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

Just another reminder all! Be sure to check out the challenge responses and send in your vote to the pilot_fic_index sock.

New challenge will be posted Saturday! You may want to participate in Discussion Topic #7 to help get the gears cranking for this one

 

Hi everyone! Newbie here I am so happy to have found this index


# Who are you? Here I go by Abeja, but in normal life I am called Julia

# Where do you hail from? Munich, Germany- probably best-known for the Oktoberfest (which is usually in September, not October )

# Who's your favorite pilot? Hobbie, by far! I just think there's much more to him than his pessimism and that's sadly often overlooked.

# Squadron? The Rogues.

# How about your favorite starfighter? X-wings are still the best.

# Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? Starfighters of Adumar. It's well-worn because I read it time and time again. It's also been a constant companion on a lot of travels to other countries

# Your favorite pilot fanfic? I read a lot of them over the years and many of them were very good, but I couldn't say that I have a clear favorite. A lot of them are wonderful! I really like stories that explore Wes's more serious side, though, for example.

# Have a pilot fic you want to promote? Sure After a long absence, I posted this one a few days ago: The Night Before and The Morning After . It's just some light-hearted fun with the Fab Four.


I'm happy to be here and looking forward to getting to know everyone!

 

Welcome Abeja!

Ah, nice to see someone else with a well loved copy of SoA. I've got the spine of mine held together with scotch tape.

By the way, all, Abeja submitted nineteen fics to the index yesterday. Be sure to check them out!

 

My SoA is very well-loved. Actually, it's a second copy since the original fell apart.

 

And the winner of Challenge #1 - Ghost Stories is ...

Old Friends by DarthIshtar!

Congrats, Ish!

~*~

And without further ado, introducing the second DT Challenge!

Challenge #2: Memorial

For an active duty combat pilot in time of conflict, losing a comrade is an always present threat. With every skirmish a pilot flies into the chances of a wingman or squadronmate being killed in the line of duty increases.

The challenge is this: Write a fic in which one or more pilots deals with the loss of a comrade.

This is an open-ended prompt. Canon characters and original characters are welcome.

Submissions will be accepted from November 8th to December 31st. Voting will occur from January 1st to January 6th.

If you want to participate and would like brainstorming help, feel free to ask in the thread

 

Thanks!

 

Congrats, Darth Ishtar!

Ooh, my first challenge! Hmm... must cogitate... Who's dying? Who's surviving? Who's not really coping?

 

I want to try my hand at non-OC pilots, since I've been doing almost exclusively original pilots. Even when I made Anakin a squadron commander, his clones were unfamiliar faces.

 

Congrats, Ish!

This works out really well for a theme I'm writing for the Talons right now. Good timing, Lane.

 

Congrats, Ish!

 

Shameless plug alert!

Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books we all read when we were kids? Of course you do!

Myra thought this idea up and both of us wrote it. Unfortunately, the formatting precludes us from posting it here on TFN or any other message board, so we had to post it elsewhere. But, if you're interested ...

In Which Wes and Hobbie Walk Into a Bar - A Choose Your Own Adventure fic

Feel free to check it out and review if you've got an LJ account

REMINDER!

Be sure to check out this month's featured fics, Doppelganger by CarrKicksDoor and How? by talkingbanana!

Also, if you're thinking about participating in Challenge #2, you might want to check out discussion topic #7. It's going to be replaced on Sunday!

 

CYOA books were my favorites. I've written 29 chapters of a Twilight CYOA. Will check yours out.

 

I think that I missed the discussion prompt about death. So, here we go.

How do your pilots (be they your preferred canon characters or original characters) handle the loss of their comrades?

I'd say fairly well. Sure, they grieve and mourn their comrades, they are usually driven to action. In a scene I'm working on for the next Talon Intelligence Squadron, one of the characters dies, and Karn Deloti (my main character in that saga) spends some time thinking about what happened. The conclusion that he comes to is that he needs to take the fight to the next level - which may not always be the best thing. There might be some underlying pain still there from other experiences, but it's buried fairly deeply.

