AU writing meme: results
Mar. 8th, 2016 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pedantherFor the AU writing meme, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lost_spook requested Bernice Summerfield, daibhid_c requested Kay Harker, and john_amend_all requested Havelock Vetinari.
Wild West
"When you first came to town," said the sheriff, "I wrote off to that University of yours to tell 'em you'd arrived safe. Got their reply on the mail coach today." His gun was now definitely pointed in an unfriendly direction. "They never heard of no Professor Summerfield."
Benny swallowed. "I can explain..."
Coffee Shop
"Congratulate me," Benny commanded, dropping into a seat beside Jason. "I have a job. At The Library."
"What, shelving books and things?"
"No, not – well, maybe shelving books and things will be involved – but not at a library. At The Library – you know, that place Dr Smith's brother runs, that's half a bookshop and half a café."
"Oh, yeah," said Jason. "The one where they serve that really elaborate cake thing called the Braxiatel Confection?"
Shapeshifters
"On the whole, I'm glad that's over," said the Doctor. "Although I am a bit concerned that Greeneye apparently got away."
"Oh, you don't want to go worrying about him," said Benny cheerfully. "Have a corned beef sandwich."
Pirates
"Aha!" said the commodore. "I thought as much: our innocent visitor is none other than the notorious Bernice Summerfield!"
"That's Captain Bernice Summerfield," said Benny firmly. "Of the good ship Tenured Position."
"Is that so?" said the commodore. "I don't see your ship around here anywhere, Captain."
...In SPACE!!
Benny nudged Vila. "The masculine dominance rituals are going to take a while, if I'm any judge. Anywhere around here we can get a drink while we wait it out?"
Born Another Gender
It made no difference whatever to Jason. It did, however, mean that the Doctor had to come up with another plan for the wedding after Reverend Trelaw reminded him, gently but firmly, that in 2010 that sort of thing wasn't actually legal.
"Speaking for myself, I'm all in favour of love conquering all barriers," she said, "but how would I explain it to the bishop?"
Schoolfic
"That's my diary! You give it back right now!"
"Or else what?"
Police/Firefighters
"Let me get this straight," said Benny. "Your idea is a cake that will not only be shaped like a volcano, it will actually erupt. While surrounded by my wedding guests."
Leo beamed. "Always I have wanted to try this, and where better than in a room full of men and women from your gallant fire station? Not that anything will actually be set on fire," he added quickly.
Urban Fantasy
Benny scowled at the animate fungus creatures surrounding them.
"When you said the disturbances were due to magic mushrooms, Doctor, I didn't think you meant this."
Regency
Kane was a rogue and a scoundrel, so the gossip ran, a worthy successor to that infamous name. He had recently returned from many years spent roving the Continent, involving himself in unspeakable doings – and, as Bernice had observed was often the case, the gossips spoke of little else.
Wild West
"There are still people who believe I know where that old lost mine is, and I'm keeping it to myself," Granpa Harker told Kay. "It ain't true, though. My mangy double-crossing partner hit me over the head and took the map, and left me out in the desert to die. By the time the Injuns found me and nursed me back to health, I plumb forgot where I'd been. I went looking a time or two, but I never did find the place again."
Coffee Shop
Caroline was the new shift supervisor, who'd taken over Kay's shift after Sylvia was let go when questions arose over what she was using the storeroom for apart from storing coffee beans.
Shapeshifters
The wolves were running. They ran often these days, and Kay ran with them, four legs carrying him swiftly through the snow – ever since the night that two legs had not quite carried him swiftly enough.
Pirates
"Well, Kay?" said Edward. "How went the meeting with the Lords of the Admiralty?"
"They agreed with our proposal for a task force devoted to fighting piracy," said Kay, "in all details except one."
"Which one?"
Kay smiled, a bit crookedly. "Allow me, Captain Jones, to be the first to congratulate you on your appointment as commander of the anti-piracy task force."
"What? But we all agreed that you were to be our leader, Kay."
"And so I told them. But the Lords of the Admiralty insist that your Maria must be the flagship of the force. It was felt that it would give the wrong impression to have the force follow the lead of a ship named Plunderer."
...In SPACE!!
"The starship is equipped with an experimental hyperdrive," the old man explained. "The controls are very simple: press this lever to the left to go swift, and to the right to go small."
