Hi hi hi hi! Can I start by tellin you how much I love the name of this chapter? It had me giggling so much.
Groot trying to hold K’wirra back from running headlong into disaster is so sweet (although I imagine she doesn’t love being caged). The way he responds to her attempt to return to the emporium feels very in-character, and Rocket being concerned without wanting to admit it is both adorable and on-brand.
Those shiny feathers would light up like tinder.
Rocket can’t help but admire the things he thinks are beautiful — even when he’s being grim and fatalistic.
He could laugh, but it'd be weak. So he needles her instead. "And what are you gonna do, flap the fires to death? Spit on 'em?"
This is so him. Always taking the snarky road. I do love that we see her always rushing to action and him always trying to evade danger. But I appreciate even more that we see, very clearly here, that even though Rocket has a tendency to “run away,” he wants others to come with him. It calls to mind the whole “The only chance we got is to get to the other side of the universe as fast as we can” line (prepping us, I guess!) but also how well we know, from volume 3, that he really does want to take all his friends with him. (╥﹏╥)
"Or—or maybe we keep it? I mean, we’re not like the others." She floats the idea, buzzing like a kitchen timer.
I love how on the surface, this is just another idea of what to do with the orb. But underneath it, we know it’s also K’wirra desperately clinging to the idea that they’re a team/family that’s going to stay together. She’s so invested in them as a collective, long before they are. I think that’s beautiful. And sad. And relatable.
Rocket's whiskers twitch as his upper lip draws back. K'wirra needs a leash or something. Maybe he'd build one.
This made me snort omg.
He pulls back, winding up for each word like it owes him units.
This line is SO. GOOD. Just so good. It give us not only a perfect idea of how Rocket’s saying it but also how moves through life. God, you are so wildly talented and skilled. This line is seriously genius and might be my favorite of the chapter.
It let them be ripped from Rocket's ugly little paws, metal-mangled and hormone-addled and trying to hang just a little while longer. But did the galaxy ever change? No. It repeated the age-old cycle long after it grew stale.
…although this is another perfect sequence of sentences. Heartbreaking and just so full of Rocket’s own brand of cynicism. I… have I asked you if you’ve ever written anything original for publication? Because I would buy it. I would pay good money to read it.
That one lands like a punch to the throat. No snark for that.
Yeah. I’d buy anything you’d publish.
Your descriptions of K’wirra are so, so beautiful. I don’t draw a lot of animals (and I’m so behind in my artwork) but I would love to do some fan art of her some day ߹𖥦߹ i’m not sure if i’d do her justice but i hope i get the chance to try~
He huffs, giving her the softest shove he can muster. She takes it like a champ, stumbling but not falling. He'd never say that, of course. Never say he regrets it when her overgrown talon catches the seam of the flooring.
He’s such a fucken softie. I love him so much. LET IT OUT, ROCKET. (In due time.)
These two are making him want to hurl. Rocket rolls his eyes as his head rolls across his shoulders.
This made me smirk. I love it so much.
“Yeaaah. I'm not great with small enclosed spaces. Because of, like, the wings? I'm best in open airspace. And Groot’s always had our backs.” She looks at Groot meaningfully, her feathers fluffing as her shoulders rise and fall. "It's my turn to have his."
This is one of the reasons I love K’wirra so much. She’s so loving andd has such a deep sense of loyalty and. Ugh. I just adore her.
Groot meets her gaze like an old friend. [...] It doesn't stop that creeping, scalding sting in Rocket's throat, but he tells himself it does.
Cool! Now I’m crying! Good job! Seriously, every sentence of this segment just drove the knife deeper. Added a little twist. It’s such an excellent insight into how Rocket reacts to and processes these things — how the idea of there being enough love for him is unfathomable — especially if that love is unconditional.
But this isn’t the end. It’s just the setup for a spectacular comeback. That’s what she tells herself. So what if the world isn't made for her? So what if her wings won’t fit in the cockpit? She always finds another way.
Her optimism is so beautiful. I aspire to be as optimistic as she is. Or maybe it’s not optimism — maybe she just knows herself and her own determination that well. (In which case, I aspire to that as well.)
She has plenty to offer, and she’ll prove it. She’ll show them all that she belongs here—part of the… flight? Murder? Convocation? Squad? What do you call a ragtag mess of aliens from different planets?
The first half of this is so relatable — the drive to make space for oneself, to prove oneself, to find a sense of belonging and community and purpose. And then follow it up with just the cutest effort to identify the name of the team with a bunch of bird-words…. (She’s gonna be so thrilled once they actually get their moniker, even if it’s not what she would call their little family herself. The idea of not only belonging to the group but also the group having a larger purpose and connection to the greater intergalactic community? Oh, she’s gonna eat that shit up)
“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” She throws up her wings dramatically, then slumps with a battered sigh. A fluttering heart beats in her chest, thudding against her ribs. “I mean, other than my looks. And my laugh. And maybe my brain."
She lowers her chin, straightening a crooked tuft of plumage. Her old Flock—the Flock—would’ve agreed. Her flaws weren’t quirks to them; they were proof. A reason to toss her away.
Yeah. Relatable. I know I’ve said “I love him/this/that/her so much” like 50 times in this comment and probably every comment before, but…. I love her so much. My heart hurts for her. I want to be her friend.
His arms had been stronger than she expected. His frame broader than hers, dense with muscle under all that fur. She remembers the way they fit together—too close, too fast—caught in the chaos of the blast. It’s stupid to replay it, but her mind loops it anyway—like a glitch in her instincts. She knows what it was. Knows what it wasn’t. But memory isn’t rational.
Ahhhhhh a little bit of tension. I love this. (Again. Ad infinitum.) I love that we’re starting to see the shift from K’wirra’s interest in Rocket as someone new, someone authentic, a potential friend — to her interest in him in other ways. Physically, in this moment, I suppose. This poor bird is probably so goddamn touchstarved, too…
But I also love your description of how she grapples with the start of this little crush. Knowing what it was or wasn’t; the irrationality of memory and the way she wants to remember it. Honestly I think everything about K’wirra is relatable in general, and a ton of her character feels relatable to me personally — but this one really strikes me lol.
I love the way you describe K’wirra enjoying her flight. And her ability to fly makes her into such a perfect partner for Rocket, too. I… I usually do portraits when I do fan-art but I kinda wanna sketch Rocket in his aero-rig flying with Pete in vol2 and pair him with K’wirra, also flying, side-by-side. Once Rocket gets his head out of his ass and actually starts having real conversations with her, I imagine there’s going to be so much to be said on this topic. I bet he wants to ask her what it’s like to fly the way she does — how it feels. I believe there’s a lot of reasons Rocket loves flying, loves the promise of the sky, but I think one of them — especially since he escaped HalfWorld — is that it means freedom for him. From cages, from experimentation, from the cruelty of different social systems, from all sorts of tethers. Sigh. Everything you write has me looking forward to the next.
But that's her friend being dragged, her Flock that's being hurt.
I love her. She has all my love. She must be protected at all costs.
He’s a monument; she’s a whisper.
Another glorious line.
Well. You made me snicker. You made me cry. You kept me on the edge of my seat, even though I know how this damn movie ends. Then you got me sniffling again. And admiring K’wirra’s beauty (and the beauty of your writing). And then tearing up yet again.
Magnificent work, as always. I am so glad to be reading this, so grateful you’ve chosen to share this lovely character and her story, and looking forward to coming back for the next chapter. ♡♡♡♡
I'm really happy that someone is reading the chapter titles! I sometimes think "ah those are just external from the story, they don't really impact anything..." It's good to know that they're looked at sometimes, haha. I like making themes with them, usually something like they all start with the same letter or something, but with this story I went kind of wild ^^; More meaning-based than theme-based.
K'wirra HATES cages! Especially ones that are too small. :( I think Groot also hated doing it. He would've hated fishing her out of the burning building again more.
Hehehe yeah Rocket chooses snark every time. K'wirra hasn't unlocked the emotionally available Rocket yet. ^^
K'wirra's been alone for a while. :(
I pride myself on being silly, so I wear it as a badge of honor anytime I can make someone laugh. :) ♡ I love knowing that I can do that multiple times a chapter for you! ^^ He wasn't kidding though he's really thinking about that leash lmao
Thank you so much! You're far too sweet~ ^^ I remember reworking this line a couple of times. It started as something simpler, which is why I love trying different things in my fics. You never know what experiment will become a killer line!
I've never published anything... like ever. I really am just a hobby writer, only in my spare time. I'm seriously so flattered to hear that you enjoy my story so much! Such incredibly high praise! I don't even knowI have been studying and improving on my own over time so it's so vindicating to hear that it's paid off, even if it's only in my spare time.
