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.

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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 Power was stable, rebuilding projects moved forward, city government was in charge, all the feds had withdrawn except for the disaster liaison, and about half the escapees from Blackgate had been rearrested.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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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