Diary of a Repressed English Major

I'm supposed to be finishing my secret santa fic for the P/C exchange.  I've got it plotted out and the first sections written.  I was planning on finishing the rest of it this week since I'm out of school and doing nothing but sitting at home on the couch with the dog watching Law and Order re-runs.  I haven't been super inspired to write anything lately so I wasn't having an issue writing P/C.  They're always in my head and pretty easily accessible. 

But then.  THEN.  I got bitten by a new ship-bug and have NOT been able to get it out of my head at all.  It's not that often that I come across a pairing that immediately makes me go OMG MUST WRITE NOW!  I'm firmly of the belief that not all shows need fanfiction.  I'm perfectly happy watching, say, Northern Exposure or Bones or X-Files because the things I ship and the characters I like get explored to an extent that makes me happy and satisfied.  If I get in the right mood, I can just go watch an episode and have my needs met without needing fic.  Then, there are a lot of pairings that I really enjoy reading about (e.g. Barney/Robin from How I Met Your Mother or Jack/Elizabeth from POTC) but don't want to write.  There's tons of good fic out there and the show/movie is written in such a way that I don't have a desire to put them in all sorts of different situations.  I'm not curious about what happens afterwards because the show's going to finish their story.  Or, their story is finished in canon and there are so many possibilities that I just don't want to go there. And then there are pairings that immediately want me to write them fic. 

I've been watching Grimm lately.  It's been pretty good so far but it's still finding its niche.  It's a lot similar to Buffy in a lot of ways, but the writing isn't quite there yet.  It does have a similar tone and similar themes though but the wit isn't quite at the same level and a lot of the characters need developing.  I trust them to get there and, thankfully for me, the characters who are getting development are the ones I like.  Right from the first episode, I loved Monroe.  He's all adorable and stuffy and kind of nerdy but has this awesome badass wild side too.  There's a fair amount of character angst and backstory to work with and he's really interesting psychologically.  In the vast, vast, vast majority of fandom he gets paired with Nick, the main character and I can see that.  I don't necessarily ship it, I just tend not to see slash relationships in canon very often, but I can see where people see it.  I've been hoping that some character comes along that he'd be adorable with and one did last week.  Hardcore.  It SO hits all my ship kinks: brooding guy, age difference, mentor/protege relationship turned deeper with time, literally everything I could ever want.  As far as I'm aware, one other person ships it.  One.  And that's fine with me.  We're seven episodes in and the chick (Holly) is only in one, with no current plans for a return (but come on!  They've got to bring her back.  There's just too much potential on so many fronts.) so there's tons of room for backstory and fleshing out.  I've got head canon spilling out of my ears already and fics forming and I must write it!

But...P/C santa  fic.  *sigh*  I've really got to write it.  I love Beverly and Jean-Luc but gah, this is taking my brain over and making writing the P/C so difficult right now, especially since it's pretty much got to be a long fic based upon my recipient's request.  I've got until the 8th so either I hold off on fic I really want to write and work my way through santa fic or I write this quickly and lose a day on santa but rush and work really hard to finish or I write this and be a bad fangirl and submit santa late. 

Just emailed in my last assignment for the semester!  I made it through alive, thank goodness.  Now I can work (relatively) guilt free on my P/C santa fic.  It's all (mostly...) planned out in my head but I'm having trouble getting it to actually come out.  At least I know my recipient fairly well, what kinds of stories and plots she likes, what her pet peeves are, etc. so that's pretty convenient.  Guess it's time to just dive right in!

And again, I fail at keeping up with my livejournal...

I've been in the mood to write something lately and I haven't got a clue what.  I've signed up for the P/C Secret Santa exchange again this year because that, if anything, at least gets me to write something.  I haven't been very into reading P/C lately, but I think as characters they're always going to be easily accessible for me.  I've spent so much time with them that they're an easy groove to fall into. 

Lately, I've been craving good Harry Potter fic.  Good, random Harry Potter fic.  SSHG is great but I want something epic and different.  I've found a few good Lupin/Tonks fics lately and I'm thinking maybe more of that'll hit the spot.  There's something so...cozy about good HP fic.  Maybe it's just that it's the first fandom I ever read fic from but it puts me in a happy, comfy place that seems to suit winter so well.  The never-ending supply of stories and of reliable recommendations is just a bonus.  So many characters and pairings and awesomely talented writers and so little time. 

Let's see, what else is going on with me...  Not much.  School's busy as usually but I think I'm managing to keep my head above water.  My thesis is going to be massively sexy if we can just get all the details worked out, which is proving a bit difficult.  My advisor and I have been trying to meet with the project directors since September and it doesn't seem like we're going to get a chance to until well  into January.  *sigh*  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out. 

I went home for Thanksgiving and of course that was a disaster.  I don't think I'll ever understand my family.  Grandma is racist and semi-senile and stubborn as ever.  Won't go to a restaurant that she likes because there are "too many Mexicans who hang out there".  *facepalm*  Grandma, it's TEXAS.  Get used to it.  Non-white people don't bite.  She also insists that she never celebrated Thanksgiving when she was growing up.  And that my cousin is going to get a divorce but she can't remember why.  My mother has to control everything and is consistently pretentious.  My dad just doesn't care and my grandpa is sick of dealing with my grandma.  We just don't talk and I don't get it.  Chit chat?  Fine.  But I'm the only person I know who can talk to their parents 4-5 times a week and still not know that a family member is having health issues.  At least I don't have to go home again until Chrismas.  Happy holidays indeed...  I'd rather just stay home  Lulu is better company than the rest of them, even if she won't stop biting her feet and licking dishes in the dishwasher.  You just can't beat cuddly, fluffy white puppy love.   : )

Oh!  I finally set up my AO3 account and moved all my fic over there.  Lot's of TNG, a little TOS, and one HP fic that I'm pretty fond of.  Hopefully there's more to come.  I've got the first chapter or so of a Labyrinth fic written that I've been toying with posting, but I really want to get the whole thing done first.  Which is slightly unfortunate because it's probably massively epic but I think it's an interesting story, if a little cliche.  I've been wanting to write some HP but am sadly lacking ideas.  Same problem for Once Upon a Time, which is turning out to be pretty fabulous.  I'm so intrigued by the story but my fic  juices just aren't flowing.  Maybe once more episodes air. 

