#taking over the other Eliot duty on the crew

[filibusterphil]

I’ve read some fantastic second generation Leverage fanfics and I do love the choices made about the kids they’ve interacted with who become the next generation. Josie (thief), Olivia (mastermind), Molly (hitter), Trevor (hacker), and Widmark (grifter) are great choices that I’ve seen. But I think that another excellent option for hacker is Jenny Sanders from The (Very) Big Bird Job. Personally out of the above listed kids I always thought that Trevor was the weakest link, in his episode he just hung around and watched them do a bit of crime with very little context. Though he bonded with Hardison and sat with him at the security room, he didn’t actually do anything tech related himself. But Jenny was shown to be at least pretty good with some sort of video editing application, showing some tech proficiency. I think she’d be a good option for a member of a second gen Leverage crew.

[coffeesuperhero]

Okay so not a soft ask but I need the content because this is a show that slipped through right to Xmas and I need??? the leverage ot3 Halloween headcanons, so like...

Pleaseeee

first of all re: halloween and this show-- you’re right and you should say it 

second of all, this got real long so apologies to your dashboards 

okay. so at first I was like, Parker loves Halloween, because she loves costumes anyway, she wanders around in Nate’s apartment in that nun’s habit for at least several hours for no reason other than she seems to really enjoy it, but then I thought, you know, idk if she does actually get Halloween at first, just because like-- they already wear costumes a lot, first of all, and second of all, she’s Parker, if she wants to show up in some random outfit she’ll just....do that, any day of the year, so like, what’s the deal with this one special day? Is everyone else just really that boring? The main appeal seems to be the sudden availability of large amounts of candy, easily stolen from stores or unwitting children, but it’s not like candy is suddenly unavailable the rest of the year. 

Eliot I think swears up and down he doesn’t care one way or the other about it, but secretly in his heart would not mind sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories with the two of them, except that they sort of tried that one year when Hardison was trying to Explain Halloween and put like a fake log fire on the tv and made microwave s’mores and neither Parker nor Eliot found Hardison’s stories particularly scary, and after Parker and Eliot each had a turn Hardison got up, turned on every light in his apartment, declared that a) he was never going to sleep again and it was all their fault and b) scary campfire stories are supposed to be about ghosts what the fuck  y’all???? and Eliot had to make him Special Popcorn with chocolate on it and sit through several zombie-themed movies before Hardison would stop complaining, so probably he’s never going to talk them into, you know, actual camping and scary campfire tales. 

Hardison I think really really enjoys Halloween. He likes that everybody in his online circles changes their social media profiles to some clever spooky shit for a month, it makes him laugh. He likes candy and he liked trick-or-treating when he was a kid, all dressed up like his favorite superheroes, and later he liked taking his foster siblings around the neighborhood when he was Too Old To Dress Up but not too old to enjoy how much the younger ones loved it, the thrill they got when somebody knew what their costumes were or the way they’d hold on extra tight to his hand when one of their neighbors opened the door dressed up as something spooky, or everybody laying on the floor of nana’s living room later that night dividing up candy and trading and squabbling over what they liked and didn’t and falling asleep to whatever halloween tv movie was on, and as an adult he knows now how much work it took Nana to save up for costumes but they had ‘em every year and every year he thinks about Nana and all of his foster siblings and I think he misses them a little. He tries to Make Halloween Happen with the crew for a couple of years, mostly with Parker and Eliot because it’s pretty clear that this is not Sophie’s jam and Nate has Bad Memories associated with this day because of his kid, but after the Very Bad, Horrible, No Good Scary Stories Incident of 2010, after which he swears he did not sleep for a week, he kinda gives up. 

But then they’re in Portland and they’ve got the brewpub which Eliot has worked really hard to turn into his own restaurant, which means seasonal stuff and sometimes community stuff happens there, and on October 31st the local restaurants in their district are all doing Halloween stuff and letting in families with trick-or-treaters and Hardison’s like, “We don’t have to,” but Eliot just kinda shrugs and mumbles something about how it’ll look weird if they don’t, maybe, and Parker says something like, they don’t want to stand out, this is still supposed to be a cover, so Hardison signs them up too. And families come in with their kids and it reminds him of his foster siblings and a little bit of himself, all these kids in their superhero costumes-- Thor and Iron Man and even!! a little Miles Morales!! and he isn’t crying, you’re crying, probably, about that!!, and he excuses himself for a bit from handing-out-candy-at-the-door duty for a second, but when he comes back he sees that Parker (who is wearing all black and a headband with cat ears and has painted whiskers on her face) has taken over handing out candy at the door and is smiling? and doesn’t?? seem to be stealing any of it??? or scaring the children???? and Eliot’s bringing plates of food to a couple of families and their kids and he isn’t dressed up but he does take a second to stop and point out a couple of their costumes that he recognizes and the kids smile and he gives them a high five (for morale, Hardison thinks, smiling) before he heads back to the kitchen, and this is the best Halloween that Hardison has ever had, probably, here with two people who did this just because he cared about it, no other reason. 

“Next year you’re gonna be Batman,” he tells Eliot later, when they’re all in bed. 

“Good luck with that,” Eliot growls. 

“See? You already got the voice down,” Hardison tells him. “Parker dressed up.” 

“I did,” she says. “It was fun. I told you he’d be happier if you dressed up.” 

“I’m not gonna be Batman,” Eliot tells her, and Hardison realizes this leaves the possibility open that he will be other things.

“How do you feel about Indiana Jones?” Hardison suggests, tapping his chin and thinking mostly of Eliot’s chest and back and half-unbuttoned shirts and trousers that actually fit. 

“You’d get to have a whip,” Parker says, and really, Hardison thinks, he should have led with that. 

“Oh yeah? What kind?” Eliot asks, sounding vaguely interested. 

“The whippy kind?” Parker says, flinging her arm out like she’s trying to use an invisible whip. “You know. Snap snap, whoosh. Whip.” 

"There’s a lot of different kinds of whips,” Eliot says, and of course he knows this, of course he does. “Bull whip? Cat o’nine? Snake whip? Signal?” 

Hardison peers over at him. “How,” he starts to say, and then shakes his head. “No, you know what? We are going to sleep, and tomorrow we are going to get a whip lecture, I guess, while we watch Indiana Jones.” 

“Okay,” Parker says, and Eliot grumbles something, but he doesn’t say no, and right before Hardison falls asleep Eliot mumbles something else that sounds like happy halloween, Hardison and yeah, this was a good year for Halloween. 

[ramblingandpie]

My 2020 Fanfic Masterpost

So this year, I reached my goal of posting 50,000 words to AO3. 53,292 words, to be exact.

So. Here is my materpost of all the fics I posted this year, sorted by fandom.

Some notes: I was really proud of finishing “A Thousand Faces”. It’s definitely the most ambitious fic I’ve undertaken, in terms of what I was trying to accomplish between the character relationships and their progression as well as addressing some plot holes and areas of lore that were not covered in the game. “How to Trust an Iceberg” is another fic I’m very proud of. I wasn’t a huge fan of either Miranda or Ashley before writing it, but digging into their characters was really nice.

When I started watching The Untamed, I didn’t think I’d end up writing fic for it, but I ended up writing over 10,000 words spread over 5 fics so uuuuuuh that happened. I got my first Anti comment! Which honestly just makes me want to write more JC/NHS, so good job there, antis. I’m also really happy with how “Small, Broken Things” and “Mending the Broken Moments” turned out since I so rarely write angst, so it was interesting to explore that in my writing.

“The Only Thing You Have To Do Is Nothing” had by far the most hits, most kudos, most bookmarks, and tied for most comment threads. So apparently people liked it.

I’m also super psyched I was able to pull off 50,000 words despite being sick for about half the year, working the first half, in school the second half... yeah. It was a busy year!

So without further ado... here we are.

Babylon 5

Give It All Up (287 words) Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters; major spoilers for episode Divided Loyalties; angst; mind manipulation Control is brought back to Psi Corps for interrogation.

Leverage

Fighting Fire (238 words) Hardison/Parker/Eliot OT3; Fluff; Prompt Fill Parker and Eliot run into some fiery trouble on a job, while Hardison worries over their coms.

Mass Effect

How to Trust an Iceberg (11,256 words) (written for the SpecRecs Rarepair Challenge) Miranda Lawson/Ashley Williams; James Vega; Enemies to Lovers; Destroy Ending; Canonical Character Death; Post-Canon; Slow Burn; Or as slow a burn can be in 11k words After the Reapers and their forces disappear, there is still a lot of work to do. Ashley, recovering from injuries, finds that Miranda seems to be involved in everything. She takes it as her duty to investigate.

