the deep moans round with many voices

This year, the Three Sentence Ficathon has its own dedicated Dreamwidth community: threesentenceficathon.

Here is the information post.

Here is the first ficathon post (now closed for new prompts, but still open for fills!), and here is the second ficathon post. The ficathon will remain open for new prompts through February 12.

Here are my fifth set of fills:

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( 25. ) For woodmr, in response to the prompt: King Lear, any, sacrifice, written 1/24/23.

To the Slaughter (125 words)

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When Lear summons his daughters to prove their love, Cordelia realizes his plan to retire will never work -- the gods decree that a king is king until he dies, but a king who shirks his duty while still demanding his people's honor and indulgence is no longer fit to rule. The old must make way for the new, winter stubble plowed under to feed the spring's new growth, and so her father must die to make way for a newer, stronger, more clear-sighted king.

"I love you too much to let you be remembered as the king who drove Britain to ruin," she tells her father when he calls her name, and weeps as she slits his throat to let his blood anoint the throne.

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( 26. ) For chanter1944, in response to the prompt: Any, any, "Wait, maiden, mother, or crone? Do you know how insulting that is?", written 1/25/23

Applied Theology (To Mete and Dole Unequal Laws) (160 words)

This is part of a Narnia/BtVS crossover series that I poke at occasionally.

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"It's not entirely unreasonable to divide the image of the divine into various phases of life -- youth, adulthood, old age," Susan said without looking up from her translation of Hesiod, "but the systematic application of that pattern to only the female half of the world is a wasteful narrowing of thought that tends to downplay the power and varied aspects of goddesses and restrict the personhood of women. Why don't reputable scholars group male deities into triads, and why doesn't English have an obvious parallel verbal construction to speak of young men, fathers, and men in their old age?"

"I agree completely," Peter said with great patience, "but the vampire cultists attempting to summon a demonic horde in the middle of London have based their ritual on the notion of a lunar Triple Goddess, and I would greatly appreciate if you would help me figure out which deities they've decided to slot into which roles, so we can stop them."

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( 27. ) For nasimwrites, in response to the prompt: Narnia, Ram the Great, diplomatic relations with Calormen, written 1/28/23.

The Long Game (200 words)

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"I don't care how many slaves they steal or how much money raids could bring into the Treasury," Ram explained to the Council or Armouth for what felt like the thousandth time; "Archenland does not allow piracy, let alone sponsor it. In the long term, we shall drain far more of Calormen's wealth into our own hands through trade than at the point of a sword, if that trade happens on our own ships, but if half of our captains dabble in piracy, the Tisroc (who is no fool) will soon ban our ships from all his ports and possibly declare war as well, which is the last turn we can afford."

As the Lord Mayor drew breath for yet another objection, Ram added, sharply, "My task as king is to safeguard the wellbeing of all Archenland, not merely the merchants of Armouth, and to ensure that we leave our children and grandchildren a safer, kinder future than we inherited from our ancestors; your plans would sow disaster and your children would inherit only death as their birthright, and I will not let you drag my country to ruin in search of fleeting profits and the mirage of costless revenge."

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( 28. ) For topaz_eyes, in response to the prompt: Any, any, I need to break out and make a new name (Brand New Day, Ryan Star), written 1/28/23.

Re-creation (250 words)

Fandom = Greenwing & Dart (Victoria Goddard)

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It's true that I had financial considerations for attending Morrowlea rather than one of its rival universities -- while my stepfather could easily (and would gladly) have paid tuition, asking him would have felt both hideously awkward and somehow like betraying my own father, whereas Morrowlea admitted a handful of students each year on scholarship based on our results in the lower schools and examinations -- but my main reason, which I spoke of to nobody but am certain that both Perry and Roald surmised, was that Morrowlea forbade the use or sharing of family names and as such I would finally be able to learn who I was without my family's history sharing my every step.

(This also felt somehow like betraying my father, but less so -- after all, he had been the first in our family to join the imperial army for several generations, and there he had risen by his own merits; surely he wouldn't grudge me the same impulse.)

And so when I left Ragnor Bella, it was with the intention not to return until I had built a new life in a new place, where the name Jemis Greenwing could mean whatever I chose and I could shake off the pains of my past like a snake discards its skin... but just as a snake remains a snake however many scales it sheds, so too the past is always with us, for both ill and for good.

Our only true choice is how we wield that weight.

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( 29. ) For topaz_eyes, in response to the prompt: Any, any, he left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again (Rocky Mountain High, John Denver), written 1/28/23.

