Firefly Friday - 100 to 1000 word weekly fan fiction challenges

Title: Not Wrong
Author: zoewarren
Rating: all ages
Characters: River, Mal, Kaylee, Inara
Challenge: #053 - River
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 550
Sequel to: in the same 'verse as all my stories, but stands alone very well
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: After Miranda, River finds her balance
Author's Note:
I'm working on the next in my ongoing Mal/Inara saga, and found that River is becoming a more pivotal character. I always meant to include her in the stories (and Kaylee, for that matter), but the style is so sparse, there was nowhere to wedge them in. So this is a little bit of me catching up with River, learning what she's been up to in the year or so since the events at Miranda.

Not Wrong

Title: After Dinner
Author: zoewarren
Rating: all ages
Characters: Inara, Mal
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #008 - love
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 814
Sequel to: all my other stories, but can essentially stand alone
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: a quiet moment after dinner
Author's Note:
I very much wanted this to be just a quiet moment. An affirmation, more than anything, and not at all fraught. Also, it's pure sugar, but that's exactly what it's supposed to be.
On a side note, this will probably be the last of my drabbles for a while. Work is once again eating my life and I just don't have the time or the  mental real estate for regular writing any more. I have really enjoyed spending my summer in the 'verse, though, even if it does have me mourning the show all over again.

After Dinner

Title: Aftermath, part 2
Author: zoewarren
Rating: ages 16+
Characters: Inara, Mal, Kaylee, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #007 - something stolen/something given
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: I clearly suck at this
Sequel to: Not a Place and Aftermath, part 1
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal is recovering, but Inara is having trouble letting go.
Author's Note:
Part one was about something that is stolen, part two is something freely given.

Aftermath, part 2

Title: Aftermath, part 1
Author: zoewarren
Rating: ages 14+
Characters: Inara, Mal, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #007 - something stolen/something given
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 536
Sequel to: Not a Place
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal is recovering, but Inara is having trouble letting go.
Author's Note:
Part one is about something that is stolen, part two will be something freely given.

Aftermath, part 1

Title: Practicalities
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Zoe, Mal, Grace
Pairing: Zoe/Wash
Challenge: #110 - colour
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 220
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Zoe can occasionally be too practical.
Author's Note:
Back when I wrote Going On, I spent a lot of time thinking about how Serenity might be baby-proofed. I came up with all sorts of neat ideas, 99% of which never made it into that story or any other. Since Grace is now hitting the age at which she will start crawling, then walking, I thought I'd play with one or two of them. This is set probably not too long after Coming Home.

Also, this week I should technically have written for the "something that is lost" challenge. The last two stories posted in that category are mine, however, and it's starting to feel like overkill. This one could fit that challenge, if you squint at it a little, but I'd rather file it under "colour", if only because it's a little less sad.

Practicalities

Title: Between Two Thieves
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Simon, Inara
Pairing: Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee
Challenge: #005 - "What do you want?"
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Caveats and Addendums
Word Count: um... I'm not telling.
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Inara struggles with coming and going, and Simon is creating a reason to stay.
Author's Note:
This one is set back in time a little bit. The first section comes right after Leave of Absence, and the rest of the story happens just long enough after Caveats and Addendums that the dust has had time to settle somewhat.

Not only did I overshoot the word limit again, this time I also fudged the challenge a little bit. I really am very bad at this. The exact nature of the challenge was to include a prescribed snippet of dialogue in the story. It turns out I have a bit of a philosophical objection to having the dialogue written for me, so I compromised. This is the story inspired by that dialogue. Let's say I followed the spirit of the challenge. Or something.

(And, if anyone is wondering, the title comes from a quote by Fulton Oursler: "Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future." Seemed apt.)

Between Two Thieves

Title: Not a Place
Author: zoewarren
Rating: Ages 18+
Characters: Inara, Mal, Zoe, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #004 - Home
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: set an indeterminate amount of time after Made to be Broken
Word Count: 1,674
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Calling Serenity home means things don't always go smooth.
Author's Note:
I, um, slightly overshot the 1,000-word limit. Oops. Since I'm playing with the challenges, though, and since traffic on ff_friday isn't all that high any more, I'm going to post it anyway. I hope no one minds.
This is fluff at heart, buried under a slightly darker theme.

