|
[04 Dec 2009|01:53am] |
So on Tuesday (I think?) I posted Chapter 8 of the Founders fic on Tamarind Chutney (LJ), FanFiction.Net, the Archive of Our Own, and Skyhawke.
I think this was the last chapter I posted before I stopped posting/writing it for a while and then decided to revise years later, although I didn't stop writing it for a while, I don't think. The chapters I've written since are better, I think, and in the final revision, once I've completed the fic, I expect to remove at least a chapter's worth of material.
Anyway, that plus this chapter -- which is mostly about the characters' pasts and what went wrong and what, miraculously, didn't -- made me think about where I was when I started writing this fic. I came up with the characters (roughly) in middle school, actually, although they've changed drastically since then, and thematically it's really such a high-school-me story. It's full of insecurity and ego, and ego covering up insecurity, and in some cases insecurity covering up ego. Body issues and self-loathing are a big deal -- which perplexes me a bit, since I didn't notice that until I dealt with my own Fat Shame -- and the six main characters are (each in their own way) clinging frantically to academic interests because the world around them is so incredibly hostile and they want to be in a place where people aren't like that. And I'm really glad that I'm no longer in the severe Godricky stages of self-loathing, because that stuff is exhausting to deal with, and more interesting to write now that I'm not quite in the middle of it.
And now for some music:
"The Mountain," Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
I was born in a forked-tongued story / Raised up by merchants and drugstore liars. / Now I walk on the paths of glory / One foot in ice, one in fire.
This is for Godric, and his "wait, how did I even get here? I started way over there!" moments. Sometimes you just do things and stuff happens, and suddenly people think you're, like, a real person with a brain or something.
"Compute," Soulwax
Every time this happens, / Some representative of instinct / Slips you his business card and leaves you / To figure out what it means.
This is for Helga, who, in this chapter, has spotted a hole in her assumptions about her and her friends' lives, and is having trouble not picking at it, even though it itches like crazy.
"The Return to Oz," Scissors Sisters
Please help me, friend, from coming down / I've lost my place and now it can't be found. / Is this the return to Oz? / The grass is dead, the gold is brown and the sky has claws.
I think of this as a Salazar song, but it could really apply to a lot of the characters, especially in this chapter, which is about being an adult and remembering being a kid, and wondering what even happened back then, anyway, because the way you remember it is almost certainly not how it was.
|
|
| I've been awake for too long |
[01 Dec 2009|05:12pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 cold |
] |
They're doing inspections next week, so I spent more than I should have to get cleaners in. So that was me having to be awake from around noon to around two. But it doesn't stop there, because I am expecting a Hookah-Shisha.com package from UPS, and the only way I can be sure of getting a UPS delivery without a hitch is by having the door open. Thankfully, the screen door latch is fixed! But UPS is yet to arrive, although the tracking info says all is well.
Did I mention that it's raining and chilly? 43 may not be cold in New England in December, but it is in Texas. And the rainy, especially, makes me stiff and sore.
I've got semi-plans with ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) doombuggie, but if UPS doesn't show soon they won't be able to happen :( I'm miserably cold and stiff anyway. I just want to be warm.
|
|
| NaNoWriMo...officially IN YOUR FACE! |
[30 Nov 2009|06:21pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 accomplished |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
009 Sound System - Dreamscape |
] |
Yes, ladies and gentlemen...despite November's repeated attempts to brutally murder me, and work's steadfast determination to suck out and stomp on what's left of my soul...I've done it.
I've conquered NaNoWriMo 2009, to the tune of 50,108 words. :D
I won't say much on the subject of my victory, except: OMFGYAY, and also, TSE II devolved into a mess of skipped scenes and half-written ideas at the end there. Mostly because I was running out of time. I don't think half the scenes I jotted down are in the right order, but hey, it's a start, and I've got at least part of the end sandwiched in there. Now all I have to do is write the middle.
...Um.
Google Docs link is here, now properly updated with the latest edition of TSE II. It's a spastic, half-written chaotic jumble, though, so...a lot like anything else I've put out, actually. Oh snap. Anyway, just warning anyone who actually attempts to read it.
Off to go into some sort of coma now. Will deal with finishing the stories properly/editing them...much, much later.
*thud; snore*
|
|
| (I need a better angry icon) |
[30 Nov 2009|04:40pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 annoyed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation |
] |
People do not teach their children boundaries these days. For example, by the time I seven or eight I knew not to go crawl up in the bushes in front my neighbor's house, peek into the window, and make scratching noises and hiss at the cat in the window. The little shits in my neighborhood, however, can't seem to grasp the concept that doing that is wrong. I'd go out there and give the little bastards a piece of my mind if I wasn't sick and in my pj's.
I guess I shouldn't have expected manners from the brats considering how, a year or so ago, they thought it would be fun to randomly open the front door and let the cats outside. It was unlocked because it was daylight and my dad and I were both home. That, of course, does not happen anymore; the front door is locked and/or barred at all times now. As it should be, honestly.
Maybe it's because the kids on the cul-de-sac I live in are mostly boys. (There are a few girls and I haven't had any problems with them.) I don't know. I do know that if it happens again, I'm going to scare the crap out of 'em. And if their parents say anything to me, well, I'll just tell them they should teach their kids not to peep into other people's windows.
|
|
| Ok, what? |
[29 Nov 2009|11:01pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 annoyed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Coast to Coast |
] |
My grandmother sent me this "cutesy" email forward about how awesome dogs are and how aloof and uncaring cats are.
I sent her pictures of her great-grand-kitties.
I have an upset tummy and a slightly whiny back. Oh, for a bottle of ginger beer and a gentle backrub! I might have to use my Hitachi Magic Wand for its officially intended purpose.
|
|
| Yeah, it's the winter of my discontent all right. |
[29 Nov 2009|04:45pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 drained |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Voltaire - Feathery Wings |
] |
More stress today; had to call to switch my Medicare Part D insurance plan to one where I wouldn't have to pay a premium. Enrolled over the phone. My hands were shaking the whole time. I almost dropped the phone.
Tomorrow I need to get ahold of Molly Maid so I don't have to worry about my place being a sty for the inspection on the 8th. Why the hell they are doing inspections now is anyone's guess. I just hope it's not the 3rd, because if it is I'll have to reschedule my MHMR appointment.
But I am valiumed up now and sleep will be soo.
|
|
| And here I thought I'd have a couple of weeks to relax |
[27 Nov 2009|12:56pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 stressed |
] |
In the mail (I only check my mail every couple of days, I checked it last night) I got 1) a notice of an inspection on the 8th and 2) paperwork to fill out because Social Security is reviewing my Disability.
It's too damn much. Why the hell are they doing inspections NOW? And I know they do periodic reviews of SSDI cases, but god, the TIMING!
|
|
|
[26 Nov 2009|06:44pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 stuffed |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
X-Men: Evoltuion |
] |
Happy Thanksgiving!
(To those of you who celebrate it, that is.)
|
|
|
[26 Nov 2009|11:58am] |
|
D: D: D:
...Look, Captain Jack Harkness, intergalactic manwhore, has done some pretty awful things in his long life.
BUT SINCE WHEN DOES HE RAPE PEOPLE?
Is there some part of relevant Whoniverse canon that I am totally missing? If so, could someone please tell me what it is, so that I can KEEP MISSING IT?
(I mean, aside from that thing with Owen in the first episode of Torchwood. That scene is made of ick. And if you agree, don't google for discussion on it, because half the forum threads are full of guys going "lol, that was funny, you guys are taking it too seriously, I wish I had that stuff." I guess this is the Axe/Lynx demographic.)
...Okay, skimming the fic, the author seems to have gotten the Time Agency mixed up with the Rape Agency, and Jack ("Seth") has had some kind of horrible personality transplant and should be on every Sexual Offenders list ever. 0_o Never mind. I did see the Rape/Non-Con warning, but I saw that it was a Big Bang fic (and therefore long) and assumed it had something to do with the plot/character arc.
And that was depressing, so I leave you with this cheering fanart.
|
|
| Oh look, it's a holiday tradition. |
[26 Nov 2009|07:06am] |
Happy Thanksgiving, USAians. Happy Thursday, rest of the world.
|
|
| Stuff |
[24 Nov 2009|08:34pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 melancholy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Coast to Coast |
] |
Okay, important thing first. There's a bill to outlaw mail order sales of tobacco in the US. Cigars will be the only exemption. This effects me personally, of course, because I buy my shisha mailorder as much for variety as for price. I know it's only an online petition, but would some of you consider signing this? I'm sure many if not most of you are nonsmokers, but I see it as a personal freedom issue.
Went out with doombuggie last night. He convinced me to check out this new bar downtown. Too loud for my comfort level, but not as bad as most clubs, and it wasn't even remotely crowded so that wasn't so bad, and we didn't stay very long. After that he took me to HEB so I could make a much-needed grocery run. It wasn't pleasant; it was late enough that the restockers were out, clogging up the aisles, but close enough to Thanksgiving that it was still crowded, even at 11. I was so glad to get out of there! We dropped my stuff off and went to Epoch, because doombuggie had plans to meet up with a friend and Epoch's cool anyway. I mostly just zoned out while they talked. doombuggie was concerned about me looking like I was falling asleep in my seat! I was fine, though, just sort of inert. Conked pretty hard when I got home, though. It was a pretty good night.
Had a good experience with complex maintenance. The latch on my screen door has been sticking and last night I pretty much had to break out, so this morning I called maintenance (which is dispatched from a central office, you don't call the complex you're in). Guy showed up this afternoon; I'd met him briefly once or twice. Friendly, polite, competent. We chatted a little while he fixed the latch and he complimented my skull pajamas. No unneeded stress, and my screen door is fixed.
