Thoughts on the Journey

I've been being lazy today after two weeks of fact checking and interviews. Its so nice to be able to sit and just read without worrying about various deadline. I do have some fic exchanges coming up, but that's a different kind of pressure.

I just reread Brothers in Arms as part of my plan to play Ivan Vorpatril more and now I'm thinking about tossing a younger Ivan into the sandboxes. All the layers in Miles' narration about him, how its clear he trusts him, knows he's smart and lazy and I think at times sees more of Ivan than Ivan does, just like Ivan is good at reading Miles in ways that Miles isn't comfortable with are intriguing. This book has scenes of Elli and Ivan alongside Miles and their relationships are clearly mirrored, but how they got there isn't the same. I also find the issues of Miles and his identity fascinating and how in this one, he uses that to try and help Mark. I'm not sure if I want to reread Mirror Dance as while its good, some of the most brutal parts of the series are in there, at least violent. Perhaps if I have Memory on hand for after that would work since that's more about healing.

ETA: I've put an Ivan from after Brothers in Arms up in PFSB and Mixed Muses and I need to update his profile.

For the first time ever, someone podficced one of my fics: [podfic] we're having tea (5 words) by croissantkatie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ellimere (Old Kingdom), Prince Sameth
Additional Tags: Family, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3
Summary:

On a rainy day, Ellimere decides she and Sameth are having tea. Set post-canon in this moment, Ellimere and Sameth work towards rebuilding their relationship.

Its wonderful to know that someone else likes my words enough to do something with them.

This week I've also dived headlong into Sense 8, which hit me right in the feels. I finished watching it, watched the behind the scenes' show and then started a rewatch. I mean I did watch other things but it worked for me. Its far from perfect, I wish the stories had been a little more balanced but I loved how it was clear that each country was almost another genre and how everyone intersected. I wish I could remember who first pointed out that the feel of each country and Senseate plot fits where they're from, because its so true. The music was glorious and while the plot was weird with some points of huh, perhaps those will be answered in the second season. Rewatching, I'm able to see how some parts fit together which is nice. Overall, I just love that the heart of it is people connecting and reaching out to help and be there.

I've seen a number of people doing snowflake_challenge and I like the idea of it as my writing is something that's a huge part of me.

Day 1

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Too Deep to Wash Away (2006 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Becoming Jane (2007)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane Austen/Tom Lefroy
Characters: Jane Austen, Tom Lefroy, Henry Austen, Cassandra Austen, Reverend Austen, Judge Langlois, Mrs. Austen
Additional Tags: Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Siblings, Family, Love, Happy Ending, Writing
Summary:

In this story, I have done my best to give Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy a happy ending within the confines of their world. They both try to proceed with their lives but luck changes and their families try to help them be happy.

Henry married and Tom received a letter but no invitation which wasn’t a surprise. Within that letter, Henry wrote a line that struck Tom more than he thought words could do as he said; My sisters are as ever themselves though more quietly. I will not speak much of them but her words will appear, my friend.

This is also a gift to Jen who's words inspire me.

This is my fix-it fic for Becoming Jane and its one I'm proud of as I felt like it would fit within the time. Austen is a favorite author of mine and being able to capture some of that wit and manners of the Regency Era was a large challenge of writing this one.

The City's Call (3200 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Secord/Rebecca St. Clair
Characters: Jack Secord, Rebecca St. Clair
Additional Tags: Case Fic, Established Relationship, Boarding School, New York City
Summary:

Jack and Rebecca are called into a case at Somersby Academy, a boys' boarding school just north of New York City, where they have to figure out what Artifact is making the boys act like addicts.

“I don’t want to miss anything, any connection, that’s what we’re doing. Reaching out and finding things and yeah, sometimes that means we go looking down in the City, but it’s the City. We’re allowed.”

This fic was the first time I ever wrote a case fic and I loved how it turned out, still one of the stories I'm proudest of.

Victor's Son (1811 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Sabriel/Touchstone
Characters: Prince Sameth, Ellimere (Old Kingdom), Touchstone (Old Kingdom), Sabriel (Old Kingdom)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Character Death, Death References, Family
Summary:

This story came about as I wondered how the characters of The Old Kingdom who are incredibly tied to duty and death would fit in the world of the Hunger Games. One of the ways Sameth is defined is by his difficulty with death and killing, which is an even greater hurdle in Panem. This is the story of his games.

Everything was a prop or a weapon, Sam knew that, had been trained it since he was a boy, be wary and know that death can come from anywhere.

I rarely write fusions or AUs, but the idea for this story came almost whole cloth to me but its one my fics that I think lands in an odd place. Sameth isn't the most popular character in the Old Kingdom fandom and its an odd combination, but I'm proud of how I was able to combine these two complex worlds and keep Sam himself.