Not a Place

Title: By Virtue Fall
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Simon
Pairing: Simon/Kaylee
Challenge: #003 - Right and Wrong
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Word Count: 355
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: spending some time with Simon
Author's Note:
I've been wanting to play with some Simon/Kaylee stories for a wihle, now. I kept meaning to give them a subplot in the ongoing saga of my Mal/Inara stuff, but it never quite worked out. The problem is, though, Simon and I don't talk much. So, since the challenge seemed to suit him so well, I thought I'd take the chance to get to know him a little. Set post-BDM, and for the first time in a while, this one stands very well alone.

By Virtue Fall

Title: Made to be Broken
Author: zoewarren
Rating: Ages 18+
Characters: Mal, Inara, crew
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Challenge: #002 - A First Kiss
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: pretty much everything, but can theoretically stand alone
Word Count: 671
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: Mal breaks his own rule
Author's Note:
This is set several weeks after Caveats and Addendums. If you haven't read it, I think this can pretty much stand alone. All you need to know is Mal's one rule: no touching in public.
Also, I wrote this somewhat in reaction to my overdose of angst during Coming Home. This story was intended to be pure candy floss - nothing but spun sugar and air. It got a little moodier than I intended somewhere in the middle there, but still, you may want to keep your insulin handy. Just sayin'.


Made to be Broken

I want to get in the swing of things, but was out of town, not much time. So, hope it's okay I'm reposting a story from a while back...wow it's actually been three years...and sorry about the spacing; I see others are having the same glitch today?

Category: Firefly--Gen, Kaylee

Words: 404

Summary: Kaylee discovers life.

Rated: PG

Note: For ff_friday prompt #001: Childhood. Originally posted to ff_friday prompt #207: Extinct Animals

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Dialogue is from Safe.



KAYLEE: It looks like it was made with...you know, longing. Made by a person really longed to see a swan.

INARA: Perhaps because they'd only heard of them by rough description.


(She'd never seen one, of course...)

Title: A Summer Evening
Author: zoewarren
Rating: All Ages
Characters: Inara, OFC
Pairing: none
Challenge: #001 - Childhood
Spoilers/Timeline: pre-series (no spoilers)
Sequel To: This one is a standalone, but in the same 'verse as all my others.
Word Count: 828
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Summary: A little glimpse of where Inara comes from.
Author's Note:
I wanted to make sure I kept writing while I've got the time this summer, so I've gone back to the ff_friday challenges. I'm going to do one a week until either I get bored or work eats my life once again. Anyone who feels so inspired is welcome to join me.





A Summer Evening

Title: First Days
Author: zoewarren
Challenge: appearance vs. reality
Rating: PG-14
Characters: Inara
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Leave of Absence, Absence Makes the Heart...
Word Count: 117
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing
Author's Note:
Another drabble in the series. Follows Absence Makes the Heart..., which follows Leave of Absence. Best to begin at the beginning.

First Days

Title: Absence Makes the Heart...
Author: zoewarren
Challenge: Something that is Lost
Rating: PG-14
Characters: Mal
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM (spoilers for the movie)
Sequel To: Leave of Absence
Word Count: 209
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm just playing

Author's Note:A friend of mine once said she could never 'ship Mal/Inara because they were too different and too inflexible, and that it would always be doomed so long as neither of them was willing to change. I seem to have taken that as a dare. This is just a wee drabble and it picks up where Leave of Absence left off.

Absence Makes the Heart...

Reunion
Fandom: Firefly
Rated: PG
Category: Vignette (704 words), Mal/Zoë Friendship.
Spoilers: None. Set after Serenity the valley and before Serenity the ship.
Summary: "You know, we really do have to stop meetin like this."
Note: Written for the “End of the Year Crazy Fest” on whedonland , using an old ff_friday  prompt: #165 - “Reunions.”

