The Phial Cabinet

Aucta Sinistra's Concoctions

10/7/08 04:57 pm - Pretty geeky

Take the Sci fi sounds quiz I received 92 credits on
The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz

How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Quiz by SheGoddess: Quick weight loss

9/17/08 05:52 am - This was fun last time I did it, too, but ...

... like last time, I had to click 10 or 15 times to hit two "fandoms" I knew anything about. I am old, father William.

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining World War II and John McCain.
The story should use hypnosis as a plot device!

Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

9/13/08 07:09 pm - Bitch, bitch, bitch...

... but it's a little one (although I see this all the damned time):

It's "homed in." It is not honed in. When you're drawing down in focus on something, or getting nearer to your goal, you are homing in, not honing in.

9/12/08 06:22 am - Okay

It was bound to reach the point of a rant someday (and since I know no one who's attached to such things will listen anyway): Please, stop with the screaming orgasms. It's not that I think the occasional person might not scream (more or less). But it's a very rare fic that believably builds things to the point where anyone who doesn't have Tourette's would actually scream. And if you must have a character scream, don't say "scream softly" (impossible by definition). Have the courage of your (ridiculous) convictions.

ETA: Watch a horror movie. That is a scream. Is your character doing that? I didn't think so.

/rant.

9/4/08 08:20 pm - Not exactly a rec ...

... really more an observation. I've made it (to myself) many times over the last couple of years, and I thought I'd put it out there to see what other people think. It starts like this. Unlike, apparently, everyone else in the world of Snarry, my favorite fic by [info]dementordelta is "Anybody Else." No one seems to pick that one, and I love it to pieces. The reason I love it to pieces is the darkness she explores in it. Delta tends not to go dark in her work (that's not a complaint!), but this story touches on a genuinely disturbed Snape and I found that that aspect of the story, very particularly, just delved into my heart and set up a special place. It is (I think) different from most of her oeuvre in that way (even the beautiful and slightly sad "Dreaming Spires"), and although I love all her stories, to me, this one is the best, and that is the reason.  I don't know if it's because she generally doesn't do that that it resonates so strongly in that story, or because she did it so buggerin' well (and maybe I wish she did more angsty stuff *g*) ... but there you go.

As ever, any comment/opinion is welcome.

EDIT (duh): And if you haven't read it (why?), here: Anybody Else
Tags:

9/1/08 09:01 am - Because it's Belabor Day (isn't it?)

And I do like to vent from time to time.

It's not jive, people. That's, literally, bullshit (well, it's slang for it, anyway). It's JIBE. When something does (or does not) line up or make sense, the word you're looking for is jibe.

And a minor added rantlet (I've ranted about this before). What the hell ever happened to knelt? Did the Bush administration ban that too? I'm not sure I ever saw or heard anyone use the word "kneeled" until the last 5 years or so, on the net.

And, as ever, anyone who wants to piss and moan about the use or misuse of a particular word or phrase? Have at it! It's always interesting.

8/28/08 05:42 pm - I like the idea ...

... but typically am too lazy to go back so far. I write so slowly that 25 stories is like a million years ago. So, under the cut, the first lines of the last 20 (finished) fics I've written, plus five stories I've yet to finish or post, and any pattern I think I can discern from them.




8/17/08 08:00 pm - Nine-tenths of the Law (7/7)

Here's the last bit.

To the beginning


8/17/08 07:57 pm - Nine-tenths of the Law, part 6 of 7

To anyone who's still patient enough to give a shit about reading this incredibly delayed WIP, here's the last bits, and thank you for your patience. As ever, all comments are welcome, and the thing will be posted in its entirety to the usual sites (Inkstained Fingers, Skyhawke and WtP) soon.

To the last bit

8/16/08 10:36 am - Because I'm never shy...

...about asking dumb questions. I need a plant - herbal, medicinal - that starts with a Z, or alternatively, that starts with a letter as near to Z in the alphabet as possible.

Thanks!

