wiseheart | Party time again!

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Current Location: the virtual patry cellar
Current Music: whatever you want

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silly things

Party time again!

Hi folks! *waves*

Time is flying by, isn't it? It's that time of a year again - I'm getting older. In this case, I'm turning 55 on October 9, which used to be an important thing, back under the old regime. Women could retire at the age of 55 back then. So I've decided to ignore all that fantastic headway we've supposedly made towards democracy in the last two decades and enter my virtual retirement, blithley overlooking the fact that I'll have to work another 7 or 8 or only God knows how many years.

So, let's party! Last years virtual birthday party yielded 742 comments on 6 pages, which won't be easy to top, but we're good, aren't we? WE CAN DO IT! So, let's give it a try! In the recent years, it has always been great fun, so let's have fun again!

You're all cordially invited to help yourself to a slice of virtual Dobos Cake recipe - it's my absolute favourite, although I never managed to get it as good as my Garnny used to.

Cheers!

Note: The party will be closed on October 9, at midnight, sharp. Join us and have fun!

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Wow, my first chance to comment, and you're already a tenth of the way there! A happy early birthday to you! I come bearing chocolate cake. Do I see the posting of fiction snippets?

happy birthday and many more- sends virtual flowers and candy.

You do indeed. Interested on a gift snippet of your own? ;)

I'm lucky that this year October 9 falls on a Sunday, so I could start a good week earlier, on Saturday - meaning, I'll actually have the time to reply to the comments immediately, instead of days later.

Thank you. Here comes your gift snippet: a short excerpt from the single written chapter of "Director Jones", the prequel to the Virtual Season 2. I hope I'll get it posted in one piece, but if not, I'll post it as a chain of comments.

Let the Gwen-bashing begin!

Excerpt:

At first, they had all been too numb with grief and guilt to question Gwen’s dogged refusal to leave Jack’ side, but as time had gone on, Ianto felt his resentment towards her growing. By now, he was downright pissed. What gave her the right to usurp that position a Jack’s side? Didn’t she have a good, long-suffering man at home to attend to? A man who she supposedly loved so much that she would open the Rift, end the word – and kill Jack! – to bring him back? Why was she not at home, taking care of her boyfriend? Why did she keep glued to Jack’s side, effectively hindering the rest of the team to say their good-byes?

Was it guilt, for having practically led the rebellion that had ultimately caused Jack’s death? Or did she want to rub in their faces, especially in Ianto’s face, that she had such a special relationship with Jack?

After all, hadn’t Jack chosen her to accompany him when he’d gone out to face Abaddon?

For his part, Ianto thought that Jack had chosen Gwen because she was expendable. Torchwood would have had a hard time to go on without Tosh’s technical genius or Owen’s medical expertise… or even his, Ianto’s extensive knowledge about the Archives. Not to mention the fact that without him, they’d never be able to gain access to Headquarters’ digital database. He was the only one who knew all the codes and passwords.

But what had Gwen ever contributed, in all her time working for Torchwood, except pissing off the police in her lame attempts to play liaison and thus making cooperation with the local authorities even more complicated? As if Jack’s arrogance hadn’t caused enough problems in the first place…

Of course, Ianto readily admitted that he wasn’t entirely without prejudice when it came to Gwen-bloody-Cooper (as Suzie had so adequately nicknamed her). Frankly, it would have been hard, to be fair to someone who considered him either her personal servant or simply part of the furniture. And then there were her less than subtle attempts to get into Jack’s pants.

Ianto was an old-fashioned guy in the heart of his hearts. He believed in honesty, fidelity, and commitment. He could not understand why someone with a long-term partner – who worshipped the ground she was walking on – felt it necessary to cheat on said partner. And yet Gwen had been shagging Owen (until Diane’s appearance, after which Owen had come to his senses and dropped her like a hot potato) and did her best – or would it be her worst? – to crawl into Jack’s bed, too. Had tried her damnedest since she’d first set foot into the Hub.

Yay! :)
I noticed the posts you made to SH - but hadn't got as far as reading the snippets and replying - the last few weeks have been quite crazy, but things seem to be settling down and I'm digging back through emails slowly (but there are always new ones).

This reminds me - I found a file from 2004 with a page of story about Firiel that I don't remember writing at all. It is very rough and, well, I feel that my writing has improved a lot since then, but if you like I could try and tidy it up and post it as a birthday present for you. :)

The ironic thing was that Ianto knew for the fact that Jack had never touched Gwen that way. Jack had respected Gwen’s relationship with Rhys, way more than Gwen herself. But that didn’t make Ianto feel any better. It seemed only to prove Owen’s point: that he had only been a part-time shag for Jack.

Would he otherwise had fallen for the other, the real Jack Harkness as hard as a schoolboy at his first crush? During the last week Tosh had found the time to tell him everything that had happened in the past. She felt that he had the right to know, and Ianto was grateful, even though it broke his heart.

There had doubtlessly been a great deal of hero worship on their Jack’s part, and there could be no doubt that the real Captain Jack Harkness most likely deserved it. He had been a hero. But that didn’t change the fact that Jack had only returned to their time because duty called.

