Six Sentence Sunday: Part of the Night: The One Rule

Part of the Night: The One Rule

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Selina landed on the roof of her apartment building with a grin. Not that the night was anything worth grinning about: Daggett tricked her over the CleanSlate and had muscle willing to kill him to get her head. Then Batman had to swoop in and help her, but she got away clean before the legend himself snapped the cuffs on her. She breathed through her chuckle and headed down the fire escape.

Jen sat on the armchair with only one lamp on in the living room/Selina's bedroom. Selina's good mood bubbled higher since she could tell her about tall, dark, and mysterious right away.

---

Summary: Batman has one rule he will never break, and there is one thing Selina Kyle will never steal.

This was my second AU inspired by The Dark Knight Rises. Before Selina Kyle was rebooted in 2001 by Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke, her moral code didn't include killing. So I was a little disappointed that the Nolans decided to ignore that bit of history in the Dark Knight Rises, and that took the form of a what if. What if Selina had refused to lead Batman to Bane's trap because it would kill him? And what if Bruce hired her to work with him to protect her? I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: The Dark Knight Rises: Weapon of the Shadows

The Dark Knight Rises: Weapon of the Shadows

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

"The last thing he said to me was anyone can be a hero." Jim Gordon's voice caught and he looked down at the podium. Selina pitied him and turned off the television set. She knew there were more to Batman's last words, but she had been there two months ago when he had uttered them. She didn't begrudge Jim's editing for the speech dedicating the statue to the fallen hero's memory. Just like he didn't begrudge her leaving Gotham before someone pinned a medal to her undeserving chest.

---

Summary: After the core explosion, the League of Shadows seeks retaliation for what they lost on the one Gothamite they can reach, but the stakes become personal when the Cat takes in a kitten.

So I was reading emiv's awesome story The Longer You Stay adding all the Robins to the Nolanverse, when multiple commenters asked about the Batgirls. emiv explained that she had no plans for them. The muse started plotting. I had already reintroduced Barbara "Babs" Gordon in Meanwhile in Gotham City and I have plans for Stephanie Brown in the Part of the Night series. That left Cassandra Cain, my favorite little bad ass, and bam this story hit my brain. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Trinity

Signs and Portents: Trinity

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The three F-15s screeched through the sky towards the billowing, black mass. It reminded Steve of the 2010 Iceland volcano eruption. The lightning flickering in the enlarging red and black clouds didn't help the impression. "Keep an eye out for the alien entity designated as Superman. He doesn't have a transponder," Steve said to his subordinate pilots. Command listened to every word as well.

---

Summary: In this sequel to Signs and Portents: Forgiveness is for the Living, Signs and Portents: Meanwhile in Gotham City, and Man of Steel, Superman defeated General Zod, saved Earth, and lost all his Kryptonian heritage that was sent with him, but Lois knows about another woman who can fly.

For the longest time, this story only had two scenes after I watched Man of Steel: Wonder Woman and Batman confiscating the world engine wreckage before any Earth government did, missing Superman by minutes, and Lois using Selina as a sounding board for her venting about Zod. (Dude, if you had colonized Mars, you would have won. Wait a while, call Kal-El for a visit, and kill him after he was weakened from Kryptonian environment, easy-peasy.) But two scenes do not a story make, so I put the whole thing aside to simmer.

I figured out how to work in Steve Trevor and Diana's meet cute and decided who would act first: Bruce and Diana because they know the prophecy or Clark and Lois because they know of another hero who can fly. Eventually, when I wanted Blake and Babs to interact with Clark, it all worked out. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Meanwhile in Gotham City

Signs and Portents: Meanwhile in Gotham City

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Jim Gordon, likely Commissioner of Gotham City Police Department until he died, closed the rooftop stairwell door. And he had thought getting back to his office at Police Headquarters would calm things. He managed not to chuckle bitterly. The city could be in worse shape. Power was stable, rebuilding projects moved forward, city government was in charge, all the feds had withdrawn except for the disaster liaison, and about half the escapees from Blackgate had been rearrested.

Learning the two Blackgate Boys brought in tonight had been trussed up and were waiting for the police sent Gordon to the roof. He approached the flood light.

---

Summary: Blake thought being a detective was the hardest thing he's ever done, until he became Gotham's protector. But he's not the only one who wants the job.

