leiascully IS THE MOST AWESOME. THIS WILL TOTES BE MY DESKTOP FOREVER*.


* At least, until I change it to the OTHER awesome Gwen+Ianto BFF desktop she made me :D :D :D

I had a pretty excellent Black Friday for the most part. I had to get up at god's time to get to the Bookstore at seven even though we don't open until nine, but, OH MAN. Apparently taking medicine really does make you feel better! I felt great today. I wasn't lethargic and exhausted like I've been for the past month or so. I spent most of the day on my feet running around, but it was a cheerful kind of running. Everyone said I seemed like an entirely new person.

Black Friday isn't a big day at The Bookstore. I'd say we weren't much busier than a regular Saturday. We don't have any major sales or anything like that, so mostly it was parents looking for something to do with their kids (as they do every time there's a day off from school) and people passing through on their way home from the big sales across the street. Everyone was super polite and cheerful and grateful, which surprised me, but it definitely helped my good mood.

THEN I CAME HOME AND FOUND OUT inocciduous CAN'T COME TO FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!


DESPAIR, INTERNET! DESPAIR!


(Dude, I totes know it's not your fault, Jen, so don't feel bad!)


It is a testament to how much I adore Jen and how much I was looking forward to seeing her that this has totally bummed me out :( :( :(


(Not that I don't love the rest of you who are coming, it was just... Jen! Who I don't get to see that often! And who is so much fun and in the same Fannish Place with me! :( :( :( )

So, yeah. I'm kind of moping a little bit now. I mean, I'm sure it will still be awesome, but it will be less awesome then it could have been because... Jen!

***

Um, anyway. Yesterday was Thanksgiving? Happy belated Thanksgiving, American internet! We went to my Aunt Beth's house and ate way too much food. There were placemats at each place and crayons on the table and I totes did an awesome coloring job! I saw the babies (who are really not babies at all anymore) for the first time in forever and talked to my older cousins about college. One of them is interested in purchase, so we're probably going to drive up one weekend so I can show her around.

Then we came home and I was so filled with turkey and happiness and Thanksgiving cheer that I wrote epic Gwen+Ianto hurt/comfort.

Um, yeah, I don't know what's wrong with my brain.

It was totally NOT the Gwen+Ianto hurt/comfort that I should have been writing, but I'm moderately happy with it. Ianto treads dangerously close to too emotional at one point, but given the situation, I can see it happening. I also realized that every time I have Ianto and Jack on the phone with each other, Jack breaks out the endearments, which I'm sure drives Ianto mad, but he secretly kind of likes. I can't tell if it's because Jack feels like he can be more demonstrative over the saftey of the phone line or because he hasn't seen Ianto and needs to pour out as much flirtatiousness into their brief discussions as possible or just because I have a weird phone/domestic kink. Either way, it totes keeps happening every time they're on the phone together. I imagine Gwen gets little hearts for eyes on the few occasions that she hears.

I think I am going to tackle the hilariously epic fake making out scene next, even though I should be working on reel_torchwood. I'm just in the mood for Gwen and Ianto's antics. A mood that no one else on the internet is ever in*.


* Okay, so some people are, but not nearly often enough for my liking!

***

So, I missed meme last night, what with trying to go to bed early and being in a full-of-turkey-and-also-writing-BFF-h/c daze. So! Two memes for the price of one!

( Day 11 = A photo of you taken recently )

Day 12 = Whatever tickles your fancy

That getting to know you meme!

I've seen this floating around ye olde internets and since I've got a handful of new people around, I figured I'd fill it out. Also, I am brain dead and incapable of coming up with something for "whatever tickles your fancy" without resorting to other memes. A MEME WITHIN A MEME. Or something.

( Instructions, meme, stuff about me, et cetera )

Remember when my LJ subjects used to be interesting?

Yeah, me either.

***

Let's start with a rec, shall we?

The Places I Stopped on the Way to Salvation by elliejane

PG13 - ~8500 words - Jack-centric and Jack/Ianto - SPOILERS FOR COE - (tiny bit of an SGA crossover, but you don't need to be familiar with SGA to read it, it just adds another bit of dimension)

Okay, most of this is going to have to go under a cut, but let me say this: I've mostly avoided reading CoE-related fic because I still feel vaguely gutted by the whole thing, but this is absolutely the best one I've read so far. Despite the subject matter, at the end I felt... rather joyous.

( cut for CoE + fic spoilers )

***

So, today I went to the doctor's office. It was a new doctor and he was pretty cool. And, you know, slightly distressed that I've been coughing for six weeks. I am now on an antibiotic, a steroid, an inhaler, and two different cough suppressants. It's a wonderful combination of sinus infection, post-nasal drip, upper respiratory shit, and something he described as "tightness" in the right lung that convinced him he needed a chest x-ray.

Still, I have a million drugs now, so maybe I will stop coughing before I die.

