Classes are beginning properly. I got so much reading material for one seminar, to be read over the next fortnight, it was almost as thick as the pad of paper I brought for notes - and that's a class I'm AUDITING.

Also just got my first look at Akkadian. It's terrifying. It's a bunch of lines and triangles. Being able to read and write in it will be the coolest thing in the world, but learning it? Over 4 2-hour sessions? ACK.

So, of course, just as work kicks in, it makes sense for me to get my prompts for the xover_exchange.

!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE SO AWESOME. I WANT TO WRITE THEM ALL. Am currently torn between doing a whole bunch of separate stories, or trying to tie them all together in an incredibly complicated web which would probably require diagrams to explain the plot continuum and have all these fandoms collide.

Oh, and it's our Vary Tales comeback show in Durham tonight. EEP.

(in other news, I've just finished reading the entire archive of Girl Genius. If you haven't read it, DO.)

omg I'm writing again

it's easy and wonderful and so much fantastic fun there's already a chase scene in Cardiff and a fight scene with pirates

yes it's also 2am what's your point

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Errk. Summer is supposed to be my writing time. Through one thing and another, it's just... not happening. I had my first idea, couldn't summon the enthusiasm, then a whole new idea which was even MORE awesome and exciting, aaaand yet still can't bring myself to start it. I can't envision an ideal opening scene, and I NEED a good opening scene to hit the ground running, as it were.

So I may just end up writing a sequel to the vampire story I wrote last summer. I've had ideas for that for ages, I know the characters and am comfortable with them and WANT to see what happens to them next - best of all, I already have an opening scene which I sort of REALLY want to write, sooo...

The only reason I haven't just given up and started writing that one? Is because I really do love that second new idea I came up with. And I'm scared I'll just get bored with it and ditch it like the last one. Though to be frank, it'd be far easier to write that one in term time, with access to the library and other Classicists to poke and go "Hey, what would this have been like in 23 BC?"

Sigh. I'm thinking, yeah, vampire story sequel. Even if it's just to get me back in the swing of things. I plan to write more next year anyway, the ancient Greece one can wait.

(Also? I... kinda miss writing fanfic.)

BAD NEWS: Story idea I'd been planning for ages? The amalgamation of two separate stories I'd been wanting to write, one for a year, one for two? ... Not happening. So not happening. My plot bunnies had gotten bored waiting and, when finally handed free time and a complete story, were just like "Eh. You already know the end now. What's the point?" In my traditional analogy of writing a story and starting a relationship - we left it too long, it's in the Friend Zone. We could get together now, but it'd be a bit awkward and forced and ruin what we already had. Lesson learned: don't put off writing stories till you have free time. MAKE time. LISTEN TO THE BUNNIES.

GOOD NEWS: I was round at Beccy's, feeling a bit crap from this development. Summer is my traditional time of writing abandon, and last year I got 50,000 words of (for my standards) a pretty good story in 30 days. Sure, the other 5,000 and, oh yes, the ENDING, didn't come till September, but still. Having admitted to myself that the above story just wasn't going to work, I was feeling kinda glum that I might enter July - my absolute latest starting date - with nothing to write. Sad day. So I was casting around in my head looking for a new idea, or a way to adapt the old idea and make it hot again. I thought about what I'd liked, and what had felt pointless and difficult, and just considered the basic question - what did I WANT to write about?

Quite simple - spies. Intrigue. Social politic-ing. The Library of Alexandria. Ancient Rome. Vampires, if at all possible. Conspiracies. Awesome groups of people pulling off awesome stunts against all odds.

I finally got it. In the story I'd planned, I came up with an aunt for one of the main characters who immediately struck me as AWESOME. Despite the many plot reshuffles that took place, I made sure she never got lost. It finally hit me. Why the hell wasn't I writing a story about HER instead?

