Lucy Preston - Blog Posts
Frozen for a Moment in Time - Or - Unbridled Joy of Possibilities
A Timeless Secret Santa Gift for Kate Chaucer
A winter scene. A moment in time. Enraptured at the verge of possibilities. Standing at the cusp and taking it all in without rushing through. Lucy Preston and Garcia Flynn are standing on frozen ice.
I am typing this at five minutes to midnight and so it's still Christmas! 😤 Besides: a propos for a show about time travel, Kate is in a completely different time zone which means it will still be Christmas for her well after I post this. 😉😎🤓. In other words: I am slowly recovering from my horrendous cold and wanted to post this while I had some energy. 🤧
Dear Kate, you requested a winter scene and a winter scene is what I sketched. This was a pleasure to create: from concept, to early sketch, to finished art work - I am glad you loved it as well as you did & I do hope our fellow Timeless fans enjoy it too now that I'm posting it publicly.
I had a scene in mind for how this moment came to be and where they are in time and I still hope to share it someday. For now: I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy this art as it stands on its own ❤️.
Also on A03
Lucy Preston - Sheer Exuberance of Being or The Impossible Made Real
It's such a pleasure to experiment with different art & illustration styles. This was an experiment in colour and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Lucy Preston is such a marvelous character - fierce, loyal and kind to a fault but also ruthless and with a backbone of steel. She's been living in my mind in many adaptations through the show & the fanfic reimaginings and I love reading about her.
Now that I'm posting these fanarts publically, I'm writing short accompanying texts on AO3 and I find myself in a melancholic mood apparently :-) So, please do check them out & leave me a comment ❤️.
Now also on AO3
Lucy Writes Her Journal
One of the things that fascinates me is that Lucy Preston was a writer yet we hardly ever saw her write and try to process in the show Timeless, and subsequently few fanfics show it, even when canonically, she wrote the journal that put everything in motion as well as multiple books. I love reading about those moments when Lucy sits down and researches and writes, and I love reading about the journal.
I've seen many takes on what the journal contained, and I enjoy the few screenshots that seem to highlight talk of specific historical events.
In this picture, she's got pages of notes to help her craft the journal. It's a period in time that fascinates me and I'm intrigued by the thought of the active deliberation that went into it.
Hope y'all enjoy this picture too. It was a fun artistic experiment - I love playing with various styles.
Now also on AO3
Fanfic Rec List (mostly Timeless)
Since starting this blog, I created 24 fanfic sketchnotes & I can now create a mosaic that covers nearly a square meter. So, in celebration of all these amazing stories I got to recommend, join me in this (massive) compilation post with links to all the stories & the sketchnotes (for more detail on my recommendations). I categorized the stories and I wish to celebrate all you amazing writers & artists today! Thank you for sharing your stories & art.
I hope you forgive the massive amount of namedropping I am about to do. (Also: I love reading the responses when people see my sketchnotes - so feel free to respond, sent me a note or engage in conversations :-) ). I’m also always on the lookout for more stories to read: I particularly like found family, recovery, mission fic, general or rare pair stories & maturity in characters & conversations. I like adults leaving teen drama behind and dealing with things like the adults they are. Angst is a favorite too, and I enjoy the multiverse of AUs. (Honestly: I’m a pretty eclectic reader).
Timeless
The show that pulled me back into fandom & fanfic & to all you wonderful people. The full list is under a read-more, cause this post got LONG.
Historical / Mission
The Only Way Out by @sallyexactly
Author’s summary: Chinatown leaves the team shattered and grieving, but their only option is to stumble forward. To save the world, they'll need strength of character they didn't know they had, to defeat depths of evil like they've never seen. Meanwhile, they need to find a way to decide their own future, not give up hope... and save the fighting for the actual bad guys. It's honestly a toss-up which of those will be hardest.
