whynot: etc: oh deer (applied phlebotinum)
Las ([personal profile] whynot) wrote2009-07-20 09:20 pm

AND THEN SETH GREEN IN FLANNEL GUEST STARRED ON X-FILES

The end of the paid account was like Y2K or something. I was all OH NO OH NO, but in the end all I lost was icon space and poll-making abilities. I didn't even lose my mood theme! So, okay. Also: GIP! If I were still doing the adjacent icons meme, I would be writing a drabble about Susan Pevensie and Bender hanging out.

Speaking of memes, [livejournal.com profile] lovestories gave me 5 things to talk about:

erasure poetry
This is all [livejournal.com profile] zempasuchil, actually. She took a whole course about it, and was posting links to Humument.com and other examples, posted her own erasures, and I became intrigued. Erasures appeal to my love of stories within stories. I suggested we erase each other's fics, and to my delight she said yea. Speaking of which, have ya'll already signed up for [livejournal.com profile] erasureathon?

Merlin/Will
Ah, Will: fandom's buttmonkey. Here's the thing. He is obviously a big part of Merlin's origins story, and he and Merlin obviously adored each other and perhaps canoodled in the pastures. I like his realistic reaction to certain doom (run awaaaaay) -- but he does come back to fight in the end, guys -- and I like his utter normalcy. Also, he's the only other person except Hunith who knew about the magic! Merlin may not end with Will by his side, but he begins with Will by his side, and this is just as valid as Merlin and Arthur's superspecial destiny. I said most of what I had to say about Will in Halcyon Days, though I suspect there may at some point be an AU where Will survives and follows the gang back to Camelot, then this happens. Have a Merlin/Will vid. I've recced it before but god, it gets me every time.

insanely glorious Narnia AUs
<3! AUs are insanely glorious fun! Oh, the 'what if?' game. These days I tend to blither on about Merlin AUs more, excepting this one I'm on with [livejournal.com profile] marycontraire wherein Merlin and Arthur are FBI agents and the Pevensies are the mafia, and Arthur and Edmund have secret meetings where Arthur tries to wrest information out of Edmund about Morgana's kidnapping. Thing is, I never used to like AUs, but then you start asking questions like WHAT IF ARTHUR WAS A DINOSAUR and how can you turn away?

Peter/Susan
What have I said about them that I haven't before. They are the inappropriate OTP of my heeeaaarrrrt. I think I've Peter/Susaned myself out, in that although I still ship them, I tend to write around them more now instead of directly addressing the issue. In the rambling meme, I talked about Peter/Susan.

Indonesian shadow puppets
I never got around to writing the drabble about Edmund and the shadow puppets, but it would involve comparisons to Plato's cave, and how the shadows cast on the cave wall are like the puppets' shadows on the screen. The 'real' thing may be the leather puppets and the human voices and hands that animate them, but what the audience is meant to see are their shadows. And the brighter the light, the sharper the shadows, and that's where the story lies. So, uh. I guess that's what it means to Edmund.



Here are a couple of things that have improved my Monday. First, a most gracious lady remixed me and [livejournal.com profile] zempasuchil's Narnia geek-off, Sea Change, for [livejournal.com profile] remixredux09. It is so lovely, please read it: into something rich and strange (the tempus aeternum backbeat). Awesome #1: there is more Lucy. Awesome #2: "Edmund has spent hours puzzling over black holes and maths and the curious turn of gravity trying to find a way to say, in the language of these scientific men, what he himself knows with an utter intimacy." <3 "Einstein's Dream" is now on my to-read list.

Second, my Merlin/Monty Python fusion, Only a Model, has been nominated for [livejournal.com profile] excalibur_award under Best Crack Fic, Best Humor Fic, and Best Crossover Fic. \o/! Thanks, nominator! If any of ya'll are inclined to agree with this nomination, uh, vote for me? I promise to reform the health care system!

[identity profile] katakokk.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
AAAH! PETER/SUSAN! *cowers* They've kind of taken over my brain, and while I adore them and all their inappropriateness, I tried writing Lucy-centric (which I eventually fixed into the only things that echo, but I kept the Peter/Susan version because I couldn't bear to scrap it).