Born Another Gender
Kay grumbled under her breath, and set to unpicking the stitch.
"This comes of being a girl," she told herself. "If I had been a boy, I should be spending my mornings being taught useful things, like Latin."
Schoolfic
Kay trailed out onto the playground under a cloud of gloom, which was pretty normal for Kay after a period of English.
"Pouncer's given me detention after school again," he told Maria. "The old witch has no sense of humour."
Police/Firefighters
It was a detective from one of the other teams down the hall, whose name Kay had never caught. He wasn't going to catch it now, either: she skipped the preliminaries and led off with: "I may have found a lead for your investigation, Harker. Old woman lives up north, name of Susan Trigger – at least, that's the name she signs to her paperwork these days, but we have reason to believe it's not the name she was born with. Care to hazard a guess what her father's name was?"
Urban Fantasy
"I need to get in touch with one of the Folk," Kay said. "Edward, for preference, or Maria, but any of the ones I've dealt with before will do in a pinch."
Nibbins nodded thoughtfully. "They're all making themselves scarce these days," he said, "since the Pouncer started sniffing around – but I'll see what I can do."
Regency
"I say," said Kay. "Who is that striking young woman in the green dress?"
"That's the youngest Miss Jones. 'Striking young woman' is a very apt description, I'm afraid: last time she was here, she gave some poor chap a black eye after she decided he was getting too personal. My advice to you, Seekings, is to steer well clear."
Wild West
Havelock Vetinari owned the largest cattle outfit in the neighborhood, and also, in a less official but still very real sense, the entire town of Two Horse River. Not the buildings, though he did own a fair few of those, but the town. Mayors and councillors might come and go, often with nests well feathered in the interim, but everyone knew who was really in charge.
Sam Vimes certainly knew, which was one of the reasons he spent so much of his working day, not to mention a fair amount of his off-time, in conference with his good friend Jimkin Bearhugger. Occasionally he would surface to see if anything had happened that required the sheriff to put in an appearance, and usually he was disappointed. Vetinari had made it known he liked the town quiet, and nobody wanted to cross him, either because they were awed by his money or because they'd heard the rumors about his feats of gunslinging in his younger days. Contemplating the fact that Vetinari could keep the peace more effectively without apparently lifting a finger than a sheriff working hard generally inspired Vimes to reach for the next bottle of Bearhugger's.
And so things went on, until the day the Copperhead Kid rode into town.
Coffee Shop
"You've got to admit," Fred said, looking around the crowded shop, "even if you don't like the changes the new boss has made, they seem to be working."
Sam scowled. "Just because a thing is popular doesn't make it right, Fred."
Shapeshifters
"I have to admit," said Vetinari, "that my condition has occasionally proven useful, although not always in ways I would have expected. You have heard it said: The man must have eyes in the back of his head? Take it from me, they're not as effective as one might think. All that hair in the way."
Pirates
Captain Vetinari paused by the table where the first mate was sorting through the captives' confiscated belongings. He picked up one of the swords, examined the hilt closely, then slid it out of its sheath and gave a similar examination to the blade.
"Wolfe,"¹ he said, "Whose sword was this? No, don't tell me: it was the young lieutenant with the red hair. I can see the family resemblance, now I think to look for it."
"Resemblance, Cap'n? To who?"
"There was a man once – this was well before you joined us – who briefly united several of the pirate crews in these waters into a fleet pledged to mutual aid and support and all that kind of thing. Not a bad idea, in principle, but it became obvious that it wasn't going to work long-term around the time our visionary decided that being Commodore of the Fleet wasn't good enough for him, and it was Pirate King or nothing. This was his sword."
"And now this Pirate King's son is an officer in the King's navy?"
"I always did suspect he secretly came of a respectable family. I expect they told the boy his father had been a brave sailor in foreign waters and left the details vague. After all, there wasn't any chance of the man himself showing up to contradict them."
"What happened to him?"
"Bo's'n Vimes tells it with much more flair than I would. Ask him the next time he has a few drinks in him."
* * *
¹ "Wolfe" was not the name the mate's mother had called him, but the old lady was thousands of miles away in England, and under a headstone besides, and whoever heard of a ruthless pirate called "Wonse"?
...In SPACE!!
