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If you're here, you probably got here because you read something I wrote. And that is very cool. This is a public blog, so feel free to follow and/or comment in any way you wish.
( More about me/this journal )
This journal contains spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (the tv shows only).
For Want of a Spike
Apr. 28th, 2013 06:17 pmhttp://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/2214
796 words.
More Season 6. Blah blah blah.
I need to write things that are longer, or I'll never learn how to do exposition.
796 words.
More Season 6. Blah blah blah.
I need to write things that are longer, or I'll never learn how to do exposition.
From today's reading
Apr. 27th, 2013 06:34 pm"Immersion in a tub of eels" was suggested in an 1803 document as a form of "therapeutic terror", part of an "idiosyncratic variant" for the treatment of madness.
(Johann Christian Reil wrote the document, which was very briefly described in Madness: A Brief History, by Roy Porter. p140.)
Immersion in a tub of eels. This is why reality is stranger than fiction.
(Johann Christian Reil wrote the document, which was very briefly described in Madness: A Brief History, by Roy Porter. p140.)
Immersion in a tub of eels. This is why reality is stranger than fiction.
Love? I know love. Times past, our business was curses and stealing souls. Beautiful things, souls. Beau-ti-ful. I had a garden full of soul roses. How they glowed!
A girl tried to steal one. The soul she had! I locked her up, treated her like royalty. What did she do? Burned my garden and took my best rose.
I never loved anything like I loved that garden.
Not love? Possession? You'd know, wouldn't you, bleeding through trials for a soul to put inside. Take my advice, do it up as a rose. There's more than one kind of possession. No?
A girl tried to steal one. The soul she had! I locked her up, treated her like royalty. What did she do? Burned my garden and took my best rose.
I never loved anything like I loved that garden.
Not love? Possession? You'd know, wouldn't you, bleeding through trials for a soul to put inside. Take my advice, do it up as a rose. There's more than one kind of possession. No?
(no subject)
Apr. 6th, 2013 06:59 pmI'm looking for a beta.
I mean, it can't hurt to ask, right?
But the thing that struck me when writing that was this:
I mean, it can't hurt to ask, right?
But the thing that struck me when writing that was this:
I'm currently spending most of my writing time on a story called In My Father's House, which is about Angelus and Sister Mary Elizabeth (i.e. Drusilla when she was a novice nun). It's also about life in the closed community of a convent, the force of religion, magic, miracles, perception of miracles, murder investigation in Victorian times, the press in Victorian times, attitude toward Catholicism in Victorian England / politics of religion, and probably some other stuff too.Now here's the question: am I actually writing fanfic? I mean, okay, Angelus, yes, Drusilla, yes, but...I don't know, sometimes I just wonder. The things that make fanfic seem like fanfic are not necessarily the things I want to concentrate on especially right now. Nor am I sticking very close to the things canon cares much about in this particular one. What am I doing? Is anyone going to want to read this?
A Fine and Private Place
Apr. 6th, 2013 04:16 amhttp://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/2180
970 words.
Buffy doesn't want her memory back, she'd rather be Joan.
This story is brought to you by a roleplay idea that wouldn't fit in the current roleplay, my continuing fascination with names, and apparently, my fascination with Season 6. Not sure how that happened.
970 words.
Buffy doesn't want her memory back, she'd rather be Joan.
This story is brought to you by a roleplay idea that wouldn't fit in the current roleplay, my continuing fascination with names, and apparently, my fascination with Season 6. Not sure how that happened.
Life Force
Mar. 27th, 2013 03:36 amhttp://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/2159
871 words.
The First Slayer has something to say about Buffy's pregnancy.
This story brought to you by the allure of games and some good prompts. I think I could have done something with 'ruby fountain' and 'lunar falls' as well.
871 words.
The First Slayer has something to say about Buffy's pregnancy.
This story brought to you by the allure of games and some good prompts. I think I could have done something with 'ruby fountain' and 'lunar falls' as well.
Some Watery Tart
Mar. 25th, 2013 10:48 pmhttp://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/2110
723 words.
This story is brought to you by Insanejournal being down on Saturday. No roleplaying, alas! But stories last longer anyway.
