edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
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Master List of Elizabeth Culmer's Fiction
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FANFICTION:

General Disclaimer: These stories are based on characters and situations created and owned by other people and corporations. I make no money from this borrowing of intellectual property, and intend no copyright or trademark infringement.

Organization: This list is organized primarily by fandom; within each fandom, it's arranged first by associated story cycles and then by writing date. Word counts and writing dates are approximations.

Content/Warning Policy: 1) I am not consistent about warnings! I use them when I remember, for a few relatively broad categories of potentially problematic content, but if something is off-page, non-explicit, or generally backgrounded, I probably won't think to note it in the metadata. Read at your own risk! 2) The things I try to warn for are explicit sex, rape, murder, torture, cannibalism, incest, depression/suicide, familial dysfunction, and occasionally also societal dysfunction (aka dystopia). Sometimes I just slap a general content warning on all my fic for a given fandom and don't label each individual fic. I also don't generally warn for violence, unless the violence in a fic is dramatically out-of-step with the violence in its source canon. 3) I don't use any content rating system unless I'm posting to a site or community that requires or encourages ratings, because I find movie-style ratings counter-intuitive when applied to written fiction, and not particularly useful for anything other than denoting the presence of explicit sex, which I already note in the metadata.

Quality Rating System: I've marked my favorite stories with asterisks, on a scale of 1 to 4. The more asterisks, the more I like the story. This doesn't necessarily mean that stories without asterisks are bad, just that I don't like them as much. Also, I am not claiming to be an arbiter of taste; you may love stories I dislike, and vice versa. I am just providing a heads-up about the ones that I think are best written and/or most interesting.

Where To Read: What I post on my journal tends to be the equivalent of a beta draft. If I have cross-posted a story literally anywhere else (except Tumblr; fic content there is just a mirror of fic content here), read the version that isn't on my journal. Versions on AO3 are definitive. If there is no AO3 version, read the ff.net version. If there is no ff.net version, read the FictionAlley version (only applicable for HP fic). Failing that, read the journal version, because that's the only one there is.

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Naruto Fanfiction

Angel Sanctuary Fanfiction

Chronicles of Narnia Fanfiction

Homestuck Fanfiction

MCU fanfic (assorted)

Minor Fandom Fanfiction
(currently includes BtVS/A:tS, The Dark Is Rising, the Darkangel trilogy, Enchanted Forest Chronicles, FF7: Mercverse AU, Inception, and Star Trek: AOS)

Miscellaneous Fanfiction
(Currently includes: American Gods, An Ash-Blonde Witch, Arthurian Mythology, Batman, the Bible, the Black Jewels series, the Bourne trilogy, Charlotte's Web, Code Geass, Death Note, Discworld, Doctor Who, Girl Genius, The Girl with the Silver Eyes, Glee, Gormenghast, Hamilton, Hexwood, The Homeward Bounders, Howl's Moving Castle, Labyrinth, Lord of the Rings, Lucifer (comics), Mad Max: Fury Road, Merlin, the Oz books, Ranma 1/2, Rise of the Guardians, Sailor Moon, Saiyuki, Seaward, Shakespeare, Star Wars, Tam Lin (Pamela Dean), Vorkosigan Saga, White Collar, Wolf Hall, X-Men, and Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Crossover Fanfiction
(I do not cross-list crossovers and fusions under their component fandoms; this is the only place to find them. Currently includes: the Anita Blake series, ASoIaF, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Black Jewels series, BtVS, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chronicles of Narnia, the Darkangel trilogy, The Dark Is Rising, Discworld, Doctor Who, Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Ender's Game, Gundam Wing, Harry Potter, Hikaru no Go, Homestuck, Inception, the Indiana Jones movies, Leverage, Lucifer (comics), MCU (various), Merlin, Naruto, the Oz books, Sandman, Stargate: SG-1, Star Trek: AOS, Vorkosigan Saga, Welcome to Night Vale, and a couple other things that only appear in memes rather than actual fic.)

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ORIGINAL FICTION:

These stories are all mine! *grin* I use the same warning policy and quality rating system as for my fanfiction.

