Check in: day 12

[lilly_c]

Hi everyone, how has today treated you?

Poll #12576

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

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Today I have

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written
5 (100.0%)

edited
1 (20.0%)

researched
1 (20.0%)

posted
2 (40.0%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

had a break
0 (0.0%)

dealt with life
0 (0.0%)

My progress is

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great
2 (40.0%)

good
1 (20.0%)

okay
2 (40.0%)

average
0 (0.0%)

awful
0 (0.0%)

As it is Saturday, lets have snippet sharing. Of course you can have a moan is something isn't going right and also squee over something that worked better than you expected. If you need a beta, then ask away.

Optional discussion topic: master lists. Do you have a master list with all your fics?

Comments

[crowdog66]

I find myself in need of an Iron Man/Avengers beta, to provide a second set of eyes for universe details on my "Terra Incognita" (Knight Rider/Iron Man/Avengers) crossover. :) Plenty of robot-related tropes, some consideration of the intersection between the organic and the mechanical, and enough UST to sink the Titanic (I hope!).

Here are the opening paragraphs of the first story in the set.

************************************************

"You do know that you belong to me now, right?"

The archaic black box sat in the nest of modern technology that supported and powered it, apparently inert — but Tony Stark had learned that in this case, appearances could definitely be deceiving. His scientists had been trying to deal with this particular immovable object all weekend, with virtually no success in terms of convincing it to cooperate with their attempts to analyze and upgrade its core processing matrix.

"And that means," he continued, fully entering the lab and approaching the entity he was addressing at a deceptively casual stroll, "that you have to listen to my commands and obey them to the best of your ability."

A significant beat, before a red modulator flashed its three bars and a voice projected from the equipment tangle flatly stated: "Technically."

There was a universe of subtext in those four syllables. One aspect of it, conveyed through the prim Boston accent, was I may only be a machine but I'm still a damn sight better than you, mister! Another aspect was this being's profound reluctance to accept anything Tony — or anybody else — said at face value. And a third aspect, certainly the most significant, was that he was basically being told to go to Hell by a collection of circuits from the 1980s.

Granted, it was a singularly remarkable collection of circuits: until it had been decommissioned in 1991 immediately following the death of its driver, its service record had been exemplary. "No 'technically' about it. The remaindered inventory of Knight Industries went up on the auction block — including you — and I bought it lock, stock and barrel. You wanna see the paperwork? It's in legal-ese, but I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to —"

"You honestly think that legal possession of my physical components means that you own me?" Machines didn't laugh, but if they did Tony was pretty sure he'd be getting a withering blast of scorn at this point. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not a used toaster you happened to pick up at a garage sale. I am the central processing unit of the Knight Industries Two Thousand, my designated pilot is dead, and you'll have to go somewhere else to get your bagels burnt."

"— and if you're not, JARVIS could help you out." Curiouser and curiouser: JARVIS had been having just as little luck communicating with this A.I. as anybody else. He circled a little closer before asking: "It's KITT, isn't it?"

"To my friends," the former robotic automobile said pointedly.

Another couple of steps before he came to a halt a few feet in front of the tangle. Stuck his hands in his jean pockets. Looked at the floor for a long moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek. At last he remarked: "Well, KITT, do you know what I've been spending the last three days asking myself?"

Silence — but with an unmistakable vibe of curiosity, however grudging. He waited it out. "I couldn't begin to imagine."

"'Tony,' I've been asking, 'just who the hell programs a computer to be sulky, snarky, and an all-around pain in the ass? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense no matter which way you slice it!' So you know what I did?"

"You did some investigating." He — it was impossible not to think of this being as gendered male, although Tony wasn't quite sure what lay behind that gut-level instinctive identification since he knew full well that timbre and accent were merely cosmetic details — now sounded resigned. Tony could clearly visualize an unblinking gaze faltering and a face suddenly turning away, even though the rest of the body was bound.

A little disturbed by the mental image, he nodded. "I know what happened to your driver."

"Then you also know that it was entirely my fault." Grief. Self-loathing. Who designed an artificial mind this way? Or had this emotional volatility even been part of the original specifications? More than most people on the planet, Tony understood that the more complex the tech, the greater the chance that some aspect of it would spin out of control.

Oooh, I want to read these please :) - can't beta, though :(.

[theresa_ramseyer]

Sorry, I haven't seen Iron Man or Avengers (my bad all three), but I loved Knight Rider for KITT and Bonnie and Devon.

Michael was meh, but KITT was the star of the show :D. I wanted to BE Bonnie - and still wouldn't mind it.

I even watched the cheesy "Knight Rider 2" with the group of cars. And I still want a KITT GPS system for my little Ford - one of these days :).

Sorry I can't beta, but I stopped reading KR stories after so many were Michael Knight sex fests. Knowing a bit about Iron Man and the Avengers, and from your snippet, your stories are definitely NOT going to be that way. Yay! Intelligent KITT stories are a big plus in my book.

Theresa

Re: Oooh, I want to read these please :) - can't beta, though :(.