The title, of course, is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Apparently I deal with prompts by free associating until I come up with one I like better, calling that the title, and then writing the story from there.
It's possible I overdid the understatement in places.
Oh, technique...somehow it felt wrong to give the main character a name in the story (and though I know she has one, I was also to lazy to look it up), and while Buffy was "the Slayer" and Spike was "the vampire", the main character was just "she". Not even a tag. Which got tricky when Buffy was "she" too for a while, as is almost inevitable. You have to use pronouns. There was one spot in particular where I had to work at it to get back to the main character being "she" without it being a jump -- but I think it does work. Hopefully!
723 words.
This story is brought to you by Insanejournal being down on Saturday. No roleplaying, alas! But stories last longer anyway.
The title, of course, is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Apparently I deal with prompts by free associating until I come up with one I like better, calling that the title, and then writing the story from there.
It's possible I overdid the understatement in places.
Oh, technique...somehow it felt wrong to give the main character a name in the story (and though I know she has one, I was also to lazy to look it up), and while Buffy was "the Slayer" and Spike was "the vampire", the main character was just "she". Not even a tag. Which got tricky when Buffy was "she" too for a while, as is almost inevitable. You have to use pronouns. There was one spot in particular where I had to work at it to get back to the main character being "she" without it being a jump -- but I think it does work. Hopefully!
(no subject)
Feb. 25th, 2013 02:22 amA Dartmoor farmer told the folklore collector Lois Deacon, around 1952, that a charmer had cured his bullocks of ringworm by telephone. Around the same period, an official inspecting a farm near Bridport, Dorset, was surprised to see a cow being led backwards out of the farmhouse. It transpired that the cow had redwater, and that they had asked the charmer to come and cure it, but the charmer was ill in bed, so the cow was taken to the telephone to hear the charm.I love research. You never know what you might find.
Davies, Owen. Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century
1) William didn't go to public school. (That is, public school in the British "independent school" sense. Eton or Rugby or whatever.) As the introduction to my copy of Leave it to Psmith says about English public schools, "It was almost as if these schools, founded in the 1830s, had it for their main object that Shelley and Byron would never happen again. When such a one showed up, he was immediately laughed at, plunged into cold water and taught to laugh at himself for twelve grueling years; after which he was either hopelessly maimed, or would retreat with the crowd into humor, crossword puzzles, detective stories and the burdens of facetiousness." (Wilfrid Sheed)
(Just to note, a bunch of the really prestigious public schools have been around for a lot longer than "founded in the 1830s", but as I recall there was an explosion of minor public schools around then.)
I'd also point out the poem "The General Public," about that famous Romantic poet Percy Shelley.
It's not that I don't believe that William could remain a poet through that (or become a poet after that?), it's more that he's got this incredible naivety in Fool for Love, and he has a deep belief in the ideals of beauty and the idea that Cecily will want to join him in the ranks of lovers of poetry, and that is what I think that public school would remove from him.
He'd have to have some amount of defiance to make it through public school as an earnest poet, or even as a bloke who is completely dedicated to the cult of beauty. He's not defiant. He's open and hoping and nervous and easily hurt. He doesn't know what he's capable of, the strength of his love or his purpose.
2) William did go to public school.
If Housman could write this:
And the other thing is that William's poetry is so bad it's good. When he says "My heart expands, 'tis grown a bulge in't / inspired by your beauty effulgent" it's laughable because it's overwritten, but he's basically saying "My heart is deformed by your beauty" which is actually an interesting sentiment, or could be. Much more interesting than the treacly sentiment I tend to assume he was going for.
I think, basing it strictly on Fool for Love, a case could be made for William being a bit more self-aware and a bit less persecuted than it first appears. Maybe not in the specific company he was in the night we see him in Fool for Love -- but if that was neither his nor Cecily's usual hangout, that would explain his assuming she shares his views. But she was trying to move into a different social circle...
(Just to note, a bunch of the really prestigious public schools have been around for a lot longer than "founded in the 1830s", but as I recall there was an explosion of minor public schools around then.)
I'd also point out the poem "The General Public," about that famous Romantic poet Percy Shelley.
