aleathiel

This is a little freaky- I've just been struggling with an essay (which I've got a bit longer to do than you but I've got work as well so panic's really starting to set in), I've got my Torchwood fic to finish and two Merlin fics (so that's three fics in all) and was sitting watching an Agatha Cristie the other day thinking how well this could work as a Merlin AU...

I'm slightly unnerved...

From:

Great minds and all that...

Clearly having to frantically work on something that isn't remotely as interesting as writing fic makes you come up with great ideas! And having three unfinished fics languishing somewhat neglected. :)

I'm interested in the idea of it as an AU. I was pondering setting it as close to the canon as possible, using the characters and locations of the show (and, I guess, introducing some others, even if just giving names to some other knights and servants).

From:

Sounds good- I hope they have an episode like that at some point, cause we the audience tend to know who the culprit is before the characters- and every genre show has it's whodunnit episode doesn't it.

I was thinking of setting one in the 1930's- maybe during wartime (I can totally see Morgana in that kind of dress and must think of a way to get a romantic scene at a train station between Arthur and Merlin)...

It is difficult not to get distracted while essay writing- only 1,500 more to go (and then re-writing the last 3000)...

From:

That would be fun! (I'm definitely storing the idea away for when I have the time and energy to actually work out a plot)

I'd love to see Morgana in a 1930s dress. You should write it! Definitely including the train station scene. A staid and repressed goodbye that means SO much more...

It's very easy isn't it? Mines 4000, and it is, but it needs editing and referencing. And, really, just to be better.

From:

Yeah I've got a 5000- it's only been a few months since I wrote my last essay but I seem to have completely forgotten how to structure a paragraph. And referencing is making me cry- we don't have a definite way of doing things at Kent so I'm always asked to do it in a different way by each Professor... : O

Now I'm picturing Arthur in army uniform too... no, must not be distracted!

From:

What's the essay on? I'm sure it will come back to you. The one I wrote in November was the first I'd written since I graduated two and a half years ago. It hurt but it came together in the end.

And yes, referencing is evil. I had it drummed into me as an undergrad (possible before that, my father is a professor of English) and luckily on my master's course they don't really mind how we choose to reference as long as we do so consistently. So I'm just sticking to what I know.

Oooh yes. Although I'm not sure about the 40s hairstyle...

From:

The re-enchantment of a person's perspective of the world (assuming it to be disenchanted). Through out the term we had to do a learning journal- basically talking about how the work was impacting our lives and helping us grow and it could be very fluffy and creative and now needing to do anything with structure is killing me.

Ah you see as an undergrad I was told to do it however I felt like as long as it was consistent so have never been very disciplined when it comes to it.

True about the hair. Although I'm quickly warming to the idea of the first world war instead as I type (my Sassoon/Graves obsession from my teenage years rearing its head)- it's just the Blitz brings so many options...

From:

it could be very fluffy and creative and now needing to do anything with structure is killing me
Lol! I can see the problem. Mine is mostly the opposite: I like to have structure and arguement to my writing, and there really isn't space for that in this silly thing. It's about museum documentation and while part of it is a critque, it's mostly just facts arranged into subheadings. Which is painfully dull and I can't wait until it's over and we start the next module (which is interpretation, education and communication - much more my kind of thing!)

I think you have at least two fics here: a ww1 epic soldier romance AU and then a 1930s big house mystery with glamourous costumes.

From:

That's always the way- make you go through hours of dull facts and figures before they let you do anything interesting instead of mixing it all together- we're all so laid back on my course I've no idea what exactly we're doing next term- I know I have to write a commentary on a religious image or painting and write about spiritual/emotional experiences to art and the impact of galleries on the experience but outside of that...

You're right about the two fics, ww1 soldier love needs to be epic and whodunnits work better in inclosed spaces... I need free time and soon!

From:

Yes indeed. They fooled us with the first module and its interesting theory and big ideas. Then they dumped boring old module two on us. *sigh* It can only get better from here...
The commentary on a religious image and emotional experiences to art sound interesting. The impact of galleries on the experience made me laugh: my whole previous essay was on how museums/galleries are not neutral spaces and we are encouraged to think a certain way based on the way in which things are displayed.

