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suki_blueThe weather here is the UK is AWFUL! We've been storming today and it's been particularly nasty. Apparently, we had our summer in April. I must have missed that when I blinked. Anyway, the thunder was loud and the dog hid. The cats couldn't have cared less.
Oh, that reminds me, a small tip for those who write a British/English/etc character such as Spike/Harry/Draco/Giles. In the states, there is an expression: "I could care less". Here in the UK, we say "I couldn't care less", but it means the same thing. It's a small error, but I see it often now that I read so much HP. Also, we don't say 'pants'; that's underwear to us. Try 'Trousers' or be more specific and say 'jeans' or 'track-suit bottoms' or 'chinos'.
I may start a list of commonly made 'Brit' errors as I come across them. Really, over the past three years, I've had oodles of help from all the Americans of my flist and I'd like to give some of that help back. You don't realise, I think, when you write in a native fandom how easy it is to get these little things wrong. Then when you step out and write characters in a different country everything is different. The language, the customs, the money, the shops, the cars, the food, the products, the education system, the politics... The list is endless. It's hard and it can take the spontaneity out of the writing which is very fucking frustrating. If anyone of you ever needs help of the Brit persuasion, do come and ask me.
Ooops, I sidetracked. On with the show.
Redhill town center is now being patrolled by armed police. Armed! That is weirdo freaky and very unnerving. I've been joking that one too many paperbacks must have gone missing from WH Smiths, but seriously, what a fucking state for this county to be in. Guns! We don't do guns! Damn terrorists.
The new smoking laws came in this week. No smoking inside public places and enclosed spaces blah blah. It's fair enough and a actually a good thing. Still, I felt like a criminal when I lit up at the bus stop. I swear a few people were giving me the evil eye.
Just finished my judging at The Fang Fetish Awards - Best of the Best round. Yay! I hope you've all gone and voted in the Readers Choice categories? If not, you've got until 10th July
There will not be a second season of Teenage Dirtbag in the immediate future.
~cough~ See how I slipped that last one in? Basically, there's still so much story to tell, but I'm not ready to tell it. It's so much work and I'm not at the point where I churn out chapter after chapter like I used to. It takes too much time and I've written Spander non-stop for three years now and I need to break to write other stuff. I want to write H/D and McShep, but fics which are of a more manageable size, planned fics where each chapter is looked at over and over and passed twice through my beta and looked over again and then once more for luck. Teenage Dirtbag is just too big to do that properly and write all these other things. I'm also really enjoying reading at the moment. While I had Teenage Dirtbag and Grief Counseling on the go, I found it very difficult to read anything. I only have so many hours in the day. I must also now consider my Open University work which must take priority.
So, does everyone hate me now? :o(
The good news is, probably only for a few of you, since I made the final decision to put Teenage Dirtbag on hiatus, I have had an afflatus. That is, ideas have popped into my head and my muse has stood to a firm and rigid attention. I've started a story plan and a time line for a medium length Harry/Draco, Adult, Post-Hog, Post-war, kid!fic.
To anyone that is concerned, this is not the end of my Spander career; it's simply time to try new things, experiment a little, and have fun learning to write in other fandoms. A British fandom! Whooooo! The sudden ease of it all! Yay!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-03 08:54 pm (UTC)Don't hate you at all! *hugs*, good luck in your new fandom!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-03 08:56 pm (UTC)Thanks, honey. I don't intend to clear off completely, but it was time to admit that the muse wanted something more.
~huggles~
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-03 08:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:39 pm (UTC)Those other fandoms really suck you in, don't they? :oD I hear you're having fun with QAF? ;o) Who are you shipping?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:03 pm (UTC)The 'spuffy' ship of QAF, with is Brian and Justin. xx
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:13 pm (UTC)The 'spuffy' ship of QAF, with is Brian and Justin.
LOL! I've seen the first two seasons of the US QAF and I really enjoyed it. I keep meaning to get the third season. I ADORE Michael, so I think if I was in that fandom I would have to go with Michael/Brian.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-03 10:32 pm (UTC)as for starting to write H/D - YAY! and the story sounds so exciting, even kid!fic, for which i have a (not-so) secret love. i love your spander, but hon, you're moving into two of my other all-time fave fandoms, so you won't hear any complaints from me! cheers, can't wait to see the first chapters...
xoxox
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:44 pm (UTC)LOL! What gets me is when I accidentally call my friend's flat an 'apartment'. What country do I think I'm from?! Hee!
