In the early days of the bantering and brainstorming that would become Highlander: the Agent, Tornis had given in to the pull of the muses and started writing scenes from a casefic. As much fun as it was to have near-daily additions to the story to look forward to, I started to feel guilty about not contributing anything of my own. In order to ease myself into the characters, I decided to write a story capitalizing on one of the recurring jokes we'd developed.

( The cat )

As all Highlander backstories need the Reveal Scene, that's also what I wanted to do: The one where we get to see how the family dealt with the news and what put the first pieces into place that would lead to the Matthew that we met in "Manhunt."

( From here to 'Manhunt' )

And thus was born:

Title: Reconcilable Differences
Word Count: 8750
Characters: Matthew, Original Characters, Corwin the Cat
Rating: T (I think there's a swear)
Summary: The year is 1989, and Matthew has been happily married for almost two decades. Recognizing that his lack-of-aging is catching up to this life, he realizes it's time to have the talk with his family.

This also marks the first of the extras that I wrote, and the first one posted on our new schedule of releasing extras on Wednesdays.

Stolen from havocthecat

Leave me a number, and I'll come up with an answer.

Stolen from malinaldarose

Rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

1. Chilled - Teen Wolf - Scott/Isaac - Scott helps Isaac deal with a nightmare. 970 words. 11,706 hits (over twice as many as my second most hit fic)
   

2. Stay - Teen Wolf - Scott & Stiles - A bus trip conversation. 384 words. 293 kudos.
   

3. Death Defiant - Teen Wolf/Highlander fusion - Jackson & Scott - When newly Immortal Jackson becomes the target of a mysterious killer, he is forced to ask Scott for help. 16,375 words. 80 comments.
   

4. The Thickness of Blood - Arrow/The Tomorrow People (2013) - When Oliver and Stephen learn that secrets run in the family, they also learn that there's more than one way to fight a war. 30,994 words (abandoned, incomplete). 39 bookmarks.
   

5. Grimm's Law - The Tomorrow People (1992) - Lisa dreams of being left alone until a girl who is alone walks into her dreams. 27,690 words. (first posted fic on Ao3 too!)
   

6. Home Town Pride - Eerie, Indiana - A small town attitude with grand aspirations. 31 words. (a limerick)
   

With all that's been going on in the country, I have been extremely negligent about sharing my fic, so here's what's been keeping me sane.

Highlander Shortcuts

For Shortcuts this year, I received the most incredible, insightful fic about Gregor and Richie from brightknightie, in which we see post-canon Gregor's struggle to find meaning in life again.

As always with Shortcuts, the stories went live right in the middle of finals week, which is when I'm buried under scores of essays and research papers that the university seems to think I can grade in a couple days. (I can't, in case you're wondering). I did manage to carve out enough space to read the fic when it first posted, though it took a couple extra days for me to close my mouth and sort out my thoughts enough to say anything coherent. The story is that good.

As has now happened more than once, BK took one of my standing prompts and interpreted it in an entirely different direction than I'd imagined, with the result of managing to write me a fic that is exactly what I didn't know I wanted. It's such a delight, every time!

Title: Garbage and Flowers
Word Count: 4772 words
Summary: Gregor has started a new life. Getting the hang of feeling again is harder than it looks. And when he drops by Alec Hill’s house to make amends, he learns that Alec is dead and Richie is the one who killed him.

Meanwhile, I was matched to karrenia_rune, who requested a slew of Movie characters, as well as Methos, Joe, Amanda, and Duncan. She also indicated interest in What-if AUs, and slice-of-life and missing scene fics.

I wasn't really interested in writing a Methos & Joe fic (I feel like I do that too often in exchanges), and I didn't have any ideas for other groupings of the series characters, so I decided to venture into unknown territory and write something movie-based.

The movie isn't really my fandom, which necessitated a re-watch and deep thinking.

In the end, I wrote:

Title: Forging
Word Count: 1151 words
Summary: To survive as an Immortal, Connor has a lot to learn, and Ramirez can't do it alone.

Fandom Trees

This year, I didn't sign up for fandomtrees, and wasn't really planning to participate at all. But, then I saw that one of the needy trees had a request for Henry Danger, and I felt uniquely poised to take it on.

For Tellmewhatyousee, I took a dive in the early days of the show when Dan Schneider (::spit::) was still the showrunner and the writing still focused on the civilian lives and relationships of the characters (::yay!::) and wrote:

Title: Blow Up
Word Count: 1676 words
Summary: When a photo from Henry's past resurfaces, Piper voices her objections.

Tellme also received a podfic of a Henry Danger drabble collection -- which, happened to be my drabble collection. So, although the podfic wasn't for me, it feels like I got a gift of my own.

Peasina did a fantastic job transforming my collection Junk 'n Words, a set of four drabbles that I'd written for the FFFC Fandom Battle a few years ago. (She can podfic anything of mine, anytime she wants!)

Title: Junk 'n Words (podfic)
Time: 4 minutes
Summary: Four drabbles, two pre-canon and two post-canon

And thus ends my exchange participation of 2024.

fandomgiftbasket was an incredible surprise this year!

I've done several of these types of events over the years, with varying levels participation and presents. My goal for these is always to match my gifts one for one -- though sometimes that's easier to promise than fulfill.

This year, I didn't make it ... because somehow I hit the jackpot with wonderful people who wanted to make me things!

When the giftbasket opened, it was stuffed with five fics across four fandoms!!

Henry Danger

far from home - 200 words - by tellmewhatyousee - Henry adapts to life in Dystopia.

Highlander

Just a Little Trouble by teratornis - 3586 words - Cory's latest death might've landed him in a tough spot. But then, he's always had pretty good luck at meeting the right kind of person when he needs to.

Really, That Guy? by black_dwarf - 1325 words - Set shortly after the events of The Messenger. Richie and Methos have a little heart-to-heart.

Leverage: Redemption

Untitled - 100 words - by tptigger - Hardison and Nana make a plan.

Zorro

In Limbo by rodo - 2485 words - Diego & Monasterio - After a fight gone wrong, Zorro and Monasterio have to rely on each other to make it back to safety.


I love them all, and you should go read and comment on them too.

---

Meanwhile, I was able to produce four items in four fandoms:

Leverage

Bytes - 946 words - Even Hardison can't run on an empty stomach. Hardison/Eliot. For zilentdreamer.

Teen Wolf

Chapters - 1403 words - Melissa is about to have an empty nest. Melissa & Scott. For logans_girl2001.

The Tomorrow People (1992)

No Contest - 1180 words - After "Origin Story," Lisa has a decision to make about her future. For estirose.

Book Rec

and a book rec for kalloway's interest in books about cemetaries: Badger Boneyards: The Eternal Rest of the Story.

Unfortunately, the multiple extensions of the giftbaskets' opening coincided with my semester starting back up, so I wasn't able to finish anything else.

---

Thanks to everyone who made me things! ❤️

This was the best year, and I truly appreciate all the love.

It's been six months since I participated in an event, so I signed up for fandomgiftbasket.

My basket is here:



The fandoms in my request this time around are:

Henry Danger
Highlander: the Series
Leverage and Leverage: Redemption
The Listener
Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
Zorro (TV 2024)

Gift preferences include requests for fic (all), recs (Spider-Man), meta (Henry Danger), and recursive work (Highlander)

A few of my standbys didn't make the cut because I couldn't think of any prompts. :(

Are you feeling creative and looking for an excuse to write something short? Come say hi.

Another Shortcuts is in the books! This marks my 12th year participating.

This year, I was assigned to pennywashburne, who took one of my long-standing prompts for a Psych crossover and went to town on it.

Tres Hombres Y Quatro Quesos Dos Fritos (5690 words) was the result.

Most Highlander crossovers seem to start with the crossover character(s) witnessing or discovering a Challenge. This one starts with a body disappearing from the morgue. Specifically, it's Richie who gets up and walks out, which leads to Shawn & Gus being hired to find out where the body went.

The story nails the character voices, gets everyone into and out of their mess in the most satisfyingly inconclusive way possible, and manages to sneak in a stealth crossover. Check it out. Based on the comments, knowledge of Psych isn't necessary.

---

Meanwhile, I was assigned hafital, who has so much to work with in her sign-ups that I knew exactly what I wanted to write.

I did not, however, write that.

There's been a lot going on here, which probably contributed to the theme of the story that did happen.

( Do you want background on the story? Because this is where you'll find it. )

I have set up a tree.

Requested Fandoms*

Daredevil (TV)

Henry Danger

Highlander

Julie and the Phantoms

Leverage

Spider-Man (MCU)

Superman & Lois


_{* Some of my standard fandoms are not included in this request, in an attempt to keep the size manageable. If you have an idea for something you know I'll like, please don't let my requests hold you back.}

Written for sapphicsunshower, as part of the Fic or Treat event.

Characters: Eliot, Parker, Hardison
Relationship: Eliot/Parker/Hardison
Rating: T (to be safe)
Word Count: 1264
Summary: Parker has some ideas about what she, Eliot, and Hardison should dress as for Halloween.

( Read more... )