Merc.

001

[themerc]

fuck this site, seriously.

I'm so done and clearly too old for this snowflake crap. I never even do anything here anymore. Yet. The *one time* I reblog something that resonates with me with a tiny good-natured fandom-related addition, in two seconds flat, the op flies off the handle with "wrong way to interact!" Well, piss off, you're blocked.

See if anybody interacts with you at all with this mentality. Not the first time I've seen it, just the first time directed at me because I rarely post and just as rarely reblog. No wonder nobody comments on posts or even fanworks etc anymore.

[themerc]

End of the 007 Fest 2025....

...And It looks like I didn't get much done this year, either. BUT! It isn't actually true! I have focused on writing, and although I've been quite busy at times, I've made significant progress. My goal was to finish my unposted WIP London Burns (a continuation of Tenacity - can't believe it's been 3 years since I wrote that!) and post it all at once at the end of the fest. Although that didn't quite happen, we are not far from it!

As seems to be the norm with all the plot-driven things I write, they spiral out of hand length-wise, and so did LB. I had originally thought it would be some 5000-8000 words in length, similar to Tenacity, and it now stands at 25 000 words with the final chapter still unwritten. I'm still working hard to finish it asap, which will hopefully be around mid-August because the next week is going to be hectic again irl. @anyawen has been a great support and beta, and I want to thank you for taking the time <3. Here's a little snippet from the beginning under the cut:

A cloud of smoke drifts across the sky, past the silhouette of the Big Ben, thick enough to  momentarily hide the gigantic hands of time from view. This time, Bond isn’t watching it on a tv-screen over a bar counter somewhere in Turkey. He isn’t watching the attack happening from miles and miles away, thinking, I should be there. He can feel the explosions ripple through the concrete beneath his feet, hears the nearby windows rattle and hopes they don’t break as the blasts carry dust and smoke high into the air, followed by flames reaching up toward the sky. It’s a vain hope, evident as the last of a series of strikes hits, closer and louder than the ones preceding it. As the windows of the storefronts around him shatter, the spray of glass is the least of his worries as he watches the newly rebuilt MI6 headquarters crumble in front of his eyes again —and this time he can taste the ash. It tastes like guilt – the smoky, metallic aftermath of an unnamed island, permanently circulating in his bloodstream. Just like Heracles. 

[boffin1710]

[atomicrhys-deactivated20250928]

The coldest blood runs through my veins, you know my name

I haven't drawn much Bond, and I should really change that.

illustration by me

[pommedepersephone]

007 Fest, Rorschach Blots REVEALED

"Sir, we lost another staff member from Psych today."

"Another one, Ms. Moneypenny? What the hell happened this time?"

"Ink blots again, M."

Scavenger Hunt №27: Create a Rorschach blot and then post three Bond characters' interpretation of it. You can also include your own Station character.

TRANSCRIPT

Bond: Two bloody stags.

(silence)

Evaluator: Would you care to elaborate?

(silence)

Bond: No.

TRANSCRIPT:

Tanner: Standing on the Champ-de-Mars, looking at the Tour Eiffel. It's spring, the flowers are blooming, someone is selling crepes. Not that I'd know, since my vacation to Paris has been cancelled exactly nine times in three years.

(TANNER begins to hum Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell)

Evaluator: Um, sir?

Tanner: Shhhh, dissociation is my only vacation. Come back in 10 will you?

TRANSCRIPT:

[Redacted]: Hm, that is probably what it will look like when overworked technicians in Q Branch finally lose the plot and go to R&D and blow out their own... Sorry, was that out loud? Look, make a note there about how Q Branch needs to hire five more people in the next month, hm? Yes I am serious, I've got techs crying in the toilet, and the intern has developed a tick! I am sure you can write up something about the vicarious trauma, urgent need for increased support staff whatever, just, yes, make a note. I will raise your credit score. Oh, for the record? It looks like two children playing pattycake.

TRANSCRIPT:

Trevelyan: It's a beautiful butterfly! My бабуся had a garden with buddleja, and there were always so many butterflies! They are a story of the power of transformation. They go from a hungry, hungry caterpillar that eats, eats, eats and grows and becomes a pupae. And this is the body horror, right? They go all gross and basically dissolve into goo, only to reform, and be reborn a butterfly. Inspiring, no?

