... ... ... Now I'm tempted to start posting bits of the potentially monstrously epic fic I'm working on where Denarian!Harry and Denarian!Marcone are refusing to work with Nicodemus and are instead ruling the city-state of Chicago in a dystopian post-civil-war setting surrounded by Republic-of-Gilead-esque fascist "Christian" dictatorships in the ruins of the US.
There are perks that come with being married to the Baron of Chicago. Even back in the days when that title was only known in the supernatural community, being known as crime boss Gentleman Johnny Marcone's right-hand man and probable lover gave me a certain level of wary respect that being the only wizard in the phone book could never achieve. Now that the Baron was, in fact, the legitimate and publicly acknowledged ruler of an area that stretched from Minneapolis to Detroit, there wasn't a soul for hundreds of miles around who didn't know who I was. Position came with lots of things. Respect- a mix of fear and admiration, sort of inevitable when a guy gains a reputation for killing a dozen vampires with barely a snap of his fingers. Luxury, as much as was available now; everyone had fewer material goods now, what with the oil shortage and economic collapse, but the only things I actually couldn't get anymore were the technological gadgets I couldn't use anyway. In a world where people were making do with a lot less, my standards of living had actually increased. I also had power- not the supernatural kind, which is what had gotten me here, but lackeys. Minions. When I said jump, several thousand government employees asked how high.
Mostly, though, it comes with paperwork.
I glared at the inbox on my desk, filled with things urgently needing my attention. Reports on ghoul activity up in what used to be Wisconsin. Memos about curfew enforcement. A reminder that it was about time to go evaluate the magically gifted teenagers this year's screenings had turned up. New trade routes to plot through the Nevernever. Requests from across Greater Chicago for assistance with nasties too powerful for local police and military to deal with. Those, at least, I looked forward to- it would give me an excuse to get out and do what I did best. After a long, hard day at the office, there's nothing quite like setting vampires on fire to unwind and relax. It was even worse for John, of course- he only delegated the supernatural stuff to me. I kept the people of Greater Chicago safe from things that go bump in the night; he kept them safe from each other. He'd been in meetings for days with various industrialists, planning some infrastructure improvements- wind turbines, retrofiting factories abandoned in the days of outsourcing, that sort of thing. I don't know how he stood it. But then, he'd been running a criminal empire for years before he started running a small country. Maybe he was just better suited to it.
"If you dislike it so, my host," Lasciel said to me from the back of my head, amused, "I would gladly take this burden from you."
"Not a chance," I said- well, thought- to her. "Government is my department." My status as one of the good guys was suspect enough as it is without letting a fallen angel interfere in the running of a dictatorship. It was bad enough I let her get her hooks into my magic. John and I had promised each other to keep Lasciel and Selariel out of the driver's seat for any sort of government decision, no matter how minor, and I wasn't about to break that promise just because I was bored stiff.
"As you wish, my host," Lasciel said gently, with a sensual caress of energy, teasing and warm. Had she wanted, of course, she could have overpowered me, hijacked my head and used my body like a puppet. I had been worried about that, a little, when I first took up the coin. But she wouldn't. It wasn't in her nature. The day she took me over by force would be the day that the Queens of Faery decided to behave in a truly honest and straightforward manner. She wanted my mind intact, and was willing to be patient to get it.
Twenty-five years of influence, and I still managed to keep her separate from myself. What can I say, I'm just a stubborn bastard like that. I figured I had a few decades left of mental independence, at this rate. I'd have to give up the coin eventually, of course. But not yet.
My musings were interrupted by a knock on my door. "Yeah?"
The door opened and John's secretary slid into the room. Maria was a woman of impressive skill, skill that kept the government running in the post-computer age, and on top of that was utterly unflappable, which is damned useful when you have to spend as much time around me as she did. She also had a body that made me briefly regret those vows I'd made way back when about forsaking all others, all soft curves and grace, emphasized by her impeccably hand-tailored pantsuit. Good thing for me I hadn't vowed against looking.
"Excuse me, Mr. Dresden," she said. "The Baron wants you to be there for his two o'clock appointment. Can you make it?"
I leaned back in my chair lazily. "I don't know, Maria, you tell me," I said.
She quirked an eyebrow. "Your schedule is empty then. That doesn't tell me if you're free."
It was true. If I was working on some thaumaturgical spell, I might not be able to just drop it for the sake of some meeting. "Yeah," I said, "I'll be there. This crap," I gestured to my overflowing inbox "can damn well wait till I get back."
She nodded. "Good. Blue reception room, one hour from now."
"Did he say who he's meeting with?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Some petitioner. He didn't share the details. I'll just go tell him, then, shall I?"
"Sure thing," I said, and she left.
Bob whistled once she was gone. "Damn," he said, "she's got a fine ass."
"I agree," Lasciel put in.
"Pervs, the both of you," I said to her. Out loud, I said to Bob, "Before you ask, no, she won't be part of your private peep show." Back when I was a struggling wizard, he'd had to make do with romance novels and skin mags; now he got real live prostitutes to come put on shows in front of him. Some of them even let him ride along- real treasures, those girls. But that didn't keep him from whining just because some people were off limits. I wasn't about to piss off someone with Maria's skills just so Bob could have some cheap thrills.
"Hmmph," Bob said with a flicker of his lights. "You're no fun, boss."
"Neither are these goddamned memos," I growled. "Idiots." I wrote off a few pointers to the police chief of some backwater town somewhere who couldn't identify a simple nixie infestation when it was staring him in the face.
The rest of the hour went much the same way. By the time two o'clock rolled around, I would have joined in on the goddamn wind turbine meetings just to get away from it.
