To make it past writer's block, or something like that: I bring you memes!

[rose_griffes]

Why did LJ suddenly decide to show me only ten entries on my 'read friends' page instead of the twenty that I'd set ages ago? I had to go back into my customized journal thingy and reset it. *cranky*

Writing meme time! And you have choices, if you wish to help me out by commenting!

Icon meme: Pick one of the icons I have uploaded and I'll write you a ficlet based on said icon.

Time-stamp meme: Pick any fic or ficlet I've written and ask me what happened earlier/later/whenever.

that writing thing where I talk about what I didn't include in a story: Ask me what I 'know' but didn't include in the final version of any story I've written.

something else: I tried to think of writing memes that I've never done before but found interesting. But hey, if there's something else you want to ask, the worst I can do is say no. Or hell, no.

Comments

[ivanolix.livejournal.com]

Heh, I don't know why, but for the icon meme I choose this:

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

oh, THAT's why my flist is so weirdly short!

er, since I should probably help you out with your writing problem since you helped me, all unknowingly:

How about hee.

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I want Mini-DVD meme! (I still want you to pick a passage from one of mine. Since you are bored blocked . . . :-))

But I'll pick first!

give a DVD commentary on that snippet of what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the fic, and anything else you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

Like Kara, she is stronger than she looks, and more broken. Her body shudders and her breath is warm against the pulse in his neck.

"Come," he says, and he leads her to the narrow bed. She follows obediently, like a puppet. She sits at the edge of the bed for a moment, slips her feet out of high-heeled shoes, then lies down on her side, turning away from him. They have lain face to face before, hands clasped. But this Six, Caprica, curves her body away from the center of the small bed; she faces the wall. He knows that she wants someone else, yearns to picture another face.

Her blonde hair curls across his pillow--an echo of what he has seen in his future.

Home. The rain-dimmed light from the window will wash across the long blonde strands of hair draped across their pillow. She'll pull him toward her, green-brown eyes wide with happiness. Whispering in his ear, she'll grab his hands and place them on her belly. "Do you feel her move?" The next of God's chosen generation. She will never dare blaspheme this, their child made in the image of their one true God.

He lies down beside her, his chest close to her back, curls his legs behind hers. Trailing his hand down her arm, he entwines his fingers with hers, his fingertips pressed against her palm. She is damaged (like Kara) but she has no scars for him to trace.

His own model had chosen a name; they had agreed, preferring it to numeric designation. Now he finds himself separated with this thought--he is Kara's. She's marked him; he regrets that the body he wears now doesn't bear any record of this.

"Show me something real," she murmurs.

A waterfall, hillside behind it covered with trees reddened by autumn and the setting sun. The colors brighten as he shares details.

"Caprica," he tells her. Unspoken words: Kara's father took her on a picnic here when she was seven. Leoben sought out the place when he was planetside. A small connection he built to her past.

She tightens her grip on his fingers.

"Now you," he tells her. Gray walls turn to gleaming glass and straight lines over a bay, flashes of light sparkling off water.

She lets go of his hand and the image fades. Turning to face him she says, "I loved that place, but I helped to destroy it."

Her unspoken words: this was Baltar's house in the colonies. She's attached herself to him, thinks she loves him. She's confusing sex with love, and Gaius is a weak vessel, not worthy of her regard. Now D'Anna has pulled Caprica's satellite out of orbit.

He understands this emotion, though; he knows it compels her, pushes her in ways that the other cylon don't. It's what makes life with humans so desirable; they can't become all that they're destined to be without humanity.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Hm... I've never done this before with just a specific passage! Will this be fun or frustrating? (Or both?)

With all of this I wanted to emphasize that there are similarities between Kara and Caprica, not just in their blonde hair. The idea that Leoben can see how they're both broken is important in the story. Also, the physicality of it: sex is almost a language for the Sixes, so I had to include the tactile parts. It was so difficult to make it sensual in the 'right' way--that Caprica uses sex, uses the Two for what she can't have, but still make it 'feel' to the reader and be interesting. And yes, projection is definitely a form of intimacy for these two.

She will never dare blaspheme this, their child made in the image of their one true God.
Hopefully this was a clear indication to the reader that that Leoben isn't always right, even though we're only getting his point of view. Because I cannot imagine Kara reacting so positively to any pregnancy, much less a pregnancy with a cylon. (Not to say that she couldn't be joyous and accepting of future motherhood in some circumstances. I just wanted to make sure that the reader isn't agreeing with Leoben about how great this vision of the future is.)

She lets go of his hand and the image fades. Turning to face him she says, "I loved that place, but I helped to destroy it."
I'm not sure why, but I really like that line of dialogue from Caprica. Since dialogue is still a struggle for me, I'm pleased when something feels just right. And having her say that, but nothing else, pleases me.

Her unspoken words: this was Baltar's house in the colonies. She's attached herself to him, thinks she loves him. She's confusing sex with love, and Gaius is a weak vessel, not worthy of her regard. Now D'Anna has pulled Caprica's satellite out of orbit.

