In other news, Vermont is just about the greenest state I've ever been to. I spent the day in Bennington, drifting in and out of cute stationery stores and taking pics with their most recent public art project - artistically painted plexiglass moose. Tomorrow I'm off to Putney and perhaps Middlebury. We'll see how the weather holds up. Today was cold and rainy! I've also been logged in remotely dealing with all sorts of developments at work. One of my clients is Cirque du Soleil and they just sent in a large PO, which is great, but also requires lots of emails to be sent back and forth.
In other news, Vermont is just about the greenest state I've ever been to. I spent the day in Bennington, drifting in and out of cute stationery stores and taking pics with their most recent public art project - artistically painted plexiglass moose. Tomorrow I'm off to Putney and perhaps Middlebury. We'll see how the weather holds up. Today was cold and rainy! I've also been logged in remotely dealing with all sorts of developments at work. One of my clients is Cirque du Soleil and they just sent in a large PO, which is great, but also requires lots of emails to be sent back and forth.
1.) Go to my sidebar and pick out a line or two from one of my stories. (Must be a full line, please -- no sentence fragments or speech tags or other such nonsense.)
2.) I will respond with which story of mine I think it's from.
3.) If you stump me, I'll do something. Haiku perhaps? I just don't have time for drabbles right now.
This should be hilarious, especially if it's a line about orgasms or sex. I've written so many of them, it'll be entertaining to see if I can keep them straight :)
Also, I'm packing up with the 'rents and Gus tomorrow to go for vacation in Vermont. I'll be at a resort in Mount Snow in West Dover from June 5th-June 12th. Looking forward to lots of hiking, kyacking, sleeping, and general happy nature time. I also started reading "Female Chauvenist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" by Ariel Levy. Loving it so far. Might have thoughts about it later and how it relates to fandom.
I also still plan on doing the recs post. I'll have my laptop along with me in Vermont and will have some free time to mess about on the comp since I won't be at work on in the gym. Would also love to write something for the latest round of
Fang Fetish Awards just announced the winners of their latest round and I picked up a few awards. This round was a rough one for the mods and I want to thank them, the other judges and the graphics team for putting in such a monumental effort and allowing me to participate (as a judge), as well. I'm especially boggled by the beautiful plaques that their new artist
Off Route 17 (Buffy/Angel)
The Hard Choices (Gen - Angel, Joyce. Buffy)
I also want to congratulate the many talented people on my flist with a special shout out to
In general, there were a number of exceptionally good fics this round that I'd love to rec. There was even a rare slash pairing that majorly impressed me. Who would have guessed? But I do love to be surprised and have my biases shattered. It's very satisfying to read something you're sure you won't like and then you do. So, expect a post pimping the hell out this round's talent later today or tomorrow. There will be right-ups.
May 12th - Took Gus out for a 24th bday celebration at Morton's, which is a fancy, expensive NYC steakhouse. The reason behind the decision was because during our roadtrip last summer, Gus had his heart set on going to Amarillo, TX to try some 72 oz. steak eating challenge. The day we were in southwest Texas he got feverish and pretty ill, and we spent the night holed up in Vaughn, NM - me wrapping him in cold towels to try and bring the fever down and he fitfully shaking and squirming. Needless to say, he was disappointed, so this was me trying to symbolically make it up to him. The food was okay, but the service was fantastic. Our waiter reminded me of a very young Sinbad. They also made a special menu for us, took pictures, and gave me a special discount sine it was a special occasion. It was still $200...
May 13th - James and I went out to Brooklyn for a Barfly event. A swanky, hip bar/restaurant in DUMBO was launching a new cocktail list, so we hopped on the F train and made our way out. We got there early and took some time to walk around - wow, cute neighborhood. I loved the cobblestone streets and the views of the Brooklyn Bridge were gorgeous. It was a lovely evening out, complete with full appetizer and entree, plus two drinks per person. A $100 meal completely comped - I love going to these press related events. And, surprisingly, I would absolutely go back to Rebar. It had a great atmosphere, solid food and very affordable. To read James' review, check it out here - Rebirth at Rebar.
May 16th - Spent the afternoon with Amanda and then headed out to Brooklyn again to see my friend S, who is graduating this year. Her parents own a multi-million dollar brownstone in Cobble Hill. No need to say it's incredibly nice. Our mutual friend R was there with her b/f, and I basically spent the evening catching up with them, since many of the attendees were S's family and current college friends. Highlight of the evening: Sitting on their swing set in their garden in the dark under a pretty trellis. The not so fun part? Spending the better part of Sunday in thet bathroom. Apparently, everyone who had eaten the seafood stew (which was tasty!), ended up being violently ill the following day. Nothing like a spot of food poisoning to brighten a graduation party, I say.
