Otter's Rock

...and I have no idea what I'm gonna write.  I have an embarrassment of riches, this year; my recipient asked for not one but two fandoms I could totally write a story for.  But that doesn't mean I have story ideas bouncing around for them, you know?  One of them is an old movie that I know backwards and forwards because I watched it with my grandparents many, many times.  But I haven't watched it all the way through in, oh, maybe ten years?  At least not since I really got into fandom and fanfic.  I could still probably quote major sections, but I really need to watch it again before I start writing or I'll spend more time second-guessing my memories of the movie than actually writing.  Which means I probably won't be able to write the story until I get home for Christmas break, because I don't have a copy of the movie myself.

(The other isn't a fandom that I signed up for, but it's a relatively recent movie that was on TV just a few weeks ago, and the request is one I could do, it just doesn't interest me as much as the other.  And would require more research.  And, okay, all four fandoms are movies and I could write any of them in a pinch, but only the one from my childhood sings to me, you know?)

And I just realized that I have no cowboy icons.  If I am to write a cowboy story, I must have cowboy icons (hopefully from The Fandom I Am Writing In, because my recipient is right, there is definitely Teh Pretty in that movie).  Time to search LJ and DW.

ETA: and while I could find no icons of that movie (not even a single one!), looking at stills and classic movie blogs is definitely priming the pump.

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Am now officially signed up for yuletide. Yay! I never bother to suggest fandoms to add, because there are always more fandoms that I want to request than I have request slots available, and it is always agonizing paring fandoms down to four; there's no need to make it harder than it already is. I also like to check the requested fandoms page to see which of my requests is most likely to be the one matched on. (The matching algorithm matches the least offered/requested fandoms first, so the fewer numbers after the fandom, the more likely you are to be matched on that fandom--although that also depends on the characters requested and offered, which you can't tell from the list.) I've never managed to guess which fandom I actually ended up getting a story in, but it's fun all the same. Right now, I'm most likely to be matched up on Wonder Woman, because there's only my request and one offer to write. Who knows how that will change by the time signups are closed, and how my requests will interact with all the other requests and offers in the matching algorithm. Also, it's possible my assigned writer will default, in which case the most popular fandom would probably, though not certainly, be the one that I ended up getting. Judging by signups so far, Curse of Chalion is the most popular of the four I requested.

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So, school has started, and since I'm taking classes for grades this semester instead of pass/fail, my schoolwork is taking more time than it has in the past. (My seminary is not geared towards academics, it's geared towards people who want to be in parish ministry their whole careers, I'd say more people take their classes pass/fail than for grades. Not that I ever used the pass/fail thing as an excuse to slack off; but I wasn't obsessive, you know?) Anyway, my writing time is much curtailed.

I'm still excited about in_the_beginning but I'm definitely only going to be writing one of the two prompts I claimed. Moses and his identity issues will have to wait; Miriam and Deborah and the Word of God need to be finished ASAP so they can get sent off to beta.

sg_rarepairings is going to be run on a prompt-claim basis this year, which is both slightly disappointing and slightly relieving. I'm looking forward to it. And to the knowledge that I definitely won't be writing Sarah Gardner/Daniel Jackson this year, having written that two years running due to being assigned to the same person. But given its timing, it will be overlapping with yuletide, and both of course overlap with the end of the semester and the Christmas rush, and gah. It'll all work itself out, right? Right?

Meanwhile, I've got a Reboot Spock/Uhura piece dealing with some harsh Vulcan realities that's almost certainly going to have one of those completely open-ended 'endings' that I like because they're realistic and other people don't like because they don't give closure sitting on my harddrive. It needs a scene and a half, some tweaking, and a betaing, but between classes and my in_the_beginning fic, it's not going anywhere soon. (Okay, okay, I only like the open endings in my own fic, it drives me crazy in other peoples', and part of it is sheer laziness: I don't want to have to write the years of relationship and career exploration they're going to have on the Enterprise's mission that will have a huge effect on what choices the two of them make together and separately about where they're going and how they're going to live the rest of their lives taking into account Spock's biology and the pressure to repopulate the Vulcan species.)

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You have to go check out in_the_beginning folks.  It's a ficfest for the Hebrew Bible (aka the Old Testament) and the prompt list is up.  There are a lot of good prompts, and a few that make me go WTF?, but it's awesome.
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Title: Knocking at the Door (the Things Unspoken Remix)
Author: beatrice_otter 
Summary: In the years between the Game Station and the end of the universe, Jack Harkness has a lot more time to think than he really wants.
Fandom: Torchwood
Character: Jack Harkness
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,084
Original Story: Unspeakable Lists by glinda_penguin
Notes: Title is taken from “Question” by The Moody Blues. Thanks to alixtii for the beta.

