Weekly Chat!
Jun. 5th, 2015 12:25 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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mi6_cafeYep it's that time of the week lovely people! The cafe is open for all of your chatting needs!
Don't forget that anonymous comments are now turned ON so you don't need an LJ account to join in the fun! If you are commenting using anon comments, please can you put your name/handle in the subject of your comments! It makes it easier for everyone to know who they are talking to!
WEEKLY RECS!
This week, we're going to take a slightly different approach to the weekly recs. So as well as the recs for those fanworks you've seen during the week (art/fic/podfic/memes anything goes!), there is going to be a 'Weekly Genre' where you can rec your favourite fics of all time that come under that heading!
This weeks Weekly Genre: Fluff!! Lets see how many fanworks we can rec this week under this genre - go find that one fic or piece of artwork that you think deserves a bit more love and recognition and post it in the recs!
Halloween Exchange
The Halloween Exchange is being run over on tumblr this year, and you can now go submit your prompts! Please note that the NYP Mod asks for prompts to be written in a certain way, so take that into account when you're thinking of your prompt!
Once the creating gets underway, I'll see if there is enough interest to create a specific 'fan exchange' cheerleading thread within the Weekly Chat for everyone to share their creating woes and make sure those muses get to work!
Starter questions!
To welcome the new people to the cafe I've added some introductory questions to the top of the list, which you are free to use/not use to introduce yourself!
Who goes there? Introduce yourself!
1) Name
2) Ususal internet home
3) What is it that you love about 00Q?
4) Favourite 00Q headcannon
5) Favourite 00Q fanwork (NB Put at ** next to the links if you want these fics to be included in the weekly recs too!)
Everyone is standing around drinking everything from tea to scotch! Quick, give us some ice breaker questions!
1) if Q and James had superpowers what would they be and why?
2) What is the one thing you love about the 00Q fandom community?
3) If James and Q were lost on an island with only a radio, a pair of horrendously ugly underpants, and a box of ice lollies, what do you think would happen? (Short fics or artwork using this a prompt is welcomed and very much encouraged)
4) One thing you hate about the creative process, and why
5) Anything you want to see included in the MI6 Cafe (This kind of depends on your dear mod's time allowances, but I'd love to see your ideas for the cafe and where this little comm could go!)
As ususal, you can add more questions if you wish! More chatting the merrier!
WEEKLY RECS!
This week, we're going to take a slightly different approach to the weekly recs. So as well as the recs for those fanworks you've seen during the week (art/fic/podfic/memes anything goes!), there is going to be a 'Weekly Genre' where you can rec your favourite fics of all time that come under that heading!
This weeks Weekly Genre: Fluff!! Lets see how many fanworks we can rec this week under this genre - go find that one fic or piece of artwork that you think deserves a bit more love and recognition and post it in the recs!
Halloween Exchange
The Halloween Exchange is being run over on tumblr this year, and you can now go submit your prompts! Please note that the NYP Mod asks for prompts to be written in a certain way, so take that into account when you're thinking of your prompt!
Once the creating gets underway, I'll see if there is enough interest to create a specific 'fan exchange' cheerleading thread within the Weekly Chat for everyone to share their creating woes and make sure those muses get to work!
Starter questions!
To welcome the new people to the cafe I've added some introductory questions to the top of the list, which you are free to use/not use to introduce yourself!
Who goes there? Introduce yourself!
1) Name
2) Ususal internet home
3) What is it that you love about 00Q?
4) Favourite 00Q headcannon
5) Favourite 00Q fanwork (NB Put at ** next to the links if you want these fics to be included in the weekly recs too!)
Everyone is standing around drinking everything from tea to scotch! Quick, give us some ice breaker questions!
1) if Q and James had superpowers what would they be and why?
2) What is the one thing you love about the 00Q fandom community?
3) If James and Q were lost on an island with only a radio, a pair of horrendously ugly underpants, and a box of ice lollies, what do you think would happen? (Short fics or artwork using this a prompt is welcomed and very much encouraged)
4) One thing you hate about the creative process, and why
5) Anything you want to see included in the MI6 Cafe (This kind of depends on your dear mod's time allowances, but I'd love to see your ideas for the cafe and where this little comm could go!)
As ususal, you can add more questions if you wish! More chatting the merrier!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Weekly Recs!
Date: 2015-06-05 11:31 am (UTC)Re: Weekly Recs!
