Fluff, Relationships, and Traditions
Sep. 22nd, 2013 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scribblemynameSo characters have habits, ways they interact with certain people and situations, things they do and like to do, stories and histories together. I've known a lot of my characters' for a long time but getting them all into fic is interesting, particularly for the ones I don't know that for.
I've got about five novelettes I want to turn out plus a short story, created out of the 5 Things Meme and then the whole Pieter/Ashen dynamic that originally played in my head before I even wrote that first Ashen drabble (and it is awesome to me, but got sidelined drastically with a deluge of other prompts), but, but, but...
I'm on day 265 of my challenge and story count 157 and I'm still plying angles and there's all those little things above that I'm itching to nibble at. Want to help a girl out?
Particularly of interest to me are things like where does Wesley work (not sure actually), and then relationship things that I haven't gotten to like how Justus always recognizes Shift regardless of her current form or demeanor, friendships, sibling relationships, Ilsa and her husband, etc.
Calling for prompts, as promised:
- character(s) and/or canon/fandom
- random word, quote, or other prompt
Oh, and I'll try to keep it short and fluffy or sweet. Try is the operative word. :grins:
Prompts
- Meld, couples, prank war
- Justus + Special Unit
- From thecatisacritic's fluff-fest
- Justus' family + Shift, Rachelle
- dancing, quotes, and not without you
- who is Justus when he's Rachelle's?
- undercover Justus
- more quotes
- From Daily Scribble post 1 AND from previous promptfest
- Ilsa prevents
- the work they do
- finding Justus, about that memory
Ficlets
Seven Days
- Wesley/Lena: Shall We Dance?
- Wesley/Lena: Stubborn
- Wesley/Lena: You are My Photograph
- Wesley/Lena + Angelita: Learning to Tango
- Wesley + Connor: Just Saying
- Wesley + Connor: On Practical Uses for Journals
- Wesley + Connor: A Spaghetti-Flavored Aftermath
- Wesley + Connor: Maybe Next Week
- Wesley + Connor: The Apple Don't Fall Far
- Wesley + Mom: The Joys of Motherhood
- Connor + Ashelynn + dogs: On the Acquisition of Dogs
- Connor + Ashelynn + dogs: Girls
Kingdoms and Thorn
- Shift + Team ensemble: That'll Work
- Shift + Meld: Soon
- Sear + Meld: Bone-Weary Need
- Rachelle + Meld: Between
- Rachelle + Meld: The Leash
- Rachelle + Special Unit: Anywhere But Here
- Rachelle + Heather + Shadow: An Absurdly Dangerous Shadow
- Rachelle + Joseph: What the Emptiness Fills
- Justus + Joseph: Cracking the Ice
- Justus + Team Ensemble: In the Business
- Justus + Larique: The Unsuspecting Suspect
- Shift + Justus: Self-Preservation
- Sear + Justus: Gratitude in an Off Note
- Rachelle/Justus + Heather: Backfire
- Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: Comfort Objects
- Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: On the Care and Feeding of Cats
- Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: The Taste of Coffee
- Rachelle/Justus: Living with Hope
- Rachelle/Justus: Tiny Significant Pieces
- Rachelle/Justus: Side Effects
- Rachelle/Justus: Remind You to Dance
- Rachelle/Justus: Family
- Rachelle/Justus + Red Wolf and Whisper's kids: Cure to All That Ails
- Storm + Red Wolf + Anya: We Can't Have That
- Red Wolf and Whisper's kids: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream
- Red Wolf/Whisper: The Fox and the Wolf
- Red Wolf/Whisper: Taste of Regret
- Red Wolf/Whisper: Business as Usual
- Red Wolf/Whisper + Ashen: A Gift Well-Chosen
- Red Wolf: Rearranging Assets
- Storm + Minder: The Five W’s of Declaring War
- Storm + Minder: Tell Me in the Morning
- Storm + Minder: Moral Support
- Storm + Mirage + Surge: Waiting for Blood
- Hasheni/Ilsa Killinger: Homework
- Hasheni/Ilsa Killinger: Catalyst
- Ilsa Killinger: Linger
- Ilsa Killinger | Special Unit: Reality Check
- Keeper/Brushfire: When Memory Burns
- Anna/Lightsculpt: Dinnertime Distractions
- Anna/Lightsculpt: Needing a Break
- Anna/Lightsculpt: Worth Something
- Anna/Lightsculpt: Working Up the Nerve
- Anna/Lightsculpt: Would That It Were
- Sketch + Team ensemble: Something Other Than Smoke
- Shift/Kilter + Watcher: Wedding Gift
- Shift/Kilter + Elisabeth: You're My Heart
- Shift/Kilter + Elisabeth: The Answer to All Problems
- Shift + Elisabeth: Little Girl Reminders
- Surge + Maker: Embrace of Freedom
- Watcher + Team Ensemble: An Ounce of Protection
Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 12:19 am (UTC)How Meld got his one exception... in detail, in fic.
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Date: 2013-10-02 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 01:56 am (UTC)Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [1/?]
