trace_of_scarlet

Director Fury Needs This Done By Tuesday

"I just want you to know," Tony complains loudly, "that I feel completely oppressed by SHIELD's exploitation of my genius. I mean, you could at least let me pick the music!"

"Uh-huh." Coulson glances away from the TV screen (SuperNanny is currently engaged in an epic five-hour battle to make a spoilt six-year-old sit on the designated Naughty Step for biting her stepmother) long enough to eye Stark, who has paused sulkily over his workbench with a hammer raised Thor-like in his fist. "Lewis, if he keeps shirking his work, you have official permission to deal with him as you see fit."

"I - HEY!" Tony spins round to stare beseechingly at the much shorter brunette. "Guy with an electric heart-saver prominent on his chest, here!"

Darcy glares right back at him, raising the water-filled squirtbottle threateningly. "Then stop being a dumbass and get back to work!"

Fic: Downstairs, in Baker Street
Fandoms: ...Ahahahaha, where to start! But I’ll admit to Sherlock, James Bond movieverse, and RED.
Rating: PG
Words: 5254
Warnings: None; assumes knowledge of both series.
Beta: My beloved alas_a_llama.
Notes: I got to write part of this sitting in a café on Baker Street. Because I am a very lucky girl. This makes reference to a total of twenty canons: I will write a ficlet for anyone who gets all twenty! Hints: all but three of the characters are British, although not all their canons are, and all but one are from either TV shows or movies. Second hint: I am a commentfiend. Comments make me the happiest of Bethans.
Summary: Mrs Hudson knows perfectly well that Sherlock isn’t dead, but keeping him that way is going to require a little help from her old friends... Luckily, she isn’t short of influential connections.

( 'Camilla? It’s Martha Hudson. I’m ever so sorry to bother you, but I’m afraid your girls are going to have to cause a school trip…' )

The pilot's door opened and a familiar messy golden head poked out, her helmet in one hand; Martin smiled, a little shy but happy. "Hi, Kaidy."

She grinned back at him, pushing herself off from the doorway to jump down to him. "Hullo, Red," she said, giving him a distracted kiss. "Shan't be a second - need to see Jude's all right."

Somewhat bemused, he allowed himself to be led to the bulky dual-rotored heli-jet sitting primly on the lakeside. The door opened as they approached but no-one emerged; Kaidy clambered up instead.

"Yep, it's Milliways," he heard her say. "Coming for a drink?"

The unknown pilot pulled her helmet off to reveal a flushed, good-looking face and a dark ginger buzzcut. "Aye, go on," she said, sounding grumpy but resigned. "Get my legs, will you? T'bloody things've broken out of the straps again, and I can't reach 'em."

Kaidy leant further inside and dragged forwards what looked like a large, bulky metal suitcase, which the two of them opened together to produce what looked like a set of brass-and-clockwork bones. The redhead - Jude, presumably - saw him looking and frowned blackly; Kaidy turned, followed her gaze to Martin and hastily leant back out.

"Martin, love, could you go and get us a cuppa each?" she asked. "We won't be a moment. Two sugars for Jude, three for me."

"Oh!" He nodded, smiling awkwardly. "Yes, of course."

Since Jude, at least, clearly didn't want him around for the time being, Martin took the hint and took his time getting the drinks from the bar. When he did return, it quickly became apparent that several other patrons had been less able to resist the mild novelty of a plane and a helicopter landing outside the bar: he could see Jude (now with the metal skeleton strapped to her legs and waist like a combination of splints and prosthetic limbs) and Kaidy at the centre of a small knot of people, while others were wandering around inspecting the aircraft curiously. A tall, muscled man with scarred arms was lighting Kaidy's cigarette for her; Martin knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help letting his shoulders slump as he heard the stranger say something that made her laugh. He hung back, suddenly uncertain and out-of-place, but a moment or two later Kaidy looked up and smiled as she saw him.

"Hey, Martin, come and say hello," she called to him. "There are some more pilots for you to meet!"

At that he hurried up, happy and heedless of the tea he was spilling as she draped an arm around his skinny shoulders and grinned at him before turning back to the muscled man.