By now, the others had noticed I was staring into space intently and asked me if I was OK. I managed to say, "Inspiration. Idea." They questioned me no further and just handed me a pen and some paper, and I started scribbling. It was a new, fun idea, and best of all, I could reincorporate various of my favourite elements from the previous story, with none of the things I hadn't liked. It was like the story stuck in the Friend Zone had just introduced me to its hotter older brother.

My main decision right now is whether I'm going to make it an alt-universe fantasy setting with several strange similarities to the ancient world, or throw my hands in the air and screw with history like I just don't care. The latter is more and more tempting, though it would mean several of my Classicist friends could never ever read it.

Whatever. I'M EXCITED ABOUT WRITING THIS. EEEEEEEEEEEE.

Another fic for comment_fic. Yes, I have an exam tomorrow. I have a problem.

Title: Kansas Wedding
Characters & Pairings: Mohinder/Tracy, Daphne/Ando, Hiro, Kimiko, Micah, Adam
Rating: PG
Summary: Mohinder and Tracy at Daphne and Ando's wedding.
A/N: From a prompt from aurilly. I may actually write more of this, I feel the reception could be fun.

( Kansas Wedding )

Yes, they're here again. I'm totally going to have to write another full-length novel this summer. Sigh. First year it was the Apocalypse, last year it was vampires, this year it looks like it's going to be demons. Plot is already half-done in my head, I love all the characters, their pasts and relationships will probably finish off the plot pretty well, there's room for far more stories, and it's all ready to GO - I just have to finish my exams first. TWO WEEKS!

One problem of being in fandom? It makes you look at all stories you write through the eyes of the ever-judging internet. My biggest fear is of being labelled not feminist enough. I mean, I try to write strong female characters, but every time I try to write a romance or have a heroine NOT be able to deal with everything that's thrown at her, I just start having horrifying visions of the Fandom!Secrets going "OMGGG WHY DOES THIS AUTHOR HATE WOMEN". But I want characters like Robin Sherbatsky, not Bella Swan. I LOVE strong female characters, but Mary-Sues, I want to burn with fire. They've got to have flaws, not the Single Flaw, and not be perfect, and make mistakes.

OK, I'm unabashedly procrastinating, so let's look at my favourite strong female characters.

( I'll restrict myself to five. Picspam! )

I guess what they all have in common is they're a) smart, b) kick-ass, and c) can hold their own in a crowd of boys without excessive romantic pining, or at least romantic interests that get in the way of what needs to be done. *takes notes*

OK. Need to get back to revision now. Oops. STUPID PLOT BUNNIES.

Yes, I'm staying up all night before the May Day celebrations again. At least this year I'm not on a crazy high after an overdose of chinese food and ridiculous Bollywood movies, leaving me in a state desirous of manic dancing and singing 'This Is Why I'm Hot' (because of which my friend bought me this hoodie). No, I'm just on a writing high, having already busted out several overly-long stories for comment_fic and am now about to start writing my story.

My story being the story I'm supposed to be saving for the summer, after the exams. WHOOPS. But you don't look plot bunnies in the mouth.


ETA: Ummm... storywriting is going well. REALLY well. As in, kinda amazingly squeefully well. It's just... every sentence is constructing itself perfectly as I write it, I'm not reusing words, and hell, I'm even writing an action scene without overusing hyphens, which I've been known to do in the past. It's like this story is writing itself. Then again, it has spent the last year stewing in my head.

So, SQUEE AWESOME.


ETA: Goddamn. It's approaching 4am and I'm getting sleepy. I NEED ENERGY, DAMMIT.

OK, I was writing on comment_fic, I got a bit carried away... I'm basically posting it here so I can link back to it there.

Title: First Meeting
Words: 1061
Characters: Adam/teen!Angela
Rating: G
A/N: Based on prompt by trillanastra.

( First Meeting )

Also, this one's almost a sequel, so I guess I'll post it too:

Title: Socks
Words: 717
Characters: Angela/Adam, again
Rating: G
A/N: Based on prompt by neshel

( Socks )


ETA: Aaaaand again.

