Random links and repeat of fic
Heh! That Video Games Live album we did ages ago is actually coming out. In fact, it's actually out for downloading now, and on CD in August. That's funny. I only checked up on it on a whim... looks like the FFVIII music we did isn't on it, but then it does say it's volume one. I'm trying to remember which other tracks are us - I'm sure Halo and Tron, and I think Myst too.
From the Wikipedia article on the island of Foulness:
'The island is run by QinetiQ on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. Access to the island is only permitted with a pass, obtainable from Shoeburyness, or by booking a lunch at the pub.'
I just found the document with my sort of 'director's cut' version of the Firefly fic I linked to a while ago... I had to cut it down quite a lot to fit it into the comment space (the rules said you could only have one comment to put it in), so this is it for posterit, with some of the less necessary but nicer turns of phrase back in.
Title/prompt: Subzero
Fandom: Firefly
Genre: Gen with canon pairings
Serenity breaks atmo a couple of hundred thousand miles above the town of Polar, where the folk are hardy, if not inventive when it comes to names. The temperature shift from the sub-zero of space ought to warm her cylinders, but the moisture gets inside her, settles in her paneling, frosts over her vents and valves. The bitter wind buffets her as she tries to maintain a dignified descent.
***
‘I’m not bitter.’ Mal’s face is blank as he turns his gun and begins to clean the flip-side. Inara shrugs.
‘You look bitter.’
‘You ever consider I didn’t need to know all the gory details?’
‘I only told you because he’s the Prefect,’ Inara points out, ‘he could make trouble.’
‘Nah,’ says Mal. ‘Up in his big house, central heating throughout, while the folks on the ground scrape by with what they can dredge up out of the snow? He won’t be looking for an excuse to come out after us. Especially if you’re there with him, keeping him company with your… hot steaming cups of tea.’
Inara gives him a frosty look.
‘But you’re not bitter.’
***
Shepherd Book is used to being cold. It’s been a while, but it all floods back as he checks out the crew’s cold weather gear. The monks were impressed by his resilience, way up in the mountains. They didn’t know that their training was barely a refresher course in things he’d learned years ago. Breathing evenly, moving steadily, conserving energy. Staying alive at all costs, in all conditions, and waiting for the right moment. Then the leap and strike, the sudden recall of his purpose. Blood in the snow.
He’s learned to be cold. Turns out he’s still figuring out how to be warm.
***
Wash frowns at the frost spreading over Serenity’s windscreen and squeezes the temp-control. The frost begins to retreat, but now there’s condensation forming between the layers of glass.
‘Who needs visibility anyway?’ he sighs.
‘Not much to see,’ says Zoe, leaning over and putting her arms around his neck. Her leather shirt is cool against his skin, but her hands are warm.
‘Snow, and then some snow, and after that? Snow,’ Wash agrees. ‘Somewhere down under there Mal says there’s treasure beyond our wildest dreams.’ He scans the radar skeptically. ‘Still, we can always take a day off and play in the snow.’
‘It’s been a long time since I had a snowball fight,’ Zoe says. Her fingers flex a little. Wash looks up at her.
‘Can I be on your team?’
‘Wouldn’t want you anywhere else.’ She says coolly. ‘Or we could make snowmen instead. We could have a Mama snowman and a Daddy snowman and lots of little snowbabies.’
‘I get confused when you go from soldier to broody in under five seconds,’ Wash says. She kisses the top of his head and they stare out at the swirling whiteness.
***
‘He’s like ice, is all.’ Kaylee puts her back into it, and the compression timer pops out of its socket and clatters to the floor. Serenity’s engine hums noncommittally. Kaylee sits on the engine room floor and starts taking the timer apart. ‘He’s so smooth and slick. And kinda transparent, like you can see right into him. Except…’ She strips out the frayed wiring. ‘Except maybe there are depths. Deep and blue.’ Kaylee leans her head against the comforting warmth of the engine casing. ‘I think there are depths. Like them glaciers on Earth That Was, with ancient monsters deep inside.’
‘Monsters?’ Simon sticks his head into the room and Kaylee leaps to her feet, grinning and fumbly. ‘If there are monsters, can I not be the one to tell the Captain?’
‘No monsters,’ says Kaylee. ‘She likes it when you talk to her.’ Kaylee puts a hand out and pats the engine casing.
‘Well, Mal said to tell you we’re coming down over Polar and he needs you making sure nothing gets frozen up.’
‘Sure. Uh huh. I’m on it.’ Simon hesitates, then nods and walks out.
‘Like ice,’ Kaylee sighs. ‘Sometimes you wanna just hold him til he melts all over you.’
***
Jayne’s down in the cargo hold, stowing what needs stowing before the ice gets in. Wooden crates and boxes, also his workout stuff. No sense in letting it get like the rest of this rusty bucket that passes for a space ship. His cheeks twitch into a near-smirk and he prods the deck with one boot.
‘She loves you too.’
Jayne stumbles back, looks up. River’s standing on the walkway, her bare feet right on the edge with her toes curled over. She’s frozen, perfectly balanced and unnerving as all hell. She doesn’t look like a living thing. Then she moves, turning her head so sharply it’s a wonder her spine doesn’t crack.
‘I want to play in the snow,’ she says, and then she’s gone as if she blew away on the wind.
Jayne shudders. ‘Chillin’,’ he mutters.
(Interestingly I did it by comparing the first and second drafts and accepting some deletions and rejecting others... it's probably a lot better for having been pared down to its bare essentials and then built slightly back up again.)
From the Wikipedia article on the island of Foulness:
'The island is run by QinetiQ on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. Access to the island is only permitted with a pass, obtainable from Shoeburyness, or by booking a lunch at the pub.'
I just found the document with my sort of 'director's cut' version of the Firefly fic I linked to a while ago... I had to cut it down quite a lot to fit it into the comment space (the rules said you could only have one comment to put it in), so this is it for posterit, with some of the less necessary but nicer turns of phrase back in.
Title/prompt: Subzero
Fandom: Firefly
Genre: Gen with canon pairings
Serenity breaks atmo a couple of hundred thousand miles above the town of Polar, where the folk are hardy, if not inventive when it comes to names. The temperature shift from the sub-zero of space ought to warm her cylinders, but the moisture gets inside her, settles in her paneling, frosts over her vents and valves. The bitter wind buffets her as she tries to maintain a dignified descent.
***
‘I’m not bitter.’ Mal’s face is blank as he turns his gun and begins to clean the flip-side. Inara shrugs.
‘You look bitter.’
‘You ever consider I didn’t need to know all the gory details?’
‘I only told you because he’s the Prefect,’ Inara points out, ‘he could make trouble.’
‘Nah,’ says Mal. ‘Up in his big house, central heating throughout, while the folks on the ground scrape by with what they can dredge up out of the snow? He won’t be looking for an excuse to come out after us. Especially if you’re there with him, keeping him company with your… hot steaming cups of tea.’
Inara gives him a frosty look.
‘But you’re not bitter.’
***
Shepherd Book is used to being cold. It’s been a while, but it all floods back as he checks out the crew’s cold weather gear. The monks were impressed by his resilience, way up in the mountains. They didn’t know that their training was barely a refresher course in things he’d learned years ago. Breathing evenly, moving steadily, conserving energy. Staying alive at all costs, in all conditions, and waiting for the right moment. Then the leap and strike, the sudden recall of his purpose. Blood in the snow.
He’s learned to be cold. Turns out he’s still figuring out how to be warm.
***
Wash frowns at the frost spreading over Serenity’s windscreen and squeezes the temp-control. The frost begins to retreat, but now there’s condensation forming between the layers of glass.
‘Who needs visibility anyway?’ he sighs.
‘Not much to see,’ says Zoe, leaning over and putting her arms around his neck. Her leather shirt is cool against his skin, but her hands are warm.
‘Snow, and then some snow, and after that? Snow,’ Wash agrees. ‘Somewhere down under there Mal says there’s treasure beyond our wildest dreams.’ He scans the radar skeptically. ‘Still, we can always take a day off and play in the snow.’
‘It’s been a long time since I had a snowball fight,’ Zoe says. Her fingers flex a little. Wash looks up at her.
‘Can I be on your team?’
‘Wouldn’t want you anywhere else.’ She says coolly. ‘Or we could make snowmen instead. We could have a Mama snowman and a Daddy snowman and lots of little snowbabies.’
‘I get confused when you go from soldier to broody in under five seconds,’ Wash says. She kisses the top of his head and they stare out at the swirling whiteness.
***
‘He’s like ice, is all.’ Kaylee puts her back into it, and the compression timer pops out of its socket and clatters to the floor. Serenity’s engine hums noncommittally. Kaylee sits on the engine room floor and starts taking the timer apart. ‘He’s so smooth and slick. And kinda transparent, like you can see right into him. Except…’ She strips out the frayed wiring. ‘Except maybe there are depths. Deep and blue.’ Kaylee leans her head against the comforting warmth of the engine casing. ‘I think there are depths. Like them glaciers on Earth That Was, with ancient monsters deep inside.’
‘Monsters?’ Simon sticks his head into the room and Kaylee leaps to her feet, grinning and fumbly. ‘If there are monsters, can I not be the one to tell the Captain?’
‘No monsters,’ says Kaylee. ‘She likes it when you talk to her.’ Kaylee puts a hand out and pats the engine casing.
‘Well, Mal said to tell you we’re coming down over Polar and he needs you making sure nothing gets frozen up.’
‘Sure. Uh huh. I’m on it.’ Simon hesitates, then nods and walks out.
‘Like ice,’ Kaylee sighs. ‘Sometimes you wanna just hold him til he melts all over you.’
***
Jayne’s down in the cargo hold, stowing what needs stowing before the ice gets in. Wooden crates and boxes, also his workout stuff. No sense in letting it get like the rest of this rusty bucket that passes for a space ship. His cheeks twitch into a near-smirk and he prods the deck with one boot.
‘She loves you too.’
Jayne stumbles back, looks up. River’s standing on the walkway, her bare feet right on the edge with her toes curled over. She’s frozen, perfectly balanced and unnerving as all hell. She doesn’t look like a living thing. Then she moves, turning her head so sharply it’s a wonder her spine doesn’t crack.
‘I want to play in the snow,’ she says, and then she’s gone as if she blew away on the wind.
Jayne shudders. ‘Chillin’,’ he mutters.
(Interestingly I did it by comparing the first and second drafts and accepting some deletions and rejecting others... it's probably a lot better for having been pared down to its bare essentials and then built slightly back up again.)