The fifth story in the Signs and Portents series checks back on how Gotham City is fairing since the Occupation ended. It started off as a dabble in my head: Gordon turns on the repaired Batsignal and meets Nightwing. Then I gave a little thought on who Gordon would need to consult a cape about. Scarecrow was still at large at the end of the Dark Knight Rises, and no one noticed the hint I gave over who Jen went to work for, so both of those members of the Rouges Gallery made good subjects of conversation. And then I thought "what if Barbara Gordon the daughter burst in on their meeting?" I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Forgiveness is for the Living

Signs and Portents: Forgiveness is for the Living

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Selina blinked as she heard the music from Rampiamo, rampiano, che il tempo ci gabba erupt in their dark bedroom. Bruce rolled away and groped for his cell phone on the nightstand. "What is it?" He growled in his Batman voice.

She wasn't surprised. He had deflected her questions of why that selection from the opera Mefistofele was Batman's ringtone, but he always answered it in character. Even before dawn when one of the few people who had the number called.

---

Summary: The day after the Dark Knight Rises ends, Selina's plans take an unexpected turn.

This story is the fourth story in the Signs and Portents series, and was written third. The initial thought was Selina would not allow Alfred and Bruce to never have any contact again and as Bruce's wife-without-the-title, she would want to approval of the man who raised him. But I really didn't think there was a story in Alfred and Selina talking about Bruce. Then the timeline snapped into place and the light bulb went off on the idea of Lois Lane's Batman isn't dead story. Alfred practically shook me as I couldn't stop researching Florence. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Entwined Fates

Signs and Portents: Entwined Fates

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Selina pinched the bridge of her nose. There was no way she heard him right. "An implanted tracking device, is that what you said?"

"Yes. Can't be removed, the frequency is so narrow passive scanners miss it, not that you'll have to worry." Bruce's voice was light, like they were discussing paint colors for their new house back in Florence instead of how she couldn't sneak a tracking device past the terrorists that almost blew up Gotham.

---

Summary: The inhabitants of a mysterious island capture Bruce and Selina won't let that stand, but can they beat a demigod?

This is the third story in the Signs and Portents series, but written fourth. My plan for the series finally condensed around Bruce and Selina gathering the Justice League. Man of Steel had been announced and I wanted to see how they developed Superman, so I introduced Wonder Woman to the Nolanverse. I hope you enjoy this take on it.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Partners

Signs and Portents: Partners

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The bastard. Selina's fingers manipulated the lock picks automatically and left her mind free to run on the same track it had been running on for the past few days. The man she had mocked as a parasite, the man who gave Gotham everything he had, the man she had betrayed, the man who forgave her and trusted her to follow his path, the man she saved, the man who got past her claws and walls, the man she kissed without any ulterior motive, the man who died so a city might live.

Calling him the bastard was the trick to keeping her tears at bay.

The massive doors swung open silently. She didn't bother keeping her footsteps quiet on the marble floors.

---

Summary: Selina went after the Wayne pearls for a second time, and found something else entirely.

I started this story almost the second after I left the movie theater with the Dark Knight Rises still coursing through my head. I also exited firmly in the camp that the last scene was real and not a mental breakdown for poor Alfred. I outlined my reasons in a review blog post I wrote over supper, and then had the niggle thought: Selina helped him set the stuff up in Gotham. So it became the second story in the Signs and Portents series. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Signs and Portents: Symbol of Intuition

Signs and Portents: Symbol of Intuition

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Bruce lay back on the prison cot with the drug addict doctor's words echoing in his mind. He had to fear death again. What did that even mean?

He heard the heels on the stone floor before he saw Selina step out of the shadows. She was wearing her burglary costume, but her pale face was bare and the cat ears on the headband from Miranda's party perched on her head. She looked up at the broken TV and then continued to sashay to his cot. "Your temper hasn't busted you out of here yet."

---

Summary: Bruce is still in the Pit, and cats in dreams represent mystery and intuition.

