Whispers

Stuff I Wrote

Yuletide

So I wrote my very first Fate/Zero fic for Yuletide for my original favorite pairing. I have since gotten sucked down the rabbit hole, but seriously, what's not to absolutely love about Diarmuid and Arturia? Originally, I couldn't figure out what to name it, but eventually just snagged a lyric from "Battle Scars", which isn't original but oh well. It fit and fit well.

hope the wound heals but it never does (1278 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fate/Zero
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne/Arturia Pendragon | Lancer/Saber
Characters: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne | Lancer, Arturia Pendragon | Saber
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe (kind of), Non-Explicit Sex, Scars, Talking all around the massive elephant in the room, Treat
Summary:

He cannot stop a king from speaking forever. He cannot help but think, this is war. It's all right if you were the one who took my life. I'm even glad of it.

I would like to take this moment to say that the other story written for this prompt and recipient is AMAZING, more amazing than mine! Go read it:

Come Hell (6225 words) by prodigy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne/Arturia Pendragon | Lancer/Saber
Characters: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne | Lancer, Arturia Pendragon | Saber, Kotomine Kirei
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fifth Holy Grail War
Summary:

Diarmuid ua Duibhne and Arturia Pendragon get a second chance, if such a thing can be said to exist.

Marvel is Marvel

This exchange was tough. I hit some rather unexpected RL derailment when running it and every step was stressful and forgetful, and I'm glad I had a co-mod or it would have been a total disaster. It put me off ever wanting to run it again. But the fics I wrote satisfied me and the fic received was awesome, so let's look on the bright side!

I wanted to write Maria for tielan, so I jumped at the chance, though I promise I didn't rig the matching. It just worked out that way. And she liked it! So I'm super happy about that. :D

Emotional Labor (1170 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Maria Hill, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Melinda May
Additional Tags: Friendship, Emotional Support, Emotional Connection
Summary:

Relationships work in both directions.

And this was a pinch hit I picked up right after assignments due, though the original writer ended up being able to finish their story anyway, so yay for that.

Princess (1719 words) by scribblemyname
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Inhumans (TV 2017)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Crystal Amaquelin/Maximus Boltagon
Characters: Crystal Amaquelin, Maximus Boltagon
Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Childhood Friends, canon-divergent AU, Family, Plotting Betrayal
Summary:

In one possible world, his best friend walked into Black Bolt's hiding place and fell in love. In that world, Maximus never did figure out how to replace her kindness, her lack of condescension, before her own parents were taken away for their beliefs and she stopped sharing them.

In another world, this world, there was still Crystal, the little blonde girl running around after her sister and suddenly at loose ends because Black Bolt was taking most of Medusa's time, and somewhere along the way, Maximus realized it.

I'm actually super proud of this fic because it came together so quickly and so much more the way I wanted it than anything else I'd written this year. I really got intrigued by the possibilities with these two on the show, and I was just really happy with how it turned out.

Fic I Received

Yuletide

My writer is awesome and wonderful and we have a similar taste in short stories apparently! I wrote for them a YT or two back. This fic is the best. Please go read it and shower them with love!

Princess and Demoiselle (2654 words) by Lesserstorm
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: And Her Eyes Sewn Shut with Unicorn Hair — Rosamund Hodge
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Zéphine & Marie
Characters: Zéphine (And Her Eyes Sewn Shut with Unicorn Hair), Marie (And Her Eyes Sewn Shut with Unicorn Hair)
Additional Tags: Sisters, Unicorns
Summary:

Five times the purity of Marie's heart faltered and one time her devotion was entirely singleminded.

I also got a little drabble for my underloved rarepair, Abigail/Wes from Dance Academy.

Marvel is Marvel

And I received a fic from someone I wrote for and for the same pairing! It's a wonderful take on Crystal/Maximus and I loved the relationship dynamic and the history and betrayal and reconciliation tucked in between the scenes.

Be My Queen (1675 words) by flipflop_diva
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Inhumans (TV 2017)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Crystal Amaquelin/Maximus Boltagon
Characters: Crystal Amaquelin, Maximus Boltagon, Medusalith Amaquelin, Blackagar Boltagon
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Arranged Marriage
Summary:

“Think about this.” Medusa’s voice was hard and stern. “Going through with this will mean putting our people through a war. Do you really want that? Do you really want to destroy Attilan?”

