fringe_kinkmeme | Fringe Secret Santa 2011!

In a festive mood for Fringe? For a gift exchange of fiction, art including icons, or vids?

Then you're about to enter the right universe:

1.
To SIGN UP, all you need to do is add a comment to this very post containing your request.

Sign-ups are ~~between now and 1 November~~closed now. All the requests will be jumbled up and sent back out by 6 November.

2.
RESPONSES to gift requests are to be posted between 16 and 23 December --

ideally anonymously (with your reveal after Christmas, i.e. after 25 December, in your own fanspace). Two ways to do this:

a) Add your response as an anon comment to the request you've been matched up with. (For fic, that allows for roughly 3,000 words in one comment, multiples of course encouraged. Vids & art are trickier, but only a bit.)

b) Jot down the link to the actual response in a blog, on the AO3 (pseudonyms option suggested), or any other platform. (If you need an invite code for the AO3, tell us, and you'll have it in no time.)

If anon doesn't work for you -- no dummy accounts possible, or your working hours look a lot like Olivia's -- that's fine; post the link to your own fanspace with the response. Just, don't tell Alt!Astrid.

3.
Please don't sign up if you believe you'll be unable to complete a request given to you.

If you realise you can't make it, please tell us as early as possible, and we will try to organise a pinch hitter so that your recipient isn't left without a gift at the end of the fest.

4.
Now!

To join the exchange, post a request with the following information:

Blog: [DW handle] OR [LJ handle] OR [AO3 account] OR [ff.net handle] OR [...]
E-mail: Should of course be working.
Things I'd like: Please request at least three things here...but ultimately feel free to add as many things as you'd like at this point. Doesn't mean you'll get them all, but there's no harm in asking, and it ensures you get a great Secret Santa match. If you'd like a specific pairing or character, then speak now or forever hold thy peace. Don't forget to ask for icons or vids too -- we all know the likelihood is low in a small fandom such as this one, but hey. Worth a shot!
Things I wouldn't like: If there's anything you wouldn't like to receive (pairing in a fic, French electropop for your vid, bright-green textures in your icons) then here's the place to mention it. Without character-, pairing-, or kink-bashing, of course.
What I can do: Are you great at a certain genre (gen, het, slash)? Are you the specialist for writing specific character/s or pairing/s? One of the excellent Fringe vidders out there, or an icon-maker with aspirations? One of the folks on tumblr who brighten every Fringe fan's day? As ever, specifics are great so your match brings you tears of happiness instead of, you know, the opposite.
What I can't do: If there's anything you feel you can't do, then please say so here. Same disclaimer as above applies.
Pinch hitter?: In the event of someone not being able to complete their gift are you willing to be stand-in writer, artist, or vidder?

The Fringe Secret Santa is open to fanfic, fanart including icons, and fanvids; on the fic side everything goes -- all we ask for is a minimum wordcount of 750, that kinks are tagged and warnings included.

Happy holidays! And thanks to the ever-excellent mods over at

sga_santa, from whom the template for this text is snagged with permission.

Feel free to snag this Fringe Secret Santa icon. More yet to come...

<||:)>

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From: (Anonymous)

A/n: Set in Amber!verse/new timeline/whatever you would like to call it. I'm not sure if this is shippy or not, so you can go ahead and make that call. :)

It still amazed Lincoln that despite all the weird, make-your-skin-crawl events he dealt with in Fringe Division everyday, there were still times where they had to do mundane things like paperwork. His first week working with them he almost forgot paperwork existed. It was a welcome change, though. No bouncing bodies or people who change their face. Just filling out reports like the good old days.

Well, like good old last month.

It was hard to believe that his whole world had flipped around in a few days. This was the kind of thing you saw in bad sci-fi films. The rookie cop has to fumble around with a bad ass crew that fights aliens and monsters and God, when did his life become this?

Dr. Bishop asked if he could go get a milkshake, and to everyone's surprise Olivia offered to take him. She ushered him out the door with a “We need to talk.”, and Lincoln was left to fill out stacks of forms with Astrid.

Astrid has always been nice to him, but he realized that in his week with Fringe Division, she was the only one who he hadn't sat down with and talked to yet. He was with Olivia almost all day, and Astrid frequently stayed at the lab to help Dr. Bishop. Maybe this would be the right time to get another perspective on working in this division. Olivia had been polite, but it was easy to see that she wasn't the “sharing” type.

Astrid slid him a cup of coffee as she sat down across the table.

“You know, they don't have coffee on the Other Side.”

Lincoln glanced up, smiling at the mug in front of him. “The other side?”

“The other universe.” She smiled and grabbed a pen and a stack of papers.

“Oh. Yeah.” He looked back down at the paper and paused. This was as good a chance as any to ask how she dealt with all that they did, wasn't it?

“Other universes. I didn't even imagine that kind of stuff before....” He trailed off.

Astrid gave him a small smile. “I know. It's hard to wrap your head around. I'm still working on it. But you'll get there eventually. Soon, a weird day will be one without a problem that only Walter understands.”

Lincoln nodded. The next few minutes passed with only the noise of their pens scribbling on the forms. As he took another paper off the pile, he glanced up at Astrid again.

