Mandi's Fanfic Ramblings

This page houses my own personal ramblings about my finished fics - how they came to be, what I liked, what I didn't, et cetera. If you're looking for the old Ramblings page, it's now the Fanfic Status page. I wanted a real Ramblings page. :) Fanfics are listed in the order they were written (as far as I can recall).

Last update: November 30, 2002

Lessons

Ah, yes, my first posted fanfic ever. Although the Gargoyles fanfic archive was not the first fanfic archive I'd discovered, it was the first one I knew would take fanfics (hey, I was a relative newbie to the Net then). I wanted to try my hand at something other than the usual, something short that hadn't been addressed, but couldn't figure out what. Then, one afternoon, I was watching a rerun of "Walkabout," and it hit me like lightning. How would Dingo explain the concept of law and order to the Matrix? I wrote "Lessons" that afternoon, and a few weeks later it was posted to the main Garg fanfic archive. And who wrote me with praise but the great Merlin Missy herself! I was thrilled, needless to say. And so began my fanfic bug.

Title: Just popped out of my head.

Memorable lines:

  • "I'll tell you once we get back to camp. I don't want to explain to the cops why I'm wandering the streets in talking battle armor."

Trading Secrets

One thing I'd discovered along with fanfic was the phenomenon of crossovers. And being a crossover fanatic, I decided to try my hand with a couple of my favorite shows. Deciding on the shows was easy; writing it was not. I initially tried to write it during a series of long RV trips across Wyoming the week we visited my cousins that summer. I wrote page after page in my notebook with an entirely different setup: post-Hunter's Moon, with Lisa attending a writer's con that Xanatos was sponsoring, and a crazy security screwup...but it just got too stupid. I needed a better setup, one that wouldn't be so convoluted. And then I remembered: we never saw how the Avalon Tour, precisely, ended! What if the skiff just happened to land on the island where the Ship was half-buried?
I did retain a few things from the original crossover; the mention of the writer's con, Lisa and Elisa being cousins (cliche, yes, but it opened the door for future crossovers), Damon's reasoning for taking a contract from Xanatos. Not a lot of people enjoyed this one, but I still think it was a vast improvement over the old version. Probably the lack of action turned people off, but I couldn't think of a better setup. And I got some good lines from this one.

Title: Of course, it's a pun on "trade secret." And isn't that what always happens when two fanfic universes meet in crossovers - a trading of secrets?

Memorable lines:

  • Megabyte was chewing gum and grinning, and Adam was giving Damon his now patented Don't-Look-At-Me-You-Know-Him-Too-Well-To-Blame-Me-For-This-One look.
  • "Is this normal behavior at this age?" "Unfortunately, yes, but my son is not normal."

Reunion

I must confess this right off the bat. My main reason for continuing to watch The Tomorrow People, the sci-fi series the kids I babysat loved was Kristian Schmid. Yes, I loved the show, yes, it was one of the more well-done sci-fi shows out there, but I couldn't watch without drooling over Adam.
So it was fitting that my first TP story revolved around Adam - namely, his past. That was one thing the new series never cleared up. The pilot was aired out of order in the US, so I eagerly watched to find out where Adam came from. It never revealed anything more than the opening shot of him waking up on the beach outside the ship. I was disappointed, but then intrigued. What kind of home life would convince Adam to set up camp consistently by the Ship? I considered abusive, but then, Adam seemed like such a protective sort and not quick to temper, almost acting like a big brother. From this came Tana, and from Tana came the eventual work-up of the vignette. It just seemed natural for Adam to have a younger sibling.

Title: Pretty self-explanatory.

Memorable lines: None really.

Reflections

I'll admit it now that the teacher has probably forgotten me: I wrote most of this in my notebook while I was sitting in the back row in my Precalculus class in my senior year of high school. I was bored to tears, and a question someone had sent me about "Reunion" was nagging at me: how did Mr. Newman get so messed up? Why did Adam get the abuse and not Tana? Why didn't his wife intercede? And out of that came my bizarre explanation. I did screw up with my mention of the U of Melbourne, I know - I hate trying to write stories set in places I've never been, because my lack of knowledge is always apparent then.

Title: The opening and ending deal with reflections, don't they? And like "Reunions," it started with an R. :)

Memorable lines:
  • I've lost him. ...And that, as his partners would say, was the bottom line.

Good to Be Back

Well, after "Lessons" actually got some nice feedback (and from a fanfic author whose work I really admired), I had to continue on with Dingo. But since "Reflections" feedback told me it wouldn't be easy to write in a setting I knew zilch about, I decided Dingo had to go back to Manhattan for a spell. And then the mention of laser weapons in "Lessons" made me think: what if an operation like Dracon's was going international?
Of course, I realized, Dingo would need an accomplice to get back to the States without getting in trouble - hero or not, he'd still be a wanted man in the US. Again a detail from "Lessons" popped up, and it turned into his sister Sarah, the hyperactive computer programmer. She was actually somewhat normal when she first appeared, believe it or not. This was one of those fics that seemed to write itself - the final fight scene especially.
I wrote this during my junior year of HS, when my only computing experience came from mucking with HTML and Mom's PC, and when I thought I'd like to stick with an English major. Now that I'm a junior in college, doubling in computer sci and English, I look back at this and think: "DataSpec? What the hell was I thinking?" :)

Title: Dingo's final line - "It's good t' be back."

Memorable lines:
  • "Haven't changed much, have you? Never let yer guard down." "You're right. I don't, and I learned it from you."
  • "Damn it, can't you take a hint?" "Not really."
  • "Only 85 years before they're out of here," he muttered, shuffling back and forth down the hall. "Only 85 more years..."

All I Want for Christmas

What was I on when I wrote this one? Caffeine. Lots and lots and lots of caffeine.
After having lurked in the a.f.p-r newsgroup for a few months - rediscovering Power Rangers with the return of Austin St. John - I decided to take a stab at PR fanfic. But what to write? The idea came to me when I saw "A Season to Remember" - the PRZ Christmas episode which was glaringly out of continuity. So I decided to write a Christmas fic, since it was winter break, and there was five days til Christmas. I also set myself the bizarre little goal of trying to write and post all the parts by Christmas Day. Of course, I ended up shooting for New Year's. Even so, this was the fastest fic I've ever pounded out, and the first fic I posted in parts. On a whim, I wrote an obnoxious version of Sarah Adams in there, unwittingly setting the stage for the nutcase she evolved into in my Garg series.
After I posted it, I realized with horror that most of what I wrote went against continuity as well - I hadn't seen "Good As Gold," and assumed that the Machine Empire was still semi-intact! I've always intended to rewrite this fanfic, but I never had the time or the motivation. Even with the continuity problems, I still think this one was one of the more enjoyably goofy fanfics I've written.

Title: For a Christmas story, it's standard, but it's appropriate - everyone does get what they want for Christmas in the end.

Memorable lines:
  • If Klank had a discernible jaw, it would have dropped open.
  • "All right, freak! Prepare to get your circuits fried!" "Remind me to hide all the caffeine from him later."
  • "And Kat wonders why I hate to shop," Sarah muttered.
  • "You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain, / You something something drive a man insane! / I love you still, oh what a thrill, / Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!" "Skull...I don't think that's a Christmas carol."

Don't Speak

You want somebody to blame for the glut of Power Rangers songfic? Well, look no further. I was told this was the first PR songfic ever, which is why it seemed like a fresh idea when I posted it to a.f.p-r. I'd gotten the idea from Selma McCrory, who had posted a Forever Knight fanfic in response to a fanfic list challenge: writing a short fic using song lyrics. Well, I heard "Don't Speak" on the radio, and immediately pounded this one out. The pairing of Billy and Trini was one I'd always liked.
I got more feedback on that fanfic than I have for any other. Unfortunately, it paved the way for lots and lots of songfic afterwards.

Title: It's a songfic. Guess.

Memorable lines:
  • "Trini, I scrutinized the list of sponsors. Do you actually believe that Pepsi and Xanatos Enterprises have world peace as their paramount objective?"
  • "I need you here. You're the only one who can understand me--and I don't mean just in language!" He calmed down, became quieter. "I can figure out just about everything except how to keep you here. We've been through too much for you to leave just like that."

Irreconcilable Differences

I was actually planning my own original Ranger series when I wrote this. It was originally intended to be a prequel to the series - half of which I had planned out in my head already - since I had a woman in mind for Rocky. But "Jade's Fire" never panned out because I got disgusted with it.
Why did I write a Rocky fic? Because, for the longest time, I hated Rocky. I hated that he'd replaced Jason. Hated that he started out with no discernable personality to boot. So I figured the best writing challenge would be to write a character I didn't really like. And I think it turned out well; I sort of liked Rocky a lot more after that. Oddly enough, after this fic I unintentionally abandoned my practice of throwing Garg references into my PR fanfics.

Title: Just popped into my head, and it made sense.

Memorable lines:
  • Instead of having butterflies in his stomach, he felt as though he had a squadron of TIE fighters zipping around in there.
  • "And don't call me ANDIE!!"

