once_upon_fic | Member Posts

10trueloves - 5/10 written

~ 3SF - 15 fills in 14 fandoms, still checking daily for new prompts

Random Plot Bunnies in Progress

~ Ahsoka the Daughter whispering guidance through time in Anakin's head. Starting in ~~AotC~~ TPM. Includes: Okay no wonder some said I was just like you (her reaction to the reckless deal in TPM) / Hey Skykid, what's a guy with all the power thinking to make a point of having time for you? (Comics of the Padawan years) / Oh kriff he's so young (first meeting of Anakin and Rex) / I am SO shiny (Ahsoka arriving) - CURRENTLY AT 623 WORDS

~ Fulcrum and Rex time travel to before Anakin runs to Mace. - NEEDS CANON REVIEW

Potential Bunnies Pending Further Bouncing

~ Rachel and Joe meet with BOTH finally aware
~ Drizzt's fallout/Vierna's reactions in the Divining Destiny universe
~ The Broken/Wrong AniSoka from 3SF as a proper fic

Finished

~ Fulcrum accidentally pulls Anakin to Malachor in That Fight. - READY TO POST

senmut

AO3 Link | Overheard (400 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: genprompt_bingo
Summary:

As Hera settles in with Chopper, she hears words she needed.

See the AO3 Link for the fic this tags onto.

Scrappy Youngling: Overheard

Chopper had proven able to mostly work with Arseven, once they got back to the real ship that Fulcrum usually worked from. The sound of the two droids razzing each other became quite common, but Hera knew Chopper loved having another droid to talk to.

So did Arseven, who was one of those that had never been memory wiped.

Hera knew both of her new friends were veterans of the war, and it sometimes worried her because she'd seen the holonet. She knew what the soldiers had done… and if Fulcrum had been at Ryloth, that meant Fulcrum was one of the Jedi.

"He's safe," Fulcrum said, after Leverage had headed to the back of the ship to help the droids with maintenance.

"Did you read my mind?"

"No, your lekku language is not that far from mine." Fulcrum smiled. "Leverage saved me, when things happened. Now, we help others resist the Empire, and steal our men back as we can, because it wasn't their choice."

"How can someone do that without choosing it?" Hera asked.

"By using a chip to control them." Fulcrum stood to go lend a hand, and indicated the instrument display. "Keep an eye on the board, and call back if something changes badly.

"You need to get used to it all if you're going to be our pilot."

Hera's eyes went very large, as she realized Fulcrum meant those words. "I'm going to be the best pilot I can be!"

"I have faith in that, my young friend."

"You know she's Syndulla's biter," Leverage was saying, and Hera froze where she was, rather than get any closer.

"And? I didn't set out to recruit her; she made her own choices. He's never going to look off of Ryloth for his efforts. I don't have to worry about offending him."

Hera's heart hammered to hear Fulcrum say what she felt, and that the woman knew!

"Alright, 'Soka. You will do what you think is best. Still think she's young to make this kind of choice. It's not like when we were younger."

"No, it's worse. And we need strong-willed young minds willing to pick up the fight, keep it strong. I believe in her, and will teach her all I can."

Hera felt the belief and promise in those words. She very carefully took herself back to the cockpit, and vowed to never let Fulcrum down.

elf

No ICE in Minnesota bundle at itch.io: 1400+ games for $10 donation that goes to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

Notable items include:

Baba Is You (video game)
A Good Snowman Is Hard to Build (video game)
Calico (video game)
ECO MOFOS!! (TTRPG)
Bump in the Dark: Revised Edition (TTRPG)
Tangled Blessings (solo TTRPG)
Be Seeing You (GM-less TTRPG)
Rosewood Abby (Brindlewood style TTRPG)
Three Magic Eyeland collections (...nobody else may care about stereograms but I love them)

senmut

AO3 Link | Divining Destiny (7067 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Typical Violence, Fratricide, Murder, flashfic, Cross-Posted from Archive Of Our Own (AO3), Time Travel
Summary:

Thwarted in escaping with the two males she cares for at Graduation, Vierna sets her goals differently.

Only, Drizzt sets things in motion the wrong way.

Divining Destiny: Testing Them

The Dark Maiden was unsurprised by the newcomer being wary. She hated that She knew he did not draw blades solely because She was female. Winning his trust would be difficult, especially as She could not perceive his spirit, only his material self. Her Twin's words came back to Her, and She realized that She was going to need to involve someone of the greater pantheon.

"Peace, young one," she said softly. "I will provide you with teaching, words that can aid your future. In exchange, I ask only that you harm none while you remain in my realm. There is food to find; one of my servitors will show you.

"In time, you will go to people more like yourself, so that you may live free."

"I will hold you to that," the young man said, utterly fearless in his demeanor, spine straight and jaw firm. There was something so sincere in his bearing and words that Eilistraee felt a moment of wonder, for a male out of Her Mother's city that could be so forthright.

"Please do." She smiled, then gestured for a cath shee to come from the nearby trees. The faerie cat sized up the male, then looked at Her expectantly. "Young one, may I know your name? This is Szann, and he will be your guide to food and water, as well as places to rest as you explore when I am away."

"Szann," the male said, eyes locking on the cath shee… and Eilistraee felt the contact extend deeply, giving the male a better awareness of the mood and mindset of the faerie cat.

What was this?! She almost could not wait to visit the others, and have one come help Her puzzle out the oddities.

"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, secondboy of the Eighth House of Menzoberranzan… may I never see that place again. Though I wish my sister luck in her goals to change what she can." He paused, then tipped his head in Her direction a bit. "I have no name for you."

No name? She felt a moment of temper that Her Mother had erased her so firmly in that city. "Eilistraee."

She did not tack on any of her titles or honoraries, not wanting to overawe this drow male that had met Her so unprepared.

"Then, if I may have leave to explore with Szann?"

"You may indeed."

She had not wanted to go straight to Her Father. The young man was traumatized enough by being from that city, but when She had gone, Corellon had been the first one She saw.

"Mother is manipulating things again," She said with a heavy sigh when He asked Her why She had come.

Corellon frowned. "Explain."

"I have a young man — boy by elven standards — in My realm, brought to Me in a deal with My Twin. No, hold Your peace! The boy cannot be perceived on a spiritual level by My Brother or Myself. Yet he was able to make a wild connection with one of the cath shee. And … he is good. I cannot fully verify that, but his actions so far in My realm are those of one of My Dancers."

"Show him to Me, Daughter," Corellon invited, using a warmer tone than usual — which meant He was already plotting and scheming, She supposed. However, the boy could be observed without his awareness, She thought.

Observing Drizzt Do'Urden in a wild space proved harder than either deity would have thought possible. Eventually Eilistraee resorted to touching Szann's mind… and they found that the young man had absconded into the taller trees to explore, keeping the cath shee quite amused.