The laws governing Space Colony AM-2564 were very strict. The laws governing most space colonies were strict in any case – ordinary everyday habits such as neglecting to close a window take on a new significance when the air outside is poisonous or, as it may be, non-existent – but the governor of AM-2564 was stricter still. Most space colonies weren't situated in the vicinity of a wormhole that occasionally disgorged horrifying creatures with tentacles or enormous leathery wings.
In the circumstances, many people felt that perhaps it was unwise of the governor to allow Professor Ridcully's study group to reside in the colony. The governor took the view that since they would undoubtedly be offering insult to the fabric of reality regardless, better to have them do it somewhere where a sensible eye could be kept on them.
Born Another Gender
If she had been born in the Ramtops, they would have called her a witch. She'd have been a good witch (or, at least, good at being a witch, which is not necessarily the same thing), and if she'd lived anywhere near Esme Weatherwax the unspoken web of inter-witch politics would have never been the same again.
But she was born in Ankh-Morpork, and into a noble family what's more, so a promising career went begging. The worst of it was that Ankh-Morpork didn't seem to have any other careers to offer a young woman with a keen mind and an unprepossessing face – none, anyway, that she was willing to entertain.
That, she had decided, was going to have to change.
Schoolfic
"That will be all," said the headmaster, and turned his attention back to the paperwork on his desk.
Downey scowled. It hadn't escaped his notice that the Head hadn't actually said what he was going to do about the upstart Vimes. He opened his mouth to say so–
"Still here, Prefect?" said the headmaster, without looking away from his papers. "I don't wish to detain you." He glanced up. "But I will if I have to."
Downey took his meaning.
Police/Firefighters
"If there is an arsonist at work, Vimes," said the Fire Chief, "that is for Quirke's shift to deal with, and so it is no concern of yours in either case. Am I making myself clear?"
Urban Fantasy
Some people say that Vetinari's a vampire. I don't believe it, myself; I know he looks the part, but he's not the type who would look the part – too unsubtle.
I do believe that he knows everything that goes on in this city. Getting him to share what he knows, now, that's the trick.
Regency
Samuel gazed lovingly into his new wife's eyes. "To think," he said, "that we should never have met if I hadn't angered that veterinarian."
lost_spook requested Bernice Summerfield, daibhid_c requested Kay Harker, and john_amend_all requested Havelock Vetinari.Wild West
"When you first came to town," said the sheriff, "I wrote off to that University of yours to tell 'em you'd arrived safe. Got their reply on the mail coach today." His gun was now definitely pointed in an unfriendly direction. "They never heard of no Professor Summerfield."
Benny swallowed. "I can explain..."
Coffee Shop
"Congratulate me," Benny commanded, dropping into a seat beside Jason. "I have a job. At The Library."
"What, shelving books and things?"
"No, not – well, maybe shelving books and things will be involved – but not at a library. At The Library – you know, that place Dr Smith's brother runs, that's half a bookshop and half a café."
"Oh, yeah," said Jason. "The one where they serve that really elaborate cake thing called the Braxiatel Confection?"
Shapeshifters
"On the whole, I'm glad that's over," said the Doctor. "Although I am a bit concerned that Greeneye apparently got away."
"Oh, you don't want to go worrying about him," said Benny cheerfully. "Have a corned beef sandwich."
Pirates
"Aha!" said the commodore. "I thought as much: our innocent visitor is none other than the notorious Bernice Summerfield!"
"That's Captain Bernice Summerfield," said Benny firmly. "Of the good ship Tenured Position."
"Is that so?" said the commodore. "I don't see your ship around here anywhere, Captain."
...In SPACE!!
Benny nudged Vila. "The masculine dominance rituals are going to take a while, if I'm any judge. Anywhere around here we can get a drink while we wait it out?"
Born Another Gender
It made no difference whatever to Jason. It did, however, mean that the Doctor had to come up with another plan for the wedding after Reverend Trelaw reminded him, gently but firmly, that in 2010 that sort of thing wasn't actually legal.
"Speaking for myself, I'm all in favour of love conquering all barriers," she said, "but how would I explain it to the bishop?"
Schoolfic
"That's my diary! You give it back right now!"
"Or else what?"
Police/Firefighters
"Let me get this straight," said Benny. "Your idea is a cake that will not only be shaped like a volcano, it will actually erupt. While surrounded by my wedding guests."
