lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (ack writing)
Mischief Managed (Ishew) is SUPPOSEDLY finished.  Complete.  Except the last scene needs to be completely torn up and re-written.  Fortunately, I do know what it needs to be; I just need to make it so.  All about atmosphere.  Then the beta-process can be done.

I also plan to be posting the Hellsing dungeon scene (which will will will be named) quite soon as well.

Oh, and I also updated the nightmare-story She Had the Perfect Life on fanfictionDOTnet for the first time in over a year.  Ouch.  ...Lily and James will be getting married in the next chapter, I think.  Did not mention in the author notes how hard that will be to write, ahaha.  ...I just cannot feel Lily/James after having done Lily/Severus.

But it is nice to get (totally undeserving) reviews again.
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Hellsing - animated motto)
Instead of finishing one of my million WIPs, I started a totally new drabble.

At least I finished it in the same sitting.

Yep, Hellsing, and yep, Integra-focused.  Briefly, it was to vent after having a horrible dream. 

Title: Boggarts in Sleep
Word count: 353
Betaed:  Vaguely.  Didn't actually send it away, but got a couple of opinions on specific parts.
Rating: G

 
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Hellsing - Integra/Alucard)
Oof.  Last night I tackled my dungeon scene - went all the way through it and re-wrote everything that needed to be re-written, the flashback-bits in particular (which are now all stream-of-consciousy and outside-of-the-box), and I was actually focusing so hard on all of it that I gave myself a headache, in the end.  But it wasn't a bad headache and everything was productive.  I actually have no gauge at all of how much the flashback-bits suck, because I just cannot read the whole thing all over again right now (just too intense, man), and of course they depend on all the set-up that comes before them to make them work. 

SO I have sent it off to the beta. 

...And now I find myself almost uncertain of what to work on next.  Oh dear.  Too many things competing at once.  Nightmare-story, If Sirius Had Won (which I recently opened again and actually figured out what the closing scene will be - now just to tie up the threads between what I have now and the end)....
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Hellsing - Integra)
Because I really, really, really need to post some kind of writing-thing.  And I actually showed this to a friend (not my beta) who responded very nicely. 

So, a drabble I just sort of jotted down one afternoon, although actually I did word it very carefully, trying to impart the exact meaning and feeling I wanted - *shrugs a little*  Don't know exactly how well it worked. 

I have another drabble too (that's fit for posting, anyway), and I'll probably put it up here too if I get some good any feedback to this.  HA, though that isn't likely.

So.

Title: Not for Him (OMEGA, a title)
Fandom: Hellsing
Word Count: 219
Betaed? No.
Summary:  A moment - not A Moment, mind you, but just a moment - between Walter and Integra.  No romance anywhere whatsoever, how original.  I'd like to let the reader choose her age - it's fairly obvious about how old she is.  There's a margin of a few years.

Not for Him

Walter waited silently by the door, watching as Integra stood before the full-length mirror.  She was staring into it as she adjusted her ascot and cross, her gloved fingers moving so slowly it almost appeared as though they were in a trance. 

“Walter,” she said, speaking very softly as her gaze never moved from the mirror, and he glanced at her face as he barely saw her lips move.  “What do you think my father would say, if he could see me now?” 

He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped; the honest answer that he believed was that it would be impossible for her father to recognize her.  But he couldn’t say that – what else could he say, that would somehow reassure her – perhaps that her father would be proud of her, ultimately (if he ever got his voice back), that she was serving Hellsing so well –

Integra moved her head very slightly to glance at him, her fingers still touching the perfectly straight tie, and she had never looked more emotionless. 

Then she dropped her hands and moved away from the mirror, passing through the door – saying almost idly as she did, though the detachment in her voice made the skin on the back of his neck prickle:

“That’s all right.  I’m not doing it for him anyway.”

lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Default)

So.  This is for my own benefit - partly driven by an impulse to write it for myself, and also to make it public so I know that other people can see this, so they know I do, actually, have a higher standard in writing than I show in the funeral scene.

