#pagerunner

i JUST finished the noir one and IT WAS SO GOOD.

YESSS! I love talking about Sana :D

12. Own any pets?

Ooooohhh! I’ve never thought about this before, but I canabsolutely see Sana owning an exotic bird of some kind. Like, whatever theasari equivalent of an African gray would be, she’d take care of it. No cage, just apenthouse full of enrichment toys and snacks. True, she’d have to choosebetween her drive to have a clean and tidy living space and a long-lasting,intelligent companion . . . but when you put it like that, the choice becomeseasy :P

23. Fave Genre

Sana loves romance. She’s a sucker for the cheesiest,corniest, saccharinest love stories and loves to cry when the love interestsfinally find their way to each other. It’s no small wonder why she’s been shippingHannah and Dess from pretty much Day 1, but she’s been good and resisted hermore Emma Woodhouse instincts. (Except, of course, for the occasional “hey, whydon’t I take Alli to go do something fun while the two of you spend time alonewith no expectation of anything at all happening, YOU IDIOTS.”)

42. What’s thedumbest thing your character’s done?

In case you don't know, pagerunner is brilliant, generous, thoughtful, fearless, authentic, independent, and endlessly compassionate.

She makes terrible puns that always make me laugh, she gives the absolute best hugs ever, she prefers her coffee the wrong way, and she convinced me against my will that pineapple on pizza can actually be delicious.

She makes the best gifts—my knitted stress bee sits on my desk at work, and my bee mug with a knife for a bottom is pretty much the only one I drink from—and is always trying and learning new things with a curious and adventurous spirit.

She’s the best person to watch movies with because we get excited at the same parts and eventually end up geeking out over the same things and usually end up talking through parts of the movie but it’s for a good cause.

She's a talented writer and all of you should read her Leverage fic, especially Ducklings because Molly and Josie hold a special place in my heart (really, the whole new Leverage crew does, but those two in particular kill me).

She reads all my fic with genuine interest and enthusiasm even though she can't even play the game it's based on, and she lets me ramble at her about plot and character and sticky spots until a solution finally presents itself (either she says something insightful or I talk myself into figuring things out, either way it wouldn’t happen without her).

She's my alpha reader, my confidante, my Patty. She's been an unmitigated force of goodness and growth in my life, and I'm extremely fortunate to know her <3

Q. Quote three bitsof writing you read this year. Can be your writing, or not.

She’d stood before a minefield of futures and Han had givenher a map.

I like that line because it was important to me that Desskeep her agency. Hannah didn’t save her, but she was able to help Dess saveherself and choose the direction of her life. The dynamic between Hannah andDess is always about partnership and support. They enrich each other’s lives,but neither one is defined by the other or their relationship.

She climbed into bed and stared at him until Eliot, againsthis better judgment, settled down next to her, on top of the covers. For onething, she wasn’t the only one running on worry and no sleep, and for another,she leaned against him immediately, head on his shoulder, and he’d had betterescape options tied to a chair in North Korea than facing the concept ofpushing her off right now. He growled a bit, just to remind her that he was whohe was.

“You sound like Bunny. He didn’t like hugs either.” Shewiggled, pressing and sticking to him like that stupid plastic wrap. “Orpeople. But I gave him lots of hugs and I told him we could trust you.”

It was easier to breathe during waterboarding than rightnow, damn her.

“You can,” he said, and meant it with every fiber of hisbeing.

She didn’t answer, and he recognized the distinctivesolidity to the weight of her head against his shoulder.

DAMMIT KALI MY HEART CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH OF ELIOT BEING ASOFTY AND BEING ABOUT TWO SECONDS AWAY FROM BREAKING INTO SONG ABOUT HOW HE WON’TSAY HE’S IN LOVE (at least not out loud).

She turned and walked to the line of seats in the waitingarea and sat down, crossing her legs and patting the seat next to her. Desstook the invitation and leaned back, crossing her arms.

“I know it’s just ships,” Han said, leaning forward andreturning her attention to the window. “But I just think they’re beautiful.”

“They are,” Dess agreed, though she was more interested inwatching Han watch the ships. They really are.

Han leaned back and rested her head on Dess’s shoulder. “I’mglad you’re here,” she said. “I know it’s been kind of a crazy visit and peoplewere rude to you a few times.” She looked up at Dess and smiled. “But at leastnow I know what it’s like to be around you when we’re not fugitives.”

Dess chuckled. “Yeah. You still have to see more of theCitadel than just the Keeper tunnels, too.”

Han nodded. “I’m already packing my bags.”

They sat in a comfortable silence for what seemed like aneternity, and even then, Dess didn’t want it to end.

“It’s late,” Han whispered, her voice sounding heavy withsleep. “Sorry if I kept you awake. I just . . . I’m gonna miss you and I wantedto share this with you.”

Han stood and held out a hand to help Dess up. Desssurprised even herself that her hand didn’t shake as she took Han’s.

They walked back to Dess’s room in silence and said theirgoodbyes at the door. Laying once again in the dark, sleep continued to evadeDess. Her hand buzzed with sensation where Han had helped her. When she closedher eyes, she saw Han silhouetted against that window in the docking bay, andher heart raced. Who could sleep when they had that memory to think aboutinstead?

I had to hold my face for a full five minutes after writingthat scene because THESE IDIOTS AND THEIR STUPID LOVE OH MY GOD WHY DO I DOTHIS TO MYSELF.

T. Themes, motherfucker,do you have them? What are they?

You bet your ass I have themes! I didn’t really set out towrite stories about families with complicated parent-child relationships, buthere we are. Like with Hannah, her relationship to her mom matures as they growolder and learn to be adults with each other, and her relationship with Alli,though it’s full of love, lacks in some ways that Hannah learns to correct overtime. And though Dess has a warm relationship with her dad, her mom isborderline emotionally abusive, so it’s better that that relationship ends. And while Dess doesn’t consider herself to be in a parent role for Alli, Alli still looks up to her and respects her an important adult figure in her life.

IT LOOKS SO GREEN.

It does! It’s always incredible to me how much of a difference a little rain can make here. It can be like night and day sometimes.

pagerunner replied to your post “Desstober update”

oooh i'm going for drama (or possibly overdramatic silliness): “I heard enough, this ends now.”

Oooh, you know what, I had trouble with this prompt earlier this month, but now I have an idea that I really like! Thank you :D

thehoundmistress replied to your post “Desstober update”

I like “I felt it. You know what I mean”!

And I’m excited about this new fic, even if it’s not by Halloween!