Other than that, I napped and read. I meant to write, but I got distracted by, you know, books and fic. I also squeed about Gwen+Ianto with queenriley, because I am well and truly obsessed. I always manage to find the neglected corner of fandom, don't I? Sigh.

***

Oh, also, the Boy Child is home.

***

Meme!

( Day 10 = A photo of you taken over ten years ago )

Today StoreManager cornered me and heavily suggested that I take a sick day tomorrow and go to the doctor.

Um, so I am.

I still feel guilty about missing work, but since he kept giving me that Disapproving Parent Look (for someone who's only been a parent for a few months, he certainly got that one down fast), I caved. My parents have been my parents for too long. Their Disapproving Parent Look doesn't work on me anymore.

***

So, that's happening. Work today was boring. Blah blah blah, no one wants to hear about The Bookstore. Now I am home and bored. I took a nap. I want to watch more Sarah Jane, but it will have to wait until my parents are done with the teevee. I should be writing, but I'm still too tired to write. Tiredness is for losers, guys.

***

I spent pretty much all of last night looking for a new desktop wallpaper. It was a fruitless search. For one thing, no one has ever in the world made a wallpaper of just Gwen and Ianto. Guys. I am beginning to think I am the only person on the planet who is this obsessed with their (possibly made-up) friendship.

For another, no one seems to to want to make wallpapers that aren't black. I like my desktop to be lighter colors. All of the wallpapers that I've found that I like are black or dark grey or something like that. Not fair!

So, my desktop will continue to be a cartoon stargate, as it has been practically since I got this computer. Oh well. Maybe I'll change it to Christmas Dalek on Friday.

***

( Day 09 = A photo you took )

Nothing happened today, so there is only meme. SORRY. I AM BORING.

My head hurts :\


***

( Day 08 = a photo that makes you angry/sad )

***

WELL THAT WAS FUN. I think I'm going to go watch more SJA now. IT IS MY HAPPY PLACE.

Oh man, internet, today I saw saidlian_nataly! I haven't seen her in an AGE and it was awesome! We talked and had cupcakes and went to Target and Michael's and Panera! We complained about SGU and teevee and the USPS! We tried on hats and bought playing cards and cookie tins! We looked at Christmas decorations! It was awesome!

The second most hilarious part of the day was when a girl named Kaitlyn took our dinner order at Panera. Because, you know, my name is Kaitlyn. And Caitlin's name is Caitlin. So. That happened. Something else hilarious happened at Panera, but I can't remember what it was, only that we laughed embarrassingly loudly. It might have to do with our Boat Party.

Anyway. Then she went home. And I stayed here and looked for a new wallpaper on Teh Internets and couldn't find one I liked. Then I looked at watches on eBay and jewelery on Etsy, disregarding the fact that I cannot afford watches on eBay or jewelery on Etsy.

***

SO IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. I thought I could hold off making this post until after Thanksgiving, but every year the LJ holiday season creeps up further and further, much like the retail holiday season. Next year I will start putting up the Christmas stuff at The Bookstore in September, I swear.

Anyway.

Guys. It's not that I don't want to participate in your holiday memes. It's not that I don't want your cards or drabbles or presents or whatever. It's not that I don't like you. It's that I absolutely do not trust myself to reciprocate. I'm really, really bad at mailing things. I don't know why. It's some sort of mental block. I have always been this way. So I make it a point not to put my name on anyone's holiday lists.

If you really, really want to send me something and don't have my address, feel free to ask. Whatever makes you happy. But I'm not trying to snub you by not asking for a card/drabble/whatever, I'm just... you know, feeling guilty.


So. That's that. I will probably have to make this post at least one more time before ~*Holiday time*~.

***

Okay, back on track with Meme.

( Day 06 = Whatever tickles your fancy = Fic That I Am Working On Meme )



( Day 07 = A photo that makes you happy )

So! I have been too busy to meme for the past couple of days! Sorry! My mother acquired some cough medicine with codeine which has been allowing me to sleep at night, if nothing else. I think the coughing is getting better, too.

Last night, I kidnapped neurotictealeaf and dragged her along to see Katy at BAM Cafe. priscellie was there with her friends to celebrate her birthday and quatredeathlady and her friend Nick met us there.

It was a wonderful show with wonderful company. The space was beautiful--I've seen a handful of shows at BAM and been to Rose Cinema a few times and never realized there was this gorgeous live music venue on top of it all. The drinks were a little overpriced, but the food was actually reasonable. Or, well, the french fries were, at least. $6 for a truly obscene amount of french fries. Oh man, guys. (Not that the four of us didn't demolish them.)

It was nice to see Nick again--he's hilarious and very fun to be around. Wonderful, as always, to see Rachael, too. I wish that school didn't eat her life so often, because she is one of those people that I geekily want to spend time with constantly. Priscilla showed us the print version of her awesome map for the Codex Alera series.

And, you know, I guess Nicole doesn't suck.

