SPEW Babble #44

[babewithbrains]

Sqquuueeeeeee!!!! The Royal Wedding was lovely. Kate's dress was just HOT. Seriously, I really want to wear a dress like hers on my wedding day. It'd make a nice change from the usual Asian wedding garb -- a red saree.

And the DH part 2 trailer was brilliant. It looks really good, and the only thing I'm iffy about is the same as you, Jen, the Harry-and-Voldy-cliff thing. I don't know where that came from and the only theory I can present to you is that...Harry was dreaming about it? I already know I'm wrong, though. Anyone else care to tell us why on earth Harry and Voldemort are on the top of a cliff???

No exams for me - I still have another month or so before my semester finishes and I don't usually have exams anyway. The joys of being a Media/English student

No exams? NO EXAMS???? Jen, you lucky thing. I've got three coming up this month and another three in June. Oh, the joys of being a GCSE student (not).

[MerryD]

I ended up watching the wedding three times, haha. The second time I was sick and in that delirious, half-awake, half-asleep stage. All I remember is my one friend going, "Why are there trees in the church?" hahaha.

My Italian friend was so cute, though. She was sitting on the floor right in front of the tv, bouncing up and down and like literally squee'ing. She was so disappointed that the kisses at the end weren't more passionate, lol.

*hasn't seen the DH trailer*

I'm a bit out of it, okay? I just got back from a trip. >.> I mean, I didn't even Osama bin Laden had been killed until yesterday afternoon. (Is that a big deal for non-Americans?)

No exams for moi, either. Been there, done that.

Aww, Hannah/Bob, I'm sorry that you're leaving us. :[ I hope you keep reviewing though! *hugs*

And, Hannah, if you happen to read this, I hope you come back soon!

I'm so excited about the SSSIII! (that is the correct abbreviation, right, Jen?)

--Mere

[jenny b]

I just got a PM asking about how swaps work and realised there were newbies who may not know exactly what goes on. So here's a quick summary:

Basically how it works is that everyone signs up with a request with prompts/pairings they want someone to write for them. Then when the sign-ups close, I assign SPEWers to write stories for other SPEWers, based on matching up what you will be willing to write with someone else's request. So it might look like this:

Jess will write for Mere
Mere will write for Jennifer
Jennifer will write for Soraya
Soraya will write for Jess

So basically you write a story for someone, and someone else will write one for you. But the only thing you know is who your story is for, and you don't find out who wrote one for you until after all the fics have been posted on our community, spewswap.

And - I really have to stress this - please do not post the story anywhere else until after I've revealed the authors at the end. If you post it to the archives or have parts of it floating around the forum, then it ruins all the fun of the surprise stories at the end of the swap. The only people who should see it are you, your beta, and me when you send it in.

[jenny b]

Oooh, I just saw the May challenge in the Great Hall - I'm taking a class called 'Crime Fiction and Film' at uni this semester so this is right up my alley! I really want to enter it, I'll just have to try and find the time amongst everything else I have to do.

I just realised I've never actually entered a Great Hall challenge before. I've only ever once entered a drabble challenge in the Three Broomsticks. >.> Not great for someone who's been around for nearly four years!!

Edit: This is supposed to be below Alex's post. Damn post-jumping!

[welshdevondragon]

THe fifteen minutes I watched of the Royal Wedding I have to say her dress was gorgeous. It was slightly weird- I got to uni on Friday morning and everyone was asking me why I wasn't in London/ had I watched it- I feel like the least patriotic brit here.

Mind I'm not really a wedding person. My grandma wanted to take bets on which grandchild would get married first and I told her I didn't think I was going to bother getting married...she wasn't happy.

I had no idea how swaps worked but they sound like fun! Though I'm an English student and i have exams- first one this morning which went surprisingly well- although the mysterious may challenge is being very distracting.

I think the scene with the cliff has to be in their heads. It just has to. But I'm not that annoyed about it- it's a pretty epic image. Anyone else feel like their childhood is ending (me being about eight when POA came out)?

