Soledad's Journal

We had the water pipes changed behind the toilet. It took them 8.5 hours to go through all 10 storeys + the ground floor, and it was messy. I won't go into detail. But it is - hopefully - done now. *fingers crossed*

I had very little time for anything else today, but I squeezed a tiny bit of crafting into the morning, before the chaos would break out. So, the deep sea page now has a snail house and a starfish, both removable and reattachable with the help of press studs, the latter decorated with tiny pearls. On a day like this, I consider that a success.

Oh, and by the way, Chapter 9 of "Kindred Spirits" has been posted to my AO3 page and to hiddenrealms. Have fun reading!

After all the excitement of this week we decided to take it easy today. Which meant telly. Mum watched the Big Catholic Event (TM), aka the Eucharistic Congress, which lasted, oh, about three and a half to four hours. I watched TGBBO, which took one hour less, as they only showed two episodes of the 2020 season at once. A good thing it was on one of the few channels I can receive on my little old telly.

We had leftovers, so there was no need to cook. I went through some papers in the study and threw away a lot of them. Then I hopped down to Lidl to get some mineral water and bread, since the little poppy seed knots are all gone by now. Then I went to Pinterest for ideas; I want to make some mitten-shaped Christmas three ornaments out of my leftover felts, aside from the popsickle stuff. And now it's 7pm again. Where does the time go when you've got nothing to do?

Well, at least I started typing up some of the Charmed/KtE story I've sporadically worked on during last week. It's still a very disjointed one; at least seven parts of it already exist, but they aren't real chapters, and while I have a fairly firm idea where I want to go with it, it's like a disfunctional jigsaw puzzle - the parts just don't want to fit!

Which isn't really surprising, considering that the whole thing came to me in the form of disjointed scenes while on a 11-day bus trip across France, back in 2007.

Kindred Spirits
by Soledad

Rating: Teens and above, for some canon-compliant violence.
Author’s note: I’ve taken some creative freedom considering the lifestyle of Coptic nuns. After all, the one appearing in “Poltergeist: the Legacy” was supposed to be an Anchorite, too, which didn’t hinder her in going to San Francisco just like that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Part Six

With deliberate slowness, to give Vicki the chance to notice him, Henry entered her living room. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she could feel his presence. Sharing blood did enable people to do that, even if only one of them was a vampire.

Vicki was sitting on the couch, not doing anything in particular. Vampire vision being what it was – meaning that he could actually see colours in the darkness, as long as there was at least some light, which was always the case in a big city – made possible for him to see the redness of her eyes and the tracks of dried tears on her cheeks.

“Victoria, I am sorry,” he said quietly.
( Read more... )

Kindred Spirits
by Soledad

Rating: Teens and above, for some canon-compliant violence.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Part Four

This was Nahir’s first visit to the Royal Ontario Museum, and he had to admit he was impressed, despite all the wonders he had already seen in his unnaturally long life. Despite the "Crystal," the multimillion-dollar expansion to the Museum, the canted walls of which did not touch the sides of the existing heritage buildings but were used to close the envelope between the new form and the existing walls. He simply found the new building ugly and ill-fitting in its traditional surroundings. But he’d observed in the many, many years of his existence that people liked to break the harmony of their surroundings, just to get attention, no matter what kind. Especially those who considered themselves artists.
( Read more... )

Kindred Spirits
by Soledad

Rating: Teens and above, for some canon-compliant violence.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Part Two

Coreen Fennel was overwhelmed by a feeling that – under different circumstances – she’d find unworthy any self-respecting Goth: she was fed up to the eyeteeth with the supernatural. But that was understandable, she argued with herself. Being possessed by a demon could do that, even to the most devout Goth.
( Read more... )

Yes, I know the way to Hell is paved with them, but sometimes we need to make a list, right? Okay, admittedly, mine isn't actually a list...

Anyway, since I'm working on The Book of Mazarbul again, I needed some inspiration for caves and Dwarf stuff and so on. Therefore I managed to dig out The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce, gifted upon me by my dear and generous friend lhun_dweller many, many years ago.

