The Ranting

Unfortunately, due to GJ apparently self-destructing, I've been forced to switch journals. Again. Gah.
Now I'm over at Scribbld. This journal will not be deleted, since I've got too much fanfiction on here. However, all new stuff will be moved over there. Sorry, guys.

1) Heaven's Harlots, Miriam Williams
2) The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tam
3) Maus, Art Spieglman
4) His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
5) Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik
6) Black Powder War, Naomi Novik
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling
8) The City of Fallen Angels, John Berendt
9) Stardust, Neil Gaiman
10) Time Cat, Lloyd Alexander
11) The Remarkable Adventure of Prince Jen, Lloyd Alexander
12) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie and Ina Rilke
13) The Fire Rose, Mercedes Lackey
14) unshapely things, Marc Del Franco
15) Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
16) The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
17) No Night Without Stars, Andre Norton
18) The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan
19) Night, Elie Wiesel
20) Jade Tiger, Jenn Reese
21) Midnight Magic, Avi
22) The Pillars of the World, Anne Bishop
23) Prisoner of Tehran, Marina Nemat
24) Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
25) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
26) James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
27) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
28) Easy Conquest, Sandra Heath
29) Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi
30) The White Hotel, DM Thomas
31) The Best Intentions, Candice Hern
32) Lord Huntingdon's Legacy, Emily Hendrickson
33) The Sister Knot, Terri Apter
34) Making Money, Terry Pratchett
35) Waifs and Strays, Charles de Lint
36) Trey of Swords, Andre Norton
37) Castle in the Air, Diana Wynne Jones
38) The Devil's Arithmetic, Jane Yolen
39) Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik
40) This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, Tadeusz Borowski
41) The Star of Kazan, Eva Ibbotson
42) The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, Nancy Farmer
43) The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, Carolly Erikson
44) Prince Caspien, C.S. Lewis
45) None of Us Shall Return, Charlotte Delbo
46) Queen Isabella, Alison Weir
47) Tripmaster Monkey, Maxine Hong Kingston
48) Useless Knowledge, Charlotte Delbo
49) The Measure of Our Days, Charlotte Delbo
50) Still Alive, Ruth Kluger
51) The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006, ed. David Eggers
52) The Wizard of London, Mercedes Lackey
53) Dame Fortune, Meredith Bond
54) Thief of Time, Terry Pratchett
55) The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillio
56) Equus, Peter Shaffer
57) The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
58) No Plot? No Problem! Chris Baty
59) Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
60) The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
61) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis
62) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
63) Emma, Jane Austen
64) Mr. Knightley's Diary, Amanda Grace
65) Royal Charles, Antonia Fraser (finally)
66) How to Marry a Marquis, Julia Quinn
67) A Hidden Magic, Vivian Vande Velde
68) Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons, Roberta Gellis
69) The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, Lois McMaster Bujold
70) The Sharing Knife: Legacy, Lois McMaster Bujold
71) Brighter than the Sun, Julia Quinn
72) Plastic Angel, Nerissa Nields
73) What Jane Austen Taught Me About Love and Romance, Debra White Smith
74) The Grand Tour, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
75) Reserved for the Cat, Mercedes Lackey
76) The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
77) The Lady Killer, Samantha Saxon
78) The Lady Code, Samantha Saxon
79) Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, Deirdre Le Faye
80) In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
81) Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano
82) For Biddle's Sake, Gail Carson Levine
83) Wish List, Lisa Kleypas et al.
84) Which Witch, Eva Ibbotson
85) Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
86) The Gammage Cup, Carol Kane
87) The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
88) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
89) The Secret of Platform 13, Eva Ibbotson
90) What You Wear Can Change Your Life, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine
91) The Lioness and Her Knight, Gerald Morris
92) Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Eoin Colfer
93) The Hogfather, Terry Pratchett

Start Date: August 1, 2007
Finish Date: August 1, 2008

Currently reading: Blood Rites, Jim Butcher; Women in the Wall, Julia O'Faolain; Pledged, Alexandra Robbins, A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin; Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke.

Fic: Trading Headaches Part 2

Title: Trading Headaches, Part 2
Fandom: Dresden Files/Artemis Fowl
Spoilers: Subtle ones for The Lost Colony, but I doubt you'll notice them if you haven't read it.
Rating: PG
Summary: Been there, done that, bought the entire fucking wardrobe.

Detective-Sergeant Karrin Murphy came skidding around a corner, chasing Harry—how did he always manage to get into these situations, why did she always say she’d help, one of these days maybe she’d learn—ducked behind a projecting bit of wall, and ran directly into someone who wasn’t there.

“D’Arvit!” Thin air was swearing at her.

It probably said something about her tolerance level, she reflected wearily, that this didn’t faze her beyond a blink.

Murphy whirled, shot a man in the knee, and was surprised when he went down without a sound. The mystery was solved when a second later, three bolts of bright liquid light scythed over her head and cut down her other three pursuers. Dead, or unconscious, she wasn’t sure, but the invisible person behind her must have gotten them.

The invisible person must also be taller than her, but she had come to terms with that. Everyone was taller than her.

Anyway. Invisible person was not her problem at the moment, since they were clearly on the same side. She stayed on guard, peering carefully around the corner, for a solid minute before she decided that no one else was coming, holstered her gun, and turned around.

At first she thought invisible person was still invisible. Then someone cleared their throat ostentatiously, and Murphy looked down.

“Well,” she remarked, after a moment. “I don’t see someone shorter than me every day.”

The fairy—though those wings looked mechanical; interesting touch, that—made a rude noise, and said, “Bite me, Mud Woman. I take it we’re on the same side?” She nodded at the four men collapsed in a neat heap in the center of the hallway.

“I suppose so,” Murphy said. “You must be Holly Short.”

The fairy’s gaze snapped onto her, eyes narrowed. “And how would you know that?” she demanded.

“Butler,” Murphy said, and Holly Short relaxed. “I’m Karrin Murphy, he may have mentioned me. Did you see a tall guy go sprinting past?”

“They’re all tall to me, lady,” Holly said.

Murphy shrugged. “This one’s taller than usual,” she said. “Skinny like he doesn’t eat. Brown eyes, dark hair, nose you could plow a field with…”

Holly shook her head. “Nope. Nobody came through here until you did.” She looked suddenly troubled. “Which is bad. I was expecting the others by now.”