Requiem

I hadn't written any TP fics in a while, and looking over some old e-mails about "Reunion," I came across a question about how well Tana had taken her brother's apparent death. Almost too well, the e-mail pointed out. So I felt the need to justify it.
And this last vig made the trilogy a trilogy, and gave it a bit of closure. I really don't think I'm going to continue with Tana fics.

Title: Needed another "R" title.

Memorable lines: None really.

Minor Adjustments

I realized something while working on my web page - I hadn't written any Gargoyles fanfic in forever. It had been over six months since I posted "Good to be Back." So I got to thinking about what I should do to my characters next, and got such an overwhelming rush of creativity demons that I decided to back off and write a short vignette leading into the big story I had planned, setting up Callista and the Quarryman boyfriend.
As I was writing it, I suddenly noticed that I seemed to be hooking up Lex and Sarah without even realizing it. Well, I suppose they had a lot in common - computers and taste in TV shows. So I decided to work that in as well. I was just discovering MST3K - my cable provider took its sweet time adding Comedy Central to the basic cable lineup - so I worked it in as well. I will admit it now: Sarah's method of "cheating" in a pillow fight came from the end of the Xanth novel "Isle of View;" Electra did the same thing to Prince Dolph on their wedding night.

Title: Surprisingly, it came from a line in "Weekend Off," which I was trying to write before I decided to set a few things up first.

Memorable lines:
  • "When it comes to men, Callie has no common sense. Why on earth would she think that she could have a relationship with a guy named after a shop tool?"
  • "Now this is how you spend a Friday night!" "Too bad it's Thursday."

Weekend Off

Now this was a fanfic that spiraled way out of my control. It originated with the simple idea of a girls' night out going awry, and it was supposed to be Sarah, Fox, and Elisa. But somehow, I couldn't see Elisa doing that with Fox, of all people. Then I recalled the short phone conversation in "Good to be Back," and next thing I know, Callista Reynolds was suddenly a main character. The ideas started flying at me so fast and thick that I stopped to write "Minor Adjustments" instead.
So I had the girls get the weekend off, then worked in the irritating boyfriend. How Handsaw got his name is kind of a mystery; the nickname just came with the character. Then, suddenly, Drew landed in there somewhere. His character changed drastically - the scene I thought of at first made him seem like a reclusive nut, but then I changed a few things. Now that I think back on it, maybe I should have stuck with the reclusive nut; his character has always seemed infuriatingly uneven to me. Well, he was there and the Grimorum washed up suddenly. Then came the prank war, a subplot that I found infinite delight in writing.
I don't know why I made Callie magically gifted, or why Drew would have just used the Grimorum like that. I do know why the "harvest moon" madness came into play; it was a quick way to explain off all the weirdness. Even so, I found myself with a lot to tie up once the weekend came to an end.
Recently, I realized a major continuity lapse in here - making Vinnie the Quarryman buddy of Handsaw's - so I did a quick fix on my page to switch the name to Max.

Title: Pretty simple and self-explanatory, which is kind of funny since the fic was so convoluted.

Memorable lines:
  • As she bolted through the crowds, her eyes wide in panic and her braids flying every which way like a modern Medusa, people had the sense to get the hell out of her way. Anyone who could move that fast in a skirt and hose deserved a clear path.
  • And now his desk had become the Valley of the Forgotten Junk Mail.
  • "Can you fit me in?" Angela added, half-jokingly. Goliath sent her a stern look, and she sighed. "Oh, Father. You have to learn to take a joke."
  • God, I forgot, she thought dazedly. I'm afraid of heights.
  • Handsaw groaned; no matter what, Callie's roommate was a pain in the ass.

Monday Night Blues

In the wake of "Weekend Off," I realized, a number of things needed to be resolved: Callista not speaking to Drew, the prank war, Lex being a tad overprotective of Sarah, and Goliath and Elisa dealing with all the changes. So the minute "Weekend Off" was done, I jumped into the follow-up for fear the fic would vanish along with other ideas I'd put off too long.
I will admit that this one was a bit of fluff in some cases. But I've noticed a trend in Gargoyles fanfic where Lex is frequently a target for angst or depression. So I'm sort of happy with this fanfic in that I let the exact opposite happen; Lex and Sarah just get to act like idiots and have fun. I really handled the post-"Rent" scene badly, however.
Which brings me back to Drew. I tried and failed to get a handle on his character. But I did manage to get some good mileage out of Callie's first lesson. And the Demona epilogue still hasn't panned out...oh well...

Title: Well, it was a Monday, and no one was completely happy to begin with...

Memorable lines:
  • "Nope. Lex and Sarah were acting strange, but Sarah couldn't have pranked herself. Unless you did put pickle juice into the coffee you thought was mine."
  • Drew squinted. "Ummm....basketball, you, food. That pretty much sums up my thought processes."
  • "Things haven't changed for the better. They've changed for the weird."

Moving On Up

Okay, this was one fic that I was exceedingly happy with when I was done with it - and I still am, surprisingly enough. Shortly after posting "Monday Night Blues," I was watching a rerun of Caroline in the City in which Charlie proclaimed that monkeys were running New York City. Now I was an on-and-off fan of CitC - mainly because of Malcolm Getz' acerbic Richard. I personally thought that it killed the show when Caroline and Richard got involved. But I'm getting off track here.
Well, I still had a few Garg creativity demons in my head, and wondered idly if Charlie's reaction to Hunter's Moon would be to assume that the gargoyles were taking over New York. That set off a ton of cornball ideas. The only TGS episode I'd managed to see in full was "Runaways" - an episode I found totally out of character for Brooklyn. He gets rejected by Angela, so he runs away? Hello? Then I realized that Brooklyn and Richard had something in common: both were in love with people who were committed to others. What if the crossover was just Richard meets Brooklyn?
Well, I couldn't do much with just that. Writing the first scene in Caroline's apartment, it occurred to me: just where the heck was Annie going to be during this? Then the evil thought of a blind date popped into my head, followed by the even more wicked idea of having the date be Matt Bluestone. Annie and Matt - it made some bizarre sense. I threw Sarah in there just to give Lex something to do. Everything pretty much fell into place after that. The only trouble was writing it; I had it in limbo for a while until Dylan Blacquiere himself actually sent me feedback on "Weekend Off" and guilt-tripped me into finishing it.

Title: Finding a title for this fic was the most difficult part, actually. The main thrust of the fic was Richard and Brooklyn respectively moving on. When I was working out one day, the song on my tape was M People's "Moving On Up." Perfect.

Memorable lines:
  • "Not the government, the monkeys! Did you know they're working with the gargoyles to run New York?" Charlie's head bobbed up and down. "It's true. I read all about it on the Internet."
  • "Did an Annie Spidaro come in here?" "She's cowering behind the bar. Smoking or non-smoking?"
  • "Fine with me. Any plans after we get ourselves completely smashed?" "I've been told I got some interesting birthmarks." "Check!"
  • "'What's a shrink?' Oh...let's just say it's a type of doctor that half the people in this city need to talk to."
  • "Tell me what?" Annie fixed her gaze on Matt, who was carefully choosing his words. "You're lying to me already, and we haven't even slept together?"
  • "All right, Charlie, talk slowly. Where exactly did you take a blow to the head?" "On the top when the doctor dropped me."
  • Charlie and Del screamed in unison before turning and running like the IRS was after them.
  • Not even Hudson's best powers of persuasion could stave off the resulting barrage of pillows and cushions.

A Minute Without You

Yes, I know. I wrote a fanfic from a Hanson song. But when I wrote it, I liked Hanson, and I had just survived gum surgery - not all that pleasant an experience. What I needed was a good sappy romance fic with a happy ending to keep my mind off my sore mouth.
Then it hit me - why not a follow-up to "Don't Speak?" And that was that. :)

Title: Songfic. Duh. :)

Memorable lines: None, again. It was a bit of fluff, okay?

Edward's Shoes

I took a Creative Writing course my senior year of high school, and one of our ongoing assignments was to keep a journal, writing creative short pieces based on the titles we were assigned. We were allowed to do a couple open entries, but mostly we were restricted to the titles.
Coincidentally enough, the journal assigned the night after I posted "Moving On Up" had a simple but fateful title: "Edward's Shoes." Now when I started to write it, I had Gargs on the brain and was in the mood to write something a bit offbeat. Something the teacher wouldn't expect. Shoes...shoes... And then I remembered a comment room discussion about the impossibility of gargoyle shoes, which crossed over into the mutates - they certainly couldn't go shoe shopping anymore. It hit me like lightning. Mutates. Shoes. Claw. Why not have the narrator be the one mutate who couldn't tell his own story?
Of course, my teacher - as awesome and open-minded as she was - probably wouldn't accept fanfic, but that wouldn't stop me. So I just didn't mention any names in Claw's musings. Anyway, as luck would have it, the teacher designated that day as journal entries we had to read out loud. I got a surprisingly positive response from her, and after a while decided to put the names back in and post it.

Title: The fateful journal assignment, of course.

Memorable lines:
  • I can't help but envy Edward his shoes.