Something Shiny and New (1,559 words) (written for the SpecRecs Rarepair Challenge) Kasumi Goto/Miranda Lawson; Heist; Fluff; Kelptomania; Established Relationship; Companionable Snark Kasumi has persuaded Miranda to help her acquire some resources... and maybe a few other things along the way.

On Your Toes (1,625 words) (from an emoji prompt) Female Shepard/Samantha Traynor; Dancing; Swing Dancing; Fluff; Post-Canon; Shepard Survives Samantha has a surprise for Shepard. It's... dancing lessons????

A Perfect Morning (687 words) Miranda Lawson/Ashley Williams; Femslash; Fluff; Fishing Ashley takes Miranda fishing, and they enjoy some relaxing moments together.

A Difference in Translation (446 words) Ashley Williams/Tali’Zorah nar Rayya; Fluff; Poetry Tali and Ashley share a quiet moment, and Tali reflects on some poetry that Ashley shared with her. Only... that's definitely not how it goes!

Technobabble Late Into the Night (515 words) Female Shepard/Samatha Traynor; Fluff; Technobabble Shepard happens on Samantha working on a project late at night.

Eye of the Storm (782 words) (from a title prompt) Female Shepard/Samantha Traynor; Fluff; Slice of Life Shepard and Samantha are each having a rough day.

A Thousand Faces (22,907 words) (for the Mass Effect Big Bang) Vetra Nyx/Female Ryder; Cora Harper/Male Ryder; SAM; The whole crew makes appearances; Established relationship; filling plot holes; probably making new plot holes; minor original characters; post-canon; medical examination; lots of talking about anatomy in a medical sense; Leviathans; Kett origin theories; mind control; throwing shade at the Nexus for lack of universal design; babies; botany; fairy tale elements; couples have arguments but talk things out; evolution Kesh has the Pathfinder and her crew investigate some mysteries on the Nexus. Along the way, they encounter some mysteries from the Milky Way that came along for the ride. They learn some things about Milky Way history, Andromeda history, and some things they never realized they had in common.

21 Myths About Pigeons Debunked (484 words) (from a title prompt) Vetra Nyx/Femal Ryder; Fluff; Pigeons; Vetra’s sordid smuggler past Ryder and Vetra talk pigeons.

Star Wars

Appreciating the View (467 words)  (from an emoji prompt) Poe Dameron/Finn; Fluff; Force-Sensitive Finn; Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywaler Finn and Poe go rock climbing.

The Untamed

The Only Thing You Have To Do Is Nothing (906 words) Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Jiang Cheng; Jin Zixuan; period-typical homophobia; Jin Zixuan says gay rights; threats of violence While searching for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in the cave of XuanWu, Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan stumble across them in a compromising position. Jiang Cheng is upset; Jin Zixuan is a bit more reasonable about things. Please note that the ship is in the background; this fic is more about Jiang Cheng coming to terms with things.

Small, Broken Things (2,133 words) Lan Shizui; Lan Wangji; sickfic; kid fic; warning for a terrible doctor Lan Wangji has rescued A-Yuan, but now he has a problem. The boy is clearly ill and he has no idea what to do about it.

Mending the Broken Moments (6,443 words) (a sequel to Small, Broken things) Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Lan Xichen; Lan Shizui; Lan Qiren; Lan Jingui; Canonical Character Death; PTSD; Depression; Self-Harm; Angst; Physical Abuse; Angst with a happy ending; eventual happy ending; happy ending; rabbits; the cloud recesses rabbits; dead Wei Wuxian After bringing A-Yuan back to Cloud Recesses, Lan Wangji is sequestered, punished, and grieving Wei Wuxian's death. Lan Xichen is doing his best to help, but it still takes months before Lan Wangji is ready to be allowed a small bit of freedom.

Stress Relief (1800 words) (written for The MDZS / Untamed Kink Meme 2020) Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing; Light BDSM; Modern AU; Dominatrix Jiang Yanli; Almost Fluff; No Smut Based on a prompt for the MDZS Kinkmeme! The request was for business exec Wen Qing, frustrated with her boss, Wen Ruohan, hiring dominatrix Jiang Yanli for some stress relief. Wen Qing is the chief surgeon of one of the departments at Nightless Hospital, and she definitely has stress.

Do You Still Think I’m Beautiful? (757 words) Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang; Alcohol; Post-Canon; Fluff At some point after the events of the series, Nie Huaisang is making up for lost time, being the clan leader he couldn't be while he was focused on revenge. He has an important question for Jiang Cheng, to perhaps make up for other lost time.

[lopithecusfanfiction]

Blinded in Chains: Chapter One

Author: Lopithecus Pairing: Evan “Buck” Buckley/Eddie Diaz Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3377 Alternate: AO3 Summary: "There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope." - George Eliot

The118 are called to a factory fire. It all seems pretty routine until Eddie is told by one of the employees that they have canisters of highly explosive materials on site. With no time to get out, Eddie, a few other 118 crew members, and the employees are caught in an explosion with catastrophic consequences which change Eddie's life forever. Luckily, he has Buck there to help him through it.

Warnings: 

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

Injury

Major Character Injury

Burns

Blindness

Blindness Caused by Injury

Blind!Eddie Diaz

Survivor’s Guilt

Depression

Eddie Whump

Hurt Eddie Diaz

Worried Buck

Caring Buck

Injury Recovery

Recovery

Buck takes care of Eddie

Getting together

Eventual Smut

Smut

Slow Burn

Other Additional Warnings to Be Added

Author's Note: Title from the band Avenged Sevenfold. It was either this title or “Blinded by the Light” but I thought the latter sounded too upbeat for this angst fest. Though I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, I'm honestly really excited about this fic! Please enjoy! Tag List: (I’m going to tag the people that liked the preview I posted the other day because I’m assuming y’all are interested in it. If you don’t want me to tag you, please let me know! Also, if you want to be tagged in future updates, feel free to let me know and I’ll add you.) @justsmilestuffhappens @tkandbuck @poppy3019 @mysepticheartfan1 @idealuk @irrationalyperfect @claire-nyc

They are called out to a routine factory fire sometime in the afternoon. It’s nothing they haven’t dealt with in the past before. In fact, fires at factories are actually quite normal. Fires either start because of negligence from an employee or, and much more common, from faulty equipment due to the owner cutting corners. So, it’s not surprising when they are called out to one once again. It’s also not shocking to see the fire blazing out of control when they arrive. These factories do tend to go up fast and spread quickly.

Once the situation is assessed, Bobby rounds up the team to give orders. Dispatch had said there were some people trapped inside; five on the West side of the building and another seven on the East side. With how much the building is already engulfed in flames, everyone knows they are going to have to work fast to get those people out. That’s why when Bobby announces their duties, he separates him and Buck. Bobby needs his best firefighters leading the way.

“Buck,” Bobby addresses. “I want you to take point on the West side. Eddie, take the East. Gather a team of three or four.” He then adds more firmly, “No unnecessary risks. If it gets too dangerous, leave immediately. Now go. Be thorough but quick.” It’s the closing line that Bobby always gives them before they, or any of the other 118 members, enter a burning building.

Eddie and Buck exchange quick glances at one another, nodding curtly, before running off to gather their team. Eddie gives a brief rundown of the plan to the four other crew members he picks and then leads the way into the building. He and Buck start at the same entrance but soon separate in order to go in the direction of their intended targets. Unfortunately for them, the door is farther from the East side of the building than it is the West which means Eddie’s team has farther to travel. They carefully pick their way through the fire and debris of the building, putting out as best they can any fire that blocks their way. Soon enough, they reach the door that dispatch had told them the people were hold up in.

Eddie yells out, hoping he can be heard over the fire. “LAFD!” He tries the doorknob and it turns easily in his grasp. Pushing the door open, he sees five people huddled in a corner, all of them holding one another, and two unconscious people lying close by them. He gestures towards the people for his team to gather and then approaches one of the employees that are unconscious, checking their pulse. “Alive!” he yells and then checks the other person. “This one too! Okay, people, let’s get them out.”

Two of the crew members pick up the unconscious people each, throwing them over their shoulders. Eddie briefly registers Buck’s voice over the walkie. “Cap, we’re on our way out. Five people in need of medical attention. All conscious and alert.”

Eddie starts picking his way out of the room, conscious of the men and women following behind him as he reaches for his own walkie. He’s about to report their own situation when he notices the way they came is blocked. “Cap, we’ve got five people who are conscious and alert, two unconscious. All in need of medical attention. Our way has been blocked and will need to find a different way out.”

