Weekly Chat and Spectre Prompt Fest

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

It’s that time for the weekly chat again! Today we’ve got a number of exciting changes happening to the weekly chat:

Chat is open ALL WEEK!

Yes, that means that the weekly chat is open until Friday of next week (where I will post a new weekly chat post full of exciting mi6 café updates).
Don’t forget that anon commenting is on so you don’t need an account to join in the fun! If you are using anon comments, if you could put your name/handle in the subject line of the comments that would be fab (just so everyone knows who they are talking to!)

Weekly Recs

It’s time again for you to give your weekly recs! This week we’re looking for your favourite fics you’ve seen over the past week and those fics that fit into the genre of the week!

This week the genre of fic recs we’re looking for is: Alternate Universe. So go rec all those AUs you love and care about so much!

Spectre Prompt Fest!

Spectre is released in the UK on November 6^th, and with it we get lots of 00Q goodness to enjoy! To celebrate the fact that the new movie is only a few months away, we’re celebrating with an MI6 Café prompt bingo table! Every week a new bingo prompt will be revealed on the table for you to write/draw/create anything of your choice for! You can create fanworks for previous prompts as well!

So let’s start with prompt number 1: Exploding Objects

Exploding Objects	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden
Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden
Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden
Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden	Hidden

Tag your prompt fills with #mi6cafeprompt so everyone can share the 00Q love!

This week’s questions

To celebrate the chat being extended to a further week, we’ve got some more questions for you to answer and discuss!

1)      Have you read any of the Bond Books? Do you like them?
2)      What are your views on 00Q/Bond meta?
3)      Is James or Q creative? Do you think they have any hobbies outside their chosen profession?
4)      For fancreators – what is the strangest prompt you’ve been given for a fanwork?
5)      What song best represents 00Q for you? Why is this?

More Questions!
6)      Isthisrubble - what sort of AUs do you like the most? why?
7)      teacass - for those of you who accept prompts what is your favourite kind of prompt to receive? A picture? Only a few words? Or a totally strange and unique idea to play with?
8)      castillon - Question for anyone/everyone: What do you think Q's office leadership style is like? To build on that, how do you think he deals with being 1) relatively young, and 2) managing people who are frequently in high-pressure, sometimes potentially traumatizing situations?

Feel free to add more questions below! 

Comments

Weekly Recs!

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

Post your weekly recs here!

Re: Weekly Recs!

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

AUs! Never thought I'd love 'em, but look at me now, I'm writing 'em. Anyway, recs (I'm including fandom fusions but not crossovers) (take these categories with a grain of salt, I should be in bed):

One of them is MI6 but the other isn't:
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/736700/chapters/1370242
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/613933 (this one's a bonus coffee shop AU)
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/3653703
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/2762528/chapters/6194651
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/2732588

Angels etc AUs:
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/586483
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/873220/chapters/1677752
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/35033
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/1364458

Genderbends:
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/33684
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/33524
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/778515
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/29127

Magic etc AUs:
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/630305
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/596394
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/743825
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/980703/chapters/1930959
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/1114210/chapters/2243651

Android AUs:
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/31401
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/4081615/chapters/9192742

Dæmon AUs:
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/30618
- http://archiveofourown.org/series/185465

Historical AUs
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/2756219
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/634015
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/556341

Other AUs:
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/688451
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/758601
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/577652
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/2816909
- http://archiveofourown.org/works/3110579/chapters/6739157

Re: Weekly Recs!

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Things I've seen this week that need to be rec'ed

This headcannon about Q being a hippie food enthusiast by Cassellate - http://cassellate.tumblr.com/post/121771203796/instead-of-q-being-a-terrible-eater-who-survives

Alternate Universe Recs:
Ghost in the Machine by isthisrubble - http://archiveofourown.org/works/2746949