Date: 2013-10-08 07:41 pm (UTC)Watcher made her way through her ranks frequently. There was training to do, punishments to mediate, rules to enforce... Leaders played nice with them far more than the other children. Watcher was beginning to realize that she played nice far more than the other leaders.
A female trainer reeled back hard from Protector, her wiry little mind-sharer with a knack for hand-to-hand combat. The trainer had been teaching him blocks, and Protector's ability caused painful headaches.
"Watcher," the trainer said, biting the words out through gritted teeth.
Protector started to protest, but Watcher just jerked her head to the side until, sullenly, he stepped back. It had taken months before team heirarchy emerged from the loose groups the children had formed. It had taken months more before administrators learned to work through the leaders to gain cooperation from the teams.
Watcher stepped forward and glanced back pointedly. Protector slowly moved into his proper position behind her.
"Neither of us want to be here," the trainer said, "but somebody's got to teach that kid how to block with his fists instead of his mind. What he did was inappropriate."
"I'll handle it," Watcher stated icily.
"Fine." The trainer stalked off.
Watcher turned her gaze on Protector. He shrugged jerkily, seething. He was one of many who hated every single admin here. He didn't see the big picture or that their treatment as a group would only be good as the worst, most dangerous child required.
"Don't," she said.
He narrowed his eyes. He hadn't joined their group for her. He stuck close to the scrawny, cool-headed Kilter, someone she was beginning to appreciate as a right hand and critical thinker. Protector didn't obey her even when she watched and saw better than he what this life would require.
"Don't," she repeated. "I will not lose you," she said fiercely. "You're mine because you chose to be here. You're mine and I won't let them hurt you."
He stared at her, startled.
She shook her head. "You lash out without a cause and they'll kill you." They'd done it, gotten rid of the ones who were truly beyond control. "You have a problem, you tell me and I'll deal with it."
"I don't need protection," he spat out harshly.
She didn't leave him time to breathe, just slammed him to the ground and her arm to his neck in a chokehold before he could stop her. She wielded the same ice on him she'd put on the admin. "You think you can protect yourself from this? Stop them from dropping you?"
He flinched at that. Their implants could activate the pain response in every nerve ending in their body.
"You think you can stop them from killing you? You think you can stop the fallout that would hit the rest of the team?"
He stared at her.
"Protect them," she ordered. Then she stood up and let him go.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [2/?]
Date: 2013-10-08 07:41 pm (UTC)Flow was a bloody-minded, reckless genius for strategy and getting her own way. The girl's body barely ever held still, constantly sliding from one form to another in a blurred inability to control it, but she was learning fast and snapped to bodies devised perfectly toward the impression she needed to give. Flow had charisma and the willingness to dive headlong in the way of anyone trying to punish a fellow team member.
Kilter was quieter, calmer, and all cool calculation. He took care of his own, offered comfort, and provided the logical counterpoint to Flow's anger. Where Flow was an unguided missile, chafing at her bonds, Kilter was a focused weapon aimed squarely at surviving with the least sins on their conscience. It hadn't taken long to realize they were being trained to kill.
Watcher needed both of them, so she let them argue out their points of view, let them fight each other with his ability to send the world sideways and her ability to send herself through his kilters and hit him anyway. She let them push and shove and snarl and protect because both of them were necessary to keep her team safe. Both of them had insights she needed to make decisions.
It was controlled chaos, but she had no better alternative until everything they were already and everything they were becoming came to a head.
There was training to do. The team members learned how to control themselves, how to fight with their powers, and how to fight without their powers.
To the trainers, Reserve seemed like the weakest link on their team. He was quiet and when he touched his team members, he could heal their wounds, but it drained him and could even knock him out if he healed too much. No one knew how his power actually worked. Watcher knew he was not weak. The team called him Reserve because they held him in reserve: he was their backup for when accidents happened. Reserve was like her in that he watched and learned from what he saw.
It was a simple assignment because they thought he was weak, to learn how to not heal when he touched another.
A criminal on death row was chosen for each team member to practice their powers on. Accidents happened. Chandler ordered Reserve forward.
He glanced back at Watcher, who smiled for him. She didn't squeeze his hand or touch him reassuringly. He was the one it was a mercy not to touch.
He reached out his fingers to the man's face. The criminal was unconscious and bound with several visible cuts on his arm. Chandler had told them his crime, explained that he wouldn't survive the month no matter what the team members did. It was important to the teams, that what they were asked to do was 'right' in some way.
Nothing happened right away and Reserve took a deep breath. He placed his hand on the man's chest. One breath, two. The lowest cut began to heal over. Reserve frowned in concentration. Then, something… happened.
Watcher leaned forward, suddenly realizing something had changed and she couldn't identify it until Reserve yanked himself back,yelling, and she caught him.
"No." He shook his head. "No. I can't. I can't."
Chandler checked the criminal's vitals. "What—" He checked them again. The bioreader showed something he hadn't expected.
Watcher gently put Reserve's arms from her and went to stand near enough to see. The man was barely breathing. The cuts were unchanged. She frowned. "What happened?" she asked clearly of Chandler.