Murphy was busy doing her own mental swearing. “So was I,” she said. “Bugger. They got caught, didn’t they.”

“Probably,” Holly said, sounding resigned. “Why do I do this to myself? Why?”

“Know that story,” Murphy muttered. “Why are you here? The Fowl kid’s not exactly what I’d call persuasive. More like irritating.”

Holly sighed, checking the small gun she held. “He gets less irritating when you get to know him.” She paused, thought for a moment, then said, “No, he doesn’t. I guess you just get used to him.”

Murphy laughed. “So he is persuasive.”

“He asked, and I said yes. I should just stop saying yes.”

“Been there, done that, bought the entire fucking wardrobe,” Murphy said. “Only mine doesn’t come with a bodyguard. And he’s way more prone to bodily harm. And definitely not a genius.”

Holly made a muffled sound that Murphy could have sworn was a laugh. “Good thing, too. One of Artemis is bad enough.”

“True that.” She sighed again, then shrugged. “Oh well. Time to go get them out of whatever mess they’re in. Do you think Butler’s with them?”

“Must be.” Holly activated the wings and rose slowly until she was on a level with Murphy’s head. “He won’t usually leave Artemis.” A fleeting smile crossed her face.

Murphy chose not to ask for the moment. She could always ask Butler later. There had been a certain fondness when talking about Holly Short.

But how would that…

No, later. Definitely later.

Possibly never.

“Let’s go rescue the boys,” she said.

Fic: Not a Robot

Title: Not a Robot
Co-authored by Dark Puck
Fandom: Dresden Files
Spoilers: None, really.
Rating: PG
Summary: While we're humanizing Morgan, how about we let the rest of the Wardens know?
Notes: Title refers to a hilarious scene in awanderingbard's Somnus, which you should all read. If Oliver seems familiar, he should; he got punched in Glass.

Oliver was feeling rather important at the moment. Here he’d been thinking Commander Luccio didn’t like him very much, but she’d entrusted him with an important message to Commander Morgan! Well, maybe it wasn’t so much that she didn’t like him, he amended mentally, as that she thought he said stupid things.

He couldn’t really deny that. He had a rather spectacular bruise to prove it.

Whatever.

Oliver had never actually met the Commander, only seen him at a distance. A very imposing man, precisely the sort of person one imagined as a Commander. He probably lived in a spare, spartan set of rooms, Oliver decided. And wore his cloak all the time. A fashion disaster, but definitely impressive.

In order to test his hypothesis, he proceeded smartly up the walk to Commander Morgan’s home—he’d been threatened with several different deaths if he revealed the location, which was insulting if he thought about it, so he didn’t. Much more fun to revel in the importance of it all. He arranged his face into a suitably serious expression and knocked.

There was a slight delay in opening the door; but it was the Commander, looking somewhat harried and carrying a small child in one arm. "Yes?" he asked. He wasn't wearing his cloak, Oliver noted.

The child derailed Oliver completely, and for a moment all he could do was blink. “Uh…”

The Commander sighed. "Spit it out, son," he said, not unkindly. "I'm a little busy."

“Commander Luccio sent me,” Oliver blurted, after a moment. He was still staring at the kid. “She said there’ve been developments with the…um, the operations in India…um.”

"Report to me, not to my son."

Son? “Really?” he asked, not thinking, then realized he’d been rebuked. “Um, yessir, sorry, sir. She wrote most of it down.” Oliver scrambled for the letter, trying to remember which pocket he’d put it in and failing miserably.

Fortunately, the boy didn't realise how hard the Warden Commander was trying not to smile. Also fortunately, Morgan succeeded.  

Snug in his father's arms, the baby sighed and gurgled a little.

Oliver finally located the letter (hiding in his left pocket) and held it out, sneaking sideways looks at the baby. “She said I was to wait for a reply?” he ventured, rather than said.

Morgan skimmed over the letter, arching an eyebrow as he noticed the postscript: Luccio had requested a summary of Oliver’s actions. "Very well. Just a moment." Turning the letter over, he scribbled a reply and added, 'The boy still needs work on concealing what he is thinking. Arthur surprised him.'

The boy in question shifted from foot to foot, and took advantage of the Commander’s distraction to stare at the baby again. Really, the Commander had a son? You just didn’t think of someone like him with any family at all, much less children, much less being good with children. It boggled the mind.

Quickly, Morgan folded up the letter and returned it to Oliver. "My greetings to Commander Luccio."

Oliver bobbed his head in agreement, stuck the letter into his left pocket again and hesitated. “Um, sir?”

Morgan arched an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

“Um,” Oliver said, miserably. “Um. Son?”

The other eyebrow joined the first. "Is it that surprising?"

“Um.” He was starting to go crimson with embarrassment. “A little. A lot. Yes. Er.”

"Why?"

Oliver, painfully aware that he was treading on extremely thin ice, made expansive, vague, and above all noncommital motions. “You’re a bit… well… not very… er…”

"Contrary to popular belief," Morgan said gently, "I am not a Warden all of the time."

"Could have fooled us," Oliver muttered.

"I heard that," was the mild reply.

Oops. Oliver went bright red again and stammered out a somewhat incoherent apology.

"Learn to control your face and your voice," Morgan suggested kindly. "It will do you much better in the long run."

“Yessir,” Oliver said, eyes down. He was beginning to suspect that he had been set up.

"Back to your Commander," he ordered now.

“Gone, sir,” the younger man said, and immediately about-faced and marched away, heading for a local park where he’d emerged from the Nevernever.

He had a sinking feeling that he would never hear the end of this.

Fic: Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal!

Title: Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal!
Fandom: Dresden Files, references Firefly
Spoilers: Character from Dead Beat, references to Serenity the episode
Rating: G for unmitigated silliness.
Summary: Puck's fault. Drabble.

Murphy is walking through the morgue when she hears.

“…this is a fertile land, and we will thrive!”

She recognizes those lines, she thinks, and she knows she recognizes the voice; that’s definitely Butters. But what is he doing? She pushes the door open, peers in.

“I think we should call it your grave!”

He’s got a kidney in one hand and a… is that a lung? …in the other, and is doing voices for each, like an overgrown kid.

Butters drops the organs back into the body when he hears her giggling, but by then it’s much too late.