I saw Iron Man 3 today and wow, Marvel stepped it up with that movie. I loved the arc and the set up and while there were some issues, it all came together in a wonderful way. I'm impressed and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

A reminder too that I have a tumblr now called atthelamppost, I've been following everyone who's tumblr username I know. If I don't know yours, follow me and I'll follow you back. Mainly I'm just using it for pictures since its pretty but still seems awkward for conversations and trying out memes on it.

This weekend has been quiet for me, which is nice. Work is still being odd but I've put a few cover letters out into the world, I'm working on a library blog post about gaming and technology and plotting going to the ALA. The rest of this month is going to be strange as there will be AP tests and lots of end of the year things, which are going to feel bittersweet but I will cheer the kids and enjoy the moments.

At this point I have no idea what I'm going to end up doing for my birthday which is a month from now and the same weekend as the school's graduation and then the next week is the last week of school. I'm making a promise to myself that I will do something special for myself to celebrate it and not let any pain of this end of the year ruin it.

This FicFriday was quiet but I still ended up writing a few stories that I'm happy with. And I finished a draft of my queer fest fic, now it needs lots of editing, but it isn't due until May 26th, so there's time.

( FicFriday )

Today I started writing a story from a queer fest prompt because it got into my head about Charles and being bi. If you're looking for story ideas or a new place to write, go look at what's going on. They're open for new prompts until March 15th and stories aren't due until May and June. I've never written for them before but I went to look and the ideas started happening.

And another part of feeling like my creativity is active, I finally got Tiwa her icons back and she and a AU!Hogwarts' Will are in the sandboxes. I'd love some threads guys as I've missed playing these two.

Life is feeling good and a little odd. My monthly Sci-Fi Fantasy book club makes me incredibly happy even though I've yet to read the books for it. This week I did manage to buy the book but not read it. The people in the book club are creative, fascinating and remind me of being in crackchat, where the conversation bounces in strange ways. It ended up making me want to write more Charles as the book was Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, so we discussed what was going on for people in the '50s and '60s. I ended up recommending Lilek's and stayed until about 10:30, I would have stayed later but I was tired and wanted some wine. I feel like I'm slowly creating a social life for myself here.

Work ended on Friday with a major bump as the school servers went down and suddenly there was no internet. One of the best compliments I've ever gotten for the job I do is how many kids stayed after school even with no internet. One kid used his phone as a tether for others, but overall, they were happy to just be in the library.

FicFriday ended up being partially here and also on Twitter again. Being on my journal works better for me as I'm working, but not everyone has the same issues. My dreamwidth fills are here.
( Twitter writing )

Today was my last day of school for the week and tomorrow I'm driving to Jackson to spend Thanksgiving with dodger_sister and her family. It feels so nice to know that I will be coming and going from my very own apartment. I'm still recovering from being sick but I feel much more solid at work and at home. Today was full of great moments from talking to a student about books to watching some other guys coding and talking with a teacher. Also another teacher opened up enough to complain to me about another meeting, it felt like a definite opening up.

Though I'm still rather forgetful and have a to-do list to take care of for address changes as well as other issues, but they will get done. Some of its fun stuff like finding a headboard and a nice big bookcase. I feel like I'm actually fitting in at this new job, which is a great feeling.

One thing that I almost forgot is that last week, there was a lot of writing for Fic Friday and I never posted what I had written.

( TwitterFics )

TitleOur Scars
Characters Sameth, Kait Galweigh
Fandoms The Abhorsen Chronicles, The Secret Texts
Rating PG-13 for implied sex and violence
Disclaimer No one belongs to me, I'm only borrowing them.
Summary Due to what she is, Kait has never had scars, but she has memories and with Sameth remembers and heals.

( Whenever old men talked of knowing when it would rain due to an old injury, she would shake her head at having your body hold onto everything. )

I finished my second week and have a long weekend. This morning I looked at places to live and I could see myself living in three of the places I saw. As I was looking, I kept thinking about how my mother told me she knew the house I grew up in was the right one. What she did was she was able to see all of her stuff in it. I had that feeling in a few of these places and it makes me so hopeful. Though I also realized that I'm probably going to need to buy more furniture as even the small spaces have more space than what I had in Ann Arbor. Today and this weekend is all for stretching and planning as my hostess is off for the long weekend, so I have the house all to myself. Currently I'm in Birmingham and looking around for a new ring as I think its the end of the road for my amber flower ring. After I'm done in Starbucks, I'll probably head back and try to figure out what to do for dinner.

This week went better than last week, it had some bumps in it but over all I feel like this is where I fit. I'm getting used to the school schedule and the kids. Yesterday some boys had some trouble but I was able to help them get space. Then another teacher who knows the situation was able to take over. That's what prompted the tweet about kids living life so intensely, they went from having fun together to crying. It hurt to see but they're in good hands and I do feel like I fit.

I also got paid for the first time yesterday, two paychecks and I feel like I've gained another measure of adulthood. Its rather more money than I've had and I earned it. I mean I've supported myself and lived on my own, but this is an actual salary. It means in the future, I can plan trips and doing more.

