I wish I was a mermaid and was friends with all the fish

So, remember back when I said I wasn't going to disappear for months at a time again? Yeah, that didn't work out so much. And I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'm going to make an effort to at least keep up with my friends list (I managed to get up to ?skip=1000 before LJ wouldn't let me go back any further, and there were still unread posts before that). Basically, I miss fandom like crazy. But, stuff I have been doing lately:

+ Grad school. This is, like, 95% of my life lately. Ugh.

+ Volunteer jobs (x2). Super fun, but between these and school and having an actual social life, I really haven't had time for anything else.

+ Trying to finish existing fic commitments. My apocabigbang fic is finished and sent in and ready to post (yay!); helpbrazil2011 not so much, but I'm working on it. Ugh, major guilt.

+ Watching Victorious. Guys, I think Beck/Jade is my new OTP, they are so amazing. If anybody out there actually watches this, come squee with me.

That's about it. Yeah, my life is super boring. But now I'm (finally!) on break, so I have about a week to get things done before I'm swamped again. I can do this! Right?

I made a really good start last month, and then ... well. Three fics in three different fandoms (Make It or Break It, Pretty Little Liars, and Disney RPF), about 10,000 words in total.


The No Touching Rule (Make It Or Break It - Sasha/Payson - PG-13 - 8495 words) Summer wants to teach the girls about abstinence. Lauren wants Summer to marry her dad, Kaylie wants Austin to leave her alone, Payson wants to forget she ever kissed her coach, and Sasha just wants his gym back. (And Payson, maybe.) Spoilers up to episode 2:8 - Rock Bottom.

I Trust You (To Tie Me Up) (Pretty Little Liars - Darren/Hanna - PG-13 - 392 words) This isn't a game, he says, but of course it is.

I Think We're Almost Legendary (Disney RPF - Demi Lovato/Selena Gomez - PG-13 - 1300 words) Demi and Selena, filming the One And The Same music video.


Well, at least it's something, right? Plus it means I didn't flake out on femslash10, which makes me happy. (In related news, my girlsavesboyfic assignment is due pretty much now, and I've ... started it? So hopefully it will be done by the 7th.)

ALSO: apocabigbang SIGN UPS ARE LIVE FOR ROUND TWO. I really loved this challenge last year - it was my first (and so far, only) big bang, and OMG APOCALYPSE. Only, I have no idea what to write for it! I mean, I could write Wizards of Waverly Place again, obviously, but I also maybe wouldn't mind trying something new? Or maybe I should just go with what I know works for me, IDK. Any and all suggestions are welcome in the comments!

(Speaking of which - prompt fics are coming, I swear. I've just been super busy with uni assignments and other RL stuff, so everything's happening a bit more slowly than usual, but it's still happening.)

!!!!!!!!!

YOU GUYS, MY apocabigbang DRAFT IS DONE.

I mean, it's going to need some heavy editing - mostly for tone and pacing, but also for other stuff; I wrote it in a bunch of sittings, and didn't actually read over it each time, so there are probably a lot of words, phrases, etc. that I've overused. (God, this is such a rough draft.) And I need to make sure the plot actually makes sense, that there are no plot holes or stuff I've left out or stuff I've repeated, and I want to go over the plot and make sure I like it and there's nothing I should change or could do better. (Like the romance angle, which I was kind of like - should it be moving faster? Slower? Is it totally uneven? Should it be overt, or kind of unspoken like in Mnemonic Devices, OH GOD, SHOULD IT BE GEN? But I like where it ended up, I think, so I just need to go over the stuff leading up to that.) And it'll undoubtedly need a line edit for grammar/spelling/typos/whatever. And after get all that done, I think I'll send it off to beta :P

BUT. IT IS DONE, AND FINISHED, AND I CAN SEND IT OFF AND MAYBE, LIKE, NOT LOOK AT IT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, WOULDN'T THAT BE NICE?

I think I'll start drinking now.

Next up: help_haiti fic, and then post-Yuletide fics and halfamoon and purimgifts, and then maybe stuff that's just for fun! It could happen.

I finally put up (and decorated) my Christmas tree today! I know, it's less than a week until Christmas, but the less time it's up, the less time my cat has to eat it, so. I also finished wrapping presents, watched Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead, which, shut up, I still love, and then, I wrote stuff! (I love having my holiday ficathon assignments finished early, even if it's only by a couple of days, it makes me feel SUPER ACCOMPLISHED or whatever.)

So, since I'm actually making progress on stuff, I figured I'd do one of those fic check-in things.

( Current fics in progress )

So, yeah, I still haven't started my second apocabigbang fic, but I do have an idea for it; I'm not sure if it's something I'll actually manage to finish, but AtVS is definitely a go, regardless. And I probably won't be able to finish To Wish Impossible Things by the end of the year, like I would have liked, but I might be able to make some progress on it, and maybe make a concentrated effort once apocabigbang is finished.

Firstly, happy birthday to krickets! I'm sorry this is so late, but I hope you had an awesome day :D

Secondly, wow, I have been totally absent the past few days. I haven't even been writing quite as much as I should have been, but I should probably do a fic check-in, anyway, since we're about three quarters of the way through November.

( Exchange fics )

( Other stuff )

My second apocabigbang fic, and my yuletide fic, are still sitting at zero, but I have a potential idea plotted out for the former, and a solid grasp on the latter. I finished my Fall Fandom Free-For-all (yay!) - on time, even (double yay!) - which makes two fics down out of the seven I was working on at the start of the month. And my prettylightsfic assignment, while still unfinished, is at least past the minimum word count, so that's something.