The Journey of a Thousand Miles (750 words)

Fandom = Chronicles of Narnia. Also this one got completely away from me -- structural restrictions, what structural restrictions? ;)

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"When they let everyone come back to London and then it's time for fall term, what if I go off to school and I can't hold on to what I learned in Narnia and I get all twisted and miserable again?" Edmund said one sunny afternoon as he and Peter stood by Professor Kirke's trout stream and cast desultory lines into the bright, swift water.

( cut for length )

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( 30. ) For snacky, in response to the prompt: Narnia, The Lady of the Green Kirtle, Bitter Green they called her / walking in the sun, written 2/3/23

Waiting for Someone To Take Her Hand (205 words)

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"Why do you linger in this meadow, my lady?" Rillian asked, one hand on the hilt of his sword as he kept watch for the serpent. "Though the grass is soft and sweet in summer, autumn draws near with its dusty chill, and fell beasts have grown bold enough to venture into Narnia's very heart."

"My love journeyed this way in spring, but never came home to me," the lady answered in her honey-sweet voice, the tips of her grass-green sleeves kissing the face of the stream as she bent sideways to comb her shining hair, "and so I have followed his steps to wait in the last place he was seen until he returns or is found dead."

"Then we share a grief and a cause," Rilian said, and, kneeling, he laid his sword across his upturned palms as he met her eyes and swore a heartfelt oath: "If you will have me as your knight, I would guard you and keep you company in your quest until the serpent that took my mother and your love has been utterly destroyed."

Slowly, tremulously, the lady extended her hand to receive his honor and his sword. Her smile was like the rising of the sun.

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More to follow!

It looks like I will be tackling "Lemonade" this year. This is simultaneously exciting (I love that story and really want to finish it) and daunting (it's long, and it's been five years since I posted ch. 19), but hey, what is life without challenges?

Thank you to everyone who voted!

As always, here is the link to the current ficathon. Come and play! :)

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( 11. ) For celeste9: X-Men comics, Emma/Scott, rough edges, written 12/2/16 [AO3 version]

at the broken places (150 words)

Emma's jagged edges don't quite match up to Scott's own wounds; what shattered her, he might have survived with fewer scars, and the blows that tore him to shreds over the years might have found less purchase in her mind and heart. Some days he hates the way they miss each other's more idiosyncratic tripwires and scrape each other raw, the way he lost the ability to just be with a lover somewhere between Apocalypse and Jean's last death and therefore can't help Emma learn that alchemy of warmth and grace.

Other days, he thinks maybe they're stronger because of those flaws; you get back from a relationship what you put in, after all, and if he and Emma haven't yet learned comfort, they haven't learned complacency either, and Scott will trade almost anything up to his soul (...and maybe even that) to keep from losing another person he loves.

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( 12. ) For celeste9: BtVS, Buffy/Faith, liberated, written 12/2/16 [AO3 version]

won't take this lying down (175 words)

"Y'know, B, the nineteenth century's not your best look," Faith said, interrupting Buffy's sulk over the news that Spike had come back to life and neither he nor Angel had seen fit to pass on news of this development; "Say it with me: 'I'm a liberated modern woman and I don't need no fuckin' man.'"

Buffy rolled her eyes and shot back, "Yes, Faith, I am in fact aware that it's the twenty-first century, and it's not like I was even holding out for--" only to squeak in shock as Faith leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Buffy's mouth (with tongue! uninvited! ...but pretty smooth actually) until Buffy's body gave up waiting for input from her brain and started to respond enthusiastically on its own.

Then Faith pulled back (the cheater, not finishing what she started), murmured, "I didn't say you might not need a fuckin' woman, though; look me up once you reboot," and sauntered off like she hadn't just upended Buffy's self-image and reframed years of their prior interactions.

Oh, this meant war.

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( 13. ) For iawenbemerry: X-Men (preferably movieverse but doesn't have to be), Scott/Jean, the moments no one else sees, written 12/2/16 [AO3 version]

the golden age of the barefoot time (275 words)

Scott and Jean have a standing monthly weekend date -- sometimes adjusted on account of crises, but always kept -- where they leave the mansion for a full twenty-four hours, disappearing from one evening to the next.