Title: Saturday Night in Monte Carlo
Words: 943
Characters: Adam/Mohinder
Rating: PG
A/N: From prompt by aurilly. Also, I've never actually been to Monte Carlo, but wikipedia is HELPFUL.

( Saturday Night in Monte Carlo. )

So, first there was the comment_fic theme 'A Night on the Town', which I was directed to by aurilly and had great fun with. Then, after I posted the stories back here, a comment from ibroketuesday got us imagining an epic night out involving various characters from fandom. Then, as always, things escalated.

And so here we are today.

Title: Last Night in New York
Characters: So far, Adam, Ranjeet, Barney, Robin
Fandoms: Again, so far, Heroes and How I Met Your Mother
Ratings: So far, PG.
Word Count: 1,100
Summary: It's Adam's last night in New York. An epic night out is about to ensue. More characters from more fandoms will be appearing as time goes by. What will happen? ... I have no idea, I'll totally be making this up as I go along.

( Part 1 - Bro-smosis?? )

Procrastinating is a remarkable thing. Having pretty much dropped Heroes fandom with its current lameness and been even less enthusiastic about writing fanfic for it (except that Adam AU which still prods my brain occasionally), it just takes a few essays due to suddenly fill me with more plot bunnies than I can handle.

I succumbed to aurilly's pimping, and went and joined comment_fic. She now also insists I post the two stories I wrote in response to her prompts here. As always, I live to serve. They're both on the theme 'A Night on the Town'.

( Sylar & Mohinder )

( Mohinder & Adam, New Year's Eve )


And, SURPRISE BONUS FIC! ( Dean & Castiel, 'The Angel's Drunk' )



I'm going to go get actual work done now. Or... watch Sharpe and catch up on The Order of the Stick, while eating grapes and bacon. Whichever.

I don't know what's worse.

* That I'm up at 1am, desperately cramming at the last minute for one of two seminars which I forgot I have tomorrow,

* That I'm getting distracted by ideas for an awesome story set in ancient Rome, with magic and gladiators and debates on religion,

* That I kind of want to write it as a romance novel.

I mean, I was talking to kasdie as I thought of it, and she agrees - as awesome as the plot sounds, there is the capacity for some EPIC hot sex scenes in there, and the back cover writes itself. "HE was a sorcerer gladiator, condemned to death! SHE was a virgin priestess, devoted to her goddess and her country! FATE would bring them together - SOCIETY would tear them apart!"

Hey, it'd be easier to publish as a romance novel, anyway. I'd just have to learn how to write sex scenes without blushing horrendously.

Just remembered I never really got round to posting this. I may have greatly lost interest in the show, but I'm still enjoying this fic, so, let's see how long it lasts.

Title: Life Among the Gorillas, Chapter 3
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Adam, Elle, appearances from others
Summary: AU from ‘Dying of the Light’ – quite simply, what would have happened if Adam hadn’t died when his power was taken? How do you adjust from 400 years of immortality to being human again? In this chapter, Adam remembers his time in the Company facility, and how he met Elle.
Author's Note: This could almost be standalone, as it's basically one long flashback. But it serves to provide backstory for later plot, so, it gets included as a chapter. Once again, thanks to the awesome nowhack for beta-ing, though it was so long ago when I first sent this to her...

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

( insanientis dum sapientis consultus erro... )

Title: Life Among the Gorillas, Chapter 2
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Adam-centric, and in this chapter, Peter, Elle, Claire.
Summary: Season 3 AU, one small difference – Adam wasn’t killed when his power was taken. This chapter, Adam tries to escape Pinehearst, and receives help from an unexpected source.
Author’s Notes: Thanks again to nowhack for beta-ing – you’re awesome!

Chapter 1 can be found here.

( scirent si ignoscere manes )



( A completely random geeky footnote... )

Right, here it is - my first proper Srs Bzns Heroes fic. Enjoy! (Please tell me if it's any good.)