Anyway! Katy was wonderful. She played songs from the new album and a couple of "new"songs. (I say "new," because the problem with going to every gig ever is that I've heard like... every song the first time it's played. So when she says, "Here's a new song!" I get all excited and then, you know, it's not actually new to me XD) One of the songs WAS new, though, and she wrote it in a dream and it is AWESOME and I'm so jealous that she can write songs in her sleep.

It's weird, though. Katy's changing her stage name from "Katy Pfaffl" (also her real name) to "Mighty Kate." And... I mean, it totes makes sense, seeing as how I have never met someone who didn't freak out a little trying to pronounce it, but I have been following Katy for something like... eight years. And change is weird! But I'm excited for the new album and the rebranding and everything else.

(And, dudes, you should all follow her on Twitter! @mightykatemusic! She's fabulous :D)

***

Watching SJA again. I just watched the entire series last week, but I just felt like watching it again. I remember telling WorkBFF in epic detail about how it was my favorite Who spin-off when I first watched S1, but when I couldn't find S2 online, I kind of forgot about it, and now that DW has broken my heart so badly (I am really hoping Moffat can piece it back together) it is my favorite Whoniverse show full stop. GUYS I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. SO MUCH!!! I JUST USED THREE EXCLAMATION POINTS, THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE IT.

Um, really, that's all I wanted to say about that. Sarah Jane fills me with love. So do Luke and Clyde and Maria and Rani.

But I can't really bash TW that much, because as epically FAIL as it so often is, I have managed to do the one thing that deals a show's fate with me--I've managed to fall incredibly hard for the characters since July. If you had told me that a year and a half ago, I never would have believed you, but... gosh. My affection for Ianto is unrivaled at the moment, and my affection for Gwen (Gwen!) is close behind it. I don't know what is wrong with my brain.

(Relatedly! I watched Rosemary's Baby in preparation for writing reel_torchwood and I now know exactly what I am doing. I just need to find time to write it.)

***

MEME! RIGHT!

I am three days behind, so I am doing two today and two tomorrow. I'm crafty like that.

( Day 04 = Your favorite book(s). )

( Day 05 = Your favorite quote. )

Ugh, internet. Wednesdays. What even?

Wednesdays are WORST because I have to stay until six instead of four and by the time I get home I'm exhausted and cranky and usually my parents are also here and being annoying. OH, INTERNET, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS TO MOVE OUT OF MY PARENTS' HOUSE D: D: D:

***

Anyway. Wednesdays are worst. I think I am going to bed.


(Yes, I know it's only quarter after eight. I'm still sick, okay, and it's making me tired.)

Oh man! But first! This is kind of embarrassing! But!

Today at work, during storytime, it occurred to me that Toot and Puddle hit my best-friends-utterly-devoted-to-each-other kink SO HARD. SO HARD, guys. That is probably the reason why I frequently cry while reading Toot and Puddle books. But, oh man, they love each other SO MUCH and it just warms my heart to a ridiculous degree. Top of the World always makes me tear up, as does I'll Be Home For Christmas and today my boss read A Present for Toot and Puddle's desolation when he couldn't find a present for Toot (and, later, his fear that Toot wouldn't like his present) just hurt my heart. I mean, I knew, logically, that it's a children's book and that OF COURSE Toot will love the present, but... oh man. I am a sucker, internet. A sucker for best friends.

***

Meme? If you insist.

( Day 03 - Your favorite teevee show )

***

Yes, I'm actually going to bed now. What is even wrong with me, internet?

I haven't watched TDS in weeks because I've been going to bed at like, nine pm (THIS SICKNESS! CURSE IT!), but my dad has it on in the other room and... oh, my husband Jon Stewart ♥ ♥ ♥

***

Hello, internet. I am still dying of consumption*. It's tragic. And ironic, considering how often my parents MOCK ME when I tell them that I am going to die of Super!TB**.

I think my store manager thinks I am dying. He was really nice to me today. I mean, he's pretty nice most of the time, but today he kept stopping me and being like, "Thank you for doing [random thing that it is totally my job to do and I do every day]! :D :D :D" Also, he stopped me twice to make sure I was alright, what with the coughing. I wasn't coughing any more today than I have been lately. Who knows?

ALSO! Oh man, I've been wandering around thinking about time travel all the time because of my weird-fantasy-time-travel-whatever novel, and Store Manager handed me an ARC today that apparently involves time travel! Perhaps he listens to me when I talk! Or perhaps children's ARCs come addressed to him with instructions to be given to me!

***

Me, on the phone: ::sarcastically:: ::but sort of legitimately:: Oh my god, no! Ianto and Gwen are totes besties! They have matching tramp stamps and everything! ...... okay, I was being facetious, but now I totally want that fic to exist.


It's true, internet! I want it more than I should probably admit. Gwen and Ianto get super drunk and go out and get matching tattoos and freak out the next day. I mean, I can see Gwen kind of being like, "Oh man, what have I done? Oh well, it's kind of funny...." While Ianto is frantically paging through the phone book for tattoo removal because, oh my god, Jack can never ever see this.

