careful! the ink's still wet!

In the absence of real thought...

2006-08-14T10:02:00.000Z

You Are 48% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist.
You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

How Cynical Are You?

You Are 52% Lady

You're part lady, part modern woman.
Etiquette is important to you, but you brush aside rules that are outdated or silly.

Are You A Lady?

Your Inner Retro Girl Is

1950s Domestic Diva

What Retro Girl Are You?

It's oh so quiet...

2006-07-24T11:38:00.000Z

It's, oh, so quiet
It's, oh, so still
You're all alone
And so peaceful until...
You fall in love
Zing boom
The sky up above
Zing boom
Is caving in
Wow bam

I have a couple of fanfics lurking, but my weekends are taken up either having my gentleman friend call, or calling on him, or doing all the things I need to do when we have a 'free' weekend.

fic :: Sunshine, Showers Forecast

2006-05-14T21:41:00.000Z

Sunshine, Showers Forecast
by SpikeDru
Show: Doctor Who
Spoilers: early season 2...er...28...er... No actual spoilers but post-The Girl in the Fireplace would fit.
Rating: PG13
Genre: Rose vignette
Disclaimer: Never mine.
Notes: written to tempt teh nos to accept the Doctor/Rose ship. Even though shipping Who is Wrong. Go figure.
Summary: Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world. Nathaniel Hawthorne.

No resting on the laurels for me. Nope, straight back on the keyboard with yet another fandom. Admittedly, I am Old Skool Who and this is technically a return to my oldest fandom but it's for the new show so it feels new.

I'd like to thank me mum...

2006-05-14T16:26:00.000Z

I won something!
Passing in the Night won Best Post Episode Fic at The Roomies.

The Roomie Awards

2006-05-09T00:40:00.000Z

And whilst we're about it....

I've been nominated in The Roomie Awards!

I'm up for Best Post-Ep fic for Passing in the Night and Best Author (crikey). See the noms here. Someone was asking me about Ray/Neela fic: that noms list is a good place to start.

Voting ends 13th May. Eep!

fic :: Lost & Found

2006-05-09T00:30:00.000Z

Lost & Found
Author: SpikeDru
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were, never will be.
Spoilers: 12.18 Strange Bedfellows
Content Warning: not even a swear word.

A double drabble, with spoilers for Strange Bedfellows, and posted to the neela_ray group on LJ.

Bugbears

2006-04-07T12:33:00.000Z

[This was originally posted on my MASH blog - hence the examples - but I thought I'd repost it here for ease of reference]

I admit it: I have a mild bugbear about the use of English in fanfic or, more precisely, the abuse of it. I know fanfic is something written for pleasure and for the chance to write scenarios never played out in the series. I don't think writing for pleasure automatically means ignoring basic rules of grammar and punctuation.

Yes, the rules on the use of the apostrophe may seem a little eccentric, but the English language exists as a means of communicating an idea from one head to many others. Ignoring the basic rules decreases the chance of the readers' receiving those ideas in their full glory.

If reading/writing fanfic is "just fun" then part of the implicit deal the writer makes with the reader is to be entertaining. And struggling to read a story is not fun. So this is going to be my blog entry on common errors which get in the way of the fun of fanfic. Expect a link to it to crop up in reviews on ff.net.

If this entry seems to stop suddenly, click on refresh. Blogspot seems to get a bit confused by long entries.
If you think there is something worth adding to the list of bugbears, use the comment link at the bottom of the entry.

Resources
useful things to buy, borrow or read online
I just got a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves for Christmas. It's not nearly as good as Bill Bryson's Troublesome Words (which as well as explaining the meanings of misunderstood words also has a section on grammar and punctuation) but it would be a handy starting place for writers who know they have yet to master the its/it's difference. Other places would be:

English Chick's Grammar Lessons and Common Errors in Fanfic
Mapletree Publishing: Grammar Basics
Common Errors in English Usage

My bugbears
things that are can improve writing 100% with very little effort

I'm making up the examples, by the way.

dialogue formatting
sometimes you read fanfic which is written like this:
Hawkeye said let's have a drink. Why not said Trapper then we can go make passes at the nurses. I'm too tired for nurses Hawkeye said.
Each bit of dialogue ought to be marked out with quote marks. Each time the speaker changes, a new line should be started. So the example above becomes:
Hawkeye said, "Let's have a drink."
"Why not? said Trapper. "Then we can go make passes at the nurses."
"I'm too tired for nurses," Hawkeye said.
Now it's easy to see who is saying what (and that we appear to be heading for Hawkeye/Trapper slash...)

