SECUNDUS FICSPLOSION
Feb. 28th, 2012 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickWe have:
Twosday, Prompt: A Pair of Cufflinks for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
8butterflyboy8's ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
charloft prompt,
commercial
toast
feast for his Winter Bingo card,
and the piece de resistance,
Chapter Twelve of Secundus!
Yeah, I finally got one of the chapters up! It's a little on the short side (especially compared to the previous chapter), but I hope you enjoy it regardless. I'll try to get Chapter 13 up when I finally figure out where I want the chapter break (there's two good spots). In the meantime, let's continue the ficsplosion with a 25 Foods from this universe:
17. Peanut Butter
Alice knocked on the door of the conservatory. “Victor?”
There was no response. She knocked a little louder. “Victor, tea’s ready!”
Still no response. Alice frowned at the door. Victor had been spending a lot of time in his laboratory lately, but usually he came out for a quick cup of tea. “What is he doing in there?” she mumbled, pushing open the door.
As usual, the conservatory was rather warmer than the rest of the house. Alice picked her way past some flowers toward the main experiment table. Victor was seated at the far end, watching something intently. “Victor?” she asked, coming up behind him.
Victor glanced up at her. His eyes had that slightly glazed look she’d come to recognize as a sign he was in the grip of Creativity. “Alice!” he cried, a wide smile splitting his face. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to him. “Look at this!”
Curiosity piqued, Alice looked. In front of them was a bit of tree branch mounted on a stand. Dangling from the tip of the branch was a quivering white chrysalis. As she watched, the fragile layers of the cocoon split apart, and a damp little butterfly emerged. It crawled up onto the tree branch and spread its wings so they could dry and harden. Alice frowned as she examined it. It looked similar to Lewis’s bread-and-butterflies, but instead of bright yellow, this butterfly’s wings appeared to be covered with some sort of orangey-brown spread. The head was different too – a yellowish-brown oval instead of a white cube. “Victor, what--”
“It’s a peanut-butterfly,” Victor said proudly. “I’ve been working on it for the past few weeks.”
“Oh!” Alice watched with amusement as the peanut-butterfly continued to sun itself. “Did you think the bread-and-butterflies needed friends?”
“Well, I’ve always been interested in variations on those, and I had Lewis’s notes--”
Victor stopped abruptly, the happy madness draining out of his face. He looked at his butterfly, then at Alice. “Do – do you think h-he’d be angry? That I’m adapting h-his work?”
Alice bit her lower lip. The subject of Lewis Carroll was always a bit awkward for them. The revelation that he had been in love with Alice, and that the Queen of Hearts had been created in her image, still weighed heavily on her – on them both. “I don’t know,” she had to admit. Trying to soften the blow, she added, “I’m sure he’d want his work to live on.”
“But via me? He hated me!”
“He did not hate you,” Alice said firmly. “If he’d hated you, he would have just killed you, instead of trying to – No, that won’t come out right either.” Seeing the look on his face, she pulled him close. “It’s not your fault he created the Queen.”
“I know, but – I can’t help feeling guilty.”
Alice nodded. “I know, Victor. Believe me, I know. But I learned in Rutledge it does you no good to spend the rest of your life feeling horrible over it. What happened, happened. We just have to pick up the pieces and move on as best we can.”
Victor nodded slowly, then sighed. “I just – I don’t want this to look like I’m dishonoring his memory.”
Alice smiled. “You’re making Wonderland Park a little stranger. How could that be dishonoring his memory?”
Victor laughed. “You have a point.” He extended a finger to the peanut-butterfly, which crawled on. “I hope he would have liked this.”
Alice kissed his temple. “I’m sure he would have.” She watched the tiny insect flutter its wings. “Do you have any other ideas for variations?”
A hint of the madness came back into Victor’s smile. “I thought it would be nice to have one with jelly on the wings. . . .”
The peanut-butterflies were mentioned in the "toast" prompt above, which is what inspired me to post this one. The idea of a "peanut-butterfly" as a friend to the bread-and-butterflies has been in my head for a while now. It seemed natural to have Victor make one.
-TTV: And then sic them on toaster manufacturers?-
Yes. This fic sort of straddles the line between fluffy and angsty. I mean, him making a peanut-butterfly is cute, but then the subject of Lewis comes up. . . That's a source of guilt for Victor for a long time. He knows it's irrational, but he can't help but feel a bit responsible for Lewis dying. And the worst part is -- if you read Chapter 12, you see that Lewis really doesn't have any ill-will for Victor. Even when he tries, he can't keep his ire up for long.
-M: I -- when does the poor guy. . .-
Chapter 13. The question of the chapter break is actually whether to end it on his death, or to end it after Barkis meets the Queen. Depressing ending either way, really.
-J: I'll say. Yikes. . .-
And it really only goes downhill for the next few chapters. You'll see as I write more. But as this fic shows, it does get happier in the end. It's not all doom and gloom.
-D: Despite you wanting it to be at least once.-
The RP prompt was an apocalypse scenario! And you'll notice I bowed to Butterfly Boy's wishes not to make that version of him my tumblr muse. Surprisingly enough, I rather like the happy ending universe too.
-VD2: *smirk* Just checking.-
*sticks out tongue at*
Anyway, enjoy all that reading -- I've got stuff cooking on tumblr.