“Copy that, Diaz,” Bobby’s voice sounds from the walkie. “Keep me updated.”

Eddie turns to one of the employees. “Is there another exit around here?”

A woman, probably in her early thirties, shakes her head. “There’s another one in this wing of the building but on the other side.” She looks like she’s about to panic.

“Okay, everybody, stay calm. We’re going to get you out of here,” Eddie reassures before turning back around and making his way in the direction the woman had told him. They go until their way is blocked again and Eddie has to change directions once more to try and make it past the fallen debris. Slipping carefully through a doorway with its door missing, he enters a room that has minimal fire in it but heavy with smoke that makes it hard to see.

“We can’t be in this room!” one of the employees announces with alarm.

Eddie turns to him. “Why?”

All the employees’ eyes are wide with fear as the man answers him. “We have canister mixtures of chlorate and magnesium chloride in here.”

Eddie’s heart almost stops in horror. “Why do you have that here? Dispatch didn’t disclose this.”

“The company wanted to expand their horizons but are cutting corners to do so,” the same woman who had told him about the door states.

“We need to get out of here now!” Eddie says urgently, ushering the crew and employees back the way they came. They are already pretty far into the room and fire is quickly spreading around them. They don’t have much time.

Grabbing his walkie, Eddie practically yells into it. “Cap, we have chlorate and magnesium chloride mixtures in the building!” He looks behind himself, trying to gauge if any of the fire is by the canisters but the smoke is too thick to see through. “I repeat, there are-”

He sees the light from the explosion first before the impact of the blast. Then he feels it as it pushes him back into one of the employees, shoving them against a wall. His head hits hard and he doesn’t know what happens after that. Everything turns dark, blackness surrounding him.

*~~~*

When he wakes, all he can hear is an incessant ringing in his ears. But that is nothing compared to the physical pain coursing through his body. It feels like his body is on fire, maybe it is, but Eddie can’t open his eyes because they hurt too. He opens his mouth, doesn’t know if he screams out because he can’t hear , but he can’t breathe either. Oh God, it hurts to breathe .

A hand, or what he assumes to be a hand, lands on his shoulder and he tries to get away from it. It causes an intense stinging sensation to go from his shoulder down into his aching hand. He screams again, or at least he thinks he does, and there are more hands and he wants them to stop touching him. Please stop touching him!

“Dee!” Eddie tries to breathe, focus on the voice that just barely reaches his ears. They’re still ringing loudly, annoyingly, and when he tries to reach up to his ears, he realizes he can’t move his arms. “Eddie!”

“Buck?” Eddie mouths, once again not sure if he’s actually said anything. “Buck?” he thinks he must sound frantic but he doesn’t care because everything is on fire . 

“It’s going to be okay!” Buck’s voice, barely reaching him.

“Buck!” Eddie cries and if he could open his eyes he’s sure tears would be spilling from them.

“I’ve got you, Eddie.” A hand runs through his hair. Does he still have hair? “Chimney and I are going to get you out of here.”

He doesn’t end up knowing how they get him out. He passes out just after Buck stops talking. Or maybe he doesn’t stop talking, Eddie doesn’t know, the ringing is still there. He welcomes sleep, though, if only to get away from the searing pain.

*~~~*

The scene is horrific when Buck, Chimney, and a few other 118 firefighters wheel Eddie away to an ambulance. When Buck had heard that the factory had chlorate and magnesium chloride mixtures in the building, he felt his heart drop into his stomach. He had prayed that Eddie and the rest of the team would make it out in time.

They didn’t.

The explosion wasn’t actually that big, it not even taking out half the building, so Buck assumes there weren’t a lot of the canisters in there. It was, however, destructive to the surrounding rooms, the initial blast taking down a supporting wall, which then caused part of the building to collapse. Eddie is extremely lucky it didn’t fall on top of him. Some of the employees and one of the crew members of the 188, weren’t so lucky.

He leaves other crew members to dig through the rubble as he runs along with the stretcher that Eddie has been placed on. Chimney is keeping pace, trying to keep Eddie alive who has just passed out, holding a saline bag high above his head. Buck’s eyes start to sting as he watches the proceedings and tries to blink away the tears that are threatening to fall.

Sniffling, he looks Eddie over. The older man’s helmet had come off at some point. Buck assumes it was from the blast of the explosion. His face also looks pretty badly burned, especially around his eyes, and his turnout gear is… well, it’s completely destroyed. Buck’s mind keeps supplying him with the realization that Eddie is extremely lucky to still be alive and that it could turn around at any moment.

As if on cue, Chimney states, “His BP is dropping! Starting compressions!” Chimney hops onto the stretcher, straddling Eddie’s body, and begins compressions. 

Buck’s vision blurs as tears pool in them and he doesn’t even bother trying to rid them this time. They make it to the ambulance quickly and Buck has no choice but to let go of the stretcher to let the others load Eddie into the vehicle. His heart is beating frantically in his chest and tears are streaming incessantly down his cheeks.

“Buck!” Buck turns to Bobby, not bothering to hide the fact that he’s crying.

“I’m not leaving him!” Buck says immediately.

“I’m not asking you to,” Bobby reassures. “Just… keep me updated.”

Buck nods briefly before climbing into the ambulance. Chimney is sat beside him, having stopped the chest compressions, but according to the heart monitor Buck can see that he is stable again. Once Buck is settled, Chimney raps on the wall of the ambulance, letting the driver know they’re ready to go. The sirens immediately start blaring and before Buck knows it, they are rushing to the nearest hospital.

“Chim, what’s his status?” Buck dares to ask.

Chimney glances up at him before refocusing on Eddie. “It’s not looking good, Buck.”

Buck shuts up then, afraid to ask any more questions. He doesn’t want to hear the answers. Instead, he watches Chimney work as he tries to clean the burns as best he can. Buck is worried about Eddie’s face the most. It looks like it took the brunt of the flames from the explosion. If Eddie survives, he’s going to definitely have some scaring.

Eddie codes again halfway to the hospital. Buck does the compressions this time, jumping in immediately. It gives Chimney the opportunity to try to stabilize Eddie once more, pumping him with medications. As Buck presses hard on Eddie’s chest, tears from his eyes fall onto Eddie’s face. Buck can’t look away from it. Won’t look away from it. What if it’s the last time he sees it?

“Buck,” Chimney gets his attention. “He’s back, you can stop.”

Sniffling and wiping at his eyes with the back of his gloved hand, he sits back heavily. Chimney is eyeing him but doesn’t say anything. Buck is grateful for that. He doesn’t want to talk, doesn’t want to think, doesn’t want to move . He just wants to stare and watch Eddie, praying he’ll be okay.

They eventually make it to the hospital and quickly wheel Eddie out of the ambulance. No one argues with him when he follows the gurney inside and Chimney even comes with him. When he has to finally part from Eddie, the nurses rushing to wheel him into the back, that’s when he finally breaks completely.

His knees give out and he falls back into a chair that Chimney had, unbeknownst to Buck, guided Buck towards. A ragged sob escapes from his throat and out his mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks. Chimney sits down next to him, places a hand on his back, and allows him to cry. He cries so hard that he starts to hiccup and Chimney’s hand begins a path along his back, up and down and in circles. Buck hunches over and buries his face in his hands, trying to get his self-control back. He’s making a scene, he knows he is, and he needs to calm down, but it’s expected to bawl this hard in a hospital, right?

Eventually, he does stop, exhaustion taking over his entire body. He sags in the chair with the trash can situated between his legs. Chimney had handed him it with a box of tissues at some point and Buck had gratefully taken them. Now he feels tired and grief-stricken. They have no idea what is happening to Eddie, how he is, if he’s even still alive. All Buck needs to know is if Eddie is going to live.

“Hey,” Hen’s voice sounds quietly from Chimney’s side. Buck doesn’t know how long she’s been there. It looks like it’s been a little while. “How are you doing, Buckaroo? Do you want me to get you some water?”

He shakes his head. He is feeling pretty thirsty now but that’s not his top priority. Hen had been working on another member of the team when they had wheeled Eddie away. “How’s Garret?”

Hen’s face falls and Buck is suddenly afraid of the answer. She shakes her head in the negative, not bothering to voice what Buck already knows. “Briggs didn’t make it either nor did Sinclair. Hammond has just been brought in. He’s in pretty critical condition like Eddie.”

“The employees?” he asks quietly, almost inaudible.

Hen’s frown deepens and she shakes her head again. “None of them made it.”

