ishie: where free time goes to die

yay yuletide

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:05:00 GMT

Please to ignore all the whining I've been doing because Yuletide has actually been a lot of fun. Finished my two assigned fics, have been lucky enough to beta five really fabulous fics so far, and have a list of things to do as treats as soon as I'm done with my swapfic. (Now if only I could snag one of these pinch hits...)

If anyone's interested in doing a treat for me (WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE), my Yuletide letter is here. This year with the archive moving to AO3, treat-writing is open to everyone even if you didn't sign up for Yuletide. All you need is an AO3 account (which you can request here)!

How much longer til Madness starts? *twitches*

2009 fic round-up

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:15:18 GMT

Stolen from dashakay!

The year's not quite over yet but now's as good a time as any to do an annual fic round-up. First one ever, I think?

All of the fic written this year is under the year: 2009 tag at ishieland, or you can find it organized by fandom here in this journal.

I need to come up with a better way to index all that stuff. Maybe I should make the leap to AO3?

By the numbers:
Am still rushing to get one more exchange fic and two WIPs finished this year, plus the Yuletide reveals on NYD, but I'm already past the annual goal I set of 200k words. That works out to (according to my tracking spreadsheet) 92 completed drabbles/ficlets/fics, although looking at my list I'm not sure all of them were posted. Of course, it's all thanks to Big Bang Theory, with 22 completed stories just in that fandom alone, and the still-unfinished Mercenary ficlets for joss100, only 18 of which I managed this year.

And a little Q&A about my writing this year:

My favorite story this year (of my own):
Oh geez, this is tough. I think I have to go with two: Warm Gulf Wind, because it was an experiment in capturing the tone of the song and fitting it to a future version of Penny that tracked with what we know of her now that (I think) worked out quite nicely, and What Makes a King, because NEVILLE and MADE OF AWESOME and 7TH YEAR HOGWARTS FIC. I feel like the other kids got such short shrift in fandom, and I was really happy with how my version of Neville turned out.

Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Since I am so rubbish at narrowing things down, going with two again: Kaleidoscope, which was my first BSG fic (and it shows!) but I really liked how Sharon came out in that. Still not sure that it translated all that well from my head to the page though. The other is Rise of the Zombees. Man, I cannot even tell you how much I enjoyed writing that, and I'm inexplicably proud of the ending.

Most fun story:
Kafka, Schmafka, hands down. This is so cheesy, but I really do write for the sheer joy of doing it and that story was, like, a thousand times lolzier than anything else I've done.

Sexiest story:
Eek. Um. Wow, tough question. My brief and pitiful forays into smut generally don't turn out as sexy as I'd like them to, but Stay Classy, San Diego actually went to the NC-17 place it was supposed to. IDK, though, that's probably the porniest story but I think I Lost Two Cities or The Wind's Like a Whetted Knife are probably sexier.

Hardest story to write:
I'm just going to say Yuletide and leave it at that.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Oh dear sweet baby Jesus did I write way more than I thought possible. My goal for the year was 200k and I never thought I'd hit it. My stories keep getting longer, too, with actual plot development, so that's nice.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Tried writing more actiony, plotty stuff as oppposed to the usual character study fics. I think my plotting's improving, although I definitely need to work on tightening up the rising action (uh, for example see Two Planets, in which nothing much happens at all until the final 1/3). I also tried writing more overtly sexual stories, and found that holy shit that's hard work.

One thing I'd like to work on for next year is experimenting with a less sensual style, if that makes sense? I think I err on the side of too much detail, and would like to try for a more spare, stripped-down voice.

Do you have any goals for the New Year?
Wordcount goal for 2010 = 250k. Would like to do another few casefiles in various fandoms, finish the lingering WIPs, get Mercenary done finally, and try to break away from the BBT stranglehold, lol. Am really going to push to get the Crossover of Massive Fail out. I'd also like to get involved in more challenges - having that deadline- and/or recipient-pressure helps a lot.

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:53:26 GMT

I'M DONE WITH MY YULETIDE ASSIGNMENTS THANK THE FUCKING LORD.

I tell you what, I did not expect it to be this harrowing. I mean, harrowing, yes. But this harrowing? WHAT ON EARTH WAS I THINKING. Don't get me wrong, both of my fandoms and prompts were seriously fun to play with. It's just the whole OMG PRESSURE aspect.