All Original Fiction

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My various bingo cards: Cotton Candy Bingo, Round One (blackout!); Cotton Candy Bingo, Round Two (blackout!); Genprompt Bingo, Round 12 (blackout!); Genprompt Bingo, Round 15; Ladies Bingo; Daredevil Bingo; Domestic AU Prompt List
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
This year, the Three Sentence Ficathon has its own dedicated Dreamwidth community: [community profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [personal profile] 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!
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
Batch the twelfth. :)

All prompts drawn from the 2021 iteration of the Three Sentence Ficathon (post one and post two), hosted by the wonderful [personal profile] rthstewart. The ficathon is now closed to new prompts, but you can continue filling prompts and commenting on other people's fills for as long as you like!

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67. ) For anonymous: Any, any, a goddess made of starlight and shadows, written 3/31/21

Creator of the Stars of Night (95 words)

Fandom = The Silmarillion

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It is easy to forget, when faced with her glory, that Varda is not only a goddess of light. She who wrought the stars and set them on high as a comfort and a warning, she whose sight is keen, whose mind is clear, whose purpose adamant, she whose touch destroys evil, is too vast for light alone to encompass the truth of her being, no more than the brilliance of her stars can encompass the whole of the sky.

You must always remember that for the stars to shine, there must first be dark.

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68. ) For [personal profile] notapaladin: Any, any/any, daemon AU, written 5/19/21

Sense of Self (1,845 words)

Fandom = The Murderbot Diaries

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Humans and augmented humans tend to assume that constructs have daemons because we straddle the line between true sentience and a bunch of pre-programmed subroutines mindlessly following orders (not that humans are as clearly on one side of that line as they like to think), but it has nothing to do with intelligence levels. It's just that we have a lot of organic parts mostly made from human genetic material, and where you have life composed of human DNA, you eventually get a daemon.

It's even odds whether the fact that our daemons never settle makes humans and augmented humans more or less uncomfortable around us. On the one hand, that kind of flexibility is unnatural for anyone with an adult-sized body, which makes us seem less relatable. On the other hand, humans tend to react negatively to the idea of juvenile humans (or their equivalents of other species) either killing or being killed. This is probably why it's company policy for SecUnits keep our daemons small and hidden within our armor -- unless we're in active combat, in which case there's a short list of approved battle forms.

We do settle sometimes, of course. Even governor modules and memory wipes can't always stop us from developing a sense of self stable enough to coax a daemon into a single form.

This is the second most common reason SecUnits are junked and recycled.

cut for length )

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69. ) For [personal profile] rthstewart: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any, reclaiming the narrative, written 5/26/21

Take a Third Option (310 words)

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"Want, take, have," Faith told Buffy back in the day, before the murder and torture and betrayal and all that -- and the thing is, the thing it took her a year in prison to sort out, piecing herself together without the pressure to play to or against anyone else's expectations (turns out, you beat a couple assholes up the first week in gen pop and treat the guards like part of the machinery, and most people are real quick to leave you alone), is this: she wasn't wrong.

Yeah, she fucked up the execution (turns out, just 'cause nobody ever respected her boundaries wasn't a reason to ignore everyone else's in turn; that's just passing on the trauma and pretending it's cool), but the core of it, the raw, bloody, beating heart that screamed her right to have desires -- to want sex, power, respect, love, life -- isn't dirty or shameful or whatever the fuck society feeds girls from babies to grandmas, all those lies about nurture and purity and selflessness until you start to think, fuck it, if wanting makes you evil, then why not be evil -- at least then you can be yourself instead of a shadow of all the people pressed around you, hungry, trying to hack off bits of your self and your soul until you fit their pet narrative.

Turns out, femme fatale is just as much somebody else's story as chaste heroine -- that old Madonna/whore thing Giles mentioned once to Wesley when they didn't realize Faith was in earshot, where you can be good or you can want things, but never both together -- and Faith is done with playing that game; when she gets out, she'll be more thoughtful with her methods (turns out, sometimes if you ask, people will even give you stuff without threats or bribes), but what she wants, she'll win.

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70. ) For anonymous: Any, any, a singing bird will come, written 5/26/21

A Wilderness in the Heart (195 words)

Fandom = The Magnus Archives

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When Agnes is young, it's easy to keep herself open to the voice of her god: to build her heart into a bonfire, to scour away doubt, to drown her very self in the task she was born to complete.