( In the years between the Game Station and the end of the universe, Jack Harkness has a lot more time to think than he really wants. )

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Title: Hard to Swallow (the Percolation Remix)
Author: beatrice_otter
Summary: Ianto Jones. Tea, coffee, and the transition from London to Cardiff
Fandom: Torchwood
Character: Ianto Jones
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,597
Original Story: Ianto Jones/Coffee by glinda_penguin
Notes: Title is taken from “Question” by The Moody Blues. Thanks to alixtii for the beta.

( Ianto, like all proper British citizens whether Welsh, English, Scottish, or Irish, was raised to be a tea drinker. )

This entry was originally posted at http://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/143390.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

So, this year I wrote not one but two fics, both Torchwood: Knocking at the Door (the Things Unspoken Remix) and Hard to Swallow (the Percolation Remix). They're not exactly a pair, but they do complement each other. They have to do with Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones, respectively, and their early days at Torchwood, learning to deal with (or really, not deal with) their lives before this point. For Jack, it's about being abandoned by the Doctor and Rose, and all the abandonment issues and other issues he already had at that point compounding on one another. For Ianto, it's about surviving the destruction of Torchwood One and Lisa's conversion. Both of them are trying desperately to ignore their issues and go on as if nothing's wrong. And, of course, Torchwood isn't helping.

I was spoiled for choice this year; my remixee, glinda_penguin, has a lot of stories in three fandoms I write (SG-1, Doctor Who, Torchwood). And while the earlier stories from when she was starting out aren't very good (as she admits herself), well, sometimes that leaves more doors for remixing than wonderfully written stories do. Not only did she have a lot of stories to choose from, I had a whole list of her stories jump out at me as having great possibilities for a remix. Even with a tight writing schedule, it was easy to pick one (Unspeakable Lists) and remix it.  The story was about Jack keeping lists of questions to ask the Doctor when he finds him again, and naturally I wanted to know what questions were on the list, so I wrote it.  But it was only just over 1,000  words long, barely over the minimum,  and I just felt like maybe I should do something more for my remixee, and I had the time, so I thought I would do another one.  And it would be nice if it related, so I went to one of the other Torchwood fics that had caught my eye--a humorous ficlet about Ianto's love affair with coffee.  Which caught my eye because you know as an American, I'd always thought that Brits were all tea-drinkers.  So how Ianto became a coffee drinker might be an interesting story, particularly if you intertwined it with how he came to Torchwood Three, and then it would complement my first story.  It turned out to be longer, but no harder to write; like the first, it pretty much wrote itself.
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Title: Unwilling Oracle
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandoms: Farscape/Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Characters: John Crichton, Kira Nerys
Word Count: 1869
Written For: Multiverse 2009 (multiverse5000), June 25
Summary: John Crichton has wormholes in his head. On Bajor, this makes him an oracle whether he wants it or not.
AN: I don't think I really did this prompt justice, not least because I had problems writing Crichton's voice. I would love to see what someone else could do with it.

( She’d worked with the Emissary for seven years; she could handle this. )

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The treknovelfest is now taking prompts.  Do you love the Star Trek novels?  Ever want to know what happened to your favorite OC's?  Want to know what happened after the adventure is over?  Want to know what happened differently in the Reboot universe?  Now's your chance!  They're currently taking prompts.  You do not need to volunteer to write a story to submit a prompt.

Looking at what's already been suggested, I'm really excited!

This entry was originally posted at http://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/136525.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Check out treknovelfest modded by nestra and ellen_fremedon!  There are so many great characters and plots in the novels, and they simply don't get enough fannish attention.  I'm really looking forward to it.

If you want to participate but don't have a DWJ, fear not--registering an OpenID at DW will allow you to not only comment, but use that OpenID to post to the community.  Or if you want a DW of your very own you could try and get an invite code (try googling) or pay the $3 for one month of paid DW time, and let it lapse to a free account after the first month.
This entry was originally posted at http://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/135415.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Title: Great Minds
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandoms: DC/Torchwood
Characters: Barbara Gordon, Toshiko Sato
Rating: G
Word Count: 3,580
Written for: Multiverse 2009 (multiverse5000)
Summary: There's a little problem aboard Watchtower.

( Frustrated was too mild a word, Barbara Gordon decided as she dragged herself out from under the consele. )

This entry was originally posted at http://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/134369.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Title: Just Like Old Times
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG
Characters: Teal’c, Daniel Jackson
Warnings: none
Spoilers: whole series.
Word Count: 5045
Written For: sg_betty in tealc_ficathon
Prompt: Teal'c and Daniel Jackson combining their knowledge, Drama and/or adventure, A happy ending
Betaed by: redbyrd_sgfic


( Just Like Old Times )

Actually, I think I may be able to get it done tonight, which would mean that I might have time for a really quick beta before it needs to get posted. (Due May 1st!) If anyone could do it on such short notice (it'll probably be only 4k words or so), please let me know!

jacksamfriends has revealed authors.


“How many times have I told you that the point of vacation is … to relax. Have fun. Not work.”
Betaed by:thothmes
Word Count: 964

One of These Afternoons

And now I get to talk about my story some. Woo-hoo.

