#esama

Another day, another project! Sometime Yesterday by Esama/@esamastation was one of my first attempts at bookbinding years ago. Long, long ago, I learned Barnes & Noble will take whatever PDF you upload and give you a paperback book for a fee. I took ages considering doing this to fanfiction but always hit a wall when it came to the cover art. I never went the B&B route, but now that I'm binding my own books, I felt it was time to finally get back to making this book a reality.

A question if anyone happens to be able to answer (or has the incredible amount of time and self restraint to go looking). What might be quite a while ago (2+ years?) when I was reading pretty much all Hualian fics available at the time, there were 2 of them that I would really like to read again (and/or read similar fics) if anyone happens to recognize them by the following descriptions:

>> A fic where when Xie Lian ascends for the 3rd time he regains the ability to hear prayers and it turns out he has a massive backlog of them. I don't remember if it's optional to start at the beginning or not, but I'm pretty sure he does and he sits there and listens to every single one of HC's daily (and sometimes multiple a day) prayers that have piled up over the last few centuries - Found! - https://archiveofourown.org/works/40560810 >> What might be an E rated fic but I don't seem to distinctly recall that? where Xie Lian determined at some point during his second banishment that his cultivation method was NOT going to work out so well with his current situation so he switched to what ends up being essentially the exact opposite where part of his cultivation is pursuing desire. Somehow in this he ends up in Ghost City though I don't remember if that involves the whole desire thing or if he's there doing cultivator things (or is there because of bad luck) Also if anyone has been wondering where I've been, the beginning of year is insanely busy for me and I've also been on one of those phases where instead of writing I go read massive swaths of previously read and favored fics, and massive swaths of MXTX fics of favored pairings. In return for suggestions either of the above or of the vibes of above (as well as any that involve Shen Yuan resets or fire master and/or godly Hua Cheng) I offer my current most favorite of the reread list:

One of my all time favorite collections of what ifs featuring any number of Hualin shenanigans. I originally found this series when I was searching for ferret!Xie Lian fics and have loved every single fic in this series

Bilbo inadvertently gets Nori high (chp. 1)

Blessings and Rituals by esama (AO3) The Hobbit – General #Alternate Universe #Religion #Theology #Rituals #Dwarven Culture #Hobbit Culture #Friendship

This made me switch to my iPad because all time fave fics is a very serious topic .

Also thank you lol, I hope you’re doing well too!!

LoTR will sadly have to be omitted, I’ve only read a couple in the last seven years. I got really into The Hobbit for a second, but I liked the more light-hearted stuff and ran out pretty quickly T-T

These are all complete except from the TMA ones-

SVSSS: Tarnished Gold, Metagaming, We Should Stick Together, Deluxe System 2.0: Co-op Mode!, High Mountain How I Long, I Wish You Were My Husband, Tongfang

For the totally uninitiated, I recommend I Wish You Were My Husband- it’s an au using another book’s set up, so you get a solid character reintroduction

The Untamed: Rotten Work, Hunters Seeking Solid Ground, By Any Other Name, To You I Am, I Started from the Bottom/And Now I’m Rich, I Will Be Chasing a Starlight, Lynchpin

For the totally uninitiated, I recommend I Will Be Chasing a Starlight- it’s an au with a Star Trek backdrop so you don’t need context

TGCF: Thousand Gold Come-and-Go Stew, No Paths Are Bound, A Mighty Ocean or a Gentle Kiss, No Water is Enough, Nacreous, Even Across a Thousand Miles

For the totally uninitiated, I recommend Thousand Gold Come-and-Go Stew- it’s a post epilogue au with an amnesia element and limited cast, so you should follow along fine

The Magnus Archives: Forgive Us Our Tresspasses, Look No Further, The Least He Could Do, Nature Has Taught Her Creatures to Hate

For the totally uninitiated, I recommend Nature Has Taught Her Children to Hate- it’s a retelling overhaul so you’re reintroduced to these characters

SVSSS in particular has a lot of funny 1-2 ch scenario fics so I fully recommend checking that archive out for yourself and rifling around- those are just the ones I consider the best of the best. The Untamed has a tonnn of long-form dramas which aren’t my favorites, but clearly well done if you like those more.

And TGCF and TMA are kind of the odd children- high highs, low lows.

Here's a list of my favorite fanfic authors that write such masterpieces I'm left in awe. I have reread many, many of their stories because the writing is so good.

Astolat - I've read all of her Witcher and Transformer works at least seven times each, lol. The Game of Thrones stories are mind-bogglingly creative, and the Harry Potter works are the best I've ever read in the entire fandom ever. I love how quickly each story progresses and how immersive each world is, and I find that her stories are the ones my mind most often turns to and thinks about while I'm daydreaming.

spqr - phenomenal, breathtaking, single-chapter oneshots that slice into a fandom with such precision that you don't even have to know what the fandom is but you'll love it and feel like you've been a part of it for years. Masterful, exquisite, heartfelt stories that are like a solid jab to the solar plexus when you step into them.

betts - oh my gosh does this author know how messy emotions and relationships and life can be. She flays apart characters, sees what makes them who they are--all the flaws, mistakes, grief, bad parts of them--and shows exactly what it means to be human. I've never felt seen like this before. betts has a gift and each story is an absolute treasure.

glimmerglanger - this makes me want to cry. I've bookmarked every single one of their stories. Read many of them over and over and over. Screamed in elation when a new update came through. but - they're gone. Nuked. Obliterated. My heart goes to the author. This is a reminder to treat these writers better, to not nag or insult or complain about the writing they do for free. I sobbed when I found out their entire archive had been deleted. Those stories were breathtaking. Staggeringly creative. All Codywan fics set in such masterful worlds: the Mermaid AU, Magic AU, Yellowstone, Baseball, Time Travel, Captured by Vader and tortured, heck, even the Animal Crossing crack!fic was a blast to read. The rarepairs were so much fun, Just Right with Obi-Wan/Alpha 17 was a personal favorite. I hope glimmerglanger is doing ok and knows that they have so much support from dedicated fans.

objectlesson - alright this is my guilty pleasure. Here's who to go to if you want interesting, hot, probably out of your comfort zone but gosh darnit if it doesn't awaken something in you, smut. Never thought I'd read Doc/Lightning McQueen fanfic but here we are. This author knows exactly what's she's doing and I'm all for it.

goldcranes - Masterclass of intense focus on little details. On exactly which lens setting you use to set the scene, what to focus on, how to best portray what's happening to wrench on your reader's heartstrings and make them feel. Phenomenal writing.

Fan Cover for “Old Dogs”, by @esamastation​

In honor of The Last of Us TV show , I reread Esama’s FANTASTIC slowburn fic “Old Dogs”. Did you want Joel to find (romantic) love? Did you want Part 2 to not happen? Do you like dogs?

Alternatively, if you’re coming from Assassin’s Creed: Doesn’t Desmond deserve a hot, morally-grey DILF to love in the apocalypse?