I only ever read the first part - in German translation, back in the late 1980s. To my everlasting shame, I have to admit that the trilogy has been gathering dust in my book cabinet ever since it arrived. Oh, I intended to read it right away. But you know how it is - there's always something more urgent to do, to read, to write... Yet now that we have summer holidays I took out all three books and decided to read them in proper order.

I wonder if I'll like it as much as I liked it in German - or even more. I'll report in. *g*

And it only took me six years! Go me!

Seriously, I've just posted Chapter 23B - Interlude of The Toreador Chronicles to both FF.Net and the hiddenrealms LJ comm. I'm very pleased that after six years, the story finally moved on from its dead spot.

Warning: The story is Adult-only, as it contains slash and violence, so don't read it if you aren't interested in that kind of stuff.

I've already posted my thoughts a couple of entries ago, but I was wondering, has anyone else watched it? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Why?

Writing three Torchwood-related stories simultaneously is not an easy thing. Even if two of them are set in the same alternate universe. Especially if I don't even have the time and the peace to concentrate on one story properly.

Having said that, I'm making slow process with "Lost in the Past" - the "Gwen and Ianto trapped in 12th-century Welsh" story, which is crossed over with Brother Cadfael, with the still untitled Tosh romance that takes place during the 2nd series Dr. Who finale "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", and I've just started a series of loosely connected Tosh-Ianto friendship stories with the overall title "Coffee Breaks". Yes, I know I'm insane, why are you asking?

Of course, this means that the two Cadfael stories still in progress - meaning "Vox Angelica" and "Brothers-in-Arms" have been set on the back burner again. Which is especially annoying, as I've finally managed to figure out who killed the much-disliked character in "Vox Angelica" and why. Drat.

Concerning the Whoniverse, "Atlantis Café" and "Auguries of Immortality" are overdue for an update, and I will eventually have to restart the "Wishverse", "Travellers' Tales" and "Torchwoodgate". Not to mention finish the one shot nicknamed "Comfort" (the actual title of it being "There's Nothing Wrong With Comfort Sex").

And then there's the "Birthright" series that got stuck in the middle of the third story, all that "Alternate Voyager" stuff that needs to be finished, the "Lost Years" series, where I still haven't translated two novel-length pieces from Hungarian into English, the Serina-story (BSG classic) that hasn't gone nowhere for quite some time, "The Toreador Chronicles" that only needs three more pieces to be finally completed, the "Out of Legends"-sequel that hasn't even been started yet, the second piece of the "Kansas"-trilogy that has been on ice for... well, forever... and... and and...

Did I mention the Merlin/Torchwood crossover?

And I haven't written any Tolkienfic for ages!!! *weeps*

Oh, and there would be the small issue with the 1,500 pages-long Grand Epos(TM) in Hungarian, the lost middle part of which ought to be reconstructed one day...

Too many stories to write, too little time to do so.

My very first site is gone, now that Geocities has been shut down. It was a fairly primitive site, only stories, nothing else, and I haven't updated it for ages, but I'm still a little sad. I do have the new Otherworlds1 and Otherworlds2 sites, managed by my generous friend Kim, but not being able to manage my own site isn't the best thing, so I've only posted to FF.Net and LJ lately, save of my Tolkien fic, which also went to SoA or TFF.

I really ought to try and create a site that I can deal with on my own...

On a more delightful note, I've finally finished A Touch of the Wild. It only took me eight months, which, for a story of 12 chapters and 58,725 words isn't half bad. Especially considering my track record with never-eending WIPs, some of which have been on the back burner for six to eight years!

So yeah, I'm happy to have finished it. It doesn't have many reviews - 14 so far on FF.Net and not a single one on hiddenrealms - but I never really expected it to have. It's a very special story about Criminal Minds' Spencer Reid's encounter with the supernatural (i.e.=vampires), with no ship, a lot of horror and even more background detail. I can understand that it isn't the cup of tea of an average FF.Net browser who probably wants some fluff or some smut or some old-fashioned adventure. But I like the story, I've enjoyed writing it immensely, and at least the existing reviews are very positive.

It's a very good feeling to have it finished, though. Now I might turn my attention back to The Web of Darkness, which is also just a couple of chapters away from being finished.

Wish me luck!