quotidian

[raven]

Various fannish things:

-one of the requests that washed up in this year's New Year's Resolutions is a Diana Wynne Jones request for Deep Secret which is pretty much exactly the story my brain wants to write. So, er, yay, one person will read it? Also, I wasn't sure what the hell I was doing with it, but then I was hanging out with fangirls and thingswithwings and eruthros were making me giggle with their kink_bingo modding travails, and then we got to talking about kinks more generally and I was complaining about how I am too ridiculously self-conscious to write kink usually and then suddenly the juxtaposition of that conversation with that half-written story and ah. Yes. That's why it wasn't working. Okay.

(I went from giggling to all-out hysteria when we started talking about Community. Okay, so I got shown this vid from festivids the other day, and I was coming to the whole thing cold and said, "So, right, this is a show about two guys who are actually aliens come to Earth from another planet and they're observing humanity and having wacky homoerotic hijinks a la 3rd Rock From the Sun?"

APPARENTLY IT'S NOT, YOU GUYS. Apparently it's about students at a community college.

Anyway. It is in my netflix queue. I look forward to it.)


-Another thing from the same fangirl party! So, a few years ago gamesiplay and I got drunk and watched Star Trek. (I know, I know, that is so something I never do.) Anyway, we watched "The Naked Time", which as well as having Spock crying and half-naked Sulu waving a sword around, I mean, as if that was not enough, also has the best line of dialogue in the entire franchise and indeed, in anything ever, which is this:

"Attention, crew. This is Captain Riley. At 1900 hours there will be a formal dance in the bowling alley."

Leigh and I looked at each other in total delight and said, "The Enterprise has a BOWLING ALLEY?"

So I only half-in-jest told thingswithwings that I need to run a fic challenge where every fic has to be set in the Enterprise bowling alley. It can be plotty genfic, kinky Kirk/Spock involving skittles, Sisko taking Jake on a field trip, Picard being talked into it by his senior staff, Uhura pwning everyone with her fabulous bowling ability, anything, as long as it is in the bowling alley.

But, T'wings notes, the reason I am so delighted by this is the simple fact: I like worldbuilding. I love Star Trek, but show me the non-Starfleet Federation, too! I want to know about Federation politics, its sports, what happened to Scotty when he was an undergrad, what the characters do when they're not saving the world. (And why, why, given that Deep Space Nine is a Cardassian space station in Bajoran space under part-Federation control with joint leadership, at the front line of the clean-up effort after a fifty-year oppressive military occupation and the gateway to a stable wormhole to a completely different part of the galaxy - WHY ARE THERE NO LAWYERS. Where are the LAWYERS. Why is the whole show not just "Star Trek: Law & Order".)

So, yes: if I did run a small drabble tag or post a few prompts, would there be any interest in this? Would people other than me think it would be fun to see fic about Starfleet off-duty, and the rest of the world, you know, Federation politics and sport and law and novels and holo-entertainment and restaurants and all that stuff?

-...and finally, in matters fannish. A meme, nabbed from musesfool

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any story I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

[Fic, here.]

Werk time.

Comments

[kaberett]

I would be delighted IN MY FACE if you wrote Deep Secret fic.

[raven]

hurrah! I shall try to finish it!

[gavagai]

Okay, so I got shown this vid from [community profile] festivids the other day, and I was coming to the whole thing cold and said, "So, right, this is a show about two guys who are actually aliens come to Earth from another planet and they're observing humanity and having wacky homoerotic hijinks a la 3rd Rock From the Sun?"

APPARENTLY IT'S NOT, YOU GUYS. Apparently it's about students at a community college.
*laughs and laughs* This is my favourite misconception EVER. Possibly one of my favourite things anyone has written EVER.

Community swings from ok-I-suppose-but-nice-characters to TOTAL BRILLIANCE. And Abed and Troy always, always bring the glee and the not actually being a couple but the show would really not change in any particular if they were.

Why is the whole show not just "Star Trek: Law & Order".)
I have the email/chat where this came up saved somewhere. I totally meant to poke you to actually write this fic before.

brb dinner

[gavagai]

AHA I found the Community primer post which is LOVELY and has many clips while you are waiting for Netflix: http://yasaman.dreamwidth.org/357708.html?style=site

I think I am going to rewatch all Community when I get back to London. Oh, Community. It sucked me in far more than I was expecting, especially given that it's another show with no queer people where they make jokes about the chemistry between two male characters and theoretically I am SO OVER THAT. But they are lovely and so are all the women. I can never work out whether this or this is my favourite thing Abed ever does, Danny Pudi is really multitalented and should get more exposure.

[raven]

okay I am SOLD. I need to watch the first disc of The Wire! Then I will send it back and there can be sitcomyay.

Also, question. What would my ST: Where Are The Lawyers fic actually be ABOUT. Poss. a fictional dissertaton entitled "Terok Nor: a Second Restatement Perspective" would be funny to NO ONE BUT ME.