May 18th-19th - I was working at the New York Stationery Show this past week, which is held every May at the Javitts Center. When I have some time, I'll post pictures of our booth, which were enormous this year. Traffic was slow, but I met with a number of clients and had some productive conversations with Cirque du Soleil, Disney Consumer Products, Seasame Street, the Whitney, MoMA, New York Public Library and others.
May 23rd - A day out with my aunt. We went to The Frick, which I haven't been to in about 7 years, and then the Hooper Hewitt Museum. This is my project for the summer. I've gone to a number of smaller NYC museums in the last two months, and hope to visit many more soon. It not only helps inform my work, but I love cultural attractions. We then went back to her place and watched the first disc of Firefly, which I've never seen before. It was a lot of fun seeing it now because I'm familiar with so much of the cast from other projects they've done since then. I was also genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed the characters and storyline. The premise itself is a bit crack, but the execution is spot on. Mom and I are going to watch them on Hulu together. I wonder why it got cancelled so early?
Tomorrow I'm getting a haircut after work in preparation for my cousin's weddig next weekend and on Wednesday evening I'm going to see Kooza, the new Cirque du Soleil show at Randall's Island. I've also been trying to hammer down plans concerning WriterCon. It's smack dab in the middle of my parents vacationing in Cape Cod, so I'm trying to figure out what time I can take off from work, go to Minneapolis, AND go to the Cape all in about a week's time. Crazy.
So, the last two days I've been utterly swimming in Spock/Uhura fic. I gotta say it's so exciting to be enthused by a new pairing and a new 'verse. The last time I read fanfiction in any other fandom beyond BtVS was about... 8 years ago? So, go me!
The canon is all very new to me and I'm woefully uninitiated in Star Trek's original series. It's later incarnations I avidly watched as a kid, but I just don't have much of a grasp on these characters outside of what I saw in the film. That said, I desperately want to write them, especially Spock. He's fascinating. I'm at a disadvantage though. Why can I write BtVS characters so well and channel their voices? Well, I've only rewatched episodes 300 times over. One viewing of Star Trek does not impeccable characterization make.
Why am I so into them? They're an intellectually and emotionally interesting couple. Both brilliant, which I dig. He's got so many conflicting issues going on with his emotions and the balance he strikes between repression and expression. I'm all about emotion in my writing. I live for that twisted emotional angst shit, so Spock's a fucking goldmine for me. And there's the hot and the sadness, whole emotional hurt/comfort thing they have going with those beautiful, sweet kisses in the elevator. I just about died and I don't easily fangirl couples. Hell, I didn't even know they'd get together before seeing this. But when she holds him and kisses him and he's in so much pain, *gasp* Be still my heart. I think I'm in love.
I realize this is a totally incoherant post. I make myself laugh. <---- This is Cat when she's inexplicably excited and giddy.
In addition to hitting the refresh button over and over at
spock_uhura, I also checked out
st_xi_kink . *howls* This comm is hilarious. The kink prompts they throw out there are so outlandish, I usually end up guffawing rather than being intrigued. The best one?
Scotty, while playing around with all the ideas his future-found awesomeness will apparently give him, accidentally beams something up someone's ass. Bonus points if it's Kirk, while trying to hide it in public, and much to his surprise, he really, really likes it.
Hm, crossover, anyone?
Also, how great was Dollhouse the other night? Finally getting Amy Acker's backstory was such a treat and she was rockin' that bod! Having kids filled her out nicely. She's left her frail Fred behind (and good riddence).
For some reason, writing all these rare pairings has really got me hankering to try Dawn/Angel. I have no idea what I want to write about them. It's unusual for me to feel inspired to do a particular pairing without any notions of plot or purpose beforehand. I'm willing to throw it out there. Anyone have any brilliant ideas?
( More blathering )
Title: Draw Back Your Bow
Author: ClawofCat
Timing: AtS S1 during "Five By Five"
Rating:R
Pairing: Faith/Drusilla, Drusilla/OC
Warnings: Violence and sexual situations
Words: 1929
Summary: While preparing for her showdown with Angel, Faith is confronted by a mysterious woman with a keen interest in her dark side.
A/N: Written for shapinglight, who requested a Faith/Dru drabble. The title if this piece is a segment of a lyric from the Sam Cooke song "Cupid." To listen, click HERE. Many thanks to eowyn_315 for the beta.
Title: Just Dancing
Author: clawofcat &
only_passenger
Timing: S7 during “Empty Places”
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Faith/Dawn
Words: 799
Summary: When the Potentials need to blow off steam, Faith takes the girls out to the Bronze. A dance with Dawn gets her more than she bargained for.