Signs and Portents was the first AU series that churned into my brain after seeing the Dark Knight Rises. I actually started taking notes for it while eating supper after the movie. This was the second story I wrote in the series, even though it takes place in the middle of the movie and comes first chronologically. Overall, I liked the reimagining the Lazarus Pit into a pit that housed plague victims then turned into a prison. What drove me crazy was how long it took Bruce to realize that the rope wouldn't let anyone jump to that ledge. Okay, he was still injured when the first guy failed. But after his first jump? Come on, this is a guy who was hang-gliding between buildings in Hong Kong and Gotham City! He suddenly forgot how to calculate distances during his retirement? The second jump I expected him to untie the rope and leap. And he didn't. *headdesk* So I had to tweak it. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

Six Sentence Sunday: Nonestic Tales: Wide Open Spaces

Nonestic Tales: Wide Open Spaces

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

DG parked the bike off the flattened trail through the grass and lifted her goggles. The golden grass swayed in the morning breezes as the suns reached over the Great Kells. Not another soul in sight and she sighed in contentment. She spread the blanket over the grass with Arthur's toys before lifting her nine-month-old son out of the sidecar. Arthur babbled and tugged the goggles on her forehead. She handed them over after she set him down. "Mommy's toys are more fun than yours."

---

Summary: The prairie is so big and the baby so little.

Pirates of the Nonestic (BookWorm's Library | Ao3) was supposed to be a stand-alone novel. But then I got the crossover idea that became Tin Man/Alice: Making Whole (BookWorm's Library | Ao3). Next came the Scavenger Hunt theme of tm_challenge Round 9A, and I got inspired for this story. I was also inspired by an adventure in the Little House on the Prairie book By the Shores of Silver Lake. I have no idea if it ever made it to the television show. I hope you enjoy this story and the rest of the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: The Legend of Zelda: Destiny

The Legend of Zelda: Destiny

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The cheerful whistling reverberated through the silent, majestic forest. Zoe pulled her gelding to a stop. "Lin, where are you going?" She tugged on the one thin brown braids of hair that framed her face until she realized what she was doing and grabbed the reins with the offending hand. "You know we're not allowed to go into the woods unless on a trail or road."

Lin stopped his whistling and turned his stallion, Niklar, so he could face her. "What's wrong, Stick? You've been listening to too many of Dad's stories."

---

Summary: A Legend of Zelda fanfic. Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Poison. Sixteen years have passed, and Lin has grown up under the pressures of heroic parents and his own cloudy destiny. He begins to find his own path with rescuing the Lady Elaine from Ganon. But is their love meant to be forever or is it a sacrifice for the salvation of Hyrule?

Destiny was what I thought would be the last of the Hyrule stories. Shows how well I know my own imagination. Lin had aged to 18 and succeeded in doing what two previous generations of heroes couldn't. I also introduced the rest of his generation--Zoe (rhymes with Poe), Kevin, Kelamane, and Lyle. And in case you didn't guess or you watched different cartoon series, Kevin was named after Captain N: The Game Master. Elaine was Lancelot's un-loved wife. Lissa thought she deserved a better fate and frankly so did I. By the time I started working on Destiny, the third video game, A Link to the Past had been released. A comic based on it was published in Nintendo Power magazine in which the story was set in Hyrule's past, and this set of Link and Zelda was not the same set as the ones from the first two games. I incorporated this idea; the Unnamed Hero is the Link from the third game after asking the Power of Gold to erase his name from what he had done, and Zelda the First you met in the story.

The first draft was finished in 1993, and I turned to other projects. This first draft had major problems. It wasn't until I started making changes on February 9, 2000 that these elements started fitting together in the present form. Changes, ha, more like a massive overhaul. These changes were finished in 2000. I hope you enjoy this story and the rest of the series

Six Sentence Sunday: The Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Poison

The Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Poison

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Lissa clucked her horse trying to get closer to a spot where he didn't want to go. She gave up and dismounted. Kilare, the large golden hawk, perched himself on her outstretched arm as she walked into the clearing. With her free hand, she brought up the magic compass. Yes, this was the right place. "What do you make of it, Kilare?"

---

Summary: A Legend of Zelda fanfic. Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Master of the Dark Realm. Lissa accidentally finds her way to a strange world of unusual customs and bizarre devices. Luckily, she meets a young man who chivalrously guides her through it while she searches for a way home. Unfortunately, Ganon takes advantage of her absence to poison the young Crown Prince. Zelda travels in disguise to the Dark Realm to find the antidote--aided by a mysterious stranger who hides his identity. Will she manage to find the antidote in time or will Ganon take away everything she loves?

