#people need to write more fusion fic for leverage

[openemptysummer]

Hi i like Leverage and i like analyzing narratives. i'm really interested in hearing your thoughts regarding 'Parker as the Chosen One of Leverage' if you have the time to expand on that

I wasn’t sleeping tonight anyway so here we go-

This got super long and waaaay out of control so meta under the cut. 1.5k of sleep deprived leverage meta below. sorry not sorry

I’ll start here, with why the rest of the team isn’t and then move to Parker- 

Eliot Spencer is the character who externally changes the least over the course of the show. He starts off a tiny shouty man who is there to protect these people and ends up a tiny shouty man who is there to protect his family (also the subbiest sub to ever sub). Which is not to say he lacks characterization- in five seasons, he gets closure on the things he’s left behind- Amie, Damien Moreau, his Dad after the Low Low Price Job (which is v important because it talks about an everyday kind of evil thats pervasive  and petty)- and opens himself up to these random people who he took a job with once. He’s got inside jokes and taught Parker how to fight, and we all know damn good and well that when he said ‘til my dying day he meant it.

Eliot changes the least because out of the team he knows himself the best. He’s come to terms with who he is as a person before Victor Dubenich ever contacts him.  He’s got blood on his hands and the worst thing he ever did he did for Damien Moreau but he is resigned to who he is and what he’s done. He doesn’t expect anything more from his life but now that he’s got this family he won’t ever let go. Eliot doesn’t so much change over the course of the show as he does loosen up. He’s there on the field but the Narrative is never really about him. Not even when maybe it should be. (I.e. the Underground Job)

Hardison starts out as the guy who is perpetually the smartest guy in the room and shows it.  I’d kinda forgotten how blatant and uncomfortable his hitting on Parker in the first few episodes was and how grateful I am that they tuned that wayyy down. He gets easier with himself and his skin, more self confident, more willing to put himself out there. He learns how to grift, then pickpocket, and then he approaches Nate about running his own team. And Nate tells him he isn’t ruthless enough- Nate who in the first episode told Hardison about how he dies in Plan M. Hardison is soft in ways that no other team member is and it’s presented as a strength. Hardison is the one who is unashamedly kind and you see it more and more through his interactions with the team and their clients. Particularly with Parker. He’s the one who teaches her about human interaction- who explains the things she misses and holds her up when she falters.  

Hardison is the Token Good Teammate. He’s too nice to have the Narrative on his side. 

Sophie is a mentor. The teacher and protecter to the crew and her issues are all about identity in a way that dovetails nicely with both Nate and Parker. She doesn’t know who she is, but she knows what she’s not- that’s a great long list that starts with honest. Sophie is the character who is served least by the show I think because beginning to end she’s all tied up in Nate. She grows as a person, gives up her secrets slowly, like she’s not certain about the choices she’s making. Sophie who terrifies Chaos, Sophie who can call in a favors that will bring a helicopter down on an active crime scene that is literally crawling with feds, Sophie who never explains how she managed to hold on to her title if she truly ran off on some Duke. 

Sophie is ruthless and Sophie is dangerous and Leverage very rarely lets her be either. Mentors don’t get arcs the way main characters do. 

Nate is straightforward in his way. Because Nate is our Dumbledore here. He plays chess with people, and is burning with his grief. He has a Cause and it is Right and Justified and True in his mind. He goes from drunk to sober, honest man to thief, hating himself and the world to content and these are all part of his arc and all important to who he is because for a while the Narrative is on his side. 

He can’t lose until he can and that’s when he decides what his final score will and how he’ll pass on his legacy. And when he makes that decision every bit of effort they’ve put into developing Parker pays off.  

Parker for the entire run of the series is the character who figures out who she is and what she wants to be. She’s described in the first episode over and over again as crazy and she is poorly socialized and wild and unthinking about her or others personal safety but even from the first episode she’s adapting. Ten minutes in and she’s already learnt something and assimilated it to herself. (haircuts parker, count the haircuts.) And suddenly Parker has this crew that thinks she can be better and different than what she is. Nobody has ever said that to her before- not even Archie. (Incidentally at the end of the Stork Job when Hardison tells Parker I like how you turned out it is the one of the finest expressions of love on tv, fight me)

So first season thats the Call and the Rejection- Parker is offered a chance to change and be something different with limited degrees of success. Sophie tries to teach her to grift and she stabs a guy, Nate sends her to jury duty and she tries to help but she’s not certain why she should be helping. Parker operates on pretty limited morality to start because she’s never been given a reason to do otherwise. Money->Personal Safety->Everybody Else.

Season Two is about Parker learning. She’s given further roles in the team- she grifts successfully- in small parts first, as an reporter, an heir, then playing a pregnant woman to avoid getting caught. Parker learns how to read other peoples expectations and use them. But you, the viewer are still not certain she gets it. The Zanzibar Marketplace Job is when we figure out that Parker has figured out how to care, when she’s fluttering about Maggie. The Maltese Falcon Job and we’re still not sure about her motives for do-gooding but we understand how she feels about her team when she hold Tara off of a building and considers dropping her. So Money=Team->Everybody Else

In S3 we get the Inside Job and Parker Gets It. (This is what we do she says) 

Same episode- I think Nate looked around that warehouse and thought how can I use this. I think Nate looked at Parker’s plans and thought not how I would have done it. I think Nate was still thinking about the warehouse and those plans when he willingly steps back and says It’s your show. Go for it. Nate does not give up control to people who can’t do his job. Nate goes in after her but the plan and the execution that was all Parker. 

The rest of the season is this and Hardison dancing around something good. She’s come to terms with her past and lets it go. She manages two grifts (the Underground Job and the Morning After Job without stabbing anyone and she is learning. So Money=Team->Good Guys->Bad Guys

S4 Parker has already transformed. She just needs to figure out what to do with it. She sorts out her feelings for Hardison, overcomes the last of her insecurities about people leaving and by the time they hit Portland she ready to run a crew. And she does on the side all season.

The Gimma A K Street Job is about leading a team she’s not confident in. The Real Fake Car Job she plays a role that would have been Sophies if Nate weren’t testing them. In The Broken Wing Job, Parker says people who have to help and she’s being sincere- compare with s1e1 when she talks about money. In both the Rundown Job and The White Rabbit- she runs the con. She sacrifices for both of the jobs. Particularly the Rundown Job when Parker choses the needs of the many over the few and this job requires that too, the willingness to set yourself on fire to save a single soul. 

(Hardison doesn’t ever forgive himself for the impulse of damn the many, not just because Spock would be disappointed. Eliot. I think, understands it perfectly- Parker looked at him first, than Hardison.) 

Then finally the Long Goodbye and here is where Parker fully inhabits the role. She is the character who has traveled the furtherest from where she began and the only one who can do it. So this is simultaneously Passing the Torch and our hero, the Chosen One coming into her destiny as somebody who will provide Leverage- if you want to apply Jungian Archetypes to media that’s not built for it (which i always do)

And she’s the only character ruthless enough to see this through. Nate hands her the job like it’s a gift but it’s really not. The Narrative is on her side.

It had to be her. Somebody else might have gotten it wrong.

[pilesofnonsense]

RQBB Writer Guidelines & Sign-up

(This is a post including the requirements for writer participation for ease of access to mobile users. As it is quite long, please reblog our Writer Sign-Ups Announcement Post instead of this one!)

RQBB Writer Guidelines

Welcome to the Rusty Quill Big Bang - a large-scale event bringing writers and artists together to create an explosion of fan content for Rusty Quill podcasts!

Please read the following carefully to understand what will be expected of you as a participant. If you’re on browser, you can see more details on our Challenge Guidelines and FAQ pages.

Schedule for 2021 (all times in BST)

Writer Sign-ups: May 10th - 16th

Check-in 1: June 13th by 11pm

Full First Draft & Summary Due: July 9th by 11pm

Artist Sign-ups: July 12th - 18th

Check-in 2 & Art Draft Deadline: August 15th by 11pm

Final Fic & Art Due: August 27th by 11pm

Posting: August 31st - September 15th

Fandoms: Rusty Quill Gaming, The Magnus Archives, Stellar Firma, Inexplicables

Participation Requirements:

You must choose whether to join the Big Bang as an artist or writer. You may not do both.

Writers will require an AO3 account; if you do not have an AO3 account, please request one via AO3’s login page, or message the mods for an invite.

If you wish to write M or E rated fics you must be aged over 18.

All participants must read and adhere to the Expected Conduct guidelines (see below).

Minimum Final Word Count: 20,000

Maximum Number of Fics per Writer/s: 1

Maximum Number of Writers per Fic (collaboration): 2

Fic Draft Requirements: At the draft deadline (July 9th), we will require a complete draft of at least 18,000 words. “Complete” means that the fic is written from start to finish with no indispensable scenes missing or left as outlines—think, “If I posted this right now, would I be happy with the story it tells?”

Ideally, you will refine and polish your draft in the remaining time, but it can also be your final draft if you prefer.

Drafts will be handed in via a form that will be sent out to you before the deadline. Drafts should be available in Google docs, or if need be in PDF format.

Summary Requirements: A form for the summary will be sent out to you before the deadline. Summaries should briefly outline the general premise, and include rating, ships, triggers and other warnings, and any other relevant details.

Eligible Fics: Fics of any rating and with any warnings are permitted, as long as they meet the minimum word count (20,000), are centred around at least one Rusty Quill show (The Magnus Archives, Rusty Quill Gaming, Stellar Firma, Inexplicables), and are tagged appropriately. We encourage authors to take this opportunity to challenge themselves to take on a project that they might not otherwise—though please consider what is realistic in terms of the deadlines as well!

