to my lovely, my indispensible, my BFF and my rock, neveridle!!!

Honey, I love you so much, and I hope your day is filled with everything that's good.

XXOO

I'm completely scrambling to write for my summer_of_giles day, which is Tues.  The whole computer thing has really set me back, so I gave up on my original idea because it would need to be a longer fic to do it justice and am working on a shorter, darker piece.

Please forgive that I won't be around as much due to the deadline.

Speaking of Giles, a couple of people from Portus asked about my long slash story with him and Snape.  It's 'Recruit.'


There completely has to be more Dr. Horrible!  Argh!  Oh, Joss and co!

Problems with getting my new Giles story done?  I want to:

• icon the crap out of Dr. Horrible
• write crack!fic about Bad Horse, The Thoroughbred of Sin
• write crack!fic about 'the deltoids of compassion'
• write serious fic about Dr. Horrible set both pre and post-series
  
• watch Dr. Horrible 50 bazillion times

Act Three is so obviously a set up for more.  Sigh.  I wonder how soon that could possibly happen.


Good news though - I was able to get everything off my old hard drive.

Title: The Vampire Voyeur (Chapter Three)

Previous chapters can be found here

Author: Gabrielle

Rating: FRAO/NC-17

Pairing: Angel/Willow/Xander, mentions of Angelus/William and Angel/Buffy

Summary: Angel’s been dreaming about Willow and Xander. But when a pesky happiness clause means he can’t make his dreams come true, what’s a poor vampire to do? (This is a rewrite of a story I first wrote in December of 2004)

Word Count: 1720

The Blue Pencil Crew: lilbreck and shannon730

Warnings: If you’re looking for angst, move along. There’s nothing to see here.

Feedback: Is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Distribution: Here, my LJ, my IJ, my site, and NHA. Anyone else, please ask first.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to Joss and a bunch of other people who are not now and have never been me.

Author’s Notes: This is a birthday present for the outstandingly splendid jans_intentions, my incredibly gifted, supportive, and caring friend. I hope you enjoy this, sweetheart. I would also like to dedicate this to emeraldswan, for whom the first version was written so many years ago. You’re tripendicular, hon.

( The Vampire Voyeur (Chapter Three) )

Another low grade migraine this morning. What the hell? That's the second in three days. Not as bad as getting a full-blown one, of course, but still not great for the productivity. I went into the grad center anyway, operating on the "if I ignore it, it'll just go away" principle, and I did finish up editing the last couple pages of Rufus's first chapter, but then I just gave up and came home. I had plans with someone for tonight, but my friend bailed because she's sick, so maybe it's for the best. I might try and do a bit of reading now that I've actually eaten something.

In the news of "yay!" I got another email about a job interview last night. It is not quite as ideal as the one I heard on earlier in the week, but it would still be a decent job. Not really sure how it would pay; the company generally does well by its employees, but it's very entry-level, which might mean peanuts. I'm over-qualified for it, though, so perhaps it's one of those "salary is commensurate with experience" deals. Money isn't necessarily the most important factor for me (that would be health insurance), but I'd like to be able to live someplace nice and eat out on occasion and also take over my car payments from my parents if I can.

And, oh yeah, fill my car up. With gas at, what, like $4.60 a gallon in the Bay Area right now? that's sort of an issue as well. *sigh* I foresee fewer trips down to Santa Cruz - though really, my little Civic is very economical that way.

I'm starting to consider the possibility that I might have options next year, and that's not something I'd really let myself think about before. I could end up with a job that I enjoy and might want to stick with for awhile, i.e. longer than the year that I had planned to take before heading off to grad school. Staying in one place for a couple years actually sounds pretty nice, and it wouldn't look bad on my resume either at this point.

And, well, I'm tired. The last three years have been a lot of fun, but I really want to go home and stay there for awhile. I miss people. I want to be able to really learn my job and get good at it and have a life without constantly thinking in the back of my head "well, it's all temporary." And yeah, okay, it is, because what isn't temporary in the end? But two years would really let me settle in, and I think I'd be ready for the PhD by the time I was done. I love being in school and I have every intention of going back, but the truth is that I enjoy being out of school as well. For one thing, I quite enjoy earning a paycheck! And I whine about working because I developed something of an allergy to it through a string of really just horrible jobs when I was younger, but I liked teaching and I think I'd like the admin/student advising/coordinator side of things too.

