At LJ, katieandrew presents a lovely recording of my drabble "Mistletoe." (With festive cover art by jkivela, too!) *squee*
[Subject line from All Creatures Now, a standard from my madrigal-warbling days. Now is the month of maying and all that.]
A pawful of notes:
( about tennis, fandom, and eggplant souffle... )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
okrablossom and I wrote a linked pair of sonnets a couple of years ago; Blue Print Review just published it, with calligraphy added into the mix. Both the piece and the issue have received some rave reviews, which pleases me greatly. (There's also been some pieces at 7x20, including a rare autobiographical one, and a bundle at PicFic -- and, thirty-five rejections. [Lots of editors catching up on their backlogs last month. And there was much sulking and sighing, and my To Revise stack remains taller than the dog. Ars ever-freaking longa...])
( and more on poetry, and the Pentagon Papers... )
A pawful of notes:
( about tennis, fandom, and eggplant souffle... )
okrablossom and I wrote a linked pair of sonnets a couple of years ago; Blue Print Review just published it, with calligraphy added into the mix. Both the piece and the issue have received some rave reviews, which pleases me greatly. (There's also been some pieces at 7x20, including a rare autobiographical one, and a bundle at PicFic -- and, thirty-five rejections. [Lots of editors catching up on their backlogs last month. And there was much sulking and sighing, and my To Revise stack remains taller than the dog. Ars ever-freaking longa...])( and more on poetry, and the Pentagon Papers... )
My weekend so far, fandom edition:
Prompted ![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
r_grayjoy with "marshmallows" and one of my favorite HP characters. Her response (with eeyore9990's help, I'm told): Mischief Unmanageable (MWPP, G, 315 words). Hee!
Trading lewd and silly haiku with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brit_columbia in the comments of Sexy Boys, a FAKE one-shot PWP that I think some of you would dig even if you haven't read the series (as long as you're okay being spoiled for it): very explicit, dubcon highschool roleplay. (*hears half of the readership shriek "ACK!" and the other half immediately head over there*) Brit is best known in FAKE fandom for her novel-length A New Day, but another one-shot that doesn't require intimate knowledge of canon or the New Day-verse is Sweet Frustration.
It'll likely be a couple weeks before I can fit in the reading I need to do for Part 5 of Not As Dumb (some logistical issues need sorting out), but I'm feeling happy with how the episode's going so far: much to my surprise, I finished the first scene (~ 460 words) before breakfast yesterday, and the plot's in the active ferment phase where I'm locking onto new revelations about it and/or the characters several times a day. (Just now: "Oh! So that's how ____ and ___ are related!" As much as I bitch about my subconscious being a pain in the tuchis, it really is smarter than me scary often.)
I promised some pictures of the drafting process for part 4. Here they be:
Longhand chunks of plot, February 2009:
I keep a stack of obsolete library signature cards by my bed for use as scratch paper. Earlier last week:
Finetuning a hard-copy printout, Thursday morning:
Offline, there's been funky weather, the BYM's high school reunion, and assorted other mayhem. It was good company and good food (especially the hush puppies and shot of Absolut Citron at Cabana) but all I want for today is to knock a couple things off the Must Do list and then kick back with either the Sunday Times or a fat book -- specifically Edward Conlon's Blue Blood, a NYPD memoir I bought back in December 2008 (finding it on sale was coincidental, as was the fact that I'd copyedited an anthology with one of Conlon's pieces a few months before, but my interest in it was indeed primarily fueled by my need to know more for "Not As Dumb"). I'm enjoying his style so far:
r_grayjoy with "marshmallows" and one of my favorite HP characters. Her response (with eeyore9990's help, I'm told): Mischief Unmanageable (MWPP, G, 315 words). Hee!brit_columbia in the comments of Sexy Boys, a FAKE one-shot PWP that I think some of you would dig even if you haven't read the series (as long as you're okay being spoiled for it): very explicit, dubcon highschool roleplay. (*hears half of the readership shriek "ACK!" and the other half immediately head over there*) Brit is best known in FAKE fandom for her novel-length A New Day, but another one-shot that doesn't require intimate knowledge of canon or the New Day-verse is Sweet Frustration.I promised some pictures of the drafting process for part 4. Here they be:
Longhand chunks of plot, February 2009:
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| From brain vs bunnies |
I keep a stack of obsolete library signature cards by my bed for use as scratch paper. Earlier last week:
 |
| From brain vs bunnies |
Finetuning a hard-copy printout, Thursday morning:
 |
| From brain vs bunnies |
Offline, there's been funky weather, the BYM's high school reunion, and assorted other mayhem. It was good company and good food (especially the hush puppies and shot of Absolut Citron at Cabana) but all I want for today is to knock a couple things off the Must Do list and then kick back with either the Sunday Times or a fat book -- specifically Edward Conlon's Blue Blood, a NYPD memoir I bought back in December 2008 (finding it on sale was coincidental, as was the fact that I'd copyedited an anthology with one of Conlon's pieces a few months before, but my interest in it was indeed primarily fueled by my need to know more for "Not As Dumb"). I'm enjoying his style so far:
For a long time, I kept to myself at work. I said hello to other cops but not much else. I always carried a book with me, slipping it under my vest or in a jacket pocket. When someone asked why, I'd say gravely, "You never know when nothing's going to happen."
