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queenluaModern AU. Half a year after graduating from Harvard, Lorenz returns to campus for a bit of a reunion—and runs into the last classmate he’d expect.
aka, Lorenz and Claude get third & fourth wheeled together & it’s all very awkward
~8k words.
Here at AO3.
is there a way to write a college AU without being absurdly self-indulgent?
this was self-indulgent on a lot of levels. the biggest struggle was perspective, actually—since the plot’s essentially a pastiche of stories i’ve experienced directly, or heard from friends, i noticed that it was harder-than-usual to stick to a consistent narrative voice. when i wrote the first draft, it was sorta omniscient-third-person-narrator-like, and it just didn’t quite feel like a story. once i figured out how to ground it mostly in Lorenz’s head, it came out better, i hope. (i have known so many people like Lorenz, like Claude, like Ferdinand—i hope it came through how much i love these humans, in all their frustrating complexity.)
i’d like to say that Hong Kong Restaurant is one of my favorite places on the planet, and it’s so beloved by the university that there is a goddamn plaque on campus to honor the restaurant’s founder.
stuff i thought about vaguely while writing:
* “elegy for an enemy” by stephen vincent benet. i think about this poem in a lot of contexts, tbh, because it absolutely slaps—but god TELL ME if this stanza isn’t a whole fuckin’ #claurenz mood:
Rest you, my enemy,
Slain without fault,
Life smacks but tastelessly
Lacking your salt!
Stuck in a bog whence naught
May catapult me,
Come from the grave, long-sought,
Come and insult me!
* "fukai mori" by do as infinity. ironically, i fell in love with this song before i knew it was an inuyasha thing—i looked up a translation on the internet, in my youth, and the haunting implications of that chorus line always struck me:
Go on with our lives and lose those things behind.
Wrapped around in lies, we stand there voiceless.
We want to leave our lives, until we find a way.
Searching for the light for eternity.
voiceless. in every dystopia i’ve ever written, there’s someone who’s mute. if only lorenz could find the words, etc etc
* "don’t trust anyone but us" by ellegarden. probably not for any thematic reason, the lyrics don’t fit, but i was already on the Japanese rock train and damn is it catchy
* this actually extremely excellent turkish bakery in watertown which actually exists
aka, Lorenz and Claude get third & fourth wheeled together & it’s all very awkward
~8k words.
Here at AO3.
is there a way to write a college AU without being absurdly self-indulgent?
this was self-indulgent on a lot of levels. the biggest struggle was perspective, actually—since the plot’s essentially a pastiche of stories i’ve experienced directly, or heard from friends, i noticed that it was harder-than-usual to stick to a consistent narrative voice. when i wrote the first draft, it was sorta omniscient-third-person-narrator-like, and it just didn’t quite feel like a story. once i figured out how to ground it mostly in Lorenz’s head, it came out better, i hope. (i have known so many people like Lorenz, like Claude, like Ferdinand—i hope it came through how much i love these humans, in all their frustrating complexity.)
i’d like to say that Hong Kong Restaurant is one of my favorite places on the planet, and it’s so beloved by the university that there is a goddamn plaque on campus to honor the restaurant’s founder.
stuff i thought about vaguely while writing:
* “elegy for an enemy” by stephen vincent benet. i think about this poem in a lot of contexts, tbh, because it absolutely slaps—but god TELL ME if this stanza isn’t a whole fuckin’ #claurenz mood:
Rest you, my enemy,
Slain without fault,
Life smacks but tastelessly
Lacking your salt!
Stuck in a bog whence naught
May catapult me,
Come from the grave, long-sought,
Come and insult me!
* "fukai mori" by do as infinity. ironically, i fell in love with this song before i knew it was an inuyasha thing—i looked up a translation on the internet, in my youth, and the haunting implications of that chorus line always struck me:
Go on with our lives and lose those things behind.
Wrapped around in lies, we stand there voiceless.
We want to leave our lives, until we find a way.
Searching for the light for eternity.
voiceless. in every dystopia i’ve ever written, there’s someone who’s mute. if only lorenz could find the words, etc etc
* "don’t trust anyone but us" by ellegarden. probably not for any thematic reason, the lyrics don’t fit, but i was already on the Japanese rock train and damn is it catchy
* this actually extremely excellent turkish bakery in watertown which actually exists
no subject
Date: 2020-05-02 05:12 pm (UTC)this definitely /felt/ wonderfully self indulgent, like you as the author was letting in the audience on some kind of fabulous inside joke with a wink - telling mirror stories about people over a few beers, joke-teasing some folks, given college kiddos love to be the most Extra versions of themselves - really loved that buddy-buddy feeling which also, more abstractly, i think helped with the nolstagia sort of vibe that blossomed.
(you can also just Hear that very specific kind of person Lorenz is when he goes on the art rant, bless.)
also gdamn those restaurants sound fabulous. :D what would you always order as a favorite?
(for some reason, reflecting lately how FE is just... really great with its characters even despite(?) the gameplay - just enough of characterization, but so much fun to play with the expanded cast - and I'm so honored to have met you through this series. :') )
no subject
Date: 2020-05-02 07:36 pm (UTC)dang, if only i could figure out how to induce headache-curative properties into more of my fics :P
really loved that buddy-buddy feeling
ahhh i'm really glad you picked up on that, lol. i sorta started writing it as a nostalgia/joke thing, but as i was writing i sorta realized like—man, there really is something kind of resonant here, in the sense of, the weird and irrational closeness you feel with friends you haven't seen in a while, and the ever-widening gap between who you were when you first knew them vs who you are now, and Lorenz really seems like the kind of dude who would have a very slow protracted existential crisis starting after graduation and lasting n years... so yeah after that things just started feeling. very buddy-buddy, lol
and re: food: HELL YEAH, so—
the kong: objectively, the scallion pancakes are the best thing on the menu. people speculated there must be some kind of cocaine in the included sauce just because it was so good and addictive. i had snob friends who would refuse to eat anything from the Kong, EXCEPT the scallion pancakes, because of course those were perfect and could do no wrong.
as for my personal fave: i went through a month freshman year where my sleep cycle made no sense, so i could never get to the dining hall for dinner in time, so i just ordered chicken fried rice at the Kong like. every night of the week. so that dish has earned my adoration forever, as straightforward as it is :P
i do have a super close friend who is very.... "i have never gone to the Kong sober and i am not starting now," so on the occasions we've reunite in boston, i'm always like "okay, the plane landed, let's get some KONG," and she's all "lua. it's 2pm. it is Illegal to go to the Kong before 9pm and while sober" and then i'm just a horrible nag all afternoon buying her beers and bein like C'MON HURRY UP STOP BEING SOBER LET'S GO I NEED MY SCALLION PANCAKES
the boathouse: couldn't find a way to gracefully slip this detail into the story, but: the boathouse, despite being essentially a middle-of-the-road crowd-pleasing catering-to-undergrads bar, serves fucking truffle fries. oh Harvard. (i ate them a lot. they're p good)
sofra: i had a friend in watertown for a while, we'd go here every time i came to visit, and i have no idea what any of it was because i let him do the ordering, but oh my god all of it was so delicious
just enough of characterization, but so much fun to play with the expanded cast yes, god. most fun storytelling sandbox i know of, for exactly this reason. like i've fic'd other stuff before but none of them have quite the delightful combinatorial explosion of an FE cast, yaknow?
anyway yeah THANKS FOR READING, i'm glad you dug this weird little modern AU...!