Fics must be stand-alone, complete, and previously unposted. 

Crossovers are allowed, but the focus should be on the RQ podcast involved. For example: a fusion crossover with the Leverage Team replacing the LOLOMG in the RQG!verse would not be permitted, though the RQG characters in the Leverage!verse would be.

Please be aware that fics with obscure crossovers, common squicks, higher ratings, etc., may be more difficult to match, and thus take a little longer to get snapped up. We will do our best to find you a suitable match, though!

If you have any questions about the suitability of your fic, please contact the mods.

Matching Process:

The artist sign-up will include a list of the anonymised fic summaries. Each artist will select 3 fics which they would be interested in creating for, with additional preferences (favourite show/shows they do not follow, OTPs and NoTPs, Do Not Wants, etc.) indicated in the comment field. Mods will then match writers to artists, taking preferences into account as much as possible.

If one fic is oversubscribed or if it is otherwise necessary for a work to be matched, it may be removed from the list of eligible fics before the end of artist sign-ups.

If you have an issue with your match, please let the mods know as soon as possible.

Do Not Wants: In this event, you will have an opportunity to Do Not Want (DNW) the types of content that you do not wish to work on. Similarly, if you’ve had conflicts with certain people in the past and do not want to risk matching to them, you can include this in your sign-up or draft submission, and we will avoid matching you with them (details of these will not be shared beyond the mod team).

The mods will take DNWs into account within reason - attempts to manipulate matches by DNWing large lists of people or otherwise acting in bad faith will result in the rejection of your sign-up or draft. We are also not private detectives, and will thus not be fielding any requests such as “do not match me with anyone who has ever drawn/written XYZ”, so please keep that in mind when considering whether this event is right for you.

Expected Conduct:

By signing up for this event, you agree to meet our deadlines. If it becomes apparent that you need a little more time, we require that you email the mods to explain your situation before the deadline passes. (Those who miss deadlines without contacting the mods beforehand may be defaulted from the event without further contact.)

In order to participate in this event, you must be willing to contact the mods directly in the event that you have a question, concern, or issue with your participation (as in the deadline example above). We are happy to help participants with anything that arises, but cannot accept “telephone”-style communiques on behalf of others.

Be kind and courteous towards your match and fellow participants.

Please take care to credit your artist/writer in your own final post.

Be in regular contact with your match - if you’re going to be offline for a significant length of time, let them know. Radio silence from your match in events of this kind can be very concerning.

Our Discord server has its own list of rules, which are listed within the server. If you decide to join the server, we require you to read and abide by those rules.

Harassment of other participants (including but not limited to callout posts, namecalling, etc.), either publicly or in the Piles of Nonsense discord server, over their fanworks or headcanons will result in an instant default.

We, like Rusty Quill, have an “all headcanons are valid” policy. Harassment or mockery of those with different interpretations or other attempts to limit participants’ creative expression will not be tolerated. Please note that this does not mean you cannot discuss, for example, how you see the characters with others or that your artist or writer should not take it into account at their discretion, but insistence that any one interpretation must be adhered to, or that others are “invalid”, will be frowned upon.

Writer sign-up is here.

[suzukiblu]

2020 (Fanfiction) in Review

Whoo boy, kids, strap in for a long one. I think a fair chunk of these I just UPDATED this year as opposed to writing from scratch, for the record, but pretty sure that still counts. Also if any of this is inaccurate, I apologize, I just filtered on AO3 and did my best from there. 

Also-also, we are definitely gonna read-more this. We are DEFINITELY. There is . . . there is a whole lot of fic linked under here, haha. 

fics written this year: 

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MCU

do you wanna be my sidekick, sidekick for ZepysGirl (Winterfalcon/Barbershop Quartet A/B/O)  

I think I know why the dog howls at the moon for ZepysGirl (Barbershop Quartet) 

I said you’re holding back, she said shut up and dance with me for belladonnaprice (Bucky/Peggy/Steve A/B/O) 

people were mean to you, but I always thought you were cool for beckyh2112 (Steve Rogers & Scott Summers, X-Men fusion) 

ready or not, here we go anyway for Zephrbabe (Wintershieldshock A/B/O) 

we can take it if you just take my hand for untamedphoenix (Wintershock A/B/O [sequel to don't wanna break your heart, wanna give your heart a break]) 

hey I just met you, and this is crazy for untamedphoenix, Zephrbabe (Wintershock A/B/O) 

I'd like to tell you everything I see for beckyh2112 (Darcy-centric, Slender Man fusion) 

pack up, don’t stray (oh say say say) for ZepysGirl (Natasha/harem A/B/O) 

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YOUNG JUSTICE

you found me when no one else was looking for Okapi_chan (Superman & Superboy, background Supermartian) 

when I was a boy for seagrey (Supermartian) 

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ORIGINAL

to the victor go the spoils for dancinbutterfly (OC/OC, A/B/O) 

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ATLA

rumor has it for Prim_the_Amazing (Zuko-centric) 

you make a really good girl (as girls go) for Prim_the_Amazing (Azula/Yue) 

when it comes to luck you make your own for Prim_the_Amazing (Azula-centric) 

Avamorphs continuations (mostly gen, Animorphs fusion)

home is where you go when you’re alone for Redrikki

step one you say we need to talk for kaos_sparrow

do you believe that we are all innately good for Museflight

you are any way the wind blows for MirandaTam (Ty Lee-centric) 

does the pain feel better when I’m around? (Sokka/Zuko A/B/O)

push and pull (mostly gen)

storm (Bato/Hakoda/Kya) 

snow (Bato/Hakoda/Kya) 

spark (Ozai/Ursa)

Jetko Renaissance Week (Jet/Zuko)

that unwanted animal wants nothing more than to get out (Jet/Zuko)

give me back my heart you wingless thing (Jet/Zuko) 

our lives have come between us (Jet/Zuko) 

I’m not listening when you say goodbye (Jet/Zuko) 

if I were someone else would this all fall apart (Jet/Zuko) 

we are all walking each other home (Jet/Zuko)

we ain’t got much to say (before I let you get away) (Jet/Zuko) 

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OVERWATCH

mad elephants continuations with dancinbutterfly (A/B/O)

bittersweet creature with dancinbutterfly (R76) 

tell me where have you been with dancinbutterfly (McCree & Mercy, McCree & Jack) 

I get by with a little help from my friends (McCree & Mercy)

if you don’t wanna talk about it with dancinbutterfly (R76)

the past is gone, and cannot harm you anymore with dancinbutterfly (McCree & Jack)

either you’re a blessing or a lesson (McCree/Genji, McCree/Hanzo, McCree/Genji/Hanzo) 

give me back my young brother, hard and furious (Hanzo & Genji) 

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WORLD OF WARCRAFT

as long as we’re together, does it matter where we go? for beckyh2112 (Marius Felbane/Tehd Shoemaker) 

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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

a fever you can’t sweat out for beckyh2112 (Kegan Rodhe/Ryze) 

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GOOD OMENS

anathema device, professional descendant and amateur book-burner (Anathema/Newt, Ineffable Husbands) 

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STAR WARS

like my father before me for beckyh2112 (Luke & Vader)

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LEVERAGE

every election is determined by the people who show up for Miss_Bubblegum (Hardison/Parker/Eliot)

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THE WITCHER

hey, hey, hey, come pollinate me (Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer) 

I'll give them shelter like you've done for me (Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer, A/B/O) 

it’s a long way forward (so trust in me) (Jaskier/Geralt) 

have you noticed I’ve been gone? (Jaskier/Geralt) 

I know words won’t be enough (Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer)

I could never find the right way to tell you for circa1220bce (Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer)

the courting jewelry A/B/O (Jaskier/Geralt A/B/O)

you wear nothing but you wear it so well (Jaskier/Geralt)

in your eyes, love, it glows for dancinbutterfly (Jaskier/Geralt) 

tied up and twisted the way I’d like to be for adptt12 (Jaskier/Geralt)

you are in my blood (Jaskier/Geralt) 

if you understand (Jaskier/Geralt)

wanna hold him, maybe I’ll just sing about it for Anoke (one-sided Jaskier/Geralt) 

can you help me unravel my latest mistake (Jaskier/Geralt)

yeah you need someone to sing you to sleep for ragequilt (Jaskier/Geralt) 

you must be new I guess, at least you’re new to me for Squiggly_lines (Jaskier/Geralt) 

best friends means you get what you deserve for Prim_the_Amazing (Jaskier & Geralt) 

it takes some time to get anything right for spinningjenny (Jaskier/Geralt)

I’m the plans that you made (but fuck all your plans, I’m bored) for Prim_the_Amazing (Jaskier/Geralt A/B/O) 

whisper a dangerous secret to someone you care about for Prim_the_Amazing (Geralt/Yennefer, Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer) 

make it easy (Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer) 

you met me at the perfect time for Prim_the_Amazing (Jaskier/Geralt, Jaskier/Melitele) 

the thing perhaps is to eat flowers and not to be afraid for Prim_the_Amazing (Jaskier/Geralt, Geralt/Yennefer, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer)

some people talk to animals; not many listen, though for Prim_the_Amazing (Jaskier/Geralt) 

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Takeaways from reflecting on your kick-ass writing, or kick-ass lack of writing, during a year more focused on survival than perhaps any other: Oh my god, I wrote so fucking much, hahaha. Like daaaang, self. I almost wanna add up the word count and see what it is but I’m not patient enough to sort it all out, hah. 

.

Most surprising fic you wrote this year: . . . hmmm, probably “you make a really good girl (as girls go)”. That one’s gotten a REALLY good reception that I was REALLY not expecting and I continue to get people who are hype for more of it swinging by to say so. 

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How you grew as a writer this year: I got faster, I think, and less obsessed with perfectionism/fussing around on the details. Also I continued to be ever-more shamelessly id-driven in my writing, my true ultimate goal as a writer. 

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What’s coming in 2021: God if I know, you guys. God if I know. Hopefully more Push and Pull and Avamorphs; maybe a little bit more “I’ll give them shelter” and handmaiden!Anakin; MAYBE even the end of Clay Kids. This is all wild, wild guessing, though, because lbr, I write exclusively based on a) what other people ask for and b) whatever random bout of inspiration has struck me at the time. There is very little predicting what will result from this combination. 

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tagging: @asukaskerian, @darkpuck, @beckyh2112, and anyone else who wants to play. 

[mprosperossprite]

I Made Stuff in 2020

Shoutout to @nevermindirah for the tag

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works (fics, art, edits, etc.) you’ve created this year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2020. If you don’t have five published works, that’s fine! Include ideas/drafts/whatever you like that you’ve worked on/thought about, and talk a little about them instead! Remember, this is all about self-love and positive enthusiasm, so fuck the rules if you need to. Have fun, and tag as many fellow creators as you like so they can share the love! <3

In 2020 I re-watched Leverage, which led me to tumblr, which led me to seeing these posts about this movie The Old Guard, which led me to watch one of the best films I’ve ever seen, which led me to AO3, which led me to discord. Before falling down The Old Guard rabbit hole, I hadn’t written fanfiction since 2012. Unsurprisingly, a lot has changed since 2012 for me and for the internet. For the first time since my participation in internet fandom, I feel like I’ve found a community online and that is probably the big theme of this post: making for each other has been an absolute joy in an otherwise pretty shit year.

This is not really a year in review, so much as a last two months review (my first fic of the year was published on November 2nd) but it’s been a utterly delightful and impactful couple of months, so here we are. On to the fics!

1. The Sport of Bright Steel - This was the fic that started it all.  Someone on the Old Guard kinkmeme prompted a Joe/Nicky fic from the POV of their swords and I sat down on my couch one Saturday morning and an hour later had a lil piece of fanfiction all written out. And then I panicked that it was terrible and weird and so posted it anonymously to the kinkmeme. And then someone in the discord rec-ed it in the fanfic channel and then I dusted off my old AO3 account and posted for the first time in 8 freaking years.

2. Our Toil Shall Strive to Mend - This was my second foray back into fanfic (once again, inspired by a kinkmeme prompt), and the first multi-chaptered fic I ever wrote. Big manly man with tiny human? I am weak. I love all of the Old Guard characters, but I think Booker will forever be my favorite to explore in fic. Unlike the others, Booker is a reluctant soldier and much of his pain comes from losing his identity as a husband and father. This fic asks what if Booker’s path to healing comes in the form of fatherhood? Writing the last chapter made me cry happy-sad tears for him.

3. The Perfect Shot - From the idea that both snipers and photographers are in search of “the perfect shot” came this delightfully silly little fic. Nicolo di Genova, sniper and international man of mystery, knows one damn pun/pick-up line and just so happens to find the one man (Joe, photojournalist) whom it works on hook-line-sinker. Everything about this is fun and makes me happy. Never in a million year would I have written this, if not for a very silly post on this website that someone on discord suggested as a Joe/Nicky prompt. Inspiration strikes in the most unexpected of ways. And I fucking love puns, y’all.

4. This Rough Magic - Nicky is a selkie who accidentally get himself married to unsuspecting, marine scientist Joe and it might be my favorite thing I’ve written all year. It’s a story about identity and the unexpected and being willing to take a leap of faith. This fic would not have happened without the discord, and made me so so grateful and happy to be creating with other people and as part of a community. The joy of fanfic is that it is freely created and given, and I never would have dared to write this story without the inspiration, support, and enthusiasm from internet friends. 

5. Bring the World Back into Tune - aka my Book of Nile opus, still a work in progress. Technically it’s a Hades/Persephone fusion, but really it’s about finding family, finding healing, and finding love, about making meaningful choices despite whatever fate or the supernatural has in mind. I fell into Book of Nile because who they are beyond being immortal has so much in common: growing up basically ghettoized in a country that doesn’t give a damn about you, fighting for an imperial army because there were no other viable choices, knowing the pain of missing 1st families. In Bring the World Back into Tune I love that I get to explore what it means to be fated for something (they’ve become Hades and Persephone without realizing it, in addition to the whole immortal thing), and also what it means to still get to choose how you arrive at and cope with that fate. Very few people are reading this on AO3, but it’s something I love working on and through because the characters and ideas are so compelling.

Honorable Mention: Leaving AO3 Comments - One of my greatest joys this year has been in giving to others the kind of love and support I’ve received as a person who makes stuff on the internet. I love leaving AO3 comments, and applying my English major brain to what I’m reading. The things we love most are deserving of our critical attention, including and especially fanfiction. I’ve met fandom soul-mates in the AO3 comments and befriended authors. In response to a shitty anon comment on another fic, I crafted what might be my fanfic manifesto: why fanfic is the heir of western storytelling moreso than our popular media and why the “expectedness” of fanfic is in fact its greatest feature, not it’s biggest flaw. It is A+ work, if I do say so myself.

None of this would have been possible without the internet (the kinkmeme, tumblr, discord, and of course AO3) and, perhaps more importantly, without the great, supportive Old Guard fan communities. Thank you for the beautiful fic and stunning art. For the thoughtful meta and funny headcanons. For the cheering and screaming and encouragement. For the kudos and comments. We make for ourselves and each other and that’s a truly remarkable thing.

Thanks to @hyper-fixate @sweetlyenchains and many others for being so lovely and kind and making my 2020 better with The Old Guard fic and art and thinking and community. If y’all are inspired to do this year end recap too (whether tagged or not), please tag me! I’d love to read about your triumphs too!

[princesssarcastia]

Cassandra Cillian: Hitter

this is titled “you don’t have to be a ghost here amongst the living” because I was going through a F+TM phase when I started writing it.  

remember like, a year and a half ago when I planned out a librarians-leverage fusion (and also a leverage-librarians fusion?) because I do!  And I finished the first bit.  

here’s 3k of not!fic about how Cassandra Cillian starts down the road to being a legend. 

              ________________________________________________________

my first concrete though when I started daydreaming about this was “oh my god Cassandra is the hitter”

no, really

I blame the apple of discord episode. her analysis of force needed to kick ass and take names and initiate a nuclear meltdown makes her perfect.  utterly ruthless, just hiding under a cutesy facade instead of Eliot’s dumb-hick one

with the tumor in her head ticking down, down, down to zero, her self-preservation is pretty low.  not necessarily in a death wish way, not yet.  but when she fights there’s no holding back, and no fear of what the other person can dole out.  what could they possibly do to her that she isn’t already doing to herself?  death looks like Cassandra Cillian staring in the mirror.

I’m willing to negotiate about anything else you find here but this.  in this house we stan Cassandra as the hitter in the leverage fusion au.

all this begs the question, of course: how does sweet cinnamon roll math geek Cassandra Cillian become a mean lean recently reformed killing machine?  and this is where our story begins.

Cassandra Cillian is a teenager who’s just been told she’ll never see the other side of 35.  there’s a tumor sitting in her brain sending her senses haywire, giving her visions that break down every aspect of the world around her to the smallest components.  math isn’t just like breathing, anymore: it’s her heartbeat.  even though its killing her, she can’t help but enjoy it a little. and it’s not just math.  everything around her is worth noticing, studying, learning.  the doctors are calling it hyper-vigilance, like her new fascination with her surroundings is just a way to channel all her rage and grief into something she can control; like since she can't cut her death out of her brain she’s going to make damn sure that nothing else gets to get near her without her consent.

they’re probably right, but she’s not going to admit that. all she knows is that the way her senses are linked to each other and her visions, there’s not a goddamn thing going on around her she doesn’t notice and catalogue immediately.

the next step, of course, is her shitty parents.  when they hear the news it’s like Cassandra’s already dead.  they take away her trophies, all those shiny pieces of proof that she was worth something, that mom and dad were proud of her sometimes, gone.   the pair of them loved their dreams for their daughter more than the person she was, and those dreams had just been crushed.  they pull her out of school, because her visions were “a disruption to the other students”

no one needs the crazy dying chick breaking down in the middle of calculus crying with a nosebleed, apparently.

maybe she could have lived with this.  maybe, in another life, another world, she could have buried all of her hopes and dreams deep inside herself and forgotten about it, until a man and a woman burst into the hospital looking to save her life (oh, the irony). this is not that world.

instead Cassandra gets furious.  

how dare they decide her whole life is over just because this tumor is going to cut it short.  how dare they take away everything they said made her special: her grades, her stem fairs, her college applications. no; no, they don’t get to do this.

so she runs away.  seventeen years old and in the wind.  fine.  if they won’t help her live her life, she’ll do it on her own.

she lands in Boston eventually.  crossing state lines helps confuse jurisdiction over her missing persons case, if her parents even decide to file a police report.  hiding in a larger city decreases her odds of being found, because cities are big places. easy to get lost in, to find a job in, and everyone seems to have a rule about asking questions.

where in Boston, you might ask, does Cassandra end up staying? where does she work?

well, funny story, actually

She ends up working at John McRory’s Place

god this is so long I'm sorry

it turns out mob bars don’t ask too many questions about why a just-18 young woman with no emergency contact needs a job.  Cassandra just gives them her bright, fake smile and says she's applying for classes at the local college and means to pay her own way.  they respect her secrets and her work ethic, and voila! a job busing tables and occasionally manning the bar when the owner has special customers to see to in the back room

her bright red hair and Irish heritage don’t hurt, either

it’s not an Ivy League school, nothing like what she imagined her future would be a year ago, but it’s something, which is more than she’d be getting at home.  all it took was a request for records from her old high school, some placement exams to confirm her genius level intellect, and the college was giving her a spot in their line of incoming freshmen.  

even with merit scholarships, tuition is a bitch to pay for.  it gets worse once she has another attack and needs some of her funds to go to the hospital bills, and the drugs the doctors there prescribe her.

