An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 9/75 Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Bond & Q, James Bond/Q Characters: Q (James Bond), James Bond, M | Gareth Mallory, Original R Character (James Bond), Original Male Character(s) of Color Additional Tags: No Time to Die (2021) Fix-It, Grief/Mourning, Mallory is a Traitorous Arse, Q Has Cats (James Bond), Rogue Q (James Bond) Summary:
After James Bond dies in a hail of missiles on Safin’s island, Q wrestles not only with his grief but with his anger toward Six and his own culpability in Bond’s death. Deciding it’s time for some changes in his life, Q’s wanderings manage to bring him some clarity and healing, but an encounter with the impossible shows him he can’t escape his past. Rather than shun it, Q seizes the opportunity to atone for his mistakes, leading him to a resurrection of hopes and dreams he never knew he even had.
Bookmarker's Notes:
It's now been 268 days since I first wept when Daniel Craig's version of James Bond realised he was going to sacrifice himself for the great good. i.e. Die.
Did I know it was coming? Not really, but I also intentionally didn't dig into how that movie would end because I didn't want to know.
What I did know is that experiencing the arc of that story (See James find out he's a father. See James return to protect his child + the woman he loved. See James nearly outsmart the villain. Etc.) physically shocked me. It happened all over again the five times I saw the movie. I didn't cry each time, but whenever Mallory began reading those lines by London + we saw Q throw back ALL of his toast to Bond, something rankled.
Until I read the first few chapters of this story I just didn't realise how.much.it.rankled. Because y'know, anticipation, see the movie, analyse it, read some fics, etc. But. Now it's July 2022 + we're three days into this year's 007 Fest, my first as a participant. And THIS WORK, this creation by the amazing @boffin1710 + @dassandre-00qpidsarrow has brought me to tears several times. Speaking for myself, which is all I can do, it has created a vessel for my unresolved issues about the movie to roam around like a maelstrom and sort themselves out.
That's all I'm going to say here because you, Dear Reader, owe it to yourself to go on this adventure for your own experience.
Here's to it. 💜