Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Looking For Home: Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More

Star Wars: Looking For Home: Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Korora loved Naboo much more than Coruscant. When she had been so scared and sad and trapped, her dreams had sent her there and had shown her hope with Mommy and Daddy being there too. Coruscant was noisy and nobody had time to take her to outside places where it was safe to play. All of Naboo was safe to play outside. They had found that out when they visited the planet five months before. And they had found Daddy’s family here and the meadow (Mommy had called it a meadow) from her dreams. So she loved Naboo, even now when the green leaves had shifted to reds, yellows, and browns and the wind off the lake had a sharper bite to it.

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Summary: Korora Jade-Skywalker and the rest of her family learns about the Festival of Outcast Spirits, a Naboo tradition, and finds more family to celebrate with a little spiritual help.

This story was inspired by a Fic Whining Circle challenge for Halloween Star Wars fics. I hesitated because I have tried writing horror and I'm not effective at it. So we eventually had a consensus that a light-hearted story with masks qualified too. Naboo is basically Space Italy and Italy is also home of Carnival, so that and a Chinese festival that honors the dead inspired the Festival of Outcast Spirits. Ahsoka Tano got roped into the plot after I made a list of people Mara and Luke would invite to their wedding in this series and I left her off and no one else noticed. Not only did that pull my plot together, it also allowed me to also work in Ghost Anakin for Halloween. I hope you enjoy more in this series.

Six Sentence Sunday: Star Wars: Looking For Home: My Home Is You

Star Wars: Looking For Home: My Home Is You

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

The Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1760 light freighter moved steadily toward the jet-black Super Star Destroyer. Unlike the Executor's arrowhead silhouette, the Eclipse had a wedge-shaped bow perfect for ramming into anything opposing its might. It was also twice the size of Lord Vader's destroyed flagship. The YT-1760—named Jade's Escape according to its transponder code—looked like a grain of sand compared to the Eclipse and didn't fight the locked-on tractor beam.

A battalion of stormtroopers took their positions inside the hangar bay. Two companies lined the walls and the catwalks above, one company took scattered position behind the cover of docked shuttles and other equipment, and the last stood at attention before the platform on which the Jade's Escape would land. The pilot and passengers could not miss the Imperial strength levied against them.

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Summary: Mara Jade has gone from wanting to kill Luke Skywalker to accepting his help for her minor problems and reciprocating by saving his life, but where will her loyalties fall when the Emperor Reborn calls her back to his service?

Frangipani (@teagrl) had a Tumblr post that inspired this story. I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea, even though I never read Dark Empire in full and never wanted to because I think that’s where the EU Legends mis-characterization of Luke Skywalker started. That was my main reason for rejecting me writing this plot bunny: I hadn’t read that part of the source material and still don’t want to read it.

Eventually, I will learn not to say publicly that “oh I won’t write that story idea.” Every time I do, I end up writing the story. I made a comment on someone’s else fanfic about hated story lines of the EU referencing this idea and how I didn’t think I could do it justice because I didn’t want any more knowledge of the Byss episode than I had already gleaned from the rest of EU Legends. Besides, I was busy on my Rescue the Farmboy AU. Then came a writing challenge of meeting daily word count goals from a writing encouragement newsletter. The Rescue the Farmboy AU took too much time researching movie scenes at the time, so I decided to outline this Byss AU instead and work on it for two weeks. Then I’ll have something to build off of later.

The two weeks got spent only on the outline, and I found myself committed to writing it after. I hope you enjoy this AU in the Star Wars Legends continuity.

Six Sentence Sunday: Part of the Night: The Wayne Legacy

Part of the Night: The Wayne Legacy

BookWorm's Library | Ao3

Jim Gordon stared at the Bat as it disappeared behind the skyscrapers. He had noted that Batman appeared when Bruce Wayne returned from the dead nearly a decade ago, but he fell for the playboy antics like the rest of the city, until Wayne protected the police SUV from the desperate man obeying the Joker. Coleman Reese developed amnesia on Batman's identity after that. And then there was Wayne's reaction to Dent and Dawes' deaths.

It was obvious if you looked deep enough, but Gordon decided then he wouldn't pry for the sake of their friendship. And he would hide Batman's identity for their friendship too.

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Summary: Batman is dead and everyone else must pick up the pieces of Gotham City.

The sequel to the One Rule. The Part of the Night series started way back in 2013 and while my muse was happily skipping along with this happens next and that leads to this scene, the nuts 'n bolts part of my brain realized in the outlining stage that chopping in half was the best way to go. End the first novel with the bomb's detonation and the second novel would cover the reconstruction of Gotham. The outline was deceptively simply with that metric. With hindsight of having finished the rough draft and edits, if I had followed my normal practice of write-edit-post, I would have made Part of the Night a trilogy instead of a duology. I hope you enjoy this take on the Nolanverse.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.