[gavagai]

It could have Hilarious Footnotes about all the things Kira shouted at the various delegations of lawyers! Now I want one about the poor people in Starfleet HR who has to figure out appropriate monetary payment for all the personell not stationed in places with moneyless economies.

[raven]

Yes! Kira would yell very loudly. VERY loudly. And monetary payment! I love how Jake has to talk Nog into giving him all his money.

[gavagai]

I love that he quotes Picard in that episode. And then can't explain what he means. It is my favourite RDM-sending-himself-up moment after Quark's THE LINE MUST BE DRAWN HE-AH! THIS FAH AND NO FURTHER! moment

[gavagai]

Ooo, here is another delightful A/T vid. I LOVE THEM. There would probably be a great ironic/subversive vid of them to 'White and Nerdy' somewhere if that same person had not made the brilliant Psych vid which made all other attempts to vid that song redundant.

I really need to stop commenting on this entry.

[petra]

Were you warned to skip the season 1 finale and the season 2 Christmas episode? Most of the show is very good about Not Failing Horribly and then sometimes it is--not.

[gavagai]

Was the Christmas claymation ep actually faily, as opposed to not that good? The only episodes I remember being really faily are the s1 finale (gender) and Basic Genealogy (Muslims from across the world are all the same and inherently funny). I mean, they are still outnumbered by all the moments of win, but.

[petra]

I found "Christmas has meaning to everyone, even Muslims" pretty icky as a take-home message.

[gavagai]

Hm. I can see what you mean, but I think it's relevant there that half of Abed's family isn't Muslim, that was already established, and the ep was mostly about his relationship with his mother who did celebrate Christmas at home. That makes it more complex than "even Muslims"; if the episode had been about Annie or Troy, I'd agree with you.

I found the ending of that episode sort of objectionable, but mostly by virtue of it seeming very confused. The textual message was "Christmas often only has whatever meaning we assign it", which would imply that a diverse group of friends didn't have to make a fuss about it, but then they sit down at the end to celebrate it anyway because, uh, CHRISTMAS!1!

[thingswithwings]

yeah, the season one finale is ugh awful and not like Community at all - but I adore the way they fix it in the season two premiere SO MUCH, oh my god, it was like a soothing satisfying balm to my hating-sitcom-tropes soul. nothing super-horrible happens, it's just very very ugh, so I almost would say to watch the s1 finale and just bear it so that you can enjoy the S2 premiere. But that's just me.

[via_ostiense]

I love the idea of a fic challenge where everything has to be set in the bowling alley. I wonder how the Enterprise got a bowling alley -- perhaps it was one of the first tests of truly effective artificial gravity?

[raven]

that's genius! Yes, of course. I love the Enterprise episode where the artificial gravity fails when Archer's in the shower, because, YES, that had to happen sometime.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

...Ooh, *very* good point about DS9. I mean, you could argue that the Fed is the "O", but that still leaves the L; and probably that would be made up of all manner of Bajoran and Cardassian and other interstellar jurists, which would be even more fascinating in its potential for joy and frustration than the quotidian dramas of earthbound L&O.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

I am just IMAGINING arbitrating disputes between Bajoran and Cardassian lawyers. Or anyone and Cardassian lawyers; can you think of a career where the cultural tendency to speechify would be more nurtured? OH CARDASSIANS. I really need to stop finding Space Nazis so fun(ny).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Oh god I never thought of that. Maybe that's why the Cardassians only have kangaroo courts; if they had real ones the trials would NEVER END.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

*ded 4eva* They would just NEVER GET to the summings up. Oh my god, this is the happiest image ever. VERBOSE SPACE NAZIS FTW.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

They'd go on.... and on.... and on... and then someone would say, "in conclusion" and still go on.... and on... and on... and the tides would rise and fall.... and on.... and the Bajorans would stage a rebellion and no one would notice.... and on....

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

Do you think Cardassian women have a concept of Cardassian Men Who Explain Things, or do they just consider the goal to get in there first with the explaining and grind the other party down?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Definitely the latter. Aren't all Cardassian scientists/engineers/mathmos women? I bet they can Explain Things with the best of them.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

Yes. There is that lovely episode where one of them has a crush on O'Brien because he kept snapping at and arguing with her. I LOVE that arguing = courtship, I had forgotten about that. Also that necks/shoulders appear to be an erogenous zon, which various people already pointed out puts a special spin on the end of this scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M_ydxhjSFg).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

My god. That whole scene just oozes sexual tension. I'd forgotten just how completely amazingly gay they were.

yesyes O'Brien and the scientist Cardassians! "I assure you, I'm very fertile."

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

I know, right? I knew it was a popular pairing before watching, but I expected it to take more than ninety seconds to be established. It's the way Bashir is fiddling with the flower, and EVERYTHING ELSE IN IT. Later in the episode Garak gets Bashir to hide in his cupboard.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardassians#Creation_and_Origin
omg. I love scientists.

[thingswithwings]

oh wow, now I want the story of the first Cardassian to practice Federation law. JUST THINK ABOUT IT.

