Versus, an OFMD Spy AU - COMPLETE!

40k and some months later, my homage to action-romance spy thrillers is complete!

Versus (40453 words) by downstar Chapters: 15/15 Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Israel Hands Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Ching Shih | Zheng Yi Sao, Chauncey Badminton, Nigel Badminton, Declan Finch Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Spy - Freeform, Alternate Universe - James Bond Fusion, Alternate Universe - Our Flag Means Death Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, Spy thriller, Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Gun Violence, Blood and Violence, spy vs spy - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Action, Intrigue, Espionage, Jealous Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Seduction, Jealous Stede Bonnet, Trust Issues, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, spy gear, Disguise, Travel, World Travel, Trains, On the Run, Mystery, BAMF Stede Bonnet, BAMF Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Falling In Love, Blackbeard | Edward Teach Loves Stede Bonnet, Stede Bonnet Loves Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Competent Stede Bonnet Series: Part 7 of Gentlebeard Modern AUs Summary: Edward Teach, codename Blackbeard works for an intelligence and assasination agency for-hire. He's sent to kill the socialite Stede Bonnet after seducing him, but discovers that the man is much more than he appears to be. He's actually an MI6 agent, codename Gentleman, hiding in plain sight. Things quickly go off the rails when an attempt on both of their lives leaves them wondering who they can trust. As they become an unlikely duo, they are forced to reckon with the chemistry between them - and how that complicates their adversarial relationship. --- This fic follows in the grand tradition of James Bond, Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Lucky Number Slevin. Featuring action in the tradition of spy thrillers, with a healthy dose of queer romance and an enemies-to-lovers arc.

I'm very nearly finished my Spy AU, Versus. This suit, which I found months ago, finally makes an appearance in chapter 14!

Part 2 of the finale will be published in a few days, followed by an epilogue. It's been great fun to teach myself how to pace an action-oriented story and write fight scenes.

I realized that the story is structured very much like the season of a TV show. So maybe there'll be a season 2 in the future?

Versus (37927 words) by downstar Chapters: 14/16 Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Israel Hands Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Ching Shih | Zheng Yi Sao, Chauncey Badminton, Nigel Badminton, Declan Finch Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Spy - Freeform, Alternate Universe - James Bond Fusion, Alternate Universe - Our Flag Means Death Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, Spy thriller, Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Gun Violence, Blood and Violence, spy vs spy - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Action, Intrigue, Espionage, Jealous Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Seduction, Jealous Stede Bonnet, Trust Issues, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, spy gear, Disguise, Travel, World Travel, Trains, On the Run, Mystery, BAMF Stede Bonnet, BAMF Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Falling In Love, Blackbeard | Edward Teach Loves Stede Bonnet, Stede Bonnet Loves Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Competent Stede Bonnet Series: Part 7 of Gentlebeard Modern AUs Summary: Edward Teach, codename Blackbeard works for an intelligence and assasination agency for-hire. He's sent to kill the socialite Stede Bonnet after seducing him, but discovers that the man is much more than he appears to be. He's actually an MI6 agent, codename Gentleman, hiding in plain sight. Things quickly go off the rails when an attempt on both of their lives leaves them wondering who they can trust. As they become an unlikely duo, they are forced to reckon with the chemistry between them - and how that complicates their adversarial relationship. --- This fic follows in the grand tradition of James Bond, Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Lucky Number Slevin. Featuring action in the tradition of spy thrillers, with a healthy dose of queer romance and an enemies-to-lovers arc.

DONT BE AFRAID TO COMMENT ON OLD FICS DONT BE AFRAID TO COMMENT ON FICS IN A FANDOM THE AUTHOR MAY NO LONGER BE ACTIVE IN. IF THE STORY IS STILL UP LET THEM KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IT MIGHT JUST BE THE REMINDER THAT MAKES THEIR DAY.