“Do you ever think about what you're like? Over there?”

She let out a chuckle. “All the time. Are you thinking about what you'd be?”

He tried to shrug apathetically, but his face surely betrayed his confused thoughts. “I met Olivia's.... Person. Double. Doppelganger-”

“Whatever you want to call it.” Astrid interrupted him with a grin. “Yeah. She's something, isn't she?”

“It's weird. Probably the weirdest thing I've seen yet.”

“People we know who aren't people we know. It takes some getting used to.” She folded her hands on top of the desk.

“Pretty much everything we do takes some getting used to.”

Lincoln mirrored her actions, pushing aside the papers.

“I've figured that out.” He stared at her for a moment, waiting to see if she would continue on with their work or if he could push the conversation further. She merely smiled at him.

“So, what do you think you're like?”

Se responded right away. “I'm a substitute teacher who helps city kids learn to read during the day and fights crime as a superhero at night.”

There was a long pause.

Astrid reached over and tapped his hands. “What about you?”

Lincoln shook his head quickly. “I have no idea. A substitute teacher?”

“So I can work at different schools. Come on, you can't avoid the question.”

“I don't know!” He leaned back in the chair, any thoughts of completing the paperwork gone. “How did you come up with that?”

She laughed. “I've had a bit to think about it. I've never actually met my.... Whatever. And Olivia doesn't like to talk about her time on the other side. So I just made something up. Kind of like an... Alter-ego.”

He grinned. “I hadn't thought of it like that.”

She shrugged, grabbing the empty mug in front of her and standing up to refill it. “It's more fun this way.” She turned her back to him. “What do you want your alter-ego to be, Lincoln Lee?”

The wooden chair legs creaked as he leaned further back. “I don't think I want to be a superhero.”

Astrid came back to the table and firmly set her cup back on the table. “You want some?”

Lincoln looked at his forgotten cup of coffee. “No, thanks.”

She sat back down. “Why not a superhero?”

“I was never really into superheros.”

Astrid slowly spun the spoon around in her coffee. “Okay. Then what do you want to be?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I'm just me. I work in the Fringe Division and don't get any sleep at night.”

Lincoln thought he saw the briefest eye roll before she shook her head. “That's not an option. Come on! You get to create any version of you. No more paperwork,” She gestured to the stacks littering the desks. “No more errands for Walter or Olivia or whoever.”

He was beginning to think of how to respond when the doors creaked open. Walter Bishop strolled in first, clutching a large drink and animatedly talking to Olivia about something. Lincoln glanced over at Astrid, who was already standing up.

“Can I get back to you on that?”

“Sure.” She eyed Dr. Bishop, who was attempting to drink his milkshake, walk down the steps backwards, and talk to Olivia at the same time. “I'm going to go deal with that. Make sure you make it something good, okay?” She sent him one last smile before jogging across the lab and snatching the drink out of Walters hand.

Olivia gave him a small nod as she walked past into her office. Lincoln guessed he was supposed to finish up these papers on his own. He grabbed his pen and stared down at the file in his hand.

Now, what was better than being a superhero....

From:

ziparumpazoo

“I'm a substitute teacher who helps city kids learn to read during the day and fights crime as a superhero at night.”

Okay, you had me laughing out loud in the line at the grocery store with that. (I couldn't wait to read it until I got home). I can just imagine Lincoln sitting there open-mouthed trying to figure out if she's pulling his leg or not. *g*
This is really fabulous, thank you so much Anon. I love how Astrid reaches out to the new guy, draws him into the team in her own gentle supportive way without pitying him at all. Their voices were spot-on - I could just hear this conversation taking place in some missing scene on the DVD. Thank you for such a lovely fill. :D

From:

wendelah1

I tried to comment once as an anon and it didn't work. What happened? Since we are allowed to comment as ourselves I am trying again.

This is adorable! How is there so much talent in this tiny fandom?

It still amazed Lincoln that despite all the weird, make-your-skin-crawl events he dealt with in Fringe Division everyday, there were still times where they had to do mundane things like paperwork. His first week working with them he almost forgot paperwork existed. It was a welcome change, though. No bouncing bodies or people who change their face. Just filling out reports like the good old days.

Well, like good old last month.

Hugs for Lincoln!

He tried to shrug apathetically, but his face surely betrayed his confused thoughts. “I met Olivia's.... Person. Double. Doppelganger-”

“Whatever you want to call it.” Astrid interrupted him with a grin. “Yeah. She's something, isn't she?”

Yes she sure is.

“Sure.” She eyed Dr. Bishop, who was attempting to drink his milkshake, walk down the steps backwards, and talk to Olivia at the same time. “I'm going to go deal with that. Make sure you make it something good, okay?” She sent him one last smile before jogging across the lab and snatching the drink out of Walters hand.

I love this! Your Astrid is warm and funny and smart and so very her.

From: (Anonymous)

I love Astrid, I love the ease with which you've written both of these characters, how Lincoln's still feeling his way around the lab. Well done!

From:

monanotlisa

Lincoln's tone in this cracks me up -- that mix of confusion, determination, and dry wit. Your Astrid and her interplay with Lincolns rings very true too -- sidekicks unite!