TITLE: Writer's Block
AUTHOR: Dannyblue (a.k.a. Danny)
EMAIL: dannyblue2@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Yes, please.
ARCHIVE/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just drop me a note so I'll know where.
SUMMARY: A fanfic writer is visited by a very attractive muse.
SPOILERS: General ANGEL THE SERIES spoilers.
PAIRING: A/C.
RATING: PG.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Angel" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
NOTE: This is a little experiment. I hope it works.
Danny's fingers flew across the keyboard, filling the room with a soft CLACK-TAP-TAP-
CLICKETY-CLACK.
she thought, as her eager eyes watched the words flow across her computer
screen.
"This is crap!" she snapped, and snatched her hands away from the keyboard as if she'd
been burned. "It's not even good crap. It's boring crap!"
And she should know. She'd recently developed a taste for "bad" fanfic. Some of that stuff
could be pretty entertaining. If you didn't let stuff like bad characterization, and
unbelievable plots get to you.
Danny glared at the monitor. The crap she'd produced in the past 2 hours wasn't even
worth a laugh.
Sighing in frustration, she wished—for half a second—that she wrote her stories on a
typewriter. Ripping a sheet of paper out of the carrier, crumpling it into a tight little ball,
would be pretty satisfying right about now.
"Can't come up with an idea, huh?"
With another sigh, Danny glanced up.
Angel stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. And dressed in black from head
to toe.
Danny frowned. Actually, the shirt looked like it was just a really, really dark blue. Which
the vampire probably considered kind of flashy.
"Ideas aren't the problem," the fanfic writer said. She rested her elbow on the desk and
cradled her chin in the palm of her hand. "I've got ideas coming out of my ears. Not to
mention all the great fanfic challenges at Stranger Things. But, for some reason, I just can't
make any of it click."
A perplexed frown crimped his intense brow. "Click?"
"Yeah, you know. Click!" Danny stood up and walked around the desk. "I know you know
about the click. I mean, didn't Fred explain it to you?"
"Well, yeah. A couple of times, actually." Looking chagrined, he pushed his hands into his
pockets. "I never really got it, though."
Smiling at how adorably clueless he looked, Danny sat on the edge of the desk.
"Well, for me, the click is that moment when the story starts to almost write itself. I mean,
I'm not getting rich doing this, you know. I do it because I love you guys, and because
writing is fun. As long as there's a click. If there's no click, it stops being fun and turns
into work."
He looked liked she'd just spent the last 30 seconds speaking in a tongue he'd never heard
before.
"It's like when Cordy has a vision of the next demon you're supposed to kill."
"Oh," Angel said, finally understanding. His eyes filled with a little of that determined,
I'm-on-a-mission glow.
"Let's just say," Danny concluded, "none of the ideas I've tried today have worked out."
"Okay," he said. Taking a deep, unneeded breath, he walked further into the room. "What
ideas *have* you tried so far?"
"Well, I thought about writing a Connor 'ship fic."
"'Ship." He shook his head, to let her know he didn't get the term.
"You know, a Connor-in-a-relationship story. I tried creating an original character to
become his girlfriend. Then, I thought maybe Dawn…"
"Are you crazy?" the vampire suddenly exclaimed.
Startled by his outburst, Danny snapped her mouth shut. Eyes wide, she stared at the
scowling vampire. Was he glaring at her? Was that a spark of gold she saw in his eyes?
Danny gulped.
"I know the 'modern teen'"—he made finger quotes—"isn't as naive and innocent as the
teens were back in my day. Although I could tell you some stories…But Connor grew up
in a hell dimension. He hasn't been in this world long enough to…" He stuttered to a stop,
struggling for the right words. "He's barely had time to adjust to being in a new
environment. He certainly isn't ready for a…relationship." He said the word like it left a
bad taste in his mouth.
Danny's eyes skittered away from the vampire-slash-overprotective papa. From what she
had seen in "A New Day", Connor's hormones didn't much care whether he was ready for
a relationship or not. But, since she wasn't sure Angel knew about the Sonny-kissage, she
didn't comment.
"What about a crossover?" Angel suggested. His parental panic gave way to mild interest.
"I've always wanted to meet that *Forever Knight* guy. I mean, it's not like there are a lot
of crime-fighting vampires around. Or what about Zeke Stone from *Brimstone*? We
could trade notes on the time we spent in hell."
