Thanksgiving II

So, only time for one other thanks post tonight, but hey, two posts in a day? That's beating my weekly average already! ;)

So, I've already mentioned Amanda Rohrssen here, because she did a truly beautiful commission for me last year and I squeed about it in an entry. :D (And this is the commission in question in case you've forgotten or didn't read that far back! It's from "The House On Avian Way", or at least it's inspired by it.) Amanda also has created one of my favourite OCs (whom I have also mentioned here), Ariana McCawber. Ariana's fic is "The Other McCawber Girl" (that links to part one; here is part two).

Okay, bear with me. I've mentioned Ariana (she has her own tag even!) because Ari makes an appearance in "All About Elizabeth", and *that* happened because Amanda was sweet enough to use Beth in "The Other McCawber Girl". Even though that's an AU and not the same universe/canon as my series, it was clear from the start that Ariana and Beth would make very good friends since they're very similar and even though they come from very different backgrounds, they've dealt with a number of the same experiences in their lives. So Ari's presence in AAE was partly to pay Amanda back for using Beth, and just partly because it made sense. :)

ANYway! In addition to various chapters of OMG, Amanda also took up my Birthday Fic Request and wrote a really neat, fun one-shot story that takes place as a sort of "in-between" AU to both of our canons called "The Eternal Sunshine of the Thoughtless Mind" (I love that title), in which Ari and Beth are close friends and it's not quite her canon and not quite mine, but it's adorable and everyone is happy. ^_^ The story is a really fun plot involving FOWL and mistaken identity and birthdays, and Ari and Beth get kidnapped, and there's a whole big thing about skin cancer. XD It's a hoot and if you haven't read Amanda's stuff, but you like Beth, you should read this and then you get to meet Ariana and then you can go read OMG and get hooked on THAT, as you should, and then you can pick up on all her other stuff.

(And also leave her some comments, at least on "Eternal Sunshine", huh?)

All her stories are great and I can't single one out. "Sins of the Father" is about Drake's father Jacob; "Gumshoe" kind of destroys all canon, fanfic and real alike, and has a noir-style blast doing it; "A Penny Saved is a Penny Spurned" is a straight-up non-OC crossover between DWD and DuckTales that is in-progress.

Also, Amanda is a wonderful artist, as the LP/Beth commission will no doubt demonstrate; her deviantART account is at this link, and is a lot of fun to browse. Also she is still taking commissions, though her schedule is crazy so there is a backlog, but they are well worth the wait. ^_^

So thank you Amanda! Thank you for liking Beth enough to use her in your fic, for writing fic for me, for drawing for me, and thank you for creating Ariana in the first place. ^_^ Happy thanksgiving!

We'll see if I can't get to a couple more of these tomorrow! If not then maybe Sat or Sun. Everyone deserves a thanks and a shout-out!

Thanksgiving

In the spirit of the holiday, and of this blog, I thought I would take a little while to do something I've been meaning to do for some time: and that is to express my gratitude for gift art and fic I've received, and also pimp out the people behind said gifts. :D I started this a few posts ago with Marci, who had written the start of a fic for me - see that post for the link - and I'm going to continue for as long as I can find the time, a precious commodity around here, believe me. :P

I'll start with Eric, who has done some really nifty pics of Beth in the past but more recently (well, 2008) wrote a fanfic in which she was the guest star!

The fic is called "Natural Madness" (and here it is), and Eric wrote it for me for my Birthday Request in '08 when I had balls enough to ask people to devote huge portions of their time and creativity to me. Because Eric rocks, he did so. :)

"Natural Madness" is a great story which is, true to Eric's style, at once nicely in-character for DW and at the same time playing in a darker setting. In this universe, Bushroot has gone crazy after an accident and is now Bushroot X, a creature who always wears a mask and (far worse) kidnaps other victims and locks them behind masks as well. In this fic he picks Beth out as his Masked Bride-to-be. The story, despite its dark premise, never goes too far into the frightening zone to the point where it would push the character into a level of unbelievability. DW has a lot of dialogue you could hear on the show, and actually, the whole fic has numerous moments of humour that I found really appealing.