Also, if this meme works in the "comment and I'll give you ____ to post about" way, I COMMENT FOR IT. *nods*

Speaking of which, have ya'll already signed up for [livejournal.com profile] erasureathon?

(1) I HAVE TO GO SIGN UP.
(2) You say y'all! I don't feel so alone anymore! I went to camp and everyone thought I was weird because I say "y'all". 8D

[identity profile] katakokk.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
And being the idiot that I am, I didn't finish my sentence....

what I meant to say was, I tried writing Lucy-centric and it became Peter/Susan. So, er, yeah.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I see we are both fans of that poem. (http://lassiterfics.livejournal.com/93131.html) Oh fandom hivemind.

re: Lucy-centric Peter/Susan. Hee, I tend to write a good number of my fics like it's going on, even if the story isn't talking about it. THEY JUST LIKE TO TOUCH EACH OTHER A LOT, OKAY.

Hmm. Your Mulan icon, and Pierrefonds? And talk about how you see Peter Pevensie, and also Peter/Susan. What is your favorite crossover ship? I totally did this meme wrong, but there you go.

[identity profile] katakokk.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Woah, that's weird. o___O

Hahaha, yeah, they basically just do that in my fic too. Ed mentions it, but it can be interpreted either way, so yeah...

Okay! Now if I can remember to do those...
ext_49278: (Ferris wheel)

[identity profile] allothi.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Indonesian shadow puppets

*image searches* Hey, wow! I'm mainly only a little familiar with the 19th century French shadow theatre (chat noir and all that) and a wee bit with the Chinese, mostly as source for the French; now I've got that door-opening feeling. I love that feeling! (Though I suppose that's why I rarely finish a thing, because I'm always racing about turning doorknobs.)

Can I give you five things? Or have you expired?

I think I'm slightly confused by [livejournal.com profile] excalibur_award; maybe I need to look at it properly. But why do all these things seem to have so many categories?

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I think its nominator pool is not so diverse. Looks like you're shoo-in for Best Death Fic, though.

I have never seen Chinese or French shadow puppets. They look quite beautiful, upon googling. Indonesian shadow puppets typically tell Indian folk tales. Well, I guess they're ours too. We lifted a lot of things from India, including folk tales and common names, and sort of the Javanese alphabet.

Meh, I'm expired. Do YOU want five things? One of them would be Morgana.
ext_49278: (Default)

[identity profile] allothi.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a Best Death Fic category? Oh, hey, so there is! Hey, that reminds me of that ghost story I SWEAR I WILL ONE DAY WRITE.

The French shadow theatre was used for big historical retellings, and I think a certain amount of srs bzns lit and religious stories, but also, obviously, quite a lot of bawdy stuff. The funny thing is the chat noir posters are fairly well-known, I think, but the shadow puppets don't get much attention.

Sure! *makes list of predictions for the other four things*

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. I never realized those chat noir posters were shadow puppet-related. The more one knows!

2) delicious gourmet things
3) mail detectives!!!
4) the vanishing WIP
5) ars crack

BONUS: the strange spiritual convalescence of OT4, after the fall of Uther

What is this ghost story?
ext_49278: (Tea)

[identity profile] allothi.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, it was a cabaret -- possibly the first -- so there was various stuff, but one of the big, popular draws was the shadow theatre, and I think some of the posters, frex the black one with the white lilies (lots of green stem going up the right hand side), are specifically for the shadows.

Hm, two out of four (the food and the crack), though I should have guessed WIPs since I must have put it in your head myself with the reference to doorknob syndrome. Or, wait, is that a specific WIP?

Um, the ghost story is a sort of classic big-event-brings-out-hidden-tensions thing (i.e. lots of work). I'm also not actually sure how much it counts as a ghost story.

Futureish, perhaps a couple of years on; rising hostilities on one of the borders, both Uther and Arthur, plus Merlin, ride out with the army, leaving Morgana-plus-Gwen to mind defences and diplomacy (backwards, in heels) back at the castle. Morgana has possibly quietly got involved with one of the knights, semiseriously, seminot, almost-deniably. I think she's making herself safe, collecting small alliances, now that she's worked out just demanding things from not-daddy won't work. Though she may still not really understand the word 'fallible'.