He looked up at her and waved his reader. "I think he melted the guys insides."
Surprise flicked her gaze back to Reserve's. He shook his head, mute misery looking back.
She went back and guided him away.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [3/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 07:42 pm (UTC)They stopped calling him Reserve. The name melted away under the hardness that entered his bearing after that day. He had been soft before, given to recoil and hunching away from pain. Now, he was a small, immovable rock.
"No," he said with clear, fearless eyes when they told him to do the exercise again.
He refused to kill, and his refusal was a stone in the water that had Watcher scrambling. She couldn't stop the ripple effects. If he wouldn't kill, wouldn't fight, they'd kill him, she'd lose him, and she flat refused to lose her people.
Flow took the first fall. "I told him not to do it." It was a lie, but Watcher didn't correct it, just let them punish Flow for something she hadn't done. She would ask Flow if she was willing, but the girl also known as Knife would consider the question an insult.
Kilter disappeared one day before lunch, then returned, having broken into a file room he shouldn't have access to and gave her a sheaf of papers with the regs for their facility. She pored over them, let Flow take the second fall because there was no other way to fight this, because they wouldn't kill Flow for doing it and wouldn't kill the healer for obeying her.
Watcher got him into medical for examination. She backed up the order from the top: he wasn't allowed to do it until they figured out what it was and what were the side-effects. Turned out his healing ability had nothing to do with healing per se and everything to do with melding his lifeforce to another's and manipulating their DNA. He essentially became one with the person he was working on.
She went over Chandler's head and crawled through a hundred security measures set against her to break into the Facility Director's office. She had learned well.
She waited, breath slow and quiet, under the desk, rehearsing details to herself to steady her nerves. Nameplate: Sheridan Myers, Facility Director. Time of day: 7 o'clock a.m. Room 1210.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 07:43 pm (UTC)The red-headed woman cursed in surprise. "You trying to give me a heart attack?" she demanded. Then, she looked at her, realized that the intruder was less than ten years old with the dark eyes of a hardened warrior. The director stilled. "What do you want?" she asked, voice gentle. Too gentle. Watcher didn't believe in it.
"Meld won't kill with his power."
A tight inhale. Sheridan shook her head. "I'm sorry, but there are rules."
They couldn't let the children go free, knowing they might kill innocent civilians. It didn't matter that Internal Investigations had been horrified at the initial handling of them and cleaned out almost anyone who had abused the kids. It didn't matter that the program had been sold to the Department of Defense as something other than what it had been, that nobody realized that the process was experimental, that almost all the children would die, or even that only children could usually survive. It didn't matter how guilty the military felt or how hard they tried to clean it up because the program now had to continue. Too many children were the living weapons they'd been trying to create. Too many of them had no loyalty to anyone but each other and had a kill list they were waiting to be able to work.
Watcher nodded. "There are rules. I'm here to deal." She met this woman's gaze as a woman herself. Whatever child she had been once died with the processing that turned her into a genetically-modified special-type human. "Give my people exceptions—one each—and I will make up the difference."
Sheridan stared at her, then forced herself to regain her composure. "And how do you intend to do that?" she asked leadingly.
"My team will do what I say," Watcher replied calmly. "Give us the worst jobs, but make them mean something. Give us evil to stop and we will stop it. When I'm old enough, I'll become one of you—permanently."
Sheridan breathed a soft swear. "Do you have any idea what you're asking me?"
"I know that you'll lose the teams one day," Watcher replied flatly. "They'll kill you or they'll leave, but we're stronger than you are. But you'll keep me."
How could a woman do this job? The director looked as though she'd cry, or hug Watcher and still cry. She did neither. She nodded curtly. "You have a deal."
They drew up the papers and regulations to Watcher's satisfaction, signed, and then Watcher returned to the team and waited for the news to come down to Chandler. She saw the naked relief when it burned in Meld's eyes, but she never explained to him what she had done.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 08:29 pm (UTC)Poor Meld.
And poor Watcher.
And Shift is more noble than she admits, too, since she took the fall for Meld more than once.
This piece explains sooo much...
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 08:46 pm (UTC)Writing Watcher at that young was interesting because she's softer here than later, less sure of herself. After this, the team really starts to solidify.
Shift has always said, "I'm not good, just loyal." She took a whole lot more falls than that one. Sear would literally follow her anywhere.
Glad it helped. That was the goal.
I also tried to work in some of the other historical details that were fighting me to stay out: like the fact that the Department hadn't intended for the Projects to be so horrible. And I have deliberately not introduced you to the worst of the team operatives, but they existed, and between the powers not yet mastered and the pure hatred some of those kids had for anyone not in the teams, it became very difficult to try and change things right away. Shift for example would have been a nightmare to let loose.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 09:11 pm (UTC)That was part of what Ilsa was investigating when she quit, then, the projects.
It had to figure that there would be some that would be uncontrollable and full of hate and loyal only to those like them.
I figured there were more like Shift, even worse ones, but I didn't really want to read about them.
Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 09:19 pm (UTC)Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: An Ounce of Protection [4/4]
Date: 2013-10-08 09:39 pm (UTC)