Bus Stop by rerumfragmenta - http://archiveofourown.org/works/3602442

And a self rec:
Lava and Glass series - http://archiveofourown.org/series/47405

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

1) Have you read any of the Bond Books? Do you like them? I've read maybe half the Fleming books and a handful of the non-Fleming ones, and they're really good! My favourite of the Flemings so far is Moonraker, and of the non-Flemings, Solo by William Boyd
2) What are your views on 00Q/Bond meta? I love discussing Bond, how book!Bond and movie!Bond can intertwine, exploring how the Bond universe works... basically, I love all the stuff
3) Is James or Q creative? Do you think they have any hobbies outside their chosen profession? I think Q is, but it's all channeled into his work, and I'm not sure Jmaes is really - I thing they're both so consumed by their work, they don't have time to get too deeply invested in anything else
4) For fancreators – what is the strangest prompt you’ve been given for a fanwork? I don't take prompts, although you see some strange stuff on tumblr
5) What song best represents 00Q for you? Why is this? I physically cannot answer this question, what the hell, I have like 5 Bond fanmixes published or in progress and I can't just choose one song. fine. one crowded hour by augie march, maybe?

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

October is Moonraker month! I'm really excited to read it now. ^ ^

It's true, they're both definitely married to their work. What do you think they get up to on vacations? (aka, when they're banished to the No Work Zone.)

I've been slowly making my way down that list of 00Q fanmixes you have on 8tracks (thanks for that!), so I sympathize with your dilemma. I'll have to check out the song you chose!

Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

3) I totally can get behind the idea of James and Q being consumed by their work - after all the nature of their jobs is that they're totally focussed on their work! Do you think they wouldn't get invested in anything else due to time constraints, or just because nothing would be as 'exciting/interesting' as working for mi6?

5) Your fanmixes are amaze :D

[spike-wilbury.livejournal.com]

i know i'm not too terribly active here but how long do we have for the prompts? i can probably write them all at work, haha. And if we do do these prompts, do you want them posted here or on tumblr or both?

1. Yes, I have. I'm on the Gardner series right now and I think they are pretty believable and part of the Bond universe. One of my favorites is Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks.

2. I enjoy it.

3. I think they are both equally creative in their own right. I think James is an excellent cook. I think Q likes to fix cars. It's all a matter of what I feel like or what I think the character would have so they aren't a one dimensional character.

4. I haven't really gotten prompts. I've never asked for them.

5. I have a few. Two that come into mind are:
Will I Ever Make it Home by Ingram Hill and
No Light, No Light by Florence + the Machine

[mi6-cafe-mod.livejournal.com]

Hey! You can fill prompts at your own pace and post them wherever you want to post them! If you want to post on tumblr and place a link in the weekly chat/post them to the comm then you're welcome to! All the prompts will be able to be filled throughout the prompt fest, it's just a new prompt is added every week! :) Does that answer your question? :)

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Great question! Looking forward to reading your prompt fills. :D

Glad and intrigued to hear that the non-Fleming Bond books are good; you and isthisrubble seem to have covered a fair selection of them between you! Maybe we'll see you at the Bond book club in August? We're going to read Casino Royale! (Or the film-watching club, which also starts in August!)

Seconding the idea of James as an excellent cook. (Apparently one of his favorite book-canon dishes to make is scrambled eggs, though, which makes me grin because it is such bachelor food, haha.)

-Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

3) I love the idea of James being a cook - do you think he would try out different dishes from around the world? I've never thought of Q as being interested in fixing cars - but it would make sense considering all the cars Q branch create!

5) Florence + the machine has some really stunning songs, she seems to evoke a certain depth in her songs that really resonates with bond and Q for me :)

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

good to hear positive feedback about the gardner books - I often hear people going on about how the post-fleming bonds are terrible, so it's nice to know that someone likes them. I liked devil may care, too, but I haven't read it in a while

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

1) I've read Ian Fleming's "The Spy Who Loved Me"! (I found it by coincidence in a used bookstore; a happy day.) I enjoyed it a lot even though it's definitely "a product of its time" re: sexism and racism and stuff. The female protagonist is cool. :D
Definitely looking forward to reading more Bond books for the Bond Book Club!

2) I love Bond meta! There is so much of it out there--I mean, there are published books of Bond meta! I'm looking forward to reading some of the Bond articles I found this weekend in preparation for the book club, and to producing and seeing other people's meta as they encounter Spectre and other Bond texts!

3) I think James and Q both have the ability to think creatively or laterally (Bond in particular).