“I have never wanted to destroy Attilan,” Maximus replied, his tone flat. “I have always wanted to make it better."

“Then step aside. End this now. Let us go back to the way things were.”

“I will never step aside. But I do have another proposal.”

General squicks, triggers, and loves by category.

General:( Read more... )


Tropes:( Read more... )


Kinks:( Read more... )


RAZOR SHARP
Characters: Bryce, Dex, Isis, Veronica

Family fic, found family fic, heist fic, backstory… I'll take just about anything for this fandom. It's a 25 minute short movie about a banged up thief operation where Veronica Sharpe (who inherited the business and old family friend + Russian supercomputer sister from her dad) has morals and will happily grift some tech from a corporation but she doesn't touch art and she certainly isn't going to steal what sleazy Dex (played by the Pretender) has in mind. (Well, she will, but not hand it over afterward.)

I really have a hankering for chosen family fic with Isis settling into the family dynamic. I'd love to keep the humor and banged up nature of their operation and see more of the worldbuilding between the chinks of the short movie. Tech love, hacker shenanigans, mission fic, and Veronica backstory/continuing story all super, super welcome.

I'd love to know more about Tokyo, see Veronica loving shopping ("Your Macy's card" cracks me up every time), the relationship she had with her father, or even her mental relationship with him now and the ghost presence he leaves in her working relationships because of his moral brand. I'd love to see her and Isis bonding, her becoming big sister/mom, dealing with Isis' personal trauma and the aftermath of that.

Hurt/comfort, jumpiness, and even PTSD in the midst of child genius would be awesome. Isis bonding with Bruce or them going at each other/bantering over his equipment and her trying to fix it and him not appreciating it. I'd love anything here, so long as it's gen.

Awesome dialogue would be my number one wish. I don't write it half as well as the writer of Razor Sharp and I just LOVED the style of humor in here. Wouldn't mind a crossover with Leverage if that makes it easier to write, as it's a world of grifters, so yeah, but if that's not helpful, no problem. Would love to see Veronica introducing Isis to Macy's and Isis introducing Veronica to dumpster diving.

THE FEY - KRISTINE RUSCH
Characters: Arianna, Coulter, Roca, Solanda

This series is full of awesome characters who aren't always on the same side when you're rooting for both and it's bloodier than I usually like (yes, I skim the gore; please omit the gore from fic, please), but the WORLDBUILDING. I want all the backstory, all the character dynamics of growing up years we skipped, all the magic systems and how this actually works (coy, Powers, you, to say nothing of the Roca), and living on-screen history of the previous age with the Roca and his best friend and maybe their kids and betrayal okay if you write that fic, and why hasn't anyone walked through a place of power to the third instead of hunting elsewhere for it? It makes no sense to tempt with that and not follow up. :huffs: So basically, anything and more?

Arianna & Solanda: I'd love to see more of the growing up years. I love both of these characters, for all of their less lovable flaws. For all intents and purposes, they're mother and daughter, and I'd love to see more of their relationship, the healthy loving side vs. the secret keeping one.

I would adore an AU where Jewel lived and you get to see the two women who don't quite get along interact in caretaking/parenting Arianna. Yes, I know the whole Arianna and Jewel couldn't have both lived, but what if. Considering the characters, it would be hard to pull a canon-compliant with the three (all three are not alive at the same time even after Jewel appears as a Mystery), but if you want to go that route and can figure it out, I'd love anything with the dynamics of these three.

Arianna/Coulter: I ADORE this pairing from beginning to angsty keep away inferiority complex to sharing minds to Arianna's going to marry the guy and he'll technically be king of Blue Isle. I want anything, in between the scenes, postcanon, honeymoon (PWP is really just fine), when she was in his head, really anything at all. I especially love feelsy relationship stuff, but I'm wide open here.

I'd also love to see Coulter's relationship with Gift if you'd rather. This platonic soulmate, brother/best friend relationship fascinates me, especially because the love there is real, even when they're angry and unforgiving with each other. I'd love to see more of any point in canon except the angry, unforgiving part and more of their closeness. Any kind of chosen brothers fic or friendship fic or plotty whatever that pleases you. Character and relationship studies are my jam, so really anything.