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I had written and say, I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I'm still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for first-time blog writers? I'd genuinely appreciate it.
Whats up this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I'm starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Incredible! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It's on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-06 11:31 pm (UTC)...
...
Now I'm tempted to start posting bits of the potentially monstrously epic fic I'm working on where Denarian!Harry and Denarian!Marcone are refusing to work with Nicodemus and are instead ruling the city-state of Chicago in a dystopian post-civil-war setting surrounded by Republic-of-Gilead-esque fascist "Christian" dictatorships in the ruins of the US.
Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-06 11:34 pm (UTC)Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-07 12:19 am (UTC)Not because they retain any form of basic humanity, no why would you think that, have a violent bloody death for even suggesting it.
Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-07 12:29 am (UTC)Let's just call this, "The road to hell" 1/??
Date: 2011-03-07 01:19 am (UTC)Mostly, though, it comes with paperwork.
I glared at the inbox on my desk, filled with things urgently needing my attention. Reports on ghoul activity up in what used to be Wisconsin. Memos about curfew enforcement. A reminder that it was about time to go evaluate the magically gifted teenagers this year's screenings had turned up. New trade routes to plot through the Nevernever. Requests from across Greater Chicago for assistance with nasties too powerful for local police and military to deal with. Those, at least, I looked forward to- it would give me an excuse to get out and do what I did best. After a long, hard day at the office, there's nothing quite like setting vampires on fire to unwind and relax.
It was even worse for John, of course- he only delegated the supernatural stuff to me. I kept the people of Greater Chicago safe from things that go bump in the night; he kept them safe from each other. He'd been in meetings for days with various industrialists, planning some infrastructure improvements- wind turbines, retrofiting factories abandoned in the days of outsourcing, that sort of thing. I don't know how he stood it. But then, he'd been running a criminal empire for years before he started running a small country. Maybe he was just better suited to it.
"If you dislike it so, my host," Lasciel said to me from the back of my head, amused, "I would gladly take this burden from you."
"Not a chance," I said- well, thought- to her. "Government is my department." My status as one of the good guys was suspect enough as it is without letting a fallen angel interfere in the running of a dictatorship. It was bad enough I let her get her hooks into my magic. John and I had promised each other to keep Lasciel and Selariel out of the driver's seat for any sort of government decision, no matter how minor, and I wasn't about to break that promise just because I was bored stiff.
"As you wish, my host," Lasciel said gently, with a sensual caress of energy, teasing and warm. Had she wanted, of course, she could have overpowered me, hijacked my head and used my body like a puppet. I had been worried about that, a little, when I first took up the coin. But she wouldn't. It wasn't in her nature. The day she took me over by force would be the day that the Queens of Faery decided to behave in a truly honest and straightforward manner. She wanted my mind intact, and was willing to be patient to get it.
Twenty-five years of influence, and I still managed to keep her separate from myself. What can I say, I'm just a stubborn bastard like that. I figured I had a few decades left of mental independence, at this rate. I'd have to give up the coin eventually, of course. But not yet.
My musings were interrupted by a knock on my door. "Yeah?"
The door opened and John's secretary slid into the room. Maria was a woman of impressive skill, skill that kept the government running in the post-computer age, and on top of that was utterly unflappable, which is damned useful when you have to spend as much time around me as she did. She also had a body that made me briefly regret those vows I'd made way back when about forsaking all others, all soft curves and grace, emphasized by her impeccably hand-tailored pantsuit. Good thing for me I hadn't vowed against looking.
"Excuse me, Mr. Dresden," she said. "The Baron wants you to be there for his two o'clock appointment. Can you make it?"
I leaned back in my chair lazily. "I don't know, Maria, you tell me," I said.
She quirked an eyebrow. "Your schedule is empty then. That doesn't tell me if you're free."
It was true. If I was working on some thaumaturgical spell, I might not be able to just drop it for the sake of some meeting. "Yeah," I said, "I'll be there. This crap," I gestured to my overflowing inbox "can damn well wait till I get back."
She nodded. "Good. Blue reception room, one hour from now."
"Did he say who he's meeting with?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Some petitioner. He didn't share the details. I'll just go tell him, then, shall I?"
"Sure thing," I said, and she left.
Bob whistled once she was gone. "Damn," he said, "she's got a fine ass."
"I agree," Lasciel put in.
"Pervs, the both of you," I said to her. Out loud, I said to Bob, "Before you ask, no, she won't be part of your private peep show." Back when I was a struggling wizard, he'd had to make do with romance novels and skin mags; now he got real live prostitutes to come put on shows in front of him. Some of them even let him ride along- real treasures, those girls. But that didn't keep him from whining just because some people were off limits. I wasn't about to piss off someone with Maria's skills just so Bob could have some cheap thrills.
"Hmmph," Bob said with a flicker of his lights. "You're no fun, boss."
"Neither are these goddamned memos," I growled. "Idiots." I wrote off a few pointers to the police chief of some backwater town somewhere who couldn't identify a simple nixie infestation when it was staring him in the face.
The rest of the hour went much the same way. By the time two o'clock rolled around, I would have joined in on the goddamn wind turbine meetings just to get away from it.
Re: Let's just call this, "The road to hell" 1/??
Date: 2011-03-07 01:53 am (UTC)Re: Let's just call this, "The road to hell" 1/??
Date: 2011-03-07 02:20 am (UTC)Re: Let's just call this, "The road to hell" 1/??
Date: 2011-03-09 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-13 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-15 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-24 05:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-23 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-03 03:34 pm (UTC)Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-07 01:49 am (UTC)Re: OPEN PROMPT
Date: 2011-03-07 12:51 pm (UTC)(SOBS)