He had not come back for Ianto. He had possibly completely forgotten about Ianto’s very existence.

And now he was lying in the morgue, dead, shielded by Gwen from everyone else, and Ianto couldn’t even say his farewells. It was almost too much to bear. Losing Jack, now that he had finally begun to overcome the loss of Lisa, the loss of all his friends at Canary Wharf…

Jack had given him purpose, after he had lost what was still there from Lisa. What was he supposed to do now, that Jack was gone, too?

He took Jack’s greatcoat from the coat rack behind the desk (he had advanced from the main Hub area to cleaning the office, not that it would have needed cleaning, just to occupy himself with some blessedly mindless task), and buried his face in the thick wool. It still held Jack’s unique scent, those blasted fifty-first century pheromones that could make him weak-kneed, even now.

He didn’t even realise when his tears had started to fall.

Oh, don't worry! They'll be posted anyway, once they're properly written, and I'll post update alerts to SH, so you haven't missed anything.

But the Firiel story would be nice. You could post it to

edhellondawards, so that people would have something else than just my stuff to read. ;)

Thank you very much for the present! :D

Ooh, very interesting!
Now I'm really intrigued as to why it is known as the fForsaken Inn - it seems to be an odd name to give a place.
I love the way that you show so much and hint at all the history and other stories around the edge. Plus what has happened before to the characters and what is going to happen afterwards (although the final end is inevitable)

Yes please!

I'll try to post on my journal about the party and ask people to come your way.

And it even rhymes! Go figure. Anyway, this one is for

aviv_b, featuring Jenny, the Doctor's daughter, from the as-yet unposted sequel to "A Big Fat Torchwood Wedding".

Excerpt:

“Speaking of which,” Jack said, “what are you doing here?”

“And flying a starship of Raxacoricofallapatorian design, at that,” Trevor added, eyeing the crashed vessel with a manic gleam in his eyes not even his glasses could fully conceal. “This little darling seems to be the same design as the one that crashed into the Big Ben, back in 2006 – although perhaps a more advanced model.”

“Really?” Jack, who hadn’t been present by that event, asked with interest.

Trevor nodded. “The similarities aren’t that obvious for the naked eye, but I was part of the engineering team that studied the Slitheen ship at Torchwood London. This is definitely Raxacoricofallapatorian design.”

“And so we’ve reached another interesting question,” Jack said. “How would a human girl from the future come to a contemporary Raxacoricofallapatorian ship?”

“I got it on the planet Udrani, in the Brineka Cluster,” Jenny explained matter-of-factly. “My old shuttle was destroyed when I helped the local Itiyri to fend off a Maseeth invasion. They found they owed me, so they organized for me a ship I could operate on my own.”

“You’re a hired gun then?” Jack asked with a frown. “Some kind of mercenary? That’s what you do for a living?”

The girl laughed, heartily and delightedly like a child. “Of course not, silly! I’m just a traveller. I love travelling! There are always planets to save, civilizations to rescue, terrible creatures to defeat… and running. Usually, there’s a lot of running involved. That’s the best part of it!”

“Sounds familiar,” Jack commented with a strangely wistful smile. “So, have you been running from the Maseeth – whatever those are – when you ended up here?”

“No,” the girl replied, suddenly deadly serious. “From the Xathian Alliance.”

“Another thing I never heard of,” Mickey commented. “You must have travelled beyond the well-trodden paths, love.”

The girl gave him a flat look. “Be glad you never ran into them. They’re horrible people,” she answered. “The worst plague that had ever swept across that pert of the Universe. In fact, perhaps the worst plague ever.”

Jack, Mickey and Trevor exchanged doubtful looks. All three of them had faced Daleks and Cybermen – even both at the same times on occasion – and so they had a hard time to imagine anything that would be worse than those.

On the other hand, as Jack liked to say, it was a big universe. Not even he, in all his years as a Time Agent – or as the Doctor’s companion – could have seen all that was out there.

Hmm... I don't think I can beat that! Except... pirates beat ninja, do they beat knights, too?

ooh, very interesting. I wonder what she is up to!
This leaves so many questions about how the characters ended up here and what is going to happen. All the details make it seem really anchored into the historical period (so much more than the actual show ;) )

I'm not sure. But I bet dragons beat all... don't they?

Hm... foiled again! Arthur (that Arthur, not Merlin's) only masters fairies and unicorns, no dragons.

Buuuut... water beats dragon's fire, doesn't it?

It's a canon name. Apparently, this was the last known place on the East Road during the time of the Ring War - beyond it, the maps became extremely vague. It isn't expressly stated that it was abandoned and derelict, that's my invention. I thought it would be so, since who would risk running an inn out there, in the wilderness.

This is an additional chapter I'm going to insert between the already posted Chapters 3 and 4 because I felt that the speed was too rushed and too many things were unexplained, so I decided to add a chapter and hopefully iron out the unevenness of the story.

