Rules: you will be given a word. share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word.
I was tagged by @knoepfchen with the word FLAT, thank you very much! <3
F
Starting out strong (Not), I cannot find a single sentence starting with an F in the whole entire document I'm working on right now (epilogue of the W13 Bering and Wells fake married artifact hunt) , not just in the last chapter that hasn't been posted yet, but in any of it!
There's one I could restructure so it'll start with an F
Farnsworthing Helena; Myka lets the other know what she's up to.
But Farnsworth is already a weird enough word without turning it into a verb xD
I did find one in my other wip though, a continuation of the Leverage Parker POV fic!
From her experience, namely whatever not a relationship Sophie and Nate have got going on, those interpersonal things have never ruined the team.
L
The rest are all from the same scene from the Warehouse 13 fic - though in opposite order!
"Look, Myka, I'm really sorry for all the -"
A
Anwen runs right past them to the spare bedroom they have been keeping Kazul confined in when the iguana is left unsupervised.
T
The front door crashes open, and Myka jumps back, out of reach from Helena.
Tagging, if you want to do it, @lavendelhummel @lonely-night @emeraldorchids @independent-fics @purlturtle @onaperduamedee and everyone else who sees this! Your word is "DANCE".
So, random question that just occurred to me randomly -- what are your thoughts on Nile getting to finally pick out her own clothes when she's shopping in London? Who's with her? What's that day like?
Melly. I love. that you and Laurel both sent these. before the group watch was even over 😂
@knoepfchen I just. sldjflsjflsjf how totally random right (I love you guys)
- - -
“What sizes are we looking for?” Nile asks as they get into town.
Joe says, “Well, you wore Andy’s jeans. Seven and a half shoes. Mostly mediums, she likes room to move. Nicky’s a thirty thirty-two, ten and a half, mediums and larges. I’m the same but thirty-two thirty-four, and--”
His teeth clack together. He wears the same wounded look Nile saw on his face in the lab yesterday. She wishes she had some way to distract him, but until they know each other better, the best she can do is not press.
“They might offer to buy this off me,” she says, tugging on the hem of the Parliament T-shirt she dug out of the cache of musty clothes at the Juliet safehouse.
“Out of the question,” Joe says immediately. “I won’t part with it. God, I remember that night…” This, too, is something he can’t share with her, but at least his expression is wistful now.
A little bell over the door chimes as they walk into the shop. Joe nods to the cashier and moves down the racks against the wall, and when Nile realizes he’s casing the perimeter she does the same on the opposite side. They’re the only customers, first thing on a Monday morning.
Something catches her eye at the back: a cream wool blend varsity jacket. Just the right weight for the damp English springtime. Conscious of the staleness of what she’s already wearing, Nile waits to try it on until she has a full outfit in hand, complete with sneakers that actually fit her.
She regards herself in the mirror in one of the tiny dressing rooms. Is there something new in her eyes? It feels like there should be some spark or depth that sets her apart from other people, after what she’s been through the last three days. All she sees is a tired woman with crispy braids. She needs to do something about that, next.
The outfit is cute, though. Colorful, unlike everything in the safehouse cache. Maybe it’s a bad idea to attract attention in that way, but right now it feels like the only form of expression available to her. She puts the pieces back on their hangers and brings them out where Joe waits with an overburdened trolley. “I guess I shouldn’t get too attached, huh?” she says under her breath as she adds to the pile.
“Depends,” Joe says. “Are you gonna let me see?”
Nile coolly regards his arched brows. “I will if you will,” she says, tilting her chin at the other dressing room.
His first round is an eight out of ten, only because the pants have too many zippers to be taken seriously. Joe doesn’t hold the docked score against her; he rates her a ten and says she should definitely get attached. Nile rolls her eyes at him and picks a totally impractical sundress off the rack.
Joe comes out for the next round in a plaid sweater vest over a polo shirt, and in the third he accidentally selects a pair of jeans sized for Nicky, which look like highwaters on him.
