terrie01

So, horrific AU idea that crossed my mind today. I was thinking about Episode 100, where it was implied EoWells knew that Cisco would become Vibe, either from his knowledge of history or from the season two encounter between Cisco and Original Recipe Thawne. Now, go back to season one and imagine that EoWells viewed Cisco as a valuable resource because of his forthcoming powers.

So, instead of shutting Cisco down over the Cold Gun, he nurtures Cisco’s doubts about Barry. “I’m not saying you’re wrong to be cautious. But he’s our only resource against the other metas right now, and we need to proceed with caution.” He sows doubt after doubt in Cisco’s mind, downplaying the way Barry cares about other people and emphasizing the way Barry can be careless and impulsive, and how that can lead to people being hurt. So that when Cisco starts to suspect that EoWells is behind the death of Barry’s mother, he’s reluctant to go to Joe, because what if it gets back to Barry? He doesn’t trust Barry to be rational about it, and if he’s wrong, it could put “Dr. Wells” is serious danger.

Since he never goes to Joe, they never find out that the real Harrison Wells was killed by Thawne. By the time he finds out that EoWells is the Reverse Flash, he’s primed to stop and ask why, and EoWells spins him some justification of how it was never his intent to harm Nora Allen, that he was there because he was trying to stop future Barry from damaging the timeline and he has such regrets about what happened, and now he’s trying to make amends by working with Barry, teaching him and hopefully curb his recklessness so no more innocent people get hurt...

And Cisco buys it and agrees to help EoWells, training secretly under him, to be what the Cold Gun could be. Away to stop Barry if he ever got out of control, but one that could never be used by someone else. And the whole time, EoWells is shaping Cisco’s views of his own powers, Barry, other metas... That left uncontrolled by those of a more pragmatic mindset, Barry will destroy those around him with the best of intentions.

Of course, eventually, Barry finds out and attacks EoWells, seriously hurts him, and all Cisco can think of is the warnings of how Barry is ruled by his emotions and that makes him dangerous, that’s why he has to be controlled... And Cisco steps up, sides with EoWells publically, prevents Barry from killing EoWells, breaches them away. EoWells is still Big Bad that hangs over everything, but now he has Cisco at his side. A Cisco who, if he ever encountered Reverb, would probably blast him across the room and scorn his little speech about being gods, because what our Cisco has is so much more than that.

A Lie or Something Worse (11059 words) by Terrie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Flash (TV 2014)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells/Original Female Character(s), Cisco Ramon/Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells
Characters: Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, Cisco Ramon, Jesse "Quick" Wells, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: au-ish, Drama, Bittersweet Ending, Light Angst, Harry Wells loves his wife, Harry Wells-centric
Summary:

Harry’s life was everything he had ever dreamed of it being.

Look, I don’t know why Carlos Valdes has been missing from now three episodes of this season of the Flash. I don’t know if they’re trying to cut him out, if they’re accommodating a secondary project he’s working on, if he or a family member have health issues that mean he’s not available at times. What I do know is that this is a terrible clunky storyline to manage it.

Cisco Ramon is an engineer. A brilliant technological mind. The villains of this season are powered by dark matter-infused tech. And they have him off researching biology in order to create a “cure” for meta powers. Not even biotech, just straight bio. For powers that are not purely biological.

They could have him analyzing the tech samples they have (the dagger fragments, Spencer’s phone, the big ol’ chunk of Sally). Really work the angle of how these metas are different from those from the particle accelerator explosion or the bus metas. But that might make too much sense for this show.

Amidst a Falling World - Terrie - The Flash (TV 2014) [Archive of Our Own] »

Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Flash (TV 2014)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells
Characters: Cisco Ramon, Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells
Additional Tags: Pre-Series, Emotional Manipulation, Because Eobard
Summary:

Cisco thought Dr. Harrison Wells was going to be his boss. He had no idea the man would have the impact on his life that he did.