All up, I've written almost 15,000 words this month on Stuff I'm Officially Supposed To Be Writing, and about 1000 words in unrelated ficlets; it's not exactly a record breaking word count, but at least it's progress.

It's (roughly) a quarter of the way through November, so, fic check-in time! The only thing I haven't made progress on is my Disney RPF big bang (excluding, of course, my prettylightsfic and yuletide fics, since those assignments haven't been sent out yet). And I've managed to write something every day for wrisomifu; so far, not counting random ficlets, I've written 6256 words, which ... is not extraordinary, but considering I was majorly blocked on one particular fic for most of that time, it's not horrible.

( Exchange fics )

( Other stuff )

Awesome Ficathons, Redux:

prettylightsfic is still open for sign ups until November 6th. If you can't sign up with the requirements currently in place, comment at the exemption post and you might still get to play.

apocabigbang is in need of more artists/vidders/mixers; if you're willing to create art, graphics, a vid, or a fanmix for someone else's fic, please considering signing up. Rules are here, and sign ups are open until November 9th.

yuletide sign ups just went live, and are open until November 12th. There are literally thousands of small fandoms to choose from, and it's definitely a fannish highlight of my year.


Not only did I plot my Wizards Of Waverly Place apocabigbang fic, but I actually started writing it:

Alex the Vampire Slayer


Take that, writing! In less exciting news, apparently my Halloween fic has become exactly like a chore in my mind; like, it's something that isn't particularly difficult, and can even be fun, but I dread doing it, anyway. But at least it's specific to that fic, and not writing in general, given that it's ficathon season and I just signed up for two big bangs.

Now I'm off to narrow down the list of fandoms I want to write for yuletide, post my dear author letters, and maybe even sleep, if I can manage it.

Wow, I am awesome at procrastinating. So far, in the past couple of days I've signed up for prettylightsfic, written my Dear Author letter, started compiling my yuletide requests and letter, put together word count meters for half a dozen fics that don't need them because they're currently sitting at a grand total of nothing, and written a ficlet that's completely unrelated to anything else I'm supposed to be doing. And, okay, I did manage to write another few hundred words of my spook_me fic, but the way it's going right now, I'm pretty much just hoping that people don't hate it.

I also tried to sleep, but obviously that didn't work out so well for me, since I'm still awake.

(But, apparently, last night the night before last I dreamed that my Disney RPF apocabigbang fic should be a Sliders AU. And that they should slide to a post-apocalyptic reality or something. And I woke up pretty firmly convinced that this was an actual thought I'd had while awake, and was therefore something that was actually awesome, instead of dream awesome, until I realised that, nope. In my dream, though, it was the best idea ever. And now I kind of want to watch Sliders. Specifically, I want to watch the pilot, but I do have a random season three episode that, for some reason, was included as a bonus feature on my Earth 2 DVDs. So maybe I'll watch that.)

Happy birthday, areasontofight! I hope you had an awesome day. If you'd like a request ficlet of some sort, you know the drill.

I think I'm going to go with Alex the Vampire Slayer for my Wizards Of Waverly Place apocabigbang, mostly because that's what I have a solid idea for right now. Which is exciting, bcause I think it's going to be really fun.

Speaking of fun stuff: Awesome Ficathons You Should Totally Be Participating In.

1) apocabigbang is open for sign ups until November 3rd, so if you've ever wanted to write a 10,000 word + fic about the end of the world, in any fandom (and, really, who hasn't?), or if you like making art, graphics, or fanmixes, you should go sign up.

The rules post is here, writer sign ups are here, artist sign ups are here.

2) The Fall Fandom Free-For-All is still open until November 18th. Post a wish list of up to ten things you always wished someone would make for you, and see what you can give other people in return!

The main post is here, and my wish list is here. If you post a wish list, link me to it!

3) prettylightsfic is polling on potential fandoms until October 26th, and sign ups run from October 27th until November 6th. It's a multifandom RPF (actor fic) exchange that's always a lot of fun, so if you're thinking about participating, go vote in the poll here. (And put in a good word for Disney RPF as a write-in fandom!)

Now, back to seeing whether I can finish To Wish Impossible Things before the end of the month. It's possible, right?

I totally fail at on-time birthday wishes. But happy birthday to prozacpark for October 3rd, I hope you had an awesome day! If you'd like a ficlet, etc. of some sort, just let me know :)

Finished another remix fic (yay!), which means I've written three out of five, including my primary assignment. I'm still planning on writing the other two, but at least I can relax about those. And so far I've written five fics for omgjustinalex, which. Is awesome? I mean, it's only been running for about ten days, so. (I'll still be writing more, probably, but also other non-kink meme stuff.)

I've (finally) started writing The Shake Up, which is also yay. I'm only about 500 words in so far, but I think it's coming along well.

Also, because I will probably keep pimping this: apocabigbang! RULES / ARTIST SIGN UPS / WRITER SIGN UPS. Sign ups run until November 3rd, final posting is in mid-March, artists can create art, graphics, vids, or fanmixes, and the minimum word count is only 10,000 words. It's open to any fandom, including RPF and crossovers, and the only requirement is that the fic somehow centre on an apocalypse.

(And, yes, I signed up to write two fics, I am officially insane.)