[raven]

Wow. She would apply to the Federation bar under a pseudonym, and roll up on the first day of the term and be like, hi, where're the criminals, I HAVE SPEECHES TO MAKE.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I must say, I would watch the HELL out of Star Trek: Law & Order. That sort of worldbuilding is always fun.

COMMUNITY <3333 If I had to choose one show to continue getting new episodes for, out of all the shows, it would win.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

heeee! I shall try my best to watch it soon.

[brynnmck.livejournal.com]

"Attention, crew. This is Captain Riley. At 1900 hours there will be a formal dance in the bowling alley."

OMG. THAT IS MAGICAL. ♥

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

ISN'T IT. Few things have ever made me so happy.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

1. Community-- SO CHARMING. I really like it a lot, though I've fallen behind on the second season. Troy and Abed are preeeetty much the best part, yeah, but there are a couple of good female characters (I especially like Britta), and I think Joel McHale does a good job with the charming-but-actually-not-THAT-charming-asshole trope, and also I'm not entirely convinced that Chevy Chase isn't just playing himself. :D

2. ...well, yes, of course I would be in on the bowling alley.

3. Not a single paragraph, but under 500 words:

"New life, new civilisations." He pauses. "They join the Federation and the diplomats sign the treaties, and then the scientists are sharing data and the cultural specialists are taking great dives into each other's libraries and the engineers are off doing, I don't know, whatever it is engineers do."

In his left hand, he holds a Sigman beacon. It activates in response to his touch, and McCoy throws back his hood, holds up the shining white light and brings it around in one long pendulum sweep. All's well, for settlements and satellites to see. Even Enterprise's sensors will make out the flare. It means the quarantine camp has made it through another day.

McCoy walks around the embers, carrying his light. "And they put me in my lab with the new humanoids and we compare notes on the traditional scourges – the old cancers, sexually transmitted wasting diseases, that kind of thing. And then we've been at it a couple of hours, and they turn to me and they tap their heads in a significant kind of way, and I stare back and shrug. No, we don't know what to do about that, either – and the look of disappointment? That's always the same, too."

C'mon, you knew I was gonna do it. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm going to try both it and The Wire and hope one of them catches my attention long enough to stop me watching DS9 like it's going out of fashion.

Ah, that! I shall think about that. :)

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

My cultural indoctrination brings all the loneravens to the yard. DAMN RIGHT it's better than youuurrs.

(I finally started watching s5 of LMotP. It is...okay, but there is a reason Community has taken over as the weekly 20-minute sitcom of my heart. Seasons 1-3 are probably still the only ones I am counting as proper LMotP.)

Just FYI.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

The Wire is the best thing that has EVER BEEN ON TELEVISION.

As a Wire fan, I am duty-bound to say that anytime anyone mentions it.

Re: Just FYI.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

I hit loneraven over the head with the clip of Omar at [spoiler]'s trial in 2x06 til she agreed to netflix it. Possibly to shut me up.

Re: Just FYI.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

Good work, comrade. Global indoctrination proceeds apace.

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

So, yes: if I did run a small drabble tag or post a few prompts, would there be any interest in this? Would people other than me think it would be fun to see fic about Starfleet off-duty, and the rest of the world, you know, Federation politics and sport and law and novels and holo-entertainment and restaurants and all that stuff?

I don't count, as I have never watched Star Trek, but I love worldbuilding and think there should be more of it in fics. (When I last saw highfantastical in Oxford we were talking about how the Hogwarts uniform list includes a hat and a special winter cloak, and why do we never see students wearing their awesome pointy hats and so on?) So I think this is a very good idea.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter worldbuilding is something I love. I mean, not to say JKR isn't very good at it herself, but I love fic that does it, too.

(Speaking of Star Trek. I have started writing that newbie primer we talked about, and it is becoming, er. A Project. Yeah.)

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

It is fun! I like seeing people explore it.

(Exciting!Although I hope it's not becoming too all-consuming ...)

[anotherusedpage.livejournal.com]

Bowling alley fic was a phase I seem to remember footie-slash going through back in the day, one of those tropes that kept rising from the dead, like wing-fic or turns-into-a-terrier fic or whatever.

So now, of course, being me, I have a fic at the back of my head demanding to be written wherein the crew of the enterprise goes bowling with the 2001 Arsenal first team. *headdesk*

(It's slash, Jim. But not as we know it).

[thingswithwings]

omg omg omg watch community watch it you are going to LOVE IT SO MUCH I promise

I am also very much in favour of SPACE LAWYERS. And Trek worldbuilding generally! And bowling alley related worldbuilding! I cheer for these things.

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

I swear the bowling alley played part of an intricate plot point in a Barbara Hambly ST novel. I swear. And of course the worldbuilding is always awesome.

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

Apparently it's about students at a community college.
Anyway. It is in my netflix queue. I look forward to it.)

I thought the first series of Community was just okay, but the second/current series is a lot better (in my opinion), and includes some of my favourite episodes.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Enterprise Bowling Alley fic. Would possibly blow my mind with win :D
xx