Danny shrugged. "I'll probably write a crossover during the hiatus. *Four* months." She
shivered at the wrongness of that thought. "But I'm not all that interested just this second. I
*have* kind of thought about doing an alternate universe fic, though."
"Not my favorite." Re-folding his arms—as Danny knew, this was his preferred stance—
he leaned against the desk next to her. "Sure, there are some great stories out there. But it's
always kind of weird. Living a life that isn't really my life. With things happening in a way
they never actually happened. You know?"
Captivated by the fact that he was standing right next to her—that, if she leaned an inch to
the left, she could actually *touch* him—it took Danny an extra second to catch what he
said. "Oh, yeah! I know what you mean. You're absolutely right."
*Lean, girl,* a little voice inside her head screamed. *Lean!*
"Of course," he continued, "I probably wouldn't mind if it was a Shanshu story." A wistful
glow softened his intense, black gaze as he stared at some distant, far-off place. "To be
human again. Able to walk in the sunlight without becoming a torch. No soul issues.
Which means no Angelus. Which means I can finally…I mean, Cordy and I…What I mean
is, we could…"
Marveling at how good he smelled, Danny barely heard the stuttering. "I know. I can do a
Jealous!Angel story."
Angel's head snapped around so fast, Danny was sure he'd given himself whiplash.
"What?" he demanded.
"You know. Cordy's dating someone else. You get jealous." Danny grinned. "I *love*
those stories."
"No!" Angel gave his head a decisive shake. "No Cordy-dating-anyone-else stories. No
way!"
Danny pouted. "By why not. I mean, they're so much fun."
"For whom? Not for me." He gave her disapproving look. "I'm starting to think you fanfic
writers and readers *like* to see me suffer."
"It's not that," Danny assured him. "It's just that, well…" Danny petered off into silence.
Actually, fanfic writers and readers *did* like to see Angel suffer. A little. And only
sometimes. "Okay, what if I set the story in season 2. Before you admitted to yourself you
had feelings for Cordy."
"It doesn't matter when you set the story. Seeing Cordy with another guy never made me
happy. Not even in season one. And now…"
Sighing, Danny nodded. She'd always thought there was more to Angel not wanting Cordy
to date than him looking at her like a sister.
"Well, that's it then," she said. "You've just shot down all of my possible ideas."
In an instant, guilt clouded the vampire's expression. "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Angel!" a new voice said. "Are you in here?"
Danny looked up to see Cordelia Chase barreling through the door. Like a force of nature.
She looked even better in person.
"There you are," she said, spotting the vampire.
Angel pushed himself away from the desk. Looking at Cordelia seemed to make his eyes
sparkle. A goofy grin hovered at the corners of his lips, waiting to spring forth.
"What's up, Cor?" he asked.
Behind him, Danny smirked. He was really loving that new nickname, wasn't he.
"Vision," Cordelia said. "New case. So, you really don't have time to be here trying to
help Danielle Steele get over her writer's block." The former May Queen of Sunnydale
High gave the fanfic writer an apologetic smile. "No offense."
"None taken," Danny assured. In fact, being insulted by Cordelia Chase made the writer
feel…kind of proud.
"Let's go," Angel said to Cordy, sounding all forceful and determined. And there it was.
I'm-on-a-mission face.
He took a decisive step towards the door. Then paused to glance at Danny. "I'm sorry I
couldn't help."
"Don't mention it," Danny said, waving his apology away. She was sure she'd come up
with another fic idea eventually. She always did.
"Why don't you write about this?" Cordy suggested.
"Huh?"
"This! This!" The brunette-turned-blond waved wildly around the office. "You. Angel.
Me. Here." She gave Danny THE LOOK. "You're not telling me *this* wouldn't make a
good fanfic."
Danny gasped. Cordelia was right. This *would* make a decent story.
As her two favorite television characters went out the door, Danny sat down at her desk.
Finally, she had an idea that might actually click. So, it was time to get writing.
Too bad no-one who read the fic would know it actually happened.
Shrugging, Danny poised her fingers over the keyboard.
And that's when an entirely new idea struck.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What if Spike paid a little visit to LA?"
"NO!!!!" a voice growled from the distance.
THE END
Author's Note: The only reason I ever even considered writing a starring *me* was that I
knew I wouldn't be doing one darned heroic or slightly special thing in it…except talking
to two characters I adore, of course.