A/N: For snowpuppies, who asked for a Faith/Dawn drabble. About a year and a half ago, only_passenger and I were messing around and decided to co-write, as an exercise, a series of related vignettes featuring Faith. This scene was one of those vignettes. Part of the challenge was to merge our writing styles together to form a cohesive narrative voice. For those of you familiar with both our work and/or styles, feel free to try and guess who wrote which part.
( Robins live on my fire escape! )
Title: Deck the Walls
Author: ClawofCat
Timing: S3, shortly before “Amends”
Rating: G
Pairing: Faith & Oz
Words: 523
A/N: Written for rebcake, who asked for a Faith & Oz drabble. This ficlet is a mixture of what I originally wrote for your request in December and new material. Since I love canon tie-ins, references to events in “Lover’s Walk” and “Amends” abound.
Timing: Late S7
Rating: PG
Pairing: Spike & Anya
Words: 385
A/N: Written for fangfaceandrea, who asked for a Spike & Anya friendship drabble. I totally laughed writing this.
The first six people to comment in this post get to request a drabble of any pairing/character of their choosing from me.
Let me add a caveat - I'll do het and femmeslash, but no male slash. Writing about men sleeping together never seems to help my muse! Seriously.
I feel beyond honored and want to thank all the judges, mods, artists and my fellow winners/nominees. I guess this means I should try and keep writing, huh?
( Awardy goodness )
( Click for pretties! )
Many thanks to the judges, graphics staff, and those who continue to nominate my stories. Also congrats to my fellow nominees and winners.
If you're looking for some beautifully written angst, I want to highly recommend the fic that beat me out for Best Het at Rogue Poets. It's a superb story and Carly deserves much more attention for it. Check out A Brief History of Time by .
Although not currently complete, I wanted to post the Faith/Other because the writing is pretty top notch. For those who like Faith, you might get some insight into her character, but you'll primarily get some really hot teenage sex, and who doesn't like that? I'm not sure what the point of this flashback is yet, but maybe your comments will steer me in a direction so I can wrap this up.
Title: The Do That Girl
Author: ClawofCat
Timing: BtVS S2
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Faith/OC
Warnings: Explicit sexual situations, including rimming, anal, underage sex and drinking, and references to rape and physical abuse
Words: 2000 (for now)
Summary: In the midst of her disastrous home life, Faith finds freedom in her late night rendezvous with long time friend and sexual partner, Danny. When they reach a crossroads in their physical relationship, Faith has to make a choice.
A/N: For only_passenger. Okay, so, the premise of the fic sort of got away from me. I was going for that girl who does that thing and got instead that girl who doesn’t want to do that thing, but does when she finds the right person. Go figure.
Although it’s not explicitly stated, I intended this fic to take place shortly before Faith is called, which would be compliant with BtvS S2. She’s in high school, while Danny is a few years older, probably a drop out. This is, of course, only one possible back story for Faith’s home life, but one that I felt served the needs of this story. I also drew some inspiration from the Barenaked Ladies song “In the Car,” which you can listen to HERE.
Hello all of you out there in LJ land. It occurred to me today that the month of March marks my second year in fandom. March 8th, 2007 (to be exact) was the date of my first LJ entry. Some of you may remember it because it featured my first Spuffy fic, The Heart of Her. This past year was eventful, often in difficult and unpleasant ways. As I browsed back through old entries, I felt both a sense of relief and regret that school and my own personal obstacles got in the way of immersing myself as fully in fandom as I had in 2007-2008. My marked absence these last few months from the LJ scene are also a testament to a life of greater responsibility, altered priorities, and more focus.
For me, this fandom year was overshadowed by my grandmother's illness and death, my thesis woes, fears about graduation and my future, the joys of taking off across the country for five weeks, testing the waters of adulthood with a full time work schedule, worrying about expenses and insurance, finally (finally!) putting my physical health first and dedicating myself to going to the gym (which I've been loving the last two months), vacationing in beautiful Mexico, and then winding up in a similar state of uncertainty about what I'd like to do with my life. For those of you past your twenties, maybe this all sounds familiar.
I won't say that I've checked out of fandom for good, but the draw isn't the same for me as it was. I'm at work longs hours, followed by the gym 3-4 evenings a week. I get home. I don't want to be on the computer. I don't make the time for reading stories or posting or being on LJ like I used to. But, I do miss it, sometimes. Hearing about your lives, reading your fic, looking at your manips. You're a great group of people, and I wish I could be more present and write something for you. But my spark to write is gone for the time being. It's not that there aren't stories to tell or my muse has dried up. I'm just tired and with only so much energy to spare, I can't put it toward this creative outlet. It feels weird to say it. It feels weird to not be writing anything at all these days. Not journalism, news, or fanfic. I write nothing, and that's a damn shame because I know it's something I'm meant to do.