This story is my headcanon of how the series ended. It is long (300000+ words) but well-worth it. It's got history, slow and mature development and an intelligent resolution. I reread it frequently and although I have wanted to capture my response in a (series of) sketchnote, I never managed it to my satisfaction. The story is beautiful and feels cathartic (and well-worth rereading over and over).
The Road Ode by @sallyexactly - my sketchnote
Post-canon. Roadtrip with our favourite historian & lots of historical markers on the way. 107937 words.
The Gutter and the Stars by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels - my sketchnote
Oscar Wilde. Short (1397 words) & funny.
No End, No Beginning by MandyCandy - my sketchnote
Ambitious plan & canon divergent. Tecumseh. With a full bibliography. 65068 words.
Parallel Lines by @x-voyevoda - my sketchnote
Multiverse. Post-canon. Rated mature. Work-in-Progress. 71911 words.
Zajednički by @insane-sociopath - my sketchnote
Retelling of season 2. PTSD. More missions included. Incomplete. 129474 words.
Evocative / Poetic / Philosophical / Makes Me Think
Burn the Witch by barefootwithneonhands - my sketchnote
Evocative. Poetic & fascinating to no end. 19534 words.
Two Roads by @oldshrewsburyian - my sketchnote
How do you live your life while waiting for a future you once so tantalisingly glimpsed but barely dared hope for? Denise Christopher pondering her choices. 835 words.
The Nuclear Option by RedGold (@timelesshonesttrailer) - my sketchnote
“Sometimes… sometimes change happens because a thousand voices cry out and make themselves heard, many moving parts of some Rube-Goldberg Machine. But… from time to time… it just takes one person, making one decision, and that changes the fate of the world.” Jessica-centric. 6036 words
A Shot of Remembrance by @doctorliamsr - my sketchnote
Garcia & Karl. Season 1. 1093 words.
Scorched Earth by @sallyexactly - my sketchnote
Garcia & Lucy. Evocative language. 2695 words.
Ballet-Feerie by @oldshrewsburyian & @qqueenofhades - my sketchnote
Ballet AU. Dance as language. Authors’ summary: “Garcia Flynn teaches ballet to a class including Amy Preston. Lucy Preston has been her younger sister's guardian since they were orphaned. Hesitant conversations and fraught silences ensue. Also, there's Tchaikovsky.” 16799 words.
Alternate Universe
Finding Light in Darkness - by Ultra - my sketchnote
19-century Governess AU. 40199 words. Found Family. Wholesome story.
Incandescent & Adolescent (Wonders Never Cease) by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels - my sketchnote
She Loves Me AU. 1930s setting. Lots of letter writing. 18438 words.
Ballet-Feerie by @oldshrewsburyian & @qqueenofhades - my sketchnote
Ballet AU. See above. 16799 words
Blood Sins - A #FlynnFriday Imagines Series (E-rated) by @doctorliamsr, @timelesshonesttrailer & @ununpredictableme - my sketchnote
Vampire AU. Ongoing story that fascinates me to no end. Reading any snippit I can get my hands on. Garcia/Lorena/Lucy & Jiya/Rufus relationships. The E-rated parts are clearly marked and can be skipped if it’s not your cup of tea. Currently at 47403 words.
The Assassin’s Holiday by @secretnerdprincess - my sketchnote
Murdervision. Assassin AU. Got me giggling all the way through. 12224 words. Rated mature.
Amehrana by Redgold (@timelesshonesttrailer) - my sketchnote
Food Truck AU. Found family. Wholesome. Mature people. Lorena is awesome. 32589 words.
Lorena Lives
Rise Like a Reckoning by @amandamonroe - my sketchnote
Author’s summary: ‘"Lorena Flynn Has a Chance" Ex-CIA agent Lorena Flynn is back. She's got her daughter, her husband, and the woman who saved their lives years ago. She's taking command of the bunker and taking Rittenhouse down.’ Lorena/Garcia/Lucy hinted at towards the end. 6483 words.
Blood Sins - A #FlynnFriday Imagines Series (E-rated) by @doctorliamsr, @timelesshonesttrailer & @ununpredictableme - my sketchnote
See above. Also: Iris lives!