Leo beamed. "Always I have wanted to try this, and where better than in a room full of men and women from your gallant fire station? Not that anything will actually be set on fire," he added quickly.
Urban Fantasy
Benny scowled at the animate fungus creatures surrounding them.
"When you said the disturbances were due to magic mushrooms, Doctor, I didn't think you meant this."
Regency
Kane was a rogue and a scoundrel, so the gossip ran, a worthy successor to that infamous name. He had recently returned from many years spent roving the Continent, involving himself in unspeakable doings – and, as Bernice had observed was often the case, the gossips spoke of little else.
Wild West
"There are still people who believe I know where that old lost mine is, and I'm keeping it to myself," Granpa Harker told Kay. "It ain't true, though. My mangy double-crossing partner hit me over the head and took the map, and left me out in the desert to die. By the time the Injuns found me and nursed me back to health, I plumb forgot where I'd been. I went looking a time or two, but I never did find the place again."
Coffee Shop
Caroline was the new shift supervisor, who'd taken over Kay's shift after Sylvia was let go when questions arose over what she was using the storeroom for apart from storing coffee beans.
Shapeshifters
The wolves were running. They ran often these days, and Kay ran with them, four legs carrying him swiftly through the snow – ever since the night that two legs had not quite carried him swiftly enough.
Pirates
"Well, Kay?" said Edward. "How went the meeting with the Lords of the Admiralty?"
"They agreed with our proposal for a task force devoted to fighting piracy," said Kay, "in all details except one."
"Which one?"
Kay smiled, a bit crookedly. "Allow me, Captain Jones, to be the first to congratulate you on your appointment as commander of the anti-piracy task force."
"What? But we all agreed that you were to be our leader, Kay."
"And so I told them. But the Lords of the Admiralty insist that your Maria must be the flagship of the force. It was felt that it would give the wrong impression to have the force follow the lead of a ship named Plunderer."
...In SPACE!!
"The starship is equipped with an experimental hyperdrive," the old man explained. "The controls are very simple: press this lever to the left to go swift, and to the right to go small."
Born Another Gender
Kay grumbled under her breath, and set to unpicking the stitch.
"This comes of being a girl," she told herself. "If I had been a boy, I should be spending my mornings being taught useful things, like Latin."
Schoolfic
Kay trailed out onto the playground under a cloud of gloom, which was pretty normal for Kay after a period of English.
"Pouncer's given me detention after school again," he told Maria. "The old witch has no sense of humour."
Police/Firefighters
It was a detective from one of the other teams down the hall, whose name Kay had never caught. He wasn't going to catch it now, either: she skipped the preliminaries and led off with: "I may have found a lead for your investigation, Harker. Old woman lives up north, name of Susan Trigger – at least, that's the name she signs to her paperwork these days, but we have reason to believe it's not the name she was born with. Care to hazard a guess what her father's name was?"
Urban Fantasy
"I need to get in touch with one of the Folk," Kay said. "Edward, for preference, or Maria, but any of the ones I've dealt with before will do in a pinch."
Nibbins nodded thoughtfully. "They're all making themselves scarce these days," he said, "since the Pouncer started sniffing around – but I'll see what I can do."
Regency
"I say," said Kay. "Who is that striking young woman in the green dress?"
"That's the youngest Miss Jones. 'Striking young woman' is a very apt description, I'm afraid: last time she was here, she gave some poor chap a black eye after she decided he was getting too personal. My advice to you, Seekings, is to steer well clear."
Wild West
Havelock Vetinari owned the largest cattle outfit in the neighborhood, and also, in a less official but still very real sense, the entire town of Two Horse River. Not the buildings, though he did own a fair few of those, but the town. Mayors and councillors might come and go, often with nests well feathered in the interim, but everyone knew who was really in charge.
Sam Vimes certainly knew, which was one of the reasons he spent so much of his working day, not to mention a fair amount of his off-time, in conference with his good friend Jimkin Bearhugger. Occasionally he would surface to see if anything had happened that required the sheriff to put in an appearance, and usually he was disappointed. Vetinari had made it known he liked the town quiet, and nobody wanted to cross him, either because they were awed by his money or because they'd heard the rumors about his feats of gunslinging in his younger days. Contemplating the fact that Vetinari could keep the peace more effectively without apparently lifting a finger than a sheriff working hard generally inspired Vimes to reach for the next bottle of Bearhugger's.
