Yuletide Reveal
As I said, I managed to write four fics, and here they are, plus some thoughts on them that probably nobody wants to hear, but never mind:
In Darkness (4869 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sapphire and Steel
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Silver (Sapphire and Steel), Sapphire (Sapphire and Steel), Steel (Sapphire and Steel), Plutonium
Summary:
Silver doesn't like assignments that begin with him alone in a place where nothing is as it seems. These things shouldn't happen to a technician, especially not more than once.
I don't think anyone who knows me and who saw this will be exactly shocked to learn that this was my assignment this year. The funny thing about it was that I saw
sophiap's request when the letters went out and drafted the first version of this as a treat the next day. (I quote: "In terms of characters, Silver is always delightful to read about." Clearly, me being assigned was a terrible mismatch. :lol: ♥) And though I had it drafted out before I got the assignment, it took a long time for me to be happy with it, as it felt rather pointless (nearly 5000 words and nothing happened!) and that worried me; also I thought it was something only me and (hopefully!) the recipient would like. (I was finally happy with it on about Dec 23rd, I think. Heh.)
But the starting point was
sophiap mentioning Transuranic Elements and Silver in the same paragraph. Because then the idea of a Transuranic vs Silver set up, so basically it's like the fable about the wind and the sun - a powerful being up against one that's weaker but more quick-witted, which is always fun. And also about Silver's nature as a technician - that he's designed to assist operators and therefore he's not able to do so much on his own and in the dark (and doesn't like it). High concepts, indeed, yes, I know. :lol:
It did involve me being fannish about the periodic table yet again and I had to do lots of intensive research look up the Transuranic Elements on Wikipedia to create Plutonium. (Who also I didn't want to be evil, or even gone to the other side - I thought it was more interesting if it was for other reasons.) Also Neptunium is the most stable of the Transuranics, so I had to use that. (I did think about having one of the more randomly named Transuranics go evil, just so someone could say, "Curse you, Rutherfordium!" Well, not seriously, but this is why I shouldn't be allowed to look at the periodic table until I get over the S&S obsession. War amongst the Transuranics! It would be priceless. Damn that Thingyingyniumiumum.)
Anyway, I really didn't expect it to get much response, so I was thrilled that it did get a couple of comments (and even 2 recs) from other people - and the most important thing, of course, that the recipient seemed to like it.
Of Elements and Existence (2642 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sapphire and Steel, Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Steel (Sapphire and Steel), Sapphire (Sapphire and Steel), Silver (Sapphire and Steel), Death (Discworld), Mustrum Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons, Esmerelda "Granny" Weatherwax, Gytha "Nanny" Ogg
Summary:
There are some places even Elements should never go. The Discworld is unquestionably one of them...
So... there I was with my assignment all drafted out before Yuletide had even started, worrying about it and having a sort of reverse-Yuletide panic. So I decided to try and write something as different as possible to go with In Darkness - the prompt was pretty wide open with lots of suggestions, including a crossover. So I looked at my recipient's fandoms for any we shared and saw Doctor Who (which has been done, and is also full of many pitfalls, as those of us in the fandom know - what if I picked on the one era/Doctor/companion she couldn't stand?) and Discworld. Well, crossing S&S with the Discworld was obviously completely impossible and would break S&S if attempted.
And then... I wrote it. Silver and Nanny Ogg occurred first and amused me (you know, if it hadn't been impossible, that could have been pretty funny) and then I thought of Death and Steel and the whole thing worked. The Disc even sort of makes sense of Sapphire and Steel, and I'm probably more pleased with it than I should be - mostly because I really didn't think I could get it done, as well as I liked the way it turned out. Sapphire got the wizards because it seemed a good idea, and also for pure pragmatism in getting a solution to the confusion without too many words. Also, Steel, on Death: "Not very helpful, are you?" :-)
I thought about trying odd things in this to try and disguise it was me, but I didn't think it was worth it in the end. I don't think anyone did get that I did both (or did you?) so that was good. (To me, it felt OBVIOUS that both were me.)
Also,
persiflage_1 beta-ed both of these for me. (Thanks, Pers! ♥)
Vigil (1246 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Measure for Measure - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Isabella/Duke Vincentio
Characters: Isabella (Measure for Measure), Duke Vincentio
Summary:
Isabella is a woman who may never be a nun; the Duke a man who is not in truth a monk. Stranger alliances have been made.
Actually, all of the treats were written while letter reading before sign-ups - it just took forever to get them all typed up. This one was for
angevin2 and as soon as I saw the request for any take on the play's ending (as regards the Duke and Isabella), I wanted to write it so badly it overcame sensible thoughts such as me never having dared write Shakespeare fanfic before, only having watched the BBC version once (while ill and befogged) etc.
