Fic and Life

[quinara]

First of all, for the records, I posted a fic at sb_fag_ends: Breathing at Your Side, set in AtS S5, about 700 words with no AO3 warnings. In which Spike and Buffy are in secret communication...

Otherwise, I'm slightly worried that I have another plot bunny for seasonal_spuffy, which came about after wondering what I could find to write about Spike in S7 - I feel like most of my major things recently have been about Buffy, so wanted to get back in Spike's head. It is, dare I say it, not based on tropes I've seen before and I'm reasonably excited about it. I have no idea whether I'll have it finished by April, nor whether I should post it on the same day as the other anyway, since it'll probably be at least over 10K in terms of words and the other fic I have has settled at around 24K...

The main problem with this, anyway, is that I think that the words/ideas are coming because I'm feeling slightly burned out/tired of my course at the moment, but my brain is in good enough shape that it's still ticking over - it's just retreated to something less stressful, with less at stake. I'm a bit worried about this, because I still have a 4-5K word essay and my 10-12K thesis to write this year; I'm excited by the ideas, especially after a very productive supervision I had today, but the actual execution is feeling a tad mountainous.

Still, I did read Gilgamesh last week (in translation) - I recommend it highly! It is japes. And not very long at all.

PS. LJ is still buggering around with my comments; if I'm ignoring you or you just want something to appear in my inbox, do feel free to email me or hassle me via DW. I'm not sure it's worth risking LJ messenger, even, because I never check my inbox without a notification.

PPS. I'm thinking of changing my default icon to this one of Why Bird, at least on LJ. I know this shouldn't be an issue, but it would be an end of a proper era for the sheep... What do people think???? (She has a computer with the proto-internet on it! And tea cups with teddy bears!)

Comments

[bogwitch]

Maybe you've just grown out of the sheep? I keep meaning to change Illyria, but that means changing all of my LJ and I haven't thought of anything better (plus I rather enjoy the impression of a power trip).

I've had a copy of Gilgamesh for about 18 years and I still haven't managed to read. I might have to try and make the effort when I have the time.

The comments thing is becoming really irritating.

[quinara]

I see you went for the 'have something pop up in my inbox' option. ;D

Yeah, I'm not quite sure I can be bothered to change my DW (mostly because I like the colours and it's nice to have history), but the sheep have probably had their day in icon form. Though what it means to grow out of something into beloved characters of children's TV, I don't know. Nor do I know what you would have instead of Illyria!! It's been so long!

Gilgamesh is great fun, in a slightly bizarre historical way - there are big fights and races against the sun!

And *nods*. LJ really needs to pull its finger out. Like now.

[bogwitch]

Of course. You can't have a conversation when you can't see the replies!

See, the thing about getting old is that you shuck off all those childhood loves for a while, then you get all nostalgic and buy them all back again from Past Times.

I was thinking about something more neutral like the website these days. Perhaps it should have an astrophysics/vampire feel.

I never expected Gilgamesh to resemble Top Gear so much.

::shakes fist at LJ or those rotters that are bothering it::

[quinara]

It does make things a hell of a lot easier.

I have always wondered what the point of Past Times is - though from the outside I think you'd be forgiven for thinking it was only relevant to your interests if you were a child in 1932.

Ooh - a website-style thing could be cool. Although, would you really want your journal to look completely serious? When fandom is so silly?

There's even a big dead cow bull!

I can never understand why these things just break, when presumably nothing's changed...

[bogwitch]

But Past Times used to be great! Saxon replica jewellery! Medieval gargoyles for the garden! Roman stuff (sorry, wasn't as interested in those)! Now, as you say, it seems to be stuck in the early 20th century, which holds no interest to me.

It could be some kind of ironic juxtaposition? My empire should have proper branding after all.

[quinara]

My empire should have proper branding after all.

This is always important. Where would Coca Cola be without Father Christmas? Still in my fridge and on several branded items? I think so not.

[bogwitch]

Exactly. People need to know who is crushing them.

[stultiloquentia]

Every once in a while I think of changing my icon, or uploading a bunch and doing that thing where you select something new and appropriate for every comment. How badly do you think I'd freak everybody out?

[quinara]

How badly do you think I'd freak everybody out?

Ooh... Muchly, I think. We'd all probably get used to it, but I can't help but think it would be like the fandom equivalent of getting plastic surgery. Not that I haven't just done it! Heh - join me on the dark side of the identity fence...

Sometimes I think about the whole appropriate icon thing, but I am so very lazy. Vague relevance on my initial comment to a post is enough for me.

[evilawyer]

I'm feeling slightly burned out/tired of my course at the moment...

Then a break is definitely in order, I say! I'll be off to read your latest fic later.

I think LJ's problems stem from how it's been letting spates of spam get through to e-mails from posts to communities. Yahoo and the others probably got complaints, particularly since, on LJ, only the community moderator can complain to LJ about spam; I'm not even sure the moderators would see the spam if it gets sent in reply to a community post by someone else.

[quinara]

But I don't have time for a break! /I've been semi-breaking for a couple of weeks now! Sigh.

I think it may be a Yahoo thing - someone apparently complained to LJ recently and got a note about it being a third party issue, but I feel like LJ's main job should surely be fixing that/negotiating a fix on that, and it's been ages...

[evilawyer]

I have bitched already on my LJ --- I honestly think it's a combination of them having let through all the spam recently and s twisted hope that we'll be logged into LJ 24/7 to get replies in our LJ inboxes so that they can sell access to marketers and the like as in "Hey, our users stay logged in more hours during the day so you can stuff cookies down their throat all day long!"

But then, I am a cynical person.

Breaks are still good! Naps are even better!