cabinpres_fic: (pic#1165825)cabinpres_fic ([personal profile] cabinpres_fic) wrote,
@ 2012-02-03 07:49 am UTC
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Entry tags:prompting part iii

Please see the most recent MOD NOTE


(updated 6 June)

Welcome everybody. How you got here I have no idea but thank you for coming and welcome again, nonetheless . As you may have gathered this is a Fic Prompting Meme dedicated solely to the hilarious and oh-so-addictive BBC Radio 4 sitcom - Cabin Pressure. I'm aiming for this to be pretty anything goes - but in order for everything to run smoothly, there are a few guidelines. Don't worry - they're not too restrictive.


FILLING GUIDELINES



As you probably all know - our meme now has it's very own database created and maintained by the great Enigel. It both catalogues each and every prompt that we post and provides links to fills. You can find it here: Google Spreadsheet

We also have a Pinboard archive which has been put in place by the lovely [personal profile] oxfordtweed in the place of our late Delicious Archive. This Archive contains a list of all the prompts this meme has to offer - you can find it here: Pinboard Archive

This is a great step forward in making our meme just a little more organised (but not too organised of course. This is Cabin Pressure) which is always a good thing.

So in order to make things easier to archive - Please nest your fills.

This can be done by either posting each part as a reply to that part's immediate predecessor, OR by replying each time to Part I OR - well you get the idea :D

It makes it simpler for Enigel and myself to link fills in a clean and clear manner. Following these guildelines will be very much appreciated guys :D

REPROMPTING



Reprompting is allowed but please include the URL of the original prompt when you do so. It will make it infinitely more easy to Archive which would make both Enigel and I very happy :)

As for everything else



  1. Be respectful to one another. Disagreements are fine, but not everything disagreeable is trolling. If you suspect someone of trolling, just ignore it. If you cannot respond to a comment without attacking or trolling someone else, keep it to yourself.

  2. No bashing prompts. It might not be your cup of tea - but obviously someone wants it enough to go to the effort of requesting it. So just scroll past it.

  3. Prompt away as much as you like guys - seriously, go wild - but please try to fill as well.

    4. NEW - If your fill includes a major element that veers from the original prompt (crossovers, established universes, kinks, et cetera), please take a few moments to check with the OP that such additions are welcome. This has caused problems in the past and it only takes a few moments of your time.
  4. Please no RPF. I'm not trying to oppress you RPF writers and enthusiasts, I would just really like to avoid any legal problems.

  5. When you post a fill (or post a new part of a WIP) please go over to the Filled Prompts Post (if it is complete) or the WIP Post (if there are still more parts to come) and, following each post's guideline's, post a link to this fill or new part.


REALLY IMPORTANT ADDENDUM



According to numerous Child Safety laws it is illegal to provide pornographic material to minors. Seeing that the majority of the stuff we have here is rather adult in nature, this Meme is consequently an 18+ zone. Failing to comply to this rule could result in the Meme getting shut down. So if you're here and you're under 18 please back button now.

+ Please do not post anything regarding minors in a sexual situation. It really doesn't matter how tasteful or crass it is, there are laws that classify that sort of thing as child pornography and as such, I'm afraid we're going to have to go with the attitude that safe is better than sorry.

It really is VERY important that these rules are upheld as the consequences are severe.

Other than that - go crazy guys. Any problems please just message me and I'll try my best to work it out.



Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Prompt Index

Current Prompt Post | Current Chatter Post | WIP Post | Filled Prompts Post | Searching Post | Orphan Post | Page-a-Mod Post | FAQ | Beta/Concrit Post

[livejournal.com profile] cabin_pressure | Cabin Pressure @ AO3 | IRC Chat @ irc.ecnet.org #FittonATC

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Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-06 11:02 pm UTC (link)
So I was going to follow the prompt, honest I was. Unfortunately I decided to freewrite instead of plan and this story happened instead. *Hangs head in shame*. I'll throw it out there anyway, if only to ride the slipstream from straydog733's brilliant entry above.

* * *

The fog of numbness that has been Martin’s world for the last half an hour slowly but surely started to fade. The world returned in segments, the first segment being a tiny part of Martin’s brain pointing out that he was, quite literally, crying over spilt milk.

And not just crying. These were huge, gulping sobs that made breathing difficult, which made him dizzy, which made his ear start to ring and stomach flip flop, which made him feel sick, which made him cry harder. He closed his eyes, desperately trying to take deep breaths, but the loss of any visual input seemed to make the problem worse instead of better.