WRITE THEM (when you have the time). I love the idea of both. I have a free day on Tuesday and I'm counting down the minutes...

From:

Oh would it be okay to ask for pointers towards any good resources when I come to research?

Next free day I'll have is the 24th- with all the having to earn money and what not. My life has become deadlines (I count Christmas as a deadline, which is slightly depressing- I'm trying to get my family to abandon Christmas next year and just celebrate the Winter Solstice instead- but my grandparents keep making disapproving noises so I'll just have to do it with friends instead).

These fics are quickly growing on me- something to dream up when I'm bored at work...

From:

Yeah, of course, that's no problem. I've still got all my notes here.

My life has become deadlines
Ugh, I know the feeling. I've been concentrating on this one, but as soon as I get to it I have to start worrying about the next one!

Hehe, have fun plotting...

From:

miniminkie.livejournal.com

Ohhhh Merlin whodunnit sounds so good.

From:

:D I think so. I'll have to work out a plot and things, but it does sounds like fun!

From:

I agree the Merlin mystery sounds like fun. Hopefully that'll be enough incentive for you to get your Assignment From Hell finished. [grin/crossed fingers]

Angie

From:

It's still not done *cries and clings to you*. It feels like I'm only taking baby steps towards finishing it and it HURTS and I HATE IT SO MUCH. I've never felt this miserable about of piece of work *MOAN MOAN MOAN MOAN* Cheer me up?

From:

Awww. :(

Ummm, here. Posted for the first time ever, the last bit of S&S that I was too depressed to post in my NaNo journal. How's that? It's the best I can do on short notice, I'm afraid, since I don't do drabbles or whatever. [laugh/flail]

==================

Arden looked at him for a moment, then nodded and relayed what he'd said to his aunt.

She gave them both a sharp glance, then said in accented Ruvori, "So tell me, what in this room has been touched by the goddess?"

Arden started looking around, but Luka said, "I don't think it works like that, holy lady. Things in Dereno's temple were the same as things in Ashti's. It's not particular to which god, or... I don't know, maybe it is sometimes? But if you've things in here which have been touched by different gods, I don't think I could separate out the ones from your goddess."

"That's fine, boy," she said with an impatient hand-wave. "What do you see?"

"The gold sun on the shelf," he said. "Altar? On the wall." He pointed to a golden sun-disk on Aunt Gerra's altar niche, which Arden privately thought anyone could have guessed and made a poor first choice.

Apparently his aunt agreed because she said, "Any fool would've guessed that right off, the Sun and Sword and Plate. Try again or stop wasting my time."

Luka bowed and said, "Your pardon, holy lady, but only the sun has been god-touched. The plate and... knife? The blade? They're ordinary."

"Ridiculous!" she snapped. "I use them every day. They've all been consecrated!"

"Maybe consecration isn't the same as being touched by a god, though," Arden put in. "If a priestess has dedicated an item to the goddess's service, that's not the same as the goddess herself touching it."

Aunt Gerra frowned for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps. I was assuming all truly holy things would look the same, but yes, there could be a differentiation there. Go on, then. What do you see? Both of you."

Arden pointed out two of the polished stone markers on her counting board, and one of her rings. "Not the whole thing, just this one piece." He pointed to a single curling strip of gold in the filigree design.

"Interesting." She held up the ring and frowned at it. "The gold must have been taken from some other object. More than one other object. I'll have to find out where it came from originally, before I was given it." She looked up at Luka once more and said, "So? What else, boy? Anything?"

Arden didn't see anything else and thought it was a trick, to see whether Luka would point out something at random. He didn't think Luka was that stupid, so Arden was surprised when he said, "There, these two dots on this painting."