Downsides: Entering a PhD program at 27 and not finishing until I'm at least 32. This is normal, really, but at some point I want to have kids, and I'd like to have them while my parents are young enough to enjoy them. This is a problem when everyone in your family has kids late, which my parents did and my sister and I will do. I'm twenty-four and I already have grandkid guilt. Though it's not like I've found anyone to have them with, and my sister will probably get there before me anyway (since she's going to marry The World's Most Perfect Boyfriend). It'd be a lot easier if I just flat-out didn't want the little suckers, but part of me really, really does.

(Of course then I look around and I see all the little hellions I could get stuck with and I think of some of the shit I pulled as a kid - and I was a good kid! - and I think, "Hmmm, perhaps not. A cat gives you a lot less backchat and doesn't bring home infected tonsils from nursery school.")

Anyway, what's a year at this point? My philosophy so far is that there is absolutely no use rushing through life. Once I'm on that PhD => postdoc => (pleaseGod)tenure-track path, there is just no jumping off, so I might as well do everything I want to do before then, including holding down a 9-5, non-academic grown-up job. Which appears to be what I would like to do at this point.

Plus, thirty is the new twenty. So there. Nyah.

(This entry brought to you by the fact that I turn twenty-five three weeks from tomorrow, oy, and realized while watching a Friends rerun earlier this week that the characters are no longer ten years older than I am. We are, in fact, the exact same age. NOT OKAY.)

Wishing a very happy birthday to kseenaa Do hope you have a lovely day.

Oh, Joss, you bastard. I love you.

( Spoilers for Dr. Horrible Act III. )

First of all, I'm reccing  In The Shadows by Trekker, The First appears to Rupert in the form of Ethan and Jenny. I'm sure there must have been many times when Rupert was rescuing potentials and stuck in lonely hotel rooms that he wondered if he would ever get through the night.

The second story was posted earlier this week, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'd recommend every Rupert/Anya fan should read it. The story in question is by ljs Four Letters Giles Didn't Send Anya, and One Note He Did, gives what's rapidly becoming my favourite pairing the happy ending they both deserved.

I'm very, very lame and did not actually watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog when it started. Or a little after it started. Or a little after that. Then it hit the point where my flist was bombarding me with so much Dr. Horrible-related-ness that I couldn't not. THANK YOU FOR THAT, FLIST. I love it so hard. I want to make it into a hat and wear it everywhere. Um.

( Spoilers for Act I. kind of. maybe. )

Just one for now, but I didn't know how appropriate it would be when I made it.  Want, take, have.  Commenting and crediting are nice things to do.

Kinda spoilery, but not obviously so unless it's connected with the end of the show. Just in case, it goes behind a cut/fake cut.  ::nods::

( This Way )

 This was originally written for Seldomifever as part of the Every Slayer Needs a Watcher ficathon and due to response I turned it into a two part story. I was planning on posting both parts tonight but a computer glitch took many documents out and part 2 was one of them. I will post part 2 as soon as the story is done being rewritten.

Hi there!

I'm in the kinda, sorta deciding on what to do stage right now and I've pretty much narrowed down the image I want to get done. Beatrix Potter's Tom Kitten, since that was one of my favourite stories as a child.

( meow )

What I can't really decide/figure out is where to put it. I like the idea of small, partly because of the pain factor (I'm also morbidly afraid of needles, so the least amount of time spent with one the better, haha!).

I'm going to be a social worker in a couple years (still in school right now) so it'll have to be pretty hide-able by clothes or hair. I was thinking leg, behind my ear, I have no idea where else but those two just don't seem "right", you know? And definitely not the foot.

So, after this long story I basically want placement suggestions. Thanks!

x posted to hobgoblinn and gen_storyteller

Here's my second summer_of_giles posting day offering, a continuation of the first half of "A Father's Love." Find it here. Feel free to leave comments here or on fanfic.net-- anonymous reviews are enabled on my account. The rest of this section, which rounds out okay, will be up Friday the 25th, with more to follow after.

Thanks to ruuger for this great Giles icon, too. And for all who have read, commented and offered support and encouragement.

x posted to summer_of_giles and hobgoblinn

Here's my second summer_of_giles posting day offering, a continuation of the first half of "A Father's Love." Find it here. Feel free to leave comments here or on fanfic.net-- anonymous reviews are enabled on my account. The rest of this section, which rounds out okay, will be up Friday the 25th, with more to follow after.

Thanks to ruuger for this great Giles icon, too. And for all who have read, commented and offered support and encouragement.

