a fool's musings

Boreas by Waterhouse
Fool, said my muse to me,
look in thy heart and write...

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01.04.03 - 8:59 p.m.

hey, I actually got something done today, around all the napping

I feel very accomplished today, considering I slept for most of it.

I finally, finally finished reading City of Light by Lauren Belfer.

This is the book I started months ago, left at my parents, forgot to take with me on trips, etc. etc., and just didn't really get into.

Well, this weekend, I polished it off.

I liked it. Not enough to keep it - it'll go onto the table in the vestibule of the ladies' room at BEMC, where we all put books for each other to take, but I liked it.

It had elements of RPF, for those of you keeping track, in that various long-dead, famous people interacted with fictional characters, and I found it a little hard to believe, in one case, that the heroine had the type of relationship portrayed with one of these dead, famous people, but you know - it's fiction - she's beautiful, young, brilliant, etc. etc. So of course she's taken up by Society.

And it's a very interesting look at the city of Buffalo at the turn of the [last] century, with all sorts of stuff I didn't know or don't remember learning (McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo? Didn't know that's where it happened) and also lots of stuff on electricity and Niagara and the American aristocracy of robber barons and old money alike.

Plus it's got suspense (though if you've read enough thrillers, you'll figure everything out long before Louisa does), political maneuvering, hints of romance, social critique...

I'd say pick it up if you've got a few hours to spend. It shouldn't have taken me three months to finish it, and I doubt it would take you that long, once you get some momentum going.

Speaking of momentum, how about those Jets?

I thought that the Colts were supposed to be all hot and destined and crap, but uh, apparently not. *smirk*

As for my other accomplishments, I managed to make Josh less of an ass than he first appears in the J/D story I'm writing. I thought of the bits yesterday in the can at work, but then my boss was at my desk when I came back and I forgot.

But Josh refused to be as much of an idiot as Casey.

Which just proves once again that Josh is Dan, not Casey.

*g*

What else?

Oh, I answered some of the unanswered feedback that's been languishing, and I feel better about that. I really am catching up. Yes, I am.

And now I'm going to read my friends page/other blogs, and generally goof off all night.

This is good.

~victoria



link

[current mood: accomplished]
[current music: tv in the background]
[random quote: \"There are three kinds of liars. Liars, damned liars, and statisticians.\" Benjamin Disraeli]

~*~

01.04.03 - 1:25 a.m.

Legolas? Still my boyfriend

We interrupt your usual blog rounds to bring you this important update:

Legolas?

Still my boyfriend.

Carry on.

~victoria



link

[current mood: silly, sleepy]
[current music: the voices in my head]
[random quote: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world]

~*~

01.03.03 - 1:25 p.m.

Characters and stories. How's that for a generic title?

Pete tells me it's time for the story inventory.

Stories I am actually working on:

Nothing Like the Sun (dark Hermione/Draco, and I still haven't figured out Draco's motives. Waah... it's all Te's fault)

The First and Last Time (Aragorn/Legolas/Eowyn PWP, if I can figure out how that works)

The Josh/Donna fic, which is still called "The Dating Plan" and needs a better title.

I have not opened/looked at/touched/had the urge to write anything L/R in a couple of weeks. Don't know what's up there, since I have lots of things I could conceivably be working on:

Consumption

The Prodigal

Dreams in Red

The Watchfic

The Cheesy Fic

Fifth Wheel

Liar's Poker

Bab!Rogue

amnesiac!Rogue

Game of You - Jenn's b-day fic. Her birthday is 1/26. This will never be done on time. *g*

I'd like to finish all of those before X2 comes out and completely josses everything in my oeuvre ::snicker:: except Parallax and The Same.

Smallville fics I'd like to write/finish:

With this Ring

unnamed Chloe and Lex save the world while Clark is on vacation fic. With a Ticklike villain. I mean, the villain isn't like the Tick, but like a villain the Tick would fight. Something about Fashion Disasters or something. Obviously a broad comedy

His Girl Friday rewritten for Chloe and Lex.

Plus, I have some thoughts on a Faramir!Fix fic, and a Sam contemplates Frodo and Smeagol/Gollum and doesn't like what he sees fic.

Sigh.

Motivation, where did you go?

And, gacked from Twinkledru, the Characters Meme:

I have a lot of fandoms. I mean, I'm a fan of a lot of things, even if I don't read or write fanfic or get involved in online fandom.

For each of your fandoms (as both writer and reader? I've got lots of read-only fandoms), and without reusing anyone if possible (oh, that's impossible), who was the character you most:

Identified with?

