silveradept | AO3 Output - January-June 02020

I am behind on this! That says something about how the virus has been affecting brains and more. But, all the same, here we are in a place for commentary on six month's worth of work. Here we go.

Chasing Tail (2538 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Final Fantasy I
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: White Mage/White Mage/White Mage/White Mage
Characters: Temple-Trained White Mage | Noel, Farm-Raised White Mage | Erin, Usually Encouraging White Mage | Alex, White Mage Trained As A Dancer | Yuki
Additional Tags: Self Confidence Issues, Not-Actually-Allegorical Allegories, (Un?)Usual Euphemisms, Found Family
Summary:
Four White Mages are searching for the artifact that Bahamut demanded they get.
Wait, no, three of them are. The fourth one isn't sure why everyone else keeps humoring him by letting him tag along when his magic isn't working.
Commentary: This cycle's been good about giving me things outside of my standard space for writing, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to engage in the "Four White Mages all together" that I had been seeing in several exchanges up to this point. The story that Erin tells about the goat is one that happened to my maternal grandfather, and I thought it would be good to have it accompanied by some visuals, in the same way that some of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips are often accompanied by visuals.

We Didn't Start The Fire (2770 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire
Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alya Césaire, Original Miraculous Ladybug Character(s)
Additional Tags: Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Bisexual Ladybug, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Press and Tabloids, Polyamourous Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Cure Is Scary, Cataclysm Is Scary, Social Justice, Global Warming, geopolitics, Why Send A Superhero To Do A Billionaires Job?
Summary:
The world has decided that Ladybug has the power to change everything and is demanding she do so. Ladybug calls a press conference to explain what she thinks about this.
Chat Noir adds the stinger.
And then Marinette, Adrien, and Alya have a study session that's nominally about economics.
Commentary: Someone left a perfectly good plot outline lying around and I had an idea about how to write it. So I did. Because it was a good outline.

The Waterbender (1783 words) by silveradept
Fandom: The Little Mermaid (1989), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ariel (Disney)/Katara (Avatar)
Characters: Ariel (Disney), Attina (Disney), Alana (Disney), Andrina (Disney), Katara (Avatar)
Additional Tags: Insensitive Remarks, Merperson Ariel (Disney), Waterbending & Waterbenders, Ambassador Ariel, Sibling Banter, Post-Canon, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Summary:
Katara is trying to get back to Republic City, and Ariel has brought her to Atlantica to enlist the aid of Queen Attina in finding the way home. And, possibly, a little bit of showing Katara off. If Ariel can convince Katara that she's interested.
Commentary: Ariel/Katara isn't something I would have thought of on my own, but this assignment had me digging more into what things would be like for Ariel after the end of her movie(s, possibly, but I haven't seen the sequels) and how Ariel might approach trying to show off Katara to her siblings in a bid to get them to understand. I'm not sure it would have actually worked for anyone, but it gave me a lot of opportunity to think about water and mermaids and what Ariel would find attractive.

Visions and Feelings (752 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale
Characters: Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale
Additional Tags: High School Is Hell When You're an Empath, Flirting
Summary:
Alice good-naturedly teases Jasper about the emotions she was sending him in class, as Jasper continually refuses to find much good about going through high school, or many other situations where strong emotions were present.
Commentary: Twilight is a story that's stronger than the author that wrote it, which made that particular execution "eh" for me, but it did leave some intriguing possibilities for the characters themselves, and that kind of combination is good for fic. Plus, I get to poke fun at the idea of the Cullen clan repeating high school all the time and what kind of hell that would be for someone who feels emotions strongly. Because aigh, high school is a place of a lot of feelings.

Studying The Masters (4396 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste & Alix Kubdel & Lê Chiến Kim, Alix Kubdel & Lê Chiến Kim
Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alix Kubdel | Bunnyx, Lê Chiến Kim, Original Akumatized Character(s)
Additional Tags: Professional Wrestling - Freeform, Clown Training Of A Sort, Adrien Agreste Gets Fanart Ideas, Adult Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Adult Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adult Alix Kubdel | Bunnyx, Adult Lê Chiến Kim
Series: Part 2 of Cirque d'Akuma
Summary:
In which Kim and Alix drag Adrien to a professional wrestling match because if you want to watch how to do physical clowning before a deadline, there are very few better places available for the price of a ticket than the professional wrestling circuit.
Commentary: After having written the first one in December, I kept having this idea of Adrien having to learn how to clown on a fast track, a short enough time that he wouldn't be able to go to clowning school or to a circus training program (after all, he came along and auditioned on a lark). I realize that WWE and other wrestling promotions aren't as popular in France as they are in the States, but I decided to handwave it as Kim knowing these things and being very interested in the narrative aspects and Alix playing foil to Kim's enthusiasm and appreciating the technical aspects of the performacnces. Because the point is for Adrien to learn how to sell whatever is going on to a very large audience. And also, because I think the concept of a Ladybug and Chat Noir that work according to the rules of professional wrestling to be mostly hilarious (and an opportunity for some enterprising fanartist if they ever decide to take up that idea.)

The Successor Letter (4502 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Seneca Crane
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Professional Turns Personal, Hunger Games, Hunger Games Tributes, Hunger Games Arenas, Worldbuilding, Gamemakers - Freeform, Historical Hunger Games
Summary:
Congratulations, Gamemaker! You've been selected to construct the narrative and supervise the construction of the Arena for the next Hunger Games. I, your predecessor, will guide you through some of the trickier aspects of building so that you can have a satisfying and action-filled Games.
Commentary: Epistolary work is all sorts of fun, and as I kept writing this, I realized that I have a lot of headcanon to fill in the missing parts of the Hunger Games due to the narrative sticking very, very close to Katniss. This was before the President Snow book came out, so there may be more knowledge about Capitolite society and the construction of Games, but eh, whatever. I had a fun time running through what some prospective Gamemaker might need to know upon assuming the position, and what sorts of cultural references I could get away with when describing other Games and their themes.
It's also kind of nice that I'm to the point in the things I'm writing where I no longer have to worry about making the minimums, but instead can focus on whether or not the story is done at that point, or not.

The Greatest Ambition (2469 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hannah Abbot & Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom & Luna Lovegood, Luna Lovegood & Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood & Original Character(s)
Characters: Hannah Abbott, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Original Characters, Minerva McGonagall
Additional Tags: Trans female Luna Lovegood, Non-Binary Neville Longbottom, Transmisic Parents, Xenophilious Lovegood Defies Categories, Draco Malfoy Does Good Work, Anachronic Narration
Summary:
What started as a study group for Transfiguration has become a support group for the many students who wish to live as the people they are. Without intending to, Luna has become more than just their tutor.
Commentary: I took part in the HP Transfest this year because JKR was (and continues to be) on TERF-y bullshit and the version of Hogwarts that I have in my head is one that still struggles with a lot of issues, but that definitely isn't the kind of place that would end up being gender-essentialist about it. Call it my intense desire to defend Hufflepuff, even though Luna, a Ravenclaw, is my main character. I often like using Luna because of her orthogonal viewpoints to the established Hogwarts that allows me to say what might otherwise be considered strange, but because it's Luna, nobody bats an eye about it. And because the prompt specifically asked for a trans Luna.

A Bit of Harmless Flirting (3385 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Batman (1966), Green Hornet (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Britt Reid
Characters: Barbara Gordon | Batgirl (Batman 1966), Britt Reid | The Green Hornet (Green Hornet TV), Kato (Green Hornet TV), Bruce Wayne | Batman (Batman 1966)
Additional Tags: Britt Reid Is A Flirt, Casual dating, Identity Deduction
Summary:
After being sent in Commissioner Gordon's place, Barbara Gordon is introduced to Britt Reid, who takes a liking to her. As a cautious woman with an identity to protect, Barbara doesn't think Mr. Reid's interest is very serious, but she will enjoy the attention while it's on her.
Commentary: One of the things that have been more true than usual about this year's exchange efforts is that one should be ready and willing to write any of the things that are being offered. In this particular case, this is the second time around I've had this pairing for this recipient, so I tried to do a better job this year, since I got the distinct feeling that the last time, I didn't produce a work that the recipient enjoyed. I'm still not sure I got it right this time, either, but I feel better about the work this time around. It might be that I'll have to avoid that pairing in the future so as to give the recipient a chance for other writers to take a hack at it.

Lessons for Cousins (2787 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Theseus and the Minotaur (Parallel Lives - Plutarch), Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ariadne & The Seven Sacrificial Maidens
Characters: Ariadne (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Theseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Seven Sacrificial Maidens (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Additional Tags: Theseus is not a catch, Clever Ariadne, Plans, Boastful Theseus
Summary:
Ariadne has a few maidens, a little time, and a lot to teach them about their upcoming fate. In years before, this was only to comfort them, but this year, perhaps, with the help of someone with more courage than brains, she can get her maidens out before the creature at the center of the Labyrinth gets them.
Commentary: There's a certain amount of thrill that happens with getting to dive into older texts, mythological matters, legends, and the like, for me. Those stories leave a lot of places for reinterpretation, elucidation, or the telling of alternate stories or alternate ways of telling the stories, than some of the more tightly-plotted pieces of later times. And so, in this case, I got to take the cue from the prompt that Theseus was definitely not All That and spin that into an entire story about how the hero of that story is Ariadne, and that Theseus only went in the direction that Ariadne pointed him in. Plus, I got to indulge in a certain amount of flowery language, which is a lot easier to do with the older works. This one felt really solid as a work.

Feel Miraculous Inc (1807 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Kitty Section (Miraculous Ladybug), Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine
Additional Tags: One-Sided Chat Noir/Ladybug - Freeform, Songfic, Song Lyrics, Ladybug's Carefully-Hidden Worries, Ladybug's Not-At-All-Hidden Worries, Dork Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Kiity Section Rocking Out, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug
Summary:
Marinette is enjoying a concert with Kitty Section, when a certain black cat appears for a cover and starts getting uncomfortably close to the truth. To try and dispel his fears, Ladybug decides to crash the concert and provide a verse of her own.
Chat Noir wants to talk afterward, but the convenient appearance of an akuma frustrates this attempt.
Commentary: A songfic idea that wouldn't leave me alone, as I was having a bit of a listening to Gorillaz kick. Thankfully, I never have to actually sing this filk, so that I can hear how terribly they actually scan, and instead I can imagine how well they will or won't and handwave the idea that it's good enough to be recognizable. Which is what allowed me to later on, and in someone else's space, write an "about me" to the (very) general form of My Shot. Mostly because I liked the idea. So, here you are, a song with some changed lyrics and the story built around them.

Dinner and a Show of Friendship (1609 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII, Hilda (Cartoon)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Fran (Final Fantasy XII) & Frida (Hilda - Cartoon), Balthier & Fran (Ivalice Alliance), Frida & Hilda (Hilda)
Characters: Fran (Ivalice Alliance), Frida (Hilda), Alfur (Hilda), Hilda (Hilda), Balthier (Ivalice Alliance)
Additional Tags: Adult Frida, Adult Hilda, Walk Into A Bar, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions
Summary:
Fran enters the local public house in Trolberg and has a pleasant conversation with the bartender (and her friends) about what brings her to this particular space. Fran gets food, Frida manages Hilda, and Frida gives Fran some advice about what might be wrong with the ship that caused Fran and Balthier to set down outside of Trolberg in the first place.
Commentary: Into A Bar is one of my favorite exchanges for the sheer potential weirdness that it can generate. Now, some of that, of course, is my own doing, because I'm the one deciding what character pools are potentially available for the RNG to select. When this one appeared, I had to think about how the situation would develop where the Ivalice Alliance characters would land in Trolberg and find something interesting, and making a situation where Fran would end up in the bar where Frida is. I think it turned out okay, and that Fran would find the wilderness around Trolberg to be quite interesting, and that the residents of Trolberg would find Fran quite interesting, Hilda especially, but since it was Frida, and not Hilda, who was selected, we didn't have Hilda and Balthier haring off into the wilderness and Fran and Frida going out to retrieve them and having some adventure of their own. Maybe at some other time, in some other Into A Bar or other exchange.

Two Swords (5592 words) by silveradept
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Anarka Couffaine, Chloé Bourgeois
Additional Tags: Minor Chloé Bourgeois/Sabrina Raincomprix, Minor Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Pride, First Kiss, Developing Relationship, Past Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bisexual Disaster Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hugs, The A+ Parenting Of Tomoe Tsurugi, Supportive Parents (Who Are Not Tomoe Tsurugi)
Summary:
Marinette and Kagami experience Kagami's first Pride together. It's a lot for Kagami, who has many different feelings and ideas to process as she experiences alternatives she didn't think she had.
Marinette never actually manages to ask Kagami out. Kagami never actually asks Marinette out, either, come to think of it, but it all turns out fine in the end.
Commentary: Priiiiiide and the Miraculous Ladybug cast. Writing queer characters in ML is always a little odd, because there's plenty of evidence that a lot of the ML cast are definitely one of the letters in LGBTQIA+, but because of the nature of the show and its audiences, none of that is ever explicitly stated, and instead, there's deuterocanon from Word of Astruc about the various queer orientations of characters. That said, when particular characters are paired together, so long as they have a compatible mesh, it's not difficult to get the work to adapt to that reality. Marinette and Kagami, while they're rivals over Adrien in the canon, are certainly similar enough that in some other universe, where the queerness could be more obvious and canonical, they might end up dating each other as well as having an interest in Adrien. For this work, though, it was specifically Kagami/Marinette, so there was a little work needed to make sure that Marinette was not still pining after Adrien so that she could receive Kagami's affection and display her affection for Kagami properly. And, of course, I got to use "sword lesbian", which is a win unto itself.