Otter's Rock

I had a lovely time with my Heart Attack fic this year. The challenge was that my recip really wanted a Nightingale fic, with Nightingale and Peter together as a secondary option, whereas for me, Peter is what I really wanted to write, with Peter and Nightingale a secondary option. Which meant I had to make sure both men really had a chance to shine, which meant coming up with a case that a) had connections both in the 1940s with Nightingale working on it, and b) in the current day, with Peter working on it ... but without Nightingale able to just say "well, this is what happened in the 1940s and it's obviously connected."

Obvious answer: put Nightingale in a coma in the present day, caused by the case in the 1940s. Once I had that bit, coming up with the case was fun.

The other thing they suggested was a crossover with a period-appropriate canon. Well! My favorite period-appropriate canon for the 1940s is currently the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, so obviously Lord Peter had to show up. Problem was, I realized halfway in that it meant I would need to pull in appropriate quotes ... and I do not have anywhere near the encyclopedic knowledge of classic English literature that would require, and also, with only two weeks to write, not much time to troll through poetry websites looking for the right options. But I think it worked out okay even so.

Title: Wachet Auf
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Fandom: Rivers of London
Characters: Thomas Nightingale, Peter Grant
Written For: Quasar in Heart Attack Exchange 2024


At AO3. At Squidgeworld. Rebloggable on tumblr. Pillowfort.

2016.

I learned something was wrong when I got a call from the Folly, and there was silence on the other end.

"I'll be there quick as I can," I told the expectant stillness, and swigged the rest of my coffee in one gulp.

( Read more... )

crossworks has been revealed! I received a lovely fic, a Sorcery & Cecelia/Young Wizards fic by sinkauli, The Unexpected Guest. The character voices are excellent, if you enjoy either fandom go check it out, you shouldn't need knowledge of both fandoms to get the story.

Here's what I wrote:

Title: The Princess and the Folly
Fandom: Rivers of London/Marvel Cinematic Universe
Characters: Peter Grant, Shuri
Written for: Vaznetti in Crossworks 2021
Betaed by: Gemini Demimonde
Length: 5271 words
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: Princess Shuri wants to see if there are any differences between Wakandan magic and Newtonian. The Folly is happy to oblige her.

On AO3. On Tumblr. On Pillowfort.


The call came in on the Folly's landline, not my mobile. Which was fortunate since my mobile was turned off, as it often was in the Folly, even if I wasn't planning on doing magic. I was up a ladder in the far corner of the reference library, and I had to hustle to get to a phone before whoever it was gave up. (Molly was taking the afternoon off to do … something with Foxglove.) I grabbed the bakelite handset and held it up to my ear. "Hello, Special Assessment Unit, Peter Grant speaking."

"This is the Wakandan Embassy," said a deep voice in a melodious accent I had spent a lot of time in the last year listening to in the news and on youtube. "Please hold for Princess Shuri."

( I froze. It had to be a practical joke, right? )