Iron Author, stolen from stakebait

[camwyn]

I'm supposed to be working on four or five other things at the moment, but I could do with a bit of a challenge. Between Hellblazer: Hogwarts and Who Ya Gonna Owl? (which I will be working on this weekend), I've got two very large story arcs to hand. I've also got a novel that I started writing ages ago and have stalled on recently. I would like to write something small and interesting from an idea kicked to me from someone else... and this time I'm not going to ask you to write first. If you've been around for the first rounds, you know the drill. If not, this is a common writing exercise, inspired by cadhla and suitably adapted.

You can have fanfiction

Give me a character and one thing more -- a mood, a genre, a situation, an episode -- and I'll write you at least a drib right here in the comments. (A pairing and a situation are okay too, if you'd prefer. However, I am far more proficient at genfic.).

If you're on my friends list I suspect you already know what fandoms I can handle. Not taking any requests for people from Joss Whedon shows, as I never really watched them to begin with. If you're not sure, ask, and I'll see what I can do.


Unlike stakebait I am not proficient in poetry, so you're not gettin' any.

On the other hand, you're free to ask for original fiction.

Give me a genre (mystery, science fiction, porn, etc.) and a starting point, be it situation, character, dilemma, etc. And I will write you a dribble of original fiction -- most likely brand new, but possibly using a world or characters I've created in the past. I reserve the right to try to turn one of these into a real story and sell it, in the unlikely event that I'm attacked by inspiration.

Afterwards I'll do up a post or two with links to each comment, so people don't have to wade through the threads to find them.

Comments

[penguinzero.livejournal.com]

One of the Ghostbusters (and/or their support staff -- Janine, Louis Tully, even Slimer) crosses paths with the Greatest Thief in the World. (Identity of the thief, living or dead, ghost or not, conflict or friendship, motivations, etc. -- all up to you. Enjoy!)

[camwyn]

"So lemme see if I've got this straight," Janine Melnitz said, leaning across her desk and resting her chin on her knuckles. "You died in 1742."

"Correct," said the spectral figure hovering a few inches above the floor of the firehouse. He- for it was male- wore a brilliant red uniform, or one that would have been brilliant red had she not been able to see the inside of the firehouse doors through his chest.

"And you were a, a-" She looked down at her notes. "Paymaster in King George the Third's army?"

"Correct again, Miss." The ghost smiled, a brief, awkward thing, and scratched at his scalp. His wig shed a few bits of powdery ectoplasm.

"Died when your ship and all its cargo went down in the East River, you said. By the part where the Hell's Gate Bridge is now." Janine shook her head. "That's a nasty part of the river, ya know. There was this guy who tried to swim around Manhattan Island last year. Nearly drowned when he got to the Hell's Gate."

"Frankly, Miss, I'm rather surprised that anyone could possibly consider such a swim to begin with. In my day, such a feat would have been attempted only by the most desperate of men."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sayin' this guy was exactly what you'd call sane. . . " She adjusted her glasses. "Anyway. Am I reading you right? You're trying to hire the Ghostbusters yourself?"

"Trying," said the ghost, "is the operative word. Why are you making this so difficult?"

"Oh, I'm not making it difficult, believe me. You want difficult, you come back in half an hour and talk to Dr. Venkman or Dr. Spengler. I'm just trying to head off the guys' questions before they start."

He sighed, a drafty, gusty sound.

"Sorry," said Janine. "Anyway. What are you planning on paying with? I don't know if you noticed on your way here, but we don't exactly take English money any more."

"No, but you do continue to trade in gold," the ghost pointed out. "His Majesty's paymasters were not sent out from Britain with holds full of paper money, Miss Melnitz."

Janine blinked. "Are you trying to tell me that there's a whole ship full of gold at the bottom of the East River?" she demanded.

"Several, actually." The paymaster's ghost smiled. "I have been authorised to speak on behalf of the other Royal Paymasters. That is why I wish to hire your employers. The greatest thief in the world, a man named Thomas Hariot, has discovered the precise location of our unfortunate watery graves. Even now, Hariot is in the process of raising a small army of supernatural creatures I cannot even begin to identify- for the express purpose of stealing his Majesty's gold."

"A-huh." Janine nodded, reaching into her desk drawer. "Hang on a second, will ya? I think this rates getting Dr. V on the Nextel . . ."

[penguinzero.livejournal.com]

Marvelous. Simply marvelous. Stands alone well, but could also be used to kick off anything from a short story to an epic season fighting off Hariot's supernatural army and retrieving the gold... Very well done. Thanks!

[camwyn]

I remember reading about the Revolutionary War-era gold ships that had supposedly been sunk by the currents and treacherous bottom in the Hell's Gate region of the East River- I think I was in second or third grade at the time. It always struck me as fascinating that there was a part of the river considered too dangerous for divers to even TRY to get at that much gold. Throw in a name like Hell's Gate and it's just such a natural thing to involve the Ghostbusters...

(The bridge in question is for railroad trains. If you drive over the Triborough from Manhattan to Queens, it's on your left.)