( Mission101 Update - Week 88 )

Mini-Nano Word Count Update:

8479 / 24000 words. 35% done!

About another 1000 words since my last story post, and the flashfic I'm working on is just kicking my ass.
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Title: Gives you Wings
Author:Vamphile
Pairing: J2
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2000 +/-
Summary really, you need one for NC-17?

A/N: This was a rewquest by and a hank you to my beta passing_through

Title: Gives You Wings
Author:Vamphile
Pairing: J2
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2000+/-
Summary Sometimes, Jensen wants Jared.

A/N: Do I have to warn you that there are hot naked guys having sex?  Do I have to tell you this is a gift to my Beta?  Um, there are, it is. Thanks to: passing_through

( Gives You Wings )

So I'm slowly recuperating from my near-death experience with the flu. I have literally lain in bed for 4 days. It hit me all at once, very fast, on Wednesday. I went from a slight cough in the morning to full-blown misery by the time I left work. Thursday was the worst of it. I really thought I was dying. I was calling on Yahweh, Allah, Zeus, etc. to just put me out of my misery. I was ready to administer my own last rites. My fever finally broke last night, and now I feel tons better. Just so you know.

I've been thinking of moving from the Northeast. I'm a Northerner through and through. I adore Massachusetts and have never pictured myself living anywhere else. I love everything about Boston - the sports teams, the rich history, the liberal politics, the incredible music scene, even the weather - but the weather don't love me. Every winter since I was a kid has been hell for me since I've always been very prone to respiratory infections. I can't remember a single year where I haven't had a combination of colds, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections, etc., aggravated by the crazy New England weather. And I'm 28, I'm too old to be putting up with this shit every year. I know that as soon as I recover from this bout with the flu, it'll be a matter of weeks before something else will invade, and my immune system isn't willing to put up much of a fight anymore.

I can't stand really hot and humid places, so the South is out, but I'm seriously thinking of somewhere out West. It'll be a few months before I can save up some money, but I really can't fathom another miserable winter. What's San Diego like this time of year?

*****
Being bed-bound, I've been watching alot of tv and Netflix stuff. I like White Collar. HELLO MATT BOMER. I believe it's in my DNA to always fall in love with beautiful homos. Eh. Obsessed with Bully Beatdown. (Jake Shields v. Mayhem Miller tonight on CBS, holla!) Oh, and watched Yossi and Jagger for the first time. I know, I know. I'm late to the party by several years. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME :(((((((

*****
What's the big deal with La Lambert's album cover? I mean, yeah, I LOL'd at his cute Rainbow Brite impression, but what. I'm pretty sure a soldier died in Iraq this week, and people are upset over some kid in makeup? World. :|

Title: Foolish Heart
Prompt: 05: The Plot Thickens (According to the prompt parameters, someone is supposed to be planning something. In this fic... kind of not. But hey, this is what the muse gave me!)
Timeframe: Episode 208
Authors Notes: Thanks to ozsaur for brainstorming. And to Steve Perry, aka The Voice of God, for the title and inspiration.
Word Count: 1380

( Foolish Heart )
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Mini-Nano Word Count:

7526 / 24000 words. 31% done!
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I'm posting from the hotel computer in Boston, so I'll be brief:

We had liftoff for the Power Point!

Yay!

The other two presentations were fab and everything fit together
beautifully!

More when I get home.

Ta,

Gael

I noticed that I had quite a lot of QAF fic related to the holiday season, which I'm defining as Halloween through New Year's Day. I decided to create a master list to link to from my fic index page. Nothing new here. :)

Title: Rainy Day Blues
Timeline: Post-513
Author's Notes: Written for the Weather/Vacation Challenge at qaf_challenges. Be sure to check out the other fics and please drop the writers a comment!
A big thank you to my wonderful beta xie_xie_xie!

( Rainy Day Blues )

This was my entry to the "Weather/Vacation" challenge at qaf_challenges . It was beta'd by testdog65 , and it's about a very, very hot post-513 day in Pittsburgh.

If pool!sex offends you, definitely don't read it. And if you like it, I'd love to hear from you! I've had a long horrible year and getting back to writing has been a wonderful feeling... knowing you're reading makes it better!

( Heat Wave, by Xie... )

No, seriously, I am not recovered enough to deal with wank. So I'm begging of you do not commit the wankage in my journal plz plz plz kthnx.

I've noticed that comments to my recent fics have been fewer than normal. I brought this up a while ago, like maybe a year ago, and some of you conspiracy theorists out there suggested there was a deep dark plot to prevent people from commenting on my fic because I post it at IJ or maybe just because of me personally. I didn't believe that then and I don't believe it now; I can't imagine more than a tiny handful of people would allow themselves to be dictated to in that way. So please, let us not to go there, and again with the plz plz plz kthnx. :)

I know sometimes I'm a pain in the ass about not wanting to get into discussions about my fic process, because it makes it harder for me to write, and I don't want it to be hard, I want it to be joyous and creative and fun. And I know some of you love the give and take with authors, and so maybe you just stopped commenting to me because of I don't do that.

Also, I know in the last year I haven't been as good about replying to comments as I used to be. I'm not just saying this because it's a convenient excuse, but because it's the truth: I didn't really let myself realize how much of my life was being eaten up by taking care of my mother after she became ill, and I just gradually cut a lot of things out of my life without really acknowledging it to myself. Good fandom etiquette was one of the first things to go, and I just couldn't put all the pieces of what was happening in my life together and so, I never quite realized that. And I'm sorry.

Also, while I know a lot of you have moved on from QAF and fandom is smaller and the show is four years in the past etc etc etc, I still have tons of people on LJ friending me every day, presumably to read my fic, since that's all I really post here. And every time I post a fic, I get at least a thousand above-baseline hits to my journal. Sometimes it's many more than that -- my series gets between 3-4000 new hits when I update it. And yet... fewer than a hundred comments.

