Weekly Chat!

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

Yes it's that time of the week again, the weekly chat is OPEN! Don't forget anonymous comments are enabled so you don't need an LJ account to actually comment on the threads!

Weekly Recs!

We had some wonderful weekly recs last week for the genre of fluff! This week, as well as those fanworks you've seen over the past week, we want to see your fanwork recs for the genre of:

First Time!

This could be those fics that have James and Q's first kiss, first time having sex, or even first time making some new recipie out of the cook book!

Developing the Comm

The floor was opened up last week to hear everyone's ideas as to what the comm could host in terms of fests and other ideas to get people interested! So far we have the following ideas:

1) Weekly guest post - where fandom members are interviewed and asked to give a prompt and question for the rest of the fandom to discuss!
2) Book/film club - either a fest/monthly event where those who are interested can listen to and discuss the James Bond audiobooks/canon, as well as organised film livestreams for everyone to watch and comment upon!
3) Team Competition/Fest - a fest which will likely be held early next year (after the reverse BB and the Halloween Exchange have both finished), which involves participents being split up into different teams to compete for points! Points can be awarded for writing, reading, arting, crafting or whatever!
4) Prompt Challenge/Bingo Card - A bingo card with a new prompt revealed every week up to the release of Spectre!

If anyone has any ideas please do put them below! I will be having a general 'idea and helping out' post next week where anyone who wishes to help can also note your interest!

Question Time!

1) Whose seen the new Spectre TV spot? What do you think of it? Excited for the film yet?
2) What's the one genre in fanworks that you avoid like the plague? Any particular reason?
3) Where do you think James and Q would go on holiday? Why is this?
4) If James and Q have a fight, how do you think they make up afterwards? Who says sorry first?
5) Whose your favourite member of MI6 (apart from James + Q) - eg Eve/Tanner/M, and why?

If you have any more questions, please feel free to add more! :)

Comments

Weekly Recs Here!

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

Post your weekly recs for those fanworks you've seen this week, or those which you want to rec that fit in with the current week's genre!

Re: Weekly Recs Here!

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Some general recs I've seen this week:

This picture of James and Q holding each other by Belli - http://beili.tumblr.com/post/121231738683

This picture of Q by battlinmatt - http://battlinmatt.tumblr.com/post/121317468922

For the 'first time' genre:

This fic by Castillon about Q's first time flying - http://castillon02.tumblr.com/post/120991493582/pre-flight-jitters

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Question Time!

1) Super excited for the film! The whole "hidden past coming back to haunt you" thing, along with the general air of dark mystery, actually makes it look a bit like a modern-day gothic novel. I think it will be really interesting to see how the tone of the series shifts post-Skyfall. And also I like how, haha, "I'M GOING TO BLOW UP MY PAST AND MOVE INTO THE BRAVE NEW WORLD" ends up being "btw looks like the past isn't going to let you go too bad so sad."

2) I avoid break-up/separation (by death or otherwise) endings! Give me all the angst, blood, sweat, and tears you like, but at the end of the day, I almost always want my OTP to have some kind of satisfying conclusion together, even if that conclusion is "and then they both died after a horrific struggle, but at least they died TOGETHER" or "And then they decided to just be friends and had great movie and take-away nights thereafter." Any kind of plotline where they spend all their lives struggling only for it to be totally in vain and end unhappily is too much like IRL for me. :/ Fandom is where I can gratify my inner optimist.

3) They might holiday in Spain, perhaps near Barcelona. Close enough to be back home quick in an emergency, far enough that the execs might think twice before calling them for the first little bump in the bureaucratic road. Plus, lovely beaches and wines for Bond, Wi-Fi and tapas for Q, great food in general, and enough touristy things to do if they want to explore. It's also close to other European countries and Morocco, in case they want or need to do more traveling. It's a bit of a train ride to get there, but the scenery is nice, and as a game they give each other hypothetical missions to solve, or tackle locked room mysteries together, or create fictional backstories for their fellow passengers, and the time passes pretty enjoyably.

4) James and Q make up from a fight by: Eating together. Make-up sex is a thing too, of course, but sex drive can rise or fall depending on how the last mission went and how many painkillers either of them is taking that day. 00Q shorthand for "Let's begin conflict resolution, I don't like fighting with you" generally sounds like "Do you want some take-away?" and then if the answer is yes then whoever's sticking out the olive branch will get some extra prawn crackers or whatever the other likes, and they'll use the dinner to start reminding each other about the things they agree on, like weapons design. 00Q shorthand for "Fuck off, I'm still mad at you" is "I'll just make a sandwich."