SINCERELY SOMEONE WHO JUST GOT A REPLY THAT MADE ME WANNA MAKE THIS POST

In the Shadow of the Mirkwood Tree - Bilbo x Thorin

I've started a new fic that continues in the continuity of The King and The Hobbit and The Consort, though you can jump right into this one with little issue! In the Shadow of the Mirkwood Tree (2169 words) by downstar Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Thranduil (Tolkien), Thorin Oakenshield, Balin (Tolkien), Dwarves of Erebor Additional Tags: Consort Bilbo Baggins, POV Bilbo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins and the One Ring, Hurt Bilbo Baggins, Sassy Bilbo Baggins, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship, Thranduil Being an Asshole (Tolkien), past thranduil/thorin, Possessive Bilbo Baggins, Jealous Bilbo Baggins, Dark Bilbo Baggins, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Dragon Sickness Series: Part 3 of The Quiet Moments - Bilbo and Thorin Summary: On the first anniversary of the retaking of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain hosts a banquet with the elves of Mirkwood and the men of Laketown. Bilbo is tasked with hosting Thranduil. In the course of their conversation, it's revealed that Thranduil and Thorin were once lovers. That confession stirs up dark feelings of jealousy that is deepened and magnified by the ring Bilbo carries, and the vestiges of dragon sickness that linger in Erebor from Smaug's long brooding. Bilbo is forced to reckon with the darkness. He must separate his own feelings from the evil influences that linger around him. -- This story continues on in the continuity of my other Bilbo/Thorin shorts. See the collection for previous stories, though you don't need to read them first to follow!

why are all the star trek games based on war and ship command and galactic fighting and war. i want diplomat simulator. i want skyrim for star trek. i wanna talk to a bunch of aliens about their farming rivalry and then go to the planet where everyones an italian mobster. i dont give a shit about upgrading the torpedoes on my battle cruiser to level up and destroy other ships in the New Online MMORPG. i want my entire ship to malfunction because an alien laid an egg in the nacelles and then i want to fix it by raising the alien as my own and then tossing it into space. what’s so hard to understand.

I have a theory that white, straight, cis dudes who rail against fantasy adaptations including women/BIPOC/queer people are doing so because a story set in a world in which their supremacy is unquestioned is an integral part of their enjoyment of said story.

Some might not even realize that is why they feel so strongly that the stories should continue to centre straight, cis white men in the way the source material did. They explain it away as 'defending the canon' or 'historical accuracy.' I have this theory because no amount of strong and logical arguments change their minds. Because, well, it isn't history because there are dragons and magic. Or, the writer of the original story signed off on the changes and agreed with them. Or, the original story came from another generation and the author was a product of a different time - a time in which their publisher might not have let them publish a diverse story. Or, the author never definitively said a character's race or sexuality. Or that genderswapping a character or having that character portrayed by a person of colour doesn't fundamentally change the story.

These arguments don't work because the centring of people they can strongly identify with is a key part of the experience for them. The appeal is escaping our world, where there is a push for diversity and acceptance, into an imagined fantastical, fictional past. Not only do they get to shoot fireballs, but they return to a place where women had far less agency, BIPOC were second-class citizens or worse, and queer people were invisible or persecuted. And they can indulge all of this without judgment because they "just liked the original story."

Admitting this would mean admitting they are shitty people. So instead they fight in the name of 'preserving the canon' or 'keeping to the author's vision.' It's all an excuse.

If these men truly love these stories, they would realize that the stories have to change and reflect the world we actually live in. Otherwise, the work will become dated and irrelevant, and eventually forgotten.

Remembering the time I tethered my cell phone to my laptop during a multi-day power outage following a hurricane to update my fic.

...in my defense I was safe and there wasn't much else to do but write.

i encourage you to go to your favourite writer's ao3 page and comment on an older fic, because i can assure you that it will make their day. It can mean so much to see your work doesn't disappear into the void to be never seen again after a day of people interacting with it. Just, if you have the time, go comment on an older work

(pls reblog this to try and get as much writers a bit of appreciation)

Just dropped a new update! I don't know exactly how many chapters are left, but not many.

Chapter 13: Before the Storm

One of my favourite genres has always been the spy action thriller. I especially love them when they're a bit tongue in cheek and are a metaphor for a relationship writ large. They're fun and stylish and sexy, and full of blockbuster action scenes.