I wanted to make a quick recap of my fandom year, but instead this has turned into a slightly emo post about me. To get back on topic, here are a few of my accomplishments that I thought I'd mention:
-- I wrote 16 fics of varying length this past year. In total, I tackled 9 different pairings and 6 that were completely new to me, including Xander/Faith, Xander/Dawn, Wes/Lilah, Fred/Gunn, Faith/Buffy, and Buffy/Angel.
-- Of the 16 fics, 7 were out and out smut fics, 6 were written for communities, 4 were written as gifts, and 3 as responses to requests in my journal. My two favorite stories of the year are Acts of Contrition and Off Route 17.
I had a few firsts with in terms of genre, length and pairing.
-- First Fluff Fic: How Many Blonds Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?
-- First Humor Fic/Girl on Guy Rimming Scene: Learning Curve
-- First Gen Fic: The Hard Choices
-- First Fic Written in the 2nd Person: Wool Over My Eyes
-- First Femmeslash Fic: Severed and Sewn
-- First Spaiku: School Hard Spaiku
-- Longest Fic to Date: Off Route 17
-- I took a crack at some thoughtful meta on kink, which generated fantastic discussion at The Appeal of Slash, and Kink in Fanfiction posts.
-- My ignorance about Twilight shown brightly when I naively asked What's Twilight? and then laughed for the next two hours as I found out.
-- Gus and I put our smutty brains together and collaborated to create some truly porntastic Spuffy artwork
And, like in my 2008 post (which can be read HERE), my top two fandom moments of the year were:
-- Dressing up as Buffy & Spike, which you can view HERE & HERE. I love putting on costumes and making an ass of myself, and I think you all really enjoyed it too. The response about my likeness to Buffy in particular was fun and highly entertaining. And of all the Buffy outfits I could have assembled, who would of guessed that Get it Done would have been the winner?
-- Seeing only_passenger, sevendeadlyfun and hello_spikey on my return trip to NYC during my roadtrip this past summer. Some of the best fandom moments (for me) are when you get to meet your fellow fans (and friends) face to face after months or years of talking online, over email and on the phone. I had the great fortune of staying with Pass, her son and family on the 4th of July. We watched fireworks and generally squeed over each other, went swimming in a local lake, and played superheroes. Again, with the dressing up. I very cleverly decided that my bra and underwear had to go on over my clothing to pull this particular game off. Seven and I sat at her dining room table and perved out, as we're want to do, on all things fandom and kink. I also got to see her tattoos, watch lego characters recite Eddie Izzard routines on youtube courtesy of her sons, play with doggie, and have a rollicking old afternoon. Spikey was also a complete doll and took the time to meet me over her lunchbreak. She has a fantastic sense of style, is witty, and fun. If WriterCon is still in my future this summer, I hope I get to meet many more of you to add to the memories.
I'm not sure what this fannish year will bring me, but I look forward to it, whatever it may be.
Title: Landfall
Timing: Post-NFA
Pairing: Spuffy
The upside-down expanse of sea stretches out indefinately, a ribbon of teal filling the sky to the horizon. She wonders why this blue is different from the blue of California, how the frothy emulsion of color makes landfall in its own distinct hue.
The edge and recede of breakers below lends synchronicity to the mouthing crawl between her thighs. Her fist, anchored in the sheets, encounters his arm, plying her legs open, stretched taught and sun-kissed.
The work he does casts her adrift, treading and shivering before the plunge, ensconced by the lapping that rocks her. The swift rhythm makes her head heavy and full; she can hear the echoing thud of her pulse beating in her temples as the blood rushes tempestuously about, scattered and surging in its descent downward.
Neck bared and head lolling, her face pinkens, the golden wall of her hair brushing the tiled floor. There's a catch, a groan, air hissing through teeth when he hitches inside her, a backward step that hurtles her off balance. She holds her breath when the cascade comes. Thrashed in the rolling breakers, she drifts toward the blue she knows best; Spike's arms her quiet shoal amidst the warring current.
( Blue expanding to the horizon )
For those of you wondering where I've been, I joined a gym last week and have been doing lots of planning for the trip and working to fund it. I'll probably have a bit more time to hang around on LJ when I get back. If there's anything I've mised (which is entirely likely), drop a link in comments.
I've also posted a ton of recs over at
Hope you're all well!
