Odds and Ends

[red_satin_doll]

Good news: The cable guys came today and hooked up our internet service; we only had two days to wait. So now we're connected again, yay! I hope to be on again more often here - I've missed being here and getting to play. I need the release more than ever

Comments

[gillo]

I've done plenty of beta stuff in the Buffyverse, so I'd be happy to help. Not crazy about explicit non-con or violent sex, but more or less anything else is fair game.

I'm so sorry your life has been turned upside down. Sadly, all the clichés are true - you only can do it one step, one day, one hour at a time.

{{hugs}}

[red_satin_doll]

When I've had a chance to write up the word docs I happily accept your offer, and thank you very much!

I had a Buffy & Dawn fic as well almost ready to go but the doc got destroyed when the desktop burned, so I need to recreate that one.

Not crazy about explicit non-con or violent sex

Not to worry, those are exactly the sorts of things that will make me hit the back button in a big hurry. I'm not even crazy about totally consensual explicit sex scenes. And I have no idea why, I'm not exactly a prude IRL. But when it comes to fic I'm the most vanilla Buffyverse fan out here. ;)

Thank you so much for the support! *hugs back*

[gillo]

Yay! I rather enjoy doing beta stuff. You can email me at gill dot othenat gmaildot com.

[red_satin_doll]

Thank you!

Just to let you know I've been told that I have "an excellent command of the [English] language" but I confess I have no mastery whatsoever of grammar rules beyond I before E except after C. Fair warning.

[velvetwhip]

It would be bizarre if your recent trauma hadn't intensified your feelings and actions. You went through fire - literally! (And I understand completely about the koala. It can't be replaced.)

Gabrielle

[red_satin_doll]

It's interesting that you use the word "trauma" because at first I'd been all "I'm fine, we're fine, no big deal, we didn't lose everything, scheme of things and blah blah" and now I'm feeling the weight of, yes, trauma. I've made fires in the outdoor grill and grilled things without blinking since then, but I'm hyper-aware whenever I hear a siren from a fire truck or ambulance nearby. I feel very similar at times to when I've been depressed - lethargic at times and tired, sometimes angry or sad, reluctant to speak to people or interact and withdrawn as if I were ashamed or embarrassed - but it doesn't feel like "depression" in the same sense either. (Maybe "situational depression" rather than "chronic depression"?)

FYI - I took a photo of my koala this morning. (His name is Euclid. Yes, he has a name. It seemed dignified thing to do.) But our card reader burned up so I can't download the photos yet! He looked entirely nonplussed by the turn of events *lol* He's very dignified, in his way.

[kikimay]

I can only imagine how much it sucks to see your things, your own things, destroyed and to have to replace them even when you don't want to. And all the stress. I'm sending you a virtual bear hug!

[red_satin_doll]

I tried to send you one back yesterday but the computer was a little wonky and slow! So, I'm sending one back to you with extra interest, sweetie.

Yesterday I was thrilled to discover that an art print - a large woodcut made by one of my sweetie's classmates in art school that I'd bought for over $100 (and never framed but wrapped in acid-free achival paper and tucked between cardboard) was in my closet, not my sweetie's bedroom and burned up like I thought - and it was totally untouched by the fire, water, etc! It's those little things that become so important right now when everything else is so chaotic.

[red_satin_doll]

I suspect nowadays it only sounds silly to those who don't want to admit being fans of something (or someone.)

And yes, I've been taking a lot of inspiration from Buffy lately. It may sound supremely silly, egotistical or over-dramatic, but I've been thinking about S6 a lot again and remembering why it is my favorite season on a personal level. Oh the shit that Buffy went through, bless her.

[comlodge]

Life is what influences our writing, let's us imagine the world our charachters inhabit. Glad things are pulling back together and that lifeline has now been re-established. The www is such a huge part of life these days. It's like having a part ripped away to lose it. :D

[red_satin_doll]

Which worries me sometimes - that I've become part of the problem, being addicted to the computer! (Have you watched Timer with Emma Caulfied? We watched it one Netflix before the fire, and it's a "romantic comedy" with a bittersweet ending and some actual ideas, such as the way technology influences us and becomes our master rather than the other way around.)

My sweetie used to hate computers and was quite the luddite (she owned a house "in the hollow" in West Virginia for two years back in the day with no electricity and running water!) Now she might as well have her ipod surgically attached. (And before the fire I wasn't any better when it came to the desktop 'puter!)

And 100% agreement on life influencing our writing - yes we're influenced by our culture, by the work of other artists (not just fan writers btw!) but if all there is to one's art is aping other arts and media without the breath of lived experience, it feels utterly empty at the core, don't you think?

[comlodge]

I'm addicted and trying to wean myself. Totally controls my life when I'm on it and I forget to play in the real world.

it feels utterly empty at the core, don't you think?

Yes, I do think. I'm always amazed when a young writer produces a book that speaks of age and wisdom. It surely means they were here before, because research can't possibly bring that. Then I remmebr that some get to live a very hard life, very early. :D

[red_satin_doll]

My best friend, Kendra Saunders, is a talented and accomplished novelist and she's so very mature and intelligent; we can talk about almost anything because she's had a hard-knock upbringing much as I have. And she's half my age and I'm rarely ever aware of it.

I remember on ff.net back over ten years ago when I discovered it - discovered fanfiction online, period - that I was shocked that the best writers in the catagory I hung out in were 13-22 years old, generally, some of whom became great friends. (And then there was the time I thought someone who was a 12 year old from the immaturity of their style turned out to be a thirty-something mom. Oops.)

Those young women and teenagers were all so intelligent, so wise before their time, and they wrote prose that continues to inspire me today because it spoke to me so clearly and honestly.