the wrong end of the telescope

Darlings, darlings. Things are a little tiresome right now, so I'm not around a whole lot. When I'm in a fandom space I'm mostly writing.

Speaking of writing! I wrote Have The Night, The Morning Too for athenejen, and okay, so, you will now understand why it was so obviously mine. The fandom is "Delilah," the Dresden Dolls song, and it's the story of Mandy, the graduate student at the University of Minnesota, who falls helplessly in love with her best friend. Only, well, she's an impossible girl, right? Bright and wanting to change the world and beautiful and--it's a little difficult for Mandy.

I loved writing this story more than I've loved writing anything in a while. I actually had this fandom on my list of requests but removed it because I realized I had a specific story in mind, and that never works out, so I took it off. (Children, take note: it is rarely a good idea to tell someone else to write a story that you have already planned out.) Imagine my surprise when I got my assignment: the prompt was on the list. I could write my story. I had marvelous betas: thesamefire and bexless were awesomely helpful and made it so much sharper and cleaner. I LOVE YOU TWO.

So if you read it, I'd love to hear what you think. Over there or over here. ♥


And if you want more femmeslash, you could go read Scrap, the lovely Lyn-Z/Amanda story that someone wrote for me. It's a quiet story, despite the fierceness of the two ladies, and I really like that, I like it a lot. I also love that the author wrote me a slow progression, and also managed a story where the sex wasn't automatically something that meant love, not right away. Also, this moment: Later, onstage, she had a sudden sense memory of pressing her face into Amanda's stomach, the welcoming warmth of Amanda's flesh. During the next guitar solo Lyn-Z did a backbend and stuck her bare belly straight up at the blazing sun. That's my girl, right there.

You could also always read Through The Grapevine, which is my Yuletide and was written by the lovely schneestern. It's not femmeslash, that's true, but it's Allison Fucking Hargreeves, Rumor my Rumor, and it's a sharp and perfect story. I still love how vicious it is, how right it feels. It's everything I wanted, everything. It has early Rumor, it has the first time she used her power, it has her families, her power (holy fuck, the way her power works here)--yeah, perfect.

I get a little silly around Christmas. I end up in this state of mind where I bawl at Christmas songs, write very heartfelt messages for my family on all the presents, and just generally feel like there is an epically important point to the day that gets missed a lot. We mostly don't miss it; I don't have a perfect family by any means, but we do manage to celebrate Christmas in a way that is mostly not stressful and succeeds in being sweet and light and wonderful and nondenominational.

For the most part, anyway. (Let's not talk about the time last year when my dad was lying underneath the tree, trying to hold it up while my sister attempted some complicated feat of engineering that would allow the tree to keep standing up straight.)

But I'm thinking about meaningful moments, anyway. So that's the theme--give me a setting, a pairing or a friendship or two acquaintances, and a moment when things change. It could be a first kiss, a revelation (when so-and-so found out about x), a break-up, etc. Fandoms are bandom, BTVS, DCU, Veronica Mars, and anything else you've seen me write in. Crossovers are totally fine, rare pairings are encouraged, outlandish AUs are lots of fun, etc. You know how I roll. This time, though, I'm only doing twelve. One of those is airgiodslv's, the other eleven are open.

And I love you all. But you knew that.

So I woke up to four snowflake cookies in my inbox, and over the course of the day I ended up getting another five, and man, it made my day. I didn't get any other writing done today (I know, I know, bad Vee), but I did manage this silly thing just now.

nokomis305, sunsetmog, modillian, bexless, liketheroad, halflinen, thesamefire, delphinapterus, and bunnymcfoo--this one's for you. It is ridiculous, I am ridiculous, but I love you lot. And technically one of you isn't reading fic right now, but I hope she will take this in the spirit in which it is intended.



Title: T'is The Season
Pairing/Category: Gen
Word Count: 400
Warnings: None
Characters: Gerard, Lyn-Z, Joe Jonas, Jon Walker, Spencer Smith, Greta Salpeter, and Brendon Urie. Mentions of Nick Jonas and Mikey Way.
Summary: Um, the one where they're working in the bakery part of the workshop that makes the winter holidays happen (not just Christmas!). Gerard gets stressed, Joe Jonas knocks over cookies, and Greta sings. That's mostly what happens. This has no redeeming virtues apart from its cast.


( It was a week before things would officially get completely fucking crazy. )

I had two posts to make today; this one is the one I shouldn't need to make. Today is the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women. It's a long name for a day and a hefty undertaking, unfortunately, because this is a world where women get hurt. And I can't actually write a post about this, because the terrible things that happen to women, it's the thing I carry and don't know what to do with because it hurts so goddamn much.

And by that I mean I know too many women who have been hurt by somebody, I've taken too many phone calls, you know how it goes, but I can't stop taking the phone calls or hearing the stories, even when I have no idea what to say. Really, there isn't much you can say except "I'm so sorry someone did that to you" and "I'm here" and "I love you."

So here is a story of mine. A ficlet, really. It'll have to stand in for meta, today. Let's just all agree that this fucking bullshit needs to end.



Title: On Your Marks
Pairing: Alicia gen.
Warnings: reference to past rape and violence.
Word Count: 975
Summary: AU. Alicia is fighting a revolution and she is a former prisoner of war. She wasn’t expecting to see one of her jailers again, let alone as one of their prisoners, but that's okay, she has things she needs to say.

A/N: Technically, this is set in my Big Bang verse, but all the context it needs from that is in the summary. Also, this is in no way intended as a commentary on what victims of sexual assault should do/need to do/or what closure should look like, this is a story I needed to write and something I need to post today. ETA: And I forgot to say, thesamefire looked at this for me back in June when I wrote the first half, and she told me the thing I needed to fix the ending. Thank you again, darling.

( Oh, yes, she knows this man. )

I'm done! At last, at last. I kind of had a little too much fun with these, let's just put it that way, and therefore they are All Over The Place. We have superheroes, a weird sort of fairy tale, a ball (complete with stupid shoes), steampunk, a crossover with ATS, Bunny!pov (yup, I wrote a story in the pov of Mikey's cat, feel free to laugh) and a lot of other strange little universes. No warnings, I don't think, apart from very vaguely implied off-screen violence in the girl!Gee/Amanda ficlet and past original character death in the Bob/Gerard/Lyn-Z one. Oh, and Alicia is dead in the one where she is a ghost. Obviously.

Also, in terms of pairings, we have, in no particular order: girl!Gerard/Amanda, Lyn-Z/Alicia, Lyn-Z/Alicia/Jamia, Alicia/Mikey/Pete, girl!Bob/Gerard, Cash/Ian, Kitty/Lyn-Z, Bob/Gerard/Lyn-Z, and Frank/Mikey/Pete.



Title: Kick Your Shoes Off
Pairing: Lyn-Z/Alicia
Word Count: 1242
Summary: Lyn-Z hates balls. And dresses. And the shoes she's wearing. Luckily, she meets someone who can distract her.

Notes: For airgiodslv. Prompt: costume party or masquerade ball and LESBIAN GHOST PORN.


(  Lyn-Z worries at her sleeve again. )


Title: Got To Get To Her Somehow
Pairing: Alicia/Lyn-Z/Jamia
Word Count: 381
Summary: AU. A member of their team is kidnapped, so Jamia and Alicia are putting together a rescue effort.

Notes: For fleurdeliser. The prompt was trick or treat, so of course I wrote about superheroes.


( Alicia hates Halloween. )


Title: Takes One To Know One
Pairing: Alicia/Mikey/Pete
Word Count: 376
Summary: Alicia dares Mikey to dress up for Halloween.

Notes: For iamsupernova. The prompt was Alicia dares Mikey to dress up with her and go to some club on Halloween and they see Pete there and HOT DANCEFLOOR SEDUCTION HAPPENS.


( Mikey isn't sure about this wearing a dress thing. )


Title: Ghosts In The Machinery
Pairing: Gerard/Lindsey, implied eventual Bob/Gerard/Lindsey
Word Count: 853
Summary: AU. Gerard and Lindsey bought a boat to live on and do their art, but they keep finding odd things.

Notes: For mahoni. The prompt was Bob/Gerard/Lindsey, in which there are GHOSTS of some sort.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about boats bigger than a three-person sailing boat.


( Gerard snaps awake and hits his head on the bunk. )


Title: Some Day I'll Make It Mine
Pairing: girl!Gerard/Amanda
Word Count: 681
Summary: Gee can't find her brother, and the forest is too fucking deep.

Notes: For softlyforgotten. The prompt was this video, which is Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.


( It's been three days since Gee last saw Mikey. )


Title: The Wind Began To Howl
Pairing: Cash/Ian
Word Count: 440
Summary: Cash has a new bass. It's haunted.

Notes: For colouredmango. The prompt was Shingai Shoniwa!!!! Haunts some one!! Anyone!!! Bonus points if it is Cash/Ian. Shingai Shoniwa is the super-talented and seriously hot lead singer/bassist in The Noisettes, which, if you haven't listened to them yet, what are you doing?


( Poke. Poke. Poke. )


Title: Take Me Disappearing
Pairing: Gerard/Oz
Word Count: 366
Summary: I'm just going to use the prompt: Gerard fills in as lead singer for "Dingoes Ate My Baby" (Devon injured himself in a bizarre apple-bobbing incident?) at a Halloween night gig at The Bronze.

Notes: For morebliss.


( Gerard's nervous. No, scratch that, Gerard is really fucking nervous. )


Title: The Loneseome Organ Grinder Cries
Pairing: Lyn-Z/Kitty
Word Count: 460
Summary: Lyn-Z isn't sure about this.

Notes: For yan_tan_tether. Prompt: Lyn-Z and Kitty on a ghost train! The other installment in this verse is over here


( Investigating a ghost train may not have been the brightest of ideas. )


Title: His Pointy Shoes And His Tail
Pairing: Implied Frank/Mikey/Pete
Word Count: 607
Summary: Bunny wants revenge.

Notes: For turps33. Prompt: buying costumes for all the pets, because they so would! Um, this turned out quite differently from what I intended.


( Bunny scratches irritably at her left ear. )


Title: Look Out Tonight
Pairing: girl!Bob/Gerard
Word Count: 592
Summary: Bob is really over this tall dark and brooding thing. If he wanted to be impressive, he shouldn't have named himself Angel. Also, Gerard is being a pain.

Notes: For turloughishere. Prompt: getting attacked by demons in LA somehow leads to getting involved with Angel and his gang.


(  Bob stares at Gerard mulishly, pointedly not taking the towel he's holding out. )

And I'm almost done with my technical translation, even though there were a lot of prompts and a lot of difficult technical terms. I also finished my website editing, realized I have half of the project plan due in two weeks written already and the rest outlined, wrote an abstract draft and did a teeny-tiny translation. Those were some productive four days.

I also managed to make time go to dinner with a friend yesterday, where I got embarrassingly tipsy on one glass of wine (these days, I am what they call a Cheap Date), but the funniest part came before the eating/drinking: we got carded. In Sweden. Where you can drink alcohol at 18. *dies laughing*

But the commentfics! There are a lot of stories about soup, a few about leaves, one about tea, one about a blanket fort, one about a lobster, and one about a tough day at work. I wrote, in order:

Gerard and Mikey gen for giddy_london. Mikey wakes Gerard up before noon. Gerard is not happy.

Bandom/BTVS, Bob/Willow for crowgirl13. The Hellmouth is a lousy place to live but sometimes it works out okay.

Bandom/Criminal Minds, Alicia/Mikey/Reid for iamsupernova and absenteye. Mikey meets someone at Starbucks and takes him home.

Bandom/Veronica Mars, Veronica and Gerard gen for strange_bt_true. Veronica receives some unexpected help.

Bandom/BTVS, Brian/Gerard for brilligspoons. Gerard thinks the Slayer is awesome and Brian is jealous.

Bob/Frank, Halloween for anoneknewmoose. Frank has decided that Bob and him are going as Dr Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster for Halloween. Bob is not a fan of this plan.

Bandom/DCU, Bob/Bruce Wayne for mahoni. Bruce is roasting pumpkins and Bob is amused. This one has a whole backstory of Batman rescuing Bob from things and Bob figuring out his identity, etc etc.

Bandom/Veronica Mars, Lyn-Z/Mac for antihysteric. Mac is nervous and Lyn-Z builds a blanket fort. This one might be my new favorite pairing.

Bob/Patrick, raking leaves for morebliss. Bob and Patrick get conned into dealing with the leaves in Patrick's parents' yard and I almost write porn.

Amanda Palmer and Gerard gen for enhendi. Set in my big bang verse where they're all revolutionaries, and sometimes Gerard can't sleep.

Cash/Ian, vegetable lasagnas for colouredmango. Wherein Ian likes to watch Cash when he cooks.

Original fic, Kit/Aria/Rick for unlurkster and softlyforgotten. On why soup can be magical, even when life is awful. Or part of a modern fairytale, if you will.

Gerard and a lobster gen for blindmouse. Gerard talks to a lobster.

I'm stealing a meme from colouredmango (who is borrowing my brain for the evening, btw, and has promised to feed and care for it properly--no, don't ask) and liketheroad.

Ask me about a pairing I have written (or haven't and you think I should write) and I will give you five facts about them or a ficlet or a song that is CLEARLY THEIR SONG or their wedding china pattern, etc etc! Let's say this one is any fandom/band/etc that you can reasonably assume that I'm familiar with, yeah? Familiar meaning, you know, having heard of them.

I spent some time this weekend distracting myself while stuck in bed by writing ficlets for my icons. They were supposed to be about 200 words each, but I started with the one for Steve and Lyn-Z, and it's now 1500 words and most emphatically Not Done. These two are, though.



Keywods: thin sunshine

Title: Strike Another Match, Let's Start Anew
Pairing: Gen
RatingL PG
Summary: Frank and Ray take a break during the shooting of the video for I'm Not Okay.
Word Count: 360

( During a break from shooting, Frank sneaks outside. )


Keywords: oh love, oh my love

Title: One Hand Waving Free
Pairing: Gerard/Lindsey
RatingL PG
Summary: Gerard and Lindsey are on a vacation in Sweden. For bunnymcfoo.
Word Count: 390

( Gerard is unhappy with the weather. )

Scratch Your Name (Into the Fabric of This World)

Pairing: Background Bob/Brian, Chantal/Jimmy, Amanda/Dusty/Katie Kay.
Word Count: 24,214
Rating/Warnings: R. Character death, violence, some blood/gore, brief mentions of torture and a past rape.
Summary: As the only survivor of a series of executions by the Squad at an underground music show, Lindsey starts her own private revolution doing (illegal) street art. Then, one night, caught out by and running from a Patrol group, she gets unexpected help in evading capture -- and joins a much more public revolution. Set in a very different New York City.


Author's Notes:

This fic would never have happened without a great deal of help from some amazing, amazing people. First and foremost, I can't tell you how much I owe enhendi and wasoncedelight--they held me to my own canon, yelled at me about characterization and punctuation and my many, many run-on sentences. torakowalski helped me build this universe, in a series of emails wherein I went "What if..." and she nodded encouragingly at me and asked intelligent questions, and then she betaed one of the early drafts as well. Finally, without the hand-holding, the cheering, and the support of nokomis305, thesamefire, and absenteye and many other poor souls on my flist, the story would not have been finished. I love all of you very much, ladies.

Also and obviously, I am most grateful to my wonderful artist tuesdaysgone, my fantastic mixers sweetnovicane and astaria51, who created marvelous, marvelous bonus content for my story, and to the bandombigbang mods for running this awesome challenge again. Someone mentioned color-coded spreadsheets, and oh man, I can't even imagine the madness. Finally, I borrowed the summary from here.

Master Post | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Epilogue


Bonus Tracks/Enhanced Content

Fanart:

Art by tuesdaysgone

Art by absenteye

Fanmixes

Fanmix by sweetnovicane

Fanmix by astaria51

Master Post | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Epilogue

( Part 2 )