Date: 2015-06-05 01:45 pm (UTC)- Handle With Care by winterhill http://archiveofourown.org/works/888348
- put that down immediately, you're going to blow something up: selections from the unofficial guidebook to enjoying your MI6 employment. by skylights http://archiveofourown.org/works/582471
- feels like insomnia (woah) by skylights http://archiveofourown.org/works/571915
- million dollar question by skylights http://archiveofourown.org/works/663915
- christmas isn't christmas (until it happens in your heart and/or people are suitably traumatised) by skylights http://archiveofourown.org/works/1117078
- Pitfalls of the Odd Pagan Holiday by Elenothar http://archiveofourown.org/works/579112
- Our House by j_gabrielle http://archiveofourown.org/works/555192
- home by westwind http://archiveofourown.org/works/610737
- 4 a.m by Thurifut http://archiveofourown.org/works/3585939
- Punch Drunk Love by swtalmnd http://archiveofourown.org/works/4016401
- It's Just So London by Salomonderiel http://archiveofourown.org/works/554487
- Fourteen by dhampir72 http://archiveofourown.org/works/3362447/chapters/7354217
- Let Love In by dhampir72 http://archiveofourown.org/works/1896393/chapters/4087752
- common prayers by duchamp http://archiveofourown.org/works/4018129
- Portraits of Citrus by fishwrites http://archiveofourown.org/series/186107
- quiet. by kiyala http://archiveofourown.org/works/612782
- What A Difference A Day Makes by Fightyourdragon http://archiveofourown.org/works/1087745
- Who's Counting Anyway by Henanigans http://archiveofourown.org/works/571096
- By No Ordinary Means of Communication by laughtershock http://archiveofourown.org/works/958271
aaand a self rec: And you're the only one who knows http://archiveofourown.org/works/982224
Re: Weekly Recs!
Date: 2015-06-05 02:55 pm (UTC)Re: Weekly Recs!
Date: 2015-06-06 07:47 pm (UTC)-Castillon
Re: Weekly Recs!
Date: 2015-06-06 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 11:58 am (UTC)1) Name: I go by isthisrubble or Carol, up to you!
2) Ususal internal home: ...what does this mean???? Is it asking where I'm from? I'm Australian, I live in Melbourne, where it's currently winter and COLD. Or is it asking where online I usually hand out? because that's tumblr - my url's isthisrubble over there too
3) What is it that you love about 00Q? I love how it has the potential to be really light and fun as well as exploring heavier topics (unlike my other Bond fandom ship, which is James/Vesper... yeah, that's never happy)
4) Favourite 00Q headcanon: oh my god, I have no idea, most of my headcanons are character-centric, not ship-centric, but I had this idea the other day about Bond maybe not having any romantic/sexual experience with men before Q, but he's really good at bluffing his way through stuff, so they get to the bedroom before James has to admit that he has no idea what he's doing, so Q has to teach/guide him. I think that'd be a really interesting dynamic to explore - OH! I know one! sub!Bond, but in a non-sexual way
5) Favourite 00Q fanwork: Oh god, this is so hard to choose? I hate questions like that, um... probably 'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room' by feelslikefire, I always rec that one to people new to the ship: http://archiveofourown.org/works/625760/chapters/1130004
Ice breaker questions!
1) if Q and James had superpowers what would they be and why? Q would be able to telepathically connect to computers etc and manipulate electricity, and James... idk, element manipulation would be cool?
2) What is the one thing you love about the 00Q fandom community? I'm not sure if I'm in the community, as such, but I've made a lot of friends through this fandom, and they're all really supportive and encouraging, which is great, so I'd say that
3) If James and Q were lost on an island with only a radio, a pair of horrendously ugly underpants, and a box of ice lollies, what do you think would happen? (Short fics or artwork using this a prompt is welcomed and very much encouraged) Ice lollies are frozen flavoured water things, right? Well, I assume they'd radio for help, and then ration out the ice lollies to survive until Eve turned up to rescue them. They might burn the underpants if they got bored (they're too practical in my head for me to have too much fun with this, sorry!)
4) One thing you hate about the creative process, and why: that point you get to in a story where you have the important scenes written, but other scenes that you can't cut but aren't so interesting are just sitting there waiting to be written, and you can't get them to work
5) Anything you want to see included in the MI6 Cafe (This kind of depends on your dear mod's time allowances, but I'd love to see your ideas for the cafe and where this little comm could go!) I'm pretty new, so I don't really know what goes on most of the time, but I just wish there were more people dropping into these chat things! OH! Maybe somewhere people can ask each other for fic recs - specific AUs, genres etc, or I know I've read this before but I lost the link, help! situations! I don't think we've got one of those for 00Q, and if everyone who drops into the cafe occasionally can answer queries, the mod wouldn't have to take responsibility for finding all the fics
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 12:51 pm (UTC)2) It was supposed to be 'internet' home but your mod is suffering from lack of tea and sleep :P *goes to change*
3) I've never read any James/Vesper stuff, but their relationship in Casino Royale was really interesting - do you have any fic recs? :)
4) Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is so beautiful I have to re-read it like once every few months :P
Ice Breaker Questions
1) I could definitely see Q being able to telepathically connect with computers (like that kid in Heroes?). I'd like to think James would have some sort of power over the elements, maybe like pyrokinesis? He would be the type to throw fire about for the lulz.
