MinervaFan

*waves to MsQ* ETA: *angel2devil snuck in while I was typing.* *WAVES to angel2devil* Any TQ on today? I'm working two hospitals this week and next, and I'm stressing like a lunatic. Knowing TQ was waiting on my VCR when I got home would make me very very happy. Anybody working on any new stories? Anybody got something in the pipeline for the Day in the Life challenge? Stories? Vids? Graphic art? Interpretive dance? Haiku?

Rats. Another full week of no TQ. I bet JE's garden is in great shape, and her house has never been so clean. Oddly enough, I actually watched the entire episode yesterday - no fast-forwarding at all. It was a revelation. After two minutes of therapy, Sonny Corinthos has opened up Uncle Sonny's House of Counseling and counts every single resident of Port Charles amonst his clients. Georgie Jones Quartermaine has been submitted to the Vatican for immediate cannonization. Her treatment of Lulu was amazingly generous, considering. And if she just hands over Dillon without a fight to "do the right thing," she is the Idiot Saint of Port Charles. (Actually, just the latest in a long line of idiotically sainted women....) At one point, Sam and Ric were real characters, weren't they? Not these fake, evil, horrible, loathesome caricatures they've become, right? And Alexis? Girl, go to the doctor, castrate your husband, kick your "daughter" in the ass, and get on with it. Anna, he's cute. Stop pushing. We will have Scrubs ad nauseum for months and months. You don't have to make it worse. Alexis needs a friend. (I know I've mentioned this storyline before.) How bout Luke? Yeah, Luke could come home, kick Ric's ass for his bud "Natasha" and drag Tracy (kicking and screaming) into a storyline that has nothing to do with the stupid teenagers. (Maybe in gratitude, Alexis warns Luke about Lorenzio, and together he and TQ set about protecting the Qs from Alcazar.) And maybe pretty pink peppermint popsicles will rain down from the sky like the Fourth of Freakin' July.... Okay, I've just depressed myself. I want TQ on the screen, and not just as set dressing. Oh, and MsQ--sent back my comments on the revised finale of "The Right Thing." Ya'll are going to love it. Much with the LuNacy joy.

Wow. What a difference a word makes. I wrote "encouraging" Lulu to have an abortion. What I meant to say was "supporting" Lulu having an abortion. I don't see Tracy (especially the way she is now) pushing her opinions on Lulu in regards to having the kid. I think she might be very opinionated about Lulu having options--but not forcing her one way or another. I mean, face it, even Tracy is not going to go that far. As for life being precious, in regards to abortion--Tracy is old enough and scarred enough to know that the fetus's life is not the only life in question here. She had Ned young, and she has seen how not only her life, but Ned's and Larry's lives were profoundly affected by the youth of the parents and their inability to "step up" to parenthood. She sees how making the choice (though I doubt it was a choice so much as a happy accident) to have a child so young destroyed many of her options, cheated Ned out of having parents who were ready and able to give him what he need, and perhaps even drove Larry into the immature behavior that eventually destroyed his relationship with his son. Tracy has seen all the bad sides of parenthood, as well as the good. She knows how wonderful it is to have children, how amazing it is to love them, and how precious the gift of parenthood is (even if she is unable to express those things freely to her children). And I think she wants that for her children (by now, she has to think of Lulu as her child, at least on some level.) But she also wants them to have a chance at a good life, and knows how much an unwanted pregnancy will hurt that chance. So if Lulu expresses an interest in an abortion--Tracy will not fight her. If Lulu seems to be waffling, Tracy would (if she was allowed to) help her explore all her options. So....those are my thoughts on the subject. As for Tracy carry Lulu's baby? LOL. Um, no, honey. I can't see it in a bazillion years. Finally (there's someone waiting for the computer), MsQ I was not indicating that your feedback was less than adequate. To the contrary, you are a Queen of All Things Feedbacky, and you make the fairies and sprites dance a happy dance whenever you comment on my stories. I'm just a needy, greedy feedback whore who can't get enough of the good stuff.....