Yesterday there was also the return of TwitterFicFriday, which I've missed. I ended up writing a number of stories and put up a big multipup EP over in the sandboxes as this weekend is about relaxing and creating. I'm hoping to head to the school on Monday and sort out some of the huge amount of stuff in the back room.

( Twitter Tales )

I would like this week to have a few things go right on the first try. The movers were late sending out the online confirmation but that's done. There's a email from the my student loans telling me to go look at a message from them but I don't want to. Last time I did the amount of interest made me want to cry, that will get put off a little longer.

My body keeps feeling off as in having asthma issues that I haven't had in a while. Allergies have rarely made me wheeze, its disturbing and disconcerting, I would like to not fall apart. My ear also seems to have healed, but it feels like it needs more. I also haven't been sleeping properly so I keep having points during the day where my temperature feels off and I just want to fall over and hide for a time. End of body rant and worries.

Meebo messenger's been shut off and I can't find a replacement that will let me get into chat, not even AIM Express which is messed up. I've got a five hour shift today and I'm already feelings a bit out of it, need chat and its wonderful community. So guys, I'm online but can't get into chat.

I'm going to do some meme answers, try to figure out who to do Happy Hour with tonight and maybe even write more on a fic that I should write. Perhaps tomorrow is a good day to go to the movies and hide from the world for a little bit.

Icon meme first.

1. Reply to this post with Dance with me, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.

These five icons were chosen by bjornwilde



At one point I started watching Gossip Girl, I think I finished the first season but that was it. I found this icon and I love it as it shows the best of female friendship, two friends just being together.



anthologia made this icon and it feels quite apt for where I am at the moment, looking towards the future and not knowing what's ahead. Its peaceful and beautiful.



I loved Inception and this was by far my favorite scene in it because there was a clear sense of this isn't true reality. I wish honestly that there had been more of this but loved what there was. It was harder than I expected to find an icon of this moment.



This is a scene from the movie Atonement which I'm not a fan of. Its a gorgeous movie with wonderful actors, but I hate, hate the story. If I could have removed the actual plot, I might have liked it better. Its a heartbreaking movie about how a badly thought out and rather selfish choice that destroyed lives and to me that the person who did the wrecking never really got it. The atonement that's supposed to be the payoff felt weak to me. I have a fair amount of icons from this movie for Will as James MacAvoy spends a lot of time in it looking older than his age and hurting. I use this icon for war related things and general sadness.



My mother's originally from Carmel by the Sea so I spent my childhood spending one or two weeks there and visiting my grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin. I also grew up not far from the Atlantic ocean in Pennsylvania and my parents now live on the Delaware shore. I'm happiest when water is within walking distance for me. I loved that about Wellington, not only was the water right there but the waterfront was someplace I wanted to be. There was the public library and Te Papa and places to sit and watch the world go by. Everything for me feels a little more possible by the water. This icon is my beach, water one.

Now another round of the five topics meme.

Comment to this post saying "FIVE!" and I will pick five things I would like you to talk about. They might make sense or be totally random.

Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself, hopefully for the rest of eternity!

(I don't really care if you say "FIVE" or let me know some other way. Just for the record.)

These five are from crazyfurries

( Five more words )

Now all this writing has been feeling a little more even keeled and now to plot who will do Happy Hour in Milliways.

Time to post FridayFic, I didn't do a huge amount this week and ended up having two that needed shifting. I want to point out that a fic I wrote about Erik and Charles playing chess ended up inspiring this fic along with some help from Noir ficathon Old Ground. The original TwitFic was:

For the first month after Cuba, he didn't touch his chess set. It hurt too much to truly acknowledge that Erik wasn't there.

I wonder what will come from some of these. As always let me know if I missed one.

( FridayFic )

I'm having a wonderful birthday so far. I slept in a little later than I meant to before driving to Jackson to hang out with dodger_sister, who wrote me a Charles/Erik story called Burned in all the Best Ways as a present and gave me a comic retelling of the Hades and Persephone story. andrealyn, this fic had parts that made me think of threading with you and how Charles and Erik get under each other's skin. We watched The Faculty, ate delicious hoagies and cupcakes and had a lazy day.

I talked to my parents and one of my brothers and family called to sing me happy birthday, even one of their dogs was getting into it and barking in the background.

Tomorrow I'm going to treat myself to a massage and other fun things, then Sunday, brunch with the_croupier. I'm considering this weekend also posting Charles in celebrating getting his degree as that should be fun. All the plot stuff for that cast is coming together and I love it, soon we can play in recruiting time and have mutants in the Bar together.

My parents told me there's a package in the mail for me and my day has been full of well wishes. Life is feeling wonderful and I plan on stretching my celebrating out.

Today I also ended up writing quite a lot of FridayFics on Twitter, which I'm going to copy and paste here. At some point I'll put them up on Ao3, but or now, this is the best way for me to keep track of them. I think I've caught everything but there are always so many great prompts and fills.

( In which I write and tweet a lot. )