International Geek-Out Report (and a note on catching up)

[hmpf]

First, the note: I haven't gotten any further with my LJ catch-up plans because it was the last week-and-a-half of term and I was busy doing university stuff (except for the three days beccatoria was visiting me, when I was busy geeking out). Will get around to the catching up next week, I think.

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Now for the International Geek-Out Report.

beccatoria arrived on Friday and left on Tuesday; in between lay three days of unrestrained geekiness. We watched all of Life On Mars and nine eps of Battlestar Galactica. Thankfully, she turned out to like LoM and I turned out to like BSG S3. We sang the chicken song. We had loads of crisps and sweets and other unhealthy food. We watched fanvids. We decided that Gene Hunt is the God of Children and should open an orphanage with Adama. We decided that Saul Tigh was a Russian intellectual in another life. We pointed at the screen screaming "battle shorts!!!" in unison. We visited the future of the 1980s and the Frankfurt University book warren. We talked writing and politics and Star Wars (I now know everything about the Star Wars Extended Universe.)

When she left I told her to write fanfic, and she did! And it rocks! (Sorry, beccatoria - I know I said I'd give more detailed feedback but I haven't gotten around to it yet - uni interfered.)

beccatoria also gave me a live read-through and betaing session of "68 Wives", which she loved and said is actually a lot more ready for publication than I thought it was. So, I may actually publish that *really* soon. (amonitrate, you got time for some beta reading?) I also showed her the Maya fic, which she didn't like so much - possibly, as we tentatively concluded, because it is unashamedly fanficcy, in an 'easy' way. Which is exactly what it is supposed to be, and I think it does the job it's supposed to do - namely, lovingly circling an emotion - so I'm fine with that. It's essentially emotion porn, no more, no less.

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In other news, somehow I am now completely zen about any changes to Life On Mars canon that season two may possibly bring about. Oh, and I won a Magic Alex CD. :-)

Comments

Re: Short note (really tired, hence the shortness)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

>Oh, Misunderstanding Alarm! I didn't mean the HP AU epic. That has absolutely nothing in common with the Maya fic.

Ah, Misunderstanding Alarm! Sorry - I am actually aware that the HP AU has nothing to do with this. I was trying, somehow, to explain why I thought that "Normal" was perhaps a better comparison to the Maya fic than some others that you'd written without me thinking they were actually the same in terms of desired effect, emotional importance or effort involved. Like I said, the best way is perhaps to say that fics like 'Normal' evolve from the baseline of fics like the Maya fic. I could see the Maya fic evolving into something like that (though that would be difficult given the lack of source material about her), but I can't see it evolving into a great, plotty epic. And perhaps that's what I'm pining for (evolution towards "Normal" not towards plotty epic), even though there's nothing wrong with you keeping it at the base level and not "upgrading" it. If I'm making sense. Argh, it's hard when I can't stand in front of you and make hand gestures.

Ultimately, yes, I think it's a matter of genre preference. It's always harder to appreciate something written in a genre you aren't particularly enamored with, although...

>Quite possibly. I'm the one who has eight ringbinders of the stuff printed out, after all. *g*

Indeed, and I could legitimately be accused of writing it. ;)

Re: Short note (really tired, hence the shortness)

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

>Argh, it's hard when I can't stand in front of you and make hand gestures.

Heh. Maybe you should have Kev and Adrian film you while you try to express it in the medium of dance?

>Indeed, and I could legitimately be accused of writing it.

Yes, but writing something is almost like a bodily function, sometimes - something just needs to get out, (pardon the horrible imagery here). My point is that to write something you don't need to love it particularly.

Now, printing out eight full ringbinders of the stuff - *that* takes serious love. Or at least a serious kink.