I'd Start A Revolution (If I could get up in the morning)

Wheee!

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:37:30 GMT

Stephen King meme taken from Jade:

1. What is your all time favorite Stephen King work (full-length novel, novella, short story, whatever)?

The Shining, hands down, because of what it meant to me in terms of dealing with my family life and with who and what and how I wanted to be when I got older. It was a profoundly moving experience, the first time I read it, not to mention that fact that it scared the beejeezus out of me!

2. What is your favorite SK novel?

The Shining, though Duma Key I have to admit has taken its place almost immediately right alongside it.

3. Favorite short story/novella collection?

I'm rather embarrassed to admit here that I'm not a very good King fan because I haven't really read his collections! My best friend gave me a copy of Everything's Eventual which I've read through, so I guess that wins by default.

4. Favorite novella?

The Mist. I know, not very original, but there's a reason so many would choose it.

5. Favorite short story?

By the default of the above, I'll pick my favorite story in Everything's Eventual: The Road Virus Heads North

6. Favorite audiobook?

Don't listen to audiobooks; never could get into them.

7. Favorite movie based on King's work?

I do enjoy Mick Garris' work, his minis based on King's work and, as fantastic as I think The Stand was, I'm going with The Shining because Steven Weber was my ideal Jack and he did the really pathetic, alcoholic aspect of the character so amazingly well, it was kind of frightening. Sure, he slipped up a little towards the end when, instead of taking from the source material how to be a monster, he just seemed to start imitating Nicholson, and Rebecca De Mornay sort of annoyed the hell out of me as Wendy (put Shelley Duvall's Wendy with Weber's Jack and it've been perfect!) but the way they allowed the suspense to build and stayed true to the core of the story won me over.

Special mention has to be given to Rose Red, even though it's an original work and not based on any source material (sadly, as I'd have really loved to have read a novel of it!) My family watches that thing constantly, it's just so damned enjoyable!

8. Is there a recurring theme in his work that you particularly enjoy (such as: main characters from one novel appearing briefly in another, objects that prove to be portals into another dimension, references to the Dark Tower)?

The human aspects, the familial relationships, the connections and bonds survivors make with each other. Really, I am there for the scares, but what makes them all the more potent is the way in which his characters connect or are connected; it makes them so very human, and so identifiable, and you can always feel it happening very organically; even if it's something he was to tell you at the start of the book, you know he'll find a way to show you, and prove it as strong and real as he assures it is from the outcome.

9. What was the first Stephen King book you ever read? Was that the one that got you hooked on his writing, or did you need more convincing?

The Stand, or rather, the miniseries got me reading the book, which got me to read other King works. We always had his books around the house because I have two older siblings, one a brother who was always into the scary stuff, but it took that to actually get me to pick one up.

10. Is there one of his works in particular that sticks with you no matter what (not necessarily a favorite, but one that you can't get out of your mind)?

Desperation, because of, ooh, the atmosphere of it, and the very complex and unusual look at faith and religion. I find myself thinking about it a lot, especially David's insistence that "God is good, God is cruel," and how he doesn't truly understand it until the end, and how Johnny comes to understand that he understood it all along, if that makes sense. I remember, shortly after my parents died, my sister saying to me, "God is indifferent, that's what makes it more painful," and it always reminds me of that.

11. Have you read any of the nonfiction works (Danse Macabre, On Writing, that one about baseball)? If so, what did you think of them?

I've only read On Writing, but I've come to the conclusion that it should be read by everyone, it's that amazing.

12. If you were a character in one of his works, which book/story would you most like to be in?

Ooh, that's an interesting question! I've often thought that an RPG based on the Cell universe would be fun, and there is my zombie fetish, so that'd obviously be my first pick.

13. If you were a character in one of his works, how long would you last? If not until the end, in what gruesome manner would your character be killed?

Sweet Lordy! One of the things I like about King's works are that the meek kind of do inherit, he does usually empower the scrapiest and most unlikely, so I'd like to think that, with a little work, I'd survive. Certainly one of the things I identify with in his characters is that aspect to drive themselves on, to be better, to survive, even if they don't realize that's what they're doing.

That said, I'm highly suspicious that I'd go the way of Alice in Cell: heartbreakingly senselessly. My only hope is that I'd inspire those around me with my memory! *sniff*!

Pee-yew with a capital, well, P and U

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:14:30 GMT

God save me from the Blackfart fans

*rolls eyes*

Sexy Name Generator

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:35:19 GMT

Because Jade did it and it seemed like loads of fun, plus, some of these are wicked accurate!

Get Your Sexy Name

Eh, what the heck?!

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:56:54 GMT

Everyone else did this and, honestly, I'm kinda curious about the answers I'd get (or frightened, it's a toss up, ha!) So:

Without looking at my current and past character directories, what patterns do you associate with my roleplaying? For example, with X-Men RPing, this can include things like gender, mutant powers, physical details, PBs, family history, personalities, specific characters, etc.

My answers to the movie meme

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:22:06 GMT

1. One movie that made you laugh: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

2. One movie that made you cry: Titanic. Like a freaking little baby, and every time I watch it, too.

3. One movie you loved when you were a child: Anything Disney, really. I guess one of my very favorites was their version of Robin Hood, the animated one with the animals!

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once: Many! But let's do which movie I've seen the most, and that would be Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: Heh, I basically have no shame, so it's pretty hard for me to be embarrassed by anything I could admit to. But maybe I'll choose the one that others are embarrassed by my liking, ha! And that'd be Daredevil: The Director's Cut.

