Sheep doesn't go for that kind of H/W anyway And that, of course, is why I suggested that she be the one to write it. That, and because I am so in awe of her for being so magically crackalicious.

Somehow I'm thinking that if Sheep wrote that fic the hamster would end up gnawing off several of House's fingers. But maybe that's just me. :D

How Steve Found a Friend by HousePiglet. Okay, it's a gerbil. But that's pretty close. And now I must go watch Arureos (Greek for Rat) again.

"Abortion papers"? WTF. (It's weird that that's the part of that scary, scary fic excerpt that I choose to focus on...but perhaps my mind just can't fully absorb the other parts...) I think my biggest fanfiction turnoff in this fandom is younger writers who don't know how the adult world works, but insist on writing about it anyway. For instance, does anyone remember the one where Cuddy went on vacation and got her best friend to cover for her as Dean of Medicine? That's probably the record-holder for worst instance of this problem, but I'm sure everyone here can think of others. We have some underage writers in the fandom who do just fine--I guess they figure out by reading, observing, and the application of common sense that there are certain ways that adult life is not like high school. And, of course, "abortion papers" is just another one of those instances of a writer who is unclear how the world works. As far as plot cliches go, I'll read anything if a good writer wrote it, but there are a lot of plot elements that bad writers seem drawn to: Cameron is an anorexic. House and Cameron go on their first date. House commits suicide. Cameron gets pregnant. House meets a plucky girl who becomes either his daughter-substitute (or actual daughter) or his girlfriend, depending on the age of the writer. There's no reason any of these stories has to be bad--it's just that if thr writer didn't put any thought into coming up with a storyline that hasn't been done to death (or was unable to come up with such a storyline, despite effort) chances are (s)he was no more successful with any other aspect of the story. On the other hand, if someone who actually has some writing ability picks a cliched plot knowing that it's cliched and wanting to do something different with it, it can work. (Which is why I'll read Asynca's Mprg story when she posts it, even though I'm not particularly into mpreg.) In other news, I'm trying to decide what to do for my next story, now that PLOT is wrapped up. I'm vacilating between picking up the House's Long-Lost Son story that I wrote the first chapter of, and an AU that I offered as a prompt to Better On Vicodin but which wasn't picked up: House and company aren't doctors; they're police detectives solving a murder in a small village in England. Cuddy is the Commissioner of Police, and--I just figured this part out--Wilson is the coroner. I worked out all the details of the murders while I was driving in the car today, although I still haven't figured out who did it.

I want some more Pencils please

CousinAlexei, your British AU sounds wonderful! I'd give that a try, for certain.

:D Pencils! I love that story. I thought I was a torture only Wilson kind of girl until the Contract and its many lovely spawns came around.

Can I have a link to Pencils, please?? :twisted: I think I must have missed that one.

As far as plot cliches go, I'll read anything if a good writer wrote it. I agree that a good writer can take a cliche and make it into an excellent story. But what can a newer writer do in order to turn the cliche on its head? Anyone? Bueller? What does a 'good writer' do--what are their techniques--that makes one story stand out above all the rest in the same genre?

Alex said: House and company aren't doctors; they're police detectives solving a murder in a small village in England. Midsummer House. I have to ask Brit people: are there any of you left? Between Inspector Morse, the two Gardening Ladies who are always finding dead bodies under the rose bushes and Midsummer Murders (for the yanks - this involves a lovely small English village in which several people are hacked to death with a chainsaw each episode) I think the English country side must be decimated. It must be like that little town Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote lived in. And I have to say after reading all that Stephen King I have this vague fear of ever visiting Maine. Church! Church is actually quite clever. His real name is Christian. Christian House - get it. That's the one written by Simple Man isn't it? HE is one of the few male House writers around. I'm okay with kid fics, but MPreg? The idea of House being 'maternal'? Maybe he could get flooded with crazy hormones or switch bodies with Cuddy. As to the hamster. The question is - how long do hamsters live and therefore is it possible to have a long lost one? Or are we just talking 'panty hamster'. Good to see Troops and all the gang here. Maybe now we can have a nice chat about ff. And ironically my poor mother has just suffered two car accidents in two weeks. Interesting factoid: big tough looking 4WD - bumper bar crushed. Wussy little red Volvo - not a scratch. But the whole thing with car accidents (apart from the time I flew an eight tonne volvo) is how mundane they are. Four times I have been hit standing still. It's a shock, but not exactly life threatening. There just seems to be so many of them lately. I know House is a medical show and pretty darn formulaic, but ff doesn't have to be. The Annals (where House is a Roman doctor - is that the right one? I am lousy with names and things) and even the sappy Gwegg and Wilsie of Isander (or Sidewinder as it is now called) show that House fiction can go in any direction.

I'm posting again because: is it just me or is the page going screwy? Evil Nurse RN I'm giving you the link. Sroll down a bit. Theres Exegencies by P (who first came up with the idea of pencils). Then there's something about a paddling pool by me and then there's Alex's Pencils. NOT POEIA COMPATIBLE (not safe for small bright green parrots/macaws or others who don't like icky stuff), unless you like the idea of being Helen Keller. I mean - being turned into Helen Keller. Not fluffy at all. http://diysheep.livejournal.com/16483.html ETA: yep - the page is weird.

It happened on the Cameron thread too, because I used the "quote" in a wrong way. When I remove my quote the problem was fixed. Sheep, Hamsters live 3 years with a very, very careful owner. And Church is a clever nickname - very Housian - but also exotic!