Tags:
notes and tropes
13/1/10 00:44Notes:
• I had no idea that Nashville was in the running as a potential World Cup site. Sweet!
• There be plastinated corpses at a mall a few miles from my house. Coolness…
• Writing: nothing but false starts and I-don't-know-enough-to-continue-these-right-now on the things I'm supposed to be working on. Bah!
• Homemade cinnamon red-bean paste: disgusting-looking, but also tasty and filling
• I am going to nail that damn high F this Sunday
So, that "tropes I've written" meme I've seen at Rowan's and schemingreader's?
First reaction: "Mpreg: would my drabbles with Squillows count? No? Hmph."
Second reaction: "Curtain fic: do my drabbles with kitchen sinks and dining-room-table sex count? No? Hmph."
Follow-up reaction: "Self, if you really want to be able to answer 'yes' to all these, you just need to write yourself some new fic. Like, now."
So, here goes:
( starring the Whomping Willow )
;-)
• I had no idea that Nashville was in the running as a potential World Cup site. Sweet!
• There be plastinated corpses at a mall a few miles from my house. Coolness…
• Writing: nothing but false starts and I-don't-know-enough-to-continue-these-right-now on the things I'm supposed to be working on. Bah!
• Homemade cinnamon red-bean paste: disgusting-looking, but also tasty and filling
• I am going to nail that damn high F this Sunday
So, that "tropes I've written" meme I've seen at Rowan's and schemingreader's?
First reaction: "Mpreg: would my drabbles with Squillows count? No? Hmph."
Second reaction: "Curtain fic: do my drabbles with kitchen sinks and dining-room-table sex count? No? Hmph."
Follow-up reaction: "Self, if you really want to be able to answer 'yes' to all these, you just need to write yourself some new fic. Like, now."
So, here goes:
( starring the Whomping Willow )
;-)
patterns, anyone?
8/1/09 22:37 |
| From 1804 renovations |
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| From 1804 renovations |
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| From 1804 renovations |
Would any of you lot be interested in a handful of Chinese pattern magazines from the early 1970s? I'm willing to ship them gratis to anywhere in North America (overseas airmail has gotten too pricey, sorry).
Still coping with the Bronchitis of Doom Revisited, which means delays in dealing with everyday life, which correspondingly means delays in making progress on audiofics, "Not As Dumb," care packages, reading the bajillion-word backlog of fics y'all have been building up in my bookmarks, etc. All in good time. I do have a handful of quick recs before I head back to the de-stashing:
A Night In by currently anon. Fandom: The Dark Is Rising. Will/Jane/Bran. Three friends coping with Midsummer heat. A mix of potential hurt-comfort and massive UST leading to... Jane's POV; beautiful characterization.
Geri-chan started posting Haru wo Daiteita fic in November, primarily about Kikuchi. Some really thought-provoking examinations of the dynamics among the characters and about their careers.