Nile takes some of the clothes meant for Andy. They feel all wrong before she’s even finished dressing, so she lifts the mood by digging her phone out of the old jeans and turning it on in airplane mode. The battery is at thirty-two percent. This will be worth running it down a little.
With the speaker at max volume, she does a slow shuffle out of the dressing room to “Pink + White”.
Joe sidles into view with his back to her, turns around gracefully with fingerguns at the ready, and doubles over in helpless laughter at the sight of her black tank and black jeans.
Oh yeah. Worth it.
Nile’s face hurts from grinning when they finally get to the register. There’s a pair of hoop earrings in the jewelry case and the cashier gets them out when she asks. They’ll do nicely.
The counter vanishes beneath strata of jackets, a dozen jeans and athletic pants, twenty T-shirts, button-ups and sweaters for layering, assorted pairs of shoes and sunglasses, several backpacks, and a spacious duffel.
Nile starts to pay for her share with the money that was already in the back pocket of the jeans when she got them out of the safehouse cache, but Joe presses her hand away and covers it all from a bigger wad of cash than hers. They must have even more squirreled away at the safehouse.
There’s a laundromat the next block over, and when two loads are done and the clothes are packed up once more they get pizza for a late lunch, plus extras to bring back, and in the restroom Nile puts on a clean outfit she chose for herself, still warm from the dryer.
She scopes herself again in the restroom mirror. If there is a profound difference, it’s that the woman in the mirror isn’t a Marine. Not quite, not anymore, despite the tags that still hang by her heart. “Soldier” doesn’t feel like the right word either.
She’s got people she can trust to help her figure out what the right word is, even if it changes depending on the century.
Joe brightens as she comes out of the bathroom. “How’s it feel?” he asks.
“It’s a good start,” Nile says, and Joe smiles broadly at her.
hmm, none that I would call strange--they're either things I don't love but can handle, like driving over long bridges, or they're deep seated personal things. I do remember at the last library I worked at I was excused from shelving the nonfiction books with large pictures of spiders on the cover. I don't mind spiders in a "you have your job and I have mine" way--I let them hang out when I find them in corners of my apartment--but I don't like looking at detailed pictures of them. I could have handled shelving the books but I had the best supervisor ever and she never shelved the snake books and she was like "you don't have to handle those if it's going to give you the heebie jeebies" anyway she's my hero.
34. what food do you eat when you're lazy?
popcorn. my go-to "I'm not cooking" meal is popcorn, Greek yogurt, and apples, and has been since college, except now I make popcorn on the stove so it's more work than in college when I only could make microwave. it's tastier though.
Yes. ;) Honestly, it's a little bit of both, and also a little bit of neither. It's...satisfying rather than cathartic, especially when it all comes together, and on the bad days, it's more frustrating than actively stressful. (Look at me being all pretentious writer and needing to find precisely the right words.)
10: Who has been your favourite character to write about in Old Guard 007 AU? What do they bring to the fic?
:D Probably Quynh, honestly, since imagining her as Q was the spark that set off that whole verse in my head. And it's driving me nuts that she hasn't been as centered in the later fics in the series, I really need to fix that. I just really enjoy writing Quynh in any iteration, and getting to hone in on her cleverness and sly humor in this 'verse.
21: If you were a character in [007 'verse] where would you fit in?
HA. That world is so very, very separate from my own, I would not fit into it at ALL. I would be some random civilian who accidentally got in the way, probably. Or if I were very, very lucky, a smarter version of me might be one of the lower-level geeks in Q-branch.
