frog princess

Because she can easily be persuaded into all types of insanity, daegaer wrote me Rafa Nadal tennis bot AU! It is a thing of beauty.

Well, anyhow. I seem to have misplaced my faith in my writing ability recently, for the past four days. Maybe it fell down the back of the sofa or something, but I'm staring at the page with a blank mind, thinking 'this is crap' to every new line, and deleting. This kind of thing doesn't get me anywhere good.

In an attempt to crush the inner editor and get my brain going, I'm reviving an old meme:

Give me a character or pairing, and a word/scenario/some other form of inspiration and I'll write something (probably brief). I only want to write in Saiyuki or tennis rps fandoms at the moment.

ETA: thanks, I have enough now!

I have been googling futilely for images of Yohji Yamamoto's tranluscent suit for men (as mentioned here), because I feel this would cheer me up immensely.

But have two recs, both Saiyuki:

Something Borrowed by devikun, Hakkai/Gojyo, NC 17 - Gojyo inna dress. Kinky and hot and sweet and also just very well characterised.

Void by mistressrenet, Saiyuki Gaiden, Tenpou/Kenren, NC 17 - Just lovely. Sorry, I fail at eloquence today, but this is well worth reading and the last line just blew me away.

Oh, hooray! emungere has posted the last part of her fabulous ranma/saiyuki story, which I noticed grew a title in the night. Find out what becomes of panda!Sanzo, and will Gojyo have to bite the bullet and invest in some bras?

Part 10 of Ranma/Saiyuki, or, The More Things Change by emungere

Also, some art that made me laugh rather a lot: The Birth of Sanzo by Staleh4nd. Sanzo's fan really has never been better placed.

Holy crap it's so windy - 90 mph winds in some parts of the country today, although they're about 30-40 here. The wind is roaring about the house. I'm concerned about our garden wall, which leans at about an 80 degree angle because of the yew tree growing next to it. Cycling across town the dentist was not fun and I was bright pink and mithered when I arrived. My nice new shoes got splattered with mud too. Humph. Cycling back down the Oxford Road, I was almost at a standstill against the wind. But Joel said my teeth were healthy and I don't need anymore work. A milestone for me - a ten minute, problem free check up.

For those of you that need to waste some quality time, spotted via grendelity: Nun Lander- land the nun safely or she goes to hell. I failed dismally every time and all my nuns crashed and burned. Sorry, nuns.

I've been reading Lucifugous by Elizabeth Bear - a very slashy zeppelin-and-detective-based novella (is that a genre? It should be), downloadable for free here. Lucifugous means... actually it's more fun if you look it up yourself.

Shiny baubles!

Jeep in an apron! by xsmoonshine. Her powers of cute are awesome. More Jeep in an apron - kind of

Really Bad Eggs - by ranalore, Saiyuki/PotC crossover and really very adorable. (eta: changed the link! oops)

There's been some interesting Saiyuki meta dotted about the place recently:

cicer: Gojyo and sex
devikun - bits of Saiyuki translations that baffle eg, Jack of all trades and master of none, and flemmings elaborates on what the Japanese equivalent of this phrase actually means.

In other news...

We are having a Buffyathon at my house. We watched all of season two, and now half of season three. Poor lonely Faith. I keep thinking of her as female version of Gojyo, and that way madness lies because then I have to work out who is Hakkai, and Sanzo and then doom.

I watched the first four eps of Heroes: - ( random thoughts )

I also have things to say about XxxHolic 8 and 9, Melusine and The Virtu, The Prestige and Connotations, but where is the time? I have porn to write, and my yaoi challenge story, and then more porn. Ahh, the busy schedule.

My backlog of links is growing... so have some Saiyuki things I've read and enjoyed recently:

Rise by wordofastory. A short Gojyo and Hakkai story. I love the shades of Tenpou and Kenren in this.

hibem has been writing more Hungry Jess - Part 10, in which nice Dr Borowitz describes the benefits of his rectal dilation therapy. It's Saiyuki meets the Wild West, and a very wonderful parody - there are links to all the parts from this chapter.

Three hundred and sixty four by devikun, Hakkai/Gojyo. I have a huge, love for fics about Hakkai and Gojyo's domestic arrangements. What the hell do they do together? How do they get on? I love the way this fic fills in some details. A year in the life of them.

There was a little spurt of mpreg fics a while ago:

Small Miracles by trensaddiction. "Where'd he get an egg anyway?" Adorable Jeep fic.

Weathered by emungere, Gojyo/Hakkai, Kou/Doku. Ni has a dastardly plot... and yet this fic is really a lovely, quiet look at Hakkai's ability to love.

Some meta:

grendelity talks about the Burial chapters

And cicer does too, with a discussion of Banri's 'switching teams' comment

sesame_seed makes some interesting points about the evolution of Tenpou-Gonou-Hakkai

oyceter on youkai as a metaphor for racial minorities, also spoilers for Reload 4

Drabble I wrote for the 100_roadtrips classic literature challenge : The Metamorphosis - the kappa turns into a giant bug.

Various fics I've enjoyed recently:

Wild Adapter and Antique Bakery drabbles by devikun

Maid Fetish by threewalls - Hakkai's, um, love of cleaning.

I’ll See Your Heart and Raise You Mine by eris_frost, Gojyo/Hakkai, PG 13 - sweet and restrained fic about Hakkai and guilt.

A Treatise on Tactics by springgreen, Tenpou/Kenren not-quite-smut. Tenpou is so going to win the war, too.

Promises Unbroken also by springgreen. Wonderful story of promises kept, or at least the attempt to keep them. 500 years of blonds falling off mountains will stay with me a long time.

