Index The DownTime Pilot Index 3.0 - Feb/Mar Featured Fics (2/2), Rookie Challenge (2/21)

Exactly. You've been doing a great job adding in new pilot fics, and coming up with great challenges. Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks guys for the input and encouragement, all

We're going to go ahead and extend the Memorial Challenge to January 31st with voting taking place the following week.

Also, because of the length of this month's featured longfic, it's going to carry over into January as well.

 

One of the tropes I use in my writing is Buffy Speak.

A rather popular example from BBC sci-fi favorite Doctor Who: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey...Stuff.

An example from one of my fics, X-Wing: Genesis of a Rogue

Buffy Speak is a trope that can be used to add a bit of comic relief to an otherwise tense, angsty scene. It's one of many that can be used in this fashion. Others such as Lampshade Hanging also work very well for this purpose.

Lampshade hanging can be fun and thoroughly entertaining if used correctly. In essence, it's the author calling attention to something that threatens a reader's willing suspension of disbelief. The idea is that if you as the writer point out you're aware of the point, the reader is more likely to go with it.

Some other tropes I enjoy:

Crowning Moment of Heartwarming
Crowning Moment of Funny
Crowning Moment of Awesome
The Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
Heroic BSOD
Anyone Can Die
To Absent Friends

 

REMINDER!

We've gone ahead and extended the deadline for the second DT fic challenge to January 31st. If you want to participate, please feel free to do so! If you need help brainstorming an idea, ask away in the thread

Don't forget to check out our featured fics! Links on the first page of the index. The TIS Crew are also uploading their featured fic a post at a time on their website. For more pilot shenanigans, hop on over there.

~*~

And now for some personal fic advertising (as always folks, if you've got a new fic feel free to announce that here).

I've got two of my own fics to share with you:

'41 Lomin - A Tyria/Karrde crack!fic featuring Mara Jade, Dia Passik, Shalla Nelprin, and Lara Notsil.

The second link goes to an ongoing project, a revised edition of my first longfic

X-Wing: Rise of a Rogue

One shiny, revised, cleaned up post will go up every weekday until it's finished.

 

What are some of your favorite literary tropes and why?

We?d be here all day. I read far too much.

What tropes do you use in your writing (feel free to post excerpts and links)?
I pretty much love all the ?rules of narrativity.? For example ? it always rains at funerals. And in pretty much every funeral scene I?ve written, it rains. Because it?s just fitting. And it always happens that way.

Probably the one that I use the most when writing fanfic is the ?lampshade hanging.? Which I didn?t know was called ?lampshade hanging? until a few months ago, but that I?ve been doing for a decade. I like putting in shout outs to other canon events in fics and poking fun at common canon occurrences or common genre occurrences. This is a result of my being obnoxiously well read. It?s also the same reason I always know who the murderer is by the end of chapter two.

Sometimes I set up a story with the purpose of playing off clichés. The Detour fic purposely plays off film noir for the second two-thirds of the story. Some of the clichés I played straight (such as the femme fatal). Others I purposely poked fun of, and some were intentionally left out.

What tropes do you try to avoid while writing?
These days? The anti-sue. Oh, god, the anti-sue. I think I?d rather see sues than anti-sues.

 

Ooh, lampshade hanging might be my favorite trope! Partly because it can be hilarious, mostly because it allows me to pretty much do a Jedi Force-y, hand-wavey mind control trick and say "You will overlook the absurdity of this plot element."

So who's up for a new discussion topic? This one is open ended and real simple!

~*~

Discussion Topic #9: Theme Songs!

Here's an absurdly simple and fun topic for all of you. No need for bullets either!

Digging into your music libraries, what theme songs or music scores would you apply to your favorite pilots?

You can assign songs for profic pilots, original characters, and pilots in between those gamuts (whatever that might be).

For example, do you think Tycho's theme should be "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top? (I don't know, go with me here )

Maybe you think Wedge's is "Hip to be Square" by Huey Lewis and the news?

Go to town with this one! Feel free to link to appropriate YouTube videos if you're so inclined.

 

I love doing the theme song/fic playlist thing.

I could see Wes's theme song being "Loco" by David Lee Murphy. One part in the lyrics goes, "The whole town wants to know when I'm gonna grow up / But you know I never will". When I hear that, I think Wes.

Wedge is harder for me. I'm inclined to say "Come Sail Away" by Styx, though that's with some stretched interpretations of the song. But I do that a lot, LOL.

Hobbie's could be "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden for the title alone.

I always associated "Superman" by Five for Fighting with the Rogues for some reason, especially the Rogues from the X-wing novels era.

I have songs for each of my OC pilots, ranging from "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins and "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith to more emotional/sensitive songs. Darin's is "Not a Day Goes By" by Lonestar. Quiver's is "One in Every Crowd" by Montgomery Gentry (it was "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" by Kenny Chesney for the longest time, but the majority of the lyrics in "One in Every Crowd" fit too scarily well). CC's is "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans. The Trio Song (those three together) is "Just Not Today" by Kenny Chesney.