As for creating things, Q probably enjoys making new designs for the 00s, and I love fics that portray him as a bit of a tinkerer; after the labor and the meetings and the agent-wrangling and the long-term projects, it's probably a relief to be able to accomplish something physical and relatively short-term. Q usually tries to make something useful, but he sometimes doodles designs for silly frivolous novelties that make him happy, and when he has a day off he might even put them into fabrication.
Headcanon that Bond had to learn how to knit for some reason and still keeps up with it because it's something to do with his hands that doesn't involve twitching them toward his gun on those nights when he can't sleep and every shadow looks like a hidden assassin. He makes baby blankets and secretly drops them off for expecting parents at MI6. Everyone assumed they were from Dench!M because she was an old lady and who else would know how to knit? She willingly took the credit. People are starting to give Mallory strange looks now that she's dead and the blankets still keep coming: is it an M thing? Did the previous M just order them from somewhere and the new one's taken up the tradition?

4) I haven't taken any prompts yet! I should, but I always think I would take FOREVER to get one done because sometimes I'm slow as heck, and I guess I feel a little self-conscious because other people's prompt fills tend to be so cool and fun! The pre-Spectre prompts will hopefully help me practice my writing and give me the confidence to ask for some. ^ ^

5) I love isthisrubble's 00Q fanmix playlist, but I don't really have a song that I think best represents them. I'm going to cop out and say the "Skyfall" opening song, because Skyfall is currently the only 00Q movie out there. (Only a few months away from changing that. Then we'll have to tag our Skyfall fics with the "Daniel Craig Bond movies" genre bc they'll technically be Spectre-continuity fics too!)

Re: Castillon

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) I suppose that any book published in that era will have traces of the time period it was published in incorporated into it - that's one of the best things about fandom that it questions that aspect of the books/films and turns it into something else.

3) Oh my days James knitting baby blankets is the cutest headcannon I've ever heard of! Totally like the idea that Mallory takes up the mantle and accepts responsibility for the knitted blankets :D

I love the idea that Q would tinker with things and doodle designs - maybe his more ingenious and quirky ideas start off as a biro sketch on the back of his morning cup of coffee on the way to work?

4) I wouldn't worry about time to fill prompts - everyone who I've filled prompts for has been extremely patient (even having to wait months for a fill) and really nice - it's one of the best things about the 00q fandom! :)

Re: Castillon

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

I'm loling way to hard at the knitting thing, wow

I think I found all my Bond books at second hand shops - it's a lot easier to get them second hand than new from my experience, and cheaper, of course

beaubete

[(Anonymous)]

1) Have you read any of the Bond Books? Do you like them?
I have! I'm still working on them in order; I'm in the middle of Diamonds Are Forever, and I like them a lot. It's fascinating to see the differences between the movies and the books--I think I like the characters a little better in the books? I admit that I probably won't read the non-Fleming books, though I'll never say never.

2) What are your views on 00Q/Bond meta?
I love it! I'm always trying to find unique details about Bond to add to my stories, and the Bond universe is packed full of intricasies I may misunderstand or miss entirely. I love learning more about James Bond and the man Ian Fleming meant him to be.

3) Is James or Q creative? Do you think they have any hobbies outside their chosen profession?
I don't think anyone who's read the books or seen the movies could say they're not creative characters, though they each have a particular kind of cleverness that works mostly toward their careers. I doubt either has hobbies, really, because they keep themselves too busy for that.

4) For fancreators – what is the strangest prompt you’ve been given for a fanwork?
Probably the porn fairy prompt? I loved writing it, but it threw me for a loop at first!
[When You Wish: http://archiveofourown.org/works/826221]

5) What song best represents 00Q for you? Why is this?
Good question! I don't think I have a 00Q song yet, because my idea of who they are together keeps fluctuating. I have a few songs that I think of each of them individually, but nothing's snapped into place for the ship yet.

Re: beaubete

[(Anonymous)]

1 and 2) Would you say that you would never say never again? eh? ehh??? *is terrible and couldn't resist*

Maybe we'll see you for the book club in August! I've only read one Bond book so far, but I enjoyed it, and I am definitely looking forward to reading more and to hearing what people think about all the details that Fleming's book canon has to offer.

4) That porn fairy fic is so funny and genuine feeling; it's great that you were able to bring such a cute and earnest romance out of a prompt you were surprised by!

