Our Girl and Captain James Discussion Thread Volume XI

[icemistOBE]

Feel free to join in as we discuss all things Our Girl and Captain James related.

The CJ Collective "Sophisticated Silliness"

Honorary Members of The CJ Collective:
Ben Aldridge
Tony Grounds
Lacey Turner
Cast & Crew of Our Girl

I would discount being crazy!! But no more than the rest of us xx

Oh thanks Nickel I should use that as my mantra!

I could really use some of that 'really want to sort stuff out energy' We've hit a wall of sickness, tiredness and general can't be arsedness, there are still piles of boxes to be unpacked or sorted and got rid of and the house generally is an absolute tip.

Sometimes I think its the weather. Its just so cold all the time that I don't want to move. As for doing all those awful house things - seeing as we were going to hire out BA/CJ for house cleaning if we were his agent, couldn't we hire out all of Two Section for house clearances, box moving, decluttering etc as they did a bit of box shifting in Episode 4 - so they've got previous experience.

Hi Ladies, been away a few days but have time to catch up.

Just want to reiterate what great ff Lola and Jen have posted. Love them both. Keep up the good work.

I have been reading Klipdoctor's Correspondance and posted a review where I said I was a bit surprised that he'd left a nine year gap between them getting married and retiring and wondered if anything had happened in between. I got a fairly scathing message back. I was surprised how defensive he was and he quoted TG's Q&A to the OGA group blah, blah, blah. I think he's taking this ff lark too seriously!

Anyway, on a lighter note we have had a Nespresso machine for several years and before all the shops sprung up, you had to be in the Nespresso club to buy the coffee. My DH got a call yesterday out of the blue from the said club saying that if we bought so much coffee we'd get a free gift etc. DH put his order in over the phone and said I would also like to try some Rosabaya. The girl laughed at the other end and asked why he was trying it for the first time. Apparently they had a long conversation about OG/CJ/MD and he told her all about this thread and ff.

Maybe we'll get another newbie.

Ha ha Onefor I wonder how much Nepresso sales have increased since OG aired. I've had a Nepresso machine for 4 years but I only have Decaff so won't be getting any Rosabaya unless I get some for DH. What colour pod is it, must have a look on their website.

speighty I think the Rosabaya pods are gold.

Oooh lots to comment on here.

Rhubarb I still love watching the DVD but like everyone says, it has lost its attraction a bit, mainly I suppose because I know it off by heart, having watched it more times than I care to recall! As well, again like you say, I home in on the lack of continuity in some areas and yes, the headscarf thing etc. (I brought up the query about what looked like a can of beer or lager earlier in the week too, remember?)

In a lot of ways, I think the ff is almost better than the original. Maybe it's because the majority are (I assume) written by women. There were a few things in the series that made me cringe, especially the "Do you love me" scene when they discovered Sohail under that sheet. That just would not happen in reality. Even as a plot device, it was weak I thought.

What confuses me now is that I can watch the series and start to think of one of the ff's where the stories are poles apart and I think the ff has in some ways spoiled me for watching the series. Does that make sense?

Hi onefor. I'm surprised klipdoctor was so defensive, especially when he asked for reviews. Given it was up reading the scrapbook I make you right about the gap, else it means that they didn't write anything in between, so seems a perfectly reasonable question! What did he say it had to do with the q&a and oga??? Very strange? Maybe he's having a confidence crisis about his writing?

Us reading not up reading!

Afternoon. Sounds like Klipdoctor has got his head up his arse.

Problem I have now is the amazing ff- although book reader seems to steal storylines from others I do watch the odd episode but I find myself thinking more about the ff than anything.

Can you imagine the hysteria if they announced another series?? Would be mental! And God forbid molly and CJ were not in it.

To give you all a laugh, I will tell you of the most embarrassing thing which happened to me this lunchtime. I have a dress which for some reason is full of static and no matter how much I rinse it in fabric conditioner, rub the lining with talcum powder, use tumble dryer sheets etc etc, it is still bad. As a very last resort today, I thought I would wear hold-ups instead of my usual tights. Not worn any in years but decided it was worth a try. I bought them yesterday. About a third of the way out to the car park at lunchtime, I could feel one of them start to slide down and I tried to manoeuvre it back into place without any success. I walked with one arm halfway down my leg (I looked deformed) to try and stop it from wrinkling down and in the end, decided to run to my car. My absolutely gorgeous 6'5" male colleague was parking his car. I am sure he must have seen me. I was mortified. We are nearly 500 people in this building - so if he didn't see me, somebody else is bound to have done.

I was going to Tesco anyway and decided to take the hold-ups off in the car and get some replacement tights in Tesco. I told the assistant in the clothing department that I had had a wardrobe malfunction so I opened the packet, put them on in the changing room and paid for an empty packet five minutes later.

Maybe we need some foolproof hold-ups to add to our lingerie range ladies????

I think klipdoctor is very opinionated. You can't ask for reviews and then complain when one is less positive that you hoped. I didn't like how, in his author's notes, he said reviews on the last two chapters had tailed off. How blinking pretentious of him! How does the OGA Q&A fit in? Curious to hear about that. He's not a well known published author for heaven's sake - he can't afford to be precious like that!

Am I right in guessing that most of the reviews are from the OGA clan? The same names seem to crop up anyway.

icemist you made me laugh with your trenchant, to the point comment on klipdoctor!