Buck’s eyes fill with tears again and he reaches up to wipe them away stubbornly. “Where’s Bobby?”

“Talking to the Chief and then he has to make a statement.”

“They want him to make a statement now?” Buck asks, feeling sick to his stomach. “Three of his men just died and two of them still might and they want him…” Buck stops, choking on his anger. He bites his bottom lip to stop himself from ranting. No one comments on Buck’s outrage and instead sit back in their chairs to await news on both Eddie and Hammond.

An hour and a half later, with no word on Eddie yet, Bobby arrives. “How is he?”

Buck doesn’t bother looking up from his hands that he’s been staring at for the last twenty minutes. Bobby sits down in a chair across from him as Hen answers his question. “We haven’t’ heard anything yet.”

“I just checked on Hammond before coming this way,” Bobby says.

“And?” Chimney asks, sitting up straighter.

“They’re still working on him.” Buck glances up and has to look away from Bobby’s defeated face. “They’re not sure if he’s going to make it. It’s not looking good.”

“Did you call his wife?” Buck asks, speaking quietly. He stares at the floor, feeling helpless.

Bobby sighs and sits further back in his chair. “I did. She’s trying to get out of work early and seeing if the babysitter can watch their daughter for a little longer before a family member can pick her up.”

“What about the others’ families?”

Another sigh escapes Bobby’s lips. “I’ve called Briggs’ husband and informed him of what happened. He was understandably upset.”

“They were thinking about adopting a baby,” Hen announces. “Briggs had asked for my advice just the other day, wanting an LGBTQA friendly place and to know what organization Karen and I went through.” Buck’s heart breaks into a million pieces at that news, a new wave of grief passing through him.

“The Chief called Garret’s wife and Sinclair’s fiance. He wanted me to start the press conference instead,” Bobby continues.

“How’d that go?” Chimney questions.

Bobby hesitates and he has to clear his voice, as if it’s difficult to speak. “Bad.” He leaves it at that, not elaborating. Buck is fine with that. He doesn’t want to know more.

“What am I going to tell Christopher?” All eyes turn to him and he wonders if he hadn’t said it loud enough. He is practically whispering. “If Eddie doesn’t make it, how am I supposed to tell Christopher?”

“That’s my job, Buck,” Bobby says. “You don’t have to do that.”

“No!” Buck looks up, tears rolling down his eyes again. “No, Bobby if it’s Christopher, it has to be me. It has to come from me.”

No one else protests that, all seeming to understand what he’s trying to get at. Hen stretches over across Chimney’s lap and places a hand on his thigh. “Let’s cross that bridge if and when we get there, okay? For now, let’s just hope that both Eddie and Hammond make it.”

Buck bites his bottom lip to stop a whimper from escaping. He’s terrified that Eddie is going to die, that he and Christopher are going to lose him. But also, if he does survive, at what cost is it at? He looked like he had been badly burned and when they had wheeled him away, the nurses had seemed particularly concerned about the burns around Eddie’s eyes.

“I’ve called his grandmother and Carla already. Isabel is on her way and Carla said she can watch Christopher for the night,” Bobby informs him.

“What did she tell him?” Buck asks, worried for the child.

Bobby takes a breath. “She just told him that there was an accident at his Dad’s work and that he is in the hospital, for now, being taken care of.”

Buck frowns. “He must be so scared.”

“Carla will take good care of him,” Hen reassures. Buck nods in agreement and then goes back to staring at the floor. No one else talks after that.

Another hour goes by with no word on either Eddie or Hammond. Eddie’s Abuela is now sitting next to Buck, Chimney having moved to give her the seat, and gone to sit on Hen’s other side. Athena and May come walking into the waiting room, each holding trays with coffee on them. They divvy them up, everyone getting a cup. Buck takes the coffee offered to him and then sets it down on the floor. He doesn’t feel like drinking anything.

Athena goes to sit next to Bobby and May sits next to her. “Any news?” Athena asks.

Bobby shakes his head. “None. Not on either of them.”

She rubs a hand up and down Bobby’s thigh. “Let me see if I can get anything out of one of the nurses.” She stands and leaves, trying to find an available nurse.

May looks around the group, eyes landing on Buck. “How’d it happen?”

Buck’s eyes narrow in anger and he can’t help but snap at her. “That’s what you care about right now? Really?”

“Buck!” Bobby warns.

Buck turns away, tears burning his eyes. When Isabel tries to reach over to grab his hand, he pulls away and stands up, storming away. He makes it all the way outside before he’s collapsing against the brick wall, pulling his legs close to his chest. He shucks off his turnout coat and lays it down beside him before resting his chin on his knees. He’s crying again with all these different scenarios flying through his brain.

Eddie might die.

Eddie might die.

Eddie might die.

Buck doesn’t think he can handle that.

“Buck?” Buck turns his head to look at who said his name. May is standing there, watching him. She approaches cautiously. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that right now. It wasn’t the right time.”

Buck wipes at his eyes with his arm, ridding his face of most of the tears. “I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

She comes closer until eventually, she can sit down next to him. She links their arms together and leans her cheek onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry this is happening,” she mumbles.

She’s going to make him cry again but he can’t bring himself to care anymore. “Me too.”

———————————————————————————————————–

A/N: This is probably not accurate in the slightest but I just spent an hour looking for a chemical to explode so… just take everything with a grain of salt, including Eddie’s injuries. I tried looking things up about burns as well and got confused so… yeah, the tiniest grain.

Thank you for reading!! ❤❤

[cornishbirdblog]

“The seashore seems to be a potent spot for ghosts. Fishermen dread to walk anywhere near where a ship has foundered. The souls of drowned sailors are said to haunt such places and the ‘calling of the dead’ has frequently been heard . . .” James Turner, The Stone Peninsula, 1975.

Fishermen and sailors are a superstitious clan, and passing close to the watery graves of the lost members of their brotherhood was once treated with great trepidation. There was a fear that the voices of dead sailors would call their name and somehow lure them to their doom beneath the waves.

“I have been told that, under certain circumstances, especially before the coming of storms or at certain seasons, but always at night, these callings are common. Many a fisherman has declared he has heard the voices of dead sailors ‘hailing their own names’.” Robert Hunt, 1881.

Porthtowan is ‘just’ another cove on Cornwall’s wilder north coast but it is a favourite spot of mine. I especially like to catch it at low tide when the flat sand runs all the way to Chapel Porth. I walk the mile or so with the stark cliffs towering above me, then I return along the grassy top path, making a satisfying circular walk. The cliffs and bare downs here once bristled with mine buildings and hummed with hard industry but now Porthtowan beach is popular with surfers and families alike.

Like so many places in Cornwall however, strange legends and tragedy are never far away.

The Man in Black

There is a curious story about Porthtowan that would make a sailor’s blood run cold.

Once a fisherman was making his way home across the sand late one afternoon. The tide was far out leaving a wide band of smooth sand, the water calmly lapped towards the shore. Quite suddenly the man heard an unearthly voice coming from the waves.

“The hour is come, but not the man.”

The strange phrase was repeated three times. And then, just as the fisherman tried to see from where the voice was coming from, a figure appeared on the cliff above the beach. A silhouette of a man dressed in black.

As the frightened fisherman watched the dark figure seemed to listen for a moment, then suddenly he charged headlong down the steep incline, ran across the beach and dove into the sea, vanishing from sight. In another version of this tale as the man in black jumps into the sea the fisherman sees a ghostly sailing ship appearing out of the mist on the horizon.

The Dragon & the White Shuck

The towering hills between Porthtowan and Chapel Porth are almost completely devoid of trees. Barren and windswept, intensive mining has stripped the landscape. Little grows here and it can be a bleak and forboding place when a clammy sea mist rolls in.

“We descend over a stony waste, threading innumerable walls to Chapel Porth, a cove at the mouth of a deep moorland combe . . . for some miles the cliff tops are covered with heather. Porth Towan a larger but in other respects similar cove comes next. Both are more or less spoilt by mines.” John Lloyd Warden Page, 1897.

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There is a legend about this place which is particularly unusual, a one off perhaps, for Cornwall. Neither dragons or shuck are common here you see. And for those wondering, as I was one, a shuck is a huge, shaggy dog, normally black. A written description from 1888 claims that these hounds are sometimes headless but usually have a single ‘blazing eye’ in the middle of their forehead.

Their name apparently derives from an old English word ‘scucca’ meaning devil or fiend. Shucks are most common in East Anglia. It’s thought that they originated in Scandinavian folklore as a black hound of Odin and were brought to us here by the Vikings. The hound associated with our Cornish story was indeed monstrous in size, but it was apparently white, not black.

The myth tells us that back along, many moons ago, a fearsome dragon roamed the cliffs above Porthtowan, in an area known as Mile Hill. The scaly monster had his liar in a nearby cave in the cliff face and he spent his time terrorised the local people, as dragons often do.

One night however, according to tale, the dragon crossed paths with the Cornish White Shuck. A bloody battle ensued and against the odds the huge, mysterious dog defeated the dragon, who slunk off with his tail between his legs.

Legend has it that the spirit of that hound still haunts the wild clifftops above Porthtowan to this day.

Shipwreck of the Rose of Devon

On 16th March 1816 on the flat sands between Porthtowan and Chapel Porth a squadron of Iniskilling dragoons from had to beat off local miners with sticks. The miners were trying to board the brig Harriet that had run ashore on her way to Liverpool. Shipwrecks were once depressingly common on the Cornish coast. Many, like the Harriet, have been recorded on the stretch of coast close to Porthtowan, their stories written about in the papers, and rarely do they have a happy ending.

And so, the fate of the Rose of Devon that came to grief at Porthtowan is not for the fainthearted I am afraid.

On 28th November 1897 the waves were winter wild. The newspapers reported that sightseers had come from miles around to watch the roaring waters and the towering clouds of sea spray from the cliffs above Porthtowan beach, much as we do today.

As the light faded that day Coastguard West, who was on duty that weekend, took a last look at the churning waters and saw nothing in particular that concerned him. However, when West came down to the water at 6am the next morning something wasn’t right. There was wreckage pounding in on the incoming tide. And that wasn’t all.

To his horror he spotted first two and then four bodies rolling in on the waves or stuck in between rocks. West ran for help and within just a few minutes there were six bodies laid out on the sand. All but one of the drowned crew wore belts bearing the name ‘Rose of Devon’.

Image said to show the wreck of the Rose of Devon on Porthtowan beach: credit Cornish Memory

The Rose of Devon had apparently been driven onto the rocks by the raging gale. According to later reports the ship’s rockets and flares had been been hidden by the violent lightening and heavy rain that night.

The bodies of the crew were taken to a house near the beach and as the tide retreated later that day the shell of the 405 ton wooden barque was revealed stuck fast on the beach.

‘At dawn her shattered hull festooned with chains and ropes was stranded in the surf.’

The Rose of Devon was launched in Plymouth and owned by Onesimus Dorey of Guernsey. It was captained by George Borcher and had a crew of eleven. The rest of the men were eventually washed up, some weeks later, all along the coast. The body of George Borcher washed up at St Agnes.

The inquest was held on the six recovered bodies at Porthtowan two days later on 1st December and a self-evident verdict of ‘found drowned’ was given on each by coroner Laurence Carlyon. The newspapers of the day detailed each of the crew, including their physical descriptions, tattoos and various obvious injuries but no names were recorded. However, another more disturbing issue was also discussed. The condition of the bodies since they had been washed ashore.

Apparently in the days after the wreck the dead crew had been moved to an unprotected outhouse, where they had been laid out on a dirt floor and left uncovered. And the remains of the sailors had been attracting the attention of rats.

“Coastguard West said they could get the bodies removed into a house where there was a wooden floor but that they would have to obtain . . . permission first. He added that he and his colleagues knocked on the door of the shed in which the bodies were every time they passed in order to frighten the rats away.” The Cornishman, 2nd Dec 1897.

None of the men were from Cornwall and so there was no one to claim their bodies. In years gone by the practice had been to buried the drowned on the clifftops close to where they had been discovered but that had been outlawed. It was now the responsibility of the parish to pay for the sailors’ funeral. There appears to have been some debate over which parish, Illogan or St. Agnes, was to take the bodies.

As it was the funerals of six of the men (Captain Borcher’s family claimed his remains) were eventually held at Mount Hawke on 9th December 1897. The West Briton newspaper reported that hundreds of local people turned out to pay their respects and each coffin was draped with a flag. Some time after a granite memorial was raised in the graveyard to mark the spot where the unfortunate crew had been laid to rest. The inscription reads: F. Eliot, H. Martel, C. Palzard, W. Toll and 2 others”.

Local man Jerry Strongman, who grew up in Porthtowan, recalled seeing the remains of the wreck of the Rose of Devon at low tide during his childhood in the 1960s. As far as I am aware no trace of it can be found today.

I provide all the content on this blog completely free, there’s no subscription fee. If however you enjoy my work and would like to contribute something towards helping me keep researching Cornwall’s amazing history and then sharing it with you then you can donate below. Thank you! [wpedon id=17835]

Further Reading:

St Agnes Beacon

Cavalla Bianca – an unusual wreck in Penzance

Walking Opportunities:

Porthtowan to Chapel Porth circular walk

Porthtowan – ghosts, dragons & shipwrecks "The seashore seems to be a potent spot for ghosts. Fishermen dread to walk anywhere near where a ship has foundered.

[definitionofaroadgame]

The Magicians: Star Trek Remix

Someone asked on Twitter what positions the Magicians characters would have if they were in Star Trek and my hand slipped…

Captain/1st Officer: Eliot & Margo. Eliot starts as Captain with Margo as 1st Officer, but he gets emotionally compromised on a mission that accidentally ends up with them on Talos IV and Margo takes over as High King Captain, with Eliot returning to duty as 1st officer. He’s much happier with this arrangement, if he’s being honest. He gets to be the social, friendly one of the command team now and Margo gets to be the stern HBIC; it works for them both.

Navigator: Quentin. He’s always the one trying to figure out their path, be it questing through Fillory or figuring out a way to save Eliot. He’d been dating Alice until just before the Talos fiasco, then the talosians gave him visions of an alternate life raising a family with Captain Eliot. His relationship with Alice is over, he’s desperately in love with Eliot (who rejected his offer to give it a shot because of fraternization rules, but that’s not gonna last #queliot), and for the first time he’s lost his direction…

Science Officer: Alice. She was always the smartest in the room and literally went Niffin so she could learn all the secrets of magic. There is no questioning this, don’t @ me. After her relationship with Quentin ends (B/c of reasons. What are they? IDK!), she loses herself in science and knowledge to distract herself. She’s kinda the reason they end up on Talos IV, though it wasn’t her intention, and decides to stay with them because of their incredible knowledge and power. The crew drags her back to the ship because it’s a huge Starfleet no-no for any outsiders to go to the planet and she’s decidedly NOT. HAPPY. About the situation.

Helmsman: Penny. The obvious reasoning is that he’s a traveler, but beyond that, he’s also the driving force of much of the movement of the show. He’s the one pushing Kady to move towards her future, he often badgers and berates Quentin into acting. He just gets shit done (while professing not to care about any of it). Penny is a cinnamon roll who I can’t stand to see have issues, so we’re gonna pretend he’s married to a nice woman who works down in the soc/anthro side of the science department and her specialty is in textiles and clothing (yeah, I literally am writing Arjun’s actual wife into the show, it’s my headcannon, eat me. He was really nice to me on Twitter so he gets all the nice things.)

Tactical Officer: Kady. Battle. Magic. Y’all. She’s going to do whatever it takes to protect her crew from outsiders trying to hurt them and she’s going to do it while being underestimated by everyone that goes up against her.

Chief of Security: Fen. Everyone thinks she got the position just because of her father, but she’s deeply loyal to, and protective of, her crew. If you are stupid on her ship, you WILL be thrown in the brig, though she’ll come down to keep you company and try to help you learn to be better. She was on the away crew to Talos IV and the talosians really messed with her head. When she realized what they were doing, she tried to knife one of them. The crew sometimes thinks she’s a little “old school” (read backwards and naïve), but they’ve all seen her knife collection and aren’t going to mess with her.

Head of Linguistics: Josh. He debated going into the medical field (“Ha ha yes, because I like ‘medicating’. You’re all sooo original. Stop going for the low hanging fruit.”) but his ability to fit in with any group and not only get along, but thrive, in his environment really pushed him to xenolinguistics. He’s the go to guy for meeting with new civilizations, because he’s ace at figuring out how to connect with others, and if all else fails- parties are great for breaking the ice!

Chief Medical Officer: Julia. She started out in Engineering and was quickly rising through the ranks, but she got caught in a bad battle when she was stationed on another ship that left her with severe PTSD. She foundered for a while, but eventually figured out that she could heal people as well as she could heal machines and is realizing that being in medical is helping to heal and grow herself as well.

