Shiny new tyres

Feel rather weird. Sort of bumpy when riding. They are also rather butch bmx-like mountain bike tyres, which seem rather out of place on my decrepit girly mountain bike which is falling apart one piece at a time. 41 quid for the tyres and inner tubing, a tenner for the service. Still, cheaper than buying a new bike. Only say one that was below 200 quid, and was rather intimidated by most of the ones in the shop, as it's a rather serious mountain biking shop. Not to mention looking at all the accesoires you're supposed to have (ummm.... I have the bike pump, the allan keys and the helmet, that's about it), and how often you're supposed to clean it to keep it in good working order. this is the first repair job my bike's had since I replaced the gears six years ago. I looked at my bike and went 'er, I've had you about ten years, you've been drenched in the rain several times and I've oiled you about three times in that space - does that count?' As I was waiting for them to finish, some sod came in with a well-used but obviously fairly new top of the range bike for a service. He'd had it six months. Jammy sod.

Was nervously checking ebay all week to see if my comics were being picked up, and getting worried as no sign of anyone wanting them. Finally they started being bid on tonight with one day left, so that's a weight off my mind.

Went through the comics pile in my cupboard to take off the top few bags to sort through and sell - sorted out my comics collection into categories a few months back, using the nicely-sized bags from the comic shop to separate. Scanning in the covers of some of the sets now, weighing, pricing and listing tomorrow. Geurch. Splitting up the Young Justice issues into saleable chunks is going to be difficult.

Musings on fic

Just running ideas through my heads for stories - mostly my original fic universes. Like everyone, I like doing crossovers, just to see how characters would deal. What's interesting is when you contemplate a crossover, go 'oh, that'd be cool', think it out... and usddenly realise it would be impossible. Either the history doesn't gel, or the power levels involved, but most often it's the rules of that universe. Rules set up to make sure the magic or the science or the political/power balance works well enough for the story to be plausible and go ahead. Some universes just can't mesh, and that can be a real disappointment.

For example, it's quite easy to put Buffy in with a lot of things, because part of the rules of that universe are that it's a hidden universe, going on below the surface of everything else.

What I hate is when I want to do a short crossover piece for my own amusement that involves my original universe. One of my girls is currently tooling around with the Due South lot, which incidentally forced me to firm up the issues in the history of my original stuff. I have to operate it as a case where you get the occasional hint of odd stuff, but it's being explained to the mundanes (RayK and Fraser) as a cult where the mantle of killer is handed down to the head disciple, rather than what it actually is, which is a demon hopping bodies. You simply can't let them see too much of what it actually is, and make my girl be quick with the explanations and obfuscation. I've had some fun, like when she constantly refers to Kowalski as 'Streetcar boy' (takes place while Vecchio is still with the mob), and the flinging of polite insults she did in the back of the car with Robert Fraser, Fraser doing his normal reactions to his dad's presence, and Kowalski thinking 'oh, christ, not another one', still unable to hear or see Robert Fraser.

Like now. Having just read Te's Ethan stuff, I thought 'ooo, I'd love to see Ethan just visit the Circle town' (town that was created to deal with the weak barrier in that place between there and Fairyland - magic has effects there, as do all the old superstitions, etc). Then to my horror, due to the rule that I'd set up long ago as part of the safeguards originally woven into the fabric of the place - wars, plague, murders, etc just pass it by because of the effect they'd have on weakening the barrier - I couldn't do it. There's a very strong obfuscation thing over the town, so anyone trying to get there to mess with stuff would just pass it by. Not see the road. Thick clouds if passing by plane. Temporary obliviousness. Downright forceful 'No you can't bloody well get near' measures by the landscape if someone's really attempting to get there.

And so the only possible option for that plot bunny was :

"The Circle Towns. Now, they're odd places."

Ethan sighs. "So I've heard. They sound utterly fascinating. However, due to my chaos worshipping, I'm banned from setting foot near them. Apparently I'm considered too dangerous. Can't get there by mystical or mundane means, no matter what I try."

:pout: Even if I had someone from the damn town that he'd charmed into trying to get him there, literally leading him there by the hand, they'd get detoured. Or he'd stop to get a very sudden stone out of his shoe, or trip over, and the next thing he knew, they'd disappeared, having gone through the barrier and left him behind.

Feh.