The Roca is a part of so much history. There's a lot of implied and stated history with him and his friend and it's achingly in between the lines. I'd love to see what happened between them and considering how those weapons work and the whole legendarium around the soldiers of the enemy, what exactly happened with the magic they used to save the Isle (from others with magic), then Coulter turning on his friend. Or naming their kids after each other. Or friendship fic. Or family fic. Betrayal okay for this fandom. Deathfic too considering they became Mysteries and Powers not really dead. Post-Absorption Roca definitely interests me. That silly letter line makes me so curious. Where is Coulter now? The Powers said interesting things and I wonder if his friend went to see him after he was let out of the doll. I really want more of any time frame of the canon, pre, during, or post, but please no complete death of even the soul fic.

THE PEOPLE - ZENNA HENDERSON
Characters: Francher, Twyla

This is probably my favorite SF series ever. I love the People, I love their relationship to the Presence, I love their culture and powers, and I love the characters and stories. My favorite People story is "Captivity."

Francher and Twyla is my OTP, the pairing of my heart, the one I beg anyone to write anything for and I will be a perfectly happy camper, relieved that they have something more. From the story "Captivity," Francher makes music through his Talents and Persuasions and can make them simply on air. He's fostered in a horrible environment, the shoes, and his relationship with Miss Carolle is beautiful to watch in how the trust grew between them. But I love Twyla. She loved Francher despite his old, ratty clothes, worried about him, cared for him, didn't care what other people thought, danced with him in the air, and always hoped wistfully he'd come back for her. Please can I see more Twyla and Francher together in the story or, even better, can I see him come back for her?

TO KISS THE GRANITE CHOIR
Characters: Eroico of the Baremescre, Cantiléna of the Baremescre, Imre Usaym Balgas

I kind of adore all the hidden cultural connotations, the brotherly/friendly relationship between Imre and Eroico, but especially the huge cultural misunderstandings and obvious growing relationship with Cantiléna. I would love Cantiléna's point of view, more Eroico being adorable, or (I would love you FOREVER) fix-it where Imre doesn't completely transform and lose so much in the process. Goodness, I'd take worldbuilding meta for this story, I love it so much.

Spoilers ahead. The story is free online here, where it was originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

I love the idea of the Baremescre and their songs and I love the fact that Cantiléna falling for Imre seems to have a lot of social implications she's conflicted about dealing with. I'd love to know what she was thinking when she first started falling for him, which seemed to be his impassioned words at their first encounter when he stole her song and you'd think she would have been upset about it enough to not be attracted. And I cannot tell you how much I'd love to know what was going through her and Eroico's head as he was translating.

I can't help but think the brother and sister are close and Eroico clearly loved the idea of Imre as a brother in law. Did he and Cantiléna talk all the time? Was that why he liked Imre so well?

And did I mention I'd adore fix-it where Imre didn't misunderstand and go too far with the transformation and Ariosa didn't die? I'd love, love, love seeing him and Cantiléna on equal footing and in a marriage at last where they could live as married. If that's not something that interests you, I'd settle for canonical and it would be interesting to see how they worked out the power dynamics of him needing caretaking, him being better at song, and the pain of how to work out being married in their circumstances. Oh, Imre. :shakes head sadly:

So I made out like a bandit with two gorgeous gift fics, one for the Divergent trilogy and one for Roswell.

Tess, through the years.

Bookmarker's Notes

I have a thing for "hurts so good." This story hurts as it walks through Tess's life and the mental abuse Nasedo gave her, but it's so, so good. And the last line just slams you in the gut. Beautiful.

When the walls come tumbling down, it's not just about people being set free. It's about how others are able to come in, too.

Bookmarker's Notes

This is beautifully layered and nuanced and developed, a character study of Tobias and the city of Chicago after everything that happened. It hurt but in a good way. It was slow, but in a rich way. I forgave canon for this story.

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

And Yuletiding. And that is all.

See you in December.

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

FRIENDLY REMINDER: If your comment vanishes into the spam moderation ether, please email me at info at lianamir dot com so I can fish it back out.

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Reading & Proofreading

I had a proofreading job come in, which will cut hard into scribbling time, but add to weather the bank advance cut-off transition, so it's a worthy switch.