Still, there are nice things to look forward to. Like Doctor Who=- can't wait for the ep. written by Neil Gaiman. That's like two of my favourite things slammed together. They once asked JK Rowling to write an episode and she said no, which is nice I suppose in that if you don't think you can pull it off, don't bother but she's good at dialogue, so I can't quite see why she said no. Oh well.

Also - as a revision break of course- Exile (for those of us blessed with the BBC) is brilliant. John Simms has to be one of my favourite actors.

Ah, ramble aside- back to tv then Keats and Frankenstein. And maybe I should do Austen as well but, as brilliant as she is, GCSE English made me never want to write an essay on her ever again.

[welshdevondragon]

Not a double post- this is after jenny b's.

I've just posted the final chapter of Thin Red Lines and it was modded in record time so this story is now COMPLETE. This is my second completed chaptered fic on archives and I'm just a bit excited. I've got an exam this afternoon which I'm rather terrified I'm going to fail but I can't quite feel that fear because I've got this faint glow of I've managed to write a 100,000 word story and I don't hate it and a few people like it through which fear of failing an exam feels rather mundane. This is of course by no means a hint to go and read it

Just kidding - it's 31 chapters long so quite a large chunk of your life to read away and a few of us are in exams?

How are they going for everyone? I've had three- two have gone all right and one has gone disastrously. It's one thing to argue Frankenstein created the creature as a potential lover, another to start arguing that Frankenstein is asexual. Which I did. As well as write a whole essay on how most Romantic poets were self-aggrandising prats, except Keats and then go completely fangirly over how amazing he is rather than write coherently about his poetry. Which I also did.

Can't wait for the summer though- anyone got any nice plans?

I'm trying to persuade my family to go to a music festival together- it's in Wales (so we kind of need the parents' car to get there...even though I'm hoping to pass my driving test in June- second time lucky and all) and LAURA MARLING is playing as well as my current obsession James Blake. Well, that's not true James Blake has been my obsession for a few weeks (as in playing his album non-stop- my flatmate probably hates him but she stays up until three in the morning talking to her boyfriend REALLY LOUDLY so I think I'm entitled to music). My new obsession is Wild Beasts. To quote my sister, who introduced me to them, "they. are. incredible." Which they are. The Guardian described them as the "most polite sex-obsessed band in Britain" which is kind of true but their music and their voices are gorgeous. If they join the line up for festival then I'm going hell or high water.

Ha, I think I've rambled enough now. What's everyone else up to?

[jenny b]

Wow new forums! This is exciting. It'll take some getting used to though ... I was quite attached to the look of the old boards!

Well done on finishing your fic, Alex! I might have to try and find some time to read it in my busy busy schedule. I've been looking for something to read for a while now.

Quick post but I just wanted to comment on the new forums. Now I'm off to a friend's place to watch the Eurovision finals. I adore Eurovision, even though I'm Australian and they have nothing to do with me. Anyone else watching them?

[babewithbrains]

I don't even know what Eurovision is But I'd definitely rec Alex's fic!!

[welshdevondragon]

Thanks for the recommendation Soraya, and the congratulations Jenny!

Soraya- you don't know what Eurovision is? I think I was ranting about it in an e-mail to you. It's a sign you've been revising hard/ don't watch much BBC because they've been advertising it to death. And I live in Ireland, where they thought they stood a chance of winning. I, as a "eurovision hater" was banned from the kitchen (where the TV is). If I here the song Lipstick by Jedward again then I might kill someone. So if you don't hear from me in ages it's because I'm in prison.

Oh, and I meant to say. Just how adorable was the "House Elves At Work" picture that was up whilst the website was down?

[MerryD]

I'm back in the States. It's about the weirdest thing ever. I got a cold from the AC on the plane and I'm sooo jet lagged. I'm just spending the day in bed today and doing nothing. It's going to very nice, I think.

Hope you all are well.

--Mere