Here We Go Again

Looking through the bookmarks on your own AO3 fics is a wild ride.

Obviously most of them are blank. Some are simple descriptions of what the fic is, but a few of those are hilarious in their own right. 'Hannibal and Will put the BENT in Bentley' cracked me up. 'Will fucking Hannibal over his stupid expensive dining table where he eats people' also made me LOL.

I found one with a tag that led me to a discord community's page. Someone recced me on discord? Cool, I would never have known that if I hadn't been feeling nosy.

A number of them are really lovely compliments from people who never commented on the fic. I know you're probably feeling shy, but if you talked to me, I'd love to talk back!

Occasionally people go off on why they love the characters so much, and that's a delight.

One bookmark was a huge wall of hearts. Well over 2500 of them (I started counting the rows and the columns before the numbers got crazy). They literally covered half the screen of my desktop monitor.

Then there are a few that are entertaining in ways the bookmarker didn't intend. '3/10 for some reason I hated it. And I usually like this type of things. idk'
Hey, I know! It's because I wrote that fic as a subversion of the trope and made it creepy as all get out. Good to know my choices were effective 😁

'WAY too long, this story would benefit amazingly by a good edit. Because it's clearly well written, and characterization is believable. So--20% shorter and it would receive a "LOVED".'
Something of a mixed report, but I write my fics for me, or occasionally for my friends, and I like atmosphere and suspense and slow build. So not sorry at all 🤣

I do wonder if some people know that bookmarks are public viewing, but I'm very glad they are.

I am so excited! Editing mode is engaged XD

The quick little one-shot that refused to cooperate now has a chapter two. Same themes as the last one, though there's no fully written out BDSM this time. Set after 6x01 Scorched Earth.

Bucketloads of angst, and also some humour, because it's Burn Notice. The Michael/Sam's more overt, but still no actual porn, sorry. Sam insists on having morals.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44925559

The initial idea of the Burn Notice fic was that it would be about 5k words, quick to write and get out of my head, and then I could move on. It's currently a little over 7k, and last week I thought I'd have a finished draft last weekend, or at the latest Monday, which is now four days ago.

The problem is that I wrote a line of dialogue that references something not that big a deal. And it's kind of a throwaway, humorous line. I'm 90% certain that the thing it references happened before the point in the series when my fic is set. But not 100%. And the thing is a small enough thing that reading through fandom wiki plot summaries isn't helpful.

So then I realised I'd have to watch through most of seasons 1 and 2 of Burn Notice again, just to find out when the thing happened. Which means watching about 17 hours of TV, during which the fic writing isn't happening. I could always write a different line of humorous dialogue. That would be the easy solution, obviously. But I LIKE the line dammit, and I like where the conversation goes from there. My brain flat out refuses to make my life easy.

Anyway, I've re-watched season one, and the most interesting thing is that despite my later revelations and thoughts on characters, nothing about season one has changed with hindsight. Early Fiona is exactly as obnoxious as I remember her. Michael is not yet obsessive enough to be obnoxious. And while Sam is a main character, he spends most of the first season stealthing around in the background, rather than making an impact. He's the contacts guy, the paperwork guy, and it's not until the very end of the season that he starts sliding into the more active Michael and Fiona world of things like kidnapping and occasional murder.

Which absolutely makes sense, but I'd forgotten-slash-wasn't paying that much attention on the first watch through. While Fiona's been a criminal her entire adult life, and Michael has spent years inhabiting the rather grey world of a government-sanctioned criminal, Sam's always thought of himself as a law and order type (however 'interesting' some of those orders might have been). Michael and Sam are incredibly good influences on Fiona, but Michael and Fiona are terrible influences on Sam.

Without the Michael factor, Sam would never have got involved in a life that involves committing multiple serious felonies on a weekly basis. The concept that there's almost nothing bad enough that he won't do it for a good enough reason is inherently Sam - it's the reason he doesn't have a job at the start of the series. But without Michael, he wouldn't have gone out actively looking for those things and those reasons, which is a rather different place to be.

The other good reason for Sam staying out of the messy stuff at first, of course, is because he's been living civilian life for the past two years. He'll definitely have been visiting the range, because ex-military people who still own guns don't just look at them. But for the rest of it, it's probable Sam doesn't know himself just how rusty he might be, and Michael certainly doesn't.

It's also interesting that the very first time they put Sam up high with a sniper rifle, he puts a bullet straight through someone. Which also makes sense, because that's the training. If you point a weapon at someone, you're willing to shoot them, and if you're shooting them, you're killing them; you're not scaring them or wounding them. And then I'm guessing Sam didn't sleep too well for a few nights, because he's not in the military any more and that's life in prison right there, and the rifle probably went to the bottom of the sea off the side of a fishing boat (an expensive piece of equipment to replace). After that, it's very rare to see Sam directly kill someone (maybe never? I'd have to check back on that.) Indirectly killing people is of course something else entirely...

I'm back at work on the on-off Murder Family fic, and it's nine sentences today.