Evaluator: That's, ah, that is inspiring...

Trevelyan: Of course, if it is an Atlas Moth, it pops out of that chrysalis with no mouthparts. The Atlas Moth's only purpose in life is to procreate and perish. It lives off the energy it stored as a caterpillar just long enough to reproduce. Not unlike us Double-Os, eh? Take us, break us down, and reform us, our only purpose to serve England. And perish. Hopefully far away and in little pieces so you don't have to bother with a funeral.

Evaluator: Well, that's it. We're done.

[themerc]

Yes, this is spot on for everyone! I thought about doing one of these but haven't had the time, *sigh*.

[kitten-kin]

Find the Differences!

There are five differences between the photos! Solving this puzzle allows you to complete Scavenger Hunt item #74. The answer key is under the cut.

Felix's arm tattoo changes from lizard to anchor

The orange drink on the bar changes

Pen in Bond's shirt pocket disappears

Cocktail onion in the olive bowl disappears

Bullet on the counter near Felix's hands disappears

[themerc]

found them, these are fun little brain teasers

[themerc]

What's this? A post?

To my surprise, it's suddenly July, and the beginning of 007 Fest. I know I've been "gone" from the fandom a long time... but not really. I've been lurking on the fringes of the fandom and hoping to spot some of my old favourites writing new fics or posting new art. It's been quiet. And I've been so busy and distracted by real life. I've never been so tired before for such a long time. But now life is getting easier and the Fest couldn't have come at a better time, so I decided to sign up. So, Hello, station Phoenix! I'm one of your team this year. I'm not much for the roleplay so I'll just skip that part this time for various reasons. But I do intend to get back to writing and reading and commenting, my goal will be to dust off my WIP's (or at least London Burns) but also to do at least one (1) extra thing per week - not necessarily a new fanwork but something to keep up with the general flow of the Fest activities. I really hope the Fest will revive the Bond/ 00q fandom and people start interacting again. Frankly, part of why I've lost interest in the past was the feeling of talking into the void. I know we are all busy and tired, but fandom is all about sharing, and feedback is the elixir of life. Happy Fest, everyone! I'm glad to be back and looking forward to what all of you will be creating! EDIT / I did a THING! This counts for one weekly goal, doesn't it? I'm going to attach it to this first post, because these were intended to be on the character intro posts, right? I don't have a character aside from my regular fandom alias so here it is, anyway.

[boffin1710]

[themerc]

just perfect

[themerc]

What's this? A post?

To my surprise, it's suddenly July, and the beginning of 007 Fest. I know I've been "gone" from the fandom a long time... but not really. I've been lurking on the fringes of the fandom and hoping to spot some of my old favourites writing new fics or posting new art. It's been quiet. And I've been so busy and distracted by real life. I've never been so tired before for such a long time. But now life is getting easier and the Fest couldn't have come at a better time, so I decided to sign up. So, Hello, station Phoenix! I'm one of your team this year. I'm not much for the roleplay so I'll just skip that part this time for various reasons. But I do intend to get back to writing and reading and commenting, my goal will be to dust off my WIP's (or at least London Burns) but also to do at least one (1) extra thing per week - not necessarily a new fanwork but something to keep up with the general flow of the Fest activities. I really hope the Fest will revive the Bond/ 00q fandom and people start interacting again. Frankly, part of why I've lost interest in the past was the feeling of talking into the void. I know we are all busy and tired, but fandom is all about sharing, and feedback is the elixir of life. Happy Fest, everyone! I'm glad to be back and looking forward to what all of you will be creating! EDIT / I did a THING! This counts for one weekly goal, doesn't it? I'm going to attach it to this first post, because these were intended to be on the character intro posts, right? I don't have a character aside from my regular fandom alias so here it is, anyway.

[junkfoodcinemas]

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) dir. Marc Forster 

[themerc]

This Bond right here is by far my favourite. I feel this gifset in my bones.

[themerc]

I feel a strong need to reblog this post. It's been one of those days.....

[boffin1710]

[kitten-kin]

Bless that one screenshot for capturing a mid-blink, mid-speech moment on Ben Whishaw, resulting in a perfect "r u kidding me r n" face. XD

[themerc]

Some of my 'Bond Truths'...

