high in the crackmonkey's tree

Harry Potter and the Eagle of Truthiness by Christine Morgan.
Harry Potter/ Colbert Report crossover, G. A new DADA professor comes to Hogwart's. Wrong on so many levels.

This...must be read. By everyone. Everywhere. Props to makesmewannadie for the original rec.

I just stumbled across Seven hours down the spiral staircase by gabby_silang and have to rec it. Set post 1x22, primarily focusing on Duncan and how he's scrabbling to pull his life and his mind back together.

king_ghidorah issued a New Year's challenge: write a piece of original fiction 366 words in length (one for every day of 2004) and post it here. Mine is more like one and a half words for every day, but he says that's okay. (He knows how I get to talking and can't stop.)

( Dutiful Son )

Distraction wrote this in a previous post:

One of Mosca's stories that I wish she'd finish was about Giles trapping and torturing Angel for a day before staking him. The justification was that Giles was sick of Angel thinking that he was the only one who suffered because he loved Buffy. That and he had never gotten over Angelus killing Jenny. It's beautiful, I wish she'd finish it.

I wuold like to officially ask that you finish it. Angel needs to get his ass kicked. A lot.

I'm suggesting an addition to the Witness Protection Program. For those who aren't familiar, mosca has compiled a list of grammatical, style, and content offenses common to fanfic. I'm specifically suggesting an addendum to the section about characters crying.

If I have to read the phrase "a single tear rolled down her cheek" one more time, I may need to swat the author with a rolled-up newspaper. Repeatedly.

Folks, if your character is so moved by events that he or she responds with tears here's what happens: either they tear up just a little, their eyes get shiny, maybe a little moisture in the corners that seeps onto the side of the nose; or that first tear is followed by a few more. Only in that 1970's environmental PSA has there been a character with only one melancholy tear rolling stoically down his face. And FYI, that was actually glycerin.

That whole notion of "one tear escaping to illustrate the poignant depths of their feeling" is tired. Find some other way to describe their conflicted emotional state, maybe a tick or nervous gesture you've seen the character perform. Laura Innes has this great bit of business she inserts in Kerry Weaver's emotionally-charged scenes; look for something like that. Laughter is another emotional release valve; some characters might laugh innapropriately /bitterly/reflexively instead of crying. (Abby Lockharrt, anyone?) Think about that before you write the scene.

And get a beta reader.

< / end rant>