6. One movie you didn't like: Pan's Labyrinth. Seriously. It made me feel gross all over by the end. In the immortal words of my best friend Shelley, "It's just...nasty."

7. One movie that scared you: Night of the Living Dead, the original.

8. One movie that bored you: The Ruins. Jonathan Tucker and Joe Anderson, even your fabulous performances could not save this bowser!

9. One movie that made you happy: Ratatouille.

10. One movie that made you miserable: Waitress. It made me happy to begin with, but then the character of the husband was in it more and more and was just so disgusting and then she didn't even hook up with Nathan Fillion at the end! Pneh.

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see: Saw. James Wan just gives me the heebies! I've never seen Death Sentence either, despite the enticement of Garrett Hedlund!

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with: Indiana Jones.

13. The last movie you saw: In the theater, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; on DVD, The Orphanage. (Verdicts were: worth it; not.)

14. The next movie you hope to see: I really want to see Pineapple Express but I don't know if that's going to happen. And they moved Harry Potter back to next summer, so I dunno. Whatever catches my fancy and I have money to pay for a ticket at the same time. On DVD, we just rented Amazing Grace which I'm hoping to watch soon.

Yatta!

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:19:21 GMT

Oh man! Just got our power back and, damn, are we grateful for it! I swear, a couple of hours in Florida in August without air con and, when it finally switches on again, you feel as good as the caveman who invented the wheel must have done! XD

Everything's pretty stable right now, high winds obviously, and lots and lots of rain, but my sister got half a day today and the library's closed tomorrow! Hey, I'd suffer through a tropical storm for a long weekend, too! ;-P

Wheee!

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:53:18 GMT

Your result for The Best Thing About You Test...

Passion

Hot! Passion is your greatest virtue

Passion is an intense emotion that compels feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for anything, and that often requires action. Get that? Requires action. It's very likely you submit to your deepest needs and live life with a flair few others achieve, but many envy. All 7 virtues are a part of you, but your passion runs deepest.

Passionate types: artists, writers, composers, athletes, and heroine addicts.

Your raw relative scores follow. 0% is low, and 100% is perfect, nearly impossible. Note that I pitted the virtues against each other, so in some way these are relative scores. It's impossible to score high on all of them, and a low score on one is just relatively low compared to the other virtues.

YOUR VIRTUES

50% Compassion

44% Intelligence

25% Humility

33% Honesty

38% Discipline

0% Courage

75% Passion

Take The Best Thing About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Okay, I wanna know why I don't get a list of famous passionate people, just suggested occupations! Maybe they thought it'd look bad if it was, like, Van Gogh, Hemingway, Marquis de Sade, Jenna Jameson... XP

Latest storm info

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:00:32 GMT

Here comes Tropical Storm Fay!

Info and warnings on the storm's path etc.

And, for reference, just where the heck Gainesville is on a map of Florida.

So, good news, bad news, we're not sure yet. Keep in mind, the projected path has changed about five times over the past two days. So, we'll see.

Meme-y type stuff

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:48:58 GMT

Liked this so much the first time, I thought I'd resurrect it since we're resurrecting old memes. And, also, because only, like, half of my answers ended up having anything to do with what my personal canon evolved into. But I got Kincaid out of it the last time:

The minor character meme: Give me one or more of my characters and one minor character in their lives (i.e. their mother, their father, their first crush, their crazy neighbor lady, etc. etc.), and I'll tell you 5 facts AND who I'd use as a PB for said minor character.

Laila's Grandmother, Hansigne
PB: Dame Judi Dench

-Defied her own son the King's wishes and visited the surface world every Sunday to listen to the religious services given in the palace chapel by the sea. Being a natural singer, she especially enjoyed the hymns.

-She and the Sea Hag were parthenogenic sisters, both being different aspects of the other. To wit: The Sea Hag was darkness, a destroyer, wild and untamed youth; grandmother was a mother, a nurturer, light, age and wisdom.

-She was far, far older than anyone gave her credit for, living far past a merfolk's expected 300 year life span, a sort of primeval aquatic force equal to the Daughters of the Air, who granted her granddaughter an immortal soul after 300 years of good deeds in their care.

-She killed her sister the Sea Witch, who had become a vessel for the Darkness. Her sadness was such that she swam to the surface, sang the saddest song she knew and willed herself to die, to fade from the world.

-She was granted an immortal soul of her own and was in another life the fisherman's widow who would take the orphan Laila in as a child in the Mortal World. Naturally, neither recognized the other save for those oddly vivid dreams they shared; Hasigne denied hers while Laila embraced her own.

Much's First Love, Narhari
PB: Sendhil Ramamurthy

-Claimed to be a displaced prince from Arabia; he did not speak of his family. The truth of the matter was that he was a fugitive, Hasan Ali-son of Scheherezade's tale Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad himself, who had lost his wife and three sons, as well as his palace, in a vicious battle against blood-eyed soldiers.

-Met up with Robin and his men purely by accident while traveling; he surrendered to Robin what little wealth he still possessed without need for harassment or question. They shared a lavish camp for two weeks.

-Knew Much was a girl at first sight. He understood the reason for her charade because women of his country did not possess the same rights as men. He pledged not to give her away.

-He hid his courtship of Much from Robin, partly out of respect for the man and partly out of fear that he'd break his nose if he'd told him he'd already taken her to his bed.