I may be in a minority, but I can definitely see TQ encouraging Little Lulu to have an abortion. Not only that, I can see her driving her to the clinic, beating down the pro-life mob blocking the door, holding her hand in the waiting room, having Alan on the phone to translate all the medical jargon to make sure Lulu knows exactly what the doctor is going to do (and if they can trust the doctor), rocking Lulu as she cries afterwards, giving her wisdom and love and advise--and then getting slammed from all sides for "forcing" Lulu to have an abortion. In my little fictional world, Tracy had an abortion between Ned and Dillon. She knows how precious life is. She also knows how terrible it is to be pregnant when you can't afford it, handle it, or get support from your family.

Hey, guys. I tried FF.net this morning, and after a few refreshes, it let me in. I suppose it was just the VolePit being wonky. The story, she assures them, is still very much there...and desperately wanting feedback to soothe the poor author's nerves. As for the spoilers, I am just so "whatever" about them. My new policy on spoilers--they ain't jack until I've seen JE's pretty face saying the lines. Amusing speculation, like your daily horoscope in the paper, but nothing to hold your breath over. Thinking of doing two versions of the next prompt (Happy): one for general audiences and one an NC-17 version. I know there are folks on this group who don't particularly care for the adult stories, but I'm wondering if anybody would be interested in reading a saucier version of what I come up with? Please PM me if you're interested. If nobody is interested, I probably won't take the trouble.

Ya'll aren't going to believe this, but Ned and Tracy's Excellent Adventure is done! 14,700+ words, three chapters, 32 pages in Word. I didn't even proofread the last six pages--I was sooo ready for the damned thing to be done. I swear, Prompt 24 is going to be done completely in haiku. 100 words at most. Enjoy--not as funny as I planned, but I think Ned and Tracy fans will be pleased.

Wow. Still no TQ, huh? Tell me she isn't becoming Bobbie Spencer. *kicks TV all the way from the next town over*

*a lone bugler plays "Taps" for the passing of MsQ's Beloved Olive!Tracy banner* FWIW, I saved all of your banners for the JE/Tracy site I fully intend to create "someday." Keith, what you just said? Word. evil!witch!scapegoat!Tracy makes my blood boil, especially when it's OOC. (I can understand fanfic writers being OOC; when the paid so-called "professionals" do it, it really gripes my butt-butt!) I'm not even paying spoilers any attention anymore. Until I have it from a reasonable source that a scene was actually filmed, I won't hold my breath. And then, given the hack-saw edits known to happen on GH, I won't breathe easy until I actually see the scenes. Guys, you know that little Ned-Tracy story I was working on? Promt #23? It's now 27 pages long, and I don't see an end in sight. Okay, I know the end is in sight, but I can't even fathom how many more pages it's going to take. I think I'm going to have to parce it out into a multi-chapter story, which amuses the hell out of me. (It's a damned prompt story, Deb--in/out in ten pages or less, that's the idea.) The next prompt after this one is Happy, and my mind keeps seeing a Tracy/Coleman story. Let's hope I can write it in under 50 pages. *grumblegrumble!@#$%^&*]moan* *stupid stories that take on a life of their own and don't let me finish them and get on to other things....*