After Master of the Dark Realm was finished, I realized I had to tell Lin's story and show why Ganon was so desperate to get rid of him. But first I would have to bring back Link. He had to train his son to battle Ganon, and another kid would have to be born eventually since Lin would not inherit his mother's throne. Lissa could have stopped Ganon's attack on Lin or Zelda's search for an antidote, so she took a little trip to Earth. And since it was the only way to find a man who could love her as an equal, she started the family tradition of the universe-jumping females dragging their loves back with them. Ganon's Poison was finished in 1993. In 2000, I gave this story a further polish. I hope you enjoy the story and the rest of the series.

Six Sentence Sunday: The Legend of Zelda: Master of the Dark Realm

The Legend of Zelda: Master of the Dark Realm

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, leaned back in her throne rubbing her temples. "If I hear one more idiotic complaint that has some how bypassed the local judges, I'll scream."

The courier looked through his stack of papers. "Perhaps we ought to be grateful that Prince Link and Lady Lissa are returning."

---

Summary: A Legend of Zelda fanfic. Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Verge of Destruction. Ganon kidnaps Zelda and Link's rescue is a disaster, leaving the woman he loves trapped in a crystal protector. Now the only way to free her is to challenge Ganon for lordship of the Dark Realm. But is Link prepared to sacrifice everything he holds dear for the unstoppable destiny of the future?

Mervin Brazile really like The Legend of Zelda: Verge of Destruction (BookWorm's Library | Ao3), but had one complaint. "Legends of Zelda don't have happy endings. Link and Zelda don't get together." So heaving fake sighs, I put pen to paper and started writing Master of the Dark Realm.

I finished it in 1993 and gave Mervin his unhappy ending, and created a long and convoluted list of intertwined fanfics involving my Hyrule, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Gargoyles fanfic universes, as well as an original world of my own creation. If I had realized at the time what I was jumping into, I think I would have told Mervin to just deal with the happy ending. In 2000, I gave this story a polish. I hope you enjoy it and its series and crossovers.

Six Sentence Sunday: The Legend of Zelda: Verge of Destruction

The Legend of Zelda: Verge of Destruction

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The warm orange flames lit the dark room. A man knelt by the hearth and stared into the fire, trying to draw knowledge from its depths. A whimpering changed his focus from the fire to a crib. He got up and looked at the sleeping girl. The brown-haired toddler stirred slightly inside it. A fox cub, just weaned, slept by her feet.

---

Summary: A fanfic based on the Nintendo video game series, The Legend of Zelda. Ganon was defeated, and peace returned to Hyrule. But moblins still march on errands for their Master, and the Triforce issues warnings about a fourth Triforce. Link and Zelda must find it and the last Gensiarian, or risk destroying the entire universe.

Verge of Destruction began when I was discussing The Legend of Zelda video games with my friends in high school. Mervin Brazile (this is your official credit) pointed out that the Power of Gold's shape had a spot for a fourth Triforce in the center. I had already created a character, Lissa, for the Hyrule universe while I was watching The Legend of Zelda cartoons. (Constant daydreaming at work again.) Verge of Destruction was finished in 1992, making it the first fanfic I committed to paper. Mervin also suggested the title, since I was having a mental block on one. In 2000, I gave it a further polish. I hope you enjoy the story and the series it starts.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Plans and High Command

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Plans and High Command

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The comm connected to the bunk was chirping for attention. Luke blinked his eyes once before squeezing them shut again. That sound reminded him strongly of Medical, and he remembered leaving Medical to get some sleep. Making that chirp stop took more concentration than he had right now.

The warmth against his back shifted away, and the chirp finally stopped. Biggs’ voice rumbled into the comm. “Darklighter.”

---

Summary: Luke wakes up and plans must be made and High Command must be briefed about what happened on Bespin and what Luke and Leia are planning to do next.

How to tell me you haven't done any research into military service or organization without telling me you haven't researched or lived it: write a Star Wars story and ignore the chain of command. I'm not expecting a lot but some reference is nice while Luke and eventually Han are still in service, so the bulk of Legends is off the hook after Luke and Han have resigned their commissions. The first time I found a military-adjacent error was in Splinter of the Mind's Eye. The book opens with an internal monologue from Luke and he muses

When the Rebel leaders offered him any reward within their ability to grant, he had asked only to be permitted to continue piloting a fighter in the Alliance's service. Some thought his request unduly modest, but one shrewd general disagreed, explaining how Luke might be more valuable to the Rebellion without a title or commission which, the veteran pointed out to his colleagues, would serve only to make the youth a prime target for Imperial assassination.

