#however I DO have a least favorite *looks at you 3 gables and his last bow

[tremendously-crazy]

QUICK! What's your favorite Sherlock Holmes story? I'll go first, if i HAVE TO PICK, my favorite is the adventure of the red headed league or the adventure of the priory school

Reblog so more people can answer!! /nf

[athenagc94]

Gust and Piper - Beginnings Pt. 1

I’m starving for more MTAP content, but now I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I have to create some of it too... I guess.  Here is a little of snippet of something I’m working on for my builder, Piper, and Gust.  It’s a lot of scenes right now and I’m working on bridging them together.  Here’s one of them.  Kind of the start of everything.  I don’t know

You can read the first the other parts here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

I’m also posting the story here on AO3!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a younger man, Gust dreamed of making his mark on history.  He planned on traveling across the Free Cities, designing important structures for important people.  Several years ago, he’d fled to Atara to chase those dreams.  He lived the fast paced life of a bustling city.  He’d studied under his mentor Vera for years.  When he graduated, he was ready to take on the world as the next Master Architect.  If Gust could smack his younger self upside the head, he would.  Because that kid was a naive fool.

When he and Albert discussed the possibility of forming their own business, he didn’t plan on setting up shop in his hometown of Portia.  However, his sister’s health started to decline and, as it does, life happened.  Now, here he was, four years later with nothing to show for it.  He spent his days hunched over a drafting table, designing bland buildings for the bland people living in this bland town.  It wasn’t the life he had hoped for, but it was his reality.

His grip tightened on his pencil as he dragged it across the page.  The latest rendition of the South Bridge was beginning to take shape.  It wasn’t his first crack at the design and he doubted it would be his last.  His design process followed a similar pattern these days.  He’d create an inspired concept, the client would see it, they would hate it, and he’d be back at square one.  Wash, rinse, repeat. 

His father always said Portia was a frontier town and that they would develop it into something great.  Gust clucked his tongue irritably.  The longer he worked in Portia, the less he believed it.  How did one develop a town full of people that feared the very concept of change?

“Good morning!”

The front door jingled.  Gust set his pencil aside and turned around.  Portia’s newest builder, Piper, stood just inside the door, hands stuffed in the front pockets of her grease stained coveralls.  She didn’t seem to notice him right away, in fact, she didn’t spare the loft above a single glance as she searched the lower level.  “Albert?”  She disappeared out of sight, “you here?”

Gust pursed his lips and stood up.  Albert was usually on top of helping customers.  He rarely did any filing in the back rooms during office hours.  Albert would never miss out on helping one of Portia’s eligible bachelorettes.  He peered over the railing curiously.  His desk looked like it hadn’t been touched.  The usual mess of work orders and commission forms were stacked neatly on either side of his desk and his chair tucked in place.

Now that he thought about it, he never heard Albert come in this morning.  He racked his brain.  They’d left the office together yesterday.  They were discussing the latest commissions they needed for the bridge when they bumped into his father.  Gust groaned.  That’s right.  Albert was meeting with his father and Mint this morning to go over the budget for the project.  He would be gone until after lunch.

“Albert?”

“Albert is meeting with my father this morning.”

He heard a gasp and the builder reappeared under him.  He watched as several emotions played on her face.  It was like flipping through a book.  Surprise quickly turned to realization, which immediately became disappointment.  He sighed.  Yeah, he tended to have that effect on people.  “He won’t be back until this afternoon.”

Piper glanced down at her watch and made a face.  “Can you help me then?”

Gust blinked, taken aback.  Most people never asked him to help.  If a customer came in while Albert was out, they’d quickly apologize and came back later.  To them, Albert was the brains of the operation.  Gust was just there to be pretty and make things pretty, which was a fair assumption now that he thought about it.  Regardless, it wasn’t true.  Gust was knowledgeable enough about the inner workings of A&G.  But the people of Portia didn’t need to know that, if they did, he’d be expected to help them.  So he never corrected their assumptions.  Apparently, no one had bothered to inform Piper.

He rolled his eyes and turned away from the banister.  He may as well help her.  The sooner he did, the sooner he could get back to work.  He smoothed the lapel of his coat as he meandered down the stairs and towards Albert’s desk.  If he remembered correctly, Albert kept the blank work orders in the bottom left hand drawer.  He rummaged through the drawer, pulled out a blank order and took a seat.