Heh. I had to make sure I made Leoben sound... slightly pompous. Too sure of his rightness. Yes, he sees things and knows things that are true, but how he chooses to use that information by obsessing with Kara is obviously a Bad Idea.

I worry a bit that I made Caprica maybe too broken in this, but hopefully the ending (her going to meet Sharon Agathon at the resurrection tank, and knowing that Caprica will choose to leave with her) pulls that back a bit.

Writing the DVD meme makes it sound like I was totally in control at all times on how this story came out, but to be honest, the stories still frequently demand to be written a certain way and I just have to oblige them. Hee! I guess it's a slowly-evolving process.

Feel free to ask if there's anything else you want to know.

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

*is kinda predictable*

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

CAN I HAVE A CROSSOVER? As I would like:


+


pls.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

that writing thing where I talk about what I didn't include in a story
How about Prophecy? It was one of the first fics I read in the fandom, and made quite the impression. I still go back to it from time to time, so I'd be interested to hear anything you want to say about it.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how much you've read about me writing it. I woke up with the idea and it had to be written. (My first fic.) I'm not sure which part I found more compelling, the idea that the Colonials landed on something like our Earth but it wasn't a welcoming place (and they didn't share a language), or the idea that Kara would end up forming a relationship with a Two. Both, I guess, because I like the outsiders as a theme in stories and I was always riveted when Kara and Leoben were onscreen. I do think it's interesting that I subconsciously managed to flip the power dynamic to Kara being 'in charge.' She's the one who knows all the secrets about who/what Leoben really is, and she's obviously the one driving their relationship (even if she'd deny it). Even though she's the one with the power, it's obviously a really bad idea for her to be involved with him, though.

Hm... I think I've mentioned before that the Leoben in "Prophecy" was slowly becoming more self-aware. I think Kara would try to kill him if she realized that, or if he was ever 'activated'.

(There really is a Leoben, Austria. Ironically enough, it's famous for it's 'humane' prison. Hah!)

I 'know' lots of stuff about the Earth the Colonials landed on and the transition they went through. For example, the Colonials had to visit "transition officers/assimilation officers" on a regular basis once they were out of the internment camp--kind of like parole officers. Felix Gaeta was one of the last to leave internment, because he was so insistent on talking about how these cylons (who seemed like ordinary people) were dangerous. Oh, and he was secretly afraid that he was actually a cylon himself. (Keep in mind that both stories in this universe were written before the end of season three so there's a whole lot of information we didn't have yet.)

The sleeper Six that Cally attacked was attracted to everything about the Colonials, even before Cally attacked her, and she didn't understand why. She met with Tom Zarek at least once, and she didn't know why she felt compelled to keep a date with him.

I actually tinkered with a third story in this same setting for a while--first it was about Felix, then about Racetrack. But everything changed so much during the season three finale that I finally gave up. My brain isn't really interested in writing AU most of the time. And it takes a good writer and good premise to keep me interested in reading them.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

I knew it was your first fic, but this is all new to me! *g*

I really loved the outsiders idea in those two stories, especially the detail about them taking language classes. It's not something that's usually addressed in fic, but just felt painstakingly real.

For example, the Colonials had to visit "transition officers/assimilation officers" on a regular basis once they were out of the internment camp--kind of like parole officers. Felix Gaeta was one of the last to leave internment, because he was so insistent on talking about how these cylons (who seemed like ordinary people) were dangerous. Oh, and he was secretly afraid that he was actually a cylon himself.
Oh, that's really interesting! Both about the parole officers and Gaeta. His hatred of the cylons seems eerily prescient.

I love the idea that Kara would kill him if he achieved full awareness. Every time I read "Prophecy" I'm struck by how it walks this fine line between twisted and tender. Because a part of me almost wants to ship her with this Two but it's, like, just the right amount of frakked up. I would definitely read a third story in that world, but the existing two feel quite complete, I think.

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Hmm, Jealous Gods, what you knew but didn't include?

The entries display thing happened to me too!

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

I don't really have a lot of 'secret' information about "Jealous Gods." Um... the clay pot Kara threw at Sam's head was handmade, possibly by her? Heh.

Writing it was a PAIN. Let's see... there was going to be another section of them playing Pyramid, but I couldn't get it to work right. The whole story was a complete mess--no theme, nothing tying the pieces together--until I decided to use those McSweeney's list titles.

I'm glad the muse was channeling Kara well for a while there, because Kara is melodramatic. I'm not. (Or at least I'm not going to admit it, heh.) When I reread some parts of the story, I'm struck by that--how very much Kara is NOT me, even though she was my favorite character on the show.

I'm a bit amused that one of the commenters brings up Kara/Lee as being ideal for Kara, when I sort of view the fic as "My Sammy is a Good Guy and good for Kara!" treatise.

I'll admit, I'm quite pleased with the ending: the transition from past to present tense and then that final line. I like how it all came out.

Huh, I think that's about it. Feel free to ask about anything more specific if you want.