Round 20 is over!

[lolmac]

This was a really great round!  We had an entire parade of ninja animals to keep us on our toes and inspire crackiness.  We had new faces in addition to the usual round of suspects.  We celebrated sidlj's birthday!  And we wrote, revised, edited, posted, and did research.  And "Research", of course.

We even have crack to show for it!
The Rare Avis Affair, by idlewild_ (Man From UNCLE)
The Ark in Time and Space, by dbskyler (Doctor Who)
Punchline, by lolmac (MacGyver)

Be sure to watch the comm for the poll for next month's 'Rush weekend.
And please take a moment to thank your Mod Squad, especially isdon_isgood9, who did an extra shift, chibifukurou, who went on stand-by for extra modding and also found us lovely ninja art, lullabymoon, idlewild_, dbskyler, pitry, and lothithil! And I'm lolmac, for those who don't know me yet or are afraid I've been replaced with a ninja double.

To answer JTurtle's question about the fic gallery:  good question, and one I've been thinking about a lot.
There is a very, very out of date gallery for this comm, of fic written (or partly written) during various rounds of the 'Rush.  It was originally maintained by the comm's founder, studyofrunning, but she hasn't been able to keep it going in recent months.  In addition, this comm has grown a great deal in the last year, and I don't think the single 'fic gallery' post is a good format for handling the massive amount of fic that has been written here!

Accordingly, I'm thinking of setting up another sister comm as a fic gallery.  I'd welcome thoughts and feedback.

I'd also be interested to know where people archive their fic.  I'm about to create a poll to ask that; please stand by.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

Thanks for co-ordinating and keeping all the ninja animals in check! It was an awesome rush, great to see so many productive faces.

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

Twenty-six cheers for the Ninja Mod Squad! :D

I wrote and posted two whole drabbles, and got a good start on a Sarah Jane + Eleven crackfic for dw_straybunnies. (Incidentally, Beth, what's the current procedure for updating the fic gallery? I got a bit lost looking for the right post the last time I tried.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

So, my accomplishments - some serious revisions to the last part of the novella set in Boston, and some realizations about how to unsapify the ending, and 2,500 words of short story beginning that will need major slash and burn revision and also the rest of the story written, but I have plot notes. And research courtesy of Beth knowing a lot about Colorado (hooray!) And wanderlust because now I want to take off and go to Colorado for a while.

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

Good job!

[sid]

Thank you to all the mods, and for all the birthday wishes!

I started and completed two things, and have another well underway (359 words last hour) that will be finished shortly.

Thanks for organizing everything, Beth. It's always such fun. :-)

[lolmac]

Can I come?

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

Hahah. Even without the puppy dog eyes, sure!

[lolmac]

Excellent question! See edited post for answer.

[carodee.livejournal.com]

I had a wonderful time this weekend working on project. It was far less painful (and certainly much more productive) that it would have been because of the company and the mods and the ninjas! *g* Thank you everyone.

I wrote over 3,000 words for my Sentinel Big Bang and now I'm two-thirds done with it. \o/ I'm so happy!

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

Thoughts and/or feedback on the fic gallery comm idea: I like it! How would it work - moderated open posting? Members-only posting? (I don't know much about how comms work behind-the-scenes.) Links only, or direct posting of shortfic welcome? Fandom tags? Author tags? Would the Old Guard *lol* repost fics already linked from the old fic-gallery post?

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

Wow, great work!

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

Sa-weet! You're on the downhill run!

[lolmac]

I think members-only posting, unmoderated unless it gets invaded. Shortfic okay with lj cuts requested, links to longer fic.

Fandom tags and author tags, definitely. I think one of the reasons it would be really good to have the gallery is that, during the rush rounds, we get to know each other and end up wanting to check out each other's fic, even (or especially) if the fic is in a fandom that's outside our normal reading zones.

Especially since there's a wide range in output level, we'd need to be able to find a given author directly.

And yes, I think it would be good to include the older fic from the old gallery, rather than see it get lost in the change; including items from earlier participants. I don't intend to delete the old gallery, though.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

That was a really fun round! Thanks everyone!