It wasn’t even his milk.

The second segment was remembering that he had bare feet and there was broken glass everywhere. He instinctively pulled his feet in, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs and burying his face against his knees.

The third segment was the arm around his shoulders tightening, which brought on the fourth segment, realisation that the arm was there. And connected, as arms tended to be, to the body that Martin was curled up against.

The fifth segment was that he finally felt safe for the first time that evening.

Finally he stopped crying, but with the tears also went his energy and now the poor sod holding him, the sixth segment supplied that it was Arthur, was the only thing stopping Martin from cracking his head open on the kitchen floor. He didn’t care. He lifted his head up only for it to fall sideways, landing on Arthur’s chest.

“Feeling better?” Arthur said, his light voice strange in the dark, glass covered kitchen. “I always feel better after a hug and a good cry.”

“What time is it?” Martin said, looking up at the microwave clock but unable to keep his eyes open for long enough to look at the numbers.

“Half one. It’s Sunday now.” Arthur said. “It’s Douglas’s birthday today. We should go and wish him a Happy Birthday.”

“He’ll be sleeping.” Martin mumbled, falling back asleep himself. For all that he fidgeted, Arthur was a surprisingly comfortable human cushion.

“Nah. He’s awake. He’s upstairs talking to Mum. Oh, no, here he comes. Douglas. Happy birthday. Watch the glass.”

CRUNCH

“Arthur. What happened?” Carolyn said, from somewhere just above Martin’s head. Which incidentally was starting to hurt. “And you should be in bed, young man. You’ve had a big day.”

Arthur stood and Martin, suddenly bereft of what had actually been quite a nice human cushion now that he thought about it, shivered and tightened his arms around his legs. The sudden sensation of cold abated as a dressing gown (He was too tired to care that it was pink) was dropped over his shoulders and tightened around his thin frame in a no nonsense manner. If the fact that he was now all but wearing Carolyn’s dressing gown was a shock, then having Douglas suddenly lift him up like a father lifting up a sleeping child was an Earth shattering rug being pulled from his feet.

Segments seven through ten threw in the towel and ran for it.

“Can you manage?” Carolyn said.

“What are you not eating, Sir.” Douglas muttered, by way of an answer. “Come along.”

Crunch. Crunch.

“Douglas, you’re getting glass in your slippers.” Arthur said, but Douglas ignored him as he made his way back to the mound of blankets and cushions that was the sofa bed in Carolyn’s front room.

“I can walk.” Martin said, indignantly, although the weakness in his voice suggested that standing...much less walking...was beyond him right now. Douglas said nothing as he stooped to put Martin on the sofa and pulled the blankets over him.

“Now be good and stay put while I help Arthur.” Douglas said. “Or you won’t get a bedtime story.”

“Ha ha.”

Martin didn’t know why, as Douglas started to stand, he reached out in a panic and grabbed the first officer by the wrist. He didn’t say anything, just held so tightly that he was probably leaving bruises on the skin. If it hurt then Douglas didn’t let on, except to place his own hand over the top and slowly knead the knuckles until they relaxed, allowing him to lift the hand up and take it in his own.

“Sorry.” Martin mumbled, flushed with embarrassment and exhaustion. “I’m sorry...I’m just...I...I’m pathetic.”

“Martin, two men broke into your house while you were there. I would be worried if you weren’t on edge.” Douglas gave the hand one more quick squeeze before putting it under the blanket and letting it go. “It will take you a while to get over it, and of course you wont want to be alone while you do. Don’t try to force yourself to recover quickly on our account. Take your time.”

“It’s just...”

“You were scared.” Douglas said, and Martin nodded. “I would have been too.”

“No you wouldn’t. You’d have fought them off.” Martin said, snuggling deeper into the blankets despite himself. “At least no one else was there.” He said, rambling as Douglas fixed the blankets around him. “Student holidays. And to think I used to hate them.”

“Why?”

Martin realised what he had said, and bit his bottom lip. He was too tired to even censor himself now. “It...it...I get lonely.” I’ll be alone. And what if those men come back?

“Well we can’t be having that.” With a slight groan, Douglas sat down properly on the floor. “If the police give their okay, we’ll head back there tomorrow and pick up some of your stuff. Try to get you somewhere more permanent to stay until the students come back to keep you company.” He smiled. “Maybe mine.”

“But we can’t tomorrow.” Martin said, voice high pitched. “It’s your birthday.”