It's not that I don't believe that William could remain a poet through that (or become a poet after that?), it's more that he's got this incredible naivety in Fool for Love, and he has a deep belief in the ideals of beauty and the idea that Cecily will want to join him in the ranks of lovers of poetry, and that is what I think that public school would remove from him.
He'd have to have some amount of defiance to make it through public school as an earnest poet, or even as a bloke who is completely dedicated to the cult of beauty. He's not defiant. He's open and hoping and nervous and easily hurt. He doesn't know what he's capable of, the strength of his love or his purpose.
2) William did go to public school.
If Housman could write this:
‘TERENCE, this is stupid stuff:Here is a much less inimical model of criticism penned by a public school lad, years after leaving school, but something about the camaraderie and the light tone seems very compatible with public school to me. I don't think this is the impression that Fool for Love is going for, what William's faced with is genuine mockery and not in the least friendly, but I could see this sort of teasing being more what William's used to in response to his poetry. Because like I said above, I don't really see him being defiant in Fool for Love, nor really on the defensive either, though he does become nervous when his poem is taken. But before that, he's writing poetry at a party, but he's not making a point of writing poetry at a party, it's just what he does...
You eat your victuals fast enough;
There can’t be much amiss, ’tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,
It gives a chap the belly-ache.
The cow, the old cow, she is dead;
It sleeps well, the horned head:
We poor lads, ’tis our turn now
To hear such tunes as killed the cow.
Pretty friendship ’tis to rhyme
Your friends to death before their time
Moping melancholy mad:
Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad.
And the other thing is that William's poetry is so bad it's good. When he says "My heart expands, 'tis grown a bulge in't / inspired by your beauty effulgent" it's laughable because it's overwritten, but he's basically saying "My heart is deformed by your beauty" which is actually an interesting sentiment, or could be. Much more interesting than the treacly sentiment I tend to assume he was going for.
I think, basing it strictly on Fool for Love, a case could be made for William being a bit more self-aware and a bit less persecuted than it first appears. Maybe not in the specific company he was in the night we see him in Fool for Love -- but if that was neither his nor Cecily's usual hangout, that would explain his assuming she shares his views. But she was trying to move into a different social circle...
Not On Boats
Feb. 2nd, 2013 05:45 pmhttp://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/1979
752 words.
The title is from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
752 words.
The title is from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Repetition
Jan. 31st, 2013 11:23 pmI've been thinking about writing a detective story lately. (Well, I signed up for Case Story, which is a Big Bang, which...I don't quite get how it works, but I guess if I'm doing it I have to have a rough draft by May 1, and if I don't, it really doesn't look like a big deal, you just say oops I couldn't make it and they say oh well. I really wanted a deadline, and that doesn't quite make it a deadline, not like Yuletide, but I'll see how it goes).
Anyway. I've been thinking about detective stories and reading a few, and meanwhile I wrote a villanelle, and it suddenly occurred to me that both detective stories and villanelles had repetition in common.
Villanelles are a poetic form in which two lines are exactly repeated four times each over the course of a nineteen line poem, so the repetition is obvious. The repeated lines have to be especially strong, and it helps if they're open to different interpretations, because otherwise the poem will get boring.
In detective stories, there's a lot of repetition as well, because a lot of times, especially in the...well, call it the alibis and exactitude school of detective fiction, the detective keeps coming back to the same events, going over them again and again, looking at them in different ways and putting them together into different possible narratives. These events have to be strong (interesting of themselves, revealing) and yet open to interpretation, or it'll get boring.
Anyway. I've been thinking about detective stories and reading a few, and meanwhile I wrote a villanelle, and it suddenly occurred to me that both detective stories and villanelles had repetition in common.
Villanelles are a poetic form in which two lines are exactly repeated four times each over the course of a nineteen line poem, so the repetition is obvious. The repeated lines have to be especially strong, and it helps if they're open to different interpretations, because otherwise the poem will get boring.