BtVS: Xander or season 1-3 Willow

Angel: Cordelia

SV: Chloe

XMM: Rogue or Scott

HP: Hermione or Ron

WW: Donna

LotR: Sam, Merry'n'Pippin

Homicide: Bayliss, Munch, Bolander

SW: prequels: Obi-Wan; original trilogy? Leia

X-Files: Scully

Firefly: Kaylee

Lusted over?

BtVS: Xander and Giles (Faith and Cordelia could almost convince me to like girls, though *g*)

Angel: Wesley, Gunn, Lindsey

XMM: Logan, Scott

HP: In the movie? ::mumbleWoodmumble::, in the books Remus and Sirius.

LotR: Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir in the movie; Aragorn and Faramir in the books

WW: Josh

SW: prequels: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon; original trilogy: Han Solo

Firefly: Mal Reynolds

Homicide: Kellerman, Lewis

X-Files: Mulder, Skinner, Krycek

Hated or were thoroughly annoyed by?

BtVS: Dru, lovesick Spike, Dawn, Riley, wussy!Wes

Angel: Angel

WW: Mandy, Amy Gardner

XMM: Jean Grey

SV: Lana Lang

Firefly: Inara

Homicide: Dullzone and the BBQ

HP: Draco Malfoy, Cornelius Fudge

XF: Diana Fowley, What's-her-name Reyes

Adored in a platonic sense?

BtVS: Tara, Joyce

Angel: er, Lilah?

HP: Ron, McGonagall

LotR: Frodo, Gimli, Eowyn

XMM: Bobby, Hank, Xavier

Homicide: Gee, Howard, Pembleton, Scheiner, Munch, Griscom

SW: prequels: Mace Windu. He's gonna kick your ass, him and his funky purple lightsabre. Oh yeah. Yoda, too. Original trilogy: Obi-Wan, Yoda, Chewbacca, Artoo & Threepio (so doing it, btw)

SV: Martha Kent

WW: CJ. I wanna be her

Firefly: Zoe. If I can't be CJ, I wanna be Zoe!

XF: The Lone Gunmen

Oh, also, my thoughts on the FotR Cast Commentaries (mainly, mmm... Sean Bean, and mmm.. Dominic Monaghan *g*) and a Bad Elf Fic are up in the LJ.

Some people had some interesting comments on my last entry, which i will respond to eventually, along with some other comments I keep meaning to get back to.

Must go get lunch now, before caf closes.

~victoria



link

[current mood: snarky. It's ancient Greek for butthead]
[current music: baby if you wanna be wild you got a lot to learn close your eyes let them melt let them fire let them burn]
[random quote: \"Work is the curse of the drinking classes.\" Oscar Wilde]

~*~

01.02.03 - 5:20 p.m.

theirloveissopure that they didn't even have sex!

I did the pairing meme over in the LJ, and talked a little about my One True Pairing(s) in various fandoms, and that got me thinking (a dangerous pastime. I know. - and dammit, *that* should have been on my list of movie quotes. Grrr...)

This is the thing I don't get:

Why is it that some people are so against sex?

I'm not talking Pat Robertson or the Pope, either.

I'm talking people in our very own fandoms, yes, people who could be reading your LJ or on your friends list.

There's this strain of theirloveissopure, so they CAN'T be having sex, because that would cheapen the relationship.

And I don't get that.

Last week, I was rambling about TTT, as I've been wont to do lately, and this subject came up, specifically in regard to Sam/Frodo.

Now I flat-out did NOT see the slash in the movie version of FotR. And I have very specific reasons for believing that Sam and Frodo were not doing it on the road to Mordor, mostly based on my reading of Hobbit culture and class system.

But what bugs me is the automatic horrified response from people that sex somehow cheapens a relationship.

And what really bugs me is how often this response is to the idea of slash.

"But, but... Frodo and Sam would NEVER have sex! Theirloveissopure!"

"Scott and Logan would NEVER have sex! They're comrades in arms. Why does everything have to be about sex?"

Blah blah blah.

You (generic, of course) don't see sparkage, hey, that's fine. I don't see sparkage in a lot of things that people ship for.

But saying, "I don't see any sexual tension" or "I don't get a sexual vibe" or whatever is a different thing altogether from, "Their love is so transcendent that sex is just cheapening it." Or "They have a spiritual bond. Why would you want to muddy that up with the physical?" Which roughly translates to me, as "Ewww... sex."

As though marriage, true marriage, isn't a physical and spiritual and emotional bond all in one.

Sex can the ultimate culmination of love for two people who are truly Meant For Each Other.

Not all love is sexual. I am in no way saying that.