And so things went on, until the day the Copperhead Kid rode into town.
Coffee Shop
"You've got to admit," Fred said, looking around the crowded shop, "even if you don't like the changes the new boss has made, they seem to be working."
Sam scowled. "Just because a thing is popular doesn't make it right, Fred."
Shapeshifters
"I have to admit," said Vetinari, "that my condition has occasionally proven useful, although not always in ways I would have expected. You have heard it said: The man must have eyes in the back of his head? Take it from me, they're not as effective as one might think. All that hair in the way."
Pirates
Captain Vetinari paused by the table where the first mate was sorting through the captives' confiscated belongings. He picked up one of the swords, examined the hilt closely, then slid it out of its sheath and gave a similar examination to the blade.
"Wolfe,"¹ he said, "Whose sword was this? No, don't tell me: it was the young lieutenant with the red hair. I can see the family resemblance, now I think to look for it."
"Resemblance, Cap'n? To who?"
"There was a man once – this was well before you joined us – who briefly united several of the pirate crews in these waters into a fleet pledged to mutual aid and support and all that kind of thing. Not a bad idea, in principle, but it became obvious that it wasn't going to work long-term around the time our visionary decided that being Commodore of the Fleet wasn't good enough for him, and it was Pirate King or nothing. This was his sword."
"And now this Pirate King's son is an officer in the King's navy?"
"I always did suspect he secretly came of a respectable family. I expect they told the boy his father had been a brave sailor in foreign waters and left the details vague. After all, there wasn't any chance of the man himself showing up to contradict them."
"What happened to him?"
"Bo's'n Vimes tells it with much more flair than I would. Ask him the next time he has a few drinks in him."
* * *
¹ "Wolfe" was not the name the mate's mother had called him, but the old lady was thousands of miles away in England, and under a headstone besides, and whoever heard of a ruthless pirate called "Wonse"?
...In SPACE!!
The laws governing Space Colony AM-2564 were very strict. The laws governing most space colonies were strict in any case – ordinary everyday habits such as neglecting to close a window take on a new significance when the air outside is poisonous or, as it may be, non-existent – but the governor of AM-2564 was stricter still. Most space colonies weren't situated in the vicinity of a wormhole that occasionally disgorged horrifying creatures with tentacles or enormous leathery wings.
In the circumstances, many people felt that perhaps it was unwise of the governor to allow Professor Ridcully's study group to reside in the colony. The governor took the view that since they would undoubtedly be offering insult to the fabric of reality regardless, better to have them do it somewhere where a sensible eye could be kept on them.
Born Another Gender
If she had been born in the Ramtops, they would have called her a witch. She'd have been a good witch (or, at least, good at being a witch, which is not necessarily the same thing), and if she'd lived anywhere near Esme Weatherwax the unspoken web of inter-witch politics would have never been the same again.
But she was born in Ankh-Morpork, and into a noble family what's more, so a promising career went begging. The worst of it was that Ankh-Morpork didn't seem to have any other careers to offer a young woman with a keen mind and an unprepossessing face – none, anyway, that she was willing to entertain.
That, she had decided, was going to have to change.
Schoolfic
"That will be all," said the headmaster, and turned his attention back to the paperwork on his desk.
Downey scowled. It hadn't escaped his notice that the Head hadn't actually said what he was going to do about the upstart Vimes. He opened his mouth to say so–
"Still here, Prefect?" said the headmaster, without looking away from his papers. "I don't wish to detain you." He glanced up. "But I will if I have to."
Downey took his meaning.
Police/Firefighters
"If there is an arsonist at work, Vimes," said the Fire Chief, "that is for Quirke's shift to deal with, and so it is no concern of yours in either case. Am I making myself clear?"
Urban Fantasy
Some people say that Vetinari's a vampire. I don't believe it, myself; I know he looks the part, but he's not the type who would look the part – too unsubtle.
I do believe that he knows everything that goes on in this city. Getting him to share what he knows, now, that's the trick.
Regency
Samuel gazed lovingly into his new wife's eyes. "To think," he said, "that we should never have met if I hadn't angered that veterinarian."