...man I srsly want to see what someone wrote for me right now. :D :D :D

drive-by post as i enter day two of yuletide freakout

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:53:59 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY cptnsubtext!!

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:55:03 GMT

The Great Vacation Chore-Avoidance/TOS Marathon continues.

Am now watching The Enemy Within. For some reason I never noticed until just now that ~conveniently enough~ Captain Kirk has a pot of concealer in his quarters that is an exact match for his skin tone, thereby enabling the omega!Kirk to disguise his scratches. I REPEAT: CAPTAIN KIRK KEEPS HIS TINTED CLEARASIL IN CLEAR SIGHT. Oh show ♥.

ALSO WTAF. Why didn't they just send shuttles down for poor frozen Sulu et al?

I am loving Spock's hand-wringing, though. And omega!Kirk's eyeliner makes his eyes look very pretty. :D

that's my new favorite camel

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:23:17 GMT

Is there a fandom for The Brothers Bloom? Because THERE SO NEEDS TO BE A FANDOM FOR THE BROTHERS BLOOM. Ugh, Adrien Brody, why do I love you so much? Why do I love you even more in three-piece suits and hats?

The whole movie felt like I was watching a Beatles song even though there were apparently no Beatles songs or references in the thing. So there's that. (Though there's obviously the whole Ulysses/Odyssey thing what with all the Stephen/Bloom/Penelope/Daedelus/Cyclops connections but idk why that would make me think, "Hey. Beatles.")

What else... Oh, I have an AO3 account now. At some point I assume I'll be uploading things there? It will probably be just another archive I won't update. They have apparently given me invites, though, if anyone wants one. (It seems to be incredibly slow right now though so idk how useful it's going to be.)

La la la one remaining Yuletide fic and I am pulling out my hair over it. Why does my brain insist on adding a thousand words to random BBT crackfic when it should be focused on, you know, the thing that's due in four days? LFAJDKFJKLA;F;KAJD;KJ

Tomorrow I will finally get caught up on my freaking inbox, I swear. Being on vacation takes up a lot of time!

eta
OH ALSO: handful of new Penny/Sheldon fic posted thanks to the BBT kinkmeme. The rest of the requested ficlets (I didn't forget you guys, I swear!) will be up tomorrow!

Stay Classy, San Diego; NC17; prompt: Sheldon ingests Viagra

Put Your Weariness to Rest; PG13; prompt: Apocafic, Penny acts on long-suppressed urge

This Great Shout in the Camp; R; prompt: Sex pollen

The Wind's Like a Whetted Knife; R; prompt: Penny and Sheldon are enlisted officers in Starfleet

i am an officer!

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:38:07 GMT

I may or may not be watching The Naked Time.

As a corollary, I may or may not have just said, "Oh no, Spocky, no! Keep it together!"

This may or many not bode ill for being off on vacation for the next three weeks.

(Also can I just point out how insufferably hot Nimoy is in his black t-shirt near the beginning of the ep? UNF UNF SPOCKY YES.)

this icon has nothing to do with anything, rly

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:39:41 GMT

things left to write by due dates

by 20th: paradox_drabble thing

by 21st: yuletide edits

by 23rd: swapfic edits

by 31st: apocabigbang draft

asap: kinkmeme 1, 2; DRABBLE PROMPTS FROM FLISTERS

2010: star trek thing; sga thing; halloween s/p thing; time travel s/p thing; crossover of doom; covalent bond; mercenary back 50

omfg i rly hope that's everything

The good news is that thanks to Yuletide and the kink meme, I'm going to end the year over my wordcount goal.

\o/

Also tomorrow is my birthday and I am going to celebrate with a cheesesteak for lunch. YAIS.

sea wolf - you're a wolf: somehow the greatest artist/title i've seen in years

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:36:59 GMT

danceinacircle thank you for the v-gift! That is srsly the most adorable Cthulu I've ever seen. ♥

Okay, I know that not many people actually read this eljay anymore because a) boring, b) spammy, and c) apparently my brain now belongs to Big Bang Theory.

But!

I am really panicky about my second Yuletide fic and need to step away from it (and BBT, let's be honest here) for a while. So if you see this, would you be so kind as to drop me a prompt/fandom/character/pairing?