-Parted from much without the promise to find her again, knowing that their paths lead them in differing directions.

Krissy's Patron Goddess, Artemis
PB: Alexa Davalos

-Though Cressida worked as an attendant in a Temple dedicated to Apollo, she kept a personal shrine to his twin sister, Artemis, in her private space. The goddess took a liking to her because of this.

-Prevented Cressida's rape at the hands of Agamemnon, whom she was already cross with and whom she had punished harshly, in order to preserve the virtue of the girl.

Agnes's Elder Daughter, Agathe
PB: Martine McClutcheon

-Hasn't spoken to either her mother or Eleanor since the wedding at Cendrillon, partly out of guilt for treating Elle the way she did, partly out of spite for how quickly her mother turned to thinking Eleanor was her favorite.

-Was blinded in what came to be known as the 'angry dove incident' at the wedding but, when she came to This Side, underwent surgery, more for cosmetic reasons than practical though it turned out to be both, that left her only partially sightless.

-Never dreamed of marrying a prince herself, but finding someone who loved her for who she was. Both her mother and her sister were hard on her because of her weight and she tended to take out her insecurities on poor Elle.

-Roomed with her sister, Antoinette, for some time but got too fed up with her negative attitude and tendency to dwell on the past.

-Is now a model for a Big and Beautiful clothing line in NYC and wrote a best selling self-help novel 'I Eat To Make You love Me.'

Troy's Old Flame, Allura
PB: Fairuza Balk

-Fled to Ev, where she met Troilus, after a few years of trying to make it as a dancer in Central City in the O.Z. Her time there included a lot of sleazy gigs that she'd rather not speak of.

-She dreamed of dancing with The Mystic Man's show, but was disillusioned by her first meeting with the legendary figure, finding him to be nearly incoherent from vapor consumption.

-She was 13 years older than Troy when they met, the seductive older woman. But what he really appreciated about her was her honesty and her practicality.

-Had Troilus's name tattooed in an extremely inappropriate place on a whim and never got it removed, not just because it would hurt like hell, but because of the affection she still holds for him.

-Didn't keep with the fishing trade long after Troilus left. She returned to the O.Z. and fought with the resistance against the tyrant Azkadellia. She remains cautiously optimistic about the new administration.

Jane's Teacher, The Village Midwife
PB: Maggie Smith

-Despite seeming rather prim, she is uncommonly fond of fart humor for a woman her age.

-Never told anyone her true name; she just showed up in the village one day and began conducting her business. All sorts of sinister theories were cooked up by the residents of the small town, but Jane had always known, deep down inside, that the woman had been a fairy godmother who had chosen to retire, for whatever reason.

-Was ancient of age when she arrived in the village, another source of gossip, and is still alive.

-When Jane told her of Aurora's Christening, the Midwife got a strange look in her eye and advised her student to show up "fashionably late." Later, Jane found that the axle on one of her carriage wheels had been shattered, delaying her arrival. She always wondered about that.

-The blessings she performed on the babies she birthed were not necessarily magical though they did leave a tiny, crescent moon-shaped birthmark on the forehead.

Erik's Late Wife, Adelina
PB: Freema Agyeman

-She was considered "exotic" by most for her dusky skin and loved Erik all the more for taking it as just another part of her beauty instead of making a fuss over it.

-Felt a terrible guilt until the end of her life at never correcting her husband about his misconception that she'd saved his life. She enjoyed it being told as a story and the notoriety it brought her as someone who did good deeds.

-At first, vehemently avoided the task of tending to the wounded Erik, fearing her attraction to him and what it would mean to her taking her vows. He wore her down with his charm and persistence. When he left, she cried for weeks, believing she'd never see him again.

-Far from being jealous, she considered the redheaded stranger as a little sister, angering when some would treat the wan girl like a trick-performing pet. She knew what it was like to be treated differently and somehow lesser because of appearance or deformity, and therefor became the girl's greatest advocate.

-Watched in wonder from what would have been the nursery as the merfolk fled the darkness, a mass migration; she thought it a moving and beautiful sight, and neither she nor Erik could have guessed at the detestation and ruination that they were running from.

Skye's
PB:

Persephone's Best Friend, Iris
PB: Amber Benson

Answers from the last time are: here and here.

Because this meme is made of win!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:59:54 GMT

1. NO repetitions.
2. Pick any celebrity or fictional character for each response. (Fractured Realms chars, natch!)
3. Tag 3 people to do the same. Do whatever you want!

1. The guy you'd take to meet your parents.

Yancy, definitely. Maybe I'm thinking specifically of my parents, who would have gotten a huge kick outta him, but it's the sense of humor and the good looks and the smile. Yeah, he'd win 'em over!

2. The one woman you would do.

Tempest, 'cause she'd get wild on my ass!

3. The guy you would have sex with in your parents' bed.

Will, 'cause he's kind of clean cut and that'd make it even dirtier! XD

4. The one woman you would take to the mall.

Marian. She seems like she'd be fun to shop with, plus it seems like fun to be the one to introduce her to malls on This Side!

5. Your female BFF.

Krissy, because she's just a little wild, loyal and funny.

6. Your male BFF.

Mark! I love his sense of humor and he's cute!

7. Your gay BFF.

Um, yup, I'm gonna have to go with Laila on this one, too, though she does swing both ways and really does seem more like she'd be a fag hag--I stick to that!