First off, if you've never seen the movie Big Fish, you need to get it on Netflix or something. It's a great movie about--well, about a lot of things actually. Mostly about storytelling and reality, and about the relationship between fathers and sons, and the problem of the unreliable narrator. It was directed by Tim Burton, stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, and Danny Devito. It's an awesome movie, well made.

Big Fish is about a man named Edward Bloom, who tells incredible and fantastic stories about his life, and his son Will who believes that all the stories are lies and just wants to get to the truth while his father is dying of cancer. The movie is a series of Edward's stories interwoven with bits of Will talking to and about his father. Will eventually accepts the stories for what they are as a part of his father whether or not they're strictly factually accurate. And through the movie (especially at the end) you find out that while the stories are certainly exaggerated, the fantastic people Edward claims to have known throughout his life are all real people who show up at his funeral. Despite his acceptance of his father's storytelling, and the appearance of people he thought his father only made up, Will still believes him to be the ultimate unreliable narrator.

Anyway, at one point Will goes to visit a woman (Jenny) he believes his father had an affair with (he finds the deed to her house in some of his father's papers). He asks her, she says no she didn't, and tells a story of her relationship with Eddie. Despite logical inconsistencies and fantasy aspects (which Jenny tell him come from Eddie's storytelling, when Will questions her), Will accepts her story at face value. Because he does, the viewer is supposed to, as well, because the movie is set up to contrast Edward-the-unreliable-narrator and Will-the-reliable-narrator. But the irony is, Will is almost as unreliable a narrator as his father is, if in different ways. Will's absolute belief in his father's unreliability blinds him to the truth behind it, and his desire to learn the truth leads him to believe Jenny despite the fact that her story is just as fantastic and logically inconsistent as some of the ones his father tells. And because of the way the movie is told from his point of view, I never noticed his unreliability as a narrator (which introduces the probability of Jenny's unreliability as a narrator) until my yuletide assignment made me go back and watch the movie with Jenny's point of view in mind. It was amazing the difference that made.

Anyway, I had so much fun writing this story. Like the movie, it's also about the ways in which stories impact reality and vice versa. It's also about growing up, and learning to control your own life, and about life in a small southern town, and the relationships between men and women.

The Storyteller (or the LJ version)

So, usually with ficathons (particularly large, unspecific ficathons like yuletide and Remix Redux) my first reaction to my assignment is panic and horror because there is no way in hell I can write whatever I've been assigned for one reason or another (and it's never the same reason twice). Then I figure out what my angle is, and then I get really excited. Then I write my story, and usually end up really proud of it by the time I'm done.

This yuletide is different. I got my assignment and went, "oh, that sounds cool." I hope that doesn't mean that panic and horror come later in a reverse of my normal pattern, because that would really suck, but at this point I can't see it happening. I do need to go rewatch the source material, however. Not a sacrifice. And I said "any" in the character list, and my assignee wants a story about one of the coolest characters in it. Actually, I may end up writing two stories for her, because in her details for the request she had two fic ideas and both sound really cool. An embarrassment of riches! Would that all ficathons matched me up this well.

I have, however, sent a request to the mods that they ask my assignee some clarifying questions, because it's going to make a huge difference in the story if she really is saying what I think she's saying.

gateverse_remix is open, you should all go read the great SG-1 and Atlantis remixes. butterflykiki wrote The Weight of Non-Existent Years (The Gravity Remix) for me. I wrote an almost 13k-word Sam fic.

Title: Thine Own Self (the Lady, be Good Remix)
Author: </a></b></a>beatrice_otter
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Samantha Carter
Word Count: 12,962
Written for: Christi (</a></b></a>daisycm83) for </a></b></a>gateverse_remix.
Betaed by: the awesome </a></b></a>redbyrd_sgfic
Original story: On Your Mind
Summary: Sam’s always a good girl. Except when she isn’t.

Part One
Part Two

Title: Survivors
Author: beatrice_otter
Fandom: Doctor Who/Stargate: Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: some violence
Spoilers: early season 4 SGA, season 3 New Who
Word Count: 7,402
Written For: Tali (aworldinside) for the Multiverse 5000 (multiverse2004)
Betad by: lilbakht
Summary: The Doctor doesn’t know why he’s here, but he knows it’s not an ordinary stop.

( “This is all just a misunderstanding,” the Doctor protested )

Wrote about 2,500 words tonight. If you don't count the three long fics that were among my first fanfics ever and aren't very good and aren't much like most of the stuff I write, my average story is only about 1700 words long. So far, my gateverse_remix is at 11k+ words, with one more section left to write. And I have the feeling it's going to need extensive betaing to make sure all the thematic elements tie together. And I have ten days to finish it and get it betaed. Yaargh.

Title: What I'm Afraid Of
Author: beatrice_otter
Summary: An hour in the life of Owen Lars
Rating: G
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Uncle Owen, Luke
Word Count: 1,183
Betaed by: redbyrd_sgfic

( What I'm Afraid Of )