elisi's humble abode

( Do not click on this if you are in feeling in any way positive towards s8. No really. )

Finally, Barb is being awesome again and has decided to host a ficathon (see linked post for more details):

NERTZ TO YOU, JOSS WHEDON! FICATHON

Rules: Write a story that addresses something that drives you nuts about S8. It can be any length, any pairing, any characters, any rating. It can be a story about Angel that takes into account that he's got a son he cares for. It can be a story about Giles being a competent, kick-ass researcher. It can be a story about Buffy being an effective leader. It can be a story that just has good pacing and a plot that makes sense. It can be shippy, or it can be gen. It can be comedy or tragedy, adventure or character study, kinky or vanilla, canon-compliant or wildly AU. It can be anything, as long as it takes an aspect of S8 that you don't like, and does it better.

(Disabling comments cause this is a rant and I'm not going to discuss it.)

I said that I was planning an Angel essay, but won't now write it. However, I do want to share what would have been the introductory quote. Go read the whole post:

People say Angel's a hero, but he's not really a hero. He's just a guy, you know? Just a regular guy, and it's like someone came up to him and handed him a box full of dog shit with a card that says, "Here's your life. Deal." And then he does. He's a victim of circumstance. He didn't do anything to deserve the things he has to go through, but he gets through them because he has to, and he makes the most of it. He builds himself a family and creates a place for himself to belong in, and while he's trying to save himself from his shitty destiny that he had no choice about, he's saving other people along the way. And I know this, because I'm one of the people that he saved. So maybe he is a hero, but he's an accidental hero, and that's why I love him. Because he's not perfect. Because he's got problems, like everyone else in the world, like me. Because he doesn't give up, even when there's absolutely no hope. Because he has days when he doesn't want to get out of bed but he does it anyway. Because he'd never just go off somewhere and die, but he's so willing to die for other people if they need him.
girlpire: How Angel Saved My Life.

~~~

Now the icon... I had ruuger make it for me a few years ago (to go with my matching one of Spike), because I was working on a fic, and wanted icons. To those that remember 'Maybe Someday' this was to be the sequel - a long and plotty epic about Angel, Spike and Illyria trying to take down W&H (with plenty of cameos by Buffy et al.). I have about 50,000 words written down, but since I reckoned it'd be about that much again I began focussing on other stories, and it just got left behind. But since this sort-of-NaNo thing is going rather well at the moment, I began thinking that maybe I should get back to it. Because it's a good story, and I'm very proud of it. Not least because it has actual, real plot at its heart, which hardly ever happens with me. (It's also the reason I never started posting it - I knew I'd have to have everything down so I could keep things straight. ETA: Had a look through some of it and... I'd forgotten how ruthless my Angel is. And how he kinda breaks my heart at the same time.)

Umm, this turned into a whole writing talk. Sorry. My mind is a bit meandering at the moment.