Eric has two other fics up on FF.net, "The Brain Pickers" and "The Agitator". I've only had time to read "The Brain Pickers" (yep I'm that lame, I have to struggle to read fanfiction :P) but like this one, it's a good plot and good characterization, and there's a mix of original tone, humour, and also a much darker feel. "The Brain Pickers" explores what happens when FOWL puts a few elements together and takes note of who DW is commonly seen with *other* than LP and Gosalyn... so they target Honker Muddlefoot. (Poor Honker!) The main difference between this fic and the show is that DW gets to be a bit more competently heroic than he was often portrayed on the show (since it was more of a comedy-action than just straight action show), and since it's refreshing to see DW know what he's doing while still being in-character, I have no complaints. :)

Check Eric's stuff out today! He also has a deviantART account here: http://hag.deviantart.com/

I hope to make more of these posts throughout the day, or if not today, then tomorrow. Of course on a day like today my time is limited so let's just cross our fingers... :)

Wait a minute, I - Jiminy Christmas.

It's actually been a month since my last update? Oh CRACKERS. D:

Well, I know I've been owing this blog several really good posts, and *those are coming*, but it's been crazy busy at work and my nights at home are usually spent either with quality time or else trying to draw (hah); so I haven't done much writing and even less blogging.

But here's some fic.

"Sea of Green" is updated! And I actually linked you to the fic this time! SO you have no excuse!

Love,
Me.

PS: I gots deviantART account now: It's a really predictable name!

And then, the other thing

Just updated "Sea of Green" at Fanfiction.net... you know I don't have the energy to put up the link. FAIL. D:

(It doesn't matter though, most people who read this will either see this weeks from now or get a notification through FF.net. But I like to pretend.)

Fanfic that is not by me and is therefore OMGSOAMAZING!!!

I got permission from Marci to pimp out the fic she wrote for me!

A couple of years ago I got all high and mighty and for my birthday asked people to write fic for me, specifically fic with Beth in it. I had only a few people with the time and inspiration to take me up on this, and I am amazed that that many did so, and everything that they gave me was *amazing*. I actually still intend to do a giant "OMG" post on each and every piece. But Marci only showed me what she wrote (I guess 'cause it's still incomplete, pfff, like THAT matters :D) a couple of weeks ago, and after I saw it and died, I wanted to make sure I had her permission to share it around... it being unfinished and all. I dunno, you'd think that with her having posted it that would be a sign that it's shareable, but eh, I err on the side of caution. FAR too often it turns out but ANYWAY! ;)

Here's the link to the absolutely fantastic stuff she has written so far:

http://fanfic.thebadfic.com/?p=30#more-30

Seeing as how I respect the need to work where you have the inspiration and all, I am *not* advising anyone to bug her to finish it, but if anyone wanted to send "inspirational vibes" in her direction... s'all I'm sayin'. ^_~ (though only if it doesn't throw off her work on her original fic. Priorities, man.)

*dies again*

Swear to god you guys. I'm going to have a "Guest Star Corner" thing here where I can rave about the various Webfoot-related gifts/commissions I've gotten over the years. I just need to get my s*** together is all.

P.S. Read some of her other stuff too. Marci's awesome is not limited to the times when she writes my OC.

When I wake up - in the afternoon, which it pleases me to do

Don't nobody bring me no bad news.

***

So I'm working on TWC2 - "Sea of Green" - right now, and to many that would mean it would only make sense that I post my chapter notes as I go. I've considered that but have decided to hold off until the fic is complete, because that gives me the chance to revise it and tighten it up as I go back over it to put the notes together.

I will talk about it, though. I put up chapter three of Act I last weekend, and after I did I felt awkward about it. I'm not sure why - maybe because I wrote almost the entire chapter in one night - but more than that I felt weird about Beth's characterization throughout all three chapters so far.

I had to really consider it to figure out why I felt this way. I had this suspicion that the way I wrote her has changed since I finished AAE - that she's even more nervous than she used to be, and that this resulted in making her unlikeable in what I'm writing now.

I finally kind of came to terms with this a few days later because I reminded myself that I haven't changed my writing style for her because of AAE - I'm regressing it back for TWC2. After all, chronologically this fic is only her second appearance and Beth needs to be a lot more awkward and nervous at this stage. The whole point of the Webfoot Chronicles was to show a little bit of character growth for her, and the way that her meeting DW sort of catalyzes her into another stage of her life. That was the point of AAE as well (catalyzing, stages of life, etc) so I guess that's why I felt the kinship in the writing styles, but even if Beth is a little hard to take at this stage, it's not permanent. She'll get better. Promise. :)

I've had some good feedback on this one, though. So I guess she's not as much of a problem as I thought she was. ^_~

Now I just have to figure out how I want her to interact with Bushroot.