In detective stories, there's a lot of repetition as well, because a lot of times, especially in the...well, call it the alibis and exactitude school of detective fiction, the detective keeps coming back to the same events, going over them again and again, looking at them in different ways and putting them together into different possible narratives. These events have to be strong (interesting of themselves, revealing) and yet open to interpretation, or it'll get boring.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8957352/1/C
Xander, Buffy, and Dawn deal with the aftermath of Willow's magic. Set between seasons 6 and 7.
4055 words.
Xander, Buffy, and Dawn deal with the aftermath of Willow's magic. Set between seasons 6 and 7.
4055 words.
http://sb-fag-ends.livejournal.com/1964
278 words.
Spike, Buffy, Leonard Cohen's Take This Waltz, and a villanelle (not exactly, but it started off as a villanelle)... Sometimes I really have no idea how I can possibly even think of doing the things that I do. Now that I've finished, I sort of feel like 'how dare you riff on Take This Waltz, are you crazy?' Well, probably.
Also, I've decided that even in character, and even assuming a huge amount of poetic license, this was not written by Spike, it was written by someone pretending to be Spike. Like, Spike and Buffy saved the world by dancing color back into everything and then some bard wrote a poem about it from Spike's point of view. If only the Buffyverse had bards. Probably the closest thing is Andrew.
But if Spike was writing it, I would have had to leave in the bit rhyming 'frozen' and 'ambrosian' (especially since it was a 'moment ambrosian' rather than an 'ambrosian moment'), even if it didn't actually say what I was trying to say.
278 words.
Spike, Buffy, Leonard Cohen's Take This Waltz, and a villanelle (not exactly, but it started off as a villanelle)... Sometimes I really have no idea how I can possibly even think of doing the things that I do. Now that I've finished, I sort of feel like 'how dare you riff on Take This Waltz, are you crazy?' Well, probably.
Also, I've decided that even in character, and even assuming a huge amount of poetic license, this was not written by Spike, it was written by someone pretending to be Spike. Like, Spike and Buffy saved the world by dancing color back into everything and then some bard wrote a poem about it from Spike's point of view. If only the Buffyverse had bards. Probably the closest thing is Andrew.
But if Spike was writing it, I would have had to leave in the bit rhyming 'frozen' and 'ambrosian' (especially since it was a 'moment ambrosian' rather than an 'ambrosian moment'), even if it didn't actually say what I was trying to say.
Buffy Season 9: On Your Own
Jan. 24th, 2013 10:01 pmI'm not a big comics fan, but since the library gets the compilation volumes for Buffy Season 9, I'm reading along.
( spoilers )
( spoilers )
Technically...
Jan. 10th, 2013 05:11 amI was looking at the rules for one of the Big Bangs, and there was this:
"Stories must be read by at least one person."
I'm guessing that doesn't mean that I, as a person, can read (presumably proofread?) my own story. It's probably hubris or something, but all the same, I bet no one would be able to tell. (Not that there wouldn't be a difference, just that it wouldn't be something that was immediately obvious.)
"Stories must be read by at least one person."
I'm guessing that doesn't mean that I, as a person, can read (presumably proofread?) my own story. It's probably hubris or something, but all the same, I bet no one would be able to tell. (Not that there wouldn't be a difference, just that it wouldn't be something that was immediately obvious.)
This is the last of these.
Scarlett O'Hara = Harmony Kendall
Rhett Butler = Spike
Ashley = Wesley
Melanie = Tara
Ellen O'Hara = Buffy
Gerald O'Hara = Anya
Suellen O'Hara = Dawn
Careen O'Hara = Drusilla
Will Benteen = Oz
Bonnie Blue Butler = Willow
Charles Hamilton = William
Aunt Pittipat = Remember what I said about no old maids in the Buffyverse?
Frank Kennedy = Xander
Mammy = Giles
Belle Watling = Faith
Discworld was filled with powerful people. Gone With the Wind is full of honorable people. NOTE: That is, I'm trying to consider characters as they are viewed by the text, but that doesn't mean that I agree with this assessment, especially as it concerns honor and attitude toward black people, slavery, etc.
