made by nyaubaby

Okay, actually SEMI-FRIENDS ONLY!!!

A lot has been going on lately, as most of you know, and I am probably overreacting, but I've decided to simply lock any posts that aren't fic, recs, or pimpage. If that's all you're here for, then no problemo, as those posts won't be locked. If you want to read my thoughts on episodes and the random bunnies and whining and squeeing I do at any moment, just let me know. For the most part, the only journals I won't friend back are the ones that are empty or haven't been updated in awhile. And even then, if you email me (or I already know you), we can probably work it out.

This might be permanent or last a few weeks. I don't know at the moment. I apologize for any inconvenience.

I think I've added everyone on my friends list who I hadn't friended before except those as mentioned above (no content or no updates in awhile), but if I missed you, let me know.

Aside from that, comment if you friend me, otherwise there is a chance I won't notice.

I've been battling bronchitis of doom that won't go away.  My sister had caught the flu and I told her to stay away from me...and then my Assistant had the flu as well and came into work (at which point, I sent her home pointing out that we have sick time for a reason!)...I did this not to be "mean" as both of them said, but because I knew this was inevitable.  I take something that everyone else recovers from in a week and mutate it into an ongoing, never-ending illness.

On the bright side, I don't get sick that often anymore, but when I do, it just hits for weeks.  I'm getting slightly annoyed at this point more than anything.

And I'm on an inhaler, something I haven't needed since I was like eighteen years old.

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Tonight I go see Rent in Philly as part of my theater subscription and I'm taking my other Assistant.  It should be fun.  I haven't seen Rent in a long time at this point.  It will always have a special place in my heart.  A lot of my closest friends came into my life because of my love of the OBC Rent and doing the line and all of that back in my younger years. 

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Who watches Manifest?  I think that and Million Little Things are my new favorite shows.  I'm just depressed that Manifest is done until next year.  i want more answers to what the heck is going on.

Other than that, I've watched Umbrella Academy and really loved it.  It went off in a different direction of the comics, but I enjoyed what was done and I can't wait to see where it goes from the end of season one.   I can't decide if Five or Klaus is my favorite - but I found myself going back-and-forth quite a bit.

And, of course, my great love of all things Bravo and reality tv.  Love After Lock-Up - I've gotten a few of my coworkers to start watching this trainwreck because it's amazing!  I still ponder how one makes that decision to seek out a person in jail as a potential life partner, but the show is the best kinds of crazy.

Vanderpump finally looks like there will be some drama this season.  They've all been getting along super well except for things with James (as always) and Billie (which was weird to me), but in previews it looks like that might be changing.  They are the least self-aware group of people ever, but I love them all.   And then Real Housewives of New York is back as is Beverly Hills and I'm finishing up the end of New Jersey season (haven't watched the reunion yet). 

I find that reality television is my happy place since Trump became our President.  Okay, I loved it before that, but really, I can barely handle MSNBC or CNN anymore because I just get stressed and sad and angry...so I go to Bravo and watch so much fun crazy.

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I won some bids in the [Unknown LJ tag] auction that I'm excited about.  After my tax return each year I like to make some donations and this way I get to have some fandom fun as well.

I also signed up to take part in the [Unknown LJ tag] because it's all my favorite fandoms of the past (and some still are things I love).  I figure it will also get me writing and accomplishing some words toward my writing goal of 200K for the year.

Argh!  Stupid dreamwidth just deleted half my entry for some reason when I went to post it


I hope everyone who celebrates had a great holiday. Mine was busy, but not too bad.

A few of you linked me to your fandom_stocking, but send me your links if you're participating.  Mine is here.

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Yuletide went live and I got an awesome story.  It's Gifted Fandom and picks up after the movie and deals with the aftermath of moving on with life and trying to repair things.  The characters' voices are pitch perfect and I love the interactions they have.  It's good stuff and if you've seen the movie, I definitely recommend reading it - A Little Rain

I haven't had an opportunity to read a lot of the other fics yet, but I'm hoping to start tonight. 

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In other news, I've seen four movies this past week.  My staycation seems to be made up of movies -

Jumanji - highly enjoyable
Star Wars - good stuff.  It reminds me of the Empire Strikes Back in the sense that there are these hopeless moments in it, but it was enjoyable - though I'm intrigued to see how things will start in the next movie.
Pitch Perfect 3 - If you like the other two, you'll likely enjoy this one, but with all the movies out, I'd put it lower on a list to see.
Lady Bird - really good...though there is a scene where Matt Lauer is on the tv a character is watching and like five women in our theater were like "Ugh." -

I think for new year's eve we'll see Greatest Showman and I've been debating if I want to see Downsizing...