Lie To Me

I had vowed to myself that I would never write another PR songfic. Enough was enough. But wouldn't you know it - I was reading Rachel Dawson's "Hart of Darkness" one evening and listening to Jonny Lang's "Lie to Me." Rachel had created Trevor Monroe, the mysterious "other guy" Kim had proclaimed to be in love with in the fateful letter - but in her fic, the letter was a fake.
Now although "Hart of Darkness" had a much more depressing ending, I got to thinking: What if Kim had discovered the deception ahead of time? And had realized Tommy still cared for her? And if so... what about Trevor? There are so many fanfics about Kim leaving the "other guy" for Tommy, but not much about how this other guy deals with it. A last dance, perhaps? So then listening to "Lie to Me," it clicked. Same idea: he knows she's in love with someone else, he'll accept it, but for one last night he wants to pretend it's still the same.

Title: Songfic again. Notice a trend?

Memorable lines:
  • Ignoring the insidious nagging of common sense at the back of his mind, he gulped a mouthful of Coke.
  • "Between Kim and Trevor, I think I'm turning into the team's resident shrink!"
  • "I'll miss you, and Renee says she will too. (She also said to tell you that she knows a good shrink in Columbus, but I'd ignore that if I were you.)"

The N-Files

So what distorted section of my brain did this one come from? Truth be told, I can't say what exactly inspired me to write "The N-Files," although I got the motivation to do so after discovering there actually was a Captain N page or two on the Net. My original concept began a lot like the end product did--Kevin comes back, has no memory, Mulder and Scully investigate, and the Syndicate realize something odd is going on and try to grab Kevin eventually. Meanwhile, Dr. Wily has sent a robot to kill Kevin before the difference in physics between the universes causes it to malfunction. However, I originally conceived the ending a lot differently: Kevin does get his memory back, and gets away from the agents, and convinces Kelly to help him out. (Duke did not return in my earlier concept.) Basically, they use the same arcade plot device, and Kevin gets himself zapped back just as Mulder and Scully reach Kelly. Anyway, the Syndicate doesn't know what's going on, the agents don't know what's going on....as for Kelly, she isn't telling. The robot has a complete malfunction and its remains are confiscated by the Syndicate, and after some deliberation, they decide it'll have to do, and leave Kelly alone. End of story.
But then I started discussing this crossover with a few friends of mine. I was persuaded to write in an in-joke or two. And it went downhill from there. I admit I used the T-2000 because I couldn't think of a better creation--any sort of humanlike android would require some explanation because that's never been Wily's style, in the show or the games. Then the Pizza Shack appeared, and the one-shot characters from "The Big Game" (namely, Rick, Stacey, and Romeo) were added, as well as Mike Vincent (another one-shot character). I decided not to use Julius because the character was so stupid I couldn't write him. Then came Det. Walker. Then came the hospital shootout. Next thing I know, I've got Mulder and Scully in Videoland and the goofiest escape scene I've ever written.
So what planted the seed of this story? The only character who I dreamed up prior to the actual crossover was Kelly--she was taken from some sixth-grade fanfics I'd written during science class. If you want to blame anyone, blame her. :)

Title: The minute it popped into my head, I could not get it out. I know it's corny, but that's how the ending turned out, so I guess it's appropriate...

Memorable lines: (and are there a lot of 'em):
  • "I won't say a word. I swear on the sacred library of hint books."
  • "Who's the newest suspect, James Cameron?" "I heard some rumors that some of Cameron's ideas were taken from data files on extraterrestrials." "Oh, shut up."
  • Valley kids, Mulder observed, didn't cope well with closed spaces.
  • Lana turned to see a giant cauliflower the size of a Pinto rolling straight for her.
  • "Hey, Scully," Mulder said, brandishing the ice ray they'd stolen from Wily's lab, "we've got to get ourselves one of these things."
  • "Well, at first it was hair, then ears, then being condescending to fish, then this. I'm starting to lose track."
  • Of course, his suggestion for Kelly to go as Chewbacca had been loudly shot down.
  • Mike pulled out a laser rifle, tossing the plastic shotgun to the side. "All right! A real gun!" Kelly leaned over to Lana. "See? I'm not the only psychopath here."

Relatively Speaking

This was one fic that was bouncing around in my head for over a year before I finally got around to writing it. I'd been wanting to bring Dingo back into the fic cycle for a while now - even if it was just a cameo - and Christmas was the perfect excuse for a family reunion. I realized that Sarah would probably go home for the holidays, which posed a problem: Christmas in Australia. Considering my track record with setting stories in places I know squat about, the task of doing it convincingly was fairly daunting. So I e-mailed Shaun Hately, who caught me on a number of things in "Reunion" (most notably the fact that I'd forgotten the difference in hemispheres) and "Reflections," and begged for some input. He sent me a few tidbits that I tried to work in to make it slightly more believable. I really wanted to avoid stereotypes as much as possible.
Once I had started in on Sarah, I realized something: everyone else would have to deal with their families. Since Callie and Drew had the least motivation to go home, I decided they would have to shock their folks over the phone - which made it a lot easier to write. Which led me in to the Maza family reunion, in the Labyrinth, and then ... temptation won out. Since "Trading Secrets" set Lisa up as Elisa and Beth's cousin, why wouldn't she stop down in NYC? (Actually, I'm starting to regret doing that; the crossover got a little cloying.)
Around the time I was writing this, Shadow Master approached me with the idea of a collaboration. I agreed, and when I was looking over the bare-bones character sketch for Sam, I caught something - a brother named Ray. Ray. Rachel. As in Rachel the kung-fu-happy PIT supporter from "Monday Night Blues." Why not? Hence the return of Robert and Rachel.
There were some ups and downs to this one. One of the best out-of-the-blue characters I've ever written, Random, came into play here; she was my idea of a Child of Oberon with a severe case of pseudo-ADD. Sam and Matt's first few scenes went well, as did Derek's reaction to teleporting and Megabyte's reaction to seeing Xanatos. Beth and Derek's method of putting the star on the tree seemed to be quite in character. Demona's gift to Angela, and Callista's advice about mothers came completely out of the blue and delighted me. And most of the scenes in Sydney were tolerable. The lead-in to "Sky's the Limit" really came out well, although I didn't expect that fic to have so many problems.
But there's an overwhelming number of downs, enough to make this one clearly slated for a rewrite. The main problem is that I crammed too much into one fanfic. Now that "Gates of the Mind" is shelved, there's no reason for the TP to be there aside from getting Sarah to the party ... and to help explain what's really with Callista. I should not have included Tana Newman, and the "Rent" karaoke was a bad idea as well. (Although I like the idea of Broadway, Brooklyn, and Talon doing "Soul Man.") I reread "Lessons" and smacked myself for including Jeremy; the story listed Dingo's parents and sister, but no pothead brother. Worse, now I don't like Dingo's real name! And having him introduce Matrix to his folks ... let's just say I tried to write a separate short describing that, and it never panned out. I couldn't see Martha or Henry going for it.
So look for a rewrite coming when I have some free time. (Like that's ever going to happen.)

Title: The whole fic ended up being about relatives from hell. I had the title in my head ever since I read a story with the same title about unwanted cousins visiting.

Memorable lines:

  • //Let me put it this way: If there are any mad scientists, psychotic agents, aliens, or even someone looking at us cross-eyed, I'm going home!//
  • "I'm your mother! It's my job to disapprove of all your actions!"
  • "Ever meet a woman like that? So weird you want to drown yourself trying to figure her out, but you don't want to try--she's like a magnet. She pulls you in, and damned if you ever let go."
  • "You, me, Jeremy: the Packer, the hacker, and the slacker."
  • "All mothers are insane to some degree, I suppose. You just have to learn to tell the good from the bad from the inexplicable."
  • "Thanks, Megabyte." "No problem. How's that boyfriend of yours?" Jade wasn't thankful enough to resist smacking him in the back of the head. But she tried to do so lightly.

Two of a Kind

What brought this on? Two things that happened at the same time: my recovering from having all four wisdom teeth pulled over winter break and a Flash marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Having nothing better to do, and being the only one in the house, I watched the ENTIRE marathon. Little did I know what that would bring on - namely, the most insistent fanfic idea I'd had in a long time.
Yes, it was one of those "what if" fics with the main characters' children, not exactly a revolutionary concept, but you know something? I didn't care! Almost the entire fanfic plotted itself out in my head, and to save my sanity I had to write the darn thing. Go figure.

Title: I was going to use "Twin Streaks," or something similar until I remembered there was a Flash ep with that very name. But I was going through my old CDs when I came across a Vanessa Williams song called "Two of a Kind." Bingo.

Memorable lines:
  • "I was just hungry." "That's not hungry. That's a tapeworm."
  • "How did I get back here? Why aren't you at work? Why aren't I at school, although I'm not complaining? And why," he added, staring at his mother, "are you cooking bacon?"

Some Like It Cold

In the middle of writing "The N-Files," it occurred to me that I really wanted to do an episode for the fan-written seasons of Captain N. I'd been a big fan of the cartoon when it first aired in 1989, and while I didn't agree with a few changes Mark Moore had made in his series, I was itching to contribute an ep. Naturally, I wanted to try something original. But what?
One of my favorite games for the NES, I think, was StarTropics. I remember spending afternoons at my friend's house in the summer of '90 trying to get through the chapters, just to see what the game would throw out next. For its time and genre, the game had a pretty good (and funny) storyline; I'd even tried to write one of my own game novels based on it a la those "Worlds of Power" books that were in stores. That tanked, of course, and I still don't know where the disk it was on got to. Even so, that sparked an idea; what if one of the N Team got accidentally stuck on StarTropics and had to fight their way out with Mike Jones?
Of course, that begged the question of who, exactly, would get that dubious honor. Then I thought about it: what about Stacey? So far, she'd really amounted to nothing more than an airhead in the series, and maybe it would be nice to let her kick some ass for a change. The boomerang would be a decent jungle weapon, and I could just see her getting on Mike's nerves by making a number of Indiana Jones cracks. The final scene with the band was actually one of the first scenes I conceived for the episode, as was Mike's explanation of why he got the Indy jokes. According to the game manual, Mike Jones lived in Seattle, so that wasn't made up.
I deliberately kept the villains a secret until the end of part two, just because I'd picked some baddies who hadn't showed up in a while and who you wouldn't really expect. The ideas kept piling up, so much that the two-part episode became a three-parter. If I ever get time, I do want to rewrite a "Special Edition" of this ep, just because it was a blast to write.

Title: A pun on the Jack Lemmon/Tony Curtis movie "Some Like It Hot." In this case, the device is a freezing machine, and there is a brief reference to the bit in the game where Mike had to pretend he was a girl to get into Shecola - Curtis and Lemmon spent most of the movie masquerading as women. Someone suggested "The Last Ice-capade" for the Indiana Jones ref, but after a lot of thought I returned to the original title.

Memorable lines:
  • Kevin stared at Mike. "Dude, what happened to you?" "Ask the bimbo with the boomerang. She could've warned me."
  • Mike waxed wiseass. "Three large fries, two cheeseburgers, a medium Pepsi - "
  • "How'd you know who Indiana Jones was?" "Uh, because I've seen all three movies about fifty times?" "But they don't have Indiana Jones in Videoland!" "I'm from Seattle." "Yeah, the Seattle on StarTropics!" "Hey... it's still Seattle."
  • "It leads back to the cemetery! That's the origin!" "Cool! And it's the place all the ice is coming from!" "Stace... Naah. Too easy."
  • Stacey frowned, trying to think. "Like, isn't that the place where there's only women or something allowed in? I don't remember much of the game." Mike nodded. "Yeah, sort of." "Oh." She smirked. "Then how'd you get it?" "I, um, - look out!"
  • "PUSH THE BUTTON, PRANK!!!"

The Best Vintage

I wrote this the week before New Year's in one sitting. There wasn't a lot of premeditation involved; I just wanted a New Year's fanfic and something involving Macbeth and Demona, two characters I'd done very little with in fanfic. It actually played out quite well, considering.

Title: From the fanfic, of course; the discussion over good wine.

Memorable lines:
  • "Tell me the truth, Demona; why are you here? You've told me what you want, but why ask me?" "Midlife crisis." "Don't take this the wrong way, but we've both gone far, far beyond that by now."

Night Shift

What is it with Matt and Italians?
This was the random thought I had after finishing "Relatively Speaking" and reposting "Moving On Up" in HTML to fix a time glitch. First Annie in that crossover, now Sam in my fic series ... it struck me as pretty funny when I thought about it. And then suddenly the basic premise of the fic that would put Sam firmly into my series popped into my head: she starts the night shift at the Eyrie and all hell breaks loose.
Well, I told Shadow Master about it, and then I was committed. Because along with the weird ideas my brain was tossing out, he tossed out a lot of ideas for what I could do with Sam. Frequently. I gave him a hard time over it, since I was working 40 hours a week at a computer and consequently wasn't in the mood to turn my PC on at home to write. But his suggestions did get me through the action scenes big time. The shootout in the art gallery was entirely his, an idea that I'm still grateful for.
Gwen had been in my little storage bin of possible characters for quite some time, and I figured it would be a nice change to have an original female character who was, well, normal and sane. I had Sarah, the caffeine maniac, Callista, the mage-in-training who's a bit of a flake, Rachel, the "kung fu cheerleader," and now Sam. It occurred to me that all the female characters I created were just plain nuts. So Gwen was sort of my response to that. B.J. was added as an anti-Gwen (and an excuse to get some Python lines in there), and Vera was the stock idiot security chief doomed for replacement from the beginning. I really didn't intend the fic to consist of a bunch of my characters beating off the Three, but that's how it turned out.
Some great scenes and one-liners came from this fanfic, although it does seem a bit disjointed. I had an indy-fic I was playing with called "Go With the Flow" when I wrote this, and eventually decided the story wasn't gelling too well. So I ditched it with the exception of one scene: the living room scene with the chess match and "Searching for Bobby Fischer," and changed the ending to include Sarah and the bit with the bra - and don't ask me where that came from. Most of Sam's terrible night that begins the fic played out wonderfully, although I don't think it would happen in real life. I realized, writing this, that the running joke about Sarah's caffeine addiction was wearing thin; namely, it was time for her to cut down. So from there came the kitchen showdown with Luna and the paint thinner joke at the end.
Once I got going on it, I loved writing the sarcastic banter between Sam and Matt, the latter of whom got all the good lines. This wasn't my most poetic or touching fic, but it was fun to write.

Title: Yet another obvious one. :)

Memorable lines:
  • "Dockson, take the cuffs off of her now. We'll handle this. Go work out your--" for a moment he was tempted to say 'lack of a sex life' but didn't want to get killed-- "stress elsewhere. Not on duty."
  • "Well, this is a first," Matt said casually, raising his hands in the air. "Most of my dates use a blunt object."
  • "That's your idea of a diversion?" Matt whispered as the three dashed into another darkened room. "Wing her with a laser rifle and run?" Sam shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
  • "No one likes my coffee!"
  • "Help me, Obi-Wan-Kenobi," a voice croaked from below her. "You're my only hope." "Bluestone?" He was stirring groggily, and trying to sit up. "But I thought--" He rolled out of her way as he tried to get to his knees. "Not my fault you're lousy at finding a pulse."
  • "Well, excu-u-use me!" Puck drawled, floating over to where Callista was standing, still an ice statue. "Let's see here, you trapped me in that cramped little talisman for hours, tried to kidnap one of my students, turned Dave into a gerbil, which I know he's going to pin on me." He pointed at Callista's frozen face. "And if that wasn't all, you had to ice my other student and stone her boyfriend. Can you say 'bad manners'?"

Time

Listen to a song enough, you'll get a fanfic idea from it. Although I had promised myself I'd never write songfic again, I was listening to "Time" by Des'ree incessantly on the way home for Thanksgiving break. And in the wake of "Countdown to Destruction," it suddenly sparked a whole bunch of scenes in my head - the Rangers working things out on the Megaship. I originally conceived it as a TJ/Cassie romance fanfic; after getting absolutely no closure whatever on the Cassie/Phantom romance in the end, I was disgusted. I'd always liked TJ, and hadn't been comfortable with Cassie daydreaming over the Phantom; it just didn't seem in character for her. So when there was no closure to that apparent romance, that was the last straw for me.
But then I got to thinking: what about Zhane and Karone? More importantly, what the heck happened to Ecliptor? The dream sequence played itself out better than any other scenes in this fic, and they had to be included. Then, of course, I had to include Ashley and Andros - although really, all I had to do was to get Andros to finally tell Ash he loved her. What was left? Carlos. I realized in the middle of writing that Carlos was the odd man out. Since I didn't want anyone to complain that he had been shafted, I had to give him something to be pleased about.
I realize that I didn't break my vow by writing "Time" now; that is, it looks more like an anti-songfic of sorts. The verses just served to break up the scenes, and there was a heck of a lot more plot than verse. I ripped through this fanfic in about a month - even with finals - but then got stuck on the ending, and set it aside to write "Night Shift." Then I started a new semester of school, with a roommate, and had to get adjusted to that. But late one evening, I just got mad at the fanfic and furiously typed out the final scene ... which didn't turn out so badly. Guess I just needed to manage my time better, hm?
Ellen Brand caught me on the misquote: "Tis better to have loved and lost..." is Tennyson, not Shakespeare! Gah! I didn't correct it, though, since Shakespeare made more sense in the context of the conversation. Besides, no one ever said Ashley was an English major.

Title: Again, it's from the song, but the concept of time had a lot of different meanings here.

Memorable lines:
  • "That's the same fixing method you used in auto shop!"
  • "Why not pass through here, after everything the Rangers have done for the cause of good?" "Because there's no evil or misery here." "Maybe not, but you've got your fair share of tragedy."
  • "It gets people's attention, I guess. If I looked my age, would you have even listened to me in the first place long enough to know me for what I was?"
  • "Notice anything odd?" "No, what?" "I don't know, maybe the way we just went through a wall?"
  • "Please do not compare me to a human in advanced years with questionable mental health," DECA began.