Scarlett O'Hara is not smart, she's vulgar, selfish, and extremely determined. She does not have hidden depths, which ruled out Cordelia, even very early Cordelia. Anya isn't stupid enough. Harmony doesn't quite have the grit, but other than that she fits perfectly. And I like sticking her opposite Spike, because even though I haven't figured out exactly why this would be interesting, I'm pretty sure there would be some way to play this against Buffy and Angel canon to say something interesting.
Spike gets to be not exactly the good guy who falls both passionately in love and out of love (look at him and Dru). No brainer casting.
I almost put William in as Ashley, and that could have been clever as an examination of the ways Spike is and isn't like William, but since I'm just doing characters, Wesley fits better. Not that Wesley ends up lost in a world he can't deal with, but he has the grasp of theories and the imagination and the nerves. If you look at early Wesley, it would not be hard to imagine him turning out an Ashley.
Tara once again gets a part for her general sweetness and believing the best of people. And remember that time Tara killed a demon at the beginning of Season 6? Melanie has grit too.
Buffy is a role model, and so is Ellen O'Hara. I put Anya in for Gerald O'Hara because Anya is rather territorial and cares about The Magic Shop in the same way Gerald cares about his land. Dawn is the little sister who's jealous of her older sister and has to scramble for what's her own. I thought about putting Willow here and it would also work pretty well; there's the same sort of rivalry at times...and the other thing that would be interesting about putting Willow here is that Suellen is actually wronged. And Careen is troubled by the deaths around her and becomes a nun, which makes her a good fit for Drusilla.
Will Benteen is a quiet listener; so is Oz. Willow, like Bonnie, doesn't know when to stop and goes too far. William and Charles Hamilton are a perfect match. Perfect, I tell you. Xander and Frank are both good guys, easily confused by women. Giles, like Mammy, tries to lead his charge in the way she should go, take care of her, and act like a parent at times without actually being one. Also, there's a certain ruthlessness coupled with a very strong 'but this far and no further' to go with it. And Faith is the bad girl who isn't that bad really.
As for plot, who doesn't know the plot of Gone With The Wind? The Civil War tears apart a strict but happy society and remakes the world of the south. Who doesn't remember Harmony vowing that she'll never be hungry again, and then later on breaking all unwritten rules of the vampires of the South when she makes friends with Northerners...and then eats them? And that scene where Drusilla tries to turn a Northern soldier and then they have to find the corpse where she buried it and decapitate it before it rises to betray them...
And of course the evolution of William into Spike after Harmony claims him and turns him on their wedding night and then rejects him soon after, and Spike's efforts to win her back...and the heartbreak when Willow, recently turned, misjudges how long she has until sunrise and burns to death while her sire and grandsire watch in horror.
Truly a classic.
Scarlett O'Hara = Harmony Kendall
Rhett Butler = Spike
Ashley = Wesley
Melanie = Tara
Ellen O'Hara = Buffy
Gerald O'Hara = Anya
Suellen O'Hara = Dawn
Careen O'Hara = Drusilla
Will Benteen = Oz
Bonnie Blue Butler = Willow
Charles Hamilton = William
Aunt Pittipat = Remember what I said about no old maids in the Buffyverse?
Frank Kennedy = Xander
Mammy = Giles
Belle Watling = Faith
Discworld was filled with powerful people. Gone With the Wind is full of honorable people. NOTE: That is, I'm trying to consider characters as they are viewed by the text, but that doesn't mean that I agree with this assessment, especially as it concerns honor and attitude toward black people, slavery, etc.
Scarlett O'Hara is not smart, she's vulgar, selfish, and extremely determined. She does not have hidden depths, which ruled out Cordelia, even very early Cordelia. Anya isn't stupid enough. Harmony doesn't quite have the grit, but other than that she fits perfectly. And I like sticking her opposite Spike, because even though I haven't figured out exactly why this would be interesting, I'm pretty sure there would be some way to play this against Buffy and Angel canon to say something interesting.
Spike gets to be not exactly the good guy who falls both passionately in love and out of love (look at him and Dru). No brainer casting.
I almost put William in as Ashley, and that could have been clever as an examination of the ways Spike is and isn't like William, but since I'm just doing characters, Wesley fits better. Not that Wesley ends up lost in a world he can't deal with, but he has the grasp of theories and the imagination and the nerves. If you look at early Wesley, it would not be hard to imagine him turning out an Ashley.