There's going to be an Anna's Hummingbird eventually, on my front shoulder.  You can see the remnants of my stupid tribal armband underneath.  They're all native flowers:  Sacred Datura, Golden Columbine, Desert Marigold, Desert Ironwood blossoms, Night-blooming Cereus, and a Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus blossom.  So far. 

Let me know what you think!

Prompt: "Just Like In The Movies"
Title: Off To A Rocky Start
Fandom: SGA
Pairing: McShep
Rating: G
Word Count: 100

Clicky

So as I may or may not have mentioned Kathy and I are giving serious thought to nipping over to California and getting married, because we want to destroy the moral and social fabric of America JUST THAT MUCH, and Kathy brought up the question of the ages: Cummings-Coleman or Coleman-Cummings? Or just leave it as is and forego the hassle of changing all our paperwork?

I suggested that we go the shipper route and smush them together, but neither Cumman nor Colmings seemed to appeal…

Originally published at Barb C's Journal. You can comment here or there.

How many times have you opened your refrigerator or perused the produce section of your local supermarket and said to yourself, “Self, why are there not more sources of fresh figs in the greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area?” AND ANSWER CAME THERE NONE? A whole lot of times, I bet!

Well, now your problems are OVER! Never again will you wake to those midnight cravings for fig pie, fig tart, figs stuffed with cheese, dried figs, fig newtons, fig jam, figgy pudding, and roast rack of lamb with brandied fig sauce, only to slink back to your lonely, hungry bed unsated! Yes, your fig-free days are numbered, because I have figs, and I want to give them to YOU!

And not just any figs! No, these are 100% certified home-grown organic Arizona figs! No artificial pesticides or fertilizers have been used in the production of these figs, and although there are ugly rumors that the fig tree snuck some of the rose food when we weren’t looking, we categorically deny that we fertilize the roses often enough to make any difference, and we’ve spoken to the fig tree VERY sternly about it and it promises never to do it again.

You may ask how to distinguish 100% organic figs from ordinary, everyday, commercial figs, given that Arizona has no laws, enforced or otherwise, governing the labeling of organic produce. Simple! Look at my face! Would I lie to you?

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Some of our lucky fig recipients will receive SPECIAL BONUS FIGS

• Nibbled by 100% organic bugs!
• Pecked by 100% organic birds!
• Slightly shriveled by 100% organic sunlight!

You may be asking yourself, “Self, how do I take advantage of this fantabulous offer?” It couldn’t be easier! Merely go to Barb’s house, knock on the front door, and say, “Hey, Barb said I could have some figs!” And then we give you figs! YES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE!

DON’T WAIT! ACT NOW!! SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED!!! BONUS OVER-RIPE GRAPEFRUIT TO FIRST FIVE CUSTOMERS!!

Originally published at Barb C's Journal. You can comment here or there.

I've been watching this community for a couple months, and damn-- there are some great, really well done pieces!
Now that I have a functioning camera, I'll contribute:

( Wrist piece from Pynchon's <i>Crying of Lot 49</i> )


( And my favorite T.S. Eliot line )

Friends, the Kitten(tm) is seriously into Wensleydale cheese. She mugged me just now and ran off with a chunk. My cat mugged me.

Yesterday's poll has "voyeurism" edging out "sleepy/unconscious" by a single vote, with the others also-ran. You all are either indifferent or want Giles in charge, so I will obligingly write one or the other of those two with Xander in charge. Nyah.

Have joined the masses and purchased a season pass to Dr Horrible from the iTMS. Haven't watched it yet, because it's still downloading. Mr P and I are in the middle of watching Death Note, which is about a million times better than the other animes we've tried. Except Trigun, which we loved and will be watching more of. Also, sometime soon need to write up a description of my first month going to the gym and working out intensely. Not right now.

Today I was thinking about my fanfic reading strategies and how they've changed.

Obviously I am a genre-hopping multi-shipper with a maniacal focus on one character. I'll read Giles with anybody, and probably would try writing him with anybody, though my own favorite pairings have settled out as Buffy, Xander, and Ethan. My decision to read or not read something is never based on slash-vs-het-vs-gen, or even on the ships advertised. It is always based on the name of the writer, or if I don't know the writer already, on the first paragraph of the story. I am more likely to persist through badness with my favorite ships, but these days I'm back-button-happy even for those. I find myself far more able to cope with rocky prose than with bad characterization or cliched situations. Rocky prose can be fixed by working with an editor; lack of imagination can rarely be.

Tell me, friends! How does this work for you? What's your strategy?