Kenyuu's Advice Column by new_kate - such good advice.

Brief Encounter by daegaer - Schuldig/Yohji. Enthralling Weiss Kreuz fic set after Yohji leaves and becomes Ryo.

***

In other news, the janitor story has stopped writing itself and is now making me do all the hard work, which is scaring me because it's really too hard and wah! But I got a couple more thousand words done yesterday and this morning. Alas, they are resistant to having any sex whatsoever, at least for the time being. Oh! inspiration strikes. Hehehe.

Randomly, one of the good things about my job is that I get to browse jewellery sites as much as I like. I am torn between the puffer fish and the sting ray, not that I could afford either: Bee, butterly and dragonfly brooches, sting ray brooch and a stag beetle brooch and puffer fish pendant. On second thoughts I like the puffer fish most.

ETA: I forgot to ask - was there ever a Saiyuki newsletter-type community, like there are for other fandoms? If not, would people want one? People's views on this, pros and cons etc, welcome!

Whoever did this to my story... I loooove you. *g*

I got a remix of my fic Layers. The remix is Feast on Scraps (Variation on a Theme of Layers) (Sanzo/Hakkai/Gojyo, NC-17) and it is fabulous.

I have tomorrow off. Well done, Louise, for thinking ahead, because the Family Event ended up being kind of knackering.

I bought a copy of 'Glamour' for the free bag. When did bag giveaways with fashion magazines become so popular? I suppose it must work, but it has only tempted me twice, in about five years. The bag expands hugely and had sort of semi rigid handles and comes in quite a sweet pattern. The magazine is ghastly, though. I read it for 20 minutes and had to abandon it at Banbury station feeling fat, frumpy, and unhappy with my entire life. Wow, all this and a free bag too!

Victoria Beckham's tips for stylish dressing include 'visualise your entire look for that day'. Er, harrassed? Sleepy? Woman-in-fashion-magazine-inspired-mid-life-crisis?There was also the priceless advice: 'shop the world'. Right. I'm always nipping to Tokyo on my days off. In fact I might pop over to Milan tomorrow. In my Beckham-brand teleporter. Well, really.

Next hot tip: porridge is the next big thing.

***

In other news the remix fic is now at a stage where I am tweaking and trying to think of more interesting ways to say things, or for people to say. It needs something to lift it a bit, I think, but other than than I'm quite pleased with it.

Also, I haven't forgotten about the outstanding fic bits and character rambles I promised, although it's possible everyone else has. There just haven't been enough hours, woe.

Short and sweet Saiyuki links:

Random kitchen porn by devikun, Hakkai/Gojyo

Or Else Be A Monster by devikun, a riff on hibem's Damage Control, both Hakkai/Gojyo

Recovery by new_kate - after journey West, and a Youaki King

A litte more Saiyuki noir from emungere: Poodle Springs, Hakkai/Gojyo

Of Recklessness and Water by daegaer Hakkai/Gojyo, in a lovely understated sort of way.

edonohana's Five Incarnations that never happened, part I: Three, Five Incarnations that never happened, part II: Autumn Gold

The rather lovely collection of ficlets and art I got for my birthday, that I forgot to do a round up of. So sorry, and thank you again. *facepalm*

mistressrenet makes interesting points about Sanzo's sadism

edonohana asks about Hakkai's limiters, and edonhana's fic to go with it: Five Incarnations That Never Happened, Part III: The Lesson

lebateleur talks about Tenpou and Kenren

Kung Fu Fighting - completely adorable a cappela version by Robyn Hitchcock and the Eygptians

ETA: awesome winged Saiyuki boys drawn by uberdomkumagoro. You have to have the comm friended to see them.

Almost certainly TMI ( Read more... )

I feel less run down, almost normal. I put this down to forcing myself to go to bed early and eating vast amounts of tomatoes.

In other news, I have very little other news. Work has been taking up a lot of my energy, I've been steadily reading through Administration and quietly boggling at the complexity of the thing, have been picking up various unfinished stories and getting on with finishing them, which feels good. I have most of next week off, and that feels even better. My plan is not to do things I don't want to do.

Now I need tea. Mmm, tea.

Quickie Saiyuki rec: this story made me go erk!-- in a good way: Bared by queen_yokozuna, R, Sanzo/Gojyo

Once more I am germ central. Yesterday a man coughed all over me on the train and now look. Sneezing, runny nose, inability to motivate self to do massive piles of work that need to be done for Monday. It's not hard work, but there's lots of it. I am at home, wondering if going upstairs to watch morning TV is a good idea. I could have toast with honey and a nice cup of tea. Or germ-fighting cold medicine.

For years I've heard people say that the Administration series by Manna is great. I've read most of the first part and have to say that so far it really is, and I do recommend it for a satisfying read. It's original slash fic. I used to think you couldn't have such a thing, because slash to me meant pairing two characters who had no romantic involvement in the source text, and in that sense Manna's story isn't slash, but it's definitely slashy. And very good.

I'm cheering myself up with Office shoes:
gold and bronze and cream with diamante buckle, red sparkly ballet pumps or greeeeeen, red wedges, cutie heels with felt flowers

Also, GIP!

You should go and read the smut wot people wrote me, it's all amazing:

Crowley/Aziraphale by irisbleu

Schuldig/Crawford by ladyjaida

Strangely familiar by akisawana

Yohji/Omi! by mistressrenet.

And, latest news: Little Britain/Good Omens crossover by lovelyzelda. For ladies only.


And cos I never did quote anything from Firefly: Good meme