It would be AMAZING.

(True fact, internet: All I want out of Torchwood fandom is a million stories about Ianto and Gwen's bizarre and occasionally semi-awkward friendship. They are best friends FOREVER. And soooo ill-suited for each other, but inseparable all the same. It really, really, really annoys Jack.)

(Also, seriously, parts of this fandom scare me. I know every fandom has crazies, but why are we wishing ill will on Eve and her baby? You don't wish ill will on a baby, dudes. That's just uncouth.)

***

Meme time? Already? Well, if you insist, internet.

( Day 02 - Your favorite movie )

***

Ooo. Does anyone want to see The Magnetic Fields in March? It's 3/10 and 3/11 at Town Hall in NYC. $36 bucks. LET ME KNOW.

***

Okay. It's getting late. (Oh god, eight pm is LATE. What is WRONG with me?) Time for bed.



* I am probably not actually dying of consumption. it just feels like it, what with the coughing and my fondness for exaggeration.

** I AM TOTALLY ACTUALLY GOING TO DIE OF THIS, GUYS, I SWEAR. Ever since I heard about Super!TB in tenth grade bio, I've known this. Super!TB is a super-strong strain of antibiotic-resistant TB that lurks in Russian prisons, according to this video we watched in tenth grade bio. I am going to die from it because I've been on antibiotics at least twice a year since I was about five. OVER EXPOSURE, GUYS.

Well, this weekend certainly got nothing accomplished.

You'd think that three days off with NOTHING TO DO I would get something done, but no. It was either too loud or I was too distracted or too tired or... I don't even know what else. WAY TO BE PRODUCTIVE, KAITLYN. A+++.

***

Right, now that I'm done being sarcastic with myself, HI NEW FRIENDS. In the past couple of weeks, there has been an upswing in people adding me to their flists. I can only imagine that this has something to do with dipping my toe in Torchwood fandom, as that has been the only thing aside from The Bookstore that I have talked about with any consistency and no one wants to hear about The Bookstore. I work there every day and I don't want to hear about The Bookstore.

Anyway, Hi! There's more fic coming, I swear, and I hope you don't get too bored hearing about The Bookstore. You can scroll past those entries. I won't be offended XD I can't pretend I talk about anything else at this point.


***

OMG GUYS MY SARAH JANE ADVENTURES DVDS CAAAAAAME!

(And yes, the caps in that sentence were crucial.)

SJA is the only Whoniverse show I trust my heart to right now. Also, I had a hard time finding a lot of the S2 episodes to DL and I don't want to start S3 until I'm caught up on S2. I'm wacky that way. Perhaps this will be the impetus to work on my "Sarah Jane Runs Torchwood 3" AU.



(ahahahahahaha, sorry, that was a funny joke, you know, that I will EVER WRITE ANYTHING AGAIN. Oh, brain, why won't you let me write words D: D: D: )

But mostly, I am just excited to see Sarah Jane Smith again. Because I love her. Obsessively. I'm so glad I got these dvds before FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!, because at least one episode of SJA is going to go into the episode-watching-hat.

***

Okay, one meme, stolen from the lovely and talented neurotictealeaf. Perhaps it will inspire me to actually communicate with the outside world more often for the next thirty days. (Ha ha ha!)

( That thirty day meme. Any bet on how long until I fall off the meme wagon? )

1. Watch Friday the 13th (original, thanks much) or Friday the 13th Part 3D.
2. Get any fic writing done.
3. Read Clifford books at storytime.
4. Get fired from my job (so far).
5. Walk around Morristown like a hooker.
6. Eat pie.

***

What I Did Do on Friday the 13th
by Kaitlyn

1. Came up with an awesome concept for a teevee series about The Bookstore with R from Cafe, WorkBFF, and G from Music.
1a. Accidentally bashed The Bookstore in detail while Store Manager was eating lunch in his office with the door open. WHOOPS. (see: list 1, item 4)
2. Wrote the front of a page of words for fantasy-time travel-whatever novel. (see: list 1, item 2)
2a. On the company dime. (see: list 1, item 4)
3. Watched two toddlers jump up and down on a reading table.
3a. Did not shout at them until I was hoarse, nor murder them. (see: list 1, item 4)
4. Came home and napped, intended to watch the Friday the 13th movies I have on dvd.
4a. Got a call from Leslie asking me to come out with her and Lauren. (see: list 1, item 1)
5. Got changed and met up with Leslie back at The Bookstore.
5a. Vetoed her suggestions on what we should do to kill time until Lauren got off work. (see: list 1, item 5)
6. Drove to the movies.
6a. Vetoed all movies playing in the time frame we had available to us.
7. Had a drink at the Japanese restaurant by my house.
7a. Did not have another drink, as I was driving.
8. Met Lauren at the diner by her house.
8a. Did not order pie. (see: list 1, item 6)
9. Talked extensively about The Bookstore, in confidence. (see: list 1, item 4)
9a. Disagreed with Leslie on several topics. (see: this past entry)
10. Locked my keys in the car.
10a. Drove all over creation to get spares and didn't end up in bed until after 3.