"I believe he is proving to be unusual in more ways than one," She said to Her Father.

"Curiosity is… not a trait I associate with Your people, for mere exploration."

"He could be looking for a more defensible situation, but Szann thinks he is just enjoying the freedom," Eilistraee said, before smiling at watching Drizzt leap across a gap and land so sure-footed on a branch in a new tree. "I think he is meant to be one of Mine."

"Then I will need to determine what hex Your Mother has placed," Corellon agreed, having been impressed at the landing. He had some elves less at home in the trees.

His focus, though, proved to be too much, as Drizzt peered all around and spotted the pair. The swiftness with which he shifted his position to a more defensible one made Eilistraee mutter a curse in the direction of Her Mother for all the lies, and she moved forward openly.

"Drizzt. Do not be afraid of the Elf with Me," she called. "He is here to determine what curse the Spider has laid upon you."

"He's not here to claim vengeance?" The young drow dropped to the ground, so he could face the accounting on his own two feet, it seemed to Her.

"Vengeance?" she asked.

"For the faerie I failed to save when I tried to protect the child."

"I promise He will do no such… but perhaps you can tell us all, so that we can find and aid the child?" Eilistraee entreated.

Drizzt hesitated, but he looked at Corellon, and the impossibly tall Faerie had actually conjured a chair to sit in, with two others awaiting them.

"If it can help the child… I will."

That Drizzt doubted the deal made went without saying. Corellon (who was apparently a Faerie god, and so was Eilistraee, except She was a drow…) had removed some form of evil magic from him, in exchange for making certain the faerie child both lived and healed from her trauma.

If — and this was the part Drizzt doubted so much — Corellon could show Drizzt the child was well and safe by the time Drizzt mastered the elven language, Drizzt would be required to perform one small task for Corellon.

Eilistraee had side-eyed Her father at the deal, but agreed to make certain Drizzt learned all he could while Corellon actually involved Himself in elven matters to find the child.

Corellon had not walked the Material Plane in a long while, but He was piqued by the drow's refusal to see Him — or His Daughter — as a being of honor. The sheer skepticism had been palpable, and for once Corellon was willing to rise to the bait. He could have just canvassed the others of His pantheon, to find the child swiftly, but instead He took His Sun Elf guise, a bit taller than most, and maybe a little too perfectly beautiful.

The imagery from the drow's mind — once Drizzt had consented to the looking as Eilistraee had made the point of giving the young man choice in all things — had depicted these woods. Where, exactly, was the question, but it had not even been a full change of seasons since the raid, apparently.

Tracking from dryad to dryad led Him to the ones that mourned, for not enough of the village had remained to stay in the tree homes above. Corellon let them show Him where nature was reclaiming the battle site, extending his will to sanctify the clearing, pushing away the brutally chaotic evil of the deeds done here. He made note of just where the village had been… and called upon a unicorn to take Him to the ally He wished for this task.

Eilistraee had duties to all of Her followers, but She carved time for Drizzt daily, by the way She counted Her days. Mostly, they had language lessons, but this time She'd come to find the young man overwhelmed by realizing he'd been safe for a full change of the moon's face in this endless night.

"Instead of words, would you prefer to dance with weapons, to work it out?" She offered, hand flicking to the pair of swords he carried, despite the peace of this realm.

"None of the ones who share my time carry blades," he said with a sigh.

She had to laugh softly, before She called Her Moonsword to Her hand. "I meant with Myself, Drizzt."

He eyed the sword, a longer blade than either of his, and then met Her eyes fearlessly.

"If I may have the joy of a spar, I think it would suit my body and mind more, yes," he told Her.

She found Herself hoping he never lost that even approach to dealing with gods, as Her sense of destiny said he would be near them often. She moved toward the center of the clearing, working Her way toward capping Her ability and speed to that which a mortal could contend with.

From the first pass to test one another, She almost wondered if that had been a mistake. Drizzt moved as if the swords were a true part of him, without malice, only love of the skill itself. Eilistraee found Herself eagerly matching to him, pleasure suffusing from Her to Her followers in the other planes, as Drizzt reminded Her of joy.

Elin watched the 'elf' warily, working on placing just what about the tall man was twigging his nerves. Merenth gave a snort, stamping a foot for Elin to pay more attention to the currying.

"Sorry, my friend," he told the stud, half-grinning for their long partnership letting Merenth know him so well. He focused again, but then Merenth made a noise, ears flicking as he sidled a bit, and Elin looked up to find the stranger right there, evidently seeking him.

It wasn't dragon presence that was setting the man apart on Elin's senses, but something else, something dangerous and somehow familiar.

"Peace, Aerasumé," the man said. "You may call me Laran."

Oh well that was the height of arrogance to match the full-blooded sun elf, to just use 'liege' as a name, Elin considered.

Wait… was that otherworldliness that he was feeling?

"And why do you speak to a rounded-ear?" Elin asked with all the diplomacy of a boar.

Yes, as he focused it felt something like when Mother was possessed by the silver-fire, but — older. More dangerous.

Which of the Seldarine was slumming on the Material Plane, and how bad was this about to get?

"You ride a pegasus, and might have heard whispers from other riders here, about a village that ceased to be. I wish to learn where the survivors went, as one of them was very young, and has… potential to solving a small matter."

Elin frowned. "Not fond of putting destiny on a child's shoulders."

"No, I just need to make certain she is well, has been succored from the pain of her losses, and that she will thrive." Laran shrugged a bit. "It matters to a fighter that has the skills I wish to use, and those are the conditions of our deal."

Right, Elin needed to manage this in such a way that he never, ever got tangled in a proper 'deal' with whichever Named One this was.

"I'll go talk to the ones I know, ask Merenth here to spread the word. Give me… ten days?"

Laran frowned, and Elin wondered just what the hell was happening among the Seldarine that ten days might be too much.

"Try for six," Laran said. "But if you are not back here by that, I will return again on the tenth day."

"Agreed," Elin said, wanting away from this Named One, up in the air, and far from whatever fighter had gotten embroiled in a god's plan.

The einheriar that had been Drizzt's teacher this day, a drow that had died selflessly to save others in Her service, fell in step with the Dark Maiden as She walked along a stream reflecting the moon and stars so clearly in its slow-moving surface.

"The mortal is meant for the wilds," Mesrah told Her, certain of it. "He has managed to learn the way every animal, every bird moves. He takes to the trees like a wild elf. He asks for names of the most subtle variations of plants, wishes to know what use they have as food or medicine.

"The cath shee are all enamored of him now, through Szann. And his Astral Companion only nods knowingly to us, as if she knew this all along."

Eilistraee considered that. What passed as rangers in the Underdark were mostly spider-warped, and as dangerous to the wilds there as the dark rangers above could be in mastering the lands to serve their base desires.

