#fic commentary ask

I should temper all that high minded talk to be like:

“If you’re not careful, out there and in here-- you won’t make it to stick around like me.”

My hands work faster than my head, my quick reactions working against me. I don’t catch the impulse before I’m tapping my finger under those hypnotically heavy bags under his eyes. This is stupid, story-level shit, but I finish the beat. Fuckit if there’s no cameras to see it happen.

“What, so I can look like shit?”

Just like I somehow *knew* though, that makes him smile at a million watts, “Guess I do. But I’m still here.”

I honestly had so many moments in that fic I wanted to bring up (the partition that is setup, the moment when the Twi’leks cause trouble etc) but I’ve always loved their first meeting and that spice fruit cake 💕

Please and thank you 💕

M!!! My love!

Oh goodness! Thank you so so much for your ask from Draluram!

Oh gosh, it’s no secret by now that food is just so dang beautiful to me. I love to make it, share it, and eat it but especially baking. I 100% believe that goodness and intent can be felt in what we bake and that is felt in the first bite which is why I never bake when I’m mad or angry.

There is a bit going on here. RC and Kly’d had their meet cute and Kly’d grew up on a spice fruit farm. (Sidenote: love to @romanticgumchewer-reactivated who has written one of my favorite Mando fics that literally had me in tears and one of my writing inspo. spice fruit was my nod to their spice fruit HC) anywho, he has his daily routine and rarely goes to the marketplace and in this one moment he’s smitten over someone he doesn’t know but he bought a little piece of them. Something made by them that they are so proud of and believe in, which I think he respects. A respect for someone taking time to be good at something and not shying from that, which I think that confidence is needed to some degree to put yourself out there. Then he takes a bite of the cake and he’s just reminded of simpler times.

The yearn alone from being transported to such a comfortable and cozy spot in our lives through something as simple as food is just 😌👌

So there is a bit going on there but just the act of food being the little cherry on top of this smitten cake is all I wanted to convey. That little moment in the change of his routine that just hits so so good for our Kly’d Bear.

Holy smokes, I need to go back!

He couldn’t take in enough of the color of your hair and the hue of your skin, but what he wanted the most was to see the color or your eyes. But that would have to wait, if it ever got to that point. He quickly pulled back in when he saw you turn around. Reminding himself that this was a first date. Nothing serious.

Happy Tuesday! Life is overwhelming so now it’s Tuesday but I thank you for this wonderful ask! I hope your week is going well and you had a frightful spooky Halloweentimes!

On with commentary! You came at my throat with Draluram?!? Omgggggg my baby! My little Mando!Clyde meet cute baby that I haven’t so much as touched in months and months but think of CONSTANTLY.

A few things happening here. AD has such curious facial expressions and when he goes from stoic puppy dog in seconds it’s hilarious but also SOOOOO expressive and that’s what I picture here. Him getting the smallest glimpse of RC without his visor, which would have such a bluish cast to it.

I love the idea that (super creed based) Mandos aren’t always privy to the natural beauty of the outside world. They are armored up and see everything though a screen, take in as much technical information so when they do have a moment to see things without it, it’s a little more overwhelming than they expected especially with someone they find fascinating.

Also who wouldn’t want a big strong Mando just a little flustered? Anywho, just the idea that this barrier/panel is up out of consideration but he can’t help but do what we all know RC has in the back of their mind is just 🥺😩🧡

Gah, now I miss them so much!

Ohhhh thanks for this ask anon

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I thought of this scene as a foil to the way Angel Eyes acts about his Latin hobby. I realized in chatting with a few people that neither solitudinum nor Sighted Crows gives much of an indication how private that character quirk is, nor how rare it is for Angel to share it with anyone.

As it was, making that clear in so little words was a challenge unto itself. The only real suggestion of it is this line:

I freeze. The conversation continues, but I slip back to the chill of the inn. 

In which Angel I think leaves because he suddenly has the realization that Blondie has this information about him that’s deeply personal, and hearing him share that with someone else really makes him hesitate, he’s not sure if he’s okay with this at all. He didn’t even know that it could affect him this way. 

There’s the way he reacted to this when he realizes what Blondie has done:

An hour later, he drops a leather-bound copy of Metamorphoses onto the side table. Actiones secundum fidei , thought made flesh.

That was never the intention.

This was actually one of the only pieces of Latin I had semi-professionally translated for the purposes of my writing (thanks again, anonymous Hellenist :) ). I most often get the Latin snippets from a website and they are direct quotations from historical Roman figures or the like. But there wasn’t anything on my website or Wikipedia that really fit the mood of….suddenly having physical evidence that someone close to you knows you quite well and cares about you. 

The fact that it turned into more of a ship-focused moment between them was nice. The aim with (who built) the road was to bridge the gap between the optimistic ending of solitudinum with the fraught conflict of Sighted Crows. In this drabble specifically a lot of that ‘bad at taking affection’ comes in that’s a very central theme to Sighted Crows. 

“What, can you uh. Not read.”

“I can.”

Instead of throwing the book into the fire where it belongs, I crack open the spine.  

The endline hits a lot of good notes for me– I of course love bone-imagery when writing Blondeyes, and this subtle underscoring of the intellectual differences between them worked out well. The theme of choice, choices made is quite important in (who built) the road, and this drabble reflects that strongly. Angel chooses the right path here, and I think that’s a big part of why I like this drabble so much. 

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