#briarley

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Round 1

Info under the readmore

@smilesguaranteed asked for a bit of Briarley fic  (self-fic?) with the prompt “isolation,” so what could I write except a bit of my favorite mopy dragon brooding as he flies? 

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Briarley is happiest when he flies. 

He doesn’t dare fly during the daylight, when anyone might see the dragon-creature the curse has made of him. But once night has fallen, when the sky is dark, and even if someone should see him silhouetted by the moon they would believe it only a dream, he takes off from the parapet and flies. 

He flies, sometimes, all night. In the winter months, when the night is long, he can fly until he reaches the sea, and look down below at the endless water stretching empty in all directions; and then, when he is entirely alone, he feels at peace. 

In the summer, though, the nights are short, and he cannot fly beyond the fields of England. Even when there is no moon, even when the rain falls down in torrents, he can still see signs of human habitation down below. A lantern hung in a window; a flash of lightning reflecting off the window of a church. 

Even at this distance, the signs of human life pain him. He is alone, and will always be alone, and can never come closer than this. The only way to break his curse is to love and be loved, and that is impossible for him: he came into this world cursed already, unable to love a woman. 

Did the enchantress know that when she cursed him? Did she take a cruel pleasure in knowing that he could never meet her terms? 

Woo, am I behind!  Well, let’s play some catch-up.

Day 5:  promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.  Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Hmmmm.  This one’s a little tough for me; in the immortal words of Eleanor Shellstrop, “I’m not really a joiner.”  It’s possibly one of the great ironies in my life that the thing that motivates me most artistically is a sense of community—see how active I’ve been in the Harringrove space recently—and yet, socially, I’m much more comfortable one-on-one. 

Still, there are definitely some individual blogs I quite enjoy:

osprey_archer on Dreamwidth.  Jin writes intelligent and interesting posts about a number of subjects; her latest project has been watching and reacting to movies by female directors, which has been both fascinating and educational.  I’ve learned a surprising amount about Hollywood history (and, sadly, the incredibly sexist side of it) and discovered some very interesting films.  She also writes fanfiction (mostly MCU) and original fiction; I’m proud to say I helped beta her m/m WWII Beauty and the Beast retelling, Briarley, though even without the personal stake it would be one of my favorite stories.

featherycats on Pillowfort.  I enjoy Feathery’s art, the posts they reblog, and their unique and thoughtful perspective on many issues, including how complicated gender identity can be.  A rare older person who actively participates in fandom, their posts are full of nuance and compassion, which too often seem to be the first casualties of any Internet-based interaction.

Character, book, and author names under the cut