A Handful of Southerly Wind

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:42:45 GMT

Title: There Was No Future In England's Dreaming
Author: nothorse
Words: 1280
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, as usual
Warnings: Bad language, bad deeds, canon death
Type: Gen
Summary: Giles remembers.
Written for: Summer of Giles

Late, but not too late.

( Read more... )

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long live dreamwidth?

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 09:19:42 GMT

I have literally not logged in to here for years. Now that the tumblr exodus may be a thing, I'll have a reason to look in here a bit more often again. We'll see.

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In defense of the feel-good fic

Tue, 20 May 2014 18:42:51 GMT

You know, there’s that saying that roughly goes: “If you give Harry a light saber, you have to give Voldemort a Death Star”. Heard that? Yeah. It’s bullshit. If I want to give Harry a light saber, because it’s cool I can, if I want to, slip Voldemort a whoopee cushion at the same time.

I don’t need a Death Star hanging over my hero/ine to make it awesome. I already have — like mostly everybody — a Death Star over my head, be it the banks, taxes, school or the job. And I don’t have a light saber. I’m more like a dog-walker somewhere in the boonies of Alderaan, destined to be collateral damage. Thank you for playing, better luck next life.

I read and write fics to feel joy, to have fun, not wallow in shit and angst and dire circumstances. By all means, if it’s necessary to include those, I’m good with it, but by Thor, give me something to laugh with it, give me moments of awesome — and those need not be battles, the right and perfect repartee counts as well. Give me witty banter and give me romance. If you give me comedy, give me Bogart/Hepburn, not vicarious cringing.

In essence, give me something to feel good after reading. Feeling bad I can totally manage on my own.

Thank you.

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Upcoming:

Tue, 20 May 2014 18:41:45 GMT

1 rant, 2 stories, to be posted in a few.

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Jurisdiction (an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Harry Potter crossover)

Sat, 26 Oct 2013 12:09:24 GMT

I did a write. Just a short one to clear out the gunk from my creative pathways. I hope that will work.

Title: Jurisdiction
Words: 1.361
Fandom: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Harry Potter
Disclaimer: Not my characters. Not my money.

The light show on the top floor seemed to be done when their SUV reached the building. Oddly, there was no police presence at all. Coulson frowned, the british police usually was faster than that. He pulled in in front of the building’s entrance and nodded to Ward who got out of the car.

He turned around, “Skye, any reasons why the police isn’t here?”

Skye’s face, lit up by the glow of her tablet, looked worried. “There’s nothing, Boss. It all cut out about five minutes ago. Since then there’s no chatter, no back channel communication that I can see and I should see a lot.”

“We need more information,” said Coulson. He thought for a moment, his fingers quietly tapping the steering wheel. “I need readings. Fitz, can your drones reach there from here?”

“No problem. The dwarves can rise up to 15 meters, that should be enough.”

“Get one in the air, and see if you can look through the window.”

“On its way.”

“May, anything back at the bus?”

“No, sir. Authorities are completely quiet. The bus draws no attention that I can see”, said Melinda May through the com-link.

“Ward?”

“All clear, sir. Unbelievable as it is.”

“Fitz?”

“The rooms are dark sir. I can see some damage, but no bodies, alive or dead. Thermoscan reads empty, too.”

“OK”, he nodded and opened the car door. “Skye, stay in the car, please, monitor communications. Fitzsimmons you’re with me. ”

They got out of the car. Fitz and Simmons were carrying their tools, Coulson and Ward looking out for threats. When they reached the door, Ward made quick work of the lock and they slipped into the building.

Ward looked around, uneasy with the quiet. He raised an eyebrow to Coulson and received a nod in return. A quick movement later, his gun was in his hand and he took point. Fitzsimmons approached the elevator, but a quick head-shake redirected them to the staircase.

It didn’t take long, even as careful as they were, to reach the top floor. Ward covered the corridor while Coulson secured the staircase. Fitz and Simmons had hunkered down at the head of the stairs and sent the drones ahead. Leo Fitz watched the tablet, then got up and entered the corridor.

“All empty, sir”, he said. “There’s no heat sources anywhere on this floor.”

“Skye?”

“I’m in all the cctv channels, the streets are completely empty.”

Coulson nodded. “OK, then. Agent Ward, please open the door for us. Fitz, get ready.”

Leo Fitz opened his carrying case and freed the other drones, directing them through the door and into the office behind. He watched his tablet and muttered something incomprehensible. Frowning, he switched Bashful and Grumpy over to Simmons. “See if you can make sense of this?”

Coulson had meanwhile checked the rooms. There was some destroyed furniture and scorch marks on the walls, but the whole office was otherwise far too clean for his taste.

“Fitzsimmons. Tell me something” he said.

