annerb | Writing Woes, TV, Mouth Breathers, Romance Novels, and Random Recs

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Writing Woes, TV, Mouth Breathers, Romance Novels, and Random Recs

Hey guys. I'm alive. Really. Just had some unexpectedly awesome things happen that have sort of temporarily taken over my life. Just one more week of insanity though, and things should settle in again. Writing has sort of fallen to the wayside, sadly. Not that I haven't been writing, just not writing effectively. The next chapter of my Ginny fic has demanded to be rewritten and taken unexpected turns three or four times in the last few weeks. It's being as slippery as a Slytherin. Snerk. I've also started and abandoned three or four ideas for my

help_japan charity fic. Oy. I tried poking at the next installment of the DC Series, but Daniel is being stubborn. (What else is new?) I've had a few other things open on my desktop, adding a few words here and there, but I'm not really settling to anything, sadly.

I just got a review on one of my oldest stories, which is nice. Really. Comments are always great. It's just... I do my absolute best to pretend I never wrote this particular fic, so the rare time someone leaves a comment, it gives rise to that urge to DELETE THE STORY FROM EXISTENCE yet again. All of you who never posted your first ever fic? I envy you SO MUCH. Lol.

I'm really behind on TV watching. I can't really build up any interest in the latest Sanctuary, though I imagine I will get around to it eventually. (I'm sorry. You all know how I feel about character bashing, but I just...can't make myself like Will. I'm trying. And another aside, I was commenting to holdouttrout the other day that I rewatched Star Trek Reboot again the other day and noticed that Chris Pine is a total mouth breather too, it just in no way bothers me the way it does with Will. I cannot explain this. Lol.) I saw Fringe, but don't really have any thoughts at the moment. Maybe later. It's a long hiatus to ruminate over. Looking forward to all the summer shows starting up again soon though. Yay White Collar and Covert Affairs and Leverage and other ones I am probably forgetting about.

Speaking of Leverage, I'm pretty broken up that Con-Con was canceled. Not surprised, just sad. I'd really been looking forward to that.

Seems there's gong to be a new Lady Julia Grey book coming out on June 21st. Let's hope it doesn't suck as much as the fourth one did. I'll give it a read and let you know if it's worth reading or if we should just continue to pretend there were only three Lady Julia books.

I've been reading throw away shitty romance novels. I have no reason or excuse. Though it's fun to see that I can still devour one of these books in a single day like I used to do back before I discovered fanfic. Just finished Johanna Lindsey's A Man To Call My Own (OMG, girl wears glasses and frumpy clothes in order to appear ugly because her twin sister is so jealous and spoiled and a hellion that she will seduce or drive away any man who shows interest in her! But hero sees her beauty under her disguise and has sex with her only to get confused as to which twin he boffed and OMG DRAMA!) Now I am mostly through Jo Beverly's Lord of My Heart (who comes up with these titles? I mean, srsly.), which is full of stupid misunderstandings that could be cleared up with two seconds of rational conversation but of course that doesn't happen. This trashy book gets special shitty mention for the fact that violence against women is so casually used, even as a butt of jokes. One man's beating and almost rape of main girl is horrific, but when it is the hero or the hero's dad spanking her it's all okay. Isn't it funny when the hero pretends to beat his wife with a belt behind closed doors so all the people working on the estate will know he is a strong man? Why do I read these things? WHY? Someone take away my paper sack of awful paperbacks, please.

Here are a few fic recs to make up for it:

The Package Deal by

ziparumpazoo (Fringe, Peter/Olivia, Walter)
She drew these two men together and forced them, sometimes painfully, to build their own warped version of a family. They’re a package deal. An If/Then statement. It’s that simple.
This is a great morning after fic for 6B, showing Olivia's relationships with Peter, but also Walter, who is an inescapable part of the deal. Such a perfect glimpse into what life with the Bishops would be like.

The Bridal Path by Vyola (Addams Family, Wednesday/Joel)
To marry an Addams means taking marriage very seriously. After all, it is till death do you part. And even then, sometimes they come back.
Okay, so it's not like I'm this big Addam's Family fan or anything. I'm pretty sure I saw the movie a million years ago. But, god, I love Wednesday, the quirky worldview of the Addam's family, and their non-traditional romance. This is such a great little fic. Short, quirky, and definitely worth a read.

The Priming Game by amonitrate (Ironman, Rhodey, Tony, Tony/Pepper if you really squint)
Rhodey wonders if from now on it's going to be Tony Before and Tony After.
This is a fill in for the time between when Tony is rescued out of the desert and when he lands back in America. Rhodey's POV on the changes that have come over Tony, the secrets he is clearly keeping, and the suspicions of the US Government that threaten to push Tony over the edge. Such a clear vision of the characters and their relationships as well at the way Tony is changed by his experience.

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I am rather disappointed in Sanctuary right now and I agree with you on Will. I keep trying to like him but I just have mass indifference to him.

I am rather excited about all the summer shows.

It's doubly sad because it took me a long time to really get into Sanctuary, not because it isn't awesome, just because I wasn't in the right head space. And now I am and it is pretty mediocre. I just suspect they got rid of the wrong character when they axed Ashley.

Summer shows! I'm trying to remember what other shows should be coming back. Royal Pains? I wonder if there will be more Fairly Legal or if we have to wait until the fall. I am sure I mention it all the time, but I love that we have all these non-traditional TV seasons now, even though it sometimes leads to bizarre 6 month breaks between new eps.

Remember they blew their budget on the first half so that's why we have so many somewhat boring ones. I think these episodes will just be the ones everyone pretends don't exist. Especially lizard Will! Well, Mothman this week was pretty ridiculous - I turned to my dog and asked him where the royalties were because I knew he had written this one. He just looked at me and grinned.

*Pointedly does not mention Will's gaping mouth*

Wriiiiiiiting... I should do some more of that sometime!

Ha! I can hear you thinking it! ;)

Yes, more writing. Are you teasing me with that icon deliberately?

I wish! Sadly, I just wanted to use a pretty, pretty icon.

I wrote my first fic when I was 14 (I'm now 28). I deleted every one of them when I went off to college (destroying evidence, perhaps?). I once ran across a piece on an errant disk (on a floppy!) and I began twitching.

It was bad. Really bad. Like the kind that I now click away from as fast as possible.

I'm not so sure I'm that great now, but I like my more recent fic (but I've become slightly twitchy about my first few S/J fics written in 2008). I contemplated pulling them, but someone on GW (that I like) said that having those older stories around can be helpful for newer writers to see how a writer progresses and grows.

So I keep them around. Maybe there's some 14 year old out there that's just starting off writing and maybe they're fic is major sucky, but even if I'm not reading it, at least they're writing and if they get discouraged then they see that everyone at some point has some major suck periods.

(I also hope to write an original novel or something and fic is so helpful for letting me see what I don't do well).

:: confetti :: I like annerbhp fic!

I wish I had the excuse that I wrote that fic when I was 14. I was nearly as old as you are now. Lol. I do feel some odd sense of keeping it around to own up to the fact that, yes, I did commit one of the most egregious Mary Sues of all time. Even though I would rather pretend I hadn't. :)

The last few episodes of Sanctuary have been pretty blegh :( But on the upside the next few episodes sound pretty promising and seem like they might actually feature Helen for more than two minutes, which is already an improvement on the last few episodes :)

Word.

It's like they have somehow forgotten that Helen Magnus is the reason we watch that show! Heh.

Will has no lips. I blame Makeup, but it bothers me. He has no lips.

Oh god. Now I am even more scared to watch. Will I notice the lack of lips?!

Oh, I didn't mean in the newest episode! I'm only working through S2 myself. But I've noticed from the beginning that they've always given him a lipstick colour very close to his natural skin tone, and it kind of makes him look like a Ken doll.

Oh, man. I think you're right. *hides under bed*

I'm all sorts of glee that you even looked at the next installment of the DC series. I can kick Daniel if you'd like. No, really, my treat. ;-)
And Sanctuary? Yeah, except for Metamorphosis the last few episodes have just sucked. I liked Will in the beginning because as a new person his actions/thoughts were in line but there really hasn't been any character development since. And he's really annoying me.

Blerg. DC Series isn't moving anywhere, sadly. But I at least think about it occasionally, which hopefully means something. Lol.