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An army of ghosts

 

 

A mournful silence pressed down over the abbey on Persephone. Not normally given to much talk, the Brotherhood was even less inclined to chatter now.

Word had reached them of the passing of Shepard Booke.

 

Brother Michael was an exception to the rule of quietude, and after three days of whispers and significant looks, he could no longer restrain himself. He managed to corner Shepards Tseng and Yacob in the kitchen late at night and, by letting his voice teeter on the edge of loudness, convinced them to speak with him.

Tseng was the oldest of the lifetime members, and a confidant to every member here who had advanced beyond the rank of novice. Yacob had been a close friend of Booke, and was rumored to have come from the same unmentionable place in the outside world.

“How did it happen?” Michael blurted out after some barely civil preliminaries. “Booke had left that flying box-car. He had established an outpost in a very quiet community, and yet the crew of the Serenity had something to do with his death. Did they turn on him?”

“Be at ease,” Tseng sighed, “the man who brought you here from that orphanage was not about to be killed by such a collection of bumpkins. He was, in fact, killed because the Alliance suspected he might try to help them.”

Michael closed his eyes and ducked his head, and so missed the look that passed between Tseng and Yacob, and the nod.

“Not by an assassin, the community was destroyed by a Navy gunboat.” Yacob added.

Michael’s pained face came up to meet the careful eyes of both men. “Thank you for telling me so, and thank God that the Alliance can no longer do such things to people.”

 

Michael was referring to the upheaval in Parliament following the revelation of Miranda. Hundreds of Government leaders had already been hounded out of office, and the investigations had barely begun. Billions of outraged citizens, lead by millions of relatives of the lost colonists, were demanding real changes, and this time it looked as if they were going to get some.

The question was, would the new Government be an improvement?

All the enemies that the high-handed nature of the old Government had earned itself did not seem bothered by that question, but the Brotherhood had been conscious of it even before news of Booke had reached them.

 

The old Shepards made their way past Michael, touching his arm and making consoling noises. One of these soft noises was made by Shepard Yacob; “Mourn him, but do not forget him. Perhaps one day you will be ready to continue his pursuit or certain mysteries.”

From out of nowhere, Brother Michael felt the words tumble from his mouth, “You mean, Shaitan’s Panzer Brigade?”

Both older men stopped dead in their tracks. Tseng remained facing away from Michael, his only reaction was to bite his lip and stare down the long hallway he so wanted to be walking down at the moment. Yacob whirled, his face pale, and one hand had slipped into his robe… a gesture that Micheal either ignored or failed to understand.

“What,” grated Yacob’s voice, “do you know about that?”

“The most infamous Mercenary band in a war full of harsh men. A ground unit, heavy Armor was their specialty. Deceptive and ruthless, they betrayed the Independants twice, and the Alliance once in between. They left no land or Army they fought in a recognizable state,  that was their main selling point, I believe. Their leader was killed just  before the end of the war by an operative of Parliament.“

Michael had rattled all that off in schoolboy fusion as if reciting a lesson. Doing that helped cover his excitement…he felt as if he had tossed a stone from 100 meters away and landed it in a teacup on his first try.

“Not that story, anyone knows that pap!” Yacob hissed, his voice creaking with danger. “I mean, how do you know about Booke’s interest?”

Michael swallowed and licked his lips, slightly nervous for the first time. “W-well… Shepard Booke mentioned it to me one day while I was scanning some traffic in the shipping lanes. You see, that Brigade seemed to have disappeared, vanished in the last months of the war. I know it seems impossible, but the amount of gear recovered didn’t match what the Brigade is know to have had, and few of its personnel were ever found. Now… they didn’t have many friends left, and no transports of their own. So, where did they go, and how? It is a mystery, as you might say.”

Tseng relaxed and went on his way. Yacob nodded and asked; “Did Shepard Booke ever mention any theories to you about what the fate of those evil creatures might have been? Aside from the usual ideas in the tabloids, I mean.”