Piper hadn’t moved.  She stared at him, dumbfounded, though he couldn’t imagine why.  Was she surprised to see him willing to help?  Should he be insulted right now?  He pursed his lips.  A moment passed, then another, and she still didn’t move.  He tapped the nib of his pen impatiently on the desktop.  After another moment of tense silence, he cleared his throat.  “Well?”  

Piper shook herself from her stupor.  “Iー” she cleared her throat, “I’m looking to add an extension to my workshop.”  She bounced on the balls of her feet.  “I’m tired of sleeping where I work, ya know?”

Gust didn’t know the feeling, so he chose not to respond.  He tried to ignore the awkward silence that had settled between them and made quick work of filling out the form.  It was easy information.  The initial consultation was always easy.  His real work began when he started conceptualizing.  It was his favorite part of the process, but recently, it had also become the most draining.  He could see it now.  He’d design the new addition.  The builder would want something less aesthetic and more functional.  He’d be disappointed and create the same thing he’s made for the last four years.

“Alright, I’m going to needー” The rest of the sentence died on his lips.  Piper was gone.  He peered around the room and found her examining the model he’d left on one of the displays.  His stomach lurched.  He’d spent weeks designing that model for a competition for the Vincent Design Institute.  The results had come back earlier this week.  They had been less than satisfactory.  He swallowed thickly.  He would have thrown it out already, but Ginger had insisted he keep it.  She didn’t want his hard work going to waste.

Piper peered a little closer.  Scrutinizing it.  Picking apart every flaw, just like the judges had.  His grip tightened on his pen.  Just like he had since the results had come out.  He pushed himself out of his seat and approached her.  

“Are you done snooping around?”

Piper jumped away from the model.  He met her sheepish gaze evenly as he crossed his arms.  “Sorry,” she gestured to the model, “I was just admiring this. It’s really well made.”

Gust felt the heat flood into his cheeks.  Pride swelled in his chest as he let his arms fall to his sides.  At least someone seemed to notice its quality.  “Well, thank you,” he said curtly, “I guess.”

Piper gaped.  “Is this your design?”

He scoffed, “well, obviously.”  He brushed past her and approached his model.  He’d drawn inspiration from the logic cube Ginger sometimes played with.  It was a boxy structure made up of three stories.  Every level was skewed on a central axis to give it a unique shape.  He’d used lots of windows and skylights to draw on natural light.  “It was for a competition I entered last month,”  He ran his finger along the edge of the top most story.  Dust was already beginning to collect on its surface.  “I didn’t win,” he continued bitterly, “they said it was too strange.  They didn’t understand my vision.  The crotchety old fools.”

Piper tilted her head to the side.  “Well, those guys have no taste.”  She knelt in front of the design and peered through one of its windows.  “It’s so interesting.  I’d love to see it full scale.  It would be breathtaking.”

Gust narrowed his eyes and searched her face.  She had to be messing with him.  The people in Portia didn’t like his designs.  She was tracing the angles of his design with his eyes.  She wore a sincere, almost dreamy, smile as she examined his work.  He stared a little longer before giving up.  She genuinely liked it.  The mere notion made his heart flutter in his chest.

“Have you studied architecture?”

Piper snorted.  “Well, no,” she admitted as she stood back up, “but I’m a builder, so I make things for a living.  Sometimes I like to admire the handiwork of others.  Especially when they’re this talented.”  She stuffed her hands back in her pockets and took a step back.  “You think differently and I like that.”

“Unfortunately,” Gust regarded his model with a look of disdain, “you seem to be the only one who shares in that sentiment.”

She gave him a sympathetic smile.  “It’s a shame they didn’t appreciate your design,” she was bouncing on the balls of her feet again, “If it makes you feel any better, I would have scored it well.”

Gust would be lying if he said it didn’t.  It felt good to know that someone appreciated his work.  His real work, not just the stuff he made to satisfy the town.  He didn’t really have a lot of support in his creative endeavors.  There was Albert of course, but he was more practical about these things.  He did what had to be done to make money.  Whatever made the client happy, he would do without question.  His sister tried to show her support, but she lived a sheltered life and she didn’t quite understand his late night tirades about parapets and gables.  

Piper was a builder.  She understood construction and aesthetics to some degree. The materials he’d used to create this model had been given to him by his father.  A halfhearted attempt to show his support, but the materials came from somewhere.  Had she been the one to provide them?

Gust’s breath hitched.  “Those materials my father got me,” he began slowly, “they came from you didn’t they?”

Piper shrugged.  “Your father asked me to lend a hand.  I was more than happy to help.”

“You sure like to be nosy, don’t you?”  He tried to sound irritated as he brushed past her, but he couldn’t stop the smile that curved on his lips.  The room had gotten significantly warmer.  His heart was hammering so loud, he was afraid Piper would be able to hear it.  He pressed a hand firmly to his chest and cleared his throat.  “Now,” he slid back into his seat, “come over here and sign this.  You’re wasting my time.”

“You’re not the only one with things to do.”

“Then do us both a favor and get over here.”

Piper didn’t argue and took the seat across from him.  “Sign here, here, and here” He punctuated each word with the tip of his pen.  “This is just the initial work order, so Albert will touch base with you later to go over the details.”  He handed her the pen and shifted back in his chair.

As she read through the fine print, Gust gaze wandered back to the model across the room.  He’d spent the last few days despairing over its imperfections.  If only he’d made the angles a little cleaner, or if he’d spent a little more time conceptualizing, maybe then the judges would have liked it.  He was nursing a big blow to his ego.  He had even begun to doubt his abilities as an architect.  Maybe he wasn’t as good as he thought he was.

It would be breathtaking.  Her words resonated with him.  He had thought the exact same thing when he drafted the first renditions.  It would be nice to see it come to life.  

“Is that all you need from me?”

Gust tore his gaze away from the model.  Piper fidgeted in her seat.  She really didn’t like sitting still, did she?  “That’ll be all for now.” He picked up the order form and placed it in Albert’s pile off to the side.  “I’ll begin drafting some concepts for you addition.  When I’m done, Albert will bring them your way for review.”

“Ooo, a Gust original for my addition,” she beamed at him, “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

Gust gave her a thin smile and he hid his twitching fingers in his lap.  He could feel the thrill of inspiration course through his veins.  He was itching to get started.  “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I’ll try not to,” she winked and slipped out of her seat, “but I should really get going, so I’ll leave you to it.  Thanks for your help.”  She offered him a small wave.  Gust watched her go, offering no farewell in return.  She didn’t wait for one.  Without another word, she slipped through the door and out into the plaza.  The door jingled after her.

Gust was out of his seat in a flash and making a beeline for the model.  He scooped it up in his arms and hurried up the stairs to his drafting table.  Several ideas were already floating around in his head.  He hadn’t been this excited about a project in awhile.  He sat down at his table with renewed vigor and got straight to work.

[the-dragongirl]

Pod-Together Icebreaker, Day 1

It’s that time of year again, folks, when authors and podficcers get together to collaborate on new and innovative projects that are written to be heard, rather than just read. I am participating in four pod-togethers this year. @knight-tracer and I will be creating a sequel to last year’s Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme screen-play style story, and @lacefedora and @punsbulletsandpointythings and I will be creating another Star Wars story told through vignettes from vary varying points of view. However, I also have two projects with creators I haven’t worked with before: ladybrookeoflorien, and savvygambols. To that end, I’ll be posting the answers to the icebreaker prompts @pod-together is providing this week. So, without further ado, here are the answers for day 1:

1. If you could be any fannish character for a day, who would it be and why?

I am on major Star Wars kick these days, so I would have to say Leia Organa (though, probably EU version rather than current canon). Leia has been my fictional role model since I was three years old. I admired her competence and leadership, as well as her ability to give no fucks and get shit done. Fortunately, I get to live my dream at least a few times a month, when I appear as Princess Leia at events with the Rebel Legion.

2. Name as many books, movies, TV shows, animes, comics, celebrities, etc. that you can think of that you have felt or feel fannish about.

Okay, this list is rather huge, so I am going to sort it by category.

ANIME/MANGA (note that I am not really active in any of these fandoms anymore, and haven’t been since I was a teenager, ):

Cardcaptor Sakura; Fushigi Yuugi; Magicknight Rayearth; Naruto (in my my misguided youth); Sailor Moon; Saiyuki

BOOKS:

Jane Austen: all her books except Northanger Abbey (Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book ever); Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes; Monica Furlong: Wise Child and it’s sequel and prequel; Mercedes Lackey: Valdemar Series (we all go through that stage, right?), SERRated Edge Series, Bedlam’s Bard Series; Gregory Maguire: Wicked; Anne McCaffrey: the Pern book, the Rowan books, the Pegasus books; Seanan McGuire: October Daye series, Incryptids Series, Indexing; Lois McMaster Bujold: The Vorkosigan saga; Garth Nix: The Old Kingdom books; Tamora Pierce: Circle of Magic books, Song of the Lioness Books; J.K. Rowling: I love the Harry Potter books so much, though I am not particularly inclined to interact with most of that fandom; William Shakespeare: all his plays pretty much (The Winter’s Tale is my favorite); J.R.R.Tolkien: everything he ever wrote; Timothy Zahn: all of his Star Wars EU novels.

CELEBRITIES:

No. Just no. RPF of any kind squicks me out.

COMICS:

Check Please; Girl Genius; Marvel 616 (though I have mostly fallen out of the Marvel fandom these days)

MOVIES:

Anne of Green Gables (the Canadian miniseries); Assorted superhero movies (again, I have mostly fallen out of this fandom); The Chronicles of Narnia films (though not the books, oddly); Labyrinth; Ladyhawke; Pacific Rim; The Peter Jackson movie versions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; STAR WARS

MUSICALS:

Pretty much all older musicals, especially Paint Your Wagon, and Wicked. I love Hamilton, but I don’t interact with that fandom at all.

TV SHOWS:

Avatar (Last Airbender only. I haven’t seen legend of Korra); BBC Musketeers; Doctor Who (before Moffat); Due South; The Grenada Sherlock Holmes; Highlander; Firefly; Once Upon a Time; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Sense8, The Sentinel; Star Trek (especially Voyager)

3. List 5 things you enjoy in stories (e.g. a kind of trope, story line, kink, etc.). List 5 things that you do not enjoy in stories.

Not exactly five things, but here are the likes and dislikes copied from my standard Dear Creator letter:

Things I like: I love seeing greater inclusion of female, non-binary, and trans characters. I am a total sucker for healthy familial love and found families. I enjoy kidfic. I enjoy happy, consensual polyamory. Physical hurt comfort (that does not violate one of my squicks) is my favorite guilty pleasure. Beyond that, I enjoy world-building and fleshing out of minor characters.

Squicks: I will not consume fanworks which contain: incest, abuse (especially of children), rpf, on-screen sexual assault (references to past sexual assault are sometimes acceptable, provided it is non-graphic and is not trivialized or used as an h/c plot device), or extreme unmitigated power differences in relationships (such as large differences in mental/emotional maturity, or unnegotiated relationships between a person in guardian or supervisory position and their charge/ supervisee).

Dislikes: I really don’t like fanworks which erase or demonize existing female characters, or make non-villain characters in general super villainous (or, conversely, make villains poor misunderstood darlings without a great deal of explanation).  I also generally dislike infidelity (note that i do not count consensual polyamory as infidelity.) While I don’t mind smut being part of a fic, I tend to get bored with PWP. I rarely enjoy modern AUs, coffee shop AUs, high school AUs, or anything in that genre. I usually don’t enjoy A/B/O either, unless it is subverted and used to question social views of gender and sexuality.

4. If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?

Looking at my icebreaker answers from a couple of years ago, I like the answer I gave then, so I will just repeat it: I think I would like telekinesis. It would be fun and useful, without introducing complex ethical quandaries.

5. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what 3 fanworks would you want with you?

Am I allowed to list series? Because if so, my list would be Sansukh by determamfidd, the Deeper Season series by lightgetsin, and Re-entry by deadcatwithaflamethrower. Embers by Vathara is a very close fourth.

What are 3 fun/interesting/not-commonly-known/etc. things about yourself (fannish or otherwise)?

Thing the first: I have two paid professional audiobook credits to my name. I don’t list titles, since they are published under my RL identity, but it still gives you an idea of how seriously I take narration.

Thing the second: Between the Saber Guild and the Rebel Legion (and, hopefully soon, the 501st), I am generally dressed up as a Star Wars character an average of once a week.

Thing the third: Yesterday, I bought almost thirty yards of fabric for $30, and that is pretty much the most exciting thing to happen in my life in months.