***

Some highlights from the day in general:

• Upon deciding to go out, I changed from my work clothes into what was essentially the "sexy" version of the same outfit without even realizing it. To work, I had worn black slacks, black flats and a red pullover sweater over a black oxford. When I returned to The Bookstore to meet Leslie before our outing, I was wearing a black denim skirt, high-heeled black calf-length boots, and a red sweater with a deep v-neck over a black camisole. It was kind of hilarious.
  
  
• The amount that Leslie and I clash will never not be funny to me. We got into it while Manager L was unsuccessfully looking for my customer order (it was cleverly hiding in the customer orders under my last name, exactly where it was supposed to be) and I think he didn't quite know what to do with us.
  
  
• The teevee show that Cafe!R, WorkBFF, Music!G, and I created would be EPICALLY AWESOME and display the frequent ineptitude of our coworkers AND customers.
  
  
• Also, Cafe!R is a writing major as well (she's getting her Master's in poetry right now at SLC) and we had a hilarious bonding experience over the poorly worded new book bulletin published by our company. I wish I could recreate the ridiculous mixed metaphor that opened this month's bulletin, but I really don't want someone from Corporate stumbling over this via Google. Trust me when I tell you it was HILARIOUS.
  
  
• It was decided that I am the Oscar (from The Office) of The Bookstore. Not just because I am the gay one, but because I am mostly sane most of the time, but occasionally get pulled into the utter batshit of The Bookstore, even though I KNOW it's pointless and useless. Also, I want to think I'm better than my job, but I'm still clearly stuck in it, thus disproving that theory.
  
  
• WorkBFF is the Darryl of The Bookstore.
  
  
• Leslie: ::on the phone with Lauren as we head to meet her at the diner:: You have to get fancy! .... Oh, come on, it's not hard to get fancy. You just need fancy shoes or a skirt or Kaitlyn's tits.
  
  
• On the way back to the diner after retrieving my keys, I had a debate with Leslie that reminded me of my tenure in Rent fandom so hard that I swear I temporarily forgot what year it was. I blame this mostly on my exhaustion at this point, but still. It was a freaky way to end Friday the 13th. ....but not as good as actually watching one of the movies.

***

Anyway. Now it's Saturday. I am at Panera trying to write. They are open for another hour, but I think I'm going to leave soon because I've been here for about four hours and not gotten much done. I keep getting distracted by food and reading fic and waiting for my Yuletide assignment and having a conversation with the mother + five year old at the next table.

(My Yuletide assignment, by the way, is kind of a cool take on a newly-beloved source work, so I'm kind of intrigued.)

(Also, I just got another comment on Club Wales. I think it must have been recced somewhere this week, because I've gotten about five comments in the past two or three days and the story is already over a month old.)

Hi, Yuletide Writer!

I know we don't know each other, but you are clearly the most awesome writer in all of Yuletide. I CAN JUST TELL. Why else would you be assigned to me?

I am really easy, Yuletide Writer. Like, super!easy. I am just so happy that you are writing for me in one of these fandoms that I don't really care what I get. My details are fully optional. I mean, I know that those are the rules of Yuletide, but I also know that some people get really bent out of shape if you deviate from their detailed requests. I am totally not that way. I only included more details in case you were the type of writer who liked to have as much direction as possible, but really, as long as you have fun writing this story and write something you're proud of, I will be happy with the result.


(I know, I know, I AM SO LAME. I mean it all earnestly, though!)


Let's get down to business, shall we?

The True Meaning of Smekday

Nothing romantic, but either an untold adventure from their trip west or some new shenanigans that they get up to after the end of the book would be lovely. The funnier the better, really.

Oh man, Yuletide writer, my love for Adam Rex is epic. I stalk his blog, I own all his picture books, and Smekday just about made my life. That'd all to day that anything written in this universe will be a wonderful, wonderful present, regardless of content. The thing that draws me to Rex in general is his use of satire and his brilliant characters, and I'd love to see those elements in a Smekday story. Tip and JLo are such hilarious, wonderful friends that they just warm my heart. Like I said in my request, I'd love an untold adventure, but a story about JLo getting used to Earth customs or just a general fluffy story about nothing would be more than fine. Anything, really.

(If you were matched on one of my other requests and would like more options, this would be a great extra option. The True Meaning of Smekday is a kids' novel by Adam Rex. It's only a few hundred pages long and it's a quick, short read. When I sell it to kids and parents at work, I describe it as "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the under 12 set." It's fun and funny.)