LaineyBev714, Guza has insisted there will be no "fairy tale" reunion for L/L (vol.1) on the 25th anniversary, that there will be no remarriage, no whatever....blahblahblah...this man also promised us Tracy getting "slammed into motherhood" over the summer, and that turned out to be about six scenes over two months. Bite me, Guza. MsQ, I will strangle Guza myself if this turns out to be another "ELQ just happens to get in trouble while TQ is in charge, so of course she must be incompetent and made to pay" storylines. Last time, AJ had fracking embezzled millions just in time for her to be CEO and take the fall for the company's problems. Now, I'm absolutely sure they're going to suggest she's responsible for *defective ELQ condoms*. A point to be made: just exactly what is the CEO's role in the production of defective condoms anyway? Does she sneak out of board meetings, or away from lunches with potential investors, to go out to the plant with little sewing needles to poke holes in the condoms as they come off the assembly line?? And while we're at it--there was a huge storyline during the Paul Hornsby years about problems at the ELQ cannery. I realize that diversification is the hallmark of good business strategy, but really! How does a company go from canning tuna to making condoms? Not really a logical progression there that I can find. MsQ, you are kidding me with that abortion story! Wasn't there an article on the NLG site about pro-choice actors on soaps? I very clearly recall JE stating that she was *not* really an activist type of person--in fact, that her brother chided her for her lack of political involvement. It was just the idea of having a son (whose life could also be ruined by an unwanted/unexpected pregnancy) that made her aware of the abortion/choice issue. That hardly makes her a pro-choice activist, and certainly would not be a cause for JE leaving the show. Personally, I'm sure the fact that the promised SL didn't come through (and her oft-stated desire to raise her kids on the East coast) had more to do with leaving GH than any political views. As for Paul being a better person--here's a clue, Dufus. When an evil cartel poisons your kid and tells you the only to get her healed is to marry someone you don't love in order to commit corporate fraud? GO TO THE EFFING POLICE! Go to the CIA. Name names. Get them captured. Also, heck, why not tell the doctors that they should be looking for a poison, rather than a biologically-based illness? Why not do what NORMAL people would do, instead of convincing Tracy that you love her (buttface jerk) and breaking her heart (hate you and your a## face!)? She didn't kidnap Dillon. She took him. And frankly, with everything Paul and Jenny had done to her, do you blame her? If I was Tracy, I would have visions of "poor Paul" and "sweet Jenny" convincing a judge that Dillon was better off in their "stable home" than with his medication-withholding, scheming, cruel, globe-hopping witch of a mother. And I sure as hell would NEVER let Jenny Hornsby lay a finger on my child. (I'm not even one-tenth as ... erm ... Tracy-esque as TracyQ is, and I would have done the same thing she did. Of course, I might have let Marco come with me, cuz he was kind of cool...)

Coupla comments to ILTQ's long (and fascinating) quote on the Tracy-Edward Relationship. 1. Scars don't equal abuse, even when it's physical abuse. A talented sadist can inflict hours of intense physical pain without leaving even a bruise. If this is between consenting adults, wow with the kinky fun, right? If it's between a father and his child, it's abuse. Never ever ever assume that the lack of scars indicates the lack of physical abuse. 2. Spanking (as in disciplining) your child isn't necessarily abuse, imho. But if you're forty and the sight of a belt buckle still makes you sick to your stomach, 30 years after your father has moved out of your life, then yeah--it might have been a little more than disci;ine. 3. Treating women you're not f**king with disrepect is not abuse. It's misogynistic, arrogant, and completely unacceptable, but it's not abuse. Convincing your daughter she's completely unloveable, playing cruel, heartless, sadistic mind games with her, cutting her off financially when she tries to play by the same twisted rules you established, and establishing an environment of complete and utter hatred against her in the family? That's abuse. JMHO. Ned & Tracy are up to 26 pages. Edward is about to enter the picture. This is not happy.

Jumps up and down with glee after beta-reading Keith's story!!!!!!! Ooooooh, babies, babies, BABIES, this is good stuff! He's got Tracy down in all her witchy, !@#$%^&*]y, beautiful, vulnerable glory. *claps hands together at all the good fic we're getting on this group*

Ooh, new chapters of "Oh, Baby" are wonderful--especially #58 (mumblemumbleMsQ is a sadistmumblemumble). Ned & Tracy's Excellent Adventure is now at 23 pages! Oy. I got a big chunk of it written today, so hopefully I'll have it completed this week and can move on to the next prompt. (I totally didn't intend for it to be this long--but it had a mind of its own.) Diligently checking my email, Keith, for your story. Am going to the Science Museum tomorrow, so probably won't have time to work on it, but I'll do my best to get it back to you asap.

You have SO got to talk to my girlfriend Fey. She's planning this huge trip for us in WDW this December, and that's one of her BIG pet peeves. She's collecting quotes from Old Uncle Walt himself to prove that he fully intended the parks to be for "the kid in everyone," and for adults who were still "kids at heart." That whole 'Disney is for little kids' things drives her batty. So. No TQ. *kicks TIIC* *kicks them again* *nudges JE gently with the tip of my toe, hoping it will get her to go out there and do something else that we could watch, maybe a guest-starring role on some other TV show....* *kicks TIIC a third time, just for good measure*

Oooh, Shazzer's vid is the first one I ever saw, and the one that got me hooked. I don't know if I've seen "I Ain't No Quitter." Will have to download, because I know it's not on my mvid disk. Mmmmmmm.....! Full of Grace is the second vid I downloaded, also an inspiration to get me going. I watched a lot of my vids the other night (when I found my disk, hooooorraaaahhhh!) and I decided that I'm a much better fanfic writer than I am a video maker. But I still love the ones I've got--more would be nice. Don't mock the fashionista, wench. You would melt into your sensible shoes if that dress ever got made, and that ballroom scene ever got filmed, and you darned well know it. And then you'll have to apologize for making fun of me and my high-falutin' fashion dreams. (This from a girl who has bought the same style/color of shoe for the last twelve years because she hates shopping for shoes and clothes that much. But I lovvvveee looking at them on pretty people--like TQ.) Ned is now overhearing a particularly bad fight between his parents. Poor kid. Divorce sucks. ETA: Wow. Vids download FAST on a DSL line. And I did see that video. Now I have it for posterity.

You crack me up. I'm afraid I'm building up this story too much--it's not nearly as much fun as some of the suggestions I've been getting from you guys. No car chases, no police stations, although maybe I'll have Ned try to intimidate one of his mother's unwanted suitors. Oh, and I was rewatching the clips from Lulu's surprise party last night and have updated commentary on the Outfit. Because, well, FASHION is a priority on this board, is it not? I've mentioned before that I did not like the outfit. (I believe I compared it to the way I loathe Hitler and lima beans, which is serious loathing, folks.....) But I noticed something interesting when I was watching last night--the pants. Notably, the material. Granted, the overall effect of the outfit was right out of Ching Hao's Drapery Emporium, but those pants.... Those pants were divine. They were scrumptious. And this is from a woman who admittedly hates anything that hides the legs--even I loved those pants. Now, as we all know, Tawny Madison, the girl who put Sally Field in a Gloria F-ing Swanson turban in Soapdish has obviously been hired as the wardrobe mistress for GH. So Tawny, if you're listening, take my advise. Go out and by several yards of the fabric used to make those glorious white pants. Any color is all right, but Tracy does best in jewel tones. Now. Make her a damned formal gown out of that material--floor length, billowing skirt--something Ginger Rogers would have worn. Give it a fitted bodice with a plunging backline--something beaded and beautiful. And sparkles. The GIRL MUST SPARKLE. I want to see diamonds every where you can imagine--around her neck, in her earlobes, around her wrists. I want jewels in her hair--upswept in that pretty way they had it for the reopening of the Haunted Star (not the nasty updo they had for the renewal ceremony). Give her this amazing ball gown, put Luke in a tuxedo, and let them dance to Strauss waltzes for an entire evening. I don't care if it's a fantasy segment. I don't care if it's a hallucination she has when passed out drunk. Just put that girl in a beautiful dress, put an adoring man on her arm, and nobody will get hurt. Ya got it, Tawny? No more ugly pantsuits. No more Ching Hao's Drapery Emporium. No more hiding her legs, or shoulders, or beautiful skin. No more pretending that women stop having a figure when they hit fifty--cuz girlfriend has curves and damned well knows how to use them. So. Freaking. There. Wow. I feel much better now. Thanks for listening.

OMG, that just cracks me up. I have a strong suspicion that a lot of the things she gets most annoyed about in her boys (Ned's music, Dillon's old movies) are things she herself enjoys a lot but has repressed in order to be a "proper Quartermaine." Yeah, I'm mean. But seriously, there's no sequel--no need for one--so what do ya think? C'mon. As for Ned and Tracy, nah, nothing like that. Just him seeing a side of his mother few people see, and her getting to know him a little better. Oh, and there's the drug bust outside Barcelona. And the wild ride with the Hell's Angels in Prague. Yeah, that's it. ETA: *waves to coolkid*

Keith, if you still need beta-reading services, please feel free to email me at minerva_fan AT livejournal DOT com. I'd be happy to help out. Ned and Tracy's Excellent Adventure is coming along well. I've gotten about four pages written in the last hour--and that includes side-trips to change CDs in th walkman, check LJ, and search for a British slang dictionary. (Those people sure talk funny.) At least they are now out of the damned school and on the road. *rolls eyes* Why is it every stupid short story I try to write gets out of control? Oh, and ILTQ--I didn't know that about Tracy and the old movies. I wish I knew the dates of the script that mentioned it. I have a feeling she'd love Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Barbara Stanwyck--all the tough, ballsy broads who thrived before Hollywood went anorexic--physically and spiritually. A clue for those out there who want to know what was on the paper in Alan's manila envelope. The story, in my mind, is canon. It happened. Actually, it happened Saturday. So. Look at the next few episodes she appears in and tell me what the results were. That's all I'm going to say.

Oh, that would be the End of the World As We Know It. What fun! Of course, I would have to kick Luke all the way from here to that Canadian border his sister seems so obsessed with.....but it would still be interesting to watch. Of course, the last thing I want to see is another trial storyline. I hate courtroom scenes--they bore me. Bedroom scenes would be nice, although, if they included TQ! Oh, I finally got to the computer this morning during my Day-Long College ComputerFest, and I forgot my drive with the story in the car!! I have a two hour break where Fey is between classes in about a half hour, so I'll probably use that to work on the the Ned-Tracy story. Thanks for all the feedback on As If Nothing Ever Happened, guys. I thought it might be too much of a downer....it's been that kind of a month, right? Maybe that's why the Ned-Tracy story is so hard to write--it's a comedy....

Hey, gang. Missed much in the last 24 hours. Computer died. We went spend money. More than we should. I wrote, though, on the old computer. New fic is available on the Ficathon--yeah, it's angst.

For those of you who haven't read it, LaineyBev714's story Surprise! has been reposted to the TQ Ficathon. (I reposted it mainly because SendSpace doesn't last forever, and frankly, that story should be accessible for longer than five days, dangit!) Personal note--oh, ya'll have to read this one. It's sexy, snarky, romantic, and fun. A great first effort by LaineyBev714, who needs to write more more more..... Just pimping the ficathon, cuz ya'll know it's what I do..... Oh, catching up on some personal stuff this morning, and then I plan on getting into the fic writing big time. *toddles off to do some work, thinking of Venetian glass and Paris balconies*