"So, Atton, have you met my Captain Crieff?"

“Yes, yes, of course you’re quite right about everything – as usual. If it weren’t for Freddy giving me the unconscionable idea that I am in fact a human being, I might even now be married, respectable and contemplating how best to slit my wrists with a fish knife,” Betsy said tartly. “Speaking of which, whatever is dear old Daisy up to these days?”

Philip threw up his hands in furious disgust, scowling at her. “Really, Bets, you are utterly incorrigible!”

She propped her own hands on her hips, meeting her brother glare for glare. “That was the general idea, yes.”



Yes, it's Burning Bridges-verse. I CANNOT STOP AND I DON'T WANT TO, EITHER.

The state of the Bethan: permanently psychologically and physically tired. Very tired. Trying desperately to work up the mental energy to have a go in the milliways_bar Allpocalypse before it's too late, and still failing.

THEREFORE:

What are you guys working on at the minute? Fannish or original, art or words or fanmix -- anything you're working on right now that you're enjoying. Titles, first few sentences, drafts, sketches ... anything.

I'LL START.

Firstly, I'm approximately five thousand words into what should have been my 2011 NaNoWriMo project, an update of the Enid Blyton Five Find Outers series with the cast grown up in the 1950s. Essentially, Enid Blyton with a twist of Agatha Christie meets Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and all the other classic fifties noir. (Oh God, Blyton and her ISSUES. So much fixing, so little time.)

It's tentatively called The Mystery of the Burning Bridges, and here's the first paragraph:
Elizabeth Hilton had never, ever liked Tuesdays. They were sluggishly grey days, miserably far from the weekend, with a high chance of heavy drizzle and still four days left to slog through in the company of the sulky grey- or red-faced boors who filled the newspaper offices where she worked as junior photographer #3 with an alcoholic, middle-aged haze of beer, cigarette fumes and sweat. Her grandfather had died on a Tuesday, her last angry dispute with her older brother Pip had been on a Tuesday, and she was very nearly positive she had signed the paperwork for her grub of a flat on a Tuesday, too. And all of this culminated on this particular Tuesday morning in the rattling, too-cramped lift to the fifth floor of the offices of the London Standard, and the unmistakable feeling of her chief editor’s fat, sly fingers groping without shame at her posterior as they both exited it. Betsy reacted as her mother had always taught her to: by taking deep breaths and counting in a ladylike, restrained way to twenty.

And then, since she was still furious, she threw her camera at him anyway.

Secondly, I think I have finally managed to suppress having All The Feelings at Sherlock long enough to get writing for it, and I am therefore working on something called The Emperor's Wrath (Jim Moriarty and Seb Moran leading up to and during The Reichenbach Fall), and another, which has been rather more fleshed-out, which is called Upstairs, In Baker Street and features ex-MI:6 Mrs Hudson calling on some old friends (Victoria from RED, M from James Bond, probably also Harriet Jones of Flydale North Doctor Who) to protect Dr Watson and keep an eye on Sherlock, who she knows damn well is not dead). I think I am going to deliberately turn it into a reference hunt and see if people can spot all the references to various kickass women.

Vaguely also tempted to do something with the title All Our Smiles Are Fixed, And All Our Hearts Are Broken, possibly with John/Mycroft/Lestrade/Molly reacting to the Reichenbach Fall, or maybe with Dumbledore's Army immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts.

I also really need to get around to finishing Mornington Criminals, a fic about certain of the Criminal Minds team ... well, playing Mornington Crescent, basically. It's been stuck without an ending for over a year, so I really should be able to finish the damn thing.

Lastly, I do believe I may finally get to put some work in on a long-wanted one-shot about River Song and Indiana Jones: I don't have a plot as such, but as of today it has a title (Cups and Saucers), which is generally a good sign - as a rule, if it has a definite title, I will generally finish it. Also mulling around in my brain since aaaaaages ago is a character study-type fic called To Save The World Entire about Dr Erskine and Yentzen, and about what it means to give your life and create a superhero (movieverse!Captain America and Iron Man, respectively).