Tara once again gets a part for her general sweetness and believing the best of people. And remember that time Tara killed a demon at the beginning of Season 6? Melanie has grit too.
Buffy is a role model, and so is Ellen O'Hara. I put Anya in for Gerald O'Hara because Anya is rather territorial and cares about The Magic Shop in the same way Gerald cares about his land. Dawn is the little sister who's jealous of her older sister and has to scramble for what's her own. I thought about putting Willow here and it would also work pretty well; there's the same sort of rivalry at times...and the other thing that would be interesting about putting Willow here is that Suellen is actually wronged. And Careen is troubled by the deaths around her and becomes a nun, which makes her a good fit for Drusilla.
Will Benteen is a quiet listener; so is Oz. Willow, like Bonnie, doesn't know when to stop and goes too far. William and Charles Hamilton are a perfect match. Perfect, I tell you. Xander and Frank are both good guys, easily confused by women. Giles, like Mammy, tries to lead his charge in the way she should go, take care of her, and act like a parent at times without actually being one. Also, there's a certain ruthlessness coupled with a very strong 'but this far and no further' to go with it. And Faith is the bad girl who isn't that bad really.
As for plot, who doesn't know the plot of Gone With The Wind? The Civil War tears apart a strict but happy society and remakes the world of the south. Who doesn't remember Harmony vowing that she'll never be hungry again, and then later on breaking all unwritten rules of the vampires of the South when she makes friends with Northerners...and then eats them? And that scene where Drusilla tries to turn a Northern soldier and then they have to find the corpse where she buried it and decapitate it before it rises to betray them...
And of course the evolution of William into Spike after Harmony claims him and turns him on their wedding night and then rejects him soon after, and Spike's efforts to win her back...and the heartbreak when Willow, recently turned, misjudges how long she has until sunrise and burns to death while her sire and grandsire watch in horror.
Truly a classic.
Liking Things
Jan. 4th, 2013 08:53 pmI've always had a problem with liking things. Not with the actual liking part, but with the awareness and communication part. Once, while basking in the glow of finishing a book that was absolutely the most perfect thing I'd ever read, I sat down to review the wonder that was this book, and by the time I finished I'd managed to completely lose the glow.
Or take fanfiction. I read it, I like at least some of it, and yet giving feedback (which is basically telling someone you like something) intimidates me all out of proportion. (Although kudos at AO3 are wonderful, and I wish they existed everywhere.)
When I was learning how to give a critique, I generally had the hardest time with the part that's supposed to be about the stuff in the story that you like or think are especially good (when you critique things in a workshop setting, it's not always things that you'd read for fun), until I figured out that I could just list all the things about the story that I'd be sad about if they were to disappear in a revision. That's basically the stuff that I like, from a different perspective. But reading something for critique is different than just reading.
When I'm just reading, the things I like are probably:
1) flow
2) not boring
3) a different perspective on the characters
4) interesting things happening
I'm not sure commenting on any of these make good feedback. They can be a real accomplishment (especially "not boring" to the degree that I'll read all the sentences, I don't always read all the sentences in published books either, but I skip even more when reading fanfic). But it's basically saying "in my opinion, you didn't do anything too wrong here". Not exactly an exciting comment to make.
And yet, I feel like I should learn how to give feedback, because it seems important. And because it's never a bad idea to learn how to like things in a sharable way. So I think I'll be working on that.
Or take fanfiction. I read it, I like at least some of it, and yet giving feedback (which is basically telling someone you like something) intimidates me all out of proportion. (Although kudos at AO3 are wonderful, and I wish they existed everywhere.)
When I was learning how to give a critique, I generally had the hardest time with the part that's supposed to be about the stuff in the story that you like or think are especially good (when you critique things in a workshop setting, it's not always things that you'd read for fun), until I figured out that I could just list all the things about the story that I'd be sad about if they were to disappear in a revision. That's basically the stuff that I like, from a different perspective. But reading something for critique is different than just reading.