“Err—”, said Simmons, “if I believe the organic particulate count, nobody has been in here for months. The dust analysis though, tells me the whole apartment has been cleaned very recently.” “And it can’t be robots either,” continued Fitz, “no amount of engine or lubricant residue in the air. Additionally, these scorch marks on the wall. Are completely room temperature, but they are to fresh in mechanical composition of the ash to be older than two or three hours, and they shouldn’t be that cold.” “All in all”, Simmons again, “this place is completely—”

They all had heard a soft pop and stopped moving. “Skye?” asked Coulson sub-vocally “Did anybody enter the house?”

“Nope. No movement.”

Coulson held up a hand and motioned Ward behind the door. He turned and waited.

From the Hallway came a woman’s voice. “Mr. Coulson and team, I presume?”

“You have me at a disadvantage”, Coulson called out.

“I do, yes. I’ll introduce us in a moment. Would you mind telling the gentleman behind the door to stand down?”

“Of course.” He nodded to Ward and waited.

Three persons entered the room. In the middle was the woman who had spoken, dressed in a long buttoned up grey tweed dress. She was escorted by two young men in double-breasted red coats that looked anachronistically military and whose bearing agreed with that look. Evene though they were not carrying any obvious weapons, they gave the impression of having the room covered.

The woman smiled tightly and said, “Good evening, Mr. Coulson. My name is Hermione Weasley —” Simmons lost the grip on her tablet and it clattered to the ground, impossibly loud in the tense silence. “— MI nine three-slash-four. You are currently intruding into our jurisdiction and an active investigation. I’ll have to ask your team to leave.”

“It’s Agent Coulson, and I’m rather sure that we are within the remit of our organisation”, said Coulson. “This scene has all the indicators for S.H.I.E.L.D. Involvement, Miss Weasley.”

“Mrs. Weasley, actually”, said the woman. “Or, if we have to be formal, Dame Hermione.”

Simmons’ knees finally gave out and she sat down with a thump. The woman’s face softened. She turned to Simmons who was sitting on the floor, cradling her tablet and looking open-mouthed at the woman. “Yes, I am, Miss Simmons and no, not entirely, they were written for children after all and I don’t mind chatting with you later, after our business here is concluded. But let’s not get a-head of ourselves.”

She turned to Coulson again, “Agent Coulson. While your director is certainly influential and has considerable backing, there are places in this world where his mighty arm does not reach. This is one of them. This crime-scene has already been processed by the responsible authorities, in this case, us. You will not find anything that pertains to your bailiwick. So I’ll have to ask you again to order your team to leave.”

Coulson thought for a moment. “I don’t want a fight, Ma’am. But I do have to confirm your assertions. May I have a moment?”

The woman turned to the smaller of her escorts. “Finnegan, restore their communications.” The young man nodded and waved his hand in a peculiar way. That instant, Coulson’s earpiece came to life again.

“Coulson? Phil? This is the bus, do you read?”

“I hear you, May.”

“What happened? Comms dropped out and then I get a call from headquarters to get you out of there. Are you OK?”

“We’re OK, May. We just had a discussion about jurisdiction with british colleagues. You said HQ ordered us out?”

“Yes, sir. Just a minute or two after comms dropped out, I got the recall.”

“OK then. We’ll be back a.s.a.p. Coulson out.”

“It seems my superiors agree to your interpretations, so we’ll leave immediately.”

The woman held up a hand. “Your team leaves, Agent. I’m afraid I’ll have to invite you in for a few questions.”

Ward started to raise his gun, but dropped it again, when Coulson held up a hand.

“My team is free to leave?”

“Yes”, the woman nodded.

“And you need me to answer questions? Questions about this case?”

“No, Agent Coulson. Questions about your continued existence.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow.

“You were dead, Agent”, continued the woman. “And yet, here you are. If it is not a case of a simple successful resuscitation, I’m afraid that practically all known methods to achieve this are highly illegal.”

“Ah”, he said. “Ward, take the crew to the bus. I’ll be along as soon as that is cleared up”

“Sir, I —”

“Go to the bus. I will be along.”

“If you say so, sir.” Ward turned and addressed the others. “Fitzsimmons, collect your toys. Let’s go.”

The woman smiled tightly. “Good-bye. Miss Simmons, I’ll call you. Agent Coulson, you’re with me.”

She laid a hand on his arm and a short gut-wrenching moment later they were in a small grey room where another red-coated man waited for them.

“Agent Coulson” said the woman, “Harry Potter. He’s the expert on these questions. Harry, he’s all yours.”

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I did a write again.

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 08:03:06 GMT

Yay. Managed to post my contribution to the Buffy Remix just in time for the deadline.

I almost missed it with finals week at Uni, Release week at work, visitors and finally a domestic government mandated furniture rearrangement. But I made it. Here it is. (I'll post an edited version of this in a week or so to AO3.)

I also have to mention a wonderful pinch hit I received from sroni here: I Kissed a Girl (the Scientific Method Remix).

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HP Beholder

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 15:52:06 GMT

Completely forgot to note here that I have actually written something again.

It's called Do Pass Go, was written for HP Beholder 2013 and the definitive version is here on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/817947.