8. The guy who'd take you to the prom.

Stephen! He seems like he'd be fun, plus all the other girls'd be envious, heheh!

9. Your big brother.

Ambrose. I dunno, it just seems like he'd be really protective and caring in that brotherly way!

10. The guy you'd marry.

You know it's Rodney, especially 'cause I know what a great lay he is! And he's so devoted and sensitive but still all MA-AN!

11. The two guys you'd have a threesome with.

Okay, this is scary: Barnabus and Hades! OMG, imagine them both competing for alpha male status?!

12. The woman and guy you would have a threesome with.

Lily and Robin, OMG! Er, not sure how that'd work out because I think Robin'd just be like, "Chicks making out. Awesome!" XD

13. The guy you'd go clubbing with.

Fletch!

14. The guy you'd have hot angry sex with.

Thomas! I'm sorry, he's just so hot and I'd love to get him all hot and bothered, just to see how nasty he can get!

15. The girl/guy you'd call after a break-up.

Jack <3

16. The guy you'd have sex with when no one was around.

Like, last ditch? Probably Diallo, just because he'd be such hard work!

17. The guy you'd have sex with while cheating on your husband/boyfriend.

Troy!

18. The guy you'd tell all your secrets to.

Schuttmann!

19. The person you would commit a murder with.

Um, I guess by default, Sam because, like, that's what he does! XD

20. The boy you'd go to the gym with.

White, maybe, because he'd make me look motivated and like I knew what I was doing! XD

21. Your shoulder to cry on.

Eleanor. You know she'd be really sympathetic and always have a pint of ice cream just waiting for such an occasion!

22. The guy you'd ask to beat up your cheating boyfriend/husband.

Oh, Little John, definitely!

23. The guy you'd always come back to.

Damn, already said Schuttmann and Rodney. Well, I'll say them again because, yeah, they're solid, maybe a little damaged but good guys!

24. The guy you'd die for.

Okay, maybe cheating a little but Kincaid, rest his soul!

25. The guy who'd get you pregnant.

Again, repeat but there are kinda too few guys for this! Hades, and yeah, it'd be by accident! XD

Total randomness

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:31:57 GMT

Bold those that apply.

Appearance:
- I am 5'4 or shorter.
- I think I'm ugly.
- I have many scars.
- I tan easily.
- I wish my hair was a different colour.
- I have friends who have never seen my natural hair colour.
- I have a tattoo.
- I am self-conscious about my appearance.
- I have/I've had braces.
- I wear glasses.
- I'd get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free, scar-free.
- I've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger.
- I have had more than 2 piercings.
- I have had piercings in places besides my ears.
- I have freckles.

Family/Home Life:
- I've sworn at my parents.
- I've run away from home.
- I've been kicked out of the house.
- My biological parents are together. (Well, they were when they passed on; now they're together on our bookshelf...)
- I have a sibling less than one year old.
- I want to have kids someday.
- I have children.
- I've lost a child.

Embarrassment:
- I've slipped out a "LOL" in a spoken conversation.
- Disney movies still make me cry.
- I've snorted while laughing.
- I've laughed so hard I've cried.
- I've glued my hand to something.
- I've laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose.
- I've had my trousers rip in public.
- I've had stitches.
- I've broken a bone.
- I've had my tonsils removed.
- I've sat in a doctor's office with a friend.
- I've had my wisdom teeth removed.
- I've had serious surgery.
- I've had chicken pox.

Traveling:
- I've driven over 200 miles in one day.
- I've been on a plane.
- I've been to North America.
- I've been to Niagara Falls.
- I've been to Japan.
- I've been to Europe.
- I've been to Africa.

Experiences:
- I've been lost in my city.
- I've seen a shooting star.
- I've wished on a shooting star.
- I've seen a meteor shower.
- I've gone out in public in my pyjamas.
- I've pushed all the buttons in a lift.
- I've been to a casino.
- I've been skydiving.
- I've gone skinny dipping.
- I've played spin the bottle.
- I've crashed a car.
- I've been skiing.
- I've been in a play.
- I've met someone in person from the Internet.
- I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.
- I've seen the Northern Lights.
- I've sat on a roof top at night.
- I've played chicken.
- I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- I've eaten sushi.
- I've been snowboarding.

Relationships:
- I'm single.
- I'm in a relationship.
- I'm available.
- I'm engaged.
- I'm married.
- I've gone on a blind date.
- I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.
- I have a fear of abandonment.
- I've been divorced.
- I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
- I've told someone I loved them when I didn't.
- I've told someone I didn't love them when I did.
- I've kept something from a past relationship.

Sexuality:
- I've had a crush on someone of the same gender.
- I've kissed a member of the same gender.
- I've had sex with someone of the opposite gender.
- I've had sex with someone of the same gender.
- I've had sex with more than one person at the same time.
- I am a cuddler.
- I've been kissed in the rain.
- I've had sex outdoors.
- I've hugged a stranger.
- I have kissed a stranger.
- I have had sex with a stranger.

Honesty/Crime:
- I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't.
- I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.
- I have lied to my parents about where I am.
- I am keeping a secret from the world.
- I've cheated while playing a game.
- I've cheated on a test.
- I've driven through a red light.
- I've been suspended from school.
- I've witnessed a crime.
- I've been in a fist fight.
- I've been arrested.
- I've shoplifted.

Drugs/Alcohol:
- I've consumed alcohol.
- I smoke cigarettes.
- I smoke pot.
- I regularly drink.
- I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them.
- I take cough medication when I'm not sick.
- I've done hard drugs.
- I've been addicted to an illegal substance.
- I can't swallow pills.
- I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem.

Mental health:
- I have been diagnosed with depression.
- I shut others out when I'm depressed.
- I take anti-depressants.
- I have an eating disorder.
- I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it.
- I've hurt myself on purpose.
- I'm addicted to self harm.
- I've woken up crying.

Death:
- I'm afraid of dying.
- I hate funerals.
- I've seen someone dying.
- I have attempted suicide.
- Someone close to me has attempted suicide.
- Someone close to me has committed suicide.

Random:
- I can sing well.
- I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
- I open up to others too easily.
- I watch the news.
- I don't kill bugs.
- I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for sake of being able to rhyme.
- I fucking swear regularly.
- I sing in the shower.
- I am a morning person.
- I paid for my mobile phone ring tone.
- I'm a snob about grammar.
- I am a sports fanatic.
- I play with my hair.
- I have/had "x"s in my screen name.
- I love being neat.
- I love Spam.
- I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day.
- I bake well.
- My favourite colour is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue.
- I don't know how to shoot a gun.
- I am in love with love.
- I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
- I laugh at my own jokes.
- I eat fast food weekly.
- I believe in ghosts.
- I am online 24/7, even as an away message.
- I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room. (Eeeeeeee!)
- I am really ticklish.
- I love white chocolate.
- I bite my nails.
- I play video games.
- I'm good at remembering faces.
- I'm good at remembering names.
- I'm good at remembering dates.
- I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
- My answers are totally honest.

Jade--

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:40:29 GMT

No need to answer this, just thought that I wanted Laila to keep her word about trying to find out about Bella; didn't warrant its own post, especially since Robin basically knows about Jack and Bella from Thora, so it seemed kind of right to pop it in there! :-)

Harry Potter meme time!

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:48:31 GMT

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test...

Mrs. Lupin

Your perfect HP man is Remus Lupin.

You like a nice, kind guy with a bit of a fierce streak and you don't mind if he comes damaged. Sure, he may take some convincing since his self-esteem's so low, but once you win him over, you know he's yours for life. Unless of course he has an attack of "I'm not good enough" and runs away, but luckily he's also good at making friends who will push him back into line if necessary.

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

Awesome. And I actually wasn't angling for that answer either! Quelle surprise!

Some FR stuff

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:19:18 GMT

Tweaked Skye Jackson's profile just a bit; I made her a bit of a bare-knuckle street boxer just because I thought she ought to be more than just mouth and because I was listening to Simon & Garfunkel's The Boxer last night and it reminded me of her.

Also, Jade and Muse, do you wanna do Jack contacting Thora and Pup via mirror to let them know he's alright? Or d'you just want to skip it like he has or not do it at all? I am at your mercy, kind gentlewomen :-)

w00t!

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:15:25 GMT

Yay, my sister's book has customer reviews over on Amazon.com: T4 by Ann LeZotte! It is, apparently, a "pithy, piercing book!"

It is 1939. Paula Becker, thirteen years old and deaf, lives with her family in a rural German town. As rumors swirl of disabled children quietly disappearing, a priest comes to her family's door with an offer to shield Paula from an uncertain fate. When the sanctuary he offers is fleeting, Paula needs to call upon all her strength to stay one step ahead of the Nazis.

My favorite quote from a review:

Ms. LeZotte manages to meld history's big picture and Paula's little story into one narrative, the greatest challenge for historical fiction. History is nearer after one reads this book, through the eyes of one young woman. The straight, strong voice of the Deaf rings through these pages, and the spirit of all persecuted people burns here, flare-bright.

FAIL

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:55:09 GMT

Ugh, I feel like I've been up for, like, forty-eight hours straight even though I did actually grab a couple hours of sleep this morning, sometime between 7 and 10; it's all kind of nebulous, yes, I'm that tired :-P Sleep tonight would be nice, especially if I'm going to be any good for anything tomorrow, oy!

And now, a meme, brought to you by, well, you 'cause I got it from nearly everyone on my flist, heh!

One True Pairing Ship:
Canon Ship:
"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship:
"You are one sick bastard" Ship:
"I dabble a little" Ship:
"It's like a car crash" Ship:
"Tickles my fancy but not sold just yet" Ship:
"Makes no canon sense but why the Hell not" Ship:
"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" Ship:
"When all is said and done" Ship:

Ugh

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:29:59 GMT

I woke up with the unpleasant surprise today that I'm sick. Bleh. i thought my sore throat yesterday was just because I hadn't slept, but I see now it's persisting, so I know I have many tags to respond to (many very delicious tags, meheheheh!) and will do it soon but it's lying down and resting for me today, like I did yesterday, and hoping that it passes quickly.

Huggles to all!

Ohhhh, Jade--

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:11:29 GMT

Just how dirty are you willing to go with Rodney and Anika in the nightclubbing post, because, I'll tell ya, my brain is going to very, very naughty places with the two of them, hee!

Restful day

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:59:16 GMT

After the weird start to the week I had, with the downswing and then upswing and then evening out, it was really pleasant to just have a rest today; it was nice and rainy and me and the bro put on a couple of horror movies. Thankfully, Netflix was obliging and two arrived in my mailbox. I'd wanted to grab Day of the Dead for a while and it was Jade's recommendation that finally spurred me to move it up on my queue. Some good B-movie stuff; I liked the weird way the zombies moved, especially the ceiling action. It was more like Resident Evil that the Resident Evil movies were! Plus, I have a huge girl-crush on Mena Suvari.