So -- back to Arthur. The army encamps near the border, in a good strategic spot. Arthur goes off with a small party to scout around, leaving Merlin because this is a mission that requires STEALTH. He gets back very late in the day, perhaps he's been delayed running into enemy men, or hiding back from a largeish force headed towards Camelot's borders -- so he's a bit worried when he does get back. But everything seems fine. Or maybe a little odd. Something off in the way his father talks to him. Something almost nice. Merlin's already asleep, so Arthur can't ask him if anything *cough*unusual*cough* might have happened, and Arthur's pretty exhausted himself -- he's probably just tired, he things. He'll ask Merlin in the morning.

And in the morning, in the very wee sma's, he's woken up by Morgana -- she drove rode all night -- who thinks something awful has happened.

Cue angst, woez, stoic Pendragon suffering, REPRESSED MUTUAL ADORATION and a minor power struggle. (Gwen knows she'll be picking up the pieces; the only difficulty is, which pieces to pick?)

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Haha, it is not the doorknob, it is my grait love for SuperMorgana and Gwen the intrepid housekeeper/engineering student, as well as for the crack RPF with Seer!Katie and Shakespeareanactor!Dragon.

OOOOH. I bet Morgana leads a hilarious seance though! Everyone wanting to ask different things, ranging from "Can you pass on a message to my dead friend," and "Make him promise not to watch me while I'm bathing." And then for the first time in his life (er, 'life'), he starts listening and watching more than he talks and acts. He has no choice in that matter.

Morgana likes to annoy him by ignoring him entirely, much like in life. Merlin/Gwen/Uther thinks he/she can feel Arthur though.
ext_49278: (Red umbrella)

[identity profile] allothi.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
What? Wait, no, Arthur isn't dead! (This is what I get for trying to be coy about the BIG REVEAL). Though my god, that would make a great fic -- you can write that one. Morgana, haunted by the ghost of Arthur for the rest of her life. It would be comic, but also bittersweet. She rules Albion and he stalks about and sulks and helps her and they wonder where the hell his body might be. And sometimes she wonders if she isn't haunted at all, or any more than anyone else is -- she just couldn't quite let Arthur go.

"Do you think," he says, quietly, sun glowing between the clouds overhead them, "do you think I'll stay here, when you die?"

"I'm not even thirty yet, Arthur. I'm not anywhere near dying yet."

He shrugs, turns a smile -- "You found a grey hair yesterday. And that Purple Knight almost took you, last week." His image sharpens, almost opaque, against the scenery. "With swordsmanship like yours, you may not live to see thirty."

"What, like you?" she says, and he shrugs again.

"At least I'll never go grey."

"Perhaps I could make you. With a spell -- maybe I could alter your image a bit. Make you more interesting. Hey, how d'you feel about going bald?"

"No. It can't happen," says Arthur. "Impossible."

"It might not be."

"Hmph."


"You could be all in my imagination, in which case--" she pauses, because perhaps that's going too far. She says, "Anyway, even if you're real, you might be alterable."

Arthur turns away so that she can't see his mouth, and has to acknowledge, more, that she only 'hears' the words in her head: "Am I just a figment of your mind, d'you think?"

"I'm not that masochistic," Morgana tells him.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
Bahahahaha your fic remains unspoiled! Here I was so sure you were trying to be all Lothi Night Shyamalan. But no, so okay, I don't even know who the ghost is. ghost!Arthur would be terribly fun to write though. Lancelot is skeptical that Arthur is still around, and this is possibly another reason Morgana is stiff at him, the first being that he is horning in on her Gwen. God, first Arthur, then Lancelot. Possibly on this front Arthur and Morgana can team up to prank Lancelot somehow. Gwen was only skeptical by natural inclination, but she believes Morgana because Morgana is Morgana, and Merlin believes Morgana, and Lancelot may be sweet but he has trouble seeing what's not right in front of his nose anyway.