Anyway, I thought I would go for it as a treat, because I suspected I might well be the only one who'd write how it could have worked. (If you don't know, M4M, it ends with four highly random and inadvisable marriages being made. Well, that's not true, one of them is relatively sensible, but including the manipulative Duke proposing to Isabella, a novice about to take her vows.) I was really worried about this one - it came pretty much as is, but that turned out to be kind of terribly idealistic for the source material. Anyway, thankfully,
angevin2 did like it, and the comments I've had have been - I don't know how to say this properly, but more than one person remarked on the compassion of it, which was unexpected, and rather a lovely thing to have said about your writing.
I was, rather ironically, so worried about it, I couldn't send it to a beta. (I needed to know who knew M4M before I could even ask...)
New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome) (2744 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: New Tricks
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sandra Pullman, Jack Halford, Brian Lane, Gerry Standing, Robert Strickland
Summary:
When the members of UCOS are around, it's just never like it is in the stories...
This was the first one I wrote and the last one to be finished -
newredshoes's prompt jumped out and mugged me! She'd suggested an New Tricks AU and I instantly had hilarious images of the team being so very much themselves in other times and places. I panicked a bit after writing it, for reasons, so it was saved from never being posted at all, by a beta (arriving in at the last minute!) from
aralias - I'd asked her because she writes in Hornblower and was therefore a good person for Age of Sail info. (Because if my Unconvincing pirates with a mauve flag were historically dodgy, it would have been terrible... Heh.) Unfortunately (for her) she turned out not to know New Tricks at all. Anyway, she still made the point I need to hear to then manage to sort the fic out & people seem to have found it amusing in the right way. (My sense of humour cuts out v quickly when I get tired - it's alarming typing up a story that's supposed to be funny when you can only see dull words.)
Also: LJ has been down - obviously - but I can't seem to get it back for long enough to post or comment, so hopefully it will sort itself out now. (I assume this, following an unusual amount of spam is probably not a coincidence?) In the meantime, I'm not trying to ignore anyone. It is terrible, how even though I have a Tumblr and a Dreamwidth and there was Yuletide on AO3, the internet still goes immediately sad and pointless with no LJ.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there:
In Darkness (4869 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sapphire and Steel
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Silver (Sapphire and Steel), Sapphire (Sapphire and Steel), Steel (Sapphire and Steel), Plutonium
Summary:
Silver doesn't like assignments that begin with him alone in a place where nothing is as it seems. These things shouldn't happen to a technician, especially not more than once.
I don't think anyone who knows me and who saw this will be exactly shocked to learn that this was my assignment this year. The funny thing about it was that I saw
sophiap's request when the letters went out and drafted the first version of this as a treat the next day. (I quote: "In terms of characters, Silver is always delightful to read about." Clearly, me being assigned was a terrible mismatch. :lol: ♥) And though I had it drafted out before I got the assignment, it took a long time for me to be happy with it, as it felt rather pointless (nearly 5000 words and nothing happened!) and that worried me; also I thought it was something only me and (hopefully!) the recipient would like. (I was finally happy with it on about Dec 23rd, I think. Heh.)
But the starting point was
sophiap mentioning Transuranic Elements and Silver in the same paragraph. Because then the idea of a Transuranic vs Silver set up, so basically it's like the fable about the wind and the sun - a powerful being up against one that's weaker but more quick-witted, which is always fun. And also about Silver's nature as a technician - that he's designed to assist operators and therefore he's not able to do so much on his own and in the dark (and doesn't like it). High concepts, indeed, yes, I know. :lol:
It did involve me being fannish about the periodic table yet again and I had to do lots of intensive research look up the Transuranic Elements on Wikipedia to create Plutonium. (Who also I didn't want to be evil, or even gone to the other side - I thought it was more interesting if it was for other reasons.) Also Neptunium is the most stable of the Transuranics, so I had to use that. (I did think about having one of the more randomly named Transuranics go evil, just so someone could say, "Curse you, Rutherfordium!" Well, not seriously, but this is why I shouldn't be allowed to look at the periodic table until I get over the S&S obsession. War amongst the Transuranics! It would be priceless. Damn that Thingyingyniumiumum.)
Anyway, I really didn't expect it to get much response, so I was thrilled that it did get a couple of comments (and even 2 recs) from other people - and the most important thing, of course, that the recipient seemed to like it.