Because it was v. interesting - when I first wrote and finished the funeral scene (which was all done in a relatively short amount of time), I was in love with it.  Not all of it, but I thought the dialogue, particularly, was brilliant.  Then I typed it up, started editing, got it back from the beta's - and it had faded a lot.  Then, finally, the last time I was going to read it over before posting - I started reading, and realized in horror that the introductory paragraphs, with all the description, were downright awful

And of course, I could have decided not to post it after all, and keep it back and work on re-writing it - but I had just been through two rounds of editing with my beta, and I was just so anxious to get my first Hellsing fic (and some kind of story at all, since it’s been ages since I’ve posted anything) out. 

But now I’m going to make a list here of what I specifically find wrong with my scene, along with a list of what I think is decent.  I think this will be very valuable to myself later on, so I can look back and see what I valued and did not value in my writing, and how soon I feel this when I write something.

What is less than perfect )
What is decent )
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Hellsing - Integra)

And now, finally, for the first time this year (and the first time in...how many months?), there is a post with actual story.

It's not original, nor Harry Potter fic.  It is for the new fandom that I mentioned in my last few entries - Hellsing. 

I now have...five official Hellsing scenes that are in various stages of progress.  There are three or four other unofficial Hellsing scenes, that I doubt very much will ever be made public - maybe only here, just for the writing value, or to my fellow Hellsing friend.  The unofficial ones rely too much on the details that I've created around what we have in canon, and some OCs of my own.

But, the first one that I started is finally in the final draft, after going through two rounds of editing with my beta, not to mention loads on the side by myself. 

And of course, I'm extremely eager to make it public, as it's been so long that I have posted anything new.  The next thing that will be posted here, after this, is the dungeon scene, which I re-wrote heavily the last couple of days and now stands at a little over eight thousand words.  (And I love it to death.) 

So, as I decided to do before I post any Hellsing fic - I will make a quick introductory summary, so anyone who has never heard of Hellsing will be able to read a fic without difficulty:

Hellsing: A secret organization in Britain that’s purpose is to defend God, queen, and country from vampires.  Its exact mission is “In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation.  Amen.”  The simpler motto is “Search and destroy.”  There is also an Order of Protestant Knights, among which the current leader of Hellsing always has a place.

Sir Integral Wingates Hellsing: Current leader of the Hellsing organization.  Her mother was Indian, but died when she was young, and her father (Arthur Hellsing) died when she was thirteen, and left everything to her.  Only a few days after his passing, his brother, Richard, attempted to kill Integra so the organization would fall to him.  As she tried to save herself, Integra – more by accident than intention – unleashed a very powerful vampire, Alucard, who had been locked in the dungeons underneath the Hellsing house.  He killed Richard’s henchmen, but it is implied that Integra shot Richard herself. 

Walter: Hellsing family retainer, but once a very valuable member of the organization.  Nicknamed the “Angel of Death,” his special weapon is monofilament wires, assumedly made out of adamantine, that he is able to throw around (like a lasso, but so much cooler) guns, bodies, or necks, to restrain or threaten or decapitate or whatever else he likes.

Alucard: Five-hundred-year old, extremely powerful vampire, who rather enjoys killing.  He is bound to the Hellsing family, and his powers are controlled by different levels of “control art restrictions.”  He can release some of them himself, but Integra is the ultimate authority, and only she can release the highest levels.

For more information on these characters, I highly recommend this page of profiles.  Each big picture is a link that leads to more information.

Finally – yes, this, and most of my Hellsing one-shots, is a crossover with Harry Potter.  It’s very slight in this one – but basically, Integra goes to Hogwarts (and was sorted into Slytherin).  This takes place during the winter holidays of her third year.

Title: The funeral scene (will probably be changed later)
Fandom: Hellsing
Word Count: 2,283

The funeral scene )
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (quote for book reviews)
A couple things - writing update, and a book review.  Not really SOS, but it must be reviewed all the same.

In the past ten days...well, I wrote some more of that second Hellsing one-shot, coming very close to the end, though I am still heavily dissatisfied with it.  Then I started - and finished - a third Hellsing one-shot.  It's the written perspective of the scene in which Integra meets Alucard.  I used a written transcript of it from the anime, that a very awesome friend made for me, so the dialogue and action is extremely canon - except in a couple places where I deliberately disregard it.  But that cannot be helped.

This third scene - hereafter known as "The dungeon scene" until I find a more official name for it - was written, like the others, in longhand, and will be typed up shortly - but I estimate it to be at least five thousand words. 