“No sir, just general ideas about unregistered cargo ships, smugglers and maybe criminals. He seemed to be lacking a working knowledge of how smuggling ships could… oh…. oh my Lord.“

Yacob did not miss the light going on behind Michael’s eyes. “My boy, how would you feel about taking a journey into the Black with me?”

.

 

 

Malcolm Reynolds blurted out “How much?!” before he could stop himself.

“What, you don’t think that’s enough?”  Zoe asked. Just from the tension in her voice, Mal could tell that something about the latest job offer was bothering her.

“Enough? Oh, you mean the money? No, that’s fine…” More than fine, it was the first chance they’d had to make some real money since the Miranda affair had made his Firefly and crew famous.

Famous was a bad thing to be if your lifestyle depended on being able to sneak around a star-system.

“… what I’m talking about is the load they want us to carry. Six vehicles, they said? What gorram six vehicles weight in at 500 tons?”

 

 

To be continued… ?

Title: Rubber Gloves
Author: ZoeWarren
Rating: PG
Challenge: Pair of Something
Characters: Inara, crew
Pairings: none
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm only playing
Note: x-posted to FF_Fanfic

Rubber Gloves

Title: The Morning After
Author: ZoeWarren
Rating: PG
Challenge: The Morning After
Characters: Inara, Mal, crew
Pairings: none
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss, I'm only playing
Note: x-posted to FF_Fanfic

The Morning After

Title: Don't Panic

Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Simon, Kaylee, Cameo by Mal
Prompt: #075 "Falling Asleep on the Job"
Word Count: 242
Rating: PG
Summary: Simon's first thoughts upon waking up during the events of "Jaynestown".
Spoilers: Jaynestown

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Title: Not Really Living

Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: River/Zoe
Prompt: #005 "What do you want?"
Word Count: 940
Rating: PG-13
Summary: River invades Zoe's solitude. Zoe POV.
Spoilers: Serenity (the movie)

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Title: Comfort

Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Jayne,
Prompt: #036 No Dialogue
Word Count: 518
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jayne goes whorin’ and finds some comfort.
Note: This is my first time posting here. Please tell me if I did something wrong and I will do my best to correct it.

 

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Title: What Friends Are For
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Jayne, Kaylee
Prompt: #001 Childhood
Word Count: 495
Rating: G
Summary: Jayne and Kaylee bond after the events of “Serenity” (BDM).
Notes: Written for ff_friday. March 28.

(What Friends Are For)

I've been meaning to make this post for several weeks and kept putting it off, for which I apologize.

I've decided to change the format of the community in light of the low participation lately (and in light of the fact that I don't have the energy to keep posting a new challenge every week forever).

From now on, Firefly Friday will be in permanent redux mode. Write a story for any challenge you want, anytime. Please remember to specify which challenge you're writing for, and you can tag it for me if you remember. Otherwise, go nuts.

I will probably keep adding new challenges on occasion, but nowhere near weekly. I may also post special challenges on occasion, i.e. challenges different from the kind we usually have. But we've got well over 200 challenges to choose from already, which should be enough to keep people busy for a long, long time.

I'll be posting an updated challenge list in table form soon, but in the meantime there's the list of tags.

Title: To Hold the Cure of Souls (Part 2 of a WIP)
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Book + crew
Rating: pg-13
Notes: Epigraph from 'Serenity' (the episode) .  Part 1 (written for the 'faith' challenge) is here.

Title: Fair in Love and War
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Zoe, Wash, Mal
Rating: pg-13
Disclaimer: Contains SPOILERS for the episode "War Stories".  Epigraph by Richard LaVoie. Summary from "Bushwacked".

Challenge the 233rd! is now closed!

Challenge the 234th...
100 to 1000 words about asking for directions.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, February 27. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

Title: To Hold the Cure of Souls (WIP)
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Book, etc.
Rating: pg-13
Disclaimer: Kind of cheating: I've missed the deadlines for the last few challenges, and there's no way this will be done by Friday, but here's what I have.  Epigraph by Eugene O'Neill; summary from the movie Serenity.

Challenge the 232nd! is now closed!

Challenge the 233rd...
100 to 1000 words about faith.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, February 13. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

Challenge the 231st! is now closed!

