January 24, 2003

I've decided to move to lj-land, so you can now find me here.

January 8, 2003

I'm taking off tomorrow to the U.K. for ten days; now that I'm past the neurotic packing and planning stages, I'm kinda psyched *g*. Before I go, I have new recs, some of which I've already posted about here, but there's a lot of new stuff, too.

And a new story: Love Song, written for a circle quote challenge. Resident Evil, Jill/Chris. Sex, zombies, and good fun.

January 1, 2003

Happy 2003, etc. etc. I spent last night watching FOTR and eating shish kabob with a friend, and for dessert we had berger cookies--which are a Baltimore thing, and are really just an excuse to pile mountains of chocolate cream frosting on a tiny vanilla-ish cookie. They are truly ill-inspiring. Mmm.

So I decided to try the writing meme that has been floating around, because I was curious about how many stories I'd written/posted this year compared to last year. I was shocked to realize how few stories I'd actually posted.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

I actually feel like I've written a lot this year, though I've only posted three: Water and Smoke, which was in January, Altitude, and For a Strange Country, which were both started in 2000. I don't know if they should even count, since I only did a quick edit on Altitude before posting it, and while I structurally revised For a Strange Country, I didn't add much new stuff to it.

So I posted less than I thought I would this year, but I think I've written a lot more than I expected, particularly in the last half of 2002. I've written a bunch of little things in my writing journal, wrote a big chunk of a DIR story this past summer (it's resting now, because I need to rework some motivational and plot issues), written a Resident Evil story that needs, like, two or three sentences to bring it all together (figuring out those sentences is, of course, the hard part), started a HP story I'm cowriting with a friend, and just started a gen LotR story. So I actually think I've been very productive this year; I just need to get these stories finished and posted.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2002?

Going from stories I'm working on rather than what I've posted: I told myself once that I would never, ever write a LotR story. So that surprised me, though I suppose The Two Towers had a lot to do with it.

What I'm really surprised by is the fandom I'm not writing in: Stargate. Aside from a few snippets in my writing journal and a half-started story, I never took off with it like I'd expected. I think the first rush of obsession after watching seasons 1 and 2 died a bit when I had to wait to see the rest of the seasons. But the third season box set is supposed to come out this month, I think, so hopefully I can rekindle the obsession; because I really do want to be writing Stargate.

What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest.

For a Strange Country, definitely--not just because I was happy to finally complete it, but because ego aside, I think it's very well written. It was also very enjoyable to write, though restructuring it into an actual story was frustrating as hell.

Water and Smoke makes me happy in the sense that I think it's a good story and it says what I wanted to say; but the writing of it was like pulling out teeth. Every line of that story was written in slow, agonizing inches. A lot of that had to do with RL stress at the time, and a bit of confidence angst; I guess what I like most about the story is that I was determined enough to finish it despite the pain of writing it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? (See above for unexpected pairings, etc.) What did you learn from them?

Ha ha ha. I am so not risky. I've written in a lot of obscure fandoms, but I don't consider that particularly risky; what would be risky for me is to write in a big, popular fandom, I think. And I am still very much third person/past tense girl. Writing a non-yaoi GW story might be considered risky, I guess *g*. I don't tend to take a lot of risks in my writing generally; not that I don't like other people's less conventional fiction, but I'm still trying to get a feel for my own writing and narrative style before I start screwing around with it.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

To finish all the stories I listed above, I guess. And write some Stargate.

December 30, 2002

Updated my site look for the new year, then decided to go ahead and do it here too.

December 29, 2002

Review of The Two Towers

SPOILERS FOR THE TWO TOWERS AND GENERAL SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS

I've made some attempt to organize this by characters and scenes:

Aragorn: I was taken aback by Aragorn in FOTR, because he wasn't nearly as stern as I had expected; he was a little softer, a little more sensual and less cold that I imagined him from the books. After reading the books again, I realized that I never cared that much for Aragorn--I liked him, sure, and he was one of the heroes, but he always seemed a little distant to me. I'm really taken by movie Aragorn now, though; he's much more real and accessible. I thought he rocked in The Two Towers.

I was talking to a friend about the whole Aragorn/Arwen thing, and we were saying that, in addition to the fact that Eowyn is much cooler, it made more narrative sense for Aragorn to end up with Eowyn--but I realized that this is based on the movie version of Aragorn. In the film, they're really bringing out Aragorn's movement from the elves to his human birthright; in FOTR, he's caught in between, and Boromir rightly calls him on it. In TT, the transition is being made, and that's one of the things I loved about Aragorn in TT, that he's beginning to align himself with men and really see himself as one of them. So ending up with Eowyn makes sense to me, in that he's completing that transition by marrying a human woman.

