Once upon a time...

I haven't been in a theatre production in a long time, so I can't remember if there's a specific term for using the wrong hand to pick up a prop. It's not "crossing," is it?

Also, for you theatre aficionados, are there a lot of differences between British theatre and American theatre in terms of how performances are produced (terminology for the stage, financing, etc.)? I'm Googling for answers, but I'm not finding much.

And, finally, a question for English and British peoples: Are there a lot of young people (very early twenties) in your soap operas? American soaps seem to be boiling over with relatively young actors now, but what about yours? Are there stigmas attached to being in a soap opera in terms of getting acting work later? I have the feeling, given some of the British soaps I've seen, that there might not be any stigma attached because those soaps seems to be better quality in terms of acting than most of the American ones I've seen.

I had a rather off night last night what with realizing that I have completely misplaced a fanfic file... Still can't find it nor any of my notes on paper about it... and, apparently, I never saved any of my research links, and now that I've gone looking for them again, I can't find any of them. Christ on an effin' bike.

So, Victorian-lovin' friends of mine, does anyone know of any material about common occupations for middle class/upper middle class Victorians in London (or any of Middlesex's surrounding counties) between 1800-1880? Yes, most upwardly mobile Victorians didn't want to do any kind of labour, but some did. I'm specifically looking for educators (of the fancier public variety for younger children and college-level professors-- their credentials, their own educational background, social standing, etc.) and bankers. The only resources I have at my deposal at the moment are Tom Brown's School Days and Mary Poppins, and I've exhausted VictorianLondon.org and Victoriana.com.

Writing "dark!fic" can sometimes drive you crazy sometimes, you know? For me, writing certain situations are usually the kind that crave characterization to be spot-on, even more-so than in other types of gen!fic.

I'm trapped in the writing blaagho of doom! To my writer friends, how do you overcome your writer's block in the middle of a darker themed story?

Do you find Jossverse vampires ugly? I mean, wasn't that Whedon's point was that vampires were supposed to be hideous, be metaphors for all the evil and sinful things people do? The more evil and ancient a vampire was, the more grotesque they were supposed to become, as though the demon was a consuming disease. However, for all the Balthazars and Princes of Lies and Masters and Kakistoses (... Kakistosi?), there are more pretty vampires who are not only physically attractive in their human features but their vampiric features, to me, are somewhat aesthetically pleasing. It's not just the Fanged Four, but the Gorches weren't too bad looking. Spike and Harmony's vamp-faces are even sort of cute. It might just depend on the facial structure of the person wearing the make-up that determines whether or not their vamp-face is weird or off-putting. What are your thoughts? Is a Jossverse vampire's game-face ugly to you?

My thoughts are all a-flame over a conversation on the IDW Forum about souls in the Buffyverse. Can souls be involuntarily taken away? We saw Buffy get half of hers involuntarily sucked out in S4, and we know that the Mayor voluntarily sold his, but can the average Jane-or-Joe on the street have their soul taken away against their will in the 'verse?

How do you feel about Season One of BtVS? Do you ignore it? Is it okay to ignore it because of writer/director interviews? Because some stuff gets retconned later, do you pretend that those earlier instances didn't happen or do you find your own personal explanation? Do you have an explanation from a writer, actor, or director that you point to as how you explain particular retcons? Do you have a explanation from another fan (a fansplanation, if you will) that you use? Is it fair to argue that because a writer/director/actor says one thing that flies in the context of the show that one's explanation is somehow more correct than someone only using the show as a basis for their side of the discussion?

Is there really a concrete mythology of the Buffyverse? Or do you believe it can change when the writers/directors decide that it needs to change or it's convenient to change?

F**king magnets. How do they work?

Talk to me. Tell me what you think. :D

When Spike was chipped, would the chip fire if he killed an animal? In S4, the Initiative fellows said that he couldn't hurt "any living thing" and there was the joke about him not being able to pick a flower (Spike says he could), but in S6, he's obviously feeding off of kittens at least a fraction of the time. Here's what I want to know- do you think that the chip would fire when he fed off of an animal? 'Cause getting a migraine just for what little blood would be in a cat doesn't seem worth it. Do you think maybe he killed them first and then drained them? Do you think that it fired but not to the point of causing him a headache? Or did the chip just not fire at all? Seems like it would be easier just to microwave bagged blood and be done with it.

Now I'm sad 'cause I'm thinking about Spike eating kittens... Poor little panda baby Siamese kittens. :(

Enough Snagglepuss (one day I will have a tattoo of that gay lion on my foot)! I have a business query-like hypothetical to the fine folks on my f-list!

1. If there was a magazine for purchase online, would you like to have a high resolution digital copy of that magazine email to you or a printed copy sent by the mail, having in mind that the physical copy would be more expensive due to printing costs? Would you like for both options to be available?

2. a. How much would you be willing to pay per issue of a digital copy of a magazine? Would $5 be too much?
b. How much for the printed copy (including shipping costs)?

3. Is Paypal the generally accepted online method of payment now?

I'm thinking about purchasing Manga Studio Debut 4 to see if it makes the comic process a bit easier. Has anyone ever used it? The guys over at EclecticMicks rave about how wonderful the professional EX version of it is, but I wondering if the cheaper Debut version is any good?

I'm looking for a certain remix (or just the name of the remixer) of the song "Listen to Your Heart" with Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right, but It's Okay." It was on an old Little Mermaid music video that used to be on YouTube, but it's now disappeared. The only other video I found with the song is here (I apologize that it's a Twilight video *gags*). The vidder doesn't know what the remix is. If anyone could tell me the name of the remix or remixer, that'd be great! :D