Miscellaneous thoughts (news, notes, and the shipping meme)

[luxken27]

[+] The network I'm on at work was switched yesterday from campus side to hospital side, which means access is a lot more limited, which means no LJ during the day anymore :-/ This sucks, because it means I have to squeeze in LJ time during the two hours I have to myself at night now (boo! I'mma be late to everyone's parties nao), but it might also be a good thing, since the only other habit I indulge during the (albeit limited) downtime at work is writing.

Mostly I'm "announcing" this because it's going to effect the voting posts at iy_themes, though I'm not sure in what way yet...they will either be earlier or later, depending on how my schedule shims out over the next week or so. I'll keep you posted.

[+] There's something to be said for 'writing ahead' a bit, especially on long and involved fics. Something's been bugging me big time about my latest for SiB, and after giving it front-burner muse attention during my long-ass commute this morning, I figured out what it was...and that it means I'm going to have to rewrite about 85% of it *facepalm* Attempting to write whilst sick is not good, at least not for me. But I wrote four pages of notes for how I need to rewrite (and what can be salvaged from the draft finished yesterday) - during my downtime at work, LOL :P

[+] Shipping meme under the cut! Today was the hardest day for me to answer, by far...

Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?

This is a question I didn't have an answer to in advance. I was hoping some feedback from the first week and a half's worth of postings would help me make up my mind, and because my f-list is so awesome :) it did. My ships tend to be fairly diverse and heavily dependent on their canons and/or universes, and I am more or less totally blind to crossover potential (which is the way paynesgrey answered this question). There just aren't two characters I absolutely adore that I'd love to see together, even above and beyond their canon environs.

So I decided to take a different tack: what did my ships have in common? Is there one pairing out there that emulates those common characteristics, or was the beginning of the pattern in any way? I thought and thought and thought, and finally came up with...

Charlie Thomas/Janine Kishi, Baby-sitters Club.

Now, this is not a ship I had when I was reading the books the first go-around, but it *is* a fairly popular alt!ship in current BSC fandom, and the first time I heard about it, it appealed to me greatly. With subsequent rereads of the material, I could see why and how and perhaps (unlike 99% of BSC alt-pairing fandom, but that's a story for another day)...and then I read the prequel, and it totally sealed the deal.

This is pretty much the purest embodiment of what all my ships have in common: one half tends to be popular/well-liked/outgoing/athletic-or-otherwise-exceptionally-talented, and the other half tends to be quieter/more aloof/genius-in-a-conventional-or-quirky-way. I'm also a huge fan of unrequited love and long, long childhood crushes (perhaps because I've suffered my fair share of both?), and these two totally fit that bill. They are only a couple of years apart in age (Charlie is seventeen, Janine is fifteen), they grew up across the street from each other, their younger sisters are best friends and hung out all the time. Charlie is your average awesome big brother/all-around amazing guy/well-liked athlete and responsible brother, while Janine is genius-level nerd to the nth degree/socially awkward (by choice?)/far more reserved and career-oriented. For the vast majority of the series, these two were considered role models for the BSC and younger sets, albeit in different ways. They interacted with their sisters (and their sisters' friends) differently. There's just enough there to make me wonder...and to make me realize that this was probably the earliest example of a pattern all of my ships have taken. I need a nerd and a social butterfly to make my shipping particularly happy, and to keep those ships sticking to my bones.

Unfortunately, pics of these two are hard to come by, and all the sites I know of with BSC book covers are down for the count at the moment :-/ so you'll just have to use your memories or imaginations...


Previous...
Day 01 - What is your current favorite ship? Sam Thomas/Stacey McGill, Baby-sitters Club
Day 02 - What was your very first ship? Ryan/Stacy, Kids Inc
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now? Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan, Bones
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry? Matt Hunter/Maxie Jones, General Hospital
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry? Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha
Day 06 - The best kiss? Tommy Quincy/Jude Harrison, Instant Star
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene? Shawn Brady/Belle Black, Days of Our Lives
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage? Miroku/Sango, Inuyasha
Day 09 - The most believable relationship? Jonathan Creek/Maddie Magellan, Jonathan Creek
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life? Jason Cook/Kirsten Storms

Upcoming...
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?

Comments

[chaoticgood0405.livejournal.com]

That stinks about your internet access, but if your writing output increases, then I guess it could be the silver lining.

Don't you hate/love that big realization that makes so much sense and makes the universe align, but requires a major rewrite? At least you only have one chapter to fix. The worst is when you think 'I wish I had done this seven chapters ago' because now it's just too late.

I'm impressed at the variety of your fandoms!

[luxken27]

That stinks about your internet access

It does! I had a whole routine set up, but now that we've switched networks, it's ruined. *sadface* I liked the whole "check and respond to email first thing" stuff, but not enough to get up any earlier than I already do so I can do that before I go to work :P So waiting it is...

but if your writing output increases, then I guess it could be the silver lining.

*nods* I wasn't too upset by the idea that LJ was blocked at work, because it meant one less distraction whenever the muse was running rampant, as it was today. Sometimes I only have a few minutes, sometimes I have whole hours, but either way, I intend to make good use of my 'free' time - hopefully by getting a lot of thinking and pre-writing out of the way, so when the weekends roll around, I can bang stuff out.

Don't you hate/love that big realization that makes so much sense and makes the universe align, but requires a major rewrite? At least you only have one chapter to fix.

