Ultra's Fic (and Other Stuff)

I've officially taken the plunge and started my own fic exchange! :)


Link: Marvellous Drabbles Exchange

Description: Marvellous Drabbles is a fanfiction exchange for drabbles based on characters within the MCU. The first round is called Infinite Possibilities, so all characters must feature in the first three phases of the MCU.

Dates:
Nominations - OPEN, until 10th Feb 2025
Signups - 11th Feb 2025 to 21st Feb 2025
Assignments out - 22nd/23rd Feb 2025
Fics due by - 31st Mar 2025

Wishing you all a (belated) happy new year. I've been lurking around a little bit online the last few days, but not really back to 'normal service' until today. Hope everybody had a fab Christmas (if you celebrate it - or a fab whatever you have been celebrating!) and that you're all enjoying an excellent new year already :)

There has been much enjoying of gifts and food and fun for me and mine in the last week or so. I feel very relaxed and happy, and almost ready and prepared to get back to work next week (but only almost! lol)

The weather here is cold as anything (hovering around 0C/32F - a little above in the days, a little below at nights) and we're under warnings for snow/ice. Thank goodness we have nowhere to go and plenty of blankets to hide under!

I haven't rewatched The Librarians in a while, and when I do, I usually stick to S1&2, because I like them best... but I got to a point where I couldn't really remember what was wrong with S3. Having just rewatched it, I have to say, it was pretty good, but I do now recall why it annoyed me so much before. My preferred ship seemed like it would absolutely happen in S1&2 (IMO anyway) and then in S3, it seemed to sink without trace. Ah well, that aside, at least I enjoyed it this go around. This may mean I've grown as a person... but don't hold me to that, because if I'm honest, I still really, really wish that Jake/Cassie had happened, and I may have to fanfic them some more after this rewatch! lol

...it's Superman! :)

Before I was big into Marvel, I was a Superman fan. As a kid, I watched 'Lois & Clark', as a teen/young adult, I was very into Smallville, and somewhere in there, I saw the old Chris Reeve movies and the Brandon Routh one when it was new at the time. I loved Superman. I still do, but from 2012 onwards, when I first saw 'Avengers Assemble' aka 'The Avengers' I got swallowed by the MCU and poor Supes fell by the wayside a little bit. I did do a 'Lois & Clark' rewatch last year (I think it was last year... it may have been the year before, because time flies, but whatever, it was fairly recently, in the grand scheme of things!) but I never did bother with the newer movies from the DCEU.

Then came 'Superman & Lois'. I stumbled upon Season 1 when it came to free streaming over here via the BBC. I watched it and I liked it, but somehow, I totally spaced on the fact that there was a Season 2 which would appear at some point, and it wasn't until last month that I discovered Season 3 was available that I got around to seeing 2, and then 3 as well, obviously.

I got so into this thing in Season 2! No huge spoilers, but they really leaned into Bizarro World in a big way and I found it really interesting. This show has a lot of good actors and the storylines run the gamut from silly and funny to very serious, dramatic, and even creepy. Really keeps you on your toes, but I kind of love it. I have to admit Season 3 didn't thrill me as much. I do get why they went with more 'real' storylines as well as the super stuff, but I didn't care for it in the same way. The huge cliffhanger ending also has me annoyed, because Season 4 hasn't even aired in the US yet, as far as I know, so goodness only knows when it will make it over here!

In the meantime, I got an amazing deal on the Chris Reeve Superman movies on DVD. All 4 are included, with extras, and even though I only really care about I and II, it was so cheap, I just went for it (What can I say? I'm a completionist!) and I'm looking forward to seeing them again after such a long time - it has to be more than a decade, at this point.

A little something I came up with over Easter and thought I would share... because Neal deserved better and he and Emma deserved a happy ending :)

'When it came to true love, for Neal Cassidy, there was only ever Emma Swan...'




(view at AO3)

Borrowed from svgurl

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern!