2) I think the 00Q community is the kind of place where if you say you're in it then you've got a membership badge :D It's been one of the friendliest fandoms I've been in for sure!
3) There is absolutely nothing wrong with practical, but I now have a brilliant amusing image of James and Q eating ice lollies on a beach and Eve standing over them looking very un-amused about having to come and save them
4) Ugh, that is the worst. Especially for those scenes that are just perfect but for some reason wont go with the rest of the plot (I tend to just hive them off into a separate fic but that's cos I'm lazy :D )
5) Not much at the moment! It's just the weekly chat/weekly recs at the moment, even though other members can make their own posts so you can link your fic/work etc to the community. I like the idea of finding fics, maybe it can be something that could be added to the Weekly Chat (like the Weekly Recs thread?)
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 01:53 pm (UTC)I'm imagining James just shooting fire at his enemies, it's a pretty cool mental image
speaking of James and Q being stuck on an island... http://archiveofourown.org/works/2411681
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 02:58 pm (UTC)Eh, I just like to think that James would want to blow things up enough that any kind of fire-based power would be appropriate!!
(New fic? *adds to bookmarks* I need new stuff to read YAY RECS) :)
Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 02:38 pm (UTC)3) Haha, I had the same problem with practicality! I love that Eve is the one to the rescue, and Cass's description of Eve looming over them when she found them made me smile!
5) Yes, I've seen a few asks in the 00Q tag on tumblr searching for specific fics, and people have generally been good about answering them. I think something like that might actually work better on Tumblr though, just because Tumblr is so great at crowdsourcing, which is what you'd want in the case of a fic search? OTOH, an LJ might keep a better record of those queries so people don't ask about the same fic over and over... Hmm.
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 03:02 pm (UTC)5) I see your point re:tumblr, it's a great crowd sourcing tool especially for finding fics (because so many people go through the tag and might know the fic someone's trying to find). I'll write it down on the ideas list and note the points you've raised next to it and see where we go :P
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 01:02 pm (UTC)1) I go by the name of Cass
2) I normally live on tumblr and reblog stuff.
3) Erm, I think their snarky relationship dynamic, and the fact that I like to write fluff. 00Q is good for fluff :)
4) I can't really pick a favourite, there are too many!
5) Uh, I have so many fics I've read that I can't really pick one. But one of the first bookmarked 00Q fics was lay them down by lincesque** (http://archiveofourown.org/works/586483) about when Q first meets his guardian angel
icebreaker questions
1) I like to think Q would be a telepath, and that James would maybe have telekenises or possibly shapeshifter abilities.
2) Everyone is super friendly and nice, and incredibly supportive of everyone who makes fanworks!
3) I like to think that there would be a silly underwear competition, or the underwear is turned into a flag so when the rescuers come pick up Q and Bond they are greeted by ugly underwear. The ice lollies would be eaten, and the radio would be used to either a) call for help b) drunkenly radio people after James found a stash of rum on the island and they both got drunk
4) When the words don't work and yet I have a deadline to meet! Also, stories which are half finished but the muse doesn't want to pick them up again.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 01:55 pm (UTC)they get Eve on the line again and she just rolls her eyes because this is ridiculous
no subject
Date: 2015-06-05 03:03 pm (UTC)Haha I like to think Eve has a bottle of alcohol under her desk for situations like there were James and Q are being exasperated children! :P
Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 02:44 pm (UTC)3) Who can wear the silly underwear in the best way??? Bond and Q practice their catwalk steps. Perhaps the ice lollies ARE the rum?! (Do they make adult ice lollies? If they're possible, I'm sure that Q Branch has the technology.) You always come up with 00Q antics that make me grin. :D
4) Deadlines...a blessing in disguise, because they make you actually FINISH things! At least, that's how they've worked for me.
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 03:07 pm (UTC)3) I'm pretty sure Q branch have the tech to make adult ice lollies (maybe it's a competition in summer time?) Thank you, this is the product of overtired and caffeinated muses producing the most random scenarios possible!
