After a long break from writing, work has commenced on my next fic, When Words Fail, the Sev/Lily story I've been promising for a while now. For a time I was on the verge of abandoning it, since I'm not as committed to the concept as I was for Time is the Fire, but writing anything at all after that would be hard for me, and eventually you just reach a point where you can either keep checking FFN every day to see if you've got any new reviews or sit down and start typing your next story. Of course once I did that, it came along relatively easily, and now I'm looking forward to getting another chapter or two done so I can start uploading. Hope you guys like it.

Also, I've got an idea for yet another HP fic rattling around in my brain, and you may be seeing that one sooner rather than later. The concept, quite frankly, is absurd, but it makes me grin like an idiot just thinking about it and I can see it actually working. Time will tell; worst case scenario, nothing comes of it. But you can expect When Words Fail within a week or two.

I've recently come to the realization that I'm a hopeless shipper. I've always had my "couples", but it hasn't been until I've started writing fanfiction that I've realized how passionate I am about them. I suppose this is a good thing--romance is still in, right? Right now I'm on a Harry/Hermione kick, as I feel they are much more suited for each other than they are for their eventual canon spouses, even though I usually only focus on canon pairings.

Oddment Tweak's Favorite Pairings:

Harry Potter/Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) - Goes without saying. I respect the direction J. K. Rowling took her characters in, but in my mind there is no better couple for one another in all of HP canon than Harry and Hermione. I'm seriously digging all the Harmony fics on this site!

Severus Snape/Lily Evans (Harry Potter) - I'm a sucker for underdogs, and the only thing better than a miserable tale of unrequited love is a miserable tale of unrequited love that gradually becomes a blissful tale of requited love. I'm hard pressed to name a pairing better for that than this one!

Harry Dresden/Karrin Murphy (The Dresden Files) - Love these two. Haven't yet picked up Changes, so I haven't read a lot of this pairing since before it came out for fear of spoilers. I'm skeptical the two wind up together in it, but hey, we can all dream, right?

Desmond Hume/Penelope Widmore (Lost) - How can anyone watch Lost at all and not absolutely adore this couple? I don't even really read any Lost fanfiction, I just adore Desmond and Penny. Anyone that can keep a torch burning through everything they've been through must be soulmates.

Ned/Chuck (Pushing Daisies) - Being madly in love with each other but completely unable to ever touch one another, on pain of death? This has to be one of the saddest, and most romantic pairings I've ever seen. Not to mention there are some truly HOT fics out there featuring some inventive uses for shower curtains and plastic wrap. A great show, and a great pairing, too bad it's constantly buried under mounds of Cholive femslash fics. :(

Chuck Bartowski/Sarah Walker (Chuck) - The ultimate nerd wish fulfillment pairing, and quite frankly I'm perfectly okay with that. Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski have fabulous chemistry, and the show's done an amazing job of dragging out the "will they or won't they" trope for just the right amount of time. I cannot wait for the next season, and for Sarah to have plenty of Chuck's little spy babies.

Shawn Spencer/Juliet O'Hara (Psych) - Somewhat surprisingly, I haven't found too many fics out there with this pairing, which is a right shame given that Shawn and Jules have such fantastic chemistry together. I'm absolutely dying to see a longer fic published that tackles what their relationship would be like, and not just another oneshot (though there are many fabulously smutty Shules oneshots out there). Maybe the new season'll inspire someone to get cracking on one.

Rick Castle/Kate Beckett (Castle) - Castle and Beckett have even better chemisty than Shawn and Jules, and there's yet to be a single episode in which their banter has failed to elicit a smile or a guffaw from me. There are also some great fics out there featuring these two; hardly surprising as basically the entire show revolves around them. I'm not sure we'll ever see a Esposito/Beckett story or a Lanie/Ryan fic. And honestly, what would be the point?

Malcolm Reynolds/Inara Serra (Firefly) - My unnatural fondness of Nathan Fillian is not just limited to Castle--Mal is the original space cowboy, and Inara the original space geisha (spacesha? speisha?). They're absolutely made for each other, and it absolutely kills me that outside of fanfiction we'll likely never see them wind up together. Curse you, Fox Network! Curse you!

John Connor/Cameron (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles) - Yet another beloved but prematurely cancelled show starring Summer Glau. What is your problem, Fox? What do you have against love? There are some fantastic Jameron fics out there, but one of my biggest pet peeves has to be when writers treat Cam like a teenage girl, giving her way too many human emotions. That defeats the entire purpose of this pairing! Quit taking the easy way out, and write her the way she was meant to be written--as a machine, with thought processes that are befitting of a Terminator. The fics that do this best are usually the funniest ones, and show how she becomes a suitable romantic interest for John over time: something I find far more interesting than your run of the mill "OMG Cam's chip is broken now she's all girly and stuff WTF!!!" fic.

Eli Wallace/Chloe Armstrong (Stargate Universe) - Another adorable pairing. See Snape/Lily above for my thoughts on unrequited love. The first season finale has me itching to write a fic revolving around these two, and if I have a good enough idea for one after Time is the Fire, I might just do it.

Dexter Morgan/Debra Morgan (Dexter) - Alright, you heard it here first: I fully expect this to be a canon pairing by the end of the next season. Exhibit A: Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter are married in real life. Exhibit B: Dexter and Deb's former romantic interests are both conveniently absent going into the season. Exhibit C: The gross-out factor of an adopted sibling romance seems right up Dexter's alley, and Deb is pretty much Dexter's only shoulder to cry on after everything that happened with Trinity. Go ahead, call me crazy; but I'm calling it. Now, if only we could see Cody and Aster on to road to becoming serial killers in the new season the way it happens in the books...

John-117/Cortana (Halo) - There's absolutely NO way anyone can play all the way through Halo 3 and not have thoughts of this pairing dance through their head-up-display. I mean, it's hard enough not to imagine Master Chief/Cortana smoochin' through the first two games, but in Halo 3 their feelings for one another are downright explicit. MC is ridiculously difficult to write for, even if you have read all the books, but I'm thinking of trying my hand at it after Time is the Fire, and greatly appreciate reading others' fics featuring this pairing.

Oddment Tweak's Take on the Smut-To-Plot Ratio:

I don't write one-shots. At least, I haven't yet, and don't have any real plans to in the future; but if a suitable idea hits me, that could change. But until then, my stories are plot and character driven, and I strive to keep my characters realistic and IC. While I love gratuitous sex as much as the next person, I prefer to leave that stuff out and focus on the story unless the sex drives forward the plot. That said, when a sex scene is integral to a story, I'm of the philosophy that it should be HOT. In-character, and believable within the context of the story, but absolutely steamy and toe-curling. A good story ought to make the reader feel the way the characters do, and in a good sex scene if the characters are enjoying themselves, erm, in the biblical sense, than the reader should be able to enjoy just as much. Otherwise, what's the point?

Of course that's not as easy as it sounds, but it's what I strive for nonetheless. For those of you reading Time is the Fire, by no means does it revolve around sex, but it will earn its M Rating in later chapters. Feedback in this area is as useful and appreciated as comments on other matters. If you've got thoughts on the subject, review my work and tell me what they are.