GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. Finish my fucking Crossover apps. I poked around at them (notably, Elinor, before I passed out) this past week, but they're nowhere near done. Well, Elinor is once I finish her history bullets, but other than that, lol no. I really need to do them, omfg.
2. Moar notes on Ivy for Breed!
3. Reiter/Hana pre-emptive lulz. A hired killer who will burn down a house but hesitate to ruin a Christmas tree? Yes please.
4. Not RP at work. No, seriously, I am so behind. I can poke around periodically, but I have got to stop spending hours idly refreshing pages because I do not want to cold call people.
5. Hit up Yes Week posts with appropriate requests/responses; you guys will be getting belated comments, as trying to write everything Emma says as a come-on is REALLY HARD.
6. Figure out which lie Emma is going to tell Val.
7. XOVER: Respond to old comments: Jacob/Margot, Anne/Tom. Hit up Georgia's post (Anne, Zara, Jacob, Carrie?). Post: ...idk who.


In other news, I started reading The Left Hand of Darkness to follow along with the NYT Book Club -- and because it's just One Of Those Books you're supposed to read at some point in your life -- and I'm having a really difficult time getting into it. To be fair, I'm only about 20 pages in, but usually by 20 pages I have a vague feel for authorial voice and tone and pacing, and I can figure if I'm going to stick with that book or not. But it's just kind of...trundling along, and I'm having difficulty keeping track of who's who, what's what, where the hell they even are. I looooved Le Guin's introduction to the novel, but the novel itself just seems lacking to me. Have any of you read it? Should I keep going or just chuck it and move onto the next?

Maybe I'm just not in the mood for science fiction. Or novels! I've been reading so many novellas and anthologies lately that getting back into a novel is like eating those crazy chips that are like blue and purple and green. I just don't know how to go about it. But I just dropped $150 on books at B&N and have a stack waiting from my library, so I should prooobably get over that hurdle quick.

There's like 8000 going around, but I've always liked writing this one and reading the responses. A little more ~in depth~, and no guarantee I'll be able to find specific examples for number 5, but whatever.

Comment with one of my characters (past or present) and I will tell you the following:
1. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
2. One of his/her best traits.
3. One of his/her worst traits.
4. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
5. The story/thread/chapter/post/paragraph/tag/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
6. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.

Oh lol, okay, this one too, I guess:

Ask any of my characters, past or present, any (or as many) questions of your choosing and they will answer truthfully.

Pick one or more of my characters and one or more of yours, and I'll tell you something they've always wanted to say to your character but could never bring themselves to say out loud.

Uh, hopefully it will be in the character's actual voice, BUT I MAY HAVE TO PARAPHRASE IDK.


Also, Nat, I am putting you in charge of kicking my ass into gear and finishing my apps on the long weekend. I'm not doing anything for the holiday besides lying around and dreaming of food, so I will have heaps of time. Hopefully I can put my writing bug into getting those done, and then go back to fics/drabbles. I wrote one last night (for Marie ♥), AND LOL MY COMPUTER SHUT DOWN AND ATE IT AWESOME. But I have most of it in my moleskine, so I will get that up for you tonight, bb.

Also also, playing Elaine again makes me realize how much I missed PBing NatPort. :( I HAVE SO MUCH BREED STUFF IN THE WORKS YOU GUYS, I AM SO EXCITED.

HOLY CRAP BREED HAS BEEN OPEN LIKE A YEAR.

Uh clearly we should have an e-party.

Being a general list of general things:

1) My boss is going to put extra money in my paycheck every month to cover gas expenses while I'm ~out in the field~. YESSSSSSSSSS.
2) I got like zero app work done this weekend aside from some notes on Bigby -- although, to be fair, I had only decided to work on Bigby anyway, so. He's going through some conceptual changes (i.e. I was pretty sure he would go by Frank and still be like Frank, just with a lot of Bigby characteristics; now he's Bigby in a Frank-shaped body, with Frank slowly losing hold), but so far coming along nicely. :D
3) Leah and Caleb are so fucking adorable. I'M GLAD YOU'RE BACK CLEZ, BECAUSE I MISSED THEM. Also just glad you're back, ilu etc.
4) I'm considering succumbing to the trend of fic journals and making one. I've been pondering having an actual writing journal for a while, so that would fit in nicely. I will probably post the new prompt table in it (along with the old one and the old requests WHICH I STILL HAVEN'T DONE UGH), and firmly expect everyone to comment. Firmly. Expect.
5) I've been kind of a fail on activity lately, even on weekends, and I have to apologize for that. I feel so drained when I get home that I just want to collapse into bed with one of my 9000 library books and pass out. I'm keeping up with everything though, even if I'm not commenting!

Also, Emily posted in her LJ the other day about this article, which a few other people (myself included) had read in Neil Gaiman's blog, specifically the part about the Sandman stories. I don't how serious she/Julie were in the post about it, but I think it'd be a fun summer project and a way to write with everyone without it having to be RP-related, if that makes sense? I know sometimes I want to write with people, but I can't dredge up any of my characters, or logging isn't really something I can do at that moment. I don't know, is anyone interested? I'd be happy to set up a comm and get the list of stories from somewhere, figure out a way to get it organized, if I thought people would be down for the actual writing. Thoughts?

UPDATE: abundantideas
For those of you who are interested -- go join! I've invited everyone who's replied to this post. That'll be the main comm, where the sticky of ideas/prompts is posted, and also where you will post your stories/art/comics/poems/photographs/whatever. Once we've got all the kinks hammered out, we'll post up a general rule page, but mostly it'll be pretty low-key. We want to keep this just to the people we know and write with regularly (i.e. you guys), so we'd rather not advertise. YAY COMM

I AM ALSO STILL WORKING ON DRABBLES, in between reading 18th c. lit. and that paper I completely forgot was due Thursday. WHOOPS. At least it's only 4 pages and using the source material we use in class, so that's, uh. A relief. Anyway.

The Rated-R Meme. Comment with a character of mine, and I'll give you three random bits of trivia about their sexual practices, preferences, experiences, fantasies, kinks, or something along those lines. Feel free to mention multiple characters or a character multiple times.

PICK WHOEVER YOU WANT, though too far back and I may not be able to answer.

Well, fine. But like every other meme, it will probably take forever. I STILL HAVE ANSWERS TO DO FROM THE FIRST ONE, WTF.

Give me one of my characters and one of yours, and I'll tell you how they end up together and what their first-born is like, even if they are unqualified to have children. I'll even give a PB.

Most anything's game, but I reserve the right to go "OH HELL NO" if I don't think I remember enough of the characters/games to make a bb. >>