I know there is no disclaimer that I can put on this that won't make it seem like I'm begging for comments, and I just hate authors who beg for comments. But when I started writing again after my mother died, it meant a lot to me to find that creativity was still there, and that I still wanted to do it, and it sort of makes me sad to not hear from my readers as much as I used to when I post fic.

If you don't read my fic or don't like my fic, then that's fine... but if you do read it and like it, if you're one of those thousand people who clicked over without saying anything, please know that even though I don't usually ask for comments in my author's notes, I do love getting them, and I promise not to be quite as much of a pain in the ass as I may have been before, and I will respond.

No, honestly. I swear it!

And if you're a new fan and weren't sure of "commenting ettiquette" and don't generally comment on fics you like, whether mine or anyone else's, whether in QAF fandom or any other, please know that most authors love comments, even if it's just a fast "Really liked this, thanks!" The pay scale for writing fan fic is very low... most fic writers get paid in love. It's always good to give them some. :)

Love,

Xie

My bird photography career is still in full swing. I'm posting these photos because I think they are funny representations of these birds' personalities. Don't feel obliged to comment! I just wanted to share a giggle this morning.


"Say what?"


"Hmpff!"

Here is what you can eat when you have mono, and therefore tonsils the size of testicles:

-Nothing.

Well, correction. Not nothing. I can't eat anything hard, crunchy, crispy or pointy. Do you know how many of my favourite foods are pointy?? A lot!

If you think I've been talking about TV a lot lately, it's because watching television is pretty much all you can do when you're too sick to get out of bed. I want more than anything to go out with my friends and get drunk and shop! OH GOD I MISS SHOPPING. I haven't been to Sephora in three weeks. Three weeks you guys. THREE WEEKS.

I miss having a life.

( Goddamn you Grey's Anatomy! Goddamn you to hell. WHO'S WITH ME? )

OMG LOOK! You can buy a cute stuffed MONO MICROBE LJSDFKLJSDF!!

I am working on the next couple of chapters of "Directions," and I was wondering if some lovely British fangirl could tell me -- is there a typical time that a university would be closed for the Christmas season? Or would it vary from school to school?

Thanks so much!

Title: Unexpected Consequences
Prompt: 06: Pulling a Fontana.
Authors Notes: There is NO doubt that Tom Fontana created a truly groundbreaking show in Oz. There is also no doubt that he was sometimes smokin' the old crackpipe. He gave us a pill that miraculously aged those who took it (and de-aged them when that arc was done.) He gave us Chinese refugees housed in a federal prison. He gave us an ending for Chris that most certainly DID NOT HAPPEN. This challenge was about writing the most ridiculously crack-y plot you can think of. So. Here it is.
* Dedicated to ozsaur, who really needs to start writing about hellpuppies.
* Have I mentioned that it's CRACK?
Word Count: 1555

( Unexpected Consequences )
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6146 / 24000 words. 26% done!
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Title: Inevitable
Prompt: 04: Want Ads
Timeframe: Post Season Six
Word Count: 1107

( Inevitable )
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Mini-Nano Word Count:

4591 / 24000 words. 19% done!
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I'm going to watch V tonight since I was out last night. I don't want spoilers, but did anyone love it? Hate it? Were ambivalent about it?

I'm also definitely adding White Collar and Sons of Anarchy to my to-watch list.

( Mad Men )

Also, I had no idea Elisabeth Moss is a lifelong Scientologist. The whole Paul Haggis thing was so interesting. I mean, duh, Scientology is not pro-gay (just pro-closet), but the "disconnection" part was something I'm sure TPTB wish hadn't been mentioned in that letter.

The other day, a young woman on the corner tried to give me a brochure. I asked what it was, and she vaguely said, "Information." Because of where I was (Yonge and Bloor -- two blocks from Toronto headquarters), I figured it was Scientology, so I took it and sure enough, it was. That interaction, and the fact that she wouldn't just tell me what she was peddling when I asked, basically sums up that bullshit "church" for me. Free personality tests! No obligation! Uh huh. I took one look, shoved it back at her and said no fucking thank you. Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

*

Saw Where the Wild Things Are yesterday and quite enjoyed it. Max Records is a dead ringer for Ellen Page. Not just his looks, but the way he talks. Someone needs to cast him as her younger brother immediately.

Also saw Paranormal Activity on the weekend. I had fun, but it wasn't as OMG SCARY!!! as I was expecting. There were some creepy moments for sure, and it was well done (especially for 11k!), but I wasn't terrified or anything.

I kept thinking they needed to call the Winchesters. That and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND GO SOMEWHERE PUBLIC. I mean, honestly. It may not have helped, but it couldn't have hurt!

So, in the past three days I...

Handed back 60 essays.

Finished my Disney article and sent it to my editor. With the
bibliography. I think I can live without watching "The Lion
King" or listening to "Hakuna Matata" for at least another
10 years.

Learned how to do Power Point -- yeah, enough -- to make
a slide show.

Put together my presentation on QAF fandom.

Nursed (am still nursing) a sick cat. Just what I need for
extra stress.

Listened to my mother bitch about my sister. Then call me
again to bitch some more. Repeat at regular intervals.

Ran around the computer cluster, trying to get my students
to focus on their research projects amd not read their
e-mail instead.

Freaked out when the "Check Engine" light on the Toyota
went on while I was driving. Car did not explore. Calmed
down.

Baked a devil's food cake for Dave's birthday.

Wrapped presents (see above item).

Listened to the dipshit upstairs fall over furniture (or
something like that) at 3:00 a.m.

Tried to pack for Boston conference. Gave up. Will try again
tomorrow.

And so it goes...