But I do get irked when random people take umbrage at seeing a certain pairing slashed (I've not really seen this happen with het pairings, which makes me wonder. Though I'm sure there are people out there going, "Scully and Mulder never slept together. Why is it always about sex with you people?") because they feel that adding in sex somehow lessens the bond between the characters or sullies it or... some insane troll logic I'm not getting.

Because yeah, if you don't see sexual vibes between Sam and Frodo, that's cool with me. But don't get on a high horse because someone else does and you think it 'ruins' or 'twists' or 'cheapens' their relationship.

I leave you with a brilliant quote:

Their love was the kind that lasted forever, she had no sex drive and he was impotent. They lived happily asexually after. ~Cschoolgirl, in the comments on that LJ entry.

Feel free to comment. I will be internet-free this evening, but I'll be back again in the morning.

~victoria



link

[current mood: irked]
[current music: Break On Through]
[random quote: you know the day destroys the night, night divides the day, try to run, try to hide, break on through to the other side]

~*~

01.02.03 - 11:05 a.m.

"You want to make sure I never get laid again."

So, watching "100,000 Airplanes" last night reminded me of two things:

How much I love the Josh/Donna chemistry, and how much I've come to loathe Amy Gardner.

Which brings us to this, which is what I spent last night writing - the next bits of my J/D Dating Plan fic:

If you'll recall, Amy has just laid the plan out for Josh, and then walked out on him in the restaurant. Josh has called Donna to tell her to wait at his apartment for him.

***

Donna hung up the phone and hit the button on Josh's blender.

Obviously, Amy wasn't coming back with him, and if it had been work-related, he'd have told her to meet him at the office, so it couldn't hurt to have a piņa colada.

She looked around the apartment -- the Hawaiian decorations brightened the place up considerably, but it wasn't the same thing as going to Hawaii.

She wondered if she was ever going to make it there, and if she did, would it be with Josh. Their relationship had been strained for a long time, mostly because of her stupidity in sleeping with the enemy, but they had put that behind them.

She thought she'd put this whole stupid crush on Josh behind her, as well, but he could touch her heart in ways that no one else had managed, with just a word or a look, or a lesson in politics. She still felt bad about leaving him on Christmas Eve, even though he'd okayed it. She'd enjoyed her time off, enjoyed feeling like a normal person with a normal life. It just wasn't the same as spending a night with him, working the phones, trying to fix the infant mortality rate and broker peace in the Middle East.

At least Jack had understood how important her job was to her, though he'd been a little taken aback by her devotion to Josh, and his to her. After a short conversation on their first date, though, she'd convinced Jack that she and Josh were no more than friends.

It had taken almost three years for her to convince herself.

She sighed, sunk down on the couch, and drank deep from her glass. She cursed herself for forgetting to put a little pink umbrella -- bought specially for the occasion -- in her drink before she sat. Kicking off her shoes, she decided she didn't care.

Obviously, Josh had screwed up somehow with Amy, and they were going to spend the night as each other's agony aunts. It wouldn't be the first time, though usually, they commiserated at work.

She was sprawled on the couch, well into her second piņa colada and contemplating a third, when the door opened and Josh walked in.

"You're here."

"No flies on you, boy," she responded. "You told me not to leave."

"You should listen to all my commands so well."

"I'm your assistant, not your dog." He opened his mouth and she said, "Don't even *think* it, Josh."

"I was just gonna--"

"Don't."

"But--"

"*Don't*."

He slung his coat over the back of a chair while they were talking and moved toward the couch. She pulled her legs up, but when he sat, she dropped her feet into his lap. He ran his thumb over her ankle in slow circles, and she shivered. Did he even *know* what he was doing? She didn't think so.

The silence stretched for a long few minutes, but it was so comfortable, she didn't feel like breaking it.

Finally, though, she thought about her warm bed and how she could be snuggled into it for the next five hours before she had to get up for work, so she said, "So?"

"You're still here?"

"Josh."

He smiled and she never failed to be amazed at how it lit up his face. She thought she could snuggle here and be just as warm as she was under her big, down comforter, but for a whole different set of reasons.

He picked up a lei from the coffee table and held it over her head.

"Kiss me."

"What?" She pulled her feet off his lap and sat up straight.

"Pretend it's mistletoe, and kiss me."

"How much have you had to drink tonight, Josh? You know you have a sensitive system--"

"A glass of wine, Donna. All I had was a glass of wine."

"What happened with Amy?"

"Don't you want to kiss me?"

She could feel herself flushing, and the slow way her brain was working made her question her decision to have two piņa coladas. "Why do you want to kiss me?" she asked.

"I uh--" he looked down at his lap and mumbled something she couldn't understand.

"What was that?"

"Amy said I had to kiss you."

She jumped off the couch. "I want you to kiss me because you want to kiss me! I don't want you to kiss me because Amy wants you to kiss me!"