Cassandra expects her boss to kick up a fuss at all that time missed, but he waves her off with a kind smile and says she can take all the time she needs to get back on her feet, because he’s never had someone so smart working for him before (she helps out with the accounts for the bar, sometimes)

one night after she starts back to work, it’s late, and the bar is empty of everyone except the Irish.  they’ve taken over the pub and the territory surrounding it.  Cassandra is cleaning up, closing down the unused tables and being as unnoticeable as she can

because let’s face it, she is not stupid.  by now, she knows exactly what’s going on here.  and maybe before it would have bothered her more, maybe her principles and respect for the rules would have had her out the door.  but she needs this job so she can continue her classes and pay rent on the space above the bar (which she’s getting at a discounted rate), and pay for her pills and the occasional overnight in the hospital.  besides, the owner is kind, even if his friends aren’t quite so nice, and his little girl is adorable.

anyway.  the Irish are here, letting off steam and worried, because their “accountant” just got put in jail.  everyone in the Family is prepared to play patsy, but losing an enforcer is nothing compared to losing the guy who keeps track of their money, their lifeblood.  those people aren't a dime a dozen, and pretty soon the Irish won’t have two nickels to rub together if they don't find someone new fast.

and cassandra just.  pauses.  just for a moment.  glances up to meet old McRory’s eyes behind the bar, just for a minute.  because.... she could do that.  Cassandra started balancing her father’s accounts for him when she was twelve, and they were hardly middle class: the Cillian’s had money in savings, but also tied up in investments and stock, and assets, too.  but that was nothing to her mind.  she could do it in her sleep near the end. hell, she’s been helping John with the bar’s funds for two months now, and not all of their revenue was clean , but she kept her mouth shut then and made the numbers work.

John wasn’t exactly a member of the Family, but he was a, a Friend of the Family.  so when she nods at him, I can do it, I need the money, just give me a chance, he casually picks up a glass to clean and mentions that she’s got a head for numbers, if they’re really that desperate

they are.

they take her to Callaghan, and he might be a little charmed by her bubbly smile and her red hair, but what really gets him is the way it takes her thirty minutes to decipher the codes the old accountant used for the ledgers, balance them out, shift funds between businesses and make sure to account for the statistical probability of amounts of cash-paying customers they can make up for car washes, bars, laundry mats, mattress firms, and movie theaters.  

that’s how she becomes the numbers guy for the Irish mob.  

Cassandra was never going to be Eliot, running away to the military with god in her heart and a flag on her shoulder and becoming disillusioned with doing dirty work for her country.  she needed to get slowly pulled into the criminal underworld.  I figured Irish mob was a good way as any to start, and what better way to pull her into that then math?

she spends some time doing that.  becoming more and more involved.  and she’s cute, like a little puppy, so the others like her.  enough to maybe give her a few self-defense lessons, because this is a dangerous life she’s leading now.

they go...okay??  taking care of her body is one of the first things the doctors recommended to her when she started getting sick, so she’s already in pretty good shape.  It’s just the basics at first; keep your thumb outside your fist, always go for the throat first—Cassandra calculates that three fingers-width above the hollow in a person’s throat would be the best place to strike, because then their voice box gets damaged, too.  

None of the lessons ever go much further than that, because these are brawlers who prefer to use a gun to send a message.  Sometimes the way they move when they show her something tickles the back of her brain, like there’s more to uncover there, but she can’t figure it out until the first time a brawl breaks out in the bar

Two of their patrons start throwing punches right in front of her and suddenly their movements are all angles: she catalogues their weight and height and how drunk they are and how much force they’re putting behind their swings and just…neatly steps out of the way, perfectly avoiding getting elbowed in the face. This…this has never happened before.  But, like everyone always says: there’s math in everything.  Even fighting—especially fighting.

When it looks like the two men are going to start breaking chairs, she hesitates for a moment, but…the knee is a hinge joint.  Thirty pounds of pressure pushing it the wrong way will snap it; twenty-five will seriously damage the attached ligament.  She blinks. Steps up to the closest one.

He’s on the floor before John can make the corner of the bar, screaming his head off, and the other guy is backing away with wide eyes, shocked sober by fear.  Cassandra pulls back, letting her right foot settle behind her and point away from them, and balances on the balls of her feet for a moment.

John gives her a startled look, because she’s never done something like that before. Someone calls the guy’s friends to pull him up off the floor and drive him to the hospital

She grabs a rag to wipe up the mess they made of the counter and thinks.  Because that felt…good.  Really good. Using her hallucinations to dosomething, to affect the real world, gave her a rush of adrenaline and satisfaction.  Not just theory, like in her classes, but real application of the way she sees the world.

Like any good academic, she does her research (in her mind, this is ostensibly still for self-defense—just in case something like that bar fight happens again.  She ignores the giddy little voice in her head talking about how much fun this will be).  Her upper-body strength isn’t great, so something that uses joints and core muscles would be best.  Her size is a disadvantage, too: she can’t afford to go to the ground grappling with someone twice her height and weight.  She’s not looking to compete in a tournament, and she can’t afford to buy any equipment.  The best technique for her will probably be Krav Maga.  (For now, the excited voice in her head whispers)

Her search turns up a little studio on the west side of town that teaches Krav Maga to women for self-defense.  Perfect. The instructor, Miriam Epstein, was a course instructor for the IDF for twenty years before she immigrated to America and got certification from the KMAA.

Cassandra goes to observe a class before she signs up, and the moment she steps through the door her brain is set alight:  everything she sees goes a deep, brilliant hue of scarlet, finding the angles of their feet and arms and their centers of mass based on weight and height; herfoot is seven centimeters too far to the right and that strike would give hermore leverage if she moved three centimeters up from the elbow.  She has to stop for a moment to breathe and process all the information her brain displays in front of her.

That becomes the hardest part: not the constant exhaustion, or the bruises everywhere, or her aching muscles, but the overwhelming flow of information about body movements and the correct place to strike.

She is tired, though; working at the bar takes time, if not mental energy, and her classes take both. Add in balancing the ledgers for Callaghan and now these lessons twice a week, and the exercise she does on her own to keep up, and her schedule is completely full.

The Irish start letting Cassandra layer their funds, obscuring where the extra profits in their businesses came from.  Turns out she’s pretty good at that, too, though it’s not like it’s hard given they own a bank in Boston.  Loans are a great way to integrate funds, and their interest rates are always better than the next three competitors.  She tries not to think about the other differences, how the people she’s working for go to collect that debt.  

Construction is another great way to hide their funds, and from what Cassandra can tell from watching the stock market (which is considerably more than most people) real estate is on the rise.  When she carefully suggests that Callaghan try investing more money in that area, he actually listens to her.  Puts her theories and calculations into practice because he trusts her to be right.  

It feels almost as good as tearing that man’s quadriceps tendon.  Practical applications, she muses.  Sometimes she lets herself wonder how it would feel to take her theories all the way down the rabbit hole

Meanwhile, it only takes her four months to move to P2 in Krav Maga.  The average time spent practicing moves for each level is six months; she’s learning 33% faster than that.  Her muscles are adjusting better than she expected, and her skin stops bruising as easily, but she suspects she’ll always tire quicker than everyone else.

Miriam pulls her aside after class one day and asks why she hesitates so much when they practice moves on each other.  Nothing but the lightest sparring, of course, and nothing dangerous.  But Cassandra can’t turn her brain off, and now that she’s starting to learn the more painful moves, she can’t help but see them every time she stands across from someone.  (thirteen pounds of pressure at 125 degrees from her back to hyperextend her arm; plant your foot six inches from her spine and pull to dislocate her shoulder; 3,300 newtons of pressure delivered at 1.5 seconds would have a 25% chance of cracking her rib and sending a fragment into her lungs.  All this would take less than thirty seconds)

None of this makes it past her lips, but she thinks maybe Miriam can see it in her eyes.  We’re moving on to fighting armed opponents next week, she says, maybe you’ll feel more comfortable with that than basic strikes and take-downs.  She taps the side of her head in farewell and Cassandra tastes copper and sees the spot on her temple where the cranial bone is weakest; a quick jab with the second knuckle of her index finger extended could put her on the ground.  Shaking her head, she dislodges the scarlet diagram and shoves down the curious voice of, but you could do it, you could actually do it.

In another four months she’s at P3, and Callahan is actively seeking out her opinion about investments because she’s been right every time.  

Another four months and she’s almost 20 years old.  She’s almost gotten her degree in mathematics, somehow, even though she can’t qualify as a full-time student.  Part of it is the half-ton of college credit built up during high school, part of it is testing out of a third of their program when they wanted to place her, and the rest is just her ruthless pursuit of academia.  

Her attacks don’t become less frequent, or less powerful, but Cassandra still feels better.  Maybe it’s because she’s actually living her life on her own, even if it isn’t what she thought it would be; even if what she’s doing is wrong.  Because not only is she learning more, but she’s usingit.  She’s using her brain to dothings and affecting the world around her instead of just living in it. No matter what happens, no matter how much she changes in the years to come, she’ll treasure that.

Enter Lamia, stage right

See, Dulaque is Damian Moroe; boogeyman and semi-god of the criminal underworld.  You can’t spend more than six months involved with dirty money without hearing about the man who bankrolls terrorists and buys countries to launder his money through. He’s a legend, untouchable.

Almost as infamous is his right-hand woman, Lamia.  A trained killer with no hint of a past before she showed up as Dulaque’s chief…well, he’s too classy for the word enforcer, and so is she.  But if they were anyone else, that’s what she’d be. As it is, just a whisper of her name will send some grown men running to give up whatever she wants in exchange for safe passage.

And see, Dulaque has caught wind of the irish mob’s sudden financial success and wants to know how it’s happening.  Take advantage of it if it’s luck, invest in it if it’s skill, and perhaps recruit whatever or whoever is responsible into his own enterprise.

Lamia doesn’t always like to trade on her name, though, so she comes to Boston quietly, and investigates how the Irish are doing so well—not just in the American markets anymore

(Callahan called his friends in the old country and told them about the redheaded accountant with a genius-level intellect who could analyze the stock markets to a T; suddenly Cassandra had a whole lot more to balance than a few local business and investments. Suddenly, she’s the lodestone to an entire financial criminal empire that’s only growing.  And that little voice in the back of her head sighs in contentment as her reach extends, her area of effect getting bigger and bigger. Whenever the air in front of her lights up blue and smells like oranges, she smiles a little and hums, because this feels right.  Follow the money and see where it leads, all the way down)

It doesn’t take long before she finds John McRory’s place, where a petite little redhead still waits tables and occasionally mans the bar; locks up more often than not, now, because her place is right upstairs.

There are a couple ways she can do this.  She can go from the top down, approach Callahan and demand to speak with the girl. She can have her brought directly to Dulaque, where he can make an intimidatingly persuasive offer the girl won’t be able to refuse.  Or…

Her eyes are rather striking, in the warm light of the bar.  

After Lamia finds Cassandra Cillian, she spends another week watching her, and the girl is interesting.  Balancing all that money, layering and incorporating it in three different countries and seven different cities, would be too much for any one person.  And yet she seems to slot all that work neatly into her afternoon, after her classes at the local college and before her shift starts at the bar.  What really draws her attention, though, is that little studio she visits twice a week for “defense lessons.”  

Krav Maga is brutal and straightforward, a beautiful Frankenstein of a martial art that takes the easiest parts of a handful of the others and sharpens them into something dangerous.

Lamia sits in on one of the sessions.  The instructor she immediately pegs as former military, that’s a very distinctive stance, but the way the girl holds herself…now that, that’s something to watch out for.

P3 after less than a year of training is impressive, but not unusual enough to matter.  What matters is the way the girl locks her eyes onto the instructor while she demonstrates a move, all cold and calculating; the way her gaze flickers over her sparing partner’s feet, hands, arms, shoulders, hips, like she’s finding every angle and weak spot there is to be found.  

Finally, Lamia smiles as she hesitates just before moving into action.  Oh, that look.  Not fear of her opponent; fear of herself.  And buried beneath it, a bone-deep desire and curiosity. Ah, she thinks.  Gotcha.

Cassandra is smarter than probably everyone Lamia has ever met, so there won’t be any straight-up conning her into what she wants, and that visit to the hospital had been unfortunately enlightening, because threatening probably won’t work either.

Dulaque, she knows, will want the girl’s head for numbers.  And he’ll get it.  But perhaps if Lamia asks very nicely, he’ll let her keep Cassandra to herself for a little bit and show her what she could really be capable of.  A little push, someone to tell her it’s okay to crave that violence, and Lamia can have danger thrumming under her skin right next to those numbers in her brain.

She waits until the class is over, nods to the instructor, and walks up to her.  Cassandra squints at her face for a moment, but it isn’t long before a bright and surprisingly genuine smile breaks out.  “Hi!  You know, you look really familiar.”

Lamia smiles; it’s more of a smirk, really.  Lying is a bad idea, so, “I think you work at that bar I was in the other night.  What was it…”

“McRory’s?”

“Oh, yes, that’s it.  I was kind of surprised to see you here, actually, you don’t really seem the type.”

“Well, knowing how to defend yourself is important!”  God, everything about her is bright and bubbly, isn’t it?  It begs the question how much of that is real, and how much is a front, a persona.

“Anyway.”  Lamia holds out her hand.  “Lamia.”

“Cassandra.”  The girl takes it, and she makes sure to grip her hand warmly.

“Cassandra,” she rubs her thumb over the back of her hand and curls her lips.  When she leans forward, Cassandra does, too.  Neither of them lets go.  “Have a drink with me.” Not a question, not a demand.

Her eyes focus intently on Lamia’s, something like real happiness lingering around her mouth. “Yes.”

And so it goes.

[melyzard]

WIPs

Tagged by @firefeufuego2: “list all your WIPs on your harddrive right now.”

Okay then.

1.     

ALPHA PRIORITY*:

the working draft of “I might know my heart” for

@kotaface

, which is my top priority story, I swear, I just keep getting stuck because for some reason I chose to write exclusively in Cassian POV, the hardest POV.

2.      Viva la DROID REVOLUTIONE: ‘REBEL Y/N’ working draft

3.      DROID RIGHTS: a series of snippets, ideas, historical research, diagrams of circuits and linear actuators, random one liners, and musings about worldbuilding and characterization of the droid OCs in ‘REBEL Y/N,’ including ideas for rebel droids that other people have sent me. This is a more complex story than I realized I was in for, requiring more research than I expected (because I need the droid drama in space to be believable, people, it’s important)

4.      Andor’s Eleven: Ocean’s Eleven, Star Wars-ified.

5.      Bacta prohibition: R1 crew pulls of a huge bacta heist, bacta is treated much like booze in North America’s prohibition era.

6.      Lets go steal a planet*: the Leverage/R1 fusion (‘The Nakadia Job’) that I sort-of-kind-of forgot about oops.

7.      love song harmonies*: posted as ‘Harmonies,’ Cassian’s POV on the events of ‘A Love Song.’ Once again, Cassian POV is really hard to write and it’s stalled me

8.      SOON: a long, long list of ideas that I have not yet begun to write but want to – including prompts from tumblr and various friends. It is currently 26,512 words and growing every week

9.      Mad max: yet another fusion

10.  princess rogue: every now and again, this collab story pops up in my head (or I discover that @youareiron-andyouarestrong has written something new)

11.  Jyn punches Han: turns out they knew each other in the criminal world

12.  Not A Coffee Shop AU: She’s a harassed assistant for an up and coming Senator, he’s the cute guy who just started showing up during her lunch breaks at her favorite coffee shop. It’s a Coffee Shop AU, right up until it isn’t.

13.  warpics: the working draft of ‘A Soul Without Frontiers,’ wherein Jyn and Cassian are war photographers in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War and the build up to WW2. Well, Jyn is a war photographer. Cassian has a camera and an agenda. Another story that required way more research than I was prepared for (how did cameras work in the 30s? How did the war actually shake out, where and when would our heroes be, and why? Ugh, should have just made this in-universe for Star Wars, so I could screw with the setting as I liked).

14.  dream thieves: working draft of my very first long fic, Inception/R1 fusion story. I liked it, but I didn’t really know where I was going with it and stalled out in favor of easier projects. Will eventually get back to this. Will eventually get back to all of them. No, really.

15.  bright: a sequel to ‘A Light To You’ wherein we get to see the gang a year later on the Festival of Lights, compare and contrast to the last one. Would have to fit in around the other 2 sequels in that series, and really I just want to bridge the somber tone of ‘A Light To You’ with the more cheerful tone of the others.

16.  Stabhimintheface: an attempt to rebelcaptain re-write a really poorly done book that still somehow had a pretty cool female character for @gloriouswhisperstyphoon. I’m working on it. It’s really kind of a dreadful book, though

17.  Jyn & Leia’s Excellent Adventure: a mishmash of ideas, one liners, and very short scenes for an alternate AU I’m sort of kind of talking about with @sleepykalena, wherein Jyn and Leia become friends as young girls, Jyn ends up running the Partisans, and Cassian is chosen as the Alliance/Partisan liaison.

18.  Persuade me: an attempt at a Persuasion/R1 story. I worry it’s too much like other Persuasion/R1 stories, tho, so I’m waffling with it.

19.  mobs: Cassian infiltrates a SW mob. Jyn goes in after him. (actually not sure if I want this to be a post-Scarif everybody lives mission…or another alternate meeting story because holy shit that is apparently my niche

20.  ISB: Cassian infiltrates the Imperial Security Bureau (Star Wars version of the CIA) as part of a Fulcrum mission he started before meeting Jyn and now must pick back up. It goes well, and then it goes very badly.

*indicates a story that I’m going to finish this year, no really, that’s the goal.

Tagging @incognitajones, @youareiron-andyouarestrong, @moonprincess92nz

[inkfic]

Hey, at least you've been able to write. I haven't been able to write more than a few paragraphs in several months. And seeing as I'm majoring in creative writing this fall, I'm not sure how it will turn out lol. Anyway, I love all your transformers stories, you put so much thought into them! They are thoroughly enjoyable :)

Oh, honey. I understand the writers block issue perfectly.