The general consensus among the students is that they go out for a fancy dinner, and maybe sex (opinions are split between super vanilla and super kinky) in a swanky hotel down in the city where they can be sure no mutant senses (noses, ears, brains) will disturb their privacy; a few hold out for more cerebral things like visits to museums and other cultural interest spots (on the theory that thinking of teachers and sex in the same sentence is gross and also, seriously, Scott and Jean are just that boring); and one or two have even suggested that the Professor lends out two of his best and brightest to the CIA on timeshare in order to keep the school under the rest of the government's radar.

Jean takes great delight in recounting these theories to Scott, who then takes equal delight in planting new rumors, both of them secure in the knowledge that nobody will ever guess they use their jealously guarded days of freedom to beat each other over the head with feather pillows, eat dessert for dinner and then again for breakfast, rent all the children's movies they never got to see, spend hours petting cats at animal shelters, and generally indulge in the idyllic, archetypal childhoods that they both lost too soon, and which they will give their lives to make sure their own students can hold on to as long as they possibly can.

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( 14. ) For silvr_dagger: Narnia, Jadis/Susan, pomegranates, written 12/4/16 [AO3 version]

the iron queens (350 words)

A light kindled, impossibly, in the eternal cold and dark of Narnia after the end, and the tattered remnants of she who had once been Jadis (for no witch ever truly dies, especially not one who has tasted the apple of immortality, and the Lion had known this when he shut the stable door) drifted toward the blue-white fire, compelled by the circle and the ancient rite she herself had carved into the flesh of this world at its birth; "You," she snarled as she coalesced, and saw the shape of her summoner.

"Me," agreed Susan Pevensie, who had dared to steal Jadis's throne and think herself a queen, standing untouched by the killing cold despite the sheerness of her silk dress; "I have come under my own power and in my own name, not that of the Lion, to offer you a chance at redemption -- for those who turn away from warmth and light need not be cast forever into darkness, nor do I think love of the Lion a necessity to love of life or the ability to be and do good in the world -- and therefore I have brought a taste of summer to break the walls of this your prison and offer you a thread you may grasp to follow me back into the myriad worlds," she said, and her hands, when she held them out across the bounds of her protective circle, were filled with a red like blood, or rubies, but this fruit was no apple with its all-or-nothing absolutes: a pomegranate, rather, which spoke of bargains and balance, a personal interest on the part of the one who offered to the one who ate, and perhaps even the chance at a throne shared rather than claimed by force and held armed against all comers; Jadis had dreamed of such impossibilities once.

The juice of the apple had been bitter as gall and cool as the first snow of winter; this, bursting slow and rich across Jadis's tongue, solidifying her body with its memory of summer sun and flower-laden winds, was sweet.

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( 15. ) For anonymous: Inception, Arthur/Ariadne, stargazing, written 12/5/16 [AO3 version]

written on the arched sky (275 words)

Their latest job involved a maze in a planetarium ("Why a planetarium?" Ariadne had asked, to which Eames had smiled annoyingly and said, "A memory of first loves fumbling illicitly in the dark, sweetheart, makes an excellent atmosphere for digging out any current sexual indiscretions -- and don't ask me how I know the mark brought her boy here while she was meant to be running the projector; a man needs a few secrets, after all.") and Arthur had insisted on being the dreamer once he'd heard the rough draft of Eames and Ariadne's extraction plan.

When she slipped into the dream maze to see if it needed any last minute adjustments and saw the star projections Arthur had imagined, which he was sliding smoothly around the domed projection field as a narrator explained the reason different stars were visible in different seasons or at different latitudes, Ariadne realized why; "I could never hold all that steady enough to convince somebody who knows what it ought to look like; how are you managing?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist; "Are there some illicit planetarium escapades in your past that I should know about?"

Arthur tugged her around until they were face to face, the glow of the projector striking gleams from his hair and casting his face in an otherworldly light, and said, halfway between wry and anticipatory, "It's possible there might have been, but let me make a suggestion: we have a subjective half hour before the dose runs out; instead of making me relive my embarrassing youth, wouldn't you rather try topping the memory?"

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( 16. ) For mermaids_feet: Homestuck, Any, Frogs, written 12/5/16 [AO3 version]

questionably intelligent design (150 words)

"You know," Jade said with a slightly distracted air as they watched Bilious Slick junior arrow toward its destiny, "I'm still not sure why it's frogs all the way down; I mean, yeah, they lay a lot of eggs and there's the metamorphosis symbolism, and they look very pretty in those big globes with the lily pads, but there must be better animals from a self-defense and general toughness standpoint, not to mention ones that take a more active interest in raising their young, which you'd think might be relevant from a universe-propagation standpoint -- and you don't even have to sacrifice the 'lays lots of eggs' factor very much to get those benefits."

