The problem with posting after 5000+ word chapters is that everything else seems so small. D: Ah, well! 8D Lead is meant to be a drabble series anyway! \o\ *floats on the happy boats of oblivion* Guilt thus abated, perhaps the words will come easier for the next chapter.

And we will all go down together

Fandom: Batman/Batman Beyond
Rating: PG
Characters: Bruce, Dick, Terry
Warnings: Assumes RotJ has happened. Assumes comics!history. Bruce, because this man deserves a warning all on his own. Typical Batman Relationships (TM).
Summary: Following his 50 year displacement, Dick learns about all the things that have - and have not - changed in the era of Terry McGinnis.

Fourth in the Better Dead than Lead arc.

1306 words and dimensional questions ho!

( Bruce laughs at him, low and really, truly amused. The old man taps his cane against the floor. 'Haven't slept well since I was nine.' )

The great and wonderful charlie_d_blue is responsible for all the awesome in this fic, and that is true.

Mind Bullets

Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: PG
Characters: Kirk, Bones, Pike
Warnings: Set directly before the Romulan attack, in the glory days of peace.
Summary: Kirk versus a machine versus his mind:

'One more,' Bones growls. 'One more, Jim, and then you stop doing this to yourself because it's ridiculous and it's out of hand and you can't win this, this isn't a game.'

'I don't believe,' Jim says sweetly, 'in no-win situations.'

6017 words and Kirk's turn at introspection! In a manner of speaking!

( One day, Bones brings a dongly machine thing into Jim's room and sets it up on Jim's table and then looks Jim in the eye and says, 'Jim, quid pro quo.' )

Writing Tseng and Rufus whenever Veld is around is like writing about children having sex in their parents' house. I mean, more nasdack, yes! 8D

It's highly recommended that you read the additional-canon bit, Signal To Noise, if you haven't already! It helps make sense of some of this huge backstory chapter. 8D

Some Futures Only Ever Fade To Black (Part 3/?)

Fandom: FFXII/FFVII (Stockmarket AU)
Characters/Pairings: Balthier/Tseng, Tseng/Rufus, Balthier/Rufus, Balthier/Tseng/Rufus, guest appearance by Veld
Rating/Warnings: NC-17
Word Count: 5721
Summary: Tseng's in New York, and so is the fledging Shinra-Bunansa empire: whether that is the point or the problem is anybody's guess. Hedging on futures can be such a tricky thing.

Functional explanation: The joint fault of karanguni and ellnyx. More excuses can be found here!

Previously:
Arc 1, Part One | Two | Three
Arc 2 (current arc!), Part One | Two
Plus additional in-universe bits

( The thumping, whirring acoustic mess of the company helicopter recedes into the distance after it deposits Rufus, freshly returned from his first semester of out-of-state exile in Chicago, on the roof of the Shinra Building. )

I never thought I'd put the words "Spock" and "internal monologue" together in the same phrase, but HERE WE GO ANYWAY. 8D

New, And Stumbling Forward

Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: PG
Characters: Spock; Pike, Scotty, Chekov, Uhura, Kirk
Summary: After Vulcan, Spock recovers his footing. Genfic.

2508 words and lots of Spock?

( It is a portrait of the galaxy reacting, the children of his home planet's system flung free. )

For bessemerprocess's prompt: Star Trek Reboot, The Crew, what tradition does Star Fleet have for crew members crossing the warp speed barrier for the first time? How does this get celebrated on the Enterprise?

To The Enterprise: of Warp Barriers, Captains, and Other Scary Things

Fandom: Star Trek 2009
Rating: PG
Characters: Chekov, Scotty, Kirk, Spock
Summary: Mr. Spock's eyes flick towards the blatantly huge and complicated (and exciting) and blatantly huge mathematical and engineering schematics on the console screen. Chekov can practically see the cogs in Mr. Spock's mind whirr - he is very, very fast at telemetry, which means there is probably no getting around the fact that what they have here is a plan to break the current warp speed record into many small pieces. Pavel wonders if that is the only thing that will be broken.

2734 words and lots of fail!invented!maths. 8D

( Mr. Spock clears his throat. 'Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov,' he intones, and Chekov feels his spine try to straighten itself in a fit of biological self-preservation. 'How long more before we clear the Farmonion Corridor and re-enter established Federation space?' )

Mine is the art of failing to title things for nasdack. \o/ I COMMAND YOU ALL TO READ THIS, because this bit is mostly written by ellnyx and is therefore composed of total and utter genius that makes anything I write look like bad-tasting corrugated cardboard. TRUST ME ON THIS.

You Can Work From Home So Long As We Can Work On You (Part 2/?)

Fandom: FFXII/FFVII (Stockmarket AU)
Characters/Pairings: Balthier/Tseng, Tseng/Rufus, Balthier/Rufus, Balthier/Tseng/Rufus
Rating/Warnings: Hard R
Word Count: 5698
Summary: Tseng's in New York, and so is the fledging Shinra-Bunansa empire: whether that is the point or the problem is anybody's guess. Hedging on futures can be such a tricky thing.

Functional explanation: The joint fault of karanguni and ellnyx. More excuses can be found here!

Previously:
Arc 1, Part One | Two | Three
Arc 2 (current arc!), Part One
Plus additional in-universe bits

( When Balthier stalks past, dark, scowling and not-quite-dangerous, a scorned package tucked tight under one arm, Tseng leans back and thinks: this has been a long time coming. )

Stockmarket AU returns to your TV screens for another season of original canon drama. ♥ I post in hopes of Getting Off My Arse and Completing The Last Bits of This Arc. PRESSURE MAKES THE HEART BEAT FASTER! 8D Also I continue to fail at titles, all the time!

There is No Witty Euphemism For Dividing And/Or Conquering (Part 1/?)

Fandom: FFXII/FFVII (Stockmarket AU)
Characters/Pairings: Balthier/Tseng, Tseng/Rufus, Balthier/Rufus (established!!)
Rating/Warnings: R
Word Count: 4001
Summary: Tseng's in New York, and so is the fledging Shinra-Bunansa empire: whether that is the point or the problem is anybody's guess. Hedging on futures can be such a tricky thing.

Functional explanation: The joint fault of karanguni and ellnyx. The earlier arc can be found here!

( Even though he now works under the Shinra corporate name, Balthier still doesn't sit in on boardroom meetings so much as he drops by every once in a while, a presence at the far end of the table with his legs or arms crossed, watching, sleeping, breathing. )

voksen + Highlander = dead K. This fic went from insanely co-operative to unbearably stubborn; now it has been stabbed into submission, and I seek the comfort of bed. 8D

The Business of Fear

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (OGC)/Highlander (/Baccano!)
Characters: Rufus, Methos; cameos by Tseng and Luck
Rating: Soft R
Summary: Rufus needs men who are know something of the business of fear.

Notes: Runs in the same line as New Men (Baccano!/Final Fantasy VII), but you don't need to read it to read this! Written for the no_true_pair prompt: Rufus is bound and blinded -- does Methos try to help, or take advantage of the situation?

4952 words and Rufus doing some recruiting!

( Hide and seek is something Methos has come to be good at over the years, but he has absolutely no illusions about playing against the Shinra Company. )

This fic officially took my brain, injected a thousand CCs of politics into it, beat it up and left me staggering about wildly. I haven't written something like this, I think, since Empery.

The last (and crowning) jewel of the Honourable Men triple bill (they're all standalones, though, so no need to read through).

I humbly request that you give this one a try. ♥ Okay going to go expire from exhaustion now.

Year One

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (BC through CC)
Characters: Lazard-Tseng-Rufus, Veld, Reeve, does the City of Midgar count?
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Spans through Crisis Core and Before Crisis backstory. You don't need to know BC, but it helps, and there's a tiny appendix at the bottom of the fic to help you if you'd like.
Summary: From the journals of Urban Development, filling in the lives and empty spaces in Midgar.

7575 words and Midgar being alive (with random guest appearances by everyone).

( One gets the impression that we shall soon be bringing them brighter futures as well. )

♥ to voksen for being my enabler and beta! First Gundam Wing fic! I'm only, y'know, about a decade late to this fandom, that's all! :D :D :D Second in the Honourable Men triple bill.

The Old Lie

Fandom: Gundam Wing
Characters: Treize, Zechs (13, 6)
Rating: PG
Summary: All men graduate from one history to another.

1984 (ha!) words and past-fic everywhere!

( 'And to your unreasonable expectations, Lord Khushrenada,' Zechs replies with a private smile, as they drink to oxymorons great and small. )

Fandom check: Final Fantasy XII?! Yeah, I don't know either. \o\ Apparently screaming at your laptop for 30 hours makes you go a bit funny in the head.

First in the second triple bill: and they are all, all honourable men.

Make as much of me as gentry

Fandom: Final Fantasy XII (OGC)
Characters: Ffamran, Dr. Cid
Rating: PG
Warnings: Backstory here we come, Ffamran-who?
Summary: The good doctor once spoke to his good son.

1013 words and lots of Cid posturing! \o

( 'You know, when your mother died, I had a thought,' said the good Doctor. )

Last post for tonight, I swear. *sleepy*

My other sweetcharityvox fic, this time for misura, and also for my own selfish little soul, which wants Estraven and the Left Hand of Darkness to be more loved both. :D mjules was my most amazing beta. ♥

Come Out of Kerm Land

Fandom: The Left Hand of Darkness
Characters: Estraven/Ashe, cameos by Sorve and Obsle, allusions to Arek/Estraven
Rating: PG
Summary: Therem Harth tells no love stories; yet there are other stories, some of which are Estraven's to tell.

1670 words and points of views everywhere! \o\

( 'Why, Lord Estraven, are you come so young out of Kerm Land?' )

Pauper-AU strikes back, for charity! Written for scheherezhad as her tart for sweetcharityvox. \o\ It's almost like cheating!

Runs In The Family

Fandom: Batman (Pauper!AU)
Characters: Bruce, Dick, Jason
Rating: PG13
Summary: Life, if Bruce had not been rich, goes like this for Dick: a small apartment, joy, dreams, and friends sharing spring breaks.

Notes: Standalone sequel to the earlier part of the AU

4907 words and a lot of Bats Trying To Be Normal (TM).

( 'Now or next year, Grayson?' Jason shouts from downstairs. )

ellnyx and I were talking nasdack, and in between lots of guilty feelings and a lot of random conversational tidbits, she provided this prompt: Balthier/Tseng/Rufus - inversion of roles/ceremony - love came in accordance with what he promised, and not only out of gratitude. And lo, I have written something:

~900 words. Tseng/Rufus/Balthier. Very soft R.

( Tseng doesn't offer any explanation when Rufus looks at him in askance. 'I'm sorry we're late,' he says instead. )


THEN SOMEHOW, TENTACLES GOT MENTIONED. Mayhap it is because shoe-kink still is unfathomable to Nyx, she instead jumps forward towards tentacles:

(12:13:58 AM) nyx: b/t/r, TENTACLE SEX
(12:14:00 AM) K: OKAY
(12:14:02 AM) K: YOU ARE ON
...
(12:14:11 AM) K: I WILL TENTACLE SEX THOSE THREE
(12:14:16 AM) nyx: NO NONO
(12:14:23 AM) K: WHAT IS THAT YOU ARE SAYING
(12:14:24 AM) K: YES YES YES?
(12:14:25 AM) nyx: THOSE THREE SEX THE TENTACLES
...
(12:14:44 AM) K: RUFUS DARING BALTHIER OR VICE VERSA
(12:14:45 AM) nyx: YES
...
(12:14:52 AM) K: SUCKERS
(12:14:53 AM) nyx: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Now that I have ascertained that this is NOT MY FAULT, I am here to enable. Here we go, tentacle porn. Or, uh, the closest I could get to it, anyway. NOT BRAIN SAFE. NOT HEAD SAFE. It's almost work safe. BUT IT HAS TENTACLES. FOR nasdack VERSE. If that doesn't warn you, NOTHING WILL! I blame the meds and 350am! CAVEAT LECTOR.

[edit] NOW KNOWN AS:

SQUID PRO QUO

Warnings for squick! ~900 words. R. Tseng, Rufus, Balthier/DRUG PRODUCING TENTACLE MONSTER.

( Crack, tentacles, and, uh, yeah. Crack and tentacles. )

[[edit]]

I think it is fair warning to direct readers to the copy of this post on nasdack, where, in the comments, Nyx illustrates how she is 2000 times crazier than I am.

On meds, and a little woozy, but white_jenna told me she'd read the small Lazard-Reeve thing I'd written a while back, and I know _ice_lady_ wanted a bit more of it, so here's some randomly put together bits of two or three Shinra Directors. :D I'm going to sleep on this one before I think of posting it elsewhere; is it too silly, you think?

The original snippet is under the first cut; if you've read that before then just click on the second cut straightaway. \o

Young Ones

A drabble. Reeve, Lazard, sudden guest appearance by Veld. PG. Unabashed cross-referencing of Crisis Core and Before Crisis, though you really don't need to know more beyond the words "Shinra" and "politics". ~1200 words.

( The rising political animal is a very dangerous creature, Reeve tells himself. )

( Lazard gets what he wants with a combination of sheer, dogged determination and a general apathy shared by every executive save Reeve. )

I am not going to press the backspace button for the next fifteen minutes except to make grammatical and spelling corrections. I MAKE NO CHANGES TO MY INSANITY: these bits are all meant to Reggib Worg (I'M SORRY MR. DAHL).

[edit] Plenty of happy mind bickering in the second one. :D Even if you don't know Samurai Warriors, well -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi (united the land) and hired Ishida Mitsunari (to be his sharp-tongued logistics guy and eventual Big Time retainer; in the game he is v. pretty and v. kickass and beats people up with a fan, I mean, come on), who in turn hired Shima Sakon (who talks back to Mitsunari where all others cower in fear/adoration/envy and gets bought over by much money HONOUR in exchange for his 1337 strategy skillz0rs).

I'm so sorry, Japan.

( Final Fantasy VII: Reeve and Lazard for _ice_lady (433 words) )

( Samurai Warriors 2: Ishida Mitsunari and Shima Sakon (406 words) )


Also in progress:

• Batfic: Pauper!AU Dick and Jason on spring break fic for scheherezhad
  
• FFVII: still more massive Restorations, ajsfkljalsfjlk, the million dollar question being, Will Reeve Ever Stop Talking?
  

I AM STILL TERRIFIED OF POSTING THIS STUFF ON AN UNLOCKED JOURNAL! :D So you can find it over a rahmbamarama - membership is open, though it usually takes your soul as a token entrance fee.

We, the people

AU. Rahm, Axelrod, Geithner, Orszag; Rahm/Anderson. 2329 words, PG.

( 'I hope when they write the books about this,' David says aloud, 'that, even if they don't recall Barack as a genius, they don't strip us down as charlatans, either.' )

I solemnly swear to be up to no good to post fic with each update. 8D

Probably the first Batfic I've written that I really like: give it a chance? :D?

This insubstantial pageant faded

Fandom: Batman
Characters: Dick, Bruce (gen)
Rating: PG
Summary: Life, if Bruce had not been rich, goes like this for Dick: a small apartment, joy, dreams.
Warnings: Bruce-is-a-pauper-AU-that-isn't, mix-and-match canon, Stealing Titles From Shakespeare (TM) and other shenanigans.

4447 words and Dick proving (once more) that to love Bruce in any capacity is to love the sound of your own suffering.

( Dick discovers that Bruce works for some engineering company – he's a whizz with numbers, does things like the grocery bill up mentally and without even using his fingers. )

Hi universe, am still alive and badly needing a) a break and b) the ability to either c) purchase the world or d) destroy it with my finger; on so few hours of sleep it's ridiculous, and body refuses to let me sleep even when I'm tired, so here, have incoherent Final Fantasy VII fic, written in a fit of experimentation (again). It's incoherent even to me, so yay!

Sort-of counterpoint to Tseng's insane-torture-braindeath in Flip, with strange echoes to Restorations, but neither is even consciously related. What am I talking about? Writing on 4 hours of sleep in the last 30 is a bad idea.

O Brother

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII, with Crisis Core bits
Rating: Soft R
Characters: Rufus, Lazard
Summary: The Stigma makes Rufus recall other sicknesses that are so well steeped in blood.

1414 words and Rufus being as crazy as how I feel. \o

( Rufus has too little imagination to dream: all his hallucinations are efforts of recombination and resuscitation, classroom lessons and bedroom etiquette. )

Caveat lector: I played around a bit with this piece, because I took a look at what I'd written for Tseng thus far and asked myself if I could honestly, honestly answer the question of why he seems - for the most part, with no truly contradictory evidence - to be at the very least amoral, and at the very worst outright evil, during the course of the original game canon. I wanted to find an answer that had him unashamed, and unrelenting, and true to the badassery of evil just being evil, and not caring if evil is a true enough name or not. And then, uh, Rufus-the-megalomaniac. Way to go, no explanation there either.

WELL, I TRIED. BUT I'M NOT THAT PROFOUND, SO YOU GET THIS PIECE OF WEIRD FIC. 8D NOW I GO HIDE, USING THE EXCUSE THAT IT'S FRIDAY THE 13TH, THEREFORE I AM ALLOWED TO USE ALL SORTS OF WEIRD ELEMENTS IN THIS FIC.

In intervening years

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Tseng, Rufus
Rating: PG
Summary: Sector Seven burns below. Then Tseng is paid his due rights: for loyalty, and trust, and the practice of looking for some small freedom.

Every day I examine my character in three aspects:
I am disloyal in my designs for others;
I am untrustworthy in my dealings with friends;
I have failed to practice what have been passed on to me.

(taken, and warped, from another Tseng - this one a Zen master.)
Warnings: Some Before Crisis and Crisis Core knowledge would be superbly helpful, but it's not essential, and a little note is attached under the cut at the end of the fic to try and compensate.

1512 words and an extremely, extremely experimental style here: this is not your normal Tseng speaking! Also, I apologise to several Roman emperors for stealing their cool.

( This is how loyalty is rewarded, as Tseng has seen out through to the latter days )