"So you do want me to kiss you!" he said, and she realized she'd made a tactical error, but it was salvageable.

"I said, 'If I wanted you to kiss me,' Josh. Maybe you should get your hearing checked."

"Donna," he whined as she fumbled for her shoes.

"Good night, Josh. Get some sleep, and we'll forget this ever happened."

"You want to make sure I never get laid again. That's it, isn't it."

"You keep going on like this, Josh, I'll make sure you never have the ability to get laid again."

***

And that's all I've got, because I need to figure out a good indignant Donna speech. Then I have some ideas for a Josh-Toby, a Donna-Toby, a Josh-Donna-CJ and a Donna-Amy conversation, as well as a drive-by Donna-Will Bailey convo. And possibly an Amy-Jack conversation. Not sure yet. Need that indignant and slighlty-soused Donna speech first.

~victoria



link

[current mood: cold]
[current music: Losing My Religion - REM]
[random quote: I gave her my heart. She gave me a pen. ~Lloyd Dobler, Say Anything]

~*~

01.01.03 - 2:14 p.m.

ramblings on comedy and Draco

Happy New Year!

Still trying to wrap my head around Elf sex.

And the circumstances through which Eowyn ends up between Legolas and Aragorn. I mean, I can easily see Legolas/Aragorn, or Aragorn/Eowyn, but combining them is a little... difficult.

I'm very angry right now, because LJ just ate my very wordy post about something, so I'll just ask it here, instead:

Why do I give so much more leeway in terms of errors in punctuation/grammar/etc. to comedies than I do to dramatic stories?

Why is it that I can whole-heartedly and unreservedly (two words that mean the same thing!) recommend fic like Naked Quidditch Match and Bagenders, both of which made me laugh out loud like a crazy person on monkey crack, even though they are both in need of a good line edit?

I mean, both are riddled with punctuation and homophone trouble, and yet, because I nearly died of laughing (and I'm not kidding. I almost fell off the bed the other night, and if you saw my bed at my parent's house... I need a step stool to get up into it, so falling out of it could be dangerous) and woke the dog up at 2 am from laughing so hard at Bagenders, I can rec them and not worry that people will suddenly think I'm reccing trash.

I mean, come on, any fic that repeatedly had the dialogue punctuation wrong would normally get deleted or go unread by me, yet Bagenders commits this faux pas numerous times, and I overlook it.

Is it because it's so hard to find good comedy fic?

Is it because I hold comedy to a lesser standard than drama?

Is it because I can manage to overlook these errors when I'm laughing so hard I almost pass out from lack of oxygen?

Is it because I know how much harder it is to write something gutbustingly funny, so I don't worry so much about the 'minor' things?

Because seriously, if the characterization - even something as crazy as Gandalf as alcoholic dirty old man and Frodo as sometimes-psychotic housewife to the Fellowship (in terms of cooking and cleaning. get your mind out of the gutter), and Boromir's ghost possessing Legolas - springs from canon characterization, I can totally go along for the ride, as long as the outlandish extrapolations make sense to me (and these do, which may say more about my sanity than anything else. Just read Bagenders, okay? If you're a Tolkien purist, you'll stop after the first paragraph. If you can take seeing LotR made glorious fun of, read on.).

So yeah, why is it that comedy gets more leeway in terms of the kind of technical errors that usually drive me nuts?

I mean, if a serious, dramatic story, or even a PWP that purported to be in character etc, had these kinds of errors (here/hear, for example, or dialogue punctuation being all wrong), and got praised to the skies, I'd be gnawing on my own liver, thinking, what the hell is WRONG with you people? Can't you see how poorly done this thing is?

Whereas with comedy, not so much.

Does anyone else find this to be so?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

I'm going back to figuring out Elf sex.

***

The other thing I'm still pondering is Draco's motivation for Nothing Like the Sun. Is he just "Single White Femaling" Ron? Does he have a soft spot for Hermione? If so, why? What in canon brings me to that conclusion? Is it something else completely? Or is he, my first instinct, that I've shied away from so far, just fucking with Hermione's head? Because he's attracted to her, and because he can?

I'm not sure yet.

This needs to be worked out, and I don't think I'm going to do a Draco POV, so it has to come through somehow in Hermione's POV. She has to figure it out. Or he could just stay horribly opaque, and the reader can attribute their own reasons to his actions.

Hmmm....

~victoria



link

[current mood: thoughtful]
[current music: college football on television]
[random quote: My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun - sonnet #130 (I think)]

~*~

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The painting is "Boreas" by John William Waterhouse. Again, not a muse, but I like her. She suits the color scheme.

The quote is from Sir Philip Sidney.

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