Of Elements and Existence (2642 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sapphire and Steel, Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Steel (Sapphire and Steel), Sapphire (Sapphire and Steel), Silver (Sapphire and Steel), Death (Discworld), Mustrum Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons, Esmerelda "Granny" Weatherwax, Gytha "Nanny" Ogg
Summary:
There are some places even Elements should never go. The Discworld is unquestionably one of them...
So... there I was with my assignment all drafted out before Yuletide had even started, worrying about it and having a sort of reverse-Yuletide panic. So I decided to try and write something as different as possible to go with In Darkness - the prompt was pretty wide open with lots of suggestions, including a crossover. So I looked at my recipient's fandoms for any we shared and saw Doctor Who (which has been done, and is also full of many pitfalls, as those of us in the fandom know - what if I picked on the one era/Doctor/companion she couldn't stand?) and Discworld. Well, crossing S&S with the Discworld was obviously completely impossible and would break S&S if attempted.
And then... I wrote it. Silver and Nanny Ogg occurred first and amused me (you know, if it hadn't been impossible, that could have been pretty funny) and then I thought of Death and Steel and the whole thing worked. The Disc even sort of makes sense of Sapphire and Steel, and I'm probably more pleased with it than I should be - mostly because I really didn't think I could get it done, as well as I liked the way it turned out. Sapphire got the wizards because it seemed a good idea, and also for pure pragmatism in getting a solution to the confusion without too many words. Also, Steel, on Death: "Not very helpful, are you?" :-)
I thought about trying odd things in this to try and disguise it was me, but I didn't think it was worth it in the end. I don't think anyone did get that I did both (or did you?) so that was good. (To me, it felt OBVIOUS that both were me.)
Also,
persiflage_1 beta-ed both of these for me. (Thanks, Pers! ♥)
Vigil (1246 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Measure for Measure - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Isabella/Duke Vincentio
Characters: Isabella (Measure for Measure), Duke Vincentio
Summary:
Isabella is a woman who may never be a nun; the Duke a man who is not in truth a monk. Stranger alliances have been made.
Actually, all of the treats were written while letter reading before sign-ups - it just took forever to get them all typed up. This one was for
angevin2 and as soon as I saw the request for any take on the play's ending (as regards the Duke and Isabella), I wanted to write it so badly it overcame sensible thoughts such as me never having dared write Shakespeare fanfic before, only having watched the BBC version once (while ill and befogged) etc.
Anyway, I thought I would go for it as a treat, because I suspected I might well be the only one who'd write how it could have worked. (If you don't know, M4M, it ends with four highly random and inadvisable marriages being made. Well, that's not true, one of them is relatively sensible, but including the manipulative Duke proposing to Isabella, a novice about to take her vows.) I was really worried about this one - it came pretty much as is, but that turned out to be kind of terribly idealistic for the source material. Anyway, thankfully,
angevin2 did like it, and the comments I've had have been - I don't know how to say this properly, but more than one person remarked on the compassion of it, which was unexpected, and rather a lovely thing to have said about your writing.
I was, rather ironically, so worried about it, I couldn't send it to a beta. (I needed to know who knew M4M before I could even ask...)
New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome) (2744 words) by lost_spook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: New Tricks
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sandra Pullman, Jack Halford, Brian Lane, Gerry Standing, Robert Strickland
Summary:
When the members of UCOS are around, it's just never like it is in the stories...
This was the first one I wrote and the last one to be finished -
newredshoes's prompt jumped out and mugged me! She'd suggested an New Tricks AU and I instantly had hilarious images of the team being so very much themselves in other times and places. I panicked a bit after writing it, for reasons, so it was saved from never being posted at all, by a beta (arriving in at the last minute!) from
aralias - I'd asked her because she writes in Hornblower and was therefore a good person for Age of Sail info. (Because if my Unconvincing pirates with a mauve flag were historically dodgy, it would have been terrible... Heh.) Unfortunately (for her) she turned out not to know New Tricks at all. Anyway, she still made the point I need to hear to then manage to sort the fic out & people seem to have found it amusing in the right way. (My sense of humour cuts out v quickly when I get tired - it's alarming typing up a story that's supposed to be funny when you can only see dull words.)
Also: LJ has been down - obviously - but I can't seem to get it back for long enough to post or comment, so hopefully it will sort itself out now. (I assume this, following an unusual amount of spam is probably not a coincidence?) In the meantime, I'm not trying to ignore anyone. It is terrible, how even though I have a Tumblr and a Dreamwidth and there was Yuletide on AO3, the internet still goes immediately sad and pointless with no LJ.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there: