There's so much, where to begin? Well, it depends. Most of this is Narnia, though there are a few other things, too. To decide if you are interested in "Not My Children's Narnia" (I'm an adult writing mostly adult characters for mostly adult readers) try Under Cover, or the first three chapters of The Stone Gryphon, Part 1 (Oxfordshire 1942), and/or the first four chapters of By Royal Decree. If you don't like those, you probably won't like the rest of it.

( Never tell me the word count )

I am going to see Avengers again!  knitress and econopodder are Avengers virgins so I'm excited and we WILL stay to the Very Last Scene.  You know the one, which I've so wanted to write but I figure there's more Shwarma fic at this point than Steve/Tony first time fic.  Also I've been to Budapest!  

There's been some interesting meta going about readers, writers, reviewers, entitlement, and concrit in lady_songsmith 's journal on Fandom Economy.

Anyway, then edenfalling presented this meme so tag, you're it!


1. Pick a pairing or a character
2. Ask me my particular headcanon regarding something about them
3. Post to your journal to share your own headcanon!

(And if you want to include OCs from fic and such, bring it on!)

I used to do this and the Skechers thing is one that bugged me the first time I saw the ads. So,

If you bought Skechers Shape Up and toning shoes, you may be entitled to a refund since the data that supported the claims wasn't adequate, supported, or reliable. 

FDA issues a warning about an unproven treatment for MS that could kill you.

The Advisory Committee on Antiviral Drugs recommended with certain caveats that the FDA approve the drug Truvada for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection.  The vote to approve recommended it for all populations, including men who have sex with men and women -- empowering a woman to prevent HIV-1 infection herself being especially important if she is in a situation where she cannot insist her partner use a condom.

Weight loss products based upon the idea that they (but actually may not) contain HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) don't work.  (This is another one that really infuriates me).

And, last but not least, Senator Leahy is demanding that FDA finalize 30 year old proposed regulations regarding sunscreens (Because FDA has been trying to update the sunscreen standards for longer than a lot of you have been alive. Really.) 

I posted chapter 14 of Harold and Morgan early this morning and you can find it here:


( Assumption make an Ass of U and Me )

So, yesterday, CBS released its trailer for a new series called Elementary which is, very much like the BBC's Sherlock, updating Sherlock Holmes by placing him, this time, in modern day New York City.  In a bit of bold casting, CBS has cast Lucy Liu as Doctor Joan Watson. 

And now, apparently some in fandom are upset? Because the CBS show is disrupting the Sherlock/Watson pairing on the BBC show? I think? I found this which is poking fun at the supposed angst?

I sort of speculated on this back with the last Pride & Prejudice remake that I love Lizzie and Darcy so much, I don't really care so much about everything else that happens around them so long as their essential relationship is maintained in the adaptation.  I feel very much the same way about Conan Doyle.  I love seeing it remade, over and over in new and different ways.  I love the idea of an Asian woman as Watson.  (I'd like it even better if Holmes was an Asian woman, but hey, give it time).

It's in moments like this that I think I have waaay too much "T" and "J" on my Myers-Briggs profile to be in fandom.

This whole week has been an exercise in frustration.  I spent hours of work in the yard last week only to find that I still have mildew on my monarda (bee balm) in the butterfly garden.  Over the last day, I've spent hours researching what was a wonderful, brilliant and awesome idea at work that has now completely crashed and burned.  Sigh.  So frustrating.

Fic has not been rewarding as I slowly, ever so slowly, work on the next chapter of H&M (current word count 9,100).  It tells you something about my lack of enthusiasm and my degree of burn out that I've been working out on the treadmill rather than trying to write.  I wrote an additional 6,000 words that I ended up deleting or removing for possible later use elsewhere.  I have an additional 22,000 words of stuff for this part of the story in various states of good, bad, and ugly.   I feel badly that it's been so long since an update from me so maybe this weekend?  I hope?  So here, have a sneak peek:

( You don't offer flowers and chocolates to entice a Crow )
Edit: Goodness I'm cranky.  So, something happy.  Our bullfrogs are back in the pond and croaking up a storm and so far have not been eaten by passing herons.  The cardinals, goldfinches, black-capped chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches are mobbing our feeders and managing to hold their own against the marauding crows and starlings.   I've planted a new red salvia and I'm waiting for the red hibiscus in my butterfly garden because then we will get the hummingbirds (and no, I've never heard them swear).

