Snowflake 3 and Reading Wednesday

[flamingsword]

Challenge #3: In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I have instead been thinking of the Witcher/Star Wars crossover meta I was talking to lilalanor about.

“If you stuck Geralt in the Star Wars universe, would people think he was a Sith? The yellow eyes, the constant scowling, the Signs and their similarity to the Force - I can kind of see it as an AU. Jaskier would love being a holo-pop star, though. Billions of fans, and a galaxy full of new and interesting people to follow around and annoy.

Sticking absolutely anyone from SW into The Witcher would also be a fish out of water story, but would either be hilarious, tragic, or both. Probably both”

And I was thinking that Palpatine and Grand Moff Tarkin should trade universes with Geralt and Jaskier. Palpatine would be in a place where he had very little power, would be nigh universally hated for what the people would think his yellow eyes meant, and might even be forced into battling vicious monsters for his life. Aww, too bad so sad. Tarkin could be eaten by a kikimore, never to be seen again, and no one would care.

Meanwhile Geralt could be sparring with Vader, talking about what actually being persecuted was like, and the difference between the dehumanization of being put on a pedestal versus being treated like a subhuman. Maybe remind him that the answer to having been an enslaved underclass is not to make others be the slaves instead of you. Geralt’s propensity to be mean and blunt might smack some sense back into Anakin Skywalker.

Meanwhile Jaskier would be learning Jizz musi and anything else he could get his hands on, recording some holo-pop songs, and using his knowledge of how to play politics to help Vader replace the Emperor. It’s fun to think about, and there are a lot of themes you could use to tell different stories with it.

For Reading Wednesday I am currently reading Brené Brown’s Atlas Of The Heart, and the sentence

“I am not responsible for your emotional reaction to accountability."

reached out of the page to hold a mirror up to my face so I could see the pained wince I was making. Because Ouch. It is a raw truth that I have not at all internalized. I will talk to my therapist about it week after next.

I will soon be reading Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg and the Culture series by Iain M Banks for Ghost’s and my book club.

Comments

[sabotabby]

AHHH I love the Culture, please post all your reactions.

[flamingsword]

Will do!

[panisdead]

Hmm, I have definitely read Nonviolent Communication, but it was ages ago and I can't say I remember much (not a commentary on the book content, just the elapsed time). I'll be interested in your reactions.

[flamingsword]

I will probably not be getting to it for several weeks, but will be posting what I learned from it.

[numb3r_5ev3n]

Oh, a Witcher Star Wars AU sounds cool!

[flamingsword]

I am not writing it, just playing with it in my head.

[komadori]

I am only familiar with one of these fandoms, but you make me want to watch The Witcher now.

How is Atlas of the Heart? I was thinking of reading it.

[flamingsword]

If you listen to a lot of her podcasts, then about half of what’s in Atlas won’t be new ground, but I do like the way it’s teaching me to group emotions that sometimes don’t seem to go together, like boredom and regret both coming from expectations.

I also don’t experience jealousy, and my brain is not real big on its cohort-mate resentment, either (not since my teens), and I think those are pieces of relationships that I have been unable to see as clear and distinct things. I had forgotten how those worked, and it is throwing some things about other people and myself into starker contrast.

What I get out of the book is unlikely to be what other people do, but it is helpful and well written either way, and written in such language that people who aren’t familiar with emotions research or her other work will still have access to it.