In Plain Sight

I'm not a fan of Jinx or Brandi at all, but I adore Mary, Marshall, Bobby D, Stan, Raph, Eleanor, and basically everyone else on the show. I ship Mary/Marshall, Marshall/Bobby D. Mary/Raph, Mary/Bobby D, and Stan/Eleanor. I also love Marshall and Bobby D's friendship and friendship between all of the characters, in general. I'm pretty easy to please with this fandom, as long as Brandi and Jinx aren't around XD

I love love love IPS. It is one of my favorite teevee shows that's still airing and I adore so many of the characters. Mary just awes me and Marshall, Bobby D, Stan, and even Raph and Eleanor are brilliant. I love the dialogue, the way the characters interact with each other, and their passion for their jobs. I love how their office is this little group of tightly knit misfits (a favorite fandom trope of mine) and I love how protective they are of each other.

I'd love anything in this universe as long as it doesn't involve Jinx and Brandi. Brandi started to grow on me in S2, but I still don't really like her and I am not at all sympathetic to Jinx. Anything that doesn't involve them is fine. Friendship fic, romantic fic, angst, humor, a case.... any or all of it. Like I said in my request, I'm open to most ships and I love gen as well. I also firmly believe that Mary is at least bi and Mary/OFC would be AWESOME. I've written about IPS on several occasions and written one fic myself. The fic is here and my IPS tag is here.


The Hunger Games

Anything in this verse will make me happy. I ship Katniss/Peeta and I don't like Katniss/Gale at all. I'd love a story about Haymitch, either dealing with his past experience in the games or what goes through his mind as he trains and then watches Katniss and Peeta.

Again, I just want more fic to exist in this fandom. Anything. My tastes in this fandom are wildly varied. I'd love to know Haymitch's backstory and I'd love some Katniss/Peeta smut, with equal ferocity. Introspective character pieces are fine. Action/Adventure-y training things are fine. Speculation on what's coming after the end of Catching Fire would even be awesome, even though it will be jossed in about six months. I don't care. I just want more. I'm greedy that way XD

(Again, this is a small-ish source material if you're not familiar with it. Two young adult novels with a third on the way next summer. They're by Suzanne Collins.)


***

So, before I leave you to writing, Awesomest of All The Yuletide Writers, I'll give you some more general background on what I like to read.

I love adopted families, the bonds that characters make with each other that can withstand anything, regardless of blood. I love humor and banter and best friends. I don't like characters to be overly sappy with each other, even if it's true love, but I still love fluff. I like slice-of-life stories. I like threesomes, especially in the non-sexual way (you know, three characters who adore each other and would do anything for each other and who are basically in a three-way relationship, even without the sex), but I am totally up for three-way smut as well. I like porn well enough, but I prefer plot with more porn and I don't need a sex scene shoehorned into an otherwise solid plotty story to be happy.

In general, I like reading stories that people put thought into, writing by people who love the characters as much as I do. I'm sure that I'll adore anything that you write for me.

Happy writing, Yuletide Writer, and I will see you on January 1st!

<3,
Kait/pocky_slash

Oh my god, guys, the GREATEST THING EVER happened to me at work. I seriously need to share it with the world. BEST CUSTOMER ENCOUNTER EVER.


Total Stereotypical DudeBro: Yo! Red sweater!
Me: ..... ::too flummoxed to be offended:: Yes?
DudeBro: ::holds up Bargain book with $7.95 sticker on front:: How much is this?
Me: ....$7.95?
DudeBro: Awesome. Later. ::leaves::
Me: ..........



Oh my god, guys, it was amazing.

I sent out the first invitations for FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! today! Right now, including me, it looks like there's going to be seven of us. If you are still interested in joining us (and you should be!), leave a comment here with your e-mail and snail mail addresses. (Comments are screened!)

The invitations themselves are so cheesy I had trouble deciding if they were too cheesy or just cheesy enough. I clearly ended up buying them anyway. They are a classy kind of cheesy. But, man, I went all over the freaking universe to find party invitations that weren't for weddings, baby showers, or children's birthday parties. You'd be amazed at how hard it was to find generic invitations! Crazy.

***

It's that time again! That's right, welcome to...

TALES FROM THE BOOKSTORE!

Manager L: ::is a middle aged dude:: ::takes Robert Pattinson book off of the shelf and looks at it::
Kait: Trying to learn everything you can about Robert Pattinson, huh? It's okay, I know he's dreamy.
Manager L: He looks like he's high all the time.
Kait: If you were Robert Pattinson, wouldn't you be high all the time too?


Coworker W: Why do you have that look on your face?
Kait: I'm thinking really hard about paradoxes and temporal physics.
Coworker W: ..... You need to get some sleep. And to try not to say that in front of the District Manager.


Kait: Would I get fired if I start killing children?
Manager L: Depends on whether or not you get caught.


Work BFF: I was looking for a high quality You Tube video of [some song] to rip into an MP3. All of the ones I found were shitty until I listed to this great High Def one. The sound was awesome. I ripped it off the site and played it on my computer and realized that it was a Twilight music video some fan made.
Kait: ::refreshes friends list:: I've got one better. Just this second, I discovered a You Tube video of John Barrowman dancing to "Single Ladies."
Work BFF: No fucking way! ::jumps up from seat to look::
Coworker V: Who's John Barrowman?
Work BFF: This actor in this show we like.
Kait: I don't know, "actor" is giving him a lot of credit.
Kait: I don't know if I can watch this. I'm terrified.
Work BFF: It could be worse--it could be like Paul Rudd on SNL. He could be wearing a leotard.
Coworker V: ::comes over to computer:: Does he slap his own ass?
Work BFF: I hope so!*

* Work BFF is a straight man.

***

Hi internet! How are you? I'm doing okay. I'm a little tired and a little strung out and a lot sick of work, but what else is new? I am still coughing all the time which is putting a bit of a crimp in, you know, my entire life.

It goes like this: I cough all night and can't sleep. In the morning, I'm an exhausted and delirious. I drink coffee (I KNOW!!!) to try and stay awake, which just leaves me more off-kilter. I spend eight hours at The Bookstore trying not to collapse and then come home too tired to write, read, or watch teevee. I end up half reading, half skimming shitty fanfiction (I mean, on purpose. I frigging love badfic, internet), then try to sleep. Except I can't sleep, because of the coughing.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway.

What was surprising about today was what I DID end up writing. Since I've been sort of struggling to get words out since I first got sick three weeks ago (!!!), my main focus has been on whipping the deleted scenes of Club Wales into some sort of post-able shape.

Club Wales is taking over my brain in a similar fashion to the hostile brain takeover of Iowa Sam and Will in the TWW (note the extra 'W') fandom. I'm maybe a quarter of the way through the second plotty story (aka Club Wales II: Ianto and Gwen Fulfill One Of Jack's Main Fantasies) and have a strong idea and two scenes written for the third story (Club Wales III: Now With 100% More Scotland), but I have these ideas for "interludes" in between them that kind of tie the stories to canon, the first taking place during S2 and consisting of all of the deleted scenes from the first Club Wales and the second taking place after "Journey's End." That's where Club Wales divides from TW canon, in many ways that will be explored in Club Wales III: Ianto Can Only Be Emotional When He Knows Jack's Being Retconned.

Anyway. The point is, there are a lot of Club Wales thoughts in my head, but a combination of sickness, exhaustion, and irritability have kept me from writing new words, leaving me to mess around with the words I already have down.

That being said, no one was as surprised as I was when I stood at the desk at work and wrote front, back, and front of a full page of words from my frigging fantasy-time travel-whatever novel.

( cut for rambling about characters no one cares about yet )

But, oh gosh, I definitely just spent the last hour writing this entry and getting distracted by Twitter. I kind of want to keep talking about Jon and then move on to Annalise and then move on to Henry and maybe Gertrude and Price, but considering no one knows who they are, I figure it's best to quiet myself for the time being. And maybe take some cough medicine and go to bed.

(Ha!)

***

Tomorrow is the last work day of the week. Maybe if I keep saying that, it will eventually make me feel better?

Okay, internet, we have a date for FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! It will be Saturday, December 12, starting around 5pm, probably.

The whole internet is invited, but for obvious reasons, I understand most of you won't be able to make it, what with living in different time zones and all.

So, anyone who is serious about attending FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!, please comment on this entry with your e-mail address and snail mail address. (I am going to send out fancy pants invitations, maybe.) Comments are screened. Please do this even if I see you on a regular basis/know where you live/et cetera, because I'm using this to compile an e-mail list so I can update you all with details, keep track of RSVP, et cetera.

I am very excited about this, internet, and I hope you are too!

HI INTERNET. Did you miss me? I missed you.


(Actually, that is kind of a lie, because I was with inocciduous, so it was like the internet came to me. If by "the internet" you mean "someone to be sarcastic and fangirlly with, but out loud.")

(And, I guess that, technically, the internet didn't come to me, I went to the internet. Because, if I were to make a list of awesome things about Jen, one of them would be that she lives perfect weekend-trip-distance away.)

(If I really made a list of things that were awesome about Jenna, it would be epically long and include many things that wouldn't make sense to anyone else, like that she knows how to make buttermilk and that she understands the need for snowflake spatulas and that, despite the internet warning her that it was a waste of 50 minutes of her life that she could never get back, she was brave enough to attempt to watch "Random Shoes.")

(Yes, I said "attempt." We didn't actually finish it, even though we drank an entire bottle of wine to prepare ourselves.)

Okay, I've totally digressed. ANYWAY. While I was at Jen's, there was talk of FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! And the more we talked about FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!, the more we wanted FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! to exist. Like, immediately. So here I am, putting out feelers for FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!.

Here is how FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! would work: On a Saturday in December, I will host a dinner party at my house. It might be a fancy pants dinner party, it might be just the regular clothes type. (I am kind of leaning towards "fancy pants," because, really, any excuse to dress fancy pants makes me happy.) Anyway, we'd have cocktails and a sit-down dinner and probably consume some wine and then consume some media. Everyone would bring either an episode of a show or a movie that they love and we'd put the names in a hat and draw things out at random until it was time for people to go home.