Christmas Fic for Liz

Title: Up to Something
Fandom: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Spoilers: Book and musical, pretty much. Neither belong to me.
Rating: PG for unmitigated silliness.
Summary: Marguerite should just stop letting Percy out of the house. Also, Andrew Ffoulkes is apparently a book-only character, but he's so darned cute I just had to include him.

Sir Percy Blakeney was decidedly unamused. Which was new, for him. He spent most of the time amused, and on the whole it made life much more pleasant, but really, this was the outside of enough. If only Andrew hadn't found him he might have gotten away with this little escapade entirely; now he simply had to explain somehow.

It didn’t help that Marguerite had, upon seeing him, immediately clamped her hands tight across her mouth, and was even now staring at him through wide eyes while making odd snorting noises that he suspected meant suppressed laughter.

“This is not my fault,” Sir Andrew Ffoulkes said, again.

“Oh, do shut up, Andrew,” Percy said, wearily. “It’s hardly my fault either.”

Andrew ignored him. “I found him like that by the Serpentine,” he told Marguerite, who wasn’t, apparently, listening. “Thought I’d better bring him straight home.” He paused, glanced at Percy, leaned over to Marguerite and whispered loudly, “Between you and me I think he’s a bit foxed.”

“Andrew!” Percy snapped. “I am neither foxed nor deaf!”

Marguerite recovered herself enough to say, “You are, however, somewhat improperly dressed. Really, Percy, what were you thinking?” Her eyes danced. “Were you swimming in the Serpentine?”

“Certainly not. Lud, the very idea!” He attempted a haughty sniff. Mistake—Marguerite clapped her hands over her mouth again. Percy went on undaunted. “I was, if you must know, speaking with a gentleman who is concerned for his family in France. Which reminds me, Ffoulkes, we’ve a trip to make next week.”

Andrew nodded. “All right then,” he said. “I’ll just, er, take myself off and tell the chaps then.”

“Yes. Do.”

Percy could manage a rather good icy tone when he chose; Andrew bowed awkwardly to Marguerite, and then fled for the door.

Marguerite had used the time to compose herself again, and had wrestled her face an appropriately stern expression. She still had those tiny crinkles around her eyes that meant she was doing her damndest not to laugh, though. Percy began to feel the faintest glimmerings of amusement.

“This gentleman of yours,” she began, and he was rather impressed with the steadiness of her voice; but then she had been an actress. “He is worried for his family in France.”

“Very,” Percy said.

She nodded. “Understandable and quite commendable. What I find puzzling, my dear, is exactly why he required you to be naked.”

Percy lifted his chin and gave her his best scornful, empty-headed stare. “La! To ensure I wasn’t armed, of course!”

Marguerite choked, turned away, let out several muffled sniggers, and turned back with her stern frown back in place. “And you are dripping wet because…?”

That was a little more embarrassing. “Andrew startled him and he pushed me in the Serpentine,” Percy muttered, then gave her his best inane grin as a distraction.

That did it—Marguerite fled the parlor, uncontrollable giggles wafting in her wake. Percy stared after her thoughtfully, then grinned. That had actually gone rather well.

Now if he could only get upstairs and into the bath before she went over his story again and realized that it didn’t make the least bit of sense. He wanted to be clean and dressed before he had to tell her what had really happened.

Resolutions

Happy New Year!
So, it's time for the annual resolutions.

First of all, from last year:
1) To be more fiscally responsible.
2) To pay more attention to the world.
3) To improve my writing some more. Let's try for writing something at least five days a week.
4) To stop being such a lazy bitch and quit procrastinating on my homework. Hey, it worked a little bit! Who says eighth time's not the charm?
5) While I'm not procrastinating on homework, let's try not procrastinating on RPG posts and emails as well.
6) To be a good GM for Fool's Gold and keep it happy and growing.
7) To be a better friend.
8) To try and take life in stride more. Shit happens, and anyway, who can say what is good and what is bad?
9) To try and exercise more, so stuff like throwing my knee out doesn't happen.
10) To try and achieve more of my dreams.
11) Swear less.

1) I tried. I think I managed for the first half of the year, though the second half, not so much. I finished the summer with more money than I began it with, but first semester of the 2007-2008 school year did not end well. I think I shall stamp this one plausible and add it to next year's list.
2) Definitely didn't succeed on this one. I have this bad habit of retreating into a bubble and not paying attention to worldwide events. It's not a good habit, and I think I still need to work on improving my awareness of the world around me.
3) This I did manage. I wrote rather a lot this year (53 fics and that's not even counting unfinished stuff, the 7000+ words of Kyrie, and all my original fiction). I think I can count this one upheld.
4) Actually, this one seriously worked. I got all my stuff done and turned in on time but for a small problem with a couple of papers that was due largely to my computer dying. I'm doing much better on procrastination all around. Bonus points for me.
5) See 4.
6) I think I was a good GM. FG has grown, anyway, beyond anything I ever expected of it, and it's thriving. I am happy with this one.
7) I tried, anyway. I hope that I succeeeded.
8) This I think I actually succeed at. True, there were times when I needed to rant or speak to someone to regain my equilibrium, but things like a late midterm, or a late flight? Didn't faze me. I think I'm doing well.
9) Heh. Well, I lost a lot of weight. We'll stay with that.
10) I did this. I wanted to learn to knit, and I did. I wanted to begin to learn Mandarin, and I did. I wanted to get a poem published, and I did. I'm actively working towards my dreams, and more and more of them are coming true.
11) Succeeded in this one too. I are shiny Kat who only swore when seriously provoked.

So, for this year:

1) Be more fiscally responsible.
2) Write at least a little bit every day.
3) Read at least a little bit of something I enjoy every day.
4) Start exercising.
5) Stop picking at my acne and use my blemish stick twice a day.
6) Brush my teeth and floss every day.
7) To keep being a good GM for Fool's Gold.
8) To not procrastinate over my homework or other obligations.
9) Attempt to get over my phone issues.
10) To look on the bright side of life and people.

Year-in-Fic Meme

WARNING: HERE THAR BE SPOILERS for everything under the sun that I write about. Seriously.

