Aris Katsaris

Last couple weeks I ended up seeing one particular piece of fanfiction mentioned in three different places (LJ friendslist, tv tropes, hatrack.com forums), so I'm guessing it's the new sensation that's taking Internet by storm.

Thankfully it's a really really good one, so let me add my own recommendation to the bunch: "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" by Less Wrong (Eliezer Yudkowsky)

The only known AU fic in which Harry systematically tries to figure out the logic behind magic.
The only known AU in which Voldemort was intelligent enough to ( ...small spoilers )
Also the only known fic in existence in which Voldemort ends up ( ...small spoilers ), without it being a crackfic!

A warning though: Harry Potter is a horrible and arrogant little jerk in this fic, not the sweet and humble kid of canon -- to me it only makes those few moments of sweetness that remain (e.g. his annoyance at having Hermione's genius not recognized by her parents) all the more potent. But even so: if you can't tolerate jerk protagonists, the fic may not be to your liking at all.

100-word ficlet. SPOILERS for the 5th season of Buffy.

( 'Hateful memories' - SPOILERS for 5th season of Buffy )

Last post for a long while -- I bid you all farewell for the time being. :-)

But I did have the time to write the first drabble request, this one by evilstorm, who asked for a Silmarillion ficlet, and otherwise left the topic free. Here you go, evilstorm! Hope you don't mind that it's just a tiny bit longer than is usual for drabbles. :-)

( Silmarillion ficlet: Mighty )

Other drabbles will have to wait for a while. Bye for a while now, everyone! Be sure to go here and leave me your own requests, everyone. :-)

Two posts ago, I mentioned I had started writing a script-version of the Scouring. It's done.

If anyone's interested, you can find it here. Obviously, yet again you can expect spoilers for ROTK, film and books, in there.

Still a tad clumsy/corny at spots mind you -- and I haven't bothered (nor will I bother) putting it through my usual perfectionist-minded long stages of revision. :-) It's after all meant to be only a rough draft used to show how I think Scouring would be quite doable without making the ending any more "anticlimactic" than Jackson's own films... Fine-tuning it goes beyond the scope of this endeavour. :-)

My diploma-work situation is too frustrating and angsty for me to like to talk about, so here's a fic-update instead. As usual I have more than one works on my mind at the same time.... most likely candidates to be finished are currently:

1) A short HP Founders one-shot fic. Largely plotless, mostly character/theme stuff, mainly focused on Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. I've written about a page of it so far. Likely my next posted fic, because of its brevity.

2) A multi-chaptered Tolkien fic... and pretty much my first attempt at serious Tolkien fanfiction prose -- even though I've done both Tolkien poetry and Tolkien parody before. More importantly, this story, if completed, will also be the first thing of even slight "slashiness" that I've ever written.

And I'm mainly writing it *because* I want to see if any semi-decent fic could be written involving homosexuality in Tolkien's world. Rather than all the horrid, horrid stuff I've read so far. Most people don't seem to realize that you should strive to keep both characters and entire cultures in their proper characterizations.

This one will concern the character and life of Beleg, from his early childhood all the way to his death -- though I'm not sure than anyone reading this journal even knows who Beleg is. Feel free to tell me if anyone here *does* recognize the name. :-)

3) The first part of a three-part Gargoyles fic called "Messengers", inspired by the old "Party on Avalon" idea... The first part is mainly an introductory human drama piece; the second part would establish the role of creatures such as angels and demons in the Gargoyles universe; the third part is probably the most ambitious of all and would bring the theology back to the human/universal level. That last one is the one that intimidates me to write.

This piece will probably be even more religious and Christian in its core than "Voices" was. Voices was largely Gnostic-influenced I think. The feeling there, as reviewers said, was mainly that of angrily shouting at the heavens; and the narrator neutral or even a skeptic. This one will be somewhat different; both protagonist and narrator are Christians here. And here I am attempting to use some of the thematic/emotional basis of Christianity as well, rather than just the universe/history, as I did with Voices...

*Anyway*.. the one or two people that may be expecting a Hikaru no Go fic from me, will have to wait a long time, I fear. :-)

Have finished the rewriting on that HnG fic prologue I've been talking about... And I decided that it stands well enough on its own as a standalone ficlet that I'll post it as is, rather than wait for the rest of it to be done (if it's *ever* done).

I won't post it for another week or so, but any friend who wants to read the rewritten version before then (and who's seen all the 75 Hikaru no Go eps -- hint, hint, nudge, nudge, joudama! ;-) ), feel free to email me, regardless of whether you've read the original draft version or not.