I am extremely, extremely pleased with it.

The beginning, it is true, is iffy, but I believe I can clear it up, because it grows to be very, very good.  It ended up going a little farther than I originally planned, but I think it's okay, and I definitely do like the ending.

After writing it, I realized all the more that the second one - simply known, right now, as "Walter vs. Integra," although it is not at all about them set against each other - they merely have a conversation, directly after The funeral scene - I realized that this second one will definitely have to be re-written heavily.  I think I can still salvage something of it, though.  We will see.

Meanwhile, I have gotten back the beta-ing on The funeral scene, and expect to make all the corrections very soon.  However, as there are many of them, I want to send it again to her for a second round, if she doesn't mind.

Now, the book review:

Profiles in Courage: It was not chosen by me to read for pleasure, I'll say that.  But, considering how it is about politics, it was not very bad at all for me - not even that hard to read.  The majority of it is a study on different United States senator, from John Quincy Adams to Robert Taft, who displayed astounding courage in their office.  Some parts were quite interesting, even - nearly all were persuasive.  I was reminded how Massachusetts is one of the most amusing states - it was started by Puritans and later condemned by them, then actually passed a law declaring it would be a criminal act if someone followed a federal law (the Fugitive Slave Act) - and now all the present gay issues. 

A few quotes, now:

"Necessity compels me to speak true rather than pleasing things....  I should indeed like to please you; but I prefer to save you, whatever be your attitude toward me."

My favorite profile was the one of Thomas Hart Benton.  He enchanted me from the beginning by his apparent idiosyncrasy of saying "sir" every few words.  Such as:

[When asked if he had known Andrew Jackson] "Yes, sir, I knew him, sir; General Jackson was a very great man, sir.  I shot him, sir.  Afterward he was of great use to me, sir, in my battle with the United States Bank."

And this, as well:

(The leathery quality of his skin was in part the result of a daily brushing with a horsehair brush "because, sir, the Roman gladiators did it, sir."  When asked if the brush was truly rough, he would roar: "Why, sir, if I were to touch you with that brush, sir, you would cry murder, sir!")

And lastly:

"When Benton heard of Foote's threat that he intended to write a small book in which l'affaire Benton would play a leading role, Benton replied: "Tell Foote that I shall write a very large book in which he will not figure at all!" (And he did.)
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (writing in general)
I finished my first Hellsing scene.  It stands at 2,234 words, and will be posted here after it is finished at the beta's.

I am very, very pleased with how it looks now, and how I started and finished it in less than a week.  Extremely encouraging for my confidence in my writing in general.
lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (writing in general)
I'm writing again.

Not an original, nor the usual Harry Potter fic.  No, actually, I've wandered into a completely different fandom, one called Hellsing.  It's a manga/anime, which is completely OOC for me.  However, I have learned that just because something is an anime, does not mean everything about it sucks (in my opinion).  Like the characters.  There's a couple (or three, I suppose) characters in Hellsing that are some of the most fascinating fictional characters, to me, I've ever encountered.

Along with discovering the wonders of the characters in Hellsing, I've made a new friend, [profile] givemethechild.  This excellent friend simultaneousy became a Hellsing fangirl, and we are having a wonderful time inspiring each other with scenes and fanart.  She has encouraged me incredibly, so now I am actually planning a number of Hellsing one-shots, of many different scenes.  At least one will actually be a written perspective of a canon scene that appears in the anime - dialogue will be word-for-word.

What's truly remarkable, is that I've actually begun writing one of these scenes.  Right now its only name is The funeral scene, and it's been written longhand, on loose sheafs of paper.  These will only be typed up when they are finished.  ...Well, on second thought, they'll be typed up as soon as possible to back them up as a saved copy, but not a word will be changed until I've finished writing the scene.

However, concerning my other ongoing WIPs - I have great hopes for the upcoming Christmas break, as a chance to work on everything - the Hellsing scenes, the Lily/Severus one-shot, If Sirius Had Won, and, of course, nightmare-story.

...Speaking of nightmare-story: once I finish this scene that I'm on now, I will post an update not only on my thread on the boards, but also another chapter on fanfictionDOTnet.  I know it's been far too long since I've put up another chapter there.

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lavivi: scan from Hellsing manga of Integra and Alucard (Default)
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April 2009

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