Valdemar Discussion Post!

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

This is the official Dead Vanyel Party discussion post!

Whether it's your first read or your millionth, there's always something worth talking about--and rambling at length about at that. Confide in your fellow Lackey fans--who's your fave? What books do you eat up with a spoon? Does Vanyel end up as a gay Companion after the Mage Storms books? Or is he reborn as the very subtle baby herald "Vanel"? If so, does that make Stef his life-bonded companion "Tylenol", or what? And is Ma'ar REALLY dead? (No!)

Life's little questions, and we all want to talk about them.

Anon and unanon are currently allowed on this post. As of August 9, only anon posting will be allowed, in order to foster an anonny sense of anonymousness, in the vein of everyone's favorite meme ;P. The exception to the anon-only rule is the Introduction Thread, where you can introduce yourself and meet fellow players.

If you're looking for "Research Materials", join the comm and visit this post. (Subtle, right?)

Main Post | Mod Call Post | Resources Post

Comments

What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

Which book is first on your Valdemar list?

Re: What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm rereading Talia's trilogy right now, and just finished Arrows of the Queen! I don't think I ever reread it before, so the last time I read it I was around 13. It's weird to read it again realizing how young Talia really is.

Re: What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

Exile's Honour!

And boom, there it is:

Whatever; when Alberich lost his faithful old Smoke a few weeks ago he hadn't expected to get anything better than the obstinate, intractable gelding he'd taken from its bandit owner. But fate ruled otherwise; the Voice chose to "honor" him with a superior replacement along with his commission, the letter that accompanied the paper pointing out that Silver was the perfect mount for a Captain of light cavalry. It was also another evidence of favoritism from above, with the implication that he had earned that favoritism outside of performance in the field.

First page, and she doesn't follow through with that AT ALL. How unfair!

...and yet fixable. God I love the first part of this book.

Re: What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

I am currently stalled out about halfway through Winds of Change, which is weird because I remember really liking this book.

Re: What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

Storm Warning, though I'm kind of skimming around not-Karal and through some of the descriptions of Karal's more mundane chores and duties. Trying to get to Altra showing up.

Right now Talia as just taken him to met An'desha, who is super hopeful that Karal might be an exorcist.

Re: What are you reading?

[(Anonymous)]

I finished Arrows this morning and just started Oathbound! I haven't read this one yet but am liking the characters so far. (I skipped the first short story, but the book does a fair job of catching me up.)

I've been mostly going in order of publication for my canon review, but I might skip to Brightly Burning after the Tarma & Kethry ones. Just because it was always one of my favorites :)

So which characters have what kinks? Be detailed.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, if it's going to be a kink meme...

Re: So which characters have what kinks? Be detailed.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it in bad taste to say Vanyel's got a rape kink? No? How about Talia?

Okay, okay, Talia probably doesn't.

Re: So which characters have what kinks? Be detailed.

[(Anonymous)]

Elspeth and Darkwind do all manner of things with silk ropes and hand-carved wooden penetrative devices. And really, really complicated positions. The Tayledras have some great ideas.

Kethry is a gentle, generous dom (no bondage, but definite control). Jadrek loves to submit.

Sherrill, Keren and Ylsa have not actually had sex with each other on Companion-back, but that doesn't stop rumors from getting around the Heralds' Collegium. Most of their sex is vanilla. Delicious, enthusiastic vanilla.

Someone really ought to write explicit Lavan/Kalira. I mean, it's right there in the text.

There was that one time when Kris and Dirk were drunk and got it on. In an alternate universe where Kris isn't dead, Talia finds out about it later and organizes a threesome. In fact, in that alternate universe, they settle into a stable triad where two parties are lifebonded and the third is their best friend. Oh, and they all learn to freaking communicate.

Kerowyn and Eldan do finally figure out that having sex in dreams means never having to worry about the laws of physics. Underwater sex? Flying sex? Really athletic Tayledras-meets-Kama-Sutra sex that challenges even Kero and Eldan's perfectly-in-form bodies? Why not?

Savil has much more frequent, much better sex than Vanyel or Tylendel ever manage. (Stefen, pre-Vanyel, is another story.)

Tarma is absolutely ace. Kethry is absolutely heterosexual. Nevertheless the two of them do a lot of nonsexual cuddling and massage. A lot.

(I would be happy for anyone to write about any of these!)

Y'all have read the Vanyel drag queen AU, right?

[(Anonymous)]

It's honestly the best LGBT fic I've ever read.

http://archiveofourown.org/series/27523

Re: Y'all have read the Vanyel drag queen AU, right?

[shadowsapiens]

That looks amazing! I'm avoiding Valdemar fic until after the fest (focusing on canon review because it's been ten years since I read some of these), but definitely bookmarking that for later.

Vanyel's rebirth

[(Anonymous)]

I vote that post-canon, Van and Stef are reborn as Tayledras. They get a lovely treehouse, a lot of hot springs, and some gryphon friends. Of course they have to save the universe in other ways, but at least they can do it and soak in hot springs in between universe-saving.

Hey, Sorrows Forest is cold. If you had to spend hundreds of years as a ghost there, you'd want to go where the hot springs are too.

So what are you going to prompt?

[(Anonymous)]

And is it to get it written or to write it yourself? :P

Re: So what are you going to prompt?

[(Anonymous)]

A plethora of Vanyel/Tantras prompts, which will be filled by someone who may or may not be me. (Will probably be me). Many Tantras is straight, but Vanyel is pretty "trapped in a waystation" prompts, oh yes.

And prompting my OTP, Vanyel/Guilt, and Vamyel/Shadow Lover.

And of course my other OTP, Alberich/literally-anyone-but-Myste. Definitely Alberich/non-con gangbang prior to burning (not that I'm currently writing that or anything), capped with some delicious trauma.

(about time I reposted this:) You Know You're An LHM Fan When...

[thene]

with thanks to Nakki, Kat, and everyone else who's chipped in over the years)

...your friends ask for recommendations for a good book and you hand them LHM and then apologize.

...it's possible to gauge your mood by the distance between your LHMs and your bed.

...it no longer has a name; when referring to it, initials are ample, and 'that sodding book' or 'the exploding pink fluff' will do fine.

...you've found yourself turning your lights out at bedtime, then turning them on again ten minutes later because you HAVE to read more LHM - many, many times.

...you've laminated your copies, and obscured the back covers with masking tape.

...you write letters to people in purple ink on pink paper.

...all other HoV books exist only to provide context for the LHM. You only read Winds of Fury for the Dating-Advice-For-Catgirls-Scene, and your mental image of the whole Arrows series consists of Van and Stef playing The Sims.

...you've caught yourself quoting Moondance during arguments in pubs.

...the word 'cross-pollinate' makes you titter.

...you wonder what Yfandes was doing for the 500 years Van and Stef were 'cross-pollinating'.

...you've had shipwars over what is, essentially, the same pairing. (Okay ,so I've heard that Doctor Who fans do this too)

...every time you hear about new fungus that affects plants, you wince in sympathy-pain

...your friend starts dating someone twice their age who has teenage children, and you think this is the most normal thing in the world. (Variation: your friend, who has teenage children, starts dating someone half their age and you think this is the most normal thing in the world.)

...the difference between 'rereading' and 'completely rereading' is the entire second volume.

...you know what Vanyel's name means in Quenya.

...you rate all other books in comparison to the LHM. Yes, other books can outscore the LHM, but your benchmark is the LHM.

...you've sometimes woken up in the middle of the night desperate to know if Stef was wearing shoes on p51 of vol 3, or why Vanyel moved rooms between the second and third volumes, or how Lendel managed to look so pretty even after taking that long walk off the top of the belltower.

...you find the scent of sandalwood inexplicably arousing.

...you read the LHM because Van's depressingly awful life reminds you just how good your own is.

...you spell it P-O-R-N.

...you collect feathers, and contemplate getting a bird of prey, just to entice people to your bed.

...you think about yourself in third person just so you can use your usename you've come up with.

...you try to learn to play the guitar simply to be able to play "My Lady's Eyes" for the senseless drivel!

...you have some, or all, of the soundtrack.

...before you pirated any the soundtrack, you made up your own tune to the Shadow-Lover song.

...and are now annoyed that you can no longer remember it, damnit.

...the Jehovah's Witnesses knock at your door and ask if you read the Bible; you ask if they read the LHM.

21_days Tumblr

[shadowsapiens]

The 21_days Tumblr is now live! We'll occasionally use it to mirror announcements from the comm, but mostly it'll just be running a Valdemar-themed queue and the occasional advertising post.

http://21-days-fest.tumblr.com/

Introduce Yourself!

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

This is the unanon party thread! Introduce yourself to meet fellow nonnies who like Valdemar like you like Valdemar! Things you may want to include in your introduction:

Username on DW/AO3/Tumblr:
Favorite Valdemar Book:
Most hated Valdemar book:
Age of first exposure to Lackey:
Favorite Valdemar protagonist and villain:
Least favorite:
Thoughts on Yaoi:

Feel free to add your own! :D

Re: Introduce Yourself!

[mornelithe_falconsbane]

Username on DW/AO3/Tumblr: I am sockishly yours on AO3, Tumblr, and DW as Mornelithe_Falconsbane.
Favorite Valdemar Book: Magic's Promise and Exile's Honour! I...just really like tired adult people who don't fit in good.
Most hated Valdemar book: Owwwwwlkniiiiiight. So goddamn boring that I could have cried. (To be fair, I also hated Exile's Valor).
Age of first exposure to Lackey: Ten or younger. It punched my id in it's metaphorical teeth so hard that you can still see Vanyel's shape imprinted in my mind.
Favorite Valdemar protagonists and villains: Kerowyn, Vanyel, Mornelithe (so absurdly evil!), and <3 <3 Alberich <3 <3!!
Least favorite: Lavan! But I really, really, REALLY like the last couple chapters of his book.
OTPs: Vanyel/happiness, Vanyel/Tantras, Alberich/Anonymous-men-in-dirty-alleys, Alberich/Kimmel, Firesong/Himself, Talia/Kris, and like a million other things! (Oh, and Kerowyn/an-exact-doppleganger-of-herself). And Elspeth/Darkwind, because of all the canon couples out there, they were my favorites.
Introduction: Hi! I'm Vanyel's Recruitment Officer! I was an aide to Vanyel's Campaign Manager's wonderful (and wildly successful) campaign to crown Vanyel as the Woobiest Woobie to ever Woob! I'm the one who shared my not-very-secret stash of Valdemar novels. ;) And rereading them, I realized that I still like those novels so goddamn much. Also, Vanyel. I fucking love Vanyel.

Writing!

[(Anonymous)]

A bit off-topic from Valdemar, but still fest-relevant I think! What sorts of things do you typically write? Fic or original work, longfic or shortfic, angst or fluff?

Re: Writing!

[(Anonymous)]

I write crack fic, angst fic, crack/angst fic, filthy porn, and non-con. A metric fuckton of non-con.

So, now that we've started...

[(Anonymous)]

We're not allowed to claim anything, but which of the prompts do you find particularly inspiring? Are there any that you don't necessarily feel up to writing but will be eagerly awaiting the fills for?

And of course, have you gotten started writing or drawing anything yet? >:D

Re: So, now that we've started...

[(Anonymous)]

I've copied all the ones I really like to my writing program and am taking notes until something really bites... I'm trying to get into the Krebain prompt (sans murderbot), and I have an idea how to structure a fill, but it's just notes for now. Really hope someone picks up the Stef torture prompt because I can't figure out how to do it. Actually every h/c prompt, please guys, I need this shit.

Research Help

[(Anonymous)]

While we may all have access to the "research materials", sometimes you need help tracking down that particular answer. Ask about canon here!

Re: Research Help

[(Anonymous)]

So even though I haven't read Magic's Promise in years, I am way interested in some of those Valdir prompts. I assume, since I have no recollection of Vanyel's disguise, it's in Promise somewhere? Any hints as to... approximately where so I can get Vanyel's... let's say physical condition right?

Poetry fills...

[(Anonymous)]

Anyone else planning or considering a poetry fill? I hadn't been, but then I accidentally wrote the first line of a fill in iambic pentameter and decided to run with it...

Also, I'm assuming/hoping the 100-word minimum wouldn't hold true for poetry? hahaha

Re: Poetry fills...

[(Anonymous)]

DO IT ANON

How's it going?

[(Anonymous)]

We're almost done with prompt week... are any of the later prompts looking good to you? Is anyone else a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of prompts? haha.

(I might be working on a google spreadsheet listing & linking to all the prompts, plus separate sheets dividing them by book -- would anyone be interested in the link to that once I'm done?)

Re: How's it going?

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, I am always interested in taking advantage of the organizational skill of others!

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't understood where the prompts are :S I would love to fill one or two but can't find them ç_ç Can somebody send me a lik?

[(Anonymous)]

You can find them here:

http://21-days.dreamwidth.org/1496.html

holy shit, meme, you're on fire

[(Anonymous)]

I just. Totally blown away by all the good shit on meme. I need to fill more.

Re: holy shit, meme, you're on fire

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! This is amazing! I have been saying for literally years that Valdemar needed an active, enthusiastic ficwriting fandom, and here it is, writing fics for me. I am so happy.

Tayledras Names

[(Anonymous)]

Anyone want to help me brainstorm some Hawkbrother names? ;)

Re: Tayledras Names

[(Anonymous)]

Take two 1-2 syllable name elements, squeeze them together. Here are some name elements:

Hawk, dove, raven, crow
White, blue, red, green
Song, dance, drum, lyre, harp
Sun, star, moon, comet, cloud, wind, breeze, rain

Thus you have:

Moondrum k'Vala
Cloudraven k'Sheyna
Whitestar k'Treva
Winddance k'Vala
Rainharp k'Sheyna
etc, etc...

Day 14 Check-In

[(Anonymous)]

We're halfway through fills period -- how's everyone doing? Are you excited about what you're working on now? Any struggles you're trying to get through? Do you have any favorites from what's been posted so far? etc etc

Re: Day 14 Check-In

[(Anonymous)]

Struggling to write faster? :/ I'm running a multi-part fill and I wish I could get to other prompts too but I don't know if it will happen? :(

There is so damn much good stuff on this meme that it almost hurts to single out any one fic...but the Lissa fill owns my soul.