I just broke my nail trying to open a jar. You have to understand, I keep my nails just short of painfully short, due to mild OCD. So breaking one off means a bunch of nail that is supposed to be actually attached to my flesh is missing, exposing the tender underbelly of my skin. Owie.

After reading more posts than I want to count about hits vs. kudos and kudos vs. hits, I recently realized something. There actually is a formula for how successful we feel a story is. It's just that none of it is easily measured. The formula is effort vs. engagement.

Effort is not just how long a story takes to write. It's about the time and energy you put into laying the groundwork before you even start writing. That commute time you spent laying out the major points of the plot, how the relationships between the characters. The hours on Google and Wikipedia trying to figure out if Steve would have had access to a shower or only a bathtub as a child in 1920s Brooklyn. All those prep activities. It's also about how easily the words flow once you get started. Three hundred words in three hours is a very different experience than three thousand. Writing: Where more results might actually be less effort!

Likewise, engagement is not just hits, kudos or comments, though all are part of it. It's about seeing people recommend your story on tumblr or rec groups on pillowfort or dreamwidth. About people making fanart, requesting to do a podfic version, or asking you questions about a specific line or scene. About the sheer amount of squeaky noises you can make someone produce. About the person who tells you "I totally had a dream about this story."
This explains why the stories you slave over, the ones that you post feeling so darn good about them, because you KNOW they're the best they can be, are the ones that seem to get no response, while the one you scratched off on the back of a used napkin during your lunch break seem to your most popular fic ever.

If you were to have me point to my most successful story, I'd point to Though I May Drown. And it did get a good response. I got some very enthusiastic comments, someone actually did a wonderful podfic of it, and people who would have loved more (though were also very understanding as to why it was a one shot). But by the numbers? It got a good response, not a great one. I have plenty of other stories with more hits, more kudos, more comments, more reblogs, more everything. But writing it was effortless. It was cranked it out and proofed it in under two hours, world building and all. It was like the AU sprung into being fully formed. I could tell you a hundred things about it that never made it into the story. It was the kind of writing experience you always want. So measure against that, each response seems huge. Meanwhile, stories that have required lots of polishing and work, each response seems so small, even when there are twice as many.

It's canon that Cisco is a movie buff, but oddly, every movie he has mentioned was made before he was born. (Carles Valdes was born in 1989, but I'm cheating here and putting Cisco's brith at 1990, because I like round numbers). Jaws, Godfather, The Princess Bride, Wrath of Khan, Zatoichi. All before he was born. (There was a 2003 Zatoichi remake, but that's not part of the mentioned Criterion boxset). So what about the stuff that came out in his lifetime? Have some headcanons.

Toy Story (1995): The first movie Cisco remembers seeing in the theater. His moter tells the story about how they went to see the Lion King the year before, but Cisco started crying when Mufasa died and they had to leave. Cisco remembers none of this. He does remember how, for weeks, he tried to catch his toys moving.

Home Alone (1990): He saw it for the first timeon video at a friend's house. He was quickly banned from said friend's house after they tried to reproduce some of the traps.

Lilo and Stich (2002): Cisco's favorite Disney movie. His mom thought he was "too old" at 12 to go to a Disney movie, but she didn't say anything when he went with younger cousins. Looking back, he can see that he related to the themes in both movies of someone having trouble finding their place in the world and in their family. At 12, he just really wanted an alien.

Mulan (1998): Cisco's second favorite Disney movie. Again, the theme of feeling out of place. It also may have had an impact on the kind of women he is attracted to. Capable is very attractive.

Brokeback Mountain (2006): Cisco hates this movie. It made him cry and he can't forgive the way it plays with his emotions. He still thinks it should have won the Oscar over Crash.

Twilight (2008): No.

Star Trek (2009): A pale imitation of the real thing. He wanted to like it so much, but his heart belongs to Wrath of Khan.

The Complete Metropolis (1927/2011): This was it. The movie that cemented his love of movies, especially older movies. Sitting there, watching a movie tht hadn't been seen in its entirety since 1927 made his heart beat faster. He may never recapture that exact feeling, but sometimes, he manages to get close.