[barbayat]

Michael was meh, but KITT was the star of the show :D. I wanted to BE Bonnie - and still wouldn't mind it.

Are you me? :D

Bonnie was awesome; she fixed KITT, told Michael what a jerk he was for breaking KITT in the first place and she was so protective of him in general. *swoons*

Snippet: (Working title: The Worshipful Assemblage of Potions Masters)

[elmyraemilie]

As he entered the Guildmaster's office, Snape saw the good tea service had been placed on the table in front of the fireplace. Two people rose from the guest chairs to greet him.

"Prof—er, Master Snape, it's good to see you after all this time!"

"Mr. Longbottom." He gave the briefest possible clasp to Longbottom's rather clammy hand and turned to acknowledge his companion. "Miss Lovegood."

"Master Snape." Somehow that piping, breathy voice suited her better as an adult than it had while she was at school. "I'm surprised to see you. You've hidden yourself very well."

"I am not hiding, Miss Lovegood. I am occupied in the pursuit of my craft, which mercifully keeps me from the public eye." Did he remember correctly that she was working for one of those Wizarding rags? Was it the Quibbler or the Prophet?

"Yes, Severus has been with us for over four years now. We've profited greatly from his knowledge and his talent for research. Please, do sit down, everyone." Lewys Prothero had been Guildmaster of the Assemblage since the year after Snape attained Mastery; he was a vigorous man, with the heart of a lion and the social delicacy of a marriage broker. He was one of the few people living whom Snape could bring himself to trust.

XOXOX

As for the master list, I don't have one; however, I'm working a bit at a time to get all my stories up on AO3, so that will serve as a master list eventually.

Re: Snippet: (Working title: The Worshipful Assemblage of Potions Masters)

[barbayat]

That seems interesting, is that one story working with the idea that Snape survived or is it set before the dreadful seventh book?

Re: Snippet: (Working title: The Worshipful Assemblage of Potions Masters)

[elmyraemilie]

This is a Snape-survives, EWE story. I opened it for the first time in ages yesterday to post that clip, and discovered to my surprise that it's 36 pages long. Going to work on it today!

[elistaire]

I'm *planning* to write this afternoon.

And no --I should have a Master List. But I don't. Something else to work on!!

[annotated_em]

I store all my fic on its own dedicated journal, so I just have a tag system for that. If there's something that breaks out and begins to be its own series, I might put up an index post for that, but I can't be bothered by the master list thing. I mean, for one of my fandoms alone, that's 170 fics that would need to be indexed.

[lea_hazel]

I squeezed in a snippet in the last fifteen minutes of the day. \o/

re: Master List

[theresa_ramseyer]

I am trying to create one, have been for a while.

Unfortunately, through the years I had no thought of timelines and organization, what goes where, structure, outlining, and so forth, so creating the list is taking much longer than it should.

I was writing for myself when I first started. I had no idea anyone but maybe Mom and relatives would read anything - Grandma was the writer in the family. And so I started and stopped without needing to care - until I got into trouble for that. Then stories lay dormant for several years. Now, here I am, trying to break old habits, form new ones, and piece things together proper.

One bad habit is that I'm working on the master list without writing. After I post this, I'm going to go write.

One day I will have a master list.

Theresa

[barbayat]

Wrote over 2500 words and also nearly finished editing another chapter of Birthright. Very successful day - not mention an awesome writing session.

I don't have real master list in the sense of it but I do try to keep all my fanfic ideas on my fanfic collective (right now I need to add two more ideas) but it is kind of helpful http://www.maratofel.net

Snippet from my Hard Target fanfic rewrite (un-beta read as I don't have one for it yet)

Pik Van Cleaf was enjoying the kill as always, maybe a bit too much so he changes his approach.

With a sudden move he swirled her around. Caught off guard, the young woman almost stumbled over some roots. He would have preferred it if she had fallen to her knees but she looked pretty miserable as it was. He drew his gun and aimed it at her. At this point she had closed her father's jacket over her torn dress.

He knew he had to shoot her. It was the professional thing to do. This was not the time to indulge himself in discovering unknown pleasures or even becoming sentimental. It was almost second nature for him to stare into the eyes of his victim's before killing them. Consuming their fear like others did a glass of fine wine.

There was more than just fear in her eyes. He saw such sadness in her eyes mixed with an almost stoic reluctance to cry, even though she already had shed some minutes ago. Her cheeks still shimmered from the salty drops.

He raised his arm taking a better posture. At this point the distance was not the problem. Pik was actually hesitating, he only slowly realised that he was making excuses by changing his standing or thinking about where to fire the first shot. Even her own posture seemed to tell him to simply end it and shoot her.

Then anger overcame him; anger that a silly girl in a stupid dress had such power over him. Indignation that he would feel the sting of losing this experience with her. Annoyance that he could not just tell Fouchon that he had decided to take her along as a plaything. Then resignation, he had to shoot her.

[lullabymoon]

I added just short of a thousand words to my exchange fic. Argh, it's not coming on fast enough. I just seem to have no motivation for writing. Meh.