Apparently I cannot tell the difference between June and July. *sigh*

Music is too distracting. TV is okay because I'm used to ignoring it.

I do my best work after midnight. I get everybody else settled down and asleep, zone for a bit, go over what I wrote last and then just get lost in my head. I can knock out a hell of a lot of work from 12 - 4 in a way I can't during any other time of the day. I pay for it later, but that's most productive for me for some reason.

Thanks, Tink.

No other ideas? Anyone? Bueller?

I've looked, Helen, and there aren't any for me. The first few times someone sporfled about the ad being germane to a thread I went looking, and I've never found a single ad. Granted, I hate ads, but for some reason I have none.

I'm glad the store referrals are getting it done. I've been part of a site that grew too much to support itself, and it's not fun.

-Now that there is a woman in my life again, I will never ever clean my gun in the living room...
a) unless she is out of town
b) or at least in the other room...

codicil: the same goes for "polishing my staff"

Unregistered visitors, wandering through to check things out. I was up 'till after 6am today, and when I last checked the forums had between 20 and 30 visitors. That's a lot for that time of day, particularly since guests outnumbered members all night long.

Fanfic is a good thing. Well, not when it's badfic, but you know what I mean.

I think it comes about when someone is so taken with a universe and/or a set of characters that
they're inspired to answer the what ifs and explore different aspects that cannot or will not be explored in the original source material. Inspiring creativity is a good thing. Even the worst piece of grammatically painful, self-insertion riddled, cliched fic can still have flashes of genuine creativity and brilliance. Those flashes may be few and far between, but most fics have some tiny bit of something that can be seen as worthwhile. I do admire folks for actually putting pen to paper (finger to keyboard???) and actually writing something, an act which so many of us lack the fortitude to do.

I don't agree with the slash-bashing, honestly. While I can't personally see how Elmo/Grover or Jesus/Judas could be plausible, I'll congratulate you on your creativity and defend your right to experiment artistically. Considering how many original sources (books, movies, etc.) are male-centric, it makes sense that fans would explore the characters in different ways and combinations, regardless of gender. Besides, in many fandoms, the slashers are older and more mature, thus the slash fic is generally better written. Bandslash is dominated by young girls, but the grownups are writing most of the other slash out there. I know PhDs, professors, lawyers, scientists - lots of really smart, well educated, grown women - who write slash. It's good writing, too. Some of it is similar quality or better than the source. The original source sill wins, hands down, because that person created the universe and the characters, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that just because someone is published that their work can't stink. Look at the Anita Blake series, for example. It's devolved into polygamous porn, basically, so a good writer might be able to spin a plot that some readers would find more intriguing and compelling than the actual books. Ditto for JK Rowling, who is the most amazing world builder but who is not the most proficient or polished writer.

I think part of the disconnect is in thinking that slash=smut. On the surface, that seems true. There's a lot of porn out there, and slashers are not shy about creating and consuming it. However, in a less heteronormative culture, you'd expect a larger comfort zone with sex and sexuality. Believe it or not, there's a lot of slash out there that involves no sex at all. It's about the relationships, the way the characters interact.

I've never been moved to write any Dresden fanfic, and I doubt I ever will. There aren't any holes that need to be filled, y'know? We get such cool backstories, like with Thomas or Billy & Georgia's wedding. The books themselves don't wrap everything up in a little bow, but we don't have huge, agonizing cliffhangers unresolved either. Plus, knowing that the next book is only a year away makes the suspense tolerable. I don't feel the need to make it up for myself, because it will be along soon enough.

Besides, even though I support slash, I just cannot fathom Harry/Bob.

I've done a lot of beta work. I'd be willing to go back and forth with you a bit if you need someone to bounce things off of or test ideas on.