"I have moon elf worshippers who are rangers, but they call on My kin among the Seldarine, rather than Me, for those gifts." She smiled. "Of course, he may never come to see Me as worth bothering with outside of lessons and spars. So fiercely independent, and leaning toward the agnostic way of life."

Mesrah shook his head. "I do not know about that. His drive for all things good — we've had talks that have convinced me his soul is that of a protector — will bring him to take up Your goals, Lady."

"Perhaps. If I, and more, My Father, meet his standards," She said with a laugh.

It was the sixth day, but it was not Elin who met Laran in the village. Elin's elder brother, Andy, was waiting there for the sun elf.

"My brother found the child. She was in need of healing, of the mind and soul, so he took her to our elven mother."

Laran let an eyebrow rise at that bold, almost defiant proclamation, tasting the truth in the words, and sensing this Aerasumé was just as wary as the younger one had been.

"Then my business with your brother is complete," Laran said formally, relinquishing the deal struck here as finished. Andy didn't truly relax, but his shoulders came down somewhat. Laran nodded once, and walked back out into the woods, aware Andy was watching.

Laran smiled to Himself, before disappearing in the next true sunbeam that was lancing between trees. He could check with Sehanine, see what prayers had been answered, and gather the proof He needed for the young drow. All the while, He remained amused that the Aerasumé band were as they were, but then… Corellon's chosen people had forged a crucible around those born between the races.

Drizzt felt a prickle of different magic and pulled away from trying to catch a fish, turning in time to see the faerie god appearing, the endless night giving way to an embodiment of the sun, before Corellon reined His presence in.

"Have you mastered the language?" Corellon asked without preamble, in His chosen people's words.

"Can make needs known. Not best yet," Drizzt said, jaw tipped up as he waded out of the stream to put his boots back on.

"I have found the child. She is being aided as we speak, in the care of a priestess with strong healing. And she has acquired a protective half-human who wishes to see her grow strong."

"Half-human?"

"Half-elf," Corellon clarified. "Now, by the deal made, you owe Me a single favor." He gestured and the tools the drow would need shimmered into view. A proper mithral shirt, a pair of surface-forged scimitars, a pack, and a protective cloak were in the pile of gear, with clothing of surface elven styles and new boots in the pack, alongside food. Potions, elixirs, and an aid kit also were inside the pack, just in case. "Your belongings have survived in this place, but you must now give them up, and take those of the surface.

"As I would as no one, even a drow, to face battle without the proper tools."

"While battle is often a small thing for me," Drizzt said, not arrogantly but certain of his skill, "how can I trust the battle is a just one?"

Corellon threw His head back and laughed. "You cannot, can you? I know you would have been learning of surface species, and know that orcs tend to follow ways not so dissimilar to the drow below. Yet, how can you trust what you have been told, when your entire life's education was founded in lies as well?"

Drizzt considered those words, appraising Corellon with all of his being, and moved towards the gear, inspecting it.

"Tell me of the battle you mean, and let me have a fuller picture," he invited, as the feel of those sword hilts tingled with magic, much as the cloak and armor shirt did. "And, with this gear, am I further making myself indebted to You or Her?"

"My Daughter feels that you will be a force of protection within the realms," Corellon said, actually bringing His tone to a less bombastic note. "I am curious to see what shape that takes, Drizzt Daermon N'a'shezbaernon." At the use of the ancient name for his House, Drizzt's attention jerked back to Corellon, away from the tantalizing blades and armor. "Save My Lorekeeper from the band of orcs that mean to ambush him, and I make no further claim on you.

"What comes to lie between you and My Daughter is none of My business."

Drizzt considered, curious, but his hands itched to raise the weapons in a just cause. "What is a Lorekeeper? The words imply someone who holds knowledge."

"That he does. And teaches it to those who wish to learn. As well as holding alliances among various elven peoples, leading in time of war, and generally being My voice among the people without being a cleric.

"This one in particular has led capably for centuries, still seeks new knowledge, and is a stabilizing force. If that curse which was upon you is the first blow in a new war of our people, I wish him to remain in the lands of the living, to be available to rally the elves swiftly."

"You are certain the orcs will attempt to ambush him?"

"It's as if the deed is already done," Corellon said sincerely.

"Then… I will change, and bundle this gear for Eilistraee to send to one of Her enclaves she speaks of."

"A good plan."

Agreeing to a battle, even knowing the enemy were going to be laying an ambush, had not prepared Drizzt for the sheer level of what it would take. He'd been placed on the surface, among trees, at night, but there was no moon in the sky with its reassuring pale glow. On the one hand, he thought Guen could probably find these supposed orcs; she was a better tracker than he was. On the other, though, if that took too long, he would not have her for the fight itself.

If it was to be an ambush, maybe he could find the elf in question first?

That thought was discarded swiftly. Faerie hated drow, feared them, much as drow hated and feared the faerie. He almost wished he had invited Szann to come hunt with him, but if anything happened to the faerie cat, Drizzt would be beside himself.

Thinking of Szann, however, was the tip to thinking his way through this. He settled in place in one of the trees, and turned his hearing outward. Mesrah had said that Drizzt's ability to learn from the animals in their posturing was a unique gift, and also said that in the wilds, listening to the noise around him — or the silence — could well help him protect others.

Was that section of the woods quieter than the rest?

Possibly.

For lack of any better clues, Drizzt began running the limbs of the trees, jumping form one to the next, until he reached the place where the trees were not rustling with the predator and prey of the night. He knew the moment he crossed some magical line before his ears told him that no sound was audible at all. He shimmied down cautiously, finding an orc encampment, and set to studying them from his concealment.

The warriors were fierce, shoving each other with irritable tempers over the smallest things. He took in the differences in garb and weapons, saw the signs of the direction they had come from… and which two were probably the most important. They were set apart, and of course not close together, but if that was how they marched, then he could take one, while Guen went for the other.

Now… sighting along the trail and turning the opposite way, Drizzt went back to exploring, trying to find out where the Lorekeeper was.

Thirteen elves in relatively light armor and carrying weapons of the hunt versus a full orc warband.

No wonder Corellon had been certain of the intent. Drizzt felt the skin itch he associated with his own people when he was near the orcs, but nothing like that near the elven hunters. Knowing where both parties were, how fast they were moving, meant he could plan for where the two groups would most likely encounter one another.

He had no intention of letting the orc band get to the pinch point that would let them pick off the elves from favorable ground. While he might only be a fighter, he was smart, and he knew that the biggest advantage the orcs had was their magical silence.

He would have to break that for the elves to survive, and then be certain not to be seen in the chaos after, at least not by the elves. After all, they were faerie, and he was a drow by birth, if not by nature. Or, at least, not like the majority he'd known so far.