Have a small offering of hastily written crack!fic:
--------------

"Where did all these ninja animals come from?" exclaimed Rory. "I thought nothing could enter the TARDIS?" He eyed the ninja sea urchin warily as it moved its spines in a threatening manner. Nearby, the ninja newt waved a tiny nunchuk as the ninja narwhal swam in ever-tightening circles.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," said the Doctor airily as he swatted away a ninja Xerces blue. "It's just a temporary fluctuation in the xanthic xylophone field generator. As soon as we take off we'll be fine . . . ah."

"Ah? What does 'ah' mean?" asked Amy. She was using one hand to distract the ninja penguins with ninja alien fish, while the other hand kept pushing the ninja dodo back every time it waddled too close.

"Well, it seems that we can't leave until 48 hours have elapsed. Until then, the ninja animals will just keep on coming approximately every hour, give or take a letter or two."

"Can't you do something with the TARDIS to make it seem like it's been 48 hours?" asked Amy desperately. In the distance, a ninja elephant trumpeted warningly, causing the ninja flamingos to scatter and the flying, winged ninja pigs to swoop alarmingly close.

"Of course!" shouted the Doctor over the noise, expertly dodging the pigs as he pontificated. "If I edit the spatiotemporal timestamp, it will seem as if we've been here for 48 hours even though it's only been one hour." The Doctor ran around the console, flicking switches with abandon. Boisterous abandon. Crazy, boisterous abandon. Dizzy, crazy, boisterous abandon. Effervescent, dizzy, crazy, boisterous abandon. Frenzied, effervescent . . . *runs out of words due to carodee taking them all*

In the end, the TARDIS took off, and all the ninja animals disappeared. Except for one ninja capybara, which Amy kept as a pet and fed confetti.

[lolmac]

Nooo! Don't swat the Xerces blue! They're extinct! Well, they are now.

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

That's adorable!

[sid]

The spatiotemporal timestamp! Of course! :-D

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

::nods:

I remember that episode.

Laurie

[http://users.livejournal.com/idlewild_/]

I like the sound of this.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Gee whiz, kids, this has been a blast.

I edited 48983/69391 words for a Sentinel/Mag 7 story, and wrote 512 words for a SPN.

I had to skip parts of Fic_rush, due to working late on Friday night, and this afternoon for family stuff(relatives are coming after Christmas and we had to go check out some places for them to stay). I hope next time I can stay longer.

I often end up editing and writing a lot on weekends, but this made if a lot more fun.

Thanks,

And in the immortal words of The Terminator, "Ah'll Be Back."

Laurie

[lolmac]

And I have my own offering at last! Idlewild, this is Your Fault for inspiring me.

* * *

MacGyver, Pete Thornton, and the Lady Scientist of the Week walked into a bar.

The barman glared at them. “Is this some kind of a joke?” He handed a beer to Pete and a glass of tomato juice to Mac, then poured three shotglasses of whiskey for the Lady Scientist of the Week.

Dr. Week shook her head. “Just two glasses, Fred.”

The barman met her gaze with a sorrowful expression. “But you always have three drinks – one for yourself and one for each of your two brothers, who are fighting the forces of Evil overseas. You don’t mean to tell me – ”

“Oh, they’re both fine,” Pete interrupted.

Dr. Week nodded. “I’ve quit drinking is all.” She picked up her brothers’ drinks and joined Pete and Mac at a table in the dimly-lit recesses of the bar.

Mac was already in earnest conversation with their contact, Dr. Li, an attaché from the Chinese Embassy. “So you’re sayin’ the scroll was safely locked up in its case when you all went to bed last night?”

Dr. Li looked inscrutable.

“Aw, cut it out,” said Mac. “We’re tryin’ to cut back on the ethnic clichés.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Dr. Li, looking contrite.

“Much better.” Mac reached over the the next table, collected half a dozen unmarked bottles of sauces and flavourings and poured random amounts of each into his glass of tomato juice. The glass fizzed.