But as the years wear on, as Gertrude's web binds her and the Cult of Lightless Flame splinters around her, Agnes finds certainty hard to hold: the fire fades, the sandstorm stills, the flood ebbs, and Agnes watches the strange green shoots of new thoughts sprout first into weeds (hastily yanked and scorched) and then into moss, thickets, trees -- a thorny forest of questions and yearning.

When she meets Jack Barnabas, she realizes that for all her changes, for all the greenery choking her heart, her soul's landscape is still barren -- no birds have come to build their nests and sing -- and try as she might, she can never outrun the inferno whose embers crackle within her bones; happiness is not within her reach.

Despair feeds the god she no longer wants to serve; better to lay herself waste and let something new, something stronger, take root in her ashes and struggle towards the sun.

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71. ) For anonymous: Any, any, nectarines, written 5/27/21

All Summer in a Bite (180 words)

Fandom = Chronicles of Narnia

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Calavar was not peach country -- land good for horses was generally poor for orchards, and vice versa -- but Mezreel claimed all fruits among its thousand delights, and while Aravis would personally contest the quality of their figs and dates, none could truthfully speak against their plums and pears, apples and cherries, their pomegranates and nectarines.

One of her earliest memories was the flash of midsummer sun on her brother's knife, slicing through the delicate, already-bruising skin of a firm, white nectarine and his deft fingers holding out a slice for her own clumsy, plump-fleshed hands to grasp; the juice burst sweet and tart over her tongue like a dream she had forgotten and would yearn for from that day forward.

Archenland was not peach country either, but an esplanade on a south-facing wall, netting and heated stones to guard against late spring frost, bone meal and eggshells kneaded into soil, and a certain amount of bloody-minded faith won her and Cor peaches two years out of three, and her children grew with the taste of summer dreams upon their lips.

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72. ) For [personal profile] notapaladin: Any, any, a broken crown for a broken throne, written 5/27/21

Final Tithe (90 words)

Fandom = The Magnus Archives

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King of a ruined world? Why so you shall become, but your throne will be the threads of the trap that binds you helpless as your doom approaches, step by step from the pitiless north; and your crown will be the certainty of death: at first the barest drop dyeing the flood of others' fears, but waxing, ever waxing, until the multitudinous seas run incarnadine with your oldest terror come home to roost.

Enjoy it, Jonah Magnus, in the sliver of thought that remains to you before your self-wrought End.

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And that's as many as I wrote last year, though spread out over a significantly longer period.

I may keep going -- these are nice finger exercises when I don't have the brain to work on anything longer or more complicated.

I should probably also get started on cross-posting them to AO3. *sigh*
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
As always, here is the link to the current ficathon. Come and play! :)

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11. ) For [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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. :)
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
[tumblr.com profile] rollinginbooks said: susan pevensie, sleepwalking/sleeptalking, at home in a thunderstorm.

Note: Um, so. This fill A) has approximately nothing to do with the prompt (though Susan does technically sleeptalk, and is at home during a thunderstorm), B) isn't especially fluffy, and C) accidentally turned into a fic that I kind of implicitly promised [personal profile] rthstewart that I'd write several years ago as a companion to my remix of her lovely ficlet. Also it's a BtVS crossover and a TLB fixit. But you know, I wasn't getting anywhere at all with my more straightforward approaches, so I went with the one that was actually willing to be wrangled into writable form. *hands* Brains, man. Brains are downright weird. (1,450 words)

[ETA: The slightly revised final version is now up on AO3!]

But Every Hour Is Saved from That Eternal Silence )

Do not go looking for Alice in BtVS or AtS canon, either television or comics. She's an OC invented specifically for this fic.
edenfalling: colored line-art drawing of a three-scoop ice cream sundae (ice cream sundae)
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 [tumblr.com profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [tumblr.com profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [tumblr.com profile] 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 [personal profile] 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 [tumblr.com profile] 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 [tumblr.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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 [personal profile] 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
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
The ficathon itself seems to have petered out, as these things do, but I bookmarked a bouquet of prompts while I was busy with other things and have been filling some now that I have a little breathing space. Only one of these six breaks the three-sentence limit -- yay progress? -- and another is also a double drabble because why not.

As ever, here is the link to the ficathon if you want to play too. :D

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19. ) For anonymous: Sailor Moon, Rei Hino, A favorite gemstone of hers had been ruby, written 12/31/15 [AO3 version]

more precious than rubies (125 words)

Rei wondered sometimes, in the quiet watches of the night when she tended the fire and tried to empty her mind of both fear and fury, if any of her childhood likes and dislikes had truly been her own. Rubies, for instance -- her mother had owned a set of ruby teardrop earrings, blood-red stones that flashed with splintered light as if fire burned in their hearts, which Rei had loved to hold up to her own ears and pretend she was a princess; had her love for their color been spontaneous or simply a shadow of lives long lost and yet to come?

She wore her own rubies now, but the gem to which she gave her heart was silver; and that choice, she knew, was real.

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20. ) For anonymous: BtVS, Buffy Summers, coloring with a box of crayons and coloring books, written 1/13/16 [AO3 version]

no friend like a sister (300 words)

Buffy buys a coloring book one month after they move to Cleveland, one month after it becomes obvious that she hasn't escaped her unwanted and ill-fitting role as general and president of this slapdash whatever that swallowed her friendships and turned them into a bureaucracy, and starts hiding it inside the notebook she uses to look like she's being productive during meetings; instead, she brings smiling Disney princesses to life with highlighters, watching bright colors bloom into emptiness while she pays just enough attention to ask a question now and then, smile at Xander's jokes, and remind Willow to breathe.

Dawn's the one who catches her -- sneaks behind Buffy's chair on her way back from the kitchen and raises her eyebrows when Buffy doesn't shuffle pages fast enough -- and Buffy winds herself tighter and tighter through the rest of the day until her whole body feels like an electric guitar string, ready to scream at the slightest touch; but nobody comes to confront her and ask if she's feeling all right, if she's lost it, if she truly understands her responsibility she has to help make a better world for all the Slayers called at her orders.

The next day, Dawn breaks into a discussion of real estate and says, "Listen, we've been arguing about all this for weeks and it's stupid; I say if we want to start a school, we should hire people who know how the charter school business works and let the rest of us split up and do what we're actually good at, whether that's magic or translation or, you know, killing vampires and assorted other menaces; and on that note, Buffy and I are moving to Rome as of next Tuesday," and Buffy doesn't think she's ever loved her sister more.

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21. ) For [livejournal.com profile] samueljames: Star Trek AOS, Gaila/Jim Kirk, she likes making him blush, written 1/14/16 [AO3 version]

but compliments leave us baffled (250 words)

Gaila doesn't make Jim blush for the same reason she embarrasses most other Terrans -- that's a pointed quid pro quo for their blatant species chauvinism, and while Jim's far from perfect, he at least understands that humans are more than the crude stereotypes that other species have enlisted them to play in their own deep-brain livewire taboos -- but she still adores the ipoltu-petal flush that seeps over his cheeks and ears and the way he tries so hard to pretend he's not affected by her words, that other people's opinions can't touch him for ill or for good.

And all she has to do is point out when he's been kind.

Gaila tucks her chin over Jim's shoulder while he and his doctor roommate sit bickering amiably at a dive bar just outside Academy grounds and drawls, in one of the intonations Terrans use to imply sexual gossip, "I heard the most interesting rumor this morning..." -- a calibrated pause, just long enough for his mind to race through all the things she might bring up, both welcome and otherwise -- "that you stayed late to help Ahch Ngirzha clean up his lab space and redo his whole experiment after that sulfuric acid spill yesterday; that was very considerate of you!" she finishes in a completely different tone of voice, and drops a kiss on the tip of Jim's nose to keep herself from laughing as an echo of her favorite flower blooms across his face.

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22. ) For [livejournal.com profile] betonyb: Hamilton, Eliza/Alexander, Genderswap AU, written 1/15/16 [AO3 version]

thank you for all your service (175 words)

"Elijah Schuyler; it's a pleasure to meet you at last," he says, and, spurred to uncharacteristic daring by the sparkling challenge in the most enchanting eyes he's ever see, drops a kiss to the hand of his elder sister's newest and dearest friend, who has become such a comfort and fixture in Angelica's letters since the evacuation of New York.

"I am sorry it has taken a most grievous and costly war to bring us into the same circles, Lieutenant Schuyler," Alexandra Hamilton says, the gleam in her eyes belying the sober cadence of her voice, "but I confess that in person you live up to all your sister's praise and I must therefore count our meeting nearly as great a blessing for myself as the liberty you are helping to win for our country will be for us all."

Elijah fights down a blush at such an extravagant compliment, and thinks he could happily spend the rest of his life helping this woman receive the respect and admiration that she (like Angelica) self-evidently deserves.

-----

Note: I have no idea how a female Hamilton ends up in America, let alone in a position to mix socially with the Schuyler family and get invited to one of Washington's winter balls. Let's just call it fate. *handwaves briskly*

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23. ) For anonymous: Any, any, There are no cities, no cities to love; It's not the city, it's the weather we love!, written 1/16/16 [AO3 version]

walk off the edge of my own life (275 words)

"Okay, okay, truth," Karen said, shoving herself upright on Foggy's couch and slashing her hand through the air in a barely controlled gesture he had to remind himself not to flinch at; "So, imagine a city -- any city, really, but let's go with Manhattan -- and then, you take all the people and move them to, I don't know, California, and you build them a new city; and at the same time you move a million and a half different people into Manhattan so it's not empty anymore, right, and here's the question: which one do you think is the original city?"

"Oh, boo hiss, don't answer her -- we're too drunk for philosophy, and how is that even meant to be embarrassing?" Foggy complained from the depths of his armchair.

"It's a fair question," Matt said slowly, imagining all the people he tried so hard to protect uprooted and adrift in a strange land, trying to recreate New York, and then imagining a sea of strangers equally adrift in the maze of concrete and steel he'd engraved into his bones, learning to love their new home, "and I think... I think a city isn't only the people or only the buildings and streets, so the answer is neither; but both new cities will carry the ideals and mistakes of the old city into the future, just like we carry our pasts with us no matter how hard we try to escape."

He knocked back his shot of whiskey even though the rules didn't require him to, and pretended he couldn't hear the sudden hitch in Karen's breath or Foggy's aborted attempt to stand and give him a hug.

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24. ) For anonymous: Sailor Moon, Makoto Kino, A favorite couple of animals of hers had been horses and tropical fish, written 1/17/16 [AO3 version]

habitat (200 words exactly)

"Thanks for coming with me this afternoon, Mako-chan, even though weird ice cream isn't your thing," Usagi said in a slightly guilty tone as she and Makoto exited Namjatown (Usagi with several takeout orders of gyoza stuffed into her shopping bag) -- and then, brightening, added, "Oh wait, I remember you said once that you used to keep tropical fish; we should visit the aquarium and see what kinds they have, since we're already here and it's only fair to do something you like as well as something I like!"

Makoto glanced reflexively upward toward the roof of the mall, thought about the difference between the untamed ocean and tiny glass tanks made to isolate and display their inhabitants, thought about her frantic efforts to create a balanced ecology in the artificial coral reef she'd had to sell when her parents died (and how many fish had perished from her ignorance), and shook her head.

"Let's go to my place instead, so I can show you one of my nature documentary collection and make you something to go with your gyoza," she said, and thanked fate once again for sending Usagi to rescue her from the tank of her own isolation.

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More to follow, possibly...
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
Here are six more fills from the current Three Sentence Ficathon, aka "My god, it's full of semicolons!" One of them is five sentences, but shush, at least I'm trying. (Two are also strict-form drabbles, because I just like drabbles, okay.)

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12. For [personal profile] jjhunter: Charlotte's Web, Charlotte A. Cavatica, PWC (penmanship to webmanship conversion), written 2/16/15.

Needs Must )

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13. For [personal profile] samueljames: White Collar, El/Neal/Peter, Neal wants to submit but a previous Dom(me) ignored his safeword so he is understandably nervous, written 2/18/15.

Twice Shy )

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14. For [personal profile] rthstewart: Narnia/LotR, Galadriel, Jadis, the price of peace, written 2/20/15.

Negative Example )

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15. For [personal profile] snickfic: BtVS, Faith/Giles, daggers and sheaths, written 2/21/15.

Missed Connections )

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16. For [personal profile] alexseanchai: Sailor Moon Classic, Chibiusa, crown, written 2/21/15.

Rosebuds While Ye May )

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17. For [personal profile] isabelquinn: Narnia, any, Bism, written 2/21/15.

Further Down and Further In )

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I have one more (much longer) fill that I'm going to post separately because of Reasons. Technically it should be #15, but I'm calling it #18 to keep this post's numbering internally consistent.
edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)
I am bored and attempting to stay awake. I am also, alas, out of inspiration for all my WIPs. So am I asking for prompts!

Give me a character or ship PLUS a scenario | setting | mood | line of dialogue, and I will try to write you a three sentence ficlet.

ETA: Prompts are closed! Thank you to everyone who contributed. :-)

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1 ) lost in translation: 50 words, Dave/Jade, lost in translation. For [tumblr.com profile] missgvc (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

2 ) picnic at 20,000 feet: 125 words, Rose/Sollux, on a plane. For [tumblr.com profile] bramblemouth (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

3 ) Poor Communication: 250 words, Miles Vorkosigan & the Faceless Old Woman Who Lives in Your House, "He would have told her if she'd asked." For [livejournal.com profile] sablin27 (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

4 ) A Likely Story: 275 words, Ayakawa Yukiko being amused at the antics of Naruto and Sasuke (who are temporarily allied because they're conspiring together about something). For [livejournal.com profile] wistfulmemory (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

5 ) High Wire: 425 words, Natasha Romanova (Avengers) & Parker (Leverage) - "That is not happening." For [livejournal.com profile] sablin27 (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

6 ) Inconvenient Truths: 200 words, Arthur Pendragon & Susan Pevensie, diplomatic immunity. For [personal profile] rthstewart (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

7 ) The Taste of Madeleines: 350 words, Luna Lovegood, Wrackspurts and brain farts. For [personal profile] rthstewart (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

8 ) Perchance To Dream: 350 words, Ariadne & Arthur, favorite books. For [livejournal.com profile] hungrytiger11 (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

9 ) Going Native: 150 words, Giles, no eating or drinking in the library. For [personal profile] rthstewart (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

10 ) The Test of Good Manners: 425 words, Amanda and Sarek, a moment of perfect understanding. For [livejournal.com profile] rosaxx50 (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

11 ) This Is Not an After-Action Review: 375 words, Natasha Romanova & Parker, Stark's reaction to their awesomeness. Tiny sequel to High Wire. For [livejournal.com profile] wistfulmemory (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

12 ) Rattle the Cage: 800 words, Gaila/Natasha Romanoff (Trek/MCU), undercover. For [tumblr.com profile] geiszlerandgaila (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

13 ) Small Favors: 450 words, Ayakawa Yukiko, Kakashi, and fireworks that aren't the typical festival fireworks. For [livejournal.com profile] wistfulmemory (Tumblr link; AO3 version)

14 ) Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl: 275 words, Edmund Pevensie & Lord Vetinari, comparing the intricacies of governing/spying in Narnia and Ankh Morpork. For [livejournal.com profile] priscipixie (Tumblr link; AO3 version)
edenfalling: headshot of a raccoon, looking left (raccoon)
Summary: Lucy kills her first vampire at thirteen. A Council representative turns up the next day. Chronicles of Narnia/BtVS crossover. (1,700 words)

Note: This is for [personal profile] rthstewart, who encouraged me to elaborate on my previous elaboration of Sword and stake, her Lucy-as-Watcher ficlet. (In other words, it's a prequel to Sword and Stake (Hath Yet Her Honor and Her Toil).) This is probably the end of that process, though, since anything further would require more historical research than I particularly want to bother with. (Hmm. Unless it's to explain how they all live through TLB? Hmmm. *attempts to ward off plot bunnies*)

[ETA: Now crossposted here on AO3!]

As Though To Breathe Were Life )

Ha, I CAN SO still write things! Take that, stupid situational depression. I will wrestle new things into being despite your best efforts to leach the power of creation from my hands.

*stands firm against the darkness*

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edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)
Elizabeth Culmer

May 2025

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