That's what I tried to mash with OFMD in this fic. I always try to practice something new when I write these sorts of fics. For this one, it was action movie pacing and a plot full of intrigue.

This is very near the end! There's probably 2-3 chapters before it wraps and I'm posting about a chapter a week.

Versus (32553 words) by downstar Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Israel Hands Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Ching Shih | Zheng Yi Sao, Chauncey Badminton, Nigel Badminton, Oluwande Boodhari, Declan Finch Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Spy - Freeform, Alternate Universe - James Bond Fusion, Alternate Universe - Our Flag Means Death Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, Spy thriller, Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Gun Violence, Blood and Violence, spy vs spy - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Action, Intrigue, Espionage, Jealous Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Seduction, Jealous Stede Bonnet, Trust Issues, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, spy gear, Disguise, Travel, World Travel, Trains, On the Run, Mystery, BAMF Stede Bonnet, BAMF Blackbeard | Edward Teach Series: Part 7 of Gentlebeard Modern AUs Summary: Edward Teach, codename Blackbeard works for an intelligence and assasination agency for-hire. He's sent to kill the socialite Stede Bonnet after seducing him, but discovers that the man is much more than he appears to be. He's actually an MI6 agent, codename Gentleman, hiding in plain sight. Things quickly go off the rails when an attempt on both of their lives leaves them wondering who they can trust. As they become an unlikely duo, they are forced to reckon with the chemistry between them - and how that complicates their adversarial relationship. --- This fic follows in the grand tradition of James Bond, Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Lucky Number Slevin. Featuring action in the tradition of spy thrillers, with a healthy dose of queer romance and an enemies-to-lovers arc.

All great advice.

Look, the hardest thing to do when you first start to write is just...getting things down. And it can hurt so much to get those pages out, it feels like chopping off a limb if you need to remove it. But sometimes the limb has to come off for the good of the tree.

But it's not wasted work. It was time you spent getting a handle on your characters and getting into the flow. They're the sketchy lines that get painted over in the final image.

I always try to have at least two things happen that advance the plot per 3000-5000 words, sometimes more. If those two things don't happen, then the plot is not moving forward.

Any needed exposition and flavour, I put in around what the OP called load-bearing walls.

BUT these are all conventions of published fiction. If you want to write a 5000 word scene of your blorbos eating breakfast in a fanfic piece, go nuts. Fic doesn't have to be about becoming a better writer. But even that breakfast scene is you practicing dialogue and character dynamics.

I am against fic being looked at as a side hustle or something you have to improve. You don't have to. You can just have fun with it. But if you want to be a better writer and write more complicated plots, yeah, all this advice applies.

One of the biggest challenges I've found in writing plot-heavy pieces is knowing when you can skip over things. When I first started writing, I thought I had to have the "camera" follow people everywhere. But then I started paying attention to the way TV works. You don't need a scene of Joe walking to the coffee shop, ordering a coffee, finding their friend, then saying hi and sitting down. If none of that reveals character or advances the plot, skip it.

It's very freeing to realize you can start the scene when your characters are mid-conversation and actually getting to the important bit. You can skip whole days - weeks, even - if nothing important happens in that time. You don't have to know how they got places or what they were doing in that time either. Not if it's not important to the story you're telling! THAT was liberating once I finally got a handle on it.

PACING IS ABOUT LOAD BEARING WALLS.

*staples violently to my own forehead*

One of my favourite genres has always been the spy action thriller. I especially love them when they're a bit tongue in cheek and are a metaphor for a relationship writ large. They're fun and stylish and sexy, and full of blockbuster action scenes.

That's what I tried to mash with OFMD in this fic. I always try to practice something new when I write these sorts of fics. For this one, it was action movie pacing and a plot full of intrigue.

This is very near the end! There's probably 2-3 chapters before it wraps and I'm posting about a chapter a week.

