Spies, Secret Agents, and Noir Bingo Card 1-1-15

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here is my card for the Spies, Secret Agents, and Noir fest on allbingo. It will run from January 1-31.  It features all kinds of espionage and subterfuge.  For a comparison with my current work: An Army of One started out with mostly secret outposts (and we still haven't found that one with the lab animals in it), Frankenstein's Family has the creepy hunter organization sneaking around, the grandmother of Monster House is hiding advanced tech, P.I.E. focuses on a private detective, Polychrome Heroics has a serious spook problem, and the protagonist of Tripping into the Future is hiding from the only other humans around.  (See all my 2016 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


SPIES, SECRET AGENTS, AND NOIR

cover identity	spies in a van	the mole	spy catsuit	honey trap
Everything changed when she found out that she was pregnant in the middle of an incredibly delicate assassination situation.	janitor impersonation infiltration	nonviolent confrontation	Keep It Safe from Them	brainwashing
dangerous territory	tracking device	"Is that all you've got?"	Out of Ammo	prisoners
He elected to use his brain rather than his fists to exit the situation.	mission accomplished	She/he hardly seemed to know the difference between right and wrong any more.	injury	covert group with mundane front
mugged for disguise	secrets	gizmos and gadgets	Taken into protection by a spy organization	self-destruct

Comments

[siliconshaman]

Well, Ilyana did promise to go atomic on the bad-guy spies/secret organisation way back when... but god alone knows what square that would fit under? Suggestions, because I've got a few quid left over for sponsorship.

Middle square, second from the bottom row maybe?
Middle square, middle row perhaps?
Although, I'd die laughing if it was first square second row!

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Well, Ilyana did promise to go atomic on the bad-guy spies/secret organisation way back when...<<

Also she's a great fit for this month's theme of ordinary objects. Russians are adept jerryriggers. :D

>> but god alone knows what square that would fit under? Suggestions, because I've got a few quid left over for sponsorship. <<

"Keep it safe from them" and "dangerous territory" would be right up her alley. *chuckle* Especially if it was the kind of data or hardware that would be destroyed simply by handing it to the radioactive lady. That never seems to happen in spy movies and would be hilarious. I mean, sheesh, I kill watches and discs and stuff. The amount of leakage even through her suit is probably enough to wipe ordinary unshielded things, and gizmos can be finicky unless they're built like boilerplate.

>> Middle square, second from the bottom row maybe?
Middle square, middle row perhaps?
Although, I'd die laughing if it was first square second row! <<

The center square definitely seems like a good match. Middle square, second from the bottom I was originally considering for Brad. First square second row I was thinking might be a way to bring in Stiletto. Is Ilyana even still fertile?

Re: Hmm...

[siliconshaman]

She is indeed an expert at bricolage, out of sheer necessity.

And yeah, the neutron flux and beta radiation would kill most flash memory for a start and cook off unshielded electronics. You know that trope of the female agent tucking the McGuffin into her bra? yeah, that would do it...she could probably cook microwave popcorn that way. [not really]

I really cannot imagine that Ilyana would even be genetically compatible...after all the reason she's alive is the radicans fungus got incorporated into her genome... so she's technically, not entirely human. And gods alone what the radiation would do to the fetus. However.. there's Blaze...

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> She is indeed an expert at bricolage, out of sheer necessity. <<

:D

>> And yeah, the neutron flux and beta radiation would kill most flash memory for a start and cook off unshielded electronics. You know that trope of the female agent tucking the McGuffin into her bra? yeah, that would do it...she could probably cook microwave popcorn that way. [not really] <<

*laugh* It's probably not a mistake she'd make by accident, but still a funny image.

>> I really cannot imagine that Ilyana would even be genetically compatible...after all the reason she's alive is the radicans fungus got incorporated into her genome... so she's technically, not entirely human. And gods alone what the radiation would do to the fetus. However.. there's Blaze... <<

My thought is that the largest stumbling block would be whether or not she still has viable ova. Without that, you're down to some really rare methods of reproduction. On the other hoof, soup-to-soup matings have a high viability rate and often produce superpowered offspring. With Ilyana being primarily radioactive and Blaze having some secondary resistance to it, they match in at least one regard, which raises the chance of compatibility, except for them both being female.

This brings up one of those oddball methods: some people with certain powers such as Phase or Super-Speed tend to 'shed' some of their DNA, which can get lodged in other people's bodies. Usually nothing comes of it. But when you add superpowers to the mix, once in a great while they go "Oh hey, new puzzle piece, let's build something with it!"

If you've read "Fate Misnamed" then you've seen one of the other risks inherent to Phasing, which is tangling on an energy level instead of purely physical.

Re: Hmm...

[siliconshaman]

One of the old ways of introducing new DNA into plant cells used to involve a blank .22 cartridge, loaded with crystallised DNA. I kid you not, literally shotgun approach to trans-vectoring.