It features Millicent Bulstrode/Dudley Dursley and is the longest fanfic I've written to date with ~5000 words.

Enjoy. Maybe

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Insanity done

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:01:12 GMT

Posted my remix for this year's challenge. And there's even 3 hours left on the deadline.

Yay for me. Bed now.

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Hold The Line

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:56:29 GMT

Title: Hold the Line
Author: nothorse
Rating: R for language
Word Count: 100
Prompt: technical difficulties for open_on_sunday
Character: Faith
Spoilers: None. Imaginary post Chosen
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.

I couldn't resist playing Open On Sunday again.

( Hold the Line )

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Remix

Mon, 02 May 2011 20:54:28 GMT

Wow!

My remixer turned one small scene from Neither Lovely Nor Temperate into a beautiful new story: Darling Buds of May (Rough Winds Hardstep Dub). They took the small mention of Caridad and turned it into a post-chosen tale of grief and coping.

Do read!

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biting nails

Sun, 01 May 2011 09:41:38 GMT

anybody else counting down the hours to the opening of remix2011?

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More insanity

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:13:24 GMT

In a fit of insanity while hunting down a particular frustrating bug, I signed up for this:

Remix Madness

I hope to get at least one quickie in on the weekend.

Wish me luck.

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And posted.

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:36:50 GMT

Will probably fiddle with it over the next few days, but it's there. Done. Over.

Until next year.

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Whew.

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:13:16 GMT

First draft of the remix is done.

Now for fretting until I hear back from my betas. Then editing and posting.

Stage of panic: moderate.

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Oh my. I'm so doomed.

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:33:24 GMT

Assignments have gone out for the 2010 remix. I've checked out my target. All kinds of fandoms I have no idea about. And a few in fandoms I know about, but with pairings I'd ever even consider considering.

I probably will make something work, but for now I'm between baffled and panicked.

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Gone mad. Again.

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:14:00 GMT

After missing out last year, I've signed up for the Remix again.

Why? I have no idea, other than it was fun last time. Stressful, but fun.

Let the nerves commence.

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Done With Mondays -- Part 2 of ?

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 06:16:26 GMT

I needed to find out exactly what made Hermione leave in that spectacular way. So she gets to explain.

Title: Done with Mondays
Author: nothorse
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1025
Character: Hermione
Setting: 2 Years after "Hermione Leaves/Done With Mondays Part 1"
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.

Part 1

( It took Harry a while to rearrange his mental image of Hermione and make it match the girl behind the bar. )

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Fic again: Done With Mondays Part 1 of ? (was Hermione Leaves)

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:31:37 GMT

I've been heavily reading Harry Potter fanfic the last year and of course encountered the various cliches thereof.

One that bugs me is the "Everybody and his brother betray Harry". Then I thought of how my Hermione would react, once she found out she had been manipulated into betraying Harry.

[EDIT: Renamed after I had to write a follow-up]

Title: Done with Mondays -- Part 1 (was Hermione Leaves)
Author: nothorse
Rating: PG
Word Count: 738
Character: Hermione
Setting: Somewhen during Year 6
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.

( Things were fucked up. )

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Starting to come back

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:10:31 GMT

Your result for The Fan Fiction Personality Test...

The Mindgamer

Everything is possible, nothing is ever really over.

Fanfiction is a creative outlet for you. You don't intentionally write it, it just happens. You find inspiration in several fandoms, but are not obsessed with only one.

You like to explore "what if" situations. What if this character had never made this very choice? What if this event had taken place sooner, never, elsewhere? What if these people had never met?

You are likely to write Alternative Universes, fan seasons or sequels and just follow your (sometimes pretty strange) plot bunnies.

Take The Fan Fiction Personality Test at OkCupid

I took that test back in January. Then my life changed pretty radically, I went back to uni for a sabbatical and well, things happened.

Finally I'm getting ideas again and maybe even words to fit these ideas. I might be back for real soonish.

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Nightmare Remedy

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:04:24 GMT

Title: Nightmare Remedy
Author: nothorse
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Fandom: Harry Potter
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.

( Only one thing helps against the nightmares. )

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Yet another still alive post

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:41:14 GMT

Just fighting a flu/pneumonia thingy and reading cracky Harry Potter fic.

Writing inspiration is below zero, dunno exactly why.

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Lies, Damnable Lies and Statistics

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:53:10 GMT

I confess, I underestimated the task severely.

But who would've thought that the few simple evaluations I want are beyond the capabilities of any spreadsheet.

/me goes to download R.

If there are any statisticians in the house, please raise your hand.

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When In Doubt, Dismember

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:40:26 GMT

Title: When In Doubt, Dismember
Author: nothorse
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Prompt: expert (for open_on_sunday)
Character: Buffy, Giles
Spoilers: Early seasons.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money.

( A particularly vicious tribe )

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Back from Offlineistan

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:02:49 GMT

Had a nice vacation and am back now, refreshed and working on the numbers of my survey.

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xkcd on the dangers of crossovers

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:36:55 GMT

(Read the title text)

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