A new job and an old series ☆
WELL.
So. My first few days of work have gone swimmingly. Aside from being a bit tired due to adjusting to a new sleep schedule, and the fact that the commute is... less than desirable, I have absolutely no complaints. At least, not any complaints about the work. Plenty about the weather, though. -40C, again? I'm getting really sick of having to catch the bus in that. But as for the job itself, everyone I work with is really nice, and good gods does it ever feel awesome to be doing physical work again. Unfortunately, I have to wake up really early for it, and go to bed early as well. This makes it really difficult to talk to some of my friends. But, well, there's always lj comments and letters and non-instant roleplay and such. It's not the same as talking directly, being online at the same time, but it's not so bad.
This week I haven't been writing much of anything, but once I get back into the swing of things I'll probably manage it. Who knows, maybe I'll get into the habit of taking my notebook to work so that I can pound out a half-page of fic over lunchbreak. I'm nearly finished drafting something, but it'll take some work to make it presentable. Expect to see it in like two months. (I wish I was joking, but logically speaking, it takes me forever to get around to finishing anything.)
What I have been doing lately, while trying to finish knitting those mittens, is re-watching an old series from when I was a kid. The series in question is Eerie, Indiana, which involves around a pair of kids seeking out to investigate and document all the weird and creepy stuff that goes down in their strange little town. I just -- Oh man. Yeah, I've already flailed about it enough on twitter, but anyway. I'm just having so much fun watching it for the first time in many (many many) years, and it's not just because of the nostalgia factor, either. It's actually a pretty awesome series.
Back when I was younger, I was kind of into "weird stuff". I was always reading books about cryptozoology and urban legends and that kind of thing, similar to the stuff that the show deals with. I didn't actually believe in it, but I wished that it was true. The idea of there being strange, fascinating things in the world that are there but people either don't know it or choose to ignore it was just... so fascinating to me. I wanted to believe in Bigfoot and Ogopogo and ghosts and aliens and all kinds of things like that. I think that's why Eerie appealed to me back then. And not gonna' lie, I still find that kind of thing interesting even now; sometimes I still read up on urban legends and ghost stories, and they're also the reason I made myself sit through season 1 of Supernatural, even though I didn't like the show itself that much. So I guess it isn't too surprising that I still like Eerie now.
One of the things that really strikes me about it is that compared to some of the other shows from when I was a kid that I've tried to re-watch in recent years, Eerie, Indiana is actually good. Sure, there are some parts where it's a little weak, but compared to the other ones I've watched through, the weak moments are few. For the most part the writing is good, even witty, and the characters are interesting. And yes, it's a bit dated - understandable, considering it's from 1991/92, but not in a way that's overly distracting, and it's pretty sparse on the special-effects side of things, so it isn't a headache to watch. Now, when I consider it in comparison to a specific series I re-watched recently - Are You Afraid of the Dark, which was actually nowhere near as good as I remembered it, to the extent that I was actually kind of disappointed... Eerie, on the other hand, is gold. It's far better than I remembered, and way better than I expected.
It certainly doesn't hurt that it's short enough to actually hold my attention. This is a problem I frequently have; anything much longer than 20 episodes, and I start to get bored with it. Fortunately Eerie has only 19. Though not gonna' lie, now that I'm nearly finished watching it, I'm wishing there were at least a few more -- but admittedly this is partly because my favourite character, Dash X, only shows up from #13 onward, and I want to see more of him, damnit. Because he is like the total personification of Cool and Mysterious. Though not gonna' lie, a few more regular episodes slipped into the first half of the series would've been great too. I can never get enough of Marshall and Simon running around documenting all the weird happenings in an entirely scientific way, and the rest of the Eerie populace just going on with their daily lives as if everything that happens is perfectly normal.