There totally needs to be a fic written where Tycho has to be disguised with a ZZ Top beard and sunglasses. The mental image is quite amusing.

 

Two new fics by Lane_Winree added to the index!

One Challenge Response Fic by Lane_Winree added to the index!

Refer to the first page for links and additional information.

REMINDERS!

The deadline for the Memorial Challenge has been extended to January 31st. You've still got a month to write something and submit it!

Be sure to check out the current discussion topic, theme music for your pilot characters.

And as always, if you know someone that might be interested in the index, give 'em a shove our way and have them post an introduction!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Featured fics will now stretch for two months so everyone has a chance to read them.

Be sure to check out this period's shortfic, "Wedge Antilles' Guide to Improvisational Parenting" and longfic, "Talon Inteligence Squadron: Book One"

 

Daring to Soar, a Talonverse Pilot Index Winter '10 Challenge Entry

Of note, you'll need no knowledge of the Talonverse or anything to do with Talon Intelligence Squadron to read the above vignette. At its core it's just about the emotion of the challenge topic... I hope you all enjoy it if you get a chance to hop over to Beyond!

 

One fic and challenge response by the TalonIntelSquad added to the index

Refer to the first page of the index for more details and a link.

 

Thumper - I LOVE Superman as the Rogue theme. Great choice!

Some of my thoughts

Wedge Antilles - Dream On by Aerosmith

Lara Notsil and Myn Donos - It's a Feeling by Toto
Ton Phanan - Time is the Enemy by Toto
Tyria Sarkin - River of Dreams by Billy Joel
Erisi Dlarit - Easy Lover by Phil Collins


A sort of Rebellion era pilot anthem - Home of the Brave by Toto

More as I think of 'em!

 

I've died and gone to heaven...

This is just the kind of place I was looking for. It's a good thing I'm unemployed right now... or I'd be getting sleep deprived trying to read everything archived in here.

Since I've been asked so nicely (erm... or rather threatened to be handed over to Wes to be used as a prank if I didn't do this...)

# Who are you? Lady Reva... who else would I be?

# Where do you hail from? A small planet still fighting against the dominance of the Evil European Union... Switzerland.

# Who's your favorite pilot? I... I can only say one? Well in this case... Wedge would have to be it.. followed by Face and Wes and Hobbie and Tycho and Ton and... erm.. I'll stop now.

# Squadron? Wraith and Rogue

# How about your favorite starfighter? Y-wing... (you can put your eyes back into your head... that was a joke. I'm an x-wing girl.

# Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? Wraith Squadron. The only book to make me burst up laughing in the middle of a crowded commuter train with people ending up looking at me as if I were a Rancor.

# Your favorite pilot fanfic? I'll get back to you on this one.

# Have a pilot fic you want to promote? I'd actually be grateful if people would promote their fics to me... I've been out of the loop for a while now. (I stopped coming here in about 2004, and I've been locked out of my old username. Hence the 2011 registery date.)

 

Welcome LadyReva! Always a pleasure to see a new face here

If you're looking for fic recs, check out the first page of the index where we've got our featured fics stored. We cycle through them every two months.

Currently it's "Talon Intelligence Squadron: Book One" and "The Wedge Antilles Guide to Improvisational Parenting." The previous featured fics are linked in the same post.

As far as some personal recommendations, I can't begin to describe how much I love the stuff that RogueInyriForge and Carr_Kicks_Door have written. You can find links to their fics under the author listings on the first page of the index as well.

 

Thanks!

I think I'm going to have to put off reading those for a few days.

A plot bunny jumped at me and kept on biting me in the chins when I read the challenge. So I'll be getting that one done... and since it will require 12 parts... I've got a few things to plan out and write.

 

One new fic by frodogenic1 added to the index!

Refer to the first page for a link and more information.

 

REMINDER!

If you're interested in taking part in the current writing challenge or reading this round of featured fics, you've got until January 31st!

We currently have three entries for the Memorial Challenge. If you're interested but perhaps need a plot bunny, feel free to ask here.

Don't forget to also check out our current discussion questions, theme music!

~*~

I'm going to open up the floor to all of you right now. Any requests for the next writing challenge?

 

A new Challenge?: tell about a life changing event in a pilot's live.

 

Hi everyone, happy belated new year! Darth Real Life kept me busy...
As a response to the discussion topic - I felt that these songs fit:

Hobbie Klivian: Don't dream it's over by Crowded House
Not so much the lyrics but the atmosphere.

Wes Janson:

Fun Fun Fun- the Beach Boys
Wes on a sugar rush

The Great Pretender by Queen/Freddie Mercury
It just seems to fit- sometimes at least.