Anything's fine - in fact if it's a fandom I don't know, it might be a nice challenge to try writing it based solely on hive-vagina/osmotic knowledge? IDEK WTF I'M SAYING OR DOING OH GOD YULETIDE PRESSURE DDDDDD:

Um, but right now I have to take out the trash. So. Yeah. HALP.

what's that coming over the hill?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:29:13 GMT

Ah, yes, a nice relaxing evening at home with some delicious (and terrible for me) junk food and a good movie:

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT. A GOOD* MOVIE.

ETA
BECAUSE I NEVER MET A MEME I COULD RESIST
NICKED FROM princessofg

If I had a warning label, what would it say?

*AND BY GOOD I MEAN "STARRING THE ~HANDSOME AND TALENTED~ JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN"

FYI
This movie also features Ajay Naidu (♥), Sarita Choudhury (♥♥) and JDM in a sherwani. Y HALO THAR BEST TERRIBLE MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN.

AND NOW COLIN FIRTH IS IN A DELIGHTFULLY TIGHT PAIR OF JEANS. OH MOVIE. ♥

omfg someone please stop me before I start drawing hearts all over his big stupid face.

and then i made this icon; i call it mwa ha

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:38:19 GMT

Thank you so much to icalynn, misscam, wandersfound, fujiidom and htbthomas for the snowflakes! ♥
And a hearty Y HALO THAR to the new folks from the sheldon_penny friending meme! Round about these parts is a whole lot of nothing lately, but be warned that the flailing, the crazy, and the incoherent capslock of rage sometimes gets a little spammy. :D? :D?
WORKING FOR A LIVING >:(
OH ALSO HERE HAVE SOME SNIPPETS FROM STORIES THAT ARE GOING NOWHERE, TO MY VERY GREAT DISMAY:
BBT LESLIE MFING WINKLE thing:
For years afterward, her then-assistant Trevor would swear on his mother's grave that when Dr. Winkle laughed, the sun had actually spun in the sky.
SGA Teyla AU prequel thing for In the Hollow Tree:
In the year between leaving school and discovering the work that would become her true path, Teyla often felt as if she were living in a waking dream.
SGA NASA space race AU thing:
"Hey! I've got plenty of romance in my soul." Sheppard smirked. "Whose idea was it to take those pretty little nurses out for an educational evening of stargazing and astronaut physiology?"

Lorne and Ford traded a look and chimed, "Zelenka."

"Damn. Should have known he wouldn't keep his mouth shut." He downed the rest of his bottle while his co-pilot and navigator guffawed.
BBT Penny gen/character study thing:
She lays on her back on her couch, one leg propped over the other, knee bent. The radio is tuned to something bright and bouncy, lyrics popping over the tap-tap-tap of water on her balcony and she swings one foot in the air. The air is turning chilly as the rain washes away the mugginess of the day. Her air conditioner finally stops whining as it catches its breath, only a trickle of a breeze wafting through the apartment to stipple her skin with gooseflesh.
XF/SPN/BtVS/??/?? Crossover of Massive Fail thing:
The car leapt forward under her hands, peeling out of the lot with a plume of melted-rubber smoke and enough force to plaster Dean against the seatback. The truck and the house they'd used the night before were a tiny speck in the sideview mirror within minutes and Dean pulled the box of cassettes out from under the passenger seat.

"Bon Jovi or Black Sabbath?" he asked, holding the tapes toward her like a peace offering.

"It's an Ozzy kind of a day, don't you think?" she said, flashing a grin that balled up his throat and made it hard to breathe.

Dean jammed the tape in the dashboard and fumbled with the buttons. Sam crawled forward between the seats and slapped his hands away.

"No Iron Man," he whined when Scully put her hand on his shoulder and hauled him back. "I'm so sick of that song."

"You know the rule, Sam," Scully said in the brief pause before Geezer Butler's bass came thundering out of the speakers.

She didn't have the greatest voice in the world but her small white hands kept perfect time, tapping on the steering wheel as they flew south toward Sioux Falls.

Uh, and none of those are even part of the half-dozen WIPs I'm currently working on. D: D: D:
OMG damalur THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR THE REC AT HET_RECCERS ♥

and i'm not even drunk

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:40:23 GMT

This makes me feel like such a bad child of the 80s but I really don't care for Prince.

I mean, he's a killer guitarist and a madly talented musician hobviously but ... meh.

(Totally using this icon because I feel like Gus( & Shawn) would be shaming me right now. Uh, if they were real. And they'd probably be singing When Doves Cry to do it.)

in which i am powerless against feedback memes

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:05:28 GMT

THE FANFICTION LOVE MEME

Also! I am going to do holiday cards tomorrow during the day so I can pretend it's a good reason to not work. Want one?