I got back into writing when I was laid off during 2020 (bc covid :c) and found my love for it again after a few years away. I've just been working on getting better through practice and self-study since then. My mom always used to make fun of the fanfiction I was reading (admittedly, I was in middle school and I was not that picky) and how it was full of errors and teaching me incorrect grammar and how it wasn't on the same level as a book from a store. She wasn't trying to be mean but it affected my outlook. To hear someone equate my little fan works to publishable material is just... so nice. :) The nicest thing ever. I never thought I would be able to improve enough to make someone feel anything deeper with my writing, or be anything more than a pleasant distraction for someone who's looking to decompress. I want to cry but like happy tears TvT I'm not the best with taking compliments, but I want you to know your comments make me feel like the world is new and sparkling again, like it's full of beauty and the dark spots are only shadows of bright white clouds.
I would really be so humbled and blown away if you made art of K'wirra. I've never had anyone make art of my OC before, so I don't think there's any way I could be anything less than thrilled if you decided to draw her ^///^ I've had trouble doing it myself (mostly because of the beak. and the wings haha they're tough.) but it's so much fun to try my hand at it.
Can't wait to write about Rocket being a big old softie. It's coming because we all know what he's like ^^ He's gonna melt and I literally need that in my life, especially after all the angst I'm gonna write >u< It's so damn hard to restrain myself ugh
If I had to boil K'wirra down to three words, loyal would be one of them. The other two would probably be impulsive and determined.
She can't leave Groot all alone while everyone else goes off. What if something happens to him? And maybe she only thought long enough to realize that because of her not fitting in the mining pod(which I now know are called mining pods but didn't at the time of publishing this lmao), but she would have eventually realized he was alone and change her mind. She does that a lot. And yeah, I really love angst. Like, you won't even recognize your heart when I'm done with it. It'll look like a raisin lol. I promise there will be healing eventually, though. Not too soon. It's still gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better >:3
I cannot WAIT to have Rocket and K'wirra fly together once they figure out their shit. I swear it's gonna be so good because they'll both feel so fucking free and connected ugh it's gonna be awesome ouo And probably not all that far away. I have kind of a big arc planned between Volume 1 and Volume 2 where you will be learning a lot about the Ch'theerlaiiik and K'wirra and that's when I plan for Rocket to introduce the concept of the aero-rig. I'm actually so excited because it starts around chapter 10 or 11. I can't wait for you to get there because it'll be all original and I feel like I can get so much more into a scene when I'm not constrained by anything about the physical setting and stuff. ^^ It'll focus on Rocket and K'wirra with a few scenes of what the others are doing in the meantime.
There are so many conversations that I want Rocket and K'wirra to have! I might just keep writing oneshots about them after the main story is finished, honesatly? I already have so many little scenarios drafted that I just don't have a place for >.< There may never be a good spot for K'wirra laying (unfertilized)eggs and Peter deciding it's space easter, or K'wirra and Rocket getting lost on Earth for a day or things like that. They might just not make the cut but I'd hate for them to only ever exist in my mind lol.
She tries to be optimistic? But it doesn't really work all the time so she usually just counts on being too determined to fail. It usually works out for her XD
I can guarantee K'wirra wants to be your friend, too ^^
Yesss girl I'm so thirsty you know I had to throw some tension in there for my darlings. Keeping it classy for now but there's still lots of time for smut >:) You're so right about her being touch-starved and birds are like 90% G-spot. No but seriously, she's just starting to realize that maybe she feels kinda nice when they're together and he's becoming a kind of special to her that she wasn't prepared for or expecting.
I 100% agree about her flying ability. I really liked the idea of a character who's flight affected their personality, too. Like she can easily get out of situations so she became kind of reckless because she can get away from consequences more often, that kind of thing. Also, this scene sounds absolutely wonderful! I can see K'wirra now, flying with her two favorite pilots and feeling so amazed and happy that the Flock can share in her favorite activity. This is another one of those moments that I hope I can fit into the final thing but might make more sense in a companion piece. And oh yes, just wait until the K'wirra arc starts and you get to see her planet again. I'm like literally so excited to write it. I have to make myself slow down and keep editing the current chapter until it's good and ready.
I am so so glad you liked this one! i think I reposted it like five times because I just wasn't happy with it, so it's really inspiring to hear your feedback ^^ I'm so glad you like K'wirra and her story, too. I can't wait for you to find out more about her and where she came from! There's another few moments of tension in chapter 7 if you squint!
i think the names of chapters are UNBEARABLY IMPORTANT. okay, maybe not, but i really enjoy reading a cool chapter title and i really enjoy coming up with a cool chapter title, or at least a cool chapter theme. i think that the lack of chapter names in most published books are actually a real letdown. like. hey! this is another chance to be creative, to highlight important things, to have fun! trust i will always read your chapter titles lol.