4) The longest single fic I've ever finished is the 00Q bb two years ago and the only reason I managed to actually finish the darn thing was the looming deadline that was creeping upon me. Once I used to be able to write without a deadline, but no longer :(
Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 01:07 pm (UTC)2) I love that the 00Q community is so supportive! I wrote for last summer's 00Q exchange and got lovely comments and kudos, and I definitely saw other participants making an effort to comment on and support other fics that got published during that timeframe, whether they were from BNFs or people new to the 00Q writing community like me. Also, even though so many of us come to James Bond fandom with varying canon experiences (from reading the books, to seeing some or all of the movies, to just starting with Skyfall), I have seen hardly any proper wank about differing character interpretations. People try to stay respectful in the 00Q community even when they have a difference of opinion!
3) Radio for help, pillage the underpants for their elastic in order to make a better shelter or traps for potential enemies, and use the probably-melted ice lollies (I'm picturing otter pops, those ones kids like that are wrapped plastic) as currency in the games they play in order to keep themselves entertained and motivated despite their state of being naked and having no idea where they are or how they got there.
4) One thing I hate about my personal creative process: realizing halfway through, "Oh, this story is actually about [deeper theme that emerged through grappling with a superficial prompt idea]" and being pleased but also realizing that oh, that scene you just wrote (because often this realization is prompted by the question, "This new scene isn't working, why is that?") needs to be rewritten now. It makes for a better, more focused fic (particularly given my tendency to flail in different directions) but it can be a little frustrating while it happens!
Also: "This was supposed to be a short idea..."
5) On a different comment bc it got a little long!
6) In past weeks we've had some good discussions about the differences between 00s and other field agents, and about the internal make-up of the 00 community. What kind of skills do you think 00s need to have? Like, if we looked at their training records, or if you had to write a 00 resume, what would be on it?
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 01:13 pm (UTC)It'd be a little more work, but the weekly challenge could even take Bingo card format, with one new square being unlocked each week. (There are officially 22 weeks until Spectre comes out!) Participation incentive...IDK, maybe a 00Q-themed raffle at the end, with people being given an entry for each spot on the bingo card they've filled out? Even if we don't get a lot of entries throughout the year, there would be a 00Q-community-created bingo card just in time for the pre-Spectre excitement and (hopefully!) prompt-filling enthusiasm. (Possible prize: A Q mug or a "Top Secret" envelope filled with Earl Grey and positive comments about their fanworks? It's your budget and time, though, so please feel free to be like "lol money and shipping how about no," haha. With the 00Q community's enthusiasm, any kind of external reward would absolutely be just a bit of icing on top of a gorgeous cake.)
I'll freely admit that I'm stealing my Bingo idea from the LotR Read-along, which I took part in last year and found really fun. One thing they also did that many people got into was sort people into teams (so we'd have Team Bond and Team Q and possibly Team Overworked MI6 Staff, I suppose! Even a Team Obnoxious Villain if enough people expressed interest) and have a drawing for the winning team as well as the general pool, but I feel like that'd be too organized for a low-key challenge? It's also more work! But I figured I'd mention it so you could consider it. :)
ALSO ALSO: I couldn't find any pdfs from a quick Google search, but the James Bond audiobooks are all on Youtube. Casino Royale is about four and a half hours long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWIqsNMP7Ic So like. We could have a monthly book club (with possibly also a movie livestream? IDK anything about the technology for that though) if we really wanted. It'd be a cool way to appreciate the different canons!
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 03:26 pm (UTC)Weekly challenge - Like the idea, probably raffle would be a bit of stretch (read: I haz no money) but maybe you could win like a photoshop banner/icon or something to say you won? The weekly challenge idea would be good though, although what we could do is make it more of a special 'festival' kind of thing, where everyone is in teams and you gain points for your team by commenting on fics/art, writing certain number of words/doing a certain number hours of artwork. With the amount of prep, it might take place sometime next year, but as both the Halloween Exchange and reverse bang will be finished by jan next year, it could fill up some space!
I really like the idea though, just need to hammer out some more details and probably get a few more people involved (like there could be 'team heads' who collate the amount of points their team has made that week, and feed it back to me to post on the community?).
Book Club - HELL YEH! I have no idea how to livestream movies and the like, but we could try and organise something! I'll need to have a little think about how to execute it/how often it is! Might be another one to get someone else to head it up/organise it and then it can be linked/hosted on the comm?
They're all excellent ideas though and I'll put them on the list. What will most likely happen is once I'm on summer break (two weeks) I can put the ideas to everyone and see who would a) be interested and b) be interested in helping.
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 11:16 pm (UTC)Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 04:15 am (UTC)-Castillon
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 10:14 am (UTC)Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 07:30 pm (UTC)Although TBH an entire two of hours of audiobook listening might be a bit much, IDK. If I'm not in a car, I usually manage an hour or so before I starting hungering for visual stimulation or *cough* dozing off. (Audiobook readers can sometimes have very soothing voices.) And given that the audiobook, at least, is available on Youtube, it'd probably be easier to have one weekly livestream, for people who enjoy collective listening, but also have a "we're reading up to chapter 5 by Friday" or w/e schedule posted for those who can't make it. Plus, of course, discussion questions and fanwork ideas each week following/arising from the livestream. That would make for about a month-long event (four audiobook weekend streams, plus the movie), which seems not-too-unmanageable?