-Castillon

Re: beaubete

[teacass.livejournal.com]

2) Meta certainly has the benefit of ironing out the inconsistencies in the canon - have you ever found that your stories have changed after reading certain pieces of meta, or do you use meta as research?

[peterpandyke.livejournal.com]

1)Have you read any of the Bond Books? Do you like them?
I've read all the Fleming books, though that was long time ago. I remember liking "Moonraker" and "The Spy Who Loved Me". Still, "Casino Royale" is the first one that I bought and at some point I learned the first page by heart, so that's probably a favourite. Also, I really like short stories in "Quantum of Solace", especially the one with scrambled eggs recipe, "007 in New York" I think?
Anyway, that's Fleming's books, from the post-Fleming ones, I've read "Devil May Care", "Carte Blanche" (it read like a pretty cool modern AU) and "Solo" and enojyed all three. I'm going to read Gardner's at some point, when I work my way through my reading list.

2)What are your views on 00Q/Bond meta?
I like reading meta, I like stumbling upon new interpretations and stuff, and though I rarely write my myself, when I talk about Bond I sometimes start rambling or brainstorming, so I guess that counts a little bit.

3)Is James or Q creative? Do you think they have any hobbies outside their chosen profession?
I'd say Q's definitely creative, but yeah, he channels it into his work, so maybe in the sparse free time he just tinkers with other things, like making a palm print activated toaster? I do like the engineering side of his job (even though so far rarely shown), and I think that'd make for a pretty good hobby. James though, that's harder. On one hand, I'm all for a hobby like cooking strange things he once tried somewhere on a mission, or maybe colleting souvenirs from wherever he's sent to, but then, and I think this comes from reading Fleming, I think his hobbies could just as well include gambling and car racing. EDIT Also I'd say James is creative, but in a different way than Q. Less creating things and designs, more improvising and keeping his cover (which clearly he doesn't do often, but it happens). There's defninitely a certain degree of creativity involved in being a field agent.

5)What song best represents 00Q for you? Why is this?
Ah, there's the toughest question. Isthisrubble has a huge selection of 00Q songs, all of which I second, and it's too hard to choose one.
"No Light, No Light" is one of my 00Q songs, "Seven Devils" too, and maybe "Drumming Song"? Same as a couple of Muse songs. But if I had to choose one, I think "Love Don't Die" by The Fray. EDIT but also "Burn Your Name" and "Baby, I've got you on my mind" by Powderfinger.
To be honest, I probably could be much more decisive with songs for James only. So much angst and blood makes the choice much easier.

(Also, hi! and now that you mentioned CR reading in August, I'm 100% in)

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

1) I've heard of the scrambled eggs recipe story! I'm so intrigued and definitely want to read it now. Good to know another experienced Bond reader, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts about Casino Royale in August!

2) Rambling and brainstorming is 100% welcome and awesome. :D

3) The idea of Q making a palm print activated toaster is so cute! "Well, I needed to test the idea on something, and it was handy..." TBH I love the idea of tinkering engineer Q who might or might not have watched too much Wallace and Grommet as a kid.

Question: What would Q and Bond be like in a casino together?

Second question: What is Q's most disastrous/oops-worthy invention to date, do you think?

(Also, now I want a car racing AU. Bond is the talented driver whose post-accident career has seen better days, and Q's the brilliant but young...IDEK, pit crew chief person who also advises the driver on the headset? Can you tell I know too little about car racing?...who ends up taking a chance on a grand old warship. THEY'RE SO FOCUSED ON THE WIN THAT THEY DON'T REALIZE THAT LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RACE OF ALL...or something. Sorry not sorry for this romcom ridiculousness. :P)

5) Great list of songs, thanks! I'll definitely have to check those out with 00Q feels in mind.

-Castillon

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

3) is Q going to create a sentient toaster because that's very tony stark of him (can you imagine their flat full of talking appliances though. James teaches them to swear in different languages as if they were talking birds)

5) do you know how happy I am looking at your music choices???? very happy ok

and I was going to ask you if you wanted to join in the book reading thing we're doing soon! and hopefully a movie watch, as well

[teacass.livejournal.com]

3) That's a really interesting interpretation of James' hobbies - would you say his hobbies were more of his escape from his job or just an attempt to re-create the excitement/thrill he enjoys?