The woods were full of materials to use, to rig simple traps ahead of the orc band, designed to slow them… and make the magic around them shatter. Drizzt was grinning as he readied for this, pleased to be able to use his mind as much as he would need his skills after with the fighting.

Andy scratched his head, even as he took stock of the rest of their Hunt. Father seemed to have that well in hand, so he gestured, and his three brothers joined him in the investigation of the orc dead. Not an elf among them was without a minor injury, but… they had not accounted for the bulk of the fallen orcs.

"Very sharp blades," Elin said, pointing out the mortal wounds on a pair of orcs that had fallen against one another.

"Claw and bite wounds, something of a dire size," Ghael called from one he was inspecting.

"I think the shaman may have been first killed by your dire," Dol said, well back in the bodies now, pointing. He shaded his eyes, and then trotted forward a little. "Blades to the chieftain, though, multiple cuts before the one that killed him — an evisceration."

"I told you I saw a cloaked figure leaving the battle," Elin said firmly. "But not a dire."

"Druid and ranger pair?" Andy surmised. "Doesn't answer how this band got so deep into the High Forest."

"No, that's the magic reeking on the shaman and the chieftain alike," Dol said, jogging back to his brother. "Much as I hate to do it, we need Dove and maybe Aunt Syluné to come investigate before we bury everything."

"Agreed. Go ahead and fill them in, while I go see what Dad means to do," Andy said, but he scanned the tree-line, hoping to catch a glimpse of their saviors. If they had already been in the defile along the brook… Andy shuddered, putting it far from his mind. Dad was fine, so were his brothers, and the other elders.

Eilistraee glared at Her Father, while Mesrah was using the moment to teach Drizzt about more self-aid.

"You used a time spell on him, you put him against ridiculously dangerous odds, all for what?"

"Any fighter who can give You pleasure by sparring at such a young age was up to the task of disrupting them," Corellon soothed. "I knew that. I also banked on him doing exactly as he did, acting in a way that warned My Lorekeeper.

"Now, if Your Mother is planning a new foray against Us, We will have a capable leader. As none of the sons can rally so many as he can. And Your new ranger came through with but minor injuries… I suppose I should have told him to drink the potions…"

Despite Herself and Her anger, Eilistraee had to laugh at that. "He comes from a place where salves are more common, and they have always caused him pain. Yes, You should have explained those."

"Keep him here while Time sorts itself off, Daughter. I do admit, I find Myself curious what else he will do once You set him loose upon the Material Realm."

Eilistraee looked over to see Szann being petted, Drizzt listening raptly to Mesrah. "As do I."

flo_nelja

Make a Top Ten list for your favourite series and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - tv series, book series, radio plays, movie sequels, something else not mentioned here. Your series can be as short as two vaguely linked pieces of media and as long as... well, the sky is your limit. Whatever you like!

Alright! I wondered a bit if I should restrict by genre or by theme, and then remembered that on another website I'm celebrating femslash february, so
Top 10 of serial media where I ship the main(-ish) canon(-ish) f/f romance :D

( Details under the cut )

senmut

AO3 Link | Long Distance Force Calls (842 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Darth Vader & Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano
Additional Tags: Telepathy, Force Bond
Summary:

They never severed the bond...

Long Distance Force Calls

The first time her meditations took her deep enough that the lock slipped from the training bond, Ahsoka almost metaphorically ran away and slammed the gate shut. She was still on the run, still trying to figure out where she could belong that would make a difference, and there was this swirling storm of rage and pain.

Before she could, he took notice of her, and for a moment, she felt him push the anger away to hold on to her as something of his own.

~You left me.~ The accusation burned blue-white in her mind, as the anger rose higher than the possessive love.

~I would be dead if I hadn't and you know it,~ she shot back, but there was a piece of her that did feel the guilt of the galaxy burning down because of her choice.

~I could have protected you!~

~Really, Skyguy?~ She deliberately let him see as she stood looking over the markers made for the 332nd.

It was him that closed her out … after she tasted his own sense of failure to those that had trusted them both.

She had not been meditating that deeply when she knew that he was touching her mind. The whirls of anger were almost steadying, given how enraged she'd been by the Alliance ignoring her advice. They would not do so again — but too many had paid the price.

She locked that, all of her other activities, deep inside, protecting them behind shields he could not penetrate. That the anger was tied so deeply to pain, unending pain, was a moment's curiosity before she acknowledged him in her mind.

~Snooping on me, Skyguy?~

~Your irreverence only grows,~ and the voice was far more resonant, deeper, carrying a darker flare than ever, but she thought there was something desperate in how it sounded.

~Did they all die?~

She hissed in a breath, needing to protect those few men she knew to be free of the Empire, the ones safe from the nightmare… and grieving for all those she had not been able to save.

~If, Apprentice, you should find others, they still age.~

Her hesitation to tell him made those words come across as cold as space, and yet, even as he left her alone in her mind, she noted he had told her the important part. Somewhere, deep inside the man that had become her worst nightmare, he still cared about the men. And she would see what she could do to fix it, another testament of who they had been, when they had been together, protecting the men.

She was injured, almost to the point of needing trance to hold it at bay until her operatives made the pick up.

She didn't want to risk being that vulnerable, even as she reached for the fury-laced-with-pain that smoldered in the corner of her psyche.

~You are hurt.~

The surprise, followed by almost overwhelming anger directed at whatever had harmed her was almost touching, but Ahsoka had to keep that away from her heart. She brought her irreverence to her own defense.

~You are always in pain, Skyguy. Surprised your handler didn't get that fixed.~

That was better, a sharp spike in the anger, the deeper presence of darkness — it helped her maintain the illusion that they could never be anything but enemies now, even as neither of them severed their bond.

~There was not much of me to heal,~ being the next honest thought set Ahsoka back on her proverbial heels.

~Ultimate power, with access to a master cloning world, and he couldn't get you body parts cloned? Organs? Whatever it is that you need to not be… like this? Skyguy, your contract with this guy is worse than mucking eopi stalls.~

She didn't expect him to hold onto the link after that.

~Perhaps. But there is no alternative.~

Those words, contemplative, almost calm, sent a chill down Ahsoka's spine, but before she could think her way to a witty comeback, he locked her out again.

~There have been a number of times I thought you were a figment of my imagination.~

That calm entry into her mind, backdropped against the abyss of ever-present pain, set Ahsoka on edge. They'd been entirely too close in physical space this day.

~I wish I had words to convince you that we could make a better reality than what we have.~

She kept it to a surface emotion of wishfulness, holding back every other emotion that had surged in her soul during the near encounter.

~Wishes have never been a good plan of attack, Apprentice.~

She closed her eyes, gave him her regrets for the past, and locked him out of her mind, shoring up her shields against the man she missed, that still existed in a monster that had destroyed everything resembling peace.

Here they were, face to face…

…and even all the moments of the years apart that had led to words and emotions shared, they both knew.