Or if you have other logistical ideas, that'd be good too! There's every possibility that I'm overcomplicating things, haha.
James Bond July? Co-Canon Fest? Titles are hard.
-Castillon
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 11:07 am (UTC)As you say audiobooks are long to listen to in one sitting, maybe we could suggest a list of books (Maybe some that are free e-books + audiobooks to cover everyone's tastes) that are available for book club, and then everyone can read at their own pace.
To start with, we could just have a separate thread in the weekly chat for the 'book club' chat (like how there is a separate thread for the weekly recs right now) for people to discuss the books during the month. Then at the end of the month have like a 'book club hang out' where everyone can discuss the books they've read etc and what it's like/what bits they hated.
If they're enough interest, then it could be carried forward more as a monthly/bimonthly book club meet up rather than a one-off fest, but the likelihood is I'll see if someone is interested in actually running that as I know I wouldn't be able to do it every month (although I'm quite happy to make the fest based stuff to start it all off)
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 06:13 pm (UTC)I think you're right that a Bingo Card, team-type enterprise would have to wait until next year, and definitely have a few team heads involved as well! IDK why I didn't think of a photoshop banner prize before--they've such a long history in fandom fests, after all!
For the weekly guest, maybe one of the questions they get asked to answer as part of an initial post could be, "What would you like to see more of in fandom?" with the option of them offering a drabble prompt? This would be much more informal than a "weekly challenge" while still perhaps getting our (including my. I need practice!) writing muscles in shape for the Halloween Exchange and other future events. The reason I like this idea is that one of the things I've seen people talk about most recently, including in the MI6 cafe in the past few weeks, is, "There needs to be more ___!" More genderqueer characters, more sub!Bond, more sub-but-not-sexually!Bond; I think everyone has something, even if it's just "MORE H/C!" because h/c is the thing they love best, or "more deserted island crack!" because who doesn't love that? So a question/optional prompt combo like that might enable people to access their, well, not-quite-discontent, in a bit of a productive way, whether that's through conversation ("Bond would totally wear cute lingerie! But no lace; too itchy!") or through creation ("Bond pulled the white silk over his thighs and up to his hips, taking care to adjust himself within the tight confines afterward. He'd found lace to be, well, just a bit itchy and more trouble than it was worth with its tendency to catch on his scar tissue. But silk...silk was so soft and tender that he could wear it all day, especially when Q asked him to."). Plus the possibility of drabbles might be a bit of a reward for the weekly guest's participation.
Super excited about the book club!
Congrats on your upcoming summer break! I look forward to catching people's interests with MI6 Cafe's new activities and hopefully getting some help to make them happen. :D
-Castillon
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 08:56 am (UTC)What do you say to an idea where instead of a bingo card (I was kind of thinking using this as a method of just a 'weekly prompt' to add into the weekly chat for people to use up to spectre - like you suggested re the guest idea), we could have a fest next year where anyone who is interested is split into say 3 teams. Then you get points for your team over the fest period (maybe a month?) for writing/arting/commenting on various fics, with different points for how much effort you put in (eg 100 words of fic = 1 point, 1000 words = 10 points, 5000 = 20 points etc) or how many comments you leave on A03/reblogs (like 1 point for a simple comment, 5 points for a 100+word comment). Then each team reports back to their team leader about how many points they've made in a week, which feeds back to some sort of overall team table. Then teams can make support for their own teams and it might be a way to encourage more people to actually comment/review fic and art. It'll be a huge enterprise, and everyone would have to be trusted with how many points they make (because no way in hell can anyone go and check everyone's points tally up, it'll be too hard), but I think it might be something fun to do when the exchange/reverse bb has died down :P
I like this weekly guest idea, I'm not sure how hard (timewise) it would be to organise the guests/get responses/make a post, so I would probably trim a few of the ideas out for now (like people suggesting prompts? Or just having a weekly prompt/bingo card thing up to spectre). Just because I know I want to be able to participate in the exchange/reverse bb this year. That being said, if someone else wanted to volunteer to run the guest post I'd be quite happy to give the relative permission on the tumblr/here so that person can manage that feature like a mod :)
Thank you! Super looking forward to it, just a balancing act between stuff I want to do both in and out of fandom (as well as write) at the moment! :) There seems to be people following the tumblr blog, and there was some initial interest when the cafe first started but people haven't been coming back. That could be due to when the weekly chat is posted (at the weekend, but it's the only time I can really do consistently at the moment) but that'll be something else to sort out over the summer! :D
Thanks for all the ideas though, it'll be really fun to get some more fests into the 00q fandom and see if something can come of this community :P
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 03:01 pm (UTC)Also, just while I'm thinking about it/so it doesn't get forgotten, Inceptiversary (Inception fandom's summer fest) had something like a craft day last year that was really neat; things like origami and, IDK, sewing stuff and other crafty submissions happened. We wouldn't need to make a specific day for it, but I think the inclusion of crafts might be something to explicitly mention at the time of the fest, bc I think people get caught up in "traditional" forms of fanwork like visual art and fanfic, and don't always realize that their secret yarn skills or papercraft hobby or drink-mixing or ability to stitch "BLOODY BIG SHIP" onto a pillowcase or make 00Q-themed bentos or WHATEVER are also really cool. And meta! Any kind of meta is awesome.