Chief of Operations: Tick. Lets be real, he keeps Fillory running and he keeps the ship running as well. There’s a lot that goes into his job behind the scenes and he chafes at the realization that he’s probably advanced as far as he’s going to. He had designs on a captaincy, but these academy kids keep showing up and jumping ahead of him. There may have been a mission involving inhibition lowering pollen where he throws a coup and takes over the ship, but after they throw him in the brig they kinda realize that they literally can’t run this ship without him, so they hash it out and he seems to be doing better with his position now that he’s being given recognition for his skills. His knowledge base has saved them more than once on a mission that went sideways and affected the ship.

Other Thoughts: Dean Fogg as Engineering Officer? Is highly skilled drunk character cast as highly skilled drunk character a little on the nose? Monster!Eliot is the Borg? The Library is the Klingon Empire; sometimes friend sometimes foe? Who is Harry Mudd??? Nevermind- editing this to say Poppy is Harry Mudd. IT’S PERFECT! What’s the name of the ship?

[wiseabsol]

A Selection of Abby’s Favorite Fanfics

Artemis Fowl: The Aztec Incident by AgiVega  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2055830/1/Artemis-Fowl-The-Aztec-Incident

Fandom: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

Summary: 26-year-old Artemis Fowl gets the greatest surprise of his life when Commander Holly Short pays him a visit, pleading for his help. They need to team up to save their son, whose existence Artemis has been unaware of….

+

Artemis Fowl: The Sword of God by AgiVega  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2593669/1/Artemis-Fowl-The-Sword-of-God

Fandom: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

Summary: Sequel to the Aztec Incident. Despite having Holly at his side, Artemis is depressed, he cannot overcome the loss of his genius. Only time can heal him… in both senses of the word.

My thoughts on this duology: One of my favorites as a teenager, which I printed a hard-copy of. It has great comedic timing and, all in all, is a fun adventure romp.

A City of Fortune and Failure by justadram  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9287426/1/A-City-of-Fortune-and-Failure

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Summary: Amidst maneuvers and intrigue, heartbreak and betrayal, bankruptcy and political scandal, the players jockey for power, money, and prestige in a game of business, politics, and love in New York City. Modern AU. Multi-ship. Central ships: Ned/Cat, Cersei/Jaime, Dany/Jorah, Jon/Sansa.

My thoughts: A masterful modern AU of the ASOIAF universe, with a happier ending than one would think, given the source material.  

Disengagement by turtle_paced

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142807/chapters/2312623

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Summary: The killing of Mad King Aerys Targaryen by person or persons unknown worked out well for virtually everyone, including Jaime Lannister. Disgraced for failing his king (if only they knew) and tasked with protecting no-longer-a-Princess Rhaenys Targaryen until she can be wed to Robert’s eldest legitimate son (whenever Robert gets around to producing one), Jaime must go north with the Starks (a prickly, judgmental lot) to look after her. Cold, bored, and guarding a five-year-old, Jaime might yet learn to be a truly honourable knight – but even far from King’s Landing and Cersei, his dangerous secrets might catch up with him. Worse, his aren’t the only dangerous secrets in the North….

My thoughts: One of my go-to AU stories when I need something that is kinder to Rhaenys and when I want a solid political story to sink my teeth into. turtle_paced’s take on the ASOIAF world is spot-on, so if you want something that feels like Martin’s work, this is it.  

The Princess and the Septa by Julia_Martell

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141185/chapters/9340335

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Summary: Septa Eglantine’s duty was to accompany Myrcella to Dorne. Princess Arianne’s duty was to graciously receive her. But neither woman was quite prepared for the other.

My thoughts: This poignant story will break your heart and fill you with father-daughter feels. It also acts as a lead-in to the Dornish theatre in the books.  

A Wedding in Sunspear by Julia_Martell

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4903933/chapters/11247469

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Summary: The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years as the great and powerful gather in Sunspear for the marriage of Princess Loreza Nymeros Martell. But old tensions are just below the surface. Love and duty, hate and pride, anger and ambition. There’s nothing like a wedding to make emotions run high.

My thoughts: If you’re looking for a lovingly detailed exploration of Dornish culture and how it grates against Westerosi patriarchal norms, this is a great story to dig into. Alysanne’s chapters in particular leave me gutted every time.  

The Not So Dead Ladies Club by La Reine Noire

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/801072

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Summary: Two women survive Robert's Rebellion and everything changes. An Elia Martell/Lyanna Stark story.

My thoughts: This story satisfies the part of me that desperately wanted Elia Martell and Lyanna Stark to have more agency in ASOIAF, and for them and their children to have a hopeful future. Also, who needs Rhaegar?  

dream of the lotus in bloom by Pulpo Fiction  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8442158/1/dream-of-the-lotus-in-bloom

Fandom: Avatar The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra

Summary: Fourteen years ago, a masked man intercepts a letter to the White Lotus, breaks into the home of a young Water Tribe couple, and leaves with their only daughter. Now, she is seventeen. An Equalist!Korra AU.

My thoughts: This story take the potential of season one of LOK and ramps it up, giving more weight to the Equalist movement and making Amon’s and Korra’s relationship much more complicated and painful.  

Of Finding Innocence by FanficwriterGHC

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7176396/1/Of-Finding-Innocence

Fandom: Castle

Summary: When Kate Beckett went to get her book signed by Richard Castle, she never imagined that she'd end up meeting his daughter, much less offering to babysit for the afternoon. AU.

My thoughts: Pure, fluffy goodness. This is what I re-read when I need something tooth-achingly sweet. The romance between Beckett and Castle also builds slowly, after months of friendship, which makes my demi heart happy.

Forward by Peptuck  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4099993/1/Forward

Fandom: Firefly

Summary: Following the Miranda broadwave, there’s only one direction for Malcolm Reynolds and his crew to go. Post-BDM, Series.

My thoughts: An AU continuation of Firefly and Serenity, in which Book and Wash survive and continue going on adventures with the crew. Book’s backstory here is much more interesting than the version in the comics; the sci fi plots--namely surrounding psychic experimentation--are more fleshed out and chilling; and the sexism in the show surrounding Kaylee, Inara, and River has mercifully been ripped out.    

Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past by S'TarKan

Link: http://www.viridiandreams.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5545

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Summary: The War is over and Voldemort is finally dead. Too bad there's no one left to celebrate. Harry risks everything, even returning Voldemort to life, for a chance to go back and do it right this time.

My thoughts: This is an emotional time-travel fic that gives secondary characters like Ginny, Luna, and Neville more chances to shine. In general, it’s a fun action/adventure ride, albeit one that is more violent than the original series.

Time, Interrupted by Madm05  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2948865/1/Time-Interrupted

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Summary: After she is murdered, Hermione’s soul is sent back in time in order to prevent Harry from becoming the next Dark Lord, but quickly learns her task is not as easy as she thought it would be. A second chance story, with a twist. Eventual HHr.

My thoughts: This is one of my favorite Harmony fics, because it is super sweet (with the exception of a few dark moments) and Remus and Sirius become prominent figures in Hermione and Harry’s childhoods, thanks to some time-meddling.  

Vox Corporis by MissAnnThropic

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13323228/1/REPOST-Vox-Corporis-Original-Author-MissAnnThropic-NOT-MY-STORY

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Summary: Following the events of the Goblet of Fire, Harry spends the summer with the Grangers, his relationship with Hermione deepens, and he and Hermione become animagi.

My thoughts: My favorite Harmony fic. It’s a slow-burn romance, building on the friendship between Harry and Hermione over the summer following GOF and through their next year of school. It also deals with the trauma that Harry has gone through, both from the Dursleys’ abuse and from Cedrick’s death, and Hermione’s insecurities from being bullied before Hogwarts.

Psychic AU by Laughsalot3412

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/431476

Fandom: Leverage

Summary: He had a sniper rifle scoping the girl’s bright eyes and the guy’s smile. An Eliot/Parker/Hardison AU.

My thoughts: The OT3 is wonderfully written, the exploration of Eliot’s trauma from Moreau is respectfully handled, and the importance of consent during psychic mind-melding is underscored.

Team 8 by S'TarKan  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2731239/1/Team-8

Fandom: Naruto

Summary: What if Naruto had been selected for a different team? What if he’d had a different mentor? Who would guess the consequences would be so large?

My thoughts: This is everything that I wanted Naruto to be--an action/adventure story with a strong character focus, heartwarming friendships that support mutual growth, and some ruthless villains and conspiracy plots to keep things interesting. I’m also deeply in love with S’TarKan’s version of Kurenai, who is the inspiration for at least two of my OCs. She alone makes this fic worth reading, but the rest of the story is also stronger and more streamlined than the original story.

the fatal plunge by maleficently

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/29748

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Summary: Emma has hidden her face behind a curtain of unruly hair for now, but manages to tip it back on command--and Regina looks down at Emma’s chest and the heart she knows is beating there; wonders absently if any of her problems would be solved if she just plucked it out and kept it in her jewelry box upstairs--and looks at her with the kind of anguish that really and truly doesn’t befit a storybook savior. “The curse. It didn't break right, so how do I fix it?” Part 1 of a 3-part post-curse AU that mostly ignores Season 2 developments.

My thoughts: This series was what made me start shipping Emma Swan and Regina Mills in earnest. The story doesn’t shy away from Emma’s flaws or Regina’s ruthlessness, and in general feels like a more emotionally true take on what should have unfolded after season one.

somewhere, someone must know the ending by maleficently

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/521505/chapters/921864

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Summary: “I’m here because...I think my kid is having some kind of delusional breakdown because he can’t cope with the fact that...Mayor Mills and I split up.” Dr. Hopper pushes his glasses up his nose in a measured movement. “What makes you think that?” “Well, among other things, he thinks his mother is about to cut Mary Margaret Blanchard’s heart out of her chest, before pulverizing it and sending her into a coma that only her true love can rescue her from.” AU. Here, “fairy tale land” is merely a product of Henry's imagination during a difficult time.

My thoughts: I am a sucker for AU fics, especially ones that re-envision canon in interesting ways. This one chronicles the aftermath of Emma Swan and Regina Mills sabotaging their relationship, but then working together to make it more open and healthy.

The Patchouli Series by Renn Ireigh  

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/22751

Fandom: Pokemon

Summary: Is the indulgence of interactions with human society worth the cost? Giovanni and Sabrina debate. Manga/game canon compliant more or less. Winner of the “Best Romance” category in the 2005 Serebii Forums Winter Awards.

My thoughts: This quiet series focuses on Sabrina as she struggles to grow out of the restrictions that her abusive mother--and then Sabrina herself--placed on her to control her psychic powers. It features her siblings as well, who are also trying to overcome the abuse they went through, and Giovanni, whose relationship with Sabrina could evolve with her, if she gives it a chance.    

Sailor Moon 4200 by Angus MacSpon  

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2590354/1/Sailor-Moon-4200

Fandom: Sailor Moon

Summary: Centuries after the Fall…a new band of senshi must come together. Some of them are new faces. Others are old friends, reborn yet again. But all of them are in trouble—because the enemy that destroyed Crystal Tokyo is out there, waiting for them…

My thoughts: This is an old classic, but an emotional and engaging story about the reincarnated senshi team. Glimpses are given into the fall of Crystal Tokyo, and there are a few old faces still around from that age to guide us through. I remember this best for how tense the new world is and for Artemis’ and Luna’s granddaughter.  

Heretic Pride by Fialleril

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13455561/chapters/30844053

Fandom: Star Wars

Summary: Like most Republic citizens, the Naberries have never spent much time thinking about the Jedi. But that changes with the birth of their daughter Ilaré. Or, the AU where the third Naberrie daughter is a Jedi, Padmé offers Naboo as a sanctuary for runaway slaves, Shmi is a conductor on the Tatooine freedom trail, and Anakin jump starts a reformation. Or maybe a heresy. It all depends on your point of view.

My thoughts: Or how the prequel trilogy would have gone, if it hadn’t been a tragedy. Anakin refusing to cut off his ties to home and being more well-adjusted for it, Shmi being a conductor of the Tatooine freedom trail, and the scenes set in Little Tatooine on Naboo are all wonderful and welcome changes to the story. Also, Anakin and Padme’s romance feels genuinely sweet and earned, and Anakin has a very cute mentor-student relationship with her little sister. 

[heroofshield]

Self rec meme

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Not tagging anyone, but if you want to do it feel free!

Indirectly tagged by @missmeggo929​

1. Codename: Captain Tightpants

One of the first Clint & Natasha fics I did for a promptathon and man, it was fun to get them into a prank war.

It had been two weeks since their ‘prank war’ had started and had escalated to the point where Fury had just sent them a memo saying that they needed to stop it or he’d have Coulson send them on a long surveillance mission or to a “team building” retreat that he sent especially troublesome teams to.

She’d heard rumors about those retreats and didn’t feel the need to experience them firsthand. Which was why she was in the workout room trying to work off some of the aggression she felt towards Clint at the moment. Just because she’d hacked into his SHEILD account and plant a rather nasty virus that went to everyone he communicated with (Hill, Coulson, Fury, the entire R&D department) didn’t mean that he had to steal her shoes and toss them over the side of the Helicarrier. After finding out that he’d even taken the lucky pair she hid in her closet it was only the fact that she was on an already short leash since Bulgaria that kept her from killing him right then and there.

2. The Portland Job

Another promptathon fill where someone in the community wanted a crossover with Strike Team Delta and the Leverage crew, so of course I jumped at the chance to write in the universe of one of my favorite shows.

“We’re leaving.” Clint interrupted as he dropped the cue and started for the door.

“Why?” Natasha grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. She was confused by his behavior and knew that it had something to do with the man at the bar. Looking into her partner’s eyes she saw surprise mixed with confusion and wondered what who that man meant to Clint. “Clint-“

“Barton!”

“Shit.” Clint thought as he turned to see Eliot striding towards him. Ducking the punch that was coming his way, Clint moved his foot to hook Eliot’s leg and catch him off balance but Eliot twisted and caught him in a headlock. Slamming his elbow into Eliot’s side, he heard something being picked up and glancing up as far as he could saw that Natasha had grabbed one of the wooden pool cue’s and was swinging it towards Eliot.

3. Assets

apparently crossovers are my thing lol. Wrote this after getting into a friendly arguement over who had the better ass: Kaidan Alenko or Evan Lorne (we decided that Kaidan had the best buns of steel but Lorne had the best ass in Pegasus).

Kaidan had to give Lorne points for imagination, he wouldn’t of thought to use his weight against him, but at the same time it was now clear that they had moved from taking pot shots at each other to the real deal. Twisting, he managed to get out from the Major’s hold and after that the blows came faster and harder; both men pushing themselves to outdo the other while their training kicked in so they fell short of killing each other.

At one point Evan realized that they’d be sporting their own set of cuts and bruises, nothing that wouldn’t go away after a week, and that blood was starting to fall onto the mat. But that just made him push harder to see how much he could take until reaching his breaking point.

4. Welcome to the New Age

This was the one-shot that gave me the plot bunny for the Modern AU Hell(TM) that I’ve been in for two NaNoWriMo’s. But I love it.

Lina took the bottle from Ben’s hands with a smile and raised it to her own lips.

Ben laughed, “Drinking straight from the bottle. Don’t let Walter see you do that or he’ll think that I’m a bad influence on you.”

Lina took another drink and handed it back to Ben, “That’s because you are. Before I-”

She was cut off by Ben’s lips crashing into hers and was taken by surprise by the action.

Ben knew that it was a gamble; worst case scenario she had him reassigned to desk duty in Aurora while the best case being they started making out under Walter’s nose. He had realized his feelings for her when they were in Aurora and thought that she was dead at the hand of the Crawler. Ben had already lost so many that he didn’t want to lose her as well. They’d all been so focused on the revolution that he’d held himself back, but now that she was Queen he figured on throwing caution into the wind and admitting what he felt to her.

5. Home Improvement

Another promptathon fill, this one with Clint being a landlord and taking it upon himself to fix things around Stark Tower.

The shower was leaking.

There was a hole in the wall from when Bruce played Angry Birds.

The patio door stuck for a second if you didn’t close it just right.

There was another hole in the wall with the Wii remote still stuck in it from when Steve tried to play Mario Kart.

Ever since Clint had bought his (former) residence building and had to keep it up he noticed the little stuff. But this wasn’t his place so at first Clint left everything be…but then he didn’t see Tony for a few weeks and guessed that the man was busy with Stark Industries stuff, running R&D up the wall with all the improvements he wanted to make to the suit or coming up with more ways to drive Pepper to exasperation, which was why nothing was getting fixed. Or he was so focused on making the suit better that he didn’t see the little things.

[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: Complete guide to the 6-game Week 4 slate

March 23, 20189:21AM EDT

Into the weekend we dive. It’s just Saturday this time …

New England vs. NYCFC

1:30pm ET | Full preview | TV & streaming info

We know what NYCFC’s about at this point, right? They’ve hammered teams with their high pressure through the first three weeks, are the only perfect (3-0-0) team in MLS, and have done it in spite of more than a few injuries. This week that includes d-mid Alex Ring, who’s on international duty and wouldn’t be available anyway, but seems to have picked up some sort of knock of indeterminate severity (anybody read Finnish?).

But … well, this is the whole point of what the Cityzens did this offseason. They’re now in their fourth MLS season and have, over that time, built one of the league’s deepest teams. David Villa’s their best player and they were fine without him last week. Ring’s their most important, and while his absence hurts, it’s not like they’re unprepared for this eventuality. The braintrust in the Bronx deserves some dap.

New England’s more of a mystery, especially after their weird first two weeks – two red cards in a listless Week 1 loss, a makeshift central defense in a necessary Week 2 home win over the Rapids. What’s their real identity? Hard to say.

However, it seems clear that Brad Friedel is leaning toward Teal Bunbury as the starting center forward for the express purpose of getting behind opposing defenses. Bunbury had significant success against the league’s high-pressing teams last season, getting on the board against NYCFC, RBNY and SKC. The problem, though, might be getting him the ball. Nobody in central midfield is connecting particularly telling passes:

That’s the chalkboard for Scott Caldwell and Wilfried Zahibo against Colorado. Green arrows are completed passes, red incomplete and yellow are key passes (passes that lead to a shot). There’s a lot of moving the ball side-to-side, but not much moving it forward.

Maybe that’s something they figure out in Week 4.

FC Dallas vs. Portland

3:30pm ET | Full preview | UniMás – TV & streaming info

We saw big chunks of what looked like 2015/16-era FC Dallas last weekend vs. the Sounders. Remember the team that won the Supporters’ Shield/US Open Cup double? The one that became the first team in MLS history to post back-to-back 60-point seasons? The one who had the league’s most entertaining player ripping teams apart in central midfield with his magical passing ability?

Armchair Analyst: What is your decision-making process when you’re on the break? Let FC Dallas provide you some clarity pic.twitter.com/k3EybLN2CV

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 18, 2018

I love Mauro Diaz and don’t care who knows it. And I’m sure I’m only fractionally as happy to see him back and spraying passes like that one as Dallas fans are.

Still, I question the team around him – behind him, really. The defense posted a shutout last week but were gappy, and while using Carlos Gruezo a little bit higher has its merits (he was good against the Sounders), he’s still better as a No. 6. And more to the point: when he’s not playing as a No. 6, the backline is likelier to be exposed.

Obviously, the question is “Can the Portland Timbers pull themselves together enough to actually expose it?” They were kind of bad in Week 1 at LA and then famously bad in Week 2 against the Red Bulls’ back-ups. Gio Savarese seems to want his team to press high and win the ball back in dangerous spots, but so far, so bad. He might be wise to have his team sit deeper and more compact, mimicking what Caleb Porter did over the last four seasons, instead of asking them to be on the front foot.

Two big reasons for this. First, no (or limited) Diego Chara means no safety net. Second, neither Diego Valeri nor Fanendo Adi are particularly adept pressing players. Add in a so-slow-they’re-running-in-mud central defense, and those are compelling reasons to play a little bit more on the back foot.

Crew SC vs. D.C. United

6pm ET | Full preview | TV & streaming info

Federico Higuain had the kicker in our own Andrew King’s look at the Crew SC system from earlier this week:

“We’ve been playing this way for [four years] now,” Higuain said with a laugh. “I’m surprised the media is talking about it now.”

Columbus launch their fullbacks higher than any other team in MLS, and Higuain’s movement makes him the hardest-to-track No. 10 in MLS. When he drags defenses around, that opens up gaps in the channels for inverted, attacking wingers, which forces the opposing backline into a series of rapidfire decisions about who to step to and how hard. The overall effect is to constantly put the Columbus center forward into spots where he has only one CB to beat off the ball, and that leads to tap-ins.

Unless, of course, you cut the supply chain at its genesis:

#CrewSC had about 100 more passes against Philly than the other two matches this season. An issue was that these extra passes were between the 4 defenders as well as them not going through @wil_trapp. Gif of each game’s passing networks (h/t @AnalysisEvolved for raw data): pic.twitter.com/uDylnIA5fN

— Eliot (@etmckinley) March 21, 2018

With no Wil Trapp this weekend, it’ll be beyond interesting to see how Columbus adjust.

D.C. United have to be prepared to take advantage of that. I’ve been kind of lukewarm on their 4-1-4-1 so far – the formation doesn’t make a ton of sense if your center forward can’t hold the ball up – but this is a week in which it might actually be the best choice. Get two attacking midfielders forcing turnovers in that spot (or at the very least denying real distribution), and they may be able to force Columbus to scramble, or at the very least disrupt their rhythm.

There’s also a decent chance D.C.’s own distribution could force a dislocation between the Crew SC midfield and backline:

Chris Durkin’s been legit in limited minutes. He’s probably going to start, and this is going to be a huge weekend for him.

RBNY vs. Minnesota United FC

7pm ET | Full preview | TV & streaming info

The New York Red Bulls got Rimando’d in last weekend’s 1-0 loss at RSL, plain and simple. They were the better team for the vast majority of that game, but succumbed to the greatest goalkeeper in league history putting on a vintage performance.

Which is to say, there’s not much for them to worry about at this point. Even when digging deep down into the roster, they’ve been able to come out and play the same way: Frenetic, front-foot, high pressure soccer. They’ll be missing a cadre of internationals this weekend, but go ahead and bet everything you own that the Red Bulls will still look very much like the Red Bulls (the only question is whether they’ll do so out of a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-3-3-1).

There are bigger questions about Minnesota United FC, who are off to a surprising 2-1-0 start. The Loons’ central defense is gone, as is 2/3 of what was supposed to make up their starting central midfield. Add in an injury to right back Tyrone Mears … my on-the-face-of-it take is that they have nowhere near the depth to survive this weekend, so go right ahead and load up your MLS Fantasy team with Red Bulls.

Colorado Rapids vs. Sporting KC

9pm ET | Full preview | TV & streaming info

One thing we know about the Colorado Rapids at this point is that they’re playing out of a 5-3-2/3-5-2 for pretty much the full 90. They’ve generally lacked a bit of creativity through central midfield – which we can chalk up, at least in part, to the absence of Stefan Aigner. Their most reliable plan, through 270 competitive minutes, is to find Dominique Badji on the counter. And man do they love to hit long balls.

Here’s d-mid Jack Price’s distribution chart against the Revs in Colorado’s only regular season match to date:

Price has the green light to just launch it.

They play direct and over-the-top, and while it’s not exactly pretty, it’s been at least a little bit effective – remember the chances they spurned against TFC in the Concacaf Champions League? Or Niki Jackson’s goal vs. New England? Say what you want about the tenets of Route One, dude – at least it’s an ethos. There’s mileage to be gained by knowing who you are.

The same, of course, applies to Sporting KC. Their defense has been bad this year, which is and remains shocking, but they’re still a high-pressing team, and if you (attempt to) play long-balls over the press, it makes it more difficult to then set up any sort of press yourself. Those launches get gobbled up by any decent backline, and then it’s once more unto the breach.

So far in 2018, “unto the breach” has proved fruitful for SKC by way of their wingers. Johnny Russell has been particularly good at making direct, north-south runs, which has occupied opposing backlines enough to create gaps for Felipe Gutierrez, who’s got three goals in three games.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. LA Galaxy

10pm ET | Full preview | TSN – Full TV & streaming info

Hello, Zlatan. I wrote a bunch about how the LA Galaxy could work the legendary striker into their plans. I’m certain that won’t be germane this weekend, but in general: Boy, LA have a lot of injuries and absences; and boy, would this be a nice weekend for Sebastian Lletget to show he’s back to 100-percent fit.

Other than that, it’s hard to see how LA walk into this one. The Vancouver Whitecaps are short-handed themselves, but have enough depth to make up for injuries, suspensions and international absences. This really isn’t bad:

(4-1-4-1) Stefan Marinovic — Jakob Nerwinski, Jose Aja, Aaron Maund, Marcel de Jong — Russell Teibert — Alphonso Davies, Felipe, Efrain Juarez, Yordy Reyna — Kei Kamara</li> </ul>

The question I have is whether or not Vancouver will really try to carry play, as they did in Week 1 at home against the Impact. They’re still much more comfortable scrunched up in their own end then hitting on the counter, but diversifying that approach could be the tactical Plan B this group needs to go one step further than last year.

One more thing to ponder

Happy weekending, everyone.

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Armchair Analyst: Complete guide to the 6-game Week 4 slate was originally published on 365 Football