Challenge the 232nd...
100 to 1000 words about a pair of something.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, February 6. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

 Author: obiwahn 
Title: Half Empty
Challenge: 231 - Half of Something
Rating: PG
Word Count: 100
Characters: Inara
Spoilers/Timeline: None
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Joss.

READ HERE

Challenge the 230th! is now closed!

Challenge the 231st...
100 to 1000 words about half of something.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, January 30. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

This is my first post in the community, so I hope it's alright :-)

Title: Anything She Wants To Be
Author: obiwahn
Challenge: 230 - Stones
Rating: G
Characters: River, Mal
Spoilers/Timeline: Post-Serenity
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Joss.
Word Count: 100
Summary: A week after the events in Serenity, River finds peace.

Please God, make me a stone.

Challenge the 229th! is now closed!

Challenge the 230th...
100 to 1000 words about stones.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, January 23. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

Challenge redux the seventeenth! is now closed!

Challenge the 229th...
100 to 1000 words about last requests.


Rules and such can be found here. Please remember that the range is 100 to 1000 words. Please don't re-use the same titles, if at all possible. Please put longer vignettes behind ( cut tagsCollapse ).

The challenge will run until 5 pm ET, January 16. Feel free to add suggestions for future challenges in comments.

Title: In the Still of the Night
Author: ZoeWarren
Challenge: Night
Rating: PG
Characters: Inara, River
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
Summary: A little look at Inara's past.

Author's Note: This one has been re-written a dozen times, and I'm still not sure it says exactly what I want it to. And just so you know, I'm not above begging for comments. I'd love to know what you thought of it. Please? :)

In the Still of the Night

title: Found
author: aestheticjunkie
challenge: #184 – Snow, Ice or Slush
rating/genre: PG for language. Gen.
characters: River, Jayne, crew.
disclaimer: They all belong to Joss
word count: 964

( She clutched the compass in her right hand, her left buried in the pocket of her parka.Collapse )

Title: Last Marks
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: Kaylee/Simon, Kaylee/Tracey, Mal, Zoe/Wash, Tracey’s parents, Inara, rest of crew mentioned but not by their names
Prompt: #072 Cold
Word Count: 654
Rating: PG
Summary: She’s cold, freezing in fact, and the snow falling gently around them has nothing to do with it.
Notes: Tag to “The Message”.

(Last Marks)

Title: Shadow Sunset
Author: TrillianAstra
Challenge: 02: a first kiss
Rating: PG. All very innocent here.
Characters: Mal, OFC (sort of. See A/N)
Timeline: No spoilers. Set waaaaay before the series – Mal is about fifteen years old.
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em. I’m just playing in the sandbox.

Author's Note: OK, there’s a bit of a story behind this one. A while ago, I was in a Firefly/Lost crossover RP with some friends, and Mal was one of my characters. One of the other players was playing Kate (a Lost character), and because this was in the Firefly ‘verse, her backstory had to be adjusted… and we decided that Kate had grown up on Shadow, on the same ranch as Mal… and then they ended up being childhood sweethearts. So, when I saw the “a first kiss” prompt… it reminded me, and the result was… this.

Oh, and the line "So, does this mean I'm your girl?" is blatantly stolen from the movie "The Spirit". Frank Miller owns that.
 

( 'I was jus' thinkin' that you look real pretty tonight.'Collapse )

Title: Baby Steps
Author: ZoeWarren
Challenge: Change
Rating: PG
Characters: Inara, Mal, Kaylee, Jayne
Spoilers/Timeline: post-BDM, minimal spoilers
Disclaimer: Joss is boss.
Author's Note: Just a wee short one. In the same 'verse as all my others. Feedback much appreciated.

Baby Steps

Title: Daddy Will Come And Take Us Home
Author: trillianastra
Characters: River, Mal, mention of other crew.
Genre: Gen, avec a little River-Mal friendship
Prompt: 19 "set during or immediately after 'Safe'"
Disclaimer: Joss is boss. Not me.
Wordcount: 478
Rating: PG (a little cursing, but it's in Chinese)

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