I'm also going to put off reading any fiction by anyone else until after I've scribbled each day. This is an experiment. It will take nerves of steel (which I'm not entirely sure I have). More on that tomorrow.

Writing & Fanfic

So I didn't get anywhere with Laurie today. Couldn't find her mental space and realized I needed to dive into canon to do that. Canon's not at work and my lunch break didn't go to writing per usual, so yeah. Moving it down on the to-do list. I consider this a Yuletide piece.

Speaking of which, Yuletide itself is looking amazing. I signed up as a pinch-hitter and browsed through a bunch of letters. I may do the book exchange and I'm definitely going to be writing treats. In the middle of this, I promise to lithiumlaughter that I will indeed get around to hammering my head hard enough on "Everything is Blood" to finish it.

I did start off this morning with a ficlet that could go as a continuation of an interesting crossover fanfic AU (thanks, thecatisacritic) or fit within the regular Kingdoms and Thorn universe. So there's that. I do think it needs more, a continuation and exploration. Don't I have enough ficlets needing that though!

I decided to start posting more on the blog again, which is silly since I'm trying to scribble more fiction, but alas! I tend to be happiest when creatively overextended. Since I've already started doing it, I might as well just admit it.

For NanoWrimo, I still haven't the foggiest idea which book I'll write, though I'm leaning toward something with momentum, which would mean Kingdoms and Thorn or Seven Days. I love Vardin, but I'm not sure I could build up the steam in time for November. And everyone loves Seven Days. Thanks again, lithiumlaughter, for you wonderful comments. I need to get answers to your questions back, come to think of it.

Back on the evening scribbling grind, and this Kingdoms and Thorn piece is coming together again. Not sure what did the trick, but I'm liking the interactions between Justus, Cole, and Larique. I'm also realizing this thing's going to turn into a "Dowse and Bleed" size fic before it's done. Ah, well. At least I'm getting somewhere, 367 words of somewhere wraps the scene. I've a feeling it won't be done today, thecatisacritic, but you prompted it and it's coming. Now I've just got to remember to work in Justus going undercover and noticing a threat no one else does.

I'd be able to write more too, but I have a question it's going to take some percolating to answer. What in the world does that report say? Sometimes readers think we're hiding information for suspense when really, we don't actually know the information yet. Ah, well. Off to percolate. Good night!

Count

• Fiction: 841 words - Month to Date: 21,871 words
• Blog: 630 words - Month to Date: 7,580 words

365 Challenge

We're at day 290/365 and written piece 226/365.

Most of these pieces haven't been linked on the challenge page because they're commentfic and I'm editing the mess out of them for publishing. I really do need to get a Kingdoms and Thorn collection pulled together. But first, I want to see in_the_blue's suggestions for expanding "Dowse and Bleed." Seriously. It would be my first novella (not counting MG novel, similar word count) ever.

• 226/365 – Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Price of Reconciliation – 474 words

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

So let's talk Yuletide. I believe this is where I'm supposed to share with you my loves, hates, and dealbreakers of fiction, plus incidental helpful asides on my requested fandoms. As a side note to that, if you write me in these fandoms, I will love you for it anyway.

That said…

My favorite stories to read are rich in worldbuilding or characterization, though I adore funny, fluffy little pieces as well. It's all about the characters for me. Okay, and the world. I love intellectual fic and fanfic, like figuring out how a superpower would logically work, exploring the implications of a speculative element, fixing unfixable canon details, taking something off-the-wall and turning into powerfully plausible within canon constraints, etc.

I admit to being easily squickable. I don't care for humor based on embarrasing situations or body-related humor at all. I'm extremely vanilla het in my romance taste (sorry, the easily squickable thing) and infinitely prefer deep friendship characterization to surface romance any day (there's too little good friendship gen fics anyway). Though deeply characterized romance is fine. Better than fine.

And dealbreakers. I try never to read:

• Excessive swear words (or any if I can get away with it)
• Gratuitous violence
• Gore—at all
• Horror
• Zombies
• Ghosts, spooks, spiritualism, paganism, etc.

And to the fandoms:

Awake (TV)

So this show ran too short! One little season that left me with a zillion questions and so many possibilities. I would adore Emma with Hannah/Michael fic and finding out how things go after keeping the baby. You can AU it and get him out of prison or even just do Emma + Hannah. I'd love to see that. One scene I've been hankering after for forever is when Captain Tricia Harper stole all the brownies when she met Michael, but let him have one when he caught her. But seriously, anything you write me in this 'verse will be HUGELY appreciated.

The episodes are all available from Amazon, Netflix, or iTunes. My favorite episode is the first, but that's followed pretty closely by "Say Hello to My Little Friend."

Divergent Trilogy

I cannot wait for Allegiant to come out, but since it's not out yet, we have fanfic to make up the difference. Right now, I'm particularly fascinated by the Amar + Four relationship, as developed in the two shorts, "Free Four" and "The Transfer," and also thoroughly in love with Natalie Prior. More about Tris' mom would make me extraordinarily happy: her Dauntless background or her falling in love with Andrew or her finding out about the video at the end of Insurgent. Then there's the Jeanine Matthews and Andrew Prior dynamic. They used to best friends. Seriously? I would adore seeing them younger or even their personal interactions as Jeanine starts painting Abnegation as terrible. I mean, this is her best friend's kid she's torturing. And of course, knowing Andrew's mom recorded the video, that was a bombshell I'd also love to see more about. I love and prefer the canonical relationships: friendships, siblings, family.

Onyx Court – Marie Brennan

So the only book of this series I own and have read is With Fate Conspire, though I did read the free short story available on Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Particularly, I love the character of Dead Rick, so I'd love anything with him in it, I'm very interested in that intriguing period where Valentin Aspell was dreaming for a century, and then Benjamin Hodge's childhood and selection as prince OR his picking up life again after the book would be extremely fascinating. Again, I'm pretty good with anything at this point, seeing as I don't think there's any fic in this universe at all.

The People — Zenna Henderson

Ingathering is one of my five favorite books of all time. Within that, my favorite story is far, far and away "Captivity." I missed nominating this one, so understand if you don't want to go here, but I would love to find out what happened to Francher. Did he go back for Twyla? Who was he with his mom? But especially Twyla. Barring that, I'd love to know more about Dita and her ancestral stone wall and finding out what she could do or her parents' and family's reaction and so forth.

Roswell

I'm one of those who loved this series through "Viva Las Vegas." I've liked RoswellianMisha's work  that accepts the end of the series as canon, but otherwise try to pretend it doesn't exist. Big on canonical pairings, but I'm particularly interested in Tess/Kyle or Tess + Kyle as sibling relationship. I'd love to see a fix-it where she doesn't kill Alex (which I always thought was an accident, then coverup), or really anything that gives some serious nonbashing Tess character development. She's an underdog: she was raised desperately wanting the Pod Squad as the only family she would ever have, and then they didn't want her and her alien ideas, so she tried to either offer them their alien legacy and simultaneously started learning to embrace her humanity. I want more of that without the atrocity of that murder in there. Please no dupes.

Whoever you are, thank you!

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

So since I’m thinking about doing Yuletide this year, I thought I would mention the fandoms I’m hoping to nominate in hopes that others might be interested in nominating, requesting, and/or offering these fandoms. I linked to and quoted from Wikipedia.

Divergent Trilogy

In a futuristic world, Chicago is divided into five factions based on people's personalities. Beatrice "Tris" Prior, a young girl who comes from the Abnegation, has to make a choice to stay with her family where she does not fit in, or join in a group she loves. Soon, she learns that she is Divergent a person who does not fit into any one faction and discovers a sinister plot brewing in her seemingly perfect society.

The Secret Garden (1993)

The Secret Garden is a 1993 British Drama fantasy film based on the novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film was directed by Agnieszka Holland.

Awake (TV):

Michael lives in two separate realities after a car accident. In one reality (where he wears a red wristband), his wife Hannah survives the accident; in the other reality (where he wears a green wristband), his son Rex survives. Michael does not know which reality is "real", and uses the wristbands to differentiate the two. He sees two therapists: Dr. Jonathan Lee in the "red reality" and Dr. Judith Evans in the "green reality". At work, Michael's erratic behavior triggers clashes with his team; they do not know about Michael's uncanny ability to solve crimes using details from both realities.