When I'm just reading, the things I like are probably:
1) flow
2) not boring
3) a different perspective on the characters
4) interesting things happening
I'm not sure commenting on any of these make good feedback. They can be a real accomplishment (especially "not boring" to the degree that I'll read all the sentences, I don't always read all the sentences in published books either, but I skip even more when reading fanfic). But it's basically saying "in my opinion, you didn't do anything too wrong here". Not exactly an exciting comment to make.
And yet, I feel like I should learn how to give feedback, because it seems important. And because it's never a bad idea to learn how to like things in a sharable way. So I think I'll be working on that.
Psmith's Familiar Ring
Jan. 3rd, 2013 02:35 amhttp://archiveofourown.org/works/59
My Yuletide offering, featuring Mike & Psmith and a ring to be regained before the wedding. This story follows pretty closely upon the heels of the events in Leave it to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse.
My Yuletide offering, featuring Mike & Psmith and a ring to be regained before the wedding. This story follows pretty closely upon the heels of the events in Leave it to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse.
Useful articles for things I'm writing
Dec. 30th, 2012 05:02 pmhttp://pcwrede.com/blog/prophecies/
Which reminded me of -
http://exurbe.com/?p=1489 - Three branches of ethics, which is interesting in the context of writing Spike.
Which reminded me of -
http://exurbe.com/?p=1489 - Three branches of ethics, which is interesting in the context of writing Spike.
Ideas are easy. (Year in review)
Dec. 27th, 2012 05:55 amThis year I wrote about 40,000 words of fanfiction. Which I don't consider to be a bad number, considering that I was only actually writing for half the year. If I wrote at the same rate next year, I could write a novel. In theory. If word count were the only thing that mattered about writing a novel. But it's a nice thought.
However, the only things I finished are the short things.
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" (terrible horrible precedent, why can't I do that again -- written entirely in one day, from idea to finished story, and I still like it)
"Imperfect Happiness" (also written in one day, but only has one idea in it)
"Stronger than Death" (not written in one day, not even close)
I didn't finish a bunch of things that are longer:
"Demon Blood" (unlikely to ever be finished unless I think of a really cool demon for Tara to be, I started without an ending or even a middle in sight because I'm impulsive that way)
"Like a Spike Through the Heart" (this looks nothing like it looked when I started it, because I decided I didn't actually want to write the thing I started off thinking I was going to write. But all the same, I like how this turned out, more or less, and I am going to finish it. I sort of hate the title, but I don't think I can change it.)
"Every Day a Little Death" (I'm going to finish this too.)
"In Betweens" (Season 6 AU. This is me being ambitious. I need to rewrite the prologue or get rid of it because there's something wrong with it...and come up with much more plot, and more characterization, and more everything...)
And here are the other things that I either have substantial ideas for or part of it written, and could write at some point in the future:
Untitled Season 7 AU, sequel to "In Betweens" (not likely to happen any time soon, obviously, but I adore some of the stuff that happens here...)
Replacement Spontaneous Project (I don't know how spontaneous it can be when I've been thinking about doing it for months, but it's a true serial, it's got lots of time travel, there is no guarantee that it'll make any sense but it could be quite a lot of fun, and I only know what the first couple of parts are like but it could go on forever...)
"Cleanup" (I quit writing this to write my Yuletide story, hopefully I can still get back in and finish it)
Untitled Buffy story (sort of like "Stronger Than Death" only about Buffy in Season 6. It might be called "Crowned With Laurels" but then again it might not.)
And the rest of these are all in the same continuity:
"In My Father's House" (I'm not sure if that's the right title. A tragic detective story about pre-vampire Drusilla, many nuns, Angelus, and -- though he never actually appears in person, still very importantly -- God.)
"Present Mirth, Present Laughter" (How Spike found out about the Gem of Amara. The best thing about this IMO is the OCs, though.)
"And That Rhymes With P" (prequel to "Every Day a Little Death". Buffy and Spike meet for the first and second times post series.)
"The Difficult Decisions" (sequel to "Every Day a Little Death". Spike and Dawn, mostly, and the Dragonriders of Rohan (not their real name). And the end of a world.)
"Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (sequel to "The Difficult Decisions". A story about a struggling colony in a hell dimension, a burial mound and some royal ghosts, possibly a terrible secret, and two people learning to communicate with each other and get past their past. This one sort of scares me.)