I can (and have) get behind the X-wing is Luke's personal reward for rescuing Princess Leia since he kept it for the rest of his life (no matter which continuity you follow) but there is no way you are getting into a fighter squadron without getting a rank and a slot into the hierarchy.

In Shadows of the Empire, Leia promises that she can scramble the Rogue Squadron because

The Alliance's chain of command is a lot looser than the Empire's. We have to be more flexible, given the numbers. The Rogues don't have any permanent assignment, and I'm sure I can convince the Alliance that Captain Solo is worth rescuing. He was instrumental in the destruction of the Death Star, plus we need all the good pilots we can get.

We've got a few things going on here in this story. Leia is still processing how she feels about Han and wants a handy denial to anyone assuming that she's wasting resources for personal reasons. Shadows of the Empire was also a multimedia project in 1996 including the novel I just quoted, a comic series that covered more of what Boba Fett was up to, a video game in which Dash Rendar is the player character, a soundtrack, trading cards, and a toy line. So plot needs of probably the video game means we have to give the Rogue Squadron presence in the narrative.

I agree with the Rebel Alliance must have a loose chain of command because of their numbers, but they still have one. And Luke went AWOL right after the Battle of Hoth, so of course they have questions. I thought that it will make things more interesting to take away any Alliance support that our heroes could call on. I hope you enjoy this series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Interrogation Room

Star Wars: Interrogation Room

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The Imperial guard dropped Mara onto a metal, waist-high table. Luke locked his teeth around his protest over his roughness. Her body settled limply on the surface, but her chest moved. The binders on her wrists clunked against the table.

The captain of Midnight Omen glanced over at her, but didn’t take his hands out of the case that also rested on the table. “It’ll be some time before she joins us.”

---

Summary: Luke and Mara share a midnight kiss.

This short story was the answer to yet another 2019 challenge issued from the Star Wars Fic Whining Circle: to have Luke and Mara share a kiss at midnight for celebrating the upcoming New Year. There is no reason why the Galaxy Far, Far Away has New Year's traditions like we do so I had to come up with a twist to it. Everything is all Wes Janson’s fault. Honestly stop protesting, we all know it is your fault.

Since I was writing Unexpected Consequences (BookWorm's Library | Ao3) at the time, this idea is an AU, branching off after Mara has given birth to Lucinda and is on the run from the Emperor but before the Battle of Hoth. The Rogue Squadron have ended up on this planet and in a Rebel friendly skin club/brothel. It is supposed to be a little R and R before heading back to base. Wes, remembering Luke’s fixation on red-haired women, gets some credits from everybody else and approaches the management about a session with a red-haired human for their commander.

Management agrees and goes backstage to make arrangements. Mara Jade is their only red-haired human on staff and she hasn’t gone on stage for her performance yet. She disagrees about trading duties because she only dances, that was the employment agreement. Management doses her with pleaz-mo, an illegal aphrodisiac that will kill her if goes without kriffing and puts her in a room for the client. Mara manages to give him a black eye despite the drug kicking in.

So the Rogues do go up with Luke and a lot of friendly ribbing only to be confronted with Luke knows the sex worker and she’s drugged for this and not consenting to sex despite being very glad to see Luke. Wedge takes the lead with the management over drugging the lady. While Management is whining about his black eye and losing the credits, another dancer comes upstairs to tell the Rogues that a bounty hunter identified them. Dancer 1: “Dancer 2 has got him occupied with a lap dance but that only lasts so long.”

Luke decides it is time to leave and Mara is coming with them. One of the prostitutes says they have to take Mara’s things with her and dumps a go-bag and a sleepy red-haired human toddler in Wedge’s arms. She also explains that Mara has only ever been a dancer and they helped her out with the child sleeping here because Mara couldn’t find any overnight child care.

The Rogues plus Mara and Lucinda leave the skin club and something happens between that and getting to their ride, and they are scooped up by the crew of the Midnight Omen. Luke and Mara are taken together to the interrogation room, the rest of the Rogues are taken to the brig with Wedge continuing to hold the baby while they are locked up. I’m not sure what happens to draw the Imperial attention, but it is something Wes did.

Yes, this clusterkriff is your fault, Wes. Stop trying to make it better for yourself by pointing out “but the Commander found his girlfriend.” I hope you enjoy this AU story.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences

Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Lucinda lay on the trimmed grass between the main building and the base's storage sheds, and she pointed her macrobinoculars at the darkening sky. They were a present Mommy had bought with her first bonus working for Captain Karrde. Lucinda wasn't an official lookout—they manned the sensors inside—but it was fun to watch the ships take off and arrive. All the ships were on base, so that wasn't her current aim. She fine-tuned the scopes to see the visible stars before sunset. Then she'd have a visual for when she pretend-piloted off-planet.

---

Summary: Mara Jade returns to Luke Skywalker's life with a child who needs protection from the Imperial Remnant.

Also known as “What happens to the Thrawn Trilogy if I throw a kid in it?!” I started writing the first draft on September 8, 2018 after I had finished writing "Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More" and was working on outlining Mission on Mimban and editing Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation. Too many projects at the same time. So I didn't finish the first draft of Unexpected Consequences until July 13, 2020. I finished edits and published it on Ao3 in 2021 and at the Library in 2022. I hope you enjoy this Legends AU.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Miha

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Miha

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Biggs Darklighter pushed the hyperdrive lever back to the sublight setting and the blue mottled sky around his cockpit shifted to starlines and then pinpricks of light. The Rebel Fleet hung on the edge of the galaxy, relieving his uneasy stomach. It was bad enough that Luke hadn’t turned up and he hadn’t found his storm-brother; if the Fleet had moved while he was on Tatooine, he would be totally lost right now. Thank the Force that hadn’t happened.

The comm chimed. He gave out the correct codes to be readmitted back to the Fleet. That officer signed off, and Commander Wedge Antilles, acting commander of the Rogue Squadron when Biggs left, replaced her voice. “Your trip to Tatooine was a bust.”

---

Summary: Biggs Darklighter arrives back at the Fleet and finds out what happened to Luke Skywalker from a new defector, Mara Jade.

So this story sets up the major change that happened in the Sororal Lineality's A New Hope: that Han Solo turned around faster and knocked Vader and his TIE fighter wingmen out of the trench before Vader shot Biggs Darklighter dead. Biggs also survived the Battle of Hoth and took a sabbatical of his own before showing up now to have his meet cute with Mara Jade. Biggs is the oldest in this trio and also the only one raised with younger siblings, so he slots into protecting Luke and Mara so easily.

One of the biggest surprises out of writing Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation (BookWorm's Library | Ao3) was how much I liked expanding Biggs and giving him a connection to both Skywalker twins. It hurt to kill him off when I could see how to save him. Sororal Lineality gave me a chance to put that idea in action, albeit in the history of the characters that I'm not planning on writing again. Biggs does owe Han. It's not the same level of bonding that Han and Luke got on board the Death Star and later the saving on Hoth, but just try to leave Biggs out of saving Han fun. Luke knows better.

I hope you enjoy this story and this series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Aftermath

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: Aftermath

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

“Come with me. It is the only way.”

Luke had rejected that offer of aggression, fear, and anger. The Dark Side was easier and seductive, like Master Yoda had warned. But Luke had seized on his sense of justice that led him to join the Rebel Alliance. He would never rule anything as evil as the Empire even with his father. A father alive? A monster that had stalked him for years.

He let go of his rage and his fear and his despair and the pipe he had gripped with his remaining hand.

---

Summary: As Luke struggles to hang on under Cloud City, someone besides Leia answers his call for help.

This is the story that firmly establishes the time frame Sororal Lineality is taking place in the Original Trilogy. Most of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back takes place, but there are a few changes to those stories too. I hope you enjoy this series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: MJ-0002

Star Wars: Sororal Lineality: MJ-0002

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Another treasonous Moff dealt with, Mara thought to herself as she stalked down the corridor to her favorite training room in the Imperial Palace. It was like they were breeding like spider-roaches, and that was all they wanted to do with her alias identities too. No matter how many she rooted out, still more turned up. She let a shudder ripple through her body.

At least she didn’t have to worry about lecherous thoughts or actions for her next assignment. If Lord Vader had any, he kept them to himself. He even kept his hands to himself when he was killing someone!

---

Summary: Mara Jade discovers she is not the only Emperor's Hand.

