Eulogy to a Friend: Byrhthelm (Trevor) passed away suddenly on October 4, 2016. To me; he was a friend, an incredibly gifted fan-fiction author and a bench-mark of writing talent, often bringing up literary tidbits from the greats to challenge us to delve in deeper; commenting on my stories and as he had to many others, offered encouragement for me to strive for higher goals. My friend; you will be missed on the JAG forum in this site. And I will miss you and your stories which wove a wonderful tapestry of characters that enchanted readers of your fan-fiction.

Though most of our paths had only crossed through this site; we, JAG fans, all have lost a friend when Trevor passed away. And considering how often he commented on my fics; I feel as though I have lost a mentor. There is a saying; "We shape our lives not by what we carry with us, but what we leave behind." He leaves this mortal existence, as a veteran of the British Army having served his country; he has left a body of written work that has captivated many and having created a legacy of caring for others and mentorship to other writers; he has left big shoes to fill.

Rest in Peace, Trevor, my friend; may flights of angels lead you to your rest.

About Me (known as CdnJAGScribe):

September 27, 2018 - Yep, folks, it's been a while. In between bouts of health problems over the past year and a half, I've been in a stage of "suspended recovery" and haven't done much other than playing The Sims 3 (which has become a major addiction). It's been a bit of a battle, with another recurrence of pneumonia in the past seven weeks...of course, this time I wasn't hit as badly with it as I was the last time around. Missed all of you regulars out of my Harm/Other clique. :D And welcome to fictionalmike who has joined us. Good to see you on board. We all miss Trevor still.

Things personally are in a stage of flux where my wife and I are planning on moving to a home (where for the first time since I started writing fanfiction again since the late 90s) is different from the one that we are currently in, so things are a major mess with packing and all that...not to mention that we also have four felines all in the midst of ages between kittenhood and 2 year old adults, driving me up the wall - yeah, I'm a cat-person.

This is so that you know exactly why I'm not regularly updating any of the stories at this time. Muse understands health comes first. Don't know if I'm going to be regularly updating very often, but the updates will come "as they come".

Yes, I'm Canadian. That is a big Canadian flag you see right beside my name.

I've been a JAG fan since the show began in 1995. I met my (now) wife online in the JAG Shipper One-List (she was known as Featherbelle in August of 1999. We corresponded for nearly half a year before I proposed (as well, on-line…it just seemed fitting – it was the stereotypical JAG romance). Another half-year would go by before we would finally meet in person (we had each other’s current photos), and she would finally touch down on Canadian soil. We married in August of 2000. Our oldest son was born in 2002. He’s now 14, athletic and plays hockey, an all-round Canadian kid – and I’ve matured (my wife would say otherwise) from the TV watching, fic-writing nutcase in 1998 who wrote funny JAG fics (when I first started writing fanfiction – thanks to encouragement from a Sandra M. on OneList) to a hockey Dad whose primary role, as one half of the parental set, is chauffeuring our son from hockey game to hockey practice to yet another hockey game. Our second son is like Bud Roberts: loves video games and is a bookish type, doesn’t really care for sports and we don’t push him to go into sports (I’ve seen too many parents that push their kid and then wonder why they’ve pushed them completely out of sports). Our third son has had difficulties and this is where we learned that life isn’t a bed of roses. A TV show is fiction. When it all boils down to it, real life can be nasty and it tested the strength of our marriage and the very core of our existence and I will forever be an advocate of those with developmental disabilities. Our daughter is a rambunctious six year old (who you know is home when the floor shakes – please stop running in the house!)…and what’s more, a romance that started thanks to a product of Don Bellisario’s imagination (the TV show JAG) has blossomed into a love that has spanned sixteen years and counting. We didn’t know each other before JAG came on the screen; and because of the distance between us (nearly an entire continent) we never would have crossed paths. Through circumstance and through a show that spanned ten years, we got to know each other and love each other. Like any relationship, it hasn’t all been roses, but we are weathering the ups and downs and a romance spawned through a television show has grown into a relationship that has become more than “just a TV show”. My wife has other interests other than JAG now; she now watches more Supernatural, Criminal Minds and other shows (she has, to her credit, started watching NCIS (TOS) which I really haven’t been able to get into. Kudos to her for sticking with Don Bellisario’s shows), but the show that brought us together will forever be a part of our lives. But our lives have become so much more than a TV show. I owe our introduction to Don Bellisario, but from hereon-in our lives together have woven into a tapestry of shared experiences, in a life that we chose to experience together, that go far beyond what we could have imagined when we first started corresponding on OneList.

I have gone from writing the casual fun (out of left field) fics to writing dead-serious fiction in the realm of JAG. What happened? Life. The shared life experiences that Featherbelle and I have experienced have shaped who I have become as a person. I save my fun side for my kids – to make their lives a bit more fun. As a career, I’ve gone from fumbling around trying to find out what I’m good (I was slow at trying to decide on a career path) at to a single-minded pursuit of my occupation which is a photographer (focusing mainly on sports, wildlife/nature and landscapes). Invariably the output of my fanfiction has suffered as a result (I have to bring in money to help support the family).