See, my personal rule is that I don’t post the next chapter until I’ve finished the chapter I’m currently writing. And chapter 28 was a bitch. It took me days to write a single scene. There would be days where I only wrote 200-300 words.

(I keep a bullet journal and track how many words I write every day. Some days I don’t write anything at all).

I guess I’m ‘lucky’ in that my brain comes up with ideas all the time. Some of them turn out to be yay great! like our current story, and some of them I spend time on before realizing no, they’re not going anywhere (see: Leverage!MTMTE au & Leverage!TFP au). Some ideas I get and know almost immediately that they’ll never make it to paper, but that doesn’t stop my mind from idling.

I got an idea for a transformers/star wars fusion once, where Windblade and Starscream were winged people (different planets, slightly different biology), but ended up in similar places. Starscream was a soldier for the Empire, hiding the fact that he was Force-sensitive, and Windblade was a delegate to the Imperial Senate and her planet’s version of a Jedi, complete with red energy blade, but she too was hiding how Force-sensitive she was. 

Even as I worked through the idea, I knew it wasn’t going to get anywhere on paper, but that didn’t mean I ignored the idea. It helps me calm down at night, to play out various fic scenarios in my head, and I played this one through until I took it to its natural conclusion (in that there was no satisfactory ending), and that was just the end of it. But it helps keep my mind sharp.

So if you’re going to major in creative writing, it’s probably because you love writing and the concept of it and what it takes to craft a narrative. I’ve taken writing courses (and other courses where writing was crucial), when I wasn’t feeling the topic so much or wanted to do it differently than what instructions I had been given, but there’s something to be said for the discipline of the courses. Sometimes, you just gotta write even if the creative forces aren’t visiting you that day. Not everything is going to be gold. But you have to have dross to find your gold. And discipline is part of that smelting process.

All I’m saying is: make it a habit, not just your craft. Even if you’re only writing a paragraph a day (or every other day), it’s still something. And sometimes you have to rest, too--we shower and sleep because our mind and body needs the recharge. There are some things I do whenever I’m feeling particularly dried out: I watch a movie or read a book that I love, where the story and the characters touch me (this explains my love of Power Rangers). I go through writing prompts and figure out what I like.

When I want to write smut and I have no idea where to begin? (Sometimes, you get the feeling where you just have to write smut). I’ll watch porn and figure out how to do it better (it usually stars more lady orgasms). 

And there are tropes I love--I love foe yay, I love arranged marriage, I love ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances. Find your tropes, too. It’s more than okay to have Things that readers can know you for. 

(There are a lot of similarities between college!au and my Stephanie Brown + Kid Loki fic, if you care to look for them).

It will come, and then the habits you’ve built will help keep your life in order when your plot bunnies want you to stay up all night. I’ve pulled writing all-nighters. I don’t recommend it. 

(And that particular work never saw the light of day because of it).

[thehuntersretreat]

Hanahaki

How is there not more of this in fandom?  In EVERY fandom??  I have become a little obsessed with this idea and there is almost NOTHING on it out there!  I found out about it because I was reading a whole lot of Voltron fic (Love Shiro/Keith.  Though my daughter is a Lance/Keith shipper.  The shipping wars in my house will never end.... ).  I only found two in Fullmetal Alchemist with my favorite pairing (Roy/Ed of course), and NOTHING for Dean/Sam or J2. How is there so little written about this?  I don't even know where it comes from, but it needs to spread like... well... a weed :P In case you don't know... hanahaki is this fictional disease where a person starts to grow flowers in their heart/lungs if they experience unrequited love.  Eventually the person begins to cough up flowers (in the later stages) and the growth in their lungs will eventually choke them.  The cure is if the person they love, loves them back.  In some stories, you can have surgery to remove the flowers, but in those if you cut out the flowers you cut away the love you feel for the other person (and sometimes even the memories of them).  Of course, most people in love would never want to cut out the person they love... so it doesn't happen often (Though I read a great D. Gray-man story where they do the surgery without someone's persmission and when he wakes up he doesn't remember the person he loved.  The guy he loved realizes what happened... then immediately starts to get the cough because it makes him start to think of that person differently.  So amazingly angsty and sad...)  And of course, most of the people keep it hidden because their love obviously couldn't love them back and they suffer in silence until it's almost too late for true love to save the day. If I knew how to start a fic-a-thon anymore I would totally do this!  There so needs to be more hanahaki in this world!  The angst!!!!  The UST!!!!  The love!!!!  The self-sacrificing idiots who refuse to confess!!! Oh... who am I kidding.  I'm gonna go write me some Hanahaki FMA right now.   And i'm taking hanahaki prompts for my favorite pairings: Sam/Dean (SPN) - please be gentle. I am NOT caught up with this season.... so careful on the prompts Jared/Jensen (RPF) Roy/Ed (Fullmetal Alchemist) Shiro/Keith (Voltron:Legendary Defenders) Alec/Logan (Dark Angel) Nate/Eliot (Leverage) John/Derek (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles) Gibbs/DiNozzo (NCIS) Mal/Simon (Firefly) Daniel/Jack (SG-1) Any crossovers, anything I missed, anything you just want me to try :P   Fusions are allowed.  BUT hanahaki has to be part of the scenario!  :P   No verses in this because I can't see how it would work in any of them anyway :P

[phoenixyfriend]

Okay but like.

This Leverage-Voltron thing I mentioned. I’m gonna talk about it a bit more? Because I really like the idea and I want feedback because I’m a human being and like attention. (Also prepare for shitty rambling because this is basically copy-pasted from a chat I was having with a friend.)

There's a mission that Voltron has to run but Hunk makes a joke about Leverage because he and Lance binge-watched it after finals this one time. They start laughing about it but it fits the situation pretty well and they realize that they can probably build up a plan using the mastermind/grifter/hacker/hitter/thief setup if they put their minds to it

But they keep running into problems with who would take which role because thief and hitter are positions that need filling and they can't figure it out until Hunk is just like “Dude dude DUDE LANCE"

"W-what?"

"We keep saying that Shiro's the Mastermind. But. He's not."

"...wait. Wait wait wait. What?"

"He's a good leader in battle, Lance, but can you actually imagine him heading up this kind of plan? This isn't his kind of thing."

"But then who do we-- do we call in Allura?"

"Uh... no, no, she's still sick, and Coran isn't available, so... oh my god. Lance. Lance, that's it.”

“What?”

“You're the mastermind."

"...no. No, no, no, I am NOT cut out for th--"

"LANCE YOU'RE THE MASTERMIND and I can be the grifter which I KNOW you know I can pull off and Keith would actually be good at the thief side of things and Shiro could be hitter and LANCE WE CAN MAKE THIS WORK."

(There is no question of Pidge being hacker. Literally no one even brings it up.)

And it does work.

Like. Lance is constantly second-guessing himself but he actually does have a good grasp on tactics and strategy and psychology and all the other Leverage-y stuff and he??? Is not bad at this. What the fuck Hunk, how is this actually working??? We just shut down a planet-wide alien mafia with five people and no Voltron or Alteans and HOW DID THAT WORK HUNK WHAT THE FUCK.

IDK I just realized that if we tried to use canon personalities and strengths in this setup and situation, then Shiro isn’t... really the mastermind type. He’s a great team leader for Voltron in the heat of battle, but I feel like his skills would not lend themselves well to an alien-flavor Leverage situation. While Lance tends to prefer sneaky, delicate, precise solutions? Which are... better for this sort of thing.

I might write this, if I can actually figure out how to write a Leverage plot. In space.

(In a real Leverage-Voltron fusion fic, there is every option of making Shiro the mastermind, because a fusion fic assumes a different, context-specific set of skills because their backgrounds are already different, which I bring up because I’ve already read a really good fusion fic and I don’t want to accidentally insult it. I’ll rec it here because if you like both Voltron and Leverage and have gotten this far in the post, you’ll probably like this too: When Rome's in Ruins by BossToaster.)

[pameluke]

a year in writing: 2016 review

Total number of completed stories: 22 

Total word count: 60799

Chronological breakdown:

January  Leverage, The Triple A Job, OT3 Anniversary shenanigans, written for Holly Poly

February The Losers/Kate Daniels Series crossover, Technical Difficulties, Cougar and Jensen meet Kate, written for Chocolate Box

March Brooklyn Nine-Nine, First Aid, Venti Chai Latte Extra Sugar, Throw-Down, Rosa & Amy, Three ficlets about their friendship, written for Purimgifts

April Shadowhunters, Take My Hands And Close Your Eyes, Alec/Magnus, First Date, First fic for the new pairing and fandom of my heart. SW: The Force Awakens, A Force To Be Reckoned With, Poe/Finn/Rey, Threesome sex with the Force!, written for Smutswap, my first smut ever :) SW: The Force Awakens, Open Doors, Open Hearts, Poe/Finn/Rey moving in together. Written for Ship Swap.

May Shadowhunters, A Positive Result, Alec/Magnus, Magnus & Alec & Jace, Magnus dealing with parabatai shenanigans

June River Lea - Adele, reeds growing out of my fingertips, water demons and possessions, written for Jukebox Spartacus (1960), Sing, Antoninus, Antoninus/Spartacus, written for myoldfandom

July Shadowhunters, all that is loved does now glitter, Alec/Magnus, Glitter Marking and Sex Magic, written for not_primetime Shadowhunters, Double The Trouble, Alec/Magnus, Izzy/Simon, the dangers of double dating, written for not_primetime

August Shadowhunters, Nothing In The World, Alec & Izzy, Missing scene Shadowhunters, Glitter By The Water Front, Alec/Magnus, Kate Daniels Fusion Meet Cute, written for Malec Week Shadowhunters, When She Talks, I Hear Revolution, Izzy/Lydia, co-written with @thisissirius and @canadiansuperhero , underground radio, rebellion and romance, written for pod_together, also voiced a Seelie OC.