Cartography by penknife. Fandom: A Little Princess. A beautiful, thoughtfully narrated piece from Ram Dass's point of view.
Little Settlement on the Moon by Rina. Fandom: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series.
busaikko-san, I am looking at you. A Willow/Squid/Whomping Willow drabble by drusillas_rain. Fandoms: BtVS/HP. *glee*
Escaping Gravity by misura. Fandom: Vorkosigan. Ivan/By. Mostly with Miles', ah, assistance, but Gregor gets the last word. *glee*
I'll Find You In the Morning Sun by rilla. Fandom: Angels in America. Beautiful, insightful, heartbreaking, real.
Commonplaces by astolat. Fandom: Sherlock Holmes. Holmes/Adler. Irene's POV. Fine characterization and dynamic.
To borrow Gramarye1971's articulation, I'm among those feeling like "December 2008 crept up behind them and coshed them on the back of the head," but much of it's my own darn fault, and the stuff that isn't can't be helped, so I will restock on dried squid tomorrow and brew buckets of tea all month, and all will eventually be well.
Plus, it seems churlish to wax anxious or fretful about anything when there's so much well with me already:
The new issue of flashquake is up, and it includes two of my poems: "The Sharpshooter Assembles A Relish Tray" and "A Stack of Cards."
I just got back from a week in the United Kingdom, where I got to meet up with aunty_marion at the Islington Slug and Lettuce, poked around Bletchley Park (which is in Buckinghamshire, and yes, there may eventually be TDiR fic from this), and meandered around Glasgow and Belfast with my sweetie. (And as with every trip, there were more people we would have liked to see than time to see them in, but we hope to be back (and for a longer holiday) in a couple of years...)
"Cthulhu" -- the BPAL scent, that is -- came to the rescue on our train ride from London to Glasgow, since I hadn't adequately anticipated the reek vs. sleep factor (i.e., sharing a very enclosed cabin after a long day sans showers).
Lots of anecdotal notes to self on differences between US and UK customs (what is(n't) comped in hotel rooms, etc.) and general climate (Belfast: lots of short skirts and high heeled boots in spite of the cold) and other things, which may show up here later either in fic or general natterings. I'll save it for January or later, though, since it's not like any of you lack things to read right now, and many of you are in the same boat as I am re: Stuff That Must Be Written Before Solstice. (All together now: EEK!) (And, deep breath: EEE!) (Who knows when they'll get written, but the plots, they are like the innards of intricately carved chesspieces...)
In Glasgow, there's a major road called Sauchiehall Street (pronounced "suckyhall"). It translates to "Way of the Willows."
In Glasgow's Museum of Transport, there's a Ford Anglia on display. There's a white owl perched inside...
After the Beautiful Young Man heard about Marion's plan to copyedit Book 7, he said, "You know how some dude edited Star Wars and got rid of Jar-Jar? Someone needs to phantom-edit HP and ditch Dobby."
Cedar, every time I saw the Odeon Leicester Square sign, I thought of you.
One of Belfast's most fashionable clothing stores (in the new, uber-fashionable Victoria Square complex) is called Remus Uomo. I've been telling you all for years that the shabby clothes were a front...
Cannot get "Together in Electric Dreams" out of my head. This is primarily from a late-night drink at the Stiff Kitten, where the DJ was playing what both the BYM and I think of as "80s comfort music" - which was all the more entertaining because two local, not-too-drunk lads periodically kept trying out breakdancing moves, with no one else in the bar paying them any mind. (We also stopped by the Morning Star, another pub where several tables of older people kept bursting into song. Some of it wasn't bad, but the multiple attempts at "New York, New York" were rather dire, and in spite of ordering a drink that came with its own plastic oar, I was not near tipsy enough to encourage them directly.)