They say the halls of Camelot are haunted by her dead. Arthur meets all of them. The stories his nanny used to tell him when he was a boy, they're all true, if somewhat exaggerated. The werewolf in the tower was actually not, but in fact is the ghost of his great-great-great-great grandfather, who had been exceedingly hairy. An elderly duke who supposedly died fighting avenging the death of his brother in fact choked on a chicken bone.

"Can we walk through walls?" Arthur asks.

Aye, of course they can.

"Can we fly?

Fly? What does he think they are? Harpies?

A ghost is bound to his haunting grounds, so Arthur cannot go beyond Camelot's borders. This doesn't bother Arthur so much. If he had to choose a place to haunt for all eternity, he could choose no better place than Camelot.

"I'd have chosen Gaul," says an ancient assassin who haunts the execution block. "'S nice there, 'specially this time of year."


Morgana talks to Arthur aloud whenever she pleases. Although this puts some of the servants on edge, they wouldn't ever dare to comment on it. Merlin is more cautious. He can sense Arthur in a room, though he can't see him without Morgana's sight. As for Gwen, she writes letters and leaves them where Arthur can see. "Dear Arthur," she begins, and then she writes and she writes and she writes.

[identity profile] animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com 2009-07-20 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, is this one of those memes where if I comment you'll give me five things? :)

OMG THAT REMIX OF YOUR FIC, IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

I dunno about Will. I really like him as a character, and I really wonder about him and his motivations--I wish fandom went into him more. Is it just that Will/Merlin and Arthur/Merlin are having ship wars? ::clueless about this sort of thing::

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Yes! Susan the Spymaster, Lucy/sea girl, Luuuuuuune, classics, aaaaaaand. Uh. And talk about your LJ name and why you chose it.

Yeah, I get the impression that sentiments of "Arthur is the ONLY person Merlin can ever love!!" is part of it, but it's not so much a ship war, c's there are like 3.4 people who ship Merlin/Will. It'd be like New Hampshire vs. China.

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
I thought Merlin/Will was practically canon! and the merlin/arthur people were just bitter and jealous and trying to deny it just so Arthur could be the only prat Merlin ever truly loved! no really I thought Merlin and Will's bromance was totally fanon :(

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
Right?! And you can go so far as to argue that you can see from Merlin and Will's relationship why Merlin would be into Arthur.

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
True true true facts. Merlin has already shown that he has a taste for bossy prats.

[identity profile] animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
Ooooh, things to talk about! Here or in my journal or does it matter?

It's a mini ship war! Or it's more like the Arthur/Will people being like "Uh...no." Also part of it might be that by necessity Merlin/Will has to be a) before the show, so it's like OCs and stuff, and people don't like that or b) during the show, while Arthur's hanging around, and then...I dunno. It seems like that should not be so hard! People ship Arthur around with other people, Merlin should get more action too.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
In your journal! :D

willlll. i was so ready to have an ot6. i think there's something to be said about will/morgana. AND WILL/ARTHUR.

[identity profile] animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Will/Arthur would never work--they would just sit around being like "Merlin is an idiot all the time."

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
it excites me that I am in your post twice! about as much as that remix and erasures excite me!!! oh boy lass, I am glad to be back home, I missed spending hours on lj doing fandom every day.

HOW DID I MISS YOUR MERLIN/MONTY PYTHON FUSION??? ahahahahahahahahaha omg it slays meeee - esp. the combo bring out your dead / parrot scene! POOR WILL. POOR MERLIN. POOR HUNITH FOR PUTTING UP WITH THEM. And Gaius as Sir Bedivere!!! And the dragon must have been Tim the Enchanter.

congratulations on your nomination! I think that that thing should not have sooooo many categories. so like someone nominated Rewriting the Old Language for four categories and it's OT4, hence, it is the only thing nominated for about half of those categories. I don't know what that means. It means more people should write OT4 AUs and whatever qualifies as "OT4 pre-ship fic." (Wait, aren't all fics featuring our OT4 pre-ship? right?)

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
for real, you should always be in my life multiple times, Z. <33

haha, thanks. That fusion had been building in me a looong, I feel. I couldn't stop making Monty Python references when I started watching 'Merlin'. The two have so much in common! It's like, they're both Arthurian legend(ish), but RIDICULOUS.

It does rather look like a case of not enough nominees for too many categories. It may be 'cos it goes out and explicitly makes itself the non-Merlin/Arthur awards to shed light on a fandom minority? That eliminates like, most of fandom right there.

It means more people should write OT4 AUs and whatever qualifies as "OT4 pre-ship fic." (Wait, aren't all fics featuring our OT4 pre-ship? right?)
Ahaha, facts that are true. I think some of my favorite shippy fics are not shippy fics, y'know?

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
d'awww <3333

The Merlin/Arthur contingent is huge, and I wish there were a way to quantify fandom because I'm curious as to the proportion between Merlin/Arthur and gen fic, how much het there is, who ships what. it would be great to somehow keep track of all the stories, all the fanart, all the authors, though we could never get all the lurkers who talk and read though they may never post a fic.

Heh, we're such fans! We would rather read into things than read explicitly what we're thinking of :)) that said, there's a lot to be said for plot, which appears in gen, rather than picking up your bodice-ripper Merlin/Arthur romance.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
I wish there were a way to quantify fandom
Unnecessary application of my degree #579857954: using ship, genre, fic length, and number of comments, regression analysis can be used to see the probability that a non-Merlin/Arthur fic would achieve fandom popularity.

There is a graphjam to be had in all this.

than read explicitly what we're thinking of
That's what commentfic is for. ;) 'COS Y'KNOW, whatever happens in commentfic stays in commentfic. Um, except when it doesn't? But implication can be so much more powerful than explicitness!

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Your icon is wonderful :D

Stats blow my mind! how do you do that?? (you can take that question as rhetorical if the answer involves teaching me regression analysis...)

Merlin graphjam? WOULD BE WIN

it is subtlety and some wonderful writers know how to and do use it :)) I love the idea that whatever happens in commentfic stays in commentfic. It is like the place to go wild and write things you at first think should probably never be written. And then they turn into epic threads that someone links to and, lol. I am remembering the O11/Narnia AU you and bedlam had going for so long. (is it still up? last time I checked I didn't see anything new)

TAKE 2

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
HAHA. Okay. FIRST, what outcome variable will we choose to represent fandom popularity? We'll go with 'number of comments'. What input variables will we put into the model? The model itself would be structured a little something like this:

number of comments = (fic length * x1) + (main ship * x2) + (fic rating * x3) + standard error [which is sort of like standard deviation]

Then you rekerfooble the beta values (viz. FOR AN IMPROBABLE EXAMPLE, the beta value of 'fic length' is 20, because an increase of 1 word is correlated to an increase of 20 comments). Say we have a sample of 200 Merlin fics (n = 200). If we were to choose one Merlin fic from this sample with the following specifications:

x1 = 1000 words
x2 = Merlin/Arthur
x3 = R

--what would be the projected number of comments that this fic would have, based on analysis of the aforementioned 200 fics? You'd want to recode the input variables into numbers, so after some rekerfoobling, your projection for how many comments one particular fic (out of the 200) might get would SOMEHOW look something like this (improbability of the numbers aside):

number of comments = 20*1000 + 25*0 + 30*3 + standard error


AND MAY THE LORD GOD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL. D: (i'm sorry, professorrrrr)


ahahaha EXACTLY. It's the brothel where you can do filthy things that your fic/wife at home won't let you do to her. The O11/Narnia AU is still up, though discontinued indefinitely. We just... faded. [livejournal.com profile] themusingstream has it up in pretty much chronological order, courtesy of the awesomeness of [livejournal.com profile] lazaefair.

Re: TAKE 2

[identity profile] zempasuchil.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 09:06 am (UTC)(link)
my mind = bamboozled. but I think I sort of understand it! But not very well. Still, I love how academia will ALWAYS pertain to fandom! ALWAYS. destinyyyy

haha, we all pray to our Lord God professors for mercy on our souls, don't we?