Versus (32553 words) by downstar Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach & Israel Hands Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Ching Shih | Zheng Yi Sao, Chauncey Badminton, Nigel Badminton, Oluwande Boodhari, Declan Finch Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Spy - Freeform, Alternate Universe - James Bond Fusion, Alternate Universe - Our Flag Means Death Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, Spy thriller, Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Gun Violence, Blood and Violence, spy vs spy - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Action, Intrigue, Espionage, Jealous Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Seduction, Jealous Stede Bonnet, Trust Issues, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, spy gear, Disguise, Travel, World Travel, Trains, On the Run, Mystery, BAMF Stede Bonnet, BAMF Blackbeard | Edward Teach Series: Part 7 of Gentlebeard Modern AUs Summary: Edward Teach, codename Blackbeard works for an intelligence and assasination agency for-hire. He's sent to kill the socialite Stede Bonnet after seducing him, but discovers that the man is much more than he appears to be. He's actually an MI6 agent, codename Gentleman, hiding in plain sight. Things quickly go off the rails when an attempt on both of their lives leaves them wondering who they can trust. As they become an unlikely duo, they are forced to reckon with the chemistry between them - and how that complicates their adversarial relationship. --- This fic follows in the grand tradition of James Bond, Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Lucky Number Slevin. Featuring action in the tradition of spy thrillers, with a healthy dose of queer romance and an enemies-to-lovers arc.

that ‘pakige?’ post but me, a couple hours after posting a fic, like ‘comints?’

For everyone upset over OFMD's official cancellation, I bring you some Captain Picard wisdom.

The sad fact of the matter is, some things are forever out of our control and something even the most passionate people can't fix. Corporate greed, a collapsing streaming market, various strikes that stemmed from actors/writers not getting paid their due...there was so much working against us.

It's a total cliche, but I'm going to try and celebrate what we were given instead of mourning what might have been.

And I look forward to what David Jenkins and the rest of the people involved in Our Flag Means Death brings us next. They are as changed by all of this as we are, I am quite certain.

I'm having this conversation with a friend about fandom and I thought it might not hurt to put a reminder out into the world:

Fandom is a two-way street. At one end, you have the creative types: writers, artists, vid makers (a dying art these days), the meta-commentary-writers. At the other end of the street, the folks who read and view and take in. Not everyone in a fandom creates and that's OK. You can just enjoy the fandom.

Ideally, the two feed off of each other. The creatives make their things; the readers/appreciators/enjoyers respond to let the creatives know that their work is being read/appreciated/admired.

But if the readers/appreciators/admirers go silent? If all they do is consume, without commenting or responding or even so much as hitting that "like" button? Well, the creatives are going to stop creating.

If you treat your creatives like nothing more than content creators, without letting them know that you love the things they make, they will disappear. They'll stop creating. Because as good as it feels to write that fic or draw that art or whatever, we don't exist in a vacuum. Fandom is at its heart a community. And if you stop feeding creatives, well. They starve. The creative works you claim to love will stop appearing.

I feel like many people have a fundamental misconception of what unreliable narrator means. It's simply a narrative vehicle not a character flaw, a sign that the character is a bad person. There are also many different types of unreliable narrators in fiction. Being an unreliable narrator doesn't necessarily mean that the character is 'wrong', it definitely doesn't mean that they're wrong about everything even if some aspects in their story are inaccurate, and only some unreliable narrators actively and consciously lie. Stories that have unreliable narrators also tend to deal with perception and memory and they often don't even have one objective truth, just different versions. It reflects real life where we know human memory is highly unreliable and vague and people can interpret same events very differently

omegaverse content is the real nightshade for poisoning AI.

the thing about 'now ais will understand fanfic' is so silly did they not hear about the times people tried to use ais so make papers and legal shit and it kept trying to insert omegaverse information into them. this had to be last year at least

HELP????

If you are hesitant to comment on AO3 because it's just fanfic and it probably doesn't matter to the writers, know that I got a one word comment ("Beautiful") on a fic nobody ever has bothered reading before and it made my night. Merry Christmas to me! Seriously, though, comments feel so good to writers! Please feed us! We're hungry!