The second movie was, hmmm, not so hot. How you could go wrong with a cast like Joe Anderson, Jena Malone and Jonathan Tucker (my Will PB, mmmmmmm, ass shots and all, though I felt cheated that his dressing scene was shot from the hip up when I had to see the chick from The Covenant's tits)? Oh, I know the answer to this: make the movie really, really boring, and the characters shallow enough that you don't care who dies. Actually the Maya work so hard to keep the "infection" or growth or what have you so contained, you're rooting for all of them to die because you know they all have it and if one escapes, they're endangering everyone. This doesn't occur to them, as shallow as they are. But am I sorry I watched it? Did I mention Jonathan Tucker ass? Hell no!

Third movie I got from Netflix was Eastern Promises, which I'm saving to watch with my sister and which I've already watched myself. Don't think my brother would like it, though he's surprised me with some of the other Oscar winners this past year--he really liked No Country for Old Men. He prefers the lighter fair, though, and the subtle artistic nuances of cinema are kinda lost on him.

Relaxing day all around :-D

That Pesky Mental Elf

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:48:23 GMT

So, yeah, it doesn't happen a whole hell of a lot but as many of you may have noticed I'm a bit on the manic side today, which is the result of being sluggish and depressed yesterday after taking a sleeping pill. I think I'd rather not sleep because today I'm just running through everything at a million miles a second and then having panic attacks about it afterwards! Yes, I'm pretty crazed--productive, but crazed. Things should be--hopefully!--back to normal--for me!--by tomorrow but when I start getting hyper and worrying about everything, it's time to go have a lie down, as my sister always tells me! Maybe even if I nap, I'll sleep it off. So, really, no cause for concern, just kind of an apology if I seem a bit well, manic and strange today :-P

ETA: So, strange seemed like the wrong word to use, because then you might start thinking, like, serial killer strange, and that's not it at all! Different's wrong, too, because I'm me, I'm just like gregarious me. Okay, I'll stop now. XP

FRHS co-writting effort: Bella and Jack

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:19:31 GMT

Who: Bella and Jack, with some Anika
Where: Starts at the Orska house
When: After this and this
What: Jack takes Bella for a ride.

The Orskas lived in a small, barely two-storey house at the far end of a dirt road; the second floor seemed more like a loft to the two girls who shared it, its sloping ceiling and windows on level with the bare wood floor revealing that it was probably ever only meant to be an attic. Their beds were barely more than mattresses set atop a bare frame and any furniture taller than shin-high would usually run into complications near the walls, where the roof ran especially low. Each girl had decorated their own space to suit their personalities, which meant that Anika's was generally busy and colorful while Bella's was much more reserved in ornamentation. Their closets were bare bars with crates beneath them to store the folded stuff.

Anika was sitting cross legged on top a cushion in front of the computer that sat in the corner; neutral territory, the girls called it. Bella lay on the rug near the window, flat on her stomach, her chin resting on her folded hands as she looked out into the night. 'How was the party?' their mama had asked at supper and Anika had given her such a sly smile as she'd replied, 'Nothing special,' that Bella had wanted to reach across the table and smack her. She still didn't know who had pushed her into that closet with Jack but if it had been Anika, she was sure that the girl was at least somewhat nettled that it had turned out in Bella's favor after all.

Or had it? She still felt confused whenever she thought of it, of him. He'd been mistaken. He'd been thinking of some other Bella. He'd just been horny, like every teenage boy, and she happened to be right there. Everything crossed her mind, save for the obvious: He really liked her.

Anika started to guffaw over in her corner, holding her stomach when it became a deep belly laugh. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed, wiping the tears from her eyes and struggling for breath even as the laughter started up again with a vengeance. "I just-I just--" She was gulping past the howls that burst from her throat. "--Googled Jack Finch! Have you ever--" Again, she was unable to speak for some time and Bella was beginning to get annoyed, that her sister would do such a thing to begin with and that she was incapable of controlling herself even for a moment to share whatever it was she found. "He writes!" And with that she rolled off of the cushion and held her stomach as she cackled.

"You're demented," Bella scoffed, pushing herself up with the heels of her palms and shuffling over to where the computer was. "And a pain in the ass! So what, 'he writes?' A lot of people write!" She gazed at the screen and shrugged; she'd seen all sorts of fanfiction before and that's all this seemed to be as well, the links to each chapter number and rated.

"Click on one of the ones that says 'R!'" Anika urged, managing to reduce her roaring to a steady snicker. Shooting her twin a only-because-I-feel-like-it sort of look, she did so with a sniff. As she read through the page, her skin became paler than either she or Anika thought was possible. "He writes smut!" Anika was off again, slapping the side of her thigh like that was the great punchline to the whole thing.

"You had no right looking this up!" blustered Bella, the heat in her cheeks rising in embarrassment and, well, something else. "That's-that's his stuff and you were only reading it to make fun of him! Just leave him alone!" She picked up a pillow off of her bed and threw it at her sister forcefully. "You're always doing this, you're always trying to ruin everything!" Oh, she wanted to wipe that smug grin off of Anika's face. "Can't you ever just leave well enough alone?!"

"But don't you want to see the one about the girl with the pale blonde hair...?" Anika teased.

"No!" Bella shouted, flopping down onto her bed and burying her face in the pillow.

"Is something wrong up there?" Mama's voice called up the narrow, steep flight of steps.

"Nothing," the replied in unison, a well practiced response for when they were fighting. They waited until they'd heard her footsteps carry her away, back towards the TV which she would inevitably fall asleep in front of later in the evening and then resumed their bickering.

"You're such a bitch!" Bella accused. "So help me, I will tell Mom if you don't drop this."

"Tell her what?" Anika snorted. "That your new boyfriend writes porn about you? That he dreams of--" She levered herself back onto the cushion and began to read from the page Bella had clicked on. "--'brushing his hand gently against the soft, considerable swell of her naked breast, her smooth, marble-like skin...' Hey, didn't he grope you in the closet?"

Bella clucked her tongue in annoyance, "You're making it up now! You'll go too far one of these days, Annie!" she admonished harshly, her cheeks now the color of freshly blooming roses. Her expression softened to one of pleading. "Just...stop." She turned her back to her sister, facing the wall as she curled up on her bedspread, biting back a smile.

Tiger Lily analyzed

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:21:49 GMT

A really interesting article on BlueCornComics.com about Peter Pan and the way the Indians are portrayed can be found here. It has some good links at the bottom of it as well. I love that site, I used it a lot writing my Ghost Rider fic, Season of the Witch; it has some fantastic stuff about modern American Indian culture, language etc. And I was delighted to find this. I may disagree with some of it (it's all well and fine academically to say that the Indians are superfluous to the story but as a kid, my imagination was so rooted in everything about Neverland including and maybe specifically the Indian tribe) but it makes an interesting read nonetheless.

FRHS Ficlet

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:35:18 GMT

Title: Seven Minutes in Heaven
Rating: Pretty much an R
Summary: Bella participates in that most frightening and sinister ritual of teenage parties, Seven Minutes in Heaven
Note: This story of Muse's spurred this on, don't ask me why. Bella was just crying out for a snuggle with Jack. I sincerely hope I did him justice!
Disclaimer: I did not build the Fractured Realms playground, nor the FRHS extension, I just happily play in it. Bella's mine, Jack's Muse's--and I sincerely hope she doesn't mind me molesting him for the time being--and Eve's Kiwi's.

Bella had a minute to consider the situation she found herself in. Well, seven, technically speaking. The dark closet held the strangely sweet scent of mothballs, plastic and old cardboard, and the only light was seeping from the considerable gap at the bottom of the door; it illuminated the denim-clad legs of her companion, evanescing the further up his body it reached until his face was nothing more than a shadowed silhouette. Each second dragged by in awkward silence.

Jack Finch wanted to be there just about as much as she did. She knew this from the protest he had raised when Ambrose Pierce--Bella thought it had been him, at least--has ambushed him and pulled him into the circle that had formed around the empty glass bottle balanced rather unsteadily on the smooth surface of a coffee table. She could remember it all with a vague sense of hazy recollection, how she’d heard her best friend Eve say something to the effect of, “C’mon, just leave her alone,” and how she’d instinctively known it had been about her a moment before she’d felt the hand on her arm, dragging her unwilling legs backwards towards the group.

She knew this because people were always saying stuff like that when she was around; never to her, mind you, just near her. “She’s just minding her own business,” or, “She’s only quiet, that’s all.”

Bella honestly didn’t even know what she was doing at the party in the first place; Mama had said it was both of them or neither, and Anika knew what a pushover her twin could be with enough pleading and pouting. As if she didn’t stand out enough as it was, she was overdressed as usual, wearing an full-length dress where most sported low-risers and belly or baby doll shirts.

She was the studious chemistry bore, one of Ms. LeFaye’s favorites though nowhere near as venomously outgoing as Clarissa, and it was only her overwhelmingly shy nature that kept her from being the subject of constant bullying. Everyone seemed to like her, she was nice enough though some mistook her diffidence for misplaced conceit and others were just plain mean; but for the most part no one really knew or noticed her except when commenting on her kindness or generosity, and even still, she was forgotten just as soon. Even the mentally disturbed girl Laila, had gained some measure of fame through the swim team, but Bella just faded into the background.

She shuffled her feet, the snickering on the other side of the door oddly muffled inside the small room. Even though she was fairly certain that the darkness cloaked her completely, she looked everywhere but straight into Jack’s face. She considered everything she knew about him. He was handsome, she knew that about him. Very handsome. Like massively so. Or she thought so; she didn’t put much faith in her own opinions. He was polite when addressed but never really engaged in conversation unless drawn into it by someone else. Or so it seemed to her. He owned a bike. That was really hot. There were some wild stories about Jack going around and gossips talked about his family as much as they did her own. His parents weren’t around, like her father.

Surely it must have been seven minutes by now!

She couldn’t recall ever hearing him speak five words together so it surprised her when he broke the silence. “So, you go with Stephen Westwood?”

She flinched, startled at first by the sound and then by the question. She took a step back, her back delving into the soft wall of coats behind her. The pleasant ingenuousness in his voice told her that he either hadn’t heard the nasty rumors going around or he didn’t care. “For a little while,” she replied, her voice so small she was sure he hadn’t heard and so she cleared her throat and repeated in only a slightly louder tone, “For a little while.”

“Oh.” That was it, all he said, for a short time. And then, “Is something wrong?”

