Yes, this is TOTALLY SHAMELESS. Validate me? :D

THE FANFICTION LOVE MEME

I kind of feel like I'm at a loose end now NaNo is over! It's been a weird one this year (but then, I feel like it's always a different experience and a different challenge) but although it's not perfect, I'm mostly satisfied with how it turned out. I've never written an ensemble fic before and it's given me an all-new respect for the Skins writers, because you know how they get criticised for weird pacing and not focusing equally on all the characters and dropping storylines and all of that? Yeah, well, THAT SHIT IS HARD. I mean, I think I did okay at juggling nine characters, but I know that Thomas and Freddie got shafted and now nobody will know that in the background they were totally having a torrid love affair. :(

More for my own reference than anything else, here's what I'm working on next:

- Yuletide main assignment (due 21st Dec)
- Yuletide pinch-hit (21st Dec)
- skins_holiday assignment (21st-31st Dec)
- apocabigbang (5th Feb)

Plus, you know, there's that 30k 80s AU lingering on my hard drive that just needs a bit of polishing. I should probably get on that.

ALSO I still really want to write Katie/Emily(/Naomi) but I'm not sure if I could make it work.

I hadn't realised that it's been nearly a week since I last posted. Um, I don't have much to report? Mostly I've just been working on 2ndyearstories, which is fun and stressful in about equal measure. But people seem to be enjoying it, which definitely makes the effort worthwhile.

And then once I've done with that I have Yuletide, ARGH. I stupidly grabbed a pinch hit (it was calling me!) so that's twice the amount I need to write, and on top of that, for my original assignment I might end up writing in a fandom that I didn't sign up for and have only started getting into now because I wasn't sparking any ideas for the fandom we originally matched on. *facepalm* It's not a small amount of canon either, but at least I'm enjoying it a lot. And then there's skins_holiday and apocabigbang! D: Somebody stop me from signing up for any more fic challenges, PLEASE.

Have a music rec! Dirt Poor Robins - The Cage. I've been looking for this album for the longest time, ever since I heard a couple of tracks a year or two ago (including their awesome cover of 'Eleanor Rigby'). I really want the actual CD because it's a concept album and apparently the liner notes add a lot, but I can't find it anywhere online. Amazon and iTunes don't even have the full album to download! But at least I have the full album now, and I LOVE it. ♥

Decemberists were AMAAAAAZING, OMG.

( Cut so I don't ~spoil Sam, who's seeing them tonight! )

- Apparently today was the last day of filming for Skins series four! ngl, I am ridiculously sad about this. Not as sad as I'll be when the last episode airs - I anticipate many tears, because I'm lame and cry at EVERYTHING - but I love these ridiculous kids, and it makes me sad that they'll no longer be living together in Bristol and doing ridiculous things together. :(((

- In happier news, I'm going to see The Decemberists tomorrow! SO EXCITED. I think it's going to be one of their Hazards of Love shows where they play the whole album through, but I've not actually checked to see if that's the case, heh. Whatever; it's The Decemberists, so it's guaranteed to be awesome.

- Still behind on NaNo, although I've been using Write or Die and that's helping. I can do about 500 words in 10 minutes, so if I use it enough it shouldn't take too long to catch up. I think I've just about planned out the rest of the story as well, so I'm feeling a bit better about it. (I was having serious ~angst about it the other day, but I spared you the emo LJ posts I wanted to make about it.) ETA: just hit 25k! Two days late, but whatever, it feels good to be halfway there. \o/

- Finally caught up with the last two eps of Mad Men and OMG, how awesome was the finale? I seriously cannot wait for series four.

- I got my Yuletide assignment! And even though I can't actually give it the proper attention it deserves until December, I'm already worrying about it - right now my mind is a blank when it comes to ideas. I'm sure I'll come up with something eventually (maybe once I revisit the source material) but I don't want to just cobble something together, you know? Ack. :/

- I've been watching White Collar and enjoying it (oh, Matthew Bomer, why so pretty? Must you insist on making me ~question my sexuality?) but I think it would be more fun if it was about Neal actually committing his crimes and Peter trying to catch him, instead of Neal helping Peter solve crimes. Sort of like an American Hustle, but with a prettier cast and shinier backdrop.