Today, what they had been would either be destroyed forever —

— or reforged.

dolorosa_12

I spoke with sister #1 on Friday morning, and for various reasons the conversation left me with lingering miserable feelings for most of the weekend, and a real lack of motivation to do much. Nevertheless, I persisted and tried to do happy things in spite of myself.

Yesterday, Matthias and I caught the train and then the bus out to St Ives for another beer festival held in a church. The weather outside was miserable, but the atmosphere indoors was bubbly and cheerful. People brought their small children, and dogs of various sizes, and sat around chatting in the pews. We bumped unexpectedly into R and K, two former students from our niche subject department in Cambridge (the pair started their undergrad degrees the same year I started my MPhil, and I attended all the undergrad medieval Welsh classes at the same time as R) and their toddler son. They live in Windsor now, and I don't think I'd seen them since before the pandemic, so it was somewhat surprising to see them at a random beer festival in St Ives! The world is at once big, and small.

Matthias and I finished up our St Ives excursion with a drink in a tiny cocktail bar (the whole space only has about twelve seats in it), then a very hasty dinner in a restaurant in order to catch our bus back and make it home at a reasonable time. I do enjoy these days out to nearby towns and villages, and should remember to do things like this more often.

Today — because I was trying to be kind to myself and my bad mood — I cancelled my 8am swim and had what passes for me as a lie-in (i.e. I still woke up without an alarm at 7am but lay around in bed until 8am instead of immediately getting up), before going on a walk with Matthias. Without a car, there aren't many options in terms of walking (there are about four routes we can take), so it was the same loop walk we did on New Year's Day, which goes along the river, then through leafy suburban streets, before ending up in the market square, taking just over an hour. We drank hot drinks from the coffee rig, and sat in the crisp wintry sunshine, watching the world go by.

Other than that, it's been a day for pottering about at home with the Winter Olympics on in the background. I haven't really been able to focus on reading (although I did finish a reread of Vanessa Fogg's beautiful little fairytale of a novella, 'The Lilies of Dawn,' while eating lunch, and I enjoyed Rebecca Ferrier's The Salt Bind — nineteenth-century smugglers, miners and Cornish folklore, with the sea an ambivalent and constant presence — earlier in the week), and in general I just feel a bit scattered and unfocused. But I've got hibiscus tea, later I'll light the wood-burning stove, and yesterday was the first evening of the year in which the sun set at 5pm, and that's enough light and softness on which to build.

dolorosa_12

I mostly finished five TV shows in this past month, but left it until today to write everything up as the final episode of one show only aired on Friday. As is common with my TV viewing, it was a mixed bag of genres. The shows were:

The Lowdown, a tale of local political corruption starring Ethan Hawke as a local journalist and secondhand bookshop owner attempting, ineptly, to uncover the truth behind the suspicious death of one of the members of a wealthy, prominent family. It's run by the same showrunner behind my beloved Reservation Dogs, and written with the same blend of offbeat surrealism, slightly sentimental affection, and incisively sharp focus on the poverty, deprivation and racism festering in declining American cities and towns.

Season 2 of A Thousand Blows, Stephen Knight's take on the nineteenth-century East End. As with the previous season, it's a wild, lurid tale of audacious heists, rival criminal gangs battling for dominance, boxing matches offering opportunities for the show's impoverished characters to claw their way into financial security, and larger-than-life people with larger-than-life emotions, told with a comic book sensibility. As a standalone series, I would have enjoyed this, but as something following on from Season 1, I found it a bit lacking. It was as if all the previous season's character development was reset, and there was never any sense of real risk: characters felt protected by plot armour from suffering any consequences.

I Love LA, a comedy miniseries about a group of self-absorbed Gen Zers trying to make it in the entertainment industry (social media influencer, manager of said influencer, costume designer to pop stars, nepo baby daughter of successful actor), which was almost painful in its humour. It's brilliantly acted and written, but excruciating if you find secondhand embarrassment at the obliviousness of characters always on the brink of disaster hard to watch.

Season 2 of The Night Manager, which picks up close to a decade after the previous season (an updating of a Le Carré novel for the Arab Spring era) finished. This new tale of twenty-first-century spycraft deals with corruption, international arms dealing, and external attempts to meddle politically in Colombia, and is well written and well acted with its stellar cast, even if some elements strained credulity. It's a wild ride from start to finish — tense and engrossing, with some incredible and audacious twists. Bring on Season 3!

Spartacus: House of Ashur, a spinoff from the cult favourite Starz series about the revolt and subsequent crushing of enslaved gladiators in ancient Rome. I have to say I thought the concept was a bit far-fetched and ridiculous (a canon-divergence AU in which a secondary character — who died towards the end of Spartacus — gets offered a second lease of life in the afterlife, and lives again as a freedman, the client of Marcus Crassus, and the owner of the house of gladiators in which he, and Spartacus were previously enslaved), and I'm still not sure why the show exists, but I can't deny it was entertaining. It has the same wall-to-wall gratuitous violence (slow-motion, comic-book style punches and blows by sword and spear, rivers of blood spraying around the screen), nudity (equal opportunity) and sexposition, the same bizarre dialogue choices (all the characters speak without the use of definite and indefinite articles, and absent possessive pronouns, as if translating directly from Latin — I honestly wonder how the actors are able to speak such contorted lines without difficulty), and, underneath all the sex and violence, a serious story about the limits of respectability politics. (In other words, a marginalised person can expend all his energy adopting the trappings and values of those privileged in his society, swallow every insult, and do everything in his power to cater to their whims and give them what they want, and it will still never be enough for him to gain material comfort, safety, or their acceptance of him as their equal.) I assume it goes without saying that if you're looking for historical accuracy, or even a sense of internal narrative coherence, this is not a show I'd recommend: it's 90 per cent vibes, and you just have to go with that. In the show's final five minutes, it makes a narrative choice so wild and so left field that I was almost astonished by the audacity, making it clear that — if it does return for a new season — it will be operating not just in canon divergence, but in full blown alternate history.

I feel as if the common thread tying together all these shows is character who think they are very clever constantly worsening their own situations due to their inability to think more than one step ahead, and making poor, reactive decisions instead of pausing and trying to think more strategically beyond their immediate circumstances.

senmut

AO3 Link | Hunting Gone Wrong (1144 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Suicide/Suicidal Ideation
Characters: CC-1119 | Appo, Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Suicidal Thoughts, Child Murder
Summary:

Appo is on a death world, hunting, but maybe he was the prey... and the wrong one at that.

Hunting Gone Wrong

They were being hunted, picked off one by one on this death world. Appo wasn't certain what he'd done to anger his Lord, but being sent to hunt a Force User had seemed easy enough on the data pad.

The reality was proving brutally different, and he was down to just two members of the original six that had followed him here to capture the rogue Force User for Lord Vader. Nor could he just comm for back up; the Exactor was pursuing the rag tag Rebels that had been in the system when they dropped.

Appo pulled up a map of the world, narrowing in on the fissure-laden landscape of this island. The Force User had taken out the other drop ship while they were in atmo before ditching from the ship and letting it crash. A small part of him decided it was rather fitting that they were all marooned, and Appo's chances of a pick up were a lot better than the Force User's.

TK-1138 let the world kill him, spooking at a noise and falling into one of the hissing fissures. Appo looked at the last surviving man of his squadron and ground his teeth inside his helmet. They might only be fleshborn, but he'd spent time fine-tuning the training that CC-2224 sent them out with.

They had to be the best to be 501st, after all. That had never stopped being true, from the before-times to now.

"Stay here, get the communication unit pieced together. Fleet should be back any time now."

"Yes sir."

Was the trooper relieved? Hoping Appo was the next victim? It didn't matter. Appo had to catch this karking —

The pain in his head came back, as that slip into his first language usually sparked it.

It was bad enough he held tight to his name.

He'd forgotten what it was like to hunt by himself. Even in his plastoid, it was easier to move and hide and track than when he was half-focused on keeping a squad alive.

He thought he was closing in on the Force User. He was fairly certain they were even injured. All he had to do was clear this climb, and he'd be close enough to be sure. Just a little more to climb —

— and a noise drew his eyes up, to see a face with white marks on bronze skin, blue and white marks on the horns and headtails alike, but eyes like his own staring holes into his soul.

The Jedi were traitors, manipulating the whole war, killing his brothers to cling to their power. The Chancellor said so, and he was their Supreme Commander. The General believed it. Appo followed orders, led the men up the stairs, and they started quartering the Temple, clearing out the traitors of all shapes and sizes.

It didn't matter that this one looked like the Commander. She'd been a traitor too. He brought his blaster up for a clean shot, waiting until she deflected two others to take his own.

He ignored the voice screaming in the back of his head that she had been just a kid.

Appo blinked at the bright light all around him, his concealing helmet (bucket, a piece of him remembered) gone, and him trussed him up as firmly as he'd meant to do to her once he caught the Force User.

She was tossing an EMP grenade in a hand, pacing in front of him.

Just as suddenly as she'd overcome him on the climb, she was there, kneeling in front of him.

"It would be more merciful to kill you," she said. "To you and to my father."

Clone dark eyes staring out of a face like hers.

"I don't feel like being merciful today." She clicked the detonator, and Appo's world disappeared for the second time in less than an hour, this time consumed by searing pain in his skull, the kind that came when he remembered the before times.

Vader's Fist.

Torrent Company.

Memories, like those of two different men, warred within him.

Torrent won.

He found himself retching up the nutripaste he'd been rationing himself since landfall. She at least tilted him with the Force so he didn't get it on himself.

Appo looked at her again, recognizing the hard jawline and set of the eyes as The Captain's trademark resolve. The lines of her marks might scream of the Commander, but he didn't think this one was going to try and make it all better like Commander Vod'ika had tried time and again, after the bad campaigns.

"So, when I take your binders off, I'm not going to stop you if you choose the easy way out," she said in a hard voice. "Didn't even know that kriffing monster still had any of you. Was supposed to be him I was facing down here."

"You… tried… to bait VADER?!" he asked, but of course a child of those two would be that brazen.

She didn't answer, just staring at him with unblinking anger at him for not being the right prey.

The easy way — he knew just what she meant, and as her features blurred with the earlier, rounder face of that child in the Temple, he thought he just might.

"You said your father," he managed to get out instead. "The Captain lives?"

"Somewhere out there. It's not like he and I could work together once I was old enough to go out on my own."

The binders fell away from him, and his gear was right there. A tiny piece of him suggested he go for his blaster, not to take the easy road, but to try and take her down, like he'd been told to.

Just like he'd been told to murder children. And atrocities that made that pale in comparison, ever since the day he followed his General into haran.

"What's the hard way?" he asked, and that got a blink, then a flex of the too-small lekku.

"I take you to a rehab specialist, away from the fighting, and you figure out if you can make peace with the man that chip made of you."

"Will he come there? Or her — kriff." The face and lekku had gone hard all over again on the pronoun. "She's gone?"

"It's why I joined up. He lived, when she didn't come back to us. And I'm not going to stop until he goes down."

"Small part of getting off this rock?"

"Got that covered." She turned to start walking down the easy side of the rise.

A few minutes later, he was following, with just the weapons and rations, hard as it was to leave the armor's protection behind.

She didn't say a word, and he kept following. Maybe, in her, in what she offered as the hard way, he'd find a way to his honor again.

senmut

sweettartheart thank you for the lovely card.

elf

From this thread at Bluesky - When people ask how to get into GA SF I always say that the right way is via some of those fat "Best Of" short fiction collections.

Long discussion, many comments, mostly agreeing that yep, the way to get people into SF is anthologies, not novels, especially "best of" anthologies rather than whatever theme-of-the-day was popular. Also many people agreeing that many of "the classics" do not hold up today, and "Heinlein juveniles + the Foundation trilogy" is not a good suggestion for a young teen who might be interested in scifi now.

So... if you were building an anthology of The Great Science Fiction, with a focus specifically on non-SF readers who might be interested, what would you put in it?

( Some limitations may be in order )

flo_nelja

A new challenge for February! ow pressure, one top 10 every week.
For the first week

Make a Top Ten list for your favourite standalone media and tell people exactly why you love it. This can be in any format - movies, one shot dramas, novels, short stories, plays, something else not mentioned here. Whatever you like!

( Top 10 of short stories that stayed with me )

Absolutely none of these stories are realistic, they all have some kind of supernatural or sci-fi element, which wasn't part of the selection, it's just how my tastes work :D

dhampyresa

Has anyone played Slay the Princess? There appear to be two versions on Steam, which one should I get? Do you need any sort of reflexes or coordination at any point?

flo_nelja

Titre : Violence secrète
Auteur : Nelja
Fandom : Avatar the Last Airbender
Persos/Couples : Azula(/Ty Lee)
Genre : Dark, character study
Résumé : Azula ne veut pas qu'on sache qu'elle n'est pas invulnérable (probablement)
Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer : Rien ne m'appartient !
Nombre de mots : ~900
Avertissements : Une blessure modérément décrite, des relations malsaines, vague mention de torture.
Notes : Ecrit pour ladiesbingo sur le thème "Mind Games" et pour Horrible-bingo sur le thème "Cacher une blessure" et sur une liste femslash february sur le thème "La douleur est insoutenable"

( Lien vers AO3 )

senmut

AO3 Link | Washed Up on the Beach (100 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Comics (General)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Anna Marie
Additional Tags: Drabble, Crossover, +Modern Age (1986-Present)
Summary:

Two mutant ladies... and dinos?