Both of them! It started with Andromache picking up single flowers to put in Quynh's hair the way she was used to decorating her own braids at times, and Quynh picks flowers for Andromache as well, random ones and others she knows local meanings of, bouquets and flower crowns or some she dries :)
Neither would enjoy buying flowers in modern times, even though the bouquets there are more grand than anything easily found in the wild, it's not quite their style, Andy still picks single roses for Quynh to smell and Quynh makes Andy daisy chains or steals her flowers from the park. The only way I can see them buy flowers for the other is when they're in different places, for example when (my fav future headcanon for her) Quynh's a fashion designer doing shows elsewhere, Andy has expensive flowers delivered to her :)
2. Who makes the other coffee/tea
Food is Andy's love language, she used to do this a lot for Quynh, but Quynh soon picked up on it and in modern day they've almost switched it around
3. Who eats the most candy on Halloween
Andy, no questions :D her sweet tooth is legendary
4. Who tries new recipes all the time
Both, and neither - 'all the time' they stick to easy, enjoyable food they know, but both are interested in trying new things as well
5. Who genuinely likes pineapple on pizza
Both of them, and they drive the rest of the Guard Mad with it. Of course, Andy likes some combinations of food that are even weirder, so even Nicky tries to keep his mouth shut when he sees their pineapple pizza lest she retaliate with something even worse, but the agony is clear on his face xD
6. Who wears hats on special occasions
I can see Quynh decorating everyone in her vicinity with party hats when the occasion asks for it and she has been introduced to the modern tradition xD she still prefers flower crowns tho
Andy is more likely to wear 'useful' hats to hide from harsh sunlight (even if they can't properly get sunburn because it instantly heals, it can't be comfortable to overheat), while Quynh wears hats for fun and for style.
7. Who likes ‘90s R&B
I think they wouldn't mind the music exactly, but I can't see it being either of their favorites
8. Who likes long walks on the beach
Before: Andy. While Quynh is in the ocean she can't stand the sight of it except when trying to get her out, and afterwards it still triggers bad memories in her for quite some time. For Quynh, it's almost healing, seeing the sea from the outside, and when she takes her by the hand, feeling that she's still with her, by her side, it's alright for Andromache as well.
9. Who buys wacky picture frames
Neither because they don't have a lot of clutter that isn't weapons or artworks from people they actually knew (or posed for), and because they don't take many photographs for security reasons
10. Who compares themselves to fictional/celebrity couples
Quynh! Andy quit trying to keep up with celebrity culture when everything turned international at the latest and is totally behind on it, her favourite movie's still a black and white one (she points out to Nile that at least it's a 'talkie' and so can't possibly be that old, cue Nile facepalm), while Quynh, when she returns, tries to quickly catch up with modern popular culture and everything else she missed out on, she'd probably hear about 'Brangelina' or some other celeb ship name and refer to herself and Andy in third person by 'Andromaquynh' for the next month at least ('drama Queen indeed' -Joe)
11. Who would wear Hawaiian shirts on vacation/during the summer
Both of them, but not exclusively, they also love dresses, especially when it gets really hot it's just better to wear sundresses than trousers
12. Who wears mismatched socks because they can’t keep up with the pairs
Andy xD she has her stuff in a lot of different bases all over the world, since planetravel became a thing not just sturdy stuff like weapons or furniture but also her clothes, and she swears it isn't on purpose that she can't find correct pairs of socks in any location anymore
Okay to reblog!
Thanks so much for the ask! This was fun :D AQ is still one of my favourites <3
Oh, and @knoepfchen I couldn't remember your url earlier but if you like pls also feel tagged in the opening lines fic tag I did earlier!
If anyone is also doing the ask meme, list for more easy copying the Qs on mobile below:
1. Who buys flowers for the other 2. Who makes the other coffee/tea 3. Who eats the most candy on Halloween 4. Who tries new recipes all the time 5. Who genuinely likes pineapple on pizza 6. Who wears hats on special occasions 7. Who likes ‘90s R&B 8. Who likes long walks on the beach 9. Who buys wacky picture frames 10. Who compares themselves to fictional/celebrity couples 11. Who would wear Hawaiian shirts on vacation/during the summer 12. Who wears mismatched socks because they can’t keep up with the pairs
i had kept this (from march 2021) in my inbox for if I ever actually find something for this in one of my drafts but I think I have to admit defeat xD I don't check my inbox regularly enough to catch all new wips... or maybe I just never use that word who knows xD
right now the closest I've got is that I've tagged an ao3 draft 'dialogue heavy' (though maybe with how it's turned out I should rather tag it 'dialogue only'?) but I don't think that quite counts!
