beccastareyes

I really need to work on some of my original material. The first few chapters of Archaiphage really need a good edit, and I have an idea for an original fiction short story focusing on language.

That being said, here is a list of the status of my fanficiton projetcs:

Actual Fics:

To Be Human: This needs a rewrite. I will never get around to doing it, though.
In the Shadow of the Flames: Chapter 2 is nearly done. It follows Becca Stareyes Second Chapter Syndrom -- far too short, as it is still setup for the action coming up. If any of you cna help me flesh it out, I will be willing to send it your way when done. I am getting pretty fond of the two OCs I have to use for that fic -- even if they will be physically absent for the later half of the fic. Which is why I have to develop them a bit now, while Allen and Celena can interact with them. They are kind of a nice dichotemy -- an old noble who still thinks of the nobility as being in charge, and of merchants and engineers as merely upstart commoners, and who deplores the opening of the knighthood to those of non-noble birth and a young knight who thinks less in terms of swords and calvary, and more in terms of guymelef strategy and airship movements and of the advances in technology that will better Asturia's quality of living. But all you really see of these characters is that the old noble doesn't much like taking orders from Millerna, pushes people around, and assumes all other countries are out to get Asturia and the young knight is the first to see the rogue and has his guymelef stolen by Celena.
The End is Only The Begining: Chapter 1 is done. Now, I need to spend the next few chapters developing Zel's relationships with minor characters to make the rest of the story believeable. And I need to refine a menace that specifically needs high-level Spirit Shamanism to kill, and not, say Lina's Dragon Slave. I'm thinking this involves hostages in some way, so a spell that makes towns explode would be bad. Problem is, I need something that can be hurt by a Rah Tilt and would be willing to use hostages as human shields. A particularly clever mazoku might, but I'm not sure. Opinions?

You know, it's funny. I think writers go through three stages in writing. The first is the Mary Sue stage where the star of the fic is the more-everything wish-fufillment character. The second is the Anti-OC stage, where a writer will jump through every hoop to avoid giving a noncanon character any more lines than 'Can I take your order, sir?' or 'Halt! Who goes there?'. Then there is the Rational-OC stage, where a writer accepts that OCs can have a role in fanfic as supporting characters, as long as they are three-dimensional and the story focus remains on the canon characters. My first two fics were borderline Mary Sues. My next two or three were anti-OC. Now, my fics have reached the Rational-OC phase.

Plot Bunnies:

A Fushigi Yugi fic mainly about Kuto's recovery and the reincarnation of the Seiryu seishi. No romance, and little humor or angst -- which marks it as a rarity in the fandom.
A Slayers fic playign with the 'What if Rezo had Zel's best interests at heart when he transformed him and what if Zel found this out?' This one is pretty fleshed out.
A Slayers vignette about Milgasia finding out about the Ancient Dragons.

Any comments form the Peanut Gallery?