This is a hard one! They're both stubborn and they both suck at saying sorry, but Bond tends to be better at it because he has a higher awareness of social manners/etiquette (even if he sometimes doesn't use them while he's at Six) and he's at least had practice saying the words in undercover situations. (MI6 doesn't generally ask for apologies from its agents, generally considering them a waste of time. They have public relations writers to do that kind of thing when it's necessary.) Q starts out a little bit more inexperienced, socially speaking (not a lot! He's socially competent. But excluding serious long-term relationships, Bond's social experience level would be a bit hard to match for an introvert, which I headcanon Q as). As the younger partner, Q's also a little more defensive and wary of setting a precedent of "giving in." He grows the fuck up after a fight or three, but Bond is still quicker and more upfront about shouldering his share of the blame where it's due. Part of being a great field agent is the ability to acknowledge mistakes, adapt, and move on. Q hates being wrong A LOT, so it takes him a bit longer to get past the first step. He improves with practice.

5) Favorite member of MI6...Hmm. Not sure, tbh. I like both Ms?

6) Added question: What do Bond and Q fight about?

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) haha :D Yeh, that'll be really interesting to find out and I like the fact they seem to be building upon Bond's character rather than just going 'NEW BADDIE BOND SAVEZ DAY'. It's nice to see some concrete storyline appearing :)

2) I totally see where you're coming from, fanfic especially needs to have a bit of happy at the end (otherwise I sometimes feel the story falls a bit flat?). Let's make a 'happy endings even if there has been pain to get there club' I'll make a tshirt :P

3) alksdf your holiday for James and Q is basically awesome and now I have fluffy feels :D

4) I am now going to adopt your 00q shorthand as my headcannon for how James and Q get things done when they're pissed at each other. Like if Bond breaks one of Q's gadgets on a mission and Q gets pissed it's all food based demands.

Ugh your analysing is so spot on - I too think Q is an introvert and would have trouble backing down but I think he would be quick to learn the ropes and start to understand that not all conflict is bad (especially extra prawn crackers!) I love your reading of Bond and the fact that Bond's ability to accept mistakes/adapt that comes from the fact he is a field agent.

5) Both the Ms are badass in their own way, but Judi Dench will always win for being sassy and awesome and generally fab. :D :D

6) Oooo, this is an interesting question! I think in the beginning the fact that James would sleep with other people on a mission might irk Q because he would have trouble processing his conflicting jealousy with the logical requirement for James to sleep with people whilst on an undercover mission. I think James might hate how Q has an ability to always have the last word and never concede on a point at all. I think Q's a bit stubborn in that respect and like you pointed out above as the younger of the two of them he might be a little bit more defensive of 'giving in' so that could blow up arguments a bit. I like to think James could be a bit passive aggressive to start with (he'll go off in a huff) that would aggravate Q because Q would feel like he's done something wrong to piss off James.

Also they would totally fight over whose music is played in the Aston Martin.

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

2) Yeah, I love fluff too, but painful with a happy ending is where it's at! Woo, club t-shirts. :D

4) Glad you liked my argument headcanons! I do enjoy the idea of Bond thinking of his relationship with Q in mission terms sometimes. (Usually with good humor/parody, like: "Mission objective: Keep Q from playing that godawful dubstep in the Aston. [I love that idea!] Possible tactics: Distracting petty not-argument, perhaps about a semi-impossible gadget request; calculated question about Q Branch politics (bonus: intel on possible enemies and allies); mini-lesson about how to manipulate people disguised as a question about what Q would do in a hypothetical scenario; binding Q's hands so he can't reach the knobs..." Though of course the mission mindset could also have its dysfunctional side as well.)

6) Lol, you're right, I think that Skyfall showed us Q's ability to be articulate under pressure, and he probably would be one of those last word people. I can definitely see Bond storming off in a huff while Q radiates smugness at having made his point "cleverly." Meanwhile Bond gnashes his teeth and perhaps fantasizes about ways to turn off that smart mouth for a little bit. If they have a relationship that's at all D/s, gags have to be handled very carefully. I think part of the reason that Q is so articulate is because at one point in his life, his smart mouth was the only weapon he had. Maybe he sucked at physically fighting back against bullies or people who wanted to use him, but he could make sure his words echoed in their brains long after his own bruises had healed. I'll bet it takes Q a long time to realize that he doesn't have to strike so hard and relentlessly with Bond, that he's still safe even when they're shouting and furious or upset with each other.

I'd love to see a relationship where they have a couple of signals that they've agreed to use with each other. One that Bond usually uses, which means that he'll try to talk in a calm tone of voice instead of shouting and Q will promise to listen without interrupting until Bond is finished and lifts the silence; one that Q usually uses, which means they don't leave the room (or house or whatever) until Q opens the lock (they can glare at the walls all they want--but no leaving in a huff). They both learn how to trust each other enough to limit themselves in order to (hopefully) communicate better.

I'm of two ways about the jealousy thing. On the one hand, Bond girls typically have such a different relationship with Bond that I can't see Q feeling threatened, especially because, as you say, it's the job. On the other hand, I agree that I can see Q feeling possessive about Bond, especially in the first throes of their relationship: everyone should just learn to keep their paws off of Q's agent! On the OTHER other hand, I have a big soft spot for fics in which Q asserts some element of control in Bond's liaisons by involving himself in them somehow. ANYWAY. Definitely agree that it's a potential issue!

-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

6) That's a really interesting reading of Q, I totally agree with you re: the fact he had to use his smart words to defend himself. It's really interesting, normally I write James as the one who has struggles with trusting another and I never really consider how Q's personality would play into his trusting ability. (especially with listening to criticism/getting stuff wrong/disagreeing and communicating his needs to James)

I am all for secret signals - it seems very apt for two people who work in a secret organisation and quite apt for their personalities too. I like to thing that they use the secret signals less as their relationship develops (and so their trust in one another grows to the point where they feel comfortable communicating what they're feeling to another).

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Love the idea of the secret signals getting used less and less as they grow to trust each other more and learn healthier communication habits!

I also really loved question four in general; it was something that I had to think hard about, and even now I know that what I've said is only true for the versions of Q and Bond that I've headcanoned for the prompt. Would you mind if I posted question 4 in the 00Q tag (or you could post it, too, if the timing works out that way or you want to keep the question on the MI6 Cafe blog)? Super curious about what other people would think about it and hopeful that they'll feel as engaged by the question as I did! (I would love to see an interpretation that's radically different from mine, for example.)

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Sure you can post the question! If you want give a heads up about the comm (free advertisement is a good thing) and it might even get some more people to come over and say hi!

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

So I might have used the idea that Q and James using takeaway to say sorry in a fic :D Hope you don't mind! :)

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Go for it! :D Weekly 00Q inspiration session has commenced, I guess!
-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Haha yeh I was writing whilst replying to your comment and it kind of got dragged in :D :D

Totally going to find a bingo card for the next Weekly Chat to start this 00Q inspiration before Spectre. Might even try and tempt people to come joint by saying I'll write a short fic if they come over and leave a prompt! :P (Mod goes innovative to get people interested :P)

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, bribery is perfectly in line with MI6's objective-based work ethics! :P

Castillon

Re: Castillon

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

1) yeah, looks like that's backfired on Bond quite spectacularly...

6) Bond's deathwish, Q's workaholic behaviour, Bond's refusal to follow orders half the time, Q's refusal to get off the comms last time they were sure Bond was going to die, Bond's alcoholism, Bond's fear of commitment... Both of them have stubborn natures so if they're in the wrong mood almost everything can become a fight

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

6) This is a great list of the challenges that Bond and Q would both encounter as they try to figure out a way to integrate another person into their life. They're both stubborn, independent people who are used to answering only to themselves to a certain extent, so this new accountability to someone else for their behaviors could definitely be scary and infuriating as well as coming with all the things that make a relationship worthwhile.

-Castillon

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

1) My tumblr has been filled with random instances of me just typing spectre speCTRE SPECTRE out into the void ever since we got the teaser trailer. I am super, super excited about this movie. I've got a thing for Bond's backstory, and I've already got a few theories, although one of them, that they might be incorporating the steel cartridge subplot from Carte Blanche, is looking pretty unlikely these days. I live in hope, though.

2) hmmm. I've never liked those alpha/omega/beta things, or mpreg. it just weirds me out a lot. and I'm not a fan of non-happy endings either, for obvious reasons

3) Q's afraid of flying thing makes this a bit difficult, but they could still get around europe pretty easily. maybe italy? nice weather, nice food, interesting history...

4) they bicker a lot, but I don't think they fight much - but when it does happen, it's pretty explosive. yelling, breakables getting thrown, vicious remarks. bond, unfortunately, deals with it by asking M for a mission and, because he's feeling more reckless than usual, inevitably getting hurt and scaring the shit out of Q. when he gets back Q rushes to apologise because James nearly died he didn't want the last things they ever say to each other to be angry words, and Bond says something along the lines of I was being an arse too, don't apologise and after that they can talk calmly about their disagreement

5) TANNER MY SON I love him so much, the poor guy, he never seems to catch a break. I call him the office saint

[(Anonymous)]

2) Yeah, ABO and m-preg aren't usually my thing either; the ABO consent issues are a little squicky for me. I always live in hope that I'll find one that I like though! It happens every once in a blue moon, especially if it's m-preg without ABO dynamics. I'd love to hear some people who enjoy ABO and m-preg talk about what they like about it so I can better understand the appeal, though! Actually, I've been struggling to think of what to read for pharaonicwolf's get lost fic challenge, and now that I think about it, looking into ABO and m-preg would definitely be genres I don't usually read! Guess I'll be making some recs before June 22. :)

3) ITALY. Very food, much walking tour, so architecture. Q and Bond both, perhaps, completely separately and totally accidentally, make friends with the local Family and incur Tanner's facepalming and irritated negotiations with local law enforcement (who Q and Bond also, completely separately and totally accidentally, manage to piss off before they leave).

If you were ever in Harry Potter fandom, Rorschach's Blot wrote a humor fic called "Make A Wish" that was basically an AU in which Harry becomes a world tourist for the summer and, through a combination of common sense, bravery, and ridiculously good luck, ends up semi-obliviously saving people and unintentionally leaving chaos in his wake. In my gigglier moments, this is a bit like what I imagine Bond and Q ever trying to go on holiday would be like. (Bond and Q: *casually foil armed robbery or stealth assassination attempt or something* What, like it's hard?)

4) Awwwww! These stubborn, emotional idiots, I love them. <3 What a moving idea of what their arguments would be like!

5) Tanner really is caught between several rocks and hard places! I don't know how he manages to juggle M, outside-MI6 politics, the 00s and department heads, and probably make time to remember the name of every field agent, accountant, and coffee barista on the payrolls in between doing all that. And no one ever takes his sensible advice! "Ma'am, maybe we should leave since you're, you know, a target." "STOP BEING A COWARD TANNER WE'RE NOT LEAVING UNTIL SILVA LITERALLY SHOOTS US OUT OF THE BUILDING." (Oh, M!) But he doesn't exactly seem unhappy with his job. What kind of personality thrives under that kind of pressure, I wonder? (A saintly one, anyway!)

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of them accidentally causing and solving all these problems, it's hilarious! I'll have to look up that harry potter fic

I'll keep an eye out for your post into the fic challenge tag! I've already made mine (I'm isthisrubble over there too) but I'm still considering a few fics, I might make another one

and tanner, well, he's probably really good at office politics. and in the books he and bond play golf, so there is that

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

OMG. GOLF. THAT IS THE MOST HIGHER-CLASS OLD PERSON THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. OF COURSE THESE MIDDLE-AGED ADRENALINE JUNKIES PLAY GOLF WITH EACH OTHER. AMAZING. Seriously though, that's super cute in a weird way. Golf buddies! (My dad and granddad both play golf. That is probably influencing my reaction, haha.) (And like, I know that it totally makes sense in the historical context of the Fleming novels. But my knee jerk reaction is still to imagine some kind of golf-related 007 parody, or a scene in which Bond is desperately trying to subdue a terrorist in the quietest manner possible because Tanner is trying to make his putt and it's very important that he be able to concentrate without interruption.) (Tanner gets it in the hole. Bond's hands are only slightly bloody as he does the polite golf clap.)

Instant headcanon that there was some kind of MI6 reg about 00s and executives having to be able to play golf bc so many people in the "potential terrorist or terrorist funder" economic class are able to play it and do their networking on the golf course. Bond and Tanner either exchanged glances, recognized each other for being mostly competent, and metaphorically stuck to each other like glue through the lessons/seminar, or were forcibly/randomly paired together and realized that they kind of enjoyed the chance to talk shit and let their sense of humor out with each other and that this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful golfing buddyship.
(Q, when he discovers the reg, takes a day off to create some automatic putters and drivers with precise angle and distance calculators or w/e. He also makes the golf clubs explodable and threatens to give them to Bond if Tanner doesn't exempt him from the sport.) (Lol at Tanner being the metaphorical mom who writes the sick notes re: regs. In exchange for a favor, probably!)

Ooh, I'll have to check back to your recs! :)

-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2318355/1/Make-A-Wish The HP fic. You'll see right away that the grammar is a bit...*wince*...but the story itself is very entertaining.

-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

there need to be more comedy fics in this fandom, I would read the hell out of that golf idea

and the whole 'networking on the golf course' does sort of come up in goldfinger (the book, idk about the movie)

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with the need for more comedy fics - maybe another thing for the comm to try and encourage? :P

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

I'm going to join in on the golfing headcannon party because it is awesome!

Q would totally get dragged along to James and Tanner's golf course days (they would call it team bonding) and by the end of the day the golf buggy would have gotten a new upgrade and Q would have had at least 10 ideas of how to weaponise it.(Y'know just in case it's ever needed)

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

There's actually a practice of buying and pimping out golf carts in retirement homes here in the U.S. There are literally roving golf cart gangs of old people. This could certainly be a tongue-in-cheek project for Q to work on for "aren't you retired already?" Bond. In any case, there are definitely online specs out there that Q could modify! :D

-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Well now I have the headcannon that there is a secret Q branch warehouse/industrial estate where Q branch employees drive around in suped-up golf carts with all kinds of gadgets attached to them!

(But seriously though, that practise is awesome! Are they driven on the roads?! Or just general suburban areas?)

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

http://archive.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/magazine/17-10/ff_ecars?currentPage=all

They wouldn't be driven on the highways, but in some retirement communities they are the main form of traffic and make up the majority of the vehicles you'll see parked at, say, your local Target or WalMart or what-have-you.
Q could definitely make one look like an Aston Martin if he wanted.

-Castillon

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

OMG this is brilliant! And the modded carts look so realistic though - I could never imagine something like that happening over here in the UK because you wouldn't have enough space to build the cart lanes!

Q totally makes James an Aston Martin one that has v8 sounds which make it sound realistic even though it's a golf cart :D :D

Re: Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

They actually have really glamorized golf carts in retirement homes here in the U.S. There are definitely online specs that Q could modify! :D

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) Oooo what is the steel cartridge subplot? This sounds intriguing! I too am super pumped for this movie, it'll be exciting to see where they take it post Skyfall, and also the car is super super pretty.

2) I'm with you on the a/b/o things, I've never really gotten my head around why that dynamic is interesting, even though it seems quite popular in some corner of the fandom!

3) It would certainly make for some more inventive holidays, maybe they would cruise around and visit a ton of cities that way? Although I think James would start climbing the walls from being in once place for too long (especially a cruise cabin!)

4) Their relationship would certainly be peppered with these kind of disagreements, especially with James' ability to be super stubborn and go all 'die for his country' pride and Q's stubborness that comes with being a bit of a know-it all sass master.

5) TANNER IS THE BEST. I want to try and work him more into stories, he's a fascinating character and I like to think he manages to deal with all the shit that MI6 throw at him because he just sees them all as petulant children who just will not listen. Q branch made a new bomb that's technically breaking at least 4 international conventions? Put them in the equivalent of the 'time out zone' (Ie confiscate their toys for a few days). 00 Agent blew up a building and now the insurers are looking for money? Send them down to the PR department and have a quiet word with the 00 agent in question to please not to destroy everything because it gives him a headache.

(I also like to think the 00 agent buy Tanner little gifts whenever they cause a total international catastrophe and Tanner has them all in a cabinet on show)

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

1) Steel Cartridge is from the non!fleming book Carte Blanche so SPOILERS: Bond comes across some cold war documents about an operation that was (if I remember this correctly) russians hunting down agents who were informing on them to the british or americans. they'd kill the spies and leave a steel cartridge, a bullet, next to the body as a warning to others. A steel cartridge was found with Bond's parents bodies when they died in the 'climbing accident' and Bond spends half the book thinking his father was a traitor, then thinking he was on the 'good' side but had been using his family as a cover, then right at the end of the book discovers that the agent killed by the steel cartridge programme at the time his parents died was a woman, not a man so it was his mother who was the spy and I just love this so much??? when we got the first teaser I thought OH MY GOD THEY'RE DOING IT but I'm much less certain now

5) Tanner's constant inner monologue: I am not paid enough for this shit

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) Okay so I now have to go and read this book because IT SOUNDS AMAZING. I now am seriously wanting this storyline in Spectre (they might hint to it? Maybe make it like both his parent's were in the service?) but tbh in the first viewing of the trailer I thought the picture James held was him with an ex wife and his own love-child in the picture so I'm not really that good at betting what the trailer is about :P

5) Bless Tanner, I bet you M has a special bonus system for the MI6 staff that is just 'shit you've put up with this year' and every dramatic event from a 00 creating an international calamity is reflected in the bonus level.