I suppose that's enough rambling for now...  Hopefully more to come?  Maybe fic!

There's SNOW!!  Yaaaaay!  I'm so excited.  Like, ridiculously excited.  It never snows here but we have a snow day and school is cancelled and I have nothing better to do than make snowmen and eat oatmeal and have hot tea and maybe get started on my big bang fic.  Too fun! 

I took puppy out in the snow a little while ago and she was so goofy and adorable, I had to share.  She's never been in snow before and it was hilarious!

Video!  It's short and really funny.  Well, I'm her mommy, so I could be biased, but who could resist a cute little dog playing in snow?  That's what I thought.  : )

I'm such a livejournal slacker...  It's already February.

Life has been crazy busy and fandom suffers for it...  I don't think I've written anything since Christmas.  I've spent the last month running around like crazy working on my thesis.  I've almost got all my data collected, though-almost a month ahead of schedule which is totally unheard of.  Now I just have to analyze and write the thesis....  It needs to be written by the middle of April or so.  I'm totally scared to get working on it, but wow will I be excited to be finished!

On the fic front, there's hope though!  I'm signed up to do two stories for challenges and I'm SO psyched.  Over on Insane Journal there's HP_beholder, which is a fantastic little exchanged focusing on stereotypically unattractive or ignored characters from Harry Potter.  I absolutely adore stories that focus on less-loved characters.  There are so many blanks to fill in and they've got an awesome set of characters to work with. 

I'm also planning on doing a story for scifibigbang and I'm crazy excited for that one, too.  It's a Labyrinth fic.  I've been wanting to write one for ages and this seems like it'll be a perfect opportunity.  I've already started thinking about my plot and I cannot wait to get started.  Yay! 

It's supposed to snow here tomorrow, which is absolutely crazy because as of right now it's 61 degrees out.  Gotta love Texas.  I'm crossing my fingers for a snowman!

On a vaguely school related note, all my graduate school apps are in, letters of rec are in the mail, and GRE score reports have been requested.  I'm not sure whether I'm more relieved or terrified.  Applying for my undergraduate degree was a miserable failure and I think that's affecting how I'm viewing the graduate school process.  I sent out ten applications my senior year of high school and got rejected from nine of those.  I'm happy at the school I wound up at, but...still.  I've only applied to four graduate programs and they're all pretty selective.  I know all I can do is wait at this point, but I'm completely scared that I'm going to wind up looking for a real job come August because there's nothing I can do with a Bachelor's Degree in either geology or anthropology.  *sigh*

Also?  I'm totally proud to admit that I watched MegaPython vs Gatoroid on SyFy this weekend and it was absolutely BRILLIANT.  Well, brilliant in the 'this-is-so-terrible-I-can't-believe-I'm-still-watching-but-I-really-can't-stop' sort of way.  Geological inaccuracies abound.  I have to forgive them, though because someone managed to get Debbie Gibson and Tiffani having a food fight bordering on creepy porn in ridiculously low-cut dresses in the middle of a formal function that had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie.  Win, SyFy.  Win.

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Title: To Change with Kings (1/2)
Author: L. C. Darius
Rating: NC-17 (this part general)
Pairing: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard
Word Count: 7,324/14,360

Summary:The universe is a delicate thing, held together by tenuous threads. When even a single thread gets snagged, the universe itself can morph into something drastically different that it was intended to be. Something has tugged on the strings of the universe and Jean-Luc Picard can feel it. Things are not as they should be. In his efforts to set things right, he is thrust into the very place where his answers lie. But, just when he has the power to fix the universe, something comes along that makes him question whether that is truly what he wants after all. Rated NC-17 for smut. Thanks to Kristin for betaing!


Notes: This story was written for a Secret Santa exchange. My recipient asked for a serious story where Beverly and Jean-Luc's past played a role or an alternate universe story. I kind of combined the ideas and came up with this. Posted in two parts.

( to change with kings )

Title: Something Old, Something New
Author: L.C. Darius
Rating: K
Pairing: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard
Word Count: 690
Summary: The best presents come in just the right size...

Notes: I needed a break from my secret santa fic and this is where my brain went, apparently. I really liked the idea of Jean-Luc and Beverly having been close like this way back when. It's probably a little AU, but the dynamic of their friendship is such a powerful one that I wanted to see what it would look like when she was together with Jack. It's a touch melancholy and doesn't exactly have a happy ending unless you squint.



( something old, something new )

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Computers are the devil!! My computer screen has been having some issues for the past couple days. The bottom right corner of the screen keeps going black and it's really hot. If that doesn't sound good, apparently it's because it's not. At all.

I told my dad about it and he suggested that I save all my stuff and load it onto a jump drive because sometimes when the screen starts acting up like that the whole thing just quits (queue creepy foreshadowing music). Just to be safe, I figured I should email myself my monster Secret Santa fic that's literally pages from being finished. Thank god I did because sure enough, no more than ten minutes later the whole screen went kaput.

*sigh*

I think I can get all my stuff off of it if I hook it up to a monitor, so at least that's good news... *crosses fingers*

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.