September Shadowhunters, a little too much, could never be enough, Alec/Magnus, jewellery kink and blowjobs, first part of the Magnus’ Dick Is His Demon Mark series, written for iddyiddybangbang

October Aliens/Pacific Rim, Running Out Of Days, Ripley/Hicks, Ripley finds a new Drift Partner, while mourning her first one, written for crossovering Kate Daniels Series, True Nature, Kate/Curran, Monsters and Magic in a Labyrinth, written for trickortreatex

November One of my goals was to post a story every month, but November sucked balls on a personal and global scale, so I failed. Did work on Yuletide and other fics, just didn’t finish anything, alas.

December Shadowhunters, ever the tears you wept, Alec/Magnus, my take on soulmate fic where one half is immortal Shadowhunters, Armchairs and Paperwork, Alec/Magnus, domestic make-outs on furniture King Arthur (2004), Wild Horses, Bors/Dagonet/Vanora, Dagonet Lives! Featuring the Sarmatian Threesome of my heart. Written for Yuletide.

Other Things I Wrote A weird half fic, half headcanon thing about Alec Following His Heart, Dairy Farmer Level.

So many Dear Author letters for exchanges, I’m always embarrassed about my long-windedness.

Still Stuck In The WIP Folder A treat for Yuletide that I’m only half way in, will probably try and finish it either for NYR, or stalk my recip and see if they request it in another fic exchange to treat them there.

The RomCom I started for Unconvential Courtship, in which Alec and Magnus only get together years later at the Clace Wedding, and need to Fake Date For Political Reasons. Currently at 13k, 5 chapters in, at least 10 to go.

The Cupid AU in which Alec is a cupid who shoots Magnus for someone else in 1700, cue 400 years of pining. 2k in, got boggled down by historical research and magic wordlbuilding.

The Chess Date, sequel to the First Date Fic, 1k so far, but got stuck.

About 5k worth of various outlines and plotideas, including the Phoenix!Alec fic, a bunch of fic ideas for the World Inverted AU, the Izzy and Alec are parabatai fic, more Kate Daniels fusion, and the DragonHeart AU which I plan to co-write with siri.

So much to write and finish!

Overall Thoughts: Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

This year I published more words than in all my other years of fandom combined! Other milestones include: posted over 100k words total to my AO3, posted my first smut (which also was my first PWP), and participated in over 10 challenges. I also think I wrote more this year than I ever did before, but I’m not entirely sure because I didn’t count words for unfinished things in 2015.

Wrote exactly 0 words original work this year, which I didn’t see coming either. Guess the new fandom took it all out of me.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

Shadowhunters, the new shiny fandom of my heart. I didn’t expect I’d ever feel about a show like I did about Spartacus, and it’s not completely the same, but fuck I am INVESTED, and I am still super inspired. It’s just a canon with many many hooks for me to grab on to, and I guess I have. Only two more stories to go, and it’s officially the fandom I’ve written most for, never did see that coming.

Did you take any writing risks this year? 

I wouldn’t call it risk taking per se, but I did leave my comfort zone and had a bunch of fanfic first times. I wrote Star Wars (which is super intimidating fandom wise for some reason), I actually wrote for a lot of fandoms I hadn’t written for before. I wrote smut and PWP, and I even wrote a fill for a kinkmeme.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? 

Goal for next year is definitely to let my kink flag fly more, and write the things I’d like to see more of. Try my hand at some f/f smut. 

I’d really like to keep writing steadily, so I’ve signed up for Get Your Words Out, to keep my output steadily.

I also really want to finish my WIPS, especially the RomCom, because First Chaptered Story if I do. 

And I’d like to get back into my Original Work. I actually have a lot of half finished stories and plot outlines lying around, I really want to finish something next year.

On the wishlist is also to participate in NaNoWriMo again next year, but the job might get in the way of that alas.

From my past year of writing, what was...

My favorite story of the year:

Fuck this is hard, because I’m one of those people that writes mostly to still my own hunger, so I tend to really like my own stories (I laugh a lot at my own jokes as well). I guess it would be all that is loved does now glitter, because it gets me right in the id of feelings. It’s the story of myself I’ve reread most. Also, slap fights.

My best story of this year:

I think reeds growing out of my fingertips. I thought if the basic plotline while driving through four european countries at night, and the last image, of the posessed girl diving off the damm was the first thing I came up with. Jukebox is very close to origfic, and I think I really got the creepiness and plot right with this one.

My most popular story of this year: 

By hits, kudos, comments and bookmarks all that is loved does now glitter wins by a landslide. I guess because it’s porn with feelings and features Magnus being his magical self.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: 

Sing, Antoninus for the Kubrick Spartacus. I adapted Latin Poetry for this story, yo. I love all things Spartacus, but the Kubrick movie is very precious to me, and I wish more people still felt that way. Alas, there’s not much of a fandom for this movie, so no one thinks of looking up fic for it.

Most fun story to write: 

Sometimes I really like cracky fic, and I tend to be the only one who finds myself funny, so probably either the Dairy Farmer Thing, or A Positive Result. The funnest experience was totally working together with Siri and Ray for Podtogether though, nothing beats that.

Story with the single sexiest moment: 

Alec coming because Magnus’ toe ring scrapes his calf in a little too much could never be enough. Runner up would probably be Alec kissing Magnus’ toe ring in the same story. Magnus and his jewellery is pretty much the sexiest thing in fandom, imo.

Story with single sweetest moment:

If we’re going for sweetest then I’d pick Izzy distracting Alec with fashion choices in Nothing In This World, because all the Sibling Feelings always. If we’re going for sappiest then I’d pick the Beauty & the Beast Library scene from Take My Hand And Close Your Eyes because Magnus being magical with his magical mood lightning and Alec being in awe.

Hardest story to write:

Definitely A Force To Be Reckoned with, because Star Wars is intimidating as fuck to write for if you never have written in that canon before. Plus there was the whole first time smut writing aspect, and the sex with the Force thing, so I struggled a lot. Still super pleased with the end result though.

Easiest story to write: Glitter By The Waterfront practically wrote itself. I just really love writing in the Kate Daniels setting (I wish it took off like Hogwarts AUs, honestly, it's just so fun, and the magic is so awesome), and Alec and Magnus fit so well there. I pretty much wrote it in a day which almost never happens. Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:  Before writing Running Out Of Days, I never really took Ripley's grief for her daughter into account. Or well, I knew she was mourning, but it wasn't part of the emotional impact for me. Writing Amanda as both Ripley's daughter and the Drift Partner she lost really hammered that home for me though, and I now watch Aliens differently.

Favorite Title: all that is loved does now glitter, with miles ahead. I'm just proud of thinking of it, it fits Magnus and the story so well, and it's the only title I ever got a compliment about (and by someone not even into the fandom! although I lured them in by now). I'm just ridiculously fond of it. Favourite Opening Line:  The song of her sisters is sweet and mellow, a brook flowing over pebbles, made round and soft by water and time. (x) Favourite Closing Line: “I don’t need to find them,” he said and kissed Magnus again. “I’m already the happiest I can be. I picked you.” (x)

Favorite Line from Anywhere: Here in this bathroom, while he looks like a disco ball threw up on him, with Magnus standing next to him, looking soft and thoroughly bedded and touching him so tenderly, he truly, finally feels like he belongs. (x)

Fic-writing goals for 2016: 

Write a minimum of 75k Post a story every month Finish at least one WIP of over 10k  

[pilesofnonsense]

RQBB Writer Details

Welcome to the Rusty Quill Big Bang - a large-scale event bringing writers and artists together to create an explosion of fan content for Rusty Quill podcasts!

Please read the following carefully to understand what will be expected of you as a participant. If you’re on browser, you can see a more complete version at our Challenge Guidelines and FAQ pages.

Schedule for 2020 (all times in BST)

Writer Sign-ups: May 11th-17th 23.00

Check-in 1: June 10th by 23.00

Full First Draft & Summary Due: July 12th by 23.00

Artist Sign-ups: July 14th-19th 23.00

Check-in 2: August 17th by 23.00

Final Fic & Art Due: August 26th by 23.00

Posting: August 31st by 23.00

Fandoms: Rusty Quill Gaming, The Magnus Archives, Stellar Firma

Participation Requirements:

Writers will require an AO3 account - if you do not have an AO3 account, please request one via AO3’s login page, or message the mods for an invite.

If you wish to write or create for M or E rated fics you must be aged over 18.

Minimum Final Word Count: 10,000

Maximum Number of Fics per Writer/s: 1

Maximum Number of Writers per Fic (collaboration): 2

Draft Requirements: At the draft deadline (July 12th), we will require a complete draft. “Complete” means that the fic is written from start to finish with no sections missing or left as outlines. Ideally, this will be a full first draft that will undergo editing, but can also be your final draft if you prefer. Drafts will be handed in via a form that will be sent out to you before the deadline is due. Drafts should be available in Google docs, or if need be in PDF format.

Summary Requirements: A form for the summary will be sent out to you before the deadline is due. Summaries should include the general premise, as well as ratings, any ships, warnings or triggers, and any other relevant details. Summaries will be collected in the same google form as we will be using to collect your first drafts.

Eligible Fics:

Fics of any rating and with any warnings are permitted, as long as they meet the minimum word count (10,000) and are centred around at least one Rusty Quill show (The Magnus Archives, Rusty Quill Gaming, Stellar Firma).