That AU was a super awesome thing while it lasted! and it lasted for so long; I was super impressed at your commentficcing stamina. always am.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 09:37 am (UTC)(link)
destinyyyyyyy <3

aww thanks! You accidentally stumble over weirdly awesome bits of insight in commentfic sometimes. like, the story may not be 'real', but the moments are.

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-07-21 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, so I'm staying with my uncle right now, and it's 1:30 and a gaggle of energetic and clingy cousins will be barging in here at exactly 10:00 to wake me up and force me to bond with them/supervise them in the pool (OMG POOL!) while their parents are out.

So I am going to bed.

BUT! While they are doing their requisite half hour of summer homework tomorrow, I WILL BE COMMENTFICCING THIS AU. (I wasn't sure what the verb form of that was.) Consigliere Edmund is just too hot to pass up.

\o/

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Merlin frowns. "Jadis? What would Jadis want with Morgana?"

Will shrugs, finishes his drink. "I don't know. Edmund doesn't leave much of a trail to follow."

why do these things always happen just when i really need to go to bed?

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
Merlin briefly considers whether Will is hiding something from him. He's looking around the bar in a decidedly twitchy manner-- but then he always does that, since he was released. Drinking with a cop leads to awkward questions (at best), and Merlin doesn't know how deep in this shit Will is anymore.

Perhaps he doesn't really want to. Sometimes he feels like a circus act, juggling knives atop a tightrope, trying to find out enough about Morgana Le Fey to make sense of his partner's extracurricular dealings with the mafia, while simultaneously attempting not to alienate the last childhood friend he has left.

Merlin drains the last gulp of his own seven-and-seven. Whether Will's holding out on him or not, he's not going to lean on him any more tonight.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
When Merlin walks into the office on Monday, he says, "What do you know about Jadis?"

"She's dead," Arthur says, not looking up from whatever he's writing. "Or hiding out in Guinea Bissau. Somewhere with no extradition treaty with the United States anyway, so it's all the same."

"What if I told you she was alive?"

"Hmm. What if, indeed."

"What if I told you Morgana was with her?"

Arthur looks up.

+

And just like that, all the expression goes out of Edmund's face. No anger, no curiosity, not even coldness, nothing.

I'm close, Arthur thinks triumphantly.

"That's ridiculous," Edmund says. "Jadis has been dead for years."

"But suppose she is alive," Arthur begins.

"Suppose she is," Edmund cuts in, smooth and calm, "I would be the last person to open my arms to her. She tried to have my siblings killed, Pendragon."

"Pevensie," Arthur says, echoing his tone. "So did you."

WHAT OH NO WHERE DID MORE COME FROM?

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
"I was double-crossed," Edmund replies.

"You were double-crossed," Arthur says, "or you changed your mind once Aslan got back from Sicily?"

Edmund says, "My family has washed our hands of Jadis. Even if she were alive, it would be unwise for any of us to continue to seek her out."

"Oh, she's alive," Arthur insists, and Edmund's gaze flickers for just a moment to something over Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur turns around. At a table by the door sat a man with a scruffy beard and a red scarf, looking back. Tumnus. One of the Pevensies' most faithful soldiers. His hands are in the pockets of his jacket, and his expression as threateningly blank as Edmund's.

"Don't mind him, Arthur," Edmund says. "He just hates the feds."

+

"One of my informants," Merlin replies.

"Don't give me that," Arthur snaps. "Of course it was. Give me a name." And when Merlin continues to hem and haw and evade the question, Arthur loses it. "Fuck this shit! Look, you want to stick your nose into my fucking business, you do it on my terms!"

"Arthur-"

"I want to talk to your informant."

"It's difficult-"

"Life's difficult, Merlin, I don't give a shit."

Re: WHAT OH NO WHERE DID MORE COME FROM?

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
(FYI all three of my cousins are sprawled across my bed right now. One is reading this over my shoulder and asking me a million questions. She does not approve of our swearing. Have told her to fuck off. Yay family. Currently I'm thinking this is New York-- possibly pre-Giuliani if we want to be authentic? Nominate another city if you like, but I've already used American language.)

"This is a friend, not a C.I.," says Merlin. "I would like for him to remain my friend at the end of this conversation." The chances of that, Merlin thinks privately, are very slim.

"From the old neighborhood, eh?" Arthur teases obnoxiously.

They are on the subway, and the train is so crowded that they are pressed awkwardly together. Merlin can smell Arthur-- his sweat and his deodorant and the detergent that he uses for his laundry. He can see the little blond prickles on his cheeks and chin where his beard is beginning to grow back. None of this should be charming.

"Speaking of the old 'hood," Arthur continues cheerfully, "while we're there, let's stop by your mom's. I could really go for a slice of her apple pie."

"What makes you think my mom will give you pie?" asks Merlin, in his best put-upon voice.

"Of course she'll give me pie. Hunith loves me. Possibly more than you."

Someday, Merlin hopes, he will learn how to say no to Arthur.
Edited 2009-07-22 16:40 (UTC)

ugh this is rushed and terrible, sorry. more cousin interference.

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Edmund waits until he's a few blocks away from the bar before drawing the pack of Dunhills out of his jacket pocket. He lights the cigarette with the lighter Lucy gave him for Christmas the year their parents died and they went to live with the Professor. It has a lion engraved on it. It makes him feel like Aslan is watching him always, which used to comfort him. Now it annoys him, but he's never been able to throw away any gift from Lucy.

He isn't surprised by Arthur's insinuations, not really. He knows that Jadis is alive better than anyone, and he was never foolish enough to think she'd stay hidden forever.

There was a time, however, when he was foolish enough to hold a gun to her head and falter, let her go alive. There was a time when he was foolish enough to lose himself in the heady scent of power that clung to her like a perfume. Even now, he wakes from strange dreams and is surprised to find that she isn't staring at him, unblinking in the dark at the other side of the bed. (He's never seen her sleep, and he used to wonder if maybe she stayed up all night just to watch his nightmares.)

Ed drops the cigarette on the damp sidewalk and crushes the orange glow beneath the heel of his shoe. He hopes he's less of a fucking idiot this time around.

+

Lucy is in Widener Library when her cell phone rings, and though exam period is nearly over, the place is still full of unfortunates with one more test to study for or, like her, a stack of undergraduate papers to grade. She finds herself on the receiving end of about a dozen angry glares, and dives self-consciously to hang up on whoever is disturbing her at this ungodly hour of the night.

When she yanks her phone out of her messenger bag, though, "EDMUND" flashes across the front screen in neon green letters. She sighs in defeat, abandons her papers, and sprints out of the quiet study area with her obnoxiously ringing phone clutched in her hand. She opens it on the steps, to be greeted by a familiar voice saying, "Lu?"

"Haven't heard from you in a while," she answers, trying not to sound too pleased. The words leave her mouth surrounded by a thick white mist. The green in front of her is dark, mostly deserted, and buried under more than a foot of picturesque, collegiate snow.

"How's the higher education coming?" asks Edmund, in a pathetic attempt at small talk.

"It's good. Cold, though," she answers. Even inside her hideous winter boots and three layers of sweaters she is freezing. Her right hand is shoved into the pocket of her jeans, but there's nothing to be done about her left, stinging as it holds the cell to her rapidly reddening ear. "Can't wait to get home though," she says. "I hear global warming's made New York Decembers practically tropical."

"Actually, that's what I'm calling about," says Edmund. She can hear the note of guilt in his voice, even over the telephone. Most people, she knows, find Edmund expressionless. But to her he's always been an open book. A familiar book. An old favorite.

"My train's tomorrow night, late," she rushes, dreading what she knows is coming. "It would be great if you could pick me up. You know, be a gentleman, carry my bag."

"I think it would be best if you stay in Boston."

...

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-23 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
(Yeah I assumed we were writing American since we're talking about the FBI (sometimes). We can run with New York sure, makes it easy for the both of us. btw, in 8ish hours I'm leaving for the weekend, so I say just go ahead and add to this whenever, while I'm gone.)


"Is this about the family?" Lucy asks.

"No," says Edmund, and he isn't necessarily lying. "Well, not yet."


Lucy arrives at Penn Station at 12:34 AM the next night despite Edmund's protests, but it's not like he actually expected her to stay put anyway. At least this way, she is prepared.