"I confess zoology of the non-cryptid type was never my strong point," Rose said, "but you sound like you have a specific alternate animal in mind; why not enlighten us as to its name?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe alligators."

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More to follow at some point, probably. :)

Okay so.

I am stuck like a stuck thing on "Guardian" ch. 17 scene 3 (not because I don't know what comes next; I just... can't make the words happen). I can't manage to focus on "The Courting Dance" instead (because guilt? tone mismatch? who even knows; brains are weird), and when I try to avoid the issue and write something completely unrelated, I just kind of blank out, like those two fics are gnawing away all the processing power that would normally go to the part of my brain that comes up with new ideas and/or picks an old idea and says 'your time in the sun has come, small plotbunny!'

I think you see where I am going with this, yes? Yes. It is once again mini-ficlet prompt meme time, because when I can't jumpstart my own creativity, I beg other people to do it for me. (Because it works. Why? Who knows. See above in re: brains being weird.)

The caveat this time is that I want to write fluff!

Here is a link to my open Cotton Candy Bingo card, which still has sixteen unfilled squares. For those who prefer lists to graphics, the open prompts are: picnic, soft, sleepwalking/sleeptalking, tradition, the little things, names/naming, WILD CARD, eyes, favorite, adventure/quest, color, open, cute, cuddle, free, sunrise/sunset.

Leave a comment with one to four characters, a prompt word from the list, and a scenario, and I will write you a ficlet of at least 500 words. Scenarios must be fluffy!

(...Look, I know my definition of fluff can get pretty idiosyncratic. But work with me here, okay? If the characters end the ficlet on a happy note, we're good.)

Anyway, if you have ever wanted a sequel to one of my oneshots, or another installment in any of my series/AUs, this is your chance to make me write it for you. :)

[Obligatory small print: Crossover prompts are fine! I reserve the right to reject fandoms I am not familiar with and produce ambiguous gen when attempting to write shipfic. Also, if someone else has previously claimed your requested prompt word, I will tell you so and offer you a chance to make a new prompt.]

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Fill List:

( 1 ) A Problem That You'll Understand - 1,025 words, jane and dirk, the little things, one of them helps the other recover from a bad mood?, written 4/30/16 for longroadstonowhere. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 2 ) Have Dominion - 1,075 words, I'd like to claim Names/Naming for a Narnia ficlet (Magician's Nephew): when Helen was just a girl, it had been so easy to dream up endless names for some future child; now, she had no idea where to start with a veritable zoo of creatures all awaiting names of their own, written 5/1/16 for syrena_of_the_lake. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 3 ) But Every Hour Is Saved from That Eternal Silence - 1,450 words, susan pevensie, sleepwalking/sleeptalking, at home in a thunderstorm, written 5/3/16 for rollinginbooks. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 4 ) Rekindling - 2,775 words, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke: tradition; Naruto and Sakura accompany Sasuke in some small family or festival tradition., written 5/8/16 for branchandroot. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 5 ) Almost at Odds with Morning - 2,100 words, Untimely ripped, Damara (+ another dancestor?), sunrise/sunset. :3, written 5/14/16 for asukaskerian. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 6 ) Cardcaptor Uhura - 900 words, Can I use the wild card on: Uhura, Spock and Gaila chase friendly but flighty magical cards (a la Card Captor Sakura)?, written 5/17/16 for sablin27. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 7 ) Who Contract the Habit of Eating - 2,450 words, Characters: Rose, Jade, Word: Favourite, Scenario: 'Rose & Jade have very different ideas on favourite food. They try to find something of mutual delight.' Could be in the same universe as Leaf & Letter, but it's so general it doesn't matter x), written 5/29/16 for gracefularchitect. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 8 ) Truth or Dare - 875 words, Prompt: Rose + Dirk, Open, making Dave very nervous and Roxy very why-is-everything-always-so-wonderful, written 6/2/16 for runespoor7. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 9 ) A Splash of Color - 1,600 words, I would love to claim "color" with Morwen and Telemain and the results that come about when Telemain gets distracted from a tricky experiment, written 6/9/16 for wistfulmemory. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

( 10 ) Responsibility - 2,550 words, Can I claim "adventure/quest" and ask for more of Susan and Lucy's Interesting Times? Please? 'Susan only went to fetch a few jars of jam. Meanwhile, the daring Captain Lucy, aged nine, accompanied by her loyal crew of Otter cubs, set sail to the Port of Pantry', written 6/25/16 for marmota_b. [Tumblr crosspost; AO3 version]

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And that, as of 6/25/16, is a wrap! Thank you for all the prompts. :D

If, in an effort to make myself finally finish some of my languishing WIPs, I sign up for wipbigbang, which of the following options would be best to tackle? The rules say the finished work must be at least 7,500 words long, and you have to have at least 500 words extant at the time of entry. (These can be publicly posted or only in your own document files.)