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR STUFF, MEIN FREUNDES-KREIS.

This entry was cross-posted to http://splash-of-blue.dreamwidth.org/166926.html. I'd prefer it if you commented here rather than there, though.

Some people (well... Fi) asked for more Kaidy-Martin fic, and I finished this possible ending to a thread (=story) in work today.

So, here!

( Carolyn stared at him, startled. )

This entry was cross-posted to http://splash-of-blue.dreamwidth.org/166689.html. I'd prefer it if you commented here rather than there, though.

Fic: These Women And Their Wars
Fandom: Harry Potter/James Bond
Rating: PG
Words: 1761
Warnings: None.
Notes: Inspired by my beloved milliways_bar, which in turn was inspired by the restaurant created by Douglas Adams. Beta-ed and characterisation-checked by the very kind sp4ztard.
Summary: Two women meet at Milliways, the bar at the end of the universe where anyone can be. Minerva McGonagall may not have a name for the woman with whom she’s drinking tea, but she still knows very well who and what she is.

( 'I’ve said it before,' remarks the slighter of the two women, stirring her tea viciously, 'But I really do miss the Cold War.' )

Fic: Umbrellas Under Clear Skies
Fandoms: Sandman/NCIS
Genre: Crossover
Rating: PG
Words: 497
Warnings: None. No spoilers.
Beta: alas_a_llama and azremodehar, who are both stars.
Notes: Apologies for any failures in medical technique: I did one First Aid course when I was eight and that’s it. Inspiration for the premise is due to Terry Pratchett.
Summary: Abby and Death: a conversation between fragments of time.

( Death took a moment to flick through a mental checklist, twisting her umbrella thoughtfully against her shoulder. )

Fic: Chains Like The Sea
Fandom: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, mainly
Rating: PG
Words: 405
Warnings: No warnings. Very slight spoilers for Children of Earth and Miracle Day.
Beta: plum177, who has given me much tea and love.
Summary: Pre-Miracle Day, Gwen suffocates beside the sea. Because suddenly Gwen is my very favourite character in Torchwood, and I LOVE HER. The title and the occasional reference come from Dylan Thomas's beautiful poem Fern Hill. Inspiration for this fic came from that poem and my friend apiphile's amazing Gwen fic Lost Woman Song, which you should read. Immediately.

( These days, Gwen doesn’t know where the end ends or the beginning begins; she simply… continues. )

Hmm.

You know what I want? I want a meme. A crossover meme, specifically. I'm nearly certain that this sort of thing requires you to be a lot more Fandom Famous than I am for it to work, but any replies at all will make me smile, which would be REALLY appreciated right now. So, please pimp this out to your flist!

Ever wanted to see Spencer Reid match wits with Sherlock Holmes? Read Hermione Granger fighting crime with Barbara Gordon? Wondered what would happen if Sam Vimes went for a drink with Gene Hunt?
Then allow me to introduce
The Multi-Media Multi-Fandom Mash-Up Meme!

How this is going to work:

+ COMMENT with: two or more fandoms/two or more characters from different fandoms, and some kind of prompt. Please put the fandoms in the title of the comment for ease of navigation.

+ REPLY to comments with fanfiction, fanart, song lyrics, videos or anything else that fits the prompt and takes your fancy. If linking to large (over 500x500) images, please either provide a thumbnail and a link or just a link.
++++++ Creations of ANY rating are fine, but please include a rating for anything R or higher in the title of the comment and, if the adult-rated prompt-fill is artwork, link to it.

+ ENJOY YOURSELVES.

One last note: you don't have to leave a prompt in order to reply to comments (and vice versa).

PIMP:
<center><a href="http://bethan-b-bad.livejournal.com/165723.html"><strong><font face="verdana"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: xx-large;">The</span></span><span style="font-size: xx-large;"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Multi-</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);">Media</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 51);">Multi-Fandom</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Mash-Up</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span style="font-size: xx-large;">Meme!</span></span></font></strong></center></a>

ETA: MEME NOW HAS GRAPHICS!