Thanks, both Poeia and fffaw (I counted the fs!) for handling the situation as you see fit, which I agree with.

Moved from the Gregory House thread: Just ancient myself ! Yes, I knew about scrofula- history graduate here- and it was known in mediaeval England as "the King's Evil". Part of the mystique of kingship was the supposed ability of the king's touch, to heal it. The afflicted lined up to be cured. Weren't your Merovingians 'holy'? I seem to remember that they were. Long time ago, for them and for me! I hope this is okay to quote my own fic here (mods please remove if not), House is in the 1800s trying to do a differential with three non-doctors. They've mentioned "tissick" and "horseshoe head." “Evil!” “Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and what the hell is Evil?” House stared at Burton. “The King’s Evil,” Burton replied. “It can only be cured by the touch of the sovereign.” “Okay, wrong and stupid. Our patient is the sovereign. Doesn’t matter where or why he touches himself, it hasn’t worked. What else?” ETA: I contacted one of the mods to make sure this is kosher as soon as I posted this. I am NOT trying to pimp my fic. It just struck me funny

Trope-salvage?
Been thinking of this lately, and now I'm wondering. Are there any trends or tropes you have reversed in your own writing? Or stories you love because the author took a weary trope and did something very different with it? For me, Hannahrorlove is the reigning queen of trope-salvage. Wing!fic, werewolf!fic, genderswitch!fic -- she's done all of those and in ways I've never seen them done before, building entire worlds in which the trope is woven in so that it makes sense. And then letting the characters deal with the results of their problems in ways that feel very authentic and true to the people we know in canon. I'd love to see more of that kind of thing.

Interesting! I thought msdreya's "The Weary And The Blasphemous" was one of the best House/Wilson AUs I've read, and Christikat probably has the wildest imagination. She's done mermaid!fic, magic!fic, all sorts of things. She's moving on to original fiction, and I think she could knock a good fantasy novel out of the park. (They are both on LJ.) Srsly_No is also a miracle-worker of AU. Her "Reduction and Reiteration" series (sorry if I got the title wrong) is extremely original. As a reader, I prize originality over almost everything. I became bored with fics taking place inside the canon universe because it seemed so hard for writers to ring the changes. Although there are many wonderful pieces written around the current episodes. As a writer, it's been an interesting process. I started out with a House/Wilson crackfic that took on a life of its own, with a sort of genderswap Wilson that also took on a life of <i>her </i>own, set roughly in 1840 in a Ruritanian absolute monarchy. As I've written it, I have tried to stay true to my vision of House as a character, and now Wilson (he showed up around chapter 80 or so), without compromising the integrity of the background characters. In other words, trying to have some of their inner lives be vivid as well. The rest of my fics are either fluffy H/W stuff or rants about the show. I'm not sure if I'm following or subverting any tropes, to be honest. I looked up romance novel tropes and I've upended all of them, but that was unintentional. What tropes have you reversed?

Well, I always enjoy when Wilson is written with an actual backbone and a set of cojones, so in my porn, I have occassionally written him as the stronger personality of the two, and also written House to be a real sweetheart. I get a lot of less-than-positive feedback about that - in particular, the blandishments - but I think they could be that way, off screen. I also like writing House and Wilson as bisexuals unthreatened by their relationships with woman, as opposed to the jealousy, angst, and OMG-I'm-Actually-Gay approach that seems to crop up whenever relationships with women enter the slash fic arena. However I am not sure if these ideas - that Wilson is submissive and both are threatened by the other's relationships with women - are "tropes" or just cliches.

Hmmm...is that a trope? My little ficlets are also written as House and Wilson working their relationship around their commitments to women, Cuddy, Sam or otherwise. It's like bowling night, but with sex and you don't have to wear used shoes. Unless you want to. I love your portrayals of House and Wilson. Remember in "Mirror, Mirror" when Wilson says House would do his laundry? Then House does his laundry in "Epic Fail". :D

I remember the names of the episodes I particularly like. Otherwise, I'm just obsessed. I do the same thing with movies. if I can get a movie still image in my mind, I can figure out the movie. Also, I spend way too much time hanging out on these boards. I am having a BITCH of a time with my long-form fic. It's getting into an area of fiction I have not only have no idea how to write, and where all of the characters are supposed to fit. *bangheadagainstwall*

I am having a BITCH of a time with my long-form fic. It's getting into an area of fiction I have not only have no idea how to write, and where all of the characters are supposed to fit. *bangheadagainstwall* Put it aside and work on something else for awhile, even if it's not another piece of fiction but anything else at all, just to clear your mind. Sometimes we get too close to the work at hand, it's impossible to get a proper perspective because we get so hyperfocused on it. But even if you put it aside, it will still be simmering in your subconscious so if you return to it a few days later, you may have some fresh ideas or a different approach that works better. Well, at least that's the advice others give me - but I do think there's something to it.

It's amazing how, in the wake of "Out of the Chute," how much H/W fic is pouring out of the H/W factions of the fandom. I don't see as much in the H/C (I edit the LJ house md newsletter one day a week, so it's not personal bias). Lots of discussion and howling in that corner. It seems that every writer has to have their say on what happened after the episode, including myself.

I'm stunned, but very pleasantly so, at the amount of fic and the quality of it that has followed the last couple weeks. It feels as if the fandom has gone back to the way it was a few years ago, in terms of creativity, and I'm LOVING that.

Yes, when I first came around, I was wondering why people were bemoaning the lack of fics/creativity, but the last few episodes seem to have galvanized the fandom. (I just wish there was a warning: "This is yet another first-time fic".) I'm picking my authors carefully. There is some great stuff there.

The "lack of fics" thing is because this fandom used to be SO active, and I think by the time you arrived here, that activity had really fallen off. In short: we'd all been spoiled. The resurgence is making me very happy! And I'm reading a lot of new writers, too. By "yet another first-time fic" I assume you mean stories about the first time a couple has sex? Or do you mean fans for whom this is the first story they ever wrote?

I mean this is the first kiss, this is the first time having sex, that kind of thing. I understand the impulse, it's just that...it gets old. Also, it tends to be written by writers who don't seem to have actually had sex.