I AM ALREADY SO PUMPED FOR 00Q TEAM FEST 2016.
I really like the weekly guest idea, partly because we have so many awesome fanwork creators in the fandom and it would be such a pleasure to hear their ideas and opinions about things, and partly because it would, hopefully, help more people find their way to MI6 Cafe! I'm strongly considering volunteering to run it, as you say, as a kind of MI6 Cafe mod, but I'd have to give it a little more thought. (Among other considerations: Reaching out to people is hard! But at the same time, this would be great practice at reaching out to people, haha.) So I'll check back in with you next weekend, if that's all right? Or we can talk in two weeks when you're on break and have had time to think more about fandom as well as IRL stuff!
I can completely empathize with the balancing act you're describing. The weekend has been the only consistent time for me as well, though that's a bit more flexible now that it's summer break for me. And it will certainly be weekend hours in August as well when school starts up again (provided I have a job--fingers crossed for that too). Thank you again for taking what time you have to think about how to make a more active 00Q community!
P.S. I am also SO PUMPED for Spectre! Coming from Inception fandom, I'm finding it such a novelty to actually have a sequel to be excited about, haha. 22 weeks!
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 04:05 pm (UTC)The bingo cards are a good idea, it helps keep the creativity flowing (and maybe you could get bonus points for using some of the bingo card prompts?). There is LOADS of time until it would need to be organised, so I'm thinking just sketching out a rough idea at the moment (I'm considering making a 'whats coming up for the next few months at MI6cafe in a few weeks time to get some people interested) and then probably early 2016 I can see who wants to be team leaders (so the leaders can organise the teams/deal with the individual teams) and how many people would be interested in it.
TEAM FEST 2016 FTW.
Sure! If you want to volunteer that would be amazing, I know from my schedule (summer of bouncing around places + starting new job in the latter end of the year) I'm going to be busy has hell to do it justice. But I could certainly help with coming up with questions/bouncing ideas, it's just the regularity of posting/organising people I would have time trouble with (especially if I'll try and set up the team fest next year). But seriously, no pressure at all :D Everything's all very ad-hoc right now so we could start off small (maybe like a small month of 'guest posts' - one a week would only be 4 people for example) and then if there is interested start building from that onwards :)
SAME! It'll be nice to have some new interest injected in the fandom, I loved how much fic/commenting went on around Skyfall coming out :P
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 02:02 pm (UTC)hmm, 00 resume:
- must speak at least 3 languages, encouraged to specialise in a language group or continent (ie I headcanon Bond's specialty is European languages)
- must have proficiency with range of weapons and hand to had combat forms, but is encouraged to specialise in something, again
- able to operate independently AND follow orders when necessary
- smart, quick-thinking and good at improvising
- ability to detach emotionally from the job
- willingness to sacrifice everything for the greater good
- 2 kills not in self defence (but that's canon, so)
- at least 5 years experience as a field agent
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 06:32 pm (UTC)And that "willingness to sacrifice everything for the greater good" is the vague kind of line that sounds good on a job posting but doesn't quite convey the "must be willing to be given up to the Chinese for torture in exchange for saving other lives" reality of MI6 fieldwork.
Headcanon that the 00s have an informal polyglot club and teach each other their language specializations whenever they're laid up at the same time. This might or might not take the form of coded problems in the target language with an alcohol-based reward for solving the problem. If they're mobile, there may or may not be scavenger hunts for the next language-based "clues" (such as directions on the subjunctive verb form or cultural folk tales or something). It mostly keeps them out of trouble with medical, signs of cooperativeness keep psych off their backs, and they get a small pay rise for every language they can claim proficiency in.
(Q Branch staff might or might not help them with verb drills and language learning software. They get a language-proficiency pay rise too, after all.)
(Q is unfairly good at memorizing new vocabulary. Bloody genius.)
-Castillon
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-09 11:30 am (UTC)Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-05 03:15 pm (UTC)2) One of the main reasons I actually stuck around in the 00q fandom was simply because of how supportive everyone is. It doesn't matter if you're new to the fandom or been in it for ages, everyone is really welcoming! And it's really nice to get new writers/artists in the fandom to keep the creativity going :)
3) Haha, I like this idea! I like to think that Q would quit the game after he finds that James is somehow playing a slight of hand card trick on him to win the games :P
4) I can totally agree with both of those things! Especially when a deeper theme appears when you're writing, because you know the story will be better if you re-write it but still it's just hard to go back and re-work everything to make it fit :P
6) Ooo I LIKE this question! :) I like to think the thing that 00 agents need is loyalty to MI6, or to M. It's the one thing that keeps them tied to their positions, and even though they may have a range of skill sets and backgrounds, it's the one thing that will stop them going rogue.
Other things: Languages, possible extreme survival skills, self defense skills etc.
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-06 07:04 pm (UTC)6) MWAHAHAHAHAHA, MORE SUPPORT FOR HUFFLEPUFF!BOND. (Or at least Slytherpuff Bond.) But yeah, I totally agree here, MI6 needs people who aren't going to betray them to the first person who offers them a better deal. (Because. Like. These agents are working for the government. And no matter how high their pay is on the government pay scale, corporate is probably always going to be able to match and raise.)
Where do you think Bond's loyalty comes from? Is it just something that got somehow inculcated in the Navy, or...?
Isthisrubble, I'm curious--how do they handle the whole 'loyal to Britain' thing in the Young Bond series, or does it not come up? (Also, lol, the MA digital library somehow only has the audiobooks for Young Bond 2 and 3. That makes loads of sense, guys. And unlike classic!Bond, the Young Bond books aren't on Youtube.)
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 11:12 am (UTC)6) HUFFLEPUFF BOND. Now you mention it, he would be very hufflepuff due to his loyalty, and I could imagine him getting very protective over his 'family' of MI6 when it comes down to it.
I kind of think Bond's loyalty comes from a combination of forces-esque mentality during the navy, but also his own personal sense of 'belonging' to a nation and wanting to protect that. Ontop of that, I think his loyalty is far more strongly towards M (as shown in Skyfall) than even his country, and I kind of think that leads from his orphan background and the fact M seemed to be a bit of a 'mother figure' to him.
Re: Castillon
Date: 2015-06-07 01:39 pm (UTC)6) *quiet Hufflepuff fist pump*
I think you're right that he had a lot of loyalty toward M, particularly due to his orphan background. A lot of fic have speculated about how to fill the sort of loyalty gap after her death ("The Love Song of James Bond" does this very explicitly, for example). That sense of 'belonging' that you talk about, though--that really resonates with me. Because M gave him a place to belong in a way that the Navy didn't quite. I imagine that after Skyfall, both Bond (previously "dead," old for a field agent) and Q (made that mistake with Silva's tech, young for a department head) are in a position where they have to gain acceptance and prove their belonging in the new MI6. They can both empathize with the feeling of being an outsider looking in.
Castillon (ficlet response to 3)
Date: 2015-06-06 08:10 pm (UTC)Q glared at Bond almost as hotly as the sun beating down through palm fronds above them. “You--you’re cheating! Fuckin’ predictable, is what it is. Statistics bows down to me. And to you, you bloody luck-sink.”
Indeed, Bond’s pile of sadly melted alcoholic ice lollies reached up to his ankle in a neat little pyramid, while Q’s pile struggled vainly to ascend to the heights of his big toenail. He had, in a word, one. Uno. Ein.
It was more than he’d have had if Bond hadn’t thrust the nearest source of alcohol into his hands before parachuting them to safety, but still.
“You’ll have to start forfeiting minor acts of servitude, next,” Bond observed. Their first act after untangling themselves from the parachute had been untangling themselves from their clothes. The shade-rippled island light gleamed off of his sweaty pecs and biceps.
Q could think of a few minor acts of servitude he wouldn’t mind performing. “Two ice lollies on a nine,” he said, nodding at the improvised hopscotch board they had drawn in the sand. Eleven was his highest score so far, but that had been three cherry rum lollies ago.
He tripped over to the starting position, made his first one-legged hops, wobbled on the five, stuck it out to the six with his arms flapping very fast in the air, and tripped over nothing and onto his face when he came to the oddly-placed seven. “You redraw the lines,” Q accused after flopping onto his back so he could give Bond his best petulant look. “When you finish your turn and I’m staring into space trying to calculate the amount of time until Moneypenny rescues us. Takes me too long to do the math when I’m all...” He flapped a hand at himself to indicate his ineb--inverteb--inebri--
--his sloshedness.
Bond crawled over. He grinned in Q’s face, good-humored and unbothered as he’d been since had they landed and activated their radio. “Seven was the part you drew,” he pointed out, his breath smelling like fake fruit and alcohol. “You told me that in the interests of fair play you should have a hand in the creation of the game board, and that I was a twit for landing us on an island with oscillating floors.”
This did sound like something Q would have said. He’d been too busy washing the seasalt out of his mouth to taste the rum at first. “Have it, then,” he said, and waved a hand in the direction of his pitiful stash.
“You owe me one,” Bond reminded him.
“Er,” Q said, and waited. Bond waited back at him. Q had sort of expected him to start the kissing by now.
“I think,” Bond said, his lips curling in a way that sent “Danger, Will Robinson!” signals dancing even through Q’s rum-silly, adrenaline-crashed brain, “that I want you to dance for me.”
“I only know one dance,” Q said. After a few tries, he managed a successful wink.
That was how Moneypenny arrived at their camp in time to see Q dancing the YMCA and Bond supporting him with vocals as best as a man could when he was wheezing with laughter.
“I should get Quartermasters and ice lollies at the end of every mission,” Bond said to no one in particular as they trekked back to Moneypenny’s boat.
“Hmm,” Q said. He was concentrating very hard on putting one foot in front of the other, but what he meant was, “I can take care of one of those things for you.” He’d just have to show Bond which one when they got back to Six.
fin
---
I couldn't work in the ugly underwear! But know that Bond somehow made a flag out of it to alert Moneypenny as to the location of their camp.
luck-sink is a concept I got from Terry Pratchett--someone who attracts massive amounts of both good and bad luck, such as the character Rincewind, who has no special skills but is always getting into ridiculous amounts of misadventure and equally ridiculously managing to survive it all.
Re: Castillon (ficlet response to 3)
Date: 2015-06-07 11:14 am (UTC)This is brilliant. I love the idea that the only dance Q knows is the YMCA and Bond's terrible cheating!
(I am so writing Moneypenny's POV for this in a little while.) :D
Re: Castillon (ficlet response to 3)
Date: 2015-06-07 01:25 pm (UTC)I am so up for reading Moneypenny's POV re: discovering these two losers, hahaha.
Re: Castillon (ficlet response to 3) Eve has to go pick up some losers from an Island
Date: 2015-06-07 03:56 pm (UTC)They were green, a sickly kind of green that looked mildly radioactive, with bright red spots that were arranged in some sort of artistic pattern that Eve was sure any fan of modern art would consider to be talking about the depth of the human experience.
She took a wide berth around the underpants and continued walking down the beach. She was sure James and Q had picked this particular island instead of just being unceremoniously deposited by some international terrorist organisation who had thrown then both of out a plane. It was the kind of island that travel agents would put on their flyers, with a pale blue sea lapping against pearly white sand that had a few palm trees dotting about it dunes.
It was also the kind of island that took 3 days to get to by various modes of transportation and having to talk to a set of very exasperated locals as to just why she needed to visit the uninhabited island in the south.
Eve knew that James and Q were there, because the radio was currently transmitting their drunken rendition of the YMCA. In the distance, she could hear the actual rendition of Q belting out another round of lyrics and the faint echoes of James' laughter.
Turning off the radio, Eve marched along the beach with a stubborn determination. It was always up to her to pull James and Q out of their various piles of proverbial shitstorms that they created. Even though this was a particularly nice island, she would have much preferred to be there by choice.
Rounding the corner, of the island, she came across James and Q's 'camp' for want of a better word. There were strewn popsicle wrappers over the sand, with the odd bottle of rum left half empty in the sand where someone had clearly been drinking it before getting up to dance about ridiculously.
"EVE!" James bellowed drunkenly, staggering to his feet, "you made it."
"You both owe me a really nice bottle of wine when we get back," Eve remarked, "a really nice bottle of wine."
Q frowned, before he slowly bent down and picked up one last uneaten ice lolly.
"Can I submit this as a bottle of wine?" he asked.
"No," Eve remarked. No amount of ice lollies were going to make up for the wine she needed to get through the paperwork when they got back to MI6.
Re: Castillon (ficlet response to 3) Eve has to go pick up some losers from an Island
Date: 2015-06-07 05:04 pm (UTC)-Castillon
Re: Castillon (ficlet response to 3) Eve has to go pick up some losers from an Island
Date: 2015-06-07 05:23 pm (UTC)