( Moping about Thanksgiving )
|
|
|
[22 Nov 2009|10:31pm] |
So last week I posted about the Archive Of Our Own, which if you missed it is being called AO3 because AOOO sounds like a basset hound. But I didn't really post as a reader. It didn't occur to me because I had just spent several days uploading all of my fanfiction there. (Well, that I still like. I actually do have two Greek mythology fics that I haven't posted there, but the second one is a sequel to the first, which was written in high school and has some gender issues I'm really not proud of.)
Anyway, after all that posting, I had kind of expected people to read my fic, but I hadn't actually gotten around to reading their fic.
And omg you guys, AO3 is great for fic-reading. At least for me.
( AO3 as a reader. )
Anyway. Having said all that, Chapter Seven of Between Here and Now and Forever is posted on:
The Archive Of Our Own
FanFiction.Net
Skyhawke
LiveJournal
In honor of this, ( more YouTube music links! )
|
|
| Hunh. |
[22 Nov 2009|10:03pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 sleepy |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Coast to Coast |
] |
One big-ass portion of noodles, meat, and Chinese broccoli at a Thai place = four meals for me. Dinner last night, breakfast today, and dinner today, with enough remaining for either breakfast or lunch tomorrow. goddessgoddess, thank T. again for me, would you? And what was the name of that place? It was yummy.
Thinking of plugging iDoser and drifting off with some aural opium. The annual Coast to Coast JFK special is on tonight, but the prefeed is some bullshit about intelligent design.
|
|
| Local Radio Fail |
[22 Nov 2009|05:20pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 mellow |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
KGSR |
] |
How could I forget about KGSR?
It's weird to listen to a local station streaming.
|
|
| Cat rang bell. I ate food. |
[21 Nov 2009|11:39pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 full |
] |
Lovely afternoon/evening with goddessgoddess, T., and S. (who turned out to be a cute longhaired fellow in a fetching paisley skirt). We went to Clay Pit for lunch (dodging all the burnt orange turnout on our way downtown); it turned out they have a lunch buffet on Saturdays as well as during the week. That turned out pretty well, they had saag paneer, lamb korma, and vegetable pakora. Stuffed!
After that goddessgoddess made her desire for warbat known, so we went to Sarah's. They're always fun to browse; T. got some rose syrup, goddessgoddess got eight warbat, and I caved and got a packet of honeydew shisha and a little vanilla sugar (which was really cheap!). The lady behind the counter was once more super friendly and chatty, joking about how I got goddessgoddess addicted to warbat and how I should eat more. If I hadn't been so massively stuffed I might have snagged a falafel or two, they're so good there!
Went back to T.'s for lazy-afternooning. There was checking of emails, Facebook, and the like, and it was learned that I cannot use a nipple mouse. There was sharing of warbat. There was cozy napping and the watching of TV, some current shows I didn't recognize, and the first three episodes of Coupling; I had forgotten how deeply I love that show. And how awesome Susan was in the beginning before she got all domesticated.
Eventually dinnertime rolled around. Dinner was chosen with remarkable ease, and we went to a Thai place. I had a Thai iced coffee, which I haven't had in years. S. had one too.Tasty, tasty drinks, those. My entree was a pork and noodle dish, peppery without being actually spicy, that I ate maybe a third of. Yay leftovers! There was also a dessert of some sort that I tried a bite of. Very sweet and sticky. After, Planet K was investigated, and another pipe shop, with discussion of further explorations, but I realized that I was dead on my feet and regretfully said my goodnights.
So now I am doing my night-time catching up, getting loved on by Molly, and discussing the awesomeness that is Discworld with waywardoctagon before collapsing into sleep. With a very full belly.
|
|
| NaNoWriMo: so far, not pre-empted by the zombie apocalypse! |
[21 Nov 2009|05:45pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
accomplished |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
the TV is so distracting |
] |
So, NaNo. Going well lately. I had a lousy week and had serious trouble making my word count on Thursday, leading to my taking it out on Guybrush on Friday and therefore finishing the first part of TSE. Glee! (Guybrush, on the other hand, is most likely plotting my untimely demise. The poor boy.)
Though, technically it's not quite finished, as there's a number of missing/cut scenes. Last year, with the Ferret, I wrote every scene as it came along, but then, because the story was longer than 50K, I never actually got around to finishing it. I'm hoping I'll have better luck completing the story this year by just going back and writing in missing scenes after NaNo's done.
So, now in the Google Docs folder, we have the mostly finished copy of The Second Element I, the start of The Second Element II, and a list of some of the scenes missing from TSE I. (Since some of them are...erm, rather important to the plot. Oops?)
Also, my NaNo backlog is down to around 1,800 or so words, so I'm catching up...in between bouts of playing Left 4 Dead 2. Which has so far, while being fun, not managed to derail NaNo. There was, however, a palpable sigh of relief around here when Telltale announced the last episode of Tales was delayed until Dec. 8th. As sad as I am that it's been delayed...I don't think NaNo could have withstood the simultaneous distractions of work, L4D2, and ToMI. That would have just ended in tears.
33195 / 50000 words. 66% done!
|
|
lethargic
nerdy