I might have a movie addiction.

Life has been super busy recently and work's been charging along as well. Which is good, I guess, because I do enjoy job stability, but a few minutes of rest is always something I enjoy. I've just had a lot of HR-related seminars and workshops recently, so then I'm out of the office and when I'm back in, I've got to play catch up.

I had a few things I wanted to post about, but now that I'm writing the entry, I've got nothing much to report.

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A Story Rec:

For Fandom Trumps Hate, I did some bidding with the plan to make donations no matter what, but I won a few things.

And I got this amazing story set in the Cal Leandros world - Brothers Before Souls by yopumpkinhead - It's set during Blackout, but it's from Niko's perspective on dealing with Cal going missing, to finding him, and to making the choices that he does for his brother.  I loved everything about this story and I highly recommend it.  One can never go wrong with Niko POV.  If you know the books, I definitely recommend you check it out.

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So author reveals occurred for chocolatebox and I meant to share the story I wrote, but again...time gets away from me.

I wrote The In Between Moments - Walking Dead, Rick/Daryl - it's set over the course of seasons four to winter finale of current season (7) - Somehow Daryl and Rick have managed to carve something out for themselves despite the constant loss and destruction around them. At least they always find their ways back to each other. A series of moments (missing scenes) between Daryl and Rick set from the end of season four through to the winter finale of season seven.

After the initial panic I always experience before starting a project for a challenge, I had a lot of fun with this one.  It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to write and how I wanted to bring canon into it.  And I had one scene written, but I was feeling like I wanted to do more...so it slowly expanded and I'm happy with the final product.  Gotta thank my betas for keeping me on target and pointing out when things that are in my head didn't translate onto the page.  And, it was nice to sort of give Daryl and Rick a few happy moments.

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I made up my deficit from January on my word count and pulled ahead during February.  A lot of it was nonfannish writing and a few WIPs I've been tossing around in my brain (I long ago stopped posting WIPs because when/if I lose interest, I didn't want people wondering how something ends)

Currently on my fannish writing to-do list:

-my piece forpicfor1000 - I've got this cool picture.  Now the challenge is to keep my wordy butt limited to exactly 1000 words.
-Ante-Up Losers story - I love any excuse to rewatch/read Losers.
-Just got my fandom5K assignment the other day and I'm super excited.  And this one I need to come up with something good and something that will lead to at least 5000 words of a story.

I've also got to continue with my regular writing.

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Not much else to report.  I joined Planet Fitness by my house because it was 10.00 a month and I figured it would help me break up my routine.  Though I do most of my working out at home or my Saturday bootcamp class...I do a lot of Jillian Michaels with her dvds or app.  But thought, this might be good for me.  Change it up.  I met with the trainer to set up a personal fitness plan...

This woman was crazy.  Like I just wasted an hour of my time.  First, she told me that I should have a heart rate of 114 when I'm working out to be in the "fat burn zone" like it's still the 80's/early 90's.  And then she just proceeds to give me a sheetful of machines to use and never showed me how to actually use the machines.  And learning the machines is the whole reason I signed up for the personal fitness plan.  It was just insane and has me rethinking this gym.  It's super cheap, but I don't know.  As part of my gastric sleeve surgery I got to use the gym's fitness center for a three month program and work with a trainer.  And maybe I got spoiled because she showed me how to do a move and then made me do it a few times to perfect my form and we moved on.   That's what I need and like.    For  now though, I think I'll just google some of the machines and go from there...or just use the gym for cardio and stick with home for strength training with free weights/body weight.

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Alright, I'm off.  I'm going to head to bed and do some reading.  I'm trying to finish up the first book in the Mistborn trilogy.  I'm really enjoying it.  It started a bit slow and it took me a little bit to catch on about the journal entries at the start of each chapter, but I find this world fascinating.  Even if the book is 600 pages long.

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So I signed up for a setting card for Get Your Words Out Bingo








I'm planning to do a mix of fannish and original, but feel free to leave a prompt of sorts. if it's a fandom you know that I'm aware of, I'll give it a go. But I'm really bad about doing prompts in a speedy fashion.

I haven't had an opportunity to post this past week.  Work has been crazy and I've had a few things going on outside of work.  A lot happens within a one week period each year as far as birthdays, anniversaries and other things.  A bright spot was that on Thursday night, we went to the Newsies Broadway Musical Movie.  A lot of fun.    Reminded me of seeing the show back in 2012.

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So ChocolateBox went live on Tuesday and I received two great treats!  Loved them both.

