Fortress Of Good Fortune

Author sign--ups are now open at DCU-Bang and Marvel_Bang. I think I'll pass this year, the first time since 2011 that I won't have a Big Bang on my plate, but I'm pretty busy with my Bruce/Dick Bingo Card, anyway. So far, out of 9 squares I have 3 filled/posted, 2 in the queue to be posted, writing No. 6, ideas for No. 7 and 8, and no idea for No. 9. :)

I'm hoping to get back to some of my Han/Luke stuff again, and am pleased to see that METV will be airing the original Battlestar Galactica starting June 3rd. Could be some fresh inspiration there! I've got a few Clark/Bruce stories in mind, too.

Hmm, looks like DC is taking up my time, but I'm sure Marvel will sneak in there, too. Some Steve/Bucky? A little Natasha/Pepper? ;)

Stay tuned!

Title: Just A Couple Of Boys From Brooklyn IV: There Was Summer (12-13/13)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark, James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, Steve/Bucky (Bucky does not appear in Ch. 2, 3, & 4), Rosa Martinetti, Mario Martinelli, Ella Simms, Unnamed Teller, Arnie Roth, Howard Stark, Thor Odinson
Continuity: Captain America 1: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America 3: Civil War (2016).
Series Notes: Any ideas that pop up about the boys in their early days will end up under this umbrella title. Skinny!Steve and Protective!Bucky for the win! ;) The entire series can be found here.
Genres: Angst, Drama, Historical
Rating: PG-13
Fanworker: The talented taibhrigh! :) Link: here.
Fanworker: The superb dulcetine! :) Link: here.
Beta: The marvelous starsandsea! :) All mistakes are my own.
Warnings: (Ch. 2 & 4: Violence)
Spoilers: Captain America 1: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America 3: Civil War (2016).
General Summary: After what Bucky Barnes did to his parents, how can Tony ever reconcile that with Bucky being Steve’s oldest friend? An inexplicable trip to the past may provide the answer.
Dates Of Completion: May 5, 2016-September 3, 2016
Dates Of Posting: November 8/9/11, 2016
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Marvel and Paramount do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 27,327
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Note: Written for the 2016 marvel_bang.



Chapters 1-4 (LJ)

Chapters 5-8 (LJ)

Chapters 9-11 (LJ)

Chapters 12-13 (LJ)

Chapters 1-13/13 (AO3)

( Golden September turned to yellow-orange-and-scarlet October as the days and nights grew cool and there was frost on the pumpkins, at least in the fields outside the city. The World’s Fair would close before November with the promise of re-opening in the spring, its popularity encouraging a second season. )

Title: Just A Couple Of Boys From Brooklyn IV: There Was Summer (5-8/13)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark, James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, Steve/Bucky (Bucky does not appear in Ch. 2, 3, & 4), Rosa Martinetti, Mario Martinelli, Ella Simms, Unnamed Teller, Arnie Roth, Howard Stark, Thor Odinson
Continuity: Captain America 1: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America 3: Civil War (2016).
Series Notes: Any ideas that pop up about the boys in their early days will end up under this umbrella title. Skinny!Steve and Protective!Bucky for the win! ;) The entire series can be found here.
Genres: Angst, Drama, Historical
Rating: PG-13
Fanworker: The talented taibhrigh! :) Link: here.
Fanworker: The superb dulcetine! :) Link: here.
Beta: The marvelous starsandsea! :) All mistakes are my own.
Warnings: (Ch. 2 & 4: Violence)
Spoilers: Captain America 1: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America 3: Civil War (2016).
General Summary: After what Bucky Barnes did to his parents, how can Tony ever reconcile that with Bucky being Steve’s oldest friend? An inexplicable trip to the past may provide the answer.
Dates Of Completion: May 5, 2016-September 3, 2016
Dates Of Posting: November 8/9/11, 2016
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Marvel and Paramount do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 27,327
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Note: Written for the 2016 marvel_bang.



Chapters 1-4 (LJ)

Chapters 5-8 (LJ)

Chapters 9-11 (LJ)

Chapters 12-13 (LJ)

Chapters 1-13/13 (AO3)

( Steve and Bucky were sitting at the kitchen table with Bucky’s back to Tony. Tony put on a smile he hoped was convincing as Bucky stood and turned toward him. )

How typical is this? I'm just about to write the final paragraph of the story I'm planning to submit to my 2016 DCU Fic/Art Halloween Challenge, and I decide I've got a better angle and now I have to do a major re-write! Fortunately, it's not a super-long story, but it will delay my posting. I know, you're all waiting with bated breath, right? ;) Better that I came up with the new idea now instead of after posting, eh?

Most of my writing efforts this month will revolve around my marvel_bang story, mostly prep for AO3 posting and figuring out how many chapters I can fit into one entry on LJ. I also have to write out my master post for the announcement on marvel_bang, but I'm probably going to use the summary I've already used, anyway.

Otherwise I have three Halloween ideas I'm juggling, the one mentioned above, another DC Comics idea, and a Marvel Comics idea. My other DC plot bunny may end up using my Late Entries Policy grace period, as I'm still kind of letting the idea simmer in my cauldron for now. I've already started work on the Marvel idea.

Funny how I'm getting all these seasonal ideas when we're supposed to get a heat wave this week. Thankfully cold weather will be back by next weekend!

Hope your Halloween Muses are spooking you, too! ;)

Hi, luvs!

As you can see by the icon on this post, I am busy utilizing my userpic packages and gathering more cool pix to showcase. I can't resist Clark using his heat vision to cook the hot dogs and burgers on the grill. :)

Speaking of cook-outs, I did attend one over the weekend with the requisite menu: hot dogs, hamburgers, pasta salad, potato salad, garden salad, chips, dips, pickles, olives...you know, good stuff! :) Everything tastes better on the grill!

P.S. To get the full effect, check this post out on my journal with its cook-out theme! :)

( Writing talk behind the cut )

I signed up for the marvel_bang! :)

Frankly, I thought I was going to bypass any Big Bang this year as I had no ideas as the sign-up dates approached. Wasn't that big a deal since I've been writing Big Bangs since 2011 and nothing was materializing for the dcu_bang and marvel_bang, so I decided to see if I could get inspiration from Captain America 3: Civil War. Even after that it was sketchy but with a couple of days before sign-ups closed, I got inspiration! :)

The Raven And The Nightingale is stalled after I thought it was revving up again, but such is the way of things. I think I'll do some more research while waiting to write again. It's just too much fun to relegate to never getting out of the notebook stage. :)

I've got two birthday stories I owe and happily am working on one and have an idea for the other.

I've got some stories that are still in the notebook stage. One's a Jurassic Park tale that I wrote last year in a flurry of inspiration after seeing the first film again and those fun 'n' sexy scientists, Alan and Ian! :)

I've got a Steve/Bucky tale inspired by Age Of Ultron that's just been sitting in the Unsatisfied pile. I may try and fix that up.

And I've been editing a Clark/Bruce story told from the POV of Lois, one of my favorite things. :)

Still working on my Han/Luke comfort food fic. Comfort food: a fic that has no deadline and is generally fairly long so that I can enjoy the writing with no pressure. Even my own Challenges and Big Bangs have slight pressure. You have to work on a deadline fic while comfort food is worked on when hungry, er, in the mood. :)

I might even take a crack at the clexmas Spring Fling! Reverse Bang. I hadn't intended to but the art submissions are pretty intriguing, so who knows? That's in the 'Maybe' queue. :)

So it looks like my marvel_bang story will be a summer project. Maybe I can spin a few seaside tales this summer, too. :)

Hi, luvs!

Just a quick reminder that the 2015 Dick Grayson Fic/Art Diamond Anniversary Challenge is in Month 2 of its 3-month official submission period. :)

I signed up for the dcu_bang. Sign-ups are open for it and the marvel_bang. Maybe Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron will get you inspired! ;)

Writing is such a fascinating process. I’m part of a Gift Exchange and we make suggested prompts to help out our gifters. I could NOT get a story idea out of the prompts I was given and was about to e-mail my giftee to get new prompts or ask if I could just come up with something on my own within her parameters when inspiration hit! Now I’m close to 2500 words and still going. :)

I’m thinking of maybe trying something different for any Big Bangs I might sign up for next year. Instead of letting my Muses run wild and end up with 50,000 words, I might try and see if I can come up with something around the minimum of 10,000 words instead. But that’s all flying without a parachute because I really have no idea what I’ll have ready by sign-up time or even the glimmer of an idea.

I’d love to do a Steve/Diana story for the dcu_bang even though I wouldn’t get an artist or many readers, but the fun would be in the writing itself. It’s still a pretty unknown pairing after 28 years of non-existence (okay, the Reboot gave us a tease but broke them up before we saw any romance at all!). I am toying with possibly a Golden Age adventure but that’s all in the future.

Or maybe I'll do the marvel_bang, though I'm sure it'll collapse under its own weight after The Avengers 2: The Age Of Ultron comes out.

Right now I’ve got holiday ideas so I’m sticking with those. You will see at least one more story posted by me before year’s end and maybe a few more, depending on if my ideas pan out. I bet you’re all busy with your own holiday fanworks! :)

Hi, luvs!

The dcu_bang is extending author sign-ups 'til the end of the month, so if you've got a story idea in mind, go check it out!

Not surprisingly, marvel_bang has over 300 sign-ups so they've closed. I'm sure there will be a lot of Steve/Bucky love this round! :)

The Soldier And The Scientist VI: Sapphire Diamonds (1-6/15)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Tony, Natasha/Pepper, Bruce, Clint/Coulson, Thor, JARVIS, Nick Fury and assorted OCs
Fandom Universe: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Scenes of near-drowning and suffocation
Spoilers: For The Avengers (2012)
Beta: me_ya_ri
Artist: marian_leywald. Link to art: Here.
Summary: Wraith-like sirens invade Steve’s dreams, trying to lure him back into the ice. During his waking hours, he and the Avengers are fighting another invasion of Manhattan, this time by giant, Hulk-like figures. During the battle, Pepper, a convalescent Coulson, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. nurse are stuck in an elevator at Avengers Tower.
Can the beautiful owner of a mysterious antique shop help them fight the invaders and also prevent Steve from succumbing to the sirens?
Dates Of Completion: June 4, 2012-August 11, 2012
Date Of Posting: November 16, 2012
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Marvel and Paramount do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 21,520
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Notes: Written for the 2012 marvel_bang.
The entire series can be found here.

On LJ:

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-15

A03