Douglas shrugged. “Yes. But actually I’m thinking about postponing it until this time next year. Something more important has come up, and it just isn’t convenient right now.”

“You can’t...” Martin whispered.

“Says who?” Douglas said, gratuitously giving the blanket one more quick tuck in. A tiny whisper from segment eleven let Martin know that Carolyn had left two glasses of milk on the coffee table. And a plate of cookies.

“Happy birthday.” He heard her whisper to Douglas.

“Thanks.” And segment twelve told Martin that neither was being sarcastic. For Douglas, sat on the living room floor with a cookie in one hand Martin's blanket covered hand under the other, this was happy.

He hung on to that thought as he drifted off to the sound of Arthur whistling in the kitchen at two o clock in the morning.

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-06 11:29 pm UTC (link)
This is brilliant! The fragmented narrative works fantastically well, and fits the post-traumatic frame of mind perfectly, the way information seems to filter in gradually from outside. Bencore! Bravo!

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 05:01 pm UTC (link)
Awe. Thank you Anon. I'm glad that people seem to have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I like being experimental with my reading, and I am interested in psychology and what makes us "tick". In summary, Poor Martin :-)

Thanks for reading.

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OP


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 12:13 am UTC (link)
asdfghjkl

I can't even

This is amazing brilliant. :D

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Re: OP


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 05:01 pm UTC (link)
Thanks OP. I left the brief slightly, but I am glad that you liked it regardless (*passes out from relief*).

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 12:51 am UTC (link)
I want to take this home and hug it and squeeze it and call it George.

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 05:03 pm UTC (link)
High praise indeed *LOL*. Thank you ;-)

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Re: Segments


[identity profile] straydog733.livejournal.com
2012-02-07 04:33 am UTC (link)
Oh wow, this one is so incredibly sweet! I love the contrast between our two approaches to this fill: I did the cracks in Martin's armour showing when a normal day happens to be especially bad. The rest of them respond by being supportive but snarky, as is their normal opperation.

But you took Martin and pushed him beyond what he could handle, out of the range of normal and into the traumatic, to the point where he broke completely and had to be put back together. I like that, even while they're making a few jokes to ease the time, Carolyn and Douglas are largely serious. The entire situation is beyond their normal banter, and they need to be there for Martin now. And once again, Arthur's simple wisdom rules the day.

Great fill, and I think our fics go together really well!

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-07 05:05 pm UTC (link)
We did take opposite approaches didn't we. :-) Amazing the scope that one prompt can have, based on interpretation.

Thanks for reading straydog733.

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crocodile_eat_u: (Octopus)

Re: Segments


[personal profile] crocodile_eat_u
2012-02-07 11:07 pm UTC (link)
I read this in the morning when I was feeling particulary rubbish and it really made my heart flutter, so much so I had to come and comment! Really, really lovely. The softness of it all is heartbreaking.

I'd give an arm and a leg to see a sequel! But if not then this is still just perfect. <3

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-08 04:43 pm UTC (link)
Thanks, crocodile_eat_u. Glad that I was able to cheer you up a tinsy bit.

I have no plans to write a sequel at the moment, but the bunny is all yours if you want to head off and play with it :-)

His name, apparently, is George.

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tiwtin: (LtF)

Re: Segments


[personal profile] tiwtin
2012-02-08 03:56 pm UTC (link)
Awww. Vulnerable Martin really pushes a button for me. Bless him. And I think my lip wobbled a little when Douglas picked him up.

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Re: Segments


(Anonymous)
2012-02-08 04:43 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for reading tiwtin :-)

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random_nexus: (GERTI)

Re: Segments


[personal profile] random_nexus
2012-02-15 06:55 am UTC (link)
Oh my gosh, this is excellent! It really can be that weird and 'fragment'ed after a seriously shocking/frightening event. Also, I adore them all being so kind. Just wonderful!

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anon_e_moss: (Ben 2)

Re: writer not so much de-anoned as finally bothered to get a profile


[personal profile] anon_e_moss
2012-02-15 07:27 am UTC (link)
Thanks random_nexus. I like dabbling with psychology and stuff (poor Martin). And MJN just would, wouldn't they. Against each other and together against the world.

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Re: Segments


[identity profile] greedslave.livejournal.com
2012-03-22 01:08 pm UTC (link)
Ohhhh..this is so cute! Really adorable!

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anon_e_moss: (Ben 2)

Re: Segments


[personal profile] anon_e_moss
2012-03-25 06:53 pm UTC (link)
Thank you :'-)

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