The Star Wars Fic Whining Circle started in May 2018, and soon we were bouncing plot ideas and detail double-checking off each other. We decided to start an Ao3 collection of clone stories called Attack of the Clones. I ended up plotting out my idea that the multiple Emperor's Hands were all clones of Mara Jade, and once "Mara" discovers this fact, she runs to the Rebellion and Luke Skywalker for help to free them with the Whining Circle's feedback in 2019. Deciding to challenge myself by outlining with with MACE method from the Writing Excuses podcast and then writing the whole series in sequential short stories was all me madness. I hope you enjoy the first story in this series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban

Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Luke Skywalker pushed the hyperdrive lever of his X-wing, returning the snub-fighter to subspace. A murky green-white sphere sat ahead with its star, Circarpous Major, angled behind him so they approached the planet’s dayside.

He frowned at the transponder in his cockpit. Mara’s presence in his mind approached. The transponder pinged as her X-wing rippled into existence on his port side.

“Rogue Three reporting in,” Mara Jade said crisply over the comms.

---

Summary: Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade’s exploration of Mimban is derailed by the unexpected Imperial presence on the planet and their way off-planet depends on finding the Kaiburr crystal before the Imperials do.

2019: the end of the first story of Rescue the Farmboy AU (Liberation) is in sight, so what to start next is bubbling up. Unexpected Consequences is outlined and I don't foresee needing a lot of research to get started on it. Then of course there's the next novel in Rescue the Farmboy's series covering ESB events. But I'm not ready to start another novel.

I've already written a short story for Rescue the Farmboy set after the Battle of Yavin and before Hoth. Another short idea I had was Luke and Mara getting the snot kicked out of them while on a separate mission and that finally gets rid of any lingering doubts over Mara's loyalties and also makes Obi-Wan move healing techniques up in the lesson plans. Nothing else gelled until I was fixing my Darth Vader issues in the outline and realized the background crazy from Splinter of the Mind's Eye can be that mission with a lot of tweaking.

And now in 2025, Mission on Mimban is available to read. I hope you enjoy this latest novel in the Rescue the Farmboy series.

Tags: #my fic#six sentence sunday#star wars legends#star wars#luke x mara#luke skywalker#mara jade#leia organa#han solo#obi-wan kenobi#darth vader#padme amidala#original trilogy AU#rescue the farmboy AU

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service

Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Obi-Wan sighed in the telepathic conversation and his body in meditation followed it. Master Yoda, they should be told the truth.

No! As hard as it was to communicate like this, Yoda’s meaning was clear and strong as transparisteel. Lose them to the Dark Side for attachments we will not. Train them in what they must know to defeat the Sith, Master Obi-Wan. May the Force be with you.

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Summary: Princess Leia Organa of the remaining Alderaanians has a question over something Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi said to her. She finally gets a chance to ask about it after the evacualtion of the Yavin IV base is complete.

It had always bugged me from first viewing the Original Trilogy that Princess Leia never got a title upgrade to Queen when the Queen of Alderaan so very clearly died. My answer to that is publicly adopted Leia was never going to inherit the Throne of Alderaan and it was due to go to another branch of the family, which is now also dead. After I had plotted out how the Original Trilogy events would change in the Rescue the Farmboy AU, I had a few more ideas for smaller stories that fit into this AU and answered some of my lingering issues. So I decided to fit them in between the novels. This story is the first of those, and I hope you enjoy it.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation

Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Luke Skywalker tightened his grip on his duffel bag and strode off the landing platform. The mass of other beings in the spaceport walkways slowed his gait. He gazed up and down at the massive buildings that dwarfed the liner he and Biggs had just disembarked on this local afternoon. The wind gusting over and around the aerodrome tugged at his shaggy blond hair. The sharply acidic smell of the air irritated his nose. He clenched his teeth. He wasn't gawking at Coruscant like the spacers said he would.

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Summary: The comment said: "Now I want a Star Wars AU where Luke went to the Imperial Academy and his name set off all kinds of alarms." And my muse wanted that too, and added "What if Luke became the damsel in distress; the one who needed rescuing from the Death Star?"

The first notes of this alternate universe take on Star Wars were dated for May 12, 2016. I forget if it was a comment on one of the movie essays or if it was on one of the book reviews for the Extended Universe Legends line, but it was a comment in Tor.com's Star Wars collection. The conversation was on how nobody really tried all that hard to hide Luke Skywalker from Vader/Empire. The comment said: "Now I want a Star Wars AU where Luke went to the Imperial Academy and his name set off all kinds of alarms." And my muse wanted that too, and added "What if Luke became the damsel in distress; the one who needed rescuing from the Death Star?"