Looking specifically at certain canon pilots, how do you think Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, and/or Tycho cope? (Feel free to answer for one or more of them or discuss other canon pilots)

Lane nailed it, I think, for the Big Four pilots.

What profic pilot death from the EU novels or films touched you the most?

Easily Ton Phanan in Iron Fist (which, coincidentally, I'm re-reading right now).

When writing death in your own fics, do you handle it on or off page?

Hmm...I don't think that I've written any of the scenes where people die in the Talonverse. Still, I don't have a problem with handling it on the page, it just hasn't come up in the scenes that I've worked on.

Can you offer any tips for others in regards writing fics and scenes about loss?

I like to really get into the characters heads. A lot of thinking, not so much speaking, from the characters' POV. I think that I did that fairly well in a short story in our Tales from the Intelligence Gala Bombing anthology.

 

One new fic by Katana_Sundancer added to the index!

Check the first page for more information.

 

^^^^^ I'm indexed!

Ahem.

Okay, I have another plot bunny! (Sorry, they breed like... )

How many of you know the TV show Total Wipeout? It's a UK show, apparantly based on a US show, with an Australian version as well.

Each week, 20 contestants compete in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challenges are based in large pools of water or mud and generally involve large assault courses that participants must cross.

I saw it the other day and thought... "OMG, squadron bonding exercise... eek!" I could just see the Rogues (and the Wraiths) competing in something like this.

What do y'all think?

EDIT: (cos I'm a dumb*** who keeps forgetting to include stuff in her posts) I've read that CYOA fic (why did I just type coffee? At least I caught it before I posted! ). Very funny, very well put together. There's also one out there that is Wes and Hobbie running a flight class... HILARIOUS!

 

I am busy with NaNoWriMo but this challenge fitted perfect for one of my chapters

Jason will be a part of my NaNoWriMo story "Reunion"

How do your pilots (be they your preferred canon characters or original characters) handle the loss of their comrades?

I have written deaths of pilots and one, Harry, was comforted by friends and the other, Alan Guyet , is also a doctor and he will get help from a Jedi.

Looking specifically at certain canon pilots, how do you think Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, and/or Tycho cope? (Feel free to answer for one or more of them or discuss other canon pilots)

Lane nailed it for the Big Four pilots.

What profic pilot death from the EU novels or films touched you the most?

Ton Phanan in Iron Fist .

When writing death in your own fics, do you handle it on or off page?

On page and from the POV of one of the other pilots

Can you offer any tips for others in regards writing fics and scenes about loss?

Some characters will get poetic and find comfort in words or the presence of a comrade.

 

Belated congratulations on the challenge, Ish!

I'm trying to get myself back in gear here. I've missed so much. I don't know if my quasi-NaNo is helping me or hurting; it did get me writing my pilotz again, but I'm also frustrated because I'm spinning my wheels on an important scene I just can't work out (the darn antagonists keep winning ).

Characters dealing with the loss of friends and comrades... It's such an individual reaction and there are lots of factors that can come into play, but it's a fascinating thing to explore with characterization. Here are some of the things I look at when writing about it:

First and foremost, the personality of the survivor I'm focusing on. Has s/he lost other loved ones in the past? Maybe that means they're more experienced with dealing with the emotional aftermath and can cope better, but on the other hand, it could make another death even harder for them to deal with. I keep thinking of Myn Donos's breakdown after he lost his astromech, but I realize there were other factors with that too. In general does the survivor take things hard or shrug things off? How close were they to the deceased?

Next, who are the other survivors? Do they offer a good support network or do they make it harder for each other to cope?

What was the informal "role" of the deceased in the squadron? Was s/he the loner who never cared about anyone else, or was s/he the one whom everyone came to with their problems? If it's the latter, the squadron now has a gaping hole right in the area where they now need it the most.

Some other things can also affect reactions, like how the death happened, if other characters feel survivor guilt, etc.