So I need to post something to reach my weekly goal for the Fest. I have less than an hour. More headcanons? Takes too much time. But there are some universal Bond Truths that are always present in my writing and in my personal headcanon universe. So let's go with a list of those. * Bond knows he's not mentally stable and well-adjusted or even a good person (whatever that means). He genuinely doesn't care, and doesn't really want to change 'for the better'. He might want to change his *life* in some ways but not who he is. * Q is older than he looks. I choose to think of him as around the same age as Ben Wishaw, it's still very young for his position at the time of Skyfall. * Mallory is not the bad guy NTTD makes him look, and neither is he stupid. *Felix Leiter lives. Except in London Burns, because that is a bleak, hopeless world. * Q is a head over heart -person and perfectly capable of putting his feelings aside. How else would he survive? * Moneypenny's greatest strength as a person and as a character is that she gets things done. She is a strong character that drives the narrative. My Moneypenny is the Skyfall Moneypenny who also recognises what is best for herself and doesn't take the new desk job as a demotion. *Bond is not anyone's father and never will be one. Duh. He'd cringe at the idea. *Bond and Q... they might be fated, but never to live together happily ever after. * Bond never retires. He never dies either - but we all know that's not really true. When he dies, he dies 'off-screen', in the line of duty, in whatever imaginary role the universe has given him. His legacy will be his life-long service, and only a few within the agency will truly remember and mourn him.

[themerc]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

I got my favourite fic a brand new banner as a Fest prize, made by Linorien/@spiritofcamelot, Thank you <3

[themerc]

Fic Author self rec meme

thanks @anyawen for always tagging me <3 Idk who's been tagged already but let's try some of my faves, @mr-iskender @samanthahirr @boffin1710 @kitten-kin @aniron48 if any of you feel like it, would be interesting to see which ones of your works you'd pick as your favourites. I have relatively few works posted so far so I'm only going to rec three that are special somehow. To Tell The Good From Bad, Villains From Heroes Mission fic, 18 chapters, my entry for the 00Q RBB 2021. By far the longest and plottiest fic I've written so far, a NTTD fix-it of sorts, written before the movie even came out. Tenacity Another NTTD inspired piece that doesn't really fix anything, but Bond lives, if only because Q won't let him die. This fic is my personal favourite but also the outlet of all the pain that NTTD caused me, and fairly graphic. You've been warned.

The Best Proof Of Love A crossover with London Spy. WIP but fully plotted and outlined. A close collaboration with Anyawen and I believe, thanks to her, the very best I can produce - even though the reception hasn't quite been what I'd hoped for. It has also been dreadfully difficult to write at times. Still, it remains my feel-good story because I've enjoyed working on it very much and I just love the complicated relationships between all the main characters.

[sophsicle]

not reading wips feels anti-fanfiction to me. and i don't mean that in a "so you're a bad person if you don't read them" kinda way. do what you want. but i also feel, that you are completely missing the point. with fanfiction you're supposed to come along for the ride. the epic highs and lows of highschool football. the comment sections. the conversations. the theories. the "sorry i didn't update last week i was abducted by aliens and then my cat got stuck in a tree." LIKE. if you just want a story that's fully finished and polished go to a bookstore. fanfic is an EXPERIENCE. and ALSO. participating in the process is part of the way you make fanfic writing worth while. it's part of how you thank authors. like why would anyone write fanfiction if no one was going to interact with them until it was done? it again feels like a way that fanfiction is being eaten by consumer culture. you're waiting for your product. but this is supposed to be a club. you don't turn up to drama club like "where's my play bitch?" NO ma'am. we're supposed to paint these cardboard trees together. ok. i may have lost control of this metaphor. BUT YOU GET IT.

[themerc]

Yep... I don't think I'll post WIPs anymore after my current one is done. I thought getting feedback in between chapters would be inspiring and speed up the writing/editing process... instead, the lack of it just eats at the motivation to even finish the story.

[bishybarnaby]

AO3 goes down? Who you gonna call?

[gwylliondream]

Nice job getting AO3 back up and running, Bond!

I hope everyone remembers to tip generously.