Wherever You Are

Despite a roommate who doesn't see the appeal of Power Rangers, I managed to see the PRLG pilot anyway... and was extremely ticked to find that the best-looking guy on the show (IMO, anyway) fell to his apparent death in the pilot! I heard rumors of how Mike would return, but that early on in the season, they were just rumors. I was considerably bummed out.
A few weeks later, my roommate went home for the weekend. That didn't ensure peace and quiet, though. Saturday night, there was a lot of noise next door, partying that I couldn't take part in due to a head cold. So after some cold medicine and too much sugar, I stayed up watching my tapes of shows... and in the midst of all the Buffy reruns I came across that pilot again. Next thing I knew, I was at the computer, typing up a weird idea for where he might have landed.
I didn't intend to continue it then, but I got a surprising response - and encouragement to post it on the Buffy fanfic newsgroup. I did so, and prepared myself for flames. Instead, I actually got good feedback from Buffy fans, as well as sequel requests. The wheels started turning.

Title: From the repeated line in the fanfic.

Memorable lines:
  • "He is sort of cute, you know." A long moment of silence ensued. "Well, uh, I can be shallow sometimes, too, can't I?"

New Blood

I can't remember the last time I edited and re-edited dialogue, rearranged and rewrote scenes, and threw in and out so many ideas for a fanfic. After the success of "Wherever You Are," the mere suggestion of a sequel had my creativity demons going crazy. I suddenly found myself trying to figure out a way to tie it back into the Magna Defender plotline in PRLG... which set off everything else.
One of the first questions I had was: what was Mike going to do with himself? The answer popped into my head immediately: bartending. At the Bronze, no less. I suddenly had a mental picture of the scene from "Doppelgangland" with Anya screaming for a beer... and Mike insisting on an ID. After that, I had to do it.
The idea of Mike and Faith, or Faith pursuing Mike, came early on while I was sketching out scenes. In fact, Faith's discovery of Mike's new job was one of the first scenes I wrote. This was an idea I was worried about, given a lot of people's view of Faith, but I eventually decided to run with it. Of course, this was the Faith we knew before "Bad Girls" - and hey, I liked Faith when she was on the good side - and Mike was going to need a reason to reject her advances. Namely, Maya. I have a reason behind the dream sequences, but that's not going to pop up til later.
After working periodically on the fic - between the lit magazine, the theater group, classes and work-study - I had generally written some of the beginning and had written the end scene. But I realized there was something missing: a monster-of-the-week for Buffy and company to fight. The mystery of Mike's appearance didn't pad out the story like I wanted it to. I'd recently read Mercedes Lackey's "Children of the Night," which, although it wasn't one of her best, gave me the idea for Relish. Then Lori, Malik, and Molly popped up, and finally Frank.
Okay, now that the fic is done and posted... my God, I never intended it to get this long. I blame Relish for this; the bad guys took over the whole fic. Frank was intended to be a one-shot character, but now I think I might use him again. I made the mistake of putting too much into one fanfic, and ultimately didn't manage to tie up all the loose threads. I'm very sorry I didn't resolve the situation with the guidance counselor, for starters. I did have a Thursday scene for that, but decided not to bother since "New Blood" was getting long enough.
So am I happy with the ending? Well, despite that, yes. I did manage to include the armor vs. spandex debate I thought up months ago, and it did come around full circle. Considering how convoluted the fight scenes became, I think I did away with Lori, Malik, and Molly pretty well. I'd decided that Molly would be the true power behind the throne, and that it would be up to Frank to stop her, way ahead of time. Having Malik be the one to actually do her in just popped out of nowhere, and it worked really well. I almost felt bad about killing Mal off; he was fun to write.
This fic was fun to write in general, but I'm glad it's done. The next installment won't be half as knotted and as long if I have anything to say about it.

Title: One of the most fitting titles I've ever come up with. Yeah, it's Faith's first line as well, but the title came before that scene did.

Memorable lines:
  • Cordelia was standing there, having staked her with a pencil. She scowled at the pile of dust on the floor. "Slut."
  • "I knew her for all of three hours and already I'm dreaming about her," he murmured to the ceiling. "Isn't this how stalkers start out?"
  • "Faith Mackenzie?" "I don't know. Probably closer to Spuds than Macbeth."
  • "Weirdness back home tended more toward giant robots fighting giant monsters. This kind of weirdness is on a completely different wavelength."
  • Giles sagged wearily against the desk, shaking his head. He turned to see Mike snickering. "And just what do you think you're laughing at, Vortex Boy?" Somehow, that just made Mike laugh harder. He shut up when Giles shoved a stack of books into his arms.
  • "That's right, Xander. The life is being siphoned out of the teenage population of Sunnydale. So while most of them are probably comatose now, you're awake and alert. Such a pity that you just can't fit in."
  • Down came Buffy.
    Off went the power.
    At around that moment, all hell broke loose.
  • "You know, you've got a repetitive streak. I wonder if all werewolves are like this."
  • Buffy approached them, dusting her hands off proudly. "Oz is still out cold, and I kind of had to MacGyver a lock," the Slayer explained. At Giles' curious expression, she added, "Hope you didn't like that letter opener too much."
  • "You've got to respect the dominatrix."
  • "So, did you ever meet the pink one?" Xander asked. Willow pinched him. "Ow! It's a legitimate question. I mean, she fills out that spandex." Another pinch. "I'll shut up now."
  • "Armor!" "Spandex!" "Armor!" "Spandex!"

Options

Well, if you haven't guessed by now, I got myself addicted to "Now and Again" from the very beginning... and any show I get addicted to ultimately spawns fanfic ideas. But since N&A was new, and since it's a show that you just can't predict where it's going - it's been on for a few months now, and I still haven't a clue where they're taking this - writing fanfic, any serious fanfic with a major plot, would potentially upset continuity completely. I hate having to do that.
So I settled for the "missing scene" idea. I'd been trying to defend the show on the newsgroups against people who continually nitpicked at plausibility - mainly, why on earth they picked Michael, of all people, for a donor. Then it hit me; what if, despite all appearances to the contrary, Michael was the best option?
I wrote this at 1 am while studying for an exam. It just came out nicely, and was a start. Now, it seems, I've got a flood of N&A fic ideas floating around... and continuity be damned, I'll probably write them.

Title: Just came to me. Fitting, actually.

Memorable lines:
  • Nothing like staring death in the face to get someone to accept responsibility.
  • Besides... how much trouble could an insurance salesman be?

Fine

Up until the sixth episode of "Now and Again," the character of Heather pretty much came off as an annoying teenager - Heather Matarazzo was not given enough to work with. The N&A discussion list erupted over whether or not the series should get rid of her. Everyone was on one extreme or the other: some thought she was irritating and without a shred of compassion, others thought it was nice to see a typical teenager instead of the "Dawson's Creek" model. I was in the latter camp. I was willing to give her some time, let her develop a bit more.
It struck me in the course of the discussion that up until "A Girl's Life," we didn't get to see Heather grieving the loss of her father. I mean, her very last conversation with him was cold at best; her only reaction to his questions was a bored "fine." That's something that must really stick with her. With that in mind, and recalling the mention of Nick from "Origins," I sat down and wrote out the whole thing in one sitting.
It's interesting to note that after I posted "Fine," we did get to see Nick for the first time... and the show came close enough to my conception of him that it really could have happened. I'm rather pleased.

Title: From Heather's one-word reactions to Michael during that last conversation.

Memorable lines:
  • You were supposed to grieve when your Mom or Dad died. You were supposed to agonize, to cry, to mourn. But she hadn't. She hadn't felt... anything. Couldn't feel anything. It wasn't right. It was sick, somehow.
  • What would happen if she leaned forward? Well, of course. She'd fall. Stupid question.

Not Again

This one was all Dalton Spence's fault.
Near the end of November '99, Dalton posted a very long e-mail to the N&A fanfic list detailing ideas for possible N&A crossovers. Now with all the potential crossovers he mentioned - BtVS, Seven Days, The Pretender, La Femme Nikita, Stargate SG-1, among others - Quantum Leap was not among them. But that e-mail did get me to bring up the idea of Quantum Leap/N&A; I realized that Sam Beckett, of all people, probably could relate to Michael's situation. And then I wondered: would it really be all that shocking for Michael if Sam leaped into him?
Well, I was approaching final exams and working on term papers... and the idea stuck so much, and nagged at me so persistently, that late that evening, I finally gave in, saved my English paper, and wrote the entire snippet in one sitting. I tossed around the idea of continuing it for a while, I'll admit, and my friends - who normally don't try to incite my creativity demons - actually threw several ideas for the crossover at me. But I honestly could not figure out a plausible reason for Sam to be there.
It's a real shame, too... I'd considered the end scene to be set in Sam's time (in 2005, the way I explain it) when Al spots a familiar couple - Michael and Lisa - sitting in the park together.

