not alone, certain now in who they are and how they will face the end if it comes.

I'm still mulling this over, I don't have a tidy knot to tie between these points, but they feel connected. something about the compassion woven through these stories, both for the characters and for the readers. something about how they're tales of intrigue and adventure, yes, but they're also stories about building something good, and about seeing the best in people even when their worst is horrific, and about love as an act of courage in a cruel world. love as an act of faith. love as the last thing left that might be able to save you.

Not to reinvent the wheel over here but humanity is sooo right about tea. It really is the perfect finnicky little thing to do. You can use it as an excuse to get up and transition to the next thing for yourself or with others; you can use tea as the centerpiece for socializing; you can use it as a meditative device or a comfort ritual or as medicine or to soothe pain or to set intentions or go to bed or to wake up. And most tea is pretty inexpensive, healthy and sometimes you can just harvest the ingredients yourself. And there's a set amount of time it takes to heat up the water and prepare your cup and let it steep, which is all part of a ritual that makes it fast but not instantaneous which is. Good.

Hamiathes's Gift Exchange 2025: Schedule Announcement!

The schedule is here, and well ahead of time this year! We're kicking off in about three months, and the schedule will be relatively close to last year's. This exchange is open to anyone with an AO3 account who wants to write a fic or make a piece of QT art. For more details on length, size, and logistics of the exchange, check out the FAQ linked at the bottom of this post.

2025 Schedule

Character/relationship/worldbuilding nominations: Thursday, July 17 - Thursday, July 24

Signups: Friday, July 25 - Sunday, August 3

Assignments sent out: Tuesday, August 5

Fanworks due: Friday, September 12

Fanworks revealed: Friday, September 18

Artists/authors revealed: Friday, September 26

All deadlines are at 8pm EDT

Note: If you don't have an AO3 account, you can request an invite here. There is currently a 3 week waiting list to get an invite, so please make sure you request one soon if you're considering participating!

If you have any questions about how the exchange works you can find last year's FAQ here. Check out past HGE works here! If you want a reminder when signups open, dm me!

Oh good, at first I thought you were turning into Frankenstein.

i am creating an abomination please stand by