Two memes

[john_amend_all]

Memed from lost_spook. First meme:

Give me one fandom I write/rec/read AND a type of AU (space opera AU, pirate AU, superhero AU, etc) or another time period (Ancient Rome, Regency England, etc). I will then explain the gist of the story I would write for that AU.

Second meme:

Give me a pairing and I will tell you:

1. What they most commonly do during sex
2. Who has prettier hair
3. What they argue about most often
4. Who'd cope best if the other one died
5. The happiest plausible happily-ever-after I can think of for them.

This entry was originally posted at http://john-amend-all.dreamwidth.org/36628.html. Feel free to comment there or here.

Comments

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Hmm... My first thought was "Doctor Who superhero AU!" ... but then I thought "Fighting evil scientists while wearing a cape? That's the Pertwee era, isn't it?"

It is, in fact, very hard to think of a Doctor Who AU that couldn't just happen in continuity. And obviously, the same goes for time period only more so.

So ... I want to see Victorian/Steampunk Absolute Power, please.

[john_amend_all]

Since Charles and Martin's profession is to tell plausible lies for money, they'd be at home in quite a lot of times. I think they'd fit quite well into Victorian London, sharing a flat in Baker Street (with Sandy becoming their sharp-tongued landlady) and doing business as "Prentiss & McCabe".

As for what they'd be dealing with, I suspect something not unlike the Clayton Tunnel rail crash. They would, of course, find themselves retained by both sides: the railway company, whose directors regard things like safety as a waste of money and see no objection to their employees working 24-hour shifts, and the poor but photogenic and sympathetic relatives of the victims. And doubtless they'd find some ingenious wheeze to screw both sets of clients over and emerge triumphant, because that's what they always do.

I daresay their Government contact Archibald would find a reason to get involved, and they'd meet him in a suitably deserted location such as the Campaign for Women's Votes.

(The original investigator's report on Clayton Tunnel is online. Particularly worth reading for the railway company's reply on the last page, where they explain that they prefer not to bother with all these safety features, because they "[lessen] the responsibility of the engine driver... whose own life is at stake.")

[thisbluespirit]

Okay, space opera Wilkie Collins. That's mean enough, so you can decide which of the big four novels you want.

[john_amend_all]

It would be No Name, set in the Star Trek universe. Norah and Maddie would be space princesses from a solar-system spanning kingdom on the edge of the Federation, deposed when their parents were overthrown by the wicked Baron Michael. Maddie schemes to regain her position, with the help of Horatio Wragge, a dubious free-trader (I think, rather than his wife, his ditzy life partner is his ship's computer).

Maddie's adventures are probably more varied and action-orientated than in the original book, with plenty of phaser battles, death-defying escapes and explosions. But she finds herself unable to defeat the forces ranged against her, and is eventually forced to flee in an escape pod as Admiral Bartram's fleet closes in on her.

And this is why it has to be in the Star Trek setting: As in the original book, Maddie is rescued from certain death by one Captain Kirk. Having earlier been seen making an undercover investigation of the solar system, now has obtained permission to intervene. The Enterprise shows up in the nick of time.

Norah, meanwhile, has successfully started a pro-democracy movement on the home planet, and with Federation aid the usurping dynasty is brought down. In the final scene, Maddie is offered a place in the new constitutional monarchy, but rejects it: she has developed a taste for adventure, and insists on joining Starfleet.

[thisbluespirit]

:lol: That fits surprisingly well. :-)

Maddie's adventures are probably more varied and action-orientated than in the original book, with plenty of phaser battles, death-defying escapes and explosions.

I bet they were...

[john_amend_all]

Which is, of course, not to say that Maddie won't have to go undercover in her enemy's stronghold. Only, given that this is Star Trek, she'd probably be posing as something more exotic than a maidservant.