featherxquill

Look at this fucking cat. Seriously, look at him. Do you think it's possible that any other animal, anywhere, could be this comfortable? I don't.

( Obscenely comfortable cat )


In other news, both my hoggywartyxmas and yuletide fics are complete! The latter has been submitted but is still having the final touches put on it with the help of my beta. I am so pleased that we can now edit after submission, omg ILU AO3.


In other, other news, have a rec. I've seen this recc'd all over the shop, and rightly so, but if you've yet to take a look at it, go and do so now:

Right nor Wrong by Anon | Severus/Minerva with Filch POV | Adult | In Greek mythology, Argus the guardian of Io is sometimes said to have a hundred eyes. In the wizarding world, Argus the caretaker of Hogwarts has only two eyes, but he sees a great deal all the same.

This story is fabulous. The author's Filch voice is amazing, and he's been fleshed out into a funny, insightful, still-snarky and multi-layered character. The other characters in the story are painted beautifully through Argus' eyes - the author captures Snape's unattractiveness but also his powerful magnetism, as well as Minerva's intelligence, humanity and temper. Umbridge is also wonderfully rendered, and this story features one of the best cat names in the history of ever :D. Highly recommended.

No meme today. It's late and the question requires more thought than I have right now.

But, curiosity. I mentioned a few days ago when talking about favourite pairings that mostly my early fics make me cringe a little bit now, because I was seventeen/eighteen when I wrote them and I know that my writing style and understanding of characters have matured and improved since then. This is a trend I have noticed for some time now. I mean, I have been writing since I can remember, but I wrote more than one novel length story when I was in high school (before I discovered fanfiction, thankfully, because I have no doubt I would have written horrible Mary Sues and posted them on ff.net if I had known about it back then), and by the time I was seventeen/eighteen, they made me cringe. Now, I look back, and it's the fic I wrote then that causes that reaction. To some extent, I feel that way about some of the later ones in a sort of creeping way - if I go back and look at them, some stories that I reread last year and still thought were good, I might see more flaws in the next, and so on. It tends to follow a general pattern of the older they are, the more likely I am to hate them a little bit on reread. It's getting less - I mean, I am less inclined to think GAH THIS IS TERRIBLE and more 'this part is badly written, this character is OOC, if I wrote this again now I would change x' with old fic, say, than with the godawful novel-length detective fiction I wrote in high school, but it's still present.

Obviously, all writers are evolving and changing and (hopefully!) improving with each new thing they write, but I'm curious... is this an age thing? I know quite a few of my flisties are a tiny bit older than me, and I have wondered before whether there is a point at which maturity... plateaus, I suppose, to a degree where you can look at something you wrote a number of years ago and not think it is dreadfully immature writing? I mean, obviously we're always going to see the flaws in our own work, but is there a point at which it becomes less OMG HATE KILL IT WITH FIRE and more accepting?

Just to make it clear, this is really really not me wanting everyone to tell me how awesome I am and have been forever, or anything. I put effort into my writing and my stories and I know that yes, I have written things people enjoy and I have written things I am quite proud of, even some time on. But there are also things that I go back and look at and hate with the firey passion of a thousand burning suns, and I am really curious as to whether writers generally have that experience whatever their age, or if it... mellows, I guess.

(For the record, I don't generally take down my stories just because I dislike them/am embarrassed by them. For one, it's a little bit of 'if I started, where would I stop?' thing, because if you start removing things you don't like a lot, and then things you don't like a little bit, forever, what ends up being left? For another, I don't know which stories there are out there that people might still really like that I am less impressed with, and I know how much I hate it when I try to read something I have loved and it has been deleted by its author (I still sometimes get reviews on Menage-a-Trios on SH, and 'favourite story' adds for 'Thankyou' on ff.net, so I guess there is still an audience somewhere). I also kind of like the journey, you know? This is me, and yes, I have written fic that was a bit crap, but I'd rather leave myself visibly whole, warts and all, rather than removing anything and everything that might make me look bad. That said, I did remove one story from ff.net because I couldn't stand the sight of it, and didn't do much to save any of the contents of my geocities websites. I think every author is within their right to take something down, especially if they have written something in the past that they now find problematic on grounds of genderfail, racefail, somethingelsefail, or just because they want to. I just personally choose not to, as a general rule).

