Early birthday presents

[miss_yt]

I went to the mailbox and found that the campus cafe sent me a cookie for my birthday, which is 3 days from now. I didn't know they did stuff like that, but then again, I wasn't on campus this time last year or the year before that. My grandparents' birthday gift also arrived - they usually send checks because they don't know what to get me, but that's okay, now I can get 1337 stuff. The check was enclosed in a Tintin card.

I used to read The Adventures of Tintin a lot as a kid. It was really the first graphic novel (not exactly "comic book," since it wasn't published monthly) that I ever read. Of course it seems sort of corny and dated to me now, but I still like some of the books. I have a few in French, since after three semesters of intensive French class I'm competent enough to read them with only the occasional look at a dictionary. Maybe I should get some more French Tintin books, and perhaps some Asterix books too, so I don't forget the language, or at least how to read and write it. I'm considering getting The Three Musketeers in French too...

Anyway, between the card and the genre of fanfic I'm currently writing, I gave some thought to the possibility of writing a Tintin fic, because there aren't a lot of them and the ones I do are all by the same author, who tries to add some depth by adding serious and rather angsty stuff that doesn't fit in with the spirit of the original. It's not bad fic, and it has its moments, but it's just not...well.

I tried writing a Tintin a couple years ago when I was still taking French. It was supposed to be set in New York City, late 1940s. I only wrote four chapters, realized I'd made a mistake and took it down. Partly I was doing it to show off my French skills - I had Tintin and Captain Haddock speaking to each other (or themselves) mostly in French, although the narrative was in English. That wasn't a good idea. I also put in an original character - a girl, since Herge never made women significant characters in his stories and I thought someone ought to. That idea has some merit, and that's what I'm considering. Right now I'm thinking of writing her like a certain detective from Ruse, but with a bit more social grace and a kinder sense of humor. Until I actually get a good plot, though - and maybe do some historical research so I know what the hell I'm talking about - another fic idea is the last thing I need. I have to finish the one I'm working on, try and write a Samurai Jack fic which I have only a vague idea for, and then try to write this Batman Beyond fanfic which I have a not-so-vague idea for. I'm booked solid as far as fics are concerned for the next year, I think.