soundalikes aka homonyms
Some words with different meanings sound the same. If you rely on a spell checker in a word processor, it won't tell you that you have used the wrong one. A particular bugbear for me is the they're/their/there confusion. They're is a contraction of they are; their is a possessive, indicating that something belongs to someone; there is a location. For example:
"Look at those two over they're," Margaret commented acidly to Frank, "their always getting drunk."
"The Colonel really shouldn't allow them to keep there still."
should be:
"Look at those two over there," Margaret commented acidly to Frank, "they're always getting drunk."
"The Colonel really shouldn't allow them to keep their still."
because the words are being used as follows:
"Look at those two over there [location]," Margaret commented acidly to Frank, "they're [they are] always getting drunk."
"The Colonel really shouldn't allow them to keep their [possesive] still."
This error gets to me more than the its/it's one, simply because I still make its/it's typos and know how confusing it can be whereas there is little excuse for not learning the difference between they're/their/there.

past/present tense
As a general guide, it's more common for fiction to be written in the past tense. Like so:
Hawkeye realised he was unconsciously licking his lips as he watched Trapper pour another martini from their still. He tried to believe that it was in anticipation of the drink but suspected it was from some other anticipated thrill.
This could be written in the present tense, like so:
Hawkeye realises he is unconsciously licking his lips as he watches Trapper pour another martini from their still. He tries to believe that it is in anticipation of the drink but suspects it's from some other anticipated thrill.
If you're not familiar with tenses, stick to the past tense. The present tense is OK for short stories, but is quite hard reading on longer works. Don't mix up past and present tense - it only confuses. If you're not familiar with tenses at all, check out the English Chick's notes on it.

POV
The Point of View (POV) is the character whose inner thoughts we are privy to: we see events from their point of view. Ideally, stick to one POV for any given scene within a story. You can alternate POVs (fun for romance stories) but the change in POV should be indicated with a double line break or a row of asterisks. The POV is the writers' chance to show off how well they know the character. It should be possible to indicate the POV not only through having stuff like:
As their eyes caught, Hawkeye wondered about the sudden catch in his breath.
which tells us Hawkeye is the POV character, but through using the speech patterns of the characters:
It was crazy, nuts, fruit-de-loop. Like Trap had seen more than could ever be spoken in that glance."
A joy of working with POV is that you can start reducing the amount of times you type a character's name: don't be afraid of the pronouns (but always be sure it is clear which he is which!).

I think it's safe to say the previous entries here have revealed some of my narrative cliche bugbears, so that's for now. Until I read something that I just have to add to this list.

fic rec: Pieces on the Ground (Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines)

2006-04-05T11:40:00.000Z

Pieces on the Ground (Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines)
by Astralis.
Firefly, post-movie (well, technically, a missing scene from the end). Kaylee and the Captain return to Serenity.
This made me cry. I always think of Mal, Kaylee and Wash having a seperate relationship with the ship to the others: they're the ones who get their knuckles grazed fixing her, so it makes sense to have just Mal and Kaylee come back. This is packed with tiny details which really sell it as Kaylee's point-of-view, lots of little observations and Whedonesque moments. Lovely.

fic rec: My Soul to Keep

2006-04-05T11:23:00.000Z

My Soul to Keep
by miss_daizy

Sweet, post-ep (Out of Gas) firefly fic. Mal/Inara. It's just warm and fuzzy.

fic rec: Officer's Mess

2006-04-05T09:51:00.000Z

Officer's Mess
by Sophie Richard

Pre-series, war story. During the war, an unexpected part of Zoe's life is revealed.

This captures Mal and Zoe's intimacy without making it sexual in any way, and reveals a new side to Zoe which informs her actions in the movie. Lovely.

memey goodness

2006-03-21T20:44:00.000Z

gakked from profound shallowness.

Six favourite shows in no order:
1. Buffy
2. Doctor Who
3. Firefly
4. ER
5. X-Files
6. The Professionals

Who is your favourite character from #2?
The Doctor. D'oh. Smart, funny, strong-minded. Never cruel or cowardly, as it's been said. Each time he changes, he stays somehow the kind of hero I love.
"I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I - I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob." The Christmas Invasion
If I can't have him as my favourite then...er...Fitz Kreiner from the books. And if I can't have him then...er...Barbara Wright.

Who is your least favourite character from #4?
Corday. A waste of a decent British actor, whose character I never warmed to, and who ended up sort of hanging about for no good purpose. It's like the writers had a great starting idea but never worked out what they should do with her.

What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include?
Aw, Buffy and the X-Files is too easy. The obvious thing is Mulder and Scully showing up in Sunnydale, investigating an alleged Hellmouth. You could have the Slayer(s) kidnapped by the Conspiracy but that runs the risk of being season 4 of Buffy. Can't I cross the Pros and Firefly?