AUTHOR: Dannyblue (a.k.a. Danny)
EMAIL: dannyblue2@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Yes, please.
ARCHIVE/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just drop me a note so I'll know where.
SUMMARY: A fanfic writer is visited by a very attractive muse.
SPOILERS: General ANGEL THE SERIES spoilers.
PAIRING: A/C.
RATING: PG.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Angel" or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
NOTE: This is a little experiment. I hope it works.
Danny's fingers flew across the keyboard, filling the room with a soft CLACK-TAP-TAP-
CLICKETY-CLACK.
she thought, as her eager eyes watched the words flow across her computer
screen.
"This is crap!" she snapped, and snatched her hands away from the keyboard as if she'd
been burned. "It's not even good crap. It's boring crap!"
And she should know. She'd recently developed a taste for "bad" fanfic. Some of that stuff
could be pretty entertaining. If you didn't let stuff like bad characterization, and
unbelievable plots get to you.
Danny glared at the monitor. The crap she'd produced in the past 2 hours wasn't even
worth a laugh.
Sighing in frustration, she wished—for half a second—that she wrote her stories on a
typewriter. Ripping a sheet of paper out of the carrier, crumpling it into a tight little ball,
would be pretty satisfying right about now.
"Can't come up with an idea, huh?"
With another sigh, Danny glanced up.
Angel stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. And dressed in black from head
to toe.
Danny frowned. Actually, the shirt looked like it was just a really, really dark blue. Which
the vampire probably considered kind of flashy.
"Ideas aren't the problem," the fanfic writer said. She rested her elbow on the desk and
cradled her chin in the palm of her hand. "I've got ideas coming out of my ears. Not to
mention all the great fanfic challenges at Stranger Things. But, for some reason, I just can't
make any of it click."
A perplexed frown crimped his intense brow. "Click?"
"Yeah, you know. Click!" Danny stood up and walked around the desk. "I know you know
about the click. I mean, didn't Fred explain it to you?"
"Well, yeah. A couple of times, actually." Looking chagrined, he pushed his hands into his
pockets. "I never really got it, though."
Smiling at how adorably clueless he looked, Danny sat on the edge of the desk.
"Well, for me, the click is that moment when the story starts to almost write itself. I mean,
I'm not getting rich doing this, you know. I do it because I love you guys, and because
writing is fun. As long as there's a click. If there's no click, it stops being fun and turns
into work."
He looked liked she'd just spent the last 30 seconds speaking in a tongue he'd never heard
before.
"It's like when Cordy has a vision of the next demon you're supposed to kill."
"Oh," Angel said, finally understanding. His eyes filled with a little of that determined,
I'm-on-a-mission glow.
"Let's just say," Danny concluded, "none of the ideas I've tried today have worked out."
"Okay," he said. Taking a deep, unneeded breath, he walked further into the room. "What
ideas *have* you tried so far?"
"Well, I thought about writing a Connor 'ship fic."
"'Ship." He shook his head, to let her know he didn't get the term.
"You know, a Connor-in-a-relationship story. I tried creating an original character to
become his girlfriend. Then, I thought maybe Dawn…"
"Are you crazy?" the vampire suddenly exclaimed.
Startled by his outburst, Danny snapped her mouth shut. Eyes wide, she stared at the
scowling vampire. Was he glaring at her? Was that a spark of gold she saw in his eyes?
Danny gulped.
"I know the 'modern teen'"—he made finger quotes—"isn't as naive and innocent as the
teens were back in my day. Although I could tell you some stories…But Connor grew up
in a hell dimension. He hasn't been in this world long enough to…" He stuttered to a stop,
struggling for the right words. "He's barely had time to adjust to being in a new
environment. He certainly isn't ready for a…relationship." He said the word like it left a
bad taste in his mouth.
Danny's eyes skittered away from the vampire-slash-overprotective papa. From what she
had seen in "A New Day", Connor's hormones didn't much care whether he was ready for
a relationship or not. But, since she wasn't sure Angel knew about the Sonny-kissage, she
didn't comment.
"What about a crossover?" Angel suggested. His parental panic gave way to mild interest.
"I've always wanted to meet that *Forever Knight* guy. I mean, it's not like there are a lot
of crime-fighting vampires around. Or what about Zeke Stone from *Brimstone*? We
could trade notes on the time we spent in hell."