Anyway. I might not have many more episodes left, but at least there is fanfiction. Man. I was startled and pleased to realize that fanfiction actually exists, and that there's actually a relatively decent volume of it (speaking in realistic terms, here. It's a small and old and not-usually-written series, so even around 30 fics by mostly the same handful of people is a "decent volume"). Though I have no idea as to whether any of it is readable or not, as I've avoided reading it because I'm not finished the series quite yet and I don't want to be spoiled, argh. Almost all of the fic features Dash in some capacity, and I don't want to uncover an extra detail about him from fanfiction rather than the series itself. Though I won't lie, another reason I'm kind of reluctant to touch the fanfiction is that a huge chunk of it is slash, Dash/Marshall specifically. It's pretty common for me to prefer gen over romance, and this is one of those series that I really have no desire to read romance for. Not to mention that Dash/Marsh wouldn't exactly have the kind of pairing dynamic I usually prefer reading... they don't like each other much, to put it simply. This isn't even getting into the whole part where, y'know, I'm not even sure how old either of them is supposed to be, anyway. (My guess is "Not very".)
But I want to write fanfiction, oh man, do I ever want to write it. I run into this problem so often. It's a problem I had with Moomins series, and it's problem I'm having with Eerie now. I want to write adventure stories, but I can't come up with a decent adventure plot to save my life. Or anything that isn't romance, for that matter. Want to know why I don't write gen more frequently? I never get good ideas. So I'm kind of stuck in a frustrated hole and flailing here. Forget characterization - though that would be tough too, as Dash is the kind of person who would be hard for me to write, and I have absolutely no idea how I would even begin to characterize Simon and Marshall - no, what I'm running into an absolute wall with is plot. I always run into this plot-wall, and it's annoying.
However. This is a big however, but, however. I have... something. Something. While I was at work today, I let my mind wander -- easy thing to do while stocking shelves, that -- and I got... something. I don't know. I have two scenes, one of which might be the opening though I haven't decided which one it will be yet, and I have a general idea of setting it between episodes 13 and 14, and I have an vague clue as to what the mood should be, at least for these scenes. I have a few ideas for opening sentences, a few scraps of dialogue. I don't have a plot - hell, I don't have anything much, actually. But it's something to start with.
Maybe I should take some time on my day off to read through some urban legends or ghost stories or tales of creepy things in attempt to scavenge up a decent idea for some Eerie fic. I'd probably be able to at least find something I can use.
So. My first few days of work have gone swimmingly. Aside from being a bit tired due to adjusting to a new sleep schedule, and the fact that the commute is... less than desirable, I have absolutely no complaints. At least, not any complaints about the work. Plenty about the weather, though. -40C, again? I'm getting really sick of having to catch the bus in that. But as for the job itself, everyone I work with is really nice, and good gods does it ever feel awesome to be doing physical work again. Unfortunately, I have to wake up really early for it, and go to bed early as well. This makes it really difficult to talk to some of my friends. But, well, there's always lj comments and letters and non-instant roleplay and such. It's not the same as talking directly, being online at the same time, but it's not so bad.
This week I haven't been writing much of anything, but once I get back into the swing of things I'll probably manage it. Who knows, maybe I'll get into the habit of taking my notebook to work so that I can pound out a half-page of fic over lunchbreak. I'm nearly finished drafting something, but it'll take some work to make it presentable. Expect to see it in like two months. (I wish I was joking, but logically speaking, it takes me forever to get around to finishing anything.)
What I have been doing lately, while trying to finish knitting those mittens, is re-watching an old series from when I was a kid. The series in question is Eerie, Indiana, which involves around a pair of kids seeking out to investigate and document all the weird and creepy stuff that goes down in their strange little town. I just -- Oh man. Yeah, I've already flailed about it enough on twitter, but anyway. I'm just having so much fun watching it for the first time in many (many many) years, and it's not just because of the nostalgia factor, either. It's actually a pretty awesome series.
Back when I was younger, I was kind of into "weird stuff". I was always reading books about cryptozoology and urban legends and that kind of thing, similar to the stuff that the show deals with. I didn't actually believe in it, but I wished that it was true. The idea of there being strange, fascinating things in the world that are there but people either don't know it or choose to ignore it was just... so fascinating to me. I wanted to believe in Bigfoot and Ogopogo and ghosts and aliens and all kinds of things like that. I think that's why Eerie appealed to me back then. And not gonna' lie, I still find that kind of thing interesting even now; sometimes I still read up on urban legends and ghost stories, and they're also the reason I made myself sit through season 1 of Supernatural, even though I didn't like the show itself that much. So I guess it isn't too surprising that I still like Eerie now.