1) In Which Wash Is Up Much Too Late, Firefly, Wash and Zoe, humor, giftfic for Evil Mistress
2) Untitled drabble with Mal and a tree, Firefly, just about the entire crew, kindahumor, giftfic for Megs.
3) Fear Her, Dresden Files, Harry, Murphy and an Egregious Sue, giftfic for Boy, humor.
4) Gambles, Dresden Files AU, a White Wars ficlet that introduced Chelsea and Alex and ended up being Harry/Murphy, humor.
5) Lessons, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy with Dresdlets drabble, cuteness.
6) Regard, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy first in the "aftermath of a soulgaze" series, angst.
7) Distance, Dresden Files, follows Regard, angst.
8) Connection, Dresden Files, follows Distance, fluff.
9) Surprises, Dresden Files AU, White Wars ficlet, humor/angstHarry/Murphy, naturally.
10) Unbroken, Dresden Files, but populated entirely by OCs and Luccio, mostly angst.
11) Care and Attention, Firefly, Kaylee/Simon, fluff, giftfic for Kristina.
12) Chivalrader, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, kindasmut.
13) Nightmares, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, more or less pure angst, follows Holy Wars.
14) Little Secrets, Dresden Files TV, Harry/Murphy, humor.
15) Celestial, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy with Dresdlets, poetical.
16) Holy Wars, Dresden Files/Dogma, kinda Harry/Murphy, drama/angst/humor/everything.
17) Untitled Hot Fuzz/Discworld crossover, implied Nick/Danny.
18) Undignified, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, humor.
19) Productive Day, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, humor.
20) Favors, Dresden Files, Harry and OC, gen.
21) Fragile Things, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, kind of angst.
22) Interrupt, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, kind of smut.
23) Waiting, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, kind of angst.
24) Trading Headaches, Dresden Files/Artemis Fowl, giftfic for Puck.
25) What Love Is, Pirates of the Caribbean, Norrington/Sue, giftfic for El.
26) Test of Valor, Dresden Files, Dresdlets, Murphy kicking ass, humor.
27) Persistent Illusion, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy with Dresdlets, angst.
28) Heresies Verse Two, Dresden Files with AUs, mostly me mocking a character of mine and his unintentional resemblences to Jesus.
29) A Second Coming, Doctor Who, humor.
30) Kyrie Eleison, the first chapter of my next epicfic for Dresden Files. Surprisingly, contains no Harry/Murphy shippiness whatsoever. However, is angst.
31) Glass, rewritten and frankly much better version of Unbroken. Dresden Files, OCs only except for Luccio, gen.
32) Passion, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, follows Nightmares and Holy Wars, angst and smut.
33) Always, Doctor Who, Ian/Barbara, stream-of-consciousness.
34) It Is, On Occasion, Hilarious, Dresden Files with lots of Firefly references, gen/humor.
35) Trouble, Dresden Files/The Mummy, humor, adventfic.
36) Tick, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, suspense.
37) Various Levels of Doom, Dresden Files/Circle of Magic, humor, adventfic.
38) Earth, 2156, Doctor Who, gen, adventfic.
39) If There's Going to Be Any Hysterics, They'll Come From Me!, Dresden Files TV/The Mummy, humor, adventfic.
40) Captains Cubed, Doctor Who/Pirates of the Caribbean, humor, adventfic.
41) Tremors, Dresden Files, gen, adventfic.
42) Beads, InuYasha, Sango/Miroku kindasmut, adventfic.
43) Clothes, Doctor Who, humor, adventfic.
44) Snippet, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy, sortasmut, adventfic.
45) Guilty Pleasures, Dresden Files Fool's Gold, humor, adventfic.
46) A Little More Sonic, Doctor Who, character study, adventfic.
47) Sneaky, Dresden Files, Carlos/Molly, adventfic.
48) Crossbow, Dresden Files AU/Hot Fuzz, Murphy/Angel, crackshipping, adventfic.
49) Peace, Pirates of the Caribbean, Norrington character study, adventfic.
50) Fried, Firefly, humor, adventfic.
51) Snow, Dresden Files, Harry/Murphy with Dresdlets, gen, adventfic.
52) Misconceptions, Dresden Files, Morgan/OFC, humor, adventfic.
53) Sons, Mairelon the Magician/Sorcery and Cecelia, humor, adventfic.
54) The Greatest Lie. It's a Dresden Files FGverse fic, though you'd never know it from reading it, and I never actually posted it due to some squeamishness. I probably should, huh.

My favorite story this year (of my own):
I have a soft spot for a lot of the drabbles, because what comes out when I'm not thinking about writing well is actually pretty damned good. However, I have to say my favorite story of the year is definitely A Second Coming. Ten came out very well, I think, and I just loved writing about his encounters with previous companions and his relationship with Donna. I think the whole thing came out very well, and I still love reading it. "Help, I'm talking and I can't shut up!"

My best story this year:
Glass, definitely. I completely rewrote Unbroken, and this smooth, nearly poetic story came out of that ungodly mess. There's forgiveness and hope and understanding and what it means to be a family, and an ending that still gives me warm fuzzies. I love all the stories. I think it even got recced on GAFF as an antidote. It's really a beautiful story.

Story most tragically underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
There is no love for Kyrie. There will be when I post the whole thing, though. There will be lots of Kyrie love.

Most overrated story, in my opinion:
Mm, probably the Dresden Files/Mummy crossovers. They're funny and silly, yeah, but they don't quite deserve the reception that they got. I guess the sheer insanity of the crossover made people giggle a lot.

Most fun story:
Chivalradar. That was fun from start to finish. Just a really silly story. Or maybe It Is, On Occasion, Hilarious...one or the other, they were both very fun to write, and apparantly nearly made people snort Mountain Dew all over their keyboards. I still laugh while reading them.

Most sexy story:
Passion. *cough* First sex scene for public consumption, and apparently it came off really well. So to speak. *cough*

Story with the single sexiest moment:
Probably Passion again. It was really a lot more successful than I had dared to hope.

Most unintentionally telling story:
I think that's Glass again. A lot of what Saul thinks is what I think, and for the entire first chapter he's got nothing but time to think. Hope, family, forgiveness, relations of blood versus relations of love. There's a lot of me in there. Peace may be rather telling as well; my views on the afterlife, and on a man much maligned and unloved, and what we can eventually hope for after a life spent making the best choices we can.

"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for me" story:
The Greatest Lie, definitely. Incest, twisted love, hints of suicide, yep.

Story that shifted my own perception of the characters:
Regard/Distance/Connection, definitely. I had to really think about soulgazes, and the nature of their souls. I ended up with a softer picture of Murphy than I'd had, and a rather more angsty, less happy-go-lucky one for Harry. I'm convinced that this trilogy led directly to Nightmares and Passion, though Holy Wars was already well under way by the time these stories were written.

Hardest story to write:
Kyrie Eleison. It's still not finished, and it's been hard going all the way. I'm having to make up these characters as I go, but I can't contradict known canon, of which there is very little and widely scattered. I'm also trying to write an extended love story, which is difficult for me, and resisting the urge to keep everyone alive at the end, which would definitely contradict canon. Add to this an outline that's sketchy at best, and you can see how this would be very difficult. I adore this story, though, so have no fear, it will be finished.

Worst story:
Easily Unbroken. That's why it got rewritten.

Easiest story to write:
A bunch of the drabbles just sort of came to me. Surprises did the same thing, and so did Regard, and Always. I think the easiest one of those was probably Always; that one barely even needed beating.

Story I'd like to revise (but probably won't):
Holy Wars. The whole story got really rushed, and there were a bunch of places where I can see loose ends that I failed to tie up. It was such a big undertaking, though, and I'm still astonished that I finished it at all, so it'll just have to languish unfixed.

Story I wish I'd finished:
Kyrie. I started mid-summer, and I'm barely a quarter of the way through, but that's because it was unexpectedly difficult to write.

Story I didn't write but swear I will, someday:
That #*&%ing story for WW, with Alex and Loren and Murphy and all. I'm really furious at it for refusing to be written. Maybe I need to be in a blinding rage before it will come.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Hell yes! Fifty-four fics? Goddamn.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Nick/Danny. I also don't think I would have ever written Doctor Who fic if A Second Coming hadn't latched onto my brain and refused to go away.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Several. I jumped into a bunch of new fandoms, sometimes with very little preparation. I wrote new pairings (hi there, Nick/Danny!) and started posting some of my more private, OC-driven fics to the internet with rewarding results (Glass). Holy Wars was the longest and most ambitious project I undertook, though Kyrie is bidding fair to be longer. The Greatest Lie deals with a lot of issues I wasn't sure I was ready to tackle, as do Glass and Unbroken. I started experimenting with drabbles a lot more.
I think the biggest writerly risks I took were with POV. Kyrie is first person present tense, and Always is second person present tense, as opposed to my usual third person or first person past tense. I won't deny that it's tricky, but I think Always in particular benefited from the tense experiments, and Kyrie needs to be told in present to maintain a certain suspension of disbelief.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Finish Kyrie, mostly. There's a lot of fics I want to write, but they can wait, I think.

So I just saw The Golden Compass. Er.
Is it so very wrong of me to want Sam Elliot in several very wrong ways now?
OMG the accent and the hat and the crooked smile <33333333333 *flail*

Presents and Christmas

For my own private reference: if you have a burning desire to know what other people gave me for Christmas (and what I gave them), you may look under the cut.

Katie-my-dear (brownies and cookies once address is retrieved): handmade with love scarf

Evil Mistress (fic and surprise): card

Boy (fic): hat o' love

Loathsome Cousin: Chocolate, Borders gift card, Fab Fashions knitting kit

El (fic and surprise): lovely tea

Megs (scarf): scarf from Zanzibar, Satan's kitty card

Publishers: card

Natty D (???): card

Puck (fic and surprise): hoodie of win

Brother (hat of win): The Winter Stallion, The Great Mouse Detective (eeeeeeee!)

Kitty (love): file transfers of Victorian Romance Emma

Roomie (knitted something): cute lip gloss

Myself: underwear (bite me, I needed new underwear that was comfy and pretty), promised bra-shopping spree with Gwenai and Katie, and new blemish stick

Daddy (His Majesty's Dragon and If I Were An Evil Overlord): Doctor Who Series 3, Serenity, The Observation Deck, a Chinese calander, a little horse made of copper-embedded stone that I named Bo, The Hogfather on strictly-legal-of-course-why-would-you-ever-think-otherwise-DVD, a John Adams dollar coin

Mom (print of one of Ursula Vernon's paintings): Laptop cooling pad, a sort of deep greeney-blue velvet tracksuit that I have only agreed to wear on the condition that I can wear it apart (I love it but coordination in clothing scares me), a soft light blue turtleneck that I likewise love, the most awesome socks ever and four pairs of slightly less awesome socks, a teapot, a glittery Christmas pony with a wreath who I named Andee, Andes, a box of 64 crayons, three shades of yarn for Faire, glowsticks, one of those spinny disks with a galloping horse on it, Sisterhood of Spies, and candy

I keep getting the sneaking feeling that I've forgotten something my father gave me, but overall I got everything on my wishlist and I am a very happy kitty indeed. *cuddles all her things of awesome* Everything given to me was given with me in mind, as opposed to my usual collection of, "Hey, I like this, I bet she would too" presents, and everything I gave was very well recieved. If people love me as much as their gifts say they do, then there's very little I can ask for, I think. Merry Hanuchristmakwanzayule, everyone, and a happy New Year!

Merry Christmas! I just uploaded all the stories I've neglected to upload to my FFN account, and I'm about to go put Snow and Misconceptions up over on the Archive as Christmas presents. Now love me and drop me reviews as presents.
Except for Puck and my boy. Puck and my boy have loved me all they need to this Christmas. *snuggles hoodie and hat of awesome and squees* My pony hoodie and Jayne hat bring all the awesome to the yard, yes they do.

Due to a combination of sickness, work, newly-discovered cavity, Christmas, unexpected stress of trying to navigate a holiday without my father and brother for the first time, keeping my mother from going completely depressed and remembering why I want to get out of bed every morning,* I'm probably not going to finish my Adventfics.
Very sorry about this, folks. But you will at least have your Christmas fics in some semblence of on time.

*Don't misinterpret this statement. I don't want to stay in bed because I'm depressed, I want to stay in bed because my bed is warm and outside is fucking cold. I'm sure you can agree with this.

...I... I think I have a fanboy.
For my original work, no less.
Like, somebody tracked down the editor for an original poem I published several months ago just to pass on his compliments in an email.
....
I got fanmail.
....
Wow. This is a very strange feeling indeed.

Advent Drabbles #16, 17 and 18

Aheh. So in recovering from school I appear to have neglected my drabbles. This is sorrowful. Today you may have three.
Only one of these actually had a prompt, by the way. The other two... well, you'll see.

December 16th
Prompt: Dresden Family Road Trip!
Title: Snow
Fandom: The Dresden Files, Fool's Gold
Spoilers: Well, future plans for FG, but it's nothing y'all haven't heard before.
Rating: PG
Summary: "Are we there yet?"

There was blessed silence for all of two minutes before Maggie started up again.

“Are we there yet?”

Harry barely kept himself from slamming his head into the wheel, repeatedly, and only managed because he was driving on the highway in a Volkswagon Beetle in heavy traffic in the dark with his wife and two young daughters in the car. Not a good idea.

“No, Maggie,” he said, in what struck him as a commendably even tone. “We were not there two minutes ago, and we are not there now.”

“Are we in Missouri yet?” she persisted, fiddling with her hair.

“No.” Hopefully that tone was forbidding enough that she wouldn’t ask again.

At least Julia was asleep, so soundly that he didn’t think she’d be waking up any time soon, and Murphy was, if not asleep, zoned out so thoroughly that she wouldn’t be irritating him anytime soon. Not that she ever really did, unintentionally, anyway.

He moved to shift as traffic sped up a little, and gave Murphy’s hand an absent caress on the way to the stick as an apology of sorts for thinking ill of her. Even if he was cranky.

Maggie sensed his drifting attention and changed tactics. “Why aren’t we there yet?”

“Because traffic is awful,” he replied, tersely.

“Why is traffic awful?”

He shrugged. “Because there’s an accident? I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know?”

Harry glanced sharply in the rearview mirror and caught the tail end of a vanishing grin on his older child’s face. “Margaret Anne Dresden…”

“Sorry, Daddy,” she said, seeming at least half contrite, and he returned his attention to the road, hoping she was finished.

This time the silence lasted, and he really thought all his girls had fallen asleep. Until…

“Daddy!” Maggie cried suddenly, startling him enough that he nearly hit the car in front of him. Beside him, in the passenger’s seat, Murphy jerked back to the world in a flurry of confused words and movements that trailed off into an irritated mumbling, and in the back, Julia flailed into waking, but thankfully did not start crying.

“What, Maggie?” he half-snarled, furious with her and the traffic and everything and just wanting this damned drive over with.

Maggie was not unaware of his mood, but it seemed she didn’t care. “Daddy,” she repeated, in a strange sort of awe. “Daddy, it’s snowing.”

“It’s…” he started, and stopped, not just because Murphy had put a hand on his arm. “Huh.”

“It’s snowing,” Maggie said, gleefully, and pressed her nose against the window to watch in silence.

Julia giggled sleepily. “Snow,” she said, then wriggled around in her car seat and to all appearances went back to sleep.

Murphy smiled; he wasn’t looking at her, but he could hear it in her voice. “Merry Christmas,” she said, her voice half-slurred with sleep.

“Merry Christmas,” he said, caught her hand and kissed it.

“Try not to get us all killed, dear,” she added, yawning.

“I’ll do my best.”

---------

December 17th
Prompt: This one's been begging to be written for a while.
Title: Misconceptions
Fandom: The Dresden Files, Fool's Gold
Spoilers: Nada.
Rating: PG-13 for implications of sex and domestic violence. And yet it's humor.
Summary: Jen has a chat with her roommate. Yes, this is probably precisely the story you think it is.

Jen sighed, put down her coffee mug, and said, flatly, “Spit it out, Vanessa.”

All morning her roommate had been giving her funny half-looks of some weird mixture of pity and concern, which Jen really did not get, especially considering her activites the previous night. Just thinking about it made her grin. Behind the mug that she hastily picked up again. Vanessa did not appreciate being laughed at, even when she wasn’t.

She shouldn’t have bothered, because Vanessa wasn’t looking at her anyway. The other woman stared at her fingers, and said, “Jen, I… you know you can talk to me if you’re in trouble, right?”

“Er, yes,” Jen said, completely lost. “What brought that on?”

Vanessa fluttered her hands helplessly. “Just that… well, I heard yelling last night.”

She certainly had. Jen grinned again and took a sip of coffee to hide it.

Vanessa finally sat up straight and came out with it. “Jen, does Morgan ever hit you?”

Hot coffee through the sinuses hurt. Jen clapped a hand over her nose and made faint squeaking noises for a moment until the pain went away.

“Jen?” Her roommate looked near-panicked.

“No,” she got out, finally, around the smarting sinuses. “He would never hit me! God, where’d you come up with that one?”

Vanessa, looking only slightly reassured, gestured towards Jen’s back and its accompanying large and colorful bruise with her lips set in a tight little line.

“Oh, that?” Jen asked. “I got that banging into the doorframe.”

“Jen,” Vanessa said, sternly. “I know that’s usually an excuse for domestic violence, but you have to understand…”

Oh, God, she was going to have to spell it out. “I know. I didn’t fall into the doorframe. I banged into it.”

The other woman narrowed her eyes. “I don’t see what the diff—“

Jen sighed. “Repeatedly, Vanessa.”

As irritating as the whole conversation had been, the color Vanessa turned was worth the whole damned mess.

------

December 18th
Prompt: I was reading The Grand Tour again.
Title: Sons
Fandom: Sorcery and Cecelia series, Mairelon the Magician duology
Spoilers: Sorcery and Cecelia, Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Two old friends chat about their irritating sons.

The butler did not even have time to announce Lady Sylvia Schofield before she burst past him, into the drawing room, and exasperatedly proclaimed, “Sons!”

Elizabeth Lady Wendall calmly replaced her teacup on its saucer. “I quite agree, my dear. Do sit down and tell me what yours has done, then I shall complain about mine and we shall have quite a comfortable coze.”

“Oh?” Lady Sylvia arched a silver eyebrow, abandoned theatrics in favor of curiosity, and seated herself elegantly beside her bosom bow. “Has Richard done something too?”

“I believe a more correct question would be what hasn’t Richard done. Tea?”

Lady Sylvia nodded. “Three sugars and no milk, if you would be so kind. Shall I go first, or you?”

“You, please.” Lady Wendall poured, and replenished her own cup while she was at it. “I am certain from the fuss at the Royal College that Thomas must have been getting into something on a far larger scale than Richard. My dear son was only saving himself, after all. Some friends of his as well, but if he hadn’t been pig-headed as always there would have been no need of it.” She paused for a genteel sip, then added, “And he seems to have gotten engaged to his ward, but that’s rather more in the pedestrian way of gossip and wholly expected besides.”

“Thomas has been saving the entire realm, I believe,” Lady Sylvia said, “and getting not unexpectedly engaged himself, to a lovely young woman named Katherine Talgarth. I have always found the pedestrian gossip to be more interesting once one has gotten the wizardly things out of the way. After all, one saves the realm every month, more or less, but it is hardly every day that one’s son marries.”

Lady Wendall lifted her teacup in an ironic salute. “Do you know, Sylvia, I believe you’re correct? On to the pedestrian gossip, then, as I’m afraid I have yet to get a straight answer out of Richard regarding his recent antics. Despite being peripherally involved myself.”

Lady Sylvia rolled her eyes. “Sons,” she repeated.

“Indeed.”

Advent Drabble #15

Prompt: Wash's heroic tale of valor and fry cookery.
Title: Fried
Fandom: Firefly
Spoilers: References War Stories, but set pre-Firefly
Rating: G
Summary: Wash tries to get hired as a fry cook with predictably amusing results.

Stan looked at the kid in front of him, all beaming nervousness, spiky blonde hair and badly-held spatulas, and sighed. “Kid, do you even know how to make a burger?”

“Sure I do!” the kid said. “I can fry cook like nobody’s business, mister. If you hire me I will definitely show that fry how to cook.”

Stan didn’t even dignify that one with an answer. “Says here you’re in flying school.”

“Flight school,” the kid corrected him. “Could be a great fry cook. Nobody ever said pilots couldn’t be great fry cooks.”

“I do.”

The kid pouted, and Stan blinked. That was a damn good puppy face. Came close to working on him, and he had three daughters. “But I’m sure I could do a great job!”

“Probably could. I ain’t got time for you to learn,” Stan said.

“But I spent all week teaching myself how to spin the spatulas!”

Stan made an immediate and concentrated effort to appear as if he did not want to know. Unfortunately the kid took it as interest. He ducked, fast.

Both of them stared at the spatula as it vibrated gently on end in the corkwood behind Stan’s desk.

“Get out.”

Advent Drabble #14

Prompt: Norrington and the afterlife.
Title: Peace
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Spoilers: At World's End
Rating: G
Summary: There is a calm on the water that you can find nowhere else.

The first thing he notices is that he doesn’t hurt anymore.

It’s quite odd. In one way or another, James Norrington has been in pain for most of his life, and he knows how it feels to be hurt so badly you barely feel it. This isn’t that. This is a total lack of pain.

He is sitting in a boat. A rowboat? There is a lantern in the prow. He leans forward idly and examines the flame as it flickers ahead of him, illuminating nothing but the water.

He is at sea, he knows that by the soft rocking of the boat. He is sailing somewhere, and he cannot bring himself to care where, just so long as he never arrives. There are stars above him and the water below him, a perfect lovely night on the water.

The water rolls along behind him, and he is at peace.

Prompt me. And encourage me. It's four AM and I still have two pages to write on this fucking paper...
Edit: also Pris and Boy, will someone swing by the FG board and do something with the new app? I'm nervous about accepting it myself for obvious reasons, even though Gabrielle's not in the game.
Edit the Second: Six AM, projected three more paragraphs. Guess I'm sleeping on the plane tomorrow.
Edit the final: DONE! It's eight AM, I just pulled the first all-nighter of my college career, the resulting paper sucks, and I DON'T CARE. AHAHAHAHAHA I'M FUCKING DONE.

Advent Drabble #13

Prompt: Murphy/Nicholas Angel, because YES.
Title: Crossbow
Fandom: The Dresden Files/Hot Fuzz
Spoilers: Hot Fuzz, none for the Dresden Files
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Um. Crackshipping.

She dove behind a trashcan, (seriously, what the hell was a fifty-year-old man doing with a freaking crossbow, this was worse than inner-city Chicago) and collided with someone else’s legs.

The collidee, a cute policeman with a fuzz of red-hair and Dramatic Sunglasses, muttered something detrogatory about civilians.

“Okay, first of all,” she said, yanking him down as a crossbow bolt whizzed over their heads and clattered off the wall, “I’m not a civilian. Secondly, you’re not doing so hot yourself. Aren’t crossbows illegal?”

“You’re a civilian here until you get that transfer,” he retorted. “Yes, they are. I don’t know how he got it, he’s usually a shut-in.”

Another crossbow bolt clattered off the wall, and she sighed. “You damn kids get off my lawn?”

“Something like that.” He peered out around the cans (he would keep calling them bins). “Oi, Mr. Poindexter! Put down the crossbow or I’ll bring out the big guns!”

He sounded vaguely ridiculous, and she told him so. “The big guns, Nick? Really?”

Poindexter had apparently found something else to shoot with. Chips of brick sprayed off the wall as he hit it with bullets.

“Looks like your cue,” Angel said, heartlessly. “Off you go then.”

She gave him a feral smile, and rolled out.

Advent Drabble #12

First off, I must apologize to anyone who was left waiting for me tonight. Adium started hating, and then the internet slowed to a snail's pace and refused to sign me back on, so eventually I gave up. Have some shameless fluff as an apology.

Prompt: Pris is predictable.
Title: Sneaky
Fandom: The Dresden Files
Spoilers: Vague ones for Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and White Night, but if you haven't read the books I don't think you'll catch them.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Carlos and Molly, sitting in a... closet, actually...
Notes: This is not quite a drabble, but I couldn't bring myself to cut Carlos's last line. So deal. And prompt me.

“This is your fault,” Molly grumbled, as softly as she could, and shifted so she wasn’t sitting on a shoe.

Carlos Ramirez looked reproachfully down at her from where he stood, bent awkwardly to the right to avoid an outthrust shelf. “And whose idea was it to sneak up here?” he asked, his voice as indignent as a whisper could bear.

“Yours,” she said, innocently.

He snorted, and smiled, and crouched down so he hovered just above her. “Liar,” he breathed into her ear.

“Shush, they’ll hear you!” she hissed.