Mother's Day is a loaded thing, you know?  It's hard for those of us who wanted to be biological mothers and aren't, it's hard for those of us who lost mothers, it's hard for those of us who have become mothers to our mothers during end of life care.  So my thoughts are with you all.  Whether this is a good day or sad one, it is certainly one for reflection.  Some of us have had great relationships with our mothers and for some, those relationships have been really complicated.

As I see it, anyone, male or female, who has cared for another, in the home, school, community, or workplace, has been called upon to mother others who are in need.  Nuns, pastors, teachers, healthcare professionals, community developers and activists, all are called upon to mother others.  I wanted to spam this post with some of the awesome gifs and vids celebrating woman as protector and succor but I really suck at this.  So if you have something, go ahead and add it in comments if you are so inclined and I leave you with this example of mothering from Deathly Hallows Part 2.  (and no, not the one you are thinking of)

I've been gnashing my fandom fen teeth lately because the excellent discussion in the Star Wars EU fandom about the poor development of compelling female characters then led to the deeply discouraging but usual, "what's it to you since Star Wars is all for guys, right?"  Credit to people like duncatra webmistress at Club Jade for mustering a better response that I could manage which you can read about  here.  As Nancipants, Eliz, and others have been saying so eloquently, why are we still discussing this in 2012?  Sigh. 

So when I followed the wonderful Mary Sue to a PBS Off Book production on fan art and fan fic I got really, really irritated as apparently only dudes create fan art and write fan fic as they are the only ones featured in the vid.  The Mary Sue post is here. Now, we learn in the comments to that entry that Lisa Romagnoli, an assistant producer for PBS' Off Book, is looking to rectify the mistake.  She writes:

Hi! I'm the assistant producer for PBS Off Book. Thank you for the post. We are so excited to be on The Mary Sue! The lack of women in the episode has gotten a lot of attention, and I just wanted to say that it was a completely unintentional omission. We are sorry! Because of all the feedback, we're planning an addendum episode to feature female fan artists, so if you have suggestions of female artists that are NYC-based, please send them our way!

In response to another comment Ms. Romagnoli provides her email address:  lisa@kornhaberbrown.com
So, have it New York-based artists and writers!

I'll just delete right now my ranty rant about how marginalization of women seems to be the flavor of the day. I'm really pleased that PBS is responding to this really stupendous omission and reaching out to the ones who really do generate most of the fan fic and art content and maintain the communities that keep these things alive and culturally relevant.

May the 4th be with you! 
With her permission, I'm linking to a wonderful, wonderful post by my longtime Star Wars friend brightcupenny and the days she and members of the 501st and Rebel Legions spent at Legoland in California during Star Wars weekends.  The costumes and cosplay are wonderful but what especially struck me is how generous these wonderful people are by making themselves available within the park for pictures and interactions with guests. And Star Wars Girl Power is on full display!

You can read her LJ entry here
And her blog entry here
The pictures and cupenny's commentary will put a huge grin on your face.  I especially loved all the ladies of Star Wars hanging out together and with their young fans.

Remix reveals are up!!! 
I am so lucky!! I ended up remixing the people who remixed me!!  snacky wrote this lovely follow on to Follow the Star and lotl101 wrote an alternate view of how Lucy and Asim might have met!  Go and tell them how wonderful they are!!

Thank you both so much for these wonderful stories!!

I wrote two, a Narnia/Silmarillion xover for Snacky here and a Doctor Who story for lotl101 about the OTP between Doctor 10 and his Converse trainers.

I made the mistake of looking at word count since November 1 -- AW chapters 10-15, Rat and Sword, and one chapter of H&M totals over 140,000 words in less than 6 months.  So, if I'm a little slow getting off the mark at the moment, I guess that's why.  But I've started writing and outlining again and actually wrote a few hundred words of H&M dialogue last night. What follows is some writing blather below with the offer to share any thinky thoughts you may have:
( Blather about AW, H&M and request for thoughts if you feel like sharing! )