I've had a normally cheerful, extroverted character lash out in anger at everyone after a death because he didn't know how to cope with all these depressing, introverted feelings he was suddenly getting. I've also had a character go into full denial about a death partly so he could continue to function well enough to help someone else through it and partly because he couldn't handle it emotionally. That was something I explored and developed over the course of an arc through three long stories. I'm not sure how well it really turned out or if it makes sense to a reader (third story's not done yet), but I'm proud of how I think it turned out. I researched PTSD and similar conditions for it.

 

Loved the two featured fics, showing great characterisation and humanity.

Great work

CarrKicksDoor
talkingbanana

 

Oof, sorry I've been MIA all. School and work have been kicking my rear the last couple weeks!

Thumper

This is fantastic characterization advice. It's never going to be the same for everyone, which is why I was interested in hearing how people thought Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, and Tycho would individually handle loss.

I have no idea why, but the first thing I thought of while reading this description was Anya in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode "The Body." If you're a closet Buffy fan like I am, you know EXACTLY which scene I'm talking about. I wish I could find a clip because that was one of the most profound, heartbreaking portrayals of someone coping with death I've ever seen in film or television.

Earlybird

Glad you enjoyed those fics! Carr and talkingbanana are two of my all-time favorite fic writers

REMINDER!

Just about a week left to check out this month's featured fics! You can find links on the first page!

Also, with NaNo winding down perhaps you want to take a stab at another (significantly less intense) writing challenge? You can find DT Challenge #2 on the first page of the index. If you would like to participate but maybe need some brainstorming help, ask away here

 

I think I would like to participate in said Challenge above... I love my flyboys...

 

Overboard4aFel - Welcome to the index!

By all means, feel free to participate! If you'd like any help don't be afraid to ask here.

Also if you're interested, there's a set of newbie questions on the front page. If you feel like introducing yourself a bit more, you're more than welcome to post your answers here

 

Ooh, Thanks! So here's my newbie question and answer:

?Who are you? Overboard4aFel- Most just shorten that to O4aF


?Where do you hail from? Florida, but in 13... er... 12 days Costa Rica


?Who's your favorite pilot? Hmmm.... Hard one- I really like the pilot "big four" Wedge, Tycho, Wes, Hobbie. I think the three of them are some of the most realistic personalities out of the SW universe. However, Soontir Fel, Jag Fel, and of course, Jaina Solo hold some of the dearest places in my heart.


?Squadron? Gosh, really? I think out of them all, the one I like the least is the Wraiths, but I can't say I dislike them in any way- Just the least connected with, personally. Imperial squad fav is definately 181st.


?How about your favorite starfighter? X-wing, but clawcraft is near second. They're totally wicked looking... [face_evil]


?Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? Er... You're asking me to choose one?? I think I will have to go with Isard's Revenge. She was such a great baddie... Why can't profic come up with that good of a baddie anymore?


?Your favorite pilot fanfic? Hmm.... I remember there was one a while back that I really lold at, where Hobbie and Wes get kitchen duty due to some practical joke they pulled on Wedge, and finding Sam from Lord of the Rings cooking " 'Taters' ", to which neither knew what they were, and if I recall correctly it ended in some sort of food fight.... After that summary, if you want to know what the name was, I can't help you. I just remember the story.... Sorry!


?Have a pilot fic you want to promote? I can't say there's one particular one. I haven't read enough to be able to promote one or another... Sorry.

O4aF

 

Hiya, O4aFel! Costa Rica, really? That sounds awesome!

The Fab Four are pretty popular around here, I think... Something to do with the combination of humour and complete & utter loyalty to each other... At least, that's my take on them. Jag Fel, however, is also v awesome. (He's related to the Wedge, so how can he not be? )

Hope you enjoy it here!

 

I have no doubt that I will-- How could I not with a whole lot of people who love Flyboys?

Thanks!

 

One new fic by earlybird-obi-wan added to the index!

Recently added fics can be found on the first page of the index.