black eyed dog, he called at my door
I spent yesterday evening researching grad schools and having a very pleasant conversation with Zac. This afternoon, I scheduled a job interview in the book department of the Catholic press for which my mother works. So in the spirit of continued randomness, and the spirit of not freaking out about the prospect of a really real job, I present the WIP snippet meme, which appears to be making the rounds once more.
But first, a preface. kaladhwen recently went through her works in progress and tallied them all up. So I thought, what fun! I'll do the same.
So I gathered up all my backup disks, dug through the hard-drives of my laptop, the family computer, and my mother's computer, and I started scanning. I put together every WIP I have--even things in fandoms I've since abandoned--and I now present the total.
Uh, kaladhwen? Remember when I said I probably had a similar number of works in progress?
I was wrong.
The number is exactly the same. 186 stories, spanning 28 fandoms. The breakdown goes thusly:
33 Lord of the Rings
31 Harry Potter
18 Star Wars
12 Firefly
10 RPS
10 Lost
7 Fullmetal Alchemist
7 Supernatural
6 Pirates of the Caribbean
6 Gilmore Girls
4 Good Omens
3 Heroes
2 Tithe
2 Beowulf
1 Indiana Jones
1 Batman Begins
1 Rurouni Kenshin
1 Gallipoli
28 Crossovers
3 Original fiction
Under Stone--Dark Tower/Harry Potter. Roland meets Sirius at the way station.
"The demon lives among the standing stones. I will go to her, and force her to prophesy in exchange for pleasure. If I'm not back by morning--"
Sirius snorted. "Then I'm bloody well fucked, aren't I?"
"No," Roland replied, "I am."
~~
Mariners--Firefly. River ponders the Mal/Inara dynamic.
No, he is not the Ancient Mariner; he is something else, another seafarer perhaps, buried far back in history and myth where Sirens sing and Polyphemus is raging and blind. Where gods bet on heroes and play dirty, where saplings grow into trees, into pillars for Penelope's bed.
He can't give her that stability; he can never stop to grow roots. And he does not know how to fight for her, his Penelope with her hundred suitors.
~~
Will and Won't--Harry Potter, Remus/Sirius. According to Dumbledore, Sirius left everything to Harry. But he's never been one to tell everyone everything...
"I'm leaving everything to Harry--but of course you're not to be turned out. As long as you want to stay here in this awful place, stay."
Remus cleared his throat delicately. "Er, Sirius--aren't there a few...personal items, photographs and the like, that ought to be provided for? Or--destroyed?"
Sirius assumed a regal expession. "If you're talking about my highly artistic Werewolf Wanking series, they're provided for."
Oh, good."
Sirius bent over the parchment again. "You'll be playing Gobstones for them. Against McGonagall."
"What? No! Sirius, I am not playing McGonagall for my own naked pictures!"
~~
Angels and Demons--Supernatural/Good Omens. Sam and Dean's European tour gets complicated when they meet a yellow-eyed demon.
Sam unscrewed the cap on the bottle of holy water. Dean was satisfied to see Crowley flinch back, then Azriphale seemed to swell and change and if he'd never believed in avenging angels before, he certainly did now. "Put it away," Azriphale said, and his voice resonated painfully in their ears.
~~
Untitled--Beowulf. Um. Wealhtheow and Hrothgar invite Beowulf to join them, in approximately correct medieval meter.
Wise was Wealhtheow, wife of King Hrothgar,
That good man and gold-lord, by Grendel aggrieved.
Sweetly and silk-tongued, beside him she sat
Her whispers like dew-drops slipped deep in his ears.
~~
Black Eyed Dog--Harry Potter, Remus/Sirius. Remus gets a visit from a friendly stray.
After a long moment, the dog climbed the stairs to where Remus sat. He reached out a hand to pet it and abruptly recoiled. Up close, the dog looked shockingly, impossibly familiar. The great dark eyes and massive body, the thick, shaggy black fur...No, he thought firmly. No, that's not possible.
~~
Rogues--Firefly/Star Wars. A shipping mistake leaves the crew smuggling some unusual cargo.
It was Zoe who spoke first. "Sir, I'm noticing a disturbing trend towards you receiving bodies in the mail."
...
River bent over the crate. The man looked frozen, an insect caught in a slab of black amber. He had been in pain, she saw, tracing the lines of his face. Her tangled hair brushed against the man's hands, reaching out or warding off. "He said he knew," she murmured.
"What's that, sweetie?" Kaylee asked kindly, trying not to flinch at River's ease with the body.
He said he knew, but he meant he loved her back. Two words instead of three. He's afraid she didn't understand."
"Who's afraid?"
River pointed at the body. "He is."
~~
Boon--Tithe, Roiben/Nephamael. The Unseelie Queen demands that Roiben and Nephamael fight. The winner receives a boon.
Nephamael's eyes widened, and he stepped back in surprise. His tongue flicked out, snakelike, to taste the blood that flowed from his split lip. His expression shaded from surprise to a new respect--there was some passion behind Roiben's cold, courtly manners after all.
Roiben raised his arm to strike again, but Nephamael was prepared this time. He surged forward, trapping Roiben's hand and pinning him roughly against the wall. They glared at each other for a long moment, then Nephamael pressed closer, capturing Roiben's lips in a fierce kiss that tasted of salt and copper.
~~
And finally, Silver--Lord of the Rings, Legolas/Haldir. Two snarky elves and a blindfold.
Weapons dropped to the ground like rain--bows, quivers, two long white knives, a short sword in its silver scabbard. Their tunics followed, falling to lay like a pool of silver in the moonlight. Haldir reached down, withdrawing a length of white silk from a pouch at his belt.
Legolas arched an eyebrow. "You jest."
"Never, princeling."
Okay, now I have to find/buy clothes that I can wear to a job interview.