My parents would not be present. Also, anyone who wanted to spend the night would be more than welcome to. We have plenty of space.

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED? TAKE THIS POLL:

(eta: For those new to my flist, it would probably help to mention that I live in Northeastern New Jersey, and you are totes invited to FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! even if we only just met.)

Poll #1482740 FANGIRL DINNER PARTY!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

FANGIRL DINNER PARTY! Would you be interested?

Which date works best for you?

Fancy Pants or Regular Type Clothes?

Would you need/want to spend the night?

How awesome would this be?

***

More later! I have some writing to do.

Today has pretty much sucked so far, and as I have therapy this evening and it always makes me feel emotionally wrung out and like shit, IT CAN ONLY GET WORSE.

Anyway.

Have a meme:

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any story I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

***

I am going to try and actually get some writing done today? I know, I'm shocked too. And I need to remember to do laundry when I get home, or else I won't have anything to wear to inocciduous's house.

***

I had a dream that krabapple and I scored tickets to what was essentially the television up-fronts for next season. Except all the networks were broadcasting at once and it was in a high school auditorium. We were there specifically to see the NCIS panel. It was weird.

***

Okay, back to work.

Mom: Oh, you idiot!
Kait: What did I do?!
Mom: Not you! ::opens freezer and pulls out a water bottle frozen solid:: I can't believe I left this in there!
Kait: Oh. Um, it's just water? There's more in the pitcher.
Mom: ::holding water bottle upside down with the top off:: There's no water coming out!
Kait: That's because been in the freezer for five hours.



Mom: ::on the phone with her sister:: Great. First I go on the Wii and it tells me, "We haven't seen you in 29 days! We missed you!" Now I finally get a chance to check my e-mail and I have a message from Facebook asking where I've been. I give up.


***

In political news, CNN has posted an incredibly unfortunate picture of Chris Christie on their NJ election page. The man photographs badly in general, but... oh man.

I really wanted to vote for Daggett, but in the end, the race was too close. I voted for Corzine and now I'm trying to steel myself for four year of... you know, a jerk I don't agree with who photographs incredibly poorly :\

Oh man, internet. My world has been SHATTERED. I just looked up the quote in my subject and discovered that it is not an actual quote from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It's an amalgamation of two different quotes! I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE D: D: D: D:

***

So, first off, I thought I would make it official on LJ--I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, for the first time in like, six years or so. I have an idea and I still want to pursue it, but after the car troubles and getting sick and being so busy in October, I never had time to do the research I needed in order to make the novel all that it can be. I'll probably "officially" start the project in January, realistically, as nothing gets done in December when you work retail, especially when you're in charge of the children's department D:

It's weird. I mean, it's odd to not be doing it. It's such a great community feeling and I feel a bit bereft not being a part of it this year.

I'm still going to try and write a shitton of words this month. I have to finish Club Wales II: Now With 100% More PC Andy, my tenyearsoftww fic, and my reel_torchwood fic. Plus, I can do research and prep for the novel. But yeah. It's weird.

***

SO LET'S TALK ABOUT HALLOWEEN.

Oh man, guys. It was quite a week.

Friday night we (Nicole, Christine, and myself) went to a Steampunk Haunted House on the Lower East Side. There was kind of epic bullshit with standing on line with a bunch of privileged asshole special snowflakes, but the awesome usher and the EPIC AWESOMENESS of the haunted house made up for it. Oh my god, it was really cool. The atmosphere was gorgeous and it was hella, hella creepy. I really enjoyed myself and it was definitely worth the price and the wait.

Friday was also massive decorating. We painted the decorations and cleaned the apartment. I finished up my costume.

Saturday we decorated, cooked, and stressed all day. We were right down the wire. Luckily, everyone was really late, except for fuuchan and ruecian, so we had time to get everything ready before the guests showed up.

( pictures below the cut, including my AWESOME COSTUME!! )


There are more photos (including a ton of the awesome decorations that Nicole and I made, with help from Christine) over in this Facebook album. Feel free to peruse!

Sunday we watched Session 9 and then I came home.

Monday I went to work.

And that is pretty much the past few days in a nutshell! I have laundry and writing and work to catch up on this week. I'm still sick. On Friday, I go to inocciduous's place for a few days. At one point, I will perhaps get some sleep.



For now, I am going to go read some epic badfic and then go to bed. Later, internet.

INTERNET I DON'T FEEL GOOD.


:(



What would really make me feel better is reading the further adventures of Club Wales, but tragically, that means I would have to write them. And words are hard today. Sigh. I'm debating whether or not I'm going to call in sick tomorrow. I mean, I managed to muddle through today without dying, but I kind of felt like crap and I kind of still feel like crap. I have a lot to do this weekend and next week and don't really have time to be sick then :\

I will see how I feel in the morning, I guess.



* I swear, I like it even more than the fire drill and the time Jim sent Dwight faxes from the future.