Quote of the Day

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
---William Somerset Maugham

...

This would be one of the reasons I don't really have OTPs. I'm not saying that lasting love is impossible, by any means, just that I understand how relationships can fade over time.

The other reason I don't have OTPs, of course, is because I think the idea of each person having only one person in the entire rest of the world with whom he or she can find 'true' happiness and love is A) scary B) based on a faulty understanding of human nature, and C) likely to lead to lazy and easily broken relationships. I think that people can be happy on their own, or with any number of potential partners, provided that they're willing to work at their relationships. That, I find, is a much more cheerful view than the idea that if you screw up with your One True Love, you're sunk for all eternity.

Quote of the Day

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
---William Somerset Maugham

...

This would be one of the reasons I don't really have OTPs. I'm not saying that lasting love is impossible, by any means, just that I understand how relationships can fade over time.

The other reason I don't have OTPs, of course, is because I think the idea of each person having only one person in the entire rest of the world with whom he or she can find 'true' happiness and love is A) scary B) based on a faulty understanding of human nature, and C) likely to lead to lazy and easily broken relationships. I think that people can be happy on their own, or with any number of potential partners, provided that they're willing to work at their relationships. That, I find, is a much more cheerful view than the idea that if you screw up with your One True Love, you're sunk for all eternity.

[Fic] "Bluebell" -- original

This is the story I wrote as a holiday present a few years ago. It's called "Bluebell," because it's about a girl named Bluebell, and titles have never been my strong point. It's kind of a backwards retelling of one version of The Firebird -- not the version with Koschei the Deathless and the stone statues, but the one where the prince (who's the youngest of three sons, naturally) has to find three treasures with the aid of a talking fox, and he keeps screwing up, because otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story. I like the story, but certain aspects of it began to bug me on a closer reading. I retold it to get those issues clear on paper.

So here we go. Please forgive the excessive parentheses; this was a stylistic experiment as well as my first serious attempt at something light and semi-fluffy. I should warn you, though, that I failed to some extent in my quest for good cheer -- there are some potentially disquieting parts of the story, and the philosophical questions (i.e., the problem of free will and a discussion of the ethics of assissted suicide) that crept in behind the scenes never really get resolved.

( Bluebell )

I did post this story previously in a divided form, but it was always intended to be a single story (despite the 'chapter' divisions) and I have more captive readers now than I did a year and a half ago, and I wanted to give people a clear idea of what I do when I retell fairy tales, so... *grin*

[Fic] "Bluebell" -- original

This is the story I wrote as a holiday present a few years ago. It's called "Bluebell," because it's about a girl named Bluebell, and titles have never been my strong point. It's kind of a backwards retelling of one version of The Firebird -- not the version with Koschei the Deathless and the stone statues, but the one where the prince (who's the youngest of three sons, naturally) has to find three treasures with the aid of a talking fox, and he keeps screwing up, because otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story. I like the story, but certain aspects of it began to bug me on a closer reading. I retold it to get those issues clear on paper.

So here we go. Please forgive the excessive parentheses; this was a stylistic experiment as well as my first serious attempt at something light and semi-fluffy. I should warn you, though, that I failed to some extent in my quest for good cheer -- there are some potentially disquieting parts of the story, and the philosophical questions (i.e., the problem of free will and a discussion of the ethics of assissted suicide) that crept in behind the scenes never really get resolved.

( Bluebell )

I did post this story previously in a divided form, but it was always intended to be a single story (despite the 'chapter' divisions) and I have more captive readers now than I did a year and a half ago, and I wanted to give people a clear idea of what I do when I retell fairy tales, so... *grin*

[Fic] "Emerald" -- original

And this was my first attempt to retell The Firebird, which I lated expanded into Bluebell. You can see how the story changed as it grew -- among other things, 'the Prince' became Ivan, and thus a much more realized character, and the princess turned from Emerald, a very self-assured young woman, into Bluebell, who's a bit younger, less fixed in her views, and much less of a channel for my voice and issues.

Apparently, the longer the story the less didactic I get.

( Emerald )

[Fic] "Emerald" -- original

And this was my first attempt to retell The Firebird, which I lated expanded into Bluebell. You can see how the story changed as it grew -- among other things, 'the Prince' became Ivan, and thus a much more realized character, and the princess turned from Emerald, a very self-assured young woman, into Bluebell, who's a bit younger, less fixed in her views, and much less of a channel for my voice and issues.

Apparently, the longer the story the less didactic I get.

( Emerald )

[Fic] "Solstice" -- Harry Potter

This is another of the ficlets for thirtyforthree, and as such has Ginny/Harry/Draco implications, though for most of the ficlet they aren't in a threesome. It contains a bit of mild sexual innuendo, but no other warnings.

( Solstice )

You know, it's nice to have some pre-written things to post when I'm madly busy. :-)

[Fic] "Solstice" -- Harry Potter

This is another of the ficlets for thirtyforthree, and as such has Ginny/Harry/Draco implications, though for most of the ficlet they aren't in a threesome. It contains a bit of mild sexual innuendo, but no other warnings.

( Solstice )

You know, it's nice to have some pre-written things to post when I'm madly busy. :-)