My Answers to the Survey: Question #1: What would Tracy go back and change about her life? Try to choose only ONE thing. She would definitely be a better mother to her sons. #2:Who does she think of most when in a melancholy mood? Lost loves? Lost battles? Or her own regrets? Or something else. I think she gives herself time to be angry, to feel her pain, to mourn her losses. Then she gets over it and starts working on making things better. #3 Tracy can secretly sing beautifully. And only Dillon knows it, although Ned suspects. #4 Tracy would die for love. #5 What Tracy loves best about Luke is the fact that she doesn't have to hide her true nature with him. #6 Tracy admires Lila more than any other person on earth. Living or dead. #7 Tracy has been married how many times and name her husbands in order. Everybody's done this, so I'll respond with her nicknames for them. "Pinky" Ashton (named for the color of the frilly underthings he wore on their honeymoon; "Moontchie" Williams (was "Mitchie" until he pissed her off; now he's Moontchie); "LyingCheatingWhoringBastard" Hornsby (no explanation needed); "Stiffy" Solieto (not a sexual thing, really. She just came up with it when she and Zoe were carting his dead body off to the laundry room); and "Kook" Spencer. #8 Tracy keeps a picture of her sons in her nightstand. #9 Tracy is currently reading The Art of War. #10 Tracy's best traits are: Strength, perserverence, cleverness, adaptability. #11 Tracy's worst traits are: Selfishness, low self-esteem, greed. #12 Essay question: The reason I am the world's biggest Tracy fan(or just a Tracy fan) is: I am not the world's biggest Tracy fan. I'm just a fan. I think she is amazing, tough, beautiful, sexy and smart. She makes mistakes, but she perserveres. She has regrets, but she makes no excuses. And even when she has a legitimate reason for laying blame, she doesn't. She loves with everything in her, even when reason dictates she should hold back. She is fiercely loyal, smarter than her peers, and tougher than most of us would ever dream of being. She shows faith in a family that treats her like dirt, and never loses her ability to love them--regardless of what they are doing. When the s**t hits the fan, she's there--okay, she may be throwing somebody to the wolves, but not the people she loves. Not the people who have earned her love--and even those who don't deserve it but get it anyway. She's complex, intelligent, and one of the most fascinating characters I've ever watched/read about/written. Yeah, that stuff.

I will answer the survey when I have the time--loving all the responses, but Regency--wow. Wow! You hit the nail straight on the head with this response. I agree 10,000%. Wow.

AARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, now that I have that totally non-TQ-related scream out of my system (work, boys & girls, work has been...stressful today)..... So, here's what I want you guys to tell me. 1. TQ was on today, HUGE part, sassy, sexy, smart, powerful TQ. 2. TQ was in the previews for tomorrow, with another HUGE part. 3. TQ looked gooooooddddd in her SAYXEE new outfit that shows off her fabulous legs. 4. TQ met a man/woman who just flirted the hell with her, making her forget old wassisname for a moment, although she did not succumb to the OVERWHELMING temptation to just get wild and free while He-Who-Shan't-Be-Mentioned is off chasing after Holly. 5. TQ had lunch at MetroCourt with her two sons, and they had some great, funny, snarky Q-esque bonding scenes. If you cannot tell me this, do not tell me anything at all because, to quote Evilene in The Wiz, "Don't nobody bring me no bad news." So. Anybody want to lie through their teeth tell me that my psychic visions of today's show were totally 100% accurate??????

A seventeen-chapter fanfic from somebody on this group??? Actually, I think if she lost her memory, she'd retain her personality, but would be very confused by the reaction to her by the people around her (if she was still amongst her normal group.) If she was with other people, I think she'd maintain her drive--that force within her that doesn't let her stop, doesn't let her falter, doesn't let her give up--but she'd be much nicer about it. A lot of her meanness comes from bitterness--remembering what has been done to her, what has been denied her, and well--face it--what is expected of her. Take away those expectations, take away the memory of the hurt and humiliation she's suffered, and I think we'd see a very different Tracy. Oh, and sorry about the duplicate post earlier--I was having trouble with the computer. But hey, you can never have too many group hugs, can you? MsQ, did you get my comments on the Anniversary story? Are you still speaking to me?

ILTQ, you BEYOND crack me up! I can't believe you chose that UserName. LOL. Tracyluver, thank you so much for comments. It really makes me feel wonderful that you guys enjoyed the story. Sorry there's no sequel, but I'll try to keep them coming as much I can. You guys are awesome. Group Hug!