"Death Be Not Proud" (Drusilla again.)
"Down to the End of Town" (Drusilla again. And Jilly/JJ, who is going through a brief phase when she wants to be called Jill.)
"The Vampires Human" (correct punctuation unknown and therefore left out, I'm not sure I like this title anyway. Mostly JJ and Spike.)
"The Secret Life of JJ Summers" (Worldbuilding festival so far, but it's Earth in the future worldbuilding, not hell dimension worldbuilding. And Spike goes to prom.)
"A Vampire in the Family" (Spike and the generations of Summers women. I'll probably never write this, but I like to think about it.)
And the moral of this post is: ideas are easy, titles are hard. Even when you steal them. And it's good to finish things.
However, the only things I finished are the short things.
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" (terrible horrible precedent, why can't I do that again -- written entirely in one day, from idea to finished story, and I still like it)
"Imperfect Happiness" (also written in one day, but only has one idea in it)
"Stronger than Death" (not written in one day, not even close)
I didn't finish a bunch of things that are longer:
"Demon Blood" (unlikely to ever be finished unless I think of a really cool demon for Tara to be, I started without an ending or even a middle in sight because I'm impulsive that way)
"Like a Spike Through the Heart" (this looks nothing like it looked when I started it, because I decided I didn't actually want to write the thing I started off thinking I was going to write. But all the same, I like how this turned out, more or less, and I am going to finish it. I sort of hate the title, but I don't think I can change it.)
"Every Day a Little Death" (I'm going to finish this too.)
"In Betweens" (Season 6 AU. This is me being ambitious. I need to rewrite the prologue or get rid of it because there's something wrong with it...and come up with much more plot, and more characterization, and more everything...)
And here are the other things that I either have substantial ideas for or part of it written, and could write at some point in the future:
Untitled Season 7 AU, sequel to "In Betweens" (not likely to happen any time soon, obviously, but I adore some of the stuff that happens here...)
Replacement Spontaneous Project (I don't know how spontaneous it can be when I've been thinking about doing it for months, but it's a true serial, it's got lots of time travel, there is no guarantee that it'll make any sense but it could be quite a lot of fun, and I only know what the first couple of parts are like but it could go on forever...)
"Cleanup" (I quit writing this to write my Yuletide story, hopefully I can still get back in and finish it)
Untitled Buffy story (sort of like "Stronger Than Death" only about Buffy in Season 6. It might be called "Crowned With Laurels" but then again it might not.)
And the rest of these are all in the same continuity:
"In My Father's House" (I'm not sure if that's the right title. A tragic detective story about pre-vampire Drusilla, many nuns, Angelus, and -- though he never actually appears in person, still very importantly -- God.)
"Present Mirth, Present Laughter" (How Spike found out about the Gem of Amara. The best thing about this IMO is the OCs, though.)
"And That Rhymes With P" (prequel to "Every Day a Little Death". Buffy and Spike meet for the first and second times post series.)
"The Difficult Decisions" (sequel to "Every Day a Little Death". Spike and Dawn, mostly, and the Dragonriders of Rohan (not their real name). And the end of a world.)
"Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (sequel to "The Difficult Decisions". A story about a struggling colony in a hell dimension, a burial mound and some royal ghosts, possibly a terrible secret, and two people learning to communicate with each other and get past their past. This one sort of scares me.)
"Death Be Not Proud" (Drusilla again.)
"Down to the End of Town" (Drusilla again. And Jilly/JJ, who is going through a brief phase when she wants to be called Jill.)
"The Vampires Human" (correct punctuation unknown and therefore left out, I'm not sure I like this title anyway. Mostly JJ and Spike.)
"The Secret Life of JJ Summers" (Worldbuilding festival so far, but it's Earth in the future worldbuilding, not hell dimension worldbuilding. And Spike goes to prom.)
"A Vampire in the Family" (Spike and the generations of Summers women. I'll probably never write this, but I like to think about it.)
And the moral of this post is: ideas are easy, titles are hard. Even when you steal them. And it's good to finish things.
