Tea and Dragons

I am forging ahead with the new site.  

Long-time readers have requested the reposting of a few stories that were only available on Light in the Mirror.  My updates are kind of random, but so far I have put up Breakfast at Grissom’s (CSI, GSR) and both parts of It (Iron Man, Tony/Pepper).  

Please note that these are both NC-17 (which is why they weren’t on FF.net).  

If there’s something else you want to see, drop me a note.  Ditto for AO3; I’m porting things over there gradually, and I must say that the download function is extremely useful.   

My fanfic Website, such as it is, may be shutting down soon, and in any case it’s showing its age. I’m experimenting with a Weebly site to host the stuff. If you’re interested and feeling kind, would you please visit it and tell me if it’s working? There’s very little there just yet, but I’ve got a basic framework roughed out.

Thank you!

...and because it's my journal. 

Happy 3rd anniversary to Grissom and Sara! 

Apparently the traditional gift is leather.  ♪Oh, cincoflex...♫ 


ETA:  Good heavens.  I just watched last night's episode.  I'm only one day off??  O_O

Snabbled from cincoflex  and I don't know who all (with a slight modification)...  

Post the first sentence (or three) from every WIP you're currently working on, even if it's very short. Then invite people to ask questions about your WsIP. With any luck, the motivation to take that WIP one step closer to completion will appear as if by magic!

I'm not working actively on so much these days, though my muse is apparently not done with the HP universe.  I'm throwing a couple of these in for fun and they're not all first sentences.   But if anyone wants to comment, feel free. 

( Cut for tidiness... )

Separately, it has been gently pointed out to me that I've been less than gracious in my responses to folks' enthusiasm about my venture into HP fandom.  I do apologize!  I didn't expect anyone to be interested, but that's no excuse.  

A few nights ago I dreamed about Prey*, so I pulled out the show to watch again.  Parts of it haven't aged well and the science is shaky, but the writing is good, the characterization and acting is terrific, and I am happy to enjoy Debra Messing's† (redheads!) and Adam Storke's beauty and the occasional shot of Vincent Ventresca in loud boxers and nothing else.  :P 

The series ends dangling at the end of a frayed rope, with two characters on the run, one drugged unconscious, and one captured and subjected to one of his worst fears. 

And that's where I came in. 

I wrote fanfiction, off and on, for quite some time when I was young, though I had no idea what it was.  My first brush with the idea came when I began reading Star Trek novels, but those were all commercially published; the first time I ran into the not-for-profit fan stuff was when I got hooked on Blake's 7 and started poking tentatively around (this was before the Internet really took off, so it was all printed fanzines).  Unfortunately my naive self came smack up against catalogs of Blake/Avon slash and ran squeaking, and that was that, until I started watching Space: Above and Beyond in Bath§ and found an early fan site.  

The only S:AAB fic I ever completed was a novelization of the episode "Choice or Chance", but I had fun reading for a while, though there wasn't much available then.  And then I watched Prey, and was left--like the other fans--with the terrible ending and a burning need to solve it.  At this point I can't remember what motivated me to actually post instead of just writing to please myself--I hadn't posted "Choice or Chance" online yet--but I did, throwing up roughly 18,000 words☂ that solved the cliffhanger (and began my own particular pattern of people rescuing themselves) but didn't actually end, per se. 

And I was absolutely stunned by the response. 

The Prey fandom was never that large, but it was my first fandom community, as it were, and they loved my humble effort.  I was floored.  Oh, I thought I wrote tolerably well, but it was the first time I had validation from someone who wasn't a teacher, or family.  It was a generous outpouring of praise for an unbeta'd first-timer...and I was hooked.  *grin*  

Over the next year and a half I squeezed out three more parts, each one almost as long, ending up with roughly 66,000 words of story.  Compared to some of my later efforts this seems paltry, but to me at the time it was an epic.  And I fixed it.  I solved some of the riddles, I answered some of the questions, and I gave the characters a much better future than the show ever did--not a happily ever after, because that didn't fit, but a bright new day.  

Now, after watching the series again, I'm rereading Skein.  And, despite some rough patches and spots I’d love to tidy, I have to say it holds up pretty well.  

I did good. 





*The link goes to IMDb, despite the lack of detail, because the Wikipedia entry is inaccurate. 

†This was before she got her nose altered.  I think she's lovely as she was, though I can see why she did do it. 

§I actually went home before the series finished its run there, and waited over a year before it started reruns in the United States.  I was not happy.  

☂Skein is not available on my site or FF.net; the original version is still floating around the Internet as the Webmistress never got around to taking it down.  The revised and expanded version in hardcopy form is apparently still available from Blackfly Presses, but honestly, it's overpriced.  I suppose by this time I could repost it, but I hesitate to do so while Blackfly is still selling it. 

Snabbled from cincoflex: 

Give me a link to one of my fics, and I'll give you a detail that didn't make it into the fic - it could be background canon, deleted material (if I still have it), the music that helped me set the mood or a look into the future - or it could be a question about inspiration, the writing process, research.

...if I remember! 

I wanted to vote in the Inception Awards for fanfic--I nominated some stories.  But the rules require a minimum of votes for a given category--and I haven't read that many of the nominated stories in any of the categories, let alone enough to choose among.  I simply haven't had the time or attention to spare. 

I guess I can see why it's being done, an effort to make it less of a popularity contest.  But it feels weird to me. 

The mod says that they aren't getting enough votes...I wonder if that's why. 

ETA: It's up now!  And I feel stupider.  But happy!  *grin* 

Well.  I tried posting one of my stories to an LJ community for which it seemed a perfect fit.  I couldn't find any explicit rules concerning posting format, so I modeled my post as closely as I could to those already up.  According to LJ, it went into the moderation queue, all well and good. 

But it never showed up.  I PM'd the comm moderator, but they never replied, and now the post itself seems to have been deleted, though admittedly I know little about such things and it may not be visible in the editing window if it's still on hold.  Quite a few other posts have gone up in the meantime. 

I am baffled.  Did I do something wrong, does my story not fit?  And if so, why not tell me? 

I'll admit to feeling hurt, which is stupid, but there it is. 

cincoflex's The Tutor is just not getting the love it deserves.  Okay, it's early days yet at one chapter so far, but it is Eames to an absolute, smoking T, and it's only going to get better from here on out.  Trust me, I've read ahead.  *wicked grin*  So go read.  Her LJ or FF.net, and for mature audiences only!   

P.S.  If you haven't seen Inception yet, you should-- *ahem* --there are spoilers for the film, but so far at least one can read without really losing anything.  However, it'll make more sense if you wait until you have seen it.  

Between power outages and loss of my home Internet, it's been an interesting few weeks.  So I will be lazy and post a meme snabbled from scullyseviltwin. 

the ❝that's my favorite!❞ meme
A FANFICTION PRAISE MEME
Spread it around, join in!