I very, very much doubt Ilyana has viable ova, they would've suffered significant radiation damage even before she underwent transformation. That said... her turbo-charged DNA repair does incorporate new DNA..that how she underwent transformation, so if it was handed an entire new complete set of chromosomes it would basically freak out rather.

It could in theory revitalise one of the damaged & defunct ova, especially if there was a calcium ion shock that went with it.

On the other hand... it's far, far more likely that if one of Ilyana's cells was to end up in a damaged state, inside Blaze, it would behave rather like a gamete and try to rebuild itself using available DNA [Blaze's] especially if one of the nearby cells was haploid [aka an ova]. it would fuse with that preferentially and could in theory result in a viable foetus. [it would have to be girl though.]

Hmm... now, if Ilyana was to get shot, through-and-through and it hit Blaze while she was fertile. They might find out Blaze is expecting a couple of weeks later... [believe it or not, that has happened, although in the original case the male got shot in the testicles.]

I'm not sure either of them are ready to be mothers though! But it would certainly provide impetus for them to get married. [yes, they've been stalling, despite Ilyana's mother hinting broadly.]

[chanter1944]

I have a 'keep it safe from them' prompt spinning through my brain. It's intense, and beyond that, that square sounds like it might already be spoken for?

I'm also eyeing up that very last square, the 'self-destruct' one, for a prompt about a self-detonator using their ability in a very visibly positive way i.e. taking out a bunker full of illicit weapons safely, without harming anyone including, once they reconstitute, themselves. Oops, and that just segued into positive role model for Boomer/Hadyn territory in my head.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

:D I have thought about a soup mentor for Hadyn. Supplies of matching ability are very limited. The one I keep thinking of is Mr. Grenade, who is a supervillain, but a principled one. His tagline, of course, is "Once you have pulled the pin from Mr. Grenade, he is no longer your friend." He generally works as a mercenary, but could be hired to dispose of a cache of guns and/or zetetic weapons. His gift works a little differently -- he grows a layer of rigid armor that explodes off him. Despite that, he actually has some finesse, being able to do partial releases of power for a more controlled effect; and that's something he can teach, which Hadyn needs to learn.

Self-destructive tendencies are very common among self-detonators, along with a volatile temper. I think it has to do with their ability to turn energy inward or outward. So the reference fits.

Want to claim this square for the Tuesday fishbowl? Could go either toward Mr. Grenade on the job or helping Hadyn. Both lend themselves to this month's theme of unexpected uses for ordinary objects.

Re: Well...

[chanter1944]

Think I will claim that square for Tuesday's fishbowl, if the 'Mr. Grenade on the job' prompt works. That is, his being hired for a non-dark assignment disposing of a cache of something otherwise nasty safely. If Spoon, or maybe not Spoon as a whole but someone like Groundhog or Cheersquad acting on their own, gets the idea that hey, Hadyn might have a beneficial thread of contact here, even if it's just e-mail (Vdress? I forget the equivalent term), all the better.

This all depends on whether both self-detonators are eventually okay with the idea. If one or both isn't, I won't ask you to try forcing anything. You know I've been there, tried that, and gotten the brainache to show for it.

Re: Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Think I will claim that square for Tuesday's fishbowl, if the 'Mr. Grenade on the job' prompt works.<<

Marked on hold. I have him statted up too.

>> That is, his being hired for a non-dark assignment disposing of a cache of something otherwise nasty safely. <<

That works.

>> If Spoon, or maybe not Spoon as a whole but someone like Groundhog or Cheersquad acting on their own, gets the idea that hey, Hadyn might have a beneficial thread of contact here, even if it's just e-mail (Vdress? I forget the equivalent term), all the better. <<

Hannah still isn't on speaking terms with SPOON, but she knows Mr. Grenade -- she spent a few weeks helping him learn how to control his superpowers. So anyone could make the connection back to her and see if she thinks it would be helpful for Haydn, which it would. Convincing Hadyn to work with a supervillain is a little more challenging. And yes, vdress for a vidwatch contact.

>> This all depends on whether both self-detonators are eventually okay with the idea. If one or both isn't, I won't ask you to try forcing anything. You know I've been there, tried that, and gotten the brainache to show for it. <<

Mr. Grenade is a bit baffled -- he's not good with people -- but willing to give it a try. Hadyn is still anxious about her superpowers and worried about hurting people, which makes her fairly withdrawn. For her the biggest appeal is probably not learning about her superpowers, which she is not keen on, but having someone around that she can't hurt. It's a lot more awkward than some of the other mentoring arrangements we've seen, but I think they'll manage. Once you get past the surface differences, their personalities are pretty similar.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

This doesn't fit with any of your series AFAIK, but "the mole" made me think of The Wind in the Willows...

*laugh*

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that is outside my usual writing range.