Title: Life Among the Gorillas
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Adam-centric, other characters will appear - in this chapter, Arthur Petrelli, Mohinder.
Summary: AU from ‘Dying of the Light’ – quite simply, what would have happened if Adam hadn’t died when his power was taken? How do you adjust from 400 years of immortality to being human again?
Author notes: Beta’d by nowhack - thank you! This has been kicking around inside my head for ages. And yes, the title is shamelessly stolen from How I Met Your Mother.

( Caelum ipsum petimus stultitia... )

Soooo this afternoon I decided to have a stab at this Heroes fic I've been playing with in my head for a while now. The Heroes Exchange had left me on an inspiration high, I'd just gotten a new idea for it, and hell, there were essays that needed doing, so the Procrastination Dragon leant a hand.

... It is now 1:40am, I've been writing constantly for several hours now, and I CAN'T STOP.

It's going so WELL! It's sort of my first Srs Bzns Heroes fic, rather than plain old crack, and I don't really know where it's going to go so it's exciting to see how the plot unfolds. I don't even know what pairings I'm going to end up with, but there are several options that are proving fun. Some of them are even het. I KNOW.

reasonablycrazy has kindly agreed to beta, but I may also need someone who's watched series 3 a lot more closely than I did. It goes AU around Dying of the Light (guess when) but I'll probably forget when characters should be doing something or what they all know at a certain point. But then again the writers seem to as well, so it's not a huge problem.

Posting will happen shortly after editing happens. In the meantime, I've finally found a procrastination I can take on my laptop to the library with me. DAMN.

So, this is how the editing process of my vampire story (it does have a title! Really! It's just FREAKING LONG) has worked out so far.

1. OK, let's do this chapter by chapter! ... There are no chapter divisions. LET'S CREATE CHAPTER DIVISIONS!

2. Goddamn, that chapter is crap. As is that one. REWRITE TIME.

3. Hmm, I should fit in more about the Unexpected Bad Guy earlier on. And figure out his real motivations. I'd better come up with a backstory for him.

4. Well, now I should come up with backstories for all the OTHER side characters who are only mentioned once or twice. And how they all interconnect.

5. Well, NOW I need to come up with backstories for all the random characters that crop up in THEIR backstories.

6. Oh goddammit, I'm going to come up with backstories, family histories, politics, ethics and alliances for EVERY VAMPIRE IN THE WORLD.

7. .... Who's my main character, again?

*facepalm*

I traditionally start to find my main characters boring about halfway through writing a story, and am then faced with trying to make them interesting again in editing. It doesn't help when, with a little bit of procrastinating daydreaming, I suddenly have hugely built-up and interesting backstories and motivations for every character BUT them.

I find myself wanting to write fanfic for MY OWN STORY. WHICH ISN'T EVEN FINISHED YET. HELL, I'M EVEN SHIPPING PEOPLE.

My plot bunnies are currently bouncing all the way around my head because I've let them out of their box properly for the first time in several months. After going to see Twilight with my sister (more on that later) I went round Carys's where we tried to watch Dawn of the Dead, but her disc was scratched, so we watched 28 Weeks Later. And throughout, we tried to see how the hell one went about writing a zombie movie.

Then I got home, and got started.

I finally settled on a title, 'Mitigating Circumstances', because the reason the characters are fleeing this wave of student plague like a zombie virus is because their exams start the following week and they really don't want to get sick. It's weird - as soon as I thought of the title, and typed it in, the rest flowed really easily. Like "Hey, that's pretty good, when did I think of that?" easy. I think I'll probably actually finish it tonight. Of course, I'll edit it in a couple of days with fresh eyes, but... I'm really happy with it. Where I left it, my characters - one already lost to a bar crawl - are fleeing for the library ("The last place a sick student in their right mind would go") away from the lead's corridor friends, who are chanting, "Briiiiian." Because... that's his name. And I have a weakness for easy jokes.