Note: I decided to include my WIPs (since it's all about first lines and therefore doesn't matter that I haven't reached the last lines yet!) but I've skipped out drabbles/3SFs/etc. (since the first line is half the fic with those sometimes! lol)

Hmm, I can't see much consistency at all with my beginnings. I have both dialogue and prose, long sentences and short, some where the character and setting are clear and others where it could be anyone, anywhere. What does that say about me exactly? :P

Buck to the Future II (MCU, Bucky/Nat)
Every time Bucky Barnes thought he knew everything he ever needed to know about Natasha Romanov, she surprised him all over again.

Way Down South (Hart of Dixie, Zoe/Wade)
“Hey, bartender?”

Just Around the Corner (Gilmore Girls, Rory/Jess)
Jess locked up the front door of the book store and turned the sign to closed.

Are They or Aren't They? (MCU, Team Avengers + Clint/Nat)
“Oh, come on! Nobody has that much sexual tension without releasing it at some point or other!”

My Love is as a Fever (Little Woman, Jo/Laurie)
She woke up gasping, momentarily confused as to where she was and what was happening.

Buck to the Future (MCU, Bucky/Nat)
He remembered being cold, in a way that he had never been before, not even in the frigid Brooklyn winters of his childhood when the heater gave out and the wind was blowing in through cracks in the windows and the gap under the door.

To Soothe The Savage Beast (Beauty & The Beast, Belle/Adam)
Belle was nobody’s fool.

Lessons Learned (Gilmore Girls, Rory/Jess)
When he suggested they turn right and just keeping driving around in circles, Jess didn’t entirely expect Rory to go for it.

What is Love? (Sense & Sensibility, Marianne/Brandon)
‘Is love a fancy, or a feeling?’ Marianne had once posed the question from Coleridge’s sonnet to her sister and felt sure that, in Elinor’s case, the true answer must actually be ‘a Ferrars’.

Two Girls, A Guy, and a Coffee Shop (Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, ensemble)
“Can you believe this used to be a pizza place and that Uncle Berg and Uncle Pete actually worked here?”

(list format snagged from fadedwings)

All the fanfiction that I wrote/posted/completed in 2023 (word counts are approximate). Most links go to Archive Of Our Own, a few go to Fanfiction.net.

January (18 fics = ~2,115 words)

10 Things I Hate About You (TV) - Remember to SING - Patrick/Kat - PG - 140 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Firefly - A Kiss for Good Luck - River/Jayne - PG - 150 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Gilmore Girls - A Song For Us - Lane/Dave - G - 115 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Gilmore Girls - I Smell Snow - Luke/Lorelai - G - 120 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Gilmore Girls - Missed Connection - Rory/Jess - G - 75 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Hart of Dixie - Long List - Zoe/Wade - PG - 140 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Labyrinth - About Damn Time - Jareth/adult!Sarah - G - 100 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - A Familiar Face - Bucky/Nat - PG - 120 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Had We But Time - Peggy/Steve - G - 120 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Metallic - Bucky/Nat - PG - 80 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Opportunities - Tony/Nat - PG - 110 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Quiet Nights - Bucky/Sam - G - 110 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Soldiers of the Damned - Bucky/Nat - PG-13 - 115 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - The Battle for Domesticity - Bucky/Nat - PG - 105 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Pirates of the Caribbean - I Am King - Elizabeth Swann - G - 105 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Star Wars - Inheritance - Ben/Rey - PG - 100 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Timeless - How It Should've Gone - Lucy/Flynn - PG - 110 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Veronica Mars - That Ship Has Sailed - Logan/Veronica - PG - 200 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)

February (7 fics = ~955 words)

Agent Carter - Not Bad At All - Peggy Carter - G - 100 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Gilmore Girls - Break Up to Make Up - Luke/Lorelai - G - 105 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Mansfield Park - Superior Sister - Mary & Fanny; Fanny/Henry - G - 200 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
MCU - Affection - Bucky & Alpine - G - 120 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Star Wars - A Mother's Love - Shmi & Anakin - PG - 130 - (3 Sentence Ficathon)
Sleeping Beauty - That Ship Has Sailed - Aurora/Phillip - G - 200 - (Seasons of Drabbles, Winter 2023)
Labyrinth - Down in the Underground - Jareth/adult!Sarah - G - 100 - (Seasons of Drabbles, Winter 2023)

( see the rest of the list )


Total Number of Fics for 2023: 64.5

Total Word Count for 2023: ~323,130

I was hoping to find a happy medium this year - to have a larger total word count than last year (264,070) but maybe not as crazy big as 2022 (421,910) when I'm aware that I 'over-worked' myself, so I think I can safely say I've achieved my goal! lol I seem to have found a good balance between making a good amount of time for writing and not over-burdening myself, so yay :) Strangely, my total number of fics this year is less than last year's 86, but I think that's because I got more inspired by the 3SF in 2022 than I did this year, and because I gave up on the drabble exchange part-way through 2023 when I got tired of it. Still, very pleased with my word count and with all the works that I did produce this year :D

Nabbed from svgurl and peaked.