There's more, but I need to tidy up and grab a quick bite before a meeting. Later, loves! *blows kisses and wafts warm studying/shopping/surviving/sketching/snoozing vibes at all y'all*
Plus, it seems churlish to wax anxious or fretful about anything when there's so much well with me already:
aunty_marion at the Islington Slug and Lettuce, poked around Bletchley Park (which is in Buckinghamshire, and yes, there may eventually be TDiR fic from this), and meandered around Glasgow and Belfast with my sweetie. (And as with every trip, there were more people we would have liked to see than time to see them in, but we hope to be back (and for a longer holiday) in a couple of years...)There's more, but I need to tidy up and grab a quick bite before a meeting. Later, loves! *blows kisses and wafts warm studying/shopping/surviving/sketching/snoozing vibes at all y'all*
things that make me happy
27/7/08 12:54mnemosyne_1, who is as sweet and smart as her fics (and also very forgiving of the fact I cannot find my way out of a paper bag even when supplied with excellent directions).iamisaac and inamac. *glee*
[See here for a link to
aunty_marion's and a comment-post from snapelike]
In happier news...
24/7/08 18:11aunty_marion has posted a drabble with Snape, Lupin, and the Whomping Willow. *glee*ETA: And more happiness from
snapelike in the comments! *glows*
Tags:
Drabble: Hard (repost)
24/6/08 08:49Title: Hard
Word Count: 100
Rating: R
Characters: Remus/Severus. A threesome if you count the table. ;-)
Notes: Originally written in response to![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-community.gif)
snupin100's "Alphabet" challenge (April 2007). The prompt I claimed (to absolutely no one's surprise) was "Whomping Willow."
( from grain to groin... )
Word Count: 100
Rating: R
Characters: Remus/Severus. A threesome if you count the table. ;-)
Notes: Originally written in response to
snupin100's "Alphabet" challenge (April 2007). The prompt I claimed (to absolutely no one's surprise) was "Whomping Willow." ( from grain to groin... )
(1) drachenmina's An Unpleasant Man at the Bellona Club (drabble with LP, Bunter, and Snape...)
(2)drachenmina's An Inconvenient Affliction. Author's summary: "Harry’s been kicked out by Severus and is having to share Ron and Hermione’s spare bed with Crookshanks. Who gets Kneazle Flu. Can things get any worse? Oh yes." Ribbons's reaction: It's NC-17 Snarry, which I know some of you would normally avoid like the plague, but I feel compelled to point out that Harry's of age, there's non-sickening Hermione/Ron, there's mention of Bagpuss, and that the author knows cats. Oh, does she know cats. Put beverages out of range of keyboard before reading.
(3) It has been a hell of a week - one of these years, I hope to get my shit together enough to stop feeling like I haven't managed to get my shit together since, well, ever...
...but it is also absolutely impossible to feeling sorry for myself for more than a few moments at a time, considering the myriad blessings in my life -- including a surprise package in Monday's mail that contained...
...a necklace featuring the Whomping Willow. With a Snape quotation, no less. Made by the utterly, unbelievably fabulouswesternredcedar. (I almost titled this post "From tree to shining tree..." *eg*) I feel like I've somehow won some sort of cosmic bingo for OTP-indulgence I didn't even know I was playing - I can snuggle the pendant up to my squid when I'm not wearing it, and when I feel like celebrating my other OTP, there's a Remus-keytag marginaliana made it can nestle with.
And I can also go revisit the other treasures written and drawn and translated for me, or inhale a scent, or brew some tea, or reread cards and letters, or fondle feathers, beads, and ribbons -- I have such clever, crafty, comforting, generous friends. I am so utterly grateful that you are in my life. It's not the things in themselves, fun and hilarious and charming as they are - they wouldn't matter one bit if they weren't infused with how you are fun and feisty and thought-provoking and thoughtful. And because they are and because you are, my life is rich beyond measure.
drachenmina's An Unpleasant Man at the Bellona Club (drabble with LP, Bunter, and Snape...)(2)
drachenmina's An Inconvenient Affliction. Author's summary: "Harry’s been kicked out by Severus and is having to share Ron and Hermione’s spare bed with Crookshanks. Who gets Kneazle Flu. Can things get any worse? Oh yes." Ribbons's reaction: It's NC-17 Snarry, which I know some of you would normally avoid like the plague, but I feel compelled to point out that Harry's of age, there's non-sickening Hermione/Ron, there's mention of Bagpuss, and that the author knows cats. Oh, does she know cats. Put beverages out of range of keyboard before reading.(3) It has been a hell of a week - one of these years, I hope to get my shit together enough to stop feeling like I haven't managed to get my shit together since, well, ever...