Fics must be stand-alone, complete, and previously unposted.

Crossovers are allowed, but the focus should be on the RQ podcast involved. For example: a fusion crossover with the Leverage Team replacing the LOLOMG in the RQG!verse would not be permitted, though the RQG characters in the Leverage!verse would be.

Please be aware though that fics with obscure crossovers/common squicks/higher ratings etc., may be more difficult to match, and thus take a little longer to get snapped up. We will do our best to find you a suitable match!

If you have any questions about the suitability of your fic, please contact the mods.

Matching Process:

The artist sign-up will include a list of the anonymised fic summaries. Each artist will select 3 fics which they would be interested in creating for, with additional preferences (favourite show/shows they do not follow, OTPs and NoTPs, Do Not Wants, etc.) indicated in the comment field. Mods will then match writers to artists, taking preferences into account as much as possible.

If one fic is oversubscribed or if it is otherwise necessary for a work to be matched, it may be removed from the list of eligible fics before the end of artist sign-ups.

If you have an issue with your match, please let the mods know as soon as possible.

Do Not Wants: In this event, you will have an opportunity to Do Not Want (DNW) the types of content that you do not wish to work on. Similarly, if you’ve had conflicts with certain people in the past and do not want to risk matching to them, you can include this in your sign-up or draft submission, and we will avoid matching you with them (details of these will not be shared beyond the mod team).

The mods will take DNWs into account within reason - attempts to manipulate matches by DNWing large lists of people or otherwise acting in bad faith will result in the rejection of your sign-up or draft. We are also not private detectives, and will thus not be fielding any requests such as “do not match me with anyone who has ever drawn/written XYZ”, so please keep that in mind when considering whether this event is right for you.

Expected Conduct:

By signing up for this event, you agree to meet our deadlines. If it becomes apparent that you need a little more time, we require that you email the mods to explain your situation before the deadline passes. (Those who miss deadlines without contacting the mods beforehand may be defaulted from the event without further contact.)

In order to participate in this event, you must be willing to contact the mods directly in the event that you have a question, concern, or issue with your participation (as in the deadline example above). We are happy to help participants with anything that arises, but cannot accept “telephone”-style communiques on behalf of others.

Be kind and courteous towards your match and fellow participants.

Please take care to credit your artist/writer in your own final post.

Be in regular contact with your match - if you’re going to be offline for a significant length of time, let them know. Radio silence from your match in events of this kind can be very concerning.

Our Discord server has its own list of rules, which are listed within the server. If you decide to join the server, we require you to read and abide by those rules.

Harassment of other participants (including but not limited to callout posts, namecalling, etc.), either publicly or in the Piles of Nonsense discord server, over their fanworks or headcanons will result in an instant default.

We, like Rusty Quill, have an “all headcanons are valid” policy. Harassment or mockery of those with different interpretations or other attempts to limit participants’ creative expression will not be tolerated. Please note that this does not mean you cannot discuss, for example, how you see the characters with others or that your artist or writer should not take it into account at their discretion, but insistence that any one interpretation must be adhered to, or that others are “invalid”, will be frowned upon.

Writer sign-up is here.

[melyzard]

Work In Progress

Tagged by @sleepykalena and @thestarbirdfromtheashes, the question is: what are you working on?

Well, since you asked: I currently have 24 WIPs on my harddrive, and a few sketched out ideas:

Works that I’ve written at least 3k for already:

1. Let You Down (an answer to “10 songs you’re currently obsessed with”, part 2 “Cassian and Draven” and part 3 “Mothma and Jyn/Cassian”)

2. Halloween story (an attempt at a modern AU, writing a part 2 from Jyn’s POV)

3. The Nakadia Job (Leverage/Rogue One fusion - lets go steal a planet)

4. The Princess Rebel (Princess Bride fusion AU with @youareiron-andyouarestrong)

5. REBEL Y/N (sequel to ‘your words are mine to keep,’ Jyn and Cassian start the robot revolution)

6. A Soul Without Frontiers (WW2 photographers AU, based on two real historical figures, wherein Jyn and Cassian fight the war in unconventional ways.)

7. Monna Innominata (Inception/Rogue One fusion, my first attempt at R1 fic, stalled but not forgotten)

8. “two rebel princesses” story (Leia and Jyn are more alike than they knew, AU with @sleepykalena)

9. “palace of good and evil” (Jyn and Cassian infiltrate an Imperial-funded and -frequented ‘casino’ where the games are deadly and the payouts are in blood)

10. “Bacta Prohibition” story (the Empire controls the bacta, but ‘speakeasy’ bacta makers are hidden around the galaxy, and the Rogue One crew is looking for one that isn’t poisoned or too expensive or... 

Works I’ve only written ~1000 words for so far:

1. Begin (@therebelcaptainnetwork monthly prompt for March; Chirrut and Jyn spar, Cassian observes. In a purely clinical, not at all emotionally or physically interested way. Of course.)

2. Gentle (five times that Jyn and Cassian are gentle, and one time they don’t have to be)

3. academia AU (still working on @incognitajones‘ ideas of how the Rogue One crew would be professors, except I make everything in-universe so I’m trying to figure out how I could pull something like that off)

4. House of the Golden Chariot (based on 10 quick prompts, Jyn and Cassian go to Curamelle and infiltrate an Imperial soiree with the help of a high-end escort with some past connections to Jyn)

5. Fury (Mad Max Fury Road/Rogue One fusion, wherein thief-with-a-conscience Jyn steals something valuable from a ruthless crime boss, rebel spy Cassian gets caught up in the ruckus, and people are not things)

6. Smart People (Jyn and Cassian had unusual educations. AKA “Jyn gets a space!rubik’s cube and Cassian wants to both read his book and get a damn hug”)

7. Stoned (Jyn gets a mild head injury, a prejudiced doctor makes a mistake, and now a not-entirely-herself Jyn Erso is loose in the rebel base, and only Cassian might be able to guess what she’s up to. If he’s lucky, he can catch her before something blows up)

8. A Droid’s Droid (K2SO is something of a sexy symbol of the synthetic resistance. After all, he’s tall, dark, mysterious, has a troubled past, and damn, have you seen his non-standardized code? Droids across the rebellion feel their processors skip a cycle when he walks by. Kay finds this perplexing and inefficient. Jyn finds...an opportunity.)

9. What’s In A Name (Jyn borrows Cassian’s Alliance jacket because it’s damn cold, and she remembers to take off the rank badge but completely forgets to remove the ID cylinder, resulting in half the rebellion scanning her as “Andor” as she goes about her day.)

10. The Stylist (Jyn and Cassian accidentally recruit a well-known Core world stylist to the rebellion. No, they do not want to talk about it.)

11. For The Cause (the always-desperate-for-funds Alliance invests in a lucrative market: porn. Think of the money! The chance to plant subversive anti-government messages in the public consciousness! The ability to pass coded messages to other rebel cells through a medium they *know* the Imperial Bureau of Security won’t find! The connections to other shady underworld businesses even more in-line with rebellion needs! It’s perfect! And all the Public Relations people need are a few cameras... and some attractive actors.)

12. Allies in Truth (General Cracken, the Head of Rebel Intelligence, has an unpopular mission he needs completed, and he taps Cassian (and only Cassian) for it. Jyn is not pleased, and to her surprise...neither is Draven. And he’ s willing to work with her to bring his operative home.)

13. She Ain’t Mrs Robinson (A new rebel recruit is picked to work with the vaunted Rogue One crew, and he can’t help but be drawn to the pretty, fierce, clever Sergeant Erso, who is so encouraging and inspiring.)

14. She Burns As She Speaks (based on Catallus poems, K2SO leaves snippy notes around the rebellion...which for some reason, people are mistaking for poetry. Kay has no idea what anyone is talking about, he just has CONCERNS and also fuck you, Guy Who Said My Notes Were Pedantic. Seriously, I want to write this so bad.)

Works that I have only written some notes on, but not actual “fic”:

1. “Ideological purity games and its impact on the tenuous political alliance of the Rebellion” (not all rebels like the Alliance. some of them were Separatists, others remember when the Republic destroyed their homes. Exploration of people like Cassian, who might not actually be as “pro-Alliance” as much as they are “anti-Empire.”

2. Sequel to “you give me something” (Jyn and Cassian go to Kafrene, following rumors of kyber shipments and an elusive Imperial weapons facility)

3. Steela and Jyn AU (Saw died in the Clone Wars, and it is Steela Gerrera who befriends Lyra Erso, and comes to rescue Jyn from the cave. The more temperate Steela remains a part of the Alliance, and Jyn is set up as a liaison with Command for the Partisans. Cassian is assigned liaison for the Partisans.)

4.  Thirty seconds Grace (idea from @cats-and-metersticks, Jyn has thirty seconds to cross a ‘trooper-filled area before her distraction runs out. Cassian watches from his sniper perch and imagines all the ways it could play out...but Jyn still surprises him)

5. “My ideal Star Wars movie would be a nature documentary of cute space critters narrated by the robot from Rogue One, who clearly knows nothing about nature and is making the descriptions up as he goes along.” (i.e. the Round Planet/Star Wars fusion fic that occasionally makes me laugh when I think about it).

I also have a bunch of one-liner ideas written down, but these are the ones with at least some bones sketched out. Also, some nice anonymous wandered through my inbox recently and left a bunch of prompts, which I accept with appreciation and vague bewilderment. I’ll get to those!

Anyway. That’s what I’m up to in my spare time. You?