Finally, for all of them:

Brothers in Arms by the Dire Straits

and last but not least, this is something I found while looking through youtube the other day: Rogue Squadron Tribute; Break on through by the Doors It's a really great video, using scenes from the movies, really a befitting tribute to the Rogues.

 

Seven new fics by JadeRose, Sabarte, Wraiths_Ghost, Astronut, and JediMara77 added to the index!

Refer to the first page for links and more information.

 

And here is my reply to the second challenge: What dreams may come
I am looking forward to reading all the other responses...but right now it's just too late...or too early Good night!

 

After having read up on Porkins, I wrote this: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/31496567/p1/?0.

 

Ten new fics by lordmaul13, SakuraTsukikage, Klimt_Of_Tornesdal, Wedge_Antilles_Cmdr, Jedi_Liz, RedBirdie, Abeja, DarthIshtar, and Lane_Winree added to the index!

Two new challenge responses by Abeja and DarthIshtar added to the index!

Refer to the first page of the index for links and more information.

REMINDER!

Submissions for the DT Memorial Challenge will be taken until January 31st. Voting will occur the following week!

We're also taking suggestions for the next writing challenge.

 

I've got a challenge entry half written, but it's giving me problems. sigh. I'll see if I get a flash of inspiration over the weekend and can sneak it in before the deadline.

I like the song choices! More for me to add to my playlists. Abeja, I tried to watch the video you linked but it looks like it's blocked here. It sounds really cool though.

Another weird one for Hobbie: "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba.

Here are a couple of my generic Rebel pilot songs:

"Change" by Taylor Swift. It's another where I stretch the interpretation a bit, but I really like some of the lyrics:
"So we've been outnumbered / raided and now cornered. / It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair. / We're getting stronger now / find things they never found. / They might be bigger / but we're faster and never scared. / You can walk away, say we don't need this / but there's something in your eyes says we can beat this. / Because these things will change. / Can you feel it now? / These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down. / This revolution, the time will come / for us to finally win. / We sing hallelujah, we sing hallelujah. / Tonight we'll stand, get off our knees / fight for what we've worked for all these years. / And the battle was long, it's the fight of our lives / But we'll stand up champions tonight. / It was the night things changed."

"The Underdog" by Steve Azar. For obvious reasons.

"Another Side" by Sawyer Brown is one that I use as the theme for one of my OCs. It's about a soldier in the American Civil War, but some of the concepts apply easily to the Galactic Civil War too.

It's a bit easier for me to assign songs to a specific story or story event. Or the other way around: a song will inspire a scene or a story.

*

Now, switching from songs to my review of the featured shortfic by SweetPea, "Wedge Antilles' Guide to Improvisational Parenting". (I have to finish TIS #1 yet.)

I really, really enjoyed it. The 1st person POV was the perfect choice for this story. I loved that Wedge fell asleep at his desk-- it seems exactly like something he would do-- and his characterization stayed awesome throughout. The story itself was cute and funny with great lines packed in a short space.

My favorite part was probably the mirrored, ?Cleansing breaths. Right. And then what?? Heh heh. That's daddy's girl right there.

And finally, the ending was great. Very sweet, and very Wedge. Like I said, I really enjoyed this fic.

 

I'm sorry to hear that the video is blocked where you are, Thumper They always do that these days. But maybe if you enter "Rogue Squadron tribute" in youtube, you'll get there. The one who made the video is called "Anyathe" - maybe this will help, though I doubt it. They're usually pretty thorough when they block a video...Couldn't watch your songs either- looks like they in turn blocked them over here
Oh well But I loved "Tubthumping" for Hobbie. I knew the song before, but I never knew it was called "Tubthumping". It seems to fit though- Hobbie gets knocked down again and again but so far he has always gotten back up
And the lyrics of the Taylor Swift song also seem to fit very well. Great choice of songs!

I found another one for Hobbie :

Clocks by Coldplay
It seems to fit to him in his more complacent moods. For me, Hobbie is not always necessarily a pessimistic person, but someone who likes to ponder things. The song is about time- or at least that's how I see it - and for some reason, whenever I hear it, I can see Hobbie sitting somewhere, thinking.

And one for Wes:

Dancing in the moonlight by Toploader
That one is definitely Wes. I don't know why- but I can totally see him singing and dancing in the moonlight (to annoy Wedge) - maybe together with Lt Kettch or a very reluctant Hobbie

 

I don't know why- but I can totally see him singing and dancing in the moonlight (to annoy Wedge) - maybe together with Lt Kettch or a very reluctant Hobbie



thanks for the plot bunny. It's nibbling at my shins and doesn't look like it's going to go anywhere.

on another Note:

YIKES! tomorrow is deadline for the memorial challenge and my entry is nowhere NEAR ready. My inspiration for it went on a hike and hasn't come back yet. *grumbles*