Title: That last line, of course.

Memorable lines: None really.

Special Case

I actually started writing "Special Case" waaay before I started posting it. Most of the first part was written in August 1999 - I even did some research to dig up an Egyptian goddess who was obscure enough to use and who I could use without contradicting the series. However, several things made me set this one aside: my lack of Showtime (and, consequently, Stargate) at school, a bit of a writer's block, my obsession with "Now and Again," and most importantly, my progress on "New Blood." Had I set aside that fic for "Special Case," I would have been hunted down and shot.
Where did this idea come from? I have no clue. I do know that I wanted to write a Jason-centered story for the longest time ("All I Want For Christmas" does not count because that one was just silliness and caffeine), and the idea of a Stargate crossover was bouncing around in my head. Then came the immunity idea - that a Ranger could reject a Goa'uld symbiote - followed by the inevitable attempt by Maybourne and Jase seeking asylum. It was initially supposed to be a standalone, but when I was writing the meeting on the beach, it occurred to me that this story was already a huge fic... and it was only halfway done. Which is why it ended up being the first part of a mini-series.
As for its sequel, I refuse to say anything on the grounds that it will either spoil what I have planned or cause people to come after me with loaded weapons threatening me to finish it. Not my fault I have classes to worry about.

Title: It was a hell of a lot better than "Immunity," the original title of this sucker.

Memorable lines:
  • Jason returned his commander's salute as best he could. "Sorry, sir, but I had to do a little swimming to get here."
    "I told you," Daniel murmured, elbowing Jack. Jack merely rolled his eyes.
  • "Damn, I forgot how uncomfortable these things were." "Try it after you've had an ice bath. ...sir."
  • Teal'c, the last to arrive, made Jack look like the poster child of perfect etiquette.
  • The shrill ringing of the telephone jolted Tommy out of a sound sleep, bringing a pleasant dream involving Katherine and several cans of whipped cream to an abrupt end. He opened one eye, half-tempted to unplug the machine for a moment as the phone rang again.
  • Is this the Twilight Zone?" Carlos muttered. "Did Andros actually encourage break time?"
    "I'm leaning towards the Pod People explanation," T.J. replied.

12 Months of Zingers

While I was writing "Special Case," I just about had it with my creativity demons. Not only did the wackiness merit another creativity demon fic, but the fragmented story ideas without stories were piling up beyond belief - especially in the Power Rangers department. A few months earlier, I had read a fic on the Buffy creative newsgroup entitled "12 Months of Zingers," and realized that the same tactic could be used to shut my creativity demons up. I made sure to get the author's permission, of course.
So I got to work, digging out some scenes that were absolutely story-less. One of the major ones was that PRT/Wild Wild West crossover I'd been considering before the film came out. Unfortunately, the movie just plain sucked, and the idea soured, so I put it to bed there. The Stargate bit couldn't be helped. Olivia O'Connor could have been my own Mary Sue had I not realized what I was doing back in the fall of '97 and stopped writing "Jade's Fire." (It's still on my hard drive, it's longer than "New Blood," and it was bad.) So I gave her a bit of closure. I also had a better idea for the October tidbit and revised it accordingly.
The only scene in the Zingers that might actually become a fic is the August one. The idea for "Time Flies" is so good that I started outlining it a while back. But the outline itself isn't done, so who knows?

Title: See above.

Memorable lines:
  • "Forget Star Trek! What the hell is my niece doing on the other side of a Stargate??"
  • "What can I say? I prefer being a sidekick."
  • "Gotta admit, Artie," Jim muttered to his partner, "that looks a *hell* of a lot better on her than it did on you."
    He spent the next two miles stuck on the roof of the train.
  • "I am Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod." "I'm Eugene Skullovitch and I really hope that sword's plastic."

Traffic/The Way It Should Be

These two are grouped together because they were both composed in the same week and for similar purposes: to tide the N&A fic list over while we waited for the verdict on our beloved show. (No, I still cannot believe they cancelled it. Yes, I'm still pissed off.) Both were written in a short span of time, although I admit the theme of each one is different.
"Traffic" was actually a two-sitting write, but that's because I started it around one in the morning after listing to Edwin Starr's "War" a couple times and having a sudden burst of inspiration. The only ep in which Michael and Theo have been on the road without another driver was "Pulp Turkey" ("Deep In My Heart Is A Song" doesn't count because Michael was catatonic then) - and the silliness of that episode fit the idea I had. I had the feeling the ride back to the townhouse would be an interesting one to say the least.
"The Way It Should Be" was written in one sitting, and it was a reaction to "The Eggman Cometh" - namely, why Michael was so convinced that the Doc would kill Lisa. Sure, the threat was apparent in his demeanor and tone of voice, but Theo has been so lenient in the past, why now? Thanks to Natalie's fic "Un-Covered" (which is not posted anywhere - WHY???), I re-watched "the sheet scene" in "Lizzard's Tale," and it struck me that when Theo did away with his diabolical college buddy in such a grisly manner, Michael wasn't completely unconscious. Sure, he never opened his eyes, but he seemed to be trying to surface the whole time - and there's no guarantee he didn't hear anything and that he truly did forget what happened. And if he did... well, that would make Theo's threat plausible.

Title (Traffic): Isn't it obvious?
Title (The Way It Should Be): I know the line from the final ep was "the way it's supposed to be," but that didn't seem to fit. So I fixed it. Close enough.

Memorable lines:
  • "Let me put it this way. How would you feel if your most precious possession put a dent in your second most precious possession?" (Traffic)
  • "You know, it might help if you threw in something edible. A Devil Dog or something? To make it easier to keep my mouth shut?" "I think duct tape would be preferable." "Now you're just being hostile." (Traffic)
  • "Like I've had one too many, but it's getting better." Realizing what the unspoken question was, he added, "Although I'm not sure you should let me operate any heavy equipment, or heavy weights, or heavy anything." (The Way It Should Be)
  • Everything was not going to be the way it should be. Not if he had anything to say about it. (The Way It Should Be)

Murphy's Law

The title of this story swiftly became appropriate - not to the story itself, but to the writing of the story. "Murphy's Law" took a whopping 13 months to complete, and it's nowhere near my longest fic ever. It was, however, the most difficult. Real Life was bearing down harder than usual - it was my senior year of college - and I missed "Now and Again" so badly that writing fanfic for it seemed painful.
But shortly after CBS cancelled the show - and once I was in shape to write N&A fic again - the creativity demons started going insane. The nitpicking some people had done at the series finale was sparking some ideas: the lawyer had obtained the information too easily, too quickly... and too conveniently. Even for a show like "Now and Again," it seemed way too contrived. But then again, so was the attraction between Taylor and Michael - literally. What if someone was trying to sabotage the project?
I threw around a few possibilities for the culprit - Irving, for one - then gave up on the criminal mastermind and focused on the fall guy instead. Someone with lots of money and too much self-confidence who was willing to buy harebrained stories. Leflin Jr. popped into my head immediately. He was perfect. He was initially also a way for Michael, Lisa, and Heather to flee the scene without Michael revealing his abilities. At first, he was the mastermind, but then I figured he was too gullible (and I needed someone disorganized enough for Michael to escape from).
However, even with the sabotage excuse to absolve Michael, I realized that the Doc was not likely to come to that conclusion - or even listen to reason - at the time. So to pacify my creativity demons, I pretended to give in to a persistent Mary Sue. Lydia Ross had been bouncing around in my head since episode four, and I was not going to let her take over my stories. (See Death by Chocolate for the play-by-play of what my demons originally tried to foist upon me.) But here... she could be useful. And once I established a few ground rules (no seducing Michael, no Stargate crossovers, no dominating the fanfic), she was actually fun to write. Lydia became a mouthpiece of sorts for me, I'm afraid, but that was because she supplied the voice of reason. The tendency to drive Special Agent #1 up the wall was a bonus that just made its way in there. (If the season continued, she'd have about the same recurring status.) A lot of people have reassured me that she's not a Mary Sue, and she was useful in getting things straightened out.
I certainly needed the help. At one point, I was sitting down and outlining step-by-step how the scenes would go and how the pieces would fall into place. The Eggman's elaborate scheme was one of the most difficult to plan out - and perhaps it was too elaborate, but I had to get Michael, Charlie, and the Eggman in an empty building filled with gas somehow. (I had that fight scene planned from the start.) I also had to work out how on earth a bomb scare and evacuation from Madison Square Garden would go off without incredible rioting. My friend Jen supplied the explanation, and I supplied Michael's disbelief. :) The one scene that was the most fun to write was probably the bit with Michael arm-wrestling those guys in the expresso bar. Oh, I'd been waiting to use that scenelet for months...
Am I going to write a sequel? Er... don't ask. Right now I'm considering a proposal and trying to get some feedback from certain people. But I think I might want to rewrite the ending. While Amanda Bender's entrance was something I've been considering for a while, it didn't seem to fit. Oh well. It's done. I'm happy.

Title: The only title I could come up with. Nothing else - and I mean NOTHING else - would fit.

Memorable lines:
  • "The I.R.S. is willing to kill to keep its business secret nowadays, huh?"
  • "About a year or so ago, I kind of ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I, uh, I found out some stuff I shouldn't have. That's how I got wrapped up in all of this."
    "A year ago? Did that have anything to do with you running around Manhattan with the 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' motif?"
  • Despite himself, the agent gulped. What was it with vicious females lately?
  • "A terrorist and a tax evader to boot," Roger muttered.
  • "There's got to be something we can do," Lisa said for the third time as she paced back and forth. "I mean, isn't there someone we can trust? The police?"
    "I hate to be the pessimist here," Roger interrupted, "but a number of the men who raided your house looked deceptively like police officers."
  • Heather turned away from the window. "Wasn't this your idea? Mom, you sound like me." She stopped, processing that bit of information. "God, what if I've just been turning into you all this time and didn't even know it??"
  • "I had to give Roger a ride," Janet replied, hesitating as the double entendre hit her. "In my car, that is. Where are you?"
  • "Not while you've got the Chicken Embryo of Death right there. You give me the paper, then I slide you the money."
  • "Surprise," Charlie Smalls grunted through the gas mask he was wearing. "Superman, my ass."
  • The bald agent stared at Leflin, who was still hunched over in pain, then looked back at Lydia again.
    Lydia shrugged. "He pissed me off."
  • Instinct told him to go hide in the car. But for once, Roger told his flight instinct to shove off.
  • "You really know how to take the fun out of everything."
    "I take pride in that ability."
  • He looked around, at the drab walls, at the empty cells, and, most importantly, at the iron bars separating her from him. "We need to talk."
  • "Aunt Lisa, I will clean for you, I will mow your lawn, I will sleep on the floor, I will pay you rent if you give me asylum!"
    Lisa sighed. "Hello, Amanda."
  • "Hey, Doc, you think I'm trustworthy enough for a trip to McDonald's?"
    The negative response was drowned out by the slamming of the front door.
  • "Like it or not, Q-Ball, you're stuck with me." "Don't. Call. Me. That."

Slow Night

Well, I'd been threatened with all sorts of torture if I didn't get out a sequel to "New Blood." Since the "official" sequels just weren't going well, I decided to write a little tidbit to keep certain people from killing me. I was reviewing my Season 3 tapes of Buffy, and watching "Lover's Walk," I noticed that Spike managed to get his hands on a second bottle of whiskey somehow. Now of course, I could assume that he got it at Willy's, but there was a lot of time in between his temper tantrum and his appearance at the magic shop - just how would Spike have spent his first night in Sunnydale? Make a stop by the Bronze for old times' sake, of course, and have a run-in with a certain bartender. Poor Mike.
The original concept for this involved Mike - or rather, the traces of the Defender within Mike - snap completely under the stress of a night from hell at the Bronze. Spike's appearance pushes him over the edge, and he kind of throws Spike into a table. I wrote the scene, re-read it, and deleted it. Spike wouldn't just let him get away with that. Not chipless, and certainly not in his emotional state. So Spike became the one beating on an irritating patron, and Mike simply gave him the bottle in return. And at the last minute, I had Spike give Harmony the eyeball - just as an omen of his next attempt at a relationship. It also provided an ending to the short, and gave Mike a tiny bit of carry-over guilt for future stories.

Title: Only thing I could think of.

Memorable lines:
  • Normally, having a vampire's fangs inches from his neck would have terrified Mike. But this was just another chapter of the night from hell, and fatigue and frustration overrided natural instincts and common sense. "You couldn't just have gone to Willy's."
    Spike shrugged. "He's out of whiskey."
  • "We've been over this. Twice. I'd like to keep this job."
    "God only knows why," Spike muttered, rolling his eyes.
  • It belatedly occurred to Mike that lending a hand might be appropriate, but he was still too dazed to do much more than sit there and stare incomprehensibly at the sight that greeted him.
  • "Besides," Xander continued, "it's not like you went and got your friends to endanger their lives."
    The only reply he got was a series of thuds as Mike slowly pounded his head on the desk. Xander stared at him, confused. "What? What'd I say?"

Sleep to Dream Her

I don't care if this fic is officially AU now (what with Alex returning as a complete jerk) - I like my explanation better. I actually wrote "Sleep to Dream Her" in one sitting in the wee hours of the morning while taking a break from final projects, and it came out better than a lot of recent pre-planned efforts ever did. The whole thing sprang from my late-night musings on why Alex referred to Jen as "Jennifer," but everyone else called her "Jen."
Allia Tyrran is a character somewhat in the Lydia Ross mold - but I had to use her, because at the time Logan didn't seem to know about Alex's work behind the scenes. Besides, I couldn't see him trying to talk sense into Alex. She didn't do quite as much as Lydia did, anyway.
Even though it's against continuity now, I still love this short fic. It's a great introspective piece that, IMO, provides a better characterization of Alex than the PRTF writers are using now. Reading it makes me incredibly sorry that he was brought back as such a hard-ass. The Alex I wrote was the one that would have made Jen/Wes difficult, but who might have realized his relationship with Jen was over. The Alex I wrote was the Alex that Jen left behind.

Title: From the Dave Matthews Band song. Didn't want to use it because the song became a very widely-used piece for songfic, but no other title would do.

Memorable lines:
  • Allia Tyrran was one of the top instructors at the Time Force Academy when Jennifer and I went there, and off duty she tends to mother-hen her former students. Of course, her idea of "mother-henning" sometimes involves having her charges forcibly dragged to the infirmary.
    I'm definitely in trouble.
  • I'm not going to be put in stasis so I can lie there like a piece of equipment, as useless as one of the cryo-frozen criminals we capture daily. I know it's not the same. It's a regenerative sleep, not a deep freeze. But I'm not a prisoner, and I won't be treated that way.
  • I love Jennifer, who could spend hours with me doing absolutely nothing and yet make those hours the best of my day. I love Jen, who would never back down if she was fighting for something she believed in. But the woman who comes back may never have been in love with me. She may not even care about me.

Kind of Busy Now

(Note: This fic is only available at the TPFICT archive and here at Fanfiction.net - hand pain has kept me from HTML-izing new story additions.)
This fic was inspired by several things: a debate about why most people didn't like Lisa Davis (although I keep writing her), my discovery of and addiction to online comics, and a New Year's Eve debate about fanfic and evil bunny rabbits. I wrote it in one sitting on a major caffeine rush.
Not much else to say about this story, except that Lisa is usually received better in fanfic when everything is going to pieces around her. I don't know why.

Title: Lisa's understatement and constant excuse for not being involved in the TP's adventures.

Memorable lines:
  • She sighed mentally. [That "no killing" rule - you're sure there aren't any exceptions?]
    [Take my word for it.]
    [Damn.]
  • Moving as best as one could while wearing a sopping grey-and-white bunny suit, Lisa scowled at him. "Quit laughing and help me out of this damn thing!"
  • Adam and Ami stared. Behind the photo of a green dragon-like creature with a ferret on its head, two figures could be seen: a ponytailed guy with sunglasses running for his life, and a familiar girl chasing after him, holding a broken guitar over her head like a club.
    "This doesn't look good," Ami observed.
    "No kidding. She's in the Caribbean and I'm stuck in Vermont. How fair is that?" Megabyte took a bite of his bagel, blinking at the stares he was getting. "What?"

Sharp Edges

(The most recent version of this story is here off fanfiction.net. Hand pain and the inability to upload from work make it tough to update here.)
Still in progress, but it's been so long that I figured I owed people some Ramblings. My arm hurts like hell, and of all the fanfics for it to have sabotaged....
So what spawned this idea? One central conceit: Sara and Spike meet up in a bar. The idea of having those two meet popped into my head during a late-night conversation with a friend, and then it grew from there. I figured Spike would be more likely to be in New York. How would he get there? Tracking a runaway Dawn, of course. After that, things just started to snowball.
The real surprise of this fic, however, was Bryan Cornish. He was NOT supposed to be as instrumental - or as much fun - as he eventually became. Cripes, I've gone so far as to mentally cast Christian Tessier in the part. Now that I'm not going to go through with it, I'll admit that his initial function was cannon fodder, a victim that made the hunt personal. But that idea was killed for three reasons: Gabe already has a good friend die in season one (and this would cheapen it), he's more useful to the plot alive, and he just got too damn likable to whack. Actually, the original characters so far have been a lot of fun; I seriously need to do more with Wilson and the Dinyaari gang. I love writing scenes at the Pit, too - the idea of a demon sports bar amuses me almost as much as the demon karaoke bar did.
This is another fic where I've really enjoyed writing the villains. Although to be honest, I'm starting to worry that Leon and Echo sound too much like Malik and Molly from "New Blood." Don't get me wrong, they were good villains, but I don't want to repeat myself.
My only real reservation about the story so far is that it's tilting towards the inevitable "everyone meets everyone and trades stories" scene, which I adamantly refuse to write. I need to keep Ian and Irons in the dark about Dawn's true nature, I need to keep Ethan and Giles ignorant of each other's presence until the last minute, and I need to keep Jake generally in the dark, period.
Oh, and for those wondering where the hell that ongoing rabid weasel joke came from, pick up Weird Al's "Running With Scissors" and take the time to listen to "Albuquerque." :)

Title: You know, I'm really not that sure. It fits in a weird way.

Memorable lines:

  • Spike could go from "Inanimate State" to "Alert and Cursing" in under a second, and this particular morning was no exception.
  • "Looks like a weasel bite," Jake said confidently. Sara stared at him, wondering where on earth that had come from. "Camping trip. Long story."
  • "Well, stop talking to us and go find it," Anya huffed, as if it was that easy.
    "And end up as a big pile of ash? Harris, I hope you're not marrying this woman for her intellect."
  • Times like these called for a profound response, and Jake's said it all. "Shit."
  • "Got the lab results back, and the bad news is that while the hairs you found resemble some sort of animal hair, the fibers don't match that of any kind of animal that could have done this. Canine, feline, lupine, you name it."
    "What about weasel?" Jake asked. As Sara stifled a laugh and Vicky looked at him curiously, he grinned. "Private joke."
  • "Whoever labeled this was blind. How the hell do you confuse 'meatball' with a turkey sub?"
    "Semantics?"
  • "There's a difference between dead and undead, Sara."
    "Yeah. The dead are a lot more confusing."
  • Certain phrases, at certain times, carried with them a promise of doom. Most of the doomed phrases were commonly known. There were the brief exclamations of panic that came just before impact. There were the ones that activated Murphy's Law, uttered by fools who didn't think that anything else could possibly go wrong. There were the ones that included the words "IRS," "audit," or "in-laws."
    There were also the more personal phrases, innocuous combinations of words that, when spoken by a certain person, were more powerful than a death knell. And the one Giles was about to utter was right at the top of the list.
    "Oh, dear Lord."
  • Spike stared at Jake for a second, then looked at Sara. He stared at the two of them, chuckling at some connection that only he could see. "Bloody hell, you two really are alike," he told Sara, lighting another cigarette. "You've even got your own Captain Cardboard."
  • "You do bar mitzvahs?"

The Key and the Sword

I blame Death for this. I really, really do.
She may not have read any of it yet, she may have been against the idea in the first place, but she's the one who alerted me to the existence of a remake of the cartoon series that shaped my childhood. Had I not sat down and watched it, had I not watched it past the pilot, I might not have started to relive my childhood, might not have realized how much I liked the new series' take on Adam.
At the same time, I was watching Season 7 of Buffy and realizing that I was also really starting to like Dawn a lot more. She'd become a much more amusing character, and didn't annoy me the way she did when she first appeared.
Past that, I have no idea what inspired this. None whatsoever. The snippets just popped into my head one October evening. And the creativity demons, who'd been comatose since May *cough*Sharp Edges*cough* immediately snapped to attention. The Compass, a MacGuffin that had been in my discard pile of ideas (too convenient and implausible for any completely serious fanfic) immediately came to mind. I had to case the He-Man.org boards to remember what all the weapons, et cetera were called in the cartoon (the new version doesn't plug them as blatantly as the old one did), and re-watched "The Courage of Adam," and once I started getting a Xander-vibe from Adam, it had to be written.
I decided to have Giles show up because someone else had to come along with Buffy in pursuit of Dawn. It was going to be Xander... but I considered that and decided that one wiseass was enough. Besides, the Anya/Xander not-quite-bickering has been fun to write. (I may not put it in the final fanfic, Plague, but your little suggestion involving those two might be written up as a missing scene.) And it's just fun having Dawn yank Adam's chain.
While War and Plague have been cheering me on, in the end this not-so-short story of silliness and mildly anime-inspired fight scenes is all Death's fault. (Hey, she blamed me for her weird Stargate story idea just because she got it from looking at the summary for "Special Case," I can blame her for this.)

Title: Desperately grabbing at straws, I came up with this. "The Sword and the Key" didn't sound right, and it really is about Dawn and Adam (and NO, it is not a romance fic!!)

Memorable lines:
  • Dawn immediately added "Able to sleep while standing up" to her small but growing list of Carlos' skills. So far, that list included basketball and an affinity for blunt objects, but she'd really only known her friends for a month or two.
  • "Hey, at least YOUR dad actually cares either way. Mine hasn't even bothered to call in forever."
    "Why, what's he doing?"
    "His secretary," Dawn answered without thinking. Adam looked puzzled, but when she flinched, his eyes widened in understanding. Some concepts were universal.
  • "I'm not wearing a skirt and I'm not dressing like Xena. What does that leave? Furry underwear?"
  • "That's funny. You used to play this a lot better when it was Strip Go-Fish."
    "Yeah, well, I had a little more motivation then."
  • "Oh, this is bad. Willow's starting to lean at a thirty-degree angle holding a candle. Do you have fire insurance?"
  • "Hey, what can I say? I know the forests like the back of my hand."
    "Sure. You just remembered all the places you'd nearly been crushed, been chomped, been strangled or been drowned and took the only path that was left."
    "Yeah, so?"
  • It was good to have someone familiar nearby in such an unfamiliar place. Even if they did hog the bathroom.
  • On a good day, Dawn could scream with the best of them; Willow had once measured her scream at 110 decibels. When she was really in a dire situation, when there was no other option, Dawn could get even higher than that.
    Her answering shriek could be heard for miles.
  • "Adam??" Dawn gasped, and then the world faded to black.
    It was a good thing that she passed out right then, because the Hero of Grayskull nearly dropped her in utter shock.

Identity

This is what happens when I get bored and frustrated at work.
Oh, it's not like I didn't have anything else to do - I just didn't have much in the way of guidelines. I couldn't do half my work because the specific documentation wasn't done yet. And after sitting in a meeting that I understood maybe 30 percent of, my mind was wandering constantly.
I'd also re-watched "The Courage of Adam," and had been wondering why Adam and He-Man, in the new series, had such different personalities. (I mean, really, there's no way Adam could have delivered that little speech at the end of the pilot movie with a straight face.) Between that seeming incongruity and the very last scene of "Courage of Adam" - where Adam's expression was surprisingly sad - the demons just started chomping at the bit, and I spat the short fic out during my lunch break.
There might be a sequel to this, but it's kind of up in the air right now.

Title: Considering that it's a new twist on the identity crisis, it works...

Memorable lines: None really, it's mostly stream-of-consciousness.

Mind Games

With the advent of the new series came a renewed interest in He-Man fanfic, so I did quite a bit of searching around the Net... with mixed results. For every great story by authors like Poe Ghostal, Volvic, or Granamyr, there was a story that made me hit the Back button. And sadly, a good portion of those were "Adam tells Teela who he is and they hook up" fanfics.
Now I'm not against Adam/Teela - not in fics based on the original series. But I always thought it was too easy that Teela found out the truth and just fell into Adam's arms. I think even the old series Teela would have been a bit angry with him for not telling her.
What really worried me was when I discovered new series fanfic based along these lines. If I thought the old Teela would be a bit shocked and hurt by discovering the deception (although she'd understand), the new series Teela would NOT take it well. I mean, if you watch the new series, there really isn't anything beyond friendship between Adam and Teela now - I'm writing this after "Mekanek's Lament" aired - and she's been pretty harsh on his supposed cowardice. Not to mention that she's definitely got a crush on He-Man. If this Teela found out, it would seriously - SERIOUSLY - mess with her head. She wouldn't just swoon, she wouldn't just understand and go on - she'd be more inclined to lash out. When Classic Cowboy posted "Sacrifice," and we discussed what might happen THEN if Teela found out Adam's secret... hoo boy. The seeds were planted.
I really don't think she'll learn the truth in the new series, and that would only happen during some climactic battle (or at the end of the series). I didn't want to write an epic, though - I just wanted to write that reaction and the immediate aftermath. I didn't include Man-At-Arms' reaction because this was about Teela and Adam, and because I didn't want to write his reaction to finding out that Teela punched Adam over this. (I don't think he'd buy the tree branch excuse.) I think her reaction was a tad extreme, but God, it was fun to write.
I don't plan to write a sequel, mainly because this discovery takes away one of the major conflicts Adam has. And conflict always makes for a good story.

Title: Only thing I could think of, and mainly because this came from the idea that the truth would seriously mess with Teela's mind.

Memorable lines:
  • Evil-Lyn, as usual, singles me out and decides to use me as target practice. I don't know what her problem is, but as I flip out of the way of one of her blasts, I seriously wish I could take that staff of hers and shove it down her throat. I'm just glad she's such a lousy shot.
  • Good going, Teela. You just brushed off your father, had a breakdown in front of all the Masters, and cold-cocked your best friend. What could you possibly do for an encore?
  • "If you're gonna beat me up, you might want to wait on it," Adam says, smirking. "Too many people know we're out here for me to blame a tree branch."
    A tree branch. He went and told his father he'd had a run-in with a tree branch on his hoverboard. That's like telling someone the beating you got from someone's club is from when you fell down the stairs.

That's all she wrote, folks...

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