Weekly Chat!

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

Yep 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!

Comments

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) I could so get behind the idea of James manipulating his luck to be able to survive against the odds, it also fits with his gambling persona as well! (On a totally unrelated note, have you ever read a fantasy series called Wheel of Time? There is a character in that series who pretty much has this ability and he uses it to cheat at card games and get away with pretty ridiculous stuff)

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

[(Anonymous)]

1) OMG, you know, I think I did read that book when I was maybe 12 or 13? Now that I think about it, I very distinctly remember that I didn't keep reading because I experienced so much secondhand embarrassment due to the main guy (probability guy?) and his stupidity/impulsiveness. There was very much a "Cool world-building, but why do I have to suffer through your poor life choices?" kind of feeling for me, haha! Tween/teen me was not long-suffering enough for that kind of character growth.

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

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) I totally understand because the main character is SO ANNOYING up to about book 12 where he becomes less irritating. I'll disclaim now that I am a huge fan of those books, but if you're interested in strong female characters kicking butt then it's a great read (okay even if some of the worldbuilding does get a bit overwhelming at times).

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

[(Anonymous)]

1) Yeah, I distinctly remember the strong women characters...and wondering why the books weren't about them, lol. I did really like the writing! I recall that it could be very visceral, especially for a fantasy series (otherwise the secondhand embarrassment wouldn't have been so strong, haha).

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.