All my brain chewing gum is online... :) unfortunately, mainly in Russian, so my English is deteriorating slowly. Funny, I recall my English was better than yours some time ago. Noe it's noticeably worse, and ironically - that happens because I'm studying (and hence, I need that chewing gum part to relax... and no time or desire to read in English for pleasure.)
Thanks for the reminding, I have to read a couple of articles for Tuesday... and a book for my job... and maybe even write something... don't remember.
Um, I think now it's my Russian that is deteriorating. I'm getting to be so predominantly English-speaking in my life, that if it was not for LJ, it might have deteriorated to quite a significant level.
Fan-fiction, Marish, is an answer to everything. :D
You just weren't lacky enough to find good ones. Want some recommendations? My favorites are mostly of slash variety, but they are good. And I can recommend some gen too, if you're picky about that.
And, by the way, one can learn a lot from negative examples. :)
Slash means same sex non-canon relationship. In our case (I presume you mean Highlander fan-fic it mostly pictures Mac and Methos as lovers. The majority of best writers in HL fandom write slash, for the reason I don't want to dive into in the moment. :))
OK, here we go. They are mostly my personal favs, mind you, but I think you like them too once you'll get used to the idea. :)
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/index.html - The Broadwalk part featires gen fic, Under the Broadwalk - slash. Both are very good, although some of them may make you 'ewww'. Mostly for violence content. I prefer her slash to her gen.
http://members.shaw.ca/sylviavolk/ - The page for mostly very good gen fic. Here you can find 'Fundamental Things' again and Silvia Volk's fics, of which I read only one, but others were recommending it highly and I know they are no less picky than I about the quality of writing.
I know of a couple of others, but that will do for the beginning. :)
Now the slash:
http://mediafans.org/futures/ - Futires Without End fanzine. III and IV issues are particularly good. All stories are worth reading.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~lochness/fanfic/lochnmainhighlander.html - Loch Ness' And Then Some. The best HL alternate universe story EVAR. Probably the member of the top 3 in the whole fandom. I love it to bits. And it's long. :)
http://chelle.slashcity.org/highlander/standalone/index.shtml - Chelle's fics. Sometimes just a touch sappy, but other things make up for it.
http://wordsmiths.net/Cinel/hlhome.html - Cinel Durant. Her writing is a bit too good for me. :) I'm a girl of simple tastes. But if you tend to like this kind of things...
http://www.squidge.org/esjay/Contents.html - Sonia's stuff. Her long stories are very good, but what I love most about her - she'a a queen of slash humor. I'm always laughing silly when I read her 'Straight And Low' and 'The Marrying Kind'.
http://www.taterville.com/igniferindex.htm - Phoenix Fire. Very good. I mean VERY.
http://tryfanstone.co.uk/highlander.htm - another example of quality writing. I don't like some of her apocaliptic approaches, but her writing style is anything but simplistic. :)
http://rhi.moonlit-eyrie.com/stories/warnings.html#aidanseries - Rhiannon's stories. t's a separate universe that diverse from the canon after Horsemen arc. Many original characters, most of whom are very interesting, long and good. Good plot, good villains, too. One of my personal favorites in the whole fandom.
Although, I recall now what was THE turn-off for me when I tried reading fan-fics for the first time. Their Mac is not my Mac, and their Methos is not my Methos... and they are walking and talking WRONG...
Funny, I did not care much about the the lovers aspect - I mean, it did not seem as WRONG to me as walking and talking.
Some of them are not MINE Mac and Methos too, but they are realistic and done well, and I can live with that. Sometimes it's what I find interesting - to see them from another's POV. But in case of Nutmeg, Loch Ness and Chris (Phoenix Fire) I think they got the characterization part just right. Flawlessly.
Nah, does not at all (and actually, I hate all that quasi-Russian kissing in movies)
My favorite picture there is "attempting to give a damn"...
Oh well, a nice tangent we have here, in the mother-pride thread... and actually, I didn't even congratulate you with all the progress Greg made. Seems non-necessary, and anyway, people here alredy told you all the right words.
Oh well... just start reading. :) Userpics can be fun, yeah. Did you see the one with Jack Sparrow down there in my journal? :)
I have a test tomorrow too, by the way. And I'm sitting here thinking if making a detour for some Indian food will affect my studying for the better. :)
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dancing_serpent
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:07 pm (UTC)Thanks for the reminding, I have to read a couple of articles for Tuesday... and a book for my job... and maybe even write something... don't remember.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:11 pm (UTC)Fan-fiction, Marish, is an answer to everything. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:20 pm (UTC)In part - because THEIR English is bad... :)) I'm surprised that yours became so good from reading all that... ahem... low-quality stuff.
I mean low-quality form, not content. No offence.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:23 pm (UTC)And, by the way, one can learn a lot from negative examples. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:26 pm (UTC)Yeah, give me some links... all carieties. I never know what I'd like before I actuaally try.
I recall now - when I tried fan-fic, I still was able to get high from mysteries and/or fantasy books, but maybe now it's time to try fan-fic again.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:55 pm (UTC)OK, here we go. They are mostly my personal favs, mind you, but I think you like them too once you'll get used to the idea. :)
General first (not slash):
http://www.daire.org/refuge/index.html#nutmeg - author Nutmeg9cat, 'Fundamental Things' series.
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/index.html - The Broadwalk part featires gen fic, Under the Broadwalk - slash. Both are very good, although some of them may make you 'ewww'. Mostly for violence content. I prefer her slash to her gen.
http://members.shaw.ca/sylviavolk/ - The page for mostly very good gen fic. Here you can find 'Fundamental Things' again and Silvia Volk's fics, of which I read only one, but others were recommending it highly and I know they are no less picky than I about the quality of writing.
I know of a couple of others, but that will do for the beginning. :)
Now the slash:
http://mediafans.org/futures/ - Futires Without End fanzine. III and IV issues are particularly good. All stories are worth reading.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~lochness/fanfic/lochnmainhighlander.html - Loch Ness' And Then Some. The best HL alternate universe story EVAR. Probably the member of the top 3 in the whole fandom. I love it to bits. And it's long. :)
http://chelle.slashcity.org/highlander/standalone/index.shtml - Chelle's fics. Sometimes just a touch sappy, but other things make up for it.
http://wordsmiths.net/Cinel/hlhome.html - Cinel Durant. Her writing is a bit too good for me. :) I'm a girl of simple tastes. But if you tend to like this kind of things...
http://www.squidge.org/esjay/Contents.html - Sonia's stuff. Her long stories are very good, but what I love most about her - she'a a queen of slash humor. I'm always laughing silly when I read her 'Straight And Low' and 'The Marrying Kind'.
http://www.taterville.com/igniferindex.htm - Phoenix Fire. Very good. I mean VERY.
http://tryfanstone.co.uk/highlander.htm - another example of quality writing. I don't like some of her apocaliptic approaches, but her writing style is anything but simplistic. :)
http://rhi.moonlit-eyrie.com/stories/warnings.html#aidanseries - Rhiannon's stories. t's a separate universe that diverse from the canon after Horsemen arc. Many original characters, most of whom are very interesting, long and good. Good plot, good villains, too. One of my personal favorites in the whole fandom.
I think that'll keep you occupied for a while. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:11 pm (UTC)Although, I recall now what was THE turn-off for me when I tried reading fan-fics for the first time. Their Mac is not my Mac, and their Methos is not my Methos... and they are walking and talking WRONG...
Funny, I did not care much about the the lovers aspect - I mean, it did not seem as WRONG to me as walking and talking.
OK, I'll try again. Thanks.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:26 pm (UTC)Look at the upper right userpic here - http://www.livejournal.com/allpics.bml?user=lastrega :) Looks very natural, doesn't it? :D
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:50 pm (UTC)My favorite picture there is "attempting to give a damn"...
Oh well, a nice tangent we have here, in the mother-pride thread... and actually, I didn't even congratulate you with all the progress Greg made. Seems non-necessary, and anyway, people here alredy told you all the right words.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:52 pm (UTC)I have a test tomorrow too, by the way. And I'm sitting here thinking if making a detour for some Indian food will affect my studying for the better. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:51 pm (UTC)Well, back to work. And I probably should make some food - it will not be fair for my hubbe to make it when he comes from work.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 10:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-19 11:04 pm (UTC)