Eeee. I'm so happy this is going so well. Of course, I can't tell if it's any good, but I think it is. Which is usually a good sign.

I started editing last night - already made a few small adjustments, taken out some stuff and put in some new bits, and decided to be difficult by not featuring the word 'vampire' until a certain sentence at the end of the first chapter and thus had to swap in a lot of alternative words.

Also, with a sequel taking shape in my head (no definite plot, just "HEY, WOULDN'T IT BE COOL IF *THIS* HAPPENED?") I'm getting ideas of seeds for it to plant this early on, and now a huge backstory connecting all the characters is building in my head. I know that sooner or later I'm going to crack and write a whole list of all the main vampires, with their origins, ones who've died, how they all got created and their aims. Yes, I've started epic worldbuilding. A great deal of this information won't even make it into the story, but it's fun to think about in the shower.

One thing though. One particular backstory I came up with kind of creeps me out. I'm not sure I even want to write about it. It'd be AWESOME, and I haven't read any story that's done it before, and it would explain so much about her character, but... eesh. Sometimes I hate my imagination.

You know something about editing stories?

1. It's nowhere near as fun as writing them.
2. It's wrenching for the self-esteem.
3. It's lonely work.

I wish there was someone online right now I could chat to while I do it (*COUGH*JACKIE*COUGH*) but no, my internet is empty. I kinda want to print it all and scribble all over it, but I don't have the conscience to waste that much paper.

It would be far easier if I could just do it chapter-by-chapter, but WAY TO GO, ME, I DIDN'T INCLUDE CHAPTER DIVISIONS. Maybe that could be the first step. Putting in some freaking chapters. Who do I think I am, Terry Pratchett?* BAH.

Also, my room is a tip.

Also, I have essays to do.

Also, I let myself play the Sims ONCE, and it's already swiftly NOM NOM NOMming into my brain.

Also, I have quite a disturbing amount of rage that keeps trying to get out any way it can. I feel like I should go rewrite a section where a character's supposed to be pissed off.



* The answer's no, by the way.



ETA: OK, wearing my red-lensed bat glasses strangely helps.

Having just finished cleaning up the kitchen ready for Claire to cook us all Christmas dinner (the only real way I can help) I'm in a productive mood. So, I think it's time I finally faced up to how much I have to do over the Christmas holidays, in respective orders of importance.

WORK

1. Finish first section of my dissertation - aka, the Mummy Issues of Achilles and Aeneas - 2500 words, ready for handing in and marking.

2. Summative commentary for Love and Sex in Ancient Poetry on a Greek lyric poem, I can't remember which one - 2000 words max, not expected to write that much.

3. Formative essay for Roman Religion, probably 'Is conversion possible within a polytheistic society?', 1500-2000 words.

4. Formative essay for Interpreting Greek Tragedy Today, '[insert critical approach here] is the best approach for interpreting [insert Greek tragedy here]', 1500-2000 words.

5. Formative essay for Love and Sex in Ancient Poetry, '"Catullus... invented the love poem" (Tom Stoppard) Do you agree?', 2000 words max.

WRITING

1. Edit The Unexpected Apocalypse of Thomas Cautious Van Helsing aka Vampire Story sufficiently to send out to people who've requested it for feedback.

2. Write Heroes Christmas fic exchange story.

2. Write Zombie/Freshers Flu Outbreak movie for Film soc.

3. Carry on world building for Society of Illegal Scholars, Cambion and Monster Town.

WRANDOM

1. Tidy and organise room up in Durham.

2. Figure out a better, more focussed Masters proposal.

3. Go see Les Miserables with Frankie.

4. Go to Babylon exhibit at the British museum.

5. Make How I Met the Yellow-Eyed Demon Who Killed Your Mother macro series.

6. Finish a cross-stitch.

7. Sleep, at some point, if you get time.



.... well.... crap.