She managed a wide but shaky grin. “Nervous,” she admitted, chuckling at herself. “It’s the first time anybody’s, you know, made me do something like this. I never...I mean, I don’t go to a lot of parties.”

“Oh.” Great, she had to get stuck in the dark with the world’s most inscrutable man. She might have preferred he had laughed at her outright. “So, you’ve never been kissed?”

He had made it sound like a guess but she thought it must have been terrible obvious. She giggled uneasily. “Erm, no, actually, now that you bring it up, I haven’t. I know this is just a joke and all, so, you know, don’t feel obligated or anything.” She winced. Stupid! Why on earth would he feel obligated?

Hadn't it been seven minutes yet?!

“I don’t,” he answered with simple honesty. She thought she could see his shoulders heave in a shrug. “Well, we could break out one of the board games stacked behind me,” he teased lightly. “I think I spotted some good ones back there before they shut the light off.”

She shook her head, chuckling. “I hate those things,” she scoffed. “My sister’s really, really competitive which makes them not so fun. There was a dolly dream house somewhere up here--” She raised her hand to gesture vaguely at the shelf above her head and felt it connect with something, started a chain of events she could hear but not see which resulted in something that felt very like a basketball landing straight on her head. "Fucking hell!" she exclaimed, realizing what she'd just said and clapping both her hands over her mouth.

"Are you alright?" She heard him move closer, felt his touch on the crown of her head. "You're probably gonna have some bump on your head," he told her. They both began to laugh, low, restrained but genuine; it felt good, like releasing tension.

“Bella.” Jack’s voice was clear, serious. How did he know her name? Had she mentioned it? Had someone else before putting them in this hell? “Would you mind it? If I was the first one to kiss you, I mean.”

Her throat went suddenly dry and she found it impossible to answer in any sort of dignified fashion; she attempted to lick her lips but found her tongue was equally dry. She realized how close he was to her now. His knuckles brushed her cheek, sweeping the soft, pale fall of hair from her shoulder as he took the back of her neck in his palm, shuffling nearer to her, running his fingers through her long hair.

“What if I do it wrong?” she said breathlessly as she felt his face near hers. She couldn’t believe she’d said it aloud, her very worst fear. She could make out his features now, but he wasn’t smiling derisively or making fun. His brow was furrowed in perfect seriousness, his profound eyes impenetrably soft.

“If it’s right,” he murmured, “you’ll know.” His lips brushed hers and she didn’t dare move at first. His hand cupped her jaw as he focused upon her bottom lip, drawing it between his own with gentle suction. She felt the slight, suggestive nibble of his teeth and nearly gasped; she parted her lips for him finally, the tip of his tongue probing, exploring.

His hands somehow found their way to her waist, clutching her firmly and drawing her against him possessively as, with her encouragement, the press of his mouth became more insistent. But above all she was surprised at the tenderness of it, his caress; her body was responding in ways she hadn’t been expecting, surging against him. She thought she felt the sweep of his touch against her throbbing breast as her arms twined about his neck and the tip puckered, tightening in the most enjoyable way, tingling.

She was aware, if only dimly, of what happened to boys when they were aroused and so the press against the lower part of her belly didn’t alarm or scandalize her, she was just amazed that it seemed to be happening to him now, with her. His breath scorched her skin as he moved his lips to the place just below her jaw where her pulse was thundering, the rasp of his tongue against her skin making her shiver. His mouth found hers once more, immersing his tongue between her lips.

Suddenly and jarringly, the light was blaring, flooding what had become the inviting and seductive darkness, the voices loud and boisterous as she was seized and drawn away from Jack by a group of excitedly chattering girls; Eve put her arms around Bella's neck. "Oh, I told them to leave you alone," the girl fretted, worrying her bottom lip, "and then they wouldn't let me open the door once they'd closed it! Are you alright?"

She nodded dumbly, disoriented, in a complete muddle as she tried to make sense of all of the new stimuli that was being overwhelming her brain. She looked around for Jack, but he’d disappeared.

She was amazed at how the seven minutes had gone by far too quickly.

AHHHHHHH

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:52:07 GMT

Giant spider attack, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It was finally defeated by the sole of my brother's boot (his flip-flops were far too flimsy to crush this mega monster) and now the worrying about how it got into the house. I'll probably have a nightmare about Aragog like I did the last time I saw a big spider in the house, and that wasn't nearly as humongous as this one!

Just so ya know...

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:59:51 GMT

I saved all the notifs of replies to comments and posts I received last night, so if you're missing anything you wrote in response to me, let me know and I can forward it to youse!

ETA: CRAP! I seem to have mysteriously lost Peter's reply to Lily! @#&*^%$! I know it was there yesterday...Sorry, Kaz :-(

I'd Start A Revolution (If I could get up in the morning)

Wheee!

Pee-yew with a capital, well, P and U

Sexy Name Generator

Eh, what the heck?!

My answers to the movie meme

Yatta!

Wheee!

Passion

Latest storm info

Meme-y type stuff

Because this meme is made of win!

Total randomness

Jade--

Harry Potter meme time!

Mrs. Lupin

Some FR stuff

w00t!

*FAIL*

Ugh

Ohhhh, Jade--

Restful day

That Pesky Mental Elf

FRHS co-writting effort: Bella and Jack

Tiger Lily analyzed

FRHS Ficlet

AHHHHHHH

Just so ya know...

FAIL