One of the things that really strikes me about it is that compared to some of the other shows from when I was a kid that I've tried to re-watch in recent years, Eerie, Indiana is actually good. Sure, there are some parts where it's a little weak, but compared to the other ones I've watched through, the weak moments are few. For the most part the writing is good, even witty, and the characters are interesting. And yes, it's a bit dated - understandable, considering it's from 1991/92, but not in a way that's overly distracting, and it's pretty sparse on the special-effects side of things, so it isn't a headache to watch. Now, when I consider it in comparison to a specific series I re-watched recently - Are You Afraid of the Dark, which was actually nowhere near as good as I remembered it, to the extent that I was actually kind of disappointed... Eerie, on the other hand, is gold. It's far better than I remembered, and way better than I expected.
It certainly doesn't hurt that it's short enough to actually hold my attention. This is a problem I frequently have; anything much longer than 20 episodes, and I start to get bored with it. Fortunately Eerie has only 19. Though not gonna' lie, now that I'm nearly finished watching it, I'm wishing there were at least a few more -- but admittedly this is partly because my favourite character, Dash X, only shows up from #13 onward, and I want to see more of him, damnit. Because he is like the total personification of Cool and Mysterious. Though not gonna' lie, a few more regular episodes slipped into the first half of the series would've been great too. I can never get enough of Marshall and Simon running around documenting all the weird happenings in an entirely scientific way, and the rest of the Eerie populace just going on with their daily lives as if everything that happens is perfectly normal.
Anyway. I might not have many more episodes left, but at least there is fanfiction. Man. I was startled and pleased to realize that fanfiction actually exists, and that there's actually a relatively decent volume of it (speaking in realistic terms, here. It's a small and old and not-usually-written series, so even around 30 fics by mostly the same handful of people is a "decent volume"). Though I have no idea as to whether any of it is readable or not, as I've avoided reading it because I'm not finished the series quite yet and I don't want to be spoiled, argh. Almost all of the fic features Dash in some capacity, and I don't want to uncover an extra detail about him from fanfiction rather than the series itself. Though I won't lie, another reason I'm kind of reluctant to touch the fanfiction is that a huge chunk of it is slash, Dash/Marshall specifically. It's pretty common for me to prefer gen over romance, and this is one of those series that I really have no desire to read romance for. Not to mention that Dash/Marsh wouldn't exactly have the kind of pairing dynamic I usually prefer reading... they don't like each other much, to put it simply. This isn't even getting into the whole part where, y'know, I'm not even sure how old either of them is supposed to be, anyway. (My guess is "Not very".)
But I want to write fanfiction, oh man, do I ever want to write it. I run into this problem so often. It's a problem I had with Moomins series, and it's problem I'm having with Eerie now. I want to write adventure stories, but I can't come up with a decent adventure plot to save my life. Or anything that isn't romance, for that matter. Want to know why I don't write gen more frequently? I never get good ideas. So I'm kind of stuck in a frustrated hole and flailing here. Forget characterization - though that would be tough too, as Dash is the kind of person who would be hard for me to write, and I have absolutely no idea how I would even begin to characterize Simon and Marshall - no, what I'm running into an absolute wall with is plot. I always run into this plot-wall, and it's annoying.
However. This is a big however, but, however. I have... something. Something. While I was at work today, I let my mind wander -- easy thing to do while stocking shelves, that -- and I got... something. I don't know. I have two scenes, one of which might be the opening though I haven't decided which one it will be yet, and I have a general idea of setting it between episodes 13 and 14, and I have an vague clue as to what the mood should be, at least for these scenes. I have a few ideas for opening sentences, a few scraps of dialogue. I don't have a plot - hell, I don't have anything much, actually. But it's something to start with.
Maybe I should take some time on my day off to read through some urban legends or ghost stories or tales of creepy things in attempt to scavenge up a decent idea for some Eerie fic. I'd probably be able to at least find something I can use.