Pete Thornton cleared his throat. “Is it time for the expository lump now?”

“Go for it,” MacGyver said cheerfully.

“Right. Dr. Li, you told us that the priceless antique scroll had disappeared from its locked cabinet overnight, and in its place was a different scroll, filled with strange pictures instead of magnificent specimens of T’ang Dynasty calligraphy.”

“Very strange pictures. The first image was of a ninja aardvark, followed by a ninja bat, a ninja capybara, and a ninja dodo.”

“I’m beginning to see a pattern here,” said Mac.

“Well, duh,” said Dr. Week. “Is it time for me to be kidnapped at gunpoint yet? This is getting dull.”

“Not till just before the first commercial break,” Pete replied. “Go on, Dr. Li.”

“Let’s see – after that, it got a little more complicated. There was a ninja elephant and a ninja flamingo – ”

“Whoa!” Mac waggled a finger. “If you recite the whole danged line-up, the narrative is gonna slow down to a crawl.”

“The ninja sloths did that already.”

Pete nodded. “Please, Dr. Li. Just give us the high points.”

Dr. Li cleared his throat. “Um, the ninja lemurs were very cute. But the ninja jellyfish quite disrupted the celestial harmony of the scroll.”

Pete was scowling. “It doesn’t make sense. Why no penguins?”

Mac shrugged. “Even penguins need a vacation.” He suddenly reached out, grabbed Dr. Week by the hand and dragged her off her chair onto the floor as a shot rang out over their heads. The mirror above the bar shattered, the glass falling with a musical crash underscoring the sudden dramatic build of the background music. Pete and Dr. Li ducked under the table.

~tbc~

Punchline, part 2

[lolmac]

MacGyver peeked over the table, reached up and snatched his glass of quietly fizzing liquid, and lobbed it at the shadowy figure that could be seen at the entrance to the bar. The glass exploded in a completely unrealistic fireball, and the defeated evildoer fled.

Pete peered out cautiously. “Was that Murdoc?”

“Naw, we tangled with him only two weeks ago. Remember? He ended up electrocuted, strangled, stabbed with his own knife, shot with his own gun, and poisoned by the spines of a ninja sea urchin. Then he fell to his death from a great height. He won’t be back till next season.”

“Oh. Right.” Pete stood up carefully, brushed the dirt off his suit and straightened his tie. “Now what?”

“Now all we need is the punchline.” Mac looked expectantly at Dr. Li. “I gotta ask. How did that ninja animal alphabet deal with the letter X?”

They heard a disturbance at the doorway. A xylophagus ninja xerus, a xanthic ninja xukazi, a xenophobic ninja xenopus laevis, a xenophilic ninja xantusia riversiana and a xeric ninja xiaosaurus all walked into the bar, stopping to admire the aquarium with its ninja xiphias gladius and its ninja xiphophorus helleri, and stepping carefully to avoiding the ninja xanthidae scuttling across the floor. They all ducked to avoid the ninja xenops that flew at their heads, flanked by a ninja xami hairstreak butterfly and a ninja Xerces blue.

The barkeeper glared at the menagerie. “Awright, you smartasses. You’ve made your point.”

~ fin ~

[lolmac]

I do hope it's not poisoned confetti . . .

And I finally got my own bit of crack done and posted. *g*

Re: Punchline, part 2

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

I think Dr. Week should take up drinking again.

I think I might join her. I've got four brothers and three sisters,(all with assorted spouses)four brother and sister-in-laws, two parents, nineteen nieces and nephews, one husband, three children, one son-in-law by common law marriage, one foster daughter, four foster grandchildren, one grandbaby.

I'll have to go to rehab if I have a drink for each of them, so maybe I'll just stick with a drink for me.


This was a fun read, and now I'm nostaligic for Mac's mullet, and his cheerfully building things to save the world.

Laurie

[carodee.livejournal.com]

LOL! I would have given them all back if I knew you needed them for this charming crack. It's like Doctor's Ark, isn't it?

OMG. The threatening sea urchin spines and the tiny nunchuks. <3 <3 <3