Met my friends but OG wasn't mentioned as other more pressing (and depressing) matters ended up being discussed. I do think the ff has taken the place of the actual series now, although I have to say that when I see pics of CJ (minus shag rug,emu feathers etc) I'm still overcome by how gorgeous he is.

orphanare you imagining cj without anything on or in uniform!?! I agree though (with whichever version!)!

The oga lot do shower klip with a lot of praise on facebook, so I expect he is going with that! I'm coming off that group again though cos, tbh it just winds me up!! Sorry if anyone on here is one of them, but each to his or her own! Stick with your local team (in terms of crazy mindset, I'm thinking!)!!

I agree orphan, I also think for me FF has taken over where OG left off and echo your comment on CJ. Let's hope they do series two so we can see some more visuals :)

Ladies - this was the actual reply from Klipdoctor. I definitely didn't say I didn't like it. I just questioned the 9 year gap between them marrying and retiring. I wanted to know if maybe Rob did join the RAF or if he got married. I make you all right that the OGA group have given him an over inflated ego.

Firstly, thanks for your review(s) for Correspondence. Sorry that you don't like the most recent chapter. In answer to your issue with it, I would just like to make two points:

Firstly, I don't see this as a story about the rest of their lives. For me this is a story about how their love for each other is so strong that it wins out against their PTSD, his mother and her leukaemia. In that context I didn't want the message of the story to get diluted by putting in extraneous chapters about nothing in particular. In his Q&A with OGA, Tony Grounds himself said that you don't need to spell everything out and sometimes you just have to let the viewer's/reader's imagination fill in the blanks. I try to keep my fics as tight as possible.

The other point for me, is that in the context of this format it would look extremely contrived to put in chapters about their life together. The format works for when intense things are happening (him discovering what his mother's done, searching for her, her friends trying to support her as she's dying, etc), but not for everyday life. I mean do you feel the need to e-mail or write to your friends and family about going down the supermarket or having a particularly good day at work? I don't.

I hope that answers your questions about what I am trying to do with the story. Sorry that the lack of description of their life together ruins it for you, but maybe the two final chapters will bring it back. Thanks anyway for your reviews.

nickel Hmm, come to think of it, it's strange how I can be looking at a clothed pic of CJ, yet be seeing a completely naked one!!

Just read klipdictor's updates and the reviews. He's certainly got a fervent following! Remember when really he was the 'star' of the OG ff (although what's happened to Laurielove?) then all 'our' writers came out and, in my view anyway, surpassed him.
Incidentally, like klipdoctor I too, sat in the cockpit, on the captain's knee on a 747. I enjoyed it then, but probably would really enjoy it now!

Hmmm, just read that Onefor and I still stick to what I said before - he's pretentious and up himself. I may stop reading his work now.

At which point, perhaps I should reveal myself as klipdoctor?!

I've been out all day catching up with a couple of friends. No mention of OG to either of them. I have decided it would sound weird now if you suddenly mentioned something that finished months ago.

icemist your so funny! But spot on about Klipdoctor. He wants reviews, but doesn't like the constructive ones. onefor, you were only commenting which you are allowed to do. I echo icemist!!!!!

rhubarb i haven't watched a full episode for a while. I'm tend to dip in, for certain scenes that I love. It also depends on what mood I am in, happy, sad etc. I think perhaps we all know them word for word, there is nothing left for us to explore. Unless it is the why are their headsets difference, or continuity errors. We have all discussed almost everything in detail, and sometimes twice! I am still enjoying the soundtrack as I can visualise each scene. I wonder how long it will take us not to want to listen to that.

We had some sleet hail rain this afternoon. DH is doing a two day trip covering, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and then down to Cardiff. He has had dreadful weather.

ilove I can't wear hold ups naps they stop my circulation, I already have blue/purple knees, I can't have thighs like that too! Oh and I start my job Monday 9th Feb!!!!!

orphan if you are Klipdoctor? Then get your head out out your arse!

Yeah, what happened to Laurielove.

I googled her one day and all sorts came up. She talked about her own sexual experiences in her younger life and how she tries to make her erotic writing believable.

She even talked about the best kind of erotica that women should use to pleasure themselves to!!! Whoa, it did get a bit steamy.

I should have said, who needs erotica, a picture of captain stern face does nicely!!!!

Afternoon! Have just pissed myself laughing at my desk about two things - firstly icemists neat summary skills, and secondly, iloves holdup mishap! (Sorry ilove).

I haven't reviewed klipdoctors last couple of chapters yet as I've only skim read them while I've been concentrating on other things. onefor I saw your review, and it doesn't state anywhere that you didn't like the chapter, just gave feedback about what you would have liked to see included. I thought the reply was pretty defensive. Considering the amount of extremely effusive reviews of his stories, I would have thought he would take some constructive feedback on the chin, but apparently not.

As for reviews, in reality, not every reader will review every chapter (infact only an extremely small percentage do). For example, if I post a chapter, it generally gets between one and two thousand views in a day, but way, way less reviews than that. At the end of the day, everyone likes to see reviews (I certainly do) as it generally means that somebody has engaged with what you've written to the extent that they want to comment on it, be it positive or negative, which in a way motivates you to continue with the story.

But if you specifically ask for feedback, you have to brace yourself for the possibility that not everyone will be glowing in their praise. Where you take two characters that people are emotionally invested in and mess about with them, it's a fair shout that you're not going to satisfy all of those people.

God, that turned into a bit of an ff essay - sorry!

richtea on second thought if I was going to come out as a ff writer I'd try to take the glory of say rhubarb and claim she was a lunatic imposter and it was me all along.