Twosday, Prompt: A Pair of Cufflinks for
8butterflyboy8's charloft prompt,commercial
toast
feast for his Winter Bingo card,
and the piece de resistance,
Chapter Twelve of Secundus!
Yeah, I finally got one of the chapters up! It's a little on the short side (especially compared to the previous chapter), but I hope you enjoy it regardless. I'll try to get Chapter 13 up when I finally figure out where I want the chapter break (there's two good spots). In the meantime, let's continue the ficsplosion with a 25 Foods from this universe:
17. Peanut Butter
Alice knocked on the door of the conservatory. “Victor?”
There was no response. She knocked a little louder. “Victor, tea’s ready!”
Still no response. Alice frowned at the door. Victor had been spending a lot of time in his laboratory lately, but usually he came out for a quick cup of tea. “What is he doing in there?” she mumbled, pushing open the door.
As usual, the conservatory was rather warmer than the rest of the house. Alice picked her way past some flowers toward the main experiment table. Victor was seated at the far end, watching something intently. “Victor?” she asked, coming up behind him.
Victor glanced up at her. His eyes had that slightly glazed look she’d come to recognize as a sign he was in the grip of Creativity. “Alice!” he cried, a wide smile splitting his face. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to him. “Look at this!”
Curiosity piqued, Alice looked. In front of them was a bit of tree branch mounted on a stand. Dangling from the tip of the branch was a quivering white chrysalis. As she watched, the fragile layers of the cocoon split apart, and a damp little butterfly emerged. It crawled up onto the tree branch and spread its wings so they could dry and harden. Alice frowned as she examined it. It looked similar to Lewis’s bread-and-butterflies, but instead of bright yellow, this butterfly’s wings appeared to be covered with some sort of orangey-brown spread. The head was different too – a yellowish-brown oval instead of a white cube. “Victor, what--”
“It’s a peanut-butterfly,” Victor said proudly. “I’ve been working on it for the past few weeks.”
“Oh!” Alice watched with amusement as the peanut-butterfly continued to sun itself. “Did you think the bread-and-butterflies needed friends?”
“Well, I’ve always been interested in variations on those, and I had Lewis’s notes--”
Victor stopped abruptly, the happy madness draining out of his face. He looked at his butterfly, then at Alice. “Do – do you think h-he’d be angry? That I’m adapting h-his work?”
Alice bit her lower lip. The subject of Lewis Carroll was always a bit awkward for them. The revelation that he had been in love with Alice, and that the Queen of Hearts had been created in her image, still weighed heavily on her – on them both. “I don’t know,” she had to admit. Trying to soften the blow, she added, “I’m sure he’d want his work to live on.”
“But via me? He hated me!”
“He did not hate you,” Alice said firmly. “If he’d hated you, he would have just killed you, instead of trying to – No, that won’t come out right either.” Seeing the look on his face, she pulled him close. “It’s not your fault he created the Queen.”
“I know, but – I can’t help feeling guilty.”
Alice nodded. “I know, Victor. Believe me, I know. But I learned in Rutledge it does you no good to spend the rest of your life feeling horrible over it. What happened, happened. We just have to pick up the pieces and move on as best we can.”
Victor nodded slowly, then sighed. “I just – I don’t want this to look like I’m dishonoring his memory.”
Alice smiled. “You’re making Wonderland Park a little stranger. How could that be dishonoring his memory?”
Victor laughed. “You have a point.” He extended a finger to the peanut-butterfly, which crawled on. “I hope he would have liked this.”
Alice kissed his temple. “I’m sure he would have.” She watched the tiny insect flutter its wings. “Do you have any other ideas for variations?”
A hint of the madness came back into Victor’s smile. “I thought it would be nice to have one with jelly on the wings. . . .”
The peanut-butterflies were mentioned in the "toast" prompt above, which is what inspired me to post this one. The idea of a "peanut-butterfly" as a friend to the bread-and-butterflies has been in my head for a while now. It seemed natural to have Victor make one.
-TTV: And then sic them on toaster manufacturers?-
Yes. This fic sort of straddles the line between fluffy and angsty. I mean, him making a peanut-butterfly is cute, but then the subject of Lewis comes up. . . That's a source of guilt for Victor for a long time. He knows it's irrational, but he can't help but feel a bit responsible for Lewis dying. And the worst part is -- if you read Chapter 12, you see that Lewis really doesn't have any ill-will for Victor. Even when he tries, he can't keep his ire up for long.
-M: I -- when does the poor guy. . .-
Chapter 13. The question of the chapter break is actually whether to end it on his death, or to end it after Barkis meets the Queen. Depressing ending either way, really.
-J: I'll say. Yikes. . .-
And it really only goes downhill for the next few chapters. You'll see as I write more. But as this fic shows, it does get happier in the end. It's not all doom and gloom.
-D: Despite you wanting it to be at least once.-
The RP prompt was an apocalypse scenario! And you'll notice I bowed to Butterfly Boy's wishes not to make that version of him my tumblr muse. Surprisingly enough, I rather like the happy ending universe too.
-VD2: *smirk* Just checking.-
*sticks out tongue at*
Anyway, enjoy all that reading -- I've got stuff cooking on tumblr.