Luka walked over to an illuminated painting on the wall opposite the broad, sunny window. It depicted Orlana and Baruno in balance, sun and moon, in a forest-girded meadow which shaded from day to night. He pointed out two of the tiny meadow flowers, which had been picked out in gold leaf. The shine of the polished metal in the sunlight from the window had nearly washed out the tiny sparks of god-glow on the dots, but now that Luka had pointed them out, Arden could see them too.

He nodded and said, "You've sharp eyes. Strange that it's just those two flowers, though."

"Different source of gold?" Arden asked. "Like the one curl in the ring?"

"Probably," Arden began, but his aunt interrupted him.

"In that case I doubt it was an accident." She stalked over and glared at the painting. "This was a gift from Jeron Ripavo, upon my elevation to office. A symbol of the natural harmony between Orlana and Baruno, he said."

[Continued on Next Rock...]

From:

[...Continued from Previous Rock]

Arden thought she was going to spit. Revered Lord Jeron Teronus Ripavo, high priest of Baruno in Cara and therefore in the Empire, had been feuding with Geralia's superior, the high priestess of Orlana, but very genteelly. No one would have thought anything amiss if he'd sent a handsome gift to the Revered Lady Mulana Shoraja Ilado's new second. The two temples had been sending each other gushing flattery in the form of expensive gifts for generations.

"Out! Out, both of you." She suddenly grabbed each of the men by the arm and bustled them all to the door. We've been summoned by the Emperor and we've kept him waiting long enough."

But when they were through the door and she slammed it behind them, she stopped right there in the hall and said, "I need you two to check every room in the temple. My brother can wait -- we need to know the place is safe from that sneaking louse!"

"Wait, what?" Arden's head was spinning and he was trying to figure out how to make the world slow down for a moment. "What are we looking for?"

"You didn't notice? Those two golden flowers your slave pointed out are shaped like eyes. That diseased rat has been spying on us, I'll wager an entire quarter's rents!"

==============

Better? A little? [hugz]

Angie

From:

Oooooooh you are an angel! That made me smile :D I love this fic, and I love where it's going and I'm going to have to go back and re-read it all sometime soon.

Thank you. Sorry I'm being so miserable. It just feels like I've been working on this thing forever (it has been WEEKS) and it's still crap and I have to hand it in soon. And I'm just losing the will to live!

From:

No, seriously, I understand. {{{}}} I had a project or two like that when I was in school. :/ Total empathy.

Angie

From:

What makes it worse is that it's SO BORING (its about documentation systems in museums, basically filling one in and then commenting on it). If it were an actual essay, where I could have thoughts and make an arguement it would be more interesting.

And, of course, if it were an essay I'd be able to tell if it's any good, because I know what a good essay sounds like and I know what a bad one is like. This? Haven't a clue. So it's like hitting my head against a brick wall.
I think I'm just going to reference it, tidy it up and bit and give up!

From:

It doesn't sound like something that would need a whole lot of creativity, or even particular insight. Boring, yes, but I'll bet you get an A on it. :D

Angie

From:

No, that's the problem. It's taking info out of books and applying it. It's tedious and basic and there must be more of a point to it than this. Ugh. I love museums, obviously or I wouldn't be doing the course, but I like the inventive parts, the research and design and education. Not this.

LOL! I don't think I'll do very well. But I did much better than expected on the last one, so at least I have marks in the bank to rely on!

From:

at least I have marks in the bank to rely on!

That always helps. [nodnod] I remember one quarter I was sick for almost two weeks and scrambling to catch up. I was taking a US History class and figured that, with the points I had, if I got an A on everything for the last three weeks or so of the class (which I should, since I'd gotten As on everything before that) I could afford to completely ignore this one project I'd missed and still get an A over all. I told the teacher that I'd made a decision not to turn in this project (it was a family tree sort of thing, which I'd done a bazillion times before anyway, so it's not like I'd have learned anything new) she was a bit taken aback, but my logic was sound and I did get an A in the class. It's nice to have enough points stored up to be able to make those kinds of calculations toward the end, though, when you need to. Whether you're missing something like I did, or just putting a single assignment into perspective.

Angie

From: