external motivation accountability report, Sunday 3/6; mini-ficlet prompt meme

[edenfalling]

I have a scenario and backstory and some general world-building for my Palestuck fic. I have a kinda-sorta outline. I have a couple of key emotional beats, and an intertwined action and character arc/plot thingywhatsit.

And I have no fucking clue whose POV I should be in, let alone whether I should be trying to write in second or third person.

*headdesk*

You know what, screw this. I am going to do a mini-ficlet prompt meme after all, because desperate times call for desperate measures, and maybe if I kickstart myself into finishing something it will make my other projects flow better thereafter.

So.

Leave a comment with one to three characters plus a mood, a scenario, or a prompt word, and I will write you a ficlet that is at least three sentences and/or 100 words long.

(Obligatory small print: Crossover prompts are fine. On the vanishingly unlikely chance anyone wants to read a snippet from any of my original worlds and stories, that kind of prompt is also fine. I reserve the right to reject fandoms I am not familiar with and produce ambiguous gen when attempting to write shipfic.)

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Fill List:

1. Narutostuck: Tall Tales - 525 words, Naruto, John, Vriska, farce, written 3/6/16 for anonymous. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

2. But Not Quite THAT Bored - 150 words, Dirk, Dave, Second Triennial Human-Troll Flashstep Competition, written 3/7/16 for madamehardy. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

3. In what distant deeps or skies - 625 words, Or, if you prefer, Dave, Jade, long-distance relationship, written 3/7/16 for madamehardy. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

4. For what you have tamed - 200 words, Um, Narnia, Lucy and Mr Tumnus, sleep or sleepy. (Something happy would be good.), written 3/7/16 for cat_i_th_adage. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

5. Don't Get Caught - 275 words, Ginny and Professor McGonagall with prank advice, written 3/7/16 for wistfulmemory. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

6. Narutostuck: No Child Left Behind - 1,450 words, Narutostuck Jade, Aradia, Dave - apprehension?, written 3/8/16 for mid-childan-puella-magi. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

7. Narutostuck: Riptide - 500 words, If you are still doing the ficlet thing - Narutostuck Jade, Feferi, Aradia - salvage, written 3/9/16 for mid-childan-puella-magi. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

8. Noblesse Oblige - 500 words, For your Black Jewels/Homestuck verse: Dave, Jane, Responsibility?, written 3/9/16 for anonymous. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

9. Narutostuck: Family Planning - 775 words, Narutostuck -- Dave finding out he's breeding stock. I'm guessing it was hilariterrible, written 3/10/16 for madamehardy. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

10. Narutostuck: By Which a Shattered World - 1,650 words, While on the subject of narutostuck, Jane and Roxy (& maybe Callie?) - repairs for the ficlet meme?, written 3/18/16 for anonymous. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

11. Narutostuck: Triptych - 1,150 words, Narutostuck: Dave, Karkat, Terezi: first encounters, written 3/27/16 for anonymous. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

Comments

[Fic] "In what distant deeps or skies" - Homestuck

[edenfalling]

Note: This ficlet was written for madamehardy in response to the prompt: Or, if you prefer, Dave, Jade, long-distance relationship. Apparently they are in a slightly dystopian version of Star Trek, with the trolls substituting for the Klingons and/or Romulans? I dunno, don't look too hard at the world-building here. (625 words)

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One side effect of working communications is that Dave gets first look at all incoming transmissions -- or at least, his sorting algorithms do, and they flag up anything that looks hinky and/or just plain interesting. He also dips into the raw flow at least a couple times a shift, just to keep an eye on his babies because machine intelligence is damn good these days but still not as good at high-context stuff as humans are.

The downside of this is he gets way too much information about his crewmates' personal lives, most of which he would frankly be much happier not knowing (though blackmail is useful, oh yes; Dave has whole sheaves of favors he can call in anytime he wants). The upside, of course, is he gets to snatch Jade's message packets off the public servers before anyone else notices he's received mail that technically breaks all the data limits for enlisted personnel. Transmissions don't officially exist on the ship network until they make it past his station, after all, so no passage, no message, no problem. He has a very carefully written program to tuck them aside in a hidden folder when his beta and gamma shift counterparts are on duty, until he can download them himself onto a private data stick.

(He's not quite sure how Jade gets away with sending them from her own ship. Bribery? Hacking? Intimidation? Probably a bit of all three, knowing her. It's not a good idea to piss off the person responsible for keeping your engine and life support together.)

The data stick in his pocket feels heavy and sharp with promise all through the remainder of his shift, and he knows if he weren't wearing his shades, everyone on the bridge would be able to see exactly how distracted he is. Fortunately nothing happens -- they're on a recuperative mission well within the Federation's border, recalibrating the unmanned sensor satellites that track instabilities in a massive blue-white star in order to send early warnings to its inhabited neighboring systems -- and the only real duty Dave has all shift is making final edits on the daily department reports before sending them back to the nearest starbase.

(He gets at least one pre-warp meme into each message -- three into the captain's -- and considers that a job well done.)

Finally he can flee, at a careful walking pace, to his cabin down in the belly of the ship. He's senior enough he gets his own space, tiny and overheated though it is, crammed up right against the engineering decks, and the beautiful thing about sticking Jade's messages onto the data stick is that the ship network now thinks they're his own personal files rather than regulation-breaking mail files. He plugs the stick into his terminal and keys open the holographic display.

Jade's grease-streaked face smiles at him from across some unimaginable stretch of space and time, and Dave sinks onto his bunk with an answering smile as her voice -- a little tinny, a little faint, but unmistakably her -- says, "Hey Dave, I'm still alive! We had another battle against the trolls last week, but no major damage and the supply convoy we're guarding made it through to Marinus IV. I'm starting to think we'll make it through to the end of our deployments, and maybe we should make plans for what to do once we're free."

Her voice softens a little from its determined good cheer, and a glowing, staticky hand reaches out toward the camera. Toward Dave. "I miss you so much. Every day. Messages aren't the same as hugging you for real."

"I know," Dave tells the holograph. "Me too."

He settles back to listen to her life.