- Re. The X Factor last night: Fuck you, Olly Murs, for ruining my favourite Queen song. HOW is this guy the favourite to win? Also, Jedward were just kind of... boring.

- I need to get on with NaNo. To get back on track today I need to write 3650 words, and so far I've written... 12. It isn't even a complete sentence!

I'm procrastinating NaNo like crazy (I don't even know WHY, because I've been looking forward to writing chapter 14 for weeks and weeks and I'm nearly there) and OH MY GOD, WORD'S AUTOSUMMARISE FEATURE IS TOO MUCH FUN.

Here's 2ndyearstories in 100 words or less:

( Um, I think my characters shrug too much )

LOL FOREVER.

Dear Yuletide Writer,

( In which I ramble )

I don't know WHY I'm so invested in The X Factor this year, but I am genuinely quite gutted by Lucie leaving. :( Also, would quite like to punch Simon Cowell in the face.

Joe to win now, I guess? Meh.

- Anyone who wants to sign up for skins_holiday, now's the time to do so! Sign-ups close tomorrow at 11pm PST. It's an exchange open for fic writers, vidders, and graphics makers, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun, so go and sign up! :D!

- I'm really overwhelmed by the response that 2ndyearstories is getting. ♥ I'm having fun writing it and I'm just really thrilled that other people seem to be enjoying it. Honestly, the whole thing is really far outside of my comfort zone, both in that it's a big ensemble piece, and also because I'm posting it as an unedited WIP (omg scary!), and I'm just really happy that it seems to be working. ♥

- It looks like yuletide sign-ups are going to open soon? SO EXCITED. Although I haven't yet managed to whittle down my five requests to four. :/ I had them all planned out, but then I started watching Parks & Recreation and craving Leslie/Ann fic, so one of the other requests has to go. DILEMMA.

- I'm listening to Girls Aloud on shuffle and it's making me sad that they've been put on hold while National Treasure Cheryl Cole pursues her rubbish solo career. Girls Aloud's entire discography >>>>>>> 3 Words.

So, NaNoWriMo's started once again! For those who missed the ~announcement first time round, I'm writing Skins fic for NaNo this year and it's all going to be posted at 2ndyearstories. The first part is already up, and the next part should be posted later tonight or tomorrow.

I went along to a write-in this afternoon with a bunch of other Wrimos, which was really nice; we had the entire upstairs of Coffee Republic to ourselves and it was a lot of fun to sit there with about fifteen other crazy people, all typing away. Also, they gave out stickers and chocolate, and I am easily pleased by little things like that. I've been to write-ins in three different cities over the years (on two different continents!) and it's always one of my favourite parts of NaNo, meeting other people and all sharing in the madness together.

Okay, I have to do the washing up and then watch The X Factor, and then it's back to writing! :D I ♥ November, even when it makes me want to kill myself.

Things that make me happy:

- Watching Nick Griffin get thoroughly pwned on Question Time last night.

- I was peeling potatoes for dinner last night when I suddenly remembered the existence of Taters! I still remember lazy_daze playing it to me for the first time and being like "yeah, okay, whatever" and then dying with laughter when the beat kicked in. XD

- These screencaps of the Kaya interview that got taken down. (Because of spoilers, apparently? I didn't think there was anything spoilery about it and I'm quite a spoilerphobe.) I keep clicking through and just dying at her expressions all over again. Gahhh, I love her so much! ♥

- I've been watching Mercy and really enjoying it! Even if I do get the Duffy song in my head every time I think about it. I wasn't that fussed about the first episode but I'm really glad I gave it a second try, because I like it a lot. Mostly because all the women are really pretty and I am very shallow, but for other reasons too!


Things that make me sad:

- My parents have sold our house and we're moving. Like, REALLY soon. And I know the plan is for me to move out of my parents' house as soon as I can anyway, but I've lived here all my life (bar university) and I'm still so, so sadfacey about having to say goodbye to this place. :(

- I haven't done any proper writing in AGES, or at least it feels like it. I have about half of my NaNo fic planned out and I've been picking at the 80s AU (which I REALLY need to finish, because I don't want it to languish until December) but I haven't been ~inspired to do some real writing for a couple of weeks now. I ought to get back into the habit before NaNo starts. Maybe I should go troll the Free-For-All post for Skins prompts I might have missed? Hmm.

- I would really love there to be a Skins holiday fic exchange, but I haven't heard any plans for one? Not that I need any more writing commitments, but I think it would be fun. I don't think I really have the time to run one myself, but if someone else wanted to I'd definitely sign up. HINT, HINT.

OH KAYA ♥

ETA: also, her complete inability to make a sexy face without cracking up is beyond adorable. ♥

And, yes, I've also seen the Jack video featuring ridiculous Lily/Kat tortoise-related cuteness. How are they this adorable?? (And WHERE'S MEG?)

I'm so bored! And LJ is pretty dead, sigh. Seriously, I expect the highlight of my day will be watching The X Factor results show, which says a lot. :|

Speaking of which, who are everyone's favourites this year? (Come on, I can't be the only one lame enough to spend Saturday night watching this rubbish, can I?) After spending ages being irritated by her I've decided that 'Stacey from Dagenham' is the most ridiculous/adorable person since Meg Prescott, and I love her accordingly. I pray that girl never gets media training. I've also realised that I fancy Lucie quite a lot. I swear last year I never fancied anyone younger than me, and now it's like there are suddenly all these hot eighteen year-olds running around making me feel like a creep. :(

Aside from them, I quite like Joe, and Rachel and Miss Frank are all right. All the over-25s can fuck right off, as can Rikki.

Worryingly, I'm pretty sure that John & Edward have become so bad that they've gone right round to being amazing; I've never laughed so hard in my life as when they actually did the whole "but I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end" bit. They're at least more entertaining than Lloyd, who is basically just the new Eoghan Quigg.

My life = MADE.

So, just like everyone else in the whole of fandom, I've been going into paroxysms of joy over the fact that Meg is on Twitter. I have a Twitter (@herdofbots) that I never use, except to stalk the Skins cast, but I keep getting the urge to tweet things @meg_prescott, all of them completely stupid. Like, I want to send her a link to the adorable nomming baby hippo and see if she just spazzes the fuck out.

... Oh shit, the person that posted that on Cute Overload? HER NAME IS MEG. I'm pretty sure the Pope isn't moonlighting as a blogger, but LOL FOREVER.

In other news, I didn't realise what a multishipper I was until I was planning out my Skins fic for NaNoWriMo earlier today and realised that I was including:

4 pairings I actively ship and want to end happily ever after
1 pairing I used to hate but am warming towards
1 pairing I like but am only really including out of obligation
3 pairings I hate (2 canon, 1 not), and
1 pairing just for the lulz.

Solution to this ridiculous, many-sided love polygon: orgy??

I made a fic masterlist, which isn't very long, but whatever, all the cool kids have masterlists these days. It's weird, though; I thought I'd generally become more confident about sharing my writing - posting fic doesn't fill me with quite the same sense of horror/dread as it always used to do, although I still don't like it - but seeing it all together makes me feel all squirmy and self-conscious. Ack. Also, I suck at writing summaries.

(That was actually my 1500th post, btw, in almost six years.)

In happier news, Yuletide nominations are open! And, oh, the list of nominated fandoms makes me very happy indeed. Last year was my first Yuletide and I had the best time, not only with writing but also reading so many awesome fics in fandoms that I'd never even think of for most of the year. I mean, I'd never think to look for or write fic for something like Sophie's World, but someone nominated it this year and the prospect of fic for it fills me with glee. :D I'm going to have serious trouble whittling dow my requests to just four.