My writing style is a sort of a free-style “write as the inspiration hits” writing style; which means that I sit at the computer for the brief moments of time that I have available to me during the course of the day when I’m not busy editing photographs and write whatever comes to me. Sometimes days or weeks will go by before I can write a single paragraph. The thing is, photography is my primary occupation and as such it will always come first. That is why I have so many fics going dormant for long periods of time. It becomes annoying when my muse takes off for weeks at a time…even months if it’s really bad, but unfortunately…them’s the breaks.

Why did I become a Harm/Other gravitating from Harm/Mac? To tell you the truth, it happened during the last few years of JAG when the constant vascillating of TPTB slagging Harm and turning Mac into as one fic-writer mentioned: someone "who's planning on sleeping her way through Washington". In short, I wasn't liking how the character was being written. I still occasionally will write Harm/Mac fic, but it will be written AU; not the way that she was written during the show.

Also, I wish VIDZ (VisualIDentificationZeta) all the best in his new job and posting to a new country. It's a hell of an upheaval to move one's life from one place to another. And I'm saddened that he won't be writing any more. WHERE am I going to get my Harm/Other fix from now on?

I guess I'm reconsidering my decision to pull my fics - all things considered - At one point I had a lot of fics up on fanfiction.net, but when I heard that SOPA was trying to make a comeback, I opted to yank all of them down. SOPA 2013 did not make a comeback. So I guess I will place them slowly back up online. I won't be placing my 1999 fics back up, but instead will be opting to put up several new fics that I have planned. I don't know if they're going to turn into small epics like SCA, however I will do my best to spin a story. I have to say, I can't compete with the likes of VIDZ or byrhthelm, whom I have to say are two of my favorite JAG authors here. Byrhthelm writes EPICS which I can't even come close to - quantity and QUALITY. If you haven't read any of byrhthelm's fics. I highly suggest you do go and read them.

Just so that readers are clear:

I write three different AUs. Animal/Lia (Lia is the character that my RL wife came up with and I swiped for my own nefarious purposes evil smirk, cue evil laughter); Animal/Meg (what I originally started out writing in 1998); and occasionally just to make shippers and non-shippers alike wretch their guts out - Animal/Mac. When I write Animal/Meg, I usually pair Harm/Mac as per the original shipper theme. When I write Animal/Lia, I usually write bitch-Mac and Harm/Jen (yeah...I like Jen as a character). And when I write Animal/Mac; I usually end up writing Harm/Lia (which my wife tends to like).

To those who are canon-types: I hate Canon-Mac, post-Paraguay - she is absolutely a dripping mess as a human being and even prior to that, when she flung herself at every available male with the exception of Harm, yet expecting him to stay "faithful only to her". Strong would not be a term that I would use for her.

For character information: you can read my new blog: mentalrefusebin(dot)blogspot(dot)com.

One of the things I’ve noticed in watching JAG again (which I have been doing a lot of with my internet down) is that Don Bellisario liked using the Navy Cross… A LOT. If they wanted to signify someone as brave, or mostly a senior officer in a forward capacity. Voila…there was the Navy Cross on his ribbon rack. Now I don’t know, but with the Navy Cross second only in precedence to the Medal of Honor, there must have been a lot of “heroes” in JAG’s US Navy. Because it sure seems as though in the US Navy in the JAG TV show they were handing out Navy Crosses like hot-cakes.

Author's Notes:

JAG FIC

Currently Active Fic: (or semi-active - depends on my muse, really)

There Is No Spark of Interest: (Animal/Maegyn-from the looks of it) - it seems to have gone bent but hopefully the most active plot bunny I have will cooperate to the point where I can get a substantial amount of writing done on this story. It seems to have turned into Animal/Maegyn rather than an Animal/Lia fic. SO we'll see where this one goes. I may have to cogitate up another idea of an Animal/Lia fic because this one doesn't seem to want to cooperate in that vein.

Burden of Heritage: (Animal/Tracy Manetti) - just trying to get the next chapter right since I've never been to Japan (regardless of my heritage) and the character is of Japanese descent.

Damned Spooks: (Harm/Catherine Gale fic) - next chapter being worked on but plot bunny not cooperating.

Makoto's Tale: on hiatus

JAG: Rose Petals: on hiatus

A Matter of Interests: (Animal/Meg) - third and final chapter still being worked on - on hiatus

Fair Winds: (Animal/Meg - Animal retirement fic) - on hiatus

Wild Horses & Aviators: On hiatus...