"Sugah, did you have a moment?" Rogue asked, looking ahead at the pack of grazing dinosaurs. Wanda shook her head to try and clear it, and decided that was definitely a valid question from her friend.

"I don't think I did?"

"It's not the Savage Land," Rogue said, after testing all her senses against this island they'd crashed on.

"So some mad scientist bought an island for cloning? Those don't look like the newer pictures of what dinosaurs are supposed to look like, after all."

"Well, before we find their hunting kind, let's get the comms back."

"Good plan, Rogue."

flo_nelja

Fics are unanoned!
I wrote a ship I love, but that I rarely write. First time in English even!

Title : In the Haze I See your Shape
Author : Nelja
Fandom : The Picture of Dorian Gray
Characters/Ships : Basil/Dorian
Genre : Dark smut
Summary : Dorian has invited Basil, and only him. He wanted him drunk, he wanted him apologetic, and maybe he wanted more.
Rating : NC-17
Disclaimer : Everything was created by Oscar Wilde
Word Count : ~1800
Warnings :

( Link to AO3 )

And I got two gifts fot the same fandom, same ship, I'm not complaining at all. :D Both noncon for necromancy reasons.

Weather the storm (you made it) by Farasha (Mo dao zu shi, Wei Wuxian/Wen Ning, Explicit)
Wei Wuxian calls Wen Ning to him to try and find out what's been happening to his friend all these years. What he finds is that someone has been using his friend in terrible ways.
Wei Wuxian reached out to touch the manacle around one of Wen Ning's wrists. Wen Ning moved faster than his eye could follow, his hand snapping out and clamping around Wei Wuxian's wrist instead.
"Wen Ning," Wei Wuxian said, a nervous little laugh in his voice. "Let me go."
Wen Ning didn't move. He stared at Wei Wuxian with nothing behind his eyes.

Nightmare by WolffyLuna (Mo dao zu shi, Wei Wuxian/Wen Ning, Explicit)
Wei Wuxian has a nightmare, that unfortunately makes Wen Ning see him as an enemy.

desertvixen

2025 was a productive year!

Total words: 173,566
Total works: 85

Exchanges: 28
Pinch Hits: 20
Bangs: 3

Fandoms: 47 fandoms
New to Me Fandoms: 18
First Work Fandoms: 5

I finished a story that I started working on in 2008 (Thank you WIP Big Bang).

My goal for 2026 is 126K.

desertvixen

Giving it another try, completed 3x in 2025!

Single pairing/character in request	Creator's Choice of Fandom pinch hit	Romance fandom	Large fandom [over 20000 works on Ao3]	Event hosted on Discord
Unusual format pinch hit	Cartoon fandom	Crossover pinch hit	Shipping-themed event	YA/children's fandom
Standalone fandom	Male character[s] requested	FREE SPACE	Fandom with no works on AO3	Original Work pinch hit
Vintage fandom [pre-1990 CE]	Nonhuman character[s] requested	Event with delayed reveals	Flash exchange	Max pairings/characters in request
TV fandom	Minimum of 5k or more	Medieval fandom [pre-1600 CE]	Minimum of 300 words	Established event [3+ times run]

desertvixen

My general preferences are here.

MAYBE: no-harm dubcon (sex pollen or “fertility artifact”) | period typical attitudes | infidelity | power dynamic

I love treats!

Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold

Ferda dy Gura & Foix dy Gura/Annaliss dy Tenneret (Chalion Saga)

Annaliss dy Tenneret & Ista dy Chalion (Chalion)

Foix dy Gura/Annaliss dy Teneret (Chalion Saga)

Oswyl & Thala (Chalion Saga)

I am very invested in this crew solving problems AND very invested in two someones having a Big Damn Kiss.

For Oswyl and Thala, certainly feel free to include their favorite shamans...

More in letter!

Basically what it says. Are Liss and Foix about Ista’s work or maybe trying to relax? Oswyl and Thala would be good for a more traditional case.

Foix/Annaliss – Shameless romance after a mission (and the usual amount of danger)? Riding (maybe a real race this time)? These two need a big damn kiss (rescues will NOT be in short supply in their positions, I think). How does Ferda respond, since he very definitely was eyeing Liss? I love the whole dynamic where Foix is like yes, I will let my brother step on it so I can make a move.

But Big Damn Kiss, thank you!

Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew & Elizabeth Rawley (ND - Keene)

Nancy Drew/John McBride (ND - Keene)

Nancy Drew & Helen Corning (ND - Keene)

Fandom DNW: Nancy/Ned

Okay, so as someone who really loved ND #4 and ND #5, revisiting some aspects would be good. Nancy and John solve another mystery together?

Nancy visits Shadow Ranch again?

Nancy and Helen solve some more mysteries?

More in letter!

These are probably my favorite Nancy Drews. Let’s go back to yellow spine days, or move them forward into a more modern setting. Nancy/John is just a rare pair itch I have. I also love Nancy and Helen solving mysteries together.

Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries - Franklin W. Dixon & Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew/Frank Hardy & Joe Hardy (ND HB SM)

Nancy Drew & Fenton Hardy (ND HB SM)

Nancy Drew/Frank Hardy (ND HB SM)

I love the SuperMysteries! Feel free to spin up a canon-typical plot, AU one of the existing ones, etc.

Nancy & Fenton: I would love to see these two solve something together (bonus points if the boys need a rescue).

Nancy/Frank: I ship it, so hard.

Nancy/Frank & Joe: He is fun to bring along.

More in letter!

My faves are Exhibition of Evil, The Last Resort, Dangerous Games, Royal Revenge and A Question of Guilt.

Frank goes missing and Nancy has to help Fenton find him? With a Big Damn Kiss at the end? Nancy and Joe have to work together for the same. I am here for it.

I didn’t nominate the 70s show, but one of the things I love about it is how Fenton respects Nancy. Let’s bring that energy.

Maybe a Panaslavan adventure? (If you read Royal Revenge, I would not be against bringing Cass Carroll in)

G.I. Joe (Cartoon)

Cover Girl/Wayne "Beach Head" Sneeden (GI Joe Cartoon)

Blaine "Mainframe" L. Parker/Zarana (GI Joe Cartoon)

So maybe more of a mission than a case here...

CG/Beach have to solve a problem before they kill each other (or find other ways to work it out)...

Zarana/Mainframe - Rescue time!

More in letter!

I also think the Baroness and Zarana could be interesting together in the Mainframe/Zarana storyline. Is the Baroness tired of dealing with people who get paid by the hour?

Beach/CG are just one entry in my list of "gruff/sarcastic guy gets the girl" couples, and I love them driving each other nuts.

Mainframe/Zarana, I am completely here for a rescue type story.

Feel free to use both couples together!

I also love love love Mainframe/Zarana – but how much more fun would it be if she really was working for GI Joe? I’m seeing a rescue story here as a possibility. Feel free to play around with him not being amused about the whole double agent thing. If you take that route, I am fine with Zandar being not a bad guy (unlike their other brother).

I am good with leaving set solidly within the 80s (as the cartoon does) or moving it to some amorphous “present day”. I do have military experience but do not require strict adherence to reality (sadly I was misled as to how many ninjas I would get to work with…)

Aside from the nominated characters, I am a fan of Deep Six, Torpedo, Dusty, Doc, Roadblock, Duke, Scarlet, Lady Jaye (not a huge Flint fan), Gung Ho and General Hawk.

Jem and the Holograms (Cartoon)

Jem | Jerrica Benton & Giselle "Danse" Dvorak (Jem Cartoon)

Nadia Dvorak & Giselle "Danse" Dvorak (Jem Cartoon)

Jem | Jerrica Benton/Rio Pacheco (Jem Cartoon)

So canonically Danse's mother Nadia is a missing person. Feel free to solve that mystery!

Or Jerrica/Rio have to solve a mystery that is not related to her alter ego?

More in letter!

Forty Years of JEM, one of my first fandom loves!

So I'd love an AU story about these mother/daughter pairs. Nadia is found? Nadia was never really lost? Danse and Nadia are reunited thanks to Robert Stack?

Or Jerrica/Rio have a low-stakes mystery that is not about her big secret?

Crossover Fandom

Claudia Kishi (Baby-Sitters Club - Martin) & Nancy Drew (ND HB Supermysteries)

Claudia Kishi (Baby-Sitters Club - Martin) & Nancy Drew (ND - Keene)

Jem| Jerrica Benton (Jem Cartoon) & Nancy Drew (ND HB SM)

Joe Hardy (Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries)/Kimber Benton (Jem and the Holograms Cartoon)

Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene)/Frank Hardy (Hardy Boys - FW Dixon)

I love crossovers.

Claudia & Nancy - Claudia is a fan, but maybe she finds herself in a ND book?

Jerrica Benton hires Nancy (Hardys are welcome too) to solve a mystery but Nancy figures out who Jem is?

Joe Hardy and Kimber Benton feel like an excellent case fling!

Nancy Drew/Frank Hardy - Yellow spine meets blue spine. They should kiss.

More in letter.

So I know in the BSC universe, Nancy is a book character, but what if Claudia somehow ended up in one? That’s it, that’s my idea.

Jem & Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossovers: essentially I am here for Jerrica hires them to solve a mystery or they happen to have a mystery at a place they are playing (think like Last Resort or Music is Magic) and they figure out a mystery Jerrica doesn’t want solved. Also I just think Joe and Kimber would be a perfect little fling.

Yellow Spine meets Blue Spine – So what I would like is a mystery that crosses them over while retaining the blue spine/yellow spine feels.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TV)

La'an Noonien-Singh/Spock/James T. Kirk (SNW)

La'an Noonien-Singh/Spock (SNW)

La'an Noonien-Singh & Manu Noonien-Singh (SNW)

Christopher Pike & La'an Noonien-Singh (SNW)

So these could be actual mysteries or more problems to solve.

Please feel free to work in Amelia Moon.

More in letter!

So first I was solidly a La’An/James shipper. Then they paired her with Spock and I had to let it cook. THEN s3e6 hit me RIGHT in the OT3 feels, and I need it. I need them. How do they get together? (After s3e10, I think). Is it while they’re solving a case/mystery?

La’An/Spock – a nice little low-stakes mystery with dancing?

La’An & Manu – I’d really love an AU where they both survive. Bonus points – Manu is on Farragut, sibling pair hijinks ensue (especially if Sam and Manu are egging them on),

Pike and La’An – I loved the whole part in s3e6 where they’re working together, so continuing that vibe would be lovely.

Perry Mason (TV 1957)

Paul Drake & Perry Mason & Della Street (Perry Mason (TV 1957))

I was out of slots and wasn't even thinking about this but YES. Love a mystery story where Della has to take a little bit of the lead. And not nominated, but feel free to work in Della/Hamilton (yes I ship it NO I don't know why)

More in letter!

Pretty much what it says here.

bardicraven

'allo and ahoy, fellow gumshoe!!
Welcome to what will be my fandom-based prrrrompts list.

Going to wait a few days to allow for our new Internet router to arrive as doing this on the phone gets tiring v. quickly.

See you in the cases!! 🔎🔍
Birdy 🐦 BardicRaven 🪶 the One Who Tells Tales 🌻 🌞 😺 🐈 🐶 🐕

Profile

Once Upon a Fic Exchange

AO3 Collection for Once Upon a Fic Exchange

May 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

senmut - Projects and Bunnies
senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: Teenagers
elf - Game Bundle: No ICE in MN
senmut - New Chapter (new title)
flo_nelja - Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 2
senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: Wild Card (Telepathy)
dolorosa_12 - Bottles are emptied, to be filled up with tears
dolorosa_12 - January (plus early February) TV shows
senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: A Moment of Clarity/Understanding
senmut - Mail Call
elf - A Scence Fiction Anthology for Today's Youth?
flo_nelja - Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 1
dhampyresa - Slay the Princess?
flo_nelja - Fic - ladiesbingo - Avatar the Last Airbender - Azula(/Ty Lee)
senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: Freestyle Crossover
flo_nelja - Fic - consent issues - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Dorian/Basil
desertvixen - 2025 Fanfic By The Numbers
desertvixen - 2026 Pinch Hitter Bingo Card
desertvixen - Casefic Letter
bardicraven - Casefic Exchange 2026 Letter (because it's easier than fighting with AO3)

Style Credit

Style: Cloudy Days for Ciel by carisma_sensei

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Feb. 11th, 2026 11:51 am

Once Upon a Fic Exchange

Fairy-tale story exchange!

Member Posts

Projects and Bunnies

GenPrompt Bingo: Teenagers

Game Bundle: No ICE in MN

New Chapter (new title)

Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 2

GenPrompt Bingo: Wild Card (Telepathy)

Bottles are emptied, to be filled up with tears

January (plus early February) TV shows

GenPrompt Bingo: A Moment of Clarity/Understanding

Mail Call

A Scence Fiction Anthology for Today's Youth?

Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition Challenge 1

Slay the Princess?

Fic - ladiesbingo - Avatar the Last Airbender - Azula(/Ty Lee)

GenPrompt Bingo: Freestyle Crossover

Fic - consent issues - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Dorian/Basil

2025 Fanfic By The Numbers

2026 Pinch Hitter Bingo Card

Casefic Letter

Casefic Exchange 2026 Letter (because it's easier than fighting with AO3)

Profile

May 2025

Links

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags