Gone gone gone

[erastes]

I took down my fanfic from Underlucius today in case anyone had that bookmarked. I thought it was probably for the best.

I'm reading The Golden Key at the moment and I'm warming to it, albeit very slowly. However I did find it intensely irritating in the first few chapters, as there was so much repetition (Yes yes yes - the main character is talented but do you have to tell us every second paragraph?) and the faux Latin/Italian/Spanish, or whatever it is, is rather over-done for my taste.  I mean when someone says "nezzo ira" (that's not the phrase, but the book is upstairs) meaning "don't be angry" and the other character says "I'm not angry"  I just don't get it. Why is one character speaking in forren, and the other one not when they both speak the same language?? It's an affectation that I really dislike.  However I shall stick with it for the moment and hope that it improves.

And WTF? I've been selling some bits and bobs on ebay this week and you can't leave negative feedback for buyers!!? What? What happens if they fuck you about? That's hardly fair.

Oh - and I got a job pack through the post today for a postion in Norwich - one of the tasks the job involved was "office stationary"

Not spell checking, then?

Comments

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

My mom though retired sells jewelery and these purses she makes on Ebay and she has been ranting about that feedback issues.

I can't remember why they are doing it but it seems silly imo.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It seems incredibly stupid. Yes, people can leave malicious feedback, but so they can for sellers too. Grrr. Touchwood I haven't had a problem, ever but I insist on Paypal and won't dispatch without it.

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

My mom only accepts Paypal too and totally can see why. What is the point of feedback then if you are going to limit it?

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

i know about this, people were writing in to watchdogs and saying that sellers were pressuring them to leave good feedback or else, sort of do it or we'll tell ebay you're selling counterfeit goods!

or saying you could only have a refund if you removed your bad feedback
ebay is trying to limit it, obviously wrong, but that's why

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, it took me awhile to warm to The Golden Key but I ended up enjoying it well enough. Not a favourite, though I find the world fascinating, but I did end up enjoying it ultimately. Although that being said, I haven't reread it since. I think it might have been one of those novels with a brilliant concept but the execution faltered.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Ah. That doesn't bode well - yes, a great idea, I liked the idea of it.

We'll see what I think when I get to the end!

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed, please post about it! I'd be very curious to see what you thought.

Also -- and I forgot to include this in the original post -- it is a shame about the fanfic, although I understand why you're doing it. I really adored some of your pieces, particularly this gorgeous vignette about Regulus and Lucius and the Horcrux chamber whose title I can't remember offhand. You really captured both characters beautifully.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

"Patron, Saint" it was called and (whispers) it's still on Hp_literotica.

:D

Thank you - it's very nice of you. (Such a shame that that wasn't the real story, and JKR just had Reg stupidly drowning which seemed very OOC.)

xxx

[liriaen.livejournal.com]

Oh. Shame about your taking down the fic. It does feel like the end of an era, that. But I understand, somehow, perhaps. Still, it makes me... more than a little wistful. Thanks for those good times! :*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

There was quite a lot there that I probably wouldn't want to associate Erastes with, incest and the like - not that I'm ashamed of any of it, and it's not a LJ decision but - well, it seemed the right time.

Thanks hun!

*hug*

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

Sitting still in an office seems a reasonable requirement. Or does it mean the office is in one place, ie, not a mobile trailer?

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Oh that was going to be my joke. :(

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

Great minds...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I didn't put it all - when I looked it actually said that one of the tasks was "keeping office stationary"

As I've been recently playing "Sos Final Escape" which is about escaping an island that's had an earthquake, that should be a good qualification!

[lunalelle.livejournal.com]

And WTF? I've been selling some bits and bobs on ebay this week and you can't leave negative feedback for buyers!!? What? What happens if they fuck you about? That's hardly fair.

It's the whole "customer is always right" bullshit that fucks up sellers. It gets rid of small sellers who don't want the risk of having their points down, and it makes it nearly impossible for a seller to ever indicate that any buyer is an asshole. Ebay and Paypal already tend settle grievances in favor of buyers, even if the buyers are at fault. They're like really spineless, sucky managers. Ebay is going to the dogs, but there's no place better to go because everyone knows about it!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's infuriating.

(and an extra hug for you just because)

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

*wails over the fanfic*

Not that I don't have most of it safely squirreled away, but still... There were some amazing pieces there that don't deserve to be lost!

*cries*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

If you need anything else, just shout.

xxx

[zamaxfield.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it means that part of your job description is to see to it that the office doesn't go anywhere while the bosses are out. I understand they do that, you know. When you're not looking.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

when I looked it actually said that one of the tasks was "keeping office stationary"

So you are probably right!

[megleigh.livejournal.com]

hmm I still have my fanfic online, and linked from my website. Wincest and all...Doubt if I would ever take it down, as it is written under a different pen name. I can understand your reasoning though, if you stuff was written in the same pen name you use for publishing.

I am currently reading Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, and he does that Spanish/English thing and I think it is done to convey the meaning through context. He does it with a semblance of grace which makes it not too noticeable though. I don't know about The Golden Key having not read it at all, but that might be what the author is clumsily trying to do.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No, it's a different pen-name, but there's chan and incest and I wouldn't want Perseus to think that it was unsuitable, it was on my erastes server, too, as a sub-site, so too easy to find.

I'm sure that's what they are trying to do, but it's just too much and it only needs to be done occasionally, not constantly.

[megleigh.livejournal.com]

it was on my erastes server, too, as a sub-site, so too easy to find.

Ah, I can understand that. Although both my pages are hosted on the same server, the host is masked and therefore you'd need to be determined to to dig to find the other site should I ever de-link it. :) I work off the assumption that most surfers wouldn't want to go to the bother hehe.

I can perfectly understand wanting to remove things that might create problems with a publisher though.

[dementedsiren.livejournal.com]

The loss of the fanfic is sad and it's hard to see it go, but I can understand.

Have you taken down all archival instances (in coms, etc.) or just the the individual journal posts?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I need to seek out to see if there is any left in archives, and I have a horrible feeling there is!

[rwday.livejournal.com]

I imagine so. All the stories you put on LJ communities, and I can remember you being invited to several archives. But those aren't (IMO) so crucial as they're not hosted off your site and unless the person knew that they were yours, there would be nothing obviously connecting UL to you.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

eek!

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

I understand about taking down the fanfic, but I'm sad nevertheless. So much quality fic - just gone. *sniffs*

Thank you for writing and sharing them for a while. :-)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Aw - thanks - that's very kind of you.

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

You know, even if this makes me sound like a crazy fangirl, but I have to tell you that He Falls really inspired me to think about Lucius. To the point where I started writing a story about him and his relationship with his father, with Draco and Narcissa, and of course, with Severus.

Initially, I didn't love him like you did. But writing about him made me feel for him quite a lot. And this process of falling in love with a character I didn't like before, it means a lot to me, because it taught me something about my own writing.

So, I also want to thank you for that inspiration - and I will once more, when the story gets finally posted.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That's very spooky. I was just looking at He Falls yesterday when I was taking the site down.

I'm incredibly grateful to Lucius as he taught me so much about motivation and different layers of character. I know JKR didn't make him like that - he's unremittingly bad I think in her eyes - but when you started to think about his life and what COULD have gone on behind closed doors, and the hints that were there about him and Severus it opened up a whole new world. It made me show that I could write a man who did bad things, but for an entirely different reason than the ones that the world thought they were. It helped me shape Rafe, although Rafe isn't as bad as Lucius he has a lot of the problems that "my" Lucius has - father issues, a tortured past, a love that he was not able to fulfil due to familial duty but Rafe's ending was happier than Lucius's. I hope to (one day) be able to write someone even badder, and hope I can still make the reader feel for him.

Thank you - what you said was very kind.

I'll be very interested in reading your story, so please let me know when it's posted, won't you?

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

a man who did bad things, but for an entirely different reason than the ones that the world thought they were.

Exactly. That's part of the fascination. And I also liked the challenge to make him IC, but to make him more human, to give him depth of motivation and character. To paint him as someone who is stuck in certain aspects of his past while able to overcome others. Even with an abused past, he doesn't have to be reformed completely and go all the way to loving house-elves and Muggles. But he can be someone who loves a friend and who loves his family.

I'd be honoured if you'd find the time to read my story and will gladly let you know when it's posted. Thank you so much.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes - that's it exactly. It's the grey - I had such hopes of JKR because she started off with all these characters who seemed to have some kind of story - and Sirius even says "the world isn't split into Good People and Death Eaters" and I was intrigued - hoped she would explore that but she disappointed me horribly and just had The GOOD (read Gryff bullies and anyone of the other 2 Good houses that wanted to fight) and The Bad (The Slyths)

Not something I've explored, but there could be a very good reason for his loathing of Dobby. I certainly loathe him and would happily kick him down the stairs.

Did you see the interview with Jason where he talks about how he invented that kicking himself? It was brilliant.

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

I think that's what disappointed many people - that, in the end, she kept most of her characters black and white. I think that she said that she considered everyone apart from Voldemort redeemable, but she didn't tell her story in that way.

Harry could get away with even the Cruciatus and was praised for it by McGonagall - I couldn't believe it, because McGonagall had never acted like that before. Like you said: anything you do as a Slytherin is deemed bad, anything you do as a member of the other houses is just fine or explained by the circumstances. A children's story through and through.

I haven't explored Lucius' reason for loathing Dobby either. From what we see in canon I guess that it's just a cultural aspect, really. For example Mr. Crouch and Mr. Diggory treat Winky in an almost similar way without thinking much about it. These are elves - a bit like talking furniture. Hagrid tells Hermione that Dobby is "odd" and even Harry gets annoyed by Dobby's hysterics - giving him a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks for Christmas, honestly! *giggles* So I guess that in the case of Dobby, Lucius might simply not bother to keep his annoyance in check.

On the other hand, Dobby might have witnessed something in Lucius' past that Lucius doesn't want to be reminded of? Why not kill him, then? Would that imply a special master-elf-bond? Some mechanism that the secret is revealed once the elf dies? Could an elf be made a secret-keeper? Yes... Kreacher was just that, wasn't he? Could it be that Abraxas made Dobby a secret-keeper for something that involved Lucius and that Lucius wanted to hide from the world? Ah, the possibilities! *mumblemumblemumble*

I don't remember that interview. Is it the same where he talks about his treatment of Draco, on the DVD extras for CoS? Then I should probably re-watch them.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

it was on You Tube, a "Good Morning" interview - he said that when he played the scene he just did it, and the Director said "cut!" what are you doing? And he said "I'm kicking Dobby down the stairs" the director turned to the tech guys and said "can he do that?" and they said - "no problem!"

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

Whee! I found it! So funny. :-)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I adored the bit where he said he saw JKR at a party and was going to be all cool until he got up to her and BEGGED her "PLEASE get me out of prison!!!"

*adores Jason*

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was brilliant! He sounded like he really had fun playing Lucius.

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

I read the golden key when it first came out, because i liked melanie rawn before she vanished into the ether with the third part of her trilogy after leaving it on the worst cliffhanger ever!
the three parts are very distinct and as i recall the second part is best - though the third part is better than the first.
the lady with the shawl and the mistress is interesting, I'm trying to remember, it's been years and i never felt the urge to reread it.

interestingly though the original cover - by michael whelan had michael whelan self portraiting as the painter who's name i can't remember
i remember alessandro's broken teeth and that they lose the paint mixture for turqoise but his name.... in the ether, stolen by melanie rawn

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's a bit "skippy" too, I'm finding. End of chapter - WHOOSH - years have gone by! But I'll stick with it, I rarely not finish a book.

[aunty_marion]

Wah! The fanfic is gone? But I never downloaded Shoulders of Giants! I do have Cross, though, I think. Well, I hope so, because I adored it! And I had the site bookmarked and was gradually reading through it...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No worries, I can send you SOG, and anything else you need.

xxx