So in the last few months I've developed a weird kind of insomnia. I sleep weird hours and when I want to sleep I can't, but when I'm supposed to be going to class I can <g>. Anyway, last night while I was lying awake I had an idea for this thread. I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a thread just of things people like? Fanfic, published work, pictures, songs, whatever? Just for the heck of it, because sharing things you love always makes you happy?"
So that's what this thread is. If you have a favorite scene in a book, post it! (Preferably not a whole lot of it, as we don't want copyright issues <g>, but enough to show why you love it). If you're reading a fanfic and you come across a line you love, post it! L&C fanfic is the obvious choice, but I don't see why we couldn't paste other things too. Whatever you come across that makes you happy (or sad, in a happy sort of way <g>).
If you have a picture, post a link to it or put it in your message. If you have a song, put in the lyrics. Heck, if you have a favorite scene in a movie you want to share, try transcribing it <g>. There are no rules except that you should attribute the source and explain why you like this scene/verse/artwork/etc. Now, because of the nature of this thread there may be spoilers here for all sorts of things. So be warned <g>. If anyone's posting a particularly large spoiler for something, they should probably put a warning at the top of their post.
Anyway, I'll start. After that it took me a long time to decide on one thing! But I'm going with a passage from
Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston. (Actually, this is the abridged version from the audiobook; it's a little more concise than the real thing.) I just love the conversation, the sense of opportunities lost... Okay, don't mind me, I'm a sap
. Anyway, all the backstory you really need to know is that Wedge is a starfighter pilot and Iella is an intelligence officer. Qwi is Wedge's ex-girlfriend, and Diric is Iella's late husband.
"Listen, I haven't seen you in months. And now that we've talked, I still feel as though I haven't seen you. What's going on?"
"I can't help you with that, Wedge."
"Iella, have we stopped being friends?"
She was silent for a long moment. "I suppose we have."
Wedge felt his breath catch. "When did that happen? How did it happen?"
"It's not you, Wedge, it's me." Her mask of serenity slipped, leaving her expression tired, even dismayed. "I just had another direction to go, and you're not there." She put her hood up; suddenly he could no longer see her features. "I have to go," she said, and turned away.
Wedge stood there and watched her fade into the darkness of the plaza's shadowy edges. It occurred to him that this departure was just the image, the reflection of something that must have happened long ago. He just didn't remember when.
And, later in the book:
"Iella, if General Cracken orders me to play Turr Phennir's game with the aerial duels, I'll refuse. I'll resign my commission." He saw her jaw drop.
"When I do that, I'll have to start over from the ground up. New career, new friends, new world, maybe even a new name. Since I'm on the verge of losing everything, I really need to find out how I lost something earlier. I need to know how I lost your regard."
She stared at him. Finally she shook her head and said, "It's not... like that. It's nothing you did, it's something I did." Her expression lost all self-assurance. "Wedge, let's not do this now."
"When? Iella, we can't do it when I'm a civilian being shipped back to Coruscant in disgrace, now's the time!" He slid toward her, the knot in his throat threatening to cut off his speech altogether. "Please. Because we *were* friends. Tell me how we stopped. Was it my relationship with Qwi?"
A flicker of pain crossed her face. "No. Yes. It's related to that." Her words were a long time in coming. "When Diric died, you and Corran were there for me. And when I gradually got better you didn't wander away, it wasn't a 'you're all fine now, so it's back to work for me.' I can't tell you what that meant to me. And gradually I began to wonder..." She was silent for long moments. "If maybe there was a chance for you and me."
He gave her a nod. "I had those same thoughts."
"But I told myself it was too soon to be thinking about that. I told myself that for a long time. Looking back on it after a while I don't suppose you could have thought I was still interested in you. We became just pals. And one day there she was, Qwi Xux, hanging off your arm. And I realized I'd waited too long. It hurt every time I saw you, knowing that I'd thrown away my opportunity. And you can't be friends with someone who cuts out your heart, even unintentionally, every time you run into him."
"You know, we're not together anymore, Qwi and I."
She nodded, but her expression did not lighten.
"And?"
"And what? And she's gone, and so maybe we can start all over again?"
Surprised by the heat and anger in her voice, Wedge drew back. "So what you're saying is that I hurt you so badly that we can never be anything to one another again."
"I suppose that is what I'm saying." Iella looked on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, Wedge, I am, but I think you'd better leave."
"It's not leaving that's hard, anymore," he said, scarcely recognizing his own voice. "It's finding somewhere to go."
Okay, so it's a Star Wars book. Forgive me, with the musical going on I have SW on the brain
. But I've been rereading it, and I've always loved these scenes. So here they are. I hope someone enjoyed them, and I hope someone posts something new! What do you love?
Kaylle