Improvisation does require a certain level of genius to pull of correctly (especially in high pressure situations like a field agent). Do you think James has a natural knack to improving a backstory or would you say he likes to create certain backup plans/backstories that he could put into action if things went wrong?

[isthisrubble.livejournal.com]

another question for anyone who sees this: what sort of AUs do you like the most? why?

[teacass.livejournal.com]

Deamon AUs have a special place in my heart, but also any fantasy AUs or magic based AUs. I love reading how people would interpret Q and James' characters but with an added universe difference (such as magic/deamons etc) and how that would affect the story.

[teacass.livejournal.com]

1) Not yet, but I hope to read them in advance of Book Club starting! It'll be awesome to read the actual canon books and delve a little deeper into the Bond stories :)

2) Meta is awesome - I love reading how people interpret certain actions of characters and build upon (the sometimes little) amount of material in a scene and flesh it out. Also meta that explains otherwise stupid plot inconsistencies (such as the harddrive disappearance in Skyfall) do add to my enjoyment of the film itself because I get less annoyed at it :P

3) I would agree with others who've already commented that James and Q's hobbies would be limited by the amount of time they had. I like to think that Q would have a quirky hobby that is totally different to his job (like growing a small plant) as well as having a hobby of building computers and tinkering with various bits of tech around his flat to improve them. James, on the other hand, would probably be less likely to have a hobby outside of his job (because it's so life consuming) but I'd like to think he would collect a small souvenir from all the places he's visited and keeps his collection in a shoebox somewhere.

4) I can't think of one, but the prompts that make me go 'eh?' are those that are super-specific (basically a plot outline).

5) At the moment it's probably 'What Kind of Man' by Florence and the Machine because it's my tune for all things creative right now. Maybe also 'St Jude' by Florence as well.

New Question!: Kind of related to question 4 - for those of you who accept prompts what is your favourite kind of prompt to receive? A picture? Only a few words? Or a totally strange and unique idea to play with?

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

2) META THAT EXPLAINS STUPID PLOT INCONSISTENCIES GIVES ME ME LIFE. I definitely Googled the stolen hard drive disappearance and was like "Fine, I guess I can grudgingly accept that the boffins got it from Silva's island and Silva only cared about it as bait for them to come find him anyway BUT YOU COULDN'T HAVE AT LEAST MENTIONED IT? WHAT ABOUT THE UNDERCOVER OPERATIVES SWEATING IT OUT AND WONDERING IF THEY'LL BE NEXT?"

3) I can totally picture Q growing, like, a window box of herbs or mint or something. Or maybe a tiny little cactus garden.

-Castillon

Castillon

[(Anonymous)]

Question for anyone/everyone: What do you think Q's office leadership style is like? To build on that, how do you think he deals with being 1) relatively young, and 2) managing people who are frequently in high-pressure, sometimes potentially traumatizing situations?

Re: Castillon

[spike-wilbury.livejournal.com]

by looking at some of the background people in Skyfall, they all look relatively Q's age, so I don't think he would have a problem commanding the office.

Now the older folk like agents and other staff they might look at him as just some kid who fucked up royally [plugging in silva's computer into the mainframe like an idiot] but he did help james by leading silva to Skyfall and Mallory knows this. Mallory knows this because he was /right there/ when Q did it, knowing full well that it was potentially illegal but let the young man do his job. Sure, Q messed up on the laptop but finding a way to monitor Silva for James, that shows that he can accomplish what he was promoted to do; Quartermaster.

The problem, I think, is that we haven't really seen him help out. Sure, he did a little in Skyfall but we never really got a full extent. This is what I'm hoping that SPECTRE will do and show that Q is competent and won't fuck up [though that clip of him in the trailer worries me] but don't know. I think Q is still in the process of learning and knowing that this is the technology age and James is still in the backwaters of the cold war days. James is catching up [casino royale, he knows how to hack so there's that] but for everyone else? that's the problem with the movies these days, we're so focused on James that we forget that there's other agents, too. It would be nice to have a mention of them like they do in the older movies.