Since you asked for prompts: 28 from “DC - Writing Prompts” with Stephanie and Bruce?
I've been sitting on this ask & prompt for damn near four years (I think I had this finished sometime in either 2023/2024 tbh) and i think it says something about how your brain really can fuck with you, where you think everything you write isn't 'deserving' of being shared...
This year it's not abt getting things perfect, it's abt getting them done & sharing that joy with others.
Anyways here's how at some point I rlly wish the end of Robin #128 had gone:
“That’s not how this works-" Bruce started.
“Really? Because from where I was sitting it sounded like you were having your ass handed to you,” Stephanie’s cheeks were dusted with a light blush as she amended her admonishment with a quiet, “boss.”
“Regardless,” Bruce began again, “you disobeyed a direct order. The-“
“Why can’t you see that I’m trying to protect you!”
She clamped her hands over her mouth almost as fast as the words that had spilled out of it. But there was no taking them back.
Bruce blinked once. Twice. Four more times in quick succession.
“Excuse me?”
“I mean…” Stephanie glanced around the cave, thinking over her next words carefully. “That’s half the reason for Robin, isn’t it? So you have someone to watch your back, and to have someone to watch out for?”
“That’s-“
“So I was doing exactly what my job requires,” Stephanie’s eyes earnestly met his now, a pleading in them as she continued, “Even if I wasn’t necessarily following orders directly to a ‘T’, my main priority was watching your back, boss! Did you really expect me to sit there and wait for you to stop barking orders at me to start disregarding them? And sure, make me run another hundred gauntlets, go another dozen sparring sessions with Batgirl, hell, invite Oracle and Alfred and even Nightwing in for a quadruple threat of lectures!”
She puffed her chest out defiantly as she concluded, “But don’t you dare try to lie to me and tell me that you had it handled or that you were gonna walk away from that fight. She had you, Batman. Dead to rights, she would’ve killed you.”
“Hrm.”
Bruce turned away and sat before the batcomputer.
“You’re benched for the next week. During patrol you are to either train here in the cave or the Clocktower holo-room. You may also support Oracle during that time, provided you follow our orders, to a ‘T’, as you so eloquently put it. Do those things, and I will consider-” he gritted the word but did not turn back to face her, “-allowing you to patrol again on another probationary basis. There will be no second strike.”
World Gone MAD and #Justice4Gotham for the scene ask game?
World Gone MAD - the opening scene of Tim tracking Dick down to Haley's again. Before that I had a bunch of thoughts that were sort of chasing each other around, but that was the scene that made me go 'Oh, I need to write this'
#Justice4Gotham - Probably that first blog post Tim writes where he comes back from hiatus to reuse his platform to try and do something, anything, about the mess that Gotham is in. The idea for the fic emerged from me thinking about the ways that social media platforms react to tragedy and making it about Tim was instead of a bunch of OCs helped it to become more focused and easier for me too write, and I think that scene is the one probably closest to that all.
this will not be for everyone, but i think more people should read The Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter, who was nominated for a nebula and the john w. campbell in '96 and then never wrote another book (that we know of). i would NEVER have heard of this book if i hadn't asked around for recs based on my enjoyment of that helicopter story.
the fortunate fall is a (post)cyberpunk fever dream blending the surveillance state, posthumanism, queer oppression and obsession, and some religious themes. it's thematically dark and philosophically dense, so it's not an easy read--and it's given to dedicating tons of time to long flashback stories you may or may not care about at all. BUT. but. i think it's the shamelessly weird pacing and indulgence in ideas-for-ideas'-sake that helps make the novel so fascinating.
also, the writing is gorgeous and breathless, and the characters are so strange and fascinating you can't help but want to know what happens to them. the protagonist is a "camera" for a major news organization, meaning she's modded herself to be able to record and broadcast her sensations (including emotion) to a watching audience. because she is therefore a tool of the state, she must work remotely with a "censor"--who has access to her neurology--to scrub unwanted sentiments from the stream. this has the unfortunate tendency to make censors fall in love with cameras, because they suddenly know everything about the camera's innermost thoughts while the camera doesn't know them at all. so maya thinks this must be what's happening when her (female) censor confesses love--if only it were that simple. this woman she's never met is FAR too powerful in cyberspace to be normal, and is FAR too invested in maya removing a memory blocker she's had for years...
i guess, read this sentence and ask yourself if it makes you vibrate out of your skin on aesthetic alone: “I went up into the world and left her there, in the prison camp beneath the ocean, with the ruined mind of the new Iscariot and the body of the whale.”
Hi! I wanted to drop by and let you know how much I love your writing. Bother Me A Little Bit Longer was one of the first Sanders Sides fics I read, and I think it’ll always be my favorite— but I just finished Powerless, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. Thank you for your stories :D
oh my goodness, thank you so much! That means a lot <3
(and between you and me, I think BMALBL is better as a fanfiction, but not necessarily as a story, than powerless)
Azurestar (f), and her mate Crowdawn (f) the deputy
Azurestar - An intelligent and serious she-cat. Azurestar is a strong and respected leader, she definitely isn’t a cat to be pushed around and will always do everything in her power to ensure her clan thrives. Azurestar has a sharp mind and can formulate plans and strategies quickly, making her a fierce opponent in battle and debate, if at a gathering she senses any kind of veiled threat from another leader, she will reaffirm that her warriors are not afraid to retaliate with force to any threat Azurestar’s clan receives. Azurestar is greatly proud of what she and Crowndawn have achieved for their clan and hopes to spend many more seasons with Crowndawn by her side as her deputy and mate, to Azurestar- nothing can stand in their way, 14/10
Crowdawn - A thoughtful and proud she-cat. Crowdawn is completely loyal to her clan and Azurestar and will never let anything put any of her clanmates in danger. Crowdawn is excellent at reading and interpreting body language and often picks clues in gatherings about things going on in the other clans based on how the cats react to what is being said by the leaders, and she will quickly report her suspicions to Azurestar after the gathering, and these predictions are often correct. Crowdawn feels honoured to have a mate such as Azurestar, the two are extremely like-minded and although the two are mostly stoic around other cats, they are a lot more open around each other and will even play like they’re apprentices again at times, even though neither of them would usually be never caught dead doing such things. Crowdawn always keeps her head held high and never loses her nerve, she and Azurestar are a formidable duo, most cats know by now you must be mad to try and provoke those two - and Crowdawn knows it, she is immensely satisfied to know that her clan is the most respected in the forest due to her and Azurestar’s leadership, 15/10