_

On a completely different note, minervas_eule posted a video earlier today in which Dumbledore's 'dirty secret' was that he hates his beard, and now I would like to give away a large, floppy eared plot bunny to any good home that might like it: Dumbledore didn't die, you see, he just faked his own death, and then he shaved, and now no one recognises him! Perhaps Snape was in cahoots, and he isn't dead either, and they went of somewhere to be Snapledore-y forever (hey, a pairing I forgot to mention kind of loving!). And maybe Dumbles donated his beard hair to Voldemort, because of his 'dirty secret', and everyone lived happily ever after!

-

Wow, that got longer than probably the meme answer would have been, and now I have to be up in six hours, yet again. Goodnight!

So, some time ago now, I had a poll because I couldn't possibly form an opinion on who was the best actress out of these four and wanted to see what my flist thought. The last time, the answer was a resounding shout in favour of one of them, but I'm curious as to whether my flist demographic, or their opinion, has changed.

So:

[Poll #1559923]


And then I had an even more amusing idea, inspired by chickfight. Picking four kickass characters played by these women, I wonder who would win. I was going to put them all together, but I decided to split it into two polls, one for the ladies with magical powers and one for those without. We'll see who wins, then I'll post a winners battle later this week.

The contenders are: Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter) and Queen Mab (Merlin), and M (James Bond) and Rose (Shadowboxer).

Kickass witch vs. Faerie Queen.

[Poll #1559924]

Spymistress vs. trained assassin.

[Poll #1559925]

More information about the contenders, if you need help to make your decision: Minerva McGonagall | Queen Mab | M | Rose

Feel free to discuss and/or beat each other up in the comments. I am at work and will be easily amused.

Also, no, the answer 'they wouldn't fight, they'd shag instead' is not a valid argument unless it is demonstrated by fanfic or interprative dance.

Let the chickfight commence! *chooses non-partisan icon before posting*

You amuse me.

I recently bought a copy of the magazine 'The World of Yesterday' from December '79 on Ebay. Almost the entire issue is dedicated to pictures and information about Agnes Moorehead, which made it awesome and impossible to resist.

In the editor's letter at the beginning of the magazine, there is the following:

"Maintaining our subscription files and mailing lists was taking hours of precious time a week so we invested in a small computer to handle these chores ... As time goes on we are going to give our Apple (believe it or not that is the name of the manufacturer of our little work horse) lots more to do..."

Believe it or not!

i. I bought a car today! It is lovely and I am in love and yaye omg a car that is reliable and shiny and jesusfuck I will have to take care of this one better than I did my first car!

ii. Saw Pink in concert on Friday night. She is absolutely awesomely amazing. So, so glad I went! I thought it might be awkward with my Mum and Ken and two of their friends, but it wasn't at all. Almost an entire jug of sangria at dinner probably helped with that XD.

iii. Laptop is at the repair place again, which is ANNOYING and STUPID. Hopefully I will get it back sometime this week. For now I am stuck out in the back room the PC and IT IS COLD OUT HERE. Seriously, I have the air con on but it doesn't do a lot in this room, so am also wearing my dressing gown over my trackies and jumper, have a blanket over my knees, and am wearing fingerless hobo gloves for typing. All this is possibly overkill, but I am not too warm so I DON'T CARE.

iv. I picked up Augusta Longbottom at Bloodlines! She is fun so far, but at the moment I only have three icons because with laptop dying the day after journal was made I didn't have a chance to make screencaps and make more icons. Another reason for wanting laptop back.

v. For anyone who might be interested, miss_bowtruckle and I recently wrote a mildly incestuous (by wizarding standards), epically cross-gen thread of George/Auntie Muriel smutness. It was so much fun and turned out hotter than it had any right to be. We will be writing moar.

vi. Saw HBP opening night. LOVE. So funny, and so powerful. Severus, please killed me possibly even more on screen than it did in the books, and I seriously gasped aloud, probably because I'd been sitting there with my nails digging into my palms knowing it was coming for about half an hour. Not going to give a huge reviews since everyone and their dog is doing it, but I want to say: yay for the return of Gemma Jones as Madam Pomfrey! I hadn't known she was going to be there, and it was a pleasant surprise even if she didn't have any lines! Baby steps, I suppose. Perhaps she'll get to be awesome and pwn some DEs in the final DH battle, since Emma Thompson is not returning to hurl crystal balls at people?

vii. With all the RP madness, I never did end up updating about meeting French and Saunders, did I? It was fantastic! The show was absolutely epic, and then I waited at the stage door with my Mum (who would make the worst obsessive fan ever - she was restless after standing there for like five minutes). They emerged after maybe twenty or so? W/E, I would've waited all night, and Mum was gushing afterward, too. Got my program signed, and gave them little gift bags with chocolates - surprised smiles from people who are only expecting to be asked to GIVE MORE in the form of autographs and photos is always :D. They were really gracious about the pictures, which made me wish I had told Mum to bring the camera (I didn't want to when she suggested it). There's a grainy one of me and Jen on Mum's mobile, but it's hardly worth uploading). Doesn't matter, though. I SHALL REMEMBER how awesome and gorgeous they were :D.

viii. Does anyone else think 'Luna Lovegood' like crazy when they listen to Regina Spektor? This song on her new album makes me think it especially.

Okay, so I'll go back to finishing the real pr0ns in a moment. I just couldn't resist this.

babb_chronicles drabble contest, the fifth.

Bad!fic prompt: "Ginny,do you really want to keep swallowing my sperm?I mean I don't care.. but you could become pregnant."Sirius said.

Warning: Implied chan.

( Wow, they didn't teach you much before they threw you in Azkaban, did they? )

i. I received an email today from the fellow Rita-fan who is translating To Eart, Like Ashes into Russian (*\o/*). The translation is part of an anonymous contest of some kind, and she is on 'team Rita' (I want to be on that team, too!). Anyway, she gave me a link to a rather nifty video that's also been made for the contest.

There are subtitles in the video to make the plot clearer, but they're in Russian. Basically, the idea is that Rita finds out about Dumbledore's hidden memories and decides to write a book.



I know at least one person on my flist will enjoy the musical accompaniment, too ;).

ii. I love this article. Honestly, I don't know enough about British politics (despite taking a media class when I was there that was pretty much concerned with nothing else - it confused the hell out of me and I think I only passed it because I'm exceptionally good at bullshitting), and it doesn't effect me enough for me to really care which party JKR donated money to, but I have to say I was rather surprised to see she'd done so at all. As the article says, doing that opens her up for criticism, and I'm kind of glad. I'm sick of seeing her painted as this God-like figure that no one is allowed to challenge.

iii. On a similar note, in your face, WB. Seriously, the very idea of banning a film because its name sounds a bit like 'Harry Potter' is fucking stupid. I'm glad they lost, and I'm also glad that this lawsuit has given the film so much free publicity! If it comes out here, I'd love to see it because it sounds like a hoot.

iv.

Am having a continued Bewitched marathon. Went out the other day and bought myself four seasons worth (in edition to the fifth season box set I bought a few weekends ago). They were on sale! $15.98 each! I couldn't resist. 18 discs. I'll be watching it the rest of my life.

Anyway, something randomly amusing. Episode 53 - Maid to Order (coincidentally, the first appearance of the actress who would later play the Stephens' maid Esmerelda - as another maid, Naomi, equally as hopeless, while the Tate's have a maid called Esmerelda [/random factoid]):

Louise (on phone): Esmerelda was just called out of town because of illness in her family and tonight I'm having a formal dinner party for eight people, including that big shot new client whatshisname... that's right, H. J. Simpson.

Heeee. Just give him some donuts, he'll be happy. :P

(Coming eventually - a clip of the Best Scene Evar from Season Five, in which Maurice turns Darrin into a horse and Samantha and Endora hunt him down in France where he is entertaining his two new personal assistants and there is so much innuendo that Angie dies)

So. An update. It's been a while since I made a real one.

i. stoatshead_hill is now closed, and I finished my final thread there a few days ago. Rita and Kingsley have their complicated fading off into the sunset, and Ollivander departed on the next great adventure. Which made me cry. A lot. I'm sad we're done there, but at the same time I'm glad it happened when it did, while we all cared enough to post our characters' final on-screen moments and draw their stories to a close. It was a fun game, and I met so many amazing people playing in it, and those frienships won't fade.

ii. road_ahead is stronger than ever. The upheaval there must be like a month ago now, but it's actually been really awesome for the game as a whole. The cast is smaller now (but not too small) and it feels sort of homey and everyone-knows-everyone. I like it. There have been two giant parties this month, one which Rita really enjoyed (with her boy toy on her arm and getting looks from people and making them wonder. Being surprising is what she loves most in the world) and one which I enjoyed but she was sort of meh about. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the whole muggleborn!Ravenclaw Rita thing, but I'm enjoying her and she's an interesting challenge. I think my personal canon for her will always be as a pureblood Slytherin.