“Not me. I am sneaky like ninja.” And he kissed her.

They didn’t get caught after all.

So I still haven't made another dent in any of the things that are due (beyond finishing my evals) but today has been a good day nonetheless. I slept most of the day, woke up in time to go fetch a transcript request so my mom can get a student discount and drop by the post office to pick up my package, then came back, read some of Emma, took a shower, had some hot chocolate out of the package, and sent my mom lots of love from here. She sent me all my comfort foods barring the ones that don't transport well and also sent me some high-energy foods like peanuts and raisens that I'm going to need for the next few days.
I love my mommy. So much.

Advent Drabble #11

Prompt: How the Doctor got his screwdriver.
Title: A Little More Sonic
Fandom: Doctor Who
Spoilers: Fury from the Deep, The Visitation, the Movie, The End of the World
Rating: PG.
Summary: A Doctor and his screwdriver. All information on the screwdriver pre-movie is from Wikipedia since I haven't seen those episodes yet.

When he was Two, younger and more flexible than One, he decided he needed a tool. It was small and shabby like himself, and it wore out, but not before he was Three.

When he was Three, he made it a little more sonic, a little more flashy, to reflect himself. That one broke, and then he was Four, and he added a bobbly bit, because everyone knows that bobbly bits improve things, or at least that’s what he thought when he was Four. But that one was destroyed, and then he had none.

When he was Seven, he discovered that he missed the tool. He’d fancied himself rather dapper as Seven, and so he made it sleek and simple, with a focusing ring on the top that was rather out-of-date, but the more lovely for being so.

And then he used it to destroy his home, and he destroyed it too, because he was Nine, and Nine did not appreciate reminders. It had proven itself too useful, though, so he made another, with a flashy blue light to remind him of his Tardis.

As Ten, he taps it against his lips, and wonders how the next one should look.

...now that's all manner of strange. Apparently my most recent Advent drabble shows up only on other peoples' friendslists. It's nowhere to be seen in my journal. Ah, well. Allow me to link you in return for a prompt.

Advent Drabble #9

Well, since I didn't get any prompts from the last one, have instead a small snippet of my next 100moods story for Harry/Murphy. Words and details subject to change at any time. This will count as my advent drabble for the day. Now prompt me!

The phone rang in the middle of a report. Karrin Murphy reached out and picked it up. “Hello,” she said, absently, scowling at her computer. How did you explain a murderous unicorn, anyway? Maniac with a plastic stake?

“Don’t hang up on me, no matter what you do,” Harry said, in a calm, pleasant tone.

She gave an involuntary jerk, startled by his voice. “I thought we just got finishd with a case,” she said after a moment, trying to match his calm. “Don’t tell me you have something else for me.”

He chuckled, low and rich, and a thrill ran down her back. “Actually, yes, I do.”

“Oh, really?” She flexed her hand on the reciever. He had damn near purred that. Not good. Not good, not good, not good.

Maybe wonderful. But definitely not good.

Advent Drabble #8

Prompt: The Doctor and Donna in ancient Rome. Verbal from imsane_honest.
Title: Clothes
Fandom: Doctor Who
Spoilers: Fourth season casting, The Romans (First Doctor)
Rating: PG.
Summary: It is my fervent hope that the Doctor and Donna have this sort of relationship next season.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kiddin’ me,” Donna says, holding up the sheer linen stola the TARDIS has provided her.

The Doctor, geekily suave in his usual pinstriped suit, grins madly at her. Wanker. “Not at all. It’s summer in Rome, Donna! You’ll shock the inhabitants in that.” He nods at her perfectly servicable shirt and trousers. “Put on the stola and let’s go.”

“You’re not changin’, neither am I.” She folds her arms and glares. “It’s bloody see-through.”

“Isn’t.” Once again, the Doctor demonstrates a magnificient failure to grasp the obvious. “It’ll be just like that dress of yours. Let’s go! People to see, cities to watch burn!” He taps his wrist, exactly where he doesn’t wear a watch.

She rolls her eyes. “It’s nothin’ like. It’s see-through. I’m not goin’ out there in it. What d’you mean, cities to watch burn?”

Again that mad grin, the one that makes her simultaneously want to pat him and slap him silly. “I’ve been here before,” he explains. “Nero burns the city down today. And look, if Barbara could wear the stola then so can you. She was from 1963 and didn’t have quite your… er…” He gestures vaguely in the direction of his chest.

Donna smirks. “Breasts. They’re called breasts. Go on, you can say it.”

He gives her a Look (not as good as hers, in her objective opinion) and says, “Go on and change, will you?”

Fifteen minutes later, they emerge from the Tardis, Donna triumphantly still in shirt and trousers and the Doctor, grumpy, in a toga.

Advent Drabble #7

Prompt: Verbal request from someone who wishes to remain anonymous, requesting Sango/Miroku smut. I aims to please.
Title: Beads
Fandom: InuYasha
Spoilers: none
Rating: R.
Summary: Kindasorta smut, Sango/Miroku. No, I don't intend to explain myself. Prompter, feel free to express your undying love verbally as well. :D Also please note that I haven't seen InuYasha in a while; any errors are strictly my own.

The beads are slick and cool against her breasts, the cloth rough to the touch, abrasive, even. She focuses on those feelings, on his gentle hands.

They are quiet and careful with each other, so quiet and careful that sometimes she thinks she is dreaming. Maybe she is dreaming. She can’t be sure.

She never lets herself think about the others, or the consequences that might result. Only him, only his hands and his body and the beads, slick and cool on her skin.

In the morning, she notes with a tiny smile that he doesn’t ask that question anymore.

Edit: Guys, please to remember that no prompt equals no fic. Right now I have no prompts.

Goddamnit, you people just have no respect for a fit of depression, do you?
Pretty much as soon as I posted that last entry, I found the article I needed. Shortly after that, someone noticed me struggling with the tree and made the angels (previously sitting around doing nothing) put it up instead of me. Shortly after that, Nephelie came and gave me a pep talk and a hug for no apparent reason. Shortly after that, the plays went off beautifully and Hrothbart didn't even wrinkle the lake coming out. Shortly after that, my roomie took me to the store, where I got cookies and Cheez-its and chicken and tea.
Sheesh, world.

edit: Also got a text from Pris telling me I'm lovely. <3 Love you too, sweetie.