This was more of a "why does this chapter not make me happy goddammit I've been planning these events for months" sort of thing, and I realized that I was trying to use this story as an outlet for my angst and frustration over being sick, even though it didn't fit. So I have to reach the same stopping point, but from a completely different angle, so I had to rethink my characters' motivations, and try to come up for other reasons for them to do what they do. Luckily, I managed to find a workaround, one I think will work better *and* help bridge the plot into the next chapter or two. Really, the four pages of notes were not just about the chapter I wrote this weekend, but also about the other two or three that immediately follow, so ultimately, it worked out for the best.

I'm glad I decided when I started posting this fic to write two chapters ahead of what I was posting, so I can kinda catch these things before they're unleashed. There's nothing I hate worse than OOC characterization, and that's the road I was traveling, for sure o.O

I'm impressed at the variety of your fandoms!

I'm not sure how much variety there is, really, but yes - I do enjoy stuff beyond what I feel the urge to write for! :P If I limited myself to that, this would make for a tearfully boring month, indeed...

[replicantangel.livejournal.com]

I figured out what it was...and that it means I'm going to have to rewrite about 85% of it *facepalm*

I just did this, too! So frustrating. D: But it's good that you get more time to write it all out at work!

Charlie Thomas/Janine Kishi

Love and LOVE. (Clearly, I thought that both sisters were just kind of awesome, lol.) I can totally see why their different social labels makes them so attractive. The opposites-that-really-aren't thing is always a fun kind of relationship, of any kind, to play with. Really, I think that that's why Janine and Claudia worked so well as sisters - a bit of envy on both sides, but appreciation too.

[luxken27]

I just did this, too! So frustrating. D:

It *is*, but I'm trying to be happy, because hopefully this go-around my characters will be in-character. I think it helped to write what I initially thought I wanted, because it gave me the chance to see how it doesn't work.

I'd been avoiding this chapter for a long time anyway, because nothing was working out in my head, so I guess I kinda had to force the matter, but at least its at a resolution, and hopefully that means I can move on, LOL :P

Love and LOVE.

<3 I totally have a Charlie/Janine plot bunny nipping at my heels, but I'm trying to force it in line after all the other stuff crowding into my brain, LOL.

Really, I think that that's why Janine and Claudia worked so well as sisters - a bit of envy on both sides, but appreciation too.

If you haven't read the prequel novel yet, you should. Claudia's storyline was actually about her relationship with her sister, which I thought would be an interesting challenge, considering how she's introduced from book 1.

[replicantangel.livejournal.com]

hopefully this go-around my characters will be in-character

Hehe. Always a good goal! Mine is for my chapter is to avoid being a total snooze-fest, lol. It'd be a lot less (mostly self-imposed) pressure if it hadn't been 4 months since my last update. O.o

I totally have a Charlie/Janine plot bunny nipping at my heels

:D Looking forward to it! After all that other stuff, I mean... Yeah, sure, I mean that. ;)

If you haven't read the prequel novel yet, you should.

Hmm, I think I have. Maybe? It sounds vaguely familiar, anyway. But I do adore both of them, so I should dig it out/buy it and read it again. Yet another thing to add to my list, lol.

[luxken27]

Mine is for my chapter is to avoid being a total snooze-fest, lol.

Oh, I'm sure it won't be ;) I know it feels boring to you because you have it all mapped out, but believe me - for the readers, its always a treat!

It'd be a lot less (mostly self-imposed) pressure if it hadn't been 4 months since my last update. O.o

I know this feeling...and ultimately, I had to learn to just give it up. If I lose people, I lose people *shrug* There's nothing I can do about it. The muse wants what it wants, and its not always what I want, LOL :P

:D Looking forward to it! After all that other stuff, I mean... Yeah, sure, I mean that. ;)

I told the bunny to take a number and get in line. I have dialogue sketched out for my next M&M piece, and of course all these chapters of SiB, the next two of Fragments, *AND* the next Fleeting, so its literally all a matter of time at this point. It's always something, LOL...

I think I have. Maybe? It sounds vaguely familiar, anyway.

The prequel was released in April of this year, and I'm sure I've talked about it here, so maybe that's why? It's a wonderful book, though - you should at least try to get it from the library or something. It's a little weird in that it "updates" the classic start to the series, but I knew the reissues were going to be updated anyway...but it's quality BSC. Ann wrote it herself, LOL!!

[replicantangel.livejournal.com]

I have dialogue sketched out for my next M&M piece, and of course all these chapters of SiB, the next two of Fragments, *AND* the next Fleeting

Yay! :D

The prequel was released in April of this year, and I'm sure I've talked about it here, so maybe that's why?

Okay, yeah, that's definitely it, since I haven't read one of those books in years. :P It sounds fun though, especially if it was the actual author that wrote it! I can always tell the difference when it's a ghost.

[luxken27]

*nods* The first BSC books are absolutely wonderful - even going back and reading them now, at my age, they stand up incredibly well. The latter half of the series (books post-100 or so)? Some of them I can barely read because they are so terrible, including #107, the one that (to my mind, at least) rather infamously destroys all of the cool factor that Charlie Thomas possessed through the entire series. Rereading that book is what spurred my bunny, I think. I'd also like to write some Sam/Stacey for that series, so we'll see :)