Now is the time when I ~~dance~~ boot up the Write or Die. \o/ ~~SOMEONE DISTRACT ME WITH SHINY THINGS PLZ~~

ELIZABETH I AM BEING A TOTAL CREEPER ON YOUR LAST.FM RADIO AGAIN *_*

ORITE ALSO WORLD AIDS DAY. I donated at amfAR because they are basically the only AIDS charity I know of that doesn't have bizarre publicly-stated goals or potentially weird spending habits. Like, I appreciate that (RED) is all about awareness but sometimes I don't get how things like turning Twitter red for a day is really going to do all that much.

And I wanted to donate in honor of a local doctor who specializes in HIV/AIDS treatment and also in transgender patient care, but amfAR wouldn't let me do it without putting in an email address so they could tell him about it, and I don't have his email address. So, DR BARRY MCCORKLE, YOU ARE AN AWESOME AND WONDERFUL MAN AND I WISH YOU MANY MANY YEARS OF PROVIDING QUALITY AND COMPASSIONATE CARE.

december what

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:44:42 GMT

Right, okay, here's the deal. Every year I say I'm going to send out holiday cards, and every year I fail miserably at it. (This also goes for gifts I say I'm about to mail but which are probably all still sitting in my house. Oy.)

But guess what?

:D :D :D

Comments are screened and I've got my writin' hand all ready to go. I SWEAR TO G.O.B., THIS YEAR IS THE YEAR!

EDITED TO ADD
If you have one of these posts, let me know where to go!

sometimes you just feel like loling at a mullet

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:10:24 GMT

La la la typical Monday work bullshit.

Is it too early to be staring off into space and daydreaming about all my lovely vacation time that starts in 11 work days?

Hmm. It's probably also too early to try to figure out how much of a tax refund I might get.

Dammit.

Has anyone read any good fic lately? I've just gone on a re-read of some of annakovsky's older stuff, and some Spock/Uhura to boot. Ooh speaking of, would kill for some TOS!Spock/Uhura or !Spock/Chapel. Shit I'll take anything Chapel related.

consolation for the old wound now forgotten

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:11:26 GMT

I think Eric Clapton might be the homeliest rock star ever. Seriously. I'm looking at these old pictures from the Cream era and he looks like his face is melting under his giant sunglasses.

Wait, sorry, I forgot about KISS and David Bowie's original teeth. Never mind!

This fascinating entry brought to you by waiting for my lunch to finish warming up.

at night on those banks i lie awake

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:43:54 GMT

I love all ridiculously self-indulgent navel-gazing song intros by Bruce "Bossinheimer Jones" Springsteen, especially when he talks about what dicks he and his father were when he was a kid.

That is all.

Oh except that this last.fm multi-artist radio station for Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson & George Harrison is my favorite thing of the week. Well, that and all the other multi-artist stations I've had on recently (&Patti; + Neko + Elvis Perkins *_______*)

Okay now that is all.

holy shit

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:39:07 GMT

I just saw a blurry picture of thenewno2 on that last.fm radio slideshow thingy and I swear to God I thought Dhani was George for a full thirty seconds.

just cut it out of me!

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:57:11 GMT

I'm trying to get caught up on HIMYM and, did this show always have a laugh track? I feel like it didn't. Which is pretty weird because I'm sure they didn't just randomly add one in season 5.

Mind. Blown.

Also that's probably a good sign that it's not as good this year, yes? :(

I wonder why I don't have an icon for this show.

these aren't the droids you're looking for

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:54:03 GMT

You know what's really fun? Being in charge of the turkey-making when you normally do everything in your power to never touch raw meat. Thank god for the existence of paper towels and this thing.

Don't mind me, just making a post with my recipes so I don't have to hunt when the next holiday rolls around.

18 lb, Honeysuckle, frozen

remove turkey from fridge 1 hr prior to cook time to settle to room temp
melt 4 Tbsp butter, add to squeeze bottle with 1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig thyme, 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tsp seasoned salt
wash turkey, remove giblets & neck, remove popper
stuff with parsley, 1.5 apples cored and quartered, 2 celery stalks chopped, several sprigs each rosemary and thyme
fill bottom of big roast pan with 2-3 large white potato chopped, 2 white onion chopped, 1.5 apples cored and quartered, several sprigs each rosemary and thyme
close up neck and tie wings, if needed
place in roast pan breast-side down
coat with butter mix, save unused in bottle portion for rolls
uncovered in oven on 400° for one hour
reduce to 325° for ~four hours - cover wings/back with foil if browning too much after 60 min - turkey is done when meat=175?, or juices run clear from cut in breast/thigh
** BASTE every 20-30 minutes
** if drippings start to overwhelm pan capacity siphon off for soup
let set up for 15-20 min after removing from oven before carving; use roast potatoes/onions/apples for soup or serve with dinner

alt: stuff with halved fresh cranberries and oranges? if can find injector, orange juice?

2 winter squash (butternut!), 4 apples (jonah gold? fuji?), bag of dried cranberries (pref. not sweetened), 2 tsp cinnamon (+other spices?), 1 c brown sugar
Peel and de-seed squash, core apples, chop all. Roast with butter, cinnamon, sugar at 425° 30 min covered, 15 min uncovered. Toast package of sliced or slivered almonds, toss with dish. Serve HOT.

from recipe on King Arthur Flour
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons soft butter
2/3 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup lukewarm soymilk

Mix for rough dough, knead ~7 min (4 on slowish in kitchenaid w bread hook), rise to double ~60-90 min. Separate in 2, then 8 each. Roll into balls, arrange in 8in pie pan, cover. Rise to crowded together in pan, bake for 22-24 min on 350. brush with butter reserved from turkey prep.

1 pkg cranberries, 1-2 med onion, 3 Tbsp horseradish, 1 c sugar, 1 container sour cream
Dump all in food processor and grind the shit out of it. Freeze overnight, thaw in morning.

for leftovers:
pot pie cups

for new years:
ham + sauerkraut, potatoes, onion

rly katherine heigl? you're picking this guy?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:50:16 GMT

One of these years I hope the lesson that I really shouldn't eat an entire plate full of stuffing will actually stick.

Picked up two new family celebrity nicknames this week. These typically come about when my dad tries to remember someone's actual name and doesn't quite manage it, but occasionally are inspired while watching some craptacular movie. (see also: Carpaccio DiCreepio, Hailey Bailey, Brimford Wimbley, Scary Oldman, &c)

Ernie DiBucco

Pudgy Muttonface,
aka Mr Muttonhands
aka Shut Up Don't Talk About My Future Husband Like That
aka I Feel Like Maybe We Shouldn't Call Him Mutton- Because It Seems Anti-Scottish
aka Or Anti-Sheep

IDEK.

And fyi The Ugly Truth is a really craptacular movie. On the plus side, it's reminded us that we need to watch Craig Ferguson's hairstylist movie again.

Can I use this icon on every post between now and Christmas? WHY YES I THINK I CAN.

om nom nom stuffing

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:00:05 GMT

I always forget how much downtime there is on Thanksgiving. Dad and Honorary Uncle are playing Wii and/or bullshitting, Sister is ill and asleep, I'm cooking the last of the side dishes and hoping the turkey (my first solo turkey!) is okay, Mom is ... I don't know what she's doing actually. I should probably check.

Hope you're all well and happy today, flist, even if you don't celebrate the Annual American Festival of Overeating.

And welcome back, Santa Bruce! :D

the power of his beard compels you (to do what exactly idek)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:50:03 GMT

I really need to get my reading lists under control. I just spent ten minutes clicking on various filters to find just one comm. The name of which I cannot remember and which I still have not found. :|

Hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and/or Thursday tomorrow (today? Y halo thar Australia & New Zealand!) and if it is Turkey Day for you that you get to eat your favorite dishes. Yay carbs!

That's dishes as in food, not dishes as in plates. Unless you're Cookie Monster, in which case you should go for it om nom nom.

~~Let's pretend that this is actually farewell for the holiday and that I won't be bored and spammy all day tomorrow. :D :D :D~~

this is my science icon apparently

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:53:18 GMT

CARL SAGAN IS MY BOYFRIEND.

That is all.

she was broad and fat and loose in the stays

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:52:42 GMT

I just want you all to know that I fired up last.fm radio just now and picked a friend-radio-stream thing at random. It was howtoswim's and the first song?

OH THE YEAR WAS 1778

♥

ETA
UGH WTF DID I DO TO MY THEME LAYER TO ERASE MY PAGE NAMES >:(