What is your favourite ship from #6?
Bodie/Doyle. Bodie/Cowley can be read into the series if you squint very hard, or Bodie/Murph, but really it has to be the classic Bodie and Doyle.

If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be?
Inara and Bodie: he's very like Mal in that cynical warrior shell hiding a romantic core and she's the kind of classy lady he loved to woo. Doyle can take Kaylee out.

If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be, and what would you do?
Ooh. Er...
I know what I'd be tempted to do for a day with Ray or Luka. After much thought...Ray. A late lazy breakfast, and afternoon kicking about town, an evening knocking back shots in a sticky indie dive and home for the obvious.

If you could change one thing about #2's plot line, what would you change?
I'd sort out that whole mess in the mid-80s. I loved Davison, and I like the last two seasons of McCoy, but gods the middle is a mess. Bad companions, nonsensical plots, garish overlighting and clothing, stunt celeb casting.

Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5, and why you like the relationship between them.
Mulder and Scully. I like the initial dynamic and the manner in which it evolves over time. There are many details in those early years which suggest a wonderfully complex mixture of friendship, respect and attraction of opposites. There's sharp banter and underlying understanding. It got a bit more irritating once you reach the Saint Scully business etc etc but it worked in those early years.

If the lead title characters (first name in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be?
Buffy vrs Mal. It's hard to apply the "which one would probably make it without me?" test since Buffy is superhumanly strong and Mal is superhumanly stubborn. I think I would save Mal: he's a decent guy who's had his world taken away because he made a bad choice whereas Buffy would pout and whine and feel the burden of her Slayerness.

If you could change the title characters' order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose?
Current credits? Well, I'd take out Sherry Stringfield since her sudden vanishing, and move Maura Tierney up a place or so - make her second to Goran.

If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline for #6, what would the character be like and what would their role be?
I'd produce a family member for Bodie or Doyle. Preferably about the same age, so a cousin or sibling. Neither of them have any family on-screen and it would change the dynamic without producing a Girlfriend of the Week syndrome.

What happens in your favorite episode of show #2?
Ooh, er. Classic series: the Doctor arrives in a Victorian manor house in which an alien scientist is running an experiment involving evolution. New series: OMG!squee!Tennant. Well, actually, no. My favourite has the Doctor and Rose in WW2, haunted by a little boy in a gasmask, aided by a bisexual conman from the 51st century.

If you could kill off one of the characters of #1, who would it be and how would you do it?
Willow's bounceback girlfriend. And I'd do it very carefully so as not to induce the wrath of Willow.

If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose?
Firefly. To walk through Serenity? To clatter up and down the walkways and check out the details? To stand in the middle of the cargo hold and spin around? To play with the dinosaurs on the flightdeck? Who wouldn't?

So, I saved the best question for last. If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person?
Well the choices would be:
Spike (dangerous rock date ending in a necking)
you don't date the Doctor so Harry Sullivan (very trad date with an Italian meal and a peck on the cheek, old thing)
~~Jayne~~ Mal (a sullen date with half-disguised charm and no kissing)
Ray (see question six, with more tequilla shots) or Luka (charming European seduction date)
Scully in the early period (a contemporary dinner date)
Doyle (pub grub and dancing).

Scully, Doyle and Harry are out first, leaving the rock boys or the sullen war survivors. As I'd like to come out of a date in a good mood, it'd be the dumb rock boys. So... Spike. There'd be a thrill to the edge of darkness danger, whereas Ray would just be a regular date for me.

There's a lot of fallen idealists, rock gods, and damaged men in that list.

Suicide is Painless

2006-03-19T21:57:00.000Z

Since I started archivng my ER and Firefly fic here on aurelius, I've decided to reduce my online personae a little and claim my M*A*S*H fic as my own. Note this is the only medium in which I write slash. I don't know why. So the following stories are now up on aurelius:

Cold Comfort
SLASH. season 1 or 2.
Strangers When We Meet
SLASH, post-series. Heavily influenced by More Than Heaven.
Wedding Jitters
het, during Margaret's Wedding

Under My Skin & Too Darn Hot, set sometime between Margaret's Engagement and Margaret's Wedding.

There's another one, a 3-part story, but I'll do that another time.

fic rec: Of Boys and Fireflies

2006-03-19T13:56:00.000Z

Of Boys and Fireflies
by mishbloom

Pre-series. No spoilers. Wowsa. Maybe it's just because I read The Ship Who Sang too often as a teenager, but this brought a tear to my eye.

fic rec: Mend (1/1)

2006-03-19T13:45:00.000Z

It's Sunday, it must be catch up with fic day!

Mend by Goldy Dollar.
Post-Serenity Mal/Inara fic. Inara intends to get a cup of tea.
This writer totally nails it. The dialogue is spot on, with a mix of painful truths, misunderstandings and bickering banter. For example,
"I’m attempting romantics. Don’t faint."
The mood swings slowly and subtly through pain, fear, eroticism and delight. I love this piece.

fic: Drabble: Paper Wraps Stone

2006-03-10T10:50:00.000Z

I just did a quick drabble for neela_ray, based on last nights new episode (UK E4): Paper Wraps Stone. I'll write up thoughts etc on Sunday.

This new ship seems to be inspiring drabbles in a way that no previous ship has. I've always written them, as I think they are a great writing exercise. Trying to pack as much as possible into the strict word count makes you think about what you are trying to express, and how to most effectively do that. Every word needs to add to the meaning: there's no room for slack. So drabbles are great, but Neela and Ray is the first time in years that I've just been dashing them off whenever I have a spare half hour. Strange, n'est pas?

fic rec: time to say how much it meant

2006-03-07T01:05:00.000Z

time to say how much it meant
by cathiexx
Firefly, post-Objects in Space, pre-movie. A lovely little Mal/Inara story which fits within canon but seems so plausible. Inara and Mal's voices are clear, and their reactions are in character.

Principle Flutie! The Annointed One!

2006-03-06T23:00:00.000Z

So, yes, I'm still being overly fannish about ER. Today was a bit of a OMG! moment though, when I realised that both Flutie and the Annointed One were in episode 01.04 of ER. Flutie is a office supplies sales guy and the kid is a brat with an insane mother.

This was, as you might imagine, a bit startling.

Rapid Infusions

2006-02-28T22:22:00.000Z

In order not to drive y'all nuts with ramdom postings about ER, I started a side blog. At the moment it is called Rapid Infusion but I'm still toying with the title A Babinski reflex because it sounds cooler. I'll still post notices of ER fic here, but any thoughts etc on the series will be over there.

Fic : Passing in the Night (1/1)

2006-02-24T22:33:00.000Z

I'm on a roll, baby, yeah! This is in the WTF kind of zone because I have more plot bunnies hopping about my brain than Watership Down and this one isn't even one I was thinking of until I saw last night's episode. I walked to work thinking about it, then back from work, then just sat down and wrote...

Title: Passing in the Night (1/1)
Rating: FRT (aka PG13 / 12a)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were, never will be.
Spoilers: set in the hours after episode 12.08.
Content Warning: mild sexual whatnots.
A/N: I have read spoilers for later episodes, and this fits in between the end of 12.08 and the start of 12.09 but without spoiling 12.09. Yep, it's a missing scene type thing.

She sat coiled into the corner of the sofa, with the lights off and the news channel nearly muted. When she heard the key in the lock, she smiled to herself and looked around. He stood in the doorway, rucksack on one shoulder and dark marks around his eyes.

"Hey," Neela said quietly, her voice husky.

[read the rest]

The Great Write Meme

2006-02-22T14:14:00.000Z

All writers are feedback whores. Even the professional ones. OK, so JKRowling etc probably have someone to read all the reviews for them, and filter out the terminally stupid and/or insulting, but I bet she still likes to know what people think.

findmeakor: The Great Write Meme asks all fanfic writers to put themselves up for anon criticism. Flame me, baby, yeah! (I'm on page 14).

quick web change

2006-02-21T02:22:00.000Z

I've just done a quick fiddle so that I now include 'other' fic on the fiction index. I've even done some quick fiddle with the CSS so other fic has a different style to the Buffy or Firefly styles. I added a very quick bit of art, so that non-fans can see the pairing, but I'm not really sure about that - I'm trying not to have a graphics-laden site.

This wasn't out of some overwhelming urge to do some website maintenance but due to me still being up at 2am UK time running some software tests for work.

fic rec: Mirror Image

2006-02-19T18:28:00.000Z

Mirror Image
by Lilachigh
Buffy, post-The Body.
Author's summary: A few weeks have passed since Joyce’s death and Buffy is finding life hard. Help arrives in a very strange way.

rec notes: via betterbuffyfics. This is wonderful. It creates a frozen-over Buffy and then breaks the ice on her grief. Lovely, and tear-inducing.

I have not abandoned the Buffyverse or Fireflyverse just because I have a new obsession, you know. I promise. I even suspect the whole Neela/Ray thing is a transmigration of Buffy/Spike. Think about it:
He's a punk, she's obsessed with her job. They fight all the time, but when you watch ER you realise he's always watching her. OK, so she's the one to swear in British English but still...I'm getting a Beatrix/Benedict vibe from them.

FIC: The Loneliness of the Long Haul Runner (1/1)

2006-02-19T02:41:00.000Z

Damn new 'ship obsessions. Damn them all to hell. I didn't mean to write this tonight but I kinda of had the urge to have a go at Neela's voice. It's just up at LJ and silverlake for now, until I figure out the best way of including non-Whedon verse fic into this site.

Title: The Loneliness of the Long Haul Runner (1/1)
Author: SpikeDru
Rating: FRT, I guess. Damn, just when I'd figured out how to use dumb American ratings I have to learn a new system?
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were, never will be.
Spoilers: set in early season 12 but no real spoilers
Content Warning: My, but I do like to swear. Nothing really rude, but if even the least bit of potty-mouth bothers you, avoid me.

She’d started to run as a teenager and she’d never stopped.

One drizzling autumn morning, stood shivering and recalcitrant in the schoolyard, Neela Rasgotra had suddenly seen how to escape it all. Her parents’ proud and determined expectations, her friends’ talk of boys and kissing, her enemies’ sniping at her inadequacies. Bookish Neela. Neela the exemplary student. Neela the Nerd. She’d started to run.

[read the rest here]

Roomie fic

2006-02-18T21:12:00.000Z

Every fandom has its fic kinks: the plot bunnies which repeat over and over. Buffy and Spike are put under a spell (wait, that really happened), Xander and Spike tied to his recliner, Mulder or Scully looking for the other one. With soap/drama set in the real world, the stories become more limited, due to the whole not-having-monsters thing. And a concentrated bout of reading fic reveals the core kinks. So here is a list of the components of a Roomies (or Reela, apparently) fic. Select a handful and make your own fic!

key things
- Ray with his shirt off
- Ray's t-shirts
- Ray's tattoos
- Ray's silver thumb-ring
- Ray being cocky (not that way)
- Ray being cocky (that way)
- Ray's guitar
- Ray shagging groupies loudly
- the walls of the flat being very thin
- Neela being prim
- Neela being innocent
- Neela having coffee/mocha skin
- Neela being really short
- Neela having good boobs
- Neela swearing in English English
- Neela dancing

plot bunnies
- one or other is naked or semi-naked in flat and is very conscious about it, despite them being doctors etc etc
- Ray gets beat up and/or shot and Neela has to treat him
- a playfight gets serious because Ray gets cocky (either way)
- Michael is killed in Iraq and Ray has to comfort Neela
- Neela is unhappy, realising that spoilering spoiler was a mistake, and turns to Ray for comfort
- Neela moves out and Ray realises he misses her
- Neela gets drunk and Ray has to handle her
- Neela realises she has a crush on Ray, they argue, they kiss and make up

PWP (where's the smut, goddamit!?)
- Ray and/or Neela have soft lips
- Neela pulls Ray close with his t-shirt
- Ray gets cocky (that way)
- they are big on the kissing, but always hold off on the rest

As always, there are the standard "end up marrying, having kids, blah blah blah" stories which seem to infest every fandom but I always assume those don't really count. I want *smut*.

I am, god help me, considering rising to the challenges over on Doctors in the House, with the proviso that I include either everything from the above list, or nothing.

I spoilt myself

2006-02-17T23:51:00.000Z

My name is SpikeDru and I am a spoilerphobe.

Way back, back in the pre-LJ days, the pre-squee and even the pre-'ship, I loved reading spoilers. I was addicted to episode guides of the X-Files. I just ate them up, night after night. This was in the era in which, to get an episode ahead of the UK's air date, you had to have understandng friends in the States who could tape a load and ship them over.

But at some point I pledged to read no more spoilers. I know only as much as the UK tv listing for a given week. The Zipper Heard Around the World was a surprise to me, etc etc. And then, tonight, I fell off the spoilerfree wagon and I fell hard. I just read an episode guide to all the aired episodes in this season's ER. And I did it not out of a compulsive interest in Luka, which would be fine and understandable. No, I did it because I have a new 'ship. Look, there's even a website whose fic archive I am even now devouring: Ray & Neela.

Neela: Weeks could go by and we might never see each other...
Ray: Months, even........ welcome, roomie!
Neela: ... God, I'm gonna regret this.

There are quotes and icons and there's even a term for this specific ship (roomies) and, well, I may have downloaded some caps in order to make my own icons...and I've been watching ER from the first episode so where the hell did this sudden obsession come from? I'm gonna claim the punk doc made me do it...