lyore: (Default)
lyore ([personal profile] lyore) wrote2008-06-09 11:35 am
Entry tags:

Fic: A Most Intriguing Proposal.

Like a lot of my flist, I was left slightly discontented by the ending of FotD. I was planning a post on the subject, but this came to mind instead...

Title: A Most Intriguing Proposal
Author: [personal profile] lyore
Fandom: Doctor Who / The Thursday Next series, and an implied guest appearance by another fictional archaeologist.
Spoilers: Spoilers for Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, general spoilers for the existence of a certain literary agency.
Word Count: ~ 340 words
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise doesn't belong to me.
Summary: Post FotD, River Song's perfect existence is interrupted.
Author's notes: Unbeta'd, comment and concrit welcomed.



River Song smoothed her hand across the children's bed covers. Downstairs, she could hear Miss Evangelista arguing the philosophical implications of theoretical physics with Anita (and there was a relationship she didn’t see coming), while the Daves engaged in an energetic two-man game of cricket, scuffing the perfectly manicured lawn. Temporarily, of course; River knew if she looked outside in an hour the marks would be gone.

She sighed. While domestication had been a nice change from her less-than-peaceful life, unending marital bliss was becoming a little… well, boring, frankly. She loved her husband and her children, of course, but she missed the intellectual stimulation – and the adrenaline rush – of exploring the galaxy. Of saving the galaxy. Not that she wanted to do that again, and besides, it would probably be hard to save a galaxy she couldn't interact with anymore. No, she would settle for a purpose outside these walls; anything larger than this house. But there weren't many job openings for archaeologists in a created library-world.

Someone knocked on the door.

River willed herself downstairs. There had to be some advantages to living in a virtual reality, after all.

Two strangers - a man and a woman - stood at the front door. River frowned. Neither of these two matched any of the existing patterns Cal had on file, and Doctor Moon normally warned her when there were new additions to the hard drive.

"Miss Song?" the female asked.

"Professor," River corrected automatically. Not that she had been doing much professoring lately, but it was the principle of the thing.

"I'm sorry. Professor?"

River nodded.

"My name is Thursday Next. I represent an organisation known as Jurisfiction." The woman paused. River saw her sharp eyes flick across the room, absorbing details like words on a page.

Then, "May we come in?"

River stood back from the door. The man in the hat flashed her a charming grin, and the woman elbowed him in the ribs.

Somehow she got the feeling that her afterlife had just become a whole lot more interesting.



~

[identity profile] lyore.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
Glad you liked it :)

[identity profile] mimarie.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 09:05 am (UTC)(link)
*Bounces* Yes! Will there be more? Please let there be more, because -- River *and* Thursday - yay!

It's obviously too long since I read the books though (oh, a re-read, the tragedy...), because I'm not exactly sure who the man in the hat is. And I'd happily hazard a guess, although I fear this may be biased, because I've been hoping and, um, have actually written most of a Torchwood/Bookworld crossover since the Torchwood novels appeared and Jack got the run of the Well of Lost Plots that maybe...)

And now you've got me wondering, what could Thursday want with River... Maybe a new ending to Murder in Mesopotamia? (Just in case my over-enthusiastic response didn't give it away - I'd love to read more)

[identity profile] lyore.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you liked it! No current plans for more (this ficlet hit out of the blue), but you never know.

As for the man in the hat, he's just an Unnamed Jurisfiction Agent, since I thought the scene worked better with two people. That said, I'll admit to a mental image of Indiana Jones, since two awesome fictional archaeologists are better than one :) (I was going to make it explicit, but decided his identity was beside the point of the fic.)

And now I want to read your Torchwood/Bookworld crossover - let me know when it is done, so I can check it out.

Thanks so much for the comment!
ext_2909: (ten martha)

[identity profile] deaka.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 10:26 am (UTC)(link)
Very nice! :D I like River here, with her vague dissatisfaction with the VR world. I haven't read any of Fforde's books (they're on my to-read list :p) but it sounds like River's in for something more up her alley. And the man in the hat made me think of Indiana Jones, which would be awesome. :D


[identity profile] lyore.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you liked it :) As we've already discussed, River just doesn't seem the sort to sit around in any reality, virtual or not.

They're good books, in a 'OMG-what-crack-is-the-author-on' sort of way. Definitely recommended, although it helps to have a solid grounding in literature before you read them.

And the man in the hat made me think of Indiana Jones, which would be awesome.

That was who I was going for, although I backed away from naming him specifically.

Yay

[identity profile] hercircumstance.livejournal.com 2008-06-09 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Thursday Next! That's pretty much what I had been preoccupied with ever since I saw they were in a giant library and later events. Hopefully there will be more fic on this subject. *nudge*

Re: Yay

[identity profile] lyore.livejournal.com 2008-06-12 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. As for more... we'll see :)

[identity profile] lotusflower85.livejournal.com 2008-06-15 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never read the Thursday Next series, but the whole premise is interesting, and loved the nod to the 'other fictional archaeologist'. And I can really see the VR world becoming mind-numbingly boring for River after a while, and her needing some kind of adventure like this.