I have to admit, I'm not completely comfortable writing a Canadian character. Ooops, so Rodney's a problem. I really have no idea how Canadians speak. Up until I started watching SGA, I didn't even know there was a difference in the accent! ~ducks and hides~
I'm glad you're pleased about the H/D fic. I've got some great ideas for it. I'm still planning the whole thing, but I have written the first draft of the first chapter. Yay!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 10:36 pm (UTC)just for information's sake - David Hewlett (who, as i'm sure you know, plays Rodney) is from Toronto, where i was born, and currently reside. he went to my friend's school! (an all-boys choir school. hee.) so i do know the regional accent/idiums. i'd be happy to help!
can't wait for the H/D, and glad to know i'm not the only one who gets their words mixed at times. :)
cheers!
xoxox
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-05 06:04 pm (UTC)Thank you very much! I may certainly take you up on that. Perhaps you might be willing to read-through any McShep's I write before they're posted. That would really help!
I really need to hear some of these accents. I haven't got a clue! Is the Toronto accent considered quite a soft accent?
Did you also know that David was born in Redhill which is where I was born and now live and work? My little claim to fame. Heeeeeeee!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 12:10 am (UTC)Uh, apparently here is Florida too. It has stormed everyday for a week here. I like the rain, but EVERYDAY! Ugggg.
Well...teenage dirtbag is my fav, but I'll try to survive without it for a while. Like you said, its on hiatus...not cancelled. LOL
Shay
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:46 pm (UTC)Well...teenage dirtbag is my fav, but I'll try to survive without it for a while. Like you said, its on hiatus...not cancelled.
Yep, I really hope to carry on with it one day. I'm sure the TD bug will bite me again one day. Got lots to keep me occupied in the meantime ;o)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 12:51 am (UTC)*flails*
I love you.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:50 pm (UTC)It's one of my fav genres. I'm hoping to come up with my own spin on it ;o)
I love you too, my little Drarry-shaped friend ~huggles~
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 12:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:51 pm (UTC)~smooches~
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 12:57 am (UTC)::snorts::
Well that's just wierd.
::shakes head::
Ah, that sounds good. I like all of your stuff, mostly 'cause I adore your writing style, so I'm happy as long as you churn anything out.
Although, a spandery drabble here and there wouldn't bother me ::puppy eyes::
But yeah, school probably should take priority ::grumbles::
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:53 pm (UTC)Thank you, sweetie!! I'm sure I can oblige with some Spander here and there ;o)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 02:19 am (UTC)Gabrielle
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:55 pm (UTC)You can't get rid of me that easily! LOL!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 04:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 04:33 am (UTC)And don't forget 'waRsh'. "I'm going to warsh the dishes/clothes/car".
God, I hate the way people talk here. Sound like a bunch of idiots leaving off the 'g' and mispronouncing EVERYTHING. *rolls eyes*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:58 pm (UTC)Would that be our dear Kitty by any chance? :oD It was her that originally pointed out to me that Americans say it differently. Hee!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-06 04:38 am (UTC)LOL. Yep. That's where I heard it. I never knew about the other way. Weird how we have these little nuances to our vocabulary depending on where we live.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 06:56 pm (UTC)Now I'm sitting here trying to say 'everybody' without the middle why. Heee!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-06 04:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 04:17 am (UTC)I hate when Americans write in the Potter-verse and don't even try to make it British. I'm certain I've written things for British characters that are out of place, but some of these people don't even make an effort. Grrrr! On the plus side, spending so much time reading fic written by people in the UK has actually come in handy at work, as I'm responsible for making sure our British publications sound British enough. Yay for a useful application of fan skills!
I want to sound disinterestedly supportive when I say "Write whatever you want," but really I'm selfishly happy that the other fandoms you're interested in are ones I like. So know that when I say, "Write whatever you want," I'm grinning and rubbing my hands together greedily.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:05 pm (UTC)Yes, I've read a few fics where the author hasn't made any effort at all. I don't mind the smaller things or even the same little mistake repeatedly, but I do draw the line at Draco sounding blatantly American. The character voices are so important.
On the plus side, spending so much time reading fic written by people in the UK has actually come in handy at work, as I'm responsible for making sure our British publications sound British enough.
Yay! That skill certainly has come in handy! I wish my skill at reading smut would come in handy at work...
So know that when I say, "Write whatever you want," I'm grinning and rubbing my hands together greedily.
LOL! I'm just glad there's a few people on my flist that will be staying with me.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 04:40 am (UTC)A Spandery ficlet every once in a while would be nice, though, lol.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:07 pm (UTC)Don't worry, I'm not deserting completely. I just need to give the longer Spander fics a rest for now. I have a few ideas for some Xangel fics, so maybe I'll get around to them now.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-06 04:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 05:49 am (UTC)Sorry to hear things are so crazy over there. I mean, it's even making it into the crappy excuse for TV news we have in the US. As far as the writing thing, you do what feels good for you. =] Us fans will be happy to read whatever you're up to writing.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-04 07:09 pm (UTC)It's very weird over here! I'm totally unnerved by the police having guns. Not just little handguns, either. Proper great big semi's!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-05 01:15 pm (UTC)Your fueling my addiction, hun.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-05 06:06 pm (UTC)