7/7/08 06:36 am - A writing observation

Gleaned from several ff.rants rants. It's interesting how whenever anyone says "X doesn't work" (X being a particular writing style/pairing/POV/whatever) a whole PILE of people post to say defensively "I do that." Their own assumption being, of course, that they've done it well. Some people even come right out and say: "I do it and it's good." What I always wonder is ... says who? It's possible the author is living in a fool's paradise and lots of readers gave up on the story because, in fact, they didn't do X well. I'm just pondering the assumptions writers make about their own work (aside from the boasting a lot of writers seem to indulge in *g*), and whether we really are good judges of whether our own writing "works." How do we know if, for every good review, there aren't 10 people who loathed it?

6/12/08 06:28 am - Nine-tenths of the Law, Part 5

 

5/25/08 07:42 am - Because that's the kind of hairpin I am*

It's faze, people, not phase. It doesn't faze you. Look it up. Sheesh.
(And since last time I did this - the topic being "free rein" - I got a lot of fun and interesting grammar peeve posts from others, feel free to chime in with your favorites)


*Bonus points for knowing the movie the quote is from.

5/18/08 10:05 am - Not quite hitting the mark, but ...

Please note - these are critical discussions, not concrit of my work except insofar as I brought them up because of issues I've had in my work - the few particular concrit instances I found in my LJ generated only brief exchanges back and forth (as we mostly are aware, there's not a ton of lengthy concrit on LJ, and I have only rarely had someone offer it to my fanfic). So, again, if anyone wants to share concrit I've given them as a beta, I invite you to do so, and of course, if anyone wants to share concrit on work of mine, it's very welcome. (I wish that I had a lengthy discussion based on specific concrit of my work, as that would be more to the point, but that has mostly occurred with my original fic, which isn't online.) Also, if anyone wants to share a link to a lengthy concrit session, I welcome that.

"On why we write, etc."
"On transitions"
"On settling for what you can do"
"On flashback format"
"On authorial intent"
"Not tonight, dear, I'm burned out: On sex scenes"
"On characterization"

ETA: If someone's dying to see the only detailed comment on my work I can think of that has criticism (and of course I didn't save my emailed response, which would further edify), look at viridian magpie's comment here. To summarize my response: I thought I had the train schedules right, and I agreed with her that the ending was rushed.

5/18/08 08:38 am - A cry for help

I can already hear [info]aubrem laughing at me. Because I don't tag, I don't have immediate access to discussions on particular writing issues that have occurred in my LJ. I'm going to go look, but I also want to invite anyone who has had such discussions, and is willing, to link them here. I don't really believe this will change anyone's mind, but [info]calanthe_fics suggested providing examples of these sorts of conversations, and I'm not unwilling to put my IJ where my big mouth is. Also, if anyone still has copies of stuff I've beta'd that they're willing to share (excerpts, perhaps), let me know. You can email me if you prefer: my user name AT verizon.net.

As I say, I don't expect this to change minds, but it's remotely possible some people never have seen a good discussion of writing. Thanks, all, for any contributions.

5/9/08 06:34 pm - Okay, this is the kind of meme I like!

10 Books Meme under the cut )

4/30/08 09:21 pm - A Brit-picky kind of question

Do young British people ever say "Hi"? I can't remember from my own experience, and fiction seems to lean toward the "Hello" or "Hullo" thing.

Any aid appreciated in my goal to actually finish this damned WIP about the time the Games end. ;-)

4/28/08 06:02 am - On concrit and a sense of entitlement

Because I've been link-hopping around to some slightly older posts and it still seems to me that even a lot of people who get it don't get it (this is, of course, my opinion).
Short rant here )

4/24/08 07:16 pm - What the heck's going on with people?

Cut your immensely long posts. WTF - have people forgotten about this? Is this "uncut" month or something and I missed the memo? Whoa.

4/14/08 07:39 pm - Because I love hearing myself rant

Because we're talking/thinking about concrit, and I've seen this attitude expressed a couple of times recently, I'm bringing to IJ an essay I wrote a few years ago on LJ.

Copy editor at heart )
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