Rules: go through your last 5 fics and share the first and last line. No context.

(Not including multi-chapter WIPs or unrevealed exchange fics)

What Is Love?

First Line: ‘Is love a fancy, or a feeling?’
Last Line: With such sweet promises delighting her ears did Marianne fall into slumber, a smile upon her lips she was sure should never shift, knowing she should never have to wonder about the true nature of love ever again.

Two Girls, A Guy, and a Coffee Shop

First Line: “Can you believe this used to be a pizza place and that Uncle Berg and Uncle Pete actually worked here?”
Last Line: They clearly were tonight.

Love Means Never Having To Say 'I Love You'

First Line: “Look, I know what you’re going to say...”
Last Line: Not today, but someday.

Endings and Beginnings

First Line: It was a strange feeling, standing by a grave on which the stone bore her name.
Last Line: The sun was just now coming up over the hill and the new day looked like it was going to be a bright one.

The Girl of His Dreams

First Line: “Hey.”
Last Line: It was all that mattered.

I recently rewatched the 1995 Sense & Sensibility film, then went looking for fanfiction of Marianne & Brandon’s romance, since there is so very little of what happened between them at the end of the film ( which is fair because I believe there’s even less in the book, but still!) Lots of great fics out there, obviously, but none of them did exactly what I wanted them to, so I had to write my own version. It's sort of an alternate/expanded ending, I suppose. Thought I'd share, just in case anyone was interested :)

What Is Love?
Fandom: Sense & Sensibility (1995); Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen
Characters/Pairings: Marianne/Brandon; mentions Elinor/Edward, Margaret, and Mrs Dashwood
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 3,482
Summary: ‘Is love a fancy, or a feeling?’ After all she has been through with Willoughby and her illness, Marianne reflects on the true nature of love as she grows closer to Colonel Brandon.

So, after a break for the summer, I've got back into the swing of regular writing, which means I feel comfortable sharing/posting fic for others to read, because I'm confident I won't lose momentum and will be able to update regularly. Thought I'd share my three new WIP progress with y'all, plus the longish one-shot that I created for the AU Exchange (because it needs attention - my giftee never read it... or maybe they did and just never commented, but whatever!)

Never Tear Us Apart
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters/Pairings: Rey/Ben
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: ~5,500
Summary: Rey and Ben discover they are connected by the Force at a younger age. When the galaxy is plunged into darkness and war, the strength of their connection may end up being the only thing that can save both their lives, but they might also need a little help from other sources.

Buck to the Future
Fandom: MCU
Characters/Pairings: Bucky & Steve; Bucky/Nat
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: WIP
Summary: What if Bucky never fell from the train? What if Steve wasn’t alone when he crashed the plane? What if the two of them really did stick together to the end of the line, even if that turned out to be the twenty-first century... and what would a certain red-headed spy make of Cap’s best friend?

Lessons Learned
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Characters/Pairings: Rory/Jess; Luke/Lorelai
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: WIP
Summary: The night that Rory tutored Jess, they went out for ice-cream, talked about possible future plans, drove around for a while, and then... arrived back at Luke’s Diner without incident. So, what happened next?

Way Down South
Fandom: Hart of Dixie
Characters/Pairings: Zoe/Wade; Zoe & Harley; George/Lemon
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: WIP
Summary: Zoe is a new transfer student at University of Alabama and having trouble dealing with the new circumstances of her life. It’s not just the new school for senior year, it’s the new father, new friends, and a whole lot more weighing on her mind. Maybe the guy tending bar at a place just off campus is exactly what she needs to take her mind off her problems...