...but it is also absolutely impossible to feeling sorry for myself for more than a few moments at a time, considering the myriad blessings in my life -- including a surprise package in Monday's mail that contained...
...a necklace featuring the Whomping Willow. With a Snape quotation, no less. Made by the utterly, unbelievably fabulous
westernredcedar. (I almost titled this post "From tree to shining tree..." *eg*) I feel like I've somehow won some sort of cosmic bingo for OTP-indulgence I didn't even know I was playing - I can snuggle the pendant up to my squid when I'm not wearing it, and when I feel like celebrating my other OTP, there's a Remus-keytag marginaliana made it can nestle with. And I can also go revisit the other treasures written and drawn and translated for me, or inhale a scent, or brew some tea, or reread cards and letters, or fondle feathers, beads, and ribbons -- I have such clever, crafty, comforting, generous friends. I am so utterly grateful that you are in my life. It's not the things in themselves, fun and hilarious and charming as they are - they wouldn't matter one bit if they weren't infused with how you are fun and feisty and thought-provoking and thoughtful. And because they are and because you are, my life is rich beyond measure.
[Placeholder post. I need to clean this up, to re-archive and tag a tree-load of stuff over here, and I fear I'm forgetting someone, but SnuSa is still hijacking what's left of my brain. *flail*]
( tree! tentacles! GLEE! )
The March 2006 list
Fics/Art Featuring the Whomping Willow, the Giant Squid, or both
( tree! tentacles! GLEE! )
The March 2006 list
before we sever...
17/7/07 20:13Snegurochka Lee wrote Whomping Willow slash for me! I'm not sure which makes me happier, the one-sentence fic or her preface: "I've written a dozen of these today and THIS is the first one to be NC-17???" *glee*
Link: http://snegurochka-lee.livejournal.com/182333.html?thread=4361021#t4361021
The Snupin calendar is out, and it's GORGEOUS! (And I have a drabble in it!)
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/lupin_snape/1161747.html
Link: http://snegurochka-lee.livejournal.com/182333.html?thread=4361021#t4361021
The Snupin calendar is out, and it's GORGEOUS! (And I have a drabble in it!)
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/lupin_snape/1161747.html
[100 words. Promised eons ago to 10k_drabbles.]
None of his students or colleagues would ever have pegged sybaritic, selfish Igor Karkaroff as a tree-hugger; to see his arms locked around the trunk of Hogwarts’s Vrba mesarica would have likely sent them fleeing to the infirmary for Snape’s stiffest anti-hallucinogenic potion.
However, the night they might have glimpsed this was so wintry and inhospitable that there was no one about at all-- no one to witness Karkaroff’s congress with the tree, furs forgotten at his feet. There was no one about to hear him plead, Take me. Make me so warm I can no longer feel my arm.
10k_drabbles.]None of his students or colleagues would ever have pegged sybaritic, selfish Igor Karkaroff as a tree-hugger; to see his arms locked around the trunk of Hogwarts’s Vrba mesarica would have likely sent them fleeing to the infirmary for Snape’s stiffest anti-hallucinogenic potion.
However, the night they might have glimpsed this was so wintry and inhospitable that there was no one about at all-- no one to witness Karkaroff’s congress with the tree, furs forgotten at his feet. There was no one about to hear him plead, Take me. Make me so warm I can no longer feel my arm.
Heaven knows why y'all humor me, but I adore you for it: it occurs to me that I've now badgered you all to produce collected enough tree- and tentacle-inspired fic that I ought to start an album for it. To wit:
( Squid and/or Willow-centric glee! )
Neither for nor by me, but too cool not to mention:
gnatkip's Pugilistic Plants page 137, "Whomping Willow".
Squid/Willow illustration bygojira65.
( Squid and/or Willow-centric glee! )
Neither for nor by me, but too cool not to mention:
gnatkip's Pugilistic Plants page 137, "Whomping Willow".Squid/Willow illustration by
gojira65.