The Green-Eyed Monster: Chapter 18 in progress (mentally cogitated on) - on hiatus

Survival: Chapter 4 up; Chapter 5 in progress - Still working on it. Getting in the mood to write such a dark fic is tough. Believe me. It's not something that's easy to write. But inspiration has hit. Thought: You know your fic is too damned complicated when you need a list of characters just to remember who the hell is in the story you wrote. - on hiatus

Where Eagles Fly: Will get to this one once the currently active fic are finished - slightly active, but still needs some more research...- on hiatus

Comatose (will work on it once the main three are finished) Fic: (depends on my muse - if I can beat it to the point of reluctant cooperation)

It's A Great Day For Bumping: More research into RAG training procedures needs to take place before this one continues

Waiting In The Wings: (Fic I've Started On - but am not posting until I clear the currently active roster so as not to overload my muse or it'll have a sitdown strike).

The Oath: A familiar face in an unfamiliar uniform shows up at Fleet JAG UK. (Harm/Jen)

To Protect & Defend: Harm/Mac.

COMPLETE: (notice of completion will stay for two weeks then disappear)

Star Wars Fic

Currently Active Fic:

Star Wars Resurrection: Mara Jade has unfinished business. Can she change her destiny and avoid dying at Caedus' hands or keep Jacen Solo from falling to the Dark Side in the first place? Yoda says, "The future, always in motion it is." Or is destiny unchangeable? IDEA ON HOLD)

Star Wars Redemption; (Episode VIII (my version)), The Force, Luke, Rey and a whole lot of regrets. How will Luke lay the ghosts of betrayal to rest so he can train Rey to defeat the First Order and The Knights of Ren? ON HOLD TILL I GET HOLD OF EP VII DVD.

Robotech Fic

Currently Active Fic:

How To Get Rid of a Minmei: Various ways to eliminate Minmei (the most annoying character in Robotech/Macross) out of existence.

Author's Notices:

Uncooperative Muse(s): Just letting you know that my muse is sloth-like and ADD at best and downright recalcitrant and obstinate at worst. I've tried beating the tar out of it, but that doesn't seem to work very well. All I know is that when my muse manages to cooperate, it produces for a few chapters on various stories then something else attracts its attention span. I've been trying to get it to cooperate by focusing on one story at a time. Well...let's just say A.D.D. causes it to start something then go try to attend to something else. sigh Stubborn uncooperative muse! --oh look, a butterfly! Update: Evidently my muse (upon notification by a friend of mine who also writes fanfiction - split (like an amoeba into multiple character muses...and now my "Animal" muse is sulking in the corner because I have something painful planned for him in "There Is No Spark Of Interest". ~evil laughter~. I do admit, I did respond to his probing questions as to what and why? Evidently Because I can isn't a good enough answer.

UPDATE (March 19, 2016): No replacement computer on horizon yet (been working on the iPad and writing) and now the car has developed problems. When it rains it pours ~sigh~. And my character muses are not cooperating with me in There Is No Spark of Interest. This does not help in the least. And now Meg muse has decided she's gonna be with Animal come hell or high water. How to get muses to cooperate when each insists on doing whatever the hell they want!!! The muses are driving me absolutely stark-raving insane.

NOTE: I've noted that I do my best writing when the chapters are between 6-7 pages in length typed with spacing between paragraphs on MS Word. Anything more than seven pages long seems to take a lot more brain-cell pounding than if I write my usual 6-7.

UPDATE (August 28, 2019): Had a bit of an internet outage for about five months -

It appears that all my stories are out of order…that I had in a specific timeline. I have been going through my JAG videos and trying to figure out what the exact timeline was. And I have a semi-solid idea of what I’m doing now for future stories I will be writing out a new set of stories for the new timeline; now that I have it somewhat straight. I will be deviating from Canon…but there will still be some conjunction with the canon JAG episodes though certain events within those episodes will be altered to fit my AU while some episodes will be ignored (like A Tangled Webb 1&2) entirely due to the fact that with certain events prior; the events depicted in the TV episodes won’t even happen.

I have also figured out that the JAG episodes in Season 1 start from the summer of the previous year…so the show aired in 1995, but it would technically be Summer 1994-Spring 1995 Season 2 would be Summer 1995-1996 and so on. That is the only way that I could make Season 5 match up with year 1999 the year that they were in the midst of the Serbia-Croatia war. And of course the Bosnia War in 1994 (especially with the episode Defensive Action)…which meant that practically everything that happened in Season 1 mucks with the current stories that I have on the go which will no longer be continued due to the newly “established” timeline. Update: After looking through all the stories in my Meg/Animal timeline – I’ve found that editing them to fit the new timeline will take too much effort so as of now, I’ve made the decision to “leave them up as is…” along with the accompanying notification: With the introduction of the new timeline for my Meg/Animal stories any current Meg/Animal stories will be terminated at this point and the new time-line will take precedence and just focus on the new timeline. Just what I had to discover in between tax time and a move that is in the works. ~sigh~ Never fails.