Danny shrugged. "I'll probably write a crossover during the hiatus. *Four* months." She
shivered at the wrongness of that thought. "But I'm not all that interested just this second. I
*have* kind of thought about doing an alternate universe fic, though."
"Not my favorite." Re-folding his arms—as Danny knew, this was his preferred stance—
he leaned against the desk next to her. "Sure, there are some great stories out there. But it's
always kind of weird. Living a life that isn't really my life. With things happening in a way
they never actually happened. You know?"
Captivated by the fact that he was standing right next to her—that, if she leaned an inch to
the left, she could actually *touch* him—it took Danny an extra second to catch what he
said. "Oh, yeah! I know what you mean. You're absolutely right."
*Lean, girl,* a little voice inside her head screamed. *Lean!*
"Of course," he continued, "I probably wouldn't mind if it was a Shanshu story." A wistful
glow softened his intense, black gaze as he stared at some distant, far-off place. "To be
human again. Able to walk in the sunlight without becoming a torch. No soul issues.
Which means no Angelus. Which means I can finally…I mean, Cordy and I…What I mean
is, we could…"
Marveling at how good he smelled, Danny barely heard the stuttering. "I know. I can do a
Jealous!Angel story."
Angel's head snapped around so fast, Danny was sure he'd given himself whiplash.
"What?" he demanded.
"You know. Cordy's dating someone else. You get jealous." Danny grinned. "I *love*
those stories."
"No!" Angel gave his head a decisive shake. "No Cordy-dating-anyone-else stories. No
way!"
Danny pouted. "By why not. I mean, they're so much fun."
"For whom? Not for me." He gave her disapproving look. "I'm starting to think you fanfic
writers and readers *like* to see me suffer."
"It's not that," Danny assured him. "It's just that, well…" Danny petered off into silence.
Actually, fanfic writers and readers *did* like to see Angel suffer. A little. And only
sometimes. "Okay, what if I set the story in season 2. Before you admitted to yourself you
had feelings for Cordy."
"It doesn't matter when you set the story. Seeing Cordy with another guy never made me
happy. Not even in season one. And now…"
Sighing, Danny nodded. She'd always thought there was more to Angel not wanting Cordy
to date than him looking at her like a sister.
"Well, that's it then," she said. "You've just shot down all of my possible ideas."
In an instant, guilt clouded the vampire's expression. "Sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Angel!" a new voice said. "Are you in here?"
Danny looked up to see Cordelia Chase barreling through the door. Like a force of nature.
She looked even better in person.
"There you are," she said, spotting the vampire.
Angel pushed himself away from the desk. Looking at Cordelia seemed to make his eyes
sparkle. A goofy grin hovered at the corners of his lips, waiting to spring forth.
"What's up, Cor?" he asked.
Behind him, Danny smirked. He was really loving that new nickname, wasn't he.
"Vision," Cordelia said. "New case. So, you really don't have time to be here trying to
help Danielle Steele get over her writer's block." The former May Queen of Sunnydale
High gave the fanfic writer an apologetic smile. "No offense."
"None taken," Danny assured. In fact, being insulted by Cordelia Chase made the writer
feel…kind of proud.
"Let's go," Angel said to Cordy, sounding all forceful and determined. And there it was.
I'm-on-a-mission face.
He took a decisive step towards the door. Then paused to glance at Danny. "I'm sorry I
couldn't help."
"Don't mention it," Danny said, waving his apology away. She was sure she'd come up
with another fic idea eventually. She always did.
"Why don't you write about this?" Cordy suggested.
"Huh?"
"This! This!" The brunette-turned-blond waved wildly around the office. "You. Angel.
Me. Here." She gave Danny THE LOOK. "You're not telling me *this* wouldn't make a
good fanfic."
Danny gasped. Cordelia was right. This *would* make a decent story.
As her two favorite television characters went out the door, Danny sat down at her desk.
Finally, she had an idea that might actually click. So, it was time to get writing.
Too bad no-one who read the fic would know it actually happened.
Shrugging, Danny poised her fingers over the keyboard.
And that's when an entirely new idea struck.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "What if Spike paid a little visit to LA?"
"NO!!!!" a voice growled from the distance.
THE END
Author's Note: The only reason I ever even considered writing a starring *me* was that I
knew I wouldn't be doing one darned heroic or slightly special thing in it…except talking
to two characters I adore, of course.