So here are several stories that fit those requirements, and which I think I have a plausible chance of finishing by July 10 of this year:

1. Five Things That Never Happened to Rex and Anna Lewis (And One That Still Might)
--This is a GI Joe: Rise of Cobra fic (yes, I know) that does exactly what it says on the tin. I currently have the first three sections written to the tune of 9,000 words, and a couple hundred each for parts four and five. Part six is only an outline and might end up unwritten depending on my mood after rewatching the movie to refresh my memory of the characters and plot (insofar as they exist). Would probably be 15,000-18,000 words when complete.

2. Intervention
--A Star Trek: AOS fic centered entirely on original characters with a brief cameo from the Enterprise near the end. The crew of a Red Cross ship investigate a mysterious plague on a small and deliberately isolationst human colony, where they run into a bunch of cultural issues (the colonists are a religious splinter group with negative opinions about technology) but begin to make progress... and then an Orion slaver/pirate fleet arrives in the system. Oops. I have about 14,000 words written and am stalled in the middle of the space battle section. Would probably be 18,000-20,000 words when complete.

3. The Light in Your Eyes
--Also a Star Trek: AOS fic, this one following Spock through the immediate aftermath of the Narada incident up to the Enterprise leaving on its new mission. Mostly about Vulcans and mourning and stuff, with significant secondary roles for Uhura and Kirk. Currently at 9,500 words, would probably be 18,000-20,000 words when complete.

4. New Horizons
--Post-epilogue, DH-compliant Ginny/Harry/Draco. No, really. :) Basically, Ginny gets forcibly 'retired' from the Holyhead Harpies around the time Lily leaves Hogwarts, so Harry takes her on a consolation holiday to Greece. They run into Draco, who's giving himself a consolation holiday after his divorce, and things kind of spiral from there. Featuring a bunch of political arguments, a bit too much alcohol, and probably no explicit porn because I am more here for the midlife crisis and romcom aspects. I posted two sections on my journal in draft form ages ago, and part of the third chapter is written. About 3,500 words written, should come to maybe 8,000 when complete. (Or 10,000, depending on how much they argue before I can talk them into possibly inadvisable sex.)

5. The Courting Dance
--A Chronicles of Narnia fic dealing with Aravis and Cor's attempt to get married despite stiff political opposition. Each chapter features a different POV, and there is at least as much world-building as romance. Eight chapters currently written and posted, probably seven left to go. Currently 12,500 words, will be around 24,000 when complete.

6. A Change of Season
--Chronicles of Narnia fic, sequel to "Out of Season" and "To Every Thing There Is a Season." This one follows Ilgamuth Tarkaan and Shezan Tolkheera through the end and aftermath of HHB, as they attempt to navigate extreme personal and political upheavals. I only have about 650 words of this written and my outline is extremely vague, so the estimated final wordcount is mostly a wild guess, but... I'd say 30,000 minimum. I'm putting this on here mostly because it's a story that I intensely want to write at some point, but I've needed external deadline pressure to get through the other two main fics in this sequence so perhaps a similar kick will work on this one as well. It would require me to write at least twice as many words as any other option, though.

7. Lemonade
--A BtVS/Gundam Wing/Naruto crossover in which Faith Lehane, Duo Maxwell, and Uchiha Sasuke accidentally get yanked into a hell dimension and have to work together to get home. Along the way, they have some sex. :) This is post-Chosen for Faith, post-Endless Waltz for Duo, and in the third year of the timeskip for Sasuke; it ignores all BtVS comics, anything from Preventers Five, and pretty much all of post-timeskip Naruto. Nineteen chapters are currently posted, totalling roughly 44,000 words. I estimate another six to ten chapters before the plot wraps up. (I have a relatively firm outline, but I'm not always great at guessing how many words it will take to cover each point.) This should be roughly 60,000 words when complete, though only 16,000 or so would be new.

So. With that in mind, here is a poll:



If you can't get the poll to work for you, please leave a comment instead!