The plot bunny started hopping and damn, this idea had the potential of fixing the prequels and being so much better than the fix-it fanfic I wrote in high school. This series is so much better than that and I hope you enjoy it.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Crude Matter

Star Wars: Crude Matter

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Jade’s Fire swooped gently over Anzat’s grasslands and the comm system chimed that Mara’s prey was in voice broadcast range. She toggled it on. “I got your text comm and my ETA is fifteen minutes, Skywalker. Anything I need to be alert for on the ground?”

For a moment, she wondered if he would respond. The way the text comm had been phrased she thought it had been sent through his astromech droid. The landing beacon that she was flying toward was bound to be the droid’s work. The Force wasn’t giving her a warning, but that didn’t mean she’d find a conscious Luke Skywalker.

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Summary: Mara Jade answers a comm from Luke Skywalker. Maybe she should stop doing that.

This story is also known as my muse having a "you want to write what now?" reaction. Early in 2019, the Star Wars Fic Whining Circle (aka the Slack group of fellow writers I whine to) issued a writing challenge with a pair of kinks picked at random. My random selections were gender switch and aphrodisac.

They offered to have me draw again but I didn't want to take a chance on getting a worse pair. So I went away to think about it. The muse gave me the plot line. Excellent, that was quick! Shared it with the Slack group and JediMordsith summed up the theme for me:

We live our lives on the boundary where luminous beings meet crude matter.

I hope you enjoy this story.

Six Sentence Sunday: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li: The Real Ending

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li: The Real Ending

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The underling swallowed hard as he paused in his report. He wished he had not lost the office draw on who had to give news to their boss. "The Thai government has seized the assets of the holding company, as well as stopped the demolition of the slums."

The man in the grey business suit did not turn from the plate glass window, looking down at the night life. "Enough assets were left behind to fool Interpol into thinking they crippled Shadaloo?" His accent was vaguely Asian, sounding even more so coming from so fair a Caucasian.

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Summary: The Schoolgirl destroyed the monster who destroyed her family. Or did she?

Let me be straight up with two facts: Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li was a bad movie and Neal McDonough was the reason I paid money to see it in the theater. The first Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia was campy bad, but fun. The plot and characters make sense within the movie. I've got no problems with using a video game as the source material and changing things as long as it makes internal sense and improves the story (see my Legend of Zelda fanfics for example). The movie becomes fanfiction of the video game, and enjoyable in its own right if done correctly. Now what makes me writing this little short story to fix canon material so odd is I did it to reverse something seen on screen. I have filled in plot holes, revealed more backstory, expanded characters, and extrapolated their futures, but if someone died in canon, they were dead in my fanfiction. But Bison's death was such a boneheaded, idiotic, and potentially franchise-killing move, I had to reverse it. I hope you enjoy the story.

Six Sentence Sunday: Tin Man/Medical Investigation: Alchemy

Tin Man/Medical Investigation: Alchemy

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

At first the people would say good luck had Princess DG and her companions visiting Finaqua when the town of Neverdale fell ill. Her compassionate heart would have made her travel with the Queen to see what new calamity had befallen the citizens of the O.Z. Instead the eldest daughter and the Consort accompanied the Queen, and the frenzied messenger had another member of the Royal Family as a destination.

He straightened his travel-stained uniform. All the Heroes of the Eclipse sat in the gazebo by the lakeshore. Wyatt Cain's reputation as the last sight whoever upset Princess DG saw was already legendary, but the Viewer and the former Headcase were just as bad. Oh well, at least he will die in service to his Queen. "Your Highness."

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Summary: A mysterious illness suddenly puts DG in charge and she seeks help where no one in the O.Z. expected her to.

After ErinM_4600 introduced me to Medical Investigation and fanfic based on it, the muse was intrigued with somehow getting the MI cast to interact with the Tin Man cast. It lurked in the back brain for years, working the snarls out.

So when the TM Challenge 4th Annual Big Damn Challenge said crossovers were okay, I started writing Alchemy on June 4, 2011. Each section of the story matched up to a prompt from the prompt table, but I didn't use them all. I hope you enjoy the story.