A Journey Long Overdue - Teen Wolf, Stiles/Derek - Glimpses into life after high school. Stiles's way to finding himself and how postcards as well as Derek play a big role in that.  Highly enjoyable. Loved how Stiles came to rely on the postcards all the while becoming who he needed to be.

Catch Me (if You Can) - Flash/Supergirl, Barry/Kara - This whole superhero thing was even better when Kara had someone to share it with. - This gets exactly what I love about the idea of Barry and Kara as a couple.  The ability to just be themselves completely.

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Glad to have Monday off.  I've got a bunch of things to do, including see the last of the Oscar-nominated movies.  There are also the not-fun errands that I keep putting off.  I forgot to place my ShopRite at Home order this week so I actually have to go grocery shopping.  Ugh.  I willingly pay that 5.99 fee for them to do the shopping and bring it to my car on the way home for work.  I feel my time is worth at least that much...but I forgot to do it and now I must go pick stuff up.

Not much else to report at the moment.  I'm behind on pretty much everything.

I haven't done this in awhile and it's Oscars-related, so...

1) Do you try to see all the nominees for Best Picture each year before the Academy Awards show?

Yes, I do.  It's a tradition I've had since I was a teenager and took my first film class in high school.

2) How many of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees have you seen so far?

So far I've seen five of them.  I still need to see Moonlight, Lion, Fences and Hacksaw Ridge

3) Of those nominated films you’ve seen, which is your favorite?

Manchester by the Sea was really, really good, but really, really depressing.  I really loved La, La Land and the Little Bit and I go around singing music from it a lot.  That said, my favorite is Hidden Figures.  It was so good.  I loved every second of it and I think it deserves so much more recognition.

4) Is your favorite the same as the film you think is actually the “best picture”?

I think Hidden Figures is the best picture of the five movies that I've seen thus far.  it's possible that will change when I see the rest.  I don't know.

5) Which film do you think will win Best Picture?

Right now, I would say either Moonlight or La, La Land, depending on the mood of the Oscar voters.  They're really weird sometimes.

I still try to check in over here a few times a week (and I'm really trying to better with comments all around these days so people know I still care and read)...but dreamwidth has been my go to place, with mostly crossposting over here.

And I wanted to make sure if any of you are on dreamwidth as well that I have you friended over there (if you still want me around - there is never any hard feelings if that is no longer the case).

If you're over there, feel free to leave me your username.  I'm tommygirl.

So I managed to write a few things for fandom stocking but I still have a few more bookmarked to do something for or I started and got distracted, never finishing in time. Figured I would share now that the recipients got to enjoy the little fanworks. As always, if you've read my stuff before, you know that titles are never my strong point.

The Lost Bet - Captain America, Steve/Bucky - Steve wins a bet and Bucky ends up at Ikea.

Holiday Plans - Hawaii 5-0, Steve/Danny - Danny might be freaking out about upcoming holiday plans.

Never Easy - The Losers, Jake/Cougar - Jensen isn't the easiest patient, but Cougar tries to focus on the fact that Jake is still alive.

Danny and the Volvo of Doom (did I mention the title thing?) - Sports Night, Danny/Casey - Danny gets himself hurt. Casey worries. And Dan really just wants to make out with his boyfriend on the couch.

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If any of you on my friends list had stockings, feel free to link me to them. I know it's after the fact, but it can't hurt. I've got a large writing goal to make this year!

Also, the Cuddles for Comfort fanfest is going until February 14th, so feel free to leave some prompts if you want. My fandoms are listed in my user info, but usually if I know a fandom, I'd be willing to give it a go.




Actually, even without the cuddles for comfort, feel free to leave any prompts and I'll do my best to provide at least a drabble in the next week or two.  I really need to get out of my head and write.

Day 14 - Go forth and commit an act of kindness. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it, tell us about it if you’re comfortable doing so.

I did my random act of kindness anonymously, but it's done.

Day 15 - In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share you love and squee as loud as you want to. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so

Dear fandom friends,

You guys always make this place worthwhile. I love that we can all go off, get lost in our real world lives, and come back, picking up where we left off with each other. I love how generous most people are, how people support each other within fandom and stand up for each other. I love having other people out there that love the same things that I do and get how it can eat at your brain and take over. I love how awesome most people in fandom are, despite attempts from some to create drama and wank. Continue to be awesome, fandom. The next four years will be hard for some people and fandom remains a great safe haven for some of us.

To my friends list in particular: Thank you for making even stressful days better. Thank you for being around with random fannish fun and understanding when I disappeared after my mother died and life happened. Thank you for being great people that I admire, get envious of (in good ways) and care about.

Love,

Mare

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And if you're interested,