Was Metamorphosis the one done with the horrid camera pov from Will? The one where he becomes a bug man? Not my fave, but mostly because the way they filmed it felt so gimmicky.

The muse will show up when she shows up..the bitch.

Yes, it was but what I liked was the OTHER characters, especially the fact that Helen was there for more than two minutes. I could have done without Will's PoV but is it horrible of me that I was happy we didn't get to see him too much? And I think he was a lizard man...like that matters. ;-)

As far as Sanctuary goes, I feel ya. I've loved the show since mid-season 2, but I just can't motivate myself to watch any of the episodes post-Pax Romana. Honestly, I watched Hangover and One Night high, and don't remember any of either of them. Then I watched Metamorphosis stone cold sober and still don't remember any of it. I haven't even watched the most recent episode, nor do I feel motivated to. Maybe once we have the epic three-episode arc with N------- (just in case you don't read spoilers), I'll go back and watch them/rewatch them, but not right now, no. It doesn't help that they completely changed Sanctuary's night in the States so I *can't* watch now. I mean, honestly, Helen Magnus is the reason I watch the show, with a side helping of Henry, and Will hasn't interested me at all since season 2 onward. So you can see why I haven't watched any of the recent episodes :P.

Snerk. Hadn't thought to try that approach to watching boring episodes. Lol.

Sadly, I'm watching Sanctuary out of loyalty. The ep I adored was the one where Helen was stuck in that other dimension apartment building and really kicked ass. I wasn't a great fan of Ashley but I'd dance with glee if they killed off Will.

As for the problem with the help_japan fic, maybe watch a few eps and see where it takes you?

And WTF do you find such horrible romance novels??

I'm just treading water with that show until they remember it's supposed to be about Magnus. :)

MEh. I was thinking of hitting old comms and trying to find prompts or something, anything to give the muse a kick in the pants for the help_japan fic.

It's not that I'm reading *horrible* romance novels, but that I am reading romance novels. I did finally find one that wasn't completely ridiculous, but it's still part of the basic formula of ridiculousness required by the genre. ;)

I read romance novels and I dunno...maybe it's because I stay with certain authors? But I haven't read any of the icky ones. (Yes, "icky" is a technical term. LOL)

DC series??? OMG, even the thought makes the week from hell bearable - it started with my sister ruining mother's day, a ten pound weight gain, and an emergency vet visit where my dog required shots and IV fluids to stop him vomiting uncontrollably while he cried in pain. Only 24 more hours and it's over! I think I'm going to hide from reality until it's gone.

I'm so glad I got the fourth Lady Grey from the library - I tend to take disappointing books much less personally now that I didn't pay for the privilege. I'll stick a hold on it, but yeah, I hope it's decent. The last one.. the plot holes were so big you could drive a truck through them.

I get the Will ambivalence - I just remember how awesome the Hidden Earth episodes are and watch them while I'm doing something. Just watched this weeks and I have zero idea how they got moth man and could care less. (Clip show as well!). Will just... sigh... I don't know... wooby? too much hair gel? not convincingly straight yet dates only girls? the character just doesn't ring true to me or actually interest me.

Oooh, I know what story you're talking about.. I have it on my kindle and reread it recently. While you can tell it's a annerbhp first work, it definitely had the Sam / Jack interaction and characterization I enjoy in your recent stories. Yeah, Haley was a Mary Sue, but you know, sometimes we just have get through that to write the good stuff. And no, she is not the most egregious Mary Sue of all time - I can send you about 100 or so worse ones off the top of my head, including a few that were professionally published.

Oh, don't get too excited. I've been poking at this particular installment of DC Series for like two years. Clearly it has gone so well so far. Snerk.

OMG DELETE THAT FROM YOUR KINDLE AT ONCE. Lol.

Loved the trip to Disney. The movies were such clever, twisted things. Thanks for the recc!

Glad you enjoyed it! It's a fun little fic.

I like Sanctuary but it is not a must see. I really watch to support AT and MW. I want them to be successful. I cannot stand Will )or as I like to call him, Daniel-lite). I actively cheer for him to die a horrible death every week! ;)

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Writing Woes, TV, Mouth Breathers, Romance Novels, and Random Recs

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The Bridal Path

Re: The Bridal Path

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