ii. Working on my hp_beholder fic, which will definitely be finished by the deadline, and hoping to finish my claim for the erotic_elves challenge as well, though I am more concerned about the exchange fic that is for someone. I really shouldn't sign up for things, but I do love the beholder assignment. On that note: has anyone on my flist been to Eastern Europe? I'd like an opinion on, er, something. Leave a comment? *hopeful smile*

iii. Still working at the supermarket and doing little else. Looking for more work. Am thinking I shall have to do work experience for free, because no one seems to want me on a degree and four years retail experience. Giving it another few weeeks before I start making enquiries. Also I have a stupid crush on someone I work with, who is very much a straight married woman and why, brain, why do you do this to me? I'll probably get over it in a few weeks like I did the crush I had on another straight married woman who works there, but god, wtf. There are plenty of hot young men working there too, and I am very appreciative of and sometimes interested in them, but I get these stupid crushes on completely unavailable women. Seriously, WHY?

( Some stories of the supermarket )

iv. I always have a bajillion things to say when I'm not updating, but then the text box comes up and I can't think of anything. I should just update whenever I think of things and not plan to do it later. But then what kind of procrastinator would I be?

v. Wicked was fabulous. I really want to see the show now, even if it is different. I've probably never mentioned to anyone here that I was seriously, seriously obsessed with the Wicked Witch of the West as a child. No, really. I wrote was was probably fanfiction about her for like an entire year. I remember my year one teacher asking me if there was anything else I'd like to write about, anything. Someone knitted me a witch with a green face. I still have her. So that story was like, just... wow, and I'm so glad I finally read it.

vi. I am now reading 'Helen Mirren - In the Frame - My Life in Words and Pictures', which is fabulous. I got it for Christmas but only picked it up properly the other day. I have so far read about her family and childhood and her younger years in the RSC and travelling across Africa and living the Boheme actress lifestyle. God, I'd love to do that - give up all my things and just go and make wonderful art in strange places. I wonder if the world she travelled in still exists at all in the way it did when she explored it. My instinct tells me it doesn't, that the 60s and 70s are gone now and it would be impossible to live the same life now, but then that could just be the stories the media tell and the brainwashing of the capitalist consumer system to make us think that we have work and earn and buy and borrow in order to live.

vii. There are weird white larvae things falling out of our kitchen air conditioning duct. I looked up hornet larvae on google, and found pictures that are disturbingly similar. We have a nest of hornets out the back and their nest is in the wall cavity behind my bedroom. Seriously, if we start getting hornets inside the house, I'm fucking moving out.

The Letter meme: Comment and I'll give you a letter; then you have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. Afterwards, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

ancientgirl gave me 'R'.

1. Rita Skeeter - bitchy, audacious, impossible. My favourite HP character and my fannish obsession.

2. Richardson, Miranda (does that count? It does if I say so, yeah?) ;) - a talented actress, a beautiful woman, eccentric and individual and blunt. Love.

3. RP - the communal writing experience. When I want to craft a scene and be in control of the situation, I write fiction. When I want to explore a character, throw her in a situation with characters written by other writers, I RP. No one who doesn't will quite understand the joy of RP. I imagine, in the 'real world', the idea of it would be enough to break most people's geek-o-meter. But I love it. So much.

4. Reading - losing myself in another world, being absorbed by letters on a page and my own imagination. It's one of the simplest pleasures out there, but also one of the best.

5. Renting movies - these days I use Quickflix, but online or off, I love browsing films and picking up random things that I'd never have thought to see at the cinema.

6. Rain - Especially storms. And especially when I don't have to go anywhere in them. I love hearing the patter against the tin roof of our carport, I love watching it fall in the pool. I love that cozy feeling of being inside when it is wet and cold outside. I love the smell of summer rain on hot concrete. I love watching lightening.

7. Ripping and uploading - I love sharing my favourite things with others who also enjoy them.

8. Rice - it's so versatile, and the best carb ever. I like it both sweet and savoury. I like that it is bland and goes well with rich sauce - and dammit, I like things on a bed of rice and not all mixed together (with the exception of risotto). I like getting the bits of plain boiled rice along with the sauce on top. Yes, there is a difference. I do not know if this makes me weird.

9. Red - one of my favourite colours. Usually in darker shades, rather than postbox.

10. Really loud music - I was trying to think of a way to get music in here, and I found it. Soft music is okay, when it's the only option. But Really Loud is the best option for almost all music, and I will turn the volume up and let it carry me away whenever I have the chance.