My mom always used to make fun of the fanfiction I was reading (admittedly, I was in middle school and I was not that picky) and how it was full of errors and teaching me incorrect grammar and how it wasn't on the same level as a book from a store. She wasn't trying to be mean but it affected my outlook. To hear someone equate my little fan works to publishable material is just... so nice. :)
I want to respond to this specifically because it's important to me on a lot of levels but I am going to ramble and I'm sorry about it. Sort of.
To begin: as a someone who got her first degree in literature and her second degree in counseling (so, various biases there), I think that the most important part of reading fiction is not as a method of learning grammar and punctuation and linguistic rules that frankly change every decade or so. I think the most important part of reading fiction is that we know it increases peoples' capacity and practice of empathy. And that is not something that you lose with incorrect grammar.
Subsequently (I would argue), at its core, all fiction has value. When you're writing, it's an exercise in understanding characters, communicating ideas and feelings, and hopefully understanding your readers as well. In most cases, a writer also carves off important parts of themselves and incorporates those into the story too. They process things through it. And when you're reading, it's still an exercise in understanding characters, in interpreting communication, and maybe understanding the author as well. In a lot of ways, fanfiction is uniquely suited for this empathy-building because it's so often a community-based experience. I refuse to call Mary-Sue self-insert fanfiction written by 13-year-olds "bad", no matter how generous they are with their commas. Because at its most basic level, I believe that even "unrefined" fiction is important.
Bringing this back down to the microcosmic level, your writing is refined. You not only evoke emotions in the reader, but they're nuanced and layered and complicated emotions, while still being transparent and understandable and relatable to the audience. Your action sequences are engaging, your mysteries are enticing, and every sentence feels meaningful. And on top of all that, your writing style itself is beautiful. Sometimes, you read an author's prose, and you think - "oh. they're actually a poet." That's you. You're the poet.
For god's sake, do you know how much better your story is than fucking Ant-Man: Quantumania? In literally every way? Yes, you deserve to be published if you want to be. Yes, I believe in you. Yes, I'd be greedy to read whatever you wrote.
Speaking of Quantumania... (bear with me). I appreciate your mom was trying to make sure you had a sound academic background in the works you were consuming as a kiddo. But... it also sounds like she has fallen victim to some common misconceptions about fanfiction. Poor mom! Publication is not a good threshold for identifying quality writing (see again: Quantumania). In addition to that, like 50% of what we consume in media is fanfiction (and the remaining 50% is probably some form of self-insert writing). To be very very clear, marvel movies are just fanfiction of marvel comics. Hell, half of marvel comics are just fanfiction of marvel comics. Every version of Sherlock Holmes is fanfiction of the original, and every new doctor in Doctor Who is fanfiction of the doctor before. Every new iteration of Star Trek, and every CW show that spawned as a side-story to its predecessor is - you guessed it - fanfiction. Hell, every new movie or book series or TV show about "the rapture" is just fanfiction of Thessalonians or Corinthians or whatever in the bible.
I know I'm mentioning a lot of different mediums here and not all of them are to be read, but my point remains. The only thing that makes something canon is its budget, babe.
All this to say that I believe that your story is deserving of a larger budget than it has lol, and by extension, I trust that anything else you write would be similarly deserving of praise, publication, and more. (And also, your middle school reading choices were valid lol.)
That is enough of my soapbox today. I look forward to coming back and reading onward. Thank you so much for sharing this story, my friend, and for sharing your time, talent, skill, and insight. I love what you're creating.
I loved reading this and all you had to say about it ^.^ No apology for rambling necessary.
You are so incredibly right about all fiction having value. And in my experience, everything you've said has been so extremely true. As a person, I've grown so much through writing fanfics. Studying characters has given me so much more empathy and understanding of others, while studying my own writing has given me a better understanding of myself. I think one of the things that helped me get more from my own writing was asking myself the why behind the events of a story and going deeper into the character's reasoning.
My ma did encourage me to read good literature, but that's not all there is in the world. I enjoyed 1600-1800s literature like Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Edgar Allen Poe, Khalil Gibran, Shakespeare, and more recently, H.P. Lovecraft. Reading those things did help me grow and become the writer I am today, but so did fanfiction. I never thought of the IPs you mentioned as fanficition before, but you are not wrong!
You're welcome to your soapbox in my comments anytime, my friend! I enjoy reading your thoughts. Especially now as we move into the more serious angst >:)
I'm so glad you're enjoying the story still ^^ I can't wait to hear from you again, as you are always a delight! ♡♡♡
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