the best-laid writing plans gang aft agley

[dbskyler]

I've been trying to work on my WIP, but it is dead in the water again. On the other hand, in the course of not working on said WIP, I found myself playing around with another fic idea that I've had for a few months, and I ended up writing out the whole thing last night. It is (currently) coming in at slightly under 1,000 words, which is actually a good thing as it is also inspired by a 50ficlets prompt. Except, remember how I was saying that I was going to try to make those ficlets back into little ficlet-y things, and not spend time on them as full-fledged fics? Yeah, not so much.

Oh well. The good news is, I should have a new fic to post soon!

In other news, my prodigious attempts at writing procrastination led me to come across a Space:1999 fanvid that I wish to share with you all. For those of you who don't know the show, the second series featured an alien named Maya who can shapeshift into any living creature. (Just like one-half of The Wonder Twins, which was on at around the same time if I'm not mistaken.) The fanvid features some of Maya's more interesting changes -- aka, "If you thought that Classic Doctor Who's monsters looked bad, wait'll you see this." (I'm especially fond of the shuffling, glow-in-the-dark green tents with eyes, although those weren't just Maya-creatures, but also actual invaders of the moonbase.) The scenes in the fanvid are out-of-context enough to be non-spoilery, unless you didn't want to know that yes, the producers did really have Maya change into a cockroach, and what's your point? The fanvid is also a shippy tribute to Maya's relationship with Tony, and I confess that I do indeed ship Maya/Tony, and this fanvid shows why -- they have excellent on-screen chemistry with each other, and Tony never seems fazed by anything she transforms into, although he really probably should be. Anyway, enjoy!

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I had hoped to finish beta-reading your chapter last night - but as it turned out, I was nearly 90 mins late getting home as I got stuck at work waiting while the engineer (who'd taken 6.5 hours to drive from Southampton to Oxford in the dreadful snow!) fixed our Dry Cleaning machine because it had been out of action since Thursday lunchtime. So by the time I got home and had something to eat, etc, I was just too damned tired. :(

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

That's okay -- I know this is a Month from Hell for you, so I've assumed it's generally hard to fit things in. Also, it's okay to drop out and say you'd rather not beta it at all, you know.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to abandon you!!!

It's at least half done, anyway, so I want to finish it. And, as with beta-reading for lost_spook, at least it's not *hard work* - I just need to be a bit more awake and capable of concentrating than I was last night. (After all, if you read something three times and still haven't taken in a word, you know you're knackered!)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Well, you definitely need to beta for thisbluespirit first as she's on a deadline. But seriously, it's not abandoning me if you want to walk away.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'll do lost_spook's first, this morning, and then yours later. I am NOT going to walk away, so stop suggesting it!!

[thisbluespirit]

:lol: Yes, I am the most important!!! ;-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

You were on Sunday! :P

[thisbluespirit]

Aw - I see what you mean about the vid! That was very cute. I totally ship them just on the basis of watching it. ;-D

And when it comes to funny sfx, this is nothing - I've seen Blake's 7, and they had even less money than DW... (and the results are sometimes utterly jawdropping, especially when it's being all 1984 in space, and then a group of Michelin men walk in... Or an unconvincing giant ant.)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

But does Blake's 7 have a person in a silly gorilla suit pretending to be an actual gorilla? I mean, come on! (Although now you've got me curious about the unconvincing giant ant.)

Glad you enjoyed the vid! Tony/Maya is the one fandom couple that I completely ship romantically, although I can't really explain why -- I think they imprinted on me when I was a child or something.

And hmm, maybe we should have an "unconvincing sfx" battle between Classic Who, Blake's 7 and Space:1999?

[thisbluespirit]

B7 would win! :lol: (How international is the Michelin Man? See pics, if you don't know what I mean...) and then picture a Robert Holmes script (at his darkest, since he clearly seemed to think he could go way further with B7 than DW) in which everyone is dying horribly of plague... and then three Michelin men walk in. (The designer had no money to make astronaut suits, so she borrowed some Michelin Men suits.) And it's not as if everyone wasn't already dressed in a sort of beetle-fashion. I've watched DW for years, but that was the first time dodgy costumes/effects made me laugh so hard I had to stop watching until I'd recovered. :-D

No... I think it probably doesn't have someone in a gorilla suit pretending to be an actual gorilla, though, but then DW can muster a Taran Wood Beast on that theme.

It would be fun - how would we do it? I see your anti-matter chicken and raise you a giant ant?

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

LOL, yes we do have the Michelin Man here, and I can just imagine what that scene must've been like! I can only hope the costume didn't include the grinning head. :D

I'm open to suggestions, but how about a tournament? We could nominate 10 dodgy costumes/effects from each show, then randomly put them up against each other and ask our flists to vote? The votes would have to be based on screenshots, with possibly a small description, since no one is likely to be familiar with all the scenes. You could nominate the B7 ones, I'll nominate the Space:1999 ones, and we can figure out the DW ones together.

And rats, I wish I knew how to rip and post small clips, because sometimes a screenshot just doesn't do the monster justice. For example, think of the poor guy valiantly writhing under a tarp in "Claws of Axos." And the shuffling green tents of death in Space: 1999 aren't quite the same without the shuffling.

How does that sound? Do you have other ideas? Monster poker? :D

[thisbluespirit]

No, I think they managed to exclude that!

I can't do clips, either. And you're right - nothing shows off a rubbish efect like seeing it in action. (I'm fond of the S1 cool box, which is the crew's futuristic carry-all that these days just makes them look like they're going on a picnic in bad weather. Not a bad sfx as such, but one that amuses me...)

Heh - and all those times where the victim has to throw themselves at the monster, while screaming help. :-)

Yeah, I'm not sure how we could do it, but it would be fun. Maybe somebody clever who can do clips will want to join in?

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Why don't more people post illegal clips to YouTube? Don't they know we want to be able to compare silly sfx clips? *g*

[thisbluespirit]

Hang, on shuffling green tents of death?! (They clearly must be related to the maneating duvet creature in Frontier in Space...)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Which in turn must be related to the couches all over Gallifrey in Arc of Infinity?? (Maybe we should have a sub-category of "most inappropriate set dressing"?)

[thisbluespirit]

I have been away, and am now back. I am not going to catch up with anything much just yet, other than Yuletide (!!), but had to stop by to say that I was looking at B7 vids, and, actually: YES, THEY HAD A MAN IN A FAKE GORILLA SUIT, PRETENDING TO BE A REAL GORILLA (all right, a beast of some sort, but it was a gorilla suit.)

:-D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

LOL, all right, maybe B7 wins, then!

[thisbluespirit]

And I haven't even mentioned the space punks, the thing with big horns, or the blubbery aliens, either. Or that two different characters gain a pet rock in two separate episodes... :lol: And the thing is, it's quite serious, so you just have to ignore the sfx and concentrate on the story. DW was excellent training. :-)

(And how are we going to do this, because it does sound like fun, but I don't have many B7 screencaps, as yet, or DW ones. Let alone helpful clips.) Start a post and incite others to comment with examples? Hmm...