"I told you, you know," Lucy says in the car. "I told you to cut off this Pendragon guy. He's too much of a loose cannon to be useful in the long term."

"We need to know someone legitimate," Edmund replies.

"How legitimate can he be if he hangs around with the likes of you?" she smirks, and he just smiles. "Do Peter and Susan know?"

"I haven't told them."

"That's not a 'no'."

"They'll know eventually. That much is inevitable. Once they do, I won't be the one deciding their level of involvement, But I would still prefer to contract out."

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"Susan?" says Edmund, though he knows who Lucy means. "Look, Lu, we're here."

"Edmund--"

Someone opens the car door for them, and that's the end of this line of conversation for now. Edmund instructs Tumnus to park the car and bring the bags up, and then he and Lucy climb out into the throng of Christmas shoppers on the sidewalk. She automatically slips her arm around Edmund's, making their way to the doors of Paravel Towers.

"Happy holidays, miss, sir," says the doorman.

Edmund nods, and Lucy grins and says, "Same to you, Beaver! How's your wife?"

"She's lovely, she's lovely. Passes on her regards to you, you know."

"Likewise," says Lucy, and they sweep into the lobby.


In the penthouse of Paravel Towers, Susan is trying to decide between wines, and Peter is on his cellphone. Neither seem too happy with the situation given them.

and more.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-23 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
Caspian di Telmar is only a young man, but then again, so is Edmund. So are they all. What Caspian lacks in experience, he makes up in money and allies inherited from his late uncle. He better learn how to use them, else there's going to be people like Edmund phoning in the middle of dinner calling in a favor promised years ago for reasons they all worked hard to keep out of the papers.

"Caspian," Edmund says, "would you mind finding out some information for me?" Like Caspian actually has the option to say no.


There is a knock on the bathroom door, and then there is Susan's voice. "Ed, are you going to hide in there all night?"

"Can't a man have some privacy?" Edmund calls out, cellphone flattened against his shoulder.

"Well, you've been in there twenty minutes. Lucy wants to know if you've fallen in."

"Funny, Su. Look, I'll be out in a minute."

"We're about to open another bottle, Edmund."

"I said I'll be out in a minute." He waits for Susan's footsteps to fade, then he says into the phone, "Look, I gotta go."

"Me too, man," says Caspian.

"We'll be in touch soon."

"Doubtless," and there's something wry in Caspian's tone that Edmund has to roll his eyes. "Merry Christmas to you and yours," Caspian says.

"Back atcha, buddy."

Edmund hangs up.
ext_3167: Happiness is a dragon in formaldehyde  (Default)

[identity profile] puckling.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that it's your fault that I just took Inkheart out from the library. If it turns out bad I want my 2 hours back. :P

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Me?! I've mentioned Inkheart once in my journal ever!
ext_3167: Happiness is a dragon in formaldehyde  (Default)

[identity profile] puckling.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
SEE WHAT INFERNAL HOLD YOU HAVE OVER ME?!?!

Also you mentioned that there was Paul Bettany in it. I hold great love for that man.

JUST ADD FIYAH

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
omg Paul Bettany is esp sexy in this one, I cannot even. jkflsjf
ext_3167: Happiness is a dragon in formaldehyde  (Default)

Re: JUST ADD FIYAH

[identity profile] puckling.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I am rilly rilly sad that there have not been more Master and Commander films. RILLY SAD.
ext_3167: Happiness is a dragon in formaldehyde  (Arthur/Merlin = SQUEEE!)

Re: ::inserts self into conversation::

[identity profile] puckling.livejournal.com 2009-07-23 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! &hearts
ext_80109: (Misc: Text: own that shit)

[identity profile] be-themoon.livejournal.com 2009-07-22 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
*comments for meme*

I saw that! The remixredux. In fact, I've been meaning to comment ever since the reveal went up and haven't.

I... probably shoudl. Just feeling a bit overwhelmed and so very behind.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-07-23 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
things i would like to hear your thoughts on: church, being the moon, many siblings!, home school. and uh. your favorite place in the world?