But book Aragorn is much different; he's much more epic in scope, and inherent to his character is a sense that he's different from other men, from a more ancient lineage that, along with his elf upbringing, places him apart. He's a hero in a grand sense, maybe to counter Frodo's very real and simple heroism. Marrying Arwen at the end reaffirms that difference, and in the book it makes sense to me that he does so.

I'm much more fond of movie Aragorn, though, because he is more accessible and real. And as much as I love the beings and races in the book and movies, my real passion and interest is with the humans and not the dwarves or elves or hobbits.

That being said, I don't dislike Arwen of the movies. I thought she was better in FOTR, and I'm not convinced Liv Tyler can pull off the subtleties required to make me really love the character, but I thought the Arwen scenes were necessary, and I liked them--particularly the first one where Aragorn is on the chaise (in bare feet, too. I love bare feet).

Faramir: I know a lot of people are upset that movie Faramir isn't quite the character of the books, but as with Aragorn I love this Faramir. Again, it's the whole "man apart" deal--Faramir is described as having that certain something that his father has but Boromir doesn't, and I assumed that this in part allowed him to resist the lure of the ring and let Frodo go. But I'm much more interested in the flawed man who is able to eventually overcome his flaws, as I saw in movie Faramir, than the man who by some genetic lineage is "better" than the ordinary man. I thought Faramir's actions were very realistic in the movie, just as I thought Boromir's desire for the ring made sense; I mean, you're fighting a losing war, facing annihilation--and here's a weapon that could help you defeat the enemy, so you think. Shortsighted, yes, and flawed. But that's the question that really needs answering, I think--for those who don't have recourse to some special heritage, how *do* you overcome the lure of power? I liked that Faramir was able to see his mistake after witnessing both what the ring was doing to Frodo and Sam's lovely little speech.

Helm's Deep: I thought the battle scene rocked. And I didn't mind the previous battle with the wolf-dog things, whatever they were, and Aragorn's supposed death, though it was a deviation from the book. It gave Aragorn a chance to see the coming army of the Uruk-hai and warn the people of Helm's Deep, if nothing else, and also let us see the depth of Eowyn's feelings for him. Though when you have a chestnut horse kneeling down to pick Aragorn up, don't change it to a dark bay in the riding scenes.

The Ents: I was less fond of the movie Ents, aside from Treebeard. But I'm not sure how they could have brought the depth and almost mystical elements of the book Ents to the screen. I'm so glad it was Pippin who found a way to convince the Ents to go to battle. He always seems to be the one screwing up, poor guy, and he deserved that moment of brilliance. I loved his speech to Merry before that, too, about how the world was too big for them--you could tell the difference in his voice, which dropped a little, and his body language. He was being serious and sincere Pippin, which was just lovely.

Gollum: I had some trouble with Gollum, in that I think they made him too comic. Book Gollum is funny, sure, but there's a fine line between pity and ridicule, and the movie veered very close to that line. Part of it might have been audience reaction--I saw it three times in the theater, and the first two times the audience laughed all the way through the scene where he's arguing between his Smeagol and Gollum selves. For me, that's a kind of terrifying scene; I mean, it's what we all face, right? The whole shadow self, the knowledge that we're all capable of evil, and that if we had had possession of the ring for as long as Gollum, that's who we would be. That's mirrored in Frodo and Sam's disagreements over Gollum, because Frodo sees that--I forgive Sam, because his first concern is still Frodo, and Sam doesn't have any experience with the ring at this point except through Frodo. But I can't quite forgive the comedy of that scene in the movie, turning Gollum from something to be pitied because we can see ourselves in him to something ridiculed and despised, because of course we would never be like that. But the third time I saw it, the audience didn't laugh; I'm not sure why there was a difference. I'm curious what other people thought of that scene, whether they found it humorous or serious.

One last note: I thought the score was brilliant. The first variation I heard was when Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were chasing the orcs across that oh-so-gorgeous landscape, and they were playing the hero theme--then all of a sudden, it dropped to a deeper register in a kind of harmony, and I nearly bounced in my seat--because it was like, ooh! New movie. I loved the Irishness of the Rohan theme, and I can't wait to see what we're going to get for Gondor.

I keep thinking there was more I was going to say; I'm sure I'll have more thoughts once I see it again *g*.

December 22, 2002

So I've been reading lots and lots of Lotrips lately. There's someone to blame for this, and she knows who she is *g*, but Cimorene's rec page hasn't helped much, either. I seem to be into Viggo/Orlando; or Viggo anyone, or Orlando anyone. Seeing The Two Towers hasn't helped in that regard, since, my god, the love is so there. I'm refraining from squeeing.

Back to Lotrips. I've never had much of a moral stand on RPS one way or another. I'll read boyband slash if it's written by an author whose writing I like, or recommended by an author whose writing I like. (Aside: there is only one c in recommend. Really.) But I know so little about the boyband members involved that it's like reading original fic about people in a shared world, or reading in a fandom I only have a vague background for. In Lotrips, my only knowledge of the people involved is through the DVD extras and a few online interviews; but it has given me enough of a sense of their personalities that I feel I can recognize them (or alternately, find no recognition whatsoever) in the fic. Still, it's like--in the stories I like most, there's enough personality there to make the characters recognizable, but also enough added to make them interesting as original characters. Yet I still visualize the actors while reading. I don't know. I think what most surprised me is that I really have no discomfort about reading about real people in these situations. There's a total lack of uncomfortableness.

Here are some recs, though if you're into the fandom you've probably already read them, and if you're not you probably have no interest in reading them. But hey, maybe you're like me and never expected to be seduced, but you're willing to give seduction a try *g*. Most of these are gleaned from the aforementioned Cimorene's rec page:

What it is--LoTR RPS by Zarah. I'd recommend all of Zarah's Lotrips (haven't read her stuff in other fandoms, but I probably will). I think all of the pairings involve Orlando in some way, but he's paired up with pretty much the whole cast *g*. My favorites are the Flash series (Viggo/Orlando): Testshot, Black, White, Red; also De.crescendo (Viggo/Orlando); and Two (David Wenham/Orlando; David Wenham/Viggo).

I also like Calico's Clean-cut, Desirous, and Crest (Viggo/Orlando).

Some non-Lotrips recs: I've also been caught up in reading the Oliver/Marcus (HP) stories/drabbles at Proclivities. My favorites are Sylvia's Mr. Storyteller, V's True But Not Nice, Quiproquo, and sacrifice; and Drew's Whisper Softly to Me, Standing Still in Time, Settle for the Thrill, and When I Start to Make You Nervous.

Also, I did find that Neverending Story story I was looking for earlier: Prodigal, by Thaumocracy. (Bastian/Atreyu). A very realistic vision of how Bastian would turn out a few years down the road. I thought at first it was based on the book version, which is darker and all around more screwed up than the movie, but it turns out it's not; doesn't matter, though, because it works well for both versions.

Last but certainly not least, another story I meant to rec ages ago is Pares' Third Party (DS; RayK/Stella), which is erotic and engaging, and generally just wowed me.

Thoughts on The Two Towers coming soon, probably after I go see it again this week.

December 5, 2002

[Edited to add: I have, by god, finished up one of my WIPs from March of 2001. It feels weird to finally post it. I encountered a number of stumbling blocks along the way, but now it's finished and posted, in large part due to the comments and encouragement of some very lovely people.

For a Strange Country. Gundam Wing. 64k.]

It's snowing here--they're predicting 6 to 10 inches. Normally I would be all woohoo, snow, but classes at the college have been cancelled. And normally I would be all woohoo, no class, but it's the last day of class for both my courses, I planned to have the students do evaluations today, and I have no closure.

But, woohoo! Snow! It's coming down like mad out there. The horses are digging through it to get to the grass, but they're all fat and happy with plenty of hay, so don't feel bad for them. I'm watching them from the window. They look bored and thwarted in their grazing instincts.

So, long snow day ahead with nothing planned and nothing particularly to do. At least I have the staples of survival: diet coke, cigs, milk, mini pizzas, and brownies. Doesn't that reflect poorly on my eating and life style (though the brownies are low fat!). Maybe I'll make bread.

I could, perhaps, write. I have one story that is a few tweakings and a title away from posting, and another that is half done. I could read. I'm reading The Two Towers again in preparation for the movie. I need to reread the Harry Potter books in preparation for a story. I can't read the newspaper, because in my own personal rage management course, reading the newspaper is a no-no. I don't even have a newspaper, anyway.