Hannibal looks from Abigail to Will, who seems unsurprised by this announcement. Clearly the subject had been raised earlier during their time on the sofa. Will gives the slightest inclination of his head, and Hannibal returns his full attention to their daughter. “And what did you tell them?”

“Nothing!” Abigail’s reaction is defensive, hunching down into her chair. “Nothing that matters. I said we’d just arrived and I chatted with them about things to do in town, that’s all.”

Across the table, Will’s posture has turned to tension, his spine stiff and his hands set on the table, fingers wrapped tight on his utensils.

It's Sunday, and it's not six sentences:


He thinks about it, briefly. About not doing it. Thinks about recruiting someone else with a master’s in physics. Someone else who would have been there at Stalsk-12.

Someone who wouldn’t have noticed that tiny detail and gone back through the turnstile. Someone who wouldn’t have been as good a locksmith.

He thinks about Neil’s head tilting, sandy hair falling across his forehead, so many times and always saying the same thing: “What’s happened, happened.” Casual, easy in his absolute certainty that any known past was immutable fact.

He takes a few moments more to breathe, slides the mask of professionalism over the muscles of his face, and he steps out of the crowd.


So apparently I'm writing a Tenet fic now. I watched the film for a second time last weekend and then a couple of nights later I woke up in the night with thoughts and ideas.

I'm viewing this as a good thing, because work on my Hannibal WIP had stalled, and the Tenet fic is only going to be short, so hopefully it will be enough to get me back into the writing frame of mind again. Although now I'll have to watch Tenet again first, and pay closer attention to characters' speech patterns so I can get the dialogue right.

My fanfic for the Murder Husbands Big Bang 2020 is finally live! Thank you to DreamerInSilico for the beta.

A Thousand Truths Hannibal wants to know why Will testified as he did at Hannibal’s trial. Will has many different answers. Red Dragon Arc and beyond…

8600 words, explicit

And thank you, of course, to the collaborative artist for my story, Nin Potato.



Nin's tumblr art post is here, so hop over there if you want to tell her how much you like her work directly :-)

Or is it more of an old fic? It's both!



War and Peace

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Pairing: Duo/Heero, or 1x2x1 if we're going old style. Yes, that's two underage teenagers shagging each other, for those who don't care for that sort of thing.

Summary: Duo Maxwell looks back on the war. And on Heero Yuy. Turns out he spends a lot of time thinking about Heero…

This is the fic I started back in 2003, and then went back to and finished in 2020. It's also by far the most rambling, info-dumpy, monologue-y story I've ever written. Duo likes to talk and I never found a way to stop him.

Canon compliant for the series, AU for Endless Waltz. It follows the story and emotional arc of the series, so you know what you're getting! Only the first chapter's up so far, I'll be adding more as I work through the final editing pass.

Happy New Year!

Impasto is my entry for the Eat the Rude Bang challenge. It's an AU take on Will’s journey through Europe in search of himself Hannibal. Or alternatively, Tiggy has way too much fun playing with the many layers of imagery in the show.

Words: 9300

Rating: Mature

Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter (non-explicit)

I started writing this fic as a one-shot, but about a third of the way through, I realised I was actually writing the version of season three that would have happened in the Bad Connections universe. So while it is a belated, accidental sequel, it also works perfectly well as a stand-alone story.



Thank you once again to the wonderful whispers-in-the-chrysalis for her lovely art. Whispers’ art post is here on tumblr, go and support her 💗


Hannibal’s peering down into the giant platter of molluscs, watching them crawl over one another in endless circles. “The snails could get out, if they wanted – they could crawl beyond the lip of stone and explore the vast acreage of forest – but they don’t.”

Will’s mouth twists at the edges, bitter with knowledge. “They feel comfortable and safe in what they know, despite the ever-present predator.”

“There are predators everywhere, in every level of this world.” Hannibal’s eyes are back on Will, unblinking and quiet. “The only difference is whether we choose to see them.”

There’s a smile tugging within him, impossible to resist as it seeps into the muscles of his face. “Some of us see them and invite them inside.”

“Many people do that, Will.” Hannibal’s voice is soft, a low rumble whispered through the mist. “Humanity saw the wolf and admired his strength and cunning, and then we brought him into our homes.” His humour fills his expression, as gentle as his words. “One might say it’s in our nature.”

“By the time he comes inside, he’s no longer a wolf,” Will says.

“The wolf adapts, the human adapts.” Hannibal’s head tilts, that perfect, minute movement that’s so unbearably familiar. “Is it possible for every predator to change to accommodate another, if it’s something they both desire?”

Impasto on AO3.

The last of my RDC5 zine ficlets is now online - this one was written for the Mads Mikkelsen fanzine and beta'd by Manapotion. Hannibal begins his incarceration.



The door closes behind him.

The handcuffs are removed from his wrists through the bars and feet tap away along the corridor, trailed by lingering, empty echoes. After all the time being handled, inspected, sampled and interrogated, he has space.

He is finally alone.

Here on AO3.