Amehrana by Redgold (@timelesshonesttrailer) - my sketchnote
See above. Yes, I’m recommending this twice. :-)
Due to the nature of the show, there are not many stories in which Lorena lives. I particularly like the Lorena focused stories that RedGold, @sallyexactly, @omnicat & @amandamonroe write. Lorena & Iris deserved better and these stories bring depth, humanity and grace to Lorena & her choices. I reread them frequently and recommend you do the same. These authors are amazing.
Recovery & Healing
To Find a Home by @misscrazyfangirl321 - my sketchnote
Rufus & Jiya & Garcia friendship. Extending grace. 4529 words.
A Butterfly Garden by @vita-s-west - my sketchnote
Post-Rittenhouse defeat. Slow recovery. Especially wholesome to read in these pandemic times. There’s now a sequel too! 3323 words.
Nisam Sam by @thealocksly - my sketchnote
Lucy’s processing her time in Rittenhouse & Garcia holds space for her. Soft & dark & visceral. 1225 words.
Q&A by @somekindofflowergirl - my sketchnote
Author’s summary: “Lucy and Flynn develop a routine during their nighttime chats. She's allowed one loaded question and he's allowed one loaded apology.” 22176 words
The Road Ode by @sallyexactly - my sketchnote
See above. This roadtrip fic inspired my own roadtrip where we found ourselves in Friedrichshafen, Germany and the Zeppelin museum there were there was a whole exposition on the Hindenburg. Felt very serendipidous.
Honorable mentions (especially in these pandemic times):
Disease Protocols for Time Travellers by hjea (594 words)
Also, I’d like to give a shoutout to @battleshipgarcy for their fan archive sites & meta posts with screenshots of the journal & all the meta content. I love seeing all those small details highlighted! (Plus: their Maria Thompkins in their story The Road Less Traveled intrigues me to no end!)
Other Fandoms
Hunger Games - A Standing Engagement (E-rated) by @bettsfic - my sketchnote.
Annie & Finnick AU within Hunger Games world. 56760 words. The Food Wars are so very appropriate in the Hunger Games world. It’s fascinating how well betts incorporates exisiting Hunger Games context into this story: this feels like it could have happened.
Temeraire - The Diplomat’s Dragon by indecisive_lotus - my sketchnote
Ongoing story. Post-canon. I love Churki & Hammond together & how Hammond especially gets out-manouvered. 20730 words.
White Collar - In Your Wildest Dreams by sahiya - my sketchnote
Post-canon. Sara Ellis focused. Author’s summary ”This was what grief did to you, Sara knew. It played tricks on your mind. But if it wasn’t Neal, then who could it be? Who else would send her an anonymous packet detailing all the ways someone could knock over the Louvre?” 14289 words.
White Collar - I’ve been bingereading the stories by Sholio. Especially the stories focused on Diana Barrigan. They are a delight. Breakout is especially bad-ass Diana (in heels nonetheless!)
I started this blog to show my appreciation of those wonderful fanfic stories that have entertained me endlessly and engage with these amazing artists (and other people in fandom who share my enthusiasm!) This recommendation list is obviously incomplete and I welcome additions & conversations!
The Timeless story Burn the Witch by @barefootwithneonhands intrigues me. It explores a darker Lucy returning from her time in Rittenhouse viewed through her teammates eyes, and has her take direct action in their fight.
It's got mystery (the Bell Witch), lots of humor - especially from Rufus, tender moments between Denise & Michelle, heartbreak as to what Lucy went through and a realness to who she is now having gone through that and what she is truly willing to do combined with the vulnerability of being truly seen.
I like how Lucy is so unapologetic. The small hint with the 20 dollar bill that she succeeded and the way her team questions, but supports her. Little details like Wyatt listening to history podcasts while exercising and Denise pinching her nose in frustration as she contemplates the list of people she cannot kill make me smile.