Speaking of which... I think Bushroot will be the subject of my next (non-AAE-related) post... whenever that happens.

Don't Say No to the Incredible Medicine Show

More notes for AAE! Chapter 3 of Act I (or chapter 5 on ff.net)...

References:

-Dr. Camelback has some origins in a book called "Orphans of Chaos" by John C. Wright, though I have to admit that it's been so long now since I've read the book that I don't remember precisely how.
-Pattie, Violet, and Frieda are names from Charles Schulz's "Peanuts". They're all secondary characters who, I think, eventually got dropped. :P
-Nicola is slightly inspired by a character in "Fire and Hemlock" by Diana Wynne Jones (a girl named Nina).

I reference Beth as being "small for her age" in this section. She stays on the skinny side all her life, but I picture her as starting out tiny and then sprouting up like a weed in terms of height when she hits a certain age. Beth is not outrageously tall, but she's perhaps a bit taller than she should be, if that makes sense.

Poor Beth, getting taken advantage of from the first. The idea that a group of kids, the oldest of which is only 7, would be left alone to wander about for themselves was an effort to reinforce what Beth says before this flashback starts - that the people in charge forgot that high intelligence doesn't translate at all into maturity. A smart kid is still a kid.

Note the subtle statement in this scene that Beth does not wear glasses at age 7. I didn't have a good way to say that outright (it would've been weird to describe her as "not wearing glasses", after all) so it's a little bit subtle and perhaps easier to forget. I bet most readers imagine Wee Little Beth with glasses. (I almost do myself.)

Geez, Camelback is such a d***. ;D

I don't have a whole lot to say about the stuff at Pinny's; none of it is based on any real experience in my life so I can't talk about that, and it's fairly straightforward, I think. I hope it's not over the top; although I've never had these actual experiences, I've had strained relationships with adults (as I think many people have) and I've had trouble joining social circles (as I think many have, again) so I'm assuming these are somewhat familiar themes even if the events are themselves particular or perhaps a bit melodramatic.

Beth's mass-shunning in the cafeteria is a little reminiscent of a scene in Amanda Rohrssen's "The Other McCawber Girl", which was not intentional, though I will admit for full disclosure that I am pretty sure I had read that scene by the time I wrote this fic. I wasn't thinking of that, thogh, but rather of the general experience of being an outcast and being ignored. Beth's experience here, it should be noted, is not based at all on who she is but just on her being a stranger; it's not a personal reaction, it's just a mass ignoring. This almost uniformly typifies her experiences throughout this story: she's infrequently directly targeted, and much more often just overlooked, which I think is a common theme in growing up. Everyone gets targeted at some point, but being totally ignored - although less dramatic - can be painful too.

I wondered what to name Beth's three roommates for a while and then decided on the names from "Peanuts". Once I'd do that the personalities kind of dropped into place, especially Frieda's who clearly had to have naturally curly hair and also be a big of a braggart.

Beth ruminates on what she'd done to be sent away - we don't learn until later why she's so certain that this is what has happened - and she reflects that she could promise to change and be whatever her mother wanted if she could come back. This is also a recurring theme for Beth; she keeps, in her head, promising to change herself to be what other people want. I think it's noteworthy that she never ever does this.

Beth's staying at Pinny's over Thanksgiving is not a "Harry Potter" reference in case anyone was wondering, though on rereading it kind of looks that way. *shrug*

The "sad story about 2 older kids who fell in love but then died" is 'Romeo and Juliet'. I thought that this might be about what a 7-year-old would get out of it: the very bare bones of the story, with the rest being written in such apocryphal language and about such complicated things that it would basically go over her head.

As mentioned above, Nicola has roots in a girl named Nina from a Diana Wynne Jones novel. There's nothing specific that she does that mirrors this character, but Nina has a certain exuberance and a liking for imaginativeness, as well as a falling out with the main character, that were in my mind when I was thinking of characteristics for Beth's first "friend". The name, Nicola, has no significance.