I enjoy reading the snippets :)

Cool! I'll try and get it edited into postable form this week. :)

Elena can be tentatively identified with Elaine de Corbenic, and since this is a very well-known part of the legends, I won't spoil anyone's fun if I tell you that she was told she would have a very special child from Lancelot. That would be Galahad. Of course, Lancelot was already besotted with Guinevere, she and her lady-in-waiting, who was a powerful sorceress, had to use... erm... slightly illegal methods to make the prophecy true.... *g*

Very interesting. It certainly makes sense that it would be abandoned - after all there doesn't seem to be many people living anywhere near it, or travelling. :)

I should read or reread the chapters you ave posted - I can't remember whether I have read them in the past (brain is been very fuzzy about thinks atm)

Here comes a snippet from the Umbar fic, that will eventually center around Imrahil's oldest sister. You might find a hint to a shared OC in it, too, although he won't actually appear. Five bonus points if you guess who it is.

Excerpt:

‘Twas the year 2968, in the Third Age of Arda, and – save from the occasional Corsair raid along Gondor’s coasts – Umbar had known relative peace for more than eighty years. At least where Gondor was considered. It had been less than fifteen years since the inland areas have been severely raided by the forces of Bakshir. The second-largest Haradric realm had even besieged Umbarlond itself, and it had taken First Consul Herucalmo great personal sacrifices – namely to send his own daughter to the kha-kan’s bed as a concubine – to placate the enraged Haradric warlord and persuade him to take his booty and go home.

That had led to a lasting peace between the two realms… at least until lately. For rumours had reached Lord Herucalmo that Kha-kan Isfhandijár had died in the previous year and his legitimate sons had driven out and killed all his concubines and their children. Which meant that Rothinzil was most likely dead, and they no longer had a supporter in the kha-kan’s house – whoever might be filling that particular office right now. That also meant that Umbar as a whole and Lord Herucalmo himself needed another strong ally to better their chances against their Haradric overlords.

******************
Lord Herucalmo was the one responsible for defences and warfare, while Second Consul Manwendil was supposed to care for trade negotiations and civilian affairs. It had been time-honoured tradition since the days of the Ancient Realm that Umbar would be ruled by a pair of consuls; mostly, yet not exclusively men of high birth and standing, as Ancient Númenórean right allowed a female child to follow her father in power if she was the firstborn.

These nobly-born rulers counted back their ancestry to the King’s Men of the Second Age, the ones called the Black Númenóreans by their Gondorian cousins. Never had one of them proclaimed him- or herself as the King or the Queen of Umbar, even though they’d considered themselves the true representatives of the last legal King of Númenor, regarding the Heirs of Nimruzîr (Elendil) as usurpers. Legend even spoke of some surviving relatives of the Line of Elros (or Ar-Gimilzôr, as they preferred to mention their ancestor) among the local nobles who claimed the governship.

Whether that had been true or not, no-one could tell all those millennia later. In any case, the overlords of the Haven had created a system that of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor not unlike, claiming to rule “in the King's absence”. By the King they meant Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, of course, whose rule they glorified, enshrouding the dark events of the past and magnifying the power and greatness of Westernesse in memory. Oddly enough, this attitude had led to the birth of a cult that foretold Ar-Pharazôn’s triumphant return from the West. Followers of that cult expected the King to reclaim the throne of the unified Reams in Exile – all three of them – in some distant future.

The current rules of the Realm, Lords Herucalmo and Manwendil, did not subscribe to this messianistic cult; nor did they join to that of the Death Eater, the revival of which they had watched with some consternation for quite some time by now. They were warlords and merchants, respectively, and did not want to tighten the leash binding them to Agannâlo – or to the Haradric realms – more than it would be inevitable. They had to consider their moves very carefully, though, for the number of Zigûr’s spies had been slowly yet steadily increasing in the recent years. They could almost literally feel the iron grip of Zigûr tightening around them. ‘Twas high time to seek out alternate routes that would not bind them quite so tightly to the fate of Agannâlo.

Very interesting - with all the magic that we've seen in the show it seems that making people fall in love (or lust) or controlling them is very common. It will be interesting to see how you tell this story line.
Plus much kudos for bringing in bits from the traditional mythology and making them work in the context of the show. :D

Hehe... no idea, honestly.

But I put up a Merlin snippet for you, just for fun. Roll down and find it. ;)

I always loved the Arthurian legends. Strangely enough, the fact that they're so twisted out of recognition in the show doesn't bother me too much. Perhaps because Arthur and Merlin are so cute. *g*

As for magic being used to control people - in the end it all comes down to power, doesn't it? This is just a different kind of it.

I'd suggest to wait until I've finished this filler chapter - the whole thing would make so much more sense that way. But it's up to you, of course. :)

So sad! Poor Ianto!
I love your characterisations in your Torchwood stories - I really like the idea that Jack took Gwen with her because she was the only expendable one.

Makes sense - especially as I have loads of stories to read - I never seem to catch up! :D

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Party time again!

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Thanks, and your gift snippet...

Re: The Hobbit film

... and the second part of it...

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Re: Birthday Present the Second

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Birthday Gift the Fifth!

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Re: The Hobbit film

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Your wish is my command!

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Re: ... and the second part of it...

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